Duplicity. “When Oedipus speaks he sometimes says something other than or even the opposite of what he thinks he is saying.” Yet “the ambiguity of what he says does not reflect a duplicity in his character, which is perfectly consistent, but, more profoundly, the duality of his being. He is double. He is himself a…
Category: Life
On Beauty and Perfection
Perfect is an adjective meaning thoroughly done (Latin per-fectus) and thereby done with care and eventually too, then, completed or free of fault. If, as a general rule, what is beautiful is that which is perfect, then neither everyone nor everything can be equally beautiful. Conversely, if, as a general rule, what is beautiful is…
Heraclitus
As we have seen elsewhere, experiencing the gods in Ancient Greece amounted to experiencing the ever-living within the ephemeral, hence the immanence of the sacred, its presence here and now. And we also know that, in this context, the poet is, to paraphrase Hölderlin, the priest of the immortal gods – s/he who sings their…
Of Poetry, Gods, Heroes & Mortal Things
The Greek gods are a matter of poetry. First, we know of them through the verses of various Ancient Greek poets; eventually poet-philosophers, but poets in any event. Secondly, their very presence – ultimately, their very being – makes sense in poetic terms alone. In other words: talking of the gods meant in Ancient Greece…