1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:06,280 The Divine Calmony is the greatest literary masterpiece in 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:11,240 human history. When Dante wrote it in about 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:17,560 1300, he called it La Camadia. OK. 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,280 And the reason why is that at this time in history, epic 5 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:37,720 poetry was considered high, OK, or tragic, and it was written 6 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:45,240 usually in Latin. But for Dante, what he really 7 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,000 believed is that epic poetry should be democratic. 8 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,440 It should be accessible to the people. 9 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:58,960 That's why he called it like Hamadia Low, OK, which met 10 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,920 comedy. And so he wrote it in Tuscan, 11 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,440 which is the language of Florence, where he lived. 12 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,000 Latin was the language of the elite in Europe. 13 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,600 He wanted to write it in Tuscan so that ordinary people around 14 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:22,000 him could access it. And as a result, Dante is a 15 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:31,880 great believer in democracy. So Homer, Dante and Shakespeare 16 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,480 were, in their own respective languages, the greatest poets 17 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:44,720 because first and foremost they believed that poetry should be 18 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:50,120 accessed by the people. They believed in a democratic 19 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:56,760 spirit to poetry, and that made them distinct from the people of 20 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:03,040 their time. La Comadia is response then to 21 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,800 the Iniad by Virgil. At this time in history, for the 22 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:15,200 past 1000 years, the Iniad was a dominant, dominant literature in 23 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,480 Europe and it was the foundation for the Catholic Church. 24 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,120 OK, So remember when we read the iniad, the end, It is 25 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:33,120 fundamentally about duty, piety, and it just folks, and it 26 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,520 contrasted love, OK. And this became a dominant idea 27 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,960 in the Catholic Church, where you are not allowed to access 28 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:48,520 God, you're not allowed to believe in love, you must obey 29 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,240 the church because only the church can guarantee you 30 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,400 redemption and salvation. And this, of course, led to 31 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,200 massive corruption in the Catholic Church, but it also led 32 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,600 to wars throughout Europe because so much power was 33 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:07,320 concentrated in the Catholic Church. 34 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:14,320 And as a result, many kings fought over for power in the 35 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,440 Catholic Church, and this led to many wars. 36 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,400 It LED also to a splintering of the Catholic Church. 37 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,880 And Dante found himself embroiled into a lot of these 38 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,000 conflicts. OK, so he rolled La Kamadia in 39 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:37,600 order to have people access God. OK for the for the comedy, you 40 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,360 can access God and bypass Catholic Church. 41 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,200 In fact, if you read Lacamadia, you'll find there are a lot of 42 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,080 direct criticisms of the Catholic Church. 43 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:52,200 Also, Lacamadia was really in response to the iniad, and like 44 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:57,520 Homer, what Dante wants to do is position love first and 45 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,680 foremost, OK? In La Camadia, love is God 46 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,400 itself. All right, so these are the 47 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,000 basic themes that we'll be looking at throughout this book. 48 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,520 So let me talk about the structure of La Camadia, right? 49 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,720 There are three distinct parts versus infernal. 50 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:23,320 Second is Purgatory and the last is Paradise. 51 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:37,400 And what makes the La Camadia so powerful is Dante uses two major 52 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,080 literary literary devices to construct his universe. 53 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:48,200 The 1st is what we call structure, and 2nd is paradox. 54 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:56,680 All right, so imagine La Camadia as not just epic poetry, but as 55 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,640 a very complex mathematical puzzle that you must unravel 56 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:06,000 full time. OK, so Infernal, the structure 57 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:11,040 is an inverted triangle. And so what's going to happen is 58 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:17,080 that Dodd and Virtual are going to travel for Infernal for Hell, 59 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,400 but it's almost like they're travelling underground. 60 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:26,200 OK, it's an inverted triangle. And then Purgatory becomes a 61 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,840 pyramid or a mountain where Dante and Virgil are going to 62 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:34,880 travel up a mountain so that they can meet Beatrice at the 63 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,000 very top. And why they will meet Beatrice 64 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:44,400 at the very top is that Beatrice will take Dante to heaven where 65 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,720 he will meet God. And that is the very ending of 66 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,200 the Divine Comedy. OK, like on Idea and in Paradise 67 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:57,920 it is structured as a solar system. 68 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,200 And here is something called the Imperium, where God is. 69 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:09,960 And then Dante will travel opiatrist into the Imperium and 70 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,360 it's structured like a solar system. 71 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,960 OK, so that's a very structure of the Divine Comedy. 72 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,400 And as you can see, it's very mathematical. 73 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,120 It's rigorous. If it's mathematical, there's a 74 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,680 symmetry to the, the, the common idea, it doesn't really exist 75 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:36,080 anywhere else in poetry. But what makes Divine Comedy so 76 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:41,480 distinct and so powerful is the idea of paradox or maybe 77 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,960 dissonance, calling it dissonance. 78 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:53,400 And so all poetry is designed to be memorized. 79 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,240 It's all designed to be read aloud. 80 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,760 And there are subtlety and nuance in all poetry. 81 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,520 And the reason why is think of poetry as almost like a virus. 