Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus

Without the Gods of Food and Drink, The Goddess of Love Freezes:

Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus, Latin for Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes, or Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus, is a quotation from the Roman comedian Terence (c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC) that became a proverb in the Early Modern period. Its simplest level of meaning is that love needs food and wine to thrive. It was sometimes shown in art, especially in the period 1550–1630, in Northern Mannerism in Prague and the Low Countries, as well as by Rubens.

For almost 2000 years, they have been saying, take away food and pleasure, and the emotion of procreation goes cold. They didn’t get the epigenetics, but add in a little Lamarck to simulate epigenetic adaptation, and an understanding of how starvation also produces war, and you’d have had r/K Political Theory and the cycles of civilization two millennia ago.

But more importantly, when men’s hearts grow cold, it isn’t just love that dies. It is a whole boatload of people, most of whom will be rabbits.

All interesting to contemplate while pondering the house of cards that is our economic system, with it’s national debt, credit card debt, business and corporate debt, mortgage debt, student loan debt, and personal debt, all of which will hit the fan just as the economy tanks, everyone loses their jobs, and civil order diminishes dramatically.

Bacchus is going away for a long, long time. His friend Ares will be filling in for him.