A recent comment by John of Salisbury made me think: “Not only were these scholars unable to drive out the bad scholars, but in combating insanity, they temporarily became insane…” I thought about this question in relation to other questions or comments relating to the “inner struggle” of the … Continue reading
Western Social Order
Cologero points out that quibbling over minor points of philosophy & actualizing states of being are not equivalent for the noble character. That is, philosophical debate is not for the gentleman, beyond a certain point. Surely the West (as such) was built upon such a a fundamental impulse, as the … Continue reading
The Christian Social Order & Pythagoras
Christopher Ferrara gives a very basic, but nonetheless interesting tour of Western civilization here. I hadn’t heard of Werner Jaeger, but I’ve ordered his three volume set. One sentence really springs to mind: “The State was the atmosphere within which the soul breathed”. This was the common link or identical … Continue reading
The Twelfth and Final Labor
Cerberus We have finally arrived at the last leg of the journey in the Dodekathalon. Hercules is given a final test, as he “cheated” on two of the earlier ones, and this one is meant, not to test his mettle, but to ruin and destroy him. There is a chance, … Continue reading
The Apples of the Hesperides – Hercules’ Eleventh Labor
With the ancients, we affirm that no man consciously would will Evil. Which is why it is the duty of every man of Order to subdue himself, that when he creates, he may create according to the whole Eye of Light, perceiving the Logos not through a glass darkly, but almost face-to-face. Continue reading
Call Down the Sun – Hercules X
Now things are getting more interesting, in even a conventional sense. Hercules sets out upon his tenth labor. Up until now, we have issued many cautions about ascribing to the hero anything in a merely or even a primarily external sense. But when the hero calls down the power of … Continue reading
Restoration, Revival, Renaissance
The order of these nouns is deliberate. Secular humanists desire to have the last without either of the first two, particularly and most insistently, the first. Christians are generally unconcerned or even aware of the first, & if it is brought to their attention, they become truculent. The third also … Continue reading
Hercules’ Ninth – The Girdle of Hippolyta
Thucydides the Athenian notes that of pre-history, he is obliged to accept what the poets say, although certainly this is unsatisfactory, and the poets are not to be trusted. Since Thucydides was an Athenian, he presumably shared in the general blase attitude which they took towards the rites and rituals. … Continue reading
Endgame
When one begins to experience the full effect of the “Times” we live in, it becomes obvious that there are a multitude of factors at work. Cologero has pointed out the increasing complexity and speed of events in the Kali Yuga. Although at first and superficial glance this would strike … Continue reading
Hercules’ Seventh Triumph
As I have argued, Hercules has decisively “come into his own”: he has achieved the unstated goal of the classical polis, which was to become an Aristotelian unequal. He is not yet equal to gods, but he no longer lives under mortal law, because he has suffered its stroke, and … Continue reading