Abstract

On the evening of May 2, 2011, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during a secret special mission carried out by a team of American Navy Seals. In his declaration he said, while talking especially to the families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the twin towers, that “Justice has been done.” The next morning the New York Post headline read “Osama bin Laden Dead: Got Him, Vengeance at Last! The U.S. Nails the Bastard.” So was this vengeance or was it justice? Or was it perhaps both, or neither? The Greeks had (at least) two words and two goddesses for justice: dike (Dike) and themis. Themis is the justice of the household, of the immediate ..