Ares.
No; I do not think any one could have the effrontery to charge me with encouraging that mental effort which is so disastrous to the work of a soldier. The same old practices which led our forefathers to glory—the courage of tigers; the firm belief that if any one tried to be crafty it must be because he is a coward; a bull-front set straight at every obstacle, whatever its nature; a proper contempt for any plan or discovery made since the days of Father Uranus—these are the principles in which I disciplined our troops, and I will not admit that I can have anything to reproach myself with. The circumstances which we were unexpectedly called upon to face were such as could never have been anticipated.
Aphrodite.
I do not see that you could have done otherwise than, as you did, to refuse with dignity to anticipate anything so revolutionary.
Ares.
There are certain things which one seems to condone by merely acknowledging their existence. That employment of mobile mechanisms, for instance——
Aphrodite.
Do not speak of it! I could never have believed that the semblance of the military could be made so excessively distasteful to me.
Ares.