82 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,800 And what it what it's trying to do is it's trying to infiltrate 83 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,440 you, It's trying to subvert you and it's trying to remake you, 84 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,280 OK. And that's what the Divine 85 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:19,000 Company does where you read it. And it all sounds very simple 86 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,200 and nice, but the more you memorize it, the more you 87 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,000 interact with it, the more it enters you and it creates 88 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,680 cognitive dizziness, meaning that it is disrupting the normal 89 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,360 way you see the world. It creates paradox. 90 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,080 And what's going to happen is that your mind is going to, by 91 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:41,320 itself, subconsciously, try to unravel these paradoxes over 92 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,160 time. OK? 93 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,960 So the more you read the Divine Comedy over decades, the more it 94 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,920 will reveal itself to you. It is a universe that comes into 95 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,360 you, and then it remakes you, OK. 96 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,960 And that is the power and beauty of the Divine Comedy. 97 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:08,000 So the trick is to unravel the paradoxes which will implant 98 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,160 themselves throughout the Divine Comedy. 99 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,960 OK, So what? So another thing about the 100 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:22,760 structure is that in order to reach Paradise, Dante must first 101 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,760 enter Infernal. OK, and there are different ways 102 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:28,960 you can interpret the meaning of this. 103 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,000 The simplest way to interpret this is that in order to really, 104 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,280 truly discover God, you must experience hell yourself. 105 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:45,240 OK, so good and evil are are intertwined together. 106 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,880 You can never have good unless you first experience evil. 107 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,680 Good is not the absence of evil. Good is a confrontation, and 108 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:58,120 they're the feat of evil. OK, that's one possible way to 109 00:08:58,120 --> 00:08:59,640 interpret it. But another way to interpret, 110 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:06,880 interpret it is that Infernal represents Virgil, which 111 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:14,560 represents the in the AD. And so for Dante to begin the 112 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:19,680 process of entering into heaven, he must first recognize the 113 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:24,560 impact of Virgil and the Iniad on his psyche, on his culture, 114 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,800 and then by recognizing this, defeat the Iniad in order to 115 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,560 fully embrace the power of God and of love. 116 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:34,440 OK. And that's the interpretation 117 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,840 that I want, I want, I want to present to you as we go along. 118 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:44,320 All right, OK, so having gone that, let's go over some basic 119 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,120 biography. This is Dante, and Dante is 120 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,560 considered the greatest poet in the Italian, in Italian 121 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:55,280 language. At this time in history, Italy 122 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:00,640 was divided into city states. So Dante was in Florence, but 123 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:05,200 there are also some major city states like Venice and Genoa, 124 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,000 OK. And they're all competing 125 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,320 against each other. They're also competing against 126 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:18,680 Rome, the Catholic Church, which want to exert authority over 127 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,440 these city states. At the same time, you had the 128 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:28,040 different empires of Europe, for example, France and basically 129 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,440 the Holy Roman Empire, which we would today call Germany. 130 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,480 And they're also trying to exert authority over the city states. 131 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,760 At the same time, there are different factions within these 132 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,520 state city states, different families that fight against each 133 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,200 other. So during Donnies time and this, 134 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,320 this again is about the year 1300, he is experiencing 135 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,600 constant conflict, constant violence, constant hatred. 136 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,520 And for him, the major question is how can we as a people, as 137 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:07,640 humans, escape this constant cycle of vengeance and hatred 138 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,120 and war. And that's why he rolled the 139 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:15,480 Divine Comedy. Two major bio biographic details 140 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:20,560 that you need to understand about him is that he is off 141 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:26,200 noble birth and therefore he's our participant in this 142 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,400 conflict. So the northern Italian city 143 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:35,720 states, which include Florence, Milan, Genoa and Venice, they 144 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,680 have two major political factors. 145 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:39,400 OK, this is Wikipedia, by the way. 146 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,880 All right. The Guelphs, which support the 147 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,960 papacy, and the Gibbelins, which support the Holy Roman Empire. 148 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,720 OK, so Donnie's family belongs to the Guelphs. 149 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,640 So he was just born into this political rivalry. 150 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,680 And over time, what will happen is that the Guelphs will win, 151 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,240 but then the Guelphs will divide into the black and white 152 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,440 factions, so different families fighting for power again. 153 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,760 OK, So with Dante, all his life, he's experienced nothing but 154 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,560 political rivalry and hatred. That's the first major thing you 155 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:18,960 need to know about him. Ultimately, what will happen is 156 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,600 that he'll get sick of this constant fighting, and he will 157 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,800 exile himself to focus on his poetry. 158 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,240 The other thing to know about him is he falls in love with 159 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:35,000 Beatrice at a very early age. OK he he meets her when she is 9 160 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,440 and she is 8. The problem is that Beatrice 161 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:43,640 family is a more noble yostocratic birth than Dante. 162 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,360 Now this time in history all marriages are arranged and so 163 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,560 Dante marries someone of his class, Beatrice marries someone 164 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:56,720 of of his class but they never really abandoned each other. 