If the great gods be just, they shall assist
The deeds of justest men.
(II. i. 1.)
He has a certain nobility of sentiment that enables him to rise to the occasion. When to his surprise he learns that he will have to reckon with the one man he dreads, he cries:
But let us rear
The higher our opinion, that our stirring
Can from the lap of Egypt’s widow pluck
The ne’er-lust-wearied Antony.
(II. i. 35.)
So, when told that he looks older, his reply is magnanimous: