We now visit the Circle in Hell devoted to gluttons, though the word is misleading. “What this round is really about is greed and, in a specific sense, materialism. Its spirit is the conviction that life can only be satisfied by more and more stuff.” (Mark Vernon: Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey)
These shades are mired in filthy muck and are eternally battered by slimy, frigid rain. They are savaged by Cerebus. “In classical mythology Cerebus is a fierce three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld. He is the prototype of the gluttons, with his three howling, voracious throats that gulp down huge handfuls of muck. He has become Appetite and a s such he lays and mangles the spirits who reduced their lives to a satisfaction of appetite.” (Mark Musa, “The Portable Dante”)
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