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diff --git a/old/53174-0.txt b/old/53174-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3f1fd5d..0000000 --- a/old/53174-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18255 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Æschylos Tragedies and Fragments, by Æschylos - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Æschylos Tragedies and Fragments - -Author: Æschylos - -Translator: E. H. Plumptre - -Release Date: September 30, 2016 [EBook #53174] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ÆSCHYLOS TRAGEDIES AND FRAGMENTS *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Eric Eldred and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - ÆSCHYLOS - TRAGEDIES - AND - FRAGMENTS - - - _Translated by the late_ - - E. H. PLUMPTRE D.D. - - _Dean of Wells_ - -WITH NOTES AND RHYMED CHORAL ODES - - IN TWO PARTS - - BOSTON U.S.A. - - D. C. HEATH & CO. PUBLISHERS - - 1901 - - - - - PUBLISHER'S NOTE - - -_The reception accorded to the pocket edition of Dean Plumptre's “Dante” -has encouraged the publishers to issue in the same_ format _the Dean's -masterly translation of the Tragedies of Æschylos._ - -_In preparing the present issue they have followed the carefully revised -text of the second edition, and have included the scholarly and -suggestive annotations with which the Dean invariably delighted to -enrich his work as a translator._ - -_The seven Plays, which are all that remain of the seventy or eighty -with which Æschylos is credited, are presented in their chronological -order. Passages in which the reading or the rendering is more or less -conjectural, and in which, accordingly, the aid of the commentator is -advisable, are marked by an asterisk; and passages which are regarded as -spurious by editors of authority have been placed in brackets._ - -_In translating the Choral Odes the Dean used such unrhymed -metres—observing the strophic and antistrophic arrangement—as seemed to -him most analogous in their general rhythmical effect to those of the -original. He added in an appendix, however, for the sake of those who -preferred the rhymed form with which they were familiar, a rhymed -version of the chief Odes of the Oresteian trilogy. Those in the other -dramas did not appear to him to be of equal interest, or to lend -themselves with equal facility to a like attempt. The Greek text on -which the translation is based is, for the most part, that of Mr. -Paley's edition of 1861._ - -_A translation was also given of the Fragments which have survived the -wreck of the lost plays, so that the work contains all that has been -left to us associated with the name of Æschylos._ - -_In the present edition a chronological outline has been substituted for -the biographical sketch of the poet, who from his daring enlargement of -the scope of the drama, the magnificence of his spectacular effects and -the splendour of his genius, was rightly honoured as “the Father of -Tragedy.”_ - - - - - PART I - - - _Page_ - - CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE LIFE OF ÆSCHYLOS 11 - - THE PERSIANS 17 - - THE SEVEN WHO FOUGHT AGAINST THEBES 65 - - PROMETHEUS BOUND 113 - - THE SUPPLIANTS 161 - - - - - PART II - - - _Page_ - - AGAMEMNON 9 - - THE LIBATION-POURERS 87 - - EUMENIDES 137 - - FRAGMENTS 185 - - - RHYMED CHORUSES - - _From_ Agamemnon 191 - - _From_ The Libation-Pourers 210 - - _From_ Eumenides 219 - - - - - CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE LIFE OF ÆSCHYLOS - - - B.C. - - 527 Peisistratos died. - - 525 Birth at Eleusis, in Attica, of Æschylos, son of Euphorion. - - 510 Expulsion of the Peisistratidæ. Democratic constitution of - Cleisthenes. - - Approximate date of incident in the legend that Æschylos was set - to watch grapes as they were ripening for the vintage, and fell - asleep; and lo! as he slept Dionysos appeared to him and bade - him give himself to write tragedies for the great festival of - the god. And when he awoke, he found himself invested with new - powers of thought and utterance, and the work was as easy to him - as if he had been trained to it for many years (Pausan, _Att._ - i. 21, § 3).[1] - - 500 Birth of Anaxagoras. - - 499 Æschylos exhibited his first tragedy, in unsuccessful - competition with Pratinas and Chœrilos. - - The wooden scaffolding broke beneath the crowd of spectators, - and the accident led the Athenians to build their first stone - theatre for the Dionysiac festivals. - - Partly out of annoyance at his defeat, it is said, and partly in - a spirit of adventure, Æschylos sailed for Sicily. - - 497 Death of Pythagoras (?). - - 495 Birth of Sophocles at Colonos. - - 491 Æschylos at Athens. - - 490 The Battle of Marathon. Æschylos and his brothers, Kynægeiros - and Ameinias, so distinguished themselves, that the Athenians - ordered their heroic deeds to be commemorated in a picture. - - Death of Theognis (?). - - 488 Prize awarded to Simonides for an elegy on Marathon. Æschylos, - piqued, it is said, at his failure in the competition, again - departed to Sicily. - - 485 Xerxes succeeded Dareios. - - 484 Æschylos won, in a dramatic contest with Pratinas, Chœrilos, and - Phrynichos, the first of a series of thirteen successes. - - Birth of Herodotos. - - 480 Athens burnt by Xerxes. - - Æschylos fought at Artemisium and Salamis. At Salamis his - brother Ameinias lost his hand, and was awarded the prize of - valour. - - Sophocles led the Chorus of Victory. - - Birth of Euripides. - - 479 Æschylos at the Battle of Platæa. - - 477 Commencement of Athenian supremacy. - - 473 Æschylos carried off the first prize with _The Persians_ (the - first of the extant plays), which belonged to a tetralogy that - included two tragedies, _Phineus_ and _Glaucos_, and a satyric - drama, _Prometheus the Fire-stealer_. - - _The Persians_ has the interest of being a contemporary record - of the great sea-fight at Salamis by an eye-witness. - - 471 Æschylos appears to have produced this year his next tetralogy, - of which _The Seven against Thebes_ survives. - - The play was directed against the policy of aiming at the - supremacy of Athens by attacking other Greek States, and, in - brief, maintained the policy of Aristeides as against that of - Themistocles. - - Birth of Thucydides. - - 468 Sophocles gained his first victory in tragedy with his - _Triptolemos_; Æschylos defeated. - - Æschylos charged with impiety, on the ground that he had - profaned the Mysteries by introducing on the stage rites known - only to the initiated; tried and acquitted; departure for - Syracuse. - - 467 Æschylos at the court of Hieron at Syracuse, where he is said to - have composed dramas on local legends, such as _The Women of - Ætna_. - - Death of Simonides. - - 461 Ostracism of Kimon; ascendency of Pericles. - - 460-59 Probable date of _The Suppliants_, if the play be connected with - the alliance between Argos and Athens (B.C. 461), and the war - with the Persian forces in Egypt, upon which the Athenians had - entered as allies of the Libyan Prince Inaros. (B.C. 460.) - - The date of _Prometheus Bound_ has been referred to B.C. 470 on - the strength of a description of Ætna (vv. 370-380), which is - supposed to be a reference to the eruption of B.C. 477. Internal - evidence, however, seems to warrant the view that _The - Suppliants_ and the _Prometheus Bound_ were separated by only a - brief interval of time. - - 458 Æschylos in Athens. He found new men and new methods; - institutions, held most sacred as the safeguard of Athenian - religion, were being criticised and attacked; the Court of - Areiopagos was threatened with abolition under pretence of - reform. - - Production of the Oresteian Trilogy (or, rather, tetralogy, as - in addition to the _Agamemnon_, the _Libation-pourers_, and the - _Eumenides_, there was a satyric drama, _Proteus_). - - This trilogy was a conservative protest, religious, social, and - political, which culminated in the assertion of the divine - authority of the Areiopagos. - - Popular feeling was once more excited against the poet, who left - Athens never to return, and settled at Gela, in Sicily, under - the patronage of Hieron. - - 456 Death of Æschylos, aged 69. - - An oracle foretold that he was to die by a blow from heaven, and - according to the legend, an eagle, mistaking the poet's head for - a stone as he sat writing, dropped a tortoise on it to break the - shell. - - He was buried at Gela, and his epitaph, ascribed to himself, - ran: “Beneath this stone lies Æschylos, son of Euphorion. At - fertile Gela he died. Marathon can tell of his tested manhood, - and the Persians who there felt his mettle.” - - He is said to have produced between seventy and eighty plays, of - which only seven survive. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - _Cf._, the legend of Caedmon, “the Father of English Song.” - - - - - THE PERSIANS[2] - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - ATOSSA - - _Ghost of_ DAREIOS - - _Messenger_ - - XERXES - - _Chorus of Persian Elders_ - - -_ARGUMENT.—When Xerxes came to the throne of Persia, remembering how his -father Dareios had sought to subdue the land of the Hellenes, and -seeking to avenge the defeat of Datis and Artaphernes on the field of -Marathon, he gathered together a mighty host of all nations under his -dominion, and led them against Hellas. And at first he prospered and -prevailed, crossed the Hellespont, and defeated the Spartans at -Thermopylæ, and took the city of Athens, from which the greater part of -its citizens had fled. But at last he and his armament met with utter -overthrow at Salamis. Meanwhile Atossa, the mother of Xerxes, with her -handmaids and the elders of the Persians, waited anxiously at Susa, -where was the palace of the great king, for tidings of her son._ - ------ - -Footnote 2: - - _Note._—Within two years after the battle of Salamis, the feeling of - natural exultation was met by Phrynichos in a tragedy bearing the - title of _The Phœnikians_, and having for its subject the defeat of - Xerxes. As he had come under the displeasure of the Athenian _demos_ - for having brought on the stage the sufferings of their Ionian kinsmen - in his _Capture of Miletos_, he was apparently anxious to regain his - popularity by a “sensation” drama of another kind; and his success - seems to have prompted Æschylos to a like attempt five years later, - B.C. 473. The Tetralogy to which the play belonged, and which gained - the first prize on its representation, included the two tragedies - (unconnected in subject) of _Phineus_ and _Glaucos_, and the satyric - drama of _Prometheus the Fire-stealer_. - - The play has, therefore, the interest of being strictly a contemporary - narrative of the battle of Salamis and its immediate consequences, by - one who may himself have been present at it, and whose brother - Ameinias (Herod, viii. 93) distinguished himself in it by a special - act of heroism. As such, making all allowance for the influence of - dramatic exigencies, and the tendency to colour history so as to meet - the tastes of patriotic Athenians, it may claim, where it differs from - the story told by Herodotos, to be a more trustworthy record. And it - has, we must remember, the interest of being the only extant drama of - its class, the only tragedy the subject of which is not taken from the - cycle of heroic myths, but from the national history of the time. Far - below the Oresteian Trilogy as it may seem to us as a work of art, - having more the character of a spectacle than a poem, it was, we may - well believe, unusually successful at the time, and it is said to have - been chosen by Hiero for reproduction in Syracuse after Æschylos had - settled there under his patronage. - - - - - THE PERSIANS - - - SCENE.—SUSA, _in front of the palace of_ XERXES, _the tomb - of_ DAREIOS _occupying the position of the thymele_ - - _Enter Chorus of_ Persian Elders. - - We the title bear of Faithful,[3] - Friends of Persians gone to Hellas, - Watchers left of treasure city,[4] - Gold-abounding, whom, as oldest, - Xerxes hath himself appointed, - He, the offspring of Dareios, - As the warders of his country. - And about our king's returning, - And our army's, gold-abounding, - Over-much, and boding evil, 10 - Does my mind within me shudder - (For our whole force, Asia's offspring, - Now is gone), and for our young chief - Sorely frets: nor courier cometh, - Nor any horseman, bringing tidings - To the city of the Persians. - From Ecbatana departing, - Susa, or the Kissian fortress,[5] - Forth they sped upon their journey, - Some in ships, and some on horses, - Some on foot, still onward marching, - In their close array presenting - Squadrons duly armed for battle: 20 - Then Armistres, Artaphernes, - Megabazes, and Astaspes, - Mighty leaders of the Persians, - Kings, and of the great King servants,[6] - March, the chiefs of mighty army. - Archers they and mounted horsemen. - Dread to look on, fierce in battle, - Artembares proud, on horseback, - And Masistres, and Imæos, 30 - Archer famed, and Pharandakes, - And the charioteer Sosthanes. - Neilos mighty and prolific - Sent forth others, Susikanes, - Pegastagon, Egypt's offspring, - And the chief of sacred Memphis; - Great Arsames, Ariomardos, - Ruler of primeval Thebæ, - And the marsh-men,[7] and the rowers, - Dread, and in their number countless. 40 - And there follow crowds of Lydians, - Very delicate and stately,[8] - Who the people of the mainland - Rule throughout—whom Mitragathes - And brave Arkteus, kingly chieftains, - Led, from Sardis, gold-abounding, - Riding on their many chariots, - Three or four a-breast their horses, - Sight to look upon all dreadful. - And the men of sacred Tmôlos[9] - Rush to place the yoke of bondage - On the neck of conquered Hellas. 50 - Mardon, Tharabis, spear-anvils,[10] - And the Mysians, javelin-darting;[11] - Babylôn too, gold-abounding, - Sends a mingled cloud, swept onward, - Both the troops who man the vessels, - And the skilled and trustful bowmen; - And the race the sword that beareth, - Follows from each clime of Asia, - At the great King's dread commandment. - These, the bloom of Persia's greatness, - Now are gone forth to the battle; 60 - And for these, their mother country, - Asia, mourns with mighty yearning; - Wives and mothers faint with trembling - Through the hours that slowly linger, - Counting each day as it passes. - - - STROPHE I - - The king's great host, destroying cities mighty, - Hath to the land beyond the sea passed over, - Crossing the straits of Athamantid Helle,[12] 70 - On raft by ropes secured, - And thrown his path, compact of many a vessel, - As yoke upon the neck of mighty ocean. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Of populous Asia thus the mighty ruler - 'Gainst all the land his God-sent host directeth - In two divisions, both by land and water, - Trusting the chieftains stern, - The men who drive the host to fight, relentless— - He, sprung from gold-born race, a hero godlike.[13] 80 - - - STROPHE II - - Glancing with darkling look, and eyes as of ravening dragon, - With many a hand, and many a ship, and Syrian chariot driving,[14] - He upon spearmen renowned brings battle of conquering arrows.[15] - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Yea, there is none so tried as, withstanding the flood of the mighty,90 - To keep within steadfast bounds that wave of ocean resistless; - Hard to fight is the host of the Persians, the people stout-hearted. - - - MESODE - - Yet ah! what mortal can ward the craft of the God all-deceiving? - *Who, with a nimble foot, of one leap is easily sovereign? - For Atè, fawning and kind, at first a mortal betraying, 100 - Then in snares and meshes decoys him, - Whence one who is but man in vain doth struggle to 'scape from. - - - STROPHE III - - For Fate of old, by the high Gods' decree, - Prevailed, and on the Persians laid this task, - Wars with the crash of towers, - And set the surge of horsemen in array, - And the fierce sack that lays a city low. 110 - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - But now they learnt to look on ocean plains,[16] - The wide sea hoary with the violent blast, - Waxing o'er confident - In cables formed of many a slender strand, - And rare device of transport for the host. - - - STROPHE IV - - So now my soul is torn, - As clad in mourning, in its sore affright, - Ah me! ah me! for all the Persian host! 120 - Lest soon our country learn - That Susa's mighty fort is void of men. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - And through the Kissians' town - Shall echo heavy thud of hands on breast. - Woe! woe! when all the crowd of women speak - This utterance of great grief, - And byssine robes are rent in agony. - - - STROPHE V - - For all the horses strong, - And host that march on foot, - Like swarm of bees, have gone with him who led 130 - The vanguard of the host. - Crossing the sea-washed, bridge-built promontory - That joins the shores of either continent.[17] - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - And beds with tears are wet - In grief for husbands gone, - And Persian wives are delicate in grief, - Each yearning for her lord; - And each who sent her warrior-spouse to battle 140 - Now mourns at home in dreary solitude. - But come, ye Persians now, - And sitting in this ancient hall of ours, - Let us take thought deep-counselling and wise, - (Sore need is there of that,) - How fareth now the great king Xerxes, he - Who calls Dareios sire, - Bearing the name our father bore of old? - Is it the archers' bow that wins the day? - Or does the strength prevail 150 - Of iron point that heads the spear's strong shaft? - But lo! in glory like the face of gods, - The mother of my king, my queen, appears: - Let us do reverent homage at her feet; - Yea, it is meet that all - Should speak to her with words of greeting kind. - - _Enter_ ATOSSA _in a chariot of state_ - - _Chor._ O sovereign queen of Persian wives deep-zoned, - Mother of Xerxes, reverend in thine age, - Wife of Dareios! hail! - 'Twas thine to join in wedlock with a spouse - Whom Persians owned as God,[18] - And of a God thou art the mother too, - Unless its ancient Fortune fails our host. 160 - - _Atoss._ Yes, thus I come, our gold-decked palace leaving, - The bridal bower Dareios with me slept in. - Care gnaws my heart, but now I tell you plainly - A tale, my friends, which may not leave me fearless, - Lest boastful wealth should stumble at the threshold, - And with his foot o'erturn the prosperous fortune - That great Dareios raised with Heaven's high blessing. - And twofold care untold my bosom haunteth: - We may not honour wealth that has no warriors, - Nor on the poor shines light to strength proportioned; - Wealth without stint we have, yet for our eye we tremble; 170 - For as the eye of home I deem a master's presence. - Wherefore, ye Persians, aid me now in counsel; - Trusty and old, in you lies hope of wisdom. - - _Chor._ Queen of our land! be sure thou need'st not utter - Or thing or word twice o'er, which power may point to; - Thou bid'st us counsel give who fain would serve thee. - - _Atoss._ Ever with many visions of the night[19] - Am I encompassed, since my son went forth, - Leading a mighty host, with aim to sack - The land of the Ionians. But ne'er yet 180 - Have I beheld a dream so manifest - As in the night just past. And this I'll tell thee: - There stood by me two women in fair robes; - And this in Persian garments was arrayed, - And that in Dorian came before mine eyes; - In stature both of tallest, comeliest size; - And both of faultless beauty, sisters twain - Of the same stock.[20] And they twain had their homes, - One in the Hellenic, one in alien land. - And these two, as I dreamt I saw, were set 190 - At variance with each other. And my son - Learnt it, and checked and mollified their wrath, - And yokes them to his chariot, and his collar - He places on their necks. And one was proud - Of that equipment,[21] and in harness gave - Her mouth obedient; but the other kicked, - And tears the chariot's trappings with her hands, - And rushes off uncurbed, and breaks its yoke - Asunder. And my son falls low, and then - His father comes, Dareios, pitying him. - And lo! when Xerxes sees him, he his clothes 200 - Rends round his limbs. These things I say I saw - In visions of the night; and when I rose, - And dipped my hands in fountain flowing clear,[22] - I at the altar stood with hand that bore - Sweet incense, wishing holy chrism to pour - To the averting Gods whom thus men worship. - And I beheld an eagle in full flight - To Phœbos' altar-hearth; and then, my friends, 210 - I stood, struck dumb with fear; and next I saw - A kite pursuing, in her wingèd course, - And with his claws tearing the eagle's head, - Which did nought else but crouch and yield itself. - Such terrors it has been my lot to see, - And yours to hear: For be ye sure, my son, - If he succeed, will wonder-worthy prove; - But if he fail, still irresponsible - He to the people, and in either case, - He, should he but return, is sovereign still.[23] - - _Chor._ We neither wish, O Lady, thee to frighten - O'ermuch with what we say, nor yet encourage: - But thou, the Gods adoring with entreaties, - If thou hast seen aught ill, bid them avert it, - And that all good things may receive fulfilment - For thee, thy children, and thy friends and country. 220 - And next 'tis meet libations due to offer - To Earth and to the dead. And ask thy husband, - Dareios, whom thou say'st by night thou sawest, - With kindly mood from 'neath the Earth to send thee - Good things to light for thee and for thine offspring, - While adverse things shall fade away in darkness. - Such things do I, a self-taught seer, advise thee - In kindly mood, and any way we reckon - That good will come to thee from out these omens. - - _Atoss._ Well, with kind heart, hast thou, as first expounder, - Out of my dreams brought out a welcome meaning - For me, and for my sons; and thy good wishes, - May they receive fulfilment! And this also, - As thou dost bid, we to the Gods will offer 230 - And to our friends below, when we go homeward. - But first, my friends, I wish to hear of Athens, - Where in the world do men report it standeth?[24] - - _Chor._ Far to the West, where sets our king the Sun-God. - - _Atoss._ Was it this city my son wished to capture? - - _Chor._ Aye, then would Hellas to our king be subject. - - _Atoss._ And have they any multitude of soldiers? - - _Chor._ A mighty host, that wrought the Medes much mischief. - - _Atoss._ And what besides? Have they too wealth sufficing? - - _Chor._ A fount of silver have they, their land's treasure.[25]240 - - _Atoss._ Have they a host in archers' skill excelling? - - _Chor._ Not so, they wield the spear and shield and bucklers.[26] - - _Atoss._ What shepherd rules and lords it o'er their people? - - _Chor._ Of no man are they called the slaves or subjects. - - _Atoss._ How then can they sustain a foe invading? - - _Chor._ So that they spoiled Dareios' goodly army. - - _Atoss._ Dread news is thine for sires of those who're marching. - - _Chor._ Nay, but I think thou soon wilt know the whole truth; - This running one may know is that of Persian:[27] - For good or evil some clear news he bringeth. 250 - - _Enter_ Messenger - - _Mess._ O cities of the whole wide land of Asia! - O soil of Persia, haven of great wealth! - How at one stroke is brought to nothingness - Our great prosperity, and all the flower - Of Persia's strength is fallen! Woe is me! - 'Tis ill to be the first to bring ill news; - Yet needs must I the whole woe tell, ye Persians: - All our barbaric mighty host is lost.[28] - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ O piteous, piteous woe! 260 - O strange and dread event! - Weep, O ye Persians, hearing this great grief! - - _Mess._ Yea, all things there are ruined utterly; - And I myself beyond all hopes behold - The light of day at home. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ O'er-long doth life appear - To me, bowed down with years, - On hearing this unlooked-for misery. - - _Mess._ And I, indeed, being present and not hearing - The tales of others, can report, ye Persians, - What ills were brought to pass. - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Alas, alas! in vain - The many-weaponed and commingled host 270 - Went from the land of Asia to invade - The soil divine of Hellas. - - _Mess._ Full of the dead, slain foully, are the coasts - Of Salamis, and all the neighbouring shore. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ Alas, alas! sea-tossed - The bodies of our friends, and much disstained: - Thou say'st that they are drifted to and fro - *In far out-floating garments.[29] - - _Mess._ E'en so; our bows availed not, but the host - Has perished, conquered by the clash of ships. - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ Wail, raise a bitter cry 280 - And full of woe, for those who died in fight. - How every way the Gods have wrought out ill, - Ah me! ah me, our army all destroyed. - - _Mess._ O name of Salamis that most I loathe! - Ah, how I groan, remembering Athens too! - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Yea, to her enemies - Athens may well be hateful, and our minds - Remember how full many a Persian wife 290 - She, for no cause, made widows and bereaved. - - _Atoss._ Long time I have been silent in my woe, - Crushed down with grief; for this calamity - Exceeds all power to tell the woe, or ask. - Yet still we mortals needs must bear the griefs - The Gods send on us. Clearly tell thy tale, - Unfolding the whole mischief, even though - Thou groan'st at evils, who there is not dead, - And which of our chief captains we must mourn, - And who, being set in office o'er the host, - Left by their death their office desolate. 300 - - _Mess._ Xerxes still lives and sees the light of day. - - _Atoss._ To my house, then, great light thy words have brought, - Bright dawn of morning after murky night. - - _Mess._ Artembares, the lord of myriad horse, - On the hard flinty coasts of the Sileni - Is now being dashed; and valiant Dadakes, - Captain of thousands, smitten with the spear, - Leapt wildly from his ship. And Tenagon, - Best of the true old Bactrians, haunts the soil - Of Aias' isle; Lilaios, Arsames, 310 - And with them too Argestes, there defeated, - Hard by the island where the doves abound,[30] - Beat here and there upon the rocky shore. - [And from the springs of Neilos, Ægypt's stream, - Arkteus, Adeues, Pheresseues too, - These with Pharnuchos in one ship were lost;] - Matallos, Chrysa-born, the captain bold - Of myriads, leader he of swarthy horse - Some thrice ten thousand strong, has fallen low, - His red beard, hanging all its shaggy length, - Deep dyed with blood, and purpled all his skin. - Arabian Magos, Bactrian Artames, 320 - They perished, settlers in a land full rough. - [Amistris and Amphistreus, guiding well - The spear of many a conflict, and the noble - Ariomardos, leaving bitter grief - For Sardis; and the Mysian Seisames.] - With twelve score ships and ten came Tharybis; - Lyrnæan he in birth, once fair in form, - He lies, poor wretch, a death inglorious dying: - And, first in valour proved, Syennesis, - Kilikian satrap, who, for one man, gave - Most trouble to his foes, and nobly died. 330 - Of leaders such as these I mention make, - And out of many evils tell but few. - - _Atoss._ Woe, woe! I hear the very worst of ills, - Shame to the Persians, cause of bitter wail; - But tell me, going o'er the ground again, - How great the number of the Hellenes' navy, - That they presumed with Persia's armament - To wage their warfare in the clash of ships. - - _Mess._ As far as numbers went, be sure the ships - Of Persia had the better, for the Hellenes 340 - Had, as their total, ships but fifteen score, - And other ten selected as reserve.[31] - And Xerxes (well I know it) had a thousand - Which he commanded—those that most excelled[32] - In speed were twice five score and seven in number; - So stands the account. Deem'st thou our forces less - In that encounter? Nay, some Power above - Destroyed our host, and pressed the balance down - With most unequal fortune, and the Gods - Preserve the city of the Goddess Pallas. - - _Atoss._ Is the Athenians' city then unsacked? 350 - - _Mess._ Their men are left, and that is bulwark strong.[33] - - _Atoss._ Next tell me how the fight of ships began. - Who led the attack? Were those Hellenes the first, - Or was't my son, exulting in his strength? - - _Mess._ The author of the mischief, O my mistress, - Was some foul fiend or Power on evil bent; - For lo! a Hellene from the Athenian host[34] - Came to thy son, to Xerxes, and spake thus, - That should the shadow of the dark night come, - The Hellenes would not wait him, but would leap 360 - Into their rowers' benches, here and there, - And save their lives in secret, hasty flight. - And he forthwith, this hearing, knowing not - The Hellene's guile, nor yet the Gods' great wrath, - Gives this command to all his admirals, - Soon as the sun should cease to burn the earth - With his bright rays, and darkness thick invade - The firmament of heaven, to set their ships - In threefold lines, to hinder all escape, - And guard the billowy straits, and others place 370 - In circuit round about the isle of Aias: - For if the Hellenes 'scaped an evil doom, - And found a way of secret, hasty flight, - It was ordained that all should lose their heads.[35] - Such things he spake from soul o'erwrought with pride, - For he knew not what fate the Gods would send; - And they, not mutinous, but prompt to serve, - Then made their supper ready, and each sailor - Fastened his oar around true-fitting thole; - And when the sunlight vanished, and the night - Had come, then each man, master of an oar, 380 - Went to his ship, and all men bearing arms, - And through the long ships rank cheered loud to rank; - And so they sail, as 'twas appointed each, - And all night long the captains of the fleet - Kept their men working, rowing to and fro; - Night then came on, and the Hellenic host - In no wise sought to take to secret flight. - And when day, bright to look on with white steeds, - O'erspread the earth, then rose from the Hellenes 390 - Loud chant of cry of battle, and forthwith - Echo gave answer from each island rock; - And terror then on all the Persians fell, - Of fond hopes disappointed. Not in flight - The Hellenes then their solemn pæans sang: - But with brave spirit hasting on to battle. - With martial sound the trumpet fired those ranks; - And straight with sweep of oars that flew through foam, - They smote the loud waves at the boatswain's call; - And swiftly all were manifest to sight. 400 - Then first their right wing moved in order meet;[36] - Next the whole line its forward course began, - And all at once we heard a mighty shout,— - “O sons of Hellenes, forward, free your country; - Free too your wives, your children, and the shrines - Built to your fathers' Gods, and holy tombs - Your ancestors now rest in. Now the fight - Is for our all.” And on our side indeed - Arose in answer din of Persian speech, - And time to wait was over; ship on ship 410 - Dashed its bronze-pointed beak, and first a barque - Of Hellas did the encounter fierce begin,[37] - And from Phœnikian vessel crashes off - Her carved prow. And each against his neighbour - Steers his own ship: and first the mighty flood - Of Persian host held out. But when the ships - Were crowded in the straits,[38] nor could they give - Help to each other, they with mutual shocks, - With beaks of bronze went crushing each the other, - Shivering their rowers' benches. And the ships - Of Hellas, with manœuvring not unskilful, - Charged circling round them. And the hulls of ships 420 - Floated capsized, nor could the sea be seen, - Strown, as it was, with wrecks and carcases; - And all the shores and rocks were full of corpses. - And every ship was wildly rowed in fight, - All that composed the Persian armament. - And they, as men spear tunnies,[39] or a haul - Of other fishes, with the shafts of oars, - Or spars of wrecks went smiting, cleaving down; - And bitter groans and wailings overspread - The wide sea-waves, till eye of swarthy night 430 - Bade it all cease: and for the mass of ills, - Not, though my tale should run for ten full days, - Could I in full recount them. Be assured - That never yet so great a multitude - Died in a single day as died in this. - - _Atoss._ Ah, me! Great then the sea of ills that breaks - On Persia and the whole barbaric host. - - _Mess._ Be sure our evil fate is but half o'er: - On this has supervened such bulk of woe, - As more than twice to outweigh what I've told. 440 - - _Atoss._ And yet what fortune could be worse than this? - Say, what is this disaster which thou tell'st, - That turns the scale to greater evils still? - - _Mess._ Those Persians that were in the bloom of life, - Bravest in heart and noblest in their blood, - And by the king himself deemed worthiest trust, - Basely and by most shameful death have died. - - _Atoss._ Ah! woe is me, my friends, for our ill fate! - What was the death by which thou say'st they perished? - - _Mess._ There is an isle that lies off Salamis,[40] - Small, with bad anchorage for ships, where Pan, 450 - Pan the dance-loving, haunts the sea-washed coast. - There Xerxes sends these men, that when their foes, - Being wrecked, should to the islands safely swim, - They might with ease destroy th' Hellenic host, - And save their friends from out the deep sea's paths; - But ill the future guessing: for when God - Gave the Hellenes the glory of the battle, - In that same hour, with arms well wrought in bronze - Shielding their bodies, from their ships they leapt, - And the whole isle encircled, so that we 460 - Were sore distressed,[41] and knew not where to turn; - For here men's hands hurled many a stone at them; - And there the arrows from the archer's bow - Smote and destroyed them; and with one great rush, - At last advancing, they upon them dash - And smite, and hew the limbs of these poor wretches, - Till they each foe had utterly destroyed. - [And Xerxes when he saw how deep the ill,[42] - Groaned out aloud, for he had ta'en his seat, - With clear, wide view of all the army round, - On a high cliff hard by the open sea; - And tearing then his robes with bitter cry, 470 - And giving orders to his troops on shore, - He sends them off in foul retreat. This grief - 'Tis thine to mourn besides the former ills.] - - _Atoss._ O hateful Power, how thou of all their hopes - Hast robbed the Persians! Bitter doom my son - Devised for glorious Athens, nor did they, - The invading host who fell at Marathon, - Suffice; but my son, counting it his task - To exact requital for it, brought on him - So great a crowd of sorrows. But I pray, - As to those ships that have this fate escaped, 480 - Where did'st thou leave them? Can'st thou clearly tell? - - _Mess._ The captains of the vessels that were left, - With a fair wind, but not in meet array, - Took flight: and all the remnant of the army - Fell in Bœotia—some for stress of thirst - About the fountain clear, and some of us, - Panting for breath, cross to the Phokians' land, - The soil of Doris, and the Melian gulf, - Where fair Spercheios waters all the plains - With kindly flood, and then the Achæan fields 490 - And city of the Thessali received us, - Famished for lack of food;[43] and many died - Of thirst and hunger, for both ills we bore; - And then to the Magnetian land we came, - And that of Macedonians, to the stream - Of Axios, and Bolbe's reed-grown marsh, - And Mount Pangaios and the Edonian land. - And on that night God sent a mighty frost, - Unwonted at that season, sealing up - The whole course of the Strymon's pure, clear flood;[44] - And they who erst had deemed the Gods as nought, 500 - Then prayed with hot entreaties, worshipping - Both earth and heaven. And after that the host - Ceased from its instant calling on the Gods, - It crosses o'er the glassy, frozen stream; - And whosoe'er set forth before the rays - Of the bright God were shed abroad, was saved; - For soon the glorious sun with burning blaze - Reached the mid-stream and warmed it with its flame, - And they, confused, each on the other fell. - Blest then was he whose soul most speedily - Breathed out its life. And those who yet survived - And gained deliverance, crossing with great toil 510 - And many a pang through Thrakè, now are come, - Escaped from perils, no great number they, - To this our sacred land, and so it groans, - This city of the Persians, missing much - Our country's dear-loved youth. Too true my tale, - And many things I from my speech omit, - Ills which the Persians suffer at God's hand. - - _Chor._ O Power resistless, with what weight of woe - On all the Persian race have thy feet leapt! - - _Atoss._ Ah! woe is me for that our army lost! - O vision of the night that cam'st in dreams, 520 - Too clearly did'st thou show me of these ills! - But ye (_to Chorus_) did judge them far too carelessly; - Yet since your counsel pointed to that course, - I to the Gods will first my prayer address. - And then with gifts to Earth and to the Dead, - Bringing the chrism from my store, I'll come. - For our past ills, I know, 'tis all too late, - But for the future, I may hope, will dawn - A better fortune! But 'tis now your part - In these our present ills, in counsel faithful - To commune with the Faithful; and my son, 530 - Should he come here before me, comfort him, - And home escort him, lest he add fresh ill - To all these evils that we suffer now. [_Exit_ - - _Chor._ Zeus our king, who now to nothing - Bring'st the army of the Persians, - Multitudinous, much boasting; - And with gloomy woe hast shrouded - Both Ecbatana and Susa; - Many maidens now are tearing - With their tender hands their mantles, 540 - And with tear-floods wet their bosoms, - In the common grief partaking; - And the brides of Persian warriors, - Dainty even in their wailing, - Longing for their new-wed husbands, - Reft of bridal couch luxurious, - With its coverlet so dainty, - Losing joy of wanton youth-time, - Mourn in never-sated wailings. - And I too in fullest measure - Raise again meet cry of sorrow, - Weeping for the loved and lost ones. - - - STROPHE I - - For now the land of Asia mourneth sore, 550 - Left desolate of men, - 'Twas Xerxes led them forth, woe! woe! - 'Twas Xerxes lost them all, woe! woe! - 'Twas Xerxes who with evil counsels sped - Their course in sea-borne barques. - Why was Dareios erst so free from harm, - First bowman of the state, - The leader whom the men of Susa loved, - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - While those who fought as soldiers or at sea, 560 - These ships, dark-hulled, well-rowed, - Their own ships bore them on, woe! woe! - Their own ships lost them all, woe! woe! - Their own ships, in the crash of ruin urged, - And by Ionian hands?[45] - The king himself, we hear, but hardly 'scapes, - Through Thrakè's widespread steppes, - And paths o'er which the tempests wildly sweep. - - - STROPHE II - - And they who perished first, ah me! 570 - Perforce unburied left, alas! - Are scattered round Kychreia's shore,[46] woe! woe! - Lament, mourn sore, and raise a bitter cry, - Grievous, the sky to pierce, woe! woe! - And let thy mourning voice uplift its strain - Of loud and full lament. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Torn by the whirling flood, ah me! - Their carcases are gnawed, alas! - By the dumb brood of stainless sea, woe! woe! 580 - And each house mourneth for its vanished lord; - And childless sires, woe! woe! - Mourning in age o'er griefs the Gods have sent, - Now hear their utter loss. - - - STROPHE III - - And throughout all Asia's borders - None now own the sway of Persia, - Nor bring any more their tribute, - Owning sway of sovereign master. - Low upon the Earth, laid prostrate, 590 - Is the strength of our great monarch - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - No more need men keep in silence - Tongues fast bound: for now the people - May with freedom speak at pleasure; - For the yoke of power is broken; - And blood-stained in all its meadows - Holds the sea-washed isle of Aias - What was once the host of Persia. - - _Re-enter_ ATOSSA - - _Atoss._ Whoe'er, my friends, is vexed in troublous times, 600 - Knows that when once a tide of woe sets in, - A man is wont to fear in everything; - But when Fate flows on smoothly, then to trust - That the same Fate will ever send fair gales. - So now all these disasters from the Gods - Seem in mine eyes filled full of fear and dread, - And in mine ears rings cry unpæanlike, - So great a dread of all has seized my soul: - And therefore now, without or chariot's state - Or wonted pomp, have I thus issued forth 610 - From out my palace, to my son's sire bringing - Libations loving, gifts propitiatory, - Meet for the dead; milk pure and white from cow - Unblemished, and bright honey that distils - From the flower-working bee, and water drawn - From virgin fountain, and the draught unmarred - From mother wild, bright child of ancient vine; - And here too of the tree that evermore - Keeps its fresh life in foliage, the pale olive, - Is the sweet-smelling fruit, and twinèd wreaths - Of flowers, the children of all-bearing earth.[47] 620 - But ye, my friends, o'er these libations poured - In honour of the dead, chant forth your hymns, - And call upon Dareios as a God: - While I will send unto the Gods below - These votive offerings which the earth shall drink. - - [_Goes to the tomb of_ DAREIOS _in the centre - of the stage_ - - _Chor._ O royal lady, honoured of the Persians, - Do thou libations pour - To the dark chambers of the dead below; - And we with hymns will pray - The Powers that act as escorts of the dead - To give us kindly help beneath the earth. - But oh, ye holy Ones in darkness dwelling, 630 - Hermes and Earth, and thou, the Lord of Hell, - Send from beneath a soul - Up to the light of earth; - For should he know a cure for these our ills, - He, he alone of men, their end may tell. - - - STROPHE I - - Doth he, the blest one hear, - The king, like Gods in power, - Hear me, as I send forth - My cries in barbarous speech, - Yet very clear to him,— - Sad, varied, broken cries - So as to tell aloud - Our troubles terrible? 640 - Ah, doth he hear below? - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - But thou, O Earth, and ye, - The other Lords of those - Beneath the grave that dwell; - Grant that the godlike one - May come from out your home, - The Persians' mighty God, - In Susa's palace born; - Send him, I pray you, up, - The like of whom the soil - Of Persia never hid. - - - STROPHE II - - Dear was our chief, and dear to us his tomb, - For dear the life it hides; 650 - Aidoneus, O Aidoneus, send him forth, - Thou who dost lead the dead to Earth again, - *Yea, send Dareios.... What a king was he! - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - For never did he in war's bloody woe - Lose all his warrior-host, - But Heaven-taught Counsellor the Persians called him, - And Heaven-taught Counsellor in truth he proved, - Since he still ruled his hosts of subjects well. - - - STROPHE III - - Monarch, O ancient monarch, come, oh, come, - Come to the summit of sepulchral mound, 660 - Lifting thy foot encased - In slipper saffron-dyed, - And giving to our view - Thy royal tiara's crest:[48] - Speak, O Dareios, faultless father, speak. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Yea, come, that thou, O Lord, may'st hear the woes, - Woes new and strange, our lord has now endured; - For on us now has fallen - A dark and Stygian mist, - Since all the armed youth - Has perished utterly; - Speak, O Dareios, faultless father, speak. - - - EPODE - - O thou, whose death thy friends - Bewail with many tears, 670 - *Why thus, O Lord of lords, - *In double error of wild frenzy born, - Have all our triremes good - Been lost to this our land, - Ships that are ships no more, yea, ships no more? - - _The_ Ghost _of_ DAREIOS _appears on the summit of the - mound_ - - - _Dar._ O faithful of the Faithful, ye who were - Companions of my youth, ye Persian elders, - - What troubles is't my country toils beneath? - The whole plain groans, cut up and furrowed o'er,[49] - And I, beholding now my queen beloved - Standing hard by my sepulchre, feared much, 680 - And her libations graciously received; - But ye wail loud near this my sepulchre, - And shouting shrill with cries that raise the dead, - Ye call me with your plaints. No easy task - Is it to come, for this cause above all, - That the great Gods who reign below are apter - To seize men than release: yet natheless I, - Being great in power among them, now am come. - Be quick then, that none blame me as too late;[50] - What new dire evils on the Persians weigh? - - _Chor._ I fear to look on thee, 690 - Fear before thee to speak, - With all the awe of thee I felt of old. - - _Dar._ But since I came by thy complaints persuaded, - From below rising, spin no lengthened tale; - But shortly, clearly speak, and tell thy story, - And leave awhile thine awe and fear of me. - - _Chor._ I dread thy wish to grant, - *I dread to say thee nay,[51] - Saying things that it is hard for friends to speak. - - _Dar._ Nay, then, since that old dread of thine prevents thee, - Do thou [_to_ ATOSSA], the ancient partner of my bed,700 - My noble queen, from these thy plaints and moanings - Cease, and say something clearly. Human sorrows - May well on mortals fall; for many evils, - Some on the sea, and some on dry land also, - Happen to men if life be far prolongèd. - - _Atoss._ O thou, who in the fate of fair good fortune - Excelled'st all men, who, while yet thou sawest - The sun's bright rays, did'st lead a life all blessed, - Admired, yea, worshipped as a God by Persians, - Now, too, I count thee blest in that thou died'st - Before thou saw'st the depth of these our evils. - For now, Dareios, thou shalt hear a story - Full, yet in briefest moment. Utter ruin, - To sum up all, is come upon the Persians. 710 - - _Dar._ How so? Hath plague or discord seized my country? - - _Atoss._ Not so, but all the host is lost near Athens. - - _Dar._ What son of mine led that host hither, tell me?[52] - - _Atoss._ Xerxes o'er-hasty, emptying all the mainland. - - _Dar._ Made he this mad attempt by land or water? - - _Atoss._ By both; two lines there were of two great armies. - - _Dar._ How did so great a host effect its passage? - - _Atoss._ He bridged the straits of Helle, and found transit. - - _Dar._ Did he prevail to close the mighty Bosporos? - - _Atoss._ So was it; yet some God, it may be, helped him. 720 - - _Dar._ Alas! some great God came and stole his wisdom. - - _Atoss._ Yea, the end shows what evil he accomplished. - - _Dar._ And how have they fared, that ye thus bewail them? - - _Atoss._ The naval host, o'ercome, wrecked all the land-force. - - _Dar._ What! Is the whole host by the spear laid prostrate? - - _Atoss._ For this doth Susa's city mourn her losses. - - _Dar._ Alas, for that brave force and mighty army! - - _Atoss._ The Bactrians all are lost, not old men merely. - - _Dar._ Poor fool! how he hath lost his host's fresh vigour! - - _Atoss._ Xerxes, they say, alone, with but few others.... 730 - - _Dar._ What is his end, and where? Is there no safety? - - _Atoss._ Was glad to gain the bridge that joins two mainlands. - - _Dar._ And has he reached this mainland? Is that certain? - - _Atoss._ Yea, the report holds good. Here is no discord.[53] - - _Dar._ Ah me! Full swift the oracles' fulfilment! - And on my son hath Zeus their end directed. - I hoped the Gods would work them out more slowly; - But when man hastens, God too with him worketh. - And now for all my friends a fount of evils - Seems to be found. And this my son, not knowing, 740 - In youth's rash mood, hath wrought; for he did purpose - To curb the sacred Hellespont with fetters, - As though it were his slave, and sought to alter - The stream of God, the Bosporos, full-flowing, - And his well-hammered chains around it casting, - Prevailed to make his mighty host a highway; - And though a mortal, thought, with no good counsel, - To master all the Gods, yea, e'en Poseidon. - Nay, was not my poor son oppressed with madness? - And much I fear lest all my heaped-up treasure - Become the spoil and prey of the first comer. - - _Atoss._ Such things the o'er-hasty Xerxes learns from others,750 - By intercourse with men of evil counsel;[54] - Who say that thou great wealth for thy son gained'st - By thy spear's might, while he with coward spirit - Does his spear-work indoors, and nothing addeth - Unto his father's glory. Such reproaches - Hearing full oft from men of evil counsel, - He planned this expedition against Hellas. - - _Dar._ Thus then a deed portentous hath been wrought, - Ever to be remembered, such as ne'er - Falling on Susa made it desolate, - Since Zeus our king ordained this dignity, - That one man should be lord of Asia's plains. - Where feed her thousand flocks, and hold the rod 760 - Of sovran guidance: for the Median first[55] - Ruled o'er the host, and then his son in turn - Finished the work, for reason steered his soul; - And Kyros came as third, full richly blest, - And ruled, and gained great peace for all his friends; - And he won o'er the Lydians and the Phrygians, - And conquered all the wide Ionian land;[56] - For such his wisdom, he provoked not God. - And Kyros' son came fourth, and ruled the host; - And Mardos fifth held sway, his country's shame,[57] 770 - Shame to the ancient throne; and him with guile - Artaphrenes[58] the brave smote down, close leagued - With men, his friends, to whom the work was given. - [Sixth, Maraphis and seventh Artaphrenes,] - And I obtained this post that I desired, - And with a mighty host great victories won. - Yet no such evil brought I on the state; - But my son Xerxes, young, thinks like a youth, - And all my solemn charge remembers not; - For know this well, my old companions true, 780 - That none of us who swayed the realm of old, - Did e'er appear as working ills like these. - - _Chor._ What then, O King Dareios? To what end - Lead'st thou thy speech? And how, in this our plight, - Could we, the Persian people, prosper best? - - _Dar._ If ye no more attack the Hellenes' land, - E'en though the Median host outnumbers theirs. - To them the very land is true ally. - - _Chor._ What meanest thou? How fights the land for them? - - _Dar._ *It slays with famine those vast multitudes.790 - - _Chor._ We then a host, select, compact, will raise. - - _Dar._ Nay, e'en the host which now in Hellas stays[59] - Will ne'er return in peace and safety home. - - _Chor._ How say'st thou? Does not all the barbarous host - Cross from Europa o'er the straits of Hellè? - - _Dar._ But few of many; if 'tis meet for one - Who looks upon the things already done - To trust the oracles of Gods; for they, - Not these or those, but all, are brought to pass: - If this be so, then, resting on vain hopes,[60] 800 - He leaves a chosen portion of his host: - And they abide where, watering all the plain, - Asôpos pours his fertilising stream - Dear to Bœotian land; and there of ills - The topmost crown awaits them, penalty - Of wanton outrage and of godless thoughts; - For they to Hellas coming, held not back - In awe from plundering sculptured forms of Gods[61] - And burning down their temples; and laid low - Are altars, and the shrines of Gods o'erthrown, - E'en from their base. They therefore having wrought - Deeds evil, now are suffering, and will suffer - Evil not less, and not as yet is seen 810 - *E'en the bare groundwork of the ills, but still - They grow up to completeness. Such a stream - Of blood and slaughter soon shall flow from them - By Dorian spear upon Platæan ground,[62] - And heaps of corpses shall to children's children, - Though speechless, witness to the eyes of men - That mortal man should not wax overproud; - For wanton pride from blossom grows to fruit, - The full corn in the ear, of utter woe, - And reaps a tear-fraught harvest. Seeing then, - Such recompense of these things, cherish well - The memory of Athens and of Hellas; 820 - Let no man in his scorn of present fortune, - And thirst for other, mar his good estate; - Zeus is the avenger of o'er-lofty thoughts, - A terrible controller. Therefore now, - Since voice of God bids him be wise of heart, - Admonish him with counsel true and good - To cease his daring sacrilegious pride; - And thou, O Xerxes' mother, old and dear, - Go to thy home, and taking what apparel - Is fitting, go to meet thy son; for all 830 - The costly robes around his limbs are torn - To rags and shreds in grief's wild agony. - But do thou gently soothe his soul with words; - For he to thee alone will deign to hearken; - But I must leave the earth for darkness deep: - And ye, old men, farewell, although in woe, - And give your soul its daily bread of joy; - For to the dead no profit bringeth wealth. - - [_Exit, disappearing in the earth._ - - - _Chor._ I shudder as I hear the many woes - Both past and present that on Persians fall. 840 - - _Atoss._ [O God, how many evils fall on me![63] - And yet this one woe biteth more than all, - Hearing my son's shame in the rags of robes - That clothe his limbs. But I will go and take - A fit adornment from my house, and try - To meet my son. We will not in his troubles - Basely abandon him whom most we love.] - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Ah me! a glorious and a blessed life - Had we as subjects once, - When our old king, Dareios, ruled the land, 850 - Meeting all wants, dispassionate, supreme, - A monarch like a God. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - For first we showed the world our noble hosts; - And laws of tower-like strength - Directed all things; and our backward march - After our wars unhurt, unsuffering led - Our prospering armies home. - - - STROPHE II - - How many towns he took, - Not crossing Halys' stream[64] 860 - Nor issuing from his home, - There where in Strymon's sea, - The Acheloian Isles[65] - Lie near the coasts of Thrakian colonies. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And those that lie outside the Ægæan main, - The cities girt with towers, - They hearkened to our king; - And those who boast their site - By Hellè's full, wide stream, - Propontis with its bays, and mouth of Pontos broad. 870 - - - STROPHE III - - And all the isles that lie - Facing the headland jutting in the sea,[66] - Close bound to this our coast; - Lesbos, and Samos with its olive groves; - Chios and Paros too; - Naxos and Myconos, and Andros too - On Tenos bordering. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And so he ruled the isles - That lie midway between the continents, - Lemnos, and Icaros, - Rhodes and Cnidos and the Kyprian towns, 880 - Paphos and Soli famed, - And with them Salamis, - Whose parent city now our groans doth cause;[67] - - - EPODE - - And many a wealthy town and populous, - Of Hellenes in the Ionian region dwelling, - He by his counsel ruled; - His was the unconquered strength of warrior host, - Allies of mingled race. - And now, beyond all doubt, - In strife of war defeated utterly, - We find this high estate - Through wrath of God o'erturned, 890 - And we are smitten low, - By bitter loss at sea. - - _Enter_ XERXES _in kingly apparel, but with his robes rent, - with_ Attendants. - - _Xer._ Oh, miserable me! - Who this dark hateful doom - That I expected least - Have met with as my lot, - With what stern mood and fierce - Towards the Persian race - Is God's hand laid on us! - What woe will come on me? - Gone is my strength of limb, - As I these elders see. - Ah, would to Heaven, O Zeus, - That with the men who fell - Death's doom had covered me! 900 - - _Chor._ Ah, woe, O King, woe! woe! - For the army brave in fight, - And our goodly Persian name, - And the fair array of men, - Whom God hath now cut off! - And the land bewails its youth - Who for our Xerxes fell, - For him whose deeds have filled - *Hades with Persian souls; - For many heroes now - *Are Hades-travellers, - Our country's chosen flower, - Mighty with darts and bow; - *For lo! the myriad mass 910 - Of men has perished quite. - Woe, woe for our fair fame! - And Asia's land, O King, - Is terribly, most terribly, o'erthrown. - - _Xer._ I then, oh misery! - Have to my curse been proved - Sore evil to my country and my race. - - _Chor._ Yea, and on thy return - I will lift up my voice in wailing loud, - Cry of sore-troubled thought, - As of a mourner born - In Mariandynian land,[68] 920 - Lament of many tears. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Xer._ Yea, utter ye a wail - Dreary and full of grief; - For lo! the face of Fate - Against me now is turned. - - _Chor._ Yea, I will raise a cry - Dreary and full of grief, - Giving this tribute due - To all the people's woes, - And all our loss at sea, - Troubles of this our State - That mourneth for her sons; - Yea, I will wail full sore, - With flood of bitter tears. - - - STROPHE II - - _Xer._ For Ares, he whose might - Was in our ships' array, - Giving victory to our foes, - Has in Ionians, yea, - Ionians, found his match, - And from the dark sea's plain, - And that ill-omened shore, - Has a fell harvest reaped. - - _Chor._ Yea, wail, search out the whole; - Where are our other friends? - Where thy companions true, - Such as Pharandakes, - Susas, Pelagon, Psammis, Dotamas, - Agdabatas, Susiskanes, - From Ecbatana who started? - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Xer._ I left them low in death, - Falling from Tyrian ship, - On Salaminian shores, - Beating now here, now there, - On the hard rock-girt coast. - - _Chor._ Ah, where Pharnuchos then, - And Ariomardos brave? - And where Sevalkes king, - Lilæos proud of race, - Memphis and Tharybis, - Masistras, and Artembares, 950 - Hystæchmas? This I ask. - - - STROPHE III - - _Xer._ Woe! woe is me! - They have looked on at Athens' ancient towers, - Her hated towers, ah me! - All, as by one fell stroke, - Unhappy in their fate - Lie gasping on the shore. - - _Chor._ And he, thy faithful Eye,[69] 960 - Who told the Persian host, - Myriads on myriads o'er,[70] - Alpistos, son and heir - Of Batanôchos old - · · · · · - And the son of brave Sesames, - Son himself of Megabates? - Parthos, and the great Œbares, - Did'st thou leave them, did'st thou leave them? - Ah, woe! ah, woe is me, - For those unhappy ones! - Thou to the Persians brave - Tellest of ills on ills. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Xer._ Ah, thou dost wake in me - The memory of the spell of yearning love - For comrades brave and true, - Telling of cursed ills, - Yea, cursed, hateful doom; 970 - And lo, within my frame - My heart cries out, cries out. - - _Chor._ Yea, another too we long for, - Xanthes, captain of ten thousand - Mardian warriors, and Anchares - Arian born, and great Arsakes - And Diæxis, lords of horsemen, - Kigdagatas and Lythimnas, - Tolmos, longing for the battle: 980 - *Much I marvel, much I marvel,[71] - For they come not, as the rear-guard - Of thy tent on chariot mounted.[72] - - - STROPHE IV - - _Xer._ Gone those rulers of the army. - - _Chor._ Gone are they in death inglorious. - - _Xer._ Ah woe! ah woe! Alas! alas! - - _Chor._ Ah! the Gods have sent upon us - Ill we never thought to look on, - Eminent above all others; - Ne'er hath Atè seen its equal. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Smitten we by many sorrows, 990 - Such as come on men but seldom. - - _Chor._ Smitten we, 'tis all too certain.... - - _Xer._ Fresh woes! fresh woes! ah me! - - _Chor._ Now with adverse turn of fortune, - With Ionian seamen meeting, - Fails in war the race of Persians. - - - STROPHE V - - _Xer._ Too true. Yea I and that vast host of mine - Are smitten down. - - _Chor._ Too true—the Persians' majesty and might - Have perished utterly. - - _Xer._ See'st thou this remnant of my armament? - - _Chor._ I see it, yea, I see. 1000 - - _Xer._ (_pointing to his quiver._) Dost see thou that - which arrows wont to hold?... - - _Chor._ What speak'st thou of as saved? - - _Xer._ This treasure-store for darts. - - _Chor._ Few, few of many left! - - _Xer._ Thus we all helpers lack. - - _Chor._ Ionian soldiers flee not from the spear. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - _Xer._ Yea, very brave are they, and I have seen - Unlooked-for woe. - - _Chor._ Wilt tell of squadron of our sea-borne ships - Defeated utterly? - - _Xer._ I tore my robes at this calamity. - - _Chor._ Ah me, ah me, ah me. 1010 - - _Xer._ Ay, more than all 'ah me's'! - - _Chor._ Twofold and threefold ills! - - _Xer._ Grievous to us—but joy, - Great joy, to all our foes! - - _Chor._ Lopped off is all our strength. - - _Xer._ Stripped bare of escort I! - - _Chor._ Yea, by sore loss at sea - Disastrous to thy friends. - - - STROPHE VI - - _Xer._ Weep for our sorrow, weep, - Yea, go ye to the house. - - _Chor._ Woe for our griefs, woe, woe! - - _Xer._ Cry out an echoing cry. - - _Chor._ Ill gift of ills on ills. 1020 - - _Xer._ Weep on in wailing chant. - - _Chor._ Oh! ah! Oh! ah! - - _Xer._ Grievous our bitter woes. - - _Chor._ Ah me, I mourn them sore. - - - ANTISTROPHE VI - - _Xer._ Ply, ply your hands and groan; - Yea, for my sake bewail. - - _Chor._ I weep in bitter grief. - - _Xer._ Cry out an echoing cry. - - _Chor._ Yea, we may raise our voice, - O Lord and King, in wail. - - _Xer._ Raise now shrill cry of woe. - - _Chor._ Ah me! Ah! Woe is me! 1030 - - _Xer._ Yea, with it mingle dark.... - - _Chor._ And bitter, grievous blows. - - - STROPHE VII - - _Xer._ Yea, beat thy breast, and cry - After the Mysian type. - - _Chor._ Oh, misery! oh, misery! - - _Xer._ Yea, tear the white hair off thy flowing beard. - - _Chor._ Yea; with clenched hands, with clenchèd hands, I say, - In very piteous guise. - - _Xer._ Cry out, cry out aloud. - - _Chor._ That also will I do. - - - ANTISTROPHE VII - - _Xer._ And with thy fingers tear - Thy bosom's folded robe. - - _Chor._ Oh, misery! oh, misery! 1040 - - _Xer._ Yea, tear thy hair in wailing for our host. - - _Chor._ Yea, with clenched hands, I say, with clenchèd hands, - In very piteous guise. - - _Xer._ Be thine eyes wet with tears. - - _Chor._ Behold the tears stream down. - - - EPODE - - _Xer._ Raise a re-echoing cry. - - _Chor._ Ah woe! ah woe! - - _Xer._ Go to thy home with wailing loud and long. - - _Chor._ O land of Persia, full of lamentations! - - _Xer._ Through the town raise your cries. - - _Chor._ We raise them, yea, we raise. 1050 - - _Xer._ Wail, wail, ye men that walked so daintily. - - _Chor._ O land of Persia, full of lamentations! - Woe; woe! - - _Xer._ Alas for those who in the triremes perished! - - _Chor._ With broken cries of woe will I escort thee. - - [_Exeunt in procession, wailing, and - rending their robes._ - ------ - -Footnote 3: - - “The Faithful,” or “trusty,” seems to have been a special title of - honour given to the veteran councillors of the king (Xenoph. _Anab._ - i. 15), just as that of the “Immortals” was chosen for his body-guard - (Herod, vii. 83). - -Footnote 4: - - Susa was pre-eminently the treasury of the Persian kings (Herod, v. - 49; Strabo, xv. p. 731), their favourite residence in spring, as - Ecbatana in Media was in summer and Babylon in winter. - -Footnote 5: - - Kissia was properly the name of the district in which Susa stood; but - here, and in v. 123, it is treated as if it belonged to a separate - city. Throughout the play there is, indeed, a lavish use of Persian - barbaric names of persons and places, without a very minute regard to - historical accuracy. - -Footnote 6: - - Here, as in Herodotos and Greek writers generally, the title, “the - King,” or “the great King,” was enough. It could be understood only of - the Persian. The latter name had been borne by the kings of Assyria (2 - Kings xviii. 28). A little later it passed into the fuller, more - boastful form of “The King of kings.” - -Footnote 7: - - The inhabitants of the Delta of the Nile, especially those of the - marshy districts near the Heracleotic mouth, were famed as supplying - the best and bravest soldiers of any part of Egypt.—Comp. Thucyd. i. - 110. - -Footnote 8: - - The epithet was applied probably by Æschylos to the Lydians properly - so called, the barbaric race with whom the Hellenes had little or - nothing in common. They, in dress, diet, mode of life, their distaste - for the contests of the arena, seemed to the Greeks the very type of - effeminacy. The Ionian Greeks, however, were brought under the same - influence, and gradually acquired the same character. The suppression - of the name of the Ionians in the list of the Persian forces may be - noticed as characteristic. The Athenian poet would not bring before an - Athenian audience the shame of their Asiatic kinsmen. - -Footnote 9: - - Tmôlos, sacred as being the mythical birth-place of Dionysos. - -Footnote 10: - - “Spear-anvils,” _sc._, meeting the spear of their foes as the anvils - would meet it, turning its point, themselves steadfast and immovable. - -Footnote 11: - - So Herodotos (vii. 74) in his account of the army of Xerxes describes - the Mysians as using for their weapons those darts or “javelins” made - by hardening the ends in the fire. - -Footnote 12: - - Helle the daughter of Athamas, from whom the Hellespont took its name. - For the description of the pontoons formed by boats, which were moored - together with cables and finally covered with faggots, comp. Herod, - vii. 36. - -Footnote 13: - - “Gold-born,” _sc._, descended from Perseus, the child of Danaë. - -Footnote 14: - - Syrian, either in the vague sense in which it became almost synonymous - with Assyrian, or else showing that Syria, properly so called, - retained the fame for chariots which it had had at a period as early - as the time of the Hebrew Judges (Judg. v. 3). Herodotos (vii. 140) - gives an Oracle of Delphi in which the same epithet appears. - -Footnote 15: - - The description, though put into the mouth of Persians, is meant to - flatter Hellenic pride. The Persians and their army were for the most - part light-armed troops only, barbarians equipped with javelins or - bows. In the sculptures of Persepolis, as in those of Nineveh and - Khorsabad, this mode of warfare is throughout the most conspicuous. - They, the Hellenes, were the _hoplites_, warriors of the spear and the - shield, the cuirass and the greaves. - -Footnote 16: - - A touch of Athenian exultation in their life as seamen. To them the - sea was almost a home. They were familiar with it from childhood. To - the Persians it was new and untried. They had a new lesson to learn, - late in the history of the nation, late in the lives of individual - soldiers. - -Footnote 17: - - The bridge of boats, with the embankment raised upon it, is thought of - as a new headland putting out from the one shore and reaching to the - other. - -Footnote 18: - - Stress is laid by the Hellenic poet, as in the _Agamemnon_ (v. 895), - and in v. 707 of this play, on the tendency of the East to give to its - kings the names and the signs of homage which were due only to the - Gods. The Hellenes might deify a dead hero, but not a living - sovereign. On different grounds the Jews shrank, as in the stories of - Nebuchadnezzar and Dareios (Dan. iii. 6), from all such acts. - -Footnote 19: - - In the Greek, as in the translation, there is a change of metre, - intended apparently to represent the transition from the tone of eager - excitement to the ordinary level of discourse. - -Footnote 20: - - With reference either to the _mythos_ that Asia and Europa were both - daughters of Okeanos, or to the historical fact that the Asiatic - Ionians and the Dorians of Europe were both of the same Hellenic - stock. The contrast between the long flowing robes of the Asiatic - women, and the short, scanty kilt-like dress of those of Sparta must - be borne in mind if we would see the picture in its completeness. - -Footnote 21: - - Athenian pride is flattered with the thought that they had resisted - while the Ionian Greeks had submitted all too willingly to the yoke of - the Barbarian. - -Footnote 22: - - Lustrations of this kind, besides their general significance in - cleansing from defilement, had a special force as charms to turn aside - dangers threatened by foreboding dreams. Comp. Aristoph. _Frogs_, v. - 1264; Persius, _Sat._ ii. 16. - -Footnote 23: - - The political bearing of the passage as contrasting this - characteristic of the despotism of Persia with the strict account to - which all Athenian generals were subject, is, of course, unmistakable. - -Footnote 24: - - The question, which seems to have rankled in the minds of the - Athenians, is recorded as an historical fact, and put into the mouth - of Dareios by Herodotos (v. 101). He had asked it on hearing that - Sardis had been attacked and burnt by them. - -Footnote 25: - - The words point to the silver mines of Laureion, which had been worked - under Peisistratos, and of which this is the first mention in Greek - literature. - -Footnote 26: - - Once more the contrast between the Greek _hoplite_ and the light-armed - archers of the invaders is dwelt upon. The next answer of the Chorus - dwells upon the deeper contrast, then prominent in the minds of all - Athenians, between their democratic freedom and the despotism of - Persia. Comp. Herod. v. 78. - -Footnote 27: - - The system of postal communications by means of couriers which Dareios - had organised had made their speed in running proverbial (Herod. vii. - 97). - -Footnote 28: - - With the characteristic contempt of a Greek for other races, Æschylos - makes the Persians speak of themselves throughout as 'barbarians,' - 'barbaric.' - -Footnote 29: - - Perhaps— “On planks that floated onward,” - or— “On land and sea far spreading.” - -Footnote 30: - - Possibly Salamis itself, as famed for the doves which were reared - there as sacred to Aphrodite, but possibly also one of the smaller - islands in the Saronic gulf, which the epithet would be enough to - designate for an Athenian audience. The “coasts of the Sileni” in v. - 305 are identified by scholiasts with Salamis. - -Footnote 31: - - Perhaps—“And ten of these selected as reserve.” - -Footnote 32: - - As regards the number of the Persian ships, 1000 of average, and 207 - of special swiftness. Æschylos agrees with Herodotos, who gives the - total of 1207. The latter, however, reckons the Greek ships not at - 310, but 378 (vii. 89, viii. 48). - -Footnote 33: - - The fact that Athens had actually been taken, and its chief buildings - plundered and laid waste, was, of course, not a pleasant one for the - poet to dwell on. It could hardly, however, be entirely passed over, - and this is the one allusion to it. In the truest sense it was still - “unsacked:” it had not lost its most effective defence, its most - precious treasure. - -Footnote 34: - - As the story is told by Herodotos (vii. 75), this was Sikinnos, the - slave of Themistocles, and the stratagem was the device of that - commander to save the Greeks from the disgrace and ruin of a _sauve - qui peut_ flight in all directions. - -Footnote 35: - - The Greeks never beheaded their criminals, and the punishment is - mentioned as being specially characteristic of the barbaric Persians. - -Footnote 36: - - The Æginetans and Megarians, according to the account preserved by - Diodoros (xi. 18), or the Lacedæmonians, according to Herodotos (viii. - 65). - -Footnote 37: - - This may be meant to refer to the achievements of Ameinias of Pallene, - who appears in the traditional life of Œschylos as his youngest - brother. - -Footnote 38: - - _Sc._, in Herod. viii. 60, the strait between Salamis and the - mainland. - -Footnote 39: - - Tunny-fishing has always been prominent in the occupations on the - Mediterranean coasts, and the sailors who formed so large a part of - every Athenian audience would be familiar with the process here - described, of striking or harpooning them. Aristophanes (_Wasps_, - 1087) coins (or uses) the word “to tunny” (θυννάζω) to express the - act. Comp. Herod. i. 62. - -Footnote 40: - - _Sc._, Psyttaleia, lying between Salamis and the mainland. Pausanias - (i. 36-82) describes it in his time as having no artistic shrine or - statue, but full everywhere of roughly carved images of Pan, to whom - the island was sacred. It lay just opposite the entrance to the - Peiræos. The connexion of Pan with Salamis and its adjacent islands - seems implied in Sophocles, _Aias_, 695. - -Footnote 41: - - The manœuvre was, we learn from Herodotos (viii. 95), the work of - Aristeides, the personal friend of Æschylos, and the statesman with - whose policy he had most sympathy. - -Footnote 42: - - The lines are noted as probably a spurious addition, by a weaker hand, - to the text, as introducing surplusage, as inconsistent with - Herodotos, and as faulty in their metrical structure. - -Footnote 43: - - So Herodotos (viii. 115) describes them as driven by hunger to eat - even grass and leaves. - -Footnote 44: - - No trace of this passage over the frozen Strymon appears in Herodotos, - who leaves the reader to imagine that it was crossed, as before, by a - bridge. It is hardly, indeed, consistent with dramatic probability - that the courier should have remained to watch the whole retreat of - the defeated army; and on this and other grounds, the latter part of - the speech has been rejected by some critics as a later addition. - -Footnote 45: - - The Ionians, not of the Asiatic Ionia, but of Attica. - -Footnote 46: - - Kychreia, the archaic name of Salamis. - -Footnote 47: - - The ritual described is Hellenic rather than Persian, and takes its - place (Soph. _Electr._ 836; Eurip. _Iphig. Taur._ 583; Homer, _Il._ - xxiii. 219) as showing what offerings were employed to soothe or call - up the spirits of the dead. Comp. Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ xxx. - -Footnote 48: - - The description obviously gives the state dress of the Persian kings. - They alone wore the tiara erect. Xen. _Kyrop._ viii. 3, 13. - -Footnote 49: - - Either that he has felt the measured tread of the mourners round his - tomb, as they went wailing round and round, or that he has heard the - rush of armies, and seen the plain tracked by chariot-wheels, and - comes, not knowing all these things, to learn what it means. - -Footnote 50: - - The words point to the widespread belief that when the souls of the - dead were permitted to return to the earth, it was with strict - limitations as to the time of their leave of absence. - -Footnote 51: - - Perhaps—“I dread to speak the truth.” - -Footnote 52: - - According to Herodotos (vii. 225) two brothers of Xerxes fell at - Thermopylæ. - -Footnote 53: - - As Herodotos (viii. 117) tells the story, the bridge had been broken - by the tempest before Xerxes reached it. - -Footnote 54: - - Probably Mardonios and Onomacritos the Athenian soothsayer are - referred to, who, according to Herodotos (vii. 6, viii. 99) were the - chief instigators of the expedition. - -Footnote 55: - - Astyages, the father-in-law of Kyaxares and grandfather of Kyros. In - this case Æschylos must be supposed to accept Xenophon's statement - that Kyaxares succeeded to Astyages. Possibly, however, the Median may - be Kyaxares I., the father of Astyages, and so the succession here - would harmonise with that of Herodotos. The whole succession must be - looked on as embodying the loose, floating notions of the Athenians as - to the history of their great enemy, rather than as the result of - inquiry. - -Footnote 56: - - Stress is laid on the violence to which the Asiatic Ionians had - succumbed, and their resistance to which distinguished them from the - Lydians or Phrygians, whose submission had been voluntary. - -Footnote 57: - - Mardos. Under this name we recognise the Pseudo-Smerdis of Herodotos - (iii. 67), who, by restoring the dominion of the Median Magi, the - caste to which he himself belonged, brought shame upon the Persians. - -Footnote 58: - - Possibly another form of Intaphernes, who appears in Herodotos (iii. - 70) as one of the seven conspirators against the Magian - Pseudo-Smerdis. - -Footnote 59: - - The force of 300,000 men left in Greece under Mardonios (Herod. viii. - 113), afterwards defeated at Platæa. - -Footnote 60: - - Comp. the speech of Mardonios urging his plan on Xerxes (Herod. viii. - 100). - -Footnote 61: - - This was of course a popular topic with the Athenians, whose own - temples had been outraged. But other sanctuaries also, the temples at - Delphi and Abæ, had shared the same fate, and these sins against the - Gods of Hellas were naturally connected in the thoughts of the Greeks - with the subsequent disasters of the Persians. In Egypt these outrages - had an iconoclastic character. In Athens they were a retaliation for - the destruction of the temple at Sardis (Herod. v. 102). - -Footnote 62: - - The reference to the prominent part taken by the Peloponnesian forces - in the battle of Platæa is probably due to the political sympathies of - the dramatist. - -Footnote 63: - - The speech of Atossa is rejected by Paley, on internal grounds, as - spurious. - -Footnote 64: - - Apparently an allusion to the oracle given to Crœsos, that he, if he - crossed the Halys, should destroy a great kingdom. - -Footnote 65: - - The name originally given to the Echinades, a group of islands at the - mouth of the Acheloös, was applied generically to all islands lying - near the mouth of all great rivers, and here, probably, includes - Imbros, Thasos, and Samothrakè. - -Footnote 66: - - The geography is somewhat obscure, but the words seem to refer to the - portion of the islands that are named as opposite (in a southerly - direction) to the promontory of the Troad. - -Footnote 67: - - Salamis in Kypros had been colonised by Teukros, the son of Aias, and - had received its name in remembrance of the island in the Saronic - Gulf. - -Footnote 68: - - The Mariandynoi, a Paphlagonian tribe, conspicuous for their orgiastic - worship of Adonis, had become proverbial for the wildness of their - plaintive dirges. - -Footnote 69: - - The name seems to have been an official title for some - Inspector-General of the Army. Comp. Aristoph. _Acharn._ v. 92. - -Footnote 70: - - As in the account which Herodotos gives (vii. 60) of the way in which - the army of Xerxes was numbered, _sc._, by enclosing 10,000 men in a - given space, and then filling it again and again till the whole army - had passed through. - -Footnote 71: - - Another reading gives— - - “They are buried, they are buried.” - -Footnote 72: - - Perhaps referring to the waggon-chariots in which the rider reclines - at ease, either protected by a canopy, or, as in the Assyrian - sculptures and perhaps in the East generally, overshadowed by a large - umbrella which an eunuch holds over him. - - - - - THE SEVEN WHO FOUGHT AGAINST THEBES - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - ETEOCLES - _Scout_ - _Herald_ - ISMENE - ANTIGONE - _Chorus of Theban Maidens_ - - -ARGUMENT.