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Nathan
Mithridanes is the antagonist of Filostrato’s tenth tale (X, 3) in contrast to the generous Nathan. Mithridanes is younger than Nathan and, like Melissus (IX, 9), wishes to become famous for his generosity and outshine his competitor. When Nathan shows that he’s willing to give up his very life, Mithridanes learns that generosity should be its own end, not a way to achieve fame, and he becomes a better person.
Mithridanes Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Mithridanes or refer to Mithridanes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 10: Third Tale
Quotes
Fear me not, then, and rest assured that in view of the loftiness of your motives, no other living person loves you as greatly as I, for you do not devote your energies to the accumulation of riches, as misers do, but to spending what you have amassed. Nor should you feel ashamed for having wanted to kill me to acquire fame, or imagine that I marvel to hear it. In order to extend their dominions, and hence their fame, the mightiest emperors and greatest kings have practiced virtually no other art than that of killing, not just one person as you intended, but countless thousands, setting whole provinces ablaze and razing whole cities to the ground.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mithridanes Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Mithridanes or refer to Mithridanes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 10: Third Tale
Quotes
Fear me not, then, and rest assured that in view of the loftiness of your motives, no other living person loves you as greatly as I, for you do not devote your energies to the accumulation of riches, as misers do, but to spending what you have amassed. Nor should you feel ashamed for having wanted to kill me to acquire fame, or imagine that I marvel to hear it. In order to extend their dominions, and hence their fame, the mightiest emperors and greatest kings have practiced virtually no other art than that of killing, not just one person as you intended, but countless thousands, setting whole provinces ablaze and razing whole cities to the ground.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
