In the Alps I am unconquerable, that is, when I am alone and have no enemy other than myself. — Nietzsche, letter to Malwida von Meysenburg
Friedrich Nietzsche remains the most enigmatic of philosophers. Claimed by both the political Left and Right over the 121 years since his death (by which time he had been incurably insane for 11 years), the Lutheran pastor’s son left a philosophical legacy which remains mysterious, and yet to the “philosophers of the future” for whom Nietzsche wrote, ultimately uplifting even in its ominous predictions for the Western culture to which he felt he was a physician. (more…)
“And there was the Odyssey, whose vigorously sonorous, measured numbers gave an intimation of a vanished, clearly articulated and joyous life.” – Hermann Hesse[1]
“An easily forgotten fact of cultural history [is] the radical, white-to-black, up-and-then-down variations in the periodic estimates of men and works. . . . To the Renaissance, Cicero was the supreme man of letters; today he has been banished even from the classroom.“ — Jacques Barzun[2](more…)
Für die Ältesten war Homer “der Anfang, die Mitte und das Ende”. Eine Weltanschauung und sogar eine Philosophie leiten sich implizit aus seinen Gedichten ab. Heraklit hat den kosmischen Sockel mit einer formulierung gut zu ihm zusammengefasst: “Das Universum, das für alle Wesen gleich ist, wurde von keinem Gott oder menschen geschaffen;sondern es war immer, ist und wird ewig lebendiges Feuer sein . . .”(more…)
Illustration of a firebird by Kay Nielsen in Hansel and Gretel & Other Stories (1925)
6,744 words
Yet more and greater ills by land remain. The coast, so long desir’d . . . Thy troops shall reach, but, having reach’d, repent. Wars, horrid wars, I view a field of blood, And Tiber rolling with a purple flood.
I hope Counter-Currents readers are enjoying the first flush of spring and continue to find moments of happiness despite all the petty Javerts in our midst. (more…)
Detail, Arnold Böcklin, Odysseus boasting to Polyphemus, 1896.
1,772 words
Anyone with a decent education knows that the Iliad and Odyssey concern the fall of Troy and the struggle of Odysseus against a series of eldritch terrors on his voyage homeward. The timeless appeal is clear; the style is quite gripping, which especially comes out if one has a good translation or happens to know Greek. (more…)
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Along with eating turkey and pumpkin pie, it is a day where I reflect on all the things that I am thankful for in my life. As our governments take advantage of the COVID lockdowns to impose draconian measures and the Great Reset, I found myself feeling more angry than thankful (more…)
The following is the text of a talk given in London on May 27, 2018 at The Poet at War, an event convened by Vortex Londinium.
“We want an European religion. Christianity is verminous with semitic infections. What we really believe is the pre-Christian element which Christianity has not stamped out . . .”[1](more…)
The following is the text of a talk Mr. Costello recently delivered to a small group of not-fully-red-pilled neophytes. — Greg Johnson
I have been asked to address the question, “what is the prevailing myth of the modern era?” In order to answer that question, we first have to distinguish between two senses of “myth.” (more…)
This essay was originally written almost exactly thirteen years ago. I have withheld it from publication for all these years, because I considered the ideas in it a bit too speculative and daring. (more…)
In retrospect, Aryans appear to have harbored a naïve faith in the natural relationship between reputation, fame, and merit. True, our conceptions served us well enough in our own world. But that was prior to the Age of Defamation. Now we see that fame, reputation, and moral worth can be completely unrelated. It is child’s play for dominant, cunning, and unscrupulous elites to destroy reputations, fabricate evidence and opinions, and reverse the judgments of history—and have their constructs stick, and be universally accepted.
Para os antigos, Homero era “o começo, o meio e o fim.” Uma visão do mundo e até mesmo uma filosofiaestão implicitamente contidas em seus poemas. Heráclito resumiu seu alicerce cósmico com uma frase bem colocada: (more…)
Giampietrino (school of Leonardo), “Diana the Huntress”
2,196 words
Translated by Giuliano Adriano Malvicini
Translator’s Note:
The following is an interview with Dominique Venner from 2001, originally published on the occasion of the release of his book Dictionnaire amoureux de la chasse. It seems fitting, as a last farewell, to let Dominique Venner himself speak.
