Young Heretics

We're in hell for real now. Dante enters the circle of the lustful, where the sinister King Minos strips souls naked and condemns them to their proper place. What does that mean? What does it mean to be "evil-born," and what does Dante show us about the nature of lust? Not, it turns out, that its wages are physical or sexual suffering, but that it has to do with broken love and broken communities--betrayal, rebellion, and adultery. Not that Dante's off the hook himself: in one of the poem's most famous episodes, the pilgrim is brought face-to-face with his own role in tempting others. Because art's not a game, and poetry has consequences.
Plus: a mailbag question! Which Greek plays should you read?
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP
Get the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation: https://amzn.to/4wPbiK7
Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj
Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s
Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR
Read my (various) reviews of Nolan's Odyssey: https://wapo.st/4wHArGy
https://open.substack.com/pub/wsjfreeexpression/p/what-nolans-odyssey-leaves-out
https://www.thefp.com/p/there-is-good-and-evil-christopher
Bacchae: https://amzn.to/4fqwhMw
Oresteia: https://amzn.to/4wdRGzI
Clouds: https://amzn.to/4whfJhi
Theban Plays: https://amzn.to/44ESdOX
00:00 Introduction
02:50 King Minos's Judgement – The Soul Laid Bare
20:35 Plato and the Myth of King Minos
29:43 Dante Enters the Second Circle: Lust
43:54 Doomed Lovers and Heroes, The Fallen to Lust
1:02:08 Details of the Longfellow Translation
1:04:21 Mailbag Question: Reading Recs

Hell is murky. Today we enter limbo, which is technically the least painful section of hell but actually leaves me with some of the toughest questions in the poem. What does Dante make--what do Christians in general make--of all the noble, wise, and humane people who apparently lived outside the reach of Christ? Were they outside His reach? Are human virtues enough to save us? If so, why aren't we doing better?? Dante, in his characteristic way, rachets these questions up to 11 and then moves through them subtly, confoundingly, and above all, beautifully. His poetry leads us to contemplate what it might look like for God's justice and God's mercy to become one.
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP
Read my review of Backrooms: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-kids-who-grew-up-online-are-coming-for-hollywood-backrooms
Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj
Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s
Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR
00:00 Introduction 
01:05 Canto 3: Hell's Vestibule 
24:25 Appetites and Inhabitants of Hell 
44:22 Tragedies of Futility and Fate 
56:28 Mailbag: Meditations on Suffering 
1:09:56 Closing Remarks

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE: We've made it at last to the gates of hell, and we're on our way to the river of Acheron. On the way, we'll meet the "neutrals" and the cowards—those who never lived and have no names. From here on out, the poem becomes a horror movie. But in this episode, I want to show you just how deep the horror goes. Worms and flames are just the beginning: it's the spiritual deformities that the torments represent that make them truly chilling. Then, Dante goes off the chain in a set piece that establishes him as one of the all-time epic greats, as souls like fallen leaves come streaming down to the river of death.
Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj
Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s
Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR
00:00 Introduction 
01:05 Canto 3: Hell's Vestibule 
24:25 Appetites and Inhabitants of Hell 
44:22 Tragedies of Futility and Fate 
56:28 Mailbag: Meditations on Suffering 
1:09:56 Closing Remarks

Where can I find a woman like...Dante's girl? On this episode of Young Heretics, we finally get the high-fallutin' invocation of the Muses we've come to expect from any epic poem. But it's not enough! Dante needs more woman than the Muses can be...more grace, more truth, more light. And it comes from on high--first from the Virgin Mary, then Sainty Lucy, then finally his beautiful, his famous, his beloved Beatrice. Today we introduce this central figure in the Comedy, inspiration of Dante's career and "lady of his mind." We'll talk about the Muses, memory, and the communion of saints. And hopefully by the end, we'll see how much courtly love meant to the poets of this age--and how much, perhaps, it can mean to us.
Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj
Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:59 Dante's Girl
06:11 Invocation of the Muses
21:09 Beatrice and Saint Lucy
34:15 Courtly Love
50:32 Formal and Final Corner
1:01:14 Closing Remarks

I'm very pleased to introduce a new Young Heretics feature. Since I've been teaching at the University of Austin, Texas, I've had the chance to get to know some brilliant, energetic, and charismatic professors. And none more so than J.J. Kimche, assistant professor of religion and philosophy. I got together with J.J. while in Austin for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation on the intertwining histories of science and religion. Does faith inform, or compete with science? Does science enrich, or undermine faith? We talked about where things are headed now and how the liberal arts can inform our high-tech age. This is the first of hopefully many conversations I'll record with J.J. and other UATX professors as part of my ongoing work at the university. Enjoy!
Sign up for J.J.'s newsletter, "The Jew from Nowhere": https://firstthings.com/introducing-the-jew-from-nowhere/
Check out the NEW episode of Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Take a look at my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science through Faith: https://amzn.to/4mN9vBP