The Hecuba, Medea, Phœnissæ, and Orestes, of Euripides, literally transl. To which are added ...

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4/.

THE

HECUBA, MEDEA, PHCENISSJl,
AND OEESTES,

OF

EURIPIDES.

THE

HECUBA, MEDEA, PHIENISSJI,
AND OEESTES,

OF

EURIPIDES,

HiUraUs translatelr into dBngUslft
FROM THE TEXT OF G. DINDORF,

WITH

PORSOirS VARIOUS READINGS.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED

CRITICAL NOTES FROM THE BEST COMMENTATORS.

LONDON:
HENRY WASHBOURNE, BRIDGE-STREET,

BLACKFRIABS.

MDCOCXLVI.

^jd^

r

HECUBA.

DRAMATIS PERSONS.

Shade of Poltdorus.

Hecuba.

Chorus op Captive Women.

polyxena.

Ulysses.

Talthybius.

Female Attendant.

AGAM^3kfNON...

POLYMESTOR AND HIS CHILDREN.

ARGUMENT.

After the taking of Troy, the Greeks weighed anchor, and put
in at the opposite Chersonese of Thrace, of which Poljmestor was
king, — the same place where they raised a cenotaph to Achilles,
who had been buried at Troy ; and having delayed there some few
days, so as to arrange their affairs, when they were going to put
to sea, the shade of Achilles, appearing over the tomb, withheld
the Greeks from setting sail, demanding to be offered to him as a
gift of honour, Polyzena, the daughter of Priam, who had before
also been betrothed to him by her father ; by reason of whom, too,
Achilles was slain, being shot with an arrow by Paris and Deipho-
bus, when Priam was about to complete her vows of betrothal to
him. The Greeks, then, remembering the good deeds they had ex-
perienced at his hands, and honouring his valour, passed a decree to
sacrifice Polyzeua over the tomb of the hero ; and sent the son of
Laertes to her mother Hecuba, that he might both take possession
of the virgin, and by subtilty of speech (for such was the character
of the man) might persuade Hecuba not to take to heart the loss of
her daughter. Ulysses, accordingly, on his arrival, found the
damsel taking part with him in his purpose, and persuading her
mother that it was more fitting for her to die than to live unbe-
coming her rank. And when the virgin was sacrificed, Hecuba
sent an attendant of her own along the shore, to fetch water thence,
to wash the corpse of Polyxena ; but she found the body of Poly-
dorus lying there ; for Polymestor, when he learned that Troy was
taken, murdered him, and cast him into the sea, that he might
keep to himself the gold which Priam a little before had sent to

ARGUMENT. 3

him secretlj with his son Polydorus, when he saw that danger was
now threatening Ilium. Now there was a considerable quantity
of gold, and enough even to re-establish the family of Priam.
When^ therefore, the slave found the corpse lying on the sea
shore, she took it, and conveyed it, wrapped in her robe, to
Hecuba : and deeming the corpse, before it was uncovered, to be
Polyzena^s, but afterwards finding it to be Polydorus, she was
greatly afflicted ; but, nev«>thele8S, to be avenged on Polymestor,
contrived the following plan : — Having first communicated her
intention about him to Agamemnon, she sends her own slave to
Polymestor, to summon him and his children before her on a
matter of urgent necessity which she had to impart. He then,
not knowing that Polydorus had been found on the shore, and, at
the same time being deceived by others, comes to her with his
children. Hecuba informs him it was for this reason she sum-
moned him, that she might inform him of certain treasures of gold
hidden by her in Ilium ; and she leads him within the tent,
telling him that she will also give him certain other property,
which she had brought with her out of Troy. But within there
had been concealed a large body of women ; by the aid of whom,
when he had entered the tent, Hecuba puts out his eyes, and
murders his children. Agamemnon afterwards judging between
them, and Polymestor feigning many excuses for the murder of
Polydorus, Hecuba gained the advantage, convicting him of
having slain her son for the sake of the gold, and not for the
reasons he alleged, and having Agamemnon's judgment also on her
side.

The scene of the drama is supposed to be in the Thracian Cher-
sonese, over against Troy : and the chorus consists of Trojan
captive women who are to succour Hecuba.

ANOTHER ARGUMENT.

After the siege of Ilium, the Greeks pat in at the Chersonese,
opposite the Troad ; and Achilles, appearing bj night, demanded
that one of the daughters of Priam should be sacrificed. The
Greeks, therefore, respecting the commands of the hero, tore
Polyxena away from Hecuba and sacrificed her ; and Pol jmestor,
king of the Thracians, murdered Poljdorus, one of Priam's sons.
Now Poljmestor had received him from Priam, in charge, with
a treasure of money. But when the city was taken, wishing to
keep possession of his wealth, he set about to murder him, and
cared little for friendship in calamity. The body was cast out
into the sea : the waves washed it ashore near the tents of the
female captives ; and Hecuba, seeing the corpse, recognised it ;
and communicating her intention to Agamemnon, she sent for
Polymestor to come to her with his children (concealing what
had occurred), pretending she would point oat to him certain
treasures that were in Ilium -, but when he arrived, his sons she
murdered, and himself she deprived of his eyes. And defending
herself before the Greeks, she came off victorious over her ac-
cuser ; for she was decided not to have instigated the atrocity,
but to have requited the instigator.

HECUBA.

SHADE OF P0LYD0RU8.
1—15.]

I AM here, having left the hidden ahode of the dead,
and the gates of darkness, where Hades dwells apart
from the gods, — ^I, Polydorus, who am the son of
Hecuba, daughter of Cisseus, and of Priam my father,
who, when the danger of falling before a Grecian spear
encompassed the city of the Phrygians, in fear sent me
forth secretly from the land of Troy, to the halls of
Polymestor, a Thracian friend; he who cultivates the
most fertile plain of Chersonese, ruling vnth the spear
a people rejoicing in steeds : and vnth me my father
secretly sends forth a great treasure of gold, so that,
whenever the walls of Ilium should fall, there might be
no lack of subsistence to the surviving children. But
I was the youngest of the children of Priam, for which
reason, also, he secretly sent me forth from the land ;
for I was unable either to bear armour or the sword in
my boyish hand. So long, then, as the walls* of my
country were standing, and the towers of the land of

* 16. opifffiara, Moenia et & kXsiv' 'AOijv&v UaWddog
turres recte intelligunt Scho- 0' opifffiara. — Matth.
liastap. Sic Hippo]. 1459.

6 HECUBA, Ql5 47.

Troy were not yet broken down, and my brother
Hector was prosperous with the spear, I sprung up like
some young branch, fairly nurtured in the house of the
Thracian, my father s friend, wretch that I am ! But
wheb Troy and the life of Hector were lost, and my
father's hearth was rooted up, and he himself had fallen
before the god-built^ altar, — slain by the blood-stained
son of Achilles, — ^then my father's friend slays me, the
wretched one, for the sake of the gold; and having
slain me, cast me forth into the surge of the sea, that he
might keep the gold to himself in his house. And I
lie now on the shore, now on the swelling sea, borne to
and fro by the frequent ebb and flow of the waves, un-
wept, unburied. But at this moment, having left my
body, I glide forth on account of my dear mother
Hecuba, being tossed about now for the third day,
even so long as my ill-fated mother has been on this
land of Chersonese from Troy. But all the Achseans,
with their ships,* are sitting quietly upon the shores of
this Thracian land ; for Achilles, son of Peleus, appear-
ing over his tomb, has withheld the entire host of the
Greeks from directing homeward the naval oar ; and he
claims to receive my sister Poljrxena as a grateful
victim at his tomb, and as a gift of honour. And this
he will obtain, and will not be without this tribute
from liis friends ; and fate leads my sister on to death
this very day ; so that our mother will behold the two
corpses of two of her children, both mine and the ill-
fated damsel's. For I will show myself before the feet

* 23. OsoSjiTiToCf by Poseidon nificare animadvertit Schol. —

and A*pollo; but. Hoc loco Dind.

non a diis conditum, sed diis ' 35. Others, holding their

conditum sc. consecratum sig- ships, sc. at anchor.

47 — 76.] HECUBA. 7

of a slave on a wave of the sea, that I, wretched,
may receive burial. For I have asked as a favour, of
those who are mighty below, that I may meet with a
tomb, and fall into the hands of my mother. Mine,
then, shall be all, as much as I have desired to obtain ;
but I will retire out of the way of the aged Hecuba ;
for here she comes forth from [beyond P.] the tent of
Agamemnon, terrified at my phantom. Alas ! my
mother ! thou who, after the halls of princes, hast
beheld the day of slavery, how ill thou farest now,
just as thou didst once fare well! But some god is
ruining thee, counterbalancing^ your former happiness.

HECUBA.

Lead, my children, the aged woman before the
tents — lead me, ye Trojan damsels, raising up your
Qnow P.] fellow-slave, but who was once your queen.
Hold me — bear me — conduct me — support me, taking
hold of my aged hand, — while I also, leaning upon the
crooked staff, the staff of my arm, will hasten to ad-
vance the tardy movement of my limbs. thou
lightning of Jove! O pitchy Night! wherefore is it*
that thus, in the night season, I am startled by terrors,
by phantoms? revered Earth! mother of black-
winged dreams, I discard the vision of night, the fearful
vision concerning my son, who is preserved safe in
Thrace, and concerning Polyxena, my beloved daughter,
which I have learned, ^ I have been taught by dreams.

* 58. See Liddell and Scott's Lat. tandem, how every how in
Lexicon, avTiotiKout. the world, why I pray.

* 69, Ti TTore must be infused ® 76. ^t' dvtiptjv tldov <f>o(Bi'
into our language according to pdv, P. vision, which I have
the sense ; ttots is equal to^ seen, &c.

8 HECUBA. pG — 116.

ye gods of this land,7 save my son, who, the only
one that is left, and the anchor^ of my house, abides in
snowy Thrace, in the guardianship of his father's friend.
Some strange thing will happen ; there will come a
song of mourning for the mournful. My mind is never
so unceasingly agitated with horror and alarm. Where,

1 pray, may I behold the inspired soul of Helen and
Cassandra, ye Trojan damsels, that they may interpret
me my dreams ? For I beheld a dappled hind, gored
by the blood-stained^ claws of a wolf, dragged by force
from my knees, a piteous sight. This, likewise, is a
dread to me ; there appeared above the highest summit
of his tomb the shade of Achilles, and he demanded, as a
gift of honour, one of the much suflPering Trojan women.
From my child, then, from my child, ye deities, avert
this omen, I supplicate you.

CHORUS.

Hecuba, in haste have I bent my way to thee, having
left my master's tents, where I have been allotted and ap-
portioned a slave ; driven away from the city of Ilium,
taken captive at the point of the spear by the Achseans,
lightening none of thy sufferings, but bearing with me a
heavy weight of tidings, and to thee, O lady, a herald
of woe. For in full conclave of tlie Acheeans, it is said,
that it has been determined to offer thy daughter a
victim to Achilles; and thou knowest when, rising
over his tomb, he appeared in golden panoply,
and stayed the ocean-traversing barks as they were
staying their sails with the cables, uttering aloud

' 79. x0(5viot, Non inferi, ® 80. P. As it were the an-

Bed ut recte unus Schol. ex- cbor.

plicat ol ^yX^P*^'') ^^ ^''^^^'^'' ^90. at fiovt. Hermann takes

— DiND. this word to mean ** eager,"

from dtaffut.

116 — 155.] HECUBA. 9

these words : — '' Whither, then, ye Danai, speed ye,
leaving my tomh without a gift of honour?" But
waves of mighty contention clashed together, and
divided sentiments were going throughout the warrior
host of the Greeks ; it seeming meet to some to offer a
victim to the tomb, but to the others not so. And
there was Agamemnon, zealously promoting thy good,
constant to the bed of the inspired prophetess. But the
two sons of Theseus,^ scions of Athens, were speakers
of different sentiments, yet they both acquiesced in this
one opinion, — to crown the tomb of Achilles with a
libation of fresh blood ; and both affirmed, that they
would never prefer the bed of Cassandra before the
spear of Achilles. Now the earnestness with which the
speeches were continued was perchance equal, until the
crafty-minded, prating, honey-tongued speaker, the mob
courtier, the son of Laertes, persuades the host not to
reject the most valiant of all the Danai, for the sake of
the sacrifice of a slave ;• nor suffer any of the dead,
standing near Persephone, to say, that the Danai had
departed from the plains of Troy, ungrateful to those
Danai who perished in behalf of the Greeks. And
Ulysses is all but here, to drag thy young one from thy
bosom, and to tear her away from thy aged hand. But go
thou to the temples, go to the altars, sit a suppliant at
the knees of Agamemnon, proclaim it to the gods, both
those of heaven and those beneath the earth ; for either
thy prayers will prevent thee from being bereaved of
thy wretched daughter, or thou must look upon the
virgin hanging over the tomb, empurpled with blood,
flowing in a darkly gleaming stream from her gold-
encircled neck.

^ 125. Acamas and Demophon. — Sgs.

10 HECUBA. [155—187.

HECUBA.

Ah me, wretched! What shall I utter? What
sound? What lamentation? Miserable from miser-
able old age, from slavery not to be endured, not to
be borne ! Woe is me ! Who will succour me ?
What race, or what city ? My aged husband is gone —
my children are gone — which way shall I take, this
way or that ? or whither shall I advance P Where is
there any god or any deity who will aid me? O
ye Trojan damsels, who have brought evil tidings,
who have announced accursed woes, ye have slain
me utterly, ye have slain me. No longer is life
desirable to me in the light of day. thou, my
wretched foot, guide me, guide an aged woman to this
tent ! O my child, daughter of a most ill-fated mother,
come forth, come forth from the house ! Hear the voice
of thy mother, my child, chat thou mayest know what
a report, what a report, I hear, affecting thy life.

POLYXENA.

O my mother, my mother, why criest thou aloud ?
Heralding what new tidings, hast thou startled me, in
this consternation, from the tent, like a bird from its
nest?

Hec. Woe is me, my child !

Pol. Why utterest thou words of ill omen to me ?
Methinks the preface is evil.

Hec. Alas, for thy life !

Pol. Speak out, conceal it not so long; I fear, I
fear, my mother: why in the world groanest thou
aloud?

Hec. my child, child of a wretched mother !

' 164. An accusative is want- ture is probably right : wol S*
ing after fjeroi. Reiske's conjee- ^aoiTT^^a; — Dind.

187—218.] HECUBA. 11

Pol. What is this that thou announcest ?

Hec. The puhlic decision of the Argives joins in
determining to sacrifice thee at the tomh in honour of
the son 5 of Peleus.

Pol. Woe is me, my mother ! What direful evils
dost thou utter ? Disclose them to me, disclose them,
my mother.

Hec. I tell thee, my child, ill-omened rumours.
They report that a decree hath passed by vote of the
Argives concerning thy life.

Pol. thou who hast suffered dreadful treatment !
O thou all v^^retched ! O mother of ill-fated existence,
what a wrong, what a wrong, most hateful and un-
speakable, hath some deity again impelled against
thee ! No longer shall I, thy child,* no longer now
shall I, miserable, share slavery with thy miserable old
age. For, as if I were some mountain-nurtured whelp,
thou miserable shalt behold me, thy miserable offspring,
torn from thy hand, and with severed throat sent down
into the darkness that is beneath the earth, to Hades
where I shall lie miserable among the dead. Thee,
indeed, O my mother, ill-fated in thy life, I bewail with
moaning of deep lamentation ; but mine own life, a life
of outrage and wrong, I bewail not : nay death, a better
lot, hath befallen me.

Chorus. But lo ! Hecuba, hither comes Ulysses with
hastened foot, to signify to thee some new command.

ULYSSES.

Lady, I deem, indeed, that thou knowest the judg-

• 191. UrfKiida, ykvva. P. interdum, pro nomine primi-

O my daughter ! Vera est tivo posito. — Dind.
altera interpretatio, UriXiida * 202. ovkbti aoi iraiQ &d*.

ykvv^f id est ni)X€(i)i; ykvvtf,, P. I, thy child, liv^e no

Achilli ; patronymico, ut fit longer.

12 HECUBA. [218—241.

ment of the anny and the decree that has prevailed ; but,
nevertheless, I will declare it. It has seemed good to the
Acheeans to offer thy daughter Polyxena, at the lofty
mound of the tomb of Achilles. Moreover, they ap-
point me to guide and escort the damsel ; but the son
of Achilles is fixed upon as the superintendent of this
sacrifice, and officiating priest. Knowest thou then
what to do?* Neither be thou dragged away by
violence, nor come to a trial of force with me; but
acknowledge my strength, and the presence of thy
calamities. 'Tis wise, in sooth, to have right feelings
even in misfortunes.

Heo. Alas ! a mighty struggle, as it seems, is at
hand, full of groanings, and not void of tears. For I
myself died not, when I should have died, and Jove
destroyed me not ; but he preserves me, that I may look
upon other woes greater than the old, wretched that I
am. But if it be permitted to slaves to ask of the free,
questions not grievous and not biting to the heart, it
were good that thy speech should have been concluded,^
and that we who ask these questions should hear the
replies.

Ul. It is permitted, ask on ; for I grudge not the
time.

Hec. Eememberest thou, when thou camest a spy
against Ilium, both disfigured in unseemly raiment, and
from thine eyes drops of gore^ trickled down thy
cheek ?

* 225. Literally, Do, dost "^ 2Al,<l>6vov, Recte Jacobs,

thou know what? — Bentl. in Animadv. p. 4. cruorem in-

^ 236. ffoi fikv dprjffOai telligit quo Ulixes foedatus

XPBiov, A te peroratum esse I'rojam venerat secunduta

oportet. — DiND. Horn. Od. i7. 244. — Dind.

242—265.] HECUBA. 13

Ul. I do remember : for not on the surface only did
it touch my heart.

Hec. And that Helen recognised thee, and divulged
it to me alone ?

Ul. I remember that I fell into great perils.

Hec. And that thou didst clasp my knees in abject
humility ?

Ul. Yea, so that my hand even grew dead in thy
robes.

Hec. What, then, saidst thou, being at that time my
slave ?

Ul. Devices of many words, so that I might escape
death.

Hec. Did I, then, save thee, and convey thee from
the land ?

Ul. Yea, so that I now look upon the light of to-
day s sun.

Hec. Art thou not, then, acting basely in these thy
counsels, thou who hast received at my hands such boons
as thou confessest to have received, but yet doest to me
no good, but evil to the utmost of thy power ? An un-
grateful generation is thine, all of you who aspire to the
honours of popular harangue. Would that ye were not
known to me, ye who care not for harming your friends,
if ye do but speak somewhat to gratify the many.
But what is it they deem this cunning argument to be,
that they have decreed sentence of death against this
damsel? Did destiny draw them on to slaughter
human kind before the tomb, where it is more fitting to
oflfer oxen ? Or is it wishing to inflict death, in retribu-
tion on his slayers, that Achilles with justice designs
death to her? But she, at least, has done him no
wrong. He should have demanded pie should de-

c

14 HECUBA. [265—293.

niand P.] Helen as a sacrifice over his tomb ; for 'twas
she who destroyed him, and who led him against Troy.
But if it be required that some chosen captive, and one
excelling in beauty, should die, this belongs not to us :
for the daughter of Tyndarus is the most beautiful in
form, and has been found guilty of no less an injury than
we. On the ground of justice, indeed, I contend for
this argument ; but as to what thou shouldst give in
gratitude at my request, hear. Thou didst touch, as
thou acknowledgest, my hand and my aged cheek,
kneeling down before me : I, in turn, touch these same
parts, and I ask back of thee the favour I then be-
stowed on you ; and I implore thee, drag not away
my child from mine arms — slay her not. There is
enough of the dead. In her I rejoice and have oblivion
of my woes ; she is my consolation in the place of many
things ; she is my country, my nurse, my staff, the
guide of my path. It becomes not them that have
power to exercise that power in things they ought not,
nor the prosperous to deem that they will ever « prosper.
For I too was once in that state, but now I am no
longer ; and one day robbed me of all my bliss. But
by thy 9 beard, reverence my supplication, compassionate
me : and, going forth to the host of the Acheeans,
admonish them what a shame it is to be slaying women,
whom at the first ye did not slay, dragging them from
the altars, but had compassion on them. Now among
you the same law concerning blood is laid down for the
free and the slave alike. But thy rank, even if thine

* 283. UpaTTiiv TTpa^iv, esjpecially Homer, when 0tXoc

P. quod revocandum. — Dind. is joined to ijropt x«^f>» yovva,

> 286. Thy, fiKov; this etc.
sense is common in the poets,

293—318.] HECUBA. 15

argument fail, will persuade them : for the same words
have not the same force when they proceed from the
ignoble, as they have from the mouth of men of cha-
racter J

Chorus. There is no temper in mankind [What
temper is there? P.]] so harsh, as, when it hears the
wailing of thy moanings and prolonged lamentations,
not to let fall a tear.

Ul. Hecuba, be instructed by me, and do not in thy
wrath* [prce ira] reckon him who speaks for thy
good hostile to thee in spirit. I am ready, indeed,
to preserve thy person, through which I have been
successful ; and I say not otherwise. But what I de-
clared before all I will not deny, that, when Troy
should be taken, we should offer thy daughter a victim
to the most valiant warrior of the host, at his demand :
for in this most states are weak, when any citizen who is
valiant and zealous bears off no higher rewards than
those inferior to him. But at our hands Achilles is
worthy of honour, O Lady, being one who has fallen
most nobly for tlie land of Hellas. Is not it then
disgraceful, if we treat one as a friend while he lives,
but when he has gone [has perished P.] treat him as
such nd longer ? Well, then ; what, I pray, will one
say, if there should again appear a mustering of the
host, and a contest against foes? Shall we fight, or
shall we be fainthearted, when we see that the dead are
not held in honour? Nay, indeed, for my own part
living from day to day though I should possess but
little, yet anything would suffice me ; but I should wish

* 295. SoKovvT(ov=sivSoKog, ' 299. ry Ovfisfikvifi id est

Tery rare : so £xa>v dives, ry Ovixtft, — Dino.
pKknuiv, 1. 311, viyus.

16 HECUBA. [318—349.

for my tomb to be looked upon witb reverence ; for that
honour lasts for a long time. But if thou sayest that
thou sufferest woes deserving pity, hear this in reply
from me. There are among us aged women and old
men, no whit less wretched than thou art, and brides
deprived of most valiant bridegrooms, whose corpses the
dust of Ida here conceals. Endure these things: but
we, if we adopt the custom of not honouring the brave,
shall incur the blame of folly. But you barbarians
neither deem your friends as friends, nor revere those
who have nobly fallen ; so that Greece indeed shall be
prosperous, but ye shall receive a lot in accordance with
your counsels.

Chorus. Alas ! how evil a thing it is to be a slave,
and to endure what one should not endure, overpowered
by force.

Hec. O my daughter, my words indeed are vanished
in the air, ejaculated in vain concerning thy death. But
do thou, if thou hast any greater influence than thy
mother, make every effort, pouring forth every sound,
as it were the voice of a nightingale, that thou be not
bereaved of life. And fall suppliantly before the knees
of Ulysses here, and strive to persuade him ; for thou
hast a reason for it ; for he too has children, so that he
may sympathize in thy fate.

Pol. I see thee, Ulysses, concealing thy right hand
beneath thy robe, and turning thy face away, that I
may not touch thy beard. Fear not : thou art safe
from any appeal of mine to Jove the god of suppliants :
for assuredly I will follow thee at all events, both
because it is inevitable, and because I desire to die ;
but if I shall not so wish, I shall show myself a base
and a dastardly woman. For why should I live on?

349—379.] HECUBA. 17

I who had for a father the king of all the Phrygians ;
this was the opening of my life. Then was I nurtured
on fair hopes, a bride for kings, having no mean' rivalry
for my hand, to whose halls, and hearths I should go.
And I, the ill fated one, was mistress among the women
of Ida, admired among virgins, equal to the gods [god-
desses P.], save in death alone. But now I am a slave. ^
In the first place, indeed, the veiry name makes me
desire to die, being an unwonted one; and in the next,
I might perchance meet with a master cruel in his
temper, some one who would purchase me for silver, —
me, who am the sister of both Hector and many other
princes; and, putting upon me the task of grinding
com in his house, would compel me to sweep his halls,
and to preside over the loom, passing my days in sor-
row. And some purchased slave from anywhere would
defile my bed, that was before deemed worthy of princes.
No, in sooth, I will dismiss from my eyes this ifree
light of heaven, presenting my body to Hades. Lead
me, then, Ulysses, and kill me, leading me hence; for
I see not any encouragement of hope or expectation
near me, that it is possible for me ever to be happy.
But thou, my mother, do not thoil stand in my way in
anything, neither by word nor by deed : but consent
for me to die before I meet with ignominy that is un- .
worthy of me. For whoever is not accustomed to taste
of calamity, bears it indeed, but grieves, placing his
neck under the yoke : but dying, he would be far more
fortunate than living on : for to live dishonourably is a
great bane.

Chorus. A marvellous and well marked stamp is it

' 352. Otherwise, *' Con- on him to whose," etc.
ferring no unennable marriage

c 3

18 HECUBA. [379—404..

among mortals to be bom of goodly parentage, and
the name of noble birth is exalted yet higher among
such as are worthy of it.

Hec. Nobly indeed hast thou spoken, my child ; yet
to that which is noble is added pain. But if the son of
Peleus must needs be gratified, and you must escape
blame, Ulysses, slay not her indeed ; but lead me to the
funeral pyre of Achilles, stab me, spare not. 'Twas I
brought forth Paris who slew the son of Thetis, striking
him with the dart.

Ul. Not thy death, O aged dame, did the shade of
Achilles demand of the Acheeans, but this damsel's.

Hec. Then slay me with my daughter, and there
will be twice as great a draught of blood for the earth
and for the dead who demands these offerings.

Ul. The death of thy daughter is sufficient; one
death must not be added to another. And would that
we needed not this one !

Hec. It cannot, at least, be prevented that I die with
my daughter.

Ul. How so ? For I know not that I have any
masters.

Hec. As the ivy to the oak, how will I cling to
her!

Ul. Nay, not at least if thou wilt be advised by
those who are wiser than thyself.

Hec. Be assured that of my own accord I will not
let this damsel go.

Ul. But neither will I, in sooth, go hence and leave
her here.

Pol. My mother, be prevailed upon by me; and
thou, son of Laertes, be indulgent to a parent who is
naturally incensed. But do thou, wretched mother,

404—425.] HECUBA. 19

contend not against the mighty. Dost thou wish to
fall upon the ground, and to wound thy aged flesh,
being pushed away by force, and to be treated in un-
seemly manner by being dragged along by a youthful
arm ? Which things thou wilt sufl^er : but do not thou
at least act thus: for it is unworthy of thee. But,
O my beloved mother, give me thy dear hand, and
grant me to join cheek to cheek ; for never again, but
now for the last time of aU, shall I look upon the
beams and the orb of the sun. Thou art receiving now
my last address. O my mother, O thou who brought
me forth, I am now going to the realms below.

Hec. O my daughter — but I shall live a slave in
the light of heaven.

Pol. I go without nuptial rites, without the bridal
song, things I ought to have obtained.

Hec. Pitiable art thou, my child, and I a wretched
woman.

Pol. And there in Hades shall I lie bereft of thee.

Hec. Woe is me ! what shajl I do ? where close my
life?

Pol. I shall die a slave, though I am the child of a
free father.

Hec. But I am bereft of at least fifty children,

Pol. What shall I say for thee to Hector, or to thine
aged husband ?

Hec. Tell them, that I am the most wretched of all
women.

Pol. O ye breasts, and thou bosom which nourished
me so sweetly !

Hec. O daughter of an untimely, a miserable fate !
[[wretched by reason of, &c.. P.]

20 HECUBA. 1^425—446.

Pol. Farewell, my mother, and farewell too Cas-
sandra, for me [my Cassandra P.].

Hec. Others, farewell; but this is not for thy
mother.

Pol. And my brother Polydorus, who is among the
Thracians rejoicing in steeds.

Hec. Aye, if he lives. But I distrust it ; so ill-fated
am I in everything.

Pol. He doth live ; and will close thine eyes when
thou art dead.

Hec, I for my part am dead through misery, before
the time of death.

Pol. Convey me hence, Ulysses, having enveloped
my head in a robe ; for, indeed, before I am sacrificed,
I have waxed faint at heart from the laments of my
mother, and I waste her away in wailings. O thou
light of heaven, for thy name I may yet address thee
by, but I have no part in thee, save for so long as I am
passing hence to the sword and the pyre of Achilles.

Hec. Ah me ! I faint — and my limbs are failing !
O my daughter, touch thy mother, stretch forth thy
hand, give it me, — leave me not childless — I am lost, my
friends.^ Ah that I might behold the Laconian Helen,
the sister of the twin sons of Jove ! for through the
beauty of her eyes most shamefully hath she taken
happy Troy .

Chorus. Breeze, breeze of the sea, thou who con-
veyest the swift ocean-traversing barks over the surge

* 441-3. These lines are thioks they belong to the Cho-

wholly improper for the mouth rus. Dindorf considers them

of Hecuba, who ought to have spurious,
fainted at 1. 440. Hermann

446—483.] HECUBA. 21

of the sea, whither wilt thou carry me, the wretched
one ? Possessed in slavery, to whose house shall I
arrive ? Will it be to some harbour of the Dorian land,
or of the land of Pthia, where they say that Apidanus,
father of fairest waters, fertilizes the plains ? or to that
island* (miserable that I am, conveyed by the ocean-
sweeping oar, enduring a pitiable existence in its abodes,}
to that island where the first-born palm and the laurel
put forth their sacred branches over beloved Latona,^
the adornment of those pangs of which Jove was the
cause? And with the Delian damsels shall I extol
the golden fillet and the bow of Artemis their god-
dess ? Or in the city of Pallas, on the saffron veil of
Athena of the beautiful chariot,7 shall I yoke the steeds
to the car, embroidering it on curiously wrought webs,
worked in light colours, or Qshall I depict] the brood of
Titans whom Jove the son of Cronus lays to rest with
flaming lightning ? Woe is me for my children, woe is
me for my parents, and for my native land, which is
cast down in ruin, blackening with smoke, captured
with the spear by the Argives ; but I in a foreign land
henceforth bear the name of a slave, having left Asia
the handmaid of Europe,^ exchanging that name only
for the chambers of Hades.

^ 455. The construction is form, KoXXi^i^poT' : this is

^ 7ropBv<niQ jie iv9a vqaiov, in order to avoid the hiatus,

i. e. eiV T&v vqfnov eKtivrjv Dindorf would read KoXKidi-

tv9a k,tX. — Matth. Other- <l>povg, gen. from KoXXiduJiprigf

wise it may he construed, an unknown adjective.

ff trpbc hpjiov vr\(Tuiv, to the ^ 483. The construction is,

harbour of some island — that oLkXalacra {rov dovXri «-

island where, etc. — Boisson. KXrjtrOai) "Aida OaXdfJLovg of

« 461. Aiac vel diag est Soph. Ant. 944. Pflugk.—

" Jovialis." — DiND. Otherwise : " Exchanging the

^ 467. Person has the Ionic bridal chambers for the grave."

22 HECUBA. • [483—510.

TALTHYBIUS.

Where shall I find her who was once the queen of
Ilium, Hecuha, ye Trojan damsels ?

Ch. Here she lies near thee, Talthybius, on her back
upon the ground, enveloped in robes.

Talth. O Jove, what shall I say? that thou re-
gardest mortals ? or else that men have merely adopted
this false notion to no purpose, holding that a race of
deities exists, but that fortune controls all the affairs of
mortals ? Was not this the queen of the Phrygians,
abounding in gold ? Was she not the wife of Priam,
who was so highly prosperous ? And now her country,
indeed, is all subverted with the spear, and she herself
a slave, an old woman, childless, grovels upon the earth,
defiling her ill-fated head in the dust. Alas ! alas ! I
truly am old ; but, nevertheless, may d^th be my lot,
before I am involved in an ignominious fate of this
kind. Stand up, thou unhappy one, and raise thy side,
and thy hoary head from the ground.

Hec. Well — ^who art thou, that wilt not suffer my
body to lie in peace ? Why rousest thou me, whoever
thou art, in my sorrow ?

Talth. I am Talthybius who am come, a servant of
the house of Danaus, Agamemnon having sent me for
thee, O Lady.

Hec. O thou fondest of men, can it be thou who
hast come, because it seemeth good to the Acheeans to
slay me also over the tomb? for thou wouldst then
bring welcome tidings. Let us hasten, let us be quick,
lead me on, old man.

Talth. I am come to fetch thee that thou may^st
bury thy daughter who is dead, O Lady : and the two
sons of Atreus, and the host of the Acheeans sent me.

510—538.] HECUBA. 23

Hec. Ah me ! what wilt thou say ? art thou come
then for me, not that I may die, but to announce evil
tidings ? Thou hast perished, O my child, torn away
&om my mother; and I am childless as to thee. O
wretch that I am ! and how did ye make away with
her ? Was it with feelings of respect ? or did ye make
her fate terrible, slaying her as a foe, old man ? Speak
on, although thou wilt relate no welcome words.

Talth. Thou wishest me, O lady, to shed reiterated
tears, in compassion for thy daughter ; for both now, in
telling the woeful tale I shall bedew my eyes with
tears, and I did so at the tomb also, when she perished.
There was present indeed the whole multitude of the
host of the Achseans in full assembly before the tomb,
awaiting the sacrifice of thy daughter : and the son of
Achilles having taken Polyxena by the hand set her
upon the summit of the mound, and I stood near : and
chosen selected youths of the Achaeans followed, to con-
trol the boundings of thy young one with their hands.
The son of Achilles, having taken in both hands a full
goblet of solid gold, with one of them poured forth libations
to his departed sire : and he gives me the signal to pro-
claim silence to the whole host of the Acheeans. And
I standing by his side uttered these words in the midst
of them. — '*' Be silent, ye Acheeans ; let all the host be
silent! Be still, keep silence!" Then I caused the
multitude to stand still. And he said, '' O son of Pe-
leus, and my father, receive at my hand these appeasing
libations that evoke 9 the dead ; and come forth, that
thou mayest drink the pure dark blood of a virgin,
which we offer unto thee, both the host and I myself.

' 536. dyiiyyo^e — others, that conduct or speed on their
way.

24 HECUBA. [538 — 568.

But become thou propitious to us, and grant us to set
loose the sterns and the mooring cables of our ships, and
that, having met with an auspicious voyage home from
Ilium, we may all arrive at our native land." So much
he spake, and all the host offered up prayer. Then
taking his gilded sword by the handle, he drew it forth
from the sheath, and signed to the chosen youths of the
Argive host to lay hold on the maiden. But when she
was given to understand* it, she gave utterance to these
words. — " O ye Argives, who have sacked my native
city, I am willing to die : let no one touch my person,
for I will offer my neck to the knife with a good cou-
rage. But first, I entreat by the gods, having let me
go free, that I may die a free woman, then slay me :
for I should be ashamed to be called a slave among the
dead, when I am a princess." Then the people shouted
applause, and king Agamemnon ordered the young
men to let the maiden go. [And as soon as they
heard these last words from him in whom resided the
supreme power, they let her go.] Then when she
heard this command from her lord, she took hold of
and rent off her garment from the top of the shoulder
to the middle of her loins, by the navel, and showed her
bosom and her chest, as of a statue, most beautiful :
and bending her knee to the ground, she uttered the
boldest speech of all. " Lo here, O youth, if indeed
thou art desirous to strike my breast, strike on : or if
thou wouldst rather strike under the neck, here is my
throat ready for you." But he, not willing and yet
willing, in pity for the damsel, divides with a sword
the channels of her breath ; and streams of blood gushed

* utg l^pdaOti* cvvrJKtv, tyvw, Mriatv* Hestch.

568—597.] HECUBA. 25

forth. But she, even in death, nevertheless was careful
to fall in seemly sort, concealing what women ought
to conceal from the eyes of men. But when she had
breathed her last from the fatal blow, not one of the
Achaeans was busied in the same task ; but some of
them were casting leaves from their hands over the dead
maiden, and others heap up the funeral pyre, bearing
logs of fir ; and he who would bring nothing, heard
levilings such as these from him who was carrying
them : " Standest thou still, O vilest of men, having
for the damsel no robe and no ornament in thy hands ?
are you not going to offer somewhat to her of exceeding
nobleness of heart, valiant in soul ?" Such things I tell
thee concerning thy daughter who is no more : but thee
I look upon of all women the most blessed in thy chil-
dren and yet the most hapless.

Ohob. a fearful tempest of woe hath boiled up
against the house of Priam, and against my country.
This is the fate ordained by heaven.

Hec. O my daughter, I know not upon which of
my miseries I shall direct my view, when so many are
present ! For if I lay hold on any, that one does not
suffer me ; and from another quarter some other grief
calls me away, recruiting woe with woe. And now,
indeed, I cannot blot out thy fate from my mind with-
out groaning over it, but this, again, thou hast greatly
lessened, in having been reported to me to have shown
a noble spirit. Is it not strange, if a sterile soil, re-
ceiving from the gods seasonable weather, bears a goodly
com harvest, but a fertile soil, on the other hand, fail-
ing of what it ought to have received, puts forth a bad
crop ? while among men, the base bom is never any-
thing else but base; but the noble is ever noble, nor

D

26 HECUBA. [597—621.

under the iufluence of calamity does he corrupt his
natural disposition, hut is ever excellent. Is parentage
or education the point of difference ? Certainly, how-
ever, to have heen well nurtured carries with it the
teaching of what is good ; but if one have fully learned
this, he assuredly knows what is vicious, having learned
it by the rule of virtue : and these matters my mind
hath been striving after in vain. But go then, and
signify this from me to the Argives; that it is my
request that no one touch the damsel, but that they
keep the crowd aloof. In sooth in an immense army
an undisciplined multitude and the seamen's unchecked
license is more furious than fire; and base is he ac^
counted who doeth not some base act. But do thou
again take a vessel, my old attendant, and having im-
mersed it in the salt sea, bring it hither, that in her
last lavations I may wash my child and lay her out,
my child, a hapless bride,' and an ill-fated virgin — as
indeed she deserves, how can I ? I have not the power ;
but with what means I have, I will : for what can I
do ?3 but having collected ornaments from among the
captive women who dwell about me within these tents,
if any of them, without the knowledge of her new lord,
possesses anything saved by stealth from her own home,
[I will adorn her with them]|- O ye abodes, ye halls
once fortimate ! O Priatn, with thy manifold and
glorious possessions,^ most blessed in cMdren, and my-

« 612. literally, as above, ♦ 620. The translation above

a bride that is no bride; so, is according to the punctua-

dirdpOtvov, a virgin that is no tion in the text ; but ** De-

virgin. lendum comma post r' posi-

'614. On the formula riiraOoy; turn: coherent enim koXXi-

see Liddell and Scott's Die- trraT' lifTiKVioraTt" — Dind.

tionarj wdcx^t 1- 2- So P., " And most blest in

fairest children."

621—062.] HECUBA. ' 27

self, the aged mother of thy progeny, how have we
fallen, stripped of our former dignity I Then, indeed,
were we puffed up with arrogance, some of us dwelling
in wealthy palaces, and others being held in honour by
the citizens. But these things are nothing ; in vain are
the counsels of deep thought and the boastings of the
tongue. Most biassed is he to whom, day by day,
there happens no calamity.

Chorus. On me it was fated that calamity, on me
it was fated that suffering should fall, when Alexander
first hewed him down the pine wood of Ida, soon to
steer his bark over the salt wave to the bed of Helen,
the fiiirest dame on whom the sun shines with golden
beam: for woes and compulsion mightier than woes
revolve their course ; and from one man's folly a univer-
sal curse of destruction hath come upon the land of
Simois, and calamity at the hands of strangers. And
the rivalry which the shepherd youth decided on Ida
concerning the three daughters of blessed gods, was
decided entailing (i. e, with the consequence of, enly)
war and bloodshed and insult on my house. And Laco-
nian maidens on the banks of fair flovdng Eurotas groan,
as they shed many a tear in their homes, and mothers of
children who have fallen are directing their hands against
the hoary head, and tearing the cheek, pressing in the
bloodstained nail to lacerate it.

FEMALE ATTENDANT.

Ye women, where ever is Hecuba, the utterly vnretched,
she who surpasses every man and the race of woman in
misery ? No one will bear away the crown from her.

Chorus. What is this, O thou wretched in thine ill-
omened cry ? for thy grievous tidings never rest.

28 • HECUBA. [662—689.

Att. I bear this grief for Hecuba. But in woe it is
not easy for mortals to speak words of good omen.

Chorus. And see, she chances to be passing out from
beneath the tent, and appears in good season for thy
tidings.

Att. O my mistress, wholly wretched, yea, even
more than I express, thou art undone — thou no longer
beholdest the light of heaven — childless, widowed,
homeless, utterly ruined.

Hec. Thou hast told me no new tale, but hast re-
proached those who know it. But wherefore hast thou
come, bringing hither this corpse of my Polyxena, whose
burial was announced to me as being actively advanced
by the hands of all the Acheeans ?

Att. She knows nothing, but i (making lamentation
to me for Polyxena, and touches not on her recent

woes

Hec. Woe is me, wretched ! it cannot be that thou
bringest hither the prophetic and inspired Cassandra ?

Att. Thou hast spoken of the living, but groanest
not for this one who is dead. But inspect the person of
this corpse, stripped of its coverings, and see whether it
will appear a prodigy to thee and contrary to thy
hopes.

Hec. Woe is me, I behold my son Polydorus dead,
whom the Thracian had to preserve for me in his halls.
I am utterly ruined, miserable one, and I now no longer
exist. O my child, my child, alas, alas ! I begin the
frenzied strain, having but now learned my miseries of
an avenging deity !

Att. What ! hast thou recognised the outrage of
thy son, O thou ill-fated one?

Hec. Incredible, incredible, strange, strange are the

689—714.] HECUBA. 29

things I behold ! One misery after another befalls me !
Never a day will ^ come upon me free &om groanings,
free from tears.

Chorus. Fearful, O thou wretched one, fearful are
the woes we suffer !

Hec. O my child, child of a wretched mother, by
what death didst thou die, by what mishap art thou
lying here ? by the hand of what man ?

Att. I know not : I chanced upon him on the strand
by the sea.

Hec. Oast ^ out on the smooth sand, or fallen a victim
by the bloodstained spear ?

Att. The ocean wave of the sea cast him forth.

Hec. Woe is me! Alas, I have discovered the
dream ^ the vision of mine eyes; the dark winged 7 phan-
tom hath escaped me not, the vision which I saw con-
cerning thee, my child, that thou wast no longer living
in the light of heaven !

Chorus. Who then slew him ? canst thou who art
versed in dreams 9 tell us?

Hec. 'Twas my friend, my guest friend, the Thracian
horseman, to whom his father secretly consigned him ?

Chorus. Woe is me ! what wilt thou say ? that by
sla3ning him he may keep the ^ treasure ?

Hec. Things unspeakable, that cannot be described,

* 690. afispa kiriffxriffu by the sea, or fallen, etc. 1 —

dfiepa n^ kiTKTx- P* > olBeTrort Att. On the smooth sand of

vravati fit &(ttb [j,^ SoKpveiv the sea an ocean wave cast him

Matth. — i. «., Never will forth,
any day see me cease from ? 704. fpdvfia, P.

groanings and tears. ^ 709. 6vup6<bpov. P. O

• 698. EK. iKpXriTov ij irk- thou who art skilled in dreams.
Oflfia ^oiviov dopig ; GEP. * 712. e^^^i. P. " might

kv ilfaudOtfi \tvpf irovrov keep."
fc.r.X. V,—ue,f Hec. Cast up

30 HECUBA. [714—742.

exceeding prodigies, unholy, not to be endured ! where
is the sacred obligation of hospitality ? O thou accursed
among men, how hast thou cut his flesh in pieces,
cleaving with iron blade the limbs of this my child, and
hast not pitied him.

Chorus. O hapless one, assuredly some god hath
rendered thee the most woeful of mortals, whoeyer he is
that presses hard upon thee. But henceforth let us be
silent, my friends, for I see advancing hither the person
of our lord Agamemnon.

AGAMEMNON.

Hecuba, why delayest thou to come, and hide thy
daughter beneath the tomb, on the same terms that
Talthybius announced to me, — that none of the Argives
should touch thy child ? We therefore let her be, and
do not lay hands on her; but thou art loitering, so
that I marvel at it. But I have come to send thee on
that 9ervice : for matters there have been well performed,
if aught of these deeds may be termed well. Ha !
what dead man of the Trojans in this, whom I see be-
fore the tents ? for that he is not one of the Argives, the
garments that enwrap his form announce to me.

Hec. [Aside.'] Thou wretched one!— for I mean
myself, when I say thou. O Hecuba, what shall I do ?
shall I fall before the knees of this Agamemnon, or bear
my ills in silence ?

Ag. Wherefore, turning thy back upon my face
wailest thou, and tellest me not what has been done ?
who! this man fc ?

Hec. {Astde."] But if, deeming me a slave and an
enemy, he should thrust me from his knees, I should but
add to my grief.

743—766.] HECUBA. 31

Ag. In sooth I am no prophet so as to find out the
way of thy counsels, without hearing them.

Hec. [Aside,"] Do I not calculate too much on the
hostility of this man*s disposition, when he is not hostile
to me?

Ag. If, indeed, thou desirest me to know nothing about
these matters, thou hast come to the same point as my-
self ; for neither do I desire to hear.

Hec. [Aside.] 1 cannot without this man's help
avenge my children. Why do I revolve these thoughts?
I must take courage, whether I succeed or not. Aga-
memnon, I supplicate thee by these thy knees, and by
thy beard and thy blest right hand.

Ag. Craving what boon ? 'Tis not to pass thy life in
freedom ? for that were easy for thee to obtain.

Hec. No, indeed ; but if I may avenge me on the
base, I am willing to be a slave all my life long.

Ag. And to succour thee in what, dost thou call
upon me ?

Hec. In none of those matters which thou conjec-
turest, O king. See'st thou this corpse, over which I
let fkll my tears ?

Ag. I see it : the sequel, however, I cannot perceive.

Hec. Him once I brought forth, and bore in my
womb.

Ag. And is this one of thy children, O wretched
one?

Hec. Not one of the sons of Priam who fell under the
walls of Troy.

Ag. Wliat, didst thou bring forth any other besides
them, O lady ?

Hec. Little to my profit, as it seems, this one whom
thou lookest on.

32 HECUBA. [767—784.

Ag, But where did he happen to be when the city
fell?

Hec. His father sent him away fearing lest he should
die.

Ag. To what spot, having separated him alone from
the rest of his children ?

Hec. To this land, even where he was found dead.

Ag. To the man who rules over this country, Poly-
mestor ?

Hec. Hither was he sent^ the guardian of treasure
most woeful to him.

Ag. But by whose hand did he die, and with what
fate met he ?

Hec. By the hands of whom else ? His friend the
Thracian slew him.

Ag. What a wretch ! he longed, as I suppose, to get
possession of the gold ?

Hec. Even so, after he had learned the fate of the
Phrygians.

A& But where didst thou find him, or who brought
the corpse hither ?

Hec. This woman, who found it on the sea shore.

Ag. Was she seeking for it, or engaged in some other
occupation ?

Hec. She had gone to fetch water from the sea to
wash the body of Polyxena.

Ag. His host, as it appears, having slain him cast
him forth.

Hec. Yea, tossed by the waves, having thus severed
bis body in twain.

Ag. O thou much suffering one, from thine immea-
surable woes !

Hec. I am imdone, and there is no evil yet left me, O
Agamemnon !

