Lust

Background

In Judaism, all evil inclinations and lusts of the flesh are characterized by Yetzer hara (the evil inclination). Yetzer hara is not a demonic force but man's misuse of things the physical body needs to survive, often contrasted with yetzer hatov (the positive desire). The Torah is considered the great antidote against this force, though the yetzer can be manipulated into doing good: without it, man would never marry, beget a child, build a house, or occupy himself in a trade.

In Christianity, the New Testament uses the Greek word ἐπιθυμέω (epithūméō) for lust, a general term for desire that appears in verses with no sexual connotation, such as desiring to see prophets or to eat the Passover. In Catholicism, lust is considered a disordered desire for sexual pleasure, where sexual pleasure is sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes. St. Thomas Aquinas differentiated sins of lust by magnitude, with bestiality as the most grievous, followed by sodomy, unnatural acts, incest, adultery, and seduction.

In Romanesque art, the personified Luxuria is generally feminine, often represented by a siren or a naked woman with breasts being bitten by snakes. For Dante, Luxuria was both the first circle of incontinence in hell and the last cornice of Mount Purgatory, representing excessive love of individuals. For Gregory and subsequent Thomists, the 'daughters' of Luxuria included mental blindness, self-love, haste, and excessive attachment to the present.