Alexander Schmid Podcast

In this lecture we (a) conclude the analysis by Marco Lombardo of the relationship between the influence of the stars and free will; (b) we observe examples of the expiating virtue of "gentleness/meekness" and the vice of wrath; (c) we then spend the middle cantos of "Purgatorio" (and the entire Divine Comedy 16-17; 50-51) considering free will and its relationship to natural and rational love (one must liberate one's will in order to love appropriately, not enslaved by error or sin); Note: Technically, the true center of Dante's "Purgatorio"/"The Divine Comedy" is Canto 16 where Dante's consideration of free-will is. Canto 17, thus, shows the appropriate use of the free will: rationally loving what is appropriate (the correct object) with appropriate vigor (neither too much: avarice, gluttony, lust), nor too little (sloth). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we (a) consider "The Returns" and which Achaians encounter difficulties on the way home and at home; (b) we consider the situation Odysseus finds himself in at the beginning of "The Odyssey"; and (c) we examine the proem (first ten lines) of the poem before embarking upon the narrative itself! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we (a) review the structure of Purgatory proper: (1) exemplary art, (2) penitent sinners, (3) vicious art; (b) we observed examples of love/charity as expiating virtue to envy and considered the nature of envy through (1) historical personages and (2) examples of envy in art (from the Old Testament (Cain and Abel) and Greco-Roman tradition (Aglauros and Herse); (c) we conclude by ascending to the acrid smoke and darkness of Cornice 3: Wrath, and there we meet Marco Lombardo and determine the relationship between free-will and astrology. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss the events which take place between Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Specifically, we consider (a) the events of the lost epic "Aethiopis", and we see the fall of Penthesilea, Memnon, Antilochos, and Achilleus; next (b) we observe the cunning of Odysseus in the "contest of the arms of Achilleus" and his part in the making of the Trojan horse; (c) we conclude the day by witnessing "The Sack of Ilium" and the deaths and abductions of many Trojans we came to know during Homer's "Iliad".  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) the difference between vices and sins, (b) the structure of the terraces of Purgatory proper: (1) exemplary virtue in art, (2) sinner in process of expiation, (3) exemplary vice in art; and (c) we observed the art and sinners themselves in the Terrace of the Proud and a representative sinner of the Terrace of Envy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we (a) revisit the dying speech of Hektor, (b) observe connections between Priam's journey to Achilleus' camp and a journey to the underworld (Hades), and (c) witness Achilleus regain his compassion and humanity while we (and Andromache, Hekabe, and Helen) sorrow over Hektor's death. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss: (a) the late-repentant: unabsolved/violent death with Buonconte da Montefeltro and Pia Tolomei; (b) the late-repentant: negligent with Sordello; and (c) we consider the drama of the angels and serpent, the gate of Purgatory, and various ways Dante portrays the purgatorial act by means of allegory. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss: (a) the rage of Achilleus: his capture of twelve Trojan youths, and his savage killing of Polydoros (Bk 20), Lykaon (Bk 21), and Asteropaios; (b) Achilleus' feud with the river-god Xanthos and the Theomachy (Bk 21); (c) and the battle between Achilleus and Hektor (Bk 22). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture we discuss (a) the major themes of Purgatory, especially rebirth (renaissance, renovatio); (b) the angel, Cato, Casella, and putting the past (one's body, loves, and memories) behind one's self; and (c) Manfred and the excommunicated and Belacqua and the Late-Repentant due to apathy. Correction*: Belacqua is among the Late-Repentant: Apathetic (not Negligent as I erroneously said); the three types of Late-Repentant sinners are: (1) Apathetic (C4), (2) Unabsolved due to violent death (C5-C6), (3) Negligent (C6-C8), --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) the battle over Patroklos' body and Achilleus' armor, (b) the making and design of Achilleus' new armor and shield by Hephaistos (and Homer's use of ekphrasis); and (c) we witness the reconciliation between Achilleus and Agamemnon. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) structural similarities and differences between Dante's "Purgatorio" and Dante's "Inferno"; (b) we examine the presence of work, time, rest, hope, and transformation in Dante's "Purgatorio", and (c) we conclude by considering the steps of repentance and the two divisions of the first part of Purgatory, Ante-Purgatory: (a) the excommunicated and (b) the late-repentant. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we focus on (a) the decision of Achilleus to allow Patroklos to wear his armor and attempt to live-out his fate; (b) the epic battle between Sarpedon and Patroklos, and (c) we witness the beginning of the end for the Trojans: the epic of fall of Patroklos. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we conclude Dante's "Inferno". First (a) we climb down and then up Satan's legs and explain the "reorienting" nature of the journey and transition between hemispheres; (b) we consider Dante's view, allegorically interpreted, of the source of all evil, and (c) we observe Dante and Virgil's emergence outside again where they can, allegorically and literally interpreted, contemplate the stars together. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we consider the entirety of Dante's "Inferno" with particular respect given to: (a) structural aspects of Dante's "The Divine Comedy";(b) outlining all the circles, one through nine, and major characters and figures within them, (c) major geographical features of Hell, and (d) major themes of Dante's "Inferno". --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we consider (a) Hera's plan to seduce and distract Zeus from Poseidon's disobedience on the battlefield; (b) the decision of Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus to rally the troops, though they are injured; and (c) Zeus lays out the workings of fate and shares how the deaths of Sarpedon, Patroklos, and Hektor will lead to the fall of Troy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) Ptolomaea and Fra. Alberigo's deceptive dinner, (b) the entrance to the final region of Cocytus: Judecca, and (c) the vision and appearance of Lucifer and the traitors lodged eternally in his mouth, in an un-transformative feast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) Hektor's wild winning streak and his relationship to Poulydamas; (b) we witness the emergence of Poseidon against the will of Zeus and his help of the Achaians; and finally (c) we observe Hektor break through the Achaian wall and the hardest fighting so far between the Aiantes and the Trojan troops led by Hektor! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we consider (a) the giants their acts of transgressing as prefigurations of Lucifer's transgression; (b) we descend to the frozen river Cocytus and meet Bocca who has his name betrayed by another traitorous soul; and (c) we conclude by witnessing the false-sacramental feast of of Count Ugolino (Guelph) on the head of Archbishop Ruggieri (Ghibelline). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we discuss (a) the mounting injuries of the Achaians (Diomedes, Odysseus, Machaon, Eurypylos); (b) Patroklos' mission to Nestor, and Nestor deploys the full-force of his rhetorical appeals to valor, pity, and honor; and finally we conclude by examining (c) the choice Nestor asks Achilleus to make: return to the fighting or allow Patroklos to wear your armor, and this decision's potential consequences. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture we discuss, (a) Dolon's "folle volo" into the hands of Diomedes and Odysseus, (b) the fate of Rhesos and the Thracians, and (c) we move into Book XI (11) where we discuss Agamemnon's "aristeia" and (d) observe the tides of battle shift against the Achaians as the first of many major injuries occurs and Hektor takes the field. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support