—_When Œdipus king of Thebes discovered that he had unknowingly -been the murderer of his father, and had lived in incest with his -mother, he blinded himself. And his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneikes, -wishing to banish the remembrance of these horrors from the eyes of men, -at first kept him in confinement. And he, being wroth with them, prayed -that they might divide their inheritance with the sword. And they, in -fear lest the prayer should be accomplished, agreed to reign in turn, -each for a year, and Eteocles, as the elder of the two, took the first -turn. But when at the end of the year Polyneikes came to ask for the -kingdom, Eteocles refused to give way, and sent him away empty. So -Polyneikes went to Argos and married the daughter of Adrastos the king -of that country, and gathered together a great army under six great -captains, himself going as the seventh, and led it against Thebes. And -so they compassed it about, and at each of the seven gates of the city -was stationed one of the divisions of the army._ - -_Note._—_The Seven against Thebes_ appears to have been produced B.C. -472, the year after _The Persians_. - - - - - THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES - - - SCENE.—THEBES _in front of the Acropolis_ - - _Enter_ ETEOCLES, _and crowd of_ Theban Citizens. - - _Eteoc._ Ye citizens of Cadmos, it behoves - That one who standeth at the stern of State - Guiding the helm, with eyes unclosed in sleep, - Should speak the things that meet occasion's need. - For should we prosper, God gets all the praise: - But if (which God forbid!) disaster falls, - Eteocles, much blame on one head falling, - Would find his name the by-word of the State,[73] - Sung in the slanderous ballads of the town; - Yes, and with groanings, which may Zeus the Averter, - True to his name, from us Cadmeians turn! - But now 'tis meet for all, both him who fails 10 - Of full-grown age, and him advanced in years, - Yet boasting still a stalwart strength of frame, - And each in life's full prime, as it is fit, - The State to succour and the altars here - Of these our country's Gods, that never more - Their votive honours cease,—to help our sons, - And Earth, our dearest mother and kind nurse; - For she, when young ye crept her kindly plain, - Bearing the whole charge of your nourishment, - Reared you as denizens that bear the shield, - That ye should trusty prove in this her need. 20 - And now thus far God turns the scale for us; - For unto us, beleaguered these long days, - War doth in most things with God's help speed well, - But now, as saith the seer, the augur skilled,[74] - Watching with ear and mind, apart from fire, - The birds oracular with mind unerring, - He, lord and master of these prophet-arts, - Says that the great attack of the Achæans - This very night is talked of, and their plots - Devised against the town. But ye, haste all - Unto the walls and gateways of the forts; 30 - Rush ye full-armed, and fill the outer space, - And stand upon the platforms of the towers, - And at the entrance of the gates abiding - Be of good cheer, nor fear ye overmuch - The host of aliens. Well will God work all. - And I have sent my scouts and watchers forth, - And trust their errand is no fruitless one. - I shall not, hearing them, be caught with guile. - - [_Exeunt_ Citizens. - - _Enter one of the_ Scouts. - - _Mess._ King of Cadmeians, great Eteocles, - I from the army come with tidings clear, 40 - And am myself eye-witness of its acts; - For seven brave warriors, leading armèd bands, - Cutting a bull's throat o'er a black-rimmed shield, - And dipping in the bull's blood with their hands, - Swore before Ares, Enyo,[75] murderous Fear, - That they would bring destruction on our town, - And trample under foot the tower of Cadmos, - Or dying, with their own blood stain our soil; - And they memorials for their sires at home - Placed with their hands upon Adrastos' car,[76] 50 - Weeping, but no wail uttering with their lips, - For courage iron-hearted breathed out fire - In manliness unconquered, as when lions - Flash battle from their eyeballs. And report - Of these things does not linger on the way. - I left them casting lots, that each might take, - As the lot fell, his station at the gate. - Wherefore do thou our city's chosen ones - Array with speed at entrance of the gates; - For near already is the Argive host, - Marching through clouds of dust, and whitening foam 60 - Spots all the plain with drops from horses' mouths. - And thou, as prudent helmsman of the ship, - Guard thou our fortress ere the blasts of Ares - Swoop on it wildly; for there comes the roar - Of the land-wave of armies. And do thou - Seize for these things the swiftest tide and time; - And I, in all that comes, will keep my eye - As faithful sentry; so through speech full clear, - Thou, knowing all things yonder, shalt be safe. - - [_Exit._ - - _Eteoc._ O Zeus and Earth, and all ye guardian Gods! - Thou Curse and strong Erinnys of my sire! 70 - Destroy ye not my city root and branch, - With sore destruction smitten, one whose voice - Is that of Hellas, nor our hearths and homes;[77] - Grant that they never hold in yoke of bondage - Our country free, and town of Cadmos named; - But be ye our defence. I deem I speak - Of what concerns us both; for still 'tis true, - A prosperous city honours well the Gods. [_Exit._ - - _Enter Chorus of_ Theban Maidens _in solemn procession - as suppliants_ - - _Chor._ I in wild terror utter cries of woe; - An army leaves its camp and is let loose: - Hither the vanguard of the horsemen flows, 80 - And the thick cloud of dust, - That suddenly is seen, - Dumb herald, yet full clear, - Constrains me to believe; - And smitten with the horses' hoofs, the plain - Of this my country rings with noise of war; - It floats and echoes round, - Like voice of mountain torrent dashing down - Resistless in its might. - Ah Gods! Ah Goddesses! - Ward off the coming woe. - With battle-shout that rises o'er the walls, - The host whose shields are white[78] 90 - Marches in full array against our city. - Who then, of all the Gods - Or Goddesses, will come to help and save? - Say, shall I fall before the shrines of Gods? - O blessed Ones firm fixed! - 'Tis time to clasp your sacred images. - Why linger we in wailing overmuch? - Hear ye, or hear ye not, the din of shields? - When, if not now, shall we - Engage in prayer with peplos and with boughs?[79] - I hear a mighty sound; it is the din 100 - Not of a single spear. - O Ares! ancient guardian of our land! - What wilt thou do? Wilt thou betray thy land? - O God of golden casque, - Look on our city, yea, with favour look, - The city thou did'st love. - And ye, ye Gods who o'er the city rule, - Come all of you, come all. - Behold the band of maidens suppliant, - In fear of bondage foul; - For now around the town - The wave of warriors bearing slopèd crests, - With blasts of Ares rushing, hoarsely sounds: 110 - But thou, O Zeus! true father of us all, - Ward off, ward off our capture by the foe. - - - STROPHE I - - For Argives now surround the town of Cadmos, - And dread of Ares' weapons falls on us; - And, bound to horses' mouths, - The bits and curbs ring music as of death; - And seven chief rulers of the mighty host, - With warriors' arms, at each of seven tall gates, - Spear-armed and harnessed all, - Stand, having cast their lots. - · · · · · - - - MESODE - - And thou, O Zeus-born power in war delighting, 120 - O Pallas! be our city's saviour now; - And Thou who curb'st the steed, - Great King of Ocean's waves, - Poseidon, with thy trident fish-spear armed,[80] - Give respite from our troubles, respite give! - And Thou, O Ares, guard the town that takes - Its name from Cadmos old,[81] - Watch o'er it visibly. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And thou, O Kypris, of our race the mother, - Ward off these ills, for we are thine by blood: - To thee in many a prayer, 130 - With voice that calls upon the Gods we cry, - And unto thee draw near as suppliants: - And Thou, Lykeian king, Lykeian be,[82] - Foe of our hated foes, - For this our wailing cry; - And Thou, O child of Leto, Artemis, - Make ready now thy bow. - - - STROPHE II - - Ah! ah! I hear a din of chariot wheels - Around the city walls; - O Hera great and dread! - The heavy axles of the chariots groan, 140 - O Artemis beloved! - And the air maddens with the clash of spears; - What must our city bear? - What now shall come on us? - When will God give the end? - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Ah! ah! a voice of stones is falling fast - On battlements attacked;[83] - O Lord, Apollo loved, - A din of bronze-bound shields is in the gates; - And oh! that Zeus may give 150 - A faultless issue of this war we wage! - And Thou, O blessed queen, - As Guardian Onca known,[84] - Save thy seven-gated seat. - - - STROPHE III - - And ye, all-working Gods, - Of either sex divine, - Protectors of our towers, - Give not our city, captured by the spear, - To host of alien speech.[85] - Hear ye our maidens; hear, 160 - As is most meet, our prayers with outstretched hands. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - O all ye loving Powers, - Compass our State to save; - Show how that State ye love; - Think on our public votive offerings, - And as ye think, oh, help: - Be mindful ye, I pray, - Of all our city's rites of sacrifice. - - _Re-enter_ ETEOCLES - - _Eteoc._ (_to the Chorus_) I ask you, O ye brood intolerable, - Is this course best and safest for our city? 170 - Will it give heart to our beleaguered host, - That ye before the forms of guardian Gods - Should wail and howl, ye loathèd of the wise;[86] - Ne'er be it mine, in ill estate or good, - To dwell together with the race of women; - For when they rule, their daring bars approach, - And when they fear, alike to house and State - Comes greater ill; and now with these your rushings - Hither and thither, ye have troubled sore - Our subjects with a coward want of heart; - And do your best for those our foes without; 180 - And we are harassed by ourselves within. - This comes to one who dwells with womankind. - And if there be that will not own my sway, - Or man or woman in their prime, or those - Who can be classed with neither, they shall take - Their trial for their life, nor shall they 'scape - The fate of stoning. Things outdoors are still - The man's to look to: let not woman counsel. - Stay thou within, and do no mischief more. - Hear'st thou, or no? or speak I to the deaf? - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Dear son of Œdipus, 190 - I shuddered as I heard the din, the din - Of many a chariot's noise, - When on the axles creaked the whirling wheels, - *And when I heard the sound - *Of fire-wrought curbs within the horses' mouths. - - _Eteoc._ What then? Did ever yet the sailor flee - From stern to stem, and find deliverance so, - While his ship laboured in the ocean's wave?[87] - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ Nay, to the ancient forms - Of mighty Powers I rushed, as trusting Gods; - And when behind the gates - Was heard the crash of fierce and pelting storm, 200 - Then was it, in my fear, - I prayed the Blessed Ones to guard our city. - - _Eteoc._ Pray that our towns hold out 'gainst spear of foes.[88] - - _Chor._ Do not the Gods grant these things? - - _Eteoc._ Nay the Gods, - So say they, leave the captured city's walls.[89] - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Ah! never in my life - May all this goodly company of Gods - Depart; nor may I see - This city scene of rushings to and fro, 210 - *And hostile army burning it with fire! - - _Eteoc._ Nay, call not on the Gods with counsel base; - Obedience is the mother of success, - Child strong to save. 'Tis thus the saying runs. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ True is it; but the Gods - Have yet a mightier power, and oftentimes, - In pressure of sore ill, - It raises one perplexed from direst woe, - When dark clouds gather thickly o'er his eyes. - - _Eteoc._ 'Tis work of men to offer sacrifice - And victims to the Gods, when foes press hard; 220 - Thine to be dumb and keep within the house. - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ 'Tis through the Gods we live - In city unsubdued, and that our towers - Ward off the multitude of jealous foes. - What Power will grudge us this? - - _Eteoc._ I grudge not your devotion to the Gods; - But lest you make my citizens faint-hearted - Be tranquil, nor to fear's excess give way. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Hearing but now a din - Strange, wildly mingled, I with shrinking fear - Here to our city's high Acropolis, - Time-hallowed spot, have come. 230 - - _Eteoc._ Nay, if ye hear of wounded men or dying, - Bear them not swiftly off with wailing loud; - *For blood of men is Ares' chosen food.[90] - - _Chor._ Hark! now I hear the panting of the steeds. - - _Eteoc._ Clear though thou hear, yet hear not overmuch. - - _Chor._ Lo! from its depths the fortress groans, beleaguered. - - _Eteoc._ It is enough that I provide for this. - - _Chor._ I fear: the din increases at the gates. - - _Eteoc._ Be still, say nought of these things in the city. - - _Chor._ O holy Band![91] desert ye not our towers. 240 - - _Eteoc._ A curse fall on thee! wilt thou not be still? - - _Chor._ Gods of my city, from the slave's lot save me! - - _Eteoc._ 'Tis thou enslav'st thyself and all thy city. - - _Chor._ Oh, turn thy darts, great Zeus, against our foes! - - _Eteoc._ Oh, Zeus, what race of women thou hast given us! - - _Chor._ A sorry race, like men whose city falls. - - _Eteoc._ What? Cling to these statues, yet speak words of ill? - - _Chor._ Fear hurries on my tongue in want of courage. - - _Eteoc._ Could'st thou but grant one small boon at my prayer!250 - - _Chor._ Speak it out quickly, and I soon shall know. - - _Eteoc._ Be still, poor fool, and frighten not thy friends. - - _Chor._ Still am I, and with others bear our fate. - - _Eteoc._ These words of thine I much prefer to those: - And further, though no longer at the shrines, - Pray thou for victory, that the Gods fight with us. - And when my prayers thou hearest, then do thou - Raise a loud, welcome, holy pæan-shout, - The Hellenes' wonted cry at sacrifice; - So cheer thy friends, and check their fear of foes; - And I unto our country's guardian Gods, 260 - Who hold the plain or watch the agora, - The springs of Dirkè, and Ismenos' stream;— - If things go well, and this our city's saved,— - I vow that staining with the blood of sheep - The altar-hearths of Gods, or slaying bulls, - We'll fix our trophies, and our foemen's robes - On the spear's point on consecrated walls, - Before the shrines I'll hang.[92] Pray thou this prayer, - Not weakly wailing, nor with vain wild sobs, - For no whit more thou'lt 'scape thy destined lot: 270 - And I six warriors, with myself as seventh, - Against our foes in full state like their own, - Will station at the seven gates' entrances, - Ere hurrying heralds and swift-rushing words - Come and inflame them in the stress of need. [_Exit_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ My heart is full of care and knows not sleep, - By panic fear o'ercome; - And troubles throng my soul, - And set a-glow my dread - Of the great host encamped around our walls, - As when a trembling dove - Fears, for her callow brood, 280 - The snakes that come, ill mates for her soft nest; - For some upon our towers - March in full strength of mingled multitude; - And what will me befall? - And others on our men on either hand - Hurl rugged blocks of stone. - In every way, ye Zeus-born Gods, defend 290 - The city and the host - That Cadmos claim as sire. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - What better land will ye receive for this, - If ye to foes resign - This rich and fertile clime, - And that Dirkæan stream, - Goodliest of founts by great Poseidon sent, - Who circleth earth, or those - Who Tethys parent call?[93] 300 - And therefore, O ye Gods that guard our city, - Sending on those without - Our towers a woe that robs men of their life, - And makes them lose their shield, - Gain glory for these countrymen of mine; - And take your standing-ground, - As saviours of the city, firm and true, - In answer to our cry - Of wailing and of prayer. - - - STROPHE II - - For sad it were to hurl to Hades dark - A city of old fame, 310 - The spoil and prey of war, - With foulest shame in dust and ashes laid, - By an Achæan foe at God's decree; - And that our women, old and young alike, - Be dragged away, ah me! - Like horses, by their hair - Their robes torn off from them. - And lo, the city wails, made desolate, - While with confusèd cry 320 - The wretched prisoners meet doom worse than death. - Ah, at this grievous fate - I shudder ere it comes. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And piteous 'tis for those whose youth is fresh - Before the rites that cull - Their fair and first-ripe fruit, - To take a hateful journey from their homes. - Nay, but I say the dead far better fare - Than these, for when a city is subdued - It bears full many an ill. - This man takes prisoner that, 330 - Or slays, or burns with fire; - And all the city is defiled with smoke, - And Ares fans the flame - In wildest rage, and laying many low, - Tramples with foot unclean - On all men sacred hold. - - - STROPHE III - - And hollow din is heard throughout the town, - Hemmed in by net of towers; - And man by man is slaughtered with the spear, - And cries of bleeding babes, - Of children at the breast, 340 - Are heard in piteous wail, - And rapine, sister of the plunderer's rush, - Spoiler with spoiler meets, - And empty-handed empty-handed calls, - Wishing for share of gain, - Both eager for a portion no whit less, - For more than equal lot - With what they deem the others' hands have found. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And all earth's fruits cast wildly on the ground, 350 - Meeting the cheerless eye - Of frugal housewives, give them pain of heart; - And many a gift of earth - In formless heaps is whirled - In waves of nothingness; - And the young maidens know a sorrow new; - For now the foe prevails, - And gains rich prize of wretched captive's bed; 360 - And now their only hope - Is that the night of death will come at last, - Their truest, best ally, - To rescue them from sorrow fraught with tears. - - _Enter_ ETEOCLES, _followed by his_ Chief Captains, - _and by the_ Scout - - _Semi-Chor. A._ The army scout, so deem I, brings to us, - Dear friends, some tidings new, with quickest speed - Plying the nimble axles of his feet. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Yea, the king's self, the son of Œdipus, - Is nigh to hear the scout's exact report; - And haste denies him too an even step. - - _Mess._ I knowing well, will our foes' state report, 370 - How each his lot hath stationed at the gates. - At those of Prœtos, Tydeus thunders loud, - And him the prophet suffers not to cross - Ismenos' fords, the victims boding ill.[94] - And Tydeus, raging eager for the fight, - Shouts like a serpent in its noontide scream, - And on the prophet, Œcleus' son, heaps shame, - That he, in coward fear, doth crouch and fawn - Before the doom and peril of the fight. - And with such speech he shakes his triple crest, - O'ershadowing all his helm, and 'neath his shield 380 - Bells wrought in bronze ring out their chimes of fear; - And on his shield he bears this proud device,— - A firmament enchased, all bright with stars;[95] - And in the midst the full moon's glittering orb, - Sovran of stars and eye of Night, shines forth. - And thus exulting in o'er boastful arms, - By the stream's bank he shouts in lust of war, - [E'en as a war-horse panting in his strength - Against the curb that galls him, who at sound - Of trumpet's clang chafes hotly.] Whom wilt thou - Set against him? Who is there strong enough - When the bolts yield, to guard the Prœtan gates? 390 - - _Eteoc._ No fear have I of any man's array; - Devices have no power to pierce or wound, - And crest and bells bite not without a spear; - And for this picture of the heavens at night, - Of which thou tellest, glittering on his shield, - *Perchance his madness may a prophet prove; - For if night fall upon his dying eyes, - Then for the man who bears that boastful sign - It may right well be all too truly named, 400 - And his own pride shall prophet be of ill. - And against Tydeus, to defend the gates, - I'll set this valiant son of Astacos; - Noble is he, and honouring well the throne - Of Reverence, and hating vaunting speech, - Slow to all baseness, unattuned to ill: - And of the dragon-race that Ares spared[96] - He as a scion grows, a native true, - E'en Melanippos; Ares soon will test - His valour in the hazard of the die: - And kindred Justice sends him forth to war, - For her that bore him foeman's spear to check. 410 - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ May the Gods grant my champion good success! - For justly he goes forth - For this our State to fight; - But yet I quake with fear - To see the deaths of those who die for friends. - - _Mess._ Yea, may the Gods give good success to him! - The Electran gates have fallen to Capaneus, - A second giant, taller far than he - Just named, with boast above a mortal's bounds; - And dread his threats against our towers (O Fortune, 420 - Turn them aside!)—for whether God doth will, - Or willeth not, he says that he will sack[97] - The city, nor shall e'en the wrath of Zeus, - On the plain swooping, turn him from his will; - And the dread lightnings and hot thunderbolts - He likens to the heat of noon-day sun. - And his device, the naked form of one - Who bears a torch; and bright the blaze shines forth - And in gold characters he speaks the words, - “THE CITY I WILL BURN.” Against this man - Send forth ... but who will meet him in the fight? 430 - Who, without fear, await this warrior proud? - - _Eteoc._ Herein, too, profit upon profit comes; - And 'gainst the vain and boastful thoughts of men, - Their tongue itself is found accuser true. - Threatening, equipped for work is Capaneus, - Scorning the Gods: and giving speech full play, - And in wild joy, though mortal, vents at Zeus, - High in the heavens, loud-spoken foaming words. - And well I trust on him shall rightly come - Fire-bearing thunder, nothing likened then - To heat of noon-day sun. And so 'gainst him, 440 - Though very bold of speech, a man is set - Of fiery temper, Polyphontes strong, - A trusty bulwark, by the loving grace - Of guardian Artemis[98] and other Gods. - Describe another, placed at other gates. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ A curse on him who 'gainst our city boasts! - May thunder smite him down 450 - Before he force his way - Into my home, and drive - Me from my maiden bower with haughty spear? - - _Mess._ And now I'll tell of him who by the gates - Stands next; for to Eteocles, as third, - To march his cohort to Neïstian gates, - Leaped the third lot from upturned brazen helm: - And he his mares, in head-gear snorting, whirls, - Full eager at the gates to fall and die; - Their whistling nozzles of barbaric mode, - Are filled with loud blast of the panting nostrils.[99] - In no poor fashion is his shield devised; 460 - A full-armed warrior climbs a ladder's rungs, - And mounts his foeman's towers as bent to sack; - And he too cries, in words of written speech, - That “NOT E'EN ARES FROM THE TOWERS SHALL DRIVE HIM.” - Send thou against him some defender true, - To ward the yoke of bondage from our State. - - _Eteoc._ Such would I send now; by good luck indeed - He has been sent, his vaunting in his deeds, - Megareus, Creon's son, who claims descent - From those as Sparti known, and not by noise - Of neighings loud of warlike steeds dismayed, 470 - Will he the gates abandon, but in death - Will pay our land his nurture's debt in full,[100] - Or taking two men, and a town to boot, - (That on the shield,) will deck his father's house - With those his trophies. Of another tell - The bragging tale, nor grudge thy words to me. - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Him I wish good success, - O guardian of my home, and for his foes - All ill success I pray; - And since against our land their haughty words - With maddened soul they speak, - May Zeus, the sovran judge, - With fiery, hot displeasure look on them! 480 - - _Mess._ Another stands as fourth at gates hard by, - Onca-Athenà's, with a shout of war, - Hippomedon's great form and massive limbs; - And as he whirled his orb, his vast shield's disk, - I shuddered; yea, no idle words I speak. - No cheap and common draughtsman sure was he - Who wrought this cunning ensign on his shield: - Typhon emitting from his lips hot blast - Of darkling smoke, the flickering twin of fire: - And round the belly of the hollow shield - A rim was made with wreaths of twisted snakes. 490 - And he too shouts his war-cry, and in frenzy, - As man possessed by Ares, hastes to battle, - Like Thyiad, darting terror from his eyes.[101] - 'Gainst such a hero's might we well may guard; - Already at the gates men brag of rout. - - _Eteoc._ First, the great Onca-Pallas, dwelling nigh - Our city's gates, and hating man's bold pride, - Shall ward him from her nestlings like a snake - Of venom dread; and next Hyperbios, - The stalwart son of Œnops, has been chosen, 500 - A hero 'gainst this hero, willing found - To try his destiny at Fortune's hest. - No fault has he in form, or heart, or arms; - And Hermes with good reason pairs them off; - For man with man will fight as enemy, - And on their shields they'll bring opposing Gods; - For this man beareth Typhon, breathing fire, - And on Hyperbios' shield sits father Zeus, - Full firm, with burning thunderbolt in hand; - And never yet has man seen Zeus, I trow, - O'ercome. Such then the favour of the Gods, 510 - We with the winners, they with losers are:[102] - Good reason then the rivals so should fare, - If Zeus than Typhon stronger be in fight, - And to Hyperbios Zeus will saviour prove, - As that device upon his shield presents him. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ Now do I trust that he - Who bears upon his shield the hated form - Of Power whom Earth doth shroud, - Antagonist to Zeus, unloved by men - And by the ageless Gods, - Before those gates of ours - To his own hurt may dash his haughty head. 520 - - _Mess._ So may it be! And now the fifth I tell, - Who the fifth gates, the Northern, occupies, - Hard by Amphion's tomb, the son of Zeus; - And by his spear he swears, (which he is bold - To honour more than God or his own eyes,) - That he will sack the fort of the Cadmeians - With that spear's might. So speaks the offspring fair - Of mother mountain-bred, a stripling hero; - And the soft down is creeping o'er his cheeks, 530 - Youth's growth, and hair that floweth full and thick; - And he with soul, not maiden's like his name,[103] - But stern, with flashing eye, is standing there. - Nor stands he at the gate without a vaunt; - For on his brass-wrought buckler, strong defence, - Full-orbed, his body guarding, he the shame - Of this our city bears, the ravenous Sphinx, - With rivets fixed, all burnished and embossed;[104] - And under her she holdeth a Cadmeian, - That so on him most arrows might be shot. - No chance that he will fight a peddling fight, 540 - Nor shame the long, long journey he hath come, - Parthenopæos, in Arcadia born: - This man did Argos welcome as a guest, - And now he pays her for her goodly rearing, - And threatens these our towers with ... God avert it! - - _Eteoc._ Should the Gods give them what they plan 'gainst us, - Then they, with those their godless boastings high, - Would perish shamefully and utterly. - And for this man of Arcady thou tell'st of, - We have a man who boasts not, but his hand - Sees the right thing to do;—Actôr, of him 550 - I named but now the brother,—who no tongue - Divorced from deeds will ever let within - Our gates, to spread and multiply our ills, - Nor him who bears upon his foeman's shield - The image of the hateful venomed beast; - But she without shall blame him as he tries - To take her in, when she beneath our walls - Gets sorely bruised and battered.[105] And herein, - If the Gods will, I prophet true shall prove. - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ Thy words thrill through my breast; - My hair stands all on end, - To hear the boastings great - Of those who speak great things 560 - Unholy. May the Gods - Destroy them in our land! - - _Mess._ A sixth I tell of, one of noblest mood, - Amphiaraos, seer and warrior famed; - He, stationed at the Homolôian gates, - Reproves the mighty Tydeus with sharp words - As 'murderer,' and 'troubler of the State,'[106] - 'To Argos teacher of all direst ills, - Erinnys' sumpnour,'[107] 'murder's minister,' 570 - Whose counsels led Adrastos to these ills. - *And at thy brother Polyneikes glancing - With eyes uplifted for his father's fate, - And ending, twice he syllabled his name,[108] - And called him, and thus speaketh with his lips:— - “A goodly deed, and pleasant to the Gods, - Noble for after age to hear and tell, - Thy father's city and thy country's Gods - To waste through might of mercenary host! - And how shall Justice stay thy mother's tears?[109] 580 - And how, when conquered, shall thy fatherland, - Laid waste, become a true ally to thee? - As for myself, I shall that land make rich,[110] - A prophet buried in a foeman's soil: - To arms! I look for no inglorious death.” - So spake the prophet, bearing full-orbed shield - Wrought all of bronze, no ensign on that orb. - He wishes to be just, and not to seem,[111] - Reaping full harvest from his soul's deep furrows, - Whence ever new and noble counsels spring. 590 - I bid thee send defenders wise and brave - Against him. Dread is he who fears the Gods. - - _Eteoc._ Fie on the chance that brings the righteous man - Close-mated with the ungodly! In all deeds - Nought is there worse than evil fellowship, - A crop men should not reap. Death still is found - The harvest of the field of frenzied pride; - For either hath the godly man embarked - With sailors hot in insolence and guile,[112] - And perished with the race the Gods did loathe; 600 - Or just himself, with citizens who wrong - The stranger and are heedless of the Gods, - Falling most justly in the self-same snare, - By God's scourge smitten, shares the common doom. - And thus this seer I speak of, Œcleus' son, - Righteous, and wise, and good, and reverent, - A mighty prophet, mingling with the godless - *And men full bold of speech in reason's spite, - Who take long march to reach a far-off city,[113] - If Zeus so will, shall be hurled down with them. 610 - And he, I trow, shall not draw nigh the gates, - Not through faint-heart or any vice of mood, - But well he knows this war shall bring his death, - If any fruit is found in Loxias' words; - And He or holds his speech or speaks in season. - Yet against him the hero Lasthenes, - A foe of strangers, at the gates we'll set; - Old in his mind, his body in its prime, - His eye swift-footed, and his hand not slow - To grasp the spear from 'neath the shield laid bare:[114] 620 - Yet 'tis by God's gift men must win success. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Hear, O ye Gods! our prayers, - Our just entreaties grant, - That so our State be blest. - Turn ye the toils of war - Upon the invading host. - Outside the walls may Zeus - With thunder smite them low! - - _Mess._ The seventh chief then who at the seventh gate stands, - Thine own, own brother, I will speak of now, - What curses on our State he pours, and prays 630 - That he the towers ascending, and proclaimed - By herald's voice to all the territory, - And shouting out the captor's pæan-cry, - May so fight with thee, slay, and with thee die; - Or driving thee alive, who did'st him wrong, - May on thee a vengeance wreak like in kind. - So clamours he, and bids his father's Gods, - His country's guardians, look upon his prayers, - [And grant them all. So Polyneikes prays.] - And he a new and well-wrought shield doth bear, - And twofold sign upon it riveted; 640 - For there a woman with a stately tread - Leads one who seems a warrior wrought in gold: - Justice she calls herself, and thus she speaks: - “I WILL BRING BACK THIS MAN, AND HE SHALL HAVE - THE CITY AND HIS FATHER'S DWELLING-PLACE.” - Such are the signs and mottoes of those men; - And thou, know well whom thou dost mean to send: - So thou shalt never blame my heraldings; - And thou thyself know how to steer the State. - - _Eteoc._ O frenzy-stricken, hated sore of Gods! 650 - O woe-fraught race (my race!) of Œdipus! - Ah me! my father's curse is now fulfilled; - But neither is it meet to weep or wail, - Lest cry more grievous on the issue come. - Of Polyneikes, name and omen true, - We soon shall know what way his badge shall end, - Whether his gold-wrought letters shall restore him, - His shield's great swelling words with frenzied soul. - An if great Justice, Zeus's virgin child, - Ruled o'er his words and acts, this might have been; 660 - But neither when he left his mother's womb, - Nor in his youth, nor yet in ripening age, - Nor when his beard was gathered on his chin, - Did Justice count him meet for fellowship; - Nor do I think that she befriends him now - In this great outrage on his father's land. - Yea, justly Justice would as falsely named - Be known, if she with one all-daring joined. - In this I trust, and I myself will face him: - Who else could claim a greater right than I? 670 - Brother with brother fighting, king with king, - And foe with foe, I'll stand. Come, quickly fetch - My greaves that guard against the spear and stones. - - _Chor._ Nay, dearest friend, thou son of Œdipus, - Be ye not like to him with that ill name. - It is enough Cadmeian men should fight - Against the Argives. That blood may be cleansed; - But death so murderous of two brothers born, - This is pollution that will ne'er wax old. - - _Eteoc._ If a man must bear evil, let him still 680 - Be without shame—sole profit that in death. - [No glory comes of base and evil deeds]. - - _Chor._ What dost thou crave, my son? Let no ill fate, - Frenzied and hot for war, - Carry thee headlong on; - Check the first onset of an evil lust. - - _Eteoc._ Since God so hotly urges on the matter, - Let all of Laios' race whom Phœbos hates, - Drift with the breeze upon Cokytos' wave. - - _Chor._ An over-fierce and passionate desire - Stirs thee and pricks thee on - To work an evil deed - Of guilt of blood thy hand should never shed. 690 - - _Eteoc._ Nay, my dear father's curse, in full-grown hate, - Dwells on dry eyes that cannot shed a tear, - And speaks of gain before the after-doom. - - _Chor._ But be not thou urged on. The coward's name - Shall not be thine, for thou - Hast ordered well thy life. - Dark-robed Erinnys enters not the house, - When at men's hands the Gods - Accept their sacrifice. - - _Eteoc._ As for the Gods, they scorned us long ago, - And smile but on the offering of our deaths; 700 - What boots it then on death's doom still to fawn? - - _Chor._ Nay do it now, while yet 'tis in thy power;[115] - Perchance may fortune shift - With tardy change of mood, - And come with spirit less implacable: - At present fierce and hot - She waxeth in her rage. - - _Eteoc._ Yea, fierce and hot the Curse of Œdipus; - And all too true the visions of the night, - My father's treasured store distributing. - - _Chor._ Yield to us women, though thou lov'st us not. - - _Eteoc._ Speak then what may be done, and be not long. 710 - - _Chor._ Tread not the path that to the seventh gate leads. - - _Eteoc._ Thou shall not blunt my sharpened edge with words. - - _Chor._ And yet God loves the victory that submits.[116] - - _Eteoc._ That word a warrior must not tolerate. - - _Chor._ Dost thou then haste thy brother's blood to shed? - - _Eteoc._ If the Gods grant it, he shall not 'scape harm. - - [_Exeunt_ ETEOCLES, Scout, _and_ Captains - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ I fear her might who doth this whole house wreck, - The Goddess unlike Gods, - The prophetess of evil all too true, - The Erinnys of thy father's imprecations, 720 - Lest she fulfil the curse, - O'er-wrathful, frenzy-fraught, - The curse of Œdipus, - Laying his children low. - This Strife doth urge them on. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And now a stranger doth divide the lots, - The Chalyb,[117] from the Skythians emigrant, - The stern distributor of heaped-up wealth, - The iron that hath assigned them just so much - Of land as theirs, no more, - As may suffice for them - As grave when they shall fall, - Without or part or lot - In the broad-spreading plains. 730 - - - STROPHE II - - And when the hands of each - The other's blood have shed, - And the earth's dust shall drink - The black and clotted gore, - Who then can purify? - Who cleanse thee from the guilt? - Ah me! O sorrows new, - That mingle with the old woes of our house! - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - I tell the ancient tale - Of sin that brought swift doom; 740 - Till the third age it waits, - Since Laios, heeding not - Apollo's oracle, - (Though spoken thrice to him - In Pythia's central shrine,) - That dying childless, he should save the State. - - - STROPHE III - - But he by those he loved full rashly swayed, - Doom for himself begat, - His murderer Œdipus, 750 - Who dared to sow in field - Unholy, whence he sprang, - A root of blood-flecked woe. - Madness together brought - Bridegroom and bride accursed. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And now the sea of evil pours its flood: - This falling, others rise, - As with a triple crest, - Which round the State's stern roars: - And but a bulwark slight, - A tower's poor breadth, defends: 760 - And lest the city fall - With its two kings I fear. - - - STROPHE IV - - *And that atonement of the ancient curse - Receives fulfilment now;[118] - *And when they come, the evils pass not by. - E'en so the wealth of sea-adventurers, - When heaped up in excess, - Leads but to cargo from the stern thrown out.[119] - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - For whom of mortals did the Gods so praise, - And fellow-worshippers, 770 - *And race of those who feed their flocks and herds[120] - As much as then they honoured Œdipus, - Who from our country's bounds - Had driven the monster, murderess of men? - - - STROPHE V - - And when too late he knew, - Ah, miserable man! his wedlock dire, - Vexed sore with that dread shame, - With heart to madness driven, - He wrought a twofold ill, - And with the hand that smote his father's life 780 - *Blinded the eyes that might his sons have seen. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - And with a mind provoked - By nurture scant, he at his sons did hurl[121] - His curses dire and dark, - (Ah, bitter curses those!) - That they with spear in hand - Should one day share their father's wealth; and I - Fear now lest swift Erinnys should fulfil them. - - _Enter_ Messenger - - _Mess._ Be of good cheer, ye maidens, mother-reared; - Our city has escaped the yoke of bondage, 790 - The boasts of mighty men are fallen low, - And this our city in calm waters floats, - And, though by waves lashed, springs not any leak. - Our fortress still holds out, and we did guard - The gates with champions who redeemed their pledge. - In the six gateways almost all goes well; - But the seventh gate did King Apollo choose,[122] - Seventh mighty chief, avenging Laios' want - Of counsel on the sons of Œdipus. - - _Chor._ What new disaster happens to our city?[123] 800 - - _Mess._ The city's saved, but both the royal brothers,... - - _Chor._ Who? and what of them? I'm distraught with fear. - - _Mess._ Be calm, and hear: the sons of Œdipus,... - - _Chor._ Oh wretched me! a prophet I of ill! - - _Mess._ Slain by each other, earth has drunk their blood. - - _Chor._ Came they to that? 'Tis dire; yet tell it me. - - _Mess._ Too true, by brother's hand our chiefs are slain. - - _Chor._ What, did the brother's hands the brother lay? - - _Mess._ No doubt is there that they are laid in dust. - - _Chor._ Thus was there then a common fate for both? - - _Mess._ *Yea, it lays low the whole ill-fated race. - - _Chor._ These things give cause for gladness and for tears, 810 - Seeing that our city prospers, and our lords, - The generals twain, with well-wrought Skythian steel, - Have shared between them all their store of goods, - And now shall have their portion in a grave, - Borne on, as spake their father's grievous curse.[124] - - _Mess._ [The city's saved, but of the brother-kings - The earth has drunk the blood, each slain by each.] - - _Chor._ Great Zeus! and ye, O Gods! - Guardians of this our town, - Who save in very deed - The towers of Cadmos old, 820 - Shall I rejoice and shout - Over the happy chance - That frees our State from harm; - Or weep that ill-starred pair, - The war-chiefs, childless and most miserable, - Who, true to that ill name - Of Polyneikes, died in impious mood, - Contending overmuch? - - - STROPHE - - Oh dark, and all too true - That curse of Œdipus and all his race,[125] - An evil chill is falling on my heart, 830 - And, like a Thyiad wild, - Over his grave I sing a dirge of grief, - Hearing the dead have died by evil fate, - Each in foul bloodshed steeped; - Ah me! Ill-omened is the spear's accord.[126] - - - ANTISTROPHE - - It hath wrought out its end, - And hath not failed, that prayer the father poured; - And Laios' reckless counsels work till now: - I fear me for the State; - The oracles have not yet lost their edge; 840 - O men of many sorrows, ye have wrought - This deed incredible; - Not now in word come woes most lamentable. - - [_As the Chorus are speaking, the bodies of_ ETEOCLES - _and_ POLYNEIKES _are brought in solemn procession - by_ Theban Citizens - - - EPODE - - Yea, it is all too clear, - The herald's tale of woe comes full in sight; - Twofold our cares, twin evils born of pride, - Murderous, with double doom, - Wrought unto full completeness all these ills. - What shall I say? What else - Are they than woes that make this house their home? - But oh! my friends, ply, ply with swift, strong gale, - That even stroke of hands upon your head,[127] 850 - In funeral order, such as evermore - O'er Acheron sends on - *That bark of State, dark-rigged, accursed its voyage, - Which nor Apollo visits nor the sun,[128] - On to the shore unseen, - The resting-place of all. - - [ISMENE _and_ ANTIGONE _are seen approaching in - mourning garments, followed by a procession of - women wailing and lamenting_ - - For see, they come to bitter deed called forth, - Ismene and the maid Antigone, - To wail their brothers' fall; - With little doubt I deem, - That they will pour from fond, deep-bosomed breasts - A worthy strain of grief: - But it is meet that we, - Before we hear their cry, 860 - Should utter the harsh hymn Erinnys loves, - And sing to Hades dark - The Pæan of distress. - O ye, most evil-fated in your kin, - Of all who guard their robes with maiden's band, - I weep and wail, and feigning know I none, - That I should fail to speak - My sorrow from my heart. - - - STROPHE I - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Alas! alas! - Men of stern mood, who would not list to friends, - Unwearied in all ills, 870 - Seizing your father's house, O wretched ones - With the spear's murderous point. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Yea, wretched they who found a wretched doom, - With havoc of the house. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Alas! alas! - Ye who laid low the ancient walls of home, - On sovereignty, ill won, - Your eyes have looked, and ye at last are brought - To concord by the sword. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Yea, of a truth, the curse of Œdipus 880 - Erinnys dread fulfils. - - - STROPHE II - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Yea, smitten through the heart, - Smitten through sides where flowed the blood of brothers. - Ah me! ye doomed of God! - Ah me! the curses dire - Of deaths ye met with each at other's hands! - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Thou tell'st of men death-smitten through and through, - Both in their homes and lives, - With wrath beyond all speech, 890 - And doom of discord fell, - That sprang from out the curse their father spake. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Yea, through the city runs - A wailing cry. The high towers wail aloud; - Wails all the plain that loves her heroes well; - And to their children's sons - The wealth will go for which - The strife of those ill-starred ones brought forth death. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Quick to resent, they shared their fortune so, - That each like portion won; - *Nor can their friends regard - Their umpire without blame; 900 - Nor is our voice in thanks to Ares raised. - - - STROPHE III - - _Semi-Chor. A._ By the sword smitten low, - Thus are they now; - By the sword smitten low, - There wait them ... Nay, - Doth one perchance ask what? - Shares in their old ancestral sepulchres. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ *The sorrow of the house is borne to them - By my heart-rending wail. - Mine own the cries I pour; - Mine own the woes I weep, - Bitter and joyless, shedding truest tears 910 - From heart that faileth, even as they fall, - For these two kingly chiefs. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Yes; one may say of them, - That wretched pair, - That they much ill have wrought - To their own host; - Yea, and to alien ranks - Of many nations fallen in the fray. - - _Semi-Chor._ B. Ah! miserable she who bare those twain, - 'Bove all of women born - Who boast a mother's name! 920 - Taking her son, her own, - As spouse, she bare these children, and they both, - By mutual slaughter and by brothers' hands, - Have found their end in death. - - - STROPHE IV - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Yes; of the same womb born, and doomèd both, - *Not as friends part, they fell, - In strife to madness pushed - In this their quarrel's end. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ The quarrel now is hushed, - And in the ensanguined earth their lives are blent; 930 - Full near in blood are they. - Stern umpire of their strifes - Has been the stranger from beyond the sea,[129] - Fresh from the furnace, keen and sharpened steel. - Stern, too, is Ares found, - Distributing their goods, - Making their father's curses all too true. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Semi-Chor. A._ At last they have their share, ah, wretched ones! - Of burdens sent from God. 940 - And now beneath them lies - A boundless wealth of——earth. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ O ye who your own race - Have made to burgeon out with many woes! - Over the end at last - The brood of Curses raise - Their shrill, sharp cry of lamentation loud, - The race being put to flight of utmost rout, - And Atè's trophy stands, - Where in the gates they fell; - And Fate, now both are conquered, rests at last. 950 - - _Enter_ ANTIGONE _and_ ISMENE, _followed by mourning - maidens_[130] - - _Ant._ Thou wast smitten, and thou smotest. - - _Ism._ Thou did'st slaughter, and wast slaughtered. - - _Ant._ Thou with spear to death did'st smite him. - - _Ism._ Thou with spear to death wast smitten. - - _Ant._ Oh, the woe of all your labours! - - _Ism._ Oh, the woe of all ye suffered! - - _Ant._ Pour the cry of lamentation. - - _Ism._ Pour the tears of bitter weeping. - - _Ant._ There in death thou liest prostrate. - - _Ism._ Having wrought a great destruction. - - - STROPHE - - _Ant._ Ah! my mind is crazed with wailing. 960 - - _Ism._ Yea, my heart within me groaneth. - - _Ant._ Thou for whom the city weepeth! - - _Ism._ Thou too, doomed to all ill-fortune! - - _Ant._ By a loved hand thou hast perished. - - _Ism._ And a loved form thou hast slaughtered. - - _Ant._ Double woes are ours to tell of. - - _Ism._ Double woes too ours to look on. - - _Ant._ *Twofold sorrows from near kindred. - - _Ism._ *Sisters we by brothers standing. - - _Ant._ Terrible are they to tell of. 970 - - _Ism._ Terrible are they to look on. - - _Chor._ Ah me, thou Destiny, - Giver of evil gifts, and working woe, - And thou dread spectral form of Œdipus, - And swarth Erinnys too, - A mighty one art thou. - - - ANTISTROPHE - - _Ant._ Ah me! ah me! woes dread to look on.... - - _Ism._ Ye showed to me, returned from exile. - - _Ant._ Not, when he had slain, returned he. - - _Ism._ Nay, he, saved from exile, perished. 980 - - _Ant._ Yea, I trow too well, he perished. - - _Ism._ And his brother, too, he murdered. - - _Ant._ Woeful, piteous, are those brothers! - - _Ism._ Woeful, piteous, all they suffered! - - _Ant._ Woes of kindred wrath enkindling! - - _Ism._ Saturate with threefold horrors! - - _Ant._ Terrible are they to tell of. - - _Ism._ Terrible are they to look on. - - _Chor._ Ah me, thou Destiny, - Giver of evil gifts, and stern of soul, - And thou dread spectral form of Œdipus, 990 - And swarth Erinnys too, - A mighty one art thou. - - - EPODE - - _Ant._ Thou, then, by full trial knowest.... - - _Ism._ Thou, too, no whit later learning.... - - _Ant._ When thou cam'st back to this city[131].... - - _Ism._ Rival to our chief in warfare. - - _Ant._ Woe, alas! for all our troubles! - - _Ism._ Woe, alas! for all our evils! - - _Ant._ Evils fallen on our houses! - - _Ism._ Evils fallen on our country! - - _Ant._ And on me before all others.... - - _Ism._ And to me the future waiting.... 1000 - - _Ant._ Woe for those two brothers luckless! - - _Ism._ King Eteocles, our leader! - - _Ant._ Oh, before all others wretched! - - _Ism._ . . . . . - - _Ant._ Ah, by Atè frenzy-stricken! - - _Ism._ Ah, where now shall they be buried? - - _Ant._ There where grave is highest honour. - - _Ism._ Ah, the woe my father wedded! - - _Enter a_ Herald - - _Her._ 'Tis mine the judgment and decrees to publish - Of this Cadmeian city's counsellors: - It is decreed Eteocles to honour, - For his good-will towards this land of ours, 1010 - With seemly burial, such as friend may claim; - For warding off our foes he courted death; - Pure as regards his country's holy things, - Blameless he died where death the young beseems; - This then I'm ordered to proclaim of him. - But for his brother's, Polyneikes' corpse, - To cast it out unburied, prey for dogs, - As working havoc on Cadmeian land, - Unless some God had hindered by the spear - Of this our prince;[132] and he, though, dead, shall gain 1020 - The curse of all his father's Gods, whom he - - [_Pointing to_ POLYNEIKES - - With alien host dishonouring, sought to take - Our city. Him by ravenous birds interred - Ingloriously, they sentence to receive - His full deserts; and none may take in hand - To heap up there a tomb, nor honour him - With shrill-voiced wailings; but he still must lie, - Without the meed of burial by his friends. - So do the high Cadmeian powers decree. - - _Ant._ And I those rulers of Cadmeians tell,[133] 1030 - That if no other care to bury him, - I will inter him, facing all the risk, - Burying my brother: nor am I ashamed - To thwart the State in rank disloyalty; - Strange power there is in ties of blood, that we, - Born of woe-laden mother, sire ill-starred, - Are bound by: therefore of thy full free-will, - Share thou, my soul, in woes he did not will, - Thou living, he being dead, with sister's heart. - And this I say, no wolves with ravening maw, - Shall tear his flesh—No! no! let none think that! - For tomb and burial I will scheme for him, 1040 - Though I be but weak woman, bringing earth - Within my byssine raiment's fold, and so - Myself will bury him; let no man think - (I say't again) aught else. Take heart, my soul! - There shall not fail the means effectual. - - _Her._ I bid thee not defy the State in this. - - _Ant._ I bid thee not proclaim vain words to me. - - _Her._ Stern is the people now, with victory flushed. - - _Ant._ Stern let them be, he shall not tombless lie. - - _Her._ And wilt thou honour whom the State doth loathe? - - _Ant._ *Yea, from the Gods he gets an honour due.[134]1050 - - _Her._ It was not so till he this land attacked. - - _Ant._ He, suffering evil, evil would repay. - - _Her._ Not against one his arms were turned, but all. - - _Ant._ Strife is the last of Gods to end disputes: - Him I will bury; talk no more of it. - - _Her._ Choose for thyself then, I forbid the deed. - - _Chor._ Alas! alas! alas! - Ye haughty boasters, race-destroying, - Now Fates and now Erinnyes, smiting - The sons of Œdipus, ye slew them, - With a root-and-branch destruction. 1060 - What shall I then do, what suffer? - What shall I devise in counsel? - How should I dare nor to weep thee, - Nor escort thee to the burial? - But I tremble and I shrink from - All the terrors which they threatened, - They who are my fellow-townsmen. - Many mourners thou (_looking to the bier of_ ETEOCLES) shalt - meet with; - But he, lost one, unlamented, - With his sister's wailing only - Passeth. Who with this complieth? - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Let the city doom or not doom - Those who weep for Polyneikes; - We will go, and we will bury, 1070 - Maidens we in sad procession; - For the woe to all is common, - And our State with voice uncertain, - Of the claims of Right and Justice; - Hither, thither, shifts its praises. - - _Semi-Chor. B._ We will thus, our chief attending, - Speak, as speaks the State, our praises: - Of the claims of Right and Justice;[135] - For next those the Blessed Rulers, - And the strength of Zeus, he chiefly - Saved the city of Cadmeians - From the doom of fell destruction, - From the doom of whelming utter, - In the flood of alien warriors. - - [_Exeunt_ ANTIGONE _and Semi-Chorus A., following - the corpse of_ POLYNEIKES; ISMENE - _and Semi-Chorus B. that of_ ETEOCLES. - ------ - -Footnote 73: - - Probably directed against the tendency of the Athenians, as shown in - their treatment of Miltiades, and later in that of Thukydides, to - punish their unsuccessful generals, “_pour encourager les autres_.” - -Footnote 74: - - Teiresias, as in Sophocles (_Antig._ v. 1005), sitting, though blind, - and listening, as the birds flit by him, and the flames burn steadily - or fitfully; a various reading gives “apart from sight.” - -Footnote 75: - - Enyo, the goddess of war, and companion of Ares. - -Footnote 76: - - Amphiaraos the seer had prophesied that Adrastos alone should return - home in safety. On his car, therefore, the other chieftains hung the - clasps, or locks of hair, or other memorials which in the event of - their death were to be taken to their parents. - -Footnote 77: - - The Hellenic feeling, such as the Platæans appealed to in the - Peloponnesian war (Thuc. iii. 58, 59), that it was noble and right for - Hellenes to destroy a city of the barbarians, but that they should - spare one belonging to a people of their own stock. - -Footnote 78: - - The characteristic feature of the Argive soldiers was, that they bore - a shield painted white (comp. Sophocles, _Antig._ v. 114). The leaders - alone appear to have embellished this with devices and mottoes. - -Footnote 79: - - In solemn supplications, the litanies of the ancient world, especially - in those to Pallas, the suppliants carried with them in procession the - shawl or _peplos_ of the Goddess, and with it enwrapt her statue. To - carry boughs of trees in the hands was one of the uniform, probably - indispensable, accompaniments of such processions. - -Footnote 80: - - The words recall our thoughts to the original use of the trident, - which became afterwards a symbol of Poseidon, as employed by the - sailors of Hellas to spear or harpoon the larger fish of the - Archipelago. Comp. _Pers._ v. 426, where the slaughter of a defeated - army is compared to tunny-fishing. - -Footnote 81: - - Cadmos, probably “the man from the East,” the Phœnikian who had - founded Thebes, and sown the dragon's seed, and taught men a Semitic - alphabet for the non-Semitic speech of Hellas. - -Footnote 82: - - Worthy of his name as the Wolf-destroyer, mighty to destroy his foes. - -Footnote 83: - - Possibly “_from_ battlements attacked.” In the primitive sieges of - Greek warfare stones were used as missiles alike by besieged and - besiegers. - -Footnote 84: - - The name of Onca belonged especially to the Theban worship of Pallas, - and was said to have been of Phœnikian origin, introduced by Cadmos. - There seems, however, to have been a town Onkæ in Bœotia, with which - the name was doubtless connected. - -Footnote 85: - - “Alien,” on account of the difference of dialect between the speech of - Argos and that of Bœotia, though both were Hellenic. - -Footnote 86: - - The vehemence with which Eteocles reproves the wild frenzied wailing - of the Chorus may be taken as an element of the higher culture showing - itself in Athenian life, which led Solon to restrain such lamentations - by special laws (Plutarch, _Solon_, c. 20). Here, too, we note in - Æschylos an echo of the teaching of Epimenides. - -Footnote 87: - - As now the sailor of the Mediterranean turns to the image of his - patron saint, so of old he ran in his distress to the figure of his - God upon the prow of his ship (often, as in Acts xxviii. II, that of - the _Dioscuri_), and called to it for deliverance (comp. Jonah i. 8). - -Footnote 88: - - Eteocles seems to wish for a short, plain prayer for deliverance, - instead of the cries and supplications and vain repetitions of the - Chorus. - -Footnote 89: - - The thought thus expressed was, that the Gods, yielding to the - mightier law of destiny, or in their wrath at the guilt of men, left - the city before its capture. The feeling was all but universal. Its - two representative instances are found in Virgil, _Æn._ 351— - - “Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis - Di quibus imperium hoc steterat;” - - and the narrative given alike by Tacitus (_Hist._ v. 13), and Josephus - (_Bell. Jud._ vi. 5, 3), that the cry “Let us depart hence,” was heard - at midnight through the courts of the Temple, before the destruction - of Jerusalem. - -Footnote 90: - - _Sc._ Blood must be shed in war. Ares would not be Ares without it. It - is better to take it as it comes. - -Footnote 91: - - _Sc._, the company of Gods, Pallas, Hera and the others whom the - Chorus had invoked. - -Footnote 92: - - Reference to this custom, which has passed from Pagan temples into - Christian churches, is found in the _Agamemnon_, v. 562. It was - connected, of course, with the general practice of offering as _ex - votos_ any personal ornaments or clothing as a token of thanksgiving - for special mercies. - -Footnote 93: - - Rivers and streams as the children of Tethys and Okeanos. - -Footnote 94: - - Here, as in v. 571, Tydeus appears as the real leader of the - expedition, who had persuaded Adrastos and the other chiefs to join in - it, and Amphiaraos, the prophet, the son of Œcleus, as having all - along foreseen its disastrous issue. The account of the expedition in - the _Œdipus at Colonos_ (1300-1330) may be compared with this. - -Footnote 95: - - The legend of the Medusa's head on the shield of Athena shows the - practice of thus decorating shields to have been of remote date. In - Homer it does not appear as common, and the account given of the - shield of Achilles lays stress upon the work of the artist (Hephæstos) - who wrought the shield in relief, not, as here, upon painted insignia. - They were obviously common in the time of Æschylos. - -Footnote 96: - - The older families of Thebes boasted that they sprang from the - survivors of the Sparti, who, sprung from the Dragon's teeth, waged - deadly war against each other, till all but five were slain. The later - settlers, who were said to have come with Cadmos, stood to these as - the “greater” to the “lesser _gentes_” at Rome. - -Footnote 97: - - So in the _Antigone_ of Sophocles (v. 134), Capaneus appears as the - special representative of boastful, reckless impiety. - -Footnote 98: - - Artemis, as one of the special Deities to whom Thebes was consecrated. - -Footnote 99: - - Apparently an Asiatic invention, to increase the terror of an attack - of war-chariots. - -Footnote 100: - - The phrase and thought were almost proverbial in Athens. Men, as - citizens, were thought of as fed at a common table, bound to - contribute their gifts to the common stock. When they offered up their - lives in battle, they were giving, as Pericles says (Thucyd. ii. 43), - their noblest “contribution,” paying in full their subscription to the - society of which they were members. - -Footnote 101: - - Thyiad, another name for the Mænads, the frenzied attendants on - Dionysos. - -Footnote 102: - - _Sc._, in the legends of Typhon, not he, but Zeus, had proved the - conqueror. The warrior, therefore, who chose Typhon for his badge was - identifying himself with the losing, not the winning side. - -Footnote 103: - - The name, as we are told in v. 542, is Parthenopæos, the maiden-faced. - -Footnote 104: - - The Sphinx, besides its general character as an emblem of terror, had, - of course, a special meaning as directed to the Thebans. The warrior - who bore it threatened to renew the old days when the monster whom - Œdipus had overcome had laid waste their city. - -Footnote 105: - - _Sc._, the Sphinx on his shield will not be allowed to enter the city. - It will only serve as a mark, attracting men to attack both it and the - warrior who bears it. - -Footnote 106: - - The quarrel between Tydeus and the seer Amphiaraos had been already - touched upon. - -Footnote 107: - - I have used the old English word to express a term of like technical - use in Athenian law processes. As the “sumpnour” called witnesses or - parties to a suit into court, so Tydeus had summoned the Erinnys to do - her work of destruction. - -Footnote 108: - - _Sc._, so pronounced his name as to emphasise the significance of its - two component parts, as indicating that he who bore it was a man of - much contention. - -Footnote 109: - - The words are obscure, but seem to refer to the badge of Polyneikes, - the figure of Justice described in v. 643 as on his shield. How shall - that Justice, the seer asks, console Jocasta for her son's death? - Another rendering gives, - - “And how shall Justice quench a mother's life?” - - the “mother” being the country against which Polyneikes wars. - -Footnote 110: - - The words had a twofold fulfilment (1) in the burial of Amphiaraos, in - the Theban soil; and (2) in the honour which accrued to Thebes after - his death, through the fame of the oracle at his shrine. - -Footnote 111: - - The passage cannot be passed over without noticing the old tradition - (Plutarch, _Aristeid._ c. 3), that when the actor uttered these words, - he and the whole audience looked to Aristeides, surnamed the Just, as - recognising that the words were true of him as they were of no one - else. “Best,” instead of “just,” is, however, a very old various - reading. - -Footnote 112: - - If the former reference to Aristeides be admitted, we can scarcely - avoid seeing in this passage an allusion to Themistocles, as one with - whose reckless and democratic policy it was dangerous for the more - conservative leader to associate himself. - -Footnote 113: - - The far-off city, not of Thebes, but of Hades. In the legend of - Thebes, the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraos, as in 583. - -Footnote 114: - - The short spear was usually carried under the shelter of the shield; - when brought into action it was, of course, laid bare. - -Footnote 115: - - Perhaps “since death is at nigh hand.” - -Footnote 116: - - The Chorus means that if Eteocles would allow himself to be overcome - in this contest of his wishes with their prayers the Gods would honour - that defeat as if it were indeed a victory. He makes answer that the - very thought of being overcome implied in the word “defeat” in - anything is one which the true warrior cannot bear. - -Footnote 117: - - The “Chalyb stranger” is the sword, thought of as taking its name from - the Skythian tribe of the Chalybes, between Colchis and Armenia, and - passing through the Thrakians into Greece. - -Footnote 118: - - The two brothers, _i.e._, are set at one again, but it is not in the - bonds of friendship, but in those of death. - -Footnote 119: - - The image meets us again in _Agam._ 980. Here the thought is, that a - man too prosperous is like a ship too heavily freighted. He must part - with a portion of his possession in order to save the rest. Not to - part with them leads, when the storm rages, to an enforced abandonment - and utter loss. - -Footnote 120: - - Another reading gives— - - “And race of those who crowd the Agora.” - -Footnote 121: - - This seems to have been one form of the legends as to the cause of the - curse which Œdipus had launched upon his sons, An alternative - rendering is— - - And with a mind enraged - At thought of what they were whom he had reared, - He at his sons did hurl - His curses dire and dark. - -Footnote 122: - - _Sc._, when Eteocles fell, Apollo took his place at the seventh gate, - and turned the tide of war in favour of the Thebans. - -Footnote 123: - - I follow in this dialogue the arrangement which Paley adopts from - Hermann. - -Footnote 124: - - There seems an intentional ambiguity. They are “borne on,” but it is - as the corpses of the dead are borne to the sepulchre. - -Footnote 125: - - Not here the curse uttered by Œdipus, but that which rested on him and - all his kin. There is possibly an allusion to the curse which Pelops - is said to have uttered against Laios when he stole his son - Chrysippos. Comp. v. 837. - -Footnote 126: - - As in v. 763 we read of the brothers as made one in death, so now of - the concord which is wrought out by conflict, the concord, _i.e._, of - the grave. - -Footnote 127: - - The Chorus are called on to change their character, and to pass from - the attitude of suppliants, with outstretched arms, to that of - mourners at a funeral, beating on their breasts. But, perhaps, the - call is addressed to the mourners who are seen approaching with Ismene - and Antigone. - -Footnote 128: - - The thought is drawn from the _theoris_ or pilgrim-ship, which went - with snow-white sails, and accompanied by joyful pæans, on a solemn - mission from Athens to Delos. In contrast with this type of joy, - Æschylos draws the picture of the boat of Charon, which passes over - the gloomy pool accompanied by the sighs and gestures of bitter - lamentation. So, in the old Attic legend, the ship that annually - carried seven youths and maidens to the Minotaur of Crete was - conspicuous for its black sails. - -Footnote 129: - - The “Chalyb,” or iron sword, which the Hellenes had imported from the - Skythians. Comp. vv. 70. 86. - -Footnote 130: - - The lyrical, operative character of Greek tragedies has to be borne in - mind as we read passages like that which follows. They were not meant - to be _read_. Uttered in a passionate recitative, accompanied by - expressive action, they probably formed a very effective element in - the actual representation of the tragedy. We may look on it as the - only extant specimen of the kind of wailing which was characteristic - of Eastern burials, and which was slowly passing away in Greece under - the influence of a higher culture. The early fondness of Æschylos for - a _finale_ of this nature is seen also in _The Persians_, and in a - more solemn and subdued form, in the _Eumenides_. The feeling that - there was something barbaric in these untoward displays of grief, - showed itself alike in the legislation of Solon, and the eloquence of - Pericles. - -Footnote 131: - - Here, and perhaps throughout, we must think of Antigone as addressing - and looking on the corpse of Polyneikes, Ismene on that of Eteocles. - -Footnote 132: - - Perhaps - - “Unless some God had stood against the spear - This chief did wield.” - -Footnote 133: - - The speech of the Antigone becomes the starting-point, in the hands of - Sophocles, of the noblest of his tragedies. The denial of burial, it - will be remembered, was looked on as not merely an indignity and - outrage against the feelings of the living, but as depriving the souls - of the dead of all rest and peace. As such it was the punishment of - parricides and traitors. - -Footnote 134: - - The words are obscure enough, the point lying, it may be, in their - ambiguity. Antigone here, as in the tragedy of Sophocles, pleads that - the Gods have pardoned; they still command and love the reverence for - the dead, which she is about to show. The herald catches up her words - and takes them in another sense, as though all the honour he had met - with from the Gods had been defeat, and death, and shame, as the - reward of his sacrilege. Another rendering, however, gives— - - “Yes, so the Gods have done with honouring him.” - -Footnote 135: - - The words are probably a protest against the changeableness of the - Athenian _demos_, as seen especially in their treatment of Aristeides. - - - - - PROMETHEUS BOUND - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - PROMETHEUS - HERMES - OKEANOS - STRENGTH - HEPHÆSTOS - FORCE - _Chorus of Ocean Nymphs_ - - -_ARGUMENT.—In the old time, when Cronos was sovereign of the Gods, Zeus, -whom he had begotten, rose up against him, and the Gods were divided in -their counsels, some, the Titans chiefly, siding with the father, and -some with the son. And Prometheus, the son of Earth or Themis, though -one of the Titans, supported Zeus, as did also Okeanos, and by his -counsels Zeus obtained the victory, and Cronos was chained in Tartaros, -and the Titans buried under mountains, or kept in bonds in Hades. And -then Prometheus, seeing the miseries of the race of men, of whom Zeus -took little heed, stole the fire which till then had belonged to none -but Hephæstos and was used only for the Gods, and gave it to mankind, -and taught them many arts whereby their wretchedness was lessened. But -Zeus being wroth with Prometheus for this deed, sent Hephæstos, with his -two helpers, Strength and Force, to fetter him to a rock on Caucasos._ - -_And in yet another story was the cruelty of the Gods made known. For -Zeus loved Io, the daughter of Inachos, king of Argos, and she was -haunted by visions of the night, telling her of his passion, and she -told her father thereof. And Inachos, sending to the God at Delphi, was -told to drive Io forth from her home. And Zeus gave her the horns of a -cow, and Hera, who hated her because she was dear to Zeus, sent with her -a gadfly that stung her, and gave her no rest, and drove her over many -lands._ - -_Note._—The play is believed to have been the second of a Trilogy, of -which the first was _Prometheus the Fire-giver_, and the third -_Prometheus Unbound_. - - - - - PROMETHEUS BOUND - - - SCENE.—SKYTHIA, _on the heights of Caucasos. The Euxine - seen in the distance_ - - _Enter_ HEPHÆSTOS, STRENGTH, _and_ FORCE, _leading_ - PROMETHEUS _in chains_[136] - - _Strength._ Lo! to a plain, earth's boundary remote, - We now are come,—the tract as Skythian known, - A desert inaccessible: and now, - Hephæstos, it is thine to do the hests - The Father gave thee, to these lofty crags - To bind this crafty trickster fast in chains - Of adamantine bonds that none can break; - For he thy choice flower stealing, the bright glory - Of fire that all arts spring from, hath bestowed it - On mortal men. And so for fault like this - He now must pay the Gods due penalty, - That he may learn to bear the sovereign rule 10 - Of Zeus, and cease from his philanthropy. - - _Heph._ O Strength, and thou, O Force, the hest of Zeus, - As far as touches you, attains its end, - And nothing hinders. Yet my courage fails - To bind a God of mine own kin by force - To this bare rock where tempests wildly sweep; - And yet I needs must muster courage for it: - 'Tis no slight thing the Father's words to scorn. - O thou of Themis [_to_ PROMETHEUS] wise in counsel son, - Full deep of purpose, lo! against my will,[137] - I fetter thee against thy will with bonds - Of bronze that none can loose, to this lone height, 20 - Where thou shalt know nor voice nor face of man, - But scorching in the hot blaze of the sun, - Shalt lose thy skin's fair beauty. Thou shalt long - For starry-mantled night to hide day's sheen, - For sun to melt the rime of early dawn; - And evermore the weight of present ill - Shall wear thee down. Unborn as yet is he - Who shall release thee: this the fate thou gain'st - As due reward for thy philanthropy. - For thou, a God not fearing wrath of Gods, - In thy transgression gav'st their power to men; 30 - And therefore on this rock of little ease - Thou still shalt keep thy watch, nor lying down, - Nor knowing sleep, nor ever bending knee; - And many groans and wailings profitless - Thy lips shall utter; for the mind of Zeus - Remains inexorable. Who holds a power - But newly gained[138] is ever stern of mood. - - _Strength._ Let be! Why linger in this idle pity? - Why dost not hate a God to Gods a foe, - Who gave thy choicest prize to mortal men? - - _Heph._ Strange is the power of kin and intercourse.[139] - - _Strength._ I own it; yet to slight the Father's words, 40 - How may that be? Is not that fear the worse? - - _Heph._ Still art thou ruthless, full of savagery. - - _Strength._ There is no help in weeping over him: - Spend not thy toil on things that profit not. - - _Heph._ O handicraft to me intolerable! - - _Strength._ Why loath'st thou it? Of these thy present griefs - That craft of thine is not one whit the cause. - - _Heph._ And yet I would some other had that skill. - - _Strength._ *All things bring toil except for Gods to reign;[140] - For none but Zeus can boast of freedom true. 50 - - _Heph._ Too well I see the proof, and gainsay not. - - _Strength._ Wilt thou not speed to fix the chains on him, - Lest He, the Father, see thee loitering here? - - _Heph._ Well, here the handcuffs thou may'st see prepared. - - _Strength._ In thine hands take him. Then with all thy might - Strike with thine hammer; nail him to the rocks. - - _Heph._ The work goes on, I ween, and not in vain. - - _Strength._ Strike harder, rivet, give no whit of ease: - A wondrous knack has he to find resource, - Even where all might seem to baffle him. - - _Heph._ Lo! this his arm is fixed inextricably. 60 - - _Strength._ Now rivet thou this other fast, that he - May learn, though sharp, that he than Zeus is duller. - - _Heph._ No one but he could justly blame my work. - - _Strength._ Now drive the stern jaw of the adamant wedge - Right through his chest with all the strength thou hast. - - _Heph._ Ah me! Prometheus, for thy woes I groan. - - _Strength._ Again, thou'rt loth, and for the foes of Zeus - Thou groanest: take good heed to it lest thou - Ere long with cause thyself commiserate. - - _Heph._ Thou see'st a sight unsightly to our eyes. - - _Strength._ I see this man obtaining his deserts: 70 - Nay, cast thy breast-chains round about his ribs. - - _Heph._ I must needs do it. Spare thine o'er much bidding; - Go thou below and rivet both his legs.[141] - - _Strength._ Nay, I will bid thee, urge thee to thy work. - - _Heph._ There, it is done, and that with no long toil. - - _Strength._ Now with thy full power fix the galling fetters: - Thou hast a stern o'erlooker of thy work. - - _Heph._ Thy tongue but utters words that match thy form.[142] - - _Strength._ Choose thou the melting mood; but chide not me - For my self-will and wrath and ruthlessness. 