But when actions are done, either from fear of greater evils, or from some honourable motive, as, for instance, if you were ordered to commit some base act by a despot who had your parents or children in his power, and they were to be saved upon your compliance or die upon your refusal, in such cases there is room for a question whether the actions are voluntary or involuntary.
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle, translation by D. P. Chase
Reading the above quote from the Nicomachean Ethics, one might think that family is a matter of genes—or blood, as it would have been conceived in those times—since the wife is not even mentioned there, as if she were not considered worth saving, like a mere growth on the body of the family. Would it be a coincidence or something symptomatic?
More words to ponder at maciejmodzelewski.com
hidden pilcrow 