Dante's journey across the universe is underway--except it's not. It stops almost the moment it begins in COMEDY.

What happens when you set off in a new direction but have no clue where you're going? Apparently, you get blocked by the beasts of your imagination.

Or maybe by more than beasts. By symbols. Even allegories. Personal, political, and/or social.

This is a tough passage that has eaten gallons of scholarly ink over the centuries. I'll give you different ideas for these animals "mean." But the answers must ultimately be your own.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the first steps of the journey with our pilgrim: up a hill that seems so promising, then back down again.

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

[00:28] My English translatoin of this passage: INFERNO, Canto 1, Lines 28 - 66. If you'd like to read along, print it off, make notes, or drop a comment, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:12] Our first glimpse of the poem's incredible complexity--that is, a bit about the pilgrim's feet, all sieved through St. Augustine and a commentary written by Dante's own son, plus lots more.

[09:19] Three beasts! Here they come, the terrors on the slope. I'll offer lots of interpretations for them. They've generated 700 years of answers!

[20:50] And so it goes: The pilgrim slips back down the mountain, almost lost, until a figure appears out of the mist. Sure, a ghost is surprising. Even more so, what the pilgrim says to this shade.

[24:29] A final bit about a clue in the passage that helps us date the poem--not in terms of when it was written but rather when it's taking place. It seems to be Easter weekend in 1300. Seems to be March 25. Problem is, March 25 didn't fall on Easter weekend in the year 1300.