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Lust is an human emotion characterized by a heightened state of sexual desire or arousal. It is generally used in relation to love, which denotes more of an emotional connection to the partner, whereas lust is generally considered to be largely, or even exclusively physical in nature.

In religion

In Dante's Inferno, the first Canticle of the Divine Comedy, the lustful are punished by being continuously swept around in a whirlwind, which symbolizes their passions. Penitents who are guilty of lust, like the two famous lovers, Paolo and Francesca, cannot cleanse their soul of this sin and will never purge their minds from their lustful desire.^{citation needed}

Iconography

A frequent visual symbol for the sin of lust is the color blue.^{citation needed} Another symbol of lust is the animal cow (or bull). An example of this appears in the engraving Shamelessness¹ by the 16th century artist Georg Pencz.^{citation needed}

Judaism

In traditional Judaism, nothing on Earth was created without a purpose. This includes basic human drives. Lust is only sinful when it is after another man's possessions or wife. Thus, the word lust retains its original meaning. Many argue, however, that the difference between this and the Christian viewpoint is merely one of semantics.

See also

References

Further reading

• Froböse, Gabriele, Rolf Froböse, and Michael Gross (translator). Lust and Love: Is it more than Chemistry? Royal Society of Chemistry, 2006. ISBN 0-85404-867-7.

External links

Look up lust in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust" National Public Radio feature
• "A New Look at Lust: The Secular View"