“Atrides, speak not falsely, when thou know’st The truth so well. Assuredly we claim To be far braver than our fathers were. We took seven-gated Thebes with fewer troops Than theirs, when, trusting in the omens sent From heaven, and in the aid of Jupiter, so We led our men beneath the city walls Sacred to Mars. Our fathers perished there Through their own folly. Therefore never seek To place them in the same degree with us.”

The brave Tydides with a frown replied:⁠— “Nay, hold thy peace, my friend, and heed my words. Of Agamemnon I will not complain⁠— The shepherd of the people; it is his To exhort the well-armed Greeks to gallant deeds. Great glory will attend him if the Greeks Shall overcome the Trojans, and shall take The sacred Ilium; but his grief will be Bitter if we shall fail and be destroyed. Hence think we only of the furious charge!”