Note 447 — LECTURE XXVI, &c. Of Tragedy.
Reading edition
Ratio in Vossius, is not us'd for prudentia, as Dr. Trapp seems to take it, but in the same Sense with that noted Saying, ratio ultima regum, the last Expedient, or Resort of Kings. The Instances alledg'd illustrate this: Medea is forc'd to kill her Brother Absyrtus, to secure her own Escape; and her Children afterwards, to prevent them from falling into such Hands as would execute greater Cruelties upon them. The Circumstance of Oedipus, made unfortunate not by real Crimes, is very well describ'd by Mr. Lee:
To you, good Gods, I make my last Appeal, To clear my Virtues, or my Crimes reveal: If in the Maze of Fate I blindly run, And backward trod those Paths I ought to shun, Impute my Errors to your own Decree; My Hands are guilty, but my Heart is free.