Fortuna and virtue: An Analysis of The Prince and The Mandrake by Nichol<bold> Machiavelli</bold>

This article explores the connections between two literature pieces written by Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince and The Mandrake. Despite a noticeable distance between the contents of a political treaty and a theater play, we will argue that the Machiavellian concept of virtue and its link with goddess Fortuna is a recurrent concept in both pieces. The battle between personal will and fate is always recurrent in Machiavelli's work without having to take into account his writing style. This battle is one of the most remarkable issues in the occidental world. Machiavelli (re) created a new conscience of European politics in the 16th century: the individual's Prevalence over the community; of the calculated rationality over destiny; of science over tradition. In both The Prince and The Mandrake a political and cultural model can be found. This model convered over the Old World, and it obtained the well known victories in the name of freedom, equality, and democracy.