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THE 


TRAGEDIES 


EURIPIDES. 


LITERALLY  TRANSLATED  OR  REVISED, 

WITH  CRITICAL  AND  EXPLANATORY  NOTES, 

*  BY 

THEODORE  ALOIS  BUCKLEY, 

6 


OF    CHRIST    CHURCH. 


VOL.  I. 


HECUBA,  ORESTES,  PHCENISSJE,  MEDEA,  HIPPOLYTUS,  ALCESTIS, 

BACCHJE,  HERACLIDjE,  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIDE, 

AND  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS. 


LONDON : 
HENRY  G.  BOHN,  YORK  STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN. 

MDCCCLIU, 


3975- 
fll 

V.I 


JOHN    CHII.DS    AND    SON,  BUNGAT 


PREFACE. 


The  translations  of  the  first  six  plays  in  the  present 
volume  were  published  at  Oxford  some  years  since,  and 
have  been  frequently  reprinted.  They  are  now  care- 
fully revised  according  to  Dindorfs  text,  and  are  accom- 
panied by  a  few  additional  notes  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  student. 

The  translations  of  the  Bacchae,  Heraclidse,  and  the 
two  Iphigenias,  are  based  upon  the  same  text,  with  cer- 
tain exceptions,  which  are  pointed  out  at  the  foot  of  the 
page.  The  annotations  on  the  Iphigenias  are  almost 
exclusively  critical,  as  it  is  presumed  that  a  student  who 
proceeds  to  the  reading  of  these  somewhat  difficult 
plays,*  will  be  sufficiently  advanced  in  his  acquaintance 
with  the  Greek  drama  to  dispense  with  more  elementary 
information. 

A  second  volume  (which  is  in  preparation)  will  com- 
prise the  remaining  plays. 

T.  A.  BUCKLEY, 

CH.    CII.,    OXFORD. 

*  The  reader  will  obtain  some  notion  of  the  difficulties  alluded  to,  and  the  best  mode 
of  grappling  with  them,  by  consulting  the  recent  Cambridge  edition,  published  with 
English  notes,  (Iph.  in  Aulide,  1S40,  in  Tauris,  1846,)  performances  of  great  critical 
acumen,  attributed  to  the  present  Bishop  of  Gloucester. 


4 


INTRODUCTION. 


Euripides,  son  of  Mnesarchus,  was  born  in  the  island  of 
Salamis,  on  the  day  of  the  celebrated  victory  (b.  c.  480).  His 
mother,  Clito,  had  been  sent  thither  in  company  with  the 
other  Athenian  women,  when  Attica  was  given  up,  and  the 
ships  became  at  once  the  refuge  of  the  male  population, 
and  the  national  defence.  Mr.  Donaldson1  well  remarks, 
that  the  patronymic  form  of  his  name,  derived  from  the 
Euripus,  which  was  the  scene  of  the  first  successful  resist- 
ance offered  to  the  Persian  navy,  shows  that  the  attention 
of  his  parents  was  fully  excited  by  the  stirring  events  of  the 
time. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his  mother  had  been  a  herb- 
seller,  it  is  probable  that  his  father  was  a  man  of  some  family. 
That  he  was  at  least  possessed  of  ample  means,  is  evident 
from  the  care  and  expense  bestowed  upon  our  poet's  education. 
Under  the  tutorship  of  Anaxagoras,  Prodicus,  and  Protagoras, 
he  had  studied  both  natural  philosophy  and  rhetoric  in  its 
sophistical  form.  In  gymnastic  exercises  he  exhibited  a  suc- 
cessful prowess,  being  twice  victorious  in  the  Eleusinian  and 
Thesean  games.  Of  his  skill  in  painting,  some  specimens 
were  preserved  at  Megara. 

His  appearance  as  a  dramatist  was  at  an  earlier  age  than 
that  of  his  predecessors,  as  he  was  only  five  and  twenty  years 
1  See  Theatre  of  the  Greeks,  p.  92  sqq. 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

old  when  he  produced  the  "  Peliades,"  his  first  tragedy.  On 
this  occasion,  he  gained  the  third  prize  in  the  tragic  contests, 
but  the  first,  fourteen  years  after,  and  subsequently,  with 
the  "  Hippolytus,"  in  428  b.  c.  The  peculiar  tendency  of 
some  of  the  ideas  expressed  in  his  plays,  was  the  probable 
cause  of  the  retirement  of  Euripides  to  Macedonia,  where  he 
obtained  the  friendship  of  king  Archelaus.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, the  unhappiness  of  his  connubial  state,  arising  from  the 
infidelity  of  his  two  wives,  might  have  rendered  Athens  a  dis- 
agreeable place  of  abode  for  the  woman-hating  poet,  especially 
when  his  "domestic  bliss"  was  continually  seasoned  by  the 
sarcastic  jokes  and  allusions  of  his  political  enemy,  Aristo- 
phanes. Moreover,  his  acquaintance  with  the  talking  philo- 
sopher, Socrates,  must  have  been  unfavourable  to  the  con- 
tinuance of  his  popularity. 

The  fate  of  Pentheus  in  our  author's  noble  play,  the 
"Bacclue,"  appears  to  have  given  origin  to  the  tradition  that 
he  himself  was  torn  to  pieces  by  dogs.  If  we  reflect  that  this 
play  was  probably  the  last  of  his  works,  the  mistake  seems  a 
plausible  one.  The  death  of  Euripides,  which  probably  hap- 
pened in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  has,  like  that  of 
JEschylus,  been  associated  with  the  marvellous. 

The  Athenians  vainly  craved  the  honour  of  giving  a  rest- 
ing-place to  the  ashes  of  their  philosopher-poet.  He  was 
buried  at  Pella,  but  a  cenotaph  at  Athens  showed  that  his 
countrymen  had  not  forgotten  Euripides.  His  death  took 
place  b.  c.  406. 

The  inferiority  of  our  author  to  the  greater  tragedians, 
prevents  our  feeling  much  desire  to  enter  upon  the  respective 
merits  and  demerits  of  his  several  plays,  especially  as  we  are 
completely  anticipated  by  Schlegel,  with  whose  masterly 
analysis  every  reader  ought  to  be  acquainted.  Nevertheless, 
a  few  general  remarks  may,  perhaps,  be  not  wholly  unprofit- 
able. 

It  has  been  truly  remarked,  that  tragedy,  in  no  small  de- 


INTRODUCTION.  VU 

gree,  owed  its  downfal  to  Euripides.  Poetry  was  gradually 
superseded  by  rhetoric,  sublimity  by  earnestness,  pathos  by 
reasoning.  Thus,  Iphigenia  and  Macaria  give  so  many  good 
reasons  for  dying,  that  the  sacrifice  appears  very  small,  and  a 
modern  wag  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  theatre  would,  at  the 
end  of  the  speech  of  the  latter  heroine,  almost  have  exclaimed, 
"  Then  why  don't  you  die  ?" 

It  has  been  said,  that  our  poet  drew  the  characters  of  life 
as  he  found  them,  but  bad  as  his  characters  are,  they  exhibit 
only  a  vulgar  wickedness.  Unable  to  pourtray  a  Clytasmnestra, 
he  revels  in  the  continual  paltriness  of  a  Menelaus  or  Ulysses. 
As  if  he  took  a  delight  in  the  black  side  of  humanity,  he  loves 
to  show  the  strength  of  false  reasoning,  of  sophistry  anta- 
gonistic to  truth,  and  of  cold  expediency  in  opposition  to  the 
natural  feelings  of  humanity.  From  a  similar  reason,  his 
occasional  attempts  at  comedy  degenerate  into  mere  farce. 
"We  question  whether  the  scene  between  Death  and  Apollo  in 
the  "  Alcestis,"  could  be  surpassed  in  vulgarity,  even  by  the 
modern  school  of  English  dramatists,  while  his  exaggera- 
tions in  the  minor  characters  are  scarcely  to  be  surpassed  by 
the  lowest  writer  of  any  period. 

Under  Euripides,  the  stage  began  gradually  to  approximate 
more  closely  to  the  ordinary  and,  at  that  time,  debased  cha- 
racter of  Athenian  society.  A  contempt  for  the  Lacedas- 
monians,  a  passionate  taste  for  the  babbling  and  trickery  of 
the  forum,  and  an  attempt  to  depreciate  the  social  position 
and  influence  of  the  weaker  sex,  form  the  most  unamiable 
features  of  this  change.  Yet  we  must  allow,  that  if  Euri- 
pides has  revelled  in  the  amiabilities  of  a  Melanippe  or  a 
Phaedra,  in  the  gentle  revenge  of  a  Medea  or  Hecuba,  he  has 
at  the  same  time  given  us  an  Alcestis,  the  only  real  example 
of  genuine  conj  ugal  affection  on  the  Greek  stage. 

Nor  must  we  forget  that  Euripides  is  a  greater  admirer  of 
nature,  a  more  complete  delineator  of  her  workings,  than  the 
two  greater  tragedians.     He  has  more  of  illustrative  philoso- 


Viil  INTRODUCTION. 

phy,  more  of  regard  to  the  objects  of  the  animated  creation, 
the  system,  of  the  universe,  than  his  greater  rivals  exhibit. 
He  is,  as  Vitruvius  has  justly  styled  him,  a  "stage-philoso- 
pher." Did  we  possess  a  larger  acquaintance  with  the  works 
of  Parmenides,  Empedocles,  and  other  early  cosmogonists,  we 
should  perhaps  think  less  of  his  merits  on  this  head :  as  it  is, 
the  possession  of  some  such  fragments  of  our  poet  makes  us 
deeply  regret  the  loss  of  the  plays  themselves. 

But  his  very  love  for  the  contemplation  of  nature  has  in 
no  small  degree  contributed  to  the  mischievous  scepticism 
promulgated  by  our  poet.  In  earlier  times,  when  a  rural 
theogony  was  the  standard  of  belief,  when  each  star  had  its 
deity,  each  deity  its  undisputed,  unquestioned  prerogative  and 
worship,  there  was  little  inclination,  less  opportunity,  for 
scepticism.  Throughout  the  poetry  of  Hesiod,  we  find  this 
feeling  ever  predominant,  a  feeling  which  Virgil  and  Tibullus 
well  knew  how  to  appreciate.  Even  Euripides  himself,  per- 
haps taught  by  some  dangerous  lessons  at  home,  has  expressed 
his  belief  that  it  is  best  "  not  to  be  too  clever  in  matters 
regarding  the  Gods."2  A  calm  retreat  in  the  wild,  pic- 
turesque tracts  of  Macedonia,  might  have  had  some  share  in 
reforming  this  spoiled  pupil  of  the  sophists.  But  as  we  find 
that  the  too  careful  contemplation  of  nature  degenerates  into 
superstition  or  rationalism  in  their  various  forms,  so  Euripides 
had  imbibed  the  taste  for  saying  startling  things,3  rather  than 
wise ;  for  reducing  the  principles  of  creation  to  materialism, 
the  doctrines  of  right  and  wrong  to  expediency,  and  im- 
mutable truths  to  a  popular  system  of  question  and  answer. 
Like  the  generality  of  sophists,  he  took  away  a  received  truth, 
and  left  nothing  to  supply  its  place  ;  he  reasoned  falsehood  into 
probability,  truth  into  nonentity. 

At  a  period  when  the  Prodico-Socratic  style  of  disputing 

2  Bacch.  2U0.  This  play  -was  written  during  his  sojourn  with  Ar- 
chclaus. 

3  ToiovTovi  ti  irapaKtKivdtvuivov.   Aristoph.  Ran.  99. 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

was  in  high  fashion,  the  popularity  of  Euripides  must  have 
been  excessive.  His  familiar  appeals  to  the  trifling  matters 
of  ordinary  life,  his  characters  all  philosophizing,  from  the 
prince  to  the  dry-nurse,  his  excellent  reasons  for  doing  right 
or  wrong,  as  the  case  might  be,  must  have  been  inestimably 
delightful  to  the  accommodating  morals  of  the  Athenians. 
The  court  of  Charles  the  Second  could  hardly  have  derived 
more  pleasure  from  the  writings  of  a  Behn  or  a  Hamilton, 
than  these  unworthy  descendants  of  Codrus  must  have  expe- 
rienced in  hearing  a  bad  cause  so  cleverly  defended.  Whe- 
ther the  orators  and  dikasts  followed  the  example  of  the  stage 
in  those  days,  can  scarcely  be  ascertained,  but  it  is  more  than 
certain  that  they  practically  illustrated  its  principles.  At 
least,  the  Sicilians  were  so  fond  of  our  author,  that  a  few  of 
the  unfortunate  survivors  of  the  Syracusan  disaster,  were  en- 
abled to  pick  up  a  living  by  quoting  such  passages  of  our 
author  as  they  had  learnt  by  heart.  A  compliment  paid  to 
few  living  dramatists  in  our  days  ! 

In  dramatic  conduct,  Euripides  is  at  an  even  greater  dis- 
advantage with  iEschylus  and  Sophocles.  The  best  charac- 
ters of  the  piece  are  often  the  least  employed,  as  in  the  instance 
of  Macaria  in  the  "  Heraclidos,"  while  the  play  is  dwindled 
away  with  dull,  heavy  dirges,  and  the  complaints  of  senile 
childishness.  The  chorus,  as  Aristotle4  has  remarked,  is 
most  unfortunately  independent  of  the  plot,  although  the 
finest  poetry  is  generally  to  be  found  in  the  lyric  portions  of 
our  author's  plays.  In  fact,  Euripides  rather  wanted  man- 
agement in  employing  his  resources,  than  the  resources  them- 
selves. An  ear  well  attuned  to  the  harmony  of  verse,  a 
delicate  perception  of  the  graceful  points  of  language,  and  a 
finished  subtilty  in  touching  the  more  minute  feelings  and 
impulses  of  the  mind,  were  all  thrown  away  either  upon  bad 
subjects  or  worse  principles.  There  is  no  true  tragedy  in 
Euripides.  He  is  a  melodrama tist,  but  not  according  to  the 
4  Poet.  §  xviii. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

modern  acceptation.  His  plays  might  end  either  happily  or 
the  reverse.  A  deity  conveniently  brought  in,  the  arrival  of 
a  messenger,  however  unexpectedly,  together  with  a  liberal 
allowance  for  a  cowardly  revenge  upon  the  vanquished — these 
are  the  Euripidean  elements  for  giving  a  tragic  end  to  a  play. 
Nay,  so  great  is  the  prodigality  of  slaughter  throughout  his 
dramas,  that  we  can  but  imagine  morbid  cruelty  to  have 
formed  a  considerable  ingredient  in  the  disposition  of  Euri- 
pides. Even  his  pathos  is  somewhat  tinctured  with  this 
taste  for  painful  images.  As  we  have  beheld  in  our  own 
times  a  barbarian  alternately  glut  his  sight  with  executions, 
and  then  shed  floods  of  tears,  and  sink  into  idiot  despondency  ; 
so  the  poetry  of  Euripides  in  turn  disgusts  us  with  outrageous 
cruelty,  and  depresses  us  with  the  most  painful  demands  upon 
our  compassion. 

In  the  lyric  portions  of  his  dramas,  our  poet  has  been  far 
more  successful.  The  description  of  the  capture  of  Troy  by 
night,5  is  a  splendid  specimen  of  animation  blended  with  true 
pathos.  But  taken  as  a  whole,  Euripides  is  a  most  unequal 
author.  We  may  commence  a  play  with  pleasure,  (but  0  for 
the  prologues !)  we  may  proceed  with  satisfaction,  but  the 
feeling  rarely  lasts  to  the  end.  If  I  may  venture  an  opinion 
upon  so  uncertain  a  subject,  I  should  name  the  Hippolytus, 
Ion,  Troades,  Bacchre,  and  Iphigenia  in  Aulis  as  his  best 
plays,  placing  the  Phoenissre,  Alcestis,  Medea,  Hecuba,  and 
Orestes  in  a  lower  rank.  The  Helena  is  an  amusing  heap  of 
absurdities,  and  reads  much  better  in  the  burlesque  of  Aris- 
tophanes ;  the  Electra  is  utterly  beneath  criticism  ;  the  Cyclops 
a  weak,  but  humorous  imitation  of  Homer.  The  other  plays 
appear  to  be  neither  bad  nor  good. 

The  style  of  Euripides  is,  generally  speaking,  easy ;  and  I 

can  mention  no  author  from  whom  a  taste  for  elegant  Greek 

and  a  facility  in  composition  can  more  easily  be  derived. 

Some  of  his  plays  have  suffered  severely  from  the  ravages  of 

s  Hec.  905  sqq. 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

time,  the  ignorance  of  copyists,  and  the  more  dangerous 
officiousness  of  grammarians.  Some  passages  of  the  Bacchae, 
Rhesus,  Troades,  and  the  two  Iphigenias,  despite  the  inge- 
nuity and  erudition  of  such  scholars  as  Porson,  Elmsley, 
Monk,  B urges,  and  a  host  of  others,  must  still  remain  mere 
matter  for  guessing.  Hermann's  Euripides  is,  as  a  whole, 
sadly  unworthy  the  abilities  of  the  Humboldt  of  Greek 
literature. 

The  present  volume  contains  the  most  popular  of  our 
author's  works,  according  to  present  usage.  But  the  spirit 
which  is  gradually  infusing  itself  into  the  minds  of  those 
who  are  most  actively  engaged  in  the  educational  system  of 
England,  fully  warrants  a  hope  that  Porson's  "four  plays" 
will  shortly  cease  to  be  the  boundaries  of  the  student's  ac- 
quaintance with  Euripides. 

I  need  scarcely  observe,  that  the  study  of  Aristophanes  is 
indissolubly  connected  with  that  of  our  author.  If  the  reader 
discover  the  painful  fact  that  the  burlescpae  writer  is  greater 
than  the  tragedian,  he  will  perhaps  also  recollect  that  such  a 
literary  relation  is,  unfortunately,  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
days  of  Aristophanes. 


4> 


HECUBA. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

GHOST  OF  POLYDORE. 

HECUBA. 

CHORUS  OF  FEMALE  CAPTIVES. 

POLYXENA. 

ULYSSES. 

TALTHYBIUS. 

FEMALE  ATTENDANT. 

AGAMEMNON. 

POLYMESTOR  AND  HIS  CHILDREN. 


The  Scene  lies  before  the  Grecian  tents,  on  the  coast  of  the  Thracian 
Chersonese. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


After  the  capture  of  Troy,  the  Greek?'  put  into  the  Chersonese  over 
against  Troas.  But  Achilles,  having  appeared  by  night,  demanded  one 
of  the  daughters  of  Priam  to  be  slain.  The  Greeks  therefore,  in  honour 
to  their  hero,  tore  Polyxena  from  Hecuba,  and  offered  her  up  in  sacrifice. 
Polymestor  moreover,  the  king  of  the  Thracians,  murdered  Polydore,  a 
son  of  Priam's.  Now  Polymestor  had  received  him  from  the  hands  of 
Priam,  as  a  charge  to  take  care  of,  together  with  some  money.  But  when 
the  city  was  taken,  wishing  to  seize  upon  his  wealth,  he  determined  to 
despatch  him,  and  disregarded  the  ill-fated  friendship  that  subsisted  be- 
tween them  ;  but  his  body  being  cast  out  into  the  sea,  the  wave  threw 
him  up  on  the  shore  before  the  tents  of  the  captive  women.  Hecuba, 
on  seeing  the  corse,  recognised  it ;  and  having  imparted  her  design  to 
Agamemnon,  sent  for  Polymestor  to  come  to  her  with  his  sons,  conceal- 
ing what  had  happened,  under  pretence  that  she  might  discover  to  him 
some  treasures  hidden  in  Ilium.  But  on  his  arrival  she  slew  his  sons, 
and  put  out  his  eyes ;  but  pleading  her  cause  before  the  Greeks,  she 
gained  it  over  her  accuser  (Polymestor).  For  it  was  decided  that  she 
did  not  begin  the  cruelty,  but  only  avenged  herself  on  him  who  did 
begin  it. 


HECUBA. 


Ghost  of  Polydore. 

I  am  present,  having  left  the  secret  dwellings  of  the  dead  and 
the  gates  of  darkness,  where  Pluto  has  his  abode  apart  from 
the  other  Gods,  Polydore  the  son  of  Hecuba  the  daughter  of 
Cisseus1,  and  Priam  my  sire,  who  when  the  danger  of  falling 
by  the  spear  of  Greece  was  threatening  the  city  of  the 
Phrygians,  in  fear,  privately  sent  me  from  the  Trojan  land  to 
the  house  of  Polymestor,  his  Thracian  friend,  who  cultivates 
the  most  fruitful  soil  of  the  Chersonese,  ruling  a  warlike  peo- 
ple with  his.  spear2.  But  my  father  sends  privately  with  me 
a  large  quantity  of  gold,  in  order  that,  if  at  any  time  the 
walls  of  Troy  should  fall,  there  might  not  be  a  lack  of  suste- 
nance for  his  surviving  children.  But  I  was  the  youngest  of 
the  sons  of  Priam  ;  on  which  account  also  he  sent  me  pri- 
vately from  the  land,  for  I  was  able  neither  to  bear  arms  nor 
the  spear  with  my  youthful  arm.  As  long  then  indeed  as  the 
landmarks  of  the  country  remained  erect,  and  the  towers  of 
Troy  were  unshaken,  and  Hector  my  brother  prevailed  with 
his  spear,  I  miserable  increased  vigorously  as  some  young 
branch,  by  the  nurture  I  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Thra- 
cian, my  father's  friend.  But  after  that  both  Troy  and  the 
life  of  Hector  were  put  an  end  to,  and  my  father's  man- 

1  Homer  makes  Dymas,  not  Cisseus,  the  father  of  Hecuba.  Virgil 
however  follows  Euripides,  the  rest  of  the  Latin  poets  Virgil. 

2  In  the  martial  time  of  antiquity  the  spear  was  reverenced  as  some- 
thing divine,  and  signified  the  chief  command  in  arms,  it  was  also  the 
insigne  of  the  highest  civil  authority :  in  this  sense  Euripides  in  other 
places  uses  the  word  S6pv.    See  Hippol.  988. 

B 


2  HECUBA.  23—65. 

sions  razed  to  the  ground,  and  himself  falls  at  the  altar  built 
by  the  God,  slain  by  the  blood-polluted  son  of  Achilles,  the 
friend  of  my  father  slays  me,  wretched  man,  for  the  sake  of 
my  gold,  and  having  slain  me  threw  me  into  the  surf  of  the 
sea,  that  he  might  possess  the  gold  himself  in  his  palace. 
But  I  am  exposed  on  the  shore,  at  another  time  on  the  ocean's 
surge,  borne  about  by  many  ebbings  and  flowings  of  the 
waves,  unwept,  unburied  ;  but  at  present  I  am  hastening  on 
my  dear  mother's  account,  having  left  my  body,  borne  aloft 
this  day  already  the  third3,  for  so  long  has  my  wretched 
mother  been  present  in  this  territory  of  the  Chersonese  from 
Troy.  But  all  the  Grecians,  holding  their  ships  at  anchor,  are 
sitting  quiet  on  the  shores  of  this  land  of  Thrace.  For 
Achilles  the  son  of  Peleus,  appearing  above  his  tomb,  stayed 
all  the  army  of  the  Grecians  as  they  were  directing  homeward 
their  sea-dipt  oars ;  and  asks  to  receive  my  sister  Polyxena  as 
a  dear  victim,  and  a  tribute  of  honour  to  his  tomb.  And  this 
he  will  obtain,  nor  will  he  be  without  this  gift  from  his 
friends  ;  and  fate  this  day  leads  forth  my  sister  to  death.  But 
my  mother  will  see  the  two  corses  of  her  two  children,  both 
mine  and  the  unhappy  virgin's  ;  for  I  shall  appear  on  a 
breaker  before  the  feet  of  a  female  slave,  that  I  wretched  may 
obtain  sepulture ;  for  I  have  successfully  entreated  those  who 
have  power  beneath  to  find  a  tomb,  and  to  fall  into  my  mo- 
ther's hands.  As  much  then  as  I  wish  to  have,  shall  be  mine  ; 
but  I  will  withdraw  myself  out  of  the  way  of  the  aged 
Hecuba,  for  she  is  advancing  her  step  beyond  the  tent  of 
Agamemnon,  dreading  my  phantom.  Alas  !  O  my  mother, 
who,  from  kingly  palaces,  hast  beheld  the  day  of  slavery,  how 
unfortunate  art  thou  now,  in  the  degree  that  thou  wert  once 
fortunate  !  but  some  one  of  the  Gods  counterpoising  your 
state,  destroys  you  on  account  of  your  ancient  prosperity. 

Hecuba.     Chorus. 
Hec.  Lead  onward,  ye  Trojan  dames,  the  old  woman  be- 
fore the  tent ;  lead  onward,  raising  up  one  now  your  fellow 
slave,  but  once  your  queen  ;    take  me,  bear  me,  conduct  me, 
support  my  body,  holding  my  aged  hand ;  and  I,  leaning  on 

3  TpiTdio*  properly  signifies  triduanus :  here  it  is  used  for  TpiVos,  the 
cardinal  number  for  the  ordinal.     So  also  Hippol.  275. 

Titus  o   oil,  rpiTuiav  y'  ov<r'  acri-ros  vn*pav; 


66-119.  HECUBA.  -3 

the  bending  staff  of  my  hand4,  will  hasten  to  put  forward  the 
slow  motion  of  my  joints.  O  lightning  of  Jove  !  O  thou 
<doomy  night  !  why,  I  pray,  am  I  thus  disquieted  in  the  night 
with  terrors,  with  phantoms  ?  O  thou  venerable  Earth,  the 
mother  of  black-winged  dreams,  I  renounce  the  nightly  vision, 
which  regarding  my  son  who  is  preserved  in  Thrace,  and  re- 
garding Polyxena  my  dear  daughter,  in  my  dreams  have  I 
beheld,  a  fearful  sight,  I  have  learnt,  I  have  understood. 
Gods  of  this  land,  preserve  my  son,  who,  my  only  son,  and,  [as 
it  were,]  the  anchor  of  my  house,  inhabits  the  snowy  Thrace 
under  the  protection  of  his  father's  friend.  Some  strange 
event  will  take  place,  some  strain  will  come  mournful  to  the 
mournful.  Never  did  my  mind  so  incessantly  shudder  and 
tremble.  Where,  I  pray,  ye  Trojan  dames,  can  I  behold  the 
divine  spirit  of  Helenus,  or  Cassandra,  that  they  may  inter- 
pret my  dreams  ?  For  I  beheld  a  dappled  hind  torn  by  the 
blood-stained  fang  of  the  wolf,  forcibly  dragged  from  my  bo- 
som, a  miserable  sight.  And  dreadful  this  vision  also ;  the 
spectre  of  Achilles  came  above  the  summit  of  his  tomb,  and 
demanded  as  a  tribute  of  honour  one  of  the  wretched  Trojan 
women.  From  my  daughter  then,  from  my  daughter  avert 
this  fate,  ye  Gods,  I  implore  you. 

Chor.  Hecuba,  with  haste  to  thee  I  flew,  leaving  the  tents 
of  our  lords,  where  I  was  allotted  and  ordained  a  slave,  driven 
from  the  city  of  Troy,  led  captive  of  the  Greeks  by  the  point 
of  the  spear,  not  to  alleviate  aught  of  your  sufferings,  but 
bringing  a  heavy  weight  of  tidings,  and  to  thee,  0  lady,  a 
herald  of  woe.  For  it  is  said  that  it  has  been  decreed  in  the 
full  council  of  the  Greeks  to  make  thy  daughter  a  sacrifice  to 
Achilles:  for  you  know  how  that  having  ascended  o'er  his 
tomb,  he  appeared  in  his  golden  arms  and  restrained  the  fleet 
ships,  as  they  were  setting  their  sails  with  their  halliards,  ex- 
claiming in  these  words  ;  "  Where  speed  ye,  Grecians,  leav- 
ing my  tomb  unhonoured  ! "  Then  the  waves  of  great  conten- 
tion clashed  together,  and  a  divided  opinion  went  forth  through 

4  Most  interpreters  render  this,  leaning  on  the  crooked  staff  toith  my 
hand.  Nor  has  Beck  altered  it  in  his  Latin  version,  though  he  tran- 
scribed Musgrave's  note.  "  ckoXlw,  inci/airon**]  {for  which  Porson  directs 
a-KiirwvL,)  Scipiones  in  universum  recti  sunt,  non  curvi.  Loquitur  igitur 
non  de  vero  scipione,  sed  metaphorice  de  brachio,  quod  ancillis  innitens, 
scipionis  usum  praestabat ;  quodque,  ob  cubiti  flexuram,  <tko\ioi>  aKiix-nuiva 
vocat." 

B    2 


4  HECUBA.  120—171. 

the  army  of  the  Greeks ;  to  some  it  appeared  advisable  to 
give  a  victim  to  his  tomb,  and  to  others  it  appeared  not.  But 
Agamemnon  was  studious  to  advance  your  good,  cherishing 
the  love  of  the  infuriated  prophetess.  But  the  two  sons  of 
Theseus,  scions  of  Athens,  were  the  proposers  of  different 
arguments,  but  in  this  one  opinion  they  coincided,  to  crown 
the  tomb  of  Achilles  with  fresh  blood ;  and  declared  they 
would  never  prefer  the  bed  of  Cassandra  before  the  spear  of 
Achilles.  And  the  strength  of  the  arguments  urged  on  either 
side  was  in  a  manner  equal,  till  that  subtle  adviser,  that  bab- 
bling knave5,  honied  in  speech,  pleasing  to  the  populace,  that 
son  of  Laertes,  persuades  the  army,  not  to  reject  the  suit  of 
the  noblest  of  all  the  Greeks  on  account  of  a  captive  victim, 
and  not  to  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  of  the  dead  standing 
near  Proserpine  to  say  that  the  Grecians  departed  from  the 
plains  of  Troy  ungrateful  to  the  heroes  who  died  for  the  state 
of  Greece.  And  Ulysses  will  come  only  not  now,  to  tear 
your  child  from  your  bosom,  and  to  take  her  from  your  aged 
arms.  But  go  to  the  temples,  speed  to  the  altars,  sit  a  sup- 
pliant at  the  knees  of  Agamemnon,  invoke  the  Gods,  both 
those  of  heaven,  and  those  under  the  earth ;  for  either  thy 
prayers  will  prevent  thy  being  deprived  of  thy  wretched 
daughter,  or  thou  must  behold  the  virgin  falling  before  the 
tomb,  dyed  in  blood  gushing  forth  in  a  dark  stream  from  her 
neck  adorned  with  gold6.  , 

Hec.  Alas !  wretched  me !  what  shall  I  exclaim  ?  what 
shriek  shall  I  utter  ?  what  lamentation  ?*  miserable  tln'ough 
miserable  age,  and  slavery  not  to  be  endured,  insupportable. 
Alas  !  who  is  there  to  defend  me  ?  what  offspring,  what  city  ! 
The  old  man  is  gone.  My  children  are  gone.  Whither  shall 
I  turn  me  ?  and  whither  shall  I  go  ?  Where  is  any  god  or 
deity  to  succour  me  ?  O  Trojan  dames,  bearers  of  evil  tidings, 
bearers  of  woe,  you  have  destroyed  me  utterly,  you  have  de- 
stroyed me.  Life  in  the  light  is  no  more  desirable !  O 
wretched  foot,  lead,  lead  an  aged  woman  to  this  tent !    O 

•  that  babbling  k?iave.]  Tzetzes  on  Lycophron,  line  763.  koVis,  b 
ptjrwp,  Kal  ipirttpoi,  6  i>7r6  Tro'Woiy  Trpa.yp.aTwv  Kf.Kop.fj.tvoi.  In  the  Index 
to  Lycophron  koVis  is  translated  scurra. 

6  Amongst  the  ancients  it  was  the  custom  for  virgins  to  have  a  great 
quantity  of  golden  ornaments  about  them,  to  which  Homer  alludes,  I!. 
B.  872. 

"Os  Kal  Xi'vvbu  ixuiV  iroXtfioi/S'  lev  i)ut£  Kovpi].     PoilSON. 


172—219.  HECUBA.  o 

child,  daughter  of  the  most  afflicted  mother,  come  forth,  come 
forth  from  the  tent,  hear  thy  mother's  voice,  that  thou  mayest 
know  what  a  report  I  hear  that  concerns  thy  life. 

Hecuba,  Polyxena,  Chorus. 

Polyx.  O  mother,  why  dost  thou  call !  proclaiming  what 
new  affliction  hast  thou  frighted  me  from  the  tent,  as  some 
bird  from  its  nest,  with  this  alarm  ? 

Hec.  Alas  !  my  child  ! 

Polyx.  Why  address  me  in  words  of  ill  omen  ?  This  is  an 
evil  prelude. 

Hec.  Alas  !  for  thy  life. 

Polyx.  Speak,  conceal  it  not  longer  from  me.  I  fear,  I 
fear,  my  mother  ;  why  I  pray  dost  thou  groan  ? 

Hec.  O  child,  child  of  an  unhappy  mother  ! 

Polyx.  Why  sayest  thou  this  ? 

Hec.  My  child,  the  common  decree  of  the  Greeks  unites 
to  slay  thee  at  the  tomb  of  the  son  of  Peleus. 

Polyx.  Alas,  my  mother  !  how  are  you  relating  unenviable 
ills  ?  Tell  me,  tell  me,  my  mother. 

Hec.  I  declare,  my  child,  the  ill-omened  report,  they  bring 
word  that  a  decree  has  passed  by  the  vote  of  the  Greeks 
regarding  thy  life. 

Polyx.  O  thou  that  hast  borne  affliction  !  O  thou  wretched 
on  every  side  I  0  mother  unhappy  in  your  life,  what  most 
hated  and  most  unutterable  calamity  has  some  destiny  again 
sent  against  thee  !  This  child  is  no  longer  thine  ;  no  longer 
indeed  shall  I  miserable  share  slavery  with  miserable  age. 
For  as  a  mountain  whelp  or  heifer  shalt  thou  wretched  behold 
me  wretched  torn  from  thine  arms,  and  sent  down  beneath 
the  darkness  of  the  earth  a  victim  to  Pluto,  where  I  shall  lie 
bound  in  misery  with  the  dead.  But  it  is  for  thee  indeed, 
my  afflicted  mother,  that  I  lament  in  these  mournful  strains, 
but  for  my  life,  my  wrongs,  my  fate,  I  mourn  not ;  but  death, 
a  better  lot,  has  befallen  me. 

Chor.  But  see  Ulysses  advances  with  hasty  step,  to  declare 
to  thee,  Hecuba,  some  new  determination. 

Ulysses,  Hecuba,  Polyxena,  Chorus. 

Ulyss.  Lady,  I  imagine  that  you  are  acquainted  with  the 
decree  of  the  army,  and  the  vote  which  has  prevailed  ;  never- 


6  HECUBA.  220—254. 

theless,  I  will  declare  it.  It  has  been  decreed  by  the  Greeks 
to  offer  on  the  lofty  mound  of  Achilles'  tomb  thy  daughter 
Polyxena.  But  they  order  me  to  conduct  and  convey  the 
damsel ;  but  the  son  of  Achilles  is  appointed  to  be  the  priest, 
and  to  preside  over  the  rites.  Do  you  know  then  what  to  do  ? 
Be  not  dragged  away  by  violence,  nor  enter  into  a  contest  of 
strength  with  me,  but  acknowledge  superior  force  and  the 
presence  of  thy  ills ;  it  is  wise  to  have  proper  sentiments 
even  in  adversity. 

Hec.  Alas !  alas !  the  great  trial  is  at  hand,  as  it  seems, 
of  lamentations  full,  nor  without  tears ;  for  I  have  not  died 
in  the  state  in  which  I  ought  to  have  died,  nor  hath  Jove 
destroyed  me,  but  preserves  me,  that  I  wretched  may  behold 
other  misfortunes  greater  than  [past]  misfortunes.  But  if 
it  be  allowed  slaves  to  put  questions  to  the  free,  not  offensive 
nor  grating  to  the  feelings,  it  will  be  your  part  to  be  ques- 
tioned, and  ours  who  are  asking  to  attend. 

Ultss.  You  have  permission,  ask  freely,  I  grudge  not 
the  time. 

Hec.  Dost  thou  remember  when  thou  earnest  a  spy  on 
Troy,  disfigured  by  a  vile  dress,  and  from  thine  eyes  drops 
caused  by  the  fear  of  death  bedewed  thy  beard  ? 

Ulyss.  I  remember  well ;  for  it  made  no  slight  impression 
on  my  heart. 

Hec.  But  Helen  knew  thee,  and  told  me  alone. 

Ulyss.  I  remember  the  great  danger  I  encountered. 

Hec.  And  didst  thou  embrace  my  knees  in  thy  humility  ? 

Ulyss.  So  that  my  hand  was  numbered7  through  fear  on 
thy  garments. 

Hec.  What  then  didst  thou  say,  being  then  my  slave  ? 

Ulyss.  Many  arguments  that  I  invented  to  save  me  from 
death. 

Hec.  Did  I  preserve  thee  then,  and  conduct  thee  safe  from 
the  land  ? 

Ulyss.  Yes,  so  that  I  now  behold  the  light  of  the  sun. 

Hec.  Art  thou  not  then  convicted  of  baseness  by  this  conduct, 
who  hast  received  benefits  from  me  such  as  thou  acknowledgest 
thou  hast,  and  doest  us  no  good  in  return,  but  evil,  as  far  as 
in  thee  lies  ?  Thankless  is  your  race,  as  many  of  you  as  court 

7  This  is  the  only  sense  that  can  he  made  of  ivdavtTv,  and  this  sense 
seems  strained  :  Brunck  proposes  ivTOKTivai.  for  kvQaviiv  ye.  See  Note  A. 


255—299.  HECUBA.  I 

honour  from  oratory  before  the  populace  ;  be  ye  not  known  to 
me,  who  care  not  to  injure  your  friends,  provided  you  say 
what  is  gratifying  to  the  people.  But  plotting  what  dark 
design  have  they  determined  upon  a  decree  of  death  against 
my  child  ?  Did  fate  impel  them  to  offer  human  sacrifices  at 
the  tomb,  where  it  were  rather  right  to  sacrifice  cattle  ?  Or 
does  Achilles,  desirous  of  devoting  in  his  turn  to  death  those 
that  wrought  his  death,  with  a  colour  of  justice  meditate  her 
destruction  ?  But  she  has  done  him  no  ill :  he  should  demand 
Helen  as  a  sacrifice  on  his  tomb ;  for  she  destroyed  him,  and 
brought  him  to  Troy.  But  if  some  captive  selected  from  the 
rest,  and  excelling  in  beauty,  ought  to  die,  this  is  not  ours. 
For  the  daughter  of  Tyndarus  is  most  pre-eminent  in  beauty, 
and  has  been  found  to  be  no  less  injurious  than  us.  On  the 
score  of  justice  then  I  urge  this  argument ;  but  with  respect 
to  what  you  ought  to  repay  at  my  demand,  hear:  thou  hast 
touched  my  hand,  as  thou  ownest,  and  this  aged  cheek  also, 
falling  at  my  knees.  Thy  hand  and  knees  I  in  return  grasp, 
and  re-demand  the  favour  I  granted  you  then,  and  beseech 
you,  do  not  tear  my  child  from  my  arms,  nor  kill  her  ;  enough 
have  died  already.  In  her  I  rejoice,  and  forget  my  misfor- 
tunes ;  she  serves  as  my  consolation  in  the  stead  of  many 
things,  she  is  my  city,  my  nurse,  my  staff,  the  guide  of  my 
way.  It  becomes  not  those  who  have  power  to  exercise  their 
power  in  things  wherein  they  ought  not,  nor  should  the  fortu- 
nate imagine  their  fortune  will  last  for  ever.  For  I  too  have 
had  my  time  of  prosperity,  but  now  have  I  ceased  to  be:  one 
day  wrenched  from  me  all  my  happiness.  But  by  thy  beard 
which  I  supplicate,  reverence  me,  pity  me ;  go  to  the  Grecian 
army,  and  remind  them  that  it  is  a  shameful  thing  to  slay 
women  whom  ye  have  once  spared,  and  that  too  dragging 
them  from  the  altar.  But  shew  mercy.  But  the  laws  of 
blood  among  you  are  laid  down  alike  for  the  free  and  the  slave. 
But  your  worth  will  carry  with  it  persuasion,  although  your 
arguments  be  bad ;  for  the  same  words  from  those  of  little 
character,  have  not  the  same  force  as  when  they  proceed  from 
those  of  high  reputation. 

Chor.  There  is  no  nature  of  man  so  obdurate,  which  on 
hearing  thy  groans,  and  thy  long  plaints  of  misery,  would  not 
let  fall  the  tear. 

Ulyss.  Hecuba,  be  advised,  nor  through  passion  deem  him 


8  HECUBA.  300—34-5. 

thine  enemy  who  gives  thee  good  advice.  I  indeed  am  ready 
to  preserve  thy  person  through  the  means  of  which  I  was 
fortunate  ;  and  I  say  no  other.  But  what  I  declared  before  all 
I  will  not  deny,  that,  Troy  being  captured,  we  should  give  thy 
daughter  as  a  victim  to  the  noblest  man  of  the  army,  who 
demands  her ;  for  in  this  many  cities  fail,  when  any  man  who 
is  brave  and  zealous  receives  no  more  honour  than  those  who 
are  less  valiant.  But  Achilles,  O  lady,  is  worthy  of  honour 
from  us,  a  man  who  died  most  gloriously  in  behalf  of  the 
Grecian  country.  Were  not  then  this  disgraceful,  if  when 
living  we  treat  him  as  a  friend,  but  after  he  is  gone  we  no 
longer  treat  him  so  ?  Well !  what  then  will  any  one  say,  if 
there  again  should  be  an  assembling  of  the  army,  and  a  con- 
test with  the  enemy :  "  Shall  we  fight  or  preserve  our  lives, 
seeing  that  he  who  falls  lies  unhonoured  ? "  But  for  me  at 
least,  living  from  day  to  day,  although  I  have  but  little,  that 
little  is  sufficient ;  but  I  would  wish  that  my  monument  should 
be  beheld  crowned  with  honour,  for  the  gratification  is  for  a 
long  time.  But  if  thou  sayest  thou  suflerest  affliction,  hear 
this  in  return  from  me.  There  are  with  us  aged  matrons, 
and  hoary  sires,  not  less  wretched  that  thou  art,  and  brides 
bereft  of  the  noblest  husbands,  whose  ashes  this  land  of  Troy 
conceals.  Endure  this.  But  we,  if  we  injudiciously  deter- 
mine to  honour  the  brave  man,  shall  incur  the  charge  of  folly. 
But  you  barbarians  neither  consider  your  friends  as  friends, 
nor  do  you  hold  up  to  admiration  those  who  have  died  hon- 
ourably ;  thus  shall  Greece  be  prosperous,  but  you  shall  ex- 
perience fortune  corresponding  to  your  counsels. 

Ciior.  Alas  !  alas  !  how  wretched  is  the  state  of  slavery,  and 
to  endure  indignities  compelled  by  superior  force  !    (Note  B.) 

Hec.  0  daughter,  my  words  respecting  thy  death  are 
vanished  in  the  air,  sent  forth  in  vain ;  but  thou,  if  thou  hast 
greater  powers  [of  persuasion]  than  thy  mother,  use  all  thy 
influence,  uttering  every  note  as  the  throat  of  the  nightingale, 
that  thou  mayest  not  be  deprived  of  life.  But  fall  before  the 
knees  of  Ulysses  in  all  the  eloquence  of  grief,  and  persuade 
him ;  thou  hast  a  pretext,  for  he  also  hath  children  ;  so  that 
he  may  be  inclined  to  pity  thy  fortune. 

Poltx.  I  see,  Ulysses,  that  thou  art  hiding  thy  hand  be- 
neath thy  robe,  and  turnest  thy  face  away,  that  I  may  not 
touch  thy  beard.     Be  not  afraid ;  thou  hast  avoided  my  sup- 


346-393.  HECUBA.  9 

pliant  Jove  ;  for  I  will  follow  thee  both  on  account  of  fate,  and 
even  wishing  to  die;  but  if  I  were  not  willing,  I  should  ap- 
pear base,  and  too  fond  of  life.  For  wherefore  should  I  live, 
whose  father  was  monarch  of  all  the  Trojans  ;  this  my  dawn  of 
life.  Then  was  I  nurtured  under  fair  hope,  a  bride  for  princes, 
having  no  small  competition  for  my  hand,  to  whose  palace 
and  hearth  I  should  come.  But  I,  wretched  now,  was  mistress 
anion"-  the  Trojan  women,  and  conspicuous  in  the  train  of 
virgins,  equal  to  goddesses,  death  only  excepted.  But  now  I 
am  a  slave ;  first  of  all  the  very  name,  not  being  familiar, 
persuades  me  to  love  death.  Then  perhaps  I  might  meet 
with  masters  cruel  in  disposition,  who  will  buy  me  for  silver, 
the  sister  both  of  Hector  and  many  other  [heroes.]  And  im- 
posing the  task  of  making  bread  in  his  palace,  will  compel  me, 
passing  the  day  in  misery,  both  to  sweep  the  house,  and  stand 
at  the  loom.  And  some  slave  somewhere  purchased  will  de- 
file my  bed,  before  wooed  by  princes.  This  never  shall  be. 
I  will  quit  this  light  from  mine  eyes  free,  offering  my  body  to 
Pluto.  Lead  on  then,  Ulysses,  conduct  me  to  death ;  for  I 
see  neither  confidence  of  hope,  nor  of  expectation,  present  to 
me  that  I  can  ever  enjoy  good  fortune.  But  do  thou,  my 
mother,  in  no  wise  hinder  me  by  your  words  or  by  your  ac- 
tions ;  but  assent  to  my  death  before  I  meet  with  indignities 
unsuited  to  my  rank.  For  one  who  has  not  been  accustomed 
to  taste  misfortunes  bears  indeed,  but  grieves,  to  put  his  neck 
under  the  yoke.  But  he  would  be  far  more  blessed  in  death  than 
in  life  ;  for  to  live  otherwise  than  honourably  is  a  great  burthen. 

Chor.  It  is  a  great  and  distinguishing  feature  among  men 
to  be  born  of  generous  parents,  and  the  name  of  nobility  of 
birth  among  the  illustrious,  proceeds  from  great  to  greater  still. 

Hec.  You  have  spoken  honourably,  my  daughter,  but  in 
that  honourable  dwells  grief.  But  if  the  son  of  Peleus  must 
be  gratified,  and  you  must  escape  blame,  Ulysses,  kill  not  her  ; 
but  leading  me  to  the  pyre  of  Achilles,  strike  me,  spare  me 
not ;  I  brought  forth  Paris,  who  destroyed  the  son  of  Thetis, 
having  pierced  him  with  his  arrows. 

Ulyss.  The  phantom  of  Achilles  did  not  demand  that 
thou,  O  aged  lady,  but  that  thy  daughter  here  should  die. 

Hec.  Do  thou  then  at  least  slay  me  with  my  daughter,  and 
there  will  be  twice  the  libation  of  blood  for  the  earth,  and  the 
dead  who  makes  this  request. 


]  0  HECUBA.  394—428. 

Ulyss.  Thy  daughter's  death  suffices;  one  must  not  be 
heaped  on  another  ;  would  that  we  required  not  even  this  one. 

Hec.  There  is  a  strong  necessity  for  me  to  die  with  my 
daughter. 

Ulyss.  How  so  ?  for  I  am  not  aware  of  any  master  that  I 
have. 

Hec.  As  the  ivy  the  oak,  so  will  I  clasp  her. 

Ulyss.  Not  so ;  if  you  will  take  the  advice  of  your  supe- 
riors in  knowledge. 

Hec.  Never  will  I  willingly  quit  my  child  here. 

Ulyss.  Nor  will  I  leave  this  place  without  the  virgin. 

Polyx.  Mother,  be  persuaded;  and  thou,  son  of  Laertes, 
be  gentle  to  a  parent  with  reason  moved  to  anger.  But  thou, 
O  wretched  mother,  contend  not  with  conquerors.  Dost 
thou  wish  to  fall  on  the  earth  and  to  wound  thy  aged  flesh 
dragged  by  violence,  and  to  suffer  the  indignity  of  being  torn 
by  a  youthful  arm  ?  which  things  you  will  suffer.  Do  not,  I 
pray  thee,  for  it  is  not  seemly.  But,  my  dear  mother,  give 
me  thy  beloved  hand,  and  grant  me  to  join  cheek  to  cheek ; 
since  never  hereafter,  but  now  for  the  last  time  shall  I  behold 
the  rays  of  the  sun  and  his  bright  orb.  Receive  my  last 
address,  O  mother  !  O  thou  that  bearedst  me,  I  am  going 
below. 

Hec.  And  I,  0  daughter,  shall  be  a  slave  in  the  light  of  day. 

Polyx.  Without  the  bridegroom,  without  the  bridal  song, 
which  I  ought  to  have  obtained. 

Hec.  Mournful  thou,  my  child  ;  but  I  am  a  wretched 
woman. 

Polyx.  There  shall  I  lie  in  darkness  far  from  thee. 

Hec.  Alas  me,  what  shall  I  do  ?  where  end  my  life  ? 

Polyx.  I  shall  die  a  slave,  born  of  a  free  father. 

Hec.  But  I  bereft  indeed  of  fifty  children. 

Polyx.  What  message  shall  1  bear  to  Hector,  and  to  thy 
aged  husband  ? 

Hec.  Tell  them  that  I  am  most  miserable  of  all  women. 

Polyx.  O-ye  breasts  that  tenderly  nursed  me. 

Hec.  0  daughter  of  an  untimely  and  unhappy  fate. 

Polyx.  Farewell,  O  mother,  farewell  Cassandra  too. 

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

Polyx.  Farewell,  my  brother  Polydore,  amongst  the  war- 
like Thracians. 


429—479.  HECUBA.  1 1 

Hec.  If  lie  lives  at  least :  but  I  doubt  it,  so  unfortunate  am 
I  in  every  thing.     . 

Polyx.  He  lives,  and  shall  close  thy  dying  eye. 

Hec.  I  am  dead,  before  my  death,  beneath  my  ills. 

PoLrx.  Lead  me,  Ulysses,  having  covered  my  face  with  a 
veil,  since,  before  I  am  sacrificed  indeed,  I  am  melted  in  heart 
at  my  mother's  plaints,  her  also  I  melt  by  my  lamentations'. 

0  light,  for  yet  it  is  allowed  me  to  express  thy  name,  but  I 
have  no  share  in  thee,  except  during  the  time  that  I  am  going 
between  the  sword  and  the  pyre  of  Achilles. 

Hec.  Ah  me  !  I  faint ;  and  my  limbs  fail  me. — 0  daughter, 
touch  thy  mother,  stretch  forth  thy  hand — give  it  me — leave 
me  not  childless — I  am  lost,  my  friends.  Would  that  I  might 
see  the  Spartan  Helen,  the  sister  of  the  twin  sons  of  Jove, 
thus,  for  through  her  bright  eyes  that  most  vile  woman  de- 
stroyed the  happy  Troy. 

Cho.  Gale,  gale  of  the  sea,8  which  waftest  the  swift  barks 
bounding  through  the  waves  through  the  surge  of  the  ocean, 
whither  wilt  thou  bear  me  hapless  ?    To  whose  mansion  shall 

1  come,  a  purchased  slave  ?  Or  to  the  port  of  the  Doric  or 
Phthian  shore,  where  they  report  that  Apidanus,  the  most 
beautiful  father  of  floods,  enriches  the  plains  ?  or  wilt  thou 
bear  me  hapless  urged  by  the  maritime  oar,  passing  a  life  of 
misery  in  my  prison-house,  to  that  island9  where  both  the 
first-born  palm  tree  and  the  laurel  shot  forth  their  hallowed 
branches  to  their  beloved  Latona,  emblem  of  the  divine  par- 
turition ?  And  with  the  Delian  nymphs  shall  I  celebrate  in 
song  the  golden  chaplet  and  bow  of  Diana  ?  Or,  in  the  Athe- 
nian city,  shall  I  upon  the  saffron  robe  harness  the  steeds  to 
the  car  of  Minerva  splendid  in  her  chariot,  representing  them 
in  embroidery  upon  the  splendid  looms  of  brilliant  threads,  or 
the  race  of  Titans,  which  Jove  the  son  of  Saturn  sends  to 
eternal  rest  with  his  flaming  lightning  ?  Alas,  my  children  ! 
Alas,  my  ancestors,  and  my  paternal  land,  which  is  over- 
thrown, buried  in  smoke,  captured  by  the  Argive  sword  !  but 
I  indeed  am 10  a  slave  in  a  foreign  country,  having  left  Asia 

8  \(Votj  is  used  for  the  sea  in  Troades  444 ;  as  also  in  Iliad  N.  21,  and 
Odyssey  T.  1,  and  in  many  other  passages  of  Homer. 

9  The  construction  is  W  tto/osucteis  M£  tvda  vaawv;  for  £is  tKtivi\v  twj 
vuawv,  tvda. 

10  K£h.\?)juat  for  elftl,  not  an  unusual  signification.  Hippol.  2,  $ta  ni- 
*\r)ii.ui  Kuir/Ois. 


12 


HECUBA.  480—520. 


the  slave  of  Europe,  having  changed  my  bridal  chamber  for 
the  grave. 

Talthybius,  Hecuba,  Chorus. 

Tax.  Tell  me,  ye  Trojan  dames,  where  can  I  find  Hecuba, 
late  the  queen  of  Troy  ? 

Cno.  Not  far  from  thee,  O  Talthybius,  she  is  lying  stretched 
on  the  ground,  muffled  in  her  robes. 

Tal.  O  Jupiter,  what  shall  I  say  ?  Shall  I  say  that  thou 
beholdest  mortals  ?  or  that  they  have  to  no  end  or  purpose 
entertained  false  notions,  who  suppose  the  existence  of  a  race 
of  Deities,  and  that  fortune  has  the  sovereign  control  over 
men  ?  Was  not  this  the  queen  of  the  opulent  Phrygians  ?  was 
not  this  the  wife  of  the  all-blest  Priam  ?  And  now  all  her 
city  is  overthrown  by  the  spear,  but  she  a  captive,  aged,  child- 
less, lies  on  the  ground  defiling  her  ill-fated  head  with  the  dust. 
Alas  !  alas  !  I  too  am  old,  but  rather  may  death  be  my  por- 
tion before  I  am  involved  in  any  such  debasing  fortune  ;  stand 
up,  oh  unhappy,  raise  thy  side,  and  lift  up  thy  hoary  head. 

Hec.  Let  me  alone  :  who  art  thou  that  sufferest  not  my 
body  to  rest  ?  why  dost  thou,  whoever  thou  art,  disturb  me 
from  my  sadness  ? 

Tal.  I  am  here,  Talthybius,  the  herald  of  the  Greeks, 
Agamemnon  having  sent  me  for  thee,  O  lady. 

Hec.  Hast  thou  come  then,  thou  dearest  of  men,  it  having 
been  decreed  by  the  Greeks  to  slay  me  too  upon  the  tomb  ? 
Thou  wouldest  bring  dear  news  indeed.  Then  haste  we,  let 
us  speed  with*  all  our  might :  lead  on,  old  man. 

Tal.  I  am  here  and  come  to  thee,  O  lady,  that  thou  mayest 
entomb  thy  dead  daughter.  Both  the  two  sons  of  Atreus  and 
the  Grecian  host  send  me. 

Hec.  Alas  !  what  wilt  thou  say  ?  Art  thou  not  come  for 
me  as  doomed  to  death,  but  to  bring  this  cruel  message  ?  Thou 
art  dead,  my  child,  torn  from  thy  mother ;  and  I  am  childless 
as  far  as  regards  thee  ;  oh  !  wretch  that  I  am.  But  how  did 
ye  slay  her  ?  was  it  with  becoming  reverence  ?  Or  did  ye  pro- 
ceed in  your  butchery  as  with  an  enemy,  O  old  man  ?  Tell 
me,  though  you  will  relate  no  pleasing  tale. 

Tal.  Twice,  O  lady,  thou  desirest  me  to  indulge  in  tears 
through  pity  for  thy  daughter  ;  for  both  now  whilst  relating 
the  mournful  circumstance  shall  I  bedew  this  eye,  as  did  I  then 


521—563.  HECUBA.  13 

at  the  tomb  when  she  perished.  The  whole  host  of  the  Gre- 
cian army  was  present  before  the  tomb,  at  the  sacrifice  of  thy 
daughter.  But  the  son  of  Achilles  taking  Polyxena  by  the 
hand,  placed  her  on  the  summit  of  the  mound  ;  but  I  stood 
near  him :  and  there  followed  a  chosen  band  of  illustrious 
youths  in  readiness  to  restrain  with  their  hands  thy  daugh- 
ter's struggles ;  then  the  son  of  Achilles  took  a  full-crowned 
goblet  of  entire  gold,  and  poured  forth  libations  to  his  deceased 
father ;  and  makes  signal  to  me  to  proclaim  silence  through 
all  the  Grecian  host.  And  I  standing  forth  in  the  midst, 
thus  spoke :  "  Be  silent,  O  ye  Greeks,  let  all  the  people  re- 
main silent ;  silence,  be  still :"  and  I  made  the  people  perfectly 
still.  But  he  said,  "  O  son  of  Peleus,  0  my  father,  accept 
these  libations  which  have  the  power  of  soothing,  and  which 
speed  the  dead  on  their  way ;  and  come,  that  thou  mayest 
drink  the  pure  purple  blood  of  this  virgin,  which  both  the 
army  and  myself  offer  unto  thee  ;  but  be  propitious  to  us,  and 
grant  us  to  weigh  anchor,  and  to  loose  the  cables  of  our 
ships,  and  to  return  each  to  his  country,  having  met  with  a 
prosperous  return  from  Troy."  Thus  much  he  said,  and  all 
the  army  joined  in  the  prayer.  Then  taking  by  the  hilt  his 
sword  decked  with  gold,  he  drew  it  from  its  scabbard,  and 
made  signs  to  the  chosen  youths  of  the  Greeks  to  hold  the 
virgin.  But  she,  when  she  perceived  it11,  uttered  this  speech  : 
"  O  Argives,  ye  that  destroyed  my  city,  I  die  willingly ;  let 
none  touch  my  body ;  for  I  will  offer  my  neck  to  the  sword 
with  a  good  heart.  But,  by  the  Gods,  let  me  go  free  while 
ye  kill  me,  that  I  may  die  free,  for  to  be  classed  as  a  slave 
among  the  dead,  when  a  queen,  is  what  I  am  ashamed  of." 
But  the  people  murmured  assent,  and  king  Agamemnon  or- 
dered the  young  men  to  quit  the  virgin ;  [but  they,  soon  as 
they  heard  the  last  words  of  him  who  had  the  seat  of  chief 
authority  among  them,  let  go  their  hold,]  and  she,  on  hearing 
this  speech  of  her  lords,  took  her  robe,  and  rent  it,  beginning 
from  the  top  of  her  shoulder  down  to  her  waist :  and  shewed 
her  breasts  and  bosom  beauteous,  as  a  statue's,  and  bending 
her  knee  on  the  ground,  spoke  words  the  most  piteous  ever 
heard,  "  Lo  !  strike,  if  this  bosom  thou  desirest,  O  youth  ;  or 
wouldest  thou  rather  under  the  neck,  here  is  this  throat  pre- 

"  When  she  perceived  it,  ttypaaOii,  (tvvriiav,  lyvw,  kv6i}<riv.     Hesych. 


14  HECUBA.  564—608. 

pared."  But  he  at  once  resolved  and  unresolved  through  pity 
of  the  virgin,  cuts  with  the  sword  the  passage  of  her  breath  ; 
and  fountains  of  blood  burst  forth.  But  she,  e'en  in  death, 
shewed  much  care  to  fall  decently,  and  to  veil  from  the  eyes 
of  men  what  ought  to  be  concealed.  But  after  that  she 
breathed  forth  her  spirit  under  the  fatal  blow,  not  one  of  the 
Greeks  exercised  the  same  offices ;  but  some  scattered  leaves 
from  their  hands  on  the  dead  ;  some  heap  the  funeral  pile, 
bringing  whole  trunks  of  pines  :  but  he  that  would  not  bring, 
heard  rebukes  of  this  sort  from  him  that  was  thus  employed : 
"  Standest  thou  idle,  thou  man  of  most  mean  spirit  ?  Hast 
in  thy  hand  no  robe,  no  ornament  for  the  maiden  ?  Hast  thou 
nought  to  give  to  her  so  exceeding  brave  in  heart  and  most 
noble  in  soul?"  These  things  I  tell  thee  of  the  death  of  thy 
daughter,  but  I  behold  thee  at  once  the  most  happy,  at  once 
the  most  unhappy  of  all  women  in  thine  offspring. 

Chor.  Dreadful  calamities  have  risen  fierce  against  the 
house  of  Priam  ;  such  the  hard  fate  of  the  Gods. 

Hec.  O  daughter  !  which  of  my  ills  I  shall  first  attend 
to,  amidst  such  a  multitude,  I  know  not :  for  if  I  touch  on 
any,  another  does  not  suffer  me ;  and  thence  again  some 
fresh  grief  draws  me  aside,  succeeding  miseries  upon  miseries. 
And  now  I  cannot  obliterate  from  my  mind  thy  sufferings,  so 
as  not  to  bewail  them  :  but  excess  of  grief  hast  thou  taken 
away,  having  been  reported  to  me  as  noble.  Is  it  then  no 
paradox,  if  land  indeed  naturally  bad,  when  blest  with  a  fa- 
vourable season  from  heaven,  bears  well  the  ear ;  but  good 
land,  robbed  of  the  advantages  it  ought  to  have,  brings  forth 
bad  fruit :  but  ever  among  men,  the  bad  by  nature  is  nothing 
else  but  bad ;  the  good  always  good,  nor  under  misfortune 
does  he  degenerate  from  his  nature,  but  is  the  same  good  man  ? 
Is  it,  that  the  parents  cause  this  difference,  or  the  education  ? 
The  being  brought  up  nobly  hath  indeed  in  it  the  knowledge 
and  principles  of  goodness  ;  but  if  one  is  acquainted  well  with 
this,  he  knows  what  is  vicious,  having  already  learnt  it  by  the 
rule  of  virtue.  And  this  indeed  has  my  mind  been  ejacu- 
lating in  vain.  But  do  thou  go,  and  signify  these  things  to 
the  Greeks,  that  no  one  be  suffered  to  touch  my  daughter, 
but  bid  them  keep  off  the  multitude.  In  so  vast  an  army  the 
rabble  are  riotous,  and  the  sailors'  uncontrolled  insolence  is 
fiercer  than  fire  ;  and  he  is  evil,  who  does  not  evil.     But  do 


609—662.  HECUBA.  15 

thou,  my  old  attendant,  taking  an  urn,  fill  it  with  sea  water, 
and  bring  it  hither,  that  I  may  wash  my  girl  in  her  last  bath, 
the  bride  no  bride  now,  and  the  virgin  no  longer  a  virgin, 
wash  her,  and  lay  her  out ;  according  to  her  merits — whence 
can  I  ?  This  I  can  not ;  but  as  I  can,  I  will,  for  what  can  I 
do  !  And  collecting  ornaments  from  among  the  captured 
women,  who  dwell  beside  me  in  these  tents,  if  any  one,  unob- 
served by  our  new  lords,  has  by  her  any  stolen  memorial  of 
her  home.  O  state  of  my  house,  0  mansions  once  happy  !  O 
Priam,  of  vast  wealth  possessed,  and  supremely  blest  in  thine 
offspring,  and  I  too,  this  aged  woman,  the  mother  of  such 
children  !  How  have  we  come  to  nothing,  bereft  of  our  former 
grandeur  !  And  yet  still  forsooth  we  are  elated,  one  of  us  in 
his  gorgeous  palaces ;  another,  when  honoui'ed  among  his 
citizens.  These  are  nothing.  In  vain  the  counsels  of  the 
mind,  and  the  tongue's  boast.  He  is  most  blest,  to  whom 
from  day  to  day  no  evil  happens. 

Chorus. 

Against  me  was  it  fated  that  calamity,  against  me  was  it 
fated  that  woe  should  spring,  when  Paris  first  hewed  the  pine 
in  Ida's  forest,  preparing  to  cut  his  way  over  the  ocean  surge 
to  the  bed  of  Helen,  the  fairest  that  the  sun's  golden  beams 
shine  upon.  For  toils,  and  fate  more  stern  than  toils,  close 
us  round :  and  from  the  folly  of  one  came  a  public  calamity 
fatal  to  the  land  of  Simois,  and  woes  springing  from  other 
woes :  and  when  the  dispute  was  decided,  which  the  shepherd 
decided  between  the  three  daughters  of  the  blessed  Gods  on 
Ida's  top,  for  war,  and  slaughter,  and  the  desolation  of  my 
palaces.  And  many  a  Spartan  virgin  at  her  home  on  the 
banks  of  the  fair-flowing  Eurotas  sighs  while  bathed  in  tears  : 
and  many  an  aged  matron  strikes  her  hand  against  her  hoary 
head,  for  her  children  who  have  perished,  and  tears  her  cheek 
making  her  nails  all  blood-stained  with  her  wounds. 

Female  Attendant,  Chorus,  Hecuba. 

Att.  0  attendants,  where,  I  pray,  is  the  all-wretched 
Hecuba,  who  surpasses  the  whole  race  of  man  and  woman 
kind  in  calamities  ?  no  one  shall  wrest  from  her  the  crown. 

Chor.  But  what  dost  thou  want,  O  wretch,  in  thy  words 
of  ill  omen  ?  for  thy  messages  of  woe  never  rest. 


16  HECUBA.  663—703. 

Att.  I  bring  this  grief  to  Hecuba ;  but  in  calamity  'tis  no 
easy  thing  for  men  to  speak  words  of  good  import. 

Chor.  And  see,  she  is  coming  out  of  the  house,  and  ap- 
pears in  the  right  time  for  thy  words. 

Att.  O  all- wretched  mistress,  and  yet  still  more  wretched 
than  I  can  express  in  words,  thou  art  undone,  and  no  longer 
beholdest  the  light,  childless,  husbandless,  cityless,  entirely 
destroyed. 

Hec.  Thou  hast  said  nothing  new,  but  hast  reproached  me 
who  already  know  it :  but  why  dost  thou  bring  this  corse  of 
my  Polyxena,  whose  sepulture  was  reported  to  me  as  in  a  state 
of  active  progress  through  the  labours  of  all  the  Grecians  ? 

Att.  She  nothing  knows,  but,  woe 's  me !  laments  Polyx- 
ena, nor  does  she  apprehend  her  new  misfortunes. 

Hec.  0  wretched  me !  dost  bring  hither  the  body  of  the 
frantic  and  inspired  Cassandra  ? 

Att.  She,  whom  thou  mentionedst,  lives ;  but  thou  dost  not 
weep  for  him  who  is  dead  ;  but  behold  this  corse  cast  naked 
[on  the  shore,]  and  look  if  it  will  appear  to  thee  a  wonder, 
and  what  thou  little  expectest. 

Hec.  Alas  me  I  I  do  indeed  see  my  son  Polydore  a  corse, 
whom  (I  fondly  hoped)  the  man  of  Thrace  was  preserving 
in  his  palace.  Now  am  I  lost  indeed,  I  no  longer  exist.  Oh 
my  child,  my  child !  Alas  !  I  begin  the  Bacchic  strain,  hav- 
ing lately  learned  my  woes  from  my  evil  genius. 

Att.  Thou  knowest  then  the  calamity  of  thy  son,  O  most 
unfortunate ! 

Hec.  I  see  incredible  evils,  still  fresh,  still  fresh :  and  my 
immeasurable  woes  follow  one  upon  the  other.  No  longer 
will  a  day  without  a  tear,  without  a  groan,  have  part  with  me. 

Chor.  Dreadful,  oh !  dreadful  are  the  miseries  that  we 
endure ! 

Hec.  O  child,  child  of  a  wretched  mother,  by  what  fate  art 
thou  dead,  by  what  hap  liest  thou  here  ?  by  the  hand  of  what 
man  ? 

Att.  I  know  not :  on  the  wave-washed  shore  I  found  him. 

Hec  Cast  up  from  the  sea,  or  fallen  by  the  blood-stained 
spear  ?   (Note  C.) 

Att.  The  ocean's  billow  cast  him  up  from  the  deep  on  the 
smooth  sand. 

Hec.  Woe  is  me  !  Now  understand  I  the  dream,  the  vision 


701—745.  HECUBA.  17 

of  mine  eyes ;  the  black-winged  phantom  has  not  flitted  by  me 
in  vain,  which  I  saw  concerning  thee,  my  child,  as  being  no 
longer  in  the  light  of  day. 

Chor.  But  who  slew  him  ?  canst  thou,  0  skilled  in  dreams, 
declare  him  ? 

Hec.  My  friend,  my  friend,  who  curbs  the  steed  in  Thrace, 
where  his  aged  father  placed  him  for  concealment. 

Chor.  Ah  me !  what  wilt  thou  say  ?  Was  it  to  possess 
his  gold  that  he  slew  him  ? 

Hec.  Unutterable  deeds,  unworthy  of  a  name,  surpassing 
miracles,  unhallowed,  insufferable !  Where  are  the  laws  of 
hospitality  ?  0  most  accurst  of  men,  how  didst  thou  mar  that 
skin,  how  sever  with  the  cruel  sword  the  poor  limbs  of  this 
boy,  nor  didst  feel  pity? 

Chor.  0  hapless  woman,  how  has  the  deity  made  thee  by 
far  the  most  wretched  of  mortals,  whoever  he  be  that  presses 
heavy  on  thee  !  But,  my  friends,  let  us  henceforward  be  silent, 
for  I  see  our  lord  Agamemnon  advancing. 

Agamemnon,  Chorus,  Hecuba. 

Aga.  Why,  Hecuba,  delayest  thou  to  come,  and  bury  thy 
girl  in  her  tomb,  agreeably  to  what  Talthybius  told  me,  that 
no  one  of  the  Argives  should  be  suffered  to  touch  thy  daugh- 
ter. For  our  part  we  leave  her  alone,  and  touch  her  not ;  but 
thou  art  slow,  whereat  I  am  astonished.  I  am  come  therefore 
to  fetch  thee,  for  every  thing  there  has  been  well  and  duly 
performed,  if  aught  of  well  there  be  in  this.  Ah  !  what  corse 
is  this  I  see  before  the  tent  ?  some  Trojan's  too  ?  for  that  it  is 
no  Grecian's,  the  robes  that  vest  his  limbs  inform  me. 

Hec.  (aside)  Thou  ill-starr'd  wretch !  myself  I  mean, 
when  I  say  "  thou."  O  Hecuba,  what  shall  I  do  ?  Shall  I 
fall  at  the  knees  of  Agamemnon  here,  or  bear  my  ills  in  silence  ? 

Aga.  Why  dost  lament  turning  thy  back  upon  me,  and 
sayest  not  what  has  happened  ?     Who  is  this  ? 

Hec.  (aside)  But  should  he,  thinking  me  a  slave,  an  enemy, 
spurn  me  from  his  knees,  I  should  be  adding  to  my  present 
sufferings. 

Aga.  No  prophet  I,  so  as  to  trace,  unless  by  hearing,  the 
path  of  thy  counsels. 

Hec.  (aside)  Am  I  not  rather  then  putting  an  evil  con- 
c 


18  HECUBA.  746—777. 

struction  on  this  man's  thoughts,  whereas  he  has  no  evil  in- 
tention towards  me  ? 

Aga.  If  thou  art  willing  that  I  should  nothing  of  this  affair, 
thou  art  of  a  mind  with  me,  for  neither  do  I  wish  to  hear. 

Hkc.  (aside)  I  cannot  without  him  take  vengeance  for 
my  children.  Why  do  I  thus  hesitate  ?  I  must  be  bold, 
whether  I  succeed,  or  fail.  Agamemnon,  by  these  knees,  and 
by  thy  beard  I  implore  thee,  and  by  thy  blessed  hand — 

Aga.  What  thy  request  ?  Is  it  to  pass  thy  life  in  freedom  ? 
for  this  is  easy  for  thee  to  obtain. 

Hec.  Not  this  indeed  ;  but  so  that  I  avenge  myself  on  the 
bad,  I  am  willing  to  pass  my  whole  life  in  slavery. 

Aga.  And  for  what  assistance  dost  thou  call  on  me  ? 

Hec.  In  none  of  those  things  which  thou  imaginest,  O 
king.     Seest  thou  this  corse,  o'er  which  I  drop  the  tear  ? 

Aga.  I  see  it ;  thy  meaning  however  I  cannot  learn  from 
this. 

Hec.  Him  did  I  once  bring  forth,  him  bore  I  in  my  bosom. 

Aga.  Is  this  indeed  one  of  thy  children,  O  unhappy  woman  ? 

Hec.  It  is,  but  not  of  the  sons  of  Priam  who  fell  under  the 
walls  of  Troy. 

Aga.  Didst  thou  then  bear  any  other  besides  those,  0  lady  ? 

Hec.  In  vain,  as  it  appears,  this  whom  you  see. 

Aga.  But  where  did  he  chance  to  be,  when  the  city  fell  ? 

Hec.  His  father  sent  him  out  of  the  country,  dreading  his 
death. 

Aga.  Whither,  having  removed  him  alone  of  his  children 
then  alive  ? 

Hec.  To  this  country,  where  he  was  found  a  corse. 

Aga.  To  him  who  is  king  over  this  state,  to  Polymestor  ? 

Hec.  Hither  was  he  sent,  the  guardian  of  gold,  which  proved 
most  destructive  to  him. 

Aga.  By  whose  hand  then  he  is  dead,  and  having  met 
with  what  fate  ? 

Hec.  By  whom  else  should  he  ?  The  Thracian  host  slew 
him. 

Aga.  0  wretch  !  was  he  so  inflamed  with  the  desire  of 
obtaining  the  gold  ? 

Hec.  Even  so,  after  he  had  heard  of  Troy's  disasters. 

Aga.  And  where  didst  thou  find  him,  or  who  brought  the 
body  ? 


778-811.  HECUBA.  19 

Hec.   She,  meeting  with  it  on  the  sea  shore. 

Aga.  In  quest  of  it,  or  occupied  in  some  other  employment  ? 

Hec.  She  was  going  to  bring  from  the  sea  wherewith  to 
bathe  Polyxena. 

Aga.  This  friend  then,  as  it  seems,  murdered  him,  and 
after  that  cast  him  out. 

Hec.  To  toss  upon  the  waves  thus  gashing  his  body. 

Aga.   O  thou  unhappy  from  thy  unmeasured  ills  ! 

Hec.  I  perish,  no  woe  is  left,  O  Agamemnon. 

Aga.  Alas  !  alas  !  What  woman  was  ever  so  unfortunate  ? 

Hec.  There  is  none,  except  you  reckon  Misfortune  herself. 
But  for  what  cause  I  fall  at  thy  knees,  now  hear :  if  I  appear 
to  you  to  surfer  these  ills  justly,  I  would  be  reconciled  to 
them  ;  but  if  otherwise,  be  thou  my  avenger  on  this  man,  this 
most  impious  of  false  friends  ;  who  revering  neither  the  Gods 
beneath 12  the  earth,  nor  the  Gods  above,  hath  done  this  most 
unholy  deed,  having  often  partaken  of  the  same  table  with  me, 
[and  in  the  list  of  hospitality  the  first  of  my  friends  ;  and  hav- 
ing met  with  whatever  was  due13,  and  having  received  a  full 
consideration  for  his  services 14,]  slew  him,  and  deigned  not  to 
give  him  a  tomb,  tvhich  he  might  have  given,  although  he  pur- 
posed to  slay  him,  but  cast  him  forth  at  the  mercy  of  the 
waves.  We  indeed  are  slaves,  and  perhaps  weak ;  but  the 
Gods  are  strong,  and  strong  the  law,  which  governs  them  ;  for 
by  the  law  we  judge  that  there  are  Gods,  and  we  live  having 
justice  and  injustice  strictly  defined;  which  if  when  referred 
to  thee  it  be  disregarded,  and  they  shall  suffer  no  punishment 
who  slay  their  guests,  or  dare  to  pollute  the  hallowed  statutes 
of  the  Gods,  there  is  nothing  equitable  in  the  dealings  of  men. 
Beholding  these  things  then  in  a  base  and  proper  light,  rever- 
ence me ;  pity  me,  and,  as  the  artist  stands  aside  to  view  a 
picture,  do  thou  view  my  living  portrait,  and  see  what  woes  I 
am  enduring.  Once  was  I  a  queen,  but  now  I  am  thy  slave  ; 
once  was  I  blest  in  my  children,  but  now  aged,  and  at  the  same 
time  childless,  cityless,  destitute,  the  most  miserable  of  mortals. 

12  The  Gods  beneath  he  despised,  by  casting  him  out  without  a  tomb  ; 
the  Gods  above,  as  the  guardians  of  the  rites  of  hospitality. 

13  Whatever  was  due,  either  on  the  score  of  friendship,  or  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  his  care  and  protection. 

14  Musgrave  proposes  to  read  Trpofiicdlav  for  irpofx^Qlav:  the  version 
above  is  in  accordance  with  the  scholiast  and  the  paraphrast. 

c  2 


20  HECUBA.  812—854. 

Alas  me  wretched  !  whither  withdrawest  from  me  thy  foot  ? 
It  seems 15  I  shall  make  no  impression,  wretch  that  I  am.  Why 
then  do  we  mortals  toil  after  all  other  sciences,  as  a  matter  of 
duty,  and  dive  into  them,  but  least  of  all  strive  to  learn 
thoroughly  Persuasion,  the  sole  mistress  o'er  the  minds  of 
men,  giving  a  price  for  her  knowledge,  that  at  some  time  we 
may  have  it  in  our  power  at  once  to  persuade  and  obtain  what 
we  wish  ? — How  then  can  any  one  hereafter  hope  that  he 
shall  be  fortunate  ?  So  many  children  that  I  had,  and  now 
not  one  is  left  to  me.  But  I  am  perishing  a  captive  in  base 
servitude,  and  yet  see  the  smoke  there  leaping  aloft  from  the 
city.  And  however  this  part  of  my  argument  may  perchance 
be  vain,  the  bringing  forward  love ;  still  nevertheless  it  shall 
be  urged.  My  daughter  is  wont  to  sleep  by  thy  side,  that 
prophetess,  whom  the  Trojans  call  Cassandra.  Where  wilt 
thou  shew  that  thy  nights  were  nights  of  love,  0  king,  or  will 
my  daughter  receive  any  recompence  for  her  most  fond  em- 
braces,'and  I  through  her?  [For  from  the  secret  shade,  and 
from  night's  joys,  the  greatest  delight  is  wont  to  spring  to 
mortals.]  Now  then  attend.  Thou  seest  this  corse  ?  Him 
assisting,  thou  will  assist  one  joined  to  thee  in  affinity.  One 
thing  my  speech  wants  yet.  I  would  fain  I  had  a  voice  in  my 
arms,  and  hands,  and  in  my  hair,  and  in  my  footsteps,  or  by 
the  skill  of  Dasdalus,  or  some  God,  that  each  at  once  might 
hold  thy  knees,  weeping,  and  imploring  in  all  the  strains  of 
eloquence.  O  my  lord,  0  greatest  light  of  the  Greeks,  be 
persuaded  ;  lend  thy  hand  to  avenge  this  aged  woman,  although 
she  is  of  no  consequence,  yet  avenge  her.  For  it  belongs  to  a 
good  man  to  minister  justice,  and  always  and  in  every  case  to 
punish  the  bad. 

Chor.  It  is  strange,  how  every  thing  happens  to  mortals, 
and  laws  determine  even  the  fates,  making  the  greatest  ene- 
mies friends,  and  enemies  of  those  who  before  were  on  good 
terms. 

i  ,Aga.  I,  0  Hecuba,  have  pity  both  on  thee  and  thy  son, 
thy  misfortunes,  and  thy  suppliant  touch,  and  I  am  willing  in 
regard  both  to  the  Gods  and  to  justice,  that  this  impious  host 
should  give  thee  full  revenge,  provided  a  way  could  be  found, 
that  both  you  might  be  gratified,  and  I  might  in  the  eyes  of 

15  See  note  on  Medea  338. 


855—888  HECUBA.  21 

the  army  not  seem  to  meditate  this  destruction  against  the 
king  of  Thrace  for  Cassandra's  sake.  For  there  is  a  point  in 
which  apprehension  hath  reached  me.  This  man  the  army 
deems  a  friend,  the  dead  an  enemy  ;  but  if  he  is  dear  to  thee, 
this  is  a  private  feeling,  and  does  not  affect  the  army.  Where- 
fore consider,  that  thou  hast  me  willing  to  labour  with  thee, 
and  ready  to  assist  thee,  but  backward,  should  I  be  murmured 
against  among  the  Greeks. 

Hec.  Alas  !  no  mortal  is  there  who  is  free.  For  either 
he  is  the  slave  of  money  or  of  fortune  ;  or  the  populace  of  the 
city  or  the  dictates  of  the  laws  constrain  him  to  adopt  manners 
not  accordant  with  his  natural  inclinations.  But  since  thou 
fearest,  and  payest  too  much  regard  to  the  multitude,  I  will 
liberate  thee  from  this  fear.  For  consent  with  me,  if  I  me- 
ditate vengeance  against  the  murderer  of  this  youth,  but  do  not 
act  with  me.  But  should  any  tumult  or  offer  of  assistance 
arise  from  out  of  the  Greeks,  when  the  Thracian  feels  the 
punishment  he  shall  feel,  suppress  it,  not  appearing  to  do  it 
for  my  sake  :  but  of  the  rest  be  confident :  I  will  dispose  all 
things  well. 

Aga.  How  then  ?  What  wilt  thou  do  ?  Wilt  thou  grasp 
the  sword  in  thine  aged  hand,  and  strike  the  barbarian  ?  or 
with  poison  wilt  thou  work,  or  with  what  assistance  ?  What 
hand  will  conspire  with  thee  ?  whence  wilt  thou  procure 
friends  ? 

Hec.  These  tents  inclose  an  host  of  Trojan  dames. 

Aga.  Meanest  thou  the  captives,  the  booty  of  the  Greeks  ? 

Hec.  With  these  will  I  avenge  me  of  my  murderer. 

Aga.  And  how  shall  the  victory  over  men  be  to  women  ? 

Hec.  Numbers  are  powerful,  with  stratagem  invincible. 

Aga.  Powerful,  I  grant ;  I  mistrust  however  the  race  of 
women. 

Hec.  And  why  ?  Did  not  women  slay  the  sons  of  iEgyptus lG, 
and  utterly  extirpated  the  race  of  men  from  Lemnos 1T  ?  But 
thus  let  it  be.     Give  up  this  discussion.     But  grant  this  wo- 

16  The  story  of  the  daughters  of  Danaus  is  well  known. 

17  Of  this  there  are  two  accounts  given  in  the  Scholia.  The  one  is,  that 
the  women  of  Lemnos  being  punished  by  Venus  with  an  ill  savour,  and 
therefore  neglected  by  their  husbands,  conspired  against  them  and  slew 
them.  The  other  is  found  in  Herodotus,  Erato,  chap.  138.  see  also  ^Esch. 
Choephoree,  line  627,  ed.  Schutz. 


22  HECUBA.  889—939. 

man  to  pass  in  safety  through  the  army.  And  do  thou  go  to 
the  Thracian  host  and  tell  him,  "  Hecuba,  once  queen  of 
Troy,  sends  for  you  on  business  of  no  less  importance  to  your- 
self than  to  her,  and  your  sons  likewise,  since  it  is  of  conse- 
quence that  j'our  children  also  should  hear  her  words." — And 
do  thou,  O  Agamemnon,  as  yet  forbear  to  raise  the  tomb  over 
the  newly-sacrificed  Polyxena,  that  these  two,  the  brother  and 
the  sister,  the  divided  care  of  their  mother,  may,  when  reduced 
to  ashes  by  one  and  the  same  flame,  be  interred  side  by  side. 

Aga.  Thus  shall  it  be.  And  yet,  if  the  army  could  sail,  I 
should  not  have  it  in  my  power  to  grant  thy  request :  but 
now,  for  the  deity  breathes  not  prosperous  gales,  we  must  wait, 
watching  for  a  calm  voyage.  But  may  things  turn  out  well 
some  way  or  other  :  for  this  is  a  general  principle  amongst  all, 
both  individuals  in  private  and  states,  That  the  wicked  man 
should  feel  vengeance,  but  the  good  man  enjoy  prosperity. 

Chorus. 

O  thou,  my  country  of  Troy,  no  longer  shalt  thou  be  called 
the  city  of  the  invincible,  such  a  cloud  of  Grecians  envelopes 
thee,  with  the  spear,  with  the  spear  having  destroyed  thee. 
And  thou  hast  been  shorn  of  thy  crown  of  turrets,  and  thou 
hast  been  discoloured  by  the  dismal  blackness  of  smoke  ;  hap- 
less city,  no  longer  shall  I  tread  my  steps  in  thee. 

In  the  midnight  hour  I  perished,  when  after  the  feast 
sweet  sleep  is  scattered  over  the  eyes.  And  my  husband, 
from  the  song  and  cheerful  sacrifice  retired,  was  sleeping 
peacefully  in  my  bed,  his  spear  on  its  peg,  no  more  dreaming 
to  behold  the  naval  host  of  the  Greeks  treading  the  streets  of 
Troy.  But  I  was  binding  my  braided  hair  with  fillets  fast- 
ened on  the  top  of  mine  head,  looking  into  the  round  polished 
surface  of  the  golden  mirror,  that  I  might  get  into  my  bed 
prepared  for  me.  On  a  sudden  a  tumultuous  cry  penetrated 
the  city  ;  and  this  shout  of  exhortation  was  heard  in  the 
streets  of  Troy,  "  When  indeed,  ye  sons  of  Grecians,  when, 
if  not  now,  will  ye  return  to  your  homes  having  overthrown 
the  proud  citadel  of  Bium  ! "  And  having  left  my  dear  bed, 
in  a  single  robe,  like  a  Spartan  virgin,  flying  for  aid  to  the 
venerable  shrine  of  Diana,  I  hapless  fled  in  vain.  And  I  am 
dragged,  after  having  seen  my  husband  slain,  to  the  ocean 
waves ;  and  casting  a  distant  look  back  upon  my  city,  after 


940— 9S3.  HECUBA.  23 

the  vessel  had  begun  her  way  in  her  return  to  Greece,  and 
divided  me  from  the  land  of  Troy,  I  wretched  fainted  through 
anguish.  And  consigning  to  curses  Helen,  the  sister  of  the 
Twin  Brothers,  and  the  Idean  shepherd,  the  ruthless  Paris, 
since  his  marriage,  no  marriage,  but  some  Fury's  hate  hath 
utterly  destroyed  me  far  from  my  native  land,  and  hath  driven 
me  from  my  home.  Whom  may  the  ocean  refuse  ever  to 
bear  back  again  ;  and  may  she  never  reach  again  her  paternal 
home. 

POLYMESTOR,    HECUBA,   CHORUS. 

Poly.  O  Priam,  thou  dearest  of  men,  and  thou  most  dear 
Hecuba,  at  thy  sight  I  weep  for  thee,  and  thy  city,  and  thy 
daughter  who  has  lately  died.  Alas  !  there  is  nothing  secure, 
neither  glory,  nor  when  one  is  faring  well  is  there  a  certainty 
that  he  will  not  fare  ill.  But  the  Gods  mingle  these  things 
promiscuously  to  and  fro,  making  all  confusion,  so  that  we 
through  ignorance  may  worship  them.  But  wherefore  should 
I  utter  these  plaints,  which  in  no  way  tend  to  free  thee  from 
thy  former  calamities.  But  thou,  if  thou  hast  aught  to  blame 
for  my  absence,  forbear ;  for  I  chanced  to  be  afar  off  in  the 
middle  of  my  Thracian  territories,  when  thou  earnest  hither ; 
but  soon  as  I  returned,  as  I  was  already  setting  out  from  my 
house,  this  maid  of  thine  met  me  for  the  self-same  purpose, 
and  delivered  thy  message,  which,  when  I  had  heard,  I  came. 

Hec.  O  Polymestor,  I  am  ashamed  to  look  thee  in  the  face, 
sunk  as  I  am  in  such  miseries ;  for  before  one,  who  has  seen 
me  in  prosperity,  shame  overwhelms  me,  being  in  the  state 
in  which  I  now  am,  nor  can  I  look  upon  thee  with  unmoved 
eyes.  But  impute  not  this  to  any  enmity  I  bear  thee ;  but 
there  are  other  causes,  and  in  some  degree  this  law ;  "  that 
women  ought  not  to  gaze  at  men." 

Poly.  And  'tis  indeed  no  wonder ;  but  what  need  hast 
thou  of  me  ?  for  what  purpose  didst  thou  send  for  me  to 
come  from  home  ? 

Hec.  I  am  desirous  of  communicating  a  private  affair  of 
my  own  to  thee  and  thy  children  ;  but  order  thy  attendants 
to  retire  from  these  tents. 

Poly.  Depart,  for  here  to  be  alone  is  safe.  Friendly  thou 
art,  this  Grecian  army  too  is  friendly  towards  me,  but  it  is 
for  thee  to  signify,  in  what  manner  I,  who  am  in  good  cir- 


24  HECUBA.  984—1011. 

cumstances,  ought  to  succour  my  friends  in  distress ;  since, 
on  my  part,  I  am  ready. 

Hec.  First  then  tell  me  of  my  son  Polydore,  whom  thou  re- 
tainest,  receiving  him  from  mine,  and  from  his  father's  hand, 
if  he  live  ;  but  the  rest  I  shall  enquire  of  thee  afterwards. 

Poly.  He  lives,  and  in  good  health ;  as  far  as  regards  him 
indeed  thou  art  happy. 

Hec.  0  my  best  friend,  how  well  thou  speakest,  and  how 
worthily  of  thyself ! 

Poly.  What  dost  thou  wish  then  to  enquire  of  me  in  the 
next  place  ? 

Hec.  Whether  he  remembers  at  all  me,  his  mother  ? 

Poly.  Yes  :  and  he  even  sought  to  come  to  thee  by  stealth. 

Hec.  And  is  the  gold  safe,  which  he  brought  with  him 
from  Troy  ? 

Poly.  It  is  safe,  at  least  it  is  guarded  in  my  house. 

Hec.  Preserve  it  therefore,  nor  covet  the  goods  of  others. 

Poly.  Certainly  not.  May  I  enjoy  what  is  mine  own, 
O  lady. 

Hec.  Knowest  thou  then,  what  I  wish  to  say  to  thee  and 
thy  children  ? 

Poly.  I  do  not :  this  shalt  thou  signify  by  thy  speech. 

Hec.  Be  my  son  loved  by  thee,  as* thou  art  now  loved 
of  me. 

Poly.  What  is  it,  that  I  and  my  sons  must  know  ? 

Hec.  The  ancient  buried  treasures  of  the  family  of  Priam. 

Poly.  Is  it  this  thou  wishest  me  to  inform  thy  son  of  ? 

Hec.  Yes,  certainly ;  through  thee  at  least,  for  thou  art  a 
pious  man. 

Poly.  What  necessity  then  is  there  for  the  presence  of 
these  children  ? 

Hec.  'Tis  better  in  case  of  thy  death,  that  these  should 
know. 

Poly.  Well  hast  thou  thus  said,  and  'tis  the  wiser  plan. 

Hec.  Thou  knowest  then  where  the  temple  of  Minerva  in 
Troy  is,— 

Poly.   Is  the  gold  there  ?  but  what  is  the  mark  ? 

Hec.  A  black  rock  rising  above  the  earth. 

Poly.  Hast  anything  further  to  tell  me  of  what  is  there  ? 

Hec.  No,  but  I  wish  thee  to  take  care  of  some  treasures, 
with  which  I  came  out  of  the  city. 


1012—1035.  HECUBA. 


25 


Poly.  "Where  are  they  then  ?  Hast  thou  them  hidden  be- 
neath thy  robes  ? 

Hec.  Amidst  a  heap  of  spoils  they  are  preserved  in  this 
tent. 

Poly.  But  where  ?  These  are  the  naval  encampments  of 
the  Grecians. 

Hec.  The  habitations  of  the  captive  women  are  private. 

Poly.  And  is  all  secure  within,  and  untenanted  by  men  ? 

Hec.  Not  one  of  the  Greeks  is  within,  but  we  women  only. 
But  come  into  the  tent,  for  the  Greeks  are  desirous  of  loosing 
the  sheets  of  their  vessels  homewards  from  Troy  ;  so  that, 
having  done  every  thing  that  thou  oughtest,  thou  mayest  go 
with  thy  children  to  that  place  where  thou  hast  given  my  son 
to  dwell. 

Cho.  Not  yet  hast  thou  suffered,  but  peradventure  thou 
wilt  suffer  vengeance  ;  as  a  man  falling  headlong  into  the  gulf 
where  no  harbour  is,  shalt  thou  be  hurled  from  thy  dear  heart, 
having  lost  thy  life18;  for  where  the  rites  of  hospitality  coin- 
cide19 with  justice,  and  with  the  Gods,  on  the  villain  who  dares 
to  violate  these  destructive,  destructive  indeed  impends  the 
evil.  But  thy  hopes  will  deceive  thee,  which  thou  entertain- 
edst  from  this  journey,  which  has  brought  thee,  thou  wretched 
man,  to  the  deadly  mansions  of  Pluto ;  but  thou  shalt  quit  thy 
life  by  no  warrior's  hand. 

Polymestor,  Hecuba,  Semiciiorus. 
Poly.  Oh  me  !    I  wretch  am  deprived  of  the  sight  of  mine 
eyes. 

18  Polymestor  was  guilty  of  two  crimes,  do~iKia<s  and  d<ritda<s,  for  lie 
had  both  violated  the  laws  of  men,  and  profaned  the  deity  of  Jupiter 
Hospitalis.  Whence  Agamemnon,  v.  840,  hints  that  he  is  to  suffer  on 
both  accounts. 

Kal  /3ou\o/i(U  diwv  8'  o'vvt  k    dvomov  £tvov, 
Kal  tow  Sikclwv,  tiji'o'e  <toi  Sovi/at  OlKJJl/. 

The  Chorus  therefore  says,  Ubi  contingit  eundem  et  Justitim  et  Diis  esse 
addictum,  exitiale  semper  malum  esse;  or,  as  the  learned  Hemsterheuyse 
has  more  fully  and  more  elegantly  expressed  it,  Ubi,  id  est,  in  quo,  vel  in 
quern  cadit  et  concurrit,  ut  ob  crimen  commissiun  simul  et  humana  justifies 
et  Deorum  vindictts  sit  obnoxius,  ac  velut  oppignoratus ;  UK  certissimum 
exitium  imminet.  This  sense  the  words  give,  if  for  ob,  we  read  ov,  i.  e. 
in  the  sense  of  oirov.     Musgrave.     Correct  DindoiTs  text  to  ov. 

19  (jvji.-iri.cTii.Lv  in  unum  coire,  coincidere.  In  this  sense  it  is  used  also, 
Herod.  Euterpe,  chap.  49. 


26  HECUBA.  1037-1074. 

Semi.  Heard  ye  the  shriek  of  the  man  of  Thrace,  my 
friends  ? 

Poly.  Oh  me  ;  there  again — Oh  my  children,  thy  miser- 
ahle  butchery ! 

Semi.  My  friends,  some  strange  ills  have  been  perpetrated 
within  the  tents. 

Poly.  But  for  all  your  nimble  feet,  ye  never  can  escape 
me,  for  by  my  blows  will  I  burst  open  the  recesses  of  these 
tents. 

Semi.  Behold,  he  uses  violently  the  weapon  of  his  heavy 
hand.  Will  ye  that  we  fall  on  ;  since  the  instant  calls  on  us 
to  be  present  with  assistance  to  Hecuba  and  the  Trojan  dames  ? 

Hec.  Dash  on,  spare  nothing,  break  down  the  gates,  for 
thou  never  shalt  replace  the  clear  sight  in  those  pupils,  nor 
shalt  thou  behold  alive  those  children  which  I  have  slain. 

Semi.  What  !  hast  thou  vanquished  the  Thracian  ?  and 
hast  thou  got  the  mastery  over  this  host,  my  mistress  ?  and 
hast  thou  done  such  deeds,  as  thou  sayest  ? 

Hec.  Thou  wilt  see  him  quickly  before  the  house,  blind, 
with  blind  wandering  steps  approaching,  and  the  bodies  of  his 
two  children,  whom  I  have  slain  with  these  most  valiant  Tro- 
jan women  ;  but  he  has  felt  my  vengeance  ;  but  he  is  coming 
as  thou  seest  from  the  tent.  But  I  will  retire  out  of  his  way, 
and  make  good  my  retreat  from  the  boiling  rage  of  this  most 
desperate  Thracian. 

Poly.  Alas  me  !  whither  can  I  go  ?  where  stand  ?  whither 
shall  I  direct  my  way,  advancing  my  steps  like  the  four-foot- 
ed mountain  beast  on  my  hands  and  on  my  feet  in  pursuit  ? 
What  new  path  shall  I  take  in  this  direction  or  in  that,  desir- 
ous of  seizing  these  murderous  Trojan  dames,  who  have  ut- 
terly destroyed  me ;  O  ye  impious,  impious  Phrygian  daugh- 
ters !  Ah  the  accursed,  in  what  corner  do  they  shrink  from 
me  in  flight  ?  Would  that  thou,  O  sun,  could'st  heal,  could'st 
heal  these  bleeding  lids  of  my  eyes,  and  remove  this  gloomy 
darkness.  Ah,  hush,  hush !  I  hear  the  carefully-concealed 
step  of  these  women.  Whither  shall  I  direct  my  course  in 
order  that  I  may  glut  myself  on  the  flesh  and  bones  of  these, 
making  the  wild  beasts'  banquet,  inflicting  vengeance  on  them, 
in  return  for  the  injuries  done  me.  Wretch  that  I  am  !  Whi- 
ther, whither  am  I  borne,  having  left  my  children  deserted, 
for  these  fiends  of  hell  to  tear  piecemeal,  a  mangled,  bleeding, 


1075—1123.  HECUBA.  27 

savage  prey  to  dogs,  and  a  thing  to  cast  out  on  the  moun- 
tains ?  Where  shall  I  stand?  Whither  turn  ?  Whither  go, 
as  a  ship  setting  her  yellow  canvass  sails  with  her  sea-washed 
palsers,  rushing  to  this  lair  of  death,  the  protector  of  my 
children  ? 

Chor.  0  miserable  man,  what  intolerable  evils  have  been 
perpetrated  by  thee  !  but  on  thee  having  done  base  deeds  the 
God  hath  sent  dreadful  punishment,  whoever  he  be  that 
presses  heavy  on  thee. 

Poly.  Alas  !  alas  !  0  Thracian  nation,  brandishing  the 
spear,  warlike,  bestriding  the  steed,  nation  ruled  by  Mars ;  O 
ye  Greeks,  sons  of  Atreus ;  I  raise  the  cry,  the  cry,  the  cry  ; 
Come,  come,  hasten,  I  entreat  you  by  the  Gods.  Does  any 
hear,  or  will  no  one  assist  me  ?  Why  do  ye  delay  ?  The 
women  have  destroyed  me,  the  captive  women.  Horrible, 
horrible  treatment  have  I  suffered.  Alas  me  for  my  ruin  ! 
Whither  can  I  turn  ?  Whither  can  I  go  ?  Shall  I  soar 
through  the  ethereal  skies  to  the  lofty  mansions  where  Orion 
or  Sirius  dart  from  their  eyes  the  flaming  rays  of  fire ;  or 
shall  I  hapless  rush  to  the  gloomy  shore  of  Pluto  ? 

Chor.  It  is  pardonable,  when  any  one  suffers  greater  mis- 
fortunes than  he  can  bear,  for  him  to  be  desirous  to  quit  a 
miserable  life. 

Agamemnon,  Polymestor,  Hecuba,  Chorus. 

Aga.  I  came  having  heard  the  clamour :  for  Echo,  the 
mountain's  daughter,  did  not  sound  in  gentle  strains  through 
the  army,  causing  a  disturbance.  But  did  we  not  know  that 
the  Phrygian  towers  are  fallen  beneath  the  Grecian  spear, 
this  tumult  might  have  caused  no  little  terror. 

Poly.  O  my  dearest  friend  (for  I  know  thee,  Agamemnon, 
having  heard  thy  voice),  seest  thou  what  I  am  suffering? 

Aga.  Ah  !  wretched  Polymestor,  who  hath  destroyed  thee  ? 
who  made  thine  eyes  sightless,  having  drowned  their  orbs  in 
blood  ?  And  who  hath  slain  these  thy  children  ?  Sure,  who- 
e'er it  was,  felt  the  greatest  rage  against  thee  and  thy  sons. 

Poly.  Hecuba  with  the  female  captives  hath  destroyed 
me — nay,  not  destroyed  me,  but  more  than  destroyed  me. 

Aga.  What  sayest  thou  ?  Hast  thou  done  this  deed,  as  he 
affirms  ?  Hast  thou,  Hecuba,  dared  this  inconceivable  act  of 
boldness  ? 


28  HECUBA.  1124—1160. 

Polt.  Ah  me !  what  wilt  thou  say?  Is  she  anywhere 
near  me  ?  Shew  me,  tell  me  where  she  is,  that  I  may  seize 
her  in  my  hands,  and  tear  piecemeal  and  mangle  her  hody. 

Aga.  What  ho  !  what  are  you  doing  ? 

Poly.  By  the  Gods  I  entreat  thee,  suffer  me  to  lay  my 
raging  hand  upon  her. 

Aga.  Forbear.  And  having  banished  this  barbarous  deed 
from  thy  thoughts,  speak ;  that  having  heard  both  thee  and 
her  in  your  respective  turns,  I  may  decide  justly,  in  return 
for  what  thou  art  suffering  these  ills. 

Poly.  I  will  speak  then.  There  was  a  certain  youth,  the 
youngest  of  Priam's  children,  by  name  Polydore,  the  son  of 
Hecuba  ;  him  his  father  Priam  sent  to  me  from  Troy  to  bring 
up  in  my  palace,  already  presaging20  the  capture  of  Troy. 
Him  I  put  to  death.  But  for  what  cause  I  put  him  to  death, 
with  what  policy  and  prudent  forethought,  now  hear.  I  feared, 
lest  the  boy  being  left  an  enemy  to  thee,  should  collect  the 
scattered  remnants  of  Troy,  and  again  people  the  city.  And 
lest  the  Greeks  having  discovered  that  one  of  the  sons  of 
Priam  was  alive,  should  again  direct  an  expedition  against 
the  Phrygian  land,  and  after  that  should  harass  and  lay  waste 
the  plains  of  Thrace ;  and  it  might  fare  ill  with  the  neigh- 
bours of  the  Trojans,  under  which  misfortune,  0  king,  we  are 
now  labouring.  But  Hecuba,  when  she  had  discovered  her 
son's  death,  by  such  treachery  as  this  lured  me  hither,  as 
about  to  tell  me  of  treasure  belonging  to  Priam's  family  con- 
cealed in  Troy,  and  introduces  me  alone  with  my  sons  into 
the  tent,  that  no  one  else  might  know  it.  And  I  sat,  having 
reclined  on  the  centre  of  the  couch  ;  but  many  Trojan  damsels, 
some  from  the  left  hand,  and  others  from  the  right,  sat 
round  me,  as  by  an  intimate  friend,  holding  in  their  hands 
the  Edonian  looms,  and  praised  these  robes,  looking  at  them 
in  the  light  ;  but  others,  beholding  with  admiration  my  Thra- 
cian  spear,  deprived  me  of  my  double  ornament.  But  as 
many  as  were  mothers  caressed  my  children  in  their  arms  in 
seeming  admiration,  that  they  might  be  farther  removed  from 
their  father,  successively  handing  them  from  one  to  another  : 
and  then,  amidst  their  kind  blandishments,  what  think  you  ? 

20  The  verbal  adjective  in  xos  is  almost  universally  used  in  a  passive 
sense  ;  vttotttos,  however,  in  this  place  is  an  exception  to  the  rule,  as  are 
also,  KaKuvTiji,  Soph.  Antig.  1011.  /u^ir-ros,  Trachin.  446. 


11G0—1204.  HECUBA.  29 

in  an  instant,  snatching  from  somewhere  beneath  their  gar- 
ments their  daggers,  they  stab  my  children.  But  they  hav- 
ing seized  me  in  an  hostile  manner  held  my  hands  and  feet ; 
and  if,  wishing  to  succour  my  children,  I  raised  my  head,  they 
held  me  by  the  hair  :  but  if  I  attempted  to  move  my  hands,  I 
wretched  could  effect  nothing  through  the  host  of  women. 
But  at  last,  cruelty  and  worse  than  cruelty,  they  perpetrated 
dreadful  things  ;  for  having  taken  their  clasps  they  pierce  and 
gore  the  wretched  pupils  of  my  eyes,  then  vanish  in  flight 
through  the  tent.  But  I  having  leaped  out,  like  some  exas- 
perated beast,  pursue  the  blood-stained  wretches,  searching 
every  wall,  as  the  hunter,  casting  down,  rending.  This  have 
I  suffered,  while  studious  to  advance  thy  interest,  Agamem- 
non, and  having  killed  thine  enemy.  But  that  I  may  not  ex- 
tend my  speech  to  a  greater  length,  if  any  one  of  those  of 
ancient  times  hath  reviled  women,  or  if  any  one  doth  now,  or 
shall  hereafter  revile  them,  I  will  comprise  the  whole  when  I 
say,  that  such  a  race  neither  doth  the  sea  nor  the  earth  pro- 
duce, but  he  who  is  always  with  them  knows  it  best. 

Chor.  Be  not  at  all  insolent,  nor,  in  thy  calamities,  thus 
comprehending  the  female  sex,  abuse  them  all.  For  of  us 
there  are  many,  some  indeed  are  envied  for  their  virtues,  but 
some  are  by  nature  in  the  catalogue  of  bad  things. 

Hec.  Agamemnon,  it  never  were  fitting  among  men  that 
the  tongue  should  have  greater  force  than  actions.  But  if  a 
man  has  acted  well,  well  should  he  speak ;  if  on  the  other 
hand  basely,  his  words  likewise  should  be  unsound,  and  never 
ought  he  to  be  capable  of  speaking  unjust  things  well.  Per- 
haps indeed  they  who  have  brought  these  things  to  a  pitch  of 
accuracy  are  accounted  wise,  but  they  cannot  endure  wise 
unto  the  end,  but  perish  vilely,  nor  has  any  one  yet  escaped 
this.  And  this  in  my  prelude  is  what  I  have  to  say  to  thee. 
Now  am  I  going  to  direct  my  discourse  to  this  man,  and  I 
will  answer  his  arguments.  Thou,  that  assertest,  that  in  order 
to  rid  the  Greeks  of  their  redoubled  toil,  and  for  Agamem- 
non's sake  that  thou  didst  slay  my  son  ?  But  in  the  first  place, 
monstrous  villain,  never  can  the  race  of  barbarians  be  friendly 
to  the  Grecians,  never  can  this  take  place.  But  what  favour 
wert  thou  so  eagerly  currying  ?  wert  thou  about  to  contract 
an  alliance,  or  was  it  that  thou  wert  of  kindred  birth,  or  what 
pretext  hadst  thou  ?  or  were  they  about  to  ravage  the  crops 


30 


HECUBA.  1205— 124C. 


of  thy  country,  having  sailed  thither  again  ?  Whom,  thinkest 
thou,  wilt  thou  persuade  of  these  things  ?  The  gold,  if  thou 
wert  willing  to  speak  truth,  the  gold  destroyed  my  son,  and 
thy  base  gains.  For  come,  tell  me  this  ;  how  when  Troy  was 
prosperous,  and  a  tower  yet  girt  around  the  city,  and  Priam 
lived,  and  the  spear  of  Hector  was  in  its  glory,  why  didst  thou 
not  then,  if  thou  wert  willing  to  lay  him  under  this  obligation, 
bringing  up  my  child,  and  retaining  him  in  thy  palace,  why 
didst  thou  not  then  slay  him,  or  go  and  take  him  alive  to  the 
Greeks  ?  But  when  we  were  no  longer  in  the  light  of  pros- 
perity, and  the  city  by  its  smoke  showed  that  it  was  in  the 
power  of  the  enemy,  thou  slewest  thy  guest  who  had  come  to 
thy  hearth.  Now  hear  besides  how  thou  wilt  appear  vile :  thou 
oughtest,  if  thou  wert  the  friend  of  the  Greeks,  to  have  given 
the  gold,  which  thou  confessedst  thou  hast,  not  thine,  but  his, 
distributing  to  those  who  were  in  need,  and  had  long  been 
strangers  to  their  native  land.  But  thou  even  now  hast  not 
courage  to  part  with  it  from  thy  hand,  but  having  it,  thou  still 
art  keeping  it  close  in  thine  house.  And  yet,  in  bringing  up 
my  child,  as  it  was  thy  duty  to  bring  him  up,  and  in  preserving 
him,  thou  hadst  had  fair  honour.  For  in  adversity  friends 
are  most  clearly  proved  good.  But  good  circumstances  have 
in  every  case  their  friends.  But  if  thou  wert  in  want  of 
money,  and  he  in  a  flourishing  condition,  my  son  had  been  to 
thee  a  vast  treasure  ;  but  now,  thou  neither  hast  him  for  thy 
friend,  and  the  benefit  from  the  gold  is  gone,  and  thy  sons  are 
gone,  and  thou  art — as  thou  art.  But  to  thee,  Agamemnon, 
I  say  ;  if  thou  aidest  this  man,  thou  wilt  appear  to  be  doing 
wrong.  For  thou  wilt  be  conferring  a  benefit  on  an  host, 
who  is  neither  pious,  nor  faithful  to  those  to  whom  he  ought, 
not  holy,  not  just.  But  we  shall  say  that  thou  delightest 
in  the  bad,  if  thus  thou  actest:  but  I  speak  no  offence  to  my 
lords. 

Chok.  Ah  !  Ah  !  How  do  good  deeds  ever  supply  to  men 
the  source  of  good  words  ! 

Aga.  Thankless  my  office  to  decide  on  others'  grievances  ; 
but  still  I  must,  for  it  brings  disgrace  on  a  man,  having  taken 
a  tiling  in  hand,  to  give  it  up.  But  to  me,  be  assured,  thou 
neither  appearest  for  my  sake,  nor  for  the  sake  of  the  Grecians, 
to  have  killed  this  man  thy  guest,  but  that  thou  mightcst  pos- 
sess the  gold  in  thy  palace.    But  thou  talkest  of  thy  advantage, 


1246—1271.  HECUBA.  31 

when  thou  art  in  calamities  2I.  Perhaps  with  )rou  it  is  a  slight 
thing  to  kill  your  guests  ;  but  with  us  Grecians  this  thing  is 
abhorred.  How  then,  in  giving  my  decision  that  thou  hast 
not  injured,  can  I  escape  blame  ?  I  cannot;  but,  as  thou  hast 
dared  to  do  things  dishonourable,  endure  now  things  un- 
pleasant. 

Poly.  Alas  me  !  worsted,  as  it  seems,  by  a  woman  who  is  a 
slave,  I  shall  submit  to  the  vengeance  of  my  inferiors. 

Aga.  Will  it  not  then  be  justly,  seeing  thou  hast  acted  wrong? 

Pol  v.  Alas  me  !  wretched  on  account  of  these  children  and 
on  account  of  my  eyes. 

Hec.  Thou  suiferest  ?  but  what  do  I  ?  Thinkest  thou  I 
suffer  not  for  my  child  ? 

Poly.  Thou  rejoicest  in  insulting  me,  O  thou  malicious 
woman. 

Hec.  For  ought  not  I  to  rejoice  on  having  avenged  myself 
on  thee  ? 

Poly.  But  thou  wilt  not  soon,  when  the  liquid  wave — 

Hec.  Shall  bear  me,  dost  thou  mean,  to  the  confines  of  the 
Grecian  land  ? 

Poly.  — shall  cover  thee,  having  fallen  from  the  shrouds. 

Hec.  From  whom  meeting  with  this  violent  leap  ? 

Poly.  Thyself  shalt  climb  with  thy  feet  up  the  ship's  mast. 

Hec.  Having  wings  on  my  back,  or  in  what  Avay  ? 

Poly.  Thou  shalt  become  a  dog  with  a  fiery  aspect. 

Hec.  But  how  dost  thou  know  of  this  my  metamorphose  ? 

Poly.  Dionysius  the  Thracian  prophet  told  it  me. 

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

Poly.  No  :  for,  if  he  had,  thou  never  wouldest  thus 
treacherously  have  taken  me. 

Hec.  22  Thence  shall  I  conclude  my  life  in  death,  or  still 
live  on  ? 

Poly.  Thou  shalt  die.    But  the  name  of  thy  tomb  shall  be — 

21  Perhaps  the  preferable  way  is  to  make  KaKolaiv  agree  with  dvOpwiroi^ 
understood  ;  that  the  sense  may  be,  You  are  a  bad  man  to  talk  of  your 
advantage  as  a  plea  for  having  acted  thus. 

22  davoucu  o  i]  ^wo-'  ivQuo  sKTrXvcrui  tlov  ;  a  similar  expression  occurs  in 
the  Anthologia. 

(Tiyuiv  Trapip\ou  tou  TaXuiiruipov  fiiov, 
auTos  (Tioairrj,  tou  \povcv  p.ifj.ovfj.£vos. 
Xadwv  8k  Kai  (Siuxrvv.  tl  Si  ,u/;,  tiavuiv. 


32  HECUBA. 


1272—1295. 


Hec.  Dost  thou  speak  of  it  as  in  any  way  correspondent  to 
my  shape  ? 

Poly.  23  The  tomb  of  the  wretched  dog,  a  mark  to  mariners. 

Hec.  I  heed  it  not,  since  thou  at  least  hast  felt  my  venge- 
ance. 

Poly.  And  it  is  fated  too  for  thy  daughter  Cassandra  to  die. 

Hec.  I  renounce  these  prophecies  ;  I  give  them  for  thyself 
to  bear. 

Poly.  Him  shall  his  wife  slay,  a  cruel  guardian  of  his 
house. 

Hec.  Never  yet  may  the  daughter  of  Tyndarus  have  ar- 
rived at  such  madness. 

Poly.  Even  this  man  himself,  having  lifted  up  the  axe. 

Aga.  What  ho !  thou  art  mad,  and  art  desirous  of  obtain- 
ing greater  ills. 

Poly.  Kill  me,  for  the  murderous  bath  at  Argos  awaits 
thee. 

Aga.  Will  ye  not,  slaves,  forcibly  drag  him  from  my  pre- 
sence ? 

Poly.  Thou  art  galled  at  what  thou  hearest. 

Aga.  Will  ye  not  stop  his  mouth  ? 

Poly.   Stop  it :  for  the  word  is  spoken. 

Aga.  Will  ye  not  as  quick  as  possible  cast  him  out  on  some 
desert  island,  since  he  is  thus,  and  past  endurance  insolent  ? 
But  do  thou,  wretched  Hecuba,  go  and  bury  thy  two  dead  : 
and  you,  O  Trojan  dames,  must  approach  your  masters'  tents, 
for  I  perceive  that  the  gales  are  favourable  for  wafting  us  to 
our  homes.  And  may  we  sail  in  safety  to  our  native  country, 
and  behold  our  household  and  families  in  prosperity,  having 
found  rest  from  these  toils. 

Chok.  Come,  my  friends,  to  the  harbour,  and  the  tents,  to 
undergo  the  tasks  imposed  by  our  masters.  For  necessity  is 
relentless. 

23  The  place  of  her  burial  was  called  Cynosema,  a  promontory  of  the 
Thracian  Chersonese.  It  was  here  that  the  Athenians  gained  a  naval 
victory  over  the  Peloponnesians  and  Syracusans,  in  the  twenty-first  year 
of  the  Peloponnesian  war.     Thucydides,  book  viii. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


A.  Vs.  246,  IvQavuv  yt.  "  Pravam  esse  scripturam  dici  Brunckius 
et  Corayus  viderunt;  quorum  ille  legere  voluit  war  IvraKrjvat,  hie  vero 
&<tt'  ifipaXelv.  Sed  neuter  rem  acu  tetigit.  Euripides  scripsit:  uhtt'  iv 
-/i  <pi<vai,  uti  patet  ex  Horn.  II.  Z.  253,  Iv  r  apa  01  (pv  xH9l-  Od.  II.  21, 
iravra  Kvotv  vepupvg,  Theocrit.  Id.  xiii.  47,  red  S'  iv  xepi  navai  'ityvaav, 
et,  quod  rem  conficit,  ex  Euripidis  ipsius  Ion.  891,  XevKoXg  S'  ifupvaag 
Kapiroig  xuP^v-"  Gi.  Burges,  apud  Revue  de  Philologie,  vol.  i.  No.  5. 
p.  457. 

B.  We  must,  I  think,  read  ro\jiq,v. 

C.  Dindorf  disposes  these  lines  differently,  but  I  prefer  Porson's 
arrangement,  as  follows : 

EK.  i k(5\t)tov,  t)  Trier.  <j>.  Sopog ; 
SEP.  i v  i\janad<p  \tvpqi 
1TOVTOV  viv,  k.  t.  X. 


OKESTES. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 


ELECTRA. 

HELEN. 

HERMIONE. 

CHORUS. 

ORESTES. 

MENELAUS. 

TYNDARUS. 

PYLADES. 

A  PHRYGIAN. 

APOLLO. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Orestes,  in  revenge  for  the  murder  of  his  father,  took  off  iEgisthus  and 
Cly  temnestra  ;  but  having  dared  to  slay  his  mother,  he  was  instantly  pun- 
ished for  it  by  being  afflicted  with  madness.  But  on  Tyndarus,  the  father 
of  her  who  was  slain,  laying  an  accusation  against  him,  the  Argives  were 
about  to  give  a  public  decision  on  this  question,  "  What  ought  he,  who  has 
dared  this  impious  deed,  to  suffer?"  By  chance  Menelaus,  having  re- 
turned from  his  wanderings,  sent  in  Helen  indeed  by  night,  but  himself 
came  by  day,  and  being  entreated  by  Orestes  to  aid  him,  he  rather  feared 
Tyndarus  the  accuser :  but  when  the  speeches  came  to  be  spoken  among 
the  populace,  the  multitude  were  stirred  up  to  kill  Orestes.  *  *  *  But 
Pylades,  his  friend,  accompanying  him,  counselled  him  first  to  take  re- 
venge on  Menelaus  by  killing  Helen.  As  they  were  going  on  this  pro- 
ject, they  were  disappointed  of  their  hope  by  the  Gods  snatching  away 
Helen  from  them.  But  Electra  delivered  up  Hermione,  when  she  made 
her  appearance,  into  their  hands  ;  and  they  were  about  to  kill  her.  When 
Menelaus  came,  and  saw  himself  bereft  by  them  at  once  of  his  wife  and 
child,  he  endeavoured  to  storm  the  palace ;  but  they,  anticipating  his 
purpose,  threatened  to  set  it  on  fire.  Apollo,  however,  having  appeared, 
said,  that  he  had  conducted  Helen  to  the  Gods,  and  commanded  Orestes 
to  take  Hermione  to  wife,  and  Electra  to  dwell  with  Pylades,  and,  after 
that  he  was  purified  of  the  murder,  to  reign  over  Argos. 

The  scene  of  the  piece  is  laid  at  Argos  ;  but  the  Chorus  consists  of  Ar- 
give  women,  intimate  associates  of  Electra,  who  also  come  on  enquiring 
about  the  calamity  of  Orestes.  The  play  has  a  catastrophe  rather  suited  to 
comedy.  The  opening  scene  of  the  play  is  thus  arranged.  Orestes  is  dis- 
covered before  the  palace  of  Agamemnon,  fatigued,  and,  on  account  of  his 
madness,  lying  on  a  couch,  on  which  Electra  is  sitting  by  him  at  his  feet. 
A  difficulty  has  been  started,  why  does  not  she  sit  at  his  head  ?  for  thus 
D    2 


36 

would  she  seem  to  watch  more  tenderly  over  her  brother,  if  she  sat  nearer 
him.  The  poet,  it  is  answered,  seems  to  have  made  this  arrangement  on 
accounl  of  the  Chorus ;  for  Orestes,  who  had  but  just  then  and  with  diffi- 
culty gotten  to  sleep,  would  have  been  awakened,  if  the  women  that  con- 
stituted the  Chorus  had  stood  nearer  to  him.  But  this  we  may  infer  from 
what  Electra  says  to  the  Chorus,  "  Stya,  a-iya,  \s.tttou  tx"°«  dpfivXys." 
It  is  probable  then  that  the  above  is  the  reason  of  this  arrangement. 

The  Play  is  among  the  most  celebrated  on  the  stage,  but  infamous  in 
its  morals ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  Pylades,  all  the  characters  are  bad 
persons. 


ORESTES. 


Electra. 

There  is  no  word  so  dreadful  to  relate,  nor  suffering,  nor 
heaven-inflicted  calamity,  the  hurthen  of  which  human  nature 
may  not  be  compelled  lo  bear.  For  Tantalus,  the  blest,  (and 
I  am  not  reproaching  his  fortune,  when  I  say  this,)  the  son  of 
Jupiter,  as  they  report,  trembling  at  the  rock  which  impends 
over  his  head,  hangs  in  the  air,  and  suffers  this  punishment, 
as  they  say  indeed,  because,  although  being  a  man,  yet  having 
the  honour  of  a  table  in  common  with  the  Gods  upon  equal 
terms,  he  possessed  an  ungovernable  tongue,  a  most  disgrace- 
ful malady.  He  begat  Pelops,  and  from  him  sprung  Atreus, 
for  whom  the  Goddess  having  carded  the  wool1  spun  the 
thread  of  contention,  and  doomed  him  to  make  war  on  Thy- 
estes  his  relation  ;  (why  must  I  commemorate  things  unspeak- 
able ?)  But  Atreus  then2  killed  his  children — and  feasted  him. 
But  from  Atreus,  for  I  pass  over  in  silence  the  misfortunes 
which  intervened,  sprung  Agamemnon,  the  illustrious,  (if  he 
was  indeed  illustrious,)  and  Menelaus ;  their  mother  Aerope 
of  Crete.  But  Menelaus  indeed  marries  Helen,  the  hated  of* 
the  Gods,  but  King  Agamemnon  obtained  Clytemnestra's  bed, 
memorable  throughout  the  Grecians :  from  whom  we  virgins 
were  born,  three  from  one  mother,  Chrysothemis,  and  Iphi- 
genia,  and  myself  Electra ;  and  Orestes  the  male  part  of  the 

1  GTi/xfiaTa,  tpia,  Schol.  "  eo  quod  colum  cingant  seu  coronant,"  Sca- 
pula explains  it. 

2  "  Then"  is  not  to  be  considered  as  signifying  point  of  time,  but  it  is 
meant  to  express  ovv,  continuativam.  See  Hoogeveen  de  Particula  oiiv, 
Sect.  ii.  §  6. 


38  ORESTES.  25—67. 

family,  from  a  most  unholy  mother,  who  slew  her  husband, 
having  covered  him  around  with  an  inextricable  robe ;  the 
reason  however  it  is  not  decorous  in  a  virgin  to  tell ;  I  leave 
this  undeclared  for  men  to  consider  as  they  will.  But  why 
indeed  must  I  accuse  the  injustice  of  Phoebus  ?  Yet  persuaded 
he  Orestes  to  kill  that  mother  who  brought  him  forth,  a  deed 
which  gained  not  a  good  report  from  all  men.  But  neverthe- 
less he  did  slay  her,  as  he  would  not  be  disobedient  to  the 
God.  I  also  took  a  share  in  the  murder,  but  such  as  a  woman 
ought  to  take.  As  did  Pylades  also  who  perpetrated  this  deed 
with  us.  From  that  time  wasting  away,  the  wretched  Orestes 
is  afflicted  with  a  grievous  malady,  but  falling  on  his  couch 
there  lies,  but  his  mother's  blood  whirls  him  to  frenzy  (for  I 
dread  to  mention  those  Goddesses,  the  Eumenides,  who  per- 
secute him  with  terror).  Moreover  this  is  the  sixth  day  since 
his  slaughtered  mother  was  purified  by  fire  as  to  her  body. 
During  which  he  has  neither  taken  any  food  down  his  throat, 
he  has  not  bathed  his  limbs,  but  covered  beneath  his  cloak, 
when  indeed  his  body  is  lightened  of  its  disease,  on  coming  to 
his  right  mind  he  weeps,  but  at  another  time  starts  suddenly 
from  his  couch,  as  a  colt  from  his  yoke.  But  it  has  been  de- 
creed by  this  city  of  Argos,  that  no  one  shall  receive  us  who 
have  slain  a  mother  under  their  roof,  nor  at  their  fire,  and 
that  none  shall  speak  to  us ;  but  this  is  the  appointed  day,  in 
the  which  the  city  of  the  Argives  will  pronounce  their  vote, 
whether  it  is  fitting  that  we  should  die  being  stoned  with 
stones,  or  having  whet  the  sword,  should  plunge  it  into  oui 
necks.  But  I  yet  have  some  hope  that  we  may  not  die,  for 
Menelaus  has  arrived  at  this  country  from  Troy,  and  filling 
the  Nauplian  harbour  with  his  oars  is  mooring  his  fleet  oif  the 
shore,  having  been  lost  in  wanderings  from  Troy  a  long  time  : 
but  the  much-afflicted  Helen  has  he  sent  before  to  our  palace, 
having  taken  advantage  of  the  night,  lest  any  of  those,  whose 
children  died  under  Ilium,  when  they  saw  her  coming  by 
day,  might  go  so  far  as  to  stone  her ;  but  she  is  within,  be- 
wailing her  sister,  and  the  calamity  of  her  family.  She  has 
however  some  consolation  in  her  woes,  for  the  virgin  Hermione, 
whom  Menelaus  bringing  from  Sparta,  left  at  our  palace, 
when  he  sailed  to  Troy,  and  gave  as  a  charge  to  my  mother 
to  bring  up,  in  her  she  rejoices,  and  forgets  her  miseries. 
But  I  am  looking  at  each  avenue  when  I  shall  see  Menelaus 


GS-S7. 


ORESTES.  39 


present,  since,  for  the  rest,  we  ride  on  slender  power3,  if  we 
receive  not  some  succour  from  him  ;  the  house  of  the  unfor- 
tunate is  fin  embarrassed  state  of  affairs. 

Electra.     Helen. 

Hel.  O  daughter  of  Clytemnestra  and  Agamemnon,  0 
Electra,  thou  that  hast  remained  a  virgin  a  long  time.  How 
are  ye,  O  wretched  woman,  both  you,  and  your  brother,  the 
wretched  Orestes  (he  was  the  murderer  of  his  mother)  ?  For 
by  thy  converse  I  am  not  polluted,  transferring,  as  I  do,  the 
blame  to  Phoebus.  And  yet  I  groan  the  death  of  Clytemnestra, 
whom,  after  that  I  sailed  to  Troy,  (how  did  I  sail,  urged  by 
the  maddening  fate  of  the  Gods !)  I  saw  not,  but  of  her  be- 
reft I  lament  my  fortune. 

Elec.  Helen,  why  should  I  inform  thee  of  things  thou 
seest  thyself  here  present,  the  race  of  Agamemnon  in  calami- 
ties. I  indeed  sleepless  sit  companion  to  the  wretched  corse, 
(for  he  is  a  corse,  in  that  he  breathes  so  little,)  but  at  his 
fortune  I  murmur  not.  But  thou  a  happy  woman,  and  thy 
husband  a  happy  man,  have  come  to  us,  who  fare  most 
wretchedly. 

Hel.  But  what  length  of  time  has  he  been  lying  on  his 
couch  ? 

Elec.  Ever  since  he  shed  his  parent's  blood. 

Hel.  Oh  wretched,  and  his  mother  too,  that  thus  she 
perished  ! 

Elec.  These  things  are  thus,  so  that  he  is  unable  to  speak 
for  misery. 

Hel.  By  the  Gods  wilt  thou  oblige  me  in  a  thing,  0 
virgin  ? 

Elec.  As  far  as  I  am  permitted  by  the  little  leisure  I  have 
from  watching  by  my  brother. 

Hel.  Wilt  thou  go  to  the  tomb  of  my  sister  ? 

Elec.  My  mother's  tomb  dost  thou  desire  ?  wherefore  ? 

Hel.  Bearing  the  first  offerings  of  my  hair,  and  my  li- 
bations. 

Elec.  But  is  it  not  lawful  for  thee  to  go  to  the  tomb  of  thy 

friends  ? 

3  The  original  Greek  phrase  was  iXirtfos  Xettt^s,  which  Euripides 
has  changed  to  avdzvovs  jou>/ii|s,  though  the  other  had  equally  suited  the 
metre.    But  Euripides  is  fond  of  slight  alterations  in  proverbs.    Porson. 


40  ORESTES.  98—132. 

Hel.  No,  for  I  am  ashamed  to  shew  myself  among  the 
Argives. 

Elec.  Late  art  thou  discreet,  then  formerly  leaving  thine 
home  disgracefully. 

Hel.  True  hast  thou  spoken,  but  thou  speakest  not  plea- 
santly to  me. 

Elec.  But  what  shame  possesses  thee  among  the  My- 
ceneans  ? 

Hel.  I  fear  the  fathers  of  those  who  are  dead  under  Ilium. 

Elec.  For  this  is  a  dreadful  thing  ;  and  at  Argos  thou  art 
declaimed  against  by  every  one's  mouth. 

Hel.  Do  thou  then  grant  me  this  favour,  and  free  me  from 
this  fear. 

Elec.  I  cannot  look  upon  the  tomb  of  my  mother. 

Hel.  And  yet  it  is  disgraceful  for  servants  to  bear  these. 

Elec.  But  why  not  send  thy  daughter  Hermione  ? 

Hel.  It  is  not  well  for  virgins  to  go  among  the  crowd. 

Elec.  And  yet  she  might  repay  the  dead  the  care  of  her 
education. 

Hel.  Right  hast  thou  spoken,  and  I  obey  thee,  0  virgin, 
and  I  will  send  my  daughter,  for  thou  sayest  well.  Come 
forth,  my  child  Hermione,  before  the  house,  and  take  these 
libations  in  thine  hand,  and  my  hair,  and,  going  to  the  tomb 
of  Clytemnestra,  leave  there  this  mixture  of  milk  and  honey, 
and  the  froth  of  wine,  and  standing  on  the  summit  of  the 
mound,  say  thus :  "  Helen,  thy  sister,  presents  thee  with  these 
libations,  in  fear  herself  to  approach  thy  tomb,  and  afraid  of 
the  populace  of  Argos :"  and  bid  her  hold  kind  intentions 
towards  me,  and  thyself,  and  my  husband,  and  towards  these 
two  miserable  persons  whom  the  God  has  destroyed.  But 
promise  all  the  offerings  to  the  manes,  whatever  it  is  fitting 
that  I  should  perform  for  a  sister.  Go,  my  child,  hasten,  and 
when  thou  hast  offered  the  libations  at  the  tomb,  remember  to 
return  back  as  speedily  as  possible. 

Elec.  [alone.~\  0  Nature,  what  a  great  evil  art  thou 
among  men,  and  the  safeguard  of  those  who  possess  thee  with 
virtue  !  For  see,  how  she  has  shorn  off  the  extremities  of  her 
hair,  in  order  to  preserve  her  beauty  ;  but  she  is  the  same  wo- 
man she  always  was.  May  the  Gods  detest  thee,  for  that  thou 
hast  destroyed  me,  and  this  man,  and  the  whole  state  of  Greece  : 
oh  wretch  that  I  am !     But  my  dear  friends  that  accompany 


133—176.  ORESTES.  41 

me  in  my  lamentations  are  again  present ;  perhaps  they  will 
disturb  the  sleeper  from  his  slumber,  and  will  melt  my  eyes  in 
tears  when  I  behold  my  brother  raving. 

Electra,  Chorus. 

Elec.  O  most  dear  woman,  proceed  with  a  gentle  foot,  make 
no  noise,  let  there  be  heard  no  sound.  For  your  friendliness 
is  very  kind,  but  to  awake  him  will  be  a  calamity  to  me. 
Hush,  hush — gently  advance  the  tread  of  thy  sandal,  make 
no  noise,  let  there  be  heard  no  sound.  Move  onward  from 
that  place — onward  from  before  the  couch. 

Chor.  Behold,  I  obey. 

Elec.  St !  st !  Speak  to  me,  my  friend,  as  the  breathing 
of  the  soft  reed  pipe. 

Chor.  See,  I  utter  a  voice  low  as  an  under  note. 

Elec.  Ay,  thus  come  hither,  come  hither,  approach  qui- 
etly— go  quietly:  tell  me,  for  what  purpose,  I  pray,  are  ye 
come  ?  For  he  has  fallen  on  his  couch,  and  been  sleeping 
some  time. 

Chor.  How  is  he  ?    Give  us  an  account  of  him,  my  friend. 

Elec.  What  fortune  can  I  say  of  him  ?  and  what  his  ca- 
lamities ?  still  indeed  he  breathes,  but  sighs  at  short  intervals. 

Chor.  What  sayest  thou  ?     Oh,  the  unhappy  man  ! 

Elec.  You  will  kill  him  if  you  move  his  eyelids,  now  that 
he  is  taking  the  sweetest  enjoyment  of  sleep. 

Chor.  Unfortunate  on  account  of  these  most  angry  deeds 
from  heaven  !  oh  !  wretched  on  account  of  thy  sufferings  ! 

Elec.  Alas !  alas  !  Apollo  himself  unjust,  then  spoke  un- 
just things,  when  at  the  tripod  of  Themis  he  commanded  the 
unhallowed,  inauspicious  murder  of  my  mother. 

Chor.  Dost  thou  see  ?  he  moves  his  body  in  the  robes  that 
cover  him. 

Elec.  You  by  your  cries,  O  wretch,  have  disturbed  him 
from  his  sleep. 

Chor.  I  indeed  think  he  is  sleeping  yet. 

Elec.  Will  you  not  depart  from  us  ?  will  you  not  bend 
your  footsteps  back  from  the  house,  ceasing  this  noise  ? 

Chor.  He  sleeps. 

Elec.  Thou  sayest  well. 

Chor.  Venerable,  venerable  Night,  thou  that  dispensest 
sleep  to  languid  mortals,  come  from  Erebus  ;   come,  come, 


42  ORESTES.  177—222. 

borne  on  thy  wings  to  the  house  of  Agamemnon  ;  for  by  our 
griefs  and  by  our  sufferings  we  are  quite  undone,  undone. 

Elec.  Ye  were  making  a  noise. 

Chor.  No.     (Note  A.) 

Elec.  Silently,  silently  repressing  the  high  notes  of  your 
voice,  apart  from  his  couch,  you  will  enable  him  to  have  the 
tranquil  enjoyment  of  sleep. 

Chor.  Tell  us  ;  what  end  to  his  miseries  awaits  him  ? 

Elec.  Death,  death ;  what  else  can  ?  for  he  has  no  appetite 
for  food. 

Chor.  Death  then  is  manifestly  before  him. 

Ei^ec.  Phoebus  offered  us  as  victims,  when  he  commanded 4 
the  dreadful,  abhorred  murder  of  our  mother,  that  slew  our 
father. 

Chor.   With  justice  indeed,  but  not  well. 

Elec.  Thou  hast  died,  thou  hast  died,  0  mother,  O  thou 
that  didst  bring  me  forth,  but  hast  killed  the  father,  and  the 
children  of  thy  blood.  We  perish,  we  perish,  even  as  two 
corses.  For  thou  art  among  the  dead,  and  the  greatest  part 
of  my  life  is  past  in  groans,  and  wailings,  and  nightly  tears  ; 
marriageless,  childless,  behold,  how  like  a  miserable  wretch 
do  I  drag  out  my  existence  for  ever ! 

Chor.  O  virgin  Electra,  approach  near,  and  look  that  thy 
brother  has  not  died  unobserved  by  thee ;  for  by  this  exces- 
sive quiet  he  doth  not  please  me. 

Orestes,  Electra,  Chorus. 

Ores.  O  precious  balm  of  sleep,  thou  that  relievest  my 
malady,  how  pleasant  didst  thou  come  to  me  in  the  time  of 
need  !  0  divine  oblivion  of  my  sufferings,  how  wise  thou  art, 
and  the  goddess  to  be  supplicated  by  all  in  distress  ! — whence, 
in  heaven's  name,  came  I  hither?  and  how  brought?  fori 
remember  not  things  past,  bereaved,  as  I  am,  of  my  senses. 

Elec.  My  dearest  brother,  how  didst  thou  delight  me  when 
thou  didst  fall  asleep !  wilt  thou  I  touch  thee,  and  raise  thy 
body  up  ? 

Ores.  Raise  me  then,  raise  me,  and  wipe  the  clotted  foam 
from  off  my  wretched  mouth,  and  from  my  eyes. 

Elec.  Behold,  the  task  is  sweet,  and  I  refuse  not  to  ad- 
minister to  a  brother's  limbs  with  a  sister's  hand. 

4  Soils — Suvarai  Si  ical  cnroSovs.     SCHOL. 


223—255.  ORESTES.  43 

Oees.  Lay  thy  side  by  my  side,  and  remove  the  squalid 
hair  from  my  face,  for  I  see  but  imperfectly  with  my  eyes. 

Elec.  O  wretched  head,  sordid  with  ringlets,  how  art  thou 
disordered  from  long  want  of  the  bath  ! 

Ores.  Lay  me  on  the  couch  again  ;  when  my  fit  of  madness 
gives  me  a  respite,  I  am  feeble  and  weak  in  my  limbs. 

Elec.  Behold,  the  couch  is  pleasant  to  the  sick  man,  an 
irksome  thing  to  keep,  but  still  a  necessary  one. 

Ores.  Again  raise  me  upright — turn  my  body. 

Chor.  Sick  persons  are  hard  to  be  pleased  from  their 
feebleness. 

Elec.  Wilt  thou  set  thy  feet  on  the  ground,  putting  for- 
ward thy  long-discontinued5  step?  In  all  things  change  is 
sweet. 

Ores.  Yes,  by  all  means ;  for  this  has  a  semblance  of 
health,  but  the  semblance  is  good,  though  it  be  distant  from 
the  truth. 

Elec.  Hear  now  thei'efore,  0  my  brother,  while  yet  the 
Furies  suffer  thee  to  have  thy  right  faculties. 

Ores.  Wilt  thou  tell  any  news  ?  and  if  good  indeed,  thou 
art  conferring  pleasure  ;  but  if  it  pertain  at  all  to  mischief — I 
have  enough  distress.. 

Elec.  Menelaus  has  arrived,  the  brother  of  thy  father,  but 
his  ships  are  moored  in  the  Nauplian  bay. 

Ores.  How  sayest  ?  Is  he  come,  a  light  in  mine  and  thy 
sufferings,  a  man  of  kindred  blood,  and  that  hath  received 
benefits  from  our  father  ? 

Elec.  He  is  come  ;  take  this  a  sure  proof  of  my  words, 
bringing  with  him  Helen  from  the  walls  of  Troy. 

Ores.  Had  he  been  saved  alone,  he  had  been  more  blest. 
But  if  he  brings  his  wife,  he  has  arrived  with  a  mighty  evil. 

Elec.  Tyndarus  begat  an  offspring  of  daughters,  a  con- 
spicuous mark  for  blame,  and  infamous  throughout  Greece. 

Ores.  Do  thou  then  be  unlike  the  bad,  for  it  is  in  thy 
power.     And  not  only  say,  but  also  hold  these  sentiments. 

Elec.  Alas  !  my  brother,  thine  eye  rolls  wildly  ;  quick  art 
thou  changed  to  madness,  so  late  in  thy  senses. 

Ores.  O  mother,   I  implore  thee,  urge  not  on  me  those 

5  Perhaps  this  interpretation  of  XP°VL0U  is  better  than  "  slow,"  for  the 
considerate  Electra  Avould  hardly  go  to  remind  her  brother  of  his  in- 
firmities. 


44  ORESTES.  256—298. 

Furies  gazing  blood,  horrid  with  snakes,  for  these,  these  are 
leaping  around  me. 

Elec.  Remain,  0  wretched  man,  calmly  on  thy  couch,  for 
thou  seest  none  of  those  things,  which  thou  fanciest  thou 
seest  plainly. 

Ores.  O  Phoebus,  these  dire  Goddesses  in  the  shape  of  dogs 
will  kill  me,  these  gorgon-visaged  ministers  of  hell. 

Elec.  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  but,  putting  my  arm  around 
thee,  will  stop  thy  starting  into  those  unfortunate  convulsions. 

Ores.  Loose  me.  Thou  art  one  of  my  Furies,  and  seizest 
me  by  the  middle,  that  thou  mayest  hurl  me  into  Tartarus. 

Elec.  Oh  !  wretched  me  !  what  assistance  can  I  obtain, 
since  we  have  on  us  the  vengeful  wrath  of  heaven  ! 

Ores.  Give  me  my  bow  of  horn,  the  gift  of  Phoebus,  with 
which  Apollo  said  I  should  repel  the  Fiends,  if  they  appalled 
me  by  their  maddened  raging. 

Elec.  Shall  any  God  be  wounded  by  mortal  hand  ?  (Note  B.) 

Ores.  Yes.  She  shall,  if  she  will  not  depart  from  my 
sight Hear  ye  not — see  ye  not  the  winged  shafts  im- 
pelled from  the  distant-wounding  bow  ?  Ha  !  Ha  !  Why 
tarry  ye  yet  ?  Skim  the  high  air  with  your  wings,  and  im- 
peach the  oracles  of  Phoebus. — Ah  !  why  am  I  thus  disquieted, 
heaving  my  panting  breath  from  my  lungs  ?  Whither,  whither 
have  I  wandered  from  my  couch  ?  For  from  the  waves  again 
I  see  a  calm. — Sister,  why  weepest,  hiding  thine  eyes  beneath 
thy  vests,  I  am  ashamed  to  have  thee  a  partner  in  my  suffer- 
ings, and  to  give  a  virgin  trouble  through  my  malady.  Pine 
not  away  on  account  of  my  miseries :  for  thou  indeed  didst 
assent  to  this,  but  the  shedding  of  my  mother's  blood  was  ac- 
complished by  me :  but  I  blame  Apollo,  who,  after  having 
instigated  me  to  a  most  unholy  act,  with  words  indeed  consoled 
me,  but  not  with  deeds.  But  I  think  that  my  father,  had  I, 
beholding  him,  asked  him  if  it  were  right  for  me  to  slay  my 
mother,  would  have  put  forth  many  supplications,  beseeching 
me  by  this  beard  not  to  impel  my  sword  to  the  slaughter  of 
her  who  bore  me,  if  neither  he  thereby  could  be  restored  to 
life,  and  I  thus  wretched  must  go  through  such  miseries.  And 
now  then  unveil  thyself,  my  sister,  and  cease  from  tears, 
even  though  we  be  very  miserable :  but  when  thou  seest  me 
desponding,  do  thou  restrain  my  distraction,  and  that  which 
preys  upon  my  mind,  and  console  me  ;  but  when  thou  groanest, 


299—345.  ORESTES.  45 

it  becomes  my  duty  to  come  to  thee,  and  suggest  words  of 
comfort.  For  these  are  the  good  offices  friends  ought  to  ren- 
der each  other.  But  go  thou  into  the  house,  O  unfortunate 
sister,  and,  stretched  at  full  length,  compose  thy  sleepless  eye- 
lids to  sleep,  and  take  refreshment,  and  pour  the  bath  upon 
thy  fair  skin.  For  if  thou  forsakest  me,  or  gettest  any  illness 
by  continually  sitting  by  me,  we  perish ;  for  thee  I  have  my 
only  succour,  by  the  rest,  as  thou  seest,  abandoned. 

Elec.  This  cannot  be  :  with  thee  will  I  choose  to  die,  with 
thee  to  live  ;  for  it  is  the  same :  for  if  thou  shouldest  die,  what 
can  I  do,  a  woman  ?  how  shall  I  be  preserved,  alone  and  des- 
titute ?  without  a  brother,  without  a  father,  without  a  friend  : 
but  if  it  seemeth  good  to  thee,  these  things  it  is  my  duty  to 
do :  but  recline  thy  body  on  the  bed,  and  do  not  to  such  a  de- 
gree conceive  to  be  real  whatever  frightens  and  startles  thee 
from  the  couch,  but  keep  quiet  on  the  bed  strewn  for  thee. 
For  though  thou  be  not  ill,  but  only  seem  to  be  ill,  still  this 
even  is  an  evil  and  a  distress  to  mortals.    (Note  C.) 

Chorus. 
Alas!  alas  !  0  swift-winged,  raving6  Goddesses,  who  keep 
up  the  dance,  not  that  of  Bacchus,  with  tears  and  groans. 
You,  dark  Eumenides,  you,  that  fly  through  the  wide  ex- 
tended air,  executing  vengeance,  executing  slaughter,  you  do 
I  supplicate,  I  supplicate :  suffer  the  offspring  of  Agamemnon 
to  forget  his  furious  madness  ;  alas  !  for  his  sufferings.  What 
were  they  that  eagerly  grasping  at,  thou  unhappy  perishest, 
having  received  from  the  tripod  the  oracle  which  Phoebus 
spake,  on  that  pavement,  where  are  said  to  be  the  recesses  in 
the  midst  of  the  globe  !  O  Jupiter,  what  pity  is  there  ?  what 
is  this  contention  of  slaughter  that  comes  persecuting  thee 
wretched,  to  whom  some  evil  genius  casts  tear  upon  tear, 
transporting  to  thy  house  the  blood  of  thy  mother  which  drives 
thee  frenzied  !  Thus  I  bewail,  I  bewail.  Great  prosperity  is  not 
lasting  among  mortals  ;  but,  as  the  sail  of  the  swift  bark,  some 
deity  having  shaken  him,  hath  sunk  him  in  the  voracious  and 
destructive  waves  of  tremendous  evils,  as  in  the  waves  of  the 
ocean.  For  what  other*  family  ought  I  to  reverence  yet  before 

6  norvia&es.  The  Furies  have  this  epithet  from  Potnia,  a  town  m 
Bosotia,  where  Glaucus's  horses,  having  eaten  of  a  certain  herb  and  be- 
coming mad,  tore  their  own  master  in  pieces.     Schol.         *  Note  D. 

45 


46  ORESTES.  346— 3S5. 

that  sprung  from  divine  nuptials,  sprung  from  Tantalus  ? — 
But  lo  !  the  king  !  the  prince  Menelaus,  is  coming  !  but  he  is 
very  easily  discernible  from  the  elegance  of  his  person,  as  king 
of  the  house  of  the  Tantalidse. 

O  thou  that  didst  direct  the  army  of  a  thousand  vessels  to 
Asia's  land,  hail !  but  thou  comest  hither  with  good  fortune, 
having  obtained  the  object  of  thy  wishes  from  the  Gods. 

Menelaus,  Orestes,  Chorus. 

Men.  O  palace,  in  some  respect  indeed  I  behold  thee  with 
pleasure,  coming  from  Troy,  but  in  other  respect  I  groan 
when  I  see  thee.  For  never  yet  saw  I  any  other  house  more 
completely  encircled  round  with  lamentable  woes.  For  I  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  misfortune  that  befell  Agamemnon, 
[and  his  death,  by  what  death  he  perished  at  the  hands  of  his 
wife,]  *  when  I  Avas  landing  my  ships  at  Malea  ;  but  from  the 
waves  the  prophet  of  the  mariners  declared  unto  me,  the  fore- 
boding Glaucus  the  son  of  Nereus,  an  unerring  God,  who  told 
me  thus  in  evident  form  standing  by  me.  "  Menelaus,  thy 
brother  lietli  dead,  having  fallen  in  his  last  bath,  which  his 
wife  prepared."  But  he  filled  both  me  and  my  sailors  with 
many  tears  ;  but  when  I  come  to  the  Nauplian  shore,  my  wife 
having  already  landed  there,  expecting  to  clasp  in  my  friend- 
ly embraces  Orestes  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  and  his  mother, 
as  being  in  prosperity,  I  heard  from  some  fisherman7  the  un- 
hallowed murder  of  the  daughter  of  Tyndarus.  And  now  tell 
me,  maidens,  where  is  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  who  dared 
these  terrible  deeds  of  evil  ?  for  he  was  an  infant  in  Clytem- 
ncstra's  arms  at  that  time  when  I  left  the  palace  on  my  way 
to  Troy,  so  that  I  should  not  know  him,  were  I  to  see  him. 

Ores.  I,  Menelaus,  am  Orestes,  whom  thou  seekest,  I  of 
my  own  accord  will  declare  my  evils.  But  first  I  touch  thy 
knees  in  supplication,  putting  up  prayers  from  my  mouth,  not 
using  the  sacred  branch8:  save  me.  But  thou  art  come  in 
the  very  season  of  my  sufferings. 

Men.  O  ye  Gods,  what  do  I  behold  !  whom  of  the  dead  do 
I  see ! 

*  Dindorf  would  omit  this  verse. 

aXiTUTrwv,  dXiiujv,  ol  Tals  KuiTTrtis  tutttovctl  tx\v  tia\a<r<Tav.      ScHOL. 
8  drjwWou.     Alluding  to  the  branch,  which  the  ancients  used  to  hold 
in  token  of  supplication. 


386-410.  ORESTES.  17 

Ores.  Ay !  well  thou  sayest  the  dead ;  for  in  my  state  of 
suffering  I  live  not ;  but  see  the  light. 

Men.  Thou  wretched  man,  how  disordered  thou  art  in  thy 
squalid  hair  ! 

Ores.  Not  the  appearance,  but  the  deeds  torment  me. 

Men.  But  thou  glarest  dreadfully  with  thy  shrivelled  eye- 
balls. 

Ores.  My  body  is  vanished,  but  my  name  has  not  left  me. 

Men.  Alas,  thy  uncomeliness  of  form  which  has  appeared 
to  me  beyond  conception  !  « 

Ores.  I  am  he,  the  murderer  of  my  wretched  mother. 

Men.  I  have  heard ;  but  spare  a  little  the  recital  of  thy  woes. 

Ores.  I  spare  it ;  but  in  woes  the  deity  is  rich  to  me. 

Men.  What  dost  thou  suffer  ?  What  malady  destroys  thee  ? 

Ores.  The  conviction  that  I  am  conscious  of  having  per- 
petrated dreadful  deeds. 

Men.  How  sayest  thou  ?  Plainness,  and  not  obscurity,  is 
wisdom. 

Ores.  Sorrow  is  chiefly  what  destroys  me, — 

Men.  She  is  a  dreadful  goddess,  but  sorrow  admits  of  cure. 

Ores.  And  fits  of  madness  in  revenge  for  my  mother's 
blood. 

Men.  But  when  didst  first  have  the  raging  ?  what  day  was 
it  then  ? 

Ores.  That  day  in  which  I  heaped  the  tomb  on  my  mother. 

Men.  What  ?  in  the  house,  or  sitting  at  the  pyre  ? 

Ores.  As  I  was  guarding  by  night  lest  any  one  should 
bear  off  her  bones9. 

Men.  Was  any  one  else  present,  who  supported  thy  body  ? 

Ores.  Pylades,  who  perpetrated  with  me  the  vengeance 
and  death  of  my  mother. 

Men.  But  by  what  visions  art  thou  thus  afflicted  ? 

Ores.  I  appear  to  behold  three  virgins  like  the  night. 

Men.  I  know  whom  thou  meanest,  but  am  unwilling  to 
name  them. 

Ores.  Yes  :  for  they  are  awful ;  but  forbear  from  speaking 
such  high  polished  words 10. 

'  "  KOTO.  Tl)v  VUKTCl  TThTTOvda  T1)pUlV  T?)l'  dvutpMTlV,  Kal  T7/I/  &va\}J\]/lV  TUH' 
OCrTlUlV,  TOVTICTTIV,  'Ivtt  /U'J  TIS  a(f>t\l)TaL  TUVTCL."       PARAPH.       Heath  tiailS- 

lates  it,  watchfully  observing,  till  her  bones  were  collected. 

10  The  old  reading  was  dTraictwra.     The  meaning  of  the  present  read- 


48  ORESTES. 


411—430 


Men.  Do  these  drive  thee  to  distraction  on  account  of  this 
kindred  murder  ? 

Ores.  Alas  me  for  the  persecutions,  with  which  wretched 
I  am  driven ! 

Men.  It  is  not  strange  that  those  who  do  strange  deeds 
should  suffer  them. 

Ores.  But  we  have  whereto  we  may  transfer  the  criminal- 
ity ' '  of  the  mischance. 

Men.   Say  not  the  death  of  thy  father  ;  for  this  is  not  wise. 

Ores.  Phoebus  who  commanded  us  to  perpetrate  the  slay- 
ing of  our  mother. 

Men.  Being  more  ignorant  than  to  know  equity,  and  jus- 
tice. 

Ores.  We  are  servants  of  the  Gods,  whatever  those 
Gods  be. 

Men.  And  then  does  not  Apollo  assist  thee  in  thy  miseries  ? 

Ores.  He  is  always  about  to  do  it,  but  such  are  the  Gods 
by  nature. 

Men.  But  how  long  a  time  has  thy  mother's  breath  gone 
from  her  ? 

Ores.  This  is  the  sixth  day  since  ;  the  funeral  pyre  is  yet 
warm. 

Men.  How  quickly  have  the  Goddesses  come  to  demand  of 
thee  thy  mother's  blood  ! 

Ores.  I  am  not  wise,  but  a  true  friend  to  my  friends. 

Men.  But  what  then  doth  the  revenge  of  thy  father  profit 
thee  ? 

Ores.  Nothing  yet ;  but  I  consider  what  is  in  prospect  in 
the  same  light  as  a  thing  not  done. 

Men.  But  regarding  the  city  how  standest  thou,  having 
done  these  things  ? 

Ores.  We  are  hated  to  that  degree,  that  no  one  speaks  to  us. 

Men.  Nor  hast  thou  washed  thy  blood  from  thy  hands  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  ? 

Ores.  How  can  I?  for  I  am  shut  out  from  the  houses, 
whithersoever  I  go. 

ing  seems  to  be,  "  Yes,  they  are  awful  'tis  true,  but  still  however  you 
need  not  be  so  very  scrupulous  about  naming  them." 

11  dva<popa  was  a  legal  teim,  and  signified  the  line  of  defence  adopted 
by  the  accused,  when  he  transferred  the  charge  brought  against  himself 
to  some  other  person. — See  Demosthenes  in  Timocr. 


431-461.  ORESTES.  49 

Men.  Who  of  the  citizens  thus  contend  to  drive  thee  from 
the  land  ? 

Ores.  (Eax12,  imputing  to  my  father   the  hatred  which 
arose  on  account  of  Troy. 

Men.  I  understand.      The   death  of  Palamede   takes  its 
vengeance  on  thee. 

Ores.  In  which  at  least  I  had  no  share — hut  I  perish  by 
the  three. 

Men.  But  who  else  ?  Is  it  perchance  one  of  the  friends  of 
./Egisthus  ? 

Ores.  They  persecute  me,  whom  now  the  city  obeys. 

Men.  But  does  the  city  suffer  thee  to  wield  Agamemnon's 
sceptre  ? 

Ores.  How  should  they  ?  who  no  longer  suffer  us  to  live. 

Men.  Doing  what,  which  thou  canst  tell  me  as  a  clear  fact  ? 

Ores.  This  very  day  sentence  will  be  passed  upon  us. 

Men.  To  be  exiled  from  this  city  ?  or  to  die  ?  or  not  to  die  ? 

Ores.  To  die,  by  being  stoned  with  stones  by  the  citizens. 

Men.  And  dost  thou  not  fly  then,  escaping  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  country  ? 

Ores.  How  can  we  ?  for  we  are  surrounded  on  every  side 
by  brazen  arms. 

Men.  By  private  enemies,  or  by  the  hand  of  Argos  ? 

Ores.  By  all  the  citizens,  that  I  may  die — the  word  is  brief. 

Men.  0  unhappy  man  !  thou  art  come  to  the  extreme  of 
misfortune. 

Ores.  On  thee  my  hope  builds  her  escape  from  evils,  but, 
thyself  happy,  coming  among  the  distressed,  impart  thy  good 
fortune  to  thy  friends,  and  be  not  the  only  man  to  retain  a 
benefit  thou  hast  received,  but  undertake  also  services  in  thy 
turn,  paying  their  father's  kindness  to  those  to  whom  thou 
oughtest.  For  those  friends  have  the  name,  not  the  reality, 
who  are  not  friends  in  adversity. 

Ciior.  And  see  the  Spartan  Tyndarus  is  toiling  hither  with 
his  aged  foot,  in  a  black  vest,  and  shorn,  his  locks  cut  off  in 
mourning  for  his  daughter. 

Ores.  I  am  undone,  O  Menelaus  !  Lo  !  Tyndarus  is  com- 
ing towards  us,  to  come  before  whose  presence,  most  of  all 
men's,  shame  covereth  me,  on  account  of  what  has  been  done. 

12  CEax  was  Palamede's  brother. 
E 


50  ORESTES.  462—493. 

For  he  used  to  nurture  me  when  I  was  little,  and  satiated  me 
with  many  kisses,  dandling  in  his  arms  Agamemnon's  boy,  and 
Leda  with  him,  honouring  me  no  less  than  the  twin-born  of 
Jove.  For  which,  0  my  wretched  heart  and  soul,  I  have 
given  no  good  return  :  what  dark  veil  can  I  take  for  my 
countenance  ?  what  cloud  can  I  place  before  me,  that  I  may 
avoid  the  glances  of  the  old  man's  eyes  ? 

Tyndartjs,  Menelaus,  Orestes,  Chorus. 

Tynd.  Where,  where  can  I  see  my  daughter's  husband 
Menelaus  ?  For  as  I  was  pouring  my  libations  on  the  tomb 
of  Clytemnestra,  I  heard  that  he  was  come  to  Nauplia  with 
his  wife,  safe  through  a  length  of  years.  Conduct  me,  for  I 
long  to  stand  by  his  hand  and  salute  him,  seeing  my  friend 
after  a  long  lapse  of  time. 

Men.  0  hail !  old  man,  who  sharest  thy  bed  with  Jove. 

Ttnd.  0  hail  !  thou  also,  Menelaus  my  dear  relation, — ah  ! 
what  an  evil  is  it  not  to  know  the  future  !  This  dragon  here, 
the  murderer  of  his  mother,  glares  before  the  house  his  pesti- 
lential gleams — the  object  of  my  detestation — Menelaus,  dost 
thou  speak  to  this  unholy  wretch  ? 

Men.  "Why  not  ?  he  is  the  son  of  a  father  who  was  dear 
to  me. 

Tynd.  What !  was  he  sprung  from  him,  being  such  as  he  is  ? 

Men.  He  was ;  but,  though  he  be  unfortunate,  he  should 
be  respected. 

Tynd.  Having  been  a  long  time  with  barbarians,  thou  art 
thyself  turned  barbarian. 

Men.  Nay  !  it  is  the  Grecian  fashion  always  to  honour  one 
of  kindred  blood. 

Tynd.   Yes,  and  also  not  to  wish  to  be  above  the  laws. 

Men.  Every  thing  proceeding  from  necessity  is  considered 
as  subservient  to  her  13  among  the  wise. 

