Dante's Divine Comedy – Details, episodes & analysis

“Circles of hell" has become commonplace in language. But what was Dante trying to show us when he wrote the inferno? What has been lost in translation, with this first canticle in Dante’s trilogy now part of a secular culture?

Jason Baxter talks about his new translation of the Inferno with Mark Vernon. They discuss what Dante could convey in language and why the text never ceases to offer fresh insights. How can we understand his encounters with figures from Virgil to Ulysses? What is it truly to be trapped in a hellish state? Why is the road down the necessary precursor to the road into God’s presence?

Jason’s new translation is published by Angelico Press - https://angelicopress.com/products/the-divine-comedy-inferno
Mark’s introduction and guide is too - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

00:00 What Dante could do with language
9:05 Dante and the infernal landscape of today
12:50 Distraction and seeing the truth of ourselves
19:18 Intelligence as reason and love
26:33 Why must Dante descend into hell?
36:08 What was Virgil’s ultimate destiny?
41:30 The fulness of divinity we are called to
48:07 Jason’s translation of the famous opening line
56:20 Jason’s future plans

Rowan Williams and Jesse Armstrong talked at The Idler festival, partly around the idea, caught in the expression, “boring as hell”. But is that right, they asked, when a drama like Succession so clearly appeals to us?

The question is fundamental, for an age inclined to regard hell as appealing or intriguing, is one on the way to being lost. 

Drawing on Dante and William Blake, two great diagnostic writers about different states of mind, this talk explores how the passions of the soul, to use Williams’s expression, can hinder and help us on our way. 

I then think about how various facets of life change when known from within hellish, purgatorial and paradisal perspectives - movement, words, love, time, memory, possessing, faces, wonder.

Hell is boring, not from its own perspective, which knows nothing else, but from that of purgatory and paradise. A time that thinks hell is the most interesting place to be is in hell; one that can still say “boring as hell” has at least a flicker of hope.

See Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

Bernard Carr is a leading cosmologist who worked with Stephen Hawking and now investigates time, multidimensionality and consciousness, amongst other things. 

Bernardo Kastrup cites him as at the vanguard of the great task to integrate matter and mind.

So I was delighted to get the chance to ask Bernard about images from Dante. 

We talked about relational cosmologies as advocated by Carlo Rovelli, who has talked about being  inspired by Dante, and whether alternative images from the Divine Comedy might illuminate his own approaches, as well as our understanding.

Still in the lovely valley of the rulers, angels and a serpent dramatically appear, though oddly no-one's concerned.

Virgil and Sordello embrace again, before Sordello explains they must find a safe place for the night.

Hassled by agitated souls, Dante asks Virgil if prayers can effect divine laws. A discussion brings a new state of mind.

At first distracted by the indolent, they encounter a new group of agitated souls, though keep their focus.

Virgil and Dante find the narrow path that leads up, and begin the climb. A break brings another group of souls.

Virgil is troubled. They encounter slowly moving souls, and search for an entry onto the mountain.

As the sun rises, an angel speeds towards them, bringing a friend and a tense sense of tremendous things.