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October 2019

October 05, 2019

Beware the Magi and Tyrant-Makers (Reflections on Republic IX)

They are so dangerous Plato invented a word for them: Tyrant-Makers.* What do tyrant makers...

October 03, 2019

Our Leaders Should Be Happy, Not Happy (Republic IV)

Let’s see justice and become just. This is so uncontroversial, we might be bored. We...

October 02, 2019

“How does Hamlet think?” Or Ratiocination Goodish

The Beauty of Ratiocination Ratiocination, precise thinking, is rare, too rare. As a result of...

October 01, 2019

Failing Love or Falling in Love or Why Hamlet Should Have Married Ophelia and Moved to England

Love is better than fear, revenge is not justice, and sometimes you should get away...

September 2019

September 24, 2019

No Orcs: George Von Trapp

There are no orcs in a real war. Humans fight and die in a war,...

September 23, 2019

Moving with God: Barnaby Rudge

Barnaby Rudge defies Hollywood and shows the Victorians were better than we are in at...

September 19, 2019

On Trust (Daniel Webster Davis)

I CAN TRUST I can not see why trials come, And sorrows follow thick and...

September 18, 2019

Nobody Can Bid Anybody to Be Hermione, but God What a Mercy That Some People Are

“The arts,” we were told, “are the soul of the city.” And this was the...

September 17, 2019

Love’s Dream (Romeo and Juliet)

Beware a love or a life based on mere dreams. God may speak in dreams,...

September 16, 2019

Love of Place and People (Shakespeares’s Richard II)

Times were bad, but rebellion was not the answer. Truly gruesome people often rise to...

September 15, 2019

Frittering Away The Kingdom in a Party (Shakespeare’s Richard II)

Richard II, at least as portrayed by Shakespeare, frittered away his Kingdom on trivial pursuits...

September 13, 2019

Plato, the Soul, and Christianity

Plato is misunderstood more than read. Thank the Demiurge, a few seek understanding and not...

September 12, 2019

Sappho: The Beauty of Eros

Sappho, according to the little we have of her writings, knows the power of mighty...

September 11, 2019

The Joy of Unexpected Mercy: Life’s Comedy of Errors

Mercy cannot be demanded. Mercy is a gift, not a debt. Mercy is what God...

September 10, 2019

A Comedy of Errors: the Improbable Happens OR the Man Who Knows Himself in God Will Be Saved from Errors

Reasonable Confusion? Who is that? Once I was on a jury where a juror confused...

September 07, 2019

Prosper and Repent (Richard III)

Perhaps we can find someone to do some evil for us that good may abound...

September 06, 2019

Prophesy: Wait and See

A perpetual error of humankind is to think that knowing the future would help us...

September 05, 2019

A Saint for Our Leader? (The Problem of Winning and Shakespeare’s Henry VI)

I have been told Americans elect a president and not a pastor. This is true:...

September 04, 2019

Dishonor, Death, and Jollification (Henry IV Part 1)

Being honorable, at least in death, is a hard calling, but not one that is...

September 03, 2019

Finding Someone Else to Hate (Henry IV, Part I)

Beware the temptation to find unity in hatred of a common foe. Shakespeare starts his...

September 02, 2019

The Failure of the Odyssey and the Need for Hope

We need hope, badly. Is there hope for a happy ending in reality? Can a...

September 01, 2019

Labor Day and Honest Toil: Pig Herders Over False Nobility

God save the swineherds. If you have read the excellent Prydain series, and you should, then...

August 2019

August 31, 2019

Calling Up Hades: the 411

The lure of secret knowledge destroyed Poe, warped Lovecraft, wounded Machen,and left Charles Williams less...

August 30, 2019

Don’t Be Elpenor: Some Ways of Failing the Hero with One Particularly Silly One

Once I was asked how people managed to hang around Jesus and miss Him. Having...

August 29, 2019

Listening to the Story: Taking Time for The Bards, Becoming a Bard

“Tell us a story.” We asked Dad for a story often and he was ready....

August 28, 2019

Ancient Witches XIV (Guest Voice: James Harrington)

I asked for new voices and got some outstanding writers! Today we hear from the...

August 27, 2019

Spoiling (Song of Solomon, Troy, and Movies)

Spoiled Films (Mild Spoilers of Pride and Prejudice Ahead) Say anything about a film, even...

August 26, 2019

On Rewinding a Video, Helen of Troy, and Being Kind

Be Kind, Rewind If you are a certain age (old), then you recall “videos” ....

August 25, 2019

A Dialog with a Critic: When Athens Met Jerusalem

Christianity is “a strange Asian religion ... grafted onto” Western civilization. The Greek and Roman...

August 24, 2019

A Dialog with a Critic: Athens Without Jerusalem (Guest Voice: Jeff WIlliams)

On occasion one meets a critic who is thoughtful and argues an old idea in...