Tynd.  Do  thou  then  keep  to  this,  but  I'll  have  none  of  it. 

Men.  JVo,  for  anger  joined  with  thine  age,  is  not  wisdom. 

Tynd.  With  this  man  what  controversy  can  there  be  re- 
garding wisdom  ?  If  what  things  are  virtuous,  and  what  are 
not  virtuous,   are   plain   to   all,  what   man  was   ever   more 

13  And  therefore  we  are  not  to  impeach  the  man.  Some  would  have 
oovXov  to  bear  the  sense  of  dovXoTroidi',  enslaves,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
avoided. 


494—535.  ORESTES.  51 

unwise  than  this  man  ?  who  did  not  indeed  consider  justice, 
nor  applied  to  the  common  existing  law  of  the  Grecians.  For 
after  that  Agamemnon  breathed  forth  his  last,  struck  by  my 
daughter  on  the  head,  a  most  foul  deed  (for  never  will  I  ap- 
prove of  this),  it  behoved  him  indeed  to  lay  against  her  a 
sacred  charge  of  bloodshed,  following  up  the  accusation,  and 
to  cast  his  mother  from  out  of  the  house  ;  and  he  would  have 
taken  the  wise  side  in  the  calamity,  and  would  have  kept  to 
law,  and  Avould  have  been  pious.  But  now  has  he  come  to 
the  same  fate  with  his  mother.  For  with  justice  thinking 
her  wicked,  himself  has  become  more  wicked  in  slaying  his 
mother. 

But  thus  much,  Menelaus,  will  I  ask  thee  ;  If  the  wife  that 
shared  his  bed  were  to  kill  him,  and  his  son  again  kills  his 
mother  in  return,  and  he  that  is  born  of  him  shall  expiate  the 
murder  with  murder,  whither  then  will  the  extremes  of  these 
evils  proceed  ?  Well  did  our  fathers  of  old  lay  down  these 
things  ;  they  suffered  not  him  to  come  into  the  sight  of  their 
eyes,  not  to  their  converse,  who  was  under  an  attainder14  of 
blood  ;  but  they  made  him  atone  by  banishment ;  they  suffered 
however  none  to  kill  him  in  return.  For  always  were  one 
about  to  be  attainted  of  murder,  taking  the  pollution  last  into 
his  hands.  But  I  hate  indeed  impious  women,  but  first  among 
them  my  daughter,  who  slew  her  husband.  But  never  will  I 
approve  of  Helen  thy  wife,  nor  would  I  speak  to  her,  neither 
do  I  commend I5  thee  for  going  to  the  plain  of  Troy  on  account 
of  a  perfidious  woman.  But  I  will  defend  the  law,  as  far  at 
least  as  I  am  able,  putting  a  stop  to  this  brutish  and  murder- 
ous practice,  which  is  ever  destructive  both  of  the  country 
and  the  state. — For  what  feelings  of  humanity  hadst  thou, 
thou  wretched  man,  when  she  bared  her  breast  in  supplication, 
thy  mother  ?  I  indeed,  though  I  witnessed  not  that  scene  of 
misery,  melt  in  my  aged  eyes  with  tears  through  wretched- 
ness. One  thing  however  goes  to  the  scale  of  my  arguments  ; 
thou  art  both  hated  by  the  Gods,  and  sufferest  vengeance  of 
thy  mother,  wandering  about  with  madness  and  terrors  ;  why 
must  I  hear  by  the  testimony  of  others,  what  it  is  in  my  power 
to  see  ?  That  thou  mayest  know  then  once  for  all,  Mene- 
laus, do  not  things  contrary  to  the  Gods,  through  thy  wishes 

14  e'x&>  for  ivoxoi  fi'.ui. 

B  Zi/\a),  to  /lauaoi^w.  ivTavda  ok  dvTi  tov  I-kuivw.     SciIOL. 
E    2 


52  ORESTES.  536-575. 

to  assist  this  man.  But  suffer  him  to  be  slain  by  the  citizens 
with  stones,  or  set  not  thy  foot  on  Spartan  ground.  But  my 
daughter  in  dying  met  with  justice,  but  it  was  not  fitting  that 
she  should  die  by  him16.  In  other  respects  indeed  have  I 
been  a  happy  man,  except  in  my  daughters,  but  in  this  I  am 
not  happy. 

Chor.  He  is  enviable,  who  is  fortunate  in  his  children,  and 
has  not  on  him  notorious  calamities. 

Ores.  O  old  man,  I  tremble  to  speak  to  thee,  wherein  I  am 
about  to  grieve  thee  and  thy  mind.  But  I  am  unholy  in  that 
I  slew  my  mother  ;  but  holy  at  least  in  another  point  of  view, 
having  avenged  my  father.  Let  then  thine  age,  which  hin- 
ders me  through  fear  from  speaking,  be  removed  out  of  the 
way  of  my  words,  and  I  will  go  on  in  a  direct  path  ;  but  now 
do  I  fear  thy  grey  hairs.  What  could  I  do  ?  for  oppose  the 
facts,  two  against  two.  My  father  indeed  begat  me,  but  thy 
daughter  brought  me  forth,  a  field  receiving  the  seed  from 
another  ;  but  without  a  father  there  never  could  be  a  child. 
I  reasoned  therefore  with  myself,  that  I  should  assist  the 
prime  author  of  my  birth  rather  than  the  aliment  which  under 
him  produced  me.  But  thy  daughter  (I  am  ashamed  to  call 
her  mother),  in  secret  and  unchaste  nuptials,  had  approached 
the  bed  of  another  man  ;  of  myself,  if  I  speak  ill  of  her,  shall 
1  be  speaking,  but  yet  will  I  tell  it.  ./Egisthus  was  her 
secret  husband  in  her  palace.  Him  I  slew,  and  after  him  I 
sacrificed  my  mother,  doing  indeed  unholy  things,  but  avenging 
my  father.  But  as  touching  those  things  for  which  thou 
threatenest  that  I  must  be  stoned,  hear,  how  I  shall  assist  all 
Greece.  For  if  the  women  shall  arrive  at  such  a  pitch  of 
boldness  as  to  murder  the  men,  making  good  their  escape  with 
regard  to  their  children,  seeking  to  captivate  their  pity  by 
their  breasts,  it  would  be  as  nothing  with  them  to  slay  their 
husbands,  having  any  pretext  that  might  chance  ;  but  I  hav- 
ing done  dreadful  things  (as  thou  say  est),  have  put  a  stop  to 
this  law,  but  hating  my  mother  deservedly  I  slew  her,  who 
betrayed  her  husband  absent  from  home  in  arms,  the  general- 
issimo of  the  whole  land  of  Greece,  and  kept  not  her  bed  un- 

16  Conf.  Tit.  Eun.  Act.  v.  Sc.  2. 

Non  dedignum,  Chferea, 
Fecisti ;  nam  si  ego  digna  hac  contnmclia 
Sum  maxume,  at  tu  indignus,  qui  faccres,  tanun 


576—619.  ORESTES.  53 

defiled.  But  when  she  perceived  that  she  had  done  amiss, 
she  inflicted  not  vengeance  on  herself,  but,  that  she  might  not 
suffer  vengeance  from  her  husband,  punished  and  slew  my 
father.  By  the  Gods,  (in  no  good  cause  have  I  named  the 
Gods,  pleading  against  a  charge  of  murder,)  had  I  by  my 
silence  praised  my  mother's  actions,  what  then  would  the  de- 
ceased have  done  to  me  ?  To  my  mother  indeed  the  Furies 
are  present  as  allies,  but  would  they  not  be  present  to  him, 
who  has  received  the  greater  injury  ?  Would  he  not,  detesting 
me,  have  haunted  me  with  the  Furies  ?  Thou  then,  0  old 
man,  by  begetting  a  bad  daughter,  hast  destroyed  me  ;  for 
through  her  boldness  deprived  of  my  father,  I  became  a  ma- 
tricide. Dost  see  ?  Telemachus  slew  not  the  wife  of  Ulysses, 
for  she  married  not  a  husband  on  a  husband,  but  her  marriage- 
bed  remains  unpolluted  in  the  palace.  Dost  see  ?  Apollo, 
who,  dwelling  in  his  habitation  in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  gives 
the  most  clear  oracles  to  mortals,  by  whom  we  are  entirely 
guided,  whatever  he  may  say,  on  him  relying  slew  I  my  mo- 
ther. 'Twas  he  who  erred,  not  I :  what  could  I  do  ?  Is  not 
the  God  sufficient  for  me,  who  transfer  the  deed  to  him,  to  do 
away  with  the  pollution  ?  Whither  then  can  any  fly  for  suc- 
cour, unless  he  that  commanded  me  shall  deliver  me  from 
death  ?  But  say  not  these  things  have  been  done  "  not  well ;" 
but  say  "not  fortunately"  for  us  who  did  them.  But  to 
whatsoever  men  their  marriages  are  well  established,  there  is 
a  happy  life,  but  to  those  to  whom  they  fall  not  out  well,  with 
regard  to  their  affairs  both  at  home  and  abroad  they  are  unfor- 
tunate. 

Chor.  Women  were  born  always  to  be  in  the  way  of  what 
may  happen  to  men,  to  the  making  of  things  unfortunate. 

Tynd.  Since  thou  art  bold,  and  yieldest  not  to  my  speech, 
but  thus  answerest  me  so  as  to  grieve  my  mind,  thou  wilt 
rather  inflame  me  to  urge  thy  death.  But  this  I  shall  consider 
a  handsome  addition  to  those  labours  for  which  I  came,  namely, 
to  deck  my  daughter's  tomb.  For  going  to  the  multitude  of 
the  Argives  assembled,  I  will  rouse  the  state  willing  and  not 
unwilling,  to  pass  the  sentence*  of  being  stoned  on  thee  and  on 
thy  sister  ;  but  she  is  worthy  of  death  rather  than  thee,  who 
irritated  thee  against  her  mother,  always  pealing  in  thine  ear 
words  to  increase  thy  hatred,  relating  dreams  she  had  of  Aga- 
memnon, and  this  also,  that  the  infernal  Gods  detested  the  bed 
*  Note  E. 


54  ORESTES.  620—663. 

of  JEgisthus  ;  for  even  here  on  earth  it  were  hard  to  be  endur- 
ed; until  she  set  the  house  in  flames  with  fire  more  strong 
than  Vulcan's. — Menelaus,  but  to  thee  I  speak  this,  and  will 
moreover  perform  it.  If  thou  regard  my  hate,  and  my  alliance, 
ward  not  off  death  from  this  man  in  opposition  to  the  Gods  ; 
but  suffer  him  to  be  slain  by  the  citizens  with  stones,  or  set 
not  thy  foot  on  Spartan  ground.  Thus  much  having  heard, 
depart,  nor  choose  the  impious  for  thy  friends,  passing  over 
the  pious. — But  O  attendants,  conduct  us  from  this  house. 

Ores.  Depart,  that  the  remainder  of  my  speech  may  reach 
this  man  uninterrupted  by  the  clamours  of  thy  age  :  Menelaus, 
whither  dost  thou  roam  in  thought,  entering  on  a  double  path 
of  double  care  ? 

Men.  Suffer  me  ;  having  some  thoughts  within  myself,  I 
am  perplexed  to  which  side  of  fortune  to  turn  me. 

Ores.  Do  not  make  up  thy  opinion,  but  having  first  heard 
my  words,  then  deliberate. 

Men.  Say  on  ;  for  thou  hast  spoken  rightly  ;  but  there  are 
seasons  where  silence  may  be  better  than  talking,  and  there 
are  seasons  where  talking  may  be  better  than  silence. 

Ores.  I  will  speak  then  forthwith :  Long  speeches  have  the 
preference  before  short  ones,  and  are  more  plain  to  hear.  Give 
thou  to  me  nothing  of  what  thou  hast,  O  Menelaus,  but  what 
thou  hast  received  from  my  father,  return  ;  I  mean  not  riches 
— yet  riches,  which  are  the  most  dear  of  what  I  possess,  if  thou 
wilt  preserve  my  life.  Say  I  am  unjust,  I  ought  to  receive  from 
thee,  instead  of  this  evil,  something  contrary  to  what  justice 
demands  ;  for  Agamemnon  my  father  having  collected  Greece 
in  arms,  in  a  way  justice  did  not  demand,  went  to  Troy,  not 
having  erred  himself,  but  in  order  to  set  right  the  error,  and 
injustice  of  thy  wife.  This  one  thing  indeed  thou  oughtest  to 
give  me  for  one  thing,  but  he,  as  friends  should  for  friends,  of 
a  truth  exposed  his  person  for  thee  toiling  at  the  shield,  that 
thou  mightest  receive  back  thy  wife.  Repay  me  then  this 
kindness  for  that  which  thou  receivedst  there,  toiling  for  one 
day  in  standing  as  my  succour,  not  completing  ten  years.  But 
the  sacrifice  of  my  sister,  which  Aulis  received,  this  I  suffer 
thee  to  have  ;  do  not  kill  Hermione,  I  ask  it  not.  For,  I 
being  in  the  state  in  which  I  now  am,  thou  must  of  necessity 
have  the  advantage,  and  I  must  suffer  it  to  be  so.  But  grant 
my  life  to  my  wretched  father,  and  my  sister's,  who  has  been 


GG4— 703.  ORESTES.  55 

a  virgin  a  lung  time.  For  dying  I  shall  leave  ray  father's  house 
destitute.  Thou  wilt  say  "impossible  :"  this  is  the  very  thing 
/  have  been  urging,  it  behoves  friends  to  help  their  friends  in 
misfortunes.  But  when  the  God  gives  prosperity,  what  need 
is  there  of  friends  ?  For  the  God  himself  sufficeth,  being 
willing  to  assist.  Thou  appearest  to  all  the  Greeks  to  be  fond 
of  thy  wife ;  (and  this  I  say,  not  stealing  under  thee  imper- 
ceptibly with  flattery ;)  by  her  I  implore  thee ;  O  wretched 
me  for  my  woes,  to  what  have  I  come  ?  but  why  must  I  suffer 
thus  ?  For  in  behalf  of  the  whole  house  I  make  this  suppli- 
cation. 0  divine  brother  of  my  father,  conceive  that  the 
dead  man  beneath  the  earth  hears  these  things,  and  that  his 
spirit  is  hovering  over  thee,  and  speaks  what  I  speak.  These 
things  have  I  said,  with  tears,  and  groans,  and  miseries17,  and 
have  prayed  earnestly,  looking  for  preservation,  which  all, 
and  not  I  only  seek. 

Chor.  I  too  implore  thee,  although  a  woman,  yet  still 
I  implore  thee  to  succour  those  in  need,  but  thou  art 
able. 

Men.  Orestes,  I  indeed  reverence  thy  person,  and  I  am 
willing  to  labour  with  thee  in  thy  misfortunes.  For  thus  it 
is  right  to  endure  together  the  misfortunes  of  one's  relations, 
if  the  God  gives  the  ability,  even  so  far  as  to  die,  and  to  kill 
the  adversary ;  but  this  ability  again  I  want  from  the  Gods. 
For  I  am  come  having  my  single  spear  unaided  by  allies, 
having  wandered  with  infinite  labours  with  small  assistance 
of  friends  left  me.  In  battle  therefore  we  cannot  come  off 
superior  to  Pelasgian  Argos ;  but  if  we  can  by  soft  speeches, 
to  that  hope  are  we  equal.  For  how  can  any  one  achieve 
great  actions  with  small  means  ?  For  when  the  rabble  is  in 
full  force  falling  into  a  rage,  it  is  equally  difficult  to  extinguish 
as  a  fierce  fire.  But  if  one  quietly  yields  to  it  as  it  is  spread- 
ing, and  gives  in  to  it,  watching  well  his  opportunity,  perhaps 
it  may  spend  its  rage,  but  when  it  has  remitted  from  its  blast, 
you  may  without  difficulty  have  it  your  own  way,  as  much 
as  you  please.  For  there  is  inherent  in  them  pity,  but  there  is 
inherent  also  vehement  passion,  to  one  who  carefully  watches 

17  Of  this  passage  the  Scholiast  gives  two  interpretations ;  either  it 
may  mean  yuE-ra  SaKpvwv  ko.1  yowv  ii-nov:  or,  tiTrou  Tavra  tis  odicpva. 
Kal  yoovs,  Kai  £vp.<pop&s,  ijyovv  'iua  /hi)  tv^u),  tovtuiv  rtv£o[xai  ct,  it 
TrtTpuidijvai   fxs  iatr>/9. 


56  ORESTES.  704—737. 

his  opportunity  a  most  excellent  advantage.  But  I  will  go 
and  endeavour  to  persuade  Tyndarus,  and  the  city,  to  use  their 
great  power  in  a  becoming  manner.  For  a  ship,  the  main 
sheet  stretched  out  to  a  violent  degree,  is  wont  to  pitch,  but 
stands  upright  again,  if  you  slacken  the  main  sheet.  For 
the  God  hates  too  great  vehemence,  and  the  citizens  hate  it ; 
but  I  must  (I  speak  as  I  mean)  save  thee  by  wisdom,  not  by 
opposing  my  superiors.  But  I  cannot  by  force,  as  perchance 
thou  thinkest,  preserve  thee ;  for  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  erect 
from  one  single  spear  trophies  from  the  evils,  which  are  about 
thee.  For  never  have  we  approached  the  land  of  Argos  by 
way  of  supplication  ;  but  now  there  is  necessity  for  the  wise 
to  become  the  slaves  of  fortune. 

Orestes,  Chorus. 

Ores.  O  thou,  a  mere  cipher  in  other  things  except  in  war- 
ring for  the  sake  of  a  woman  ;  O  thou  most  base  in  avenging 
thy  friends,  dost  thou  fly,  turning  away  from  me  ?  But 
all  Agamemnon's  services  are  gone :  thou  wert  then  without 
friends,  0  my  father,  in  thy  affliction.  Alas  me !  I  am  be- 
trayed, and  there  no  longer  are  any  hopes,  whither  turning  I 
may  escape  death  from  the  Argives.  For  he  was  the  refuge 
of  my  safety. — But  I  see  this  most  dear  of  men,  Pylades, 
coming  with  hasty  step  from  the  Phocians,  a  pleasing  sight, 
a  man  faithful  in  adversity,  more  grateful  to  behold  than  the 
calm  to  the  mariners. 

Pylades,  Orestes,  Chorus. 

Pyl.  I  came  through  the  city  with  a  quicker  step  than  I 
ought,  having  heard  of  the  council  of  state  assembled,  and 
seeing  it  plainly  myself,  against  thee  and  thy  sister,  as  about 
to  kill  you  instantly. — What  is  this  ?  how  art  thou  ?  in  what 
state,  O  most  dear  to  me  of  my  companions  and  kindred  ?  for 
all  these  things  art  thou  to  me. 

Ores.  We  are  gone — briefly  to  shew  thee  my  calamities. 

Pyl.  Thou  wilt  have  ruined  me  too ;  for  the  things  of 
friends  are  common. 

Ores.  Menelaus  has  behaved  most  basely  towards  me  and 
my  sister. 

Pyl.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  the  husband  of  a  bad  wife 
be  bad. 


738—758.  ORESTES.  57 

Ores.  He  is  come,  and  has  done  just  as  much  for  me  as  if 
he  had  not  come. 

Pyl.  What !  is  he  in  truth  come  to  this  land  ? 

Ores.  After  a  long  season  ;  but  nevertheless  he  was  very- 
soon  discovered  to  be  too  base  to  his  friends. 

Pyl.  And  has  he  brought  in  his  ship  with  him  his  most 
infamous  wife  ? 

Ores.  Not  he  her,  but  she  brought  him  hither. 

Pyl.  Where  is  she,  who,  beyond  any  woman  18,  destroyed 
most  of  the  Grecians  ? 

Ores.  In  my  palace,  if  I  may  indeed  be  allowed  to  call  this 
mine. 

Pyl.  But  what  words  didst  thou  say  to  thy  father's  brother  ? 

Ores.  /  requested  him  not  to  suffer  me  and  my  sister  to  be 
slain  by  the  citizens. 

Pyl.  By  the  Gods,  what  said  he  to  this  request ;  this  I 
wish  to  know. 

Ores.  He  declined,  from  motives  of  prudence,  as  bad  friends 
act  towards  their  friends. 

Pyl.  Going  on  what  ground  of  excuse?  This  having 
learnt,  I  am  in  possession  of  every  thing. 

Ores.  The  father  himself  came,  he  that  begat  such  excel- 
lent daughters. 

Pyl.  Tyndarus  you  mean  ;  perhaps  enraged  with  thee  on 
account  of  his  daughter. 

Ores.  You  are  right :  he  paid  more  attention  to  his  ties 
with  him,  than  to  his  ties  with  my  father. 

Pyl.  And  dared  he  not,  being  present,  to  take  arms  against 
thy  troubles  ? 

Ores.  No  :  for  he  was  not  born  a  warrior,  but  brave  among 
women. 

Pyl.  Thou  art  then  in  the  greatest  miseries,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary for  thee  to  die. 

Ores.  The  citizens  must  pass  their  vote  on  us  for  the 
murder  we  have  committed19. 

Pyl.  Which  vote  what  will  it  decide  ?  tell  me,  for  I  am  in  fear. 

Ores.  Either  to  die  or  live  ;  not  many  words  on  matters  of 
great  import. 

18  "  Beyond  any  woman"  ywii  fxia,  this  is  a  mode  of  expression  fre- 
quently met  with  in  the  Attic  writers,  especially  in  Xenophon. 

19  kiri  tiu  (povto,  tovtIctti  Sia  tov  (povov,  ov  tipyaardfxtda.     PaRAPH. 


58  ORESTES.  759—781. 

Pyl.  Come  fly,  and  quit  the  palace  with  thy  sister. 

Ores.  Seest  thou  not  ?  we  are  watched  by  guards  on  every 
side. 

Pyl.  I  saw  the  streets  of  the  city  lined  with  arms. 

Ores.  AVe  are  invested  as  to  our  persons,  as  a  city  by  the 
enemy. 

Pyl.  Now  ask  me  also,  what  I  suffer  ;  for  I  too  am  undone. 

Ores.  By  whom  ?  This  would  be  an  evil  added  to  my  evils. 

Pyl.  Strophius,  my  father,  being  enraged,  hath  driven  me 
an  exile  from  his  house. 

Ores.  Bringing  against  thee  some  private  charge,  or  one 
in  common  with  the  citizens  ? 

Pyl.  Because  I  perpetrated  with  thee  the  murder  of  thy 
mother,  he  banished  me,  calling  me  unholy. 

Ores.  0  thou  unfortunate  !  it  seems  that  thou  also  sufferest 
for  my  evils. 

Pyl.  We  have  not  Menelaus's  manners — this  must  be  borne. 

Ores.  Dost  thou  not  fear  lest  Argos  should  wish  to  kill 
thee,  as  it  does  also  me  ? 

Pyl.  We  do  not  belong  to  these  to  punish,  but  to  the  land 
of  the  Phocians. 

Ores.  The  populace  is  a  terrible  thing,  when  they  have 
evil  leaders. 

Pyl.  But  when  they  have  good  ones,  they  always  deliber- 
ate good  things. 

Ores.  Be  it  so  :  we  must  speak  on  our  common  business. 

Pyl.   On  what  affair  of  necessity  ? 

Ores.  Supposing  I  should  go  to  the  citizens,  and  say — 

Pyl.  — that  thou  hast  acted  justly? 

Ores.  Ay,  avenging  my  father  : 

Pyl.  I  fear  they  might  not  receive  thee  gladly. 

Ores.  But  shall  I  die  then  shuddering  in  silence  ? 

Pyl.  This  were  cowardly. 

Ores.  How  then  can  I  do  ? 

Pyl.  Hast  thou  any  chance  of  safety,  if  thou  remainest  ? 

Ores.  I  have  none. 

Pyl.  But  going,  is  there  any  hope  of  thy  being  preserved 
from  thy  miseries  ? 

Ores.  Should  it  chance  well,  there  might  be. 

Pyl.  Is  not  this  then  better  than  remaining  ? 

Ores.  Shall  I  eo  then  ? 


731—801.  ORESTES.  59 

Pyl.  Dying  thus,  at  least  thou  wilt  die  more  honourably. 

Ores.  And  I  have  a  just  cause. 

Pyl.  Only  pray  for  its  appearing  so. 

Ores.  Thou  sayest  well :  this  way  I  avoid  the  imputation 
of  cowardice. 

Pyl.  More  than  by  tarrying  here. 

Ores.  And  some  one  perchance  may  pity  me — 

Pyl.    Yes ;  for  thy  nobleness  of  birth  is  a  great  thing. 

Ores.  — indignant  at  my  father's  death. 

Pyl.  All  this  in  prospect. 

Ores.  Go  I  must,  for  it  is  not  manly  to  die  ingloriously. 

Pyl.  These  sentiments  I  praise. 

Ores.  Shall  we  then  tell  these  things  to  my  sister  ? 

Pyl.  No,  by  the  Gods. 

Ores.  Why,  there  might  be  tears. 

Pyl.  This  then  is  a  great  omen. 

Ores.  Clearly  it  is  better  to  be  silent. 

Pyl.  Thou  art  a  gainer  by  delay. 

Ores.  This  one  thing  only  opposes  me. 

Pyl.  What  new  thing  again  is  this  thou  sayest  ? 

Ores.  I  fear  lest  the  goddesses  should  stop  me  with  their 
torments. 

Pyl.  But  I  will  take  care  of  thee. 

Ores.  It  is  a  difficult  and  dangerous  task  to  touch  a  man 
thus  disordered. 

Pyl.  Not  for  me  to  touch  thee. 

Ores.  Take  care  how  thou  art  partner  of  my  madness. 

Pyl.  Let  not  this  be  thought  of. 

Ores.  Wilt  thou  not  then  be  timid  to  assist  me  ? 

Pyl.  No,  for  timidity  is  a  great  evil  to  friends. 

Ores.  Go  on  now,  the  helm  of  my  foot. 

Pyl.  Having  a  charge  worthy  of  a  friend. 

Ores.  And  guide  me  to  my  father's  tomb. 

Pyl.  To  what  end  is  this  ? 

Ores.  That  I  may  supplicate  him  to  save  me. 

Pyl.  This  at  least  is  just. 

Ores.  But  let  me  not  see  my  mother's  monument. 

Pyl.  For  she  was  an  enemy.  But  hasten,  that  the  decree 
of  the  Argives  condemn  thee  not  before  thou  goest ;  leaning 
thy  side,  weary  with  disease,  on  mine :  since  I  will  conduct 
thee  through  the  city,  little  caring  for  the  multitude,  nothing 


60  ORESTES.  802— S40. 

ashamed  ;  for  where  shall  I  shew  myself  thy  friend,  if  I  assist 
thee  not  when  thou  art  in  perilous  condition  ? 

Ores.  This  it  is  to  have  companions,  not  relationship 
alone ;  so  that  a  man  who  is  congenial  in  manners,  though  a 
stranger  in  blood,  is  a  better  friend  for  a  man  to  have,  than 
ten  thousand  relatives. 

Chorus. 

The  great  happiness,  and  the  valour  high  sounding  through- 
out Greece,  and  by  the  channels  of  the  Simois,  has  again 
withdrawn  from  the  fortune  of  the  Atridaj,  as  of  old,  from  the 
ancient  calamity  of  the  house,  when  the  strife  of  the  golden 
lamb-0  arose  among  the  descendants  of  Tantalus  ;  most  shock- 
ing feasts,  and  the  slaughter  of  noble  children ;  from  whence 
murder  responsive  to  murder  fails  not  to  attend  on  the  two 
sons  of  Atreus.  What  seems  good  is  not  good,  to  gash  the 
parents'  skin  with  a  fierce  hand,  and  brandish  the  sword  black- 
stained  with  blood  in  the  sunbeams.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  act  wickedly21  is  mad  impiety,  and  the  folly  of  evil- 
minded  men. 

But  the  wretched  daughter  of  Tyndarus  in  the  fear  of  death 
shrieked  out,  "  My  son,  thou  darest  impious  deeds,  killing  thy 
mother  ;  do  not,  attending  to  the  gratification  of  thy  father, 
kindle  an  everlasting  disgrace." 

What  malady,  or  what  tears,  or  what  pity  on  earth  is 
greater,  than  to  imbrue  one's  hand  in  a  mother's  blood  ?  What 
a  deed,  what  a  deed  having  performed,  does  the  son  of  Aga- 
memnon rave  with  madness,  a  prey  to  the  Eumenides,  marked 
for  death,  giddy  with  his  rolling  eyes  !  O  wretched  on  ac- 
count of  his  mother,  when  though  seeing  the  breast  bared 

20  Thyestes  and  Atreus,  having  a  dispute  about  their  father  Pelops's 
kingdom,  agreed,  that  whichever  should  discover  the  first  prodigy  should 
have  possession  of  the  throne.  There  appeared  in  Atreus's  flock  a  golden 
lamb,  which,  however,  Aerope  his  wife  secretly  had  conveyed  to  Thyestes 
to  shew  before  the  judges.  Atreus  afterwards  invited  Thyestes  to  a  feast, 
and  served  up  before  him  Aglaiis,  Orchomenus,  and  Caleus,  three  sons 
he  had  by  his  intrigues  with  Aerope. 

21  Alluding  to  the  murder  of  Agamemnon  by  Clytemnestra.  This  is 
the  interpretation  and  explanation  of  the  Scholiast ;  but  it  is  perhaps  bet- 
ter translated,  "  but  on  the  other  hand  to  play  the  coward  is  great  impiety, 
and  the  error  of  cowardly-minded  men;"  the  chorus  meaning,  that  this 
might  have  been  said  of  Orestes,  had  he  not  avenged  his  father. 


841—875.  ORESTES.  61 

from  the  robe  of  golden  texture,  he  stabbed  the  mother  in  re- 
taliation for  the  father's  sufferings. 

Electra,  Chorus. 

Elec.  Ye  virgins,  has  the  wretched  Orestes,  overcome 
with  heaven-inflicted  madness,  rushed  any  where  from  this 
house  ? 

Chor.  By  no  means  ;  but  he  is  gone  to  the  Argive  people, 
to  undergo  the  trial  proposed  regarding  life,  by  which  you 
must  either  live  or  die. 

Elec.  Alas  me !  what  thing  has  he  done  ?  but  who  per- 
suaded him  ? 

Chor.  Pylades. — But  this  messenger  seems  soon  about  to 
inform  us  of  what  has  passed  there  concerning  thy  brother. 

Messenger,  Electra,  Chorus. 

Mess.  O  wretched  hapless  daughter  of  the  chief  Agamem- 
non, revered  Electra,  hear  the  unfortunate  words  which  I  am 
come  to  bring. 

Elec.  Alas !  alas  !  we  are  undone  ;  this  thou  signifiest 
by  thy  speech.  For  thou  comest,  as  it  seems,  a  messenger  of 
woes. 

Mess.  It  has  been  carried  by  the  vote  of  the  Pelasgians, 
that  thy  brother  and  thou  must  die  this  day. 

Elec.  Ah  me  !  the  expected  event  has  come,  which  long 
since  fearing,  I  pined  away  with  lamentations  on  account  of 
what  was  in  prospect. — But  what  was  the  debate  ?  What  ar- 
guments amongst  the  Argives  condemned  us,  and  confirmed 
our  sentence  of  death  ?  Tell  me,  old  man,  whether  by  the 
hand  raised  to  stone  me,  or  by  the  sword  must  I  breathe  out 
my  soul,  having  this  calamity  in  common  with  my  brother  ? 

Mess.  I  chanced  indeed  to  be  entering  the  gates  from  the 
country,  anxious  to  hear  both  what  regarded  thee,  and  what 
regarded  Orestes  ;  for  at  all  times  I  had  a  favourable  inclina- 
tion towards  thy  father  :  and  thy  house  fed  me,  poor  indeed, 
but  noble  in  my  conduct  towards  friends.  But  I  see  the 
crowd  going  and  sitting  down  on  an  eminence  ;  where  they 
say  Danaus  first  collected  the  people  to  a  common  council, 
when  he  suffered  punishment  at  the  hands  of  ./Egyptus.  But 
seeing  this  concourse,  I  asked  one  of  the  citizens,  "What  new 
thing  is  stirring  in  Argos  ?     Has  any  message  from  hostile 


62  ORESTES.  S76— 913. 

powers  roused  the  city  of  the  Danaids  ? "  But  he  said, 
"  Seest  thou  not  this  Orestes  walking  near  us,  who  is  about 
to  run  in  the  contest  of  life  and  death  ?"  But  I  see  an  unex- 
pected sight,  which  oh  that  I  had  never  seen  !  Pylades  and 
thy  brother  walking  together,  the  one  indeed  broken  with 
sickness,  but  the  other,  like  a  brother,  sympathizing  with  his 
friend,  tending  his  weakened  state  with  fostering  care.  But 
when  the  assembly  of  the  Argives  was  full,  a  herald  stood 
forth  and  said,  "  Who  wishes  to  speak  on  the  question,  whether 
it  is  right  that  Orestes,  who  has  killed  his  mother,  should  die, 
or  not?"  And  on  this  Talthybius  rises,  who,  in  conjunction 
with  thy  father,  laid  waste  the  Phrygians.  But  he  spoke 
words  of  divided  import,  being  the  constant  slave  of  those  in 
power  ;  struck  with  admiration  indeed  at  thy  father,  but  not 
commending  thy  brother  (speciously  mixing  up  words  of  bad 
import),  because  he  laid  down  no  good  laws  towards  his  pa- 
rents :  but  he  was  continually  casting  a  smiling  glance  on 
JEgisthus's  friends.  For  such  is  this  kind  ;  heralds  always 
dance  attendance  on  the  prosperous ;  but  that  man  is  their 
friend,  whoever  may  chance  to  have  power  in  the  state,  and 
to  be  in  office.  But  next  to  him  prince  Diomed  harangued  ; 
he  indeed  was  for  suffering  them  to  kill  neither  thee  nor  thy 
brother,  but  bid  them  observe  piety  by  punishing  you  with 
banishment.  But  some  indeed  murmured  their  assent,  that  he 
spoke  well,  but  others  praised  him  not22.  And  after  him  rises 
up  some  man,  intemperate  in  speech,  powerful  in  boldness,  an 
Argive,  yet  not  an  Argive23,  forced  upon  us,  relying  both  on 
the  tumult,  and  on  ignorant  boldness,  prompt  by  persuasion 
to  involve  them  in  some  mischief.  (For  when  a  man,  sweet 
in  words,  holding  bad  sentiments,  persuades  the  multitude,  it 
is  a  great  evil  to  the  city.  But  as  many  as  always  advise 
good  things  with  understanding,  although  not  at  the  present 
moment,  eventually  are  of  service  to  the  state :  but  the  intel- 
ligent leader  ought  to  look  to  this,  for  the  case  is  the  same 
with  the  man  who  speaks  words,  and  the  man  who  approves 

22  That  is,  blamed  him.  So  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  xi.  21,  kiraivia-w  v/ia?  iv 
tovtco  ;  ovk  i.Traivw.  Tcr.  And.  Act.  n.  Sc.  6.  "  Et,  quod  diccndum  hie 
siet,  Tu  quoque  perparce  nimium,  non  laudo." 

23  An  Argive  as  far  as  he  was  born  there,  and  therefore  rivayKaofxlvo? ; 
not  an  Argive,  inasmuch  as  his  parents  were  not  of  that  state.  This  is 
supposed  to  allude  to  Cleophon.     Schol.     See  Dindorf. 


914-951.  ORESTES.  63 

them.)  Who  said,  that  they  ought  to  kill  Orestes  and  thee 
by  stoning.  But  Tyndarus  was  privily  making  up  such  sort 
of  speeches  for  him  who  wished  your  death  to  speak.  But 
another  man  stood  up,  and  spoke  in  opposition  to  him,  in  form 
indeed  not  made  to  catch  the  eye  ;  but  a  man  endued  with  the 
qualities  of  a  man,  rarely  polluting  the  city,  and  the  circle  of 
the  forum  ;  one  who  farmed  his  own  land 24,  which  class  of 
persons25  alone  preserve  the  country,  but  prudent,  and  wish- 
ing the  tenour  of  his  conduct  to  be  in  unison  with  his  words, 
uncorrupted,  one  that  had  conformed  to  a  blameless  mode  of 
living  ;  he  proposed  to  crown  Orestes  the  son  of  Agamemnon,* 
who  was  willing  to  avenge  his  father  by  slaying  a  wicked  and 
unholy  woman,  who  took  this  out  of  the  power  of  men,  and 
would  no  one  have  been  the  cause  of  arming  the  hand  for  war, 
nor  undertaking  an  expedition,  leaving  his  home,  if  those  who 
are  left  destroy  what  is  entrusted  to  their  charge  in  the  house, 
disgracing  their  husbands'  beds.  And  to  right-minded  men 
at  least  he  appeared  to  speak  well :  and  none  spoke  besides, 
but  thy  brother  advanced  and  said,  "  0  inhabitants  of  the  land 
of  Inachus,  avenging  you  no  less  than  my  father,  I  slew  my 
mother,  for  if  the  murder  of  men  shall  become  licensed  to 
women,  ye  no  longer  can  escape  dying,  or  ye  must  be  slaves  to 
your  wives.  But  ye  do  the  contrary  to  what  ye  ought  to  do. 
For  now  she  that  was  false  to  the  bed  of  my  father  is  dead ; 
but  if  ye  do  indeed  slay  me,  the  law  has  lost  its  force,  and  no 
man  can  escape  dying,  forasmuch  as  there  will  be  no  lack  of 
this  audacity." 

But  he  persuaded  not  the  people,  though  appearing  to  speak 
well.  But  that  villain,  who  spoke  among  the  multitude,  over- 
comes him,  he  that  harangued  for  the  killing  of  thy  brother 
and  thee.  But  scarcely  did  the  wretched  Orestes  persuade 
them  that  he  might  not  die  by  stoning  ;  but  he  promised  that 
this  day  he  would  quit  his  life  by  self-slaughter  together  with 
thee : — but  Pylades  is  conducting  him  from  the  council,  weep- 
ing :  but  his  friends  accompany  him  bewailing  him,  pitying 
him  ;  but  he  is  coming  a  sad  spectacle  to  thee,  and  a  wretched 

-*  This  is  the  interpretation  of  one  Scholiast ;  another  explains  it 
oiKEiai9  xepalu  £pyaX,6fiavos.     Grotius  translates  it  agricola. 

23  The  same  construction  occurs  in  the  Supplicants,  870.  <t>l\oi$  6' 
a\i)0ijs  ?]V  <pi\os,  Trapovci  te  xal  fit]  irapovcriu'  wv  (of  which  sort  of  men) 

dpitifx6<s  oil  ttoXus.    PonsoN.      *  See  Note  F. 


64  ORESTES.  952-993. 

sight.  But  prepare  the  sword,  or  the  noose  for  thy  neck,  for 
thou  must  die,  but  thy  nobleness  of  birth  hath  profited  thee 
nothing,  nor  the  Pythian  Phoebus  who  sits  on  the  tripod,  but 
hath  destroyed  thee. 

ChoR.  O  unhappy  virgin  !  how  art  thou  dumb,  casting  thy 
muffled  countenance  towards  the  ground,  as  though  about  to 
run  into  a  strain  of  groans  and  lamentations  ! 

Elec.  I  begin  the  lament,  O  land  of  Greece,  digging  my 
white  nail  into  my  cheek,  sad  bleeding  woe,  and  dashing  my 
head,  which26  the  lovely27  goddess  of  the  manes  beneath  the 
earth  has  to  her  share.  And  let  the  Cyclopian  land 28  howl, 
applying  the  steel  to  their  head  cropped  of  hair  over  the 
calamity  of  our  house.  This  pity,  this  pity,  proceeds  for 
those  who  are  about  to  die,  who  once  were  the  princes  of 
Greece.  For  it  is  gone,  it  is  gone,  the  entire  race  of  the 
children  of  Pelops  has  perished,  and  the  happiness  which  once 
resided  in  these  blest  abodes.  Envy  from  heaven  has  now 
seized  it,  and  the  harsh  decree  of  blood  in  the  state.  Alas  ! 
alas !  O  race  of  mortals  that  endure  for  a  day,  full  of  tears, 
full  of  troubles,  behold  how  contrary  to  expectation  fate  comes. 
But  in  the  long  lapse  of  time  each  different  man  receives  by 
turns  his  different  sufferings29.  But  the  whole  race  of  mortals 
is  unstable  and  uncertain. 

Oh  !  could  I  go  to  that  rock  stretched  from  Olympus  in  its 
loftiness  midst  heaven  and  earth  by  golden  chains,  that  mass 
of  clay  borne  round  with  rapid  revolutions,  that  in  my  plaints 
I  might  cry  out  to  my  ancient  father  Tantalus  ;  who  begat  the 
progenitors  of  my  family,  who  saw  calamities,  what  time  in 
the  pur&uing  of  steeds,  Pelops  in  his  car  drawn  by  four  horses 
perpetrated,  as  he  drove,  the  murder  of  Myrtilus,  by  casting 
him  into  the  sea,  hurling  him  down  to  the  surge  of  the  ocean, 
as  he  guided  his  car  on  the  shore  of  the  briny  sea  by  Geraestus 

20  Which,  ktuttov  namely :  oi<uxa  and  ktvitov  are  each  governed  by 
TiOt io-a  ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a  single  verb  in  English  that  should  be 
transitive  to  both  these  substantives. 

27  KaWiVats,  lovely,  not  lovely  in  her  children:  so  in  Phoen.  1634. 
eCte/cvos  jfcvvwpis. 

28  Argos,  so  called  from  the  Cyclopes,  a  nation  of  Thrace,  who,  being 
called  in  as  allies,  afterwards  settled  here. 

29  ete'pois  may  perhaps  seem  to  make  the  construction  plainer  than 
etepos  ;  but  Porson  has  received  the  latter  into  his  text  on  account  of  the 
metre. 


994—1028.  ORESTES.  65 

foaming  with  its  white  billows.  Whence  the  baleful  curse 
came  on  my  house  since,  by  the  agency  of  Maia's  son  30,  thei% 
appeared  the  pernicious,  pernicious  prodigy  of  the  golden- 
fleeced  lamb,  a  birth  which  took  place  among  the  flocks  of  the 
warlike  Atreus.  On  which  both  Discord  drove  back  the 
winged  chariot  of  the  sun,  directing  it  from  the  path  of  heaven 
leading  to  the  west  towards  Aurora  borne  on  her  single  horse  31 . 
And  Jupiter  drove  back  the  course  of  the  seven  moving 
Pleiads  another  way  :  and  from  that  period32  he  sends  deaths 
in  succession  to  deaths,  and  "  the  feast  of  Thyestes,"  so  named 
from  Thyestes.  And  the  bed  of  the  Cretan  Aerope  deceitful 
in  a  deceitful  marriage  has  come  as  a  finishing  stroke  on  me 
and  my  father,  to  the  miserable  destruction  of  our  family. 

Chor.  But  see,  thy  brother  is  advancing,  condemned  by 
the  vote  of  death,  and  Pylades  the  most  faithful  of  all,  a  man 
like  a  brother,  supporting  the  enfeebled  limbs  of  Orestes, 
walking  by  his  side33  with  the  foot  of  tender  solicitude. 

Electra,  Orestes,  Pylades,  Chorus. 

Elec.  Alas  me  !  for  I  bewail  thee,  my  brother,  seeing  thee 
before  the  tomb,  and  before  the  pyre  of  thy  departed  shade  : 
alas  me !  again  and  again,  how  am  I  bereft  of1  my  senses, 
seeing  with  my  eyes  the  very  last  sight  of  thee. 

Ores.  Wilt  thou  not  in  silence,  ceasing  from  womanish 
groans,  make  up  thy  mind  to  what  is  decreed  ?  These  things 
indeed  are  lamentable,  but  yet  we  must  bear  our  present  fate. 

Elec.  And  how  can  I  be  silent  ?  We  wretched  no  longer 
are  permitted  to  view  this  light  of  the  God. 

Ores.  Do  not  thou  kill  me ;  I,  the  unhappy,  have  died 
enough  already  under  the  hands  of  the  Argives  ;  but  pass  over 
our  present  ills. 

30  Myrtilus  was  the  son  of  Mercury,  who  therefore  sowed  this  dissen- 
sion between  the  two  brothers  in  revenge  for  his  death  by  Pelops.  See 
note  at  line  802. 

31  Some  would  understand  by  fiovoTruiKov  not  that  Aurora  was  borne  on 
one  horse,  but  that  this  alteration  in  the  course  of  nature  took  place  for 
one  day.     Schol. 

32  Kai  airo  tuivSs.,  tjtoi  fj.ETa  TauTa.     PARAPH. 

33  irapdo-Etpos  is  used  to  signify  a  loose  horse  tied  abreast  of  another  in 
the  shaft,  and  is  technically  termed  "  the  outrigger."  The  metaphorical 
application  of  it  to  Pylades,  who  voluntarily  attached  himself  to  the 
misfortunes  of  his  friend,  is  extremely  beautiful. 

F 


66  ORESTES.  1029-1059. 

Elec.  0  Orestes !  oh  wretched  in  thy  youth,  and  thy  fate, 
and  thy  untimely  death,  then  oughtest  thou  to  live,  when  thou 
art  no  more. 

Okes.  Do  not  by  the  Gods  throw  cowardice  around  me, 
bringing  the  remembrance  of  my  woes  so  as  to  cause  tears. 

Elec.  We  shall  die ;  it  is  not  possible  not  to  groan  our 
misfortunes ;  for  the  dear  life  is  a  cause  of  pity  to  all  mortals. 

Ores.  This  is  the  day  appointed  for  us !  but  we  must 
either  fit  the  suspended  noose,  or  whet  the  sword  with  our 
hand. 

Elec.  Do  thou  then  kill  me,  my  brother ;  let  none  of  the 
Argives  kill  me,  putting  a  contumely  on  the  offspring  of 
Agamemnon. 

Ores.  I  have  enough  of  thy  mother's  blood,  but  thee  I 
will  not  slay  ;  but  die  by  thine  own  hand  in  whatever  manner 
thou  wilt. 

Elec.  These  things  shall  be ;  I  will  not  be  deserted  by 
thy  sword 34 ;  but  I  wish  to  clasp  my  hands  around  thy  neck. 

Ores.  Thou  enjoyest  a  vain  gratification,  if  this  be  an  en- 
joyment, to  throw  thy  hands  around  those  who  are  hard  at 
death's  door. 

Elec.  Oh  thou  most  dear  !  oh  thou  that  hast  the  desirable 
and  most  sweet  name,  and  one  soul  with  thy  sister ! 

Ores.  Thou  wilt  melt  me  ;  and  still  I  wish  to  answer  thee 
in  the  endearment  of  encircling  arms,  for  why  am  I  any  longer 
ashamed  ?  0  bosom  of  my  sister,  O  dear  object  of  my 
caresses,  these  embraces  are  allowed  to  us  miserable  beings 
instead  of  children  and  the  bridal  bed. 

Elec.  Alas !  How  can  the  same  sword  (if  this  request  be 
lawful)  kill  us,  and  one  tomb  wrought  of  cedar  receive  us  ? 

Ores.  This  would  be  most  sweet ;  but  thou  seest  how 
destitute  we  are,  in  respect  to  being  able  to  share  our  se- 
pulture. 

Elec.  Did  not  Menelaus  speak  in  behalf  of  thee,  taking  a 
decided  part  against  thy  death,  the  base  man,  the  deserter  of 
my  father  ?     (Note  G.) 

Ores.  He  shewed  it  not  even  in  his  countenance,  but  keep- 
ing his  hopes  on  the  sceptre,  he  was  cautious  how  he  saved 
his  friends.     But  let  be,  he  will  die  acting  in  a  manner  nobly, 

31  Or,  "  /  will  not  be  at  all  behind  thy  slaughter." 


1060—1097.  ORESTES.  67 

and  most  worthily  of  Agamemnon.  And  I  indeed  will  shew 
my  high  descent  to  the  city,  striking  home  to  my  heart  with 
the  sword  ;  but  thee,  on  the  other  hand,  it  behoveth  to  act  in 
concert  with  my  bold  attempts.  But  do  thou,  Pylades,  be 
the  umpire  of  our  death,  and  well  compose  the  bodies  of 
us  when  dead,  and  bury  us  together,  bearing  us  to  our  father's 
tomb.  And  farewell — but  I  am  going  to  the  deed,  as  thou 
seest. 

Pyl.  Hold.  This  one  thing  indeed  first  I  bring  in  charge 
against  thee — Dost  thou  think  that  I  can  wish  to  live  when 
thou  diest35? 

Ores.  For  how  does  it  concern  thee  to  die  with  me  ? 
Pyl.  Dost  ask  ?    But  how  does  it  to  live  without  thy  com- 
pany ? 

Ores.  Thou  didst  not  slay  my  mother,  as  I  did,  a  wretch. 
Pyl.  With  thee  I  did  at  least ;  I  ought  also  to  suffer  these 
things  in  common  with  thee. 

Ores.  Take  thyself  back  to  thy  father,  do  not  die  with  me. 
For  thou  indeed  hast  a  city  (but  I  no  longer  have),  and  the 
mansion  of  thy  father,  and  a  great  harbour  of  wealth.  But 
thou  art  frustrated  in  thy  marriage  with  this  unhappy  virgin, 
whom  I  betrothed  to  thee,  revering  thy  friendship.  Never- 
theless do  thou,  contracting  other  nuptials,  be  a  blest  father, 
but  the  connexion  between  me  and  thee  no  longer  subsists. 
But  thou,  0  darling  name  of  my  converse,  farewell,  be  happy, 
for  this  is  not  allowed  me,  but  it  is  to  thee ;  for  we,  the  dead, 
are  deprived  of  happiness. 

Pyl.  Surely  thou  art  wide  astray  from  my  purposes.  Nor 
may  the  fruitful  plain  receive  my  blood,  nor  the  bright  air,  if 
ever  I  betraying  thee,  having  freed  myself,  forsake  thee  ;  for  I 
committed  the  slaughter  with  thee  (I  will  not  deny  it),  and  I 
planned  all  things,  for  which  now  thou  sufferest  vengeance. 
Die  then  I  must  with  thee  and  her  together,  for  her,  whose 
marriage  I  have  courted,  I  consider  as  my  wife ;  for  what 
good  excuse  ever  shall  I  give,  going  to  the  Delphian  land  to 
the  citadel  of  the  Phocians,  I,  who  was  present  with  you,  your 
friend,  before  indeed  you  were  unfortunate,  but  now,  when 
you  are  unfortunate,  am  no  longer  thy  friend  ?  It  is  not  pos- 
sible— but  these  things  are  my  care  also.     But  since  we  are 

35  tu  in  this  passage  interrogat  oblique,  see  Hoogeveen,  xvi.  S  1.  15. 
F    2 


68  ORESTES.  1098—1123. 

about  to  die,  let  us  come  to  a  common  conference,  how  Mene- 
laus  may  be  involved  in  our  calamity. 

Ores.  0  thou  dearest  man :  for  would  I  could  see  this  and 
die! 

Pyl.  Be  persuaded  then,  but  defer  the  slaughtering  sword. 

Ores.  I  will  defer,  if  any  how  I  can  avenge  myself  on  my 
enemy. 

P\x.  Be  silent  then,  for  I  have  but  small  confidence  in 
women. 

.    Ores.  Do  not  at  all  fear  these,  for  they  are  friends  that  are 
present. 

Pyl.  Let  us  kill  Helen,  which  will  cause  great  grief  to 
Menelaus. 

Ores.  How  ?  for  the  will  is  here,  if  it  can  be  done  with 
glory. 

Pyl.   Stabbing  her ;  but  she  is  lurking  in  thy  house. 

Ores.  Yes  indeed,  and  is  putting  her  seal  on  all  my  effects. 

Pyl.  But  she  shall  seal  no  more,  having  Pluto  for  her 
bridegroom. 

Ores.  And  how  can  this  be  ?  for  she  has  a  train  of  bar- 
barian attendants. 

Pyl.  Whom  ?  for  I  would  be  afraid  of  no  Phrygian. 

Ores.   Such  men  as  should  preside  over  mirrors  and  scents. 

Pyl.  For  has  she  brought  hither  her  Trojan  fineries? 

Ores.   Oh  yes  !  so  that  Greece  is  but  a  cottage  for  her. 

Pxl.  A  race  of  slaves  is  a  mere  nothing  against  a  race  that 
will  not  be  slaves. 

Ores.  In  good  truth,  this  if  I  could  achieve,  I  shrink  not 
from  two  deaths. 

Pyl.  But  neither  do  I  indeed,  if  I  could  revenge  thee  at 
least. 

Ores.  Disclose  thy  purpose,   and  go  through  it  as  thou 
sayest. 

Pyl.  We  will  enter  then  the  house,  as  men  about  to  die. 

Ores.  Thus  far  I  comprehend,  but  the  rest  I  do  not  com- 
prehend. 

Pyl.  We  will  make  our  lamentation  to  her  of  the  things 
we  suffer. 

Ores.  So  that  she  shall  weep,  though  joyed  within  her  heart. 

Pyl.  And  the  same  things  will  be  for  us  to  do  afterwards, 
which  she  does  then. 


1124—1161.  ORESTES.  69 

Ores.  Then  how  shall  we  finish  the  contest  ? 

Pyl.  We  will  wear  our  swords  concealed  beneath  our  robes. 

Ores.  But  what  slaughter  can  there  be  before  her  at- 
tendants ? 

Pyl.  We  will  bolt  them  out,  scattered  in  different  parts  of 
the  house. 

Ores.  And  him  that  is  not  silent  we  must  kill. 

Pyl.  Then  the  circumstances  of  the  moment  will  point  out 
what  steps  to  take. 

Ores.  To  kill  Helen,  I  understand  the  sign. 

Pyl.  Thou  seest :  but  hear  on  what  honourable  principles 
I  meditate  it.  For,  if  we  draw  our  sword  on  a  more  modest 
woman,  the  murder  would  blot  our  names  with  infamy.  But 
in  the  present  instance,  she  shall  suffer  vengeance  for  the 
whole  of  Greece,  whose  fathers  she  slew,  and  made  the  brides 
bereaved  of  their  spouses ;  there  shall  be  a  shout,  and  they 
will  kindle  up  fire  to  the  Gods,  praying  for  many  blessings  to 
fall  to  thee  and  me,  inasmuch  as  we  shed  the  blood  of  a  wicked 
woman.  But  thou  shalt  not  be  called  the  matricide,  when 
thou  hast  slain  her,  but  dropping  this  name  thou  shalt  arrive 
at  better  things,  being  styled  the  slayer  of  the  havoc-dealing 
Helen.  It  never,  never  were  right  that  Menelaus  should  be 
prosperous,  and  that  thy  father,  and  thee,  and  thy  sister  should 
die,  and  thy  mother  ;  (this  I  forbear,  for  it  is  not  decorous  to 
mention  ;)  and  that  he  should  seize  thy  house,  having  re- 
covered his  bride  by  the  means  of  Agamemnon's  valour. 
For  may  I  live  no  longer,  if  I  draw  not  my  black  sword  upon 
her.  But  if  then  we  do  not  compass  the  murder  of  Helen, 
having  fired  the  palace  we  will  die,  for  we  shall  have  glory, 
succeeding  in  one  of  these  two  things,  nobly  dying,  or  nobly 
rescued. 

Chor.  The  daughter  of  Tyndarus  is  an  object  of  detesta- 
tion to  all  women,  being  one  that  has  given  rise  to  scandal 
against  the  sex. 

Ores.  Alas  !  There  is  no  better  thing  than  a  real  friend, 
not  riches,  not  kingdoms ;  but  the  popular  applause  becomes 
a  thing  of  no  account  to  receive  in  exchange  for  a  generous 
friend.  For  thou  contrivedst  the  destruction  that  befell 
iEgisthus,  and  wast  close  to  me  in  my  dangers.  But  now 
again  thou  givest  me  to  revenge  me  on  mine  enemies,  and  art 
not  out  of  the  way — but  I  will  leave  off  praising  thee,  since  there 


70  ORESTES.  1162-1199. 

is  some  burthen  even  in  this  "  to  be  praised  to  excess."  But 
I  altogether  in  a  state  of  death,  wish  to  do  something  to  my 
foes  and  die,  that  I  may  in  turn  destroy  those  who  betrayed 
me,  and  those  may  groan  who  also  made  me  unhappy.  I  am 
the  son  of  Agamemnon,  who  ruled  over  Greece  by  general 
consent ;  no  tyrant,  but  yet  he  had  the  power  as  it  were  of  a 
God,  whom  I  will  not  disgrace,  suffering  a  slavish  death,  but 
breathe  out  my  soul  in  freedom,  but  on  Menelaus  will  I  re- 
venge me.  For  if  we  could  gain  this  one  thing,  we  should  be 
prosperous,  if  from  any  chance  safety  should  come  unhoped 
for  on  the  slayers  then,  not  the  slain :  this  I  pray  for.  For 
what  I  wish  is  sweet  to  delight  the  mind  without  fear  of  cost, 
though  with  but  fleeting  words  uttered  through  the  mouth. 

Elec.  I,  O  brother,  think  that  this  very  thing  brings  safe- 
ty to  thee,  and  thy  friend,  and  in  the  third  place  to  me. 

Ores.  Thou  meanest  the  providence  of  the  Gods :  but 
where  is  this  ?  for  I  know  that  there  is  understanding  in  thy 
mind. 

Elec.  Hear  me  then,  and  thou  too  give  thy  attention. 

Ores.  Speak,  since  the  existing  prospect  of  good  affords 
some  pleasure. 

Elec.  Art  thou  acquainted  with  the  daughter  of  Helen  ? 
Thou  knowest  her  of  whom  I  ask. 

Ores.  I  know  her,  Hermione,  whom  my  mother  brought  up. 

Elec.   She  is  gone  to  Clytemnestra's  tomb. 

Ores.  For  what  pui-pose  ?  what  hope  dost  thou  suggest  ? 

Elec.  To  pour  libations  on  the  tomb  in  behalf  of  her 
mother. 

Ores.  And  what  is  this,  thou  hast  told  me  of,  that  regards 
our  safety  ? 

Elec.   Seize  her  as  a  pledge  as  she  is  coming  back. 

Ores.  What  remedy  for  the  three  friends  is  this  thou 
sayest  ? 

Elec.  When  Helen  is  dead,  if  Menelaus  does  any  harm  to 
thee  or  Pylades,  or  me  (for  this  firm  of  friendship  is  all  one), 
say  that  thou  wilt  kill  Hermione  ;  but  thou  oughtest  to  draw 
thy  sword,  and  hold  it  to  the  neck  of  the  virgin.  And  if  in- 
deed Menelaus  save  thee,  anxious  that  the  virgin  may  not  die ; 
when  he  sees  Helen's  corse  weltering  in  blood,  give  back  the 
virgin  for  her  father  to  enjoy ;  but  should  he,  not  governing 
his  angry  temper,  slay  thee,  do  thou  also  plunge  the  sword 


1200—1237.  ORESTES.  71 

into  the  virgin's  neck,  and  I  think  that  he,  though  at  first  he 
come  to  us  very  big,  will  after  a  season  soften  his  heart ;  for 
neither  is  he  brave  nor  valiant :  this  is  the  fortress  of  our 
safety  that  I  have ;  my  arguments  on  the  subject  have  been 
spoken. 

Ores.  0  thou  that  hast  indeed  the  mind  of  a  man,  but  a 
form  among  women  beautiful,  to  what  a  degree  art  thou  more 
worthy  of  life  than  death  !  Pylades,  wilt  thou  miserably  be 
disappointed  of  such  a  woman,  or  dwelling  with  her  obtain 
this  happy  marriage  ? 

Pyl.  For  would  it  could  be  so  !  and  she  could  come  to  the. 
city  of  the  Phocians  meeting  with  her  deserts  in  splendid 
nuptials  ! 

Ores.  But  when  will  Hermione  come  to  the  house  ?  Since 
for  the  rest  thou  saidst  most  admirably,  if  we  could  succeed  in 
taking  the  whelp  of  the  impious  father. 

Elec.  Even  now  I  guess  that  she  must  be  near  the  house, 
for  with  this  supposition  the  space  itself  of  the  time  coincides. 

Ores.  It  is  well ;  do  thou  therefore,  my  sister  Electra, 
waiting  before  the  house,  meet  the  arrival  of  the  virgin.  And 
watch,  lest  any  one,  either  some  ally,  or  the  brother  of  my 
father,  should  be  beforehand  with  us  coming  to  the  palace  : 
and  make  some  noise  towards  the  house,  either  knocking  at 
the  doors,  or  sending  thy  voice  within.  But  let  us,  O  Pyla- 
des (for  thou  undertakest  this  labour  with  me),  entering  in, 
arm  our  hands  with  the  sword  to  one  last  attempt.  O  my  fa- 
ther, that  inhabitest  the  realms  of  gloomy  night,  Orestes  thy 
son  invokes  thee  to  come  a  succour  to  thy  suppliants  ;  for  on 
thy  account  I  wretched  suffer  unjustly,  and  am  betrayed  by  thy 
brother,  myself  having  acted  justly  :  whose  wife  I  wish  to 
take  and  destroy  ;  but  be  thou  our  accomplice  in  this  affair. 

Elec.  O  father,  come  then,  if  beneath  the  earth  thou  hear- 
est  thy  children  calling,  who  die  for  thee. 

Pyl.  0  thou  relation  36  of  my  father,  give  ear,  0  Agamem- 
non, to  my  prayers  also,  preserve  thy  children. 

Ores.  I  slew  my  mother. 

Pyl.  But  I  directed  the  sword. 

Elec.  But  I  at  least  incited  you,  and  freed  you  from  delays 

Ores.   Succouring  thee,  my  father. 

36  Strophius,  the  father  of  Pylades,  married  Anaxibia,  Agamemnon's 
sister. 


72  ORESTES.  1238—1274. 

Elec.  Neither  did  I  forsake  thee. 

Pyl.  Wilt  thou  not  therefore,  hearing  these  things  that  are 
brought  against  thee  37,  defend  thy  children  ? 

Ores.  I  pour  libations  on  thee  with  my  tears. 

Elec.  And  I  with  lamentations. 

Pvl.  Cease,  and  let  us  haste  forth  to  the  work,  for  if  pray- 
ers penetrate  under  the  earth,  he  hears  ;  but,  0  Jove  our  an- 
cestor, and  thou  revered  deity  of  justice,  grant  us  to  succeed, 
him,  and  myself,  and  this  virgin,  for  over  us  three  friends  one 
hazard,  one  cause  impends,  either  for  all  to  live,  or  all  to  die  ! 

Electra,  Chorus. 

Elec.  O  dear  Mycenian  virgins,  who  have  the  first  place 
at  the  Pelasgian  seat  of  the  Argives  ; — 

Chor.  What  voice  art  thou  uttering,  my  respected  mis- 
tress ?  for  this  appellation  still  awaits  thee  in  the  city  of  the 
Danaids. 

Elec.  Arrange  yourselves,  some  of  you  in  this  beaten  way, 
and  some  there,  in  that  other  path,  to  guard  the  house. 

Chor.  But  on  what  account  dost  thou  command  this,  tell 
me,  my  friend. 

Elec.  Fear  possesses  me,  lest  any  one  being  in  the  palace, 
on  account  of  this  murderous  deed,  should  contrive  evils  on 
evils. 

Semichor.  Go,  let  us  hasten,  I  indeed  will  guard  this  path, 
that  tends  towards  where  the  sun  flings  his  first  rays. 

Semichor.  And  I  indeed  this,  which  leads  towards  the  west. 

Elec.  Now  turn  the  glances  of  your  eyes  around  in  every 
position,  now  here,  now  there,  then  take  some  other  view. 

Chor.  We  are,  as  thou  commandest. 

Elec.  Now  roll  your  eyelids  over  your  pupils,  glance  them 
every  way  through  your  ringlets. 

Semichor.  Is  this  any  one  here  appearing  in  the  path  ? — 
Who  is  this  rustic  that  is  standing  about  thy  palace  ? 

Elec.  We  are  undone  then,  my  friends  ;  he  will  immedi- 
ately shew  to  the  enemy  the  lurking  beasts  of  prey  armed  with 
their  swords. 

*  Semichor.  Be  not  afraid,  the  path  is  clear,  which  thou 
thinkest  not. 

37  oviiSil,  toiv  ivipytaiwv  tos  inrofivriGtt':.  ScHOL.  Ter.  And.  i.  1.  "  ist- 
hsec  commemoratio  quasi  exprobratio  est  immemoris  benefici." 


1275—1320.  ORESTES.  73 

Elec.  But  what? — does  all  with  you  remain  secure  ?  Give 
me  some  good  report,  whether  the  space  before  the  hall  be 
empty  ? 

Semichor.  All  here  at  least  is  well,  but  look  to  thy  pro- 
vince, for  no  one  of  the  Danaids  is  approaching  towards  us. 

Semichor.  Thy  report  agrees  with  mine,  for  neither  is 
there  a  disturbance  here. 

Elec.  Come  now, — I  will  listen  at  the  door :  why  do  ye 
delay,  ye  that  are  within,  to  sacrifice  the  victim,  now  that  ye 

are  in  quiet? They  hear  not:  Alas  me!  wretched  in 

misery !  Are  the  swords  then  struck  dumb  at  her  beauty  ? 
Perhaps  some  Argive  in  arms  rushing  in  with  the  foot  of  suc- 
cour will  approach  the  palace. — Now  watch  more  carefully ; 
it  is  no  contest  that  admits  delay ;  but  turn  your  eyes  some 
this  way,  and  some  that. 

Ciior.  I  turn  each  different  way,  looking  about  on  all  sides. 

Helen,  (within.)  Oh !  Pelasgian  Argos  !  I  am  miserably 
slain  ! 

Elec.  Heard  ye  ?  The  men  are  employing  their  head  in 
the  murder. — It  is  the  shriek  of  Helen,  as  I  may  conjecture. 

Semichor.  O  eternal  might  of  Jove,  come  to  assist  my 
friends  in  every  way. 

Hel.  Menelaus,  I  die  !  But  thou  art  at  hand,  and  dost  not 
help  me ! 

Elec.  Kill,  strike,  slay,  plunging  with  your  hands  the  two 
double-edged  swords  into  the  deserter  of  her  father,  the  de- 
serter of  her  husband,  who  destroyed  numbers  of  the  Grecians 
perishing  by  the  spear  at  the  river,  whence  tears  fell  into 
conjunction  with  tears,  fell  on  account  of  the  iron  weapons 
around  the  whirlpools  of  Scamander. 

Chor.  Be  still,  be  still :  I  heard  the  sound  of  some  one 
coming  along  the  path  around  the  palace. 

Elec.  0  most  dear  women,  in  the  midst  of  the  slaughter 
behold  Hermione  is  present ;  let  us  cease  from  our  clamour, 
for  she  comes  about  to  fall  into  the  meshes  of  our  toils.  A 
goodly  prey  will  she  be,  if  she  be  taken.  Again  to  your  sta- 
tions with  a  calm  countenance,  and  with  a  colour  that  shall 
not  give  evidence  of  what  has  been  done.  I  too  will  preserve 
a  pensive  cast  of  countenance,  as  though  perfectly  unac- 
quainted with  what  has  happened. 


74 


ORESTES.  1321-1354. 


Hermione,  Electra,  Chorus. 

Elec.  O  virgin,  art  thou  come  from  crowning  Clytemnes- 
tra's  tomb,  and  pouring  libations  to  her  manes  ? 

Herm.  I  am  come,  having  obtained  her  good  services  ;  but 
some  terror  has  come  upon  me,  on  account  of  the  noise  in  the 
palace,  which  I  hear  being  a  far  distance  off  the  house. 

Elec.  But  why  ?  There  have  happened  to  us  things  wor- 
thy of  groans. 

Herm.  Speak  good  words  ;  but  what  news  dost  thou  tell  me  ? 

Elec.  It  has  been  decreed  by  this  land,  that  Orestes  and  I 
die. 

Herm.  No,  I  hope  not  so  ;  you,  who  are  my  relations. 

Elec.  It  is  fixed ;  but  we  stand  under  the  yoke  of  necessity. 

Herm.  Was  the  noise  then  in  the  house  on  this  account  ? 

Elec.  Eor  falling  down  a  suppliant  at  the  knees  of  Helen, 
he  cries  out 

Herm.  Who  ?  for  I  know  no  more,  except  thou  tellest  me. 

Elec.  The  wretched  Orestes,  that  he  may  not  die,  and  in 
behalf  of  me. 

Herm.  For  a  just  reason  then  the  house  lamented. 

Elec.  For  on  what  other  account  should  one  rather  cry 
out  ?  But  come,  and  join  in  supplication  with  thy  friends, 
falling  clown  before  thy  mother,  the  supremely  blest,  that 
Menelaus  will  not  see  us  perish.  But,  O  thou,  that  receivedst 
thy  education  at  the  hands  of  my  mother,  pity  us,  and  alleviate 
our  sufferings.  Come  hither  to  the  trial ;  but  I  will  lead  the 
way,  for  thou  alone  hast  the  ends  of  our  preservation. 

Herm.  Behold  I  direct  my  footstep  towards  the  house.  Be 
preserved,  as  far  as  lies  in  me. 

Elec.  O  ye  in  the  house,  my  dear  warriors,  will  ye  not 
take  your  prey  ? 

Herm.  Alas  me  !  who  are  these  I  see  ? 

Ores,  (advancing.)  Thou  must  be  silent;  for  thou  art 
come  to  preserve  us,  not  thyself. 

Elec.  Hold  her,  hold  her ;  and  pointing  a  sword  to  her 
neck  be  silent,  that  Menelaus  may  know,  that  having  found 
men,  not  Phrygian  cowards,  he  has  treated  them  in  a  manner 
he  should  treat  cowards.  What  ho !  what  ho !  my  friends, 
make  a  noise,  a  noise,  and  shout  before  the  palace,  that  the 
murder  that  is  perpetrated  spread  not  a  dread  alarm  amongst 


1355—1398.  ORESTES.  .  5 

the  Argives,  so  that  they  run  to  assist  to  the  king's  palace, 
hefore  I  plainly  see  the  slaughtered  Helen  lying  weltering  in 
her  blood  within  the  house,  or  else  we  hear  the  report  from 
some  of  her  attendants.  For  part  of  the  havoc  I  know,  and 
part  not  accurately. 

Chor.  With  justice  came  the  vengeance  of  the  Gods  on 
Helen.  For  she  filled  the  whole  of  "Greece  with  tears  on 
account  of  the  ruthless,  ruthless  Idean  Paris,  who  brought 
the  Grecian  state  to  Ilium.  But  be  silent,  for  the  bolts  of 
the  royal  mansion  resound,  for  some  one  of  the  Phrygians 
comes  forth,  from  whom  we  shall  hear  of  the  affairs  within 
the  house,  in  what  state  they  are. 

Phrygian,  Chorus. 

Phry.  I  have  escaped  from  death  by  the  Argive  sword 
in  these  barbaric  slippers,  climbing  over  the  cedar  beams  of 
the  bed  and  the  Doric  triglyphs,  by  the  flight  of  a  barbarian 3S. 
Thou  art  gone,  thou  art  gone,  O  my  country,  my  country  ! 
Alas  me  !  whither  can  I  escape,  0  strangers,  flying  through 
the  hoary  air,  or  the  sea,  which  the  Ocean,  with  head  in  shape 
like  a  bull's,  rolling  with  his  arms  encircles  the  earth  ? 

Chor.  But  what  is  the  matter,  0  attendant  of  Helen,  thou 
man  of  Ida  ? 

Phry.  O  Ilion,  Ilion  !  alas  me  !  O  thou  fertile  Phrygian 
city,  thou  sacred  mount  of  Ida,  how  do  I  lament  for  thee 
destroyed,  a  sad39,  sad  strain  for  my  barbaric  voice,  on  ac- 
count of  that  form  of  the  hapless,  hapless  Helen,  born  from  a 
bird,  the  offspring  of  the  beauteous  Leda  in  shape  of  a  swan, 
the  fiend  of  the  splendid  Apollonian  Pergamus  !  Alas  !  Oh  ! 
lamentations  !  lamentations  !  O  wretched  Dardania,  warlike 
school40  of  Ganymede,  the  companion  of  Jove  ! 

Chor.  Relate  to  us  clearly  each  circumstance  that  hap- 
pened in  the  house,  for  I  do  not  understand  your  former 
account,  but  merely  conjecture. 

Phry.  A'iXwov,  aiXivov,  the  Barbarians  begin  the  song  of 
death  in  the  language  of  Asia,  Alas  !  alas !  when  the  blood 
of  kings  has  been  poured  on  the  earth  by  the  ruthless  swords 

■18  i.  e.  being  a  barbarian,  and  therefore  not  knowing  whither  to  go. 

39  dpfxdTttov,  such  a  strain  as  that  raised  over  Hector,  iXxofxtvw,  £i<i 
tou  apuaTos.     See  two  other  explanations  in  the  Scholia. 

40  'nnroauvu,  >;tis  uttjjpX£S  i7nr>|\«<ri'a  tou  I\     BltUNCK. 


76  ORESTES.  1399—1456 

of  death.  There  came  to  the  palace  (that  I  may  relate  each 
circumstance)  two  Grecians,  lions,  of  the  one  the  leader  of 
the  Grecian  host  was  said  to  be  the  father,  the  other  the  son 
of  Strophius,  a  man  of  dark  design ;  such  was  Ulysses,  se- 
cretly treacherous,  but  faithful  to  his  friends,  bold  in  battle, 
skilled  in  war,  cruel  as  the  dragon.  May  he  perish  for  his 
deep  concealed  design,  the  worker  of  evil !  But  they  having 
advanced  within  her  chamber,  whom  the  archer  Paris  had  as 
his  wife,  their  eyes  bathed  with  tears,  they  sat  down  in  hum- 
ble mien,  one  on  each  side  of  her,  on  the  right  and  on  the 
left,  armed  with  swords.  And  around  her  knees  did  they 
both  fling  their  suppliant  hands,  around  the  knees  of  Helen 
did  they  fling  them.  But  the  Phrygian  attendants  sprung  up, 
and  fled  in  amazement :  and  one  called  out  to  another  in  ter- 
ror, See,  lest  there  be  treachery.  To  some  indeed  there  ap- 
peared no  danger ;  but  to  others  the  dragon  stained  with  his 
mother's  blood  appeared  bent  to  enfold  in  his  closest  toils  the 
daughter  of  Tyndarus. 

Chor.  But  where  wert  thou  then,  or  hadst  thou  long  be- 
fore fled  through  fear  ? 

Phry.  After  the  Phrygian  fashion  I  chanced  with  the  close 
circle  of  feathers  to  be  fanning  the  gale,  that  sported  in  the 
ringlets  of  Helen,  before  her  cheek,  after  the  barbaric  fashion. 
But  she  was  winding  with  her  fingers  the  flax  round  the  dis- 
taff, but  what  she  had  spun  she  let  fall  on  the  ground,  desirous 
of  making  from  the  Phrygian  spoils  a  robe  of  purple  as  an 
ornament  for  the  tomb,  a  gift  to  Clytemnestra.  But  Orestes 
entreated  the  Spartan  girl ;  "  0  daughter  of  Jove,  here,  place 
thy  footstep  on  the  ground,  rising  from  thy  seat,  come  to  the 
place  of  our  ancestor  Pelops,  the  ancient  altar,  that  thou 
mayest  hear  my  words."  And  he  leads  her,  but  she  followed, 
not  dreaming  of  what  was  about  to  happen.  But  his  accom- 
plice, the  wicked  Phocian,  attended  to  other  points.  "  Will 
ye  not  depart  from  out  of  the  way,  but  are  the  Phrygians 
always  vile  ?"  and  he  bolted  us  out  scattered  in  different  parts 
of  the  house,  some  in  the  stables  of  the  horses,  and  some  in 
the  out-houses,  and  some  here  and  there,  dispersing  them  some 
one  way,  some  another,  afar  from  their  mistress. 

Chor.  What  calamity  took  place  after  this  ? 

Phry.  0  powerful,  powerful  Idean  mother,  alas  !  alas  !  the 
murderous  sufferings,  and  the  lawless  evils,  which  I  saw,  I 


1457—1501.  ORESTES.  77 

saw  in  the  royal  palace  !  From  beneath  their  purple  robes 
concealed  having  their  drawn  swords  in  their  hands,  they 
turned  each  his  eye  on  either  side,  lest  any  one  might  chance 
to  be  present.  But  like  mountain  boars  standing  over  against 
the  lady,  they  say,  "  Thou  shalt  die,  thou  shalt  die  !  thy  vile 
husband  kills  thee,  having  given  up  the  offspring  of  his  bro- 
ther to  die  at  Argos."  But  she  shrieked  out,  Ah  me  !  ah  me ! 
and  throwing  her  white  arm  on  her  breast  inflicted  on  her 
head  miserable  blows,  and,  her  feet  turned  to  flight,  she 
stepped,  she  stepped  with  her  golden  sandals ;  but  Orestes 
thrusting  his  fingers  into  her  hair,  outstripping  her  flight41, 
bending  back  her  neck  over  his  left  shoulder,  was  about  to 
plunge  the  black  sword  into  her  throat. 

Chor.  Where  then  were  the  Phrygians,  who  dwell  under 
the  same  roof,  to  assist  her  ? 

Phry.  With  a  clamour  having  burst  by  means  of  bars  the 
doors  and  cells  where  we  were  waiting,  Ave  run  to  her  assist- 
ance, each  to  different  parts  of  the  house,  one  bringing  stones, 
another  spears,  another  having  a  long-handled  sword  in  his 
hand.  But  Pylades  came  against  us,  impetuous,  like  as  the 
Phrygian  Hector  or  Ajax  in  his  triple-crested  helmet,  whom 
I  saw,  I  saw  at  the  gates  of  Priam :  but  we  clashed  together 
the  points  of  our  swords  :  then  indeed,  then  did  the  Phrygians 
give  clear  proof  how  inferior  we  were  in  the  force  of  Mars  to 
the  spear  of  Greece.  One  indeed  turning  away,  a  fugitive, 
but  another  wounded,  and  another  deprecating  the  death  that 
threatened  him :  but  under  favour  of  the  darkness  we  fled : 
and  the  corses  fell,  but  some  staggered,  and  some  lay  prostrate. 
But  the  wretched  Hermione  came  to  the  house  at  the  time 
when  her  murdered  mother  fell  to  the  ground,  that  unhappy 
woman  that  gave  her  birth.  And  running  upon  her  as  Bac- 
chanals without  their  thyrsus,  as  a  heifer  in  the  mountains 
they  bore  her  away  in  their  hands,  and  again  eagerly  rushed 
upon  the  daughter  of  Jove  to  slay  her.  But  she  vanished 
altogether  from  the  chamber  through  the  palace.  O  Jupiter 
and  0  earth,  and  light,  and  darkness  !  or  by  her  enchantments, 
or  by  the  art  of  magic,  or  by  the  stealth  of  the  Gods.  But 
of  what  followed  I  know  no  farther,  for  I  sped  in  stealth  my 
foot  from  the  palace.     But  Menelaus  having  endured  many, 

41  Literally,  her  Mycenian  slipper. 


73  ORESTES.  1502—1523. 

many  severe  toils,  has  received  back  from  Troy  the  violated 
rites  of  Helen  to  no  purpose. 

Chor.  And  see  something  strange  succeeds  to  these  strange 
things,  for  I  see  Orestes  with  his  sword  drawn  walking  before 
the  palace  with  agitated  step. 

Orestes,  Phrygian,  Chorus. 

Ores.  Where  is  he  that  fled  from  my  sword  out  of  the 
palace  ? 

Phry.  I  supplicate  thee,  0  king,  falling  prostrate  before 
thee  after  the  barbaric  fashion. 

Ores.  The  case  before  us  is  not  in  Ilium,  but  the  Argive 
land. 

Phry.  In  every  region  to  live  is  sweeter  than  to  die,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  wise. 

Ores.  Didst  thou  not  raise  a  cry  for  Menelaus  to  come 
with  succour  ? 

Phry.  I  indeed  am  present  on  purpose  to  assist  thee ;  for 
thou  art  the  more  Avorthy. 

Ores.  Perished  then  the  daughter  of  Tyndarus  justly  ? 

Phry.  Most  justly,  even  had  she  three  lives  for  vengeance. 

Ores.  With  thy  tongue  dost  thou  flatter,  not  having  these 
sentiments  within  ? 

Phry.  For  ought  she  not?  She  who  utterly  destroyed 
Greece  as  well  as  the  Phrygians  themselves  ? 

Ores.  Swear,  I  will  kill  thee  else,  that  thou  art  not  speak- 
ing to  curry  favour  with  me. 

Phry.  By  my  life  have  I  sworn,  which  I  should  wish  to 
hold  a  sacred  oath. 

Ores.  Was  the  steel  thus  dreadful  to  all  the  Phrygians  at 
Troy  also  ? 

Phry.  Remove  thy  sword,  for  being  so  near  me  it  gleams 
horrid  slaughter. 

Ores.  Art  thou  afraid,  lest  thou  shouldest  become  a  rock, 
as  though  looking  on  the  Gorgon  ? 

Phry.  Lest  I  should  become  a  corse,  but  I  know  not  of  the 
Gorgon's  head. 

Ores.  Slave  as  thou  art,  dost  thou  fear  death,  which  will 
rid  thee  from  thy  woes  ? 

Phry.  Every  one,  although  a  man  be  a  slave,  rejoices  to 
behold  the  licrht. 


1524—1552.  ORESTES.  79 

Ores.  Thou  sayest  well ;  thy  understanding  saves  thee, 
but  go  into  the  house. 

Phry.  Thou  wilt  not  kill  me  then  ? 

Ores.  Thou  art  pardoned. 

Phry.  This  is  good  word  thou  hast  spoken. 

Ores.  Yet  we  may  change  our  measures. 

Phry.  But  this  thou  sayest  not  well. 

Ores.  Thou  art  a  fool,  it'  thou  thinkest  I  could  endure  to 
defile  me  by  smiting  thy  neck,  for  neither  art  thou  a  woman, 
nor  oughtest  thou  to  be  ranked  among  men.  But  that  thou 
mightest  not  raise  a  clamour  came  I  forth  out  of  the  house  : 
for  Argos,  when  it  has  heard  a  noise,  is  soon  roused,  but  we 
have  no  dread  in  meeting  Menelaus,  as  far  as  swords  go  ;  but 
let  him  come  exulting  with  his  golden  ringlets  flowing  over 
his  shoulders,  for  if  he  collects  the  Argives,  and  brings  them 
against  the  palace  seeking  revenge  for  the  death  of  Helen, 
and  is  not  willing  to  let  me  be  in  safety,  and  my  sister,  and 
Pylades  my  accomplice  in  this  affair,  he  shall  see  two  corses, 
both  the  virgin  and  his  wife. 

Chorus. 

Alas  !  alas  !  O  fate,  the  house  of  the  Atridse  again  falls 
into  another,  another  fearful  struggle. 

Semichor.  What  shall  we  do  ?  shall  we  carry  these  tidings 
to  the  city,  or  shall  we  keep  in  silence  ? 

Semichor.  This  is  the  safer  plan,  my  friends. 

Semichor.  Behold  before  the  house,  behold  this  smoke 
leaping  aloft  in  the  air  portends  something. 

Semichor.  They  are  lighting  the  torches,  as  about  to  burn 
down  the  mansion  of  Tantalus,  nor  do  they  forbear  from 
murder. 

Chor.  The  God  rules  the  events  that  .happen  to  mortals, 
whichsoever  way  he  wills.  But  some  vast  power  by  the  in- 
stigation of  the  Furies  has  struck,  has  struck  these  palaces  to 
the  shedding  of  blood  on  account  of  the  fall  of  Myrtilus  from 
the  chariot. 

But  lo  !  I  s.ee  Menelaus  also  here  approaching  the  house 
with  a  quick  step,  having  by  some  means  or  other  perceived 
the  calamity  which  now  is  present.  Will  ye  not  antici- 
pate him  by  closing  the  gates  with  bolts,  O  ye  children  of 
Atreus,  who  are  in  the  palace  ?    A  man  in  prosperity  is  ;i 


80  ORESTES.  1552-1584. 

terrible  thing  to  those  in  adversity,  as  now  thou  art  in  misery, 

Orestes. 

Menelaus  below,  Orestes,  Pylades,  Electra,  Hermione 
above,  Chorus. 

Men.  I  am  present,  having  heard  the  horrid  and  atrocious 
deeds  of  the  two  lions,  for  I  call  them  not  men.  For  I  have 
now  heard  of  my  wife,  that  she  died  not,  but  vanished  away, 
this  that  I  heard  was  empty  report,  which  one  deceived  by 
fright  related  ;  but  these  are  the  artifices  of  the  matricide,  and 
much  derision.  Open  some  one  the  door,  my  attendants  I 
command  to  bui-st  open  these  gates  here,  that  my  child  at  least 
we  may  deliver  from  the  hand  of  these  blood-polluted  men, 
and  may  receive  my  unhappy,  my  miserable  lady,  with  whom 
those  murderers  of  my  wife  must  die  by  my  hand. 

Ores.  What  ho  there !  Touch  not  these  gates  with  thine 
hands  :  to  Menelaus  I  speak,  that  thou  towerest  in  thy  bold- 
ness, or  with  this  pinnacle  will  I  crush  thy  head,  having  rent 
down  the  ancient  battlement,  the  labour  of  the  builders.  But 
the  gates  are  made  fast  with  bolts,  which  will  hinder  thee 
from  thy  purpose  of  bringing  aid,  so  that  thou  canst  not  pass 
within  the  palace. 

Men.  Ha  !  what  is  this  ?  I  see  the  blaze  of  torches,  and 
these  stationed  on  the  battlements,  on  the  height  of  the  palace, 
and  the  sword  placed  over  the  neck  of  my  daughter  to  guard 
her. 

Ores.  Whether  is  it  thy  will  to  question,  or  to  hear  me  ? 

Men.  I  wish  neither,  but  it  is  necessary,  as  it  seems,  to  hear 
thee. 

Ores.  I  am  about  to  slay  thy  daughter  if  thou  wish  to 
know. 

Men.  Having  slain  Helen,  dost  thou  perpetrate  murder  on 
murder  ? 

Ores.  For  would  I  had  gained  my  purpose  not  being  de- 
luded, as  I  was,  by  the  Gods. 

Men.  Thou  hast  slain  her,  and  deniest  it,  and  speakest 
these  things  to  insult  me. 

Ores.  It  is  a  denial  that  gives  me  pain,  for  would  that — 
Men.  Thou  had  done  what  deed  ?   for  thou  callest  forth 
alarm. 

Ores.  I  had  hurled  to  hell  the  fury  of  Greece. 


1585—1608.  ORESTES.  8 1 

Men.  Give  back  the  body  of  my  wife,  that  I  may  bury  her 
in  a  tomb. 

Ores.  Ask  her  of  the  Gods  ;  but  I  will  slay  thy  daughter. 

Men.  The  matricide  contrives  murder  on  murder. 

Ores.  The  avenger-  of  his  father,  whom  thou  gavest  up 
to  die. 

Men.  Was  not  the  blood  of  thy  mother  formerly  shed 
sufficient  for  thee  ? 

Ores.  I  should  not  be  weary  of  slaying  wicked  women, 
were  I  to  slay  them  for  ever. 

Men.  Art  thou  also,  Pylades,  a  partaker  in  this  murder  ? 

Ores.  By  his  silence  he  assents,  but  if  I  speak,  it  will  be 
sufficient. 

Men.  But  not  with  impunity,  unless  indeed  thou  fliest  on 
wings. 

Ores.  We  will  not  fly,  but  will  set  fire  to  the  palace  ? 

Men.  What !  wilt  thou  destroy  thy  father's  mansion  ? 

Ores.  Yes,  that  thou  mayest  not  possess  it,  will  I,  having 
stabbed  this  virgin  here  over  the  flames. 

Men.  Slay  her ;  since  having  slain  thou  shalt  at  least  give 
me  satisfaction  for  these  deeds. 

Ores.  It  shall  be  so  then. 

Men.  Alas  !  on  no  account  do  this  ! 

Ores.  Be  silent  then  ;  but  bear  to  suffer  evil  justly. 

Men.  What !  is  it  just  for  thee  to  live  ? 

Ores.  Yes,  and  to  rule  over  the  land. 

Men.  What  land  ? 

Ores.  Here,  in  Pelasgian  Argos. 

Men.  Well  vvouldst  thou  touch  the  sacred  lavers  ! 

Ores.  And  pray  why  not  ? 

Men.  And  wouldst  slaughter  the  victim  before  the  battle  ! 

Ores.  And  thou  wouldst  most  righteously. 

Men.  Yes,  for  I  am  pure  as  to  my  hands. 

Ores.  But  not  thy  heart. 

Men.  Who  would  speak  to  thee  ? 

Ores.  Whoever  loves  his  father. 

Men.  And  whoever  reveres  his  mother. 

Ores.  — Is  happy. 

Men.  Not  thou  at  least. 

Ores.  For  wicked  women  please  me  not. 

Men.  Take  away  the  sword  from  my  daughter. 

G 


82  ORESTES.  1609—1636. 

Ores.  Thou  art  false  in  thy  expectations. 

Men.  But  wilt  thou  kill  my  daughter  ? 

Ores.  Thou  art  no  longer  false. 

Men.  Alas  me  !  what  shall  I  do  ? 

Ores.  Go  to  the  Argives,  and  persuade  them. 

Men.  With  what  persuasion  ? 

Ores.  Beseech  the  city  that  we  may  not  die.  * 

Men.  Otherwise  ye  will  slay  my  daughter  ? 

Ores.  The  thing  is  so. 

Men.  O  wretched  Helen  ! — 

Ores.  And  am  I  not  wretched  ? 

Men.  I  brought  thee  hither  from  the  Trojans  to  be  a  victim. 

Ores.  For  would  this  were  so  ! 

Men.  Having  endured  ten  thousand  toils. 

Ores.  Except  on  my  account. 

Men.  I  have  met  with  dreadful  treatment. 

Ores.  For  then,  ivhcn  thou  oughtest,  thou  wert  of  no 
assistance. 

Men.  Thou  hast  me. 

Ores.  Thou  at  least  hast  caught  thyself.  But,  ho  there  ! 
set  fire  to  the  palace,  Electra,  from  beneath ;  and  thou, 
Pylades,  the  most  true  of  my  friends,  light  up  these  battle- 
ments of  the  walls. 

Men.  O  land  of  the  Danai,  and  inhabitants  of  warlike 
Argos,  will  ye  not,  ho  there  !  come  in  arms  to  my  succour  ? 
For  this  man  here,  having  perpetrated  the  shocking  mui'derof 
his  mother,  brings  destruction  on  your  whole  city,  that  he 
may  live. 

AroLLO. 

Menelaus,  cease  from  thy  irritated  state  of  mind ;  I  Phoebus 
the  son  of  Latona,  in  thy  presence,  am  addressing  thee. 
Thou  too,  Orestes,  Avho  standest  over  that  damsel  with  thy 
sword  drawn,  that  thou  mayest  know  what  commands  I  bring 
with  me.  Helen  indeed,  whom  thou  minded  to  destroy, 
working  Menelaus  to  anger,  didst  fail  of  thy  purpose,  she  is 
here,  whom  ye  see  wrapt  in  the  bosom  of  the  sky,  preserved, 
and  not  slain  by  thy  hands.  Her  I  preserved,  and  snatched 
from  thy  sword,  commanded  by  my  father  Jove.  For  being 
the  daughter  of  Jove,  it  is  right  that  she  should  live  immortal. 
And  she  shall  have  her  seat  by  Castor  and  Pollux  in  the 
*  Kc;id  davtlv  with  Pors.  Dind. 


1637—1678.  ORESTES.  83 

bosom  of  the  sky,  the  guardian  of  mariners.  But  take  to 
thyself  another  bride,  and  lead  her  home,  since  for  the  beauty 
of  this  woman  the  Gods  brought  together  the  Greeks  and 
Trojans,  and  caused  deaths,  that  they  might  draw  from  oft' the 
earth  the  pride  of  mortals,  who  had  become  an  infinite  multi- 
tude. Thus  is  it  with  regard  to  Helen  5  but  thee,  on  the 
other  hand,  Orestes,  it  behoveth,  having  passed  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  this  land,  to  inhabit  the  Parrhasian  plain  during 
the  revolution  of  a  year,  and  it  shall  be  called  by  a  name  after 
thy  flight,  so  that  the  Azanes  and  Arcadians  shall  call  it 
Oresteum :  and  thence  having  departed  to  the  city  of  the 
Athenians,  undergo  the  charge  of  shedding  thy  mother's  blood 
laid  by  the  three  Furies.  But  the  Gods  the  arbiters  of  the 
cause  shall  pass  on  thee  most  sacredly  their  decree  on  the  hill 
of  Mars,  in  which  it  behoveth  thee  to  be  victorious.  But 
Hermione,  to  whose  neck  thou  art  holding  the  sword,  it  is 
destined  for  thee,  Orestes,  to  wed,  but  Neoptolemus,  who 
thinks  to  marry  her,  shall  never  marry  her.  For  it  is  fated 
to  him  to  die  by  the  Delphic  sword,  as  he  is  demanding  of 
me  satisfaction  for  his  father  Achilles.  But  to  Pylades  give 
thy  sister's  hand,  as  thou  didst  formerly  agree,  but  a  happy 
life  now  coming  on  awaits  him.  But,  O  Menelaus,  suffer 
Orestes  to  reign  over  Argos.  But  depart  and  rule  over  the 
Spartan  land,  having  it  as  thy  wife's  dowry,  who  exposing 
thee  to  numberless  evils  always  was  bringing  thee  to  this. 
But  what  regards  the  city  I  will  make  all  right  for  him,  I, 
who  compelled  him  to  slay  his  mother. 

Ores.  0  Loxian  prophet,  thou  wert  not  then  a  false  pro- 
phet in  thine  oracles,  but  a  true  one.  And  yet  a  fear  comes 
upon  me,  that  having  heard  one  of  the  Furies,  I  might  think 
that  I  have  been  hearing  thy  voice.  But  it  is  well  fulfilled, 
and  I  will  obey  thy  words.  Behold  I  let  go  Hermione  from 
slaughter,  and  approve  her  alliance,  whenever  her  father  shall 
give  her. 

Men.  O  Helen,  daughter  of  Jove,  hail !  but  I  bless  thee 
inhabiting  the  happy  mansions  of  the  Gods.  But  to  thee, 
Orestes,  do  I  betroth  my  daughter  at  Phoebus'  commands,  but 
illustrious  thyself  marrying  from  an  illustrious  family,  be 
happy,  both  thou  and  I  who  give  her. 

Apol.  Now  depart  each  of  you  whither  we  have  appoint- 
ed, and  dissolve  your  quarrels. 

G  2 


84  ORESTES.  1679—1698. 

Men.  It  is  our  duty  to  obey. 

Ores.  I  too  entertain  the  same  sentiments,  and  I  receive 
with  friendship  thee  in  thy  sufferings,  O  Menelaus,  and  thy 
oracles,  O  Apollo. 

Apol.  Go  now,  each  his  own  way,  honouring  the  most  ex- 
cellent goddess  Peace  ;  but  I  will  convey  Helen  to  the  man- 
sions of  Jove,  passing  through  the  pole  of  the  shining  stars, 
where  sitting  by  Juno,  and  Hercules'  Hebe,  a  goddess,  she 
shall  ever  be  honoured  by  mortals  with  libations,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Tyndarida?,  the  sons  of  Jove,  presiding  over  the 
sea  to  the  benefit  of  mariners. 

Chor.  O  greatly  glorious  Victory,  mayest  thou  uphold  my 
life,  and  cease  not  from  crowning  me ! 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


A.  But  Dindorf  reads  ktvtzov  i]  i/yaytr'.  tw\'i;  interrogatively,  thus: 
"  Ye  were  making  a  noise.     Will  ye  not ....  enable  him,"  etc.  ? 

B.  Dindorf  would  continue  this  verse  to  Orestes. 

C.  Dindorf  supposes  something  to  be  wanting  after  vs.  314. 

D.  The  use  of aXXoc  srtpog  is  learnedly  illustrated  by  Dindorf. 

E.  Elmsley,  on  Heracl.  852,  more  simply  regards  the  datives  aoi  <ry  t 
aSsXtpij  as  dependent  upon  t7r«m<70),  understanding  ware  fiovvai  dtVqv. 
This  is  belter  than  to  suppose  (with  Porson)  that  £ovvat  Biicriv  can  mean 
to  inflict  punishment. 

F.  Dindorf  (in  his  notes)  agrees  with  Porson  in  omitting  the  fol- 
lowing verse. 

G.  Dindorfs  text  and  punctuation  must  be  altered. 


PHCENICIAN   VIRGINS. 


PERSONS  REPRESENTED. 

JOCASTA. 

TUTOR. 

ANTIGONE. 

CHORUS  OF  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS. 

POLYNICES. 

ETEOCLES. 

CREON. 

MENCECEUS. 

TIRECIAS. 

MESSENGERS. 

03DIPUS. 

The  Scene  is  in  the  Court  before  the  royal  palace  at  Thebes. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Eteocles  having  gotten  possession  of  the  throne  of  Thebes,  deprived  his 
brother  Polynices  of  his  share ;  but  he  having  come  as  an  exile  to  Argos, 
married  the  daughter  of  the  king  Adrastus ;  but  ambitious  of  returning 
to  his  country,  and  having  persuaded  his  father-in-law,  he  assembled  a 
great  army  for  Thebes  against  his  brother.  His  mother  Jocasta  made 
him  come  into  the  city,  under  sanction  of  a  truce,  and  first  confer  with 
his  brother  respecting  the  empire.  But  Eteocles  being  violent  and  fierce 
from  having  possessed  the  empire,  Jocasta  could  not  reconcile  her  chil- 
dren.— Polynices,  prepared  as  against  an  enemy,  rushed  out  of  the  city. 
Now  Tiresias  prophesied  that  victory  should  be  on  the  side  of  the 
Thebans,  if  Menoeceus  the  son  of  Creon  would  give  himself  up  to  be  sacri- 
ficed to  Mars.  Creon  refused  to  give  his  son  to  the  city,  but  the  youth 
was  willing,  and,  his  father  pointing  out  to  him  the  means  of  flight  and 
giving  him  money,  he  put  himself  to  death. — The  Thebans  slew  the 
leaders  of  the  Argives.  Eteocles  and  Polynices  in  a  single  combat  slew 
each  other,  and  their  mother  having  found  the  corses  of  her  sons  laid 
violent  hands  on  herself;  and  Creon  her  brother  received  the  kingdom. 
The  Argives  defeated  in  battle  retired.  But  Creon,  being  morose,  would 
not  give  up  those  of  the  enemy  who  had  fallen  at  Thebes,  for  sepulture, 
and  exposed  the  body  of  Polynices  without  burial,  and  banished  CEdipus 
from  his  country ;  in  the  one  instance  disregarding  the  laws  of  humanity, 
in  the  other  giving  way  to  passion,  nor  feeling  pity  for  him  after  his 
calamity. 


THE 


PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS. 


JOCASTA. 

O  thou  that  cuttest  thy  path  through  the  constellations l  of 
heaven,  and  art  mounted  on  thy  golden-joined  seats,  thou  sun, 
whirling  thy  flame  with2  thy  swift  steeds,  how  inauspicious 
didst  thou  dart  thy  ray  on  that  day  when  Cadmus  came  to 
this  land  having  left  the  sea-washed  coast  of  Phoenicia ;  who 
in  former  time  having  married  Harmonia,  daughter  of  Venus, 
begat  Polydorus ;  from  him  they  say  sprung  Lalxlacus,  and 
from  him  Laius.  But  I  am3  the  daughter  of  Menoeceus,  and 
Creon  my  brother  was  born  of  the  same  mother  ;  me  they  call 
Jocasta  (for  this  name4  my  father  gave  me),  and  Laius  takes 
me  for  his  wife  ;  but  after  that  he  was  childless,  for  a  long 
time  sharing  my  bed  in  the  palace,  he  went  and  enquired  of 
Apollo,  and  at  the  same  time  demands  the  mutual  offspring  of 
male  children  in  his  family ;  but  the  God  said,  "  O  king  of 
Thebes  renowned  for  its  chariots,  sow  not  for  such  an  harvest 
of  children  against  the  will  of  the  Gods,  for  if  thou  shalt  be- 
get a  son,  he  that  is  born  shall  slay  thee,  and  the  whole  of  thy 
house   shall  wade  through  blood."     But  having  yielded  to 

1  That  is,  through  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  :  dvritp  differs  from  aa-rpov, 
the  former  signifying  a  single  star,  the  latter  many. 

2  The  preposition  <ri>v  is  omitted,  as  in  Homer, 

AiiTrj  kiv  yaiij  LpvaaifLi. 
The  same  omission  occurs  in  the  Bacchse,  uvTyanv  tXurnts,  and  again  in 
the  Hippolytus.     It  is  an  Atticism. 

3  See  note  on  Hecuba,  478. 

4  The  word  rouvofia  must  be  supplied  after  touto,  -which  is  implied  in 
the  verb  kuXovgiv. 


88 


THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  21—60. 


pleasure,  and  having  fallen  into  inebriety,  he  begot  to  us  a  son, 
and  having  begot  him,  feeling  conscious  of  his  error  and  the 
command  of  the  God,  gives  the  babe  to  some  herdsmen  to  expose 
at  the  meads  of  Juno  and  the  rock  of  Cithreron,  having  bored 
sharp-pointed  iron  through  the  middle  of  his  ancles,  from  which 
circumstance  Greece  gave  him  the  name  of  Gidipus.  But  him 
the  grooms  who  attend  the  steeds  of  Polybus  find  and  carry 
home,  and  placed  him  in  the  arms  of  their  mistress.  But  she 
rested  beneath  her  bosom  him  that  gave  me  a  mother's  pangs, 
and  persuades  her  husband  that  she  had  brought  forth.  But 
now  my  son  showing  signs  of  manhood  in  his  darkening  cheek, 
cither  having  suspected  it  by  instinct,  or  having  learned  it  from 
some  one,  went  to  the  temple  of  Apollo,  desirous  of  discovering 
his  parents ;  at  the  same  time  went  Laius  my  husband,  seeking 
to  gain  intelligence  of  his  son  who  had  been  exposed,  if  he 
were  no  longer  living ;  and  both  met  at  the  same  point  of  the. 
road  at  Phocis  where  it  divides  itself ;  and  the  charioteer  of 
Laius  commands  him,  "  Stranger,  withdraw  out  of  the  way  of 
princes;"  but  he  moved  slowly,  in  silence,  with  haughty  spirit ; 
but  the  steeds  with  their  hoof  dyed  with  blood  the  tendons  of 
his  feet.  At  this  (but  why  need  I  relate  each  horrid  circum- 
stance besides  the  deed  itself?)  the  son  kills  his  father,  and 
having  taken  the  chariot,  sends  it  as  a  present  to  his  foster- 
father  Polybus.  Now  at  this  time  the  sphinx  preyed  vulture- 
like5 upon  the  city  with  rapacity,  my  husband  now  no  more, 
Creon  my  brother  proclaims  that  he  will  give  my  bed  as  a  re- 
ward to  him  who  would  solve  the  enigma  of  the  crafty  virgin. 
But  by  some  chance  or  other  QEdipus  my  son  happens  to  dis- 
cover the  riddle  of  the  sphinx,  [and  he  receives  as  a  prize  the 
sceptre  of  this  land,]*  and  marries  me,  his  mother,  wretched 
lie  not  knowing  it,  nor  knew  his  mother  that  she  was  lying 
down  with  her  son.  And  I  bear  children  to  my  child,  two 
sons,  Eteocles  and  the  illustrious  Polynices,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, one  her  father  named  Ismene,  the  elder  I  called  Antigone. 
But  OEdipus,  after  having  gone  through  all  sufferings,  having 
discovered  in  my  bed  the  marriage  with  his  mother,  he  per- 
petrated a  deed  of  horror  on  his  own  eyes,  having  drenched 
in  blood  their  pupils  with  his  golden  buckles.     But  after  that 

5  The  £«j)os  is  a  bird  of  prey  of  the  vulture  species.  The  sphinx  was 
represented  as  having  the  face  of  a  woman,  the  breast  and  feet  of  a  lion, 
and  the  wings  of  a  bird.  *  Dindorf  would  omit  this  verse. 


Gl— 99.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  89 

the  cheek  of  my  children  grows  dark  with  manly  down,  they 
hid  their  lather  confined  with  holts  that  his  sad  fortune  might 
be  forgotten,  which  indeed  required  the  greatest  policy.  He 
is  still  living  in  the  palace,  but  sick  in  mind  through  his  mis- 
fortunes he  imprecates  the  most  unhallowed  curses  on  his 
children,  that  they  may  share  this  house  with  the  sharpened 
sword.  But  these  two,  dreading  lest  the  Gods  should  bring 
to  completion  these  curses6,  should  they  dwell  together,  in 
friendly  compact  determined  that  Polynices  the  younger  son 
should  first  go  a  willing  exile  from  this  land,  but  that  Eteocles 
remaining  here  should  hold  the  sceptre  for  a  year,  changing  in 
his  turn ;  but  after  that  he  sat  on  the  throne  of  power,  he 
moves  not  from  his  seat,  but  drives  Polynices  an  exile  from 
this  land.  But  he  having  fled  to  Argos,  and  having  contracted 
an  alliance  with  Adrastus,  assembles  together  and  leads  a  vast 
army  of  Argives ;  and  having  marched  to  these  very  walls 
with  seven  gates  he  demands  his  father's  sceptre  and  his  share 
of  the  land.  But  I  to  quell  this  strife  persuaded  my  son  to 
come  to  his  brother,  confiding  in  a  truce  before  he  grasped 
the  spear.  And  the  messenger  who  was  sent  declares  that  he 
will  come.  But,  0  thou  that  inhabitest  the  shining  clouds  of 
heaven,  Jove,  preserve  us,  give  reconciliation  to  my  children  ; 
it  becomes  thee,  if  thou  art  wise,  not  to  suffer  the  same  man 
always  to  be  unfortunate. 

Tutor,  Antigoxe. 

Tut.  0  thou  fair  bud  in  thy  father's  house,  Antigone,  since 
thy  mother  has  permitted  thee  to  leave  the  virgin's  apartments 
for  the  extreme  chamber7  of  the  mansion,  in  order  to  view 
the  Argive  army  in  compliance  with  thy  entreaties,  yet  stay, 
until  I  shall  first  investigate  the  path,  lest  any  citizen  should 
appear  in  the  pass,  and  to  me  taunts  should  come  as  a  slave, 
and  to  thee  as  a  princess  :  and  I  who  well  know  each  circum- 
stance will  tell  you  all  that  I  saw  or  heard  from  the  Argives, 
when  I  went  bearing  the  offer  of  a  truce  to  thy  hrother,  from 
this  place  thither,  and  again  to  this  place  from  him.  But  no 
citizen  approaches  this  house ;  come,  ascend  with  thy  steps 

0  dpal  and  dpucrdat  arc  often  used  by  the  poets  in  a  good  sense  for 
prayers;  ti>x<ii  and  £t"x£o-tf«i  for  curses  and  imprecations. 

7   cii/pss  viripioov,  f;  x\i/ia£.      HeSYCHIUS. 


90  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  99—130. 

these  ancient  stairs  of  cedar,  and  survey  the  plains,  and  by  the 
streams  of  Ismenus  and  Dirce's  fount  how  great  is  the  host  of 
the  enemy. 

Ant.  Stretch  forth  now,  stretch  forth  thine  aged  hand  from 
the  stairs  to  my  youth,  raising  up  the  steps  of  my  feet. 

Tut.  Behold,  join  thy  hand,  virgin,  thou  hast  come  in 
lucky  hour,  for  the  Pelasgian  host  is  now  in  motion,  and  they 
are  separating  the  bands  from  one  another. 

Ant.  O  awful  daughter  of  Latona,  Hecate,  the  field  all 
brass8  gleams  like  lightning. 

Tut.  For  Polynices  hath  not  come  tamely  to  this  land, 
raging  with  host  of  horsemen,  and  ten  thousand  shields. 

Ant.  Are  the  gates  fastened  with  bars,  and  is  the  brazen 
bolt  fitted  to  the  stone-work  of  Amphion's  wall  ? 

Tut.  Take  courage  ;  as  to  the  interior  the  city  is  safe. 
But  view  the  first  chief,  if  thou  desirest  to  know. 

Ant.  Who  is  he  with  the  white-plumed  helmet,  who  com- 
mands in  the  van  of  the  army,  moving  lightly  round  on  his 
arm  his  brazen  shield  ? 

Tut.  He  is  a  leader,  lady. 

Ant.  "Who  is  he  ?  From  whom  sprung  ?  Speak,  aged 
man,  what  is  lie  called  by  name  ? 

Tut.  He  indeed  is  called  by  birth  a  Mycenaean,  and  he 
dwells  at  the  streams  of  Lerna9,  the  king  Hippomedon. 

Ant.  Ah  !  how  haughty,  how  terrible  to  behold  !  like  to 
an  earth-born  giant,  starlike  in  countenance  amidst  his  painted 
devices 10,  he  corresponds  not  with  the  race  of  mortals. 

Tut.  Dost  thou  not  see  him  now  passing  the  stream  of 
Dirce,  a  general  ? 

Ant.  Here  is  another,  another  fashion  of  arms.  But  who 
is  he  ? 

Tut.  He  is  the  son  of  (Eneus,  Tydeus,  and  bears  on  his 
breast  the  JEtolian  Mars. 

Ant.  Is  this  the  prince,  O  aged  man,  who  is  husband  to 

8  Milton,  Par.  Regained,  b.  iii.  1.  326. 

The  field,  all  iron,  cast  a  gleaming  brown. 
B  Lerna,  a  country  of  Argolis  celebrated  for  a  grove  and  a  lake  'where 
the  Danaides  threw  the  heads  of  their  murdered  husbands.     It  was  there 
also  that  Hercules  killed  the  famous  Hydra. 

. I0  This  alludes  to  the  figure  of  Argus  engraved  on  his   shield.     See 
verse  1130. 


137—172.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  91 

the  sister  of  my  brother's  wife11  ?  In  his  arms  how  different 
of  colour,  of  barbaric  mixture  ! 

Tut.  For  all  the  iEtolians,  my  child,  bear  the  target,  and 
hurl  with  the  lance,  most  certain  in  their  aim. 

Ant.  But  how,  O  aged  man,  dost  thou  know  these  things 
so  perfectly  ? 

Tut.  Having  seen  the  devices  of  the  shields,  then  I  re- 
marked them,  when  I  went  to  bear  the  offer  of  a  truce  to  thy 
brother,  beholding  which,  I  recognise  the  warriors. 

Ant.  But  who  is  this,  who  is  passing  round  the  tomb  of 
Zethus,  with  clustering  locks,  in  his  eyes  a  Gorgon  to  behold, 
in  appearance  a  youth  ? 

Tut.  A  general  he  is.     (See  Note  A.) 

Ant.  How  a  crowd  in  complete  armour  attends  him  behind 12? 

Tut.  This  is  Parthenopasus,  son  of  Atalanta. 

Ant.  But,  may  Diana  who  rushes  over  the  mountains  with 
his  mother  destroy  him,  having  subdued  him  with  her  arrows, 
who  has  come  against  my  city  to  destroy  it. 

Tut.  May  it  be  so,  my  child,  nevertheless  they  are  come 
with  justice  to  this  land ;  Avherefore  also  I  fear  lest  the  Gods 
should  judge  rightly. 

Ant.  Where,  but  where  is  he  who  was  born  of  one  mother 
with  me  in  hard  fate,  O  dearest  old  man ;  tell  me,  where  is 
Polynices  ? 

Tut.  He  is  standing  near  the  tomb  of  the  seven  virgin 
daughters  of  Niobe,  close  by  Adrastus.     Seest  thou  him  ? 

Ant.  I  see  indeed,  but  not  distinctly ;  but  somehow  I  see 
the  resemblance  of  his  form,  and  his  shape  shadowed  out. 
AVould  that  with  my  feet  I  could  perform  the  journey  of  the 
winged  cloud  through  the  air  to  my  brother,  then  would  I 
fling  my  arms  round  his  dearest  neck,  after  so  long  a  time 
a  wretched  exile.  How  splendid  is  he,  O  old  man,  in  his 
golden  armour,  glittering  like  the  morning  rays  of  the  sun. 

Tut.  He  will  come  to  this  house  confiding  in  the  truce,  so 
as  to  fill  thee  with  joy. 

Ant.  But  who,  O  aged  man,  is  this,  who  guides  his  milk- 
white  steeds  seated  in  his  chariot  ? 

11  Tydeus  married  Deipyle,  Polynices  Argia,  both  daughters  of  Adras- 
tus, king  of  Argos. 

12  Some  suppose  vmipw  irool  to  mean  -with  their  last  steps,  that  is, 
with  steps  which  are  doomed  never  to  return  again  to  their  own  country. 


92  THE  PHCENICIAN  VIRGINS.  173—211. 

Tut.  The  prophet  Amphiaraus  this,  0  ray  mistress,  and 
with  him  the  victims,  the  libations  of  the  earth  delighting  in 
blood. 

Ant.  O  thou  daughter  of  the  brightly  girded  sun,  thou 
moon,  golden-circled  light,  applying  what  quiet  and  tem- 
perate blows  to  his  steeds  does  he  direct  his  chariot !  But 
where  is  he  who  utters  such  dreadful  insults  against  this  city, 
Capaneus  ? 

Tut.  He  is  scanning  the  approach  to  the  towers,  measuring 
the  walls  both  from  their  foundation  to  the  top. 

Ant.  O  vengeance,  and  ye  loud-roaring  thunders  of  Jove, 
and  thou  blasting  fire  of  the  lightning,  do  thou  quell  this 
more-than-mortal  arrogance.  This  is  he  who  will  with  his 
spear  give  to  Mycenae,  and  to  the  streams  of  Lernasean 
Triaena13,  and  to  the  Amymonian14  waters  of  Neptune,  the 
Theban  women,  having  invested  them  with  slavery.  Never, 
O  awful  Goddess,  never,  O  daughter  of  Jove,  with  golden 
clusters  of  ringlets,  Diana,  may  I  endure  servitude. 

Tut.  My  child,  enter  the  palace,  and  at  home  remain  in 
thy  virgin  chambers,  since  thou  hast  arrived  at  the  indulge- 
ment  of  thy  desire,  as  to  what  you  were  anxious  to  behold. 
For,  since  confusion  has  entered  the  city,  a  crowd  of  women 
is  advancing  to  the  royal  palace.  The  race  of  women  is  prone 
to  complaint,  and  if  they  find  but  small  occasion  for  words, 
they  add  more,  and  it  is  a  sort  of  pleasure  to  women,  to  speak 
nothing  well-advised  one  of  another15. 

Chorus. 

I  have  come,  having  left  the  Tyrian  wave,  the  first-fruits 
of  Loxias,  from  the  sea-washed  Phoenicia,  a  slave  for  the 
shrine  of  Apollo,  that  I  might  dwell  under  the  snowy  brows 
of  Parnassus,  having  sped  my  way  over  the  Ionian  flood  by 

13  Trisena  was  a  place  in  Argolis,  where  Neptune  stuck  his  trident  in 
the  ground,  and  immediately  water  sprung  up.     Schol. 

14  Amymone  was  daughter  of  Danaus  and  Europa  ;  she  was  employed, 
by  order  of  her  father,  in  supplying  the  city  of  Argos  with  water,  in  a 
great  drought.  Neptune  saw  her  in  this  employment,  and  was  enamoured 
of  her.  He  carried  her  away,  and  in  the  place  where  she  stood  he 
raised  a  fountain,  which  has  been  called  Amymone.  See  Propert.  ii. 
El.  20.  v.  47. 

'■'  d\\ii\as  Xtyovanv  is,  they  say  one  of  another ;  dUftois  Xiyovaiv, 
they  say  amongst  themselves. 


2H-2G0.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  93 

the  oar,  the  west  wind  with  its  Masts  riding  over  the  barren 
plains  of  waters10  which  flow  round  Sicily,  the  sweetest  mur- 
mur in  the  heavens.  Chosen  out  from  my  city  the  fairest 
present  to  Apollo,  I  came  to  the  land  of  the  Cadmeans,  the 
illustrious  descendants  of  Agenor,  sent  hither  to  these  kindred 
towers  of  Laius.  And  I  am  made  the  slave  of  Apollo  in  like 
manner  with  the  golden-framed  images.  Moreover  the  water 
of  Castalia  awaits  me,  to  lave  the  virgin  pride  of  my  tresses, 
in  the  ministry  of  Apollo.  0  blazing  rock,  the  flame  of  fire 
that  seems17  double  above  the  Dionysian  heights  of  Bacchus, 
and  thou  vine,  who  distillest  the  daily  nectar,  producing  the 
fruitful  cluster  from  the  tender  shoot ;  and  ye  divine  caves  of 
the  dragon 18,  and  ye  mountain  watch-towers  of  the  Gods,  and 
thou  hallowed  snowy  mountain,  would  that  I  were  the  chorus 
of  the  immortal  God  free  from  alarms  encompassing  thee 
around,  by  the  caves  of  Apollo  in  the  centre  of  the  earth, 
having  left  Dirce.  But  now  impetuous  Mars  having  advanced 
before  the  walls  lights  up  against  this  city,  which  may  the 
Gods  avert,  hostile  war  ;  for  common  are  the  misfortunes  of 
friends,  and  common  is  it,  if  this  land  defended  by  its  seven 
turrets  should  suffer  any  calamity,  to  the  Phoenician  country, 
alas  !  alas  !  common  is  the  affinity 19,  common  are  the  descend- 
ants of  Io  bearing  horns  ;  of  which  woes  I  have  a  share. 
But  a  thick  cloud  of  shields  glares  around  the  city,  the  like- 
ness of  gory  battle,  bearing  which  destruction  from  the  Furies 
to  the  children  of  OEdipus  Mars  shall  quickly  advance.  0 
Pelasgian  Argos,  I  dread  thy  power,  and  vengeance  from  the 
Gods,  for  he  rushes  not  his  arms  to  this  war  unjustly,  who 
seeks  to  recover  his  home. 

16  By  TTto'twu  dKap-n-iaTwv  is^o  be  understood  the  sea.  The  construc- 
tion Tridiwv  TrupippvTtov  ELKiXias,  that  is,  a  SiKtXiav  TTEpLppil..  The  same 
construction  is  found  in  Sophocles,  CEd.  Tyr.  1.  885.  oi'/cas  a>o'/3i|Tos.  L. 
9(39.  &<}>av<TToi  !yxol,s-     See  a^so  Horace,  Lib.  iv.  Od.  4.  43. 

Ceu  flamma  per  tsedas,  vel  Eurus 
Per  Siculas  equitavit  undas. 

17  The  fire  was  on  that  head  of  Parnassus  which  was  sacred  to  Apollo 
and  Diana ;  to  those  below  it  appeared  double,  being  divided  to  the  eye 
by  a  pointed  rock  which  rose  before  it.     Schol. 

18  The  Python  which  Apollo  slew. 

19  Libya  the  daughter  of  Epaphus  bore  to  Neptune  Agenor  and  Belus. 
Cadmus  was  the  son  of  Agenor,  and  Antiope  the  daughter  of  Belus. 


94  THE  PHCENICIAN  VIRGINS.  261—301. 

Polynices,  Chorus. 

Pol.  The  bolts  indeed  of  the  gate-keepers  have  with  ease 
admitted  me,  that  I  might  come  within  the  walls ;  wherefore 
also  I  fear,  lest,  having  caught  me  within  their  nets,  they  let* 
not  my  body  go  without  bloodshed.  On  which  account  my 
eye  must  be  turned  about  on  every  side,  both  that  way  and 
this,  lest  there  be  treachery.  But  armed  in  my  hand  with 
this  sword,  I  will  give  myself  confidence  of  daring.  Ha ! 
Who  is  this ;  or  do  we  fear  a  noise  ?  Every  thing  appears 
terrible  even  to  the  bold,  when  his  foot  shall  pass  across  an 
hostile  country.  I  trust  however  in  my  mother,  at  the  same 
time  I  scarce  trust,  who  persuaded  me  to  come  hither  confiding 
in  a  truce.  But  protection  is  nigh ;  for  the  hearths  of  the 
altars  are  at  hand,  and  houses  not  deserted.  Come,  I  will  let 
go  my  sword  into  its  dark  scabbard,  and  will  question  these 
who  they  are,  that  are  standing  at  the  palace.  Ye  female 
strangers,  tell  me,  from  what  country  do  ye  approach  Grecian 
habitations  ? 

Chor.  The  Phoenician  is  my  paternal  country,  she  that 
nurtured  me  :  and  the  descendants  of  Agenor  sent  me  hither 
from  the  spoils,  the  first-fruits  to  Apollo.  And  whilst  the 
renowned  son  of  CEdipus  was  preparing  to  send  me  to  the  re- 
vered shrine,  and  to  the  altars  of  Phoebus,  in  the  mean  time 
the  Argives  marched  against  the  city.  But  do  thou  in  turn 
answer  me,  who  thou  art,  who  hast  come  to  this  bulwark  of 
the  Theban  land  with  its  seven  gates. 

Pol.  My  father  is  CEdipus  the  son  of  Laius ;  Jocasta 
daughter  of  Menceceus  brought  me  forth ;  the  Theban  people 
call  me  Polynices. 

Chor.  O  thou  allied  to  the  sons  of  Agenor,  my  lords,  by 
whom  I  was  sent,  I  fall  at  thy  knees  in  lowly  posture,  O 
king,  preserving  my  country's  custom.  Thou  hast  come, 
thou  hast  come,  after  a  length  of  time,  to  thy  paternal  land. 
O  venerable  matron,  come  forth  quickly,  open  the  doors ;  dost 
thou  hear,  O  mother,  that  produeedst  this  hero  ?  why  dost 
thou  delay  to  leave  thy  lofty  mansion,  and  to  embrace  thy 
child  with  thine  arms  ? 

Jocasta,  Polynices,  Chorus. 
Joe.  Hearing  the  Phoenician   tongue,  ye  virgins,  within 
*  But  Dind.  i/«/>peocr'.     See  his  note. 


302—354.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  95 

this  mansion,  I  drag  my  steps  trembling  with  age.  Ah  !  my 
son,  after  length  of  time,  after  numberless  days,  I  behold  thy 
countenance  ;  clasp  thy  mother's  bosom  in  thine  arms,  threw 
around  her 20  thy  kisses,  and  the  dark  ringlets  of  thy  cluster- 
ing hair,  shading  my  neck.  Ah  !  scarce  possible  is  it  that 
thou  appearest  in  thy  mother's  arms  so  unhoped  for,  and  so 
unexpected.  How  shall  I  address  thee  ?  how  shall  I  perform 
all  ?  how  shall  I,  walking  in  rapture  around  thee  on  that  side 
and  this,  both  with  my  hands  and  words,  reap  the  varied 
pleasure,  the  delight  of  my  former  joys  ?  O  my  son,  thou 
hast  left  thy  father's  house  deserted,  sent  away  an  exile  by 
wrongful  treatment  from  thy  brother.  How  longed  for  by  thy 
friends  !  how  longed  for  by  Thebes  !  From  which  time  I  am 
botli  shorn  of  my  hoary  locks,  letting  them  fall  with  tears, 
with  wailing'21;  deprived,  my  child,  of  the  white  robes,  I  re- 
ceive in  exchange  around  me  these  dark  and  dismal  weeds. 
But  the  old  man  in  the  palace  deprived  of  sight,  always  pre- 
serving with  tears  regret  for  the  unanimity  of  the  brothers 
which  is  separated  from  the  family,  has  madly  rushed  on  self- 
destruction  witli  the  sword  and  with  the  noose  above  the 
beams  of  the  house,  bewailing  the  curse  imprecated  on  his 
children  ;  and  with  cries  of  woe  he  is  always  hidden  in  dark- 
ness. But  thou,  my  child,  I  hear,  art  both  joined  in  marriage, 
and  hast  the  joys  of"  love  in  a  foreign  family,  and  cherishest  a 
foreign  alliance  ;  intolerable  to  this  thy  mother  and  to  the 
aged  Laius,  the  woe  of  a  foreign  marriage  brought  upon  us. 
But  neither  did  I  light  the  torch  of  fire  for  you,  as  is  custom- 
ary in  the  marriage  rites,  as  befits  the  happy  mother  ;  nor  was 
Ismenus  careful  of  the  bridal  rites  in  the  luxury  of  the  bath  : 
and  the  entrance  of  thy  bride  was  made  in  silence  through  the 
Theban  city.  May  these  ills  perish,  whether  the  sword,  or 
discord,  or  thy  father  is  the  cause,  or  whether  fate  has  rushed 
with  violence  upon  the  house  of  CEdipus ;  for  the  weight  of 
these  sorrows  has  fallen  upon  me. 

20  The  construction  is,  dpKpiftuWt  pot.  to  twv  -rrapniSuiu  o-ov  optypa  ; 
that  is,  genarum  ad  oscula porrectionem.  It  cannot  be  translated  literally. 
The  verb  dfupipaWe  is  to  be  supplied  before  optypa,  and  before  TrXoKapov. 
See  Orestes,  950. 

21  Locus  videtur  corruptus.  Porson.  Valckenaer  proposes  to  read 
ctiKpvozao-'  dvulara  k.  t.  X.  Markland  would  supply  <pwvi]v  after  liio-a. 
Another  reading  proposed  is,  oaKpwhvo-'  Iviclcra  irtvdvpi]  koviv.  Lacrijma- 
bunda,  lugubrem  cinerem  injiciens.      Followed  by  Dindori. 


96  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  355—390. 

Chor.  Parturition  with  the  attendant  throes  has  a  wonder- 
ful effect  on  women22;  and  somehow  the  whole  race  of  women 
have  strong  affection  towards  their  children. 

Pol.  My  mother,  determining  wisely,  and  yet  not  determin- 
ing wisely,  have  I  come  to  men  my  foes  ;  but  it  is  necessary 
that  all  must  be  enamoured  of  their  country;  but  whoever 
says  otherwise,  pleases  himself  with  vain  words,  but  has  his 
heart  there.  But  so  far  have  I  come  to  trouble  and  terror, 
lest  any  treachery  from  my  brother  should  slay  me,  so  that 
having  my  hand  on  my  sword  I  proceeded  through  the  city 
rolling  round  my  eye  ;  but  one  thing  is  on  my  side,  the  truce 
and  thy  faith,  which  has  brought  me  within  my  paternal  walls  : 
but  I  have  come  with  many  tears,  after  a  length  of  time  be- 
holding the  courts  and  the  altars  of  the  Gods,  and  the  schools 
wherein  I  was  brought  up,  and  the  fount  of  Dirce,  from  which 
banished  by  injustice,  I  inhabit  a  foreign  city,  having  a  stream 
of  tears  flowing  through  my  eyes.  But,  for  from  one  woe 
springs  a  second,  I  behold  thee  having  thy  head  shorn  of  its 
locks,  and  these  sable  garments ;  alas  me  !  on  account  of  my 
misfortunes.  How  dreadful  a  thing,  mother,  is  the  enmity  of 
relations,  having  means  of  reconciliation  seldom  to  be  brought 
about !  For  how  fares  the  old  man  my  father  in  the  palace, 
vainly  looking  upon  darkness  ;  and  how  fare  my  two  sisters  ? 
Are  they  indeed  bewailing  my  wretched  banishment? 

Joe.  Some  God  miserably  destroys  the  race  of  CEdipus  ; 
for  thus  began  it,  when  I  brought  forth  children  in  that  un- 
hallowed manner,  and  thy  father  married  me  in  evil  hour,  and 
thou  didst  spring  forth.  But  why  relate  these  things?  What 
is  sent  by  the  Gods  we  must  bear.  But  how  I  may  ask  the 
questions  I  wish,  I  know  not,  for  I  fear  lest  I  wound  at  all  thy 
feelings ;  but  I  have  a  great  desire. 

Pol.  But  enquire  freely,  leave  nothing  out.  For  what  you 
wish,  my  mother,  this  is  dear  to  me. 

Joe.  I  ask  thee  therefore,  first,  for  the  information  that  I 
wish  to  obtain.  What  is  the  being  deprived  of  one's  country, 
is  it  a  great  ill  ? 

Pol.  The  greatest :  and  greater  is  it  in  deed  than  in  word. 

Joe.  What  is  the  reason  of  that  ?  What  is  that  so  harsh 
to  exiles  ? 

22  Cf.  ^sch.  Prom.  39.  t<1  arvyytvi's  toj  dtivov,  n  0'  6fj.tk[a,  where 
consult  Schutz. 


391—411.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  97 

Pol.  One  thing,  and  that  the  greatest,  not  to  have  the 
liberty  of  speaking. 

Joe.  This  that  you  have  mentioned  belongs  to  a  slave,  not 
to  give  utterance  to  what  one  thinks. 

Pol.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  with  the  follies  of  those  in 
power. 

Joe.  And  this  is  painful,  to  be  unwise  with  the  unwise. 

Pol.  But  for  interest  we  must  bend  to  slavery  contrary  to 
our  nature. 

Joe.  But  hopes  support  exiles,  as  report  goes. 

Pol.  They  look  upon  them  with  favourable  eyes,  at  least, 
but  are  slow  of  foot. 

Joe.  Hath  not  time  shewn  them  to  be  vain  ? 

Pol.  They  have  a  certain  sweet  delight  to  set  against  mis- 
fortunes. 

Joe.  But  whence  wert  thou  supported,  before  thou  foundest 
means  of  sustenance  by  thy  marriage  ? 

Pol.  At  one  time  I  had  food  for  the  day,  at  another  I  had 
not. 

Joe.  And  did  the  friends  and  hosts  of  your  father  not  assist 
you? 

Pol.  Be  prosperous,  and  thou  shah  have  friends 23 ;  but 
friends  are  none,  should  one  be  in  adversity. 

Joe.  Did  not  thy  noble  birth  raise  thee  to  great  distinc- 
tion ? 

Pol.  To  want  is  wretched  ;  high  birth  fed  me  not. 

Joe.  Their  own  country,  it  appears,  is  the  dearest  thing  to 
men. 

Pol.  You  cannot  express  by  words  how  dear  it  is. 

Joe.  But  how  earnest  thou  to  Argos  ?  What  intention 
hadst  thou  ? 

Pol.  Apollo  gave  a  certain  oracle  to  Adrastus. 

Joe.  What  is  this  thou  hast  mentioned  ?  I  am  unable  to 
discover. 

Pol.  To  unite  his  daughters  in  marriage  with  a  boar  and  a 
lion. 

23  See  Person's  note.  A  similar  ellipse  is  to  be  found  in  Luke  xiii.  'J. 
Krcv  fikv  irotJitr;;  naptrov'  eI  ok  pi'iyi ,  th  to  [jiWov  ixKoxj/tLS  auT?jv'  which 
is  thus  translated  in  our  version;  "  And  if  it  bear  fruit,  well:  and  if  not, 
then  after  that  thou  shalt  cut  it  down."  See  also  Iliad,  A.  135.  Aris- 
topli.  Plut.  468.  ed.  Kuster. 

H 


98  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  412—445. 

Joe.  And  what  part  of  the  name  of  beasts  belongs  to  you, 
my  son. 

Pol.  I  know  not.     The  God  called  me  to  this  fortune. 

Joe.  For  the  God  is  wise.  But  in  what  manner  didst  thou 
obtain  her  bed  ? 

Pol.  It  was  night ;  but  I  came  to  the  portals  of  Adrastus. 

Joe.  In  search  of  a  couch  to  rest  on,  as  a  wandering  exile  ? 

Pol.  This  was  the  case,  and  then  indeed  there  came  a  se- 
cond exile. 

Joe.  Who  was  this  ?  how  unfortunate  then  was  he  also  ! 

Pol.  Tydeus,  who  they  say  sprung  from  (Eneus  his  sire. 

Joe.  In  what  then  did  Adrastus  liken  you  to  beasts. 

Pol.  Because  we  came  to  blows  for  lodging. 

Joe.  In  this  the  son  of  Talaus  understood  the  oracle. 

Pol.  And  gave  in  marriage  to  us  two  his  two  virgin  daugh- 
ters. 

Joe.  Art  thou  fortunate  then  in  thy  marriage  alliance,  or 
unfortunate  ? 

Pol.  My  marriage  cannot  be  found  fault  with  up  to  this 
day. 

Joe.  But  how  didst  thou  persuade  an  army  to  follow  you 
hither  ? 

Pol.  Adrastus  swore  this  oath  to  his  two  sons-in-law,  that 
he  would  replace  both  in  their  own  country,  but  me  first.  And 
many  princes  of  the  Argives  and  Mycenaeans  are  at  hand, 
rendering  to  me  a  sad,  but  necessary  favour ;  for  I  am  leading 
an  army  against  this  my  own  city ;  but  I  have  called  the  Gods 
to  witness  how  unwillingly  I  have  raised  the  spear  against  my 
dearest  parents.  But  the  dissolution  of  these  ills  extends  to 
thee,  my  mother,  that  having  reconciled  the  friendly  brothers, 
you  may  free  from  toil  me  and  thyself,  and  the  whole  city.  It 
is  a  proverb  long  ago  chaunted,  but  nevertheless  I  will  repeat 
it ;  wealth  is  honoured  most  of  all  things  by  men,  and  has  the 
greatest  influence  of  anything  among  men.  In  pursuit  of 
which  I  am  come,  leading  hither  ten  thousand  spears  :  for  a 
nobly-born  man  in  poverty  is  nothing. 

Chor.  And  see  Eteocles  here  comes  to  this  mediation  ;  thy 
business  it  is,  0  Jocasta,  being  their  mother,  to  speak  words, 
with  which  thou  shalt  reconcile  thy  children. 


446—480.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  99 

Eteocles,  Polynices,  Jocasta,  Chorus. 

Eteo.  Mother,  I  am  present  ;  giving  this  grace  to  thee,  I 
have  come  ;  what  must  I  do  ?  Let  some  one  begin  the  confer- 
ence. Since  arranging  also  around  the  walls  the  chariots  of 
the  bands,  I  restrained  the  city,  that  I  may  hear  from  thee  the 
common  terms24  of  reconciliation,  for  which  thou  hast  per- 
mitted this  man  to  come  within  the  walls  under  sanction  of  a 
truce,  having  persuaded  me. 

Joe.  Stay;  precipitate  haste  has  not  justice;  but  slow 
counsels  perform  most  deeds  in  wisdom.  But  repress  that 
tierce  eye  and  those  blasts  of  rage ;  for  thou  art  not  looking 
on  the  Gorgon's  head  cut  off  at  the  neck,  but  thou  art  looking 
on  thy  brother  who  is  come  to  thee.  And  do  thou  again,  Po- 
lynices,  turn  thy  face  towards  thy  brother  ;  for  looking  at  the 
same  point  with  thine  eyes,  thou  wilt  both  speak  better,  and 
receive  his  words  better.  But  I  wish  to  give  you  a  wise  piece 
of  advice.  When  a  friend  is  enraged  with  a  man  his  friend, 
having  met  him  face  to  face,  let  him  fix  his  eyes  on  his  friend's 
eyes,  this  only  ought  he  to  consider,  the  end  for  which  he  is 
come,  but  to  have  no  recollection  of  former  grievances.  Thy 
words  then  first,  my  son,  Polynices ;  for  thou  art  come  leading 
an  army  of  Argives,  having  suffered  injustice,  as  thou  sayest ; 
and  may  some  God  be  umpire  and  the  reconciler  of  your 
strife. 

Pol.  The  speech  of  truth  is  simple,  and  those  things  which 
are  just  need  not  wily  interpretations;  for  they  have  energy 
themselves  ;  but  the  unjust  speech,  unsound  in  itself,  requires 
cunning  preparations  to  gloze  it.  But  I  have  previously  con- 
sidered for  my  father's  house,  and  my  own  advantage  and  that 
of  this  man  ;  desiring  to  escape  the  curses,  which  (Edipus 
denounced  formerly  against  us,  I  myself  of  my  own  accord 
departed  from  this  land,  having  given  him  to  rule  over  his 
own  country  for  the  space  of  a  year,  so  that  I  myself  should 
have  the  government  again,  having  received  it  in  turn,  and 
not  having  come  into  enmity  and  bloodshed  with  this  man  to 
perform  some  evil  deed,  and   to  suffer  what  is  now  taking 

24  B/oa^tus,  properly,  is  the  judge  in  a  contest,  who  confers  the  prizes, 
and  on  whose  decision  the  awarding  of  the  prizes  depends  :  ppajiivTrii  is 
the  same.  BpafStlov  is  the  prize.  Bpafttia,  and  in  the  plural  /3pa/3eiat, 
the  very  act  of  deciding  the  contest. 

H    2 


100  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  4S1— 512. 

place.  But  be  having  assented  to  this,  and  having  brought 
the  Gods  to  witness  his  oaths,  has  performed  nothing  of  what 
he  promised,  but  himself  holds  the  regal  power  and  my  share 
of  the  palace.  And  now  I  am  ready,  having  received  my  own 
right,  to  send  the  army  away  from  out  of  this  land,  and  to 
regulate  my  house,  having  received  it  in  my  turn,  and  to  give 
it  up  again  to  this  man  for  the  same  space  of  time,  and  neither 
to  lay  my  country  waste,  nor  to  apply  to  its  towers  the  means 
of  ascent  by  the  firmly-fixed  ladders.  Which,  should  I  not 
meet  with  justice,  will  I  endeavour  to  put  in  execution  :  and 
I  call  the  Gods  as  witnesses  of  this,  that  acting  in  every  thing 
with  justice,  I  am  without  justice  deprived  of  my  country  in 
the  most  unrighteous  manner.  These  individual  circumstances, 
mother,  not  having  collected  together  intricacies  of  argument, 
have  I  declared,  but  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  illiterate  just, 
as  appears  to  me. 

Ciior.  To  me  indeed,  although  we  have  not  been  brought 
up  according  to  the  Grecian  land,  nevertheless  to  me  thou 
appearest  to  speak  with  judgment. 

Eteo.  If  the  same  thing  were  judged  honourable  alike  by 
all,  and  at  the  same  time  wise,  there  would  not  be  doubtful 
strife  among  men.  But  now  nothing  is  similar,  nothing  the 
same  among  mortals,  except  in  names :  but  the  sense  is  not 
the  same,  for  I,  my  mother,  will  speak  having  kept  nothing 
back  ;  I  would  mount  to  the  rising  of  the  stars,  and  sink  be- 
neath the  earth,  were  I  able  to  perform  this,  so  that  I  might 
possess  the  greatest  of  the  Goddesses,  kingly  power25.  This 
prize  then,  my  mother,  I  am  not  willing  rather  to  give  up  to 
another,  than  to  preserve  for  myself.  For  it  implies  cowardice 
in  him,  whoever  having  lost  the  greater  share,  hath  received 
the  less  ;  but  in  addition  to  this  I  feel  ashamed,  that  this  man 
having  come  with  arms,  and  laying  the  country  waste,  should 
ohtain  what  he  wishes  ;  for  to  Thebes  this  would  be  a  reproach, 

~'  So  Hotspur,  of  honour  : 

By  heaven,  methinks,  it  were  an  easy  leap, 

To  pluck  bright  honour  from  the  pale-faced  moon  : 

Or  dive  into  the  bottom  of  the  deep, 

Where  fathom-line  could  never  touch  the  ground, 

And  pluck  up  drowned  honour  by  the  locks ; 

So  he,  that  doth  redeem  her  thence,  might  wear, 

Without  corrival,  all  her  dignities. 

Hen.  IV.  P.  i.  A.  i.  Sc.  3. 


513-555.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  101 

if  through  fear  of  the  Mycencean  spear  I  should  give  up  my 
sceptre  for  this  man  to  hold.  But  he  ought,  my  mother,  to 
effect  a  reconciliation,  not  by  arms  :  for  speech  does  every 
thing  which  even  the  sword  of  the  enemy  could  do.  But  if 
he  is  desirous  of  inhabiting  this  land  in  any  other  way,  it  is  in 
his  power  ;  but  the  other  point  I  will  never  give  up  willingly. 
When  it  is  in  my  power  to  rule,  ever  to  be  a  slave  to  him  ? 
Wherefore  come  fire,  come  sword,  yoke  thy  steeds,  fill  the 
plains  with  chariots,  since  I  will  not  give  up  my  kingly  power 
to  this  man.  For  if  one  must  be  unjust,  it  is  most  glorious 
to  be  unjust  concerning  empire,  but  in  every  thing  else  one 
should  be  just. 

Chok.  It  is  not  right  to  speak  well,  where  the  deeds  are  not 
glorious  ;  for  this  is  not  honourable,  but  galling  to  justice. 

Joe.  My  son,  Eteocles,  not  every  ill  is  added  to  age,  but 
experience  has  it  in  its  power  to  evince  more  wisdom  than 
youth26.  Why,  my  child,  dost  thou  so  desirously  court  am- 
bition, the  most  baneful  of  the  deities  ?  do  not  thou  ;  the 
Goddess  is  unjust.  But  she  hath  entered  into  many  families 
and  happy  states  and  hath  come  forth  again,  to  the  destruction 
of  those  who  have  to  do  with  her.  Of  whom  thou  art  madly 
enamoured.  This  is  more  noble,  my  son,  to  honour  equality, 
which  ever  links  friends  with  friends,  and  states  witli  states, 
and  allies  with  allies  :  for  equality  is  sanctioned  by  law  among 
men.  But  the  lesser  share  is  ever  at  enmity  with  the  greater, 
and  straight  begins  the  day  of  hatred.  For  equality  arranged 
also  among  mortals  measures,  and  the  divisions  of  weights, 
and  defined  numbers.  And  the  dark  eye  of  night,  and  the 
light  of  the  sun,  equally  walk  their  annual  round,  and  neither 
of  them  being  overcome  hath  envy  of  the  other.  Thus  the 
sun  and  the  night  are  subservient  to  men,  but  wilt  not  thou 
brook  having  an  equal  share  of  government,  and  give  his  share 
to  him  ?  Then  where  is  justice?  Why  dost  thou  honour  so 
unboundedly  that  prosperous  injustice,  royalty,  and  think  so 
highly  of  her  ?  Is  the  being  conspicuous  honourable  ?  At 
least,  it  is  empty  honour.  Or  dost  thou  desire  to  labour  much, 
possessing  much  in  thy  house  ?  but  what  is  superfluity  ?  It 
possesses  but  a  name ;  since  a  sufficiency  indeed  to  the  tem- 
perate is  abundance.     Neither  do  men  enjoy  riches  as  their 

26  See  Ovid.  Met.  vi.  28.     Non  omnia  grandior  fftas, 

Qure  fugiamus,  habct ;  seris  venit  usus  ab  annis. 


102  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  556-594 

own,  but  having  the  property  of  the  Gods  do  we  cherish  them. 
And  when  they  list,  again  do  they  take  them  away.  Come, 
if  I  ask  thee,  having  proposed  together  two  measures,  whether 
it  is  thy  wish  to  reign,  or  save  the  city  ?  AVilt  thou  say,  to 
reign  ?  But  should  he  conquer  thee,  and  the  Argive  spears 
overcome  the  Cadmsean  forces,  thou  wilt  behold  this  city  of  the 
Thebans  vanquished,  thou  wilt  behold  many  captive  maidens 
with  violence  ravished  by  men  your  foes.  Bitter  then  to 
Thebes  will  be  the  power  which  thou  seekest  to  hold ;  but 
yet  thou  art  ambitious  of  it.  To  thee  I  say  this :  but  to 
thee,  Polynices,  say  I,  that  Adrastus  hath  conferred  an  un- 
wise favour  on  thee ;  and  foolishly  hast  thou  also  come  to 
destroy  this  city.  Come,  if  thou  wilt  subdue  this  land  (may 
which  never  happen),  by  the  Gods,  how  wilt  thou  erect  tro- 
phies of  thy  spear  ?  And  how  again  wilt  thou  sacrifice  the 
first-fruits,  having  conquered  thy  country  ?  and  how  wilt  thou 
engrave  upon  the  spoils  by  the  waters  of  Inachus,  "  Having 
laid  Thebes  in  ashes,  Polynices  consecrated  these  shields  to 
the  Gods?"  Never,  my  son,  may  it  come  to  thee  to  receive 
such  glory  from  the  Greeks.  But  again,  shouldest  thou  be 
conquered,  and  should  the  arms  of  the  other  prevail,  how  wilt 
thou  return  to  Argos  having  left  behind  ten  thousand  dead  ? 
Surely  some  one.  will  say,  O  !  unfortunate  marriage  alliance  ! 
O  Adrastus,  who  placed  them  on  us,  through  the  nuptials  of 
one  bride  we  are  lost !  Thou  art  hastening  two  ills,  my  son,  to 
be  deprived  of  those,  and  to  fail  in  this.  Give  up  your  too 
great  ardour,  give  it  up ;  the  follies  of  two  when  they  clash 
together  in  the  same  point,  are  the  most  hateful  ill. 

Chok.  0  ye  Gods,  may  ye  be  averters  of  these  ills, 
and  grant  to  the  children  of  QEdipus  some  means  of  agree- 
ment. 

Eteo.  My  mother,  this  is  not  a  contest  of  words,  but 
intervening  time  is  fruitlessly  wasted  ;  and  thy  earnestness 
avails  nothing  ;  for  we  shall  not  agree  in  any  other  way,  than 
on  the  terms  proposed,  that  I  holding  the  sceptre  be  monarch 
of  this  land.  Forbearing  then  tedious  admonitions,  let  me 
have  my  way ;  and  do  thou  begone  from  out  these  walls,  or 
thou  shalt  die. 

Pol.  By  whose  hand  ?  Who  is  there  so  invulnerable,  who 
having  pointed  the  murderous  sword  against  me,  shall  not 
bear  the  same  fate  ? 


595—612.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  103 

Eteo.  lie  is  near,  not  far  removed  from  thee :  dost  thou 
look  on  these  my  hands  ? 

Pol.  I  see  them.  But  wealth  is  cowardly,  and  feeble, 
loving  life. 

Eteo.  And  therefore  hast  thou  come,  with  such  an  host 
against  one  who  is  nothing  in  arms  ? 

Pol.  For  a  cautious  general  is  better  than  one  daring. 

Eteo.  Thou  art  insolent,  having  trusted  in  the  truce,  which 
preserves  you  from  death. 

Pol.  A  second  time  again  I  demand  of  you  the  sceptre  and 
my  share  of  the  land. 

Eteo.  I  will  admit  no  demand,  for  I  will  regulate  my  own 
family. 

Pol.  Holding  more  than  your  share  ? 

Eteo.  I  own  it ;  but  quit  this  land. 

Pol.  O  ye  altars  of  my  paternal  Gods. 

Eteo.  Which  thou  art  come  to  destroy  ? 

Pol.  Do  ye  hear  me  ? 

Eteo.  Who  will  hear  thee,  who  art  marching  against  thy 
country  ? 

Pol.  And  ye  shrines  of  the  Gods27  delighting  in  the  milk- 
white  steeds ; 

Eteo.  Who  hate  thee. 

Pol.  I  am  driven  out  of  my  own  country. 

Eteo.  For  thou  hast  come  to  destroy  it. 

Pol.  With  injustice  indeed,  0  ye  Gods  ! 

Eteo.  At  Mycenns  call  upon  the  Gods,  not  here. 

Pol.  Thou  art  impious. 

Eteo.  But  not  my  country's  enemy,  as  thou  art. 

Pol.  Who  drives  me  out  without  my  share. 

Eteo.  And  I  will  put  thee  to  death  in  addition. 

Pol.  My  father,  hearest  thou  what  I  suffer  ? 

Eteo.  For  he  hears  what  wrongs  thou  doest. 

Pol.  And  thou,  my  mother  ? 

Eteo.  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  mention  thy  mother. 

Pol.  0  my  city  ! 

Eteo.  To  Argos  go,  and  call  on  Lerna's  stream. 

27  The  Scholiast  doubts  whether  these  Gods  were  Castor  and  Pollux, 
or  Zethus  and  Amphion,  but  inclines  to  the  latter.  See  Here.  Fur.  v. 
29,  30. 


104  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  613-637. 

Pol.  I  will  go,  do  not  distress  thyself;  but  thee,  my 
mother,  I  mention  with  honour. 

Eteo.  Depart  from  out  of  the  country. 

Pol.  I  will  go  out :  but  grant  me  to  see  my  father. 

Eteo.  You  will  not  obtain  your  request. 

Pol.  But  my  virgin  sisters  then. 

Eteo.  Never  shaft  thou  behold  these. 

Pol.  O  my  sisters  ! 

Eteo.  Why  callest  thou  on  these — being  their  greatest 
enemy  ? 

Pol.  My  mother,  but  thou  farewell. 

Joe.  Do  I  experience  any  thing  that  is  well,  my  son  ? 

Pol.  I  am  no  longer  thy  child. 

Joe.  To  many  troubles  was  I  born. 

Pol.  For  he  throws  insults  on  us. 

Eteo.  For  I  am  insulted  in  turn. 

Pol.  Where  wilt  thou  stand  before  the  towers  ? 

Eteo.  Why  dost  thou  ask  me  this  question  ? 

Pol.  I  will  oppose  myself  to  thee,  to  slay  thee. 

Eteo.  Desire  of  this  seizes  me  also. 

Joe.  Wretched  me  !  what  will  ye  do,  my  children  ? 

Pol.  The  deed  itself  will  shew. 

Joe.  Will  ye  not  escape  your  father's  curses  ? 

Eteo.  Let  the  whole  house  perish  ! 

Pol.  Since  soon  my  blood-stained  sword  will  not  remain 
any  longer  in  inactivity.  But  I  call  to  witness  the  land  that 
nurtured  me,  and  the  Gods,  how  dishonoured  I  am  driven 
from  this  land,  suffering  such  foul  treatment,  as  a  slave  and 
not  born  of  the  same  father  (Edipus.  And  if  any  thing  be- 
falls thee,  my  city,  blame  not  me,  but  him ;  for  against  my 
will  have  I  come,  and  against  my  will  am  I  driven  from  this 
land.  And  thou,  king  Apollo,  God  of  our  streets,  and  ye 
shrines,  farewell,  and  ye  my  equals,  and  ye  altars  of  the  Gods 
receiving  the  victims  ;  for  I  know  not  if  it  is  allowed  me  ever 
again  to  address  you.  But  hope  does  not  yet  slumber,  in 
which  I  have  trusted  with  the  favour  of  the  Gods,  that  hav- 
ing slain  this  man,  I  shall  be  master  of  this  Theban  land. 

Eteo.  Depart  from  out  of  the  country  ;  with  truth  indeed 
did  your  father  give  you  the  name  of  Polynices  by  some  divine 
foreknowledge,  a  name  corresponding  with  strife. 


638—692.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  105 


Chorus. 

Cadmus  came  from  Tyre  to  this  land,  before  whom  the 
quadrupede  heifer  bent  with  willing  fall28,  shewing  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  oracle,  where  the  divine  word  ordered 
him  to  colonize  the  plains  of  the  Aonians  productive  of  wheat, 
where  indeed  the  fair-flowing  stream  of  the  water  of  Dirce 
passes  over  the  verdant  and  deep-furrowed  fields,  where  the 
*  *  *  *  mother  produced  Bacchus,  by  her  marriage  with 
Jove,  whom  the  wreathed  ivy  twining  around  him  instantly, 
whilst  yet  a  babe,  blest  and  covered  with  its  verdant  shady 
branches,  an  event  to  be  celebrated  with  Bacchic  revel  by  the 
Theban  virgins  and  inspired  women.  There  was  the  blood- 
stained dragon  of  Mars,  the  savage  guard,  watching  with  far- 
rolling  eyeballs  over  the  flowing  fountains  and  grassy  streams  ; 
whom  Cadmus,  having  come  for  water  for  purification,  slew 
with  a  fragment  of  rock,  the  destroyer  of  the  monster  having 
thrown  his  arms  with  blows  on  his  blood-stained  head,  by  the 
counsel  of  the  divine  Pallas  born  without  mother,  having 
thrown  the  teeth  fallen  to  the  earth  upon  the  deep-furrowed 
plains.  Whence  the  earth  sent  forth  a  spectacle,  an  armed 
[host]abovetheextremelimitsof  the  ground  ;  but  iron-hearted 
slaughter  again  united  them  with  their  beloved  earth  ;  and 
sprinkled  with  blood  the  ground  which  shewed  them  to  the 
serene  gales  of  the  air.  And  thee,  sprung  of  old  from  our 
ancestor  Io,  Epaphns,  O  progeny  of  Jove,  on  thee  have  I 
called,  have  I  called  in  a  foreign  tongue,  with  prayers  in 
foreign  accent,  come,  come  to  this  land  (thy  descendants  have 
founded  it),  where  the  two  Goddesses  Proserpine  and  the 
dear  Goddess  Ceres,  queen  of  all  (since  earth  nurtures  all 
things),  have  held  their  possessions,  send  the  fire-bearing 
Goddesses  to  defend  this  land  :  since  every  thing  is  easy  to 
the  Gods. 

Eteocles,  Chorus,  Messenger. 

Eteo.  Go  thou,  and  bring  hither  Creon  son  of  Menoeeeus, 
the  brother  of  my  mother  Jocasta,  saying  this,  that  I  wish  to 

23  Or,  fell  with  limbs  that  had  never  known  yoke. — V.  Ovid:  Met.  iii.  10. 
Bos  tibi,  Phoebus  ait,  solis  occurret  in  arvis, 
Nullum  passa  jugum. 


106  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  692—721. 

communicate  with  him  counsels  of  a  private  nature  and  those 
which  concern  the  common  welfare  of  the  country,  before  we 
go  into  battle  and  the  ranks  of  war.  And  see,  he  spares  the 
trouble  of  your  steps,  by  his  presence  ;  for  I  see  him  coming 
towards  my  palace. 

Creon,  Eteocles,  Chorus. 

Cre.  Surely  have  I  visited  many  places,  desiring  to  see 
you,  0  king  Eteocles  !  and  I  have  gone  round  to  the  gates 
and  the  guards  of  the  Thebans,  seeking  you. 

Eteo.  And  indeed  I  have  wished  to  see  you,  Creon,  for  I 
found  attempts  at  reconciliation  altogether  fail  when  I  came 
and  entered  into  conference  with  Polynices. 

Cre.  I  have  heard  that  he  aspires  to  higher  thoughts  than 
Thebes,  having  trusted  in  his  alliance  with  Adrastus  and  his 
army.  But  it  becomes  us  to  hold  these  things  in  dependence 
on  the  Gods.  But  what  is  most  immediately  before  us,  this 
am  I  come  to  acquaint  you  with. 

Eteo.  What  is  this  ?  for  I  understand  not  your  speech. 

Cre.  A  prisoner  is  arrived  from  the  Argives. 

Eteo.  Does  he  bring  us  any  news  of  those  stationed  there  ? 

Cre.  The  Argive  army  is  preparing  quickly  to  surround 
the  city  of  the  Thebans  with  thickly-ranged  arms.  (Note  B.) 

Eteo.  Therefore  must  we  draw  our  forces  out  of  the 
Theban  city. 

Cre.  Whither  ?  Dost  thou  not  in  the  impetuosity  of  youth 
see  what  it  behoves  thee  to  see  ? 

Eteo.  Without  these  trenches,  as  we  are  quickly  about  to 
fight 

Cre.  Small  are  the  forces  of  this  land ;  but  theirs  in- 
numerable. 

Eteo.  I  know  that  they  are  bold  in  words. 

Cre.  Argos  of  the  Greeks  has  some  renown. 

Eteo.  Be  confident ;  quickly  will  I  fill  the  plain  with  their 
slaughter. 

Cre.  I  would  it  were  so :  but  this  I  see  is  a  work  of  much 
labour. 

Eteo.  Know  that  I  will  not  restrain  my  forces  within 
the  walls. 

Cre.  And  yet  the  whole  of  victory  is  prudence. 


722—751.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  107 

Eteo.  Dost  thou  wish  then  that  I  have  recourse  to  other 
measures  ? 

Cue.  To  every  measure  indeed,  rather  than  hazard  all  on 
one  battle. 

Eteo.  What  if  we  were  to  attack  them  by  night  from 
ambush  ? 

Cre.  If,  having  failed,  at  least  you  can  have  a  safe  retreat 
hither. 

Eteo.  Night  brings  the  same  advantage  to  all,  but  more  to 
the  daring. 

Cre.  Dreadful  is  it  to  fail  in  the  darkness  of  night. 

Eteo.  But  shall  I  lead  my  force  against  them  while  at  their 
meal  ? 

Cre.  That  would  cause  terror  ;  but  we  must  conquer. 

Eteo.  The  ford  of  Dirce  is  indeed  deep  to  pass. 

Cre.  Every  thing  is  inferior  to  a  good  guard. 

Eteo.  What  then,  shall  I  charge  the  Argive  army  with  my 
cavalry  ? 

Cre.  And  there  the  army  is  fenced  round  with  chariots. 

Eteo.  What  then  shall  I  do  ?  give  up  the  city  to  the  enemy  ? 

Cre.  By  no  means ;  but  deliberate  if  thou  art  wise. 

Eteo.  What  more  prudent  forethought  is  there  ? 

Cre.  They  say  that  they  have  seven  men,  as  I  have  heard. 

Eteo.  What  have  they  been  commanded  to  do  ?  for  their 
strength  is  small. 

Cre.  To  head  their  bands,  to  besiege  the  seven  gates. 

Eteo.  What  then  shall  we  do  ?  I  will  not  wait  this  inde- 
cision. 

Cre.  Do  thou  thyself  also  choose  seven  men  for  the  gates. 

Eteo.  To  head  divisions,  or  for  single  combat  ? 

Cre.  To  head  divisions,  having  selected  the  bravest. 

Eteo.  I  understand  you  ;  to  guard  the  approach  to  the  walls. 

Cre.  And  with  them  other  generals  ;  one  man  sees  not 
every  thing  ? 

Eteo.  Having  chosen  them  for  boldness,  or  prudence  in 
judgment  ? 

Cre.  For  both  ;  for  one  without  the  other  availeth  nothing. 

Eteo.  It  shall  be  so  :  and  having  gone  to  the  city  of  the 
seven  towers,  I  will  appoint  chiefs  at  the  gates,  as  you  advise, 
having  opposed  equal  champions  against  equal  foes.  But  to 
mention  the  name  of  each  would  be  a  great  delay,  the  enemy 


108  niE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  752—789. 

encamped  under  our  very  walls.  But  I  will  go,  that  I  may 
not  be  idle  with  my  hand.  And  may  it  befall  me  to  find  my 
brother  opposed  to  me,  and  being  joined  with  me  in  battle,  to 
take  him  with  my  spear,  [and  to  slay  him,  who  came  to  deso- 
late my  countty.]  But  it  is  thy  duty  to  attend  to  the  marriage 
of  my  sister  Antigone  and  thy  son  Hsemon,  if  I  fail  aught  of 
success ;  but  the  firm  vow  made  before  I  now  confirm  at  my 
going  out.  Thou  art  my  mother's  brother,  why  need  I  use 
more  words  ?  Treat  her  worthily,  both  for  thine  own  and  my 
sake.  But  my  father  incurs  the  punishment  of  the  rashness 
he  brought  upon  himself,. having  quenched  his  sight;  I  praise 
him  not ;  even  us  will  he  put  to  death  with  his  execrations, 
should  he  gain  his  point.  But  one  thing  is  left  undone  by  us, 
if  the  soothsayer  Tiresias  have  any  oracle  to  deliver,  to  en- 
quire this  of  him ;  but  I  will  send  thy  son,  Creon,  Menoeceus, 
of  the  same  name  with  thy  father,  to  bring  Tiresias  hither. 
With  pleasure  will  he  enter  into  conversation  with  you ;  but 
I  lately  reviled  him  with  his  divining  art,  so  that  he  is  offended 
with  me.  But  this  charge  I  give  the  city  with  thee,  Creon  ; 
if  my  arms  should  conquer,  that  the  body  of  Polynices  be 
never  buried  in  this  Theban  land ;  but  that  the  man  who 
buries  him  shall  die,  although  he  be  a  friend.  This  I  have 
told  you  :  but  my  attendants  I  tell,  bring  out  my  arms,  and 
my  panoply  which  covers  me,  that  we  may  go  this  appointed 
contest  of  the  spear  with  victorious  justice.  But  to  Caution, 
the  most  valued  of  the  Goddesses,  will  we  address  our  prayers 
to  preserve  this  city. 

