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We come to the end of Dante’s journey through Hell, at the frozen depths of the world, with the worst of the sinners, and the King of Hell himself, immobile at the core. Then back up to see the stars. [As heard on Cambridge Radio]
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After a review of the story so far, we attend to a ring of giants, and the final descent, down to the bottom of Hell, riding on the palm of the least stupid and least fearful of the giants. (as heard on Cambridge Radio)
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We arrive at the final ditch of Fraud, where are dumped all the miscellaneous group of falsifiers, a stinking, raving mess. We lighten this heaviness with a good selection of songs. (As heard on Cambridge Radio)
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What happens to people who slice up communities with their seeds of discord? Dante shows us one way to make some sense of this. [As heard on Cambridge Radio]
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The next ditch contains flames walking around, each covering a damned soul – except for this one where two souls are joined together. One of them, the legendary Ulysses, tells of his unbridled final voyage; after that the flame of a man called The Fox relates how he was outfoxed by a pope. With additional passages from Tennyson, Montaigne, and Primo Levi. You are invited to attend. [As heard on Cambridge Radio]
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Thieves steal not only other people’s goods, but also their very identities. To illustrate this, Dante places them in a confusion of identities among snakes and serpents. [As heard on Cambridge Radio]
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We attend to the ditch of Hypocrisy, gaudy false coverings weighing the souls in a never-ending round, generating lots of further thoughts, and songs. You are invited to attend. (As heard on Cambridge Radio)
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We come now to public corruption, a hot, sticky ditch with fierce demons on the watch. It’s the most threatening area Dante will encounter in his whole journey. But overylying the horror is a kind of slapstick comedy. It’s a raucous story, and we add some odd music, too. Come along; you’re invited to attend. [As heard on Cambridge Radio]
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Dante comes across the sorcerers, magicians, fortune-tellers, soothsayers – all who try to side-step the daily cause-and-effect pattern of our world. They look one way, their bodies go a different way. Very odd – and some odd music, too. You are invited to attend. (First heard on Cambridge Radio)
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[The flames should be on their soles, not somewhere down below]
Dante and Virgil go down into the ditch of the “simoniacs”, people who trafficked in holy things – specifically, in Dante’s day, many popes. And in our day? Come along and find out.
[First heard on Cambridge Radio]
