Pandarus, where is thy bow, and where thy feathery arrows?
Where thy glory, the which no man among us doth challenge?
If a man is giving way, there is also a vigorous rallying power in such language as
Where now
Is Oedipus and all his far-famed rede?
or:
Is ‘t Heracles,
He who hath borne so many a brunt, speaks thus?
Not only does it temper the harshness of the punishment |D| inflicted by the reproach; it sets a man at rivalry with himself. When reminded of the things which stand to his credit, he is ashamed of those which degrade him, and he finds an elevating example in his own person. But when we make comparisons with others—with mates, fellow citizens, or kinsmen—the contentiousness which belongs to his failings is piqued and exacerbated. It has a habit of retorting angrily, ‘Then why don’t you go to my betters, instead of harassing me?’ We must therefore beware of belauding one person while we are speaking our minds to another—always, of course, with the exception of his parents. Thus Agamemnon can say:
Truly, a son little like to himself hath Tydeus begotten;