Chorus. 

0  Mars,  cause  of  infinite  woe,  why,  I  pray,  art  thou  so 
possessed  with  blood  and  death,  so  discordant  with  the  revels 
of  Bacchus  ?  Thou  dost  not  in  the  circle  of  beautiful  dancers 
in  the  bloom  of  youth,  having  let  flow  thy  hair29,  on  the  breath 
of  the  flute  modulate  strains,  in  which  there  is  a  lovely  power 
to  renew  the  dance.    But  with  thy  armed  men,  having  excited 

29  Valckenaer  proposes  reading  instead  of  wpai'i  or  wpcvs,  uupac?,  -writing 
the  passage  avpais  fioo-rpuxov  d/jLTrt-racras,  "  per  auras  leves  crine  jactato:" 
which  seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  place,  where  the  poet  places  the 
tumultuous  rage  of  Mars  in  contrast  with  the  sweet  enthusiasm  of  the 
Bacchanalians,  who  are  represented  as  flying  over  the  plains  with  their 
hair  streaming  in  the  wind.    But  see  Note  C. 


790— S33.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  109 

the  array  of  Argives  against  Thebes  with  blood,  thou  dancest 
before  the  city  in  a  most  inharmonious  revel,  thou  movest  not 
thy  foot  maddened  by  the  thyrsus  clad  in  fawn-skins,  but  thy 
solid-hoofed  steed  with  thy  chariot  and  horses'  bits ;  and 
bounding  at  the  streams  of  Ismenus,  thou  art  borne  rapidly  in 
the  chariot-course,  having  excited  against  the  race  of  those 
sown  [by  Cadmus,"]  a  raging  host  that  grasp  the  shield,  well 
armed,  adverse  to  us  at  the  walls  of  stone  :  surely  Discord  is 
some  dreadful  Goddess,  who  devised  all  these calamitiesagainst 
the  princes  of  this  land,  the  Labdacidrc  involved  in  woe.  O 
thou  forest  of  heavenly  foliage,  most  productive  of  beasts,  thou 
snowy  eye  of  Diana,  Cithseron,  never  oughtest  thou  to  have 
nourished  him  doomed  to  death,  the  son  of  Jocasta,  (Edipus, 
the  babe  who  was  cast  out  from  his  home,  marked  by  the 
golden  clasps.  Neither  ought  that  winged  virgin  the  Sphinx, 
that  mountain  monster,  that  grief  to  this  land,  to  have  come, 
with  her  most  inharmonious  lays  ;  who  formerly  approaching 
our  walls,  bore  in  her  four  talons  the  descendants  of  Cadmus 
to  the  inaccessible  light  of  heaven,  whom  the  infernal  Pluto 
sends  against  the  Thebans  ;  but  other  ill-fated  discord  among 
the  children  of  CEdipus  springs  up  in  the  palace  and  in  the 
city.  For  that  which  is  not  honourable,  never  can  be  honour- 
able, as  neither  can  children  the  unhallowed  offspring  of  the 
mother,  the  pollution  of  the  father.  But  she  came  to  a  kin- 
dred bed.  Thou  didst  produce,  O  [Theban]  land  !  thou  didst 
produce  formerly  (as  I  heard  the  foreign  report30,  I  heard  it 
formerly  at  home),  the  race  sprung  from  teeth  from  the  fiery- 
crested  dragon  fed  on  beasts,  the  proudest  honour  of  Thebes. 
But  to  the  nuptials  of  Harmonia  the  Gods  came  of  old,  and 
by  the  harp  and  by  the  lyre  of  Amphion  uprose  the  walls  of 
Thebes  the  tower  of  the  double  streams31,  at  the  midst  of  the 
pass  of  Dirce,  which  waters  the  verdant  plain  before  Ismenus. 
And  To,  our  ancient  mother,  doomed  to  bear  horns,  brought 
forth  a  line  of  Theban  kings.  But  this  city  receiving  ten 
thousand  goods  one  in  change  for  another,  hath  stood  in  the 
highest  chaplets  of  war. 

:'u  ccKofi  is  here  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  to  aKovo/xtvov,  as  we 
find  ai<r0f|ffis  for  ai<70i|Toi/,  vous  for  to  vooi'ifiivov. 

31  The  words  Std6/xwi>  -rroTaixwv  do  not  refer  to  Dirce,  but  to  Thebes, 
Thebes  being  called  tt6\i<s  SnroTafjios.  The  construction  is  irvoyoi  oiob- 
uwv  ttotuiawv.  Thus  in  Pindar  olKti/ia  TroTajuoD  means  o'ix^ixa  Trapa  tto- 
Tufxw.    Olymp.  2.  Antistr.  1. 


110  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  834—869. 

Tiresias  {led  by  his  daughter),  Menceceus,  Creon,  Chorus. 

Tir.  Lead  onward,  my  daughter,  since  thou  art  an  eye  to 
my  blind  steps,  as  the  star  to  the  mariners.  Placing  my  steps 
hither  on  this  level  plain,  proceed  lest  we  stumble  ;  thy  father 
is  feeble  ;  and  preserve  carefully  in  thy  virgin  hand  my  cal- 
culations which  I  took,  having  learnt  the  auguries  of  the 
birds,  sitting  in  the  sacred  seats  where  I  foretell  the  future. 
My  child,  Menceceus,  son  of  Creon,  tell  me,  how  far  is  the 
remainder  of  the  journey  through  the  city  to  thy  father? 
Since  my  knees  are  weary,  and  with  difficulty  I  accomplish 
such  a  long  journey. 

Cre.  Be  of  good  cheer ;  for  thou  hast  steered  thy  foot, 
Tiresias,  near  to  thy  friends ;  but  take  hold  of  him,  my  son. 
Since  every  chariot32,  and  the  foot  of  the  aged  man  is  used  to 
expect  the  assistance  of  another's  hand. 

Tir.  Well :  I  am  present ;  but  why  didst  thou  call  me  with 
such  haste,  Creon  ? 

Cre.  We  have  not  as  yet  forgotten:  but  recover  thy 
strength,  and  collect  thy  breath,  having  thrown  aside  the 
fatigue  occasioned  by  the  journey. 

Tir.  I  am  relaxed  indeed  *  with  toil,  brought  hither  from 
the  Athenians  the  day  before  this.  For  there  also  was  a  con- 
test of  the  spear  with  Eumolpus,  where  I  made  the  descendants 
of  Cecrops  splendid  conquerors.  And  I  wear  this  golden 
chaplet,  as  thou  seest,  having  received  the  first-fruits  of  the 
spoil  of  the  enemy. 

Cre.  Thy  victorious  garlands  I  make  an  happy  omen.  For 
we,  as  thou  well  knowest,  are  tossing  in  a  storm  of  war  with 
the  Greeks,  and  great  is  the  hazard  of  Thebes.  The  king 
Eteocles  has  therefore  gone  forth  adorned  with  his  armour 
already  to  battle  with  the  Argives.  But  to  me  has  he  sent 
that  I  might  learn  from  you,  by  doing  what  we  should  be 
most  likely  to  preserve  the  city. 

Tir.  For  Eteocles'  sake  indeed  I  would  have  stopped  my 
mouth,  and  represt  the  oracles,  but  to  thee,  since  thou  desirest 
to  know  them,  will  I  declare  them :  for  this  land  labours  un- 
der the  malady  of  old,  O  Creon,  from  the  time  when  Laius 
became  the  father  of  children  in  spite  of  the  Gods,  and  begat 

32  See  note  D.         *  yovv.     See  Dind. 


S69-904.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1  1  1 

the  wretched  CEdipus.  a  husband  for  his  mother.  But  the 
cruel  lacerations  of  his  eyes  were  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Gods, 
and  a  warning  to  Greece.  Which  things  the  sons  of  CEdipus 
seeking  to  conceal  among  themselves  by  the  lapse  of  time,  as 
about  forsooth  to  escape  from  the  Gods,  erred  through  their 
ignorance,  for  they  neither  giving  the  honour  due  to  their 
father,  nor  allowing  him  a  free  liberty,  infuriated  the  unfor- 
tunate man :  and  he  breathed  out  against  them  dreadful 
threats,  being  both  in  affliction,  and  moreover  dishonoured. 
And  I,  what  things  omitting  to  do,  and  what  words  omitting 
to  speak  on  the  subject,  have  nevertheless  fallen  into  the 
hatred  of  the  sons  of  CEdipus  ?  But  deatli  from  their  mutual 
hands  is  near  them,  O  Creon.  And  many  corses  fallen  around 
corses,  having  mingled  the  weapons  of  Argos  and  Thebes, 
shall  cause  bitter  lamentations  to  the  Theban  land.  And 
thou,  O  wretched  city,  art  sapped  from  thy  foundations,  un- 
less men  will  obey  my  words.  For  this  were  the  first  thing, 
that  not  any  of  the  family  of  CEdipus  should  be  citizens,  nor 
king  of  the  territory,  inasmuch  as  they  are  possessed  by  de- 
mons, and  are  they  that  will  overthrow  the  city.  And  since 
the  evil  triumphs  over  the  good,  there  is  one  other  thing  re- 
quisite to  ensure  preservation.  But,  as  this  is  neither  safe  for 
me  to  say,  and  distressing  to  those  on  whom  the  lot  has  fallen, 
to  give  to  the  city  the  balm  of  preservation,  I  will  depart :  fare- 
well ;  for  being  an  individual  with  many  shall  I  suffer  what  is 
about  to  happen,  if  it  must  be  so  ;  for  what  can  I  do 33  ! 

Cre.   Stay  here,  old  man. 

Tir.  Lay  not  hold  upon  me. 

Cre.  Remain  ;  why  dost  thou  fly  me  ? 

Tir.  Thy  fortune  flies  thee,  but  not  I. 

Cre.  Tell  me  the  means  of  preserving  the  citizens  and 
their  city. 

Tir.  Thou  wishest  now  indeed,  and  soon  thou  wilt  not 
wish. 

Cre.  And  how  am  I  not  willing  to  preserve  my  country  ? 

Tir.  Art  thou  willing  then  to  hear,  and  art  thou  eager  ? 

Cre.  For  towards  what  ought  I  to  have  a  greater  eager- 
ness ? 

Tir.  Hear   now  then   my   prophecies. — But   this   first   I 

:'3  t£  yap  ttuOw  •  Quid  enim  agam?  est  formula  eorum,  quos  invitos 
natura  vel  fatum,  vel  qua?cumque  alia  cogit  necessitas.     Valcken. 


112  THE  PHCENICIAN  VIRGINS.  904—930. 

wish  to  ascertain  clearly,  where  is  Menoeceus  who  brought  me 
hither. 

Cre.  He  is  not  far  off,  but  close  to  thee. 

Tir.  Let  him  depart  then  afar  from  my  oracles. 

Cre.  He  that  is  my  son  will  keep  secret  what  ought  to  be 
kept  secret. 

Tir.  Art  thou  willing  then  that  I  speak  in  his  presence  ? 

Cre.  Yes :  for  he  would  be  delighted  to  hear  of  the  means 
of  preservation. 

Tir.  Hear  now  then  the  tenor  of  my  oracles ;  what  things 
doing  ye  may  preserve  the  city  of  the  Cadmeans.  It  is  neces- 
sary for  thee  to  sacrifice  this  thy  son  Menoeceus  for  the  country, 
since  thou  thyself  callest  for  this  fortune. 

Cre.  What  say  est  thou,  what  word  is  this  thou  hast  spoken, 
old  man  ? 

Tir.  As  circumstances  are,  thus  also  oughtest  thou  to  act. 

Cre.   0  thou,  that  hast  said  many  evils  in  a  short  time  ! 

Tir.  To  thee  at  least ;  but  to  thy  country  great  and 
salutary. 

Cre.  I  heard  not,  I  attended  not ;  let  the  city  go  where 
it  will. 

Tir.  This  is  no  longer  the  same  man ;  he  retracts  again 
what  he  said. 

Cre.  Farewell !  depart ;  for  I  have  no  need  of  thy  pro- 
phecies. 

Tir.  Has  truth  perished,  because  thou  art  unfortunate? 

Cre.  By  thy  knees  I  implore  thee,  and  by  thy  reverend 
locks. 

Tir.  Why  kneel  to  me  ?  the  evils  thou  askest  are  hard  to 
be  controlled.     (Note  E.) 

Cre.  Keep  it  secret ;  and  speak  not  these  words  to  the 
city. 

Tir.  Dost  thou  command  me  to  be  unjust?  I  cannot  be 
silent. 

Cre.  What  then  wilt  thou  do  to  me  ?  Wilt  thou  slay  my 
son  ? 

Tir.  These  things  will  be  a  care  to  others  ;  but  by  me  will 
it  be  spoken. 

Cre.  But  from  whence  has  this  evil  come  to  me,  and  to 
my  child  ? 

Tir.  Well  dost  thou  ask  me,  and  comest  to  the  drift  of  my 


931-973.  THE  THCENICIAN  VIRGINS.  113 

discourse.  It  is  necessary  that  he,  stabbed  in  that  cave  where 
the  earth-born  dragon  lay,  the  guardian  of  Dirce's  fountain, 
give  his  gory  blood  a  libation  to  the  earth  on  account  of  the 
ancient  wrath  of  Mars  against  Cadmus,  who  avenges  the 
slaughter  of  the  earth-born  dragon  ;  and  these  things  done, 
ye  shall  obtain  Mars  as  your  ally.  But  if  the  earth  receive 
fruit  in  return  for  fruit,  and  mortal  blood  in  return  for  blood, 
ye  shall  have  tliat  land  propitious,  which  formerly  sent  forth 
a  crop  of  men  from  seed  armed  with  golden  helmets  ;  but  there 
must  of  this  race  die  one,  who  is  the  son  of  the  dragon's  jaw. 
But  thou  art  left  among  us  of  the  race  of  those  sown  men, 
pure  in  thy  descent,  both  by  thy  mother's  side  and  in  the  male 
line  ;  and  thy  children  too :  Harmon's  marriage  however  pre- 
cludes his  being  slain,  for  he  is  not  a  youth,  [for,  although  he 
has  not  approached  her  bed,  he  has  yet  contracted  the  mar- 
riage.] But  this  youth,  devoted  to  this  city,  by  dying  may 
preserve  his  native  country.  And  he  will  cause  a  bitter  re- 
turn to  Adrastus  and  the  Argives,  casting  back  death  over 
their  eyes,  and  Thebes  will  he  make  illustrious :  of  these  two 
fates  choose  the  one ;  either  preserve  thy  child  or  the  state. 
Every  information  from  me  thou  hast : — lead  me,  my  child, 
towards  home ; — but  whoever  exercises  the  art  of  divination, 
is  a  fool ;  if  indeed  he  chance  to  shew  disagreeable  things,  he 
is  rendered  hateful  to  those  to  whom  he  may  prophesy ;  but 
speaking  falsely  to  his  employers  from  motives  of  pity,  he  is 
unjust  as  touching  the  Gods. — Phoebus  alone  should  speak  in 
oracles  to  men,  who  fears  nobody. 

Creon,  Menceceus,  Chorus. 

Chor.  Creon,  why  art  thou  mute  compressing  thy  voice  in 
silence,  for  to  me  also  there  is  no  less  consternation. 

Cre.  But  what  can  one  say  ? — It  is  clear  however  what  my 
answer  will  be.  For  never  will  I  go  to  this  degree  of  calamity, 
to  expose  my  son  a  victim  for  the  state.  For  all  men  live 
with  an  affection  towards  their  children,  nor  would  any  give 
up  his  OAvn  child  to  die.  Let  no  one  praise  me  for  the  deed, 
and  slay  my  children.  But  I  myself,  for  I  am  arrived  at  a 
mature  period  of  life,  am  ready  to  die  to  liberate  my  country. 
But  haste,  my  son,  before  the  whole  city  hears  it,  disregarding 
the  intemperate  oracles  of  prophets,  fly  as  omickly  as  possible, 
having  quitted  this  land.     For  he  will  tell  these  things  to  the 

I 


114  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  974— 100a 

authorities  and  chiefs,  going  to  the  seven  gates,  and  to  the 
officers :  and  if  indeed  we  get  before  him,  there  is  safety  for 
thee,  but  if  thou  art  too  late,  we  are  undone,  thou  diest. 

Men.  Whither  then  fly  ?     To  what  city  ?  what  friends  ? 

Cre.  Wheresoever  thou  wilt  be  farthest  removed  from  this 
country. 

Men.  Therefore  it  is  fitting  for  thee  to  speak,  and  for  me 
to  do. 

Cre.  Having  passed  through  Delphi — 

Men.  Whither  is  it  right  for  me  to  go,  my  father  ? 

Cre.  To  the  land  of  ^Etolia. 

Men.  And  from  this  whither  shall  I  proceed  ? 

Cre.  To  Thesprotia's  soil. 

Men.  To  the  sacred  seat  of  Dodona  ? 

Cre.  Thou  understandest. 

Men.  What  then  will  there  be  to  protect  me  ? 

Cre.  The  conducting  deity. 

Men.  But  what  means  of  procuring  money  ? 

Cre.  I  will  supply  gold. 

Men.  Thou  sayest  well,  my  father.  Go  then,  for  having 
proceeded  to  salute34  thy  sister,  whose  breast  I  first  sucked, 
Jocasta  I  mean,  deprived  of  my  mother,  and  reft  from  her,  an 
orphan,  I  will  depart  and  save  my  life.  But  haste,  go,  let  not 
thy  purpose  be  hindered. 

Menceceus,  Chorus. 

Men.  Ye  females,  how  well  removed  I  my  father's  fears, 
having  deceived  him  with  words,  in  order  to  gain  my  wishes ; 
who  sends  me  out  of  the  way,  depriving  the  city  of  its  good 
fortune,  and  gives  me  up  to  cowardice.  And  these  things  are 
pardonable  indeed  in  an  old  man,  but  in  my  case  it  deserves  no 
pardon  to  become  the  deserter  of  that  country  which  gave  me 
birth.  That-  ye  may  know  then,  I  will  go,  and  preserve  the 
city,  and  will  give  up  my  life  for  this  land.  For  it  is  a  dis- 
graceful thing,  that  those  indeed  who  are  free  from  the  oracle, 
and  are  not  concerned  with  any  compulsion  of  the  Gods, 
standing  at  their  shields  in  battle,  shall  not  be  slow  to  die 
fighting  before  the  towers  for  their  country  ;  and  I,  having  be- 
trayed my  father,  and  my  brother,  and  my  own  city,  shall  de- 

34  Hpocrnyopi'icrtov  is  to  be  joined  with  /uoXwv,  not  with  eIjui.  In  con- 
firmation of  this  see  line  1011. 


1004— 10P4.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  115 

part  coward-like  from  out  of  the  land  ;  but  wherever  I  live,  I 
shall  appear  vile.  No  :  by  that  Jove  that  dwelleth  amidst  the 
constellations,  and  sanguinary  Mars,  who  set  up  those  sown 
men,  who  erst  sprung  from  the  earth,  to  be  kings  of  this 
country.  But  I  will  depart,  and  standing  on  the  summit  of 
the  battlements,  stabbing  myself  over  the  dark  deep  lair  of  the 
dragon,  where  the  prophet  appointed,  will  give  liberty  to  the 
country — the  word  has  been  spoken.  But  I  go,  by  my  death 
about  to  give  no  mean  gift  to  the  state,  and  will  rid  this  land 
of  its  affliction.  For  if  every  one,  seizing  what  opportunity 
he  had  in  his  power  of  doing  good,  would  persist  in  it,  and 
bring  it  forward  for  his  country's  weal,  states,  experiencing 
fewer  calamities,  henceforward  might  be  prosperous. 

Chor.  Thou  earnest  forth,  thou  earnest  forth,  O  winged 
monster,  production  of  the  earth,  and  the  viper  of  hell,  the 
ravager  of  the  Cadmeans,  big  with  destruction,  big  with  woes, 
in  form  half-virgin,  a  hostile  prodigy,  with  thy  ravening 
wings,  and  thy  talons  that  preyed  on  raw  flesh,  who  erst  from 
Dirce's  spot  bearing  aloft  the  youths,  accompanied  by  an  in- 
harmonious lay,  thou  broughtest,  thou  broughtest  cruel  woes 
to  our  country  ;  cruel  was  he  of  the  Gods,  whoever  was  the 
author  of  these  things.  And  the  moans  of  the  matrons,  and 
the  moans  of  the  virgins,  resounded  in  the  house,  in  a  voice, 
in  a  strain  of  misery,  they  lamented  some  one  thing,  some 
another,  in  succession  through  the  city.  And  the  groaning 
and  the  noise  was  like  to  thunder,  when  the  winged  virgin 
bore  out  of  sight  any  man  from  the  city.  But  at  length  came 
by  the  mission  of  the  Pythian  oracle  QGdipus  the  unhappy  to 
this  land  of  Thebes,  to  us  then  indeed  delighted,  but  again 
came  woes.  For  he,  wretched  man,  having  gained  the  glori- 
ous victory  over  the  enigmas,  contracts  a  marriage,  an  unfor- 
tunate marriage  with  his  mother,  and  pollutes  the  city.  And 
fresh  woes  does  the  unfortunate  man  cause  to  succeed  with 
slaughter,  devoting  by  curses  his  sons  to  the  unhallowed  con- 
test.— With  admiration,  with  admiration  we  look  on  him,  who 
is  gone  to  kill  himself  for  the  sake  of  his  country's  land  ;  to 
Creon  indeed  having  left  lamentations,  but  about  to  make  the 
seven-towered  gates  of  the  land  greatly  victorious.  Thus 
may  we  be  mothers,  thus  may  we  be  blest  in  our  children,  O 
dear  Pallas,  who  destroyedst  the  blood  of  the  dragon  by  the 
hurled  stone,  driving  the  attention  of  Cadmus  to  the  action, 

i  2 


116  THE  TIKENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1065—1101. 

whence  with  rapine  some  fiend  of  the  Gods  rushed  on  this 
land. 

Messenger,  Jocasta,  Chorus. 

Mess.  Ho  there  !  who  is  at  the  gate  of  the  palace  ?  Open, 
conduct  Jocasta  from  out  of  the  house. — What  ho  !  again — 
after  a  long  time  indeed,  but  yet  come  forth,  hear,  O  re- 
nowned wife  of  (Edipus,  ceasing  from  thy  lamentations,  and 
thy  tears  of  grief. 

Joe.  0  most  dear  man,  surely  thou  comest  bearing  the 
news  of  some  calamity,  of  the  death  of  Eteocles,  by  whose 
shield  thou  always  didst  go,  warding  off  the  weapons  of  the 
enemy.  What  new  message,  I  pray,  dost  thou  come  to  de- 
liver ?     Is  my  son  dead  or  alive  ?     Tell  me. 

Mess.  He  lives,  be  not  alarmed  for  this,  for  I  will  rid  thee 
of  this  fear. 

Joe.  But  what  ?  In  what  state  are  our  seven-towered 
ramparts  ? 

Mess.  They  stand  unshaken,  nor  is  the  city  destroyed. 

Joe.  Came  they  in  danger  from  the  spear  of  Argos  ? 

Mess.  To  the  very  extreme  of  danger ;  but  the  arms  of 
Thebes  came  off  superior  to  the  Mycenaean  spear. 

Joe.  Tell  me  one  thing,  by  the  Gods,  whether  thou  know- 
est  anything  of  Polynices  (since  this  is  a  concern  to  me  also) 
whether  he  sees  the  light. 

Mess.  Thus  far  in  the  day  thy  pair  of  children  lives. 

Joe.  Be  thou  blest.  But  how  did  ye  stationed  on  the 
towers  drive  off  the  spear  of  Argos  from  the  gates  ?  Tell  me, 
that  I  may  go  and  delight  the  old  blind  man  in  the  house 
with  the  news  of  his  country's  being  preserved. 

Mess.  After  that  the  son  of  Creon,  he  that  died  for  the 
land,  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  towers,  plunged  the  black- 
handled  sword  into  his  throat,  the  salvation  of  this  land,  thy 
son  placed  seven  cohorts,  and  their  leaders  with  them,  at  the 
seven  gates,  guards  against  the  Argive  spear ;  and  he  drew 
up  the  horse  ready  to  support  the  horse,  and  the  heavy-armed 
men  to  reinforce  the  shield-bearers,  so  that  to  the  part  of  the 
wall  which  was  in  danger  there  might  be  succour  at  hand. 
But  from  the  lofty  citade1  we  view  the  army  of  the  Argives 
with  their  white  shields,  having  quitted  Tumessus  and  now 
come  near  the  trench,  at  full  speed  they  reached  the  city  of  the 


1102—1134.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  117 

land  of  Cadmus.  And  the  paaan  and  the  trumpet?  at  the 
same  time  from  them  resounded,  and  off  the  walls  from  us. 
And  first  indeed  Parthenopaeus  the  son  of  the  huntress 
( Atalanta)  led  his  division  horrent  with  their  thick  shields 
against  the  Neitan35  gate,  having  a  family  device  in  the 
middle  of  his  shield,  Atalanta  destroying  the  vEtolian  hoar 
with  her  distant-wounding  bow.  And  against  the  Pnctan 
gate  marched  the  prophet  Amphiaraus,  having  victims  in  his 
car,  not  bearing  an  insolent  emblem,  but  modestly  having  his 
arms  without  a  device.  But  against  the  Ogygian  gate  stood 
Prince  Hippomedon,  bearing  an  emblem  in  the  middle  of  his 
shield,  the  Argus  gazing  with  his  spangled30  eyes, [some  eyes 
indeed  with  the  rising  of  the  stars  awake37,  and  some  with  the 
setting  closed,  as  we  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  afterwards 
when  he  was  dead.]  But  Tydeus  was  drawn  up  at  the  Homo- 
loian  gate,  having  on  his  shield  a  lion's  skin  rough  with  his 
mane,  but  in  his  right  hand  he  bore  a  torch,  as  the  Titan 
Prometheus38,  intent  on  firing  the  city.  But  thy  son  Poly- 
nices  drew  up  his  array  at  the  Crenean  gate  ;  but  the  swift 
Potnian  mares,  the  emblem  on  his  shield,  were  starting  through 
fright,  well  circulary39  grouped  within  the  orb  at  the  handle 
of  the  shield,  so  that  they  seemed  infuriated.  But  Capaneus, 
not  holding  less  notions  than  Mars  on  the  approaching  battle, 
drew  up  his  division  against  the  Electran  gate.  Upon  the 
iron  embossments  of  his  shield  was  an  earth-born  giant  bear- 
ing upon  his  shoulders  a  whole  city,  which  he  had  torn  up  from 
the  foundations  with  bars,  an  intimation  to  us  what  our  city 
should  suffer.     But  at  the  seventh  gate  was  Adrastus,  having 

85  So  called  after  Ne'is  the  son  of  Amphion  aftd  Niobe,  or  from  viarai, 
"  Newgale."     Schol. 

36  Argus  himself  might  be  called  (micros,  but  not  his  eyes,  hence  iru/ci/ols 
is  proposed  by  Heinsius.     Abreschius  receives  o-tiktoIs  in  the  sense  of 

OtS   (TTIICTOS   E(7Tl. 

37  The  Scholiast  makes  (SXtirovTa  the  accusativesingular  to  agree  with 
irav6irTi)v.  Musgrave  takes  it  as  agreeing  with  dfip-aTa  •  in  this  latter 
case  KpvirTovTa  is  used  in  a  neuter  signification.    Note  F. 

38  This  is  Musgrave's  interpretation,  by  putting  the  stop  after  us,  which 
also  Porson  adopts;  others  would  join  &?  with  -n-prnruiv.  It  seems  how- 
ever more  natural  that  the  torch  should  be  referred  to  Tydeus's  emblem, 
than  to  himself. 

39  Commentators  and  interpreters  are  much  at  variance  concerning  the 
word  <TTp6(piy£iv.  For  his  better  satisfaction  on  this  passage  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  Scholia. 


118  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1135—1177- 

his  shield  filled  with  an  hundred  vipers,  bearing  on  his  left 
arm  a  representation  of  the  hydra,  the  boast  of  Argos,  and 
from  the  midst  of  the  walls  the  dragons  were  bearing  the 
children  of  the  Thebans  in  their  jaws.  But  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  each  of  these,  as  I  took  the  word  of  battle  to 
the  leaders  of  the  divisions.  And  first  indeed  we  fought  with 
bows,  and  javelins,  and  distant-wounding  slings,  and  frag- 
ments of  rocks  ;  but  when  we  were  conquering  in  the  fight, 
Tydeus  shouted  out,  and  thy  son  on  a  sudden,  "  O  sons  of  the 
Dana'i,  why  delay  we,  ere  we  are  galled  with  their  missile 
weapons,  to  make  a  rush  at  the  gates  all  in  a  body,  light- 
armed  men,  horsemen,  and  those  who  drive  the  chariots  ?" 
And  when  they  heard  the  cry,  no  one  was  backward ;  but 
many  fell,  their  heads  besmeared  with  blood  ;  of  us  also  you 
might  have  seen  before  the  walls  frequent  divers  toppling  to 
the  ground  ;  and  they  moistened  the  parched  earth  with  streams 
of  blood.  But  the  Arcadian,  no  Argive,  the  son  of  Atalanta, 
as  some  whirlwind  falling  on  the  gates,  calls  out  for  fire  and  a 
spade,  as  though  he  would  dig  up  the  city.  But  Periclymenus 
the  son  of  the  God  of  the  Ocean  stopped  him  in  his  raging, 
hurling  at  his  head  a  stone,  a  wagon-load,  a  pinnacle40  rent 
from  the  battlement  ;  and  dashed  in  pieces  his  head  with  its 
auburn  hair,  and  crushed  the  suture  of  the  bones,  and  be- 
smeared witli  blood  his  lately  blooming  cheeks ;  nor  shall  he 
carry  back  his  living  form  to  his  mother,  glorious  in  her  bow, 
the  daughter  of  Mamalus.  But  when  thy  son  saw  this  gate 
was  in  a  state  of  safety,  he  went  to  another,  and  I  followed. 
But  I  see  Tydeus,  and  many  armed  with  shields  around  him, 
darting  with  their  .ZEtolian  lances  at  the  highest  battlements 
of  the  towers,  so  thaf  our  men  put  to  flight  quitted  the  heights 
of  the  ramparts  ;  but  thy  son,  as  a  hunter,  collects  them  toge- 
ther again  ;  and  posted  them  a  second  time  on  the  towers  ; 
and  we  hasten  on  to  another  gate,  having  relieved  the  distress 
in  this  quarter.  But  Capaneus,  how  can  I  express  the 
measure  of  his  rage  !  For  he  came  bearing  the  ranges  of  a 
long-reaching  ladder,  and  made  this  high  boast,  "  That  not 
even  the  hallowed  fire  of  Jove  should  hinder  him  from  taking 
the  city  from  its  highest  turrets."  And  these  things  soon  as  he 
had  proclaimed,  though  assailed  with  stones,  he  clambered  up, 

40  yuaaa  is  in  apposition  to  \aav  in  the  preceding  line.      Cf.  Orestes 
1585. 


1178—1213.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  119 

having  contracted  his  body  under  his  shield,  climbing  the 
slippery  footing  of  the  bars41  of  the  ladder:  but  when  he  was 
now  mounting  the  battlements  of  the  walls  Jupiter  strikes 
him  with  his  thunder  ;  and  the  earth  resounded,  insomuch 
that  all  trembled  ;  and  his  limbs  were  hurled,  as  it  were  by  a 
sling,  from  the  ladder  separately  from  one  another,  his  hair  to 
heaven,  and  his  blood  to  the  ground,  and  his  limbs,  like  the 
whirling  of  Ixion  on  his  wheel,  were  carried  round  ;  and  his 
scorched  body  falls  to  the  earth.  But  when  Adrastus  saw 
that  Jove  was  hostile  to  his  army,  he  stationed  the  host  of 
the  Argives  without  the  trench.  But  ours  on  the  contrary, 
when  they  saw  the  auspicious  sign  from  Jove,  drove  out  their 
chariots,  horsemen  and  heavy-armed,  and  rushing  into  the 
midst  of  the  Argive  arms  engaged  in  fight :  and  there  were 
all  the  sorts  of  misery  together :  they  died,  they  fell  from  their 
chariots,  and  the  wheels  leaped  up  and  axles  upon  axles  :  and 
corses  were  heaped  together  with  corses. — We  have  preserved 
then  our  towers  from  being  overthrown  to  this  present  day ; 
but  whether  for  the  future  this  land  will  be  prosperous,  rests 
with  the  Gods. 

Chor.  To  conquer  is  glorious  ;  but  if  the  Gods  have  the 
better  intent,  may  I  be  fortunate  ! 

Joe.  Well  are  the  ways  of  the  Gods,  and  of  fortune  ;  for 
my  children  live,  and  my  country  has  escaped ;  but  the  un- 
happy Creon  seems  to  feel  the  effects  of  my  marriage,  and  of 
CEdipus's  misfortunes,  being  deprived  of  his  child ;  for  the 
state  indeed,  happily,  but  individually,  to  his  misery  :  but 
recount  to  me  again,  what  after  this  did  my  two  sons  purpose 
to  do  ? 

Mess.  Forbear  the  rest ;  for  in  every  circumstance  hitherto 
thou  art  fortunate. 

Joe.  This  hast  thou  said  so  as  to  raise  suspicion ;  I  must 
not  forbear. 

Mess.  Dost  thou  want  any  thing  more  than  that  thy  sons 
are  safe  ? 

Joe.  In  what  follows  also  I  would  hear  if  I  am  fortunate. 

Mess.  Let  me  go  :  thy  son  is  deprived  of  his  armour-bearer. 

41  Commentators  are  divided  on  the  meaning  of  hvXaTa.  One  Scho- 
liast understands  it  to  mean  the  uprights  of  the  ladder  in  which  the  bars 
are  fixed.  Eustathias  considers  ivi)\aTwv  (IdOpa  a  periphrasis  for  padpa, 
iunkara  being  the  (iddpa  or  (3ad/ii8ts,  which  iviX^Xavrai  toIs  opQols  £u\ois. 


120  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1214—1256 

Joe.  Thou  concealest  some  •  ill  and  coverest  it  in  obscu- 
rity. 

Mess.  I  cannot  speak  thy  ills  after  thy  happiness. 

Joe.  But  thou  shalt,  unless  fleeing  from  me  thou  fleest 
through  the  air. 

Mess.  Alas  !  alas  !  Why  dost  thou  not  suffer  me  to  depart 
after  a  message  of  glad  tidings,  but  forcest  me  to  tell  calami- 
ties ? — Thy  sons  are  intent  on  most  shameful  deeds  of  bold- 
ness— to  engage  in  single  combat  apart  from  the.  whole  army, 
having  addressed  to  the  Argives  and  Thebans  in  common  a 
speech,  such  as  they  never  ought  to  have  spoken.  But  Eteocles 
began,  standing  on  the  lofty  turret,  having  commanded  to  pro- 
claim silence  to  the  army.  And  he  said,  "  0  generals  of  the 
Grecian  land,  and  chieftains  of  the  Dana'i,  who  have  come 
hither,  and  O  people  of  Cadmus,  neither  for  the  sake  of 
Polynices  barter  your  lives,  nor  for  my  cause.  For  I  myself, 
taking  this  danger  on  myself,  alone  will  enter  the  lists  with 
my  brother :  and  if  indeed  I  slay  him,  I  will  dwell  in  the 
palace  alone ;  but  should  I  be  subdued,  I  will  give  it  up  to 
him  alone.  But  you,  ceasing  from  the  combat,  O  Argives, 
shall  return  to  your  land,  not  leaving  your  lives  here ;  [of  the 
Theban  people  also  there  is  enough  that  lieth  dead."]  Thus 
much  he  spake  ;  but  thy  son  Polynices  rushed  from  the  ranks, 
and  approved  his  words.  But  all  the  Argives  murmured  their 
applause,  and  the  people  of  Cadmus,  as  thinking  this  plan 
just.  And  after  this  the  generals  made  a  truce,  and  in  the 
space  between  the  two  armies  pledged  an  oath  to  abide  by  it. 
And  now  the  two  sons  of  the  aged  OEdipus  clad  their  bodies 
in  an  entire  suit  of  brazen  armour.  And  their  friends  adorned 
them,  the  champion  of  this  land  indeed  the  chieftains  of  the 
Thebans ;  and  him  the  principal  men  of  the  Danai.  And 
they  stood  resplendent,  and  they  changed  not  their  colour, 
raging  to  let  forth  their  spears  at  each  other.  But  their  friends 
on  either  side  as  they  passed  by  encouraging  them  with  words, 
thus  spoke.  "  Polynices,  it  rests  with  thee  to  erect  the  statue 
of  Jove,  emblem  of  victory,  and  to  confer  a  glorious  fame  on 
Argos."  But  to  Eteocles  on  the  other  hand ;  "  Now  thou 
tightest  for  the  state,  now  if  thou  come  off  victorious,  thou  art 
in  possession  of  the  sceptre."  These  things  they  said  exhort- 
ing them  to  the  combat.  But  the  seers  sacrificed  the  sheep, 
and  scrutinized  the  shooting  of  the  flames,  and  the  bursting 


1257—1280.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  121 

of  the  gall,  the  moisture  adverse42  to  the  fire,  and  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  flame,  which  bears  a  twofold  import,  both  the 
sign  of  victory43,  and  the  sign  of  being  defeated44.  But  if 
thou  hast  any  power,  or  words  of  wisdom,  or  the  soothing 
charms  of  incantation,  go,  stay  thy  children  from  the  fearful 
combat,  since  great  the  danger,  [and  dreadful  will  be  the  sequel 
of  the  contest,  namely,  tears  for  thee,  deprived  this  day  of  thy 
two  children.] 

Joe.  0  my  child,  Antigone,  come  forth  from  before  the 
palace ;  the  state  of  thy  fortune  suits  not  now  the  dance,  nor 
the  virgin's  chamber,  but  it  is  thy  duty,  in  conjunction  with 
thy  mother,  to  hinder  two  excellent  men  and  thy  brothers 
verging  towards  death  from  falling  by  each  other's  hands. 

Antigone,  Jocasta,  Chorus. 

Ant.  "With  what  new  horrors,  0  mother  of  my  being,  dost 
thou  call  out  to  thy  friends  before  the  house  ? 

Joe.  O  my  daughter,  the  life  of  thy  brothers  is  gone  from 
them. 

Ant.  How  sayest  thou  ? 

Joe.  They  are  drawn  out  in  single  combat. 

Ant.  Alas  me  !  what  wilt  thou  say,  my  mother  ? 

Joe.  Nothing  of  pleasant  import ;  but  follow. 

Ant.  Whither  ?  leaving  my  virgin  chamber. 

Joe.  To  the  army. 

Ant.  I  am  ashamed  to  go  among  the  crowd. 

Joe.  Thy  present  state  admits  not  bashfulness. 

Ant.  But  what  shall  I  do  then  ? 

Joe.  Thou  shalt  quell  the  strife  of  the  brothers. 

Ant.  Doing  what,  my  mother. 

Joe.  Falling  before  them  with  me. 

Ant.  Lead  to  the  space  between  the  armies ;  we  must  not 
delay. 

Joe.  Haste,  daughter,  haste,  since,  if  indeed  I  reach  my 

42  Musgrave  would  render  lypo-ri^r  ivavrlav  by  "  mobilitatem  male 
coalescentem ;"  in  this  case  it  would  indicate  the  bad  omen,  and  be  op- 
posed to  &Kpav  \a/jLTrdoa,  which  then  should  be  translated  "  the  pointed 
flame."  Valckenaer  considers  the  passage  as  desperately  corrupt.  See 
Musgrave's  note.    Cf.  Note  G. 

*3  If  the  flame  was  clear  and  vivid. 

44  If  it  terminated  in  smoke  and  blackness. 


122  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1281— 132S. 

sons  before  they  engage,  I  still  exist  in  heaven's  fair  light, 
but  if  they  die,  I  shall  lie  dead  with  them. 

Chorus. 

Alas !  alas !  shuddering  with  horror,  shuddering  is  my 
breast ;  and  through  my  flesh  came  pity,  pity  for  the  unhappy 
mother,  on  account  of  her  two  children,  whether  of  them 
then  will  distain  with  blood  the  other  (alas  me  for  my  suffer- 
ings, 0  Jove,  0  earth),  the  own  brother's  neck,  the  own  bro- 
ther's life,  in  arms,  in  slaughter  ?  Wretched,  wretched  I, 
over  which  corse  then  shall  I  raise  the  lamentation  for  the 
dead  ?  O  earth,  earth,  the  two  beasts  of  prey,  bloodthirsty 
souls,  brandishing  the  spear,  will  quickly  distain  with  blood 
the  fallen,  fallen  enemy.  Wretches,  that  they  ever  came  to 
the  thought  of  a  single  combat !  In  a  foreign  strain  will  I 
mourn  with  tears  my  elegy  of  groans  due  to  the  dead.  Destiny 
is  at  hand — death  is  near ;  this  day  will  decide  the  event. 
Ill-fated,  ill-fated  murder  because  of  the  Furies !  But  I  see 
Creon  here  with  clouded  broAV  advancing  towards  the  house, 
I  will  cease  therefore  from  the  groans  I  am  uttering. 

Creon,  Chorus. 

Cre.  Ah  me  !  what  shall  I  do  ?  whether  am  I  to  groan  in 
weeping  myself,  or  the  city,  which  a  cloud  of  such  magnitude 
encircles  as  to  cast  us  amidst  the  gloom  of  Acheron  ?  For 
my  son  has  perished  having  died  for  the  city,  having  achieved 
a  glorious  name,  but  to  me  a  name  of  sorrow.  Him  having 
taken  just  now  from  the  dragon's  den,  stabbed  by  his  own 
hand,  I  wretched  bore  in  my  arms ;  and  the  whole  house  re- 
sounds with  shrieks ;  but  I,  myself  aged,  am  come  after  my 
aged  sister  Jocasta,  that  she  may  wash  and  lay  out  my  son 
now  no  more.  '  For  it  behoves  the  living  well  to  revere  the 
God  below  by  paying  honours  to  the  dead. 

Cho.  Thy  sister  is  gone  out  of  the  house,  O  Creon,  and 
the  girl  Antigone  attending  the  steps  of  her  mother. 

Cre.  Whither  ?  and  for  what  hap  ?  tell  me. 

Cho.  She  heard  that  her  sons  were  about  to  come  to  a  con- 
test in  single  battle  for  the  royal  palace. 

Cre.  How  sayest  thou  ?  whilst  I  was  fondly  attending  to 
my  son's  corse,  I  arrived  not  so  far  in  knowledge,  as  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  this  also. 


1329—1359.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  123 

Cno.  But  thy  sister  has  indeed  been  gone  some  time  ;  but 
I  think,  0  Creon,  that  the  contest,  in  which  their  lives  are  at 
stake,  has  already  been  concluded  by  the  sons  of  OEdipus. 

Cre.  Ah  me !  I  see  indeed  this  signal,  the  downcast  eye 
and  countenance  of  the  approaching  messenger,  who  will  re- 
late every  thing  that  has  taken  place. 

Messenger,  Creox,  Chorus. 

Mess.  O  wretched  me  !  what  language  or  what  words  can 
I  utter  ?  we  are  undone 

Cre.  Thou  beginnest  thy  speech  with  no  promising  prelude. 

Mess.  Oh  wretched  me !  doubly  do  I  lament,  for  I  hear 
great  calamities. 

Cre.  In  addition  to  the  calamities  that  have  happened  dost 
thou  still  speak  of  others  ? 

Mess.  Thy  sister's  sons,  O  Creon,  no  longer  behold  the 
light. 

Cre.  Ah  !  alas !  thou  utterest  great  ills  to  me  and  to  the 
state. 

Mess.  O  mansions  of  (Edipus,  do  ye  hear  these  things  of 
thy  children,  who  have  perished  by  similar  fates  ? 

Cho.  Ay,  so  that,  had  they  but  sense,  they  would  weep. 

Cre.  O  most  heavy  misery  !  Oh  me  wretched  with  woes  ! 
alas  !  unhappy  me  ! 

Mess.  If  that  thou  knewest  the  evils  yet  in  addition  to 
these. 

Cre.  And  how  can  there  be  more  fatal  ills  than  these  ? 

Mess.  Thy  sister  is  dead  with  her  two  children. 

Cno.  Raise,  raise  the  cry  of  woe,  and  smite  your  heads 
with  the  blows  of  your  white  hands. 

Cre.  Oh  unhappy  Jocasta,  what  an  end  of  thy  life  and  of 
thy  marriage  hast  thou  endured  in  the  riddles  of  the  Sphinx45  ! 
But  how  took  place  the  slaughter  of  her  two  sons,  and  the 
combat  arising  from  the  curse  of  CEdipus  ?  tell  me. 

Mess.  The  success  of  the  country  before  the  towers  indeed 
thou  knowest  ;  for  the  circuit  of  the  wall  is  not  of  such  vast 
extent,  but  that  thou  must  know  all  that  has  taken  place.  But 
after  that  the  sons  of  the  aged  CEdipus  had  clad  their  limbs  in 

45  The  construction  of  this  passage  is  the  same  as  that  of  II.  A.  155. 
davaTov  vv  toi  opm'  irafivov.  "  Fcedus,  quod  pepigi,  tibi  mortis  causa 
est."     Porson. 


124  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1360—1407. 

brazen  armour,  they  came  and  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  plain 
between  the  two  armies,  ready  for  the  contest,  and  the  fierce- 
ness of  the  single  battle.  And  having  cast  a  look  towards 
Argos,  Polynices  uttered  his  prayer  ;  "  0  venerable  Juno 
(for  I  am  thine,  since  in  marriage  I  joined  myself  with  the 
daughter  of  Adrastus,  and  dwell  in  that  land),  grant  me  to 
slay  my  brother,  and  to  cover  with  blood  my  hostile  hand  bear- 
ing the  victory."  And  Eteocles  looking  at  the  temple  of 
Pallas,  glorious  in  her  golden  shield,  prayed  ;  "  O  Daughter 
of  Jove,  grant  me  with  my  hand  to  hurl  my  victorious  spear 
from  this  arm  home  to  the  breast  of  my  brother,  [and  slay  him 
who  came  to  lay  waste  my  country."]  And  when  the  sound  of 
the  Tuscan  trumpet  was  raised,  as  the  torch,  the  signal  for  the 
fierce  battle,  they  sped  with  dreadful  rush  towards  each  other  ; 
and  like  wild  boars  whetting  their  savage  tusks,  they  met, 
their  cheeks  all  moist  with  foam  ;  and  they  rushed  forward 
with  their  lances  ;  but  they  couched  beneath  the  orbs  of  their 
shields,  in  order  that  the  steel  might  fall  harmless.  But  if 
either  perceived  the  other's  eye  raised  above  the  verge,  he 
drove  the  lance  at  his  face,  intent  to  be  beforehand  with  him  : 
but  dexterously  they  shifted  their  eyes  to  the  open  ornaments 
of  their  shields,  so  that  the  spear  was  made  of  none  eifect.  And 
more  sweat  trickled  down  the  spectators  than  the  combatants, 
through  the  fears  of  their  friends.  But  Eteocles,  stumbling 
with  his  foot  against  a  stone,  which  rolled  under  his  tread40, 
places  his  limb  without  the  shield.  But  Polynices  ran  up  with 
his  spear,  when  he  saw  a  stroke  open  to  his  steel,  and  the  Ar- 
give  spear  passed  through  the  shank.  And  all  the  host  of  the 
Dana'i  shouted  for  joy.  And  the  hero  who  first  was  wounded, 
when  he  perceived  his  shoulder  exposed  in  this  effort,  pierced 
the  breast  of  Polynices  with  his  lance,  and  gave  joy  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Cadmus,  but  he  broke  the  point  of  his  spear.  But 
being  come  to  a  strait  for  a  spear,  he  retreated  backward  on 
his  leg,  and  taking  a  stone  of  marble,  he  hurled  it  and  crash- 
ed his  antagonist's  spear  in  the  middle  :  and  the  battle  was  on 
equal  terms,  both  being  deprived  of  the  spear  in  their  hands. 
Then  seizing  the  handles  of  their  swords  they  met  at  close 
quarters,  and,  as  they  clashed  their  shields  together,  raised  a 
great  tumult  of  battle  around  them.     And  Eteocles  having 

46  Beck,  by  putting  the  stop  after  irtTpov,  makes  inroSpofxov  to  agree 
with  ko\ov,  "  his  limb  diverted  from  its  tread-" 


-408—1451.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  125 

a  sort  of  idea  of  its  success,  made  use  of  a  Thessalian  strata- 
gem, which  he  had  learnt  from  his  connexion  with  that  coun- 
try. For  giving  up  his  present  mode  of  attack,  he  brings  his 
left  foot  behind,  protecting  well  the  pit  of  his  own  stomach  ; 
and  stepping  forward  his  right  leg,  he  plunged  the  sword 
through  the  navel,  and  drove  it  to  the  vertebra?.  But  the  un- 
happy Polynices  bending  together  his  side  and  his  bowels  falls 
weltering  in  blood.  But  the  other,  as  he  were  now  the  victor, 
and  had  subdued  him  in  the  fight,  casting  his  sword  on  the 
ground,  went  to  spoil  him,  not  fixing  his  attention  on  himself, 
but  on  that  his  purpose.  Which  thing  also  deceived  him  ;  for 
Polynices,  he  that  fell  first,  still  breathing  a  little,  preserving 
his  sword  e'en  in  his  deathly  fall,  with  difficulty  indeed,  but  he 
did  stretch  his  sword  to  the  heart  of  Eteocles.  And  holding 
the  dust  in  their  gripe  they  both  fall  near  one  another,  and  de- 
termined not  the  victory. 

Cho.  Alas  !  alas  !  to  what  degree,  0  CEdipus,  do  I  groan 
for  thy  misfortunes  !  but  the  God  seems  to  have  fulfilled  thy 
imprecations. 

Mess.  Hear  now  then  woes  even  in  addition  to  these — For 
when  her  sons  having  fallen  were  breathing  their  last,  at  this 
moment  the  wretched  mother  rushes  before  them,  and  when 
she  perceived  them  stricken  with  mortal  wounds  she  shrieked 
out,  "  Oh  my  sons,  I  am  come  too  late  a  succour  :"  and  throw- 
ing herself  by  the  side  of  her  children  in  turn,  she  wept,  she 
lamented  with  moans  her  long  anxiety  in  suckling  them  noic 
lost:  and  their  sister,  who  accompanied  to  stand  by  her  in  her 
misery,  at  the  same  time  broke  forth ;  "  0  supporters  of  my 
mother's  age !  Oh  ye  that  have  betrayed  my  hopes  of  mar- 
riage, my  dearest  brothers  ! " — But  king  Eteocles  heaving  from 
his  breast  his  gasping  breath,  heard  his  mother,  and  putting 
out  his  cold  clammy  hand,  sent  not  forth  indeed  a  voice  ;  but 
from  his  eyes  spoke  her  in  tears  to  signify  affection.  But 
Polynices,  who  yet  breathed,  looking  at  his  sister  and  his  aged 
mother,  thus  spoke :  "  We  perish,  0  my  mother ;  but  I 
grieve  for  thee,  and  for  this  my  sister,  and  my  brother  who 
lies  dead,  for  being  my  friend,  he  became  my  enemy,  but  still 
my  friend. — But  bury  me,  O  mother  of  my  being,  and  thou 
my  sister,  in  niy  native  land,  and  pacify  the  exasperated  city, 
that  I  may  obtain  thus  much  at  least  of  my  country's  land, 
although  I  have  lost  the  palace.     And  close  my  eyelids  with 


126  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  14.51-1496. 

thy  hand,  my  mother"  (and  he  places  it  himself  upon  his 
eyes),  "  and  fare  ye  well !  for  now  darkness  surroundeth  me." 
And  both  breathed  out  their  lives  together.  And  the  mother, 
when  she  saw  what  had  taken  place,  beyond  endurance  griev- 
ing, snatched  the  sword  from  the  dead  body,  and  perpetrated 
a  deed  of  horror ;  for  she  drove  the  steel  through  the  middle 
of  her  throat,  and  lies  dead  on  those  most  dear  to  her,  having 
each  in  her  arms  embraced.  But  the  people  rose  up  hastily 
to  a  strife  of  opinions  ;  we  indeed,  as  holding,  that  my  master 
was  victorious  ;  but  they,  that  the  other  was  ;  and  there  was 
also  a  contention  between  the  generals,  those  on  the  other  side 
contended,  that  Polynices  first  struck  with  the  spear,  but  those 
on  ours  that  there  was  no  victory  where  the  combatants  died. 
[And  in  the  mean  time  Antigone  withdrew  from  the  army  ;] 
but  they  rushed  to  arms  ;  but  fortunately  by  a  sort  of  foresight 
the  people  of  Cadmus  had  sat  upon  their  shields :  and  we 
gained  the  advantage  of  falling  on  the  Argives  not  yet  ac- 
coutred in  their  arms.  And  no  one  made  a  stand,  but  flying 
they  covered  the  plain  ;  and  immense  quantities  of  blood  were 
spilt  of  the  corses  that  fell,  but  when  we  were  victorious  in 
the  fight,  some  indeed  raised  the  image  of  Jove  emblem  of 
victory,  but  some  of  us  stripping  the  shields  from  the  Argive 
corses  sent  the  spoils  within  the  city.  But  others  with  Anti- 
gone are  bearing  hither  the  dead  for  their  friends  to  lament 
over.  But  these  contests  have  in  some  respect  turned  out 
most  happy  for  this  state,  but  in  other  respect  most  unhappy. 
Cho.  No  longer  the  misfortunes  of  the  house  come  to  our 
ears,  we  may  also  see  before  the  palace  these  three  fallen 
corses,  who  have  shared  the  dark  realms  by  a  united  death. 

[  The  dead  bodies  borne. .] 

Antigone,  Creon,  Chorus. 

Ant.  Not  veiling  the  softness  of  my  cheek  on  which  my 
ringlets  fall,  nor  caring  for  the  purple  glow  of  virginity  under 
my  lids,  the  blush  of  my  countenance,  I  am  borne  along  the 
bacchanal  of  the  dead,  rending  the  fillet  from  my  hair,  reject- 
ing the  saffron  robe  of  delicateness,  having  the  mournful  office 
of  conducting  the  dead.  Alas  !  alas  !  woe  is  me  !  Oh  Poly- 
nices, thou  well  answeredst  to  thy  name !  Alas  me  !  Oh 
Thebes !    but  thy  strife,  no  strife,  but  murder  consummated 


1497— 1548.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  127 

with  murder47,  hath  destroyed  the  house  of  CEdipus  with 
dreadful,  with  mournful  blood.  But  what  groan  responsive  to 
my  sufferings,  or  what  lament  of  music  shall  I  invoke  to  my 
tears,  to  my  tears,  O  house,  O  house,  bearing  these  three 
kindred  bodies,  my  mother,  and  her  children,  the  joy  of  the 
fury?  who  destroyed  the  entire  house  of  CEdipus,  what  time 
intelligently48  he  unfolded  the  difficult  song  of  the  fierce 
monster,  having  thereby  slain  the  body  of  the  fierce  musical 
Sphinx.  Alas  me !  my  father ;  what  Grecian,  or  what 
Barbarian,  or  what  other  of  the  noble  in  birth,  of  mortal 
blood,  in  time  of  old  ever  bore  such  manifest  sufferings  of  so 
many  ills  ?  Wretched  I,  how  do  I  lament !  What  bird,  sit- 
ting on  the  highest  boughs  of  the  oak  or  pine,  will  sing  respon- 
sive to  my  lamentations,  who  have  lost  my  mother  ?  who 
weep  the  strain  of  grief  in  addition  to  these  moans  for  my 
brothers,  about  to  pass  my  long  life  in  floods  of  tears. — 
Which  shall  I  bewail  ?  On  which  first  shall  I  scatter  the  first 
offerings  rent  from  my  hair  ?  On  my  mother's  two  breasts  of 
milk,  or  upon  the  death-wounds  of  my  two  brothers  ?  Alas  ! 
alas !  Leave  thine  house,  bringing  thy  sightless  eye,  0  aged 
father,  GEdipus,  shew  thy  wretched  age,  who  within  thy  palace, 
having  poured  the  gloomy  darkness  over  thine  eyes,  draggest 
on  a  long49  life.  Dost  thou  hear  wandering  in  the  hall, — 
resting  thy  aged  foot  upon  the  couch  in  a  state  of  misery  ? 

CEdipus,  Creon,  Antigone,  CnoRtrs. 

CEd.  Why,  0  virgin,  hast  thou  with  the  most  doleful  tears 
called  me  forth  leaning  on  the  support  of  a  blind  foot50  to  the 
light,  a  bed-ridden  man  from  his  darksome  chamber,  grey- 
headed, an  obscure  phantom  of  air — a  dead  body  beneath  the 
earth — a  flitting  dream  ? 

Ant.  0  father,  thou  shalt  receive  words  of  unhappy  tidings  ; 
no  longer  do  thy  children  behold  the  light,  nor  thy  wife,  who 

47  The  construction  is  4>6vo<s  xpavdtU  <p6vw  :  ai/xan  depends  on  iv  un- 
derstood. 

48  Most  MSS.  have  £wetos.  Here  then  is  a  remarkable  instance  of 
the  same  word  having  both  an  active  and  a  passive  signification  in  the 
same  sentence. 

49  fxaKpoTrvovu,  not  fiaKpoTrovv,  is  Porson's  reading,  naKpoiwovi  Z,u>i)  is 
explained  "  vita  in  qua  longo  tempore  spiratur  ;  ergo  longa." 

50  See  note  at  Hecuba  65. 


128  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1549-1594 

ever  was  employed  in  attending  as  a  staff  on  thy  blind  foot, 
my  father  :  alas  me  ! 

CEd.  Alas  me,  for  my  sufferings !  for  well  may  I  groan 
and  vociferate  these  things.  The  three  souls,  tell  me,  my 
child,  by  what  fate,  how  quitted  they  this  light  ? 

Ant.  Not  for  the  sake  of  reproaching  thee,  nor  exulting 
over  thee,  but  for  grief  I  speak :  thy  evil  genius,  heavy  with 
swords,  and  fire,  and  wretched  combats,  has  rushed  down 
upon  thy  children,  O  my  father. 

CEd.  Alas  me  !  ah  !  ah  ! 

Ant.  Why  dost  thou  thus  groan  ? 

CEd.  Alas  me  !  my  children  ! 

Ant.  Thou  wouldest  grieve  indeed,  if  looking  on  the  cha- 
riot of  the  sun  drawn  by  its  four  steeds,  thou  couldest  direct 
the  sight  of  thine  eyes  to  these  bodies  of  the  dead. 

CEd.  The  evil  of  my  sons  indeed  is  manifest ;  but  my 
wretched  wife,  by  what  fate,  0  my  child,  did  she  perish  ? 

Ant.  Causing  to  all  tears  of  grief  they  could  not  contain, 
to  her  children  she  bared  her  breast,  a  suppliant  she  bared  it, 
holding  it  up  in  supplication.  But  the  mother  found  her  chil- 
dren at  the  Electran  gate,  in  the  mead  where  the  lotus  abounds, 
contending  with  their  lances  in  the  common  war,  as  lions  bred 
in  the  same  cave,  with  the  blood-wounds  now  a  cold,  a  gory 
libation,  which  Pluto  received,  and  Mars  gave.  And  having 
seized  the  brazen-wrought  sword  from  the  dead  she  plunged 
it  into  her  flesh,  but  with  grief  for  her  children  she  fell  amidst 
her  children.  But  all  these  sufferings,  0  my  father,  has  the 
God  heaped  this  day  upon  our  house,  whoever  he  be,  that 
adds  this  consummation. 

Cno.  This  day  hath  been  the  beginning  of  many  woes  to 
the  house  of  CEdipus  ;  but  may  life  be  more  fortunate  ! 

Cre.  Now  indeed  cease  from  your  grief,  for  it  is  time  to 
think  of  the  sepulture.  But  hear  these  words,  0  CEdipus ; 
Eteocles,  thy  son,  hath  given  to  me  the  dominion  of  this  land, 
giving  them  as  a  marriage  portion  to  Hajmon,  and  with  them 
the  bed  of  thy  daughter  Antigone.  I  therefore  will  not  suffer 
thee  any  longer  to  dwell  in  this  land.  For  clearly  did  Tiresias 
say,  that  never,  whilst  thou  dost  inhabit  this  land,  will  the 
state  be  prosperous.  But  depart ;  and  this  I  say  not  from 
insolence,  nor  being  thine  enemy,  but  on  account  of  thy  evil 
genius,  fearing  lest  the  country  suffer  any  harm. 


1595—  1G 10.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  129 

(Ed.  O  Fate,  from  the  beginning  how  wretched  [and  un- 
happy] didst  thou  form  me,  [if  ever  other  man  was  formed  !] 
whom,  even  before  I  came  into  the  light  from  my  mother's 
womb,  when  yet  unborn  Apollo  foretold  that  I  should  be  the 
murderer  of  my  father  Laius,  alas  !  wretch  that  I  am  !  And 
when  I  was  born,  again  my  father  who  gave  me  life,  seeks  to 
take  my  life,  considering  that  I  was  born  his  enemy :  for  it 
was  fated  that  he  should  die  by  my  hands,  and  he  sends  me, 
poor  wretch,  as  I  craved  the  breast,  a  prey  for  the  wild  beasts  : 
where  I  was  preserved — for  would  that  Cithaeron,  it  ought, 
had  sunk  to  the  bottomless  chasms  of  Tartarus,  for  that  it  did 
not  destroy  me ;  but  the  God  fixed  it  my  lot  to  serve  under 
Polybus  my  master :  but  I  unhappy  man,  having  slain  my 
own  father,  ascended  the  bed  of  my  wretched  mother,  and  be- 
gat children,  my  brothers,  whom  I  destroyed,  having  received 
down  the  curse  from  Laius,  and  given  it  to  my  sons.  For  I 
was  not  by  nature  so  utterly  devoid  of  understanding,  as  to 
have  devised  such  things  against  my  eyes,  and  against  the 
life  of  my  children,  without  the  interference  of  some  of  the 
Gods.  Well ! — what  then  shall  I  ill-fated  do  ?  who  will  ac- 
company me  the  guide  of  my  dark  steps  ?  She  that  lies  here 
dead  !  living,  well  know  I,  she  would.  But  my  noble  pair  of 
sons  ?  I  have  no  sons. — But  still  in  my  vigour  can  I  myself 
procure  my  sustenance  ?  Whence  ? — Why,  0  Creon,  dost 
thou  thus  utterly  kill  me  ?  for  kill  me  thou  wilt,  if  thou  shalt 
cast  me  out  of  the  land.  Yet  will  I  not  appear  base,  stretch- 
ing my  hands  around  thy  knees,  for  I  cannot  belie  my  former 
nobleness,  not  even  though  my  plight  is  miserable. 

Cre.  Well  has  it  been  spoken  by  thee,  that  thou  wilt  not 
touch  my  knees,  but  I  cannot  permit  thee  to  dwell  in  the  land. 
But  of  these  corses,  the  one  we  must  even  now  bear  to  the 
house  ;  but  the  body  of  Polynices  cast  out  unburied  beyond 
the  borders  of  this  land.  And  these  things  shall  be  pro- 
claimed to  all  the  Thebans  :  "  whoever  shall  be  found  either 
crowning  the  corse,  or  covering  it  with  earth,  shall  receive 
death  for  his  offence."  But  thou,  ceasing  from  the  groans 
for  the  thi-ee  dead,  retire,  Antigone,  within  the  house,  and  be- 
have as  beseems  a  virgin,  expecting  the  approaching  day  in 
which  the  bed  of  Haemon  awaits  thee. 

Ant.  Oh  father,  in  what  a  state  of  woes  do  we  miserable 
beings  lie  !     How  do  I  lament  for  thee  !  more  than  for  the 

K 


130  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1641—1673. 

dead  !  For  it  is  not  that  one  of  thy  ills  is  heavy,  and  tin- 
other  not  heavy,  but  thou  art  in  all  things  unhappy,  my 
lather. — But  thee  I  ask,  our  new  lord,  [wherefore  dost  thou 
insult  my  father  here,  banishing  him  from  his  country?]  Why 
make  thy  laws  against  an  unhappy  corse  ? 

Cre.  The  determination  of  Eteocles  this,  not  mine. 

Ant.  It  is  absui'd,  and  thou  a  fool  to  enforce  it. 

Cre.  How  so  ?     Is  it  not  just  to  execute  injunctions  ? 

Ant.  No,  if  they  are  base,  at  least,  and  spoken  with  ill 
intent. 

Cre.  What !  will  he  not  with  justice  be  given  to  the  dogs  ? 

Ant.  No,  for  thus  do  ye  not  demand  of  him  lawful  justice. 

Cre.  JVe  do ;  since  he  was  the  enemy  of  the  state,  who 
least  ought  to  be  an  enemy. 

Ant.  Hath  he  not  paid  then  his  life  to  fortune  ? 

Cre.  And  in  his  burial  too  let  him  now  satisfy  vengeance. 

Ant.  What  outrage  having  committed,  if  he  came  after  his 
share  of  the  kingdom  ? 

Cre.  This  man,  that  you  may  know  once  for  all,  shall  be 
unburied. 

Ant.  I  will  bury  him  ;  even  though  the  city  forbid  it. 

Cre.  Thyself  then  wilt  thou  at  the  same  time  bury  near 
the  corse. 

Ant.  But  that  is  a  glorious  thing,  for  two  friends  to  lie  near. 

Cre.  Lay  hold  of  her,  and  bear  her  to  the  house. 

Ant.  By  no  means — for  I  will  not  let  go  this  body. 

Cre.  The  G-od  has  decreed  it,  0  virgin,  not  as  thou  wilt. 

Ant.  And  this  too  is  decreed — that  the  dead  be  not  insulted. 

Cre.  Around  him  none  shall  place  the  moist  dust. 

Ant.  Nay,  by  his  mother  here  Jocasta,  I  entreat  thee, 
Creon. 

Cre.  Thou  labourest  in  vain,  for  thou  canst  not  obtain  this. 

Ant.  But  suffer  thou  me  at  any  rate  to  bathe  the  body. 

Cre.  This  would  be  one  of  the  things  forbidden  by  the 
state. 

Ant.  But  let  me  put  bandages  round  his  cruel  wounds. 

Cre.  In  no  way  shalt  thou  shew  respect  to  this  corse. 

Ant.  Oh  most  dear,  but  I  will  at  least  kiss  thy  lips. 

Cre.  Thou  shalt  not  prepare  calamity  against  thy  wedding 
by  thy  lamentations. 

Ant.  What !  while  I  live  shall  I  ever  marry  thy  son  ? 


1674—1698.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  131 

Cre.  There  is  strong  necessity  for  thee,  for  by  what  means 
wilt  thou  escape  the  marriage? 

Ant.  That  night  then  shall  find  me  one  of  the  Danaiche. 

Cue.  Dost  mark  with  what  audacity  she  hath  insulted  us  ? 

Ant.  The  steel  be  witness,  and  the  sword,  by  which  I 
swear. 

Cue.  But  why  art  thou  so  eager  to  get  rid  of  this  marriage  ? 

Ant.  I  will  take  my  flight  with  my  most  wretched  father 
here. 

Cre.  There  is  nobleness  in  thee ;  but  there  is  some  decree 
of  folly. 

Ant.  And  I  will  die  with  him  too,  that  thou  mayest  far- 
ther know. 

Cre.  Go — thou  shalt  not  slay  my  son — quit  the  land. 

CEdipus,  Antigone,  Chorus. 

CEd.  0  daughter,  I  praise  thee  indeed,  for  thy  zealous 
intentions. 

Ant.  But  if  I  were  to  marry,  and  thou  suffer  banishment 
alone,  my  father  ? 

CEd.  Stay  and  be  happy  ;  I  will  bear  with  content  mine 
own  ills. 

Ant.  And  who  will  minister  to  thee,  blind  as  thou  art,  my 
father  ? 

CEd.  Falling  wherever  it  shall  be  my  fate,  I  will  lie  on  the 
ground. 

Ant.  But  CEdipus,  where  is  he  ?  and  the  renowned  Enig- 
mas ? 

CEd.  Perished  !  one  day  blest  me,  and  one  day  destroyed. 

Ant.   Ought  not  I  then  to  have  a  share  in  thy  woes  ? 

CEd.  To  a  daughter  exile  with  a  blind  father  is  shameful. 

Ant.  Not  to  a  right-minded  one  however,  but  honourable, 
my  father. 

CEd.  Lead  me  now  onward,  that  I  may  touch  thy  mother. 

Ant.  There :  touch  the  aged  woman  with  thy  most  dear 
hand. 

CEd.  O  mother !  Oh  most  hapless  wife  ! 

Ant.   She  doth  lie  miserable,  having  all  ills  at  once  on  her. 

CEd.  But  where  is  the  fallen  body  of  Eteocles,  and  of  Poly- 
nices  ? 

Ant.  They  lie  extended  before  thee  near  one  another. 
k  2 


132  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  1699—17-12. 

(Ed.  Place  my  blind  hand  upon  their  unhappy  faces. 

Ant.  There  :  touch  thy  dead  children  with  thy  hand. 

(Ed.  O  ye  dear  wrecks,  unhappy,  of  an  unhappy  father. 

Ant.  0  name  of  Polynices,  most  dear  indeed  to  me. 

(Ed.  Now,  my  child,  is  the  oracle  of  Apollo  come  to  pass. 

Ant.  What?  but  dost  thou  mention  evils  in  addition  to 
these  evils  ? 

(Ed.  That  I  must  die  an  exile  at  Athens. 

Ant.  Where  ?  what  citadel  of  Attica  will  receive  thee  ? 

(Ed.  The  sacred  Colonus,  and  the  temple  of  the  Equestrian 
God.  But  stay — minister  to  thy  blind  father  here,  since  thou 
art  desirous  of  sharing  his  exile. 

Ant.  Go  to  thy  wretched  banishment :  stretch  forth  thy 
dear  hand,  0  aged  father,  having  me  as  thy  guide,  as  the  gale 
that  wafts  the  ship. 

(Ed.  Behold,  I  go,  my  child,  be  thou  my  unhappy  con- 
ductor. 

Ant.  We  are,  we  are  indeed  unhappy  above  all  Theban 
virgins. 

(Ed.  Where  shall  I  place  my  aged  footstep?  Bring  my 
staff,  my  child. 

Ant.  This  way,  this  way  come ;  here,  here  place  thy  foot, 
thou  that  hast  the  strength  of  a  dream. 

(Ed.  Alas  !  alas  !  for  my  most  wretched  flight  ! — To  drive 
me,  old  as  I  am,  from  my  country — Alas  !  alas  !  the  dreadful, 
dreadful  things  that  I  have  suffered  ! 

Ant.  What  suffered!  what  suffered51!  Vengeance  sees 
not  the  wicked,  nor  repays  the  foolishness  of  mortals. 

(Ed.  That  man  am  I,  who  mounted  aloft  to  the  victorious 
heavenly  song,  having  solved  the  dark  enigma  of  the  virgin 
Sphinx. 

Ant.  Dost  thou  bring  up  again  the  glory  of  the  Sphinx  ? 
Forbear  from  speaking  of  thy  former  successes.  These  wretch- 
ed sufferings  awaited  thee,  0  father,  being  an  exile  from  thy 
country  to  die  any  where.  Leaving  with  my  dear  virgins 
tears  for  my  loss,  I  depart  far  from  my  country,  wandering  in 
state  not  like  a  virgin's. 

(Ed.  Oh  !  the  excellency  of  thy  mind  ! 

51  The  old  reading  was  ri  t\5\.  ;  ti  -r\as  ;  making  it  the  present  tense. 
Brunck  first  edited  it  as  it  stands  in  Porson.  Antigone  repeats  the  last 
word  of  her  lather. 


1743—1766.  THE  PHOENICIAN  VIRGINS.  133 

Ant.  In  the  calamities  of  a  father  at  least  it  will  make  me 
glorious.  Wretched  am  I,  on  account  of  the  insults  offered 
to  thee  and  to  my  brother,  who  has  perished  from  the  family, 
a  corse  denied  sepulture,  unhappy,  whom,  even  if  I  must  die, 
my  father,  I  will  cover  with  secret  earth. 

CEd.  Go,  shew  thyself  to  thy  companions. 

Ant.  They  have  enough  of  my  lamentations. 

CEd.  But  make  thy  supplications  at  the  altars. 

Ant.  They  have  a  satiety  of  my  woes. 

CEd.  Go  then,  where  stands  the  fane  of  Bacchus  unap- 
proached,  on  the  mountains  of  the  Mtenades. 

Ant.  To  whom  I  formerly,  clad  in  the  skin  of  the  Theban 
fawn,  danced  the  sacred  step  of  Semele  on  the  mountains, 
conferring  a  thankless  favour  on  the  Gods  ? 

CEd.  0  ye  inhabitants  of  my  illustrious  country,  behold,  I, 
this  CEdipus,  who  alone  stayed  the  violence  of  the  bloodthirsty 
Sphinx,  now,  dishonoured,  forsaken,  miserable,  am  banished 
from  the  land.  Yet  why  do  I  bewail  these  things,  and  lament 
in  vain  ?  For  the  necessity  of  fate  proceeding  from  the  Gods 
a  mortal  must  endure. 

Cre.  [O  greatly  glorious  Victory,  mayest  thou  uphold  my 
life,  and  cease  not  from  crowning  me !]     (See  note  H.) 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


A.  "  Signum  interrogandi  non  post  veaviag,  sed  post  Xoxayoc  ponen- 
dum.  Xoxayog  in  libris  pedagogo  tribuitur:  quod  correxit  Hermannus." 
Dindouf. 

B.  Porson  and  Dindorf  (in  his  notes)  favour  Reiske's  conjecture, 
TTvKvoitsi  for  -Kvpydiai. 

C.  Dindorf  rightly  approves  the  explanation  of  Musgrave,  who  takes 
arapavoiai,  like  the  Latin  corona,  to  mean  the  asse?nblies.  He  translates : 
"  nee  in  pulchros  choros  ducentibus  circuits  juventutis." 

D.  The  full  sense,  as  laid  down  by  Schooler  and  Dindorf,  is,  "  for 
ever  when  an  old  man  travels,  whether  in  a  carriage,  or  on  foot,  he  re- 
quires help  from  others."  -rraaa  am)vt)  iroic,  rt  is  rather  boldly  used, 
but  is  not  without  example. 

E.  i.  e.  "  you  ask  a  thing  (i.  e.  your  son's  safety)  dangerous  to  the 
city,  which  you  cannot  preserve."     Schozfer. 

F.  These  three  lines  are  condemned  by  Valck.  and  Dind. 

G.  Matlhise  attempts  to  explain  these  words  as  follows:  "  tfi-rrvnoi 
aKjiai  may  be  put  for  tu  t/xirvpa,  in  which  the  seers  observed  {h'w^nuv) 
two  things,  viz.  the  divisions  (prfaic.)  of  the  flame,  which,  if  it  slid  round 
the  altars,  was  of  ill  omen  (hence  vypal,  i.  e.  gliding  gently  around  the 
altars  with  many  curves,  for  which  is  put  vypoTtjc  ivavria) ;  and  2ndly, 
the  upright  shooting  of  the  flame,  aicpav  \a/.nrdSa." 

H.  See  Dindorf  on  Orest.  1691.  He  fully  condemns  these  lines  as 
the  work  of  an  interpolator.  They  are,  however,  as  old  as  the  days  of 
Lucian. 


MEDEA. 


PERSONS   REPRESENTED. 

NURSE. 

TUTOR. 

MEDEA. 

CHORUS  OF  CORINTHIAN  WOMEN. 

CREON. 

JASON. 

JEGEUS. 

MESSENGER. 

SONS  OF  MEDEA. 

The  Scene  lies  in  the  vestibule  of  the  palace  of  Jason  at  Corinth. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Jason,  having  come  to  Corinth,  and  bringing  with  him  Medea,  espouses 
Glauce,  the  daughter  of  Creon,  king  of  Corinth.  But  Medea,  on  the 
point  of  being  banished  from  Corinth  by  Creon,  having  asked  to  remain 
one  day,  and  having  obtained  her  wish,  sends  to  Glauce,  by  the  hands  of 
her  sons,  presents,  as  an  acknowledgment  for  the  favour,  a  robe  and  a 
golden  chaplet,  which  she  puts  on  and  perishes ;  Creon  also  having  em- 
braced his  daughter  is  destroyed.  But  Medea,  when  she  had  slain  her 
children,  escapes  to  Athens,  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  winged  dragons,  which 
she  received  from  the  Sun,  and  there  marries  ^Egeus  son  of  Pandion. 


MEDEA. 


Nurse  of  Medea. 

Would  that  the  hull  of  Argo  had  not  winged  her  way  to  the 
Colchian  land  through  the  Cyanean  Symplegades l,  and  that 
the  pine  felled  in  the  forests  of  Pelion  had  never  fallen,  nor 
had  caused  the  hands  of  the  chiefs  to  row2,  who  went  in 
search  of  the  golden  fleece  for  Pelias  ;  for  neither  then  would 
my  mistress  Medea  have  sailed  to  the  towers  of  the  Iolcian 
land,  deeply  smitten  in  her  mind  with  the  love  of  Jason ;  nor 
having  persuaded  the  daughters  of  Pelias  to  slay  their  father 
would  she  have  inhabited  this  country  of  Corinth  with  her 
husband  and  her  children,  pleasing  indeed  by  her  flight3  the 
citizens  to  whose  land  she  came,  and  herself  concurring  in 
every  respect  with  Jason  ;  which  is  the  surest  support  of  con- 
jugal happiness,  when  the  wife  is  not  estranged  from  the  hus- 
band. But  now  every  thing  is  at  variance,  and  the  dearest 
ties  are  weakened.  For  having  betrayed  his  own  children, 
and  my  mistress,  Jason  reposes  in  royal  wedlock,  having  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  Creon,  who  is  prince  of  this  land.  But 
Medea  the  unhappy,  dishonoured,  calls  on  his  oaths,  and  re- 
calls the  hands  they  plighted,  the  greatest  pledge  of  fidelity, 
and  invokes  the  gods  to  witness  what  return  she  meets  with 

•l  The  Cyanese  Petrse,  or  Symplegades,  were  two  rocks  in  the  mouth  of 
the  Euxine  Sea,  said  to  meet  together  with  prodigious  violence,  and  crush 
the  passing  ships.     See  Pindar.  Pyth.  iv.  386. 

2  t/OEX(LCttio-ai  signifies  to  make  to  row  ;  iptr/xT/crai,  to  row.  In  the  same 
sense  the  two  verbs  derived  from  ir6\ino<s  are  used,  iroAf^ou)  signifying 
ad  bellum  excito  ;  iro\tfiiu>,  bellum  gero. 

.  3  Elmsley  reads  <j>vyi]  in  the  nominative  case,  "a  flight  indeed  pleas- 
ing," etc. 


138  MEDEA.  24—61. 

from  Jason.  And  she  lies  without  tasting  food,  having  sunk 
her  hody  in  grief,  dissolving  all  her  tedious  time  in  tears,  after 
she  had  once  known  that  she  had  been  injured  by  her  hus- 
band, neither  raising  her  eye,  nor  lifting  her  countenance  from 
the  ground  ;  but  as  the  rock,  or  the  wave  of  the  sea,  does  she 
listen  to  her  friends  when  advised.  Save  that  sometimes 
having  turned  her  snow-white  neck  she  to  herself  bewails  her 
dear  father,  and  her  country,  and  her  house,  having  betrayed 
which  she  hath  come  hither  with  a  man  who  has  now  dishon- 
oured her.  And  she  wretched  hath  discovered  ironi  affliction 
what  it  is  not  to  forsake  one's  paternal  country.  /But  she  hates 
her  children,  nor  is  she  delighted  at  beholding  them :  but  I 
fear  her,  lest  she  form  some  new  design :  for  violent  is  her 
mind,  nor  will  it  endure  to  suffer  ills.  I  know  her,  and  I  fear 
her,  lest  she  should  force  the  sharpened  sword  through  her 
heart,  or  even  should  murder  the  princess  and  him  who  mar- 
ried her,  and  after  that  receive  some  greater  ill.  For  she  is 
violent ;  he  who  engages  with  her  in  enmity  will  not  with 
ease  at  least  sing  the  song  of  victory.  But  these  her  children 
are  coming  hither  having  ceased  from  their  exercises,  nothing 
mindful  of  their  mother's  ills,  for  the  mind  of  youth  is  not 
wont  to  grieve. 

Tutor,  with  the  Sons  of  Medea,  Nurse. 

Tut.  O  thou  ancient  possession  of  my  mistress's  house, 
why  dost  thou  stand  at  the  gates  preserving  thus  thy  solitude, 
bewailing  to  thyself  our  misfortunes  ?  How  doth  Medea  wish 
to  be  left  alone  without  thee  ? 

Nur.  O  aged  man,  attendant  on  the  children  of  Jason,  to 
faithful  servants  the  affairs  of  their  masters  turning  out  ill 
are  a  calamity,  and  lay  hold  upon  their  feelings.  For  I  have 
arrived  at  such  a  height  of  grief  that  desire  hath  stolen  on 
me  to  come  forth  hence  and  tell  the  misfortunes  of  Medea  to 
the  earth  and  heaven. 

Tut.  Does  not  she  wretched  yet  receive  any  respite  from 
her  grief  ? 

Nur.  I  envy  thy  ignorance  ;  her  woe  is  at  its  rise,  and  not 
even  yet  at  its  height. 

Tut.  O  unwise  woman,  if  it  is  allowable  to  say  this  of  one's 
lords,  since  she  knows  nothing  of  later  ills. 

Nur.  But  what  is  this,  0  aged  man  ?  grudge  not  to  tell  me. 


62—95. 


MEDEA.  130 


Tut.  Nothing  :  I  have  repented  even  of  what  was  said  hefore. 

Nur.  Do  not,  I  heseech  you  by  your  board,  conceal  it  from 
your  fellow-servant ;  for  I  will  preserve  silence,  if  it  be  neces- 
sary, on  these  subjects. 

Tut.  I  heard  from  some  one  who  was  saying,  not  appear- 
ing to  listen,  having  approached  the  places  where  dice  is 
played,  where  the  elders  sit,  around  the  hallowed  fount  of 
Pirene,  that  the  king  of  this  land,  Creon,  intends  to  banish 
from  the  Corinthian  country  these  children,  together  with 
their  mother ;  whether  this  report  be  true,  however,  I  know 
not ;  but  I  wish  this  may  not  be  the  case. 

Nur.  And  will  Jason  endure  to  see  his  children  suffer  this, 
even  although  he  is  at  enmity  with  their  mother  ? 

Tut.  Ancient  alliances  are  deserted  for  new,  and  he  is  no 
friend  to  this  family. 

Nur.  We  perish  then,  if  to  the  old  we  shall  add  a  new  ill, 
before  the  former  be  exhausted4. 

Tut.  But  do  thou,  for  it  is  not  seasonable  that  my  mistress 
should  know  this,  restrain  your  tongue,  and  be  silent  on  this 
report. 

Nur.  O  my  children,  do  you  hear  what  your  father  is  to- 
wards you  ?  Yet  may  he  not  perish,  for  he  is  my  master, 
yet  he  is  found  to  be  treacherous  towards  his  friends. 

Tut.  And  what  man  is  not  ?  dost  thou  only  now  know 
this,  that  every  one  loves  himself  dearer  than  his  neighbour5, 
some  indeed  with  justice,  but  others  even  for  the  sake  of  gain, 
unless  it  be  that6  their  father  loves  not  these  at  least  on  ac- 
count of  new  nuptials. 

Nur.  Go  within  the  house,  my  children,  for  all  will  be  well. 
But  do  thou  keep  these  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  way, 
and  let  them  not  approach  their  mother,  deranged  through 
grief.  For  but  now  I  saw  her  looking  with  wildness  in  her 
eyes  on  these,  as  about  to  execute  some  design,  nor  will  she 
cease  from  her  fury,  I  well  know,  before  she  overwhelm  some 
one  with  it ;  upon  her  enemies  however,  and  not  her  frjends, 
may  she  do  some  [ill.] 

4  Literally,  Before  toe  have  drained  this  to  the  very  dregs.  So  Virgil, 
AZn.  iv.  14.  Quce  bella  exhausta  canebat! 

5  Ter.  And.  Act.  ii.  Sc.  5.  Omnes  sibi  matte  melius  esse  quam  alteri. 
Ac.  iv.  Sc.  1.  Proximus  sum  egomet  mihi. 

6  Elmsley  reads  recti  for  il,  "  And  their  father,"  etc. 


140  MEDEA.  96—139. 

Medea,  (within.)  Wretch  that  I  am,  and  miserable  on  ac- 
count of  my  misfortunes,  alas  me  !  would  I  might  perish  ! 

Nur.  Thus  it  is,  my  children  ;  your  mother  excites  her 
heart,  excites  her  fury.  Hasten  as  quick  as  possible  within 
the  house,  and  come  not  near  her  sight,  nor  approach  her,  but 
guard  against  the  fierce  temper  and  violent  nature  of  her  self- 
willed  mind.  Go  now,  go  as  quick  as  possible  within.  But 
it  is  evident  that  the  cloud  of  grief  raised  up  from  the  begin- 
ning will  quickly  burst  forth  with  greater  fury  ;  what  I  pray 
will  her  soul,  great  in  rage,  implacable,  irritated  by  ills,  per- 
form ! 

Med.  Alas  !  alas  !  I  wretched  have  suffered,  have  suffered 
treatment  worthy  of  great  lamentation.  O  ye  accursed  children 
of  an  hated  mother,  may  ye  perish  with  your  father,  and  may 
the  whole  house  fall. 

Ntjr.  Alas !  alas !  me  miserable !  but  why  should  your 
children  share  their  father's  error  ?  Why  dost  thou  hate 
these  ?  Alas  me,  my  children,  how  beyond  measure  do  I 
grieve  lest  ye  suffer  any  evil !  Dreadful  are  the  dispositions 
of  tyrants,  and  somehow  in  few  things  controlled,  in  most  ab- 
solute, they  with  difficulty  lay  aside  their  passion.  The  being 
accustomed  then 7  to  live  in  mediocrity  of  life  is  the  better : 
may  it  be  my  lot  then  to  grow  old  if  not  in  splendour,  at  least 
in  security.  For,  in  the  first  place,  even  to  mention  the  name 
of  moderation  carries  with  it  superiority,  but  to  use  it  is  by  far 
the  best  conduct  for  men ;  but  excess  of  fortune  brings  more 
power  to  men  than  is  convenient8;  and  has  brought  greater 
woes  upon  families,  when  the  Deity  be  enraged. 

Nurse,  Chorus. 

Chor.  I  heard  the  voice,  I  heard  the  cry  of  the  unhappy 
Colchian ;  is  not  she  yet  appeased  ?  but,  O  aged  matron,  tell 
me ;  for  within  the  apartment  with  double  doors  I  heard  her 
cry  ;  nor  am  I  delighted,  O  woman,  with  the  griefs  of  the 
family,  since  it  is  friendly  to  me. 

Ncr.  The  family  is  not ;  these  things  are  gone  already : 

7  In  Elms-  Dind.  to  yap  ddio-dai,  "for  the  being  accustomed,"  etc. 

8  Buvarat  here  signifies  io-x"*1,  adivti;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  repeatedly 
used :  ovctva  naipov,  in  this  place,  is  not  to  be  interpreted  "  intempes- 
tive,"  but  "  immoderate,  supra  modum."  For  this  signification  consult 
Stephens's  Thesaurus,  word  aaipos.     Elmsley. 


140—199.  MEDEA.  141 

for  he  possesses  the  bed  of  royalty  ;  but  she,  my  mistress,  is 
melting  away  her  life  in  her  chamber,  in  no  way  soothing  her 
mind  by  the  advice  of  any  one  of  her  friends. 

Med.  Alas  !  alas  !  may  the  flame  of  heaven  rush  through 
my  head,  what  profit  for  me  to  live  any  longer.  Alas  !  alas  ! 
may  I  rest  myself  in  death,  having  left  an  hated  life 

Chor.  Dost  thou  hear,  O  Jove,  and  earth,  and  light,  the 
cry  which  the  wretched  bride  utters  ?  why  I  pray  should  this 
insatiable  love  of  the  marriage-bed  hasten  thee,  O  vain  wo- 
man, to  death  ?  Pray  not  for  this.  But  if  thy  husband 
courts  a  new  bed,  be  not  thus  9  enraged  with  him.  Jove  will 
avenge  these  wrongs  for  thee  :  waste  not  thyself  so,  bewailing 
thy  husband. 

Med.  0  great  Themis  and  revered  Diana,  do  ye  behold 
what  I  suffer,  having  bound  my  accursed  husband  by  power- 
ful oaths  ?  Whom  may  I  at  some  time  see  and  his  bride  torn 
piecemeal  with  their  very  houses,  who  dare  to  injure  me  first. 
O  my  father,  O  my  city,  whom  I  basely  abandoned,  having 
slain  my  brother. 

Nur.  Do  ye  hear  what  she  says,  and  how  she  invokes 
Themis  hearing  the  vow,  and  Jove  who  is  considered  the 
dispenser  of  oaths  to  mortals  ?  It  is  not  possible  that  my 
mistress  will  lull  her  rage  to  rest  on  any  trivial  circumstance. 

Chor.  By  what  means  could  she  come  into  our  sight,  and 
hear  the  voice  of  our  discourse,  if  she  would  by  any  means 
remit  her  fierce  anger  and  her  fury  of  mind.  Let  not  my  zeal 
however  be  wanting  ever  to  my  friends.  But  go  and  conduct 
her  hither  from  without  the  house,  my  friend,  and  tell  her 
this  :  hasten,  before  she  injure  in  any  way  those  within,  for 
this  grief  of  hers  is  increased  to  a  great  height. 

Ner.  I  will  do  it,  but  I  fear  that  I  shall  not  persuade  my 
mistress  ;  nevertheless  I  will  give  you  this  favour  of  my 
labour.  And  yet  with  the  aspect  of  a  lioness  that  has  just 
brought  forth  does  she  look  sternly  on  her  attendants  when 
any  one  approaches  near  attempting  to  address  her.  But 
thou  wouldest  not  err  in  calling  men  of  old  foolish  and  nothing 
wise,  who  invented  songs,  for  festivals,  for  banquets,  and  for 
suppers,  the  delights  of  life  that  charm  the  ear ;  but  no  mor- 
tal has  discovered  how  to  soothe  with  music  and  with  varied 

9  (ids  is  used  in  this  sense  v.  49,  687,  901,  of  this  Play. 


1 42  MEDEA.  200—233. 

strains  those  bitter  pangs,  from  which  death  and  dreadful 
misfortunes  overthrow  families.  And  yet  for  men  to  assuage 
these  griefs  with  music  were  gain  ;  but  where  the  plenteous 
banquet  is  furnished,  why  raise  they  the  song  in  vain  ?  for 
the  present  bounty  of  the  feast  brings  pleasure  of  itself  to  men. 
Choi:.  I  heard  the  dismal  sound  of  groans,  and  in  a  shrill 
voice  she  vents  her  bitter  10  anguish  on  the  traitor  to  her 
bed,  her  faithless  husband — and  suffering  wrongs  she  calls 
upon  the  Goddess  Themis,  arbitress  of  oaths,  daughter  of 
Jove,  who  conducted  her  to  the  opposite  coast  of  Greece, 
across  the  sea  by  night,  over  the  salt  straits  of  the  boundless 
ocean. 

Medea,  Chorus. 
Med.  Ye  Corinthian  dames,  I  have  come  from  out  my 
palace ;  do  not  in  any  wise  blame  me ;  for  I  have  known 
many  men  who  have  been ' l  renowned,  some  who  have  lived 
far  from  public  notice,  and  others  in  the  world  ;  but  those  of 
a  retired  turn  have  gained  for  themselves  a  character  of  in- 
famy and  indolence.  For  justice  dwells  not  in  the  eyes  of 
man12,  whoever,  before  he  can  well  discover  the  disposition 
of  a  man,  hates  him  at  sight,  in  no  way  wronged  by  him. 
But  it  is  necessary  for  a  stranger  exactly  to  conform  himself 
to  the  state,  nor  would  I  praise  the  native,  whoever  becoming 
self-willed  is  insolent  to  his  fellow-citizens  through  ignorance. 
But  this  unexpected  event  that  hath  fallen  upon  me  hath  de- 
stroyed my  spirit :  I  am  going,  and  having  given  up  the 
pleasure  of  life  I  am  desirous  to  meet  death,  my  friends. 
For  he  on  whom  my  all  rested,  as  you  well  know,  my  husband, 
has  turned  out  the  basest  of  men.  But  of  all  things  as  many 
as  have  life  and  intellect,  we  women  are  the  most  wretched 
race.     Who  indeed  first  must  purchase  a  husband  with  excess 

10  /xoytpa  is  best  taken  with  Reiske  as  the  accusative  plural,  though 
the  Scholiast  considers  it  the  nominative  singular.     Elmsley. 

11  ytytoTas  need  not  be  translated  as  vofxiX,ofitvow;,  the  sense  is  ovxas  : 
so  aut)a6))s  ytyajs,  line  225. 

12  That  is,  the  character  of  man  cannot  be  discovered  by  the  counte- 
nance :  so  Juvenal, 

Fronti  nulla  fides. 
o<tti?,  thoiigh  in  the  singular  number,  refers  to  flpoTwv  in  the  plural :  a 
similar  construction  is  met  with  in  Homer,  II.  I\  279. 

di/dpchirov?  Tiin/vadov,  o  tis  k'  k-rcioiiKov  6/j.uacrii. 


233—272.  MEDEA.  143 

of  money,  and  receive  him  a  lord  of  our  persons  ;  for  this  is  a 
still  greater  ill  than  the  former.  And  in  this  is  the  greatest 
risk,  whether  we  receive  a  had  one  or  a  good  one ;  for  divorces 
hring  not  good  fame  to  women,  nor  is  it  possible  to  repudiate 
one's  husband.  But  on  passing  to  new  tempers  and  new  laws, 
one  need  be  a  prophetess,  as  one  cannot  learn  of  one's  self, 
what  sort  of  consort  one  shall  most  likely  experience.  And 
if  with  us  carefully  performing  these  things  an  husband  shall 
dwell  not  imposing  on  us  a  yoke  with  severity,  enviable  is  our 
life ;  if  not,  to  die  is  better.  But  a  man,  when  he  is  displeased 
living  with  those  at  home,  having  gone  abroad  is  wont  to  re- 
lieve his  heart  of  uneasiness,  having  recourse  either  to  some 
friend  or  compeer.  But  we  must  look  but  to  one  person. 
But  they  say  of  us  that  we  live  a  life  of  ease  at  home,  but 
they  are  fighting  with  the  spear;  judging  ill,  since  I  would 
rather  thrice  stand  in  arms,  than  once  suffer  the  pangs  of 
child-birth.  But,  for  the  same  argument  comes  not  home  to 
you  and  me,  this  is  thy  city,  and  thy  father's  house,  thine  are 
both  the  luxuries  of  life,  and  the  society  of  friends  ;  but  I 
being  destitute,  cityless,  am  wronged  by  my  husband,  brought 
as  a  prize  from  a  foreign  land,  having  neither  mother,  nor 
brother,  nor  relation  to  afford  me  shelter  from  this  calamity. 
So  much  then  I  wish  to  obtain  from  you,  if  any  plan  or  con- 
trivance be  devised  by  me  to  repay  with  justice  these  injuries 
on  my  husband,  and  on  him  who  gave  his  daughter,  and  on 
her  to  whom  he  was  married 13,  that  you  would  be  silent ;  for 
a  woman  in  other  respects  is  full  of  fear,  and  timid  to  look 
upon  deeds  of  courage  and  the  sword  ;  but  when  she  is  injured 
in  her  bed,  no  other  disposition  is  more  bloodthirsty. 

Chor.  I  will  do  this  ;  for  with  justice,  Medea,  wilt  thou 
avenge  thyself  on  thy  husband,  and  I  do  not  wonder  that  you 
lament  your  misfortunes.  But  I  see  Creon  monarch  of  this 
land  advancing,  the  messenger  of  new  counsels. 

Creon,  Medea,  Chorus. 
Cre.  Thee  of  gloomy  countenance,  and  enraged  with  thy 
husband,  Medea,  I  command  to  depart  in  exile  from  out  of  this 

13  Grammarians  teach  us  that  yafxilv  is  applied  to  the  husband,  ya/xt'i- 
adat  to  the  wife  ;  and  this  rule  will  generally  be  found  to  hold  good.  We 
must  either  then  read  Yi  t'  tyij/xaTo,  which  Porson  does  not  object  to,  and 
Elmaley  adopts  ;  or  understand  iyvfiai-o  in  an  ironical  sense,  in  the  spirit 
of  Martial's  Uxori  nubere  nolo  mece  :  in  the  latter  case  ?;  t'  iyi^a-ro  should 
be  read  (not  >iv  t'j,  as  being  the  proper  syntax. 


144  MEDEA.  273—315. 

land,  taking  with  thee  thy  two  children,  and  not  to  delay  in 
any  way,  since  I  am  the  arbiter  of  this  edict,  and  I  will  not 
return  back  to  my  palace,  until  I  shall  drive  thee  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  this  realm. 

Med.  Alas  !  alas  !  I  wretched  am  utterly  destroyed,  for  my 
enemies  stretch  out  every  cable  against  me ;  nor  is  there  any 
easy  escape  from  this  evil,  but  I  will  speak,  although  suffer- 
ing injurious  treatment;  for  what,  Creon,  dost  thou  drive  me 
from  this  land  ? 

Cre.  I  fear  thee  (there  is  no  need  for  me  to  wrap  my  words 
in  obscurity),  lest  thou  do  my  child  some  irremediable  mischief. 
And  many  circumstances  are  in  unison  with  this  dread.  Thou 
art  wise,  and  skilled  in  many  evil  sciences,  and  thou  art  ex- 
asperated, deprived  of  thy  husband's  bed.  And  I  hear  that 
thou  threatenest,  as  they  tell  me,  to  wreak  some  deed*  of 
vengeance  on  the  betrother,  and  the  espouser  and  the  espous- 
ed ;  against  this  then,  before  I  suffer,  will  I  guard.  Better 
is  it  for  me  now  to  incur  enmity  from  you,  than  softened  by 
your  words  afterwards  greatly  to  lament  it. 

Med.  Alas !  alas !  not  now  for  the  first  time,  but  often, 
Creon,  hath  this  opinion  injured  me,  and  worked  me  much 
woe.  But  whatever  man  is  prudent,  let  him  never  educate  his 
children  too  deep  in  wisdom.  For,  independent  of  the  other 
charges  of  idleness  which  they  meet  with,  they  find  hostile 
envy  from  their  fellow-citizens.  For  holding  out  to  fools  some 
new-discovered  wisdom,  thou  wilt  seem  to  be  useless  and  not 
wise.  And  being  judged  superior  to  others  who  seem  to  have 
some  varied  knowledge,  thou  wilt  appear  offensive  in  the  city. 
But  even  I  myself  share  this  fortune ;  for  being  wise,  to  some 
I  am  an  object  of  envy,  but  to  others  unsuited ;  but  I  am  not 
very  wise.  Thou  then  fearest  me,  lest  thou  suffer  some  griev- 
ous mischief14.  My  affairs  are  not  in  a  state,  fear  me  not, 
Creon,  so  as  to  offend  against  princes.  For  in  what  hast  thou 
injured  me?  Thou  hast  given  thy  daughter  to  whom  thy 
mind  led  thee ;  but  I  hate  my  husband :  but  thou,  I  think, 
didst  these  things  in  prudence.  And  now  I  envy  not  that  thy 
affairs  are  prospering  ;  make  your  alliances,  be  successful ;  but 
suffer  me  to  dwell  in  this  land,  for  although  injured  will  I  keep 
silence,  overcome  by  my  superiors. 

14  The  primary  signification  of  ■7r\i|ju;u£\);s  is  absomts,  ovt  of  tune : 
hence  is  easily  deduced  the  signification  in  which  it  is  often  found  in 
Euripides.     The  word  TrXii/iixtXiiaas  occurs  in  the  Phccnissie,  1.  1669. 


316—342.  MEDEA.  145 

Cue.  Thou  speakest  soft  words  to  the  ear,  but  within  my 
mind  I  have  my  fears,  lest  thou  meditate  some  evil  intent. 
And  so  much  the  less  do  I  trust  thee  than  before.  For  a 
woman  that  is  quick  to  anger,  and  a  man  likewise,  is  easier  to 
guard  against,  than  one  that  is  crafty  and  keeps  silence.  But 
begone  as  quick  as  possible,  make  no  more  words  ;  since  this 
is  decreed,  and  thou  hast  no  art,  by  which  thou  wilt  stay  with 
us,  being  hostile  to  me. 

Med.  No  I  beseech  you  by  your  knees,  and  your  newly 
married  daughter. 

Cre.  Thou  wastest  words  ;  for  thou  wilt  never  persuade 
me. 

Med.  Wilt  thou  then  banish  me,  nor  reverence  my  prayers  ? 

Cre.  For  I  do  not  love  thee  better  than  my  own  family. 

Med.  O  my  country,  how  I  remember  thee  now  ! 

Cre.  For  next  to  my  children  it  is  much  the  dearest  thing 
to  me. 

Med.  Alas  !  alas  !  how  great  an  ill  is  love  to  man  ! 

Cre.  That  is,  I  think,  as  fortune  also  shall  attend  it. 

Med.  Jove,  let  it  not  escape  thine  eye,  who  is  the  cause  of 
these  misfortunes. 

Cre.  Begone,  fond  woman,  and  free  me  from  these  cares. 

Med.  Care  indeed15;  and  do  not  I  experience  cares  ? 

Cre.  Quickly  shalt  thou  be  driven  hence  by  force  by  the 
hands  of  my  domestics. 

Med.  No,  I  pray  not  this  at  least ;  but  I  implore  thee, 
Creon. 

Cre.  Thou  wilt  give  trouble,  woman,  it  seems 1G. 

Med.  I  will  go  ;  I  dare  not  ask  to  obtain  this  of  you. 

Cre.  Why  then  dost  thou  resist,  and  wilt  not  depart  from 
these  realms  ? 

Med.  Permit  me  to  remain  here  this  one  day,  and  to  bring 
my  purpose  to  a  conclusion,  in  what  way  we  shall  fly,  and  to 

15  Elmsley  approves  of  the  reading  adopted  by  Porson,  though  he  has 
given  in  his  text 

TTOVOVIXtV  t'j/Jtl?,  KOV  TTOV00V  Kt^ptlflEda. 

"  We  are  oppressed  loith  cares,  and  icant  not  other  cares,"  as  being  more 
likely  to  have  come  from  Euripides.     So  also  Dindorf. 

10  us  eoiKas  is  here  used  for  the  more  common  expression  <os  Ioikzv. 
So  Herodotus,  Clio,  C'lv.  oil  wuucroi/Tai  ol  AvSol,  lis  oitcaai,  irpuy/xaTa  irap- 
ixnwrts,  Kal  avTol  lyovTi?.    See  also  Hecuba,  801. 

L 


1-16  MEDEA.  343— 3S7. 

make  provision  for  my  sons,  since  their  father  in  no  way  re- 
gards providing  for  his  children  ;  but  pity  them,  for  thou  also 
art  the  father  of  children  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  thou  hast 
tenderness  ;  for  of  myself  I  have  no  care  whether  I  may  suffer 
banishment,  but  I  weep  for  them  experiencing  this  calamity. 

Cre.  My  disposition  is  least  of  all  imperious,  and  through 
feeling  pity  in  many  cases  have  I  injured  myself.  And  now 
I  see  that  I  am  doing  wrong,  O  lady,  but  nevertheless  thou 
shalt  obtain  thy  request ;  but  this  I  warn  thee,  if  to-morrow's 
light  of  the  God  of  day  shall  behold  thee  and  thy  children 
within  the  confines  of  these  realms,  thou  shalt  die  :  this  word 
is  spoken  in  truth.  But  now  if  thou  must  stay,  remain  here 
yet  one  day,  for  thou  wilt  not  do  any  horrid  deed  of  which  I 
have  dread. 

Medea,  Chorus. 

Chor.  Unhappy  woman  !  alas  wretched  on  account  of  thy 
griefs  !  whither  wilt  thou  turn  ?  what  hospitality,  or  house, 
or  country  wilt  thou  find  a  refuge  for  these  ills  ?  how  the 
Deity  hath  led  thee,  Medea,  into  a  pathless  tide  of  woes  ! 

Med.  Ill  hath  it  been  done  on  every  side.  Who  will  gain- 
say it  ?  but  these  things  are  not  in  this  way,  do  not  yet  think 
it.  Still  is  there  a  contest  for  those  lately  married,  and  to 
those  allied  to  them  no  small  affliction.  For  dost  thou  think 
I  ever  would  have  fawned  upon  this  man,  if  I  were  not  to 
gain  something,  or  form  some  plan  ?  I  would  not  even  have 
addressed  him.  I  would  not  even  have  touched  him  with  my 
hands.  But  he  hath  arrived  at  such  a  height  of  folly,  as  that, 
when  it  was  in  his  poAver  to  have  crushed  my  plans,  by  banish- 
ing me  from  this  land,  he  hath  granted  me  to  stay  this  day  in 
which  three  of  mine  enemies  will  I  put  to  death,  the  father, 
the  bride,  and  my  husband.  But  having  in  my  power  many 
resources  of  destruction  against  them,  I  know  not,  my  friends, 
which  I  shall  first  attempt.  AVhether  shall  I  consume  the 
bridal  house  with  fire,  or  force  the  sharpened  sword  through 
her  heart  having  entered  the  chamber  by  stealth  where  the 
couch  is  spread  ?  But  one  thing  is  against  me  ;  if  I  should 
be  caught  entering  the  house  and  prosecuting  my  plans,  by 
my  death  I  shall  afford  laughter  for  my  foes.  Best  then  is  it 
to  pursue  the  straight  path,  in  which  I  am  most  skilled,  to 
take  them  off  by  poison.     Let  it  be  so.     And  suppose  them 


387—438.  MEDEA. 


147 


dead  :  what  city  will  receive  me  ?  What  hospitable  stranger 
affording  a  land  of  safety  and  a  faithful  home  will  protect  my 
person?  There  is  none.  Waiting  then  yet  a  little  time,  if 
any  tower  of  safety  shall  appear  to  us,  I  will  proceed  to  this 
murder  in  treachery  and  silence.  But  if  ill  fortune  that  leaves 
me  without  resource  force  me,  I  myself  having  grasped  the 
sword,  although  I  should  die,  will  kill  them,  and  will  rush  to 
the  extreme  height  of  daring.  For  never,  I  swear  by  my 
mistress  whom  I  revere  most  of  all,  and  have  chosen  for  my 
assistant,  Hecate,  who  dwells  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  my 
house,  shall  any  one  of  them  wring  my  heart  with  grief  with 
impunity.  Bitter  and  mournful  to  them  will  I  make  these 
nuptials,  and  bitter  this  alliance,  and  my  flight  from  this  land. 
But  come,  spare  none  of  these  sciences  in  which  thou  art 
skilled,  Medea,  deliberating  and  plotting.  Proceed  to  the 
deed  of  terror :  now  is  the  time  of  resolution :  seest  thou 
what  thou  art  suffering  ?  Bl  doth  it  become  thee  to  incur 
ridicule  from  the  race  of  Sisyphus,  and  from  the  nuptials  of 
Jason,  who  art  sprung  from  a  noble  father,  and  from  the  sun. 
And  thou  art  skilled.  Besides  also  we  women  are,  by  nature, 
to  good  actions  of  the  least  capacity,  but  the  most  cunning  in- 
ventors of  every  ill. 

Clio.  The  waters  of  the  hallowed  streams  flow  upwards  to 
their  sources,  and  justice  and  every  thing  is  reversed.  The 
counsels  of  men  are  treacherous,  and  no  longer  is  the  faith  of 
heaven  firm.  But  fame  changes,  so  that  my  sex  may  have 
the  glory17.  Honour  cometh  to  the  female  race;  no  longer 
shall  opprobrious  fame  oppress  the  women.  But  the  Muses 
shall  cease  from  their  ancient  strains,  from  celebrating  our 
perfidy.  For  Phoebus,  leader  of  the  choir,  gave  not  to  our 
minds  the  heavenly  music  of  the  lyre,  since  they  would  in 
turn  have  raised  a  strain  against  the  race  of  men.  But  time 
of  old  hath  much  to  say  both  of  our  life  and  the  life  of  men. 
But  thou  hast  sailed  from  thy  father's  house  with  maddened 
heart,  having  passed  through  the  double  rocks  of  the  ocean, 
and  thou  dwellest  in  a  foreign  land,  having  lost  the  shelter  of 
thy  widowed  bed,  wretched  woman,  and  art  driven  dishonoured 

17  Beck  interprets  this  passage,  "  Mea  quidem  vita  ut  non  habeat  lau- 
dem,  fama  obstat."  Heath  translates  it,  "  Jam  in  contrariam  partem 
tendens  fama  efticit,  ut  mea  quoque  vita  huulem  habeat."  We  are  told 
by  the  Scholiast,  that  by  fhoTuv  is  to  be  understood  (j)vanv. 

L    2 


148  MEDEA.  439—482. 

an  exile  from  this  land.  The  reverence  of  oaths  is  gone,  nor 
does  shame  any  longer  dwell  in  mighty  Greece,  but  hath  fled 
away  through  the  air.  But  thou  helpless  woman  hast  neither 
father's  house  to  afford  you  haven  from  your  woes,  and  another 
more  powerful  queen  of  the  nuptial  bed  rules  over  the  house. 

Jason,  Medea,  Chorus. 

Jas.  Not  now  for  the  first  time,  but  often  have  I  perceived 
that  fierce  anger  is  an  irremediable  ill.  For  though  it  was  in 
your  power  to  inhabit  this  land  and  this  house,  bearing  with 
gentleness  the  determination  of  thy  superiors,  by  thy  rash 
words  thou  shalt  be  banished  from  this  land.  And  to  me  in- 
deed it  is  of  no  importance ;  never  cease  from  saying  that 
Jason  is  the  worst  of  men.  But  for  what  has  been  said  by 
thee  against  the  royal  family,  think  it  the  greatest  good  for- 
tune that  thou  art  punished  by  banishment  only.  I  indeed 
was  always  employed  in  diminishing  the  anger  of  the  enraged 
princes,  and  was  willing  that  thou  shouldest  remain.  But 
thou  remittest  not  of  thy  folly,  always  reviling  the  ruling 
powers  ;  wherefore  thou  shalt  be  banished  from  the  land. 
But  nevertheless  even  after  this  am  I  come,  not  wearied  with 
my  friends,  providing  for  thee,  O  woman,  that  thou  mightest 
not  be  banished  with  thy  children,  either  without  money,  or 
in  want  of  any  thing.  Banishment  draws  many  misfortunes 
with  it.  For  although  thou  hatest  me,  I  never  could  wish 
thee  evil. 

Med.  O  thou  vilest  of  men  (for  this  is  the  greatest  reproach 
I  have  in  my  power  with  my  tongue  to  tell  thee,  for  thy  un- 
manly cowardice),  hast  thou  come  to  us,  hast  thou  come,  who 
art  most  hateful  ?  This  is  not  fortitude,  or  confidence,  to  look 
in  the  face  of  friends  whom  thou  hast  injured,  but  the  worst 
of  all  diseases  among  men,  impudence.  But  thou  hast  done 
well  in  coming.  For  both  I  shall  be  lightened  in  my  heart 
whilst  reviling  thee,  and  thou  wilt  be  pained  at  hearing  me. 
But  I  will  first  begin  to  speak  from  the  first  circumstances. 
I  preserved  thee  (as  those  Greeks  well  know  as  many  as  em- 
barked with  thee  on  board  the  same  ship  Argo)  when  sent  to 
master  the  fire-breathing  bulls  with  the  yoke,  and  to  sow  the 
l'atal  seed  :  and  having  slain  the  dragon  who  watching  around 
the  golden  fleece  guarded  it  with  spiry  folds,  a  sleepless  guard, 
I  raised  up  to  thee  a  light  of  safety.     But  I  myself  having 


483-524.  MEDEA.  1 49 

betrayed  my  father,  and  my  Louse,  came  to  the  Peliotie 
Iolcos 18  with  thee,  with  more  readiness  than  prudence.  And 
I  slew  Pelias  by  a  death  which  it  is  most  miserable  to  die,  by 
the  hands  of  his  own  children,  and  I  freed  thee  from  every 
fear.  And  having  experienced  these  services  from  me,  thou 
vilest  of  men,  thou  hast  betrayed  me  and  hast  procured  for 
thyself  a  new  bed,  children  being  born  to  thee,  for  if  thou 
wert  still  childless  it  would  be  pardonable  in  thee  to  be  ena- 
moured of  this  alliance.  But  the  faith  of  oaths  is  vanished : 
nor  can  I  discover  whether  thou  thinkest  that  the  former  Gods 
are  not  still  in  power,  or  whether  new  laws  are  now  laid  down 
for  men,  since  thou  art  at  least  conscious  of  being  perjured  to- 
wards me.  Alas  !  this  right  hand  which  thou  hast  often 
touched,  and  these  knees,  since  in  vain  have  I  been  polluted 
by  a  wicked  husband,  and  have  failed  in  my  hopes.  Come  (for 
I  will  converse  with  thee  as  with  a  friend,  not  expecting  to  re- 
ceive any  benefit  from  thee  at  least,  but  nevertheless  I  will ; 
for  when  questioned  thou  wilt  appear  more  base),  now  whither 
shall  I  turn  ?  Whether  to  my  father's  house,  which  I  betray- 
ed for  thee,  and  my  country,  and  came  hither  ?  or  to  the  mi- 
serable daughters  of  Pelias  ?  friendly  would  they  indeed  re- 
ceive me  in  their  house,  whose  father  I  slew.  For  thus  it  is  : 
I  am  in  enmity  with  my  friends  at  home  ;  but  those  whom  I 
ought  not  to  injure,  by  obliging  thee,  I  make  my  enemies.  On 
which  account  in  return  for  this  thou  hast  made  me  to  be  call- 
ed happy  by  many  dames  through  Greece,  and  in  thee  L  wretch 
that  I  am,  have  an  admirable  and  faithful  husband,  if  cast 
out  at  least  I  shall  fly  this  land,  deserted  by  my  friends,  lonely 
with  thy  lonely  children.  Fair  renown  indeed  to  the  new 
married  bridegroom,  that  his  children  are  wandering  in  po- 
verty, and  I  also  who  preserved  thee.  O  Jove,  why  I  pray 
hast  thou  given  to  men  certain  proofs  of  the  gold  which  is 
adulterate,  but  no  mark  is  set  by  nature  on  the  person  of  men 
by  which  one  may  distinguish  the  bad  man. 

Chor.  Dreadful  is  that  anger  and  irremediable,  when  friends 
with  friends  kindle  strife. 

Jas.  It  befits  me,  it  seems,  not  to  be  weak  in  argument,  but 
as  the  prudent  pilot  of  a  vessel,  with  all  the  sail  that  can  be 

18  Iolcos  was  a  city  of  Thessaly,  distant  about  seven  stadii  from  the  sea, 
where  the  parents  of  Jason  lived  :  Pelion  was  both  a  mountain  and  city 
of  Thessaly,  close  to  Iolcos ;  whence  Iolcos  is  called  Peliotie. 


150  MEDEA.  525-571. 

hoisted,  to  run  from  out  of  thy  violent  abuse,  O  woman.  But 
I,  since  thou  thus  much  vauntest  thy  favours,  think  that  Venus 
alone  both  of  Gods  and  men  was  the  protectress  of  my  voyage. 
But  thou  hast  a  fickle  mind,  but  it  is  an  invidious  account  to 
go  through,  how  love  compelled  thee  with  his  inevitable  arrows 
to  preserve  my  life.  But  I  will  not  follow  up  arguments  witli 
too  great  accuracy,  for  where  thou  hast  assisted  me  it  is  well. 
Moreover  thou  hast  received  more  at  least  from  my  safety 
than  thou  gavest,  as  I  will  explain  to  thee.  First  of  all  thou 
dwellest  in  Greece  instead  of  a  foreign  land,  and  thou  learnest 
what  justice  is,  and  to  enjoy  laws,  not  to  be  directed  by  mere 
force.  And  all  the  Grecians  have  seen  that  thou  art  wise, 
and  thou  hast  renown  ;  but  if  thou  wert  dwelling  in  the  ex- 
treme confines  of  that  land,  there  would  not  have  been  fame 
of  thee.  But  may  neither  gold  in  my  house  be  my  lot,  nor  to 
attune  the  strain  more  sweet  than  Orpheus,  if  my  fortune  be 
not  conspicuous.  So  much  then  have  I  said  of  my  toils  ;  for 
thou  first  broughtest  forward  this  contest  of  words.  But 
with  regard  to  those  reproaches  which  thou  heapest  on  me  for 
my  royal  marriage,  in  this  will  I  shew  first  that  I  have  been 
wise,  in  the  next  place  moderate,  thirdly  a  great  friend  to  thee, 
and  my  children  :  but  be  silent.  After  I  had  come  hither 
from  the  Iolcian  land  bringing  with  me  many  grievous  cala- 
mities, what  measure  more  fortunate  than  this  could  I  have 
invented,  than,  an  exile  as  I  was,  to  marry  the  daughter  of  the 
monarch  ?  not,  by  which  thou  art  grated,  loathing  thy  bed,  nor 
smitten  with  desire  of  a  new  bride,  nor  having  emulation  of 
a  numerous  offspring,  for  those  born  to  me  are  sufficient,  nor 
do  I  find  fault  with  that  ;  but  that  (which  is  of  the  greatest 
consequence)  we  might  live  honourably,  and  might  not  be  in 
want,  knowing  well  that  every  friend  flies  out  of  the  way  of  a 
poor  man  ;  and  that  I  might  bring  up  my  children  worthy  of 
my  house,  and  that  having  begotten  brothers  to  those  children 
sprung  from  thee,  I  might  place  them  on  the  same  footing, 
and  having  united  the  family,  I  might  flourish ;  for  both  thou 
hast  some  need  of  children,  and  to  me  it  were  advantageous 
to  advance  my  present  progeny  by  means  of  the  children 
which  might  arise  ;  have  I  determined  ill  ?  not  even  thou 
couldest  say  so,  if  thy  bed  did  not  gall  thee.  But  thus  far  have 
you  come,  that  your  bed  being  safe,  you  women  think  that  you 
have  every  thing.    But  if  any  misfortune  befall  that,  the  most 


572—601.  MEDEA.  151 

excellent  and  fairest  objects  you  make  the  most  hateful.  It 
were  well  then  that  men  should  generate  children  from  some 
other  source,  and  that  the  female  race  should  not  exist,  and 
thus  there  would  not  have  been  any  evil  among  men 19. 

Chor.  Jason,  thou  hast  well  adorned  these  arguments  of 
thine,  but  nevertheless  to  me,  although  I  speak  reluctantly, 
thou  appearest,  in  betraying  thy  wife,  to  act  unjustly. 

Med.  Surely  I  am  in  many  things  different  from  many 
mortals,  for  in  my  judgment,  whatever  man  being  unjust,  is 
deeply  skilled  in  argument,  merits  the  severest  punishment. 
For  vaunting  that  with  his  tongue  he  can  well  gloze  over  in- 
justice, he  dares  to  work  deceit,  but  he  is  not  over-wise.  Thus 
do  not  thou  also  be  now  plausible  to  me,  nor  skilled  in  speak- 
ing, for  one  word  will  overthrow  thee :  it  behoved  thee,  if  thou 
wert  not  a  bad  man,  to  have  contracted  this  marriage  having 
persuaded  me,  and  not  without,  the  knowledge  of  thy  friends. 

Jas.  Well  wouldest  thou  have  lent  assistance  to  this  report, 
if  I  had  mentioned  the  marriage  to  thee,  who  not  even  now 
endurest  to  lay  aside  this  unabated  rage  of  heart. 

Med.  This  did  not  move  thee,  but  a  foreign  bed  would  lead 
in  its  result  to  an  old  age  without  honour. 

Jas.  Be  well  assured  of  this,  that  I  did  not  form  this 
alliance  with  the  princess,  which  I  now  hold,  for  the  sake  of 
the  woman,  but,  as  I  said  before  also,  wishing  to  preserve  thee, 
and  to  beget  royal  children  brothers  to  my  sons,  a  support  to 
our  house. 

Med.  Let  not  a  splendid  life  of  bitterness  be  my  lot,  nor 
wealth,  which  rends  my  heart. 

Jas.  Dost  thou  know  how  to  alter  thy  prayers,  and  appear 
wiser?  Let  not  good  things  ever  seem  to  you  bitter,  nor 
when  in  prosperity  seem  to  be  in  adversity. 

Med.  Insult  me,  since  thou  hast  refuge,  but  I  destitute  shall 
fly  this  land. 

19  For  the  same  sentiment  more  fully  expressed,  see  Hippolytus,  616 — 
625.     See  also  Paradise  Lost,  x.  890. 

Oh  why  did  God, 
Creator  wise,  that  peopled  highest  heaven 
With  spirits  masculine,  create  at  last 
This  novelty  on  earth,  this  fair  defect 
Of  nature,  and  not  fill  the  world  at  once 
With  men,  as  angels,  without  feminine  ? 


152  MEDEA. 


605—659. 


Jas.  Thou  chosest  this  thyself,  blame  no  one  else. 

Med.  By  doing  what?  by  marrying  and  betraying  thee? 

Jas.  By  imprecating  unhallowed  curses  on  the  royal  family. 

Med.  From  thy  house  at  least  am  I  laden  with  curses. 

Jas.  I  will  not  dispute  more  of  this  with  thee.  But  if 
thou  wishest  to  receive  either  for  thyself  or  children  any  part 
of  my  wealth  as  an  assistant  on  thy  flight,  speak,  since  I  am 
ready  to  give  with  an  unsparing  hand,  and  to  send  tokens  of 
hospitality  to  my  friends,  who  will  treat  you  well ;  and  re- 
fusing these  thou  wilt  be  foolish,  woman,  but  ceasing  from 
thine  anger,  thou  wilt  gain  better  treatment. 

Med.  I  will  neither  use  thy  friends,  nor  will  I  receive 
aught ;  do  not  give  to  me,  for  the  gifts  of  a  bad  man  bring  no 
assistance. 

Jas.  Then  I  call  the  Gods  to  witness,  that  I  wish  to  assist 
thee  and  thy  children  in  every. thing;  but  good  things  please, 
thee  not,  but  thou  rejectest  thy  friends  with  audacity,  where- 
fore shalt  thou  grieve  the  more. 

Med.  Begone,  for  thou  art  captured  by  desire  of  thy  new 
bride,  tarrying  so  long  without  the  palace ;  wed  her,  for  per- 
haps, but  with  the  assistance  of  the  God  shall  it  be  said,  thou 
wilt  make  such  a  marriage  alliance,  as  thou  wilt  hereafter  wish 
to  renounce. 

Ciior.  The  loves,  when  they  come  too  impetuously,  have 
given  neither  good  report  nor  virtue  among  men,  but  if  Venus 
come  with  moderation,  no  other  Goddess  is  so  benign.  Never, 
O  my  mistress,  mayest  thou  send  forth  against  me  from  thy 
golden  bow  thy  inevitable  shaft,  having  steeped  it  in  desire. 
But  may  temperance  preserve  me,  the  noblest  gift  of  heaven ; 
never  may  dreaded  Venus,  having  smitten  my  mind  for  an- 
other's bed,  heap  upon  me  jealous  passions  and  unabated  quar- 
rels, but  approving  the  peaceful  union,  may  she  quick  of  per- 
ception sit  in  judgment  on  the  bed  of  women.  O  my  country, 
and  my  house,  never  may  I  be  an  outcast  of  my  city,  having 
a  life  scarce  to  be  endured  through  poverty,  the  most  lamentable 
of  all  woes.  By  death,  by  death,  may  I  before  that  be  sub- 
dued, having  lived  to  accomplish  that  day ;  but  no  greater 
misfortune  is  there  than  to  be  deprived  of  one's  paternal 
country.  We  have  seen  it,  nor  have  we  to  speak  from  others' 
accounts ;  for  thee,  neither  city  or  friend  hath  pitied,  though 
suffering  the  most  dreadful  anguish.    Thankless  may  he  pexish 


659— (501.  MEDEA.  153 

who  desires  not  to  assist  his  friends,  having  unlocked  the  pure 
treasures  of  his  mind  ;  never  shall  he  be  friend  to  ine. 

JEgeus,  Medea,  Chorus. 

Ma,  Medea,  hail !  for  no  one  hath  known  a  more  honour- 
able salutation  to  address  to  friends  than  this. 

Med.  Hail  thou  also,  son  of  the  wise  Pandion,  JEgeus,  com- 
ing from  what  quarter  dost  thou  tread  the  plain  of  this  land  ? 

JEg.  Having  left  the  ancient  oracle  of  Phoebus. 

Med.  But  wherefore  wert  thou  sent  to  the  prophetic  cen- 
tre of  the  earth  ? 

JEg.  Enquiring  of  the  God  how  offspring  may  arise  to  me. 

Med.  By  the  Gods,  tell  me,  dost  thou  live  this  life  hitherto 
childless  ? 

iEG.  Childless  I  am,  by  the  disposal  of  some  deity. 

Med.  Hast  thou  a  wife,  or  knowest  thou  not  the  marriage 
bed? 

.ZEg.  I  am  not  destitute  of  the  connubial  bed. 

Med.  What  then  did  Apollo  tell  thee  respecting  thy  off- 
spring ? 

JEg.  Words  deeper  than  a  man  can  form  opinion  of. 

Med.  Is  it  allowable  for  me  to  know  the  oracle  of  the  God  ? 

JEg.  Certainly,  inasmuch  as  it  needs  also  a  deep-skilled 
mind. 

Med.  What  then  did  he  say  ?    Speak,  if  I  may  hear. 

JEg.  That  I  was  not  to  loose  the  projecting  foot  of  the 
vessel — 

Med.  Before  thou  didst  what,  or  came  to  what  land  ? 

JEg.  Before  I  revisit  my  paternal  hearth. 

Med.  Then  as  desiring  what  dost  thou  direct  thy  voyage 
to  this  land  ? 

JEg.  There  is  one  Pittheus,  king  of  the  country  of  Trazene. 

Med.  The  most  pious  son,  as  report  says,  of  Pelops. 

JEg.  To  him  I  wish  to  communicate  the  oracle  of  the  God. 

Med.  For  he  is  a  wise  man,  and  versed  in  such  matters. 

-ZEg.  And  to  me  at  least  the  dearest  of  all  my  friends  in 
war. 

Med.  Mayest  thou  prosper,  and  obtain  what  thou  desirest. 

JEg.  But  why  is  thine  eye  and  thy  colour  thus  faded  ? 

Med.  JEgeus,  my  husband  is  the  worst  of  all  men. 

JEg.  What  sayest  thou  ?  tell  me  all  thy  troubles. 


154  MEDEA.  692-728. 

Med.  Jason  wrongs  me,  having  never  suffered  wrong 
from  me. 

JEg.  Having  done  what  ?  tell  me  more  clearly. 

Med.  He  hath  here  a  wife  besides  me,  mistress  of  the  house. 

JEg.  Hath  he  dared  to  commit  this  disgraceful  action  ? 

Med.  Be  assured  he  has ;  but  we  his  former  friends  are 
dishonoured. 

JEg.  Enamoured  of  her,  or  hating  thy  bed  ? 

Med.  [Smitten  with]  violent  love  indeed,  he  was  faithless  to 
his  friends. 

./Eg.  Let  him  perish  then,  since,  as  you  say,  he  is  a  bad  man. 

Med.  He  was  charmed  to  receive  an  alliance  with  princes. 

JEg.  And  who  gives  the  bride  to  him  ?  finish  the  account, 
I  beg. 

Med.  Creon,  who  is  monarch  of  this  Corinthian  land. 

JEg.  Pardonable  was  it  then  that  thou  art  grieved,  0  lady. 

Med.  I  perish,  and  in  addition  to  this  am  I  banished  from 
this  land. 

JEg.  By  whom  ?  thou  art  mentioning  another  fresh  mis- 
fortune. 

Med.  Creon  drives  me  an  exile  out  of  this  land  of  Corinth. 

JEg.  And  does  Jason  suffer  it  ?    I  praise  not  this. 

Med.  By  his  words  he  does  not,  but  at  heart  he  Avishes 
[to  endure  my  banishment :]  but  by  this  thy  beard  I  entreat 
thee,  and  by  these  thy  knees,  and  I  become  thy  suppliant,  pity 
me,  pity  this  unfortunate  woman,  nor  behold  me  going  forth 
in  exile  abandoned,  but  receive  me  at  thy  hearth  in  thy  coun- 
try and  thy  house.  Thus  by  the  Gods  shall  thy  desire  of  chil- 
dren be  accomplished  to  thee,  and  thou  thyself  shalt  die  in 
happiness.  But  thou  knowest  not  what  this  fortune  is  that 
thou  hast  found  ;  but  I  will  free  thee  from  being  childless,  and 
I  will  cause  thee  to  raise  up  offspring,  such  charms  I  know. 

JEg.  On  many  accounts,  O  lady,  am  I  willing  to  confer  this 
favour  on  thee,  first  on  account  of  the  Gods,  then  of  the 
children,  whose  birth  thou  holdest  forth  ;  for  on  this  point  else 
I  am  totally  sunk  in  despair.  But  thus  am  I  determined  :  if 
thou  comest  to  my  country,  I  will  endeavour  to  receive  thee 
with  hospitality,  being  a  just  man  ;  so  much  however  I  be- 
forehand apprize  thee  of,  O  lady,  I  shall  not  be  willing  to  lead 
thee  with  me  from  this  lana  ;  but  if  thou  comest  thyself  to  my 
house,  thou  shalt  stay  there  in  safety,  and  to  no  one  will  I  give 


728—763.  MEDEA.  155 

thee  up.  But  do  thou  of  thyself  withdraw  thy  foot  from 
this  country,  for  I  wish  to  be  without  blame  even  among 
strangers. 

Med.  It  shall  be  so,  but  if  there  were  a  pledge  of  this  given 
to  me,  I  should  have  all  things  from  thee  in  a  noble  manner. 

JEg.  Dost  thou  not  trust  me  ?  what  is  thy  difficulty  ? 

Med.  I  trust  thee  ;  but  the  house  of  Pelias  is  mine  enemy, 
and  Creon  too  ;  to  these  then,  wert  thou  bound  by  oaths,  thou 
wouldest  not  give  me  up  from  the  country,  should  they  at- 
tempt to  drag  me  thence.  But  having  agreed  by  words  alone, 
and  without  calling  the  Gods  to  witness,  thou  mightest  be 
their  friend,  and  perhaps  '20  be  persuaded  by  an  embassy ;  for 
weak  is  my  state,  but  theirs  are  riches,  and  a  royal  house. 

JEg.  Thou  hast  spoken  much  prudence,  O  lady.  But  if  it 
seems  fit  to  thee  that  I  should  do  this,  I  refuse  not.  For  to 
me  also  this  seems  the  safest  plan,  that  I  should  have  some 
pretext  to  shew  to  your  enemies,  and  thy  safety  is  better 
secured  ;  propose  the  Gods  that  I  am  to  invoke. 

Med.  Swear  by  the  earth,  and  by  the  sun  the  father  of  my 
father,  and  join  the  whole  race  of  Gods. 

vEg.  That  I  will  do  what  thing,  or  what  not  do  ?  speak. 

Med.  That  thou  wilt  neither  thyself  ever  cast  me  forth 
from  out  of  thy  country,  nor,  if  any  one  of  my  enemies  desire 
to  drag  me  thence,  that  thou  wilt,  whilst  living,  give  me  up 
willingly. 

JEg.  I  swear  by  the  earth,  and  the  hallowed  majesty  of 
the  sun,  and  by  all  the  Gods,  to  abide  by  what  I  hear  from 
thee. 

Med.  It  is  sufficient :  but  what  wilt  thou  endure  shouldest 
thou  not  abide  by  this  oath  ? 

JEg.  That  which  befalls  impious  men. 

Med.  Go  with  blessings  ;  for  every  thing  is  well.  And  I 
will  come  as  quick  as  possible  to  thy  city,  having  performed 
what  I  intend,  and  having  obtained  what  I  desire. 

Chor.  But  may  the  son  of  Maia  the  king,  the  guide,  con- 
duct thee  safely  to  thy  house,  and  the  plans  of  those  things, 
which  thou  anxiously  keepest  in  thy  mind,  mayest  thou  bring 
to  completion,  since,  JEgeus,  thou  hast  appeared  to  us  to  be  a 
noble  man. 

20  Porson  rightly  reads  t«x'  «"  iriOoio  with  Wyttenbach. 


156  MEDEA.  764—798: 

Medea,  Chorus. 

Med.  O  Jove,  and  thou  vengeance  of  Jove,  and  thou  light 
of  the  sun,  now,  my  friends,  shall  I  obtain  a  splendid  victory 
over  my  enemies,  and  I  have  struck  into  the  path.  Now  is 
there  hope  that  my  enemies  will  surfer  punishment.  For  this 
man,  where  I  was  most  at  a  loss,  hath  appeared  a  harbour  to  my 
plans.  From  him  will  I  make  fast  my  cable  from  the  stern, 
having  come  to  the  town  and  citadel  of  Pallas.  But  now  will 
I  communicate  all  my  plans  to  thee ;  but  receive  my  words 
not  as  attuned  to  pleasure.  Having  sent  one  of  my  domestics, 
I  will  ask  Jason  to  come  into  my  presence  ;  and  when  he  is 
come,  I  will  address  gentle  words  to  him,  as  that  it  appears 
to  me  that  these  his  actions  are  both  honourable,  and  are  ad- 
vantageous and  well  determined  on21.  And  I  will  entreat 
him  that  my  sons  may  stay  ;  not  that  I  would  leave  my  chil- 
dren in  a  hostile  country  for  my  enemies  to  insult,  but  that  by 
deceit  I  may  slay  the  king's  daughter.  For  I  will  send  them 
bearing  presents  in  their  hands,  both  a  fine  wrought  robe,  and 
a  golden  twined  wreath22.  And  if  she  take  the  ornaments 
and  place  them  round  her  person,  she  shall  perish  miserably, 
and  every  one  who  shall  touch  the  damsel ;  with  such  charms 
will  I  anoint  the  presents.  Here  however  I  finish  this  ac- 
count ;  but  I  bewail  the  deed  such  as  must  next  be  done  by 
me ;  for  I  shall  slay  my  children  ;  there  is  no  one  who  shall 
rescue  them  from  me  ;  and  having  heaped  in  ruins  the  whole 
house  of  Jason,  I  will  go  from  out  this  land,  fiying  the  murder 
of  my  dearest  children,  and  having  dared  a  deed  most  unhal- 
lowed. For  it  is  not  to  be  borne,  my  friends,  to  be  derided 
by  one's  enemies.  Let  things  take  their  course  ;  what  gain  is 
it  to  me  to  live  longer  ?  I  have  neither  country,  nor  house, 
21  Elmsley  has 

"  tis  Kal  Soke!  p\oi  thiitu,  tcai  /caXaJs  'Xf '" 

yi/xovi  Tvpavvuiv,  oiis  irpooous  »'j/*«s  ex£1> 

Kal  £vp.(pop'  tivai,  Kal  ra\<os  lyvw(rp.iva." 

"  that  these  things  appear  good  to  me,  and  that  the  alliance  with  the 

princes,  which  he,  having  forsaken  me,  has  contracted,  are  both  advantageous 

and  well  determined  on."     So  also  Dind.  but  xaXcos  t'x"-      Porson  omits 

the  line. 

S3  In  Elmsley  this  line  is  omitted,  and  instead  of  it  is  inserted 

"  vvfxcpri  (ptoovTas,  Ti'ivSt  fj.il  (ptvyiiv  ~)(d6va." 
"  offering  them  to  the  bride,  that  they  may  not  be  banished  from  this 
country,'"  which  Dindorf  retains,  and  brackets  the  other. 


799—846.  MEDEA.  157 

nor  refuge  from  my  ills.  Then  erred  I,  when  I  left  my  father's 
house,  persuaded  by  the  words  of  a  Grecian  man,  who  with 
the  will  of  the  Gods  shall  suffer  punishment  from  me.  For 
neither  shall  he  ever  hereafter  behold  the  children  he  had  by 
me  alive,  nor  shall  he  raise  a  child  by  his  new  wedded  Avife, 
since  it  is  fated  that  the  wretch  should  wretchedly  perish  by 
my  spells.  Let  no  one  think  me  mean-spirited  and  weak,  nor 
of  a  gentle  temper,  but  of  a  contrary  disposition,  to  my  foes 
relentless,  and  to  my  friends  kind  :  for  the  lives  of  such  sort 
are  most  glorious. 

Chor.  Since  thou  hast  communicated  this  plan  to  me,  de- 
sirous both  of  doing  good  to  thee,  and  assisting  the  laws  of 
mortals,  I  dissuade  thee  from  doing  this. 

Med.  It  cannot  be  otherwise,  but  it  is  pardonable  in  thee 
to  say  this,  not  suffering  the  cruel  treatment  that  I  do. 

Chor.  But  wilt  thou  dare  to  slay  thy  two  sons,  O  lady  ? 

Med.  For  in  this  way  will  my  husband  be  most  afflicted. 

Chor.  But  thou  at  least  will  be  the  most  wretched  woman. 

Med.  Be  that  as  it  may  :  all  intervening  words  are  super- 
fluous :  but  go,  hasten,  and  bring  Jason  hither  ;  for  I  make 
use  of  thee  in  all  matters  of  trust.  And  thou  wilt  mention 
nothing  of  the  plans  determined  on  by  me,  if  at  least  thou 
meanest  well  to  thy  mistress,  and  art  a  woman. 

Chor.  The  Athenians  happy  of  old,  and  the  descendants 
of  the  blessed  Gods,  feeding  on  the  most  exalted  wisdom  of  a 
country  sacred  and  unconquered,  always  tripping  elegantly 
through  the  purest  atmosphere,  where  they  say  that  of  old  the 
golden-haired  Harmonia  gave  birth  to  the  chaste  nine  Pierian 
Muses23.  And  they  report  also  that  Venus  drawing  in  her 
breath  from  the  stream  of  the  fair-flowing  Cephisus,  breathed 
over  their  country  gentle  sweetly  breathing  gales  of  air ;  and 
always  entwining  in  her  hair  the  fragrant  wreath  of  roses, 
sends  the  loves  as  assessors  to  wisdom  ;  the  assistants  of  every 
virtue.     How  then  will  the  city  of  hallowed  rivers 24,  or  the 

23  Although  the  Scholiast  reprobates  this  interpretation,  it  seems  to  be 
the  best,  nor  is  it  any  objection,  that  Mi>jj/uo<tui/ij  is  elsewhere  represented 
as  the  Mother  of  the  Muses  ;  so  much  at  variance  is  the  poetry  of  Euri- 
pides with  the  received  mythology  of  the  ancients.     Elmsley. 

24  The  construction  is  TrciXis  Itpwu  iroraixwv ;  thus  Thebes,  Phcenis.  1. 
H31,  is  called  7rvpyos  &io(ifxwv  TroTafiwv.  A  like  expression  occurs  in 
2  Sam.  xii.  27.  I  have  fought  against  Rabbah,  and  have  taken  the  city 
of  waters,  ttoXw  twv  vocntav  in  the  Septuagint  version. 


158  MEDEA.  847-892 

country  which  conducts  thee  to  friends,  receive  the  murderer 
of  her  children,  the  unholy  one  ?  Consider  in  conjunction 
with  others  of  the  slaughter  of  thy  children,  consider  what  a 
murder  thou  wilt  undertake.  Do  not  by  thy  knees,  by  every 
plea25,  by  every  prayer,  we  entreat  you,  do  not  murder  your 
children  ;  but  how  wilt  thou  acquire  confidence  either  of  mind 
or  hand  or  in  heart  against  thy  children,  attempting  a  dread- 
ful deed  of  boldness  ?  But  how,  having  darted  thine  eyes  upon 
thy  children,  wilt  thou  endure  the  perpetration  of  the  murder 
without  tears  ?  Thou  wilt  not-6  be  able,  when  thy  children 
fall  suppliant  at  thy  feet,  to  imbrue  thy  savage  hand  in  their 
wretched  life-blood. 

Jason,  Medea,  Chorus. 

Jas.  I  am  come,  by  thee  requested  ;  for  although  thou  art 
enraged,  thou  shalt  not  be  deprived  of  this  at  least ;  but  I  will 
hear  what  new  service  thou  dost  desire  of  me,  lady. 

Med.  Jason,  I  entreat  you  to  be  forgiving  of  what  has  been 
said,  but  right  is  it  that  you  should  bear  with  my  anger,  since 
many  friendly  acts  have  been  done  by  us  two.  But  I  reasoned 
with  myself  and  rebuked  myself ;  wayward  woman,  why  am 
I  maddened  and  am  enraged  with  those  who  consult  well  for 
me  ?  and  why  am  I  in  enmity  with  the  princes  of  the  land  and 
with  my  husband,  who  is  acting  in  the  most  advantageous 
manner  for  us,  having  married  a  princess,  and  begetting  bro- 
thel's to  my  children  ?  Shall  I  not  cease  from  my  rage  ?  What 
injury  do  I  suffer,  the  Gods  providing  well  for  me  ?  Have  I 
not  children  ?  And  I  know  that  I  am  flying  the  country,  and 
am  in  want  of  friends.  Revolving  this  in  my  mind  I  per- 
ceive that  I  had  much  imprudence,  and  was  enraged  without 
reason.  Now  then  I  approve  of  this,  and  thou  appearest  to 
me  to  be  prudent,  having  added  this  alliance  to  us  ;  but  I  was 
foolish,  who  ought  to  share  in  these  plans,  and  to  join  in 
adorning  and  to  stand  by  the  bed,  and  to  delight  with  thee 
that  thy  bride  was  enamoured  of  thee  ;  but  we  women  are  as 
we  are,  I  will  not  speak  evil  of  the  sex  ;  wherefore  it  is  not 
right  that  you  should  put  yourself  on  an  equality  with  the 
evil,  nor  repay  fully  for  folly.     I  give  up,  and  say  that  then 

25  Elmsley  reads  ■navn'-,,  "  ue  all  entreat  thee."     So  Dindorf. 
86  Elmsley  reads   'v  ovvda-a  with  the  note  of  interrogation  after  Ou/ao 
"  or  how  wilt  thou  be  able,"  etc. 


893—935.  MEDEA.  159 

I  erred  in  judgment,  but  now  I  have  determined  on  these 
things  better.  O  my  children,  my  children,  come  forth,  leave 
the  house,  come  forth,  salute,  and  address  your  father  with 
me,  and  be  reconciled  to  your  friends  from  your  former  hatred 
together  with  your  mother.  For  there  is  amity  between  us, 
and  my  rage  hath  ceased.  Take  his  right  hand.  Alas  !  my 
misfortunes  ;  how  I  feel  some  hidden  ill  in  my  mind  !  Will 
ye,  my  children,  in  this  manner,  and  for  a  long  time  enjoying 
life,  stretch  out  your  dear  hands  ?  Wretch  that  I  am  !  how 
near  am  1  to  weeping  and  full  of  fear  ! — But  at  last  cancelling 
this  dispute  with  your  father,  I  have  filled  thus  my  tender 
sight  with  tears. 

Chor.  In  my  eyes  also  the  moist  tear  is  arisen ;  and  may 
not  the  evil  advance  to  a  greater  height  than  it  is  at  present. 

Jas.  I  approve  of  this,  lady,  nor  do  I  blame  the  past ;  for 
it  is  reasonable  that  the  female  sex  be  enraged  with  a  husband 
who  barters  them  for  another  union. — But  thy  heart  has 
changed  to  the  more  proper  side,  and  thou  hast  discovered, 
but  after  some  time,  the  better  counsel :  these  are  the  actions 
of  a  wise  woman.  But  for  you,  my  sons,  your  father  not 
without  thought  hath  formed  many  provident  plans,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Gods.  For  I  think  that  you  will  be  yet  the 
first  in  this  Corinthian  country,  together  with  your  brothers. 
But  advance  and  prosper  :  and  the  rest  your  father,  and  what- 
ever God  is  propitious,  will  effect.  And  may  I  behold  you 
blooming  arrive  at  the  prime  of  youth,  superior  to  my  ene- 
mies. And  thou,  why  dost  thou  bedew  thine  eyes  with  the 
moist  tear,  having  turned  aside  thy  white  cheek,  and  why 
dost  thou  not  receive  these  words  from  me  with  pleasure  ? 

Med.  It  is  nothing.     I  was  thinking  of  my  sons. 

Jas.  Be  of  good  courage  ;  for  I  will  arrange  well  for  them. 

Med.  I  will  be  so,  I  will  not  mistrust  thy  words ;  but  a 
woman  is  of  soft  mould,  and  was  born  to  tears. 

Jas.  Why,  I  pray,  dost  thou  so  grieve  for  thy  children  ? 

Med.  I  brought  them  into  the  world,  and  when  thou  wert 
praying  that  thy  children  might  live,  a  feeling  of  pity  came 
upon  me  if  that  would  be.  But  for  what  cause  thou  hast 
come  to  a  conference  with  me,  partly  hath  been  explained, 
but  the  other  reasons  I  will  mention.  Since  it  appeareth  fit 
to  the  royal  family  to  send  me  from  this  country,  for  me  also 
this  appears  best,  I  know  it  well,  that  I  might  not  dwell  here, 


160  MEDEA.  936—974. 

a  check  either  to  thee  or  to  the  princes  of  the  land  ;  for  I 
seem  to  be  an  object  of  enmity  to  the  house  ;  I  indeed  will  set 
out  from  this  land  in  flight ;  but  to  the  end  that  the  children 
may  be  brought  up  by  thy  hand,  entreat  Creon  that  they  may 
not  leave  this  land. 

Jas.  I  know  not  whether  I  shall  persuade  him ;  but  it  is 
right  to  try. 

Med.  But  do  thou  then  exhort  thy  bride  to  ask  her  father, 
that  my  children  may  not  leave  this  country. 

Jas.  Certainly  I  will,  and  I  think  at  least  that  she  will  per- 
suade him,  if  indeed  she  be  one  of  the  female  sex. 

Med.  I  also  will  assist  you  in  this  task,  for  I  will  send  to 
her  presents  which  (I  well  know)  far  surpass  in  beauty  any 
now  among  men,  both  a  fine-wrought  robe,  and  a  golden- 
twined  chaplet,  my  sons  carrying  them.  But  as  quick  as  pos- 
sible let  one  of  my  attendants  bring  hither  these  ornaments. 
Thy  bride  shall  be  blessed  not  in  one  instance,  but  in  many, 
having  met  with  you  at  least  the  best  of  husbands,  and  possess- 
ing ornaments  which  the  sun  my  father's  father  once  gave  to 
his  descendants.  Take  these  nuptial  presents,  my  sons,  in 
your  hands,  and  bear  and  present  them  to  the  blessed  royal 
bride  ;  she  shall  receive  gifts  not  indeed  to  be  despised. 

Jas.  Why,  0  fond  woman,  dost  thou  rob  thy  hands  of 
these  ;  thinkest  thou  that  the  royal  palace  is  in  want  of  vests  ? 
in  want  of  gold  ?  keep  these  presents,  give  them  not  away  ; 
for  if  the  lady  esteems  me  of  any  value,  she  will  prefer  pleas- 
ing me  to  riches,  I  know  full  well. 

Med.  But  do  not  oppose  me  ;  gifts,  they  say,  persuade  even 
the  Gods27,  and  gold  is  more  powerful  than  a  thousand  argu- 
ments to  men.  Hers  is  fortune,  her  substance  the  God  now 
increases,  she  in  youth  governs  all.  But  the  sentence  of 
banishment  on  my  children  I  would  buy  off  with  my  life,  not 
with  gold  alone.  But  my  children,  enter  you  the  wealthy 
palace,  to  the  new  bride  of  your  father,  and  my  mistress,  en- 
treat her,  beseech  her,  that  you  may  not  leave  the  land,  pre- 
senting these  ornaments ;  but  this  is  of  the  greatest  conse- 
quence, that  she  receive  these  gifts  in  her  own  hand.  Go  as 
quick  as  possible,  and  may  you  be  bearers  of  good  tidings  to 

27  An  allusion  to  that  well-Known  saying  in  Plato.de  Repub.   1.  3. 
Ampa  tiioii?  7T£iO££,  oo>()'  alooiovs  j8a<n\?/as.     Ovid,  dc  Arte  Am.  iii.  635. 
Munera,  crede  milii,  capiunt  hominesque  dcosque. 


975—1013.  MEDEA.  161 

your  mother  in  what  she  desires  to  ohtain,  having  succeeded 
favourably. 

Chor.  Now  no  longer  have  I  any  hope  of  life  for  the 
children,  no  longer  [is  there  hope]  ;  for  already  are  they  going 
to  death.  The  bride  shall  receive  the  destructive  present  of 
the  golden  chaplet,  she  wretched  shall  receive  them,  and 
around  her  golden  tresses  shall  she  place  the  attire  of  death, 
having  received  the  presents  in  her  hands.  The  beauty  and 
the  divine  glitter  of  the  robe  will  persuade  her  to  place 
around  her  head  the  golden-wrought  chaplet.  Already  with 
the  dead  shall  the  bride  be  adorned ;  into  such  a  net  will  she 
fall,  and  such  a  destiny  will  she,  hapless  woman,  meet  with  ; 
nor  will  she  escape  her  fate.  But  thou,  oh  unhappy  man  ! 
oh  wretched  bridegroom  !  son-in-law  of  princes,  unknowingly 
thou  bringest  on  thy  children  destruction,  and  on  thy  wife  a 
bitter  death  ;  hapless  man,  how  much  art  thou  fallen  from  thy 
state28  !  But  I  lament  for  thy  grief,  0  wretch,  mother  of  these 
children,  who  wilt  murder  thy  sons  on  account  of  a  bridal 
bed  ;  deserting  which,  in  defiance  of  thee,  thy  husband  dwells 
with  another  wife. 

Tutor,  Medea,  Chorus. 

Tut.  Thy  sons,  my  mistress,  are  reprieved  from  banish- 
ment, and  the  royal  bride  received  thy  presents  in  her  hands 
with  pleasure,  and  hence  is  peace  to  thy  children. 

Med.  Ah! 

Tut.  Why  dost  thou  stand  in  confusion,  when  thou  art 
fortunate  ? 

Med.  Alas  !  alas ! 

Tut.  This  behaviour  is  not  consonant  with  the  message  I 
have  brought  thee. 

Med.  Alas !  again. 

Tut.  Have  I  reported  any  ill  fortune  unknowingly,  and 
have  I  failed  in  my  hope  of  being  the  messenger  of  good  ? 

Med.  Thou  hast  said  what  thou  hast  said,  I  blame  not  thee. 

Tut.  Why  then  dost  thou  bend  down  thine  eye,  and  shed 
tears  ? 

Med.  Strong  necessity  compels  me,  O  aged  man,  for  this 
the  Gods  and  I  deliberating  ill  have  contrived. 

28  Vertit  Portus,  O  infelix  quantam  calamitatem  ignoras.  Milii  scnsus 
videtur  esse,  quantum  a  pristina  fortuna  excidisti.     Elmsley. 

M 


162  MEDEA.  1011- K)50. 

Tut.  Be  of  good  courage  ;    thou  also  wilt  return  home  yet 
through  thy  children. 

Med.  Others  first  will  I  send  to  their  home  M,  O  wretched 


me 


Tut.  Thou  art  not  the  only  one  who  art  separated  from 
thy  children  ;  it  behoves  a  mortal  to  bear  calamities  with 
meekness. 

Med.  I  will  do  so ;  but  go  within  the  house,  and  prepare 
for  the  children  what  is  needful  for  the  day.  O  my  sons, 
my  sons,  you  have  indeed  a  city,  and  a  house,  in  which  hav- 
ing forsaken  me  miserable,  you  shall  dwell,  ever  deprived 
of  a  mother.  But  I  am  now  going  an  exile  into  a  foreign 
land,  before  I  could  have  delight  in  you,  and  see  you  flourish- 
ing, before  I  could  adorn  your  marriage,  and  wife,  and  nuptial 
bed,  and  hold  up  the  torch30.  O  unfortunate  woman  that  I 
am,  on  account  of  my  wayward  temper.  In  vain  then,  my 
children,  have  I  brought  you  up,  in  vain  have  I  toiled,  and 
been  consumed  with  cares,  suffering  the  strong  agonies  of  child- 
bearing.  Surely  once  there  was  a  time  when  I  hapless  woman 
had  many  hopes  in  you,  that  you  would  both  tend  me  in  my 
age,  and  when  dead  would  with  your  hands  decently  compose 
my  limbs,  a  thing  desired  by  men.  But  now  this  pleasing 
thought  hath  indeed  perished ;  for  deprived  of  you  I  shall 
pass  a  life  of  misery,  and  bitter  to  myself.  But  you  will  no 
longer  behold  your  mother  with  your  dear  eyes,  having  passed 
into  another  state  of  life.  Alas  !  alas  !  why  do  you  look  upon 
me  with  your  eyes,  my  children  ?  Why  do  ye  smile  that  last 
smile"  ?  Alas  !  alas  !  what  shall  I  do  ?  for  my  heart  is  sink- 
ing. Ye  females,  when  I  behold  the  cheerful  look  of  my  chil- 
dren, I  have  no  power.  Farewell  my  counsels :  I  will  take 
my  children  with  me  from  this  land.  What  does  it  avail  me 
grieving  their  father  with  the  ills  of  these,  to  acquire  twice  as 
much  pain  for  myself?  never  will  I  at  least  do  this.  Fare- 
well my  counsels.  And  yet  what  do  I  suffer  ?  do  I  wish  to 
incur  ridicule,  having  left  my  foes  unpunished  ?     This  must 

29  Medea  here  makes  use  of  the  ambiguous  word  <caT«£u),  which  may 
be  understood  by  the  Tutor  in  the  sense  of  "  bringing  back  to  their  coun- 
try," but  implies  also  the  horrid  purpose  of  destroying  her  children  :  rode 
'  KaTa£<o'  dvrl  tou  Trt'/ii^o)  uls  tov  A'iSiiv,  as  the  Scholiast  explains  it. 

30  It  was  the  custom  for  mothers  to  bear  lighted  torches  at  their  chil- 
dren's nuptials.     See  Iphig.  Aul.  1.  372. 


1051—1089.  MEDEA.  163 

be  dared.  But  the  bringing  forward  words  of  tenderness  in 
my  mind  arises  also  from  my  cowardice.  Go,  my  children, 
into  the  house ;  and  he  for  whom  it  is  not  lawful  to  be  pre- 
sent at  my  sacrifice,  let  him  take  care  himself  to  keep  away31. 
But  I  will  not  stain  my  hand.  Alas  !  alas  !  do  not  thou  then, 
my  soul,  do  not  thou  at  least  perpetrate  this.  Let  them 
escape,  thou  wretch,  spare  thy  sons.  There  shall  they  live 
with  us  and  delight  thee.  No,  I  swear  by  the  infernal  deities 
who  dwell  with  Pluto,  never  shall  this  be,  that  I  will  give  up 
my  children  to  be  insulted  by  my  enemies.  [At  all  events 
they  must  die,  and  since  they  must,  I  who  brought  them  into 
the  world  will  perpetrate  the  deed.]  This  is  fully  determined 
by  fate,  and  shall  not  pass  away.  And  now  the  chaplet  is  on 
her  head,  and  the  bride  is  perishing  in  the  robes  ;  of  this  I 
am  well  assured.  But,  since  I  am  now  going  a  most  dismal 
path,  and  these  will  I  send  by  one  still  more  dismal,  I  desire 
to  address  my  children :  give,  my  sons,  give  thy  right  hand 
for  thy  mother  to  kiss.  O  most  dear  hand,  and  those  lips 
dearest  to  me,  and  that  form  and  noble  countenance  of  my 
children,  be  ye  blessed,  but  there32;  for  every  thing  here 
your  father  hath  taken  away.  O  the  sweet  embrace,  and  that 
soft  skin,  and  that  most  fragrant  breath  of  my  children.  Go, 
go ;  no  longer  am  I  able  to  look  upon  you,  but  am  overcome 
by  my  ills.  I  know  indeed  the  ills  that  I  am  about  to  dare, 
but  my  rage  is  master  of  my  counsels33,  which  is  indeed  the 
cause  of  the  greatest  calamities  to  men. 

Chor.  Already  have  I  often  gone  through  more  refined 
reasonings,  and  have  come  to  greater  arguments  than  suits  the 
female  mind  to  investigate ;  for  we  also  have  a  muse,  which 
dwelleth  with  us,  for  the  sake  of  teaching  wisdom ;  but  not 
with  all,  for  haply  thou  wilt  find  but  a  small  number  of  the 
race  of  women  out  of  many  not  ungifted  with  the  muse34. 

:il  iiTw  0£  (j>i](Tiv  ovk  Ei>(T£/3fS  (paivETaL  iraptlvai  T(5  <pova>,  Kal  St^ierGat 
Toiauxos  durrias,  outos  uttotw. — t<o  6k  au-ru>  /j.e\i'ig£i  crxivaiTTiov  to  juj/ 
Trctptlvai.      ScHOL. 

32  But  there ;  that  is,  in  the  regions  below. 

33  Ovid.  Metamorph.  vii.  20. 

Video  meliora  proboque, 
Deteriora  sequor. 
31  Elmsley  reads 

Traupov  6k  yivos  (/xiav  kv  ttoWcus 
tvpoi'i  av  'Laws) 

OVK,  K.  T.  \. 