80 - - _Heph._ Now let us go, his limbs are bound in chains. - - _Strength._ Here then wax proud, and stealing what belongs - To the Gods, to mortals give it. What can they - Avail to rescue thee from these thy woes? - Falsely the Gods have given thee thy name, - Prometheus, Forethought; forethought thou dost need - To free thyself from this rare handiwork. - - [_Exeunt_ HEPHÆSTOS, STRENGTH, _and_ FORCE, - _leaving_ PROMETHEUS _on the rock_ - - _Prom._[143] Thou firmament of God, and swift-winged winds, - Ye springs of rivers, and of ocean waves - That smile innumerous! Mother of us all, 90 - O Earth, and Sun's all-seeing eye, behold, - I pray, what I a God from Gods endure. - Behold in what foul case - I for ten thousand years - Shall struggle in my woe, - In these unseemly chains. - Such doom the new-made Monarch of the Blest - Hath now devised for me. - Woe, woe! The present and the oncoming pang - I wail, as I search out - The place and hour when end of all these ills - Shall dawn on me at last. 100 - What say I? All too clearly I foresee - The things that come, and nought of pain shall be - By me unlooked-for; but I needs must bear - My destiny as best I may, knowing well - The might resistless of Necessity. - And neither may I speak of this my fate, - Nor hold my peace. For I, poor I, through giving - Great gifts to mortal men, am prisoner made - In these fast fetters; yea, in fennel stalk[144] - I snatched the hidden spring of stolen fire, - Which is to men a teacher of all arts, 110 - Their chief resource. And now this penalty - Of that offence I pay, fast riveted - In chains beneath the open firmament. - Ha! ha! What now? - What sound, what odour floats invisibly?[145] - Is it of God or man, or blending both? - And has one come to the remotest rock - To look upon my woes? Or what wills he? - Behold me bound, a God to evil doomed, - The foe of Zeus, and held - In hatred by all Gods 120 - Who tread the courts of Zeus: - And this for my great love, - Too great, for mortal men. - Ah me! what rustling sounds - Hear I of birds not far? - With the light whirr of wings - The air re-echoeth: - All that draws nigh to me is cause of fear.[146] - - _Enter Chorus of_ Ocean Nymphs, _with wings, - floating in the air_[147] - - _Chor._ Nay, fear thou nought: in love - All our array of wings - In eager race hath come 130 - To this high peak, full hardly gaining o'er - Our Father's mind and will; - And the swift-rushing breezes bore me on: - For lo! the echoing sound of blows on iron - Pierced to our cave's recess, and put to flight - My shamefast modesty, - And I in unshod haste, on winged car, - To thee rushed hitherward. - - _Prom._ Ah me! ah me! - Offspring of Tethys blest with many a child, 140 - Daughters of Old Okeanos that rolls - Round all the earth with never-sleeping stream, - Behold ye me, and see - With what chains fettered fast, - I on the topmost crags of this ravine - Shall keep my sentry-post unenviable. - - _Chor._ I see it, O Prometheus, and a mist - Of fear and full of tears comes o'er mine eyes, - Thy frame beholding thus, - Writhing on these high rocks 150 - In adamantine ills. - New pilots now o'er high Olympos rule, - And with new-fashioned laws - Zeus reigns, down-trampling right, - And all the ancient powers He sweeps away. - - _Prom._ Ah! would that 'neath the Earth, 'neath Hades too, - Home of the dead, far down to Tartaros 160 - Unfathomable He in fetters fast - In wrath had hurled me down: - So neither had a God - Nor any other mocked at these my woes; - But now, the wretched plaything of the winds, - I suffer ills at which my foes rejoice. - - _Chor._ Nay, which of all the Gods - Is so hard-hearted as to joy in this? - Who, Zeus excepted, doth not pity thee - In these thine ills? But He, - Ruthless, with soul unbent, - Subdues the heavenly host, nor will He cease[148] 170 - Until his heart be satiate with power, - Or some one seize with subtle stratagem - The sovran might that so resistless seemed. - - _Prom._ Nay, of a truth, though put to evil shame, - In massive fetters bound, - The Ruler of the Gods - Shall yet have need of me, yes, e'en of me, - To tell the counsel new - That seeks to strip from him - His sceptre and his might of sovereignty. - In vain will He with words - Or suasion's honeyed charms 180 - Soothe me, nor will I tell - Through fear of his stern threats, - Ere He shall set me free - From these my bonds, and make, - Of his own choice, amends - For all these outrages. - - _Chor._ Full rash art thou, and yield'st - In not a jot to bitterest form of woe; - Thou art o'er-free and reckless in thy speech: - But piercing fear hath stirred - My inmost soul to strife; - For I fear greatly touching thy distress, - As to what haven of these woes of thine 190 - Thou now must steer: the son of Cronos hath - A stubborn mood and heart inexorable. - - _Prom._ I know that Zeus is hard, - And keeps the Right supremely to himself; - But then, I trow, He'll be - Full pliant in his will, - When He is thus crushed down. - Then, calming down his mood - Of hard and bitter wrath, - He'll hasten unto me, - As I to him shall haste, 200 - For friendship and for peace. - - _Chor._ Hide it not from us, tell us all the tale: - For what offence Zeus, having seized thee thus, - So wantonly and bitterly insults thee: - If the tale hurt thee not, inform thou us. - - _Prom._ Painful are these things to me e'en to speak: - Painful is silence; everywhere is woe. - For when the high Gods fell on mood of wrath, - And hot debate of mutual strife was stirred, - Some wishing to hurl Cronos from his throne, - That Zeus, forsooth, might reign; while others strove, - Eager that Zeus might never rule the Gods: 210 - Then I, full strongly seeking to persuade - The Titans, yea, the sons of Heaven and Earth, - Failed of my purpose. Scorning subtle arts, - With counsels violent, they thought that they - By force would gain full easy mastery. - But then not once or twice my mother Themis - And Earth, one form though bearing many names,[149] - Had prophesied the future, how 'twould run, - That not by strength nor yet by violence, 220 - But guile, should those who prospered gain the day. - And when in my words I this counsel gave, - They deigned not e'en to glance at it at all. - And then of all that offered, it seemed best - To join my mother, and of mine own will, - Not against his will, take my side with Zeus, - And by my counsels, mine, the dark deep pit - Of Tartaros the ancient Cronos holds, - Himself and his allies. Thus profiting - By me, the mighty ruler of the Gods 230 - Repays me with these evil penalties: - For somehow this disease in sovereignty - Inheres, of never trusting to one's friends.[150] - And since ye ask me under what pretence - He thus maltreats me, I will show it you: - For soon as He upon his father's throne - Had sat secure, forthwith to divers Gods - He divers gifts distributed, and his realm - Began to order. But of mortal men - He took no heed, but purposed utterly 240 - To crush their race and plant another new; - And, I excepted, none dared cross his will; - But I did dare, and mortal men I freed - From passing on to Hades thunder-stricken; - And therefore am I bound beneath these woes, - Dreadful to suffer, pitiable to see: - And I, who in my pity thought of men - More than myself, have not been worthy deemed - To gain like favour, but all ruthlessly - I thus am chained, foul shame this sight to Zeus. - - _Chor._ Iron-hearted must he be and made of rock 250 - Who is not moved, Prometheus, by thy woes: - Fain could I wish I ne'er had seen such things, - And, seeing them, am wounded to the heart. - - _Prom._ Yea, I am piteous for my friends to see. - - _Chor._ Did'st thou not go to farther lengths than this? - - _Prom._ I made men cease from contemplating death.[151] - - _Chor._ What medicine did'st thou find for that disease? - - _Prom._ Blind hopes I gave to live and dwell with them. - - _Chor._ Great service that thou did'st for mortal men! - - _Prom._ And more than that, I gave them fire, yes I. 260 - - _Chor._ Do short-lived men the flaming fire possess? - - _Prom._ Yea, and full many an art they'll learn from it. - - _Chor._ And is it then on charges such as these - That Zeus maltreats thee, and no respite gives - Of many woes? And has thy pain no end? - - _Prom._ End there is none, except as pleases Him. - - _Chor._ How shall it please? What hope hast thou? See'st not - That thou hast sinned? Yet to say how thou sinned'st - Gives me no pleasure, and is pain to thee. - Well! let us leave these things, and, if we may, - Seek out some means to 'scape from this thy woe. 270 - - _Prom._ 'Tis a light thing for one who has his foot - Beyond the reach of evil to exhort - And counsel him who suffers. This to me - Was all well known. Yea, willing, willingly - I sinned, nor will deny it. Helping men, - I for myself found trouble: yet I thought not - That I with such dread penalties as these - Should wither here on these high-towering crags, - Lighting on this lone hill and neighbourless. - Wherefore wail not for these my present woes, - But, drawing nigh, my coming fortunes hear, 280 - That ye may learn the whole tale to the end. - Nay, hearken, hearken; show your sympathy - With him who suffers now. 'Tis thus that woe, - Wandering, now falls on this one, now on that. - - _Chor._ Not to unwilling hearers hast thou uttered, - Prometheus, thy request, - And now with nimble foot abounding - My swiftly rushing car, - And the pure æther, path of birds of heaven, 290 - I will draw near this rough and rocky land, - For much do I desire - To hear this tale, full measure, of thy woes. - - _Enter_ OKEANOS, _on a car drawn by a winged gryphon_ - - _Okean._ Lo, I come to thee, Prometheus, - Reaching goal of distant journey,[152] - Guiding this my winged courser - By my will, without a bridle; - And thy sorrows move my pity. - Force, in part, I deem, of kindred - Leads me on, nor know I any, - Whom, apart from kin, I honour 300 - More than thee, in fuller measure. - This thou shall own true and earnest: - I deal not in glozing speeches. - Come then, tell me how to help thee; - Ne'er shalt thou say that one more friendly - Is found than unto thee is Okean. - - _Prom._ Let be. What boots it? Thou then too art come - To gaze upon my sufferings. How did'st dare - Leaving the stream that bears thy name, and caves - Hewn in the living rock, this land to visit, - Mother of iron? What then, art thou come - To gaze upon my fall and offer pity? 310 - Behold this sight: see here the friend of Zeus, - Who helped to seat him in his sovereignty, - With what foul outrage I am crushed by him! - - _Okean._ I see, Prometheus, and I wish to give thee - My best advice, all subtle though thou be. - Know thou thyself,[153] and fit thy soul to moods - To thee full new. New king the Gods have now; - But if thou utter words thus rough and sharp, - Perchance, though sitting far away on high, 320 - Zeus yet may hear thee, and his present wrath - Seem to thee but as child's play of distress. - Nay, thou poor sufferer, quit the rage thou hast, - And seek a remedy for these thine ills. - A tale thrice-told, perchance I seem to speak: - Lo! this, Prometheus, is the punishment - Of thine o'er lofty speech, nor art thou yet - Humbled, nor yieldest to thy miseries, - And fain would'st add fresh evils unto these. - But thou, if thou wilt take me as thy teacher, 330 - Wilt not kick out against the pricks;[154] seeing well - A monarch reigns who gives account to none. - And now I go, and will an effort make, - If I, perchance, may free thee from thy woes; - Be still then, hush thy petulance of speech, - Or knowest thou not, o'er-clever as thou art, - That idle tongues must still their forfeit pay? - - _Prom._ I envy thee, seeing thou art free from blame - Though thou shared'st all, and in my cause wast bold;[155] - Nay, let me be, nor trouble thou thyself; 340 - Thou wilt not, canst not soothe Him; very hard - Is He of soothing. Look to it thyself, - Lest thou some mischief meet with in the way. - - _Okean._ It is thy wont thy neighbours' minds to school - Far better than thine own. From deeds, not words, - I draw my proof. But do not draw me back - When I am hasting on, for lo, I deem, - I deem that Zeus will grant this boon to me, - That I should free thee from these woes of thine. - - _Prom._ I thank thee much, yea, ne'er will cease to thank; - For thou no whit of zeal dost lack; yet take, - I pray, no trouble for me; all in vain - Thy trouble, nothing helping, e'en if thou 350 - Should'st care to take the trouble. Nay, be still; - Keep out of harm's way; sufferer though I be, - I would not therefore wish to give my woes - A wider range o'er others. No, not so: - For lo! my mind is wearied with the grief - Of that my kinsman Atlas,[156] who doth stand - In the far West, supporting on his shoulders - The pillars of the earth and heaven, a burden - His arms can ill but hold: I pity too - The giant dweller of Kilikian caves, 360 - Dread portent, with his hundred hands, subdued - By force, the mighty Typhon,[157] who arose - 'Gainst all the Gods, with sharp and dreadful jaws - Hissing out slaughter, and from out his eyes - There flashed the terrible brightness as of one - Who would lay low the sovereignty of Zeus. - But the unsleeping dart of Zeus came on him, - Down-swooping thunderbolt that breathes out flame, - Which from his lofty boastings startled him, - For he i' the heart was struck, to ashes burnt, 370 - His strength all thunder-shattered; and he lies - A helpless, powerless carcase, near the strait - Of the great sea, fast pressed beneath the roots - Of ancient Ætna, where on highest peak - Hephæstos sits and smites his iron red-hot, - From whence hereafter streams of fire shall burst,[158] - Devouring with fierce jaws the golden plains - Of fruitful, fair Sikelia. Such the wrath - That Typhon shall belch forth with bursts of storm, - Hot, breathing fire, and unapproachable, - Though burnt and charred by thunderbolts of Zeus. 380 - Not inexperienced art thou, nor dost need - My teaching: save thyself, as thou know'st how; - And I will drink my fortune to the dregs, - Till from his wrath the mind of Zeus shall rest.[159] - - _Okean._ Know'st thou not this, Prometheus, even this, - Of wrath's disease wise words the healers are? - - _Prom._ Yea, could one soothe the troubled heart in time, - Nor seek by force to tame the soul's proud flesh. - - _Okean._ But in due forethought with bold daring blent, - What mischief see'st thou lurking? Tell me this. 390 - - _Prom._ Toil bootless, and simplicity full fond. - - _Okean._ Let me, I pray, that sickness suffer, since - 'Tis best being wise to have not wisdom's show. - - _Prom._ Nay, but this error shall be deemed as mine. - - _Okean._ Thy word then clearly sends me home at once. - - _Prom._ Yea, lest thy pity for me make a foe.... - - _Okean._ What! of that new king on his mighty throne? - - _Prom._ Look to it, lest his heart be vexed with thee. - - _Okean._ Thy fate, Prometheus, teaches me that lesson. - - _Prom._ Away, withdraw! keep thou the mind thou hast. 400 - - _Okean._ Thou urgest me who am in act to haste; - For this my bird four-footed flaps with wings - The clear path of the æther; and full fain - Would he bend knee in his own stall at home. [_Exit_. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ I grieve, Prometheus, for thy dreary fate, - Shedding from tender eyes - The dew of plenteous tears; - With streams, as when the watery south wind blows, - My cheek is wet; 410 - For lo! these things are all unenviable, - And Zeus, by his own laws his sway maintaining, - Shows to the elder Gods - A mood of haughtiness. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And all the country echoeth with the moan, - And poureth many a tear - For that magnific power - Of ancient days far-seen that thou did'st share - With those of one blood sprung; - And all the mortal men who hold the plain 420 - Of holy Asia as their land of sojourn, - They grieve in sympathy - For thy woes lamentable. - - - STROPHE II - - And they, the maiden band who find their home - On distant Colchian coasts, - Fearless of fight,[160] - Or Skythian horde in earth's remotest clime, - By far Mæotic lake;[161] - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - *And warlike glory of Arabia's tribes,[162] - Who nigh to Caucasos 430 - In rock-fort dwell, - An army fearful, with sharp-pointed spear - Raging in war's array. - - - STROPHE III - - One other Titan only have I seen, - One other of the Gods, - Thus bound in woes of adamantine strength— - Atlas, who ever groans - Beneath the burden of a crushing might, - The out-spread vault of heaven. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And lo! the ocean billows murmur loud 440 - In one accord with him;[163] - The sea-depths groan, and Hades' swarthy pit - Re-echoeth the sound, - And fountains of clear rivers, as they flow, - Bewail his bitter griefs. - - _Prom._ Think not it is through pride or stiff self-will - That I am silent. But my heart is worn, - Self-contemplating, as I see myself - Thus outraged. Yet what other hand than mine - Gave these young Gods in fulness all their gifts? - But these I speak not of; for I should tell - To you that know them. But those woes of men,[164] 450 - List ye to them,—how they, before as babes, - By me were roused to reason, taught to think; - And this I say, not finding fault with men, - But showing my good-will in all I gave. - For first, though seeing, all in vain they saw, - And hearing, heard not rightly. But, like forms - Of phantom-dreams, throughout their life's whole length - They muddled all at random; did not know - Houses of brick that catch the sunlight's warmth, - Nor yet the work of carpentry. They dwelt - In hollowed holes, like swarms of tiny ants, 460 - In sunless depths of caverns; and they had - No certain signs of winter, nor of spring - Flower-laden, nor of summer with her fruits; - But without counsel fared their whole life long, - Until I showed the risings of the stars, - And settings hard to recognise.[165] And I - Found Number for them, chief device of all, - *Groupings of letters, Memory's handmaid that, - And mother of the Muses.[166] And I first - Bound in the yoke wild steeds, submissive made 470 - Or to the collar or men's limbs, that so - They might in man's place bear his greatest toils; - And horses trained to love the rein I yoked - To chariots, glory of wealth's pride of state;[167] - Nor was it any one but I that found - Sea-crossing, canvas-wingèd cars of ships: - Such rare designs inventing (wretched me!) - For mortal men, I yet have no device - By which to free myself from this my woe.[168] - - _Chor._ Foul shame thou sufferest: of thy sense bereaved, 480 - Thou errest greatly: and, like leech unskilled, - Thou losest heart when smitten with disease, - And know'st not how to find the remedies - Wherewith to heal thine own soul's sicknesses. - - _Prom._ Hearing what yet remains thou'lt wonder more, - What arts and what resources I devised: - And this the chief: if any one fell ill, - There was no help for him, nor healing food, - Nor unguent, nor yet potion; but for want - Of drugs they wasted, till I showed to them - The blendings of all mild medicaments,[169] 490 - Wherewith they ward the attacks of sickness sore. - I gave them many modes of prophecy;[170] - And I first taught them what dreams needs must prove - True visions, and made known the ominous sounds - Full hard to know; and tokens by the way, - And flights of taloned birds I clearly marked,— - Those on the right propitious to mankind, - And those sinister,—and what form of life - They each maintain, and what their enmities - Each with the other, and their loves and friendships; 500 - And of the inward parts the plumpness smooth. - And with what colour they the Gods would please, - And the streaked comeliness of gall and liver: - And with burnt limbs enwrapt in fat, and chine, - I led men on to art full difficult: - And I gave eyes to omens drawn from fire, - Till then dim-visioned. So far then for this. - And 'neath the earth the hidden boons for men, - Bronze, iron, silver, gold, who else could say 510 - That he, ere I did, found them? None, I know, - Unless he fain would babble idle words. - In one short word, then, learn the truth condensed,— - Allarts of mortals from Prometheus spring. - - _Chor._ Nay, be not thou to men so over-kind, - While thou thyself art in sore evil case; - For I am sanguine that thou too, released - From bonds, shall be as strong as Zeus himself. - - _Prom._ It is not thus that Fate's decree is fixed; - But I, long crushed with twice ten thousand woes 520 - And bitter pains, shall then escape my bonds; - Art is far weaker than Necessity. - - _Chor._ Who guides the helm, then, of Necessity? - - _Prom._ Fates triple-formed, Errinyes unforgetting. - - _Chor._ Is Zeus, then, weaker in his might than these? - - _Prom._ Not even He can 'scape the thing decreed. - - _Chor._ What is decreed for Zeus but still to reign? - - _Prom._ Thou may'st no further learn, ask thou no more. - - _Chor._ 'Tis doubtless some dread secret which thou hidest. - - _Prom._ Of other theme make mention, for the time 530 - Is not yet come to utter this, but still - It must be hidden to the uttermost; - For by thus keeping it it is that I - Escape my bondage foul, and these my pains. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Ah! ne'er may Zeus the Lord, - Whose sovran sway rules all, - His strength in conflict set - Against my feeble will! - Nor may I fail to serve - The Gods with holy feast - Of whole burnt-offerings, - Where the stream ever flows - That bears my father's name, - The great Okeanos! - Nor may I sin in speech! 540 - May this grace more and more - Sink deep into my soul - And never fade away! - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Sweet is it in strong hope - To spend long years of life, - With bright and cheering joy - Our heart's thoughts nourishing. - I shudder, seeing thee - Thus vexed and harassed sore. - By twice ten thousand woes; - For thou in pride of heart, - Having no fear of Zeus, 550 - In thine own obstinacy, - Dost show for mortal men, - Prometheus, love o'ermuch. - - - STROPHE II - - See how that boon, dear friends, - For thee is bootless found. - Say, where is any help? - What aid from mortals comes? - Hast thou not seen this brief and powerless life, - Fleeting as dreams, with which man's purblind race - Is fast in fetters bound? 560 - Never shall counsels vain - Of mortal men break through - The harmony of Zeus. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - This lesson have I learnt - Beholding thy sad fate, - Prometheus! Other strains - Come back upon my mind, - When I sang wedding hymns around thy bath, - And at thy bridal bed, when thou did'st take - In wedlock's holy bands - One of the same sire born, - Our own Hesione, 570 - Persuading her with gifts - As wife to share thy couch. - - _Enter_ IO _in form like a fair woman with a heifer's - horns_,[171] _followed by the Spectre of_ ARGOS - - _Io._ What land is this? What people? Whom shall I - Say that I see thus vexed - With bit and curb of rock? - For what offence dost thou - Bear fatal punishment? - Tell me to what far land - I've wandered here in woe. - Ah me! ah me! - Again the gadfly stings me miserable. - Spectre of Argos, thou, the earth-born one— - Ah, keep him off, O Earth! - I fear to look upon that herdsman dread, 580 - Him with ten thousand eyes: - Ah lo! he cometh with his crafty look, - Whom Earth refuses even dead to hold;[172] - But coming from beneath - He hunts me miserable, - And drives me famished o'er the sea-beach sand. - - - STROPHE - - And still his waxened reed-pipe soundeth clear - A soft and slumberous strain; - O heavens! O ye Gods! 590 - Whither do these long wanderings lead me on? - For what offence, O son of Cronos, what, - Hast thou thus bound me fast - In these great miseries? - Ah me! ah me! - And why with terror of the gadfly's sting - Dost thou thus vex me, frenzied in my soul? - Burn me with fire, or bury me in earth, - Or to wild sea-beasts give me as a prey: - Nay, grudge me not, O King, - An answer to my prayers: 600 - Enough my many-wandered wanderings - Have exercised my soul, - Nor have I power to learn - How to avert the woe. - - (_To Prometheus_.) Hear'st thou the voice of maiden crowned with horns? - - _Prom._ Surely I heard the maid by gadfly driven, - Daughter of Inachos, who warmed the heart - Of Zeus with love, and now through Hera's hate - Is tried, perforce, with wanderings over-long? - - - ANTISTROPHE - - _Io._ How is it that thou speak'st my father's name? - Tell me, the suffering one, 610 - Who art thou, who, poor wretch, - Who thus so truly nam'st me miserable, - And tell'st the plague from Heaven, - Which with its haunting stings - Wears me to death? Ah woe! - And I with famished and unseemly bounds - Rush madly, driven by Hera's jealous craft. - Ah, who of all that suffer, born to woe, 620 - Have trouble like the pain that I endure? - But thou, make clear to me, - What yet for me remains, - What remedy, what healing for my pangs. - Show me, if thou dost know: - Speak out and tell to me, - The maid by wanderings vexed. - - _Prom._ I will say plainly all thou seek'st to know; - Not in dark tangled riddles, but plain speech, - As it is meet that friends to friends should speak; - Thou see'st Prometheus who gave fire to men. 630 - - _Io._ O thou to men as benefactor known, - Why, poor Prometheus, sufferest thou this pain? - - _Prom._ I have but now mine own woes ceased to wail. - - _Io._ Wilt thou not then bestow this boon on me? - - _Prom._ Say what thou seek'st, for I will tell thee all. - - _Io._ Tell me, who fettered thee in this ravine? - - _Prom._ The counsel was of Zeus, the hand Hephæstos'. - - _Io._ Of what offence dost thou the forfeit pay? - - _Prom._ Thus much alone am I content to tell. - - _Io._ Tell me, at least, besides, what end shall come 640 - To my drear wanderings; when the time shall be. - - _Prom._ Not to know this is better than to know. - - _Io._ Nay, hide not from me what I have to bear. - - _Prom._ It is not that I grudge the boon to thee. - - _Io._ Why then delayest thou to tell the whole? - - _Prom._ Not from ill will, but loth to vex thy soul. - - _Io._ Nay, care thou not beyond what pleases me. - - _Prom._ If thou desire it I must speak. Hear then. - - _Chor._ Not yet though; grant me share of pleasure too. - Let us first ask the tale of her great woe, 650 - While she unfolds her life's consuming chances; - Her future sufferings let her learn from thee. - - _Prom._ 'Tis thy work, Io, to grant these their wish, - On other grounds and as thy father's kin:[173] - For to bewail and moan one's evil chance, - Here where one trusts to gain a pitying tear - From those who hear,—this is not labour lost. - - _Io._ I know not how to disobey your wish; - So ye shall learn the whole that ye desire - In speech full clear. And yet I blush to tell 660 - The storm that came from God, and brought the loss - Of maiden face, what way it seized on me. - For nightly visions coming evermore - Into my virgin bower, sought to woo me - With glozing words. “O virgin greatly blest, - Why art thou still a virgin when thou might'st - Attain to highest wedlock? For with dart - Of passion for thee Zeus doth glow, and fain - Would make thee his. And thou, O child, spurn not - The bed of Zeus, but go to Lerna's field, 670 - Where feed thy father's flocks and herds, - That so the eye of Zeus may find repose - From this his craving.” With such visions I - Was haunted every evening, till I dared - To tell my father all these dreams of night, - And he to Pytho and Dodona sent - Full many to consult the Gods, that he, - Might learn what deeds and words would please Heaven's lords. - And they came bringing speech of oracles - Shot with dark sayings, dim and hard to know. 680 - At last a clear word came to Inachos - Charging him plainly, and commanding him - To thrust me from my country and my home, - To stray at large[174] to utmost bounds of earth; - And, should he gainsay, that the fiery bolt - Of Zeus should come and sweep away his race. - And he, by Loxias' oracles induced, - Thrust me, against his will, against mine too, - And drove me from my home; but spite of all, - The curb of Zeus constrained him this to do. 690 - And then forthwith my face and mind were changed; - And hornèd, as ye see me, stung to the quick - By biting gadfly, I with maddened leap - Rushed to Kerchneia's fair and limpid stream, - And fount of Lerna.[175] And a giant herdsman, - Argos, full rough of temper, followed me, - With many an eye beholding, on my track: - And him a sudden and unlooked-for doom - Deprived of life. And I, by gadfly stung, - By scourge from Heaven am driven from land to land. 700 - What has been done thou hearest. And if thou - Can'st tell what yet remains of woe, declare it; - Nor in thy pity soothe me with false words; - For hollow words, I deem, are worst of ills. - - _Chor._ Away, away, let be: - Ne'er thought I that such tales - Would ever, ever come unto mine ears; - Nor that such terrors, woes and outrages, - Hard to look on, hard to bear, 710 - Would chill my soul with sharp goad, double-edged. - Ah fate! Ah fate! - I shudder, seeing Io's fortune strange. - - _Prom._ Thou art too quick in groaning, full of fear: - Wait thou a while until thou hear the rest. - - _Chor._ Speak thou and tell. Unto the sick 'tis sweet - Clearly to know what yet remains of pain. - - _Prom._ Your former wish ye gained full easily. - Your first desire was to learn of her 720 - The tale she tells of her own sufferings; - Now therefore hear the woes that yet remain - For this poor maid to bear at Hera's hands. - And thou, O child of Inachos! take heed - To these my words, that thou may'st hear the goal - Of all thy wanderings. First then, turning hence - Towards the sunrise, tread the untilled plains, - And thou shalt reach the Skythian nomads, those[176] - Who on smooth-rolling waggons dwell aloft - In wicker houses, with far-darting bows 730 - Duly equipped. Approach thou not to these, - But trending round the coasts on which the surf - Beats with loud murmurs,[177] traverse thou that clime. - On the left hand there dwell the Chalybes,[178] - Who work in iron. Of these do thou beware, - For fierce are they and most inhospitable; - And thou wilt reach the river fierce and strong, - True to its name.[179] This seek not thou to cross, - For it is hard to ford, until thou come - To Caucasos itself, of all high hills - The highest, where a river pours its strength - From the high peaks themselves. And thou must cross 740 - Those summits near the stars, must onward go - Towards the south, where thou shalt find the host - Of the Amâzons, hating men, whose home - Shall one day be around Thermôdon's bank, - By Themiskyra,[180] where the ravenous jaws - Of Salmydessos ope upon the sea, - Treacherous to sailors, stepdame stern to ships.[181] - And they with right good-will shall be thy guides; - And thou, hard by a broad pool's narrow gates, - Wilt pass to the Kimmerian isthmus. Leaving - This boldly, thou must cross Mæotic channel;[182] 750 - And there shall be great fame 'mong mortal men - Of this thy journey, and the Bosporos[183] - Shall take its name from thee. And Europe's plain - Then quitting, thou shalt gain the Asian coast. - Doth not the all-ruling monarch of the Gods - Seem all ways cruel? For, although a God, - He, seeking to embrace this mortal maid, - Imposed these wanderings on her. Thou hast found, - O maiden! bitter suitor for thy hand; - For great as are the ills thou now hast heard, - Know that as yet not e'en the prelude's known. 760 - - _Io._ Ah woe! woe! woe! - - _Prom._ Again thou groan'st and criest. What wilt do - When thou shall learn the evils yet to come? - - _Chor._ What! are there troubles still to come for her? - - _Prom._ Yea, stormy sea of woe most lamentable. - - _Io._ What gain is it to live? Why cast I not - Myself at once from this high precipice, - And, dashed to earth, be free from all my woes? - Far better were it once for all to die - Than all one's days to suffer pain and grief. 770 - - _Prom._ My struggles then full hardly thou would'st bear, - For whom there is no destiny of death; - For that might bring a respite from my woes: - But now there is no limit to my pangs - Till Zeus be hurled out from his sovereignty. - - _Io._ What! shall Zeus e'er be hurled from his high state? - - _Prom._ Thou would'st rejoice, I trow, to see that fall. - - _Io._ How should I not, when Zeus so foully wrongs me? - - _Prom._ That this is so thou now may'st hear from me. - - _Io._ Who then shall rob him of his sceptred sway? 780 - - _Prom._ Himself shall do it by his own rash plans. - - _Io._ But how? Tell this, unless it bringeth harm. - - _Prom._ He shall wed one for whom one day he'll grieve. - - _Io._ Heaven-born or mortal? Tell, if tell thou may'st. - - _Prom._ Why ask'st thou who? I may not tell thee that. - - _Io._ Shall his bride hurl him from his throne of might? - - _Prom._ Yea; she shall bear child mightier than his sire. - - _Io._ Has he no way to turn aside that doom? - - _Prom._ No, none; unless I from my bonds be loosed.[184] - - _Io._ Who then shall loose thee 'gainst the will of Zeus? 790 - - _Prom._ It must be one of thy posterity. - - _Io._ What, shall a child of mine free thee from ills? - - _Prom._ Yea, the third generation after ten.[185] - - _Io._ No more thine oracles are clear to me. - - *_Prom._ Nay, seek not thou thine own drear fate to know. - - _Io._ Do not, a boon presenting, then withdraw it. - - _Prom._ Of two alternatives, I'll give thee choice. - - _Io._ Tell me of what, then give me leave to choose. - - _Prom._ I give it then. Choose, or that I should tell - Thy woes to come, or who shall set me free. 800 - - _Chor._ Of these be willing one request to grant - To her, and one to me; nor scorn my words: - Tell her what yet of wanderings she must bear, - And me who shall release thee. This I crave. - - _Prom._ Since ye are eager, I will not refuse - To utter fully all that ye desire. - Thee, Io, first I'll tell thy wanderings wild, - Thou, write it in the tablets of thy mind. - When thou shalt cross the straits, of continents - The boundary,[186] take thou the onward path - On to the fiery-hued and sun-tracked East. 810 - [And first of all, to frozen Northern blasts - Thou'lt come, and there beware the rushing whirl, - Lest it should come upon thee suddenly, - And sweep thee onward with the cloud-rack wild;][187] - Crossing the sea-surf till thou come at last - Unto Kisthene's Gorgoneian plains, - Where dwell the grey-haired virgin Phorkides,[188] - Three, swan-shaped, with one eye between them all - And but one tooth; whom nor the sun beholds - With radiant beams, nor yet the moon by night: - And near them are their wingèd sisters three, - The Gorgons, serpent-tressed, and hating men, - Whom mortal wight may not behold and live. 820 - *Such is one ill I bid thee guard against; - Now hear another monstrous sight: Beware - The sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that never bark,[189] - The Gryphons, and the one-eyed, mounted host - Of Arimaspians, who around the stream - That flows o'er gold, the ford of Pluto, dwell:[190] - Draw not thou nigh to them. But distant land - Thou shalt approach, the swarthy tribes who dwell - By the sun's fountain,[191] Æthiopia's stream: - By its banks wend thy way until thou come - To that great fall where from the Bybline hills 830 - The Neilos pours its pure and holy flood; - And it shall guide thee to Neilotic land, - Three-angled, where, O Io, 'tis decreed - For thee and for thy progeny to found - A far-off colony. And if of this - Aught seem to thee as stammering speech obscure, - Ask yet again and learn it thoroughly: - Far more of leisure have I than I like. - - _Chor._ If thou hast aught to add, aught left untold - Of her sore-wasting wanderings, speak it out; 840 - But if thou hast said all, then grant to us - The boon we asked. Thou dost not, sure, forget it. - - _Prom._ The whole course of her journeying she hath heard, - And that she know she hath not heard in vain - I will tell out what troubles she hath borne - Before she came here, giving her sure proof - Of these my words. The greater bulk of things - I will pass o'er, and to the very goal - Of all thy wanderings go. For when thou cam'st - To the Molossian plains, and by the grove[192] - Of lofty-ridged Dodona, and the shrine - Oracular of Zeus Thesprotian, 850 - And the strange portent of the talking oaks, - By which full clearly, not in riddle dark, - Thou wast addressed as noble spouse of Zeus,— - If aught of pleasure such things give to thee,— - Thence strung to frenzy, thou did'st rush along - The sea-coast's path to Rhea's mighty gulf,[193] - In backward way from whence thou now art vexed, - And for all time to come that reach of sea, - Know well, from thee Ionian shall be called, - To all men record of thy journeyings. 860 - These then are tokens to thee that my mind - Sees somewhat more than that is manifest. - - What follows (_to the Chorus_) I will speak to you and her - In common, on the track of former words - Returning once again. A city stands, - Canôbos, at its country's furthest bound, - Hard by the mouth and silt-bank of the Nile; - There Zeus shall give thee back thy mind again,[194] - With hand that works no terror touching thee,— - Touch only—and thou then shalt bear a child - Of Zeus begotten, Epaphos, “Touch-born,” 870 - Swarthy of hue, whose lot shall be to reap - The whole plain watered by the broad-streamed Neilos: - And in the generation fifth from him - A household numbering fifty shall return - Against their will to Argos, in their flight - From wedlock with their cousins.[195] And they too, - (Kites but a little space behind the doves) - With eager hopes pursuing marriage rites - Beyond pursuit shall come; and God shall grudge - To give up their sweet bodies. And the land - Pelasgian[196] shall receive them, when by stroke - Of woman's murderous hand these men shall lie - Smitten to death by daring deed of night: 880 - For every bride shall take her husband's life, - And dip in blood the sharp two-edgèd sword - (So to my foes may Kypris show herself!)[197] - Yet one of that fair band shall love persuade - Her husband not to slaughter, and her will - Shall lose its edge; and she shall make her choice - Rather as weak than murderous to be known. - And she at Argos shall a royal seed - Bring forth (long speech 'twould take to tell this clear) 890 - Famed for his arrows, who shall set me free[198] - From these my woes. Such was the oracle - Mine ancient mother Themis, Titan-born, - Gave to me; but the manner and the means,— - That needs a lengthy tale to tell the whole, - And thou can'st nothing gain by learning it. - - _Io._ Eleleu! Oh, Eleleu![199] - The throbbing pain inflames me, and the mood - Of frenzy-smitten rage; - The gadfly's pointed sting, - Not forged with fire, attacks, - And my heart beats against my breast with fear. 900 - Mine eyes whirl round and round: - Out of my course I'm borne - By the wild spirit of fierce agony, - And cannot curb my lips, - And turbid speech at random dashes on - Upon the waves of dread calamity. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Wise, very wise was he - Who first in thought conceived this maxim sage, - And spread it with his speech,[200]— - That the best wedlock is with equals found, - And that a craftsman, born to work with hands, - Should not desire to wed - Or with the soft luxurious heirs of wealth, 910 - Or with the race that boast their lineage high. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Oh ne'er, oh ne'er, dread Fates, - May ye behold me as the bride of Zeus, - The partner of his couch, - Nor may I wed with any heaven-born spouse! - For I shrink back, beholding Io's lot - Of loveless maidenhood, - Consumed and smitten low exceedingly - By the wild wanderings from great Hera sent! - - - STROPHE II - - To me, when wedlock is on equal terms, 920 - It gives no cause to fear: - Ne'er may the love of any of the Gods, - The strong Gods, look on me - With glance I cannot 'scape! - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - That fate is war that none can war against, - Source of resourceless ill; - Nor know I what might then become of me: - I see not how to 'scape - The counsel deep of Zeus. - - _Prom._ Yea, of a truth shall Zeus, though stiff of will, - Be brought full low. Such bed of wedlock now - Is he preparing, one to cast him forth 930 - In darkness from his sovereignty and throne. - And then the curse his father Cronos spake - Shall have its dread completion, even that - He uttered when he left his ancient throne; - And from these troubles no one of the Gods - But me can clearly show the way to 'scape. - I know the time and manner: therefore now - Let him sit fearless, in his peals on high - Putting his trust, and shaking in his hands - His darts fire-breathing. Nought shall they avail - To hinder him from falling shamefully 940 - A fall intolerable. Such a combatant - He arms against himself, a marvel dread, - Who shall a fire discover mightier far - Than the red levin, and a sound more dread - Than roaring of the thunder, and shall shiver - That plague sea-born that causeth earth to quake, - The trident, weapon of Poseidon's strength: - And stumbling on this evil, he shall learn - How far apart a king's lot from a slave's. - - _Chor._ What thou dost wish thou mutterest against Zeus. - - _Prom._ Things that shall be, and things I wish, I speak. 950 - - _Chor._ And must we look for one to master Zeus? - - _Prom._ Yea, troubles harder far than these are his. - - _Chor._ Art not afraid to vent such words as these? - - _Prom._ What can I fear whose fate is not to die? - - _Chor._ But He may send on thee worse pain than this. - - _Prom._ So let Him do: nought finds me unprepared. - - _Chor._ Wisdom is theirs who Adrasteia worship.[201] - - _Prom._ Worship then, praise and flatter him that rules; - My care for Zeus is nought, and less than nought: - Let Him act, let Him rule this little while, 960 - E'en as He will; for long He shall not rule - Over the Gods. But lo! I see at hand - The courier of the Gods, the minister - Of our new sovereign. Doubtless he has come - To bring me tidings of some new device. - - _Enter_ HERMES - - _Herm._ Thee do I speak to,—thee, the teacher wise, - The bitterly o'er-bitter, who 'gainst Gods - Hast sinned in giving gifts to short-lived men— - I speak to thee, the filcher of bright fire. - The Father bids thee say what marriage thou - Dost vaunt, and who shall hurl Him from his might; - And this too not in dark mysterious speech, 970 - But tell each point out clearly. Give me not, - Prometheus, task of double journey. Zeus - Thou see'st, is not with such words appeased. - - _Prom._ Stately of utterance, full of haughtiness - Thy speech, as fits a messenger of Gods. - Ye yet are young in your new rule, and think - To dwell in painless towers. Have I not - Seen two great rulers driven forth from thence?[202] - And now the third, who reigneth, I shall see - In basest, quickest fall. Seem I to thee 980 - To shrink and quail before these new-made Gods? - Far, very far from that am I. But thou, - Track once again the path by which thou camest; - Thou shalt learn nought of what thou askest me. - - _Herm._ It was by such self-will as this before - That thou did'st bring these sufferings on thyself. - - _Prom._ I for my part, be sure, would never change - My evil state for that thy bondslave's lot. - - _Herm._ To be the bondslave of this rock, I trow, - Is better than to be Zeus' trusty herald! 990 - - _Prom._ So it is meet the insulter to insult. - - _Herm._ Thou waxest proud, 'twould seem, of this thy doom. - - _Prom._ Wax proud! God grant that I may see my foes - Thus waxing proud, and thee among the rest! - - _Herm._ Dost blame me then for thy calamities? - - _Prom._ In one short sentence—all the Gods I hate, - Who my good turns with evil turns repay. - - _Herm._ Thy words prove thee with no slight madness plagued. - - _Prom._ If to hate foes be madness, mad I am. - - _Herm._ Not one could bear thee wert thou prosperous. 1000 - - _Prom._ Ah me! - - _Herm._ That word is all unknown to Zeus. - - _Prom._ Time waxing old can many a lesson teach. - - _Herm._ Yet thou at least hast not true wisdom learnt. - - _Prom._ I had not else addressed a slave like thee. - - _Herm._ Thou wilt say nought the Father asks, 'twould seem. - - _Prom._ Fine debt I owe him, favour to repay. - - _Herm._ Me as a boy thou scornest then, forsooth. - - _Prom._ And art thou not a boy, and sillier far, - If that thou thinkest to learn aught from me? - There is no torture nor device by which 1010 - Zeus can impel me to disclose these things - Before these bonds that outrage me be loosed. - Let then the blazing levin-flash be hurled; - With white-winged snow-storm and with earth-born thunders - Let Him disturb and trouble all that is; - Nought of these things shall force me to declare - Whose hand shall drive him from his sovereignty. - - _Herm._ See if thou findest any help in this. - - _Prom._ Long since all this I've seen, and formed my plans. 1020 - - _Herm._ O fool, take heart, take heart at last in time, - To form right thoughts for these thy present woes. - - _Prom._ Like one who soothes a wave, thy speech in vain - Vexes my soul. But deem not thou that I, - Fearing the will of Zeus, shall e'er become - As womanised in mind, or shall entreat - Him whom I greatly loathe, with upturned hand, - In woman's fashion, from these bonds of mine - To set me free. Far, far am I from that. - - _Herm._ It seems that I, saying much, shall speak in vain; - For thou in nought by prayers art pacified, - Or softened in thy heart, but like a colt 1030 - Fresh harnessed, thou dost champ thy bit, and strive, - And fight against the reins. Yet thou art stiff - In weak device; for self-will, by itself, - In one who is not wise, is less than nought. - Look to it, if thou disobey my words, - How great a storm and triple wave of ills,[203] - Not to be 'scaped, shall come on thee; for first, - With thunder and the levin's blazing flash - The Father this ravine of rock shall crush, - And shall thy carcase hide, and stern embrace - Of stony arms shall keep thee in thy place. 1040 - And having traversed space of time full long, - Thou shalt come back to light, and then his hound, - The wingèd hound of Zeus, the ravening eagle, - Shall greedily make banquet of thy flesh, - Coming all day an uninvited guest, - And glut himself upon thy liver dark. - And of that anguish look not for the end, - Before some God shall come to bear thy woes, - And will to pass to Hades' sunless realm, - And the dark cloudy depths of Tartaros.[204] 1050 - Wherefore take heed. No feigned boast is this, - But spoken all too truly; for the lips - Of Zeus know not to speak a lying speech, - But will perform each single word. And thou, - Search well, be wise, nor think that self-willed pride - Shall ever better prove than counsel good. - - _Chor._ To us doth Hermes seem to utter words - Not out of season; for he bids thee quit - Thy self-willed pride and seek for counsel good. - Hearken thou to him. To the wise of soul - It is foul shame to sin persistently. 1060 - - _Prom._ To me who knew it all - He hath this message borne; - And that a foe from foes - Should suffer is not strange. - Therefore on me be hurled - The sharp-edged wreath of fire; - And let heaven's vault be stirred - With thunder and the blasts - Of fiercest winds; and Earth - From its foundations strong, - E'en to its deepest roots, - Let storm-wind make to rock; - And let the Ocean wave, - With wild and foaming surge, - Be heaped up to the paths 1070 - Where move the stars of heaven; - And to dark Tartaros - Let Him my carcase hurl, - With mighty blasts of force: - Yet me He shall not slay. - - _Herm._ Such words and thoughts from one - Brain-stricken one may hear. - What space divides his state - From frenzy? What repose - Hath he from maddened rage? - But ye who pitying stand - And share his bitter griefs, 1080 - Quickly from hence depart, - Lest the relentless roar - Of thunder stun your soul. - - _Chor._ With other words attempt - To counsel and persuade, - And I will hear: for now - Thou hast this word thrust in - That we may never bear. - How dost thou bid me train - My soul to baseness vile? - With him I will endure - Whatever is decreed. - Traitors I've learnt to hate, - Nor is there any plague 1090 - That more than this I loathe. - - _Herm._ Nay then, remember ye - What now I say, nor blame - Your fortune: never say - That Zeus hath cast you down - To evil not foreseen. - Not so; ye cast yourselves: - For now with open eyes, - Not taken unawares, - In Atè's endless net - Ye shall entangled be - By folly of your own. - - [_A pause, and then flashes of lightning and - peals of thunder_[205] - - _Prom._ Yea, now in very deed, - No more in word alone, - The earth shakes to and fro, - And the loud thunder's voice - Bellows hard by, and blaze - The flashing levin-fires; - And tempests whirl the dust, - And gusts of all wild winds - On one another leap, - In wild conflicting blasts, - And sky with sea is blent: - Such is the storm from Zeus 1110 - That comes as working fear, - In terrors manifest. - O Mother venerable! - O Æther! rolling round - The common light of all, - See'st thou what wrongs I bear? - ------ - -Footnote 136: - - The scene seems at first an exception to the early conventional rule, - which forbade the introduction of a third actor on the Greek stage. - But it has been noticed that (1) Force does not speak, and (2) - Prometheus does not speak till Strength and Force have retired, and - that it is therefore probable that the whole work of nailing is done - on a lay figure or effigy of some kind, and that one of the two who - had before taken part in the dialogue then speaks behind it in the - character of Prometheus. So the same actor must have appeared in - succession as Okeanos, Io, and Hermes. - -Footnote 137: - - Prometheus (_Forethought_) is the son of Themis (_Right_) the second - occupant of the Pythian Oracle (_Eumen_. v. 2). His sympathy with man - leads him to impart the gift which raised them out of savage animal - life, and for this Zeus, who appears throughout the play as a hard - taskmaster, sentences him to fetters. Hephæstos, from whom this fire - had been stolen, has a touch of pity for him. Strength, who comes as - the servant, not of Hephæstos, but of Zeus himself, acts, as such, - with merciless cruelty. - -Footnote 138: - - The generalised statement refers to Zeus, as having but recently - expelled Cronos from his throne in Heaven. - -Footnote 139: - - Hephæstos, as the great fire-worker, had taught Prometheus to use the - fire which he afterwards bestowed on men. - -Footnote 140: - - Perhaps, “All might is ours except o'er Gods to rule.” - -Footnote 141: - - The words indicate that the effigy of Prometheus, now nailed to the - rock, was, as being that of a Titan, of colossal size. - -Footnote 142: - - The touch is characteristic as showing that here, as in the - _Eumenides_, Æschylos relied on the horribleness of the masks, as part - of the machinery of his plays. - -Footnote 143: - - The silence of Prometheus up to this point was partly, as has been - said, consequent on the conventional laws of the Greek drama, but it - is also a touch of supreme insight into the heroic temper. In the - presence of his torturers, the Titan will not utter even a groan. When - they are gone, he appeals to the sympathy of Nature. - -Footnote 144: - - The legend is from Hesiod (_Theogon._, v. 567). The fennel, or - _narthex_, seems to have been a large umbelliferous plant, with a - large stem filled with a sort of pith, which was used when dry as - tinder. Stalks were carried as wands (the _thyrsi_) by the men and - women who joined in Bacchanalian processions. In modern botany, the - name is given to the plant which produces Asafœtida, and the stem of - which, from its resinous character, would burn freely, and so connect - itself with the Promethean myth. On the other hand, the Narthex - Asafœtida is found at present only in Persia, Afghanistan, and the - Punjaub. - -Footnote 145: - - The ocean nymphs, like other divine ones, would be anointed with - ambrosial unguents, and the odour would be wafted before them by the - rustling of their wings. This too we may think of as part of the - “stage effects” of the play. - -Footnote 146: - - The words are not those of a vague terror only. The sufferer knows - that his tormentor is to come to him before long on wings, and - therefore the sound as of the flight of birds is full of terrors. - -Footnote 147: - - By the same stage mechanism the Chorus remains in the air till verse - 280, when, at the request of Prometheus, they alight. - -Footnote 148: - - Here, as throughout the play, the poet puts into the mouth of his - _dramatis personæ_ words which must have seemed to the devouter - Athenians sacrilegious enough to call for an indictment before the - Areiopagos. But the final play of the Trilogy came, we may believe, as - the _Eumenides_ did in its turn, as a reconciliation of the - conflicting thoughts that rise in men's minds out of the seeming - anomalies of the world. - -Footnote 149: - - The words leave it uncertain whether Themis is identified with Earth, - or, as in the _Eumenides_ (v. 2) distinguished from her. The Titans as - a class, then, children of Okeanos and Chthôn (another name for _Land_ - or _Earth_), are the kindred rather than the brothers of Prometheus. - -Footnote 150: - - The generalising words here, as in v. 35, appeal to the Athenian - hatred of all that was represented by the words _tyrant_ and - _tyranny_. - -Footnote 151: - - The state described is that of men who “through fear of death are all - their lifetime subject to bondage.” That state, the parent of all - superstition, fostered the slavish awe in which Zeus delighted. - Prometheus, representing the active intellect of man, bestows new - powers, new interests, new hopes, which at last divert them from that - fear. - -Footnote 152: - - The home of Okeanos was in the far west, at the boundary of the great - stream surrounding the whole world, from which he took his name. - -Footnote 153: - - One of the sayings of the Seven Sages, already recognised and quoted - as a familiar proverb. - -Footnote 154: - - See note on _Agam._ 1602. - -Footnote 155: - - In the mythos, Okeanos had given his daughter Hesione in marriage to - Prometheus after the theft of fire, and thus had identified himself - with his transgression. - -Footnote 156: - - In the _Theogony_ of Hesiod (v. 509), Prometheus and Atlas appear as - the sons of two sisters. As other Titans were thought of as buried - under volcanoes, so this one was identified with the mountain which - had been seen by travellers to Western Africa, or in the seas beyond - it, rising like a column to support the vault of heaven. In Herodotos - (iv. 174) and all later writers, the name is given to the chain of - mountains in Lybia, as being the “pillar of the firmament;” but - Humboldt and others identify it with the lonely peak of Teneriffe, as - seen by Phœnikian or Hellenic voyagers. Teneriffe, too, like most of - the other Titan mountains, was at one time volcanic. Homer (_Odyss._ - i. 53) represents him as holding the pillars which separate heaven - from earth; Hesiod (_Theogon._ v. 517) as himself standing near the - Hesperides (this too points to Teneriffe), sustaining the heavens with - his head and shoulders. - -Footnote 157: - - The volcanic character of the whole of Asia Minor, and the liability - to earthquakes which has marked nearly every period of its history, - led men to connect it also with the traditions of the Titans, some - accordingly placing the home of Typhon in Phrygia, some near Sardis, - some, as here, in Kilikia. Hesiod (_Theogon._ v. 820) describes Typhon - (or Typhoeus) as a serpent-monster hissing out fire; Pindar (_Pyth._ - i. 30, viii. 21) as lying with his head and breast crushed beneath the - weight of Ætna, and his feet extending to Cumæ. - -Footnote 158: - - The words point probably to an eruption, then fresh in men's memories, - which had happened B.C. 476. - -Footnote 159: - - By some editors this speech from “No, not so,” to “thou know'st how,” - is assigned to Okeanos. - -Footnote 160: - - These are, of course, the Amazons, who were believed to have come - through Thrakè from the Tauric Chersonesos, and had left traces of - their name and habits in the Attic traditions of Theseus. - -Footnote 161: - - Beyond the plains of Skythia, and the lake Mæotis (the sea of Azov) - there would be the great river Okeanos, which was believed to flow - round the earth. - -Footnote 162: - - Sarmatia has been conjectured instead of Arabia. No Greek author - sanctions the extension of the latter name to so remote a region as - that north of the Caspian. - -Footnote 163: - - The Greek leaves the object of the sympathy undefined, but it seems - better to refer it to that which Atlas receives from the waste of - waters around, and the dark world beneath, than to the pity shown to - Prometheus. This has already been dwelt on in line 421. - -Footnote 164: - - The passage that follows has for modern palæontologists the interest - of coinciding with their views as to the progress of human society, - and the condition of mankind during what has been called the “Stone” - period. Comp. Lucretius, v. 955-984. - -Footnote 165: - - Comp. Mr. Blakesley's note on Herod. ii. 4, as showing that here there - was the greater risk of faulty observation. - -Footnote 166: - - Another reading gives perhaps a better sense— - - “Memory, handmaid true - And mother of the Muses.” - -Footnote 167: - - In Greece, as throughout the East, the ox was used for all - agricultural labours, the horse by the noble and the rich, either in - war chariots, or stately processions, or in chariot races in the great - games. - -Footnote 168: - - Compare with this the account of the inventions of Palamedes in - Sophocles, _Fragm._ 379. - -Footnote 169: - - Here we can recognise the knowledge of one who had studied in the - schools of Pythagoras, or had at any rate picked up their terminology. - A more immediate connexion may perhaps be traced with the influence of - Epimenides, who was said to have spent many years in searching out the - healing virtues of plants, and to have written books about them. - -Footnote 170: - - The lines that follow form almost a manual of the art of divination as - then practised. The “ominous sounds” include chance words, strange - cries, any unexpected utterance that connected itself with men's fears - for the future. The flights of birds were watched by the diviner as he - faced the north, and so the region on the right hand was that of the - sunrise, light, blessedness; on the left there were darkness and gloom - and death. - -Footnote 171: - - So Io was represented, we are told, by Greek sculptors (Herod. ii. - 41), as Isis was by those of Egypt. The points of contact between the - myth of Io and that of Prometheus, as adopted, or perhaps developed, - by Æschylos are—(1) that from her the destined deliverer of the - chained Titan is to come; (2) that both were suffering from the - cruelty of Zeus; (3) that the wanderings of Io gave scope for the wild - tales of far countries on which the imagination of the Athenians fed - greedily. But, as the _Suppliants_ may serve to show, the story itself - had a strange fascination for him. In the birth of Epaphos, and Io's - release from her frenzy, he saw, it may be, a reconciliation of what - had seemed hard to reconcile, a solution of the problems of the world, - like in kind to that which was shadowed forth in the lost _Prometheus - Unbound_. - -Footnote 172: - - Argos had been slain by Hermes, and his eyes transferred by Hera to - the tail of the peacock, and that bird was henceforth sacred to her. - -Footnote 173: - - Inachos the father of Io (identified with the Argive river of the same - name), was, like all rivers, a son of Okeanos, and therefore brother - to the nymphs who had come to see Prometheus. - -Footnote 174: - - The words used have an almost technical meaning as applied to animals - that were consecrated to the service of a God, and set free to wander - where they liked. The fate of Io, as at once devoted to Zeus and - animalised in form, was thus shadowed forth in the very language of - the Oracle. - -Footnote 175: - - Lerna was the lake near the mouth of the Inachos, close to the sea. - Kerchneia may perhaps be identified with the Kenchreæ, the haven of - Korinth in later geographies. - -Footnote 176: - - The wicker huts used by Skythian or Thrakian nomads (the Calmucks of - modern geographers) are described by Herodotos (iv. 46) and are still - in use. - -Footnote 177: - - _Sc._, the N.E. boundary of the Euxine, where spurs of the Caucasos - ridge approach the sea. - -Footnote 178: - - The Chalybes are placed by geographers to the south of Colchis. The - description of the text indicates a locality farther to the north. - -Footnote 179: - - Probably the Araxes, which the Greeks would connect with a word - conveying the idea of a torrent dashing on the rocks. The description - seems to imply a river flowing into the Euxine from the Caucasos, and - the condition is fulfilled by the Hypanis or _Kouban_. - -Footnote 180: - - When the Amazons appear in contact with Greek history, they are found - in Thrace. But they had come from the coast of Pontos, and near the - mouth of the Thermodon (_Thermeh_). The words of Prometheus point to - yet earlier migrations from the East. - -Footnote 181: - - Here, as in Soph. _Antig._ (970) the name Salmydessos represents the - rockbound, havenless coast from the promontory of Thynias to the - entrance of the Bosporos, which had given to the Black Sea its earlier - name of Axenos, the “inhospitable.” - -Footnote 182: - - The track is here in some confusion. From the Amazons south of the - Caucasos, Io is to find her way to the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea) - and the Kimmerian Bosporos, which flows into the Sea of Azov, and so - to return to Asia. - -Footnote 183: - - Here, as in a hundred other instances, a false etymology has become - the parent of a myth. The name Bosporos is probably Asiatic not Greek, - and has an entirely different signification. - -Footnote 184: - - The lines refer to the story that Zeus loved Thetis the daughter of - Nereus, and followed her to Caucasos, but abstained from marriage with - her because Prometheus warned him that the child born of that union - should overthrow his father. Here the future is used of what was still - contingent only. In the lost play of the Trilogy the myth was possibly - brought to its conclusion and connected with the release of - Prometheus. - -Footnote 185: - - Heracles, whose genealogy was traced through Alcmena, Perseus, Danae, - Danaos and seven other names, to Epaphos and Io. - -Footnote 186: - - Probably the Kimmerian Bosporos. The Tanais or Phasis has, however, - been conjectured. - -Footnote 187: - - The history of the passage in brackets is curious enough to call for a - note. They are not in any extant MS., but they are found in a passage - quoted by Galen (v. p. 454), as from the _Prometheus Bound_, and are - inserted here by Mr. Paley. - -Footnote 188: - - Kisthene belongs to the geography of legend, lying somewhere on the - shore of the great ocean-river in Lybia or Æthiopia, at the end of the - world, a great mountain in the far West, beyond the Hesperides, the - dwelling-place, as here, of the Gorgons, the daughters of Phorkys. - Those first-named are the Graiæ. - -Footnote 189: - - Here, like the “wingèd hound” of v. 1043, for the eagles that are the - messengers of Zeus. - -Footnote 190: - - We are carried back again from the fabled West to the fabled East. The - Arimaspians, with one eye, and the Grypes or Gryphons (the griffins of - mediæval heraldry), quadrupeds with the wings and beaks of eagles, - were placed by most writers (Herod. iv. 13, 27) in the north of - Europe, in or beyond the _terra incognita_ of Skythia. The mention of - the “ford of Pluto” and Æthiopia, however, may possibly imply (if we - identify it, as Mr. Paley does, with the Tartessos of Spain, or - Bœtis—_Guadalquivir_) that Æschylos followed another legend which - placed them in the West. There is possibly a _paronomasia_ between - Pluto, the God of Hades, and Plutos, the ideal God of riches. - -Footnote 191: - - The name was applied by later writers (Quintus Curtius, iv. 7, 22; - Lucretius, vi. 848) to the fountain in the temple of Jupiter Ammon in - the great Oasis. The “river Æthiops” may be purely imaginary, but it - may also suggest the possibility of some vague knowledge of the Niger, - or more probably of the Nile itself in the upper regions of its - course. The “Bybline hills” carry the name Byblos, which we only read - of as belonging to a town in the Delta, to the Second Cataract. - -Footnote 192: - - Comp. Sophocles, _Trachin._, v. 1168. - -Footnote 193: - - The Adriatic or Ionian Gulf. - -Footnote 194: - - In the _Suppliants_, Zeus is said to have soothed her, and restored - her to her human consciousness by his “divine breathings.” The thought - underlying the legend may be taken either as a distortion of some - primitive tradition, or as one of the “unconscious prophecies” of - heathenism. The deliverer is not to be born after the common manner of - men, and is to have a divine as well as a human parentage. - -Footnote 195: - - See the argument of the _Suppliants_, who, as the daughters of Danaos, - descended from Epaphos, are here referred to. The passage is - noticeable as showing that the theme of that tragedy was already - present to the poet's thoughts. - -Footnote 196: - - Argos. So in the _Suppliants_, Pelasgos is the mythical king of the - Apian land who receives them. - -Footnote 197: - - Hypermnæstra, who spared Lynceus, and by him became the mother of Abas - and a line of Argive kings. - -Footnote 198: - - Heracles, who came to Caucasos, and with his arrows slew the eagle - that devoured Prometheus. - -Footnote 199: - - The word is simply an interjection of pain, but one so characteristic - that I have thought it better to reproduce it than to give any English - equivalent. - -Footnote 200: - - The maxim, “Marry with a woman thine equal,” was ascribed to Pittacos. - -Footnote 201: - - The Euhemerism of later scholiasts derived the name from a king - Adrastos, who was said to have been the first to build a temple to - Nemesis, and so the power thus worshipped was called after his name. A - better etymology leads us to see in it the idea of the “inevitable” - law of retribution working unseen by men, and independently even of - the arbitrary will of the Gods, and bringing destruction upon the - proud and haughty. - -Footnote 202: - - Comp. _Agam._ 162-6. - -Footnote 203: - - Either a mere epithet of intensity, as in our “thrice blest,” or - rising from the supposed fact that every third wave was larger and - more impetuous than the others, like _fluctus decumanus_ of the - Latins, or from the sequence of three great waves which some have - noted as a common phenomenon in storms. - -Footnote 204: - - Here again we have a strange shadowing forth of the mystery of - Atonement, and what we have learnt to call “vicarious” satisfaction. - In the later legend, Cheiron, suffering from the agony of his wounds, - resigns his immortality, and submits to die in place of the - ever-living death to which Prometheus was doomed. - -Footnote 205: - - It is noticeable that both Æschylos and Sophocles have left us - tragedies which end in a thunderstorm as an element of effect. But the - contrast between the _Prometheus_ and the _Œdipus at Colonos_ as to - the impression left in the one case of serene reconciliation, and in - the other of violent antagonism, is hardly less striking than the - resemblance in the outward phenomena which are common to the two. - - - - - THE SUPPLIANTS - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - DANAOS - Herald - PELASGOS, _king of_ Argos - _Chorus of the daughters of_ DANAOS - - -_ARGUMENT.—When Io, after many wanderings, had found refuge in Egypt, -and having been touched by Zeus, had given birth to Epaphos, it came to -pass that he and his descendants ruled over the region of Canôpos, near -one of the seven mouths of Neilos. And in the fifth generation there -were two brothers, Danaos and Ægyptos, the sons of Belos, and the former -had fifty daughters and the latter fifty sons, and Ægyptos sought the -daughters of Danaos in marriage for his sons. And they, looking on the -marriage as unholy, and hating those who wooed them, took flight and -came to Argos, where Pelasgos then ruled as king, as to the land whence -Io, from whom they sprang, had come. And thither the sons of Ægyptos -followed them in hot pursuit._ - - - SCENE.—Argos, _the entrance of the gates. Statues of_ ZEUS, - - ARTEMIS, _and other Gods, placed against the walls_ - - _Enter Chorus of the_ Daughters of DANAOS,[206] _in the dress of - Egyptian women, with the boughs of suppliants in their hands, - and fillets of white wool twisted round them, chanting as they - move in procession to take up their position round the thymele_ - - Zeus, the God of Suppliants, kindly - Look on this our band of wanderers, - That from banks at mouths of Neilos, - Banks of finest sand, departed![207] - Yea, we left the region sacred, - Grassy plain on Syria's borders,[208] - Not for guilt of blood to exile - By our country's edict sentenced, - But with free choice, loathing wedlock, - Fleeing marriage-rites unholy - With the children of Ægyptos. 10 - And our father Danaos, ruler, - Chief of council, chief of squadrons, - Playing moves on fortune's draught-board,[209] - Chose what seemed the best of evils, - Through the salt sea-waves to hasten, - Steering to the land of Argos, - Whence our race has risen to greatness; - Sprung, so boasts it, from the heifer - Whom the stinging gadfly harassed, - By the touch of Zeus love-breathing:[210] - And to what land more propitious - Could we come than this before us, 20 - Holding in our hand the branches - Suppliant, wreathed with white wool fillets? - O State! O land! O water gleaming! - Ye the high Gods, ye the awful, - In the dark the graves still guarding; - Thou too with them, Zeus Preserver,[211] - Guardian of the just man's dwelling, - Welcome with the breath of pity, - Pity as from these shores wafted, - Us poor women who are suppliants. - And that swarm of men that follow, - Haughty offspring of Ægyptos, 30 - Ere they set their foot among you - On this silt-strown shore,[212]—oh, send them - Seaward in their ship swift-rowing; - There, with whirlwind tempest-driven, - There, with lightning and with thunder, - There, with blasts that bring the storm-rain, - May they in the fierce sea perish, - Ere they, cousin-brides possessing, - Rest on marriage-beds reluctant, - Which the voice of right denies them! - - - STROPHE I - - And now I call on him, the Zeus-sprung steer,[213] 40 - Our true protector, far beyond the sea, - Child of the heifer-foundress of our line, - Who cropped the flowery mead, - Born of the breath, and named from touch of Zeus. - *And lo! the destined time - *Wrought fully with the name, - And she brought forth the “Touch-born,” Epaphos. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And now invoking him in grassy fields, 50 - Where erst his mother strayed, to dwellers here - Telling the tale of all her woes of old, - I surest pledge shall give; - And others, strange beyond all fancy's dream, - Shall yet perchance be found; - And in due course of time - Shall men know clearly all our history. - - - STROPHE II - - And if some augur of the land be near, - Hearing our piteous cry, - Sure he will deem he hears - The voice of Tereus' bride,[214] - Piteous and sad of soul, - The nightingale sore harassed by the kite. 60 - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - *For she, driven back from wonted haunts and streams,[215] - Mourns with a strange new plaint - The home that she has lost, - And wails her son's sad doom, - How he at her hand died, - Meeting with evil wrath unmotherly; - - - STROPHE III - - E'en so do I, to wailing all o'er-given, - In plaintive music of Ionian mood,[216] - *Vex the soft cheek on Neilos' banks that bloomed, - And heart that bursts in tears, - And pluck the flowers of lamentations loud, - Not without fear of friends, 70 - *Lest none should care to help - This flight of mine from that mist-shrouded shore. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - But, O ye Gods ancestral! hear my prayer, - Look well upon the justice of our cause, - Nor grant to youth to gain its full desire - Against the laws of right, - But with prompt hate of lust, our marriage bless. - *Even for those who come - As fugitives in war - The altar serves as shield that Gods regard. - - - STROPHE IV - - May God good issue give![217] 80 - And yet the will of Zeus is hard to scan: - Through all it brightly gleams, - E'en though in darkness and the gloom of chance - For us poor mortals wrapt. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Safe, by no fall tripped up, - The full-wrought deed decreed by brow of Zeus; - For dark with shadows stretch - The pathways of the counsels of his heart, - And difficult to see. - - - STROPHE V - - And from high-towering hopes He hurleth down 90 - To utter doom the heir of mortal birth; - Yet sets He in array - No forces violent; - All that Gods work is effortless and calm: - Seated on holiest throne, - Thence, though we know not how, - He works His perfect will. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - Ah, let him look on frail man's wanton pride, - With which the old stock burgeons out anew, - By love for me constrained, - In counsels ill and rash, 100 - And in its frenzied, passionate resolve - Finds goad it cannot shun; - But in deceivèd hopes, - Shall know, too late, its woe. - - - STROPHE VI - - Such bitter griefs, lamenting, I recount, - With cries shrill, tearful, deep, - (Ah woe! ah woe!) - That strike the ear with mourner's woe-fraught cry. - Though yet alive, I wail mine obsequies; - Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff,[218] - I greet (our alien speech - Thou knowest well, O land,) 110 - And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate, - On robe of linen and Sidonian veil. - - - ANTISTROPHE VI - - But to the Gods, for all things prospering well, - When death is kept aloof, - Gifts votive come of right. - Ah woe! Ah woe! - Oh, troubles dark, and hard to understand! - Ah, whither will these waters carry me? - Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff, 120 - I greet (our alien speech - Thou knowest well, O land,) - And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate, - On robe of linen and Sidonian veil. - - - STROPHE VII - - The oar indeed and dwelling, timber-wrought, - With sails of canvas, 'gainst the salt sea proof - Brought me with favouring gales, - By stormy wind unvexed; - Nor have I cause for murmur. Issues good - May He, the all-seeing Father, grant, that I, 130 - Great seed of Mother dread, - In time may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, - My suitor's marriage-bed. - - - ANTISTROPHE VII - - And with a will that meets my will may She, - The unstained child of Zeus, on me look down, - *Our Artemis, who guards - The consecrated walls; - And with all strength, though hunted down, uncaught, - May She, the Virgin, me a virgin free, 140 - Great seed of Mother dread, - That I may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, - My suitor's marriage-bed. - - - STROPHE VIII - - But if this may not be, - We, of swarth sun-burnt race, - Will with our suppliant branches go to him, - Zeus, sovereign of the dead,[219] - The Lord that welcomes all that come to him, - Dying by twisted noose 150 - If we the grace of Gods Olympian miss. - By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst Io virulent, - The Gods' wrath seeks us out, - And I know well the woe - Comes from thy queen who reigns in heaven victorious; - For after stormy wind - The tempest needs must rage. - - - ANTISTROPHE VIII - - And then shall Zeus to words - Unseemly be exposed, - Having the heifer's offspring put to shame, 160 - Whom he himself begat, - And now his face averting from our prayers: - Ah, may he hear on high, - Yea, pitying look and hear propitiously! - By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst Io virulent, - The Gods' wrath seeks us out, - And I know well the woe - Comes from thy queen, who reigns in heaven victorious; - For after stormy wind 170 - The tempest needs must rage. - - _Danaos._ My children, we need wisdom; lo! ye came - With me, your father wise and old and true, - As guardian of your voyage. Now ashore, - With forethought true I bid you keep my words, - As in a tablet-book recording them: - I see a dust, an army's voiceless herald, - Nor are the axles silent as they turn; - And I descry a host that bear the shield, - And those that hurl the javelin, marching on - With horses and with curvèd battle-cars. - Perchance they are the princes of this land, 180 - Come on the watch, as having news of us; - But whether one in kindly mood, or hot - With anger fierce, leads on this great array, - It is, my children, best on all accounts - To take your stand hard by this hill of Gods - Who rule o'er conflicts.