Book 4, Chapter 22

“But in Homer we see Ajax advancing with great cheerfulness, free of this gladiatorial anger, when he is about to fight Hector to the finish.

49 “Once he had taken up his arms, his advance brought joy to his comrades and terror to his enemies. Hector himself, as Homer tells it, trembled in every fiber and regretted issuing the challenge to battle. These two spoke to one another gently and calmly before they came to blows, and did nothing in anger or frenzy even in the fighting itself. I do not think even the Torquatus who earned that surname was angry when he stripped the torque from the Gaul, nor that Marcellus was courageous at Clastidium because he was angry.

50 “As for Africanus, whom we know better because his memory is more recent, I could even swear that he was not inflamed with anger when in battle he covered Marcus Alliennius of the Paeligni with his shield and drove his sword into the enemy’s breast. About Lucius Brutus I might hesitate: perhaps his boundless hatred of the tyrant made him attack Arruns with less restraint, for I see that both fell at close quarters, each struck by the other. Why, then, do you bring anger into this? Has courage no impulse of its own unless it begins to go mad? What of Hercules, raised to heaven by that very courage which you would make into irascibility? Do you think he was angry when he fought the Erymanthian boar or the Nemean lion? Or did Theseus seize the horns of the bull of Marathon in anger too? Consider whether courage may be entirely free of frenzy, and irascibility entirely a mark of instability.”

“But in Homer we see Ajax going forward quite cheerfully to fight Hector, without this gladiator’s anger.

49 “Once he’d put on his armor, the way he advanced brought joy to his comrades and terror to the enemy. Hector himself, as Homer tells it, trembled in his whole chest and regretted issuing the challenge. Before they came to blows, they spoke to one another mildly and calmly. Even in the fight itself, they did nothing angry or frenzied. I don’t think Torquatus, who first won that surname, was angry when he stripped the Gaul of his neck-chain. Nor was Marcellus brave at Clastidium because he was angry.

50 “Africanus is closer to our time, so we know him better. I’d be willing to swear that anger wasn’t burning in him when he covered Marcus Alliennius the Paelignian with his shield in battle and thrust his sword through the enemy’s chest. Perhaps Lucius Brutus is a less certain case: boundless hatred of the tyrant may have driven him against Arruns rather wildly. Both, I observe, fell at close quarters from each other’s blows. Still, what need is there to add anger? Must courage go mad before it can launch an attack? Hercules reached heaven through that very courage you insist on calling anger. Was he angry, do you think, in his struggles against the boar of Erymanthus or the lion of Nemea? Did anger make Theseus grab the Marathonian bull’s horns? Consider whether courage may be entirely free of frenzy and anger entirely a sign of instability.”