M    2 


164  MEDEA.  1090—1131. 

And  I  say  that  those  men  who  are  entirely  free  from  wedlock, 
and  have  not  begotten  children,  surpass  in  happiness  those 
who  have  families ;  those  indeed  who  are  childless,  through 
inexperience  whether  children  are  born  a  joy  or  anguish  to 
men,  not  having  them  themselves,  are  exempt  from  much 
misery.  But  those  who  have  a  sweet  blooming  offspring  of 
children  in  their  house,  I  behold  worn  with  care  the  whole 
time ;  first  of  all  how  they  shall  bring  them  up  honourably, 
and  how  they  shall  leave  means  of  sustenance  for  their  chil- 
dren. And  still  after  this,  whether  they  are  toiling  for  bad 
or  good  sons,  this  is  still  in  darkness.  But  one  ill  to  mortals, 
the  last  of  all,  I  now  will  mention.  For  suppose  they  have 
both  found  sufficient  store,  and  the  bodies  of  their  children 
have  arrived  at  manhood,  and  that  they  are  good ;  but  if  this 
fortune  shall  happen  to  them,  death,  bearing  away  their  sons, 
vanishes  with  them  to  the  shades  of  darkness.  How  then  does 
it  profit  that  the  Gods  heap  on  mortals  yet  this  grief  in  addi- 
tion to  others,  the  most  bitter  of  all,  for  the  sake  of  children  ? 

Medea,  Messenger,  Chorus. 

Med.  For  a  long  time  waiting  for  the  event,  my  friends,  I 
am  anxiously  expecting  what  will  be  the  result  thence.  And 
I  see  indeed  one  of  the  domestics  of  Jason  coming  hither,  and 
his  quickened  breath  shews  that  he  will  be  the  messenger  of 
some  new  ill. 

Mess.  O  thou,  that  hast  impiously  perpetrated  a  deed  of 
terror,  Medea,  fly,  fly,  leaving  neither  the  ocean  chariot35,  nor 
the  car  whirling  o'er  the  plain. 

Med.  But  what  is  done  that  requires  this  flight  ? 

Mess.  The  princess  is  just  dead,  and  Creon  her  father 
destroyed  by  thy  charms. 

Med.  Thou  hast  spoken  most  glad  tidings :  and  hereafter 
from  this  time  shalt  thou  be  among  my  benefactors  and  friends. 

Mess.  What  sayest  thou  ?  Art  thou  in  thy  senses,  and 
not  mad,  lady?  who  having  destroyed  the  king  and  family, 
rejoicest  at  hearing  it,  and  fearest  not  such  things  ? 

"  But  a  small  number  of  the  race  of  women  (you  may  perchance  find 
one  among  many)  not  tingifted  %-Ath  the  muse." 

35  A  similar  expression  is  found  in  Iphig.  Taur.  v.  410.  vd'iov  ox»jmq- 
A  ship  is  frequently  called  apua  0a\a<r<rtjs:  so  Virgil,  iEn.  vi.  Clas- 
sique  immittit  habcnas. 


1132—1172.  MEDEA.  165 

Med.  I  also  have  something  to  say  to  these  words  of  thine 
at  least ;  but  be  not  hasty,  my  friend ;  but  tell  me  how  they 
perished,  for  twice  as  much  delight  wilt  thou  give  me  if  they 
died  miserably. 

Mess.  As  soon  as  thy  two  sons  were  come  with  their  father, 
and  had  entered  the  bridal  house,  we  servants,  who  were 
grieved  at  thy  misfortunes,  were  delighted ;  and  immediately 
there  was  much  conversation  in  our  ears,  that  thy  husband  and 
thou  had  brought  the  former  quarrel  to  a  friendly  termination. 
One  kissed  the  hand,  another  the  auburn  head  of  thy  sons,  and 
I  also  myself  followed  with  them  to  the  women's  apartments 
through  joy.  But  my  mistress,  whom  we  now  reverence  in- 
stead of  thee,  before  she  saw  thy  two  sons  enter,  held  her  cheer- 
ful eyes  fixed  on  Jason  ;  afterwards  however  she  covered  her 
eyes,  and  turned  aside  her  white  cheek,  disgusted  at  the  en- 
trance of  thy  sons  ;  but  thy  husband  quelled  the  anger  and 
rage  of  the  young  bride,  saying  this ;  Be  not  angry  with  thy 
friends,  but  cease  from  thy  rage,  and  turn  again  thy  face,  es- 
teeming those  as  friends,  whom  thy  husband  does.  But  receive 
the  gifts,  and  ask  thy  father  to  give  up  the  sentence  of  banish- 
ment against  these  children  for  my  sake.  But  when  she  saw 
the  ornaments,  she  refused  not,  but  promised  her  husband  every 
thing  ;  and  before  thy  sons  and  their  father  were  gone  far  from 
the  house,  she  took  and  put  on  the  variegated  robes,  and  having 
placed  the  golden  chaplet  around  her  tresses  she  arranges  her 
hair  in  the  radiant  mirror,  smiling  at  the  lifeless  image  of  her 
person.  And  after,  having  risen  from  her  seat,  she  goes  across 
the  chamber,  elegantly  tripping  with  snow-white  foot ;  rejoicing 
greatly  in  the  presents,  looking  much  and  oftentimes  with  her 
eyes  on  her  outstretched  neck30.  After  that  however  there 
was  a  sight  of  horror  to  behold.  For  having  changed  colour, 
she  goes  staggering  back  trembling  in  her  limbs,  and  is  scarce 
in  time  to  prevent  herself  from  falling  on  the  ground,  by  sink- 
ing into  a  chair.  And  some  aged  female  attendant,  when  she 
thought  that  the  wrath  either  of  Pan  or  some  other  Deity37 

36  Elmsley  is  of  opinion  that  the  instep  and  not  the  neck  is  meant  by 

TIVVOV. 

37  The  ancients  attributed  all  sudden  terrors,  and  sudden  sicknesses, 
such  as  epilepsies,  for  which  no  cause  appeared,  to  Pan,  or  to  some  other 
Deity.  The  anger  of  the  God  they  endeavoured  to  avert  by  an  hymn, 
which  had  the  nature  of  a  charm. 


166  MEDEA.  1173—1207. 

had  visited  her,  offered  up  the  invocation,  before  at  least  she 
sees  the  white  foam  bursting  from  her  mouth,  and  her  mis- 
tress rolling  her  eye-balls  from  their  sockets,  and  the  blood 
no  longer  in  the  flesh  ;  then  she  sent  forth  a  loud  shriek 
of  far  different  sound  from  the  strain  of  supplication  ;  and 
straightway  one  rushed  to  the  apartments  of  her  father,  but 
another  to  her  newly  married  husband,  to  tell  the  calamity 
befallen  the  bride,  and  all  the  house  was  filled  with  frequent 
hurryings  to  and  fro.  And  by  this  time  a  swift  runner,  ex- 
erting his  limbs,  might  have  reached38  the  goal  of  the  course 
of  six  plethra39;  but  she,  wretched  woman,  from  being  speech- 
less^ and  from  a  closed  eye  having  groaned  deeply  writhed  in 
agony  ;  for  a  double  pest  was  warring  against  her.  The  golden 
chaplet  indeed  placed  on  her  head  was  sending  forth  a  stream 
of  all-devouring  fire  wonderful  to  behold,  but  the  fine  wrought 
robes,  the  presents  of  thy  sons,  were  devouring  the  white  flesh 
of  the  hapless  woman.  But  she  having  started  from  her  seat 
flies,  all  on  fire,  tossing  her  hair  and  head  on  this  side  and  that 
side,  desirous  of  shaking  off  the  chaplet ;  but  the  golden  wreath 
firmly  kept  its  hold ;  but  the  fire,  when  she  shook  her  hair, 
blazed  out  with  double  fury,  and  she  sinks  upon  the  ground 
overcome  by  her  sufferings,  difficult  for  any  one  except  her 
lather  to  recognise.  For  neither  was  the  expression  of  her 
eyes  clear,  nor  her  noble  countenance ;  but  the  blood  was 
dropping  from  the  top  of  her  head  mixed  with  fire.  But  her 
flesh  was  dropping  off  her  bones,  as  the  tear  from  the  pine 
tree,  by  the  hidden  fangs  of  the  poison ;  a  sight  of  horror. 
But  all  feared  to  touch  the  body,  for  we  had  her  fate  to  warn 
us.  But  the  hapless  father,  through  ignorance  of  her  suffer- 
ing, having  come  with  haste  into  the  apartment,  falls  on  the 
corpse,  and  groans  immediately ;  and  having  folded  his  arms 
round  her,  kisses  her,  saying  these  words  ;  O  miserable  child, 
what  Deity  hath  thus  cruelly  destroyed  thee  ?  who  makes  an 

38  Elmsley  lias  ai/6>]irTETo,  -which  is  the  old  reading  :  this  makes  no 
difference  in  the  construing  or  the  construction,  as,  in  the  line  before,  he 
reads  av  TKkiov,  where  Porson  has  avl\Kwv. 

39  The  space  of  time  elapsed  is  meant  to  be  marked  by  this  circumstance. 
Musgrave.  Porson.  Thus  we  find  in  M  of  the  Odyssey,  1.  439,  the 
time  of  day  expressed  by  the  rising  of  the  judges ;  in  A  of  the  Iliad,  1.  86, 
by  the  dining  of  the  woodman.  When  we  recollect  that  the  ancients  had 
not  the  inventions  that  we  have  whereby  to  measure  their  time,  we  shall 
cease  to  consider  the  circumlocution  as  absurd  or  out  of  place. 


1208—1255.  MEDEA.  167 

aged  father  bowing  to  the  tomb 40  bereaved  of  thee  ?  Alas 
me  !  let  me  die  with  thee,  my  child.  But  after  he  had  ceased 
from  his  lamentations  and  cries,  desiring  to  raise  his  aged 
body,  he  was  held,  as  the  ivy  by  the  boughs  of  the  laurel,  by 
the  fine  wrought  robes ;  and  dreadful  was  the  struggle,  for  he 
wished  to  raise  his  knee,  but  she  held  him  back ;  but  if  he 
drew  himself  away  by  force  he  tore  the  aged  flesh  from  his 
bones.  But  at  length  the  wretched  man  swooned  away,  and 
gave  up  his  life ;  for  no  longer  was  he  able  to  endure  the 
agony.  But  they  lie  corses,  the  daughter  and  aged  father  near 
one  another  ;  a  calamity  that  demands  tears.  V  And  let  thy 
affairs  indeed  be  not  matter  for  my  words ;  for  thou  thyself 
wilt  know  a  refuge  from  punishment.  But  the  affairs  of 
mortals  not  now  for  the  first  time  I  deem  a  shadow,  and  I 
would  venture  to  say  that  those  persons  who  seem  to  be  wise 
and  are  researchers  of  arguments,  these,  I  say,  run  into  the 
greatest  folly.  For  no  mortal  man  is  happy ;  but  wealth 
pouring  in,  one  man  may  be  more  fortunate  than  another,  but 
happy  he  cannot  be. 

Chor.  The  Deity,  it  seems,  will  in  this  day  justly  heap  on 
Jason  a  variety  of  ills.  O  hapless  lady,  how  we  pity  thy 
sufferings,  daughter  of  Creon,  who  art  gone  to  the  house  of 
darkness,  through  thy  marriage  with  Jason. 

Med.  The  deed  is  determined  on  by  me,  my  friends,  to  slay 
my  children  as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  hasten  from  this  land ; 
and  not  by  delaying  to  give  my  sons  for  another  hand  more 
hostile  to  murder.  But  come,  be  armed,  my  heart ;  why  do 
we  delay  to  do  dreadful  but  necessary  deeds.  Come,  0 
wretched  hand  of  mine,  grasp  the  sword,  grasp  it,  advance  to 
the  bitter  goal  of  life,  and  be  not  cowardly,  nor  remember  thy 
children  how  dear  they  are,  how  thou  broughtest  them  into 
the  world  ;  but  for  this  short  day  at  least  forget  thy  children  ; 
hereafter  lament.  For  although  thou  slayest  them,  neverthe- 
less they  at  least  were  dear,  but  I  a  wretched  woman. 

Chor.  0  thou  earth,  and  thou  all-illuming  beam  of  the  sun, 
look  down  upon,  behold  this  abandoned  woman,  before  she 
move  her  blood-stained  hand  itself  about  to  inflict  the  blow 
against  her  children ;    for  from  thy  golden  race  they  sprung  ; 

40  The  same  expression  occurs  in  the  Heraclidae,  1.  168.  The  Scholiast 
explains  it  thus  ;  Tu/xfioytpovTa,  tov  irXijaiov  tiav&TOV  ovto.'  tu/x/3ous  ok 
KaXouai  tous  ytpovTas,  izapoaov  tt\ii<tLov  titrl  rod  davuTov  tcai  rod  rdcpov. 


!68  MEDEA.  12.56—1297. 

but  fearful  is  it  for  the  blood  of  Gods  to  fall  by  the  hand  of 
man.  But  do  thou,  0  hea.ven-born  light,  restrain  her,  stop 
her,  remove  from  this  house  this  blood-stained  and  miserable 
Erinnys  agitated  by  the  Furies.  The  care  of  thy  children 
perishes  in  vain,  and  in  vain  hast  thou  produced  a  dear  race, 

0  thou  who  didst  leave  the  most  inhospitable  entrance  of 
the  Cyanean  rocks,  the  Symplegades.  Hapless  woman,  why 
does  such  grievous  rage  settle  on  thy  mind ;  and  hostile 
slaughter  ensue  ?  For  kindred  pollutions  are  difficult  of  puri- 
fication to  mortals ;  correspondent  calamities  falling  from  the 
Gods  to  the  earth  upon  the  houses  of  the  murderers41. 

First  Son.  (within.)  Alas  !  what  shall  I  do  ?  whither  shall 

1  fly  from  my  mother's  hand  ? 

Second  Son.  I  know  not,  dearest  brother,  for  we  perish. 

Ciior.  Hearest  thou  the  cry  ?  hearest  thou  the  children  ? 
0  wretch,  O  ill-fated  woman  !  Shall  I  enter  the  house  ?  It 
seems  right  to  me  to  ward  off  the  murderous  blow  from  the 
children. 

Sons.  Nay,  by  the  Gods  assist  us,  for  it  is  in  needful  time  ; 
since  now  at  least  are  we  near  the  destruction  of  the  sword. 

Chor.  Miserable  woman,  art  thou  then  a  rock,  or  iron, 
who  cuttest  down  with  death  by  thine  own  hand  the  fair  crop 
of  children  which  thou  producedst  thyself?  one  indeed  I  hear 
of,  one  woman  of  those  of  old,  who  laid  violent  hands  on  her 
children,  Ino,  maddened  by  the  Gods  when  the  wife  of  Jove 
sent  her  in  banishment  from  her  home  ;  and  she  miserable 
woman  falls  into  the  sea  through  the  impious  murder  of  her 
children,  directing  her  foot  over  the  sea  shore,  and  dying  with 
her  two  sons,  there  she  perished  ?  what  then  I  pray  can  be 
more  dreadful  than  this  ?  O  thou  bed  of  woman,  fruitful  in 
ills,  how  many  evils  hast  thou  already  brought  to  men  ! 

Jason,  Chorus. 

Jas.  Ye  females,  who  stand  near  this  mansion,  is  she  who 
hath  done  these  deeds  of  horror,  Medea,  in  this  house  ;  or 
hath  she  withdrawn  herself  in  flight  ?  For  now  it  is  necessary 
for  her  either  to  be  hidden  beneath  the  earth,  or  to  raise  her 
winged  body  into  the  vast  expanse  of  air,  if  she  would  not 

41  ai)To<p6vTais  may  be  taken  as  an  .adjective  to  agree  with  oo'^ois,  or 
the  construction  may  be  ax>i  tt'itvovto.  ai)To<j>6vTais  iirl  ooyuots,  in  the  same 
manner  as  Aitfos  iiri.ui  ixol  lirl  Ki<pa\^.     Elmsley. 


1298—1329.  MEDEA.  169 

suffer  vengeance  from  the  king's  house.  Does  she  trust  that 
after  having  slain  the  princes  of  this  land,  she  shall  herself 
escape  from  this  house  with  impunity  ? — But  I  have  not  such 
care  for  her  as  for  my  children  ;  for  they  whom  she  has  in- 
jured will  punish  her.  But  I  came  to  preserve  my  children's 
life,  lest  [Creon's]  relations  by  birth  do  any  injury42,  avenging 
the  impious  murder  perpetrated  by  their  mother. 

CnoR.  Unhappy  man  !  thou  knowest  not  at  what  misery 
thou  hast  arrived,  Jason,  or  else  thou  wouldest  not  have  uttered 
these  words. 

Jas.  What  is  this,  did  she  wish  to  slay  me  also  ? 

Cuou.  Thy  children  are  dead  by  their  mother's  hand. 

Jas.  Alas  me  !  What  wilt  thou  say  ?  how  hast  thou  killed 
me,  woman  ! 

Chor.  Think  now  of  thy  sons  as  no  longer  living. 

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

Chor.  Open  those  doors,  and  thou  wilt  see  the  slaughter 
of  thy  sons. 

Jas.  Undo  the  bars,  as  quick  as  possible,  attendants  ;  un- 
loose the  hinges,  that  I  may  see  this  double  evil,  my  sons  slain, 
and  may  punish  her. 

Med.  Why  dost  thou  shake  and  unbolt  these  gates,  seeking 
the  dead  and  me  who  did  the  deed.  Cease  from  this  labour ; 
but  if  thou  wantest  aught  with  me,  speak  if  thou  wishest  any 
thing  ;  but  never  shalt  thou  touch  me  with  thy  hands  ;  such 
a  chariot  the  sun  my  father's  father  gives  me,  a  defence  from 
the  hostile  hand43. 

Jas.  O  thou  abomination  !  thou  most  detested  woman,  both 
by  the  Gods  and  by  me,  and  by  all  the  race  of  man  ;  who 
hast  dared  to  plunge  the  sword  in  thine  own  children,  thou 
who  bore  them,  and  hast  destroyed  me  childless.  And  having 
done  this  thou  beholdest  both  the  sun  and  the  earth,  having 
dared  a  most  impious  deed.  Mayest  thou  perish !  but  I  am 
now  wise,  not  being  so  then  when  I  brought  thee  from  thy 

42  fii'i  fxi.  ti  SpcHTuxri  had  been  "  lest  they  do  me  any  injury."  Elmsley 
conceives  that  viv  is  the  true  reading,  which  might  easily  have  been  cor- 
rupted into  not. 

43  Here  Medea  appears  above  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  dragons,  bearing 
with  her  the  bodies  of  her  slaughtered  sons.  Schol.  See  Horace,  Epod.  3. 

Hoc  delibutis  ulta  donis  pellicem, 
Serpente  i'ugit  alite. 


1 70  MEDEA.  1330—1368. 

house  and  from  a  foreign  land  to  a  Grecian  habitation,  a  great 
pest,  traitress  to  thy  father  and  the  land  that  nurtured  thee. 
But  the  Gods  have  sent  thy  evil  genius  on  me.  For  having 
slain  thy  brother  at  the  altar,  thou  embarkedst  on  board  the 
gallant  vessel  Argo.  Thou  begannest  indeed  with  such  deeds 
as  these ;  and  being  wedded  to  me,  and  bearing  me  children, 
thou  hast  destroyed  them  on  account  of  another  bed  and  mar- 
riage. There  is  not  one  Grecian  woman  who  would  have 
dared  a  deed  like  this,  in  preference  to  whom  at  least,  I 
thought  worthy  to  wed  thee,  an  alliance  hateful  and  destruc- 
tive to  me,  a  lioness,  no  woman,  having  a  nature  more  savage 
than  the  Tuscan  Scylla.  But  I  cannot  gall  thy  heart  with 
ten  thousand  reproaches,  such  shameless  confidence  is  im- 
planted in  thee.  Go,  thou  worker  of  ill,  and  stained  with  the 
blood  of  thy  children.  But  for  me  it  remains  to  bewail  my 
fate,  who  shall  neither  enjoy  my  new  nuptials,  nor  shall  I 
have  it  in  my  power  to  address  whilst  alive  my  sons  whom  I 
begot  and  educated,  but  I  have  lost  them. 

Med.  Surely  I  could  make  long  reply  to  these  words,  if 
the  .Sire  Jupiter  did  not  know  what  treatment  thou  receivedst 
from  me,  and  what  thou  didst  in  return  ;  but  you  were  mis- 
taken, when  you  expected,  having  dishonoured  my  bed,  to 
lead  a  life  of  pleasure,  mocking  me,  and  so  was  the  princess, 
and  so  was  Creon,  who  proposed  the  match  to  thee,  when  he 
expected  to  drive  me  from  this  land  with  impunity.  Where- 
fore, if  thou  wilt,  call  me  lioness,  and  Scylla  who  dwelt  in  the 
Tuscan  plain.    For  thy  heart,  as  is  right,  I  have  wounded. 

Jas.  And  thou  thyself  grievest  at  least,  and  art  a  sharer  in 
these  ills. 

Med.  Be  assured  of  that;  but  this  lessens44  the  grief,  that 
thou  canst  not  mock  me. 

Jas.  My  children,  what  a  wicked  mother  have  ye  found  ! 

Med.  My  sons,  how  did  ye  perish  by  your  father's  fault ! 

Jas.  Nevertheless  my  hand  slew  them  not. 

Med.  But  injury,  and  thy  new  nuptials. 
•     Jas.  And  on  account  of  thy  bed  didst  thou  think  fit  to  slay 
them  ? 

Med.  Dost  thou  deem  this  a  slight  evil  to  a  woman  ? 

41  Xuei  may  also  be  interpreted,  with  the  Scholiast,  in  the  sense  of  \v<n- 
TeX.6*,  "  the  grief  delights  me."  The  translation  given  in  the  text  is  pro- 
posed by  Porson,  and  approved  of  by  Elmsley. 


1369— HOO.  MEDEA. 


171 


Jas.  Whoever  at  least  is  modest ;  but  in  thee  is  every  ill. 
Med.  These  are  no  longer  living,  for  this  will  gall  thee. 
Jas.  These  are  living,  alas  me  !  avenging  furies  on  thy  head. 
Med.  The  Gods  know  who  began  the  injury. 
Jas.  They  know  indeed  thy  execrable  mind. 
Med.  Thou  art  hateful  to  me,  and  I  detest  thy  bitter  speech. 
Jas.  And  I  in  sooth  thine ;  the  separation  at  least  is  with- 
out pain. 

Med.  How  then  ?  what  shall  I  do  ?  for  I  also  am  very  de- 
sirous. 

Jas.  Suffer  me,  I  beg,  to  bury  and  mourn  over  these  dead 
bodies. 

Med.  Never  indeed  ;  since  I  will  bury  them  with  this  hand 
bearing  them  to  the  shrine  of  Juno,  the  Goddess  guardian  of 
the  citadel,  that  no  one  of  my  enemies  may  insult  them,  tear- 
ing up  their  graves.  But  in  this  land  of  Sisyphus  will  I  in- 
stitute in  addition  to  this  a  solemn  festival  and  sacrifices  here- 
after to  expiate  this  unhallowed  murder.  But  I  myself  will 
go  to  the  land  of  Erectheus,  to  dwell  with  iEgeus  son  of 
Pandion.  But  thou,  wretch,  as  is  fit,  shalt  die  wretchedly, 
struck  on  thy  head  with  a  relick  of  thy  ship  Argo,  having 
seen  the  bitter  end  of  my  marriage. 

Jas.  But  may  the  Fury  of  the  children,  and  Justice  the 
avenger  of  murder,  destroy  thee. 

Med.  But  what  God  or  Deity  hears  thee,  thou  perjured 
man,  and  traitor  to  the  rights  of  hospitality  ? 

Jas.  Ah !  thou  abominable  woman,  and  murderer  of  thy 
children. 

Med.  Go  to  thy  home,  and  bury  thy  wife. 
Jas.  I  go,  even  deprived  of  both  my  children. 
Med.  Thou  dost  not  yet  mourn   enough :  stay  and  grow 
old45. 

Jas.  Oh  my  dearest  sons  ! 
Med.  To  their  mother  at  least,  but  not  to  thee. 
Jas.  And  yet  thou  slewest  them. 
Med.  To  grieve  thee. 

Jas.  Alas,  alas  !  I  hapless  man  long  to  kiss  the  dear  mouths 
of  my  children. 
45  Elmsley  has 

fxtVE  ku'l  yrjpas. 
"  Stay  yet  for  old  age."     So  also  Dindorf. 


172  MEDEA.  HOI— 1419. 

Med.  Now  thou  addressest,  now  salutest  them,  formerly 
rejecting  them  with  scorn. 

Jas.  Grant  me,  by  the  Gods,  to  touch  the  soft  skin  of  my 
sons. 

Med.  It  is  not  possible.  Thy  words  are  thrown  away  in 
vain. 

Jas.  Dost  thou  hear  this,  O  Jove,  how  I  am  rejected,  and 
what  I  suffer  from  this  accursed  and  child-destroying  lioness  ? 
But  as  much  indeed  as  is  in  my  power  and  I  am  able,  I  lament 
and  mourn  over  these ;  calling  the  Gods  to  witness,  that  hav- 
ing slain  my  children,  thou  preventest  me  from  touching  them 
with  my  hands,  and  from  burying  the  bodies,  whom,  oh  that 
I  had  never  begotten,  and  seen  them  thus  destroyed  by  thee. 

Chor.  Jove  is  the  dispenser  of  various  fates  in  heaven, 
and  the  Gods  perform  many  things  contrary  to  our  expecta- 
tions, and  those  things  which  we  looked  for  are  not  accom- 
plished ;  but  the  God  hath  brought  to  pass  things  unthought 
of.     In  such  manner  hath  this  affair  ended. 


HIPPOLYTUS. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

VENUS. 

HIPPOLYTUS. 

ATTENDANTS. 

PHJEDRA. 

NURSE. 

THESEUS. 

MESSENGER. 

DIANA. 

CHORUS  OF  TRCEZENIAN  DAMES. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Theseus  was  the  son  of  Othra  and  Neptune,  and  king  of  the  Athenians; 
and  having  married  Hippolyta,  one  of  the  Amazons,  he  begat  Hippolytus, 
•who  excelled  in  beauty  and  chastity.  When  his  wife  died,  he  married, 
for  his  second  wife,  Phaedra,  a  Cretan,  daughter  of  Minos,  king  of  Crete, 
and  Pasiphae.  Theseus,  in  consequence  of  having  slain  Pallas,  one  of 
his  kinsmen,  goes  into  banishment,  with  his  wife,  to  Trcezene,  where  it 
happened  that  Hippolytus  was  being  brought  up  by  Pittheus  :  but  Phae- 
dra having  seen  the  youth  was  desperately  enamoured,  not  that  she  was 
incontinent,  but  in  order  to  fulfil  the  anger  of  Venus,  who,  having  deter- 
mined to  destroy  Hippolytus  on  account  of  his  chastity,  brought  her  plans 
to  a  conclusion.  She,  concealing  her  disease,  at  length  was  compelled  to 
declare  it  to  her  nurse,  who  had  promised  to  relieve  her,  and  who,  though 
against  her  inclination,  carried  her  words  to  the  youth.  Phaedra,  having 
learnt  that  he  was  exasperated,  eluded  the  nurse,  and  hung  herself.  At 
which  time  Theseus  having  arrived,  and  wishing  to  take  her  down  that 
was  strangled,  found  a  letter  attached  to  her,  throughout  which  she  ac- 
cused Hippolytus  of  a  design  on  her  virtue.  And  he,  believing  what  was 
written,  ordered  Hippolytus  to  go  into  banishment;  and  put  up  a  prayer 
to  Neptune,  in  compliance  with  which  the  god  destroyed  Hippolytus. 
But  Diana  declared  to  Theseus  every  thing  that  had  happened,  and 
blamed  not  Phaedra,  but  comforted  him,  bereaved  of  his  child  and  wife, 
and  promised  to  institute  honours  in  the  place  to  Hippolytus. 

The  scene  of  the  play  is  laid  in  Trcezene.  It  was  acted  in  the  archon- 
ship  of  Ameinon,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  87th  Olympiad.  Euripides 
first,  Jophon  second,  Jon  third.  This  Hippolytus  is  the  second  of  that 
name,  and  is  called  2TE$ANIA2 :  but  it  appears  to  have  been  written 
the  latest;  for  what  was  unseemly  and  deserved  blame  is  corrected  in 
this  play.     The  play  is  ranked  among  the  first. 


HIPPOLTTUS 


Venus. 

Great  in  the  sight  of  mortals,  and  not  without  a  name  am  I 
the  Goddess  Venus,  and  in  heaven :  and  of  as  many  as  dwell 
within  the  ocean  and  the  boundaries  of  Atlas,  beholding  the 
light  of  the  sun,  those  indeed,  who  reverence  my  authority,  I 
advance  to  honour  ;  but  overthrow  as  many  as  hold  themselves 
high  towards  me.  For  this  is  in  sooth  a  property  inherent 
even  in  the  race  of  the  Gods,  that  "they  rejoice  when  hon- 
oured by  men."  But  quickly  will  I  show  the  truth  of  these 
words :  for  the  son  of  Theseus,  born  of  the  Amazon,  Hippo- 
lytus,  pupil  of  the  chaste  Pittheus,  alone  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  land  of  Troezene,  says  that  I  am  of  deities  the  vilest,  and 
rejects  the  bridal  bed,  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  mar- 
riage. But  Dian,  the  sister  of  Phoebus,  daughter  of  Jove,  he 
honours,  esteeming  her  the  greatest  of  deities.  And  through 
the  green  wood  ever  accompanying  the  virgin,  with  his  swift 
dogs  he  clears  the  beasts  from  off  the  earth,  having  formed  a 
fellowship  greater  than  mortal  ought.  This  indeed  I  grudge 
him  not ;  for  wherefore  should  I  ?  but  wherein  he  has  erred 
towards  me,  I  will  avenge  me  on  Hippolytus  this  very  day : 
and  having  cleared  most  of  the  difficulties  beforehand,1  I  need 
not  much  labour.  For  Phasdra,  his  father's  noble  wife,  having 
seen  him,  (as  he  was  going  once  from  the  house  of  Pittheus 
to  the  land  of  Pandion,  in  order  to  see  and  afterward  be  fully 
admitted  to  the  hallowed  mysteries,)  was  smitten  in  her  heart 
with  fierce  love  by  my  design.     And  even  before  she  came  to 

1  The  construction  in  the  original  furnishes  a  remarkable  example  of 
the  "  nominativus  pendens."  • 


176  IIIPPOLYTUS.  29—79. 

this  lana  of  Troezene,  at  the  very  rock  of  Pallas  that  over- 
looks this  land,  she  raised  a  temple  to  Venus,  loving  an  absent 
love ;  and  gave  out  afterward,2  that  the  Goddess  was  honoured 
with  her  temple  for  Hippolytus'  sake.  But  now  since  Theseus 
has  left  the  land  of  Cecrops,  in  order  to  avoid  the  pollution 
of  the  murder  of  the  sons  of  Pallas,  and  is  sailing  to  this  land 
with  his  wife,  having  submitted  to  a  year's  banishment  from 
his  people ;  there  indeed  groaning  and  stricken  with  the  stings 
of  love,  the  wretched  woman  perishes  in  secret ;  and  not  one 
of  her  domestics  is  conscious  of  her  malady.  But  this  love 
must  by  no  means  fall  to  the  ground  in  this  way :  but  I  will 
open  the  matter  to  Theseus,  and  it  shall  become  manifest. 
And  him  that  is  our  enemy  shall  the  father  kill  with  impre- 
cations, which  Neptune,  king  of  the  ocean,  granted  as  a  privi- 
lege to  Theseus,  that  he  should  make  no  prayer  thrice  to  the 
God  in  vain.  But  Phasdra  dies,  an  illustrious  woman  indeed, 
yet  still  [she  must  die]  ;  for  I  will  not  make  her  ills  of  that 
high  consequence,  that  will  hinder  my  enemies  from  giving 
me  such  full  vengeance  as  may  content  me.  But,  as  I  see  the 
son  of  Theseus  coming,  having  left  the  toil  of  the  chace,  I  will 
depart  from  this  spot.  But  with  him  a  numerous  train  of  at- 
tendants following  behind  raise  a  clamour,  praising  the  Goddess 
Dian  with  hymns,  for  he  knows  not  that  the  gates  of  hell  are 
opened,  and  that  this  day  is  the  last  he  beholds. 

Hippolytus,  Attendants. 

Hipp.  Follow,  follow,  singing  the  heavenly  Dian,  daughter 
of  Jove ;  Dian,  under  whose  protection  we  are. 

Att.  Holy,  holy,  most  hallowed  offspring  of  Jove,  hail ! 
hail!  O  Dian,  daughter  of  Latona  and  of  Jove,  most  beau- 
teous by  far  of  virgins,  who,  born  of  an  illustrious  sire,  in 
the  vast  heaven  dwellest  in  the  palace  of  Jove,  that  mansion 
rich  in  gold. 

Hipp.  Hail,  0  most  beauteous,  most  beauteous  of  virgins  in 
Olympus,  Dian  !  For  thee,  my  mistress,  bear  I  this  wreathed 
garland  from  the  pure  mead,  where  neither  does  the  shepherd 
think  fit  to  feed  his  flocks,  nor  yet  came  iron  there,  but  the 
bee  ranges  over  the  pure  and  vernal  mead,  and  Reverence 
waters  it  with  river  dews.     Whosoever  has  chastity,  not  that 

2  Or,  that  posterity  might  know  it.  Tr.  DLndorf  would  omit  these 
words.     B. 


80—106.  HIPPOLYTUS.  177 

which  is  taught  in  schools,  hut  that  which  is  by  nature,  for 
this  description  of  persons  it  is  lawful  thence  to  pluck,  but  for 
the  evil  it  is  not  lawful.3  But,  O  my  dear  mistress,  receive 
this  wreath  to  bind  your  golden  tresses  from  a  pious  hand. 
For  to  me  alone  of  mortals  is  allowed  this  privilege.  With 
thee  I  am  both  present,  and  exchange  words  with  thee,  hear- 
ing thy  voice,  but  not  seeing  thy  countenance.  But  may  I 
finish  the  last  turn  of  my  course  of  life,  even  as  I  began. 

Att.  0  king,  (for  the  Gods  alone  ought  we  to  call  Lords,) 
will  you  hear  somewhat  from  me,  who  advise  you  well  ? 

Hipp.  Most  certainly,  or  else  I  should  not  seem  wise. 

Att.  Knowest  thou  then  the  law,  which  is  established 
among  men  ? 

Hipp.  I  know  not ;  but  what  is  the  one,  about  which  thou 
askest  me  ? 

Att.  To  hate  haughtiness,  and  that  which  is  disagreeable 
to  all. 

Hipp.  And  rightly;  for  what  haughty  mortal  is  not  odious? 

Att.  And  in  the  affable  is  there  any  charm  ? 

Hipp.  A  very  great  one  indeed,  and  gain  with  little  toil. 

Att.  Dost  thou  suppose  that  the  same  thing  holds  also 
among  the  Gods  ? 

Hipp.  Certainly,  forasmuch  as  we  mortals  use  the  laws  of 
the  Gods. 

Att.  How  is  it  then  that  thou  addressest  not  a  venerable 
Goddess  ? 

Hipp.  Whom  ?  but  take  heed  that  thy  mouth  err  not.4 

Att.  Venus,  who  hath  her  station  at  thy  gates. 

Hipp.  I,  who  am  chaste,  salute  her  at  a  distance. 

Att.  Venerable  is  she,  however,  and  of  note  among  mortals. 

Hipp.  Different  Gods  and  men  are  objects  of  regard  to 
different  persons. 

Att.  May  you  be  blest,  having  as  much  sense  as  you  re- 
quire.5 

Hipp.  No  one  of  the  Gods,  that  is  worshipped  by  night, 
delights  me. 

3  Dindorf  would  omit  these  lines.  I  think  the  difficulty  in  the  structure 
may  be  removed  by  reading  ogtiq  instead  of  oaoiq.  The  enallage,  ooric. 
tovtSiq,  is  by  no  means  unusual.     B. 

4  Cf.  Soph.  (Ed.  Col.  129,  sqq.     B. 

5  Which  at  present  you  do  not  appear  to  have. 

N 


178  HIPPOLYTUS.  107—150. 

Att.  My  son,  we  must  conform  to  the  honours  of  the  Gods. 

Hipp.  Depart,  my  companions,  and  having  entered  the 
house,  prepare  the  viands :  delightful  after  the  chace  is  the 
full  table. — And  I  must  rub  down  my  horses,  that  having 
yoked  them  to  the  car,  when  I  am  satiated  with  the  repast,  I 
may  give  them  their  proper  exercise.  But  to  your  Venus 
I  bid  a  long  farewell. 

Att.  But  we,  for  one  must  not  imitate  the  young,  having 
our  thoughts  such,  as  it  becomes  slaves  to  give  utterance  to, 
will  adore  thy  image,  0  Venus,  our  mistress  ;  but  thou 
shouldest  pardon,  if  any  one  having  intense  feelings  of  mind 
by  reason  of  his  youth,  speak  foolishly  :  seem  not  to  hear  these 
tilings,  for  Gods  must  needs  be  wiser  than  men. 

Chorus.  There  is  a  rock  near  the  ocean,6  distilling  water, 
which  sends  forth  from  its  precipices  a  flowing  fountain, 
wherein  they  dip  their  urns ;  where  was  a  friend  of  mine 
wetting  the  purple  vests  in  the  dew  of  the  stream,  and  she 
laid  them  down  on  the  back  of  the  warm  sunny  cliff:  from 
hence  first  came  to  me  the  report  concerning  my  mistress,  that 
she,  worn  with  the  bed  of  sickness,  keeps  her  person  within 
the  house,  and  that  fine  vests  veil  her  auburn  head.  And  I 
hear  that  she  this  day  for  the  third  keeps  her  body  untouched 
by  the  fruit  of  Ceres,  [which  she  receives  not]  into  her  am- 
brosial mouth,  wishing  in  secret  suffering  to  hasten  to  the  un- 
happy goal  of  death.  For  heaven-possessed,  0  lady,  or  whe- 
ther by  Pan,  or  by  Hecate,  or  by  the  venerable  Corybantes, 
or  by  the  mother  who  haunts  the  mountains,  thou  art  raving. 
But  thou  art  thus  tormented  on  account  of  some  fault  com- 
mitted against  the  Cretan  huntress,  profane  because  of  un- 
offered  sacred  cakes.  For  she  goes  through  the  sea  and  beyond 
the  land  on  the  eddies  of  the  watery  brine.     Or  some  one  in 

6  Monk  would  join  wKtavov  with  Trkrpa,  as  in  the  translation,  but  other 
commentators  prefer,:which  is  certainly  more  simple,  to  join  it  with  vSutp. 
Then  the  difficulty  occurs  of  sea-water  being  unfit  for  washing  vests. 
This  difficulty  Beck  obviates,  by  saying  that  vSwp  wneavov  may  be  ap- 
plied to  fresh  water,  Ocean  being  the  parent  of  all  streams,  the  word 
6>Ktavov  being  here,  in  a  manner,  redundant.  Tr.  Matthie  is  very  wrath 
with  the  "  all  on  a  washing  day  "  manner  in  which  the  Chorus  learnt 
Phtedra's  indisposition.  The  "  Bothie  of  Toper  na  Fuosich  "  will  fur- 
nish some  similar  simplicities,  such  as  the  meeting  a  lassie  "  digging 
potatoes."  But  we  might  as  well  object  to  the  whole  story  of  Nausicaa. 
It  must  be  recollected  that  the  duties  of  the  laundry  were  considered 
more  aristocratic  by  the  ancients,  than  in  modern  times.     B. 


151-205.  HIPPOLYTUS.  179 

the  palace  misguides  thy  noble  husband,  the  chief  of  the 
Athenians,  by  secret  concubinage  in  thy  bed.  Or  some  sailor 
who  put  from  port  at  Crete,  hath  sailed  to  the  harbour  most 
friendly  to  mariners,  bringing  some  message  to  the  queen  ; 
and,  confined  to  her  couch,  she  is  bound  in  soul  by  sorrow  for 
its  sufferings.  But  wretched  helplessness  is  wont  to  dwell 
with  the  wayward  constitution  of  women,  both  on  account  of 
their  throes  and  their  loss  of  reason.  Once  through  my  womb 
shot  this  thrill,  but  I  invoked  the  heavenly  Dian,  who  gives 
easy  throes,  who  presides  over  the  bow,  and  to  me  she  came 
ever  much  to  be  blessed,  as  well  as  the  other  Gods.  But  lo  ! 
the  old  nurse  is  bringing  her  out  of  the  palace  before  the 
gates  ;  and  the  sad  cloud  upon  her  brows  is  increased.  What 
it  can  possibly  be,  my  soul  desires  to  know,  with  what  can  be 
afflicted  the  person  of  the  queen,  of  colour  so  changed.7 

PHiEDRA,  Nurse,  Chorus. 

Alas !  the  evils  of  men,  and  their  odious  diseases !  what 
shall  I  do  for  thee  ?  and  what  not  do  ?  lo !  here  is  the  clear 
light  for  thee,  here  the  air :  and  now  is  thy  couch  whereon 
thou  liest  sick  removed  from  out  of  the  house :  for  every  word 
you  spoke  was  to  come  hither ;  but  soon  you  will  be  in  a  hurry 
to  go  to  your  chamber  back  again :  for  you  are  soon  changed, 
and  are  pleased  with  nothing.  Nor  does  what  is  present  de- 
light you,  but  what  is  not  present  you  think  more  agreeable. 
It  is  a  better  thing  to  be  sick,  than  to  tend  the  sick :  the  one 
is  a  simple  ill,  but  with  the  other  is  joined  both  pain  of  mind 
and  toil  of  hands.  But  the  whole  life  of  men  is  full  of  grief, 
nor  is  there  rest  from  toils.  But  whatever  else  there  be  more 
dear  than  life,  darkness  enveloping  hides  it  in  clouds.  Hence, 
we  appear  to  dote  on  this  present  state,  because  it  gleams  on 
earth,  through  inexperience  of  another  life,  and  the  non- 
appearance of  the  things  beneath  the  earth.  But  we  are 
blindly  carried  away  by  fables. 

Ph^e.  Raise  my  body,  place  my  head  upright — I  am  faint  in 
the  joints  of  my  limbs,  my  friends,  lay  hold  of  my  fair-formed 
hands,  O  attendants — The  dressing  on  my  head  is  heavy  for  me 
to  support — take  it  off,  let  flow  my  ringlets  on  my  shoulders. 

Nur.  Be  of  good  courage,  my  child,  and  do  not  thus  pain- 
fully shift  [the  posture  of]  your  body.     But  you  will  bear 
7  Cf.  iEsch.  Pr.  23.   Xpoiag  a/itiiptig  avQog.     B. 
N   2 


!80  HIPPOLYTUS.  206—251. 

your  sickness  more  easily  both  with  quiet,  and  with  a  noble 
temper,  for  it  is  necessary  for  mortals  to  suffer  misery. 

Ph^e.  Alas  !  alas  !  would  I  could  draw  from  the  dewy  foun- 
tain the  drink  of  pure  waters,  and  that  under  the  alders,  and 
in  the  leafy  mead  reclining  I  might  rest ! 

Nur.  O  my  child,  what  sayest  thou  ?  Wilt  thou  not  desist 
from  uttering  these  things  before  the  multitude,  blurting  forth 
a  speech  of  madness?8 

Ph^e.  Bear  me  to  the  mountain — I  will  go  to  the  wood, 
and  by  the  pine-trees,  where  tread  the  dogs  the  slayers  of 
beasts,  pursuing  the  dappled  hinds — By  the  Gods  I  long  to 
cheer  on  the  hounds,  and  by  the  side  of  my  auburn  hair  to 
hurl  the  Thessalian  javelin  bearing  the  lanced  weapon  in  my 
hand. 

Nur.  Wherefore  in  the  name  of  heaven,  my  child,  do  you 
hanker  after  these  things  ?  wherefore  have  you  any  anxiety 
for  hunting?  and  wherefore  do  you  long  for  the  fountain 
streams  ?  for  by  the  towers  there  is  a  perpetual  flow  of  water, 
whence  may  be  your  draught. 

Ph^e.  0  Dian,  mistress  of  Limna  near  the  sea,  and  of  the 
exercises  of  the  rattling  steeds,  would  that  I  were  on  thy 
plains,  breaking  the  Henetian  colts. 

Nur.  Wherefore  again  have  you  madly  uttered  this  word  ? 
at  one  time  having  ascended  the  mountain  you  set  forth  with 
the  desire  of  hunting ;  but  now  again  you  long  for  the  colts 
'on  thtiVave^beaten  sands.  These  things  demand  much  skill 
in  prophecy  [to  find  out],  who  it  is  of  the  Gods  that  torments 
thee,  O  lady,  and  strikes  mad  thy  senses. 

Fhm.  Wretch  that  I  am,  what  then  have  I  committed? 
whither  have  I  wandered  from  my  sound  mind  ?  I  have  gone 
mad ;  I  have  fallen  by  the  evil  influence  of  some  God.  Alas  ! 
alas !  unhappy  that  I  am — Nurse,  cover  my  head  again,  for  I 
am  ashamed  of  the  things  I  have  spoken :  cover  me ;  a  tear 
trickles  down  my  eyes,  and  my  sight  is  turned  to  my  dis- 
grace. For  to  be  in  one's  right  mind  causes  grief:  but  mad- 
ness is  an  ill ;  yet  is  it  better  to  perish,  nothing  knowing  of 
one's  ills. 

Nur.  I  cover  thee — but  when  in  sooth  will  death  cover 
my  body?     Length  of  life  teaches  me  many  things.     For  it 

8  Literally  a  speech  mounted  on  madness.  A  similar  expression  occurs, 
Odyssey  A.  297.  N»j7ridac  oxetiv. 


253—290.  HIPPOLYTUS.  181 

behoves  mortals  to  form  moderate  friendships  with  each  other, 
and  not  to  the  very  marrow  of  the  soul :  and  the  affections  of 
the  mind  should  be  dissoluble,  and  so  that  we  can  slacken  them, 
or  tighten.9  But  that  one  soul  should  feel  pangs  for  two,  as 
I  now  grieve  for  her,  is  a  heavy  burden.  The  concerns  of  life 
carried  to  too  great  an  extent,  they  say,  bring  rather  destruc- 
tion than  delight,  and  are  rather  at  enmity  with  health.  Thus 
I  praise  what  is  in  extreme  less  than  the  sentiment  of  "  No- 
thing in  excess  ; "  and  the  wise  will  agree  with  me. 

Cho.  O  aged  woman,  faithful  nurse  of  the  queen  Phaedra, 
we  see  indeed  the  wretched  state  of  this  lady,  but  it  is  not 
clear  what  her  disease  is :  but  we  would  wish  to  inquire  and 
hear  from  you. 

Nur.  I  know  not  by  my  inquiries ;  for  she  is  not  willing 
to  speak. 

Cho.  Nor  what  is  the  origin  of  these  pangs  ? 

Nur.  You  come  to  the  same  result ;  for  she  is  silent  with 
regard  to  all  these  things. 

Cho.  How  feeble  she  is,  and  wasted  away  as  to  her  body  ! 

Nur.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  seeing  that  she  has  ab- 
stained from  food  these  three  days  ? 

Cho.  From  the  violence  of  her  calamity  is  it,  or  does  she 
endeavour  to  die  ? 

Nur.  To  die ;  but  she  fasts  to  the  dissolution  of  her  life. 

Cho.  An  extraordinary  thing  you  have  been  telling  me,  if 
this  conduct  meets  the  approbation  of  her  husband. 

Nur.  [He  nothing  knows,]  for  she  conceals  this  calamity, 
and  denies  that  she  is  ill. 

Cho.  But  does  he  not  guess  it,  looking  into  her  face  ? 

Nur.  [How  should  he?]  for  he  is  out  of  this  country. 

Cho.  But  do  you  not  urge  it  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  when 
you  endeavour  to  ascertain  her  disease  and  the  wandering  of 
her  senses  ? 

Nur.  I  have  tried  everything,  and  have  made  no  further 
advances.  I  will  not  however  abate  even  now  from  my  zeal, 
so  that  you  being  present  may  bear  witness  with  me,  how  I 
behave  to  my  mistress  when  in  calamity — Come,  dear  child, 
let  us  both  forget  our  former  conversations  ;  and  be  both  thou 
more  mild,  having  smoothed  that  contracted  brow,  and  altered 

9  Plutarch  in  explanation  of  this  line  says,  "  Ka.8a.Trep  7r5cu  v«w£, 
tTTidiSovra  ical  Trpoadyovra  ralQ  xpEiaig  rrjv  ipikiav." 


I82  HIPPOLYTUS.  291—324. 

the  bent  of  your  design ;  and  I  giving  up  that  wherein  I  did 
not  do  right  to  follow  thee,  will  have  recourse  to  other  better 
words.  And  if  indeed  you  are  ill  with  any  of  those  maladies 
that  are  not  to  be  mentioned,  these  women  here  can  allay  the 
disease :  but  if  it  may  be  related  to  men,  tell  it,  that  the  thing 
may  be  mentioned  to  physicians. — Well !  why  art  thou  silent  ? 
It  doth  not  behove  thee  to  be  silent,  my  child,  but  either 
shouldst  thou  convict  me,  if  aught  I  say  amiss,  or  yield  to 
words  well  spoken. — Say  something — look  hither — O  wretch 
that  I  am  !  Ladies,  in  vain  do  we  undergo  these  toils,  while 
we  are  as  far  off  from  our  purpose  as  before :  for  neither  then 
was  she  softened  by  our  words,  nor  now  does  she  give  heed 
to  us.  Still  however  know  (now  then  be  more  obstinate  than 
the  sea)  that,  if  thou  shalt  die,  thou  wilt  betray  thy  children, 
who  will  have  no  share  in  their  paternal  mansion.  I  swear 
by  the  warlike  queen  the  Amazon,  who  brought  forth  a  lord 
over  thy  children,  base-born  yet  of  noble  sentiments,  thou 
knowest  him  well,  Hippolytus. 

Pii^E.  Ah  me ! 

Nur.  This  touches  thee. 

Phje.  You  have  destroyed  me,  nurse,  and  by  the  Gods  I 
entreat  thee  henceforth  to  be  silent  with  respect  to  this  man. 

Nur.  Do  you  see?  you  judge  well  indeed,  but  judging  well 
you  are  not  willing  both  to  assist  your  children  and  to  save 
your  own  life. 

PiiiE.  I  love  my  children ;  but  I  am  wintering  in  the  storm 
of  another  misfortune. 

Nur.  You  have  your  hands,  my  child,  pure  from  blood. 

Ph^e.  My  hands  are  pure,  but  my  mind  has  some  pollution. 

Nur.  What  !  from  some  calamity  brought  on  you  by  any 
of  your  enemies  ? 

PniE.  A  friend  destroys  me  against  my  will,  himself  un- 
willing. 

Nur.  Has  Theseus  sinned  any  sin  against  thee  ? 

Ph./E.  Would  that  I  never  be  discovered  to  have  injured  him. 

Nur.  What  then  this  dreadful  thing  that  impels  thee  to  die  ? 

Ph^e.   Suffer  me  to  err,  for  against  thee  I  err  not. 

Nur.  Not  willingly  [dost  thou  do  so,]  but  'tis  through  thee 
that  I  shall  perish. '° 

10  I  have  followed  the  elegant  interpretation  of  L.  Dindorf,  who  ob- 
serves that  oil  SyO'  tKovaa  refers  to  Phaedra's  assertion,  ov  yap  ig  o'  afiap- 


325—347.  HIPPOLYTUS.  183 

Ph^e.  What  are  you  doing  ?  you  oppress  me,  hanging  on 
me  with  your  hand. 

Nur.  And  never  will  I  let  go  these  knees. 

Pile.  Ills  to  thyself  wilt  thou  hear,  O  wretched  woman,  if 
thou  shalt  hear  these  ills. 

Nur.  [Still  will  I  cling :]  for  what  greater  evil  can  befall 
me  than  to  lose  thee  ? 

Ph^e.  You  will  be  undone.11  The  thing  however  brings 
honour  to  me. 

Nur.  And  dost  thou  then  hide  what  is  useful,  when  I  be- 
seech thee  ? 

Ph^e.    Yes,  for  from  base  things  we  devise  things  noble. 

Nur.  Wilt  not  thou,  then,  appear  more  noble  by  telling  it  ? 

Pile.  Depart,  by  the  Gods,  and  let  go  my  hand  ! 

Nur.  No  in  sooth,  since  thou  givest  me  not  the  boon  that 
were  right. 

Ph^e.  I  will  give  it ;  for  I  have  respect  unto  the  rever- 
ence of  thy  hand. 

Nur.  Now  will  I  be  silent :  for  hence  is  it  yours  to  speak. 

Ph,e.  0  wretched  mother,  what  a  love  didst  thou  love  ! 

Nur.  That  which  she  had  for  the  bull,  my  child,  or  what 
is  this  thou  meanest  ? 

PhvE.  Thou,  too,  O  wretched  sister,  wife  of  Bacchus  ! 

Nur.  Child,  what  ails  thee  ?  thou  speakest  ill  against  thy 
relations. 

Pile.  And  I  the  third,  how  unhappily  I  perish  ! 

Nur.  I  am  struck  dumb  with  amazement.  Whither  will 
thy  speech  tend  ? 

Ph^;.  To  that  point,  whence  we  have  not  now  lately  be- 
come unfortunate. 

Nur.  I  know  not  a  whit  further  of  the  things  I  wish  to 
hear. 

Pile.  Alas  !  would  thou  couldst  speak  the  things  which  I 
must  speak. 

Nur.  I  am  no  prophetess  so  as  to  know  clearly  things 
hidden. 

Pile.  What  is  that  thing,  which  they  do  call  men's  loving  ? 12 

raw,  and  that  the  meaning  is,  "  non  quidem  consilio  in  me  peccas,  sed 
si  tu  peribis,  ego  quoque  occidero."     He  compares  Alcest.  389.     B. 

11  See  Matthise's  note.     I  prefer,  however,  oktiq,  with  Musgrave.     B. 

12  Matthiee  considers  this  as  briefly  expressed  for  t'l  tovto,  to  tpav,  o 


184  HIPPOLYTUS.  348—380. 

Nur.  The  same,  my  child,  a  most  delightful  thing,  and 
painful  withal. 

Pile.  One  of  the  two  feelings  I  must  perceive. 

Nur.  What  say'st  ?     Thou  lovest,  my  child  ?    What  man  ? 

Ph^e.  Him  whoever  he  is,13  that  is  born  of  the  Amazon. 

Nur.  Hippolytus  dost  thou  say  ? 

Ph^e.  From  thyself,  not  me,  you  hear — this  name. 

Nur.  Ah  me  !  what  wilt  thou  go  on  to  say  ?  my  child, 
how  hast  thou  destroyed  me  !  Ladies,  this  is  not  to  be  borne ; 
I  will  not  endure  to  live,  hateful  is  the  day,  hateful  the  light 
I  behold.  I  will  hurl  myself  down,  I  will  rid  me  of  this 
body  :  I  will  remove  from  life  to  death — farewell — I  no  longer 
am.  For  the  chaste  are  in  love  with  what  is  evil,  not  will- 
ingly indeed,  yet  still  [they  love.]  Venus  then  is  no  deity, 
but  if  there  be  aught  mightier  than  deity,  that  is  she,  who 
hath  destroyed  both  this  my  mistress,  and  me,  and  the  whole 
house. 

Cho.  Thou  didst  hear,  O  thou  didst  hear  the  queen  la- 
menting her  wretched  sufferings  that  should  not  be  heard. 
Dear  lady,  may  I  perish  before  I  come  to  thy  state  of  mind  ! 
Alas  me  !  alas  !  alas  !  0  hapless  for  these  pangs  !  0  the  woes 
that  attend  on  mortals  !  Thou  art  undone,  thou  hast  disclosed 
thy  evils  to  the  light.  What  time  is  this  that  has  eternally  u 
awaited  thee  ?  Some  new  misfortune  will  happen  to  the  house. 
And  no  longer  is  it  obscure  where  the  fortune  of  Venus  sets, 
O  Avretched  Cretan  daughter. 

Ph.e.  Women  of  Trcezene,  who  inhabit  this  extreme  fron- 
tier of  the  land  of  Pelops.  Often  at  other  times  in  the  long 
season  of  night  have  I  thought  in  what  manner  the  life  of 
mortals  is  depraved.15  And  to  me  they  seem  to  do  ill,  not 
from  the  nature  of  their  minds,  for  many  have  good  thoughts, 
but  thus  must  we  view  these  things.  What  things  are  good 
we  understand  and  know,  but  practise  not ;  some  from  idle- 

Xiyoufft  iroiiiv  avQpuirovQ.     Still,   I   cannot  help  thinking  ai'OpojTrutv  a 
better  reading.     B. 

13  Phasdra  struggles  between  shame  and  uncertainty,  before  she  can 

pronounce  the  name.     It  should  be  read  as  if  ootiq  ttoO' oiiroc 6 

tijq  ' ' AfiaZ,6vog.     B. 

14  Matthias  takes  Travafi'ipioQ  as  =  kv  ry£t  ry  yfispq,  i.  e.  up  to  this 
very  time.     I  think  the  passage  is  corrupt.     B. 

15  This  passage,  like  many  others  in  the  play,  is  admirably  burlesqued 
by  Aristoph.,  Ran.  962.     B. 


381—430.  HIPPOLYTUS.  185 

ness,  and  others  preferring  some  other  pleasures  to  what  is 
right :  for  there  are  many  pleasures  in  life — long  prates,  and  s^'-p 
indolence,  a  pleasing  ill,  and  shame ;  but  there^are  two,  the 
one  indeed  not  base,  but  the  other  the  weight  that  overthrows 
houses,  but  if  the  occasion  on  which  each  is  used,  were  clear, 
the  two  things  would  not  have  the  same  letters.  Knowing- 
then  as  I  did  these  things  beforehand,  by  no  drug  did  I  think 
I  should  so  far  destroy  these  sentiments,  as  to  fall  into  pn  op^ 
posite  way  of  thinking.  But  I  will  also  tell  you  the  course  of 
my  determinations.  After  that  love  had  wounded  me,  I  con- 
sidered how  best  I  might  endure  it.  I  began  therefore  from 
this  time  to  be  silent,  and  to  conceal  this  disease.  For  no 
confidence  can  be  placed  in  the  tongue,  which  knows  to  advise 
the  thoughts  of  other  men,  but  itself  from  itself  has  very  many 
evils.  But  in  the  second  place,  I  meditated  to  bear  well  my 
madness  conquering  it  by  my  chastity.  But  in  the  third  place, 
since  by  these  means  I  was  not  able  to  subdue  Venus,  it  ap- 
peared to  me  best  to  die :  no  one  will  gainsay  this  resolution. 
For  may  it  be  my  lot,  neither  to  be  concealed  where  I  do  no- 
ble deeds,  nor  to  have  many  witnesses,  where  I  act  basely. 
Besides  this  I  knew  I  was  a  woman — a  thing  hated  by  all.  O 
may  she  most  miserably  perish  who  first  began  to  pollute  the 
marriage-bed  with  other  men  !  From  noble  families  first  arose 
this  evil  among  women  :  for  when  base  things  appear  right  to 
those  who  are  accounted  good,  surely  they  will  appear  so  to 
the  bad.  I  hate  moreover  those  women  who  are  chaste  in 
their  language  indeed,  but  secretly  have  in  them  no  good  deeds  , 
of  boldness :  who,  how,  I  pray,  O  Venus  my  revered  mistress, 
look  they  on  the  faces  of  their  husbands,  nor  dread  the  dark- 
ness that  aided  their  deeds,  and  the  ceilings  of  the  house,  lest 
they  should  some  time  or  other  utter  a  voice  ?  For  this  bare 
idea  kills  me,  friends,  lest  I  should  ever  be  discovered  to  have 
disgraced  my  husband,  or  my  children,  whom  I  brought  forth ; 
but  free,  happy  in  liberty  of  speech  may  they  inhabit  the  city 
of  illustrious  Athens,  in  their  mother  glorious !  For  it  en- 
slaves a  man,  though  he  be  valiant-hearted,  when  he  is  con- 
scious of  his  mother's  or  his  father's  misdeeds.  But  this  alone 
they  say  in  endurance  compeers  with  life,  an  honest  and  good 
mind,  to  whomsoever  it  belong.  But  Time,  when  it  so  chance, 
holding  up  the  mirror  as  to  a  young  virgin,  shows  forth  the 
bad,  amongst  whom  may  I  be  never  seen ! 


186  HIPPOLYTUS.  431—474- 

Cho.  Alas !  alas !  in  every  way  how  fair  is  chastity,  and 
how  goodly  a  report  has  it  amongst  men  ! 

Nur.  My  mistress,  just  now  indeed  thy  calamity  coming 
upon  me  unawares,  gave  me  a  dreadful  alarm.  But  now  I 
perceive  I  was  weak ;  and  somehow  or  other  among  mortals 
second  thoughts  are  the  wisest.  For  thou  hast  not  suffered 
any  thing  excessive  nor  extraordinary,  but  the  anger  of  the 
Goddess  hath  fallen  upon  thee.  Thou  lovest — what  wonder 
this  ?  with  many  mortals. — And  then  will  you  lose  your  life 
for  love  ?  There  is  then  no  advantage  for  those  who  love 
others,  nor  to  those  who  may  hereafter,  if  they  must  needs 
die.  For  Venus  is  a  thing  not  to  be  borne,  if  she  rush  on 
vehement.  Who  comes  quietly  indeed  on  the  person  who 
yields  ;  but  whom  she  finds  haughty  and  of  lofty  notions,  him 
taking  (how  thinkest  thou  ?)  she  chastises.  But  Venus  goes 
through  air,  and  is  on  the  ocean  wave ;  and  all  things  from 
her  have  their  birth.  She  it  is  that  sows  and  gives  forth  love, 
from  whence  all  we  on  earth  are  engendered.  </  As  many  in- 
deed as  ken  the  writings  of  the  ancients,  or  are  themselves 
ever  among  the  muses,  they  know  indeed,  how  that  Jove  was 
formerly  inflamed  with  the  love  of  Semele ;  they  know  too, 
how  that  formerly  the  lovely  bright  Aurora  bore  away  Ce- 
phalus  up  to  the  Gods,  for  love,  but  still  they  live  in  heaven, 
and  fly  not  from  the  presence  of  the  Gods :  but  they  acquiesce 
yielding,  I  ween,  to  what  has  befallen  them.  And  wilt  thou 
not  bear  it  ?  Thy  father  then  ought  to  have  begotten  thee 
on  stipulated  terms,  or  else  under  the  dominion  of  other  Gods, 
unless  thou  wilt  be  content  with  these  laws.  How  many, 
thinkest  thou,  are  in  full  and  complete  possession  of  their 
senses,  who,  when  they  see  their  bridal  bed  diseased,  seem  not 
to  see  it  ?  And  how  many  fathers,  thinkest  thou,  have  aided 
their  erring  sons  in  matters  of  love,  for  this  is  a  maxim 
amongst  the  wise  part  of  mankind,  "  that  things  that  show 
not  fair  should  be  concealed."  Nor  should  men  labour  too 
exactly  their  conduct  in  life,  for  neither  would  they  do  well 
to  employ  much  accuracy  in  the  roof  wherewith  their  houses 
are  covered ;  but  having  fallen  into  fortune  so  deep  as  thou 
hast,  how  dost  thou  imagine  thou  canst  swim  out  ?  But  if 
thou  hast  more  things  good  than  bad,  mortal  as  thou  art,  thou 
surely  must  be  well  off.  But  cease,  my  dear  child,  from  these 
evil  thoughts,  cease  too  from  being  haughty,  for  nothing  else 


474-513. 


HIPPOLYTUS.  187 


save  haughtiness  is  this,  to  wish  to  be  superior  to  the  Gods. 
But,  as  thou  art  in  love,  endure  it ;  a  God  hath  willed  it  so : 
and,  being  ill,  by  some  good  means  or  other  try  to  get  rid  of 
thy  illness.  But  there  are  charms  and  soothing  spells :  there 
will  appear  some  medicine  for  this  sickness.  Else  surely  men 
would  be  slow  indeed  in  discoveries,  if  we  women  should  not 
find  contrivances. 

Cho.  Phredra,  she  speaks  indeed  most  useful  advice  in  thy 
present  state :  but  thee  I  praise.  Yet  is  this  praise  less  wel- 
come than  her  words,  and  to  thee  more  painful  to  hear. 

Thje.  This  is  it  that  destroys  cities  of  men  and  families 
well  governed — words  too  fair.  For  it  is  not  at  all  requisite 
to  speak  words  pleasant  to  the  ear,  but  that  whereby  one  may 
become  of  fair  report. 

Nur.  "Why  dost  thou  talk  in  this  grand  strain?  thou 
needest  not  gay  decorated  words,  but  a  man :  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble must  those  be  found,  who  will  speak  out  the  plain  straight- 
forward word  concerning  thee.  For  if  thy  life  were  not  in 
calamities  of  such  a  cast,  I  never  would  have  brought  thee 
thus  far  for  the  sake  of  lust,  and  for  thy  pleasure :  but  now 
the  great  point  is  to  save  thy  life ;  and  this  is  not  a  thing  de- 
serving of  blame. 

Phje.  O  thou  that  hast  spoken  dreadful  things,  wilt  thou 
not  shut  thy  mouth  ?  and  wilt  not  cease  from  uttering  again 
those  words  most  vile  ? 

Nur.  Vile  they  are,  but  better  these  for  thee  than  fair  ;  but 
better  will  the  deed  be  (if  at  least  it  will  save  thee),  than  the 
name,  in  the  which  while  thou  boastest,  thou  wilt  die. 

Phje.  Nay  do  not,  I  entreat  thee  by  the  gods  (for  thou 
speakest  well,  but.  base  are  [the  things  thou  speakest] )  go 
beyond  this,  since  rightly  have  I  surrendered  my  life  to  love  ; 
but  if  thou  speak  base  things  in  fair  phrase,  I  shall  be  con- 
sumed, [being  cast]  into  that  [evil]  which  I  am  now  avoiding. 

Nur.  If  in  truth  this  be  thy  opinion,  thou  oughtest  not  to 
err,  but  if  thou  hast  erred,  be  persuaded  by  me,  for  this  is  the 
next  best  thing  thou  canst  do."3  I  have  in  the  house  soothing 
philters  of  love  (and  they  but  lately  came  into  my  thought)  ; 
which,  by  no  base  deed,  nor  to  the  harm  of  thy  senses,  will  rid 
you  of  this  disease,  unless  you  are  obstinate.  But  it  is  requisite 
to  receive  from  him  that  is  the  object  of  your  love,  some 
16  Or,  this  is  a  second  favour  thou  mayst  grant  me. 


188  HIPPOLYTUS.  514-566. 

token,  either  some  word,  or  some  relic  of  his  vest,  and  to  join 
from  two  one  love. 

PhjE.  But  is  the  charm  an  unguent  or  a  potion  ? 

Nur.  I  know  not :  wish  to  be  relieved,  not  informed,  my 
child. 

Pile.  I  fear  thee,  lest  thou  should  appear  too  wise  to  me. 

Nur.  Know  that  you  would  fear  everything,  if  you  fear 
this,  but  what  is  it  you  are  afraid  of  ? 

PhjE.  Lest  you  should  tell  any  of  these  things  to  the  son  of 
Theseus. 

Nur.  Let  be,  my  child,  I  will  arrange  these  matters  hon- 
ourably, only  be  thou  my  coadjutor,  0  Venus,  my  revered 
mistress  ;  but  the  other  tilings  which  I  purpose,  it  will  suffice 
to  tell  to  my  friends  within. 

Chorus,  Phaedra. 

Cho.  Love,  love,  O  thou  that  instillest  desire  through  the 
eyes,  inspiring  sweet  affection  in  the  souls  of  those  against 
whom  thou  makest  war,  mayst  thou  never  appear  to  me  to  my 
injury,  nor  come  unmodulated  :  for  neither  is  the  blast  of  fire 
nor  the  bolt  of  heaven  more  vehement,  than  that  of  Venus, 
which  Love,  the  boy  of  Jove,  sends  from  his  hands.  In  vain, 
in  vain,  both  by  the  Alpheus,  and  at  the  Pythian  temples  of 
Phoebus  does  Greece  then  solemnize  the  slaughter  of  bulls : 
but  Love,  the  tyrant  of  men,  porter  of  the  dearest  chambers 
of  Venus,  we  worship  not,  the  destroyer  and  visitant  of  men 
in  all  shapes  of  calamity,  when  he  comes.  That  virgin  in 
CEchalia,  yoked  to  no  bridal  bed,  till  then  unwedded,  and  who 
knew  no  husband,  having  taken  from  her  home  a  wanderer 
impelled  by  the  oar,  her,  like  some  Bacchanal  of  Pluto,  with 
blood,  with  smoke,  and  murderous  hymeneals  did  Venus  give 
to  the  son  of  Alcmena.  0  unhappy  woman,  because  of  her 
nuptials  !  0  sacred  wall  of  Thebes,  O  mouth  of  Dirce,  you 
can  assist  me  in  telling,  in  what  manner  Venus  comes :  for  by 
the  forked  lightning,  by  a  cruel  fate,  did  she  put  to  eternal 
sleep  the  parent  of  the  Jove-begotten  Bacchus,  when  she  was 
visited  as  a  bride.  For  dreadful  doth  she  breathe  on  all 
things,  and  like  some  bee  hovers  about. 

Phje.   Women,  be  silent :  I  am  undone. 

Cho.  What  is  there  that  affrights  thee,  Phasdra,  in  thine 
house  ? 


567—606.  PIPPOLYTUS.  189 

Ph^e.  Be  silent,  that  I  may  make  out  the  voice  of  those 
within. 

Cho.  I  am  silent :  this  however  is  an  evil  bodement. 

Ph^e.  Alas  me  !  O  !  O  !  O  !  oh  unhappy  me,  because  of 
my  sufferings  ! 

Cho.  What  sound  dost  thou  utter?  what  word  speakest 
thou  ?  tell  me  what  report  frightens  thee,  lady,  rushing  upon 
thy  senses  ! 

Ph^e.  We  are  undone.  Do  you,  standing  at  these  gates, 
hear  what  the  noise  is  that  strikes  on  the  house  ? 

Cho.  Thou  art  by  the  gate,  the  noise  that  is  sent  forth  from 
the  house  is  thy  care.  But  tell  me,  tell  me,  what  evil,  I  pray 
thee,  came  to  thine  ears  ? 

PhjE.  The  son  of  the  warlike  Amazon,  Hippolytus,  cries 
out,  abusing  in  dreadful  forms  my  attendant. 

Cho.  I  hear  indeed  a  noise,  but  cannot  plainly  tell  how  it 
is.     The  voice  came,. it  came  through  to  the  door. 

Ph^e.  But  hark  !  he  calls  her  plainly  the  pander  of  wicked- 
ness, the  betrayer  of  her  master's  bed. 

Cho.  Alas  me  for  thy  miseries  !  Thou  art  betrayed,  dear 
mistress.  What  shall  I  counsel  thee  ?  for  hidden  things  are 
come  to  light,  and  thou  art  utterly  destroyed 

Ph^.  O!  0! 

Cho.  Betrayed  by  thy  friends. 

Phje.  She  hath  destroyed  me  by  speaking  of  my  unhappy 
state,  kindly  but  not  honourably  endeavouring  to  heal  this 
disease. 

Cho.  How  then  ?  what  wilt  thou  do,  0  thou  that  hast  suf- 
fered things  incurable  ? 

Ph;e.  I  know  not,  save  one  thing ;  to  die  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble is  the  only  cure  of  my  present  sufferings. 

Hippolytus,  Phaedra,  Nurse,  Chorus. 

Hipp.  0  mother  earth,  and  ye  disclosing  rays  of  the  sun, 
of  what  words  have  I  heard  the  dreadful  sound ! 

Nur.  Be  silent,  my  son,  before  any  one  hears  thy  voice. 

Hipp.  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  be  silent,  when  I  have 
heard  such  dreadful  things. 

Nur.  Nay,  I  implore  thee  by  thy  beauteous  hand. 

Hipp.  Wilt  not  desist  from  bringing  thy  hand  near  me,  and 
from  touching  my  garments  ? 


190 


HIPPOLYTUS.  607— 63S. 


Nur.  O  !  by  thy  knees,  I  implore  thee,  do  not  utterly  de- 
stroy me. 

Hipp.  But  wherefore  this?  since,  thou  sayest,  thou  hast 
spoken  nothing  evil. 

Nur.  This  word,  my  son,  is  by  no  means  to  be  divulged. 

Hipp.  It  is  more  fair  to  speak  fair  things  to  many. 

Nur.  O  my  child,  by  no  means  dishonour  your  oath. 

Hipp.   My  tongue  hath  sworn — my  mind  is  still  unsworn.17 

Nur.  O  my  son,  what  wilt  thou  do  ?  wilt  thou  destroy  thy 
friends  ? 

Hipp.  Friends!  I  reject  the  word:  no  unjust  person  is 
my  friend. 

Nur.  Pardon,  my  child :  that  men  should  err  is  but  to  be 
expected. 

Hipp.  O  Jove,  wherefore  in  the  name  of  heaven  didst  thou 
place  in  the  light  of  the  sun  that  specious18  evil  to  men,  wo- 
men ?  for  if  thou  didst  will  to  propagate  the  race  of  mortals, 
there  was  no  necessity  for  this  to  be  done  by  women,  but  men 
might,  having  placed  an  equivalent  in  thy  temples,  either  in 
brass,  or  iron,  or  the  weighty  gold,  buy  a  race  of  children, 
each  for  the  consideration  of  the  value  paid,  and  thus  might 
dwell  in  unmolested  houses,  without  females.  But  now,  first 
of  all,  when  we  prepare  to  bring  this  evil  to  our  homes,  we 
squander  away  the  wealth  of  our  houses.  By  this  too  it  is 
evident,  that  woman  is  a  great  evil ;  for  the  father,  who  begat 
her  and  brought  her  up,  having  given  her  a  dowry  sends  her 
away  in  order  to  be  rid  of  the  evil.  But  the  husband,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  he  has  received  the  baneful  evil19  into  his 
house,  rejoices,  having  added  a  beautiful  decoration  to  a  most 
vile  image,  and  tricks  her  out  with  robes,  unhappy  man,  while 
he  has  been  insensibly  minishing  the  wealth  of  the  family. 
But  he  is  constrained  ;  so  that  having  made  alliance  with  no- 
ble kinsmen,  he  retains  with  [seeming]  joy  a  marriage  bitter 
to  him :  or  if  he  has  received  a  good  bride,  but  worthless  pa- 
rents in  law,  he  suppresses  the  evil  that  has  befallen  him  by 
the  consideration  of  the  good.     But  his  state  is  the  easiest, 

17  On  the  numberless  references  to  this  impious  sophism,  see  the  learned 
notes  of  Valckenaer  and  Monk.  Compare  more  particularly  Aristoph. 
Ran.  102,  1471.     Thesmoph.  275.     Arist.  Rhet.  iii.  15.     B. 

18  Literally,  "  spurious  coined  race."     B. 

19  The  MSS.  reading,  <pvr6v,  is  preferable.     B. 


63S— 677.  HIPPOLYTUS.  191 

whose  wife  is  settled  in  his  house,  a  cipher,  but  useless  by 
reason  of  simplicity.  But  a  wise  woman  I  detest :  may  there 
not  be  in  my  house  at  least  a  woman  more  highly  gifted  with 
mind  than  woman  ought  to  be.  For  Venus  engenders  mischief 
rather  amongst  clever  women,  but  a  woman  who  is  not  en- 
dowed with  capacity,  by  reason  of  her  small  understanding, 
is  removed  from  folly.  But  it  is  right  that  an  attendant  should  „ 
have  no  access  to  a  woman,  but  with  them  ought  to  dwell  the 
speechless  brute  beasts,  in  which  case  they  would  be  able  nei- 
ther to  address  any  one,  nor  from  them  to  receive  a  voice  in 
return.  But  now,  they  that  are  evil  follow  after  their  evil 
devices  within,  and  the  servants  carry  it  forth  abroad.  As 
thou  also  hast,  O  evil  woman,  come  to  the  purpose  of  admit- 
ting me  to  share  a  bed  which  must  not  be  approached — a  fa- 
ther's. Which  impious  things  I  will  wash  out  with  flowing 
stream,  pouring  it  into  my  ears  :  how  then  could  I  be  the  vile  ■  / 
one,  who  do  not  even  deem  myself  pure,  because  I  have  heard « 
such  things  ? — But  be  well  assured,  my  piety  protects  thee, 
woman,  for,  had  I  not  been  taken  unawares  by  the  oaths  of 
the  Gods,  never  would  I  have  refrained  from  telling  these 
things  to  my  father.  But  now  will  I  depart  from  the  house, 
and  stay  during  the  time  that  Theseus  is  absent  from  the 
land,  and  will  keep  my  mouth  silent ;  but  I  will  see,  returning 
with  my  father's  return,  how  you  will  look  at  him,  both  you 
and  your  mistress.  But  your  boldness  I  shall  know,  having 
before  had  proof  of  it.  May  you  perish :  but  never  shall  I 
take  my  fill  of  hating  women,  not  even  if  any  one  assert,  that 
I  am  always  saying  this.  For  in  some  way  or  other  they 
surely  are  always  bad.  Either  then  let  some  one  teach  them 
to  be  modest,  or  else  let  him  suffer  me  ever  to  utter  my  invec- 
tives against  them. 

Chorus,  Phaedra,  Nurse. 

Cho.  Oh  unhappy  ill-fated  fortune  of  women !  what  art 
now  or  what  words  have  we,  having  failed  as  we  have,  to  ex- 
tricate the  knot  caused  by  [these]  words  ?  1 

Phje.  We  have  met  a  just  reward  ;  O  earth,  and  light,  in 
what  manner,  I  pray,  can  I  escape  from  my  fortunes  ?  and 
how,  my  friends,  can  I  conceal  my  calamity  ?  Who  of  the 
Gods  will  appear  my  succourer,  or  what  mortal  my  ally,  or 
my  fellow-worker  in  unjust  works?  for  the  suffering  of  my 


192  HIPPOLYTUS.  678—714. 

life  that  is  at  present  on  me  comes  hardly  to  be  escaped.20 
I  am  the  most  ill-fated  of  women. 

Cho.  Alas !  alas  !  we  are  undone,  lady,  and  the  arts  of  thy 
attendant  have  not  succeeded,  and  it  fares  ill  with  us. 

Ph^e.  O  thou  most  vile,  and  the  destruction  of  thy  friends, 
what  hast  thou  done  to  me !  May  Jove,  my  ancestor,  tear 
thee  up  by  the  roots,  having  stricken  thee  by  his  fire.  Did 
not  I  tell  thee  (did  not  I  foresee  thy  intention?)  to  be  silent 
with  regard  to  those  things  with  which  I  am  now  tormented  ? 
but  thou  couldst  not  refrain  ;  wherefore  I  can  no  longer  die 
with  glory :  but  I  must  now  in  sooth  employ  new  measures. 
For  he,  now  that  his  mind  is  made  keen  with  rage,  will  tell, 
to  my  detriment,  thy  errors  to  his  father,  and  will  fill  the 
whole  earth  with  the  most  vile  reports.  Mayst  thou  perish, 
both  thou  and  whoever  else  is  forward  to  assist  friends  against 
their  will  otherwise  than  by  honourable  means. 

Nur.  Lady, thou  canst  indeed  blame  the  evil  I  have  wrought; 
for  that  which  gnaws  upon  thee  masters  thy  better  judgment ; 
— but  I  too  have  somewhat  to  say  in  answer  to  these  things, 
if  thou  wilt  admit  it :  I  brought  thee  up,  and  have  a  kind  af- 
fection towards  thee;  but,  while  searching  for  medicine  for 
thy  disease,  I  found  not  that  I  wished  for.  But  if  I  had  suc- 
ceeded, I  had  been  surely  ranked  among  the  wise;  for  w& 
have  the  reputation  of  sense  according  to  our  success.  V 
,  Ph^e.  What?  is  this  conduct  just,  and  satisfactory  to  me, 
to  injure  me  first,  and  then  to  meet  me  in  argument? 

Nur.  We  talk  too  long — I  did  not  behave  wisely.  But  even 
from  this  state  of  things  it  is  possible  that  thou  mayest  be 
saved,  my  child. 

Ph^e.  Desist  from  speaking  ;  for  before  also  thou  didst  not 
well  advise  for  me,  and  didst  attempt  evil  things.  But  depart 
from  my  sight,  and  take  care  about  thyself;  for  I  will  settle 
my  own  affairs  in  an  honourable  manner.  But  you,  noble 
daughters  of  Troezene,  grant  thus  much  to  me  requesting  it, 
bury  in  silence  what  you  here  have  heard. 

Cho.  I  swear  by  hallowed  Dian,  daughter  of  Jove,  that  I 
will  never  reveal  to  the  face  of  day  one  of  thy  evils. 

20  The  syntax  appears  to  be  tvoiKTriparov  jS/od,  such  as  my  life  can 
scarcely  get  over.  Musgrave  has  followed  the  other  explanation  of  the 
Scholiast,  which  makes  /3i'ov  depend  on  7rd0oc.  Tr.  I  have  followed  the 
Scholiast  and  Dindorf.     B. 


715—760.  HIPrOLYTUS.  193 

Pile.  Thou  hast  well  spoken :  but  one  kind  of  resource, 
while  I  search  around  me,21  do  I  find  for  my  present  calamity, 
so  that  I  may  make  the  life  of  my  children  glorious,  and  may 
myself  be  assisted  as  things  have  now  fallen  out.  For  never 
will  I  disgrace  the  house  of  Crete  at  least,  nor  will  I  come 
before  the  face  of  Theseus  having  acted  basely,  for  one's 
life's  sake. 

Clio.  But  what  irremediable  evil  art  thou  then  about  to 
perpetrate  ? 

Pile.  To  die :  but  how,  this  will  I  devise. 

Cho.   Speak  words  of  better  omen. 

Pile.  And  do  thou  at  least  advise  me  well.  But  having 
quitted  life  this  day,  I  shall  gratify  Venus,  who  destroys  me, 
and  shall  be  conquered  by  bitter  love.  But  when  I  am  dead, 
I  shall  be  an  evil  to  another  at  least,22  so  that  he  may  know  not 
to  exult  over  my  misfortunes  ;  but,  having  shared  this  malady 
in  common  with  me,  he  shall  learn  to  be  modest. 

Cho.  Would  that  I  were  under  the  rocks'  vast  retreats,23 
and  that  there  the  God  would  make  me  a  winged  bird  among 
the  swift  flocks,  and  that  I  were  lifted  up  above  the  ocean 
wave  that  dashes  against  the  Adriatic  shore,  and  the  water  of 
Eridanus,  where  for  grief  of  Phaethon  the  thrice  wretched 
virgins  let  fall  into  their  father's  billow  the  amber-beaming 
brightness  of  their  tears  :  and  that  I  could  make  my  way  to 
the  shore  where  the  apples  grow  of  the  harmonious  daughters 
of  Hesperus,  where  the  ruler  of  the  ocean  no  longer  permits 
the  passage  of  the  purple  sea  to  mariners,  dwelling  in  that 
dread  bourn  of  heaven  which  Atlas  doth  sustain,  and  the  am- 
brosial founts  stream  forth  hai-d  by  the  couches  of  Jove's  pa- 
laces, where  the  divine  and  life-bestowing  earth  increases  the 
bliss  of  the  Gods.  0  white-winged  bark  of  Crete,  who  didst 
bear  my  queen  through  the  perturbed'24  ocean  wave  of  brine 
from  a  happy  home,  thereby  aiding  her  in  a  most  evil  mar- 
riage.   For  surely  in  both  instances,  or  at  any  rate  from  Crete 

21  TTporpiTrovtra,  avrl  rov  Z,r\Tovaa  nai  i^tpevvwaa.  Scliol.  Dindorf 
acknowledges  the  strangeness  of  the  usage,  and  seems  to  prefer  irpoGKo- 
ttoCo-',  with  Monk.     B. 

22  Cf.  Soph.  Ant.  751.  yd'  ovv  Bavurai,  icai  9avova'  6\el  riva.     B. 

23  For  the  meaning  and  derivation  of  «\</3aroic,  see  Monk's  note. 

2*  akiKTvirov  seems  to  be  an  awkward  epithet  of  icvfta,  unless  it  mean 
"dashed  [against  the  shore]  by  the  waves."  Perhaps  oXiktvttov  would 
be  less  forced.     B. 

o 


194  HIPPOLYTUS  760—798 

she  came  ill-omened  to  renowned  Athens,  when  on  the  Mu- 
nychian  shore  they  bound  the  platted  ends  of  their  cables,  and 
disembarked  on  the  continent.  Wherefore  she  was  heart- 
broken with  the  terrible  disease  of  unhallowed  love  by  the 
influence  of  Venus  ;  and  now  that  she  can  no  longer  hold  out 
against  the  heavy  calamity,20  she  will  fit  around  her  the  noose 
suspended s5  from  the  ceiling  of  her  bridal  chamber,  adjusting 
it  to  her  white  neck,  having  revered  the  hateful  Goddess,  and 
embracing  an  honourable  name,  and  ridding  from  her  breast 
the  painful  love. 

Female  Servant,  Chorus,  Theseus,  Hippolytus. 

Ser.  Alack  !  alack  !  run  to  my  succour  all  that  are  near 
the  house— My  mistress  the  wife  of  Theseus  is  hanging. 

Cho.  Alas  !  alas  !  the  deed  is  done :  the  queen  is  indeed 
no  more — she  is  suspended  in  the  noose  that  hangs  there. 

Ser.  Will  ye  not  haste  ?  will  not  some  one  bring  a  two- 
edged  sword,  with  which  we  may  undo  this  knot  around  her 
neck  ? 

Semich.  My  friends,  what  do  we  ?  does  it  seem  good  to 
enter  the  house  and  to  free  the  queen  from  the  tight-drawn 
noose  ? 

Sejiich.  Why  we?  Are  not  the  young  men-servants  at 
hand  ?  The  being  over-busy  is  not  a  safe  plan  through  life. 

Ser.  Lay  right  the  wretched  corpse,  pull  her  limbs  straight, 
A  grievous  housekeeping  this  for  my  master  ! 

Cho.  The  unhappy  woman,  as  I  hear,  has  perished,  for  al- 
ready are  they  laying  her  out  as  a  corpse. 

The.  Know  ye,  females,  what  noise  this  is  in  my  house  ? 
a  heavy  sound  of  my  attendants  reached  me.  For  the  family 
does  not  think  fit  to  open  the  gates  to  me  and  to  hail  me  with 
joy  as  having  returned  from  the  oracle.  Has  any  ill  befallen 
the  aged  Pittheus  ?  His  life  is  now  indeed  far  advanced ;  but 
still  he  would  be  much  lamented  by  us,  were  he  to  leave  this 
house. 

Cho.  This  that  has  happened,  Theseus,  extends  not  to  the 
old ;  the  young  are  they  that  by  their  death  will  grieve  thee. 

23  'YTripavrXog  ovcra  avfupovq,  a  metaphor  taken  from  a  ship  which  can 
no  longer  keep  out  water. 

26  Sec  the  note  on  my  Translation  of  JEsch.  Again.,  p.  121,  note  1.  ed, 
Bohn.     B. 


799— S32.  HIPPOLYTUS.  19o 

The.  Alas  me!  is  the  life  of  any  of  my  children  stolen 
from  me  ? 

Cho.  They  live,  but  their  mother  is  dead  in  a  way  that  will 
grieve  thee  most. 

The.  What  sayest  ?  My  wife  dead  ?  By  what  fate  ? 

Cho.  She  suspended  the  noose,  wherewith  she  strangled 
herself. 

The.  Wasted  with  sorrow,  or  from  some  sudden  ca- 
lamity ? 

Cho.  Thus  much  we  know — nothing  further ;  for  I  am  but 
just  come  to  thy  house,  Theseus,  to  bewail  thy  evils. 

The.  Alas !  alas  !  why  then  have  I  my  head  crowned  with 
entwined  leaves^  who  am  the  unhappy  inquirer  of  the  oracle  ? 
Servants,  undo  the  bars  of  the  gates ;  unloose  the  bolts,  that 
I  may  behold  the  mournful  spectacle  of  my  wife,  who  by  her 
death  hath  utterly  undone  me. 

Cho.  Alas !  alas !  unhappy  for  thy  wretched  ills :  thou 
hast  been  a  sufferer;  thou  hast  perpetrated  a  deed  of  such 
extent  as  to  throw  this  house  into  utter  confusion.  Alas ! 
alas!  thy  boldness,  O  thou  who  hast  died  a  violent  death, 
and,  by  an  unhallowed  chance,  the  act  committed  by  thy 
wretched  hand.  Who  is  it  then,  thou  unhappy  one,  that 
destroys  thy  life  ? 

The.  Alas  me  for  my  sufferings?20  I  have  suffered,  un- 
happy wretch,  the  extreme  of  my  troubles — O  fortune,  how 
heavy  hast  thou  come  upon  me  and  my  house,  an  impercepti- 
ble spot  from  some  evil  demon !  the  wearing  out  of  a  life 
not  to  be  endured;27  and  I,  unhappy  wretch,  perceive  a  sea 
of  troubles  so  great,  that  never  again  can  I  emerge  from  it, 
nor  escape  beyond  the  flood  of  this  calamity.  What  mention 
making  can  I  unhappy,  what  heavy-fated  fortune  of  thine, 
lady,  saying  that  it  was,  can  I  be  right  ?  For  as  some  bird 
thou  art  vanished  from  my  hand,  having  leapt  me  a  sudden 
leap  to  the  realms  of  Pluto.  Alas !  alas !  wretched,  wretched 
are  these  sufferings,  but  from  some  distant  period  or  other  re- 
ceive I  this  calamity  from  the  Gods,  for  the  errors  of  some  of 
those  of  old. 

26  Read  w/ttoi  iy<l)  -kovuv  iiraQov  0>  raXag  with  cod.  Ilav.  See  Din- 
dorf.     B. 

"  Cf.  Matth.  apud  Dindorf.    B. 

o  2 


196  HIPPOLYTTJS.  833- S71. 

Cho.  Not  to  thee  alone,  O  king,  have  these  evils  happened  ; 
but  with  many  others  thou  hast  lost  an  excellent  wife.28 

The.  In  the  shades  beneath  the  earth,  I  unhappy  wish,  dy- 
ing, to  dwell  in  darkness,  reft  as  I  am  of  thy  most  dear  com- 
pany, for  thou  hast  destroyed  rather  than  perished — What 
then  do  I  hear  ?  whence  came  the  deadly  chance,  lady,  to  thine 
heart  ?  Will  any  speak  what  has  happened,  or  does  my  royal 
palace  contain  to  no  purpose  the  crowd  of  my  attendants  ? — 
Alas  me  on  thy  account !  unhappy  that  I  am,  what  grief  in 
my  house  have  I  seen,  intolerable,  indescribable  !  but— we  are 
undone !  my  house  left  desolate,  and  my  children  orphans. 

Cho.  Thou  hast  left  us,  thou  hast  left  us,  0  dear  among 
women,  and  most  excellent  of  those  as  many  as  both  the  light 
of  the  sun,  and  the  star-visaged  moon  of  night  behold.  O 
unhappy  man  !  how  great  ill  doth  the  house  contain  !  with  tears 
gushing  over,  my  eyelids  are  wet  at  thy  calamity.  But  the 
woe  that  will  ensue  on  this  I  have  long  since  been  dreading. 

The.  Alas!  alas!  What  I  pray  is  this  letter  suspended 
from  her  dear  hand  ?  does  it  mean  to  betoken  some  new  ca- 
lamity?— What,  has  the  unhappy  woman  written  injunctions 
to  me,  making  some  request  about29  my  bridal  bed  and  my 
children  ?  Be  of  good  courage,  hapless  one ;  for  no  woman 
exists,  who  shall  enter  the  bed  and  the  house  of  Theseus. 
But  lo !  the  impressions  of  the  golden  seal30  of  her  no  more 
here  court  my  attention.31  Come,  let  me  unfold  the  envelop- 
ments of  the  seal,  and  see  what  this  letter  would  say  to  me. 

Cho.  Alas !  alas !  this  new  evil  in  succession  again  doth 
the  God  bring  on.  To  me  indeed  the  condition  of  life  will 
be  impossible  to  bear,32  from  what  has  happened  ;  for  I  con- 
sider, alas !  as  ruined  and  no  more  the  house  of  my  kings. 
0  God,  if  it  be  in  any  way  possible,  do  not  overthrow  the 

2R  In  the  same  manner  the  chorus  in  the  Alcestis  comforts  Admetus.  v. 

Ov  yap  ri  TrpwToc,  ovos  \oia6iog  (iporuiv 

yvvaiKOQ  i<r6\i)Q  ?/jti7rXaK£C. 
23  'T7r^p  is  here  to  be  understood.     Valk. 

30  ZQtvSovT),  literally,  the  setting  of  the  seal,  which  embraces  the  gem 
as  a  sling  its  stone. 

31  See  a  similar  expression  in  ^Esch.  Eum.  254. 

'Offfit)  jipoTilwv  a\fiaTix)V  /i£  Ttpoayikci. 
"2  The  construction  is,  tli]  av  t/xol  d/3i'wroc  r&xa  [3Lov,  ioart  tv\&v 
avTi"iQ.     Monk. 


872—911.  HIPPOLYTUS.  197 

house  ;  but  hear  me  as  I  pray,  for  from  some  quarter,  as 
though  a  prophet,  I  behold  an  evil  omen. 

The.  Ah  me !  what  other  evil  is  this  in  addition  to  evil, 
not  to  be  borne,  nor  spoken  !  alas  wretched  me  ! 

Cho.  What  is  the  matter?    Tell  me  if  it  may  be  told  me. 

The.  It  cries  out — the  letter  cries  out  things  most  dread- 
ful :  which  way  can  I  fly  the  weight  of  my  ills ;  for  I  perish 
utterly  destroyed.  What,  what  a  complaint  have  I  seen  speak- 
ing in  her  writing ! 

Cho.  Alas  !  thou  utterest  words  foreboding  woes. 

The.  No  longer  will  I  keep  within  the  door  of  my  lips  this 
dreadful,  dreadful  evil  hardly  to  be  uttered.  O  city,  city,  Hip- 
polytus  has  dared  by  force  to  approach  my  bed,  having  despised 
the  awful  eye  of  Jove.  But  0  father  Neptune,  by  one  of  these 
three  curses,  which  thou  formerly  didst  promise  me,  by  one  of 
those  destroy  my  son,  and  let  him  not  escape  beyond  this  day, 
if  thou  hast  given  me  curses  that  shall  be  verified. 

Cho.  O  king,  by  the  Gods  recall  back  this  prayer,  for 
hereafter  you  will  know  that  you  have  erred ;  be  persuaded 
by  me. 

The.  It  cannot  be :  and  moreover  I  will  drive  him  from 
this  land.  And  by  one  or  other  of  the  two  fates  shall  he  be 
assailed :  for  either  Neptune  shall  send  him  dead  to  the  man- 
sions of  Pluto,  having  respect  unto  my  wish  ;  or  else  banished 
from  this  country,  wandering  over  a  foreign  land,  he  shall 
drag  out  a  miserable  existence. 

Cho.  And  lo !  thy  son  Hippolytus  is  present  here  oppor- 
tunely, but  if  thou  let  go  thy  evil  displeasure,  king  Theseus, 
thou  wilt  advise  the  best  for  thine  house. 

Hippolytus,  Theseus,  Chorus. 

Hipp.  I  heard  thy  cry,  my  father,  and  came  in  haste ;  the 
thing  however,  for  which  you  are  groaning,  I  know  not ;  but 
would  fain  hear  from  you.  Ha !  what  is  the  matter  ?  I  be- 
hold thy  wife,  my  father,  a  corpse :  this  is  a  thing  meet  for 
the  greatest  wonder. — Her,  whom  I  lately  left,  her,  who  be- 
held the  light  no  great  time  since.  What  ails  her  ?  In  what 
manner  died  she,  my  father,  I  would  fain  hear  from  you. 
Art  silent  ?  But  there  is  no  use  of  silence  in  misfortunes ; 
for  the  heart  which  desires  to  hear  all  things,  is  found  eager 
also  in  the  case  of  ills.     It  is  not  indeed  right,  my  father,  to 


!3S  HIPPOLYTUS.  915—954 

conceal  thy  misfortunes  from  friends,  and  even  more  than 
friends. 

The.  O  men,  who  vainly  go  astray  in  many  things,  why 
then  do  ye  teach  ten  thousand  arts;  and  contrive  and  invent 
every  thing  ;  but  one  thing  ye  do  not  know,  nor  yet  have  in- 
vestigated, to  teach  those  to  be  wise  who  have  no  intellect  ? 

Hipp.  A  clever  sophist  this  you  speak  of,  who  is  able  to 
compel  those  who  have  no  wisdom  to  be  rightly  wise.  But 
(for  thou  art  arguing  too  refinedly  on  no  suitable  occasion)  I 
fear,  O  father,  lest  thy  tongue  be  talking  at  random  through 
thy  woes. 

The.  Alas !  there  ought  to  be  established  for  men  some 
infallible  proof  of  their  friends,  and  some  means  of  knowing 
their  dispositions,  both  who  is  true,  and  who  is  not  a  friend, 
and  men  ought  all  to  have  two  voices,  the  one  tr/ue,  the  other 
as  it  chanced,  that  the  untrue  one  might  be  convicted  by  the 
true,  and  then  we  should  not  be  deceived. 

Hipp.  Has  some  one  then  falsely  accused  me  in  your  ear, 
and  am  I  suffering  who  am  not  at  all  guilty  ?  I  am  amazed, 
for  your  words,  wandering  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason,  do 
amaze  me. 

The.  Alas!  the  mind  of  man,  to  what  lengths  will  it  go? 
what  will  be  the  limit  to  its  boldness  and  temerity  ?  For  if 
it  shall  increase  with  each  generation  of  man,  and  the  suc- 
cessor shall  be  wicked  a  degree  beyond  his  predecessor,  it  will 
be  necessary  for  the  Gods  to  add  to  the  earth  another  land, 
which33  will  contain  the  unjust  and  the  evil  ones. — But  look 
ye  on  this  man,  who  being  born  of  me  hath  defiled  my  bed, 
and  is  manifestly  convicted  by  the  deceased  of  being  most 
base. — But,  since  thou  hast  come  to  this  attaint,  show  thy  face 
here  before  thy  father.  Dost  thou  forsooth  associate  with  the 
Gods,  as  being  an  extraordinary  person?  art  thou  chaste  and 
uncontaminated  with  evil?  I  will  not  believe  thy  boasts, 
attributing  (as  I  must,  if  I  do  believe)  to  the  Gods  the  folly 
of  thinking  evil.  Now  then  vaunt,  and  with  thy  feeding  on 
inanimate  food  retail  your  doctrines  upon  men,  and  having 
Orpheus34  for  your  master,  revel  it,  reverencing  the  emptiness 
of  many  letters;  which  avail  you  not ;  since  you  are  caught. 

33  j},  which  land,  together  with  the  present  earth. 

31  On  the  Orphic  abstinence  from  animal  food,  see  Matth.  apud  Dind. 
Compare  Porphyr.  de  Abst.  ii.  3  sqq.     B. 


955—998.  HIPPOLYTUS.  199 

But  such  sort  of  men  I  warn  all  to  shun ;  for  they  hunt  with 
fair  sounding  words,  while  they  devise  base  things.  She  is 
dead:  dost  thou  think  this  will  save  thee?  By  this  thou  art 
most  detected,  O  thou  most  vile  one  !  For  what  sort  of  oaths, 
what  arguments  can  be  more  strong  than  what  she  says,  so 
that  thou  canst  escape  the  accusation  ?  Wilt  thou  say  that 
she  hated  thee,  and  that  the  bastard  race  is  hateful  forsooth  to 
those  of  noble  birth  ?  A  bad  housewife  then  of  life  you  ac- 
count her,  if  through  hatred  of  thee  she  lost  what  was  most 
dear  to  her.  But  wilt  thou  say  that  there  is  not  this  folly  in 
men,  but  that  there  is  in  women  ?  I  myself  have  known 
young  men  who  were  not  a  whit  more  steady  than  women, 
when  Venus  disturbed  the  youthful  mind :  but  their  pretence 
of  manliness  protects  them.  Now  however,  why  do  I  thus 
contend  against  thy  words,  when  the  corse,  the  surest  witness, 
is  here  ?  Depart  an  exile  from  this  land  as  soon  as  possible. 
And  neither  go  to  the  divine-built  Athens,  nor  to  the  confines 
of  that  land  over  which  my  sceptre  rules.  For  if  I  thus  suf- 
fering by  thee  be  vanquished,  never  will  the  Isthmian  Sinis 
bear  witness  of  me  that  I  killed  him,  but  will  say  that  I  vainly 
boast.  Nor  will  the  Scironian  rocks,  that  dwell  by  the  sea, 
confess  that  I  am  formidable  to  the  bad. 

Cho.  I  know  not  how  I  can  say  that  any  of  mortals  is 
happy ;  for  the  things  that  were  most  excellent  are  turned 
back  again. 

Hipp.  Father,  thy  rage  indeed,  and  the  commotion  of  thy 
mind  is  terrible ;  this  thing,  however,  though  it  have  fair 
arguments,  if  any  one  unravel  it,  is  not  fair.  But  I  am  un- 
adorned with  phrase  to  speak  to  the  multitude,  but  to  speak 
to  my  equals  and  to  a  few,  more  expert :  but  this  also  has 
consistency  in  it ;  for  those,  who  are  of  no  account  among  the 
wise,  are  more  fitted  to  speak  before  the  rabble.  But  yet  it  is 
necessary  for  me,  since  this  calamity  has  come,  to  unloose  my 
tongue.  But  first  will  I  begin  to  speak  from  that  point  where 
first  you  attacked,  as  though  you  would  destroy,  and  as 
though  I  should  not  answer  again.  Dost  thou  behold  this 
light  and  this  earth  ?  In  these  there  is  not  a  man  more  chaste 
than  me,  not  even  though  thou  deny  it.  For,  first  indeed,  I 
know  to  reverence  the  Gods,  and  to  have  such  friends  as  at- 
tempt not  to  be  unjust,  but  those,  to  whom  there  is  modesty,  so 
that  neither  they  give  utterance  to  evil  thoughts,  nor  minister 


200  HIPPOLYTUS.  999—1034. 

in  return  base  services  to  those  who  use  their  friendship :  nor 
am  I  the  derider  of  my  associates,  0  father,  but  the  same  man 
to  my  friends  when  they  are  not  present,  and  when  I  am  with 
them.  But  of  one  thing  by  which  thou  thinkest  to  crush  me, 
I  am  pure  ;35  for  to  this  day  my  body  is  undefined  by  the 
couch  of  love  ;  and  I  know  not  the  deed  except  hearing  of  it 
by  report,  and  seeing  it  in  a  picture,  nor  even  am  I  forward 
to  look  at  these  things,  having  a  virgin  mind.  And  perhaps 
my  modesty  persuades  you  not.  Behoves  it  thee  then  to  show 
in  what  manner  I  lost  it.  Did  this  woman's  person  excel  in 
beauty  all  women  ?  Or  did  I  hope,  to  rule  over  thine  house, 
having  thy  bridal  bed  as  carrying  dowry  with  it  ?  I  must 
in  that  case  have  been  a  fool,  and  not  at  all  in  my  senses.  But 
did  I  do  it  as  though  to  reign  were  pleasant  to  the  modest  ? 
By  no  means  indeed  is  it,  except  monarchy  have  destroyed 
the  minds  of  men  who  are  pleased  with  her.  But  I  would 
wish  indeed  to  be  first  victor  in  the  Grecian  games,  but  second 
in  the  state  ever  to  be  happy  with  the  most  excellent  friends. 
For  thus  is  it  possible  to  be  well  circumstanced  :  but  the  ab- 
sence of  the  danger  gives  greater  joy  than  dominion.  One  of 
my  arguments  has  not  been  spoken,  but  the  rest  you  are  in 
possession  of:  for,  if  I  had  a  witness  such  as  myself  am,  and 
were  she  alive  during  my  contention,  you  would  know  the 
evil  ones,  searching  them  by  their  works.  But  now  I  swear 
by  Jove,  the  guardian  of  oaths,SG  and  by  the  plain  of  the  earth, 
that  never  touched  I  thy  bridal  bed,  nor  ever  wished  it,  nor 
conceived  the  thought.  Else  may  I  perish  inglorious,  without 
a  name,  and  may  neither  sea  nor  earth  receive  the  flesh  of  me 
when  dead,  if  I  be  a  wicked  man.  But  whether  or  no  she 
have  destroyed  her  life  through  fear,  I  know  not :  for  it  is 
not  lawful  for  me  to  speak  further.     Cautious37  she  was, 

35  "AOiKrog  appears  here  to  have  an  active  sense.  So  in  Soph.  QEd.  c. 
1521.  (WiKTog  7iy)]T>ipog.  It  is  used  in  its  more  frequent  sense  (a  passive) 
in  v.  6 13,  of  this  play.  Tr.  Compare  my  note  on  ^Esch.  Prom.  110,  p. 
6,  n.  I.     B. 

3i  Cf.  Med.  1G9.  Zijra  6'  oc  opmov  dvaroTe,  raping  vii'opiarai.     B. 

37  There  are  various  interpretations  of  this  passage.  The  Scholiast  puts 
this  sense  upon  it,  Pheedra  was  chaste  (in  your  eyes),  who  had  not  the 
power  of  being  chaste,  I  had  the  poicer,  and  is  it  likely  that  I  did  not  exert 
it  to  good  purpose?  Others  translate  the  former  part  of  the  passage  with 
the  Scholiast)  but  make  ov  icaXojg  ixp^jxiQa  refer  to  the  present  time,  had 
it  to  no  good  purpose,  i.  e.  am  not  now  able  to  persuade  you  of  my  inno- 


103.5—1065.  HIPPOLYTUS.  201 

though  she  could  not  be  chaste ;  but  I,  who  could  be,  had  the 
power  to  no  good  purpose. 

Cho.  Thou  hast  said  sufficient  to  rebut  the  charge,  in  of- 
fering the  oaths  by  the  Gods,  no  slight  proof. 

The.  Is  not  this  man  then  an  enchanter  and  a  juggler,  who 
trusts  that  he  will  overcome  my  mind  by  his  goodness  of  dis- 
position, after  he  has  dishonoured  his  father  ? 

Hirr.  I  too  very  much  wonder  at  this  conduct  of  yours,  my 
father ;  for  if  you  were  my  son,  and  I  your  father,  I  should 
slay  you,  and  not  punish  you  by  banishment,  if  you  had  dared 
to  defile  my  wife. 

The.  How  fitly  hast  thou  said  this  !  yet  thou  shalt  not  so 
die,  as  thou  hast  laid  down  this  law  for  thyself;  for  a  quick 
grave  is  easiest  to  the  miserable  man  ;  but  wandering  an  exile 
from  thy  country's  land  to  foreign  realms,  thou  shalt  drag  cut 
a  life  of  bitterness ;  for  this  is  the  reward  for  the  impious 
man. 

Hipp.  Ah  me  !  what  wilt  thou  do  ?  wilt  thou  not  even 
await  time  as  evidence  against  me,  but  wilt  thou  banish  me 
from  the  land  ? 

The.  Ay,  beyond  the  ocean,  and  the  place  of  Atlas,38  if 
any  way  I  could,  so  much  do  I  hate  thee. 

Hipp.  Without  having  even  examined  oath,  or  proof,  or 
the  sayings  of  the  seers,  wilt  thou  cast  me  uncondemned  from 
out  the  land  ? 

The.  This  letter  here,  that  waiteth  no  seer's  observations,39 
accuses  thee  faithfully ;  but  to  the  birds  that  flit  above  my 
head  I  bid  a  long  farewell. 

Hipp.  0  Gods,  wherefore  then  do  I  not  ope  my  mouth,  who 
am  destroyed  by  you  whom  I  worship  ? — And  yet  not  so — 
for  thus  I  should  not  altogether  persuade  those  whom  I  ought, 
but  should  be  violating  to  no  purpose  the  oaths  which  I  have 
sworn. 

The.  Alas  me  !  how  thy  sanctity  kills  me  !  Wilt  not  thou 
go  as  quick  as  possible  from  thy  country's  land  ? 

cence.  Some  translate  iauHppoijotv,  acted  like  a  chaste  woman.  Tk. 
There  is  evidently  a  double  meaning,  which,  is  almost  lost  by  translation. 
Theseus  is  not  intended  to  understand  this.     B. 

38  Cf.  vs.  3.     B. 

39  KXijpoi  were  the  notes  the  augurs  took  of  their  observations,  and 
wrote  down  on  tablets.     See  Phcen.  852. 


-02  HIPPOLYTUS.  10C6— 1102. 

Hipp.  Whither  then  shall  I  unhappy  turn  me  ?  what 
stranger's  mansion  shall  I  enter,  banished  on  this  charge  ? 

Tue.  His,  who  delights  to  entertain  defilers  of  women,  and 
those  who  dwell  with  4U  evil  deeds. 

Hipp.  Alas  !  alas  !  this  goes  to  my  heart,  and  almost  makes 
me  weep :  if  indeed  I  appear  vile,  and  seem  so  to  thee. 

The.  Then  oughtest  thou  to  have  groaned,  and  owned  the 
guilt  before,  when  thou  daredst  to  wrong  thy  father's  wife. 

Hipp.  O  mansions,  would  that  ye  could  utter  me  a  voice, 
and  bear  witness  whether  I  be  a  vile  man  ! 

The.  Dost  fly  to  dumb  witnesses  ?  this  deed,  though  it 
speak  not,  clearly  proves  thee  vile. 

Hipp.  Alas  !  would  that  I  could  look  upon  myself  standing 
opposite,  to  that  degree  do  I  weep  for  the  evils  which  I  suffer  ! 

The.  Thou  hast  accustomed  thyself  much  more  to  regard 
thyself,  than  to  be  a  just  man,  and  to  do  what  is  righteous  to 
thy  parents. 

Hipp.  O  unhappy  mother  !  O  wretched  natal  hour  !  may 
none  of  my  friends  ever  be  illegitimate. 

The.  Servants,  will  ye  not  drag  him  out  ?  did  you  not  hear 
me  long  ago  pronounce  him  banished  ! 

Hipp.  Any  one  of  them  shall  touch  me  to  his  cost  however  ; 
but  thou  thyself,  if  it  be  thy  desire,  thrust  me  out  from  the 
land. 

The.  I  will  do  this,  unless  thou  wilt  obey  my  words,  for  no 
pity  for  thy  banishment  comes  over  me. 

Hipp.  It  is  fixed,  as  it  seems ;  alas,  wretch  that  I  am  !  since 
I  know  these  things  indeed,  but  know  not  how  to  say  them. 

0  most  dear  to  me  of  deities,  daughter  of  Latona,  thou  that 
assortest  with  me,  huntest  with  me,  we  shall  then  indeed  be 
banished'illustrious  Athens  :  but  farewell  O  city,  and  land  of 
Erectheus.  O  plain  of  Troezene,  how  many  things  hast  thou 
to  employ  the  happy  youth  !  Farewell !  for  I  address  thee, 
beholding  thee  for  the  last  time — Come  youths  of  this  land 
my  companions,  bid  me  farewell,  and  conduct  me  from  the 
land,  for  never  shall  you  see  a  man  more  chaste,  even  though 

1  seem  not  to  my  father. 

40  %vvoiKovpovQ  appears  to  be  metaphorically  used,  but  I  think  the 
sense  would  be  greatly  improved  by  reading  kcikovq,  and  taking  ^vvolkov- 
povg  to  mean  "  to  dwell  with  him,"  referring  it  to  'oang.     B. 


1103—1156. 


HIPPOLYTUS.  203 


Chorus. 


Surely  the  providence  of  the  Gods,  when  it  comes  into  my 
mind,  greatly  takes  away  sorrow :  but  cherishing  in  my  hope 
some  knowledge,  I  am  utterly  deficient,  when  1  look  on  the 
fortunes  and  on  the  deeds  of  men,  for  they  are  changed  in 
different  manners,  and  the  life  of  man  varies,  ever  exceeding 
vague.  Would  that  in  answer  to  my  petitions  fate  from  the 
Gods  would  give  me  this,  prosperity  with  riches,  and  a  mind 
unsullied  by  griefs.  And  be  my  character  neither  too  high, 
nor  on  the  other  hand  infamous.  But  changing  my  easy 
habits  with  the  morrow  ever  may  I  lead  a  happy  life ;  for  no 
longer  have  I  an  unperturbed  mind,  but  I  see  things  contrary 
to  my  expectations :  since  we  have  seen  the  brightest  star  of 
Grecian  Minerva  sent  forth  to  another  land  on  account  of  his 
father's  rage.  0  sands  of  the  neighbouring  shore,  and  moun- 
tain wood,  where  with  the  swift-footed  dogs  he  wont  to  slay 
the  wild  beasts,  accompanying  the  chaste  Dian !  No  more 
shalt  thou  mount  the  car  drawn  by  the  team  of  Henetian 
steeds,  restraining  with  thy  foot  the  horses  in  their  exercise 
on  the  course  round  Limna.41  And  the  sleepless  song  that 
used  to  dwell  under  the  bridge  of  the  chords  shall  cease  in 
thy  father's  house.  And  the  haunts  of  the  daughter  of  La- 
tona  in  the  deep  Avood  shall  be  without  their  garlands :  and 
the  contest  among  the  damsels  for  thy  bridal  bed  has  died 
away  by  reason  of  thy  exile.  But  I,  for  thy  misfortunes, 
shall  endure  with  tears  a  fortuneless  fortune.42  O  unhappy 
mother,  thou  hast  brought  forth  in  vain  !  Alas !  I  am  en- 
raged with  the  Gods.  Alas !  alas  !  united  charms  of  marriage, 
wherefore  send  ye  the  unhappy  one,  guilty  of  no  crime,  away 
from  his  country's  land — away  from  these  mansions  ? 

But  lo !  I  perceive  a  follower  of  Hippolytus  with  a  sad 
countenance  coming  towards  the  house  in  haste. 

Messenger,  Chorus. 

Mess.  Ye  females,  whither  going  can  I  find  Theseus,  king 
of  this  land  ?    If  ye  know,  tell  me :  is  he  within  this  palace  ? 
Clio.  The  [king]  himself  is  coming  out  of  the  palace. 

41  But  we  must  read  yvfivadog  "lttttov  with  Reiske,  Brunot,  and  Din- 
dorf.     See  his  notes.     ttocI  must  be  joined  with  yv/x.  'Ittttov.     B. 

4'J    TTOTLIOV  CLKOTflOV.       B. 


201  hippolytus.  1157—1192. 

Messenger,  Theseus,  Chorus. 

Mess.  I  bring  a  tale  that  demands  concern,  of  thee  and  of 
thy  subjects,  both  those  who  inhabit  the  city  of  the  Athenians, 
and  the  realms  of  the  Troezenian  land. 

The.  What  is  it  ?  Has  any  sudden  calamity  come  upon 
the  two  neighbouring  states  ? 

Mess.  To  speak  the  word — Hippolytus  is  no  more.  He 
views  the  light  however  for  a  short  moment. 

The.  Killed'?  By  whom?  Has  any  come  to  enmity  with 
him,  whose  wife,  as  his  father's,  he  has  forcibly  defiled  ? 

Mess.  His  own  chariot  slew  him,  and  the  imprecations  of 
thy  mouth,  which  thou  didst  put  up  to  thy  father,  the  ruler 
of  the  ocean,  concerning  thy  son. 

The.  O  ye  Gods !  and  0  Neptune !  how  truly  then  wert 
thou  my  father,  when  thou  didst  duly  hear  my  imprecations  ! 
Tell  me  too,  how  did  he  perish  ?  in  what  way  did  the  staff  of 
Justice  strike  him  that  disgraced  me  ? 

Mess.  We  indeed  near  the  wave-beaten  shore  were  combing 
out  with  combs  the  horses'  hair,  weeping,  for  there  had  come 
a  messenger  saying,  that  Hippolytus  no  longer  trod  on  this 
land,  having  from  thee  received  the  sentence  of  wretched  ban- 
ishment. But  he  came  bringing  to  us  on  the  shore  the  same 
strain  of  tears  :  and  an  innumerable  throng  of  his  friends  and 
companions  came  following  with  him.  But  at  length  after 
some  time  he  spake,  having  ceased  from  his  groans.  "  Where- 
fore am  I  thus  disquieted  ?  My  father's  words  must  be  obeyed. 
My  servants,  yoke  to  my  car  the  harnessed  steeds,  for  this  city 
is  for  me  no  more."  Then  indeed  every  man  hasted,  and  sooner 
than  one  could  speak  we  drew  up  the  horses  caparisoned  be- 
fore our  master ;  and  he  seizes  with  his  hands  the  reins  from 
oft'  the  bow  of  the  chariot,  mounting  with  his  foot  sandaled  as 
it  was.43  And  first  indeed  he  addressed  the  Gods  with  out- 
stretched hands :  "  Jove,  may  I  no  longer  exist,  if  I  am  a  base 
man ;  but  may  my  father  perceive  how  unworthily  he  treats 

43  AvTaimv  dpfiv\ai<nv.  Some  have  supposed  dpfiuXi)  to  mean  a  part 
of  the  chariot,  but  this  seems  at  variance  with  the  best  authorities  (see 
Monk's  note);  perhaps  the  expression  may  mean  what  is  implied  in  the 
translation  ;  that  Hippolytus  d'd  not  wait  to  change  any  part  of  his 
dress.  Tr.  But  I  agree  with  Dindorf,  that  avraiaiv  is  then  utterly  ab- 
surd and  useless.  The  Scholiast  seems  correct  in  saying,  ralg  tov  apjjia- 
rog  Trepi  rt)v  dvrvya,  ivQa  ti)v  otcigiv  i\u  6  j/i'io%oc.     B. 


1193—1229.  HIPPOLYTUS.  205 

me,  either  when  I  am  dead,  or  while  I  view  the  light."  And 
on  this  having  taken  the  whip  in  his  hands  he  struck  the  horses 
both  at  once :  and  we  the  attendants  followed  our  master  by 
the  chariot  close  to  the  reins,  along  the  road  that  leads  straight- 
way to  Argos  and  Epidauria,  but  when  we  came  into  the  de- 
sert country,  there  is  a  certain  shore  beyond  this  land  which 
slopes  even  down  to  the  Saronic  Sea,  from  thence  a  voice  like 
the  subterraneous  thunder  of  Jove  sent  forth  a  dreadful  groan 
appalling  to  hear,  and  the  horses  pointed  their  heads  erect  and 
their  ears  towards  the  sky,  and  on  us  there  came  a  vehement 
fear,  whence  possibly  the  voice  could  come :  but  looking  to- 
wards the  sea-beaten  shore  we  beheld  a  vast  wave  pillared  in 
heaven,  so  that  the  view  of  the  heights  of  Sciron  was  taken 
from  mine  eye : 44  and  it  concealed  the  Isthmus  and  the  rock 
of  ./Esculapius.  And  then  swelling  up  and  splashing  forth.45 
much  foam  around  in  the  ocean  surf,  it  moves  towards  the 
shore,  where  was  the  chariot  drawn  by  its  four  horses.  But 
together  with  its  breaker  and  its  tripled  surge,40  the  wave  sent 
forth  a  bull,  a  fierce  monster ;  with  whose  bellowing  the  whole 
land  filled  resounded  fearfully :  and  to  the  lookers  on  a  sight 
appeared  more  dreadful  than  the  eyes  could  bear.  And  straight- 
way a  dreadful  fear  comes  over  the  steeds.  But  their  master, 
being  much  conversant  with  the  ways  of  horses,  seized  the 
reins  in  his  hands,  and  pulls  them  as  a  sailor  pulls  his  oar, 
having  fixed  his  body  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  reins.47 
But  they,  champing  with  their  jaws  the  forged  bits,  bare  him 
on  forcibly,  heeding  neither  the  hand  that  steered  them,  nor 
the  traces,  nor  the  compact  chariot :  and,  if  indeed  holding 
the  reins  he  directed  their  course  towards  the  softer  ground, 
the  bull  appeared  in  front,  so  as  to  turn  them  away  madden - 

44  "  Adeo  ut  deficerent  a  visu,  ne  cernere  possem,  Scironis  alta."    B. 

45  Kax^d^oj,  a  word  formed  from  the  noise  of  the  sea  —  6  yap  ?)x°C 
rov  KVficiTos  &  to"iq  KOiXtiJ fiacri  rwv  irirpthv  yivojitvoQ,  SoksI  fiifiutj9ai  to 
Kax^a,  Kax^a. — Etym.  Mag. 

46  TpiKVjxiq,.     See  Blomfield's  Glossary  to  the  Prometheus,  1051. 

47  Musgrave  supposes  that  Hippolytus  wound  the  reins  round  his  body; 
but  on  this  supposition,  not  to  mention  other  objections,  the  comparison 
with  the  sailor  does  not  hold  so  well.  It  is  more  natural  to  suppose  that 
he  leaned  back  in  order  to  get  a  purchase  :  in  this  attitude  he  is  made  to 
describe  himself  in  Ov.  Met.  xv.  519,  Et  retro  lentas  tendo  resupinus 
habenas.  If  there  be  any  doubt  of  eig  rovinaQn'  i/inirtv  being  Greek, 
this  objection  is  obviated  by  putting  a  stop  after  i/iaaiv,  and  making  it 
depend  on  eXcei. 


20S  HIPPOLYTUS.  1230-1274. 

ing  with  fright  the  four  horses  that  drew  the  chariot.  But  if 
they  were  borne  to  the  rocks  maddened  in  mettle,  silently  ap- 
proaching the  chariot  he  followed  so  far,  until  he  overthrew 
it  and  drove  it  backwards,  dashing  the  felly  of  the  wheel 
against  the  rock.  And  all  was  in  confusion,  and  the  naves  of 
the  wheels  flew  up,  and  the  linchpins  of  the  axles.  But  the 
unhappy  man  himself  entangled  in  the  reins  is  dragged  along, 
bound  in  a  difficult  bond,  his  head  dashed  against  the  rocks, 
and  torn  his  flesh,  and  crying  out  in  a  voice  dreadful  to  hear, 
"  Stop,  0  ye  that  have  been  trained  up  in  my  stalls,  do  not 
destroy  me.  Oh  unhappy  imprecation  of  my  father  !  Who 
will  come  near  and  save  a  most  excellent  man?"  But  many 
of  us  wishing  so  to  do  failed  through  want  of  swiftness :  and 
he  indeed  freed,  in  what  manner  I  know  not,  from  the  entan- 
glements of  the  reins,  falls,  having  the  breath  of  life  in  him, 
but  for  a  very  short  time.  And  the  horses  vanished,  and  the 
woeful  monster  of  the  bull  I  know  not  where  in  the  mountain 
country.  I  am  indeed  the  slave  of  thy  house,  O  king,  but 
thus  much  never  shall  I  at  least  be  able  to  be  persuaded  of 
thy  son,  that  he  is  evil,  not  even  if  the  whole  race  of  women 
were  hung,  and  though  one  should  fill  with  writing  all  the  fir 
of  Ida,48  since  I  am  confident  that  he  is  virtuous. 

Cho.  Alas !  alas !  the  calamity  of  new  evils  is  consum- 
mated, nor  is  there  refuge  from  fate  and  from  what  must  be. 

The.  Through  hate  of  the  man,  who  has  thus  suffered,  I 
was  pleased  with  this  account ;  but  now,  having  respect  unto 
the  Gods,  and  to  him,  because  he  is  of  me,  I  am  neither 
pleased,  nor  yet  troubled  at  these  ills. 

Mess.  How  then?  Must  we  bring  him  hither,  or  what 
must  we  do  to  the  unhappy  man  to  gratify  thy  wishes? 
Think ;  but  if  thou  take  my  advice,  thou  wilt  not  be  harsh 
towards  thy  son  in  his  misfortunes. 

The.  Bear  him  hither,  that  seeing  him  before  my  eyes  that 
denied  lie  had  defiled  my  bed,  I  may  confute  him  with  words, 
and  with  what  has  happened  from  the  Gods. 

Cno.  Thou,  Venus,  bendest  the  stubborn  mind  of  the  Gods, 
and  of  mortals,  and  with  thee  he  of  varied  plume,  that  darts 
about  on  swiftest  wing ;  and  flies  over  the  earth  and  over  the 
loud-resounding  briny  ocean ;  and  Love  charms  to  subjection, 

48  i.  e.  in  Crete.     See  Dindorf's  note.     B. 


1275—1317.  HIPPOLYTUS.  207 

on  whose  maddened  heart  the  winged  urchin  come  gleaming 
with  gold,  the  race  of  the  mountain  whelps,  and  of  those  that 
inhabit  the  sea,  and  as  many  things  as  the  earth  nouiisheth, 
which  the  sun  doth  behold  scorched  [with  its  rays,]  and 
men :  but  over  all  these  things  thou,  Venus,  alone  boldest 
sovereign  rule. 

Diana,  Theseus,  Chorus. 

Di.  Thee,  the  noble  son  of  QEgeus,  I  command  to  listen ; 
but  it  is  I,  Diana,  daughter  of  Latona,  who  am  addressing 
thee:  Theseus,  wherefore  dost  thou,  wretched  man,  take  de- 
light in  these  things,  seeing  that  thou  hast  slain  in  no  just 
way  thy  son,  being  persuaded  by  the  lying  words  of  thy  wife 
in  things  not  seen  ?  But  the  guilt  that  has  seized  on  thee  is 
manifest.  How  canst  thou,  shamed  as  thou  art,  refrain  from 
hiding  thy  body  beneath  the  dark  recesses  of  the  earth  ?  or 
from  withdrawing  thy  foot  from  this  suffering,  by  changing 
thy  nature,  and  becoming  a  winged  creature  above  ?  Since 
among  good  men  at  least  thou  hast  not  a  part  in  life  to  pos- 
sess. Hear,  O  Theseus,  the  state  of  thy  ills.  Even  though 
I  gain  no  advantage  from  it,  yet  will  I  torment  thee ;  but  for 
this  purpose  came  I  to  show  thee  the  upright  mind  of  thy  son, 
that  he  may  die  with  a  good  reputation,  and  thy  wife's  passion, 
or,  in  some  sort,  nobleness ;  for,  gnawed  by  the  stings  of  that 
deity  most  hateful  to  us,  as  many  as  delight  in  virginity,  she 
became  enamoured  of  thy  son.  But  while  she  endeavoured 
by  right  feeling  to  conquer  Venus,  she  was  destroyed  not  will- 
ingly by  the  means  employed  by  the  nurse,  who  having  first 
bound  him  by  oaths,  told  thy  son  her  malady.  But  he,  as 
was  right,  obeyed  not  her  words ;  nor,  again,  though  evil- 
entreated  by  thee,  did  he  violate  the  sanctity  of  his  oaths, 
being  a  pious  man.  But  she,  fearing  lest  her  conduct  should 
be  scrutinized,  wrote  a  false  letter,  and  by  deceit  destroyed 
thy  son,  but  nevertheless  persuaded  thee. 

The.  Ah  me! 

Di.  My  tale  torments  thee,  Theseus,  but  be  still,  that  having 
heard  what  follows  thou  mayest  groan  the  more — Knowest 
thou  then  that  thou  receivedst  from  thy  father  three  wishes 
with  a  certainty  of  their  being  granted?  Whereof  one  thou 
hast  expended,  0  most  evil  one,  on  thy  son,  when  thou  might- 
est  have  done  it  on  some  of  thine  enemies.     Thy  father  then 


208  HIPPOLYTUS.  1318— 136S. 

that  dwelleth  in  the  ocean,  gave  thee  as  much  as  he  was  bound 
to  give,  because  he  promised.  But  thou  both  in  his  eyes  and 
in  mine  appearest  evil,  who  neither  didst  await  nor  examine 
proof,  nor  the  voice  of  the  prophets,  didst  not  leave  the  con- 
sideration to  length  of  time,  but,  quicker  than  became  thee, 
didst  vent  thy  curses  against  thy  son  and  slay  him. 

The.  Mistress,  let  me  die  ! 

Di.  Thou  hast  committed  dreadful  deeds,  but  nevertheless, 
it  is  still  possible  even  for  thee  to  obtain  pardon  for  these 
things.  For  Venus  willed  that  these  things  should  be  in  order 
to  satiate  her  rage.  But  among  the  Gods  the  law  is  thus — 
None  wishes  to  thwart  the  purpose  of  him  that  wills  any 
thing,  but  we  always  give  way.  Since,  be  well  assured,  were 
it  not  that  I  feared  Jove,  never  should  I  have  come  to  such 
disgrace,  as  to  suffer  to  die  a  man  of  all  mortals  the  most  dear 
to  me.  But  thine  error,  first  of  all  thine  ignorance  frees  from 
malice ;  and  then  thy  wife  by  her  dying  put  an  end  to  the 
proof  of  words,  so  as  to  persuade  thy  mind.  Chiefly  then  on 
thee  these  ills  are  burst,  but  sorrow  is  to  me  too ;  for  Gods 
rejoice  not  when  the  pious  die ;  the  wicked  however  we  de- 
stroy with  their  children  and  their  houses. 

Cho.  And  lo  !  the  unhappy  man  there  is  coming,  all 
mangled  his  young  flesh  and  auburn  head.  Oh  the  misery  of 
the  house !  such  double  anguish  coming  down  from  heaven 
has  been  wrought  in  the  palaces ! 

Hippolytus,  Diana,  Theseus,  Chorus. 

Hipp.  0 !  0 !  0 !  Unhappy  I  was  thus  foully  mangled 
by  the  unjust  prayers  of  an  unjust  father — I  am  destroyed 
miserably.  Ah  me  !  ah  me  !  Pains  rush  through  my  head, 
and  the  spasm  darts  across  my  brain.  Stop,  I  will  rest  my 
fainting  body.  Oh !  Oh !  O  those  hateful  horses  of  my 
chariot,  things  which  I  fed  with  my  own  hand,  ye  have  de- 
stroyed me  utterly  and  slain  me.  .Oh  !  oh !  by  the  Gods, 
gently,  my  servants,  touch  with  your  hands  my  torn  flesh. 
Who  stands  by  my  side  on  the  right  ?  Lift  me  up  properly, 
and  take  hold  all  equally  on  me,  the  unblessed  of  heaven,  and 
cursed  by  my  father's  error — Jove,  Jove,  beholdest  thou  these 
things  ?  Lo !  I,  the  chaste,  and  the  reverencer  of  the  Gods, 
I  Avho  in  modesty  exceed  all,  have  lost  my  life,  and  go  to  a 
manifest  hell  beneath  the  earth ;  but  in  vain  have  I  laboured 


1369-1405.  HIPPOLYTUS.  209 

in  the  task  of  piety  towards  men.  0  !  O  !  O  !  O  !  and  now 
the  pain,  the  pain  comes  upon  me,  loose  unhappy  me,  and  let 
death  come  to  be  my  physician.  Destroy  me,  destroy  the  un- 
happy one — I  long  for  a  two-edged  blade,  wherewith  to  cut 
me  in  pieces,  and  to  put  my  life  to  an  eternal  rest.  Oh  un- 
happy curse  of  my  father !  the  evil  too  of  my  blood-polluted 
kinsmen,  my  old  forefathers,  bursts  forth49  upon  me ;  nor  is 
it  at  a  distance ;  and  it  hath  come  on  me,  wherefore,  I  pray, 
who  am  nothing  guilty  of  these  ills  ?  Alas  me !  me  !  what 
can  I  say  ?  how  can  I  free  my  life  from  this  cruel  calamity  ? 
Would  that  the  black  and  nightly  fate  of  Pluto  would  put  me 
wretched  to  eternal  sleep  ! 

Di.  Oh  unhappy  mortal,  with  what  a  calamity  art  thou  en- 
thralled !  but  the  nobleness  of  thy  mind  hath  destroyed  thee. 

Hipp.  Let  be.  O  divine  breathing  of  perfume,  for,  even 
though  being  in  ills,  I  perceived  thee,  and  felt  my  body  light- 
ened of  its  pain.50     The  Goddess  Dian  is  in  this  place. 

Di.  0  unhappy  one  !  she  is,  to  thee  the  most  dear  of  deities. 

Hipp.  Mistress,  thou  seest  wretched  me,  in  what  state  I  am. 

Di.  I  see ;  but  it  is  not  lawful  for  me  to  shed  a  tear  down 
mine  eyes. 

Hipp.  Thy  hunter,  and  thy  servant  is  no  more. 

Di.  No  in  sooth ;  but  beloved  by  me  thou  perishest. 

Hipp.  And  he  that  managed  thy  steeds,  and  guarded  thy 
statutes. 

Di.  Ay,  for  the  crafty  Venus  hath  so  wrought. 

Hipp.  Ah  me  !  I  perceive  indeed  the  power  that  hath  de- 
stroyed me. 

Di.  She  thought  her  honour  aggrieved,  and  hated  thee  for 
being  chaste. 

Hipp.  One  Venus  hath  destroyed  us  three. 

Di.  Thy  father,  and  thee,  and  his  wife  the  third. 

Hipp.  I  mourn  therefore  also  my  father's  misery. 

49  'EZopi&rai,  valde  prorumpit,  Uberat  terminos,  quibus  hactemis  sep- 
tum fuit.     Reiske. 

50  Heath  translates  dveKov(pia9rjv,  adtollebam  corpus,  honoris  scilicet 
gratia.  Compare  Iliad,  O.  241.  drap  dcQfia  kcii  idpwg  irdvir ,  t7ra  /itv 
tyetpe  Aiof  vooq  diyioxoio,  which  Pope  translates, 

"  Jove  thinking  of  his  pains,  they  pass'd  away  :  " 
in  which  the  idea  is  much  more  sublime  ;  for  there  the  thought  of  a  Deity 
effects  what  the  presence  of  one  does  here. 

P 


210  HIPPOLYTUS.  1406—1443. 

Di.  He  was  deceived  by  the  devices  of  the  Goddess. 

Hipp.  Oh !  unhappy  thou,  because  of  this  calamity,  my 
father ! 

The.  I  perish,  my  son,  nor  have  I  delight  in  life. 

Hipp.  I  lament  thee  rather  than  myself  on  account  of  thy 
error. 

The.  My  son,  would  that  I  could  die  in  thy  stead ! 

Hipp.  Oh  !  the  bitter  gifts  of  thy  father  Neptune  ! 

The.  Would  that  the  prayer  had  never  come  into  my  mouth. 

Hipp.  "Wherefore  this  wish  ?  thou  wouldst  have  slain  me, 
so  enraged  wert  thou  then. 

The.  For  I  was  deceived  in  my  notions  by  the  Gods. 

Hipp.  Alas !  would  that  the  race  of  mortals  could  curse 
'  the  Gods ! 

Di.  Let  be ;  for  not  even  when  thou  art  under  the  darkness 
of  the  earth  shall  the  rage  arising  from  the  bent  of  the  God- 
dess Venus  descend  upon  thy  body  unrevenged :  by  reason  of 
thy  piety  and  thy  excellent  mind.  For  with  these  inevitable 
weapons  from  mine  own  hand  will  I  revenge  me  on  another,51 
Avhoever  to  her  be  the  dearest  of  mortals.  But  to  thee,  O 
unhappy  one,  in  recompence  for  these  evils,  will  I  give  the 
greatest  honours  in  the  land  of  Trcezene ;  for  the  unwedded 
virgins  before  their  nuptials  shall  shear  their  locks  to  thee  for 
many  an  age,  owning  the  greatest  sorrow  tears  can  give ;  but 
ever  among  the  virgins  shall  there  be  a  remembrance  of  thee 
that  shall  awake  the  song,  nor  dying  away  without  a  name 
shall  Phaedra's  love  towards  thee  pass  unrecorded  : — But  thou, 
O  son  of  the  aged  iEgeus,  take  thy  son  in  thine  arms  and 
clasp  him  to  thee ;  for  unwillingly  thou  didst  destroy  him, 
but  that  men  should  err,  when  the  Gods  dispose  events,  is 
but  to  be  expected ! — and  thee,  Hippolytus,  I  exhort  not  to 
remain  at  enmity  with  thy  father ;  for  thou  perceivest  the 
fate,  whereby  thou  wert  destroyed.  And  farewell !  for  it  is 
not  lawful  for  me  to  behold  the  dead,  nor  to  pollute  mine  eye 
with  the  gasps  of  the  dying ;  but  I  see  that  thou  art  now  near 
this  calamity. 

/  Hipp.  Go  thou  too,  and  farewell,  blest  virgin  !  But  thou 
easily  quittest  a  long  companionship.  But  I  give  up  all  en- 
mity against  my  father  at  thy  request,  for  before  also  I  was 

51  Probably  meaning  Adonis.     See  Monk.     B. 


1443— 1466.  HirPOLYTUS.  211 

wont  to  obey  thy  words.  Ah  !  ah  !  darkness  now  covers  me 
over  mine  eyes.  Take  hold  on  me,  my  father,  and  lift  up  my 
body. 

The.  Ah  me !  my  son, what  dost  thou,  do  to  me  unhappy  ? 

Hipp.  I  perish,  and  do  indeed  see  the  gates  of  hell. 

The.  What  ?  leaving  my  mind  uncleansed  from  thy  blood  ? 

Hipp.  No  in  sooth,  since  I  free  thee  from  this  murder. 

The.  What  sayest  thou  ?  dost  thou  remit  me  free  from  the 
guilt  of  blood  ? 

Hipp.  I  call  to  witness  Dian  that  slays  with  the  bow. 

The.  O  most  dear,  how  noble  thou  appearest  to  thy  father  ! 

Hipp.  O  farewell  thou  too,  take  my  best  farewell,  my  father  ! 

The.  Oh  me  !  for  thy  pious  and  brave  soul ! 

Hipp.  Pray  to  have  legitimate  sons  like  me. 

The.  Do  not,  I  prithee,  leave  me,  my  son,  but  be  strong. 

Hipp.  My  time  of  strength  is  past ;  for  I  perish,  my  father : 
but  cover  my  face  as  quickly  as  possible  with  robes. 

The.  O  famous  realms  of  Athens  and  of  Pallas,  of  what  a 
man  will  ye  have  been  bereaved  !  Oh  unhappy  I !  What  abun- 
dant reason,  Venus,  shall  I  have  to  remember  thy  ills  ! 

Cho.  This  common  grief  to  all  the  citizens  hath  come 
unexpectedly.  There  will  be  a  fast  falling  of  many  tears ;  for 
the  mournful  stories  of  great  men  rather  obtain. 


?  2 


ALCESTIS. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

APOLLO. 

DEATH. 

CHORUS  OF  PHER03ANS. 

ATTENDANTS. 

ALCESTIS. 

ADMETUS. 

EUMELUS. 

HERCULES. 

PHERES. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Apollo  desired  of  the  Fates  that  Admetus,  who  was  about  to  die, 
might  give  a  substitute  to  die  for  him,  that  so  he  might  live  for  a  term 
equal  to  his  former  life ;  and  Alcestis,  his  wife,  gave  herself  up,  while 
neither  of  his  parents  were  willing  to  die  instead  of  their  son.  But  not 
long  after  the  time  when  this  calamity  happened,  Hercules  having  arrived, 
and  having  learnt  from  a  servant  what  had  befallen  Alcestis,  went  to  her 
tomb,  and  having  made  Death  retire,  covers  the  lady  with  a  robe ;  and 
requested  Admetus  to  receive  her  and  keep  her  for  him  ;  and  said  he  had 
borne  her  off  as  a  prize  in  wrestling ;  but  when  he  would  not,  he  unveiled 
her,  and  discovered  her  whom  he  was  lamenting. 


ALCESTIS. 


Apollo. 


O  mansions  of  Aclmetus,  wherein  I  endured  to  acquiesce  in 
the  slave's  table,1  though  a  God  ;  for  Jove  was  the  cause,  by 
slaying  my  son  iEsculapius,  hurling  the  lightning  against  his 
breast :  whereat  engaged,  I  slay  the  Cyclops,  forgers  of  Jove's 
lire ;  and  me  my  father  compelled  to  serve  for  hire  with  a 
mortal,  as  a  punishment  for  these  things.  But  having  come 
to  this  land,  I  tended  the  herds  of  him  who  received  me,  and 
have  preserved  this  house  until  this  day :  for  being  pious  I 
met  with  a  pious  man,2  the  son  of  Pheres,  whom  I  delivered 
from  dying  by  deluding  the  Fates:  but  those  Goddesses 
granted  me  that  Admetus  should  escape  the  impending  death, 
could  he  furnish  in  his  place  another  dead  for  the  powers  be- 
low. But  having  tried  and  gone  through  all  his  friends,  his 
father  and  his  aged  mother  who  bore  him,  he  found  not,  save 
his  wife,  one  who  was  willing  to  die  for  him,  and  view  no 
more  the  light :  who  now  within  the  house  is  borne  in  their 
hands,  breathing  her  last ;  for  on  this  day  is  it  destined  for 
her  to  die,  and  to  depart  from  life.  But  I,  lest  the  pollution3 
come  upon  me  in  the  house,  leave  this  palace's  most  dear 
abode.  But  already  I  behold  Death  near,  priest  of  the  dead, 
who  is  about  to  bear  her  down  to  the  mansions  of  Pluto ;  but 
he  comes  at  the  right  time,  observing  this  day,  in  the  which 
it  was  destined  for  her  to  die. 

1  Lactant.  i.  10.  "  Quid  Apollo  ?    Nonne turpissime  gregem  pavit 

alienum?"     B. 

2  Hygin.  Fab.  li.  "  Apollo  ab  eo  in  servitutem  liberaliter  acceptus."  B. 

3  Cf.  Hippol.  1437.     B. 


216  '   ALCESTIS.  28—0.5. 

Death,4  Apollo. 

Dea.  Ah !  Ah  !  Ah  !  Ah  !  What  dost  thou  at  the  palace  ? 
why  tamest  here,  Phoebus  ?  Art  thou  again  at  thy  deeds  of 
injustice,  taking  away  and  putting  an  end  to  the  honours  of 
the  powers  beneath  ?  Did  it  not  suffice  thee  to  stay  the  death 
of  Admetus,  when  thou  didst  delude  the  Fates  by  fraudful 
artifice  ?5  But  now  too  dost  thou  keep  guard  for  her,  having 
armed  thine  hand  with  thy  bow,  who  then  promised,  in  order 
to  redeem  her  husband,  herself,  the  daughter  of  Pelias,  to  die 
for  him  ? 

Ap.  Fear  not,  I  cleave  to  justice  and  honest  arguments. 

Dea.  What  business  then  has  your  bow,  if  you  cleave  to 
justice? 

Ap.  It  is  my  habit  ever  to  bear  it. 

Dea.  Yes,  and  without  regard  to  justice  to  aid  this  house. 

Ap.  Ay,  for  I  am  afflicted  at  the  misfortunes  of  a  man  that 
is  dear  to  me. 

Dea.  And  wilt  thou  deprive  me  of  this  second  dead  ? 

Ap.  But  neither  took  I  him  from  thee  by  force. 

Dea.  How  then  is  he  upon  earth,  and  not  beneath  the 
ground  ? 

Ap.  Because  he  gave  in  his  stead  his  wife,  after  whom  thou 
art  now  come. 

Dea.  Yes,  and  will  bear  her  off  to  the  land  beneath. 

Ap.  Take  her  away,  for  I  know  not  whether  I  can  per- 
suade thee. 

Dea.  What  ?  to  slay  hirn,  whom  I  ought  ?  for  this  was  I 
commanded. 

Ap.  No  :  but  to  cast  death  upon  those  about  to  die. 

Dea.  Yes,  I  perceive  thy  speech,  and  what  thou  aim'st  at. 

Ap.  Is  it  possible  then  for  Alcestis  to  arrive  at  old  age  ? 

Dea.  It  is  not :  consider  that  I  too  am  delighted  with  my 
due  honours. 

A  p.  Thou  canst  not,  however,  take  more  than  one  life. 

Dea.  When  the  young  die,  I  earn  the  greater  glory. 

4  No  one  will,  I  believe,  object  to  this  translation  of  0ANATO2 ;  it 
seems  rather  a  matter  of  surprise  that  Potter  has  kept  the  Latin  Orcus, 
a  name  clearly  substituted  as  the  nearest  to  9ANAT0S  of  the  masculine 
gender. 

s  Cf.  /Esch.  Eum.  723  sqq.     B. 


56— 86.  ALCESTIS.  217 

Ap.  And  if  she  die  old,  she  will  be  sumptuously  entombed.0 

Dea.  Thou  layest  down  the  law,  Phoebus,  in  favour  of  the 
rich. 

Ap.  How  sayest  thou?  what?  hast  thou  been  clever  with- 
out my  perceiving  it  ? 

Dea.  Those  who  have  means  would  purchase  to  die  old. 

Ap.  Doth  it  not  then  seem  good  to  thee  to  grant  me  this 
favour  ? 

Dea.  No  in  truth ;  and  thou  knowest  my  ways. 

Ap.  Yes,  hostile  to  mortals,  and  detested  by  the  Gods. 

Dea.  Thou  canst  not  have  all  things,  which  thou  ought- 
est  not. 

Ap.  Nevertheless,  thou  wilt  stop,  though  thou  art  over 
fierce ;  such  a  man  will  come  to  the  house  of  Pheres,  whom 
Eurystheus  hath  sent  after  the  chariot  and  its  horses,7  to  bring 
them  from  the  wintry  regions  of  Thrace,  who  in  sooth,  being 
welcomed  in  the  mansions  of  Admetus,  shall  take  away  by 
force  this  woman  from  thee  ;  and  there  will  be  no  obligation 
to  thee  at  my  hands,  but  still  thou  wilt  do  this,  and  wilt  be 
hated  by  me. 

Dea.  Much  though  thou  talkest,  thou  wilt  gain  nothing. 
This  woman  then  shall  descend  to  the  house  of  Pluto ;  and  I 
am  advancing  upon  her,  that  I  may  begin  the  rites  on  her 
with  my  sword ;  for  sacred  is  he  to  the  Gods  beneath  the 
earth,  the  hair  of  whose  head  this  sword  hath  consecrated.8 

Chorus. 

Semich.  Wherefore  in  heaven's  name  is  this  stillness  before 
the  palace  ?  why  is  the  house  of  Admetus  hushed  in  silence  ? 

Semich.  But  there  is  not  even  one  of  our  friends  near,  who 
can  tell  us  whether  we  have  to  deplore  the  departed  queen,  or 
whether  Alcestis,  daughter  of  Pelias,  yet  living  views  this 
light,  who  has  appeared  to  me  and  to  all  to  have  been  the  best 
wife  towards  her  husband. 

Cho.  Hears  any  one  either  a  wailing,  or  the  beating  of 

6  It  was  customary  to  bury  those,  who  died  advanced  in  years,  with 
greater  magnificence  than  young  persons. 

7  The  horses  of  Diomed,  king  of  Thrace.  The  construction  is,  Ei'ipucr- 
Q'tu)Q  Trifitpavrog  [avrbv]  fitra  'Ittttuov  oxtj/xa  [d^ovra]  sk  tottujv  dvaxu- 
uepuiv  epp'/cj/e.     Monk. 

8  On  this  custom,  see  Monk,  and  Lomeier  de  Lustrationibus,  §  xxviii.  B 


218  ALCESTIS.  87— 13G. 

hands  within  the  house,  or  a  lamentation,  as  though  the  thing 
had  taken  place?9  There  is  not  however  any  one  of  the 
servants  standing  before  the  gates.  Oh  would  that  thou 
wouldst  appear,  O  Apollo,  amid  the  waves  of  this  calamity  ! 

Semich.  They  would  not  however  be  silent,  were  she  dead. 

Semich.  For  the  corse  is  certainly  not  gone  from  the  house. 

Semich.  Whence  this  conjecture?  I  do  not  presume  this. 
What  is  it  gives  you  confidence  ? 

Semich.  How  could  Admetus  have  made  a  private  funeral 
of  his  so  excellent  wife  ? 

Cho.  But  before  the  gates  I  see  not  the  bath  of  water  from 
the  fountain,10  as  is  the  custom  at  the  gates  of  the  dead:  and 
in  the  vestibule  is  no  shorn  hair,  which  is  wont  to  fall  in  grief 
for  the  dead ;  the  youthful11  hand  of  women  for  the  youthful 
wife  sound  not. 

SEMicn.  And  yet  this  is  the  appointed  day, — 

Semich.  What  is  this  thou  sayest  ? 

Semich.  In  the  which  she  must  go  beneath  the  earth. 

Semich.  Thou  hast  touched  my  soul,  hast  touched  my  heart. 

Semich.  When  the  good  are  afflicted,  he  must  mourn,  who 
from  the  beginning  has  been  accounted  good. 

Cho.  But  there  is  not  whither  in  the  earth  any  one  having 
sent  naval  equipment,  or  to  Lycia,  or  to  the  thirsty  site  of 
Hammon's  temple,  can  redeem  the  unhappy  woman's  life,  for 
abrupt  fate  approaches,  and  I  know  not  to  whom  of  those  that 
sacrifice  at  the  hearths  of  the  Gods  I  can  go.  But  only  if  the 
son  of  Phoebus  were  viewing  with  his  eyes  this  light,  could 
she  come,  having  left  the  darksome  habitations  and  the  gates 
of  Pluto ;  for  he  raised  up  the  dead,  before  that  the  stroke  of 
the  lightning's  fire  hurled  by  Jove  destroyed  him.  But  now 
what  hope  of  life  can  I  any  longer  entertain  ?  For  all  things 
have  already  been  done  by  the  king,  and  at  the  altars  of  all 
the  Gods  abound  the  victims  dropping  with  blood,  and  no  cure 
is  there  of  these  evils. 

9  Perhaps,  "  as  though  all  were  over."     B. 

10  Casaubon  on  Theophr.  §  16,  observes  that  it  was  customary  to  place 
a  large  vessel  filled  with  lustral  water  before  the  doors  of  a  house  during 
the  time  the  corpse  was  lying  out,  with  which  every  one  who  came  out 
sprinkled  himself.  See  also  Monk's  note,  Kirchmann  de  Funeribus,  iii. 
9.  The  same  custom  was  observed  on  returning  from  the  funeral.  See 
Pollux,  viii.  7.  p.  391,  cd.  Seber.     B. 

11  See  Dindorf.     B. 


137—158.  ALCESTIS.  219 

Chorus,  Female  Attendant. 

Cho.  But  here  comes  one  of  the  female  attendants  from  the 
house,  in  tears ;  what  shall  I  hear  has  happened  ?  To  mourn 
indeed,  if  any  thing  happens  to  our  lords,  is  pardonable  :  but 
whether  the  lady  be  still  alive,  or  whether  she  be  dead,  we 
would  wish  to  know. 

Att.  You  may  call  her  both  alive  and  dead. 

Cho.  And  how  can  the  same  woman  be  both  alive  and 
dead? 

Att.  Already  she  is  on  the  verge  of  death,12  and  breathing 
her  life  away. 

Cho.  Oh  wretched  man,  being  what  thyself  of  what  a  wife 
art  thou  bereft ! 

Att.  My  master  knows  not  this  yet,  until  he  suffer. 

Cho.  Is  there  no  longer  hope  that  she  may  save  her  life  ? 

Att.  No,  for  the  destined  day  makes  its  attack  upon  her. 

Cho.  Are  not  then  suitable  preparations  made  for  these 
events  ? 

Att.  Yes,  the  adornments13  are  ready,  wherewith  her  hus- 
band will  bury  her. 

Cho.  Let  her  know  then  that  she  will  die  glorious,  and  by 
far  the  best  of  women  under  the  sun. 

Att.  And  how  not  the  best  ?  who  will  contest  it  ?  What 
must  the  woman  be,  who  has  surpassed  her  ?  and  how  can  any 
give  greater  proof  of  esteeming  her  husband,  than  by  being 
willing  to  die  for  him  ?  And  these  things  indeed  the  whole 
city  knoweth.  But  what  she  did  in  the  house  you  will  mar- 
vel when  you  hear.    For,  when  she  perceived  that  the  destined 

12  Potterus,  Arch.  Gr.  mortuos  a  Graecis  Trpovunruc  vocari  tradit,  quod 
solebant  ex  penitiore  fedium  parte  produci,  ac  in  vestibtdo,  i.  e.  irpoviDTriy 
collocari :  atque  hunc  locum  adducit,  sed  frustra,  ut  opinor.  Non  enim 
mortua  jam  erat,  nee  producta,  sed,  ut  recte  hanc  vocem  interpretatur 
schol.  £ic  Qavarov  irpovevevKvXa,  i.  e.  morti  propinqua.  Proprie  Trpovw- 
7T»}c  is  dicitur,  qui  corpore  prono  ad  terrain  fertur,  ut  ^Eschyl.  Agam.  242. 
Inde,  quia  moribundi  virium  defectu  terrain  petere  solent,  ad  hos  desig- 
nandos  translatum  est.     Kuinoel. 

13  The  old  word  "  dizening"  is  perhaps  the  most  literal  translation  of 
•con/we,  which,  however,  here  means  the  whole  preparations  for  the  funeral. 
Something  like  it  is  implied  in  Hamlet,  v.  1. 

....  her  virgin  rites, 
Her  maiden  strewments,  and  the  bringing  home 
Of  bell  and  burial.     B. 


220  ALCESTIS.  159—201. 

day  was  come,  she  washed  her  fair  skin  with  water  from  the 
river ;  and  having  taken  from  her  closets  of  cedar  vesture  and 
ornaments,  she  attired  herself  becomingly ;  and  standing  be- 
fore the  altar  she  prayed :  "  O  mistress,  since  I  go  beneath  the 
earth,  adoring  thee  for  the  last  time,  I  will  beseech  thee  to 
protect  my  orphan  children,  and  to  the  one  join  a  loving  wife, 
and  to  the  other  a  noble  husband:  nor,  as  their  mother 
perishes,  let  my  children  untimely  die,  but  happy  in  their 

paternal  country  let  them  complete  a  joyous  life." But 

all  the  altars,  which  are  in  the  house  of  Admetus,  she  went 
to,  and  crowned,  and  prayed,  tearing  the  leaves  from  off  the 
myrtle  boughs,  tearless,  without  a  groan,  nor  did  the  ap- 
proaching evil  change  the  natural  beauty  of  her  skin.  And 
then  rushing  to  her  chamber,  and  her  bed,  there  indeed  she 
wept  and  spoke  thus :  "  O  bridal  bed,  whereon  I  loosed  my 
virgin  zone  with  this  man,  for  whom  I  die,  farewell !  for  I 
hate  thee  not ;  but  me  alone  hast  thou  lost ;  for  dreading  to 
betray  thee,  and  my  husband,  I  die;  but  thee  some  other 
woman  will  possess,  more  chaste  there  cannot,  but  perchance 

more  fortunate." 14 And  falling  on  it  she  kissed  it ;  but  all 

the  bed  was  bathed  with  the  flood  that  issued  from  her  eyes. 
But  when  she  had  satiety  of  much  weeping,  she  goes  hastily 
forward,15  rushing  from  the  bed.  And  ofttimes  having  left 
her  chamber,  she  oft  returned,  and  threw  herself  upon  the  bed 
again.  And  her  children,  hanging  to  the  garments  of  their 
mother,  wept ;  but  she,  taking  them  in  her  arms,  embraced 
them,  first  one  and  then  the  other,  as  about  to  die.  But  all 
the  domestics  wept  throughout  the  house,  bewailing  their  mis- 
tress, but  she  stretched  out  her  right  hand  to  each,  and  there 
was  none  so  mean,  whom  she  addressed  not,  and  was  answered 
in  return.  Such  are  the  woes  in  the  house  of  Admetus. 
And  had  he  died  indeed,  he  would  have  perished ;  but  now 
that  he  has  escaped  death,  he  has  grief  to  that  degree  which 
he  will  never  forget. 

Cho.  Surely  Adrastus  groans  at  these  evils,  if  he  must  be 
deprived  of  so  excellent  a  wife. 

Att.  Yes,  he  weeps,  holding  his  dear  wife  in  his  hands, 

14  Aristophanes  is  almost  too  bad  in  his  burlesque,  Equit.  1251.  ci  & 
aXXog  rig  \dJ3ujv  KtKTr}<stTai,  KktTCTi}Q  /liv  ouk  av  fidXXov,  tvrvxVQ  8' 
Iuioq.     B. 

15  Some  would  translate  7rpovwirr)Q  m  the  same  manner  as  in  verse  144. 


202—242.  ALCESTIS. 


221 


and  prays  her  not  to  leave  him,  asking  impossibilities ;  for 
she  wastes  away,  and  is  consumed  by  sickness,  but  fainting  a 
wretched  burden  in  his  arms,  yet  still  though  but  feebly 
breathing,  she  fain  would  glance  towards  the  rays  of  the  sun  ; 
as  though  never  again,  but  now  for  the  last  time  she  is  to  view 
the  sun's  beam  and  his  orb.  But  I  will  go  and  announce  your 
presence,  for  it  is  by  no  means  all  that  are  well-wishers  to 
their  lords,  so  as  to  come  kindly  to  them  in  their  misfortunes  ; 
but  you  of  old  are  friendly  to  my  master. 

Semich.  O  Jove,  what  means  of  escape  can  there  in  any 
way  be,  and  what  method  to  rid  us  of  the  fortune  which  at- 
tends my  master  ? 

Semich.  Will  any  appear?  or  must  I  cut  my  locks,  and 
clothe  me  even  now  in  black  array  of  garments  ? 

Semich.  'Tis  plain,  my  friends,  too  plain  ;  but  still  let  us 
pray  to  the  Gods,  for  the  power  of  the  Gods  is  mightiest. 

Semich.  O  Apollo,  king  of  healing,  find  out  some  remedy 
for  the  evils  of  Admetus,  procure  it,  O!  procure  it.  For 
before  this  also  thou  didst  find  remedy,  and  now  become  our 
deliverer  from  death,  and  stop  the  murderous  Pluto. 

Semich.  Alas !  alas !  woe !  woe !  0  son  of  Pheres,  how 
didst  thou  fare  when  thou  wert  deprived  of  thy  wife  ? 

Semich.  Alas  !  alas  !  these  things  would  even  justify  self- 
slaughter,  and  there  is  more,  than  whereat  one  might  thrust 
one's  neck  in  the  suspending  noose.16 

Semich.  For  not  a  dear,  but  a  most  dear  wife,  wilt  thou 
see  dead  this  day. 

Semich.  Behold,  behold  ;  lo !  she  doth  come  from  the 
house,  and  her  husband  with  her.  Cry  out,  0  groan,  O  land 
of  Pheres,  for  the  most  excellent  woman,  wasting  with  sick- 
ness, departing  beneath  the  earth  to  the  infernal  Pluto.  Ne- 
ver will  I  aver  that  marriage  brings  more  joy  than  grief, 
forming  my  conjectures  both  from  former  things,  and  behold- 
ing this  fortune  of  the  king ;  who,  when  he  has  lost  this  most 
excellent  wife,  will  thenceforward  pass  a  life  not  worthy  to 
be  called  life.17 

18  Conf.  Ter. :  Phorm.  iv.  4,  5.  Opera  tua  ad  restim  milii  quidem  res 
rediit  planissume. 

17  Perhaps  it  is  unnecessary  to  remark,  that  dfiiwTov  agrees  with  j3iov 
implied  in  fiiorkvcrEi. 


222  ALCESTIS.  243-285. 

Alcestis,  Admetus,  Eumelus,  Chorus. 

