Areopagus Volume LIX

Seven short lessons every someday.

Welcome one and all to the fifty ninth volume of the Areopagus — and a somewhat atypical edition. Rather than the usual seven short lessons, I present for you this week something closer to an essay. I was ruminating on a famous old adage and found myself, suddenly, writing about it. But this is not merely a catalogue of my thoughts on the subject. It is, instead — I hope — a useful and interesting exploration of a particularly important theme, throughout history and across the globe, drawing on art and literature along the way. Your answers to last week's question will be rolled over to next week's Areopagus.

And with that being said, seeing as neither tides nor days wait for any man, let us begin...