Summary
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
In the French literature of a heroic period (17th century), there is a crisp, catchy line. Cid Campeador, the hero of the Spanish wars against the Moors, comes back to court after a fierce and long battle—long, but not as long as this Symposium—to tell his king how the battle went and ends his report by saying: “Et le combat cessa faute de combatants” which means, “and the battle came to an end because there were no fighters left” (Moorish fighters, of course).
As the days of the Symposium went by, I hoped that by the time I was scheduled to present my summary, the lecture hall would be empty, because all the “combatants” would have already left for home and, therefore, I could tell Bruce Stillman “this conference has come to an end; there are no listeners left.” Hence, the presentation of a summary would no longer be called...
