Sette Vizi Capitali - Tesina

I sette vizi capitali sono desideri ordinati verso lo spirito del male, cioè Satana, dai

quali tutti i peccati traggono origine e che causano la morte dell'anima. A questi sono

contrapposte le tre Virtù teologali (Fede, Speranza e Carità) e le quattro Virtù

cardinali (Giustizia, Fortezza, Temperanza, Prudenza).

L'elenco dei vizi fu analizzato dal primo Cristianesimo ad opera dei primi monaci, tra

cui Evagrio Pontico e Cassiano. A Evagrio si deve la prima classificazione dei vizi

capitali; egli individuò otto "spiriti o pensieri malvagi" (logismoi): gola, lussuria,

avarizia, ira, tristezza (inclusa nei vizi capitali durante il Medioevo dalla Chiesa , in

quanto questo sentimento indicava il non apprezzare le opere che Dio aveva compiuto per gli

, accidia, vanagloria e superbia. Il vizio dell'invidia fu aggiunto

uomini)

successivamente.

Gli otto vizi elencati da Evagrio furono ricondotti a sette nella tradizione occidentale e

per ricordarli si usa l'acronimo SALIGIA :

Superbia (desiderio irrefrenabile di essere superiori, fino al disprezzo di ordini, leggi,

rispetto altrui).

Avarizia (scarsa disponibilità a spendere e a donare ciò che si possiede).

Lussuria (desiderio irrefrenabile del piacere sessuale fine a se stesso).

Invidia (tristezza per il bene altrui, percepito come male proprio).

Gola (meglio conosciuta come ingordigia, abbandono ed esagerazione nei piaceri

della tavola, e non solo).

Ira (irrefrenabile desiderio di vendicare violentemente un torto subito).

Accidia (torpore malinconico, inerzia nel vivere e nel compiere opere di bene).

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GREED

Greed is the inordinate desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value

with the intention to keep it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival

and comfort. It is applied to a markedly high desire for and pursuit of wealth, status,

and power.

The sin of greed is best represented by

Ebenezer Scrooge, an old, greedy, selfish

and cold-hearted man. Ebenezer is the

protagonist of "A Christmas Carol", a short

story written by Charles Dickens (1812-

1870) and published in 1843.

Dickens always wrote about people and

situations of his time; his personal

experiences, first as a child when he had to

work to support his family and later as a

court reporter and a journalist, had made

him familiar with the harsh living working conditions of poor urban people. He

concentrates mostly on the detailed description of the setting. The use of his

experiences as a subject of his novels made him one of the most realistic writers of

the Victorian Age.

Dickens looked unfavourably at the new kind of society that was developing as a

result of the changes brought in England by the Industrial Revolution. In his view, one

the worst effects was that they fostered man's greed for money and material

possessions, killing his imaginative power and capacity to feel. For Dickens it was

only through love, goodness and philanthropy that the world could be improved.

"A Christmas Carol" has the mark of a fairy tale because of the presence of

supernatural elements in the form of ghosts, but it represents perfectly the other side

of the Victorian Age, the one behind the rich and developed England. Great Britain

was one of the most developed and powerful countries in the whole world, it was a

model to imitate for the other european countries. During the Victorian Age there

were many new inventions for the industry and scientific discoveries for the human

knowledge, for example Darwin's theory of evolution; but England wasn't the perfect

country. It is what we call the "victorian compromise" that characterized the

apparently rich country: in opposition to the developed side, there were poor people

that worked too much without getting paid enough to support their families. They

lived in the slams, small and unhygenical habitations, where the deseases could

spread out very fast; in fact a very big number

of workers died either in the factories or in the

slams.

Dickens has the tremendous capacity to

perfectly recreate a setting: he makes the

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reader feel, not only the atmosphere of Christmas time in London, but also be aware

of the poorness and the miserable conditions of the working class. Poorness makes

people understand the importance of money and its value, but men tend to become

greedy and afraid to lose their havings; they are selfish and careless, just like our

greedy man, Ebenezer Scrooge.

" <<There's another fellow,>> muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: <<my clerk, with

fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about merry Christmas. I'll retry to

Bedlam.

This linatic, in letting Scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in. They were prtly

gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge's office. They

had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him.

<<Scrooge and Marley's, I believe,>> said one of the gentlemen, referring to his

list.<<Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?>>

<<Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years,>> Scrooge replied. <<He died seven years

ago, this very night.>>

<<We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,>> said the

gentleman, presenting his credentials.

It certain was; for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous word 'liberality,' Scrooge

frowned, and shook his head, and handes the credentials back.

<<At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,>> said the gentleman, taking up a pen,

<<it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Pook

and Destitutes, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands of thousands are in

want of common comforts, sir.>>

<<Are there no prisons?>> asked Scrooge.

<<Plenty of prisons,>> said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

<<And the Union workhouses?>> demanded Scrooge. <<Are they still in operation?>>

<<They are. Still,>> returned the gentleman, <<I wish I could say they were not.>>

<<The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?>> said Scrooge.

<<Both very busy, sir.>>

<<Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in

their useful course.>> said Scrooge. <<I'm very glad to hear it.>>

<<Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the

multitude,>> returned the gentleman, <<a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to

buy the Poor some meat and drink. and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is

a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoice. What shall I put you

down for?>>

<<Nothing!>> Scrooge replied.

