About this episode

Dcn. Harrison Garlick and Dr. Sarah Berry discuss Acedia, Avarice, and Gluttony in Cantos 18-22 of the Purgatorio.

Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick and Dr. Sarah Berry of the University of Dallas discuss Acedia, Avarice, and part of Gluttony in Cantos 18-22 of the Purgatorio. Visit thegreatbookspodcast.com for more information! Check out our GUIDE to the Purgatorio ! Dr. Sarah Berry joins Deacon Harrison Garlick to explore Cantos 18–22, covering the terrace of sloth (acedia) and the transition into avarice and prodigality. In Canto 18, Virgil delivers a pivotal discourse on love as the root of all human action, explaining that love can be misdirected (pride, envy, wrath), deficient (sloth), or excessive (avarice, gluttony, lust). Berry emphasizes the terrace’s brevity and lack of a formal prayer: “their prayers are their action... the penitents too... are doing the thing as a way of offering up some kind of prayer to God” (Dr. Sarah Berry), with running souls and examples of zeal (Mary’s haste to Elizabeth, Caesar’s swift march) countering sloth’s cooling of love. The dream of the siren in Canto 19 warns against deceptive earthly goods, while the face-down penance on the avarice terrace forces fixation on the earth once loved excessively: “these are those who…

People in this episode

Host: Harrison Garlick

Guest: Dr. Sarah Berry

Topics covered

• Acedia
• Avarice
• Purgatorio
• Cantos 18-22
• Sloth
• Love
• Consequences of Greed

Keywords

• Purgatorio
• Acedia
• Avarice
• Cantos 18-22
• Virgil
• Sloth
• Greed
• Consequences

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Dallas

Books & works: Purgatorio

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