785 — 810.] HECUBA. 33

Ao. Alas, alas! what woman so unfortunate was
ever born.

. Hec. There is none such, save only if thou shouldst
name misfortune herself. But the causes for which I
fall before thy knees, hear them. If, on the one hand,
I appear to thee to suffer what is right, I will be con-
tent ; but if the contrary, do thou become my avenger
on this man, a most impious host, he who fearing
neither the gods below nor those above the earth hath
perpetrated a most unholy deed : he who often having
shared with me the same table, [and, in the list of
friendship, holding the first^ place among my friends ;
and having received all that was his due and taken
precaution']] has murdered my son, and, though he
chose to murder him, deemed him not worthy of a
tomb, but cast him forth into the sea. I am both a
slave, and perchance powerless: but the gods are
mighty, and the law which governs them : for by the
law we believe that there are gods, and we live under
well defined distinctions of right and wrong. And if
that law, when referred to thee, shall be corrupted, and
they shall not suffer punishment who murder their
guests or dare to bear off things sacred to the gods,
there is no longer any equity in the affairs of mortals.
Holding these things, then, in a disgraceful point of
view, have respect for my calamities, compassionate me;
and, like a painter standing at a distance, look on me
and narrowly observe what evils I am enduring, I was
once a queen, but am now thy slave : I was once happy
in my children, but am now an old woman, and at once

' 794. TTpwroc wv. P.— or, having experienced respect
** being the chief." from me,

' 796, Xapijv TTpofiriOiaVf

34 HECUBA. [811—838.

childless, homeless, desolate, the most wretched of mor-
tals. Woe is me, miserable! whither dost thou
stealthily withdraw thy foot from me?' Methinks I
shall fail of my suit, miserable that I am ! Why then
do we mortals toil after and search into all other sciences,
as is right, but Persuasion, the sole queen among men,
strive not to learn any more earnestly than the rest, by
paying a price? in which case it would be possible
sometimes to persuade men to what one desired and at
the same time to obtain one's wish. How then hence-
forth can any one hope to be prosperous ? My children
indeed, though they were so many, no longer live for
me, and I mys^f a captive in ignominy am going
hence, while I see the smoke there leaping up from
above my dity. And yet, perchance this part of my
speech is vain, the putting forward love as a plea : but
nevertheless it shall be spoken. By thy side sleeps my
daughter, the prophetess, whom Phrygians name Cas-
sandra. Where then wilt thou show those nights of
love, O king? or for her sweet caresses in thy bed,
shall my child have any favour at thy hands, and I for
her sake? [For 'tis from darkness, and the love-
chaims of night that by far the highest gratification is
created among mortals.^ Hear me then [now P.]| :
see'st Uiou this dead body ? By doing well towards
him, thou wilt do well to one allied to thee. My speech
lacks one thing yet. O that I had a voice in my arms
and hands and hair and footsteps, by the art of Dee'^

* 812. TTOi fi' vTTtKayeig approved hy Dindoffl The
voda ; " Sensus esse videtur : old grammarians would under-
Quo meum pedem subducis, stand KaTd at iroda ; but it
t. e,, quo me cogis te sequi V* — seems to us more applicable
P. But the translation in the to /i\
text is given by Pflagk, and

838—865.] HECUBA. 35

ddlus or of some one of the gods, that one and all might
cling to thy knees, wailing, urging upon thee every
form of language ! O my lord, O thou greatest light
of the Greeks, grant my request; stretch forth thine
avenging hand over this old woman, even though she is
nothing, yet stretch it forth. For 'tis the part of a
nohle man to be the minister of justice, and always in
every place to punish the wicked.

Chor. Strange it is, how all things befall mortals,
and how the laws have determined the bounds of neces-
fflty, both rendering those friends who were most at
enmity, and considering those who were before in friend-
ship as foes.

Ao. For thee and thy son and thy misfortunes, He-
cuba, and for thy hand stretched forth in supplication,
I have compassion; and I am desirous both for the
sake of the gods and for the sake of justice, that the
impious host should pay thee this penalty, if by any
means it might appear both that thou shouldst be satis-
fied, and I might not seem to the army to have plotted,
for the sake of Cassandra, this murder against the king
of Thrace. For here it is where^ confusion has come
upon me. This man the army considers as friendly to
them, but him who is dead as their foe ; and even if this
man is friendly to thee, this is a separate matter and not
participated in by the army. Wherefore take thought :
for thou hast me ready indeed to cooperate with thee
and swift to assist thee, but backward, if I shall be sus-
pected among the Acheeans.

Heo.* Alas ! there is no one of mortals who is free.
For either he is the slave of wealth or fortune ; or the

* 857. Or ttrriv j , Anglice, some how or other.

36 HECUBA. [865- 889.

majority of his countrymen or prescribed laws oblige
him to adopt manners not in accordance with his feel-
ings. But since thou art alarmed and considerest the
multitude overmuch, I will set thee free from this
cause of dread. For be thou indeed privy to it, what-
ever mischief I devise against him who slew this my
son, but join not with me in the performance. But if
any tumult or assistance should show itself on the part
of the Acheeans, while the Thracian is suffering what
he shall suffer, do thou restrain them, not seeming to do
so for my sake ; and as to the rest, fear not : I will
make all weU.

Ag. How so, then ? what ynli thou do ? wilt thou
take a sword in thine aged hand and slay the barbarian
wight, or wilt thou do it with poison, or by the aid of
what means ? What hand will be with thee ? whence
wilt thou get thee friends ?

Hec. These tents envelope a multitude of Trojan
women.

Ag. The captives thou meanest, the spoil of the
Greeks ?

Hec. With the aid of these I will avenge me on my
murderer.

Ag. And how shall women possess the strength of
men ?

Hec. Their numbers are formidable, and, with craft,
hard to contend against.

Ag. Formidable indeed. The female sex, however, I
hold in little esteem.

Hec. Why so ? were they not women who slew the
sons of ^gyptus, and unpeopled Lemnos utterly of
males ? But thus let it be ; let this argument, indeed,
pass : do thou have this woman escourted safely through

889—921.] HECUBA. 37

the host. And do thou, drawing near to the Thracian
stranger, say, ^' She who was once the queen of Ilium,
Hecuha, sends for thee, for thine own advantage no less
than hers thee and thy children; for it is necessary
that thy children also have knowledge of the words she
will speak." And do thou, Agamemnon, put off the
burial of the newly slain Polyxena, that these two,
brother and sister, the divided care of their mother, may
side by side with one funeral fire be hidden beneath the
earth.

Ag. So shall it be. For even if it were possible for
the armament to sail, I could not have refrained from
granting thee this boon; but as it is, since the Gods
send not favourable gales, we must remain perforce,
looking for a quiet voyage. But, in some way or other,
may it turn out well : for this is the common interest
of all, both privately to the individual, and to the state
likewise, that the evil man on the one hand should
suffer some evil, but that the good should prosper.

Chorus. Thou indeed, O my native land of Ilium,
shalt no longer be called a city of those that are
unravaged : such a cloud of Greeks now envelopes thee
round about, having laid thee waste with the spear, with
the spear. And thou hast been shorn of thy coronet of
towers, and hast been defiled with a most piteous pollu-
tion of thick smoke, wretched that thou art ; no longer
shall I tread thy streets. 'Twas in the depth of night
I perished, when after feasting, sweet sleep is spread
over the eyes, and when from songs and sacrifices
causing the dance my husband resting ^ lay calmly in
his bed chamber, and his dart hung upon the nail ; not

^ 917. KarairavtraQ, The signification is anon^alous.
use of the act. in an intransitive

38 HECUBA. [921—958.

now expecting a naval host would mount the walls of
Ilium, But I was arranging my braids with the bands
that tied up my hair, looking into the golden mirror's
countless rays, that I might go to my couch.^ But
there came a din throughout the city ; and this was the
cry of exhortation through the citadel of Troy : " Sons
of the Greeks, when then, when, having laid waste the
watchtower of Ilium will ye return home?" But
having quitted my dear bed, in a single robe like some
Doric maiden, sitting a suppliant before revered Artemis
yet I profited nothing, wretch that I am ! But after
beholding my husband slain, I am borne away over the
ocean surge ; and looking back upon my city, now that
the ship had commenced its homeward voyage, and
separated me from the land of Ilium, wretch that I am,
I sink under my grief ; devoting to curses Helen the
sister of the twin sons of Jove, and the Ideean shepherd
Paris the author of ill ; since marriage, which was no
marriage, but some woe wrought by an avenging fiend,
hath utterly destroyed me, and hath banished me from
my home. But never may the ocean wave conduct her
back again ; never may she arrive at the house of her
fathers !

POLYMESTOR.

O Priam, fondest of men, and thou, Hecuba, best-
beloved, I shed tears when I behold both thy city, and
thy daughter who has so lately fallen. Alas ! there is no-
thing on which we may rely, no assurance that the
man who is prosperous will not meet with calamity ;

^ 927 J kirtdEfiviog, "lege xafiaiTrEriycTtTrreiTrpocow^ac*

iTTidsfivioVf et verte, torum ves- Dind. Liddell and Scott seem

tibus stratum." P. Buta simi- to favour Porson^s reading,
lar tautology occurs, Bacch. 11,

958—988.] HECUBA. 39

but the Gods mingle them up together to and fro, bring-
ing in confusion, that in our ignorance we may worship
them. But why need I utter these complaints, not
advancing to the evils before us ? But if tliou findest
any fault because of my absence, forbear : for I chanced
to be away in the heart of Thrace when thou earnest
hither : but when I came home, straightway as I was
setting my foot out of my palace, this thine attendant
falls in with me, bearing thy message, on hearing which
I have come to thee.

Hec. I blush to look thee in the face Polymestor,
being plunged in such calamities. For with one by
whom I have been seen in my prosperity, shame haunts
me at being in this plight, in which I now am, and I
could not look upon thee with unaverted eyes. But
deem not this illwill towards thee, Polymestor; for
custom else is in some degree my excuse, that women
should not stare men in the face.

PoLYM. Aye, and 'tis no wonder. But what need
hast thou of me ? on what errand hast thou summoned
my foot forth from my home ?

Hec. I wish to communicate a certain secret of my
own to thee and to thy children. But bid thine at-
tendants stand apart from these tents.

PoLYM. Begone : for this lonely spot is safe. Thou
indeed art a friend, and this army of Acheeans is
friendly towards me : but thou must signify to me
what assistance he who is prosperous must afford to his
friends who are in adversity ; as I for my part am ready.

Hec. First tell me of my son Polydorus, whom
being received from my hands and from his father's,
thou hast in thy palace, — is he yet alive ? and the rest
I will ask thee in the second place.

ttO HECUBA, [089 — 1003.

PoLYM. Assuredly he is ; so far as he is concerned,
thou art fortunate.

Hec. O most fond one, how well thou speakest, and
how worthily of thyself !

PoLYM. What then is the second thing thou desirest
to learn of me ?

Hec. "Whether he still has any recollection of me his
mother ?

PoLYM. Aye; he even sought to come hither to
thee secretly.

Hec. And is the gold safe which he had when he
went from Troy ?

PoLYM. It is safe — at least it is guarded in my
palace.

Hec. Preserve it then, and covet not thy neighbour's
goods.

PoLYM. By no means. May I be content with
what I have, O lady.

Hec. Know'st thou then what I wish to say to thee
and thy children ?

PbLYM. I know not ; thou must signify this in thine
own words.

Hec. May he (t. e, my son) be loved,^ even as now
thou art beloved by me.

PoLYM. What matter is it, which I and my children
are to know ?

Hec. The ancient caverns that hide the treasures of
the house of Priam.

PoLYM. Is it this that thou desirest me to communi-
cate to thy son ?

^ 1000. ItJTia 0iX}}dciCi scri- It is, O tbou beloved, as now
bendum cum Hermunno tar*, thou arc, etc.)
<tf 0(X}}def( K.r.X. DiNO. (i, e..

1004—1022. HECUBA. 41

Hec. Most assuredly, and at any rate through thee ;
for thou art a pious man.

PoLYM, What need then of the presence of these
children.

Hec. 'Twere better, if thou die, that these should
know it.

PoLYM. Thou hast spoken well in this matter, and
more wisely than myself.

Hec. Know'st thou then where the temple of Ilian
Minerva stands ?

PoLYM. Is the gold there ? But what is the token ?

Hec. a black stone rising above the ground.

PoLYM. Dost thou desire to signify anything further
to me, of what is there ?

Hec. I wish thee only to preserve the treasures with
which I came forth from the city.

PoLYM. Pray, where are they ? Hast thou them in
concealment under thy robes ?

Hec. They are preserved within these tents, among a
heap of spoils.

PoLYM. Where sayest thou? These are the naval
fences of the Achseans.

Hec. The apartments of the captive females are
private,

PoLYM. But is all right within, and free from the
presence of males ?

Hec. There are none of the Acheeans within, but
we women only. But go thou within the tents ; for
the Argives are anxious to loosen the cables that detain
their ships, in homeward course from Troy : so that,
having effected all that is requisite for thee to do, thou
mayest return with thy children thither where thou liast
planted my son.

42 HECUBA. [1022—1044.

Chorus. Not yet hast thou suffered, yet perchance
thou wilt suffer retrihution, as one falling athwart into
the sea which offers no place of safety is deprived® of
his loved soul, losing his life. 9 For where ^ it occurs
to the same person to be obnoxious to human justice
and divine vengeance, deadly, deadly is the evil. Thine
expectation concerning this errand will deceive thee, the
expectation which hath led thee on to deathbearing
Hades, O thou wretched one ! and by a hand unused to
war thou shalt quit thy life.

PoLYM. O me ! I am deprived of the light of mine
eyes, wretch that I am.

Chorus. Heard ye the wail of the Thracian, my
friends ?

PoLYM. Alas ! again alas ! my children, what dread-
ful slaughter !

Chorus. My friends, strange deeds of woe have been
perpetrated within the tents.

PoLYM. But never shall ye escape me with your
nimble foot ; for with blows I will, break open the
recesses of these abodes.

Chorus. Hark, the blow of his heavy hand is urged
impetuously ! will ye that we rush in ? for the crisis calls
upon us to be present as a succour to Hecuba and the
Trojan dames.

HECUBA.

Strike on, spare not at all, breaking open the gates :

' 1026. itcwktryf e consue- prived another (so. Poljdorus)

tudine Homerica dictum est. of his life. — Scuolef.

Vid. Matih. Gr. Gram., § 521, » 1030. ov, P. "Scriben-

not. 3. But Dindorf prefers dum ov [sense of oTrov, Mus-

kKTrefry^kKirecH, which is to be grave] commate poet ^vfiiriTvei

referred to Polymestor — t. e., posito." Dind. Onthisautho-

ihalt thmi be deprived off etc. rity, oif being unintelligible, ov

' 1027. dfispaaQ, or, (after has been adopted in the trans-

tbe translation which Dindorf lation.
^prefers, Transl.) having de-

1045—1074.] HECITBA. 43

for neyer shalt thou set the bright organ of sight in
thine eyeballs, nor ever behold aliye, thy children whom
I have slain.

Chorus. Hast thou really then destroyed the Thra-
cian, and gained the mastery over the stranger, my
mistress? and hast thou achieved such deeds as thou
sayest ?

Hec, Thou wilt behold him straightway before the
tents, blind, advancing vrith dark staggering step ; and
the bodies of his two children, whom I have slain, with
the aid of the bravest of the Trojan dames : and
he has paid me the penalty. But hither he comes, as
thou seest, forth from the tents. But I will begone
from his path, and retire from before the boilmg wrath
of this Thracian most fierce in conflict.

POLTMESTOR.

Woe is me ! where can I set my foot, where stand ?
where shall I go, moving with the step of a fourfooted
beast of the mountains on my hands along their footprint?
what way shall I turn, this or that, longing to clutch the
murderous women of Ilium, who have utterly destroyed
me ? O ye wretches, ye wretches, daughters of Phry-
gians, O ye accursed ones ! Into what lurking places
do they crouch from me in flight? Oh that thou
wouldst heal, O sun, wouldst heal my gory orb of
vision, ridding me of this dreary blindness*. Ah!
Ah! — Hist, Hist! I hear the hidden step of wo-
men ! How might I springing forth glut myself
on their flesh and bones, making the meal of savage
beasts, earning myself shame, a recompense for the
outrage I have suffered ? O wretch that I am ! whither,

' 1068. TV<J>\bv 0£yyoc. cf. Med. 993. dXkOpiov fiiordv.

U HECUBA. f 1074— 1108.

how am I borne along, leaving my children deserted for
these bacchanals of hell to rend in pieces, and as a
savage prey slain for hounds to devour, and to be cast
out on the wild mountains? Where can I stand,
where set my foot, where shall I rest P I who, like a
bark furling its linen woven sail with sea dipt cables,
have rushed, the guardian of my children, into this
lair of death ?

Chorus. O wretched one, what intolerable woes have
been inflicted upon thee ! But for him who hath done
shameful deeds the God hath decreed fearful retribu-
tion, whoever it is that oppresses thee.

PoLYM. Woe, woe! Hither, ye tribes of Thrace,
wielding the spear, equipped * in arms, riders of gallant
steeds, servants of Mars ! Help, ye Acheeans ! Help,
ye sons of Atreus ! For succour, succour, I cry aloud,
for succour ! Oh hither come,* in the name of heaven !
Does any hear, or will no one aid me ? Why do ye
delay ? Women have destroyed ^me, captive women.
Dreadful, dreadful things have I suffered ! Woe is
me for my shame! Whither can I betake myself?
Whither can I go ? Flying aloft into the ether of
heaven shall I betake myself to the divine abodes where
Orion or Sirius dart forth from their eyes flaming beams
of fire ? or shall I speed to the gloomy ferry of Hades,
wretch that I am ?

Choi^us. Tis pardonable, when one has met with
evils too great to bear, for him to quit a wretched
existence.

3 1079. ira Ka/iyj/u) ira pw. P. ^ 1093. w tr£- It* Ire. P«

* 1089. ivoirXov evoirXov.
P. well equipped.

1109—1131.] HECUBA. 45

AGAMEMNON.

Hearing an outcry, I am come hither : for with no
gentle voice has Echo, daughter of the mountain crag,
spoken throughout the army, producing uproar. And
had we not known that the towers of the Phrygians
had fallen before the spear of the Greeks, this din would
have caused alarm in no slight degree.

PoLYM. O dearest of men, for I recognised thee,
Agamemnon, when I heard thy yoice, seest thou what
sufferings I endure?

AoAM. Ha ! miserable Polymestor, who hath de-
stroyed thee ? Who hath deprived thine eye of sight,
suffusing thine eyeballs with blood ? and who hath slain
these thy children ? Assuredly great indignation must
he have had against thee and thy children, whoever
he was.

PoLYM. 'Tis Hecuba, who with captive women has
ruined — not ruined, but more than ruined me.

Agam. What sayest thou? Hast thou done this
deed, as he says ? Hast thou, Hecuba, dared this in-
conceivable act of boldness ?

PoLYM. O me, what wilt thou say ? Is she, then,
somewhere near me ? Show me, tell me where she is,
that clutching her in my hands I may rend her asunder,
and mangle her flesh.

Agam. Ho there, what dost thou ?

PoLYM. By the gods I entreat thee, let me lay my
frantic hand upon her.

Agam. Hold !' And when thou hast cast out thy
barbarian temper from thy heart, speak; that having
heard both from thee and her in turn the reason why
thou sufferest this, I may decide with justice.

46 HECUBA. [1132—1159.

PoLYM. I will speak. There was one of the sons of
Priam, the youngest, Polydorus, a son of Hecuba,
whom his father Priam commits to me from Troy, to
bring up in my house, having then some suspicion^ of
the capture of Troy. Him I slew : and the reason why
I slew him, now hear ; how prudently I did it and with
what careful forethought. I feared lest this son, being
left a foe to thee, should gather the Trojans together,
and join in repeopling Troy : and that the Acheeans,
having found that one of the house of Priam was aUve,
should again ^ make an expedition against the land of
the Phrygians, and should then harass these Thracian
plains and drive off the plunder ; and evil should come
upon the neighbours of the Trojans, the evil under which,
O king, we are now labouring. But Hecuba, when
she learned the fatal end of her son, brought me hither
vrith some pretext like this, that she would tell me of
the hidden treasuries of gold belonging to the house of
Priam, in Ilium : and she introduces me alone with my
children into the tent, that no one else might know
these secrets. And I seat myself on the centre of a
couch, bending my knees ; and there were sitting there
many damsels of the Trojans, some on my left hand
and some on my right, as if forsooth beside a friend ;
holding in their hands a loom of Edonian workmanship,
and were praising it, inspecting these garments at the
light : but others, viewing the shaft of my Thracian
javelin, deprived me of a twofold attire. And as many
as had been mothers were tossing my children in their
arms as if greatly admiring them, so that they might be
far from their father, changing them about from hand

* 1135. Uttotttoc active. Por- ' 1141. ajoeiai/* alpouv. P.

son.

1159—1189.] HECUBA. 47

to hand ; and then, after words of wondrous gentle-
ness — how thinkest thou ? suddenly grasping swords
from somewhere beneath their robes, they stab my chil-
dren ; while others, just like enemies, seizing my hands
and limbs held me ; and when I desired to succour my
children, if indeed I strove to raise my face, they held me
down by the hair ; or if to move my hands, from the mul-
titude of women I wretched was powerless. But at last,
a woe full of woe, they perpetrated most horrid deeds :
for having taken their buckles they pierce, they mangle the
balls of mine eyes ; then through the tents they escaped
in flight ; and I springing forth like a wild beast, pursue
the murderous hounds, examining every wall, like a
huntsman, striking, beating down. Such treatment
have I suffered, while striving to promote thy interests,
and for having slain thy enemy, Agamemnon. But
that I may not prolong my speech, if any one in time
past has spoken ill of women, or if there be any one now
so speaking, or shall be so hereafter, all this I will express
in a few words : neither sea nor land produces such a
race of creatures ; and every man that meets them
knows it.

Chorus. Speak not so proudly, nor, connecting the
female sex with thine own evils, thus abuse them all ;
for most of us are indeed praiseworthy, ^ but some are
in the number of the vicious.

Hec. Agamemnon, with men never ought their
tongue to have greater force than their deeds ; but if a
man has done virtuous actions, virtuous ought his argu-

^ 1185. iiri(f>9ovoi» The is by no means the sense of

scholiasts explain this word to kiritpOovoi, which means *'ob-

mean ^riXwTal, iiraivtrai ; noxious to envy." This and

which is the sense obviously the following line are considered

required by the passage, but spurious by Dindorf.

48 flECUBA. [1189— 1217»

ments to be, and if on the other hand vicious actions,
then should his reasons be unsound, and never should
he have the power of defending unjust deeds by fair
v^ords. Clever are they, however, who are well versed
in these arts, though they cannot continue clever to
the last, but miserably have they perished ; none hath
hitherto escaped. And so far in my prelude is what
concerns thee, Agamemnon : but against this man I
will proceed, and with arguments I will answer his —
thou who sayest that, in releasing the Achaeans from
redoubled toil, and for the sake of Agamemnon, thou
hast slain my son. But, thou vilest of men, in the first
place never can the barbarian race be friendly to the
Greeks, no, never can this be : and again, seeking what
favour wast thou so zealous ? Was it to contract alli-
ance with one of them, or that thou wert of kindred
blood, or with what pretext ? Or were they likely to
cut down the produce of thy land, making a second
voyage ? Whom dost thou think to persuade to this ?
'Twas the gold, if thou wouldst speak the truth, that
slew my son, and thy greediness for gain. For inform
me of this : how was it when Troy prospered, and her
towers yet held the city round about, and Priam was
alive, and the spear of Hector flourished, why didst
thou not then, since as thou sayest thou wast desirous
to confer a favour on this man, while thou wast bringing
up my child, and hadst him in thy palace, why didst
thou not slay him, or come and drag him alive to the
Argives ? But when we were no longer in the light of
fortune, and our citadel announced [was announcing P.]
by its smoke that it was in the hands of our enemies,
then didst thou slay a guest who had come to thy
hearth. In addition to this then, hear how base thou

1217—1245.] HECUBA. 49

slialt appear. Thou wast bound, if thou wast a friend
to the Achceans, to have brought the gold which thou
confessest that thou hast, not thine own but this inan's^
and to have given it to men in need and for a long time
banished from their fatherland. But thou hast not even
up to this time the courage to release it from tliy hand,
but continuest still to hold it in thy palace. And yet
by nurturing my son; as thou wast bound to nurture
him, and by preserving him, thou wouldst have gained
fair honour : for in adversity are those friends who are
good most clearly seen ; but prosperity itself, in each
case, has its own frieYids. And if thou wert in want of
money, and ho had been prosperous, my son would have
been to thee for a mighty treasure: but now neither
hast thou that man for a friend to thee, and the profit
of the gold is gone, and thy children too, and thou thy-
self farest thus. But to thee, Agamemnon, I say, if
thou shalt succour this man, thou wilt appear base.
For thou wilt do well by a stranger who is neither pious
nor faithful to those to whom he should have been so,
who is not holy, who is not just. But thyself I will
bid enjoy thy miseries, being such as thou art ; but my
lord I revile not.

Chorus. Alas, alas ! How do good deeds ever give to
mortals an occasion for good arguments.

Agam. 'Tis grievous indeed for me to decide upon
the evils of others : but nevertheless it is compulsory
on me : for it even involves disgrace for me, having
taken this business in hand, now to reject it. To me
then, that thou mayest know, thou appearest to have
murdered one who was thy guest not for my sake,
much less for the sake of the Achaeans ; but that thou
mightst keep the treasure in thine own house. But

F

50 HSCUBA* ([1246—1263.

thou sajest things to suit thy purpose, bebg in misfcMr-
tune. It may be, then, among yon an easy matter to
murder one s gnest : but among ns Greeks at least this
is a foul crime. How then, if I decide that thon art not
in the wrong, may I avoid blame ? I conld not do so.
Bat since thon hast dared to do what is not right,
endnre at the same time what is not pleasant.

PoLTM. Woe is me ! vanquished, as it seems, by a
female slave; I shall have to give account to my
inferiors.

Hec. 9 Wilt thou not do so justly, seeing thou hast
done evil deeds ?

PoLYM. Woe is me for these children, and for mine
eyes, wretch that I am !

Hec. ^Thou grievest: what, deemest tliou that I
grieve not for my child ?

PoLYM. Thou rejoicest in insulting over me, O thou
worker of all wickedness !

Hec, What, ought I not to rejoice at having avenged
myself upon thee ?

PoLYM. But not so, perchance, when the wave of the
sea shall

Hec. Didst thou say, shall bear me on shipboard to
the coasts of Greece ?

PoLYM. Nay, but shall overwhelm thee, fallen from
the masthead of the ship.

Hec. At whose hands meeting with this compulsory
fall?

PoLYM. Thyself on thy feet, shalt climb up the mast
of the ship.

* 1284. Thii speech is attri- ^ftdg ; K.r.\. P. — uc distin-

buted to Agamemnon bj P. guendum. Dind. — t. e., Bat

■ r» d*, r/fuiQ K.r*X. ri i' • what of me? deemest thoa, etc.

1264—1278.] HECUBA. 51

Hec. With wings on my back, or by what means ?
PoLYM. Thou will become a hound with eyes of fire.
Hec. And how knowest thou the change of my
form ?

PoLTM. The Thracian prophet, Dionysus,* declared
these things.

Hec. But did he not reveal to thee any of the evils
which thou sufferest ?

PoLYM. Nay, for then never shouldst thou have en-
trapped me thus with treachery.

Hec. And shall I fulfil my fate there' alive, or
dead?

PoLYM, Dead, and the name of thy tomb shall
be

Hec. Called after my form, or what,^ wilt thou
say?

PoLYM. The monument of the illfated hound, a sign
to mariners.

Hec. Little care I, now at least that thou hast given
me satisfaction.

PoLYM. Aye, and it is fated that thy child Cassandra
die.

Hec. I spurn the omen: I resign it for thyself to
suffer.

PoLYM. This man's wife will slay her, a bitter
guardian of his house.

Hec. Never may the daughter of Tjmdarus become so
frantic.

a 1267. cf. Herod, vii. 3. * 1272. fj ri. ^ n. P.

' 1270. kvOdd* — in mari. i. e., Can it be that thou wilt

ibid. — piov, Absurdum est say some name conunemoratiDg

Ptbv post 9avov(T* rj l^SKia die- my form 1
turn — corrigendum iroTftoy.

DlND.

52 HECUBA. [1279—1295.

PoLYM. Aye, and this man too raising an axe high
over him.

Agam. Ho there ! art thou mad, and desirous of meet-
ing with some mischief ?

PoLYM. Slay me; for in Argos a bath of blood
awaits thee.

Agam. Will ye not drag him, ye slaves, out of our
way by force ?

PoLYM. Art thou pained [thou art pained. P.] at
hearing it ?

Agam. Will ye not stop his mouth ?

PoLYM. Gag it ; for the word is spoken ?

Agam. Will ye not with all speed cast him out into
some desert island, since he is thus over-bold of speech ?
But do thou, Hecuba, O thou wretched one, go and
bury the two corpses. But ye, O Trojan women, must
draw near to the tents of your lords : for now I per-
ceive here the breezes that will speed us home. And
may we have a happy voyage to our fatherland, and
behold all prospering in our homes, being released from
these toils.

Chorus. Begone to the harbour and to the tents, my
friends, ye who are about to experience the hardships of
a master s rule ; for inflexible is necessity.

MEDEA.

DRAMATIS PERSON-aE.

NURSB.

Pjbdagogus.

Medea.

Chorus of Female Citizens.

Creon.

Jason.

iBGETTS.

Messenger.
Children of Medea.

The Nurse speaks the Prologue.

ARGUMENT.

Jason having arrived at Corinth and bringing Medea with him,
plighU his troth to Glauce the daughter of Creon, king of the
Corinthians. Medea, then, being on the point of being exiled
from Corinth by Creon, entreats that she may abide yet one day :
and obtaining her request, in requital of the favor, she sends to
Glauce by the hands of her children the present of a robe and a
chaplet of gold ; by wearing which she loses her life, and Creon,
by embracing his daughter, dies likewise. Then Medea, having
slain her own children, ascends a chariot of winged serpents,
which she had received from the Sun, and flies to Athens, where
she marries ^geus the son of Pandion. But Fherecydes and
Simonides say that Medea restored Jason to youth by boiling him
up anew. And concerning his father ^son, the Poet who wrote
the " Returns from Troy" speaks thus —

But straightway she made the beloved JEaoa a blooming youth,
having stripped oflf from him old age by the wisdom of her under-
standing, boiling many drugs in cauldrons " of gold."

And ^schylus in the «* Nurses of Dionysus" recounts how she
restored to youth the nurses of Dionysus also, with their hus-
bands, by boiling them anew. And Staphylus says that Jason
was, after a sort, killed by Medea : for that she bade him sleep
under the stem of the Argo, when the ship was on the point of
falling to pieces from age ; at any rate, that Jason died in conse-
quence of the stern failing upon him.

[Euripides] appears to have stolen this drama, by remodelling
the tragedy of Neophron, as both Dicaearchus says, in his ** Life

4 ABGVHENT OF THE DRAMA.

of Hellas" and Aristotle ia his " Memoirs." Bat thej blame
him for not having preserred the acting in the character of Medea,
but making her burst into tears, when she was plotting against
Jason and his wife. But the introduction is praised for express-
ing intense emotion, and the continuation — " Would that in the
woods of Pelion*' and what follows. And it is from ignorance of
this that Timachidas sajs he has put the cart before the horse : as
likewise has Homer, Od. r. 264, —

" Having arrajed him in fragrant garments, and washed him
in the bath."

ANOTHER ABGUMEXT,

BT ARISTOPHAICES THE GRAMMARIAN.

Medea, from her hatred to Jason, in consequence of his having
married Glauce the daughter of Creon, slew Glauoe and Creoo
and her own sons, and then deserted Jason, going to live with
iEgeus. The subject of the Drama is found in neither of the other
Tragedians. The scene of the Drama is supposed to be in Corinth,
and the Chorus consists of female citizens. It was biought out
in the archonship of Pythodorus, in the 87th Oljrmpiad, BC. 432.
Euphorion was first, Sophocles second, Euripides third. [The
plajs of Euripides were] the Medea, the Philoctetes, the Dictjs,
and the Reapers^ a satiric drama. This (last) is not preserved.

MEDEA.

1—21.]

Nurse. Oh that the bark of Argo had never sped
her way to the Colchian's land, the dark Symple-
gades ! Oh that in the woods of Pelion the cloven
pine had never fallen, nor compelled to the oar the hands
of men most valiant, who went on Pelias* errand for the
all golden fleece. For then my mistress Medea would
not have sailed to the towers of the land of lolcos,
smitten to the soul with love for Jason : nor would she,
having prevailed on the damsels, daughters of Pelias, to
slay their sire, have become a dweller in this land of
Corinth with her husband and her children ; striving to
please, by her exile, the citizens of the land whither she
has come, and herself in all matters conforming to
the will of Jason, — which is the greatest preservative of
happiness, when a wife is not at enmity with her hus-
band. But now all things are at variance, and the
dearest ties are shaken : for Jason, after deserting his
own children and my mistress, is lulled to rest in royal
nuptials, having taken to wife the daughter of Creon,
who rules the land. And Medea, the wretched one, in
her dishonour calls aloud upon his oaths, and recalls that

6 MEDEA. [^21 53.

mightiest pledge, the pledge of his right hand, and sum-
mons the gods to witness what a return she receives from
Jason. She lies too without sustenance, submitting her
body to suffering, wasting away in tears the livelong
time, ever since she has felt that she is dishonoured by
her husband; neither raising her eyes nor lifting her
visage from the ground : but like some rock or an ocean
wave does she hearken when admonished by her friends,
save only if at times turning her fair neck she bewails to
herself her loved sire and her native land and that home,
forsaking which she has arrived hither with a husband
who now holds her in dishonour. And she, the wretched
one, hath learned by misfortune, what it is not to be de-
prived of one's fatherland. She hates her children nor
is she gladdened at the sight of them ; and I fear her,
lest she devise something strange; for stem is her
spirit, nor will she brook to be treated ill. I know her
and I fear her, that she will thrust a sharpened sword
through her heart,* or even slay the prince and the bride-
groom, and then incur herself some woe greater than all:
for she is a fearful woman : not easily in sooth will one
who joins with her in strife sing the song of victory.
But hither are her children advancing, having ceased
from their sport, with no thought of the woes of their
mother, for the mind of the young is not wont to
grieve.

P^DAGOGUS. O aged bondslave of the house of my
mistress, wherefore in this solitude standest thou before
the gates, muttering to thyself woeful words ? how is it
that Medea endures to be left apart from thee ?

Nurse. O aged attendant on the children of Jason,

* After line 40, followed halls where the marriage bed
** having entered in silence the is made/'

53 78.] MEDEA. 7

■with faithful slaves the fortunes of their lords, falling out
evilly, touch their very hearts ; for I have arrived at
that pitch of wretchedness that a longing has crept over
me to come forth hither, and tell to earth and heaven the
fortunes of my mistress.

Pjed. What? doth not the v^retched woman yet
cease from her wailings ?

Nurse. I wonder at your simplicity. Her suffering
is but in its commencement and has not yet reached
its height.

PiED, O foolish woman ! if we may so speak of
our lords; for she knows nothing of her later cala-
mities !

Nurse. But what is this, old man ? grudge not to
impart it.

P-ED. 'Tis nothing : I regret even what has been
said already.

Nurse. Nay, by thy beard, hide it not from thy fel-
lowservant ; for if it be needful, I will keep silence on
these matters.

PiED. I heard some one saying, (not seeming myself
to hear,) as I approached the place where draughts were
played, there where the elders sit, around the hallowed
waters of Peirene; how Creon the prince of the land
' purposed to drive forth from Corinthian ground these
children with their mother. This tale, however, whether
it be certain I know not : but I could wish that this
were not true.

Nurse. And will Jason brook that his children
suffer this, even if he be at variance with their mother ?

PiED. Old ties are abandoned for the new, and he is
no longer a friend to this house.

Nurse. We are ruined then if we are to add a new

8 MEDEA. [78 — 105.

woe to the old, before we have yet drained this to the
dregs.

Tmd. But do you then, inasmuch as it is not a fitting
season for your mistress to learn these matters, do you
be still, and keep silence on this rumour.

Nurse. O my children, hear ye what a father is yours
to you ? Perish indeed — may he not : for he is my
lord : but he stands convicted an evil doer to those who
love him.

PiED. And which of mortals is not ? Is it but now
that thou leamest this, that each one loveth himself
better than his neighbour, some indeed justly, and others
for profit' sake, since by reason of his marriage their
father loves not these children ?

Nurse. Go in, for it shall be well, go ye within the
house, my children. And do thou by all means keep
these children separate from her, nor let them draw near
to their dark-souled mother : for ere now have I seen
her lowering upon them as though she meditated some
deed : nor will she cease from her wrath, I know it well,
ere it fall on some one. However to her enemies, not to
her friends, may she do it, whatever it be.

Medea (within).

Illfated that I am, and wretched by reason of suf-
fering ! woe, woe for me, would I might perish !

Nurse. This is the very thing, my dear children !
your mother stirs up her heart and stirs up her wrath.
Hasten with greater speed within the house, and come
not within her gaze, neither approach her, but beware
of her fierce temper and the hateful nature of her haughty
soul. Go ye now, hasten with all speed within. For

105—131] MEDEA. »

it is evident that quickly she will again excite " with
greater violence the cloud of her wailings. Whatever
will she (ylnrxjfl^'MedesL) do, high-spirited, hardly to be
restrained, when bitten by the tooth of evil ?

Medea. Alas, alas ! I have suffered, much enduring,
I have suffered things worthy of mighty lamentations,

ye accursed children of a hateful mother, may ye
perish, with your sire, and may all his house come to
nought !

Nurse. Ah me ! ah me full of suffering ! But why,
as thou deemest (coi) should thy children share their
father's crime ? Alas, my children, how excessively do

1 grieve, lest ye suffer somewhat! Fearful are the
tempers of princes, and, so it is (vios), having little con-
trol but great power, hardly do they relinquish their
anger. For to be accustomed to live in a state of me-
diocrity is a preferable lot : be it mine ' then to pass
my declining years, if not in grandeur, at least in se-
curity. For of the middle order of life, in the first place
victory abides in the very utterance of its name, * and
in its use is far the best for mankind ; but excess carries
with it no advantage to mortals ; and when the deity
is incensed, it brings greater curses upon &milies.

Chorus.
I heard a voice, I heard the cry of the wretched

* 107. Vide Elmsl. ad loc. — Kindling its wreaths long dark

bat according to Matthias § and low

496. 4. dpa\pti is to be taken To one broad gleam of ruddy

passive, with vstbog for nom. glow,
case.— cf. Lady of the Lake.

Then Roderick from the Doug- ' 126. Herod, iii. 80.

las broke * 127. Elms, ad loc.
As flashes flame thro* sable

smoke,

10 MEDEA. [131—163.

Colchian dame, nor is she yet appeased. But tell us,
aged dame, what this is : for as I stood by the hall with
its double portals, I heard a wailing within : nor am I
pleased, old woman, at the woes of this house, for^ it
has been rendered dear to me.

Nurse. This house exists no longer : these things
are already vanished. For a royal nuptial bed receives
him, and she, my mistress, is wasting away her life
in her chamber, in no way consoled at heart by the
converse of any of her friends.

Medea. Alas ! Oh that the fire of heaven would pass
thro' my temples ! For why is it any longer gain for
me to live on ? Woe ! woe ! oh that I might rest in
death, forsaking a hateful existence !

Chorus. Didst thou hear O Jove and Earth and
Light, what a song of wailing the wretclied wife pours
forth ? Why, prithee, should the desire of thine ^ in-
satiate couch, O thou foolish one, hasten the end of
thy life ? Pray not for that. But if thy husband ad-
mires a new marriage-bed, be not thou enraged at him
for this: in this matter Jove will be thine advocate.
Pine not away so grievously, bewailing the partner
of thy bed.

Medea. O mighty Themis and thou revered Diana,
behold ye the wrongs I suffer, I who with mighty oaths
bound my accursed husband ? May I one day behold

* 137. P. fw) 0i\ia KSKpavraif • 150. t&q aTrX^orov KoiraQ

deeds have been doue wbich I ipoc^ ^ors. *' his insatiate desire

love not. Elmsl. jioi 0t\ta ks- of this marriage. But Elmsl.

Kpavrai friendship has been cfTrXaarov for airXarov,- "'

broaglit aboat — in both cases dowed. "The desire of thy
xUpavrai for KSKparai from widowed couch, =rd)/dv^|t)ov.
Kpaivia. Fors. Kexparai from
jetpdyvvfiit has been contracted.

163—197.] MEDEA. 11

him and his bride crushed in pieces, they and their home !
for they dare first to do me wrong. O my father, O my
country, whom I shamelessly deserted having slain my
brother !

Nurse. Hear ye what words she utters ? how she
calls on Themis, invoked in special prayer, and Jove,
who is deemed the ruler of oaths among mortals ? It
cannot be in any little time that my mistress will lull
her wrath to rest.

Chorus. Would that she would come into our sight
and hear the sound of the words we utter, if so she
might remit her sullen anger and the temper of her mind.
Never, in sooth, let zeal on my part at least be lacking
to my friends. But go thou, and conduct her hither
without the house, and tell her these words of 7 friend-
ship : and be quick, before she do any harm to those
within : for this grief of hers hurries on with impetuous
Tiolence.

Nurse. I will do so : but I fear that I shall not
persuade my mistress : yet I will grant you this boon of
trouble. ® Although she looks fiercely on her slaves with
the scowl of a lioness that has just brought forth, when-
ever any one approaches near her, offering to address
her. Indeed, thou wouldst not err were you to call
the men of old time foolish, and wise in nought, whoever
they were, who invented hymns for feastings and ban-
quets and suppers, the sounds that sweeten life; but
no mortal has found out how by music and songs sung
to the many stringed lyre, to assuage the distressing
griefs of mortals : griefs from which death, and fearful

'182, P. 0^Xo, Kal rdS* avda, metre of tbe strophe 156.
making 0iXa the 70c. sing. ^ t. «., to oblige you, I will

which is repugnant to the imdertake this task.

12 MEDEA. [197—228.

misfortnnes overturn the houses of men. And yet
'twere gain for mortals to cure these evils with song :
but there, where costly feasts are spread, why needlessly
do they prolong the strain ? For the present satisfaction
of the feast carries with it its own gratification to
mortal men.

Chorus. I heard a sound of lamentations full of
groans : and with shrill plaintive complaints for her
woes, she calls upon the traitor to her bed, her faithless
husband : and suffering wrongfully she invokes Themis
daughter of Jove, the Goddess of oaths, Themis who
caused her to go to the opposite shore of Greece, thro' the
surge by night over the briny, the boundless pass of
the Pontus.

Medea. "Women of Corinth,! have come forth from my
home, that ye may find no fault with me ; for I know
that many of mankind are haughty, some 9 in private
life, others in public : while those of a quiet walk of life
have incurred an ill name and the imputation of laziness.
For justice resides not, in the eyes of mortals, of him
who before he has fully learned the heart of another man,
hates him at sight, without suffering wrong at his hand.
And it is the duty of a stranger, certainly, to accommo-
date himself to the state : and I do not even praise
that citizen who, being self-willed, renders himself from
folly a nuisance to his countrymen. But in my case this
unexpected event which has fallen on me has crushed my
spirit : moreover I am lost, and having relinquished the
pleasure of living, I long to die, my friends : for he in
whom my all was placed, (as far as I could rightly un-

»216. Hermann adopts the indeed whom I myself have
interpretation of Seidler, and seen, others of whom I have
is followed by Jacobs : ** some heard,"

229—258.] MEDEA. 13

derstand) ^ he, my husband, has turned out the vilest of
men. But of all things that have life and sense, we
women are the most miserable race : we, who must first
with an exceeding sum purchase us a husband, and
receive a lord over our persons, (for this is even a more
grievous evil than the former) : and in this, too, there is
the greatest risk, whether we shall receive a bad master
or a good one : for divorces are not honourable to women,
nor is it possible to repudiate a husband ; and she who
has arrived among new customs and new laws must
needs be a prophetess (not having learned it of oneself)
as to what kind of husband she is most likely to meet
with. Then, should our husband dwell happily with
us having laboured so far with success, not violently
imposing the yoke, 'tis an enviable life : but if not, 'twere
better to die. For when a man is disgusted with asso-
ciating with those of his own home, going out he relieves
his heart of its loathing, betaking himself to some friend
or to his comrades : but we are compelled to look to one
person alone. And they say of us, how we live a life
of security at home while they do battle with the spear,
thinking unwisely : for rather would I stand thrice be-
side the shield than be a mother once. But really the
same argument applies not to you and to me : for you
have here your country and the halls of your father and
the society of your friends ; while I, desolate, homeless,
am insulted by my husband, I, borne off as plunder *
from a barbarian land, having no mother, no brother, no
kinsman with whom to seek a refuge from this calamity.

* 228. Matth. — " lUe in batur. Heath. — yiyv(!)(rKeiQ kO'
quo bene cognoscendo samma \wq, P. you well know,
renun omniam mearum rerte- '256. This is a sneer against

the Argonautic expedition^

U ilEDEA, [259— 284-

Th lis much therefore I will desire to obtain from thee,
that if I may discover any means and contrivance
whereby to execute just vengeance on my husband, and
on him who has given him his daughter, and on the
bride, thou wilt keep silence on it : for in all other
things, indeed, a woman is full of fear, and fainthearted
at prowess and to look on steel: but when she is
wronged in respect of her marriage bed, there is no
other temper that thirsts more for blood.

Chorus. I will do this, for justly wilt thou avenge
thyself, Medea, on thy husband ; and I wonder not that
thou mournest over thy mischances. But I see Creon
ruler of this land advancing hither, the messenger of
some new counsels.

CREON.

Thee, of sullen brow, and enraged against thine hus-
band, Medea, I have decreed that thou shalt quit this
land an exile, taking with thee thy two children, and
that thou make no delay : for I am the arbiter of this
command, and I will not return back again to my
home, before I shall have cast thee out beyond the boun-
daries of this land.

Medea. Woe, woe ! I, the wretched one, perish in
utter destruction : for my foes are now crowding all
their sail, and there is no escape from wretchedness easy
to be attained. Nevertheless I will ask him, though
suffering wrongfully as I do — For what cause drivest
thou me from thy land, O Creon ?

Creon. I fear thee (there is no need to disguise my
words) that thou wilt do some irremediable mischief to
my daughter. And many things are inferred* from this

^ 284. Or ^vfipaXXirai may are many signs or tokens of
be equal to avfiPoXa ieri, there this fear.

285 313.] MEDEA. 15

fear : thou art by nature crafty and skilled in many an
evil heart, and thou art annoyed at being deprived of thy
husband's bed : moreover I liear that thou threatenest,
(as they report to me) that thou wilt do somewhat to
him that gives up liis daughter and the bridegroom and
the bride. This therefore I will prevent, before I suffer
it, for it were better for me, lady, now to be hateful to
thee, than giving way to pity hereafter grievously to
repent it.

