The First Angel Arrives In Purgatory With Lots Of Questions In Tow: PURGATORIO, Canto II, Lines 25 - 42

We knew a bright light was approaching fast--but now we find our that it's our first angel in Purgatory, standing at the helm of a ship, following the path Ulysses once took to get here.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the implications of our first angel sighting in PURGATORIO. It's a moment of heavenly triumph. Or would be, were it not for all the questions the angel brings in tow.

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:21] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto II, lines 25 - 42. If you'd like to read along, print off my translation, or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:28] Four infernal characters underneath this passage: first, Phlegyas.

[06:31] Second, Charon.

[07:42] Third, Ulysses.

[09:14] Finally, Francesca.

[11:12] Why are there so many references to INFERNO in the opening two cantos of PURGATORIO? I've got five possible answers.

[17:04] Virgil's position is complicated in this passage. How does he recognize the angel before Dante the pilgrim? And why doesn't Virgil bow down to the angel?

[23:38] Heaven has "officials" because it's a bureaucracy with eternal records.

[26:48] What happens when the truth is too bright?