Whom the gods would destroy - wikipedia Whom the gods would destroy For other uses, see Whom the gods would destroy ( disambiguation ). The phrase `` Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad '' is a phrase spoken by Prometheus in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 's poem `` The Masque of Pandora '' ( 1875 ). Other versions The first version of this phrase appears in Antigone by Sophocles ( verses 620 - 623 ) as `` τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ  ̓ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ  ̓ ἔμμεν ' ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν '' meaning `` evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction ''. Even this appears to be a borrowing from an earlier, lost Greek play. Subsequently the phrase was used in Latin, `` Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius '' ( Whom Jupiter would ruin, he first makes mad ), and, in Christian times, `` Iuppiter '' was replaced by `` God '' as in `` μωραίνει Κύριος ον βούλεται απολέσαι '' Another version ( `` Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad '' ) is quoted as a `` heathen proverb '' in Daniel, a Model for Young Men ( 1854 ) by William Anderson Scott ( 1813 -- 1885 ). A prior Latin version is `` Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat '' ( Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791 ) but this involves God, ( presumably the Christian God ) not ' the gods '. This phrase was also used by British politician ( and classicist ) Enoch Powell in his 1968 speech on immigration commonly known as the `` Rivers of Blood '' speech References Jump up ^ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poetical Works, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1893, p. 303. Jump up ^ * Is `` those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad '' a classical quotation ? at Roger Pearse External links Similar quotes misattributed to Euripides at Wikiquote Enoch Powell 's ' Rivers of Blood'speech at The Telegraph, unedited since 12 December 2007 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Novels Hyperion ( 1839 ) Kavanagh ( 1849 ) Poetry `` A Psalm of Life '' ( 1838 ) `` Excelsior '' ( 1841 ) `` The Village Blacksmith '' ( 1841 ) `` The Wreck of the Hesperus '' ( 1842 ) Evangeline ( 1847 ) The Song of Hiawatha ( 1855 ) The Courtship of Miles Standish ( 1858 ) `` The Children 's Hour '' ( 1860 ) `` Paul Revere 's Ride '' ( 1860 ) `` The Saga of King Olaf '' ( 1863 ) Tales of a Wayside Inn ( 1863 ) `` Christmas Bells '' ( 1864 ) `` The Sermon of St. Francis '' ( 1875 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whom_the_gods_would_destroy&oldid=814112015 '' Categories : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quotations Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017 Talk About Wikipedia Čeština Edit links This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 23 : 22. About Wikipedia

Question: who said those whom the gods wish to destroy
Answer: Prometheus in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Masque of Pandora"