Medea. Alas, alas ! It is not now for the first time,
but often before, Creon, has rumour done me harm and
worked me mighty evils. Never should the man, who
is possessed of good sense, have his children taught to be
overwise. For ^besides another charge which they incur,
I mean the charge of inactivity, they occasion hostile
envy from their fellow-citizens. For by offering new-
fashioned wisdom to dolts, you will seem to be useless,
and unvrise : or again, if you are accounted superior to
those who fancy they possess some abstruse knowledge,
you will appear troublesome in your city. And I my-
self also share this fate : for being wise, by some I am
looked on with envy, by others with dislike : and yet I
am not so very wise. Thou however fearest me, lest
some misfortune jar upon thee. I am not so disposed —
fear me not, Creon — as to do wrong against princes.
For wherein hast thou wronged me? Thou hast be-
trothed thy daughter to him towards whom thy inclina-
tion led thee : my husband indeed I hate ; but thou, I
suppose, didst this act in wisdom. And, as it is now, I
grudge not that thy fate should be prosperous. * Con-

^297. VideHerm. ad Elmsl. senses of dicere — nubere-^
' 313. vvfjulnvtiv bas the three dare. Vide Liddell and Scott.

16 MEDEA. [314—333.

tract alliances — be happy: but suffer me to dwell in
this land ; for even though wronged, I will be silent,
vanquished by them that are mightier.

Creon. Thou speakest words soft to the ear, but
"within my heart I have a dread that thou art plotting
some mischief ; and by so much the less than before do
I trust thee. For a woman quick to passion and simi-
larly a man is easier to guard against than one who is
still and cunning. But begone with all speed, speak not
a word more ; since this is fixed and thou hast no con-
trivance whereby thou mayest remain amongst us, being,
as thou art, inimical to me.

Med. Nay, I beseech thee by thy knees and by thy
newly married daughter.

Creon. Thou wastest words : for never wilt thou per-
suade me.

Med. Wilt thou then drive me forth," and in no wise
respect my supplications ?

Creon. Aye, for I love not thee more than mine own
house.

Med. my country, how in very truth do I now re-
member thee !

Creon. Aye : for, save my children, to me also my
country is most dear.

Med. Alas, alas ! how great an evil is love to
mortals !

Creon. Even so, I suppose, as circumstances present
themselves.

Med. O Jove, may he not escape thine eye, who is the
cause of these evils.

Creon. Begone, vain woman, and rid me of this
trouble.

834—356.] MEDEA. 17

3l£D. Tis I that am in trouble, and I want no
troubles morc^

Creon. Speedily thou shalt be thrust out by force at
the hands of my attendants.

Mei). Nay, at least not that — but I beseech thee,
Creon.

Creoh. Thou wilt give annoyance, as it seems, O
woman.

Med, I will begone: I prayed not to obtain this
from thee.

Creon. Wherefore then dost thou press me, and not
quit the country ?

Med. Suffer me to remain this single day, and to
complete my plans, how we shall flee, and to secure a
place of refuge for my children, since their father recks
nothing of providing for his offspring. Yet do thou pity
them : thou too, in sooth, art the father of children :
and it is natural that thou shouldst have a kindly feeling
for them. For I have no care for myself whether I
shall be an exile, but I lament for them involved in
calamity.

Creon. In no wise is my temper that of the tyrant,
and by respecting the suppliant often in truth have I
harmed myself. Even now I see that I am in error,
lady ; but nevertheless thou shalt obtain this boon. But
I forewarn thee, if to-morrow's light of heaven shall be-
hold thee and thy children within the bounds of this
land, thou shalt die. This threat hath been spoken in
sincerity. But now, if thou must remain, remain for a
single day, inasmuch as in that time thou wilt do none
•of the fearful deeds I dread.

* 334. P. after Musgr. Trouble indeed ! and do not I feel
trouble 1

18 MEDEA. [357—390.

Chor. Ill-fated lady, alas, alas wretched by reason of
thy woes ! Whither ever wilt thou betake thyself?
What hospitality, what home or what country wilt thou
discover to save thee from misery? Into what a sea of
affliction from which there is no escape hath the God
conducted thee, Medea !

Medea. Ill have I fared on all sides. Who will
contradict me ? But not in this way shall these things
end, think it not yet. There are still struggles for the
newly married pair, and for those who betrothed them
no slight troubles remain. For deemest thou I would
ever have fawned on that man, save to gain some end or
to devise some plot ? I would not even have addressed
him, nor touched him with my hands. But he has
come to such a pitch of folly, that when it was in his
power to baffle my plans by casting me out from the
land, he has permitted me to remain this single day, —
in which day I will make corpses of three of my foes,
the father and the daughter and mine own husband.
But though I have many a way of death against them,
I know not by which I shall first make my attempt,
my friends, whether I shall secretly fire the nuptial hall,
or thrust a sharpened sword through their hearts, enter-
ing in silence the chamber where the nuptial bed is laid.
But there is one thing against me : if I shall be caught
entering the palace and contriving my plans, I shall die
and offer an object of derision to my foes. 'Twere best,
by that straight path wherein I am most skilled, to take
them off by poison. — Well. — And now, suppose they
are dead. What city will receive me ? What stranger,
making his land my refuge and his home secure, will
save my life ? There is none. Waiting then yet some
little time, if any tower of safety appear to me, in craft

390—430.] MEDEA. 19

and silence I will pursue this murder. But if some un-
avoidable mischance repel me, I myself seizing a sword,
even though I should die, will slay them, and will rush
on to the utmost pitch of recklessness. For never, I
swear it by my mistress whom I reverence most of all
gods, and whom I have chosen as my coadjutor, by
Hecate who dwells in the inmost comer of my hearth !
never shall any one of them with impunity wring my
heart. But bitter for them and mournful will I make
their marriage, and bitter their alliance, and my exile from
their land. But on : be not sparing of whatever thou
knowest, Medea, in thy counsels and thy plans ; on, to
the deed of danger : now is the struggle of courage.
See'st thou what thou art enduring ? It becomes not
thee to be an object of derision to the race of Sisyphus,
to the nuptials of Jason, thee, who art sprung from a
noble sire, and from the Sun. But thou art skilled.
And I moreover am a woman, for good indeed most in-
e£Eicient, but the most crafty worker of all iniquity.

Chor. The streams of hallowed rivers run upward to
their spring, and tiie course of justice and all else is
reversed. Among men are the counsels of deceit, and
fiuth in the gods no longer abides firm : and that my
sex^ may win fair renown, fame will change QP. changes].
Honour is coming to the female race : no longer shall a
slanderous repute haunt women. But the Muses shall
cease from their strains of old, from celebrating our
perfidy. For, as I deem, Phoebus, leader of melody,
committed not to woman the divine strains of the lyre,
since it would have echoed back a strain against the
race of men : but a long period of time has many a tale

^ 415. j3iordv0^v(riv. Schw.

20 MEDEA. [430—403.

to tell of our fate as well as that of men. Thus thou
sailedst forth from the home of thy fathers, thy heart
maddened with hve^ having passed between the twin
rocks of the ocean; and now thou dwellest on a foreign
soil, having lost the resting place of thy widowed bed,
wretch that thou art, and art driven forth a dishonoured
exile from the land. And all the respect for oaths is
gone and no longer does shame abide in mighty Greece,
but has fled up on high. But to thee, thou ill-fated one,
there remain not the halls of thy sire to be a refuge from
thy woes, and of thy nuptial bed a new queen mightier
than thou presides over thy house.

JASON.

It is not now for the first time but often before, have I
observed what an irremediable mischief is an unyielding
temper. For when it was in thy power to enjoy this
land and this home bearing lightly the determination of
thy superiors, for thy rash words thou art to be exiled
from the land. And to me indeed it is no consequence :
never cease from saying how Jason is the vilest of men.
But with respect to what thou hast said against royalty,
deem it all gain that thou art punished by exile only.
I for my part have continually endeavoured to appease
the wrath of the incensed princes, and wished thee to
remain ; but thou wouldst not cease from thy folly, ever
speaking evil words against the royal house : wherefore
thou art to be exiled from the land. But neverthe-
less even after this not wanting to my friends, have I
come hither, providing for thy interests at least, O lady,
so that thou mightest not go into exile with thy chil-
dren, either penniless or in want of anything. Exile
brings in its train many an evil ; for even though thou
detestest me, never could I feel unkindly towards thee.

465 — 493.] MEDEA. 21

Medea. O vilest of the vile, for this is the greatest
reproach I can tell thee with my tongue against thy un-
manliness,^ hast thou come to me ? hast thou come, thou
who hast become most hateful ?9 In sooth this is not
confidence or boldness, when thou hast wronged thy
£riends to look them in the face, but the greatest of all
pests among mankind, impudence : yet thou hast done
well in coming. For both I shall be lightened in spirit
by reproaching thee, and thou wilt be pained by hearing
it. But from the very outset will I begin first to speak.
I saved thy life, as all the Greeks well know who with
thee entered the same bark Argo, when thou wast sent
to master the fire breathing^ bulls with the yoke, and to
sow the fatal field : and that dragon, who guarding the
all-golden fleece preserved it with many folded coils,
sleepless ever, it I slew and held aloft for thee the bea-
con light of safety. And I myself, having forsaken my
father and mine own home, arrived with thee at lolcos
the land of Pelion, with more spirit than wisdom ; and
I slew Pelias, so that he fell by a death most grievous,
at the hands of his own children, and I rid thee of every
cause of fear. And thou, having experienced this at
my hands, vilest of men, hast forsaken me, and taken to
thyself another nuptial bed, when thou hast children
bom to thee : for hadst thou still been childless, 'twould
have been pardonable in thee to have been smitten with
this marriage. But the faith of oaths is vanished ; nor
can I understand whether thou countest the gods, who

®465. According to Person's ® After v. 467, some editions

punctuation, translate thus : have " Both to the gods and
For this I can tell thee, the to me and to the whole race
greatest reproach against thy of men."
unmanliness in point of tongue. ' 479. Or l^ivyXawi may be

governed by iTTiaTdrriv.

*D

22 MEDEA. [493—523.

.then ruled, to have no more power, or that new laws are
in these days being imposed among mankind, since at
least thou art conscious that thou hast not kept faith
with mo. Alas, for that right hand which thou didst
so often take, and for these knees, how fruitlessly have
I been polluted by the touch of a villain, and have been
cheated of my hope ! Come, for I will hold converse
with thee as though thou wert a friend, deeming not
indeed that I shall receive any good at thy hand, but
notwithstanding I will speak ; for being interrogated thou
wilt be shown more vile. Now, whither must I betake
myself ? To the halls of my father ! — which with my
country I betrayed for thee, and arrived hither ? or to
the wretched daughters of Pelias ? right well, I ween,
would they receive me in their home whose sire I slew.
For so the case stands ; to my friends in my own home
I have become a foe : and those whom I ought never to
have harmed, by conferring benefits on thee I have as
enemies. Wherefore, in requital for these things thou
hast made me to be considered blessed throughout
Greece to many women ; and I have thee a wondrous
^i.spouse, and a faithful one — wretch that I am ! if cast
forth I am to be exiled from the land, destitute of
friends, alone with my lonely children, — a fair fame in
truth to the newly married bridegroom, that his children
and she who saved his life are wandering beggars ! O
Jove, wherefore didst thou give to men certain tests of
gold, such as is adulterate ; but yet no stamp has been
imprinted on their person whereby we may discern the
villain among men.

Chor. Fearful is the wrath, and hard to bo appeased,
when friends join in strife with friends.

Jason. I must^ it seems, be no sluggard in speech.

524—556.] MEDEA. 23

but like the prudent pilot of a vessel with every stitch
of canvass nm from under (*. e. elude) thy wearisome
loquacity. I then, since thou exaltest so high the
favours thou hast done me, I deem that Cypris alone of
gods and mortals was the guardian of my enterprise.
Thou hast indeed a subtle wit, but 'tis an invidious
argument to dwell on, that Love with his unerring bow
compelled thee to preserve my life. However, I will
not lay this down too nicely : for however it was
thou didst me service, it is well. — However, at least,
thou receivedst a greater advantage from my safety than
thou conferredst upon me ; as I will explain : — In the
first place thou dwellest in the land of Greece, in place
of a barbarian land, and thou knowest what justice is,
and how to live under laws, not being at the mercy of
force. Again, all the Greeks have seen that thou art
wise, and thou hadst won renown : whereas hadst thou
dwelt on the furthest borders of the world there had
been no fame of thee : and for my own part might I
have neither gold in my dwelling nor skill to hymn the
strain sweeter than Orpheus, unless my lot were likewise
made illustrious. Thus much, however, have I spoken
of my own toils ; for it was thyself that proposed this
rivalry of words. But as to the reproaches which thou
castest upon me for my royal alliance, in this matter I
will show first, that I was wise ; in the next place, dis-
creet ; in the third, an especial friend to thee and to my
children : but do thou keep quiet. After I had re-
moved hither from the land of lolcos, bringing after me
many insuperable difficulties, what better piece of good
fortune could I have met with than to marry the daugh-
ter of a king, exile as I was ? Not (where thou art
nettled) hating thy marriage bed, nor enamoured of a

24 MEDEA. [^556 — 580.

fresh bride, nor being earnest in a striving after many
children : those bom to me are enough, nor do I find
fault there : but — what is the chief point — that we may
live with honour, and may not be in want, well know-
ing that every friend flies out of the way of the poor
man, and that I might bring up my children in a
manner worthy of my house, and that begetting brothers
to the children I have by thee, I might place them on
the same footing, and uniting the family, I might be
happy ;* for thou too hast some need of other children,
and it is my advantage to profit my present^ by means
of 2k future^ family. Then have I counselled ill ? Not
even thou couldst say this, did not thy marriage bed
provoke thee. But ye women have come to such a
point, that so long as your marriage rights are preserved,
ye think ye have ever3rthing ; but if on the other hand
any mischance befall the nuptial couch, then all that is
best and fairest ye deem most hostile. Yes, mortals
ought to make them children from some other quarter,
and the female sex should never have existed ; and so
never would there have been evil among men.

Chou. Jason, with speciousness hast thou adorned this
speech. But yet to me at least, even if I shall speak
contrary to thy wishes, thou seemest, in deserting thy
wife, to act no just part.

Med. Verily in many respects I am different from
many mortals. For in my mind, he who being dis-

^ 565. This passage, which is of place. 2. Branck, aol ti ydp

corrupt, may be translated two tt. r» SeX' subaudi aXXwv, for

ways, according to the accent thou bast need of other chil-

and punctuation. 1. Porson, dren, as well as I. Elmsley

<Toi Tt y&p Traidiov rl Sh ; for suggests a very good emenda-

what need hast thou of chil- tion croi rs y&p Traidwv /xeXct.
dren t an expression totally out

580 — 604.] MEDEA. 25

honest is yet gifted with craftiness of speech deserves
the heaviest punishment : for priding himself on this,
that with his tongue he can speciously bedeck dishonest
deeds, he dares all villany ; but yet he is not over wise.
Even thus be not thou now specious to me, and cunning
in thy speech : for a single word shall lay thee pros-
trate.^ It was thy part, if, as thou sayest, thou wert
not a -villain, to have contracted this marriage after
gaining my consent, and not without the knowledge of
thy friends.

Jas. Aye, and fairly, I ween, wouldest thou have
acceded to this plan, if I had acquainted you with my
intended marriage ; thou, who even now canst not relax
the fierce wrath of thy heart !

Med. 'Twas not this that swayed thee, but a bar-
barian wife threatened to turn out not over-honorable
for thine old age.

Jas. Be well assured of this, 'twas for no love of
woman I courted the royal bride whom I now possess,
but even as I said before, wishing to preserve thee and
to beget children of princely birth, of the same seed
with mine own children, a bulwark to my house.

Med. May I never live a life of painful prosperity,
nor be mine that wealth which may afflict my soul.

Jas. Knowest thou how to change thy prayer, and
to appear much wiser ? Never let lucrative things seem
painful to thee, nor when fortunate deem thyself un-
fortunate.

Med. Insult me as thou wilt, since for thee there is
a refuge, but I, desolate, must go an exile from this land.

' 686. Iicrevci. according to wise, iKrevel may mean ** shall
Eastathius, followed by Por- stretch thee on the rack."
■on, ^iKTadriv pi^ei — other-

•d 3

26 MEDEA. [605 — 626.

Jas. Tliyself hast chosen this part : blame no one else.

Med. By doing what? Was it by marrying and
deserting thee ?

Jas. It was by invoking impious curses upon the
princes of the land.

Med. 4 And I happen to have endured curses from
thy house likewise.

Jas. ^ Be sure, I will not contend further with thee
on these subjects. But if thou desirest to receive any
assistance in thine exile for thy children or thyself from
my wealth, name it. For I am ready to give with
ungrudging hand, and to send tokens to my guest-
friends, who will do thee service. And if thou wilt not
accept this, thou wilt be acting foolishly, lady : but by
ceasing from thy passion thou wilt reap advantage.

Med. Neither will I use the services of thy guest-
friends, nor receive any boon from thee, do not^ even
oflfer it to me : for the gifts of an evil man bear with
them no profit.

Jas. Then I call the Gods to witness that I am ready
in all things to serve thee and thy children : but good
things please thee not, but in sullen pride thou repellest
thy friends : wherefore shalt thou grieve the more.

Med. Begone : for thou art carried away with longing
for thy newly married bride, lingering as thou art out of
sight of the palace. Wed on : for perchance — ^for by
heaven it shall be spoken — thou wilt contract such a
marriage as thou wilt be glad to renounce.

* 608. Apaia — Elmsley * ujc*»lfr0t wf. cf. Elmsley.

would take activd *' Aye, and

I am disposed to curse thy ^ 617. firid* i^fiiv. neither

house too" — so Monk, Matthicy do thou offer it.
and Dind.

627-^-064.] MEDEA. 27

Cqob. Love when it comes with excessive vehemence
gives to men [[among men P.] neither honour nor
virtue: but if Cypris come in moderation, there is not
any goddess so gracious. Never, O queen, against
me mayest thou speed from the golden bow the. inevi-
table dart, having anointed its point with desire. But
may sobriety, fairest gift of heaven, love to dwell in
me ; and never may Cypris, fearful deity, impose on me
jarring passions and insatiate strife, smiting my heart
vnth desire of another marriage bed ; but, respecting a
peaceful couch, ® may she vigilantly execute judgment
on the bed of women. O my country, O my home,
never may I become an outcast, having a life of difficulty
hardly to be passed through, a life of most pitiable
woes.* In death, in death may I first be laid low, when
I have reached that day : for there is no more exceeding
woe than to be deprived of one's fatherland. Ourselves
have seen it, we need not to learn it from the tales of
others ; for no city, no friend, had pity on thee who
hast suffered the most fearful of sufferings. Ungracious
may he perish, whoever is disposed not to respect his
friends by opening the pure locket of his mind : to me
for one never shall he be a friend.

^GEUS.

Medea, hail ! for than this no man knows a better
address whereby to greet his friends.

* 641. (1.) according to wards.) We have taken Elms-

Elmsl. 6^vj)p(ov s*d^v9vfioQ= ley's translation (parat a prompt!

'* with hasty wrath." (2). Kpivoi expendere lecti jugulis crimina

may mean (a) keep asunder — Buchan :) except in the mat-

the nuptial heds of woman. ter of d^v^ptav,
(b) assign heforehand, (so that ' 646. P. oiKTpitraTOV &x^'*^v

there may he no mistake after- " the most pitiahle of woes.''

28 MEDEA. [665—681.

Med. O hail thou also, iEgeus, son of the wise Pan-
dion ! from whence art thou come to the soil of this
land?

-^geus. Having left the ancient oracle of Phoebus.

Med. And on what mission wentest thou to the
prophetic centre of the earth ?

^GEUS. To enquire how a race of children might be
bom to me.

Med. By heaven, hast thou then continued to live
up to this time childless ?

iEGEUS. Childless I am, by the dispensation of some
deity.

Med. Hast thou a wife or art thou inexperienced as
to the marriage bed ?

^GEUS. I am not without^ my share of the nuptial
couch.

Med. What then did Phoebus tell thee respecting
children ?

^GEUS. "Words wiser than for a man to conjecture.

Med. Is it lawful that I should know the oracle of
the god ?

^geus. By all means; since in sooth it needs the
interpretation even of a wise mind.

Med. What answer then gave he ? say, if I am
allowed to hear.

JEqeus. That I should not loose the projecting neck
of the wine skin.

Med. Before you should have done what, or arrived
at what land ?

-SIgeus. Before I should again have returned to my
paternal hearth.

> a^vyoc =expers.

682—696.] MEDEA. 29

Med. Desiring what then dost thou visit this land ?

^GEUS. There is a certain Pitthcus, king of the knd
of TrGezen.

Med. The son of Pelops, as they report, a most
pious man.<

JEqevb, To him I wish to impart the response oi
the god.

Med. Yes ; for the man is wise and much skilled in
such matters.

jEgeus. And to me indeed he is the dearest of all my
confederate friends.

Med. Well, mayest thou be fortunate and gain all
that thou desirest.

iBoEUS. But why has thine eye and thy frame thus
wasted away ?

Med. iEgeus, my husband is the basest of all men
to me.

JEqevb. What sayest thou ? tell me clearly of thy
despondency.

Med. Jason wrongs me, without having suffered any
wrong at my hand.

JEqevs, By doing what ? tell me more plainly.

Med. He has taken another wife in addition to me,
as the mistress of his house.

Mqevb. What?^ has he indeed dared this most
shameful deed ?

Med. Be assured 'he has : and we are scorned who
were before his friends.

' 584. Herm. But according plied to Chiron '' tanquam inter

to Elmsl. ** the most pious of omnes unus juris observan-

the sons of Pelops." Valckenaer tissimus."

takes it in the sense of Homer's ^ 695. ^Trov P. Can he

SiKaiSraTDQ KiVTavpuiV, ap- have etc. 1

30 MEDEA. [697—717.

^GEUS. Was he smitten with desire, or did he hate
thy marriage bed ?

Med. Aye, smitten with a mighty desire : he was
faithless to his friends.

^geus. Let him go then, since he is such a villain
as thou sayest.

Med. He was smitten with a desire of obtaining an
alliance with princes.

^GEUS. But who gives him the bride? pray, con-
clude the tale.

Med. Creon, who rules this Corinthian land.

^GEUS. Certainly,* then, it were pardonable that
you should be grieved, lady.

Med. I am ruined : and more than this, I am
expelled from the land.

-^GEUS. By whom ? This again is another and a
fresh evil that thou tellest of.

Med. Creon drives me forth, an exile from the land
of Corinth,

^GEUS. And does Jason suffer it ? I praise not this.

Med. By his words indeed, no ; but^ in his heart he
wishes it. But, I beseech thee, by this thy beard, and
by thy knees, and I become thy suppliant, pity, pity
me the ill-fated one, and see me not go into exile
desolate, but receive me in thy country and in thy home,
a suppliant at thy hearth. So may thy desire of off-
spring be accomplished for thee by the gods, and
mayest thou thyself die in happiness. But thou know-
est not what a piece of good fortune thou hast found in
me; for I will make thee cease from being childless,

* 703. fikv ydp P. Yes, it is willing to put up with it
were indeed etc. (Ironice).

* 708, P. KapTsptiv, but he

718—738.] MEDEA. 31

and will make thee the father of a race of children :
such charms (or drugs) I know.

iEoEUS. For many reasons, lady, I am ready to grant
thee this boon, first from reverence to the Gods, in the
next place by reason of the offspring whose birth thou
dost promise me, for really in this respect I am altoge-
ther lost.^ But thus it stands with me : if thou wilt
come to my land, I will strive to befriend thee with all
justice. Thus much, however, I forewarn thee, lady ;
from this land I shall not be willing to lead thee forth
but if thou of thyself come to my halls, thou shalt
remain inviolate, and never will I give thee up to any.
But of thyself do thou remove thy foot from this
soil, inasmuch as I wish to be blameless, even before
strangers.

Med. It shall be so ; but if some pledge were given
me of this, then should I be well satisfied in all points
at thy hand.

iEGEUs. What, dost thou not trust me ? or what is
thy difficulty ?

Med. I trust thee : but the house of Pelias is at feud
with me, and also Creon : and to these, if thou wert
bound indeed by oaths to me, thou wouldest not give
me up from thy country, should they try to lead me
away. But shouldst thou confer with them, being at
the same time not bound by oath to the gods, thou
mightest become their friend, and^ perchance give in to

• 722. My whole race and from the text in Dind. except

name is extinct. Scholef. : — by anderstandingf kmKTjpvKtv-

for as regards begetting chil- /lacnv o{jk SLv irlQoio to mean,

dren, my strength is quite gone. ** You would not abide bj jour

Matth. engagements to me" — which is

^ 739. oiK Av ttlOoio. No not the English of any of the

sense whatever can be extracted words. Muretus. The easiest

32 MEDEA. [738—759.

the demands made by their heralds : for my interests
are weak, bnt they have wealth and a princely house.

^GEUS. Thou hast spoken words of much fore-
thoughty lady ; but if it seems good to thee that I
should do this, I refuse not : for both for me it is the
safest course, that I should have some pretext to show
to thy foes, and thy safety is more securely fixed.
Name thou the gods.

Med. Swear by the plain of earth, and by the sun,
the sire of my sire, and add to them the whole family
of gods.

-^GEUs. That I will do, or will not do, what ?
Say on.

Med. That neither thou thyself wilt ever cast me
forth from thy land, and, if any of my foes seek to carry
me away, thou wilt not voluntarily give me up, while
thou livest.

^GEUS, I swear by earth and by the sacred majesty
of the sun, and by all the gods, that I will abide by
what I hear from thee.

Med. It sufficeth.' But what art thou willing to
suffer, if thou abidest not by this oath ?

^GEUS. All that befalls the impious among mortals.

Med. Go in peace ; for all is well : and I will arrive
at thy city with all speed, having effected what I am
about to do, and having attained what I desire.

Chor. But may the son of Maia, guiding power,

emendation adopted is that boit. Scribendom tux* ^^

of Porson: rd^' d.v ttiOoio. ttiOoio cum WyttenbacLio.

— Those who have a taste for Dind.

more, are referred to Hermann ^ 754. Est 7rd0oi/ic, fiov-

and Elmsley. Xofiai iraOeiv igitur ri TrdOoig ;

oitK d.v viBoio, Hoc con- valet, ri PovXfi iraQiiv ; —

trariam est ejus quod dici de- Scholef.

760—788.] MEDBA. 33

escort thee to thy home : and setting thy mind upon
what thou desirest, majest thou accomplish it : for to
iis thou hast proved thyself a nohle man, O. ^geus.

Med. O Jove, and Justice daughter of Jove, and
thou light of the sun, now shall I hecome glorious in
victory over my foes, O my friends, and I have entered
upon the path ; and now I have a hope that mine ene-
mies will suffer retribution. For this man, where I was
most in difficulty, has appeared a harbour for my de-
signs : from him will I make fast the stern cables of
my bark, when I have arrived at the city and the
citadel of Pallas. But now I will impart to thee all
my plans : and listen to my words not as to a pleasing
tale. Having sent one of my servants to Jason, I will
request him to come into my presence ; and when he is
come, I vnll speak soft words to him, how I assent to
these proceedings and how good they are,9 — ^this^ royal
alliance which he is contracting, having deserted me —
and that they are expedient and well judged ; and I
will ask that my children may remain, not with the
view of leaving my children in a hostile land for my
foes to insult over, but that I may slay by subtilty the
daughter of the king. For I will send them with gifts
in their hands, bearing* them to the bride, that so they
may not be exiled from the land, [^bearing a finely woven
robe and a chaplet wrought of gold] and if she receive
the adornment and cast it around her person, miserably
shall she perish, and whoever else shall touch the dam-

• 777. KoX&g €X«v. P. pdvvojv o^q Ix^i . , ,Kai [Xe'fw]

> 778. om. P. — The con- ^vfi<l>opa iivai k, r. X. If

struction according to Din- ix^iv be read (as in P. &

dorPs text will be. Xs^io . . wq Klmsl.) it must depend upon

doKti jxoi ravra Kai [a>c] TavTa Xk^u),

KaX&s ixtif J. ©• 01 ydfioi rv- * 786. om^ P.

•b

34 MEDBA. [789—816.

sel : with sucH drugs will I anoint tlie gifts. Here
however I cease this subject. — For I was bewailing
what a deed remains for me then to do : for I must slay
my children : there is no one who shall rescue them
from me. Then, when I have overthrown in ruin the
whole house of Jason, I will go forth from the land,
fl)dng the (pollution of the) murder of my children
most dear to me, and having da^ed a most unholy deed.
For to be derided by one's foes is a thing not to be
endured, my friends. Let it proceed : what profit is it
for me to live any longer ? For^ me there is neither
country nor home nor refuge from my misery. Then
was I in error when I left my father s halls, beguiled
by the words of a Greek, who shall, please God, suflTer
retribution at my hand. For neither shall he ever see
henceforward his children bom of me alive, nor shall he
beget a child of his newly married bride : for miserable
must she miserably perish by my spells. Let no one
account me contemptible or weak, much less peaceful,
but of the contrary disposition, to my foes a grievous
foe, and to my friends a generous friend : for the lives
of such as these are most glorious.

Chor. Since thou hast imparted this intention to me,
I, desiring both to do thee service, and at the same time
upholding the laws of mortals, warn thee not to do this
deed.

Med. It must be so : but there is an excuse for thee,
in saying these things; for thou art not wronged as
I am.

Chor. But wilt thou endure to slay thy two children,
lady?

> 798. oOr' ifioi P.

817—849.] MEDBA. 35

Med. Aye: for so would my husband be most grieved.

Chor. But thou at least wilt become the most
wretched of women.

Med. Let it go on,—- all words that intervene* are
superfluous. But come, go thou and summon Jason :
for thee I employ in all matters of fidelity — but say*
nothing of my resolutions, if as I deem thou art well
disposed^ to thy mistress, and art a woman.

Chorus.
Happy is the race of Erechtheus from of old, and
children are they of the blessed Gods, feeding on
wisdom most renowned, from a soil holy and inviolate,
passing ever lightly through the clearest ether ; in that
land where, they say,7 golden-haired harmony of old
brought forth the nine chaste Pierian Muses : and they
tell too that Cypris, quaffing draughts from the sweet-
flowing Cephisus, breathes over the land^ gentle sweetly
blovdng gales of air ; and ever and anon casting upon
her locks a fragrant rosewreath, sends forth loves to sit
by the side of wisdom, his fellow workmen in every
kind of virtue. How then shall either the city of sacred
streams or the hospitable^ land of friends receive thee,

* 819. oifv D. ol V. P. » 837. x^pf^Q- P- — ** Non

* 822. Xs^ftc. P. This is ob- dicitur ^dari fii Karkxitv aqa&
jected to by ElmsL because me perfadit; sed ^dtap /lov
Xk^tiQ firidkv is a solecism. It Karix^iv, Aristoph. £q. 1088.
should be \k%HQ oiSkv, But dXK* iydt ilSov ovap Kai uo{r~
the future here would seem to doKiX ^ 9tdg aifrr^ Tov oiifiH
carry with it an imperative Karax^'^v apvraivy vXovOvyL

force as in JEsch : sc. Th. 239. eiav, — Lys. 651. ^vvip

fitidkv rStv ^ Ip^Xq Kard 'ifupov rifACiv»,»*KaTa7rvivffrj,

vt6\iv, Plura dabit Matth. Gr. Gr.

« 823. (ppovtXc y* eiJ. P. §376 p. 504.— Elmsl.

^831. Or: the nine muses ' 848. ir6u7rifioc=rrjv ic

established {<J>VTtv(Tai) golden- wtfifOtiffOv iiridtxofikvti, Sch.
baired Harmony.

36 MBDBA. [850—880.

the slayer of her children, who art unholy among
others ?i Consider the deathblow of thy children, con-
sider what a pollution of blood thou art contracting !
Do not — by thy knees we all of us in eyery way sup-
plicate thee — do not slay thy children.' Whence wilt
thou gain presence of mind or hand and he&rt against
thy children, employing fearful daring P Or how, cast-
ing thine eyes upon thy children, canst thou abstain
from weeping at the fatal murder? Thou canst not,
when thy children fall suppliant before thee, stain thy
murderous hand with steadfast soul.^

Jas. I am come at thy bidding : for foe as thou art
to me, thou shalt not^ fail of this at least ; but I will
hear what new thing thou desirest of me.

Med. Jason, I beg of thee to be forgiving of what
has been said by me. And it is but reasonable thou
shouldst bear with my passion^ for many a friendly ser-
vice has passed between us two. For I have been rea-
soning with myself, and have reproached myself. Rash
woman that I am, why am I mad, and incensed against
them that counsel wisely ; and why do I set myself at
feud with the princes of the land, and with my husband,
who is doing for us that which is most expedient, by
marrying a princess, and begetting brothers to my chil-
dren ? shall I not be quit of my wrath ? What is it I
suffer, while the gods dispense aright? Have I not

* 850. rdv ovv Mav ; hit* [oJort] atangw {ilval troiy,
SXKiav <I^:k^^fal — r. ^er'aXXcuv How wilt thou keep the fatal
VKS^ai, Cum aliis, non mecum, murder from beiag wept oyer
delibera. — Matth. Cum aliis, by thee 1

non cum Atheniensibus. — Sch. ^ 865. rXafiovi — P.

* 855. /ij) om. P. * 867. ov r' &v —P. for ov roi
' 856. 7r69tv D. ir&s ^^ P« ^i^t thou certainly sbalt not.

trwc ^x^ctcic fioXpav ^ovov,

880 — 906.] MEDEA. 37

children,^ and know I not that we must flee the land,
and are in need of friends ? Revolving these things, I
felt that I was entertaining very evil counsels, and was
foolishly incensed. Now therefore do I praise thee,
and thou seemest to me^ to act wisely in contracting for
us this additional alliance : but I was foolish, I, who
ought to have had a share in these plans, and to have
joined in concluding them, and to have stood by the
nuptial bed, and to have felt joy in waiting on thy
bride. But we women are what we are — I will not
say merely evil. Wherefore® it becomes thee not to
assimilate thyself to the evil, nor to repay foolish things
with folly. I give in and confess that I was foolish
then, but now I have taken better counsel as to these
matters. O my children my children come hither,
leave the house, come forth and with me greet and ad-
dress, your father, and at the same time with your
mother be reconciled from your former enmity with
your friends. For there is a truce between us and wrath
has given place. Take hold of his right hand. Woe .
is me for my grief! I think, indeed, on somewhat that
is hidden. Will ye then, O my children, live a long
time thus to stretch forth your dear arms ? Wretched
that I am, how tearful I am and full of fear : but by
putting away, after so long a time, my variance vdth
your father, I have filled this^ tender visage with tears.
Chor. Through my eyes, also, has gushed a gentle

' 880. oitK tiffi fikv fiot wai- '905. repiivtiv — P. as if from

SiC ; olSa 5i. . . .0(Xa>v. Have r£p«voc«-Hennann would read

I not children already 1 and I rfptiv<itv (JbaKpvmv sc.) not

know that etc. — P. considering Tkpuva at all a

^884. fftoOpoviiv T* ifjioi P. becoming epithet for Medea's

' 890. xp^v. P. countenance.

*B 3

ZS MEI>EA. [906—931;

tear : and oh that the mischief may not proceed ifarther
than it is now !

Jas. I praise, lady, the present, for I do not blame
even thy former actions. For it is but reasonable that
[]one of the^ female sex should indulge anger against her
husband if he be secretly trafficking^ in wedlock with
another. But thy heart has gone over to the better
side, and thou hast learned, although in time, the coun-
sel that must prevail. These are the actions of a sensi-
ble woman. But for you, my childreUj not without
care hath your father, with the blessing of the gods,
taken great forethought for your welfare. For I deem
that you, with your brothers, will yet be the first in
this land of Corinth. But do ye wax strong : and all
else your father is e£Pecting for you, and of the gods
whosoever is propitious. And may I behold you well
nurtured, arrived at the prime of youth, victorious over
ray foes. — But thou, wherefore bedewest thou thine
eyeballs with gentle tears, turning away thy fair neck,
and receivest not these words of mine with pleasure ?

Mep. Tis nothing : I was in thought concerning
these children.

Jas. Be of good courage then : for I will take good
care of these.

Med* I will do so : in sooth, I will not distrust thy
words r but a woman is a weak creature, and disposed
to tears.

Jas. Why, then,* wretched woman, dost thou groan
over these children ?

Med. I brought them forth ; and w^hen thou wast
praying that my children might live.^ a feeling of pity

'^ WO. iraptfivoXStPTi y\ P. • 929. ri drjra X»av roigd* —

P. Wherefore so exceasively.

dd2— 950.] MEDEA. 89

crept over me that it might not be do. But as to the
reasons why thou hast come to speak with me, some
have been ahready said, an<J the rest I will mention? now.
Since it seems good to the princes to send me forth from
the land, and since for me also tiiis is the best course, I
know it well, that I should not dwell either in thy way
or in the way of the rulers of the land, since I am
deemed hostile to your house; I indeed will depart from
this land in exile : but in order that thy children may
be brought up by thine own hand, do thou entreat
Creon that they be not exiled from the land.

Jas. I fear I shall not be able^ to persuade him; how-
ever, I must make the attempt.

Med. But do you, however, bid thy wife ask of her
father that the children be not exiled from this land.

Jas. By all means. And indeed I imagine, too, that
I shall persuade het ; if, as I suppose, she is like the
rest of her sex.

Med. And I too will take part with thee in this
labour: for I will send her gifts, which far excel in
splendour all that now are among mankind ; I will send
my children bearing a finely woven robe, and a chaplet^
worked of gold. But with all speed let one of the

^933. fivriffOritrofiai. — fit- fivri<r9iitrofAdim*mentioaem ftk-

ftvriffOfjtai, P. ** Hicform&hujus clam. — (probante Dind.)

ve'rbi, ab Homero etiam adhi- * 941. oific old* <lip* ei....P.

bit& n. X, 390. semper utuntur This is a false emendation : for

Trag^ici ; ill& nunquam. Idem the construction then would be

dici potest de K\ri9ri(rofiai et ovk oW apa ci ttc to- ci>.—-The

KiKkiiVouai : sed p\ri9if<roiJuu construction as it stands is ovk

et /3e/3Xi}(7o/iai promiscue usur- oUa tl Trncraifii Slv^ovk oUa

pant." [as Eurip. Hec. 863. ei7r£i<r(i;s06)3oce^^€t(r(i>(supr.

'AxaioiQ Eldial3kri9ri(rofiai2Lad 184)ssvereor ut persuadeam.

Heracl. 423.] But Matthiie — Elmsl.

maintains that both are in use ; * 949. itXSkov, D. ari^Q, P.
fitfivritrofiai « recordabor, and

40 MEDBA. [951—975.

attendants bring hither the array. She will be happy
not in one point but in ten thousand ; both in having
met with thee, a most valiant man, for the partner of
her bed, and in having acquired an adornment which
in old time the Sun, the sire of my siie, gave to his pro-
geny. Take these bridal gifts, my children, in your
hands, and bear them and present them to the happy
royal bride ; in sooth no despicable gifts will she
receive.

Jas. But wherefore, O foolish woman, dost thou
deprive thyself of these ? Deemest thou that the house
of the king lacks raiment, or deemest thou it lacks gold?
Keep these presents, give them not away. For if as I
deem my wife holds me in any account, she will prefer
me to wealth, I know it well.

Med. Tell not me : there is a sa3dng, that^ ^^ gifts
can persuade even gods ;" and gold is mightier among
mortals than ten thousand words. Hers is the favour
of heaven, her fortune now' the god exalteth, she is
young in rule : but with my life would I exchange the
exile of my children, not with gold only. But do you,
my children, having entered the wealthy palace, suppli-
cate your father's new bride, yes,7 my mistress too,
beseech her, that you be not exiled from the land, pre-
senting her with this apparel: for this is most of all
required, that she receive these gifts into her own hand.
Go with all speed : and be ye messengers of good tid-
ings to your mother, of the boon which she desires to
obtain, having succeeded in your mission.

* 964. d&pa OeoifQ ireiOu, mibi, capiant hominesque

iwp* aidoiovQ fiaffiXijag, Plat. deosqae.

•Rep. III. 390 E. Ovid's Art of ^ 970. Sunririv r* ifinVf P.
Love, iii. 635. Munera, credo

976—1004.] MBDBA. 41

Chor. Now have I no longer any hope for the life
of the children, no hope any longer : for abready are they
on the road to death. The bride will receive^ wretch
that she is, she wiU receive the baneful golden fillet ;
and she will herself place around her golden hair the
adornment of Hades, taking it in her hands. And their
beauty and divine radiance will beguile hca: to array
herself in the robe® and in the chaplet wrought of gold^ :
and soon she will be arraying herself for a bride among
the dead. Into such toils will she fall, and such a
deathful fate will she incur, a wretched woman : and
destruction she will not elude. But thou, O wretched
man, O unhappy bridegroom, seeker of the alliance of
princes, unconsciously art' thou bringing on thy chil-
dren impending destruction, and on thy bride a hateful
death : wretch that thou art, how much of thy destiny
art thou passing by !^ But I proceed to bewail thy
griefs, O wretched mother ! thou, who art about to
murder the children for the sake of the Inarriage bed
forsaking which unlawfully, thy husband dwells with
another partner of his couch.

P^DAGOGUS.

My mistress, these thy children are excused from
exile, and the royal bride has received thy presents gra-
ciously in her hands, and in that q^uarter there is peace
for thy children,

Med. Ah !

* 982. wBTrXiav, P. ** And destroctioo, thou art bringing
the beauty etc. of the robes" upon thy children and thy bride

• 983. xQvvoTivKTov Tt (TTtfp, a hateful death.
XpvatoTiVKTov <TTt<f>, P. ' Elmsley, after Portus, How

1 991. Rather, according to art thou fallen from thy former

Hermann's punctuation; un* happiness!
conscious of their impendin|^

42 MEDEA. [1005—1025.

Pjed. Why standest thou thus troubled when thou
art in good fortune?*

Med. Woe ! woe !

P-fiD. These laments are not in harmony with the
news I have brought.

Med. Alas ! and again alas !

PjED. Can it be that without knowing it I am an-
nouncing some calamity, and have I failed in being a
messenger of good tidings ?

Med. Thou hast brought such tidings as thou hast
brought ; tkee I blame not.

P-fiD. Wherefore then standest thou with downcast
visage, and pourest forth tears ?

Med. Great necessity compels me, old man : for
the gods and I in my madness have contrived these
devices.

PiED. Take courage : in sooth thou wilt even yet
return home through the means of thy children.

Med. Others shall I send to their home first — ^wretch
that I am !

P-ED. In sooth thou art not the only woman who has
been separated from her children. — ^It becomes one who
is a mortal to bear misfortunes patiently.

Med. I will do so. But go thou within the house,
and provide for the children what is necessary for the
day. O my children, my children, you indeed have now a
country, and a home in which deserting me wretched
ye will dwell, deprived for ever of your mother ! But
I must straightway go forth to another land an outcast,
before I have the enjoyment of your presence and behold

' Afler line 1005, some edi- not these words of mine with
tious have, '' Whj toruest thou pleasure."
•way thj cheek, and recelTest

1026—1055.] MEDEA. 43

you prosperous, before I have bedecked your couches
and your wives and your marriage beds, and have ^held
the torches on high. O wretch that I am, for my stub-
bom pride ! In vain then my children did I rear you,
and in vain did I suffer toils and was worn out with
labour, enduring cruel pangs in childbirth. Verily there
was once a time when I wretched entertained many a
hope in you ; that you would cherish me in mine old
age, and when I was dead would lay me out decently
with your hands, a thing enviable among mankind ; but
now that sweet thought indeed hath perished. For
deprived of you, I shall pass a life grievous and painful
to me : and ye will not any longer look on your mother
with your fond eyes, when ye have passed over to an-
other state of life. Alas, alas ! wherefore look ye on me
with your eyes, my children ? Wherefore smile ye on
me your last smile ? Woe, woe ! what am I to do ? for
my heart is sinking, O women, since I have looked on
the joyous faces of my children. I shall not have
strength to do it. Farewell, my former plans; I will
carry my children out of the land. Why must I, pain-
jug the father of these children with evil done to them,
incur myself twice as great misery ? Not I in sooth — I
will not. Farewell my plans ! And yet, what am I
about ? Do I wish to afford ridicule by letting my foes
go unpunished ? Dare it, I must. But what cowardice *
of mine is this, to suggest to my thoughts words of pity !
Begone, my children, into the house : and whosoever he
be to whom it is unlawful to be present at my sacrifice,

* 1027. dvatrx^Oeiv, P. as » 1061. K6Kfis=slMtin roca-

though inf. pres. of dvatrx'sOm, live: or, it is the part of, &c.
melius dvaffxiOeiVf lengthened
form Inf. 2. A or. of di/£X(D. cf.
Elmsl. et Herm. ad loc.

44 MEDEA. [1055—1083.

— ^let him look to it : but I will not slacken inj hand.
Ah, ah !

Do not thou then my heart, do not thou at least do
this ! let them alone, wretched one, spare thy children !
In another land living with us they will gladden thee. —
But no, by the avenging fiends that dwell below with
Hades, never shall this be so, that I will give over my
children for their foes to insult over.^

At any rate their fate is sealed, and they shall not
escape it. And even now the chaplet is upon her head,
and the royal bride is perishing in her robes, I know
full well. But, since I am now going on a most woeful
errand, and am about to send these, one yet more woeful,
I would address my children. Give me, my children,
give your mother your right hands to embrace. O dear-
est hand and lips 7 most dear to me, and noble form and
visage of my children, may ye be happy ^ — but there 9 :
for happiness here your sire hath robbed you of. O kiss
so sweet, O skin so soft, and breath most fragrant, of my
children ! Go, go ; I can no longer bear to look upon
you, but am vanquished by my miseries. And indeed I
know how evil are the deeds I am about to perpetrate :
but passion is stronger than my resolves, which is the
cause of greatest woes to mortals.

CHORUS.

Many a time ere now have I gone through subtler
reasonings, and joined in greater contests than it becomes

* After line 1061, some edi- SaifiovoiTriv. Elmsl. — adopt-
tions ha^e, ** At all events it is ed in Scbo1efie1d*s edition of
necessary that tbey die; and Porson •* Secundam personam
since tbey must die, I will slay dualem a terti& diversam non
them, I who brought them fuisse, primus, ni fallor, monui
forth." ad Aristopb. Ach. 733." Eimsl.

^1071. ffTdfia. KCLpa, P. ' Ibid. Uii, i. e. in Hades :

* 1073. MainovoiTOv — iif^ ivOdSt, i. e. on earth.

1084—1116.3 MEDEA. 45

the race of woman to seek into : for certainly there is a
muse too among us, who dwells with us to teach us
wisdom : not indeed among all women : for fe^ in truth
among many are the race of women which perchance
thou mightest discover, not^ also averse to wisdom.
And I assert that whoever of mortals are wholly untried
and have never begotten children, excel in happiness
those who have been parents. Those on the one hand
who are * childless, from ignorance whether children be a
pleasure or a trouble to mortals, never having had them,
are kept off from many a toil. But those in whose house
is springing up a sweet progeny of children, I see wast-
ing away with anxiety the livelong time : first indeed,
how they shall bring up their children well, then how they
shall leave them means of subsistence : and again after
these anxieties, still it is uncertain whether they be toiling
for the worthless or the good. And one evil, the last of all
that befall mortals, I will now declare : For even grant
that they have acquired a competency and a means of
support, and that their children have grown' up to man-
hood and have turned out a goodly race : yet if this fate*
be theirs, death vanishes with them into Hades bearing
off the lives of their children. How then can it profit
mortals that, for the sake of having children, the goda
in addition to all other evils should still inflict this most
distressing grief upon them ?

Med. My friends, it is now long since awaiting the

' 1089. oi)K Airdfiovaov P. Verissima mihi nanc videtur

But Travpov KoifK airofjt, as emendatio Elrasleii. — Dind.
TToXXd Kai ftsyaXa, — Elmsl. ^ 1094. ol [ibv y* uTiKvoi, P.