165 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,240 OK, they they still remain friends and Dante in his heart 166 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,200 still has his longing for Beatrice. 167 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,760 Beatrice will die pretty young. Maybe when she's in her mid 20s, 168 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:10,040 she'll die giving birth. But Dante never forgets about 169 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,400 her. And he spends his entire life 170 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,360 still remembering his love for Dante, for Beatrice. 171 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,640 And this becomes the basis of Divine Comedy. 172 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:22,560 OK, la cama dia. So these are the two major 173 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,840 biograph biographical details you need to know about Dante. 174 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:35,520 OK, so again, this is from Wikipedia. 175 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:41,560 And when Dante is exiled from Florence, OK, he never returns 176 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,720 to Florence. He spends all his life in exile. 177 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:48,400 He becomes patronized by some very powerful aristocrats 178 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:53,640 throughout Italy, and he will spend a lot of his time 179 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:58,680 reflecting on his experience in this political faction in the 180 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,120 Divine Comedy. There'll be a lot of references 181 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,840 to this conflict between the Ghiblings and the Guelphs and 182 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,040 his exile from Florence and his hatred of the Catholic Church. 183 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,240 There will also be a lot of references to his love for 184 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,240 Beatrice, which will redeem him from this earthly conflict. 185 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:23,880 OK, All right, So some passages that we've looked at before, but 186 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:28,560 which I want us to emphasize, OK, to to understand Divine 187 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:30,480 Comedy. All right, so let's look at 188 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,120 certain passages. OK, so Aubrey, could you read 189 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:41,560 for me please? In half of our life's way I 190 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,160 found myself within the shadowed forest, for I had lost a path 191 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,160 that does not stray. It is hard to speak of what it 192 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,280 was, that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in 193 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,800 recall renews my fear, so bitter death is hardly more severe. 194 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,360 But to retell the good discovered there, I'll also tell 195 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,520 the other things I saw. OK, so he's saying, right, this 196 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,000 is very beginning of the Divine Comedy. 197 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,520 This is the Allen Mellenbaum translation. 198 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,000 OK, And I choose Allen Mellenbaum. 199 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:17,720 There are lots of other translations because he's just 200 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,920 the easiest to read. All right, so I'm not interested 201 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,080 in the language, I'm interested in the ideas. 202 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,560 So that's why I pick him. OK, so this is very simple. 203 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,000 He is in a middle age and he's in the shadow forest. 204 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:37,200 OK, so he's completely confused as to why the world is what it 205 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:41,520 is. This hatred for the world is 206 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,080 causing him to hate himself as well. 207 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:51,040 And so because of this hatred, because of this confusion about 208 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,400 why there's so much hatred in the world, he has lost his 209 00:15:54,400 --> 00:16:00,360 connection with God and he doesn't know how to proceed. 210 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,600 It's a long period of savage forest that's a difficult that 211 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:08,600 makes him question everything. OK. 212 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,880 He's in a deep depression, basically. 213 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,640 And, and at this point, he has lost in this forest and he feels 214 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,560 hopeless. And then a man emerges named 215 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:23,240 Virgil. And Virgil is the poet that 216 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,680 Dante respects the most because at this point in history, Virgil 217 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:33,640 is the most influential poet. And Virgil promises to guide 218 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:38,080 Dante out of this shallow Horace and into the light. 219 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,840 And Dante puts his faith in Virgil. 220 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:46,000 And at this point, Dante sees Virgil not just as a savior, but 221 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:51,120 as a father and as a teacher. OK, this is important because 222 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:55,320 for Dante to treat defeat Virgil, which is the point of La 223 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,480 Comadia, he wants to destroy the influence and power of the in 224 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:05,599 the ad, he first must put Virgil onto a pedestal pedestal in 225 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,480 order for us to recognize the limitations of Virgil so we 226 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,400 ourselves can defeat Virgil in our hearts. 227 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,599 OK, And that's the idea here. All right, Can you continue? 228 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,960 I agree. All right. 229 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,880 Yeah, keep on going. In heaven there's a gentle lady, 230 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:29,400 one who weeps forward the distress towards which I send 231 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,160 you to, so that stern judgement of above is shattered. 232 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,520 And it was she who called upon Lucia requesting of her. 233 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,440 Now your faithful one is need of you, and I commend him to you. 234 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,200 Lucia, enemy of every cruelty, arose and made her way to where 235 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,920 I was sitting beside the venerable Rachel. 236 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,880 She said you, Beatrice true praise of God. 237 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,960 Why have you not helped him when who loves you so that for your 238 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,960 sake he slept a vulgar crowd. Do you not hear the anguish and 239 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,200 his cry? Do you not see the death? 240 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,280 He wars against the pond that river ruthless has to see. 241 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,920 No one within this world has ever been so quick to seek as 242 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,640 good or flee as harm as I. When she had finished speaking 243 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,680 thus to come below down from my blessed station, I trusted in 244 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,840 your honest utterance, which honors you and those who've 245 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,240 listened to you. When she had finished with her 246 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,520 words to me, she turned aside her gleaming, tearful eyes, 247 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:30,440 which only made me hurry all the more. 248 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,400 OK, so a lot of Laca Madea Divine Comedy is dialogue. 