Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad

“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad” is a saying found in varying English forms since the 17th century. Variants replace “gods” with “God” or “Jupiter”, and it is sometimes rendered in Latin. Though it is sometimes falsely attributed to Euripides, it has classical Greek antecedents. The exact English wording appeared in William Anderson Scott’s 1854 book Daniel, a Model for Young Men, attributed there to a “heathen proverb.”

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Type

Proverb

Exact English form

First appeared in 1854

Attribution

Sometimes falsely attributed to Euripides