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And sometimes when the wife is an heiress it is
she who rules. In these cases then authority goes not by virtue but by wealth and power,
as in an oligarchy.
[6]
The relation between brothers
constitutes a sort of timocracy; they are equals, save in so far as they differ in age;
hence, if the divergence in age be great, the friendship between them cannot be of the
fraternal type. Democracy appears most fully in households without a master, for in them
all the members are equal; but it also prevails where the ruler of the house is weak, and
everyone is allowed to do what he likes. 11.
Under each of these forms of government we find friendship existing between ruler and
ruled, to the same extent as justice. The friendship of a king for his subjects is one of
superiority in beneficence; for a king does good to his subjects, inasmuch as being good
he studies to promote their welfare, as a shepherd studies the welfare of his sheep; hence
Homer called Agamemnon ‘shepherd of the people.’
[2]
The friendship of a father for his child is of the same kind
(only here the benefits bestowed are greater, for the father is the source of the
child's existence, which seems to be the greatest of all boons, and of its nurture and
education; and we also ascribe the same benefits to our forefathers). For it is
as natural for a father to rule his children, and forefathers those descended from them,
as for a king to rule his subjects.