The art of the con

The road to survival in the ancient world was often paved with bluff and deceit. The cons pulled were largely harmless and the subtext was: to survive, man had to trick the gods

In politics as in business, it is the age of subterfuge. Be it grand promises made by industrialists who offer investors a chance to spin gold from air or ride the next shuttle to space, or politicians who dispense freedom but clothe it in chains, the art of the con is in full flourish all around us. 

Call it deception or just old-fashioned hoodwink — stories and examples of such behaviour run abundant in myth and folklore. For the human and the divine, much was laid in store by the act of tricking another, revealing an innocent game of one-upmanship at