...
Show More
Of these Ten Colloquies, my favorites were "Charon" and "The Funeral." His satire is clever and sometimes just as relevant today as it was back in the 15th and 16th centuries. Erasmus believed that if there is such a thing as a just war, it is one fought in self-defense after one's country has been invaded, much like Ukraine's defense against Russian invasion. But he thought "just" wars seldom occurred. Erasmus was a humanist and a Christian and these ideologies influenced his arguments in each colloquy. Apparently his political enemies did not appreciate his form of humor as he tended to attack many religious theologies, particularly in the Godly Feast. In The Funeral, he disparages the pride of the rich; he compares the extravagance of a rich man's funeral to that of the simplicity of that of a poor man's. Charon the ferryman debates with the avenging spirit, Alastor about the volume of souls he's having to ferry along the river Styx. According to Alastor, "If you want to make money, you have to spend money." Yet what good is money in the afterlife? Alastor also states: "People mutter that it's outrageous for human affairs to be turned topsy-turvy on the personal grudges or ambitions of two or three men." Such is how wars are waged.