[220] Better far than towers - Are altars, yea, a shield impenetrable. - But with all speed approach the shrine of Zeus, - The God of mercy, in your left hand holding - The suppliants' boughs wool-wreathed, in solemn guise,[221] - And greet our hosts as it is meet for us, 190 - Coming as strangers, with all duteous words - Kindly and holy, telling them your tale - Of this your flight, unstained by guilt of blood; - And with your speech, let mood not overbold, - Nor vain nor wanton, shine from modest brow - And calm, clear eye. And be not prompt to speak, - Nor full of words; the race that dwelleth here - Of this is very jealous:[222] and be mindful - Much to concede; a fugitive thou art, - A stranger and in want, and 'tis not meet - That those in low estate high words should speak. - - _Chor._ My father, to the prudent prudently 200 - Thou speakest, and my task shall be to keep - Thy goodly precepts. Zeus, our sire, look on us! - - _Dan._ Yea, may He look with favourable eye! - - _Chor._ I fain would take my seat not far from thee. - - [_Chorus moves to the altar not far from_ - DANAOS - - _Dan._ Delay not then; success go with your plan. - - _Chor._ Zeus, pity us with sorrow all but crushed! - - _Dan._ If He be willing, all shall turn out well. - - _Chor._ . . . . . - - _Dan._ Invoke ye now the mighty bird of Zeus.[223] - - _Chor._ We call the sun's bright rays to succour us. - - _Dan._ Apollo too, the holy, in that He, 210 - A God, has tasted exile from high heaven.[224] - - _Chor._ Knowing that fate, He well may feel for men. - - _Dan._ So may He feel, and look on us benignly! - - _Chor._ Whom of the Gods shall I besides invoke? - - _Dan._ I see this trident here, a God's great symbol.[225] - - _Chor._ Well hath He brought us, well may He receive! - - _Dan._ Here too is Hermes,[226] as the Hellenes know him. - - _Chor._ To us, as free, let Him good herald prove. - - _Dan._ Yea, and the common shrine of all these Gods - Adore ye, and in holy precincts sit, - Like swarms of doves in fear of kites your kinsmen, 220 - Foes of our blood, polluters of our race. - How can bird prey on bird and yet be pure? - And how can he be pure who seeks in marriage - Unwilling bride from father too unwilling? - Nay, not in Hades' self, shall he, vain fool, - Though dead, 'scape sentence, doing deeds like this; - For there, as men relate, a second Zeus[227] - Judges men's evil deeds, and to the dead - Assigns their last great penalties. Look up, - And take your station here, that this your cause - May win its way to a victorious end. - - _Enter the_ KING _on his chariot, followed by_ Attendants - - _King._ Whence comes this crowd, this non-Hellenic band, 230 - In robes and raiment of barbaric fashion - So gorgeously attired, whom now we speak to? - This woman's dress is not of Argive mode, - Nor from the climes of Hellas. How ye dared, - Without a herald even or protector, - Yea, and devoid of guides too, to come hither - Thus boldly, is to me most wonderful. - And yet these boughs, as is the suppliant's wont, - Are set by you before the Gods of conflicts: - By this alone will Hellas guess aright. - Much more indeed we might have else conjectured, 240 - Were there no voice to tell me on the spot. - - _Chor._ Not false this speech of thine about our garb; - But shall I greet thee as a citizen, - Or bearing Hermes' rod, or city ruling?[228] - - _King._ Nay, for that matter, answer thou and speak - Without alarm. Palæchthon's son am I, - Earth-born, the king of this Pelasgic land; - And named from me, their king,[229] as well might be, - The race Pelasgic reaps our country's fruits; - *And all the land through which the Strymon pours 250 - Its pure, clear waters to the West I rule; - And as the limits of my realm I mark - The land of the Perrhæbi, and the climes - Near the Pæonians, on the farther side - Of Pindos, and the Dodonæan heights;[230] - And the sea's waters form its bounds. O'er all - Within these coasts I govern; and this plain, - The Apian land, itself has gained its name - Long since from one who as a healer lived;[231] - For Apis, coming from Naupactian land - That lies beyond the straits, Apollo's son, - Prophet and healer, frees this land of ours 260 - From man-destroying monsters, which the soil, - Polluted with the guilt of blood of old, - By anger of the Gods, brought forth,—fierce plagues, - The dragon-brood's dread, unblest company; - And Apis, having for this Argive land - Duly wrought out his saving surgery, - Gained his reward, remembered in our prayers; - And thou, this witness having at my hands, - May'st tell thy race at once, and further speak; - Yet lengthened speech our city loveth not. - - _Chor._ Full short and clear our tale. We boast that we - Are Argives in descent, the children true 270 - Of the fair, fruitful heifer. And all this - Will I by what I speak show firm and true. - - _King._ Nay, strangers, what ye tell is past belief - For me to hear, that ye from Argos spring; - For ye to Libyan women are most like,[232] - And nowise to our native maidens here. - Such race might Neilos breed, and Kyprian mould, - Like yours, is stamped by skilled artificers - On women's features; and I hear that those - Of India travel upon camels borne, 280 - Swift as the horse, yet trained as sumpter-mules, - E'en those who as the Æthiops' neighbours dwell. - And had ye borne the bow, I should have guessed, - Undoubting, ye were of th' Amâzon's tribe, - Man-hating, flesh-devouring. Taught by you, - I might the better know how this can be, - That your descent and birth from Argos come. - - _Chor._ They tell of one who bore the temple-keys - Of Hera, Io, in this Argive land. - - _King._ So was't indeed, and wide the fame prevails: - And was it said that Zeus a mortal loved? 290 - - _Chor._ And that embrace was not from Hera hid. - - _King._ What end had then these strifes of sovereign Ones? - - _Chor._ The Argive goddess made the maid a heifer. - - _King._ Did Zeus that fair-horned heifer still approach? - - _Chor._ So say they, fashioned like a wooing steer. - - _King._ How acted then the mighty spouse of Zeus? - - _Chor._ She o'er the heifer set a guard all-seeing. - - _King._ What herdsman strange, all-seeing, speak'st thou of? - - _Chor._ Argos, the earth-born, him whom Hermes slew. 300 - - _King._ What else then wrought she on the ill-starred heifer? - - _Chor._ She sent a stinging gadfly to torment her. - [Those who near Neilos dwell an _æstros_ call it.] - - _King._ Did she then drive her from her country far? - - _Chor._ All that thou say'st agrees well with our tale. - - _King._ And did she to Canôbos go, and Memphis? - - _Chor._ Zeus with his touch, an offspring then begets. - - _King._ What Zeus-born calf that heifer claims as mother? - - _Chor._ *He from that touch which freed named Epaphos.310 - - _King._ [_What offspring then did Epaphos beget?_][233] - - _Chor._ Libya, that gains her fame from greatest land. - - _King._ What other offspring, born of her, dost tell of? - - _Chor._ Sire of my sire here, Belos, with two sons. - - _King._ Tell me then now the name of yonder sage. - - _Chor._ Danaos, whose brother boasts of fifty sons. - - _King._ Tell me his name, too, with ungrudging speech. - - _Chor._ Ægyptos: knowing now our ancient stock, - Take heed thou bid thine Argive suppliants rise. - - _King._ Ye seem, indeed, to make your ancient claim - To this our country good: but how came ye 320 - To leave your father's house? What chance constrained you? - - _Chor._ O king of the Pelasgi, manifold - Are ills of mortals, and thou could'st not find - The self-same form of evil anywhere. - Who would have said that this unlooked-for flight - Would bring to Argos race once native here, - Driving them forth in hate of wedlock's couch? - - _King._ What seek'st thou then of these the Gods of conflicts, - Holding your wool-wreathed branches newly-plucked? - - _Chor._ That I serve not Ægyptos' sons as slave. - - _King._ Speak'st thou of some old feud, or breach of right? 330 - - _Chor._ Nay, who'd find fault with master that one loved? - - _King._ Yet thus it is that mortals grow in strength.[234] - - _Chor._ True; when men fail, 'tis easy to desert them. - - _King._ How then to you may I act reverently? - - _Chor._ Yield us not up unto Ægyptos' sons. - - _King._ Hard boon thou ask'st, to wage so strange a war. - - _Chor._ Nay, Justice champions those who fight with her. - - _King._ Yes, if her hand was in it from the first. - - _Chor._ Yet reverence thou the state-ship's stern thus wreathed.[235] - - _King._ I tremble as I see these seats thus shadowed. 340 - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Dread is the wrath of Zeus, the God of suppliants: - Son of Palæchthon, hear; - Hear, O Pelasgic king, with kindly heart. - Behold me suppliant, exile, wanderer, - *Like heifer chased by wolves - Upon the lofty crags, - Where, trusting in her strength, - She lifteth up her voice - And to the shepherd tells her tale of grief. - - _King._ I see, o'ershadowed with the new-plucked boughs, - *Bent low, a band these Gods of conflict own; - And may our dealings with these home-sprung strangers 350 - Be without peril, nor let strife arise - To this our country for unlooked-for chance - And unprovided! This our State wants not. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ Yea, may that Law that guards the suppliant's right - Free this our flight from harm, - Law, sprung from Zeus, supreme Apportioner, - But thou, [_to the King_,] though old, from me, though younger, learn: - If thou a suppliant pity - Thou ne'er shall penury know, - So long as Gods receive - Within their sacred shrines - Gifts at the hands of worshipper unstained. - - _King._ It is not at my hearth ye suppliant sit; - But if the State be as a whole defiled, 360 - Be it the people's task to work the cure. - I cannot pledge my promise to you first - Ere I have counselled with my citizens.[236] - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Thou art the State—yea, thou the commonwealth, - Chief lord whom none may judge; - 'Tis thine to rule the country's altar-hearth, - With the sole vote of thy prevailing nod; - And thou on throne of state, - Sole-sceptred in thy sway, - Bringest each matter to its destined end; - Shun thou the curse of guilt. - - _King._ Upon my foes rest that dread curse of guilt! 370 - Yet without harm I cannot succour you, - Nor gives it pleasure to reject your prayers. - In a sore strait am I; fear fills my soul - To take the chance, to do or not to do. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ Look thou on Him who looks on all from heaven, - Guardian of suffering men - Who, worn with toil, unto their neighbours come - As suppliants, and receive not justice due: - For these the wrath of Zeus, - Zeus, the true suppliant's God, - Abides, by wail of sufferer unappeased. 380 - - _King._ Yet if Ægyptos' sons have claim on thee - By their State's law, asserting that they come - As next of kin, who dare oppose their right? - Thou must needs plead that by thy laws at home - They over thee have no authority.[237] - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ Ah! may I ne'er be captive to the might - Of males! Where'er the stars - Are seen in heaven, I track my way in flight, - As refuge from a marriage that I hate. - But thou, make Right thy friend, - And honour what the Gods count pure and true. 390 - - _King._ Hard is the judgment: choose not me as judge. - But, as I said before, I may not act - Without the people, sovereign though I be, - Lest the crowd say, should aught fall out amiss, - “In honouring strangers, thou the State did'st ruin.” - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Zeus, the great God of kindred, in these things - Watches o'er both of us, - Holding an equal scale, and fitly giving - To the base evil, to the righteous blessing. - Why, when these things are set - In even balance, fear'st thou to do right? 400 - - _King._ Deep thought we need that brings deliverance, - That, like a diver, mine eye too may plunge - Clear-seeing to the depths, not wine-bedrenched, - That these things may be harmless to the State, - And to ourselves may issue favourably: - That neither may the strife make you its prey, - Nor that we give you up, who thus are set - Near holy seat of Gods, and so bring in - To dwell with us the Avenger terrible, - God that destroyeth, who not e'en in Hades 410 - Gives freedom to the dead. Say, think ye not - That there is need of counsel strong to save? - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Take heed to it, and be - Friend to the stranger wholly faithful found; - Desert not thou the poor, - Driven from afar by godless violence. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - See me not dragged away, - O thou that rul'st the land! from seat of Gods: - Know thou men's wanton pride, 420 - And guard thyself against the wrath of Zeus. - - - STROPHE II - - Endure not thou to see thy suppliant, - Despite of law, torn off, - As horses by their frontlets, from the forms - Of sculptured deities, - Nor yet the outrage of their wanton hands, - Seizing these broidered robes. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - For know thou well, whichever course thou take, - Thy sons and all thy house - *Must pay in war the debt that Justice claims, - Proportionate in kind. 430 - Lay well to heart these edicts, wise and true, - Given by great Zeus himself. - - _King._ Well then have I thought o'er it. To this point - Our ship's course drives. Fierce war we needs must risk - Either with these (_pointing to the Gods_) or those. Set fast and firm - Is this as is the ship tight wedged in stocks; - And without trouble there's no issue out. - For wealth indeed, were our homes spoiled of that, - There might come other, thanks to Zeus the Giver, - More than the loss, and filling up the freight; 440 - And if the tongue should aim its adverse darts, - Baleful and over-stimulant of wrath, - There might be words those words to heal and soothe. - But how to blot the guilt of kindred blood, - This needs a great atonement—many victims - Falling to many Gods—to heal the woe. - *I take my part, and turn aside from strife; - And I far rather would be ignorant - Than wise, forecasting evil. May the end, - Against my judgment, show itself as good! - - _Chor._ Hear, then, the last of all our pleas for pity. - - _King._ I hear; speak on. It shall not 'scape my heed. 450 - - _Chor._ Girdles I have, and zones that bind my robes. - - _King._ Such things are fitting for a woman's state. - - _Chor._ With these then, know, as good and rare device.... - - _King._ Nay, speak. What word is this thou'lt utter now? - - _Chor._ Unless thou giv'st our band thy plighted word.... - - _King._ What wilt thou do with this device of girdles? - - _Chor._ With tablets new these sculptures we'll adorn. - - _King._ Thou speak'st a riddle. Make thy meaning plain. - - _Chor._ Upon these Gods we'll hang ourselves at once. - - _King._ I hear a word which pierces to the heart. 460 - - _Chor._ Thou see'st our meaning. Eyes full clear I've given. - - _King._ Lo then! in many ways sore troubles come. - A host of evils rushes like a flood; - A sea of woe none traverse, fathomless, - This have I entered; haven there is none. - For if I fail to do this work for you, - Thou tellest of defilement unsurpassed;[238] - And if for thee against Ægyptos' sons, - Thy kindred, I before my city's walls - In conflict stand, how can there fail to be - A bitter loss, to stain the earth with blood 470 - Of man for woman's sake? And yet I needs - Must fear the wrath of Zeus, the suppliant's God; - That dread is mightiest with the sons of men. - Thou, then, O aged father of these maidens! - Taking forthwith these branches in thine arms, - Lay them on other altars of the Gods - Our country worships, that the citizens - May all behold this token of thy coming, - And about me let no rash speech be dropped; - For 'tis a people prompt to blame their rulers. - And then perchance some one beholding them, 480 - And pitying, may wax wrathful 'gainst the outrage - Of that male troop, and with more kindly will - The people look on you; for evermore - Men all wish well unto the weaker side. - - _Dan._ This boon is counted by us of great price, - To find a patron proved so merciful. - And thou, send with us guides to lead us on, - And tell us how before their shrines to find - The altars of the Gods that guard the State, - *And holy places columned round about; - And safety for us, as the town we traverse. - Not of like fashion is our features' stamp; 490 - For Neilos rears not race like Inachos.[239] - Take heed lest rashness lead to bloodshed here; - Ere now, unknowing, men have slain their friends. - - _King_ (_to Attendants_). Go then, my men; full well the stranger - speaks; - And lead him where the city's altars stand, - The seats of Gods; and see ye talk not much - To passers-by as ye this traveller lead, - A suppliant at the altar-hearth of Gods. - - [_Exeunt_ DANAOS _and Attendants_ - - _Chor._ Thou speak'st to him; and may he go as bidden! - But what shall I do? What hope giv'st thou me? - - _King._ Leave here those boughs, the token of your grief. 500 - - _Chor._ Lo! here I leave them at thy beck and word. - - _King._ Now turn thy steps towards this open lawn. - - _Chor._ What shelter gives a lawn unconsecrate?[240] - - _King._ We will not yield thee up to birds of prey. - - _Chor._ Nay, but to foes far worse than fiercest dragons. - - _King._ Good words should come from those who good have heard. - - _Chor._ No wonder they wax hot whom fear enthrals. - - _King._ But dread is still for rulers all unmeet. - - _Chor._ Do thou then cheer our soul by words and deeds. - - _King._ Nay, no long time thy sire will leave thee lorn; 510 - And I, all people of the land convening, - Will the great mass persuade to kindly words; - And I will teach thy father what to say. - Wherefore remain and ask our country's Gods, - With suppliant prayers, to grant thy soul's desire, - And I will go in furtherance of thy wish: - Sweet Suasion follow us, and Fortune good! [_Exit_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ O King of kings! and blest - Above all blessed ones, - And Power most mighty of the mightiest! - O Zeus, of high estate! 520 - Hear thou and grant our prayer! - Drive thou far off the wantonness of men, - The pride thou hatest sore, - And in the pool of darkling purple hue - Plunge thou the woe that comes in swarthy barque. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Look on the women's cause; - Recall the ancient tale, - Of one whom Thou did'st love in time of old, - The mother of our race: - Remember it, O Thou - Who did'st on Io lay thy mystic touch. - We boast that we are come - Of consecrated land the habitants, 530 - And from this land by lineage high descended. - - - STROPHE II - - Now to the ancient track, - Our mother's, I have passed, - The flowery meadow-land where she was watched,— - The pastures of the herd, - Whence Io, by the stinging gadfly driven, - Flees, of her sense bereft, - Passing through many tribes of mortal men; - And then by Fate's decree - Crossing the billowy straits, - On either side she leaves a continent.[241] 540 - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Now through the Asian land - She hastens o'er and o'er, - Right through the Phrygian fields where feed the flocks; - And passes Teuthras' fort, - Owned by the Mysians,[242] and the Lydian plains; - And o'er Kilikian hills, - And those of far Pamphylia rushing on, - By ever-flowing streams, - On to the deep, rich lands, - And Aphrodite's home in wheat o'erflowing.[243] - - - STROPHE III - - And so she cometh, as that herdsman winged 550 - Pierces with sharpest sting, - To holy plain all forms of life sustaining, - Fields that are fed from snows,[244] - Which Typhon's monstrous strength has traversed,[245] - And unto Neilos' streams, - By sickly taint untouched,[246] - Still maddened with her toil of ignominy, - By torturing stings driven on, great Hera's frenzied slave. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And those who then the lands inhabited, - Quivered with pallid fear, 560 - That filled their soul at that unwonted marvel, - Seeing that monstrous shape, - The human joined with brute, - Half heifer, and half form of woman fair:[247] - And sore amazed were they. - Who was it then that soothed - Poor Io, wandering in her sore affright, - Driven on, and ever on, by gadfly's maddening sting? - - - STROPHE IV - - Zeus, Lord of endless time - [Was seen All-working then;] - He, even He, for by his sovereign might - That works no ill, was she from evil freed; 570 - And by his breath divine - She findeth rest, and weeps in floods of tears - Her sorrowing shame away; - And with new burden big, - Not falsely 'Zeus-born' named, - She bare a son that grew in faultless growth, - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Prosperous through long, long years; - And so the whole land shouts with one accord, - “Lo, a race sprung from him, the Lord of life, - In very deed, Zeus-born! 580 - Who else had checked the plagues that Hera sent?” - This is the work of Zeus: - And speaking of our race - That sprang from Epaphos - As such, thou would'st not fail to hit the mark. - - - STROPHE V - - Which of the Gods could I with right invoke - As doing juster deeds? - He is our Father, author of our life, - The King whose right hand worketh all his will, - Our line's great author, in his counsels deep - Recording things of old, - Directing all his plans, the great work-master, Zeus. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - For not as subject hastening at the beck - Of strength above his own,[248] - Reigns He subordinate to mightier powers; 590 - Nor does He pay his homage from below, - While One sits throned in majesty above;[249] - Act is for him as speech, - To hasten what his teeming mind resolves. - - _Re-enter_ DANAOS - - _Dan._ Be of good cheer, my children. All goes well - With those who dwell here, and the people's voice - Hath passed decrees full, firm, irrevocable. - - _Chor._ Hail, aged sire, that tell'st me right good news! - But say with what intent the vote hath passed, - And on which side the people's hands prevail. - - _Dan._ The Argives have decreed without division, - So that my aged mind grew young again; 600 - For in full congress, with their right hands raised - Rustled the air as they decreed their vote - That we should sojourn in their land as free, - Free from arrest, and with asylum rights; - And that no native here nor foreigner - Should lead us off; and, should he venture force, - That every citizen who gave not help - Dishonoured should be driven to exile forth. - Such counsel giving, the Pelasgian King 610 - Gained their consent, proclaiming that great wrath - Of Zeus the God of suppliants ne'er would let - The city wax in fatness,—warning them - That double guilt[250] upon the State would come, - Touching at once both guests and citizens, - The food and sustenance of sore disease - That none could heal. And then the Argive host, - Hearing these things, decreed by show of hands, - Not waiting for the herald's proclamation, - So it should be. They heard, indeed, the crowd - Of those Pelasgi, all the winning speech, - The well-turned phrases cunning to persuade; - But it was Zeus that brought the end to pass. - - _Chor._ Come then, come, let us speak for Argives - Prayers that are good for good deeds done; 620 - Zeus, who o'er all strangers watches, - May He regard with his praise and favour - The praise that comes from the lips of strangers, - *And guide in all to a faultless issue. - - - STROPHE I - - _Half-Chor. A._ Now, now, at last, ye Gods of Zeus begotten,[251] - Hear, as I pour my prayers upon their race, - That ne'er may this Pelasgic city raise - From out its flames the joyless cry of War, - War, that in other fields - Reapeth his human crop: - For they have mercy shown, - And passed their kind decree, 630 - Pitying this piteous flock, the suppliants of great Zeus. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - They did not take their stand with men 'gainst women - Casting dishonour on their plea for help, - *But looked to Him who sees and works from heaven, - *Full hard to war with. Yea, what house could bear - To see Him on its roof - Casting pollution there?[252] - Sore vexing there he sits. - Yes, they their kin revere, - Suppliants of holiest Zeus; 640 - Therefore with altars pure shall they the Gods delight. - - - STROPHE II - - Therefore from faces by our boughs o'ershadowed[253] - Let prayers ascend in emulous eagerness: - Ne'er may dark pestilence - This State of men bereave; - May no fierce party strife - Pollute these plains with native carcases; - And may the bloom of youth - Be with them still uncropt; - And ne'er may Aphrodite's paramour, 650 - Ares the scourge of men, - Mow down their blossoms fair! - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And let the altars tended by the old - *Blaze with the gifts of men with hoary hairs; - So may the State live on - In full prosperity! - Let them great Zeus adore, - The strangers' God, the one Supreme on high, - By venerable law - Ordering the course of fate. - And next we pray that ever more and more - Earth may her tribute bear, - And Artemis as Hecate preside[254] - O'er woman's travail-pangs. 660 - - - STROPHE III - - Let no destroying strife come on, invading - This city to lay waste, - Setting in fierce array - War, with its fruit of tears, - Lyreless and danceless all, - And cry of people's wrath; - And may the swarm of plagues, - Loathly and foul to see, - Abide far off from these our citizens, - And that Lykeian king, may He be found - Benignant to our youth![255] - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And Zeus, may He, by his supreme decree, 670 - Make the earth yield her fruits - Through all the seasons round, - And grant a plenteous brood - Of herds that roam the fields! - May Heaven all good gifts pour, - And may the voice of song - Ascend o'er altar shrines, - Unmarred by sounds of ill! - And let the voice that loves with lyre to blend - Go forth from lips of blameless holiness, - In accents of great joy! - - - STROPHE IV - - *And may the rule in which the people share - Keep the State's functions as in perfect peace, - E'en that which sways the crowd, - *Which sways the commonwealth, 680 - By counsels wise and good; - And to the strangers and the sojourners - May they grant rights that rest on compacts sure, - Ere War is roused to arms, - So that no trouble come! - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - And the great Gods who o'er this country watch, - May they adore them in the land They guard, - With rites of sacrifice, - And troops with laurel boughs, - As did our sires of old! - For thus to honour those who gave us life, - This stands as one of three great laws on high,[256] - Written as fixed and firm, - The laws of Right revered. - - _Dan._ I praise these seemly prayers, dear children mine. 690 - But fear ye not, if I your father speak - Words that are new, and all unlooked-for by you; - For from this station to the suppliant given - I see the ship; too clear to be mistaken - The swelling sails, the bulwark's coverings, - And prow with eyes that scan the onward way,[257] - But too obedient to the steerman's helm, - Being, as it is, unfriendly. And the men - Who sail in her with swarthy limbs are seen, - In raiment white conspicuous. And I see 700 - Full clear the other ships that come to help; - And this as leader, putting in to shore, - Furling its sails, is rowed with equal stroke. - 'Tis yours, with mood of calm and steadfast soul, - To face the fact, and not to slight the Gods. - And I will come with friends and advocates; - For herald, it may be, or embassy, - May come, and wish to seize and bear you off, - Grasping their prey. But nought of this shall be; - Fear ye not them. It were well done, however, - If we should linger in our help, this succour 710 - In no wise to forget. Take courage then; - In their own time and at the appointed day, - Whoever slights the Gods shall pay for it. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ I fear, my father, since the swift-winged ships - Are come, and very short the time that's left. - A shuddering anguish makes me sore afraid, - Lest small the profit of my wandering flight. - I faint, my sire, for fear. - - _Dan._ My children, since the Argives' vote is passed, - Take courage: they will fight for thee, I know. 720 - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ Hateful and wanton are Ægyptos' sons, - Insatiable of conflict, and I speak - To one who knows them. They in timbered ships, - Dark-eyed, have sailed in wrath that hits its mark, - With great and swarthy host. - - _Dan._ Yet many they shall find whose arms are tanned - In the full scorching of the noontide heat.[258] - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Leave me not here alone, I pray thee, father! - Alone, a woman is as nought, and war - Is not for her. Of over-subtle mind, - And subtle counsel in their souls impure, 730 - Like ravens, e'en for altars caring not,— - Such, such in soul are they. - - _Dan._ That would work well indeed for us, my children, - Should they be foes to Gods as unto thee. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ No reverence for these tridents or the shrines - Of Gods, my father, will restrain their hands: - Full stout of heart, of godless mood unblest, - Fed to the full, and petulant as dogs, - And for the voice of high Gods caring not,— - Such, such in soul are they. - - _Dan._ Nay, the tale runs that wolves prevail o'er dogs; 740 - And byblos fruit excels not ear of corn.[259] - - _Chor._ But since their minds are as the minds of brutes, - Restless and vain, we must beware of force. - - _Dan._ Not rapid is the getting under weigh - Of naval squadron, nor their anchoring, - Nor the safe putting into shore with cables. - Nor have the shepherds of swift ships quick trust - In anchor-fastenings, most of all, as now, - When coming to a country havenless; - And when the sun has yielded to the night, - That night brings travail to a pilot wise, 750 - [Though it be calm and all the waves sleep still;] - So neither can this army disembark - Before the ship is safe in anchorage. - And thou beware lest in thy panic fear - Thou slight the Gods whom thou hast called to help. - The city will not blame your messenger, - Old though he be, being young in clear-voiced thought. _Exit_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Ah, me! thou land of jutting promontory - Which justly all revere, - What lies before us? Where in Apian land - Shall we a refuge find, - If still there be dark hiding anywhere? - Ah! that I were as smoke - That riseth full and black - Nigh to the clouds of Zeus, 760 - Or soaring up on high invisible, - Like dust that vanishes, - Pass out of being with no help from wings! - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - *E'en so the ill admits not now of flight; - My heart in dark gloom throbs; - My father's work as watcher brings me low; - I faint for very fear, - And I would fain find noose that bringeth death, - In twisted cordage hung, - Before the man I loathe - Draws near this flesh of mine: 770 - Sooner than that may Hades rule o'er me - Sleeping the sleep of death! - - - STROPHE II - - Ah, might I find a place in yon high vault, - Where the rain-clouds are passing into snow, - Or lonely precipice - Whose summit none can see, - Rock where the vulture haunts, - Witness for me of my abysmal fall, - Before the marriage that will pierce my heart - Becomes my dreaded doom! - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - I shrink not from the thought of being the prey 780 - Of dogs and birds that haunt the country round; - For death shall make me free - From ills all lamentable: - Yea, let death rather come - Than the worse doom of hated marriage-bed! - What other refuge now remains for me - That marriage to avert? - - - STROPHE III - - Yea, to the Gods raise thou - Cloud-piercing, wailing cry - Of songs and litanies, - Prevailing, working freedom out for me: 790 - And thou, O Father, look, - Look down upon the strife, - With glance of wrath against our enemies - From eyes that see the right; - With pity look on us thy suppliants, - O Lord of Earth, O Zeus omnipotent! - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - For lo! Ægyptos' house, - In pride intolerable, - O'er-masculine in mood, - Pursuing me in many a winding course, - Poor wandering fugitive, - With loud and wild desires, - Seek in their frenzied violence to seize: 800 - But thine is evermore - The force that turns the balance of the scale: - What comes to mortal men apart from Thee? - - Ah! ah! ah! ah! - *Here on the land behold the ravisher - Who comes on us by sea! - *Ah, may'st thou perish, ravisher, ere thou - Hast stopped or landed here! - *I utter cry of wailing loud and long, - *I see them work the prelude of their crimes, - Their crimes of violence. - Ah! ah! Ah me! 810 - Haste in your flight for help! - The mighty ones are waxing fat and proud, - By sea and land alike intolerable. - Be thou, O King, our bulwark and defence! - - _Enter_ Herald _of the sons of_ ÆGYPTOS, _advancing to - the daughters of_ DANAOS - - _Her._ Haste, haste with all your speed unto the barque. - - _Chor._ Tearing of hair, yea, tearing now will come, - And print of nails in flesh, - And smiting off of heads, - With murderous stream of blood. - - _Her._ Haste, haste ye, to that barque that yonder lies, 820 - Ye wretches, curse on you. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Would thou had'st met thy death - Where the salt waves wildly surge, - Thou with thy lordly pride, - In nail-compacted ship: - *Lo! they will smite thee, weltering in thy blood, - *And drive thee to thy barque. - - _Her._ I bid you cease perforce, the cravings wild - Of mind to madness given. - Ho there! what ho! I say; 830 - Give up those seats, and hasten to the ship: - I reverence not what this State honoureth. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ Ah, I may ne'er again - Behold the stream where graze the goodly kine, - Nourished and fed by which[260] - The blood of cattle waxes strong and full! - *As with a native's right, - *And one of old descent, - I keep, old man, my seat, my seat, I say. - - _Her._ Nay, in a ship, a ship them shalt soon go, 840 - With or without thy will, - By force, I say, by force: - Come, come, provoke not evils terrible, - Falling by these my hands. - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Ah me! ah me! - Would thou may'st perish with no hand to help, - Crossing the sea's wide plain, - In wanderings far and wide, - Where Sarpedonian sand-bank[261] spreads its length, - Driven by the sweeping blasts! - - _Her._ Sob thou, and howl, and call upon the Gods: 850 - Thou shalt not 'scape that barque from Ægypt come, - Though thou should'st pour a bitterer strain of grief. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ Woe! woe! Ah woe! ah woe, - For this foul wrong! Thou utterest fearful things; - *Thou art too bold and insolent of speech. - *May mighty Nile that reared thee turn away - Thy wanton pride and lust - That we behold it not! - - _Her._ I bid you go to yon ship double-prowed,[262] - With all your speed. Let no one lag behind; - But little shall my grasp your ringlets spare. 860 - - [_Seizes on the leader of the Suppliants_ - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ Ah me! my father, ah! - The help of holiest statues turns to woe; - He leads me to the sea, - With motion spider-like, - Or like a dream, a dark and dismal dream, - Ah woe! ah woe! ah woe! - O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine! - Avert that cry of fear, - O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth! - - _Her._ Nay, I fear not the Gods they worship here; - They did not rear nor lead me up to age. 870 - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Near me he rages now, - · · · · · - That biped snake, - And like a viper bites me by the foot. - Oh, woe is me! woe! woe! - O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine! - Avert that cry of fear, - O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth! - - _Her._ If some one yield not, and to yon ship go, - The hand that tears her tunic will not pity. - - - STROPHE IV - - _Chor._ Ho! rulers of the State! 880 - Ye princes! I am seized. - - _Her._ It seems, since ye are slow to hear my words, - That I shall have to drag you by the hair. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Chor._ We are undone, undone! - We suffer, prince, unlooked-for outrages, - - _Her._ Full many princes, heirs of great Ægyptos, - Ye soon shall see. Take courage; ye shall have - No cause to speak of anarchy as there. - - _Enter_ KING _followed by his_ Bodyguard - - _King._ Ho there! What dost thou? and with what intent - Dost thou so outrage this Pelasgic land? - Dost think thou comest to a town of women? 890 - Too haughty thou, a stranger 'gainst Hellenes, - And, sinning much, hast nothing done aright. - - _Her._ What sin against the right have I then done? - - _King._ First, thou know'st not how stranger-guest should act. - - _Her._ How so? When I, but finding what I lost.... - - _King._ Whom among us dost thou then patrons call? - - _Her._ Hermes the Searcher, chiefest patron mine.[263] - - _King._ Thou, Gods invoking, honourest not the Gods. - - _Her._ The Gods of Neilos are the Gods I worship. - - _King._ Ours then are nought, if I thy meaning catch. 900 - - _Her._ These girls I'll lead, if no one rescues them. - - _King._ Lay hand on them, and soon thou'lt pay the cost. - - _Her._ I hear a word in no wise hospitable. - - _King._ Who rob the Gods I welcome not as guests. - - _Her._ I then will tell Ægyptos' children this. - - _King._ This threat is all unheeded in my mind. - - _Her._ But that I, knowing all, may speak it plain, - (For it is meet a herald should declare - Each matter clearly,) what am I to say? - By whom have I been robbed of that fair band - Of women whom I claim as kindred? Nay, 910 - But it is Ares that shall try this cause, - And not with witnesses, nor money down, - Settling the matter, but there first must fall - Full many a soldier, and of many a life - The rending in convulsive agony. - - _King._ Why should I tell my name? In time thou'lt know it, - Thou and thy fellow-travellers. But these maidens, - With their consent and free choice of their wills, - Thou may'st lead off, if godly speech persuade them: - But this decree our city's men have made - With one consent, that we to force yield not - This company of women. Here the nail 920 - Is driven tight home to keep its place full firm;[264] - These things are written not on tablets only, - [Nor signed and sealed in folds of byblos-rolls;] - Thou hear'st them clearly from a tongue that speaks - With full, free speech. Away, away, I say: - And with all speed from out my presence haste. - - _Her._ It is thy will then a rash war to wage: - May strength and victory on our males attend! - - [_Exit_ - - _King._ Nay, thou shall find the dwellers of this land - Are also males, and drink not draughts of ale 930 - From barley brewed.[265] [_To the Suppliants._] But ye, and your - attendants, - Take courage, go within the fencèd city, - Shut in behind its bulwark deep of towers; - Yea, many houses to the State belong, - And I a palace own not meanly built, - If ye prefer to live with many others - In ease and plenty: or if that suits better, - Ye may inhabit separate abodes. - Of these two offers that which pleases best - Choose for yourselves, and I as your protector, 940 - And all our townsmen, will defend the pledge - Which our decree has given you. Why wait'st thou - For any better authorised than these? - - _Chor._ For these thy good deeds done may'st thou in good, - All good, abound, great chief of the Pelasgi! - But kindly send to us - Our father Danaos, brave and true of heart, - To counsel and direct. - His must the first decision be where we - Should dwell, and where to find - A kindly home; for ready is each one - To speak his word of blame 'gainst foreigners. 950 - But may all good be ours! - And so with fair repute and speech of men, - Free from all taint of wrath, - So place yourselves, dear handmaids, in the land, - As Danaos hath for each of us assigned - Dowry of handmaid slaves. - - _Enter_ DANAOS _followed by_ Soldiers - - _Dan._ My children, to the Argives ye should pray, - And sacrifice, and full libations pour, - As to Olympian Gods, for they have proved, - With one consent, deliverers: and they heard - *All that I did towards those cousins there, 960 - *Those lovers hot and bitter. And they gave - To me as followers these that bear the spear, - That I might have my meed of honour due, - And might not die by an assassin's hand - A death unlooked-for, and thus leave the land - A weight of guilt perpetual: and 'tis fit - That one who meets such kindness should return, - *From his heart's depths, a nobler gratitude; - And add ye this to all already written, - Your father's many maxims of true wisdom, - That we, though strangers, may in time be known; 970 - For as to aliens each man's tongue is apt - For evil, and spreads slander thoughtlessly; - But ye, I charge you, see ye shame me not, - With this your life's bloom drawing all men's eyes. - The goodly vintage is full hard to watch, - All men and beasts make fearful havoc of it, - Nay, birds that fly, and creeping things of earth; - And Kypris offers fruitage, dropping ripe, - *As prey to wandering lust, nor lets it stay;[266] - And on the goodly comeliness of maidens 980 - Each passer-by, o'ercome with hot desire, - Darts forth the amorous arrows of the eye. - And therefore let us suffer nought of this, - Through which our ship has ploughed such width of sea, - Such width of trouble; neither let us work - Shame to ourselves, and pleasure to our foes. - This twofold choice of home is open to you: - [Pelasgos offers his, the city theirs,] - To dwell rent-free. Full easy terms are these: - Only, I charge you, keep your father's precepts, - Prizing as more than life your chastity. 990 - - _Chor._ May the high Gods that on Olympos dwell - Bless us in all things; but for this our vintage - Be of good cheer, my father; for unless - The counsels of the Gods work strange device, - I will not leave my spirit's former path. - - - STROPHE I - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Go then and make ye glad the high Gods, blessed for - ever, - Those who rule our towns, and those who watch over our city, - And they who dwell by the stream of Erasinos ancient.[267] - - _Semi-Chor. B_. And ye, companions true, - Take up your strain of song. 1000 - Let praise attend this city of Pelasgos; - Let us no more, no more adore the mouths of Neilos - With these our hymns of praise; - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Nay, but the rivers here that pour calm streams through - our country,[268] - Parents of many a son, making glad the soil of our meadows, - With wide flood rolling on, in full and abounding richness. - - _Semi-Chor. B_. And Artemis the chaste, - May she behold our band 1010 - With pity; ne'er be marriage rites enforcèd - On us by Kythereia: those who hate us, - Let that ill prize be theirs. - - - STROPHE II - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Not that our kindly strain does slight to Kypris - immortal; - For she, together with Hera, as nearest to Zeus is mighty, - A goddess of subtle thoughts, she is honoured in mysteries solemn. - - _Semi-Chor. B_. Yea, as associates too with that their mother - belovèd,1020 - Are fair Desire and Suasion,[269] whose pleading no man can gainsay, - Yea, to sweet Concord too Aphrodite's power is entrusted, - *And the whispering paths of the Loves. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Yet am I sore afraid of the ship that chases us - wanderers, - Of terrible sorrows, and wars that are bloody and hateful; - *Why else have they had fair gale for this their eager pursuing?1030 - - _Semi-Chor. B_. Whate'er is decreed of us, I know that it needs must - happen; - The mighty purpose of Zeus, unfailing, admits no transgression: - *May this fate come to us, as to many women before us, - *Fate of marriage and spouse! - - - STROPHE III - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Ah, may great Zeus avert - From me all marriage with Ægyptos' sons! - - _Semi-Chor. B_. Nay, all will work for good. - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Thou glozest that which will no glozing bear.1040 - - _Semi-Chor. B_. And thou know'st not what future comes to us. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Semi-Chor. A_. How can I read the mind - Of mightiest Zeus, to sight all fathomless? - - _Semi-Chor. B_. Well-tempered be thy speech! - - _Semi-Chor. A_. What mood of calmnesss wilt thou school me in? - - _Semi-Chor. B_. Be not o'er-rash in what concerns the Gods. - - - STROPHE IV - - _Semi-Chor. A_. Nay, may our great king Zeus avert that marriage - With husbands whom we hate, - E'en He who, touching her with healing hand, - Freed Io from her pain, - Putting an end from all her wanderings, - Working with kindly force! 1050 - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Semi-Chor. B_. And may He give the victory to women! - I choose the better part, - Though mixed with ill; and that the trial end - Justly, as I have prayed, - By means of subtle counsels which God gives - To liberate from ills.[270] - - - - - ÆSCHYLOS - - ------ - -Footnote 206: - - The daughters of Danaos are always represented as fifty in number. It - seems probable, however, that the vocal chorus was limited to twelve, - the others appearing as mutes. - -Footnote 207: - - The alluvial deposit of the Delta. - -Footnote 208: - - Syria is used obviously with a certain geographical vagueness, as - including all that we know as Palestine, and the wilderness to the - south of it, and so as conterminous with Egypt. - -Footnote 209: - - Elsewhere in Æschylos (_Agam._ 33, _Fr._ 132) we trace allusion to - games played with dice. Here we have a reference to one, the details - of which are not accurately known to us, but which seems to have been - analogous to draughts or chess. - -Footnote 210: - - See the whole story, given as in prophecy, in the _Prometheus_, v. - 865-880. - -Footnote 211: - - The invocation is addressed—(1) to the Olympian Gods in the brightness - of heaven; (2) to the Chthonian deities in the darkness below the - earth; (3) to Zeus, the preserver, as the supreme Lord of both. - -Footnote 212: - - An Athenian audience would probably recognise in this a description of - the swampy meadows near the coast of Lerna. The descendants of Io had - come to the very spot where the tragic history of their ancestors had - had its origin. - -Footnote 213: - - The invocation passes on to Epaphos, as a guardian deity able and - willing to succour his afflicted children. - -Footnote 214: - - Philomela. See the tale as given in the notes to _Agam._ 1113. - -Footnote 215: - - “Streams,” as flowing through the shady solitude of the groves which - the nightingale frequented. - -Footnote 216: - - “Ionian,” as soft and elegiac, in contrast with the more military - character of Dorian music. - -Footnote 217: - - In the Greek the _paronomasia_ turns upon the supposed etymological - connection between θεὸς and τιθήμι. I have here, as elsewhere, - attempted an analogous rather than identical _jeu de mot_. - -Footnote 218: - - The Greek word which I have translated “bluff” was one not familiar to - Attic ears, and was believed to be of Kyrenean origin. Æschylos - accordingly puts it into the lips of the daughters of Danaos, as - characteristic more or less of the “alien speech” of the land from - which they came. - -Footnote 219: - - So in v. 235 Danaos speaks of the “second Zeus” who sits as Judge in - Hades. The feeling to which the Chorus gives utterance is that of— - - “Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.” - -Footnote 220: - - Some mound dedicated to the Gods, with one or more altars and statues - of the Gods on it, is on the stage, and the suppliants are told to - take up their places there. The Gods of conflict who are named below, - Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, presided generally over the three great games - of Greece. Hermes is added to the list. - -Footnote 221: - - Comp. _Libation-Pourers_, 1024, _Eumen._ 44. - -Footnote 222: - - The Argives are supposed to share the love of brevity which we - commonly connect with their neighbours the Laconians. - -Footnote 223: - - The “mighty bird of Zeus” seems here, from the answer of the Chorus, - to mean not the “eagle” but the “sun,” which roused men from their - sleep as the cock did, so that “cockcrow” and “sunrise” were - synonymous. It is, in any case, striking that Zeus, rather than - Apollo, appears as the Sun-God. - -Footnote 224: - - The words refer to the myth of Apollo's banishment from heaven and - servitude under Admetos. - -Footnote 225: - - In the Acropolis at Athens the impress of a trident was seen on the - rock, and was believed to commemorate the time when Poseidon had - claimed it as his own by setting up his weapon there. Something of the - same kind seems here to be supposed to exist at Argos, where a like - legend prevailed. - -Footnote 226: - - The Hellenic Hermes is distinguished from his Egyptian counterpart, - Thoth, as being different in form and accessories. - -Footnote 227: - - A possible reference to the Egyptian Osiris, as lord or judge of - Hades. Comp. v. 145. - -Footnote 228: - - “Shall I,” the Chorus asks, “speak to you as a private citizen, or as - a herald, or as a king?” - -Footnote 229: - - It would appear from this that the king himself bore the name - Pelasgos. In some versions of the story he is so designated. - -Footnote 230: - - The lines contain a tradition of the wide extent of the old Pelasgic - rule, including Thessalia, or the Pelasgic Argos, between the mouths - of Peneus and Pindos, Perrhæbia, Dodona, and finally the Apian land or - Peloponnesos. - -Footnote 231: - - The true meaning of the word “Apian,” as applied to the Peloponnesos, - seems to have been “distant.” Here the myth is followed which - represented it as connected with Apis the son of Telchin (son of - Apollo, in the sense of being a physician-prophet), who had freed the - land from monsters. - -Footnote 232: - - The description would seem to indicate—(1) that the daughter of Danaos - appeared on the stage as of swarthy complexion; and (2) that Indians, - Æthiopians, Kyprians, and Amazons, were all thought of as in this - respect alike. - -Footnote 233: - - The line is conjectural, but some question of this kind is implied in - the answer of the Chorus. - -Footnote 234: - - By sacrificing personal likings to schemes of ambition, men and women - contract marriages which increase their power. - -Footnote 235: - - The Gods of conflict are the pilots of the ship of the State. The - altar dedicated to them is as its stern: the garlands and wands of - suppliants which adorn it are as the decorations of the vessels. - -Footnote 236: - - Some editors have seen in this an attempt to enlist the constitutional - sympathies of an Athenian audience in favour of the Argive king, who - will not act without consulting his assembly. There seems more reason - to think that the aim of the dramatist was in precisely the opposite - direction, and that the words which follow set forth his admiration - for the king who can act, as compared with one who is tied and - hampered by restrictions. - -Footnote 237: - - By an Attic law, analogous in principle to that of the Jews, (Num. - xxxvi. 8; 1 Chron. xxiii. 22), heiresses were absolutely bound to - marry their next of kin, if he claimed his right. The king at once - asserts this as the law which was _primâ facie_ applicable to the - case, and declares himself ready to surrender it if the petitioners - can show that their own municipal law is on the other side. He will - not thrust his country's customs upon foreigners, who can prove that - they live under a different rule, but in the absence of evidence must - act on the law which he is bound officially to recognise. - -Footnote 238: - - _Sc._, the pollution which the statues of the Gods would contract if - they carried into execution their threat of suicide. - -Footnote 239: - - Inachos, the river-God of Argos, and as such contrasted with Neilos. - -Footnote 240: - - _i.e._, “Unconsecrate,” marked out by no barriers, accessible to all, - and therefore seeming to offer but little prospect of a safe asylum. - The place described seems to have been an open piece of turf rather - than a grove of trees. - -Footnote 241: - - Comp. the narrative as given in _Prometheus Bound_, vv. 660, _et seq._ - -Footnote 242: - - Teuthras' fort, or Teuthrania, is described by Strabo (xii. p. 571) as - lying between the Hellespont and Mount Sipylos, in Magnesia. - -Footnote 243: - - Kypros, as dedicated to the worship of Aphrodite, and famous for its - wine, and oil, and corn. - -Footnote 244: - - The question, what caused the mysterious exceptional inundations of - the Nile, occupied, as we see from Herodotos (ii. c. 19-27), the minds - of the Greeks. Of the four theories which the historian discusses, - Æschylos adopts that which referred it to the melting of the snows on - the mountains of central Africa. - -Footnote 245: - - Typhon, the mythical embodiment of the power of evil, was fabled to - have wandered over Egypt, seeking the body of Osiris. Isis, to baffle - him, placed coffins in all parts of Egypt, all empty but the one which - contained the body. - -Footnote 246: - - The fame of the Nile for the purity of its water, after the earthy - matter held in solution had been deposited, seems to have been as - great in the earliest periods of its history as it is now. - -Footnote 247: - - Io was represented as a woman with a heifer's head, and was probably a - symbolic representation of the moon, with her crescent horns. - Sometimes the transformation is described (as in v. 294) in words - which imply a more thorough change. - -Footnote 248: - - Perhaps— - - “For not as subject sitting 'neath the sway - Of strength above his own.” - -Footnote 249: - - The passage takes its place among the noblest utterances of a faith - passing above the popular polytheism to the thought of one sovereign - Will ruling and guiding all things, as Will—without effort, in the - calmness of a power irresistible. - -Footnote 250: - - Double, as involving a sin against the laws of hospitality, so far as - the suppliants were strangers—a sin against the laws of kindred, so - far as they might claim by descent the rights of citizenship. - -Footnote 251: - - If, as has been conjectured, the tragedy was written with a view to - the alliance between Argos and Athens, made in B.C. 461, this choral - ode must have been the centre, if not of the dramatic, at all events - of the political interest of the play. - -Footnote 252: - - The image is that of a bird of evil omen, perched upon the roof, and - defiling the house, while it uttered its boding cries. - -Footnote 253: - - The suppliants' boughs, so held as to shade the face from view. - -Footnote 254: - - The name of Hecate connected Artemis as, on the one side, with the - unseen world of Hades, so, on the other, with childbirth, and the - purifications that followed on it. - -Footnote 255: - - The name of Lykeian, originally, perhaps, simply representing Apollo - as the God of Light, came afterwards to be associated with the might - of destruction (the Wolf-destroyer) and the darts of pestilence and - sudden death. The prayer is therefore that he, the Destroyer, may - hearken to the suppliants, and spare the people for whom they pray. - -Footnote 256: - - The “three great laws” were those ascribed to Triptolemos, “to honour - parents, to worship the Gods with the fruits of the earth, to hurt - neither man nor beast.” - -Footnote 257: - - The Egyptian ships, like those of many other Eastern countries, had - eyes (the eyes of Osiris, as they were called) painted on their bows. - -Footnote 258: - - A side-thrust, directed by the poet, who had fought at Marathon, - against the growing effeminacy of the Athenian youth, many of whom - were learning to shrink from all activity and exposure that might - spoil their complexions. Comp. Plato, _Phædros_, p. 239. - -Footnote 259: - - The saying is somewhat dark, but the meaning seems to be that if the - “dogs” of Egypt are strong, the “wolves” of Argos are stronger; that - the wheat on which the Hellenes lived gave greater strength to limbs - and sinew than the “byblos fruit” on which the Egyptian soldiers and - sailors habitually lived. Some writers, however, have seen in the last - line, rendered— - - “The byblos fruit not always bears full ear,” - - a proverb like the English, - - “There's many a slip - 'Twixt the cup and the lip.” - -Footnote 260: - - The words recall the vision of the “seven well-favoured kine and - fat-fleshed,” which “came out of the river,” as Pharaoh dreamed (Gen. - xli. 1, 2), and which were associated so closely with the fertility - which it ordinarily produced through the whole extent of the valley of - the Nile. - -Footnote 261: - - Two dangerous low headlands seem to have been known by this name, one - on the coast of Kilikia, the other on that of the Thrakian Chersonese. - -Footnote 262: - - No traces of ships of this structure are found in Egyptian art; but, - if the reading be right, it implies the existence of boats of some - kind, so built that they could be steered from either end. - -Footnote 263: - - Hermes, the guardian deity of heralds, is here described by the - epithet which marked him out as being also the patron of detectives. - Every stranger arriving in a Greek port had to place himself under a - _proxenos_ or patron of some kind. The herald, having no _proxenos_ - among the citizens, appeals to his patron deity. - -Footnote 264: - - The words refer to the custom of nailing decrees, proclamations, - treaties, and the like, engraved on metal or marble, upon the walls of - temples or public buildings. Traces of the same idea may possibly be - found in the promise to Eliakim that he shall be “as a nail in a sure - place” (Isa. xxii. 23), in the thanksgiving of Ezra that God had given - His people “a nail in his holy place” (Ezra ix. 8). - -Footnote 265: - - As before, the bread of the Hellenes was praised to the disparagement - of the “byblos fruit” of Egypt, so here their wine to that of the - Egyptian beer, which was the ordinary drink of the lower classes. - -Footnote 266: - - The words present a striking parallelism to the erotic imagery of the - _Song of Solomon_: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil our - vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” (ii. 15). - -Footnote 267: - - The Erasinos was supposed to rise in Arcadia, in Mount Stymphalos, to - disappear below the earth, and to come to sight again in Argolis. - -Footnote 268: - - In this final choral ode of the _Suppliants_, as in that of the _Seven - against Thebes_, we have the phenomenon of the division of the Chorus, - hitherto united, into two sections of divergent thought and purpose. - Semi-Chorus A. remains steadfast in its purpose of perpetual - virginity; Semi-Chorus B. relents, and is ready to accept wedlock. - -Footnote 269: - - The two names were closely connected in the local worship of Athens, - the temples of Aphrodite and Peitho (Suasion) standing at the - south-west angle of the Acropolis. If any special purpose is to be - traced in the invocation, we may see it in the poet's desire to bring - out the nobler, more ethical side of Aphrodite's attributes, in - contrast with the growing tendency to look on her as simply the - patroness of brutal lust. - -Footnote 270: - - The play, as acted, formed part of a trilogy, and the next play, the - _Danaids_, probably contained the sequel of the story, the acceptance - by the Suppliants of the sons of Ægyptos in marriage, the plot of - Danaos for the destruction of the bridegrooms on the wedding-night, - and the execution of the deed of blood by all but Hypermnestra. - - - - - AGAMEMNON - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - _Watchman_ - CLYTÆMNESTRA - AGAMEMNON - _Chorus of Argive Elders_ - _Herald_ (TALTHYBIOS) - CASSANDRA - ÆGISTHOS - - -_ARGUMENT.—Ten years had passed since Agamemnon, son of Atreus, king of -Mykenæ, had led the Hellenes to Troïa to take vengeance on Alexandros -(also known as Paris), son of Priam. For Paris had basely wronged -Menelaos, king of Sparta, Agamemnon's brother, in that, being received -by him as a guest, he enticed his wife Helena to leave her lord and go -with him to Troïa. And now the tenth year had come, and Paris was slain, -and the city of the Troïans was taken and destroyed, and Agamemnon and -the Hellenes were on their way homeward with the spoil and prisoners -they had taken. But meanwhile Clytæmnestra too, Agamemnon's queen, had -been unfaithful, and had taken as her paramour Ægisthos, son of that -Thyestes whom Atreus, his brother, had made to eat, unknowing, of the -flesh of his own children. And now, partly led by her adulterer, and -partly seeking to avenge the death of her daughter Iphigeneia, whom -Agamemnon had sacrificed to appease the wrath of Artemis, and partly -also jealous because he was bringing back Cassandra, the daughter of -Priam, as his concubine, she plotted with Ægisthos against her husband's -life. But this was done secretly, and she stationed a guard on the roof -of the royal palace to give notice when he saw the beacon-fires, by -which Agamemnon had promised that he would send tidings that Troïa was -taken._ - -_Note._—The unfaithfulness of Clytæmnestra and the murder of Agamemnon -had entered into the Homeric cycle of the legends of the house of -Atreus. In the _Odyssey_, however, Ægisthos is the chief agent in this -crime (_Odyss._ iii. 264, iv. 91, 532, xi. 409); and the manner of it -differs from that which Æschylos has adopted. Clytæmnestra first appears -as slaying both her husband and Cassandra in Pindar (_Pyth._ xi. 26). - - - SCENE.—Argos. _The Palace of_ AGAMEMNON; _statues of the Gods - in front. Watchman on the roof. Time, night._ - - _Watchman._ I ask the Gods a respite from these toils, - This keeping at my post the whole year round, - Wherein, upon the Atreidæ's roof reclined, - Like dog, upon my elbow, I have learnt - To know night's goodly company of stars, - And those bright lords that deck the firmament, - And winter bring to men, and harvest-tide; - [The rising and the setting of the stars.] - And now I watch for sign of beacon-torch, - The flash of fire that bringeth news from Troïa, - And tidings of its capture. So prevails - *A woman's manly-purposed, hoping heart; 10 - And when I keep my bed of little ease, - Drenched with the dew, unvisited by dreams, - (For fear, instead of sleep, my comrade is, - So that in sound sleep ne'er I close mine eyes,) - And when I think to sing a tune, or hum, - (My medicine of song to ward off sleep,) - Then weep I, wailing for this house's chance, - No more, as erst, right well administered. - Well! may I now find blest release from toils, 20 - When fire from out the dark brings tidings good. - - [_Pauses, then springs up suddenly, seeing a - light in the distance_ - - Hail! thou torch-bearer of the night, that shedd'st - Light as of morn, and bringest full array - Of many choral bands in Argos met, - Because of this success. Hurrah! hurrah! - So clearly tell I Agamemnon's queen, - With all speed rising from her couch to raise - Shrill cry of triumph o'er this beacon-fire - Throughout the house, since Ilion's citadel - Is taken, as full well that bright blaze shows. 30 - I, for my part, will dance my prelude now; - - [_Leaps and dances_ - - For I shall score my lord's new turn of luck, - This beacon-blaze may throw of triple six.[271] - Well, would that I with this mine hand may touch - The dear hand of our king when he comes home! - As to all else, the word is “Hush!” An ox[272] - Rests on my tongue; had the house a voice - 'Twould tell too clear a tale. I'm fain to speak - To those who know, forget with those who know not. - - [_Exit_ - - _Enter Chorus of twelve Argive elders, chanting as they march to take - up their position in the centre of the stage. A procession of - women bearing torches is seen in the distance_ - - Lo! the tenth year now is passing 40 - Since, of Priam great avengers, - Menelaos, Agamemnon, - Double-throned and doubled-sceptred, - Power from sovran Zeus deriving— - Mighty pair of the Atreidæ— - Raised a fleet of thousand vessels - Of the Argives from our country, - Potent helpers in their warfare, - Shouting cry of Ares fiercely; - E'en as vultures shriek who hover, - Wheeling, whirling o'er their eyrie, 50 - In wild sorrow for their nestlings, - With their oars of stout wings rowing, - Having lost the toil that bound them - To their callow fledglings' couches. - But on high One,—or Apollo, - Zeus, or Pan,—the shrill cry hearing, - Cry of birds that are his clients,[273] - Sendeth forth on men transgressing, - Erinnys, slow but sure avenger; - So against young Alexandros[274] - Atreus' sons the great King sendeth, - Zeus, of host and guest protector: 60 - He, for bride with many a lover, - Will to Danai give and Troïans - Many conflicts, men's limbs straining, - When the knee in dust is crouching, - And the spear-shaft in the onset - Of the battle snaps asunder. - But as things are now, so are they, - So, as destined, shall the end be. - Nor by tears, nor yet libations - Shall he soothe the wrath unbending - Caused by sacred rites left fireless.[275] 70 - We, with old frame little honoured, - Left behind that host are staying, - Resting strength that equals childhood's - On our staff: for in the bosom - *Of the boy, life's young sap rushing, - Is of old age but the equal; - Ares not as yet is found there: - And the man in age exceeding, - When the leaf is sere and withered, - Goes with three feet on his journey;[276] 80 - Not more Ares-like than boyhood, - Like a day-seen dream he wanders. - - [_Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA, _followed by the procession - of torch-bearers_ - - Thou, of Tyndareus the daughter, - Queen of Argos, Clytæmnestra, - What has happened? what news cometh? - What perceiving, on what tidings - Leaning, dost thou put in motion - All this solemn, great procession? - Of the Gods who guard the city, - Those above and those beneath us, - Of the heaven, and of the market, 90 - Lo! with thy gifts blaze the altars; - And through all the expanse of Heaven, - Here and there, the torch-fire rises, - With the flowing, pure persuasion - Of the holy unguent nourished, - *And the chrism rich and kingly - From the treasure-store's recesses. - Telling what of this thou canst tell, - What is right for thee to utter, - Be a healer of my trouble, - Trouble now my soul disturbing, 100 - *While anon fond hope displaying - Sacrificial signs propitious, - Wards off care that no rest knoweth, - Sorrow mind and heart corroding. - - [_The Chorus, taking their places round the central - thymele, begin their song_[277] - - - STROPHE - - Able am I to utter, setting forth - The might from omens sprung - *What met the heroes as they journeyed on, - (For still, by God's great gift, - My age, yet linked with strength, - *Breathes suasive power of song,) - How the Achæans' twin-throned majesty, - Accordant rulers of the youth of Hellas, 110 - With spear and vengeful hand, - Were sent by fierce, strong bird 'gainst Teucrian shore, - Kings of the birds to kings of ships appearing, - One black, with white tail one, - Near to the palace, on the spear-hand side, - On station seen of all, - A pregnant hare devouring with her young, - Robbed of all runs to come: - Wail as for Linos, wail, wail bitterly, - And yet may good prevail![278] 120 - - - ANTISTROPHE - - And the wise prophet of the army seeing - The brave Atreidæ twain - Of diverse mood, knew those that tore the hare, - And those that led the host; - And thus divining spake: - “One day this armament - Shall Priam's city sack, and all the herds - Owned by the people, countless, by the towers, - Fate shall with force lay low. - Only take heed lest any wrath of Gods 130 - Blunt the great curb of Troïa yet encamped, - Struck down before its time; - For Artemis the chaste that house doth hate, - Her father's wingèd hounds, - Who slay the mother with her unborn young, - And loathes the eagles' feast. - Wail as for Linos, wail, wail bitterly; - And yet may good prevail! - - - EPODE - - “*For she, the fair One, though so kind of heart - *To fresh-dropt dew from mighty lion's womb,[279] - And young that suck the teats - Of all that roam the fields, 140 - *Yet prays Him bring to pass - The portents of those birds, - The omens good yet also full of dread. - And Pæan I invoke - As Healer, lest she on the Danai send - Delays that keep the ships - Long time with hostile blasts, - So urging on a new, strange sacrifice, - Unblest, unfestivalled,[280] - By natural growth artificer of strife, - Bearing far other fruit than wife's true fear, - For there abideth yet, - Fearful, recurring still, - Ruling the house, full subtle, unforgetting, - Vengeance for children slain.”[281] 150 - Such things, with great good mingled, Calchas spake, - In voice that pierced the air, - As destined by the birds that crossed our path - To this our kingly house: - And in accord with them, - Wail as for Linos, wail, wail bitterly; - And yet may good prevail. - - - STROPHE I - - O Zeus—whate'er He be,[282] - If that Name please Him well, - By that on Him I call: - Weighing all other names I fail to guess - Aught else but Zeus, if I would cast aside, - Clearly, in every deed, - From off my soul this idle weight of care. 160 - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Nor He who erst was great,[283] - Full of the might to war, - *Avails now; He is gone; - And He who next came hath departed too, - His victor meeting; but if one to Zeus, - High triumph-praise should sing, - His shall be all the wisdom of the wise; - - - STROPHE II - - Yea, Zeus, who leadeth men in wisdom's way, 170 - And fixeth fast the law, - That pain is gain; - And slowly dropping on the heart in sleep - Comes woe-recording care, - And makes the unwilling yield to wiser thoughts: - And doubtless this too comes from grace of Gods, - *Seated in might upon their awful thrones. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And then of those Achæan ships the chief,[284] - The elder, blaming not - Or seer or priest; - But tempered to the fate that on him smote.... 180 - When that Achæan host - Were vexed with adverse winds and failing stores, - Still kept where Chalkis in the distance lies, - And the vexed waves in Aulis ebb and flow; - - - STROPHE III - - And breezes from the Strymon sweeping down, - Breeding delays and hunger, driving forth - Our men in wandering course, - On seas without a port. - Sparing nor ships, nor rope, nor sailing gear, - With doubled months wore down the Argive host; 190 - And when, for that wild storm, - Of one more charm far harder for our chiefs - The prophet told, and spake of Artemis,[285] - In tone so piercing shrill, - The Atreidæ smote their staves upon the ground, - And could not stay their tears. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And then the old king lifted up his voice, - And spake, “Great woe it is to disobey; - Great too to slay my child, 200 - The pride and joy of home, - Polluting with the streams of maiden's blood - Her father's hands upon the altar steps. - What course is free from ill? - How lose my ships and fail of mine allies? - 'Tis meet that they with strong desire should seek - A rite the winds to soothe, - E'en though it be with blood of maiden pure; - May all end well at last!” 210 - - - STROPHE III - - So when he himself had harnessed - To the yoke of Fate unbending, - With a blast of strange, new feeling, - Sweeping o'er his heart and spirit, - Aweless, godless, and unholy, - He his thoughts and purpose altered - To full measure of all daring, - (Still base counsel's fatal frenzy, - Wretched primal source of evils, - Gives to mortal hearts strange boldness,) - And at last his heart he hardened - His own child to slay as victim, - Help in war that they were waging, - To avenge a woman's frailty, - Victim for the good ship's safety. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - All her prayers and eager callings, 220 - On the tender name of Father, - All her young and maiden freshness, - They but set at nought, those rulers, - In their passion for the battle. - And her father gave commandment - To the servants of the Goddess, - When the prayer was o'er, to lift her, - Like a kid, above the altar, - In her garments wrapt, face downwards,—[286] - Yea, to seize with all their courage, - And that o'er her lips of beauty - Should be set a watch to hinder - Words of curse against the houses, - With the gag's strength silence-working.[287] - - - STROPHE IV - - And she upon the ground - Pouring rich folds of veil in saffron dyed, 230 - Cast at each one of those who sacrificed - A piteous glance that pierced, - Fair as a pictured form;[288] - And wishing,—all in vain,— - To speak; for oftentimes - In those her father's hospitable halls - She sang, a maiden pure with chastest song, - *And her dear father's life - That poured its threefold cup of praise to God,[289] - Crowned with all choicest good, - She with a daughter's love - Was wont to celebrate. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - What then ensued mine eyes - Saw not, nor may I tell, but Calchas' arts 240 - Were found not fruitless. Justice turns the scale - For those to whom through pain - At last comes wisdom's gain. - *But for our future fate, - *Since help for it is none, - *Good-bye to it before it comes, and this - Has the same end as wailing premature; - For with to-morrow's dawn - It will come clear; may good luck crown our fate! - So prays the one true guard, - Nearest and dearest found, - Of this our Apian land.[290] - - [_The Chief of the Chorus turns to_ CLYTÆMNESTRA, _and - her train of handmaids, who are seen - approaching_ - - _Chor._ I come, O Clytæmnestra, honouring - Thy majesty: 'tis meet to pay respect - To a chief's wife, the man's throne empty left: 250 - But whether thou hast heard good news, or else - In hopes of tidings glad dost sacrifice, - I fain would hear, yet will not silence blame. - - _Clytæm._ May Morning, as the proverb runs, appear - Bearing glad tidings from his mother Night![291] - Joy thou shalt learn beyond thy hope to hear; - For Argives now have taken Priam's city. - - _Chor._ What? Thy words sound so strange they flit by me. - - _Clytæm._ The Achæans hold Troïa. Speak I clear enough? 260 - - _Chor._ Joy creeps upon me, drawing forth my tears. - - _Clytæm._ Of loyal heart thine eyes give token true. - - _Chor._ What witness sure hast thou of these events? - - _Clytæm._ Full clear (how else?) unless the God deceive.[292] - - _Chor._ Reliest thou on dreams or visions seen? - - _Clytæm._ I place no trust in mind weighed down with sleep.[293] - - _Chor._ Hath then some wingless omen charmed thy soul?[294] - - _Clytæm._ My mind thou scorn'st, as though 'twere but a girl's. - - _Chor._ What time has passed since they the city sacked? - - _Clytæm._ This very night, the mother of this morn. 270 - - _Chor._ What herald could arrive with speed like this? - - _Clytæm._ Hephæstos flashing forth bright flames from Ida: - Beacon to beacon from that courier-fire - Sent on its tidings; Ida to the rock[295] - Hermæan named, in Lemnos: from the isle - The height of Athos, dear to Zeus, received - A third great torch of flame, and lifted up, - So as on high to skim the broad sea's back, - The stalwart fire rejoicing went its way; - The pine-wood, like a sun, sent forth its light - Of golden radiance to Makistos' watch; 280 - And he, with no delay, nor unawares - Conquered by sleep, performed his courier's part: - Far off the torch-light, to Eurîpos' straits - Advancing, tells it to Messapion's guards: - They, in their turn, lit up and passed it on, - Kindling a pile of dry and aged heath. - Still strong and fresh the torch, not yet grown dim, - Leaping across Asôpos' plain in guise - Like a bright moon, towards Kithæron's rock, - Roused the next station of the courier flame. 290 - And that far-travelled light the sentries there - Refused not, burning more than all yet named: - And then the light swooped o'er Gorgôpis' lake, - And passing on to Ægiplanctos' mount, - Bade the bright fire's due order tarry not; - And they, enkindling boundless store, send on - A mighty beard of flame, and then it passed - The headland e'en that looks on Saron's gulf, - Still blazing. On it swept, until it came - To Arachnæan heights, the watch-tower near; 300 - Then here on the Atreidæ's roof it swoops, - This light, of Ida's fire no doubtful heir. - Such is the order of my torch-race games; - One from another taking up the course,[296] - But here the winner is both first and last; - And this sure proof and token now I tell thee, - Seeing that my lord hath sent it me from Troïa. - - _Chor._ I to the Gods, O Queen, will pray hereafter, - But fain would I hear all thy tale again, - E'en as thou tell'st, and satiate my wonder. 