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?

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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