I wish I had a cause to seek him there,
To oppose his hatred fully.
(iII. i. 19.)
As Tullus sums up on his side:
We hate alike;
Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor
More than thy fame and envy.
(i. viii. 2.)
Still, it is precisely in his relations with Aufidius, and in comparison with Aufidius’ passions and purposes, that Coriolanus’ finer conception of honour becomes apparent. The true warrior values these encounters for themselves, and has a rapture in them second to none that he knows. He exclaims:
Were half to half the world by the ears, and he