The Iliad is the only poem I know which is directly and exactly about
this -- this being the fact that the worst thing that can happen to
anyone is going to happen to me, and I've done nothing to deserve it.
("But, but..." I hear someone from over in the corner saying, "it's
going to happen to everyone!" What difference does that make?)
I still haven't figured out the answer The Iliad gives, but it does
seem to be the only literature within my experience, along with the
writings of Freud and maybe Sophocles' Oedipus plays, that makes a
serious case that it's possible to live sanely without denial. Of
course come to think of it, those three bodies of work are all
related. So maybe they will help. Well, as Philip Larkin said in a
related context, we shall find out.
But I shouldn't make an unrelievedly gloomy posting at this festive
season, so I append my favorite joke on "this:"
Q: What do you want to be written on your tombstone?
A: HE'S NOT HERE YET
Also now that I think of it, db's complaint about the venality of the
clergy recalls Woody Allen's line, "I keep wondering if there's an
afterlife and if there is, will you be able to get a plumber on
weekends."
My best wishes to all for the denominational or secular holiday of your choice.
