Tag: vengeance

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (c. 1612)

153 words

The tally of crimes is no neural vice
Cursing enemies no wasted locution
Stowing grudges far beyond their price
If some day it yields retribution
Count all transgressions — ten fingers ten toes
Enough fists and boots to keep score
Should amnesty to amnesia transpose
True injustice is laid bare to abhor
Should the piety of indifference be
What lets Christians rest on their laurels
I’d sooner say it’s clearer to see
When you’re perched atop former quarrels (more…)

Promotional image from the UK’s Almeida Theatre production of The Duchess of Malfi (performed from November 30, 2019 through January 25, 2020)

5,736 words

I. Classical Western Thought on Justice and Revenge

One of the most fascinating discussions to emerge from our collective Western inheritance concerns the definition of justice and the double-sided nature of justice or vengeance (personified memorably in pop culture through the literal “two-faced” character of Harvey Dent and his Janus-faced coin). Aristotle (384-322 BC) determined that “justice” had at least two different meanings: (more…)