TTavpov dk ykvog {fiiav Iv those, at least, who, —
woXKaig ^ 1108. -ffiafiaTa 9* ijprjv

i^poiQ &V t<ra>c) iifrrjXOt TEKVtov. P.

oifK dirdfiovffov, — Elmsl. * 1109. fcvp^asi. P.

46 BIEDEA. [1116—1138.

event I have been in anxious expectation as to affairs in
that quarter, how they will turn out. And even now I
see advancing hither one of the attendants of Jason :
and his agitated breathing shows that he is about to
announce some new calamity.

Messenger. O Medea, thou who hast wrought a
fearful and a * lawless deed, flee, flee, and leave ^ behind
thee neither an ocean car nor chariot that traverses the
plain.

Med. But what event has occurred to me, to demand
this flight?

Mess. The royal damsel hath but just perished, she
and Creon who begat her, by thy poisons.

Med. Most welcome news hast thou spoken; and
from this time henceforth thou shalt be in the number
of my benefactors and my friends.

Mess. What sayest thou? art thou in thy right
senses and not mad, l&dy, thou who joyest to hear that
the royal household has been 7 outraged, and fearest not
such deeds?

Med. I too have somewhat to answer to thy words
at least. But be not hasty, my friend; but tell me
how they perished ; for twice as great joy wouldst thou
give me, if they died in utter misery.

Mess. When thy twofold progeny had arrived vdth
their father and had entered the bridal halls, we rejoiced,

* 1121. irapdvofiSv r'. ira- sensa dicit, "noll& quft potiri
pavSfnag P. thou who hast potes effugiendi opportunitate
lawlessly » &c. omissk :" i, e. neglecting neither.

• 1122. Xtirovtra — Nobis, si — Dind. and Matth.

▼itio caret locus, hyperboUce f 1130. yKi<rfikvri P. thou

yidetur loqui nuncius : ^*fuge, who, hanng outraged the rojal

nee navi uUd nee curru relicto,** household, i. e. hearth of princes,

quo ne quis persequi te possit. joyest at hearing it.
.— Herm. But Xtwovca hoc

1139—1172.] MEDEA. 47

we slaves who were grieving for thy woes ; and straight-
way much whispering passed from ear to ear, that thou
and thy hushand had reconciled yoiir former strife. And
one kisses the hand and another the golden hair of the
children; and I myself too from delight accompanied
thy children into the women's apartments. And the
mistress whom now we reverence in place of thee, before
indeed she saw thy two children, kept her eye fixed
eagerly upon Jason : but then, however, she veiled her
eyes, and turtied away her fair cheek, being annoyed at
the entrance of the children : but thy husband tried to
appease the passion and the anger of the damsel, saying
these words : Be not hostile to thy friends, but cease
from thy wrath, and turn back again thy head, ac-
counting those friends whom thy husband so accounts ;
and receive the presents and entreat thy father to remit
the penalty of exile to these children, for my sake^
And when she looked on the apparel, she held out no
longer, but assented in everything to her husband : and
before their father and thy children were far from the
palace, she took the embroidered robes and put them on,
and placing the golden chaplet around her ringlets, she
arranges her hair by a glittering mirror, smiling at the
lifeless image of her form. And then rising from her
seat she passes through the house, treading delicately,
with snow-white foot, exulting in the gifts, and ever
and anon glancidg from her eyes upon her advanced
instep. But after that however there was a fearful sight
to see. For changing colour she staggers back sidelong
trembling in every limb, and hardly succeeds in throw-
ing herself upon her seat before falling to the ground :
and some old woman of her attendants fancying, I sup-
pose, that sudden terror from Pan or some other god had

48 MEDEA. [1173—1197.

fallen upon her, raised a cry of prayer, until at least she
«aw the white foam, running down ^ from her mouth,
and saw her rolling 9 the balls of her eyes, and that there
was no blood in her complexion. Then she sent forth a
mighty wail responsive to the cry of supplication : and
straightway one rushed to the palace of the father, and
another to the newly married husband, to tell the cala-
mity which had befallen the bride : and the whole house
resounds with the din of frequent footsteps. And by
this time a quick runner stretching his ^ limbs would
have been touching the goal of a course six plethralong ;
when she, from silence ^ and from eyes fast closed, with
fearful groans, she the wretched one awoke : for a two-
fold woe was advancing against her. In the first place,
the golden chaplet that lay upon her head sends forth a
wondrous stream of all-devouring fire; and the fine-spun
robes, the gifts of thy children, were devouring the white
flesh of the ill-fated one. Then leaping from her seat
she flies, all in flames, shaking her locks and her head to
one side and another, striving to cast off the chaplet :
but the gold kept the headband fast, and the fire, when-
e'er she shook her locks, blazed forth the more and twice
as furiously : and she falls to the ground, vanquished by
her evil fate, hardly to be recognised when seen, save by
her sire alone. For neither was the expression of her

^1173. ^id 0T6/ia, P.'' oozing gulari qu&dam vi, aut pro ad-
through her lips." verbiis, aut, quod eodem redit,

' 1174. diro, P. and Elmsl. in tmesi ponantur, retinere na-

" Nob quidem, ut alibi de- turalem accentum suum, qui in

monstravimus, nihil putamus disyllabis est in penult. — Herm.

certius esse quam praeposi- * 1181. ii/IXjca>v.P.ict5Xoi/=

tiones per se non esse oxjtonas, pedem, crus. — Elmsi.

ideoque, ubi aut post nomen, 1182. oLv Hirrfro P.

ad quod pertinent aut ante ^1183. lit. I|. avav^so/x/xa-

nomen quidem sed cum sin- rog from silent eye.

1197—1228.] MEDEA. 49

eyes visible, nor her comely visage, but blood was drip-
ping from the crown of her head, blood mingled with fire,
and the flesh was peeling off from her bones like the tears
that ooze from the fir>tree, with the nnseen gnawings of
poison, a fearful sight. And on all there was a fear of
touching the dead body ; for we had her fate as a warn-
ing. But the wretched father suddenly approaching
the house, in ignorance of the mischance, throws himself
upon the corpse ; and straightway he wailed aloud, and
embracing the body he kissed it, addressing it in such
words as these : " O my ill-fated child, which of the
gods has thus unworthily destroyed thee ? Who is it
that makes the old man verging on the grave to be be-
reaved of thee ? Woe is me, oh that I might die with
thee, my child I But when he had ceased from his
lamentations and wailings, wishing to raise up his aged
body, he kept clinging to the finely spun robes like ivy
to the branches of the laurel, and fearful strugglings
were there : for he was striving to raise his knee from
the ground, but she was holding him back ; and when
any one strove to drag him off by force, he tore the aged
flesh from his bones. But in time the fire of life was
extinguished, and the wretched man breathed out his
soul ; for no longer could he support his misery. And
they lie corpses, the daughter and the aged sire, side by
side ; a misery worthy to be regretted with tears. But
let thy concerns form no part of the account; for thou
wilt thyself discover a refuge from the penalty of guilt :
but not for the first time now do I deem the affairs of
mortal men to be but a shadow, nor should I be afraid
to say that those among men who are deemed to be
wise and subtle reasoners, deserve the imputation of the
greatest folly ; for of mortals there is not one who is a
•f 3

50 MEDEA. [1228—1255.

happy man [Tiappy by nature P.] : yet if wealth flow
in upon him, one man might become more fortunate than
another, but happy would he be never.

Chorus. In this same day, methinks, the god is about
to bring many evils in just retribution upon Jason. O ill-
fated daughter of Creon, how do we bewail thy evil fate,
thou who hast gone to the halls [gates P.^ of Hades,
by reason of thy nuptials with Jason.

Med. My friends, this deed is fixed, that with all
speed I slay my children and then fly this land ; and
not by delay give up my oflspring for a more hostile
hand to murder.* It is absolutely necessary that they
die : and since it is fated, I will slay them, I who brought
them forth. But come, arm thee, my heart ; wherefore
do I hesitate ^ to do these deeds of evil, fearful yet ne-
cessary ? Come, O my wretched hand, grasp thou the
sword, grasp it. On ^ to the starting point of a life of
pain ; and play not the coward, nor even have remem-
brance of thy children, how dear they are to thee, that
thou art their mother : but for this short day at least
forget thy children, and afterward lament : for even
though thou slay them, nevertheless they were dear to
me, and I am an ill-fated woman.

Chob. O Earth and thou all brilliant beam of the
Sun, look down, look on this wretched woman, before
she raise against her children her ensanguined hand,
slayer of its own flesh : for from thy ^ golden seed are

» 1240-1. om. P. * 1245. /SaXjSTJa- irpbe

* 1243. ftj) 'TTpdfTCHV, Elm- dy&va, — Elmsl. /3aXj3tc limen

sleius legit /ai) od, probante significat : iride ad Antig. Soph.

Matthiaeo: quod necessarium 131. — Herm.

esse vix credo : fjirj vgaooeiv

estoioTc u^ icoacoHv, — Schole- • 1256. tolq om. P.

field.

1256—1277.] MEDEA. 51

they sprung, and there is fear "^ for the blood of gods^
that it fall by the hands of men. But do thou, O hea-
ven-bom light restrain her, stay her hand, take forth
from her house the wretched murderous fury, excited by
avenging fiends.^ Fruitless 9 then perishes the toil thou
hast endured for thy children ; fruitlessly, then, hast
thou borne thy loved progeny, O thou that hast left that
most inhospitable entrance between the dark clashing
rocks. O miserable woman, wherefore does the wrath
of thy soul fall so heavily upon thee, and why is hostile
slaughter successively renewed ? For the pollutions of
kindred blood when it falls to the earth is a woeful thing
to mortals, they are curses from the god upon the
house of the murderer, curses in accordance Qwith the
crime].

1st. Child. Woe is me, what shall I do? Whither
may I escape the hands of my mother ?

2d. Child. I know not, my dearest brother, for we
perish !

Chor. Hearest thou the cry, hearest thou the cry of
the children ? O wretched one, O ill-fated woman !
Shall I enter the house ? I deem it right to rescue the
children from murder.

Children. Yea, in the name of the Gods, rescue us ;

■^ 1256. aifiaTi. alfia, P. " It l^cXc. . . . vn'^vwkU^e. If so,

is a fearful thing for the blood dXaardptov must be taken with

of Grods to fall." oiKUiv as an adjective " the

* 1260. *v7r' aXaffrSpatv, house haunted bj fiends'' as

Haec verba alii aliter ezplicant. in Soph. Ant. 974. and iEsch.

Elmsl. This singularly satis- Fr. 416. — Again; oiKtav may

factory announcement is not be taken as dependent on 'Eptviv

followed by any specimen of — "Fury of her house.''

the explauations given, except ' 1262. &pa. P.
that of the Scholiast, viz. :

52 MEDEA. [1277—1303.

for 'twill be in the hour of need ; since even now we are
nearly fallen into the toils of the sword.

Chor. O wretched woman, surely thou must have
been of rock or of iron, thou who wilt slay with thine
own hand the seed thou didst thyself bring forth. One
woman in truth I have heard o^ one woman of all before
thee who raised her hand against her dear children, Ino,
maddened by the gods, when the wife of Jove drove her
forth in distraction from her house, and the wretched
one on account of the impious murder of her children
casts herself into the surge, extending her foot beyond
the ocean cliff, and there she perishes, dying with her
two dead children. What fearful deed then could still
remain to be done? O thou nuptial bed of women
fraught with toils, what great evils hast thou already
inflicted upon mortals !

Jason. Ladies, ye who stand near this house, can it
be that Medea, who has perpetrated these fearful deeds,
is still in these halls, or has she departed in flight ? For ^
she must either be hidden beneath the earth, or have
winged her flight into the expanse of air, if she will
escape giving satisfaction to the house of the king. Trusts
she that having slain the princes of the land, she will
herself escape ^ unpunished from these walls ? Bi^t since
I care not for her as for my offspring, on her indeed
they will inflict evil on whom she has inflicted it : but
I have come to save the lives of my children, that the

» 1296. viv,-'vvv, P. This « 1300. <i0yoff. aOuioi:. P.

emendation is to avoid the tau- But dOCtoe (from dwi)) would

tologj of viv and a^k in the be accented ada>oc* If written

same line: as Elmsl. for <r02 with the circumflex, the word

proposes yk : but Hermann de« is from Quiii^ whence dOuHogs^

fends the vulgar reading. dOi^oQ. cf. Elmsl.

1303—1322.] MEDEA. 53

relations of the dead do them no injury, exacting ven-
geance for the impious murder committed hy their
mother.

Chor. O wretched man, thou knowest not to what a
pitch of misery thou hast come, Jason ; for so never
wouldst thou have uttered these words,

Jason. What is it then ? Can it he that she wishes
to slay me also ?

Chor. Thy children are dead hy their mother's hand.

Jas. Woe is me, what wilt thou tell me ? how thou
hast destroyed me, woman !

Chor. Lay thy plans henceforth under the assurance
that thy children are no more.

Jas. But where did she slay them, without or within
the house ?

Chor. Having opened the gates thou wilt behold the
slaughter of thy children.

Jas. Undo the bolts with all haste, my attendants,
loosen the fastenings, that I may behold a twofold* curse ;
that I may look upon the dead, and avenge myself on
her by her blood.

Med. 3 Wherefore shakest and forcest thou these gates,
searching for the corpses, and for me who have done the
deed ? Cease from this toil. But if thou hast need of
me, say what thou desirest, but never shalt thou touch
me with thy hand. Such a chariot hath the sun, sire
of my sire, given to me, a tower of defence against the
hand of an enemy.

' 1317. Person is of opinion Euripides being quizzed for

that the original copy had his harsh metaphor — Aristoph.

•* ri Tovah kiviXq K&va-' Nubes, 1399. & Kaivwv iviav

fiox^iveig \6yovg ; " Where- Kivrjrd Kai fioxX«vrd — altered

fore dost thou agitate and heave it to the present text,
up these words!'' and that

54 MEDEA. 1323—1353.]

Jas. O thou detested thing, thou woman most hate-
ful to the gods and to me and to the whole race of men !
thou who, a mother, couldst endure to imbue a sword
in the blood of thy children, and hast made me childless
and wretched ; and yet, having done these deeds thou
lookest in the face of both sun and earth, thou who hast
dared a most unholy deed. Mayest thou perish ! But
I now am wise, not being wise then when from thy
home and from a barbarian land I led thee to a Grecian
home, thee a mighty curse, the betrayer of thy sire and
of the land that supported thee. But thy evil genius
the gods have launched upon me ; for it was after hav-
ing slain thine own brother, who shared with thee the
same hearth, that thou didst embark in the ship Argo
with beauteous prow ; from such deeds didst thou com-
mence, and then, when made my wife, and when thou
hadst borne me children, for the sake of thy bed and thy
nuptial couch thou hast slain them. There is no woman
of Greece who would ever have endured to do this deed,
not one of those before whom I consented to marry thee,
an alliance hateful to me and deathful, thee a lioness,
not a woman, with a nature more savage than the
Tyrrhenian Scylla. But not with ten thousand re-
proaches could I sting thee, such daring was bom in
thee : mayst thou go to perdition, perpetrator of shame-
less deeds and polluted with the blood of thy children !
But for me it is left to bewail my evil fate, I who shall
neither enjoy the nuptial bed of my new bride, nor shall
I be able to address my children alive whom I begot
and nurtured, for I have lost them altogether.

Med. I would have spoken at length in answer to
these words, did not our father Jove know what thou
hast received at my hand and what deeds thou hast

fry/- i 4^1

1353—1371.] MEDEA. 55

done to me ; but thou wast mistaken, when thou ex-
pectedst after havrng scorned my marriage bed to lead
a life of pleasure deriding me, nor was the princess nor
he who plighted her to thee in marriage, Creon, likely
to cast me out from this land, unpunished. In reply to
these deeds, call me both a lioness, if thou wilt, and
Scylia, who inhabited the Tyrrhenian ]^Hni ; for, as I CA4-C
ought, I have reached thy heart.

Jas. Yea, but thou thyself also sufferest pain and art
partaker of my misery.

Med. Be sure of that : but even^ suffering answers
its purpose, if thou deride me not.

Jas. O mine offspring, how evil a mother have ye
met with !

Med. O my children, how have ye perished by the
wickedness of your father !

Jas. In sooth 'twas not my right hand at least that
slew them.*

Med. No : but 'twas thine insolence and thy newly
contracted marriage.

Jas. And for the sake of thy marriage bed didst thou
deem it just to slay them ?

Med. And deemest thou that this loss is a trifling
misery to a woman ?

Jas. Aye, to one who is chaste : but thou hast all
evil passions.

Med. These children no longer live : this I know will
sting thee.

Jas. They live, woe is me ! avengers upon thy head.

* 1362. \v6i. XucireXcT. yel*<leyat"significare putat. —
Sch. and Matth. ** melior Elmsl.

tamen mihi videtur Porsoni ' 1365. oif rolvvv *rjfi7^ Se^id

sententia qui XvEi hie '' minuit" <Tp* dirutXeoev F, neyeitheUM

'twas not &c.

5G MBa)EA. [1372—1397.

Med. The gods know who hegau the wrong.
Jas. They know in truth thine abominable soul.
Med. Loathe me ; but thy bitter speech I detest.
Jas. And verily I do thine : but the separation is

Med. How then? What shall I do? for I also
greatly wish it.

Jas. Permit me to bury these corpses and to mourn
over them.

Med. Not I in sooth : for with these hands I will
bury them myself, bearing them to the sacred precinct
of Juno, goddess of the height ; so that no one of their
foes may insult over them, digging up their graves.
But in this land of Sisyphus I will institute a holy fes-
tival and sacred mysteries henceforward, in expiation of
this unholy slaughter. But I myself am about to go to
the land of Erechtheus, to dwell with <^geus, the son of
Pandion : Itnd thou, as is but right, shalt die a wretch
miserably, being struck on the head with a fragment
of the Argo, having seen bitter issue of thy marriage
with me.

Jas. But may the fury of thy children and red-handed
Justice destroy thee.

Med. But what god or what hero listens to thee,
the perjurer, the deceiver of strangers ?

Jas. Ah, thou execrable wretch and murderer of thy
children I •

Med. Begone to thy house, and bury thy bride.

Jas. I go, bereft of my two children.

Med. Thou wailest not yet : wait till thine old age.^

Jas. my children most beloved.

" 1396. yffpa<TK* P. wait and grow old.

1397—1419.] MEDEA. 57

Med. Aye, by their mother, but not by thee.

Jas. If so, why didst thou slay them ?

Med. To bring thee to ruin to be sure.

Jas. Alas ! alas ! I long to cling to the dear lips of
my children, wretch that I am !

Med. Now thou addressest them, now thou salutest
them ; but then thou didst thrust them aside.

Jas. Grant me by the gods to touch the soft flesh of
my children.

Med. It cannot be : thy words are wasted in vain.

Jas. O Jove, hearest thou this ? How I am repelled,
and what wrongs I sufler at the hand of this polluted
lioness, this slayer of her children? But however, so
much as is left me and is in my power, I both bewail
them and offer supplications ! Galling the gods to wit-
ness, how thou hast slain my children, and forbiddest
me to touch them with my hands and to bury their
bodies ; those whom never ought I, who begat them,
to have beheld slaughtered by thy hand.
Chorus.

Jove in Olympus is the dispenser of many fortunes to
mortals, and many events do the gods bring to pass
contrary to expectation : and what seemed likely has
not been accomplished, and for what seemed unlikely
the god hath found out a way : and to such a conclu-
sion hath this matter arrived.

♦a

PHCENISSiE,

DRAMATIS PERSONiE.

JOCASTA.

Padaooous.

Antioone.

Chorus op Ph(enician Womew.

poltnices.

Eteocles.

Creon.

MEN(BCEUS»

Tbiresias.
Messenger.
Second Messenger.
(Edipus.

tB

ARGUMENT.*

£t£Ocles having received the kingdom of Thebes deprives his
brother Poljnices of his share ; and he being exiled having arrived
at Argos ii^arried the daughter of the king, Adrastut. And being am-
bitious of returning to his country and having persuaded his father-
in-law, be collected a soflBcient force against his brother and
marched against Thebes. And his mother Jocasta persuaded him
to come into the citj under a iruoe, and first to have a conferesce
with his brother about the government. But as Eteodes acted
with great haughtiness, in consequence of possessing the sovereign
power, Jocasta indeed was unable to bring her children to friendlj
terms ; and Poljnices retired from the city to draw^ up his armj
as against an enemy. But Teiresias prophesied that those of the
city would be victorious if Meuosceus the son of Creon should be
offered as a sacrifice to Ares. Creon, however, refused to give up
his son to the state ; but the young man desired it, and though his
father gave him means of flight with money, he slew himself.
And the Thebans slew the chieftains of the Argives. And
Eteocles and Folynices killed each other in single combat. Their
mother then having found her two sons dead, slew herself: and
her brother Creon succeeded to the throne. And the Argives
having been worsted in the battle retreated. And Creon, being
very indignant, gave not up to burifd those of the enemy who had
fallen under the wails of Thebes, and cast out Pcdynices without

* This play was acted pro- * vapara^dfAtvoc* — irapa-

bably 01. 91. 3. (b.c. 414), or raKofAevoc. P. The latter is

between that date and 93. 3. so far more conformable to the

(b^. 406.) — DiND. sense that it has been adopted.

ARGUMENT OF THE DRAMA.

funeral rites, and banished (Edipus in exile from his country : in
the latter instance not regarding the laws of men, and in the former,
consulting his passion, and nut feeling compassion in proportion to
the cfdamitj.

ANOTHER ARGUMENT.

When Europa had been carried off by Jove in the ibrm of a
bull and had been carried over the sea from Phoenicia to Crete,
her father Agenor sent his son Cadmus to seek for the damsel,
bidding him, if he did not find her and bring her home, neither
himself to return home any more. And Cadmus, not knowing
how he should act, found but one solution of his difficulty, in be-
taking himself to Apollo, and learning from him what he must da.
Having arrived then at Delphi he inquired of the god concerning
his sister. And he gives him indeed no response concerning
Europa, but tells him to go forth thence, and having followed a
cow to the spot where she should lie down, there also to found a
city. And he obeying the oracle, gave up his return to his native
country, and having by chance found a cow he made her the guide
of his way. And when she bad come to the spot where Thebes
now stands and there suddenly lay down, he both perceived that
the oracle was accomplished, and there founds a city with seven
gates, called Thebes,^ after the hundred gated Thebes in iEgypt ;
employing Amphion the musician as one skilled in architecture and
a cunning workman : for they say that he, by striking up a tune
bewitched the stones with his melody, and by their placing them-
selves one upon another, he produced the walls : and that the city
has seven gates, because also the notes of his lyre were seven.
And the mythical story is as above : but it has been invented by

3 bfiutvvfiog seems to be used here for lirbivvfiog.

ARGUMENT OF THE DRAMA. 5

reason of the walls having been made to harmonize accuratelj with
one another ; for harmony is a property of masic.

Cadmus then having married Harmonia the daughter of Aphro-
dite and Mars, begat Foljdorus, and he Labdacus and he Laius.
This man having gone on a time to £Iis, and having seen Chrysip-
pus the son of Felops, (who was bom to him by another wife and
not Hippodameia the daughter of ^nomaus) and being seized
with a violent passion for him, carried him off by force to Thebes.
And he had unnatural connexion with him, being the first among
men to discover unnatural crime, just as Jove also among the
gods, who carried off Ganymedes. And Felops having learned
this invoked a curse upon Laius, that he might never beget a
child ; or if ever it should so happen, that he might fall by his
hand. For this reason Laius being now for a long time childless
goes to the Fy thia and asks for a race of children. And he hears
a response to this effect.

*' Laius, thou son of Labdacus, thou askest for a prosperous race
of children. Thou shalt indeed beget a dear son, but this shall
be thy fate, to lose thy life by the hands of thine own child. For
so hath Jove confirmed it, having consented to the hateful impre-
cations of Felops whose dear son thou didst carry away ; and he
invoked against thee all these curses."

Which oracle Laius having as it were forgotten in desire for
his wife Jocasta and his sensual gratification, or, as some say,
being one day intoxicated with wine and having had intercourise
with his wife, he begets CEdipus. And after his birth Laius,
pondering over the oracle, and becoming alarmed, having bored a
hole through his feet and fastened rings of gold through them,
exposes him, by means of the herdsmen of his household, on
mount Cithaeron j as being likely to be there devoured by wild
beasts. But it happened at the same time that the herdsmen of
Folybus king of Corinth were also feeding their cattle there : who
also having found the infant and having taken it up bear it to
Merope the wife of Folybus. For she suffered the misfortune of
barrenness ; and by some means she persuades her husband that
she was herself the mother of this infant. And when the child
had grown to manhood, and had quarrelled with some one there,
as indeed often happens, he was insulted by him with the assertion
that he was not the son of Folybus. Wherefore he rose up and

6 ARGUMENT OF THE DBAMA.

journejred to Apollo, to inquire concerning diis matter. And be
learns that he is .to be the murderer of his father and that he will lie
with his mother, this only : but who his parents might be be does
not learn for certain. And on his way back from thence he met
Lains, himself also joume3ring to Apollo to discover concerning
the child who had been exposed, whether he was dead. And the
attendant of La'ius bids him make way a little for the king. But
(Edipus being possessed with haughtiness, and in no way putting
up with this, slays both the attendant and widi him hit master,
not knowing that he had become a parricide, and one only of the
followers of Laius having escaped, who indeed afterwards dis-
closed the murder, as Sophocles says in the (Edipus Tyrannus.
Then therefore CEdipus having taken the horses of Lai'us and all
be hady returns to Corinth, and giving all these things to Folybus
in return for bringing him up, he goes forth from thence, fearing
the oracle concerning his slaying his father and lying with his
mother. Por he supposed that Folybus and his wife were his
parents. And he arrives at Thebes ; which city was at that time
vexed by the Sphinx, by her both chanting oracles and carrying
off any one of the citizens she chose and destroying him, because
they could not understand the oracles pronounced by her. But
it was Mars who brought her upon the Thebans, avenging himself
on them for the death of his offspring the dragon ; whom Cadmus
slew, and sowed his teeth, from which sprung up the Giants.
And the Sphinx was a monster having the face of a virgin but the
breast and the paws and the feet and the claws of a lion, and the
tail of a serpent, and the wings of a bird, with which she flew.
And she happened at that time to have propounded to the Thebans
a riddle to this effect, as Asclepiades records it;

*^ There is a thing upon the earth having two feet, and four feet
and three feet, whose voice is one. And it alone changes its form
of all things that move, creeping upon the earth, or soaring in the
air, or in the deep. But whenever it goes on the greater number
of feet, then is there feebler vigour in its limbs."

Which being uninterpreted, Creoa the brother of Jocasta the
queen proclaimed by a herald that whoever could find out the riddle,
to him would he unite his sister. And CEdipus, who, as we said,
was living there at the time, having heard the proclamation, both

augument of the drama. 7

solves the riddle of the Sphinx and, without knowing it, takes his
mother to wife. Bat he solved it thus, as they say ;

Hearken, though reluctantly, Muse of the dead, bird of evil wing,
hearken to my voice, the end of thy wickedness. Thou hast de-
scribed man ; who when he crawls upon earth, is born at first four-
footed, an infant from the womb; but when an old man, he leans
upon a staff, a third foot, supporting his neck, being bowed down
with old age.

But the Sphinx having heard the solution straightway destroys
herself, by letting herself fall from aloft in the air. And (Edipus
having lived with his mother, and begotten four children on her,
(male children, indeed, Eteocles and Polynices, and females,
Antigone and Ismene), when he discovered afterwards his incest,
blinded himself. And Eteocles and Polynices, wishing in some
way to suppress the reproach, shut him up in a small chamber
where, being seen by no one, he might pass into oblivion, as far
as concerned that matter. And he being vehemently angered im-
precates upon them a curse, that they may divide the kingdom
with the sword. They then, fearing their father's imprecations,
contrive a plan to this effect ; that they should hold the govern-
ment one at a time, and that the one should give place to the
other in it. Eteocles therefore, as being the first-born of the bro-
thers, was the first to take possession of the throne, and Polynices
retired : and when a year had been accomplished, he came to his
brother, demanding that he also should reign for a year. But
Eteocles both refused to resign his power, and sent his brother
away with disgrace. And he in his wanderings came to Argos,
and having taken to wife the daughter of the king Adrastus, he
persuades his kinsman to take part with him in the recovery of his
kingdom. And having received from him a very large army, he
marches against his brother. And how their mother, who wished
to reconcile her children before the engagement, could not pre-
vail ; and how Teiresias prophesied that if Menceceus the son of
Creon would slay himself over the dragon's den, the Thebans would
be victorious over the Argives ; and how these things came to
pass, and the chieftains of the Argives fell, all except Adrastus ;
and how Eteocles and Polynices, fighting in single combat with
one ano^er, were slain each by the other ; and bow Jocasta hav-

8 ARGUMENT OF THE DRAMA..

ing come to them and found them dead slew herself with them ;
and how Creon having ohtained the go.vemment huries indeed
Eteodes, but allowed Foljnioes to remain unburied, and drove
(Edipus forth from the city ; all these things Euripides narrates
in detail in this play. And the present drama is one of the most
select, abounding as it does in sentiments and maxims, numerous
and elegant and diversified, and in the best possible handling, and
throughout very excellent, even if it has an improbability in the
entrance of Folynices into Thebes. And it has received the name
of the ** Fhcenioian Women" of Euripides from the chorus, in
contradistinction to the " Seven against Thebes" of JEschylus ; for
he also makes use of this argument in the latter. But the virgins
themselves the descendants of Agenor have sent from Fhcenioia
as an offering to Apollo ; and they on their way to Delphi, put in
at Thebes, by reason of Cadmus also, as we said above, being from
Phoenicia. And the war having overtaken them there they were
compelled to remain until the conflict should cease.

PH(ENISS^.

Joe AST A.
1—18.]

O THOU who cleavest a path through the stars of hea-
ven, mounted aloft on a chariot iniaid with gold, whirl-
ing onward the flame of day with thy swift coursers, O
Sun! how ill-omened a heam didst thou shed upon
Thebes on that day when Cadmus arrived at this land
having left the maritime shore of Phoenicia ; he who
formerly having married Harmonia daughter of the
Cyprian goddess, begat Polydorus ; and from him they
say that Labdacus was sprung, and from him Laius.
And I indeed am called the daughter of Menoeceus, and
my brother Creon was bom from the same mother ; but
they name me Jocasta, for that name my father im-
posed upon me ; and Lains was my husband. Bui
since he was childless, though for a long time having
my bed in his house, he goes to enquire of Phoebus, and
at the same time prays for a father's share with me in
the offspring of male children for bis house. But he
answered, " O king of Thebes rejoicing in horses, sow
not seed into a childbearing furrow in despite of the gods.

10 PHGENISS^. [19 — 49.

For if thou shalt beget a sod, he who is born shall slay
thee, and thy whole house shall perish in bloodshed."
But he, giving himself up to pleasure and having become
drunken, begat a child to me : and having begotten the
infant, remembering his fault and the warning of the
god, he gives the babe to his herdsmen to expose on the
pastures of Hera, and the bare crag of Cithseron, having
passed spikes of iron through the middle of his ankles,
whence Hellas gave him the name of (Edipus. But the
feeders of the horses and oxen of Poly bus having taken
him convey him home and placed him in the hands of
their mistress. And she suckles at the breast the child
of my throes, and persuades her husband that she was
the mother. But when he was now arriving at man-
hood, with ruddy cheeks, my son either having disco-
vered what had happened or having learned it from some
one, set forth, wishing to learn who were his parents, to
the temple of Phoebus : as also did my husband Laius,
seeking to know concerning the child who had been
e3q)osed, whether he was no longer living. And they
twain met on the same spot, where the Phocian road
divides ; and the charioteer of Laius commands him, " O
stranger, stand out of the way of princes ;** but he went
on without a word, being very proud. And the horses
wounded the insteps of his feet with their hoofs. After
which, why need I tell what are beside my woes ? The
son slays the father, and having taken his chariot gives
them to Polybus who brought him up. And when the
Sphynx was weighing down our city by her ravages,
and my husband no longer lived, my brother Creon pro-
claims my bed publicly, that he will join me in marriage
to him, whoever should interpret the riddle of the cun-
ning virgin. And somehow my son (Edipus chances

51 — 77.] PHCENISSJE. 11

to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, ^ wherefore he is ap-
pointed ruler of this country, and receives the sceptre of
this land as his prize. And he marries her who brought
him forth, the wretched man, not knowing it, neither
himself nor his mother, that she was lying with her
son. And I bear children to my child, two indeed sons,
Eteocles and the renowned mighty Polyneices, and two
daughters; the one indeed her father named Ismene,
but the elder I called Antigone. And GSdipus,* he
who has endured all woes, having discovered the bed he
shared with me, of incestuous intercourse, inflicts a fear-
ful deed of blood on his own eyes, by mangling the
pupils with gold- wrought T>uckles. But when my chil-
dren's cheeks grew dark with the beard, they concealed
their father vdth bolted doors, that the mischance might
fade from men s memory, a mischance that stood in need
of many an artifice. And he is still living within the
palace, but, frenzied with his misfortune, he invokes
most unholy curses upon his children, that with the
sharp sword they may divide the inheritance of this
house. And they twain, becoming alarmed lest the
gods should cause these prayers to be accomplished if
they dwelt together, having come to terms agreed that
Polyneices, the younger, should first go into voluntary
exile from this country, and that Eteocles remaining
behind should hold the sceptre of the land for a year,
giving it up in his turn. But now that he is settled on
the seat of 'government,^ he drives away Polyneices in
exile from this land. And he having gone to Argos,
having contracted with Adrastus an alliance by mar-

* 51. om. P. * two bodies together, cross-

^ 60. cm. P. beam ; hence teat,

' 74. Kvybv, that which joins

tc

12 PHCENISSJE. [78—103.

riage, having drawn together many a shield of Argive
warriors, leads them on ; and having marched up even
to these seven gated walls, he demands back the sceptre
of his fathers, and his share of the land. But I, in
order * to appease their strife, have persuaded one son
to come in to the other, under a truce, before they lay
hold on the spear. And the messenger who was sent,
says that he will come. But O thou who inhabitest the
glittering cloudclefts of heaven, O Jove ! save us, and
grant a reconciliation between my sons. For thou
oughtest, if thou art wise, not to suffer the same among
mortals always to be unfortunate.

P^DAGOGUS.

O Antigone, renowned branch of the house of thy
father, since thy mother hath permitted thee to leave the
maiden's apartments as far as to the topmost chamber of
the palace, that thou mayest see the Argive host at thy
entreaty, stay, that I may first explore the road.* Can
there be any one of the citizens in the way ? lest evil
reproach should fall upon me as a slave, and upon thee
as a princess. But I will tell thee all, for I know it,
both what I saw and heard from the Argives, when
bearing a truce to thy brother I went thither hence, and
back again here from him. But no one of the citizens
comes near this palace; pass forth from the ancient
stairs of cedar-wood with your foot ; and view the
plains, and by the streams of Ismenus and the fountains
of Dirce, how great is the host of the enemy.

ANTIGONE.

Stretch forth, then, stretch forth thine aged hand to

* 81. \vov(t\ p. • rtQ IT. (pavraZv'^^ ) ^^^ altera

^ 93-4. Duae consttuctiones continuatur verbis Kafioi ftkv

in unam conflatSB sunt; firi t\9y» — Mattii.

(num) ruQ tt. ^avrdl^iTai et ftri

103—132.] PH(ENISSiE. 13

my youthful one, from the stairs, raising up the step of
my foot.

Fjed. Here, grasp it, damsel, and thou hast arrived
at the proper moment ; for the Pelasgian host is just
now in motion, and they are separating their companies
from one another.

Ant. O Hecate, awful daughter of Latona ! the whole
plain gleams, as of brass.

P^D. Aye, for with no mean force hath Poljnieices
come against the land ; but clattering with many horses,
indeed, and with innumerable arms.

Ant. Can it be that the gates are closely secured with
bars, and the brass-bound fastenings of the wall with
the stone- wrought engines of Amphion ?

PiBD. Be of good courage ; as regards its interior at
least the city is secure. But look upon the foremost
warrior, if thou desirest to know his name.

Ant. Who is this with the snowy plume, who in
front of a host of men leads the way, brandishing a bra-
zen shield upon his arm.

Fjed. a captain of a company, O lady.

Ant. Who he is, from whom descended, tell me, old
man, what he is named.

Fmd. This man is called by race a Myceneean, and
he dwells by the w^aters of Lem^ ; king Hippomedon.

Ant. Oh, oh, how haughty, how terrible to look
upon, like unto an earth-born giant, starlike in the
engraving of his shield, and not resembling the race of
short-lived mortals.

Pjsd. Seest thou not this captain who is passing by
the waters of Dirce ?

Ant. .a different, a different fashion of armour is this :
who then is this ?

14 PHGENISS^ Ql33 — 159.

P^D. This is Tydeus, the son indeed of CEneus ; but
he hath ^iolian Mars within his breast.

Ant. Is this the husband of the bride, old man, her-
self the sister of Polyneices ? How foreign-looking in
his arms, half barbarian !

P^D. Aye, for all the -^tolians are wielders of the
buckler, my child, and with javelins are most expert
marksmen.

Ant. But thou, old man, how dost thou perceive
these things so clearly ?

PiBD. Having seen the devices on their shields I then
examined them when I went to bear terms of truce to
thy brother ; and having observed them, I know those
clad in the armour.

Ant. But who is this who is passing near the monu-
ment of Zethus, with long ringlets, stem of eye, a youth
to look upon ? He is a captain ; ^ for a multitude in full
armour is following behind him.

P^D. This is Parthenopseus, the son of Atalante.

Ant. But may Artemis who ranges the mountains
with his mother, with her darts quell and slay him, who
hath come against my city to destroy it !

P^D. May it be so, my child. But vdth justice have
they come against the land ; wherefore also I fear, lest
the gods look upon it impartially.

Ant. But where is he who was bom from the same
mother as myself, with a fate of many woes ? O dearest
old man, tell me, where is Polyneices ?

Fmd. He stands by the side of Adrastus near the

^ 148. UA. XoxayoQ, AN. to Dind. the punctuation should

wQ ox^og K, r.X. P.— P^d, He be, vtaviaQt Xox«y^C ; Who is

is a captain. — Ant. How a this captain, etc.? How a

crowd, etc. ! But according crowd, etc. !

160—192.] PHiENiss^. 15

tomb of the seven virgin daughters of Niobe. Seest
thou?

Ant. I see in sooth not clearly, but in a manner I see
the outline of his figure and the semblance of his bust.
Oh that with my feet I might accomplish the course of
a cloud swift as the wind, through the ether, to mine
own brother ! and fling mine arms about the beloved
neck of him for so long a wretched exile ! How con-
spicuous he is in his golden armour, old man, blazing
like the eastern beams of the sun ?

Pjsd. He is coming to this palace, so as to fill thee
with joy, under a truce.

Ant. But this one, old man, who is this^ who is
driving a chariot of white steeds, mounted aloft ?

P^D. This, O lady, is the prophet Amphiaraus : vic-
tims accompany him, libations'' for blood-loving earth.

Ant. O Moon, daughter of the bright-girdled sun,
thou golden orb of light, how calmly and prudently he
is directing his car, applying the goad to each steed in
turn ! But where is he who utters such fearful insolence
against this city, Capaneus ?

Fmd. There he is, calculating the approaches to the
towers, measuring the walls from top to bottom.

Ant, O Nemesis, and deep-rolling thunders of Jove,
and thou scorching fire of lightning, mayest thou, in sooth,
lay in the sleep of death overweening pride ! This is
he, who will give Theban women, captive by the spear,
to Mycenee and to the Lerneean trident, the waters of
Poseidon Amymon, having involved them in slavery.
Never, never, O awful goddess, O Artemis, scion of
Jove, with golden ringlets, may I endure this slavery.

7 174. poai. P. "streams."
tc 3

16 PHCENissiE. [193—226.

PiED. O my child, enter the palace, and remain under
the roof^ within thy maiden apartments, since thou hast
arrived at the gratification of thy desire of those things
which thou didst desire to behold. For a crowd of
women is advancing to the royal abode, since confusion
has come into the city. But a censorious thing is the
female sex, and if they get but small occasions for talk-
ing, they introduce more in addition ; and it is a sort of
pleasure for women to say no one wholesome word of
one another.

CHORUS.

From the Tyrian wave have I come, first-fruits for
Loxias, from the Phoenician^ island, a slave of the tem-
ple of Phoebus ; that beneath the snow-beaten crags of
Parnassus I might make my dwelling; 9 having voyaged
with the oar through the sea that ^ washes Ionia, since,
over the sterile expanse that washes the shores of Sicily
around, Zephyr rode on the gale, the softest murmur in
the heavens ; chosen forth from out of my city, as fairest
gifts to Loxias. And I have come to the land of the
Cadmeans, the renowned race of Agenor, having been
conducted hither to the kindred towers of Laius. But
like unto golden-wrought statues, I have become a ser-
vant to Phoebus. But still the water of Castalia awaits
me, to * moisten my locks, an ornament to virgins in the
service of Phoebus. O thou rock that lightest up the
twin-peaked brilliancy of fire over the heights of Bac-

8 204. *. vaooQ, sc. Tyre. sic dictum sed qiiod loniam

* 207. KaTEvdo^f}, typotbetae allueret. — Valck.

errore legitur pro KarevdffOpv, * 224. irapQkviov •xkMv. —

'iva KarsvdffSrriv, * ut habitci- pro '6 (sc. rb dsvffai Kd^ao)

rem.* — Dind. iragOkviOQ "x^ttii lori. —

* 208. *l6viov Kara ttovtov. Matth.
Per Ionium mare non proprie

227-- 270.] PHCENiss^" 17

cbus, and thou vine of Dionysus, who lettest fall day
by day the fruitful cluster of the vine stock, putting
it forth ; and ye, divine caves of the serpent, and
mountain watchtowers of the gods, and thou, sacred
snow-beaten mountain. Oh that, wheeling the dance,
I might become a chorus to the immortal goddess, free
from alarms, by the dells sacred to Phoebus, in the
centre of earth, having forsaken Dirce ! But now, I
ween, impetuous Mars having advanced before the
walls is kindling hostile slaughter against this city, —
but may it never come to pass ! For the woes of
friends are in common : and if any thing shall happen
to this land of the seven towers, 'twill be shared by
the country of Phoenicia. Alas, alas ! common is our
blood, of common lineage were born the children of
horn-bearing lo : and in their woes I have a part. But
around the city a thick cloud of shields is gleaming, the
array of bloody conflict, a conflict which Mars speedily
will experience, who brings upon the sons of CEdipus
the woe of avenging Furies. O Pelasgian Argos, I
fear thy might and the power of the gods ; for no unjust
contest is this into which thou art rushing in arms, and
which is visiting this house.

Pol. The bars indeed of the gate-wardens admitted
me readily, to come within the walls. For which very
reason I fear lest having caught me within their toils,
they will not let my person out unstained with blood.
Wherefore I must turn my eyes in every direction, both
to this side and that, lest there be some treachery. But
as I have my hand armed with this sword, I will give
myself the confidence of courage. Ha ! Who is that ?
Or is it merely a noise I fear ? For every thing appears
formidable to those who daKQ^dajigerou^ deeds, when the

18 raoENissiE. [271—299.

foot is passing through a hostile land. However, I put
trust in my mother, and at the same time I trust her
not, she who has persuaded me to come hither under
truce. But succour is at hand ; for the hearths of altars
are near and the house is not deserted. Come, let me
put away my sword into the darkness of its sheath, and
enquire of these damsels, who they are that stand near
the palace. Ye stranger women, tell me from what
country ye draw near to Grecian abodes ?

Chorus. Phoenicia indeed is my native land that
reared me ; but the descendants of the sons of Agenor
sent me hither for Phoebus, as fifstfruits of the spear.
^And the renowned son of CEdipus being about to con-
duct me to the awful abode of the oracle, and the hearth
of Loxias, in the meanwhile the Ajrgives marched against
the city. But do thou answer me in turn, who art thou
who hast come to the seven gated fortress of the land
of Thebes ?

Pol. My father indeed was CEdipus the son of
Laius; and Jocasta was my mother, the daughter of
Menoeceus : and the Theban people call me Poljueices.

Chorus. kinsman of the sons of Agenor, kinsman
of my princes, by whom I was sent hither, on bended
knee I fall down before thee, O king, observing the
custom of my home. Oh, after long time thou hast«
come to the land of thy fathers ! Ho ! lady, come
forth with hasty step, throw wide the gates ! O mother
that didst bear this man, why delayest thou to pass

* 283. Oratio est draic6- wl/iTr. fie Old, k\, yovog may

\ov9oCt pro ftkWwv 6k irkfiir' be taken as a nominative abso-

/!£ Oi^. icX. yor., licwXuOij ry lute.

ToiiQ *Apytiovg iinaTpaTivaai, * 295. ifiaQ twice. P.
— Matth. Or, /icXXoiv 6k

300 — 334.] PHCENissiE. 19

forth from the lofty halls, and to embrace thy child in
thine arms ?

JOCASTA.

damsels, hearing within this palace a Phoenician
cry, I drag along the steps of my feet, tremulous with
old age. O my child, after long time, in the space
of innumerable days, have I beheld thy face. Cast
thy breast into the arms of thy mother, and put forth
thy cheeks, and the dark locks of the ringlets of thy
hair, overshadowing my neck with them. Oh, oh ! thou
who hast with difficulty, unexpectedly, unlocked for,
appeared to the arms of thy mother, what must I say
to thee ? How encircling thy whole'body both on this
side and that, may I obtain both with hands and words
a varied pleasure, the gratification of ancient joys? O
my child, my child, thou hast left the house of thy
fathers desolate, having been driven forth an outcast by
thine own brothers wrong, assuredly regretted by thy
friends, assuredly regretted by Thebes ! From ^ which
time I at least am shorn of my white locks in token of
mourning, neglecting them with weeping ; and stripped
of white robes, my child, I exchange them for these
dark rags of ill-omened blackness, ^ casting them around
me. But he in the palace, the old man bereft of sight,
possessing ever a tearful regret for the kindred pair that
has been unyoked from his house, at one time is for
rushing upon suicidal death by the sword, or ascending
above the chambers attempts to hang himself,^ groaning

* 322. Locus videtur cor- se est pro d/jt^iPaXKovaa* —
ruptus. P. Matth.

323. daKpvdeffffav 'Ulaa, * 333. vTrhp rspsfivd r*

P. dyxovag, Superascendens lec-

* 325. &fi(pi non jungen- ta (ubi semotus esset ab arbitris)
dum cum ^/i6i/3o/iat, sed per ruit in laqueos. — Valck,

20 PHCEa*iss^ [335 — 365.

forth curses against his children; and at others ever
with the wailings of lamentations he conceals himself in
darkness.^ But of thee, my child, I hear in sooth
that thou united in a foreign marriage hast in thy house
the pleasure of hegetting children, and that thou hast
made a foreign alliance, woes never to be forgotten by
thy mother here and Laius, him of old, the disgrace of
alien wedlock. But neither did I kindle for thee the
light of fire, which is customary at marriages, as becomes
a happy mother; nor was Ismenus celebrated by the
nuptial rite of drawing water; but throughout the city
of the Thebans the bringing home of thy bride was
passed over in silehceJ May he perish who hath done
these things, whether the sword or strife or thy father
be the cause, or whether the god hath burst in upon the
house of (Edipus ; for against me the woe of these evils
has come.

