Avarice–greed, lust for material gain–is one of the iniquities that most incurs Dante’s scornful wrath. Consistent with the biblical saying that avarice is “the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10), medieval Christian thought viewed the sin as most offensive to the spirit of love; Dante goes even further in blaming avarice for ethical and political corruption in his society. Ciacco identifies avarice–along with pride and envy–as one of the primary vices enflaming Florentine hearts (Inf. 6.74-5), and the poet consistently condemns greed and its effects throughout the Divine Comedy. Dante accordingly shows no mercy–unlike his attitude toward Francesca (lust) and Ciacco (gluttony)–in his selection of avarice as the capital sin punished in the fourth circle of hell (Inferno 7). He viciously presents the sin as a common vice of monks and church leaders (including cardinals and popes), and he further degrades the sinners by making them so physically squalid that they are unrecognizable to the travelers (Inf. 7.49-54). By defining the sin as “spending without measure” (7.42), Dante for the first time applies the classical principle of moderation (or the “golden mean”) to criticize excessive desire for a neutral object in both one direction (“closed fists”: avarice) and the other (spending too freely: prodigality). Fittingly, these two groups punish and insult one another in the afterlife.
 
Bron: danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu