Canto XXXII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Divine Justice

  The frozen lake of Cocytus and the contrapasso of traitors being encased in ice reflects the perfect justice of God, where the coldness of their sins is mirrored in their punishment.

• Suffering and Compassion

  Dante's interactions with the shades, such as kicking Bocca's face and witnessing Ugolino's cannibalistic rage, highlight the tension between human empathy and the necessity of divine judgment.

Characters to notice

• Dante Alighieri

  The pilgrim narrator, who descends into the frozen Ninth Circle and interacts with the traitorous souls.

• Virgil

  Dante's guide, who accompanies him through Cocytus and pauses to let Dante question a shade.

• Camicion de' Pazzi

  A shade in Caïna who identifies himself and mentions waiting for Carlino to exonerate him.

• Bocca degli Abati

  A traitor in Antenora who refuses to give his name until another shade inadvertently reveals it.

• Count Ugolino

  Seen in the final scene, frozen in one hole with Archbishop Ruggieri, gnawing on his skull in eternal hatred.

Key passages

• “If I had rhymes both rough and stridulous, As were appropriate to the dismal hole Down upon which thrust all the other rocks, I would press out the juice of my conception More fully; but because I have them not, Not without fear I bring myself to speak;”

  If I had harsh and grating rhymes suited to this terrible pit that all the other rocks press down upon, I would fully express my thoughts; but lacking them, I speak with fear.

  Dante acknowledges the difficulty of describing the Ninth Circle and invokes the Muses for aid.

• “And as to croak the frog doth place himself With muzzle out of water—when is dreaming Of gleaning oftentimes the peasant-girl— Livid, as far down as where shame appears, Were the disconsolate shades within the ice, Setting their teeth unto the note of storks.”

  Just as a frog sticks its snout out of water to croak while the peasant girl dreams of gleaning, the miserable shades in the ice were livid up to where shame shows, chattering their teeth like storks.

  Dante describes the frozen shades with their heads protruding from the ice, their teeth chattering from the cold.

• “And one, who had by reason of the cold Lost both his ears, still with his visage downward, Said: 'Why dost thou so mirror thyself in us? If thou desire to know who these two are, The valley whence Bisenzio descends Belonged to them and to their father Albert. They from one body came, and all Caïna Thou shalt search through, and shalt not find a shade More worthy to be fixed in gelatine;'”

  One shade, who had lost both ears from the cold, said with his face down: 'Why do you stare at us? If you want to know who these two are, the valley where the Bisenzio river flows belonged to them and their father Albert. They were brothers, and you will not find a shade in all of Caïna more deserving to be fixed in ice.'

  Camicion de' Pazzi identifies two brothers (often identified as Alessandro and Napoleone degli Alberti) who killed each other.

• “Then by the scalp behind I seized upon him, And said: 'It must needs be thou name thyself, Or not a hair remain upon thee here.' Whence he to me: 'Though thou strip off my hair, I will not tell thee who I am, nor show thee, If on my head a thousand times thou fall.'”

  Then I grabbed him by the hair and said: 'You must tell me your name, or you won't have a hair left.' He replied: 'Even if you tear out all my hair, I won't tell you who I am, even if you strike my head a thousand times.'

  Dante violently threatens Bocca degli Abati to force him to reveal his identity.

• “And even as bread through hunger is devoured, The uppermost on the other set his teeth, There where the brain is to the nape united. Not in another fashion Tydeus gnawed The temples of Menalippus in disdain, Than that one did the skull and the other things.”

  Just as bread is eaten by a starving person, the one on top set his teeth into the other's skull at the base of the brain. In the same way Tydeus gnawed the temples of Menalippus in rage, so this one gnawed the skull and other parts.

  Dante compares Count Ugolino's gnawing of Archbishop Ruggieri's skull to the mythological story of Tydeus, emphasizing the depth of Ugolino's hatred.