Settled in the shade of the tomb for a heretic pope, Dante hears Virgil's first take on the nature of lowest hell: malice, injury, the heart of evil itself, all bound up with force and fraud.

Mappamundi? No! Mappa-inferno! Virgil's geography of hell will take up most of this canto and provide us with an unparalleled glimpse into the poet's thinking about the nature of evil.

Or is it "just" a glimpse into Virgil's thinking?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we rest with the pilgrim and listen to his guide explain the road ahead.

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

[00:55] My English translation of INFERNO: Canto XI, lines 16 - 27. If you'd like to read along, drop a comment to continue the conversation, or find a guide for deeper study, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:10] What is the significance of Canto XI? Might there by medieval numerology underneath the number of the canto?

[05:06] An explication of the passage, line by line, with particularly emphasis on two words: "injustice" and "malice," the keys to understanding the lowest parts of hell (or the worst of human behavior).

[12:41] One larger question from this passage: How do you recover the texts that meant so much to you in an earlier part of your life?

[17:43] A second question: Why does Virgil feel the need to map hell for the pilgrim (and us)?