Christopher Gérard: Who are you? How do you define yourself? A werewolf, a white falcon?
Dominique Venner: I am a Frenchman of Europe, or a European whose mother tongue is French, of Celtic and Germanic ancestry. (more…)
Δεν ξεχνώ ούτε μια στιγμή τους αγώνες της εποχής μας. Δεν ξεχνώ ούτε μια στιγμή τις μάχες του παρελθόντος που μας έκαναν αυτό που είμασθε. Δεν ξεχνώ ούτε μια στιγμή ότι το να υπάρχεις δεν σημαίνει μόνον να αφιερώνεσαι και να αφοσιώνεσαι , αλλά επίσης, να μάχεσαι. Ούτε ξεχνώ ότι η ζωή έχει έντονες στιγμές και ήρεμες στιγμές, χαρές και στεναχώριες.
The reasons for living and the reasons for dying are often the same. This was definitely the case for Dominique Venner, whose gesture aimed at bringing his life and death into deep accord. He said he chose to die in the way that was the most honorable in certain circumstances, particularly when words become powerless to describe, to express what we feel. (more…)
Em 1814, ao final das guerras Napoleônicas, Benjamin Constant escreveu com alívio: “Nós chegamos à era do comércio, à era que deve necessariamente substituir a da guerra, como a da guerra necessariamente tinha que precedê-la”. Ingênuo Benjamin! Ele tomou generalizada idéia de progresso indefinido, como promotora do advento da paz entre homens e nações.
Not for an instant do I forget the struggles of our time. Not for an instant do I forget the struggles of the past that made us who we are. Not for an instant do I forget that to exist is not just to dedicate and devote oneself but also to fight. Nor do I forget that life has intense moments and calm moments, joys and cruelties.
En 1814, al final de las Guerras Napoleónicas, Benjamin Constant escribió con alivio: “Hemos llegado a la era del comercio, la era que debe necesariamente reemplazar a la de la guerra, tal como la era de la guerra tuvo que necesariamente preceder.” ¡Iluso Benjamin! Asumió demasiado amplia la idea del progreso indefinido apoyando el advenimiento de la paz entre hombres y naciones.
“My goal is to create total enmity between our current ‘culture’ and Antiquity. Whoever wants to serve the former must hate the latter.”—Friedrich Nietzsche[1]
The Trojan Horse: Detail of the neck relief on an early 7th century BCE earthenware amphora from Mykonos
743 words
Translated by Greg Johnson
Current events sometimes offer striking examples of the unforeseen. Last spring, we were all shocked by images of one of the great and powerful looking despondent, his wrists shackled, having suddenly fallen from his perch of impunity. By means of the media, spectators felt that they were following much more than a single news event. (more…)
Arthur Koestler, the author of Le zéro et l’infini (in English, Darkness at Noon), once played an important role in the Spanish Civil War as an agent of the Comintern. Through his writings, he set the tone of an anti-Francoist propaganda that has endured. Later, his deceptions made him an acute critic of Stalinism. (more…)
In 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, Benjamin Constant wrote with relief: “We have arrived at the age of commerce, the age that must necessarily replace that of war, as the age of war necessarily had to precede it.” Naïve Benjamin! He took up the very widespread idea of indefinite progress supporting the advent of peace between men and nations.
After ten years of a very long siege, along with raids in the area, a quarrel opposed Agamemnon, chief of the Achaean coalition, and Achilles, the most famous hero of his camp. (more…)
Rembrandt, “Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer,” 1653
930 words
Translated by Greg Johnson, German translation here
For the Ancients, Homer was “the beginning, the middle, and the end.” A vision of the world and even a philosophy are implicitly contained in his poems. Heraclitus summarized his cosmic foundation with a well-turned phrase: “The universe, the same for all beings, was not created by any god or by any man; but it always was, is, and will be eternally living fire . . .” (more…)
), once played an important role in the Spanish Civil War as an agent of the Comintern. Through his writings, he set the tone of an anti-Francoist propaganda that has endured. Later, his deceptions made him an acute critic of Stalinism. 
