{"id":4383,"date":"2026-06-05T11:31:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4383"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:31:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:31:43","slug":"on-wickedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4383","title":{"rendered":"On Wickedness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wickedness is easily victorious,<br>if the State so desires.<br>Violence is painted upon its face;<br>it always aims at profit,<br>and folly possesses it,<br>running ahead of those who pursue it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You will not find wickedness only among the wealthy;<br>there you may also find compassion.<br>If you lend to the poor,<br>do not calculate interest,<br>and you may lose what you lent,<br>receiving ingratitude in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wickedness sows discord,<br>bringing the apple of Eris,<br>dragging countless evils along with it;<br>with fair words and lies it delights us.<br>It brings us gifts from Ithaca<br>like Saint Nicholas at the hearth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cause of wickedness is the lack of reason;<br>it seeks distinction by every means,<br>through money and through falsehood,<br>and in extreme circumstances, through bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many have a noble appearance,<br>yet their soul is black,<br>full of cunning and darkness.<br>In the depths of the evil soul lies Hades;<br>rarely does it change its nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do not be deceived by their attire,<br>their words and innocent gaze,<br>nor by their often imaginary wealth,<br>their flattery and deceit;<br>look deeper, even into their lineage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wickedness will use every means,<br>provided it achieves its goal.<br>The harm it causes is of no concern to it,<br>so long as it brings profit to itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, it steals things of common utility,<br>often through gangs of Roma.<br>It unravels the warp and weft of society.<br>Another gang, wealthier and more powerful,<br>steals the money of farmers<br>and livestock breeders.<br>Such a person is a hardened criminal;<br>the punishment should be exemplary,<br>and the stolen funds returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A most grievous misfortune is the wicked neighbor,<br>who keeps Asia Minor under subjugation.<br>It has brought genocides upon peoples,<br>sowing despotism and slavery,<br>understanding only the barrel of a gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wickedness never remains the same;<br>it evolves continually.<br>It becomes criminal and beastly<br>if not checked at once.<br>Humanity will shrink in fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among many wicked people,<br>the one wise person is lost in the mud.<br>Wickedness, like the Lernaean Hydra,<br>extends its tentacles everywhere;<br>the fish rots from the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wickedness harms every good thing<br>that stands before it.<br>It will accuse it, slander it,<br>and perhaps send it to prison or to the grave.<br>Yet society must not be afraid,<br>nor surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our days, the wicked have become so numerous<br>that if the law were fully applied,<br>most would end up in prison<br>and the country would be deserted.<br>Judges and lawyers would be left unemployed,<br>and not a few from Parliament as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whoever harms society,<br>even if he does not strike everyone directly,<br>sooner or later you too will feel<br>the arrows of violence and injustice.<br>Lamentation then will be futile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Man is a domesticated beast;<br>animals walk on four legs, he on two.<br>Civilization has changed him little;<br>he remains beastly and wicked.<br>Otherwise, laws would be unnecessary,<br>and he would obey the commands of Mother Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By his conscience he would correct himself,<br>for Nature granted him reason as an exception,<br>making him superior to the animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For, as they say, Prometheus<br>gave one nature to every creature;<br>only to man did he give many:<br>some cowardly, wicked, and cunning,<br>others criminal and bloodthirsty,<br>pretending to be the strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Never turn against everyone.<br>That is not the mark of the intelligent,<br>but rather of the wicked and the weak.<br>Nor should you praise evil<br>and condemn the good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First strive to improve yourself,<br>so that you may judge the actions of others,<br>and not be one who teaches others<br>yet fails to keep the law himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Living near barbarians,<br>we have become somewhat barbarized ourselves;<br>we have forgotten our virtuous<br>and law-abiding ancestry,<br>our rich heritage and our virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whoever greedily appropriates the goods<br>that Nature granted collectively to all<br>is considered a thief of the commonwealth.<br>Like the brave warrior<br>who, instead of fighting the enemy, plunders;<br>like the valiant man who prefers stealing,<br>or the handsome man who prefers adultery to marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The modern ultra-rich,<br>worshipped like gods and exalted as supreme figures\u2014<br>states, banks, multinational corporations, shipping empires,<br>and their owners, materialistic Croesuses.<br>Alas! Everything will remain behind in this world.<br>No Croesus can enter Paradise<br>with immeasurable fortunes,<br>unless they perform benefactions<br>for the good of the many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4 June 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Amphiktyon \u2013 Lieutenant General (Ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis<\/strong><br>Author \u2013 Member of the Greek Society of Writers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Amphiktyon Blog:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com\/\">http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com<\/a><br><strong>Amphiktyon Official Site:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.org\/\">http:\/\/www.amphiktyon.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Konstantinos Konstantinidis \u2013 Amphiktyon Wickedness is easily victorious,if the State so desires.Violence is painted upon its face;it always aims at profit,and folly possesses it,running ahead of those who pursue it. You will not find wickedness only among the wealthy;there you may also find compassion.If you lend to the poor,do not calculate interest,and you may lose &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/?p=4383\" class=\"more-link\">\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03c7\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;On Wickedness&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4384,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4383\/revisions\/4384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amphiktyon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}