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hence those races
appear to be the bravest among which cowards are degraded and brave men held in honor.
[2]
It is this citizen courage which inspires the heroes
portrayed by Homer, like Diomede and Hector: “
Polydamas will be the first to flout me;1
” and Diomede says “ Hector will make his boast at Troy hereafter:
“By me was Tydeus' son . . .”2
” [3] This type of courage most closely resembles the one described before, because it is prompted by a virtue, namely the sense of shame,3 and by the desire for something noble, namely honor, and the wish to avoid the disgrace of being reproached. [4] The courage of troops forced into battle by their officers may be classed as of the same type, though they are inferior inasmuch as their motive is not a sense of shame but fear, and the desire to avoid not disgrace but pain. Their masters compel them to be brave, after Hector's fashion: “ Let me see any skulking off the field—
He shall not save his carcase from the dogs!4
” [5] The same is done by commanders who draw up their troops in front of them and beat them if they give ground,
” and Diomede says “ Hector will make his boast at Troy hereafter:
“By me was Tydeus' son . . .”2
” [3] This type of courage most closely resembles the one described before, because it is prompted by a virtue, namely the sense of shame,3 and by the desire for something noble, namely honor, and the wish to avoid the disgrace of being reproached. [4] The courage of troops forced into battle by their officers may be classed as of the same type, though they are inferior inasmuch as their motive is not a sense of shame but fear, and the desire to avoid not disgrace but pain. Their masters compel them to be brave, after Hector's fashion: “ Let me see any skulking off the field—
He shall not save his carcase from the dogs!4
” [5] The same is done by commanders who draw up their troops in front of them and beat them if they give ground,
1 Hom. Il. 22.100 ( Hector)—‘Alas, should I retire within the gates, Polydamas, . . .’
2 Hom. Il. 8.148—‘By me was Tydeus's son routed in flight Back to the ships.’
3 For this emotion see 2.7.14, 4.9.1, where it is said not to be, strictly speaking, a virtue.
4 Hom. Il. 2.391, but the words are Agamemnon's, and are slightly different in our Homer.