310 - - _Clytæm._ This very day the Achæans Troïa hold. - I trow full diverse cry pervades the town: - Pour in the same vase vinegar and oil, - *And you would call them enemies, not friends; - And so from conquerors and from captives now - The cries of varied fortune one may hear. - For these, low-fallen on the carcases - Of husbands and of brothers, children too - By aged fathers, mourn their dear ones' death, - And that with throats that are no longer free. 320 - And those the hungry toil of sleepless guard, - After the battle, at their breakfast sets; - Not billeted in order fixed and clear, - But just as each his own chance fortune grasps, - They in the captive houses of the Troïans - Dwell, freed at last from all the night's chill frosts, - And dews of heaven, for now, poor wretches, they - Will sleep all night without the sentry's watch; - And if they reverence well the guardian Gods - Of that new-conquered country, and their shrines, 330 - Then they, the captors, will not captured be. - Ah! let no evil lust attack the host - Conquered by greed, to plunder what they ought not: - For yet they need return in safety home, - Doubling the goal to run their backward race.[297] - *But should the host come sinning 'gainst the Gods, - Then would the curse of those that perishèd - Be watchful, e'en though no quick ill might fall. - Such thoughts are mine, mere woman though I be. - May good prevail beyond all doubtful chance! 340 - For I have got the blessing of great joy. - - _Chor._ Thou, lady, kindly, like a sage, dost speak, - And I, on hearing thy sure evidence, - Prepare myself to give the Gods due thanks; - For they have wrought full meed for all our toil. - - [_Exit_ CLYTÆM. _with her train_ - - O Zeus our King! O Night beloved, - Mighty winner of great glories, - Who upon the towers of Troïa - Casted'st snare of closest meshes, - So that none full-grown or youthful 350 - Could o'erleap the net of bondage, - Woe of universal capture;— - Zeus, of host and guest protector, - Who hath brought these things, I worship; - He long since on Alexandros - Stretched his bow that so his arrow - Might not sweep at random, missing, - Or beyond the stars shoot idly. - - - STROPHE I - - Yes, one may say, 'tis Zeus whose blow they feel; - This one may clearly trace: - They fared as He decreed: - Yea, one there was who said, 360 - “The Gods deign not to care for mortal men[298] - By whom the grace of things inviolable - Is trampled under foot.” - No fear of God had he: - *Now is it to the children manifest[299] - Of those who, overbold, - Breathed rebel War beyond the bounds of Right, - Their houses overfilled with precious store - *Above the golden mean. - *Ah! let our life be free from all that hurts, 370 - So that for one who gains - Wisdom in heart and soul, - That lot may be enough. - Since still there is no bulwark strong in wealth - Against destruction's doom, - For one who in the pride of wantonness - Spurns the great altar of the Right and Just. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Him woeful, subtle Impulse urges on, - Resistless in her might, - Atè's far-scheming child: - All remedy is vain. - It is not hidden, but is manifest, - That mischief with its horrid gleaming light; 380 - And, like to worthless bronze,[300] - By friction tried and tests, - It turns to tarnished blackness in its hue: - Since, boy-like, he pursues - A bird upon its flight, and so doth bring - Upon his city shame intolerable: - And no God hears his prayer, - But bringeth low the unjust, - Who deals with deeds like this. - Thus Paris came to the Atreidæ's home, 390 - And stole its queen away, - And so left brand of shame indelible - Upon the board where host and guest had sat. - - - STROPHE II - - She, leaving to her countrymen at home - Wild din of spear and shield and ships of war, - And bringing, as her dower, - To Ilion doom of death, - Passed very swiftly through the palace gates, - Daring what none should dare; - And many a wailing cry - They raised, the minstrel prophets of the house, - “Woe for that kingly home! - Woe for that kingly home and for its chiefs! 400 - Woe for the marriage-bed and traces left - Of wife who loved her lord!” - *There stands he silent; foully wronged and yet - *Uttering no word of scorn,[301] - *In deepest woe perceiving she is gone; - And in his yearning love - For one beyond the sea, - A ghost shall seem to queen it o'er the house; - The grace of sculptured forms[302] - Is loathèd by her lord, - And in the penury of life's bright eyes - All Aphroditè's charm - To utter wreck has gone. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And phantom shades that hover round in dreams 410 - Come full of sorrow, bringing vain delight; - For vain it is, when one - Sees seeming shows of good, - And gliding through his hands the dream is gone, - After a moment's space, - On wings that follow still - Upon the path where sleep goes to and fro. - Such are the woes at home - Upon the altar hearth, and worse than these. - But on a wider scale for those who went - From Hellas' ancient shore, - A sore distress that causeth pain of heart 420 - Is seen in every house. - Yea, many things there are that touch the quick: - For those whom each did send - He knoweth; but, instead - Of living men, there come to each man's home - Funeral urns alone, - And ashes of the dead. - - - STROPHE III - - For Ares, trafficking for golden coin - The lifeless shapes of men, - And in the rush of battle holding scales, - Sends now from Ilion - Dust from the funeral pyre, - A burden sore to loving friends at home, - And bitterly bewailed, - Filling the brazen urn - With well-smoothed ashes in the place of men; 430 - And with high praise they mourn - This hero skilled and valiant in the fight, - And that who in the battle nobly fell, - All for another's wife: - And other words some murmur secretly; - And jealous discontent - Against the Atreidæ, champions in the suit, - Creeps on all stealthily; - And some around the wall, - In full and goodly form have sepulture - There upon Ilion's soil, 440 - And their foes' land inters its conquerors. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And so the murmurs of their subjects rise - With sullen discontent, - And do the dread work of a people's curse; - And now my boding fear - Awaits some news of ill, - As yet enwrapt in blackness of the night. - Not heedless are the Gods - Of shedders of much blood, - And the dark-robed Erinnyes in due time, - By adverse chance of life, 450 - Place him who prospers in unrighteousness - In gloom obscure; and once among the unseen, - There is no help for him: - Fame in excess is but a perilous thing; - For on men's quivering eyes - Is hurled by Zeus the blinding thunderbolt. - I praise the good success - That rouses not God's wrath; - Ne'er be it mine a city to lay waste.[303] - Nor, as a prisoner, see - My life wear on beneath another's power! - - - EPODE - - And now at bidding of the courier flame, - The herald of good news, - A rumour swift spreads through the city streets, 460 - But who knows clearly whether it be true, - Or whether God has mingled lies with it? - Who is so childish or so reft of sense, - As with his heart a-glow - At that fresh uttered message of the flame, - Then to wax sad at changing rumour's sound? - It suits the mood that sways a woman's mind - To pour thanksgiving ere the truth is seen: - Quickly, with rapid steps, too credulous, - The limit which a woman sets to trust - Advances evermore;[304] - And with swift doom of death 470 - A rumour spread by woman perishes. - - [_As the Chorus ends, a Herald is seen approaching, - his head wreathed with olive_[305] - - Soon we shall know the sequence of the torches - Light-giving, and of all the beacon-fires, - If they be true; or if, as 'twere a dream, - This sweet light coming hath beguiled our minds. - I see a herald coming from the shore, - With olive boughs o'ershadowed, and the dust,[306] - Dry sister-twin of mire,[307] announces this, - That neither without voice, nor kindling blaze - Of wood upon the mountains, he will signal 480 - With smoke from fire, but either he will come, - With clear speech bidding us rejoice, or else ... [_pauses_ - The word opposed to this I much mislike. - Nay, may good issue good beginnings crown! - Who for our city utters other prayers, - May he himself his soul's great error reap! - - _Herald._ Hail, soil of this my Argive fatherland. - Now in the light of the tenth year I reach thee, - Though many hopes are shattered, gaining one. - For never did I think in Argive land - To die, and share the tomb that most I craved. 490 - Now hail! thou land; and hail! thou light of day: - Zeus our great ruler, and thou Pythian king, - No longer darting arrows from thy bow.[308] - Full hostile wast thou by Scamandros' banks, - Now be thou Saviour, yea, and Healer found, - O king Apollo! and the Gods of war, - These I invoke; my patron Hermes too, - Dear herald, whom all heralds reverence,— - Those heroes, too, that sent us,[309]—graciously - To welcome back the host that war has spared. 500 - Hail, O ye royal dwellings, home beloved! - Ye solemn thrones, and Gods who face the sun![310] - If e'er of old, with cheerful glances now - After long time receive our king's array. - For he is come, in darkness bringing light - To you and all, our monarch, Agamemnon. - Salute him with all grace; for so 'tis meet, - Since he hath dug up Troïa with the spade - Of Zeus the Avenger, and the plain laid waste; - Fallen their altars and the shrines of Gods; 510 - The seed of all the land is rooted out, - This yoke of bondage casting over Troïa, - Our chief, the elder of the Atreidæ, comes, - A man full blest, and worthiest of high honour - Of all that are. For neither Paris' self, - Nor his accomplice city now can boast - Their deed exceeds its punishment. For he, - Found guilty on the charge of rape and theft,[311] - Hath lost his prize and brought his father's house, - With lands and all, to waste and utter wreck; - And Priam's sons have double forfeit paid.[312] 520 - - _Chor._ Joy, joy, thou herald of the Achæan host! - - _Her._ All joy is mine: I shrink from death no more. - - _Chor._ Did love for this thy fatherland so try thee? - - _Her._ So that mine eyes weep tears for very joy,* - - _Chor._ Disease full sweet then this ye suffered from ... - - _Her._ How so? When taught, I shall thy meaning master. - - _Chor._ Ye longed for us who yearned for you in turn. - - _Her._ Say'st thou this land its yearning host yearned o'er? - - _Chor._ Yea, so that oft I groaned in gloom of heart. - - _Her._ Whence came these bodings that an army hates? 530 - - _Chor._ Silence I've held long since a charm for ill. - - _Her._ How, when your lords were absent, feared ye any? - - _Chor._ To use thy words, death now would welcome be. - - _Her._ Good is the issue; but in so long time - Some things, one well might say, have prospered well, - And some give cause for murmurs. Save the Gods, - Who free from sorrow lives out all his life? - For should I tell of toils, and how we lodged - Full hardly, seldom putting in to shore,[313] - And then with couch full hard.... What gave us not - Good cause for mourning? What ill had we not 540 - As daily portion? And what passed on land, - That brought yet greater hardship: for our beds - Were under our foes' walls, and meadow mists - From heaven and earth still left us wringing wet, - A constant mischief to our garments, making - Our hair as shaggy as the beasts'.[314] And if - One spoke of winter frosts that killed the birds, - By Ida's snow-storms made intolerable,[315] - Or heat, when Ocean in its noontide couch - Windless reclined and slept without a wave.... - But why lament o'er this? Our toil is past; 550 - Past too is theirs who in the warfare fell, - So that no care have they to rise again. - Why should I count the number of the dead, - Or he that lives mourn o'er a past mischance? - To change and chance I bid a long Farewell: - With us, the remnant of the Argive host, - Good fortune wins, no ills as counterpoise. - So it is meet to this bright sun we boast, - Who travel homeward over land and sea; - “The Argive host who now have captured Troïa, 560 - These spoils of battle[316] to the Gods of Hellas - Hang on their pegs, enduring prize and joy.”[317] - Hearing these things we ought to bless our country - And our commanders; and the grace of Zeus - That wrought this shall be honoured. My tale's told. - - _Chor._ Thy words o'ercome me, and I say not nay; - To learn good keeps youth's freshness with the old. - 'Tis meet these things should be a special care - To Clytæmnestra and the house, and yet - That they should make me sharer in their joy. - - _Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA - - _Clytæm._ I long ago for gladness raised my cry, 570 - When the first fiery courier came by night, - Telling of Troïa taken and laid waste: - And then one girding at me spake, “Dost think, - Trusting in beacons, Troïa is laid waste? - This heart elate is just a woman's way.” - In words like these they made me out distraught; - Yet still I sacrificed, and with a strain - Shrill as a woman's, they, now here, now there, - Throughout the city hymns of blessing raised - In shrines of Gods, and lulled to gentle sleep - The fragrant flame that on the incense fed. 580 - And now why need'st thou lengthen out thy words? - I from the king himself the tale shall learn; - And that I show all zeal to welcome back - My honoured lord on his return (for what - Is brighter joy for wife to see than this, - When God has brought her husband back from war, - To open wide her gates?) tell my lord this, - “To come with all his speed, the city's idol;” - And “may he find a faithful wife at home, - Such as he left her, noble watch-dog still 590 - For him, and hostile to his enemies; - And like in all things else, who has not broken - One seal of his in all this length of time.”[318] - No pleasure have I known, nor scandal ill - With any other more than ... stains on bronze.[319] - Such is my vaunt, and being full of truth, - Not shameful for a noble wife to speak.[320] [_Exit_ - - _Chor._ [_to Herald_.] She hath thus spoken in thy hearing now - A goodly word for good interpreters. - But tell me, herald, tell of Menelaos, 600 - If, coming home again in safety he - Is with you, the dear strength of this our land. - - _Her._ I cannot make report of false good news, - So that my friends should long rejoice in it. - - _Chor._ Ah! could'st thou good news speak, and also true! - These things asunder are not well concealed. - - _Her._ The chief has vanished from the Achæan host, - He and his ship. I speak no falsehood here. - - _Chor._ In sight of all when he from Ilion sailed? - Or did a storm's wide evil part him from you? 610 - - _Her._ Like skilful archer thou hast hit the mark, - And in few words has told of evil long. - - _Chor._ And was it of him as alive or dead - The whisper of the other sailors ran? - - _Her._ None to that question answer clear can give, - Save the Sun-God who feeds the life of earth. - - _Chor._ How say'st thou? Did a storm come on our fleet, - And do its work through anger of the Gods? - - _Her._ It is not meet a day of tidings good - To mar with evil news. Apart for each 620 - Is special worship. But when courier brings - With louring face the ills men pray against, - And tells a city that its host has fallen, - That for the State there is a general wound, - That many a man from many a home is driven, - As banned by double scourge that Ares loves, - Woe doubly-barbed, Death's two-horsed chariot this.... - When with such griefs as freight a herald comes, - 'Tis meet to chant the Erinnyes' dolorous song; - But for glad messenger of good deeds wrought - That bring deliverance, coming to a town 630 - Rejoicing in its triumph, ... how shall I - Blend good with evil, telling of a storm - That smote the Achæans, not without God's wrath? - For they a compact swore who erst were foes, - Ocean and Fire, and their pledges gave, - Wrecking the ill-starred army of the Argives; - And in the night rose ill of raging storm: - For Thrakian tempests shattered all the ships, - Each on the other. Some thus crashed and bruised, - By the storm stricken and the surging foam - Of wind-tost waves, soon vanished out of sight, 640 - Whirled by an evil pilot. And when rose - The sun's bright orb, behold, the Ægæan sea - Blossomed with wrecks of ships and dead Achæans. - And as for us and our uninjured ship, - Surely 'twas some one stole or begged us off, - Some God, not man, presiding at the helm; - And on our ship with good will Fortune sat, - Giver of safety, so that nor in haven - Felt we the breakers, nor on rough rock-beach - Ran we aground. But when we had escaped 650 - The hell of waters, then in clear, bright day, - Not trusting in our fortune, we in thought - O'er new ills brooded of our host destroyed, - And eke most roughly handled. And if still - Breathe any of them they report of us - As having perished. How else should they speak? - And we in our turn deem that they are so. - God send good ending! Look you, first and chief, - For Menelaos' coming; and indeed, - If any sunbeam know of him alive - And well, by help of Zeus who has not willed 660 - As yet to blot out all the regal race, - Some hope there is that he'll come back again. - Know, hearing this, that thou the truth hast heard. - - [_Exit Herald_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Who was it named her with such wondrous truth? - (Could it be One unseen, - In strange prevision of her destined work, - Guiding the tongue through chance?) - Who gave that war-wed, strife-upstirring one - The name of Helen, ominous of ill?[321] 670 - For all too plainly she - Hath been to men, and ships, - And towers, as doom of Hell. - From bower of gorgeous curtains forth she sailed - With breeze of Zephyr Titan-born and strong;[322] - And hosts of many men, - Hunters that bore the shield, - Went on the track of those who steered their boat - Unseen to leafy banks of Simois, - On her account who came, - Dire cause of strife with bloodshed in her train. 680 - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And so the wrath which works its vengeance out - Dear bride to Ilion brought, - (Ah, all too truly named!) exacting still[323] - After long lapse of time - The penalty of foul dishonour done - To friendship's board and Zeus, of host and guest - The God, from those who paid - Their loud-voiced honour then - Unto that bridal strain, - That hymeneal chorus which to chant - Fell to the lot of all the bridegroom's kin.[324] - But learning other song, - Priam's ancient city now 690 - Bewaileth sore, and calls on Paris' name, - Wedded in fatal wedlock; all the time - *Enduring tear-fraught life - *For all the blood its citizens had lost. - - - STROPHE II - - So once a lion's cub, - A mischief in his house, - As foster child one reared,[325] - While still it loved the teats; - In life's preluding dawn - Tame, by the children loved, 700 - And fondled by the old,[326] - Oft in his arms 'twas held, - Like infant newly born, - With eyes that brightened to the hand that stroked, - And fawning at the hest of hunger keen. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But when full-grown, it showed - The nature of its sires; - For it unbidden made - A feast in recompense - Of all their fostering care, - *By banquet of slain sheep; 710 - With blood the house was stained, - A curse no slaves could check, - Great mischief murderous: - By God's decree a priest of Atè thus - Was reared, and grew within the man's own house. - - - STROPHE III - - So I would tell that thus to Ilion came - Mood as of calm when all the air is still, - The gentle pride and joy of kingly state, - A tender glance of eye, - The full-blown blossom of a passionate love, - Thrilling the very soul; 720 - And yet she turned aside, - And wrought a bitter end of marriage feast, - Coming to Priam's race, - Ill sojourner, ill friend, - Sent by great Zeus, the God of host and guest— - Erinnys, for whom wives weep many tears. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - There lives an old saw, framed in ancient days,[327] - In memories of men, that high estate - Full-grown brings forth its young, nor childless dies, - But that from good success - Springs to the race a woe insatiable. 730 - But I, apart from all, - Hold this my creed alone: - For impious act it is that offspring breeds, - Like to their parent stock: - For still in every house - That loves the right their fate for evermore - Rejoiceth in an issue fair and good. - - - STROPHE IV - - But Recklessness of old - Is wont to breed another Recklessness, - Sporting its youth in human miseries, - Or now, or then, whene'er the fixed hour comes: 740 - That in its youth, in turn, - Doth full-flushed Lust beget, - And that dread demon-power unconquerable, - Daring that fears not God,— - Two curses black within the homes of men, - Like those that gendered them. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - But Justice shineth bright - In dwellings that are dark and dim with smoke, - And honours life law-ruled, - While gold-decked homes conjoined with hands defiled 750 - She with averted eyes - Hath left, and draweth near - To holier things, nor worships might of wealth, - If counterfeit its praise; - But still directeth all the course of things - Towards its destined goal. - - [AGAMEMNON _is seen approaching in his - chariot, followed by another chariot, in - which_ CASSANDRA _is standing, carrying - her prophet's wand in her hand, and - wearing fillets round her temples, and by - a great train of soldiers bearing trophies. - As they come on the stage the Chorus - sings its welcome_ - - Come then, king, thou son of Atreus, - Waster of the towers of Troïa, - What of greeting and of homage - Shall I give, nor overshooting, - Nor due need of honour missing? - Men there are who, right transgressing, - Honour semblance more than being. 760 - O'er the sufferer all are ready - Wail of bitter grief to utter, - Though the biting pang of sorrow - Never to their heart approaches; - So with counterfeit rejoicing - Men strain faces that are smileless; - But when one his own sheep knoweth, - Then men's eyes cannot deceive him, - When they deem with kindly purpose, 770 - And with fondness weak to flatter. - Thou, when thou did'st lead thine army - For Helen's sake—(I will not hide it)— - Wast to me as one whose features - Have been limned by unskilled artist, - Guiding ill the helm of reason, - Giving men to death's doom sentenced - *Courage which their will rejected.[328] - Now nor from the spirit's surface, - Nor with touch of thought unfriendly, - All the toil, I say, is welcome, - If men bring it to good issue. - And thou soon shalt know, enquiring 780 - Him who rightly, him who wrongly - Of thy citizens fulfilleth - Task of office for the city.[329] - - _Agam._ First Argos, and the Gods who guard the land, - 'Tis right to greet; to them in part I owe - This my return, and vengeance that I took - On Priam's city. Not on hearsay proof - Judging the cause, with one consent the Gods - Cast in their votes into the urn of blood - For Ilion's ruin and her people's death; - *I' the other urn Hope touched the rim alone, 790 - Still far from being filled full.[330] And even yet - The captured city by its smoke is seen, - *The incense clouds of Atè live on still; - And, in the act of dying with its prey, - From richest store the dust sends savours sweet. - For these things it is meet to give the Gods - Thank-offerings long-enduring; for our nets - Of vengeance we set close, and for a woman - Our Argive monster laid the city low,[331] - Foaled by the mare, a people bearing shield, - Taking its leap when set the Pleiades;[332] - And, bounding o'er the tower, that ravenous lion 800 - Lapped up its fill of blood of kingly race. - This prelude to the Gods I lengthen out; - And as concerns thy feeling (this I well - Remember hearing) I with thee agree, - And thou in me may'st find an advocate. - With but few men is it their natural bent - To honour without grudging prosperous friend: - For ill-souled envy that the heart besets, - Doubles his woe who suffers that disease: - He by his own griefs first is overwhelmed, - And groans at sight of others' happier lot. 810 - *And I with good cause say, (for well I know,) - They are but friendship's mirror, phantom shade, - Who seemed to be my most devoted friends. - Odysseus only, who against his will[333] - Sailed with us, still was found true trace-fellow: - And this I say of him or dead or living. - But as for all that touches on the State, - Or on the Gods, in full assembly we, - Calling our council, will deliberate: 820 - For what goes well we should with care provide - How longest it may last; and where there needs - A healing charm, there we with all good-will, - By surgery or cautery will try - To turn away the mischief of disease. - And now will I to home and household hearth - Move on, and first give thanks unto the Gods - Who led me forth, and brought me back again. - Since Victory follows, long may she remain! - - _Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA, _followed by female attendants - carrying purple tapestry_ - - _Clytæm._ Ye citizens, ye Argive senators, - I will not shrink from telling you the tale - Of wife's true love. As time wears on one drops 830 - All over-shyness. Not learning it from others, - I will narrate my own unhappy life, - The whole long time my lord at Ilion stayed. - For first, that wife should sit at home alone - Without her husband is a monstrous grief, - Hearing full many an ill report of him, - Now one and now another coming still, - Bringing news home, worse trouble upon bad. - Yea, if my lord had met as many wounds - As rumour told of, floating to our house, 840 - He had been riddled more than any net; - And had he died, as tidings still poured in, - Then he, a second Geryon[334] with three lives, - Had boasted of a threefold coverlet - Of earth above, (I will not say below him,)[335] - Dying one death for each of those his forms; - And so, because of all these ill reports, - Full many a noose around my neck have others - Loosed by main force, when I had hung myself. - And for this cause no son is with me now, 850 - Holding in trust the pledges of our love, - As he should be, Orestes. Wonder not; - For now a kind ally doth nurture him, - Strophios the Phokian, telling me of woes - Of twofold aspect, danger on thy side - At Ilion, and lest loud-voiced anarchy - Should overthrow thy council, since 'tis still - The wont of men to kick at those who fall. - No trace of guile bears this excuse of mine; - As for myself, the fountains of my tears - Have flowed till they are dry, no drop remains, 860 - And mine eyes suffer from o'er-late repose, - Watching with tears the beacons set for thee,[336] - Left still unheeded. And in dreams full oft - I from my sleep was startled by the gnat - With thin wings buzzing, seeing in the night - Ills that stretched far beyond the time of sleep.[337] - Now, having borne all this, with mind at ease, - I hail my lord as watch-dog of the fold, - The stay that saves the ship, of lofty roof 870 - Main column-prop, a father's only child, - Land that beyond all hope the sailor sees, - Morn of great brightness following after storm, - Clear-flowing fount to thirsty traveller.[338] - Yes, it is pleasant to escape all straits: - With words of welcome such as these I greet thee; - May jealous Heaven forgive them! for we bore - Full many an evil in the past; and now, - Dear husband, leave thy car, nor on the ground, - O King, set thou the foot that Ilion trampled. 880 - Why linger ye, [_turning to her attendants_,] ye maids, whose task it - was - To strew the pathway with your tapestries? - Let the whole road be straightway purple-strown, - That Justice lead to home he looked not for. - All else my care, by slumber not subdued, - Will with God's help work out what fate decrees.[339] - - (_The handmaids advance, and are about to lay the - purple carpets on the ground_) - - _Agam._ O child of Leda, guardian of my home, - Thy speech hath with my absence well agreed— - For long indeed thou mad'st it—but fit praise - Is boon that I must seek at other hands. 890 - I pray thee, do not in thy woman's fashion - Pamper my pride, nor in barbaric guise - Prostrate on earth raise full-mouthed cries to me; - Make not my path offensive to the Gods - By spreading it with carpets.[340] They alone - May claim that honour; but for mortal men - To walk on fair embroidery, to me - Seems nowise without peril. So I bid you - To honour me as man, and not as God. - Apart from all foot-mats and tapestry - My fame speaks loudly; and God's greatest gift 900 - Is not to err from wisdom. We must bless - Him only who ends life in fair estate.[341] - Should I thus act throughout, good hope were mine. - - _Clytæm._ Nay, say not this my purposes to thwart. - - _Agam._ Know I change not for the worse my purpose. - - _Clytæm._ In fear, perchance, thou vowèd'st thus to act. - - _Agam._ If any, I, with good ground spoke my will.[342] - - _Clytæm._ What think'st thou Priam, had he wrought such deeds...? - - _Agam._ Full gladly he, I trow, had trod on carpets. - - _Clytæm._ Then shrink not thou through fear of men's dispraise.910 - - _Agam._ And yet a people's whisper hath great might.[343] - - _Clytæm._ Who is not envied is not enviable. - - _Agam._ 'Tis not a woman's part to crave for strife. - - _Clytæm._ True, yet the prosperous e'en should sometimes yield. - - _Agam._ Dost thou then prize that victory in the strife? - - _Clytæm._ Nay, list; with all good-will yield me this boon. - - _Agam._ Well, then, if thou wilt have it so, with speed - Let some one loose my buskins[344] (servants they - Doing the foot's true work), and as I tread - Upon these robes sea-purpled, may no wrath - From glance of Gods smite on me from afar! 920 - Great shame I feel to trample with my foot - This wealth of carpets, costliest work of looms; - So far for this. This stranger [_pointing to_ CASSANDRA] lead thou in - With kindliness. On him who gently wields - His power God's eye looks kindly from afar. - None of their own will choose a bondslave's life; - And she, the chosen flower of many spoils, - Has followed with me as the army's gift. - But since I turn, obeying thee in this, - I'll to my palace go, on purple treading. 930 - - _Clytæm._ There is a sea,—and who shall drain it dry? - Producing still new store of purple juice, - Precious as silver, staining many a robe. - And in our house, with God's help, O my king, - 'Tis ours to boast our palace knows no stint. - Trampling of many robes would I have vowed, - Had that been ordered me in oracles, - When for my lord's return I then did plan - My votive gifts. For while the root lives on, - The foliage stretches even to the house, - And spreads its shade against the dog-star's rage; 940 - So when thou comest to thy hearth and home, - Thou show'st that warmth hath come in winter time; - And when from unripe clusters Zeus matures - The wine,[345] then is there coolness in the house, - If the true master dwelleth in his home. - Ah, Zeus! the All-worker, Zeus, work out for me - All that I pray for; let it be thy care - To look to what Thou purposest to work.[346] - - [_Exeunt_ AGAMEMNON, _walking on the tapestry_, - CLYTÆMNESTRA, _and her attendants_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Why thus continually - Do haunting phantoms hover at the gate - Of my foreboding heart? 950 - Why floats prophetic song, unbought, unbidden? - Why doth no steadfast trust - Sit on my mind's dear throne, - To fling it from me as a vision dim? - Long time hath passed since stern-ropes of our ships - Were fastened on the sand, when our great host - Of those that sailed in ships - Had come to Ilion's towers:[347] - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And now from these mine eyes 960 - I learn, myself reporting to myself, - Their safe return; and yet - My mind within itself, taught by itself, - Chanteth Erinnys' dirge, - The lyreless melody, - And hath no strength of wonted confidence. - Not vain these inner pulses, as my heart - Whirls eddying in breast oracular. - I, against hope, will pray - It prove false oracle. 970 - - - STROPHE II - - Of high, o'erflowing health - There is no bound that stays the wish for more, - For evermore disease, as neighbour close - Whom but a wall divides, - Upon it presses; and man's prosperous state - *Moves on its course, and strikes - Upon an unseen rock; - But if his fear for safety of his freight, - A part, from well-poised sling, shall sacrifice, 980 - Then the whole house sinks not, - O'erfilled with wretchedness, - Nor does he swamp his boat: - So, too, abundant gift - From Zeus in bounteous fulness, and the fruit - Of glebe at harvest tide - Have caused to cease sore hunger's pestilence; - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But blood that once hath flowed - In purple stains of death upon the ground - At a man's feet, who then can bid it back - By any charm of song? - Else him who knew to call the dead to life[348] - *Zeus had not sternly checked, 990 - *As warning unto all; - But unless Fate, firm-fixed, had barred our fate - From any chance of succour from the Gods, - Then had my heart poured forth - Its thoughts, outstripping speech.[349] - But now in gloom it wails - Sore vexed, with little hope - At any time hereafter fitting end 1000 - To find, unravelling, - My soul within me burning with hot thoughts. - - _Re-enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA - - _Clytæm._ [_to_ CASSANDRA, _who has remained in the - chariot during the choral ode_] - Thou too—I mean Cassandra—go within; - Since Zeus hath made it thine, and not in wrath, - To share the lustral waters in our house, - Standing with many a slave the altar nigh - Of Zeus, who guards our goods.[350] Now get thee down - From out this car, nor look so over proud. - They say that e'en Alcmena's son endured[351] - Being sold a slave, constrained to bear the yoke: - And if the doom of this ill chance should come, - Great boon it is to meet with lords who own - Ancestral wealth. But whoso reap full crops 1010 - They never dared to hope for, these in all, - And beyond measure, to their slaves are harsh:[352] - From us thou hast what usage doth prescribe. - - _Chor._ So ends she, speaking words full clear to thee: - And seeing thou art in the toils of fate, - If thou obey, thou wilt obey; and yet, - Perchance, obey thou wilt not. - - _Clytæm._ Nay, but unless she, like a swallow, speaks - A barbarous tongue unknown, I speaking now - Within her apprehension, bid obey. 1020 - - _Chor._ [_to_ CASSANDRA, _still standing motionless_] Go with her. What - she bids is now the best; - Obey her: leave thy seat upon this car. - - _Clytæm._ I have no leisure here to stay without: - For as regards our central altar, there - The sheep stand by as victims for the fire; - For never had we hoped such thanks to give: - If thou wilt do this, make no more delay; - But if thou understandest not my words, - Then wave thy foreign hand in lieu of speech. - - [CASSANDRA _shudders as in horror, but - makes no sign_ - - _Chor._ The stranger seems a clear interpreter - To need. Her look is like a captured deer's. 1030 - - _Clytæm._ Nay, she is mad, and follows evil thoughts, - Since, leaving now her city, newly-captured, - She comes, and knows not how to take the curb, - Ere she foam out her passion in her blood. - I will not bear the shame of uttering more. [_Exit_ - - _Chor._ And I—I pity her, and will not rage: - Come, thou poor sufferer, empty leave thy car; - Yield to thy doom, and handsel now the yoke. - - [CASSANDRA _leaves the chariot, and bursts - into a cry of wailing_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Cass._ Woe! woe, and well-a-day! - Apollo! O Apollo! 1040 - - _Chor._ Why criest thou so loud on Loxias? - The wailing cry of mourner suits not him. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Cass._ Woe! woe, and well-a-day! - Apollo! O Apollo! - - _Chor._ Again with boding words she calls the God, - Though all unmeet as helper to men's groans. - - - STROPHE II - - _Cass._ Apollo! O Apollo! - God of all paths, Apollo true to me; - For still thou dost appal me and destroy.[353] - - _Chor._ She seems her own ills like to prophesy: 1050 - The God's great gift is in the slave's mind yet. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Cass._ Apollo! O Apollo! - God of all paths, Apollo true to me; - What path hast led me? To what roof hast brought? - - _Chor._ To that of the Atreidæ. This I tell, - If thou know'st not. Thou wilt not find it false. - - - STROPHE III - - _Cass._ Ah! Ah! Ah me! - Say rather to a house God hates—that knows - Murder, self-slaughter, ropes,[354] - *A human shamble, staining earth with blood. 1060 - - _Chor._ Keen scented seems this stranger, like a hound, - And sniffs to see whose murder she may find. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Cass._ Ah! Ah! Ah me! - Lo! [_looking wildly, and pointing to the house_,] there the witnesses - whose word I trust,— - Those babes who wail their death, - The roasted flesh that made a father's meal. - - _Chor._ We of a truth had heard thy seeress fame, - But prophets now are not the race we seek.[355] - - - STROPHE IV - - _Cass._ Ah me! O horror! What ill schemes she now? - What is this new great woe? 1070 - Great evil plots she in this very house, - Hard for its friends to bear, immedicable; - And help stands far aloof. - - _Chor._ These oracles of thine surpass my ken; - Those I know well. The whole town rings with them.[356] - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Cass._ Ah me! O daring one! what work'st thou here, - Who having in his bath - Tended thy spouse, thy lord, then ... How tell the rest? - For quick it comes, and hand is following hand, - Stretched out to strike the blow. 1080 - - _Chor._ Still I discern not; after words so dark - I am perplexed with thy dim oracles. - - - STROPHE V - - _Cass._ Ah, horror, horror! What is this I see? - Is it a snare of Hell? - Nay, the true net is she who shares his bed, - Who shares in working death. - Ha! let the Band insatiable in hate[357] - Howl for the race its wild exulting cry - O'er sacrifice that calls - For death by storm of stones. - - - STROPHE VI - - _Chor._ What dire Erinnys bidd'st thou o'er our house - To raise shrill cry? Thy speech but little cheers; - And to my heart there rush - Blood-drops of saffron hue,[358] 1090 - *Which, when from deadly wound - They fall, together with life's setting rays - End, as it fails, their own appointed course: - And mischief comes apace. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - _Cass._ See, see, I say, from that fell heifer there - Keep thou the bull:[359] in robes - Entangling him, she with her weapon gores - Him with the swarthy horns;[360] - Lo! in that bath with water filled he falls, - Smitten to death, and I to thee set forth - Crime of a bath of blood, - By murderous guile devised. - - - ANTISTROPHE VI - - _Chor._ I may not boast that I keen insight have - In words oracular; yet bode I ill. 1100 - What tidings good are brought - By any oracles - To mortal men? These arts, - In days of evil sore, with many words, - Do still but bring a vague, portentous fear - For men to learn and know. - - - STROPHE VII - - _Cass._ Woe, woe! for all sore ills that fall on me! - It is my grief thou speak'st of, blending it - With his.[361] [_Pausing, and then crying out_.] - Ah! wherefore then - Hast thou[362] thus brought me here, - Only to die with thee? - What other doom is mine? - - - STROPHE VIII - - _Chor._ Frenzied art thou, and by some God's might swayed, 1110 - And utterest for thyself - A melody which is no melody, - Like to that tawny one, - Insatiate in her wail, - The nightingale, who still with sorrowing soul, - And “Itys, Itys,” cry,[363] - Bemoans a life o'erflourishing in ills. - - - ANTISTROPHE VII - - _Cass._ Ah, for the doom of clear-voiced nightingale! - The Gods gave her a body bearing wings, - And life of pleasant days - With no fresh cause to weep: - But for me waiteth still - Stroke from the two-edged sword. - - - ANTISTROPHE VIII - - _Chor._ From what source hast thou these dread agonies - Sent on thee by thy God, - Yet vague and little meaning; and thy cries 1120 - Dire with ill-omened shrieks - Dost utter as a chant, - And blendest with them strains of shrillest grief? - Whence treadest thou this track - Of evil-boding path of prophecy? - - - STROPHE IX - - _Cass._ Woe for the marriage-ties, the marriage-ties - Of Paris that brought ruin on his friends! - Woe for my native stream, - Scamandros, that I loved! - Once on thy banks my maiden youth was reared, - (Ah, miserable me!) - Now by Cokytos and by Acheron's shores - I seem too likely soon to utter song - Of wild, prophetic speech. - - - STROPHE X - - _Chor._ What hast thou spoken now - With utterance all too clear? - *Even a boy its gist might understand; - I to the quick am pierced - With throe of deadly pain, - Whilst thou thy moaning cries art uttering - Over thy sore mischance, - Wondrous for me to hear. - - - ANTISTROPHE IX - - _Cass._ Woe for the toil and trouble, toil and trouble - Of city that is utterly destroyed! - Woe for the victims slain - Of herds that roamed the fields, 1140 - My father's sacrifice to save his towers! - No healing charm they brought - To save the city from its present doom: - And I with hot thoughts wild myself shall cast - Full soon upon the ground. - - - ANTISTROPHE X - - _Chor._ This that thou utterest now - With all before agrees. - Some Power above dooms thee with purpose ill, - Down-swooping heavily, - To utter with thy voice - Sorrows of deepest woe, and bringing death. - And what the end shall be - Perplexes in the extreme. - - _Cass._ Nay, now no more from out of maiden veils - My oracle shall glance, like bride fresh wed;[364] 1150 - But seems as though 'twould rush with speedy gales - In full, clear brightness to the morning dawn; - So that a greater war than this shall surge - Like wave against the sunlight.[365] Now I'll teach - No more in parables. Bear witness ye, - As running with me, that I scent the track - Of evil deeds that long ago were wrought: - For never are they absent from this house, - That choral band which chants in full accord, - Yet no good music; good is not their theme. - And now, as having drunk men's blood,[366] and so - Grown wilder, bolder, see, the revelling band, 1160 - Erinnyes of the race, still haunt the halls, - Not easy to dismiss. And so they sing, - Close cleaving to the house, its primal woe,[367] - And vent their loathing in alternate strains - On marriage-bed of brother ruthless found - To that defiler. *Miss I now, or hit, - Like archer skilled? or am I seeress false, - A babbler vain that knocks at every door? - Yea, swear beforehand, ere I die, I know - (And not by rumour only) all the sins - Of ancient days that haunt and vex this house. - - _Chor._ How could an oath, how firm soe'er confirmed, - Bring aught of healing? Lo, I marvel at thee, 1170 - That thou, though born far off beyond the sea, - Should'st tell an alien city's tale as clear - As though thyself had stood by all the while. - - _Cass._ The seer Apollo set me to this task. - - _Chor._ Was he a God, so smitten with desire? - - _Cass._ There was a time when shame restrained my speech. - - _Chor._ True; they who prosper still are shy and coy. - - _Cass._ He wrestled hard, breathing hot love on me. - - _Chor._ And were ye one in act whence children spring? - - _Cass._ I promised Loxias, then I broke my vow. - - _Chor._ Wast thou e'en then possessed with arts divine? 1180 - - _Cass._ E'en then my country's woes I prophesied. - - _Chor._ How wast thou then unscathed by Loxias' wrath? - - _Cass._ I for that fault with no man gained belief. - - _Chor._ To us, at least, thou seem'st to speak the truth. - - _Cass._ [_Again speaking wildly, as in an ecstasy._] Ah, woe is me! - Woe's me! Oh, ills on ills! - Again the dread pang of true prophet's gift - With preludes of great evil dizzies me. - See ye those children sitting on the house - In fashion like to phantom forms of dreams? 1190 - Infants who perished at their own kin's hands, - Their palms filled full with meat of their own flesh, - Loom on my sight, the heart and entrails bearing, - (A sorry burden that!) on which of old - Their father fed.[368] And in revenge for this, - I say a lion, dwelling in his lair, - With not a spark of courage, stay-at-home, - Plots 'gainst my master, now he's home returned, - (Yes mine—for still I must the slave's yoke bear;) - And the ship's ruler, Ilion's conqueror, - Knows not what things the tongue of that lewd bitch - Has spoken and spun out in welcome smooth, 1200 - And, like a secret Atè, will work out - With dire success: thus 'tis she plans: the man - Is murdered by the woman. By what name - Shall I that loathèd monster rightly call? - An Amphisbæna? or a Skylla dwelling[369] - Among the rocks, the sailors' enemy? - Hades' fierce raging mother, breathing out - Against her friends a curse implacable? - Ah, how she raised her cry, (oh, daring one!) - As for the rout of battle, and she feigns - To hail with joy her husband's safe return! - And if thou dost not credit this, what then? - What will be will. Soon, present, pitying me 1210 - Thou'lt own I am too true a prophetess. - - _Chor._ Thyestes' banquet on his children's flesh - I know and shudder at, and fear o'ercomes me, - Hearing not counterfeits of fact, but truths; - Yet in the rest I hear and miss my path. - - _Cass._ I say thou'lt witness Agamemnon's death. - - _Chor._ Hush, wretched woman, close those lips of thine! - - _Cass._ For this my speech no healing God's at hand. - - _Chor._ True, if it must be; but may God avert it! 1220 - - _Cass._ Thou utterest prayers, but others murder plot. - - _Chor._ And by what man is this dire evil wrought? - - _Cass._ Sure, thou hast seen my bodings all amiss. - - _Chor._ I see not his device who works the deed. - - _Cass._ And yet I speak the Hellenic tongue right well. - - _Chor._ So does the Pythian, yet her words are hard. - - _Cass._ [_In another access of frenzy._] Ah me, this fire! - It comes upon me now! - Ah me, Apollo, wolf-slayer! woe is me! - This biped lioness who takes to bed - A wolf in absence of the noble lion, 1230 - Will slay me, wretched me. And, as one - Mixing a poisoned draught, she boasts that she - Will put my price into her cup of wrath, - Sharpening her sword to smite her spouse with death, - So paying him for bringing me. Oh, why - Do I still wear what all men flout and scorn, - My wand and seeress wreaths around my neck?[370] - Thee, ere myself I die I will destroy: [_breaks her wand_] - Perish ye thus: [_casting off her wreaths_] I soon shall follow you: - Make rich another Atè[371] in my place; - Behold Apollo's self is stripping me 1240 - Of my divining garments, and that too, - When he has seen me even in this garb - Scorned without cause among my friends and kin, - *By foes, with no diversity of mood. - Reviled as vagrant, wandering prophetess, - Poor, wretched, famished, I endured to live: - And now the Seer who me a seeress made - Hath brought me to this lot of deadly doom. - Now for my father's altar there awaits me - A butcher's block, where I am smitten down - By slaughtering stroke, and with hot gush of blood. - But the Gods will not slight us when we're dead; 1250 - Another yet shall come as champion for us, - A son who slays his mother, to avenge - His father; and the exiled wanderer - Far from his home, shall one day come again, - Upon these woes to set the coping-stone: - For the high Gods have sworn a mighty oath, - His father's fall, laid low, shall bring him back. - Why then do I thus groan in this new home,[372] - When, to begin with, Ilion's town I saw - Faring as it did fare, and they who held - That town are gone by judgment of the Gods? 1260 - I too will fare as they, and venture death: - So I these gates of Hades now address, - And pray for blow that bringeth death at once, - That so with no fierce spasm, while the blood - Flows in calm death, I then may close mine eyes. - - [_Goes towards the door of the palace_ - - _Chor._ O thou most wretched, yet again most wise: - Long hast thou spoken, lady, but if well - Thou know'st thy doom, why to the altar go'st thou, - Like heifer driven of God, so confidently?[373] 1270 - - _Cass._ For me, my friends, there is no time to 'scape.[374] - - _Chor._ Yea; but he gains in time who comes the last. - - _Cass._ The day is come: small gain for me in flight. - - _Chor._ Know then thou sufferest with a heart full brave. - - _Cass._ Such words as these the happy never hear. - - _Chor._ Yet mortal man may welcome noble death. - - _Cass._ [_Shrinking back from opening the door._] Woe's me for thee and - thy brave sons, my father![375] - - _Chor._ What cometh now? What fear oppresseth thee? - - _Cass._ [_Again going to the door and then shuddering in another burst - of frenzy._] Fie on't, fie! - - _Chor._ Whence comes this “Fie?” unless from mind that loathes? - - _Cass._ The house is tainted with the scent of death. 1280 - - _Chor._ How so? This smells of victims on the hearth. - - _Cass._ Nay, it is like the blast from out a grave. - - _Chor._ No Syrian ritual tell'st thou for our house.[376] - - _Cass._ Well then I go, and e'en within will wail - My fate and Agamemnon's. And for me, - Enough of life. Ah, friends! Ah! not for nought - I shrink in fear, as bird shrinks from the brake.[377] - When I am dead do ye this witness bear, - When in revenge for me, a woman, Death - A woman smites, and man shall fall for man 1290 - In evil wedlock wed. This friendly office, - As one about to die, I pray you do me. - - _Chor._ Thy doom foretold, poor sufferer, moves my pity. - - _Cass._ I fain would speak once more, yet not to wail - Mine own death-song; but to the Sun I pray, - To his last rays, that my avengers wreak - Upon my hated murderers judgment due - For me, who die a slave's death, easy prey. - Ah, life of man! when most it prospereth, - *It is but limned in outline;[378] and when brought - To low estate, then doth the sponge, full soaked, 1300 - Wipe out the picture with its frequent touch: - And this I count more piteous e'en than that.[379] - - [_Passes through the door into the palace_ - - _Chor._ 'Tis true of all men that they never set - A limit to good fortune; none doth say, - As bidding it depart, - *And warding it from palaces of pride, - “Enter thou here no more.” - To this our lord the Blest Ones gave to take - Priam's city; and he comes - Safe to his home and honoured by the Gods; - But if he now shall pay - The forfeit of blood-guiltiness of old, - And, dying, so work out for those who died, - By his own death another penalty, 1310 - Who then of mortal men, - Hearing such things as this, - Can boast that he was born - With fate from evil free? - - _Agam._ [_from within._] Ah, me! I am struck down with deadly stroke. - - _Chor._ Hush! who cries out with deadly stroke sore smitten? - - _Agam._ Ah me, again! struck down a second time! - - [_Dies_ - - _Chor._ By the king's groans I judge the deed is done; - But let us now confer for counsels safe.[380] - - _Chor. a._ I give you my advice to summon here, - Here to the palace, all the citizens. 1320 - - _Chor. b._ I think it best to rush at once on them, - And take them in the act with sword yet wet. - - _Chor. c._ And I too give like counsel, and I vote - For deed of some kind. 'Tis no time to pause. - - _Chor. d._ Who will see, may.—They but the prelude work - Of tyranny usurped o'er all the State. - - _Chor. e._ Yes, we are slow, but they who trample down - The thought of hesitation slumber not. - - _Chor. f._ I know not what advice to find or speak: - He who can act knows how to counsel too. 1330 - - _Chor. g._ I too think with thee; for I have no hope - With words to raise the dead again to life. - - _Chor. h._ What! Shall we drag our life on and submit - To these usurpers that defile the house? - - _Chor. i._ Nay, that we cannot bear: To die were better; - For death is gentler far than tyranny. - - _Chor. k._ Shall we upon this evidence of groans - Guess, as divining that our lord is dead? - - _Chor. l._ When we know clearly, then should we discuss: - To guess is one thing, and to know another. 1340 - - _Chor._[381] So vote I too, and on the winning side, - Taking the votes all round that we should learn - How he, the son of Atreus, fareth now. - - _Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA _from the palace, in robes with stains of blood, - followed by soldiers and attendants. The open doors show the - corpses of_ AGAMEMNON _and_ CASSANDRA, _the former lying in a - silvered bath_ - - _Clytæm._ Though many words before to suit the time - Were spoken, now I shall not be ashamed - The contrary to utter: How could one - By open show of enmity to foes - Who seemed as friends, fence in the snares of death - Too high to be o'erleapt? But as for me, - Not without forethought for this long time past, - This conflict comes to me from triumph old[382] - Of his, though slowly wrought. I stand where I 1350 - Did smite him down, with all my task well done. - So did I it, (the deed deny I not,) - That he could nor avert his doom nor flee: - I cast around him drag-net as for fish, - With not one outlet, evil wealth of robe: - And twice I smote him, and with two deep groans - He dropped his limbs: And when he thus fell down - I gave him yet a third, thank-offering true[383] - To Hades of the dark, who guards the dead. - So fallen, he gasps out his struggling soul, - And breathing forth a sharp, quick gush of blood, - He showers dark drops of gory rain on me, 1360 - Who no less joy felt in them than the corn, - When the blade bears, in glad shower given of God. - Since this is so, ye Argive elders here, - Ye, as ye will, may hail the deed, but I - Boast of it. And were't fitting now to pour - Libation o'er the dead,[384] 'twere justly done, - Yea more than justly; such a goblet full, - Of ills hath he filled up with curses dire - At home, and now has come to drain it off. - - _Chor._ We marvel at the boldness of thy tongue 1370 - Who o'er thy husband's corpse speak'st vaunt like this. - - _Clytæm._ Ye test me as a woman weak of mind; - But I with dauntless heart to you that know - Say this, and whether thou dost praise or blame, - Is all alike:—here Agamemnon lies, - My husband, now a corpse, of this right hand, - As artist just, the handiwork: so stands it. - - - STROPHE - - _Chor._ What evil thing, O Queen, or reared on earth, - Or draught from salt sea-wave 1380 - Hast thou fed on, to bring - Such incense on thyself,[385] - A people's loud-voiced curse? - 'Twas thou did'st sentence him, - 'Twas thou did'st strike him down; - But thou shall exiled be, - Hated with strong hate of the citizens. - - _Clytæm._ Ha! now on me thou lay'st the exile's doom, - My subjects' hate, and people's loud-voiced curse, - Though ne'er did'st thou oppose my husband there, - Who, with no more regard than had been due - To a brute's death, although he called his own - Full many a fleecy sheep in pastures bred, - Yet sacrificed his child, the dear-loved fruit 1390 - Of all my travail-pangs, to be a charm - Against the winds of Thrakia. Shouldst thou not - Have banished him from out this land of ours, - As meed for all his crimes? Yet hearing now - My deeds, thou art a judge full stern. But I - Tell thee to speak thy threats, as knowing well - I am prepared that thou on equal terms - Should'st rule, if thou dost conquer. But if God - Should otherwise decree, then thou shall learn, - Late though it be, the lesson to be wise. - - - ANTISTROPHE - - _Chor._ Yea, thou art stout of heart, and speak'st big words;1400 - And maddened is thy soul - As by a murderous hate; - And still upon thy brow - Is seen, not yet avenged, - The stain of blood-spot foul; - And yet it needs must be, - One day thou, reft of friends, - Shall pay the penalty of blow for blow. - - _Clytæm._ Now hear thou too my oaths of solemn dread: - By my accomplished vengeance for my child, - By Atè and Erinnys, unto whom - I slew him as a victim, I look not - That fear should come beneath this roof of mine, - So long as on my hearth Ægisthos kindles 1410 - The flaming fire, as well disposed to me - As he hath been aforetime. He to us - Is no slight shield of stoutest confidence. - There lies he, [_pointing to the corpse of_ AGAMEMNON,] one who foully - wronged his wife, - The darling of the Chryseïds at Troïa; - And there [_pointing to_ CASSANDRA] this captive slave, this auguress, - His concubine, this seeress trustworthy, - *Who shared his bed, and yet was as well known - To the sailors as their benches!... They have fared - Not otherwise than they deserved: for he - Lies as you see. And she who, like a swan,[386] - Has chanted out her last and dying song, 1420 - Lies close to him she loved, and so has brought - The zest of a new pleasure to my bed. - - - STROPHE I[387] - - _Chor._ Ah me, would death might come - Quickly, with no sharp throe of agony, - Nor long bed-ridden pain, - Bringing the endless sleep; - Since he, the watchman most benign of all, - Hath now been smitten low, - And by a woman's means hath much endured, - And at a woman's hand hath lost his life! - - - STROPHE II - - Alas! alas! O Helen, evil-souled, 1430 - Who, though but one, hast slain - Many, yea, very many lives at Troïa.[388] - · · · · · - - - STROPHE III - - *But now for blood that may not be washed out - *Thou hast to full bloom brought - *A deed of guilt for ever memorable, - For strife was in the house, - Wrought out in fullest strength, - Woe for a husband's life. - - - STROPHE IV - - _Clytæm._ Nay, pray not thou for destiny of death, - Oppressed with what thou see'st; - Nor turn thou against Helena thy wrath, 1440 - As though she murderess were, - And, though but one, had many Danaï's souls - Brought low in death, and wrought o'erwhelming woe. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ O Power that dost attack - Our palace and the two Tantalidæ,[389] - *And dost through women wield - *A might that grieves my heart![390] - And o'er the body, like a raven foul, - Against all laws of right, - *Standing, she boasteth in her pride of heart[391] - That she can chant her pæan hymn of praise. 1450 - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Clytæm._ Now thou dost guide aright thy speech and thought, - Invoking that dread Power, - *The thrice-gorged evil genius of this house; - For he it is who feeds - In the heart's depth the raging lust of blood: - Ere the old wound is healed, new bloodshed comes. - - - STROPHE V - - _Chor._ Yes, of a Power thou tell'st - *Mighty and very wrathful to this house; - Ah me! ah me! an evil tale enough 1460 - Of baleful chance of doom, - Insatiable of ill: - Yet, ah! it is through Zeus, - The all-appointing and all-working One; - For what with mortal men - Is wrought apart from Zeus? - What of all this is not by God decreed?[392] - - - STROPHE VI - - Ah me! ah me! - My king, my king, how shall I weep for thee? - What shall I speak from heart that truly loves? - And now thou liest there, breathing out thy life, 1470 - In impious deed of death, - In this fell spider's web,— - - - STROPHE VII - - (Yes, woe is me! woe, woe! - Woe for this couch of thine dishonourable!)— - Slain by a subtle death,[393] - With sword two-edged which her right hand did wield. - - - STROPHE VIII - - _Clytæm._ Thou speak'st big words, as if the deed were mine; - Yet think thou not of me, - As Agamemnon's spouse; - But in the semblance of this dead man's wife, - The old and keen Avenger of the house - Of Atreus, that cruel banqueter of old, - Hath wrought out vengeance full - On him who lieth here, 1480 - And full-grown victim slain - Over the younger victims of the past.[394] - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - _Chor._ That thou art guiltless found - Of this foul murder who will witness bear? - How can it be so, how? And yet, perchance, - As helper to the deed, - Might come the avenging Fiend - Of that ancestral time; - And in this rush of murders of near kin - Dark Ares presses on, - Where he will vengeance work - For clotted gore of children slain as food. 1490 - - - ANTISTROPHE VI - - Ah me! ah me! - My king, my king, how shall I weep for thee? - What shall I speak from heart that truly loves? - And now thou liest there, breathing out thy life, - In impious deed of death, - In this fell spider's web,— - - - ANTISTROPHE VII - - (Yes, woe is me! woe, woe! - Woe for this couch of thine dishonourable!)— - Slain by a subtle death, - With sword two-edged which her right hand did wield. - - - ANTISTROPHE VIII - - _Clytæm._ Nay, not dishonourable - His death doth seem to me: - Did he not work a doom, - In this our house with guile?[395] 1500 - Mine own dear child, begotten of this man, - Iphigeneia, wept with many a tear, - He slew; now slain himself in recompense, - Let him not boast in Hell, - Since he the forfeit pays, - Pierced by the sword in death, - For all the evil that his hand began. - - - STROPHE IX - - _Chor._ I stand perplexed in soul, deprived of power - Of quick and ready thought, - Where now to turn, since thus 1510 - Our home is falling low. - I shrink in fear from the fierce pelting storm - Of blood that shakes the basement of the house: - No more it rains in drops: - And for another deed of mischief dire, - Fate whets the righteous doom - On other whetstones still. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - O Earth! O Earth! Oh, would thou had'st received me, - Ere I saw him on couch - Of bath with silvered walls thus stretched in death! - Who now will bury him, who wail? Wilt thou, - When thou hast slain thy husband, have the heart 1520 - To mourn his death, and for thy monstrous deeds - Do graceless grace? And who will chant the dirge - With tears in truth of heart, - Over our godlike chief? - - - STROPHE X - - _Clytæm._ It is not thine to speak; - 'Twas at our hands he fell, - Yea, he fell low in death, - And we will bury him, 1530 - Not with the bitter tears of those who weep - As inmates of the house; - But she, his child, Iphigeneia, there - Shall meet her father, and with greeting kind, - E'en as is fit, by that swift-flowing ford, - Dark stream of bitter woes, - Shall clasp him in her arms, - And give a daughter's kiss. - - - ANTISTROPHE IX - - _Chor._ Lo! still reproach upon reproach doth come; - Hard are these things to judge: - The spoiler still is spoiled, - The slayer pays his debt; - Yea, while Zeus liveth through the ages, this 1540 - Lives also, that the doer dree his weird; - For this is law fast fixed. - Who now can drive from out the kingly house - The brood of curses dark? - The race to Atè cleaves. - - - ANTISTROPHE X - - _Clytæm._ Yes, thou hast touched with truth - That word oracular; - But I for my part wish, - (Binding with strongest oath - The evil dæmon of the Pleisthenids,)[396] - Though hard it be to bear, - To rest content with this our present lot; - And, for the future, that he go to vex - Another race with homicidal deaths. 1550 - Lo! 'tis enough for me, - Though small my share of wealth, - At last to have freed my house - From madness that sets each man's hand 'gainst each. - - _Enter_ ÆGISTHOS - - _Ægis._ Hail, kindly light of day that vengeance brings! - Now I can say the Gods on high look down, - Avenging men, upon the woes of earth, - Since lying in the robes the Erinnyes wove - I see this man, right welcome sight to me, - Paying for deeds his father's hand had wrought. 1560 - Atreus, our country's ruler, this man's father, - Drove out my sire Thyestes, his own brother, - (To tell the whole truth,) quarrelling for rule, - An exile from his country and his home. - And coming back a suppliant on the hearth, - The poor Thyestes found a lot secure, - Nor did he, dying, stain the soil with blood, - There in his home. But this man's godless sire,[397] - Atreus, more prompt than kindly in his deeds, - On plea of keeping festal day with cheer, - To my sire banquet gave of children's flesh, 1570 - His own. The feet and finger-tips of hands - *He, sitting at the top, apart concealed; - And straight the other, in his blindness taking - The parts that could not be discerned, did eat - A meal which, as thou see'st, perdition works - For all his kin. And learning afterwards - The deed of dread, he groaned and backward fell, - Vomits the feast of blood, and imprecates - On Pelops' sons a doom intolerable, - And makes the o'erturning of the festive board, - With fullest justice, as a general curse, - That so might fall the race of Pleisthenes. 1580 - And now thou see'st how here accordingly - This man lies fallen; I, of fullest right, - The weaver of the plot of murderous doom. - For me, a babe in swaddling-clothes, he banished - With my poor father, me, his thirteenth child; - And Vengeance brought me back, of full age grown: - And e'en far off I wrought against this man, - And planned the whole scheme of this dark device. - And so e'en death were now right good for me, - Seeing him into the nets of Vengeance fallen. - - _Chor._ I honour not this arrogance in guilt, 1590 - Ægisthos. Thou confessest thou hast slain - Of thy free will our chieftain here,—that thou - Alone did'st plot this murder lamentable; - Be sure, I say, thy head shall not escape - The righteous curse a people hurls with stones. - - _Ægisth._ Dost thou say this, though seated on the bench - Of lowest oarsmen, while the upper row - Commands the ship?[398] But thou shalt find, though old, - How hard it is at such an age to learn, - When the word is, “keep temper.” But a prison - And fasting pains are admirably apt, 1600 - As prophet-healers even for old age. - Dost see, and not see this? Against the pricks - Kick not,[399] lest thou perchance should'st smart for it. - - _Chor._ Thou, thou, O Queen, when thy lord came from war, - While keeping house, thy husband's bed defiling, - Did'st scheme this death for this our hero-chief. - - _Ægisth._ These words of thine shall parents prove of tears: - But this thy tongue is Orpheus' opposite; - He with his voice led all things on for joy, - But thou, provoking with thy childish cries, - Shalt now be led; and then, being kept in check, - Thou shall appear in somewhat gentler mood. 1610 - - _Chor._ As though thou should'st o'er Argives ruler be, - Who even when thou plotted'st this man's death - Did'st lack good heart to do the deed thyself? - - _Ægisth._ E'en so; to work this fraud was clearly part - Fit for a woman. I was foe, of old - Suspected. But now will I with his wealth - See whether I his subjects may command, - And him who will not hearken I will yoke - In heavy harness as a full-fed colt, - Nowise as trace-horse;[400] but sharp hunger joined - With darksome dungeon shall behold him tamed. 1620 - - _Chor._ Why did'st not thou then, coward as thou art, - Thyself destroy him? but a woman with thee, - Pollution to our land and our land's Gods, - She slew him. Does Orestes see the light, - Perchance, that he, brought back by Fortune's grace, - May for both these prove slayer strong to smite? - - _Ægisth._ Well, since thou think'st to act, not merely talk, - Thou shall know clearly.... - - [_Calling his Guards from the palace_ - - On then, my troops, the time for deeds is come. - - _Chor._ On then, let each man grasp his sword in hand. - - _Ægisth._ With sword in hand, I too shrink not from death. 1630 - - _Chor._ Thou talkest of thy death; we hail the word; - And make our own the fortune it implies. - - _Clytæm._ Nay, let us not do other evil deeds, - Thou dearest of all friends. An ill-starred harvest - It is to have reaped so many. Enough of woe: - Let no more blood be shed: Go thou—[_to the Chorus_]—go ye, - Ye aged sires, to your allotted homes, - Ere ye do aught amiss and dree your weird: - *This that we have done ought to have sufficed; - But should it prove we've had enough of ills, - We will accept it gladly, stricken low - In evil doom by heavy hand of God. - This is a woman's counsel, if there be - That deigns to hear it. - - _Ægisth._ But that these should fling - The blossoms of their idle speech at me, 1640 - And utter words like these, so tempting Fate, - And fail of counsel wise, and flout their master...! - - _Chor._ It suits not Argives on the vile to fawn. - - _Ægisth._ Be sure, hereafter I will hunt thee down. - - _Chor._ Not so, if God should guide Orestes back. - - _Ægisth._ Right well I know how exiles feed on hopes. - - _Chor._ Prosper, wax fat, do foul wrong—'tis thy day. - - _Ægisth._ Know thou shalt pay full price for this thy folly. - - _Chor._ Be bold, and boast, like cock beside his mate. - - _Clytæm._ Nay, care not thou for these vain howlings; I - And thou together, ruling o'er the house, - Will settle all things rightly. [_Exeunt_ - ------ - -Footnote 271: - - The form of gambling from which the phrase is taken, had clearly - become common in Attica among the class to which the watchman was - supposed to belong, and had given rise to proverbial phrases like that - in the text. The Greeks themselves supposed it to have been invented - by the Lydians (Herod. i. 94), or Palamedes, one of the heroes of the - tale of Troïa, but it enters also into Egyptian legends (Herod. ii. - 122), and its prevalence from remote antiquity in the farther East, as - in the Indian story of Nala and Damayanti, makes it probable that it - originated there. The game was commonly played, as the phrase shows, - with three dice, the highest throw being that which gave three sixes. - Æschylos, it may be noted, appears in a lost drama, which bore the - title of _Palamedes_, to have brought the game itself into his plot. - It is referred to, as invented by that hero, in a fragment of - Sophocles (_Fr._ 380), and again in the proverb,— - - “The dice of Zeus have ever lucky throws.”