249 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,320 OK, There's a speaker and there's a listener. 250 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:48,320 And this is an important formulation because what Dante 251 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:53,920 wants us is to recognize is that when a speaker speaks, he or she 252 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,520 is speaking from a certain worldview, a certain prejudice. 253 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,680 And so we must always be on guard. 254 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,160 We almost always ask ourselves why this person is saying what 255 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,960 he or she is saying. OK, so something that we've 256 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,400 discussed a lot is the idea of God. 257 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:18,320 And God is the perfect manifestation of love, of 258 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,720 generosity, of forgiveness. And one thing that God does not 259 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:31,360 do is reciprocity. OK, so the Catholic Church 260 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:36,040 teaches you that if you obey God, then God will allow you 261 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,560 access to heaven. And what Tony wants us to 262 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,040 understand is that cannot be true. 263 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,440 If God is perfection, if God is love, if God is beauty, God 264 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,960 would never require anything off you. 265 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,560 God will always give you free will. 266 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:58,160 And free will and reciprocity are a contradiction. 267 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,120 OK? If I make you do something in 268 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:04,360 order to access heaven, that means I don't give you free 269 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:08,200 will, but God will give you free will. 270 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,000 All right. But here we can see a 271 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,840 contradiction, a paradox in that what? 272 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,440 So what's happening is that Dante is talking to Virgil, and 273 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,920 Dante's asking Virgil, how did you get here? 274 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,000 Why are you here? Why are you taking me to heaven? 275 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,960 And Virgil's response is well, I was having a very nice time 276 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,680 sitting in. Home in limbo in hell. 277 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,760 But then an Angel Beatrice came to me and said she and my help 278 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:40,880 in order to help a friend. And then Donna is like, OK, but 279 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,160 why would Beatrice want to help me? 280 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,800 And then Virgil was like, well, because she saw your painting in 281 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:53,160 heaven and she recognizes how much you love her. 282 00:20:53,680 --> 00:21:01,040 And so Lucia said to her, you Beatrice, why don't you help him 283 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:05,920 who loves you so much? OK, so it's almost like a 284 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,600 reciprocity where the astronomy loves speeches so much. 285 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,560 Beatrice has to come help him now. 286 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,240 But this goes against the very idea of God. 287 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,200 OK, so what's happening here is 2 possibilities. 288 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,400 The first possibility is that Virgil is just lying. 289 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,680 OK, But you're not really lying. He's just, he's just 290 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:36,760 misinterpreting what's going on. God will always come to you if 291 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:42,600 you truly want God to come, OK? Because God is all generous. 292 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,640 And so Dante is. His heart is calling out for 293 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,880 God. And God sends Beatrice without 294 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,160 any conditions. And God sends Beatrice, because 295 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:58,680 God understands that Beatrice is a person who can most help 296 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,680 Dante. OK, there's no reciprocity here. 297 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,680 But when Beatrice tells Virgil this, Virgil misinterprets this 298 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,160 idea to mean that there's reciprocity going on. 299 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,720 OK, so it's not, it's not really lying, but it shows you the 300 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:18,760 limitations of Virgil's worldview, where in the INIAC, 301 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,040 it's all about reciprocity, OK? It's all about contract. 302 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,720 It's all about duty. OK, so that's the first 303 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,200 possibility. But another possibility is that 304 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:34,440 Beatrice understands the limitations of Virgil and so 305 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:41,200 just tells Virgil what he wants to hear or structures this in a 306 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,040 way that Virgil can understand. OK. 307 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:49,480 Because if Beatrice says to Virgil, I came to help Dante 308 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:57,720 because Dante needs help, Virgil will be like, well, OK, he needs 309 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,360 help, but why help him? And so Beatrice doesn't want to 310 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,880 spend time explaining to him that the universe is all 311 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,120 forgiven. So she so she just says, OK, 312 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:09,360 well, it's because he helped me in the past. 313 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,920 It's because of his love for me that I'm able to go to heaven. 314 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,280 OK. All right, so already in the 315 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:25,360 beginning we have to question the authority of Virgil, OK? 316 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:34,720 Virtual is an unreliable guide. And for us to truly enter 317 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,680 paradise, for us to truly discover God, we need to 318 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,880 recognize he is unreliable ourselves. 319 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:44,720 God will never tell us, but he'll give us clues to suggest 320 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:49,560 that he is unreliable and we must reject him if we are to 321 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:54,880 fully embrace God. OK, all right, let's continue. 322 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:00,720 All right, All right. So Virgil is taking Dante into 323 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,280 hell, and Virgil emphasizes Dante. 324 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,600 This is a path that we must take if we are to go into paradise. 325 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,120 You must first confront evil. You must first understand sin 326 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:12,920 for you to truly understand goodness. 327 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,320 OK All right. And so when they get there, 328 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,520 there's a river that blocks their path into hell. 329 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:25,440 And there is a ferryman named Sharon from Greek mythology who 330 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:32,280 will take them across the river. But the problem is that Dante's 331 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,120 still living. And Sharon sees that, and he 332 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:38,640 says to Dante, But there's a problem here. 333 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,840 I can't take you across because you're a living soul and you're 334 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:47,840 not dead, so I can't give you access to hell. 335 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,080 OK All right. Can you eat ivory? 