Dante the pilgrim thought he saw towers in the gap between the eighth and ninth circles of hell. But no, they were giants. Who were "entowered" in the pit.
And now we come to the first one: Nimrod. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we come up to the first of the giants/towers that ring the final pit of hell, a place where the imagination and history meet in a liminal spot and where all bets are off.
Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[02:00] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXXI, lines 46 - 81. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.
[04:59] Nimrod as he appears in the Bible.
[06:52] Nimrod as he moves into Christian mythology.
[10:41] Nimrod as he moved beyond Christian mythology.
[12:42] Nimrod and the confusing nature of the Tower of Babel.
[15:49] Nimrod's garbled speech. Hebrew? Arabic? Pentecostal tongues?
[19:31] Three reversals in this passage: Biblical material in place of classical material, Nimrod as a piece of art from St. Peter's, and Nimrod as Roland, the tragic hero of chivalry.
[25:25] Four curiosities in this passage: "nature" v. the creator, fig leaves, Frisians, and Virgil's direct address to Nimrod.
[33:30] Fictional space as liminal space.
[37:25] Rereading INFERNO, Canto XXXI, lines 46 - 81.