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It is better, however, to turn these matters over to the grammarians, and to hold fast rather to those in which is to be found both usefulness and probability, such as Nor does my heart so bid me, for I have learned to be valiant,Homer, Il. vi. 444. and For towards all he understood the way to be gentle. Ibid. xvii. 671. For by declaring that bravery is a thing to be learned, and by expressing the belief that friendly and gracious intercourse with others proceeds from understanding, and is in keeping with reason, the poet urges us not to neglect our own selves, but to learn what is good, and to give heed to our teachers, intimating that both boorishness and cowardice are but ignorance and defects of learning. With this agrees very well what he says regarding Zeus and Poseidon: Both, indeed, were of one descent and of the same birthplace, Yet was Zeus the earlier born and his knowledge was wider. Ibid. xiii. 354. For he declares understanding to be a most divine and kingly thing, to which he ascribes the very great superiority of Zeus, inasmuch as he believes that all the other virtues follow upon this one.
