How loyal are you?

In the ongoing tussle over electoral bonds and election funding, there has been an inexplicable rush among many institutions and powerful stakeholders to dissemble and distract. While their actions have earned the censure of the courts, how must the citizenry untangle the unholy scramble? The answer may be rattling around in the stories of the ancient world.

There is a thin line that separates loyalty from sycophancy, one that was explored and relayed with gusto in the ancient world. Be it tales about gods and heroes in Mesopotamia or Homer’s Greek epics and in the folklore and myths of India —