"To be too fond of life
Becomes not me; nor for myself alone,
But to all Greece, a blessing didst thou bear me.
Shall thousands, when their country's injured, lift
Their shields? shall thousands grasp the oar and dare,
Advancing bravely 'gainst the foe, to die
For Greece? And shall my life, my single life,
Obstruct all this? Would this be just? What word
Can we reply? Nay more, it is not right
That he with all the Grecians should contest
In fight, should die, _and for a woman_. No!
More than a thousand women is one man
Worthy to see the light of day.
* * * for Greece I give my life.
Slay me! demolish Troy! for these shall be
Long time my monuments, my children these,
My nuptials and my glory."
This sentiment marks Woman, when she loves enough to feel what a
creature of glory and beauty a true _Man_ would be, as much in
our own time as that of Euripides. Cooper makes the weak Hetty say to
her beautiful sister:
"Of course, I don't compare you with Harry. A handsome man is always
far handsomer than any woman." True, it was the sentiment of the age,
but it was the first time Iphigenia had felt it.
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