Alc.  Thou  Sun,  and  thou  light  of  day,  and  ye  heavenly 
eddies  of  the  fleeting  clouds 

Adm.  He  beholds I8  thee  and  me,  two  unhappy  creatures, 
having  done  nothing  to  the  Gods,  for  which  thou  shouldst 
die. 

Alc.  O  earth,  and  ye  roofs  of  the  palace,  and  thou  bridal 
bed  of  my  native  Iolcos. 

Adm.  Lift  up  thyself,  unhappy  one,  desert  me  not;  but 
entreat  the  powerful  Gods  to  pity. 

Alc.  I  see — I  see  the  two-oared  boat — and  the  ferryman 
of  the  dead,  holding  his  hand  on  the  pole — Charon  even  now 
calls  me — "Why  dost  thou  delay?  haste,  thou  stoppest  us 
here  " — with  such  words  vehement  he  hastens  me. 

Adm.  Ah  me  !  a  bitter  voyage  this  thou  speakest  of !  Oh  ! 
unhappy  one,  how  do  we  suffer  ! 

Alc.  He  pulls  me,  some  one  pulls  me — do  you  not  see  ? — 
to  the  hall  of  the  dead,  the  winged  Pluto,  staring  from  be- 
neath his  black  eyebrows — What  wilt  thou  do  ? — let  me  go — 
what  a  journey  am  I  most  wretched  going  ! 

Adm.  Mournful  to  thy  friends,  and  of  these  especially  to 
me  and  to  thy  children,  who  have  this  grief  in  common. 

Alc.  Leave  off19  supporting  me,  leave  off  now,  lay  me 
down,  I  have  no  strength  in  my  feet.  Death  is  near,  and 
darkling  night  creeps  upon  mine  eyes — my  children,  my  chil- 
dren, no  more  your  mother  is — no  more. — Farewell,  my  chil- 
dren, long  may  you  view  this  light ! 

Adm.  Ah  me !  I  hear  this  sad  word,  and  more  than  any 
death  to  me.  Do  not  by  the  Gods  have  the  heart  to  leave 
me :  do  not  by  those  children,  whom  thou  wilt  make  orphans : 
but  rise,  be  of  good  courage:  for,  thee  dead,  I  should  no 
longer  be :  for  on  thee  we  depend  both  to  live,  and  not  to 
live :  for  thy  love  we  adore. 

Alc.  Admetus,  thou  seest  both  thy  affairs  and  mine,  in 
what  state  they  are,  I  wish  to  tell  thee,  ere  I  die,  what  I 
would  have  done.  I,  honouring  thee,  and  causing  thee  at  the 
price  of  my  life  to  view  this  light,  die,  it  being  in  mjr  power 
not  to  die,  for  thee :  but  though  I  might  have  married  a  hus- 

,s  op£  scilicet  ?}Xioc.    Monk.  19  Cf.  Hippol.  1372.     B. 


285—324.  ALCESTIS.  223 

band  from  among  the  Thessalians  whom  I  would,  and  have 
lived  in  a  palace  blessed  with  regal  sway,  was  not  willing  to 
live,  bereft  of  thee,  with  my  children  orphans  ;  nor  did  I  spare 
myself,  though  possessing  the  gifts  of  bloomy  youth,  wherein 
I  delighted.  And  yet  thy  father  and  thy  mother  forsook  thee, 
though  they  had  well  arrived  at  a  point  of  life,  in  which  they 
might  have  died,  and  nobly  delivered  their  son,  and  died  with 
glory :  for  thou  wert  their  only  one,  and  there  was  no  hope, 
when  thou  wert  dead,  that  they  could  have  other  children.20 
And  I  should  have  lived,  and  thou,  the  rest  of  our  time.  And 
thou  wouldst  not  be  groaning  deprived  of  thy  wife,  and  wouldst 
not  have  to  bring  up  thy  children  orphans.  But  these  things 
indeed,  some  one  of  the  Gods  hath  brought  to  pass,  that  they 
should  be  thus.  Be  it  so — but  do  thou  remember  to  give  me 
a  return  for  this ;  for  never  shall  I  ask  thee  for  an  equal  one, 
(for  nothing  is  more  precious  than  life,)  but  just,  as  thou  wilt 
say :  for  thou  lovest  not  these  children  less  than  I  do,  if  thou 
art  right-minded ;  them  bring  up  lords  over  my  house,  and 
bring  not  in  second  marriage  a  stepmother  over  these  chil- 
dren, who,  being  a  worse  woman  than  me,  through  envy  will 
stretch  out  her  hand  against  thine  and  my  children.  Do  not 
this  then,  I  beseech  thee ;  for  a  stepmother  that  is  in  second 
marriage  is  enemy  to  the  children  of  the  former  marriage,  no 
milder  than  a  viper.  And  my  boy  indeed  has  his  father,  a 
great  tower  of  defence ;  but  thou,  O  my  child,  how  wilt  thou 
be  brought  up  during  thy  virgin  years  ?  Having  what  consort 
of  thy  father's  ?  I  fear,  lest  casting  some  evil  obloquy  on  thee, 
she  destroy  thy  marriage  in  the  bloom  of  youth.21  For  nei- 
ther will  thy  mother  ever  preside  over  thy  nuptials,  nor 
strengthen  thee  being  present,  my  daughter,  at  thy  travails, 
where  nothing  is  more  kind  than  a  mother.  For  I  needs  must 
die,  and  this  evil  comes  upon  me  not  to-morrow,  nor  on  the 
third  day  of  the  month,  but  immediately  shall  I  be  numbered 
among  those  that  are  no  more.  Farewell,  and  may  you  be 
happy  ;  and  thou  indeed,  my  husband,  mayst  boast,  that  thou 

20  It  must  be  remembered  that  to  survive  one's  children  was  considered 
the  greatest  of  misfortunes.  Cf.  Plaut.  Mil.  Glor.  1.  ].  "  Ita  ut  tuum 
vis  unicum  gnatum  tuae  Superesse  vitre,  sospitem  et  superstitem."     B. 

21  Kuinoel  carries  on  the  interrogation  to  yafiovQ,  and  Buchanan  has 
translated  it  according  to  this  punctuation.  Monk  compares  Iliad,  p.  95; 
ui)tt<dq  jie  TrepioTtXtiHr'  'iva  noWoi. 


224  ALCESTIS.  324-368. 

hadst  a  most  excellent  wife,  and  you,  my  children,  that  you 
were  born  of  a  most  excellent  mother. 

Cho.  Be  of  good  cheer ;  for  I  fear  not  to  answer  for  him : 
he  will  do  this,  if  he  be  not  bereft  of  his  senses. 

Adm.  These  things  shall  be  so,  they  shall  be,  fear  not: 
since  I,  when  alive  also,  possessed  thee  alone,  and  when  thou 
art  dead,  thou  shalt  be  my  only  wife,  and  no  Thessalian  bride 
shall  address  me  in  the  place  of  thee :  there  is  not  woman 
who  shall,  either  of  so  noble  a  sire,  nor  otherwise  most  ex- 
quisite in  beauty.  But  my  children  are  enough ;  of  these  I 
pray  the  Gods  that  I  may  have  the  enjoyment;  for  thee  we 
do  not  enjoy.  But  I  shall  not  have  this  grief  for  thee  for  a 
year,  but  as  long  as  my  life  endures,  O  lady,  abhorring  her 
indeed  that  brought  me  forth,  and  hating  my  father ;  for  they 
were  in  word,  not  in  deed,  my  friends.  But  thou,  giving  what 
was  dearest  to  thee  for  my  life,  hast  rescued  me.  Have*  I  not 
then  reason  to  groan  deprived  of  such  a  wife  ?  But  I  will  put 
an  end  to  the  feasts,  and  the  meetings  of  those  that  drink  to- 
gether, and  garland  and  song,  which  wont  to  dwell  in  my 
house.  For  neither  can  I  any  more  touch  the  lyre,  nor  lift 
up  my  heart  to  sing  to  the  Libyan  flute ;  for  thou  hast  taken 
away  my  joy  of  life.  But  by  the  cunning  hand  of  artists 
imaged  thy  figure  shall  be  lain  on  my  bridal  bed,  on  which  I 
will  fall,  and  clasping  my  hands  around,  calling  on  thy  name, 
shall  fancy  that  I  hold  my  dear  wife  in  mine  arms,  though 
holding  her  not : 22  a  cold  delight,  I  ween ;  but  still  I  may 
draw  off  the  weight  that  sits  upon  my  soul :  and  in  my  dreams 
visiting  me,  thou  mayst  delight  me,  for  a  friend  is  sweet  even 
to  behold  at  night,  for  whatever  time  he  may  come.  But  if 
the  tongue  of  Orpheus  and  his  strain  were  mine,  so  that  in- 
voking with  hymns  the  daughter  of  Ceres  or  her  husband,  I 
could  receive  thee  from  the  shades  below,  I  would  descend^ 
and  neither  the  dog  of  Pluto,  nor  Charon  at  his  oar,  the  fer- 
ryman of  departed  spirits,  should  stay  me  before  I  brought 
thy  life  to  the  light.  But  there  expect  me  when  I  die  and 
prepare  a  mansion  for  me,  as  about  to  dwell  with  me.  For  I 
will  enjoin  these23  to  place  me  in  the  same  cedar  with  thee, 
and  to  lay  my  side  near  thy  side :  for  not  even  when  dead 
may  I  be  separated  from  thee,  the  only  faithful  one  to  me ! 

22  Compare  my  note  on  /Esch.  Ag.  41 1  sqq.      B. 
23   These,  niv  children. 


369-413.  ALCESTIS.  22o 

Cho.  And  I  indeed  with  thee,  as  a  friend  with  a  friend, 
will  bear  this  painful  grief  for  her,  for  she  is  worthy. 

Alc.  My  children,  ye  indeed  hear  your  father  saying  that 
he  will  never  marry  another  wife  to  be  over  you,  nor  dis- 
honour me. 

Ami.  And  now  too,  I  say  this,  and  will  perform  it. 

Alc.  For  this  receive  these  children  from  my  hand. 

Ami.  Yes,  I  receive  a  dear  gift  from  a  dear  hand. 

Alc.  Be  thou  then  a  mother  to  these  children  in  my  stead. 

Ami.  There  is  much  need  that  I  should,  when  they  are 
deprived  of  thee. 

Alc.  0  my  children,  at  a  time  Avhen  I  ought  to  live  I  de- 
part beneath. 

Ami.  Ah  me ;  what  shall  I  do  of  thee  bereaved  ! 

Alc.  Time  will  soften  thy  grief:  he  that  is  dead  is  nothing. 

Adm.  Take  me  with  thee,  by  the  Gods  take  me  beneath. 

Alc.  Enough  are  we  to  go,  who  die  for  thee. 

Adm.  O  fate,  of  what  a  wife  thou  deprivest  me ! 

Alc.  And  lo  !  my  darkening  eye  is  weighed  down. 

Adm.  I  am  undone  then,  if  thou  wilt  leave  me,  my  wife. 

Alc.  As  being  no  more,  you  may  speak  of  me  as  nothing. 

Adm.  Lift  up  thy  face ;  do  not  leave  thy  children. 

Alc.  Not  willingly  in  sooth,  but — farewell,  my  children. 

Adm.  Look  on  them,  0  !  look. 

Alc.  I  am  no  more. 

Adm.  What  dost  thou  ?  dost  thou  leave  us  ? 

Alc.  Farewell ! 

Adm.  I  am  an  undone  wretch  ! 

Cho.  She  is  gone,  Admetus'  wife  is  no  more. 

Eum.  Alas  me,  for  my  state !  my  mother  is  gone  indeed 
below ;  she  is  no  longer,  my  father,  under  the  sun ;  but  un- 
happy leaving  me  has  made  my  life  an  orphan's.  For  look, 
look  at  her  eyelid,  and  her  nerveless  arms.  Hear,  hear,  0 
mother,  I  beseech  thee ;  I,  I  now  call  thee,  mother,  thy  young 
one  falling  on  thy  mouth 

Adm.  Who  hears  not,  neither  sees :  so  that  I  and  you  are 
struck  with  a  heavy  calamity. 

Eum.  Young  and  deserted,  my  father,  am  I  left  by  my  dear 
mother:  O!  I  that  have  suffered  indeed  dreadful  deeds! — 
and  thou  hast  suffered  with  me,  my  sister.  O  father,  in  vain, 
in  vain  didst  thou  marry,  nor  with  her  didst  thou  arrive  at 

Q 


226  ALCESTIS.  414—459. 

the  end  of  old  age,  for  she  perished  before,  but  thou  being 
gone,  mother,  the  house  is  undone. 

Cho.  Admetus,  you  must  bear  this  calamity  ;  for  in  no  wise 
the  first,  nor  the  last  of  mortals  hast  thou  lost  thy  dear  wife : 
but  learn,  that  to  die  is  a  debt  we  must  all  of  us  discharge. 

Adm.  I  know  it,  and  this  evil  hath  not  come  suddenly  on 
me ;  but  knowing  it  long  ago  I  was  afflicted.  But  be  present, 
for  I  will  have  the  corse  borne  forth,  and  while  ye  stay,  chant 
a  hymn  to  the  God  below  that  accepteth  not  libations.  And 
all  the  Thessalians,  over  whom  I  reign,  I  enjoin  to  share  in 
the  grief  for  this  lady,  by  shearing  their  locks  with  steel,  and 
by  arraying  themselves  in  sable  garb.  And  harness24  your 
teams  of  horses  to  your  chariots,  and  cut  from  your  single 
steeds  the  manes  that  fall  upon  their  necks.  And  let  there 
be  no  noise  of  pipes,  nor  of  the  lyre  throughout  the  city  for 
twelve  completed  moons.  For  none  other  corse  more  dear 
shall  I  inter,  nor  one  more  kind  towards  me.  But  she  de- 
serves to  receive  honour  from  me,  seeing  that  she  alone  hath 
died  for  me. 

Chorus. 

0  daughter  of  Pelias,  farewell  where  thou  dwellest  in  sun- 
less dwelling  within  the  mansions  of  Pluto.  And  let  Pluto 
know,  the  God  with  ebon  locks,  and  the  old  man,  the  ferry- 
man of  the  dead,  who  sits  intent  upon  his  oar  and  his  rudder, 
that  he  is  conducting  by  far  the  most  excellent  of  women  in 
his  two-oared  boat  over  the  lake  of  Acheron.  Oft  shall  the 
servants  of  the  Muses  sing  of  thee,  celebrating  thee  both  on 
the  seven-stringed  lute  on  the  mountains,  and  in  hymns  un- 
accompanied by  the  lyre :  in  Sparta,  when  returns  the  annual 
circle  in  the  season  of  the  Carnean  month,25  when  the  moon 
is  up  the  whole  night  long ;  and  in  splendid26  and  happy 
Athens.  Such  a  song  hast  thou  left  by  thy  death  to  the  min- 
strels of  melodies.  Would  that  it  rested  with  me,  and  that 
I  could  waft  thee  to  the  light  from  the  mansions  of  Pluto, 
and  from  Cocytus'  streams,  by  the  oar  of  that  infernal  river. 

24  Reiske  proposes  to  read  TiQpnnra  di  %tvyn  re  Kai. And  both 

from  your  chariot  teams,  and  from  your  single  horses  cut  the  manes. 

23  This  festival  was  celebrated  in  honour  of  Apollo  at  Sparta,  from  the 
seventh  to  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  month  Carneus.     See  Monk.     B. 

20  On  Xnrapalc,  'A9di>aig,  see  Monk.     B. 


460—493.  ALCESTIS.  227 

For  thou,  O  unexampled,  0  dear  among  women,  thou  didst 
dare  to  receive  thy  husband  from  the  realms  below  in  ex- 
change for  thine  own  life.  Light  may  the  earth  from  above 
fall  upon  thee,  lady !  and  if  thy  husband  chooses  any  other 
alliance,  surely  he  Avill  be  much  detested  by  me  and  by  thy 
children.  When  his  mother  was  not  willing  for  him  to  hide 
her  body  in  the  ground,  nor  his  aged  father,  but  these  two 
wretches,  having  hoary  locks,  dared  not  to  rescue  him  they 
brought  forth,  yet  thou  in  the  vigour  of  youth  didst  depart, 
having  died  for  thy  husband.  May  it  be  mine  to  meet  with 
another  27  such  a  dear  wife ;  for  rare  in  life  is  such  a  portion, 
for  surely  she  would  live  with  me  for  ever  without  once 
causing  pain. 

Hercules,  Chorus. 

Her.  Strangers,  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Pheres,  can  I 
find  Admetus  within  the  palace  ? 

Cho.  The  son  of  Pheres  is  within  the  palace,  0  Hercules. 
But  tell  me,  what  purpose  sends  thee  to  the  land  of  the  Thes- 
salians,  so  that  thou  comest  to  this  city  of  Pheres  ? 

Her.  I  am  performing  a  certain  labour  for  the  Tirynthian 
Eurystheus. 

Cho.  And  whither  goest  thou  ?  on  what  wandering  expe- 
dition art  bound  ? 

Her.  After  the  four  chariot-steeds  of  Diomed  the  Thracian. 

Cho.  How  wilt  thou  be  able  ?  Art  thou  ignorant  of  this 
host  ? 

Her.  I  am  ignorant ;  I  have  not  yet  been  to  the  land  of  the 
Bistonians. 

Cho.  Thou  canst  not  be  lord  of  these  steeds  without  battle. 

Her.  But  neither  is  it  possible  for  me  to  renounce  the  la- 
bours set  me. 

Cho.  Thou  wilt  come  then  having  slain,  or  being  slain  wilt 
remain  there. 

Her.  Not  the  first  contest  this  that  I  shall  run. 

Cho.  But  what  advance  will  you  have  made,  when  you 
have  overcome  their  master  ? 

Her.  I  will  drive  away  the  horses  to  king  Eurystheus. 

Cho.  'Tis  no  easy  matter  to  put  the  bit  in  their  jaws. 

Her.  '  Tis,  except  they  breathe  fire  from  their  nostrils. 
27  Literally,  the  duplicate  of  such  a  "wife. 
Q  2 


228  ALCESTIS.  494— .324. 

Cho.  But  they  tear  men  piecemeal  with  their  devouring 
jaws. 

Her.  The  provender  of  mountain  beasts,  not  horses,  you 
are  speaking  of. 

Cho.  Their  stalls  thou  mayst  behold  with  blood  bestained. 

Her.   Son  of  what  sire  does  their  owner  boast  to  be  ? 

Cho.  Of  Mars,  prince28  of  the  Thracian  target,  rich  with 
gold. 

Her.  And  this  labour,  thou  talkest  of,  is  one  my  fate  com- 
pels me  to  (for  it  is  ever  hard  and  tends  to  steeps)  ;  if  I  must 
join  in  battle  with  the  children  whom  Mars  begat,  first  indeed 
Avith  Lycaon,  and  again  with  Cycnus,  and  I  come  to  this  third 
combat,  about  to  engage  with  the  horses  and  their  master. 
But  none  there  is,  who  shall  ever  see  the  son  of  Alcmena  fear- 
ing the  hand  of  his  enemies. 

Cho.  And  lo !  hither  comes  the  very  man  Admetus,  lord 
of  this  land,  from  out  of  the  palace. 

Admetus,  Herctjles,  Chorus. 

Adm.  Hail !  0  son  of  Jove,  and  of  the  blood  of  Perseus. 

Her.  Admetus,  hail  thou  too,  king  of  the  Thessalians  ! 

Adm.  I  would  I  could  receive  this  salutation  ;  but  I  know 
that  thou  art  well  disposed  towards  me. 

Her.  Wherefore  art  thou  conspicuous  with  thy  locks  shorn 
for  grief? 

Adm.  I  am  about  to  bury  a  certain  corse  this  day. 

Her.  May  the  God  avert  calamity  from  thy  children  ! 

Adm.  My  children  whom  I  begat,  live  in  the  house. 

Her.  Thy  father  however  is  of  full  age,  if  he  is  gone. 

Adm.  Both  he  lives,  and  she  who  bore  me,  Hercules. 

Her.   Surely  your  wife  Alcestis  is  not  dead  ? 

Adm.  There  are  two  accounts  which  I  may  tell  of  her. 

Her.   Speakest  thou  of  her  as  dead  or  as  alive  ? 

Adm.   She  both  is,  and  is  no  more,  and  she  grieves  me. 

Her.  I  know  nothing  more ;  for  thou  speakest  things  ob- 
scure. 

Adm.  Knowest  thou  not  the  fate  which  it  was  doomed  for 
her  to  meet  with  ? 

Her.  I  know  that  she  took  upon  herself  to  die  for  thee. 

28  ava%  iz't\rr]Q,  so  avaE,  kwttj/c  in  jEsch.  Pers.  384,  of  a  rmcer.  Wake- 
field compares  Ovid's  Clijpei  dominus  septemplicis  Ajax.     Monk. 


525—555.  ALCESTIS.  229 

Adm.  How  then  is  she  any  more,  if  that  she  promised  this  ? 

Her.  Ali !  do  not  weep  for  thy  wife  before  the  time ;  wait 
till  this  happens. 

Adm.  He  that  is  about  to  die  is  dead,  and  he  that  is  dead 
is  no  more. 

Her.  The  being  and  the  not  being  is  considered  a  different 
thing. 

AlDM.  You  judge  in  this  way,  Hercules,  but  I  in  that. 

Her.  "Why  then  dost  weep?  Who  is  he  of  thy  friends 
that  is  dead? 

Adm.  A  woman,  a  woman  we  were  lately  mentioning. 

Her.  A  stranger  by  blood,  or  any  by  birth  allied  to  thee  ? 

Adm.  A  stranger ;  but  on  other  account  dear  to  this  house. 

Her.  How  then  died  she  in  thine  house  ? 

Adm.  Her  father  dead,  she  lived  an  orphan  here. 

Her.  Alas !  "Would  that  I  had  found  thee,  Admetus,  not 
mourning  ! 

Adm.  As  about  to  do  what  then,  dost  thou  make  use  of 
these  words  ? 

Her.  I  will  go  to  some  other  hearth  of  those  who  will  re- 
ceive a  guest. 

Adm.  It  must  not  be,  O  king:  let  not  so  great  an  evil 
happen  ! 

Her.  Troublesome  is  a  guest  if  he  come  to  mourners. 

Adm.  The  dead  are  dead — but  go  into  the  house. 

Her.  'Tis  base  however  to  feast  with  weeping  friends. 

Adm.  The  guest-chamber,  whither  we  will  lead  thee,  is 
apart. 

Her.  Let  me  go,  and  I  will  owe  you  ten  thousand  thanks. 

Adm.  It  must  not  be  that  thou  go  to  the  hearth  of  another 
man.  Lead  on  thou,  having  thrown  open  the  guest-chamber 
that  is  separate  from  the  house :  and  tell  them  that  have  the 
management,  that  there  be  plenty  of  meats ;  and  shut  the 
gates  in  the  middle  of  the  hall :  it  is  not  meet  that  feasting 
guests  should  hear  groans,  nor  should  they  be  made  sad. 

Cho.  "What  are  you  doing  ?  when  so  great  a  calamity  is 
before  you,  Admetus,  hast  thou  the  heart  to  receive  guests  ? 
wherefore  art  thou  foolish  ? 

Adm.  But  if  I  had  driven  him  who  came  my  guest  from 
my  house,  and  from  the  city,  would  you  have  praised  me 
rather  ?     No  in  sooth,  since  my  calamity  had  been  no  whit 


230  ALCESTIS.  556—605. 

the  less,  but  I  the  more  inhospitable :  and  in  addition  to  my 
evils,  there  had  been  this  other  evil,  that  mine  should  be 
called  the  stranger-hating  house.  But  I  myself  find  this 
IB  an  a  most  excellent  host,  whenever  I  go  to  the  thirsty  land 
of  Argos. 

Cho.  How  then  didst  thou  hide  thy  present  fate,  when  a 
friend,  as  thou  thyself  sayest,  came  ? 

Adm.  He  never  would  have  been  willing  to  enter  the  house 
if  he  had  known  aught  of  my  sufferings.  And  to  him29  in- 
deed, I  ween,  acting  thus,  I  appear  not  to  be  wise,  nor  will 
he  praise  me ;  but  my  house  knows  not  to  drive  away,  nor  to 
dishonour  guests. 

Chorus. 

O  greatly  hospitable  and  ever  liberal  house  of  this  man, 
thee  even  the  Pythian  Apollo,  master  of  the  lyre,  deigned  to 
inhabit,  and  endured  to  become  a  shepherd  in  thine  abodes, 
through  the  sloping  hills  piping  to  thy  flocks  his  pastoral  nup- 
tial hymns.  And  there  were  wont  to  feed  with  them,  through 
delight  of  his  lays,  both  the  spotted  lynxes,  and  the  bloody 
troop  of  lions30  came  having  left  the  forest  of  Othrys ;  dis- 
ported too  around  thy  cithern,  Phcebus,  the  dappled  fawn, 
advancing  with  light  pastern  beyond  the  lofty-feathered  pines, 
joying  in  the  gladdening  strain.  Wherefore  he  dwelleth  in 
a  home  most  rich  in  flocks  by  the  fair-flowing  lake  of  Bcebe ; 
and  to  the  tillage  of  his  fields,  and  the  extent  of  his  plains, 
toAvards  that  dusky  part  of  the  heavens,  where  the  sun  stays 
his  horses,  makes  the  clime  of  the  Molossians  the  limit,  and 
holds  dominion  as  far  as  the  portless  shore  of  the  .iEgean  Sea 
at  Pelion.  And  now  having  thrown  open  his  house  he  hath 
received  his  guest  with  moistened  eyelid,  weeping  over  the 
corse  of  his  dear  wife,  who  but  now  died  in  the  palace :  for 
a  noble  disposition  is  prone  to  reverence  [of  the  guest].  But 
in  the  good  there  is  all  manner  of  wisdom.  And  confidence 
is  seated  on  my  soul  that  the  man  who  reveres  the  Gods  will 
fare  prosperously. 

29  Heath  and  Markland  take  rtfi  for  rivi. 

30  Cf.  Theocrit.  Id.  i.  71  sqq.  of  Daphnis,  rijvov  /lev  0w(c,  t^vov  \v- 
koi  wpvoavTO,  Tfjvov  xv  K  fyt'juolo  \swv  dvtic\av<TE  Qavovra  .  .  .  TroWal 
fiiv  vap  iroaffi  j36fc,  ttoWoi  8e  rt  ravpoi,  iroWai  S'  av  SaftdXai  ical  irop- 
Tiic  uSvpavTo.  Virg.  Eel.  v.  27  sqq.  Calpurnius,  Eel.  ii.  18.  Neme- 
sianus,  Eel.  i.  74  sqq. ;  ii.  32.     B. 


606-631.  ALCESTIS.  231 

Admetus,  Chorus. 

Adm.  Ye  men  of  Pherae  that  are  kindly  present,  my  serv- 
ants indeed  bear  aloft31  the  corse,  having  every  tiling  fit  for 
the  tomb,  and  for  the  pyre.  But  do  you,  as  is  the  custom, 
salute32  the  dead  going  forth  on  her  last  journey. 

Cho.  And  lo !  I  see  thy  father  advancing  with  his  aged 
foot,  and  attendants  bearing  in  their  hands  adornment  for  thy 
wife,  due  honours  Of  those  beneath. 

Pheres,  Admetus,  Chorus. 

Phe.  I  am  at  present  sympathizing  in  thy  misfortunes,  my 
son  :  for  thou  hast  lost  (no  one  will  deny)  a  good  and  a  chaste 
wife  ;  but  these  things  indeed  thou  must  bear,  though  hard  to 
be  borne.  But  receive  this  adornment,  and  let  it  go  with  her 
beneath  the  earth :  Her  body  'tis  right  to  honour,  who  in  sooth 
died  to  save  thy  life,  my  son,  and  made  me  to  be  not  childless, 
nor  suffered  me  to  waste  away  deprived  of  thee  in  an  old  age 
of  misery.  But  she  has  made  most  illustrious  the  life  of  all 
Avomen,  having  dared  this  noble  action.  O  thou  that  hast 
preserved  my  son  here,  and  has  raised  us  up  who  were  fall- 
ing, farewell.33  and  may  it  be  well  with  thee  even  in  the  man- 
sions of  Pluto  !  I  affirm  that  such  marriages  are  profitable  to 
men,  or  that  it  is  not  meet  to  marry. 

Adm.  Neither  hast  thou  come  bidden  of  me  to  this  funeral, 
nor  do  I  count  thy  presence  among  things  acceptable.  But 
she  here  never  shall  put  on  thy  decorations ;  for  in  no  wise 

31  apfir)i>  ylverm  dirb  tov  a'ipsiv.  $>]Xol  Si  to  tyopadnv.     Schol. 

32  Cf.  Suppl.  773.  "AiSov  t(  (ioXttclq  Ikxiw  SaicpvppoovQ,  cjjiXovQ  irpo- 
aavcCov,  Coi'  XtXetfifikvog  rdXag  tpnfia  icXaLu>.  See  Gorius  Monum.  sive 
Columbar.  Libert.  Florent.  eio.io.cc.xxvii.  p.  186,  who  observes,  "  x«?p« 
was  the  accustomed  salutation  addressed  to  the  dead.  Catullus,  Carm. 
xcvii.  Accipe  fratemo  multum  manantia  fletu,  atque  in  perpetuum  f rater 
HAVE,  atque  VALE."  The  same  scholar  compares  a  monument,  apud 
Fabretti,  cap.  v.  p.  392,  n.  265. 

d        .        M 

AVE  SALVINIA 

OMNIUM      .      AMAN 

TISSIMA    .    ET 

VALE, 

which  is  very  apposite  to  the  present  occasion.     B. 

33  Wakefield  reads  xa~lPe  K<tv  Ai&jv  S6/.ioig ;  having  in  his  mind  proba- 
bly Horn.  II.  ¥.  19.  Xalpt  juoi  w  TlarpoKXe,  (cat  ilv  'A'iSao  cdjuotcri. 


232  ALCESTIS.  632—672. 

shall  she  be  buried  indebted  to  what  thou  hast.  Then  ought- 
est  thou  to  have  grieved  with  me,  when  I  was  in  danger  of 
perishing.34  But  dost  thou,  who  stoodest  aloof,  and  perrnit- 
tedst  another,  a  young  person,  thyself  being  old,  to  die,  weep 
over  this  dead  body  ?  Thou  wert  not  then  really  the  father  of 
me,  nor  did  she,  who  says  she  bore  me,  and  is  called  my 
mother,  bear  me  ;  but  born  of  slavish  blood  I  was  secretly  put 
under  the  breast  of  thy  wife.  Thou  showedst  when  thou 
earnest  to  the  test,  who  thou  art ;  and  I  deem  that  I  am  not 
thy  son.  Or  else  surely  thou  exceedest  all  in  nothingness  of 
soul,  who  being  of  the  age  thou  art,  and  having  come  to  the 
goal  of  life,  neither  hadst  the  will  nor  the  courage  to  die  for 
thy  son  ;  but  sufFeredst  this  stranger  lady,  whom  alone  I  might 
justly  have  considered  both  mother  and  father.  And  yet  thou 
mightst  have  ran  this  race  for  glory,  hadst  thou  died  for  thy 
son.  But  at  any  rate  the  remainder  of  the  time  thou  hadst  to 
live  was  short :  and  I  should  have  lived  and  she  the  rest  of 
our  days,  and  I  should  not,  bereft  of  her,  be  groaning  at  my 
miseries.  And  in  sooth  thou  didst  receive  as  many  things  as 
a  happy  man  should  receive ;  thou  passedst  the  vigour  of  thine 
age  indeed  in  sovereign  sway,  but  I  was  thy  son  to  succeed 
thee  in  this  palace,  so  that  thou  wert  not  about  to  die  childless 
and  leave  a  desolate  house  for  others  to  plunder.  Thou  canst 
not  however  say  of  me,  that  I  gave  thee  up  to  die,  dishonour- 
ing thine  old  age,  whereas  I  was  particularly  respectful  to- 
wards thee ;  and  for  this  behaviour  both  thou,  and  she  that 
bare  me,  have  made  me  such  return.  Wherefore  you  have  no 
more  time  to  lose35  in  getting  children,  who  will  succour  thee 
in  thine  old  age(>  and  deck  thee  when  dead,  and  lay  out  thy 
corse  ;  for  I  will  not  bury  thee  with  this  mine  hand ;  for  I  in 
sooth  died,  as  far  as  in  thee  lay;  but  if,  having  met  with 
another  deliverer,  I  view  the  light,  I  say  that  I  am  both  his 
child,  and  the  friendly  comforter  of  his  old  age.  In  vain  then 
do  old  men  pray  to  be  dead,  complaining  of  age,  and  the  long 
time  of  life :  but  if  death  come  near,  not  one  is  willing  to  die, 
and  old  age  is  no  longer  burdensome  to  them.36 

34  I  should  scarcely  have  observed  that  this  is  the  proper  sense  of  the 
imperfect,  had  not  the  former  translator  mistaken  it.     B. 

35  Cf.  Iph.  Taur.  244.  x«pvi/3ac  St  teal  Kardpynara  ovk  iiv  ipOdvoig  av 
ivrpiirri  Ttoiovjikvr].     B. 

36  An  apparent  allusion  to  the  fable  of  Death  and  the  Old  Man.     B. 


673—710.  ALCESTIS.  233 

Cno.  Desist,  for  the  present  calamity  is  sufficient ;  and  do 
not,  0  son,  provoke  thy  lather's  mind. 

Piie.  O  son,  whom  dost  thou  presume  thou  art  gibing  with 
thy  reproaches,  a  Lydian  or  a  Phrygian  bought  with  thy 
money?37  Knowest  thou  not  that  I  am  a  Thessalian,  and  born 
from  a  Thessalian  father,  truly  free  ?  Thou  art  too  insolent, 
and  casting  the  impetuous  words  of  youth  against  us,  shalt  not 
having  cast  them  thus  depart.  But  I  begat  thee  the  lord  of 
my  house,  and  brought  thee  up,  but  I  am  not  thy  debtor  to 
die  for  thee ;  for  I  received  no  paternal  law  like  this,  nor 
Grecian  law,  that  fathers  should  die  for  their  children ;  for 
for  thyself  thou  wert  born,  whether  unfortunate  or  fortunate, 
but  what  from  us  thou  oughtest  to  have,  thou  hast.  Thou 
rulest  indeed  over  many,  and  I  will  leave  thee  a  large  demesne 
of  lands,  for  these  I  received  from  my  father.  In  what  then 
have  I  injured  thee?  Of  what  do  I  deprive  thee?  Thou 
joyest  to  see  the  light,  and  dost  think  thy  father  does  not 
joy  ?3S  Surely  I  count  the  time  we  must  spend  beneath  long, 
and  life  is  short,  but  still  sweet.  Thou  too  didst  shamelessly 
fight  off  from  dying,  and  livest,  having  passed  over  thy  des- 
tined fate,  by  slaying  her ;  then  dost  thou  talk  of  my  nothing- 
ness of  soul,  0  most  vile  one,  when  thou  art  surpassed  by  a 
woman  who  died  for  thee,  the  handsome  youth  ?  But  thou 
hast  made  a  clever  discovery,  so  that  thou  mayst  never  die, 
if  thou  wilt  persuade  the  wii'e  that  is  thine  from  time  to  time 
to  die  for  thee :  and  then  reproachest  thou  thy  friends  who 
are  not  willing  to  do  this,  thyself  being  a  coward  ?  Hold  thy 
peace,  and  consider,  if  thou  lovest  thy  life,  that  all  love  theirs  ; 
but  if  thou  shalt  speak  evil  against  us,  thou  shalt  hear  many 
reproaches  and  not  false  ones. 

Cho.  Too  many  evil  things  have  been  spoken  both 
now  and  before,  but  cease,  old  man,  from  reviling  thy 
son. 

Ami.  Speak,  for  I  have  spoken ;  but  if  thou  art  grieved 
at  hearing  the  truth,  thou  shouldst  not  err  against  me. 

Phe.  But  had  I  died  for  thee,  I  had  erred  more. 

37  Aristophanes'  version  of  this  line  is,  w  iral,  riv  dvxtls,  irortpa  Av- 
Sbv  >/  ®pvya  Mop/.io\vTTt(j6aL  Soictig.     B. 

38  Turned  by  Aristophanes  into  an  apology  for  beating  one's  father, 
Nub.  1415.  icXdovffi  TraTSeg,  Trartpa  o'  ov  kKoluv  SokeIc.  See  Thesmoph. 
194.     B. 


234  ALCESTIS.  711—746. 

Adm.  What  ?  is  it  the  same  thing  for  a  man  in  his  prime, 
and  for  an  old  man  to  die  ? 

Piie.  We  ought  to  live  with  one  life,  not  with  two. 

Adm.  Mayst  thou  then  live  a  longer  time  than  Jove ! 

Phe.  Dost  curse  thy  parents,  having  met  with  no  injustice  ? 

Adm.  /  said  it,  for  I  perceived  thou  lovedst  a  long  life. 

Phe.  But  art  not  thou  bearing  forth  this  corse  instead  of 
thyself? 

Adm.  A  proof  this,  O  most  vile  one,  of  thy  nothingness 
of  soul. 

Phe.  She  died  not  by  us  at  lea9t ;  thou  wilt  not  say  this. 

Adm.  Alas  !    Oh  that  you  may  ever  come  to  need  my  aid  ! 

Phe.  Wed  many  wives,  that  more  may  die. 

Adm.  This  is  a  reproach  to  thyself,  for  thou  wert  not  will- 
ing to  die. 

Phe.  Sweet  is  this  light  of  the  God,  sweet  is  it. 

Adm.  Base  is  thy  spirit  and  not  that  of  men. 

Phe.  Thou  dost  not  laugh  as  carrying  an  aged  corse. 

Adm.  Thou  wilt  surely  however  die  inglorious,  when  thou 
diest. 

Phe.  To  bear  an  evil  report  is  no  matter  to  me  when  dead. 

Adm.  Alas  !  alas !  how  full  of  shamelessness  is  old  age ! 

Phe.  She  was  not  shameless :  her  you  found  mad. 

Adm.  Begone,  and  suffer  me  to  bury  this  dead. 

Phe.  I  will  depart;  but  you  will  bury  her,  yourself  being 
her  murderer.  But  you  will  render  satisfaction  to  your  wife's 
relatives  yet :  or  surely  Acastus  no  longer  ranks  among  men, 
if  he  shall  not  revenge  the  blood  of  his  sister. 

Adm.  Get  thee  gone,  then,  thou  and  thy  wife ;  childless, 
thy  child  yet  living,  as  ye  deserve,  grow  old ;  for  ye  no  more 
come  into  the  same  house  with  me :  and  if  it  were  necessary 
for  me  to  renounce  by  heralds  thy  paternal  hearth,  I  would 
renounce  it.  But  let  us  (for  the  evil  before  us  must  be  borne) 
proceed,  that  we  may  place  the  corse  upon  the  funeral  pyre. 

Cho.  0 !  0  !  unhappy  because  of  thy  bold  deed,  O  noble, 
and  by  far  most  excellent,  farewell  !  may  both  Mercury39 
that  dwells  beneath,  and  Pluto,  kindly  receive  thee;  but  if 
there  too  any  distinction  is  shown  to  the  good,  partaking  of 
this  mayst  thou  sit  by  the  bride  of  Pluto. 

39  Cf.  iEsch.  Choeph.  sub  init.  and  Gorius,  Monum.  Libert,  p.  24.  ad 
Tab.  x.  lit.  A. 


747—784.  ALCESTIS.  235 

Servant. 

I  have  now  known  many  guests,  and  from  all  parts  of  the 
earth  that  have  come  to  the  house  of  Admetus,  to  whom  I 
have  spread  the  feast,  but  never  yet  did  I  receive  into  this 
house  a  worse  one  than  this  stranger.  Who,  in  the  first  place, 
indeed,  though  he  saw  my  master  in  affliction,  came  in,  and 
prevailed  upon  himself  to  pass  the  gates.  And  then  not  at  all 
in  a  modest  manner  received  he  the  entertainment  that  there 
happened  to  be,  when  he  heard  of  the  calamity  :  but  if  we  did 
not  bring  any  thing,  he  hurried  us  to  bring  it.  And  having 
taken  in  his  hands  the  cup  wreathed  with  ivy,40  he  quaffs  the 
neat  wine  of  the  purple  mother,  until  the  fumes  of  the  liquor 
coming  upon  him  inflamed  him  ;  and  he  crowns  his  head  with 
branches  of  myrtles  howling  discordantly ;  and  there  were  two 
strains  to  hear ;  for  he  was  singing,  not  caring  at  all  for  the 
afflictions  of  Admetus,  but  we  the  domestics,  were  bewailing 
our  mistress,  and  we  showed  not  that  we  were  weeping  to  the 
guest,  for  thus  Admetus  commanded.  And  now  indeed  I  am 
performing  the  offices  of  hospitality  to  the  stranger  in  the 
house,  some  deceitful  thief  and  robber.  But  she  is  gone  from 
the  house,  nor  did  I  follow,  nor  stretched  out  my  hand  in 
lamentation  for  my  mistress,  who  was  a  mother  to  me,  and  to 
all  the  domestics,  for  she  saved  us  from  ten  thousand  ills,  soft- 
ening the  anger  of  her  husband.  Do  I  not  then  justly  hate 
this  stranger,  who  is  come  in  our  miseries  ? 

Hercules,  Servant. 

Her.  Ho  there !  why  dost  thou  look  so  grave  and  thought- 
ful ?  The  servant  ought  not  to  be  of  woeful  countenance  before 
guests,  but  should  receive  them  with  an  affable  mind.  But 
thou,  though  thou  seest  a  companion  of  thy  lord  present,  re- 
ceivest  him  with  a  morose  and  clouded  countenance,  fixing  thy 
attention  on  a  calamity  that  thou  hast  nothing  to  do  with. 
Come  hither,  that  thou  mayst  become  more  wise.  Knowest 
thou  mortal  affairs,  of  what  nature  they  are  ?  I  think  not ; 
from  whence  should  you  ?  but  hear  me.  Death  is  a  debt  that 
all  mortals  must  pay  ;  and  there  is  not  of  them  one,  who  knows 
whether  he  shall  live  the  coming  morrow  :  for  what  depends 

40  Theocrit.  i.  27.  Kai  fiaBv  Kiircrvftiov  kekKvoh'ivov  a&ki  Kapy,  Tui 
irepi  fiiv  x11^-1!  paptitrai  vtpodi  Ktacrog,     B. 


236  ALCESTIS.  785-821. 

on  fortune  is  uncertain  how  it  will  turn  out,  and  is  not  to  be 
learnt,  neither  is  it  detected  by  art.  Having  heard  these 
tilings  then,  and  learnt  them  from  me,  make  thyself  merry, 
drink,  and  think  the  life  allowed  from  day  to  day  thine  own, 
but  the  rest  Fortune's.  And  honour  also  Venus,  the  most 
sweet  of  deities  to  mortals,  for  she  is  a  kind  deity.  But  let  go 
these  other  things,  and  obey  my  words,  if  I  appear  to  speak 
rightly :  I  think  so  indeed.  Wilt  thou  not  then  leave  off  thy 
excessive  grief,  and  drink  with  me,  crowned  with  garlands, 
having  thrown  open  these  gates  ?  And  well  know  1  that  the 
trickling  of  the  cup  falling  down  thy  throat  will  change  thee 
from  thy  present  cloudy  and  pent  state  of  mind.  But  we  who 
are  mortals  should  think  as  mortals.  Since  to  all  the  morose, 
indeed,  and  to  those  of  sad  countenance,  if  they  take  me  as 
judge  at  least,  life  is  not  truly  life,  but  misery. 

Ser.  I  know  this ;  but  now  we  are  in  circumstances  not 
such  as  are  fit  for  revel  and  mirth. 

Her.  The  lady  that  is  dead  is  a  stranger ;  grieve  not  too 
much,  for  the  lords  of  this  house  live. 

Ser.  What  live !  knowest  thou  not  the  misery  within  the 
house  ? 

Her.  Unless  thy  lord  hath  told  me  any  thing  falsely. 

Ser.  He  is  too,  too  hospitable. 

Her.  Is  it  unmeet  that  I  should  be  well  treated,  because  a 
stranger  is  dead? 

Ser.   Surely  however  she  was  very  near. 

Her.  Has  he  forborne  to  tell  me  any  calamity  that 
there  is  ? 

Ser.  Depart  and  farewell ;  we  have  a  care  for  the  evils  of 
our  lords. 

Her.  This  speech  is  the  beginning  of  no  foreign  loss. 

Ser.  For  I  should  not,  had  it  been  foreign,  have  been 
grieved  at  seeing  thee  revelling. 

Her.  What !  have  I  received  so  great  an  injury  from  mine 
host  ? 

Ser.  Thou  earnest  not  in  a  fit  time  for  the  house  to  receive 
thee,  for  there  is  grief  to  us,  and  thou  seest  that  we  are  shorn, 
and  our  black  garments. 

Her.  But  who  is  it  that  is  dead?  Has  either  any  of  his 
children  died,  or  his  aged  father  ? 

Ser.  The  wife  indeed  of  Admetus  is  dead,  O  stranger. 


822—860.  ALCESTIS.  237 

Her.  What  sayst  thou  ?  and  yet  did  ye  receive  me  ? 

Ser.  Yes,  for  he  had  too  much  respect  to  turn  thee  from 
his  house. 

Her.  O  unhappy  man,  what  a  wife  hast  thou  lost ! 

Ser.  We  all  are  lost,  not  she  alone. 

Her.  But  I  did  perceive  it  indeed,  when  I  saw  his  eye 
streaming  with  tears,  and  his  shorn  hair,  and  his  countenance  ; 
but  he  persuaded  me,  saying,  that  he  was  conducting  the 
funeral  of  a  stranger  to  the  tomb :  but  spite  of  my  inclination 
having  passed  over  these  gates,  I  drank  in  the  house  of  the 
hospitable  man,  while  he  was  in  this  case,  and  revelled, 
crowned  as  to  my  head  with  garlands.  But  'twas  thine  to 
tell  me  not  to  do  it,  when  such  an  evil  was  upon  the  house. 
Where  is  he  burying  her  ?  whither  going  can  I  find  her  ? 

Ser.  By  the  straight  road  that  leads  to  Larissa,  thou  wilt 
see  the  polished  tomb  beyond  the  suburbs. 

Hercules. 

0  my  much-daring  heart  and  my  soul,  now  show  what 
manner  of  son  the  Tirynthian  Alcmena,  daughter  of  Electryon, 
bare  thee  to  Jove.  For  I  must  rescue  the  woman  lately  dead, 
Alcestis,  and  place  her  again  in  this  house,  and  perform  this 
service  for  Admetus.  And  going  I  will  lay  wait  for  the 
sable-vested  king  of  the  departed,  Death,  and  I  think  that  I 
shall  find  him  drinking  of  the  libations  near  the  tomb.  And 
if  having  taken  him  by  laying  in  wait,  rushing  from  my  am- 
bush, I  shall  seize  hold  of  him,  and  make  a  circle  around  him 
with  mine  arms,  there  is  not  who  shall  take  him  away  panting 
as  to  his  sides,  until  he  release  me  the  woman.  But  if  how- 
ever I  fail  of  this  capture,  and  he  come  not  to  the  clottered 
mass  of  blood,  I  will  go  a  journey  beneath  to  the  sunless  man- 
sions of  Cora  and  her  king,  and  will  prefer  my  request ;  and 
I  trust  that  I  shall  bring  up  Alcestis,  so  as  to  place  her  in  the 
hands  of  that  host,  who  received  me  into  his  house,  nor  drove 
me  away,  although  struck  with  a  heavy  calamity,  but  con- 
cealed it,  noble  as  he  was,  having  respect  unto  me.  Who  of 
the  Thessalians  is  more  hospitable  than  he  ?  Who  that  dwell- 
eth  in  Greece?  Wherefore  he  shall  not  say,  that  he  did  a 
service  to  a  worthless  man,  himself  being  noble. 


288  ALCKSTIS.  841— NU7. 

Apmi.ti  8,  ChOBUS. 

Ai>m.  Alas!  alas!  o  hateful  approaob,  and  hateful  pros- 
pect of  this  widowed  bouse.  Oh  me!  Alas!  alas!  whither 
can  [go!  where  rest!  what  can  I  say  !  and  what  not!  would 
thai  1  could  perish  !  Surely  my  mother  brought  me  forth  t< 
heavy  fortune.  I  count  the  'lead  happy,  them  I  long  fori 
those  bouses  I  desire  to  dwell  in:  for  neither  delight  I  in 
viewing  the  sunbeams,  nor  treading  with  my  foot  upon  the 

earth;  of  such  a   hostage  has  death  robbed   me,  and  delivered 

up  to  Pluto. 

Clio.    Advance,  advance  ;   go  into  the  recesses  of  the  house. 

(Ami.  Oh!  Oh!) 
Thou  hast  Buffered  things  that  demand  groans. 

( A  dm.    Alas  !  alas  !) 
Thou  basl  gone  through  grief,  I  well  know. 

(A i. vi.  Woe!  Woe!) 
Thou  nothing  oldest  her  that  is  beneath. 

(  Ami.  Ah  me  !  me!) 
Never  to  see  thy  dear  wife's  face  again  before  thee,  is  seven'. 

Ai>m.  Thou  basl  made  mention  of  that  which  ulcerated  my 
soul;  for  what  can  be  greater  ill  to  man  than  to  lose  his 
faithful  wife ?  Would  that  I  never  had  married  and  dwell 
with  her  in  the  palace.  Hut  1  judge  happy  those,  who  are 
unmarried  and  childless  ;   for  theirs  is  one,  only  life,  for  this  to 

grieve  is  a  moderate  burden;  but;  to  behold  the  diseases oi 

children,  and  the  bridal   bed  wasted   by  death,  is  not  support- 
able, when  it  were  in  one's  power  to  be  without  children  and 

unmarried  the  whole  of  life. 

('no.    Pate,  fate  hard  to  be  Struggled  with  hath  come. 

(  Ami.    Oh!    Oh!) 
But  puttesl  thoi bound  to  thy  sorrows? 

(  Ami.    Alas  !   alas!) 
Heavy  are  they  to  bear,  but  still 

(Ami.     Woe!    woe!) 
endure,  thou  art  not  the  first  man  that  hast   lost 

(Ami.    Ah  me  !  me  !) 
thy   wife;    but    calamity   appearing    alllicts    different    men    in 

different  shapes. 

A  dm.  o  lasting  griefs,  and  sorrows  for  our  friends  be- 
neath the  earth! Why  did  you  hinder  me  from   throwing 


898—950.  ALCESTIS.  239 

myself41  into  her  hallowed  grave,  and  from  lying  dead  with 
her,  by  far  the  most  excellent  woman?  And  Pluto  would 
b&ve  retained  instead  of  one,  two  most  faithful  souls  having 
together  passed  over  the  infernal  lake. 

CHO.  1  had  a  certain  kinsman,  whose  son  worthy  to  be 
lamented,  an  only  child,  died  in  his  house;  but  nevertheless 
lie  bore  his  calamity  with  moderation,  being  bereft  of  child, 
though  now  hastening  to  grey  hairs,  and  advanced  in  life. 

A  dm.  O  house,  how  can  I  enter  in?  and  how  dwell  in  thee 
now  my  fortune  has  undergone  this  change?  Ah  me  !  for 
there  is  great  difference  between:  then  indeed  with  Pelian 
torches,  and  with  bridal  songs  I  entered  in,  bearing  the  hand 
of  my  dear  wife,  and  there  followed  a  loud-shouting  revelry 
hailing  happy  both  her  that  is  dead  and  me,  inasmuch  as  being 
noble,  and  born  of  illustrious  parents  both,  we  were  united  to- 
gether: but  now  the  groan  instead  of  hymeneals,  and  black 
array  instead  of  white  robes,  usher  me  in  to  my  deserted  couch. 

Cno.  This  grief  came  quick  on  happy  fortune  to  thee  un- 
schooled in  evil:  hut  thou  hast  saved  thy  life.  Thy  wife  is 
dead,  she  left  her  love  behind:  what  new  thing  this?  Death 
has  ere  this  destroyed  many  wives. 

A  dm.  My  friends,  I  deem  the  fortune  of  my  wife  more 
happy  than  mine  own,  even  although  these  things  appear  not 
BO.  For  her  indeed  no  grief*  shall  ever  touch,  and  she  hath 
with  glory  ceased  from  many  toils.  But  I,  who  ought  not  to 
have  lived,  though  1  have  seaped  destiny,  shall  pass  a  bitter 
life;  I  but  now  perceive.  For  how  can  I  bear  the  entering 
into  this  house  ?  Whom  speaking  to,  or  by  whom  addressed,42 
can  J  have  joy  in  entering?  Whither  shall  I  turn  me?  For 
the  solitude  within  will  drive  me  forth,  when  I  see  the  place 
where  my  wife  used  to  lay,  empty,  and  the  seat  whereon  she 
used  to  sit,  and  the  floor  throughout  the  house  all  dirty,  and 
win  n  my  children  falling  about  my  knees  weep  their  mother, 
and  they  lament  their  mistress,  thinking  what  a  lady  they  have 
lost  from  out  of  the  house.      Such  things  within  the  bouse; 

41  Hamlet,  v.  1. 

Hold  off  the  earth  awhile, 

Till  I  have  caught  her  once  more  in  mine  arms  : 

[leapt  into  the  yrave.] 
Now  pile  your  dust  upon  the  quick  and  dead.     15. 

42  Cf.  vs.  195.  ov  ov  irpoouirt  kuI  7T(>oaip(i!iO/]  ird\ii>.     13. 


240  ALCESTIS.  951—1000. 

but  abroad  the  nuptials  of  the  Thessalians  and  the  assemblies 
full  of  women  will  torture  me :  for  I  shall  not  be  able  to  look 
on  the  companions  of  my  wife.  But  whoever  is  mine  enemy 
will  say  thus  of  me:  "  See  that  man,  who  basely  lives,  who  dared 
not  to  die,  but  giving  in  his  stead  her,  whom  he  married, 
escaped  Hades,  (and  then  does  he  seem  to  be  a  man  ?)  and 

hates  his  parents,  himself  not  willing  to  die." Such  report 

shall  I  have  in  addition  to  my  woes ;  why  then  is  it  the  more 
honourable  course  for  me  to  live,  my  friends,  having  an  evil 
character  and  an  evil  fortune  ? 

Clio.  I  too  have  both  been  borne  aloft  through  song,  and 
having  very  much  handled  arguments  have  found  nothing 
more  powerful  than  Necessity :  nor  is  there  any  cure  in  the 
Thracian  tablets  which  Orpheus43  wrote,  nor  among  those 
medicines,  which  Phnebus  gave  the  sons  of  iEsculapius,  dis- 
pensing44 them  to  wretched  mortals.  But  neither  to  the  altars 
nor  to  the  image  of  this  Goddess  alone,  is  it  lawful  to  ap- 
proach, she  hears  not  victims.  Do  not,  0  revered  one,  come 
on  me  more  severe,  than  hitherto  in  my  life.  For  Jove,  what- 
ever he  have  assented  to,  with  thee  brings  this  to  pass.  Thou 
too  perforce  subduest  the  iron  among  the  Chalybi ;  nor  has 
thy  rugged  spirit  any  remorse. 

'And  thee,  Admetus,  the  Goddess  hath  seized  in  the  inevit- 
able grasp  of  her  hand ;  but  bear  it,  for  thou  wilt  never  by 
weeping  bring  back  on  earth  the  dead  from  beneath.  Even 
the  sons  of  the  Gods  by  stealth  begotten  perish  in  death. 
Dear  she  was  while  she  was  with  us,  and  dear  even  now 
when  dead.  But  thou  didst  join  to  thy  bed45  the  noblest  wife 
of  all  women.  Nor  let  the  tomb  of  thy  wife  be  accounted 
as  the  mound  over  the  dead  that  perish,  but  let  it  be  honoured 
equally  with  the  Gods,  a  thing  for  travellers  to  adore : 46  and 

43  'Op0t ia  yapvg,  a  paraphrasis  for  'Op(pevg. 

44  dvTiTijiiov,  fieratpopiKMC  airo  twv  rag  pi'Cag  ri\ivbvrii>v  *ai  ivpta- 
kovtwv.     Schol.    Tr.     Cf.  on  ^Esch.  Agam.  17.     B. 

45  In  Phavorinus,  among  the  senses  of  Kkiaia,  is  tcXivt]  ieai  k\u>ij- 
rrjpiov. 

40  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  tombs  were  built  near  the  highways. 
with  great  magnificence,  and  sometimes  very  lofty,  especially  when  near 
the  sea-coast  (cf.  ^Esch.  Choeph.  351.  D'Orville  on  Charit.  lib.  i.  sub  fin. 
Eurip.  Hecub.  1273).  They  are  often  used  as  landmarks  or  milestones,  as 
in  Theocr.  vi.  10,  and  as  oratories  or  chapels,  Apul.  Florid,  i.  p.  340,  ed. 
Elm.     B. 


1000—1039.  ALCESTIS.  241 

some  one,  going  out  of  his  direct  road,  shall  say  thus  :  "  She 
in  olden  time  died  for  her  husband,  but  now  she  is  a  blest 
divinity:  Hail,  O  adored  one,  and  be  propitious!"  Such 
words  will  be  addressed  to  her. — And  lo !  here  comes,  as  it 
seems,  the  son  of  Alcmena  to  thy  house,  Admetus. 

Hercules,  Adjietus,  Chorus. 

Her.  One  should  speak  freely  to  a  friend,  Admetus,  and 
not  in  silence  keep  within  our  bosoms  what  we  blame.  Now 
I  thought  myself  worthy  as  a  friend  to  stand  near  thy  calami- 
ties, and  to  search  them  out;47  but  thou  didst  not  tell  me 
that  it  was  thy  wife's  corse  that  demanded  thy  attention  ;  but 
didst  receive  me  in  thy  house,  as  though  occupied  in  grief  for 
one  not  thine.  And  I  crowned  my  head  and  poured  out  to 
the  Gods  libations  in  thy  house  which  had  suffered  this  ca- 
lamity. And  I  do  blame  thee,  I  blame  thee,  having  met  with 
this  treatment !  not  that  I  wish  to  grieve  thee  in  thy  miseries. 
But  wherefore  I  am  come,  having  turned  back  again,  I  will  tell 
thee.  Receive  and  take  care  of  this  woman  for  me,  until  I 
come  hither  driving  the  Thracian  mares,  having  slain  the 
king  of  the  Bistonians.  But  if  I  meet  with  what  I  pray  I 
may  not  meet  with,  (for  may  I  return  !)  I  give  thee  her  as  an 
attendant  of  thy  palace.  But  with  much  toil  came  she  into 
my  hands ;  for  I  find  some  who  had  proposed  a  public  con- 
test for  wrestlers,  worthy  of  my  labours,  from  whence  I  bear 
off  her,  having  received  her  as  the  prize  of  my  victory ;  for 
those  who  conquered  in  the  lighter  exercises  had  to  receive 
horses,  but  those  again  who  conquered  in  the  greater,  the  box- 
ing and  the  wrestling,  cattle,  and  a  woman  was  added  to  these  ; 
but  in  me,  who  happened  to  be  there,  it  had  been  base  to 
neglect  this  glorious  gain.  But,  as  I  said,  the  woman  ought 
to  be  a  care  to  you,  for  I  am  come  not  having  obtained  her  by 
stealth,  but  with  labour ;  but  at  some  time  or  other  thou  too 
wilt  perhaps  commend  me  for  it. 

Adm.  By  no  means  slighting  thee,  nor  considering  thee 
among  mine  enemies,  did  I  conceal  from  thee  the  unhappy 
fate  of  my  wife ;  but  this  had  been  a  grief  added  to  grief,  if 

47  This  appears  the  most  obvious  sense,  as  connected  with  what  follows. 
All  the  interpreters,  however,  translate  it,  /  thought  myself  worthy,  stand- 
ing, as  I  did,  near  thy  calamities,  (i.  e.  near  thee  in  thy  calamities,)  to  be 
proved  thy  friend. 

R 


242  ALCESTIS.  1040—1080. 

thou  hadst  gone  to  the  house  of  another  host:  but  it  was  suf- 
ficient for  me  to  weep  my  own  calamity.  But  the  woman,  if 
it  is  in  any  way  possible,  I  beseech  thee,  O  king,  bid  some 
one  of  the  Thessalians,  who  has  not  suffered  what  I  have,  to 
take  care  of  (but  thou  hast  many  friends  amongst  the  Pheraeans) 
lest  thou  remind  me  of  my  misfortunes.  I  cannot,  beholding 
her  in  the  house,  refrain  from  weeping ;  add  not  a  sickness 
to  me  already  sick ;  for  I  am  enough  weighed  down  with 
misery.  Where  besides  in  the  house  can  a  youthful  woman 
be  maintained  ?  for  she  is  youthful,  as  she  evinces  by  her  garb 
and  her  attire ;  shall  she  then  live  in  the  men's  apartment  ? 
And  how  will  she  be  undefiled,  living  amongst  young  men  ? 
A  man  in  his  vigour,  Hercules,  it  is  no  easy  thing  to  restrain  ; 
but  I  have  a  care  for  thee.  Or  can  I  maintain  her,  having  made 
her  enter  the  chamber  of  her  that  is  dead  ?  And  how  can  I 
introduce  her  into  her  bed  ?  I  fear  a  doable  accusation,  both 
from  the  citizens,  lest  any  should  convict  me  of  having  be- 
trayed my  benefactress,  and  lying  in  the  bed  of  another  girl ; 
and  I  ought  to  have  much  regard  towards  the  dead  (and  she 
deserves  my  respect).  But  thou,  0  lady,  whoever  thou  art, 
know  that  thou  hast  the  same  size  of  person  with  Alcestis,  and 
art  like  her  in  figure.  Ah  me  !  take  by  the  Gods  this  woman 
from  mine  eyes,  lest  you  destroy  me  already  destroyed.  For  I 
think,  when  I  look  upon  her,  that  I  behold  my  wife  ;  and  it 
agitates  my  heart,  and  from  mine  eyes  the  streams  break  forth  ; 
O  unhappy  I,  how  lately  did  I  begin  to  taste  this  bitter  grief! 

Cro.  I  cannot  indeed  speak  well  of  thy  fortune  ;  but  it  be- 
hoves thee,  whatever  thou  art,  to  bear  with  firmness  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Gods. 

Her.  Oh  would  that  I  had  such  power  as  to  bring  thy  wife 
to  the  light  from  the  infernal  mansions,  and  to  do  this  service 
for  thee ! 

Adm.  Well  know  I  that  thou  hast  the  will :  but  how  can 
this  be  ?  It  is  not  possible  for  the  dead  to  come  into  the 
light. 

Her.  Do  not,  I  pray,  go  beyond  all  bound,  but  bear  it 
decently. 

Adm.  'Tis  easier  to  exhort,  than  suffering  to  endure. 

Her.  But  what  advantage  can  you  gain  if  you  wish  to 
groan  for  ever  ? 

Adm.  I  know  that  too  myself ;  but  a  certain  love  impels  me. 


1081-1105.  ALCESTIS.  243 

Her.  For  to  love  one  that  is  dead  draws  the  tear. 

Adm.   She  hath  destroyed  me,  and  yet  more  than  my  words 
express. 

Her.  Thou  hast  lost  an  excellent  wife ;  who  will  deny  it  ? 

Adm.  Ay,  so  that  I  am  no  longer  delighted  with  life. 

Her.  Time  will  soften  the  evil,  but  now  it  is  yet  in  its 
vigour  48  on  thee. 

Adm.  Time  thou  mayst  say,  if  to  die  be  time. 

Her.  A  wife  will  bid  it  cease,  and  the  desire  of  a  new 
marriage. 

Adm.  Hold  thy  peace — What  saidst  thou?     I  could  not 
have  supposed  it. 

Her.  But  why  ?  what,  wilt  not  marry,  but  pass  a  widowed 
life  alone  ? 

Adm.  There  is  no  woman  that  shall  lie  with  me. 

Her.  Dost  thou  think  that  thou  art  in  aught  benefiting  her 
that  is  dead  ? 

Adm.  Her,  wherever  she  is,  I  am  bound  to  honour. 

Her.  I  praise  you  indeed,  I  praise  you ;  but  you  incur  the 
charge  of  folly. 

Adm.  Praise  me,  or  praise  me  not;  for  you  shall  never  call 
me  bridegroom. 

Her.  I  do  praise  thee,  because  thou  art  a  faithful  friend  to 
thy  wife. 

Adm.  May  I  die,  when  I  forsake  her,  although  she  is  not ! 

Her.  Receive  then  this  noble  woman  into  thine  house. 

Adm.  Do  not,  I  beseech  thee  by  thy  father  Jove. 

Her.  And  yet  you  will  be  acting  wrong,  if  you  do  not  this. 

Adm.  Yes,  and  if  I  do  it,  I  shall  have  my  heart  gnawed 
with  sorrow. 

Her.  Be  prevailed  upon  :    perhaps  this   favour   may  be 
proved  a  duty. 

Adm.  Ah !  would  that  you  had  never  borne  her  off  from 
the  contest ! 

Her.  Yet  with  me  conquering  thou'rt  victorious  too. 

Adm.  Thou  hast  well  spoken ;  but  let  the  woman  depart. 

Her.  She  shall  depart,  if  it  is  needful ;  but  first  see  whether 
it  be  needful. 


48  In  the  same  manner  »//3£  is  used  in  Orestes,  687,  brav  yap  aj/3p 
STj/ioq  tig  6py))v  tthtuv. 

R   2 


244  ALCESTIS.  1106—1130. 

Adm.  It  is  needful,  if  thou  at  least  dost  not  mean  to  make 
me  angry. 

Her.  I  too  have  this  desire,  for  I  know  somewhat. 

Adm.  Conquer  then.  Thou  dost  not  however  do  things 
pleasing  to  me. 

Her.  But  some  time  or  other  thou  wilt  praise  me ;  only  be 
persuaded. 

Adm.  Lead  her  in,  if  I  must  receive  her  in  my  house. 

Her.  I  will  not  deliver  up  the  woman  into  the  charge  of 
the  servants. 

Adm.  But  do  thou  thyself  lead  her  into  the  house  if  it 
seems  fit. 

Her.  I  then  will  give  her  into  thine  hands. 

Adm.  I  will  not  touch  her ;  but  she  is  at  liberty  to  enter 
the  house. 

Her.  I  trust  her  to  thy  right  hand  alone. 

Adm.  O  king,  thou  compellest  me  to  do  this  against  my 
will. 

Her.  Dare  to  stretch  out  thy  hand  and  touch  the  stranger. 

Adm.  And  in  truth  I  stretch  it  out,  as  I  would  to  the  Gor- 
gon with  her  severed  head.49 

Her.  Have  you  her  ? 

Adm.  I  have. 

Her.  Then  keep  her  fast ;  and  some  time  or  other  thou 
wilt  say  that  the  son  of  Jove  is  a  generous  guest.  But  look 
on  her,  whether  she  seems  aught  to  resemble  thy  wife ;  and 
being  blest  leave  off  from  thy  grief. 

Adm.  O  Gods,  what  shall  I  say  ?  An  unexpected  wonder 
this  !  Do  I  truly  see  here  my  wife,  or  does  the  mocking  joy 
of  the  Deity  strike  me  from  my  senses  ? 

Her.  It  is  not  so ;  but  thou  beholdest  here  thy  wife. 

Adm.  Yet  see,  whether  this  be  not  a  phantom  from  the 
realms  beneath. 

Her.  Thou  hast  not  made  thine  host  an  invoker  of 
spirits. 

Adm.  But  do  I  behold  my  wife,  whom  I  buried  ? 

Her.  Be  well  assured  thou  dost;  but  I  wonder  not  at  thy 
disbelief  of  thy  fortune. 

49  i.  e.  the  severed  head  of  the  Gorgon.  Valkenaer  observes,  that 
this  is  an  expression  meaning  facie  aversa  and  compares  1.  465  of  the 
Phoenissse. 


1131—1153.  ALCESTIS.  245 

Adm.  May  I  touch  her,  may  I  speak  to  her  as  my  Urine 
wife  ? 50 

Her.   Speak  to  her ;  for  thou  hast  all  that  thou  desirest. 

Adm.  O  face  and  person  of  my  dearest  wife,  have  I  thee 
beyond  my  hopes,  when  I  thought  never  to  see  thee  more  ? 

Her.  Thou  hast :  but  take  care  there  be  no  envy  of  the 
Gods. 

Adm.  O  noble  son  of  the  most  powerful  Jove,  mayst  thou 
be  blest,  and  may  thy  father,  who  begot  thee,  protect  thee,  for 
thou  alone  hast  restored  me !  How  didst  thou  bring  her  from 
beneath  into  this  light  ? 

Her.  Having  fought  a  battle  with  the  prince  of  those  be- 
neath. 

Adm.  Where  dost  thou  say  thou  didst  have  this  conflict 
with  Death  ? 

Her.  At  the  tomb  itself,  having  seized  him  from  ambush 
with  my  hands. 

Adm.  But  why,  I  pray,  does  this  woman  stand  here  speech- 
less ? 

Her.  It  is  not  yet  allowed  thee  to  hear  her  address  thee, 
before  she  is  unbound  from  her  consecrations51  to  the  Gods 
beneath,  and  the  third  day  come.  But  lead  her  in,  and  as 
thou  oughtest,  henceforward,  Admetus,  continue  in  thy  piety 
Avith  respect  to  strangers.  And  farewell !  But  I  will  go  and 
perform  the  task  that  is  before  me  for  the  imperial  son  of 
Sthenelus. 

Adm.   Stay  with  us,  and  be  a  companion  of  our  hearth. 

Her.  This  shall  be  some  time  hence,  but  now  I  must 
haste, 

Adm.  But  mayst  thou  be  prosperous,  and  return  on  thy 

50  Start  not :  her  actions  shall  he  holy,  as, 

You  hear,  my  spell  is  lawful :  do  not  shun  her, 
Until  you  see  her  die  again  ;  for  then 
You  kill  her  double  :  Nay,  present  your  hand  : 
When  she  was  young  you  woo'd  her ;  now,  in  age, 
Is  she  become  the  suitor  ? 

Winter's  Tale,  v.  3.  Compare  also  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  v.  4.    B. 

51  a<payviZ,iiv  h.  1.  non  purijtcare  sed  desecrare.  Orcus  enim,  quando 
gladio  totondisset  Alcestidis  capillos,  earn  diis  manibus  sacram  dicaverat, 
quod  diserte  ifyviaai  appellat  noster,vide  75 — 77.  Contraria  igitur  aliqua 
ceremonia  desecranda  erat,  antequam  Admeto  ejus  consuetudine  et  collo- 
quio  frui  liceret.     Heath. 


246  ALCESTIS.  1154—1163. 

journey  back.  But  to  the  citizens,  and  to  all  the  tetrarchy  I 
issue  my  commands,  that  they  institute  dances  in  honour  of 
these  happy  events,  and  make  the  altars  odorous  Avith  their 
sacrifices  or'  oxen  that  accompany  their  vows.  For  now  are 
we  placed  in  a  better  state  of  life  than  the  former  one :  for  I 
will  not  deny  that  I  am  happy. 

Cho.  Many  are  the  shapes  of  the  things  the  deities  direct, 
and  many  things  the  Gods  perform  contrary  to  our  expect- 
ations. And  those  things  which  we  looked  for  are  not  accom- 
plished ;  but  the  God  hath  brought  to  pass  things  not  looked 
for.     Such  hath  been  the  event  of  this  affair. 


THE  BACCH^. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

BACCHUS. 

CHORUS. 

TIRESIAS. 

CADMUS. 

PENTHEUS. 

SERVANT. 

MESSENGER. 

ANOTHER  MESSENGER. 

AGAVE. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Bacchus,  the  son  of  Jove  by  Semele,  had  made  Thebes,  his  mother's 
birth-place,  his  favourite  place  of  abode  and  worship.  Pentheus,  the 
then  reigning  king,  who,  as  others  say,  preferred  the  worship  of  Minerva, 
slighted  the  new  God,  and  persecuted  those  who  celebrated  his  revels. 
Upon  this,  Bacchus  excited  his  mother  Agave,  together  with  the  sisters 
of  Semele,  Autonoe  and  Ino,  to  madness,  and  visiting  Pentheus  in  dis- 
guise of  a  Bacchanal,  was  at  first  imprisoned,  but,  easily  escaping  from 
his  bonds,  he  persuaded  Pentheus  to  intrude  upon  the  rites  of  the  Bac- 
chants. While  surveying  them  from  a  lofty  tree,  the  voice  of  Bacchus 
was  heard  inciting  the  Bacchants  to  avenge  themselves  upon  the  intruder, 
and  they  tore  the  miserable  Pentheus  piecemeal.  The  grief  and  banish- 
ment of  Agave  for  her  unwitting  offence  conclude  the  play. 


THE  BACCH^.' 


Bacchus. 

I,  Bacchus,  the  son  of  Jove,  am  come  to  this  land  of  the 
Thebans,  whom  formerly  Semele,  the  daughter  of  Cadmus, 
brought  forth,  delivered  by  the  lightning-bearing  flame.  And 
having  taken  a  mortal  form  instead  of  a  God's,  I  am  present 
at  the  fountains  of  Dirce  and  the  water  of  Ismenus.  And  I 
see  the  tomb  of  my  thunder-stricken  mother  here  near  the 
palace,  and  the  remnants  of  the  house  smoking,  and  the  still 
living  flame  of  Jove's  fire,  the  everlasting  insult  of  Juno 
against  my  mother.  But  I  praise  Cadmus,  who  has  made 
this  place  hallowed,  the  shrine  of  his  daughter ;  and  I  have 
covered  it  around  with  the  cluster-bearing  leaf  of  the  vine. 
And  having  left  the  wealthy  lands  of  the  Lydians  and  Phry- 
gians, and  the  sun-parched  plains  of  the  Persians,  and  the 
Bactrian  walls ;  and  having  come  over  the  stormy  land  of  the 
Medes,  and  the  happy  Arabia,  and  all  Asia  which  lies  along 
the  coast  of  the  salt  sea,  having  fair-towered  cities  full  of 
Greeks  and  barbarians  mingled  together ;  and  there  having 
danced  and  established  my  mysteries,  that  I  might  be  a  God 
manifest  among  men,  I  have  come  to  this  city  first  of  the 
Grecian  [cities,]  and  I  have  raised  my  shout  first  in  Thebes 
of  this  land  of  Greece,  fitting  a  deer-skin  on  my  body,  and 

1  For  illustrations  of  the  fable  of  this  play,  compare  Hyginus,  Fab. 
clxxxiv.,  who  evidently  has  a  view  to  Euripides.  Ovid,  Metam.  iii.  fab.  v. 
Oppian,  Cyneg.  iv.  241  sqq.  Nonnus,  45,  p.  765  sq.  and  46,  p.  783  sqq., 
some  of  whose  imitations  I  shall  mention  in  my  notes.  With  the 
opening  speech  of  this  play  compare  the  similar  one  of  Venus  in  the 
Hippolytus. 


250  THE  BACCH^E.  25—60. 

taking  a  thyrsus  in  my  hand,  an  ivy-clad2  weapon,  because 
the  sisters  of  my  mother,  whom  it  least  of  all  became,  said 
that  I,  Bacchus,  was  not  born  of  Jove  ;  but  that  Semele, 
having  conceived  by  some  mortal,  charged  the  sin  of  her  bed 
upon  Jove,  a  trick  of  Cadmus ;  on  which  account  they  said 
that  Jove  had  slain  her,  because  she  told  a  false  tale  about 
her  marriage.  Therefore  I  have  now  driven  them  from  the 
house  with  frenzy,  and  they  dwell  on  the  mountain,  insane  of 
mind ;  and  I  have  compelled  them  to  wear  the  dress  of  my 
mysteries.  And  all  the  female  seed  of  the  Cadmeans,  as 
many  as  are  women,  have  I  driven  maddened  from  the  house. 
And  they,  mingled  with  the  sons  of  Cadmus,  sit  on  the  roof- 
less rocks  beneath  the  green  pines.  For  this  city  must  know, 
even  though  it  be  unwilling,  that  it  is  not  initiated  into  my 
Bacchanalian  rites,  and  that  I  plead  the  cause  of  my  mother, 
Semele,  in  appearing  manifest  to  mortals  as  a  God  whom  she 
bore  to  Jove.  Cadmus  then  gave  his  honour  and  power  to 
Pentheus,  born  from  his  daughter,  who  fights  against  the 
Gods  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  drives  me  from  sacrifices, 
and  in  his  prayers  makes  no  mention  of  me ;  on  which  account 
I  will  show  him  and  all  the  Thebans  that  I  am  a  God.  And 
having  set  matters  here  aright,  manifesting  myself,  I  will  move 
to  another  land.  But  if  the  city  of  the  Thebans  should  in 
anger  seek  by  arms  to  bring  down  the  Bacchas  from  the  moun- 
tain, I,  general  of  the  Mamads,  will  join  battle.3  On  which 
account  I  have  changed  my  form  to  a  mortal  one,  and  trans- 
formed my  shape  into  the  nature  of  a  man.  But,  O  ye  who 
have  left  Tmolus,  the  bulwark  of  Lydia ;  ye  women,  my 
assembly,  whom  I  have  brought  from  among  the  barbarians 
as  assistants  and  companions  to  me ;  take  your  drums,  your 
native  instruments  in  the  Phrygian  cities,  the  invention  of 
the  mother  Rhea4  and  myself,  and  coming  beat  them  around 

2  Cf.  vs.  176;  and  for  the  musical  instruments  employed  in  the  Bac- 
chanalian rites,  vs.  125  sqq.  Oppian,  Cyn.  iv.  243.  vefipicri  8'  d/Kptfid- 
Xovto,  ical  i<TT£ipavTO  Kopvfi(3oig,  'Ev  ffvtt,  Kai  irspl  Tratfta  to  fivariKov 
wpx»j<r«vro.  TvfiTrava  c  Iktv-kiov,  km.  KvjifiaXa  xfPai  Kporaivov.  Com- 
pare Gorius,  Monum.  Libert,  et  Serv.  ad  Tab.  vii.  p.  15  sq. 

3  Such  is  the  sense  of  owd-ipo/iai,  fidxijv  being  understood.  See 
Matthia. 

4  Drums  and  cymbals  were  invented  by  the  Goddess  in  order  to  drown 
the  cries  of  the  infant  Jupiter.  Minutius  Felix,  xxi.  "  Avido  patri  sub- 
trahitur  infans  ne  voretur,  et  Corybantum   cymbalis,  ne   pater  audiat, 


61—114.  THE  BACCHiE.  251 

this  royal  palace  of  Pentheus,  that  the  city  of  Cadmus  may 
see  it.  And  I,  with  the  Baccha?,  going  to  the  dells  of  Cithae- 
ron,  where  they  are,  will  share  their  dances. 

Cho.  Coming  from  the  land  of  Asia,  having  left  the  sacred 
Tmolus,  I  dance  in  honour  of  Bromius,  a  sweet  labour  and  a 
toil  easily  borne,  celebrating  the  god  Bacchus.  Who  is  in  the 
way  ?  who  is  in  the  way  ?  who  is  in  the  halls  ?  Let  him  de- 
part. And  let  every  one  be  pure  as  to  his  mouth  speaking 
propitious  things ;  for  now  I  will  with  hymns  celebrate  Bac- 
chus according  to  custom  :-r-Blessed  is  he,5  whoever  being 
favoured,  knowing  the  mysteries  of  the  gods,  keeps  his  life 
pure,  and  has  his  soul  initiated  into  the  Bacchic  revels,  dancing 
o'er  the  mountains  with  holy  purifications,  and  reverencing 
the  mysteries  of  the  mighty  mother  Cybele,  and  brandishing 
the  thyrsus,  and  being  crowned  with  ivy,  serves  Bacchus  ! 
Go,  ye  Bacchaa ;  go,  ye  Bacchas,  escorting  Bromius,  a  God,  the 
son  of  a  God,  from  the  Phrygian  mountains  to  the  broad  streets 
of  Greece  !  Bromius  !  /whom  formerly,  being  in  the  pains  of 
travail,  the  thunder  of  Jove  flying  upon  her,  his  mother  cast 
from  her  womb,  leaving  life  by  the  stroke  of  the  thunderbolt. 
And  immediately  Jupiter,  the  son  of  Saturn,  received  him 
in  a  chamber  fitted  for  birth ;  and  covering  him  in  his  thigh, 
shuts  him  with  golden  clasps  hidden  from  Juno.  And  he 
brought  him  forth,  when  the  Fates  had  perfected  the  horned 
God,  and  crowned  him  with  crowns  of  snakes,  whence  the 
thyrsus-bearing  Maenads  are  wont  to  cover  their  prey  with 
their  locks.  JO  Thebes,  thou  nurse  of  Semele,  crown  thyself 
"with  ivy,  flourish,  flourish  with  the  verdant  yew  bearing  sweet 
fruit,  and  be  ye  crowned  in  honour  of  Bacchus  with  branches 
of  oak  or  pine,  and  adorn  your  garments  of  spotted  deer-skin 
with  fleeces  of  white-haired  sheep,6  and  sport  in  holy  games 

vagitus  initus  eliditur  (read  audiat  vagitus,  tinnitus  illi  editur,  from  the 
vestigia  of  Cod.  Reg.).    Cf.  Lactant.  i.  13. 

5,Cf.  Homer,  Hymn,  in  Cerer.  485.  oXfiiog,  og  rdS'  ottwttev  IttixOov'uov 
avOpwirwv  Og  S'  drtXijg,  iipwv  oar  dp/xopog,  ovttoO'  bftoitov  Alaav  i \u, 
(pOifievog  7rtp,  vtto  Z,6<p<j)  tvpwtvTi.  See  Ruhnken's  note,  and  Valck.  on 
Eur.  Hippol. 

6  This  passage  is  extremely  difficult.  H\oicd(im>  seems  decidedly  cor- 
rupt. Reiske  would  read  ttokciSwv,  Musgrave,  XtvKOTptxoJV  7rXo/cd/<o<c. 
fiaXXiov.  Elmsley  would  substitute  TcpofiaTuiv,  "si  Trp6j3arov  apud  Eu- 
ripidem  exstaret."  This  seems  the  most  probable  view  as  yet  expressed. 
The  iptooTeiTToi  kXclBoi  are  learnedly  explained  by  Lobeck  on  Ag.  p.  375 
sq.,  quoted  by  Dindorf.     The  fiaXXojoig  or  insertion  of  spots  of  party  co- 


252  THE  BACCHJ2.  115—153 

with  the  insulting  wands,  straightway  shall  all  the  earth  dance, 
when  Bromius  leads  the  bands  to  the  mountain,  to  the  moun- 
tain, where  the  female  crowd  abides,  away  from  the  distaff 
and  the  shuttle,7  driven  frantic  by  Bacchus.  '  0  dwelling  of 
the  Curetes,  and  ye  divine  Cretan  caves,8  parents  to  Jupiter, 
where  the  Corybantes  with  the  triple  helmet  invented  for  me 
in  their  caves  this  circle  o'erstretched  with  hide ;  and  with 
the  constant  sweet-voiced  breath  of  Phrygian  pipes  they 
mingled  a  sound  of  Bacchus,  and  put  the  instrument  in  the 
hand  of  Rhea,  resounding  with  the  sweet  songs  of  the  Bacchas. 
And  hard  by  the  raving  satyrs  went  through  the  sacred  rites 
of  the  mother  Goddess.  And  they  added  the  dances  of  the 
Trieterides  ;9  in  which  Bacchus  rejoices ;  pleased  on  the 
mountains,  when  after  the  running  dance  he  falls  upon  the 
plain,  having  a  sacred  garment  of  deer-skin,  seeking  a  sacri- 
fice of  goats,  a  raw-eaten  delight,10  on  his  way  to  the  Phrygian, 
the  Lydian  mountains  ;  and  the  leader  is  Bromius,  Evoe  ! u  but 
the  plain  flows  with  milk,  and  flows  with  wine,  and  Aoavs  with 
the  nectar  of  bees  ;  and  the  smoke  is  as  of  Syrian  frankincense. 
But  Bacchus  bearing  a  flaming  torch  of  pine  on  his  thyrsus, 
rushes  about  arousing  in  his  course  the  wandering  Choruses, 
and  agitating  them  with  shouts,  casting  his  rich  locks  loose  in 
the  air, — and  with  his  songs  he  shouts  out  such  words  as 
this :  O  go  forth,  ye  Bacchas ;  0  go  forth,  ye  Bacchas,  delight 

loured  fur  upon  the  plain  skin  of  animals,  was  a  favourite  ornament  of 
the  wealthy.  The  spots  of  ermine  similarly  used  now  are  the  clearest  il- 
lustration to  which  I  can  point.  Lobeek  also  observes,  "  Kara  /3aic\"ioi><T0ai 
non  bacchari  significat,  sed  coronari." 

7  These  ladies  seem  to  have  been  rather  undomestic  in  character,  as 
Agave  makes  this  very  fact  a  boast,  vs.  1236. 

8  Cf.  Apollodor.  1.  i.,  §  3,  interpp.  ad  Virg.  G.  iv.  152.  Compare  Por- 
phyr.  de  Nymph.  Antr.  p.  262,  ad.  Hoist.  <jwi]\ata  roivvv  Kai  uvrpa 
riov  TtaXaioTartiiv  7rpiv  Kai  vaovg  nrivoijaai  Giolg  dtyoaiovvrwv.  Kai  iv 
Kpr/ry  fitv  Kovpi)rujv,  Ad'  iv  'Apica.Siq,St,  at\j)vy  Kai  JIavi  Aviciiift'  Kai  iv 
Na£<f>  Aiovvat{).  iravraxov  S'  owov  tuv  MiOpav  tyvioaav,  Sid  <T7r»;Xai'ou 
top  Oebv  iXtovfiivwv.     Cf.  Moll,  ad  Longi  Past.  i.  "2.  p.  22  sq.  ed.  Boden. 

9  Cf.  Virg.  ;En.  iv.  301,  and  Ritterh.  on  Oppian,  Cyn.  i.  24. 

10  Compare  the  epithet  of  Bacchus  'Q/idSiog,  Orph.  Hymn.  xxx.  5;  1. 
7,  which  has  been  wrongly  explained  by  Gesner  and  Hermann.  The 
true  interpretation  is  given  by  Porphyr.  de  Abst.  ii.  55,  who  states  that 
human  sacrifices  were  offered  oj/iaSi^  Aiovvaip,  the  man  being  torn  to 
pieces  (SiaaTrwvreg). 

11  Persius  i.  92.  "  et  lynceus  Msenas  flexura  corymbis  Evion  ingeminat, 
rcparabilis  assonat  Echo."    Euseb.  Pr.  Ev.  ii.  3,  derives  the  cry  from  Eve ! 


154—200.  THE  BACCH^E.  •        253 

of  gold-flowing  Tmolus.  Sing  Bacchus  'neath  the  loud  drums, 
Evoe,  celebrating  the  God  Evius  in  Phrygian  cries  and  shouts. 
When  the  sweet-sounding  sacred  pipe  sounds  a  sacred  play- 
ful sound  suited  to  the  frantic  wanderers,  to  the  mountain,  to 
the  mountain — and  the  Bacchant  rejoicing  like  a  foal  with  its 
mother  at  pasture,  stirs  its  swift  foot,  in  the  dance. 

Tiresias.  Who  at  the  doors  will  call  out  Cadmus  from  the 
house,  the  son  of  Agenor,  who,  leaving  the  city  of  Sidon, 
erected  this  city  of  the  Thebans  ?  Let  some  one  go,  tell  him 
that  Tiresias  seeks  him ;  but  he  himself  knows  on  what  ac- 
count I  come,  and  what  agreement  I,  an  old  man,  have  made 
with  him,  yet  older ;  to  twine  the  thyrsi,  and  to  put  on  the 
skins  of  deer,  and  to  crown  the  head  with  ivy  branches. 

Cadmus.  O  dearest  friend  !  how  I,  being  in  the  house,  was 
delighted,  hearing  your  voice,  the  wise  voice  of  a  wise  man  ; 
and  I  am  come  prepared,  having  this  equipment  of  the  God ; 
for  we  needs  must  extol  him,  who  is  the  son  sprung  from  my 
daughter,  Bacchus,  who  has  appeared  as  a  God  to  men,  as 
much  as  is  in  our  power.  Whither  shall  I  dance,  whither 
direct  the  foot,  and  wave  the  hoary  head  ?  Do  you  lead  me, 
you,  an  old  man  !  O  Tiresias,  direct  me,  an  old  man ;  for  you 
are  wise.  Since  I  shall  never  tire,  neither  night  nor  clay, 
striking  the  earth  with  the  thyrsus.  Gladly  we  forget  that 
we  are  old. 

Ti.  You  have  the  same  feelings  indeed  as  I ;  for  I  too  feel 
young,  and  will  attempt  the  dance. 

Ca.  Then  we  will  go  to  the  mountain  in  chariots.12 

Ti.  But  thus  the  God  would  not  have  equal  honour. 

Ca.  I,  an  old  man,  will  lead  you,  an  old  man.13 

Ti.  The  God  will  without  trouble  guide  us  thither. 

Ca.  But  shall  we  alone  of  the  city  dance  in  honour  of 
Bacchus  ? 

Ti.  [Ay,]  for  we  alone  think  rightly,  but  the  rest  ill. 

Ca.  We  are  long  in  delaying  ; 14  but  take  hold  of  my  hand. 

Ti.  See,  take  hold,  and  join  your  hand  to  mine. 

Ca.  I  do  not  despise  the  Gods,  being  a  mortal. 

Ti.  We  do  not  show  too  much  wiseness  about  the  Gods. 

12  I  should  read  this  line  interrogatively,  with  Elmsley. 

13  Quoted  by  Gellius,  xiii.  18. 

14  Elmsley  would  read  fiaicpdv  to  jueXXov.  Perhaps  the  true  reading 
is  fikWeiv  a.Kaipov=it  is  no  season  for  delay. 


254  THE  BACCH^E.  201—245. 

Our  ancestral  traditions,  and  those  which  we  have  kept 
throughout  our  life,  no  argument  will  overturn  them ;  not  if 
any  one  were  to  find  out  wisdom  with  the  highest  genius. 
Some  one  will  say  that  I  do  not  respect  old  age,  being  about 
to  dance,  having  crowned  my  head  with  ivy ;  for  the  God  has 
made  no  distinction  as  to  whether  it  becomes  the  young  man 
to  dance,  or  the  elder ;  but  wishes  to  have  common  honours 
from  all ;  but  does  not  at  all  wish  to  be  extolled  by  a  few. 

Ca.  Since  you,  O  Tiresias,  do  not  see  this  light,  I  will  be 
to  you  an  interpreter  of  things.  Hither  is  Pentheus  coming 
to  the  house  in  haste,  the  son  of  Echion,  to  whom  I  give 
power  over  the  land.  How  fluttered  he  is !  what  strange 
thing  will  he  say  ? 

Pentheus.  I  happened  to  be  at  a  distance  from  this  land, 
and  I  hear  of  strange  evils  in  this  city,  that  the  women  have 
left  our  palace  in  mad-wandering  Bacchic  rites  ;  and  that  they 
are  rushing  about  in  the  shady  mountains,  honouring  with 
dances  this  new  God  Bacchus,  whoever  he  is ;  and  that  full 
goblets  stand  in  the  middle  of  their  assemblies,  and  that  flying 
each  different  ways  into  secrecy,  they  yield  to  the  embraces  of 
men,  on  pretence,  indeed,  as  [being]  worshipping  Maenads ; 
but  that  they  consider  Venus  before  Bacchus.  As  many  then 
as  I  have  taken,  the  servants  keep  them  bound  as  to  their 
hands  in  the  public  strongholds,  and  as  many  as  are  absent  I 
will  hunt  from  the  mountain,  Ino,  and  Agave  who  bore  me  to 
Echion,  and  the  mother  of  Actaeon,  I  mean  Autonoe ;  and 
having  bound  them  in  iron  fetters,  I  will  soon  stop  them  from 
this  ill-working  revelry.  And  they  say  that  some  stranger 
has  come  hither,  a  juggler,  a  charmer,  from  the  Lydian  land, 
fragrant  in  hair  with  golden  curls,  florid,  having  in  his  eyes 
the  graces  of  Venus,  who  days  and  nights  is  with  them,  al- 
luring the  young  maidens  with  Bacchic  mysteries — but  if  I 
catch  him  under  this  roof,  I  will  stop  him  from  making  a 
noise  with  the  thyrsus,  and  waving  his  hair,  by  cutting  off  his 
neck  from  his  body.  He  says  he  is  the  God  Bacchus,  [he 
was  once  on  a  time  sown  in  the  thigh  of  Jove,15]  who  was 
burnt  in  the  flame  of  lightning,  together  with  his  mother,  be- 
cause she  falsely  claimed  nuptials  with  Jove.  Are  not  these 
things  deserving  of  a  terrible  halter,  for  a  stranger  to  insult 

15  The  construction  is  so  completely  awkward,  that  I  almost  feel  in- 
clined to  consider  this  verse  as  an  interpolation,  with  Dindorf. 


247—286.  THE  BACCH.E.  255 

us  with  these  insults,  whoever  he  he  ?  But  here  is  another 
marvel — I  see  Tiresias  the  soothsayer,  in  dappled  deer-skins, 
and  the  father  of  my  mother,  most  great  absurdity,  raging 
about  with  a  thyrsus — I  deprecate  it,  0  father,  seeing  your 
old  age  destitute  of  sense ;  will  you  not  dash  away  the  ivy  ? 1G 
will  you  not,  O  father  of  my  mother,  put  down  your  hand 
empty  of  the  thyrsus  ?  Have  you  persuaded  him  to  this,  O 
Tiresias  ?  do  you  wish,  introducing  this  new  God  among  men, 
to  examine  birds  and  to  receive  rewards  for  fiery  omens  ?  If 
your  hoary  old  age  did  not  defend  you,  you  should  sit  as  a 
prisoner  in  the  midst  of  the  Baccha;,  for  introducing  these 
wicked  rites  ;  for  where  the  joy  of  the  grape-cluster  is  present 
at  a  feast  of  women,  I  no  longer  say  any  thing  good  of  their 
mysteries. 

Cho.  Alas  for  his  impiety !  0  host,  do  you  not  reverence 
the  Gcds  ?  and  being  son  of  Echion,  do  you  disgrace  your 
race  and  Cadmus,  who  sowed  the  earth-born  crop  ? 

Ti.  When  any  wise  man  takes  a  good  occasion  for  his 
speech,  it  is  not  a  great  task  to  speak  well ;  but  you  have  a 
rapid  tongue,  as  if  wise,  but  in  your  words  there  is  no  wis- 
dom ;  but  a  powerful  man,  when  bold,  and  able  to  speak,  is  a 
bad  citizen  if  he  has  not  sense.  And  this  new  God,  whom 
you  ridicule,  I  am  unable  to  express  how  great  he  will  be  in 
Greece.  For,  0  young  man,  two  things  are  first  among  men  ; 
Ceres,  the  goddess,  and  she  is  the  earth,  call  her  whichever 
name  you  will.17  She  nourishes  mortals  with  dry  food;  but 
he  who  is  come  as  a  match  to  her,  the  son  of  Semele,  has  in- 
vented the  liquid  drink  of  the  grape,  and  introduced  it  among 
mortals,  which  delivers  miserable  mortals  from  grief,18  when 
they  are  filled  with  the  stream  of  the  vine ;  and  gives  sleep  an 
oblivion  of  daily  evils :  nor  is  there  any  other  medicine  for 
troubles.  He  who  is  a  God  is  poured  out  in  libations  to  the 
Gods,  that  by  his  means  men  may  have  good  things — and  you 
laugh  at  him,  as  to  how  he  was  sewn  up  in  the  thigh  of  Jove  ; 

10  Compare  Nonnus,  45.  p.  765  4.  Itiptaiav  icai  Kafytov  a,Ta<rOa\m> 
'iaxE  Htv9tvQ.  KaCfie,  ri  fiapyah'SiQ,  rivi  Saijiovi  kw/j.ov  tyeiptig  ;  KaS- 
fis,  [iiaivofiEvriG  aTroKarQto  kioguv  WiiprjQ,  KdrBeo  ko.1  vdp&iKa  vooizXa- 
v'toQ  Aiovvffov.  .  .  .  N/;7rt€  Teiptaia  are<pav)](p6pe  piipov  d))raig  "2wv  tt\o- 
Kdfiwv  race  (pvXXa  voQov  artfyog,  k.  t.  X. 

17  Compare  the  opinion  of  Perseus  in  Cicero  de  N.  D.  i.  15,  with 
Minutius  Felix,  xxi. 

18  Pseud-Orpheus  Hymn.  1.  6.  iravciirovoi'  Qvi)to~mji  favitg  &koq. 


256  THE  BACCH.E.  287—319. 

I  will  teach  you  that  this  is  well — when  Jove  snatched  him 
out  of  the  lightning  name,  and  bore  him,  a  young  infant,  up 
to  Olympus,  Juno  wished  to  cast  him  down  from  heaven ;  but 
Jove  had  a  counter  contrivance,  as  being  a  God.  Having 
broken  a  part  of  the  air  which  surrounds  the  earth,  he  placed 
in  it,  giving  him  as  a  pledge,  Bacchus,  safe  from  Juno's 
enmity ;  and  in  time,  mortals  say,  that  he  was  nourished  in 
the  thigh  of  Jove ;  changing  his  name,  because  a  God  gave 
him  formerly  as  a  pledge  to  a  Goddess,  they  having  made 
agreement.19  But  this  God  is  a  prophet — for  Bacchanal  ex- 
citement and  frenzy  have  much  divination  in  them.20  For 
when  the  God  comes  violent21  into  the  body,  he  makes  the 
frantic  to  foretell  the  future ;  and  he  also  possesses  some 
quality  of  Mars ;  for  terror  nutters  sometimes  an  army  under 
arms  and  in  its  ranks,  before  they  touch  the  spear ;  and  this 
also  is  a  frenzy  from  Bacchus.  Then  you  shall  see  him.  also 
on  the  Delphic  rocks,  bounding  with  torches  along  the  double 
pointed  district,  tossing  about,  and  shaking  the  Bacchic  branch, 
mighty  through  Greece.  But  be  persuaded  by  me,  O  Pen- 
theus ;  do  not  boast  that  sovereignty  has  power  among  men, 
nor,  even  if  you  think  so,  and  your  mind  is  disordered,  believe 
that  you  are  at  all  wise.  But  receive  the  God  into  the  land, 
and  sacrifice  to  him,  and  play  the  Bacchanal,  and  crown  your 
head.  Bacchus  will  not  compel  women  to  be  modest22  with 
regard  to  Venus,  but  in  his  nature  modesty  in  all  things  is 
ever  innate.  This  you  must  needs  consider,  for  she  who  is 
modest  will  not  be  corrupted  by  being  at  Bacchanalian  revels. 
Dost  see  ?   Thou  rejoicest  when  many  stand  at  thy  gates,  and 

19  Dindorf  truly  says  that  this  passage  smacks  rather  of  Proclus,  than 
of  Euripides,  and  I  agree  with  him  that  its  spuriousness  is  more  than  pro- 
bable. Had  Euripides  designed  an  etymological  quibble,  he  would  pro- 
bably have  made  some  allusion  to  Merus,  a  mountain  of  India,  where 
Bacchus  is  said  to  have  been  brought  up.  See  Curthis,  viii.  10.  "  Sita 
ast  sub  radicibus  montis,  quem  Meron  incohrj  appellant.  Inde  Grasei 
mentiendi  traxere  licentiam,  Jovis  femine  liberum  patrem  esse  celatum." 
Cf.  Eustath.  on  Dionys.  Perieg.  1159.  Lucian.  Dial.  Deor.  ix.  and  Her- 
mann on  Orph.  Hymn.  lii.  3. 

20  The  gilt  of  iiavTiKt)  was  supposed  to  follow  initiation,  and  is  often 
joined  with  the  rites  of  this  deity.  Philostratus,  Heroic,  p.  22,  ed.  Boiss. 
'6ts  h)  Kal  hcivtik7)Q  aofiag  t/MpopovvTai,  Kal  rb  xp»j<7/iu}dt£  avralg  irpoa- 

ficiKXtVtt.- 

21  Cf.  Hippol.  443.     Kinrptg  yap  ov  (poprjrbv,  fjv  7ro\\/}  pvy. 

22  I  have  followed  Matthias's  interpretation  of  this  passage. 


320—364.  THE  BACCHiE.  257 

the  city  extols  the  name  of  Pentheus ;  and  he,  I  ween,  is 
pleased,  when  honoured.  I,  then,  and  Cadmus  whom  you 
laugh  to  scorn,  "will  crown  ourselves  with  ivy,  and  dance,  a 
hoary  pair ;  but  still  we  must  dance ;  and  I  will  not  contend 
against  the  Gods,  persuaded  by  your  words — for  you  rave 
most  grievously  ;  nor  can  you  procure  any  cure  from  medicine, 
nor  are  you  now  afflicted  beyond  their  power.23 

Cho.  0  old  man,  thou  dost  not  shame  Apollo  by  thy  words, 
and  honouring  Bromius,  the  mighty  God,  thou  art  wise. 

Cad.  My  son,  well  has  Tiresias  advised  you ;  dwell  with 
us,  not  away  from  the  laws.  For  now  you  flit  about,  and 
though  wise  are  wise  in  nought ;  for  although  this  may  not 
be  a  God,  as  you  say,  let  it  be  said  by  you  that  he  is ;  and 
tell  a  glorious  falsehood,  that  Semele  may  seem  to  have  borne 
a  God,  and  that  honour  may  redound  to  all  our  race.  You 
see  the  hapless  fate  of  Action,24  whom  his  blood-thirsty 
hounds,  whom  he  had  reared  up,  tore  to  pieces  in  the  meadows, 
having  boasted  that  he  was  superior  in  the  chace  to  Diana. 
This  may  you  not  suffer ;  come,  that  I  may  crown  thy  head 
with  ivy,  with  us  give  honour  to  the  God — 

Pen.  Do  not  bring  your  hand  towards  me  ;  but  departing, 
play  the  Bacchanal,  and  wipe  not  off  your  folly  on  me ;  but 
I  will  follow  up  with  punishment  this  teacher  of  your  mad- 
ness ;  let  some  one  go  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  going  to  his 
seat  where  he  watches  the  birds,  upset  and  overthrow  it  with 
levers,  turning  every  thing  upside  down  ;  and  commit  his 
crowns  to  the  winds  and  storms ;  for  doing  this,  I  shall  gnaw 
him  most.  And  some  of  you  going  along  the  city,  track  out 
this  effeminate  stranger,  who  brings  this  new  disease  upon 
women,  and  pollutes  our  beds.  And  if  you  catch  him,  convey 
him  hither  bound;  that  meeting  with  a  judgment  of  stoning 
he  may  die,  having  seen  a  bitter  revelry  of  Bacchus  in 
Tliebes. 

Ti.  O  wretched  man !  how  little  knowest  thou  what  thou 
sayest !  You  are  mad  now,  and  before  you  was  out  of  your 
mind.  Let  us  go,  O  Cadmus,  and  entreat  the  God,  on  behalf 
of  him,  savage  though  he  be,  and  on  behalf  of  the  city,  to  do 
him  no  ill :  but  follow  me  with  the  ivy-clad  staff,  and  try  to 
support  my  body,  and  I  will  yours;  for  it  would  be  shameful 

23  See  Hermann's  note.. 

24  The  fate  of  Acta?on  is  often  joined  with  that  of  Pentheus. 

S 


258  THE  BACCH2E.  365-427 

t <  >r  two  old  men  to  fall  down :  but  let  that  pass,  for  we  must 
serve  Bacchus,  the  son  of  Jove;  but  beware  lest  Pentheus 
bring  grief  into  thy  house,  O  Cadmus.  I  do  not  speak  in 
prophecy,  but  judging  from  the  state  of  things,  for  a  foolish 
man  says  foolish  things. 

Cuo.  O  holy  venerable  Goddess !  holy,  who  bearest  thy 
golden  pinions  along  the  earth,  hearest  thou  these  words  of 
Pentheus?  Hearest  thou  his  unholy  insolence  against  Bro- 
mius,  the  son  of  Semele,  the  first  deity  of  the  Gods,  at  the 
banquets  where  the  guests  wear  beautiful  chaplets  !  who  has 
this  office,  to  join  in  dances,  and  to  laugh  with  the  flute,  and 
to  put  an  end  to  cares,  when  the  juice  of  the  grape  comes  at 
the  feast  of  the  Gods,  and  in  the  ivy-bearing  banquets  the 
goblet  sheds  sleep  over  man  ?  Of  unbridled  mouths  and  law- 
less folly  misery  is  the  end,  but  the  life  of  quiet  and  wisdom 
remains  unshaken,  and  supports  a  house ;  for  the  heavenly 
powers  are  afar  indeed,  but  still  inhabiting  the  air,  they  behold 
the  deeds  of  mortals.  But  cleverness25  is  not  wisdom,  nor  is 
the  thinking  on  things  unfit  for  mortals.  Life  is  short ;  ami 
in  it  who,  pursuing  great  things,  would  not  enjoy  the  present  ? 
These  are  the  manners  of  maniacs  ;  and  of  ill-disposed  men, 
in  my  opinion.  Would  that  I  could  go  to  Cyprus,  the  island 
of  Venus,  where  the  Loves  dwell,  soothing  the  minds  of  mor- 
tals, and  to  Paphos,  which  the  waters  of  a  foreign  river  flow- 
ing with  an  hundred26  mouths,  fertilize  without  rain — and  to 
the  land  of  Pieria,  where  is  the  beautiful  seat  of  the  Muses, 
the  holy  hill  of  Olympus.  Lead  me  thither,  0  Bromius, 
Bromius,  0  master  thou  of  Bacchanals !  There  are  the 
Graces,  and  there  is  Love,  and  there  is  it  lawful  for  the  Bac- 
chaa  to  celebrate  their  orgies ;  the  God,  the  son  of  Jove,  de- 
lights in  banquets,  and  loves  Peace,  giver  of  riches,  the 
Goddess  the  nourisher  of  youths.  And  both  to  the  rich  and 
the  poor27  has  she  granted  to  enjoy  an  equal  delight  from 
wine,  banishing  grief;  and  he  who  does  not  care  for  these 
things,  hates  to  lead  a  happy  life  by  day  and  by  friendly  night 
— but  it  is  wise2s  to  keep  away  the  mind  and  intellect  pro- 

25  i.  e.  over-cunning  in  regard  to  religious  matters.     Cf.  200.  ovSev 
vcHpiZo/itoGa  Toioi  ^aif.ioan>. 

20  Probably  a  mere  hyperbole  to  denote  gre.it  fruitfulness.  See  Elmsley. 

«  Cf.  Hor.  Od.  iii.  21,  20. 

28  I  follow  Dindorf  in  reading  cro^d  $',  but  am  scarcely  satisfied. 


428—473.  THE  BACCH.E.  259 

seeding  from  over-curious  men  ;  what  the  baser  multitude 
thinks  and  adopts,  that  will  I  say. 

Servant.  Pentheus,  we  are  here ;  having  caught  this  prey, 
for  which  you  sent  us :  nor  have  we  gone  in  vain ;  but  the 
beast  was  docile  in  our  hands,  nor  did  he  withdraw  his  foot 
in  flight,  but  yielded  not  unwillingly ;  nor  did  he  [turn]  pale 
nor  change  his  wine-complexioned  cheek,  but  laughing,  allowed 
us  to  bind  and  lead  him  away ;  and  remained  still,  making  my 
work  easy ;  and  I  for  shame  said,  0  stranger,  I  do  not  take 
you  of  my  own  will,  but  by  order  of  Pentheus  who  sent  me. 
And  the  Bacchas  whom  you  shut  up,  whom  you  carried  off 
and  bound  in  the  chains  of  the  public  prison,  they  being  set 
loose  are  escaped,  and  are  dancing  in  the  meadows,  invoking 
Bromius  as  their  God,  and  of  their  own  accord  the  fetters 
were  loosed  from  their  feet,  and  the  keys  opened  the  doors 
without  mortal  hand,  and  full  of  many  wonders  is  this  man 
come  to  Thebes  ;  but  the  rest  must  be  thy  care. 

Pen.  Take  hold  of  him  by  the  hands  ;  for  being  in  the  toils, 
he  is  not  so  swift  as  to  escape  me :  but  in  your  body  you  are 
not  ill-formed,  O  stranger,  for  women's  purposes,  on  which  ac- 
count you  have  come  to  Thebes.  For  your  hair  is  long,  not 
through  wrestling,  scattered  over  your  cheeks,  full  of  desire, 
and  you  have  a  white  skin  from  careful  preparation ;  hunting 
after  Venus  by  your  beauty  not  exposed  to  strokes  of  the  sun, 
but  [kept]  beneath  the  shade.  First  then  tell  me  who  thou 
art  in  family. 

Bag.  There  is  no  boast ;  but  this  is  easy  to  say ;  thou 
knowest  by  hearsay  of  the  flowery  Tmolus  ? 

Pen.  I  know,  [the  hill]  which  surrounds  the  city  of  Sardis. 

Bag.  Thence  am  I ;  and  Lydia  is  my  country. 

Pen.  And  whence  do  you  bring  these  rites  into  Greece  ? 

Bac.  Bacchus  persuaded  us,  the  son  of  Jove. 

Pen.  Is  Jove  then  one  who  begets  new  Gods  ? 

Bac.  No,  but  having  married  Semele  here, — 

Pen.  Did  he  compel  you  by  night,  or  in  your  sight  [by 
day]  ? 

Bac.  Seeing  me  who  saw  him ;  and  he  gave  me  orgies. 

Pen.  And  what  appearance  have  these  orgies  ? 

Bac.  It  is  unlawful  for  the  uninitiated  among  mortals  to 
know. 

Pen.  And  have  they  any  profit  to  those  who  sacrifice? 


260  THE  EACCH.E.  474—498. 

Bac.  It  is  not  lawful  for  you  to  hear,  but  they  are  worth 
knowing. 

Pen.  You  have  well  coined  this  story,  that  I  may  wish  to 
hear. 

Bac.  The  orgies  of  the  God  hate  him  who  works  impiety. 

Pen.  For  you  say,  forsooth,  that  you  saw  the  God  clearly 
what  he  was  like  ? 

Bac.   As  he  chose  ;  I  did  not  order  this. 

Pen.  This  too  you  have  well  contrived,  saying  mere  non- 
sense. 

Bac.  One  may  seem,  speaking  wisely  to  one  ignorant,  not 
to  be  wise. 

Pen.  And  did  you  come  hither  first,  bringing  the  God  ? 

Bac.  Every  one  of  the  barbarians  celebrates  these  orgies. 

Pen.  [Ay,]  for  they  are  much  less  wise  than  Greeks. 

Bac.  In  these  things  they  are  wiser,  but  their  laws  are 
different. 

Pen.  Do  you  practise  these  rites  at  night,  or  by  day  ? 

Bac.  Most  of  them  at  night  ;29  darkness  conveys  awe. 

Pen.  This  is  treacherous  towards  women,  and  unsound. 

Bac.  Even  by  day  some  may  devise  base  things. 

Pen.  You  must  pay  the  penalty  of  your  evil  devices. 

Bac.  And  you  of  your  ignorance,  being  impious  to  the 
God. 

Pen.  How  bold  is  Bacchus,  and  not  unpractised  in  speech. 

Bac.   Say  what  I  must  suffer,  what  ill  wilt  thou  do  me  ? 

Pen.  First  I  will  cut  off  your  delicate  hair. 

Bac.  The  hair  is  sacred,  I  cherish  it  for  the  God.30 

Pen.  Next  yield  up  this  thyrsus  out  of  your  hands. 

Bac.  Take  it  from  me  yourself,  I  bear  it  as  the  ensign  of 
Bacchus. 

Pen.  And  we  will  guard  your  body  within  in  prison. 

Bac.  The  God  himself  will  release  me  when  I  wish.31 

2J  Hence  his  epithet  of  Bacchus  NukteXioc.  See  Herm.  on  Orph. 
Hymn.  xlix.  3. 

30  See  my  note  on  iEsch.  Choeph.  7. 

31  Cf.  Porson  Advers.  p.  265.  Hor.  Ep.  i.  16,  73.  "  Vir  bonus  et  sapiens 
audebit  dicere  Pentheu,  Rector  Thebarum,  quid  me  perferre  patique  In- 
dignum  coges?  Adima  bona,  nempe  pecus,  rem,  Lectos,  argentum:  tollas 
licet.  In  manicis  et  Compedibus  saevo  te  sub  custode  tenebo.  Ipse 
deus,  simul  atque  volam,  me  solvct.  Opinor,  Hoc  sentit :  moriar.  Mors 
ultima  linca  rcium  est." 


499-545.  THE  BACCH^E.  261 

Pen.  Ay,  when  you  call  him,  standing  among  the  Bacchae. 

Bac.  Even  now,  being  near,  he  sees  what  I  suffer. 

Pen.  And  where  is  he  ?  for  at  least  he  is  not  apparent  to 
my  eyes. 

Bac.  Near  me,  but  you  being  impious,  see  him  not. 

Pen.   Seize  him,  he  insults  me  and  Thebes  ! 

Bac.  I  warn  you  not  to  bind  me :  I  in  my  senses  command 
you  not  in  your  senses. 

Pen.  And  I  bid  them  to  bind  you,  as  being  mightier  than 
you. 

Bac.  You  know  not  why  you  live,  nor  what  you  do,  nor 
who  you  are. 

Pen.  Pentheus,  son  of  Agave,  and  of  my  father  Echion. 

Bac.  You  are  suited  to  be  miserable  according  to  your 
name.32 

Pen.  Begone !  confine  him  near  the  stable  of  horses  that 
he  may  behold  dim  darkness  !  There  dance  ;  and  as  for  these 
women  whom  you  bring  with  you,  the  accomplices  in  your 
wickedness,  we  will  either  sell  them  away,  or  stopping  their 
hand  from  this  noise  and  beating  of  skins,  I  will  keep  them 
as  slaves  at  the  loom. 

Bac.  I  will  go — for  what  is  not  right  it  is  not  right  to  suf- 
fer ;  but  as  a  punishment  for  these  insults  Bacchus  shall  pur- 
sue you,  who  you  say  exists  not ;  for,  injuring  us,  you  put  him 
in  bonds. 

Cho.  0  daughter  of  Acheloiis,  venerable  Dirce,  happy  vir- 
gin, for  thou  didst  receive  the  infant  of  Jove  in  thy  fountains 
when  Jove  who  begat  him  saved  him  in  his  thigh  from  the 
immortal  fire ;  uttering  this  shout :  Go,  O  Dithyrambus,  enter 
this  my  male  womb,  I  will  make  you  illustrious,  O  Bacchus, 
in  Thebes,  so  that  they  shall  call  you  by  this  name.  But  you, 
O  happy  Dirce,  reject  me  having  a  garland-bearing  company 
about  you.  Why  dost  thou  reject  me  ?  Why  dost  thou  avoid 
me  ?  Yet,  I  swear  by  the  clustering  delights  of  the  vine  of 
Bacchus,  yet  shall  you  have  a  care  for  Bacchus.  What  rage, 
what  rage  does  the  earth-born  race  show,  and  Pentheus  once 
descended  from  the  dragon,  whom  the  earth-born  Echion  be- 
gat, a  fierce-faced  monster,  not  a  mortal  man,  but  like  a  bloody 
giant,  an  enemy  to  the  Gods,  who  will  soon  bind  me,  the  hand- 
maid of  Bacchus,  in  halters,  he  already  has  within  the  house 
32  Punning  on  ntvOof;,  grief.     Cf.  Arist.  ltiiet.  ii.  23,  29. 


262  THE  BACCHiE.  54G— 59S. 

my  fellow-reveller,  hidden  in  a  dark  prison.  Dost  thou  be- 
hold this,  0  son  of*  Jove,  Bacchus,  thy  prophets  in  the  dan- 
gers of  restraint  ?  Come,  0  thou  of  golden  face,  brandishing 
your  thyrsus  along  Olympus,  and  restrain  the  insolence  of  the 
blood-thirsty  man.  Where  art  thou  assembling  thy  bands  of 
thyrsus-bearers,  O  Bacchus,  is  it  near  Nysa  which  nourishes 
wild  beasts,  or  in  the  summits  of  Corycus?33  or  perhaps  in 
the  deep-wooded  lairs  of  Olympus,  where  formerly  Orpheus 
playing  the  lyre  drew  together  the  trees  by  his  songs,  collected 
the  beasts  of  the  fields ;  O  happy  Pieria,  Evius  respects  you, 
and  will  come  to  lead  the  dance  with  revellings  having  crossed 
the  swiftly-flowing  Axius,  he  will  bring  the  dancing  Maenads, 
and  [leaving]  Lydia3'  the  giver  of  wealth  to  mortals,  and  the 
father  whom  I  have  heard  fertilizes  the  country  renowned  for 
horses  with  the  fairest  streams. 

Bac.  Io !  hear  ye,  hear  ye  my  song,  Io  Bacchoa !  O 
Baechae ! 

Cuo.  Who  is  here,  who  ?  from  what  quarter  did  the  shout 
of  Evius  summon  me  ? 

Bac.  Io,  Io,  I  say  again  !  I,  the  son  of  Semele,  the  son  of 
Jove ! 

Cuo.  Io  !  Io  !  Master,  master  !  come  now  to  our  company. 
O  Bromius  !  Bromius  !  Shake  this  place,  O  holy  Earth  ! 35  O  ! 
0  !  quickly  will  the  palace  of  Pentheus  be  shaken  in  ruin — 
Bacchus  is  in  the  halls.  Worship  him.  We  worship  him. 
Behold  these  stone  buttresses  shaken  with  their  pillars.  Bac- 
chus will  shout  in  the  palace. 

Bac.  Light  the  burning  fiery  lamp ;  burn,  burn  the  house 
of  Pentheus. 

Sem.  Alas !  Dost  thou  not  behold  the  fire,  nor  perceive 
around  the  sacred  tomb  of  Semele  the  flame  which  formerly 
the  bolt-bearing  thunder  of  Jupiter  left? 

33  i.  e.  of  Parnassus.  Elmsley  (after  Stanl.  on  /Esch.  Eum.  22.)  re- 
marks that  KaipvKig  Trkrpa  means  the  Corycian  cave  in  Parnassus,  Kw- 
pvKiai  isopvQal,  the  heights  of  Parnassus. 

.14  Hermann  and  Dindorf  correct  Aoifiiav  from  Herodot.  vii.  127. 

35  The  earth  and  buildings  were  supposed  to  shake  at  the  presence  of 
a  deity.  Cf.  Callimach.  Hymn.  Apol.  sub  init.  Virg.  Mn.  iii.  90 ;  vi.  255. 
For  the  present  instance  Nonnus,  45.  p.  751. 

//or/  0    auToa\iKTC5  taiitTO  Tli.vdto$  auXil, 
UKXtvtcuv  <Tf/>atpi|0()y  ava'iaaovaa  Ot/xtdXoov, 

Kill   TToXtlUU   0£<5oy>)TO   t)opWV  £l>OtTiy6oi>L    TTaX/llO 

Tn']fxaro<;  iaaofxivoio  irpodyyiXoi 


599-632. 


THE  BACCELE.  263 


Sem.  Cast  on  the  ground  your  trembling  bodies,  cast  them 
down,  0  Maenads,  for  the  king  turning  things  upside  down 
is  coming  to  this  palace,  [Bacchus,]  the  son  of  Jupiter. 

Bac.  O  barbarian  women  !  have  ye  fallen  to  the  ground 
thus  stricken  with  fear?  Ye  have  felt,  it  seems,  Bacchus 
shaking  the  house  of  Pentheus ;  but  lift  up  your  bodies,  and 
take  courage,  casting  off  fear  from  your  flesh. 

Cho.  0  thou  most  mighty  light  to  us  of  Evian  Bacchic 
rites,  how  gladly  do  I  see  thee,  being  before  alone  and  deso- 
late! 

Bac.  Ye  came  to  despair,  when  I  was  sent  in,  as  about  to 
fall  into  the  dark  prison  of  Pentheus. 

Cho.  How  not? — who  was  my  guardian  if  you  met  with 
misfortune  ?  but  how  were  you  liberated,  having  met  with  an 
impious  man  ? 

Bac.  I  delivered  myself  easily  without  trouble. 

Cho.  And  did  he  not  bind  your  hands  in  links  of  chains  ? 

Bac.  In  this  too  I  mocked  him  ;  for,  thinking  to  bind  me, 
he  neither  touched  nor  handled  me,  but  fed  on  hope ;  and 
finding  a  bull  in  the  stable,  where  having  taken  me,  he  con- 
fined me,  he  cast  halters  round  the  knees  of  that,  and  the  hoofs 
of  its  feet;3G  breathing  out  fury,  stilling  sweat  from  his 
body,  gnashing  his  teeth  in  his  lips.  But  I,  being  near,  sit- 
ting quietly,  looked  on;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  Bacchus 
coming,  shook  the  house,  and  kindled  a  flame  on  the  tomb  of 
his  mother ;  and  he,  when  he  saw  it,  thinking  the  house  was 
burning,  rushed  to  and  fro,  calling  to  the  servants  to  bring 
water,37  and  every  servant  was  at  work  toiling  in  vain ;  and 
letting  go  this  labour,  I  having  escaped,  seizing  a  dark  sword 
he  rushes  into  the  house,  and  then  Bromius,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
I  speak  my  opinion,  made  an  appearance  in  the  palace,  and 
he  rushing  towards  it,  rushed  on  and  stabbed  at  the  bright 
air,38  as  if  slaying  me ;  and  besides  this,  Bacchus  afflicts  him 
with  these  other  things ;  and  threw  down  his  house  to  the 

36  The  madness  of  Ajax  led  to  a  similar  delusion.  Cf.  Soph.  Aj. 
56  sqq. 

37  Compare  a  fragment  of  Didymus  apud  Macrob.  Sat.  v.  18,  who  states 
'AxsXwov  irav  wwp  Evpi7ricr]g  ^rjaJj'  iv  'Y^ittvXjj.  See  also  eomm.  on 
Virg.  Georg.  i.  9. 

38  The  reader  of  Scott  will  call  to  mind  the  fine  description  of  Ireton 
lunging  at  the  air,  in  a  paroxysm  of  fanatic  raving.  See  "  Woodstock." 
So  also  Orestes  in  Iph.  Taur.  '296  sqq. 


264  THE  BACCH^.  633—670. 

ground,  and  every  thing  was  shivered  in  pieces,  while  he  be- 
held my  bitter  chains  ;  and  from  fatigue  dropping  his  sword, 
he  falls  exhausted — for  he  being  a  man,  dared  to  join  battle 
with  a  God :  and  I  quietly  getting  out  of  the  house  am  <jpme 
to  you,  not  regarding  Pentheus.  But,  as  it  seems  to  me,  a 
shoe  sounds  in  the  house ;  he  will  soon  come  out  in  front  of 
the  house.  What  will  he  say  after  this  ?  I  shall  easily  bear 
him,  even  if  he  conies  vaunting  greatly,  for  it  is  the  part  of  a 
wise  man  to  practise  prudent  moderation. 

Pen.  I  have  suffered  terrible  things,  the  stranger  has 
escaped  me,  who  was  lately  coerced  in  bonds.  Hollo  !  here  is 
the  man  ;  what  is  this  ?  how  do  you  appear  near  my  house, 
having  come  out  ? 

Bac.  Stay  your  foot  ;  and  substitute  calm  steps  for 
anger. 

Pen.  How  come  you  out,  having  escaped  your  chains  ? 

Bac.  Did  I  not  say,  or  did  you  not  hear,  that  some  one 
would  deliver  me  ? 

Pen.  Who  ?  for  you  are  always  introducing  strange  things. 

Bac.  He  who  produces  the  rich-clustering  vine  for  mor- 
tals. 

Pen.  This  is  a  fine  reproach  you  charge  on  Bacchus ;  I 
order  ye  to  close  every  tower  all  round. 

Bac.  Why  ?  do  not  Gods  pass  over  walls  too  ? 

Pen.  You  are  wise,  wise  at  least  in  all  save  what  you  should 
be  wise  in. 

Bac.  In  what  I  most  ought,  in  that  I  was  born  wise ;  but 
first  learn,  hearing  his  words  who  is  come  from  the  mountain 
to  bring  a  message  to  you ;  but  we  will  await  you,  we  will 
not  fly. 

Messenger.  Pentheus,  ruler  o'er  this  Theban  land,  I  come, 
having  left  Cithasron,  where  never  have  the  brilliant  flakes  of 
white  snow  fallen.30 

Pen.  But  bringing  what  important  news  are  you  come  ? 

Mes.  Having  seen  the  holy  Bacchaa,  who  driven  by  mad- 
ness have  darted  their  fair  feet  from  this  land,  have  I  come, 
wishing  to  tell  you  and  the  city,  O  king,  what  awful  things 
they  do,  things  beyond  marvel;  and  I  wish  to  hear  whether 
in  freedom  of  speech  I  shall  tell  you  the  matters  there,  or 
whether  I  shall  repress  my  report,  for  I  fear,  0  king,  the 
39  dvtiaav,  solvuntur,  liquescunt.     Brodeus. 


670—716.  THE  BACCILE.  265 

hastiness  of  thy  mind,  and  your  keen  temper,  and  tco  imperi- 
ous disposition.40 

Pen.  Speak,  as  you  shall  be  in  all  things  blameless  as  far 
as  I  am  concerned ;  for  it  is  not  meet  to  be  wrath  with  the 
just;  and  in  proportion  as  you  speak  worse  things  of 'the 
Bacchoe,  so  much  the  more  will  we  punish  this  man  who  has 
taught  these  tricks  to  the  women. 

Mes.  I  was  just  now  driving  up  to  the  heights  the  herd  of 
calves,  when  the  sun  sends  forth  his  rays  warming  the  land, 
and  I  see  three  companies  of  dances  of  women,  of  one  of 
which  Autonoe  was  chief ;  of  a  second,  thy  mother,  Agave ; 
and  Ino  led  the  third  dance  ;  and  they  were  all  sleeping, 
relaxed  in  their  bodies,  some  resting  their  locks  against  the 
leaves  of  pine,  and  some  laying  their  heads  at  random  on  the 
leaves  of  oak  in  the  ground,  modestly,  not,  as  you  say,  that, 
drunk  with  the  goblet  and  the  noise  of  the  flute,  they  solitary 
hunt  Venus  through  the  wood.  But  thy  mother  standing  in 
the  midst  of  the  Bacchas,  raised  a  shout,  to  wake  their  bodies 
from  sleep,  when  she  heard  the  lowing  of  the  horned  oxen ; 
but  they,  casting  off  refreshing  sleep  from  their  eyes,  started 
upright,  a  marvel  to  behold  for  their  elegance,  young,  old,  and 
virgins  yet  unyoked.  And  first  they  let  loose  their  hair  over 
their  shoulders ;  and  arranged  their  deer-skins,  as  many  as 
had  had  the  fastenings  of  their  knots  unloosed,  and  they  girded 
the  dappled  hides  with  serpents  licking  their  jaws — and  some 
having  in  their  arms  a  kid,  or  the  wild  whelps  of  wolves,  gave 
them  white  milk,  all  those  who,  having  lately  had  children, 
had  breasts  still  full,  having  left  their  infants,  and  they  put 
on  their  ivy  chaplets,  and  garlands  of  oak  and  blossoming 
yew ;  and  one  having  taken  a  thyrsus,  struck  it  against  a 
rock,  whence  a  dewy  stream  of  water  springs  out ;  another 
placed  her  wand  on  the  ground,  and  then  the  God  sent  up  a 
spring  of  wine.  And  as  many  as  had  craving  for  the  white 
drink,  scratching  the  earth  with  the  tips  of  their  fingers,  ob- 
tained abundance  of  milk ;  and  from  the  ivy  thyrsi  sweet 
streams  of  honey  dropped,  so  that,  had  you  been  present,  be- 
holding these  things,  you  would  have  approached  with  prayers 
that  God  whom  you  now  blame.  And  we  came  together, 
herdsmen  and  shepherds,  to  reason  with  one  another  concern- 
ing this  strange  matter,  what  terrible  things  and  worthy  of 
40  Cf.  Soph.  Ant.  243  sqq. 


266  THE  BACCH^E.  717—766. 

marvel  they  do ;  and  some  one,  a  wanderer  about  the  city,  and 
practised  in  speaking,  said  to  ns  all,  O  ye  who  inhabit  the  holy 
downs  of  the  mountains,  will  ye  that  we  hunt  out  Agave",  the 
mother  of  Pentheus,  back  from  the  revels,  and  do  the  king  a 
pleasure  ?  And  he  seemed  to  us  to  speak  well,  and  hiding  our- 
selves, we  lay  in  ambush  in  the  foliage  of  the  thickets ;  and 
they,  at  the  appointed  hour,  waved  the  thyrsus  in  their  solem- 
nities, calling  on  Iacchus  with  united  voice,  the  son  of  Jove, 
Bromius  ;  and  the  whole  mountain  and  the  beasts  were  in  a 
revel ;  and  nothing  was  unmoved  by  their  running;  and  Agave 
was  bounding  near  to  me,  and  I  sprang  forth,  as  wishing  to 
seize  her,  leaving  my  ambush  where  I  was  hidden.  But  she 
cried  out,  0  my  fleet  hounds,  we  are  hunted  by  these  men  ; 
but  follow  me,  follow,  armed  with  thyrsi  in  your  hands.  We 
then  flying,  avoided  the  tearing  of  the  Baccha,  but  they  sprang 
on  the  heifers  browsing  the  grass  with  unarmed  hand,  and 
you  might  see  one  rending  asunder  a  fatted  lowing  calf,  and 
others  rent  open  cows,  and  you  might  see  either  ribs,  or  a 
cloven-footed  hoof,  tossed  here  and  there,  and  hanging  'neath 
the  pine-trees  the  fragments  were  dripping,  dabbled  in  gore ; 
and  the  fierce  bulls  before  showing  their  fury  with  their  horns, 
were  thrown  to  the  ground,  overpowered  by  myriads  of  maiden 
hands ;  and  quicker  were  the  coverings  of  flesh  torn  asunder 
by  the  royal  maids  than  you  could  shut  your  eyes ;  and  like 
birds  raised  in  their  course,  they  proceed  along  the  level  plain, 
which  by  the  streams  of  the  Asopus  produce  the  fertile  crop 
of  the  Thebans,  and  falling  on  Hysia  and  Erythra,41  which 
are  below  Citharon,  they  turned  every  thing  upside  down  ; 
they  dragged  children  from  the  houses :  and  whatever  they 
put  on  their  shoulders  stuck  there  without  chains,  and  fell  not 
on  the  dark  plain,  neither  brass  nor  iron ;  and  they  bore  fire 
on  their  tresses,  and  it  burnt  not ;  but  some  from  rage  betook 
themselves  to  arms,  being  plundered  by  the  Baccha,  the  sight 
of  which  was  fearful  to  behold,  0  king !  For  their  pointed 
spear  was  not  made  bloody,  but  the  women  hurling  the  thyrsi 
from  their  hands,  wounded  them,  and  turned  their  backs  to 
flight,  women  [defeating]  men ;  not  without  the  aid  of  some 
God.  And  they  went  back  again  to  whence  they  had  de- 
parted, to  the  same  fountains  which  the  God  had  caused  to 

41  These  two  cities  were  in  ruins  in  the  time  of  Pausanias.    Sec  ix.  3. 
p.  714,  ed.  Kuhn. 


767—803.  THE  BACCH^E.  267 

spring  up  for  them,  and  they  washed  off  the  blood ;  and  the 
snakes  with  their  tongues  cleaned  off  the  drops  from  their 
cheeks.  Receive  then,  O  master,  this  deity,  whoever  he  be, 
in  this  city,  since  he  is  mighty  in  other  respects,  and  they  say 
this  too  of  him,  as  I  hear,  that  he  has  given  mortals  the  vine 
which  puts  an  end  to  grief, — for  where  wine  exists  not  there 
is  no  longer  Venus,  nor  any  thing  pleasant  to  men.42 

Cho.  I  fear  to  speak  unshackled  words  to  the  king,  but 
still  they  shall  be  spoken ;  Bacchus  is  inferior  to  none  of  the 
Gods. 

Pen.  Already  like  lire  does  this  insolence  of  the  Bacchre 
extend  thus  near,  a  great  reproach  to  the  Greeks.  But  I 
must  not  hesitate ;  go  to  the  Electra  gates,  bid  all  the  shield- 
bearers  and  riders  of  swift-footed  horses  to  assemble,  and  all 
who  brandish  the  light  shield,  and  twang  with  their  hand  the 
string  of  the  bow,  as  we  will  make  an  attack  upon  the  Bac- 
clue ;  but  it  is  too  much,  if  we  are  to  suffer  what  we  are  suf- 
fering at  the  hands  of  women. 

Bac.  O  Pentheus,  you  obey  not  at  all  hearing  my  words ; 
but  although  suffering  ill  at  your  hands,  still  I  say  that  you 
ought  not  to  take  up  arms  against  a  God,  but  to  rest  quiet ; 
Bromius  will  not  endure  your  moving  the  Bacchos  from  their 
Evian  mountains. 

Pen.  You  shall  not  teach  me;  but  be  content,43  having 
escaped  from  prison,  or  else  I  will  again  bring  punishment 
upon  you. 

Bac.  I  would  rather  sacrifice  to  him  than,  being  wrath, 
kick  against  the  pricks  ;  a  mortal  against  a  God. 

Pen.  I  will  sacrifice,  making  a  great,  slaughter  of  the 
women,  as  they  deserve,  in  the  glens  of  Cithasron. 

Bac.  You  will  all  fly,  (and  that  will  be  shameful,)  so  as  to 
yield  your  brazen  shields  to  the  thyrsi  of  the  Bacchte. 

Pen.  We  are  troubled  with  this  impracticable  stranger, 
who  neither  suffering  nor  doing  will  be  silent. 

Bac.  My  friend,  there  is  still  opportunity  to  arrange  these 
things  well. 

Pen.  By  doing  what  ?  being  a  slave  to  my  slaves  ? 

42  Cf.  Atheneeus,  p.  40.  B.  Terent.  Eun.  iv.  5.  "  Sine  Cerere  et  Li- 
bero  friget  Venus."  Apul.  Met.  ii.  p.  119,  ed.  Elm.  "  Ecce,  inquam, 
Veneris  hortator  et  armiger  Liber  advenit  ultro,"  where  see  Pricreus. 

43  More  literally,  perhaps,  "  keep  it  and  be  thankful." 


268  THE  BACCH^E.  804—834. 

Bac.  I  will  bring  the  women  here  without  arms. 

Pen.  Alas  !  you  are  contriving  some  trick  against  me. 

Bac.  Of  what  sort,  if  I  wish  to  save  you  by  my  con- 
trivances ? 

Pen.  You  have  devised  this  together,  that  ye  may  have 
your  revellings  for  ever. 

Bac.  And  indeed,  know  this,  I  agreed  on  it  with  the  God. 

Pen.  Bring  hither  the  arms !  and  do  you  cease  to  speak. 

Bac.  Hah !  Do  you  wish  to  see  them  sitting  on  the  moun- 
tains ? 

Pen.  Very  much,  if  I  gave  countless  weight  of  gold  for  it. 

Bac.  But  why  ?  have  you  fallen  into  a  great  wish  for  this  ? 

Pen.  I  should  like  to  see  them  drunk  grievously  [for  them]. 

Bac.  Would  you  then  gladly  see  what  is  grievous  to  you  ? 

Pen.  To  be  sure,  sitting  quietly  under  the  pines. 

Bac.  But  they  will  track  you  out,  even  though  you  come 
secretly. 

Pen.  But  [I  will  come]  openly,  for  you  have  said  this  well. 

Bac.  Shall  I  then  guide  you  ?  and  will  you  attempt  the 
way  ? 

Pen.  Lead  me  as  quickly  as  possible ;  for  I  do  not  grudge 
you  the  time. 

Bac.  Put  on  then  linen  garments  on  your  body. 

Pen.  What  then,  shall  I  be  reckoned  among  women,  being 
a  man  ? 

Bac.  Lest  they  slay  you  if  you  be  seen  there,  being  a  man. 

Pen.  You  say  this  well,  and  you  have  been  long  wise. 

Bac.  Bacchus  taught  me  this  wisdom. 

Pen.  How  then  can  these  things  which  you  advise  me  be 
well  done  ? 

Bac.  I  will  attire  you,  going  into  the  house. 

Pen.  With  what  dress  —  a  woman's?  but  shame  pos- 
sesses me. 

Bac.  Do  you  no  longer  wish  to  be  a  spectator  of  the 
Maenads? 

Pen.  But  what  attire  do  you  bid  me  put  on  my  body  ? 

Bac.  I  will  spread  out  your  hair  at  length  on  your  head. 

Pen.  And  what  is  the  next  point  of  my  equipment  ? 

Bac.  A  garment  down  to  your  feet ;  and  you  shall  have  a 
turban  on  your  head. 

Pen.   Shall  you  put  any  thing  else  on  me  besides  this  ? 


835—873.  THE  BACCHiE.  269 

Bac.  A  thyrsus  in  your  hand,  and  the  dappled  hide  of  a 
deer. 

Pen.  I  cannot  wear  a  woman's  dress. 

Bac.  But  you  will  shed  blood  if  you  join  battle  with  the 
Bacchas. 

Pen.  True ;  we  must  first  go  and  see. 

Bac.  That  is  wiser  at  least  than  to  hunt  evils  with  evils. 

Pen.  And  how  shall  I  go  through  the  city  escaping  the 
notice  of  the  Cadmeans  ? 

Bac.  We  will  go  by  deserted  roads,  and  I  will  guide  you. 

Pen.  Every  thing  is  better  than  for  the  Baccha?  to  mock  me. 

Bac.  We  will  go  into  the  house  and  consider  what  seems 
best. 

Pen.  We  can  do  what  we  like  ;  my  part  is  completely  pre- 
pared. Let  us  go ;  for  either  I  will  go  bearing  arms,  or  I  will 
be  guided  by  your  counsels. 

Bac.  O  women  !  the  man  is  in  the  toils,44  and  he  will  come 
to  the  Baccha?,  where,  dying,  he  will  pay  the  penalty.  Now, 
Bacchus,  'tis  thine  office,  for  you  are  not  far  off*.  Let  us  punish 
him ;  but  first  drive  him  out  of  his  wits,  inspiring  vain  frenzy, 
since,  being  in  his  right  mind,  he  will  not  be  willing  to  put  on 
a  female  dress,  but  driving  him  out  of  his  senses  he  will  put 
it  on ;  and  I  wish  him  to  furnish  laughter  to  the  Thebans, 
being  led  in  woman's  guise  through  the  city,  after45  his  former 
threats,  with  which  he  was  terrible.  But  I  will  go  to  fit  on 
Pentheus  the  dress,  which,  having  taken,  he  shall  die,  slain  by 
his  mother's  hand.  And  he  shall  know  Bacchus,  the  son  of 
Jupiter,  who  is  in  fact  to  men  at  once  the  most  terrible,  and 
the  mildest  of  deities.46 

Cho.  Shall  I  move  my  white  foot  in  the  night-long  dance, 
honouring  Bacchus,  exposing  my  neck  to  the  dewy  air,  sport- 
ing like  a  fawn  in  the  verdant  delights  of  the  mead,  when  it 
has  escaped  a  fearful  chase  beyond  the  watch  of  the  well- 
woven  nets,  (and  the  huntsman  cheering  hastens  on  the  course 
of  his  hounds,)  and  with  toil  like  the  swift  storm47  rushes 

44  Thcocrit.  i.  40.  fxkya  Siktvov  tg  fioXov  eXkei. 

45  But  t k  twv  diztiKwv  conveys  a  notion  of  change  =  instead  of. 

46  Elmsley  remarks  that  dvQpwTcoini  belongs  to  both  members  of  the 
sentence.  I  have  therefore  supplied.  The  sense  may  be  illustrated  from 
Hippol.  5  sq. 

47  See  Matthiae. 


270  THE  BACCH.E.  874—926 

along  thfi  plain  that  skirts  the  river,  exulting  in  the  solitude 
apart  from  men,  and  in  the  thickets  of  the  shady-foliaged 
wood  ?  What  is  wisdom,  what  is  a  more  glorious  gift  from 
the  Gods  among  mortals  than  to  hold  one's  hand  on  the  heads 
of  one's  enemies  ?  What  is  good  is  always  pleasant ;  divine 
strength  is  roused  with  difficulty,  but  still  is  sure,  and  it  chas- 
tises those  mortals  who  honour  folly,  and  do  not  extol  the 
Gods  in  their  insane  mind.  But  the  Gods  cunningly  conceal 
the  long  foot48  of  time,  and  hunt  the  impious  man;  for  it  is 
not  right  to  determine  or  plan  any  thing  beyond  the  laws  :  for 
it  is  a  light  expense  to  deem  that  that  has  power  whatever  is 
divine,  and  that  what  has  been  law  for  a  long  time  has  its 
origin  in  nature.  What  is  wisdom,  what  is  a  more  noble  gift 
from  the  Gods  among  men,  than  to  hold  one's  hand  on  the 
heads  of  one's  enemies  ?  what  is  honourable  is  always  pleasant. 
Happy  is  he  who  has  escaped  from  the  wave  of  the  sea,  and 
arrived  in  harbour.49  Happy,  too,  is  he  who  has  overcome 
his  labours ;  and  one  surpasses  another  in  different  ways,  in 
wealth  and  power.  Still  are  there  innumerable  hopes  to  in- 
numerable men,  some  result  in  wealth  to  mortals,  and  some 
fail,  but  I  call  him  happy  whose  life  is  happy  day  by  day. 

Bac.  Yoii,  who  are  eager  to  see  what  you  ought  not,  and 
hasty  to  do  a  deed  not  of  haste,  I  mean  Pentheus,  come  forth 
before  the  house,  be  seen  by  me,  having  the  costume  of  a 
woman,  of  a  frantic  Bacchant,  as  a  spy  upon  your  mother 
and  her  company !  In  appearance,  you  are  like  one  of  the 
daughters  of  Cadmus. 

Pen.  And  indeed  I  think  I  see  two  suns,50  and  twin  Thebes, 
and  seven-gated  city ;  and  you  seem  to  guide  me,  being  like 
a  bull,  and  horns  seem  to  grow  on  your  head.  But  were  you 
ever  a  beast  ?  for  you  look  like  a  bull. 

Bac.  The  God  accompanies  us,  not  propitious  formerly,  but 
now  at  truce  with  us.     You  see  what  you  should  see. 

Pen.  How  do  I  look  ?  Does  not  my  standing  seem  like 
that  of  Ino,  or  of  Agave,  my  mother  ? 

48  i.  c.  step.  This  is  ridiculed  by  Aristoph.  Ran.  100,  where  the  Scho- 
liast quotes  a  similar  example  from  our  author's  Alexandra. 

19  Compare  Havercamp  on  Lucret.  ii.  sub  init. 

50  Compare  Virgil,  JEn.  iv.  469*  "  Et  solem  geminum,  et  duplices  se 
ostendere  Thebas."  In  the  second  passage  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus 
quoted  by  Elmsley,  yepwv  is  probably  a  mistaken  reference  to  Tiresias. 


927—964.  THE  BACCHiE.  271 

Bac.  I  seem  to  see  them  as  I  behold  you ;  but  this  lock  of 
hair  of  yours  is  out  of  its  place,  not  as  I  dressed  it  beneath 
the  turban. 

Pen.  Moving  it  within-doors  backwards  and  forwards,  and 
practising  Bacchic  revelry,  I  disarranged  it. 

Bac.  But  we  who  ought  to  wait  upon  you  will  again  re- 
arrange it.     But  hold  up  your  head. 

Pen.  Look,  do  you  arrange  it,  for  we  depend  on  you. 

Bac.  And  your  girdle  is  loosened,  and  the  fringes  of  your 
garments  do  not  extend  regularly  round  your  legs. 

Pen.  They  seem  so  to  me,  too,  about  the  right  foot  at  least ; 
but  on  this  side  the  robe  sits  well  along  the  leg. 

Bac.  Will  you  not  think  me  the  first  of  your  friends  when, 
contrary  to  your  expectation,  you  see  the  Bacchae  acting 
modestly  ? 

Pen.  But  shall  I  be  more  like  a  Bacchant  holding  the  thyr- 
sus in  my  right  hand,  or  in  this  ? 

Bac.  You  should  [hold  it  in]  your  right  hand,  and  raise 
it  at  the  same  time  with  your  inght  foot ;  and  I  praise  you  for 
having  changed  your  mind. 

Pen.  Could  I  bear  on  my  shoulders  the  glens  of  Cithasron, 
Bacchre  and  all  ? 

Bac.  You  could  if  you  were  willing ;  but  you  had  your 
mind  unsound  before  ;  but  now  you  have  such  as  you  ought. 

Pen.  Shall  we  bring  levers,  or  shall  I  tear  them  up  with 
my  hands,  putting  my  shoulder  or  arm  under  the  summits  ? 

Bac.  No,  lest  you  ruin  the  habitations  of  the  Nymphs,  and 
the  seats  of  Pan  where  he  plays  his  pipes. 

Pen.  You  speak  well, — it  is  not  with  strength  we  should 
conquer  women  ;  but  I  will  hide  my  body  among  the  pines. 

Bac.  Hide  you  the  hiding  in  which  you  should  be  hidden, 
coming  as  a  crafty  spy  on  the  Magnads. 

Pen.  And,  indeed,  I  think  to  catch  them  in  the  thickets,  like 
birds  in  the  sweet  nets  of  beds. 

Bac.  You  go  then  as  a  watch  for  this  very  thing ;  and  per- 
haps you  will  catch  them,  if  you  be  not  caught  first. 

Pen.  Conduct  me  through  the  middle  of  the  Theban  land, 
for  I  am  the  only  man  of  them  who  would  dare  these  things. 

Bac.  You  alone  labour  for  this  city,  you  alone ;  therefore 
the  labours,  which  are  meet,51  await  yon.     But  follow  me,  I 

31   An  obscure  hint  at  the  impending  fate  of  Pentheus.     Nonnus  has 


272  THE  BACCH.E.  9G5— 1004. 

am  your  saving  guide,  some  one  else  will  guide  you  away  from 
thence. 

Pen.  Yes,  my  mother. 

Bac.  Being  remarkable  among  all. 

Pen.  For  this  purpose  do  I  come. 

Bac.  You  will  depart  being  borne.53 

Pen.  You  allude  to  my  delicacy. 

Bac.  In  the  hands  of  your  mother. 

Pen.  And  wilt  thou  compel  me  to  be  effeminate  ? 

Bac.  Ay,  with  such  effeminacy. 

Pen.  I  lay  mine  hand  to  worthy  things. 

Bac.  You  are  terrible,  terrible  :  and  you  go  to  terrible 
sufferings  ;  so  that  you  shall  find  a  renown  reaching  to  heaven. 
Spread  out,  O  Agave,  your  hands,  and  ye,  her  sister,  daughters 
of  Cadmus  !  I  lead  this  young  man  to  a  mighty  contest ; 
and  the  conqueror  shall  be  I  and  Bacchus  !  The  rest  the  mat- 
ter itself  will  show. 

Cuo.  Go,  ye  fleet  hounds  of  madness,  go  to  the  mountain 
where  the  daughters  of  Cadmus  hold  their  company ;  drive 
them  raving  against  the  frantic  spy  on  the  Masnads, — him  in 
woman's  attire.  First  shall  his  mother  from  some  smooth 
rock  or  paling,  behold  him  in  ambush ;  and  she  will  cry  out 
to  the  Maenads :  Who  is  this  of  the  Cadmeans  who  has  come 
to  the  mountain,  the  mountain,  as  a  spy  on  us,  who  are  on 
the  mountain  ?  Io  Bacchas  !  Who  brought  him  forth  ?  for 
he  was  not  born  of  the  blood  of  women :  but,  as  to  his  race,  he 
is  either  born  of  some  lion,  or  of  the  Libyan  Gorgons.  Let 
manifest  justice  go  forth,  let  it  go  with  sword  in  hand,  slay- 
ing the  godless,  lawless,  unjust,  earth-born  offspring  of  Echion 
through  the  throat;  who,  with  wicked  mind  and  unjust  rage 
about  your  orgies,  O  Bacchus,  and  those  of  thy  mother,53  with 
raving  heart  and  mad  disposition  proceeds  as  about  to  over- 
come an  invincible  deity  by  force.  To  possess  without  pre- 
text a  wise  understanding  in  respect  to  the  Gods,  and  [a 
disposition]  befitting  mortals,  is  a  life  ever  free  from  grief. 

led  the  way  to  the  catastrophe  by  a  graphic  description  of  Agave's  dream. 
Dionys.  4"j.  p.  751. 

52  <ptp6fitvoQ  may  mean  either  "carried  in  a  litter,"  or  "  carried  to 
burial."  There  is  a  somcvvhrt  similar  play  in  the  epigram  of  Ausonius, 
xxiii.  "  Mater  Laciena  clypeo  obarmans  lilitnn,  cum  hoc,  inquit,  aut  in 
hoc,  rcdi." 

83  Burgcs  more  rightly  reads  juarpoc  re  Vac.     See  Elmsley's  note. 


1005-1054.  THE  BACCHUE.  273 

I  joyfully  hunt  after  wisdom,  if  apart  from  envy,  but  tire 
other  conduct  is  evidently  ever  great  throughout  life,  direct- 
ing one  rightly  the  live-long  day,  to  reverence  things  honour- 
able.54 Appear  as  a  bull,  or  a  many-headed  dragon,  or  a  fiery 
lion,  to  be  seen.  Go,  0  Bacchus !  cast  a  snare  around  the 
hunter  of  the  Bacchaj,  with  a  smiling  face  falling  upon  the 
deadly  crowd  of  the  Masnads. 

Mes.  O  house,  which  wast  formerly  prosperous  in  Greece  ! 
house  of  the  Sidonian  old  man,  who  sowed  in  the  land  the 
earth-born  harvest  of  the  dragon;  how  I  lament  for  you, 
though  a  slave.  But  still  the  [calamities]  of  their  masters  are 
a  grief  to  good  servants. 

Cho.  But  what  is  the  matter  ?  Tellest  thou  any  news  from 
the  Bacchce  ? 

Mes.  Pentheus  is  dead,  the  son  of  his  father  Echion. 
Cho.  O,  king  Bacchus  !  truly  you  appear  a  great  God  ! 
Mes.  How  sayest  thou  ?    Why  do  you  say  this  ?    Do  you, 
0  woman,  delight  at  my  master  being  unfortunate  ? 

Cho.  I,  a  foreigner,  celebrate  it  in  foreign  strains ;  for  no 
longer  do  I  crouch  in  fear  under  my  fetters. 

Mes.  But  do  you  think  Thebes  thus  void  of  men  ? 
Cho.  Bacchus,  Bacchus,  not  Thebes,  has  my  allegiance. 
Mes.  You,  indeed,  may  be  pardoned  ;  still,  0  woman,  it  is 
not   right   to   rejoice  at  the   misfortunes  which  have  been 
brought  to  pass. 

Cho.  Tell  me,  say,  by  what  fate  is  the  wicked  man  doing 
wicked  things  dead,  0  man  ? 

Mes.  When  having  left  Therapna?  of  this  Theban  land,  we 
crossed  the  streams  of  Asopus,  we  entered  on  the  height  of 
Citharon,  Pentheus  and  I,  for  I  was  following  my  master,  and 
the  stranger  who  was  our  guide  in  this  search,  for  the  sight : 
first,  then,  we  sat  down  in  a  grassy  vale,  keeping  our  steps 
and  tongues  in  silence,  that  we  might  see,  not  being  seen  ;  and 
there  was  a  valley  surrounded  by  precipices,  irrigated  with 
streams,  shaded  around  with  pines,  where  the  Maenads  were 
■sitting  employing  their  hands  in  pleasant  labours,  for  some  of 
them  were  again  crowning  the  worn-out  thyrsus,  so  as  to 

04  As  one  must  make  some  translation,  I  have  done  my  best  with  this 
passage,  which  is,  however,  utterly  unintelligible  in  Dindorfs  text.  A 
reference  to  his  selection  of  notes  will  furnish  some  new  readings,  but,  as 
a  whole,  quite  unsatisfactory- 


274  THE  BACCHiE.  1055—1096. 

make  it  leafy  with  ivy ;  and  some,  like  horses  quitting  the 
painted  yoke,  shouted  in  reply  to  another  a  Bacchic  melody. 
And  the  miserable  Pentheus,  not  seeing  the  crowd  of  women, 
spake  thus :  0  stranger,  where  we  are  standing,  I  cannot  come 
at  the  place  where  is  the  dance  of  the  Maenads ;  but  climbing 
a  mound,  or  pine  with  lofty  neck,  I  could  well  discern  the 
shameful  deeds  of  the  Maenads.  And  on  this  I  now  see  a 
strange  deed  of  the  stranger ;  for  seizing  hold  of  the  extreme 
lofty  branch  of  a  pine,  he  pulled  it  down,  pulled  it,  pulled  it 
to  the  dark  earth,  and  it  was  bent  like  a  bow,  or  as  a  curved 
wheel  worked  by  a  lathe  describes  a  circle  as  it  revolves,  thus 
the  stranger,  pulling  a  mountain  bough  with  his  hands,  bent 
it  to  the  earth ;  doing  no  mortal's  deed ;  and  having  placed 
Pentheus  on  the  pine  branches,  he  let  it  go  upright  through 
his  hands  steadily,  taking  care  that  it  should  not  shake  him 
off ;  and  the  pine  stood  firm  upright  to  the  sky,  bearing  on  its 
back  my  master,  sitting  on  it ;  and  he  was  seen  rather  than 
saw  the  Maenads,  for  sitting  on  high  he  was  apparent,  as  not 
before.55  And  one  could  no  longer  see  the  stranger,  but  there 
was  a  certain  voice  from  the  sky ;  Bacchus,  as  one  might  con- 
jecture, shouted  out:  0  youthful  women,  I  bring  you  him 
who  made  you  and  me  and  my  orgies  a  laughing-stock :  but 
punish  ye  him.  And  at  the  same  time  he  cried  out,  and  sent 
forth  to  heaven  and  earth  a  light  of  holy  fire  ;56  and  the  air 
was  silent,  and  the  fair  meadowed  grove  kept  its  leaves  in 
silence,  and  you  could  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  beasts ;  but 
they  not  distinctly  receiving  the  voice,  stood  upright,  and  cast 
their  eyes  around.  And  again  he  proclaimed  his  bidding. 
And  when  the  daughters  of  Cadmus  recognised  the  distinct 
command  of  Bacchus,  they  rushed  forth,  having  in  the  eager 
running  of  their  feet  a  speed  not  less  than  that  of  a  dove ;  his 
mother,  Agave,  and  her  kindred  sisters,  and  all  the  Bacchae : 
and  frantic  with  the  inspiration  of  the  God,  they  bounded 
through  the  torrent-streaming  valley,  and  the  clefts.  But 
when  they  saw  my  master  sitting  on  the  pine,  first  they  threw 
at  him  handfuls  of  stones,  striking  his  head,  mounting  on  an 

55  Compare  the  parallel  account  in  Nonnus,  46.  p.  784. 

40  Alluded  to  by  Oppian,  Cyn.  iv.  3U0.  aim  <7«\ac  <p\oysp6v  Tzarpmov, 
dv  5'  i\e\t}t,ov  raiav,  d.rapri)poZ>  5'  ottchjov  t'hjiv  wica  rvpdvvov.  He 
then  relates  that  Pentheus  was  transformed  into  a  bull,  the  Maenads  into 
panthers,  who  tore  him  to  pieces. 


1097—1131.  THE  BACCIOE.  275 

opposite  piled  rock ;  and  with  pine  branches  some  aimed,  and 
some  hurled  their  thyrsi  through  the  air  at  Pentheus,  wretched 
mark;57  but  they  failed  of  their  purpose;  for  he  having  a 
height  too  great  for  their  eagerness,  sat,  wretched,  destitute 
through  perplexity.  But  at  last  thundering  together58  some 
oaken  branches,  they  tore  up  the  roots  with  levers  not  of 
iron ;  and  when  they  could  not  accomplish  the  end  of  their 
labours,  Agave  said,  Come,  standing  round  in  a  circle,  seize 
each  a  branch,  O  Mamads,  that  we  may  take  the  beast59  who 
has  climbed  aloft,  that  he  may  not  tell  abroad  the  secret  dances 
of  the  God.  And  they  applied  their  innumerable  hands  to  the 
pine,  and  tox-e  it  up  from  the  ground ;  and  sitting  on  high, 
Pentheus  falls  to  the  ground  from  on  high,  with  numberless 
lamentations  ;  for  he  knew  that  he  was  near  to  ill.  And  first 
his  mother,  as  the  priestess,  began  his  slaughter,  and  falls 
upon  him ;  but  he  threw  the  turban  from  his  hair,  that  the 
wretched  Agave,  recognising  him,  might  not  slay  him ;  and 
touching  her  cheek,  he  says,  I,  indeed,  O  mother,  am  thy 
child,60  Pentheus,  whom  you  bore  in  the  house  of  Echion ; 
but  pity  me,  0  mother !  and  do  not  slay  me,  thy  child,  for 
my  sins.  But  she,  foaming  and  rolling  her  eyes  every 
way,  not  thinking  as  she  ought  to  think,  was  possessed 
by  Bacchus,  and  he  did  not  persuade  her;  and  seizing  his 
left  hand  with  her  hand,  treading  on  the  side  of  the  unhappy 
man,  she  tore  off  his  shoulder,  not  by  [her  own]  strength,  but 
the  God  gave  facility  to  her  hands ;  and  Ino  completed  the 
work  on  the  other  side,  tearing  his  flesh.  And  Autonoe  and 
the  whole  crowd  of  the  Bacchaj  pressed  on ;  and  there  was  a 

57  otoxoq  is  either  the  aim  itself,  or  the  mark  aimed  at,  as  in  this  pas- 
sage, and  Xenoph.  Ages.  1.  25. 

58  I  have  done  my  best  with  this  extraordinary  expression,  of  which 
Elmsley  quotes  another  example  from  Archilochus  Fragm.  36.  Perhaps 
the  notion  of  excessive  rapidity  is  intended  to  be  expressed. 

59  6ijp  seems  metaphorically  said,  as  in  iEsch.  Eum.  47.  Nonnus,  45. 
p.  784,  23.  above,  922. 

