Caius Marcius Coriolanus

For when some great and unusual deed is to be done, that poet declares in his stately manner:—

1. He then was inspired by the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene;[*](Odyssey, xviii. 158 = xxi. i. (τῇ δ’ ἄρα).)

and again:—

1. But some immortal turned his mind by lodging in his heart
2. A fear of what the folk would say;[*](Not to be found now in Homer.)

and again:—

1. Either through some suspicion, or else a god so bade him do;[*](Odyssey, ix. 339.)

but people despise Homer and say that with his impossible exploits and incredible tales he makes it impossible to believe in every man’s power to determine his own choice of action.

This, however, is not what Homer does, but those acts which are natural, customary, and the result of reasoning, he attributes to our own volition, and he certainly says frequently:—

1. But I formed a plan within my lordly heart;[*](Odyssey, ix. 299.)

and also:—

1. So he spake, and Peleus’ son was sore distressed, and his heart
2. Within his shaggy breast between two courses was divided;[*](Iliad, i. 188 f.)

and again:—

1. But him no whit
2. Could she persuade from his integrity, the fiery hearted Bellerophon;[*](Iliad, vi. 161 f.)