This collection of essays aims to explore fundamental questions about God, human nature, and political life through careful readings of the Greek poets, the Hebrew Bible, and Shakespeare. The volume investigates the abiding tension between the Hebraic and the Hellenic dimensions of the Western soul through an examination of profound literary, philosophic, and theological reflections on topics as various as friendship, marriage, tyranny, sovereignty, sin, forgiveness, comedy, tragedy, and contemplation. Offered in honor of Mera J. Flaumenhaft, the essays reflect the intellectual rigor, moral seriousness, and disciplined imagination of her scholarship and teaching.

Contributions by: Gisela Berns, Jan H. Blits, Eva Brann, Ronna Burger, Harvey Flaumenhaft, Kate Havard, Leon R. Kass, Margaret Kirby, Pamela Kraus, Paul Ludwig, Wilfred M. McClay, William Mullen, Louis Petrich, Alan Rubenstein, Robert Sacks, Arlene W. Saxonhouse, Adam Schulman, Jeffrey A. Smith, Paul T. Wilford