# Canto XIII: The Wood of the Suicides explained — The Divine Comedy

> Chapter companion for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

## What happens

Dante and Virgil enter the second round of the seventh circle, a dark and tangled wood of thorny trees where the souls of the violent against themselves (suicides) are imprisoned. Dante breaks a branch from a tree, causing it to bleed and speak. The tree reveals itself as Pier della Vigna, a former minister of Frederick II who committed suicide after being unjustly accused of treachery. He explains that suicides are transformed into trees and fed upon by Harpies, and at the Last Judgment their bodies will hang from their thorny forms. Two naked, fleeing souls—Lano and Jacopo da Sant' Andrea—are chased and torn apart by black mastiffs, and Jacopo hides behind a bush that turns out to be another suicide, who laments his fate and identifies himself as a Florentine who hanged himself in his own home.

## Themes in this chapter

### Divine Justice

The contrapasso of suicides being transformed into thorny trees, torn by Harpies, and denied reunion with their bodies at the Last Judgment reflects the justice of God.

### Suffering and Compassion

Dante's pity for the tormented souls, especially Pier della Vigna, highlights the tension between human compassion and divine punishment.

## Character check-ins

### Dante Alighieri

The pilgrim who, moved by pity, hesitates to question the suffering souls and must be prompted by Virgil.

### Virgil

Dante's guide who explains the nature of the wood and encourages Dante to speak with the souls.

### Peter Damiano

Not present; no character with this ID appears in the excerpt.

### Ciacco

Not present; no character with this ID appears in the excerpt.

### Farinata degli Uberti

Not present; no character with this ID appears in the excerpt.

### Brunetto Latini

Not present; no character with this ID appears in the excerpt.

## Key lines

> When the exasperated soul abandons / The body whence it rent itself away, / Minos consigns it to the seventh abyss.

When a soul in despair tears itself from its own body, Minos sends it to the seventh circle of Hell.

_Pier della Vigna explains the fate of suicides after death._

> I am the one who both keys had in keeping / Of Frederick’s heart, and turned them to and fro / So softly in unlocking and in locking, / That from his secrets most men I withheld.

I was the trusted chancellor of Emperor Frederick II, who kept his secrets and controlled access to his confidence.

_Pier della Vigna describes his former role as Frederick's loyal minister._

> Of my own house I made myself a gibbet.

I hanged myself in my own home.

_The Florentine suicide reveals the manner of his death._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se/chapters/canto-xiii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se/chapters