Discussion about this post

User's avatar
CC's avatar

Lovely! ‘Though I recall crazed, leftie Meryl Streep who melts down anytime someone mentions ‘Republican’ or ‘Trump’ - played Blixen in the movie…not sure if I could stomach watching her for that long again…best to just read the book.

Expand full comment
Terry Quist's avatar

Beautiful essay.

It was a commonplace in the ancient world to quote and paraphrase the apothegm: "Count no man happy until he is dead." One variant occurs in Sophocles' "Trachiniae," where the wife of Herakles says:

"“λόγος μὲν ἔστ’ ἀρχαῖος ἀνθρώπων φανεὶς

ὡς οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν’ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν, πρὶν ἂν

θάνῃ τις, οὔτ’ εἰ χρηστὸς οὔτ’ εἴ τῳ κακός·

“There has long been a saying among men

That you could not be sure about the life of mortals, until

One dies, whether he had a good one or a bad one;”

Blixen flips the script in a manner the ancients could not. Faith promises the end will be good, even if we do not live to see the stork.

Expand full comment
1 more comment...

No posts