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Politics

Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University - Newark

Ex-Speaker McCarthy's departure from Congress reads like Greek tragedy – but stars a 'slight unmeritable man' and not a hero

Kevin McCarthy Mark Antony Ajax Julius Caesar Donald Trump Achilles Brutus Octavian Odysseus Rudy Giuliani

Rep. Kevin McCarthy leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the US Capitol on Dec. 5, 2023. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s departure from Congress brings to mind ambition and the other side of ambition’s coin, humiliation – the thirst for fame and power on one side, ignominious failure on the other.

Classical literature abounds with ambitious characters; heroes are by definition ambitious.

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