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In this blueprint of a story, the narrator's nonchalance regarding geographical and historical location belies unsuspected concerns about the modern nation state and family history. The article begins by unpacking the claims of different nations to host Borges's story set in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Fast-forwarding to 1943, the circumstances of composition of 'Tema del traidor y del héroe' point to a critique of political crisis and barbarism. A surprising number of intertexts dovetail tellingly with Borges's narrative spanning two continents and four generations of real, as well as imaginary, human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]