# Bagehot on behaviour towards the King

**URL:** <https://pheromonetalk.com/t/bagehot-on-behaviour-towards-the-king/37966>\
**Category:** Lounge\
**Created:** [April 23, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/bagehot-on-behaviour-towards-the-king/37966 "2010-04-23T16:30:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PheroQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@PheroQuirk](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/PheroQuirk)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/bagehot-on-behaviour-towards-the-king/37966/1 "2010-04-23T16:30:27Z")

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Bagehot remarking on the role of the king in pre-ancient Greece.

> [@Bagehot](#):
>
> If we carry our eyes back from historical to legendary Greece, we  
> find a picture the reverse of what has been here sketched. We discern a  
> government in which there is little or no scheme or system, still less any  
> idea of responsibility to the governed, but in which th**e mainspring of  
> obedience on the part of the people consists in their personal feeling and  
> reverence towards the chief.** We remark, first and foremost, the King;  
> next, a limited number of subordinate kings or chiefs; afterwards, the  
> mass of armed freemen, husbandmen, artisans, freebooters, &c.; lowest  
> of all, the free labourers for hire and the bought slaves. The King is not  
> distinguished by any broad, or impassable boundary from the other chiefs,  
> to each of whom the title Basileus is applicable as well as to himself: his  
> supremacy has been inherited from his ancestors, and passes by inheritance,  
> as a general rule, to his eldest son, having been conferred upon the  
> family as a privilege by the favour of Zeus. In war, he is the leader,  
> foremost in personal prowess, and directing all military movements; in  
> peace, he is the general protector of the injured and oppressed; he offers  
> up moreover those public prayers and sacrifices which are intended to  
> obtain for the whole people the favour of the gods. An ample domain is  
> assigned to him as an appurtenance of his lofty position, and the produce  
> of his fields and his cattle is consecrated in part to an abundant,  
> though rude hospitality. **Moreover he receives frequent presents, to avert  
> his enmity, to conciliate his favour, or to buy off his exactions**; and  
> when plunder is taken from the enemy, a large previous share, comprising  
> probably the most alluring female captive, is reserved for him apart  
> from the general distribution.

Interesting in the light of how certain [pheromones](https://pheromonelabs.com/) can evoke ancient instincts not commonly perceived to play a role in life today.