7 Deadly Sins: Greed and Sloth

 As I said in one of my previous posts, right now I am researching more about each sin so that I know how to represent them. For this I am following the list of Dante Alighieri. I have already researched about the sins lust and gluttony and the next two sins are avaritia (greed) and acedia (sloth).

Avaritia (Greed)

The sin of greed is the desire that never fades. A desire for more and more - it can be more money, more material objects, wealth. Every man that purchases more than what he needs is greedy, it does not have to be necessarily only the rich ones, poor can also be greedy.

“He, who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates

Potwin H. (2010), Greed [oil on canvas]

Symbols

The sin of greed can be simbolize by the frog or the wolf: the frog is considered to be greedy because it lives not only in the water but also in earth; on the other hand, the wolf is known as greedy and insatiable. In the western society the dollar can also be a symbol, and the color yellow - the colour of the gold. The punishement is to be boiled "alive" in oil.

Acedia (sloth)

Normally, sloth is associated with laziness. However the sin of sloth can be much more than that, Brian Hedges defines the sin of sloth with four different features: carelessness, unwillingness to act,  half-hearted effort, and becoming easily discouraged by any possible difficulty. In other words, sloth can be refusing to do something or simply procrastinating. Any type of sloth is against the Bible.

Cadmus P. (1947), Sloth [oil on canvas]The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 901

Symbols

Although there is an animal called "sloth", the animal that represents this sin is the goat. It might also be associated with light blue, since this colour is commonly associated with "daydreaming". Moreover the punishment for those who are lazy is living in snake pit.

Reference:

Anciet symbols (n.d.), Seven Deadly Sins [online] Available from: https://www.ancient-symbols.com/symbols-by-subjects/seven-deadly-sins [Accessed 13.02.2021]

XRAYVSN (n.d.) The Seven Deadly Sins FIRE Edition: Avaritia/Greed [online] Available from:

https://xrayvsn.com/the-seven-deadly-sins-fire-edition-avaritia-greed/ [Accessed 13.02.2021]

Reference(2020), What Are the Symbols of the Seven Deadly Sins? [online] Available from: https://www.reference.com/world-view/symbols-seven-deadly-sins-3a88c9000bce447e [Accessed 06.02.2021]

Seven Cradinal Sins (n.d.), Seven Deadly Sins [online] Available from: https://sevencardinalsins.weebly.com/seven-sins.html# [Accessed 06.02.2021]

Vintage Church (2015) More than Laziness: The Deadly Sin of Sloth [online] Available from: http://www.vintagechurchnola.com/blog/2015/10/6/more-than-laziness-the-deadly-sin-of-sloth [Acceessed 13.02.2021]