336 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,680 And here, advancing towards us in a boat, an aged man, his 337 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,760 hair, his hair was white with ears, was shouting Woe to you 338 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,160 corrupted souls, Forget your hope of ever seeing heaven. 339 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,840 I come to lead you to the other shore, to the eternal dark, to 340 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,360 fire and frost, and you approaching there, you living 341 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,600 soul, keep all away from these. They are the dead. 342 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,360 But when he saw and made no move to go, he said another way. 343 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,760 In other harbours. Not here will bring you passage 344 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,080 to your shore. A lighter craft will have to 345 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,040 carry you. My guide. 346 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,800 Then, Sharon, don't torment yourself. 347 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,520 Our passage has been willed above, where one can do what he 348 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,680 has willed and asked no more. Now silence fell upon the woolly 349 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,680 cheeks of Sharon, Pilot of Delivered Marsh, whose eyes were 350 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:41,400 ringed about with wheels of flame. 351 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,600 Sharon doesn't want to take Dante across because Dante is 352 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,280 still living. But when Virgil says to him, 353 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:56,720 hey, let us pass, Sharon obeys. OK, and this is a paradox, so 354 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,360 let's explain the paradox to you again. 355 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:03,160 The thing about Dante is that he's so subtle and it's written 356 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,160 in a perfect manner. So the more you try to 357 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,160 understand what's going on, the more truth will be revealed to 358 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,040 you. So the paradox is this. 359 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,880 They are in hell, and they are in hell because they've rejected 360 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,880 God. OK, and how we know that we 361 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,840 rejected God is this sentence. Woe to you crooked souls. 362 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,640 Forget your hope of ever seeing heaven. 363 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,360 OK? So, so you can interpret this as 364 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:29,120 saying that Sharon is saying to you, is saying to people, this 365 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,120 is all hopeless, OK? But another way of interpreting 366 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:38,040 this is Sharon is saying to all the souls, you are here because 367 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,480 you believe God has abandoned you. 368 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,920 You believe there is no God. You believe there is no heaven. 369 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,800 You believe you deserve to be here. 370 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:52,440 That's why you're here. OK, so that, but then he sees 371 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,080 Dante and he he knows that Dante doesn't believe this. 372 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,400 He is actually going to heaven. And so Dante is a corruption. 373 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,400 And so Sharon doesn't want to take Dante across. 374 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:11,160 But then Virgil says, hey, God has ordered Dante to be crossed. 375 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,480 And then Sharon obeys. The problem, the paradox is 376 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,720 this. Sharon himself doesn't believe 377 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,560 in God. That's why he's in hell. 378 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:23,840 He rejects the authority of God, yet he obeys God. 379 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,080 So that makes absolutely no sense. 380 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:31,360 This is a paradox unless you remember that what matters is 381 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:36,560 the speaker. Okay, so Virgil is the one who 382 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,640 is speaking. OK, so in other words, Sharon is 383 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,800 not obeying the authority of God, he's obeying the authority 384 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,840 of the speaker who is Virgil. And this suggests to us that 385 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:56,480 Virgil is the master of hell. And then the question then is, 386 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,880 well, why is he master of hell? And the answer is because he 387 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,280 created hell through the INIAC, right? 388 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:10,680 Iniad is a poetry that emphasizes piety, obedience. 389 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,720 It emphasizes how love is a disease. 390 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,320 It emphasizes the the importance of hatred as a power to destroy 391 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,720 your enemies. It emphasizes empire. 392 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:28,000 So in other words, Virgil through the iniad created 393 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,960 emotions in human in human beings that allow for the 394 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,920 creation of hell itself. You can also argue that with the 395 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,080 iniad virtual create the conditions for the Catholic 396 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:39,840 Church. The Catholic Church is not based 397 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,520 on the Bible, it's based on the iniad. 398 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:50,640 OK, so again, this is not a purit in the poetry, but what 399 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:59,600 you understand is that Dante is conveying his truthful paradox, 400 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,600 and you try to unravel this paradox, and the truth slowly 401 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:07,320 reveals itself to you. OK All right, let's continue. 402 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,360 All right. Can you read library? 403 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,080 Oops, sorry. To demon Sharon, with his eyes 404 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,520 like embers by signalling to them, has all embarked. 405 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,600 His aura strikes at anyone who stretches out as in the autumn 406 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,880 leaves his hatch themselves, first one and then the other, 407 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,160 till the bow sees all his fallen garments on the ground. 408 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,240 Similarly, the evil seed of Adam descended from the shoreline 1 409 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,240 by 1 when signalled. As the Falcon called will come, 410 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,000 so do they move across the darkened waters. 411 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,040 Even before they reach the farther shore. 