Tyranny
A tyrant (Greek τύραννος, tyrannos) was originally one who used the power of the populace in an unconventional way to seize and control governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments. Plato and Aristotle define a tyrant as, "one who rules without law, looks to his own advantage rather than that of his subjects, and uses extreme and cruel tactics—against his own people as well as others".
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Famous quotes containing the word tyranny:
“A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Speak against unconscious oppression,
Speak against the tyranny of the unimaginative,
Speak against bonds.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“Yet here at least an earnest sense
Of human right and weal is shown;
A hate of tyranny intense,
And hearty in its vehemence,
As if my brother’s pain and sorrow were my own.
O Freedom! if to me belong
Nor mighty Milton’s gift divine,
Nor Marvell’s wit and graceful song.
Still with a love as deep and strong
As theirs, I lay, like them, my best gifts on thy shrine!”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)