Isolationism
Demosthenes 10.25 (
4th Philippic; tr. Jeremy Trevett):
It would be shameful, by Zeus
and all the gods, and unworthy of you and the city and the deeds
of your ancestors, to sacrifice the rest of the Greeks into slavery
for the sake of our private comfort, and I for one would rather
die than make such a proposal.
αἰσχρὸν μὲν νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ πάντας θεοὺς καὶ ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τῇ πόλει καὶ πεπραγμένων τοῖς προγόνοις, τῆς ἰδίας ῥᾳθυμίας ἕνεκα τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας εἰς δουλείαν προέσθαι, καὶ ἔγωγε αὐτὸς μὲν τεθνάναι μᾶλλον ἂν ἢ ταῦτ᾽ εἰρηκέναι βουλοίμην.
Id. 10.46-47:
Men of Athens, you have abandoned the policy you inherited from your ancestors, and have been persuaded
by speakers who think it an unnecessary and pointless expense
to champion the Greeks and use a well-organized force to help
all who are victims of injustice. You supposed that living a quiet
life and neglecting your duty, but instead abandoning every place
one after another and allowing others to take them, provided you
with wonderful happiness and great security. As a result, another
man has come forward to the post that you should have
occupied and has become wealthy and powerful and the ruler of
many.
ἐξέστητ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἐφ᾽ ἧς ὑμᾶς οἱ πρόγονοι κατέλιπον, καὶ τὸ μὲν προΐστασθαι τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ δύναμιν συνεστηκυῖαν ἔχοντας πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις βοηθεῖν περίεργον ἐπείσθητ᾽ εἶναι καὶ μάταιον ἀνάλωμ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν ταῦτα πολιτευομένων, τὸ δ᾽ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ διάγειν καὶ μηδὲν τῶν δεόντων πράττειν, ἀλλὰ προϊεμένους καθ᾽ ἓν ἕκαστον πάνθ᾽ ἑτέρους ἐᾶσαι λαβεῖν, θαυμαστὴν εὐδαιμονίαν καὶ πολλὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἔχειν ᾤεσθε.
ἐκ δὲ τούτων παρελθὼν ἐπὶ τὴν τάξιν ἐφ᾽ ἧς ὑμῖν τετάχθαι προσῆκεν ἕτερος, οὗτος εὐδαίμων καὶ μέγας καὶ πολλῶν κύριος γέγονεν.