60  Compare  Nonnus,  46.  p.  784. 

Kcu  toti  fxiv  kiirt  \i<T<ra  voo(T<pa\£os  Aiovvcov, 
Kai  7rpoTt'pas  (ppivai  ia^i.  to  StuTtpoV  dp.<pi  <5e  yairj 
yt'nova  tt6t/j.ov  i^iov  icivvp>)v  kipdiy^aTO  <ptovi)v. 
****** 
fxiJTip  E/UJJ  6u<r/At]Tsp  a-n-rjvt'os  'ioxto  \u<r<rt(s, 
Orjpa  irotitv  KaXitLS  p.i  tov  uila. 
The  whole  passage  is  very  elegant,  and  even  pathetic. 
T    2 


276  THE  BACCH^E.  1132—1172. 

noise  of  all  together ;  he,  indeed,  groaning  as  much  as  he  had 
life  in  him,  and  they  shouted  ;  and  one  bore  his  arm,  another 
his  foot,  shoe  and  all ;  and  his  sides  were  bared  by  their  tear- 
ings,  and  the  whole  band,  with  gory  hands,  tore  to  pieces  the 
flesh  of  Pentheus :  and  his  body  lies  in  different  places,  part 
under  the  rugged  rocks,  part  in  the  deep  shade  of  the  wood, 
not  easy  to  be  sought ;  and  as  to  his  miserable  head,  which  his 
mother  has  taken  in  her  hands,  having  fixed  it  on  the  top  of 
a  thyrsus,  she  is  bearing  it,  like  that  of  a  savage  lion,  through 
the  middle  of  Cithaeron,  leaving  her  sisters  in  the  dances  of 
the  Mamads ;  and  she  goes  along  rejoicing  in  her  unhappy 
prey,  within  these  walls,  calling  upon  Bacchus,  her  fellow- 
huntsman,  her  fellow- workman  in  the  chace,  of  glorious  vic- 
tory, by  which  she  wins  a  victory  of  tears.  I,  therefore,  will 
depart  out  of  the  way  of  this  calamity  before  Agave  comes  to 
the  palace ;  but  to  be  wise,  and  to  reverence  the  Gods,  this, 
I  think,  is  the  most  honourable  and  wisest  thing  for  mortals 
who  adopt  it. 

Cho.  Let  us  dance  in  honour  of  Bacchus ;  let  us  raise  a 
shout  for  what  has  befallen  Pentheus,  the  descendant  of  the 
dragon,  who  assumed  female  attire  and  the  wand  with  the 
beautiful  thyrsus, — a  certain  death,  having  a  bull61  as  his  leader 
to  calamity.  Ye  Cadmean  Bacchants,  ye  have  accomplished 
a  glorious  victory,  illustrious,  yet  for  woe  and  tears.  It  is  a 
glorious  contest  to  plunge  one's  dripping  hand  in  the  blood  of 
one's  son.  But — for  I  see  Agave,  the  mother  of  Pentheus, 
coming  to  the  house  with  starting  eyes ;  receive  the  revel  of 
the  Evian  God. 

Agave.  O  Asiatic  Bacchae  ! 

Cho.  To  what  dost  thou  excite  me  ?     0  ! 

Ag.  We  bring  from  the  mountains  a  fresh-culled  wreath- 
ing02 to  the  house,  a  blessed  prey. 

61  Alluding  to  the  horns  of  Bacchus.  Cf.  Sidon.  Apoll.  Burg.  Pontii 
Leontii,  vs.  26.  "  Caput  ardua  rumpunt  Cornua,  et  indigenam  jaculantur 
fulminis  ignem."  See  some  whimsical  reasons  for  this  in  Isidor.  Origg. 
viii.  2.  Albricus  de  Deor.  Nu.  xix.  But  compare  above,  vs.  920.  Kai 
ravpog  i)pui>  irpoaQtv  i)yiia9ai  SoKeig,  Kai  ffy  KspaTE  Kparl  TrpooirttyvKtvai. 

62  Elmsley  has  rightly  shown  that  tXaca  could  not  of  itself  mean  "  a 
hull  "  or  "  heifer,"  although  Homer  has  uXLirodag  'iXucac  j3ovg.  I  have 
therefore  followed  Hermann,  who  remarks,  "  s'Xt?  seems  properly  to  be 
meant  for  the  clusters  of  ivy  with  which  the  thyrsus  was  entwined.  Hence 
Agave  says  that  she  adorns  the  thyrsus  with  a  new-fashioned  wreath,  viz. 


1173—1201.  THE  BACCH.E.  277 

Cho.  I  see  it,  and  hail  you  as  a  fellow-reveller,  O  ! 

Ag.  I  have  caught  him  without  a  noose,  a  young  lion,  as 
you  may  see. 

Cho.  From  what  desert  ? 

Ag.  Cithseron. 

Cho.  What  did  Cithaeron  ? 

Ag.  Slew  him. 

Cho.  Who  was  it  who  first  smote  him  ? 

Ag.  The  honour  is  mine.  Happy  Agave !  We  are  re- 
nowned in  our  revels. 

Cho.  Who  else  ? 

Ag.  Cadmus's. 

Cho.  What  of  Cadmus  ? 

Ag.  Descendants  after  me,  after  me  laid  hands  on  this 
beast. 

Cho.  You  are  fortunate  in  this  capture. 

Ag.  Partake  then  of  our  feast. 

Cho.  What  shall  I,  unhappy,  partake  of  ? 

Ag.  The  whelp  is  young  about  the  chin  ;  he  has  just  lost 
his  soft-haired  head-gear.63 

Ag.  For  it  is  beautiful  as  the  mane  of  a  wild  beast. 

Cho.  Bacchus,  a  wise  huntsman,  wisely  hurried  the  Maenads 
against  this  beast. 

Cho.  For  the  king  is  a  huntsman: 

Ag.  Do  you  praise  ? 

Cho.  What  ?  I  do  praise. 

Ag.  But  soon  the  Cadmeans. 

Cho.  And  thy  son  Pentheus  his  mother — 

Ag. — will  praise,  as  having  caught  this  lion-born  prey. 

Cho.  An  excellent  prey. 

Ag.  Excellently. 

Cho.  You  rejoice. 

Ag.  I  rejoice  greatly,  having  accomplished  great  and  illus- 
trious deeds  for  this  land. 

Cho.  Show  now,  O  wretched  woman,  thy  victorious  booty 
to  the  citizens,  which  you  have  come  bringing  with  you. 

the  head  of  her  son."     Such  language  is,  however,  more  like  the  pro- 
verbial boldness  of  ^Eschylus,  than  the  even  style  of  our  poet. 

63  "  Kopv8a,  ornamentum  capitis,  vix  potest  dubitari  quin  pro  ipso  capite 
posuerit."  Hermann.  There  is  considerable  variation  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  following  lines  arc  disposed. 


278  THE  BACCH^E.  1202—1250. 

Ac  0,  ye  who  dwell  in  the  fair-towered  city  of  the  Theban 
land,  come  ye,  that  ye  may  behold  this  prey,  O  daughters  of 
Cadmus,  of  the  wild  beast  which  we  have  taken ;  not  by  the 
thonged  javelins  of  the  Thessalians,  not  by  nets,  but  by  the 
fingers,  our  white  arms ;  then  may  we  boast  that  we  should 
in  vain  possess  the  instruments  of  the  spear-makers ;  but  we, 
with  this  hand,  slew  this  beast,  and  tore  its  limbs  asunder. 
Where  is  my  aged  father  ?  let  him  come  near ;  and  where  is 
my  son  Pentheus  ?  let  him  take  and  raise  the  ascent  of  a  wattled 
ladder  against  the  house,  that  he  may  fasten  to  the  triglyphs 
this  head  of  the  lion  which  I  am  present  having  caught. 

Cad.  Follow  me,  bearing  the  miserable  burden  of  Pentheus  ; 
follow  me,  0  servants,  before  the  house ;  whose  body  here, 
labouring  with  immeasurable  search,  I  bear,  having  found  it 
in  the  defiles  of  Cithaaron,  torn  to  pieces,  and  finding  nothing 
in  the  same  place,  lying  in  a  thicket,  difficult  to  be  searched. 
For  I  heard  from  some  one  of  the  daring  deeds  of  my  daugh- 
ters just  as  I  came  to  the  city  within  the  walls,  with  the  old 
Tiresias,  concerning  the  Bacchae ;  and  having  returned  again 
to  the  mountain,  I  bring  back  my  child,  slain  by  the  Maenads. 
And  I  saw  Autonoe,  who  formerly  bore  Actaeon  to  Aristasus, 
and  Ino  together,  still  mad  in  the  thicket,  unhappy  creatures ; 
but  some  one  told  me  that  Agave  was  coming  hither  with 
frantic  foot ;  nor  did  I  hear  a  false  tale,  for  I  behold  her,  an 
unhappy  sight. 

Ag.  O  father !  you  may  boast  a  great  boast,  that  you  of 
mortals  have  begotten  by  far  the  best  daughters  ;  I  mean  all, 
but  particularly  myself,  who,  leaving  my  shuttle  at  the  loom, 
have  come  to  greater  things,  to  catch  wild  beasts  with  my 
hands.  And  having  taken  him,  I  bear  in  my  arms,  as  you 
see,  these  spoils  of  my  valour,  that  they  may  be  suspended 
against  your  house.  And  do  you,  O  father,  receive  them  in 
your  hands;  and  rejoicing  over  my  successful  capture,  invite 
your  friends  to  a  feast ;  for  you  are  blessed,  blessed  since  I 
have  done  such  deeds. 

Cad.  0,  woe !  and  not  to  be  seen,  of  those  who  have  ac- 
complished a  slaughter  not  to  be  measured  by  wretched  hands ; 
having  stricken  down  a  glorious  victim  for  the  Gods,  you  in- 
vite Thebes  and  me  to  a  banquet.  Alas  me,  first  for  thy  ills, 
then  for  mine  own ;  how  justly,  but  how  severely,  has  king 
Bromius  destroyed  us,  being  one  of  our  own  family  ! 


1251—1290.  THE  BACCH.E.  279 

Ag.  How  morose  is  old  age  in  men  !  and  sullen  to  the  eye ; 
would  that  my  son  may  be  fond  of  hunting,  resembling  the 
disposition  of  his  mother,  when  with  the  Theban  youths  he 
would  strive  after  the  beasts — but  he  is  only  fit  to  contend 
with  Gods.  He  is  to  be  admonished,  0  father,  by  you  and 
me,  not  to  rejoice  in  clever  evil.  Where  is  he  ?  Who  will 
summon  him  hither  to  my  sight,  that  he  may  see  me,  that 
happy  woman  ? 

Cad.  Alas,  alas !  knowing  what  ye  have  done,  ye  will 
grieve  a  sad  grief ;  but  if  for  ever  ye  remain  in  the  condition 
in  which  ye  are,  not  fortunate,  you  will  seem  not  to  be  un- 
fortunate. 

Ag.  But  what  of  these  matters  is  not  well,  or  what  is 
grievous  ? 

Cad.  First  cast  your  eyes  up  to  this  sky. 

Ag.  Well ;  why  do  you  bid  me  look  at  it  ? 

Cad.  Is  it  still  the  same,  or  think  you  it  is  changed  ? 

Ag.  It  is  brighter  than  formerly,  and  more  divine. 

Cad.  Is  then  this  fluttering  still  present  to  your  soul  ? 

Ag.  I  understand  not  your  word  ;  but  I  become  somehow 
sobered,  changing  from  my  former  mind. 

Cad.  Can  you  then  hear  any  thing,  and  answer  clearly  ? 

Ag.  How  I  forget  what  we  said  before,  O  father ! 

Cad.  To  what  house  did  you  come  in  marriage  ? 

Ag.  You  gave  me,  as  they  say,  to  the  sown  Echion. 

Cad.  What  son  then  was  born  in  your  house  to  your  hus- 
band ? 

Ag.  Pentheus,  by  the  association  of  myself  and  his  father. 

Cad.  Whose  head  then  have  you  in  your  arms  ? 

Ag.  That  of  a  lion,  as  those  who  hunted  him  said. 

Cad.  Look  now  rightly ;  short  is  the  toil  to  see. 

Ag.  Ah  !  what  do  I  see  ?  what  is  this  I  bear  in  my  hands  ? 

Cad.  Look  at  it,  and  learn  more  clearly. 

Ag.  I  see  the  greatest  grief,  wretch  that  I  am ! 

Cad.  Does  it  seem  to  you  to  be  like  a  lion  ? 

Ag.  No  :  but  I,  wretched,  hold  the  head  of  Pentheus. 

Cad.  Ay,  much  lamented  before  you  recognised  him. 

Ag.  Who  slew  him,  how  came  he  into  my  hands  ? 

Cad.  0  wretched  truth,  how  unseasonably  art  thou  come ! 

Ag.  Tell  me,  since  delay  causes  a  quivering  at  my  heart. 

Cad.  You  and  your  sisters  slew  him. 


280  THE  BACCH^E.  1291—1330. 

Ag.  And  where  did  he  die,  in  the  house,  or  in  what  place  ? 

Cad.  Where  formerly  the  dogs  tore  Actrcon  to  pieces. 

Ag.  But  why  did  he,  unhappy,  go  to  Cithaaron  ? 

Cad.  He  went  deriding  the  God  and  your  Bacchic  revels. 

Ag.  But  on  what  account  did  we  go  thither  ? 

Cad.  Ye  were  mad,  and  the  whole  city  was  frantic  with 
Bacchus.61 

Ag.  Bacchus  undid  us — now  I  perceive. 

Cad.  Being  insulted  with  insolence — for  ye  thought  him 
not  a  God. 

Ag.  But  the  dear  body  of  my  child,  O  father  ! 

Cad.  I  having  with  difficulty  traced  it,  bring  it  all. 

Ag.  What!   rightly  united  in  its  joints?  *  *  *  # 

Ag.  But  what  part  had  Pentheus  in  my  folly  ? 65 

Cad.  He  was  like  you,  not  reverencing  the  God,  therefore 
he  joined  all  in  one  ruin,  both  ye  and  this  one,  so  as  to  ruin 
the  house,  and  me,  who  being  childless  of  male  children,  see 
this  branch  of  thy  womb,  0  unhappy  woman  !  most  miserably 
and  shamefully  slain — whom  the  house  respected ;  you,  O 
child,  who  supported  my  house,  born  of  my  daughter,  and  was 
an  object  of  fear  to  the  city;  and  no  one  wished  to  insult  the 
old  man,  seeing  you ;  for  he  would  have  received  a  worthy 
punishment.  But  now  I  shall  be  cast  out  of  my  house  dis- 
honoured, I,  the  mighty  Cadmus,  who  sowed  the  Theban  race, 
and  reaped  a  most  glorious  crop ;  O  dearest  of  men,  for  al- 
though no  longer  in  being,  still  thou  shalt  be  counted  by  me 
as  dearest  of  my  children ;  no  longer  touching  this,  my  chin, 
with  thy  hand,  addressing  me,  your  mother's  father,  wilt  thou 
embrace  me,  my  son,  saying,  Who  injures,  who  insults  you,  O 
father,  who  harasses  your  heart,  being  troublesome  ?  say,  that 
I  may  punish  him  who  does  you  wrong,  O  father.  But  now 
I  am  miserable,  and  thou  art  wretched,  and  thy  mother  is 
pitiable,  and  thy  relations  are  wretched.  But  if  there  is  any 
one  who  despises  the  Gods,  looking  on  this  man's  death,  let 
him  acknowledge  the  Gods. 

Cuo.  I  grieve  for  thy  state,  0  Cadmus  ;  but  your  child  has 
the  punishment  of  your  daughter,  deserved  indeed,  but  griev- 
ous to  you. 

Ag.  0  father,  for  you  see  how  I  am  changed  .   .  . 

61   Or,  "  Bacchus-mad." 
5,5  I  have  marked  a  lacuna  with  Dindorf. 


1331—1364.  THE  BACCHiE.  281 

Bac changing,  you  shall  become  a  dragon,   and 

your  wife  becoming  a  beast,  shall  receive  in  exchange  the  form 
of  a  serpent,  Harmonia,  the  daughter  of  Mars,  whom  you  had, 
being  a  mortal.  And  as  the  oracle  of  Jove  says,  you  shall 
drive  with  your  wife  a  chariot  of  heifers,  ruling  over  barba- 
rians ;  and  with  an  innumerable  army  you  shall  sack  many 
cities ;  and  when  they  plunder  the  temple  of  Apollo,  they  shall 
have  a  miserable  return,  but  Mars  shall  defend  you  and  Har- 
monia, and  shall  settle  your  life  in  the  islands  of  the  blessed. 
I  say  this,  I,  Bacchus,  not  born  of  a  mortal  father,  but  of  Jove  ; 
and  if  ye  had  known  how  to  be  wise  when  ye  would  not,  ye 
would  have  been  happy,  having  the  son  of  Jupiter  for  your 
ally. 

Cad.  Bacchus,  we  beseech  thee,  we  have  erred. 

Bac.  Ye  have  learnt  it  too  late  ;  but  when  it  behoved  you, 
you  knew  it  not. 

Cad.  I  knew  it,  but  you  press  on  us  too  severely. 

Bac.  [Ay,]  for  I,  being  a  God,  was  insulted  by  you. 

Cad.  It  is  not  right  for  Gods  to  resemble  mortals  in  anger.66 

Bac.  My  father,  Jove,  long  ago  decreed  this. 

Ac  Alas  !  a  miserable  banishment  is  the  decree67  [for  us,] 
old  man. 

Bac.  Why  do  ye  then  delay  what  must  needs  be  ? 

Cad.  0  child,  into  what  terrible  evil  have  we  come ;  both 
you  wretched  and  your  *  *  *  sisters,68  and  I  miserable,  shall 
go,  an  aged  sojourner,  to  foreigners.  Still  it  is  foretold  that 
I  shall  bring  into  Greece  a  motley  barbarian  army,  and  leading 
their  spears,  I,  a  dragon,  shall  lead  the  daughter  of  Mars, 
Harmonia,  my  wife,  having  the  fierce  nature  of  a  dragon,  to 
the  altars  and  tombs  of  the  Greeks.  Nor  shall  I,  wretched, 
rest  from  ills,  nor  even  sailing  over  the  Acheron  below  shall 
I  be  at  rest. 

Ag-.  O,  my  father !  and  I  being  deprived  of  you  shall  be 
banished. 

Cad.  Why  do  you  embrace  me  with  your  hands,  0  unhappy 
child,  as  a  white  swan  does  its  exhausted69  parent? 

66  See  the  commentators  on  Virg.  ^En.  i.  11.  "Tantsene  animis  coeles- 
tibus  irae  ?" 

67  After  rXi)novtQ  <pvyai  supply  ntvovmv.     Elmsley. 
08  A  word  is  wanting  to  complete  the  verse. 

69  See  Musgrave.     Cranes  are  chiefly  celebrated  for  parental  affection. 


282  THE  BACCH^.  13C5— 1392. 

AG.  For  whither  can  I  turn,  cast  out  from  my  country  ? 

Cad.  I  know  not,  my  child ;  your  father  is  a  poor  ally. 

Ag.  Farewell,  0  house  !  farewell,  O  ancestral  city !  I  leave 
you  in  misfortune  a  fugitive  from  my  chamber. 

Cad.  Go  then,  my  child,  to  the  land  of  Aristasus  *  *  *  *. 

Ag.  I  bemoan  thee,  0  father  ! 

Cad.  And  I  thee,  my  child  ;  and  I  lament  your  sisters. 

Ag.  Terribly  indeed  has  king  Bacchus  brought  this  misery 
upon  thy  house. 

Bac.  [Ay,]  for  I  have  suffered  terrible  things  from  ye, 
having  a  name  unhonoured  in  Thebes. 

Ag.  Farewell,  my  father. 

Cad.  And  you  farewell,  0  miserable  daughter;  yet  you 
cannot  easily  arrive  at  this. 

Ag.  Lead  me,  0  guides,  where  I  may  take  my  miserable 
sisters  as  the  companions  of  my  flight ;  and  may  I  go  where 
neither  accursed  Cithaeron  may  see  me,  nor  I  may  see  Cithaeron 
with  my  eyes,  and  where  there  is  no  memory  of  the  thyrsus 
hallowed,  but  they  may  be  a  care  to  other  Bacchae. 

Cuo.  There  are  many  forms  of  divine  things ;  and  the 
Gods  bring  to  pass  many  in  an  unexpected  manner:  both 
what  has  been  expected  has  not  been  accomplished,  and  God 
has  found  out  a  means  for  doing  things  unthought  for.  So, 
too,  has  this  event  turned  out.70 

70  These  verses  are  found  at  the  ends  of  no  less  than  four  others  of  our 
author's  plays,  viz.  Andromacha,  Helen,  Medea,  and  Alcestis. 


THE  HERACLIDiE. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

IOLAUS. 

COPREUS.* 

CHORUS. 

DEMOPHOON. 

APOLLO. 

MACARIA.* 

SERVANT. 

ALCMENA. 

MESSENGER. 

EURYSTHEUS. 


Note. — The  names  of  Copreus  and  Macaria  were  wanting  in  the  MSS., 
but  have  been  supplied  from  the  mycologists.  See  Elmsley  on  vss.  49 
and  474. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Iolaus,  son  of  Iphiclus,  and  nephew  of  Hercules,  whom  he  had  joined 
in  his  expeditions  during  his  youth,  in  his  old  age  protected  his  sons.  For 
the  sons  of  Hercules  having  been  driven  out  of  every  part  of  Greece  by 
Eurystheus,  he  came  with  them  to  Athens ;  and,  embracing  the  altars  of 
the  Gods,  was  safe,  Demophoon  being  king  of  the  city ;  and  when  Co- 
preus,  the  herald  of  Eurystheus,  wished  to  remove  the  suppliants,  he 
prevented  him.  Upon  this  he  departed,  threatening  war.  Demophoon 
despised  him  ;  but  hearing  the  oracles  promise  him  victory  if  he  sacrificed 
the  most  noble  Athenian  virgin  to  Ceres,  he  was  grieved ;  not  wishing 
to  slay  either  his  own  daughter,  or  that  of  any  citizen,  for  the  sake  of  the 
suppliants.  But  Macaria,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Hercules,  hearing  of 
the  prediction,  willingly  devoted  herself.  They  honoured  her  for  her 
noble  death,  and,  knowing  that  their  enemies  were  at  hand,  went  forth 
to  battle.  The  play  ends  with  their  victory,  and  the  capture  of  Eurys- 
theus. 


THE  HEBACLIDJE. 


lOLAUS. 

This  has  long  since  been  my  established  opinion,  the  just 
man  is  born  for  his  neighbours ;  but  he  who  has  a  mind  bent 
upon  gain  is  both  useless  to  the  city  and  disagreeable  to  deal 
with,  but  best  for  himself.  And  I  know  this,  not  having 
learnt  it  by  word  of  mouth ;  for  I,  through  shame,  and  rever- 
encing the  ties  of  kindred,  when  it  was  in  my  power  to  dwell 
quietly  in  Argos,  partook  of  more  of  Hercules'  labours,  while 
he  was  with  us,  than  any  one  man  besides : l  and  now  that  he 
dwells  in  heaven,  keeping  these  his  children  under  my  wings, 
I  preserve  them,  I  myself  being  in  want  of  safety.  For  since 
their  father  was  removed  from  the  earth,  first  Eurystheus 
wished  to  kill  me,  but  I  escaped ;  and  my  country  indeed  is 
no  more,  but  my  life  is  saved,  and  I  wander  in  exile,  migrating, 
from  one  city  to  another.  For,  in  addition  to  my  other  ills, 
Eurystheus  has  chosen  to  insult  me  with  this  insult ;  sending 
heralds  whenever  on  earth  he  learns  we  are  settled,  he  de- 
mands us,  and  drives  us  out  of  the  land ;  alleging  the  city  of 
Argos,  one  not  paltry  either  to  be  friends  with  or  to  make  an 
enemy,  and  himself  too  prospering  as  he  is  ;  but  they  seeing 
my  weak  state,  and  that  these  too  are  little,  and  bereaved  of 
their  sire,  respecting  the  more  powerful,  drive  us  from  the 
land.  And  I  am  banished,  together  with  the  banished  chil- 
dren, and  fare  ill  together  with  those  who  fare  ill,  loathing  to 
desert  them,  lest  some  man  say  thus,  Behold,  noAV  that  the 
children  have  no  father,  Iolaus,  their  kinsman  born,  defends 
them  not.  But  being  bereft  of  all  Greece,  coming  to  Mara- 
1  Such  seems  to  be  the  force  of  fig  dvijp. 


286  THE  HERACLLTLE.  52-70. 

thon  and  the  country  under  the  same  rule,  we  sit  suppliants 
at  the  altars  of  the  Gods,  that  they  may  assist  us ;  for  it  is 
said  that  the  two  sons  of  Theseus  inhabit  the  territory  of  this 
land,  of  the  race  of  Pandion,  having  received  it  by  lot,  being 
near  akin  to  these  children  ;  on  which  account  we  have  come 
this  way  to  the  frontiers  of  illustrious  Athens.  And  by  two 
aged  people  is  this  flight  led,  I,  indeed,  being  alarmed  about 
these  children ;  and  the  female  race  of  her  son  Alcmena  pre- 
serves within  this  temple,  clasping  it  in  her  arms ;  for  we  are 
ashamed  that  virgins  should  mingle  with  the  mob,  and  stand 
at  the  altars.  But  Hyllus  and  his  brothers,  who  are  older,  are 
seeking  where  there  is  a  stronghold  that  we  may  inhabit,  if 
we  be  thrust  forth  from  this  land  by  force.  O  children,  chil- 
dren !  hither ;  take  hold  of  my  garments  ;  I  see  the  herald  of 
Eurystheus  coming  hither  towards  us,  by  whom  we  are  pur- 
sued as  wanderers,  deprived  of  every  land.2  O  detested  one, 
may  you  perish,  and  the  man  who  sent  you :  how  many  evils 
indeed  have  you  announced  to  the  noble  father  of  these  chil- 
dren from  that  same  mouth  ! 

Copreus.  I  suppose  you  think  that  this  is  a  fine  seat  you 
are  sitting  in,  and  have  come  to  a  city  which  is  an  ally,  think- 
ing foolishly  ;  for  there  is  no  one  who  will  choose  jrour  useless 
power  in  preference  to  Eurystheus.  Depart ;  why  toilest  thou 
thus  ?  You  must  rise  up  and  go  to  Argos,  where  punishment 
by  stoning  awaits  you. 

Iol.  Not  so,  since  the  altar  of  the  God  will  aid  me,  and  the 
.free  land  in  which  we  tread. 

Cop.  Do  you  wish  to  cause  me  trouble  with  this  band  ? 

Iol.  Surely  you  will  not  drag  me  away,  nor  these  children, 
seizing  by  force  ? 

Cop.  You  shall  know ;  but  you  are  not  a  good  prophet  in 
this. 

Iol.  This  shall  never  happen,  while  I  am  alive. 

Cop.  Depart ;  but  I  will  lead  these  away,  even  though  you 
be  unwilling,  considering  them,  wherever  they  may  be,  to  be- 
long to  Eurystheus. 

Iol.  O  ye  who  have  dwelt  in  Athens  a  long  time,  defend 
us ;  for,  being  suppliants  of  Jove,  the  Presider  over  the  Forum,3 

2  But  the  construction  is  probably  dXrjrai.  yjjc,  (compare  my  note  on 
jEsch.  Eum.  63,)  and  dntaTtpi'ifiivoi  is  bereaved,  destitute 

3  Cf.  Msch.  Eum.  973. 


71-110.  THE  HERACLID.E.  287 

we  are  treated  with  violence,  and  our  garlands  are  profaned, 
both  a  reproach  to  the  city,  and  an  insult  to  the  Gods. 

Chorus.  Hollo !  hollo !  what  is  this  noise  near  the  altar  ? 
what  calamity  will  it  straightway  portend  ? 

Iol.  Behold  me,  a  weak  old  man,  thrown  down  on  the 
plain  ;  miserable  that  I  am. 

Cho.  By  whose  hand  do  you  fall  this  unhappy  fall  ? 
****** 

Iol.  This  man,  0  strangers,  dishonouring  your  Gods,  drags 
me  violently  from  the  altar  of  Jupiter. 

Cho.  From  what  land,  0  old  man,  have  you  come  hither 
to  this  people  dwelling  together  in  four  cities  ? 4  or,  have  you 
come  hither  from  across  [the  sea]  with  marine-oar,  having 
quitted  the  Eubcean  shore  ? 

Iol.  O  strangers,  I  am  not  accustomed  to  an  islander's  life, 
but  we  are  come  to  your  land  from  Mycenae. 

Cho.  What  name,  O  old  man,  did  the  Mycenaean  people  call 
you? 

Iol.  Know  that  I  am  Iolaus,  once  the  companion  of  Her- 
cules ;  for  this  body  is  not  unrenowned. 

Cho.  I  know,  having  heard  of  it  before ;  but  say  whose 
youthful  children  you  are  leading  in  your  hand. 

Iol.  These,  0  strangers,  are  the  sons  of  Hercules,  who  are 
come  as  suppliants  of  you  and  the  city. 

Cho.  What  do  ye  seek  ?  or,  tell  me,  is  it  wanting  to  have 
speech  of  the  city  ? 

Iol.  Not  to  be  given  up,  and  not  to  go  to  Argos,  being 
dragged  from  your  Gods  by  force. 

Cop.  But  this  will  not  be  sufficient  for  your  masters,  who, 
having  power  over  you,  find  you  here. 

Cho.  It  is  right,  0  stranger,  to  reverence  the  suppliants  of 
the  Gods,  and  not  for  you  to  leave  by  violent  hands  the 
habitations  of  the  deities,  for  venerable  Justice  will  not  suffer 
this. 

Cop.  Send  now  Eurystheus's  subjects  out  of  this  land,  and 
I  will  not  use  this  hand  violently. 

Cho.  It  is  impious  for  a  state  to  reject  the  suppliant  prayer 
of  strangers. 

Cop.  But  it  is  good  to  have  one's  foot  out  of  trouble,  being 
possessed  of  the  better  counsel. 

4  i.  e.  CEnoe,  Marathon,  Probalinthus,  and  Tricorvthus. 


288  THE  HERACLIDiE.  111—155. 

Cho.  You  should  then  have  dared  this,  having  spoken  to 
the  king  of  this  land,  but  you  should  not  drag  strangers  away 
from  the  Gods  by  force,  if  you  respect  a  free  land. 

Cop.  But  who  is  king  of  this  country  and  city  ? 

Cho.  Demophoon,  the  son  of  Theseus,  of  a  noble  father. 

Cop.  With  him,  then,  the  contest  of  this  argument  had  best 
be ;  all  else  is  spoken  in  vain. 

Cho.  And  indeed  hither  he  comes  in  haste,  and  Acamas, 
his  brother,  to  hear  these  words. 

Demophoon.  Since  you,  being  an  old  man,  have  anticipated 
us,  who  are  younger,  in  running  to  this  hearth  of  Jove,  say 
what  hap  collects  this  multitude  here. 

Cho.  These  sons  of  Hercules  sit  here  as  suppliants,  having 
crowned  the  altar,  as  you  see,  0  king,  and  Iolaus,  the  faithful 
companion  of  their  father. 

De.  Why  then  did  this  chance  occasion  clamours  ? 

Cho.  This  man  caused  the  noise,  seeking  to  lead  him  by 
force  from  this  hearth  ;  and  he  tripped  up  the  legs  of  the  old 
man,  so  that  I  shed  the  tear  for  pity. 

De.  And  indeed  he  has  a  Grecian  robe  and  style  of  dress  ; 
but  these  are  the  doings  of  a  barbarian  hand ;  it  is  for  you 
then  to  tell  me,  and  not  to  delay,  leaving  the  confines  of  what 
land  you  are  come  hither. 

Cop.  I  am  an  Argive ;  for  this  you  wish  to  learn :  and  I 
am  willing  to  say  why,  and  from  whom,  I  am  come.  Eurys- 
theus,  the  king  of  Mycenae,  sends  me  hither  to  lead  away  these 
men  ;  and  I  have  come,  O  stranger,  having  many  just  things  at 
once  to  do  and  to  say ;  for  I  being  an  Argive  myself,  lead  away 
Argives,  having  them  as  fugitives  from  my  country  condemned 
to  die  by  the  laws  there ;  and  we  have  the  right,  managing 
our  city  ourselves  by  ourselves,  to  fix  our  own  punishments  : 
but  they  having  come  to  the  hearths  of  many  others  also,  there 
also  we  have  taken  our  stand  on  these  same  arguments,  and 
no  one  has  dared  to  bring  evils  upon  himself.  But  either  per- 
ceiving some  folly  in  you,  they  have  come  hither,  or  in  per- 
plexity running  the  risk,  whether  it  shall  be  or  not.  For 
surely  they  do  not  think  that  you  alone  are  mad,  in  so  great 
a  portion  of  Greece  as  they  have  been  over,  so  as  to  com- 
miserate their  foolish  distresses.  Come,  compare  the  two ; 
admitting  them  into  your  land,  and  suffering  us  to  lead  them 
away,  what  will  you  gain  ?    Such  things  as  these  you  may 


155-198.  THE  HERACLID.E.  289 

gain  from  us ;  you  may  add  to  this  city  the  whole  power  of 
Argos,  and  all  the  might  of  Eurystheus  ;  hut  if  looking  to  the 
words  and  pitiable  condition  of  these  men,  you  are  softened 
by  them,  the  matter  comes  to  the  contest  of  the  spear ;  for 
think  not  that  we  will  give  up  this  contest  without  steel. 
What  then  will  you  say  ?  deprived  of  what  lands,  making  war 
with  the  Tirynthians  and  Argives,  and  repelling  them,  with 
what  allies,  and  on  whose  behalf  will  you  bury  the  dead  that 
fall  ?  Surely  you  will  obtain  an  evil  report  among  the  citi- 
zens, if,  for  the  sake  of  an  old  man,  a  mere  tomb,5  one  who  is 
nothing,  as  one  may  say,  and  of  these  children,  you  will  put 
your  foot  into  a  mess ; 6  you  will  say,  at  best,  that  you  shall 
find,  at  least,  hope ;  and  this  too  is  at  present  much  wanting ; 
for  these  who  are  armed  would  fight  but  ill  with  Argives  if 
they  were  grown  up,  if  this  encourages  your  mind,  and  there 
is  much  time  in  the  mean  while  in  which  ye  may  be  destroyed  ; 
but  be  persuaded  by  me,  giving  nothing,  but  permitting  me  to 
lead  away  my  own,  gain  Mycenae.  And  do  not  (as  you  are 
wont  to  do)  suffer  this,  when  it  is  in  your  power  to  choose 
the  better  friends,  choose  the  worse. 

Cho.  Who  can  decide  what  is  right,  or  understand  an  argu- 
ment, till  he  has  clearly  heard  the  statement  of  both  ? 

Iol.  O  king,  this  exists  in  thy  city  ;  I  am  permitted  in  turn 
to  speak  and  to  hear,  and  no  one  will  reject  me  before  that,  as 
in  other  places ;  but  with  this  man  we  have  nothing  to  do ; 
for  since  nothing  of  Argos  is  any  longer  ours,  (it  having  been 
decreed  by  a  vote,)  but  we  are  exiled  our  country,  how  can 
this  man  justly  lead  us  away  as  Mycenaeans,  whom  they  have 
driven  from  the  land  ?  for  we  are  strangers  ;  or  else  you  de- 
cide that  whoever  is  banished  Argos  is  banished  the  bound- 
aries of  the  Greeks.  Surely  not  from  Athens  ;  they  will  not, 
for  fear  of  the  Argives,  drive  out  the  children  of  Hercules 
from  their  land  ;  for  it  is  not  Trachis,  nor  the  Achaaan  city, 
from  whence  you,  not  by  justice,  but  bragging  about  Argos, 
just  as  you  now  speak,  drove  these  men,  sitting  at  the  altars 
as  suppliants ;  for  if  this  shall  be,  and  they  ratify  your  words, 
I  no  longer  know  this  Athens  as  free.     But  I  know  their  dis- 

5  Elmsley  compares  Med.  1209.  rig  rbv  ykpovraTVjx^ov  6p(pavbv  ciQtv 
ri6r]<n;  so  the  Latins  used  "  Silicernium."  Cf.  Fulgent.  Expos.  Serin 
Ant.  p.  171,  ed.  Munck. 

6  dvrXog,  sentina,  bilge  water.     See  Elmsley. 

U 


290  THE  HERACLIDiE.  199—241. 

position  and  nature ;  they  will  rather  die ;  for  among  virtuous 
men,  disgrace  is  considered  before  life.  Enough  of  the  city ; 
for  indeed  it  is  an  invidious  thing  to  praise  it  too  much ;  and 
often  I  know  myself  I  have  been  oppressed  at  being  over- 
praised :  but  I  wish  to  say  to  you  that  it  is  necessary  for  you 
to  save  these  men,  since  you  are  ruler  over  this  land.  Pit- 
theus  was  son  of  Pelops  and  JEthra,  daughter  of  Pittheus,  and 
your  father  Theseus  was  born  of  her.  And  again  I  trace  for 
you  their  descent :  Hercules  was  son  of  Jupiter  and  Alcmena. 
and  she  was  the  child  of  the  daughter  of  Pelops ;  so  your 
father  and  theirs  must  be  fellow-cousins.  Thus  you,  O  De- 
mophoon,  are  related  to  them  by  birth  ;  and.  besides  this  con- 
nexion, I  will  tell  you  for  what  you  are  bound  to  requite  the 
children.  For  I  say,  I  formerly,  when  shield-bearer  to  their 
father,  sailed  with  Theseus  after  the  belt,7  the  cause  of  much 
slaughter,  and  from  the  murky  recesses  of  hell  did  he  bring 
forth  your  father.  All  Greece  bears  witness  to  this ;  for 
which  things  they  beseech  you  to  return  a  kindness,  and  that 
they  may  not  be  yielded  up,  nor  be  driven  from  this  land,  torn 
from  your  Gods  by  violence ;  for  this  would  be  disgraceful  to 
you  by  yourself,  and  an  evil  to  the  city,8  that  suppliant  rela- 
tions, wanderers — alas  for  the  misery  !  look  on  them,  look — 
should  be  dragged  away  by  force.  But  I  beseech  you,  and 
offer  you  suppliant  garlands,  by  your  hands  and  your  chin,  do 
not  dishonour  the  children  of  Hercules,  having  received  them 
in  your  power ;  but  be  thou  a  relation  to  them,  be  a  friend, 
father,  brother,  master;  for  all  these  things  are  better  than 
[for  them]  to  fall  into  the  power  of  the  Argives. 

Cho.  Hearing  of  these  men's  misfortunes,  I  pitied  them,  O 
king  !  and  now  particularly  I  have  witnessed  nobleness  over- 
come by  fortune  ;  for  these  men,  being  sons  of  a  noble  father, 
are  undeservedly  unhappy. 

De.  Three  ways  of  misfortune  urge  me,  O  Iolaus,  not  to 
reject  these  suppliants.  The  greatest,  Jupiter,  at  whose  altars 
you  sit,  having  this  procession  of  youths  with  you ;  and  my 
relationship  to  them,  and  because  I  am  bound  of  old  that  they 
should  fare  well  at  my  hands,  in  gratitude  to  their  father ;  and 

7  See  Elmsley's  note. 

8  See  Dindorf,  who  repents  of  the  reading  in  the  text,  and  restores  coi 
yap  rbS'  alaxpbv  XWP'Q  tv  Te  to\«  Kaicbv.  He,  however,  condemns  this 
and  the  two  next  lines  as  spurious. 


242—277.  THE  HERACLID.E.  291 

the  disgrace,9  which  one  ought  exceedingly  to  regard.  For  if 
I  permitted  this  altar  to  be  violated  by  force  by  a  strange  man, 
I  shall  not  seem  to  inhabit  a  free  country.  But  I  fear  to  be- 
tray my  suppliants  to  the  Argives  ;  and  this  is  nearly  as  bad 
as  the  noose.  But  I  wish  you  had  come  with  better  fortune ; 
but  still,  even  now,  fear  not  that  any  one  shall  drag  you  and 
these  children  by  force  from  this  altar.  And  do  thou,  going 
to  Argos,  both  tell  this  to  Eurystheus ;  and  besides  that,  if  he 
has  any  charge  against  these  strangers,  he  shall  meet  with 
justice ;  but  you  shall  never  drag  away  these  men. 

Cop.  Not  if  it  be  just,  and  I  prevail  in  argument? 

De.  And  how  can  it  be  just  to  drag  away  a  suppliant  by 
force  ? 

Cop.  This,  then,  is  not  disgraceful  to  me,  but  an  injury  to 
you. 

De.  To  me  indeed,  if  I  allow  you  to  drag  them  away. 

Cop.  But   do   you    depart,   and   then   will   I   drag   them 
thence. 

De.  You  are  stupid,  thinking  yourself  wiser  than  a  God. 

Cop.  Hither  it  seems  the  wicked  should  fly. 

De.  The  seat  of  the  Gods  is  a  common  defence  to  all. 

Cop.  Perhaps  this  will  not  seem  good  to  the  Mycenasans. 

De.  Am  not  I  then  master  over  those  here  ? 

Cop.  [Ay,]  but  not  to  injure  them,  if  you  are  wise. 

De.  Are  ye  hurt,  if  I  do  not  defile  the  Gods  ? 

Cop.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  have  war  with  the  Argives. 

De.  I,  too,  am  the  same ;  but  I  will  not  let  go  of  these 
men. 

Cop.  At  all  events,  taking  possession  of  my  own,  I  shall 
lead  them  away. 

De.  Then  you  will  not  easily  depart  back  to  Argos. 

Cop.  I  shall  soon  see  that  by  experience. 

De.  You  will  touch   them  to  your  own  injury,  and  that 
without  delay. 

Cho.  For  God's  sake,  venture  not  to  strike  a  herald  ! 

De.  I  will  not,  if  the  herald  at  least  will  learn  to  be  wise. 

Cho.  Depart  thou  ;  and  do  not  you  touch  him,  O  king  ! 

Cop.  I  go ;  for  the  struggle  of  a  single  hand  is  powerless. 

But  I  will  come,  bringing  hither  many  a  brazen  spear  of  Ar- 

give  war  ;    and  ten  thousand  shield-bearers  await  me,  and 

9'  i.  e.  if  I  neglect  them. 

u  2 


292  THE  HERACLID^].  278—321. 

Eurystheus,  the  king  himself,  as  general.  And  he  waits, 
expecting  news  from  hence,  on  the  extreme  confines  of  Alca- 
thus  ;  and,  having  heard  of  your  insolence,  he  will  make  him- 
self too  well  known  to  you,  and  to  the  citizens,  and  to  this  land, 
and  to  the  trees  ;  for  in  vain  should  Ave  have  so  much  youth 
in  Argos,  if  we  did  not  chastise  you. 

De.  Destruction  on  you  !  for  I  do  not  fear  your  Argos. 
But  yon  are  not  likely,  insulting  me,  to  drag  these  men  away 
from  hence  by  force  ;  for  I  possess  this  land,  not  being  subject 
to  that  of  Argos,  but  free. 

Cho.  It  is  time  to  provide,  before  the  army  of  the  Argives 
approaches  the  borders.  And  very  impetuous  is  the  Mars  of 
the  Mycenaeans,  and  on  this  account  more  than  before  ;  for  it 
is  the  habit  of  all  heralds  to  tower-up  what  is  twice  as  much. 
What  do  you  not  think  he  will  say  to  his  princes  about  what 
terrible  things  he  has  suffered,  and  how  within  a  little  he  was 
losing  his  life. 

Iol.  There  is  not,  to  this  man's  children,  a  more  glorious 
honour  than  to  be  sprung  from  a  good  and  valiant  father,  and 
to  marry  from  a  good  family ;  but  I  will  not  praise  him  who, 
overcome  by  desire,  has  mingled  with  the  vulgar,  to  leave  his 
children  a  reproach  instead  of  pleasure  ;  for  noble  birth  wards 
off  misfortune  better  than  low  descent ;  for  we,  having  fallen 
into  the  extremity  of  evils,  find  these  men  friends  and  re- 
lations, Avho  alone,  in  so  large  a  country  as  Greece,  have  stood 
forward  [on  our  behalf.]  Give,  O  children,  give  them 
your  right  hand ;  and  do  ye  give  yours  to  the  children,  and 
draw  near  to  them.  O  children,  we  have  come  to  experience 
of  our  friends  ;  and  if  you  ever  have  a  return  to  your 
country,  and  [again]  possess  the  homes  and  honours  of  your 
father,  always  consider  them  your  saviours  and  friends,  and 
never  lift  the  hostile  spear  against  the  land,  remembering 
these  things  ;  but  consider  it  the  dearest  city  of  all.  And  they 
are  worthy  that  you  should  revere  them,  who  have  chosen  to 
have  so  great  a  country  and  the  Pelasgic  people  as  enemies 
instead  of  us,  though  seeing  us  to  be  beggared  wanderers  ;  but 
still  they  have  not  given  us  up,  nor  driven  us  from  their  land. 
But  I,  living  and  dying,  when  I  do  die,  with  much  praise,  my 
friend,  will  extol  you  when  I  am  in  company  with  Theseus ; 
and  telling  this,  I  will  delight  him,  saying  how  well  you  re- 
ceived and  aided  the  children  of  Hercules ;  and,  being  noble, 


325—374.  THE  HERACLID.E.  293 

you  preserve  through  Greece  your  ancestral  glory  ;  and  being 
born  of  noble  parents,  you  are  nowise  inferior  to  your  father, 
with  but  few  others  ;  for  among  many  you  may  find  perhaps 
but  one  who  is  not  inferior  to  his  father.10 

Cho.  This  land  is  ever  willing  to  aid  in  a  just  cause  those 
in  difficulty;  therefore  it  has  borne  numberless  toils  for  its 
friends,  and  now  I  see  this  contest  at  hand. 

De.  Thou  hast  spoken  well  ;  and  I  boast,  old  man,  that 
their  disposition  is  such  that  the  kindness  will  be  remembered. 
And  I  will  make  an  assembly  of  the  citizens,  and  draw  them 
up  so  as  to  receive  the  army  of  the  Mycenaeans  with  a  large 
force.  First,  I  will  send  spies  towards  it,  that  it  may  not  fall 
upon  me  by  surprise :  for  in  Argos  every  warrior  is  eager  to 
run  to  assistance.  And  having  collected  the  soothsayers,  I 
will  sacrifice.  And  do  you  go  to  my  palace  with  the  chil- 
dren, leaving  the  hearth  of  Jove,  for  there  are  those  who, 
even  if  I  be  from  home,  will  take  care  of  you  ;  go  then,  old  man, 
to  my  palace. 

Iol.  I  will  not  leave  the  altar ;  but  we  will  sit  here,  as  sup- 
pliants, waiting  till  the  city  is  successful ;  and  when  you  are 
well  freed  from  this  contest,  we  will  go  to  thy  palace.  But 
we  have  Gods  as  allies  not  inferior  to  those  of  the  Argives,  0 
king ;  for  Juno,  the  wife  of  Jove,  is  their  champion,  but 
Minerva  ours ;  and  I  say  that  this  also  tends  to  success,  to 
have  the  best  Gods,  for  Pallas  will  not  endure  to  be  con- 
quered. 

Clio.  If  thou  boastest  greatly,  others  do  not  therefore  care 
for  thee  the  more,  0  stranger,  coming  from  Argos ;  but  with 
thy  big  words  thou  wilt  not  terrify  my  mind :  may  it  not  be 
so  to  the  mighty  Athens,  with  the  beauteous  dances.  But 
both  thou  art  foolish,  the  son  of  Sthenelus,  king  in  Argos,  who, 
coming  to  another  city  not  less  than  Argos,  being  a  stranger, 
seek  by  violence  to  lead  away  wanderers,  suppliants  of  the 
Gods,  and  claiming  the  protection  of  my  land,  not  yielding  to 
our  kings,  nor  saying  any  thing  else  that  is  just.  How  can 
this  be  thought  well  among  the  wise  ?  Peace  indeed  pleases 
me ;  but,  O  foolish  king,  I  tell  thee,  if  thou  comest  to  this  city, 
thou  wilt  not  thus  obtain  what  thou  thinkest  for.     You  are 


10  Cf.  Hor.  Od.  iii.  6,  48.  "  ^Etas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tulit  Nos  ne- 
quiores,  mox  daturos  Progeniem  vitiosiorem." 


294  THE  HERACLIDJE.  375—411. 

not  the  only  one  who  has  a  spear  and  a  brazen  shield  ;  but,  O 
lover  of  war,  mayest  thou  not  with  the  spear  disturb  my  city 
dear  to  the  Graces  ;  but  restrain  thyself. 

Iol.  O  my  son,  why  comest  thou,  bringing  solicitude  to  my 
eyes  ?  Hast  thou  any  news  of  the  enemy  ?  Do  they  delay, 
or  are  they  at  hand  ?  or  what  do  you  hear  ?  for  I  fear  the  word 
of  the  herald  will  in  no  wise  be  false,  for  their  leader  will  come, 
having  been  fortunate  in  previous  affairs,  I  clearly  know,  and 
with  no  moderate  pride,  against  Athens  ;  but  Jove  is  the  chas- 
tiser  of  over-arrogant  thoughts.11 

De.  The  army  of  the  Argives  is  coming,  and  Eurystheus 
the  king.  I  have  seen  it  myself ; 12  for  it  behoves  a  man  who 
says  he  knows  well  the  duty  of  a  general  not  to  reconnoitre 
the  enemy  by  means  of  messengers.  He  has  not  then,  as  yet, 
let  loose  his  army  en  these  plains,  but,  sitting  on  a  lofty  crag, 
he  reconnoitres  (I  should  tell  thee  this  as  a  conjecture)  to  see 
by  which  way  he  shall  now  lead  his  expedition,  and  place  it 
in  a  safe  station  in  this  land  ;  and  my  preparations  are  already 
well  arranged,  and  the  city  is  in  arms,  and  the  victims  stand 
ready  for  those  Gods  to  whom  they  ought  to  be  slain  offered ; 
and  the  city,  by  means  of  soothsayers,  is  preparing  by  sacrifices 
flight  for  the  enemy  and  safety  for  the  city.13  And  having 
collected  together  all  the  bards  who  proclaim  oracles,  I  have 
tested  the  ancient  oracles,  both  public  and  concealed,  which 
might  save  this  land  ;  and  in  their  other  counsels  many  things 
are  different ;  but  one  opinion  of  all  is  conspicuously  the  same, 
they  command  me  to  sacrifice  to  the  daughter  of  Ceres  a  damsel 
who  is  of  a  noble  father.14  And  I  have  indeed,  as  you  see, 
such  great  goodwill  towards  you,  but  I  will  neither  slay  my 

11  Cf.  Soph.  Ant.  127.  Zfi'C  yap  /uyaXjjc  yXuiffen/c  Kofnrovg  'Y7r«j0f%- 
Ba'ipu. 

12  Cf.  ^sch.  Sept.  c.  Th.  40  sq.,  also  Soph.  CEd.  T.  6  sqq. 

13  i.  e.  fiavreiQ  kcit  darv  QvijttoXovcti.     Elmsley. 

14  Pausanias,  i.  32,  states  that  the  oracle  expressly  required  that  one  of 
the  descendants  of  Hercules  should  be  devoted,  and  that  upon  this  Ma- 
caria,  his  daughter  by  Deianira,  voluntarily  offered  herself.  Her  name 
was  afterwards  given  to  a  fountain.  Euripides  probably  omitted  this  fact, 
in  order  to  place  the  noble-mindedness  of  Macaria  in  a  stronger  light. 
The  curious  reader  may  compare  the  similar  sacrifices  of  Codrus,  (Pau- 
san.  vii.  25.  Veil.  Paterc.  i.  4,)  Menoeceus,  (Eur.  Phoen.  1009,  Statius 
Theb.  x.  751  sqq.,)  Chaon  (Serv.  on  Virg.  JEn.  iii.  335).  See  also 
Lomeier  de  Lustrationibus,  §  xxii.,  where  the  whole  subject  is  learnedly 
treated. 


412—459.  THE  HERACLID.E.  295 

own  child15  nor  compel  any  other  of  my  citizens  to  do  so 
unwillingly ;  and  who  is  so  mad  of  his  own  accord,  as  to  give 
out  of  his  hands  his  dearest  children  ?  And  now  you  may 
see  bitter  meetings  ;  some  saying  that  it  is  right  to  aid  foreign 
suppliants,  and  some  blaming  my  folly ;  and  if  I  do  this,  a 
civil  war  is  at  once  prepared.  This,  then,  do  you  consider, 
and  devise  how  both  you  yourselves  may  be  saved  and  this 
land,  and  I  be  not  brought  into  ill  odour  with  the  citizens ; 
for  I  have  not  absolute  sovereignty,  as  over  barbarians ;  but 
if  I  do  just  things,  I  shall  receive  just  things. 

Cho.  But  does  not  the  Goddess  allow  this  city,  although 
eager,  to  aid  strangers  ? 

Iol.  O  children,  we  are  like  sailors,  who,  fleeing  from  the 
fierce  rage  of  the  storm,  have  come  close  to  land,  and  then, 
again,  by  gales  from  the  land,  have  been  driven  again  out  to 
sea ;  thus  also  shall  we  be  driven  from  this  land,  being  already 
on  shore,  as  if  saved.  Alas  !  why,  O  wretched  hope,  did  you 
then  delight  me,  not  being  about  to  perfect  my  joy  ?  For  his 
thoughts,  in  truth,  are  to  be  pardoned  if  he  is  not  willing  to 
slay  the  children  of  his  citizens ;  and  I  acquiesce  in  their 
conduct  here,  if  the  Gods  decree  that  I  shall  fare  thus.  My 
gratitude  to  you  shall  never  perish.  0  children,  I  know  not 
what  to  do  with  you :  whither  shall  we  turn  ?  for  who  of  the 
Gods  has  been  uncrowned  by  us  ?  and  what  bulwark  of  land 
have  we  not  approached  ?  We  shall  perish,  my  children,  we 
shall  be  given  up  ;  and  for  myself  I  care  nothing  if  it  behoves 
me  to  die,  except  that,  dying,  I  shall  gratify  my  enemies  ;  but 
I  weep  for  and  pity  you,  O  children,  and  Alcmena,  the  aged 
mother  of  your  father  ;  O  !  unhappy  art  thou,  because  of  thy 
long  life ;  and  miserable  am  I,  having  laboured  much  in  vain. 
It  was  our  fate  then,  our  fate,  falling  into  the  hands  of  an 
enemy,  to  leave  life  disgracefully  and  miserably.  But  do  you 
know  in  what  you  may  aid  me  ?  for  all  hope  of  their  safety 
has  not  deserted  me.  Give  me  up  to  the  Argives  instead  of 
them,  O  king,  and  so  neither  run  any  risk  yourself,  and  let 
the  children  be  saved  for  me  ;  I  must  not  love  my  own  life, 
let  it  go  ;  and  above  all,  Eurystheus  would  like  taking  me,  the 
ally  of  Hercules,  to  insult  me ;  for  he  is  a  froward  man ;  and 
the  wise  should  pray  to  have  enmity  with  a  wise  man,  not 

15  Cf.  ^Esch.  Ag.  206  sqq. 


*296  THE  HERACLID.E.  460-504, 

with  an  ignorant  disposition,  for  in  that  case  one,  even  if  un- 
fortunate, may  meet  with  much  respect. 

Cho.  O  old  man,  do  not  now  blame  the  city,  perhaps  it 
might  be  a  gain  to  us  ;  but  still  it  would  be  an  evil  reproach 
that  we  betrayed  strangers. 

Db.  You  have  spoken  things  noble  indeed,  but  impossible ; 
the  king  does  not  lead  his  army  hither  wanting  you  ;  for  what 
profit  were  it  to  Eurystheus  for  an  old  man  to  die  ?  but  he 
wishes  to  slay  these  children ;  for  noble  youths,  who  remem- 
ber their  fathers'  injuries,  springing  up,  are  terrible  to  ene- 
mies ;  all  which  he  must  needs  foresee ;  but  if  you  know  any 
other  more  seasonable  counsel,  prepare  it,  since  I  am  perplexed 
and  full  of  fear,  having  heard  the  oracle. 

Macaria.  0  strangers,  do  not  impute  boldness  to  me  be- 
cause of  my  advances,16  this  I  will  beg  first ;  for  silence  and 
modesty  are  best  for  a  woman,  and  to  remain  quietly  in-doors  ; 
but,  having  heard  your  lamentations,  0  Iolaus,  I  have  come 
forth,  not  being  commissioned  to  act  as  ambassador  for  my 
race,  but  I  am  in  some  wise  fit  to  do  so ;  but  chiefly  do  I  care 
for  these,  my  brothers :  concerning  myself  I  wish  to  ask  whe- 
ther, besides  our  former  evils,  any  additional  distress  gnaws 
your  mind  ? 

Iol.  O  daughter,  it  is  not  a  new  thing  that  I  justly  have  to 
praise  you  most  of  the  children  of  Hercules ;  but  our  house 
having  appeared  to  us  to  progress  well,  has  again  changed  to 
perplexity,  for  this  man  says,  that  the  deliverers  of  oracles 
order  us  to  sacrifice  not  a  bull  or  a  heifer,  but  a  virgin,  who 
is  of  a  noble  father,  if  we  and  this  city  would  exist.  About 
this  then  we  are  perplexed,  for  this  man  says  he  will  neither 
slay  his  own  children  nor  those  of  any  one  else ;  and  to  me 
he  says,  not  plainly  indeed,  but  somehow  or  other,  unless  I 
can  devise  any  remedy  for  this,  that  we  must  find  some  other 
land,  but  he  himself  wishes  to  preserve  this  country. 

Mac.  On  this  condition  can  we  then  be  saved  ? 

Iol.  On  this,  being  fortunate  in  other  respects. 

Mac.  Fear  not  then  any  longer  the  hostile  spear  of  the 
Argives ;  for  I  myself,  old  man,  before  I  am  commanded,  am 
prepared  to  die,  and  to  stand  for  slaughter ;  for  what  shall  we 
say  if  the  city  thinks  rit  for  our  sakes  to  encounter  a  great 

16  I  prefer  understanding;  'IvtKa  i'Coftwv  kfiuiv  with  Elmsley,  to  Matthiae's 
forced  interpretation.     Compare  Med.  214  sqq. 


505-547.  THE  HERACLID.E.  297 

danger,  but  we  putting  toils  on  others,  avoid  death  when  we 
can  be  saved?  Not  so,  since  this  would  be  ridiculous  for  sup- 
pliants sitting  at  the  shrines  of  the  Gods  to  mourn,  but  being 
of  such  a  sire  as  we  are,  to  be  seen  to  be  cowards ;  how  can 
this  seem  good  ?  it  were  more  noble,  I  think,  (which  may  it 
never  happen  !)  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  this  city 
being  taken,  and  afterwards,  being  born  of  a  noble  father, 
having  suffered  dreadful  things,  to  see  Hades  none  the  less ; 
but  shall  I  wander  about,  driven  from  this  land,  and  shall  I 
not  indeed  be  ashamed  if  any  one  says,  "  Why  have  ye  come 
hither  with  your  suppliant  branches,  yourselves  being  too  fond 
of  life?  Depart. from  the  land,  for  we  will  not  aid  cowards." 
But  neither,  indeed,  if  these  die,  and  I  myself  am  saved,  have 
I  any  hope  to  fare  well ;  for  before  now  many  have  in  this 
way  betrayed  their  friends.  For  who  would  choose  to  have 
me,  a  solitary  damsel,  for  his  wife,  or  to  raise  children  from 
me  ?  therefore  it  is  better  to  die  than  to  have  such  an  unwor- 
thy fate  as  this ;  and  this  may  even  be  more  seemly  for  some 
other,  who  is  not  illustrious  as  I.  Lead  me  then  where  this 
body  must  needs  die,  and  crown  me  and  begin  the  rites,  if 
you  think  fit,  and  conquer  your  enemies  ;  for  this  life  is  ready 
for  you,  willing,  and  not  unwilling ;  and  I  promise  to  die  for 
these  my  brethren,  and  for  myself ;  for  not  caring  for  life,  I 
have  found  this  most  glorious  thing  to  find,  namely,  to  leave 
life  gloriously. 

Cho.  Alas  !  alas !  what  shall  I  say,  hearing  this  noble 
speech  of  the  maiden  who  is  willing  to  die  on  behalf  of  her 
brothers  ?  Who  can  utter  more  noble  words  than  these  ?  who 
of  men  can  do  [a  greater  deed  ?]  17 

Iol.  My  child,  your  head  comes  from  no  other  source,  but 
thou,  the  seed  of  a  divine  mind,  art  sprung  from  Hercules.18 
I  am  not  ashamed  at  your  words,  but  I  am  grieved  for  your 
fortune  ;  but  how  it  may  be  more  justly  done,  I  will  say  :  we 
must  call  hither  all  her  sisters,  and  then  let  her  who  draws 
the  lot  die  for  her  family ;  but  it  is  not  right  for  thee  to  die 
without  casting  lots. 

Mac.  I  will  not  die,  obtaining  the  lot  by  chance,  for  then 

17  The  cognate  accusative  to  Spdatuv  must  be  supplied  from  the  con- 
text. 

18  There  is  some  awkwardness  in  the  construction.  Perhaps  if  we  read 
(TTTtpfia,  Trjg  Otiaq  (ppivoq  !   rcMp.  the  sense  will  be  improved. 


298  THE  IIERACLIDiE.  548—596. 

there  are  no  thanks  [to  me;]  — speak  it  not,  old  man;  but  if 
you  accept  me,  and  are  willing  to  use  me  willing,  I  readily 
give  up  my  life  to  them,  hut  not,  being  compelled. 

Iol.  Alas !  this  word  of  thine  is  again  nobler  than  the 
former,  and  that  other  was  most  excellent ;  but  you  surpass 
daring  by  daring,  and  [good]  words  by  good  words.  I  do 
not  bid  you,  nor  do  I  forbid  you,  to  die,  my  child ;  but  you 
will  benefit  your  brothers  by  dying. 

Mac.  Thou  biddest  wisely ;  fear  not  to  partake  of  my  pol- 
lution, but  I  shall  die  freely.  But  follow  me,  O  old  man ;  for 
I  wish  to  die  by  your  hand ;  and  do  you,  being  present,  wrap 
my  body  in  my  garments,  since  I  am  going  to.  the  terror  of 
sacrifice,  because  I  am  born  of  the  father  of  whom  I  boast  to  be. 

Iol.  I  could  not  be  present  at  your  death. 

Mac.  At  least,  then,  entreat  of  him  that  I  may  die,  not  by 
the  hands  of  men,  but  of  women.  * 

Cho.  It  shall  be  so,  O  hapless  virgin ;  since  it  were  dis- 
graceful to  me  too  not  to  deck  thee  honourably  on  many  ac- 
counts ;  both  for  your  valiant  spirit,  and  for  justice'  sake:  but 
veil  are  the  most  unhappy  of  all  women  that  I  have  beheld 
with  mine  eyes ;  but,  if  thou  wilt,  depart,  bespeaking  a  last 
address  to  these  and  to  the  old  man. 

Mac.  Farewell,  old  man,  farewell;  and  train  up  for  me 
these  children  to  be  such  as  thyself,  wise  in  all  respects, 
nothing  more,  for  they  will  suffice ;  and  endeavour  to  save 
them,  not  being  over-willing  to  die.  We  are  your  children  ; 
by  your  hands  we  were  brought  up,  and  behold  see  me  yield- 
ing up  my  nuptial  hour,  dying  for  them.  And  ye,  my  com- 
pany of  brothers  now  present,  may  ye  be  happy,  and  may 
every  thing  be  yours,  for  the  sake  of  which  my  soul  is  sacri- 
ficed ;  and  honour  the  old  man,  and  the  old  woman  in  the 
house,  Alcmena,  the  mother  of  my  father,  and  these  strangers. 
And  if  a  release  from  troubles,  and  a  return  should  ever  be 
found  for  you  through  the  Gods,  remember  to  bury  her  who 
saves  you,  as  is  fitting ;  most  honourably  were  just,  for  I  was 
not  wanting  to  you,  but  died  for  my  race.  This  is  my  heir- 
loom instead  of  children  and  virginity,  if  indeed  there  be 
aught  under  the  earth.  May  there  indeed  be  nothing  ;  for  if 
we,  mortals  who  die,  are  to  have  cares  even  there,  I  know  not 
where  one  can  turn,  for  to  die  is  considered  the  greatest 
remedy  for  evils. 


597—639.  THE  HERACLID^E.  299 

Iol.  But,  O  you,  who  mightily  surpass  all  women  in  cour- 
age, know  that,  both  living  and  dying,  you  shall  be  most 
honoured  by  us :  and  farewell ;  for  I  abhor  to  speak  words  of 
ill  omen  about  the  Goddess  to  whom  your  body  is  given  as 
the  first-fruits,  the  daughter  of  Ceres.  O  children,  we  are 
undone ;  my  limbs  are  relaxed  by  grief ;  take  me,  and  place, 
me  in  my  seat,  veiling  me  there  with  these  garments,  O  chil- 
dren ;  since  neither  am  I  pleased  at  these  things  which  are 
done,  and  if  the  oracle  were  not  fulfilled,  life  would  be  unbear- 
able, for  the  ruin  would  be  greater ;  but  even  this  is  a  ca- 
lamity. 

Cho.  I  say  that  no  man  is  either  happy  or  miserable  but 
through  the  Gods,  and  that  the  same  family  does  not  always 
walk  in  good  fortune,  but  different  fates  pursue  it  different 
ways ;  it  is  wont  to  make  one  from  a  lofty  station  insignificant, 
and  makes  the  wanderer  wealthy  :  but  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
what  is  fated  ;  no  one  can  repel  it  by  wisdom,  but  he  who 
is  hasty  without  purpose  will  always  have  trouble  ;  but  do  not 
thus  bear  the  fortune  sent  by  the  Gods,  falling  down  [in 
prayer,]  and  do  not  over-pain  your  mind  with  grief,  for  she 
hapless  possesses  a  glorious  portion  of  death  on  behalf  of  her 
brethren  and  her  country ;  nor  will  an  inglorious  reputation 
among  men  await  her:  but  virtue  proceeds  through  toils. 
These  things  are  worthy  of  her  father,  and  worthy  of  her 
noble  descent ;  and  if  you  respect  the  deaths  of  the  good,  I 
share  your  feelings. 

Servant.  0  children,  hail !  But  at  what  distance  from 
this  place  is  the  aged  Iolaus  and  your  father's  mother  ? 

Iol.  We  are  here,  such  a  presence  as  mine  is. 

Ser.  On  what  account  dost  thou  lie  thus,  and  have  an  eye 
so  downcast  ? 

Iol.  A  domestic  care  has  come  upon  me,  by  which  I  am 
constrained. 

Ser.  Raise  now  thyself,  erect  thy  head. 

Iol.  I  am  an  old  man,  and  by  no  means  strong. 

Ser.  But  I  am  come,  bearing  to  you  a  great  joy. 

Iol.  And  who  art  thou,  where  having  met  you,  do  I  forget 
you? 

Ser.  I  am  a  poor  servant  of  Hyllus ;  do  you  not  recognise 
me,  seeing  me  ? 


300  THE  HERACLID^E.  640—671. 

Iol.  O  dearest  one,  dost  tliou  then  come  as  a  saviour  to  us 
from  injury  ? 

Ser.  Surely  ;  and  moreover  you  are  prosperous  as  to  the 
present  state  of  affairs. 

Iol.  0  mother  of  a  doughty  son,  I  mean  Alcmena,  come 
forth,  hear  these  most  welcome  words ;  for  you  have  been 
long  wasting  away  as  to  your  soul  in  anxiety  concerning  those 
who  have  come  hither,  whether  they  would  ever  arrive.19 

Alcmena.  Wherefore  has  a  mighty  shout  filled  all  this 
house  ?  O  Iolaus,  does  any  herald,  coming  from  Argos,  again 
do  you  violence  ?  my  strength  indeed  is  weak,  but  thus  much 
you  must  know,  0  stranger,  you  shall  never  drag  these  away 
while  I  am  living,  else  may  I  no  longer  be  thought  to  be  his 
mother  ;  but  if  you  touch  them  with  your  hand,  you  will  have 
no  honourable  contest  with  two  old  people. 

Iol.  Be  of  good  cheer,  old  woman  ;  fear  not,  the  herald  is 
not  come  from  Argos  bearing  hostile  words. 

Alc.  Why  then  did  you  raise  a  shout,  a  messenger  of  fear  ? 

Iol.  To  you,  that  you  should  approach  near  before  this 
temple. 

Alc.  I  do  not  understand  this ;  for  who  is  this  man  ? 

Iol.  He  announces  that  your  son's  son  is  come. 

Alc.  O  !  hail  thou  also  for  this  news  ;  but  why  and 
where20  is  he  now  absent  putting  his  foot  in  this  country  ? 
what  calamity  prevents  him  from  appearing  hither  with  you, 
and  delighting  my  mind  ? 

Ser.  He  is  stationing  and  marshalling  the  army  which  he 
has  come  bringing. 

Alc.  I  no  longer  understand  this  speech. 

Iol.  I  do ;  but  it  is  my  business  to  inquire  about  this. 

Ser.  What  then  of  what  has  been  done  do  you  wish  to  learn  ? 

Iol.  With  how  great  a  multitude  of  allies  is  he  come  ? 

Ser.  With  many ;  but  I  can  say  no  other  number. 

Iol.  The  chiefs  of  the  Athenians  know,  I  suppose. 

Ser.  They  do  ;  and  they  occupy  the  left  wing.21 

13  The  construction  is  thus  laid  down  by  Elmsley  :  ifdXai  yap  wdi- 
vovaa  \irip\\  tCov  dfiy.  ip,  tr.  ti.  v.  [dvrwv]  yivi)(TSTai.  He  remarks 
that  vorrrog  often  means  "  arrival,"  in  the  tragedians. 

20  See  Matthia;.    I  should,  however,  prefer  7ratc  for  ttov,  with  Elmsley. 

31  (card  is  understood,  as  in  Thucyd.  v.  67.     Elmsley. 


672—710.  THE  HERACLID^.  301 

Iol.  Is  then  the  array  already  armed  as  for  the  work  ? 

Ser.  Ay ;  and  already  the  victims  are  led  away  from  the 
ranks. 

Iol.  And  how  far  distant  is  the  Argive  army  ? 

Sek.  So  that  the  general  can  he  distinctly  seen. 

Iol.  Doing  what  ?  arraying  the  ranks  of  the  enemies  ? 

Sek.  We  conjectured  this,  for  we  did  not  hear  him ;  but  I 
will  go ;  I  should  not  like  my  masters  to  join  battle  with  the 
enemy,  deserted  as  far  as  my  part  is  concerned. 

Iol.  And  I  will  go  with  you ;  for  we  think  the  same 
things,  being  present  to  aid  our  friends  as  much  as  we  can. 

Ser.  It  is  not  your  part  to  say  a  foolish  word. 

Iol.  And  not  to  share  the  sturdy  battle  with  my  friends  ! 

Ser.  One  cannot  see  a  wound  from  an  inactive  hand. 

Iol.  But  what,  cannot  I  too  strike  through  a  shield  ? 

Ser.  You  might  strike,  but  you  yourself  would  fall  first. 

Iol.  No  one  of  the  enemy  will  dare  to  behold  me. 

Ser.  You  have  not,  my  good  friend,  the  strength  which 
once  you  had. 

Iol.  But  I  will  fight  with  them  who  will  not  be  the  fewer 
in  numbers. 

Ser.  You  add  but  a  slight  weight  to  your  friends. 

Iol.  Do  not  detain  me  who  am  prepared  to  act. 

Ser.  You  are  not  able  to  do  any  thing,  but  you  may  per- 
haps be  to  advise. 

Iol.  You  may  say  the  rest,  as  I  not  staying  to  hear. 

Ser.  How  then  will  you  appear  to  the  soldiers  without 
arms  ? 

Iol.  There  are  within  this  palace  arms  taken  in  war,  which 
I  will  use  and  restore  if  alive ;  but  the  God  will  not  demand 
them  back  of  me,  if  I  fall ;  but  go  in,  and  taking  them  down 
from  the  pegs,  bring  me  as  quickly  as  possible  the  panoply  of 
a  warrior  ;  for  this  is  a  disgraceful  house-keeping,  for  some  to 
fight,  and  some  to  remain  behind  through  fear. 

Cho.  Time  does  not  depress  your  spirit,  but  it  grows  young 
again,  but  your  body  is  weak :  why  dost  thou  toil  in  vain  ? 
which  will  harm  you  indeed,  but  profit  our  city  but  little ;  you 
should  consider  your  age,  and  leave  alone  impossibilities,  it 
cannot  be  that  you  again  should  acquire  youth. 

Alc.  Why  are  you,  not  being  in  your  senses,  about  to  leave 
me  alone  with  my  children  ? 


302  THE  HERACLLILE.  711—743. 

Iol.  For  valour  is  the  part  of  men  ;  but  it  is  your  duty  to 
take  care  of  them. 

Alc.  But  what  if  you  die  ?  how  shall  I  be  saved  ? 

Iol.  Your  sons  who  are  left  will  take  care  of  your  son. 

Alc.  But  if  they,  which  Heaven  forbid,  should  meet  with 
fate! 

Iol.  These  strangers  will  not  betray  you,  do  not  fear. 

Alc.  Such  confidence  indeed  I  have,  nothing  else. 

Iol.  And  Jove,  I  well  know,  cares  for  your  toils. 

Alc.  Alas  !  Jupiter  shall  never  be  reproached  by  me,  but 
he  himself  knows  whether  he  is  just  towards  me. 

Ser.  You  see  now  this  panoply  of  arms ;  but  you  cannot 
make  too  much  haste22  in  arraying  your  body  in  them,  as  the 
contest  is  at  hand,  and.  above  all  things,  Mars  hates  those 
who  delay ;  but  if  you  fear  the  weight  of  arms,  now  then  go 
forth  unarmed,23  and  in  the  ranks  be  clad  with  this  equip- 
ment, and  I  will  carry  it  so  far. 

Iol.  Thou  hast  said  well ;  but  bring  the  arms,  having  them 
close  at  hand,  and  put  a  spear  in  my  hand,  and  support  my 
left  arm  guiding  my  foot. 

Ser.  Is  it  right  to  lead  a  warrior  like  a  child  ? 

Iol.  One  must  go  safely  for  the  sake  of  the  omen. 

Sek.  Would  you  were  able  to  do  as  much  as  you  are 
willing. 

Iol.  Make  haste,  I  shall  suffer  sadly  if  too  late  for  the 
battle. 

Ser.  It  is  you  who  delay,  and  not  I,  seeming  to  do  some- 
hing. 

Iol.  Do  you  not  see  how  my  foot  presses  on  ? 

Ser.  I  see  you  rather  seeming  to  hasten  than  hastening. 

Iol.  You  will  not  say  so,  when  you  behold  me  there. 

Ser.  Doing  what?    I  wish  I  may  see  you  successful. 

Iol.  Striking  some  of  the  enemy  through  the  shield. 

Ser.  If  indeed  we  get  there ;  for  that  I  have  fears  of. 

Iol.  Alas !  0  arm,  would  thou  wert  such  an  ally  to  me  as 
I  recollect  you  in  your  youth,  when  you  ravaged  Sparta  with 
Hercules,  how  would  I  put  Eurystheus  to  flight ;  since  he  is 

22  Sec  Alccst.  GG'2,  Iph.  Taur.  245,  and  Elmsley's  note  on  this  passage. 

23  yvfivvc,  expeditus.  As  in  agriculture  it  is  applied  to  the  husband- 
man who  casts  oft'  his  upper  garment,  so  also  in  war  it  simply  denotes 
being  without  armour. 


744—794.  THE  HERACLID.E.  303 

but  a  coward  in  abiding  a  spear.  But  in  prosperity  then  is 
this  too  which  is  not  right,  a  reputation  for  courage ;  for  we 
think  that  he  who  is  prosperous  knows  all  things  well. 

Cho.  O  earth,  and  moon  that  shinest  through  the  night, 
and  most  brilliant  rays  of  the  God,  that  give  light  to  mortals, 
bring  me  news,  and  shout  in  heaven  and  at  the  queenly  throne 
of  the  blue-eyed  Minerva.  I  am  about,  on  behalf  of  my  coun- 
try, on  behalf  of  my  house,  having  received  suppliants  I  am 
about  to  cut  through  danger  with  the  white  steel.  It  is  ter- 
rible that  a  city,  prosperous  as  Mycence,  and  much  praised  for 
valour  in  war,  should  nourish  secret24  anger  against  my  land  ; 
but  it  is  evil  too,  O  city,  if  we  are  to  give  up  strangers  at  the 
bidding  of  Argos.25  Jupiter  is  my  ally,  I  fear  not ;  Jupiter 
rightly  has  favour  towards  me.  Never  shall  the  Gods  seem 
interior  to  men  in  my  opinion.20  But,  0  venerable  Goddess, 
for  the  soil  of  this  land  is  thine,  and  the  city  of  which  you 
are  mother,  mistress,  and  guardian,  lead  away  by  some  other 
way  him  who  unjustly  leads  on  this  spear-brandishing  host 
from  Argos ;  for  as  far  as  my  virtue  is  concerned,  I  do  not 
deserve  to  be  banished  from  these  halls.  For  honour,  with 
much  sacrifice,  is  ever  offered  to  you ;  nor  does  the  waning27 
day  of  the  month  forget  you,  nor  the  songs  of  youths,  or  the 
measures  of  dances ;  but  on  the  lofty  hill  shouts  resound  in 
accordance  with  the  beatings  of  the  feet  of  virjrins  the  live- 
long  night. 

Ser.  0  mistress,  I  bring  neAvs  most  concise  for  you  to  hear, 
and  to  myself  most  glorious  ;  we  have  conquered  our  enemies, 
and  trophies  are  set  up  bearing  the  panoply  of  your  enemies. 

Alc.  O  best  beloved,  this  clay  has  caused  thee  to  be  made 
free  for  this  thy  news ;  but  from  one  disaster  you  do  not  yet 
free  me,  for  I  fear  whether  they  be  living  to  me  whom  I 
wish  to  be. 

Ser.  They  live,  the  most  glorious  in  the  army. 

Alc.  Does  not  the  aged  Iolaus  survive  ? 

Ser.  Surely,  and  having  done  most  glorious  deeds  by  help 
of  the  Gods. 

24  kivBuv. 

2j  I  have  corrected  KiKtva^iaaiv  " ApyovQ,  with  Reiske  and  Dindorf. 

2B  I  have  adopted  Dindorf's  correction,  ?/a<rovtc  Trap'  ijioi  6eol  <pa- 
vovvrai. 

-n  i.  e.  the  last,  says  Brodseus.  But  Elmsley  prefers  taking  it  for  the 
vovfii]via  or  Kalends,  with  Musgrave. 


304    .  THE  HERACLID^E.  795—839. 

Alc.  But  what  ?  has  he  done  any  doughty  act  in  the  fight  ? 

Ser.  He  has  changed  from  an  old  into  a  young  man  again. 

Alc.  Thou  tellest  marvellous  things,  but  first  I  wish  you 
to  relate  the  prosperous  contest  of  your  friends  in  battle. 

Ser.  One  speech  of  mine  shall  tell  you  all  this ;  for  when 
stretching  out  [our  ranks]  face  to  face,  we  arrayed  our  armies 
against  one  another,  Hyllus  putting  his  foot  out  of  his  four- 
horse  chariot,  stood  in  the  mid-space  of  the  field  ;28  and  then 
said,  0  general,  you  are  come  from  Argos,  why  leave  we  not 
this  land  alone?  and  you  will  do  Mycenae  no  harm,  depriving 
it  of  one  man ;  but  you  fighting  alone  with  me  alone,  either 
killing  me,  lead  away  the  children  of  Hercules,  or  dying,  allow 
me  to  possess  my  ancestral  prerogative  and  palaces.  And  the 
anny  gave  praise  ;  that  the  speech  was  well  spoken  for  a  ter- 
mination of  their  toils,  and  in  respect  of  courage.  But  he 
neither  regarding  those  who  had  heard  the  speech,  nor,  al- 
though he  Avas  general,  his  [own  character  for]  cowardice, 
ventured  not  to  come  near  the  warlike  spear,  but  was  most 
cowardly  ;  and  being  such,  he  came  to  enslave  the  descendants 
of  Hercules.  Hyllus  then  returned  again  back  to  his  ranks ; 
but  the  soothsayers,  when  they  saw  that  the  affair  could  not 
be  arranged  by  single  combat  of  one  shield,  sacrificed,  and  de- 
layed not,  but  let  fall  forth  immediately  the  propitious  slaughter 
of  mortal  throats ;  and  some  mounted  chariots,  and  some  con- 
cealed their  sides  under  the  sides  of  their  shields ;  but  the 
king  of  the  Athenians  gave  to  his  army  such  orders  as  become 
a  high-born  man.  "  O  fellow-citizens,  now  it  behoves  one  to 
defend  the  land  that  has  produced  and  cherished  us."29  And 
the  other  also  besought  his  allies  not  to  disgrace  Argos  and 
Mycena?.  But  when  the  signal  was  sounded  on  a  Tyrrhenian 
trumpet,  and  they  joined  battle  with  one  another,  what  a  clash 
of  spears  dost  thou  think  sounded,  how  great  a  groaning  and 
lamentation  at  the  same  time  !  And  first  the  dashing  on  of 
the  Argive  spear  broke  us ;  then  they  again  retreated ;  and 
next  foot  being  interchanged  with  foot,  and  man  standing 
against  man,  the  battle  waged  fierce ;  and  many  fell ;  and  there 
were  two  cries,  O  ye  who  [dwell  in]  Athens,  O  ye  who  sow 

!8  SopoQ,  which  is  often  used  to  signify  the  fight,  is  here  somewhat 
boldly  put  for  the  arrangement  of  the  battle. 

29  Cf.  iEseh.  Soph.  c.  Th.  14  sqq.  Elmsley's  notes  on  the  whole  of 
tliis  spirited  passage  deserve  to  be  consulted. 


839—885.  THE  HERACLIDiE.  305 

the  land  of  the  Argives,  will  ye  not  avert  disgrace  from  the 
city?  And  Avith  difficulty  doing  every  thing,  not  without 
toils  did  we  put  the  Argive  force  to  flight ;  and  then  the  old 
man,  seeing  Hyllus  rushing  on,  Iolaus,  stretching  forth  his 
right  hand,  besought  him  to  place  him  on  the  horse-chariot ; 
and  seizing  the  reins  in  his  hands,  he  pressed  hard  upon  the 
horses  of  Eurystheus.  And  what  happened  after  this  I  must 
tell  by  having  heard  from  others,  I  myself  hitherto  having 
seen  all ;  for  passing  by  the  venerable  hill  of  the  divine  Minerva 
of  Pellene,  seeing  the  chariot  of  Eurystheus,  he  prayed  to 
Juno  and  Jupiter  to  be  young  for  one  day,  and  to  work  venge- 
ance on  his  enemies.  But  you  have  a  marvel  to  hear  ;  for  two 
stars  standing  on  the  horse-chariot,  concealed  the  chariot  in  a 
dim  cloud,  the  wiser  men  say  it  was  thy  son  and  Hebe ;  but 
he  from  the  obscure  darkness  showed  forth  a  youthful  image 
of  youthful  arms.  And  the  glorious  Iolaus  takes  the  four-horse 
chariot  of  Eurystheus  at  the  Scironian  rocks — and  having 
bound  his  hands  in  fetters,  he  comes  bringing  as  glorious  first- 
fruits  of  victory,  the  general,  him  who  before  was  prosperous  ; 
but  by  his  present  fortune  he  proclaims  clearly  to  all  mortals 
to  learn  not  to  envy  him  who  seems  prosperous,  till  one  sees 
him  dead,  as  fortune  is  but  for  the  day. 

Cho.  O  Jupiter,  thou  turner  to  flight,  now  is  it  mine  to 
behold  a  clay  free  from  dreadful  fear. 

Alc.  O  Jupiter,  at  length  you  have  looked  upon  my  mi- 
series, but  still  I  thank  you  for  what  has  been  done :  and  I, 
who  formerly  did  not  think  that  my  son  dwelt  with  the  Gods, 
now  clearly  know  it.  0  children,  now  indeed  you  shall  be 
free  from  toils,  and  free  .from  Eurystheus,  who  shall  perish 
miserably  ;  and  ye  shall  see  the  city  of  your  sire,  and  you  shall 
tread  on  your  inheritance  of  land ;  and  ye  shall  sacrifice  to 
your  ancestral  gods,  debarred  from  whom  ye  have  had,  as 
strangers,  a  wandering  miserable  life.  But  devising  what 
clever  thing  has  Iolaus  spared  Eurystheus,  so  as  not  to  slay 
him,  tell  me ;  for  in  my  opinion  this  is  not  wise,  having  taken 
our  enemies,  not  to  exact  punishment  of  them. 

Seu.  Having  respect  for  you,  that  with  your  own  eyes  you 
may  see  him30  defeated  and  subjected  to  your  hand;  not,  in- 
deed, of  his  own  will,  but  he  has  bound  him  by  force  in  con- 

30  KpaTovvTct  cannot  be  used  passively.  KXaiovra  is  the  conjecture  of 
Orelli,  approved  by  Dindorf.     I  have  expressed  the  sense,  not  the  text. 

X 


306  THE  HERACLID^E.  886—946. 

straint,  for  he  was  not  willing  to  come  alive  into  your  sight 
and  to  be  punished.  But,  O  old  woman,  farewell,  and  remem- 
ber for  me  what  you  first  said  when  I  began  my  tale.  Make 
me  free ;  and  in  such  noble  people  as  you  the  mouth  ought  to 
be  free  from  falsehood. 

Cho.  To  me  the  dance  is  sweet,  if  there  be  the  thrilling 
delight  of  the  pipe  at  the  feast;  and  may  Venus  be  kind. 
And  sweet  it  is  to  see  the  good  fortune  of  friends  who  did  not 
expect  it  before  ;  for  the  fate  which  accomplishes  gifts  gives 
birth  to  many  things ;  and  Time,  the  son  of  Saturn.  You 
have,  O  city,  a  just  path,  you  should  never  be  deprived  of  it, 
to  honour  the  Gods ;  and  he  who  bids  you  not  do  so,  is  near 
madness,  such  proofs  as  these  being  shown.  God,  in  truth, 
evidently  exhorts  us,  taking  away  the  arrogance  of  the  unjust 
for  ever.  Your  son,  O  old  woman,  is  gone  to  heaven ;  he 
shuns  the  report  of  having  descended  to  the  realm  of  Pluto, 
being  consumed  as  to  his  body  in  the  terrible  flame  of  fire  ; 
and  he  embraces  the  lovely  bed  of  Hebe  in  the  golden  hall.  O 
Hymen,  you  have  honoured  two  children  of  Jupiter.  Many 
things  agree  with  many ;  for  in  truth  they  say  that  Minerva 
was  an  ally  of  their  father,  and  the  city  and  people  of  that 
Goddess  has  saved  them,  and  has  restrained  the  insolence  of  a 
man  to  whom  passion  was  before  justice,  through  violence. 
May  my  mind  and  soul  never  be  insatiable. 

Mess.  0  mistress,  you  see,  but  still  it  shall  be  said,  we  are 
eome,  bringing  to  you  Eurystheus  here,  an  unhoped  for  sight, 
and  one  no  less  so  for  him  to  meet  with,  for  he  never  expected 
to  come  into  your  hands  when  he  went  forth  from  Mycenas 
with  a  much-toiling  band  of  spearmen,  proudly  planning 
things  much  greater  than  his  fortune,  that  he  should  destroy 
Athens ;  but  the  God  changed  his  fortune,  and  made  it  con- 
trary. Hyllus,  therefore,  and  the  good  Iolaus,  have  set  up  a 
statue,  in  honour  of  their  victory,  of  Jove,  the  putter  to  flight ; 
and  they  send  me  to  bring  this  man  to  you,  wishing  to  delight 
your  mind  ;  for  it  is  most  delightful  to  see  an  enemy  unfortu- 
nate, after  having  been  fortunate. 

Alc.  O  hateful  thing,  art  thou  come?  has  justice  taken 
you  at  last  ?  first  then  indeed  turn  hither  your  head  towards 
me,  and  dare  to  look  your  enemies  in  the  face ;  for  now  you 
are  ruled,  and  you  rule  no  more.  Art  thou  he,  for  I  wish  to 
know,  who  chose,  O  wretch,  much  to  insult  my  son,  though  no 


947—987.  THE  HERACLID.*;.  .'507 

longer  existing  ?  For  in  what  respect  didst  thou  not  dare  to 
insult  him?  who  led  him,  while  alive,  down  to  hell,  and  sent 
him  forth,  bidding  him  destroy  hydras  and  lions  ?  And  I  am 
silent  concerning  the  other  evils  you  contrived,  for  it  would 
be  a  long  story ;  and  it  did  not  satisfy  you  that  he  alone 
should  endure  these  things,  but  you  drove  me  also,  and  my 
children,  out  of  all  Greece,  sitting  as  suppliants  of  the  Gods, 
some  old,  and  some  still  infants;  but  you  found  men  and  a 
city  free,  who  feared  you  not.  Thou  needs  must  die  miserably, 
and  you  shall  gain  every  thing,  for  you  ought  to  die  not  once 
only,  having  wrought  many  evil  deeds. 

Mess.  It  is  not  practicable  for  you  to  put  him  to  death.30 

Alc.  In  vain  then  have  we  taken  him  prisoner.  But  what 
law  hinders  him  from  dying  ? 

Mess.  It  seems  not  so  to  the  chiefs  of  this  land. 

Alc.  What  is  this  ?  not  good  to  them  to  slay  one's  ene- 
mies ? 

Mess.  Not  any  one  whom  they  have  taken  alive  in  battle. 

Alc.  And  did  Hyllus  endure  this  decision  ? 

Mess.  He  could,  I  suppose,  disobey  this  land  !31 

Alc.  He  ought  no  longer  to  live,  nor  behold  the  light. 

Mess.  Then  first  he  did  wrong  in  not  dying. 

Alc.  Then  it  is  no  longer  right  for  him  to  be  punished  ? 82 

Mess.  There  is  no  one  who  may  put  him  to  death. 

Alc.  I  will.     And  yet  I  say  that  I  am  some  one. 

Mess.  You  will  indeed  have  much  blame  if  you  do  this. 

Alc.  I  love  this  city.  It  cannot  be  denied.  But  as  for 
this  man,  since  he  has  come  into  my  power,  there  is  no  mortal 
who  shall  take  him  from  me.  For  this,  whoever  will  may 
call  me  bold,  and  thinking  things  too  much  for  a  woman ;  but 
this  deed  shall  be  done  by  me. 

Cho.  It  is  a  serious  and  excusable  thing,  0  lady,  for  you  to 
have  hatred  against  this  man,  I  well  know  it. 

Eurystheus.  0  woman,  know  plainly  that  I  will  not  flat- 
ter you,  nor  say  any  thing  else  for  my  life,  whence  I  may 
incur  any  imputation  of  cowardice.  But  not  of  my  own  ac- 
cord did  I  undertake  this  strife — I  knew  that  I  was  your 

30  See  Mnsgrave's  note  (apud  Dindorf).  Tyrwhitt  considers  all  the 
dramatis  persons  wrongly  assigned. 

31  Ironically  spoken. 

,  32  There  seems  to  be  something  wrong  here. 
X   2 


308  THE  HERACLID^l.  988-1030. 

cousin  by  birth,  and  a  relation  to  your  son  Hercules ;  but 
whether  I  wished  it  or  not,  Juno,  for  it  was  a  Goddess, 
forced  me  to  toil  through  this  ill.  But  when  I  took  up  en- 
mity against  him,  and  determined  to  contest  this  contest,  I  be- 
came a  contriver  of  many  evils,  and  sitting  continually  in 
council  with  myself,  I  brought  forth  many  plans  by  night, 
how  dispersing  and  slaying  my  enemies,  I  might  dwell  for  the 
future  not  with  fear,  knowing  that  your  son  was  not  one  of 
the  many,  but  truly  a  man ;  for  though  he  be  mine  enemy, 
yet  shall  he  be  well  spoken  of,  as  he  was  a  doughty  man.  And 
when  he  was  released  [from  life],  did  it  not  behove  me,  being 
hated  by  these  children,  and  knowing  their  father's  hatred  to 
me,  to  move  every  stone,  slaying  and  banishing  them,  and 
contriving,  that,  doing  such  things,  my  own  affairs  would 
have  been  safe  ?  You,  therefore,  had  you  obtained  my  for- 
tunes, would  not  have  oppressed  with  evils  the  hostile  off- 
spring of  a  hated  lion,  but  would  wisely  have  permitted  them 
to  live  in  Argos ;  you  will  persuade  no  one  of  this.  Now 
then,  since  they  did  not  destroy  me  then,  when  I  was  willing, 
by  the  laws  of  the  Greeks  I  shall,  if  slain,  bear  pollution  to 
my  slayer ;  and  the  city,  being  wise,  has  let  me  go,  having 
greater  honour  for  God  than  for  its  enmity  towards  me.  And 
to  what  you  said  you  have  heard  a  reply :  and  now  you  may 
call  me  at  once  suppliant  and  brave.33  Thus  is  the  case  with 
me,  I  do  not  wish  to  die,  but  I  should  not  be  grieved  at  leav- 
ing life. 

Cho.  I  wish,  0  Alcmena,  to  advise  you  a  little,  to  let  go 
this  man,  since  it  seems  so  to  the  city. 

Alc.  But  how,  if  he  both  die,  and  still  we  obey  the  city  ? 

Cho.  That  would  be  best ;  but  how  can  that  be  ? 

Alc.  I  will  teach  you,  easily  ;  for  having  slain  him,  then  I 
will  give  his  corpse  to  those  of  his  friends  who  come  after 
him ;  for  I  will  not  deny  his  body  to  the  earth,  but  he  dying, 
shall  satisfy  my  revenge. 

Eu.  Slay  me,  I  do  not  deprecate  thy  wrath.  But  this  city 
indeed,  since  it  has  released  me,  and  feared  to  slay  me,  I  will 
present  with  an  ancient  oracle  of  Apollo,  which,  in  time,  will 
be  of  greater  profit  than  you  would  expect ;  for  ye  will  bury 
me  when  I  am  dead,  where  it  is  fated,  before  the  temple  of 

33  See  Matthiae,  who  explains  it :  "  me  et  supplicem,  qui  mortem  depre- 
cetur,  et  for  tern,  q\ii  mortem  contemnat,  dicere  licet." 


1031—1055.  THE  HERACLID.E.  309 

the  divine  virgin  of  Pallene ;  and  being  well  disposed  to  you, 
and  a  protector  to  the  city,  I  shall  ever  lie  as  a  sojourner 
under  the  ground,  but  most  hostile  to  their  descendants  when 
they  come  hither  with  much  force,  betraying  this  kindness  : 
such  strangers  do  ye  now  defend.  How  then  did  I,  knowing 
this,  come  hither,  and  not  respect  the  oracle  of  the  God? 
Thinking  Juno  far  more  powerful  than  oracles,  and  that  she 
would  not  betray  me,  [I  did  so.]  But  suffer  neither  libations 
nor  blood  to  be  poured  on  my  tomb,  for  I  will  give  them  an 
evil  return  as  a  requital  for  these  things ;  and  ye  shall  have  a 
double  gain  from  me,  I  will  both  profit  you  and  injure  them 
by  dying. 

Alc.  Why  then  do  ye  delay,  if  you  are  fated  to  accomplish 
safety  to  the  city  and  to  your  descendants,  to  slay  this  man, 
hearing  these  things  ?  for  they  show  us  the  safest  path.  The 
man  is  an  enemy,  but  he  will  profit  us  dying.  Take  him 
away,  O  servants ;  then  having  slain  him,  ye  must  give  him 
to  the  dogs ;  for  hope  not  thou,  that  living,  thou  shalt  again 
banish  me  from  my  native  land. 

Cho.  These  things  seem  good  to  me,  proceed,  O  attendants, 
for  every  thing  on  our  part  shall  be  done  completely  for  our 
sovereigns. 


IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS. 


PERSONS   REPRESENTED. 

AGAMEMNON. 

OLD  MAN. 

MENELAUS. 

ACHILLES. 

MESSENGER. 

ANOTHER  MESSENGER. 

IPHIGENIA. 

CLYT^EMNESTRA. 

CHORUS. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


When  the  Greeks  were  detained  at  Aulis  by  stress  of  weather,  Calchas 
declared  that  they  would  never  reach  Troy  unless  the  daughter  of  Aga- 
memnon, Iphigenia,  was  sacrificed  to  Diana.  Agamemnon  sent  for  his 
daughter  with  this  view,  but  repenting,  he  despatched  a  messenger  to  prevent 
Clytaemnestra  sending  her.  The  messenger  being  intercepted  by  Mene- 
laus,  an  altercation  between  the  brother  chieftains  arose,  during  which 
Iphigenia,  who  had  been  tempted  with  the  expectation  of  being  wedded 
to  Achilles,  arrived  with  her  mother.  The  latter,  meeting  with  Achilles, 
discovered  the  deception,  and  Achilles  swore  to  protect  her.  But  Iphi- 
genia, having  •  determined  to  die  nobly  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks,  was 
snatched  away  by  the  Goddess,  and  a  stag  substituted  in  her  place.  The 
Greeks  were  then  enabled  to  set  sail. 


IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS. 


Agamemnon.  Come  before  this  dwelling,  O  aged  man. 

Old  Man.  I  come.  But.  what  new  thing  dost  thou  medi- 
tate, king  Agamemnon  ? 

Ag.  You  shall  learn.1 

Old  M.  I  hasten.  My  old  age  is  very  sleepless,  and  sits 
wakeful  upon  mine  eyes. 

Ag.  What  star  can  this  be  that  traverses  this  way  ? 

Old  M.  Sirius,  flitting  yet  midway  (between  the  heavens 
and  the  ocean,)2  close  to  the  seven  Pleiads. 

Ag.  No  longer  therefore  is  there  the  sound  either  of  birds 
or  of  the  sea,  but  silence  of  the  winds  reigns  about  this 
Euripus. 

Old  M.  But  why  art  thou  hastening  without  the  tent,  king 
Agamemnon  ?     But  still  there  is  silence  here  by  Aulis,  and 

1  From  the  answer  of  the  old  man,  Porson's  conjecture,  (TinvSt,  seems 
very  probable. 

3  See  Hermann's  note.  The  passage  has  been  thus  rendered  by  Enniu3 : 
Ag.  "  Quid  nocti "  vjdetur  in  altisono 

Cceli  clupeo  ? 
Sen.  Temo  superat  Stellas,  cogens 

Sublime  etiam  atque  etiam  noctis 
Itiner. 

See  Scaliger  on  Varr.  de  L.  L.  vi.  p.  143,  and  on  Festus  s.  v.  Septemtriones. 
All  the  editors  have  overlooked  the  following  passage  of  Apuleius  de  Deo 
Socr.  p.  42,  ed.  Elm.  "  Suspicientes  in  hoc  perfectissimo  mundi,  ut  ait 
Ennius,  clypeo,"  whence,  as  I  have  already  observed  in  my  notes  on  the 
passage,  there  is  little  doubt  that  Ennius  wrote  "  in  altisono  mundi  clypeo," 
of  which  cceli  was  a  gloss,  naturally  introduced  by  those  who  were  ignor- 
ant of  the  use  of  mundus  in  the  same  sense.  The  same  error  has  taken 
place  in  some  of  the  MSS.  of  Virg.  Georg.  i.  5,  6.  Compare  the  com- 
mentators on  Pompon.  Mela.  i.  1,  ed.  Gronov. 


314  IPIIIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  15—53. 

the  guards  of  the  fortifications  are  undisturbed.  Let  us  go 
within. 

Ag.  I  envy  thee,  old  man,  and  I  envy  that  man  who  has 
passed  through  a  life  without  danger,  unknown,  unglorious ; 
but  I  less  envy  those  in  honour. 

Old  M.   And  yet  'tis  in  this  that  the  glory  of  life  is. 

Ag.  But  this  very  glory  is  uncertain,  for  the  love  of  popu- 
larity is  pleasant  indeed,  but  hurts  when  present.  Sometimes 
the  worship  of  the  Gods  not  rightly  conducted  upturns  one's 
life,  and  sometimes  the  many  and  dissatisfied  opinions  of  men 
harass. 

Old  M.  I  praise  not  these  remarks  in  a  chieftain.  O  Aga- 
memnon, Atreus  did  not  beget  thee  upon  a  condition  of  com- 
plete good  fortune.3  But  thou  needs  must  rejoice  and  grieve 
[in  turn,]  for  thou  art  a  mortal  born,  and  even  though  you 
wish  it  not,  the  will  of  the  Gods  will  be  thus.  But  thou, 
opening  the  light  of  a  lamp,  art  both  writing  this  letter,  which 
thou  still  art  carrying  in  thy  hands,  and  again  you  blot  out 
the  same  characters,  and  seal,  and  loose  again,  and  cast  the 
tablet  to  the  ground,  pouring  abundant  tears,  and  thou  lackest 
nought  of  the  unwonted  things  that  tend  to  madness.  Why 
art  thou  troubled,  why  art  thou  troubled  ?  What  new  thing, 
what  new  thing  [has  happened]  concerning  thee,  O  king? 
Come,  communicate  discourse  with  me.  But  thou  wilt  speak 
to  a  good  and  faithful  man,  for  to  thy  wife  Tyndarus  sent 
me  once  on  a  time,  as  a  dower-gift,  and  disinterested  com- 
panion.4 

Ag.  To  Leda,  daughter  of  Thestias,  were  born  three  vir- 
gins, Phcebe,  and  Clytsemnestra  my  spouse,  and  Helen.  Of 
this  latter,  the  youths  of  Greece  that  were  in  the  first  state  of 
prosperity  came  as  suitors.  But  terrible  threats  of  bloodshed5 
arose  against  one  another,  from  whoever  should  not  obtain  the 
virgin.  But  the  matter  was  difficult  for  her  father  Tyndarus, 
whether  to  give,  or  not  to  give  [her  in  marriage,]  and  how  he 
might  best  deal  with  the  circumstances,  when  this  occurred  to 
him  ;  that  the  suitors  should  join  oaths  and  plight  right  hands 

3  Such  seems  the  force  of  iirl  iraaiv  aya0o7c-  The  Cambridge  editor 
aptly  compares  Hipp.  461.  xpi\v  a  iirl  pijToiQ  dpa  llaripa  tyvrivuv. 

4  The  (jvvvvp.<poK6^,oq  was  probably  a  kind  of  gentleman-usher,  but  we 
have  no  correlative  either  to  the  custom  or  the  word. 

s  Hermann  rightly  regards  this  as  an  hendiadys. 


59-102.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  315 

with  one  another,  and  over  burnt  offerings  should  enter  into 
treaty,  and  bind  themselves  by  this  oath,  "  Of  whomsoever 
the  daughter  of  Tyndarus  shall  become  wife,  that  they  will 
join  to  assist  him,  if  any  one  should  depart  from  his  house 
taking  [her]  with  him,  and  excluding  the  possessor  from  his 
bed,  and  that  they  will  make  an  expedition  in  arms,  and  sack 
the  city  [of  the  ravisher,]  Greek  or  barbarian  alike."  But 
after  they  had  pledged  themselves,  the  old  man  Tyndarus 
somehow  cleverly  overreached  them  by  a  cunning  plan.  He 
permits  his  daughter  to  choose  one  of  the  suitors,  towards 
whom  the  friendly  gales  of  Venus  might  impel  her.  But  she 
chose  (whom  would  she  had  never  taken  ! )  Menelaus.  And 
he  who,  according  to  the  story  told  by  men,  once  judged  the 
Goddesses,  coming  from  Phrygia  to  Lacedajmon,  flowered  in 
the  vesture  of  his  garments,  and  glittering  with  gold,  barba- 
rian finery,  loving  Helen  who  loved  him,  he  stole  and  bore  her 
away  to  the  bull-stalls  of  Ida,  having  found  Menelaus  abroad. 
But  he,  goaded  hastily G  through  Greece,  calls  to  witness  the 
old  oath  given  to  Tyndarus,  that  it  behoves  to  assist  the  ag- 
grieved. Henceforth  the  Greeks  hastening  with  the  spear, 
having  taken  their  arms,  come  to  this  Aulis  with  its  narrow 
straits,  with  ships  and  shields  together,  and  accoutred  with 
many  horses  and  chariots.  And  they  chose  me  general  of  the 
host,  out  of  regard  for  Menelaus,  being  his  brother  forsooth. 
And  would  that  some  other  than  I  had  obtained  the  dignity. 
But  when  the  army  was  assembled  and  levied,  we  sat,  having 
no  power  of  sailing,  at  Aulis.  But  Calchas  the  seer  pro- 
claimed to  us,  being  at  a  loss,  that  we  should  sacrifice  Iphi- 
genia,  whom  I  begat,  to  Diana,  who  inhabits  this  place,  and 
that  if  we  sacrificed  her,  we  should  have  both  our  voyage,  and 
the  sacking  of  Troy,  but  that  this  should  not  befall  us  if  we 
did  not  sacrifice  her.  But  I  hearing  this  in  rousing  pro- 
clamation, bade  Talthybius  dismiss  the  whole  army,  as  I  should 
never  have  the  heart  to  slay  my  daughter.  Upon  this,  indeed, 
my  brother,  alleging  every  kind  of  reasoning,  persuaded  me  to 
dare  the  dreadful  deed,  and  having  written  in  the  folds  of  a 
letter,  I  sent  word  to  my  wife  to  send  her  daughter  as  if  to  be 
married  to  Achilles,  both  enlarging  on  the  dignity  of  the  man, 
and  asserting  that  he  would  not  sail  with  the  Greeks,  unless 

6  Spofiif)  for  fi6p({)  is  Markland's,  and,  doubtless,  the  correct,  reading. 
fiovoQ  is  merely  a  correction  of  the  Aldine  edition. 


316  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  103-143. 

a  wife  for  him  from  among  us  should  come  to  Phthia.  For  I 
had  this  means  of  persuading  my  wife,  having  made  up  a  pre- 
tended match  for  the  virgin.  But  we  alone  of  the  Greeks 
know  how  these  matters  are,  Calchas,  Ulysses,  and  Nestor. 
But  the  things  which  I  then  determined  not  well,  I  am  now 
differently  writing  so  as  to  be  well,  in  this  letter,  which  by  the 
shadow  of  night  thou  beheldest  me  opening  and  closing,  old 
man.  But  come,  go  thou,  taking  these  letters,  to  Argos.  But 
as  to  what  the  letter  conceals  in  its  folds,  I  will  tell  thee  in 
words  all  that  is  written  therein ;  for  thou  art  faithful  to  my 
wife  and  house. 

Old  M.  Speak,  and  tell  me,  that  with  my  tongue  I  may  also 
say  what  agrees  with  your  letter. 

Ag.  {reading.)  "  I  send  to  thee,  0  germ  of  Leda,  besides 7 
my  former  despatches,  not  to  send  thy  daughter  to  the  bay -like 
wing  of  Euboea,8  waveless  Aulis.  For  we  will  delay  the  bridals 
of  our  daughter  till  another  season. 

Old  M.  And  how  will  not  Achilles  raise  up  his  temper 
against  thee  and  thy  wife,  showing  great  wrath  at  failing  of 
his  spouse  ?     This  also  is  terrible.     Show  what  thou  meanest. 

Ag.  Achilles,  furnishing  the  pretext,  not  the  reality,  knows 
not  these  nuptials,  nor  what  we  are  doing ;  nor  that  I  have 
professed  to  give  my  daughter  into  the  nuptial  chain  of  his 
arms  by  marriage.9 

Old  M.  Thou  venturest  terrible  things,  king  Agamemnon, 
who,  having  promised  thy  daughter  as  wife  to  the  son  of  the 
Goddess,  dost  lead  her  as  a  sacrifice  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks. 

Ag.  Ah  me !  I  was  out  of  my  senses.  Alas  !  And  I  am 
falling  into  calamity.  But  go,  plying  thy  foot,  yielding  nought 
to.  old  age. 

Old  M.  I  hasten,  O  king. 

Ag.  Do  not  thou  either  sit  down  by  the  woody  fountains, 
nor  repose  in  sleep. 

Old  M.   Speak  good  words. 

7  But  read  raq — SkXrovg  with  the  Cambridge  editor,  =  "  in  relation 
to  my  former  despatches." 

8  rav  should  probably  be  erased  before  koXttmSt],  with  the  Cambridge 
editor.  He  remarks,  "  the  sea-port,  although  separated  from  the  island 
by  the  narrow  strait  of  Euripus,  is  styled  its  wing."  On  the  metrical 
difficulties  and  corruptions  throughout  this  chorus,  I  must  refer  the  reader 
to  the  same  critic. 

9  But  Xkicrpov,  uxorem,  is  better,  with  ed.  Camb. 


144—198.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  317 

Ag.  But  every  where  as  you  pass  the  double  track,  look 
about,  watching  lest  there  escape  thee  a  chariot  passing  with 
swift  wheels,  bearing  my  daughter  hither  to  the  ships  of  the 
Greeks. 

Old  M.  This  shall  be. 

Ag.  And  go  out  of  the  gates 10  quickly,  f  for  if  you  meet  with 
the.  procession,!  again  go  forth,  shake  the  reins,  going  to  the 
temples  reared  by  the  Cyclops. 

Old  M.  But  tell  me,  how,  saying  this,  I  shall  obtain  belief 
from  thy  daughter  and  wife. 

Ag.  Preserve  the  seal,  this  which  thou  bearest  on  this  let- 
ter. Go  :  morn,  already  dawning  forth  this  light,  grows  white, 
and  the  fire  of  the  sun's  four  steeds.  Aid  me  in  my  toils. 
But  no  one  of  mortals  is  prosperous  or  blest  to  the  last,  for 
none  hath  yet  been  born  free  from  pain. 

Chorus.  I  came  to  the  sands  of  the  shore  of  marine  Aulis, 
having  sailed  through  the  waves  of  Euripus,  quitting  Chalcis 
with  its  narrow  strait,  my  city,  the  nurse  of  the  sea-neigh- 
bouring waters"  of  renowned  Arethusa,  in  order  that  I  might 
behold  the  army  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  ship-conveying  oars 
of  the  Grecian  youths,  whom  against  Troy  in  a  thousand 
ships  of  fir,  our  husbands  say  that  yellow-haired  Menelaus 
and  Agamemnon  of  noble  birth,  are  leading  in  quest  of  Helen,12 
whom  the  herdsman  Paris  bore  from  reed-nourishing  Eurotas, 
a  gift  of  Venus,  when  at  the  fountain  dews  Venus  held  con- 
test, contest  respecting  beauty  with  Juno  and  Pallas.  But  I 
came  swiftly  through  the  wood  of  Diana  with  its  many  sacri- 
fices, making  my  cheek  red  with  youthful  modesty,  wishing 
to  behold  the  defence  of  the  shield,  and  the  arm-bearing  tents 13 
of  the  Greeks,  and  the  crowd  of  steeds.  But  I  saw  the  two 
Ajaces  companions,  the  son  of  Oileus,  and  the  son  of  Telamon, 
the  glory  of  Salamis,  and  Protesilaus  and  Palamedes,  whom 

10  It  is  impossible  to  get  a  satisfactory  sense  as  these  lines  now  stand. 
I  have  translated  i^opfia.  There  seems  to  he  a  lacuna.  The  following 
are  the  readings  of  the  Camb.  ed.  rp>  ydp  7r.  avrfjayg,  irdXiv  t£.  a.  xa~ 
Xirot'c,  ii"i  kvkXwttwv  viv  UIq  9vfi. 

11  But  dyxi'aXov  is  better,  with  ed.  Camb.  from  the  Homeric  xa^K^a 
r  ayx'iakov.  He  remarks  that  this  word,  in  tragedy,  is  always  the  epi- 
thet of  a  place. 

12  i.  e.  to  exact  satisfaction  for  her  abduction. 

13  i.  e.  the  tents  containing  the  armed  soldiers. 


318  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  198—260. 

the  daughter  of  Neptune  bore,  diverting  themselves14  with  the 
complicated  figures  of  draughts,  and  Diomede  rejoicing  in  the 
pleasures  of  the  disk,  and  by  them  Merione,  the  blossom  of 
Mars,  a  marvel  to  mortals,  and  the  son  of  Laertes  from  the 
mountains  of  the  isle,  and  with  them  Nireus,  fairest  of  the 
Greeks,  and  Achilles,  tempest-like  in  the  course,  fleet  as  the 
winds,  whom  Thetis  bore,  and  Chiron  trained  up,  I  beheld 
him  on  the  shore,  coursing  in  arms  along  the  shingles.  And 
he  toiled  through  a  contest  of  feet,  running  against  a  chariot 
of  four  steeds  for  victory.  But  the  charioteer  cried  out,  Eu- 
melus,  the  grandson  of  Pheres,15  whose  most  beauteous  steeds 
I  beheld,  decked  out  with  gold-tricked  bits,  hurried  on  by  the 
lash,  the  middle  ones  in  yoke  dappled  with  white-spotted  hair, 
but  those  outside,  in  loose  harness,  running  contrariwise  in 
the  bendings  of  the  course,  bays,  with  dappled  skins  under 
their  legs  with  solid  hoofs.  Close  by  which  Pelides  was  run- 
ning in  arms,  by  the  orb  and  wheels  of  the  chariot.16  And  I 
came  to  the  multitude  of  ships,  a  sight  not  to  be  described, 
that  1  might  satiate  the  sight  of  my  woman's  eyes,  a  sweet  de- 
light. And  at  the  right  horn  [of  the  fleet]  was  the  Phthiotic 
army  of  the  Myrmidons,  with  fifty  valiant  ships.  And  in 
golden  efligies  the  Nereid  Goddesses  stood  on  the  summit  of 
the  poops,  the  standard  of  the  host  of  Achilles.  And  next  to 
these  there  stood  the  Argive  ships,  with  equal  number  of 
oars,  of  which  [Euryalus]  the  grandson  of  Mecisteus  was 
general,  whom  his  father  Talaus  trains  up,  and  Sthenelus  son 
of  Capaneus.  But  [Acamas]  son  of  Theseus,  leading  sixty 
ships  from  Athens,  kept  station,  having  the  Goddess  Pallas 
placed 17  in  her  equestrian  winged  chariot,  a  prosperous  sign  to 
sailors.  But  I  beheld  the  armament  of  the  Boeotians,  fifty 
sea-bound  ships,  with  signs  at  the  figure  heads,  and  their  sign 
was  Cadmus,  holding  a  golden  dragon,  at  the  beaks  of  the 
ships,   and  Leitus  the  earth-born  was  leader  of  the  naval 

14  itfofikvovQ  refers  both  to  HgtaTtrnXaov  and  Yla\ai.ir)fiea,  divided  by 
the  schema  Alcmanicum.     See  Markland. 

15  Cf.  Homer,  II.  B.  763  sqq. 

16  Cf.  Monk  on  Hippol.  1'2'29.  I  have  translated  avptyyae  according 
to  the  figure  of  a  part  for  the  whole.  The  whole  of  the  remainder  of  this 
chorus  has  been  condemned  as  spurious  by  the  Cambridge  editor.  See 
his  remarks,  p.  219  sqq. 

17  Can  Octov  refer  to  aya\pa  understood  ? 


261—312.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  319 

armament,  and  [I  beheld]  those  from  the  Phocian  land.  But 
the  son  of  Oileus,  leading  an  equal  number  of  Locrian  ships, 
came,  having  left  the  Thronian  city.  But  from  Cyclopian 
Mycena?  the  son  of  Atreus  sent  the  assembled  mariners  of  a 
hundred  ships.  And  with  him  was  Adrastus,  as  friend  with 
friend,  in  order  that  Greece  might  wreak  vengeance  on  those 
who  fled  their  homes,  for  the  sake  of  barbarian  nuptials.  But 
from  Pylos  we  beheld  on  the  poops  of  Gerenian  Nestor,  a  sign 
bull-footed  to  view,  his  neighbour  Alpheus.  But  there  were 
twelve  beaks  of  JEnian  ships,  which  king  Gyneus  led,  and 
near  these  again  the  chieftains  of  Elis,  whom  all  the  people 
named  Epeians,  and  o'er  these  Eurytus  had  power.  But  the 
white-oared  Taphian  host  *  *  *  *  led,18  which  Meges  ruled,  the 
offspring  of  Phyleus,  leaving  the  island  Echinades,  inacessible 
to  sailors.  And  Ajax,  the  foster-child  of  Salamis,  joined  the 
right  horn  to  the  left,  to  which  he  was  stationed  nearest, 
joining  them  with  his  furthermost  ships,  with  twelve  most 
swift  vessels,  as  I  heard,  and  beheld  the  naval  people.  To 
which  if  any  one  add  the  barbarian  barks,  *  *  *  *  it  will  not 
obtain  a  return.  *  *  *  *  Where  I  beheld  the  naval  expe- 
dition, but  hearing  other  things  at  home  I  preserve  remem- 
brance of  the  assembled  army. 

Old  Man.  Menelaus,  thou  art  daring  dreadful  deeds  thou 
shouldst  not  dare. 

Menelaus.  Away  with  thee !  thou  art  too  faithful  to  thy 
masters. 

Old  M.  An  honourable  rebuke  thou  hast  rebuked  me  with  ! 

Men.  To  thy  cost  shall  it  be,  if  thou  dost  that  thou  shouldst 
not  do. 

Old  M  You  have  no  right  to  open  the  letter  which  I  was 
carrying. 

Men.  Nor  shouldst  thou  bear  ills  to  all  the  Greeks. 

Old  M.  Contest  this  point  with  others,  but  give  up  this 
[letter]  to  me. 

Men.  I  will  not  let  it  go. 

Old  M.  Nor  will  I  let  it  go. 

Men.  Then  quickly  with  my  sceptre  will  I  make  thine  head 
bloody. 

Old  M.  But  glorious  it  is  to  die  for  one's  masters. 

18  This  part  of  the  chorus  is  hopeless,  as  it  is  evidently  imperfect.  See 
Herm. 


320  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  313-335. 

Men.  Let  go.    Being  a  slave,  thou  speakest  too  many  words. 

Old  M.  O  master,  I  am  wronged,  and  this  man,  having 
snatched  thy  letter  out  of  my  hands,  O  Agamemnon,  is  un- 
willing to  act  rightly. 

Men.  Ah !  what  is  this  tumult  and  disorder  of  words  ? 

Old  M.  My  words,  not  his,  are  fittest  to  speak.19 

Ag.  But  wherefore,  Menelaus,  dost  thou  come  to  strife 
with  this  man  and  art  dragging  him  by  force. 

Men.  Look  at  me,  that  I  may  take  this  commencement  of 
my  speech. 

Ag.  What,  shall  I  through  fear  not  open  mine  eyelids,  being 
born  of  Atreus  ? 

Men.  Seest  thou  this  letter,  the  minister  of  writings  most 
vile  ? 

Ag.  I  see  it,  and  do  thou  first  let  it  go  from  thy  hands. 

Men.  Not,  at  least,  before  I  show  to  the  Greeks  what  is 
written  therein. 

Ag.  What,  knowest  thou  what  'tis  unseasonable  thou 
shouldst  know,  having  broken  the  seal  ? 

Men.  Ay,  so  as  to  pain  thee,  having  unfolded  the  ills  thou 
hast  wrought  privily. 

Ag.  But  where  didst  thou  obtain  it  ?  0  Gods,  for  thy  shame- 
less heart ! 

Men.  Expecting  thy  daughter  from  Argos,  whether  she 
will  come  to  the  army. 

Ag.  What  behoves  thee  to  keep  watch  upon  my  affairs  ? 
Is  not  this  the  act  of  a  shameless  man  ? 

Men.  Because  the  will  [to  do  so]  teased  me,  and  I  am  not 
born  thy  slave. 

Ag.  Is  it  not  dreadful  ?  Shall  I  not  be  suffered  to  be  mas- 
ter of  my  own  family  ? 

Men.  For  thou  thinkest  inconsistently,  now  one  thing,  be- 
fore another,  another  thing  presently. 

Ag.  Well  hast  thou  talked  evil.  Hateful  is  a  too  clever 
tongue.20 

Men.  But  an  unstable  mind  is  an  unjust  thing  to  possess, 
and  not  clear21  for  friends.  I  wish  to  expostulate  with  thee,  but 

19  The  Cambridge  editor  would  assign  this  line  to  Menelaus. 

20  I  read  tv  KiKofixjjEvcai  with  Ruhnkhen.  The  Cambridge  editor  also 
reads  irovrjpd,  which  is  better  suited  to  the  style  of  Euripides. 

21  The  same  scholar  has  anticipated  rav  conjecture,  oa<t>i}<;  for  <ra<t>ig. 


336— 3G6.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  321 

do  not  thou  in  wrath  turn  away  from  the  truth,  nor  will  I 
speak  over-long.  Thou  knowest  when  thou  wast  making  in- 
terest to  he  leader  of  the  Greeks  against  Troy — in  seemin^ 
indeed  not  wishing  it,  but  wishing  it  in  will — how  humble 
thou  wast,  taking  hold  of  every  right  hand,  and  keeping  open 
doors  to  any  of  the  people  that  wished,  and  giving  audience 
to  all  in  turn  even  if  one  wished  it  not,  seeking  by  manners 
to  purchase  popularity  among  the  multitude.  But  when  you 
obtained  the  power,  changing  to  different  manners,  you  were 
no  longer  the  same  friend  as  before  to  your  old  friends,  diffi- 
cult of  access,-2  and  rarely  within-doors.  But  it  behoves  not 
a  man  who  has  met  with  great  fortune  to  change  his  manners, 
but  then  chiefly  to  be  firm  towards  his  friends,  when  he  is  best 
able  to  benefit  them,  being  prosperous.  I  have  first  gone  over 
these  charges  against  thee,  in  which  I  first  found  thee  base. 
But  when  thou  afterwards  earnest  into  Aulis  and  to  the  army  of 
all  the  Greeks,  thou  wast  nought,  but  wast  in  stupefaction  at 
the  fortune  which  then  befell  us  from  the  Gods,  lacking  a  fa- 
vourable breeze  for  the  journey.  But  the  Greeks  demanded 
that  you  should  dismiss  the  ships,  and  not  toil  vainly  at  Aulis. 
But  how  cheerless  and  distressed  a  countenance  you  wore,  be- 
cause you  were  not  able  to  land  your  army  at  Priam's  land,  hav- 
ing a  thousand  ships  under  command.23  And  thou  besoughtest 
me,  "  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  "  But  what  resource  shall  I  find  from 
whence?"  so  that  thou  mightest  not  lose  an  ill  renown,  being 
deprived  of  the  command.  And  then,  when  Calchas  o'er  the 
victims  said  that  thou  must  sacrifice  thy  daughter  to  Diana, 
and  that  there  would  [then]  be  means  of  sailing  for  the 
Greeks,  delighted  in  heart,  you  gladly  promised  to  sacrifice 
your  child,  and  of  your  own  accord,  not  by  compulsion — do 
not  say  so — you  send  to  your  wife  to  convoy  your  daughter 
hither,  on  a  pretest  of  being  wedded  to  Achilles.  And  then 
changing  [your  mind]  you  are  caught  altering  to  other 
writings,  to  the  effect  that  you  will  not  now  be  the  slayer  of 
your  daughter.  Very  pretty,  forsooth !  This  is  the  same  air 
which  heard  these  very  protestations  from  thee.  But  in- 
numerable men  experience  this  in  their  affairs ;  they  persevere 

22  Compare  the  similar  conduct  of  Pausanias  in  Thucyd.  i.  130,  De- 
joces  in  Herodot.  i.,  with  Livv,  iii.  30,  and  Apul.  de  Deo  Socr.  p.  44, 
ed.  Elm. 

23  I  read  to  ITpta/iou  with  Elmsley.     Seo  the  Camb.  ed. 

Y 


322  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  367—396. 

in  labour  when  in  power,24  and  then  make  a  bad  result,  some- 
times through  the  foolish  mind  of  the  citizens,  but  sometimes 
with  reason,  themselves  becoming  incapable  of  preserving  the 
state.  I  indeed  chiefly  groan  for  hapless  Greece,  who,  wish- 
ing to  work  some  doughty  deed  against  these  good-for-nothing 
barbarians,  will  let  them,  laughing  at  us,  slip  through  her 
hands,  on  account  of  thee  and  thy  daughter.  I  would  not 
make  any  one  ruler  of  the  land  for  the  sake  of  necessity,25  nor 
chieftain  of  armed  men.  It  behoves  the  general  of  the  state 
to  possess  sense,  for  every  man  is  a  ruler  who  possesses  sense. 

Cfio.  'Tis  dreadful  for  words  and  strife  to  happen  between 
brothers,  when  they  fall  into  dispute. 

Ag.  I  wish  to  address  thee  in  evil  terms,  but  mildly,26  in 
brief,  not  uplifting  mine  eyelids  too  much  aloft  through  inso- 
lence, but  moderately,  as  being  my  brother.  For  a  good  man 
is  wont  to  show  respect  [to  others.]  Tell  me,  why  dost  thou 
burst  forth  thus  violently,  having  thy  face  suffused  with  rage  ? 
Who  wrongs  thee  ?  What  lackest  thou  ?  Wouldst  fain  gain  a 
good  wife  ?  I  cannot  supply  thee,  for  thou  didst  ill  rule  over 
the  one  you  possessed.  Must  I  therefore  pay  the  penalty  of 
your  mismanagement,  who  have  made  no  mistake  ?  Or  does 
my  ambition  annoy  thee  ?  But  wouldst  thou  fain  hold  in  thine 
arms  a  fair  woman,  forgetting  discretion  and  honour  ?  Evil 
pleasures  belong  to  an  evil  man.  But  if  I,  having  before  re- 
solved ill,  have  changed  to  good  counsel,  am  I  mad  ?  Rather 
art  thou  [mad,]  who,  having  lost  a  bad  wife,  desirest  to  re- 
cover her,  when  God  has  well  prospered  thy  fortune.  The 
nuptial-craving  suitors  in  their  folly  swore  the  oath  to  Tyn- 
darus,  but  hope,  I  ween,  was  their  God,  and  wrought  this 
more  than  thyself  and  thy  strength.  Whom  taking27  make 
thou  the  expedition,  but  I  think  thou  wilt  know  [that  it  is] 
through  the  folly  of  their  hearts,  for  the  divinity  is  not  ignor- 
ant, but  is  capable  of  discerning  oaths  ill  plighted  and  per- 
force.    But  I  will  not  slay  my  children,  so  that  thy  state  will 

24  With  the  Cambridge  editor  I  have  restored  the  old  reading  tx.ovng. 
23  But  see  ed.  Camb. 

25  au  is  a  better  reading.     Sec  Markland  and  ed.  Camb. 

27  There  is  little  hope  of  this  passage,  unless  we  adopt  the  readings  of 
the  Cambridge  editor,  ovq  \afiiov  arpaTivfi .  «Yoi/ioi  o  tlai.  The  next 
line  was  lost,  but  has  been  restored  from  Theophilus  ad  Autol.  p.  258, 
and  Stob.  xxviii.  p.  128,  Grot. 


397-426.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  323 

in  justice  be  well,  revenge  upon  the  worst  of  wives,  but  nights 
and  days  will  waste  me  away  in  tears,  having  wrought  law- 
less, unjust  deeds  against  the  children  whom  I  begat.  These 
words  are  briefly  spoken  to  thee,  both  plain  and  easy,  but  if 
thou  art  unwilling  to  be  wise,  I  will  arrange  my  own  af- 
fairs well. 

Cho.  These  Avords  are  different  from  those  before  spoken, 
but  they  are  to  a  good  effect,  that  the  children  be  spared. 

Men.  Alas  !  alas  !  have  I  then  wretched  no  friends  ? 

Ag.  [Yes,  you  have,]  at  least,  if  you  do  not  wish  to  ruin 
your  friends. 

Men.  But  how  will  you  show  that  you  are  born  of  the 
same  sire  with  me  ? 

Ag.  I  am  born  to  be  wise  with  you,  not  foolish.28 

Men.  It  behoves  friends  to  grieve  in  common  with  friends. 

Ag.  Admonish  me  by  well  doing,  not  by  paining  me. 

Men.  Dost  thou  not  then  think  fit  to  toil  through  this  with 
Greece  ? 

Ag.  But  Greece,  with  thee,  is  sickening  through  some 
deity. 

Men.  Vaunt  then  on  thy  sceptre,  having  betrayed  thy  bro- 
ther.   But  I  will  seek  some  other  schemes,  and  other  friends. 

\Enter  a  Messenger?^ 

Messenger.  0  Agamemnon,  king  of  all  the  Greeks,  I  am 
come,  bringing  thy  daughter  to  thee,  whom  thou  didst  name 
Iphigenia  in  thy  palace.  But  her  mother  follows,  the  person 
of  thy  [wife]  Clytremnestra,  and  the  boy  Orestes,  that  thou 
mayest  be  pleased  at  the  sight,  being  away  from  thine  home 
a  long  season.  But  as  they  have  come  a  long  way,  they  and 
their  mares  are  refreshing  their  female  feet  by  the  fair-flowing 
fountain,  and  we  let  loose  the  mares  in  a  grassy  meadow,  that 
they  might  taste  fodder.  But  I  am  come  before  them  to  pre- 
pare you  [for  their  reception,]  for  a  swift  report  passed  through 
the  army,  that  thy  daughter  had  arrived.     And  all  the  multi- 

26  Cf.  Soph.  Antig.  523.  oiiroi  avv't\9uv,  dWa  (jv^(pi\uv  iQvv. 

29  Dindorf  condemns  the  whole  of  this  speech  of  the  messenger,  as 
well  as  the  two  following  lines.  Few  will  perhaps  be  disposed  to  follow 
him,  although  the  awkwardness  of  the  passage  may  be  admitted.  Her- 
mann considers  that  the  hasty  entrance  of  the  messenger  is  signified  by 
his  commencing  with  a  half  line. 

x  2 


324  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  427—465. 

tude  comes  out  hastily  to  the  spectacle,  that  they  may  behold 
thy  child.  For  prosperous  men  are  renowned  and  conspicuous 
among  all  mortals.  And  they  say,  "  Is  there  a  marriage  on 
foot?  or  what  is  going  on?"  Or,  "Has  king  Agamemnon, 
having  a  yearning  after  his  daughter,  brought  his  child 
hither?"  But  from  some  you  would  have  heard  this  :  "  They 
are  initiating30  the  damsel  in  honour  of  Artemis,  queen  of 
Aulis,  who  will  marry  her."  But  come,  get  ready  the  bas- 
kets,31 which  come  next,  crown  thine  head.  And  do  thou, 
king  Menelaus,  prepare  a  nuptial  lay,  and  through  the  house 
let  the  pipe  sound  and  let  there  be  noise  of  feet,  for  this  day 
comes  blessed  upon  the  virgin. 

Ag.  I  commend  [your  words,]  but  go  thou  within  the 
house,  and  it  shall  be  well,  as  fortune  takes  its  course.  Alas ! 
what  shall  I  wretched  say  ?  Whence  shall  I  begin  ?  Into 
what  fetters  of  necessity  have  I  fallen  !  Fortune  has  upturned 
me,  so  as  to  become  far  too  clever  for  my  cleverness.  But 
lowness  of  birth  has  some  advantage  thus.  For  such  persons 
are  at  liberty  to  weep,  and  speak  unhappy  words,  but  to  him 
that  is  of  noble  birth,  all  these  things  belong.  We  have  our 
dignity  as  ruler  of  our  life,  and  are  slaves  to  the  multitude. 
For  I  am  ashamed  indeed  to  let  fall  the  tear,  yet  again 
wretched  am  I  ashamed  not  to  weep,  having  come  into  the 
greatest  calamities.  Well !  what  shall  I  say  to  my  wife  ? 
How  shall  I  receive  her  ?  What  manner  of  countenance  shall 
I  present  ?  And  truly  she  hath  undone  me,  coming  uncalled 
amidst  the  ills  which  before  possessed  me.  And  with  reason 
did  she  follow  her  daughter,  being  about  to  deck  her  as  a 
bride,32  and  to  perform  the  dearest  offices,  where  she  will  find 
us  base.  But  for  this  hapless  virgin — why  [call  her]  virgin  ? 
Hades,  as  it  seems,  will  speedily  attend  on  her  nuptials, — how 
do  I  pity  her  !  For  I  think  that  she  will  beseech  me  thus : 
O  father,  wilt  thou  slay  me  ?  Such  a  wedding  mayest  thou 
thyself  wed,  and  whosoever  is  a  friend  to  thee.     But  Orestes 

30  There  seems  an  intended  allusion  to  the  donble  sense  of  ■KportKua, 
both  as  a  marriage  and  sacrificial  rite.  See  the  Cambridge  editor,  and 
my  note  on  vEsch.  Agam.  p.  102,  n.  2,  ed.  Bohn. 

31  "  Auspicare  canistra,  id  quod  proximum  est."     Musgr. 

32  I  think  this  is  the  ?neaning  implied  by  vvj.i<pev(rov(ja,  as  in  vs.  S85. 
\v'  dydyotg  xa'Oov<y'  'A^tWfl  ttcuCci  vv/j.<peveovffa  <n)v.  Alcest.  317.  ov 
ydp  at  ^rirrjr)  ovre  vvfi^iiiati  ■nor't.  The  word  seems  to  refer  to  the  whole 
business  of  a  mamma  on  this  important  occasion. 


465—501.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  325 

being  present  will  cry  out  knowingly  words  not  knowing,  for 
he  is  yet  an  infant.  Alas  !  how  has  Priam's  son,  Paris,  undone 
me  by  wedding  the  nuptials  of  Paris,  who  has  wrought  this ! 

Cho.  And  I  also  pity  her,  as  it  becomes  a  stranger  woman 
to  moan  for  the  misfortune  of  her  lords. 

Men.  Brother,  give  me  thy  right  hand  to  touch. 

Ag.  I  give  it,  for  thine  is  the  power,  but  I  am  wretched. 

Men.  I  swear  by  Pelops,  who  was  called  the  sire  of  my 
father  and  thine,  and  my  father  Atreus,  that  I  indeed  will  tell 
thee  plainly  from  my  heart,  and  not  any  thing  out  of  contriv- 
ance, but  only  what  I  think.  I,  beholding  thee  letting  fall 
the  tear  from  thine  eyes,  pitied  thee,  and  myself  let  fall  [a 
tear]  for  thee  in  return.  And  I  have  changed33  my  old  de- 
terminations, not  being  wrath  against  you,  but  I  will  place 
myself  in  your  present  situation,  and  I  recommend  you  neither 
to  slay  your  child,  nor  to  take  my  part ;  for  it  is  not  just  that 
thou  shouldst  groan,  but  my  affairs  be  in  a  pleasant  state,  and 
that  thine  should  die,  but  mine  behold  the  light.  For  what 
do  I  wish  ?  Might  I  not  obtain  another  choice  alliance,  if  I 
crave  nuptials  ?  But,  having  undone  my  brother,  whom  it 
least  behoved  me,  shall  I  receive  Helen,  an  evil  in  place  of  a 
good  ?  I  was  foolish  and  young,  before  that,  viewing  the 
matter  closely,  I  saw  what  it  is  to  beget  children.  Besides, 
pity  came  over  me,  considering  our  connexion,  for  the  hapless 
girl,  who  is  about  to  be  sacrificed  because  of  my  marriage. 
But  what  has  thy  virgin  [daughter]  to  do  with  Helen  ?  Let 
the  army  go,  being  disbanded  from  Aulis.  But  cease  thou 
bedewing  thine  eyes  with  tears,  my  brother,  and  exciting  me 
to  tears.  But  if  I  have  any  concern  in  the  oracle  respecting 
thy  daughter,  let  me  have  none :  to  thee  I  yield  my  part.  But 
I  have  come  to  a  change  from  terrible  resolutions.  I  have 
experienced35  what  was  meet.     I  have  changed  to  regard 

33  The  Cambridge  editor  on  vs.  439,  p.  109,  well  observes,  "  the  actual 
arrival  of  Iphigenia  having  convinced  Menelaus  that  her  sacrifice  could 
not  any  longer  be  avoided,  he  bethinks  him  of  removing  from  his  brother's 
mind  the  impression  produced  by  their  recent  altercation;  and  knowing 
his  open  and  unsuspicious  temper,  he  feels  that  he  may  safely  adopt  a 
ialse  position,  and  deprecate  that  of  which  he  was  at  the  same  time  most 
earnestly  desirous." 

34  So  Markland,  but  Hermann  and  the  Cambridge  editor  prefer  the  old 
reading  fikriaTi  <rot. 

jS  This  and  the  two  following  lines  are  condemned  by  Dindorf. 


326  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  502—533. 

him  who  is  sprung  from  a  common  source.  Such  changes 
belong  not  to  a  bad  man,  [viz.]  to  follow  the  best  always. 

Cho.  Thou  hast  spoken  generous  words,  and  becoming  Tan- 
talus the  son  of  Jove.     Thou  disgracest  not  thine  ancestors. 

Ag.  I  commend  thee,  Menelaus,  in  that,  contrary  to  my 
expectation,  you  have  subjoined  these  words,  rightly,  and 
worthily  of  thee. 

Men,  A  certain  disturbance36  between  brothers  arises  on 
account  of  love,  and  avarice  in  their  houses.  I  abhor  such  a 
relationship,  mutually  sore. 

Ag.  But  [consider,]  for  we  are  come  into  circumstances 
that  render  it  necessary  to  accomplish  the  bloody  slaughter 
of  my  daughter. 

Men.  How  ?    Who  will  compel  thee  to  slay  thy  child  ? 

Ag.  The  whole  assembly  of  the  armament  of  the  Greeks. 

Men.  Not  so,  if  at  least  thou  dismiss  it  back  to  Ai'gos. 

Ag.  In  this  matter  I  might  escape  discovery,  but  in  that 
I  cannot.37 

Men.  What  ?  One  should  not  too  much  fear  the  multitude. 

Ag.  Calchas  will  proclaim  his  prophecy  to  the  army  of  the 
Greeks. 

Men.  Not  if  he  die  first — and  this  is  easy. 

Ag.  The  whole  race  of  seers  is  an  ambitious  ill. 

Men.  And  in  nought  good  or  profitable,  when  at  hand.38 

Ag.  But  dost  thou  not  fear  that  which  occurs  to  me  ? 

Men.  How  can  I  understand  the  word  you  say  not  ? 

Ag.  The  son  of  Sisyphus  knows  all  these  matters. 

Men.  It  cannot  be  that  Orestes  can  pain  thee  and  me. 

Ag.  He  is  ever  changeable,  and  with  the  multitude. 

Men.  He  is  indeed  possessed  with  the  passion  for  popu- 
larity, a  dreadful  evil. 

Ag.  Do  you  not  then  think  that  he,  standing  in  the  midst 
of  the  Greeks,  will  tell  the  oracles  which  Calchas  pronounced, 
and  of  me,  that  I  promised  to  offer  a  sacrifice  to  Diana,  and 
then  break  my  word.  With  which  [words]  having  carried 
away  the  army,  he  will  bid  the  Greeks  slay  thee  and  me,  and 
sacrifice  the  damsel.     And  if  I  flee  to  Argos,  they  will  come 

36  Bocckh,  Dindorf,  and  the  Cambridge  editor  rightly  explode  these 
three  lines,  which  are  not  even  correct  Greek. 

37  \i)<TOfitv,  latebo  faciens. 

38  irapa  for  7rdpoi>,  ed.  Camb. 


534—579.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  327 

and  ravage  and  raze  the  land,  Cyclopean  walls  and  all.  Such 
are  my  troubles.  O  unhappy  me !  How,  by  the  Gods,  am  I 
at  a  loss  in  these  present  matters !  Take  care  of  one  thing 
for  me,  Menelaus,  going  through  the  army,  that  Clytcemnestra 
may  not  learn  these  matters,  before  I  take  and  offer  my  daugh- 
ter to  Hades,  that  I  may  fare  ill  with  as  few  tears  as  possible. 
But  do  ye,  O  stranger  women,  preserve  silence. 

Chorus.  Blest  are  they  who  share  the  nuptial  bed  of  the 
Goddess  Aphrodite,39  when  she  is  moderate,  and  with  modesty, 
obtaining  a  calm  from  the  maddening  stings,  when  Love  with 
his  golden  locks  stretches  his  twin  bow  of  graces,  the  one  for 
a  prosperous  fate,  the  other  for  the  upturning  of  life.  I  de- 
precate this  [bow,]  O  fairest  Venus,  from  our  beds,  but  may 
mine  be  a  moderate  grace,  and  holy  endearments,  and  may  I 
share  Aphrodite,  but  reject  her  when  excessive.  But  the  na- 
tures of  mortals  are  different,  and  their  manners  are  different,40 
but  that  which  is  clearly  good  is  ever  plain.  And  the  edu- 
cation which  trains41  [men]  up,  conduces  greatly  to  virtue, 
for  to  have  reverence  is  wisdom,  and  it  possesses  an  equiva- 
lent advantage,  viz.  to  perceive  what  is  fitting  by  one's  mind, 
where  report  bears  unwasting  glory  to  life.42  'Tis  a  great 
thing  to  hunt  for  [the  praise  of]  virtue,  among  women  in- 
deed, by  a  secret  affection,43  but  among  men,  on  the  other 
hand,  honour  being  inherent,44  [bears  that  praise,  honour,] 
which  increases  a  state  to  an  incalculable  extent.45 

Thou  earnest,  O  Paris,  f  where  thou  wast  trained  up  a 
shepherd  with  the  white  heifers  of  Ida,  trilling  a  barbarian 
lay,  breathing  an  imitation  of  the  Phrygian  pipes  of  Olympus 

39  i.  e.  by  the  gift  of  Venus.     For  the  sense,  compare  Hippol.  443. 

40  Read  Sicupopoi  6k  rpoTroi  with  Monk,  and  6p6aig  with  Musgrave. 

41  But  7rai6tvofikvwv  is  better,  with  ed.  Camb. 

42  I  have  partly  followed  Markland,  partly  Matthisc,  in  rendering  this 
awkward  passage.  But  there  is  much  awkwardness  of  expression,  and 
the  notes  of  the  Cambridge  editor  well  deserve  the  attention  of  the  stu- 
dent. t^aWaaaovaav  %apLV  seems  to  refer  to  fitrpia  x<*,otC  in  vs»  555, 
and  probably  signifies  that  the  grace  of  a  reasonable  affection  leads  to  the 
equal  grace  of  a  clear  perception,  the  mind  being  unblinuVd  by  vehement 
impulses  of  passion. 

43  i.  e.  quiet,  domestic. 

44  iviov  is  only  Markland's  conjecture.  The  whole  passage  is  des- 
perate, 

45  I  read  fivpioTr\i]9r)  with  ed.  Camb.  The  pronoun  6  I  cannot  make 
out,  but  by  supplying  an  impossible  ellipse. 


328  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  580-G24. 

on  a  reed.  And  the  cows  with  their  well-filled  udders 
broAvsed,  when  the  judgment  of  the  Goddesses  drove  thee 
mad,  which  sends  thee  into  Greece, f  before  the  ivory-decked 
palaces,  thou  who  didst  strike  love  into  the  eyes  of  Helen 
which  were  upon  thee,  and  thyself  wast  fluttered  with  love. 
Whence  strife,  strife  brings  Greece  against  the  bulwarks  of 
Troy  with  spears  and  ships. f  Alas  !  alas  !  great  are  the  for- 
tunes of  the  great.40  Behold  the  king's  daughter,  Iphigenia, 
my  queen,  and  Clyta:mnestra,  daughter  of  Tyndarus,  how  are 
they  sprung  from  the  great,  and  to  what  suitable  fortune  they 
are  come.  The  powerful,  in  sooth,  and  the  wealthy,  are  Gods 
to  those  of  mortals  who  are  unblest.  [Let  us  stand  still,  ye 
children  of  Chalcis,  let  us  receive  the  queen  from  her  chariot 
to  the  earth,  not  unsteadily,  but  gently  with  the  soft  attention 
of  our  hands,  lest  the  renowned  daughter  of  Agamemnon, 
newly  coming  to  me,  be  alarmed,  nor  let  us,  as  strangers  to 
strangers,  cause  disturbance  or  fear  to  the  Argive  ladies.47] 

\Enter  Clytjemnestra,  Iphigenia,  and  probably  Orestes 
in  a  chariot.  They  descend  from  it,  while  the  Chorus 
make  obeisance.] 

Cly.  I  regard  both  your  kindness  and  your  favourable 
words  as  a  good  omen,  and  I  have  some  hope  that  I  am  here 
as  escort  [of  my  daughter]  to  honourable  nuptials.  But  take 
out  of  my  chariot  the  dower-gifts  which  I  bear  for  my  girl, 
and  send  them  carefully  into  the  house.  And  do  thou,  my 
child,  quit  the  horse-chariot,  setting  [carefully]  thy  foot  deli- 
cate and  at  the  same  time  tender.  But  you,48  maidens,  receive 
her  in  your  arms,  and  lift  her  from  the  chariot.  And  let 
some  one  give  me  the  firm  support  of  his  hand,  that  I  may 
beseemingly  leave  the  chariot-seat.  But  do  some49  of  you 
stand  in  front  of  the  horses'  yoke,  for  the  uncontrolled  eye  of 
horses  is  timorous,  and  take  this  boy,  the  son  of  Agamemnon, 
Orestes,  for  he  is  still  an  infant.  Child  !  dost  sleep,  overcome 
by  the  ride  ?   Wake  up  happily  for  thy  sisters'  nuptials.  •■    For 

46  The  Cambridge  editor  rightly  reads  lov,  iov,  as  an  exclamation  of 
pleasure,  not  of  pain,  is  required. 

47  Dindorf  condemns  this  whole  paragraph. 

48  The  Cambridge  editor  thinks  these  two  lines  a  childish  interpolation. 
They  certainly  are  childish  enough,  but  the  same  objection  applies  to  the 
whole  passage. 

49  But  read  oi  5'  with  Dobree.     The  grooms  are  meant. 


625—655.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  329 

thou  thyself  being  noble  shalt  obtain  relationship  with  a  c;ood 
man,  the  God-like  son  of  the  daughter  of  Nereus.  [50Next 
come  thou  close  to  my  foot,  O  daughter,  to  thy  mother,  Iphi- 
genia,  and  standing  near,  show  these  strangers  how  happy  I 
am,  and  come  hither  indeed,  and  address  thy  dear  father.]  O 
thou  most  great  glory  to  me,  king  Agamemnon,  we  are  come, 
not  disobeying  thy  bidding. 

Iph.  O  mother,  running  indeed,  (but  be  thou  not  angry,)  I 
will  apply  my  breast  to  my  father's  breast.  [51But  I  wish, 
rushing  to  embrace  thy  breast,  O  father,  after  a  long  season. 
For  I  long  for  thy  face.     But  do  not  be  angry.] 

Cly.  But,  O  my  child,  enjoy  [thine  embraces,]  but  thou 
wert  ever  most  fond  of  thy  father,  of  all  the  children  I  bore. 

Iph.  O  father,  joyous  do  I  behold  thee  after  a  long  season. 

Ag.  And  I,  thy  father,  [joyously  behold]  thee.  Thou 
speakest  this  equally  in  respect  to  both. 

Iph.  Hail !  But  well  hast  thou  done  in  bringing  me  to 
thee,  O  father. 

Ag.  I  know  not  how  I  shall  say,  yet  not  say  so,  my  child. 

Iph.  Ah !  how  uneasily  dost  thou  regard  me,  joyfully  be- 
holding me  [before.] 

Ag.  A  king  and  general  has  many  cares. 

Iph.  Give  thyself  up  to  me  now,  and  turn  not  thyself  to 
cares. 

Ag.  But  I  am  altogether  concerned  with  thee,  and  on  no 
other  subject. 

Iph.  Relax  thy  brow,  and  open  thy  eyes  in  joy. 

Ag.  See,  I  rejoice  as  I  rejoice,  at  seeing  thee,  child.92 

Iph.  And  then  dost  let  fall  a  tear  from  thine  eyes  ? 

Ag.  For  long  to  us  is  the  coming  absence. 

Iph.  I  know  not  what  you  mean,  I  know  not,  dearest 
father  mine. 

Ag.  Speaking  sensibly,  thou  movest  me  the  more  to  pity. 

Iph.  I  will  speak  foolishly,  if  I  so  may  rejoice  you. 

Ag.  Alas  !  I  cannot  keep  silence,  but  I  commend  thee. 

50  Porson  condemns  these  four  lines,  which  are  utterly  destitute  of 
sense  or  connexion. 

01  These  "precious"  lines  are  even  worse  than  the  preceding,  and  right- 
ly condemned  by  all. 

52  See  Elmsl.  on  Soph.  GEd.  C.  273.  The  student  must  carefully  ob- 
serve the  hidden  train  of  thought  pervading  Agamemnon's  replies. 


330  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  656— G?G. 

Ipii.  Remain,  0  father,  in  the  house  with  thy  children. 

Ag.  I  fain  would,  but  not  having  what  I  would,  I  am 
pained. 

Iph.  Perish  war  and  the  ills  of  Menelaus  !53 

Ag.  What  has  undone  me  will  first  undo  others. 

Ipii.  How  long  a  time  wast  thou  absent  in  the  recesses  of 
Aulis ! 

Ag.  And  now  also  there  is  something  hinders  me  from 
sending  on  the  army. 

Iph.  Where  say  they  that  the  Phrygians  dwell,  father  ? 

Ag.  Where  would  that  Paris,  Priam's  son,  had  never  dwelt. 

Iph.  And  dost  thou  go  a  long  distance,  O  father,  when 
thou  leavest  me  ? 

Ag.  Thou  art  come,  my  daughter,  to  the  same  state  with 
thy  father.54 

Iph.  Alas  !  would  that  it  were  fitting  me  and  thee  to  take 
me  with  thee  as  thy  fellow-sailor. 

Ag.  But  there  is  yet  a  sailing  for  thee,  where  thou  wilt 
remember  thy  father. 

Ipii.   Shall  I  go,  sailing  with  my  mother,  or  alone  ? 

Ag.  Alone,  apart  from  thy  father  and  mother. 

Iph.  What,  art  thou  going  to  make  me  dwell  in  other 
houses,  father  ? 

Ag.  Cease.  It  is  not  proper  for  girls  to  know  these  matters. 

Iph.  Hasten  back  from  Phrygia,  do,  my  father,  having 
settled  matters  well  there. 

Ag.  It  first  behoves  me  to  offer  a  certain  sacrifice  here. 

Iph.  But  it  is  with  the  priests  that  thou  shouldst  consider 
sacred  matters. 

Ag.  [Yet]  shalt  thou  know  it,  for  thou  wilt  stand  round 
the  altar. 

Iph.  What,  shall  we  stand  in  chorus  round  the  altar,  my 
father  ? 55 

53  ra  Mfvs\«w  kciko.  must  mean  the  ills  resulting  from  Menelaus,  the 
mischiefs  and  toils  to  which  his  wife  led,  as  in  Soph.  Antig.  2.  twv  air 
OiSiirov  kokoiv,  "  the  ills  brought  about  by  the  misfortunes  or  the  curse 
of  QEdipus."  But  I  should  almost  prefer  reading  X«x»?  for  Kaica,  which 
would  naturally  refer  to  Helen. 

54  This  line  is  metrically  corrupt,  but  its  emendation  is  very  uncertain. 

55  I  have  endeavoured  to  convey  the  play  upon  the  words  as  closely  as 
I  could.  Elmsley  well  suggests  that  the  proper  reading  is  toTifaig  in  vs. 
675. 


G77-710.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  331 

Ag.  I  deem  thee  happier  than  myself,  for  that  thou  know- 
est  nothing.  But  go  within  the  house,  that  the  girls  may  be- 
hold thee,5,i  having  given  me  a  sad  kiss  and  thy  right  hand, 
being  about  to  dwell  a  long  time  away  from  thy  sire.  O 
bosom  and  cheeks,  O  yellow  tresses,  how  has  the  city  of  the 
Phrygians  proved  a  burden  to  us,  and  Helen !  I  cease  my 
words,  for  swift  does  the  drop  trickle  from  mine  eyes  when  I 
touch  thee.  Go  into  the  house.  But  I,  I  crave  thy  pardon, 
(to  Clytcemnestra,)  daughter  of  Leda,  if  I  showed  too  much 
feeling,  being  about  to  bestow  my  daughter  on  Achilles.  For 
the  departure  [of  a  girl]  is  a  happy  one,  but  nevertheless  it 
pains  the  parents,  when  a  father,  who  has  toiled  much,  delivers 
up  his  children  to  another  home. 

Cly.  I  am  not  so  insensible — but  think  thou  that  I  shall 
experience  the  same  feelings,  (so  that  I  should  not  chide  thee,) 
when  I  lead  forth  my  girl  with  nuptial  rejoicings,  but  custom 
wears  away  these  thoughts  in  course  of  time.  I  know,  how- 
ever, the  name  of  him  to  whom  thou  hast  promised  thy  daugh- 
ter, but  I  would  fain  know  of  what  race,  and  whence  [he  is.] 

Ag.  JEgina  was  the  daughter  of  her  father  Asopus. 

Cly.  And  who  of  mortals  or  of  Gods  wedded  her  ? 

Ag.  Jove,  and  she  gave  birth  to  iEacus,  prince  of  Gilnone. 

Cly.  But  what  son  obtained  the  house  of  iEacus  ? 

Ag.  Peleus,  and  Peleus  obtained  the  daughter  of  Nereus. 

Cly.  By  the  gift  of  the  God,  or  taking  her  in  spite  of  the 
Gods? 

Ag.  Jove  acted  as  sponsor,  and  bestowed  her,  having  the 
power.57 

Cly.  And  where  does  he  wed  her  ?  In  the  wave  of  the  sea  ? 

Ag.  Where  Chiron  dwells  at  the  sacred  foot  of  Pelion. 

Cly.  Where  they  say  that  the  race  of  Centaurs  dwells  ? 

Ag.  Here  the  gods  celebrated  the  nuptial  feast  of  Peleus. 

Cly.  But  did  Thetis,  or  his  father,  train  up  Achilles  ? 

Ag.  Chiron,  that  he  might  not  learn  the  manners  of  evil 
mortals. 

Cly.  Hah !  wise  was  the  instructor,  and  wiser  he  who  in- 
trusted him. 

50   b<pQijvai  icopaig,  "  non,  ut  hie,  a  viris  et  exercitu."     Brod.eus. 

57  Porson  on  Orest.  109U,  remarks  on  that  6  tcupiog  was  the  term  ap- 
plied to  the  father  or  guardian  of  the  bride.  We  might  therefore  render, 
"Jove  gave  her  away,"  etc. 


332  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  711—736. 

Ag.   Such  a  man  will  be  the  husband  of  thy  child. 

Clt.  Not  to  be  found  fault  with.  But  what  city  in  Greece 
does  he  inhabit  ? 

Ag.  Near  the  river  Apidanus  in  the  confines  of  Phthia. 

Clt.  Thither  will  he  lead  thy  virgin  [daughter]  and 
mine. 

Ag.  This  shall  be  the  care  of  him,  her  possessor. 

Cly.  And  may  the  pair  be  happy ;  but  on  what  day  will  he 
wed  her  ? 

Ag.  When  the  prospering  orb  of  the  moon  comes  round. 

Clt.  But  hast  thou  already  sacrificed  the  first  offerings  for 
thy  daughter  to  the  Goddess. 

Ag.  I  am  about  to  do  so.  In  this  matter  we  are  now  en- 
gaged. 

Clt.  And  wilt  thou  then  celebrate  a  wedding  feast  after- 
wards ? 

Ag.  [Ay,]  having  sacrificed  such  offerings  as  it  behoves 
me  to  sacrifice  to  the  Gods. 

Clt.  But  where  shall  we  set  out  a  banquet  for  the  women  ? 

Ag.  Here,  by  the  fair-pooped  ships  of  the  Greeks. 

Clt.  Well,  and  poorly,58  forsooth  !  but  may  it  nevertheless 
turn  out  well. 

Ag.  Do  then  thou  knowest  what,  0  lady,  and  obey  me. 

Clt.  In  what  ?  for  I  am  accustomed  to  obey  thee. 

Ag.  We  indeed  in  this  place,  where  the  bridegroom  is — 

Clt.  Will  do  what  without  the  mother,  [of  those  things] 
which  it  behoves  me  to  do  ? 

Ag.  — will  bestow  your  daughter  among  the  Greeks. 

Clt.  But  Avhere  must  I  be  in  the  mean  time? 

Ag.   Go  to  Argos,  and  take  care  of  your  virgins. 

Clt.  Leaving  my  child  ?  And  who  will  bear  the  [nup- 
tial] torch? 

Ag.  I  will  furnish  the  light  that  becomes  the  nuptials. 

Clt.  The  custom  is  not  thus,  but  you  think  these  matters 
trifles. 

Ag.  It  is  not  proper  that  thou  shouldst  mingle  in  the  crowd 
of  the  army. 

Clt.  It  is  proper  that  I,  the  mother,  should  bestow  at  least 
my  own  daughter. 

69  If  this  be  the  correct  reading,  we  must  take  tcaXwg  ironically.  But 
I  think  with  Dindorf,  that  kokwc,  dvayicaLioQ  dt. 


737—779.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  333 

Ag.  And  it  [is  proper]  that  the  damsels  at  home  should  not 
be  alone. 

Cly.  They  are  well  guarded  in  their  close  chambers. 

Ag.  Obey  me. 

Cly.  [No,]  by  the  Argive  Goddess  queen.  But  go  you, 
and  attend  to  matters  abroad,  but  I  [will  mind]  the  affairs  at 
home,  as  to  the  things  which  should  be  present  to  virgins  at 
their  wedding.59 

Ag.  Alas  !  In  vain  have  I  toiled,60  and  have  been  frustrated 
in  my  hope,  wishing  to  send  my  wife  out  of  my  sight.  But  I  am 
using  stratagems,  and  finding  contrivances  against  those  I  best 
love,  overcome  at  all  points.  But  nevertheless  with  the  pro- 
phet Calchas  I  will  go  and  ask  the  pleasure  of  the  Goddess,  not 
fortunate  for  me,  the  trouble  of  Greece.61  But  it  behoves  a  wise 
man  either  to  support  a  useful  and  good  wife  in  his  house  or  not 
to  marry  at  all.63 

Chorus.  The  assembly  of  the  Grecian  army  will  come  to 
Simois,  and  to  the  silver  eddies,  both  with  ships  and  with  arms, 
to  Ilium,  and  to  the  Phoebeian  plain  of  Troy,  where  I  hear  that 
Cassandra,  adorned  with  a  green-blossoming  crown  of  laurel, 
lets  loose  her  yellow  locks,  when  the  prophetic  influence  of 
the  Gods  breathes  upon  her.  And  the  Trojans  will  stand  upon 
the  towers  of  Troy  and  around  its  walls,  when  brazen-shielded 
Mars,  borne  over  the  sea  in  fair-prowed  ships,  approaches  the 
beds  of  Simois  by  rowing,  seeking  to  bear  away  Helen,  [the 
sister]  of  the  twain  sons  of  Jove  in  heaven,  into  the  land  of 
Greece,  by  the  war-toiling  shields  and  spears  of  the  Greeks. 
But  having  surrounded  Pergamus,63  the  city  of  the  Phrygians, 
around  its  towers  of  stone,  with  bloody  Mars,  having  torn  off 
the  heads  [of  the  citizens]  cut  from  their  necks,  having  com- 
pletely ravaged  the  city  of  Troy,  he  will  make  the  daughters 

59  This  verse  is  condemned  by  the  Cambridge  editor. 

60  Barnes  rightly  remarked  that  y%a  is  the  aorist  of  altram,  conor, 
cu/gredlor. 

cl  These  three  lines  are  expunged  by  the  Cambridge  editor. 

