Pietro della Vigna, a character from Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is the focal point of this paper. Pietro’s introduced in the Inferno Canto XIII, corresponding to the Second Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. Of all characters that I have come across in the Divine Comedy, Pietro to me is extremely significant as he does not claim that he was wrongfully punished in hell but worries of being recognized as an unfaithful person in the world. The concept of this paper surrounds the idea of Pietro and Dante’s interactions in the Divine Comedy and how they benefit from their coinciding experiences.
Through his epic poem, Dante meets Pietro della Vigna in Inferno. When Dante reached ring two of the seventh circle he sees “No fresh green leaves but murky …show more content…
He was born around the year 1190 in Capua, Italy and studied law at the University of Bologna. He was in civil services, a judge, and the chief minister to the Emperor Frederick II. Unfortunately for Pietro, a few courtiers felt jealous of his continuous success and he became the target of a scandal. The envious people soon began to spread rumors about Pietro and a result of the hearsay in 1249, Pietro’s removed from office, arrested and sent to prison. After spending a little time as a prisoner Pietro could no longer live with the shame brought to his name, therefore he committed suicide by continuously banging his head on the prison wall. Pietro’s sentenced to hell on the account of suicide being a sin against oneself. Upon reaching a judgment, of where to send Pietro in hell, he is eventually sent to the seventh circle, second ring where the people who were violent against self are then sent. Here Minos transformed all the souls into thorn trees and later the Harpies continue to hurt them by pecking at the trees. Branch breaking is symbolic for all the souls to continue to feel pain when pecked. In Robin Kirkpatrick’s rendition of the Divine Comedy it states “We (as shall all), come Judgement Day, shall seek our cast-off spoil, yet not put on this vestment. Keeping what we tore off would not be fair. Our bodies we shall drag back here; and all around this melancholy grove they’ll swing, each on the thorn of shades that wrought them harm” (Inf. XIII, 103-108). On the souls, last judgment, they can repossess their bodies but the body is hung on their tree branch to constantly remind them how they discarded their bodies. Which is where Pietro waits patiently for someone to not only ask him about his story, but someone who can return to
Through his epic poem, Dante meets Pietro della Vigna in Inferno. When Dante reached ring two of the seventh circle he sees “No fresh green leaves but murky …show more content…
He was born around the year 1190 in Capua, Italy and studied law at the University of Bologna. He was in civil services, a judge, and the chief minister to the Emperor Frederick II. Unfortunately for Pietro, a few courtiers felt jealous of his continuous success and he became the target of a scandal. The envious people soon began to spread rumors about Pietro and a result of the hearsay in 1249, Pietro’s removed from office, arrested and sent to prison. After spending a little time as a prisoner Pietro could no longer live with the shame brought to his name, therefore he committed suicide by continuously banging his head on the prison wall. Pietro’s sentenced to hell on the account of suicide being a sin against oneself. Upon reaching a judgment, of where to send Pietro in hell, he is eventually sent to the seventh circle, second ring where the people who were violent against self are then sent. Here Minos transformed all the souls into thorn trees and later the Harpies continue to hurt them by pecking at the trees. Branch breaking is symbolic for all the souls to continue to feel pain when pecked. In Robin Kirkpatrick’s rendition of the Divine Comedy it states “We (as shall all), come Judgement Day, shall seek our cast-off spoil, yet not put on this vestment. Keeping what we tore off would not be fair. Our bodies we shall drag back here; and all around this melancholy grove they’ll swing, each on the thorn of shades that wrought them harm” (Inf. XIII, 103-108). On the souls, last judgment, they can repossess their bodies but the body is hung on their tree branch to constantly remind them how they discarded their bodies. Which is where Pietro waits patiently for someone to not only ask him about his story, but someone who can return to