Antigone
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Why this hatred of authority?
Authority resembles those secret agents so dear to Graham Greene, who conceal their identity to avoid losing it further in a disastrous encounter. It still has a few devotees who cherish it and deploy considerable ingenuity to define it, redefine it, so that it is understood by its time. To this end, they draw it closer to the Continue reading
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Antigone, defiant and intimate (7/7. Love)
Part 7 and final part: Love. Antigone's desire is familial; she does not want to leave her brother unburied. Creon, on the other hand, desires to assert himself as king and demonstrate his power. Antigone prioritizes family ties, which embody love and reveal a person. Creon consolidates his power by signing a law that must... Continue reading
Antigone , stupidity , counter-revolution , ethics , history , intimacy , forgiveness , political correctness , religion , totalitarianism , tradition -
Antigone, defiant and intimate (5/7. Authority)
Part 5: Authority In ancient Greece, men knew and recognized themselves in the eyes of their family, their loved ones, their community. Women reserved for themselves the mirror, which was associated with beauty, femininity, and seduction. Reflection was everywhere. "There is no place that does not..." Continue reading
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Identify
Identity is divided, on the one hand, into a foundation that is within us, without which we can derive any particular merit—our nature and the education (culture) we have received—and, on the other hand, a constitutive movement of life that discovers elements not listed by our nature or our education, but which must continue reading
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What does it mean to be out of touch with reality?
The most illuminating example concerning human nature is found in the New Testament when Peter and Jesus Christ speak together, and Peter insists to his master that he believe his devotion is entirely sincere. Thus, Jesus tells him that before the rooster crows, he will have denied him three times. The first place Continue reading
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Antigone, defiant and intimate (4/7. Freedom)
Antigone did not come to life at dusk. Antigone was born with the dawn. It is at daybreak that Antigone becomes "anti," meaning facing, not against. With the retreat of the Argive army, Antigone emerges from the shadows where she could have remained all her life, not to solve the riddle of the Sphinx as her... Continue reading
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The funeral
Funerals serve to target, with diabolical precision, a dart that pierces the abscess of grief, allowing it to flow out gently and smoothly, like an IV drip for the sick. It hydrates those who remain on the shore of the living, bringing them the comfort of always being, in a way, with the deceased. Continue reading
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The meaning… of funerals
The contemporary world is aroused by the phrase "to make sense," a perfect translation of the Anglo-Saxon expression. It's comforting to repeat this phrase to ourselves, even though it doesn't really make sense. We thus gather little things that make sense, but what are these mini-meanings found on the ground almost by chance? What are these... Continue reading
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Beloved freedom!
Antigone is free, and since freedom is constantly being won, it would be accurate to say that Antigone is liberating herself, for one never finishes liberating oneself, and learning to liberate oneself. Freedom is the most repressed gift, for freedom embodies truth; it is the best interpreter of life. It tames destiny and calls forth... Continue reading
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The permanent conversion
Contrary to what is often said or believed, tradition requires constant conversion. Tradition is not a sinecure, a life spent at the spa! Tradition demands a perpetual effort. And even the most important effort of all: not to forget. Tradition only exists when it is alive, and to live it... Continue reading
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Antigone, defiant and intimate (6/7. The vocation)
So many stories about identity! The word appears neither in Greek epic nor in tragedy. Identity in Antigone's time was rooted in lineage and belonging to a city-state. Identity was imbued with rootedness. Family and city-state gathered under a virtual banner everything that the other needed to know about oneself. Continue reading
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Relativism is the horse trader!
Relativism proves to be a gentle companion. Relativism is like Father Donissan's horse dealer. One can travel in his company. He is never boring, he stays in his place, and he demonstrates unfailing empathy. However, he doesn't know compassion. Is that a problem? Rather, it's an advantage; he doesn't contradict, he agrees. Continue reading
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Becoming oneself…
Isn't becoming oneself always about becoming someone else? What can become of someone who doesn't journey toward who they truly are? We must constantly bridge the gap between who we are and who we believe ourselves to be. What can embody someone who doesn't know who they are? Continue reading
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The quest for identity
In its mad quest to make us believe that we can choose everything all the time, the modern era has methodically replaced being with having. Yet this logic, this ideology, has its limits: some things cannot be acquired, among them otherness. To live one's identity, to be who one is, to inhabit one's name, to allow intimacy and Continue reading