Chorus. A strange influence on women have the chil-
dren bom from their pangs, and the whole female sex is,
somehow, attached to its oflspring.

Pol. My mother, wisely and yet not wisely have I
come among my enemies ; but it is compulsory on all
to desire their native land ; and he who says otherwise,
rejoiceth indeed in words, but hath his mind there.
And so I entertained some fear and alarm lest some
treachery on the part of my brother should kill me, and
so, with my hand armed with a sword I passed through
the city, casting my glances around. But one thing is
my succour, the truce and thy good faith, which
brought me Qhou who didst bring me P.] within the

^ 335. ffKOTi^, P. ampliorem descriptionem posuit

^ 350. oXoiro rdd\ Debe- kire—0idiir6da.—DivD,
bat addi 6 dpdffaif pro quo

366—389.] PHCENiss^. 21

walls of my fathers ; and I arrived with many tears, at
beholding after so long a time the temples and altars of
the gods, and the gymnastic schools in which I was
educated, and the waters of Dirce ; from which unjustly
banished I inhabit a foreign city, having a fount of tears
streaming from my eyes. But after my griefs I behold
again another grief in thee, with thy head shaven with
the razor and in dark vestments ; woe is me for my
miseries ! How fearful a thing, O my mother, is en-
mity between friends of the same house, and how Mif-
ficult are the reconciliations it admits of ! But what
does my aged father, within the house, whose light is
darkness ? and what my two sisters ? They groan, I
ween, for my wretched exile.

Joe. Some one of the gods is bringing the race of (Edipus
to utter destruction ; for with this did he commence it,
that I indeed should become a mother in disobedience to
the law, and then that thy sire should contract an accursed
marriage, and that thou shouldest be bom. But what
is all this? "We must bear the decrees of the gods.
But I am afraid of asking thee the questions I desire to
know, lest I vex thy soul : but with a longing desire
have I come.

Pol. Well, ask on, leave nothing deficient ; for what
thou desirest, my mother, those things are pleasant to
me also.

Joe. Well then I ask thee first of the things I desire
to know. What is it to be deprived of one's native
land ? A great evil, is it not ?

Pol. The greatest ; and in fact more than in words.

®376. Sv&kvTovg. perb.sa (i7r6povc 'rpic to Xvhv (rrjv
txopav sc.)

22 PHOENissiE. [390 — 405,

. Joe. What fashion of life is it? What is the hard-
ship to exiles ?

Pol. One of the greatest is, the exile has not freedom
of speech.

Jog. This that thou hast said is the lot of a slave,
not to express wl^t one feels.

Pol. He must bear the follies of those in power.

Joe. And this tbo is grievous, to be a fool with the
foolish.

Pol. Moreover, for gain he must play the slave, con-
trary to his nature.

Joe. But their hopes feed exiles, as they say.

Pol. Aye, they look on them with gracious eyes,
but they are slow in coming.

Joe. But does not time show them to be vain ?

Pol. They have a sort of pleasure that sweetens
woes.

Joe. But on what means didst thou live, before find-
ing support by thy marriage ?

Pol. Sometimes I had sufficient for the day, and at
other times I might have nothing.

Joe. But did not thy father's friends and allies assist
thee ?

Pol. 9Be prosperous, — but the assistance of friends is
nothing, if one is in adversity.

Joe. But did not even thy noble birth exalt thee to
high station?

Pol. *T is an evil thing to have nothing ; my birth
fed me not.

• 403. £v irpdffffe, Interpre- stat particula 5'. The sense is,

tatur/iij^a/iwc Valckenaeriuset Be prosperous^ — and you may

comparat cum ^ri\u} <Tif Med. expect assistance: oonf. Luke

60 EVTVxoiric, ovaio, Sed ob- ziii. 9.

406 — 424.] PH(ENissiE. 23

Jog. Their native land, as it seems, is a thing most
■dear to mortals.

Pol. Thou couldst not even express by words how
dear it is.

Joe. But how earnest thou to Argos ? What inten-
tion hadst thou ?

Pol. Loxias delivered a certain oracle to Adrastus.

Joe. What oracle ? What is this thou hast said ? I
have not heard it.

Pol. That he should unite his daughters in marriage
to a wild boar and a lion.

Joe. And what hadst thou to do with the names of
wild beasts, my son ?

Pol. I know not. The deity summoned me to the
chance.

Joe. Yea, for the God is wise. But in what way
didst thou gain the marriage ?

Pol. It was night, and I went to the portico of
Adrastus.

Joe. Seeking a resting-place, like a wandering exile ?

Pol. Even so ; and then in sooth there came another
exile, again.

Joe. Who was he ? how wretched then must he also
have been !

Pol. Tydeus, who, they say, is sprung from CEneus,
for his father.

Joe. In what respect then did Adrastus liken you to
wild beasts ?

Pol. Because we proceeded to fight for our lairs.

Joe. Then the son of Talaus understood the oracles ?

Pol. And gave to us twain the two damsels.

Joe. Art thou happy then in thy marriage, or unfor-
tunate ?

24 PHCENlssiE. J[4}25 — 450.

Pol. My marriage, up to the present time, is not to
be found fault with.

Joe. But how didst thou persuade an army to follow
thee hither ?

Pol. Adrastus sware this oath to his two sons-in-law,
*both Tydeus and myself — for he is connected with me
by marriage — that he would restore both of us to our
country, but me first. And many valiant men of the
Argives and Myceneeans are with me, showing me a
favour that is grievous to me, but necessary ; for I am
marching against mine own city. But I have sworn
by the gods how unwillingly I have raised the spear
against my loved parents. But the cessation of these
evils extends itself to thee, my mother, that thou, by
reconciling friends who are of the same blood, cause me
and thyself and the whole city to rest from calamities.
'Tis an old song indeed, but nevertheless I will repeat
it : wealth among men is most valued, and has the
greatest power of all things among mortals. And this
is what I have come for, leading hither innumerable
spears ; for a poor nobleman is nobody.

Chorus. And lo, Eteocles advances hither to a
friendly conference ; 'tis thy part Jocasta, his mother,
to speak such words as with which thou wilt reconcile
thy children.

ETEOCLES.

Mother, I am here. And giving thee this gratification,
I have come. What are we to do? Let some one
begin the conference : for I have stayed from marshal-
ling the city about the walls and the chariots of the
troops, that I might hear from thee thy common arbitre-

'428. om. P.»

451 — 481.] PHCENisaE. 25

ment, for which thou ha^t admitted this man under
truce, within the walls, having persuaded me.

Jog. Hold ! in sooth haste brings not with it justice ;
but deliberate arguments produce the greatest amount
of wisdom. But repress thy stem look and the heav-
ings of thy rage ; for thou art not looking on the severed
head of the gorgon, but upon thy brother, who has
arrived. And do thou again turn thy face towards thy
brother, Polyneices ; for letting your eyes meet, thou
wilt both speak better thyself, and better receive this
man's words. But I desire to impart to you both sage
advice: when a friend, being incensed with a friend,
after meeting him looks him in the face, those matters
alone he ought to consider concerning i/j^hich he has
come, and to have no remembrance of any former evil.
'Tis thy part then to speak first, my son Polyneices ;
for thou hast come leading an army of the sons of
Danaus, having suffered injury, as thou allegest ; but
may some one of the gods be a judge and a reconciler of
evil.

Pol. Simple is the speech of truth, and justice stands
not in need of subtle explanations ; for it has its due
weight of itself; but the argument of injustice having
disease within itself requires skilful drugs. Now I first
regarded the interests of my father's house, considering
both my advantage and this man s, wishing to escape the
curses which CEdipus formerly pronounced against us,
I myself voluntarily retired from this land ; having per-
mitted him to rule over the country for a revolving year,
on condition that I again should have the sovereignty,
receiving it in turn ; and not that, becoming at enmity
and bloody feud with this man, I should do and suffer
some evil, as is the case. And he having assented to

26 PHCENiss^. [481 — 509^

these things, and having called the gods to witness his
oath, has done nothing of what he promised, but keep»
the sovereignty himself, and my share of the palace.
Now I am ready, when I have received mine ovm, to
convey the army out of this land and to dwell in mine
own house, receiving it by turn, and again to resign it
to this man for an equal time» and neither to ravage my
country, nor apply to its towers the approaches by
jointed scaling-ladders ; which things, if I receive not
my right, I will try to do. And I call the gods to wit-
ness these things, how acting in every way with justice
I am deprived without justice of my native land most
impiously. These several particulars, my mother, I
have stated^ without stringing together the intricacies of
arguments, but only what is just to the wise and the
foolish, in my opinion.

Chor. To me indeed, even although I was not reared
on Grecian land, nevertheless thou seemest to speak
words of good sense.

Eteo. If to all the same thing was naturally good
and wise at the same time, there would never have
been ambiguous strife among men ; but as it is, nothing
appears either alike or in the same degree, to mortals,
save only in calling things * by the same name, but this
is by no means their substance. For I, my mother, will
speak out concealing nothing : I would have gone to the
rising of the stars of heaven and beneath the earth, if
able to effect this, to hold the mightiest dominion of the-
gods. This advantage, therefore, my mother, I do not
wish to give up to another rather than to keep it for
myself. For 'tis cowardice in him, whoever possessing

' 502. hv6na<Jiv» P. " except in their names" —

510—534.] , PH(ENiss-E. 27

the more, takes up with the less. And besides this, I
am ashamed that this man who has come in arms and is
ravaging the land should obtain what he desires ; for to
Thebes this would become a reproach, if from fear of the
spear of Mycenee I were to surrender my sceptre for this
man to hold. And he ought to have attempted the
reconciliation not in arms ; for ^ argument is capable of
compelling all that the sword of the enemy might effect.
But if he is willing to dwell in the land on other terms,
it is permitted him ; but I will not willingly give up
that, when it is in my power to rule, that I should ever
be this man's slave. Wherefore let fire come, and let
swords come, yoke ye your steeds, fill the plains with
chariots, since I will not resign to this man my dominion.
For since we must act unjustly, 'tis most honourable to
be unjust for the sake of empire, but in all other matters
we must act righteously.

Chor. One ought not to speak fair words, * except
his deeds be fair also : for this is not fair, but bitter in
the sight of justice.

Joe. my son Eteocles, not every evil is imposed
upon old age, but its experience is able to show forth
somewhat that is wiser than the young can show. Why
desirest thou Ambition, my son, the most pernicious of
deities ? Do not thou at least so ; the goddess is unjust ;
and into many happy homes and cities hath she entered
and gone out again to the destruction of her entertain-

'516. UaipH — P. ''gains" — * 526. fi^* xt ToXg Ipy icaX*

516. Recte Cruserius in Plut. pro Iwi Ipydtf /ii) KoXoXe dic-

vertit ** omne id ezpugnare turn putat MatthiaB. (t. e, on

verba compta ferrum quod mi- unfair actions.) — But Scbole-

naz possit." et quod proprie de field would give a possessive

ferro dici poterat, ad orationem, force to the Art. {toiq), as if it

quse similem vim habet» com- were, ti rd ipya (roi) fci) KdKa

mode transfertur.^-MATTH. lerri. —

tD 3

28 PHCENissiE. [^535 — 562^

ers : and upon her tliou art mad. This is better, my
son, to honour equality, which binds together Mends
with friends and cities with cities and allies with allies.
For that which is equal is by nature rightful among
men, but the less ever stands up at war with the greater,
and commences a day of enmity. For equality also
hath established measures among mortals and divisions
of weights, and hath defined the laws of numbers, and
equally the dim eye of night and the light of the sun
traverse their yearly revolution, and neither of them is
envious, from being surpassed. Are the sun then and the
night slaves to mortals, and wilt not thou endure to have
an equal share of the palace, and wilt not give to this
man his? And if so where is justice ? Why honourest
thou so exceedingly absolute power, that is a prosperous
injustice, and deemest this a great ^ thing, to be gazed
upon in reverence ? Nay, but 'tis vanity. Or wishest
thou to experience many labours having much wealth in
thy house ? But what is the having more than another ?
It has but a name ; for that which is sufficient is enough
at least to the wise. In no wise in sooth do mortsds
possess their wealth as their own, but holding what be-
longs to the gods, we are their stewards; and when they
desire it, they take it back again ; ^ for prosperity is not
stable, but lasts only for a day. Come, if I ask thee
the question, proposing at once the alternative of two
things; whether wishest thou to reign or to save the
city ? Wilt thou say, to reign ? But if this man con-
quer thee, and the swords of Argos vanquish the spear

* 550. v^cp0£v, Kai ftly' great thing? Or is it an honour-

rjyrjffai; to dk wepipXkwta^at. able thing to be gazed upoQl

Tifiiov; P. (i. e. Why honour- etc. —

est thou etc. and deemest it a ^ 558. om. P.

563—590.] PHCENissjE. 29

•

of the Cadmeans, thou wilt behold this citadel of the
Thebans subdued, and thou wilt behold many captive
damsels forcibly ravished by hostile warriors. Agoniz-
ing, then, will that wealth, which thou seekest to keep,
prove to Thebes, and ambitious wilt thou be found. To
thee indeed I speak this ; but to thee, Polyneices, I say,
Adrastus hath conferred on thee foolish benefits; and
foolishly also hast thou come to sack the city. Come,
if thou conquer this land, (which may it never come to
pass) in the name of the gods how then wilt thou set up
the trophies of thy spear ? And how again wilt thou
commence sacrifices, having conquered thy fatherland,
and how wilt thou inscribe on spoils by the streams of
Inachus " Polyneices having consiimed Thebes with fire
offered up these shields to the gods?" Never, O my
child, may it be thine to acquire such renown as this
from Greeks. But if on the other hand thou art over-
come, and this man's fortune surpass thine, how wilt
thou return to Argos, having left behind innumerable
corpses ? And, in sooth, some one will say, " O Adras-
tus, thou who hast contracted evil espousals, through
the marriage of one bride we are destroyed." Thou
hurriest on two evils, my son, the being deprived of
those, and falling in the midst of these. Relinquish,
both of you, that which is excessive, relinquish it ; the
folly of two men, when they both meet at the same
point, is a most foul evil.

Chor. O ye gods, may ye be averters of these woes,
and grant ye lome means of reconciliation to the sons of
(Edipus !

Eteo. Mother, it is no longer a time for words, but
the intervening time has been expended in vain, and thy
zeal brings nothing to any conclusion ; for I will never

30 PHCENissjE. [^591 — 606.

•

agree otherwise than upon the terms I have stated, that
I, wielding the sceptre, shall he king of this land. Bat
ceasing from thy lengthy exhortations, let me go. And
thou, convey thyself without these walls or thou shalt
die.

Pol. By whose hand ? Who is so invulnerable as,
having aimed a blood-thirsty sword against me, not to
endure the same fate ?

Eteo. Near thee, not gone far from thee; lookest
thou upon my hands ?

Pol. I look upon them ; but a cowardly and a das-
tardly evil is wealth.

Eteo. And is it therefore thou hast come with so
many against one who is nothing in battle ?

Pol. Aye, for a safe general is better than a rash
one.

Eteo. Thou boastest, trusting in the truce which
saves thee from death.

Pol. And of thee a second time I demand the sceptre
and my share of the land.

Eteo. I am not prevailed upon by thy demand ; for
I will rule mine own house.

Pol. Having more than thy share ?

Eteo. I confess it. But begone from the land.

Pol. O ye altars of the gods of my fathers —

Eteo. Whom thou art here to destroy. 7

Pol. Hear ye me !

Eteo. And who would hear thee who hast marched
against thy country?

Pol. ®And ye, temples of the gods with white steeds- —

Eteo. Who abominate thee.

^ 604. irapei ; P. Amphion and Zethus. cf. Here.

• 606. \et)K6ir<a\oi 0£of.— F. v. 29. Dind.

607— OlSi] PHOENISS-E. 31

Pol. I am driven forth from my native land —

Eteo. Aye, for thou hast come to drive them out.

Pol. With injustice, at least, O ye gods !

Eteo. At Mycenae, not here, invoke the gods.

Pol. Thou art impious —

Eteo. But not an enemy of my country, as thou
art.

Pol. Thou who drivest me forth robbed of my por-
tion.

Eteo. Aye, and I will slay thee, moreover.

Pol. my father, hearest thou what I am suffering ?

Eteo. Aye, and he hears what deeds thou art doing.

Pol. And thou, my mother ?

Eteo. It is not lawful for thee to name the name of
mother.

Pol. my country !

Eteo. Get thee to Argos, and invoke the waters of
Leme.

Pol. I will go, trouble not thyself; but thee I praise,
my mother.

Eteo. Get forth from the land.

Pol. I will go forth : but grant me to look upon my
father.

Eteo. Thou shalt not obtain it.

Pol. But my virgin sisters —

Eteo. Not even them shalt thou ever see more.

Pol. O my sisters !

Eteo. Why callest thou on them, being their greatest
foe?

Pol. O my mother, farewell thmi !

Joe. Aye, in sooth, I experience 9 welfare, my child.

• 618, TBKvov ; P. — Do I, in sooth, etc. ?

32 PHCENissiE. [619—637.

Pol. I am no longer thy son.

Joe. In many respects I was bom to be wretched.

Pol. Aye, for this man insults over us.

Eteo, Yes, for I am insulted in return.

Pol. Where ever wilt thou stand before the towers ?

Eteo. For what cause inquirest thou this of me ?

Pol. I will take my station against thee, to slay
thee.

Eteo. A desire of this possesses me also.

Joe. wretched me ! what are ye about to do, O my
children ?

Pol. The deed itself will show.

Joe, "Will ye not avoid the furies of your father ?

Eteo. Let his whole house utterly come to nought !

Pol. Verily, soon my murderous sword shall no
longer be idle. But I call to witness the land that
nurtured me, and the gods, how, in dishonour, suffering
pitiable wrongs, I am driven forth from the land, like a
slave, and not like one bom from the same father, CEdi-
pus. And should anything befall thee, my country,
blame not me, but this man ; for not willingly have I
come, but unwillingly I am expelled from the land.
And thou, king Phoebus, guardian of streets, and ye
halls, fare ye well, and ye my comrades, and ye statues
of gods rich in the sacrifice of sheep ! For I know not
whether it is granted me to address you ever again : but
my hopes slumber not yet, in which I tmst, by the help
of the gods, that having slain this man I shall rule over
this land of Thebes.

Eteo. Begone from the land. And with truth did
thy father impose on thee, by divine prescience, the
name of Polyneices, a name derived from contentions.

638—682.] PHCENissiE. 33

CHORUS.

Cadmus the Tyrian came to this land ; and for him
the fourfooted heifer cast^ herself down, bringing the
oracle to an accomplishment, there where the divine
decree ordained that ^ he should make his abode in the
fire-bearing plains of the Aonians, ' and where the
moisture of beautiful streams derived from the waters of
Dirce flow over the fields, verdant and fruitful ; there
where his mother gave birth to Bromius, in wedlock
with Jove ; Bromius, whom the clustering ivy twining
around him covered while yet a babe, making him happy
with its verdant overshadowing shoots ; a Bacchic dance
for the virgins and matrons of Thebes, singing, Evoe ;
there, where was a bloodthirsty serpent, bom of Ares,
a savage warder, guarding, with eyeballs rolling in every
direction, watery rills and fresh streams. Him Cadmus,
having come for sacrificial water, slew with a stone,
having cast it upon his bloodthirsty head with the hurl-
ing of his monster-slaying arm, by the counsel of divine
Pallas, born without a mother, having cast into the
fruitful fields its teeth, fallen to the earth : from which
earth sent up a spectacle of warriors in panoply, above
the surface of the soil. But steelhearted bloodshed
reunited it with earth ; and it bedewed with blood the
land that had exhibited it to the warm breezes of the
air. And thee too, Epaphus, the descendant of lo of
old, first mother of thy race, thee O son of Jove, I call
upon, I call upon with barbarian cry, oh, with barba-
rian prayers, come, come to this land ! Thy descend-

* 640. dSdfiaffTov, P. ibid. pro dSdnatrroQ fiStrxoc* Matth.

Trhfjfia diKs nihil aliud est nisi ^ 643. fjikv. fiiv, P. Scriben-

irretre ; et quod ad fiSffxoe re- dam vtv» Dind.

ferendum erat, accommodatum ^ 645. tva ye. P.
est 7oci vktrrifia, dddfAaerov

34 pncENisSiE. [683 — 706

ants first made it their home, the *land which the ^two
deities, Persephassa and the heloved goddess Demeter,
Earth, queen of all things, and nurse of all things, had
in possession. Send thou the firehearing goddesses to
defend this land ; for all things are easy to gods.

ETEOCLES.

Go thou and fetch hither Creon the son of Menceceus,
the brother of my mother Jocasta, saying this to him,
that I wish to confer with him on matters of private
import, and of common interest to the city, before I go
forth to battle and the array of the spear. However, he
saves thy feet the trouble by his presence ; for I see him
advancing towards my house.

CREOy.

Verily I have traversed much ground, wishing to see
thee, O royal Eteocles, and I have visited the gates and
the sentries of the Cadmeans all round, seeking thy
person.

Eteo. And indeed I was wishing to see thee, Creon :
for I found the hope of reconciliation very defective,
when I went, and engaged ^ in conference with Poly-
neices.

Creon. I heard that he was hauglitier than Thebes,
and relied on the alliance and army of Adrastus. But
these things one must refer to the gods. But what is
most immediately pressing, that I have come to tell thee.

* 683. g, cannot be construed having two names each ^Earth

with kKTTiffavTo ; wherefore, if and Demeter — Cora and Per-

kr^C* he a good reading, ^ sephone)— orasbeing two. Sch.

must be changed to &v. But Vera videtur altera interpret,

it is probable that 9ravra>v ut nihil amplius significetquam

dvatTtra — Urrjcravro is corrupt ; diatrai, — Dind.

and in the place of something ^ 702. (Tvvrjypa, Subauditar

construable with ^. — Dind. kfiavrdv, P.

^ Ibid. diit)vvp,oi, either as

707—723.] PHCENissjE. 35

Eteo. What is this? For I know not what thou
speakest of.

Creon. a certain captive from the Argives has come.

Eteo. And what ^ is the last news he brings of mat-
ters there ?

Creon, That the host of the Argives is on the point
of investing, in arms, the city of the Cadmeans, with
towers 8 round about her.

Eteo. The city of the Cadmeans, then, must sally
forth in arms.

Creon. "Whither? Surely you are not, like a young
man, blind to what you ought to see ?

Eteo. Without these entrenchments, to fight with •
speed.

Creon. Scanty are the numbers of this land, but
they are numerous.

Eteo. I know them, that they are valiant in their
words.

Creon. Argos has some reputation among the Greeks.

Eteo. Be of good courage ; I will speedily fill the
plain with the slaughter of them.

Creon. May it be so ! But I see that this is a mat-
ter of much difficulty,

Eteo. Be sure, I will not keep the army within the
walls.

Creon. And yet good counsel is the whole of victory.

Eteo. Dost thou wish then that I betake myself to
some other plan ?

Creon. Yes, to every plan, before running all at once
into danger.

' 709. ri. P. " Does be bring P. Corrigendum videtur irv-
anyetc.T* kvoIou — Dind. — *' with fre-

® 710. nvpyoiffi, WKVoitn, quent arms "—
tB

36 PHCENissJs. [;724— 739.

Eteo. If we were to attack them by night from an
ambush ?

Creon. Aye, if, supposing thou failest, thou wilt get
back here safe again.

Eteo. Night gives equality, and, to the daring, ad-
vantage.

Creon. The shadow of night is a terrible time to
meet bad fortune in.

Eteo. But shall I assault them with the spear while
they are at their repast ?

Creon. There might be consternation ; but it is re-
quisite to be victorious.

Eteo. Aye, and in sooth the ford of Dirce is deep to
retreat by.

Creon. Everything is inferior to keeping well on
your guard.

Eteo. But how, if we were to ride down the Argive
army?

Creon. There too their host is hedged in with cha-
riots round about.

Eteo. What then shall I do ? am I to give up the
city to the enemy ?

Creon. By no means ; but take coimsel, since thou
art a wise man.

Eteo. What scheme then is found wiser than mine ?

Creon. They say that seven men among them, as I
heard —

Eteo. Have been appointed to do what? For the
strength of seven is but little.

Creon. Have been appointed chiefs of companies,^ to
attack the seven gates.

" 739. avaaauv. P. " to be chiefs of"—

740—759.] PHCENisaffi. 37

Eteo. What then must we do ? For I will not wait
till a difficulty comes.

Creon. Do thou also choose seven men against them,
before the gates.

Eteo. To be chiefs of companies, or of a single spear ?

Creon. Of companies, selecting those who are most
yaliant.

Eteo. I understand ; to defend the approaches of the
walls.

Creon. Choose also colleagues for them ; for one man
sees not everything.

Eteo. Selecting them for courage or for prudence of
mind?

Creon. For both. For deprived of one the other is
nothing.

Eteo. Thus it shall be; but I, having visited the
seven towers of the cityi, will appoint captains over the
gates, as thou advisest ; opposing an equal number to
an equal number of the enemy. But 'twere great waste
of time to recite the name of each, when the enemy has
sat down before our very walls. But I will go, that we
may not leave our band idle ; and may it be mine to
find my brother opposed to me, and having engaged with
him in conflict, to take him vdth the spear, [and to slay
him who came to ravage my country.] But the mar-
riage of my sister Antigone and thy son Heemon, if I
should in any way fail of good fortune, must be thy

' 748. iroKiv, kvkXov. P. ther kvkXov will do by itself

" To the seven-towered circuit for kvkXos rttxewv. Dind.

of the wall." It is obviously Perhaps iTrraTrvpyov wdXiv

absurd for Eteocles to say he is may be taken as oro^^ Hrrra

going into the city, when he is TTvpyovc rtJQ 'rrdXtutg, •* th^

there : but it is doubtful whe* seveu towers of the city."

38 PHCENiss^. [760—787-

care ; and the former betrothal I now confirm, upon my
going forth to battle. And thou art my mother's bro-
ther. Why need I speak at length? Support her
worthily, both for thy sake and mine. But my father
deserves the reproach of folly towards himself, having
deprived liimself of sight. I do not greatly praise him ;
and us with curses he will slay, if it so happen. But
there is one thing neglected by us, if Teiresias the pro-
phet-seer has any oracle to pronounce, to enquire about
these things of him : but I will send hither Menoeceus
thy son, namesake of thy father, bringing* Teiresias
ynih him, Creon. For with thee he will come to speak
with pleasure ; but I, ere this, have attacked his art of
soothsaying to his face, so that he has grounds of com-
plaint against me. Now to the city and to thee I give
this charge, Creon ; if my party is victorious, that the
corpse of Polyneices be never buried in this Theban
land : and that he shall die who buries him, even if he
be one of my friends. To thee indeed I have said this ;
but to my attendants I say, bring forth my arms and
coats of panoply, for even now I go forth to the ap-
pointed conflict of the spear, with victorious justice.
But I pray to Caution, the most useful of deities, to
preserve this city.

CHORUS.

O Mars, cause of many woes, why art thou pos-
sessed with the desire of bloodshed and death, not har-
monizing with the feasts of Bromius ? Thou dost not,
when bands of youths^ lead the graceful dance, thou dost

* 770. Xa^SvTa. d^ovra, P. Loci sententia haec est : *' nee

** I will send and bring Teire- in pulchros choros ducentibua

aias. circulis juventutis," i,e, juve*

•787. <rf£(^avoi<rt(sicut"vul- num et puellarum.
gi coronam." Ov. Met. 13. 1.)

788—815.3 iPHiENissJJ. 39

not, letting fly thy ringlets, send forth, through the
breathings of the lotus flute, a melodious strain, in \7hich
the graces direct the dance; but with shield-bearing
warriors, having excited the host of the Argives to the
slaughter of Thebes, thou dancest before them in most
joyless revelry. Neither dost thou, under the influ-
ence of him who maddens with the thyrsus, reel, clad
in fawn skins, but thou wheelest round the courser
of uncloven hoof, amid the chariots and horses' bits.
And advancing along the streams of Ismenus, thou
hastenest on with horsemanship, urging the Argives
against the progeny of the Sown-men, a shieldbearing
company, clad in beautiful armour, matched against
walls of stone. Assuredly a fearful Deity is the goddess
of Strife, who hath devised these woes for the kings of
the land, the house of Labdacus abounding in misery.
O thou grove of leaves divine, abounding in wild beasts !
Citheeron, beloved of Artemis, nurser of snow ! Oh
that thou hadst never preserved him who was exposed
to death, the child of Jocasta, CEdipus, when cast out in
infancy from his home, remarkable for buckles set in
gold. And would that the wing of the virgin Sphinx, the
mountain monster,had never arrived,that caused mourning
over the land, with her songs of most evil melody ; she
who once, approaching the walls, used to bear off in the
claws of her four feet the race sprung from Cadmus, into
the pathless light of ether ; she whom Hades from be-
neath the earth sends up against the Cadmeans. But
another illfated strife, between the sons of CEdipus,
waxes strong through the palace and the city. For
never has that which is not good the nature of goodness,
nor have the children who are the unlawful offspring of
fE 3

40 PHCENissJE. [816—8444

their mother and the pollution ^ of their father : for
she entered an incestuous bed. Thou didst bear, O
Earth, thou once didst bear (as I heard, I heard once
formerly a barbarian tale at home) the race bom of
the teeth of her serpent feeding otF beasts, with purple
crest; a most proud reproach against Thebes,^ And
formerly to the marriage of Harmonia came the denizens
of heaven, and to the sound of the phorminx (harp) arose
the walls of Thebes, and her towers betwixt two rivers,
by the power of the lyre of Amphion ; near the centre
of the ford of Dirce, who in front of Ismenus, bedews
the verdant plain. And lo, the horned primeval mother
of the race, bore kings of the Cadmeans ; and this city,
exchanging, one for another, myriads of blessings, hath
taken her stand upon the summit of the chaplets of
Mars.

TEIRESIAS.

Lead me forward, my daughter ; for thou art an eye
to my sightless foot, like a star to mariners. Advance
in this direction, planting my foot on to the smooth
ground, that we stumble not ; thy father is infirm. And
guard thou for me the oracular tablets ^ in thy virgin
hand, which I have taken, having learned the auguries
of birds in the sacred seats, where I draw divinations.
My son Menojceus, child of Creon, tell me, how long is
the rest of the journey through the city, to thy father ;
for my knee is fatigued, and as I go, with difficulty I
accomplish the frequent step.

* 816. fiidfffiara, fiiatTfid re being descended from the ser-
V. iitonTfLara mali ezcusum pro pent; the honour (Valck.), in

fiiafffid T£, DiND. Demg yeysvHS,

* S'Zl.ovsiSoQ, perhaps merely ^ 838. kXtipovq, tabellas vati

=s" report." Soph. Phil. 477. ciniorum. Valck.
But the reproach might be iq

845 — 866.] PHOENiss^. 41

Creon. Be of good courage ; for near to thy friends,
Teiresias, thou hast brought thy foot out of harbour.
But take hold of him, my child ; for an old man, whether
he be carried in a chariot or go on foot, always expects
with pleasure the support of another's handJ

Teir. Well, I am here. Why summonest ^ thou me
with haste, Creon ?

Creon. I have not yet forgotten ; but collect thy
strength and take breath, dismissing the weariness of thy
journey.

Teir. Aye, indeed,^ with fatigue I have arrived,
'having travelled hither from among the house of Erech-
theus yesterday. For there also there was a war against
the spear of Eumolpus, in which I rendered the sons of
-Slcrops gloriously victorious ; and I have as thou seest,
this crown of gold, having received it as the firstfruit of
the spoils of the enemy.

Creon. I reckon as a good omen]]thy crown of glo-
rious victory. For we are tossed, as thou knowest, in a
tempest of the spear of the sons of Danaus, and there is
great peril for Thebes. The king, however, has already
gone arrayed in panoply, against the might of Mycence.*
But me he hath charged to learn from thee by doing
what we might best preserve the city.

Teir. For Eteocles's sake, indeed, closing up my

' 847-8. Recte Schaeferus. « 849. /»* UdXtig. P. ** Why

Vulgata videtur sana ; sic ver- didst thou summon me V
tam. Semper (s. omnis) enim » 852. yovv\ P. — " I have

senez, sive curru vehatur, sive arrived with weariness as to my

pedihus incedat, libenter ex- knees.''

spectat aliens manus levatio- * 862. Or perhaps, " to ward

nem. Bind. off Mjcenae" quasi Trpof aX-

The construction appears to iej)i; twv yivKrivCiv cf. 1097.
be ; TTciffa aTr^viy, Traf t£ ttovs
TTpeapvrov ^iXii k. r. \.

42 PHGBNISSJB. [867—894.

mouth I would have withheld my prophecies ; but to
thee, since thou wishest to know them, I will tell them*
For this land hath long been ill at ease, from the time
when Laius became a father in despite of the gods,
and begat the wretched CEdipus, to be a husband to his
mother : and the bloody destruction of his eyesight was
a contrivance of the gods, and a display of their power
to Greece. And these things the sons of CEdipus wishing,
in course of time, to conceal, as if, forsooth, they would
escape from the power of the gods, erred in th^r foUy.
For by granting their father neither due honours nor
liberty to go forth, they drove an illfated man wild ; and
he breathed out against them fearful curses, being both
maddened and, moreover, dishonoured. In regard > to
which matters, what deed did I not, and what words did
I not say, so that I became at feud with the sons of
(Edipus ? But death by each other's hands approaches
them, Creon ; and many men, corpses lying upon corpses,
having mingled in fight the darts of Argives and Cad-
means, will cause bitter wailings to the land of Thebes.
And thou, O illfated city, art uprooted from thy foun-
dations, unless men shall obey my words. For indeed
this was the first thing required, that no one of the race
of (Edipus should be a citizen, much less a king, of the
land, as being possessed by an evil spirit, and likely to
overturn the state. But since the evil has vanquished
the good, there is one other means of safety. But inas-
much as it is both unsafe ' for me to say this, and bitttt
to those who endure the misfortune, namely, of affording
to the city a saving remedy, I vdll begone ; fare ye well,

» 878. K&yui Tiv\ P. «• and I. ' 891. otS' kfioi P. *• not even
what words did I not act and for me."
saj, etc.?"—

895—912.] PHCENissjE. 43

For, being one among many, I shall suffer what is to
oome, if it must be so : for how can I help it ?

Creon. Stay here, old man.

Teib. Lay not hands upon me.

Creon. Stay, why flyest thou me ?

Teir. Thy fortune flies thee, and not I.

Creon. Divulge a means of safety to the city and the
citizens.

Teir. Aye, surely, thou desirest it, and speedily thou
wilt desire it not.

Creon. And how can I not wish to save my native
land?

Teir. Dost thou then wish to hear, and art thou
very anxious ?

Creon. Aye,* for what other end ought I to be
zealous ?

Teir. Thou shalt straightway hear my prophecies.
But first I wish to learn this for certain, — where is
Menoeceus, who led me hither ?

Creon. Here he stands not far from thee, but by thy
side.

Teir. Let him begone then far away from my oracular
words.

Creon. Being my son by birth, he will keep silence
on matters when it is proper.

Teir. Wishest thou then that I tell it thee in his
presence ?

Creon. Aye, for he would receive pleasure by hearing
some means of safety.

Teir. Hear ye then the course of my oracular words,
by doing what ye might save the city of the Cadmeans.

* 902. rt /I*' aXKo, ri fiaXKov, P. Aye, for what ought one to
be more zealous.

44 PHCENisfiLfi. [[913 — 927.

Thou must sacrifice this thy son Menoeceus in behalf of
his country, since thou thyself callest for the misfor*
tune.

Creon. What sayest thou ? What speech is this that
thou hast uttered, old man ?

Teir. What is ^ right, that is also necessary for thee
to do.

Creon. O thou who hast spoken many evils in a
short space of time !

Teir. Aye, evils to thee ; but to thy country great
and saving blessings.

Creon. I heard not, I heeded not, — let the city go !

Teib, This man is no longer the same, he is shunning
it again,

Creon. Go in peace : for I need not thy divinations.

Teir. Hath truth perished, because thou art unfor-
tunate ?

Creon. Oh by thy knees and by thy venerable
hair —

Teir. Why fallest thou before me ? thou askest for
evils hard to be warded oSfi

Creon. Keep silent : and speak not these words to
the city.

Teir. Biddest thou me do wrong ? I will not keep
it secret.

Creon. What then wilt thou do to me ? Wilt thou
slay my son ?

* 916. Matthis. loeptum est his son's life, was asking for

VE^VKB. Quid dici debuerit the destruction of the city.—-

recte perspexit Reiskius, qui Matth.

VB^ayKa (1 have said) conjecit: But Schaefer translates : '*Pe*

Sed scribendum irkipijve (has tis rem urbi perniciosam, (fiUi

been shown). — Dind. salutem) quam tenere («. e. ser*

^ 924. Sv!f^vKaKTa, t. e^ fated vare) non poteris.
•vils. For Creon by asking for

928 — 957.] PHCENissa. 45

Teir. That will be the business of others, but by me
it will be spoken.

Creon. And from what has this woe come upon me
and my son ?

Teir. Thou askest me aright, and art entering into a
trial of words. It is required that this man being
sacrificed over the den where was produced the earth-
bom serpent, guardian of the streams of Dirce, should
give his lifeblood in libations to earth ; in consequence
of Mars' ancient course of wrath against Cadmus, Mars,
who is avenging the earthbom serpent's death. And by
doing this ye will gain Mars as an ally. For if earth in
return for fruit receive fruit, and in return for blood,
receive the blood of mortals, ye will have that land
propitious to you which in old time sent up a brazen-
helmeted crop of Sown-men. And it is required that
one shall die of the blood of that man who was bom the
son of the jaw of the serpent. But thou art the only
one left to us here of the race of the Sown-men, unmixed
both on the mother's and father s side, thou and thy chil-
dren. Heemon's marriage, however, forbids his sacrifice ;
£for even if he has not enjoyed the marriage bed, yet he
has a bride.] But this youth, being devoted for this
city, by his death might save his native land. And
bitter will he render their return to Adrastus and the
Argives, having cast a dark fate over their eyes, but
glorious will he render Thebes. Of these two fates
choose thou one ; for save either thy son or thy country.
All the information I, indeed, can give thee, thou hast ;
lead me, my child, homewards. But whosoever prac*
tises the art of divination, is foolish ; for if he chance to
have announced things adverse, he has rendered himself
hateful to those for whom he takes auguries; but if

46 PHCENISSJE. [958 — 980.

from pity he speak false words to those who consult
him, he does wrong in the sight of the gods, Phoebus
alone ought to have prophesied t(y mortals, he who fears
no one.

Chor. Creon, why art thou silent, controlling thy
Toice, so as to be speechless ? For I also am in conster-
nation no less than thou.

Cbeon. But what could any one utter ? 'Tis evident
what I at least liave to say. For I will never proceed
to that pitch of calamity as to give up to the city my
son, sacrificed. For the nature of all men is to love
their offspring, nor would any one give up his own child
for men to slay. Let no one eulogize me while he is
slaying my children. But I myself, for I am in the
7 prime of life, am ready to die, an expiatory offering for
my country. But come, my child, before the whole
city has learned this, do thou, disregarding the unbridled
oracles of diviners, fly with all speed, quitting this land.
For he will tell these things to the magistrates and the
generals, going to the seven gates, and the chiefs of the
companies ; and if indeed we anticipate him, thou art
safe ; but if thou art too late, we are undone, thou wilt
die.

MENCECEUS.

Whither then must I fly ? to what city ? to which
of our friends ?

Creon. Where thou wilt be farthest removed from
this land.

Men. 'Tis right, therefore, that thou shouldest tell
me, and I execute the task.

Creon. Having arrived at Delphi —

' 968. ccrra/itti. P.

981—1001.] PH(ENISSJE. 47

Men, Whither must I then go, my father ?

Creon. To the land of ^tolia.

Men. And from that land whither am I to pass ?

Creon. To the Thesprotian soil.

Men. To the awful seats of Dodona ?

Creon. Thou hast judged aright.

Men. What protection, then, shall I find ?

Creon. The god is a receiver of fugitives.®

Men. And what way have I of getting money ?

Creon. I will provide gold.

Men. Thou sayest well, my father. Go then; for
1 9 havingl visited thy sister to console her, whose
breasts I first sucked when deprived of my mother and
parted from her, an orphan, I mean Jocasta, I will go
and will save my life. But come, go thou; let not
there be any hinderance on thy part. — O ye women,
how well I have freed my father from fear, having de-
ceived him with words, so as to obtain what I desire :
he, who is for convejdng me out, so as to deprive the
city of good fortune, and who devotes me to cowardice.
And 'tis pardonable indeed in an old man, but in me it
has no excuse, to be a traitor to the country which
brought me forth. That ye may understand then, I will
go and preserve the city, and will oflFer up my life, to
die in behalf of this land. For 'tis shameful, if those
who are not bound by oracular decrees, and have not
come under the necessity imposed by the gods, yet
standing in battle array shall not shrink from death,

® 984. TrSum fioc* cf. Eur. * 986. seq. '* Jungenda vi-

Med. V. 848. x^P^ Trofiir' — dentur, fioXiav TrpogrfyoprjatuVf
ijyovv Ti^v kK7rtfi(}>9ti(yav im" slfit Kai edltffu} piov, •• quum
iixofuvti, ovK ai)T'fi irofjLTrifJiOQ Jocasten adiero ut ei yaledi-
odea, — ScH. cam, ablbo et yitam seryabo."

Matth.

tP

48 . PHCENissJK. . [1002—1 04I-

fighting in front of the towers in behalf of their country*
But I, having betrayed my own father and brother and
country, like a coward shall go forth out of the land ;
yet wherever I live, I shall be deemed vile. No ! by
Jove who dwells among the stars and by bloodthirsty
Mars, he who in old time established the Sown-men, who
sprung up from out of earth, to be princes of this land.
But I will go smd having taken my stand on the highest
battlements, I will slay myself over the dark deep den
of the serpent, where the soothsayer directed, and will
free the land. My speech is said. Bufc I go, to confer
on the city by my death no mean gift, but I shall free
this land from a curse. For if each individual, taking
whatever benefit he could, were to go through with that,
and contribute it to the good of his country, then states
having experience of fewer evils would thenceforward be
prosperous.

CHORUS.

Thou didst come, thou didst come, O winged one,
offspring of earth and the viper beneath the earth, plun-
derer of Cadmeans, cause of many groans, destroyer of
many, hateful monster, half-virgin, with wandering
wings and talons tearing raw food ! Who of old bearing
off on high youths from Dirceean regions, with music
unaccompanied by the l)nre, and with an accursed fury,
thou didst bring, thou didsfc bring on their native land
murderous woes. Bloodthirsty was he of the gods who
brought these things to pass. And wailings of matrons,
and wailings of virgins, sent forth groanings through the
habitations. With a woeful woeful cry, with a mourn-
ful mournful dirge, one uttered one lament, another
another, in turns throughout the city. And the sound
of groaning and wailing was like unto thunder, when-

lt)41 — 1075.] PHOESNisafi. 49

ever the winged virgin caused any one of the citizens to
disappear from the city. But in course of time there
came, by eommand of the Pythian god, the ill-fated
CEdipus to the land of Thebes; then to their joy, but
afterwards again their woe : for the wretched one, being
glorious in victory over the senigma, contracts ^with his
mother a marriage that was no marriage, and pollutes
the city ; and with bloodshed he passes on to a contest
of impunity, hurling curses upon his children, miserable
that he is. Him we admire, we admire, who hath gone
to die in behalf of his fatherland, having left, for Creon
indeed, wailings, but about to render the gates of the
seven ^ towers of the land gloriously victorious. May
we, may we be mothers blessed with such children, O
thou who didst accomplish the death of the serpent,
crushed by a stone, having incited the mind of Cadmus
to the deed ; whence, with ravages, there came rushing
on the land a curse from the gods.

MESSENGER.

Ho 1 who is at the portals of the palace ? Open them,
convey Jocasta forth from her home. Ho ! again and
again ! 'Twill be after long delay, but nevertheless come
forth, hear me, renowned wife of (Edipus, having
ceased from wailings and tears of mourning.

JOCASTA.

O most dear friend, hast thou come, as I suppose,
bearing calamitous news, of Eteocles being dead, by the
side of whose shield thou hast ever marched, warding
off the darts of the * enemy ? What news canst thou

* 1058. KXiiOpa, hie et alib. * 1074. P. plenius distinguit.

P. Ibid, ivrav, KkyQaa. cf. *^ Thou hast come, I weea."
748-

50 PH<ENiss^. [1075—1098.

have come to announce to me? Is my son dead or
alive ? Tell me.

Mess. He is alive ; dread not this, for I will free thee
from fear.

Joe. What? How stand the circuits of the seven
towers ?

Mess. They stand unshattered and the city hath not
been stormed.

Joe. But have they come into peril from the Argive
spear ?

Mess. Aye, to the very point of peril ; but the war-
god of the Cadmeans proved mightier than the spear of
Mycenae.

Joe. Tell me one thing in the name of the gods,
whether thou knowest anything concerning Polyneices ?
Since this also is a matter of care to me, whether he be-
holds the light of day.

Mess. Both thy children are alive up to this point of
the day.

Joe. Mayest thou prosper ! — Well, how repelled ye
the spear of the Argives from the gates, defending your-
selves within the walls ? Tell me, that I may go and
delight the blind old man within the palace, this land
having been preserved.

Mess. After that the son of Creon, who has died in
behalf of the land, standing upon the top of the walls,
had passed through his throat a black mounted sword,
a deliverance for this land; thy son distributed seven
companies and seven captains to seven gates, as guards
against the Argive spear ; and he appointed horsemen to
await horsemen, and men at arms to await buckler-men,
that for the weak part of the wall there might be defence
against the spear at no great distance. And from the

109S — 1128.] PHOENiss*. 51

lofty citadel we behold the white shielded army of the
Argives departed from Tecmessus : and, with a run, they
brought the city of the Cadmeans close to the entrench-
ment.^ And the paean and the sound of trumpets sent
forth a din together, on their side, and from us on the
wall. And first, indeed, against the Neitian gates,
Parthenopseus, the son of the huntress, led a company,
bristling with frequent shields, having an appropriate
device in the centre of his buckler, Atalante quelling the
^olian boar with far darting shafts. But against the
gates of Proetus came the diviner Amphiaraus, with
victims on his chariot, having no ostentatious devices,
but arms modestly free from device. And against the
Ogygian gates advanced king Hippomedon, having for
a device, in the centre of his buckler, the Allseeing^ one
looking out with studded eyes, having some eyes indeed
seeing, with the rising of the stars, and others closing
themselves as the stars go down, as we were able to see
afterwards, when he was dead. But before the Homo-
loian gates, Tydeus had his station, having a lion's skin
upon his shield, bristling with the mane, and ^ Titan
Prometheus was bearing in his right hand a torch, as if
to bum the city. And thy son, Polyneices, led on war
at the Fountain-gates ; and upon his shield for a device,
snorting rapid coursers were bounding with fright, being
revolved in some cunning way from within on pivots,
under the handle itself, so that they appeared to be
furious. And Capaneus, no less haughty, was leading

' 1100, ra^pov vkXaQ «. r.X. * 1114. ^ravdirrfyv. ArguB sc.

Phrasis, si ad verbum reddas, ' 1121. Post c^c* iuterpungit

hojusmodiesfciirsu conjunz- P. i.e. Like Titan Prometheas

eniDturbemThebanam,m vallo he was bearing a torch in bis

oontigua esset.'' Sic solent hand, etc.
Gneci velocitatem significare.
cf. Soph. £1. 688.— Musgr.

