On the fickle favor of the Gods

The History of the Peloponnesian War is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian historian who also happened to serve as an Athenian general during the war. His account of the conflict is widely considered to be a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. The History is divided into eight books. Today, I would like to quote from book five.

"When you speak of the favour of the gods, we may as fairly

hope for that as yourselves; neither our pretensions nor our conduct

being in any way contrary to what men believe of the gods, or practise

among themselves.

Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary

law of their nature they rule wherever they can. And

it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon

it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to

exist for ever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that

you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do

the same as we do.

Thus, as far as the gods are concerned, we have no fear

and no reason to fear that we shall be at a disadvantage."

This speaks to the nature of the Gods and their relation to human kind. The conclusion is, of course, that the stronger should rule over the weaker--a principle common to Gods and men. Thucydides spoke these words to indicate that the Gods are just as likely to favor your enemy as you. Just something to think about, hm?