“Death & the Compass” Background

Tetragrammaton Comprises the Hebrew letters yud hay vav hay (JVHV). This is the name G-d calls Himself after Moses asks by what name should he refer to G-d when the Israelites ask. The name of G-d that appears most frequently in the Torah (5,410 times).

Tetragrammaton Represents Hebrew tenses of “to be”: “I am, have been, and am in the process of becoming”. Often merely translated as “I am who am.” Considered too sacred to be read aloud. In readings & prayer, Jews refer to G-d as Adonai.

“Of the many problems which exercised the reckless discernment of Lönnrot, none was so strange—so rigorously strange, shall we say—as the periodic series of bloody events which culminated at the villa of Triste-le-Roy, amid the ceaseless aroma of the eucalypti.” —Opening sentence of Borges’ “Death and the Compass”

Villa Triste-le-Roy Borges borrowed the name of Triste-le-Roy from a location indicated on a map drawn by Argentine author Mandie Molina Vedia (who was one of Borges’ great loves) of an imaginary place. See Borges’ dedication at the end of the story.

Hotel las Delicias However, he based the villa’s description on the luxurious, old Hotel las Delicias in Adrogué, a town near Buenos Aires. Vintage photo of fountain at Hotel las Delicias

Hotel las Delicias Hotel las Delicias from the garden

Hotel las Delicias Built as the private residence of the city’s founder, Esteban Adrogué, who turned it into an elegant hotel in Hotel las Delicias (on right) from the corner of Esteban Adrogué and Somellera streets. Note the eucalyptus trees surrounding the hotel.

Hotel las Delicias It was so grand that Argentine President Sarminento (1868 to 1874) stayed there. Hotel Las Delicias in its heyday.

Hotel las Delicias Borges’ sister Norah made an engraving of the villa as embellished in Borges’ story, with its statuary, terraces, and diamond- shaped windows. Norah Borges, Buenos Aires, 1921 woodcut in Prisma, Argentina Ultraismo magazine

Adrogué Excerpt from Adrogué by Jorge Luis Borges (1977) "Wherever in the world I might sense the smell of gum [eucalyptus] trees, I feel as if I had been take back to Adrogué. And that is exactly what Adrogué was: a large and quiet maze of streets surrounded by lush trees and country houses, a maze of many peaceful nights that my parents liked to traverse. Country houses in which you could guess how life was behind those country houses.

Adrogué “In some way, I have always been there, I am always here. You take the places with yourself, the places are within yourself. I am still among the gum trees and labyrinths, in that place where you can easily get lost. I guess you might as well get lost in Paradise. Bizarre statues turn pretty, a ruin that is not a ruin, a tennis court. And then, in the very Las Delicias Hotel, a big room with mirrors. I have certainly found myself in those infinite looking glasses.

Adrogué “ Many arguments, many scenes, many poems that I imagined were born in Adrogué or were fixed in Adrogué. Whenever I talk about gardens, whenever I talk about trees, I am in Adrogué; I have thought about that city, it is unnecessary to name it.”

Zeno’s Paradox Achilles and the Tortoise “In a race, the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.” —Aristotle, Physics V:9, 239b15

Zeno’s Paradox Achilles and the Tortoise To get from point A to point B, one must first get to a midpoint, call it C. Before one can reach C, a midpoint between A and C—call it D—must be reached. Before one can reach D, a midpoint between A and D—call it E—must be reached.

Zeno’s Paradox Achilles and the Tortoise This division of space can be done infinitely, taking an infinite amount of time. If Achilles, standing at point A, were to give a tortoise a 100-meter lead—call it point B—he would first have to run the distance to a point between A and B, call it C…

Zeno’s Paradox Achilles and the Tortoise Thus, because there are an infinite number of points Achilles must reach where the tortoise has already been, he can never overtake the tortoise.