EURIPIDES
of Heracles the hero.
He made his way from Pluto's halls;
he left the dungeon underground.
He is to me a better king
than that ignoble lord: 810
comparison made plain
in the struggle of the sword,
if justice still finds favor
among the blessed gods.
(A crash of thunder. The figure of Madness, gorgon-
faced and holding a goad, appears in a black
chariot on the roof of the pdace. On the
other side of the roof Iris is seen.)
Ah! Ah! 815
Is the same terror on us all?
Look, old friends: what phantom hovers on the house?
Fly, fly!
Stir your heavy limbs! Back, away!
Lord Paian, help us! Avert disaster! 820
Iris
Courage, old men. You see there, Madness,
child of night, and me, servant of the gods,
Iris. We bring no harm upon your city.
Against one man alone our war is waged, 825
him whom men call Alcmene's son by Zeus.
Until his bitter labors had been done,
his fate preserved him; nor would father Zeus
let me or Hera do him any harm.
But now Eurystheus' orders have been done, 830
" Hera plans, by making him destroy his sons,
to taint him with fresh murder; and I agree.
Up, then, unmarried child of blackest Night,
rouse up, harden that relentless heart,
send madness on this man, confound his mind 835
338