52 PHCENiss^. [1 1 29—1159.

on a company into the conflict of Mars against the
Electran gates ; and on the iron- wrought workmanship
of his shield, there was an earthborn giant, bearing upon
his shoulders an entire city, having torn it up from its
foundations^ with levers, an intimation to us of what our
city will suffer. And at the seventh gate was Adrastus,
having his shield full of an hundred vipers in e&gy^
bearing on his left arm the Argive boast of the Hydra :
and from the midst of our walls serpents were carrying
off children of the Cadmeans in their jaws. And the
show of each one of these served me, adducing it, as a
token to recognise the chiefs of the companies. And at
first, indeed, we did battle with bows and javelins,^ and
far darting slings, and crashing showers of stones ; but
when we were getting the victory in the battle, Tydeus
and thy son, suddenly shouted out, "O sons of the
Danaans, before ye are crushed with missiles, why do
ye delay to rush into the gates by scaling, all of ye,
light-armed men, horsemen, and guides of chariots?"
And when they heard the cry not one was idle ; but
many fell wounded in their heads, and of our party thou
mightest have seen men fallen to the ground before the
waUs, hurled headlong in crowds, and they were drench-
ing the parched earth with streams of gore. But the
Arcadian, not an Argive, the son of Atalante, having
burst like a tempest on the gates, calls for fire and
mattocks, as if to uproot the city. But Periclymenus,
son of the ocean-god, withheld him in his fury, having
cast a stone upon his head, a chariot-load, a coping-
stone from the battlements ; and he shattered his flaxen

^ 1132. Pd9p<av. j8i^. P. by lins with a strap to throw them
force. with (ayicvXtj),

liCffa'vcvXocc— Jaye-

rce.

' 1141. fiCffaycvXocc— Jaye-

1160—1189.] PHCENissjE. 53

head, and brake the seams of his skull, and straightway
besmeared with blood his dark red cheek : nor will he
bear away his life to his mother with the beautiful bow,
the daughter of Maenalus. But when thy son had seen
this gate successful, he passed on to another, and I
followed. And I behold Tydeus and his comrades in
crowds, darting with -Sltolian javelins against the top-
most brink of the towers, so that men left in flight the
summits of the battlements ; but thy son, like a hunts-
man, rallies them again, and set them again upon the
towers. But we pressed on to another gate, having re-
lieved this from its distress. But Capaneus, how might
I tell how furiously he raged ? For with the approaches
of a long scaling ladder he was advancing, and uttered
so great a boast as this, that not even the awful fire
of Jove should ^ restrain him from capturing the city
from its highest citadel. And at the ^ame time he
was proclaiming this, and, assailed with stones, was
creeping upwards, contorting his body so as to keep
exactly under his shield, as he was passing over the
polished rounds of the shafts of the ladder. But when
he was even now passing over the coping stone of the
wall, Jove strikes him with a thunderbolt ; and earth
resounded, so that all were afraid ; and from the ladder
his limbs were hurled far from each other, his hair in-
deed to Olympus, and his blood to earth, and his hands
and legs were whirling round, like the wheel of Ixion ;
and he falls a blasted corpse to the ground. But when
Adrastus saw that Jove warred against his army, he set
down the host of the Argives without the entrench-
ment. But the horsemen, on our part, having seen the

• 1176. tlpydOsiv. P.

54 PHCENissjE. [[1190—1214.

auspicious miracle of Jove, drove forth their chariots,
and 9 the men-at-arms joined battle in the midst of the
camp of the Argives, and there were all evils at once.
Men were dying, were falling from the rails of their
chariots, and wheels were bounding on, and axle-trees
against axle-trees, and corpses were being heaped up
with corpses together. We stopped, however, the over-
throw of the towers for the present day; but whether
this land is to be fortunate henceforward, is the business
of the gods : for * even now some deity has preserved it.
*Tis * a glorious thing to be victorious ; but if the gods
have a purpose which is better, may I be fortunate.

Joe. The decrees of the gods and the events of fortune
are favourable ; for both my sons are alive, and the land
hath escaped. But the illfated Creon seems to have
derived misfortune from the nuptials of myself and
CEdipus, having been bereft of his child, for the city
indeed happily, but grievously for himself. But return
to thine account, I pray ; what do my two sons intend
doing upon this ?

Mess. Let the rest alone : for ever up to this time
they have been fortunate.

Joe. Thou hast this suspiciously ; I will not let it be.

Mess. Wishest thou any greater good than that thy
children have been saved aUve ?

Joe. Aye, to hear the rest also, if I am happy in it.

Mess. Let me go ; thy son is deprived of his shield-
bearer.

Joe. Thou art concealing some bad news and hiding it
in darkness.

' 1191. iwiXCi 6xXtrat,fcctc. men, men-at-arms, and etc.
P. And jLhose on our part etc. — » 1 199. om. P.

drove forth their chariots, horse- * 1200«1 . choro trib. P.

1215 — 1242.] PHCENissiE. 55

Mess. Aye, and ' I will not tell bad news after news
that is good to thee.

Joe. But thou sbalt, unless, avoiding me, thou escape
into upper air.

Mess. Alas ! why didst thou not let me go my way
after a message of good tidings, but compellest me to
announce what is evil ? Thy two sons are about to fight
in single combat apart from the rest of the army, a most
horrible enterprise: having made before Argives and
Cadmeans a speech, such as would they had never
spoken. And Eteocles commenced, from a lofty tower,
where he had taken his stand, having bid a herald pro-
claim silence to the host. And he said " O ye chief-
tains of the land of Greece and most valiant warriors of
the Danaans, ye who have marched hither, and ye, host
of Cadmus ! barter not away your lives either for the
sake of Polyneices, or in my behalf : for I myself, run-
ning this risk, will singly engage in fight with my
brother. And if indeed I slay him, I will rule my house
alone, or if vanquished, I will surrender to this man * the
city. But do ye give up the contest and * depart to the
land of Argos, not having left your lives here. [And of
the Sown-men also so great a number as is lying dead is
enough,]*' Thus much he said ; and thy son Polyneices
rushed forth from the ranks and assented to his words ;
and all the Argives and the host of Cadmus applauded
these things, as deeming them to be just. And on these
terms they made a truce, and in the space between the
armies the chieftains interchanged oaths, that they
would ^ abide by it. And even then the two youthful

* 1215. oitK, P. Aye, I will to possess alone —

not, etc. * 1234. vhastrOi. i'£i(re(r0c. P.

* 1232. TToXtv. fjiSvif. P. I « 1241. ifjifikvtiv. P.
will surrender it to this man,

56 PHCENisSiE. [124.3—1265.

sons of the aged (Edipus were covering their bodies with
brazen armour, and their friends were arraying them, the
bravest of the Sown-men indeed the leader of this land,
but the other, the chiefs of the sons of Danaus. And
they twain stood gleaming, and changed not colour,
eagerly desiring to hurl their javelins at each other. And
their friends passing before them, some on one side some
on the other, encouraging them with words, were thus
addressing them : " O Polyneices, it depends on thee to
set up an image of Jove, giver of victory, and to grant
glorious renown to Argos." And to Eteocles, again,
they said " Now thou art about to fight for thy country,
now having become gloriously victorious thou wieldest
the sceptre." Thus they were haranguing, exhorting
them to the fight. And soothsayers were sacrificing
sheep, and were '' observing the points of the flame, and
its windings, its adverse waviness, and the blaze shoot-
ing up to a peak ; which contains the determination of
two events, both the sign of victory and the ^ fate of the
vanquished. But if thou hast any force, or any wise
words to speak or enchantments to cause love, go,
restrain thy children from the horrible conflict, for the
danger is great. And thou wilt reap a fearful prize of
tears, having been bereft of two children on this day.

Joe. O my child, come forth, Antigone, in front of
the palace ; for now the dispensation of the gods does
not turn out for thee suitable to dances nor even mai-

' 1255-7. Si in loco obscuro portendit, (hinc vypait multi-

hariolari licet, tfivvpoi oKfiai plici plenu aras lambentes, pro

accipi posBunt pro rd tfivvpa eo vypdrriQ IvavTia) et rectum

in quibus duo observabant flamms apicem (^dxpav Xafji-

(iviafiiitv) vates, scissiones Ttdda) — Matth.

flamms (pri^uQ) quae circum ® 1257. rd. r6. P. The Sign.
aras serpens infaustum ezitum

1260—1289.] PHCENiss^. 57

denly occupations. But two most valiant men, and these
thy brothers, who are falling upon destruction, thou with
thy mother must restrain from falling by each others'
hand.

ANTIGONE.

O my mother who didst bear me, what new cause of
consternation is this that thou art proclaiming to thy
friends m front of this palace ?

Joe. O my daughter the life of thy brothers is come
to nought.

Ant. How sayest thou ?

Joe. They have joined in single combat.

Ant. Woe is me, what wilt thou say, my mother ?

Joe. Not what is pleasant — But follow me.

Ant. Whither, having left my maiden apartments ?

Joe. Through the army.

Ant. I am ashamed to be seen by a multitude.

Joe. Thy fortunes admit not of modesty.

Ant. And what then shall I do ?

Joe. Thou shalt reconcile the strife of thy brothers.

Ant. By doing what, my mother ?

Joe. By falling at their feet, with me.

Ant. Lead thou on to the space between the armies,
we must not delay.

Joe. Press on, press on, my daughter : for if I over-
take my children before the combat, my life is in the
light of day ; but if they be dead I will lie dead with
them.

enoRUS.

Alas, alas ! my heart is quaking, quaking with fear,
and through my flesh a thrill of pity has passed, pity
for the wretched mother. Which then of her two
children will shed the blood of another ? woe is me for

58 PH(ENisafi. [1290—1323.

their woes. O Jove, Earth, the blood of a kindred
neck, a kindred soul, with shieldclashing, with blood-
shed ! Which of the twain, then, shall I, wretched,
wretched bewail, an unhappy corpse ? Alas, O Earth !
alas, Earth I the two wild beasts, blood-desiring souls,
quivering with the spear, will speedily shed the blood of
their fallen foes. Wretched pair, that ever they 9 enter-
tained a desire of single combat ! With a barbarian cry
I will utter in tears a doleful wailing befitting the dead.
The event is near, hard ^ by bloodshed ; the day will
decide the future. Illfated, illfated will be the bloodshed
by reason of avenging furies. But I will stop my pre-
sent wailings, for I see Creon advancing hither gloomily
towards the palace.

CREON.

Woe is me, what shall I do ? Whether myself or the
city must I lament with tears, the city which so great a
cloud envelopes as to send it across the stream of Ache-
ron? For my son too has perished, having died in
behalf of the land, having acquired a noble renown, but
woeful to me. And him I v^retched having just now
taken up from the dragon cliffs slain by his own hand,
have conveyed him in my arms, and my whole house
resounds with wailing. But I an old man have come
for mine aged sister Jocasta that she may wash and lay
out my son who is no more. For he who is not dead
ought by paying honours to the dead, piously to reverence
the God beneath the earth.

Chor. Thy sister hath gone forth from the palace
Creon, and the damsel Antigone in company with her
mother.

' 1300. ^XvOkTfiv. P. * 1304. (p6voi. P. bloodshed

is near.

1324—1345.] PHCENissx. J9

Creon. Whither, and for what purpose ? inform me.

Chor. She heard that her sons were about to come to
battle in single combat, for the royal palace.

Creon. How sayest thou ? In sooth, while paying
funeral honours to the corpse of my son, I have not
arrived so far as to know these events.

Chor. But however thy sister has been some time
gone. But I suppose that the deadly conflict between
the sons of CEdipus, Creon, has by this time been accom-
plished.' Woe is me, I see a sign of it indeed in this,
the gloomy brow and countenance of a messenger who is
approaching, who will announce all that is going on.

MESSENGER 2.

O wretched me, what tale must I narrate or what
words ?

Creon. We are lost ; thou beginnest thy tale with no
smiling prelude.

Mes. 2. wretched me ! doubly do I exclaim ; for I
endure great woes.

Creon. In addition to other woes already 'inflicted ?
Or what meanest thou !

Mess. 2. Thy sisters children live no longer in the
light of day, Creon.

Creon. Alas !^ thou announcest great woes to me and
to the city.

Mess. 2. ye halls of CEdipus, hear ye these things,
his^ children^ that have perished in the same calamity ?

Chor. Aye, so that they would wefp, had they but
sense.

» 1332-4. Creonti trib. P. ♦ 1340. t at. P.

' 1338. dWa irrifjtatnv Xlycic ' 1343. ante traiiuv intellig«

in ; P. Dost thou annouiice irepl, P.
yet oUier woes in addition, etc.

tG

Ct> PHCENiss^. [1346 — 1372.

Creon. Woe is me, foi a most illfated calamity I woe
is me unhappy on account of my woes ! O miserable
that I am !

Mess. 2. Miserable indeed, if thou shouldest know
also the woes that have occurred besides these.

Creon. And how could there have occurred things
more illfated than these ?

Mess. 2. Thy sister is dead, with her two children.

Chor. Lead off, lead off, a wail ! and strike upon
your heads blows of your hands, inflicted by your white
arms.

Creon. wretched Jocasta ! What a termination of
thy life and thy marriage hast thou endured in the
riddles of the Sphinx ! But tell me too how the death
of the two youths, and the accomplishment of the curse
of (Edipus, has been effected ?

Mess. 2. The success of our land in front of the
towers thou knowest ; for the encircling walls are not far
off, so as for you not to know everything that occurred.
But when the two youthful sons of the aged (Edipus,
had arrayed their persons in brazen armour, they advanced
and took their stations in the centre of the intervening
space,^ [two generals, two chieftains], as for conflict,
and an engagement in single fight. And Polyneices,
looking towards Argos, sent forth his prayers, " O awful
Hera! for thine I am, since I have joined myself in wed-
lock to the daughter of Adrastus, and dwell in the land,
grant me to slaj^ my brother, and to imbrue in his blood
my victorious right hand opposing him .7 \JL ask a most
shameful crown of victory, to slay my father's son."
And tears came into the eyes of many for the calamity,
how great it was : and they looked, interchanging
• 1362. om. P. ' 1369-71. om. P.

1373 — 1402.^ PH(ENisa« 61

glances with one another.] Bi^t Eteocles looking towards
the temple of Pallas with the golden shield, prayed, ^' O
daughter of Jove, grant me to hurl out of mj hand a
victorious javelin into the breast of my brother, from
this arm, Qand to slay him who has come to destroy my
oountryj. But when like a firebrand the note of the
Tyrrheniaa trumpet sounded, the signal of bloody com-
bat, they rushed in fearfiil course against each other :
and like wild boars gnashing their fell tusks they
engaged, moistened as to their beards with foam. And
they rushed on with lances ; but halted, going round
each other in circles, that the iron head might glide off
harmlessly : and each was brandbhing his lance pointed
forward, wishing to be beforehand, if he should see the
countenance of the other peering over the rim of his
shield. But they kept their eyes carefully to the loop-
holes of the shields, 90 that the spear might be spent
idly. And more copious sw«at was streaming down the
lookers on than the agents themselves, from fear for their
friends. But Eteocles, brushing his foot against a stone,
which lay in the way of his step, exposes his leg beyond
the shield ; and Polyneices encountered it vrith a dart,
having observed an opportunity for a blow afforded to
his weapon, and he drove the Argive javelin through the
knee. And the whole host of the sons of Danaus raised
a cry of joy. But while in this suffering he who was
first wounded having perceived an unguarded shoulder,
hurled his spear with force through thei breast of Polyr
neices, and gave joy to the citizens of Cadmus, and broke
off the tip of the dart. But being hampered by the
spear he retires backwards; and having taken up a
fragment of rock, he cast it fironi his hand, and snapped
ike javelin in the middle: and the fortune of the war

62 P^(ESl83JE. [1403 — 1431.

was equal, both having their hands deprived of the spear.
Then both, grasping the hilts of their swords, came
together ; and clasping their shields together, they
sustained all the turmoil of a conflict, moving round and
round. But Eteocles introduced the Thessalian man-
oeuvre, having the idea, I suppose, from his acquaintance
with that land ; for ceasing from the labour he was
engaged in, his left foot indeed he whirls round back-
ward, guarding the hollow part of the stomach in front ;
and advancing his right leg, he drove his sword down
through the navel and fixed it in the vertebrse. And
the wretched Polypeices bending together his sides and
stomach, falls with gushing drops of blood. But the
'other, as if now victorious and having conquered in
battle, having cast his sword to the ground, was spoiling
him, having his attention fixed not on himself but the
other, which thing also overthrew him ; for Polyneices
who had fallen first, having still a little breath, and
preserving his sword in his woeful fall, with diflSculty
yet succeeded in thrusting his weapon to Eteocles' heart ;
and biting the earth they lie both side by side, without
determining the victory.

Chor. Alas, alas ! How deeply, O (Edipus, do I groan
for thy woes. And the deity seems to have fulfilled thy
curses.

Mess. 2. Hear then, now, the woes also which succeed
these. For when the two youths had fallen and were
quitting life, in the meanwhile their wretched mother
falls before them, [[with 8 her virgin-daughter also, and
with zealous foot.^ But when she saw them wounded
with fatal blows, she wailed aloud " O my children, too

• 1430. om. P.

1431—1463.] pmENissA. 68

late have I come to your succour." And falling before
each of her children in turn, she wept, she lamented the
mighty labours of her breasts, groaning ; and their sister
her companion, together with her. ** O ye twain, the
support of the old age of your mother, O ye two brothers
most beloved, who have betrayed my marriage." But
king Eteocles, breathing forth from his breast a painful
sob heard his mother, and laying upon her his clammy
hand, he uttered indeed no sound, but with his eyes he
addressed her, so as to convey tokens of affection. But
Polyneices was still breathing, 9 and looking upon his
sister and his aged mother, he spake thus : ^^ We have
perished my mother ; but I pity thee and this my sister
and my dead brother. For having been beloved he
became an enemy, but nevertheless was he beloved.
But bury me, O my mother, and thou my sister, in my
native land, and pacify the incensed city, so that I may
in any wise obtain thus much of the land of my fathers,
even if I have lost my home. And close thou mine
eyelids with thy hand, my mother, and he places it
himself upon his eyes, '* And fare ye well ; for even now
darkness encompasseth me." And both together breathed
forth their woeful lives. But their mother when she
beheld this calamity, having suffered more than she could
bear, snatched a sword from a corpse and did a dreadful
deed : for through the centre of her neck she thrusts the
weapon and among those she loved best she lies dead,
having embraced them both in her arms. And straight-
way the host sprang up to a contest of words, we indeed
asserting that our ruler was victorious, but they that
Polyneices was so. And there was contention among the

* 1442. Bff i^iv. P. Bat Polyn. w^ was ddll breathing.
tG 3

64 PHCENiss^ [1464 — 1490.

chieftains, some saying that Poljneices struck the first
blow with his spear, but others that, both being dead,
the victory was on neither side. j^And in the meanwhile
Antigone retired secretly from the army.] But they
tushed to arms ; and somehow by wise forethought the
host of Cadmus was sitting furnished with shields : and
we succeeded in falling upon the Argive army before it was
yet arrayed in armour ; and not one withstood us, but
they covered the plains in flight, and streams of blood
were flowing from corpses of those who were falling by
the spear. But since we were victorious in fight, some
indeed were erecting an image of Jove giver of victory,
and others of us, stripping off the shields of the Argive
corpses, were sending them as spoils within the walls ;
but others, with Antigone are conveying hither the
corpses of the dead for their friends to bewail them.
And the contents of this city have turned out in part
most fortunate, but in part most unhappy.

Chor. The ill fortune of this house will come no longer
for us to hear only : for we may even now behold here
before the palace the corpses of the three who are dead,
who have obtained an eternity of darkness by a common
lot of death.

ANTIGONE.

The delicacy of my cheek where ringlets cluster is
unveiled, and not even calling up from maiden modesty
the red blood to my cheeks, a blush suflusing my counte-
nance, I am hurried along, a bacchanal of corpses, having
cast away the veil from my locks, having neglected the
saffron array of luxury, I, a woeful conductor of the dead.
Alas, woe is me ! O Polyneices, rightly then wast thou
named, woe is me, O Thebes ! for thy strife which was
not strife, but murder on murder hath destroyed the house

1497 — 1540.] PHCENissjE. 65

of (Edipus, having been consummated with fearful blood-
shed, with woeful bloodshed. But what groan in
harmony with grief, or what tuneful lament shall I
invoke, upon tears, upon tears, I who bare these three
kindred slain, mother and children, joys of the avenging
Fury ? She who destroyed utterly the house of CEdipus
from the time when he had understanding to interpret
the song hard to be understood, of the Sphinx, that fell
minstrel ; depriving her body of life. Woe is me, O my
father! What Grecian woman or what barbarian or
who else of the nobly born of old time, of mortal blood,
hath ever endured such manifest woes of so great evils as
I wretched bewail ? What bird, then, sitting amid the
boughs of the topmost foliage of an oak or a pine will be
responsive to the woes, [the lamentations] of me bereft
of my mother ? I who with these wailings ^ weep aloud
the lament, in solitude about to pass a life for ever in
gushing tears. Whom shall I lament ? On whom first
shall I cast first-offerings with locks rent from my
hair ? On my mother's two breasts that gave me suck,
or upon the unhappy mangled corpses of my two bro-
thers ? Woe woe ! leave thy abode, bringing out thy
sightless eyes, mine aged father ! Show forth, O CEdipus,
thy miserable old age, thou who within the palace,
having inflicted misty darkness on thine eyes, draggest
out a prolonged existence. Hearest thou, O thou wan-
dering through the hall, reposing thine aged illfated foot
upon a couch ?

(EDIPUS.

Wherefore, O virgin, hast thou drawn me forth, leaning

* 1517. hdvpnotc l^is word on ax^ffiv* The latter suggests
is rejected by Hermann and ij^u or iarai in its place.
Dind. as being merely a gloss

6C PH(ENiss^. [1540 — 1567.

on the prop of a sightless foot, into the light from out
my murky chamber, with thy most pitiable tears, me,
that am bedridden, a gray dim phantom of upper air, or
a corpse from below, or a winged dream ?

Ant. Thou wilt hear hapless tidings, O my fetber,
thy children no longer behold the light of day^ no, nor
thy wife, she who beside thy staff* ever with constant
attendance laboured for thy sightless foot, O my fathw,
woe is me !

CEd. Woe is me for my calamities ! For we have
cause to bewail ^ these things, to cry aloud ! Three
lives, by what fate, how, left they the light of day, O
my child, tell me ?

Ant, Not for reproach, much less for exultation, but
in grief I say it ; thy Avenger mighty with swords and
with fire and merciless combats came upon thy children,
O my father, woe is me ! *

CEd. Alas!

Ant. Wherefore lamentest thou these things ?

(Ed. O my children !

Ant. Thou wofuldst have felt grief, if, looking upon
the chariot of the Sun with its four coursers, thou hadst
cast the glances of thine eyes over these dead corpses.

(Ed. Of my children indeed the calamity is manifest ;
but my illfated wife, tell me my child, by what fate did
she perish ?

Ant. Exhibiting openly tears of lamentation to all,

* 1548-9. trapa^dKTpoiQ^ P. satiTus additur 7r<J5a <t6v,
8C. Otpavtvfiaffiv — with ser- Matth.

vices as of a staff. '1551. xai Tad* dvTtiv.P,

Ibid. Otpawivnaffiv kfi6' We have cause to wail, and to

xOct ad sensum idem est - cry aloud for these things,
quod kOtp&wivt ; hinc accu- ^ 1559. ^/Aot QSdipo trib. P.

156S-— 1596.2 PHCENisSiE. 67

having ^ exposed her suppliant breast, a suppliant she
bore it, she bore it towards her children. But in the
Electran gate the mother found her children, upon the
trefoil-bearing meadow, like lions that dwell in dens,
engaged in mutual combat with ]ances> for gory wounds ;
already a cold libation of gore, which Hades received for
his portion, but Ares assigned it to him . But she having
snatched a sword of beaten brass from the corpses
plunged it within her body, and in woe for her offspring
fell upon her children. And all these miseries, O my
father, the God hath in this one day brought together
upon one house, whoever he is who thus accomplishes
them.

Chor. This day hath been the beginning of many
woes to the house of (Edipus ; but may the rest of his
life be more fortunate.

CREON.

Cease ye indeed now from your wailings ; for it is
titne to take order for the burial : and do thou, (Edipus,
hearken to these words. Eteocles thy son gave to me
the dominion of this land, giving to Hsemon a marriage
portion and the bed of thy daughter Antigone. I will
not therefore suffer thee to dwell any longer in the land ;
for Teiresias announced distinctly that while thou wast
inhabiting this land, the city would never prosper. But
convey thyself out. And this I say not to insult thee,
nor yet as being thy foe, but by reason of the Avengers
that haunt thee, fearing lest the land meet with some
calamity.

(Ed, O Fate ! from the very commencement how

* 1569. &pofiha/ Verum J5 strriv bpovovoa jcac 'nportU
yidetur dpofikva de quo scboli- vovaa rbv juaor^i/.— Dind.
asta; ypatptrai 8k kuI opofiiva.

68 PHCENlssiE. [J 597 — 1 622.

hapless didst thou produce me [and wretched, if any
other of mortals is so]] ; me, of whom even before I came
into light from my mother's womb, while yet unborn,
Apollo did predict to Laius that I should become the
murderer of my father. O wretched me ! And then
when I was bom, my father again who begat me strives to
slay me, deeming that I was bom his foe : for it was fated
that he should die by my hand ; and he sends me forth,
desiring the breast, to be a ^ woeful prey to wild beasts :
and there I am saved alive. Aye, would that Cithceron
had descended into the yawning abyss of Tartariis, for
that he destroyed me not, but . gave me over also to be
a slave about the person 7 of my master Polybus. And
having slain my father, I, the illfated one, entered the
bed of my wretched mother ; and begat children who
were my brothers, whom I destroyed, having inherited
curses from Laius and transmitted them to my children.
For never was I by nature so without understanding as
to have devised these things against my own eyes and
the lives of my children, except through the influence of
some god. Well, be it so. What then am I the ill*
fated one to do ? Who will accompany me, the guide
of my sightless foot ? This woman, who is dead ?
Were she but living I know well she would. Or my
pair of gallant sons ? But they no longer live for me.
Or am I still young, and can I find even ® sustenance ?
From whence ? Why dost thou slay me thus utterly,
Creon ? For thou wilt slay me if thou shalt cast me
forth from the land. In no wise however by clasping

• 1603. adXiov. P. me deity gave me to be a slave,

wretched. etc.

' 1607. Saifiutv iSuuce UoXv « 1619. auroc. P. can I find

fiov dfifi diffirdTtiv, P. and the sustenance for myself t

1622—1648.] PHCENis&fi. 69

my arms about thy knee will I debase myself; for my
noble birth of old I will not betray, no, not even in
that adversity as now.

Creon. Both thou hast spoken well, that thou wilt
not touch my knees, and I will not suffer thee to dwell
in the land. But of these corpses, the one indeed ye
must straightway carry into the palace, but this other,
who 9 came with others to sack his native city, the corpse
of Poljueices, cast ye unburied forth from the boundaries
of this land. And this proclamation shall be made to
all the Cadmeans, that whoever shall be detected either in
bedecking this corpse or in burying it in the earth, shall
receive deatli in return : * Qbut that they let it be, un-
wept, unburied, a prey for birds]. But do thou,
Antigone, ceasing thy wailings for the three who are
dead, convey thyself into the palace, and remain in thy
maiden chambers expecting the coming day, on which the
bed of Hsemon awaits thee.

Ant. O my father, in what evils are we wretched
involved ! Be assured, I groan for thee more than for
the dead. For it is not one part of thy woe that is
grievous, and another not grievous, but in all alike thou
hast been hapless, O my father ! But thee I ask, our
new ruler, why insultest thou this my father, by banish-
ing him from the land ? Why makest thou laws upon a
wretched corpse ?

Creon. These are the decrees of Eteocles, not mine.

Ant. Aye, senseless decrees, and a fool thou, who hast
obeyed them.

Creon. How? Is it not just to execute what is
enjoined ?

« 1628-9. S% 8c fi\9i om. vskvv 1628.

P. ut sit Tbv dk-^UoXvvuKOVQ i 1634. om. P.

70 PH(ENissjE. [1649 — 1664.

Ant. No, at least if what is CDJoined is base, and evilly
commanded.

Creon. What? Will not this man' with justice Be
thrown to the dogs ?

Ant. Noj for ye are "liot exacting from him a legal
penalty.

Creon. Aye, but we are, if he was, as he was, a foe
to the city, not being naturally its foe.

Ant. Therefore it was he entrusted his fortune to the
chance of war.

Creon. Let him then ^ suffer the penalty by remain-
ing unburied.

Ant. Having done what wrong, if he came to recover
his share of the land ?

Creon. This man shall be unburied, that thou mayest
know.

Ant. I will bury him, even though the city forbid it.

Creon. Thou wilt bury thyself then by the side of
this corpse.

Ant. But in sooth 'tis glorious for two friends to lie
side by side.

Creon. Seize this woman and convey her into the
palace.

Ant. Not so indeed, for I will not loose my hold on
this corpse.

Creon. The deity hath decreed, O virgin, not what
seems good to thee.

Ant. This also hath been decreed, that the dead be
not insulted.

Creon. Be assured, that no one shall cast moist earth
upon this man.

* 1654. ry rd^. ry Ara^i^, Scbsf. Ibid, vvv, P. * now.'—

1665—1680.] PHCENiss^. 71

Ant. Yea, I beseech thee, by this my mother Jocasta,
Creon —

Creon. Thou art losmg thy pains ; for thou shalt not
obtain this.

Ant. But do thou at least permit me to pour libations
over the corpse.

Creon. This would be one of the things forbidden by
the state.

Ant. But permit me to bind bandages about his fell
wounds.

Creon. It is not possible for thee to pay honours to
this corpse.

Ant. O most beloved, but at least I will kiss thy
mouth.

Creon. Thou wilt not gain an impediment to thy
marriage by thy wailings.

Ant. What, shall I be married while I live ever to a
son of thine ?

Creon. Tis compulsory. ' Whither wilt thou escape
his bed?

Ant. That night, then, shall find me one of the
daughters of Danaus.

Creon. Hast thou heard what an audacious insult
she has cast in my teeth ?

Ant. Let the weapon be my witness and the sword I
swear by.

Creon. But why art thou so over-desirous to be rid

this marriage ?

Ant. I will go into exile with this my most wretched
father.

Creon. There resides in thee a generous spirit, but
some little folly.

' 1674. ^oXX^ (T*. P. 'Tis compulsory on thee.
tH

72 PH(ENissjE. [1681 — 1C96.

Ant. Aye, and I will die with him, that thou mayest
know further.

Creon. Go, thou shalt not murder my son ; quit the
land.

CEo. O my daughter, I praise thee indeed for thy
zealous affection —

Ant. * But if I were to marry, and thou wert to go
alone into exile, my father —

OEd. Stay and he happy. With mine own evils I
will be content.

Ant. Who, then, will tend thee who art blind, my
father ?

CEd. Falling where it is my fate, I shall lie upon the
plain.

Ant. And where then is CEdipus, and his famous
riddles ?

CEd. They have perished. One day made me pro-
sperous and one day ruined me.

Ant. Therefore it is my duty also to share in thy
woes.

CEd. Exile is disgraceful for a daughter, in company
with a blind father.

Ant. No, not to a virtuous daughter, but 'tis noble,
my father.

CEd. Lead me then forward, that I may touch thy
mother.

Ant. * Here, touch with thy hand an aged woman
most dear to thee.

CEd. O my mother, O my most wretched yoke-
fellow I

Ant. Pitiable she lies, enduring all evils together.

* Post 1684. interrog. distin- * 1694. 0iXr4ry. P. with thy

guit. P.— But if-^l most lo?ed hand.

1697—1722.] PHCENis&E. 73

CEd. And where are the corpses of Eteocles and Poly-
neices ?

Ant. Here they both lie, stretched ont before thee,
side by side.

(Ed. Set my sightless hand upon their ill-fated
visages.

Ant. Here, grasp in thy hand thy slain children.

(Ed. O ye beloved, woeful corpses ! sons of a woeful
sire !

Ant. O name of Polyneices, in sooth most dear to me !

CEd. Now, O my child, the oracle of Loxias is arriving
at its fulfilment.

Ant. What oracle ? What, wilt thou tell of woes
upon woes?

(Ed. That I, in my wanderings, shall die in Athens*

Ant. Where? What tower of Attic land will receive
thee?

(Ed. Sacred Golonus, and the temple of the horse-
man god. But come, minister to me thine aged sire,
since thou art zealous to share in this my exile.

Ant. Go forth into wretched exile. Stretch forth thy
loved hand, my aged father, leaving me to conduct thee,
like a ship-speeding gale.

(Ed. Lo, I journey forward, my child ; do thou be-
come the woeful guide of my steps.

Ant. Aye, I have become, I have become most woe-
ful in sooth of all Theban virgins.

(Ed. Whither do I set mine aged footstep ? bring me
support, O my child !

Ant. This way, this way, advance, this way, Qthis
way] set down thy foot, my ^ fether, for thou hast the
strength as it were of a dream.

« 1721. Trartpom. P.

74 PH(ENISSiE. QI723 1751.

OEd. Woe, woe, for most hapless exile ! 7 Thou
who art expelling me in my old age from my country !
Woe, woe ! for me who have endured fearful fearful
things !

Ant. Endured what? endured what? Justice be-
holds not the vile, nor does she requite the foolish acts of
mortals.

CEd. I am he who ascended upon the heavenly song
of glorious victory, having discovered the riddle of the
virgin, hard to be interpreted.

Ant. Dost thou recall the reproach of the Sphinx ?
Away with mention of thy former prosperity! For
these pitiful calamities were awaiting thee, that, having
become an exile from thy country, O my father, some-
where thou shouldest die. Leaving behind tears of
regret with beloved virgins, I am about to depart far
from my native land, wandering in unmaidenly sort.

(Ed. Oh how great is the advantage of wisdom !

Ant. Aye, with respect to my father's calamities it
shall render me glorious. Wretched am I, moreover, »
for the wrong done to my brother, who is cast forth from
his home, an unburied corpse, the miserable one ! whom,
even if I must die, my father, in darkness I will bury
9 beneath the earth.

(Ed. Show thyself to thy comrades.

Ant. There has been enough of my wailings.

(Ed. But do thou offer thy supplications at the
altars.

Ant. Having satiety of my miseries.

' 1724. kXavveiv P. The wrongs of my brother."

driving, &c. • 1747. aKorl^^, P. ** In the

® 1744. (ToVf ffvyydvov 9\ P. dark earth.'' —
" wretched — for thee, and the

1752—1766.] PH<ENisaE. 75

(Ed. But go where Bromius dwells, and where is the
inviolate enclosure of Bacchanals on the mountains.

Ant. To him, for whom I, arrayed in Cadmean fawn-
skins in old time led off the holy dance of Semele, on the
mountains, conferring a thankless honour on the gods ?

(£d. O ye citizens of a glorious fatherland, behold,
this man is CBdipus, I who discovered the famous riddles
and was greatest of men I who alone subdued the
might of the bloodthirsty Sphinx, now myself dis-
honoured, pitiable, am driven forth from the land. But
why do I bewail these things, and lament in vain ? For
being a mortal I must bear the necessities imposed by
the gods.

f Chor. ^ O victory greatly venerated, mayest thou
dwell with me through my life and never cease crowning
me with chaplets.]

' 1764. See note to Orestes, 1691.

OKESTES.

DRAMATIS PERSON-^:.

Elect&a.

Helen.

Hebmione.

Chorus.

Okestes.

Menelahs.

Tyndabbus.

Pylades.

Messenger,

A Phrygian.

Apollo.

JB

ARGUMENT.

Orestes, avenging the murder of his father, slew iEgisthas and
Cljtaenmestra ; but having dared to commit matricide, straightway
he suffered the punishment, being visited with madness. And
Tjndareus the father of her who had been slain, having brought
an accusation against him, the Argives were about to pass a vote
of the people, as to what he ought to suffer who had committed
an act of impiety ; but Menelaus having by chance returned from
his wanderings, sent Helen indeed by night into the palace, but
by day arrived himself. And being called by Orestes to his
succour, he rather respected Tyndareus, who spoke on the other
side ; and when the causes had been pleaded before the populace,
the majority was eager to put Orestes to death.
' and Pylades his friend siding with these,' counselled him first to
take vengeance on Menelaus by slaying Helen. They however
having made the attempt failed of their design, the gods having
carried Helen away. But Electra put Hermione, who had made
her appearance, into their hands^; and they were about to put her
to death, when Menelaus appeared, and, seeing that he was being
deprived by them of his wife and daughter at once, resolved to
force the palace : but they were beforehand with him and threa-
tened to set it on fire. But Apollo appearing announced that he
was carrying Helen off to the gods ; and commanded Orestes to
take Hermione to wife, and to give Electra iu marriage to Pylades,
and, when purified of his bloodguiltiness, to rule over Argos.

The scene of the drama is supposed to be in Argos ; and the
chorus consists of Argive women, of the same age with Electra ;
who come on the stage also inquiring about the sufferings of
Orestes. And Electra speaks the prologue. The drama, however,
has its catastrophe rather adapted to comedy. And the scenery of

* This hiatus is filled up in U rov plov vpoUtrOai, (». e.

two codd., but, according to ** who announced that he would

P., not satisfactorily. {l)'6 xai put himself to death with hii

IvayyiiKdfievoc abrbQ ^ot^- own hand*'); — •
(Tot, IK Tov /3iov TTpoteaBai. * rovroif. om. P. *

(2.) IfrayytiXdfitvov airbv

4 ARGUMENT OF THE DRAMA.

the drama is thus : Orestes is discovered before the palace of
Agamemnon, sick and lying on a coucb, from madness; and
Electra is sitting at his feet. But there is a question why in the
world she is not sitting at his head ; for the rather thus would she
have seemed to be regardful of her brother, by sitting nearer ' to
him. The poet seems then to have contrived thus on account of
the chorus ; for Orestes would have been disturbed, having but
lately fallen asleep and that hardly, if the women who compose the
chorus had been standing nearer to him. And we may guess this
from what Electra says to the chorus, *' Hist ! hist ! lightlj set
down the tread of thy shoe." It is credible, therefore, that this
was the reason of such an arrangement. The drama is of those in
good repute upon the stage : but in moral sentiment it is the worst ;
for, except Pylades, all the characters were vicious.

ANOTHER ARGUMENT.*

When Greece went forth against the Trojans, Agamemnon was
chosen commander-in-chief of the whole armament^ inasmuch as
he was considered to surpass the rest both in extent of dominion
and number of ships ; for he contributed an hundred ships to the
confederation of the army. And when about to set sail he leaves
behind him ^gisthus as manager and guardian of his affairs at
home. But when a long period elapsed and Agamemnon did not
yet return home, then, as indeed it frequently happens, ^gistbus
had an illicit connection with Clytaemnestra, Agamemnon's wi£s.
But when Clytsemnestra and JEgisthus heard that Troy was taken,
and that Agamemnon with the rest was sailing homewards, they
devise a plan to slay him, when he should have taken possessioQ
of his house ; so that they might not, when their crime was made
known to him, be given over to death themselves ; and this plan,
then, they accomplished. And when Agamemnon had returned home,
they slew him ; for after the bath they put on him a tunic which
had no outlets for the head and hands, and they murdered him
with an axe. However, during the murder of Agamemnon,
Electra, having stolen away her brother Orestes, that he also might

* TovTtfi vapuKaOel^ofikvti * Omitted by P.

TrXijaiairtpov* P.

ABGUMENT OF THE DRAMA. 5

not perisb, and having committed him to tiie charge of a certain
pedagogue, sends him to Phocis, to the house of Strophias, who
was a friend and kinsman of her lather. And Orestes, when he
arrired at manhood, taking with him Pylades the son of Strophias,
that with him he might avenge himself on iEgisthns and CljtSBm-
nestra, returns secreUy to Argos ; and having received a response
from P jthian Apollo that be should do this, he first proceeds to
the tomb of his father and ofiers sacrifice ; and then contrives this
plan.

The pedagogue, to whom he bad been entrusted long since by
I^ctra and who had arrived, as we said above, at Phocis, this peda-
gogue he sends before him, to JEgisthus and Clj^tflsmnestra, with
news that Orestes had been kiUed in the Pythian games, and that
messengers were then bringing his bones in a coffer, that he might,
at any Tate, e&are the tomb of his fathers. And Cljrteenmestra
and ^gisthus being led on by this stratagem, (that I may not make
a long story of it) are put to death by Orestes and Pylades, first
Clytsmnestra and afterwards JEgisthus. Orestes th^i having
committed matricide, straightway suffers the penalty at the hands
of the £rinyes, being afflicted with madness. And Menelaus hav-
ing returned from Troy, (for he arrived home later than Agamem-
non) and putting in at the harbour of Nauplia, by night indeed
sends Helen into Mycens, but by day entered himself; and finding
Orestes mad, he is entreated by Orestes and Electra to save their
lives. For Tyndareus the father of Clytaemnestra had stirred up
all the Argives against them, that they mi^t put them to death as
matricides. But Menelaus when he found Tyndareus opposing
them, and at the same time took it himself into account that if
Orestes were put to death he should himself be king of Argos,
refused to aid Orestes and his sist«r, but said that he feared the
people of Aigos. First then, Orestes and Tyndareus reasoned
against each other, the latter attempting to show that he had not
slain Clytflenmestra with justice, but Orestes that he had done so
with all justice, since she deserved ten thousand deaths. Then an
assembly being held in the citadel of Mycens, and, the chief men
of Argos having come together, Orestes is carried thither by Py-
lades in a litter. After many opinions had been delivered, and
some in favour of Orestes, while others were against him, at last
the worst prevailed ; and Orestes is condemned with his sister to

6 ARGUMENT OF THE DRAMA.

die by stoning : but Orestes announced to the people that he wonld
put himself and his sister to death with his own hand. Now his
friend Pjlades both remained a friend to him daring his misfor-
tunes, and claimed most zealouslj to share in his death : and since
it was determined for them to suffer this, Pylades advises that they
should first take vengeance on Menelaus, saying that *' he shoold
not live in luxury while we are gone hence ;" wherefore having
entered the palace under the pretence of wishing to entreat Helen
not to suffer them to perish but to stretch forth her hand, and urge
Menelaus though unwilling to preserre them -, when they were
about to put her to death, her indeed they failed of finding, for she
had been carried off by Apollo at the command of Jove, bat they
seize Hermione who had returned from the tomb of Clytseninestra;
for Helen had sent her some time before, to offer sacrifices to her
sister. Having seized Hermione there and made sure the gates of
the palace within, they went to an upper part of the palace, hold-
ing Hermione and a sword at her throat; and intending after
having made away with her, in case Menelaus would not save
their lives, to consume the building with fire. Menelaus accord-
in|^ly learning from these that Helen was dead, so that he may by
his coming perchance preserve his own child, began to force the
palace. But Apollo appearing reconciled them ; declaring that he
had carried away Helen up to heaven, and bidding Menelaus take
another wife, and unite Hermione to Orestes after he should be
purified of the murder ; which purification be obtained at Athens
where he was tried with the Erinyes at the mount of Mars. On
this occasion also, when he was about to be condemned by all the
gods, Minerva by throwing in her vote brought him off victorious :
and thus Orestes afterwards marries Hermione according to the
oracle of Apollo, and rules over Argos ; moreover, he bestows
Electra on Pylades, to whom also she had been previously be-
trothed by him.

But we must observe that every tragedy has its end consistent
with its beginning : for from grief it begins and with g^ef it ends.
But the present drama, from being tragic, becomes comic ; for it
concludes with the reconciliations effected by Apollo, after calamity
terminating in happiness ; and the comedy is interwoven with
jokes and merriment.

ORESTES.

Electba.
1—17.]

Tnp]RE is no word so fearful of utterance, no suflFering
is there, nor calamity sent by the wrath of the gods, the
burden whereof man's nature cannot endure. For he
who was blessed (and I reproach not his misfortunes),
Tantalus, son of Jove, as they tell, flits in mid air
dreading the rock that impends over his head ; and this
penalty he pays (as indeed they say), because being but
a mortaU yet having the same honour as the gods at their
common table, he had an unchastened tongue, the foulest
pest of all. This man was the father of Pelops and from
him was Atreus sprung, for whom the goddess having
carded out the thread of his destiny spun him forth strife,^
that he should engage in war with Thyestes who was
his brother. "Why need I recall those crimes unspeak-
able ? Atreus, then, having murdered his children feasted
him on them ; and from Atreus, for I pass over the
misfortunes which intervene, was sprung Agamemnon

' 12. Clotho colum retinet, Lachesis net, et Atropos occat.

8 ORESTES. [^17 48.

the renowned, if indeed he be renowned, and Menelaus,
from Aerope their mother of Crete. Now Menelaus
married Helen, her abhorred of the gods, while prince
Agamemnon shared the bed of Cl3rt6emnestra, notorious
among the Greeks : and to him from that one wife were
bom we three virgins, Chrysothemis and Iphigeneia and
myself Electra, and a male child Orestes : born &om a
most unholy mother, who having entangled her husband
in a robe whence was no outlet slew him ; but for
what reason, it were not becoming for a virgin to narrate ;
I let this pass in obscurity, for men to consider it in
public. But the injustice of Phoebus why need I accuse?
for he persuades Orestes to slay my mother who bore
him, a deed which brings not good fame to all men ; but
nevertheless he slew her, not disobeying the god : and i
likewise took part, as far as a woman could, ia the
slaughter, and Pylades, who had wrought these deeds
with us. And thenceforth pining away with a fell
disease the wretched Orestes lies sick ; and reclining on
a couch belies, and the blood of his mother whirls round bis
brain with frenzy ; for I refrain in reverence from naming
the goddesses, the Eumenides, who drive him frantic
with terror. This is now the sixth day since our mother,
having died by bloodshed, hath been purified by the
funeral fire, during which he hath neither taken food
down his throat, nor washed his body with water ; but
lying hid beneath his garments, when indeed his frame
is relieved from disease, then being of sane mind he
weeps ; but sometimes forth from his coverlets he leaps
with headlong speed, like a courser freed from the yoke.
And it hath seemed good to this city of Argos that none
shall receive us under their roofs nor at the fire of their
hearths, and that none shall hold converse with us the

4f8— 80.] ORESTES. 9

matricides ; this too is the appointed day on which the
city of the Argives is to pass a decree whether we must
both die by stoning with stones, or plunge a sharpened
sword into our necks. But now indeed we have some
hope that we shall not die ; for Menelaus hath arrived
at this land from Troy, and filling the port of Nauplia
with his barks, he anchors off the shore, having wandered
a long time in erring course from Troy ; and already he
hath sent before him to our home Helen the cause of
many a sigh, waiting for the night that none of those whose
children have fallen under the walls of Troy might, if they
saw her coming by day, proceed to stone her ; and she
is within, bewailing her sister and the calamities of our
house. But she has now indeed some consolatipn for
her griefs ; for the virgin whom Menelaus left at home
when he sailed for Tioy and entrusted to my mother to
bring up, having brought her from Sparta, Hermione I
mean, in her she rejoices and forgets her woes. But I
am looking forth in every direction, when I shall discern
the arrival of Menelaus ; for as regards aught else we
ride on an anchor of unstable strength, save only if in
some way we be preserved by his means ; a powerless
thing is an illfated house.

