[otanes says: ] [kings] are jealous of the most virtuous among their subjects, and wish their death; while they take delight in the meanest and basest, being ever ready to listen to the tales of slanderers. a king, besides, is beyond all other men inconsistent with himself. pay him court in moderation, and he is angry because you do not show him more profound show him profound respect, and he is offended again, because (as he says) you fawn on him. but the worst of all is, that he sets aside the laws of the land, puts men to death without trial, and subjects women to violence. the rule of the many […] is free from all those outrages which a king is wont to commit. there, places are given by lot, the magistrate is answerable for what he does, and measures rest with the commonalty. […]
[megabyzus says: ] megabyzus spoke next, and advised the setting up of an oligarchy: […] for there is nothing so void of understanding, nothing so full of wantonness, as the unwieldy rabble. it were folly not to be borne, for men, while seeking to escape the wantonness of a tyrant, to give themselves up to the wantonness of a rude unbridled mob. the tyrant, in all his doings, at least knows what is he about, but a mob is altogether devoid of knowledge; for how should there be any knowledge in a rabble, untaught, and with no natural sense of what is right and fit? […] let us choose out from the citizens a certain number of the worthiest, and put the government into their hands. for thus both we ourselves shall be among the governors, and power being entrusted to the best men, it is likely that the best counsels will prevail in the state.
[darius says: ] all that megabyzus said against democracy was well said, i think; but about oligarchy he did not speak advisedly; for take these three forms of , oligarchy, and let them each be at their best, i maintain that monarchy far surpasses the other two. what government can possibly be better than that of the very best man in the whole state? […]
1. why does otanes think democracy is best?
2. in what way does megabyzus criticize democracy?
3. why does darius think monarchy is best?