“To sum up the Hellenic view of war and the lessons we may learn from the Greeks:
“Conflict is omnipresent. It is often irrational in nature and more a result of strong emotions than of material need. Preparedness is more of a deterrent than is empathy, understanding, or demonstrations of good intentions. War is sometimes won or lost as much by confidence in one’s culture as by military assets themselves. It is often not a question of choice between good or bad, but a choice between bad or worse. And war should be judged moral or immoral by the circumstances in which it breaks out and the conditions under which it is waged, rather than by the fact violence is employed.
“We may not like such a bitter message, but recent events have shown the empirical Greeks of the past are still more relevant to present warfare than to what passes for much of the wisdom of the contemporary age.”
- From The Father of Us All, War and History”
by Victor Davis Hanson (pp 48-49)
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