Æschylus on the Tyrant’s Blindness

Dirk van Buburen, Prometheus Bound (1623)

Thus I rendered my assistance to the tyrant among the mighty gods and in this way he has rewarded me; for in every tyrant’s heart there springs this purest poison: that he cannot trust, nor even recognize, his friend.

–Æschylus, Prometheus Bound, v. 224-27 (ca. 450 BCE)(S.H. transl.)