[10] But, just as amid the luxuriant foliage and branches of a vine the fruit is often hidden and unnoticed from being in the shadow, so also amid the poetic diction and the tales that hang clustered about, much that is helpful and profitable escapes a young man. This, however, ought not to happen to him, nor should he allow his attention to be diverted from the facts, but he should cling especially close to those that lead toward virtue and have the power to mould character. In which regard it may not be a bad thing to treat this topic briefly, touching summarily the principal points, but leaving any extended and constructive treatment, and long list of examples, to those who write more for display. In the first place, then, as the young man takes note of good and bad characters and personages, let him pay attention to the lines and the actions which the poet assigns to them as respectively befitting. For example, Achilles says to Agamemnon, although he speaks with anger:
Never a prize like yours is mine whene’er the Achaeans Capture and sack some goodly and populous town of the Trojans.
1
But Thersites in reviling the same man says:
Full of bronze are your quarters, and many, too, are the women, Chosen from all the captives for you, and these we Achaeans Give to you first of all whenever we capture a city.
2
And on another occasion Achilles says,
If perchance Zeus ever Grants to us that we plunder Troy, the well-walled city,
3
but Thersites,
One that I or another Achaean may bring in as captive.
4
At another time, in the Inspection, when Agamemnon upbraided Diomede, the latter made no answer,
Showing respect for the stern rebuke of a king so respected.
5
But Sthenelus, a man of no account, says:
Son of Atreus, speak not to deceive, knowing how to speak clearly; We can avow ourselves to be better far than our fathers.
6
A difference of this sort then, if not overlooked, will teach the young man to regard modesty and moderation as a mark of refinement, but to be on his guard against boasting and self-assertion as a mark of meanness. It is useful to note also the behaviour of Agamemnon in this case; for Sthenelus he passed by without a word, but Odysseus he did not disregard, but made answer and addressed him,
When he saw he was wroth, and tried to retract his saying.
7
For to defend one’s actions to everybody smacks of servility, not of dignity, while to despise everybody is arrogant and foolish. And most excellently does Diomede in the battle hold his peace, although upbraided by the king, but after the battle he uses plain speech to him:
First let me say that you ’mid the Danaans slighted my prowess
8
It is well, too, not to miss a difference that exists between a man of sense and a seer who courts popularity. For example, Calchas
9
had no regard to the occasion, and made nothing of accusing the king before the multitude, alleging that he had brought the pestilence upon them; but Nestor, though anxious to put in a word for the reconciliation with Achilles, yet, in order that he may not seem to discredit Agamemnon with the multitude as having made a mistake and indulged in anger, says,
Give a feast for the elders; ’tis fitting and not unbefitting; Then, when many are gathered, whoever shall offer best counsel Him you will follow,
10
and after the dinner he sends forth the envoys. For this was the way to amend an error; the other was arraignment and foul abuse. Moreover, the difference between the two peoples should be observed, their behaviour being as follows: the Trojans advance with shouting and confidence, but the Achaeans
Silently, fearing their captains.
11
For to fear one’s commanders when at close quarters with the enemy is a sign of bravery and of obedience to authority as well. Wherefore Plato
12
tries to establish the habit of fearing blame and disgrace more than toils and dangers, and Cato
13
used to say that he liked people that blushed better than those that blanched.There is also in the promises of the heroes a special character. For Dolon promises:
Straight to the midst of their host shall I go till I come to the vessel Which Agamemnon commands.
14
Diomede,
15
however, promises nothing, but says that he should be less frightened if he were sent in company with another man. Prudence, then, is characteristic of a Greek and of a man of refinement, while presumption is barbaric and cheap: the one should be emulated and the other detested. And it is not unprofitable to consider how the Trojans and Hector were affected, at the time when Ajax was about to engage with him i single combat. Once when a boxer at the Isthmian games was struck in the face, and a clamour arose, Aeschylus
16
said,
What a thing is training. The onlookers cry out; it is the man who is struck who says nothing. In like manner, when the poet says
17
that when Ajax appeared resplendent in his armour, the Greeks rejoiced at seeing him, whereas
Dreadful trembling seized on the limbs of every Trojan; Even Hector himself felt his heart beat quick in his bosom,
who could fail to admire the difference? For the heart of the man who is facing the danger only throbs, as though indeed he were simply going to wrestle or run a race, while the onlookers tremble and shiver in their whole bodies through loyalty and fear for their king. Here, too, one should carefully consider the difference between the very valiant man and the craven. For Thersites
Hateful was most of all to Achilles as well as Odysseus,
Ibid. ii. 220.
while Ajax was always friendly to Achilles, and says to Hector regarding him—
Now alone from one man alone shall you learn quite clearly What sort of men with us are the Danaans’ chieftains Even after the smiter of men, lion-hearted Achilles.
18
This is the compliment paid to Achilles, but these succeeding lines in behalf of all are put in such a way as to be useful:
Yet are we of such sort as are ready to face you, Yea, and many of us,
19
thereby declaring himself not the only man or the best, but only one among many equally capable of offering defence.This is enough on the subject of differences, unless perhaps we desire to add, that of the Trojans many were taken alive, but none of the Achaeans; and that of the Trojans some fell down at the feet of the enemy, as did Adrastus,
20
the sons
21
of Antimachus, Lycaon,
22
and Hector
23
himself begging Achilles for burial, but of the Achaeans none, because of their conviction that it is a trait of barbarian peoples to make supplication and to fall at the enemy’s feet in combat, but of Greeks to conquer or to die fighting.
Quomodo adolescens poetas audire debeat. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1927.
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