Helen. O thou daughter of Clytsemnestra and of
Agamemnon, Electra, thou who art still a virgin through
so great a length of time, how, O wretched one, farest
thou and how thy brother the wretched Orestes, this
matricide here ? For I deem not myself polluted by thy
converse, transferring the fault to Phoebus. And yet I
bewail at least the fate of Clytsemnestra my sister, whom
since I sailed to Ilium as I did sail in frenzy ordained of
heaven, I have never beheld, but bereft of her I lament
her misfortunes.

10 ORESTES. [81 — 98.

f
Elec. Helen, why need I tell thee what being present

thou seest, that the race of Agamemnon is involved in
calamities ? I indeed sit here sleepless, by the side of a
miserable corpse,-^for a corpse this man is, save for a
little breathing; but his woes I mention not with
reproach. But thou who art happy, and thy happy
spouse, ye twain have come to us who are in woeful
plight.

Hel. And for how long a time has he been lying here
on his couch.

Elec. Ever since he shed a parent's blood.

Hel. O miserable be, and miserable his mdther, how
hath he perished !

Elec. So these things are, that he has^ sunk benea\;b
his woes.

Hel. In the name of the gods, wouldest thou then
do me a kindness, O damsel ?

Elec. Yea, so long at least as I am not occupied by
attendance ' on my brother.

Hel. Art thou willing to go for me to the tomb of
my sister ?

Elec. Biddest thou me go to the tomb of my
mother ? For what purpose ?

Hel. Bearing the first o£ferings of my hair and
libations from me.

Elec. And is it not lawful for thyself to go to the
tomb of those thou lovest ?

Hel. Aye, for I am ashamed to shew myself to the
Argives.

' 91. atrtlprjKiv, P. approved Spia male ezcasum pro vpoas"
by Dind. ^pi^. — Dind.

' 93. irpotrtSpi^, P. 7rpo«-

99—121.] ORESTES. 11

Elec. Tis late, at least, that thou art wise, who didst
then leave shamefully thine home.

Hel. Thou hast spoken aright, but not in friendly
sort to me.

Elec. And hast thou then any shame with respect to
them of Mycense ?

Hel. I fear the sires of the dead under the walls of
Ilium.

Elec. Aye, 'tis a matter of fear : for thou art cried out
upon in Argos through every mouth.

Hel. Do thou then grant me a favour, by freeing me
from this fear.

Elec. I could not bear to look upon the tomb of my
mother ?

Hel. Yet at least it is disgraceful that attendants
should bear these offerings.

Elec. But why sendest thou not thy daughter Her-
m|one?

Hel. .'Tis not seemly for virgins to go amongst a crowd.

Elec. And yet she might at least repay to the dead
the care of her education.

Hel. Well hast thou said, and I will obey thee, dam-
sel, and I will send my daughter ; for in sooth thou
speakest well. O my child, come forth, Hermione,
before the palace, and take these libations and locks of
my hair in thy hand ; and when thou art come to the
tomb of Clytsemnestra, pour forth libations of honey
and milk and mantling wine ; and standing upon the
summit of the mound speak these words — " Helen thy
sister offers thee these libations in fear of approaching
thy sepulchre and dreading the multitude of the Argives."
And bid her have gracious feelings towards me and thee
and my husband, and this woeful pair whom the god
tc 3

12 ORESTES. [121 — 147-

hath destroyed. And promise all the gifts offered to
those below, which it is right that I should accomplish
for my sister. Go, my child, be quick, and having
bestowed libations on the tomb, remember with all speed
thy backward road,

Elec. O human nature, how great a curse art thou
to mortals, and a saving boon to them who possess thee
with honour ! * Saw ye how she cropt her locks at the
very tips, preserving her beauty ? But she is the same
woman as of old. May the god hate thee, inasmuch as
thou hast ruined me and this man, and all Greece. Wretch
that I am ! Hither again appear my friends responsive
to my waiUngs ; perchance they will disturb from sleep
him who is at rest here, and will melt away mine eye
with tears, when I see my brother frantic. O women
most beloved, advance with silent step, make no noise,
nor let there be any sound : for your friendship is indeed
kindly to me, but 'twill be a misfortune to me to disturb
this man. Hist ! hist ! set lightly to earth the tread
of your shoe, make no noise, nor let there be any sound.
Go ye I pray afar, thither, afar from the couch.

Chorus. Lo, I obey.

Elec. Hush, hush, like^ the breathing of the delicate
reed-pipe, speak to me, loved one.

Chor. Hark, how I utter the soft note ^ of the reed.

* 128. lUtTE Trap' aKpaQ orreyoc Hesych.) ** vox quae sub

K.T, X.; l^iTt yap aKpag k. r. \. tecto editur : " and the whole

P. for see how she has cropped passage "cumleni voce domum

the extremities of her hair, etc. intro. ' — H. Steph. explains it,

^ 145. 'oTToiQ wod. C)C trvoid. ** vox quae sab tecto domus con-

P. . tineatur, nee extra a quoqaam

® 147. viropofpov, Matthiae exaudiri potest" — and there-
considers the derivation from fore," gentle.'* It may perhaps
opoipog a reed to be " nuga signify, " such a voice as one
grammaticorum '* : and trans- uses in a room, as opposed to
lates it like V7ru>po0o£ (={r7rd« open air speaking."

148 — 177.] ORESTES. 13

Eleg. Aye, thus approach, approach ; draw near
silently, silently advance ; tell me for what purpose ye
are come ; for this man now for some time has been
lulled in rest, reclining.

Chor. How fares he 7 Communicate thy words to
us, beloved one.

Elec. What misfortune must I tell ? or what calamity ?
He still breathes, and groans but little.

Chor. What sayest thou, O wretched one ?

Elec. Thou wilt destroy him if thou stir his eyelids
while he enjoys the sweet boon of sleep.

Chor. Wretched he, for most hostile- deeds per-
formed by the gods. Miserable man, alas for his suf-
ferings !

Elec. 7 Unjust was he who at that time then uttered
words of injustice, uttered them when Loxias upon the
tripod of Themis decreed the ^ unnatural murder of my
mother.

Chor. Seest thou ? He moves his body within the
coverlets.

Elec. Aye, for 'tis thou, wretched one, who by thy
cries hast stirred him up from sleep.

Chor. Methought, however, he slept.

Elec Wilt thou not from us, wilt thou not from the
palace move thy foot swiftly back again, ceasing from
thy din?

Chor. He slumbers.

Elec. Thou sayest well.

Chor. O awful, awful night, the giver of sleep to
mortals of many toils, come from the realms of darkness,
haste, haste with winged flight to the house of Aga-

7 162. & & dSiKOQ, K. r. X. P. faosta caBdes. D/nd.
'163. ipdvoQ dtrd^ovoCf in-

14 ORESTES. [^177—210.

memnon ; for with gneU and calamities we are utterly
sped, we are sped.

£lec. Ye have caused a din. ^ Wilt thou not in
silence, in silence keeping the vociferations of thy mouth
far from his couch, grant him the gentle ^ hoon of repose,
my friend ?

Chor. Tell us, what issue of his sufferings awaits
him ?

Elec. Death, death ;^ what else should? For he hath
not even desire of sustenance.

Chor, His fate then is manifest beforehand.

Elec. 'Twas Phoebus utterly destroyed us, when he
permitted the wretched, unnatural murder of our mother,
the slayer of our sire.

Chor. Justly, indeed, but not honourably.

Elec. Thou art dead, thou art dead, O my mother,
who didst , bring me forth, and thou hast destroyed my
father and these children of thine own blood. We have
perished dying by the same death, ' we have perished.
For both thou art among the dead, and the greater * part
of my life hath passed away in groanings and wailings
and nightly tears. Look upon me, for I wretched, un-
married, childless, drag on my life as ever.

Chor. Take care, thou virgin Electra, who art pre-
sent by his side, that thy brother here be not dead witli-
out thy knowledge ; for he pleases me not with his
excessive languor.

• 182. HA. KTvvov TfyaytT*, calm joj —

XO. oM' H^' ^*y *• ''• ^" '•*• ' 188. BavtXv once in P.

El. Ye have fcaused a din, « 200. dXdfieO* oXofuO' Uro^

Chor. Naj. El. By keeping vsKVi, dying both by the same

in silence, in silence the voci- death. P.

ferations etc. thou wilt grant * 202. fiiov rb trXkov vXkou

him etc. fii6Tov. P.

^ 186. x«P**'' xap^v. P« The

211—233.] ORESTES. 15

Orestes. thou fond charm of sleep, protector
against disease, how sweetly hast thou come to me and
in my need I O awful oblivion of my woes, how wise
art thou, and a goddess to be entreated of the unhappy !
Whence ever came I hither ? and how did I arrive ? for
I am in forgetfulness, having been deprived of my former
senses.

Eleg. O my dearest brother, how thou didst gladden
me, by falling into slumber. Dost thou wish me to
touch thee, and raise up thy body ?

Ores. Yea, lay hold, lay hold upon me, and wipe
away the clotted foam from my wretched mouth and
from my eyes.

Elec. Lo the grateful service, and I refuse not to tend
a brother's limbs with*a sister's hand.

Ores. Support my side with thine, and remove the
squalid hair from my brow ; for I see but little with mine
eyes.

Elec, O wretched head, filthy in thy curls, how wild
hast thou become from long absence from the bath.

Ores. Recline me again on the couch; when the
plague ^ of madness leaves me free, I am unhinged and
have no strength in my limbs.

Elec. There — the bed in sooth is pleasant to a sick
man ; being a thing painful indeed to keep, but necessary
for all that.

Ores. Raise me again upright, turn my body round. ^
The sick are hard to please from their helplessness.

Elec. Wilt thou also set thy feet upon the ground,

^ 228. fiaviac u\ P. The substantiye, the construction is

accent of fiaviaQ is uncertain : *' whenever my malady leaves

but however accented it should me free from madness.''

be taken as an a((;ec(ive. If a * 232. P. attributes to Chorus.

16 ORESTES, 1^234 — 258.

putting to earth thy footstep after a long interval?
Change in all things is sweet.

Ores. Assuredly : for this carries with it the appear-
ance of health ; and even the appearance is an improve-
ment, though it he far from the truth.

Elec. Hear me then, O my brother, while the Erinyes
permit thee to enjoy thy reason.

Ores. Wilt thou tell me any news ? if indeed it is
good, thou bringest what is grateful ; but if it tend to
any mischief I have enough of unhappiness.

Elec. Menelaus has arrived, thy father's brother,
and Qhe benches of] his ships are at anchor in Nauplia.

Ores. What sayest thou ? Has he appeared, a light
in my calamities and thine, a man of kindred blood and
who is under obligation to my falher ?

Elec. He has come ; receive this part of my news as
certain, bringing home Helen from the walls of Troy.

Ores. Had he been preserved alone he had been the
more enviable ; but if he brings home his wife, he has
come accompanied by a mighty curse.

Elec. Tyndareus hath produced a family of daughters
notorious for censure, and of bad repute throughout
Greece.

Ores. Be thou then diflferent from the base ; for it is
in thy power; and not only say these words but entertain
these sentiments.

Elec. Woe is me, my brother, thy countenance is
disturbed, and quickly hast thou changed to madness,
being but now of sane mind.

Ores. O my mother, I implore thee, set not on me
the virgins (i. e. furies) bloody to behold, and of dragon
form ; for these, these are leaping near me.

Elec. Stay, thou wretched one, quietly on thy couch ;

259—284.] ORESTES. 17

for thou seest nought of what thou fanciest thou hast
clearly seen.

Ores. O Phoebus, the dread goddesses, hound-faced,
fierce- visaged priestesses of Hades, will slay me.

£lec. In sooth I will not let thee go ; but entwining
my hands about thee, I will restrain thee from taking
these ill omened leaps.

Ores. Let me go ; being one of the Erinyes, thou
gripest me by the waist, that thou mayest hurl me into
Tartarus.

Elec. Woe is me, wretched ! What succour may I
obtain since we have found the deity a foe ?

Ores. Give me my bow of horn, the gift of Loxias,
wherewith Apollo bade me ward off the goddesses if
they should terrify me with frantic madness !

Elec. 7 And will any of the gods be struck by mortal
hand ?

Ores. If she pass not away from my sight. Hear
ye not ? see ye not the winged shafts of the far darting
bow starting from the string ? Ha ! ha ! Why then do
ye linger ? Skim the heights of ether with your pinions,
and arraign the oracles of Phoebus. — Well. — Where-
fore am I thus agitated, exhaling the breath from my
lungs ? Wliither, whither I pray have I rushed from
my couch ? For after a tempest again again I behold a
^calm. My sister, why weepest thou, putting thy head
within thy robes ? I am ashamed at making thee a
partaker of my suflFerings, and of troubling a virgin with
my malady. Pine not away by reason of my woes ; for
thou indeed didst consent to these things, but by me was

7 271. Continuandus bic ver- the gods will be^ kc, unless
BUS Oresti, commate post xc/ol tboa etc.
posito. Bind. Ores. One of

18 ORESTES. [284—314.

the murder of our mother accomplished ; but Loxias I
blame, who having incited me ^ to a most unholy deed
with his words indeed encouraged me, but by his deeds
in no wise. But I ween that my father, had I inquired
of him face to face whether I ought to skiy my mother,
would have uttered many earnest prayers by this my
beard, that I should not thrust a sword into the throat
of her who bore me, if by the deed neither he was to
regain the light of day, and I the hardened one was to
fulfil such woes as these. But now uncover thy face, O
my sister, and give over weeping, even if we are in very
woeful plight : and when thou seest me on my part dis-
quieted, do thou 9 appease and mollify the terror and
distraction of my mind ; but when thou groanest^ 'tis
right for me being by to admonish thee in friendly sort :
for these kindnesses are honourable among friends. But,
O wretched one, go within the palace, and in recumbent
posture give up thy .sleepless eyelids to slumber, and take
some food, and apply the bath to thy body. For if thou
shalt fail me, or by attendance on me shalt catch any
disease, we are lost : for thee alone I have an ally, being
as thou seest destitute of others.

Elec. It is not good : with thee I will choose both to
die and to live ; for 'tis the same thing : if thou die,
what shall I a woman do ? How shall I be preserved
alive, brotherless, fatherless, friendless ? But if it seems
good to thee, thus I must do : but recline thy body upon
the couch, and do not too readily give way to that which
terrifies thee and scares thee from thy resting place, but
remain upon the well covered bed. For even if thou be

* 286. Iwalptiv rivd ri die- Matthiae. Dind.
turn at 'jrtiOeiv nvd rt, monet * 298. tcrxaw't. P*

314 — 349.] ORESTES. 19

not afflicted but fanciest thou art afflicted, ^ to mortals
this becomes both trouble and distress.

CHORUS.

Woe ! woe ! O ye swift- winged deities, * shrilly
screaming, ye to whom hath fallen the lot of a joyless
company, amidst wailings and tears, ye dark Eumenides ;
and who hurry ^ through the wide expanse of ether,
exacting vengeance for blood, chastising murder, I sup-
plicate ye, I supplicate ye, permit the son of Agamem-
non to have oblivion of his frantic wandering madness.
Woe for those toils, impelled by which thou now art
perishing, having received from the tripod the response
which Phoebus pronounced, pronounced, on that spot
where are the secret recesses which are called the navel of
earth. O Jove ! what pitiable woe, what strife of blood
is this which approacheth hastening on against thee the
wretched one, for whom some avenging fury adds [|will
add P.] tears to tears, bringing upon thy house the
blood of thy mother, which rouses thee to frenzy ? I
bewail thee, I bewail thee. Mighty prosperity is not
stable among mortals ; but some deity, blowing it hither
and thither like the sail of a swift bark, overwhelms it
in the greedy death-fraught waves of fearful woes,* as
of a sea. For what other house, up to this time, besides
that which was bom of divine wedlock, the house of
Tantalus, must I revere ? But hither indeed comes the
king, the royal Menelaus, by his exceeding splendour

* 315. Mibi hsec tarn inepta metrum. Simplex iraWoi medio

▼identur ut non dubitem quia sensu occurrit Electr. 438.

post y. 314 aliquid ezciderit. Mox. 319. P.

Dind. * 343. The above construc-

^ 318. iroTviddtg' Perhaps tion is according to Matth. :

also for irdTviait awful. others govern jroviav bj jcarl-

® 322. <i/i7rdXX£r\ P. propter kKvuiv, inundates it with woes.

20 ORESTES. C350— 380.

clearly discernible ^ to be of the blood of the sons of Tan-
tains. O thou who didst rouse up an armament of a
thousand ships against the limd of Asia, all hail ! But
thou art th3rself an associate of good fortune, hairing
accomplished, by the help of the gods, all that was thy
prayer.

MBNBLAUS.

O thou palace ! in one sense indeed I look upon thee
with pleasure, having returned from Troy, biit in another
I groan wh^i I behold thee. For no other hearth, have
I ever yet seen more encircled than thou art by woeful
ills. For the &te indeed of Agamemnon and his death,
I knew by what a death he fell at the hand of his wife,
when I had put in my prow at Malea : for from the
waves the seam^s seer, the prophet Glaucus, Neiena'
son, announced it to me, a god who cannot lie ; and
he spake these words to me, visibly standing by me.
^^ Menelaus, thy brother lies dead ; having met with his
last bath at the hands of his vnfe," but he filled me
and my sailors with many tears. But as soon as I
touched the land of Nauplia, where my vnfe was already
setting out to come hither, I, expecting to embzace in
my dear arms Orestes the son of Agamemnon, and his
mother, as prospering, heard from a seabeaten sailor of the
unholy murder done on the daughter of Tjmdareus. And
now, tell me, O damsels, where is the son of Agamenmon
who has dared these evil deeds. For he was but a child
then, in the arms of Clyteemnestra, when I left the
palace, voyaging to Troy ; so that I should not recognise
him, were I to look upon him.

Orbs. 1 am Orestes, Menelaus, for whom thou in-

* 349. iro\i> ^* aj3p' P. and discernible etc.
by his splendour, very clearly

381—396.] ORESTES. 21

quirest. Readily will I narrate to thee my woes. But
in the fbrst place I embrace thy knees as a suppliant,
letting fall prayers from a mouth unaided by the olive
branch'; save me ; and thou thyself hast come at the
very moment to preserve me from evil.

Men. O ye gods, what do I behold ? whom of the
dead do I look upon ?

Ores. Thou hast said aright ; for I live not in my
wretchedness, but yet behold the light of day.

Men. How wild hast thou become with thy squalid
hair, wretched one.

Ores. Tisnot my appearance, but my deeds, that
torment me. ,

Men. And fearfully thou glarest from thine eyes with
haggard eyeballs.

Ores. My body is gone : but my name hath nq^ for*
saken me.

Men. Oh how contrary to my expectations is the
appearance of thine unseemly form E

Ores. I here, am the murderer of my ill&ted
mother*

Men. I have heard it; but spare to repeat <^ evil
news*

Ores. I do spare : but the deity is lavish to me of
evils.

Men* What sofferest thou ? What disease destroys
thee?

Orbs. My conscience ; for I am conscious of having
done fearful deeds.

< 893. Debebat dicere ftlSov rum constractio ; pro eo ay-
firj iroXk^KiQ Xly€iv Kaxa, qua nonjrmum posait yocabulttia
est legitima hojusmodi verbo- dXiydxiC. Pind.

22 ORESTES. 1^397—413.

Men. How sayest thou ? That, in sooth, is wise
which is clear, not that which is not clear.

Ores, Grief especially, at least, it is that b destroying
me.

Men. And a fearful deity too, but nevertheless ap-
peasable.

Ores. And fits of madness, avengers of my mother's
blood.

Men. And when didst thou commence thy &enzy ?
what day was it, then ?

Ores. The day on which I honoured my mother by
raising a tomb over her.

Men. Was it at home, or in attendance at the funeral
pyre? '

Ores. 'Twas while watching by night the taking up
of her bones.

Men. Was any one else present, who supported thy
body ?

Ores. Pylades, who helped me in shedding the blood
and committing the murder of my mother.

Men. And by what sort of phantoms art thou thus
afflicted?

Ores. Methought I saw three damsels like imto night.

Men. I know those thou speakest of, but I wish not
to name them.

Ores. Aye, for they are awfiil : and wisely thou art
averse to naming^hem.

Men. Do these inspire thee with frenzy for the
shedding of kindred blood ?

Ores. Woe is me for their pursuits, with which \
wretched I am harassed.

Men. Tis not strange that those who have done
fearful deeds should suffer fearfully.

41 i— 431.] ORESTES. 23

Ores. But I have where I may transfer my calamity.

Men. Say not death ; for that indeed is not wise.
' Ores. Phoebus, who commanded me to perpetrate the
murder of my mother.

Men. Yea, being little skilled in right and justice.

Ores. We are the slaves of the gods, whatever t|iose
gods be.

Men. And then does not Loxias defend tiiee in thy
troubles ?

Ores. He delays ; but the Deity is such by disposition.

Men. And liow long is it since thy mother breathed
her last ?

Ores. This is the sixth day ; her foneral pile is yet
warm.

Men. How speedily have the goddesses visited thy
mother's blood upon thee !

Ores. I am by nature not prudent, but a true finend
to my Mends.

Men. And does the vengeance of thy father affnrd
thee any help ?

Ores* Not as yet : and delay I consider the same
as ruin.''

Men. And how standest thou as regards the city
having done these deeds ?

Ores. We are hated so that no one speaks to us.

Men. Hast thou not even been purified from the blood
on thy hands, according to the laws ?

Orbs. Nay ; for I abi shut out from all houses
wherever I go.

Mbn. Which of the citizens vie with each other to
expel thee from the land ?

7 426. dirpa^i^ : perhaps the sane «0 doing nothing at all.
Jd 3

24 ORESTES, ^432 — 448.

Ores. (Eax, throwing back upon my father his
hatred which arose from Troy.

Men. I miderstand ; the death of Palamedes avenges
itself on thee.

Ores. Aye, a death in which I had no part ; thrice
utterly^ am I ruined.

Men. And who besides? I suppose some of the
friends of iBgisthus ? ,

Ores. These insult me, and the city at present listens
to them.

Men. And does the city permit thee to hold the
sceptre of Agamemnon ?

Ores. How should they, who do not even suffer us
to live any longer ?

Men. By doing what that thou canst tell, me clearly?

Ores. A decree will be passed against us this very
day. .

Men. To go into banishment from this city, or to die,
or not- to die 7

Ores. To be stoned to death by our fellow citizeni^.

Men. And dost thou not then escape, passing over the
boundaries of the land ?

Ores. We are encircled around by all brazen arms.

Men. Privately, by personal foes, or by an Argive
band ?

Ores. By all the citizens, that I may die : the tale
is short.

Men. O wretched one, thou hast arrived at the ex-
tremity of calamity !

Ores. My hope looks to thee for a refuge from woe.

^ 434. ^(d TpiSiVf t. tf. Travrc- means to give a competitor
\&Qf metaphora a verbo rpi- three falls and so to beat him.
a^aisumpta. — Bbunck. r/oia^oi

449 — 478.] OBESTES. 25

And do thon, who hast returned prosperous, impart of
thy prosperity to thy friends who are in woeful plight,
and do not keep to thyself that which is good, when
thou hast received it, but take a share of trouble also, in
thy turn, repaying my father s kindnesses to those to
whom thou shouldst repay them. For those friends
have the name only but not the reality, who are not
friends in misfortune.

Chor. And see, hither speeds the Spartan-bom Tyn-
dareus with aged foot, clad in black robes, and with his
head shorn in token of mourning for his daughter.

Ores. I am lost, Menelaus ; here comes Tyndareus
towards us, into whose presence I am, above all, ashamed
to come after the deeds I have done. For he both
brought me up when little, and gave me many a kiss,
bearing about in his arms the son of Agamemnon, and
Leda together with him, both honouring me no less than
the twin sons of Jove : and to them, O my wretched
heart and soul, I have paid back no fair return : what
darkness may I find* to conceal my face ? what cloud may
I set before me, flying the sight of the old man's eyes ?

TYNDAREUS.

Where where may I see the husband of my daughter,
Menelaus? For as I was pouring me out libations
over the tomb of Cl3rt8emnestra, I heard that he had
arrived at Nauplia with his wife, having been preserved
in safety for many years. Lead me to him ; for I wish
to stand on his right hand and greet him, having beheld
my friend after so long a time.

Men. Hail, aged man, thou whose bed Jove has
shared.

Tynd. All hail thou also, O Menelaus, my kinsman*
Ha ! what an evil it is not to know titie future !

26

ORESTES.

[479 — 502

This matricidal serpent here before the palace flaaliei
forth the lightnings of madness, he, mine abominatioiL
Menelaus, dost thou address him, an impious wretch ?

Men. Why not ? He is the son of a &ther dear ic
me.

Ttnd. What, is this man sprung from him, being
such as he is ?

Men. He is sprung from him : and if he be unfortu-
nate, he must be respected.

Ttnd. Thou hast become barbarian, dwelling so long
among barbarians.

Men. 'Tis a Grecian custom, I ween, to respect one
of the same racse.

Ttnd. Aye, and not to choose to be superior to tiu
laws.

Men. All that is of necessity, is as the act of a aUvc
in the eyes of the wise.

Ttnd. Do thou then hold this opinion, but I will
never entertain it.

Men. Aye, for thy passion and thine old age togethei
are not a wise union.

Ttnd. With respect to this man, could any question
^[what question P.^ as to wisdom arise ? If what is
right is evident to all, and what is not right, who among
men has been more foolish than this man, who, indeed,
regarded not justice, nor did he conform to the common
law of the Greeks ? For when Agamemnon had breathed
forth his life, smitten over the head by my daughter-^-a
moat foul de«d, for never will I praise it— he ought to
have proceeded against his mother, instituting a righteous
trial for murder, and to have cast her forth from his
house : and so he would have gained the reputation oi

503—530.] ORESTES. 27

prudence, in return for 9 [from P.] the penalty she would
have suffered, and would have observed the law, and
have been a pious man. But now he has come into the
same fate as his mother : for with justice esteeming her
base, he has himself become more. base by having com-
mitted matricide. But I will ask thee, Menelaus, thus
much. If this man's wife, the partner of his bed, should
slay him, and his son, again, shall in turn slay his
mother, and then he who is bom from him shall expiate
murder by murder, to what point, prithee, will the limit
of mischief advance ? Our fathers of old ordained these
matters well ; for they permitted him not to come into
the sight of their eyes, nor into their presence, whoever
had the pollution of blood, but commanded to purify
him by exile, but not to take blood for blood. For ever
there would have been one to entangle himself in blood-
shed, taking upon his hands the last pollution. But I
detest indeed impious women, and most of all my
daughter who slew her husband : Helen also, thine
own wife, never will I praise, I y^vld not even speak
to her ; nor do I admire thee for going, for the sake of
a vile woman, to the plains of Troy. But I will defend,
as far as I am able, the law, putting a stop to this bru-
tality and bloodthirstiness, ever making havoc of both
land and cities. For what state of mind hadst thou
then, thou wretch, when thy mother bared her breast,
supplicating thee ? I indeed who did not see the evil
deeds done there melt away mine aged eye with tears,
wretched that I am ! One thing there is in harmony

» 502. &vtI ffvu^opac. '* Hie consequi ut ilia pctDam calami-

est totius loci* sensus, potuisse tatis, ipse modestis et praden-

Orestem, si matrem e domo tie laudem reportaret." Dind«
ejicere satis habuisset, hoc

28 ORESTES. [531— 561.

with my arguments; tbon art hated at least by thegods,
and thou sufferest retribution for thy mother's death,
wandering in frenzy and terrors. Why need I listeo to
other witnesses than the things which I can bdiold ?
That thou mayest understand then, Menelaua, act not in
defiance of the gods, by bebg willing to aid this man ;
[but suffer him to be stoned to death by the citiz^ia, or
never set foot upon the land of Sparta.] far my
daughter indeed in her death suffered justly ; but it was
not right that she should die by this man's hand. And
I in all else am a happy man, save as to my danghten;
but in that respect 1 am not prosperous.

Chob. Enviable is he who hath been fortumte as to
his children, and hath not incurred notable oalamitieB.

Obes. Old man, in sooth I fear to speak against thee,
when ^at least I am likdy to vex thy soul in aoy way.
And I am imholy, having slain my mother, but in
another sense holy, as avenging my fethen Now let
thine old age be banished out of the yray of our disooTUBe^
for it awes me from speaking ; and I will proceed on my
path ; but even now I fear thy grey hairs. What ought
I to haye done? For set twain against twain: my
father indeed b^ot me, but thy daughter brought me
forth, a field which received the seed from another ; but
without a father there could never be a child ; I
reckoned therefore that I should rather take the part of
the first author of my birth, than hers, who undertook
my nourishment. And thy daughter, I am ashamed to
say my mother, with pri^te marriage rites and unchaste^
entered the bed of another : if I speak Ul of her, I shall
convict myself; but nevertheless 1 will sa^ it. :^igis-

* 545. fft for yi, P. to yex tine and thy soul.

562—588.] ORESTES. 29

thus was her secret husband in her house. Him I slew ;
and besides I sacrificed my mother^ doing unholy deeds,
but avenging my father. But as to what thou threatenest,
that I ought to be stoned to death, hear how I am a
benefactor to the whole of Greece ; for if women are to
arrive at that pitch of audacity, to murder men, making
their refuge in their children, hunting for pity by baring
their breasts, it would be as nothing for them to destroy
their husbands, having any charge against them that
might happen. But I, by doing fearful deeds, as thou
loudly affirmest, have put a stop to this custom. And
with justice hating my mother I slew her, who betrayed
her husband when absent in arms from his home, chief
of the host in behalf of all Greece, and she kept not her
bed undefiled ; and when she felt that she had sinned,
not on herself did she impose the penalty, but that she
might not suffer the penalty from her husband, she
inflicted the punishment on my father, and slew him.
In the name of the gods — at an unseemly time indeed
have I made mention of the gods, when pleading the
cause of blood — if then I had assented in silence to my
mother s deeds, what would he who is dead have done
to me ? Would not he, in anger, have scared me away
with the furies ?* Or do the goddesses stand by my
mother, indeed, as her allies, but stand not by him who
has been more deeply injured ? Thou in sooth, by
having begotten a wicked daughter, old man, hast
destroyed me ; for through her audacity being deprived
of a fother, I have become a matricide. See'st thou ?
Telemachus slew not the wife of Odysseus ; for she
married not one husband upon another, but remained in
her house, an unpolluted bedfellow. See'st thou ?
Apollo, he who inhabiting the seats of earth's navel

30 ORESTES. ^589 — 618-

imparts to mortals most unerring words, whom we obey
in all whatever things he commands, obeying him I slew
my mother. Deem him unholy, and slay him ; 'twas he
who sinned, not I, What ought Tto do? Or is not
the god of sufficient consideration for me, by transferring
the pollution to him, to expiate ? Whither, then, will
any one henceforth escape, if, having given the command,
he shall not rescue me from death ? But say not that
these deeds have not been done well, but that they have
been done unhappily for us, the doers. For wedlock, to
all of mortals among whom it is set on a good founda-
tion, is a happy life ; but those to whom it turns out ill
are unfortunate both at home and abroad.

Chob. Women are bom ever to stand in the way of
the fortunes of men, so as to turn them to misfortune.

Tynd. Since thou bravest it out, and wilt not dis*
semble in thy speech, but answerest me so as to vex my
soul, thou wilt the more inflame * me to achieve thy
death. And I shall deem this a goodly by work to the
business on which I came, to bedeck my daughter's
tomb. For having gone among the select body of the
Argives I will set the city with its own good will, not
reluctantly, upon thee and thy sister, that ye may su£fer
the penalty of stoning.' But she is' more worthy* to
die than thou, she who inflamed thee against thy mother,
ever sending tales into thine ears to excite the more Ul
will, narrating her mother's dreams concerning Aga-

* 609. avd\j/iig P. quod re- will urge the city on, to inflict

vocandum. Dind. — K dv^sig upon you the penalty" taking

be retained I it roust be taken dovvai Sikijv not for pcenas

transit., thou wilt incite : as the peodere but jus dare. Schole-

simple at(r<ru) is used infr. 1429. field interprets, *' I will set the

and Soph. Aj. 40. city upon you, for you and your

^ 614. This is Elmsley*s in- sister to suffer etc.,"
terpretation. Person's is " I * 615. iira^ia. kar* d^ca. P.

618—646.] ORESTES. 31

memnon, and that bed she shared with iBgisthus —
which may the gods below detest, for even there 'twas
bitter — until she had set fire to the house with an
illomened blaze. To thee, Menelaus, I say this, and
moreover I will perform it : if thou makest of account my
enmity and my alliance, defend not this man from death,
in opposition to the gods ; but suffer him to be stoned to
death by the citizens, or never set foot upon the land of
Sparta. Having heard thus much, bear it in mind ; and do
not, by rejecting more pious friends, prefer the impious.
But lead me hence from this palace, my attendants.

Ores. Get thee gone; that so my succeeding words
may reach this man without interruption, having escaped
thy old age. Menelaus, to what purpose dost thou pace
round and round, in anxious thought, going the twofold
path of double care.

Men. Let me be; I am reflecting somewhat with
myself, and I am at* a loss which way, under the cir-
cumstances, I shall betake myself*

Ores. Do not then bring your opinions to a conclusion,
but having first heard my arguments, then deliberate.

Men. Speak on ; for thou hast said well : there are
cases where silence would be better than words, and
others where words are better than silence.

Ores. I will speak at once. That which is at length
is better than short speeches, and more intelligible to
hear. Do thou, Menelaus, give not to me anything of
thine, but repay me what thou hast received, having
received it from my father. I meant not wealth ; 'tis
wealth, if thou save my life, which is the dearest to me
of my possessions. Grant I am guilty of injustice ;^ in

* 646. ddiKSt J P. Am I guilty of injustice ?

32 ORESTES. £64,7 — 676.

return for this evil I ought to gain at thy band scHne act
of injastice; for Agamemnon my fiither also, haying
contrary to justice gathered Greece together wmt against
Ilium, not having sinned himself^ but striving to heal
the sin and the injustice of thy wife. This then is one
benefit which thou shouldest ^ve ma in return for one.
And he gave up to thee in all sincerity his body (as
friends should to friends), toiling under the shidd, that
thou mightest regain thy yokefellow. Pay back to me
then this same thing which thou didst then reoeive, by
labouring in our behalf, standing up in our defence, for
a single day, not fulfilling ten years. And the blood of
my slaughtered sister, which Aulis received, I allow thee
to keep that ; slay not thou Hermione. For when I am
faring as now I fare, 'tis right that thou shouldest have
the better of me, and I should pardon it. But give thou
to my unhappy sire my life and my sister's, a virgin of
many years ; for if I die I shall leave the house of my
father childless. Thou wilt say,^ it is impossible : that
is the very thing ; 'tis in misfortunes that friends ought
to aid their friends: but when the deity gives prosperity,
what need of friends ? for 'tis sufficient that the god
himself is willing to assist us. Thou art thought by all
the Greeks to love thy wife: (and this I say not
insinuating myself into thy favour by flattery) by her I
supplicate thee. O wretch that I am, by reason of my
woes, to what a pitch have I arrived ! But why need I
undergo trouble? For I offer these supplications in
behalf of our whole bouse. O godlike brother of my
sire, deem that he who is dead beneath the earth hears
these words, hovering in spirit over thee, and that he

• 665. iSvvarov j P. wilt thou saj etc. 1

677—705.] ORESTES. 33

says what I say. This have I said, as to tears and
wailings and calamities ; and I have demanded of thee
the preservation of my life, seeking for what not I only
but all men desire.

Chor. And I also, although a woman, yet neverthe-
less I supplicate thee to give succour to those who seek
it of thee ; and thou art able to do so.

Men. Orestes, in sooth I respect thy person, and I am
desirous to take part in thy troubles; for it is one's
duty also to join thus in bearing the evils of one's kins-
men, if the god grant the power, by dying oneself and
by slaying their enemies. But, again, to have the
power, I wish, by the aid of the gods, to obtain it ; for
I have arrived hitherto with my spear destitute of allies,
wandering in innumerable toils, with but a scanty powec
of the friends who are left to me. In battle then we
could not overcome Peksgian Argos; but if by soft
words we could do so, then we come near some hope.
For with scanty means of labour, how could any one get
the mastery of what is mighty?'' 'tis foolish even to
desire this. For when the commons are in the full
prime of vigour, if they become enraged, 'tis like unto
devouring fire, to extinguish ; but if any one, quietly
yielding to the storm, voluntarily gives way to it as it
sweeps on, watching his opportunity, perchance it may
expend its violence ; and when it has remitted its gusts,
thou mightest obtain from it easily all that thou desirest.
And there is in it pity, >and there is vehement ire, a
possession of greatest value to him who watches events.
•But I will go and attempt, for thee, to persuade Tyn-
dareus and the city, by treating them exceeding well.

T 696. om. P.

34, ORESTES. ^706 — ^730.

For a ship, too, whose sail is kept tight by the sheet,
dips in the waves, hut rights agsun, if any one slackens
the cahle. For the god hates acts of excessive 2seal, and
the citizens hate them ; and I must, I do not deny it,
save thee by policy, not in the teeth of those ^who are
stronger than I. But by force of arms, as thou perhaps
fanciest, I could not preserve thy life ; for 'tis not easy
with a single spear to erect a trophy over the evils
which surround thee. For neyer yet have "we been
wont to reduce the land of Argosby force^ to gentleness:
now therefore 'tis necessary for the wise to be the sJaves
of fortune.^

Ores. O thou, in all else good for nothing, save to
lead an army for a woman's sake ! O thou most base
ia succouring thy friends ! fliest thou me having tamed
thy back upon me? but the remembrance of Agamemnon
is vanished. Thou wast friendless, then, my father,
when in adversity. Woe is me, I have been betrayed ;
and I have no longer any hopes, betaking mys^ to
which I may escape death at the hands of the Argives.
For this man was my harbour of safety. Bat stay ! for
I see here the dearest of mortals, Pylades, from the
Phocians advancing with hurried speed, — delightfal
sight ; for a faithful friend in adversity is better to look
upon than a calm for seamen.

PYLADES.

I have come through the city speeding more hastily
than I ought, having heard of an assembly of the citizens,

8 Nunquam enim Arg^vam fi£<r0* dv nanquam. Argivis

terrain, sc. Arg^vos, ad molli- adhiberem blanditias, nisi ne—

tiem redigere solebamus, t. e. cessitas, cui sapientes cedunt

vi subigere : tu igitur etc. — me cogeret." Schaefer.

ScHOLEF. •Tie. Post hunc versum e

Ibid. " Malim vpo<rfiy6- aceuk abit Menelaos. Dind.

730—748.] ORESTES. 35

and seeing it myself distinctly, conyened against' thee
and thy sister, to put you to death straightway. What
means this ? How art thou ? How farest thou, best
beloved of mine equab in age, and of my friends ? for all
these things art thou to me.

Ores. We are lost, to teU thee our misfortunes briefly.

Pyl. If so, thou wouldst ruin me with thee ; for the
things of friends are in common.

Orbs. Menelaus is most base towards me and my
sister.

Ptl. 'Tis probable that the husband of a'base woman
should become base.

Ores. Having arrived hither, he hath shown me the
same kindness as if he had never come.

Pyl. Has he then indeed arrived in this land ? t

Ores. After ik long time; but nevertheless most
quickly hath he been discovered to be a base friend.

Pyl. And hath he come bringing in his ship his wife,
the vilest of women ?

Ores. Tis not he who hath brought her hither, but
she hinu

Pyl. Where is she who, for one woman, destroyed so
many of the Achseans ?

Ores. In my house, if indeed I may call this mine
own.

Pyl. But thou, what words didst thou speak to thy
father's brother ?

Ores. That he should not see me and my sister slain
by the citizens.

Pyl. In the name of the gods, what said he to this ?
for that I wish to know.

Ores. He was cautious, as base friends act towaids.
their friends.

tn 3

36 ORESTES. {y^9 — 764,

Pyl. Proceeding to what pretext? For haying learned
this, I know all.

Ores. He came, the father who begat those most yir-
tuous daughters.

Pyl. Thou meanest T3mdareus. Incensed with thee,
perchance, on account of his daughter.

Ores. Thou perceivest right. This man s alliance he
preferred to my father's.

Pyl. And being present, did he not dare to take a
part in thy troubles ?

Ores. No ; for he was not bom to be a yrarrior, but
brave only among women.

Pyl. Thou art then in the greatest evil, and 'tis fated
for thee to die.

Ores. 'Tis determined that the citizens pass a vote
concerning us, on the charge of murder.

Pyl. Which shall determine what ? for I begin to be
afraid.

Ores. Either that we shall die, or live : the tale is not
^ong though it be about lengthy matters.

Pyl. Fly then, and leave the palace, together with
thy sister.

Ores. Seest thou not ? We are watched by guards in
every quarter.

Pyl. I saw the streets of the city hedged in with
arms.

Ores. Our persons are beleaguered like a city by
enemies.

Pyl. ^ Ask me too, then, how I fare ; for I also am
ruined.

Orbs. By whom ? This would be an additional woe
to my present ones.

* 763. vvv, P. now.

765—779.] ORESTBS. 37

Pyl. My father Strophius has driven me forth from
home an exile, being incensed with me.

Ores. Bringing a private accusation or one in common
with the citizens ?

Ptl. Because I joined in committing the murder of
thy mother ; alleging that it was impious.

Ores. O wretched one, it seems that thou also wilt
suffer the pain of my woes.

Ptl. I am not of the disposition of Menelaus. I
must bear this.

Ores. Fearest thou not lest Argos should desire to slay
thee, as me also ?

Ptl. I belong not to them to punish, but to the land
of the Phocians.

Ores. A fearfal thing are the many, when they have
villanous leaders.

Pyl. But when they have obtained good ones, they
always counsel well.

Ores. Well — We must confer together.

Pyl. Concerning what important matter ?

Ores. If I were to go, and tell the citizens

Pyl. That thou hast acted justly ?

Ores. In avenging my own &ther ?

Pyl. I fear that they vnll be glad to get hold< of
thee.

Ores. But shall I die crouching down in silence ?

Pyl. That were cowardly.

Ores. How then might I act ?

Pyl. Hast thou any means of safety if thou remainest
here ?

Ores. I have none.

• 776. fij) oif Xdputci, P. They will never receive thee gradouslj.

38 OEESTES. [^779 — 792.

P YL. And is there any hope that by going thou mayest
be preserved from evil ?

Ores. If it so happened, there might be.

Pyl. This therefore is better than to xemain heie.

Ores. But shall I go then ?

Pyl. However, if thou diest, thou wilt so die more
honourably.

Ores. And what I have done is at least just.

Pyl. Only pray that it may seem so.

Ores. Thou sayest well. In this way I escape the
imputation of cowardice.

Pyl. More so than by remaining here.

Ores. And at least some might feel compassion for
me.

Pyl. Aye, for thy noble birth is a great thing.

Ores. Troubled about the murder of my fiBither.

Pyl. All this is ' before our eyes.

Ores. I will go, for 'tis unmanly to die ingloriously.

Pyl. This I approve of.

Ores. Shall we tell it to my sister ?

Pyl. Do not, by heaven !

Ores. There would be weeping, in sooth.

Pyl. This, then, is a mighty omen.

Ores. Evidently 'tis best to be silent.

Pyl. And thou wilt gain by the time.

Ores. That thing alone opposes me.

Pyl. What new thing, again, is this thou tallest of ?

Ores. Lest the goddesses possess me with tteozy.

Pyl. But I will take care of thee.

Ores. 'Tis dangerous to touch an insane num.

Pyl. Not for me at least, to touch thee.

' iv 6fJifAa<yi, cf. Soph. Trach. these things depend upon the
240, etc.— But otherwise: all ejes.

793—817.] ORESTES. 39

Ores. Take care that thou share not my madness.

Pyl. Let this pass, then.

Ores. Thou wilt not hesitate, then ?

Pyl. No; for hesitation among friends is a gre^t
evil.

Ores. Proceed then, thou rudder of my foot.

Pyl. Aye, and having a dear charge.

Ores. And conduct me to the tomb of my father.

Pyl. For what purpose, this ?

Ores. That I may supplicate him to save me.

Pyl. Aye, thus it is just for him to act.

Ores. But may I not even behold the sepulchre of
my mother ?

Pyl. No, for she was an enemy. But press on, that
the decree of the Argives may not oyertake thee first ;
resting thy sides, that are heavy with sickness, upon my
sides ; for I will carry thee through the city, little reck-
ing of the multitude, and in no wise ashamed. For how
shall I show myself to be a friend, if I shall not succour
thee, who art involved in fearful calamities ?

Ores. This is that proverb, "Get ye friends, not
kindred only." For a man who has become identified
with thy disposition, though a stranger by blood, is better
to have as a friend than ten thousand brothers.
ghorub.

The great prosperity of the sons of Atreus, and their
valour, that was so proud throughout Hellas, and on
the banks of Simois, hath long since been ebbing back
from good fortune, after the ancient calamity of their
house : whenever it was that strife for the golden fleeced
lamb came upon the sons of Tantalus ; most woeful
feastings, and slaughterings of noble children; whence
murder succeeding murder, with bloodshed, fails not to

40 ORESTES. C^IS 851.

come upon the two sons of Atreus. That -v^hich was
deemed honourable was not honourable, to mangle with
iirebom instrument the flesh of the children, and to ex-
hibit the sword black with gore before the beams of the
sun. But again to do villany is frantic l^great P.^ im-
piety, and the madness of evil-minded men. And in
fear of death the wretched daughter of Tyndarens cried
aloud ; ^' O my child, thou darest no holy deed in
slaying thy mother ; do not, by respecting thy duty to
thy sire, attach to thyself ignominy for ever." What
pestilence, or what tears, or what sight of pity is there
over the earth greater than the taking on one's bands
the blood of a mother's murder ? Even so he, at least,
having accomplished the deed, the son of Agamemnon,
is possessed with frantic madness, a prey for slaughter
to the Eumenides, reeling wildly, with rolling eyes. O
wretched one, when having looked upon his mothei^s
breast, rising out of her gold inwoven raiment, he
slaughtered his mother, a requital for the sufierings of
his sire.

ELECTRA.

O women, has the wretched Orestes, as I suppose,
rushed forth from this palace, overcome by madness sent
by heaven ?

Chor. By no means ; but he has gone to the assem-
bly of the people of Argos, to undergo the appointed
trial of his life, according to which ye are to live or die.

Elec. Woe is me ! What has he done ? And who
persuaded him?

Chor. Pylades. But this messenger here, at no great
distance, seems likely to bring thee the news thence
concerning thy brother.

852—878.] ORESTES. \ 41

MESSENOEB.

O wretched one, illfated child of Agamemnon,
leader of the host, my lady, Electra, hear the unhappy
tidings bearing which to thee I have come.

Elec. Woe, woe ! We are lost. Thou sbow^t it by
thy speech ; for thou hast come, as it seems, a messenger

of in.

Mess. It has been determined by a decree of the
Pelasgians, that thy brother and thyself, O wretched
one, die on this very day.

Elec. Woe is me ! the expectation is verified, in
which, fearing what was to come, I have long since been
pining away in wailings. But what was the trial, what
speeches among the Argives destroyed us, and confirmed
our death ? Speak out, old man, whether is it by the
hand armed with stones or with the sword that I must
break off the breath of life, having met with the same
calamitous fate as my brother.