—(_Fr._ 763.) - -Footnote 272: - - Here, also, the watchman takes up another common proverbial phrase, - belonging to the same group as that of “kicking against the pricks” in - v. 1624. He has his reasons for silence, weighty as would be the tread - of an ox to close his lips. - -Footnote 273: - - The vultures stand, _i.e._, to the rulers of Heaven, in the same - relation as the foreign sojourners in Athens, the _Metoics_, did to - the citizens under whose protection they placed themselves. - -Footnote 274: - - Alexandros, the other name of Paris, the seducer of Helen. - -Footnote 275: - - The words, perhaps, refer to the grief of Menelaos, as leading him to - neglect the wonted sacrifices to Zeus, but it seems better to see in - them a reference to the sin of Paris. He, at least, who had carried - off his host's wife, had not offered acceptable sacrifices, had - neglected all sacrifices to Zeus Xenios, the God of host and guest. - The allusion to the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, which some (Donaldson and - Paley) have found here, and the wrath of Clytæmnestra, which Agamemnon - will fail to soothe, seems more far-fetched. - -Footnote 276: - - An allusion, such as the audience would catch and delight in, to the - well-known enigma of the Sphinx. See Sophocles (_Trans._), p. 1. - -Footnote 277: - - The Chorus, though too old to take part in the expedition, are yet - able to tell both of what passed as the expedition started, and of the - terrible fulfilment of the omens which they had seen. The two eagles - are, of course, in the symbolism of prophecy, the two chieftains, - Menelaos and Agamemnon. The “white feathers” of the one may point to - the less heroic character of Menelaos: so in v. 123, they are of - “diverse mood.” The hare whom they devour is, in the first instance, - Troïa, and so far the omen is good, portending the success of the - expedition; but, as Artemis hates the fierceness of the eagles, so - there is, in the eyes of the seer, a dark token of danger from her - wrath against the Atreidæ. Either their victory will be sullied by - cruelty which will bring down vengeance, or else there is some secret - sin in the past which must be atoned for by a terrible sacrifice. In - the legend followed by Sophocles (_Electr._ 566), Agamemnon had - offended Artemis by slaying a doe sacred to her, as he was hunting. In - the manifold meanings of such omens there is, probably, a latent - suggestion of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia by the two chieftains, - though this was at the time hidden from the seer. The fact that they - are seen on the right, not on the left hand, was itself ominous of - good. - -Footnote 278: - - The song of Linos, originally the dirge with which men mourned for the - death of Linos, the minstrel-son of Apollo and Urania, brother of - Orpheus, who was slain by Heracles—a type, like Thammuz and Adonis, of - life prematurely closed and bright hopes never to be fulfilled,—had - come to be the representative of all songs of mourning. So Hesiod (in - Eustath. on Hom. _Il._, vii. 569) speaks of the name, as applied to - all funeral dirges over poets and minstrels. So Herodotos (ii. 79) - compares it, as the type of this kind of music among the Greeks, with - what he found in Egypt connected with the name of Maneros, the only - son of the first king of Egypt, who died in the bloom of youth. The - name had, therefore, as definite a connotation for a Greek audience as - the words _Miserere_ or _Jubilate_ would have for us, and ought not, I - believe, to disappear from the translation. - -Footnote 279: - - The comparison of a lion's whelps to dew-drops, bold as the figure is, - has something in it analogous to that with which we are more familiar, - describing the children, or the army of a king, as the “dew” from “the - womb of the morning” (Ps. cx. 3). - -Footnote 280: - - The sacrifice, _i.e._, was to be such as could not, according to the - customary ritual, form a feast for the worshippers. - -Footnote 281: - - The dark words look at once before and after, back to the murder of - the sons of Thyestes, forward, though of this the seer knew not, to - the sacrifice of Iphigeneia. Clytæmnestra is the embodiment of the - Vengeance of which the Chorus speaks. - -Footnote 282: - - As a part of the drama the whole passage that follows is an assertion - by the Chorus that in this their trouble they will turn to no other - God, invoke no other name, but that of the Supreme Zeus. But it can - hardly be doubted that they have a meaning beyond this, and are the - utterance by the poet of his own theology. In the second part of the - Promethean trilogy (all that we now know of it) he had represented - Zeus as ruling in the might of despotic sovereignty, the - representative of a Power which men could not resist, but also could - not love, inflicting needless sufferings on the sons of men. Now he - has grown wiser. The sovereignty of Zeus is accepted as part of the - present order of the world; trust in Him brings peace; the pain which - He permits is the one only way to wisdom. The stress laid upon the - name of Zeus implies a wish to cleave to the religion inherited from - the older Hellenes, as contrasted with those with which their - intercourse with the East had made the Athenians familiar. Like the - voice which came to Epimenides, as he was building a sanctuary to the - Muses, bidding him dedicate it not to them but to Zeus (Diog. Laert. - i. 10), it represents a faint approximation to a truer, more - monotheistic creed than that of the popular mythology. - -Footnote 283: - - The two mighty ones who have passed away are Uranos and Cronos, the - representatives in Greek mythology of the earlier stages of the - world's history, (1) mere material creation, (2) an ideal period of - harmony, a golden, Saturnian age, preceding the present order of - divine government with its mingled good and evil. Comp. Hesiod. - _Theogon._, 459. - -Footnote 284: - - The Chorus returns, after its deeper speculative thoughts, to its - interrupted narrative. - -Footnote 285: - - The seer saw his augury fulfilled. When he uttered the name of Artemis - it was pregnant with all the woe which he had foreboded at the outset. - -Footnote 286: - - So that the blood may fall upon the altar, as the knife was drawn - across the throat. - -Footnote 287: - - The whole passage should be compared with the magnificent description - in Lucretius i. 84-101. - -Footnote 288: - - Beautiful as a picture, and as motionless and silent also. The art, - young as it was, had already reached the stage when it supplied to the - poet an ideal standard of perfection. Other allusions to it are found - in vv. 774, 1300. - -Footnote 289: - - The words point to the ritual of Greek feasts, which assigned the - first libation to Zeus and the Olympian Gods, the second to the - Heroes, the third to Zeus in his special character as Saviour and - Preserver; the last was commonly accompanied by a pæan, hymn of - praise. The life of Agamemnon is described as one which had good cause - to offer many such libations. Iphigeneia had sung many such pæans. - -Footnote 290: - - The mythical explanation of this title for the Argive territory is - found in the _Suppl._ v. 256, and its real meaning is discussed in a - note to that passage. - -Footnote 291: - - To speak of Morning as the child of Night was, we may well believe, - among the earliest parables of nature. In its mythical form it appears - in Hesiod (_Theogon._ 123), but its traces are found wherever, as - among Hebrews, Athenians, Germans, men reckoned by nights rather than - by days, and spoke of “the evening and the morning” rather than of - “day and night.” - -Footnote 292: - - The God thought of is, as in v. 272, Hephæstos, as being Lord of the - Fire, that had brought the tidings. - -Footnote 293: - - It is not without significance that Clytæmnestra scorns the channel of - divine instruction of which the Chorus had spoken with such reverence. - The dramatist puts into her mouth the language of those who scoffed at - the notion that truth might come to the soul in “visions of the - night,” when “deep sleep falleth upon men.” So Sophocles puts like - thoughts into the mouth of Jocasta (_Œd. King_, vv. 709, 858). - -Footnote 294: - - Omens came from the flight of birds. An omen which was not - trustworthy, or belonged to some lower form of divination, might - therefore be spoken of as “wingless.” But the word may possibly be - intensive, not negative, “swift-winged,” and then refer generically to - that form of divination. - -Footnote 295: - - The description that follows, over and above its general interest, - had, probably, for an Athenian audience, that of representing the - actual succession of beacon-stations, by which they, in the course of - the wars, under Pericles, had actually received intelligence from the - coasts of Asia. A glance at the map will show the fitness of the - places named—Ida, Lemnos, Athos, Makistos (a mountain in Eubœa), - Messapion (on the coast of Bœotia), over the plains of the Asôpos to - Kithæron, in the south of the same province, then over Gorgopis, a bay - of the Corinthian Gulf, to Ægiplanctos in Megaris, then across to a - headland overlooking the Saronic Gulf, to the Arachnæan hill in - Argolis. The word “_courier_-fire” connects itself also with the - system of posts or messengers, which the Persian kings seem to have - been the first to organise, and which impressed the minds both of - Hebrews (Esth. viii. 14) and Greeks (Herod. viii. 98) by their regular - transmission of the king's edicts, or of special news. - -Footnote 296: - - Our ignorance of the details of the _Lampadephoria_, or “torch-race - games,” in honour of the fire-God, Prometheus, makes the allusion to - them somewhat obscure. As described by Pausanias (I. xxx. 2), the - runners started with lighted torches from the altar of Prometheus in - the Academeia and ran towards the city. The first who reached the goal - with his torch still burning became the winner. If all the torches - were extinguished, then all were losers. As so described, however, - there is no succession, no taking the torch from one and passing it on - to another, like that described here and in the well-known line of - Lucretius (ii. 78), - - “Et quasi cursores vitaï lampada tradunt.” - (And they, as runners, pass the torch of life.) - - On the other hand, there are descriptions which show that such a - transfer was the chief element of the game. This is, indeed, implied - both in this passage and in the comparison between the game and the - Persian courier-system in Herod. viii. 98. The two views may be - reconciled by supposing (1) that there were sets of runners, vying - with each other as such, rather than individually, or (2) that a - runner whose speed failed him though his torch kept burning, was - allowed to hand it on to another who was more likely to win the race, - but whose torch was out. The next line seems meant to indicate where - the comparison failed. In the torch-race which Clytæmnestra describes - there had been no contest. One and the self-same fire (the idea of - succession passing into that of continuity) had started and had - reached the goal, and so had won the prize. An alternative rendering - would be,— - - “He wins who is first in, though starting last.” - -Footnote 297: - - The complete foot-race was always to the column which marked the end - of the course, round it, and back again. In getting to Troïa, - therefore, but half the race was done. - -Footnote 298: - - Dramatically the words refer to the practical impiety of evildoers - like Paris, with, perhaps, a half-latent allusion to that of - Clytæmnestra. But it can hardly be doubted that for the Athenian - audience it would have a more special significance, as a protest - against the growing scepticism, what in a later age would have been - called the Epicureanism, of the age of Pericles. It is the assertion - of the belief of Æschylos in the moral government of the world. The - very vagueness of the singular, “One there was,” would lead the - hearers to think of some teacher like Anaxagoras, whom they suspected - of Atheism. - -Footnote 299: - - The Chorus sees in the overthrow of Troïa, an instance of this - righteous retribution. The audience were, perhaps, intended to think - also of the punishment which had fallen on the Persians for the - sacrilegious acts of their fathers. The “things inviolable” are the - sanctities of the ties of marriage and hospitality, both of which - Paris had set at nought. - -Footnote 300: - - Here, and again in v. 612, we have a similitude drawn from the - metallurgy of Greek artists. Good bronze, made of copper and tin, - takes the green rust which collectors prize, but when rubbed, the - brightness reappears. If zinc be substituted for tin, as in our brass, - or mixed largely with it, the surface loses its polish, oxidizes and - becomes black. It is, however, doubtful whether this combination of - metals was at the time in use, and the words may simply refer to - different degrees of excellence in bronze properly so called. - -Footnote 301: - - In a corrupt passage like this, the text of which has been so - variously restored and rendered, it may be well to give at least one - alternative version: - - “There stands she silent, with no honour met, - Nor yet with words of scorn, - Sweetest to see of all that he has lost.” - - The words, as so taken, refer to the vision of Helen, described in the - lines that follow. Another, for the line “In deepest woe,” &c., ... - would give, - - “Believing not he sees the lost one there.” - -Footnote 302: - - The art of Pheidias had already made it natural at Athens to speak of - kings as decorating their palaces with the life-size busts or statues - of those they loved. - -Footnote 303: - - Here again one may note a protest against the aggressive policy of - Pericles, an assertion of the principle that a nation should be - content with independence, without aiming at supremacy. - -Footnote 304: - - Perhaps passively, “Soon suffers trespassers.” - -Footnote 305: - - As the play opens on the morning of the day on which Troïa was taken, - and now we have the arrivals, first, of the herald, and then of - Agamemnon, after the capture has been completed, and the spoil - divided, and the fleet escaped a storm, an interval of some days must - be supposed between the two parts of the play, the imaginary law of - the unities notwithstanding. - -Footnote 306: - - The customary adornment of heralds who brought good news. Comp. - Sophocles, _Œd. K._ v. 83. The custom prevailed for many centuries, - and is recognised by Dante, _Purg._ ii. 70, as usual in his time in - Italy. - -Footnote 307: - - So in the _Seven against Thebes_ (v. 494), smoke is called “the sister - of fire.” - -Footnote 308: - - A probable reference, not only to the story, but to the actual words - of Homer, _Il._ i. 45-52. - -Footnote 309: - - Specially the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeukes. - -Footnote 310: - - Such a position (especially in the case of Zeus or Apollo) was common - in the temples both of Greece and Rome, and had a very obvious - signification. As the play was performed, the actual hour of the day - probably coincided with that required by the dramatic sequence of - events, and the statues of the Gods were so placed on the stage as to - catch the rays of the morning sun when the herald entered. Hence the - allusion to the bright “cheerful glances” would have a visible as well - as ethical fitness. - -Footnote 311: - - It formed part of the guilt of Paris, that, besides his seduction of - Helena, he had carried off part of the treasures of Menelaos. - -Footnote 312: - - The idea of a payment twofold the amount of the wrong done, as a - complete satisfaction to the sufferer, was common in the early - jurisprudence both of Greeks and Hebrews (Exod. xxii. 4-7). In some - cases it was even more, as in the four or fivefold restitution of - Exod. xxii. 1. In the grand opening of Isaiah's message of glad - tidings the fact that Jerusalem has received “double for all her sins” - is made the ground on the strength of which she may now hope for - pardon. Comp. also Isa. lxi. 7; Zech. ix. 12. - -Footnote 313: - - Perhaps— - - “Full hardly, and the close and crowded decks.” - -Footnote 314: - - So stress is laid upon this form of hardship, as rising from the - climate of Troïa, by Sophocles, _Aias_, 1206. - -Footnote 315: - - One may conjecture that here also, as with the passage describing the - succession of beacon fires (vv. 281-314), the description would have - for an Athenian audience the interest of recalling personal - reminiscences of some recent campaign in Thrakè, or on the coasts of - Asia. - -Footnote 316: - - We may, perhaps, think of the herald, as he speaks, placing some - representative trophy upon the pegs on the pedestals of the statues of - the great Gods of Hellas, whom he had invoked on his entrance. - -Footnote 317: - - Or, - - “So that to this bright morn our sons may boast, - As they o'er land and ocean take their flight, - 'The Argive host of old, who captured Troïa, - These spoils of battle to the Gods of Hellas, - Hung on their pegs, a trophy of old days.'” - -Footnote 318: - - The husband, on his departure, sealed up his special treasures. It was - the glory of the faithful wife or the trusty steward to keep these - seals unbroken. - -Footnote 319: - - There is an ambiguity, possibly an intentional one, in the comparison - which Clytæmnestra uses. If there was no such art as that of “staining - bronze” (or copper) known at the time, the words would be a natural - phrase enough to describe what was represented as an impossibility. - Later on in the history of art, however, as in the time of Plutarch, a - process so described (perhaps analogous to enamelling) is mentioned - (_De Pyth. Orac_. § 2) as common. If we suppose the art to have been a - mystery known to the few, but not to the many, in the time of - Æschylos, then the words would have for the hearers the point of a - _double entendre_. She seems to the mass to disclaim what yet, to - those in the secret she acknowledges. - - Another rendering refers “bronze” to the “sword,” and makes the stains - those of blood; as though she said, “I am as guiltless of adultery as - of murder,” while yet she knew that she had committed the one, and - meant to commit the other. The possibility of such a meaning is - certainly in the words, and with a sharp-witted audience catching at - ænigmas and dark sayings may have added to their suggestiveness. The - ambiguous comment of the Chorus shows that they read, as between the - lines, the shameful secret which they knew, but of which the Herald - was ignorant. - -Footnote 320: - - The last two lines are by some editors assigned to the Herald. - -Footnote 321: - - It need hardly be said that it is as difficult to render a - _paronomasia_ of this kind as it is to reproduce those, more or less - analogous, which we find in the prophets of the Old Testament (comp. - especially Micah i.); but it seems better to substitute something - which approaches, however imperfectly, to an equivalent than to - obscure the reference to the _nomen et omen_ by abandoning the attempt - to translate it. “Hell of men, and hell of ships, and hell of towers,” - has been the rendering adopted by many previous translators. The Greek - fondness for this play on names is seen in Sophocles, _Aias_, v. 401. - -Footnote 322: - - Zephyros, Boreas, and the other great winds were represented in the - _Theogony_ of Hesiod (v. 134) as the offspring of Astræos and Eôs, and - Astræos was a Titan. The west wind was, of course, favourable to Paris - as he went with Helen from Greece to Troïa. - -Footnote 323: - - Here again the translator has to meet the difficulty of a pun. As an - alternative we might take— - - “To Ilion brought, well-named, - A marriage marring all.” - -Footnote 324: - - The sons of Priam are thought of as taking part in the celebration of - Helen's marriage with Paris, and as, therefore, involving themselves - in the guilt and the penalty of his crime. - -Footnote 325: - - Here, too, it may be well to give an alternative rendering— - - “A mischief in his house, - A man reared, not on milk.” - - Home-reared lions seem to have been common as pets, both among Greeks - and Latins (Arist., _Hist. Anim._ ix. 31; Plutarch, _de Cohib. irâ_, § - 14, p. 822), sometimes, as in Martial's Epigram, ii. 25, with fatal - consequences. The text shows the practice to have been common enough - in the time of Pericles to supply a similitude. - -Footnote 326: - - There may, possibly, be a half allusion here to the passage in the - _Iliad_ (vv. 154-160), which describes the fascination which the - beauty of Helen exercised on the Troïan elders. - -Footnote 327: - - The poet becomes a prophet, and asserts what it has been given him to - know of the righteous government of God. The dominant creed of Greece - at the time was, that the Gods were envious of man's prosperity, that - this alone, apart from moral evil, was enough to draw down their - wrath, and bring a curse upon the prosperous house. So, _e.g._, Amasis - tells Polycrates (Herod. iii. 40) that the unseen Divinity that rules - the world is envious, that power and glory are inevitably the - precursors of destruction. Comp. also the speech of Artabanos (Herod. - vii. 10, 46). Against this, in the tone of one who speaks singlehanded - for the truth, Æschylos, through the Chorus, enters his protest. - -Footnote 328: - - _Sc._, Agamemnon, by the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, had induced his - troops to persevere in an expedition from which, in their inmost - hearts, they shrank back with strong dislike. A conjectural reading - gives, - - “By the sacrifice he offered - Giving death-doomed men false boldness.” - -Footnote 329: - - The tone of ambiguous irony mingles, it will be seen, even here, with - the praises of the Chorus. - -Footnote 330: - - Possibly an allusion to Pandora's box. Here, too, Hope alone was left, - but it only came up to where the curve of the rim began, not to its - top. The imagery is drawn from the older method of voting, in which - (as in _Eumenides_, v. 678) the votes for condemnation and acquittal - were cast into separate urns. - -Footnote 331: - - The lion, as the symbol of the house of Atreus, still seen in the - sculptures of Mykenæ; the horse, in allusion to the stratagem by which - Troïa had been taken. - -Footnote 332: - - At the end of autumn, and therefore at a season when a storm like that - described by the herald would be a probable incident enough. - -Footnote 333: - - So in Sophocles, Philoctetes (v. 1025) taunts Odysseus:— - - “And yet thou sailedst with them by constraint, - By tricks fast bound.” - -Footnote 334: - - Geryon appears in the myth of Hercules as a monster with three heads - and three bodies, ruling over the island Erytheia, in the far West, - beyond Hesperia. To destroy him and seize his cattle was one of the - “twelve labours,” with which Hesiod (_Theogon._ vv. 287-294) had - already made men familiar. - -Footnote 335: - - When a man is buried, there is earth above and earth below him. - Clytæmnestra having used the words “coverlet,” pauses to make her - language accurate to the very letter. She is speaking only of the - earth which would have been laid over her husband's corpse, had he - died as often as he was reported to have done. She will not utter - anything so ominous as an allusion to the depths below him stretching - down to Hades. - -Footnote 336: - - Or— - - “Weeping because the torches in thy house - No more were lighted as they were of yore.” - -Footnote 337: - - The words touch upon the psychological fact that in dreams, as in - other abnormal states of the mind, the usual measures of time - disappear, and we seem to pass through the experiences of many years - in the slumber of a few minutes. - -Footnote 338: - - The rhetoric of the passage, with all its multiplied similitudes, fine - as it is in itself, receives its dramatic significance by being put - into the lips of Clytæmnestra. She “doth protest too much.” A true - wife would have been content with fewer words. - -Footnote 339: - - The last three lines of the speech are of course intentionally - ambiguous, carrying one meaning to the ear of Agamemnon, and another - to that of the audience. - -Footnote 340: - - There is obviously a side-thrust, such as an Athenian audience would - catch at, at the token of homage which the Persian kings required of - their subjects, the prostration at their feet, the earth spread over - with costly robes. Of the latter custom we have examples in the - history of Jehu (2 Kings ix. 13), in our Lord's entry into Jerusalem - (Mark xi. 8), in the usages of modern Persian kings (Malcolm's - _Persia_, i. 580); perhaps also in the true rendering of Ps. xlv. 14. - “She shall be brought unto the king _on_ raiment of needle-work.” In - the march of Xerxes across the Hellespont myrtle-boughs strown on the - bridge of boats took the place of robes (Herod. vii. 54). To the Greek - character, with its strong love of independence, such customs were - hateful. The case of Pausanias, who offended the national feeling by - assuming the outward state of the Persian kings, must have been - recalled to the minds of the Athenians, intentionally or otherwise, by - such a passage as this.e bridge of boats took the place of robes - (Herod. vii. 54). To - -Footnote 341: - - The “old saying, famed of many men,” which we find in the _Trachiniæ_ - of Sophocles (v. 1), and in the counsel of Solon to Crœsos (Herod. i. - 32). - -Footnote 342: - - He who had suffered so much from the wrath of Artemis at Aulis knew - what it was to rouse the wrath and jealousy of the Gods. - -Footnote 343: - - An echo of a line in Hesiod (_Works and Days_, 763)— - - “No whispered rumours which the many spread - Can ever wholly perish.” - -Footnote 344: - - Here, too, we may trace a reference to the Oriental custom of - recognising the sanctity of a consecrated place by taking the shoes - from off the feet, as in Exod. iii. 5, in the services of the - Tabernacle and Temple, through all their history (Juven., _Sat._ vi. - 159), in all mosques to the present day. Agamemnon, yielding to the - temptress, seeks to make a compromise with his conscience. He will - walk upon the tapestry, but will treat it as if it, of right, belonged - to the Gods, and were a consecrated thing. It is probably in - connection with this incident that Æschylos was said to have been the - first to bring actors on the stage in these boots or buskins (Suidas. - s. v. άρβύλη). - -Footnote 345: - - The words of Isaiah (xviii. 5), “when the sour grape is ripening in - the flower,” present an almost verbal parallel. - -Footnote 346: - - The ever-recurring ambiguity of Clytæmnestra's language is again - traceable, as is also her fondness for rhetorical similitudes. - -Footnote 347: - - The Chorus speaks in perplexity. In cannot get rid of its forebodings, - and yet it would seem as if the time for the fulfilment of the dark - words of Calchas must have passed long since. It actually sees the - safe return of the leader of the host, yet still its fears haunt it. - -Footnote 348: - - Asclepios, whom Zeus smote with his thunderbolt for having restored - Hippolytos to life. - -Footnote 349: - - The Chorus, in spite of their suspicions and forebodings, have given - the king no warning. They excuse themselves by the plea of necessity, - the sovereign decree of Zeus overruling all man's attempts to - withstand it. - -Footnote 350: - - Cassandra is summoned to an act of worship. The household is gathered, - the altar to Zeus Ktesios (the God of the family property, slaves - included), standing in the servants' hall, is ready. The new slave - must come in and take her place with the others. - -Footnote 351: - - As in the story which forms the groundwork of the _Trachiniæ_ of - Sophocles, vv. 250-280, that Heracles had been sold to Omphale as a - slave, in penalty for the murder of Iphitos. - -Footnote 352: - - Political as well as dramatic. The Eupatrid poet appeals to public - opinion against the _nouveaux riches_, the tanners and lamp-makers, - who were already beginning to push themselves forward towards - prominence and power. The way was thus prepared in the first play of - the Trilogy for what is known to have been the main object of the - last. Comp. Arist., _Rhet._ ii. 32. - -Footnote 353: - - Here again the translator has the task of finding an English - _paronomasia_ which approximates to that of the Greek, between Apollo - and ἀπόλλων _the destroyer_. To Apollo, as the God of paths - (_Aguieus_), an altar stood, column-fashion, before the street-door of - every house, and to such an altar, placed by the door of Agamemnon's - palace, Cassandra turns, with the twofold play upon the name. - -Footnote 354: - - This refers, probably, to the death of Hippodameia, the wife of - Pelops, who killed herself, in remorse for the death of Chrysippos, or - fear of her husband's anger. The horrors of the royal house of Argos - pass, one by one, before the vision of the prophetess, and this leads - the procession, followed by the spectres of the murdered children of - Thyestes. - -Footnote 355: - - The Chorus, as in their last ode, had made up their minds, though - foreboding ill, to let destiny take its course. They do not wish that - policy of non-interference to be changed by any too clear vision of - the future. - -Footnote 356: - - The Chorus understands the vision of the _clairvoyante_ as regards the - past tragedy of the house of Atreus, but not that which seems to - portend another actually imminent. - -Footnote 357: - - Fresh visions come before the eyes of the seeress. She beholds the - company of Erinnyes hovering over the accursed house, and calls on - them to continue their work till the new crime has met with its due - punishment. The murder which she sees as if already wrought, demands - death by stoning. - -Footnote 358: - - The “yellow” look of fear is thought of as being caused by an actual - change in the colour of the blood as it flows through the veins to the - heart. - -Footnote 359: - - Here there is prevision as well as clairvoyance. The deed is not yet - done. The sacrifice and the feast are still going on, yet she sees the - crime in all its circumstances. - -Footnote 360: - - As before (v. 115) the black eagle had been the symbol of the - warrior-chief, so here the black-horned bull, that being one of the - notes of the best breed of cattle. A various reading gives “with _her_ - swarthy horn.” - -Footnote 361: - - What the Chorus had just said as to the fruitlessness of prophetic - insight tallied all too well with her own bitter experience. - -Footnote 362: - - The ecstasy of horror interrupts the tenor of her speech, and the - second “thou” is addressed not to the Chorus, but to Agamemnon, whose - death Cassandra has just witnessed in her vision. - -Footnote 363: - - The song of the nightingale, represented by these sounds, was - connected with a long legend, specially Attic in its origin. - Philomela, daughter of Pandion, king of Attica, suffered outrage at - the hands of Tereus, who was married to her sister Procne, and was - then changed into a nightingale, destined ever to lament over the fate - of Itys her sister's son. The earliest form of the story appears in - the _Odyssey_ (xix. 518). Comp. Sophocles, _Electr._ v. 148. - -Footnote 364: - - In the marriage-rites of the Greeks of the time of Æschylos, the bride - for three days after the wedding wore her veil; then, as now no longer - shrinking from her matron life, she laid it aside and looked on her - husband with unveiled face. - -Footnote 365: - - The picture might be drawn by any artist of power, but we may, - perhaps, trace a reproduction of one of the grandest passages in the - _Iliad_ (iv. 422-426). - -Footnote 366: - - So in the _Eumenides_ (v. 293), the Erinnyes appear as vampires, - drinking the blood of their victims. - -Footnote 367: - - The death of Myrtilos as the first crime in the long history of the - house of Pelops. Comp. Soth. _Electr._ v. 470. The “defiler” is - Thyestes, who seduced Aerope, the wife of Atreus. - -Footnote 368: - - The horror of the Thyestes banquet again haunts her as the source of - all the evils that followed, of the deaths both of Iphigenia and - Agamemnon. The “stay-at-home” is Ægisthos. - -Footnote 369: - - Both words point to the Sindbad-like stories of distant marvels - brought back by Greek sailors. The Amphisbæna (double-goer), wriggling - itself backward and forward, believed to have a head at each - extremity, was looked upon as at once the most subtle and the most - venomous of serpents. Skylla, already famous in its mythical form from - the story in the _Odyssey_ (xii. 85-100), was probably a “development” - of the monstrous cuttle-fish of the straits of Messina. - -Footnote 370: - - As in Homer (_Il._ i. 14) so here, the servant of Apollo bears the - wand of augury, and fillets or wreaths round head and arms. The - divining garments, in like manner, were of white linen. - -Footnote 371: - - If we adopt this reading, we must think of Cassandra as identifying - herself with the woe (Atè) which makes up her life, just as afterwards - Clytæmnestra speaks of herself as one with the avenging Demon - (Alastor) of the house of Atreus (1473). The alternative reading - gives— - - “Make rich in woe another in my place.” - -Footnote 372: - - Perhaps, “in home not mine.” - -Footnote 373: - - When the victim, instead of shrinking and struggling, went, as with - good courage, to the altar, it was noted as a sign of divine impulse. - Such a strange, new courage the Chorus notices in Cassandra. - -Footnote 374: - - Possibly, - - “My one escape, my friends, is but delay.” - -Footnote 375: - - The implied thoughts of the words is that Priam and his sons, though - they had died nobly, were yet miserable, and not happy. - -Footnote 376: - - The Syrian ritual had, it would seem, become proverbial for its lavish - use of frankincense and other spices. - -Footnote 377: - - The close parallel of Shakespeare's _Henry VI._, Act. v. sc. 6, is - worth quoting— - - “The bird that hath been limed in a bush, - With trembling eyes misdoubteth every bush” - -Footnote 378: - - The older reading gives— - - “A shadow might o'erturn it.” - -Footnote 379: - - Her own doom, hard as it was, touches her less than the common lot of - human suffering and mutability. - -Footnote 380: - - So far the dialogue has been sustained by the Coryphæos, or leader of - the Chorus. Now each member of it speaks and gives his counsel. - -Footnote 381: - - The Coryphæos again takes up his part, sums up, and pronounces his - decision. - -Footnote 382: - - _i.e._, He had had his triumph over her when, forgetful of her - mother's feelings, he had sacrificed Iphigeneia. She has now repaid - him to the full. - -Footnote 383: - - The third libation at all feasts was to Zeus, as the Preserver or - Guardian Deity. Clytæmnestra boasts that her third blow was as an - offering to a God of other kind, to Him who had in his keeping not the - living, but the dead. - -Footnote 384: - - So in the _Choëphori_ (vv. 351, 476), the custom of pouring libations - on the burial-place of the dead is recognised as an element of their - blessedness or shame in Hades, and Agamemnon is represented as lacking - the honour which comes from them till he receives it at the hand of - Orestes. - -Footnote 385: - - Incense was placed on the head of the victim. The Chorus tell - Clytæmnestra that she has brought upon her own head the incense, not - of praise and admiration, but of hatred and wrath, as though some - poison had driven her mad. - -Footnote 386: - - The species of swan referred to is said to be the _Cygnus Musicus_. - Aristotle (_Hist. Anim._ ix. 12) describes swans of some kind as - having been heard by sailors near the coast of Libya, “singing with a - lamentable cry.” Mrs. Somerville (_Phys. Geog._, c. xxxiii. 3) - describes their note as “like that of a violin.” The same fact is - reported of the swans of Iceland and other regions of the far North. - The strange, tender beauty of the passage in the _Phædo_ of Plato (p. - 85, a), which speaks of them as singing when at the point of death, - has done more than anything else to make the illustration one of the - commonplaces of rhetoric and poetry. - -Footnote 387: - - The structure of the lyrical dialogue that follows is rather - complicated, and different editors have adopted different - arrangements. I have followed Paley's. - -Footnote 388: - - Several lines seem to have dropped out by some accident of - transcription. - -Footnote 389: - - Agamemnon and Menelaos, as descended from Tantalos, the father of - Pelops. - -Footnote 390: - - In each case women, Helen and Clytæmnestra, had been the unconscious - instruments of the divine Nemesis, to which the Chorus traces the ruin - of the house of Atreus. - -Footnote 391: - - Or, with another reading,— - - “He (_sc._ the avenging Demon) boasteth in his pride of heart.” - -Footnote 392: - - It is characteristic of the teaching of Æschylos that the Chorus - passes from the thought of the agency of any lower Power to the - supreme will of Zeus. - -Footnote 393: - - Or, “Dying, as dies a slave.” - -Footnote 394: - - Clytæmnestra still harps (though in ambiguous words, which may refer - also to the murder of the children of Thyestes) upon the death of - Iphigeneia as the crime which it had been her work to avenge. - -Footnote 395: - - Perhaps, “And that, too, not a slave's.” - -Footnote 396: - - Here the genealogy is carried one step further to Pleisthenes, the - father of Tantalos. - -Footnote 397: - - Ægisthos, in his version of the story, suppresses the adultery of - Thyestes with the wife of Atreus, which led the latter to his horrible - revenge. - -Footnote 398: - - The image is taken from the trireme with its three benches full of - rowers. The Chorus is compared to the men on the lowest, Ægisthos and - Clytæmnestra to those on the uppermost bench. - -Footnote 399: - - The earliest occurrence of the proverb with which we are familiar - through the history of St. Paul's conversion, Acts ix. 5, xxvi. 14. - -Footnote 400: - - The trace-horse, as not under the pressure of the collar, was taken as - the type of free, those that wore the yoke, of enforced submission. - - - - - THE LIBATION-POURERS - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - ORESTES - CLYTÆMNESTRA - PYLADES - ELECTRA - ÆGISTHOS - _Nurse_ - _Servant_ - _Chorus of Captive Women_ - - -_ARGUMENT.—It came to pass, after Agamemnon had been slain, that -Clytæmnestra and Ægisthos ruled in Argos, and all things seemed to go -well with them. Orestes, who was heir to Agamemnon, they had sent away -to the care of Strophios of Phokis, and there he abode. Electra, his -sister, mourned in secret over her father's death, and prayed for -vengeance, but no avenger came. And when Orestes grew up to man's -estate, he went to ask counsel of the God at Delphi, and the Gods -straitly charged him to take vengeance on his father's murderers; and so -he started on his journey with his trusty friend Pylades, and arrived at -Argos. And it chanced that a little while before he came, the Gods sent -Clytæmnestra a fearful dream, that troubled her soul greatly; and in her -terror she bade Electra go with her handmaids to pour libations on the -tomb of Agamemnon, that so she might appease his soul, and propitiate -the Powers that rule over the dark world of the dead._ - - - - - THE LIBATION-POURERS - - - SCENE.—Argos, _in front of the palace of the Atreidæ. The tomb of_ - AGAMEMNON _(a raised mound of earth) is seen in the background._ - - _Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES _from the left;_ ORESTES _advances to - the mound, and, as he speaks, lays on it a lock of his hair._ - - _Orest._ O Hermes of the darkness 'neath the earth, - Who hast the charge of all thy Father's[401] sway, - To me who pray deliverer, helper be; - For I to this land come, from exile come, - And on the raised mound of this monument - I bid my father hear and list. One tress, - Thank-offering for the gifts that fed my youth, - To Inachos I consecrate, and this - The second as the token of my grief;[402] - For mine it was not, father, being by, - Over thy death to groan, nor yet to stretch - My hand forth for the burial of thy corpse. - - [_As he speaks_, ELECTRA, _followed by a train of - captive women in black garments, bearing libations, - wailing and tearing their clothes, comes - forth from the palace_ - - What see I now? What company of women - Is this that comes in mourning garb attired? - What chance shall I conjecture as its cause? 10 - Does a new sorrow fall upon this house? - Or am I right in guessing that they bring - Libations to my father, soothing gifts - To those beneath? It cannot but be so. - I think Electra, mine own sister, comes, - By wailing grief conspicuous. Thou, O Zeus, - Grant me full vengeance for my father's death, - And of thine own good will my helper be! - Come, Pylades, and let us stand aside, - That I may clearly learn what means this train - Of women offering prayers. 20 - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Sent from the house I come, - With quick, sharp beatings of the hands in grief, - To pour libations here; - *And see, my cheeks with bloody marks are tracked,[403] - The new-cut furrows which my nails have made, - And evermore my heart is fed with groans; - And folds of mantles tied - Across the breast are rent - To shreds and rags in grief, - *Marring the grace of linen vestments fair, - *Since we by woes that shut out smiles are smitten. 30 - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - *Full clear a spectre came - That made each single hair to stand on end, - Dream-prophet of this house, - That e'en in sleep breathes out avenging wrath; - And from the secret chamber cried in fear - A cry that broke the silence of the night, - There, where the women dwell, - Falling with heaviest weight; - And those who judge such dreams - Told, calling God to witness, that the souls - Below were wroth and vexed with those that slew them. 40 - - - STROPHE II - - On such a graceless deed of grace, as charm - To ward off ill, (O Earth! O mother kind!) - A godless woman now - Sends me with eager heart; - And yet I dread to utter that same prayer; - What ransom has been found - For blood on earth once poured? - Oh! hearth all miserable! - Oh! utter overthrow of house and home! - Yea, mists of darkness, sunless, loathed of men, 50 - Cover both home and house - With its lords' bloody deaths. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Yea, all the majesty that awed of old, - Unchecked, unconquered, irresistible, - Thrilling the people's heart - As well as ears, is gone; - There are, may be, that fear;[404] but now Success - Is man's sole God and more; - Yet stroke of Vengeance swift - Smites some in life's clear day, - For some who tarry long their sorrows wait - In twilight dim, on darkness' borderland, - *And some an endless night - Of nothingness holds fast. - - - STROPHE III - - Because of blood that mother earth has drunk, - The guilt of slaughter that will vengeance work - Is fixed indelibly; - And Atè, working grief, 60 - Permits awhile the guilty one to wait, - That so he may be full and overflow - *With all-devouring ill. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - For him whose foul touch stains the marriage bed[405] - No remedy avails; and water-streams, - Though all as from one source - Should pour to cleanse the guilt - *Of murder that the sin-stained hand defiles, - *Would yet flow all in vain - *That guilt to purify. - - - EPODE - - But now to me, since the high Gods have sent - A doom of bondage round my city's walls, - (For from my father's home - They have brought on me fate of slavery,) - Deeds right and wrong alike - Have been as things 'twas meet I should accept, 70 - Since this slave-life began, - Where deeds are done by violence and force,— - And I must needs suppress - *The bitter loathing of my inmost heart, - *And now beneath my cloak I weep and wail - *For all the frustrate fortunes of my lords,[406] - Chilled through with secret grief. - - _Elect._ Ye handmaids, ye who deftly tend this house, - Since ye are here companions in my task - As suppliants, give me your advice in this, - What shall I say as these funereal gifts - I pour? How shall I speak acceptably? 80 - How to my father pray? What? Shall I say - “I bring from loving wife to husband loved - Gifts”—from my mother? No, I am not bold - Enough for that, nor know I what to speak, - Pouring this chrism on my father's tomb,[407] - Or shall I say this prayer, as men are wont, - “Good recompense make thou to those who bring - These garlands,” yea, a gift full well deserved - By deeds of ill? Or dumb, with ignominy - Like that with which he perished, shall I pour - Libations on the earth, and like a man - That flings away the lustral filth, shall I - Throw down the urn and walk with eyes not turned?[408] 90 - Be sharers in my counsels, O my friends; - A common hate we cherish in the house; - Hide nothing in your heart through fear of man. - Fate's doom firm-fixed awaits alike the free, - And those in bondage to another's hand. - Speak, if thou can'st a better counsel give. 100 - - _Chor._ [_laying their hands on Agamemnon's tomb._] Thy father's tomb - as altar honouring, - I, as thou bidd'st, will speak my heart-thoughts out! - - _Elect._ Speak, then, as thou my father's tomb dost honour, - - _Chor._ Say, as thou pour'st, good words for those that love, - - _Elect._ Which of my friends shall I address as such! - - _Chor._ First then thyself, and whoso hates Ægisthos. - - _Elect._ Shall I for thee, as for myself, pray thus? - - _Chor._ Now that thou'rt learning, judge of that thyself. - - _Elect._ Whom shall I add then to this company? - - _Chor._ Far though Orestes be, forget him not. - - _Elect._ Right well is this: thou teachest admirably. - - _Chor._ Then, for the blood-stained ones remembering say.... - - _Elect._ What then? Explain, and teach my ignorance.[409] 110 - - _Chor._ That there may come to them some God or man.... - - _Elect._ Shall I “as judge” or as “avenger” say? - - _Chor._ Say it out plain! “to give them death for death.”... - - _Elect._ May prayers like these consist with piety? - - _Chor._ Why not,—a foe with evils to requite? - - _Elect._ [_moving to the tomb, and pouring libations as she speaks._] - *O mightiest herald of the Gods on high - And those below, O Hermes of the dark, - Call thou the Powers beneath, and bid them hear - The prayers that look towards my father's house; - And Earth herself, who all things bringeth forth, 120 - And rears them and again receives their fruit. - And I to human souls libations pouring, - Say, calling on my father, “Pity me; - How shall we bring our dear Orestes home?” - For now as sold to ill by her who bore us, - We poor ones wander. She as husband gained - Ægisthos, who was partner in thy death; - And I am as a slave, and from his wealth - Orestes now is banished, and they wax - Full haughty in the wealth thy toil had gained. 130 - And that Orestes hither with good luck - May come, I pray. Hear thou that prayer, my father! - And to myself grant thou that I may be - Than that my mother wiser far of heart, - Holier in act. For us this prayer I pour; - And for our foes, my father, this I pray, - That Justice may as thine avenger come, - And that thy murderers perish. Thus I place - Midway in prayer for good that now I speak, - My prayer 'gainst them for evil. Be thou then - The escort[410] of these good things that I ask, 140 - With help of Gods, and Earth, and conquering Justice. - With prayers like these my votive gifts I pour; - And as for you [_turning to the Chorus_] 'tis meet with cries to crown - The pæan ye utter, wailing for the dead. - - - STROPHE - - _Chor._ *Pour ye the pattering tear, - *Falling for fallen lord, - *Here by the tomb that shuts out good and ill,— - Here, where the full libations have been poured - That turn aside the curse men deprecate, - Hear me, O Thou my Dread, 150 - Hear thou, O Sire, the words my dark mind speaks! - - - ANTISTROPHE - - Oh, woe is me, woe, woe! - Woe, woe, and woe is me! - *What warrior strong of spear - Shall come the house to free, - Or Ares with his Skythian bow[411] in hand, - Shaking its pliant strength in deeds of war, - *Or guiding in encounter closer yet - The weapons made with hilts? - - [_During the choral ode_ ELECTRA, _after going to the - mound, and pouring the libations on it, returns - holding in her hands the lock of hair which_ - ORESTES _had left there_ - - _Elect._ The gifts the earth hath drunk, my father hath them: - Now this new wonder come and share with me. - - _Chor._ Speak on, my heart goes pit-a-pat with fear. - - _Elect._ There on the tomb I see this lock cut off. 160 - - _Chor._ What man or maid low-girdled can it claim? - - _Elect._ Full easy this for any one to guess. - - _Chor._ Old as I am, may I from younger learn? - - _Elect._ None but myself could cut off lock like this. - - _Chor._ Yea, foes are they that should with grief-locks mourn. - - _Elect._ Yes, surely, 'tis indeed the self-same hair.... - - _Chor._ But as what tresses? This I seek to know. - - _Elect._ And of a truth 'tis very like to ours.... - - _Chor._ Did then Orestes send this secret gift?[412] - - _Elect._ It is most like those flowing locks of his. 170 - - _Chor._ Yet how had he adventured to come hither? - - _Elect._ He to his father sent the lock as gift. - - _Chor._ Not less regretful than before, thy words, - If on this soil his foot shall never tread. - - _Elect._ Yea, on me too there rushed heart-surge of gall - And I was smitten as with dart that pierced; - And from mine eyes there fell the thirsty drops - That pour unchecked, of this full bitter flood, - As I this lock beheld. How can I think - That any other townsman owns this hair? 180 - Nay, she who slew ... she did not cut it off, - My mother ... who towards her children shows - A godless mood that little suits the name; - And yet that I should this assert outright, - The precious gift is his whom most of men - I love, Orestes.... Nay, hope flatters me. - Alas! alas! - Would, herald-like, it had a kindly voice! - So should I not turn to and fro in doubt; - But either it had told me with all clearness - To loathe this tress, if cut from hated head; 190 - Or, being of kin, had sought to share my grief, - To deck the tomb and do my father honour. - - _Chor._ Well, on the Gods we call, on those who know - In what storms we, like sailors, now are tossed: - But if deliverance may indeed be ours, - From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.[413] - - _Elect._ Here too are foot-prints as a second proof, - Just like ... yea, close resembling those of mine. - For here are outlines of two separate feet, - His own and those of fellow-traveller, 200 - And all the heels and impress of the feet, - When measured, fit well with my footsteps here.... - Pangs come on me, and sore bewilderment. - - [_As she ceases speaking_ ORESTES _comes forward - from his concealment_ - - _Orest._ Pray, uttering to the Gods no fruitless prayer, - For good success in what is yet to come. - - _Elect._ What profits now to me the Gods' good will? - - _Orest._ Thou see'st those here whom most thou did'st desire. - - _Elect._ Whom called I on, that thou hast knowledge of? - - _Orest._ Right well I know how thou dost prize Orestes. - - _Elect._ In what then find I now my prayers fulfilled? 210 - - _Orest._ Behold me! Seek no dearer friend than I! - - _Elect._ Nay, stranger, dost thou weave a snare for me? - - _Orest._ Then do I plot my schemes against myself. - - _Elect._ Thou seekest to make merry with my grief. - - _Orest._ With mine then also, if at all with thine. - - _Elect._ Art thou indeed Orestes that I speak to? - - _Orest._ Though thou see'st him, thou'rt slow to learn 'tis I; - Yet when thou saw'st this lock of mourner's hair, - And did'st the foot-prints track my feet had made, - Agreeing with thine own, as brother's true, - Then did'st thou deem in hope thou looked'st on me. 220 - Fit then this lock where it was cut, and see; - See too this woven robe, thine own hands' work, - The shuttle's stroke, and forms of beasts[414] of chase. - - [ELECTRA _starts, as if about to cry aloud for joy_ - - Restrain thyself, nor lose thy head for joy: - Our nearest kin, I know, are foes to us. - - _Elect._ [_embracing_ ORESTES] Thou whom thy father's house most loves, - most prays for, - Our one sole hope, bewept with many a tear, - Of issue that shall work deliverance! - Thine own might trusting, thou thy father's house - Shall soon win back. O pleasant fourfold name! 230 - I needs must speak to thee as father dear;[415] - The love I owe my mother turns to thee, - (She with full right to me is hateful now,) - My sister's too, who ruthlessly was slain; - And thou wast ever faithful brother found, - And one whom I revered. May Might and Right, - And sovran Zeus as third, my helpers be! - - _Orest._ Zeus! Zeus! be Thou a witness of our troubles, - See the lorn brood that calls an eagle sire, - Eagle that perished in the coils and folds 240 - Of a fell viper. Now on them bereaved - Presses gaunt famine. Not as yet full-grown - Are they to bring their father's booty home. - Thus it is thine to see in me and her, - (I mean Electra) children fatherless, - Both suffering the same exile from our home. - - _Elect._ And should'st Thou havoc make of brood of sire - Who at thine altar greatly honoured Thee, - Whence wilt Thou get a festive offering - From hand as free? Nor, should'st Thou bring to nought - The eagle's nestlings, would'st thou have at hand 250 - A messenger to bear thy will to man - In signs persuasive; nor when withered up - This royal stock shall be, will it again - Wait on thine altars at high festivals: - Oh, bring it back, and then Thou too wilt raise - From low estate a lofty house, which now - Seems to have fallen, fallen utterly. - - _Chor._ Ah, children! saviours of your father's house, - Hush, hush, lest some one hear you, children dear, - And for mere talking's sake report all this - To those that rule. Ah, would I might behold them - Lie dead 'midst oozing fir-pyre blazing high![416] 260 - - _Orest._ Nay, nay, I tell you, Loxias' oracle, - In strength excelling, will not fail us now, - That bade me on this enterprise to start, - And with clear voice spake often, warning me - Of chilling pain-throes at the fevered heart, - Unless my father's murderers I should chase, - Bidding me kill them in the self-same fashion, - Stirred by the wrongs that pauperise my life, - And said that I with many a mischief ill - Should pay for that fault with mine own dear life. - For making known to men the charms earth-born 270 - *That soothe the wrathful powers,[417] he spake for us - Of ills as follows, leprous sores that creep - All o'er the flesh, and as with cruel jaws - Eat out its ancient nature, and white hairs[418] - On that foul ill to supervene: and still - He spake of other onsets of the Erinnyes, - As brought to issue from a father's blood; - For the dark weapon of the Gods below - Winged by our kindred that lie low in death, - And beg for vengeance, yea, and madness too, - And vague, dim fears at night disturb and haunt me, - *Seeing full clearly, though I move my brow[419] 280 - In the thick darkness ... and that then my frame, - Thus tortured, should be driven from the city - With brass-knobbed scourge: and that for such as I - It was not given to share the wine-cup's taste, - Nor votive stream in pure libation poured; - And that my father's wrath invisible - Would drive me from all altars, and that none - Should take me in, or lodge with me; at last, - That, loathed of all and friendless, I should die, - A wretched mummy, all my strength consumed. - Must I not trust such oracles as these? - Yea, though I trust not, must the deed be done; 290 - For many motives now in one converge,— - The God's command, great sorrow for my father; - My lack of fortune, this, too, urges me - Never to leave our noble citizens, - With noblest courage Troïa's conquerors, - To be the subjects to two women thus; - Yea, his soul is as woman's:[420] an' it be not, - He soon shall know the issue. - - _Chor._ Grant ye from Zeus, O mighty Destinies! - That so our work may end - As Justice wills, who takes our side at last; 300 - Now for the tongue of bitter hate let tongue - Of bitter hate be given. Loud and long - The voice of Vengeance claiming now her debt; - And for the murderous blow - Let him who slew with murderous blow repay. - “That the wrong-doer bear the wrong he did,” - Thrice-ancient saying of a far-off time,[421] - This speaketh as we speak. - - - STROPHE I - - _Orest._ O father, sire ill-starred, - What deed or word could I - Waft from afar to thee, - Where thy couch holds thee now, 310 - *To be a light with dark commensurate? - Alike, in either case, - The wail that tells their praise is welcome gift - To those Atreidæ, guardians of our house. - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ My child, my child, the mighty jaws of fire[422] - Bind not the mood and spirit of the dead! - But e'en when that is past he shows his wrath. - When he that dies is wailed, - The murderer stands revealed: 320 - The righteous cry for parents that begat, - To fullest utterance roused, - Searches the whole truth out. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Elect._ Hear then, O father, now - Our tearful griefs in turn; - From us thy children twain - The funeral wail ascends; - And we, as suppliants and as exiles too, - Find shelter at thy tomb. - What of all this is good, what void of ills? 330 - Is not this now a woe invincible? - - _Chor._ Yet, even yet, from evils such as these, - God, if He will, may bring more pleasant strains: - And for the dirge we utter by the tomb, - A pæan in the royal house may raise - Welcome to new-found friend. - - - STROPHE III - - _Orest._ Had'st thou beneath the walls - Of Ilion, O my sire, - Been slain by Lykian foe,[423] - Pierced through and through with spear, - Leaving high fame at home, 340 - And laying strong and sure - *Thy children's paths in life, - Then had'st thou had as thine - Far off across the sea - A mound of earth heaped high, - To all thy kith and kin endurable. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ Yea, and as friend with friends - That nobly died, he then - Had dwelt in high estate - A sovereign ruler, held - Of all in reverence, - High in their train who rule - Supreme in that dark world; 350 - For he, too, while he lived, - As monarch ruled o'er those - Whose hands the sceptre held - That mortal men obey.[424] - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Elect._ Not even 'neath the walls - Of Troïa, O my sire, - With those the spear hath slain, - Would I have had thee lie - By fair Scamandros' stream: - No, this my prayer shall be - That those who slew thee fall, - *By their own kin struck down, 360 - That one might hear far off, - Untried by woes like this, - The fate that brings inevitable death. - - _Chor._ Of blessings more than golden, O my child, - Greater than greatest fortune, or the bliss - Of those beyond the North[425] thou speakest now; - For this is in thy grasp; - But hold; e'en now this thud of double scourge[426] - Finds its way on to him; - Already these find helpers 'neath the earth, - But of those rulers whom we loathe and hate - Unholy are the hands: 370 - And children gain the day. - - - STROPHE IV - - _Elect._ Ah! this, like arrow, pierces through the ear! - O Zeus! O Zeus! who sendest from below - A woe of tardy doom - Upon the bold and subtle hands of men.... - Nay, though they parents be, - Yet all shall be fulfilled. - - - STROPHE V - - _Chor._ May it be mine to chant o'er funeral pyre - *Cry well accordant with the pine-fed blaze,[427] - When first the man is slain, - And his wife perisheth! 380 - Why should I hide what flutters round my heart? - On my heart's prow a blast blows mightily, - Keen wrath and loathing fierce. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - _Orest._ And when shall Zeus, the orphan's guardian true, - Lay to his hand and smite the guilty heads? - So may our land learn faith! - Vengeance I claim from those who did the wrong. 390 - Hear me, O Earth, and ye, - *Powers held in awe below! - - _Chor._ Yea, the law saith that gory drops once shed - Upon the ground for yet more blood should crave; - *For lo! fell slaughter on Erinnys calls, - To come from those that perished long ago, - And on one sorrow other sorrow bring. - - - STROPHE VI - - _Elect._ *Ah, ah, O Earth, and Lords of those below! - Behold, ye mighty Curses of the slain, - Behold the remnant of the Atreidæ's house - Brought to extremest strait, 400 - Bereaved of house and home! - Whither, O Zeus, can any turn for help? - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - _Chor._ Ah, my fond heart is quivering in dismay, - *Hearing this loud lament most lamentable: - Now have I little cheer, - And blackened is my heart, - *Hearing that speech; but then again when hope - *On strength uplifts me, far it drives my grief, - *Propitious seen at last. - - - ANTISTROPHE VI - - _Orest._ What could we speak more fitly than the woes 410 - We suffer, yea, and from a parent's hands? - Well, she may fawn; our mood remains unsoothed; - For like a wolf untamed, - We from our mother take - A wrathful soul that to no fawning yields. - - - STROPHE VII - - _Chor._ *I strike an Arian stroke, and in the strain - Of Kissian mourner skilled,[428] - Ye might have seen the stretching forth of hands, - With rendings of the hair, and random blows, - In quick succession given, - Dealt from above with arm at fullest length, - And with the beating still my head is stunned, 420 - Battered and full of woe. - - _Elect._ O mother, hostile found, and daring all! - With burial as of foe - Thou had'st the heart a ruler to inter, - His citizens not there, - A spouse unwept, with no lamentings loud. - - - STROPHE VIII - - _Orest._ Ah! thou hast told the whole full tale of shame; - Shall she not pay then for that outrage dire - Unto my father done, - So far as Gods prevail, - So far as my hands work? - May it be mine to smite her and then die! 430 - - - ANTISTROPHE VII - - _Chor._ Yea, he was maimed![429] (that thou the tale may'st know) - And as she slaughtered, so she buried him, - Seeking to work a doom - For thy young life all unendurable. - Now thou dost hear the woes - Thy father suffered, stained with foulest shame. - - - ANTISTROPHE VIII - - _Elect._ Thou tellest of my father's death, but I - Stood afar off, contemned, - Counted as nought, and like a cursèd hound - Shut up within, I poured the tide of tears - (More ready they than smiles) - Uttering in secret wail of weeping full. 440 - Hear thou these things, and write them in my mind. - - _Chor._ Let the tale pierce thine ears, - While thy soul onward moves with tranquil step: - So much, thou know'st, stands thus; - Seek thou with all desire to know the rest; - 'Tis meet to enter now - Within the lists with mind inflexible. - - - STROPHE IX - - _Orest._ I bid thee, O my father, help thy friends. - - _Elect._ Bitterly weeping, these my tears I add. - - _Chor._ With full accord so cries our company. - Come then to light, and hear; 450 - Be with us 'gainst our foes. - - - ANTISTROPHE IX - - _Orest._ My Might their Might, my Right their - Right must meet. - - _Elect._ *Ye Gods, give righteous issue in our cause. - - _Chor._ Fear creeps upon me as I hear your prayers. - Long tarries destiny, - But comes to those who pray. - - - STROPHE X - - _Semi-Chor. A._ Oh, woe that haunts the race, - And harsh, shrill stroke of Atè's bloody scourge! - Woes sad and hard to bear, 460 - Calling for wailing loud, - Ah, woe is me, a grief immedicable. - - - ANTISTROPHE X - - _Semi-Chor. B._ Yea, but as cure for this, - And healing salve,'tis yours with your own hands, - With no help from without, - *To press your suit of blood; - So runs our hymn to those great Gods below. - - _Chor._ Yea, hearing now, ye blest Ones 'neath the earth, - This prayer, send ye your children timely help - That worketh victory. - - _Orest._ O sire, who in no kingly fashion died'st, 470 - Hear thou my prayer; grant victory o'er this house. - - _Elect._ I, father, ask this prayer, that I may work - *Ægisthos' death, and then acquittal gain. - - _Orest._ Yea, thus the banquets that men give the dead - Would for thee too be held, but otherwise - *Dishonoured wilt thou lie 'mid those that feast,[430] - Robbed of thy country's rich burnt-offerings. - - _Elect._ I too from out my father's house will bring - Libations from mine own inheritance, - As marriage offerings. Chief and first of all, - Will I do honour to this sepulchre. - - _Orest._ Set free my sire, O Earth, to watch the battle. 480 - - _Elect._ O Persephassa, goodly victory grant! - - _Orest._ Remember, sire, the bath in which they slew thee! - - _Elect._ *Remember thou the net they handselled so! - - _Orest._ In fetters not of brass wast thou snared, father. - - _Elect._ Yea, basely with that mantle they devised. - - _Orest._ Art thou not roused by these reproaches, father? - - _Elect._ Dost thou not lift thine head for those thou lov'st? - - _Orest._ Or send thou Vengeance to assist thy friends; - Or let them get like grasp of those thy foes, - If thou, o'ercome, dost wish to conquer them. 490 - - _Elect._ And hear thou this last prayer of mine, my father, - Seeing us thy nestlings sitting at thy tomb, - Have mercy on thy boy and on thy girl; - Nor blot thou out the seed of Pelopids: - So thou, though thou hast died, art yet not dead; - For children are the voices that preserve - Man's memory when he dies: so bear the net - The corks that float the flax-mesh from the deep. - Hear thou: This is our wailing cry for thee, - And thou, our prayer regarding, sav'st thyself. 500 - - _Chor._ Unblamed have ye your utterance lengthened out, - Amends for that his tomb's unwept-for lot. - But as to what remains, since thou'rt resolved - To act, act now; make trial of thy Fate. - - _Orest._ So shall it be. Yet 'tis not out of course - To ask why she libations sent, why thus - Too late she cares for ill she cannot cure? - Yea, to a dead man heeding not 'twas sent, - A sorry offering. Why, I fail to guess: - The gifts are far too little for the fault; 510 - For should a man pour all he has to pay - For one small drop of blood, the toil were vain: - So runs the saying. But if thou dost know, - Tell this to me as wishing much to learn. - - _Chor._ I know, my child, for I was by. Stirred on - By dreams and wandering terrors of the night, - That godless woman these libations sent. - - _Orest._ And have ye learnt the dream, to tell it right? - - _Chor._ As she doth say, she thought she bare a snake. - - _Orest._ How ends the tale, and what its outcome then? - - _Chor._ She nursed it, like a child, in swaddling clothes. 520 - - _Orest._ What food did that young monster crave for then? - - _Chor._ She in her dream her bosom gave to it. - - _Orest._ How 'scaped her breast by that dread beast unhurt? - - _Chor._ Nay, with the milk it sucked out clots of blood. - - _Orest._ Ah, not in vain comes this dream from her lord. - - _Chor._ She, roused from sleep, cries out all terrified, - And many torches that were quenched in gloom - Blazed for our mistress' sake within the house. - Then these libations for the dead she sends, - Hoping they'll prove good medicine of ills. 530 - - _Orest._ Now to Earth here and my sire's tomb I pray - They leave not this strange vision unfulfilled. - So I expound it that it all coheres; - For if, the self-same spot that I left leaving, - *The snake was then wrapt in my swaddling clothes, - And sucked the very breast that nourished me, - And mixed the sweet milk with a clot of blood, - And she in terror wailed the strange event, - So must she, as that monster dread she nourished, - Die cruel death: and I, thus serpentised, 540 - Am here to slay her, as this dream portends; - I take thee as my dream-interpreter. - - _Chor._ So be it; but in all else guide thy friends; - *Bid some do this, some that, some nought at all. - - _Orest._ Simple my orders, that she [_pointing to_ ELECTRA] go within; - And you, I charge you, hide these plans of mine, - That they who slew a noble soul by guile, - By guile may die and in the self-same snare - Be caught, as Loxias gave his oracle, - The king Apollo, seer that never lied: 550 - For like a stranger in full harness clad - Will I draw near with this man, Pylades, - To the great gates, a stranger I, and he, - Ally in arms. And then we both will speak - Parnassian speech, and imitate the tone - Of Phokian tongue. And should no porter there - Give us good welcome, on the ground that now - The house with ills is haunted, there we'll stay, - So that a man who passeth by the house - Will guess, and thus will speak, “Why drives Ægisthos - The suppliant from his gate, if he's at home - And knows it?” But if I should pass the threshold 560 - Of the great gate, and find him seated there - Upon my father's throne, or if he comes - And meets me, face to face, and lifts his eyes, - And drops them, then be sure, before he says, - “Whence is this stranger?”—I will lay him dead, - With my swift-footed brazen weapon pierced; - And then Erinnys, stinted not in slaughter, - Shall drink her third draught of unmingled blood.[431] - Thou, then, [_to_ ELECTRA] watch well what passes in the house, 570 - So that these things may dovetail close and well: - And you [_to the Chorus_] I bid to keep a tongue discreet, - Silent, if need be, or the right word speaking, - And Him[432] [_pointing to the statue of Apollo_] I call to look upon - me here, - Since he has set me on this strife of swords. - - [_Exeunt_ ORESTES, PYLADES, _and_ ELECTRA - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Many dread forms of evils terrible - Earth bears, and Ocean's bays - With monsters wild and fierce - *O'erflow, and through mid-air the meteor lights 580 - Sweep by; and wingèd birds - And creeping things can tell the vehement rage - Of whirling storms of winds. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - But who man's temper overbold may tell, - Or daring passionate loves - Of women bold in heart, - Passions close bound with men's calamities? - Love that true love disowns, - That sways the weaker sex in brutes and men, 590 - Usurps o'er wedlock's ties. - - - STROPHE II - - Whoso is not bird-witted, let him think - What scheme she learnt to plan, - Of subtle craft that wrought its will by fire, - That wretched child of Thestios, who to slay - Her son did set a-blaze - The brand that glowed blood-red, - Which had its birth when first from out the womb - He came with infant's wail, - And spanned the measure of its life with his, 600 - On to the destined day.[433] - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Another, too, must we with loathing name, - Skylla, with blood defiled.[434] - Who for the sake of foes a dear one slew, - Won by the gold-chased bracelets brought from Crete, - The gifts that Minos gave, - And knowing not the end, - Robbed Nisos of his lock of deathless life, - She with her dog-like heart 610 - Surprising him deep-breathing in his sleep; - But Hermes comes on her.[435] - - - STROPHE III - - And since I tell the tale of ruthless woes....[436] - Yet now 'tis not the time - *To tell of evil marriage which this house - Doth loathe and execrate, - And of a woman's schemes and stratagems - Against a warrior chief, - *Chief whom his people honoured as was meet, - I give my praise to hearth from hot broils free, - And praise that woman's mood - That dares no deed of ill. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - But of all crimes the Lemnian foremost stands[437] 620 - *And the Earth mourns that woe - As worthy of all loathing. Yes, this guilt - One might have well compared - With Lemnian ills; and now that race is gone, - To lowest shame brought down - By the foul guilt the Gods abominate: - For no man honours what the Gods condemn, - Which instance of all these - Do I not rightly urge?[438] - - - STROPHE IV - - And now the sword already at the heart, - Sharp-pointed, strikes a blow that pierces through, - While Vengeance guides the hand; 630 - For lo! the lawlessness - Of one who doth transgress all lawlessly - The might and majesty of Zeus, lies not - As trampled under foot.[439] - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - The anvil-block of Vengeance firm is set, - And Fate, the swordsmith, hammers on the bronze - Beforehand; and the child - Is brought unto his home, - And in due time the debt of guilt is paid - By the dark-souled Erinnys, famed of old, - For blood of former days. - - - ORESTES _and_ PYLADES _enter, disguised as Phokian travellers, - go to the door of the palace, and knock loudly_ - - _Orest._ What ho, boy! hear us knocking at the gate. 640 - Who is within, boy? who, boy?—hear, again; - A third time now I give my summons here, - If good Ægisthos' house be hospitable. - - [_A_ SLAVE _opens the door_ - - _Slave._ Hold, hold; I hear. What stranger comes, and whence? - - _Orest._ Tell thou thy lords who over this house rule, - To whom I come and tidings new report; - And make good speed, for now the dusky car - Of night comes on apace, and it is time - For travellers in hospitable homes - To cast their anchor; and let some one come - From out the house who hath authority; 650 - The lady, if so be one ruleth here, - But, seemlier far, her lord; for then no shame - In converse makes our words obscure and dim; - But man with man gains courage to speak out, - And makes his mission manifest as day. - - _Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA - - _Clytæm._ If ye need aught, O strangers, speak; for here - Is all that's fitting for a house like ours; - Warm baths,[440] and bed that giveth rest from toil, - And presence of right honest faces too; - If there be aught that needeth counsel more, - That is men's business, and to them we'll tell it. 660 - - _Orest._ A Daulian traveller, from Phokis come, - Am I, and as I went on business bound, - My baggage with me, unto Argos, I - (Just as I set forth,) met a man I knew not, - Who knew not me, and he then, having asked - My way and told me his, the Phokian Strophios - (For so I learnt in talking) said to me, - “Since thou dost go, my friend, for Argos bound, - In any case, tell those who gave him birth, - Remembering it right well, Orestes' death; - See thou forget it not, and whether plans 670 - Prevail to fetch him home, or bury him - There where he is, a stranger evermore, - Bear back the message as thy freight for us; - For now the ribbed sides of an urn of bronze - The ashes hide of one whom men have wept.” - So much I heard and now have told; and if - I speak to kin that have a right in him - I know not, but his father sure should know it. - - _Clytæm._ Ah, thou hast told how utterly our ruin - Is now complete! O Curse of this our house, - Full hard to wrestle with! How many things, 680 - Though lying out of reach, thou aimest at, - And with well-darted arrows from afar - Dost bring them low! And now thou strippest me, - Most wretched one, of all that most I loved. - A lucky throw Orestes now was making, - Getting his feet from out destruction's slough; - But now the hope of high, exulting joy, - *Which this house had as healer, he scores down - As present in this fashion that we see. - - _Orest._ I could have wished to come to prosperous hosts, - As known and welcomed for my tidings good; - For who to hosts is friendlier than a guest? 690 - But 'twould have been as impious in my thoughts - Not to complete this matter for my friends, - By promise bound and pledged as guest to host. - - _Clytæm._ Thou shalt not meet with less than thou deserv'st; - Nor wilt thou be to this house less a friend; - Another would have brought news all the same: - But since 'tis time that strangers who have made - A long day's journey find the things they need, - Lead him [_to her Slave, pointing to_ ORESTES] to these our hospitable - halls, - And these his fellow-travellers and servants: 700 - There let them meet with what befits our house. - I bid thee act as one who gives account; - And we unto the masters of our house - Will tell this news, and with no lack of friends - Deliberate of this calamity.[441] - - [_Exeunt_ CLYTÆMNESTRA, ORESTES, PYLADES, - _and Attendants_ - - _Chor._ Come then, handmaids of the palace, - When shall we with full-pitched voices - Show our feeling for Orestes? - O earth revered! thou height revered, too, - Of the mound piled o'er the body - Of our navy's kingly captain, 710 - Oh, hear us now; oh, come and help us; - For 'tis time for subtle Suasion[442] - To go with them to the conflict, - And that Hermes act as escort, - He who dwells in earth's deep darkness, - In the strife where swords work mischief. - - _Enter_ KILISSA - - _Chor._ The stranger seems about to work some ill; - And here I see Orestes' nurse in tears. - Where then, Kilissa, art thou bound, that thus - Thou tread'st the palace-gates, and with thee comes - Grief as a fellow-traveller unbidden? 720 - - _Kilis._ Our mistress bids me with all speed to call - Ægisthos to the strangers, that he come - And hear more clearly, as a man from man, - This newly-brought report. Before her slaves, - Under set eyes of melancholy cast, - She hid her inner chuckle at the events - That have been brought to pass—too well for her, - But for this house and hearth most miserably,— - As in the tale the strangers clearly told. - He, when he hears and learns the story's gist, - Will joy, I trow, in heart. Ah, wretched me! 730 - How those old troubles, of all sorts made up, - Most hard to bear, in Atreus' palace-halls - Have made my heart full heavy in my breast! - But never have I known a woe like this. - For other ills I bore full patiently, - But as for dear Orestes, my sweet charge, - Whom from his mother I received and nursed.... - And then the shrill cries rousing me o' nights. - And many and unprofitable toils - For me who bore them. For one needs must rear - The heedless infant like an animal, 740 - (How can it else be?) as his humour serves. - For while a child is yet in swaddling clothes, - *It speaketh not, if either hunger comes, - Or passing thirst, or lower calls of need; - And children's stomach works its own content. - And I, though I foresaw this, call to mind - How I was cheated, washing swaddling clothes, - And nurse and laundress did the self-same work. - I then with these my double handicrafts, - Brought up Orestes for his father dear; - And now, woe's me! I learn that he is dead, 750 - And go to fetch the man that mars this house: - And gladly will he hear these words of mine. - - _Chor._ And how equipped then doth she bid him come? - - _Nurse._ 'How?' Speak again that I may better learn. - - _Chor._ By spearmen followed, or himself alone? - - _Nurse._ She bids him bring his guards with lances armed. - - _Chor._ Nay, say not that to him thy lord doth hate.[443] - But bid him 'come alone,' (that so he hear - Without alarm,) 'full speed, with joyous mind,' - Since 'secret speech with messengers goes best.' 760 - - _Nurse._ And art thou of good cheer at this my tale? - - _Chor._ But what if Zeus will turn the tide of ill? - - _Nurse._ How so? Orestes, our one hope is gone. - - _Chor._ Not yet; a sorry seer might know thus much. - - _Nurse._ What say'st thou? Know'st thou aught besides my tale? - - _Chor._ Go tell thy message; do thine errand well: - The Gods for what they care for, care enough. - - _Nurse._ I then will go, complying with thy words: - May all, by God's gift, end most happily! - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Now to my prayer, O Father of the Gods 770 - Of high Olympos, Zeus, - Grant that their fortune may be blest indeed - *Who long to look on goodness prospering well, - Yea, with full right and truth - I speak the word—O Zeus, preserve thou him! - - - STROPHE II - - Yea, Zeus, set him whom now the palace holds, - Set him above his foes; - For if thou raise him high, - Then shall thou have, to thy heart's full content, - Payment of twofold, threefold recompense. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Know that the son of one who loved thee well 780 - *Like colt of sire bereaved, - *Is to the chariot of great evils yoked, - *And set thy limit to his weary path. - *Ah, would that one might see - *His panting footsteps, as he treads his course, - *Keeping due measure through this plain of ours! - - - STROPHE III - - And ye within the gate, - Ye Gods, in purpose one, - Who dwell in shrines enriched - With all good things, come ye, - And now with vengeance fresh - Atone for murder foul - Of those that fell long since: 790 - *And let that blood of old, - *When these are justly slain, - Breed no more in our house. - - - MESODE - - O Thou[444] that dwellest in the cavern vast, - Adorned with goodly gifts, - Grant our lord's house to look up yet once more, - And that it now may glance, - In free and glorious guise - With loving kindly eyes, - From out its veil of gloom. - Let Maia's son[445] too give - His righteous help, and waft - Good end with prosperous gale. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - *And things that now are hid, 800 - He, if he will, will bring - As to the daylight clear; - But when it pleases him - Dark, hidden words to speak, - As in thick night he bears - Black gloom before his face;[446] - Nor is he in the day - One whit more manifest. - - - STROPHE IV - - *And then our treasured store,[447] - *The price as ransom paid - To free the house from ill, - A woman's gift on breath - Of favouring breeze onborne, - We then with clamorous cry, - To sound of cithern sweet, - Will in the city pour; - And if this prospers well, - *My gains, yea mine, 'twill swell, and Atè then - From those I love stands far. 810 - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But thou, take courage, when the time is come - For action, and cry out, - Shouting thy father's name, - When she shall cry aloud the name of “son,” - And work thou out a woe that none will blame. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - And have thou in thy breast - The heart that Perseus had,[448] - And for thy friends beneath, - And those on earth who dwell, - Go thou and work the deed - Acceptable to them, 820 - Of bitter, wrathful mood, - And consummate within - *The loathly work of blood; - [And bidding Vengeance come as thine ally,] - Destroy the murderer. - - _Enter_ ÆGISTHOS - - _Ægis._ Not without summons came I, but by word - Of courier fetched, and learn that travellers bring - Their tale of tidings new, in no wise welcome. - As for Orestes' death, with it to charge - The house would be a burden dropping fear - To one by that old bloodshed sorely stung.[449] - How shall I count these things? As clear and true? - Or are they vague reports of woman's fears, 830 - That leap up high and die away to nought? - What can'st thou say that will my mind inform? - - _Chor._ We heard, 'tis true; but go thou in and ask - Of these same strangers. Nought is found in words - Of messengers like asking, man from man. - - _Ægis._ I wish to see and probe the messenger, - If he himself were present at the death, - Or tells it hearing of a vague report: - They shall not cheat a mind with eyes wide open. - - [_Exit_ - - _Chor._ Zeus! Zeus! what words shall I 840 - Now speak, whence start in prayer, - *Invoking help of Gods? - How with all wish for good - Shall I speak fitting words? - For now the sharp sword-points, - Red with the blood of man, - Will either work for aye - The utter overthrow - Of Agamemnon's house, - Or, kindling fire and torch - For freedom thus achieved, - Will he the sceptre wield - Of duly-ordered sway, - His father's pride and state: 850 - Such is the contest he, - Orestes, godlike one, - Now wages all alone, - The one sole combatant,[450] - In place of him who fell, - Against those twain. May victory be his! - - _Ægisth._ [_groaning within_] Ah! ah! Woe's me! - - _Chor._ Hark! hark! How goes it now? - What issue has been wrought within the house? - Let us hold back while they the deed are doing, - That we may seem as guiltless of these ills: - For surely now the fight has reached its end. - - _Enter_ Servant _from the chief door_ - - _Serv._ Alas! alas! my master perishes! 