62  I  have  expressed  the  sense  of  i)  fii)  Tpktytiv  (=1*1)  txeiv  yvvaiKa), 
rather  than  the  literal  meaning  of  the  words. 

w  I  must  inform  the  reader  that  the  latter  portion  of  this  chorus  is 
extremely  unsatisfactory  in  its  present  state.  The  Cambridge  editor,  who 
has  well  discussed  its  difficulties,  thinks  that  Uipyafiov  is  wrong,  and  that 
[puna  should  be  introduced  from  vs.  79'2,  where  it  appears  to  be  quite 
useless. 


334  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  780-823. 

and  wife  of  Priam  shed  many  tears.  But  Helen,  the  daughter 
of  Jove,  will  sit  f  in  sad  lamentation,  having  left  her  husband. 
Never  upon  me  or  upon  my  children's  children  may  this  ex- 
pectation come,  such  as  the  wealthy  Lydian  and  Phrygian 
wives  possess  while  at  their  spinning,  conversing  thus  with 
each  other.  Who,61  dragging  out  my  fair-haired  tresses,  will 
choose  me  as  his  spoil  despite  my  tears,  while  my  country  is 
perishing  ?  Through  thee  [forsooth,]  the  offspring  of  the 
long-necked  swan,  if  indeed  the  report  is  true,  that  Leda  f  met 
with63  a  winged  bird,  when  the  body  of  Jove  was  transformed, 
and  then  in  the  tablets  of  the  muses  fables  spread  these  reports 
among  men,  inopportunely,  and  in  vain. 

[Enter  Achilles.] 

Achilles.  Where  about  here  is  the  general  of  the  Greeks  ? 
Who  of  the  servants  will  tell  him  that  Achilles,  the  son  of 
Peleus,  is  seeking  him  at  the  gates  ?  For  we  do  not  remain 
by  the  Euripus  in  equal  condition ;  for  some  of  us  being  un- 
yoked in  nuptials,  having  left  our  solitary  homes,  sit  here  upon 
the  shore,  but  others,  having  wives  and  children:60  so  violent 
a  passion  for  this  expedition  has  fallen  upon  Greece,  not  with- 
out the  will  of  the  Gods.  It  is  therefore  right  that  I  should 
speak  of  what  concerns  me,  and  whoever  else  wishes  will 
himself  speak  for  himself.  For  leaving  the  Pharsalian  land, 
and  Peleus,  I  am  waiting  for  these  light  gales  of  Euripus,67 
restraining  the  Myrmidons,  who  are  continually  pressing  me, 
and  saying,  "  Achilles,  why  tarry  we  ?  what  manner  of  time 
must  the  armament  against  Troy  yet  measure  out  ?  At  any 
rate  act,  if  you  are  going  to  do  any  thing,  or  lead  the  army 
home,  not  abiding  the  delays  of  the  Atrides." 

Cly.  O  son  of  the  Goddess,  daughter  of  Nereus,  hear/ing 
from  within  thy  words,  I  have  come  out  before  the  house. 

Ach.  O  hallowed  modesty,  who  can  this  woman  be  whom 
I  behold  here,  possessing  a  fair-seeming  form  ? 

Cly.  It  is  no  wonder  that  you  know  me  not,  whom  you 

64  I  have  ventured  to  read  fiaicpvotv  Tavvaag  with  MSS.  Pariss.,  omit- 
ting tpvfia  with  the  Cambridge  editor,  by  which  the  difficulty  is  removed. 
The  same  scholar  remarks  that  caKpvotv  is  used  adverbially. 

65  There  is  obviously  a  defect  in  the  structure,  but  I  am  scarcely  pleased 
with  the  attempts  made  to  supply  it. 

60  Read  ical  7rrt7rVic  with  Musgrave.  67  But  see  ed.  Camb. 


824—854.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  33o 

have  never  seen  before,  but  I  commend  you  because  you  re- 
spect modesty. 

Ach.  But  who  art  thou  ?  And  wherefore  hast  thou  come 
to  the  assembly  of  the  Greeks,  a  woman  to  men  guarded  with 
shields  ? 

Cly.  I  am  the  daughter  of  Leda,  and  Clytremnestra  is  my 
name,  and  my  husband  is  king  Agamemnon. 

Acn.  Well  hast  thou  in  few  words  spoken  what  is  season- 
able. But  it  is  unbecoming  for  me  to  converse  with  women. 
(Is  going.) 

Cly.  Remain,  (why  dost  thou  fly  ?)  at  least  join  thy  right 
hand  with  mine,  as  a  happy  commencement  of  betrothal. 

Ach.  What  sayest  thou  ?  I  [give]  thee  my  right  hand  ? 
I  should  be  ashamed  of  Agamemnon,  if  I  touched  what  is 
not  lawful  for  me. 

Cly.  It  is  particularly  lawful,  since  you  are  going  to  wed 
my  daughter,  O  son  of  the  sea  Goddess,  daughter  of  Nereus. 

Ach.  What  marriage  dost  thou  say  ?  Surprise  possesses 
me,  lady,  unless,  being  beside  yourself,  you  speak  this  new 
thing. 

Cly.  This  is  the  nature  of  all  people,  to  be  ashamed  when 
they  behold  new  friends,  and  are  put  in  mind  of  nuptials. 

Ach.  I  never  wooed  thy  daughter,  lady,  nor  has  any  thing- 
been  said  to  me  on  the  subject  of  marriage  by  the  Atrides. 

Cly.  What  can  it  be  ?  Do  you  in  turn  marvel  at  my  words, 
for  thine  are  a  marvel  to  me. 

Ach.  Conjecture  ;  these  matters  are  a  common  subject 
for  conjecture,  for  both  of  us  perhaps  are  deceived  in  our 
words.08 

Cly.  But  surely  I  have  suffered  terrible  things  !  I  am 
acting  as  match-maker  in  regard  to  a  marriage  that  has  no 
existence.     I  am  ashamed  of  this. 

Ach.  Perhaps  some  one  has  trifled  with  both  me  and  thee. 
But  pay  no  attention  to  it,  and  bear  it  with  indifference. 

Cly.  Farewell,  for  I  can  no  longer  behold  thee  with  up- 
lifted eyes,  having  appeared  as  a  liar,  and  suffered  unworthy 
things. 

Ach.  And  this  same  [farewell]  is  thine  from  me.  But  I 
will  go  seek  thy  husband  within  this  house. 

cs  But  sec  cd.  Caml). 


336  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  855—874. 

\_The  Old  Man  appears  at  the  door  of  the  house.'] 

Old  M.  0  stranger,  grandson  of  iEacus,  remain.  Ho  !  thee, 
I  say,  the  son  of  the  Goddess,  and  thee,  the  daughter  of  Leda, 

Ach.  Who  is  it  that  calls,  partially  opening  the  doors? 
With  what  terror  he  calls  ! 

Old  M.  A  slave.  I  will  not  be  nice  about  the  title,  for 
fortune  allows  it  not. 

Ach.  Of  whom  ?  for  thou  art  not  mine.  My  property  and 
Agamemnon's  are  different. 

Old  M.  Of  this  lady  who  is  before  the  house,  the  gift  of 
her  father  Tyndarus. 

Ach.  We  are  still.  Say  if  thou  wantest  any  thing,  for 
which  thou  hast  stopped  me. 

Old.  M.  Are  ye  sure  that  ye  alone  stand  before  these 
gates  ? 

Cly.  Ay,  so  that  you  may  speak  to  us  only.  But  come 
out  from  the  royal  dwelling. 

Old  M.  {Coming  forward.)  O  fortune,  and  foresight  mine, 
preserve  whom  I  wish. 

Ach.  These  words  will  do  for09  a  future  occasion,  for  they 
have  some  weight. 

Cly.  By  thy  right  hand  [I  beseech  thee,]  delay  not,  if  thou 
hast  aught  to  say  to  me. 

Old  M.  Thou  knowest  then,  being  what  manner  of  man,  I 
have  been  by  nature  well  disposed  to  thee  and  thy  children. 

Cly.  I  know  thee  as  being  a  faithful  servant  to  my  house. 

Old  M.  And  that  king  Agamemnon  received  me  among 
thy  dowry. 

Cly.  Thou  earnest  into  Argos  with  us,  and  thou  wast  al- 
ways mine. 

Old  M.  So  it  is,  and  I  am  well  disposed  to  thee,  but  less 
so  to  thy  husband. 

Cly.  Unfold  now  at  least  to  me  what  words  you  are  saying. 

Old  M.  The  father  who  begat  her  is  about  to  slay  thy 
daughter  with  his  own  hand. 

Cly.  How?  I  deprecate  thy  words,  old  man,  for  thou 
thinkest  not  welL 

09  But  the  Cambridge  editor  admirably  amends,  tig  /.dWovra  aiiuru 
Xpovov,  i.  e.  "  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  it  preserves  them,"  a  hit  at 
the  self-importance  of  the  old  gentleman. 


875—895.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  337 

Old  M.  Cutting  the  fair  neck  of  the  hapless  girl  with  the 
sword. 

Cly.  0  wretched  me !    Is  my  husband  mad  ? 

Old  M.  He  is  in  his  right  mind,  save  with  respect  to  thee 
and  thy  daughter,  but  in  this  he  is  not  wise. 

Cly.  Upon  what  grounds  ?  What  maddening  fiend  impels 
him  ? 

Old  M.  The  oracles,  as  at  least  Calchas  says,  in  order  that 
the  army  may  be  able  to  proceed. 

Cly.  Whither  ?  Wretched  me,  and  wretched  she  whom  her 
father  is  about  to  slay  ? 

Old  M.  To  the  house  of  Dardanus,  that  Menelaus  may 
recover  Helen. 

Cly.  To  the  destruction,  then,  of  Iphigenia,  was  the  return 
of  Helen  foredoomed  ? 

Old  M.  Thou  hast  the  whole  story.     Her  father  is  going 
to  offer  thy  daughter  to  Diana. 

Cly.  What !   what  pretext  had  the  marriage,  that  brought 
me  from  home  ? 

Old  M.  That  thou  rejoicing  mightest  bring  thy  child,  as 
if  about  to  wed  her  to  Achilles. 

Cly.  0  daughter,  both  thou  and  thy  mother  are  come  to 
meet  with  destruction. 

Old  M.  Ye  twain  are  suffering  sad  things,  and  dreadful 
things  hath  Agamemnon  dared. 

Cly.  I  wretched  am  undone,  and  my  eyes  no  longer  re- 
strain the  tear. 

Old  M.  For  bitter  'tis  to  mourn,  deprived  of  one's  chil- 
dren. 

Cly.  But  whence,  old  man,  sayest  thou  that  thou  hast 
learnt  and  knowest  these  things  ? 

Old  M.  I  went  to  bear  a  letter  to  thee,  in  reference  to 
what  was  before  written. 

Cly.  Not  allowing,  or  bidding  me  to  bring  my  child,  that 
she  might  die  ? 

Old  M.  [It  was]  that  you  should  not  bring  her,  for  your 
husband  then  thought  well. 

Cly.  And  how  was  it  then,  that,  bearing  the  letter,  thou 
gavest  it  not  to  me  ? 

Old  M.  Menelaus,  who  is  the  cause  of  these  evils,  took  it 
from  me. 

z 


338  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  896-925. 

Cly.  0  child  of  Nereus'  daughter,  0  son  of  Peleus,  dost  hear 
these  things  ? 

Ach.  I  hear  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  I  do  not  bear  my 
part  indifferently. 

Cly.  They  will  slay  my  child,  having  deceived  her  with  thy 
nuptials. 

Ach.  I  also  blame  thy  husband,  nor  do  I  bear  it  lightly. 

Cly.  I  will  not  be  ashamed  to  fall  down  at  thy  knee,  mor- 
tal, to  one  born  of  a  Goddess.  For  wherefore  should  I  make 
a  show  of  pride  ?  Or  what  should  I  study  more  than  my  chil- 
dren ?  But,  O  son  of  the  Goddess,  aid  me  in  my  unhappi- 
ness,  and  her  who  is  called  thy  wife,  vainly  indeed,  but  never- 
theless, having  decked  her  out,  I  led  her  as  if  to  be  married, 
but  now  I  lead  her  to  sacrifice,  and  reproach  will  come  upon 
thee,  who  gavest  no  aid.  For  though  thou  wast  not  yoked  in 
nuptials,  at  least  thou  wast  called  the  beloved  husband  of  the 
hapless  virgin.  By  thy  beard,  by  thy  right  hand,  by  thy 
mother  [I  beseech]  thee,  for  thy  name  hath  undone  me,  to 
whom  thou  shouldst  needs  give  assistance.  I  have  no  other 
altar  to  fly  to,  but  thy  knee,  nor  is  any  friend  near  me,70  but 
thou  hearest  the  cruel  and  all-daring  conduct  of  Agamemnon. 
But  I  a  woman,  as  thou  seest,  have  come  to  a  naval  host,  un- 
controlled, and  bold  for  mischief,  but  useful,  when  they  are 
willing.  But  if  thou  wilt  venture  to  stretch  thine  hand  in  my 
behalf,  we  are  saved,  but  if  not,  we  are  not  saved. 

Cho.  A  terrible  thing  it  is  to  be  a  mother,  and  it  bears  a 
great  endearment,  and  one  common  to  all,  so  as  to  toil  on  behalf 
of  their  children. 

Ach.  My  mind  is  high-lifted  in  its  thoughts,71  and  knows 
both  how  to  grieve  [moderately]  in  troubles,  and  to  rejoice 
moderately  in  high  prosperity.  For  the  discreet  among  mor- 
tals are  such  as  pass  through  life  correctly  with  wisdom.  Now 
there  are  certain  cases  where  it  is  pleasant  not  to  be  too  wise, 
and  also  where  it  is  useful  to  possess  wisdom.     But  I,  being 

70  I  have  little  hesitation  in  reading  ireXag  [tot  with  Markland,  in  place 
of  ytAp  pot. 

71  There  is  mnch  difficulty  in  this  passage,  and  Markland  appears  to  gire 
it  up  in  despair.  Matthias  simply  takes  the  first  part  as  equivalent  to  i'i//r/- 
\6<ppu)v  tori,  referring  [itToiuig  to  both  verbs.  The  Cambridge  editor  takes 
ciaZ,i]v  as  an  infinitive  disjoined  from  the  construction.  Vss.  922  sq. 
are  indebted  to  Mr.  G.  Burges  for  their  present  situation,  having  before 
been  assigned  to  the  chorus. 


926— 96S.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  339 

nurtured  [in  the  dwelling]  of  a  most  pious  man,  Chiron, 
have  learnt  to  possess  a  candid  disposition.  And  I  will  obey 
the  Atrides,  if  indeed  they  order  well,  but  when  not  well,  I 
obey  not.  But  here  in  Troy  showing  a  free  nature  I  will 
glorify  Mars  with  the  spear,  as  far  as  I  can.  But,  O  thou  who 
hast  suffered  wretchedly  at  the  hands  of  those  dearest,  in  what- 
ever can  be  done  by  a  youth,  I,  showing  so  much  pity,  will 
set  thee  right,  and  thy  daughter,  having  been  called  my  bride, 
shall  never  be  sacrificed  by  her  father,  for  I  will  not  furnish 
thy  husband  with  my  person  to  weave  stratagems  upon.  For 
my  name,  even  if  he  lift  not  up  the  sword,  will  slay  thy  daugh- 
ter, but  thy  husband  is  the  cause.  But  my  body  is  no  longer 
pure,  if  on  my  account,  and  because  of  my  marriage,  there 
perish  a  virgin  who  has  gone  through  sad  and  unbearable 
troubles,  and  has  been  marvellously  and  undeservedly  ill  treated. 
I  were  the  worst  man  among  the  Greeks,  I  were  of  nought, 
(but  Menelaus  would  be  among  men,)  not  as  born  from  Peleus, 
but  from  some  fiend,  if  my  name  acts  the  murderer  for  thy 
husband.72  By  Nereus,  nurtured  in  the  damp  waves,  the 
father  of  Thetis,  who  begat  me,  king  Agamemnon  shall  not 
lay  hands  on  thy  daughter,  not  so  much  as  with  a  little  finger, 
so  as  to  touch  her  garments.  I'  faith,  Sipylus,  a  fortress  of  bar- 
barians, whence  the  [royal]  generals  trace  their  descent,  shall 
be  deemed  a  city,  but  the  name  of  Phthia  shall  no  where  be 
named.  And  the  seer  Calchas  will  to  his  cost  consecrate  the 
sacrificial  cakes  and  lustral  waters.  (But  what  man  is  a  pro- 
phet ?)  who  tells ,s  a  few  things  true,  (but  many  falsely,)  when 
he  has  made  a  hit,  but  when  he  fails,  is  undone.  These  words 
are  not  spoken  for  the  sake  of  my  wedding,  (ten  thousand 
girls  are  hunting  after  alliance  with  me,)  but  [because]  king 
Agamemnon  has  been  guilty  of  insult  towards  me.  But  it 
behoved  him  to  ask  [the  use  of]  my  name  from  me,  as  an  en- 
ticement for  his  daughter,  and  Clytaemnestra  would  have  been 
most  readily  persuaded  to  give  her  daughter  to  me  as  a  hus- 
band. And  I  would  have  given  her  up  to  the  Greeks,  if  on 
this  account  their  passage  to  Troy  had  been  impeded :  I  would 
not  have  refused  to  augment  the  common  interest  of  those 
with  whom  I  set  out  on  the  expedition.     But  now  I  am  held 

72  I  have  closely  followed  the  Cambridge  editor. 

73  See  the  notes  of  the  same  scholar. 

z  2 


340  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  909— 1005. 

as  of  no  account  by  the  generals,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference whether  I  benefit  them  or  not.  Soon  shall  my  sword 
witness,  which,  before  death  came  against  the  Phrygians,74  I 
stained  with  spots  of  blood,  whether  any  one  shall  take  thy 
daughter  from  me.  But  keep  quiet,  I  have  appeared  to  thee 
as  a  most  mighty  God,  though  not  [a  God,]  but  nevertheless 
I  will  be  such. 

Cho.  0  son  of  Peleus,  thou  hast  spoken  both  worthily  of 
thyself,  and  of  the  marine  deity,  hallowed  Goddess. 

Cly.  Alas  !  how  can  I  praise  thee  neither  too  much  in 
words,  nor,  being  deficient  in  this  respect,  [not]  lose  thy  fa- 
vour ?  For  in  a  certain  wise  the  praised  dislike  their  praisers, 
if  they  praise  too  much.  But  I  am  ashamed  at  alleging  piti- 
able words,  being  troubled  in  myself,  whilst  thou  art  not  dis- 
eased with  my  ills.  But  in  fact  the  good  man  has  some  reason, 
even  though  he  be  unconnected  with  them,  for  assisting  the 
unfortunate.  But  pity  us,  for  we  have  suffered  pitiably;  I, 
who,  in  the  first  place,  thinking  to  have  thee  for  a  kinsman, 
cherished  a  vain  hope. — Moreover,  my  child,  by  dying,  might 
perchance  become  an  omen  to  thy  future  bridals,75  which  thou 
must  needs  avoid.  But  well  didst  thou  speak  both  first  and 
last,  for,  if  thou  art  willing,  my  child  will  be  saved.  Dost 
wish  that  she  embrace  thy  knee  as  a  suppliant  ?  Such  conduct 
is  not  virgin-like,  but  if  thou  wilt,  she  shall  come,  with  her 
noble  face  suffused  with  modesty.  Or  shall  I  obtain  these 
things  from  thee,  without  her  presence  ? 

Ach.  Let  her  remain  within  doors,  for  with  dignity  she 
preserves  her  dignity. 

Cly.  Yet  one  must  needs  have  modesty  [only]  as  far  as 
circumstances  allow. 

Acn.  Do  thou  neither  bring  forth  thy  daughter  into  my 
sight,  lady,  nor  let  us  fall  into  reproach  for  inconsiderate  con- 
duct, for  our  assembled  army,  being  idle  from  home  occupa- 
tions, loves  evil  and  slanderous  talk.  But  at  all  events  you 
will  accomplish  the  same,  whether  you  come  to  me  as  a  sup- 
pliant, or  do  not  supplicate,  for  a  mighty  contest  awaits  me, 
to  release  you  from  these  evils.     Wherefore,  having  heard 

7*  Dindorf  has  rightly  received  Porson's  successful  emendation.     See 
Tracts,  p.  22  4,  and  the  Cambridge  editor. 
75  Read  vol^  re  jUs\\oi/<rti>  with  Markland. 


1005—1047.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  341 

one  thing,  be  persuaded  that  I  will  not  speak  falsely.  But  if 
I  speak  falsely,  and  vainly  amuse  you,  may  I  perish  ;  but  may 
I  not  perish,  if  I  preserve  the  virgin. 

Cly.  Mayest  thou  be  blest,  ever  assisting  the  unhappy. 

Acn.  Hear  me  then,  that  the  matter  may  be  well. 

Cly.  What  is  this  thou  sayest  ?  for  one  must  listen  to  thee. 

Ach.  Let  us  again  persuade  her  father  to  be  wiser. 

Cly.  He  is  a  coward,  and  fears  the  army  too  much. 

Ach.  But  words  can  conquer  Avords. 

Cly.  Chilly  is  the  hope,  but  tell  me  what  I  must  do. 

Ach.  Beseech  him  first  not  to  slay  his  child,  but  if  he 
oppose  this,  you  must  come  to  me.  For  if  he  will  be  per- 
suaded what  you  wish,  there  is  no  occasion  for  my  efforts,  for 
this  very  [consent]  contains  her  safety.  And  I  also  shall 
appear  in  a  better  light  with  my  friend,  and  the  army  will  not 
blame  me,  if  I  transact  matters  by  discretion  rather  than 
force.  And  if  this  turn  out  well,  these  things,  even  without 
my  help,  may  turn  out  satisfactorily  to  thy  friends  and  thy- 
self.70 

Cly.  How  wisely  hast  thou  spoken  !  But  what  thou  sayest 
must  be  done.  But  if  I  do  not  obtain  what  I  seek,  where 
shall  I  again  see  thee  ?  Where  must  I  wretched  woman,  com- 
ing, find  thee  an  assistant  in  my  troubles  ? 

Ach.  We  guards  will  watch  thee  when  there  is  occasion, 
lest  any  one  behold  thee  going  in  agitation  through  the  host 
of  the  Greeks.  But  do  not  shame  thy  ancestral  home,  for  Tyn- 
darus  is  not  worthy  of  an  evil  reputation,  seeing  he  is  great 
among  the  Greeks. 

Cly.  These  things  shall  be.  Command ;  it  is  meet  that  I 
obey  thee.  But  if  there  are  Gods,  you,  being  a  just  man,  will 
receive  a  good  reward  ;  but  if  not,  why  should  one  toil  ? 

Cho.  What  was  that  nuptial  song  that  raised77  its 
strains  on  the  Libyan  reed,  and  with  the  dance-loving  lyre, 
and  the  reedy  syrinx,  when  o'er  Pelion  at  the  feast  of  the 
Gods  the  fair-haired  muses,  striking  their  feet  with  golden 
sandals  against  the  ground,  came  to  the  wedding  of  Peleus. 
celebrating  with  melodious  sounds  Thetis,  and  the  son  of 
iEacus,  on  the  mountains  of  the  Centaurs,  through  the  Pelian 

76  The  Cambridge  editor  would  omit  vs.  1022.  There  is  certainly  a 
strange  redundancy  of  meaning. 

77  Read  iGTaatv  with  Mark.  Dind. 


342  1PHIGEN1A  IN  AULIS.  104S— 1105. 

wood.  But  the  Dardan,78  [Phrygian  Ganymede,]  dear  delight 
of  Jove's  bed,  poured  out  the  nectar  in  the  golden  depths  of 
the  goblets,  and  along  the  white  sands  the  fifty  daughters  of 
Nereus,  entwining  in  circles,  adorned  the  nuptials  of  Nereus 
with  the  dance.  But  with  darts  of  fir,  and  crowns  of  grass, 
the  horse-mounted  troop  of  the  Centaurs  came  to  the  banquet 
of  the  Gods  and  the  cup  of  Bacchus.  And  the  Thessalian 
girls  shouted  loud,79  "  O  daughter  of  Nereus,"  and  the  pro- 
phet Phoebus,  and  Chiron,  skilled  in  letters,  declared,  "  Thou 
shalt  bring  forth  a  mighty  light,  who  shall  come  to  the 
[Trojan]  land  with  Myrmidons  armed  with  spear  and  shield, 
to  burn  the  renowned  city  of  Priam,  around  his  body  armed 
with  a  covering  of  golden  arms  wrought  by  Vulcan,  having 
them  as  a  gift  from  his  Goddess  Thetis,  who  begat  him 
blessed."  Then  the  deities  celebrated  the  nuptials  of  the  no- 
ble daughter  of  Nereus  first,80  and  of  Peleus.  But  thee,  [O 
Iphigenia,]  they  will  crown  on  the  head  with  flowery  garlands, 
like  as  a  pure  spotted  heifer  from  a  rocky  cave,  making  bloody 
the  mortal  throat  [of  one]  not  trained  up  with  the  pipe,  nor 
amid  the  songs  of  herdsmen,  but  as  a  bride81  prepared  by  thy 
mother  for  some  one  of  the  Argives.  Where  has  the  face  of 
shame,  or  virtue  any  power  to  prevail  ?  Since  impiety  indeed 
has  influence,  but  virtue  is  left  behind  and  disregarded  by 
mortals,  and  lawlessness  governs  law,  and  it  is  a  common 
struggle  for  mortals,  lest  any  envy  of  the  Gods  befall. 

Cly.  I  have  come  out  of  the  house  to  seek  for  my  husband, 
who  has  been  absent,  and  has  quitted  the  house  a  long  time. 
But  my  hapless  daughter  is  in  tears,  casting  forth  many  a 
change  of  complaint,  having  heard  the  death  her  father  de- 
vises for  her.  But  I  was  mindful  of  Agamemnon  who  is  now 
coming  hither,82  who  will  quickly  be  detected  doing  evil  deeds 
against  his  own  children. 

78  So  called,  either  because  he  was  carried  off  by  Jove  whilst  hunting 
in  the  promontory  of  Dardanus,  or  from  his  Trojan  descent. 

79  I  have  adopted  Tyrwhitt's  view,  considering  the  words  enclosed  in 
inverted  commas  as  the  actual  words  of  the  epithalamium.  See  Musgr. 
and  ed.  Camb.     Hermann  is  strangely  ont  of  his  reckoning. 

80  Read,  however,  ~Hi)pyCu)v  with  Heath,  "  first  of  the  Nereids." 

81  The  Cambridge  editor  would  read  vv^oKofit^,  Reiske  vvj.i<{>6KOfiov. 
There  is  much  difficulty  in  die  whole  of  this  last  part  of  the  chorus. 

82  Such  is  Hermann's  explanation,  but  fitfiTjicorog  cannot  bear  the  sense. 
The  Cambridge  editor  suspects  that  these  five  lines  are  a  forgery. 


1106—1137.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  343 

Ag.  Daughter  of  Leda,  opportunely  have  I  found  you  with- 
out the  house,  that  I  may  tell  thee,  apart  from  the  virgin, 
words  which  it  is  not  meet  for  those  to  hear  who  are  about  to 
marry. 

Cly.  And  what  is  it,  on  which  your  convenience  lays  hold  ? 

Ag.  Send  forth  thy  daughter  from  the  house  with  her 
father,  since  the  lustral  waters  are  ready  prepared,  and  the 
salt-cakes  to  scatter  with  the  hands  upon  the  purifying  flame, 
and  heifers,  which  needs  must  be  slain  in  honour  of  the  God- 
dess Diana  before  the  marriage  solemnities,  a  shedding  of 
black  gore. 

Cly.  In  words,  indeed,  thou  speakest  well,  but  for  thy 
deeds,  I  know  not  how  I  may  say  thou  speakest  well.  But 
come  without,  O  daughter,  for  thou  knowest  all  that  thy  father 
meditates,  and  beneath  thy  robes  bring  the  child  Orestes,  thy 
brother.  See,  she  is  here  present  to  obey  thee.  But  the  rest 
I  will  speak  on  her  behalf  and  niine. 

Ag.  Child,  why  weepest  thou,  and  no  longer  beholdest  me 
cheerfully,  but  fixing  thy  face  upon  the  ground,  keepest  thy 
vest  before  it  ? 

Cly.  Alas  !  What  commencement  of  my  sorrows  shall  I 
take  ?  For  I  may  use  them  all  as  first,  [both  last,  and  middle 
throughout.83] 

Ag.  But  what  is  it  ?  How  all  of  you  are  come  to  one  point 
with  me,  bearing  disturbed  and  alarmed  countenances. 

Cly.  Wilt  thou  answer  candidly,  husband,  if  I  ask  thee  ? 

Ag.  There  needs  no  admonition :  I  would  fain  be  ques- 
tioned. 

Cly.  Art  thou  going  to  slay  thy  child  and  mine  ? 

Ag.  Ah  !  wretched  things  dost  thou  say,  and  thinkest  what 
thou  shouldst  not. 

Cly.  Keep  quiet,  and  first  in  turn  answer  me  that. 

Ag.  But  if  thou  askest  likely  things,  thou  wilt  hear  likely. 

Cdt.  I  ask  no  other  things,  nor  do  thou  answer  me  others. 

Ag.   O  revered  destiny,  and  fate,  and  fortune  mine ! 

Cly.  Ay,  and  mine  too,  and  this  child's,  one  of  three  un- 
fortunates ! 

83  The  Cambridge  editor  rightly,  I  think,  condemns  this  line  as  the 
addition  of  some  one  "  who  thought  that  something  more  was  wanting  to 
comprise  all  the  complaints  of  the  speaker."  I  do  not  think  the  sense  or 
construction  is  benefited  by  their  existence. 


344 


IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1138—1179. 


Ag.  But  in  what  art  thou  wronged  ? 

Cly.  Dost  thou  ask  me  this  ?  This  thy  wit  hath  no  wit.84 

Ag.  I  am  undone.     My  secret  plans  are  betrayed. 

Cly.  I  know  and  have  learnt  all  that  you  are  about  to  do 
to  me,  and  the  very  fact  of  thy  silence,  and  of  thy  groaning 
much,  is  a  proof  that  you  confess  it.  Do  not  take  the  trouble 
to  say  any  thing. 

Ag.  Behold,  I  am  silent :  for  what  need  is  there  that, 
falsely  speaking,  I  add  shamelessness  to  misfortune  ? 

Cly.  Listen,  then,  for  I  will  unfold  my  story,  and  will  no 
longer  make  use  of  riddles  away  from  the  purpose.  In  the 
first  place,  that  I  may  first  reproach  thee  with  this — thou 
didst  wed  me  unwilling,  and  obtain  me  by  force,  having  slain 
Tantalus,  my  former  husband,  and  having  dashed65  my  infant 
living  to  the  ground,  having  torn  him  by  force  from  my 
breast.  And  the  twin  sons  of  Jove,  my  brothers,  glorying  in 
their  steeds,  made  war  [against  thee,]  but  my  old  father  Tyn- 
darus  saved  you,  when  you  had  become  a  suppliant,  and  thou 
again  didst  possess  me  as  a  wife.  When  I,  being  reconciled  to 
thee  in  respect  to  thy  person  and  home,  thou  wilt  bear  witness 
how  blameless  a  wife  I  was,  both  modest  in  respect  to  affec- 
tion, and  enriching  thy  house,  so  that  thou  both  going  within 
and  without  thy  doors  wast  blessed.  And  'tis  a  rare  prize  for 
a  man  to  obtain  such  a  wife,  but  there  is  no  lack  of  getting  a 
bad  spouse.  And  I  bear  thee  this  son,  besides  three  virgins, 
of  one  of  whom  thou  art  cruelly  going  to  deprive  me.  And  if 
any  one  ask  thee  on  what  account  thou  wilt  slay  her,  say, 
what  will  you  answer  ?  or  must  I  needs  make  your  plea,  "that 
Menelaus  may  obtain  Helen  ?"  A  pretty  custom,  forsooth,  that 
children  must  pay  the  price  of  a  bad  woman.  "We  gain  the 
most  hateful  things  at  the  hand  of  those  dearest.  Come,  if 
thou  wilt  set  out,  leaving  me  at  home,  and  then  wilt  be  a  long 
time  absent,  what  sort  of  feelings  dost  think  I  shall  experience, 
when  I  behold  every  seat  empty  of  this  child's  presence,  and 
every  virgin  chamber  empty,  but  myself  sit  in  tears  alone, 
ever  mourning  her  [in  such  strains  as  these :]  "My  child,  thy 
father,  who  begat  thee,  hath  destroyed  thee,  himself,  no  other, 
the  slayer,  by  no  other  hand,  leaving  such  a  reward  for  [my 

84  "  Verum  astus  hie  astu  vacat."     Erasmus. 

M  Dindorf  has  apparently  done  wrong  in  admitting  TrpoaovSlaaQ,  but 
I  have  some  doubt  about  every  other  reading  yet  proposed. 


1180—1220.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  345 

care  of]  the  house." 8fJ  Since  there  wants  but  a  little  reason 
for  me  and  my  remaining  daughters  to  give  thee  such  a  recep- 
tion as  you  deserve  to  receive.  Do  not,  by  the  Gods,  either 
compel  me  to  act  evilly  towards  thee,  nor  do  thou  thyself  be 
so.  Ah  well !  thou  wilt  sacrifice  thy  daughter — what  prayers 
wilt  thou  then  utter  ?  What  good  thing  wilt  thou  crave  for 
thyself,  slaying  thy  child  ?  An  evil  return,  seeing,  forsooth, 
thou  hast  disgracefully  set  out  from  home.  But  is  it  right 
that  I  should  pray  for  thee  any  good  thing  ?  Verily  we  must 
believe  the  Gods  are  senseless,  if  we  feel  well  disposed  to 
murderers.  But  wilt  thou,  returning  to  Argos,  embrace  thy 
children  ?  But  'tis  not  lawful  for  thee.  Will  any  of  your  chil- 
dren look  upon  you,  if  thou  offerest  one  of  them  for  slaughter  ? 
Thus  far  have  I  proceeded  in  my  argument.  What !  does  it 
only  behove  thee  to  carry  about  thy  sceptre  and  marshal  the 
army  ? — whose  duty  it  were  to  speak  a  just  speech  among  the 
Greeks :  "  Do  ye  desire,  O  Greeks,  to  sail  against  the  land  of 
the  Phrygians?  Cast  lots,  whose  daughter  needs  must  die" — 
for  this  avouM  be  on  equal  terms,  but  not  that  you  should  give 
thy  daughter  to  the  Greeks  as  a  chosen  victim.  Or  Menelaus, 
whose  affair  it  was,  ought  to  slay  Hermione  for  her  mother's 
sake.  But  now  I,  having  cherished  thy  married  life,  shall  be 
bereaved  of  my  child,  but  she  who  has  sinned,  bearing  her 
daughter  under  her  care  to  Sparta,  will  be  blest.  As  to  these 
things,  answer  me  if  I  say  aught  not  rightly,  but  if  I  have 
spoken  well,  do  not  then  slay  thy  child  and  mine,  and  thou 
wilt  be  wise. 

Cho.  Be  persuaded,  Agamemnon,  for  'tis  right  to  join  in 
saving  one's  children.     No  one  of  mortals  will  gainsay  this. 

Iph.  If,  0  father,  I  possessed  the  eloquence  of  Orpheus, 
that  I  might  charm  by  persuasion,  so  that  rocks  should  follow 
me,  and  that  I  might  soften  whom  I  would  by  my  words,  to 
this  would  I  have  resorted.  But  now  I  will  offer  tears  as  all 
my  skill,  for  these  I  can.  And,  as  a  suppliant  bough,  I  press 
against  thy  knees  my  body,  which  this  [my  mother]  bore 
thee,  [beseeching]  that  thou  slay  me  not  before  my  time,  for 
sweet  it  is  to  behold  the  light,  nor  do  thou  compel  me  to  visit 
the  places  beneath  the  earth.     And  I  first"7  hailed  thee  sire, 

86  See  Camb.  ed.,  who  suspects  interpolation. 

87  Cf.  Lucret.  i.  9-1.  "  Nee  miseree  prodesse  in  tali  tempore  quibat, 
Quod  patrio  princeps  donarat  nomine  regem."     ^Esch.  Ag.  242  sqq. 


346  IPHIGENIA  IN  ATJLIS.  1220—1264. 

and  thou  [didst  first  call]  me  daughter,  and  first  drawing  nigh 
to  thy  knees,  I  gave  and  in  turn  received  sweet  tokens  of 
affection.  And  such  were  thy  words :  "  My  daughter,  shall 
I  some  time  behold  thee  prospering  in  a  husband's  home,  liv- 
ing and  flourishing  worthily  of  me  ?"  And  mine  in  turn  ran 
thus,  as  I  hung  about  thy  beard,  which  now  with  my  hand  I 
embrace  :  "  But  how  shall  I  [treat]  thee  ?  Shall  I  receive  thee 
when  an  old  man,  O  father,  with  the  hearty  reception  of  my 
house,  repaying  thee  the  careful  nurture  of  my  youth?"  Of 
such  words  I  have  remembrance,  but  thou  hast  forgotten  them, 
and  fain  wouldst  slay  me.  Do  not,  [I  beseech  you]  by  Pelops 
and  by  thy  father  Atreus,  and  this  my  mother,  who  having 
before  brought  me  forth  with  throes,  now  suffers  this  second 
throe.  What  have  I  to  do  with  the  marriage  of  Paris  and 
Helen  ?  Whence  came  he,  father,  for  my  destruction  ?  Look 
upon  me ;  give  me  one  look,  one  kiss,  that  this  memorial  of 
thee  at  least  I,  dying,  may  possess,  if  thou  wilt  not  be  per- 
suaded by  my  words.  Brother,  thou  art  but  a  little  helpmate 
to  those  dear,  yet  weep  with  me,  beseech  thy  sire  that  thy 
sister  die  not.  Even  in  babes  there  is  wont  to  be  some  sense 
of  evil.  Behold,  0  father,  he  silently  implores  thee.  But 
respect  my  prayer,  and  have  pity  on  my  years.  Yea,  by  thy 
beard  we,  two  dear  ones,  implore  thee ;  the  one  is  yet  a  nurs- 
ling, but  the  other  grown  up.  In  one  brief  saying  I  will  over- 
come all  arguments.  This  light  of  heaven  is  sweetest  of  things 
for  men  to  behold,  but  that  below  is  nought ;  and  mad  is  he 
who  seeks  to  die.  To  live  dishonourably  is  better  than  to 
die  gloriously. 

Cho.  O  wretched  Helen,  through  thee  and  thy  nuptials 
there  is  come  a  contest  for  the  Atrides  and  their  children. 

Ag.  I  can  understand  what  merits  pity,  and  what  not ;  and 
I  love  my  children,  for  [otherwise]  I  were  mad.  And  dread- 
ful 'tis  for  mew  to  dare  these  things,  O  woman,  and  dreadful 
not  to  do  so — for  so  I  must  needs  act.  Thou  seest  how  great  is 
this  naval  host,  and  how  many  are  the  chieftains  of  brazen 
arms  among  the  Greeks,  to  whom  there  is  not  a  power  of 
arriving  at  the  towers  of  Troy,  unless  I  sacrifice  you,  as  the 
seer  Calchas  says,  nor  can  we  take  the  renowned  plain  of 
Troy.     But  a  certain  passion  has  maddened  the  army  of  the 

88  The  Cambridge  editor  clearly  shows  that  jucu  is  the  true  reading,  as 
in  vs.  5  1,  to  Trpciyfia  c'  diropiog  il\i  Tvvddpet[)  Trarpi,  and  370. 


1265—1320.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  347 

Greeks,  to  sail  as  quickly  as  possible  upon  the  land  of  the 
barbarians,  and  to  put  a  stop  to  the  rapes  of  Grecian  wives. 
And  they  will  slay  my  daughters  at  Argos,  and  you,  and  me, 
if  I  break  through  the  commands  of  the  Goddess.  It  is  Jiot 
Menelaus  who  has  enslaved  me,  0  daughter,  nor  have  I  fol- 
lowed his  device,  but  Greece,  for  whom  I,  will  or  nill,  must 
needs  offer  thee.  And  I  am  inferior  on  this  head.  For  it 
behoves  her,  [Helen,]  as  far  as  thou,  O  daughter,  art  con- 
cerned, to  be  free,  nor  for  us,  being  Greeks,  to  be  plundered 
perforce  of  our  wives  by  barbarians. 

Cly.  O  child  !  O  ye  stranger  women  !  0  wretched  me  for 
thy  death !  Thy  father  flees  from  thee,  giving  thee  up  to 
Hades. 

Iph.  Alas  for  me !  mother,  mother.  The  same  song  suits 
both  of  us  on  account  of  our  fortunes,  and  no  more  to  me  is 
the  light,  nor  this  bright  beam  of  the  sun.  Alas  !  alas  !  thou 
snow-smitten  wood  of  Troy,  and  mountains  of  Ida,  where 
once  on  a  time  Priam  exposed  a  tender  infant,  having  separ- 
ated him  from  his  mother,  that  he  might  meet  with  deadly 
fate,  Paris,  who  was  styled  Ida3an,  Idsean  [Paris]  in  the  city 
of  the  Phrygians.  Would  that  the  herdsman  Paris,  who  was 
nurtured  in  care  of  steers,  had  ne'er  dwelt  near  the  white 
stream,  where  are  the  fountains  of  the  Nymphs,  and  the  mea- 
dow flourishing  with  blooming  flowers,  and  roseate  flowers 
and  hyacinths  for  Goddesses  to  cull.  Where  once  on  a  time 
came  Pallas,  and  artful  Venus,  and  Juno,  and  Hermes,  the 
messenger  of  Jove ;  Venus  indeed,  vaunting  herself  in  charms, 
and  Pallas  in  the  spear,  and  Juno  in  the  royal  nuptials  of 
king  Jove,  [these  came]  to  a  hateful  judgment  and  strife  con- 
cerning beauty ;  but  my  death,  my  death,  0  virgins,  bearing 
glory  indeed  to  the  Greeks,  Diana  hath  received  as  first-fruits 
[of  the  expedition]  against  Troy.89  But  he  that  begot  me 
wretched,  O  mother,  0  mother,  has  departed,  leaving  me  de- 
serted. O  hapless  me!  having  f beheld f  bitter,  bitter,  ill- 
omened  Helen,  I  am  slain,  I  perish,  by  the  impious  slaughter 
of  an  impious  sire.     Would00  for  me  that  Aulis  had  never  re- 

69  There  is  much  doubt  about  the  reading  of  this  part  of  the  chorus. 
See  Dind.  and  ed.  Camb. 

90  I  have  partly  followed  Abresch  in  translating  these  lines,  but  I  do  not 
advise  the  reader  to  rest  satisfied  with  my  translation.  A  reference  to 
the  notes  of  the  elegant  scholar,  to  whom  we  owe  the  Cambridge  edition 


348  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1321—1352. 

ceived  the  poops  of  the  brazen-beaked  ships  into  these  ports, 
the  fleet  destined  for  Troy,  nor  that  Jove  had  breathed  an 
adverse  wind  over  Euripns,  softening  one  breeze  so  that  some 
mortals  might  rejoice  in  their  [expanded]  sails,  but  to  others 
a  pain,  to  others  difficulty,  to  some  to  set  sail,  to  others  to  furl 
their  sails,  but  to  others  to  tarry.  In  truth  the  race  of  mor- 
tals is  full  of  troubles,  is  full  of  troubles,  and  it  necessarily 
befalls  men  to  find  some  misfortune.  Alas  !  alas  !  thou  daugh- 
ter of  Tyndarus,  who  hast  brought  many  sufferings,  and  many 
griefs  upon  the  Greeks. 

Crro.  I  indeed  pity  you  having  met  with  an  evil  calamity, 
such  as  thou  never  shouldst  have  met  with. 

Iph.  O  mother,  to  whom  I  owe  my  birth,  I  behold  a  crowd 
of  men  near. 

Cly.  Ay,  the  son  of  the  Goddess,  my  child,  for  whom  thou 
earnest  hither. 

Iph.  Open  the  house,  ye  servants,  that  I  may  hide  myself. 

Cly.  But  why  dost  thou  fly  hence,  my  child  ? 

Iph.  I  am  ashamed  to  behold  this  Achilles. 

Cly.  On  what  account  ? 

Iph.  The  unfortunate  turn-out  of  my  nuptials  shames  me. 

Cly.  Thou  art  not  in  a  state  to  give  way  to  delicacy  in  the 
present  circumstances.  But  do  thou  remain,  there  is  no  use 
for  punctilio,  if  we  can  [but  save  your  life.] 

Ach.  O  hapless  lady,  daughter  of  Leda. 

Cly.  Thou  sayest  not  falsely. 

Ach.  Terrible  things  are  cried  out  among  the  Greeks. 

Cly.  What  cry  ?  tell  me. 

Ach.  Concerning  thy  child. 

Cly.   Thou  speakest  a  word  of  ill  omen. 

Ach.  That  it  is  necessary  to  slay  her. 

Cly.  Does  no  one  speak  the  contrary  to  this  ? 

Ach.  Ay,  I  myself  have  got  into  trouble. 

Cly.  Into  what  [trouble,]  O  friend  ? 

Ach.  Of  having  my  body  stoned  with  stones. 

Cly.  What,  in  trying  to  save  my  daughter  ? 

Ach.  This  very  thing. 

Cly.  And  who  would  have  dared  to  touch  thy  person  ? 

Ach.  All  the  Greekc. 

of  this  play,  will,  I  trust,  show  that  I  have  done  as  much  as  can  well  be 
done  with  such  corrupted  lines. 


1353—1372.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  349 

Cly.  And  was  not  the  host  of  the  Myrmidons  at  hand  for 
thee  ? 

Ach.  That  was  the  first  that  showed  enmity. 

Cly.  Then  are  we  utterly  undone,  my  daughter. 

Ach.  For  they  railed  at  me  as  overcome  hy  a  betrothed — 

Cly.  And  Avhat  didst  thou  reply  ? 

Ach.  That  they  should  not  slay  my  intended  bride. 

Cly.  For  so  'twas  right. 

Ach.  [She]  whom  her  father  had  promised  me. 

Cly.  Ay,  and  had  sent  for  from  Argos. 

Ach.  But  I  was  worsted  by  the  outcry. 

Cly.  For  the  multitude  is  a  terrible  evil. 

Ach.  But  nevertheless  I  will  aid  thee. 

Cly.  And  wilt  thou,  being  one,  fight  with  many  ? 

Ach.  Dost  see  these  men  bearing  [my]  arms. 

Cly.  Mayest  thou  gain  by  thy  good  intentions. 

Ach.  But  I  will  gain. 

Cly.  Then  my  child  will  not  be  slain  ? 

Ach.  Not,  at  least,  with  my  consent. 

Cly.  And  will  any  one  come  to  lay  hands  on  the  girl  ? 

Ach.  Ay,  a  host  of  them,  but  Ulysses  will  conduct  her. 

Cly.  Will  it  be  the  descendant  of  Sisyphus  ? 

Ach.  The  very  man. 

Cly.  Doing  it  of  his  own  accord,  or  appointed  by  the 
army  ? 

Ach.  Chosen  willingly.  . 

Cly.  A  wicked  choice  forsooth,  to  commit  slaughter ! 

Ach.  But  I  will  restrain  him. 

Cly.  But  will  he  lead  her  unwillingly,  having  seized  her  ? 

Ach.  Ay,  by  her  auburn  locks. 

Cly.  But  what  must  I  then  do  ? 

Ach.  Keep  hold  of  your  daughter. 

Cly.  As  far  as  this  goes  she  shall  not  be  slain. 

Ach.  But  it  will  come  to  this  at  all  events.91 

Iph.  Mother,  do  thou  hear  my  words,  for  I  perceive  that 
thou  art  vainly  wrathful  with  thy  husband,  but  it  is  not  easy 
for  us  to  struggle  with  things  [almost]  impossible.  It  is  meet 
therefore  to  praise  our  friend  for  his  willingness,  but  it  behoves 
thee  also  to  see  that  you  be  not  an  object  of  reproach  to  the 

91  Achilles  is  supposed  to  lay  his  hand  on  his  sword.  See  however  ed. 
Camb. 


350  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1373—1411. 

army,  and  we  profit  .nothing  more,  and  he  meet  with  calamity. 
But  hear  me,  mother,  thinking  upon  what  has  entered  my 
mind.  I  have  determined  to  die,  and  this  I  would  fain  do 
gloriously,  I  mean,  by  dismissing  all  ignoble  thoughts.  Come 
hither,  mother,  consider  with  me  how  well  I  speak.  Greece, 
the  greatest  of  cities,  is  now  all  looking  upon  me,  and  there 
rests  in  me  both  the  passage  of  the  ships  and  the  destruction 
of  Troy,  and,  for  the  women  hereafter,  if  the  barbarians  do 
them  aught  of  harm,  to  allow  them  no  longer  to  carry  them 
off  from  prosperous  Greece,  having  avenged  the  destruction  of 
Helen,  whom  Paris  bore  away.9"  All  these  things  I  dying 
shall  redeem,  and  my  renown,  for  that  I  have  freed  Greece, 
will  be  blessed.  Moreover,  it  is  not  right  that  I  should  be 
too  fond  of  life ;  for  thou  hast  brought  me  forth  for  the  com- 
mon good  of  Greece,  not  for  thyself  only.  But  shall  ten 
thousand  men  armed  with  bucklers,  and  ten  thousand,  oars  in 
hand,  their  country  being  injured,  dare  to  do  some  deed  against 
the  foes,  and  perish  on  behalf  of  Greece,  while  my  life,  being 
but  one,  shall  hinder  all  these  things?  What  manner  of  jus- 
tice is  this  ?  Have  we  a  word  to  answer  ?  And  let  me  come 
to  this  point :  it  is  not  meet  that  this  man  should  come  to  strife 
with  all  the  Greeks  for  the  sake  of  a  woman,  nor  lose  his  life. 
And  one  man,  forsooth,  is  better  than  ten  thousand  women, 
that  he  should  behold  the  light.  But  if  Diana  hath  wished  to 
receive  my  body,  shall  I,  being  mortal,  become  an  opponent 
to  the  Goddess  ?  But  it  cannot  be.  I  give  my  body  for 
Greece.  Sacrifice  it,  and  sack  Troy.  For  this  for  a  long 
time  will  be  my  memorial,  and  this  my  children,  my  wedding, 
and  my  glory.  But  it  is  meet  that  Greeks  should  rule  over 
barbarians,  O  mother,  but  not  barbarians  over  Greeks,  for  the 
one  is  slavish,  but  the  others  are  free. 

Cho.  Thy  part,  indeed,  O  virgin,  is  glorious ;  but  the  work 
of  fortune  and  of  the  Gods  sickens. 

Ach.  Daughter  of  Agamemnon,  some  one  of  the  Gods 
destined  me  to  happiness,  if  I  obtained  thee  as  a  wife,  and  J 
envy  Greece  on  thy  account,  and  thee  on  account  of  Greece. 
For  well  hast  thou  spoken  this,  and  worthily  of  the  country, 
for,  ceasing  to  strive  with  the  deity,  who  is  more  powerful 
than  thou  art,  thou  hast  considered  what  is  good  and  useful. 
But  still  more  does  a  desire  of  thy  union  enter  my  mind,  when 
92  Obviously  a  spurious  line. 


1412-1457.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  351 

I  look  to  thy  nature,  for  thou  art  noble.  But  consider,  for  I 
wish  to  benefit  you,  and  to  receive  you  to  my  home,  and, 
Thetis  be  my  witness,  I  am  grieved  if  I  shall  not  save  you, 
coming  to  conflict  with  the  Greeks.  Consider :  death  is  a 
terrible  ill. 

Iph.  I  speak  these  words,  no  others,  with  due  foresight. 
Enough  is  the  daughter  of  Tyndarus  to  have  caused  contests 
and  slaughter  of  men  through  her  person :  but  do  not  thou, 
O  stranger,  die  in  my  behalf,  nor  slay  any  one.  But  let  me 
preserve  Greece,  if  I  am  able. 

Ach.  0  best  of  spirits,  I  have  nought  further  to  answer 
thee,  since  it  seems  thus  to  thee,  for  thou  hast  noble  thoughts  ; 
for  wherefore  should  not  one  tell  the  truth  ?  But  neverthe- 
less thou  mayest  perchance  repent  these  things.  In  order, 
therefore,  that  thou  mayest  all  that  lies  in  my  power,  I  will 
go  and  place  these  my  arms  near  the  altar,  as  I  will  not  allow 
you  to  die,  but  hinder  it.  And  thou  too  wilt  perhaps  be  of 
my  opinion,  when  thou  seest  the  sword  nigh  to  thy  neck.  I 
will  not  allow  thee  to  die  through  thy  wild  determination,  but 
going  with  these  mine  arms  to  the  temple  of  the  Goddess,  I 
will  await  thy  presence  there. 

Iph.  Mother,  why  dost  thou  silently  bedew  thine  eyes 
with  tears  ? 

Cly.  I  wretched  have  a  reason,  so  as  to  be  pained  at  heart. 

Iph.  Cease ;  do  not  daunt  me,  but  obey  me  in  this. 

Cly.  Speak,  for  thou  shalt  not  be  wronged  at  my  hands, 
my  child. 

Iph.  Neither  then  do  thou  cut  off  the  locks  of  thine  hair, 
[nor  put  on  black  garments  around  thy  body.] 

Cly.  Wherefore  sayest  thou  this,  my  child  ?  Having  lost 
thee — 

Iph.  Not  you  indeed — I  am  saved,  and  thou  wilt  be  glori- 
ous as  far  as  I  am  concerned. 

Cly.  How  sayest  thou  ?     Must  I  not  bemoan  thy  life  ? 

Iph.  Not  in  the  least,  since  no  tomb  will  be  upraised  for  me. 

Cly.  Why,  what  then  is  death  ?  Is  not  a  tomb  customary?93 

Iph.  The  altar  of  the  Goddess,  daughter  of  Jove,  will  be 
my  memorial. 

Cly.  But,  0  child,  I  will  obey  thee,  for  thou  speakest  well. 

Iph.  Ay,  as  prospering  like  the  benefactress  of  Greece. 
93  I  have  punctuated  with  ed.  Camb. 


352  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1458— 1474. 

Cly.  What  then  shall  I  tell  thy  sisters  ? 

Iph.  Neither  do  thou  clothe  them  in  black  garments. 

Cly.  But  shall  I  speak  any  kind  message  from  thee  to  the 
virgins? 

Iph.  Ay,  [bid  them]  fare  well,  and  do  thou,  for  my  sate, 
train  up  this  [boy]  Orestes  to  be  a  man. 

Cly.  Embrace  him,  beholding  him  for  the  last  time. 

Iph.  0  dearest  one,  thou  hast  assisted  thy  friends  to  the 
utmost  in  thy  power. 

Cly.  Can  I,  by  doing  any  thing  in  Argos,  do  thee  a  pleasure? 

Iph.  Hate  not  my  lather,  yes,  thy  husband. 

Cly.  He  needs  shall  go  through  terrible  trials  on  thy  ac- 
count. 

Iph.  Unwillingly  he  hath  undone  me  on  behalf  of  the  land 
of  Greece. 

Cly.  But  ungenerously,  by  craft,  and  not  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  Atreus. 

Iph.  Who  will  come  and  lead  me,  before  I  am  torn  away 
by  the  hair?94 

Cly.  I  will  go  with  thee. 

Iph.  Not  you  indeed,  thou  sayest  not  well. 

Cly.  Ay  [but  I  will,]  clinging  to  thy  garments. 

Iph.  Be  persuaded  by  me,  mother.  Remain,  for  this  is 
more  fitting  both  for  me  and  thee.  But  let  some  one  of  these 
my  father's  followers  conduct  me  to  the  meadow  of  Diana, 
where  I  am  to  be  sacrificed. 

Cly.  O  child,  thou  art  going. 

Iph.  Ay,  and  I  shall  ne'er  return. 

Cly.  Leaving  thy  mother — 

Iph.  As  thou  seest,  though,  not  worthily. 

Cly.  Hold !     Do  not  leave  me. 

Iph.  I  do  not  suffer  thee  to  shed  tears.  But,  ye  maidens, 
raise  aloft  the  pajan  for  my  sad  hap,  [celebrate]  Diana,  the 
daughter  of  Jove,95  and  let  the  joyful  strain  go  forth  to  the 
Greeks.  And  let  some  one  make  ready  the  baskets,  and  let 
flame  burn  with  the  purifying  cakes,  and  let  my  father  serve 
the  altar  with  his  right  hand,  seeing  I  am  going  to  bestow 
upon  the  Greeks  safety  that  produces  victory.96 

9*  See  ed.  Camb. 

93  ev^r) /.a)aaTi  here  governs  two  distinct  accusatives. 

90  '1  he  Cambridge  editor  here  takes  notice  of  Aristotle's  charge  of  in- 


1475—1518.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  353 

Conduct  me,  the  conqueror  of  the  cities  of  Troy  and  of  the 
Phrygians.  Surround"7  me  with  crowns,  bring  them  hither. 
Here  is  my  hair  to  crown.  And  [bear  hither]  the  lustral  foun- 
tains." Encircle  [with  dances]  around  the  temple  and  the 
altar,  Diana,  queen  Diana,  the  blessed,  since  by  my  blood  and 
offering  I  will  wash  out  her  oracles,  if  it  needs  must  be  so.  O 
revered,  revered  mother,  thus  f  indeed  j  will  we  [now]  afford 
thee  our  tears,  for  it  is  not  fitting  during  the  sacred  rites.  O 
damsels,  join  in  singing  Diana,  who  dwells  opposite  Chalcis, 
where  the  warlike  ships  have  been  eager  [to  set  out,]  being  de- 
tained in  the  narrow  harbours  of  Aulis  here  through  my 
name."  Alas  !  O  my  mother-land  of  Pelasgia,  and  my  My- 
cenian  handmaids. 

Cho.  Dost  thou  call  upon  the  city  of  Perseus,  the  work  of 
the  Cyclopean  hands  ? 

Ipii.  Thou  hast  nurtured  me  for  a  glory  to  Greece,  and  I 
will  not  refuse  to  die. 

Cho.  For  renown  will  not  fail  thee. 

Iph.  Alas  !  alas  !  lamp-bearing  day,  and  thou  too,  beam  of 
Jove,  another,  another  life  and  state  shall  we  dwell  in.  Fare- 
well for  me,  beloved  light ! 

Cho.  Alas  !  alas  !  Behold  10°  the  destroyer  of  the  cities  of 
Troy  and  of  the  Phrygians,  wending  her  way,  decked  as  to 
her  head  with  garlands  and  with  lustral  streams,  to  the  altar 
of  the  sanguinary  Goddess,  about  to  stream  with  drops  of  gore, 
being  stricken  on  her  fair  neck.  Fair  dewy  streams,  and 
lustral  waters  from  ancestral  sources  101  await  thee,  and  the 

consistency,  on  ovSev  toacev  jy  iKtrtvovaa  [Iphigenia]  t?~/  vaTepa.  He 
well  remarks,  that  Iphigenia  at  first  naturally  gives  way  before  the  sud- 
denness of  the  announcement  of  her  fate,  but  that  when  she  collects  her 
feelings,  her  natural  nobleness  prevails. 

97  Of.  Lucret.  i.  88.  "  Cui  simul  infula  virgineos  circitmdata  comtus, 
Ex  utraque  pari  malarum  parte  profusa  est. 

98  Read  irayug  with  Reiske,  Bind,  ed.  Camb.  There  is  much  corrup- 
tion and  awkwardness  in  the  following  verses  of  this  ode. 

90  On  the  sense  of  fie/iove  see  ed.  Camb.,  who  would  exclude  h'  tfibv 
ovofia. 

100  Cf.  Soph.  Ant.  806  sqq.  The  whole  of  this  passage  has  been  ad- 
mirably illustrated  by  the  Cambridge  editor. 

101  There  is  much  awkwardness  about  this  epithet  irarpqai.  One 
would  expect  a  clearer  reference  to  Agamemnon.  I  scarcely  can  suppose 
it  correct,  although  I  do  not  quite  see  my  way  in  the  Cambridge  editor's 
readings. 

2   A 


354  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1519—1559. 

host  of  the  Greeks  eager  to  reach  Troy.  But  let  us  celebrate 
Diana,  the  daughter  of  Jove,  queen  of  the  Gods,  as  upon  a 
prosperous  occasion.  O  hallowed  one,  that  rejoicest  in  human 
sacrifices,  send  the  army  of  the  Greeks  iirto  the  land  of  the. 
Phrygians,  and  the  territory  of  deceitful  Troy,  and  grant  that 
by  Grecian  spears  Agamemnon  may  place  a  most  glorious 
crown  upon  his  head,  a  glory  ever  to  be  remembered. 

[Enter  a  Messenger.102] 

Mes.  O  daughter  of  Tyndarus,  Clytaminestra,  come  without 
the  house,  that  thou  mayest  hear  my  words. 

Cet.  Hearing  thy  voice,  I  wretched  came  hither,  terrified 
and  astounded  with  fear,  lest  thou  shouldst  be  come,  bearing 
some  new  calamity  to  me  in  addition  to  the  present  one. 

Mes.  Concerning  thy  daughter,  then,  I  wish  to  tell  thee 
marvellous  and  fearful  things. 

Clt.  Then  delay  not,  but  speak  as  quickly  a3  possible. 

Mes.  But,  my  dear  mistress,  thou  shalt  learn  every  thing 
clearly,  and  I  will  speak  from  the  very  commencement,  unless 
my  memory,  in  something  failing,  deceive  my  tongue.  For 
when  we  came  to  the  enclosure  and  flowery  meads  of  Diana, 
the  daughter  of  Jove,  where  there  was  an  assembly  of  the 
army  of  the  Greeks,  leading  thy  daughter,  the  host  of  the 
Greeks  Avas  straightway  convened.  But  when  king  Aga- 
memnon beheld  the  girl  wending  her  way  to  the  grove  for 
slaughter,  he  groaned  aloud,  and  turning  back  his  head,  he 
shed  tears,  placing  his  garments l03  before  his  eyes.  But  she, 
standing  near  him  that  begot  her,  spake  thus :  "  O  father,  I 
am  here  for  thee,  and  I  willing  give  my  body  on  behalf  of  my 
country,  and  of  the  whole  land  of  Greece,  that,  leading  it  to 
the  altar  of  the  Goddess,  they  may  sacrifice  it,  since  this  is 
ordained.  And,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  may  ye  be  fortunate, 
and  obtain  the  gift  of  victory,  and  reach  your  native  land. 
Furthermore,  let  no  one  of  the  Greeks  lay  hands  on  me,  for 

103  Porson,  Prsef.  ad  Hec.  p.  xxi.,  and  the  Cambridge  editor  (p.  228 
sqq.)  have  concurred  in  fully  condemning  the  whole  of  this  last  scene. 
It  is  certain  that  in  the  time  of  iElian  something  different  must  have  been 
in  existence,  and  equally  certain  that  the  whole  abounds  in  repetitions 
and  inconsistencies,  that  seem  to  point  either  to  spuriousncss,  or,  at  least, 
to  the  existence  of  interpolations  of  a  serious  character.  In  this  latter 
opinion  Matthias  and  Dindorf  agree. 

103  An  allusion  to  the  celebrated  picture  of  Timanthes.     See  Barnes. 


1560—1602.  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  '     355 

with  a  stout  heart  I  will  present  my  neck  in  silence."  Thus 
much  she  spoke,  and  every  one  marvelled  on  hearing  the 
courage  and  valour  of  the  virgin.  But  Talthybius,  whose 
office  this  was,  standing  in  the  midst,  proclaimed  good-omened 
silence  to  the  people.  And  the  seer  Calchas  placed  in  a  golden 
canister  a  sharp  knife,104  which  he  had  drawn  out,  J  within  its 
case,f  and  crowned  the  head  of  the  girl.  But  the  son  of 
Peleus  ran  around  the  altar  of  the  Goddess,  taking  the  canister 
and  lustral  waters  at  the  same  time.  And  he  said :  "  O  Diana, 
beast-slaying  daughter  of  Jove,  that  revolvest  thy  brilliant 
light  by  night,  receive  this  offering  which  we  bestow  on  thee, 
[we]  the  army  of  the  Greeks,  and  king  Agamemnon,  the  pure 
blood  from  a  fair  virgin's  neck ;  and  grant  that  the  sail  may 
be  without  injury  to  our  ships,  and  that  we  may  take  the 
towers  of  Troy  by  the  spear."  But  the  Atrides  and  all  the 
army  stood  looking  on  the  ground,  and  the  priest,  taking  the 
knife,  prayed,  and  viewed  her  neck,  that  he  might  find  a  place 
to  strike.  And  no  little  pity  entered  my  mind,  and  I  stood 
with  eyes  cast  down,  but  suddenly  there  was  a  marvel  to  be- 
hold. For  every  one  could  clearly  perceive  the  sound  of  the 
blow,  but  beheld  not  the  virgin,  where  on  earth  she  had 
vanished.  But  the  priest  exclaimed,  and  the  whole  army 
shouted,  beholding  an  unexpected  prodigy  from  some  one  of 
the  Gods,  of  which,  though  seen,  they  had  scarcely  belief. 
For  a  stag  lay  panting  on  the  ground,  of  mighty  size  to  see 
and  beautiful  in  appearance,  with  whose  blood  the  altar  of  the 
Goddess  was  abundantly  wetted.  And  upon  this  Calchas, 
(think  with  what  joy!)  thus  spake:  "O  leaders  of  this  com- 
mon host  of  the  Greeks,  behold  this  victim  which  the  Goddess 
hath  brought  to  her  altar,  a  mountain-roaming  stag.  This 
she  prefers  greatly  to  the  virgin,  lest  her  altar  should  be  de- 
filed with  generous  blood.  And  she  hath  willingly  received 
this,  and  grants  us  a  prosperous  sail,  and  attack  upon  Troy. 
Upon  this  do  every  sailor  take  good  courage,  and  go  to  his 
ships,  since  on  this  day  it  behoves  us,  quitting  the  hollow  re- 
cesses of  Aulis,  to  pass  over  the  iEgean  wave."  But  when 
the  whole  victim  was  reduced  to  ashes,  he  prayed  what  was 

101  I  have  done  my  best  with  this  passage,  following  Matthias's  explana- 
tion, which,  however,  1  do  not  perfectly  understand.  If  vs.  1567  were 
away,  we  should  be  less  at  a  loss,  but  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  whole 
scene. 

2  A  2 


356  IPHIGENIA  IN  AULIS.  1603-1629. 

meet,  that  the  army  might  obtain  a  passage.  And  Agamem- 
non sends  me  to  tell  thee  this,  and  to  say  what  a  fortune  he 
hath  met  with  from  the  Gods,  and  hath  obtained  unwaning 
glory  through  Greece.  But  I  speak,  having  been  present,  and 
witnessing  the  matter.  Thy  child  has  evidently  flown  to  the 
Gods ;  away  then  with  grief,  and  cease  wrath  against  your 
husband.  But  the  will  of  the  Gods  is  unforeseen  by  mortals, 
and  them  they  love,  they  save.  For  this  day  hath  beheld  thy 
daughter  dying  and  living  [in  turn.] 

Cho.  How  delighted  am  I  at  hearing  this  from  the  mes- 
senger ;  but  he  says  that  thy  daughter  living  abides  among 
the  Gods. 

Cly.  0  daughter,  of  whom  of  the  Gods  art  thou  the  theft  ? 
How  shall  I  address  thee  ?  What  shall  I  say  that  these  words 
do  not  offer  me  a  vain  comfort,  that  I  may  cease  from  my 
mournful  grief  on  thy  account  ? 

Cho.  And  truly  king  Agamemnon  draws  hither,  having 
this  same  story  to  tell  thee. 

\Enter  Agamemnon.] 

Ag.  Lady,  as  far  as  thy  daughter  is  concerned,  we  may  be 
happy,  for  she  really  possesses  a  companionship  with  the  Gods. 
But  it  behoves  thee,  taking  this  young  child  [Orestes,]  to  go 
home,  for  the  army  is  looking  towards  setting  sail.  And  fare 
thee  well,  long  hence  will  be  my  addresses  to  thee  from  Troy, 
and  may  it  be  well  with  thee. 

Cho.  Atrides,  rejoicing  go  thou  to  the  land  of  the  Phry- 
gians, and  rejoicing  return,  having  obtained  for  me  most 
glorious  spoils  from  Troy. 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAUEIS. 


PERSONS    REPRESENTED. 

IPHIGENIA. 

ORESTES. 

PYLADES. 

HERDSMAN. 

THOAS. 

MESSENGER. 

MINERVA. 

CHORUS  OF  GRECIAN 
CAPTIVE  WOMEN. 


THE  ARGUMENT. 


Orestes,  coming  into  Tauri  in  Scythia,  in  company  with  Pylades,  had 
been  commanded  to  bear  away  the  image  of  Diana,  after  which  he  was 
to  meet  with  a  respite  from  the  avenging  Erinnyes  of  his  mother.  His 
sister  Iphigenia,  who  had  been  carried  away  by  Diana  from  Aulis,  when 
on  the  point  of  being  sacrificed  by  her  father,  chances  to  be  expiating  a 
dream  that  led  her  to  suppose  Orestes  dead,  when  a  herdsman  announces 
to  her  the  arrival  and  detection  of  two  strangers,  whom  she  is  bound  by 
her  office  to  sacrifice  to  Diana.  On  meeting,  a  mutual  discovery  takes 
place,  and  they  plot  their  escape.  Iphigenia  imposes  on  the  superstitious 
fears  of  Thoas,  and,  removing  them  to  the  sea-coast,  they  are  on  the  point 
of  making  their  escape  together,  when  they  are  surprised,  and  subse- 
quently detained  and  driven  back  by  stress  of  weather.  Thoas  is  about 
to  pursue  them,  when  Minerva  appears,  and  restrains  him  from  doing  so, 
at  the  same  time  procuring  liberty  of  return  for  the  Grecian  captives  who 
form  the  chorus. 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAUBIS. 


Iphigenia. 


Pelops,1  the  son  of  Tantalus,  setting  out  to  Pisa  with  his  swift 
steeds,  weds  the  daughter  of  CEnoinaus,  from  whom  sprang 
Atreus ;  and  from  Atreus  his  sons,  Menelaus  and  Agamem- 
non, from  which  [latter]  I  was  born,  Iphigenia,  child  of 
[Clyttemnestra,]  daughter  of  Tyndarus,  whom  my  father,  as 
he  imagined,  sacrificed  to  Diana  on  account  of  Helen,  near  the 
eddies,  which  Euripus  continually  whirls  to  and  fro,  upturn- 
ing the  dark  blue  sea  with  frequent  blasts,  in  the  famed3  re- 
cesses of  Aulis.  For  here  indeed  king  Agamemnon  drew 
together  a  Grecian  armament  of  a  thousand  ships,  desiring 
that  the  Greeks  might  take  the  glorious  prize  of  victory  over 
Troy,3  and  avenge  the  outraged  nuptials  of  Helen,  for  the 
gratification  of  Menelaus.  But,  there  being  great  difficulty 
of  sailing,4  and  meeting  with  no  winds,  he  came  to  [the  con- 

1  This  verse  and  part  of  the  following  are  set  down  among  the  "oil 
cruet"  verses  by  Aristophanes,  Ran.  123'2.  Aristotle,  Poet.  §  xvii.  gives 
a  sketch  of  the  plot  of  the  whole  play,  by  way  of  illustrating  the  general 
form  of  tragedy.  Hyginus,  who  constantly  has  Euripides  in  view,  also  gives 
a  brief  analysis  of  the  plot,  fab.  cxx.  For  a  description  of  the  quadriga; 
of  Pelops,  see  Philostratus  Imagg.  i.  19.  It  must  be  observed,  that  Anto- 
ninus Liberalis,  §  27,  makes  Iphigenia  only  the  supposititious  daughter 
of  Agamemnon,  but  really  the  daughter  of  Theseus  and  Helen.  See  Meurs. 
on  Lycophron,  p.  145. 

2  I  must  confess  that  I  cannot  find  what  should  have  so  much  displeased 
the  critics  in  this  word.  Iphigenia,  in  using  such  an  epithet,  evidently 
refers  to  her  own  intended  sacrifice,  which  had  rendered  the  recesses  of 
Aulis  a  place  of  no  small  fame. 

3  But  Lenting  prefers  'Axai.oi'c,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Cambridge 
editor. 

4  See  Reiske  apud  Dindorf.  Compare  my  note  on  iEsch.  Ag.  188,  p. 
101,  ed.  Bohn.  So  also  Callimachus,  Hymn.  iii.  /.uiXiov  a-n-Xoiijc,  ore  oi 
KareSijaaij  dtjTaQ. 


360  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  16—43. 

sideration  of]  the  omens  of  burnt  sacrifices,  and  Calchas  speaks 
thus.  0  thou  who  rulest  over  this  Grecian  expedition,  Aga- 
memnon, thou  wilt  not  lead  forth  thy  ships  from  the  ports  of 
this  land,  before  Diana  shall  receive  thy  daughter  Iphigenia 
as  a  victim ;  for  thou  didst  vow  to  sacrifice  to  the  light-bear- 
ing Goddess  whatsoever  the  year  should  bring  forth  most  beau- 
tiful. Now  your  wife  Clytremnestra  has  brought  forth  a 
daughter  in  your  house,  referring  to  me  the  title  of  the  most 
beautiful,  whom  thou  must  needs  sacrifice.  And  so,  by  the 
arts  of  Ulysses,5  they  drew  me  from  my  mother  under  pretence 
of  being  wedded  to  Achilles.  But  I  wretched  coming  to 
Aulis,  being  seized  and  raised  aloft  above6  the  pyre,  would 
have  been  slain  by  the  sword ;  but  Diana,  giving  to  the  Greeks 
a  stag  in  my  stead,  stole  me  away,  and,  sending  me  through 
the  clear  rather,7  she  settled  me  in  this  land  of  the  Tauri,  where 
barbarian  Thoas  rules8  the  land,  o'er  barbarians,  [Thoas,]  who 
guiding  his  foot  swift  as  the  pinion,  has  arrived  at  this  epi- 
thet [of  Thoas,  i.  e.  the  swift]  on  account  of  his  fleetness  of 
foot.  And  she  places  me  in  this  house  as  priestess,  since 
which  time  the  Goddess  Diana  is  wont  to  be  pleased  with  such 
rites  as  these,9  the  name  of  which  alone  is  fair.  But,  for  the 
rest,  I  am  silent,  fearing  the  Goddess.  For  I  sacrifice  even  as 
before  was  the  custom  in  the  city,  whatever  Grecian  man  comes 
to  this  land.  I  crop  the  hair,  indeed,  but  the  slaying  that 
.may  not  be  told  is  the  care  of  others  within  these  shrines.10 
But  the  new  visions  which  the  [past]  night  hath  brought  with 
it,  I  will  tell  to  the  sky,"  if  indeed  this  be  any  remedy.     I 

5  Sinon  made  the  same  complaint.  Cf.  Virg,  Jin.  ii.  90. 
c  Cf.  ^Esch.  Ag.  235. 

7  This  whole  passage  has  been  imitated  by  Ovid,  de  Ponto,  iii.  2,  60. 
"  Sceptra  tenente  illo,  liquidas  fecisse  per  auras,  Nescio  quam  dicunt 
Iphigenian  iter.  Quam  levibus  ventis  sub  nube  per  aera  vectam  Cre- 
ditur  his  Phoebe  deposuisse  locis."  Cf.  Lycophron,  p.  16,  vs.  3  sqq. 
Nonnus  xiii.  p.  332,  14  sqq. 

8  Observe  the  double  construction  of  dvauau.  Orest.  1690.  vavratc 
fteSeovcra  9a\doaiiQ. 

9  The  Cambridge  editor  would  expunge  this  line,  which  certainly  seems 
languid  and  awkward.  Boissonade  on  Aristamet.  Ep.  xiii.  p.  421,  would 
simply  read  ra  5'  dWa  a.  t.  G.  <po(5ovn'ivr)'  Ovio  yap.  He  also  retains 
upeiav,  referring  to  Gaisford  on  Hepheest.  p.  216. 

10  The  Cambridge  editor  would  throw  out  vs.  41. 

11  The  Cambridge  editor  refers  to  Med.  56,  Androm.  91,  Soph.  El. 
425.     Add  Plaut.  Merc.  i.  1,  3.     "  Non  ego  idem  facio,  ut  alios  in  co- 


44—74.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  361 

seemed  in  my  sleep,  removed  from  this  land,  to  be  dwelling  in 
Argos,  and  to  slumber  in  my  virgin  chamber,  but  the  surface 
of  the  earth  [appeared]  to  be  shaken  with  a  movement,  and  I 
fled,  and  standing  without  beheld  the  coping 12  of  the  house 
giving  way,  and  all  the  roof  falling  stricken  to  the  ground 
from  the  high  supports.  And  one  pillar  alone,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  was  left  of  my  ancestral  house,  and  from  its  capital  it 
seemed  to  stream  down  yellow  locks,  and  to  receive  a  human 
voice,  and  I,  cherishing  this  man-slaying  office  which  I  hold, 
weeping  [began]  to  besprinkle  it,  as  though  about  to  be  slain. 
But  I  thus  interpret  my  dream.  Orestes  is  dead,  whose  rites 
I  was  beginning.  For  male  children  are  the  pillars  of  the 
house,  and  those  whom  my  lustral  waters 13  sprinkle  die. 
Nor  yet  can  I  connect  the  dream  with  my  friends,  for  Stro- 
phius  had  no  son,  when  I  was  to  have  died.  Now,  therefore, 
I  being  present,  will  to  my  absent  brother  offer  the  rites  of 
the  dead — for  this  I  can  do — in  company  with  the  attendants 
whom  the  king  gave  to  me,  Grecian  women.  But  from  some 
cause  they  are  not  yet  present.  I  will  go14  within  the  home 
wherein  I  dwell,  these  shrines  of  the  Goddess. 

Okestes.  Look  out !  Watch,  lest  there  be  any  mortal  in 
the  way. 

Pylades.  I  am  looking  out,  and  keeping  watch,  turning 
my  eyes  every  where. 

Or.  Pylades,  does  it  seem  to  you  that  this  is  the  temple  of 
the  Goddess,  whither  we  have  directed  our  ship  through  the 
seas  from  Argos  ? 15 

Ptl.  It  does,  Orestes,  and  must  seem  the  same  to  thee. 

Or.  And  the  altar  where  Grecian  blood  is  shed  ? 

Pyl.  At  least  it  has  its  pinnacles  tawny  with  blood. 

Or.  And  under  the  pinnacles  themselves  do  you  behold  the 
spoils  ? 

moediis  vidi  facere  amatores,  qui  aut  nocti,  aut  die,"  Aut  Soli,  aut  Luna; 
miserias  narrant  suas."  Theognetus  apud  Athen.  xv.  p.  671.  Casaub. 
Trupikoa6<priKa.Q  yy  Kal  ovpavy  XaXwv.  Cf.  Davis,  on  Cicero,  Tusc.  Q. 
iii.  '26,  and  Lomeier  de  Lustrat.  §  xxxvii. 

12  QpijKov  is  properly  the  uppermost  part  of  the  walls  of  any  building 
(Pollux,  vii.  27)  surrounding  the  roof,  oreyoc  is  the  roof  itself. 

13  Cf.  Meurs.  ad  Lycophron,  p.  148. 

14  I  read  d/x'  t'iaw  with  Hermann  and  the  Cambridge  editor. 

15  This  line  is  condemned  by  the  Cambridge  editor.  Burges  has  trans- 
posed it. 


362  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  75—109 

Pyl.  The  spoils,  forsooth,  of  slain  strangers. 

Or.  But  it  behoves  one,  turning  one's  eye  around,  to  keep 
a  careful  watch.  0  Phoebus,  wherefore  hast  thou  again  led 
me  into  this  snare  by  your  prophecies,  when  I  had  avenged 
the  blood  of  my  father  by  slaying  my  mother  ?  But  by  suc- 
cessive16 attacks  of  the  Furies  was  I  driven  an  exile,  an  out- 
east  from  the  land,  and  fulfilled  many  diverse  bending  courses. 
But  coming  [to  thy  oracle]  I  required  of  thee  how  I  might 
arrive  at  an  end  of  the  madness  that  drove  me  on,  and  of  my 
toils  [which  I  had  laboured  through,  wandering  over  Greece.17] 
But  thou  didst  answer  that  I  must  come  to  the  confines  of  the 
Tauric  territory,  where  thy  sister  Diana  possesses  altars,  and 
must  take  the  image  of  the  Goddess,  which  they  here  say  fell 
from  heaven 18  into  these  shrines ;  and  that  taking  it  either  by 
stratagem  or  by  some  stroke  of  fortune,  having  gone  through 
the  risk,  I  should  give  it  to  the  land  of  the  Athenians — but 
no  further  directions  were  given — and  that  having  done  this, 
I  should  have  a  respite  from  my  toils.19  But  I  am  come 
hither,  persuaded  by  thy  words,  to  an  unknown  and  inhos- 
pitable land.  I  ask  you,  then,  Pylades,  for  you  are  a  sharer 
with  me  in  this  toil,  what  shall  we  do  ?  For  thou  beholdest 
the  lofty  battlements  of  the  walls.  Shall  we  proceed  to  the 
scaling  of  the  walls  ?  How  then  should  we  escape  notice20  [if 
we  did  so  ?]  Or  shall  we  open  the  brass-wrought  fastenings  of 
the  bolts  ?  of  which  things  we  know  nothing.21  But  if  Ave  are 
caught  opening  the  gates  and  contriving  an  entrance,  we  shall 
die.  But  before  we  die,  let  us  flee  to  the  temple,  whither  we 
lately  sailed. 

Pyl.  To  fly  is  unendurable,  nor  are  we  accustomed  [to  do 
so,]  and  we  must  not  make  light  of  the  oracle  of  the  God. 
But  quitting  the  temple,  let  us  hide  our  bodies  in  the  caves, 
which  the  dark  sea  splashes  with  its  Avaters,  far  away  from 
the  city,  lest  any  one  beholding  the  bark,  inform  the  rulers, 

16  But  SiavpopaTg,  the  correction  of  the  Cambridge  editor,  seems  pre- 
ferable. 

17  An  interpolation  universally  condemned. 

18  See  Barnes,  and  Wetstein  on  Acts  xix.  35. 

19  On  the  wanderings  of  Orestes  see  my  note  on  ^Esch.  Eum.  238  sqti. 
p.  187,  ed.  Bohn. 

20  See  the  note  of  the  Cambridge  editor,  with  whom  we  must  read 

21  wi'  ovtiv  \afitv  ad  interiora  templi  spectat.  .  IIerm. 


109—150.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  363 

and  we  be  straightway  seized  by  force.  But  when  the  eye  of 
dim  night  shall  come,  we  must  venture,  bring  all  devices  to 
bear,  to  seize  the  sculptured  image  from  the  temple.  But 
observe  the  eaves  [of  the  roof,22]  where  there  is  an  empty 
space  between  the  triglyphs  in  which  you  may  let  yourself 
down.  For  good  men  dare  encounter  toils,  but  the  cowardly 
are  of  no  account  any  where.  We  have  not  indeed  come  a 
long  distance  with  our  oars,  so  as  to  return  again  from  the 
goal.23 

Or.  But  one  must  follow  your  advice,  for  you  speak  well. 
We  must  go  whithersoever  in  this  land  we  can  conceal  our 
bodies,  and  lie  hid.  For  the  [will]  of  the  God  will  not  be 
the  cause  of  his  oracle  falling  useless.  We  must  venture ; 
for  no  toil  has  an  excuse  for  young  men.24 

[Orestes  and  Pylades  retire  aside.~\ 

Chorus.  Keep  silence,25  O  ye  that  inhabit  the  twain  rocks 
of  the  Euxine  that  face  each  other.  O  Dictynna,  mountain 
daughter  of  Latona,  to  thy  court,  the  gold-decked  pinnacles 
of  temples  with  fine  columns,  I,  servant  to  the  hallowed  guar- 
dian of  the  key,  conduct  my  pious  virgin  foot,  changing  [for 
my  present  habitation]  the  towers  and  walls  of  Greece  with 
its  noble  steeds,  and  Europe  with  its  fields  abounding  in  trees, 
the  dwelling  of  my  ancestral  home.  I  am  come.  What  new 
matter  ?  What  anxious  care  hast  thou  ?  Wherefore  hast  thou 
led  me,  led  me  to  the  shrines,  O  daughter  of  him  who  came 
to  the  walls  of  Troy  with  the  glorious  fleet,  with  thousand 
sail,  ten  thousand  spears  of  the  renowned  Atrides?26 

Iphigenia.  0  attendants  mine,27  in  what  moans  of  bitter 
lamentation  do  I  dwell,  in  the  songs  of  a  songless  strain  unfit 
for  the  lyre,  alas !  alas !  in  funereal  griefs  for  the  ills  which 
befall  me,  bemoaning  my  brother,  what  a  vision  have  I  seen 

22  We  must  read  yelua  rpi-yXixpiov  onoi,  with  Blomfield  and  the  Cam- 
bridge editor.     See  Philander  on  Vitruv.  ii.  p.  35,  and  Pollux,  vii.  27. 

23  The  sense  is  ovrot,  fiatcpav  IXBovteq,  t»c  repfidrajv  (sc.  a  meta) 
voarijao/xev.     Ed.  Camb. 

24  The  Cambridge  editor  appositely  compares  a  fragment  of  our  au- 
thor's Cresphontes,  iii.  2,  alaxpov  rt  /.ioxOuv  /t»)  OeXeiv  veaviav. 

25  On  the  whole  of  this  chorus,  which  is  corrupt  in  several  places,  the 
notes  of  the  Cambridge  editor  should  be  consulted. 

26  This  last  lumbering  line  must  be  corrupt. 

87  Compare  the  similar  scene  in  Soph.  El.  86  sqq. 


364  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  151—201. 

in  the  night  whose  darkness  has  passed  away!29  I  am  un- 
done, undone.  No  more  is  my  father's  house,  ah  me !  no 
more  is  our  race.  Alas  !  alas  !  for  the  toils  in  Argos  !  Alas  ! 
thou  deity,  who  hast  now  robbed  me  of  my  only  brother, 
sending  him  to  Hades,  to  whom  I  am  about  to  pour  forth  on 
the  earth's  surface  these  libations  and  this  bowl  for  the  de- 
parted, and  streams  from  the  mountain  heifer,  and  the  wine 
draughts  of  Bacchus,  and  the  work  of  the  swarthy  bees,23 
which  are  the  wonted  peace-offerings  to  the  departed.  O  germ 
of  Agamemnon  beneath  the  earth,  to  thee  as  dead  do  I  send 
these  offerings.  And  do  thou  receive  them,  for  not  before 
[thine  own]  tomb  do  I  offer  my  auburn  locks,3"  my  tears. 
For  far  away  am  I  journeyed  from  thy  country  and  mine, 
where,  as  opinion  goes,  I  wretched  lie  slaughtered. 

Cho.  A  respondent  strain  and  an  Asiatic  hymn  of  bar- 
barian wailing  will  I  peal  forth  to  thee,  my  mistress,  the  song 
of  mourning  which,  delighting  the  dead,  Hades  hymns  in 
measure  apart  from  Pgeans.31  Alas  !  the  light  of  the  sceptre 
in  the  Atrides'  house  is  faded  away.  Alas  !  alas  for  my  an- 
cestral home!  And  what  government  of  prosperous  kings 
will  there  be  in  Argos?32  *  *  *  *  And  labour  upon  labour 
comes  on  *  *  *  * 33  with  his  winged  mares  driven  around. 
But  the  sun,  changing  from  its  proper  place,  [laid  aside]  its 
eye  of  light.34  And  upon  other  houses  woe  has  come,  because 
of  the  golden  lamb,  murder  upon  murder,  and  pang  upon 
pang,  whence  the  avenging  Fury35  of  those  sons  slain  of  old 
comes  upon  the  houses  of  the  sons  of  Tantalus,  and  some 
deity  hastens  unkindly  things  against  thee. 

'iS  Cf.  Elect.  90.  vvktoq  Si  rfjffSe  irpbq  T<i<pov  /ioXojv  TraTpbg.  Hecub. 
76.     jEsch.  Pers.  179.     Aristoph.  Ran.  1331. 

29  Compare  my  note  on  JEsch.  Pers.  610  sqq. 

30  See  on  jEsch.  Choeph.  6. 

31  Markland's  emendation  has  been  unanimously  adopted  by  the  later 
editors. 

32  Schema  Colophonium.  The  Cambridge  editor  compares  vs.  244. 
"Apyu  gki]ittoi>xov.  Phosn.  17.  &i)fiat.Giv  ava%.  Heracl.  361.  "Apyu 
TvpavvoQ. 

33  I  have  marked  lacunae,  as  some  mythological  particulars  have  evi- 
dently been  lost. 

31  An  imperfect  allusion  to  the  Thyestean  banquet.  Cf.  Seneca  Thyest. 
774.  "  0  Phoebe  patiens,  fugeris  retro  licet,  medioque  ruptum  merseris 
coelo  diem,  sero  occidisti  —  "  vs.  787  sqq. 

35  Cf.  JLsch.  Ag.  1501  sqq.     Seneca,  Ag.  57  sqq. 


202— 248.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  365 

Iph.  From  the  beginning  the  demon  of  my  mother's  zone36 
was  hostile  to  me,  and  from  that  night  in  which  the  Fates  hast- 
ened the  pangs  of  childbirth 37  *  *  *  *  whom,  the  first-born 
germ  the  wretched  daughter  of  Leda,  (Clytremnestra,)  wooed 
from  among  the  Greeks  brought  forth,  and  trained  up  as  a 
victim  to  a  father's  sin,  a  joyless  sacrifice,  a  votive  offering. 
But  in  a  horse-chariot  they  brought38  me  to  the  sands  of  Aulis, 
a  bride,  alas !  unhappy  bride  to  the  son  of  Nereus'  daughter, 
alas  !  And  now  a  stranger  I  dwell  in  an  unpleasant  home  on 
the  inhospitable  sea,  unvvedded,  childless,  without  city,  with- 
out a  friend,  not  chaunting  Juno  in  Argos,  nor  in  the  sweetly 
humming  loom  adorning  with  the  shuttle  the  image  of  Athe- 
nian Pallas  39  and  of  the  Titans,  but  imbruing  altars  with  the 
shed  blood  of  strangers,  a  pest  unsuited  to  the  harp,  [of  stran- 
gers] sighing  forth40  a  piteous  cry,  and  shedding  a  piteous  tear. 
And  now  indeed  forgetfulness  of  these  matters  [comes  upon] 
me,  but  now  I  mourn  my  brother  dead  in  Argos,  whom  I  left 
yet  an  infant  at  the  breast,  yet  young,  yet  a  germ  in  his  mo- 
ther's arms  and  on  her  bosom,  Orestes  [the  future]  holder  of 
the  sceptre  in  Argos.  <* 

Cho.  But  hither  comes  a  herdsman,  leaving  the  sea-coast, 
about  to  tell  thee  some  new  thing. 

Herdsman.  Daughter  of  Agamemnon  and  child  of  Cly- 
tsemnestra,  hear  thou  from  me  a  new  announcement. 

Iph.  And  what  is  there  astonishing  in  the  present  report  ? 

Herds.  Two  youths  are  come  into  this  land,  to  the  dark- 
blue  Symplegades,  fleeing  in  a  ship,  a  grateful  sacrifice  and 
offering  to  Diana.  But  you  cannot  use  too  much  haste41  in 
making  ready  the  lustral  waters  and  the  consecrations. 

Iph.  Of  what  country  ?  of  what  land  do  the  strangers  bear 
the  name  ? 

Herds.  Greeks,  this  one  thing  I  know,  and  nothing  further. 

Iph.  Hast  thou  not  heard  the  name  of  the  strangers,  so  as 
to  tell  it  ? 

30  i.  e.  the  demon  allotted  to  me  at  my  birth  (cf.  notes  on  ^Esch.  1341, 
p.  135,  ed.  Bohn).  Statius,  Theb.  i.  60,  makes  GEdipus  invoke  Tisiphone 
under  the  same  character. — "  Si  me  de  matre  cadentem  Fovisti  gremio." 

37  See  the  note  of  the  Cambridge  editor. 

38  ?/3//<rav  is  active. 

39  The  Cambridge  editor  aptly  refers  to  Hecub.  46 1. 

i0  These  participles  refer  to  the  preceding  aifioppdvTiov  Ztivwv. 
41  See  on  Heracl.  721. 


366  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  2-19—281. 

Herds.   One  of  them  was  styled  Pylades  by  the  other. 

Iph.  But  wliat  was  the  name  of  the  yoke-fellow  of  this 
stranger  ? 

Herds.  No  one  knows  this.     For  we  heard  it  not. 

Iph.  Bnt  how  saw  ye  them,  and  chanced  to  take  them  ? 

Herds.  Upon  the  furthest  breakers  of  the  inhospitable  sea. 

Iph.  And  Avhat  had  herdsmen  to  do  with  the  sea  ? 

Herds.  We  came  to  lave  our  steers  in  the  dew  of  the  sea. 

Iph.  Go  back  again  to  this  point — how  did  ye  catch  them, 
and  by  what  means,  for  I  would  fain  know  this  ?  For  they 
are  come  after  a  long  season,  nor  has  the  altar  of  the  Goddess 
yet  been  crimsoned  with  Grecian  blood.42 

Herds.  After  we  woodland  herdsmen  had  brought  our  cat- 
tle down  to  the  sea  that  flows  between  the  Symplegades,  there 
is  a  certain  hollow  cave,43  broken  by  the  frequent  lashing  of 
the  waves,  a  retreat  for  those  who  hunt  for  the  purple  fish. 
Here  some  herdsman  among  us  beheld  two  youths,  and  he  re- 
tired back,  piloting  his  step  on  tiptoe,  and  said :  See  ye  not  ? 
these  who  sit  here  are  some  divine  powers.  And  one  of  us, 
being  religiously  given,  uplifted  his  hand,  and  addressed  them, 
as  he  beheld :  0  son  of  Leucothea,  guardian  of  ships,  Palaemon 
our  lord,  be  propitious  to  us,  whether  indeed  ye  be  the  twin 
sons  of  Jove  (Castor  and  Pollux)  who  sit  upon  our  shores,  or 
the  image  of  Nereus,  who  begot  the  noble  chorus  of  the  fifty 
Nereids.  But  another  vain  one,  bold  in  his  lawlessness,  scoff- 
ed at  these  prayers,  and  said  that  they  were  shipwrecked 44 
seamen  who  sate  upon  the  cleft  through  fear  of  the  law,  hear- 
ing that  we  here  sacrifice  strangers.  And  to  most  of  us  he 
seemed  to  speak  well,  and  [we  resolved]  to  hunt  for  the  ac- 
customed victims  for  the  Goddess.     But  meanwhile  one  of  the 

42  The  Cambridge  editor  would  omit  these  two  lines. 

43  Cf.  vs.  107.  kcit'  avrp,  a  irovriog  voriSi  Sta/cXi^n  piXag.  On 
aypbg  (Brodeeus'  happy  correction  for  dppbg)  the  Cambridge  editor  quotes 
Nicander  Ther.  146.  koiXi]  re  ipdpayZ,  cat  rprjx^g  dypoi,  and  other  pas- 
sages. The  manner  of  hunting  the  purple  fish  is  thus  described  by  Pol- 
lux, i.  4,  p.  24.  They  plat  a  long  rope,  to  which  they  fasten,  like  bells, 
a  number  of  hempen  baskets,  with  an  open  entrance  to  admit  the  animal, 
but  which  does  not  allow  of  its  egress.  This  they  let  down  into  the  sea, 
the  baskets  being  filled  with  such  food  as  the  murex  delights  in,  and, 
having  fastened  the  end  of  the  rope  to  the  rock,  they  leave  it,  and  return- 
ing to  the  place,  draw  up  the  baskets  full  of  the  fish.  Having  broken  the 
shells,  they  pound  the  flesh  to  form  the  dye. 

41  l^appkvovg.  Cf.  Cycl.  300.  Hel.  783.  Ed.  Camb. 


281—323.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  367 

strangers  leaving  the  rock,  stood  still,  and  shook  his  head  up 
and  down,  and  groaned,  with  his  very  fingers  quaking,  wan- 
dering with  ravings,  and  shouts  with  voice  like  that  of  hunter, 
"  Pylades,  dost  thou  behold  this  ?  Dost  not  behold  this  snake 
of  Hades,  how  she  would  fain  slay  me,  armed  against  me  with 
horrid  vipers?45  And  she  breathing  from  beneath  her  gar- 
ments46 fire  and  slaughter,  rows  with  her  wings,  bearing  my 
mother  in  her  arms,  that  she  may  cast  upon  me  this  rocky 
mass.  Alas  !  she  will  slay  me.  Whither  shall  I  fly  ?"  And 
one  beheld  not  the  same  form  of  countenance,  but  he  uttered 
in  turn  the  bellowings  of  calves  and  howls  of  dogs,  which 
imitations  [of  wild  beasts]  they  say  the  Furies  utter.  But 
we  flinching,  as  though  about  to  die,  sate  mute ;  and  he  draw- 
ing a  sword  with  his  hand,  rushing  among  the  calves,  lion- 
like, strikes  them  on  the  flank  with  the  steel,  driving  it  into 
their  sides,  fancying  that  he  was  thus  avenging  himself  on  the 
Fury  Goddesses,  till  that  a  gory  foam  was  dashed  up  from 
the  sea.  Meanwhile,  each  one  of  us,  as  he  beheld  the  herds 
being  slain  and  ravaged,  armed  himself,  and  inflating  the 
conch47  shells  and  assembling  the  inhabitants — for  we  thought 
that  herdsmen  were  weak  to  fight  against  well-trained  and 
youthful  strangers.  And  a  large  number  of  us  was  assembled 
in  a  short  time.  But  the  stranger,  released  from  the  attack 
of  madness,  drops  down,  with  his  beard  befouled  with  foam. 
But  when  we  saw  him  fallen  opportunely  [for  us,]  each  man 
did  his  part,  with  stones,  with  blows.  But  the  other  of  the 
strangers  wiped  away  the  foam,  and  tended  his  mouth,  and 
spread  over  him  the  well-woven  texture  of  his  garments, 
guarding  well  the  coming  wounds,  and  aiding  his  friend  with 
tender  oifices.  But  when  the  stranger  returning  to  his  senses 
leaped  up,  he  perceived  that  a  hostile  tempest  and  present  ca- 
lamity was  close  upon  them,  and  he  groaned  aloud.  But  we 
ceased  not  hurling  rocks,  each  standing  in  a  different  place. 
But  then  indeed  we  heard  a  dread  exhortation,  "  Pylades,  we 
shall  die,  but  that  we  die  most  gloriously !  Follow  me,  draw- 
ing thy  sword  in  hand."     But  when  we  saw  the  twain  swords 

45  Compare  Orest.  255  sqq. 

40  xitwvwv  is  probably  corrupt. 

47  Cf.  Lobeck  on  Aj.  17.  Hesych.  /coxXot;  role  6a\arrioig  (i.  e.  ico%Xotc) 
tXpuvro,  Trpb  tiiq  rwv  aakiviyyuv  tvpedewQ.  Virg.  vEn.  vi.  171.  "  Sed 
turn  forte  cava  dum  personat  a;quora  concha." 


368  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  324—359. 

of  the  enemy48  brandished,  in  flight  we  filled  the  woods  about 
the  crag.  But  if  one  fled,  others  pressing  on  pelted  them ; 
and  if  they  drove  these  away,  again  the  party  who  had  just 
yielded  aimed  at  them  with  rocks.  But  it  was  incredible,  for 
out  of  innumerable  hands  no  one  succeeded  in  hitting  these 
victims  to  the  Goddess.  And  we  with  difficulty,  I  will  not 
say  overcome  them  by  force,  but  taking  them  in  a  circle, 
beat 49  their  swords  out  of  their  hands  with  .stones,  and  they 
dropped  their  knees  to  earth  [overcome]  with  toil.  And  we 
brought  them  to  the  king  of  this  land,  but  he,  when  he  beheld 
them,  sent  them  as  quickly  as  possible  to  thee  for  lustral 
waters  and  sacrifice.  But  do  thou,  O  virgin,  wish  that  such 
strangers  may  be  here  as  victims,  and  if  thou  slayest  these 
strangers,  Hellas  will  atone  for  thy  [intended]  murder,  paying 
the  penalty  of  the  sacrifice  at  Aulis.50 

Cho.  Thou  hast  told  wondrous  things  concerning  him  who 
has  appeared,  whosoever  he  be  that  has  come  to  the  inhospitable 
sea  from  the  Grecian  earth.51 

Iph.  Be  it  so.  Do  thou  go  and  bring  the  strangers,  but  I 
will  take  care  respecting  the  matters 52  here.  O  hapless  heart, 
that  once  wast  mild  and  full  of  pity  towards  strangers,  award- 
ing the  tear  to  those  of  thine  own  land,  when  thou  didst  re- 
ceive Grecian  men  into  thine  hands.53  But  now,  because  of  the 
dreams  by  which  I  am  driven  wild,  thinking  that  Orestes  no 
longer  beholds  the  sun,  ye  will  find  me  ill  disposed,  whoever 
ye  be  that  come.  For  this  is  true,  I  perceive  it,  my  friends,54 
for  the  unhappy  who  themselves  fare  ill  have  no  good  feelings 
toward  those  more  fortunate.  But  neither  has  any  wind  sent 
by  Jove  ever  come  [hither,]  nor  ship,  which  could  have  brought 
hither  Helen,  who  destroyed  me,  and  Menelaus,  in  order  that 
I  might  be  avenged  on  them,  placing  an  Aulis  here  to  the  ac- 
count 53  of  the  one  there,  where  the  sons  of  Danaus  seized,  and 

48  "  Moriamur,  et  in  media  arma  ruamus."     Virg.  3Ln.  ii. 

49  Such  seems  to  be  the  sense,  but  tZtKXtyantv  is  ridiculous,  and  Her- 
mann's emendation  more  so.  Bothe  reads  titKo^/a/iev,  which  is  better. 
The  Cambridge  editor  thinks  that  the  difficulty  lies  in  Trkr^oiai. 

60  I  would  omit  this  line  as  an  evident  gloss. 

51  See  the  Cambridge  editor. 

52  Reiske's  emendation,  oaia  for  ola,  seems  deserving  of  admission. 

53  The  Cambridge  editor  would  omit  these  lines. 

54  This  line  also  the  Cambridge  editor  trusts  "  will  never  hereafter  be 
reckoned  among  the  verses  of  Euripides." 

M  Such  is  the  proper  sense  of  dvriOeZua. 


359—414.  irHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  369 

would  have  slain  me  like  as  a  calf,  and  the  father  who  begat 
me  was  the  priest.  Ah  me !  for  I  cannot  foi-get  the  ills  of 
that  time,  how  oft  I  stretched  out  my  hands  to  his  beard,  and 
hanging  on  the  knees  of  him  who  gave  me  life,  spake  words 
like  these :  "  O  father,  basely  am  I,  basely  am  I  wedded  at 
thine  hands.  But  my  mother,  while  thou  art  slaying  me,  and 
her  Argive  ladies  are  hymning  my  wedding50  with  their  nup- 
tial songs,  and  all  the  house  resounds  with  the  flute,  while  I 
perish  by  thy  hands.  Hades  in  truth  was  Achilles,  not  the 
son  of  Peleus,  whom  thou  didst  name  as  my  husband,  and  in 
the  chariot  didst  pilot  me  by  craft  unto  a  bloody  wedding." 
But  I,  casting  mine  eye  through  my  slender  woven  veil,  nei- 
ther took  up  with  mine  hands  my  brother  who  is  now  dead, 
nor  joined  my  lips  to  my  sister's,57  through  modesty,  as  de- 
parting to  the  home  of  Peleus ;  and  many  a  salutation  I  de- 
ferred, as  though  about  to  come  again  to  Argos.  Oh  wretched 
one,  if  thou  hast  died  !  from  what  glorious  state,  Orestes,  and 
from  how  envied  a  sire's  fortune  art  thou  fallen !  But  I  re- 
proach the  devices  of  the  Goddess,  who,  if  any  one  work  the 
death  of  a  man,  or  touch  witli  hands  a  woman  newly  delivered, 
or  a  corpse,  restrains  him  from  her  altars,  as  deeming  him 
impure,  but  yet  herself  takes  pleasure  in  man-slaying  sacri- 
fices. It  cannot  be  that  the  consort  of  Jove,  Latona,  hath 
brought  forth  so  much  ignorance.  I  even  disbelieve  the 
bancmets  of  Tantalus  set  before  the  Gods,  [as  that  they]  should 
be  pleased  with  feeding  on  a  boy.  But  I  deem  that  those  in 
this  land,  being  themselves  man-slayers,  charge  the  Goddess 
with  their  own  baseness,  for  I  think  not  that  any  one  of  the 
Gods  is  bad. 

Cho.  Ye  dark  blue,  dark  blue  meetings  of  the  sea,  which 
Io,  hurried  along  by  the  brize,  once  passed  through  to  the 
Euxine  wave,  having  changed  the  territory  of  Asia  for  Europe, 
— who  were  they  who  left  fair-watered  Eurotas,  flourishing 
in  reeds,  or  the  sacred  founts  of  Dirce,  and  came,  and  came 
to  the  inhospitable  land,  where  the  daughter  of  Jove  bedews 
her  altars  and  column-girt  temples  with  human  blood  ?  Of  a 
truth  by  the  surge-dashing  oars  of  fir,  worked  on  both  sides, 
they  sailed  in  a  nautical  carriage  o'er  the  ocean  waves,  striving 
in  the  emulation  after  loved  wealth  in  their  houses.     For 


viv  is  vv/KptufiaTa.  57  Read  Ka<jiyvi]Ty. 

2    B 


370  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  415—467- 

darling  hope  is  in  dangers  insatiate  among  men,  who  bear  off 
the  weight  of  riches,  wandering  in  vain  speculation  on  the 
wave  and  o'er  barbarian  cities.  But  to  some58  there  is  a  mind 
immoderate  after  riches,  to  others  they  come  unsought.  How 
did  they  pass  through  the  rocks  that  run  together,  the  ne'er 
resting  beaches  of  Phineus,  [and]  the  marine  shore,  running 
o'er  the  surge  of  Amphitrite,59 — where  the  choruses  of  the 
fifty  daughters  of  Nereus  entwine  in  the  dance, — [although] 
with  breezes  that  fill  the  sails,  the  creaking  rudders  resting  at 
the  poop,  with  southern  gales  or  the  breezes  of  Zephyr,  to  the 
bird-haunted  land,  the  white  beach,  the  glorious  race-course  of 
Achilles,  near  the  Euxine  Sea.  Would  that,  according  to  my 
mistress'  prayers,  Helen,  the  dear  daughter  of  Leda,  might 
sometime  chance  to  come,  quitting  the  city  of  Troy,  that, 
having  been  drenched  about  the  head  with  the  blood-stained 
lustral  dews,  she  might  die  by  my  mistress's  hand,  paying  in 
turn  an  equal  penalty  [for  her  death.]  Most  joyfully  then 
would  we  receive  this  news,  if  any  one  came  sailing  from  the 
Grecian  land,  to  make  the  toils  of  my  hapless  slavery  to  cease. 
And  would  that  in  my  dreams  I  might  tread  G0  in  mine  home 
and  ancestral  city,  enjoying  the  hymns  of  delight,  a  joy  shared 
with  the  prosperous.  But  hither  they  come,  bound  as  to  their 
two61  hands  with  chains,  a  new  sacrifice  for  the  Goddess.  Be 
silent,  my  friends,  for  these  first-fruits  of  the  Greeks  approach 
the  temples,  nor  has  the  herdsman  told  a  false  tale.  0  reverend 
Goddess,  if  the  city  performs  these  things  agreeably  to  thee, 
receive  the  sacrifice  which,  not  hallowed  among  the  Greeks, 
the  custom  of  this  place  presents  as  a  public  offering.62 

Ipii.  Be  it  so.     I  must  first  take  care  that  the  rites  of  the 

58  I  read  roic  fiiv  and  role  8'  with  the  Cambridge  editor.  Hermann's 
emendation  is  unheard  of. 

59  This  clause  interrupts  the  construction.  cpafiovreQ  must  be  under- 
stood with  all  the  following  sentence,  as  no  finite  verb  is  expressed,  except 
tTr'tpaaav. 

60  I  have  partly  followed  Hermann,  reading  tirtfiainv  ....  diroXavwv. 
but,  as  to  reading  vttvwv  for  v/ivtov,  the  Cambridge  editor  well  calls  it 
"  one  of  the  wonders  of  his  edition."  I  should  prefer  reading  iJXftcv  with 
the  same  elegant  scholar. 

61  I  follow  the  Cambridge  editor  in  reading  StSifiag,  from  Ovid,  Ep. 
Pont.  iii.  2,  71.  "  Protinus  immitem  Trivia)  ducuntur  ad  aram,  Evincti 
geminas  ad  sua  terga  manus.". 

62  "displays  while  she  offers,"  i.  e.  "presents  as  apublic  offering."  Ed. 
Camb. 


468—505.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  371 

Goddess  arc  as  they  should  be.  Let  go  the  hands  of  the 
strangers,  that  being  consecrated  they  may  no  longer  be  in 
bonds.  And,  going  within  the  temple,  make  ready  the  things 
which  are  necessary  and  usual  on  these  occasions.  Alas ! 
Who  is  the  mother  who  once  bore  you  ?  And  who  your  father, 
and  your  sister,  if  there  be  any  born?  Of  what  a  pair  of 
youths  deprived  will  she  be  brotherless !  For  all  the  dis- 
pensations of  the  Gods  creep  into  obscurity,  and  no  one  (ab- 
sent) knows  misfortune,63  for  fortune  leads  astray  to  what  is 
hardly  known.  Whence  come  ye,  O  unhappy  strangers  ? 
After  how  long  a  time  have  ye  sailed  to  this  land,  and  ye  will 
be  a  long  time  from  your  home,  ever  among  the  shades  ! 64 

Or.  Why  mournest  thou  thus,  and  teasest  us65  concerning 
our  future  ills,  whoever  thou  art,  O  lady  ?  In  nought  do  I 
deem  him  wise,  who,  when  about  to  die,  with  bewailings  seeks 
to  overcome  the  fear  of  death,  nor  him  who  deplores  death 
now  near  at  hand,66  when  he  has  no  hope  of  safety,  in  that  he 
joins  two  ills  instead  of  one,  both  incurs  the  charge  of  folly, 
and  dies  none  the  less.  But  one  must  needs  let  fortune  take 
its  course.  But  mourn  us  not,  for  we  know  and  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  sacrificial  rites  of  this  place. 

Iph.  Which  of  ye  twain  here  is  named  Pylades  ?  This  I 
would  fain  know  first. 

Or.  This  man,  if  indeed  'tis  any  pleasure  for  thee  to  know 
this. 

Iph.  Born  citizen  of  what  Grecian  state  & 

Or.  And  what  wouldst  thou  gain  by  knowing  this,  lady  ? 

Iph.  Are  ye  brothers  from  one  mother  ? 

Or.  In  friendship  we  are,  but  we  are  not  related,  lady. 

Iph.  But  what  name  did  the  father  who  begot  thee  give  to 
thee? 

Or.  In  truth  we  might  be  styled  the  unhappy. 

Iph.  I  ask  not  this.     Leave  this  to  fortune. 

Or.  Dying  nameless,  I  should  not  be  mocked. 

Iph.  Wherefore  dost  grudge  this,  and  art  thus  proud  ? 

Or.  My  body  thou  shalt  sacrifice,  not  my  name. 

Iph.  Nor  wilt  thou  tell  me  which  is  thy  city? 

63  I  am  but  half  satisfied  with  this  passage. 

64  Read  taiadt  Si)  kcltw  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 

65  We  must  read  vSt  with  Porson. 

66  Probably  a  spurious  line. 

2  b  2 


372.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  506—530. 

Or.  No.  For  thou  seekest  a  thing  of  no  profit,  seeing  I 
am  to  die.     . 

Iph.  But  what  hinders  thee  from  granting  me  this  favour  ? 

Or.  I  boast  renowned  Argos  for  my  country. 

Iph.  In  truth,  by  the  Gods  I  ask  thee,  stranger,  art  thou 
thence  born  ? 

Or.  From  Mycenae,67  that  was  once  prosperous. 

Iph.  And  hast  thou  set  out  a  wanderer  from  thy  country, 
or  by  what  hap  ? 

Or.  I  flee  in  a  certain  wise  unwilling,  willingly. 

Iph.  Wouldst  thou  tell  me  one  thing  that  I  wish  ? 

Or.  That  something,  forsooth,08  may  be  added  to  my  mis- 
fortune. 

Iph.  And  truly  thou  hast  come  desired  by  me,  in  coming 
from  Argos. 

Or.  Not  by  myself,  at  all  events ;  but  if  by  thee,  do  thou 
enjoy  it.69 

Iph.  Perchance  thou  knowest  Troy,  the  fame  of  which  is 
every  where. 

Or.  Ay,  would  that  I  never  had,  not  even  seeing  it  in  a 
dream ! 

Iph.  They  say  that  it  is  now  no  more,  and  has  fallen  by 
the  spear. 

Or.  And  so  it  is,  nor  have  you  heard  what  is  not  the  case. 

Iph.  And  is  Helen  come  back  to  the  house  of  Menelaus  ? 

Or.  She  is,  ay?  coming  unluckily  to  one'  of  mine. 

Iph.  And  where  is  she  ?  For  she  has  incurred  an  old  debt 
of  evil  with  me  also. 

Or.   She  dwells  in  Sparta  with  her  former  consort. 

Iph.  O  hateful  pest  among  the  Greeks,  not  to  me  only ! 

Or.  I  also  have  received  some  fruits  of  her  nuptials. 

Iph.  And  did  the  return  of  the  Greeks  take  place,  as  is 
reported  ? 

Or.  How  dost  thou  question  me,  embracing  all  matters  at 
once ! 

Iph.  For  I  wish  to  obtain  this  before  that  thou  diest. 

Or.  Examine  me,  since  thou  hast  this  longing,  and  I  will 
speak. 

67  Read  Nvicrivwvy',  ay,  from  Mycenm,  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 

68  Hermann  seems  rightly  to  read  wc  y  iv. 

69  Dindorf  rightly  adopts  Reiske's  emendation  av  toco  ipa. 


531—556.  IPIIIGENIA  IN  TATJRIS,  373 

Iph.  Has  a  certain  seer  named  Calchas  returned  from  Troy  ? 

Or.  He  perished,  as  the  story  ran,  at  Mycense. 

Iph.  0  revered  Goddess,  how  well  it  is  !  And  how  fares 
the  son  of  Laertes  ? 

Or.  He  has  not  yet  returned  to  his  home,  but  he  is  alive, 
as  report  goes. 

Iph.  May  he  perish,  never  obtaining  a  return  to  his  country ! 

Or.  Invoke  nothing — all  his  affairs  are  in  a  sickly  state. 

Iph.  But  is  the  son  of  Thetis,  the  daughter  of  Nereus,  yet 
alive  ? 

Or.  He  is  not.     In  vain  he  held  his  wedding  in  Aulis. 

Iph.  A  crafty  [wedding]  it  was,  as  those  who  have  suf- 
fered say. 

Or.  Who  canst  thou  be  ?  How  well  dost  ken  the  affairs 
of  Greece ! 

Iph.  I  am  from  thence.     While  yet  a  child  I  was  undone. 

Or.  With  reason  thou  desirest  to  know  the  affairs  there, 
O  lady. 

Iph.  But  how  [fares]  the  general,  whom  they  say  is  pros- 
perous. 

Or.  Who  ?    For  he  whom  I  know  is  not  of  the  fortunate. 

Iph.  A  certain  king  Agamemnon  was  called  the  son  of 
Atreus. 

Or.  I  know  not — cease  from  these  words,  0  lady. 

Iph.  Nay,  by  the  Gods,  but  speak,  that  I  may  be  rejoiced, 
O  stranger. 

Or.  The  wretched  one  is  dead,  and  furthermore  hath 
ruined  one.70 

Iph.  Is  dead  ?     By  what  mishap  ?     O  wretched  me  ! 

Or.  But  why  dost  mourn  this  ?  Was  he  a  relation  of  thine  ? 

Iph.  I  bemoan  his  former  prosperity. 

Or.  [Ay,  well  mayest  thou,]  for  he  has  fallen,  slain  shame- 
fully by  a  woman. 

Iph.  O  all  grievous  she  that  slew  and  he  that  fell ! 

Or.  Cease  now  at  least,  nor  question  further. 

Iph.  Thus  much  at  least,  does  the  wife  of  the  unhappy 
man  live? 

Or.   She  is  no  more.  The  son  she  brought  forth,  he  slew  her. 

70  The  Cambridge  editor  rightly  reads  rivet  with  an  arcont,  as  Orestes 
obviously  means  himself.  Compare  Soph.  Ant.  751.  j/ci'  oin>  Bavilrai, 
KaX  Qavova  oXti  rivet. 


374  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  557—585. 

Iph.  0  house  all  troubled !  with  what  intent,  then?71 

Or.  Taking  satisfaction  on  her  for  the  death  of  his  father. 

Iph.  Alas  1  how  well  he  executed  an  evil  act  of  justice.72 

Or.  But,  though  just,  he  hath  not  good  fortune  from  the 
Gods. 

Iph.  But  does  Agamemnon  leave  any  other  child  in  his 
house  ? 

Or.  He  has  left  a  single  virgin  [daughter,]  Electra. 

Iph.  What!  Is  there  no  report  of  his  sacrificed  daughter?" 

Or.  None  indeed,  save  that  being  dead  she  beholds  not 
the  light. 

Iph.  Hapless  she,  and  the  father  who  slew  her  ! 

Or.  She  perished,  a  thankless  offering74  because  of  a  bad 
woman. 

Iph.  But  is  the  son  of  the  deceased  father  at  Argos  ? 

Or.  He,  wretched  man,  is  no  where  and  every  where. 

Iph.  Away,  vain  dreams,  ye  were  then  of  nought ! 

Or.  Nor  are  the  Gods  who  are  called  wise  any  less  false 
than  winged  dreams.  There  is  much  inconsistency  both 
among  the  Gods  and  among  mortals.  But  one  thing  alone  is 
left,  when75  a  man  not  being  foolish,  persuaded  by  the  words 
of  seers,  has  perished,  as  he  hath  perished  in  man's  knowledge. 

Cho.  Alas  !  alas  !  But  what  of  us  and  our  fathers  ?  Are 
they,  or  are  they  not  in  being,  who  can  tell  ? 

Iph.  Hear  me,  for  I  am  come  to  a  certain  discourse,  medi- 
tating what  is  at  once  profitable  for  you  and  me.  But  that 
which  is  well  is  chiefly  produced  thus,  when  the  same  matter 
pleases  all.  Would  ye  be  willing,  if  I  were  to  save  you,  to 
go  to  Argos,  and  bear  a  message  for  me  to  my  friends  there, 
and  carry  a  letter,  which  a  certain  captive  wrote,  pitying  me, 

71  Such  is  the  force  of  drj. 

72  I  would  read  t&irpaZaTo  with  Elmsley,  but  I  do  not  agree  with  him 
in  substituting  kciki]v.  The  oxymoron  seems  intentional,  and  by  no  means 
unlike  Euripides. 

73  The  Cambridge  editor  would  read  tar  ovtiq  Xoyoc. 

74  But  x^Plv>  as  Matthias  remarks,  is  taken  in  two  senses  ;  as  a  prepo- 
sition with  yvvaiKug,  ob  improbam  mtilieretn,  and  as  a  substantive,  with 
dxaptv  added.  Cf.  iEsch.  Choeph.  44.  Lucretius  uses  a  similar  oxy- 
moron respecting  the  same  subject,  i.  99.  "  Sed  casta  i7iceste  nubendi 
tempore  in  ipso  Hostia  concideret  mactatu  ma?sta  parentis." 

75  This  passage  is  very  corrupt.  The  Cambridge  editor  supposes  some- 
thing lost  respecting  the  fortunes  of  Orestes.  Hermann  reads  'iv  Sk  \v- 
TrtiaQai  fiovov,  o  r'  ovk  d(ppwv  wv.     But  I  am  very  doubtful. 


585-621.  IPIIIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  375 

nor  deeming  my  hand  that  of  a  murderess,  but  that  lie  died 
through  custom,  as  the  Goddess  sanctioned  such  things  as 
just  ?  For  I  had  no  one  who  would  go  and  bear  the  news 
back  to  Argos,  and  who,  being  preserved,  would  send  my  let- 
ters to  some  one  of  my  friends.76  But  do  thou,  for  thou  art, 
as  thou  seemest,  of  no  ignoble  birth,  and  knowest  Mycenae  and 
the  persons  I  wish,  do  thou,  I  say,77  be  saved,  receiving  no 
dishonourable  reward,  your  safety  for  the  sake  of  trifling  letters. 
But  let  this  man,  since  the  city  compels  it,  be  a  sacrifice  to 
the  Goddess,  apart  from  thee. 

Or.  Well  hast  thou  spoken  the  rest,  save  one  thing,  O 
stranger  lady,  for  'tis  a  heavy  weight  upon  me  that  this  man 
should  be  slain.  For  I  was  steersman  of  the  vessel  to  these 
ills,78  but  he  is  a  fellow-sailor  because  of  mine  own  troubles. 
In  no  wise  then  is  it  right  that  I  should  do  thee  a  favour  to 
his  destruction,  and  myself  escape  from  ills.  But  let  it  be 
thus.  Give  him  the  letter,  for  he  will  send  it  to  Argos,  so  as 
to  be  well  for  thee,  but  let  him  that  will  slay  me.  Base  is  the 
man,  who,  casting  his  friends  into  calamity,  himself  is  saved. 
But  this  man  is  a  friend,  who  I  fain  should  see  the  light  no 
less  than  myself. 

Iph.  0  noblest  spirit,  how  art  thou  sprung  from  some 
generous  root,  thou  truly  a  friend  to  thy  friends  !  Such  might 
he  be  who  is  left  of  my  brothers  !  For  in  good  truth,  strangers, 
I  am  not  brotherless,  save  that  I  behold  him  not.  But  since 
thou  wiliest  thus,  let  us  send  this  man  bearing  the  letter,  but 
thou  wilt  die,  and  some  great  desire  of  this  chances  to  pos- 
sess thee?79 

Or.  But  who  will  sacrifice  me,  and  dare  this  dreadful  deed  ? 

Iph.  I ;  for  I  have  this  sacrificial  duty80  from  the  Goddess. 

Or.  Unenviable  indeed,  O  damsel,  and  unblest. 

Iph.  But  we  lie  under  necessity,  which  one  must  beware. 

Or.  Thyself,  a  female,  sacrificing  males  with  the  sword  ? 

76  These  three  lines  are  justly  condemned  as  an  absurd  interpolation  by 
Dindorf  and  the  Cambridge  editor. 

77  This  seems  the  easiest  way  of  expressing  /cat  av  after  av  5'. 

78  I  am  partly  indebted  to  Potter's  happy  version.  The  Cambridge 
editor  is  as  ingenious  as  usual,  but  he  candidly  allows  that  conjecture  is 
scarcely  requisite. 

79  i.  e.  thou  seemest  reckless  of  life. 

80  7rpo<jTpoTrr),  this  mode  of  offering  supplication,  i.  e.  this  duty  of 
sacrifice. 


376  IPIIIGENIA  IN  TAURIS. 


622—649 


Inn.  Not  so ;  but  I  shall  have  around  thy  head  with  the 
lustral  stream. 

Or.  But  who  is  the  slayer,  if  I  may  ask  this  ? 

Iph.  Within  the  house  are  they  whose  office  is  this. 

Or.  And  what  manner  of  tomb  will  receive  me,  when  I  die  ? 

Iph.  The  holy  flame  within,  and  the  dark  chasm  of  the 
rock.81 

Or.  Alas  !  Would  that  a  sister's  hand  might  lay  me  out.82 

Iph.  A  vain  prayer  hast  thou  uttered,  whoever  thou  art,  O 
stranger,  for  she  dwells  far  from  this  barbarian  land.  Never- 
theless, since  thou  art  an  Argive,  I  will  not  fail  to  do  thee 
kindness  in  what  is  possible.  For  on  thy  tomb  will  I  place 
much  adornment,  and  with  the  tawny  oil  will  I  cause  thy 
body  to  be  soon  consumed,83  and  on  thy  pyre  will  I  pour  the 
flower-sucked  riches  of  the  swarthy  bee.  But  I  will  go  and 
fetch  the  letter  from  the  shrines  of  the  Goddess.  But  do  thou 
not  bear  ill  will  against  me.  Guard  them,  ye  servants,  [but] 
Avithout  fetters.84  Perchance  I  shall  send  unexpected  tidings 
to  some  one  of  my  friends  at  Argos,  whom  I  chiefly  love,  and 
the  letter,  telling  to  him  that  she  lives  whom  he  thinks  dead, 
will  announce  a  faithful  pleasure. 

Cho.  I  deplore  thee  now  destined  to  the  gory  streams  of 
the  lustral  waters.85 

Or.  'Tis  piteous,  truly;86  but  fare  ye  well,  stranger  ladies. 

Cho.  But  thee,  {to  Pylades,)  O  youth,  we  honour  for  thy 
happy  fortune,  that  at  some  time  thou  wilt  return  to  thy 
country. 

sl  Diodorus,"xx.  14.  quotes  this  and  the  preceding  line  reading  x^oi'OQ 
for  7rerpac.  He  supposes  that  Euripides  derived  the  present  account 
from  the  sacrifices  offered  to  Saturn  by  the  Carthaginians,  who  caused 
their  children  to  fall  from  the  hands  of  the  statue  ug  ri  %a'cr/ia  TrXfjpeg 
Trvpog.  Compare  Porphyr.  de  Abst.  ii.  27.  Justin,  xviii.  6.  For  similar 
human  sacrifices  amongst  the  Gauls,  Cassar  de  B.  G.  vi.  ]G,  with  the  note 
of  Vossius.  Compare  also  Saxo  Grammaticus,  Hist.  Dan.  iii.  p.  42,  and  the 
passages  of  early  historians  quoted  in  Stephens'  entertaining  notes,  p.  92. 

82  Cf.  Tibull.  i.  3,  5.  "  Abstineas,  mors  atra,  precor,  non  hie  mihi  ma- 
ter, Qua?  legat  in  ma;stos  ossa  perusta  sinus ;  non  soror,  Assyrios  cineri 
quae  dedat  odores,  et  fleat  efl'usis  ante  sepulchra  comis." 

83  This  must  be  what  the  poet  intends  by  itaraaftsa-w,  however  awk- 
wardly expressed.     See  Hermann's  note. 

84  Compare  vs.  468  sq. 

85  This  line  is  hopelessly  corrupt. 

86  I  read  fiiv  ovv  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 


650-686.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  377 

Pyl.  Not  to  be  coveted87  by  friends,  when  friends  are  to  die. 

Cho.  O  mournful  journeying  !  Alas  !  alas  !  thou  art  un- 
done. Woe !  woe  !  which  is  the  [victim]  to  be  ?  For  still 
my  mind  resolves88  twain  doubtful  [ills,]  whether  with  groans 
I  shall  bemoan  thee  (to  Orestes)  or  thee  (to  Pylades)  first. 

Or.  Pylades,  hast  thou,  by  the  Gods,  experienced  the  same 
feeling  as  myself? 

Pyl.  I  know  not.     Thou  askest  me  unable  to  say. 

Or.  Who  is  this  damsel  ?  With  what  a  Grecian  spirit  she 
asked  us  concerning  the  toils  in  Troy,  and  the  return  of  the 
Greeks,  and  Calchas  wise  in  augury,  and  about  Achilles,  and 
how  she  pitied  wretched  Agamemnon,  and  asked  me  of  his 
wife  and  children.  This  stranger  lady  is69  some  Greek  by 
race ;  for  otherwise  she  never  would  have  been  sending  a  let- 
ter and  making  these  inquiries,  as  sharing  a  common  weal  in 
the  well-doing  of  Argos. 

Pyl.  Thou  hast  outstripped  me  a  little,  but  thou  outstrip- 
pest  me  in  saying  the  same  things,  save  in  one  respect — for 
all,  with  whom  there  is  any  communication,  know  the  fate  of 
the  king.     But  I  was90  considering  another  subject. 

Or.  What  ?  laying  it  clown  in  common,  you  will  better 
understand. 

Pyl.  'Tis  base  that  I  should  behold  the  light,  whilst  you 
perish ;  and,  having  sailed  with  you,  with  you  I  must  needs 
die  also.  For  I  shall  incur  the  imputation  of  both  cowardice 
and  baseness  in  Argos  and  the  Phocian  land  with  its  many 
dells,  and  I  shall  seem  to  the  many,  for  the  many  are  evil,  to 
have  arrived  alone  in  safety  to  mine  home,  having  deserted 
thee,  or  even  to  have  murdered  thee,  taking  advantage  of  the 
sickly  state  of  thine  house,  and  to  have  devised  thy  fate  for 
the  sake  of  reigning,  in  order  that,  forsooth,  I  might  wed  thy 
sister  as  an  heiress.91  These  things,  then,  I  dread,  and  hold 
in  shame,  and  it  shall  not  be  but  I  will  breathe  my  last  with 
thee,  be  slain,  and  have  my  body  burnt  with  thee,  being  a 
friend,  and  dreading  reproach. 

67  afyjka  is  in  opposition  to  the  whole  preceding  clause. 

88  See  the  note  of  the  Cambridge  editor  on  Iph.  Aul.  1372. 

89  I  should  prefer  tan  crj,  "  she  surely  is." 

90  We  must  evidently  read  either  SitjXOov  with  Porson,  or  dii\9t  with 
Jan.,  Le  Fevre,  and  Markland. 

91  I  almost  agree  with  Dindorf  in  considering  this  line  spurious. 


378  IPIIIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  6S7— 730. 

Or.  Speak  words  of  better  omen.  I  must  needs  bear  my 
troubles,  but  when  I  may  [endure]  one  single  trouble,  I  will 
not  endure  twain.  For  what  thou  callest  bitter  and  reproach- 
ful, that  is  my  portion,  if  I  cause  thee  to  be  slain  who  hast 
shared  my  toils.  For,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  stands  not 
badly  with  me,  faring  as  I  fare  at  the  hands  of  the  Gods,  to 
end  my  life.  But  thou  art  prosperous,  and  hast  a  home  pure, 
not  sickening,  but  I  [have]  one  impious  and  unhappy.  And 
living  thou  mayest  raise  children  from  my  sister,  whom  I  gave 
thee  to  have92  as  a  wife,  and  my  name  might  exist,  nor  would 
my  ancestral  house  be  ever  blotted  out.  But  go,  live,  and 
dwell  in  my  father's  house ;  and  when  thou  corniest  to  Greece 
and  chivalrous  Argos,  by  thy  right  hand,  I  commit  to  thee 
this  charge.  Heap  up  a  tomb,  and  place  upon  it  remembrances 
of  me,  and  let  my  sister  offer  tears  and  her  shorn  locks  upon 
my  sepulchre.  And  tell  how  I  died  by  an  Argive  woman's 
hand,  sacrificed  as  an  offering  by  the  altar's  side.  And  do  thou 
never  desert  my  sister,  seeing  my  father's  connexions  and 
home  bereaved.  And  fare  thee  well !  for  I  have  found  thee 
best  among  my  friends.  Oh  thou  who  hast  been  my  fellow- 
huntsman,  my  mate !  Oh  thou  who  hast  borne  the  weight  of 
many  of  my  sorrows !  But  Phcebus,  prophet  though  he  be, 
has  deceived  me.  For,  artfully  devising,  he  has  driven  me  as 
far  as  possible  from  Greece,  in  shame  of  his  former  prophecies. 
To  whom  I,  yielding  up  mine  all,  and  obeying  his  words, 
having  slain  my  mother,  myself  perish  in  turn. 

Pyl.  Thou  shalt  have  a  tomb,  and  never  will  I,  hapless 
one,  betray  thy  sister's  bed,  since  I  shall  hold  thee  more  a 
friend  dead  than  living.  But  the  oracle  of  the  God  has  never 
yet  wronged  thee,  although  thou  art  indeed  on  the  very  verge 
of  death.  But  excessive  mischance  is  very  wont,  is  very  wont 
to  present  changes,  when  the  matter  so  falls. 

Or.  Be  silent — the  words  of  Phoebus  avail  me  nought,  for 
the  lady  is  coming  hither  without  the  temple. 

Iph.  Depart  ye,  and  go  and  make  ready  the  things  within 
for  those  who  superintend  the  sacrifice.  These,  O  stranger, 
are  the  many-folded  enclosures  of  the  letter,  but  hear  thou 
what  I  further  wish.  No  man  is  the  same  in  trouble,  and 
when  he  changes  from  fear  into  confidence.     But  I  fear,  lest 

92  For  this  construction  compare  Ritterlius.  ad  Oppian,  Cyn.  i.  11. 


731—758.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  379 

he,  having  got  away  from  this  land,  will  deem  my  letter  of  no 
account,  who  is  about  to  bear  this  letter  to  Argos.93 

Or.  What  wouldst  thou  ?  Concerning  what  art  thou  dis- 
turbed ? 

Iph.  Let  him  make  me  oath  that  he  will  ferry  these 
writings  to  Argos,  to  those  friends  to  whom  I  wish  to  send 
them. 

Ok.  Wilt  thou  in  turn  make  the  same  assertion  to  him  ? 

Iph.  That  I  will  do,  or  will  not  do  what  thing  ?  say. 

Or.  That  you  will  release  him  from  this  barbarian  land, 
not  dying. 

Iph.  Thou  sayest  justly;  for  how  could  he  bear  the  mes- 
sage ? 

Or.  But  will  the  ruler  also  grant  this  ? 

Iph.  Yea.  I  will  persuade  him,  and  will  myself  embark 
him  on  the  ship's  hull. 

Or.  Swear,  but  do  thou  commence  such  oath  as  is  holy. 

Iph.  Thou  must  say  "I  will  give  this  [letter"]  to  my 
friends. 

Pyl.  I  will  give  this  letter  to  thy  friends. 

Iph.  And  I  will  send  thee  safe  beyond  the  Cyanean  rocks. 

Pyl.  Whom  of  the  Gods  dost  thou  call  to  witness  of  thine 
oath  in  these  words  ? 

Iph.  Diana,  in  whose  temple  I  hold  office. 

Pyl.  But  I  [call  upon]  the  king  of  heaven,  hallowed  Jove. 

Iph.  But  if,  deserting  thine  oath,  thou  shouldst  wrong  me — 

Pyl.  May  I  not  return  ?  But  thou,  if  thou  savest  me  not — 

Iph.  May  I  never  living  set  foot-print  in  Argos. 

Pyl.  Hear  now  then  a  matter  which  Ave  have  passed  by. 

Iph.  There  will  be  opportunity  hereafter,  if  matters  stand 
aright. 

Pyl.  Grant  me  this  one  exception.  If  the  vessel  suffer  any 
harm,  and  the  letter  be  lost94  in  the  storm,  together  with  the 
goods,  and  I  save  my  person  only,  that  this  mine  oath  be  no 
longer  valid.95 

93  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  line  is  spurious,  and  the  preceding 
Brjrai  corrupt.     One  would  expect  Oijay. 

9i  Cf.  Kuinoel  on  Cydon.  de  Mort.  Contem.  §  1,  p.  6,  n.  18. 

95  Literally,  "  no  longer  an  hinderance,"  i.  e.  "  that  I  be  no  longer  re- 
sponsible for  its  fulfilment." 


380  IPHIGEXIA  IN  TAURIS.  759—731. 

Ipii.  Knowest  thou  what  I  will  do?96  for  the  many  things 
contained  in  the  folds  of  the  letter  bear  opportunity  for  many 
things.97  I  will  tell  you  in  words  all  that  you  are  to  convey 
to  my  friends,  for  this  plan  is  safe.  If  indeed  thou  preservest 
the  letter,  it  will  itself  silently  tell  the  things  written,  but  if 
these  letters  be  lost  at  sea,  saving  thy  body,  thou  wilt  preserve 
my  message. 

Pyl.  Thou  hast  spoken  well  on  behalf  of  the  Gods98  and  of 
myself.  But  tell  me  to  whom  at  Ai'gos  I  must  needs  bear 
these  epistles,  and  what  hearing  from  thee,  I  must  tell. 

Iph.  Bear  word  to  Orestes,  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  (read- 
ing) "  she99  that  was  sacrificed  at  Aulis  gives  this  commission, 
Iphigenia  alive,  but  no  longer  alive  as  far  as  those  in  Argos 
are  concerned." 

Or.  But  where  is  she  ?  Does  she  come  back  again  having 
died? 

Iph.  She,  whom  you  see.  Do  not  confuse  me  with  speak- 
ing. (Continues  reading.)  "Bear  me  to  Argos,  my  brother, 
before  I  die,  remove  me  from  this  barbarian  land  and  the 
sacrifices  of  the  Goddess,  in  which  I  have  the  office  of  slaying 
strangers." 

Or.  Pylades,  what  shall  I  say  ?  where  shall  we  be  found  to 
be?100 

Iph.  {still  reading.)  "  Or  I  will  be  a  cause  of  curses  upon 
thine  house,  Orestes,"  (with  great  stress  upon  the  name  and 
turning  to  Pi/lades,)  "  that  thou,  twice  hearing  the  name, 
mayest  know  it." 

Pyl.  O  Gods  ! 

Iph.  Why  callest  thou  upon  the  Gods  in  matters  that  are 
mine  ? 

Pyl.  'Tis  nothing.     Go  on.     I  was  wandering  to  another 

96  The  Cambridge  editor,  however,  seems  to  have  settled  the  question 
in  favour  of  olaQ  ovv  6  cpaoov. 

97  I  must  candidly  confess  that  none  of  the  explanations  of  these  words 
satisfy  me.  Perhaps  it  is  best  to  regard  them,  with  Seidler,  as  merely 
signiiving  the  mutability  of  fortune. 

98  i.  e.  as  far  as  the  fulfilling  of  my  oath  is  concerned. 

99  The  letter  evidently  commences  with  the  words  i)  'v  AvXiSi  atyayiioa. 
I  cannot  imagine  how  Markland  and  others  should  have  made  it  com- 
mence with  the  previous  line. 

100  i.  e.  in  what  company. 


782—811.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  381 

subject.  Perchance,  inquiring  of  thee,  I  shall  arrive  at  things 
incredible.1 

Irii.  (contimies  reading.)  "  Say  that  the  Goddess  Diana 
saved  me,  giving  in  exchange  for  me  a  hind,  which  my  father 
sacrificed,  thinking  that  it  was  upon  me  that  he  laid  the  sharp 
sword,  and  she  placed  me  to  dwell  in  this  land."  This  is  the 
burden  of  my  message,  these  are  the  words  written  in  my 
letter. 

Ptl.  0  thou  who  hast  secured  me  in  easy  oaths,  and  hast 
sworn  things  fairest,  I  will  not  delay  much  time,  but  I  will 
firmly  accomplish  the  oath  I  have  sworn.  Behold,  I  bear  and 
deliver  to  thee  a  letter,  O  Orestes,  from  this  thy  sister. 

Or.  I  receive  it.  And  letting  go  the  opening  of  the  letter, 
I  will  first  seize  a  delight  not  in  words  {attempts  to  embrace 
her).  0  dearest  sister  mine,  in  amazement,  yet  nevertheless 
embracing  thee  with  a  doubting  arm,  I  go  to  a  source  of  de- 
light, hearing  things  marvellous  to  me.2 

Cho.  Stranger,3  thou  dost  not  rightly  pollute  the  servant 
of  the  Goddess,  casting  thine  arm  around  her  garments  that 
should  ne'er  be  touched. 

Or.  O  fellow-sister  born  of  one  sire,  Agamemnon,  turn  not 
from  me,  possessing  a  brother  whom  you  never  thought  to 
possess. 

Iph.  I  [possess]  thee  my  brother?  Wilt  not  cease  speak- 
ing ?   Both  Argos  and  Nauplia  are  frequented  by  him.4 

Or.  Unhappy  one  !  thy  brother  is  not  there. 

Iph.  But  did  the  Lacedaemonian  daughter  of  Tyndarus 
beget  thee  ? 

Or.  Ay,  to  the  grandson  of  Pelops,  whence  I  am  sprung.5 

Iph.  What  sayest  thou  ?  Hast  thou  any  proof  of  this  for  me  ? 

Or.  I  have.    Ask  something  relative  to  my  ancestral  home. 

L?h.  Thou  must  needs  then  speak,  and  I  learn. 

Or.  I  will  first  speak  from  hearsay  from  Electra,  this.0 

1  This  line  is  either  spurious  or  out  of  place.  See  the  Cambridge 
editor. 

2  The  Cambridge  editor  in  a  note  exhibiting  his  usual  chastened  and 
elegant  judgment,  regards  these  three  lines  as  an  absurd  and  trifling  inter- 
polation.    For  the  credit  of  Euripides,  I  would  fain  do  the  same. 

s  The  same  elegant  scholar  justly  assigns  these  lines  to  Iphigenia. 

4  So  Erfurdt. 

5  See  the  Cambridge  editor. 

8  This  line  seems  justly  condemned  by  the  Cambridge  editor. 


382  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS. 


SI  2— 833. 


Thou  knowest  the  strife  that  took  place  between  Atreus  and 
Thyestes  ? 

Iph.  I  have  heard  of  it,  when  it  was  waged  concerning  the 
golden  lamb. 

Or.  Dost  thou  then  remember  weaving  [a  representation 
of]  this  on  the  deftly- wrought  web  ? 

Iph.  O  dearest  one.  Thou  art  turning  thy  course  near  to 
my  own  thoughts.7 

Or.  And  [dost  thou  remember]  a  picture  on  the  loom,  the 
turning  away  of  the  sun  ? 

Iph.  I  wove  this  image  also  in  the  fine-threaded  web. 

Or.  And  didst  thou  receive8  a  bath  from  thy  mother,  sent 
to  Aulis  ? 

Iph.  I  know  it :  for  the  wedding,  though  good,  did  not  take 
away  my  recollection.9 

Or.  But  what  ?  [Dost  thou  remember]  to  have  given  thine 
hair  to  be  carried  to  thy  mother  ? 

Iph.  Ay,  as  a  memorial  for  the  tomb10  in  place  of  my  body. 

Or.  But  the  proofs  which  I  have  myself  beheld,  these  will 
I  tell,  viz.  the  ancient  spear  of  Pelops  in  my  father's  house, 
which  brandishing  in  his  hand,  he  [Pelops]  won  Hippoda- 
meia,  having  slain  ^Enomaus,  which  is  hidden  in  thy  virgin 
chamber. 

Iph.  O  dearest  one,  no  more,  for  thou  art  dearest.  I  hold 
thee,  Orestes,  one  darling  son11  far  away  from  his  father-land, 
from  Argos,  O  thou  dear  one ! 

Or.  And  I  [hold]  thee  that  wast  dead,  as  was  supposed. 
But  tears,  yet  tearless,12  and  groans  together  mingled  with  joy, 
bedew  thine  eyelids,  and  mine  in  like  manner. 

7  With  Kci^TTTtiQ  understand  fy>6/toi/= thou  art  fast  arriving  at  the  goal 
of  the  truth. 

8  Read  ci-xio'i^u  with  ed.  Camb. 

9  "  I  remember  it :  for  the  wedding  did  not,  by  its  happy  result,  take 
away  the  recollection  of  that  commencement  of  nuptial  ceremonies." 
Camb.  Ed. 

10  i.  e.  Iphigenia  sent  it  with  a  view  to  a  cenotaph  at  Mycenre,  as  she 
was  about  to  die  at  Aulis.     See  Seidler. 

11  "  This  Homeric  epithet  of  an  only  son  is  used,  I  believe,  no  where 
else  in  Attic  poetry.  Its  adoption  here  seems  owing  to  Horn.  II.  I.  14'2 
and  284.  riaut  £k  fiiv  laov  'Opzory  "Og  fioi  TijXiyiros  rpecptTai  6a\iy  tvi 
TroXXy."     Ed.  Camb. 

12  This  is  Musgrave's  elegant  emendation,  which  Hermann,  unwill- 
ing to  let  well  alone,  has  attempted  to  spoil.     See,  however,  the  Cam- 


834-8S0.  IPHIGEXIA  IN  TAURIS.  3S3 

Iph.  This  one,  this,  yet  a  babe  I  left,  young  in  the  arms  of 
the  nurse,  ay,  young  in  our  house.  O  thou  more  fortunate 
than  my  words 13  can  tell,  what  shall  I  say  ?  This  matter  has 
turned  out  beyond  marvel  or  calculation. 

Or.  [Say  this.]  May  we  for  the  future  be  happy  with 
each  other ! 

Iph.  I  have  experienced  an  unaccountable  delight,  dear 
companions,  but  I  fear  lest  it  flit u  from  my  hands,  and  escape 
towards  the  sky.  O  ye  Cyclopean  hearths,  0  Mycenae,  dear 
country  mine,  I  am  grateful  to  thee  for  my  life,  and  grateful 
for  my  nurture,  in  that  thou  hast  trained  for  me  this  brother 
light  in  my  home. 

Or.  In  our  race  we  are  fortunate,  but  as  to  calamities,  O 
sister,  our  life  is  by  nature  unhappy. 

Iph.  But  I  wretched  remember  when  my  father  with  fool- 
ish spirit  laid  the  sword  upon  my  neck. 

Or.  Ah  me !  For  I  seem,  not  being  present,  to  behold 
you  there.15 

Iph.  Without  Hymen,  0  my  brother,  when  I  was  being 
led  to  the  fictitious  nuptial  bed  of  Achilles.  But  near  the 
altar  were  tears  and  lamentations.  Alas  !  alas,  for  the  lustral 
waters  there ! 

Or.  I  mourn  aloud  for  the  deed  my  father  dared. 

Iph.  I  obtained  a  fatherless,  a  fatherless  lot.  But  one  ca- 
lamity follows  upon  another.16 

Or.  [Ay,]  if  thou  hadst  lost  thy  brother,  0  hapless  one, 
by  the  intervention  of  some  demon. 

L?h.  O  miserable  for  my  dreadful  daring  !  I  have  dared 
horrid,  I  have  dared  horrid  things.  Alas  !  my  brother.  But 
by  a  little  hast  thou  escaped  an  unholy  destruction,  stricken 
by  my  hands.  But  what  will  be  the  end  after  this  ?  What 
fortune  will  befall  me?  What  retreat  can  I  find  for  thee 
away  from  this  city  ?  can  I  send  you  out  of  the  reach  of 
slaughter  to  your  country  Argos,  before  that  my  sword  en- 
bridge  editor,  who  possesses  taste  and  clear  perception,  unbiassed  by 
self-love. 

13  Read  t/«oic  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 

14  But  (pvyyc,  and  w  ipiXog,  the  emendation  of  Burges,  seems  far  bet- 
ter, and  is  followed  by  the  Cambridge  editor. 

15  i.  e.  I  can  imagine  your  sufferings  at  Aulis. 

16  The  Cambridge  editor  compares  Hec.  684.  'irtpa  £'  aV  tripuv  kuko. 
icaic&v  KvpiX. 


384  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  881—914. 

ter  on  the  contest  concerning  thy  blood?17  This  is  thy  busi- 
ness, O  hapless  soul,  to  discover,  whether  over  the  land,  not 
in  a  ship,  but  by  the  gust13  of  your  feet  thou  wilt  approach 
death,  passing  through19  barbarian  hordes,  and  through  ways 
not  to  be  traversed?  Or20  [wilt  thou  pass]  through  the  Cy- 
anean  creek,  a  long  journey  in  the  flight  of  ships.  Wretched, 
wretched  one  !  Who  then  or  God,  or  mortal,  or  [unexpected 
event,'-1]  having  accomplished  a  way  out  of  inextricable  dif- 
ficulties, will  show  forth  to  the  sole  twain  Atrides  a  release 
from  ills? 

Cho.  Among  marvels  and  things  passing  even  fable  are 
these  things  which  I  shall  tell  as  having  myself  beheld,  and 
not  from  hearsay. 

Pyl.  It  is  meet  indeed  that  friends  coming  into  the  pre- 
sence of  friends,  Orestes,  should  embrace  one  another  with 
their  hands,  but,  having  ceased  from  mournful  matters,  it  be- 
hoves you  also  to  betake  you  to  those  measures  by  which  Ave, 
obtaining  the  glorious  name  of  safety,  may  depart  from  this 
barbarian  earth.  For  it  is  the  part  of  wise  men,  not  wander- 
ing from  their  present  chance,  when  they  have  obtained  an 
opportunity,  to  acquire  further  delights.23 

Or.  Thou  sayest  well.  But  I  think  that  fortune  will  take 
care  of  this  with  us.  For  if  a  man  be  zealous,  it  is  likely 
that  the  divine  power  will  have  still  greater  power. 

Iph.  Do  not  restrain  or  hinder  me  from  your  words,  not 
first  to  know  what  fortune  of  life  Electra  has  obtained,  for 
this  were  pleasant  to  me  [to  hear.]23 

17  This  is  Reiske's  interpretation,  taking  the  construction  irplv  Zipog 
7ra\.  iirl  ai/ian.  But  Seidler  would  recall  the  old  reading  Trtkaaai,  com- 
paring Hel.  361.  avToaiSapov  taw  TnXuirio  8i3l  oapKoc;  u/uXXar.  This  is 
better,  but  we  must  also  read  in  for  iiri  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 

13  pnra  ttoSwv  is  a  bold  way  of  expressing  rapid  travelling. 

19  Read  dvd  with  Markland,  for  dpa. 

20  I  read  f/  Sid  Kvav.  with  the  Cambridge  editor.  The  following  words 
are  rendered  thus  by  Musgrave,  "  Per  .  ...  est  longum  iter." 

21  Unintelligible,  and  probably  spurious. 

22  The  Cambridge  editor  finds  fault  with  the  obvious  clumsiness  of  the 
expression,  and  proposes  t\tiv  for  \a(itiv.  I  have  still  greater  doubts 
about  eicfidvTac  rw^iJC-  The  sense  ought  to  be,  "  'tis  the  part  of  wise 
men,  when  fortune  favours,  not  to  lose  the  opportunity,  but  to  gain  other 
advantages." 

23  See  Dindorf's  notes.  But  the  Cambridge  editor  has  shown  so  de- 
cided a  superiority  to  the  German  critics,  that  I  should  unhesitatingly 


915—939.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  385 

Or.  She  is  partner  with  this  man,  possessing  a  happy  life. 

Iph.  And  of  what  country  is  he,  and  son  of  what  man 
born  ? 

Or.  Strophius  the  Phocian  is  styled  his  father. 

Iph.  And  he  is  of  the  daughter  of  Atreus,  a  relative  of 
mine  ? 

Or.  Ay,  a  cousin,  my  only  certain  friend. 

Iph.  Was  he  not  in  being,  when  my  father  sought  to  slay 
me? 

Or.  He  was  not,  for  Strophius  was  childless  some  time. 

Iph.  Hail !  O  thou  spouse  of  my  sister. 

Or.  Ay,  and  my  preserver,  not  relation  only. 

Iph.  But  how  didst  thou  dare  the  terrible  deeds  in  respect 
to  your  mother  ? 

Or.  Let  us  be  silent  respecting  my  mother — 'twas  in  aveng- 
ing my  father. 

Iph.  And  what  was  the  reason  for  her  slaying  her  husband  ? 

Or.  Let  go  the  subject  of  my  mother.  Nor  is  it  pleasant 
for  you  to  hear. 

Iph.  I  am  silent.     But  Argos  now  looks  up  to  thee. 

Or.  Menelaus  rules :  I  am  an  exile  from  my  country. 

Iph.  What,  did  our  uncle  abuse  our  house  unprospering  ? 

Or.  Not  so,  but  the  fear  of  the  Erinnyes  drives  me  from  my 
land. 

Iph.  For  this  then  wert  thou  spoken  of  as  being  frantic 
even  here  on  the  shore. 

Or.  We  were  beheld  not  now  for  the  first  time  in  a  hap- 
less state. 

Iph.  I  perceive.  The  Goddesses  goaded  thee  on  because 
of  thy  mother. 

Or.  Ay,  so  as  to  cast  a  bloody  bit21  upon  me. 

Iph.  For  wherefore  didst  thou  pilot  thy  foot  to  this  land. 

Or.  I  came,  commanded  by  the  oracles  of  Phoebus — 

Iph.  To  do  what  thing  ?  Is  it  one  to  be  spoken  of  or  kept 
in  silence  ? 

Or.  I  will  tell  you,  but  these  are  the  beginning  for  me  of 

adopt  his  reading,  as  follows  :  ov  fit)  fi  tTricrxyg,  ovS'  a.7ro<TTj)<TEig  Xoyov, 
to  /.ir)  ov  TrvOeaOai  .  .  . .  <pi\a  yap  ravra,  (with  Markland,)  although 
npuiTov  may  perhaps  be  defended. 

24  See  the  Cambridge  editor.  The  same  elegant  scholar  has  also  im- 
proved the  arrangement  of  the  lines. 

2  c 


386  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  910-970. 

many25  woes.  After  these  evil  things  concerning  my  mother, 
on  which  I  keep  silence,  had  been  wrought,  I  was  driven  an 
exile  by  the  pursuits  of  the  .Erinnyes,  when  Loxias  sent  my 
foot26  to  Athens,  that  I  might  render  satisfaction  to  the  deities 
that  must  not  be  named.  For  there  is  a  holy  council,  that  Jove 
once  on  a  time  instituted  for  Mars  on  account  of  some  pollu- 
tion of  his  hands.27  And  coming  thither,  at  first  indeed  no 
one  of  the  strangers  received  me  willingly,  as  being  abhorred 
by  the  Gods,  but  they  who  had  respect  to  me,  afforded  me n- 
a  stranger's  meal  at  a  separate  table,  being  under  the  same 
house  roof,  and  silently  devised  in  respect  to  me,  unaddressed 
by  them,  how  I  might  be  separated  from  their  banquet38  and 
cup,  and,  having  filled  up  a  share  of  wine  in  a  separate  vessel, 
equal  for  all,  they  enjoyed  themselves.  And  I  did  not  think 
fit  to  rebuke  my  guests,  but  I  grieved  in  silence,  and  did  not 
seem  to  perceive  [their  conduct,]  deeply  groaning,  because  I 
was  my  mother's  slayer.30  But  I  hear  that  my  misfortunes 
have  been  made  a  festival  at  Athens,  and  that  this  custom  still 
remains,  that  the  people  of  Pallas  honour  the  Libation  Vessel.31 
But  when  I  came  to  the  hill  of  Mars,  and  stood  in  judgment, 
I  indeed  occupying  one  seat,  but  the  eldest  of  the  Erinnyes 
the  other,  having  spoken  and  heard  respecting  my  mother's 
death,  Phoebus  saved  me  by  bearing  witness,  but  Pallas  counted 
out  for  me32  the  equal  votes  with  her  hand,  and  I  came  off 
victor  in  the  bloody  trial.33  As  many  then  as  sate  [in  judg- 
ment,] persuaded  by  the  sentence,  determined  to  hold  their 
dwelling  near  the  court  itself.34  But  as  many  of  the  Erinnyes 
as  did  not  yield  obedience  to  the  sentence  passed,  continually 

25  "Quanquam  animus  meminisse  horret,  luctuque  refugit,  Incipiam." 
Virg.  JEn.  i. 

26  I  read  tv9'  qibv  vuSa  with  Herm.  and  Dind. 

27  Cf.  Elect.  1258  sqq.,  and  Meurs.  Axeop.  $  i.  ^uipog  seems  here  used 
to  denote  the  place  where  the  council  was  held.  The  pollution  of  Mars 
was  the  murder  of  Hallirothius.  Cf.  Pausan.  i.  21.    > 

28  An  instance  of  the  nominativus  pendens. 

29  So  Valckenaer,  Diatr.  p.  24G,  who  quotes  some  passages  relative  to 
the  treatment  of  Orestes  at  Athens. 

30  See  the  Cambridge  editor. 

31  See  Barnes,  who  quotes  the  Schol.  on  Arist.  Eq.  95.  Xovg  was  the 
name  of  the  festival. 

32  inoi  is  the  dativus  commodi. 

33  I  am  indebted  to  Maltby  for  this  translation. 

34  Cf.  Piers,  on  Moer.  p.  351,  and  the  Cambridge  editor. 


971—1011.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  387 

kept  driving  me  with  unsettled  wanderings,  until  I  again  re- 
turned to  the  holy  ground  of  Phcebus,  and  lying  stretched 
before  the  adyts,  hungering  for  food,  I  swore  that  I  would 
break  from  life  by  dying  on  the  spot,  unless  Phoebus,  who 
had  undone,  should  preserve  me.  Upon  this  Phoebus,  utter- 
ing a  voice  from  the  golden  tripod,  sent  me  hither  to  seize  the 
heaven-sent  image,  and  place  it  in  the  land  of  Athens.  But 
that  safety  which  he  marked  out  for  me  do  thou  aid  in.  For 
if  we  can  lay  hold  on  the  image  of  the  Goddess,  I  both  shall 
cease  from  my  madness,  and  embarking  thee  in  the  bark  of 
many  oars,  I  shall  settle  thee  again  in  Mycenae.  But,  O  be- 
loved one,  O  sister  mine,  preserve  my  ancestral  home,  and 
preserve  me,  since  all  my  state  and  that  of  the  Pelopids  is  un- 
done, unless  we  seize  on  the  heavenly  image  of  the  Goddess. 

Cho.  Some  dreadful  wrath  of  the  Gods  hath  burst  forth, 
and  leads  the  seed  of  Tantalus  through  troubles.35 

Iph.  I  entertained  the  desire  to  reach  Argos,  and  be- 
hold thee,  my  brother,  even  before  thou  earnest.  But  I 
wish,  as  you  do,  both  to  save  thee,  and  to  restore  again  our 
sickening  ancestral  home  from  troubles,  in  no  wise  wrath  with 
him  who  would  have  slain  me.  For  I  should  both  release  my 
hand  from  thy  slaughter,  and  preserve  mine  house.  But  I 
fear  how  I  shall  be  able  to  escape  the  notice  of  the  Goddess 
and  the  king,  when  he  shall  find  the  stone  pedestal  bared  of 
the  image.  And  how  shall  I  escape  death  ?  What  account 
can  I  give  ?  But  if  indeed  these  matters  can  be  effected  at 
once,  and  thou  wilt  bear  away  the  image,  and  lead  me  in  the 
fair-pooped  ship,  the  risk  will  be  a  glorious  one.  But  separ- 
ated from  this  I  perish,  but  you,  arranging  your  own  affairs, 
would  obtain  a  prosperous  return.  Yet  in  no  wise  will  I  fly, 
not  even  if  I  needs  must  perish,  having  preserved  thee.  In 
no  wise,  I  say;30  for  a  man  who  dies  from  among  his  house- 
hold is  regretted,  but  a  woman  is  of  little  account. 

