“Plague All”: Timon of Athens

Last updated on: January 25, 2005 at 6:33 am By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION In style and form, Timon of Athens more resembles a medieval morality play than a Shakespearean tragedy. Timon is mentioned briefly in Plutarch?s life of Marc Antony and was the subject of a drama by Lucian, and by Shakespeare?s time was already a proverbial misanthrope. Shakespeare?s depiction of him is stark, moving, as Marjorie Garber puts it, from extreme philanthropy to extreme misanthropy. Even the staging is stark, a ?procession of sculpted figures?E(AD Nuttall). The play begins with the... Read more

“Plague All”: Timon of Athens

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm By Peter Leithart

Cross and Culture: Sacrifice and the Redemption of Society

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:51 pm By Peter Leithart

This is based on a lecture delivered at NSA several years ago. I have not been able to prepare this for publication, though I hope to do so someday. My title is ?Cross and Culture,?Ebut that needs to be made more specific. The cross is described in the New Testament in a variety of ways: It is a military operation, the Divine Warrior?s victory over Satan, sin, and death; it is an act of diplomacy, reconciling the world to God;... Read more

Thoughts on Midsummer Night’s Dream

Last updated on: January 24, 2005 at 8:35 pm By Peter Leithart

These comments reflect and build upon some private correspondence from James B. Jordan, August 2004. 1) Like many of Shakespeare plays, MSND works on an opposition between city and country, between the civilized world and a natural ?green world?E(Northrop Frye). Within the city, law rules, even thought it inhibits desire, love, and human happiness. It is an obstacle to human happiness. Outside the city is a world of fairy, the world of magic and grace that has the power to... Read more

Thoughts on Midsummer Night’s Dream

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:51 pm By Peter Leithart

Jeroboam and Saul

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:45 pm By Peter Leithart

In 1 Kings 14, Jeroboam’s wife goes disguised to visit a prophet from Shiloh, who announces the death of her son and the eventual destruction of his dynasty. Ahijah tells Jeroboam’s wife that another king will take the kingdom. In 1 Samuel 28, Saul goes disguised to visit a medium at Endor, who, he hopes, will be able to conjure Samuel, a prophet from Shiloh, who announces Saul’s death, the death of his sons, and the destruction of his dynasty.... Read more

Eucharistic Meditation, January 23

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:39 pm By Peter Leithart

1 Corinthians 5:7: Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Jeroboam?s dynasty, and the entire northern kingdom with it, was condemned from the beginning. No sooner had he led Israel out of the ?Egypt?Eof the house of David than he led them into an wilderness of idolatry. As we saw in the sermon this morning, Ahijah?s prophecy tells Jeroboam that his exodus is going to unravel: There will be no Passover for his son, and eventually Israel will be... Read more

Exhortation, January 23

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:40 pm By Peter Leithart

It looked like such a good idea. Jeroboam has been given ten tribes of Israel to rule, and he wants to keep them together. If the people of Israel continue to worship in the Jerusalem, their loyalties of his people will be divided and they might even plot to assassinate Jeroboam. The obvious solution, the reasonable solution, is to provide a place of worship closer to home, binding together the ten northern tribes by throne and altar. After all, Jeroboam... Read more

Notes on Timon of Athens

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

A few notes from JE Phillips, The State in Shakespeare’s Greek and Roman Plays . 1) Phillips repeatedly points out that the play depicts corruption flowing from the highest reaches of society downward. The Senators and nobility of Athens are deeply corrupted, unable to recognize and honor true nobility because they are consumed by greed. The entire social and political system of Athens is corrupted as a result. Thus, in Timon , Shakespeare is presenting a moral rather than a... Read more

NT Wright, Prophet

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

Speaking of Wright, there is a remarkably prophetic passage early in Jesus and the Victory of God where Wright seems to predict the response of some conservatives to his work. Enlightenment thought deployed history as a weapon to critique and dissolve theology (genealogically). Playing off the parable of the prodigal son, he describes the homecoming of history: The wastrel son, representing the Enlightenment, has rejected traditional Christian orthodoxy, and has set off for the apparently far country of historical scepticism.... Read more