Dorothy L. Sayers

from her Commentary included in her translation of

The Comedy of Dante Alighieri The Florentine

Cantica II PURGATORY

Penguin Books Ltd, London1955.

Commentary on the Images in Canto XXIII

Gluttony (Gula). The sin of Gluttony is--specifically--an undue attention to the pleasures of the palate, whether by sheer excess in eating and drinking, or by the opposite fault of fastidiousness. More generally, it includes all over-indulgence in bodily comforts--the concentration, whether jovial or fretful, on a "high standard of living." It is accordingly purged by starvation within sight of plenty.

Since Gluttony tends to be, on the whole, a warm-hearted and companionable sin, often resulting from, and in, a mistaken notion of good-fellowship, it is placed higher than the egotistical and cold-hearted sins. (Compare the corresponding classification in Hell).