That the citizenry is in full lamentation, shrieking from every mouth, from every pore, is not a reason to ignore the facts, because this only prolongs the misery by passing it to the next generation. [Mpei] [Md] [Mw] The city should rather allow the excruciating pain it is experiencing to direct it to assert itself in a new way; it must abjure its excesses (περίαλλα) and its sense of preeminence, whether in relation to other Greek cities or to the gods. These faults apply better to Athens than Thebes; Athens holds itself to be preeminent in its capacity to exercise hegemony over the Greek world and to do this without divine guidance. [Md] [Mpe] [Apc]