Last week, I posted “Slowly, then all at once”, which wondered if we were seeing the end of the beginning for Putin’s Russia. I now wonder if we are entering a situation originating in Richard Wagner’s opera, the fourth and final part of his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), which is inspired by Germanic and Norse mythology. Götterdämmerung is a German term meaning “Twilight of the Gods.”

The Götterdämmerung story weaves themes of betrayal, love, power, and destiny, culminating in the destruction of the gods and the world they inhabit. It encapsulates the concept of a world-ending cataclysm, similar to the Norse myth of Ragnarök. Götterdämmerung parallels the apocalyptic battle in Norse mythology that foretells the death of gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki, followed by the rebirth of the world. Wagner adapted these mythological themes to craft a dramatic and richly symbolic narrative.

Over time, Götterdämmerung has become a metaphor for the decline or downfall of an era, institution, or civilization, especially one brought about by hubris or internal strife. Sound familiar? Syria has fallen, Iran is on its knees, Ukraine just assassinated a top Russian general and bragged about it. The Russian Army is in such dire straights that it is importing troops so poorly trained that the Ukrainians are using them (the N. Koreans) for target practice, the Russian fleet based in Tartus Syria has put to sea, is in the Med, but neither able to sustain itself nor put in to a friendly port and, let us not forget, monsieur Trump will “fix” ALL of this in 24 hrs.

Yeah. Right.

My money has always been, and is still on, Ukraine and if I had made a bet, I would now be “doubling down” on it.

In essence, Götterdämmerung captures the timeless themes of human ambition, tragedy, and the transformative power of destruction leading to renewal. To draw from a third mythology, the Greco-Roman, let us remember the 2500 year-old expression  “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad, sometimes given in Latin as Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. 

Bottom line: careful for whom you vote. You may need them to actually lead.