412 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,360 New rings already gather on this bank. 413 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,680 My son, the gracious master said to me, those who have died 414 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,480 beneath the wrath of God. All these assemble here from 415 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,320 every country, and they are eager for the river crossing 416 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,840 because celestial justice spurs them on so that their fears turn 417 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,120 into desire. No good soul ever takes his 418 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,760 passage here. Therefore, if Sharon has 419 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,000 complained of you by now, you can be sure what his words mean, 420 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,440 OK? So 2 words that you will see a 421 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,880 lot. And Dante are will and desire. 422 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:21,720 OK Will and desire, because will desire together create your 423 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,640 soul, OK? So in the right company you will 424 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,120 see these two words. Will and desire repeat it a lot. 425 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:35,200 You are what you want and what you move towards, OK? 426 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:40,720 That's ultimately your soul. And what this is telling us is 427 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:47,200 that people are evil because people obey, OK, Duty. 428 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:56,480 OK, So this image is where the people line up obediently and do 429 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,200 as they're told. They don't question why this is 430 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,960 happening. They don't resist why this is 431 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,360 happening, OK. Their will and desire is to move 432 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,760 towards hell. They are not in hell because 433 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,800 they did bad things. Everyone does bad things. 434 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:15,800 They're in hell. They're in hell because they 435 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,640 desire to be in Hell, OK? And it's something that Virgil 436 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:26,440 says. Their fear is churn into desire. 437 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:31,040 They're entering hell because they want to do so. 438 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,800 And this is a really important idea if you are trying to spend 439 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,240 daunting. Free will is a fundamental truth 440 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,400 of the universe. You do what you do because you 441 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,680 choose to do it. You're in hell not because you 442 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,040 did bad things. You are in hell because you 443 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,720 think that hell is the best place for you. 444 00:31:49,880 --> 00:32:04,360 You're happy in hell. OK, all right, so now they are 445 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,920 in hell and the 1st place that they enter is something called 446 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:12,360 Limbo. And Limbo is a place where 447 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,320 people go. They're good people before. 448 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,320 The problem is they don't believe in Jesus. 449 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,480 They don't believe in Christ. They never converted 450 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,920 Christianity. So these are people like Virgil, 451 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,800 like Homer, like Plato, OK, very virtuous people, but 452 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:34,560 unfortunately they don't believe in God and so therefore they are 453 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,480 doomed in hell, or that's what Virgil tells Ponte. 454 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:43,280 And and Donnie asked Virgil, was there ever a time when people in 455 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:48,680 hell could ascend to heaven? And Virgil says there was only 456 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:56,760 one time and that was when Jesus died and he came to hell to save 457 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:02,360 and redeem those most worthy people like King David, people 458 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:06,360 like Noah, people like Abraham, people like Rachel who are in 459 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:11,040 the Bible who are born before the time of Christ, but who are 460 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,880 worried of going to heaven. And that's why Jesus came to 461 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:19,040 hell. Unfortunately, I, Virgil, came 462 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:24,480 after Jesus and so I was not saved by by him. 463 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,440 OK, And as you go on, you, how would you remember this? 464 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,760 Because what we'll discover as we go on is this is not true. 465 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,760 It is entirely possible for people who are not Christians, 466 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:45,600 who were born before the time of Jesus, to ascend to heaven 467 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,080 because they choose to. It's about will and desire. 468 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:55,120 OK, so and then they go into the first layer of hell, and the 469 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:59,160 first layer of hell are people who lust, OK? 470 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:06,360 These are people whose passion overrided their reason, and so 471 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:13,520 they sin, OK All right, OK. And so these are spirits that 472 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,400 are passing through. And Donna asks Virgil who are 473 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,440 these people? And Virgil starts to name them 474 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:19,719 one by one. OK, OK. 475 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:25,320 Can you read Ivory the. Kindly Master said, do not ask 476 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,400 who are these spirits whom you see before you? 477 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,800 I'd have, you know, before you go ahead. 478 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:33,960 They did not sin, and yet, though they have merits, that's 479 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,320 not enough, because they lacked baptism, the portal of faith 480 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,000 that you embrace. And if they lived before 481 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,239 Christianity, they did not worship God in fitting ways. 482 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:48,040 And of such spirits I myself am one for these defects and for no 483 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,560 other evil. We now are lost and punished 484 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,400 just with this. We have no hope, and yet we live 485 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,159 in longing. Great sorrow sees my heart on 486 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,240 hearing him, for I had seen some inestimable men among the souls 487 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:03,120 suspended in that limbo. So I want to remember this. 488 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,360 Passage because Virgil was saying there's nothing wrong 489 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,880 with me. Unfortunately, I was just 490 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,880 unlucky. Okay, this is this is incorrect. 491 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:15,560 What you will see as we move on is that Virgil chooses to be 492 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:17,640 here. There are many paths for 493 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,160 salvation reduction for him he but he wants to stay in hell. 494 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,160 OK. And why and why that is the 495 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:25,600 case? We'll we'll, we'll talk about 496 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,360 later. All right, let's keep on going. 497 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,360 So I descended. From the first enclosure down to 498 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,320 2nd circle, that which girdles less space but grief more great 499 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:42,400 that goes to weeping. There dreadful Mino stands 500 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,280 gnashing his teeth, examining the sins of those who enter. 