Going to the Greek island of Ithaca, in the Ionan sea, is a strangely familiar experience, even if one sets foot on its soil for the first time. Is it the memory of Ulysses' (or Odysseus') travels around the Mediterranean, before he returned home? Or the imposing yet oddly welcoming scenery? One feels at home, making Ithaca the epitome of the German concept of
Heimat. Once the traveller leaves the island, he realises he can taste a sample of the nostalgia that Ulysses felt when away from his home. Anyone who has experienced exile keeps an Ithaca in their hearts. As the 16th century poet du Bellay put it: "Happy the man who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage, or has won the Golden Fleece, and then returns, experienced and knowledgeable, to spend the rest of his life among his family."
Aller dans l'ile grecque d'Ithaque dans la mer ionienne est une experience etrangement familiere, meme si l'on y pose le pied pour la premiere fois. Est-ce le souvenir des voyages d'Ulysse autour de la Mediterranee avant qu'il rentre chez lui? Ou les paysages, imposants mais singulierement accueillants? L'on se sent chez soi, ce qui fait d'Ithaque l'epitome du concept allemand de
Heimat. Une fois que le voyageur quitte l'ile, il se rend compte qu'il goute un peu de la nostalgie que ressentait Ulysse, loin de chez lui. Quiconque a fait l'experience de l'exil garde une Ithaque en son coeur. Comme le poete du Bellay le disait:
"Heureux qui comme Ulysse a fait un beau voyage,
Ou comme cestuy-la qui conquit la toison,
Et puis est retourne, plein d'usage et raison,
Vivre entre ses parents le reste de son age!"
This food-for-thought cartoon from the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph shows the current American Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a renowned pianist, playing a difficult score (amongs many others...) : that of the "Lebanon Peace Overture". The US position in that country is difficult to hold: one the one hand, they provide Israel with sophisticated weapons, on the other hand they supply food to endangered civilians. It is a catch-22 situation: Israel must show it can win against Hezbollah to appear as a deterring power in the region; and Hezbollah wants to resist as long as possible, win and continue to attack Israeli areas such as Haifa. It does not have the military power of the Hebrew state of course, and casualties in Lebanon are in their hundreds while in Israel they are in their dozens. What is to deplore in Israel's tactics is the massacre of innocent civilians (and the latest killing of four UN envoys in South Beirut) and above all the tearing apart of the Lebanese society, which had managed to extirpate itself from many years of instability and civil war. Three questions: will the American Secretary play the Lebanese score "con dolceza" (to use her Christian name)? Will there be a ceasefire soon? Last but not least, will there be harmony in Lebanon, and around it in the Middle East?