Mess. I chanced, indeed, to be entering the city
gates from the country, wanting to inquire the news
about thee and about Orestes ; for I ever entertained
good will towards thy father, and thy house too used to
support me, a poor man indeed, but to have dealings
with, generous towards my friends. And I see a multi-
tude advancing and seating themselves on the hill where
they say Danaus first convened the people to sit in pub-
lic assembly, when submitting his suit with -^gyptus to
trial. And then in sooth, having seen the gathering, I
asked one of the citizens, what news in Argos? It
cannot be that any message from some enemy hath
aroused the city of the sons of Danaus ? And he an-
swered, See'st thou not Orestes there advancing towards
us, who is about to undergo a trial for his life ? And

42 ORESTES. £S79 — 910.

then I behold an unlooked for sight, which Oh that I had
never seen. Both Pylades and thy brother, advandng
together, the latter indeed downcast and languid with
sickness, but the other like a brother, enduring equal
pain with his friend, tending his sickness with caiefiil
service. But when the assembly of the Argives was full,
a herald rose up and proclaimed, ^' Who wishes to give
his opinion whether Orestes, h&ng a matricide, should
be put to death or no ?*" — And after him there riaes up
Talthybius, who aided thy sire in overthrov^ing the
Phrygians ; and he being ever the slave of those who
are in power, spake ambiguously ; thy father, indeed,
lauding exceedingly, but not praising thy brother ; under
a fair show, wilily uttering evil sentiments, ^^ How that
he had established no good precedent towards parents ;*
but ever he was showing a fawning fsLce to the friends of
^gisthus. For such is the sort of them ; heralds ever
rush to the side of the fortunate man ; and he is their
friend, who has power in the city and is in office. And
after him king Diomedes harangued them. He indeed
was not for letting them slay either thee or thy brother,
but that they should consult the interests of religion by
punishing you with banishment. And some indeed
applauded him, that he had spoken well, but others did
not assent to him. And after these there rises up a
certain man, an unceasing babbler, strong in impudence,
an Argive who was not an Argive, but forced upon the
citizenship, confident in clamour and untaught license of
tongue, persuasive enough, moreover, to involve them
[the citizens P.] in some evil action. For when a man
sweet of speech, but with evil designs, can persuade the
multitude, 'tis a great curse to the city : but all who,
with good sense, give ever good counsel, these, if not

910 — 941.] ORESTES. 43

immediately, at some future time are useful to the state.
And hy these rules, looking.upou a leader of the people,
ought one to regard him : for it comes to the same thing
for a man to be a public speaker and to hold an honour-
able office. This man then gave his opinion that they
should put to death Orestes and thyself by stoning : and
T3mdareus suggested such arguments for him to utter,
who was for slajdng you both. And another having
risen up spoke in opposition to this one, in form indeed
not comely, but a manly citizen, seldom polluting l^ his
presence the city or the round Agora, a husbandman,
one of those who alone preserve the land, but of under-
standing sufficient to contend in argument with others,
when he chooses ; a guileless man, who has led a life
without reproach. And he proposed to give a crovm to
Orestes the son of Agamemnon, who had been ready to
avenge his father by slajdng a wicked and godless
woman, who was depriving us of this, so that no one'
would take arms in his hand nor go out to war, leaving
his home, if those who remain behind seduce the women
who stay at home, polluting men's wives. And to the
honest citizens, at least, he seemed to speak wisely, and
no one spake any more ; but thy brother came forward
and said ; " ye who possess the land of Inachus,^ ^of
old Pelasgi, but afterwards sons of Danaus] in your cause
no less than in my fathers, I slew my mother. For if
the murder of men is to be lawful among women, the
sooner you die the better, or ye must be slaves to women.
But ye will do the opposite of what ye ought to do ; for
as it ii^, she who betrayed my father's bed has been
slain; but if, in sooth, ye shall slay me, the law is

* 933. om. P.

44 0RRSTE8. Q942 — ^9^

lepetled, and the sooner ooe daea the better, anoe
diuing at least there will bQ no lad^. But he did i
peisnade the assembly, though seeming to speak we
bat that yile man, in speaking before the iiiiiltitD<
prevails, he who was haranguing them to day thy hroti
and thee. But the wretched Orestes with diffiool
prevailed on them that he Qye' P.^ might not die 1
stoning ; but he promised on this 'very day to q«it 1
with thee, in death inflicted by his own hand. A
Pylades, in tears, conveys him away fixMn the sdi
assembly; and his friends accompany him, wee|Hi
pitying him ; and he approaches, a bitter spectacle a
a woeful sight for thee. But make thon ready a kn
or a halter for thy neck, f(»r thou must quit this light
day ; and thy noble birth hath profited thee nothing, i
even the Pythian Phoebus sitting on his tripod, but
hath destroyed thee.

Chor. O ill-fated virgin, how voiceless thon ai
having cast to earth thy countenance enydoped in iK
veil, as if thou vv^rt about to break forth into Iraientatioi
and wailings.

Elec. I commence a wailing, O Pelasgian land, fi™i
my white nail in my cheeks, a misery drawing fort
blood, and inflicting blows upon my head, a head whid
the beauteous damsel, the goddess of the dead belo^
hath received as her portion. And let the land of thi
Cyclops howl aloud for the woes of this house, applyini
the knife to her head, shorn in token of mourning. Hen
there comes pity, pity for the dead, those who were ono
chieftains of the armies of Greece. For the whole rao
of the children of Pelops has gone, has gone, is departed
and the enviable lot which once rested upon their happj
homes, ^was the envy of the gods that overthievi

975—1012.]' ORESTES. 45

them, and the malicious hloody decree passed in the
city. Woe, woe ! ye tribes of mortab of a day, all
tearfcd, full of labour, see to what unexpected results
destiny proceeds. And men exchange, one taking one
woe, and another another, in the length of time ; but
the whole life of mortab is uncertun. Would that I
could make my way to the rock that is hung hovering
between earth and heaven, ^ the mass depending from
Oljrmpus by chains of gold, borne about by whirlwinds,
where with lamentations I would ciy aloud to Tantalus,
my aged ancestor, who begot, who begot the fathers of
my house ; those who witnessed deeds of woe, who wit-
nessed indeed the winged flight of coursers in the four-
horsed chariot : what time Pelops raced with ocean for
the death of Myrtilus, by casting him into the billows
of the sea, having urged his chariot near the Ckreestian
shores white with waves, shores of the ocean surge.
Whence upon my house there came a curse, cause of
many a groan, what time was bom the deadly deadly
prodigy, the golden-fleeced lamb, conceived by the art
of the son of Maia among the flocks of Atreus, ^ breeder
of horses ; from which both contention changed the
course of the winged chariot of the sun, adapting his
path to the westward of heaven, to the direction of
monung of the single steed, and Jove alters the course of
the Pleiad with its seven tracks, and gives deaths in
exchange for their deaths, and brings on Thyestean feasts,
named after Thyestes, and the bed of Cretan Aerope,
crafty in treacherous adultery. And at last upon me
and my brother it hath come, with the woeful Bsite of our
house.

» 982, seq.— Eleotra meant « 1000. lwiroP6r(u P.
the Sun, cf. Forson.

46 ORESTES. [1013 — 103

Chor. And see, here comes thy brother who has hen
condemned to death, and Pylades also the most &ithf
of all men, 7 guiding his limbs weak with sickness^ wil
careful foot his yokefellow.

Elec. Woe is me ! For beholding thee before tl
tomb, and hefore the funeral pile of the dead below,
groan aloud, O my brother ! Woe is me verily an
again I Of a truth taking this last look of thee fiuse i
fiice, I have gone out of my mind.

ORESTES.

Wilt thou not, in silence, forsaking thjr -wanuaaa
waitings, be content with what has been deseed ? Tbefl
things are pitiable, but nevertheless we must of neoasii]
bear the fortune that be&lls us.

Elec. And how can I be mlent ? For we wxetdiei
have no longer any share in looking upon this effhlgaiei
of the god of light.

Ores. Do not thou kill me ; I wretched have hem
slain sufl&ciently hy the hand of Argos : but let our pre-
sent woes alone.

Elec. O thou, wretched for thy prime of yoatb,
Orestes, and for thy fate and untimely death I thou
shouldest have been living, when thou no longer ez-
istest.

Ores. Do not, in the name of the gods, bring npon
me the imputation of unmanliness, by prolonging thy tale
of woe till it call forth tears.

Elec. We are to die. It is not possible not to groan
over our woes : for to all mortals the loss of their dear life
is lamentable.

"^ 1015-6, idvv(i)v.6pda)v, and Orestes, Elmsl. propoaes !£«;-
poet «w\oi/,— 'OpIoTow. P.— 9vvwv,
' supporting . etc. the limbs of

1035— 1053.J OBESTES. 47

Ores. This day it is appointed for us to die ; and we
must either fix suspended nooses, or take a sharpened
sword in our hands.

Elbc. Do thou then, my brother, let not any of the
Argives kill me, making a mock of the race of Aga-
memnon.

Ores. The blood of my mother is enough ; ^ and I
will not kill thee. But die in whatever way thou wilt,
inflicted by thine own hand.

Elec. Thus it shall be : I will in no wise M of thy
sword. But I wish to throw my arms aroimd thy
neck.

Ores. Enjoy an empty gratification, if this be enjoy-
ment, to embrace those who have approached near unto
death.

Elec. O thou best bdoved, that hast the same name
with thy sister, long desired and most dear, and that hast
one life with her.

Ores. In sooth thou wilt melt me io tears ; and I
long to answer thee in a loving embrace. For why do I
wretched any longer feel shame ? O thou breast of my
sister, O dear object of my embrace, these words are all
we wretched have in place of children and the nuptial
bed.

Elec.. Alas ! O that the same sword, if it be lawful,
might slay us twain, and one sepulchre receive us, the
workmani^p of the cedar tree ! ^ That would be most
sweet. But seest thou, in sooth, how we are in lack of

_9. alu* ix^' ok i*abK P. post v, 1056 pleni distin-
crcvcu. P. ' I nave enouffh blood guit P.
on my hands, the blood of my 1056-7. Electrm tribuit P.
mother ; and th§e I will not {Knt v. 1057. intenogatvre die-
slay.' — tinguit P.

' 1054-5. Oresti tribuit. 1058-Hieq. Oresti trib. P.

JP 3

48 ORESTES. Q054 — 1078.

friends, so as to share one tomb ? The vile MenelMis, the
betrayer of my sire, spake not in thy behalf sealons that
thou shonldest not die, he did not even aho^^ his ftoe^
but having his hopes fixed upon the soeptie, he was too
wary to save his friends. But come, let us die, haTing
acted nobly, and most worthily of Agamenmon. And I
indeed will demonstrate to the city my noble birth, by
striking myself to the heart with a swprd : and 'tis thy
part, again, to act up to my deeds of hardihood. But
do thou, Pylades, be the umpire of our deaths, >and caie-
f ully lay out the bodies of us twain when dead, and bury
us together, bearing us to the tomb of our father. And
farewell : for I am going, as thou seest, to do the fiital
deed.

PTLADES.

Hold I In the first place I have one complaint against
thee, if thou didst expect that I should wish to live^
when thou wast dead.

Ores. Why, how does it belong to thee to die with
me?

Pyl. Didst thou ask ? why, how to live, without thy
company ?

Ores. Thou didst not slay thy mother, as I wretched
have done.

Pyl. 1 Yea, but in common with thee I slew her; and
I ought to suffer the same fate.

Ores. Restore th3rself to thy sire, die not with me.
For thou indeed hast a country, but I have none now,
and thou hast a father's home and a mighty harbour of
wealth. But thou hast foiled of thy marriage with this

^ 1074b 9iv (Toi ye* Koivy I slew her : and I oueht to suf-
ravra. P. ' Yea, but with thee fer these things with toee.*

1079—1104.] ORESTES. 4,9

illfated one here, whom I betrothed to thee, reverencing
the ties of friendship. But do thou take another wife
and beget thee children, but the alliance between me and
thee exists no longer. But O thou my much loved
comrade, fare thee well : for that is no longer our lot, but
nevertheless it is thine. For we, the dead, are berefb of
faring well.

Pyl. Verily thou hast fallen far short of my
intentions. Hay neither the fruitful plain receive my
blood, nor the clear ether, if ever I forsake thee, betray-
ing thee by freeing myself. For I both joined in the
slaying, I will not deny it, and I devised all the plans for
which thou art now paying the penalty; and therefore
I am bound to die together with thee and with this
damsel here. For I consider her mine own wife, in-
asmuch as I agreed to marry her ; for what honourable
sentiment shall I ever utter when I have arrived at the
land of Delphi, the citadel of the Phocians, I who, before
you were unfortunate, stood by you as a fnend, but now
am no longer thy friend when in misfortune ? It cannot
be so, but these matters are my business also. But
since we are to die, let us take counsel togetlier how
Menelaus also may partake of our misfortune.

Ores. O best beloved, would that I might see that
before I die !

Pyl. Take my advice then and delay the stroke of
the sword.

Ores. I will delay, if I shall inflict any vengeance on
mine enemy.

Pyl. Hush, then ; for I put little confidence in wo-
men.

Ores. Have no fear of these; for they stand l^ ua
as friends.

50 OBBBTEB. fll05— 1120.

Ptl. Let ns slay Helen, which will be m bitteir grief
to Menelans.

Ores. How ? For there is leadineasenoiigii, if atleut
it is to be done honouiably.

Ptl. By catting her throat. And she is oonceiki
within thy house.

Ores. Assuredly ; and in sooth she is setting a sell
upon every thing.

Ptl. But no longer shall she, when die has leoeived
Hades for a bridegroom.

Ores. And how shall we do it ? For she has har^
barian attendants.

Pyl. Whom? for I would fear none of the Fhiy-

Ores. Such as preside over mirrors and per£iune&

Pyl. What — hath she come hither with Tiojan
luxuries ?

Ores. So that Hellas is but a scanty dwelling for
her.

Ptl. The servile race is nothing in comparison with
the free.

Ores. And verily having done thb deed I ^ shrink
not from a double death.

Pyl. Nor yet in sooth do I, at least avenging thee.

Ores. Make the matter clear, and conclude thy pla«^
as thou art telling it.

Pyl. Let us enter the palace, as if, forsooth, about to
suffer death.

Ores. So much I understand, but what remains I
perceive not.

* 1 116. 0^ X&^fMi. Ehnal. ciZontu, I liatr not.
ad Heraol. 600, proposes oi/x

1121 — 1144.^ ORESTES. 51

Pyl. We will bewail to her the fate we are suf-

Ores. Aye, so that she will shed tears, being over-
joyed at heart.

Pyl. We two also will experience that, just as she
will then.

Ores. Then how shall we accomplish the struggle ?

Pyl. We will have swords hidden under these robes.

Ores. But how shall we slaughter the attendants
first?.

Pyl. We will shut them out of the palace, one at one
place and another at another.

Ores. Aye, and him who is not silent we must
slay.

Pyl. Then the deed itself points out how we must
proceed.

Ores. To murder Helen. I understand the hint.

Pyl. Thou hast perceived it ; but hear how I will ad-
vise. For if indeed we should have let loose our swords
upon a more virtuous woman, the murder would have
been infamous : but as it is, she will suffer punishment
in behalf of universal Hellas, of those whose sires she
slew, and whose children she destroyed and whose brides
she bereft of their yokefellows. There will be a cry of
joy, and they will kindle fire to the gods, invoking many
blessings on thee and me to receive, because we shed the
blood of a vile woman. And thou wilt no longer be
called the matricide, when thou hast slain her, but for-
saking that name thou wilt change for the better, being
termed the slayer of Helen the slayer of many. Never
ought, never ought Menelaus to be prospering, but thy
father and thyself and thy sister to be dead, and thy mother

52 OBE8TE8. fl 145—1174.

also— that I pass by, for 'tis not seemly to Bjpcak. of—
and he to possess thy home, having gained his wife hy
the spear of Agamemnon. For may I live no loogeri if
I draw not forth the dark sword against her. Bat then,
if we accomplish not the. death of Helen, haTing find
this palace we shall die. For by sncceeding in one of
these things we win glory, either in dying nobly, or in
being nobly preserved.

Chor. The daughter of Tyndarens is worthy for all
women to detest her, she who has disgraced her sex.

Ores. Alas! Therf is nothing better than a true
friend, not wealth, not dominion ; and the mukitade is
a thing not be counted in exchange for a noble friend.
For thou didst both devise the evils which fell upon
iEgisthus, and didst stand by my side in the midst of
perils, and now again thou givest me revenge upcm mine
enemies, and desertest me not. I will cease praising thee,
for there is something disagreeable even in this, to be
excessively praised. But I by all means, while I brealhe
forth mine own life, wish to die having done some deed
upon my foes, that ' we may destroy in return those who
have betrayed me, and those same may groan who have
rendered me wretched* I in sooth was born the son of
Agamemnon, who ruled over Greece; being deemed
worthy to rule, not as a tyrant ; but nevertheless he had
strength like as of a god. And him I will not di^iaoe
by dying the death of a slave, but like a free man I vnll
surrender life, and will avenge me on Menelaus. For if
we might obtain any thing, we should be fortunate ; if
from some quarter an unexpected means of safety should
befall, when we have inflicted death, not having died our*

' 1165. AvravaXuKfia /ikv. P. That I indeed may etc.

1174—1195.] ORESTES. 53

selves : for these things I pray. For ^ it is sweet even
through the mouth by winged words, without cost to
gratify the imagination vdth that which I desire.

Elec. I, my brother, think that I possess this very
thing, the means of safety for thee and this man and in
the third place, for myself.

Ores. Tis a divine providence thou speakest ot But
where is this? for I know that good sense at least
resides in thy mind..

Elec. Well then, listen; and do thou incline thy
attention hither.

Ores. Speak on ; for to be likely to meet with good
fortune confers some pleasure.^

Elec. Knowest thou the daughter of Helen? I
have asked thee, who knowest her.

Ores. I do know her, Hermione whom my mother
reared.

Elec. She has gone to the tomb of Clyteemnestra.

Ores. To do what ? what hope dost thou suggest ?

Elec. To pour out libations over our mother's tomb.

Ores. Well, and pray how does this that thou hast
said tend to our preservation ?

Elec. Seize her as a hostage, when she returns again.

Ores. A remedy against what, for us three friends is
this thou hast said ?

Elec. When Helen is dead, if Menelaus attempt to
do any thing to thee, or to this man and myself, inas-
much as this trio of friends are all one, say that thou
wilt slay Hermione : and having drawn thy sword thou

* 1176. Constmctio est ij^d ac si dixisset, 8 PoiXofiai yAo,
y&p IffTi Kal did <tt» irr. /i. rovro xai Sid (rrSna ix^iv i^ov
a^.rlpif'ai ippkva Ixiiw^ hfiov- Itrriv, Matth.
Xo/iac : qaoa aensa eodem redit ' 1182. /ilXXciv go. wp&<re(tv.

Bind.

54 ORESTES. [1 1 95—1220.

must hold it to the very throat of the Tugin. And if
indeed Menelaus preserves thy life, not wishing hb
daughter to die, when he has seen the corpse of Hdeo
weltering in her gore, then let go the vir^ for her
father to hold. But if^ not mastering his farious pride,
he strive to slay thee, do thou also cut the throat of the
virgin. And I conceive that he, if he be at first very
violent, in time will appease the wrath of his heart : £n
by nature he is neither daring nor warlike* This bul-
wark of safety I have for us : my speech is said.

Ores. O thou that hast the understanding of a man,
but a form eminently beautiful among women, how
much more worthy art thou to live than to die!
Pylades, surely thou wilt not miss of such a wife as
this, O unhappy one,^ the blessing of whose bed thoa
wilt obtain, living ?

Ptl. Oh that it might be so, and she might come to
the city of the Phocians, honoured with noble nmptials!

Ores. And in what time will Hermione return to the
palace? For in all else, at least, thou hast q>oken
admirably, if^ as I deem, we shall be fortunate, having
caught the whelp of an impious sire.

Elec. In sooth, I think she must be now near the
palace ; for the length of the time itself agrees.

Ores. 'Tis well Do thou then, my sister Eleotra,
remaining before the house, await the approach of the
virgin. And be on the watch, in case any one, mther
some friend, or our father s brother, succeed in entering
the palace before the murder has been accomplished;
and proclaim it within the house, either by beating
against the door or sending words within. But let us,

^ 1208. jc* V P* " ^' living wilt thou gain the blessing of her
bedr

1221 — 1244.] ORESTES. 55

Pylades, going within arm our bands with the sword for
the fatal conflict ; for thou in sooth art the partaker of
my toils. O my father, thou who inhabitest the halls
of murky night, Orestes thy son invokes thee to come to
the succour of us who are in need. Because for thy sake
I wretched unjustly suflFer : and I have been betrayed by
thy brother, having done just deeds : and his wife I
wish to take and slay : but do thou become our accom-
plice in this.

Elec. O my father, come then, if thou beneath the
earth hearest thy children calling on thee, who are dying
in thy cause !

Pyl. O Agamemnon,^ kinsman of my father, hear
my prayers also, save thy children !

Ores. I slew my mother.

Pyl. ^ut I laid hold on the sword.

Elec. And I at least urged ye on, and freed ye from
fear.

Succouring thee, my father —

Elec. But neither did I betray thee —

Pyl. 8Wherefore,hearing these reproaches, rescue these
thy children.

Ores. I pour over thee a libation of tears.

Elec. And I, at least, of lamentations.

Pyl. Cease, and let us proceed to action. For if, as
I deem, prayers pierce within the Earth, he hears. Bat
thou, Jove my progenitor, and thou awful justice, grant
to this man and to me and this damsel here to be for-

■^ 1242. (Tvyykvtia, Pjladea* • 1238. ovkovv — p^ffti rl-

motber was Anaxibia, sister to xva ; P. Wilt thou not then

Agameranon. Pausan. ii. 29. 4. &c. ?
Brunck.

to

56 ORESTES. QI 245— 1271.

tmiate ; for we three friends have one trial, one csuse;
we are bound either all to live or all to die.

Elec. O ye loved of Mycenee, the chief in dignity I
in the Pelasgian seat of the Ar^ves —

Chob. What speech dost then ntter, my lady? fo
this distinction yet remains to thee in the iAty of the son
of Danaus.

Elec. Stand some of je on this chariot road ; but the
others on another path, to guard the palace.

CflOB. But why dost thou charge me vrith this <rf&oe?
Tell me, my friend.

Elec. A fear possesses me lest some one standing netr
the palace should moreover discover the mordenms
bloodshedding, woes upon woes.

Semich. a. Haste ye; let us press on; I then wiH
guard this path, the one towards the sun's rays.

Semich. B. And see, I will guard this which leads to
the west.

Elec Turn, then, the pupils of your eyes sideway,
now in one direction, now in another, then again the
contrary way.O

Semich. We are as thou tellest us.

Elec. Turn your eyes around, then, casting * your
glances in every direction through your ringlets.

Semich. B. Who is this ^ that appears on the road ?
What rustic man is this who wanders near thy home ?

Elec. We are lost then my friends; he will

'1262. lira TraXtvffKOfriav. Tpvx^v irdvry.P, — i. «. "Now
elr' iir* dXKriv (rcoTriav. P. then turn your eyes about with re-
in aaother direction — volving eyeballs, glance through

' 1266-7. k\iffff6Tt vvv pKi' your ringlets etc. —
ipapa KdpaiiTif diSoTt M |3o<r- * 1269. r/>^y pavrdZiTcu.^.

1272—1302.] ORESTES. 57

straightway betray to our foes the fierce hidden swords-
men.

Semich. B. Fear not ; the path is empty, O beloved
one, which thou thinkest is not so.

Elec. What ? but thy part, I pray, does that still
remain secure ? give me some good news, as to whether
these parts before the court are imdisturbed ?

Semich. A. All here at least is well; but look to
thine own side ; for no one of the race of Danaus is
drawing near to us.

Semich. B. Thou hast come to the same point as
myself : for neither here is there any crowd.

Elec. Come now, let me listen at the gates. Why do
ye delay, ye within the house, in quiet, to shed the red
blood of the victim ? They do not hear : O wretched
me for my woes! Surely their swords cannot have
been dulled at her beauty ? Perchance some Argive in
full panoply rushing forth v^ll reach the palace with
succouring foot. Take better counsel then ; this is no

time to sit still. But do ye wheel round, some in one

direction, and^the others in another.

Chor. Looking in every direction I exchange my
path.

Helen, (within) Ho ! Pelasgian Argos ! I am
perishing vilely.

Elec. Heard ye ? the men have their hands engaged
in bloodshed : that is the wail of Helen, to conjecture.

Chor. O eternal might of Jove, of Jove, come thou
to the succour of my friends by all means.

Hel. Menelaus, I am perishing, and thou, though
near, aidest me not.

Elec. Slaughter her, kill her, strike her, destroy her,
thrusting from your hands two fold two-edged swords ;

58 OBESTBS. [1303— 132a

her, the forsaken of her ure, the forsaken of her hufilmd,
who slew so many of the Greeks ; those who were sfaii
with the spear on the banks of that river where iean
mingled with tears, who were slain with javelins of im
near the whirlpools of Scamander.

Chor. Be silent, be silent. I heard a sound as of ok
entering upon the road near the palace.

Elec. O women most beloved, here appears Hennkoe
in the midst of the murder. Let us stop our crj. Foe
she advances, having fallen into the nooses of a net
The prize will be a rich one, if it be caught. Take yooi
stations again with composed countenances, and with
colour that gives no hint of what has passed. I ako
will keep the expression of mine eyes gloomy, as if in
sooth not knowing the deeds which have been wroogiit
O virgin, thou hast come having bedecked with fiUets
the tomb of ClytGemnestra, and having poured forth
libations for those below.^

HERMIONE.

I have come, having found fiftvour. But a sort of
alarm came upon me, as to what cry I heard in the
house, being yet far from the palace.

Elec. What ? Things befall us worthy of lamoita-
tions.

Her. Use no inauspicious words. But what fiesh
event dost thou mean ?

Elec. It has seemed good to this land that Orestes
and I should die.

Her. Nay, say not so, for ye are by birth my kins-
men.

' 1322. — interrog. distinguit. Ibid. v£pr«poig. P.
P. ** Hast thou come, etc.7" —

1330 — 1351.^ ORESTES. 59

Elec. It is fixed ; and we are come under the yoke
of necessity.

Her. Was it then for this cause also that there was a
cry of wailing in the palace ?

Elec. Aye, for falling a suppliant before the knees of
Helen, he beseeches her

Her. Who ? For I know no more than before, unless
thou tell me.

Elec. The wretched Orestes, that he may not die, and
in my behalf also.

Her. With ^ sufficient grounds then, in sooth, the
house resounds with illomened cries.

Elec. For concerning what other matter might one
rather cry aloud ? But come, and take part with thy
friends in supplication, falling before thy mother so
greatly prosperous, that Menelaus may not suffer us to
die. But O thou who wast nurtured in my mother's
arras, pity us and relieve us of our woes ; come hither
to the trial, and I will lead the way. For thou alone
hast come to us as a goal of safety.

Her. See, I urge on my steps unto the palace ; be
ye preserved, at least as much as lies in my power.

Elec. O ye, my beloved swordsmen within the
palace, will ye not clutch your prey ?

Her. Woe is me ! who are these whom I behold ?

ORESTES.

Thou must be silent. For thou hast come to preserve
us, not thyself.

Elec. Seize her, seize her, and pointing a sword to her
throat, keep still, that Menelaus may know this, that
having found men, not vile Phrygians, he hath fared as

* 1335. d^ioKTi y' &p\ P. ** at least, then"—
to 3

60 OBBBTES. [1352—1381

the baae deaenre to hie* Ho ! my firitindd^ ho ! niK i
din, a din and a cry, before the palace;, that the mnids
which hath been done may not strike Cearfiil aknn npoi
the Argives, so that they nm to the suooour to theiojil
abode, before I shall have seen for oertain the alaiigfaiaed
Helen lying steeped in gore in the houae^ or else hdan
we shall have heard news from some one of the attend-
ants. For part of what has occurred I know, bat tke
rest not surely.

Chor. With justice hath fallen the vengeanoe of the
gods upon Helen. For she filled all HeUas with tens,
on account of the pernicious, the peomiciooa Idcu
Paris, who brought Hellas against Dimiu But besikBt,
for the bars of the royal halls give forth a soond : some
one of the Phrygians issuing forth, from whom we dull
hear how ^ matters stand in the palace.

PHRYGIAN.

Escaping death, I have fled an Argive sword, in bar-
barian slippers, out of well-dosed chambers, inlaid with
cedar, and Dorian triglyphs, in flight, inflight, O earth,
earth, with barbarian speed. Woe ! Woe ! where maj
1 escape, O strangers, flying up to the dear ether, or to
the sea, rolling whose waves along bull-visaged ocean
encircles earth with his arms ?

Chor. What is it, O attendant of Helen, man of
Ida?

Phryo. Ilium ! Ilium ! woe is me, woe is me !
fertile citadel of the Phrygians, holy mount of Ida, how
do I lament for thy fall, lament in the chariot-strain,

^ 1369. Ceteram de tot& h&c poeta ut barbaro suaa com ma-

scea& obserrandum est, plura rum, turn qu&dam ex parte lin-

esse parum eleganter scripta in guae quoque, reserraret pro-

quibus id qusBfiiyisse yidetur prietates. Scfaolefield.

1385—1415.] ORESTES. 61

the chariot -strain, ^ with barbarian cry : for thee who
didst fall through the swan-begotten, swan-feathered eye^
of the beauty of Leda's daughter pernicious ^ Helen,
an eye that was the fury of the well polished citadel of
Troy, built by Apollo. Alas, Alas ! for woeful woeful
things ! O land of Dardanus, illfated in the horseman-
ship 9 of Ganymedes, the sharer of the bed of Jove.

Chor. Tell us clearly each circumstance that has
occurred within the palace. For what thou saidst before
1 cannot well understand by conjecture.

Phryg. Barbarians sing woe ! woe ! for Linus ! the
commencement of the deathsong, alas alas ! in Asiatic
tongue, when the blood of kings has been poured forth
upon the earth with the steel swords of Hades. There
came unto the palace, that I may tell thee every circum-
stance, two twin Grecian lions : of the one, the father
was celebrated as the chieftain of the host; but the
other was the son of Strophius, a deviser ^ of evil, even
as Odysseus, crafty in silence ; but &ithful to his friends,
daring in fight, skilled in war, and a bloodthirsty serpent.
May he perish, for his silent craftiness ! for he is a doer
of evil. They then having entered within, up to the
seat of the woman whom the archer Paris had to wife,
with their faces besmeared with tears, sat down humbly
one on one side and the other on the other, guarded in
every direction. And they both cast, they cast their
hands in supplication around the knees of Helen. And

* 1385. apii&Tiiov — apfid- daughter.

Tfiov t6v Qpiivov Xkyovffiv ® 1388. dvtrtXkvag bis. P.

flvai 8v liroiriffav lire rtf ' 1393. iirirovvva, P. the

*'£fcropi iXfco/ulv^ ^id tov &p^ horseman Ganymedes ; Dor.

fiaroc*— >ScH. gen. from I'trirotrvvric (dub.)

7 1387. Sid t6 rdQ^KVKvo- » 1403. raic^^^nc. P.
nripov, P. of the swanfeathered

02 OHESTES. (^1416—1459.

the attendant Phiygians hastily leaped up ; and, hebg
alanned, one spake with another, lest theie should h
some treacheiy. And to some indeed it seemed not n,
but to others the matricidal serpent appeared to k
encircling the daughter of Tjmdareos in a conmii|^
devised net.

Ohor. And whfere wast thoa then, or befoie tint
wast thou flying in terror ?

Phryo. I chanced, after the Phrygian, the Phij-
gian manner, to be stirring the breeae, the bvB6B»
by the ringlets of Helen, of Helen, with a well wzong^
fan of feathers, before her cheek, after the baibtiia
fashion. But she wbs spinning thread on a ^indle with
her fingers, desiring to work with thread omamenta Ibr
a tomb out of the Phrygian spoils, purple garmentB,
gifts for Clytsemnestra. But Orestes thus addresBed
the Laconian damsel. O daughter of Jove, set thy foot
to the ground, retiring from this couch, to the seat of the
ancient hearth of my forefather Pelops, that thou may-
est hear my words. And he leads her, he leads her away;
she followed, not foreseeing what she was about to soflcr ;
but his accomplice the vile Phocian, having come, was
busy with other matters '^ Will ye not hence, but aie
Phrygians always vile V* and he shut us out of the house,
one at one place and another at another : some indeed
in the stables of the horses, and others in opm chamberB^
and others in various places, arranging so that one should
be here, another there, afar off from their mistress.

Ohor. What event occurred upon this ?

Phryg. mother, Idesan mother I mighty one, mighty
one ! alas for the murderous deeds of woe, and the law-
less crimes which I beheld, I beheld, in the halls of
princes! Having drawn forth swords in their hands

i 1460—1489.] ORESTES. 63

i from under their purple garments, in secret, they rolled

i itke\r eyes around, one in one direction, another in another,

I lest some one should chance to be present. And like

I wild boars of the mountain, standing before the woman,

I they address her. " Thou shalt die, thou shalt die, thy

base husband slays thee, having betrayed the seed of his

brother to death, in Argos. But she cried aloud, cried

aloud, woe is me, woe is me. And striking her white

ann against her breast, she inflicted a blow upon her

miserable head ; and in flight, she hurried with swift

foot the tread of her golden sandals. But Orestes having

thrust his hand among her locks, advancing his Mycenian

shoe, having bent back her neck over her left shoulder,

was'about to strike his dark sword into her throat.

Ohor. What * succour then did the Phrygians within
the palace afford ?

Phryg. With a shout, having broken open with
levers the doors and the stables where we were staying,
we run to the rescue, one from one part, another from
another, of the house ; one indeed having stones, and
another javelins, and a third a drawn sword, in his hand.
But there came to meet us Pylades, midaunted, even as
Hector, or Aias of the triple plume whom I saw, whom
I saw in the gates of Priam. And we crossed the points
of our swords. Then in sooth, then the Phrygians were
conspicuous, how much inferior we were to the Grecian
spear in the encounter of Mars. One indeed havii^ fled
away, and another being a corpse, and a third suffering a
wound, and a fourth praying for a defence against death.
And we fled into concealment ; but some were falling
slain, and others were on the point of it, and others were

' 1472. Constiraotion irov rov Soph. (£d. Col. 335. ol d' a{>96'
iLiivvHv iffjav oi «. or. 0p. j cf. fiaifjtoi irov vedvicu iroviiv \

64 ORESTES. Q1489 — 1511.

Ijing dead. But the wretched Hennione came to the
palace upon the blood of her mother that bedewed the
ground, her illfated mother who brought her forth.
And like Bacchanals, but with no Th3n:sus, they tmk
rushing upon her clutched her in their hands like a whdp
on the mountains; and returning back again tbej
designed slaughter ' to the daughter of Jove. But die
had vanished from the chamber through the walls of ^
palace, O Jove and Earth and light and night ! &&a
by means of drugs or the arts of magicians, or bong
conveyed away by the gods. But what followed I know
not any more; for I stole away in flight from the palaoei
But Menelaus having endured the suffering of many
many toils, to little profit hath recovered from Tioy
Helen his bride.

Chor. But see here, novelty succeeds novelty; fori
see Orestes sword in hand advancing in front of the
palace with winged foot.

ORESTES.

Where is he who has fled from my sword out of the
palace ?

Phryg. I worship thee, Oking, Ming before thee in
barbarian fashion.

Ores. This is not in Ilium but in the land of Aigos.

Phryo. Everywhere, to the prudent 'tis sweet raUier
to live tlian to die.

Ores. Didst thou not raise a clamour, * for the
Argives to come to the succour of Menelaus ?

Phryg. Not I, but that they should help thee ; for
thou art more worthy.

' 1494. iiri, Scribendum iiri, * Otherwise, for Mendau to

Dind. iwi, P. proceeded to the come to the rescue— cf. 614.
slaughter, agaioat etc. Scholefield.

1512—1528.] ORESTES. 65

Ores. As it seems, the daughter of Tyndareus pe-
rished justly ?

Phryg. Most justly, even if she had had three throats
so as to die thrice.

Ores. Thou art courtmg me with cowardly tongue,
not thinking so in thy heart.

Phryg. Why, has she not justly perished who ruined
Hellas and the Phrygians also ?

Ores. Swear, or if not I will slay thee, that thou
art not speaking to pleasure me.

Phryg. I have sworn by mine own soul, with regard
to which I should not forswear myself.

Ores. In Troy also, was the sword such an object of
dread to all the Phrygians ?

Phryg. Keep away thy sword ; for if near it reflects
fearful bloodshed.

Ores. Fearest thou lest thou become a stone, having
looked, as it were, upon a Gorgon ?

Phryg. Nay, but a corpse rather. But the Gorgon I
know not.

Ores. Being a slave, dost thou fear Hades, who will
free thee from woe ?

Phryg. Every man, even if he be a slave, feels
pleasure in beholding the light of day.

Ores. Thou sayest well ; thy ready wit saves thee ;
but go within the palace.

Phryg. Wilt thou not slay me, then ?

Ores. Thou art spared.

Phryg. This is good tidings that thou tellest.

Ores. But I will change my intention.

Phryg. This thou sayest not well.

Ores. Fool, if thou thinkest that I would condescend
to stain thy neck with blood. For thou wast not bom

OG ORESTES. p529 — 1551.

a woman, Dor yet art thou among men. Bui I cuk
forth from the palace that thou mightest not set up »
shouting : for Argos when it hears a cry is resdilf
aroused. But we have no fear of * catching Menebuu
within reach of the sword ; but let him go, exulting in
his yellow locks curling over his shonldeis. Fat i(
taking the Argives, he shall bring them against this
house, avenging the murder of Helen, and will not save
me and my sister and Pylades who is my accomplice in
these deeds, he shall see both the virgin and his wife two
corpses.

CnoR. O fortune, fortune, into another conflict, another
again, and a fearful one as regards the sons of Atieos
this house is falling.

Semich. A. What are we to do? ought we to an-
nounce these things to the city ? or to preserve them in
silence ?

Semich. B. That is more safe, my friends.

Semich. A. See before the palace, see, this smoke
liastening up into the air is the herald of the future.

Semich. B. They are kindling torches, to fire the house
of Tantalus, and desist not from blood.^

OnoR. The Deity has rule over the result, has rule
over the result for mortals, to e£Eect it in whatever w»y
he wills. And great ^ is the power : through an aveng-
ing deity these halls have fallen, have fallen, in blood-
shed, by reason of the casting of Myrtilus from out the

car. ^But lo, I see Menelaus also here near the palace,

vvith hasty step advancing, having heard, I suppose, the
misfortune which now environs him. Ye cannot be too
speedy in closing the bolts with bars, O ye children of

* 1545 — 8. Semich. trib. P. Ibid, ^i dXaardpktv. P.

« 1647. & om. P.

J 1552—1578.] ORESTES. 67

\ Atreus who are within the house. A fearful thing is a
I prosperous man, against those who are unfortunate, as
thou, Orestes, now sufferest misfortune.

MENELAUS.

I am come hearing of the fearful and violent deeds of
the two lions ; for two men I call them not. For I have
heard, in sooth, concerning my yokefellow, that she is
not dead, but has vanished away ; hearing an empty
rumour, which some one reported to me, who was
deceived by fear. But these are the contrivances of the
matricide and are highly ridiculous. Let some one open
the door of the palace ; I order ray attendants to force
open these portals, that at least we may rescue my
daughter from the hands of bloodstained men, and may
recover my illfated wretched wife; with whom those
must die by my hand who have slain my yokefellow.

ORESTES.

Ho thou, touch not these bolts with thy hand ! Thee
Menelaus I meant, who art lifted on high with inso-
lence : or I will crush thy head with this coping stone,
having broken off an ancient cornice, the labour of the
mason. And the bolts are fastened with bars, and they
will restrain thee from thy zealous succour, so that thou
shalt not pass into the house.

Men. Ha, what is this ? I see the light of torches
and these defending themselves on the top of the palace,
and a sword awaiting my daughter's throat.

Ores. Wishest thou to ask questions, or to hear me
speak 7

Men. Neither of the two. But I must, as it seems,
hear thee.

Ores. I am about to slay thy daughter, if thou
desirest to know.

SS osiSTXEL [1579—1594.

Me3, HaTing maidexed Hden, ait thoa committiiif
muider upon mixidar ?

Ores. Wonld that I now had hotd of her and had
not been dieated of ha bj the gods !

Bf£:f . Dost thou deny that thoa hast slain her, and
savest thoa these things to iosoh me?

Ores. I do, with pain : For O that I had —

Men. Done what ? For thoa tendfiest me.

Ores. Cast the ^ poQoter of Gieeee mto the reahn of
Hades.

Mex. Restore me the corpse of my wife that I may
cover her with a tomb.

Ores. Demand her of the gods; hot thy danghter I
will slaj.

Men. The matricide is committing morder npoD
murder.

Ores. The avenger of hb fij^her, whom thoa didst
betray to death. «

Mex. Did 8 not the blooded thy mothor^aLready shed,
suffice thee ?

Ores. I should not be wearied of slaying eTil women
for ever.

Men. Can it be that thou also, Pyhdes, takest put
in this murder ?

Ores. He assents by silence : but it will be safficient
for me to speak.

Men. But not at all with impunity, unless at least
thou fliest away with wings.

Ores. We do not mean to fly. But we will bum
the house with fire.

^ 1584. fjuaffTup, eril ge- ^ 1589. irdpof. P. the former

nius. ScHOLEF. murder.

i

1^595—1610.] ORESTES. 69

Men. What ! wilt thou indeed destroy this the house
of thy fathers ?

Ores. Aye, I will, so that thou mayest not possess it,
having slaughtered this damsel over the fire.

Men. Slay her : for if thou slayest her, thou shalt
give me satisfaction for these deeds.

Ores. So it shall be.

Men. Hold, hold ! by no means do this !

Ores. Be silent then, and endure to suffer misfortune
justly.

Men. What, is it just that thou shouldst live ?

Ores. Aye, and rule the land.

Men. What land?

Ores. In this Pelasgian Argos.

Men. Well in sooth couldst thou touch the sacred
water—

Ores. And prithee why not ?

Men. And sacrifice victims before battle.

Ores. And couldst thou do so becomingly ?

Men. Aye, for I am pure as to my hands.

Ores. But not as to thy heart.

Men. And who would speak to thee ?

Ores. Whoever loves his father.

Men. But whoever honours his mother ?

Ores. Is a happy man.

Men. Thou therefore art not happy.

Ores. No, for bad women please not me.

Men. Remove thy sword from my daughter.

Ores. Thou art a liar.

Men. But wilt thou slay my daughter ?

Ores. Thou liest no longer.

Men. Woe is me ! what shall I do ?

Ores. Go to the Argives and persuade them

70 ORESTES. £1611— leSO.

Men. To do what ?

Ores. Ask the city not to slay ns.

Mex. Or ye will murder my child ?

Ores. Thus the case stands.

Men. O wretched Helen !

Ores. And is not my lot wretched ?

Men. I conveyed her from among tlie Phrygians to
be thy 9 victim —

Ores. O that tliis had been so !

Men. Having endured innumerable toils.

Ores. Except against me, at least.

Men. Fearful things I have sutiTered.

Ores. Aye, for at that time of need thou wast
useless.

Men. Thou hast caught me.

Ores. Aye, thou hast. caught thyself having beei
base. But come, set fire to this palace, Clectra; and
thou, Pylades, truest of all my friends to me, fire these
cornices of the battlements.

Men. O land of Danaus and ye inhabitants of Argos
abounding in steeds, will ye not hither to the rescue with
well armed foot ? For this man lives in defiance of your
entire city, having committed the abominable murder of
his mother.

APOLLO.

Menelaus, cease from having thy fury, thus sharply
excited ; I, Phoebus the son of Latona, who am near
thee, call thee ; and thou too, Orestes, who sword in hand
art watching over this damsel, that thou mayest hear the
tidings bearing which I have come. Helen, in the first
place, whom thou being so ready to slay didst fail of

» 1614. ffL I brought thee to be etc.— P.

.1631— -1658.] ORESTES. 71

her, incensing Menelaus against thee, is she there, whom
ye behold in the cloudclefts of ether, preserved and not
slain by thy hand. I saved her and snatched her from
thy sword at the command of father Jove. For being
of the race of Jove it was ordained that she should live
imperishable ; and she will sit with Castor and Polydeu-
ces in the cloudclefts of ether, a star of safety for seamen.
But get thee another bride, receiving her into thy house,
since the gods by the exceeding beauty of this woman
brought together Greeks and Phrygians in strife, and
caused many deaths, that they might draw off from the
earth the wantonness of mortals which had reached its full
height.^ As regards Helen indeed thus matters stand :
But for thee again Orestes, it is ordained that thou pass
over the boundaries of this land and dwell in the Par-
rhasian plain for a revolving year. And the place shall
have a name derived from thine exile among Azanians and
Arcadians, so that they shall call it Oresteium : and thence
having gone to the city of the Athenians, undergo a trial for
matricidal bloodshed, at the prosecution of the three Eu-
menides : but the gods, judges in thy suit, shall pass a most
religious sentence on the hills of Mars, in which it is fated
for thee to be victorious. And Hermione, at whose throat,
Orestes, thou keepest thy sword, it is decreed that thou
shalt wed ; but Neoptolemus, who thinks that he will
marry her, shall never have her to wife. For it is fated
for him to die by a Delphian sword, when demanding
satisfaction from me for his father Achilles : but give to
Pylades thy sister s bed, to whom thou didst formerly

* 1639 seq. This account of Stasinus, a Cyclic poet ; who is
the origin of the Trojan war is supposed to have lived not ear-
derived from the Cypria of lier than about the Ist. 01.

72 ORESTES. [1659 — 1681

agree to give it : and happy is the sacoeeding life that
awaits him. And do thoo, Menelans, safier Orestes to
mle over Argos, but go thyself and be king over the land
of Sparta, possessing the dowry of the wifis, who in-
volving thee in innumerable toils, even ontil nowhu
been bringing thee to this crisis. — ^And as r^ards the
city, I will arrange matters satisfactorily for this man, I
who compelled him to murder his mother.

Ores. O prophetic Loxias, thou wast then no fak
prophet in thy divine responses, but a true one. And
yet fear entered my mind lest, in fact hearing one of the
avenging deities, I might fancy I heard thy Toice. But
all comes to a happy end, and I will obey thy words.
Lo ! I release Hermione firom slaughter, I consent to her
bed, whenever her father gives her to me.

Men. O Helen daughter of Jove, &rewell, O damsel !
But I envy thee having gone to dwell in the happy
abode of the gods. And to thee Orestes I betroth my
daughter, at the behest of Phoebus ; and being noble
and bom of a noble father, mayest thou be prosperous in
thy marriage, both thou and I who give thee the bride.

Apol. Depart then each of you thither where I appoint,
and be reconciled from contention.

Men. We must obey.

Ores. I also agree to this ; and I make a truce
with calamity, Menelaus, and with thy oracles, O
Loxias.

Apol. Go ye then on your way, honouring Peace, the
fairest of goddesses. But I will convey Helen near to
the halls of Jove, having accomplished my journey to the
firmament of bright stars ; where sitting by the side of
Hera and of Hebe the spouse of Hercules she shall be a

1 683 — 1 693.] ORESTES. 73

goddess to mortals, for ever honoured with libations;
with the Tyndarids, the sons of Jove, a guardian god-
dess of the sea for sailors.

QChor. O Victory greatly venerated, mayest thou dwell
with me through my life, and never cease crowning me
with chaplets.]^

* 1691. lidem versus loquun- -koititov lanv, wf viicqtravTOQ

tur in fine Phcenissarum et [pot. vnc^erovrof] kv rtf dpd-

Iphigeniae Tauricse, rovro Sid fxari. SchoL — Dind.
Tov x^pov wg Ik irpoffonrov tov