This discussion inspired me to reread Plutarch's comparison of Coriolanus and Alcibiades -- it seems clear to me (as it always has) that Plutarch is much more forgiving of the facile, flattering Alcibiades than he is of unbending, resentful Coriolanus. But there's this point that Plutarch (in this Dryden translation) puts quite well that communicates a kind of irony that perhaps Shakespeare was trying to get at: "He who least likes courting favour, ought also least to think of resenting neglect; to feel wounded at being refused a distinction can only arise from an overweening appetite to have it."
I said earlier that Coriolanus disdains popular regard, but that is of course incorrect -- he disdains seeking recognition, or seeming to seek it, but of course he feels entitled to it.
Here's Plutarch (via Dryden): http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/compared.html
--Mike