860 - Alas! alas! a third time yet I call. - Ægisthos is no more; but open now - With all your speed, and loosen ye the bolts - That bar the women's gates. A man's full strength - Is needed; not indeed that that would help - A man already slain. - - [_Rushes to the gate of the woman's half of the - palace_ - - Ho there! I say: - I speak to the deaf; to those that sleep I utter - In vain my useless cries. And where is she? - Where's Clytæmnestra? What doth she do now? - Her neck upon the razor's edge doth seem - To fall, down-stricken by a vengeance just. 870 - - _Enter_ CLYTÆMNESTRA _from the side door_ - - _Clytæm._ What means all this? What cry is this thou mak'st? - - _Serv._ I say the dead are killing one who lives. - - _Clytæm._ Ah, me! I see the drift of thy dark speech; - By guile we perish, as of old we slew: - Let some one hand at once axe strong to slay; - Let's see if we are conquered or can conquer, - For to that point of evil am I come. - - _Enter_ ORESTES _and_ PYLADES _from the other door_ - - _Orest._ 'Tis thou I seek: he there has had enough. - - _Clytæm._ Ah me! my loved Ægisthos! Art thou dead? - - _Orest._ Lov'st thou the man? Then in the self-same tomb 880 - Shalt thou now lie, nor in his death desert him. - - _Clytæm._ [_baring her bosom_] Hold, boy! Respect - this breast of mine, my son,[451] - Whence thou full oft, asleep, with toothless gums, - Hast sucked the milk that sweetly fed thy life. - - _Orest._ What shall I do, my Pylades? Shall I - Through this respect forbear to slay my mother? - - _Pyl._[452] Where, then, are Loxias' other oracles, - The Pythian counsels, and the fast-sworn vows? - Have all men hostile rather than the Gods. - - _Orest._ My judgment goes with thine; thou speakest well: - [_To_ CLYTÆMNESTRA] Follow: I mean to slay thee where he lies,890 - For while he lived thou held'st him far above - My father. Sleep thou with him in thy death, - Since thou lov'st him, and whom thou should'st love hatest. - - _Clytæm._ I reared thee, and would fain grow old with thee. - - _Orest._ What! Thou live with me, who did'st slay my father? - - _Clytæm._ Fate, O my son, must share the blame of that. - - _Orest._ This fatal doom, then, it is Fate that sends. - - _Clytæm._ Dost thou not fear a parent's curse, my son? - - _Orest._ Thou, though my mother, did'st to ill chance cast me. - - _Clytæm._ No outcast thou, so sent to house allied. 900 - - _Orest._ I was sold doubly, though of free sire born. - - _Clytæm._ Where is the price, then, that I got for thee? - - _Orest._ I shrink for shame from pressing that charge home. - - _Clytæm._ Nay, tell thy father's wantonness as well. - - _Orest._ Blame not the man who toils when thou'rt at ease.[453] - - _Clytæm._ 'Tis hard, my son, for wives to miss their husband. - - _Orest._ The husband's toil keeps her that sits at home.[453] - - _Clytæm._ Thou seem'st, my son, about to slay thy mother. - - _Orest._ It is not I that slay thee, but thyself. - - _Clytæm._ Take heed, beware a mother's vengeful hounds.[454] 910 - - _Orest._ How, slighting this, shall I escape my father's? - - _Clytæm._ I seem in life to wail as to a tomb.[455] - - _Orest._ My father's fate ordains this doom for thee. - - _Clytæm._ Ah me! the snake is here I bare and nursed.[456] - - _Orest._ An o'er-true prophet was that dread dream-born; - Thou slewest one thou never should'st have slain, - Now suffer fate should never have been thine. - - [_Exit_ ORESTES, _leading_ CLYTÆMNESTRA _into the - palace, and followed by_ PYLADES - - _Chor._ E'en of these two I wail the twin mischance; - But since long line of murder culminates - In poor Orestes, this we yet accept, - That he, our one light, fall not utterly. 920 - - - STROPHE I - - Late came due vengeance on the sons of Priam, - Just forfeit of sore woe;— - Late came there too to Agamemnon's house, - Twin lions, twofold Death.[457] - The exile who obeyed the Pythian hest - Hath gained his full desire, - Sped on his way by counsel from the Gods. - - - STROPHE II - - Shout ye, loud shout for the escape from ills - Our master's house has seen, - And from the wasting of his ancient wealth - By that defilèd pair, 930 - Ill fate intolerable. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And so on one who loves the war of guile - Revenge came subtle-souled; - And in the strife of hands the child of Zeus - In very deed gave help, - (We mortals call her Vengeance, hitting well - The meetest name for her,) - Breathing destroying wrath against her foes. - - - STROPHE III - - She, she it is whom Loxias summons now, 940 - Who dwelleth in Parnassia's cavern vast, - *Calling on her who still - *Is guileful without guile, - *Halting of foot and tarrying over-long: - The will of Gods is strangely overruled; - It may not help the vile;[458] - 'Tis meet to adore the Power that rules in Heaven: - At last we see the light. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - *Now is the bit that curbed the slaves ta'en off:[459] - Arise, arise, O house: - Too long, too long, all prostrate on the ground 950 - Ye have been used to lie. - · · · · · - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Quickly all-working Time will bring a change - Across the threshold of the palace old, - When from the altar-hearth - It shall drive all the guilt, - With cleansing rites that chase away our woes; - And Fortune's throws shall fall with gladsome cast, - *Once more benign to see,[460] - For new-come strangers settled in the house: - At last we see the light. - - _Enter_ ORESTES, PYLADES, _and followers from the palace. His - attendants bear the robe in which_ AGAMEMNON _had been murdered_ - - _Orest._ See ye this country's tyrant rulers twain, 960 - My father's murderers, wasters of his house; - Stately were they, seen sitting on their thrones, - Friends too e'en now, to argue from their fate, - Whose oaths are kept to every pledge they gave. - Firmly they swore that they would slay my father, - And die together. Well those oaths are kept: - And ye who hear these ills, behold ye now - Their foul device, as bonds for my poor father, - Handcuffs, and fetters both his feet to bind. - Come, stretch it out, and standing all around, 970 - Show ye the snare that wrapt him o'er, that He - May see, our Father,—not of mine I speak, - But the great Sun that looks on all we do,— - My mother's deeds, defilèd and impure, - That He may be a witness in my cause, - That I did justly bring this doom to pass - Upon my mother.... Of Ægisthos' fate - No word I speak. He bears the penalty, - As runs the law, of an adulterer's guilt; - But she who planned this crime against a man - By whom she knew the weight of children borne - Beneath her girdle, once a burden loved, - But now, as it is proved, a grievous ill, 980 - What seems she to you? Had she viper been, - Or fell myræna,[461] she with touch alone, - *Rather than bite, had made a festering sore - With that bold daring of unrighteous mood. - What shall I call it, using mildest speech? - A wild beast's trap?—a pall that wraps a bier, - And hides a dead man's feet?—A net, I trow, - A snare, a robe entangling, one might call it. - Such might be owned by one to plunder trained, - Practised in duping travellers, and the life - That robs men of their money; with this trap 990 - Destroying many, many deeds of ill - His fevered brain might hatch. May such as she - Ne'er share my dwelling! May the hand of God - Far rather smite me that I childless die! - - _Chor._ [_looking on_ AGAMEMNON'S _robe._] Ah me! ah me! these deeds - most miserable! - By hateful murder thou wast done to death. - Woe, woe is me! - And evil buds and blooms for him that's left. - - _Orest._ Was the deed hers or no? Lo! this same robe - Bears witness how she dyed Ægisthos' sword, - And the blood-stain helps Time's destroying work, 1000 - Marring full many a tint of pattern fair: - *Now name I it, now as eye-witness wail;[462] - And calling on this robe that slew my father, - Moan for all done and suffered, wail my race, - Bearing the foul stains of this victory. - - _Chor._ No mortal man shall live a life unharmed, - *Stout-hearted and rejoicing evermore. - Woe, woe is me! - One trouble vexes now, another comes. - - _Orest._ (_wildly, as one distraught._) Nay, know ye—for I know not how - 'twill end;1010 - Like chariot-driver with his steeds I'm dragged - Out of my course; for passion's moods uncurbed - Bear me their victim headlong. At my heart - Stands terror ready or to sing or dance - In burst of frenzy. While my reason stays, - I tell my friends here that I slew my mother, - Not without right, my father's murderess, - Accursed, and hated of the Gods. And I - As chiefest spell that made me dare this deed - Count Loxias, Pythian prophet, warning me - That doing this I should be free from blame, 1020 - But slighting.... I pass o'er the penalty[463].... - For none, aim as he will, such woes will hit. - And now ye see me, in what guise equipped, - - [_Putting on the suppliant's wreaths of wool, and - taking an olive branch in his hand_ - - With this my bough and chaplet I will gain - Earth's central shrine, the home where Loxias dwells, - And the bright fire that is as deathless known,[464] - Seeking to 'scape this guilt of kindred blood; - And on no other hearth, so Loxias bade, - May I seek shelter. And I charge you all, - Ye Argives, bear ye witness in due time 1030 - How these dark deeds of wretched ill were wrought: - But I, a wanderer, exiled from my land, - Shall live, and leaving these my prayers in death,... - - _Chor._ Nay, thou hast prospered: burden not thy lips - With evil speech, nor speak ill-boding words, - When thou hast freed the Argive commonwealth, - By good chance lopping those two serpents' heads. - - [_The Erinnyes are seen in the background, visible - to_ ORESTES _only, in black robes, and with - snakes in their hair_ - - _Orest._ Ah! ah! ye handmaids: see, like Gorgons these, - Dark-robed, and all their tresses hang entwined - With many serpents. I can bear no more. - - _Chor._ What phantoms vex thee, best beloved of sons 1040 - By thy dear sire? Hold, fear not, victory's thine. - - _Orest._ These are no phantom terrors that I see: - Full clear they are my mother's vengeful hounds. - - _Chor._ The blood fresh-shed is yet upon thy hands, - And thence it is these troubles haunt thy soul. - - _Orest._ O King Apollo! See, they swarm, they swarm, - And from their eyes is dropping loathsome blood. - - _Chor._ One way of cleansing is there; Loxias' form - Clasp thou, and he will free thee from these ills. - - _Orest._ These forms ye see not, but I see them there: - They drive me on, and I can bear no more. [_Exit_ - - _Chor._ Well, may'st thou prosper; may the gracious God 1050 - Watch o'er and guard thee with a chance well timed! - - Here, then, upon this palace of our kings - A third storm blows again; - The blast that haunts the race has run its course. - First came the wretched meal of children's flesh; - Next what befell our king: - Slain in the bath was he who ruled our host, - Of all the Achæans lord; - And now a third has come, we know not whence,[465] - To save ... or shall I say, - To work a doom of death? - Where will it end? Where will it cease at last, - The mighty Atè dread, - Lulled into slumber deep? - ------ - -Footnote 401: - - Hermes is invoked, (1) as the watcher over the souls of the dead in - Hades, and therefore the natural patron of the murdered Agamemnon; (2) - as exercising an authority delegated by Zeus, and therefore capable of - being, like Zeus himself, the deliverer and helper of suppliants. So - Electra, further on, invokes Hermes in the same character. The line - may, however, be rendered, - - “Who stand'st as guardian of my father's house.” - - The three opening lines are noticeable, as having been chosen by - Aristophanes as the special object for his satirical criticism - (_Frogs_, 1126-1176), abounding in a good score of ambiguities and - tautologies. - -Footnote 402: - - The words point to the two symbolic aspects of one and the same - practice. In both there are some points of analogy with the earlier - and later forms of the Nazarite vow among the Jews. (1) As being part - of the body, and yet separable from it without mutilation, it became - the representative of the whole man, and as such was the sign of a - votive dedication. As early as Homer, it was the custom of youths to - keep one long, flowing lock as consecrated, and when they reached - manhood, they cut it off, and offered it to the river-god of their - country, throwing it into the stream, as that to which, directly and - indirectly, they owed their nurture. Here the offering is made to - Inachos, as the hero-founder of Argos, identified with the river that - bore his name. (2) They shaved their head, wholly or in part, as a - token as a token of grief, and then, because true grief for the dead - was an acceptable and propitiatory offering, this became the natural - offering for suppliants who offered their prayers at the tombs of the - departed. So in the _Aias_ of Sophocles (v. 1174) Teucros calls on - Eurysakes to approach the corpse of his father, holding in his hand - locks of his own hair, his mother's, and that of Teucros. In the - offering which Achilles makes over the grave of Patroclos of the hair - which he had cherished for the river-god of his fatherland, - Spercheios, we have the union of the two customs. Homer. _Il._ xxiii. - 141-151. - -Footnote 403: - - After the widespread fashion of the East, the handmaids of - Clytæmnestra (originally Troïan captives) had to rend their clothes, - beat their breasts, and lacerate their faces till the blood came. The - higher civilisation of Solon's laws had forbidden these wild, - barbarous forms of grief at Athens. Plutarch, _Solon_, p. 164. - -Footnote 404: - - Purposely, perhaps, obscure. They seem to say that the old reverence - for Agamemnon has passed away, and instead of it there is only a - slavish fear for Ægisthos. For the more acute, however, they imply - that those who have cause to fear are Ægisthos and Clytæmnestra - themselves. - -Footnote 405: - - The words, in their generalising sententiousness, refer specially to - the twofold crime of Ægisthos as an adulterer and murderer. Then, in - the Epode, the Chorus justify themselves for their seeming - inconsistency in thus abhorring the guilt, and yet acting as - instruments of the guilty in their attempts to escape punishment. - -Footnote 406: - - The mourners speak, of course, of Agamemnon and Orestes, not of - Ægisthos and Clytæmnestra. - -Footnote 407: - - A mixture of meal, honey, and oil formed the half-liquid substance - commonly used for these funereal libations. The “garlands” may be - wreaths of flowers or fillets, or the word may be used figuratively - for the libation itself, as crowning the mound in which Agamemnon lay. - -Footnote 408: - - The words point to a strange Athenian custom. When a house was - cleansed of that which defiled it, morally or physically, the filth - was carried in an earthen vessel to a place where three ways met, and - the worshipper flung the vessel behind him, and walked away without - turning to look at it. To Electra's mind, the libation which her - mother sends is equally unclean, and should be treated in the same - way. So in Hom. _Il._ i. 314, the Argives purify themselves, and then - cast the lustral water they have used into the sea. Lev. vi. 11, gives - us an analogous usage. Comp. also Theocritos, _Idyll_ xxiv., vv. - 22-97. - -Footnote 409: - - Partly it is the youth of Electra that seeks counsel from those who - had more experience; partly she shrinks from the responsibility of - being the first to utter the formula of execration. - -Footnote 410: - - The word “escort” has a special reference to the function of Hermes in - the unseen world. As he was wont to act as guide to the souls of the - dead in their downward journey, so now Electra prays that he may lead - the blessings she asks for upward from the dark depths of Earth. - -Footnote 411: - - The Skythian bow, long and elastic, bending either way, like those of - the Arabians (Herod. vii. 69). The connection of Ares with the wild, - fierce tribes of Thrakia and Skythia meets us again and again in the - literature of Greece. He was the only God to whom they built temples - (_ibid._ iv. 59). They sacrificed human victims to an iron sword as - his more appropriate symbol (iv. 62). The use of iron for weapons of - war came to the Greeks from them (_Seven ag. Th._ 729; _Prom._ 714). - -Footnote 412: - - It may be worth while to compare the method adopted by the three - dramatists of Greece in bringing about the recognition of the brother - by the sister. (1) Here the lock of hair, in its peculiar colour and - texture resembling her own, followed by the likeness of his footsteps - to hers, prepares the way first for vague anticipations, and then the - robe she had made for him, leads to her acceptance of Orestes on his - own discovery of himself. To this it has been objected, by Euripides - in the first instance (_Electra_, vv. 462-500), that the evidence of - the colour of the hair is weak, that a young man's foot must have been - larger than a maiden's, and that he could not have worn as a man the - garment she had made for him as a child. It might be replied, perhaps, - that there are such things as hereditary resemblances extending to the - colour of the hair and the arch of the instep, and that the robe may - either have been shown instead of worn, or, being worn, have been - adapted for the larger growth. (2) In the _Electra_ of Sophocles the - lock of hair alone convinces Chrysothemis that her brother is near at - hand (v. 900), while Electra herself requires the further evidence of - Agamemnon's seal (v. 1223). In Euripides (v. 527), all proof fails - till Orestes shows a scar on his brow, which his sister remembers. - -Footnote 413: - - The saying is probably one of the widespread proverbs which imply - parables. The idea is obviously that with which we are familiar in the - Gospel “grain of mustard seed.” Here, as in the “kicking against the - pricks” of Acts ix. 5, xxvi. 14, and _Agam._ v. 1604, we are carried - back to a period which lies beyond the range of history as that in - which men took note of the analogies and embodied them in forms like - this. - -Footnote 414: - - So in the _Odyssey_ (xix. 228), Odysseus appears as wearing a woollen - cloak, on which are embroidered the figures of a fawn and a dog. - -Footnote 415: - - An obvious reproduction of the words of Andromache (_Il._ vi. 429). - -Footnote 416: - - The words seem to imply that burning alive was known among the Greeks - as a punishment for the most atrocious crimes. The “oozing pitch,” if - we adopt that rendering, apparently describes something like the - “_tunica molesta_” of Juvenal. (_Sat._ viii. 235.) Hesychios (s. v. - Κωνῆσαι) mentions the practice as alluded to in a lost play of - Æschylos. - -Footnote 417: - - The words are both doubtful and obscure. Taking the reading which I - have adopted, they seem to mean that while men in general had means of - propitiating the Erinnyes and other Powers for the guilt of unavenged - bloodshed, Orestes and Electra had no such way of escape open to them. - If they, the next of kin, failed to do their work, they would be - exposed to the full storm of wrath. But a conjectural emendation of - one word gives us, - - “For making known to men the earth-born ills - That come from wrathful Powers.” - -Footnote 418: - - Either that old age would come prematurely, or that the hair itself - would share the leprous whiteness of the flesh. - -Footnote 419: - - The words, as taken in the text, refer to Orestes seeing even in sleep - the spectral forms of the Erinnyes. By some editors the verse is - placed after v. 276, and the lines then read thus:— - - “And that he calls fresh onsets of the Erinnyes - As brought to issue from a father's blood, - Seeing clearly, though he move his brow in darkness.” - - So taken, the last line refers to Agamemnon, who, though in the - darkness of Hades, sees the penalties which will fail upon his son - should he neglect to take vengeance on his father's murderers. - -Footnote 420: - - Stress is laid here, as in _Agam._ 1224, on the effeminacy of the - adulterer. - -Footnote 421: - - The great law of retribution is repeated from _Agam._ 1564. As one of - the earliest utterances of man's moral sense, it was referred - popularly among the Greeks to Rhadamanthos, who with Minos judged the - souls of the dead in Hades. Comp. Aristot. _Ethic. Nicom._, v. 8. - -Footnote 422: - - The funeral pyre, which consumes the body, leaves the life and power - of the man untouched. The spirit survives, and calls on the Gods that - dwell in darkness to avenge him. The very cry of wailing tends, as a - prayer to them, to the exposure of the murderer. - -Footnote 423: - - The Lykians, of whom Glaucos and Sarpedon are the representative - heroes in the _Iliad_, are named as the chief allies of the Troïans. - -Footnote 424: - - The words embody the widespread feeling that the absence of funereal - honours affected the spirit of the dead, and that the souls with whom - he dwelt held him in high or low esteem according as they had been - given or withheld. - -Footnote 425: - - Pindar (_Pyth._ x. 47), the contemporary of Æschylos, had made the - name of these Hyperborei well known to all Greeks. The vague dreams of - men, before the earth had been searched out, pictured a happy land as - lying beyond their reach. There were Islands of the Blest in the far - West; Æthiopians, peaceful and long-lived, in the South; and far away, - beyond the cold North, a people exempt from the common evils of - humanity. The latter have been connected with the old Aryan belief in - the paradise of Mount Meru. Comp. also Herod. iv. 421; _Prom._ 812. - -Footnote 426: - - _Sc._, the beating of both hands upon the breast, as the Chorus - uttered their lamentations. - -Footnote 427: - - Perhaps, simply “the sharp and bitter cry.” But the rendering in the - text seems justified as repeating the wish already expressed (v. 260), - that the murderers may die by this form of death. - -Footnote 428: - - The Chorus at this point renew their words and cries of lamentation, - smiting on their breasts. By some critics this speech and Antistrophe - VII. are assigned to Electra, Antistrophe VIII. to the Chorus, with a - corresponding change in the pronouns “my” and “thy.” The Chorus, as - consisting of Troïan captives, is represented as adopting the more - vehement Asiatic forms of wailing. Among these the Arians, Kissians, - and Mariandynians (_Pers._ 920) seem to have been most conspicuous for - their skill in lamentation, and, as such, were in request where hired - mourners were wanted. Compare the opening chorus, v. 22. - -Footnote 429: - - The practice of mutilating the corpse of a murdered man by cutting off - his hands and feet and fastening them round his waist, seems to have - been looked on as rendering him powerless to seek for vengeance. Comp. - Soph. _Elect._ v. 437. This kind of mutilation, and not mere wanton - outrage, is what the Chorus refer to. - -Footnote 430: - - As in v. 351 the loss of honour among the dead was represented as one - consequence of the absence of funereal rites from those who loved the - dead, so here the restoration of the children to their rights appears - as the condition without which that dishonour must continue. If they - succeed, then, and then only, can they offer funereal banquets, year - by year, as was the custom. There may be a special reference to an - Argive custom mentioned by Plutarch (_Quæst. Græc._, c. 24) of - sacrificing immediately after the death of a relative to Apollo, and - thirty days later to Hermes. - -Footnote 431: - - Another reference to the third cup of undiluted wine which men drank - to the honour of Zeus the Preserver. Comp. _Agam._ v. 245. - -Footnote 432: - - Possibly the pronoun refers to Pylades. - -Footnote 433: - - The story of Althæa has perhaps been made most familiar to English - readers by Mr. Swinburne's _Atalanta in Calydon_. More briefly told, - the legend ran that she, being the wife of Œneus, bare a son, who was - believed to be the child of Ares—that the Fates came to her when the - boy, who was named Meleagros, was seven days old, and told her that - his life should last until the firebrand then burning on the earth - should be consumed. She took the firebrand and quenched it, and laid - it by in a chest; but when Meleagros grew up, he joined in the chase - of the great boar of Calydon, and when he had slain it, gave the skin - as a trophy to Atalanta, and when his mother's brothers, the sons of - Thestios, claimed it as their right, he waxed wroth with them and slew - them. And then Althæa, in her grief, caring more for her brothers than - her son, took the brand from the chest, and threw it into the fire, - and so Meleagros died. Phrynichos is said to have made the myth the - subject of a drama. In Homer (_Il._ x. 566), Althæa brings about her - son's death by her curses. - -Footnote 434: - - Skylla (not to be confounded with the sea-monster of Messina) was the - daughter of Nisos, king of Megaris, who had on his head a lock of - purple hair, which was a charm that preserved his life from all - danger. And the Cretans under Minos attacked Nisos, and besieged him - in his city; and Minos won the love of Skylla, and tempted her with - gifts, and she cut off her father's lock of hair, and so he perished. - But Minos, scorning her for her deed, bound her by the feet to the - stern of his ship and drowned her. - -Footnote 435: - - Hermes, _i.e._, in his office as the escort of the souls of the dead - to Hades. - -Footnote 436: - - The Chorus apparently is represented as on the point of completing its - catalogue of crimes committed by women with the story of - Clytæmnestra's guilt. Something leads them to check themselves, and - they are contented with a dark and vague allusion. - -Footnote 437: - - The story of the Lemnian women is told by Herodotos (vi. 138). They - rose up against their husbands and put them all to death; and the deed - passed into a proverb, so that all great crimes were spoken of as - Lemnian. This guilt is that alluded to in Strophe III. - -Footnote 438: - - In every case of which the Chorus had spoken guilt had been followed - by retribution. So, it is implied, it will be in that which is present - to their thoughts. - -Footnote 439: - - _Sc._, is not forgotten or overlooked, but will assuredly meet with - its due punishment. - -Footnote 440: - - So in Homer (_Il._ xxii. 444), the warm bath is prepared by Andromache - for Hector on his return from the battle in which he fell. - -Footnote 441: - - As in her speeches in the _Agamemnon_ (vv. 595, 884), Clytæmestra's - words here also are full of significant ambiguity. The “things that - befit the house,” the proposed conference with Ægisthos, her - separation of Orestes from his companions, are all indications of - suspicion already half aroused. The last three lines were probably - spoken as an “aside.” - -Footnote 442: - - Suasion is personified, and invoked to come and win Clytæmnestra to - trust herself in the power of the two avengers. - -Footnote 443: - - An alternative rendering is, - - “Nay, say not that to him with show of hate.” - -Footnote 444: - - Apollo in the shrine at Delphi. - -Footnote 445: - - Hermes invoked once more, as at once the patron of craft and the - escort of the dead. - -Footnote 446: - - Or “before our eyes.” - -Footnote 447: - - The “treasured score” is explained by the words that follow to mean - the cry of exultation which the Chorus will raise when the deed of - vengeance is accomplished; or, possibly (as Mr. Paley suggests), the - funereal wail over the bodies of Ægisthos and Clytæmnestra, which the - Chorus would raise to avert the guilt of the murder from Orestes. - -Footnote 448: - - As Perseus could only overcome the Gorgon, Medusa, by turning away his - eyes, lest looking on her he should turn to stone, so Orestes was to - avoid meeting his mother's glance, lest that should unman him and - blunt his purpose. - -Footnote 449: - - Ægisthos had suffered enough, he says, for his share in Agamemnon's - death. He has no wish that fresh odium should fall on him, as being - implicated also in the death of Orestes, of which he has just heard. - -Footnote 450: - - The word (_ephedros_) was applied technically to one who sat by during - a conflict between two athletes, prepared to challenge the victor to a - fresh encounter. Orestes is such a combatant, taking the place of - Agamemnon. - -Footnote 451: - - So, in Homer (_Il._ xxii. 79), Hecuba, when the entreaties of Priam - had been in vain, makes this last appeal— - - “Then to the front his mother rushed, in tears, - Her bosom bare, with either hand her breast - Sustaining, and with tears addressed him thus, - 'Hector, my son, thy mother's breast revere.'” - -Footnote 452: - - The reader will note this as the only speech put into the lips of - Pylades, though he is present as accompanying Orestes throughout great - part of the drama. - -Footnote 453: - - The different ethical standard applied to the guilt of the husband and - the wife was, we may well believe, that which prevailed among the - Athenians generally. It has only too close a parallel in the ballads - and romances of our own early literature. - -Footnote 454: - - The line is memorable as prophetic of the whole plot of the - _Eumenides._ - -Footnote 455: - - The phrase “wail as to a tomb” seems to have been a by-word for - fruitless entreaty and lamentation. - -Footnote 456: - - Clytæmnestra sees now the important of the dream referred to in vv. - 518-522. - -Footnote 457: - - The words must be left in their obscurity. Commentators have - conjectured Orestes and Pylades, or the deaths of Agamemnon and - Iphigeneia, or those of Ægisthos and Clytæmnestra, as the “two lions,” - spoken of. The first seems most in harmony with the context. - -Footnote 458: - - The Eternal Justice which orders all things is mightier than any - arbitrary will, such as men attribute to the Gods. That will, even if - we dare to think of it as changeable or evil, is held in restraint. It - cannot, even if it would, protect the evildoers. - -Footnote 459: - - The Chorus feel that they have been too long silent; now, at last, - they can speak. As slaves dreading punishment they had been gagged - before; now the gag is removed. - -Footnote 460: - - Or, “Once more for those who wail.” - -Footnote 461: - - It is not clear with what form of animal life the _myræna_ is to be - identified. The ideal implied is that of some sea-monster whose touch - was poisonous, but this does not hold good of the “lamprey.” - -Footnote 462: - - As the text stands, Orestes says that at last he can speak of the - murder over which he had long brooded in silence. Another reading - makes him speak of the oscillations in his own mind— - - “Now do I praise myself, now wail and blame.” - -Footnote 463: - - Comp. vv. 270-288. - -Footnote 464: - - Delphi was to the Greek (as Jerusalem was to mediæval Christendom) the - centre at once of his religious life and of the material earth. Its - rock was the _omphalos_ of the world. Consecrated widows watched over - the sacred and perpetual fire. Once only up to the time of Æschylos, - when the Temple itself was desecrated by the Persians, had it ceased - to burn. - -Footnote 465: - - Once again we have the thought of the third cup offered as a libation - to Zeus as saviour and deliverer. The Chorus asks whether this third - deed of blood will be true to that idea and work out deliverance. - - - - - EUMENIDES - - - DRAMATIS PERSONÆ - - PYTHIAN PRIESTESS - APOLLO - ATHENA - _Ghost of Clytæmnestra_ - ORESTES - HERMES - _Chorus of the Erinnyes_ - _Athenian Citizens, Women, and Girls_ - - -_ARGUMENT.—The Erinnyes who appeared to Orestes after the murder of -Clytæmnestra made his life miserable, and drove him without rest from -land to land. And he, seeking to escape them, had recourse to the Oracle -of Apollo at Delphi, believing that he who had sent him to do the work -of vengeance would also help to free him from this wretchedness. But the -Erinnyes followed him there also, and took their places even within the -holy shrine of the Oracle, and while Orestes knelt on the central hearth -as a suppliant, they sat upon the seats there, and for very weariness -fell asleep._ - - - - - EUMENIDES - - - SCENE.—_The Outer Court of the Oracle at_ Delphi. _Inner shrine in - the background, with doors leading into it_ - - _Enter the_ PYTHIAN PRIESTESS - - _Pyth._ First, with this prayer, of all the Gods I honour - The primal seeress Earth, and Themis next,[466] - Who in due order filled her mother's place, - (So runs the tale,) and in the third lot named, - With her good-will and doing wrong to none, - Another of the Titans' offspring sat, - Earth's daughter Phœbe, and as birthday gift - She gives it up to Phœbos,[467] and he takes - His name from Phœbe. And he, leaving then - The pool[468] and rocks of Delos, having steered - To the ship-traversed shores that Pallas owns, 10 - Came to this land and to Parnassos' seat: - And with great reverence they escort him on, - Hephæstos' sons, road-makers,[469] turning thus - The wilderness to land no longer wild; - And when he comes the people honour him, - And Delphos too,[470] chief pilot of this land. - And him Zeus sets, his mind with skill inspired, - As the fourth seer upon these sacred seats; - And Loxias is his father Zeus's prophet. - These Gods in prologue of my prayer I worship; 20 - Pallas Pronaia[471] too claims highest praise; - The Nymphs adore I too where stands the rock - Korykian,[472] hollow, loved of birds and haunt - Of Gods. [And Bromios[473] also claims this place, - Nor can I now forget it, since the time - When he, a God, with help of Bacchants warred, - And planned a death for Pentheus, like a hare's.[474] - Invoking Pleistos'[475] founts, Poseidon's might, - And Zeus most High, supreme Accomplisher, - I in due order sit upon this seat - As seeress, and I pray them that they grant - To find than all my former divinations 30 - One better still. If Hellas pilgrims sends, - Let them approach by lot, as is our law; - For as the God guides I give oracles.[476] - - [_She passes through the door to the adytum, - and after a pause returns trembling and - crouching with fear, supporting herself - with her hands against the walls and - columns. The door remains open, and - Orestes and the Erinnyes are seen in the - inner sanctuary_ - - Dread things to tell, and dread for eyes to see, - Have sent me back again from Loxias' shrine, - *So that strength fails, nor can I nimbly move, - But run with help of hands, not speed of foot; - A woman old and terrified is nought, - A very child. Lo! into yon recess - With garlands hung I go, and there I see - Upon the central stone[477] a God-loathed man, 40 - Sitting as suppliant, and with hands that dripped - Blood-drops, and holding sword but newly drawn, - And branch of olive from the topmost growth, - With amplest tufts of white wool meetly wreathed; - For this I will say clearly.[478] And a troop - Of women strange to look at sleepeth there, - Before this wanderer, seated on their stools; - Not women they, but Gorgons[479] I must call them; - Nor yet can I to Gorgon forms compare them: - I have seen painted shapes that bear away 50 - The feast of Phineus.[480] Wingless, though, are these, - And swarth, and every way abominable. - *They snort with breath that none may dare approach, - And from their eyes a loathsome humour pours, - And such their garb as neither to the shrine - Of Gods is meet to bring, nor mortal roof. - Ne'er have I seen a race that owns this tribe, - Nor is there land can boast it rears such brood, - Unhurt and free from sorrow for its pains. - Henceforth be it the lot of Loxias, 60 - Our mighty lord, himself to deal with them: - True prophet-healer he, and portent-seer, - And for all others cleanser of their homes. - - _Enter_ APOLLO _from the inner adytum, attended - by_ HERMES - - _Apol._ [_To_ ORESTES.] Nay, I'll not fail thee, but as close at hand - Will guard thee to the end, or though far off, - Will not prove yielding to thine adversaries; - And now thou see'st these fierce ones captive ta'en, - These loathly maidens fallen fast in sleep. - Hoary and ancient virgins they, with whom - Nor God, nor man, nor beast, holds intercourse. 70 - They owe their birth to evils; for they dwell - In evil darkness, yea in Tartaros - Beneath the earth, and are the hate and dread - Of all mankind, and of Olympian Gods. - Yet fly thou, fly, and be not faint of heart; - For they will chase thee over mainland wide, - As thou dost tread the soil by wanderers tracked, - And o'er the ocean, and by sea-girt towns; - And fail thou not before the time, as brooding - O'er this great toil. But go to Pallas' city, - And sit, and clasp her ancient image[481] there; 80 - And there with judges of these things, and words - Strong to appease, will we a means devise - To free thee from these ills for evermore; - For I urged thee to take thy mother's life. - - _Orest._ Thou know'st, O king Apollo, not to wrong; - And since thou know'st, learn also not to slight: - Thy strength gives full security for act. - - _Apol._ Remember, let no fear o'ercome thy soul; - And [_To_ HERMES] thou, my brother, of one father born, - My Hermes, guard him; true to that thy name, - Be thou his Guide, true shepherd of this man, - Who comes to me as suppliant: Zeus himself 90 - *Reveres this reverence e'en to outcasts due, - When it to mortals comes with guidance good.[482] - - [_Exit_ ORESTES _led by_ HERMES. APOLLO _retires - within the adytum. The Ghost of_ CLYTÆMNESTRA - _rises from the ground_ - - _Clytæm._ What ho! Sleep on! What need of sleepers now? - And I am put by you to foul disgrace - Among the other dead, nor fails reproach - Among the shades that I a murderess am; - And so in shame I wander, and I tell you - That at their hands I bear worst form of blame. - And much as I have borne from nearest kin, 100 - Yet not one God is stirred to wrath for me, - Though done to death by matricidal hands. - See ye these heart-wounds, whence and how they came? - Yea, when it sleeps, the mind is bright with eyes;[483] - But in the day it is man's lot to lack - All true discernment. Many a gift of mine - Have ye lapped up, libations pure from wine,[484] - And soothing rites that shut out drunken mirth; - And I dread banquets of the night would offer - On altar-hearth, at hour no God might share. - And lo! all this is trampled under foot. 110 - He is escaped, and flees, like fawn, away; - And even from the midst of all your toils - Has nimbly slipped, and draws wide mouth at you. - Hear ye; for I have spoken for my life: - Give heed, ye dark, earth-dwelling Goddesses, - I, Clytæmnestra's phantom, call on you. - - [_The Erinnyes moan in their sleep_ - - Moan on, the man is gone, and flees far off: - My kindred find protectors; I find none. - - [_Moan as before_ - - Too sleep-oppressed art thou, nor pitiest me: - Orestes, murderer of his mother, 'scapes. 120 - - [_Noises repeated_ - - Dost snort? Dost drowse? Wilt thou not rise and speed? - What have ye ever done but work out ill? - - [_Noises as before_ - - Yea, sleep and toil, supreme conspirators, - Have withered up the dreaded dragon's strength. - - _Chor._ [_starting up suddenly with a yell._] Seize him, seize, seize, - yea, seize: look well to it. - - _Clytæm._ Thou, phantom-like,[485] dost hunt thy prey, and criest, - Like hound that never rests from care of toil. - What dost thou? (_to one Erinnys._) Rise and let not toil o'ercome - thee, - Nor, lulled to sleep, lose all thy sense of loss. - Let thy soul (_to another_) feel the pain of just reproach: 130 - The wise of heart find that their goad and spur. - And thou (_to a third_), breathe on him with thy blood-flecked breath, - And with thy vapour, thy maw's fire, consume him; - Chase him, and wither with a fresh pursuit. - - _Leader of the Chor._ Wake, wake, I say; wake her, as I wake thee. - Dost slumber? Rise, I say, and shake off sleep. - Let's see if this our prelude be in vain. - - - STROPHE I - - Pah! pah! Oh me! we suffered, O my friends.... - Yea, many mine own sufferings undeserved.... - We suffered a great sorrow, full of woe, 140 - An evil hard to bear. - Out of the nets he's slipped, our prey is gone: - O'ercome by sleep I have my quarry lost. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Ah, son of Zeus, a very robber thou, - Though young, thou didst old Goddesses ride down,[486] - Honouring thy suppliant, godless though he be, - One whom his parents loathe: - Thou, though a God, a matricide hast freed: - Of which of these acts can one speak as just? - - - STROPHE II - - Yea, this reproach that came to me in dreams 150 - Smote me, as charioteer - Smites with a goad he in the middle grasps, - Beneath my breast, my heart; - 'Tis ours to feel the keen, the o'er keen smart, - As by the public scourger fiercely lashed. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Such are the doings of these younger Gods, - Beyond all bounds of right - Stretching their power.... A clot of blood besmeared - Upon the base, the head,... - Earth's central shrine itself we now may see 160 - Take to itself pollution terrible. - - - STROPHE III - - And thou, a seer, with guilt that stains thy hearth - Hast fouled thy shrine, self-prompted, self-impelled, - Against God's laws a mortal honouring, - And bringing low the Fates - Born in the hoary past. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Me he may vex, but shall not rescue him; - Though 'neath the earth he flee, he is not freed - For he, blood-stained, shall find upon his head - Another after me, - Destroyer foul and dread. - - [APOLLO _advances from the adytum and confronts - them_ - - _Apol._ Out, out, I bid you, quickly from this temple; - Go forth, and leave this shrine oracular, 170 - Lest, smitten with a serpent winged and bright, - Forth darted from my bow-string golden-wrought, - Thou in sore pain bring up dark foam, and vomit - The clots of blood thou suck'dst from human veins. - This is no house where ye may meetly come, - But there where heads upon the scaffold lie,[487] - And eyes are gouged, and throats of men are cut, - *And mutilation mars the bloom of youth, - Where men are maimed and stoned to death, and groan - With bitter wailing, 'neath the spine impaled; 180 - Hear ye what feast ye love, and so become - Loathed of the Gods? Yes, all your figure's fashion - Points clearly to it. Such as ye should dwell - In cave of lion battening upon blood, - Nor tarry in these sacred precincts here, - Working defilement. Go, and roam afield - Without a shepherd, for to flock like this - Not one of all the Gods is friendly found. - - _Chor._ O king Apollo, hear us in our turn: - No mere accomplice art thou of these things, 190 - But guilty art in full as principal. - - _Apol._ How then? Prolong thy speech to tell me this. - - _Chor._ Thou bad'st this stranger be a matricide. - - _Apol._ I bade him to avenge his sire. Why not? - - _Chor._ Then thou did'st welcome here the blood just shed. - - _Apol._ I bade him seek this shrine as suppliant. - - _Chor._ Yet us who were his escort thou revilest. - - _Apol._ It is not meet that ye come nigh this house. - - _Chor._ Yet is this self-same task appointed us. - - _Apol._ What function's this? Boast thou of nobler task? 200 - - _Chor._ We drive from home the murderers of their mothers. - - _Apol._ What? Those who kill a wife that slays her spouse? - - _Chor._ That deed brings not the guilt of blood of kin.[488] - - _Apol._ *Truly thou mak'st dishonoured, and as nought, - The marriage-vows of Zeus and Hera great; - And by this reasoning Kypris too is shamed, - From whom men gain the ties of closest love. - For still to man and woman marriage bed, - Assigned by Fate and guided by the Right, - Is more than any oath. If thou then deal - So gently, when the one the other slays, 210 - And dost not even look on them with wrath, - I say thou dost not justly chase Orestes; - For thou, in the one case, I know, dost rage; - I' the other, clearly tak'st it easily: - The Goddess Pallas shall our quarrel judge. - - _Chor._ That man I ne'er will leave for evermore. - - _Apol._ Chase him then, chase, and gain yet more of toil. - - _Chor._ Curtail thou not my functions by thy speech. - - _Apol._ Ne'er by my choice would I thy functions own. - - _Chor._ True; great thy name among the thrones of Zeus: 220 - But I, his mother's blood constraining me, - Will this man chase, and track him like a hound. - - _Apol._ And I will help him and my suppliant free; - For dreadful among Gods and mortals too - The suppliant's curse, should I abandon him. - - [_Exeunt_ - -_Scene changes to_ Athens, _in front of the Temple of Athena Polias, on -the Acropolis_[489] - - _Enter_ ORESTES - - _Orest._ [_clasping the statue of the Goddess._] O Queen Athena, I at - Loxias' hest - Am come: do thou receive me graciously, - Sin-stained though I have been: no guilt of blood - Is on my soul, nor is my hand unclean, - But now with stain toned down and worn away, - In other homes and journeyings among men,[490] 230 - O'er land and water travelling alike, - Keeping great Loxias' charge oracular, - I come, O Goddess, to thy shrine and statue: - Here will I stay and wait the trial's issue. - - _Enter the Erinnyes in pursuit_ - - _Chor._ Lo! here are clearest traces of the man: - Follow thou up that dumb informer's[491] hints; - For as the hound pursues a wounded fawn, - So by red blood and oozing gore track we. - My lungs are panting with full many a toil, - Wearing man's strength down. Every spot of earth 240 - Have I now searched, and o'er the sea in flight - Wingless I came pursuing, swift as ship; - And now full sure he's crouching somewhere here: - The smell of human blood wafts joy to me. - See, see again, look round ye every way, - Lest he, the murderer, slip away unscathed. - He, it is true, in full security, - Clasping the statue of the deathless goddess, - Would fain now take his trial at our hands. 250 - This may not be; a mother's blood out-poured - (Pah! pah!) can never be raised up again, - The life-blood shed is pourèd out and gone, - But thou must give to us to suck the blood - Red from thy living members; yea, from thee, - May I gain meal of drink undrinkable! - And, having dried thee up, I'll drag thee down - Alive to bear the doom of matricide. - There thou shalt see if any other man - Has sinned in not revering God or guest, - Or parents dear, that each receiveth there 260 - The recompense of sin that Vengeance claims. - For Hades is a mighty arbiter - Of those that dwell below, and with a mind - That writes true record all man's deeds surveys. - - _Orest._ I, taught by troubles, know full many a form - Of cleansing rites,—to speak, when that is meet, - And when 'tis not, keep silence, and in this - I by wise teacher was enjoined to speak; - For the blood fails and fades from off my hands; - The guilt of matricide is washed away. 270 - For when 'twas fresh, it then was all dispelled, - At Phœbos' shrine, by spells of slaughtered swine. - Long would the story be, if told complete, - Of all I joined in harmless fellowship. - Time waxing old, too, cleanses all alike: - And now with pure lips, I in words devout, - Call Athenæa, whom this land owns queen, - To come and help me: So without a war - Shall she gain me, my land, my Argive people, 280 - Full faithful friends, allies for evermore;[492] - But whether in the climes of Libyan land, - Hard by her birth-stream's foam, Tritonian named,[493] - She stands upright, or sits with feet enwrapt, - Helping her friends, or o'er Phlegræan plains, - Like a bold chieftain, she keeps watchful guard,[494] - Oh, may she come! (far off a God can hear,) - And work for me redemption from these ills! - - _Chor._ Nay, nor Apollo, nor Athena's might - Can save thee from the doom of perishing, 290 - Outcast, not knowing where to look for joy, - The bloodless food of demons, a mere shade. - Wilt thou not answer? Scornest thou my words, - A victim reared and consecrate to me? - Alive thou'lt feed me, not at altar slain; - And thou shalt hear our hymn as spell to bind thee. - -_The Erinnyes, as they sing the ode that follows, move round and round -in solemn and weird measure_ - - Come, then, let us form our chorus; - Since 'tis now our will to utter - Melody or song most hateful, - Telling how our band assigneth - All the lots that fall to mortals; 300 - And we boast that we are righteous: - Not on one who pure hands lifteth - Falleth from us any anger, - But his life he passeth scatheless; - But to him who sins like this man, - And his blood-stained hands concealeth, - Witnesses of those who perish, - Coming to exact blood-forfeit, - We appear to work completeness. 310 - - - STROPHE I - - O mother who did'st bear me, mother Night, - A terror of the living and the dead, - Hear me, oh hear! - The son of Leto puts me to disgrace - And robs me of my spoil, - This crouching victim for a mother's blood: - And over him as slain, - We raise this chant of madness, frenzy-working,[495] - The hymn the Erinnyes love, - A spell upon the soul, a lyreless strain - That withers up men's strength. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - This lot the all-pervading Destiny 320 - Hath spun to hold its ground for evermore, - That we should still attend - On him on whom there rests the guilt of blood - Of kin shed causelessly, - Till earth lie o'er him; nor shall death set free. - And over him as slain, - We raise this chant of madness, frenzy-working, - The hymn the Erinnyes love, - A spell upon the soul, a lyreless strain - That withers up men's strength. - - - STROPHE II - - Such lot was then assigned us at our birth: - From us the Undying Ones must hold aloof: 330 - Nor is there one who shares - The banquet-meal with us; - In garments white I have nor part nor lot;[496] - My choice was made for overthrow of homes, - Where home-bred slaughter works a loved one's death: - Ha! hunting after him, - Strong though he be, 'tis ours - *To wear the newness of his young blood down.[497] - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - *Since 'tis our work another's task to take,[498] 340 - *The Gods indeed may bar the force of prayers - Men offer unto me, - But may not clash in strife; - For Zeus doth cast us from his fellowship, - “Blood-dropping, worthy of his utmost hate.”... - For leaping down as from the topmost height, - I on my victim bring - The crushing force of feet, - Limbs that o'erthrow e'en those that swiftly run, - An Atè hard to bear. 350 - - - STROPHE III - - And fame of men, though very lofty now - Beneath the clear, bright sky, - Below the earth grows dim and fades away - Before the attack of us, the black-robed ones, - And these our dancings wild, - Which all men loathe and hate. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Falling in frenzied guilt, he knows it not; - So thick the blinding cloud - *That o'er him floats; and Rumour widely spread - With many a sigh reports the dreary doom, - A mist that o'er the house - In gathering darkness broods. - - - STROPHE IV - - Fixed is the law, no lack of means find we; 360 - We work out all our will, - We, the dread Powers, the registrars of crime, - Whom mortals fail to soothe, - Fulfilling tasks dishonoured, unrevered, - Apart from all the Gods, - *In foul and sunless gloom,[499] - Driving o'er rough steep road both those that see, - And those whose eyes are dark. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - What mortal man then doth not bow in awe - And fear before all this, - Hearing from me the destined ordinance - Assigned me by the Gods? 370 - This task of mine is one of ancient days; - Nor meet I here with scorn, - Though 'neath the earth I dwell, - And live there in the darkness thick and dense, - Where never sunbeam falls. - - _Enter_ ATHENA, _appearing in her chariot, and then alights_ - - _Athena._ I heard far off the cry of thine entreaty - E'en from Scamandros,[500] claiming there mine own, - The land which all Achaia's foremost leaders, - As portion chief from out the spoils of war, - Gave to me, trees and all, for evermore, - A special gift for Theseus' progeny. 380 - Thence came I plying foot that never tires, - Flapping my ægis-folds, no need of wings, - My chariot drawn by young and vigorous steeds: - And seeing this new presence in the land, - I have no fear, though wonder fills mine eyes; - Who, pray, are ye? To all of you I speak, - And to this stranger at my statue suppliant. - And as for you, like none of Nature's births, - Nor seen by Gods among the Goddess-forms, - Nor yet in likeness of a mortal shape.... 390 - But to speak ill of neighbours blameless found - Is far from just, and Right holds back from it. - - _Chor._ Daughter of Zeus, thou shalt learn all in brief; - Children are we of everlasting Night; - [At home, beneath the earth, they call us Curses.] - - _Athena._ Your race I know, and whence ye take your name. - - _Chor._ Thou shalt soon know then what mine office is. - - _Athena._ Then could I know, if ye clear speech would speak. - - _Chor._ We from their home drive forth all murderers. - - _Athena._ Where doth the slayer find the goal of flight? 400 - - _Chor._ Where to find joy in nought is still his wont. - - _Athena._ And whirrest thou such flight on this man here? - - _Chor._ Yea, for he thought it meet to slay his mother. - - _Athena._ Was there no other power whose wrath he feared? - - _Chor._ What impulse, then, should prick to matricide? - - _Athena._ Two sides are here, and I but half have heard. - - _Chor._ But he nor takes nor tenders us an oath.[501] - - _Athena._ Thou lov'st the show of Justice more than act. - - _Chor._ How so? Inform me. Skill thou dost not lack! - - _Athena._ 'Tis not by oaths a cause unjust shall win.[502] 410 - - _Chor._ Search out the cause, then, and right judgment judge. - - _Athena._ And would ye trust to me to end the cause?[503] - - _Chor._ How else? Thy worth, and worthy stock we honour. - - _Athena._ What dost thou wish, O stranger, to reply? - Tell thou thy land, thy race, thy life's strange chance, - And then ward off this censure aimed at thee, - Since thou sitt'st trusting in thy right, and hold'st - This mine own image, near mine altar hearth, - A suppliant, like Ixion,[504] honourable. - Answer all this in speech intelligible. 420 - - _Orest._ O Queen Athena, from thy last words starting, - I first will free thee from a weighty care: - I am not now defiled: no curse abides - Upon the hand that on thy statue rests; - And I will give thee proof full strong of this. - The law is fixed the murderer shall be dumb, - Till at the hand of one who frees from blood, - The purple stream from yeanling swine run o'er him;[505] - Long since at other houses these dread rites[506] - We have gone through, slain victims, flowing streams: - This care, then, I can speak of now as gone. 430 - And how my lineage stands thou soon shalt know: - An Argive I, my sire well known to thee, - Chief ruler of the seamen, Agamemnon, - With whom thou madest Troïa, Ilion's city, - To be no city. He, when he came home, - Died without honour; and my dark-souled mother - Enwrapt and slew him with her broidered toils, - Which bore their witness of the murder wrought - There in the bath; and I, on my return, 440 - (Till then an exile,) did my mother kill, - (That deed I'll not deny,) in forfeit due - Of blood for blood of father best beloved; - And Loxias, too, is found accomplice here, - Foretelling woes that pricked my heart to act, - If I did nought to those accomplices - In that same crime. But thou, judge thou my cause, - If what I did were right or wrong, and I, - Whate'er the issue, will be well content. - - _Athena._ Too great this matter, if a mortal man - Think to decide it. Nor is't meet for me - To judge a cause of murder stirred by wrath; 450 - *And all the more since thou with contrite soul - Hast come to this my house a suppliant, - Harmless and pure. I now, in spite of all, - Take thee as one my city need not blame;[507] - But these hold office that forbids dismissal, - And should they fail of victory in this cause, - Hereafter from their passionate mood will poison[508] - Fall on the land, disease intolerable, - And lasting for all time. E'en thus it stands; - And both alike, their staying or dismissal, - Are unto me perplexing and disastrous. - But since the matter thus hath come on me, - I will appoint as judges of this murder - Men bound by oath, a law for evermore;[509] - And ye, call ye your proofs and witnesses, - Sworn pledges given to help the cause of right. - And I, selecting of my citizens - Those who are best, will come again that they - May judge this matter truly, taking oaths - To utter nought against the law of right. [_Exit_ - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ Now will there be an outbreak of new laws: - If victory shall rest - Upon the wrong right of this matricide, 470 - This deed will prompt forthwith - All mortal men to callous recklessness. - And many deaths, I trow, - At children's hands their parents now await - Through all the time to come. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - For since no wrath on evil deeds will creep - Henceforth from those who watch - With wild, fierce souls the evil deeds of men, - I will let loose all crime; - *And each from each shall seek in eager quest, 480 - *Speaking of neighbour's ills, - *For pause and lull of woes;[510] yet wretched man, - He speaks of cures that fail. - - - STROPHE II - - Henceforth let none call us, - When smitten by mischance, - Uttering this cry of prayer, - “O Justice, and O ye, Erinnyes' thrones!” - Such wail, perchance, a father then shall utter, - Or mother newly slain, - Since, fallen low, the shrine of Justice now - Lies prostrate in the dust. 490 - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - There are with whom 'tis well - That awe should still abide, - As watchman o'er their souls. - Calm wisdom gained by sorrow profits much: - For who that in the gladness of his heart, - Or man or commonwealth, - Has nought of this, would bow before the Right - Humbly as heretofore?[511] - - - STROPHE III - - Praise not the lawless life, 500 - Nor that which owns a despot's sovereignty; - To the true mean in all God gives success,[512] - And with far other mood, - On other course looks on; - And I will say, with this in harmony, - That Pride is truly child of Godlessness; - While from the soul's true health - Comes the fair fortune, loved of all mankind, - And aim of many a prayer. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And now, I say, in sum, 510 - Revere the altar reared to Justice high, - Nor, thine eye set on gain, with godless foot - Treat it contemptuously: - For wrath shall surely come; - The appointed end abideth still for all. - Therefore let each be found full honour giving - To parents, and to those, - The honoured guests that gather in his house, - Let him due reverence show. - - - STROPHE IV - - And one who of his own free will is just, 520 - Not by enforced constraint, - He shall not be unblest, - Nor can he e'er be utterly o'erthrown; - But he that dareth, and transgresseth all, - In wild, confusèd deeds, - Where Justice is not seen, - I say that he perforce, as time wears on, - Will have to take in sail, - When trouble makes him hers, and each yard-arm - Is shivered by the blast. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - And then he calls on those who hear him not, - And struggles all in vain, - In the fierce waves' mid-whirl; - And God still mocks the man of fevered mood, 530 - When he sees him who bragged it ne'er would come, - With woes inextricable - Worn out, and failing still - To weather round the perilous promontory; - And for all time to come, - Wrecking on reefs of Vengeance bliss once high, - He dies unwept, unseen. - -_The scene changes to the Areopagos._ _Enter_ ATHENA, _followed by -Herald and twelve Athenian citizens_ - - _Athena._ Cry out, O herald; the great host hold back; - Then let Tyrrhenian trumpet,[513] piercing heaven, - Filled with man's breath, to all that host send forth - The full-toned notes, for while this council-hall 540 - Is filling, it is meet men hold their peace. - - [_Herald blows his trumpet_ - - And let the city for all time to come - Learn these my laws, and this accused one too, - That so the trial may be rightly judged.[514] - - [_As_ ATHENA _speaks_, APOLLO _enters_ - - _Chor._ O King Apollo, rule thou o'er thine own; - But what hast thou to do with this our cause? - - _Apol._ I am come both as witness,—for this man - Is here as suppliant, that on my hearth sat, - And I his cleanser am from guilt of blood,— - And to plead for him as his advocate: - I bear the blame of that his mother's death. - But thou, whoe'er dost act as president, - Open the suit in way well known to thee.[515] 550 - - _Athena._ [_to the Erinnyes._] 'Tis yours to speak; I thus the - pleadings open, - For so the accuser, speaking first, shall have, - Of right, the task to state the case to us. - - _Chor._ Many are we, but briefly will we speak; - And answer thou [_to_ ORESTES], in thy turn, word for word; - First tell us this, did'st thou thy mother slay? - - _Orest._ I slew her: of that fact is no denial. - - _Chor._ Here, then, is one of our three bouts[516] decided. - - _Orest._ Thou boastest this o'er one not yet thrown down. 560 - - _Chor._ This thou at least must tell, how thou did'st slay her. - - _Orest._ E'en so; her throat I cut with hand sword-armed. - - _Chor._ By whom persuaded, and with whose advice? - - _Orest._ [_Pointing to_ APOLLO.] By His divine command: He bears me - witness. - - _Chor._ The prophet-God prompt thee to matricide! - - _Orest._ Yea, and till now I do not blame my lot. - - _Chor._ Nay, when found guilty, soon thou'lt change thy tone. - - _Orest._ I trust my sire will send help from the tomb. - - _Chor._ Trust in the dead, thou murderer of thy mother! - - _Orest._ Yes; for in her two great pollutions met. 570 - - _Chor._ How so, I pray? Inform the court of this. - - _Orest._ She both her husband and my father slew. - - _Chor._ Nay then, thou liv'st, and she gets quit by death. - - _Orest._ Why, while she lived, did'st thou to chase her fail? - - _Chor._ The man she slew was not one of blood with her.[517] - - _Orest._ And does my mother's blood then flow in me? - - _Chor._ E'en so; how else, O murderer, reared she thee - Within her womb? Disown'st thou mother's blood? - - _Orest._ [_Turning to_ APOLLO.] Now bear thou witness, and declare to - me, - Apollo, if I slew her righteously; 580 - For I the deed, as fact, will not deny. - But whether right or wrong this deed of blood - Seem in thine eyes, judge thou that these may hear. - - _Apol._ I will to you, Athena's solemn council, - Speak truly, and as prophet will not lie. - Ne'er have I spoken on prophetic throne, - Of man, or woman, or of commonwealth, - But as great Zeus, Olympian Father, bade; - And that ye learn how much this plea avails, - I bid you [_turning to the court of jurymen_] follow out my Father's - will;590 - No oath can be of greater might than Zeus.[518] - - _Chor._ Zeus, then, thou say'st, did prompt the oracle - That this Orestes here, his father's blood - Avenging, should his mother's rights o'erthrow? - - _Apol._ 'Tis a quite other thing for hero-chief, - Bearing the honour of Zeus-given sceptre, - To die, and at a woman's hands, not e'en - By swift, strong dart, from Amazonian bow,[519] - But as thou, Pallas, now shalt hear, and those - Who sit to give their judgment in this cause; 600 - For when he came successful from the trade - Of war with largest gains, receiving him - With kindly words of praise, she spread a robe - Over the bath, yes, even o'er its edge, - As he was bathing, and entangling him - In endless folds of cloak of cunning work, - She strikes her lord down. Thus the tale is told - Of her lord's murder, chief whom all did honour, - The ships' great captain. So I tell it out, - E'en as it was, to thrill the people's hearts, - Who now are set to give their verdict here. - - _Chor._ Zeus then a father's death, as thou dost say, 610 - Of highest moment holds, yet He himself - Bound fast in chains his aged father, Cronos;[520] - Are not thy words at variance with the facts? - I call on you [_to the Court_] to witness what he says. - - _Apol._ O hateful creatures, loathèd of the Gods, - Those chains may be undone, that wrong be cured, - And many a means of rescue may be found: - But when the dust has drunk the blood of men, - No resurrection comes for one that's dead: - No charm for these things hath my sire devised; - But all things else he turneth up or down, 620 - And orders without toil or weariness.[521] - - _Chor._ Take heed how thou help this man to escape; - Shall he who stained earth with his mother's blood - Then dwell in Argos in his father's house? - What public altars can he visit now? - What lustral rite of clan or tribe admit him?[522] - - _Apol._ This too I'll say; judge thou if I speak right: - The mother is not parent of the child - That is called hers, but nurse of embryo sown. - He that begets is parent:[523] she, as stranger, 630 - For stranger rears the scion, if God mar not; - And of this fact I'll give thee proof full sure. - A father there may be without a mother: - Here nigh at hand, as witness, is the child - Of high Olympian Zeus, for she not e'en - Was nurtured in the darkness of the womb,[524] - Yet such a scion may no God beget. - I, both in all else, Pallas, as I know, - Will make thy city and thy people great, - And now this man have sent as suppliant - Upon thy hearth, that he may faithful prove 640 - Now and for ever, and that thou, O Goddess, - May'st gain him as ally, and all his race, - And that it last as law for evermore, - That these men's progeny our treaties own. - - _Athena._ [_To jurors._] I bid you give, according to your conscience, - A verdict just; enough has now been said. - - _Chor._ We have shot forth our every weapon now: - I wait to hear what way the strife is judged. - - _Athena._ [_To Chorus._] How shall I order this, unblamed by you? - - _Chor._ [_To jurors._] Ye heard what things ye heard, and in your - hearts - Reverence your oaths, and give your votes, O friends. 650 - - _Athena._ Hear ye my order, O ye Attic people, - In act to judge your first great murder-cause. - And henceforth shall the host of Ægeus' race[525] - For ever own this council-hall of judges: - And for this Ares' hill, the Amazons' seat - And camp when they, enraged with Theseus, came[526] - In hostile march, and built as counterwork - This citadel high-reared, a city new, - And sacrificed to Ares, whence 'tis named - As Ares' hill and fortress: in this, I say, 660 - The reverent awe its citizens shall own, - And fear, awe's kindred, shall restrain from wrong - By day, nor less by night, so long as they, - The burghers, alter not themselves their laws: - But if with drain of filth and tainted soil - Clear river thou pollute, no drink thou'lt find.[527] - I give my counsel to you, citizens, - To reverence and guard well that form of state - Which is not lawless, nor tyrannical, - And not to cast all fear from out the city;[528] - For what man lives devoid of fear and just? - But rightly shrinking, owning awe like this, 670 - Ye then would have a bulwark of your land, - A safeguard for your city, such as none - Boast or in Skythia's[529] or in Pelops' clime. - This council I establish pure from bribe, - Reverend, and keen to act, for those that sleep[530] - An ever-watchful sentry of the land. - This charge of mine I thus have lengthened out - For you, my people, for all time to come. - And now 'tis meet ye rise, and take your ballots,[531] - And so decide the cause, maintaining still - Your reverence for your oath. My speech is said. 680 - - _Chor._ And I advise you not to treat with scorn - A troop that can sit heavy on your land. - - _Apol._ And I do bid you dread my oracles, - And those of Zeus, nor rob them of their fruit. - - _Chor._ Uncalled thou com'st to take a murderer's part; - No longer pure the oracles thou'lt speak. - - _Apol._ And did my father then in purpose err, - Then the first murderer he received, Ixion?[532] - - _Chor._ Thou talk'st, but should I fail in this my cause, - I will again dwell here and vex this land. - - _Apol._ Alike among the new Gods and the old 690 - Art thou dishonoured: I shall win the day. - - _Chor._ This did'st thou also in the house of Pheres,[533] - Winning the Fates to make a man immortal. - - _Apol._ Was it not just a worshipper to bless - In any case,—then most, when he's in want? - - _Chor._ Thou did'st o'erthrow, yea, thou, laws hoar with age, - And drug with wine the ancient Goddesses.[534] - - _Apol._ Nay, thou, non-suited in this cause of thine, - Shall venom spit that nothing hurts thy foes. 700 - - _Chor._ Since thou, though young, dost ride me down, though old, - I wait to hear the issue of the cause, - Still wavering in my wrath against this city. - - _Athena._ 'Tis now my task to close proceedings here; - And this my vote I to Orestes add; - For I no mother own that brought me forth, - And saving that I wed not, I prefer - The male with all my heart, and make mine own - The father's cause, nor will above it place - A woman's death, who slew her own true lord, - The guardian of her house. Orestes wins, 710 - E'en though the votes be equal. Cast ye forth - With all your speed the lots from out the urns, - Ye jurors unto whom that office falls. - - _Orest._ Phœbos Apollo! what will be the judgment? - - _Chor._ Dark Night, my mother! dost thou look on this? - - _Orest._ My goal is now the noose, or full, clear day. - - _Chor._ Ours too to come to nought, or work on still. - - [_A pause. The jurors take out the voting tablets - from the two urns (one of bronze, the other of - wood) for acquittal or condemnation_ - - _Apol._ Now count ye up the votes thrown out, O friends, - And be ye honest, as ye reckon them; - One sentence lacking, sorrow great may come, 720 - And one vote given hath ofttimes saved a house. - - [_A pause, during which the urns are emptied and - the votes are counted_ - - _Athena._ The accused is found “not guilty” of the murder: - For lo! the numbers of the votes are equal.[535] - - _Orest._ O Pallas, thou who hast redeemed my house, - Thou, thou hast brought me back when I had been - Bereaved of fatherland, and Hellenes now - Will say, “The man's an Argive once again, - And dwells upon his father's heritage, - Because of Pallas and of Loxias, - And Zeus, the true third Saviour, all o'erruling, - Who, touched with pity for my father's fate, 730 - Saves me, beholding these my mother's pleaders.” - And I will now wend homeward, giving pledge - To this thy country and its valiant host, - To stand as firm for henceforth and for ever, - That no man henceforth, chief of Argive land, - Shall bring against it spearmen well equipped: - For we ourselves, though in our sepulchres, - On those who shall transgress these oaths of ours, - Will with inextricable evils work, - Making their paths disheartening, and their ways 740 - Ill-omened, that they may their toil repent. - But if these oaths be kept, to those who honour - This city of great Pallas, our ally, - Then we to them are more propitious yet. - Farewell then, Thou, and these who guard thy city. - Mayst thou so wrestle that thy foes escape not, - And so win victory and deliverance! - - - STROPHE - - _Chor._ Ah! ah! ye younger God! - Ye have ridden down the laws of ancient days, - And robbed me of my prey. - But I, dishonoured, wretched, full of wrath, 750 - Upon this land, ha! ha! - Will venom, venom from my heart let fall, - In vengeance for my grief, - A dropping which shall smite - The earth with barrenness! - And thence shall come, (O Vengeance!) on the plain - Down swooping, blight of leaves and murrain dire - That o'er the land flings taint of pestilence. 760 - Shall I then wail and groan? - Or what else shall I do? - Shall I become a woe intolerable - Unto these men for wrongs I have endured? - Great, very great are they, - Ye virgin daughters of dim Night, ill-doomed, - Born both to shame and woe! - - _Athena._ Nay, list to me, and be not over-grieved; - Ye have not been defeated, but the cause - Came fairly to a tie, no shame to thee. - But the clear evidence of Zeus was given, - And he who spake it bare his witness too - That, doing this, Orestes should not suffer. - Hurl ye not then fierce rage on this my land; - Nor be ye wroth, nor work ye barrenness, - *By letting fall the drops of evil Powers,[536] - The baleful influence that consumes all seed. 770 - For lo! I promise, promise faithfully, - That, seated on your hearths with shining thrones, - Ye shall find cavern homes in righteous land, - Honoured and worshipped by these citizens. - - - ANTISTROPHE - - _Chor._ Ah ah! ye younger Gods! - Ye have ridden down the laws of ancient days, - And robbed me of my prey. - And I, dishonoured, wretched, full of wrath, - Upon this land, ha! ha! - Will venom, venom from my heart let fall, - In vengeance for my grief, - A dropping which shall smite 780 - The earth with barrenness! - And thence shall come, (O Vengeance!) on the plain - Down-swooping, blight of leaves and murrain dire - That o'er the land flings taint of pestilence. - Shall I then wail and groan? - Or what else shall I do? - Shall I become a woe intolerable - Unto these men for wrongs I have endured? - Great, very great are they, - Ye virgin daughters of dim Night, ill-doomed, - Born both to shame and woe! - - _Athena._ Ye are not left unhonoured; be not hot - In wrath, ye Goddesses, to mar man's land, - I too, yes I, trust Zeus. Need I say more? 790 - I only of the high Gods know the keys - Of chambers where the sealed-up thunder lies; - But that I have no need of. List to me, - Nor cast upon the earth thy rash tongue's fruit, - That brings to all things failure and distress; - Lull thou the bitter storm of that dark surge, - As dwelling with me, honoured and revered; - And thou with first-fruits of this wide champaign, - Offerings for children's birth and wedlock-rites, - Shall praise these words of mine for evermore. 800 - - _Chor._ That I should suffer this, fie on it! fie! - That I, with thoughts of hoar antiquity,[537] - Should now in this land dwell, - Dishonoured, deemed a plague! - I breathe out rage, and every form of wrath. - Oh, Earth! fie on it! fie! - What pang is this that thrills through all my breast? - Hear thou, O mother Night, - Hear thou my vehement wrath! - For lo! deceits that none can wrestle with - Have thrust me out from honours old of Gods, - And made a thing of nought. - - _Athena._ Thy wrath I'll bear, for thou the elder art, 810 - [And wiser too in that respect than I;] - Yet to me too Zeus gave no wisdom poor; - And ye, if ye an alien country seek, - Shall yearn in love for this land. This I tell you; - For to this people Time, as it runs on, - Shall come with fuller honours, and if thou - Hast honoured seat hard by Erechtheus' home, - Thou shalt from men and women reap such gifts - As thou would'st never gain from other mortals; - But in these fields of mine be slow to cast 820 - Whetstones of murder's knife, to young hearts bale, - Frenzied with maddened passion, not of wine; - Nor, as transplanting hearts of fighting-cocks,[538] - Make Ares inmate with my citizens, - In evil discord, and intestine broils; - Let them have war without, not scantily, - For him who feels the passionate thirst of fame: - Battle of home-bred birds ... I name it not; - This it is thine to choose as gift from me; - Well-doing, well-entreated, and well-honoured, 830 - To share the land best loved of all the Gods. - - _Chor._ That I should suffer this, fie on it! fie! - That I, with thoughts of hoar antiquity, - Should now in this land dwell, - Dishonoured, deemed a plague, - I breathe out rage, and every form of wrath; - Ah, Earth! fie on it! fie! - What pang is this that thrills through all my breast? - Hear thou, O mother Night, - Hear thou my vehement wrath! - For lo! deceits that none can wrestle with - Have thrust me out from honours old of Gods, - And made a thing of nought. 840 - - _Athena._ I will not weary, telling thee of good, - That thou may'st never say that thou, being old, - Wert at the hands of me, a younger Goddess, - And those of men who in my city dwell, - Driven in dishonour, exiled from this plain. - But if the might of Suasion thou count holy, - And my tongue's blandishments have power to soothe, - Then thou wilt stay; but if thou wilt not stay, - Not justly would'st thou bring upon this city, - Or wrath, or grudge, or mischief for its host. - It rests with thee, as dweller in this spot,[539] 850 - To meet with all due honour evermore. - - _Chor._ Athena, Queen, what seat assign'st thou me? - - _Athena._ One void of touch of evil; take thou it. - - _Chor._ Say I accept. What honour then is mine? - - _Athena._ That no one house apart from thee shall prosper. - - _Chor._ And wilt thou work that I such might may have? - - _Athena._ His lot who worships thee we'll guide aright. - - _Chor._ And wilt thou give thy warrant for all time? - - _Athena._ What I work not I might refrain from speaking. - - _Chor._ It seems thou sooth'st me: I relax my wrath. 860 - - _Athena._ In this land dwelling thou new friends shalt gain. - - _Chor._ What hymn then for this land dost bid me raise? - - _Athena._ Such as is meet for no ill-victory.