Once we come into contact with the old tales of chivalry and internalize the values of the medieval knight, we must face reality: the “heroes” of history are far, very far from that fascinating archetype. The legacy of those legends, to be sure, is real and positive; even today, we read them with great benefit and great pleasure. But it is futile to seek concrete embodiments of those ideals, which seem to subject man to an impossible, literary moral standard. With the image of the noble Knights of the Round Table fresh in our minds, we will hardly ever close the biography of a powerful man without feeling some frustration.