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Ancients and Moderns under the Empire of Circe: Machiavelli’s The Ass, Commentary2 8 3to reimport such virtue and knowledge of necessity into a world deprived ofits presence. This restoration, however, will require, in the hero’s case, takingon the guise of an ass, that is, relinquishing to all appearances his properhuman shape (III.115–20). It is only by these means that the total dominionof chance and the empire of Circe may be subverted and the “greater good”secured for our hero. 8A sign of our hero’s asinine disguise is evident in his refusal, as author,to call upon the Muses and Apollo to inspire and support him in his singing.He cannot appeal, as did the ancient poets, for their favor. In these bad timessuch favor is not to be had for the asking. The evil of the times is indicatednot only by the lack of virtue, but also by the absence of the gods of the poets.A new god has overturned their sovereignty and seated himself upon theirthrone. In any case our author-hero will need no accompaniment from thelyre of Apollo: he will, after all, be braying like an ass (I.4–9). His speech willconform to the tenor of the times, which is defined by the omnipresence ofasses. The empire of Circe and the rule of her new god have combined to effectthe complete ascendancy of the demotic. 9 The lowest of the low have expelledeverything subtle and high from the field and occupied completely the presentterrain. Under such conditions no appeal to the gods of Homer couldpossibly be efficacious. Our hero will conform himself to these circumstancesin appearance, but not in truth: when he describes the beauties of his belovedhe does indeed appeal to the Muses to aid him in his effort (IV.52–54).It might appear then that our author-hero will appeal outwardly to thecommon pieties of this evil age, while concealing beneath this surface a reverencefor the wisdom of antiquity. It might appear, that is, that his conduct willtake Dante’s conduct as its model in his outward conformity to the dogmasand sensibilities of the Christian religion. Nothing could be further from thetruth. Machiavelli makes clear his departure from Dante’s example, and that8And not for our hero alone; for not only does the author-hero declare that he expects no gratitudefor the song he is about to sing, but the beautiful woman who comes to his rescue declares that no oneamong ancients or moderns has “ever suffered more ingratitude” (III.76–78). Only one who providesbenefits without thanks can complain of ingratitude. The implication is clear: no one among ancientsor moderns has ever provided greater benefit to greater numbers, at least not without acknowledgementor recompense. But “asses” are always ungrateful (I.10–15). Through the resurrection of adeceased virtue, the mastery of fortune it will permit, and the securing of his own good that mustfollow, our author-hero will simultaneously provide more good for more men than anyone has everprovided before.9This ubiquity of the asinine seems to have been guaranteed by the distinguishing characteristic ofthe asinine nature: as “everyone knows who reads its nature…one of its most adroit jokes that it knowshow to play is to give a couple of kicks and two farts” (I.112–14). The asses are experts in driving awayanyone who does not conform to their vulgar dispositions.