Animals Representing the Seven Deadly Sins

ANIMALS REPRESENTING THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

Peacock

Crocodile

Tiger

Dog

Toad

Pig

Snake

 

Pride

The peacock has been used as a symbol of vanity and ostentation since ancient times, in English, certainly from the Middle Ages. Chaucer in The Reeve’s Tale c. 1387 wrote, “As any peacock he was proud,” thus the expression in English existed from at least the 14th century if not before.

https://idiomorigins.org/origin/proud-as-a-peacock

—“Origin of: Proud as a peacock,” Idiom Origins

 

Envy

“Beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”—Othello, Act III, Scene 3, 15

 

Anger

Tigers (Panthera tigris) are the biggest species of cat. These iconic, striped felines also grow up to 10 feet (3 m) long like lions, but tigers are heavier and can weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kg), according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

https://www.livescience.com/biggest-cats-in-the-world.html

—Patrick Pester, “Biggest cats in the world,” LIVESCIENCE, July 27, 2021

A ferocious predator at the top of the food chain, the tiger is a suitable representation of anger.

 

Sloth

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is an English-language pangram – a sentence that contains all the letters of the alphabet. The phrase is commonly used for touch-typing practice, testing typewriters and computer keyboards, displaying examples of fonts, and other applications involving text where the use of all letters in the alphabet is desired.

…The earliest known appearance of the phrase was in The Boston Journal. In an article titled “Current Notes” in the February 9, 1885, edition, the phrase is mentioned as a good practice sentence for writing students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_quick_brown_fox_jumps_over_the_lazy_dog#cite_note-1

—“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia

“Current Notes,” The Boston Journal (February 9, 1885), page 1:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Journal_1885-02-10.pdf

 

Greed

Mole, who had risen late and taken things very easy all day, was sitting on the bank fishing, when the Rat, who had been looking up his friends and gossiping, came strolling along to find him. “Heard the news?” he said. “There’s nothing else being talked about, all along the river bank. Toad went up to Town by an early train this morning. And he has ordered a large and very expensive motor-car.”

http://www.online-literature.com/grahame/windwillows/2/

—Kenneth Grahame, “Chapter 2: The Open Road, The Wind in the Willows,” The Literature Network

 

Gluttony

According to a study commissioned by the Agriculture and Horticultural Development Board, changes in the way pigs are being bred and reared is leading to the production of significantly thinner animals.

Pigs now have an average of 16 per cent fat by weight compared to 20 per cent around 20 years ago.

…Susan Jebb, Professor of diet and population health at Oxford University carried out a study which analysed the levels of fat found in nearly 400,000 middle-aged UK adults.

She told the Times: “If the average pig has 16 per cent body fat then for sure that is lower than the average person in the UK.”

The Professor’s study shows that a middle-aged man with the national average Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27.5, now has a 21 per cent to 25 per cent fat by weight ratio, while for the average woman the figure is 33 per cent to 38 per cent.

Fredrik Karpe, professor of metabolic medicine at Oxford University shared how the common saying “as fat as a pig” may no longer be applicable.

…“If pigs could talk they might well tell each other ‘You look as fat as a human.’”

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/pigs-fatter-humans-study-a4475996.html

—April Roach, “Telling porkies? Humans are becoming fatter than pigs, new study shows,” The Standard, June 22, 2020

 

Lust

The snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. (Genesis 3:1)

The snake, which tempted Eve, stands for temptations, of which one of the most difficult to resist is overpowering lust.