We three beasts

So I am still stuck in Canto I of the Inferno.  Strange in that The Inferno is my least favorite of the books, but if I am going to milk this blog (and book), then I have to address what jumps out for me.  And recently it's been hanging out inthe dark forest.  Anyways, just before Dante is united with Virgil, he encounters three beasts; a Leopard, a Lion and a  Wolf.  There have been a variety of interpretations of what these beasts symbolize, but the common line is they represent lust pride and avarice respectively.  This is relatviely easy to recognize.  In Canto I, Dante meets the leopard, who is "very quick and lithe and covered in spotted hide."  The leopard, in all of its lusty litheness, obstructs Dante from his path several times.  It's fascinating that even before Dante is allowed to begin true physical, psychological and spiritual transformation, he is obstructed from initiating the process. 
After becoming frustrated at trying to find the path, the sun arises and Dante seemed to be looking forwarded to seeing the leopard again, which strengthens the case that the leopard does indeed represent lust.  However, Dante doesn't see the leopard.  He comes face to face with a lion. Dante says that "his head held high and ravenous with hunger-even the air around him seem to shudder."  It's the head held high line that clues most folks into the pride sin.  Well, that and the fact that we are trained to associate the lion with pride (it is, afterall, what we call a whole bunch of them).  Dante cowers before this menacing symbol, but is quickly confronted by the third beast, the wolf. He says that "she seemd to carry every craving in her leanness; she had aleady brought dispair to many."  So this is avarice, the unquenchable greed that has afflicted many before Dante. Dante was so afraid of the wolf that she actually scared him out of the light back into the darkness.  Very fascinating symbolic imagery.  Dante is clearly struggling with the very idea of examing these very human tendencies.  He is at the place so many of us are when we see the need to change.  We recognize our lives are filled with happiness, which is a great first step.  But that second step, actually doing something about it, is filled with fears.  We have to acknowledge the things that make us unhappy, even if it means staring down leopards, lions and wolves. Oh my.