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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.Homer, Il. x. 325. Diomede, Ibid. 222. 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 Cf. Plutarch, Moralia, 79 D. 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 Homer, Il. vii. 214. 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. Ibid. vii. 226. 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,Homer, Il. vii. 231. thereby declaring himself not the only man or the best, but only one among many equally capable of offering defence.
