ProverbCommunication
Greek origin
Greek originLaws catch flies, but let hornets go free.
Meaning: Powerful people evade justice through legal loopholes while the powerless are punished for minor infractions.
Origin: The idea goes back to the Scythian sage Anacharsis, who told Solon, according to Plutarch, that laws are like spiders' webs: they hold the weak and delicate, but are torn to pieces by the rich and powerful. The English proverb swaps the spider's web for flies and hornets, but the complaint is the same.
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