Beatrice continues her rectification of Dante's doubts by using a passage from Plato's TIMAEUS to turn her argument from accommodation to free will.

This passage contains perhaps the heart of Beatrice's second grand discourse in PARADISO. But even so, it's a tad garbled as it attempts to answer Plato while giving his works full authority.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we continue our way toward the grand climax of free will in the next passage from PARADISO.

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

[01:25] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 49 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:14] Summarizing the sense and intricacies of the passage: Plato's understanding of the origins and fate of human souls.

[10:05] Dante's reluctance to charge Plato's work with error, since ancient texts are forming an important matrix of authority.

[15:35] The garbled conclusion about naming the stars (or planets) Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars.

[22:34] Full-throated medieval feminism: Beatrice reads Plato!

[25:00] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 49 - 63.