501 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,280 He judges and assigns all as his as his tale of twins. 502 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,960 I mean that when the spirit born to evil appears before him, it 503 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:59,280 confesses all, and he, the connoisseur of sin, can tell the 504 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:03,560 death and hell appropriate to it as many times as Minos wraps his 505 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,560 tail around himself. That marks the sinners level. 506 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,800 Always there is a crowd that stands before him. 507 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:13,280 Each soul in turns advances towards the judgement. 508 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,160 They speak in here, then they're cast below. 509 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:18,800 Arresting his extraordinary task. 510 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,480 Minos, as soon as he had seen me, said, Oh, you who reached 511 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:26,920 this house is suffering. Be careful how you enter whom 512 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,480 you trust. The gate is wide, but do not be 513 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,480 deceived. To which my guide replied But 514 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,240 why protest? Do not attempt to block his feed 515 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:37,320 a path. Our passage has been willed 516 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,280 above where one can do what he has willed and asked no more. 517 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,480 OK, so this is a very. Interesting passage that again 518 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:51,960 makes us question things. OK, so Minos, who's basically 519 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:57,200 deciding which level of hell you go to based on your sin, he 520 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:02,960 basically says to Dante, don't trust anyone here, OK? 521 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,240 Don't trust anyone here. Be careful how you enter whom 522 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:07,440 you trust. The gate is what? 523 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:13,560 But do not be deceived, OK? This is a very strange idea, 524 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:17,120 right? Because Minos sees that Dante is 525 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:23,960 with Virgil and his response is, Dante, you're a good person. 526 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,160 I'm telling you right now, don't trust anyone, right? 527 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:31,560 So what he's really saying is Dante don't trust Virgil right? 528 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,400 If you think about it logically, makes no sense for him to say 529 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,280 that unless he means don't trust Virgil. 530 00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:41,760 Because if Virgil can be trusted then all Donnie has to do is 531 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,080 just follow Virgil into hell and that's it. 532 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:48,600 OK but Minnows makes a point of saying don't trust anyone here, 533 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,160 which is to say don't trust the person closest to you. 534 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,520 Be careful how you enter and whom you trust. 535 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:01,640 OK? And what confirms this is to 536 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:04,240 which my guy replied But why protest? 537 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:11,840 OK so Virgil stopping when and said hey shut up man OK do not 538 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,440 attempt to block his fitted path. 539 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,360 Our path has been wheeled above where one can do what he has 540 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,480 willed and asked no more. We are I represent a higher 541 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,960 power than you. He knows. 542 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,400 All right, So again, this is questioning the reliability of 543 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:32,120 narrator. What's happening is that Dante 544 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:37,560 is planting seeds, giving us clues that in hell, nothing is 545 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,520 what it seems. The person that we most trust, 546 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,680 Virgil. It's the person we should 547 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:49,160 probably least trust. OK, All right, So everything 548 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:50,880 that Virgil says, we have to question. 549 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:57,520 All right, so again, Virgil and Dante are in the first layer of 550 00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:02,040 hell, and this is lust. And Virgil is pointing out to 551 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:05,320 Dante who they are. OK, can you read Ivory? 552 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:08,920 The first of those about whose. History you want to know? 553 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,760 My master then told me. Once ruled as Empress over many 554 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:16,960 nations, her vice of lust became so customary that she made 555 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,240 license licit in her laws to free her from the scandal she 556 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:23,560 had caused. She is Semiramis, of whom we 557 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:26,360 read that she was named as his wife and his successor. 558 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:29,560 She held the. Land the Sultan now. 559 00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:34,000 Commands that other spirit killed herself for love, and she 560 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,040 and she betrayed the ashes of Sakius the wanton. 561 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,680 Cleopatra follows next. See Helen, whose sake so many 562 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,320 year, for whose sake so many years of evil had to pass. 563 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,320 See great Achilles, who finally met love in his last battle. 564 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,480 See Paris, Tristan. And he pointed out a name to me. 565 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,880 More than 1000 shades departed from our life because of love. 566 00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:00,000 No sooner had I heard my teacher name the ancient ladies in the 567 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,520 Knights than pity seized me and I was like a man astray. 568 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,960 OK, so this again is a paradox. OK, And again, it's almost 569 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:14,120 impossible to see this paradox by yourself, but the paradox is 570 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:19,320 this. What Virgil will do is basically 571 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:23,680 point out 1000 shades, OK? And he'll provide all the names 572 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:29,080 of these people, OK? And the example is Cimerus. 573 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,720 And then you have Gopatra, you have Hellen, you have Achilles, 574 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:36,120 you have Parrot, you have Tristan. 575 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:41,520 OK, so he's leaving everyone, but there's one shade he does 576 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:46,320 not name. And the other spirit who killed 577 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,160 herself for love and she betrayed the ashes of sick 578 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,200 sickest. We know who this person is 579 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,000 because this person is Diddle. And who is Diddle? 580 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,240 Diddle is the creation of Virgil. 