[Page 588]
I have been wondering did I draw your attention to the analogy between the Queen of Greece at the present moment, at that of and Octavia, in Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra. Octavia was sister to Caesar and wife to Antony, and when there was question of war between them she had to struggle between love for husband and brother. So she of Greece today must be getting in some fine work to prevent her husband from throwing in his lot with the Allies as against the side whereon her brother holds sway. The King must have bad nights when he retires to his private appartments, curtain lectures of the most severe order by his mate, who, a Hohenzollern, has probably all the forcefulness of her forebears. After he has had a bad day with Venizelos, sympathiser with the Allies, the events at home must be particularly trying. It is too more than probable that the members of the family take sides with the Mother. Poor chap must be having a rocky time! Vide Antony & Cleopatra III – 4 – 1 to 26. Your book marker "To My Father" marks the page in the "Tragedies of Shakespeare"
How like men are today as ever? A favourite decoration for our soldiers, Australian and English alike, is a belt ornamented with buttons and badges. Homer in his Odyssey, (Homer the most famous of all the poets of Ancient Greece), writing a long time ago, describes the belt of Hercules thus:–
"...; a dreadful belt
He bore athwart his bosom, thong'd with gold,
Here, broider'd shone many a stupendous form,
Bears, wild boars, lions with fire-flashing eyes
Fierce combats, battles, bloodshed, homicide.
[King Constantine I of Greece (1868-1923) was married to Princess Sophie of Prussia (1872-1932), sister to Kaiser Wilhelm II (and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria).
Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) was in favour of Greece, a neutral nation, coming into the War on the side of the Allies. Greece eventually did so, declaring war on the Central Powers on 2 July 1917.]