Friday, 25 April 2008

"Our passion for good wins out at the last."

How this delights me: this will and this promise
Of yours for my country!
The eyes of Persuasion–how I adore them
For watching over my lips and my tongue
When pitted against your so wild opposition...
Our passion for good
Wins out at the last.

Aeschylus, The Eumenides 458 B.C. [hat tip Michael Newberry]. 

The speech comes from Athena's persuasive peroration that transforms The Furies, the ancient agents of Revenge, into the Eumenides or 'Benevolent Ones.'

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