|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: the states at war[11] can suffer but the tyrant will feel it also.
That is to say, both must alike be under arms, keep guard, run risks;
and whatever the pains of defeat may be, they are equally sustained by
both. Up to this point there is no distinction. The "bitters" are
equal. But when we come to estimate the "sweets" derivable from
warfare between states,[12] the parallel ceases. The tyrant, if he
shared the pains before, no longer shares the pleasures now. What
happens when a state has gained the mastery in battle over her
antagonist? It would be hard (I take it) to describe the joy of that
occurrence: joy in the rout, joy in the pursuit, joy in the slaughter
of their enemies; and in what language shall I describe the exultation
|
