Abstract The gods protect us: that proposition, so far from self-evident to most modern readers of Greek tragedy, was none the less in some contexts of public speech in Athens a truism. It is said that under the ancien regime in France it was an article of popular faith that the king himself was good and a friend to the people; his ministers, that was where the problem lay. An identical faith is characteristic of the Athenian democracy, if one substitutes ‘the gods ‘ for ‘the king ‘, and ‘politicians ‘ or (when a politician is speaking) ‘my political opponents ‘ for the king ‘s ministers. The theme echoes out with remarkable consistency over 250 years, starting with Solon: ‘Our city will never perish by the destiny of Zeus or the other blessed immortal gods: such a protectress, ... daughter of a mighty father, Pallas Athena, is holding her hands out over it. But the citizens themselves want to ruin the great city in their folly. ‘ It is taken up in Clouds-comedy, we note, sides with oratory against tragedy-where the chorus claim to have tried to protect Athens from Cleon by thundering during an election meeting, but the Athenians in their folly chose him general all the same: ‘for they say that foolish decisions are typical of this city, but the gods turn for the best whatever mistakes you make. ‘ They then suggest drastic action against Cleon as a way of ‘turning the mistake for the best ‘. ‘For they say ‘: the idea of the gods ‘ active benevolence to Athens, mentioned again in Ecclesiazusae as a piece of proverbial wisdom, was evidently a cliche. It comes up again repeatedly in Demosthenes.