[540] - · · · · · - And pray that blessings upon men be sent. - And that, too, both from earth, and ocean's spray, - And out of heaven; and that the breezy winds, - In sunshine blowing, sweep upon the land, - And that o'erflowing fruit of field and flock - May never fail my citizens to bless, - Nor safe deliverance for the seed of men. - But for the godless, rather root them out: 870 - For I, like gardener shepherding his plants, - This race of just men freed from sorrow love. - So much for thee: and I will never fail - To give this city honour among men, - Victorious in the noble games of war. - - - STROPHE I - - _Chor._ I will accept this offered home with Pallas, - Nor will the city scorn, - Which e'en All-ruling Zeus - And Ares give as fortress of the Gods, - The altar-guarding pride of Gods of Hellas; 880 - And I upon her call, - With kindly auguries, - That so the glorious splendour of the sun - May cause life's fairest portion in thick growth - *To burgeon from the earth. - - _Athena._ Yea, I work with kindliest feeling - For these my townsmen, having settled - Powers great, and hard to soothe among them: - Unto them the lot is given, - All things human still to order; 890 - He who hath not felt their pressure - Knows not whence life's scourges smite him: - For the sin of generations - Past and gone;—a dumb destroyer,— - Leads him on into their presence, - And with mood of foe low bringeth - Him whose lips are speaking proudly. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - _Chor._ Let no tree-blighting canker breathe on them, - (I tell of boon I give,) - Nor blaze of scorching heat, - That mars the budding eyes of nursling plants, 900 - And checks their spreading o'er their narrow bounds; - And may no dark, drear plague - Smite it with barrenness. - But may Earth feed fair flock in season due, - Blest with twin births, and earth's rich produce pay - To the high heavenly Powers, - Its gift for treasure found.[541] - - _Athena._ Hear ye then, ye city's guardians, - What she offers? Dread and mighty 910 - With the Undying is Erinnys; - And with Those beneath the earth too, - And full clearly and completely - Work they all things out for mortals, - Giving these the songs of gladness, - Those a life bedimmed with weeping. - - - STROPHE II - - _Chor._ Avaunt, all evil chance - That brings men low in death before their time! - And for the maidens lovely and beloved, - Give, ye whose work it is, - Life with a husband true, - And ye, O Powers of self-same mother born, 920 - Ye Fates who rule aright, - Partners in every house, - Awe-striking through all time, - With presence full of righteousness and truth, - Through all the universe - Most honoured of the Gods! - - _Athena._ Much I joy that thus ye promise - These boons to my land in kindness; - And I love the glance of Suasion, - That she guides my speech and accent - Unto these who gainsaid stoutly. 930 - But the victory is won by - Zeus, the agora's protector; - And our rivalry in blessings - Is the conqueror evermore. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - _Chor._ For this too I will pray, - That Discord, never satiate with ill, - May never ravine in this commonwealth, - Nor dust that drinks dark blood - From veins of citizens, - Through eager thirst for vengeance, from the State - Snatch woes as penalty - For deeds of murderous guilt. - But may they give instead - With friendly purpose acts of kind intent, 940 - And if need be, may hate - With minds of one accord; - For this is healing found to mortal men - Of many a grievous woe. - - _Athena._ Are they not then waxing wiser, - And at last the path discerning - Of a speech more good and gentle? - Now from these strange forms and fearful, - See I to my townsmen coming, - E'en to these, great meed of profit; - For if ye, with kindly welcome, - Honour these as kind protectors, - Then shall ye be famed as keeping, - Just and upright in all dealings, - Land and city evermore. - - - STROPHE III - - _Chor._ Rejoice, rejoice ye in abounding wealth, - Rejoice, ye citizens, - Dwelling near Zeus himself,[542] 950 - Loved of the virgin Goddess whom ye loved, - In due time wise of heart, - You, 'neath the wings of Pallas ever staying,[543] - The Father honoureth. - - _Athena._ Rejoice ye also, but before you - I must march to show your chambers, - By your escorts' torches holy; - Go, and with these dread oblations 960 - Passing to the crypt cavernous, - Keep all harm from this our country, - Send all gain upon our city, - Cause it o'er its foes to triumph. - Lead ye on, ye sons of Cranaos,[544] - Lead, ye dwellers in the city, - Those who come to sojourn with you, - And may good gifts work good purpose - In my townsmen evermore! - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - _Chor._ Rejoice, rejoice once more, ye habitants! 970 - I say it yet again, - Ye Gods, and mortals too, - Who dwell in Pallas' city. Should ye treat - With reverence us who dwell - As sojourners among you, ye shall find - No cause to blame your lot. - - _Athena._ I praise these words of yours, the prayers ye offer, - And with the light of torches flashing fire, - Will I escort you to your dark abode,[545] - Low down beneath the earth, with my attendants, - Who with due honour guard my statue here, - For now shall issue forth the goodly eye - Of all the land of Theseus; fair-famed troop 980 - Of girls and women, band of matrons too, - In upper vestments purple-dyed arrayed: - *Now then advance ye; and the blaze of fire, - Let it go forth, that so this company - Stand forth propitious, henceforth and for aye, - In rearing race of noblest citizens, - - _Enter an array of women, young and old, in procession, leading the - Erinnyes—now, as propitiated, the Eumenides or Gentle Ones—to - their shrines_ - - - _Chorus of Athenian women_ - - - STROPHE I - - Go to your home, ye great and jealous Ones, - Children of Night, and yet no children ye;[546] - With escort of good-will, - Shout, shout, ye townsmen, shout. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - There in the dark and gloomy caves of earth, - With worthy gifts and many a sacrifice 990 - Consumèd in the fire— - Shout, shout ye, one and all. - - - STROPHE II - - Come, come, with thought benign - Propitious to our land, - Ye dreaded Ones, yea, come, - While on your progress onward ye rejoice, - In the bright light of fire-devourèd torch; - Shout, shout ye to our songs. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Let the drink-offerings come, - In order meet behind, - While torches fling their light; - *Zeus the All-seeing thus hath joined in league - *With Destiny for Pallas' citizens; - Shout, shout ye to our songs. - - [_The procession winds its way_, ATHENA _at its head, then - the Eumenides, then the women, round the Areopagos - towards the ravine in which the dread Goddesses were - to find their sanctuary._ - ------ - -Footnote 466: - - The succession is, in part, accordant with that in the _Theogonia_ of - Hesiod (vv. 116-136), but the special characteristic of the Æschylean - form of the legend is that each change is a step in a due, rightful - succession, as by free gift, not accomplished (as in other narratives - of the same transition) by violence and wrong. - -Footnote 467: - - Phœbe, in the _Theogonia_, marries Coios, and becomes the mother of - Leto, or Latona, and so the grandmother of Apollo. The “birthday gift” - was commonly presented on the eighth day after birth, when the child - was named. The oracle is spoken of as such a gift to Apollo, as - bearing the name of Phœbos. - -Footnote 468: - - The sacred circular pool of Delos is the crater of an extinct volcano. - There Apollo was born, and thence he passed through Attica to - Parnassos, to take possession of the oracle, according to one form of - the myth, depriving Themis of it and slaying the dragon Python that - kept guard over it. - -Footnote 469: - - The people of Attica are thus named either as being mythically - descended from Erichthonios the son of Hephæstos, or as artificers, - who own him as their father. The words refer to the supposed origin of - the Sacred Road from Athens to Delphi, passing through Bœotia and - Phokis. When the Athenians sent envoys to consult the oracle they were - preceded by men bearing axes, in remembrance of the original - pioneering work which had been done for Apollo. The first work of - active civilisation was thus connected with the worship of the giver - of Light and Wisdom. - -Footnote 470: - - Delphos, the hero _Eponymos_ (name-giving) of Delphi, was honoured as - the son of Poseidon. Hence the Priestess invokes the latter as one of - the guardian deities of the shrine. - -Footnote 471: - - Pronaia, as having her shrine or statue in front of the temple of - Apollo. - -Footnote 472: - - The Korykian rock in Parnassos, as in Soph., _Antig._, v. 1128; known - also as the “Nymphs' cavern.” - -Footnote 473: - - Bromios, a name of Dionysos, embodying the special attributes of loud, - half-frenzied revelry. - -Footnote 474: - - In the legend which Euripides follows, Kithæron, not Parnassos, is the - scene of the death of Pentheus. He, it was said, opposed the wild or - frantic worship of the Pelasgic Bacchos, concealed himself that he - might behold the mysteries of the Mœnads, and was torn to pieces by - his mother and two others, on whose eyes the God had cast such glamour - that they took him for a wild beast. English readers may be referred - to Dean Milman's translation of the _Bacchanals_ of Euripides. - -Footnote 475: - - Pleistos, topographically, a river flowing through the vale of Delphi, - mythically the father of the nymphs of Korykos. - -Footnote 476: - - At one time the Oracle had been open to questioners once in the year - only, afterwards once a month. The pilgrims, after they had made their - offerings, cast lots, and the doors were opened to him to whom the lot - had fallen. Plutarch, _Qu. Græc._, p. 292. - -Footnote 477: - - The altar of the adytum, on the very centre, as men deemed, of the - whole earth. Zeus, it was said, had sent forth two eagles at the same - moment; one from the East and the other from the West, and here it was - that they had met. The stone was of white marble, and the two eagles - were sculptured on it. Strabo, ix. 3. - -Footnote 478: - - The priestess dwells upon the outward tokens, which showed that the - suppliant came as one whose need was specially urgent. On the ritual - of supplication generally comp. _Suppl._, vv. 22, 348, 641, Soph., - _Œd. King_, v. 3; _Œd. Col._, vv. 469-489. - -Footnote 479: - - Æschylos apparently follows the _Theogonia_ of Hesiod, (l. 278), who - describes the Gorgons as three in number, daughters of Phorkys and - Keto, and bearing the names of Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. The last - enters into the Perseus cycle of myths, as one of the monsters whom he - conquered, with a face once beautiful, but with her hair turned to - serpents by the wrath of Athena, and so dreadful to look upon that - those who gazed on her were turned to stone. When Perseus had slain - her, Athena placed her head in her ægis, and thus became the terror of - all who were foes to herself or her people. A wild legendary account - of them meets us in the _Prom. Bound_, v. 812. As works of art, the - Gorgon images are traceable to the earliest or Kyclopian period. - -Footnote 480: - - Here also we have a reference to a familiar subject of early Greek - art, probably to some painting familiar to an Athenian audience. The - name of Phineus indicates that the monstrous forms spoken of are those - of the Harpies, birds with women's faces, or women with birds' wings, - who were sent to vex the blind seer for his cruelty to the children of - his first marriage. Comp. Soph. _Antig._, v. 973. In the _Æneid_ they - appear (iii. 225) as dwelling in the Strophades, and harassing Æneas - and his companions. - -Footnote 481: - - The old image of Pallas, carved in olive-wood, as distinguished from - later sculpture. - -Footnote 482: - - The early code of hospitality bound the host, who as such had once - received a guest under the shelter of his roof, not to desert him, - even though he might discover afterwards that he had been guilty of - great crimes, but to escort him safely to the boundary of his - territory. Thus Apollo, as the host with whom Orestes had taken - refuge, sends Hermes, the escort God, to guide and defend him on his - way to Athens. - -Footnote 483: - - The thought that the highest wisdom came to men rather in “visions of - the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,” than through the waking - senses, which we have already met with in _Agam._, v. 173, is - traceable to the mysticism of Pythagoras, more distinctly perhaps to - that of Epimenides. - -Footnote 484: - - Wine, as in Soph. _Œd. Col._, vv. 100, 481, was rigidly excluded from - the _cultus_ of the Eumenides, and to them only as daughters of Night - were midnight sacrifices offered. We must not lose sight of the - thought thus implied, that Clytæmnestra had herself lived, after her - deed of guilt, in perpetual terror of the Erinnyes, seeking to soothe - them by her sacrifices. - -Footnote 485: - - The common rendering “in a dream” gives a sufficient meaning, and is, - of course, tenable enough. But there is a force in the repetition of - the same word, as in v. 116, which is thus lost, and which I have - endeavoured to preserve. The Erinnyes, thus impotent in their rage, - are as much mere dreamlike spectres as is the ghost of Clytæmnestra. - -Footnote 486: - - Here, as throughout Æschylos, the Olympian divinities are thought of - as new comers, thrusting from their thrones the whole Chthonian and - Titanic dynasty, Gods of the conquering Hellenes superseding those of - the Pelasgi. - -Footnote 487: - - The accumulation of horrid forms of cruelty had, probably, a special - significance for the Athenians. These punishments belonged to their - enemies, the Persians, not to the Hellenic race, and the poet's - purpose was to rekindle patriotic feeling by dwelling on their - barbarity, as in _Agam._, v. 894, he points in like manner to their - haughtiness and luxury. - -Footnote 488: - - The argument of the Erinnyes is, to some extent, like that of the - Antigone of Sophocles (_Antig._, 909-913), and the wife of Intaphernes - (Herod. iii. 119). The tie which binds the husband to the wife is less - sacred than that between the mother and the son. This, therefore, - brings on the slayer the guilt of blood of kin, while murder in the - other case is reduced to simple homicide. Orestes therefore was not - justified in perpetrating the greater crime as a retribution for the - less. Apollo, in meeting this plea, asserts the sacredness of the - marriage bond as standing on the same level as that of consanguinity. - -Footnote 489: - - The ideal interval of time between the two parts of the drama is left - undefined, but it would seem from vv. 230, 274-6, and 429, to have - been long enough to have allowed of many wanderings to sacred places, - Orestes does not go straight from Delphi to Athens. He appears now, - not as before dripping and besmeared with blood, but with hands and - garments purified. - -Footnote 490: - - The story of Adrastos and Crœsos in Herod. i. 35, illustrates the - gradual purification of which Orestes speaks. The penitent who has the - stain of blood-guiltiness upon him comes to the king, and the king, as - his host, performs the lustral rites for him. Here Orestes urges that - he has been received at many homes, and gone through many such - lustrations. He has been cleansed from the pollution of sin: what he - now seeks, to use the terminology of a later system, is a forensic - justification. - -Footnote 491: - - _Sc._, the scent of blood, which, though no longer visible to the eyes - of men, still lingers round him and is perceptible to his pursuers. - -Footnote 492: - - Here, too, we trace the political bearing of the play. In the year - when it was produced (B.C. 458) an alliance with Argos was the - favourite measure of the more conservative party at Athens. - -Footnote 493: - - The names Triton and Tritonis, wherever found in classical geography - (Libya, Crete, Thessaly, Bœotia), are always connected with the legend - that Athena was born there. Probably both name and legend were carried - from Greece to Libya, and then amalgamated with the indigenous local - worship of a warlike goddess. Hesiod (iv. 180, 188) connects the - Libyan lake with the legend of Jason and Argonauts. - -Footnote 494: - - In the war with the giants fought in the Phlegræan plains (the - volcanic district of Campania) Athena had helped her father Zeus by - her wise counsel, and was honoured there as keeping in check the - destructive Titanic forces which had been so subdued, burying - Enkelados, _e.g._, in Sicily. The “friends” are her Libyan - worshippers. The passage is interesting, as showing the extent of - Æschylos's acquaintance with the African and Italian coasts of the - Mediterranean. - -Footnote 495: - - The Choral ode here is brought in as an incantation. This weapon is to - succeed where others have failed, and this too, the frenzy which - seizes the soul in the remembrance of its past transgression, is - soothed and banished by Athena. - -Footnote 496: - - White, as the special colour of festal joy, was not used in the - worship of the Erinnyes. - -Footnote 497: - - Another rendering gives— - - “To dim the bright hue of the fresh-shed blood.” - -Footnote 498: - - The thought which underlies the obscurity of a corrupt passage seems - to be that, as they relieve the Gods from the task of being avengers - of blood, all that the Gods on their side can legitimately do against - them is to render powerless the prayers for vengeance offered by the - kindred of the slain. Their very isolation, as Chthonian deities, from - the Gods of Olympos should protect them from open conflict. But an - alternative rendering of the second line gives, perhaps, a better - meaning— - - “And by the prayers men offer unto me - Work freedom for the Gods;” - - _i.e._, by being the appointed receivers of such prayers for - vengeance, they leave the Gods free for a higher and serener life. - -Footnote 499: - - Perhaps, “With torch of sunless gloom.” - -Footnote 500: - - The words contain an allusion to the dispute between Athens and - Mitylene in the time of Peisistratos, as to the possession of Sigeion. - Athena asserts that it had been given to her by the whole body of - Achæans at the time when they had taken Troïa. Comp. Herod. vv. 94, - 95. It probably entered into the political purposes of the play to - excite the Athenians to a war in this direction, so as to draw them - off from the constitutional changes proposed by Pericles and - Ephialtes. - -Footnote 501: - - Here, and throughout the trial, we have to bear in mind the - technicalities of Athenian judicial procedure. The prosecutor, in the - first instance, tendered to the accused an oath that he was not - guilty. This he might accept or refuse. In the latter case, the course - of the trial was at least stopped, and judgment might be recorded - against him. If he could bring himself to accept it, he was acquitted - of the special charge of which he was accused, but he was liable to a - prosecution afterwards for that perjury. If, on the other hand, he - tendered an oath affirming his guilt to the prosecutor, he placed - himself in his hands. Orestes, not being able to deny the fact, will - not declare on oath that he is “not guilty,” but neither will he place - himself in the power of his accusers. The peculiarities of this use of - oaths were: (1) That they were taken by the parties to the suit, not - by the witnesses. (2) That if both parties agreed to that mode of - decision, the oath was either way decisive. An allusion to the latter - practice is found in Heb. vi. 16, and traces of it are found in the - law-proceedings of Scotland. If either party refused, the cause had to - be tried in the usual way, and witnesses were called. - -Footnote 502: - - Æschylos seems here to attach himself to the principles of those who - were seeking to reform the practice described in the previous note as - being at once cumbrous and unjust, throwing its weight into the scale - of the least scrupulous conscience, and to urge a simpler, more - straightforward trial. The same objection is noticed by Aristotle in - his discussion of the subject. (_Rhet._ i. 15.) - -Footnote 503: - - Athena offers herself, not as arbitrator or sovereign judge, but as - presiding over the court of jurors whom she proceeds to appoint. - -Footnote 504: - - Ixion appeared in the mythical history of Greece as the prototype of - all suppliants for purification. When he had murdered Deioneus, Zeus - had had compassion to him, received him as a guest, cleansed him from - his guilt. His ingratitude for this service was the special guilt of - his attempted outrage upon Hera. The case is mentioned again in v. - 687. - -Footnote 505: - - In heathen, as in Jewish sacrifices, the blood was the very instrument - of purification. It was sprinkled or poured upon men, and they became - clean. But this could not be done by the criminal himself, nor by any - chance person. The service had to be rendered by a friend, who of very - love gave himself to this mediatorial work. - -Footnote 506: - - In the legend related by Pausanias (_Corinth._, c. 3), Trœzen was the - first place where Orestes was thus received, and in his time the - descendants of those who had thus helped held periodical feasts in - commemoration of it. - -Footnote 507: - - The course which Athena takes is: (1) to receive Orestes as a settler - with the rights which attached to such persons on Athenian soil, not a - criminal fugitive to be simply surrendered; (2) to offer to the - Erinnyes, as being too important to be put out of court, a fair and - open trial; (3) to acknowledge that he and they are equally - “blameless,” as far as she is concerned. She has no complaint to make - of them. - -Footnote 508: - - The red blight of vines and wheat was looked on as caused by drops of - blood which the Erinnyes had let fall. - -Footnote 509: - - Stress is laid on the fact that the judges of the Areopagos, in - contrast with those of the inferior tribunes of Athens, discharged - their duty under the sanction of an oath. - -Footnote 510: - - Perhaps - - “And each from each shall learn, as he predicts - His neighbour's ills, that he - Shares in the same and harbours them, and speaks, - Poor wretch, of cures that fail.” - -Footnote 511: - - At a more advanced period of human thought, Cicero (_Orat. pro - Roscio_, c. 24) could point to the “thoughts that accuse each other,” - the horror and remorse of the criminal, as the true Erinnyes, the - “assiduæ domesticæque Furiæ.” Æschylos clings to the mythical - symbolism as indispensable for the preservation of the truth which it - shadowed forth. - -Footnote 512: - - Once again we have the poet of constitutional conservatism keeping the - _via media_ between Peisistratos and Pericles. - -Footnote 513: - - The Tyrrhenian trumpet, with its bent and twisted tube, retained its - proverbial pre-eminence from the days of Æschylos and Sophocles - (_Aias_, 17) to those of Virgil (_Æn._, viii. 526). - -Footnote 514: - - The fondness of the Athenians for litigation, and the large share - which every citizen took in the administration of justice, would - probably make the scene which follows, with all its technicalities, - the part of the play into which they would most enter. - -Footnote 515: - - It was necessary that some one, sitting as President of the Court, - should formally open the pleadings, by calling on this side or that to - begin. Here Athena takes that office on herself, and calls on the - Erinnyes. - -Footnote 516: - - The technicalities of the Areopagos are still kept up. The three - points on which the Erinnyes, as prosecutors, lay stress are: (1) the - fact of the murder; (2) the mode; (3) the motive. “Three bouts,” as - referring to the rule of the arena, that three struggles for the - mastery should be decisive. - -Footnote 517: - - The pleas put in by the Erinnyes as prosecutors are: (1) That - Clytæmnestra had been adequately punished by her death, while Orestes - was still alive; and (2) when asked why they had not intervened to - bring about that punishment, that the relationship between husband and - wife was less close than that between mother and son. They drew, in - other words, a distinction between consanguinity and affinity, and - upon this the rest of the discussion turns. Orestes, and Apollo as his - counsel, on the other hand, meet this with the rejoinder, that there - is no blood-relationship between the mother and her offspring. - -Footnote 518: - - _Sc._ Their oath to give a verdict according to the evidence must - yield to the higher obligation of following the Divine will rather - than the letter of the law. - -Footnote 519: - - To have died in health by the arrows of a woman-warrior might have - been borne. To be slain by a wife treacherously in his bath was to - endure a far worse outrage. - -Footnote 520: - - In this new argument, and the answer to it, we may trace, as in the - _Prometheus_ and the _Agamemnon_, the struggles of the questioning - intellect against the more startling elements of the popular religious - belief. Zeus is worshipped as the supreme Lord, yet His dominion seems - founded on might as opposed to goodness, on the unrighteous expulsion - of another. Here, in Apollo's answer, there is a glimmer of a possible - reconciliation. The old and the new, the sovereignty of Cronos and - that of Zeus may be reconciled, and one supreme God be “all in all.” - -Footnote 521: - - Comp. the thought and language of the _Suppliants_, v. 93. - -Footnote 522: - - The last argument is, that the acquittal can be, at the best, partial - only, not complete; formal, not real. There would remain for ever the - pollution which would exclude Orestes from the _Phratria_, the - clan-brotherhood, by which, as by a sacramental bond, all the members - were held together. - -Footnote 523: - - The question seems to have been one of those which occupied men's - minds in their first gropings towards the mysteries of man's physical - life, and both popular metaphors and primary impressions were in - favour of the hypothesis here maintained. Euripides (_Orest._, v. 534) - puts the same argument into the mouth of Orestes. - -Footnote 524: - - The story of Athena's birth, full-grown, from the head of Zeus, is - next referred to as the leading case bearing on the point at issue. - -Footnote 525: - - Here, of course, the political interest of the whole drama reached its - highest point. What seems comparatively flat to us must, to the - thousands who sat as spectators, have been fraught with the most - intense excitement, showing itself in shouts of applause, or audible - tokens of clamorous dissent. The rivalry of Whigs and Tories over - Addison's _Cato_, the sensation produced in times of Papal aggression - by the king's answer to Pandulph in _King John_, presents analogies - which are worth remembering. - -Footnote 526: - - The story ran that the tribe of women warriors from the Caucasos, or - the Thermodon, known by this name, had invaded Attica under Oreithyia, - when Theseus was king, to revenge the wrongs he had done them, and to - recover her sister Hippolyta. Ares, the God of Thrakians, Skythians, - and nearly all the wilder barbaric tribes, was their special deity; - and when they occupied the hill which rose over against the Acropolis, - they sacrificed to him, and so it gained the name of the _Areopagos_, - or “hill of Ares.” - -Footnote 527: - - As in the _Agamemnon_ (v. 1010), so here we find the aristocratic - conservative poet showing his colours, protesting against the - admission to the Archonship, and therefore to the Areopagos, of men of - low birth or in undignified employments. - -Footnote 528: - - The words, like all political clap-trap, are somewhat vague; but, as - understood at the time, the “lawless” policy alluded to was that of - Pericles and Ephialtes, who sought to deface and to diminish the - jurisdiction of the Areopagos, and the “tyrannical,” that which had - crushed the independence of Athens under Peisistratos. Between the two - was the conservative party, of which Kimon had been the leader. - -Footnote 529: - - The Skythians may be named simply as representing all barbarous, - non-Hellenic races; but they appear, about this time, wild and nomadic - as their life was, to have impressed the minds of the Greeks somewhat - in the same way as the Germans did the minds of the Romans in the time - of Tacitus. Tales floated from travellers' lips of their wisdom and - their happiness—of sages like Zamolxis and Aristarchos, who rivalled - those of Hellas—of the Hyperborei, in the far north, who enjoyed a - perpetual and unequalled blessedness.—Comp. _Libation-Pourers_, v. - 366. - -Footnote 530: - - Two topics of praise are briefly touched on: (1) the lower, popular - courts of justice at Athens might be open to the suspicion of - corruption, but no breath of slander had ever tainted the fame of the - Areopagos; (2) it met by night, keeping its watch, that the citizens - might sleep in peace. - -Footnote 531: - - The first of the twelve jurymen rises and drops his voting-ballot into - one of the urns, and is followed by another at the end of each of the - short two-line speeches in the dialogue that follows. The two urns of - acquittal and condemnation stand in front of them. The plan of voting - with different coloured balls (black and white) in the same urn, was a - later usage. - -Footnote 532: - - Compare note on v. 419. - -Footnote 533: - - In the legend of Admetos son of Pheres, and king of Pheræ in - Thessalia, Apollo is represented as having first given wine to the - Destinies, and then persuaded them to allow Admetos, whenever the hour - of death should come, to be redeemed from Hades, if father, or mother, - or wife were willing to die for him. The self-surrender of his wife, - Alkestis, for this purpose, forms the subject of the noblest of the - tragedies of Euripides. - -Footnote 534: - - Partly as setting at nought the power of Erinnyes and the Destinies, - partly as giving wine to those whose libations were wineless.—Comp. - Sophocles, _Œd. Col._ v. 100. - -Footnote 535: - - The practice of the Areopagos is accurately reproduced. When the votes - of the judges were equal a casting vote was given in favour of the - accused, and was known as that of Athena. - -Footnote 536: - - Another reading gives— - - “By spurting from your throats those venom drops.” - -Footnote 537: - - The conservative poet enters his protest through the Erinnyes against - the innovating spirit that looked with contempt upon the principles of - a past age. - -Footnote 538: - - Cock-fighting took its place among the recognised sports of the - Athenians. Once a year there was a public performance in the theatre. - -Footnote 539: - - The Temple of the Eumenides or Semnæ (“venerable ones”) stood near the - Areopagos. - -Footnote 540: - - Some two or three lines have probably been lost here. - -Footnote 541: - - Probably an allusion to the silver-mine at Laureion, which about the - time formed a large element of the revenues of Athens, and of which a - tithe was consecrated to Athena. - -Footnote 542: - - Reference is made to another local sanctuary, the temple on the - Areopagos dedicated to the Olympian Zeus. - -Footnote 543: - - The figure of Athena, as identical with Victory, and so the tutelary - Goddess of Athens, was sculptured with out-spread wings. - -Footnote 544: - - Cranaos, the son of Kecrops, the mythical founder of Athens. - -Footnote 545: - - The sanctuaries of the Eumenides were crypt-like chapels, where they - were worshipped by the light of lamps or torches. - -Footnote 546: - - Perhaps, “Children of Night, yourselves all childless left.” - - - - - FRAGMENTS - - - 38 - APHRODITE _loquitur_ - - The pure, bright heaven still yearns to blend with earth, - And earth is filled with love for marriage-rites, - And from the kindly sky the rain-shower falls - And fertilises earth, and earth for men - Yields grass for sheep, and corn, Demêter's gift; - And from its wedlock with the South the fruit - Is ripened in its season; and of this, - All this, I am the cause accessory. - - - 123 - - So, in the Libyan fables, it is told - That once an eagle, stricken with a dart, - Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, - “With our own feathers, not by others' hands, - Are we now smitten.” - - - 147 - - Of all the Gods, Death only craves not gifts: - Nor sacrifice, nor yet drink-offering poured - Avails; no altars hath he, nor is soothed - By hymns of praise. From him alone of all - The powers of Heaven Persuasion holds aloof. - - - 151 - - When 'tis God's will to bring an utter doom - Upon a house, He first in mortal men - Implants what works it out. - - - 162 - - The words of Truth are ever simplest found. - - - 163 - - What good is found in life that still brings pain? - - - 174 - - To many mortals silence great gain brings. - - - 229 - - O Death the Healer, scorn thou not, I pray, - To come to me: of cureless ills thou art - The one physician. Pain lays not its touch - Upon a corpse. - - - 230 - - When the wind - Nor suffers us to leave the port, nor stay. - - - 243 - - And if thou wish to benefit the dead, - 'Tis all as one as if thou injured'st them, - And they nor sorrow nor delight can feel: - Yet higher than we are is Nemesis, - And Justice taketh vengeance for the dead. - - - 266 - - THETIS _on the death of Achilles_ - - Life free from sickness, and of many years, - And in a word a fortune like to theirs - Whom the Gods love, all this He spake to me - As pæan-hymn, and made my heart full glad: - And I full fondly trusted Phœbos' lips - As holy and from falsehood free, of art - Oracular an ever-flowing spring, - And He who sang this, He who at the feast - Being present, spake these things,—yea, He it is - That slew my son. - - - 267 - - The man who does ill, ill must suffer too. - - - 268 - - Evil on mortals comes full swift of foot, - And guilt on him who doth the right transgress. - - - 269 - - Thou see'st a vengeance voiceless and unseen - For one who sleeps or walks or sits at ease: - It takes its course obliquely, here to-day, - And there to-morrow. Nor does night conceal - Men's deeds of ill, but whatsoe'er thou dost, - Think that some God beholds it. - - - 270 - - “All have their chance:” good proverb for the rich. - - - 271 - - Wise is the man who knows what profiteth, - Not he who knoweth much. - - - 272 - - Full grievous burden is a prosperous fool. - - - 272A - - From a just fraud God turneth not away. - - - 273 - - There is a time when God doth falsehood prize. - - - 274 - - The polished brass is mirror of the form, - Wine of the soul. - - - 275 - - Words are the parents of a causeless wrath. - - - 276 - - Men credit gain for oaths, not oaths for them. - - - 277 - - God ever works with those that work with will. - - - 278 - - Wisdom to learn is e'en for old men good. - - - 281 - - The base who prosper are intolerable. - - - 282 - - The seed of mortals broods o'er passing things, - And hath nought surer than the smoke-cloud's shadow. - - - 283 - - Old age hath stronger sense of right than youth. - - - 286 - - Yet though a man gets many wounds in breast, - He dieth not, unless the appointed time, - The limit of his life's span, coincide; - Nor does the man who by the hearth at home - Sits still, escape the doom that Fate decrees. - - - 287 - - How far from just the hate men bear to death, - Which comes as safeguard against many ills. - - - 288 - - _To_ FORTUNE - - Thou did'st beget me; thou too, as it seems, - Wilt now destroy me. - - - 289 - - The fire-moth's silly death is that I fear. - - - 290 - - I by experience know the race full well - That dwells in Æthiop land, where seven-mouthed Nile - Rolls o'er the land with winds that bring the rain, - What time the fiery sun upon the earth - Pours its hot rays, and melts the snow till then - Hard as the rocks; and all the fertile soil - Of Egypt, filled with that pure-flowing stream, - Brings forth Demêter's ears that feed our life. - - - 291 - - This hoopoo, witness of its own dire ills, - He hath in varied garb set forth, and shows - In full array that bold bird of the rocks - Which, when the spring first comes, unfurls a wing - Like that of white-plumed kite; for on one breast - It shows two forms, its own and eke its child's, - And when the corn grows gold, in autumn's prime, - A dappled plumage all its form will clothe; - And ever in its hate of these 'twill go - Far off to lonely thickets or bare rocks. - - - 292 - - Still to the sufferer comes, as due from God, - A glory that to suffering owes its birth. - - - 293 - - The air is Zeus, Zeus earth, and Zeus the heaven, - Zeus all that is, and what transcends them all. - - - 294 - - Take courage; pain's extremity soon ends. - - - 298 - - When Strength and Justice are true yoke-fellows, - Where can be found a mightier pair than they? - - - - - RHYMED CHORUSES - - - AGAMEMNON - - - VERSES 40-248 - - Nine weary years are gone and spent - Since Menelaos' armament - Sped forth, on work of vengeance bent, - For Priam's guilty land; - And with him Agamemnon there - Throne, sceptre, army all did share; - And so from Zeus the Atreidæ bear, - Their twofold high command. - They a fleet of thousand sail, - Strong in battle to prevail, - Led from out our Argive coast, - Shouting war-cries to the host; - E'en as vultures do that utter - Shrillest screams as round they flutter, - Grieving for their nestlings lost, - Plying still their oary wings - In many lonely wanderings, - Robbed of all the sweet unrest - That bound them to their young ones' nest. - And One on high of solemn state, - Apollo, Pan, or Zeus the great, - When he hears that shrill wild cry - Of his clients in the sky, - On them, the godless who offend, - Erinnys slow and sure doth send. - So 'gainst Alexandros then - The sons of Atreus, chiefs of men, - Zeus sent to work his high behest, - True guardian of the host and guest. - He, for bride of many a groom, - On Danai, Troïans sendeth doom, - Many wrestlings, sinew-trying - Of the knee in dust down-lying, - Many a spear-shaft snapt asunder - In the prelude of war's thunder. - What shall be, shall, and still we see - Fulfilled is destiny's decree. - Nor by tears in secret shed, - Nor by offerings o'er the dead, - Will he soothe God's vengeful ire - For altar hearths despoiled of fire. - - And we with age outworn and spent - Are left behind that armament, - With head upon our staff low bent. - Weak our strength like that of boy; - Youth's life-blood, in its bounding joy, - For deeds of might is like to age, - And knows not yet war's heritage: - And the man whom many a year - Hath bowed in withered age and sere, - As with three feet creepeth on, - Like phantom form of day-dream gone - Not stronger than his infant son. - - And now, O Queen, who tak'st thy name - From Tyndareus of ancient fame, - Our Clytæmnestra whom we own - As rightly sharing Argos' throne! - What tidings joyous hast thou heard, - Token true or flattering word, - That thou send'st to every shrine - Solemn pomp in stately line,— - Shrines of Gods who reign in light, - Or those who dwell in central night, - Who in Heaven for aye abide, - Or o'er the Agora preside. - Lo, thy gifts on altars blaze, - And here and there through heaven's wide ways - The torches fling their fiery rays, - Fed by soft and suasive spell - Of the clear oil, flowing well - From the royal treasure-cell. - Telling what of this thou may, - All that's meet to us to say, - Do thou our haunting cares allay, - Cares which now bring sore distress, - While now bright hope, with power to bless, - From out the sacrifice appears, - And wardeth off our restless fears, - The boding sense of coming fate, - That makes the spirit desolate. - - - STROPHE I - - Yes, it is mine to tell - What omens to our leaders then befell, - Giving new strength for war, - (For still though travelled far - In life, by God's great gift to us belong - The suasive powers of song,) - To tell how those who bear - O'er all Achæans sway in equal share, - Ruling in one accord - The youth of Hellas that own each as lord, - Were sent with mighty host - By mighty birds against the Troïan coast, - Kings of the air to kings of men appearing - Near to the palace, on the right hand veering; - On spot seen far and near, - They with their talons tear - A pregnant hare with all her unborn young, - All her life's course in death's deep darkness flung. - Oh raise the bitter cry, the bitter wail; - Yet pray that good prevail! - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And then the host's wise seer - Stood gazing on the Atreidæ standing near, - Of diverse mood, and knew - Those who the poor hare slew, - And those who led the host with shield and spear, - And spake his omens clear: - “One day this host shall go, - And Priam's city in the dust lay low, - And all the kine and sheep - Countless, which they before their high towers keep, - Fate shall with might destroy: - Only take heed that no curse mar your joy, - Nor blunt the edge of curb that Troïa waiteth, - Smitten too soon, for Artemis still hateth - The wingèd hounds that own - Her father on his throne, - Who slay the mother with the young unborn, - And looks upon the eagle's feast with scorn. - Ah! raise the bitter cry, the bitter wail; - Yet pray that good prevail. - - - EPODE - - For she, the Fair One, though her mercy shields - The lion's whelps, like dew-drops newly shed, - And yeanling young of beasts that roam the fields, - Yet prays her sire fulfil these omens dread, - The good, the evil too. - And now I call on him, our Healer true, - Lest she upon the Danai send delays - That keep our ships through many weary days, - Urging a new strange rite, - Unblest alike by man and God's high law, - Evil close clinging, working sore despite, - Marring a wife's true awe. - For still there lies in wait, - Fearful and ever new, - Watching the hour its eager thirst to sate, - Vengeance on those who helpless infants slew.” - Such things, ill mixed with good, great Calchas spake, - As destined by the birds' strange auguries; - And we too now our echoing answer make - In loud and woeful cries: - Oh raise the bitter cry, the bitter wail; - Yet pray that good prevail. - - - STROPHE II - - O Zeus, whoe'er Thou be, - If that name please thee well, - By that I call on Thee; - For weighing all things else I fail to tell - Of any name but Zeus; - If once for all I seek - Of all my haunting, troubled thoughts a truce, - That name I still must speak. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - For He who once was great, - Full of the might to war, - Hath lost his high estate; - And He who followed now is driven afar, - Meeting his Master too: - But if one humbly pay - With 'bated breath to Zeus his honour due, - He walks in wisdom's way,— - - - STROPHE III - - To Zeus, who men in wisdom's path doth train, - Who to our mortal race - Hath given the fixèd law that pain is gain; - For still through his high grace - True counsel falleth on the heart like dew, - In deep sleep of the night, - The boding thoughts that out of ill deeds grew; - This too They work who sit enthronèd in their might. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And then the elder leader of great fame - Who ruled the Achæans' ships, - Not bold enough a holy seer to blame - With words from reckless lips, - But tempered to the fate that on him fell;— - And when the host was vexed - With tarryings long, scant stores, and surging swell, - Chalkis still far off seen, and baffled hopes perplexed; - - - STROPHE IV - - And stormy blasts that down from Strymon sweep, - And breed sore famine with the long delay, - Hurl forth our men upon the homeless deep - On many a wandering way, - Sparing nor ships, nor ropes, nor sailing gear, - Doubling the weary months, and vexing still - The Argive host with fear. - Then when as mightier charm for that dread ill, - Hard for our ships to bear, - From the seer's lips did “Artemis” resound, - The Atreidæ smote their staves upon the ground, - And with no power to check, shed many a bitter tear. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - And then the elder of the chiefs thus cried: - “Great woe it is the Gods to disobey; - Great woe if I my child, my home's fond pride, - With my own hands must slay, - Polluting with the streams of maiden's blood - A father's hands, the holy altar near. - Which course hath least of good? - How can I loss of ships and comrades bear? - Right well may men desire, - With craving strong, the blood of maiden pure - As charm to lull the winds and calm ensure; - Ah, may there come the good to which our hopes aspire!” - - - STROPHE V - - Then, when he his spirit proud - To the yoke of doom had bowed, - While the blasts of altered mood - O'er his soul swept like a flood, - Reckless, godless and unblest; - Thence new thoughts upon him pressed, - Thoughts of evil, frenzied daring, - (Still doth passion, base guile sharing, - Mother of all evil, hold - The power to make men bad and bold,) - And he brought himself to slay - His daughter, as on solemn day, - Victim slain the ship to save, - When for false wife fought the brave. - - - ANTISTROPHE V - - All her cries and loud acclaim, - Calling on her father's name,— - All her beauty fresh and fair, - They heeded not in their despair, - Their eager lust for conflict there. - And her sire the attendants bade - To lift her, when the prayer was said, - Above the altar like a kid, - Her face and form in thick veil hid; - Yea, with ruthless heart and bold, - O'er her gracious lips to hold - Their watch, and with the gag's dumb pain - From evil-boding words restrain. - - - STROPHE VI - - And then upon the ground - Pouring the golden streams of saffron veil, - She cast a glance around - That told its piteous tale, - At each of those who stood prepared to slay, - Fair as the form by skilful artist drawn, - And wishing, all in vain, her thoughts to say; - For oft of old in maiden youth's first dawn, - Within her father's hall, - Her voice to song did call, - To chant the praises of her sire's high state, - His fame, thrice blest of Heaven, to celebrate. - What then ensued mine eyes - Saw not, nor may I tell, but not in vain - The arts of Calchas wise; - For justice sends again, - The lesson “pain is gain” for them to learn: - But for our piteous fate since help is none, - With voice that bids “Good-bye,” we from it turn - Ere yet it come, and this is all as one - With weeping ere the hour, - For soon will come in power - To-morrow's dawn, and good luck with it come! - So speaks the guardian of this Apian home. - - - VERSES 346-471 - - O great and sovran Zeus, O Night, - Great in glory, great in might, - Who round Troïa's towers hast set, - Enclosing all, thy close-meshed net, - So that neither small nor great - Can o'erleap the bondslave's fate, - Or woe that maketh desolate; - Zeus, the God of host and guest, - Worker of all this confessed, - He by me shall still be blest. - Long since, 'gainst Alexandros He - Took aim with bow that none may flee, - That so his arrows onward driven, - Nor miss their mark, nor pierce the heaven. - - - STROPHE I - - Yes, they lie smitten low, - If so one dare to speak, by stroke of Zeus; - Well one may trace the blow; - The doom that He decreed their soul subdues. - And though there be that say - The Gods for mortal men care not at all, - Though they with reckless feet tread holiest way, - These none will godly call. - Now is it to the children's children clear - Of those who, overbold, - More than was meet, breathed Discord's spirit drear; - While yet their houses all rich store did hold - Beyond the perfect mean. - Ah! may my lot be free from all that harms, - My soul may nothing wean - From calm contentment with her tranquil charms; - For nought is there in wealth - That serves as bulwark 'gainst the subtle stealth - Of Destiny and Doom, - For one who, in the pride of wanton mood, - Spurns the great altar of the Right and Good. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Yea, a strange impulse wild - Urges him on, resistless in its might, - Atè's far-scheming child. - It knows no healing, is not hid in night, - That mischief lurid, dark; - Like bronze that will not stand the test of wear, - A tarnished blackness in its hue we mark; - And like a boy who doth a bird pursue - Swift-floating on the wing, - He to his country hopeless woe doth bring; - And no God hears their prayer, - But sendeth down the unrighteous to despair, - Whose hands are stained with sin. - So was it Paris came - His entrance to the Atreidæ's home to win, - And brought its queen to shame, - To shame that brand indelible hath set - Upon the board where host and guest were met. - - - STROPHE II - - And leaving to her countrymen to bear - Wild whirl of ships of war and shield and spear, - And bringing as her dower, - Death's doom to Ilion's tower, - She hath passed quickly through the palace gate, - Daring what none should dare; - And lo! the minstrel seers bewail the fate - That home must henceforth share; - “Woe for the kingly house and for its lord; - Woe for the marriage-bed and paths which still - A vanished love doth fill! - There stands he, wronged, yet speaking not a word - Of scorn from wrathful will, - Seeing with utter woe that he is left, - Of her fair form bereft; - And in his yearning love - For her who now is far beyond the sea, - A phantom queen through all the house shall rove; - And all the joy doth flee - The sculptured forms of beauty once did give; - And in the penury of eyes that live, - All Aphroditè's grace - Is lost in empty space. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And spectral forms in visions of the night - Come, bringing sorrow with their vain delight: - For vain it is when one - Thinks that great joy is near, - And, passing through his hands, the dream is gone - On gliding wings, that bear - The vision far away on paths of sleep.” - Such woes were felt at home - Upon the sacred altar of the hearth, - And worse than these remain for those who roam - From Hellas' parent earth: - In every house, in number measureless, - Is seen a sore distress: - Yea, sorrows pierce the heart: - For those who from his home he saw depart - Each knoweth all too well; - And now, instead of warrior's living frame, - There cometh to the home where each did dwell - The scanty ashes, relics of the flame, - The urns of bronze that keep - The dust of those that sleep. - - - STROPHE III - - For Ares, who from bodies of the slain - Reapeth a golden gain, - And holdeth, like a trafficker, his scales, - E'en where the torrent rush of war prevails, - From Ilion homeward sends - But little dust, yet burden sore for friends, - O'er which, smooth-lying in the brazen urn, - They sadly weep and mourn, - Now for this man as foremost in the strife, - And now for that who in the battle fell, - Slain for another's wife. - And muttered curses some in secret tell, - And jealous discontent - Against the Atreidæ who as champions led - The mighty armament; - And some around the wall, the goodly dead, - Have there in alien land their monument, - And in the soil of foes - Take in the sleep of death their last repose. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And lo! the murmurs which our country fill - Are as a solemn curse, - And boding anxious fear expecteth still - To hear of evil worse. - Not blind the Gods, but giving fullest heed - To those who cause a nation's wounds to bleed; - And the dark-robed Erinnyes in due time - By adverse chance and change - Plunge him who prospers though defiled by crime - In deepest gloom, and through its formless range - No gleams of help appear. - O'er-vaunted glory is a perilous thing; - For on it Zeus, whose glance fills all with fear, - His thunderbolts doth fling. - That fortune fair I praise - That rouseth not the Gods to jealousy. - May I ne'er tread the devastator's ways, - Nor as a prisoner see - My life wear out in drear captivity! - - - EPODE - - And now at bidding of the courier-flame, - Herald of great good news, - A murmur swift through all the city came; - But whether it with truth its course pursues, - Who knows? or whether God who dwells on high, - With it hath sent a lie? - Who is so childish, or of sense bereft, - As first to feel the glow - That message of the herald fire has left, - And then to sink down low, - Because the rumour changes in its sound? - It is a woman's mood - To accept a boon before the truth is found: - Too quickly she believes in tidings good, - And so the line exact - That marks the truth of fact - Is over-passed, and with quick doom of death - A rumour spread by woman perisheth. - - - VERSES 665-782 - - STROPHE I - - Who was it named her with such foresight clear? - Could it be One of might, - In strange prevision of her work of fear, - Guiding the tongue aright? - Who gave that war-wed, strife-upstirring one - The name of Helen, ominous of ill? - For 'twas through her that Hellas was undone, - That woes from Hell men, ships, and cities fill. - Out from the curtains, gorgeous in their fold, - Wafted by breeze of Zephyr, earth's strong child, - She her swift way doth hold; - And hosts of mighty men, as hunters bold - That bear the spear and shield, - Wait on the track of those who steered their way - Unseen where Simois flows by leafy field, - Urged by a strife that came with power to slay. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And so the wrath which doth its work fulfil - To Ilion brought, well-named, - A marriage marring all, avenging still - For friendship wronged and shamed, - And outrage foul on Zeus, of host and guest - The guardian God, from those who then did raise - The bridal hymn of marriage-feast unblest - Which called the bridegroom's kin to shouts of praise. - But now by woe oppressed - Priam's ancient city waileth very sore, - And calls on Paris unto dark doom wed, - Suffering yet more and more - For all the blood of heroes vainly shed, - And bearing through the long protracted years - A life of wailing grief and bitter tears. - - - STROPHE II - - One was there who did rear - A lion's whelp within his home to dwell, - A monster waking fear, - Weaned from the mother's milk it loved so well: - Then in life's dawning light, - Loved by the children, petted by the old, - Oft in his arms clasped tight, - As one an infant newly-born would hold, - With eye that gleamed beneath the fondling hand, - And fawning as at hunger's strong command. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But soon of age full grown, - It showed the inbred nature of its sire, - And wrought unasked, alone, - A feast to be that fostering nurture's hire; - Gorged full with slaughtered sheep, - The house was stained with blood as with a curse - No slaves away could keep, - A murderous mischief waxing worse and worse, - Sent as from God a priest from Atè fell, - And reared within the man's own house to dwell. - - - STROPHE III - - So I would say to Ilion then there came - Mood as of calm when every wind is still, - The gentle pride and joy of noble fame, - The eye's soft glance that all the soul doth thrill; - Love's full-blown flower that brings - The thorn that wounds and stings; - And yet she turned aside, - And of the marriage feast wrought bitter end, - Coming to dwell where Priam's sons abide, - Ill sojourner, ill friend, - Sent by great Zeus, the God of host and guest, - A true Erinnys, by all wives unblest. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - There lives a saying framed of ancient days, - And in men's minds imprinted firm and fast, - That great good fortune never childless stays, - But brings forth issue,—that on fame at last - There rushes on apace - Great woe for all the race; - But I, apart, alone, - Hold a far other and a worthier creed: - The impious act is by ill issue known, - Most like the parent deed; - While still for all who love the Truth and Right, - Good fortune prospers, fairer and more bright. - - - STROPHE IV - - But wanton Outrage done in days of old - Another wanton Outrage still doth bear, - And mocks at human woes with scorn o'erbold, - Or soon or late as they their fortune share. - That other in its turn - Begets Satiety, - And lawless Might that doth all hindrance spurn, - And sacred right defy, - Two Atès fell within their dwelling-place, - Like to their parent race. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Yet Justice still shines bright in dwellings murk - And dim with smoke, and honours calm content; - But gold-bespangled homes, where guilt doth lurk, - She leaves with glance in horror backward bent, - And draws with reverent fear - To places holier far, - And little recks the praise the prosperous hear, - Whose glories tarnished are; - But still towards its destined goal she brings - The whole wide course of things. - - Say then, son of Atreus, thou - Who com'st as Troïa's conqueror now, - What form of welcome right and meet, - What homage thy approach to greet, - Shall I now use in measure true, - Nor more nor less than that is due? - Many men there are, I wis, - Who in seeming place their bliss, - Caring less for that which is. - If one suffers, then their wail - Loudly doth the ear assail; - Yet have they nor lot nor part - In the grief that stirs the heart; - So too the joyous men will greet - With smileless faces counterfeit: - But shepherd who his own sheep knows - Will scan the lips that fawn and gloze, - Ready still to praise and bless - With weak and watery kindliness. - Thou when thou the host did'st guide - For Helen—truth I will not hide— - In mine eyes had'st features grim, - Such as unskilled art doth limn, - Not guiding well the helm of thought, - And giving souls with grief o'erwrought - False courage from fresh victims brought, - But with nought of surface zeal, - Now full glad of heart I feel, - And hail thy acts as deeds well done: - Thou too in time shall know each one, - And learn who wrongly, who aright - In house or city dwells in might. - - - VERSES 947-1001 - - STROPHE I - - Why thus continually - Do ever-haunting phantoms hover nigh - My hearth that bodeth ill? - Why doth the prophet's strain unbidden still, - Unbought, flow on and on? - Why on my mind's dear throne - Hath faith lost all her former power to fling - That terror from me as an idle thing? - Yet since the ropes were fastened in the sand - That moored the ships to land, - When the great naval host to Ilion went, - Time hath passed on to feeble age and spent. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - And now as face to face, - Myself reporting to myself I trace - Their safe return; and yet - My mind, taught by itself, cannot forget - Erinnys' dolorous cry, - That lyreless melody, - And hath no strength of wonted confidence. - Not vain these pulses of the inward sense, - As my heart beateth in its wild unrest, - Within true-boding breast; - And hoping against hope, I yet will pray - My fears may all prove false and pass away. - - - STROPHE II - - Of high, o'erflowing health - There is no limit found that satisfies; - For soon by force or stealth, - As foe 'gainst whom but one poor wall doth rise, - Disease upon it presses, and the lot - Of fair good fortune onward moves until - It strikes on unseen reef where help is not. - But should fear move their will - For safety of their freight, - With measured sling a part they sacrifice, - And so avert their fate, - Lest the whole house should sink no more to rise, - O'erwhelmed with misery; - Nor does the good ship perish utterly: - So too abundant gift, - From Zeus in double plenty, from the earth, - Doth the worn soul from anxious care uplift, - And turns the famished wail to bounding joy and mirth. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But blood that once is shed - In purple stream of death upon the ground, - Who then, when life is fled, - A charm to call it back again hath found? - Else against him who raised the dead to life - Zeus had not sternly warred, as warning given - To all men; but if Fate were not at strife - With Fate that brings from Heaven - Help from the Gods, my heart, - Out-stripping speech, had given thought free vent. - But now in gloom apart - It sits and moans in sullen discontent, - And hath no hope that e'er - It shall an issue seasonably fair - From out the tangled skein - Of life's strange course unravel straight and clear, - While in the fever of continuing pain - My soul doth burden sore of troublous anguish bear. - - - - - THE LIBATION-POURERS - - - VERSES 20-75 - - - STROPHE I - - Lo, from the palace door - We wend our way to pour - Gifts on the dead; - And in our bitter woe, - Our hands with many a blow - Smite breast and head. - On each fair cheek the nail - Has ploughed full many a trail, - And all to tatters torn - The garments we have worn; - The foldings of the vest - O'er maiden's swelling breast - Are roughly rent; - For now on us the chance - That shuts out joy and dance - Our fate hath sent. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - A spectral vision clear - Thrills every hair with fear, - In haunted sleep, - Breathing of dire distress, - From innermost recess - Its watch doth keep, - Breaking with cry of fright - The still deep hush of night: - All through the queenly bower - Sharp cry was heard that hour, - And they to whom 'twas given - To read decrees of Heaven, - In dream o'er-true, - By solemn pledges bound, - Declared that underground - The dead were wrathful found - 'Gainst those that slew. - - - STROPHE II - - And so the godless queen - In eager haste is seen,— - Sends me with gifts like this, - Full graceless grace, I wis, - As if (O mother Earth, - To whom we owe our birth!) - To banish dread. - And I would fain delay - This prayer of mine to pray: - What ransom can men pay - For blood once shed? - Oh, hearth and home of woe! - Oh, utter overthrow! - Foul mists brood o'er our halls: - No ray of sunlight falls; - Thick darkness from the tomb - Of heroes makes the gloom - Yet more intense. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And awe that once we knew, - Strong, mighty to subdue, - Falling on every ear, - Thrilling each soul with fear, - Is gone far hence. - There be that well may bow - In craven terror now, - For lo! Success enthroned - As more than God is owned. - But Vengeance will not fail - Ere long to turn the scale. - On some her strokes alight, - While yet their day is bright; - Some, as in twilight's gloom, - O'erflow with gathering doom; - Some endless night doth hold - In realm of darkness old. - - - STROPHE III - - And for the blood which Earth, - To whom it owed its birth, - Hath drunk, there still doth wait - A stern avenging Fate; - The stain of blood doth stay, - And will not pass away, - And nerves are thrilled with pain - In soul that sets in train - The plague that works amain - Its evil great. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - All help from him hath fled - Who with adulterous tread - Denies another's bed. - Though many streams should pour - Their waters o'er and o'er, - Those waters evermore - Are poured in vain; - They cannot cleanse the guilt - Of blood that once is spilt, - Man's hand to stain. - - - EPODE - - But since to me by Heaven - The exile's life is given, - (Yea, far from home I know - The bondslave's cup of woe,) - I needs must yield assent - To good or ill intent, - Accepting their commands - Who rule with sceptred hands,— - Yea, I must hide my hate - In this my evil fate, - And under strong control - Keep my rebellious soul; - And now beneath my veil - I weep my woes' full tale; - For cares that vex and fret - My cheeks with tears are wet. - - - VERSES 576-639 - - STROPHE I - - Many dread forms of woe and fear the Earth - Doth breed; and Ocean's deep - Is full of foes men hate, of monstrous birth; - And Air's high pathways keep - Their flashing meteors; birds that wing their flight, - And things on earth that creep; - And one might tell the wrath of whirlwind's might, - When tempests wildly sweep. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - But who can tell man's purpose overbold? - Or woman's, prompt to dare? - Or the strong loves that men in bondage hold, - And bring woe everywhere? - Or strange conjunctions of the hearth and home? - But still the palm they bear, - The loves unloved that women overcome, - And hold dominion there. - - - STROPHE II - - And one whose thoughts are not o'erswift of wing, - May learn and ponder well - What purpose Thestios' child to act did bring, - Purpose most dire and fell, - Her burning thought who did her own child slay, - Kindling the torch of death - That with her child's life kept its equal way, - Since coming from his mother's womb he cried, - To that predestined day on which at last he died. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - And yet another must I in my song - Devote to hate and scorn, - The murderess Skylla, who to deeds of wrong - By Minos' gifts was borne, - And for her foes' sake slew a man she loved - For Cretan chains gold-wrought; - She with dog's heart the deathless lock removed - From him, in deep sleep sunk; yet Hermes' power - She too was taught at last at her appointed hour. - - - STROPHE III - - But since I tell my tale of loathly crime, - And of ill-omened marriage out of time, - Wedlock our house abhors, - The schemes and plots of women steeped in guile - Against a warrior chief, a chief erewhile - The dread of foes in wars, - The foremost place I give to altar-hearth - Where no wrath burns and woman knows the worth - Of mood from daring free. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Yet of all ills the Lemnian first may stand, - The cry of loathing rings through all the land, - And still each crime of dread - A man will liken to the Lemnian ill; - And now by woe that comes from God's stern will - The race is gone and fled, - Of all men scorned, for no man looks with love - On deeds that to the high Gods hateful prove; - Is not this clear to see? - - - STROPHE IV - - And lo! the sword sharp-pointed pierces deep, - E'en to the heart, the sword which Vengeance wields; - The lawless deed will not neglected sleep, - When men tread down what fear of high heaven shields; - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - But still the block of Vengeance firm doth stand, - And Fate, as swordsmith, hammers blow on blow; - And then with thoughts that none can understand, - Erinnys comes far known, though working slow, - And to the old house brings the youthful heir, - That deeds of blood wrought out of olden time - May the due judgment bear - For each polluting crime. - - - VERSES 769-820 - - STROPHE I - - Oh, hear me, hear my prayer, thou mighty Lord! - Sire of all Gods that on Olympos dwell, - Hear Thou, and grant my longing heart's desire, - That those who wise of heart would fain do well - May see each prayer for right - Fulfilled in holiest might; - That prayer, O Zeus, I pray. - - - STROPHE II - - Do Thou protect him, yea, O Zeus, and bring - Before his foes on yonder secret way; - For if thou raise him high, then Thou, O king, - Shalt to thy heart's content - Receive a twofold, threefold recompence, - For that thine anger bent - Against each old offence. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - Look on the son of one whom Thou did'st love, - Like orphan colt fast bound to car of woes; - Set Thou a mark that may as limit prove; - Ah, might one watch his footsteps as he goes, - In measured course and true, - This his own country through! - - - STROPHE III - - And ye who in our home - Stand in the shrine with plenteous wealth full stored, - Hear, O ye Gods, and come, - Yea, come with one accord, - Lead him on, wash away - With vengeance new the blood of crime of old; - Let not the old guilt stay - To breed fresh offspring where our home we hold. - - - MESODE - - But grant him good success, - O Thou who dost within the great cave dwell! - With upward glance of joy our chief's house bless, - And that he too, full well, - Freely and brightly with the dear, loved eyes, - May look from out the veil of cloudy skies. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And then may Maia's son - Assist him, as is meet, in this his task! - Through Him success is won, - The boon that now we ask: - And many secret things will He make clear, - If that should be His will; - But should He choose the truth should not appear, - Before men's eyes He still - Brings darkness and the blackness of the night, - Nor is He clearer in the day's full light. - - - STROPHE IV - - And then will we pour forth - All that our house contains of costliest worth, - Past evil to redeem, - And through the city we will raise the strain - Shrill-voiced of women's chant yet once again. - All this as good I deem; - This, this my gain increaseth more and more, - And far from those I love is sorrow's bitter stour. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - But thou, take courage when the time is come, - The time to act indeed, - And when she calls thee “child,” do thou strike home, - And let thy father's name for vengeance plead; - Do thy dread taskwork to the uttermost. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Let Perseus' heart within thy bosom dwell, - For thou dost work for each dear kindred ghost, - And those on high, a bitter boon and fell, - Completing there within - The deed of blood and sin, - And utterly destroying him whose hand - That crime of murder planned. - - - - - EUMENIDES - - - VERSES 297-374 - - Come then, and let us dance in solemn strain; - It is our will to chant our harsh refrain, - And tell how this our band - Works among men the tasks we take in hand. - In righteous vengeance find we full delight; - On him who putteth forth clean hands and pure - No wrath from us doth light; - Unhurt shall he through all his life endure; - But whoso, as this man, hath evil wrought, - And hides hands stained with blood, - On him we come, with power prevailing fraught, - True witnesses and good, - For those whom he has slain, and bent to win - Full forfeit-price for that his deed of sin. - - - STROPHE I - - O Mother, Mother Night! - Who did'st bear me a penalty and curse - To those who see and those who see not light, - Hear thou; for Leto's son, in mood perverse, - Puts me to foulest shame, - In that he robs me of my trembling prey, - The victim whom we claim, - That we his mother's blood may wash away; - And over him as slain - Sing we this dolorous, frenzied, maddening strain, - The song that we, the Erinnyes, love so well, - That binds the soul as with enchanter's spell, - Without one note from out the sweet-voiced lyre, - Withering the strength of men as with a blast of fire. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - For this our task hath Fate - Spun without fail to last for ever sure, - That we on man weighed down with deeds of hate - Should follow till the earth his life immure. - Nor when he dies can he - Boast of being truly free; - And over him as slain - Sing we this dolorous, frenzied, maddening strain, - The song that we, the Erinnyes, love so well, - That binds the soul as with enchanter's spell, - Without one note from out the sweet-voiced lyre, - Withering the strength of men as with a blast of fire. - - - STROPHE II - - Yea, at our birth this lot to us was given, - And from the immortal Ones who dwell in Heaven - We still must hold aloof; - None sits with us at banquets of delight, - Or shares a common roof, - Nor part nor lot have I in garments white; - My choice was made a race to overthrow, - When murder, home-reared, lays a loved one low; - Strong though he be, upon his track we tread, - And drain his blood till all his strength is fled. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Yea, 'tis our work to set another free - From tasks like this, and by my service due - To give the Gods their perfect liberty, - Relieved from task of meting judgment true; - For this our tribe from out his fellowship - Zeus hath cast out as worthy of all hate, - And from our limbs the purple blood-drops drip; - So with a mighty leap and grievous weight - My foot I bring upon my quivering prey, - With power to make the swift and strong give way, - An evil and intolerable fate. - - - STROPHE III - - And all the glory and the pride of men, - Though high exalted in the light of day, - Wither and fade away, - Of little honour then, - When in the darkness of the grave they stay, - By our attack brought low, - The loathèd dance through which in raiment black we go: - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - And through the ill that leaves him dazed and blind, - He still is all unconscious that he falls, - So thick a cloud enthrals - The vision of his mind: - And Rumour with a voice of wailing calls, - And tells of gathering gloom - That doth the ancient halls in darkness thick entomb. - - - STROPHE IV - - So it abideth still; - Ready and prompt are we to work our will, - The dreaded Ones who bring - The dire remembrance of each deed of ill, - Whom mortals may not soothe with offering, - Working a task with little honour fraught, - Yea, all dishonoured, task the Gods detest, - In sunless midnight wrought, - By which alike are pressed - Those who yet live, and those who lie in gloom unblest. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - What mortal man then will not crouch in fear, - As he my work shall hear, - The task to me by destiny from Heaven - As from the high Gods given? - Yea, a time-honoured lot is mine I trow, - No shame in it I see, - Though deep beneath the earth my station be, - In gloom that never feels the sunlight's quickening glow. - - - VERSES 468-537 - - STROPHE I - - Now is there utter fall and overthrow, - Which new-made laws begin; - If he who struck the matricidal blow, - His right—not so, his utter wrong shall win, - This baseness will the minds of all men lead - To wanton, reckless thought, - And now for parents waits there woe, and deed - Of parricidal guilt by children wrought. - - - ANTISTROPHE I - - For then no more shall wrath from this our band, - The Mænad troop that watch the deeds of men, - Come for these crimes; but lo! on either hand - I will let slip all evil fate, and then, - Telling his neighbours' grief, - Shall this man seek from that, and seek in vain, - Remission and relief, - Nor is there any certain cure for pain. - And lo! the wretched man all fruitlessly - For grace and help shall cry. - - - STROPHE II - - Henceforth let no man in his anguish call, - When he sore-smitten by ill-chance shall fall, - Uttering with groan and moan, - “O mighty Justice, O Erinnyes' throne!” - So may a father or a mother wail, - Struck by new woe, and tell their sorrow's tale; - For low on earth doth lie - The home where Justice once her dwelling had on high. - - - ANTISTROPHE II - - Yea, there are times when reverent Awe should stay - As guardian of the soul; - It profits much to learn through suffering - The bliss of self-control. - Who that within the heart's full daylight bears - No touch of holy awe, - Be it or man or State that casts out fear, - Will still own reverence for the might of law? - - - STROPHE III - - Nor life that will no sovran rule obey, - Nor one down-crushed beneath a despot's sway, - Shalt thou approve; - God still gives power and strength for victory - To all that in the golden mean doth lie. - All else, as they in diverse order move, - He scans with watchful eye. - With this I speak a word in harmony, - That of irreverence still - Outrage is offspring ill, - While from the soul's true health - Comes the much-loved, much-prayed-for joy and wealth. - - - ANTISTROPHE III - - Yes, this I bid thee know; - Bow thou before the altar of the Right, - And let no wandering glance - That looks at gain askance - Lead thee with godless foot to scorn or slight. - Know well the appointed penalty shall come; - The doom remaineth sure and will at last strike home. - Wherefore let each man pay the reverence due - To those who call him son; - By each to thronging guests let honour true - In loyal faith be done. - - - STROPHE IV - - But one who with no pressure of constraint - Of his free will draws back from evil taint, - He shall not be unblest, - Nor ever sink by utter woe oppressed. - But this I still aver, - That he whose daring leads him to transgress, - The chaos wild of evil deeds to stir, - In sharp and sore distress, - Against his will will slacken sail ere long, - When, as his timbers crash before the blast, - He feels the tempest strong. - - - ANTISTROPHE IV - - Then in the midst of peril he at last - Shall call on those who then will hear him not. - Yea, God still laughs to scorn - The man by evil tide of passions borne, - Swayed by thoughts wild and hot, - When he beholdeth one whose boast was high - He ne'er should know it, sunk in misery, - And all unable round the point to steer; - And so his former pride of prosperous days - He wrecks upon the reefs of Vengeance drear, - And dies with none to weep him or to praise. - - - - - THE END - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - - 1. Added missing target for footnote on p. 17. - 2. Silently corrected typographical errors. - 3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - 4. 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