Whene’er, by Jove’s decree, our conquering powers
Shall humble to the dust Troy’s lofty towers;
but Thersites thus:—
Whom I or some Greek else as captive bring.
Again, Diomedes, when Agamemnon taking a view of the army spoke
reproachfully to him,
To his hard words forbore to make reply,
For the respect he bare to majesty;
whereas Sthenelus, a man of small note, replies on him thus:—
Sir, when you know the truth, what need to lie?
For with our fathers we for valor vie.
Now the observation of such difference will teach the young man
the decency of a modest and moderate temper, and the unbecoming
nauseousness of the contrary vices of boasting and cracking of a man’s
own worth. And it is worth while also to take notice of the demeanor of
Agamemnon in the same passage. For he passeth by Sthenelus unspoken to;
but perceiving Ulysses to be offended, he neglects not him, but applies
himself to answer him:—