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Lust and Death. Words of natural extremes
It is a rather rainy Saturday morning here in the Northeast today, a perfect time to not reflect on the craziness of world around us, on the multiple tragedies that are unfolding in real time through human landscape , and instead switch to a more relaxing mental exercise, and continue our journey through Professor Stone’s book “Latin for the Illiterati” [2]. Two new expressions today to tease my own imagination , and, hopefully , yours. So let’s have a quick think.
word 15 — page 16
“Ardor”
As a noun, the expression can mean “a flame or heat from a flame”. The concept of fire is part of its essential meaning. This relation with the word “fire”, a force that can be both life giving as well as destructive, makes it easy to see the term “ardor” in supercharged way. All sorts of emotions can break out of our minds .
It may be culturally easy for you, dear reader, to associate the term with concepts like “Love”, “Lust”, and “Red Hot Steamy Sex”. The advertising and mass media industry has done an excellent job in creating this association. Sex sells. Sex “makes right”. Nothing new here. Consider looking back at the great Homeric epic. Helen of Troy was not just the unfortunate reason for the downfall of a powerful Aegean city-state. No, she was, outside of the pantheon of ancient Greek gods, a mortal sex symbol, the most desirable of desirables, a “red hot” creature of antiquity. Ardor was her second name. Or consider the history of jeans. [3]. Remember Anna Nicole, Brook Shields? They were sexy idols, sexy teasers, “social influencers” in today’s parlance which targeted the sensitivities, emotions and desires of both male and females.
“Ardor” can also lead to even darker thoughts. Just think about the countless ways and places in which a “red devil” trope has been used. Mischief, evil, deception. They are passions too, albeit ones that hurt and ultimately aim to destroy others.
The theme is quite pervasive. It is used to promote drinks and food alike. Look closely at the Red Bull logo. Look at the tail. Look at the color. Look at the sharpened horns. Yes, it is a non-anthropomorphic rendition of a…
