From Extract 3 pp10-12 My own opinion is well known:The ru…
From Extract 3 pp10-12 My own opinion is well known:The ruler who fears the consequencesOf his actions, or who is afraid to act openly,Or take the good advice of his senators,Is beneath contempt. Equally contemptibleIs the man who puts the interests of his friends,Or his relations, before his country.There is nothing good can be said of him.Let me make it plain, before the gods,Whose eyes are in every council chamber,When I see any threat to this nation,From whatever direction, I shall make it public. No one who is an enemy of the StateShall ever be any friend of mine.The State, the Fatherland, is everythingTo us, the ship we all sail in.If she sinks, we all drown,And friendship drowns with us. … His brother Polynices, who returned hereAt the head of a foreign army, to destroyHis homeland, to burn down the cityAnd reduce the people to a condition of slavery,Or kill them in the streets – I have orderedThat he is to have no grave at all.No one is to bury him, or mourn for him.His body is to be left in the open, uncovered,A stinking feast for the scavengers,Dogs and crows, a sight to inspire terror.
Read Details