The topic of tyranny, in the modern world, carries connotations with words such as oppression, cruelty, and subjugation. When someone hears the word tyrant, they think of the wicked men in recent history: Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Fidel Castro. Men who ruled their country, or beyond, with true evil in their hearts. A striking example of tyranny just a few thousand miles beyond the United States border is the rule of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. “His failed socialist policies and authoritarian rule have devastated” the country, leaving 90 percent of the population under the poverty line.[1] In 2017, over “73 Venezuelans died a violent death every day,” and the capital, Caracas, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.[2] Maduro puts his political enemies in prison, has military members and protestors “brutally [tortured],” and his security forces have “carried out hundreds of arbitrary killings.”[3] Yet, Maduro has been elected to serve as President for another six years; through a rigged election, of course.[4] Maduro is a perfect example of a modern tyrant, power hungry and brutal towards anyone who even thinks against him. He has thrown democracy out of the window, caring only for his well-being and the safety of is power. In our age, tyranny is a lack of empathy as a leader. A lack of caring for those who you serve. As a leader, especially of a nation, much more should be given than taken.
In ancient Greece, tyrants were men “with absolute power, sometimes granted through election in times of crisis, sometimes seized through force of arms.”[5] They were men who ruled beyond the democracy, giving orders and controlling the populace as an autocrat or dictator. Their absolute reign allowed them to aid in improving economies and the lives of the citizens in their city-state. Men such as Herodotus, however, describe tyrants much differently. In his work The Histories, Book V, Herodotus described Aetion of Corinth as a terrible tyrant, driving Corinthians into banishment, “[depriving them] of [their] fortune, and a still greater number of their lives.”[6] Herodotus stated “There is nothing in the whole world so unjust, nothing so bloody, as a tyranny.”[7] Prosperity came as they served their people; but love for them was not always the case. Due to the fact that these leaders based their decisions on ideals and thoughts not supported by the democracy held so dear to the Greeks, many of them were villainized.
This bias against anything non-democratic breeds doubt regarding whether Greek tyrants were benevolent or, as we would say today, tyrannical. There are close similarities to the tyrants of old and new; however, they both throw out the idea of democracy and rule in an autocratic government, and, if word from Herodotus is to be taken as truth, they rule harshly and with an iron fist. Though, if information is to be taken from other contexts, Greek tyrants took care of their people, ensuring that they had lives worth living and food on their tables. It is difficult to discern which situation is truth, but it is apparent that the word tyranny has become much viler as time has gone on. As mankind has developed through the ages, tyrants have come and gone – and the definition of the word in our time has become much more abhorrent.
– Cyrus Malek-Madani
Word count: 511
[1] Kliegman, Aaron, “Venezuela’s Tyrant Gets Six More Years,” Washington Free Beacon. January 10, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/blog/venezuelas-tyrant-gets-six-more-years/.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Spodek, chapter 5, 141.
[6] Herodotus, The Histories, Book 5.
[7] Ibid.
The West in the Pre-Modern World 