2 6. Is this the plot of the recently discovered fragments of a new tragedy by Aeschylus, Sophocles, or Euripides, added to those already constituting that legacy and indelible repository of the teachings of the Ancient Greeks for all humanity? They might well be, but this is instead a contemporary tragedy –that of youth Walter David Bulacio and his family-, one of the many that occur every day in the brutalized world of our times, branded by indiscriminate violence and perpetuated impunity. 7. At the public hearing before the Court, the mother described their suffering as “very tragic,”3 as a consequence of which the whole “family truly collapsed,” in face of what happened to their beloved son (and brother).4 The circumstances of the instant case, which reveal better than most how fragile the human condition is, pose an inevitable and disturbing question: how can we assess the role of the Law, and of reparations to victims, in a tragic and irreversible situation such as this one? This question leads me to certain personal reflections, which I wish to express in this Separate Opinion, without claiming to have found a fully satisfactory answer to it. I. The Fragility of the Human Condition 8. Human suffering is perpetual, while the facts and the victims change, from one generation to the next. So much so that in the 5th century B.C., in his Oedipus King,5 Sophocles - opposing destiny- clear-sightedly warned that one must never say that one is happy until one has gone over the extreme limit of a life free of grief. Likewise, in his Ajax, Sophocles once again warned that one only knows what one has seen or lived, but no one can foresee what is yet to come nor one’s end.6 Like in the Greek tragedies that were the expression of a given historical moment, that of 5th century Athens, the tragedies of our times demonstrate that devastating grief, surrounded by mystery, can invade one’s daily life at any moment. Doing so can also affect beloved ones with whom one personally shares harmonious relations, undermining their protection in face of a truly irreparable loss. 9. As shown in the instant Bulacio case, premature and violent death of a beloved one, in a family where feelings are valued, entails deep suffering shared by all. Under these circumstances, the fact that a beloved one is no longer there is as if everything were lacking, and it truly is; suddenly, everything is deserted.7 And it has always been so. Tragedy has been present throughout the centuries. And why? Tragedy –this was said many centuries ago- is an imitation of action and of life.8 Truly, for so many human beings who have experienced utmost adversity (misfortune), life entails 3 . IACtHR, Transcripción de la Audiencia Pública..., op. cit. supra n. (1), p. 7. 4 . IACtHR, Transcripción de la Audiencia Pública..., op. cit. supra n. (1), p. 11. 5 . In the penetrating initial phrase - verses 1529-1530. 6 . Verses 1417-1420. 7 . Ph. Ariès, Morir en Occidente - desde la Edad Media hasta Nuestros Días, Buenos Aires, A. Hidalgo Ed., 2000, p. 77. 8 . Aristoteles, Poetica (circa 335-322 a.C.), I-2; VI-27, 30, 32; VII-41; IX-56. The renowned Aristotelian analysis of Greek tragedy (as an imitation of action and of life) was taken up centuries later, especially by 17th and 18th century thinkers.