Homo homini aut deus aut lupus.
(Erasmus, 1466-1536)

One human being to another is either a divine being or a wolf.

(pron = HOH-moh HOH-mih-nih out DEH-oos out LOO-poos)

Comment: We treat each other badly or we idolize each other—that seems to be the
implication here. I tried to find more context for this statement of Erasmus’
but found nothing in my search. This pictures seems to leave us with very
dichotomous experiences in how we treat each other. The stereotypical meanings
of the divine and of the wolf seem to imply that human beings are, on the one
hand, like great perfect beings out there in the sky somewhere, not really
human, never down to earth, always with perfect vision and perfect actions.
The exception is, of course, all the exceptions. Every religious tradition,
including our own favorite one, involves images of the divine doing less than
divine and perfect things. Our images of gods are flawed and often contain
contradictions of divinity.

On the other hand, the wolf images seems to imply that human beings are low-down
creatures who skulk around in the dark and kill and steal and ravage innocent
lambs for their lair. The exception is, of course, the exception. Remember
Romulus and Remus, the famous twin brothers who founded Rome. They were the
victims of an evil uncle (let’s see, was this man acting as a god or a wolf)
who killed their mother and threw the newborn infants in the river so that his
throne would have no rivals. The waters washed the babies ashore, and a
she-wolf found them, took them to her lair, and nursed them along with her
newborn pups.

I’ll take the wolf.

Actually, I see the whole range within the human experience. We are divine,
wonderful, contradictory, hypocritical beings, capable of great good and great
harm all at once. We are lowly, down to earth creatures, concerned most often
with what it takes to get through life today, and trampling on others to do it,
capable in the flick of an eye of becoming intense care-givers, nurturers,
creatures of compassion.

So, watch out for the gods and the wolves today. And, don’t forget, you and I
are divine wolves, too.