Literary notes about aggressor (AI summary)
In literature, “aggressor” is a loaded term that designates the initiator of conflict—whether on a personal, societal, or even mythic level. It is used to embody characters who provoke violence or provoke a crisis, as in the dramatic depiction where a proud assailant finds his fate turning when facing his own defiant enemy [1][2]. Equally, the word is deployed in political and philosophical discourses to question the nature of power and authority; sometimes the aggressor is a state or government that paradoxically purports to protect rights while perpetuating conflict [3][4][5]. Moreover, in moral narratives and epic tales, labeling someone as the aggressor not only marks them as the source of violence but also frames the ensuing struggle in terms of justice and culpability, inviting readers to examine the ethical dimensions of initiating aggression [6][7][8].
- The head, now bleach'd, his proud foot strikes With such indignant speed, The bone its fierce aggressor spikes; It is his turn to bleed.
— from Ballads, Founded on Anecdotes Relating to Animals by William Hayley - Lowering her head, she repeated a manœuvre of childish days, and butted their aggressor full in the capacious middle.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - Theoretically, the State is a protector of the rights of subjects; practically, the State continually plays the part of aggressor.
— from Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative; Vol. 3 of 3 Library Edition (1891), Containing Seven Essays not before Republished, and Various other Additions. by Herbert Spencer - Is the government that first applies force always the aggressor?
— from The Government Class BookDesigned for the Instruction of Youth in the Principlesof Constitutional Government and the Rights and Duties ofCitizens. by Andrew W. (Andrew White) Young - But the aggressor has the positive object, the defender merely a negative one.
— from On War by Carl von Clausewitz - Hence with long war the double race was cursed, Fatal to all, but to the aggressor first.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - While we are ignorant whether a man were aggressor or not, how can we determine whether the person who killed him be criminal or innocent?
— from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume - It was a mystery as to why he should be content to a role so clearly defying the male instinct to be the sexual aggressor.
— from Corpus of a Siam Mosquito by Steven David Justin Sills
