preview

Machiavelli Prince Fortuna

Good Essays

Identification Cards 2 Fortuna: Fortuna, latin for fortune and the name of the Roman goddess of fortune , is a concept used by Machiavelli in The Prince to demonstrate to a budding prince the importance of being a skillful leader. Machiavelli uses fortuna as the representation of circumstances in life. It is vital to the success of a prince that he understands the circumstances and bad fortune that is against him and effectively react to it. Man has know way of knowing when fortuna will bring bad fortune, so the prince must learn how to manage it. To illustrate what he means by managing circumstance, Machiavelli compares fortuna to a river. He states that one would never build a dam as a flood was occurring, rather, one would build a dam before the incident of a flood. It is built before because it is the most effective way to prevent a flood from happening in the first place. In the same way, a skillful prince is one who is able to think of the possibilities of bad fortune in the future and take preventive actions against them. In simple terms, a prince who is proactive against negative circumstances rather than reactive will have more success at persisting through those circumstances than a prince who is not. The concept of fortuna is important in understanding Machiavelli's views of makes a good an effective prince. Rather than write about how a prince can help the people who he rules in times of bad fortune, he gives the prince advice about how he can preserve

Get Access