The Case for Revenge – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Justice and History sculpture. U.S. Capitol. Thomas Crawford, sculptor, c. late 1850s. An official Architect of the Capitol photograph via Flickr.

“The talion establishes a boundary for human loss. A debt is created, and the avenger is entitled to take the measure of his or her loss as payback. The wrongdoer is entitled to no discount, and the avenger is held to a standard that allows for no excess.”

“The face of vengeance and the face of justice are ultimately mirror images, staring back at each other, occupying the same scale, measure for measure.”