In December 1898, when Kavafis wrote Waiting for the Barbarians, he was still convinced that the achievements of civilization were irreversible and that people who wanted to return to primitive forms of life were no longer outside the borders. The delusion would crumble forever
after the horror of the trenches of the War of 14-18
, that is why the poem has remained as a warning of the dangers of indolence and the fatigue of opulent societies that, jaded
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