581 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:06,760 So the grand paradox, the irony is there's 1000 people and the 582 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:11,640 person that Virgil refuses to acknowledge by name is the one 583 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:17,240 that he understands the best, who he is most intimate with. 584 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,360 OK, and this creates the question, why is this the case? 585 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:24,880 Why does he refuse to name Ditto? 586 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:31,360 So if you go back to the iniad, the one thing that stands out 587 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:36,360 about the iniad is that Ditto is the most realistic character. 588 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:40,280 It's really the character that most people when they read the 589 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:45,200 iniad, they simplifies with because Ditto feels real. 590 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,720 But at the same time, Ditto didn't really deserve her fate. 591 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:56,120 OK, so it is Virgil who cast Ditto into hell, right? 592 00:41:56,120 --> 00:42:03,560 And this contrast with Dante who will elevate Beatrice, his love 593 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:08,520 to heaven. All right, so already we are 594 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:15,360 seeing a contrast, a paradox. OK, Virgil condemned Ditto to 595 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:23,440 how Dante elevated Beatrice to heaven, and Dante is long for 596 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,600 Beatrice. And then Virgil forgets that 597 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,720 Ditto even existed. He even refuses to name her. 598 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:34,520 And the question is why? So because Ditto is a realistic 599 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:39,480 character, we can assume that Ditto is based on a person that 600 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,040 Virgil knows. But knowing that, we can also 601 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:48,120 make the assumption that Virgil pursued Ditto, fell in love with 602 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:52,400 Ditto, and Ditto rejected him, probably because he was an ugly 603 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:53,320 asshole. OK. 604 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:58,400 And so Virgil got really angry and decided that I will condemn 605 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:04,720 Ditto to hell. But in his heart, Virgil knows 606 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:11,120 that this was unfair, that this was pure hatred, and so he feels 607 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,000 a bit guilty about it. He feels embarrassed about it. 608 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,200 And that's why he refuses to acknowledge Diddle. 609 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:22,240 He refuses to face Diddle for what he did. 610 00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:24,600 OK. But then something interesting 611 00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:26,280 happens. All right. 612 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:36,160 OK. Can you read my first words? 613 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:40,320 Poet, I should really speak with those two who go together there, 614 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,880 and seem so lightly carried by the wind, and he to me. 615 00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,440 You'll see when they draw closer to us, and then you may appeal 616 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,800 to them by that love which impels them they will come. 617 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,040 No sooner had the wind bent them towards us than I urged on my 618 00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:58,040 voice. O battered souls, if one does 619 00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:02,360 not forbid it, speak with us even as doves, when summoned by 620 00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:06,280 desire, borne forward by their will, Move through the air with 621 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:09,480 wings up, uplifted still to their sweet nest. 622 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,920 Those spirits left the ranks where Ditto suffers, Approaching 623 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,600 us through the militant air. So powerful had been my loving 624 00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:18,760 cry. OK, So what he's saying here is. 625 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:23,160 That like Virgil is naming all all the shades and Donna is like 626 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:26,160 let me go and talk to them. And Virgil says sure, go talk to 627 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,760 them. OK, but what would you notice is 628 00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:31,160 this? Those spirits left the ranks 629 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:35,520 where Ditto suffers, approaching us through the magnant air. 630 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:44,200 OK, so the contrast is this. Virgil refuses to name Ditto, so 631 00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:49,240 Dante names Ditto himself. All right. 632 00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:52,760 And what this, what this really is, is an act of rebellion. 633 00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:00,040 Because Donnie acknowledges Virgil as his father, as his 634 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:04,480 guide, as his teacher, and therefore he should just follow 635 00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:06,560 Virgil. If Virgil doesn't want to name 636 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,760 Ditto, doesn't want to acknowledge Ditto, then Donnie 637 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,640 should be respectful and ignore Ditto, right? 638 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:18,840 But he's saying, Nope, I'm going to name Ditto because I want us 639 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:24,760 to understand that it was wrong to not acknowledge Diddle. 640 00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,560 It was wrong, first of all, for Virgil to condemn Diddle to 641 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,680 hell, and it's wrong to just ignore her. 642 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:36,400 OK, so I know who Diddle is. I know what Virgil did, and I 643 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:41,760 want to name her in order to resurrect her in our memory. 644 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,680 All right, So again, this is creating kind of dissonance. 645 00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:51,040 It's leaving an idea in my head is that none of what we're 646 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:53,640 seeing in Inferno is what it seems. 647 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,440 That's why it's hell. It's all an illusion. 648 00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:00,920 It's all deception. And we have to use our minds. 649 00:46:00,920 --> 00:46:04,280 We have to use our hearts to truly understand what's going 650 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:09,040 on. OK, All right, so this begins 651 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:11,960 our journey into the Divine Comedy. 652 00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:15,000 But as you can see, it is extremely complex. 653 00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:19,840 You have to see with your heart. You have to see with your 654 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:23,040 imagination. It's impossible to just read 655 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:29,640 this and know what's going on. You have to believe in your 656 00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:31,480 instincts. You have to believe in your 657 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,800 intuition. You have to believe that you 658 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:37,200 have a connection with God, and it is God that will reveal to 659 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:41,480 you the truth for your intuition and your imagination. 660 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:46,720 OK, so the Divine colony is a journey really into your own 661 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:50,440 heart and your faith. All right, any questions? 662 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:52,600 OK. All right. 663 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:55,120 So we will continue this next time, OK.