<<You wish to be anonymous?>>

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<<I wish to be left alone,>> said Scrooge. <<Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that

is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't affort to make idle people

merry. I help to support the establishment I have mentioned - they cost enough; and those

who are badly off must go there.>>

<<Many can't go there; and many would rather die.>>

<<If they would rather die,>> said Scrooge, <<they had better do it, and decrease the

surplus population. Besides - excuse me - I don't know that.>> "

In this extract, Scrooge is careless and irritated when he listens the request of the

two gentlemen, who try to convince him to donate some money to poor people. The

selfish man agrees with the spread of

prisons and workhouses, that, in that

time, were the most miserable places

where people unable to support

themselves were sent. Workhouses

were the manifestation of poverty in

England; children were the most

affected by them: in fact they were

separated from their families, if these

couldn't support them, and sent to

the parish workhouses. Charles

Dickens himself knew the meaning of

being a poor child.

Ebenezer Scrooge incarnates all of

the immoral behaviours that a man

could have. The night before

Christmas, Marley's ghost visits him

and tells him that he will be visited by

three spirits: the Ghost of Christmas

past, present and future. After these

encounters, Scrooge turns into a

cheerful, benevolent, charitable being

who cares for other people because

he understood the true meaning of life.

Dickens believes in the possibility of a change for the conditions of the lower social

class; he is optimistic and he trusts in progress and in the human capacity to

understand their faults.

"I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which

shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the

season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant,

C.D. December 1843."

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The purpose of this short story is to give a moral teaching to the lower class and

help them avoid bad habits and enjoy the true value of life: in fact it hides the

message of generosity, joy and human sympathy that he wanted to convey to his

public. The short novel is said to have been highly influential in making people aware

of the inhumanity of utilitarian economic doctrines and awakening their sense of

social justice. LUSSURIA

La lussuria è l'abbandono al piacere sessuale. È per i cattolici il "vizio impuro", al di

fuori della norma morale. Secondo le elaborazioni dottrinali della teologia morale del

Cattolicesimo, la lussuria è causa di svariati effetti negativi: ad esempio l'incapacità di

controllare le proprie passioni.

Nella dottrina cattolica classica, la lussuria è frutto della concupiscenza della carne

(al pari del peccato di gola e dell'accidia) ed infrange sia il Sesto Comandamento che

vieta di commettere atti impuri sia il Nono che riguarda il

desiderare la donna d'altri.

Nella religione pagana classica poteva essere al contrario

considerata un mezzo di contatto con il divino. Al tempo

stesso però esisteva il culto di Estia per i greci e Vesta

per i romani, che tutelavano il focolare familiare e

preservavano la castità.

Nel I secolo d.C., Roma era caratterizzata da una

decadenza dei costumi provocata, secondo Giovenale,

dai numerosi vizi di cui si stavano macchiando i cittadini

romani.

Decimo Giunio Giovenale, nato ad Aquino tra il 55 e il 60

d.C. e morto poco dopo il 127 d.C., si impegnò a scrivere i

suoi sedici Sermones, giuntici integri ad eccezione

dell'ultimo che è mutilo. La scelta di una poesia satirica non fu casuale: egli ne

afferma la necessità e la legittimità poichè essa si ispira alla realtà e mira a flagellare

le turpitudini e le ingiustizie della vita sociale. Egli denuncia i comportamenti della

società del suo tempo, da lui ritenuta

profondamente e irrimediabilmente corrotta. La

sua reazione alla corruzione non è oggetto di

meditazione razionale, ma di appassionata

condanna, la quale eccita la fantasia di ritrarre

vizi e turpitudini fino all'eccesso. Anche il suo

linguaggio si adegua alle figurazioni poetiche

con cui gli esemplari della lussuria, dell'avarizia,

della golosità e di ogni altro crimine vengono

presentati.

I Sermones si possono dividere in due gruppi: il

7 indignatio,

primo gruppo comprende le prime sette satire, caratterizzate dalla forte il

secondo gruppo, composto da tutte le altre satire, è caratterizzato dall'ironia, dallo

all'indignatio.

scherno e dalla beffa che subentrano

Lo sdegno di Giovenale si trasforma in un'ira sempre più violenta suscitata dalla

mos maiorum,

decadenza del causata principalmente dalla corruzione delle donne, le

quali rappresentano la lussuria senza freni.

La satira VI è dedicata alla descrizione esagerata di una serie di figure femminili che

peccano di lussuria; è un'apparente atto d'accusa contro il sesso femminile. Non si

tratta tuttavia soltanto di una veemente ed enciclopedica espressione di misoginia,

uxor

ma soprattutto di un'imponente requisitoria contro la donna in quanto o

uxor.

potenziale Con una sorta di furia implacabile vengono

accumulate le imputazioni più varie che

vanno da comportamenti fastidiosi o poco

decorosi, a inclinazioni autoritarie e

sadiche, ad autentiche tendenze

delittuose. Giovenale tende ad ammassare

una schiacciante quantità di elementi che

dimostrino la degenerazione di una figura

essenziale della società romana. L'apice

meretrix