The sons of Greece, for such a cause as this,
Into new perils. O ye coward race!
Ye abject Greeklings, Greeks no longer, haste
Homeward with all the fleet, and let us leave
This man at Troy to win his trophies here,
That he may learn whether the aid we give
Avails him aught or not, since he insults
Achilles, a far braver man than he.[157]
It is true Ulysses smote Thersites as he upbraided him for this insult to Agamemnon. It is plain, however, that the chastisement was of a private nature. It seems not to have been a crime openly to berate their chief. Indeed the position of “shepherd of the people” was not one of such dignity that any warrior among the hosts might not with impunity freely speak his mind concerning him, or to his face confront him with improper behaviour. When Agamemnon compared unfavourably the valour of Diomed with that of his father, Tydeus, Sthenelus, the honoured son of Capaneus, hesitated not to remind the chief of his folly, and to his face upbraid him. “Atrides, speak not falsely when thou knowest the truth so well.”[158]
Regarding the office of king, Mr. Morgan says: