When Hermodotus in his poems described Antigonus as the son of Helios, “My valet-de-chambre,” said he, “is not aware of this.”1
ATTRIBUTION:
Of Isis and Osiris.
Note 1. No man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre.—Marshal Catinat (1637–1712).
Few men have been admired by their domestics.—Montaigne: Essays, book iii. chap. 2.
This phrase, “No man is a hero to his valet,” is commonly attributed to Madame de Sévigné, but on the authority of Madame Aissé (Letters, edited by Jules Ravenal, 1853) it really belongs to Madame Cornuel. [back]