Or.  I  would  not  be  the  murderer  both  of  thee  and  of  my 
mother.  Her  blood  is  enough,  and  being  of  the  same  mind 
with  you,  [with  you]  I  should  wish,  living  or  dying,  to  obtain 
an  equal  lot.  f  But  I  will  lead  thee,  even  though  I  myself  fall 
here,  to  my  house,  or,  remaining  with  thee,  will  die.37 1     But 

35  But  see  ed.  Camb. 

36  Such  is  the  force  of  ov  yap  oXX'. 

37  These  lines  are  very  corrupt,  and  perhaps,  as  Dindorf  thinks,  spurious. 

2  c  2 


388  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1012-1039. 

hear  my  opinion.  If  this  had  been  disagreeable  to  Diana,  how 
would  Loxias  have  answered,  that  I  should  remove  the  image 
of  the  Goddess  to  the  city  of  Pallas,  and  behold  thy  face  ?  For, 
putting  all  these  matters  together,  I  hope  to  obtain  a  return. 

Iph.  How  then  can  it  happen  that  neither  you  die,  and  that 
we  obtain  what  we  wish  ?  For  it  is  in  this  respect  that  our 
journey  homeward  is  at  fault,  but  the  will  is  not  wanting. 

Or.  Could  we  possibly  destroy  the  tyrant  ? 

Iph.  Thou  tellest  a  fearful  tiling,  for  strangers  to  slay  their 
receivers. 

Or.  But  if  it  will  preserve  thee  and  me,  one  must  run  the 
risk. 

Iph.  I  could  not — yet  I  approve  your  zeal. 

Or.  But  what  if  you  were  secretly  to  hide  me  in  this 
temple  ? 

Iph.  In  order,  forsooth,  that,  taking  advantage  of  darkness, 
we  might  be  saved  ? 

Or.  For  night  is  the  time  for  thieves,  the  light  for  truth. 

Iph.  But  within  are  the  sacred  keepers,38  whom  Ave  cannot 
escape. 

Or.  Alas  !  we  are  undone.     How  can  we  then  be  saved  ? 

Iph.  I  seem  to  have  a  certain  new  device. 

Or.  Of  what  kind.  Make  me  a  sharer  in  your  opinion, 
that  I  also  may  learn. 

Iph.  I  will  make  use  of  thy  ravings  as  a  contrivance. 

Or.  Ay,  cunning  are  women  to  find  out  tricks. 

Ipn.  I  will  say  that  thou,  being  slayer  of  thy  mother,  art 
come  from  Argos. 

Or.  Make  use  of  my  troubles,  if  you  can  turn  them  to 
account. 

Iph.  I  will  say  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  sacrifice  thee  to  the 
Goddess. 

Or.  Having  what  pretext  ?    For  I  partly  suspect. 

Iph.  As  not  being  pure,  but  I  will  [say  that  I  will] 39  give 
what  is  holy  to  sacrifice. 

Or.  How  then  the  more  will  the  image  of  the  Goddess  be 
obtained  ? 

Iph.  I  [will  say  that  I]  will  purify  thee  in  the  fountains  of 
the  sea. 

38  Markland  rightly  reads  'upo<pv\a.KtQ. 
39  "  dicam  me  daturam."     Markland. 


1040—1089.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  389 

Or.  The  statue,  in  quest  of  which  we  have  sailed,  is  still  in 
the  temple. 

Iph.  And  I  will  say  that  I  must  wash  that  too,  as  if  you 
had  laid  hands  on  it. 

Or.  Where  then  is  the  clamp  breaker  of  the  sea  of  which 
you  speak? 

Iph.  Where  thy  ship  rides  at  anchor  with  rope-bound  chains. 

Or.  But  wilt  thou,  or  some  one  else,  bear  the  image  in  their 
hands  ? 

Iph.  I,  for  it  is  lawful  for  me  alone  to  touch  it. 

Or.  But  in  what  part  of  this  contrivance  will  our  friend 
Pylades 40  be  placed  ? 

Iph.  He  will  be  said  to  bear  the  same  pollution  of  hands 
as  thyself. 

Or.  And  wilt  thou  do  this  unknown  to,  or  with  the  know- 
ledge of  the  king  ? 

Iph.  Having  persuaded  him  by  words,  for  I  could  not 
escape  notice. 

Or.  And  truly  the  well-rowed  ship  is  ready  for  sailing.41 

Iph.  You  must  take  care  of  the  rest,  that  it  be  well. 

Or.  There  lacks  but  one  thing,  namely,  that  these  women 
who  are  present  preserve  our  secret.  But  do  thou  beseech 
them,  and  find  words  that  will  persuade.  A  woman  in  truth 
has  power  to  move  pity.  But  all  the  rest  will  perchance  fall 
out  well. 

Iph.  0  dearest  women,  I  look  to  you,  and  my  affairs  rest  in 
you,  as  to  whether  they  turn  out  well,  or  be  of  nought,  and  I 
be  deprived  of  my  country,  my  dear  brother,  and  dearest  sis- 
ter. And  let  this  first  be  the  commencement  of  my  words. 
We  are  women,  a  race  well  inclined  to  one  another,  and  most 
safe  in  keeping  secret  matters  of  common  interest.  Do  ye 
keep  silence  for  us,  and  labour  out  our  escape.  Honourable 
is  it  for  the  man  who  possesses  a  faithful  tongue.  But  behold 
how  one  fortune  holds  the  three  most  dear,  either  a  return  to 
our  father-land,  or  to  die.  But,  being  preserved,  that  thou 
also  mayest  share  my  fortune,  I  will  restore  thee  safe  to 
Greece.  But,  by  thy  right  hand,  thee,  and  thee  [addressing 
the  women  of  the  chorus  in  succession]  I  beseech,  and  thee  by  thy 

40  '65'  is  the  correction  of  Brodaeus. 

41  viiiQ  ttLtvKoq  seems  not  merely  a  periphrase,  but  implies  that  the 
oars  are  in  the  rowlocks,  as  if  ready  for  starting. 


390  IFIIIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1070—1111. 

beloved  cheek,  and  thy  knees,  and  those  most  dear  at  home, 
mother,  and  father,  and  children,  to  whom  there  are  such.42 
What  say  ye  ?  Who  of  you  will,  or  will  not  [speak !]  these 
things.43  For  if  ye  assent  not  to  my  words,  I  am  undone,  and 
my  wretched  sister. 

Ch.  Be  of  good  cheer,  dear  mistress,  and  think  only  of 
being  saved,  since  on  my  part  all  shall  be  kept  secret,  the 
mighty  Jove  be  witness !  in  the  things  thou  enjoinest. 

Irii.  May  your  words  profit  ye,  and  may  ye  be  blest.  'Tis 
thy  part  now,  and  thine  [to  the  different  women\  to  enter  the 
house,  as  the  ruler  of  this  land  will  straightway  come,  in- 
quiring concerning  the  sacrifice  of  the  strangers,  whether  it  is 
over.  0  revered  Goddess,  who  in  the  recesses  of  Aulis  didst 
save  me  from  the  dire  hand  of  a  slaying  father,  now  also  save 
me  and  these,  or  the  voice  of  Loxias  will  through  thee  be  no 
longer  truthful  among  mortals.  But  do  thou  with  good  will 
quit  the  barbarian  land  for  Athens,  for  it  becomes  thee  not  to 
dwell  here,  when  you  can  possess  a  blest  city. 

Chorus.  Thou  bird,  that  by  the  rocky  cliffs  of  the  sea, 
halcyon,44  dost  chant  thy  mournful  elegy,  a  sound  well  under- 
stood by  the  skilled,  namely,  that  thou  art  ever  bemoaning 
thine  husband  in  song,  I,  a  wingless  bird,  compare  my  dirge 
with  thine,  longing  for  the  assemblies45  of  the  Greeks,  longing 
for  Lucina,  who  dwells  along  the  Cynthian  height,  and  near 
the  palm46  with  its  luxuriant  foliage,  and  the  rich-springing 
laurel,  and  the  holy  shoot  of  the  deep-blue  olive,  the  dear 
place  of  Latona's  throes,47  and  the  lake  that  rolls  its  waters  in 
a  circle,48  where  the  melodious  swan  honours  the  muses.  O 
ye  many  tricklings  of  tears  which  fell  upon  my  cheeks,  when, 
our  towers  being  destroyed,  I  travelled  in  ships  beneath  the 
oars  and  the  spears  of  the  foes.49     And  through  a  bartering  of 

42  But  the  Cambridge  editor  very  elegantly  reads  si  t^. 

43  Put  <p9sy^aa9e  in  an  enclosure,  and  join  raura  with  OeXtt.  Sec  ed. 
Camb. 

44  Scliol.  Theocr.  Id.  vii.  57.  OpqviiTiKov  to  Z,<<jov,  Kal  irapa  toIq  alyi- 
aXotc  viOTTtiiov.  Cf.  Aristoph.  Kan.  13U9,  who  perhaps  had  the  passage 
in  view. 

45  ayopoc  is  a  somewhat  rare  word  for  ays/rue. 

46  Cf.  Hecub.  457  sqq. 

47  So  Matthia?,  "locum  ubi  Latona  partum  edidit." 

48  Read  kvkXioi'  with  Seidier.  On  the  Xi/ivt]  i-po^oa^/yc  at  Dclos,  sec 
Barnes. 

49  "  I  was  conveyed  by  sailors  and  soldiers."     Ed.  Camb. 


1112—1151.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  391 

great  price  I  came  a  journey  to  a  barbarian  land,50  where  I 
serve  the  daughter  of  Agamemnon,  the  priestess  of  the  God- 
dess, and  the  sheep-slaughtering51  altars,  envying  her  who  has 
all  her  life  been  unfortunate  ;52  for  she  bends  not  under  neces- 
sity, who  is  familiar  with  it.  Unhappiness  is  wont  to  change,53 
but  to  fare  ill  after  prosperity  is  a  heavy  life  for  mortals. 
And  thee  indeed,  O  mistress,  an  Argive  ship  of  fifty  oars  will 
conduct  home,  and  the  wax-bound  reed  of  mountain  Pan  with 
Syrinx  tune  cheer  on  the  oarsmen,  and  prophet  Phoebus,  ply- 
ing the  tones  of  his  seven-stringed  lyre,  with  song  will  lead 
thee  prosperously  to  the  rich  land  of  Athens.  But  leaving 
me  here  thou  wilt  travel  by  the  dashing  oars.  And  the  haul- 
yards  by  the  prow,54  will  stretch  forth  the  sails  to  the  air, 
above  the  beak,  the  sheet  lines  of  the  swift-journeying  ship. 
Would  that  I  might  pass  through  the  glittering  course,  where 
the  fair  light  of  the  sun  wends  its  way,  and  over  my  own 
chamber  might  rest  from  rapidly  moving  the  pinions  on  my 
shoulders.55  And  would  that  I  might  stand  in  the  dance, 
where  also  [I  was  wont  to  stand,]  a  virgin  sprung  from 
honourable  nuptials,56  wreathing  the  dances  of  my  companions 
at  the  foot  of  my  dear  mother,57  bounding  to  the  rivalry  of 
the  graces,  to  the  wealthy  strife  respecting  [beauteous]  hair, 
pouring  my  variously-painted  garb  and  tresses  around,  I  sha- 
dowed my  cheeks.58 

50  The  same  scholar  quotes  Soph.  Ph.  43.  a\X'  rj'iri  $op/3»)c  voorov 
t%i\r}\v9ei',  where  vovtoq  is  used  in  the  same  manner  as  here,  simply 
meaning  "  a  journey." 

51  But  see  Camb.  ed. 

52  I  read  ZtjXovaa  rav  with  the  same. 

53  The  Cambridge  critic  again  proposes  /.itTa^oXal  c  evSai/iovia, 
which  he  felicitously  supports.  Musgrave  has  however  partly  anticipated 
this  emendation. 

54  Dindorf  has  shown  so  little  care  in  editing  this  passage,  that  I  have 
merely  recalled  the  old  reading,  dspi  c  \aria  irporovot  k.  irp.  vTrip  aroXov 
(.kit.,  following  the  construction  proposed  by  Heath,  and  approved,  as  it 
appears,  by  the  Cambridge  editor.  Seidler's  note  is  learned  and  instruc- 
tive, but  I  have  some  doubts  about  his  criticism. 

55  i.  e.  I  wish  I  might  become  a  bird  and  fly  homewards. 
i6  See  ed.  Camb. 

57  But  see  ibid.  Dindorf  s  text  is  a  hopeless  display  of  bad  readings 
and  worse  punctuation. 

58  Reading  ytvvag,  I  have  done  my  best  with  this  passage,  but  I  can 
only  refer  to  the  Cambridge  editor  for  a  text  and  notes  worthy  of  the  play. 


392  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAUItlS.  1152-1176 

\Enter  Thoas.] 

Thoas.  Where  is  the  Grecian  woman  who  keeps  the  gate 
of  this  temple  ?  Has  she  yet  begun  the  sacrifice  of  the 
strangers,  and  ai'e  the  bodies  burning  in  the  flame  within  the 
pure  recesses  ? 

Cho.  Here  she  is,  O  king,  who  will  tell  thee  clearly  all. 

Th.  Ah  !  Why  art  thou  removing  in  your  arms  this  image 
of  the  Goddess  from  its  seat  that  may  not  be  disturbed,  O 
daughter  of  Agamemnon  ? 

Iph.  O  king,  rest  there  thy  foot  in  the  portico. 

Th.  But  what  new  matter  is  in  the  house,  Iphigenia  ? 

Iph.  I  avert  the  ill — for  holy59  do  I  utter  this  word. 

Th.  What  new  thing  art  thou  prefacing  ?  speak  clearly. 

Iph.  O  king,  no  pure  offerings  hast  thou  hunted  out 
for  me. 

Th.  What  hath  taught  you  this  ?  or  dost  thou  speak  it  as 
matter  of  opinion  ? 

Iph.  The  image  of  the  Goddess  hath  again  turned  away 
from  her  seat.60 

Th.  Of  its  own  accord,  or  did  an  earthquake  turn  it  ? 

Iph.  Of  its  own  accord,  and  it  closed  its  eyes. 

Tu.  But  what  is  the  cause  ?  is  it  pollution  from  the 
strangers  ? 

Iph.  That  very  thing,  nought  else,  for  they  have  done 
dreadful  things. 

Th.  What,  did  they  slay  any  of  the  barbarians  upon  the 
shore  ? 

Iph.  They  came  possessing  the  stain  of  domestic  murder. 

Th.  What  ?  for  I  am  fallen  into  a  longing  to  learn  this. 

Iph.  They  put  an  end  to  a  mother's  life  by  conspiring 
sword. 

Th.  Apollo !  not  even  among  barbarians  would  any  one 
have  dared  this. 

Iph.  By  persecutions  they  were  driven  out  of  all  Greece. 

Th.  Is  it  then  on  their  account  that  thou  bearest  the  image 
without  ? 

59  I  have  recalled  the  old  reading,  oana. 

60  On  these  sort  of  prodigies,  see  Musgrave,  and  Dansq.  on  Quintus 
Calaber,  xii.  497  sqq. 


1177—1201.  IPIIIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  393 

Ipii.  Ay,  under  the  holy  sky,  that  I  may  remove  it  from 
blood  stains. 

Th.  But  how  didst  thou  discover  the  pollution  of  the 
strangers  ? 

Iph.  I  examined  them,  when  the  image  of  the  Goddess 
turned  away. 

Th.  Greece  hath  trained  thee  up  wise,  in  that  thou  well 
didst  perceive  this. 

Iph.  And  now  they  have  cast  out  a  delightful  bait  for  my 
mind. 

Th.  By  telling  thee  any  charming  news  of  those  at  Argos  ? 

Iph.  That  my  only  brother  Orestes  fares  well. 

Th.  So  that,  forsooth,  thou  mightest  preserve  them  because 
of  their  pleasant  news  ! 

Iph.  And  that  my  father  lives  and  fares  well. 

Th.  But  thou  hast  with  reason  attended  to  the  interest  of 
the  Goddess. 

Iph.  Ay,  because  hating  all  Greece  that  destroyed  me. 

Th.  What  then  shall  we  do,  say,  concerning  the  two 
strangers  ? 

Iph.  We  needs  must  respect  the  established  law. 

Th.  Are  not  the  lustral  waters  and  thy  sword  already  en- 
gaged?61 

Iph.  First  I  would  fain  lave  them  in  pure  cleansings. 

Th.  In  the  fountains  of  waters,  or  in  the  dew  of  the  sea  ? 

Iph.  The  sea  washes  out  all  the  ills  of  men. 

Th.  They  would  certainly  fall  in  a  more  holy  manner  be- 
fore the  Goddess. 

Iph.  And  my  matters  would  be  in  a  more  fitting  state.62 

Th.  Does  not  the  wave  dash  against  the  very  temple  ? 

Iph.  There  is  need  of  solitude,  for  we  have  other  things 
to  do. 

Th.  Lead  them  whither  thou  wilt,  I  crave  not  to  see  things 
that  may  not  be  told. 

Iph.  The  image  of  the  Goddess  also  must  be  purified 
by  me. 

Th.  If  indeed  the  stain  of  the  matricide  hath  fallen  on  it. 

Iph.  For  otherwise  I  should  not  have  removed  it  from  its 
pedestal. 

61  "  in  eo,  ut "  is  the  force  of  iv  ipyip. 
83  Perhaps  a  sly  allusion  to  their  escape. 


394  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1202—1221. 

Th.  Just  piety  and  foresight !     How  reasonably  cloth  all 
the  city  marvel  at  thee  ! 

Iph.  Knowest  thou  then  what  must  be  done  for  me  ? 

Th.  'Tis  thine  to  explain  this. 

Iph.  Cast  fetters  upon  the  strangers. 

Th.  Whither  could  they  escape  from  thee  ? 

Iph.  Greece  knows  nothing  faithful. 

Th.  Go  for  the  fetters,  attendants. 

Iph.  Ay,  and  let  them  bring  the  strangers  hither. 

Th.  This  shall  be. 

Iph.  Having  enveloped  their  heads  in  robes. 

Th.  Against  the  scorching  of  the  sun  ? 

Iph.  And  send  thou  with  me  of  thy  followers — 

Th.  These  shall  accompany  thee. 

Iph.  And  send  some  one  to  signify  to  the  city — 

Th.  What  hap? 

Iph.  That  all  remain  in  their  homes. 

Th.  Lest  they  encounter  homicide? 

Iph.  For  such  things  are  unclean. 

Tn.  Go  thou,  and  order  this. 

Iph.  That  no  one  come  into  sight. 

Th.  Thou  carest  well  for  the  city. 

Iph.  Ay,  and  more  particularly  friends  must  not  be  present.03 

Th.  This  you  say  in  reference  to  me. 

Iph.  But  do  thou,  abiding  here  before  the  temple  of  the 
Goddess — 

Th.  Do  what? 

Iph.  Purify  the  house  with  a  torch. 

Th.  That  it  may  be  pure  when  thou  comest  back  to  it  ? 

Iph.  But  when  the  strangers  come  out, 

Th.  What  must  I  do  ? 

Iph.  Place  your  garment  before  your  eyes. 

Th.  Lest  I  contract  contagion  ? 

Iph.  But  if  I  seem  to  tarry  very  long, 

Th.  What  limit  of  this  shall  I  have  ? 

Iph.  Wonder  at  nothing. 

Th.  Do  thou  rightly  the  business  of  the  Goddess  at  thy 
leisure. 

Iph.  And  may  this  purification  turn  out  as  I  wish ! 

Th.  I  join  in  your  prayer. 

63  Sec  ed.  Camb. 


1222—1259.  IFIIIGENIA  IN  TAUItlS.  395 

Iph.  I  now  see  these  strangers  coming  out  of  the  house, 
and  the  adornments  of  the  Goddess,  and  the  young  lambs,  in 
order  that  I  may  wash  out  foul  slaughter  by  slaughter,  and 
the  shining  light  of  lamps,  and  the  other  things,  as  many  as  I 
ordered  as  purifications  for  the  strangers  and  the  Goddess. 
But  I  proclaim  to  the  strangers  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  this 
pollution,  if  any  gate-keeper  of  the  temples  keeps  pure  hands 
for  the  Gods,  or  is  about  to  join  in  nuptial  alliance,  or  is  preg- 
nant, flee,  get  out  of  the  way,  lest  this  pollution  fall  on  any. 
O  thou  queen,  virgin  daughter  of  Jove  and  Latona,  if  I  wash 
away  the  blood-pollution  from  these  men,  and  sacrifice  where 
'tis  fitting,  thou  wilt  occupy  a  pure  house,  and  we  shall  be 
prosperous.  But  although  I  do  not  speak  of  the  rest,  I  never- 
theless signify  my  meaning  to  the  Gods  who  know  most 
things,64  and  to  thee,  0  Goddess. 

Chorus.65  Of  noble  birth  is  the  offspring  of  Latona,  whom 
once  on  a  time  in  the  fruitful  valleys  of  Delos,  Phoebus  with 
his  golden  locks,  skilled  on  the  lyre,  (and  she  who  rejoices  in 
skill  of  the  bow,)  his  mother  bore  while  yet  an  infant66  from 
the  sea-side  rock,  leaving  the  renowned  place  of  her  delivery, 
destitute  of  waters,67  the  Parnassian  height  haunted  by  Bac- 
chus, Avhere  the  ruddy-visaged  serpent,  with  spotted  back,  f 
brazen  f  beneath  the  shady  laurel  with  its  rich  foliage,  an 
enormous  prodigy  of  the  earth,  guarded  the  subterranean 
oracle.  Him  thou,  O  Phoebus,  whilst  yet  an  infant,  whilst 
yet  leaping  in  thy  dear  mother's  arms,  didst  slay,  and  entered 
upon  thy  divine  oracles,  and  thou  sittest  on  the  golden  tripod, 
on  the  throne  that  is  ever  true,  distributing  to  mortals  pro- 
phecies from  the  divine  adyts  beneath  the  Castalian  streams, 
dwelling  hard  by,  occupying  a  dwelling  in  the  middle  of  the 
earth.68     But  when,  having  gone  against  Themis,  daughter  of 

64  But  we  must  read  roTc  re  with  the  Cambridge  editor  =  "  who  know 
more  than  men." 

63  I  cannot  too  early  impress  upon  the  reader  the  necessity  of  a  careful 
attention  to  the  criticisms  of  the  Cambridge  editor  throughout  this  diffi- 
cult chorus,  especially  to  his  masterly  sketch  of  the  whole,  p.  14G,  147. 

06  (ptptv  Iviv  is  Burges'  elegant  emendation,  the  credit  of  which  has 
been  unduly  claimed  by  Seidler. 

67  i.  e.  the  place  afterwards  called  Inopus.  See  Herm.,  whose  construc- 
tion I  have  followed. 

68  On  the  6/«pa\oc  see  my  note  oniEsch.  Eum.  p.  180,  ed.  Bohn.  On 
the  Delphic  priesthood,  compare  ibid.  p.  1 79. 


396  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1260—1297. 

earth,  he  expelled  her  from  the  divine  oracles,  earth  begot 
dark  phantoms  of  dreams,  which  to  many  mortals  explain  what 
first,  what  afterwards,  what  in  future  will  happen,  during 
their  sleep  in  the  couches  of  the  dusky  earth.69  But  f  the 
earth  f  deprived  Phoebus  of  the  honour  of  prophecies,  through 
anger  on  her  daughter's  account,  and  the  swift-footed  king, 
hastening  to  Olympus,  stretched  forth  his  little  hand  to  the 
throne  of  Jove,70  [beseeching  him]  to  take  away  the  earth 
born71  wrath  of  the  Goddess,  f  and  the  nightly  responses-! 
But  he  laughed,  because  his  son  had  come  quickly  to  him, 
wishing  to  obtain  the  wealthy  office,  and  he  shook  his  hair, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  nightly  dreams,72  and  took  away  nightly 
divination  from  mortals,  and  again  conferred  the  honour  on 
Loxias,  and  confidence  to  mortals  from  the  songs  of  oracles 
[proclaimed]  on  this  throne,  thronged  to  by  many  strangers.73 

[Enter  a  Messenger.] 

Mes.  O  ye  guardians  of  the  temple  and  presidents  of  the 
altars,  where  in  this  land  has  king  Thoas  gone  ?  Do  ye, 
opening  the  well-fastened  gates,  call  the  ruler  of  this  land  out- 
side the  house. 

Cho.  But  what  is  it,  if  I  may  speak  when  I  am  not 
bidden  ? 

Mes.  The  two  youths  have  escaped,  and  are  gone  by  the 
contrivances  of  Agamemnon's  daughter,  endeavouring  to  fly 
from  this  land,  and  taking  the  sacred  image  in  the  bosom  of  a 
Grecian  ship. 

Cho.  Thou  tellest  an  incredible  story,  but  the  king  of  this 
country,  whom  you  wish  to  see,  is  gone,  having  quitted  the 
temple. 

Mes.  Whither  ?  For  he  needs  must  know  what  has  been 
done. 

Cho.  We  know  not.  But  go  thou  and  pursue  him  to 
wheresoever,  having  met  with  him,  thou  mayest  recount  this 
news. 

69  See,  however,  the  Cambridge  editor. 

70  Read  lq  Qpovov  with  Barnes  and  Dind.,  or  rather  Ltti  Zijvbg  9p6vov 
with  Herm. 

71  But  see  Dindorf. 

72  See  Dindorf  s  note,  but  still  better  the  Cambridge  editor. 

73  I  follow  Seidler. 


1298—1324.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  397 

Mes.  See,  how  faithless  is  the  female  race !  and  ye  are 
partners  in  what  has  been  done. 

Cho.  Art  thou  mad  ?  What  have  we  to  do  with  the  flight 
of  the  strangers  ?  Will  you  not  go  as  quickly  as  possible  to 
the  gates  of  the  rulers. 

Mes.  Not  at  least  before  some  distinct  informer 74  tell  me 
this,  whether  the  ruler  of  the  land  is  within  or  not  within. 
Ho  there  !  Open  the  fastenings,  I  speak  to  those  within,  and 
tell  the  master  that  I  am  at  the  gates,  bearing  a  weight  of  evil 
news. 

Thoas.  (coming  out.)  Who  makes  this  noise  near  the  tem- 
ple of  the  Goddess,  hammering  at  the  door,  and  sending  fear 
within  ? 

Mes.  These  women  told  me  falsely,  (and  tried  to  drive  me 
from  the  house,)  that  you  were  away,  while  you  really  were 
in  the  house. 

Th.  Expecting  or  hunting  after  what  gain  ? 

Mes.  I  will  afterwards  tell  of  what  concerns  them,  but  hear 
the  present,  immediate  matter.  The  virgin,  she  that  presided 
over  the  altars  here,  Iphigenia,  has  gone  out  of  the  land  with 
the  strangers,  having  the  sacred  image  of  the  Goddess ;  but 
the  expiations  were  pretended. 

Th.  How  sayest  thou  ?  possessed  by  what  breath  of  ca- 
lamity ?75 

Mes.  In  order  to  preserve  Orestes,  for  at  this  thou  wilt 
marvel. 

Th.  What  [Orestes]  ?  Him,  whom  the  daughter  of  Tyn- 
darus  bore  ? 

Mes.  Him  whom  she  consecrated  to  the  Goddess  at  these 
altars. 

Th.  Oh  marvel !  How  can  I  rightly76  call  thee  by  a  greater 
name  ? 

Mes.  Do  not  turn  thine  attention  to  this,  but  listen  to  me  ; 
and  having  perceived  and  heard,  clearly  consider  what  pur- 
suit will  catch  the  strangers. 

'4  So  ed.  Camb. 

75  i.  e.  what  evil  inspiration  of  the  Gods  impelled  her  to  this  act  ? 
Thoas,  who  is  represented  as  superstitious  to  the  most  barbarian  extent, 
naturally  regards  the  infidelity  of  Iphigenia  as  proceeding  from  the  inter- 
renlion  of  heaven. 

*«  Cf.  Monk,  on  Hippol.  828. 


398  irillGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1325—1361. 

Til.  Speak,  for  thou  sayest  well,  for  they  do  not  flee  by 
the  way  of  the  neighbouring  sea,  so  as  to  be  able  to  escape  my 
fleet. 

Mes.  When  we  came  to  the  sea-shore,  where  the  vessel  of 
Orestes  was  anchored  in  secret,  to  us  indeed,  whom  thou  didst 
send  with  her,  bearing  fetters  for  the  strangers,  the  daughter 
of  Agamemnon  made  signs  that  we  should  get  far  out  of  the 
way,  as  she  was  about  to  offer  the  secret77  flame  and  expiation, 
for  which  she  had  come.  But  she,  holding  the  fetters  of  the 
strangers  in  her  hands,  followed  behind  thern.  And  these 
matters  were  suspicious,  but  they  satisfied  your  attendants,  0 
king.  But  at  length,  in  order  forsooth  that  she  might  seem 
to  us  to  be  doing  something,  she  screamed  aloud,  and  chanted 
barbarian  songs  like  a  sorceress,  as  if  washing  out  the  stain  of 
anurder.  But  after  we  had  remained  sitting  a  long  time,  it 
occurred  to  us  whether  the  strangers  set  at  liberty  might  not 
slay  her,  and  take  to  flight.  And  through  fear  lest  we  might 
behold  what  was  not  fitting,  Ave  sate  in  silence,  but  at  length 
the  same  words  were  in  every  body's  mouth,  that  Ave  should 
go  to  Avhere  they  were,  although  not  permitted.  And  upon 
this  we  behold  the  hull  of  the  Grecian  ship,  [the  roAving 
winged  with  well-fitted  oars,78]  and  fifty  sailors  holding  their 
oars  in  the  thoAvls,  and  the  youths,  freed  from  their  fetters, 
standing  [on  the  shore]  astern  of  the  ship.79  But  some  held 
in  the  prow  with  their  oars,  and  others  from  the  epotides  let 
down  the  anchor,  and  others  hastily  applying  the  ladders, 
drew  the  stern-cables  through  their  hands,  and  giving  them 
to  the  sea,  let  them  down  to  the  strangers.80  But  we  unsparing 
[of  the  toil,]  Avhen  we  beheld  the  crafty  stratagem,  laid  hold 
of  the  female  stranger  and  of  the  cables,  and  tried  to  drag  the 
rudders  from  the  fair-prowed  ship  from  the  steerage-place. 
But  words  ensued :  "  On  Avhat  plea  do  ye  take  to  the  sea, 
stealing  from  this  land  the  images  and  priestess?  Whose  son 
art  thou,  who  thyself,  who  art  carrying  this  Avoman  from  the 
land?"    But  he  replied,  "Orestes,  her  brother,  that  you  may 

77  Cf.  vs.  1197.  tpriiiiag  vn. 

78  Dindorf  and  the  Cambridge  editor  follow  Hermann,  Avho  Avould 
place  this  line  after  vs.  1394. 

79  So  Musgrave. 

90  Seidler  has  deserved  wtll  of  this  passage,  both  by  his  correction  rolv 
'ikvoiv  for  Ttjv  £ivi]v,  and  by  his  learned  and  clear  explanation  of  the 
nautical  terms. 


13G2— 1404.  IPIIIGEXIA  IN  TAURIS.  399 

know,  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  I,  having  taken  this  my  sister, 
whom  I  had  lost  from  my  house,  am  hearing  her  off*."  But 
nought  the  less  we  clung  to  the  female  stranger,  and  com- 
pelled them  by  force  to  follow  us  to  thee,  upon  which  arose  sad 
smitings  of  the  cheeks.  For  they  had  not  arms  in  their  hands, 
nor  had  we;,  but  fists  were  sounding  against  fists,  and  the 
arms  of  both  the  youths  at  once  were  aimed  against  our  sides 
and  to  the  liver,  so  that  we  at  once  were  exhausted81  and  worn 
out  in  our  limbs.  But  stamped  with  liorrid  marks  we  fled  to 
a  precipice,  some  having  bloody  wounds  on  the  head,  others  in 
the  eyes,  and  standing  on  the  heights,  we  waged  a  safer  war- 
fare, and  pelted  stones.  But  archers,  standing  on  the  poop, 
hindered  us  with  their  darts,  so  that  we  returned  back.  And 
meanwhile — for  a  tremendous  wave  drove  the  ship  against  the 
land,  and  there  was  alarm  [on  board]  lest  she  might  dip  her 
sheet-line82 — Orestes,  taking  his  sister  on  his  left  shoulder, 
walked  into  the  sea,  and  leaping  upon  the  ladder,  placed  her 
within  the  well-banked  ship,  and  also  the  image  of  the  daugh- 
ter of  Jove,  that  fell  from  heaven.  And  from  the  middle  of 
the  ship  a  voice  spake  thus,  "  0  mariners  of  the  Grecian  ship, 
seize83  on  your  oars,  and  make  white  the  surge,  for  we  have 
obtained  the  things  on  account  of  which  we  sailed  o'er  the 
Euxine  within  the  Symplegades.  But  they  shouting  forth  a 
pleasant  cry,  smote  the  brine.  The  ship,  as  long  indeed  as  it 
was  within  the  port,  went  on ;  but,  passing  the  outlet,  meet- 
ing with  a  strong  tide,  it  was  driven  back.  For  a  terrible 
gale  coming  suddenly,  drives  [the  bark  winged  with  well-fitted 
oars]  poop-wise,84  but  they  persevered,  kicking  against  the 
wave,  but  an  ebbing  tide  brought  them  again  aground.  But 
the  daughter  of  Agamemnon  stood  up  and  prayed,  O  daughter 
of  Latona,  bring  me,  thy  priestess,  safe  into  Greece  from  a  bar- 
barian land,  and  pardon  the  stealing  away  of  me.  Thou  also, 
O  Goddess,  lovest  thy  brother,  and  think  thou  that  I  also  love 
my  kindred."  But  the  sailors  shouted  a  prean  in  assent  to  the 
prayers  of  the  girl,  applying  on  a  given  signal  the  point  of 

81  Dindorf  has  adopted  Markland's  emendation,  but  I  prefer  war 
tZ,avairvHv  with  the  Cambridge  editor. 

82  i.  e.  capsize. 

83  But  see  ed.  Camb. 

84  I  have  introduced  the  line  above  mentioned,  and  have  likewise 
adopted  Hermann's  introduction  of  Tra\ifX7rpvfivT)S6v  from  Hesychius,  in 
lieu  of  irdXiv  irovfivijni . 


400  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1405—1444. 

the  shoulders,85  bared  from  their  hands,  to  the  oars.  But 
more  and  more  the  vessel  kept  nearing  the  rocks,  and  one  in- 
deed leapt  into  the  sea  with  his  feet,  and  another  fastened 
woven  nooses.86  And  I  was  immediately  sent  hither  to  thee, 
to  tell  thee,  O  king,  what  had  happened  there.  But  go,  taking 
fetters  and  halters  in  your  hands,  for,  unless  the  wave  shall 
become  tranquil,  there  is  no  hope  of  safety  for  the  strangers. 
For  the  ruler  of  the  sea,  the  revered  Neptune,  both  favourably 
regards  Troy,  and  is  at  enmity  with  the  Pelopidas.  And  he 
will  now,  as  it  seems,  deliver  up  to  thee  and  the  citizens  the 
son  of  Agamemnon,  to  take  him  into  your  hands,  and  his  sis- 
ter, who  is  detected  ungratefully  forgetting  the  Goddess  in 
respect  to  the  sacrifice  at  Aulis.87 

Cho.  O  hapless  Iphigenia,  with  thy  brother  wilt  thou  die, 
again  coming  into  the  hands  of  thy  masters. 

Th.  0  all  ye  citizens  of  this  barbarian  land,  will  ye  not, 
casting  bridles  on  your  horses,  run  to  the  shore,  and  receive 
the  casting  on  of  the  Grecian  ship  ?  But  hastening,  by  the  fa- 
vour of  the  Goddess,  will  ye  not  hunt  down  the  impious  men, 
and  some  of  you  haul  the  swift  barks  down  to  the  sea,  that  by 
sea,  and  by  horse-coursings  on  the  land  seizing  them,  we  may 
either  hurl  them  down  the  broken  rock,  or  impale  their  bodies 
upon  stakes.  But  you  women,  the  accomplices  in  these  plots,  I 
will  punish  hereafter,  when  I  have  leisure,  but  now,  having 
such  a  present  duty,  we  will  not  remain  idle. 

[Minerva  appears.'] 

Min.  Whither,  whither  sendest  thou  this  troop  to  follow 
[the  fugitives,]  king  Thoas  ?  List  to  the  words  of  me,  Minerva. 
Cease  pursuing,  and  stirring  on  the  onset  of  your  host.  For 
by  the  destined  oracles  of  Loxias  Orestes  came  hither,  fleeing 
the  wrath  of  the  Erinnyes,  and  in  order  to  conduct  his  sister's 
person  to  Argos,  and  to  bear  the  sacred  image  into  my  land, 
by  way  of  respite  from  his  present  troubles.  Thus  are  our 
words  for  thee,  but  as  to  him,  Orestes,  whom  you  wish  to  slaj', 
having  caught  him  in  a  tempest  at  sea,  Neptune  has  already, 

85  See  ed.  Camb. 

86  "The  obvious  intent  of  these  measures  was  to  fasten  the  vessel  to 
some  point  of  the  rocks,  and  thus  prevent  her  being  •wrecked."   Ed.  Camb. 

87  "  Our  passage  is  thus  to  be  understood,  »/  akioKtrcu  7rpocovoa  to 
Hvqy.ovf.vuv  Qiq.  (povov."     Ed.  Camb. 


1446—1480.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  401 

for  my  sake,  rendered  the  surface  of  the  sea  waveless,  piloting 
him  along  in  the  ship.  But  do  thou,  Orestes,  learning  my 
commands,  (for  thou  hearest  the  voice  of  a  Goddess,  although 
not  present,)  go,  taking  the  image  and  thy  sister.  And  when 
thou  art  come  to  heaven-built  Athens,  there  is  a  certain  sacred 
district  in  the  furthest  bounds  of  Atthis,  near  the  Carystian 
rock,  which  my  people  calls  Aloe — here,  having  built  a  tem- 
ple, do  thou  enshrine  the  image  named  after  the  Tauric  land 
and  thy  toils,  which  thou  hast  laboured  through,  wandering  over 
Greece,  under  the  goad  of  the  Erinnyes.  But  mortals  here- 
after shall  celebrate  her  as  the  Tauric  Goddess  Diana.  And 
do  thou  ordain  this  law,  that,  when  the  people  celebrate  a 
feast  in  grateful  commemoration  of  thy  release  from  slaugh- 
ter,88 let  them  apply  the  sword  to  the  neck  of  a  man,  and  let 
blood  flow  on  account  of  the  holy  Goddess,  that  she  may  have 
honour.  But,  O  Iphigenia,  thou  must  needs  be  guardian  of 
•the  temple  of  this  Goddess  at  the  hallowed  ascent  of  Brau- 
ron  ;89  where  also  thou  shalt  be  buried  at  thy  death,  and  they 
shall  offer  to  you  the  honour  of  rich  woven  vestments,  which 
women,  dying  in  childbed,  may  leave  in  their  houses.  But  I 
command  thee  to  let  these  Grecian  women  depart  from  the 
land  on  account  of  their  disinterested  disposition,90  I,  having 
saved  thee  also  on  a  former  occasion,  by  determining  the  equal 
votes  in  the  Field  of  Mars,  Orestes,  and  that,  according  to  the 
same  law,  he  should  conquer,  whoever  receive  equal  suffrages. 
But,  0  son  of  Agamemnon,  do  thou  remove  thy  sister  from 
this  land,  nor  be  thou  angered,  Thoas. 

Th.  Queen  Minerva,  whosoever,  on  hearing  the  words  of 
the  Gods,  is  disobedient,  thinks  not  wisely.  But  I  will  not 
be  angry  with  Orestes,  if  he  has  carried  away  the  image  of 
the  Goddess  with  him,  nor  with  his  sister.  For  what  credit 
is  there  in  contending  with  the  potent  Gods  ?  Let  them  depart 
to  thy  land  with  the  image  of  the  Goddess,  and  let  them 

88  So  Hermann  rightly  explains  the  sense.  I  agree  with  the  Cambridge 
editor,  that  if  Euripides  had  intended  to  use  bviaq  substantively,  he  would 
hardly  have  joined  it  with  9ta£,  thereby  causing  an  ambiguity. 

69  There  is  another  construction,  taking  kXi/i.  0e«c  together.  On  the 
whole  introduction  of  Minerva,  see  the  clever  note  of  the  Cambridge 
editor,  pp.  15S,  159. 

90  There  is  evidently  a  lacuna,  as  the  transition  to  Orestes  is  worse  than 
abrupt.  The  mythological  allusions  in  the  following  lines  are  well  ex- 
plained in  the  notes  of  Barnes  and  Seidler. 

2    D 


402  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS.  1481-1499. 

prosperously  enshrine  the  effigy.  But  I  will  also  send  these 
women  to  blest  Greece,  as  thy  mandate  bids.  And  I  will  stop 
the  spear  which"  I  raised  against  the  strangers,  and  the  oars 
of  the  ships,  as  this  seems  fit  to  thee,  0  Goddess. 

Min.  I  commend  your  words,  for  fate  commands  both  thee 
and  the  Gods  [themselves.]  Go,  ye  breezes,  conduct  the 
vesselof  Agamemnon's  son  to  Athens.  And  I  will  journey 
with  you,  to  guard  the  hallowed  image  of  my  sister. 

Cho.  Go  ye,  happy  because  of  your  preserved  fortune. 
But,  O  Athenian  Pallas,  hallowed  among  both  immortals 
and  mortals,  we  will  do  even  as  thou  biddest.  For  I  have 
received  a  very  delightful  and  unhoped-for  voice  in  my  hear- 
ing. 0  thou  all  hallowed  Victory,  mayest  thou  possess  my 
life,  and  cease  not  to  crown  it.91 

91  On  these  last  verses  see  the  end  of  the  Orestes,  with  Dindorf  s  note. 


THE  END. 


JOHN    CHILDS    AND    SON,    BUNGAY. 


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2  vols,  small  folio  (pub.  at  15/.  15s.),  half  morocco  (uniform  with  the  Oriental  Scenery),  3/.  3s. 

DON  QUIXOTE,  PICTORIAL  EDITION.  Translated  by  Jarvis,  carefully  revised- 
With  a  copious  original  Memoir  of  Cervantes.  Illustrated  by  upwards  of  820  beautiful  Wood 
Engravings,  after  the  celebrated  Designs  of  Tony  Johannot,  including  10  new  and  beautiful 
large  Cuts,  by  Armstrong,  now  first  added.  2  vols,  royal  8vo  (pub.  at  21.  10j.),  cloth  gilt, 
1/.  8s.  1843 

DULY*t.v*>3  GALLERY,  a  Series  of  50  Beautifully  Coloured  Plates  from  the  most  Celebrated 
PicraJbj  In  this  Remarkable  Collection;  executed  by  R.  Cockeurn  (Custodian).  All 
mounted  on  Tinted  Card-hoard  in  the  manner  ol  Drawings,  imperial  folio,  including  i  very 
large  additional  Plates,  published  separately  at  trom  3  to  4  guineas  each,  and  not  before 
included  in  the  Series.    In  a  handsome  portfolio,  w'h  morocco  back  (pub.  at  40/.),  16/.  16s. 

"This  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  and  interesting  of  the  British  Picture  Galleries,  and  has 
for  some  years  been  quite  unattainable,  even  at  the  full  price." 

EGYPT    AND    THE     PYRAMIDS.— COL.    VYSE'S    GREAT    WORK     ON    THE 

PYRAMIDS  OF  GIZEH.  With  an  Appendix,  by  J.  S.  Periung,  Esq.,  on  the  Pyramids  at 
Abou  Roash,  the  Favoum,  &c.  &c.  2  vols,  imperial  8vo,  with  60  Plates,  lithographed  by 
Hague  (pub.  at  2/.  12s.  6rf.),  1/.  Is.  1849 

EGYPT— PERRING'S    FIFTY-EIGHT  LARGE  VIEWS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

THE  PYRAMIDS  OF  GIZEH,  ABOU  ROASH,  &c.  Drawn  from  actual  Survey  and 
Admeasurement.  With  Notes  and  References  to  Col.  Vyse's  great  Work,  also  to  Denon,  the 
great  French  Work  on  Egypt,  Rosellini,  Belzoni,  Burckhardt,  Sir  Gardner  Wiikiuson,  Lane, 
and  others.  3  Parts,  elephant  folio,  the  size  of  the  great  French  "  Egypte"  (pub.  at  15/.  15s.  > 
in  printed  wrappers,  3/.  'is.;  half-bound  morocco,  4/.  14s.  fie/.  1342 

ENGLEFIELD'S  ISLE  OF  WIGHT.    4to.    50  large  Plates,  Engraved  by  Cooke,  and  a  Geo 

logical  Map  (pub.  7/.  7s.J,  cloth,  2/.  5j.  1816 

FLAXMAN'S  HOMER.  Seventy-five  beautiful  Compositions  to  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey, 
engraved  under  Flaxman's  inspection,  by  Piroli,  Moses,  and  Blake.  2  vols,  oblong  folio 
(pub.  at  5/.  5s.),  boards  21.  2s.  1S0S 

FLAXMAN'S  /ESCHYLUS,  Thirty-six  beautiful  Compositions  from.  Oblong  folio  (pub.  at 
21.  12s.  6c/.),  boards  1/.  Is.  1831 

FLAXMAN'S  HESIOD,  Thirty-seven  beautiful  Compositions  from.     Oblong  folio  (pub.  at 

21.  12s.  6rf.),  boards  1/.  5«.  1817 

"  Flaxman's  unequalled   Compositions  from  Homer,  jfcchylus,  and  Hesiod,  have  long 

V>een  the  admiration  of  Europe;  of  their  simplicity  and  beauty  the  pen  is  quite  incapable  ot" 

conveying  an  adequate  impression." — Sir  Thomas  Lawrence. 

FLAXMAN'S  ACTS  OF  MERCY.  A  Series  of  Eight  Compositions,  in  the  manner  of 
Ancient  Sculpture,  engraved  in  imitation  of  the  original  Drawings,  by  F.  C.  Lewis.  Oblong 
folio  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  half-bound  morocco,  16j.  1831 

FROISSART,  ILLUMINATED  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF.  Seventy-four  Plates,  printed  in 
Gold  and  Colours.    2  vols,  super-royal  8vo,  half-bound,  uncut  (pub.  at  4(.  10s.),  3/.  10«. 


the  same,  large  paper,  2  vols,  royal  4to,  half-bound,  uncut  (pub.  at  10.'.  10s.),  6/.  6i. 


CELL  AND  GANDY'S  POMPEIANA;  or,  ■-»'•  fipography,  Edifices,  and  Ornaments  oJT 
Pompeii.  Original  Series,  containing  the  Restftt'of  the  Excavations  previous  to  ISIS.  2  vol*, 
royal  8vo,  best  edition,  with  upwards  of  100  beautiful  Line  Engravings  by  Goodall,  Cookb" 
Heath,  Pie,  etc.  (pub.  at  71.  4s.),  boards,  3/.  3s.  1824 

GEMS  OF  ART,  36  FINE  ENGRAVINGS,  after  Rembrandt,  Cuyp,  Reynolds,  Pods- 
sin,  Murij.io,  Teniers,  Corregio,  Yandervelde,  folio,  proof  impressions,  in  portfolio 
(pub.  ats/.&s.),  1/.  lis.  6d. 

GILLRAYS  CARICATURES,  printed  from  the  Original  Plates,  all  engraved  by  himself 
between  1773  and  1810,  comprising  the  best  Political  and  Humorous  Satires  of  the  Reign  of 
George  the  Third,  in  upwards  of  COO  highly  spirited  Engravings.  In  1  large  vol.  atlas  folio 
(exactly  uniform  with  the  original  Hogarth,  as  sold  by  the  advertiser),  half-bound  red  morocco 
extra,  gilt  edges,  8/.  8«. 

GILPIN'S  PRACTICAL  HINTS  UPON  LANDSCAPE  GARDENING,  ™iUl  «om» 
Remarks  on  Domestic  Architecture.    Royal  8vo,  Plates,  cloth  (pub.  at  1/.),  7s. 

GOETHE'S  FAUST,  ILLUSTRATED  BY  RETZSCH    in  26  beautiful  Outlines.    Royal 
ttojpub.  at  1/.  Is.),  gilt  c'lth,  10s.  Cd. 
This  edition  contains  a  translation  of  the  original  poem,  witn  historical  and  descriptive  notes. 

B   2 


CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 


GOODWIN'S  DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE.  A  Series  of  New  Designs  for  Mansions 
Villas,  Rectorv-llouses,  Parsonage-Houses ;  Bailiff's,  Gardener's,  Gamekeeper's,  anj  Park- 
Gate  Lodges:  'Cottaires  ami  other  Residences,  in  the  Grecian,  Italian,  and  Old  English  Style 
of  Architecture  :  with  Estimates.    2  vols,  royal  4to,  yG  Plates  (pub.  at  5*.  is.),  cloth,  21.  125.  Cd. 

fiRINDLAYS  (CAPT.)  VIEWS  IN  [NDIA,  SCENERY,  COSTUME,  AND  ARCHI- 
TECTURE :  chitflv  on  the  Western  Side  of  India.    Atlas  4to.    Consisting  of  30  most  heauU-. 
fully  coloured  Plates,  highly  finished,  in  imitation  of  Drawings;    with  Descriptive  Letter- 
press.    (Pub.  at  121.  12s.),  halt-bound  morocco,  gilt  edges,  Si.  Si.  1830 
This  is  perhaps  the  most  exquisitely-coloured  volume  ol  landscapes  ever  produced. 

HANSARD'S  ILLUSTRATED  BOOK  OF  ARCHERY.  Being  the  complete  History  and 
Practice  of  the  Art:  interspersed  with  numerous  Anecdotes;  forming  a  complete  Manual  for 
thf  Rnwmon.  Svo.  Illustrated  by  89  beautiful  Line  Engravings,  exquisitely  finished,  by 
Exgleheart,  Portbury,  etc.,  after  Designs  by  SiErHAXOFF  (pub.  at  It.  lis.  lit!.),  gilt  cloth, 
10s.  Crf. 

HARRIS'S  GAME  AND  WILD  ANIMALS  OF  SOUTHERN  AFRICA.  Large  jmpti 
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10'.  10s.),  hf.  morocco,  07.  6s.  1814 

HARRIS'S  WILD  SPORTS  OF  SOUTHERN  AFRICA.  Impl.  8vo.  2G  beautifully  co- 
loured Engravings,  and  a  Map  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  gilt  cloth,  gilt  edges,  \l.  Is.  1844 

HEATH'S  CARICATURE  SCRAP  BOOK,  on  CO  Sheets,  containing  upwards  of  1000  Comic 
Subiects  after  Seymour,  CruikshaNJC,  Phiz,  and  other  eminent  Caricaturists,  oblong  folio! 
,'pub.  at  2/.  2s.),  cloth,  gilt,  15s. 

This  clever  and  entertaining  volume  is  now  enlarged  by  ten  additional  sheets,  each  con- 
taining numerous  subjects.  It  includes  the  whole  of  Heath's  Omnium  Gatherum,  both  Series; 
Illustrations  of  Demonologv  and  Witchcraft ;  Old  Ways  and  New  Ways;  Nautical  Dictionary;- 
Scenes  in  London;  Savings' and  Doings,  etc.;  a  series  of  humorous  illustrations  of  Proverbs,- 
etc.  As  a  large  and  "almost  infinite  storehouse  of  humour  it  stands  alone.  To  the  youruj; 
artist  it  would  be  found  a  most  valuable  collection  of  studies;  and  to  the  family  circle  a  con-, 
stant  source  of  unexceptionable  amusement. 

HOGARTH'S  WORKS  ENGRAVED  BY  HIMSELF.  153  line  Plates  (including  the  two'- 
well-known  "  suppressed  Plates"),  with  elaborate  Letter- press  Descriptions,  by  J.  Nichols.! 
Atlas  folio  (pub.  at  50(.),  half-bound  morocco,  gilt  back  and  edges,  with  a  secret  pocket  for; 
suppressed  plates,  7t.  7s.  1822j 

HOLBEIN'S  COURT  OF  HENRY  THE  EIGHTH.  A  Series  of  80  exquisitely  beautiful] 
Portraits,  engraved  by  Bartolozzi,  Cooper,  and  others,  in  imitation  of  the  original! 
Drawings  preserved  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Windsor;  with  Historical  and  Biographical) 
Letter-press  by  Edmund  Lodge,  Esq.  Published  by  Johs  Chamberlaine.  Imperial  4to. 
(pub.  at  15/.  15s.),  half-bound  morocco,  full  gilt  back  and  edges,  5(.  15s.  Cd.  1812s 

HOFLANDS  BRITISH  ANGLER'S  MANUAL;  Edited  by  Edward  Jesse,  Esq.;  or,' 
the  Art  of  Angling  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland;  including  a  Piscatorial  Account 
of  the  principal  Rivers,  Lakes,  and  Trout  Streams;  with  Instructions  in  Fly  Fishing,  Trolling, 
and  Angling  of  every  Description.  With  upwards  of  80  exquisite  Plates,  many  of  which  are, 
highly-finished  Landscapes  engraved  on  Steel,  the  remainder  beautifully  engraved  on  Wood., 
8vo,  elegant  in  gilt  cloth,  12s.  1848* 

HOPE'S  COSTUME  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  Illustrated  in  upwards  of  320  beautifully- 
enL'raved  Plates,  containing  Representations  of  Esj-ptian,  Greek,  and  Human  Habits  and 
Dresses.  2  vols,  royal  Svo,  New  Edition,  with  nearly  2U  additional  Plates,  boards,  reduced 
to  21.  5s.  IS"-- 

HOWARD  (FRANK)  ON  COLOUR,  as  a  Means  of  Art,  being  an  adaptation  of  the  Expe- 
rience of  Professors  to  the  practice  of  Amateurs,  illustrated  by  IS  coloured  Plates,  post  svo, 
cloth  gilt,  8s. 

In  this  ahle  volume  are  shown  the  ground  colours  in  which  the  most  celebrated  painters 
worked.  It  is  very  valuable  tu  the  connoisseur,  as  well  as  the  student,  in  painting  and  water- 
colour  drawing. 

HOWARD'S  (HENRY,  R.  A.)  LECTURES  ON  PAINTING.  Delivered  it  the  Royal 
Academy,  with  a  Memoir,  by  his  son,  Frank  Howard,  large  post8vo,  cloth,  7s.  Oij.  1S49 

HOWARD'S   (FRANK)  SPIRIT  OF  SHAKSPEARE.    483  fine  outline  Plates,  illustrative  of 

all  the  principal  Incidents  in  the  Dramas  of  our  national  Bard,  5  vols.  Svo  (pub.  at  14/.  it. ),. 

cloth    2/.  2s  1827 — 33' 

*t*  The  4S3  Plates  may  be  had  without  the  letter-press,  for  illustrating  all  8vo  editions  of 

Shakspeare,  for  1/.  lis.  Cd. 

HUMPHREY'S  (H.  NOEL)  ART    OF  ILLUMINATION  AND  MISSAL  PAINTING, 

illustrated  with  12  splendid  Examples  from  the  Great  Masters  of  the  Art,  selected  from  Missals^ 
all  beautifully  illuminated.    Square  12mo,  decorated  binding,  If.  Is. 

HUMPHREY'S  COINS  OF  ENGLAND,  a  Sketch  of  the  progress  of  the  English  Coinage]; 
from  the  earliest  period  to  the  present  time,  with  22S  beautiful  fac-similes  of  the  most  interest- 
ing specimens,  illuminated  in  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  square  Svo,  neatly  decorated  binding,  ISs. 

•  HUNT'S  EXAMPLES  OF  TUDOR  ARCHITECTURE  ADAPTED  TO  MODERN 

|         HABITATIONS.    Royal  4to,  37  Plates  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  half  morocco  1(.  4s. 

HUNT'S  DESIGNS  FOR  PARSONAGE-HOUSE?;  -\LMS-HOUSES,  ETC.  R°T»J 
«o  2i  Plates  (pt\b.  at  K.  Is.),  half  morucei,  JJj.  '  •>■" 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BT  H.  G.  BOIIN. 


HUNTS  DESIGNS  FOR  GATE  LODGES,  GAMEKEEPERS'  COTTAGES,  ETC 
Royal  4to,  13  Plate6  (puu.  at  II.  Is.),  half  niorocco,  14s.  1841 

HUNT'S  ARCHITETTURA  CAMPESTRE;  OR,  DESIGNS  FOR  LODGES,  GAR- 
DENERS' HOUSES,  etc.  IN  THE  ITALIAN  STYLE.  12  Plates,  royal  4to  (pub.  at 
12.  Is.),  half  morocco,  14s.  lfK7 

ILLUMINATED  BOOK  OF  CHRISTMAS  CAROLS.  squareSvo.  24  Borders  Illuminated 
in  Gold  and  Colours,  and  4  beautiful  Miniatures,  richly  Ornamented  Binding  (pub.  at  1/.  5s.  I, 
lis.  1846 

ILLUMINATED  BOOK  OF  NEEDLEWORK,  By  Mrs.  Owen-,  with  a  History  of  Needle- 
work, bv  the  Countess  of  Wilton,  Coloured  Plates,  post  8vo  (pub.  at  IBs.),  gilt  cloth, 9s.    1847 

ILLUMINATED  CALENDAR  FOR  1850.  Copied  from  a  celebrated  Missal  known  as  the 
"  Hours"  of  the  Duke  of  Aujou,  imperial  Svo,  30  exquisite  Miniatures  and  Borders,  in  gold  and 
colours,  Ornamented  Binding  (pub.  at  22.  2s.),  15s. 

ILLUSTRATED  FLY-FISHERS  TEXT  BOOK.  A  Complete  Guide  to  the  Science  of  Trout, 
and  Sainton  Fishing.  By  Theophilus  Soi  th,  Gent.  (Ed.  Chitty,  Barrister).  With. 
23  beautiful  Engravings  on  Steel,  after  Paintings  by  Cooper,  Newton,  Fielding,  Lee,  and 
others.    Svo  (pub.  at  12.  lis.  Grf.).  cloth,  gilt,  10s.  Gd.  1845 

ITALIAN   SCHOOL  OF  DESIGN.    Consisting  of  too  Plates,  chiefly  engraved  by  Barto- 

lozzi,  after  the  original  Pictures  and  Drawings  of  Guercino,  Michael  Angelo,  Domeni- 
chino,  Annibale,  Ludovico,  and  Agostino  Caracci,  Pietro  da  Cortona,  Carlo  Ma- 
ratti,  and  others,  in  the  Collection  of  Her  Majesty.  Imperial  4to  (pub.  at  102.  10s.),  half  mo- 
rocco, gilt  edges,  3/.  3s.  1842 

JAMES'  (G.  P.  R.)  BOOK  OF  THE  PASSIONS,  royal  8vo,  illustrated  with  16  splendid 
Line  Engravings,  after  drawings  by  Edward  Courdoui.d  Stephaxoff  Chalon,  Kenny 
Meadows,  and  Jenkins;  engraved  under  the  superintendence  of  Charles  Heath.  New 
and  improved  edition  (just  published),  elegant  in  gilt  cloth,  gilt  edges  (pub.  at  1/.  lis.  6d.), 
12s. 

JAMESON'S  BEAUTIES  OF  THE  COURT  OF  CHARLES  THE  SECOND.  2  vols, 
impl.  Svc,  21  beautiful  Portraits  (pub.  at  22.  is.),  cloth,  12.  Is.  1838 

JOHNSON'S  SPORTSMAN'S  CYCLOPEDIA  of  the  Science  and  Practice  of  the  Field,  the 
Turf,  and  the  Sod,  or  operations  of  the  Chase,  the  Course,  and  the  Stream,  in  one  very  thick 
vol.  8vo,  illustrated  with  upwards  of  50  Steel  Engravings,  after  Cooper,  Ward,  Hancock,  and 
others  (pub.  at  12.  lis.  6c2.),  cloth,  15s. 

KNIGHTS  (HENRY  GALLY),   ECCLESIASTICAL  ARCHITECTURE  OF  ITALY, 

FROM  THE  TIME  OF  CON'STANTINE  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  With  an 
Introduction  and  Text.  Imperial  folio.  First  Series,  containing  40  heautiful  and  highly  inte- 
resting Views  of  Ecclesiastical  Buildings  in  Italy,  several  of  which  are  expensively  illuminated 
in  gold  and  colours,  half-bound  morocco,  it.  is.  1843 

Second  and  Concluding  Series,  containing  41  beautiful  and  highly-interesting  Views  of  Eccle- 
siastical Buildings  in  Italy,  arranged  in  Chronological  Order;  with  Descriptive  Letter-press. 
Imperial  folio,  half-bound  morocco,  hi.  is.  1844 

KNIGHTS   (HENRY   GALLY)   SARACENIC  AND  NORMAN  REMAINS.    To  illus- 
trate the  Normans  in  Sicily.    Imperial  folio.    30  large  Engravings,  consisting  of  Picturesque 
Views,  Architectural  Remains,  Interiors  atd  Exteriors  of  Buildings,  with  Descriptive  Letter- 
press.     Coloured  like  Drawings,  half-bound  morocco,  8/.  8s.  1846 
But  very  few  copies  are  now  iirst  executedin  this  expensive  manner. 

KNIGHT'S  PICTORIAL  LONDON.  6  vols,  bound  in  3  thick  handsome  vols,  imperial  8vo, 
illustrated  by  650  Wood  Engravings  (pub.  at  32.  3s.),  cloth,  gilt,  12.  18s.  1841-44 

LONDON— WILKINSONS    LONDINA     ILLUSTRATA  ;      OR,    GRAPHIC    AND 

HISTORICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  of  the  most  Interesting  and  Curious  Architectural 
Monuments  of  the  City  and  Suburbs  of  London  and  Westminster,  e.g..  Monasteries,  Churches, 
Charitable  Foundations,  Palaces,  Halls,  Courts,  Processions,  Places  of  early  Amusements, 
Theatres,  and  Old  Houses.  2  vols,  imperial  4to,  containing  207  Copper-plate  Engravings,  with 
Historical  and  Descriptive  Letter-press  (pub.  at  262.  5s.),  half-bound  morocco,  5*.  5s.      1819-25 

LOUDON'S    EDITION     OF    REPTO/J     ON     LANDSCAPE    GARDENING    AND 

LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECTURE.  New  Edition,  250  Wood  Cuts,  Portrait,  thick  8vo,  cloth 
lettered  (pub.  at  12.  10s.),  15s. 

LYSON'S  ENVIRONS  OF  LONDON;  being  an  Historical  Account  of  the  Towns,  Villages 
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The  same,  large  paper,  5  vols,  royal  4to  (pub.  at  152.  15s.),  rioth,  32.  3s. 

MACCREGORS     PROGRESS    OF    AMERICA     FROM    THE    DISCOVERY '  BY 

COLUMBUS,  to  the  year  1846,  comprising  its  History'  and  Statistics,  2  remarkably  thick 
volumes,  imperial  Svo.  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  42.  14s.  6(2.),  12.  lis.  6i2.  1S47 

MARTIN'S  CIVIL  COSTUME  OF  ENGLAND,  from  the  Conquest  to  the  Present  Penod- 
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MEYRICK'S  PAINTED  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  ANCIENT  ARMS  AND  ARMOUR, 

a  Critical  Inquiry  into  Ancient  Armour  as  it  existed  in  Europe,  hut  particularly  in  England, 
from  the  Norman  Conquest  to  the  Reign  of  Charles  II,  with  a  Glossary,  etc.  by  Sir  Samuel 
Hush  Meykick,  LL.D.,  F.S.A.,  etc.,  new  and  greatly  improved  Edition,  corrected  and  en- 
larged throughout  l>y  the  Author  himself,  with  the  assistance  of  Literary  and  Antiquarian 
Friends  (Albeut  Way,  etc.),  3  vols,  imperial  4to,  illustrated  by  more  than  100  Plates, 
splendidly  illuminated,  mostly  in  gold  and  silver,  exhibiting  some"  of  the  Ouest  Specimens 
existing  in  England;  also  a  new  Plate  of  the  Tournament  of  Locks  and  Keys  (pub.  at  21/.), 
half-bound  morocco,  gilt  edges,  10/.  10*.  1844 

Sir  Walter  Scoit  justly  describes  this  collection  as  "the  incomparable  armourt." 
—Edinburgh  Review. 

MEYRICK'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  ANCIENT  ARMS  AND  ARMOUR,  in  the  Collec- 
tion of  Goodrich  Court,  150  Engravings  by  Jos.  Skelton,  2  vols,  folio  (pub.  at  IK.  lis.), 
half  morocco,  top  edges  gilt,  4/.  14s.  6d. 

MILLINGEN'S  ANCIENT  UNEDITED  MONUMENTS;  comprising  Painted  Greek 
Vases,  Statues,  busts,  Bas-Reliefs,  and  other  Remains  of  Grecian  Art.  G2  large  and  beautiful 
Engravings,  mostly  coloured,  with  Letter-press  Descriptions,  imperial  4to  (pub.  at  9/.  9s.), 
half  morocco,  it.  14s.  6d.  1822 

MOSES'    ANTIQUE    VASES,    CANDELABRA,    LAMPS,    TRIPCDS,    PATERA. 

Tazzas,  Tombs,  Mausoleums,  Sepulchral  Chamber*,  Cinerary  Urns,  Sarcophagi,  Cippi;  and 
other  Ornaments,  170  Plates,  several  of  which  are  coloured,  with  Letter-press,  by  Hope,  small 
8vo  (pub.  at  it.  3s.),  cloth,  U.5s.  1811 

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NICOLASS  (SIR    HARRIS)    HISTORY  OF  THE  ORDERS  OF    KNIGHTHOOD 

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"Sir  Harris  Nicolas  has  produced  the  first  comprehensive  History  of  the  British  Orders  of 
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issued  from  the  press.  The  Author  appears  to  us  to  have  neglected  no  sources  of  information, 
and  to  have  exhausted  them,  as  far  as  regards  the  general  scope  and  purpose  of  the  inquiry. 
The  Graphical  Illustrations  are  such  as  become  a  work  of  this  character  upon  such  a  subject; 
at,  of  course,  a  lavish  cost.  The  resources  of  the  recently  revived  art  of  wood-engraving  have 
been  combined  with  the  new  art  of  printing  in  colours,  so  as  to  produce  a  rich  effect,  almost 
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It  contains  matter  calculated  to  interest  extensive  classes  of  readers,  and  we'hope  by  our 
specimen  to  excite  their  curiosity." — Quarterly  Review. 

NICHOLSON'S  ARCHITECTURE;  ITS  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE.  218 
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It.  Us.  Get.  1848 

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PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  GERMANY  DURING  THE  REIGN  OF  FREDERICK 
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PUGIN'S   GLOSSARY  OF   ECCLESIASTICAL  ORNAMENT   AND   COSTUME- 

setting  forth  the  Origin,  History,  and  .signification  of  the  various  Emblems,  Devices,  and  Sym- 
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-landers  and  Holland,  with  Criticisms  on  Pictures;  Du  Fresnoy's  Art  of  Painting,  with  Notes 
•  o  which  is  prefixed,  a  Memoir  of  the  Author,  with  Remarks  illustrative  of  his  Principles  and 
Mactice,  by  Beechey.  New  Edition.  2  vols.  fcap.  8vo,  with  Portrait  (pub.  at  18s.),  gilt 
tooth,  10».  1S46 

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as  long  as  the  English  tongue,  and  contribute,  not  less  than  the  productions  of  his  pencil,  to 
render  his  name  immortal." — Northcole. 

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Cottages,  in  90  Plans,  with  Estimates.  Fourth,  greatly  improved,  Edition.  Royal  4to  (pub. 
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ROBINSON'S    FARM   BUILDINGS.  56  Plates  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  half  morocco,  11.  lis.  6rf. 

ROBINSON'S  LODGES  AND  PARK  ENTRANCES.    48  Plates  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  half 

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ROBINSON'S  NEW  VITRUVIUS  BRITANNICUS;  Or,  Views,  Plans,  andElevations  ot 
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burv  House,  by  John  Britton,  imperial  folio,  50  fine  engravings,  by  Le  Keux  (put),  a 
lOi.'lCs. )  half  morocco,  gilt  edges,  31.  13s.  lid.  184? 

ROYAL  VICTORIA  GALLERY,  comprising  33  beautlfm  Engravings,  after  pictures  a 
BUCKINGHAM  PALACE,  particularly  Rembrandt,  the  Ostades,  Temers,  Gerartj 
Dow,  Both,  Cuyf,  Reynolds,  Titian,  and  Rubens,  engraved  hy  Greatbach,  S.  W 
Reynolds,  Fresbury,  Burnet,  &c;  with  letter-press  by  Linnell,  royal  ito  (pab.  0- 
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SHAW'S  LUTON  CHAPEL,  its  Architecture  and  Ornaments,  illustrated  in  a  series  of  2» 
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. The  Historical  and  Descriptive  Letter-press  by  Cbampollion,  Figeac,  and  Cham- 

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SMITHS  (C.  J.)  HISTORICAL  AND  LITERARY  CURIOSITIES.  Consisting  of 
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STOTHARD'S  MONUMENTAL  EFFIGIES  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  147  beautifurly 
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STRUTT'S  SYLVA   BRITANNICA   ET  SvOTICA;   or,  Portraits  of  Forest  Trees,  distin- 
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STRUTT'S    DRESSES  AND    HABITS  OF  THE   PEOPLE  OF    ENGLAND,    from 

the  Establishment  of  the  Saxons  in  Britain  to  the  present  time;  with  an  historical  and 
Critical  Inquiry  into  every  branch  of  Costume.  New  and  gieatly  improved  Edition,  with  Cri- 
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Containing  the  most  authentic  Representations  of  all  the  English  Monarchs  from  Edward  the 
Conltssorto  Henry  the  Eighth  ;  together  with  many  of  the  Great  Personages  that  were  emi- 
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TODS  ANNALS  AND  ANTIQUITIES  OF  RAJAST'HAN :  OR,  THE  CENTRAL 
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in  England,  with  Notes  by  Dallaway;  New  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged,  by  Ralph 
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most  approved  methods.of  imitating  every  kind  of  fancy  Wood  and  Marble,  in  Oil  or  Distemper 
Colour,  Designs  for  Decorating  Apartments,  and  the  Art  of  Staining  and  Painting  on  Glass, 
Sc,  with  Examples  from  Ancient  Windows,  with  the  Supplement,  4to,  illustrated  with  101 
plates,  of  which  44  are  coloured,  (pub.  at  21.  14s.)  cloth,  11.  10s. 

WHITTOCK'S  MINIATURE  PAINTER'S  MANUAL.  Foolscap  Svo.,  1  coloured  plates, 
and  numerous  woodcuts  (pub.  at  5s.)  cloth,  3s. 

WIGHTWICK'S  PALACE  OF  ARCHITECTURE,  a  Romance  or  Art  and  History.  Impe- 
rial Svo,  with  nil  Illustrations,  Steel  Plates,  and  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  21.  12s.  <M.),  cloth,  11.  Is. 

1840 

WILDS  ARCHITECTURAL  GRANDEUR  of  Belgium,  Germany,  and  France,  24  fine 
Plates  by  Le  Keux,  &c.    Imperial  4to  (pub.  at  11.  18s.),  half  morocco,  11.  is.  1837 

WILD'S  FOREIGN  CATHEDRALS,  12  Plates,  coloured  and  mounted  like  Drawings,  in  a 
handsome  portfolio  (pub.  at  12/.  12s.),  imperial  folio,  bl.  3s. 

WILLIAMS'  VIEWS  IN  GREECE,  64  beautiful  Line  Engravings  by  Miller,  Horsburgh, 
and  others.    2  vols,  imperial  Svo  (pub.  at  6/.  6s.),  half  bound  mor.  extra,  gilt  edges,  2/.  12s.  Gd. 

1829 

WINDSOR  CASTLE  AND  ITS  ENVIRONS,  INCLUDING  ETON,  by  Leitck 
Reitciue,  new  edition,  edited  by  E.  Jesse,  Esq.,  illustrated  with  upwards  of  50  beautiful 
Engravings  on  Steel  and  Wood,  royal  Svo.,  gilt  cloth,  IS* 

WOOD'S  ARCHITECTURAL  ANTIQUITIES  AND  RUINS  OF  PALMYRA  AND 
J3ALBEC.  ajvols.  in  1,  imperial  folio,  containing  110  fine  Copper-plate  Engravings,  some 
very  large  and  folding  (pub.  at  'it.  7s.),  half  morocco,  uncut,  3(.  13s.  6d.  1S27 


jfiatural  ^t'siory,  Agriculture,  &c. 


ANDREWS'    FIGURES    OF    HEATHS,    with   Scientific  Descriptions, 
with  300  beautifully  coloured  Plates  (pub.  at  15/.),  cloth,  gilt,  11.  10s. 

BARTON  AND  CASTLE'S  BRITISH  FLORA  MEDICA;  OR,  HISTORY  of  THB 
MEDICINAL  PLANTS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN.  2  vols.  8vo,  illustrated  by  upwards  of  200 
Coloured  Figures  of  Plants  (pub.  at  3/.  3s.),  cloth,  1/.  16s.  18JS 

BAUER    AND    HOOKER'S    ILLUSTRATIONS   OF   THE    GENERA    OF    FERNS, 

in  which  the  characters  of  each  Genus  are  displayed  in  the  most  elaborate  manner,  in  a  series 
of  magnified  Dissections  and  Figures,  highly  finished  in  Colours.    Imp.  8vo,  Plates,  6/.  1S38-42 

BEECHEY.  — BOTANY    OF    CAPTAIN     BEECHEY'S    VOYAGE,     comprising    an 

Account  of  the  Plants  collected  by  iMessrs.  Lay  and  Collie,  and  other  Officers  of  the 
Expedition,  during  the  Voyage  to  the  Pacific  and  Behring's  Strafcs.  By  Sir  William 
Jackson  Hooker,  and  G.  A.  W.  Arxott,  Esq.,  illustrated  by  100  Plates,  beautifully  cn- 
gTaved,  complete  in  10  parts,  4te  (pub.  at  11.  10s.),  it.  1831-41 

BEECHEY— ZOOLOGY  OF  CAPTAIN  BEECHEY'S  VOYAGE,  compiled  from  the 
Collections  and  Notes  of  Captain  Beeciif.y  and  the  Scientific  Gentlemen  who  accompanied 
the  Expedition.  The  Mammalia,  bv  Dr.  Richardson;  Ornithology,  by  N.  A.  Vigors,  Esq., 
Fishes,  bv  G.  T.  Lay,  Esq.,  and  E.  T.  Bennett,  Esq.;  Crustacea,  by  Eiciiaed  Owen; 
Esq.;  Reptiles,  by  John  Edward  Gray,  Esq.:  Shells,  by  W.  Sowerby,  Esq.;  and  Geology, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buckland.  4to,  illustrated  hf  47  Plates,  containing  many  hundred  Figures, 
beautifully  colcured  by  Sowerby  (pub.  at  6.'.  is'.),  cloth,  3(.  13s.  Gd.  1W9 


10  CATALOGUE  OF  SEW  BOOKS 


BOLTON'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  BRITISH  SONG  BIRDS.  Illustrated  with 
Figures,  the  size  of  Life,  of  the  Birds,  both  Male  and  Female,  in  their  most  Natural  Attitudes; 
their  Nests  and  Eggs,  Food,  Favourite  Plants,  Shruhs,  Trees,  Sic.  Sc.  New  Edition,  revised 
and  very  considerably  augmented.  2  vols,  in  1,  medium  4to,  containing  80  beautifully  coloured 
plates  (pub.  at  8/.  8s. ),  half  hound  morocco,  gilt  backs,  gilt  edges,  31.  3a.  1S45 

BRITISH  FLORIST,  OR  LADY'S  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE.  6vols.8vo,  81 
coloured  plates  of  Bowers  and  groups  (pub.  at  4/.  lOj.j,  cloth,  1(.  14s.  1816 

BROWN'S   ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE    LAND    AND    FRESH  WATER  SHELLS 

OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND;  with  Figures,  Descriptions,  and  Localities  of  all 
the  Species.  Royal  8vo,  containing  on  27  large  Plates,  330  Figures  of  all  the  known  British 
Species,  In  their  full  size,  accurately  drawn  from  Nature  (pub.  at  lis.),  cloth,  10s.  lid.  1845 

CURTISS  FLORA  LONDINENSIS;  Revised  and  Improved  by  George  Graves,  ex- 
tended and  continued  by  Sir  W.  Jackson  Hooker;  comprising  'the  History  of  Plants  indi- 
genous to  Great  Britain,  with  Indexes;  the  Drawings  made  by  Sydenham,  Edwards,  and 
Lindley.  5  vols,  royal  folio  (or  10'J  parts),  containing  047  Plates,  exhibiting  the  full  natural 
•Ize  of  each  Plant,  with  magnified  Dissections  of  the  Parts  of  Fructification,  &c,  all  beauti- 
fully coloured  (pub.  at  87/.  4s.  in  parts),  half  bound  morocco,  top  edges  gilt,  30t.  1835 

DENNY— MONOGRAPHIA  ANOPLURORUM  BRITANNI/E,  OR  BRITISH 
SPECIES  OF  PARASITE  INSECTS  (published  under  the  patronage  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion), 8vo,  numerous  beautifully  coloured  plates  of  Lice,  containing  several  hundred  magnified 
figures,  cloth,  li.  lis.  6d.  1842 

DON'S  GENERAL  SYSTEM  OF  GARDENING  AND  BOTANY,  i  volumes,  royal  4to, 
numerous  woodcuts  (pub.  at  14/.  8s.),  cloth,  It.  lis.  6c/.  1831-1838 

DON'S  HORTUS  CANTABRIGIENSIS;  thirteenth  Edition,  8vo  (pub.  at  11.  it.),  cloth,  12». 

1845 

DONOVANS  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  INSECTS  OF  INDIA.  Enlarged,  by 
J.  O.  WESTwoon,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  4to,  with  58  plates,  containing  upwards  of  120  exquisitely 
coloured  figures  (pub.  at  61.  6s.),  cloth,  gilt,  reduced  to  21.  2s.  1843 

DONOVAN'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  INSECTS  OF  CHINA.  Enlarged,  by 
J.  O.  Westwood,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  4to,  with  50  plates,  containing  upwards  of  120  exquisitely 
coloured  figures  (pub.  at  6/.  6».),  cloth,  gilt,  21.  5s. 

"Donovan's  works  on  the  Insects  of  India  and  China  are  splendidly  illustrated  and  ex- 
tremely useful." — Naturalist. 

"The  entomological  plates  of  our  countryman  Donovan,  are  highly  coloured,  elegant,  and 
useful,  especially  those  contained  in  his  quarto  volumes  (Insects  of  India  and  China),  where  a 
great  number  of  species  are  delineated  for  the  first  time." — Swainson. 

DONOVAN'S  WORKS  ON  BRITISH  NATURAL  HISTORY.  Viz.-Insects,  16  vols, 
—Birds,  10  vols.— Shells,  5  vols.— Fishes,  5  vols.— Quadrupeds,  3  vols.— together  39  vols.  8vo. 
containing  1198  beautifully  coloured  plates  (pub.  at  66/.  9s.),  boards,  23/.  17s.  The  same  set  at 
39  vols,  hound  in  21  (pub.  at  73/.  Ids.),  half  green  morocco  extra,  gilt  edges,  gilt  backs,  30/. 
Any  of  the  classes  may  be  had  separately. 

DOYLE'S     CYCLOPEDIA     OF     PRACTICAL     HUSBANDRY,   and   Rural   Affairs  in 

General, New  Edition,  Enlarged,  thick  Sto.,  with  70  wood  engravings  (pub.  at  13s.),  cloth, 
8s.  6d.  184J 

DRURY'S  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  FOREIGN  ENTOMOLOGY;  wherein  are  exhibited 
upwards  of  COO  exotic  Insects,  of  the  East  and  West  Indies,  China,  New  Holland,  North  and 
South  America,  Germany,  &c.  By  J.  O.  Westwoo  s,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  Secretary  of  the  Entomo- 
logical Society,  &c.  3  vols,  4to,  150  Plates,  most  beautifully  coloured,  containing  above  COO 
figures  of  Insects  (originally  pub.  at  15/.  15s.),  half  bound  morocco,  6/.  16s.  Crf.  1837 

EVELYN'S  SYLVA  AND  TERRA.  A  Discourse  of  Forest  Trees,  and  the  Propagation  of 
Timber,  a  Philosophical  Discourse  of  the  Earth;  with  Life  of  the  Author,  and  Notes  by  Dr.  A. 
Hunter,  2  vols,  royal  4to.    Fifth  Improved  Edition,  with  40  Plates  (pub.  a  il.  ha.),  cloth,  21. 

1825 

FITZROY   AND    DARWIN— ZOOLOGY  OF   THE   VOYAGE   IN    THE   BEAGLE. 

166  plates,  mostly  coloured,  3  vols,  royal  4to.  (pub.  at  9/.),  cloth,  5/.  5s.  1838-43 

GREVILLE'S  CRYPTOGAMIC  FLORA,  comprising  the  Principal  Species  found  in  Great 
Britain,  inclusive  of  all  the  New  Species  recently  discovered  in  Scotland.  6  vols,  royal  Svo, 
360  beautifully  coloured  Plates  (pub.  at  10/.  10s.),  half  morocco,  8/.  8s.  1823-8 

This,  though  a  complete  Work  in  itself,  forms  an  almost  indispensable  Supplement  to  the 
thirtv-slx  volumes  of  Sowerbv's  English  Botany,  which  does  not  comprehend  Cryptogamous 
Plants.  It  is  one  of  the  most  scientific  and  best  executed  works  on  Indigenous  Botany  ever 
produced  in  this  country. 

HARDWICKE  AND  GRAY'S  INDIAN  ZOOLOGY.  Twenty  parts,  forming  two  vols., 
royal  folio,  202  coloured  plates  (pub.  at  21/.),  sewed,  12/.  12s.,  or  half  morocco,  gilt  edges, 
14/.  14s. 

HARRIS'S    AUREL1AN;     OR    ENG'JSH    MOTHS    AND    BUTTERFLIES,     Their 

Natural  History,  together  with  the  Plants  on  which  they  feed;  New  and  greatly  improved 
Edition,  by  J.  O.  Westwood,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  &c,  in  1  vol.  sm.  folio,  with  44  plates,  containing 
nbove  400  figures  of  Moths,  Butterflies,  Caterpillars,  &c,  and  the  Plants  on  which  they  feed, 
exquisitely  coloureu  after  the  original  drawings,  half-bound  morocco,  4/.  4s.  1840 

This  extremely  neiutiful  work  is  the  onlv  one  which  contains  our  English  Moths  and  Butter- 
flies of  the  full  natural  size,  in  all  their  changes  of  Caterpillar,  Chrysalis,  &c,  with  the  plant* 
on  which  they  fee/*. 


PUBLISHED  OK  SOLD  BY  H.  G.  BOHN.  11 

HOOKtR    AND    GREVILLE,    ICONES    FILICUM;    OR.    FIGURES    OF    FERNS 

With  DESCRIPTIONS,  many  of  whicli  have  been  altogether  unnoticed  by  Botanists,  or  have 

not  been  correctlv  figured.    2  vols,  folio,  with  210  beautifully  coloured  Plates  (pub.  at  25/.  4>. ), 

half  morocco,  gilt  edges,  12/.  12s.  1829-31 

The  grandest  and  most  valuable  of  the  many  scientific  Works  produced  by  Sir  William  Hooker. 

HOOKER'S  EXOTIC  FLORA,  containing  Figures  and  Descriptions  of  Rare,  or  otherwise 
interesting  Exotic  Plants,  especially  of  such  as  are  deserving  of  being  cultivated  in  our  Gar- 
dens. 3  vols.  Imperial  8vo,  containing  232  largo  and  beautifully  coloured  Plates  (pub.  at  15/.), 
cloth,  6/.  6s.  1823-1827 

This  is  the  most  superb  and  attractive  of  all  Dr.  Hooker's  valuable  works. 

"The  'Exotic  Flora,'  by  Dr.  Hooker,  is  like  that  of  all  the  Botanical  publications  of  the  in- 
defatigable author,  excellent;  and  it  assumes  an  appearance  of  finish  and  perfection  to 
which  neither  the  Botanical  Magazine  nor  Register  can  externally  lay  claim."— Loudon. 

HOOKER'S  JOURNAL  OF  BOTANY;  containing  Figures  and  Descriptions  of  such  Plants 
as  recommend  themselves  by  their  novelty,  rarity,  or  history,  or  hy  the  uses  to  which  they  are 
applied  in  the  Arts,  in  Medicine,  and  in  Domestic  Economy;  together  with  occasions*. 
Botanical  Notices  and  Information,  and  occasional  Portraits  and  Memoirs  of  eminent 
Botanists.    4  vols.  8vo,  numerous  plates,  some  coloured  (pub.  at  31.),  cloth,  11.  1834-42 

HOOKER'S  BOTANICAL  MISCELLANY;  containing  Figures  and  Descriptions  of  Plants 
which  recommend  themselves  by  their  novelty,  rarity,  or  history,  or  by  the  uses  to  which  they 
are  applied  in  the  Arts,  in  M'cdicine,  and  in  Domestic  Economy,  together  with  occasional 
Botanical  Notices  and  Information,  including  many  valuable  Communications  from  distin- 
guished Scientific  Travellers.  Complete  in  3  thick  vols,  royal  8vo,  with  153  piatcs,  many  finely 
coloured  (pub.  at  hi.  5s.),  gilt  cloth,  11.  12s.  id.  1830-33 

HOOKER'S  FLORA  BOREALI-AMERICANA ;  OR,  THE  BOTANY  OF  BRITISH 
NORTH  AMERICA.  Illustrated  by  240  plates,  complete  in  Twelve  Parts,  royal  4to,  (pub. 
at  12/.  12s.),  8/.    The  Twelve  Parts  complete,  done  up  in  2  vols,  royal  4to,  extra  cloth,  8/. 

1829-40 

HUISH  ON  BEES;  THEIR  NATURAL  HISTORY  AND  GENERAL  MANAGEMENT. 
New  and  greatly  improved  Edition,  containing  also  the  latest  Discoveries  and  Improvements 
in  e\erv  department  of  the  Apiary,  with  a  description  of  the  most  approved  Hives  now  in  use, 
thick  12mo,  Portrait  and  numerous  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  10s.  6d.),  cloth,  gilt,  Us.  Cc/.  1844 

JOHNSON'S  GARDENER,  complete  in  12  vols,  with  numerous  woodcuts,  containing  the 
Potato,  one  vol.— Cucumber,  one  vol.— Grape  Vine,  two  vols.— Auricula  and  Asparagus,  one 
vol.— Pine  Apple,  two  vols.— Strawberry,  one  vol.— Dahlia,  one  vol.— Peach,  one  VOL.— Apple, 
two  vols.— together  12  vols.    12mo,  woodcuts  (pub.  at  1/.  10s.},  cloth,  12«.  1847 


■  either  of  the  volumes  may  be  had  separately  (pub.  at  2».  6ri.),  at  1». 


JOHNSON'S  DICTIONARY  OF  MODERN  GARDENING,  numerous  Woodcuts,  very 
thick  12mo,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  10s.  6<(.),  4s.      A  comprehensive  and  elegant  volume.       1846 

LATHAM'S  GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  BIRDS.  Being  the  Natural  History  and  Descrip- 
tion of  all  the  Birds  (above  four  thousand)  hitherto  known  or  described  by  Naturalists,  with 
the  Svnonvmes  of  preceding  Writers;  the  second  enlarged  and  improved  Edition,  compre- 
hending all  the  discoveries  in  Ornithology  subsequent  to  the  former  publication,  and  a  General 
Index,  11  vols,  in  10,  4to,  with  upwards  of  200  coloured  Plates,  lettered  (pub.  at  20/.  8s.),  cloth, 
11.  l"s.  Gil.  Winchester,  1S21-2S.  The  same  with  the  plates  exquisitely  coloured  like  drawings, 
11  vols,  in  10,  elegantly  half  bound,  green  morocco,  gilt  edges,  12/.  12s. 

_EWIN'S   NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE   BIRDS    OF    NEW  SOUTH    WALES. 

Third  Edition,  with  an  Index  of  the  Scientific  Names  and  Synonymcs  by  Mr.  Gould  and  Mr. 
Eyton,  folio,  27  plates,  coloured  (pub.  at  4/.  4s.),  hf.  bd.  morocco,  2/.  2s.  1838 

LINDLEY'S  BRITISH  FRUITS!  OR,  FIGURES  AND  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  MOST 
IMPORTANT  VARIETIES  OF  FRUIT  CULTIVATED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  3  vols, 
royal  8vo,  containing  152  most  beautifully  coloured  plates,  chiefly  by  Mils.  Withers,  Artist 
to'the  Horticultural  Society  (pub.  at  10/.  10s.),  half  bound,  morocco  extra,  gilt  edges,  5/.  5s. 

1841 
"This  is  an  exquisitely  beautiful  work.     Every  plate  is  like  a^highly  finished  drawing, 
similar  to  those  in  the  Horticultural  Transactions." 

LINDLEY'S  DIGITALIUM  MONOGRAPHIA.    Folio,  28  plates  of  the  Foxglove  (pub.  at 

4/.  4s.),  cloth,  1/.  lis.  6d. 
— —  the  same,  the  plates  beautifully  coloured  (pub.  at  6/.  6s.),  cloth,  21. 12».  6d. 

LOUDON'S    (MRS.)    ENTERTAINING    NATURALIST,    being  Popular  Description*, 

Tales,  and  Anecdotes  of  more  than  Five  Hundred  Animals,  comprehending  all  the  Quadrupeds, 
Birds,  Fishes,  Reptiles,  Insects,  &c.  of  which  a  knowledge  is  Indispensable  in  polite  educa- 
tion. With  Indexes  of  Scientific  all  Popular  Names,  an  Explaration  of  Terms,  and  an  Ap- 
pendix of  Fabulous  Animals,  illustrated  by  upwards  of  500  beautiful  woodcuts  by  Bewick, 
Harvey,  Whimper,  and  others.  New  Edition,  revised,  enlarged,  and  corrected  to  the 
present  state  of  Zoological  Knowledge.    In  one  thick  vol.  post  Svo.  gilt  cloth,  7s.  6d.  1850 

LOUDON'S  (J.  C.)  ARBORETUM  F.T  FRUTICETUM  BRITANNICUM,  or  the 
Trees  and  Shrubs  of  Britain,  Native  and  Foreign,  delineated  and  described  ;  with  their  propa- 
gation, culture,  management,  and  uses.  Second  improved  Edition,  S  vols.  Svo,  with  above 
400  plates  of  trees,  and  upwaxda  of  2500  woodcut*  of  trees  and  shrubs  (pub.  at  10/.),  5/.  5s.    1844 


12  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 

MANTELL'S  (DR.)  NEW  GEOLOGICAL  WORK.  THE  MEDALS  OF  CREATION 
or  First  Lessons  in  Geology,  and  in  the  Study  of  Or-janic  Remains;  including  Geological  Ex- 
cursions to  the  Isle  of  Sheppev,  Brighton,  Lewes,  Tilgate  Forest,  Charnwood  Forest,  Farring- 
don,  Swindon,  Calne,  Bath,  Bristol,  Clifton,  Matlock,  Crich  Hill,  &c.  By  Gideon-  Alger- 
KOK  Mantell,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  Sec.  Two  thick  vols,  foolscap  8vo,  with  coloured 
Plates,  and  several  hundred  beautiful  Woodcuts  of  Fossil  Remains,  cloth  gilt,  1/.  Is.  181* 


MANTELL'S  WONDERS  OF  GEOLOGY,  or  a  Familiar  Exposition  of  Geological  Phe- 
nomena. Sixth  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  Edition.  2  vols,  post  6vo,  coloured  Plates,  and 
upwards  of  200  Woodcuts,  gilt  cloth,  lgi.  1848 

MANTELL'S    GEOLOGICAL    EXCURSION    ROUND    THE    ISLE    OF    WIGHT, 

and  along  the  adjacent  Coast  of  Dorsetshire.    In  1  vol.  post  8vo,  with  numerous  beautifully 
executed  Woodcuts,  and  a  Geological  Map,  cloth  gilt,  12s.  184T 

MUDIE'S   NATURAL  HISTORY  OF    BRITISH    BIRDS;    or,  the  FEATHERED 
TRIBES    OF   THE   BRITISH   ISLANDS.     2  vols.  8vo.    New  Edition,  the  Plates  beauti- 
fully coloured  (pub.  at  12.  8s.),  cloth  gilt,  16s.  1835 
"This  is,  without  any  exception,  the  most  truly  charming  work  on  Ornithology  which  has. 
,  hitherto  appeared,   from  the  days  of  WHloughby  downwards.    Other  authors  describe,.' 
'  Mudie  paints;  other  authors  give  the  husk,  Mudie  the  kernel.    We  most  heartily  concur 
■with  the  opinion  expressed  of  this  work  by  Leigh  Hunt  (a  kindred  spirit)  in  the  first  few- 
numbers  of  his   right  pleasant  London  Journal.    The  descriptions  of  Bewick,  Pennant, 
Lewin,   Montagu,  and  even  Wilson,  will  not  for  an  instant  stand  comparison  with  the 
spirit-stirring  emanations  of  Mudie's  'living  pen,'  as  it  has  been  called.    We  are  not  ac- 
quainted with  any  author  who  so  felicitously  unites  beauty  of  style  with  strength  and  nervo  \ 
of  expression  ;  he  does  not  specify,  but  paints."—  Wood's  Ornithological  Guide. 

RICHARDSON'S  GEOLOGY  FOR  BEGINNERS,  comprising  a  familiar  Explanation  of' 
Geology  and  its  associate  Sciences,  Mineralogy,  Physical  Geology,  Fossil  Conchology,  Fossil 
Botanv,  and  Palreontolngv,  including  Directions  for  forming  Collections,  &c.  By  G.  F.I 
Richardson,  F.G.S.  (formerly  with  Dr.  Mantell,  now  of  the  British  Museum).  Second 
Edition,  considerably  enlarged  and  improved.  One  thick  vol.  post  8vo,  illustrated  by  upwards 
of  260  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  10s.  6d.),  cloth,  Is.  6d.  1846 

SELBY'S  COMPLETE  BRITISH  ORNITHOLOGY.  A  most  magnificent  work  of  tha 
Figures  of  British  Birds,  containing  exact  and  laithful  representations  in  their  full  natural  size,; 
of  all  the  known  species  found  in  Great  Britain,  3S.1  Figures  in  228  beautifully  coloured  Plates.'. 
2  vols,  elephant  folio,  elegantly  half  bound  morocco  (pub.  at  105/.),  gilt  back  and  gilt  edges,; 
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"The  grandest  work  on  Ornithology  published  in  this  country,  the  same  for  British  Birds' 
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extremely  large  birds,  is  of  the  full  natural  size,  beautifully  and  accurately  drawn,  with  all  the- 
spirit  of  life."— OrnitholonisCs  Teit  Booh. 

"  What  a  treasure,  during  a  rainy  forenoon  in  the  country,  is  such  a  gloriously  illuminated 
work  as  this  of  Mr.  Selby!  It  is,  without  doubt,  the  most  splendid  of  the  kind  ever  published, 
in  Britain,  and  will  stand  a  comparison,  without  any  eclipse  of  its  lustre,  with  the  most  magni- 
ficent ornithological  illustrations  of  the  French  school.  Mr.  Selby  has  long  and  deservedly- 
ranked  high  as  a  scientific  naturalist." — lilackwood's  Magazine. 

SELBY'S    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    BRITISH    ORNITHOLOGY. 

Edition  (pub.  at  1/.  Is.),  boards,  12i. 

SIBTHORP'S  FLORA  GR/£CA.  The  most  costly  and  magnificent  Botanical  work  ever  pub- 
lished. 10  vols,  folio,  with  1000  beautifully  coloured  Plates,  half  bound  morocco,  publishing; 
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Separate  Prospectuses  of  this  work  are  now  ready  for  delivery.  Only  forty  copies  of  tho 
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SIBTHORP'S  FLOR/E  GR/EC/E  PRODROMUS.  Sive  Plantarum  omnium  Enumerate,, 
quas  in  Provinciis  aut  Insulis  Graciaj  invenit  Jon.  Sibtiiorp:  Characteres  et  Synonyma' 
omnium  cum  Annotationibus  Jac.  Edy.  Smith.  Four  parts,  in  2  thick  vols,  Svo  i  pub.  at- 
2/.  2s.),  14s.  Zondiiii,  ISIS 

SOWERBY'S  MANUAL  OF  CONCHOLOGY.  Containing  a  complete  Introduction  to  the' 
Science,  illustrated  by  upwards  of  650  Figures  of  Shells,  etched  on  copper-plates,  in  which  the 
most  characteristic  OKamples  are  given  of  all  the  Genera  cstabiisl.ed  up  to  the  present  time,\ 
arranged  in  Lamarckian  Order,  accompanied  by  copious  Explanations;  Observations  respect- 
ing the  Geographical  or  Geological  distribution  of  each;  Tabular  Views  of  the  Systems  of1 
Lamarck  and  De  Blainville;  a  Glossary  of  Technical  Terms,  &c.  New  tuition,  considerably 
enlarged  and  improved,  with  numerous'  Woodcuts  in  the  text,  now  first  added,  8vo,  cloth,  18*. 
The  plates  coloured,  cloth,  1/.  16s.  1S1C 

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OF  ALL  THE  HITHERTO  UNFIGURE1)  SHELLS,  complete  in  500  Shells,  8vo,  compris- 
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SPRY'S  BRITISH   COLEOPTERA  DELINEATED;  containing  Figures  and  Descriptions 
of  all  the  Genera  of  British  Beetles,  »dited  by  Shuckaro,  Bvo,  with  94  plates,  comprising  681 
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STEPHENS'  BRITISH  ENTOMOLOGY,  12  vols.  Svo,  loo  coloured  Plates  (pub.  at  21/.),', 
half  bound,  8/.  8s.  1828-46 

—Or  separately,  Lepidoftera,  4  vols.  If.  4«.  COLEOPTERA,  5  vols.  4/.  is.  Dermaptera, 
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PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BY  H.  G.  B01TN.  13 

SWAINSON'S  EXOTIC  CONCHOLOGY;    OK,  figures  and  descriptions  op 
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SWAINSON'S  ZOOLOGICAL  ILLUSTRATIONS;   or,  original  figures  and 

DESCRIPTIONS  OF  NEW,  RARE,  OR  INTERESTING  ANIMALS,  selected  chieliy 
from  the  Classes  of  Ornithology,  Entomology,  and  Conchology.  li  vols,  royal  svo,  containing 
31S  finely  coloured  plates  (pub.  at  \U.  lus.),  half  bound  morocco,  gilt  edges,  >jl.  Us. 

SWEET'S    FLORA    AUSTRALASICA;    or.   a  selection  of  HANDSOME   or 

CURIOUS  PLANTS,  Natives  of  New  Holland  and  the  South  Sea  Islands.  IS  Noa.  for  l  big 
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1827-38 

SWEET'S  CISTINE^;    OR,   NATURAL    ORDER   OF  CISTUS,   OR    ROCK    ROSE.    30 

Nos.  funning  1  vol.  royal  8vo,  complete,  with  112  beautifully  coloured  plates  (pub.  at  it.  .">'.), 
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"One  of  the  most  interesting,  and  hitherto  the  scarcest  of  Mr.  Sweet's  heautliu)  publications." 


JHtscellancous  (Bnglisfj  Uttcrature, 

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BACON'S  ESSAYS  AND  ADVANCEMENT  OF  LEARNING,  with  Memoir  and  Notes 
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1847. 

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tion, be  says :  "  Books  that  you  may  carry  to  the  fire,  and  hold  readily  in  your  hand,  are  the 
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14 


CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 


BROUGHAM'S  (LORD)  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY,  and  Essay  on  the  British  Constlt*- 
tion,  3  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  If.  11».  6d.),  cloth,  11.  1j.  1844-6 

■  British  Constitution  (a  portion  of  the  preceding  work),  8vo,  cloth,  3i. 

BROUGHAMS  (LORD)  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF  STATESMEN,  and  other 
Public  Characters  of  the  time  of  George  III.  Vol.  III.  royal  8vo,  with  10  fine  portraits 
(pub.  at  U.  Is.),  cloth,  10i.  ad.  1848 

BROUGHAM'S  (LORD)   LIVES  OF   MEN   OF    LETTERS   AND   SCIENCE,    Who 

flourished  in  the  time  of  George  III,  royal  8vo,  with  10  line  portraits  (pub.  at  1/.  Is.),  cloth,  12*. 

1845 
-«— —  the  same,  also  with  the  portraits,  demy  8vo  (pub.  at  11.  Is.),  cloth,  10s.  Od.  1846 

BROWNE'S  (SIR  THOMAS)  WORKS,  COMPLETE,  including  his  Vulgar  Errors, 
Religio  Medici,  Urn  Burial,  Christian  Morals,  Correspondence,  Journals,  and  Tracts,  many  of 
them  hitherto  unpublished.  The  whole  collected  and  edited  by  Simon  Wilkin,  F.L.S.  4 
vols.  8vo,  fine  Portrait  (pub.  at  2/.  8s.),  cloth,  1/.  lis.  Od.  Pickering,  183G 

,(  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  the  contemporary  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  Hooke,  Bacon,  Selden,  and 
Robert  Burton,  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  poetical  of  that  great  literary  era 
His  thoughts  are  often  truly  sublime,  and  always  conveyed  in  the  most  impressive  language.'- 
— Ckambers. 

BUCKINGHAM'S  AMERICA ;  HISTORICAL,  STATISTICAL,  AND  DESCRIPTIVE, 
viz.:  Northern  States,  3  vols.;  Eastern  and  Western  States,  3  vols.;  Southern  or  Slave  States, 
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America,  1  vol.  Together  9  stout  vols.  8vo,  numerous  fine  Engravings  (pub.  at  01.  10s.  6d.), 
Cloth,  21.  12s.  6d.  1841-43 

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tility, resources,  morals,  manners,  education,  and  so  forth.  His  volumes  will  be  found  a  store' 
howe  0/  knowledge." '_4i/ieneeum. 

"A  very  entire  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  United  States,  diligently  collected  by  a  man 
of  great  acuteness  and  observation." — Literary  Gazette. 

BURKE'S  (EDMUND)  WORKS.  With  a  Biographical  and  Critical  Introduction  by  Rogers. 
2  vols,  imperial  8vo,  closely  hut  handsomely  printed  (pub.  at  11.  2s.),  cloth,  11.  10s.  1841 

BURKE'S  ENCYCLOP/EDIA  OF  HERALDRY:  OR,  GENERAL  ARMOURY 

OF  ENGLAND,  SCOTLAND,  AND  IRELAND.  Comprising  a  Registry  of  all  Armorial 
Bearings,  Crests,  and  Mottoes,  from  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Present  Time,  including  the 
late  Grants  by  the  College  of  Arms.  "With  an  Introduction  to  Heraldry,  and  a  Dictionary  of 
Terms.  Third  Edition,  with  a  Supplement.  One  very  large  vol.  imperial  8vo,  beautifully 
printed  in  small  type,  in  douhle  columns,  by  Whittingham,  emhellished  with  an  elaborate 
Frontispiece,  richly  illuminated  in  gold  and  colours;  also  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  21.  Ij.j,  cloth 
gilt,  If.  Sf.  1844 

The  most  elaborate  and  useful  Work  of  the  kind  ever  published.  It  contains  upwards  of 
30,000  armorial  bearings,  and  incorporates  all  that  have  hitherto  been  given  bv  Guillim,  Ed- 
mondson,  Collins,  Nisbet,  Berry,  Robson,  and  others;  besides  many  thousand  names  which 
have  never  appeared  in  any  previous  Work.  This  volume,  in  fact,  in  a  small  compass,  but 
without  abridgment,  contains  more  than  four  ordinary  quartos. 

BURNS'  WORKS,  WITH    LIFE   BY  ALLAN   CUNNINGHAM,    AND    NOTES   BY 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT,  CAMPBELL,  WORDSWORTH,  LOCKHART,  &c.  Royal  8vo, 
fine  Portrait  and  Plates  (pub.  at  18s.),  cloth,  unifonn  with  Byron,  10s.  Od.  1842 

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not  only  every  scrap  which  Pjurns  ever  wrote,  whether  prose  or  verse,  but  also  a  considerable 
number  of  Scotch  national  airs,  collected  and  illustrated  by  him  (not  given  elsewhere)  and  full 
and  interesting  accounts  of  the  occasions  and  circumstances  of  his  various  writings.  The 
very  complete  and  interesting  Life  by  Allan  Cunningham  alone  occupies  104  pages,  and  the 
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extending  in  all  to  848  pages.  The  other  editions,  including  one  published  in  similar  shape, 
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whole  volume  in  only  504  pages,  do  not  contain  above  two-thirds  of  the  above. 

CAMPBELL'S  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  PETRARCH.  With  Notices  of  Boccaccio  and  hi« 
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It.  lis.  0d.),  cloth,  12s.  1841 

CARY'S  EARLY  FRENCH  POETS,  a  Series  of  Notices  and  Translations,  with  an  Intro- 
ductory Sketch  of  the  History  of  French  Poetry;  Edited  by  his  Son,  the  Rev.  Henry  Caky. 
foolscap,  8vo,  cloth,  5».  1846 

CARY'S  LIVES  OF  ENGLISH  POETS,  supplementary  to  Dr.  Johnson's  "Lives." 
Edited  by  his  Son,  foolscap  Svo,  cloth,  7s.  181s 

CHATHAM  PAPERS,  being  the  Correspondence  of  William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham 
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Manuscripts  in  their  possession.    4  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  3t.  12s.),  cloth,  11.  is. 

Murray,  1838-40 

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"There  is  hardlv  any  man  in  modern  times  who  fills  so  lar.re  a  space  in  our  history,  and  of 
whom  we  know  so  little',  as  Lord  Chatham;  be  was  the  greatest  Statesman  and  Orator  that 
this  country  ever  produced.  We  regard  Ibis  Work,  therefore,  as  one  of  the  greatest  vaioe."— 
Edinburgh  tie'iKW.     . 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BT  H.  G.  BOHN. 

CHATTERTON'S  WORKS,  lioth  Prose  and  Poetical,  including  his  Letters;  with  Notices 
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once  in  many  centuries." — I'icciimut  Knox. 

CLARKE'S  (DR.  E.  D.)  TRAVELS  IN  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES  OF  EUROPE, 
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COOPERS  (J.  F.)  HISTORY  OF  THE   NAVY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES  OF 

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COPLEY'S  (FORMERLY  MRS.  HEWLETT)  HISTORY  OF  SLAVERY  AND  ITS 

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COSTELLO'S  SPECIMENS  OF  THE  EARLY  FRENCH  POETRY,    from  the  time  of 

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cannot  appear  in  any  other  edition. 

CRAWFURD'S    (J.)   EMBASSY  TO   SIAM    AND    COCHIN-CHINA.     2    vols.    8vo, 

Maps,  and  25  Plates  (pub.  at  U.  lis.  Gd.),  clsli,  12s.  1830 

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would  set  up  a  dozen  of  annual  writers  ;  and  a  tithe  of  the  inventive  genius  that  is  displayed  in 
the  illustrations  would  furnish  a  gallery." — Spectator. 

DAVIS'S  SKETCHES  OF  CHINA,  During  an  Inland  Journey  of  Four  Months;  with  an 
Account  of  the  War.    Two  vols.,  post8vo,  with  a  new  map  ol  China  (pub.  at  10s.),  cloth,  9s. 

1841 

DIBDIN'S  BIBLIOMANIA:  OR  BOOK-MADNESS.  A  Bibliographical  Romance.  New 
Edition,  with  considerable  Additions,  including  a  Key  to  the  assumed  Characters  in  the 
Drama,  and  a  Supplement.  2  vols,  royal  8vo,  handsomely  printed,  embellished  by  numerous 
Woodcuts,  many  of  which  are  now  first  added  (pub.  at  31.  3s.),  cloth,  11.  lis.  Gd.  Large  Paper, 
imperial  8vo,  of  which  only  very  few  copies  were  printed  (pub.  at  it.  5s.),  cloth,  31.  13s.  6d. 

1842 
This  celebrated  Work,  which  unites  the  entertainment  of  a  romance  with  the  most  valuable 
information  on  all  bibliographical  subjects,  has  long  been  very  scarce  and  soid  for  considerable 
gams— the  small  paper  for  8/.  8s.,  and  the  large  paper  for  upwards  of  50  guineas  1  I  1 

DIBDIN'S  (CHARLES)  SONGS,  Admiralty  edition,  complete,  with  a  Memoir  by  T. 
Diboin,  illustrated  with  12  Characteristic  Sketches,  engraved  on  Steel  by  Geokge  C'kiik- 
shakk,  12.1...,  cloth  lettered,  5s.  1848 

DOMESTIC  COOKERY,  by  a  Lady  (Mrs.  Ruxdell)  New  Edition,  with  numerous  additional 
Receipts,  by  Mrs.  Birch,  12mo.,  with  9  plates  (pub.  at  Cs.)  cloth,  3s.  184S 

BRAKE'S  SHAKSPEARE  AND  HIS  TIMES,  including  the  Biography  of  the  Poet, 
Criticisms  on  his  Genius  and  Writings,  a  new  Chronology  of  his  Piays,  and  a  History  of  the 
Manners,  Custums,  and  Amusements,  Superstitions,  Poetry,  and  Literature  of  the  Elizabethan 
Era.  2  vols.  4to  (above  1400  pages),  with  fine  Portrait  and  a  Plate  of  Autographs  (pub.  at 
51.  5s.),  cloth,  U.  Is.  1817 

"A  masterly  production,  the  publication  of  which  will  form  an  epoch  in  the  Shaksperian  his- 
tory of  this  country.  It  comprises  also  a  complete  and  critical  analysis  of  all  the  Plays  and 
Poems  of  Shakspeare ;  and  a  comprehensive  and  powerful  sketch  of  the  couteuporary  litem, 
ture."— Cattleman's  Magazine. 


;  6  CATALOGUE  OP  NEW  BOOKS 


ENGLISH  CAUSES  CELEBRES,  OR,  REMARKABLE  TRIALS.  Square  l2ino,  (pub. 
at  4*.),  ornamental  wrapper,  2*.  1844 

FENN'S  P ASTON  LETTERS,  Original  Letters  of  the  Paston  Familv,  written  during  tho 
Reigns  of  Henry  VI,  Edward  IV,  and  Richard  III,  by  various  Persons'of  Rank  and  Conse- 
quence, chiefly  on  Historical  Subjects.  New  Edition,  with  Notes  and  Corrections,  complete, 
2  \ols.  hound  In  1,  square  12mo  (puh.  at  10s.),  cloth  gilt,  5*.  Quaintly  bound  in  maroon 
morocco,  carved  hoards,  in  the  early  style,  gilt  edges,  15s.  1649 

The  original  edition  of  this  very  curious  and  interesting  series  of  historical  Letters  is  a  rare 
hook,  and  sells  for  upwards  of  ten  guineas.  The  present  is  not  an  abridgment,  as  might  he 
supposed  from  its  form,  hut  gives  the  whole  matter  by  omitting  the  duplicate  version  of  the 
letters  written  in  an  obsolete  language,  and  adopting  only  the  more  modern,  readable  version 
published  by  Fenn. 

11  The  Paston  Letters  arc  an  important  testimony  to  the  progressive  condition  of  society,  and 
come  in  as  a  precious  link  in  the  chain  of  the  moral  history  of  England,  which  Uley  alone  in 
this  period  supply.    They  stand  indeed  singly  in  Europe." — Hallam. 

FIELDING'S    WORKS,    EDITED    BY    ROSCOE,    COMPLETE   IN   ONE   VOLUME. 

(Tom  Jones,  Amelia,  Jonathan  Wild,  Joseph  Andrews.  Plavs,  Essavs,  and  Miscellanies.) 
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Henry  Fielding  are  perhaps  most  decidedly  and  exclusively  her  own." — Sir  Walter  Scott. 

"The  prose  Homer  of  human  nature." — Lord  Byrcm. 

FOSTER'S  ESSAYS  ON   DECISION  OF  CHARACTER;  on  a  Man's  Writing  Memoirs 
of  Himself;  on  the  epithet  Romantic;  on  the  Aversion  of  Men  of  Taste  to  Evangelical  Reli- 
gion, fcc.    Fcap.  Svo,  Eighteenth  Edition  (pub.  at  Cj.),  cloth,  5«.  1848 
41 1  have  read  with  the  greatest  admiration  the  Essays  of  Mr.  Foster.    He  is  one  of  the  most 
profound  and  eloquent  writers  that  England  has  produced." — Sir  James  Mackintosh. 

FOSTER'S  ESSAY  ON  THE  EVILS  OF  POPULAR  IGNORANCE.  New  Edition, 
elegantly  printed,  in  fcap.  8vo,  now  first  uniform  with  his  Essays  on  Decision  of  Character, 
cloth.  8V.  1S47 

"Mr.  Foster  always  considered  this  his  best  work,  and  the  one  by  which  he  wished  his 
literary  claims  to  be  estimated." 

"A  work  which, popular  and  admired  as  It  confessedly  is, has  never  met  with  the  thousandth 
part  of  the  attention  which  it  deserves." — br.  1'ye  Smith. 

FROISSART'S  CHRONICLES  OF  ENGLAND,  FRANCE,  AND  SPAIN,  &C.     New 

Edition,  by  Colonel  Johnes,  with  120  beautiful  Woodcuts,  2  vols,  super-roval  Svo,  cloth 
lettered  (pub.  at  it.  16s.),  If.  Si.  1849 

FROISSART,  ILLUMINATED  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF,   74  plates,  printed  in  gold  and 

colours,  2  vols,  super-royal  8vo,  half  bound,  uncut  (pub.  at  4/.  10s.),  31.  10s. 
• the  same,  large  paper,  2  vols,  royal  4to,  half  bound,  uncut  (pub.  at  lo;.  10s.),  6f.  G»# 

FROISSART'S  CHRONICLES,  WITH  THE  74  ILLUMINATED  ILLUSTRATIONS 
INSERTED,  2  vols,  super-roval  Svo,  elegantly  Half  bound  red  morocco,  gilt  edges,  emble- 
matically tooled  (puh.  at  If.  6s.),  it.  10s.  1S49 

GAZETTEER— NEW  EDINBURGH  UNIVERSAL  GAZETTEER,  AND  GEOGRA- 
PHICAL DICTIONARY,  more  complete  than  any  hitherto  published.  New  Edition,  revised 
and  completed  to  the  present  time,  by  John  Thomson  (Editor  of  the  Universal  Attas,  &c.), 
■very  thick  8vo  (1040  pages),  Maps  (puh.  at  ISs.),  cloth,  12s. 

This  comprehensive  volume  is  the  latest,  and  by  far  the  hest  Universal  Gazetteer  of  its  size. 
It  includes  a  full  account  of  Affghanistan,  New  Zealand,  &c.  &c. 

GELL'S    (SIR   WILLIAM)  TOPOGRAPHY   OF   ROME   AND   ITS  VICINITY.    An 

improved  Edition,  complete  in  1  vol.  Svo,  with  several  Plates,  cloth,  12s.  With  a  very  large 
Map  of  Rome  and  its  Environs  (from  a  most  careful  trigonometrical  survey),  mounted  on  clolh. 
and  folded  in  a  case  so  ss  to  form  a  volume.    Together  2  vols.  Svo,  cloth,  it.  Is.  1846 

"Those  volumes  are  so  replete  with  what  is  valuable,  that  were  we  to  employ  our  entire 
journal,  we  could,  after  all,  afford  but  a  meagre  indication  of  their  interest  and  worth.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  lasti  g  memorial  of  eminent  literary  exertion,  devoted  to  a  subject  of  great  import- 
ance, and  one  dear,  not  only  to  every  scholar,  but  to  every  reader  of  intelligence  to  whom  the 
truth  of  history  is  an  object  of  consideration." 

GILLIES'  (DR.)  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS,  Relating  to  Remarkable  Periods  of  the 
Success  of  the  Gospel,  including  the  Appendix  and  Supplement,  with  Prefaces  and  Con- 
tinuation by  the  Rev.  H.  Husaii,  royal  Svo  (pub.  at  16s.  <»<'.),  cloth,  7s.  Cd.  1845 

GLEIG'S  MEMOIRS  OF  WARREN  HASTINCS,  first  Governor-General  of  Bengal.  3 
vols.  8vo,  fine  Portrait  (pub.  at  21.  5s.),  cloth,  11.  Is.  1841 

GOETHE'S  FAUST,  PART  THE  SECOND,  as  completed  in  1831,  translated  into  English 
Verse  by  John  Macdonald  Bell,  Esq.  Second  Edition,  fcap.  svo  (pub.  at  6*.),  cloth,  3s. 

1842 
©OLDSMITH'S  WORKS,  with  a  Life  and  Notes.    4  vols.  fcap.  Svo,  with  engraved  Titles  and 
Plates  by  Stothakd   and  Ckuikshank.    New   and  elegant  Edition   (pub.  at  11.),  extra 
Cioth,  121.  1848 

"Can  any  autlior— can  even  Sir  Walter  Scott,  be  compared  with  Goldsmith  for  the  variety/ 
beauty,  and  power  of  his  compositions?  You  may  take  him  and  'cut  him  out  in  little  stars,'  so 
many  lights  does  be  present  to  the  imagination."—  Athemeuni. 

"The  volumes  of  Goldsmith  will  ever  constitute  one  of  the  most  precious  'wells  of  English 
uidefiled.'  " — Quarterly  Review. 

GORDON'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREEK  REVOLUTION,  and  of  the  War.  and  Cam-' 
paipns  arising  from  the  Struggles  of  the  Greek  Patriots  in  emancipating  their  country  from  the 
Turkish  yoke.  By  the  late  Thomas  Gordon,  General  of  a  Division  of  the  Greek  Army. 
Second  Edition,  2  vole.  Svo,  Maps  and  Plans  (pub.  at  11.  los.  \.  cloth,  10s.  id.  1843 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BY  H.  G.  BOHN.  17 

GORTON'S  BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY,  3  thick  vols.  8vo,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at 

SL  2s.),  U.  lis.  Cd. 
GRANVILLE'S  (DR.)   SPAS  OF  ENGLAND  and  Principal  Ron  Bathing  riacca.     3  vol*. 

post  8vo,  with  large  Map,  arid  upwards  of  50  beautiful  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  11.  13s.),  cloth,  15s. 

GRANVILLE'S  (DR.)  SPAS  OF  GERMANY,  8ro,  with  39  Woodcuts  and  Maps  (pub.  at 
iss.),  cloth,  a«.  I*43 

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Switzerland,  Italy,  France,  Sicily,  Malta,  Sic.  3  vols,  12mo,  Second  Edltiou,  cloth,  gilt  (pub.  at 
15».),  7t.6d. 

HEEREN'S  (PROFESSOR)    HISTORICAL  WORKS,  translated  from  the  German,  viz.— 
Asia,    New  Edition,  complete    in  2  vols.— Africa,  1  vol.— EUROPE  ami  its  Colonies,  1 
vol. — Ancient  Greece,  and  Historical  Treatises,  1  vol. — Manual  of  Ancient  His- 
tory, 1  vol.— together  0  vols.  Svo  (formerly  pub.  at  "/.),  cloth  lettered,  uniform,  31.  3«. 
*»*  New  and  Complete  Editions,  with  General  Indexes. 

"  Professor  Heeren's  Historical  Researches  stand  in  the  very  Mghest  rank  among  those  with 
which  modern  Germany  has  enriched  the  Literature  of  Europe."— Quarterly  Review. 

HEEREN'S  HISTORICAL  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  POLITICS,  INTERCOURSE, 

AND  TRADES  OF  THE  ANCIENT  NATIONS  OF  AFRICA  ;  including  the  Carthaginians, 
Ethiopians,  and  Egyptians.  New  Edition,  corrected  throughout,  with  an  Index,  Life  of  the 
Author,  new  Appendixes,  and  other  Additions.    Complete  in  1  vol.  8vo,  cloth,  16j.  1S59 

HEEREN'S  HISTORICAL  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  POLITICS,  INTERCOURSE, 

AND  TRADES  OF  THE  ANCIENT  NATIONS  OF  ASIA;  including  the  Persians,  Phoe- 
nicians, B.ibvlonians,  Scythians,  and  Indians.  New  and  improved  Edition,  complete  in  2 
vols.  Svo,  elegantly  printed  (pub.  originally  at  21.  5s.),  cloth,  U.  4s.  1846 

"One  of  the  most  valuable  acquisitions  made  to  eur  historical  stones  since  the  days  of 
Gibbon."— Athentrum. 

HEEREN'S  MANUAL  OF  THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   POLITICAL  SYSTEM   OF 

"EUROPE  AND  ITS  COLONIES,  from  its  formation  at  the  close  of  the  Fifteenth  Century, 
to  its  re-establishment  upon  the  Fall  of  Napoleon,  translated  from  the  Filth  German  Edition 
New  Edition,  complete  in  1  vol.  Svo,  cleth,  14s.  18*8 

"The  best  History  of  Modern  Europe  that  has  yet  appeared,  and  it  is  likely  long  to  remain 
without  a  rival."—  Athena-urn. 

"A  work  of  sterling  value,  which  will  diffuse  useful  knowledge  for  generations,  after  all  the 
shallow  pretenders  to  that  distinction  are  fortunately  forgotten."— Literary  Gazette. 

HEEREN'S     ANCIENT     GREECE,     translated    by    Bancroft;      and     HISTORICAL 

TREATISES;  viz:— 1.  The  Political  Consequences  of  the  Reformation.  II.  Ilie  Klse .Pro- 
gress, and  Practical  Influence  of  Political  Theories.  III.  The  Rise  and  Growth  ol  the  Conti- 
nental Interests  of  Great  Britain.    In  1  vol.  8vo,  with  Index,  cloth,  15s.  1847 

HEEREN'S  MANUAL  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY,  particularly  with  regard  to  the  Consti- 
tutions, the  Commerce,  and  the  Colonies  of  the  States  of  Antiquity.    Third  Edition,  corrected 
and  improved.    Svo  (pub.  at  15s.),  cloth,  125. 
■»«.«  New  Edition,  with  Index.  184' 

"We  never  remember  to  have  seen  a  Work  in  which  so  much  useful  knowledie  was  con- 
densed into  so  small  a  compass.    A  careful  examination  convinces  us  that  this  book  will  be 
useful  for  our  Enilish  higher  schools  or  colleges,  and  will  contribute  to  direct  attention  to  the 
better  and  more  instructive  parts  of  history.    The  translation  is  executed  with  great  fidelity. 
— Quarterly  Journal  of  Education. 

HEEREN'S  MANUAL  OF  ANCIENT  GEOGRAPHY.  For  the  use  of  Schools  and 
Private  Tuition.  Compiled  from  the  Works  of  A.  H.  L.  Heerkn,  12mo  (pub.  at  2s.  Cd.), 
c[oth>  2j.  Oxford,  Tulboys,  1838 

"An  excellent  and  most  useful  ".ittle  volume,  and  admirably  adapted  for  the  uso  of  schools 
and  private  instruction." — Literary  Ga-ette. 
"A  valuable  addition  to  our  list  of  school  books."— Athenitvm. 

JACOB'S  HISTORICAL  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  PRODUCTION  AND  CON- 
SUMPTION OF  THE  PRECIOUS  METALS,  2  vols.  Svo  ('pub.  at  1/.  4s.),  cloth,  16s.       1831 

JAMES'S  WILLIAM  THE  THIRD,  comprising  the  History  of  his  Reign,  illustrated  in  a 
series  of  unpublished  letters,  addressed  to  the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury,  by  James  Veknox, 
Secretary  of  State,  with  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  G.  P.  R.  James,  Esq.  3  vols.  Svo,  Por- 
traits (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  cloth,  18s.  1811 

JAENISCH'S  CHESS  PRECEPTOR;  anew  Analysis  of  the  openings  of  Games;  translated, 
with  Notes,  by  Walker,  6vo,  clotn  lettered  (pub.  at  ISt.),  6s.  6d.  1W 

.lOHNSON'S  (DR.)  ENGLISH  DICTIONARY,  rrinted  verbatim  from  the  Author's  last 
Folio  Edition.  With  all  the  Examples  in  full.  To  which  are  prefixed  a  History  of  the  Lan- 
guage, and  an  English  Grammar.    1  large  vol.  imperial  8vo  (pub.  at  21.  2s.),  cloth,  U.  Ss.     1S4G 

lOHNSON'S  (DR.)  LIFE  AND  WORKS,  by  Murphy.  New  and  Improved  Edition,  com- 
plete in  2  thick  vols.  8vo,  Portrait,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  If.  lis.  6iL),  15s.  I850 

JOHNSCNIANA;  a  Collection  of  Miscellaneous  Anecdotes  and  Sayings,  gathered  from  nearly  a 
hundred  different  Publications,  and  not  contained  in  Boswf.il's  Life  of  Johnson.  Edited  by 
J.  W.  Choker,  M.r.  thick  fcap.  8vo.  oorwaitaud  frontispiece  (pub.  at  Ms.),  cioth,  4s.  6"- 


18  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 

JOHNSTON'S  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTHERN  ABYSSINIA,  through  the  Country  of  Adal. 

to  the  Kingdom  of  Shoa.    2  vols.  8vo,  map  and  plates  (pub.  at  U.  8s.),  cloth,  10s.  6d.  1844 

KIRBY'S   WONDERFUL   MUSEUM.     5  vols.  8vo,  upwards  of  loo  curious  portraits  and 

plates  (pub.  at  it.  is.),  cloth,  If*,  Is. 

KNIGHT'S  JOURNEY-BOOKS  OF  ENGLAND.  BERKSHIRE, including  a  full  Descrip- 
tion of  Windsor.  With  23  Engravings  on  Wood,  and  a  large  illuminated  Map.  Reduced 
to  Is.  ed. 

HAMPSHIRE,  including  the  Isle  of  Wight.  With  32  Engravings  on  Wood,  and  a  large  illu- 
minated Map.     Reduced  to  2s. 

DERBYSHIRE,  Including  the  Peak,  &c.  With  23  Engravings  on  Wood,  and  a  large  illumi- 
nated Ma)>.     Reduced  to  Is.  6c'. 

KENT.     With  58  Engravings  on  Wood,  and  a'large  illuminated  Map.    Reduced  to  2».  (id. 

KNOWLESS  IMPROVED  WALKERS  PRONOUNCING  DICTIONARY,  containing 
above  so, Dim  additional  Words;  to  which  is  added  an  Accentuated  Vocabulary  of  Classical  ana 
Scripture  Proper  Names,  new  Edition,  in  1  thick  handsome  volume,  large  svo,  with  Portrait, 
clbth  lettered  (pub.  at  11.  is.),  7s.  6d.  1844 

LACONICS;    OR,   THE    BEST  WORDS    OF   THE    BEST    AUTHORS.     Seventh 

Edition.  3  vols.  18mo,  with  elegant  Frontispieces,  containing  30  Portraits  (pub.  at  15s.),  cloth 
gilt,  7«.  6(2.  Tilt,  1840 

This  pleasant  collection  of  pithy  and  sententious  readings,  from  the  best  English  authors  of 
all  ages,  has  long  enjoyed  great  and  deserved  popularity. 

LANE'S  KORAN,  SELECTIONS  FROM  THE.  with  an  interwoven  Commentary,  trans- 
lated from  the  Arabic,  methodically  arranged,  and  illustrated  by  Notes,  Svo  (pub.  atlus.  6d. ), 
cloth,  5s.  1843 

LEAKE'S  (COL.)  TRAVELS  IN  THE  MOREA."  3  vols.Svo.  With  a  very  large  Map  of 
the  Morca,  and  upwards  of  30  various  Maps,  Plans,  Plates  of  ancient  Greek  Inscriptions,  &c. 
(pub.  at  2/.  5s.)  cloth,  U.  8».  1830 

LEWIS'S  (MONK)  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE,  with  many  Pieces  in  Prose  and 
Verse  never  before  published.    2  vols.  8vo,  portrait  (pub.  at  1'.  8s.), cloth,  12s.  1839 

LISTER'S  LIFE  OF  EDWARD  FIRST  EARL  OF  CLARENDON-  With  Original 
Correspondence  and  Authentic  Papers,  never  before  published.  3  vols.  8vo,  Portrait  (pub.  at 
21.  8s.),  cloth,  18s.  1838 

"  A  Work  of  laborious  research,  written  with  masterly  ability."— Alias. 

LOCKHART'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO  AND  NEW  SPAIN, 

AND  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  CONQUISTADOR,  BERNAL  DIAZ  DEL  CASTILLO. 
Written  by  himself,  and  now  first  completely  translated  from  the  original  Spanish.  2  vols. 
Svo,  (pub.  at  1'.  4s.),  cloth,  12s.  1844 

"Bernal  Diaz's  account  bears  all  the  marks  of  authenticity,  and  Is  accompanied  with  such 
pleasant  naivete,  with  such  interesting  details,  and  such  amusing  vanity,  and  yet  so  pardonable 
in  an  old  soldier,  who  his  been,  as  he  boasts,  in  a  hundred  and  nineteen  battles,  as  renders  his 
book  one  of  the  most  singular  that  is  to  be  found  in  any  language." — Dr.  Kobertson  in  his 
"History  of  America." 

LODGE'S  (EDMUND)  ILLUSTRATIONS   OF  BRITISH    HISTORY,  BIOGRAPHY, 

AND  MANNERS,  in  the  Reigns  of  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  and  James  1. 
Second  Edition,  with  above  80  autographs  of  the  principal  characters  of  the  period.  Three 
vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  11.  16s.),  cloth,  U.  1838 

MACGREGOR'S     PROGRESS    OF    AMERICA     FROM    THE     DISCOVERY    BY 

COLUMBUS,  to  the  year  1846,  comprising  its  History  and  Statistics,  2  remarkably  thick 
volumes,  imp.  8vo,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  it.  lis.  Gd.),  11.  lis.  6d.  1847 

MALCOLM'S  MEMOIR  OF  CENTRAL  INDIA.    Two  vols.  8vo,  third  edition,  with  large 

map  (pub. at  11.  8s.),  cloth,  18s.  1832 

MARTIN'S  (MONTGOMERY)  BRITISH  COLONIAL  LIBRARY;  forming  a  popular 
and  Authentic  Description  of  all  the  Colonies  of  the  British  Empire,  and  embracing  the 
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doms—Government— Finance — Military  Defence — Commeice — Shipping — Monetary  System — 
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Interfere  with  the  integrity  of  the  text. 

As  there  are  many  editions  of  Mitford's  Greece  before  the  puhlic,  It  may  be  necessary  to 
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being  the  handsomest,  the  most  correct,  and  the  most  complete. 

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Sllit. 


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POPULAR  ERRORS  EXPLAINED  AND  ILLUSTRATED.  By  John  Timbs  (Author 
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PRIOR'S  LIFE  OF  EDMUND  BURKE,  with  unpublished  Specimens  of  his  Poetry  and 
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ances, and  the  immediate  descendants  of  his  personal  friends  in  London,  and  relations  in 
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ROBINSON  CRUSOE,  Cabinet  Pictorial  Edition,  including  his  Further  Adventures-,  with 
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The  only  small  edition  which  is  quite  complete. 

11  Perhaps  there  exists  no  work,  either  of  instruction  or  entertainment,  in  the  English  lan- 
guage which  has  been  more  generally  read,  or  more  deservedly  admired,  than  the  Life  and 
Adventures  of  Robinson  Cr  \soe." — Sir  Waller  Scott. 

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greatly  abridged,  and  contain  scarcely  half  the  work. 

ROSCOES  LIFE  AND  PONTIFICATE  OF  LEO  THE  TENTH.  New  and  much 
improved  Edition,  edited  by  his  Son,  Thomas  Roscoe.  Complete  in  1  stout  vol.  Svo,  closely, 
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ROSCOES  LIFE  OF  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI,  CALLED    'THE  MAGNIFICENT.'' 

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to  our  country  as  works  of  unquestionable  genius  and  uncommon  merit.  They  add  the  name  of 
Roscoe  to  the  very  first  rank  ot  English  Classical  Historians." — Matthias,  Pursuits  of  literature. 

44  Roscoe  is,  I  think,  by  far  the  best  of  our  Historians,  both  for  beauty  of  style  and  for  deep 
reflections;  and  his  translations  of  poetry  are  equal  to  the  originals.*  — IValpole,  Earl  of  Orford. 

ROSCOES    ILLUSTRATIONS,    HISTORICAL    AND    CRITICAL,    of  the   Life   of 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  with  an  Appendix  of  Original  Documents.    8vo,  Portrait  of  Lorenzo,  and 
PUtes  (pub.  at  14s.),  boards,  7'.,  or  in  Ito,  liriuted  to  match  the  original  edition.    Portrait 
and  Plates  (pub.  at  1/.  lis.  6J.),  boards,  10.. 
*#*  This  volume  is  supplementary  to  ail  editions  of  the  work. 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BY  H.  G.  BOHN.  21 

ROXBURGHE  BALLADS,  edited  hv  John  Payne  Collier,  post  4to,  beautifully  printed 
by  VTuittingham,  and  tmhtl''  ,'jed  with  50  curious  Woodcuts,  half  bound  morocco,  in  the 
Roxburgh  style  (pub.  at  11.  i-.^Ui.  1847 

SCOTT'S  (SIR  WALTf%)  POETICAL  WORKS.  Containing  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel, 
Marmion,  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Don  Roderic,  llokeby,  IiaJJnds,  Lyrics,  anil  Songs,  w:tn  Motel 
and  a  Life  of  the  Author,  complete  in  one  elegantly  printed  vol.  ISmo,  Portrait  and  .frontis- 
piece (pub.  at  is.),  cloth,  3s.  6d.  1843 

SHAKESPEARE'S  PLAYS  AND  POEMS.  Vai.py's  Cabinet  Pictorial  Edition,  with  Life, 
Glossarial  Notes,  and  Historical  Digests  of  each  Play,  &c.  IS  vois.  fcap.  8vn,  with  171  Plates; 
engraved  on  Steel  alter  designs  of  the  most  distinguished  British  Artists,  also  Fac-similes  ,i 
all  the  known  AutogTaphs  of  Shakespeare  (pub.  at  3(.  15s.),  cloth,  richly  gilt,  21.  is.  1S43 

SHAKSPEARE'S  PLAYS  AND  POEMS,  in  1  vol.  8vo,  with  Explanatory  Notes,  and  a 
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complete  in  3  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  21.  St.),  cloth,  18s.  18*2 

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Critic),  and  the  best  address  (Monologue  on  Garrick) ;  and  to  crown  all,  delivered  the  very 
best  oration  (the  famous  Begum  Speech)  ever  conceived  or  heard  in  this  country."— Byron. 

SHIPWRECKS  AND  DISASTERS  AT  SEA;  narratives  or  the  most  remarkable  Wrecks, 
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11.  12s.),  cloth  gilt,  11.  it.  1848 

"  Whoever  in  the  three  kingdoms  has  any  books  at  all,  has  Swift." — Lord  Chesterfield. 

TAYLOR'S  (W.  B.  S.)  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  DUBLIN,  numerous 
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THIERS'  HISTORY  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION,  the  10  parts  in  l  thick  vol. 
royal  8vo,  handsomely  printed,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  11.  5s.),  10s. 

— — —  the  same,  the  parts  separately,  each  (pub.  at  2s.  Cd.)  Is.  6rf, 

THIERS'    HISTORY  OF  THE    CONSULATE   AND    EMPIRE    OF    NAPOLEON, 

the  ID  parts  in  1  thick  volume,  royal  Svo,  handsomely  printed,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  11.  5s.), 
10s. 
.  the  same,  the  parts  separately,  each  (pub.  at  2s.  Cd. )  Is.  6d. 

TUCKERS  LIGHT  OF  NATURE  PURSUED.    Complete  in  2  vols.  8vo  (puh.  at  11.  lo.s.), 

Clotbj  15s.  1842 

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rized to  call  the  most  original  and  profound  that  has  ever  appeared  on  moral  philosophy." — Hir 
James  Mackintosh. 

.TYTLER'S  ELEMENTS  OF  GENERAL  HISTORY,  New  Edition,  thick  Unto  fSM 
closely  primed  pages),  steel  frontispiece  (pub.  at  5s.)  cloth,  3s.  6d.  1S47 

WADE'S  BRITISH  HISTORY,  CHRONOLOGICALLY  ARRANGED.  Comprehending 

a  classiSed  Analysis  of  Events  and  Occurrences  in  Church  and  istate,  and  of  the  Constitutional, 
Political,  Commercial,  Intellectual,  and  Social  Progress  of  the  United  Kingdom,  from  the  first 
Invasion  by  the  Romans  to  the  Accossion  of  Queen  Victoria,  with  very  copious  Index  ana 
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cloth,  ISf.  1847 


22  CATALOGUE  OF  NET7  BOOKS' 

■ ; — — : 

WATERSTQN'S  CYCLOP/EDIA  OF  COMMERCE,  MERCANTILE,  LAW,  finance, 
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Tariff  (complete  to  the  present  time) ;  the  French  Tariff,  as  far  as  it  concerns  this  country; 
and  a  Treatise  on  the  Principles,  Practice,  and  History  of  Commerce,  by  J.  R.  M'Culloch. 
1  very  thick  closely  printed  vol.  8vo  (900  pages),  with  4  Maps  (pub.  at  11.  is.),  extra  cloth, 
10j.  6;/.  1847 

"This  capital  work  will  be  found  a  most  valuable  manual  to  every  commercial  man,  and  a 
Useful  bo»k  to  the  general  reader. 

WEBSTER'S     ENLARGED     DICTIONARY    OF    THE     ENGLISH     LANGUAGE, 

Containing  the  whole  of  the  former  editions,  and  large  additions,  to  which  is  prefixed  an  Intro- 
ductory Dissertation  on  the  connection  of  the  languages  of  Western  Asia  and  Europe,  edited 
by  Ciiauncey  A.  Goodrich,  in  one  thick  elegantly  printed  volume,  4to.,  cloth,  21.  it.  (The 
most  complete  dictionary  extant).  1848 

WHITE'S  FARRIERY,  improved  by  Rosser,  8vo,  with  plates  engraved  on  Steel  (pub.  at  14j.  ), 
cloth,  7s.  1847 

WHYTE'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  TURF,  FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD 
TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY.    2  vols.  8vo,  Plates  (pub.  at  1(.  8s.),  cloth,  12*.  1S10 

WILLIS'S  PENCILLINGS  BY  THE  WAY.  A  new  and  beautiful  Edition,  with  additions, 
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11 A  lively  record  of  first  impressions,  conveying  vividly  what  was  seen,  heard,  and  felt,  by  an 
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curiosity  and  love  of  enterprise  are  unbounded.  The  narrative  is  told  in  easy,  fluent  language, 
■with  a  poet's  power  of  illustration." — Edinburgh  Review. 

WORCESTER'S    NEW    CRITICAL    AND    PRONOUNCING    DICTIONARY     OF 

THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE,  to  which  is  added  Walker's  Key,  and  a  Pronouncing  Voca- 
bulary of  modern  Geographical  Names,  thick  imperial  8vo  (pub.  at  11.  St.),  cloth,  ISs.  1847 
***  The  most  extensive  catalogue  of  words  ever  produced. 

WRANGELL'S    EXPEDITION    TO    SIBERIA    AND    THE    POLAR    SEA,  edited  by 

Lieujt.-Col.  Sabine,  thick  12mo,  large  map  and  port.  (pub.  at  6s.),  cloth,  4s.  6d.  1844 

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^cologg,  J^Iorals,  (Bcclwiastfcal  l^tstorg,  &x. 


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Edition,  carefully  revised,  with  an  enlarged  Index.    2  vols.  impl.  8vo,  cloth,  11.  lis.  fit/.        1850 

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nation,  and   whose  learning  is   only  to  be   equalled  by  his  moderation  and  impartiality."— 

Quarterly  Review. 

BUNYAN'S  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS.  Quite  complete,  with  a  Life  and  Notes,  by  the  Rev 
T.  Scott.  Fcap.  12mo,  with  25  fine  full-sized  Woodcuts  by  Harvey,  containing  all  in 
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CALMET'S    DICTIONARY    OF    THE    BIBLE,    WITH    THE    BIBLICAL    FRAG 

MENTS,  by  the  late  Charles  Taylor.  5  vols.  4to,  Illustrated  by  202  Copper-plate  En- 
gravings. Eighth  greatly  enlarged  Edition,  beautifully  printed  on  fine  wove  paper  (pub.  at 
10/.  10s.),  gilt  cloth,  U.  14s.  6d.  1847 

"Mr.  Taylor's  improved  edition  of  Calmet's  Dictionary  is  Indispensably  necessary  to  every 
Biblical  Student.  The  additions  made  under  the  title  of  '  Fragmrnls'  are  extracted  from  the 
most  rare  and  authentic  Voyages  and  Travels  into  Judea  and  oiber  Oriental  countries;  and 
comprehend  an  assemblage  of  curious  and  illustrative  descriptions,  explanatory  of  Scripture 
incidents,  customs,  and  manners,  which  could  not  possibly  be  explained  by  any  other  medium. 
The  numerous  engravings  throw  great  light  on  Oriental  customs." — Home. 

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Woodcuts  and  Maps  (pub.  at  1/.  4s.),  cloth,  15s.  1847 

CARYS  TESTIMONIES  OF  THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  FIRST  FOUR  CENTU- 
RIES, TO  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
ENGLAND,  as  set  forth  in  the  XXXIX  Articles.  8vo  (pub.  at  12s.),  cloth,  7s.  6rf. 

Oxford,  Talboy*. 
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tion is  no  mean  honour."— Church  of  En  aland  Quarterly. 

CHARNOCK'S  DISCOURSES  UPON  THE  EXISTENCE  AND  ATTRIBUTES 
OF  GOD.  Complete  in  1  thick  closely  printed  vol.  8vo,  with  Portrait  (pub.  at  14*. ), 
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productions  that  ever  did  nonour  to  the  sanctiSed  judgment  and  genius  of  a  human  being."— 
Topladu. 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BT  H.  G.  BOHN.  23 

CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  Containing  the  following  esteemed  Treatises,  with  Prefatory 
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Internal  Evidence  of  the  Christian  Religion;  Leslie's  Truth  of  Christianity  Demonstrated; 
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Jews;  Chandler's  Plain  lieasons  for  being  a  Christian;  I.yttleton  on  the  Conversion  of  St. 
Paul;  Campbell's  Dissertation  on  Miracles;  Sherlock's  Trial  of  the  Witnesses,  with  Sequel; 
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Guild's  Moses  Unveiled;  Guild's  Harmony  of  all  the  Prophets;  Loss's  Authenticity,  Un- 
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FULLER'S  (REV.  ANDREW)  COMPLETE  WORKS;  with  a  Memoir  of  his  Life,  by  his 
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GREGORY'S  (DR.  OLINTHUS)  LETTERS  ON  THE  EVIDENCES,  DOCTRINES, 

AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  addressed  to  a  Friend.  Eighth  Edition, 
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Oxford,  Taiboys,  1837-39 

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without  their  imperfections."— Din/aid  Stewart. 

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their  match  in  the  sacred  oratory  of  anv  age  or  country." — Professor  Seilipeir',-. 

"The  name  of  Robert  Hall  will  he  placed  by  posterity  among  the  best  writers  of  the  age,  as 
well  as  the  most  vigorous  defenders  of  religious  truth,  and  the  brightest  examples  of  Christian 
charity. "-*€ir  J.  JilucL-intosh. 

HENRY'S  (MATTHEW)  COMMENTARY  ON  THE  BIBLE,  by  Bickersteth.  In 
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HILL'S  (REV.  ROWLAND)  MEMOIRS,  by  his  Friend,  the  Rev.  W.  Jones,  Edited,  with 
a  Preface,  bv  the  Rev.  James  Sherman  (Rowland  Hill's  Successor  as  Minister  of  Surrev 
Chapel).  Second  Edition,  carefully  revised,  thick  post  8vo,  fine  Steel  Portrait  (pub.  at  10s.) 
cloth,  5s.  184S 

HOPKINS'S  (BISHOP)  WHOLE  WORKS,  with  a  memoir  of  the  Author,  in  1  thick  vol. 

roval  svo  (puh.  at  18s.),  cloth,  14s.    The  same,  with  a  very  extensive  general  Index  of  Texts 

and  Subjects,  2  vols,  roval  Svo  (yreb.  at  U.  4s.),  cloth,  18s.  1841 

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ment,  and  persuasive."— Bickersletk. 

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cloth    1/.  ll's.  1838 

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puritan  divines."— Hubert  hall. 

HUNTINGDON'S  (COUNTESS  OF)  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  By  a  Member  of  the  Houses 
of  Shirlev  and  Hastings.  Sixth  Thousand,  with  a  copious  Index.  2  large  vols.  Svo,  Portraits 
of  the  Countess,  Whitefield,  and  Wesley  (pub.  at  U.  is.),  cloth,  14«.  1844 

HUNTINGDON'S  (REV.  W.)  WORKS,  Edited  by  bis  Son,  G  vols.  Svo,  Portraits  and  Plates 
(pub.  at  31.  ISs.  6d.),  cloth,  21.  is. 

LEIGHTON'S  (ARCHBISHOP)  WHOLE  WORKS;  to  which  is  prefixed  a  life  of  the 
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extra  cloth,  ICj.    The  only  complete  Edition.  *•*■ 


24  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 

LE1GHTONS  COMMENTARY  ON  PETER;  with  Life,  by  Pearson,  complete  in  l 
thick  handsomely  printed  vol.  8vo,  Portrait  (put),  at  12s.),  cloth,  9a.  1819 

LIVES  OF  THE  ENGLISH  SAINTS.    By  the  Rev.  J, 

ll'aio  (pub.  at  21.  83.),  sewed  in  ornamented  covers,  \L  Is. 

M'CRIE'S  LIFE  OF  JOHN  KNOX,  with  Illustrations  of  the  History  of  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland.  New  Edition  with  numerous  Additions,  and  a  Memoir,  &c.  by  Andrew  Ckichton. 
pcap.  Sto  (pub.  at  5s.),  cloth,  3s.  W.  18*7 

MAGEE'S  (ARCHBISHOP)  WORKS,  comprising  discourses  and  Dissertations  on  the 
Scriptural  Doctrines  of  Atonement  and  Sacrifice;  Sermons,  and  Visitation  Charges.  With  a 
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"Discovers  such  deep  research,  yields  so  much  valuable  information,  and  affords  so  many 
helps  to  the  refutation  of  error,  as  to  constitute  the  most  valuable  treasure  of  biblical  learning, 
of  which  a  Christian  scholar  can  be  possessed." — Christian  Observer. 

MORES  (HANNAH)  LIFE,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  THOMSON,  post  8vo,  printed  uniformly 
with  her  works,  Portrait,  and  Wood  Engravings  (pub.  at  12s.),  extra  cloth,  6s.  Cadell,  1838 

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interesting  matter  into  the  field  respecting  her,  that  it  will  receive  a  hearty  welcome  from  the 
public.  Among  the  rest,  the  particulars  of  most  of  her  publications  will  reward  the  curiosity 
ofliterary  readers." — Literary  Gazette. 

MORE'S  (HANNAH)  SPIRIT  OF  PRAYER,  fcap.  Svo,  Portrait  (pub.  at  o».),  cloth,  4s. 

Cadell,  1843 

MORES    (HANNAH)    STORIES    FOR    THE    MIDDLE    RANKS    OF    SOCIETY, 

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MORE'S  (HANNAH)  POETICAL  WORKS,  post  8vo  (pub.  at  ss.),  cloth,  3«.6d. 

Caileil,  1829 

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MORE'S  (HANNAH)  PRACTICAL  PIETY;  Or,  the  Influence  of  the  Religion  of  the 
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MORE'S  (HANNAH)  SACRED  DRAMAS,  chiefly  intended  for  Young  People,  to  which  is 
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M.  A.  Wyaii,  fcap.  8vo,  Portrait  (pub.  at  Cs.),  cloth,  3s.  ed.  1843 

PA  LEY'S  WORKS,  in  1  vol.  consisting  of  his  Natural  Theology,  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy, 
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8vo,  handsomely  printed  in  double  columns  (pub.  at  10s.  id.),  cloth,  5s.  1849 

PALEY'S  COMPLETE  WORKS,  with  a  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Author,  by  Rev.  D.  S. 
Waylaxd,  5  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  1/.  15s.),  cloth,  18s.  1837 

PASCAL'S  THOUGHTS  ON  RELIGION,  and  Adam's  Private  Thoughts  on  Religion, 
edited  by  the  Rev.  E.  Bickkrsteyii,  fcap.  Svo  (pub.  at  5s.),  cloth,  3s.  Crf.  1847 

PICTORIAL  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  HOLY  BIBLE.  Or,  a  Cyclopedia  of  Illustrations, 
Graphic,  Historical,  and  Descriptive  of  the  Sacred  Writings,  bv 'reference  to  the  Manners, 
Customs,  Rites,  Traditions,  Antiquities,  and  Literature  of  Eastern  Nations,  2  vols.  4to  (up- 
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(pub.  21.  10s.),  extra  cloth,  1(.  5s.  1846 

SCOTT'S   (REV.  THOMAS)   COMMENTARY   ON   THE   BIBLE,  with  the  Author'. 

last  Corrections  and  Improvements,  and  84  beautiful  Weodcut  Illustrations  and  Maps.    3  vols, 
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SIMEON'S  WORKS,  including  his  Skeletons  of  Sermons  and  Horse  Homileticrv,  or  Sisooursei 
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and  New  Testament;  to  which  are  annexed  an  improved  edition  of  Claude's  I'.ssav  on  the 
Composition  of  a  Sermon,  and  very  comprehensive  Indexes,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Hartwell  Horne,  21  vols,  bra  (pub.  at  lu'.  Ids.),  cloth,  71.  fj. 


PUBLISHED  OH  SOLD  BY  H.  G.  BOHK.  25 

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THE  CHRISTIAN'S  ARMOUR,  9i 

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THE  OFFICES  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT,  M. 

HUMILIATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD:    TWELVE  SERMONS,  M. 

APPEAL  TO  MEN  OF  WISDOM  AND  CANDOUR,  M. 

DISCOURSES  ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  JEWS,  U.  6d. 

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their  preparation  for  the  pulpit;  they  will  likewise  serve  as  a  Body  of  Div'inity  ;  ami  are  by 
many  recommended  as  a  Biblical  Commentary,  well  adapted  to  be  read  in  families.  " — L  u-nU-  j. 

SMYTH'S    (REV.    DR.)     EXPOSITION    OF    VARIOUS    PASSAGES    OF    HOLY 

SCRIPTURE,  adapted  to  the  Use  of  Families,  for  every  Day  throughout  the  Year,  3  vols,  bvo 
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STEBBING'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST,  from  the  Diet  or  Augsburg. 
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STURM'S      MORNING     COMMUNING      WITH      GOD,      OR      DEVOTIONAL 

MEDITATIONS  FOR  EVERY  DAY  IN  THE  YEAR,  translated  from  the  German.    New 
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TAYLOR'S  JEREMY)  COMPLETE  WORKS,  with  an  Essay,  Biographical  and  Critical, 
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TAYLOR'S    (ISAAC    OF    ONGAR)    NATURAL    HISTORY    OF    ENTHUSIASM. 

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1843 
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1341 
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TAYLOR'S  (ISAAC)  ELEMENTS  OF  THOUGHT,  or  concise  Explanations,  alphabeti- 
cally an  amred,  of  the  principal  Terms  employed  in  the  usual  Branches  of  Intellectual  Philo- 
sophy.   Ninth  Edition.    12mo,  cloth,  4a.  1S49 

TAYLORS  (ISAAC)  ANCIENT  CHRJSTIANITY,  AND  THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE 
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Indexes.    2  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  It.  4a.),  cloth,  18a.  1844 

TAYLOR'S  (ISAAC)  LECTURES  ON  SPIRITUAL  CHRISTIANITY,  svo  (pub.  at 
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and  Inspiration  of  the  Holv  Scriptures;  a  Summary  of  the  History'  of  the  Jews;  an  Account  of 
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26  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 

Jfom'gn  Hanguagcs  an&  lUttraturc; 

INCLUDINO 

CLASSICS    AND    TRANSLATIONS,    CLASSICAL    CRITICISM,    DICTION. 
ARIES,   GRAMMARS,  COLLEGE  AND   SCHOOL  BOOKS. 


ATLASES.— WILKINSON'S  CLASSICAL  AND  SCRIPTURAL  ATLAS,  with  Histo- 
rical and  Chronological  Tables,  Imperial  4to,  New , and  Luproved  Edition,  S3  maps,  coloured 
(pub.  at  21.  4s.),  nalf  bound  morocco,  U.  Hi.  6d.  1842 

WILKINSON'S  GENERAL  ATLAS.  New  and  Improved  Edition,  with  all  the  Railroads 
inserted,  Population  according  to  the  last  Census,  Parliamentary  Returns,  &c.  imperial  4to, 
46  Maps,  coloured  (pub.  at  1/.  10s.),  half  bound  morocco,  11.  St.  1843 

AINSWORTH'S  LATIN  DICTIONARY,  by  Dr.  Jamieson,  an  enlarged  Edition,  contain- 
ing all  the  words  of  the  Quarto  Dictionary.    Thick  8vo,  neatly  bound  (pub.  at  14s. ),  Si.        1847 

BENTLEY'S  (RICHARD)  WORKS.  Containing  Dissertations  upon  the  Epistles  of  Phalarls, 
Themistocles,  Socrates,  Euripides,  and  the  Fables  of  iEsop;  Eplstola  ad  Jo.  Mtllium;  Ser- 
mons; Boyle  Lecture;  Remarks  on  Free-thinking;  Critical  Works,  &c.  Edited,  with  copious 
Indices  and  Notes,  by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Dvce.  3  vols.  8vo;  a  beautifully  printed  Edition 
(pub.  at  1/.  18s.),  cloth,  11.  1«.  1836-38 

BIBLIA  HEBRAICA,  EX  EDITIONE  VANDER  HOOGHT.  Recognovit  J.  D.  Alee- 
mand.  Very  thick  8vo,  handsomely  printed  (pub.  at  1/.  5s.),  cloth,  10s.  Gd.    Lond.  Duncan,  1850 

BIOGRAPHIE  UNIVERSELLE,  Ancienne  et  Moderne.  Nouvelle  Edition,  revue,  corrig^e  et 
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a  compressed  manner  in  double  columns,  but  very  clear  type),  sewed  (pub.  at  mz.  Ins.),  5(.  St. 

Bru..cel!es,  1843-47 

BOURNE'S  (VINCENT)  POETICAL  WORKS,  Latin  and  English,  ISmo  (pub.  at  3s.  6d.), 

cloth,  2s.  6d.  183S 

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CICERO'S     LIFE,     FAMILIAR     LETTERS,     AND     LETTERS     TO     ATTICUS, 

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This  comprehensive  volume  contains  a  library  of  the  poetical  Latin  classics,  correctly 

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Tihullus,  Ovid,  Persius,  Statius,  Ausonius, 

Propertius,  Horace,  Juvenal  Silius  Italicus,  Claudian. 

Lucretius,  Phaedrus,  Martial,  Valerius  Flaccus, 

DAMMII  LEXICON  GR/ECUM,  HOMERICUM  ET  PINDARICUM.    CuraDuscAH, 

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DONNEGAN'S  GREEK  AND  ENGLISH  LEXICON,  enlarged;  with  examples,  literally 
translated,  selected  from  the  classical  authors.  Fourth  edition,  considerably  enlarged,  care- 
fully revised,  and  materially  improved  throughout;  thick  Svo  (1752  pages)  (pub.  at  21.  2s.), 
cloth,  11.  It.  1846 

GAELIC-ENGLISH  AND  ENGLISH-GAELIC  DICTIONARY,  with  Examples,  Phrases, 

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cloth,  lOt.  6c£.  1845 

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(pub.  at  Us.),  4.1.  Od.  1848 

HERMANNS    MANUAL    OF    THE    POLITICAL    ANTIQUITIES    OF    GREECE, 

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Vol.  1.  p.  443. 

HERODOTUS,  CARY'S  (REV.  M.)  GREEK  AND  ENGLISH  LEXICON  TO 
HERODOTUS,  adapted  to  the  Text  of  Gaisford  and  Baehr,  and  all  other  Editions,  Svo,  cloth 
(pub.  at  12s.),  8s. 

LEMPRIERE'S  CLASSICAL  DICTIONARY.  Miniature  Edition,  containing  a  fu!!  Ac; Mart 
of  all  the  Proper  Names  mentioned  in  Ancient  Authors,  and  much  useful  information  re&j^vU 
ing  the  uses  and  hahits  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  New  and  complete  Edition,  elegantly 
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PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  CY  II.  G.  BOI1X.  27 

LEE'S  HEBREW  GRAMMAR,  compiled  from  the  best  Authorities,  and  principally  from 
Oriental  Sources,  designed  tor  the  use  of  Students  In  the  Universities.  Mew  Edition,  enriched 
-with  much  original  matter.    Sixth  Thousand,  8vo  (pub.  at  12s.),  cloth,  8>.     Lund.  Ituncun,  1810 

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Parkhurst,  and  Gesenius;  containing  all  the  Words,  with  their  Inflections,  ldiomaf.c 
Usages,  &c.  found  In  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Text  of  the  Old  Testament;  with  numeroua. 
corrections  of  former  Lexicographers  and  Commentators,  followed  by  an  English  Index,  in  1 
thick  vol.  8vo.    Third  Thousand  (pub.  at  1/.  is.),  cloth,  lis.  London,  1814 

LEVERETT'S  LATIN-ENGLISH  AND  ENGLISH-LATIN  LEXICON,  compiled  front 
Faccioeati  and  Schci.lkb.    Thick  royal  8vo  (pub.  at  U.  lis.  6d.),  cloth,  It.  3s.  184" 

LIVII     HISTORIA,     EX     RECENSIONE     DRAKENBORCHII      ET     KREYSSIG; 

Et  Annotationes  Crevierii,  Strothii,  Ki'perti,  et  aliorum:  Animadvcisiones  NXBBUHBllJ 
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Cum  Indice  amplissimo,  4  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  1(.  18s.),  cloth,  1(.  8».  Oxford,  18411 

This  is  the  best  and  most  useful  edition  of  Livy  ever  published  In  octavo,  and  it  is  preferred 
In  all  our  universities  and  classical  schools. 

LIVY.  Edited  by  Prexdeville.  Livii  Historlre  libri  quinque  prlores,  with  English  Notes, 
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NEWMAN'S  PRACTICAL  SYSTEM  OF  RHETORIC;  or,  the  Principles  and  Rules  of 
Style,  with  Examples.    Sixth  Edition,  12mo  (pub.  at  is.  6d.),  cloth,  is.  18161 

NIEBUHR'S  HISTORY  OF  ROME,  epitomized  (for  the  use  of  colleges  and  schools),  with. 
Chronological  Tables  and  Appendix,  by  Travers  Twiss,  B.C.D.  complete  in  2  vols,  bound  ini 

I,  8vo  (pub.  at  1/.  1».),  cloth,  10s.  6d.  Oxford,  Talboys,  1837^ 
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OXFORD  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES  OF  UNIVERSAL  HISTORY,  from  the 
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RAMSHORN'S  DICTIONARY  OF  LATIN  SYNONYMES,  for  the  Use  of  Schools  and 
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1811 

RITTER'S  HISTORY  OF  ANCIENT  PHILOSOPHY,  translated  from  the  German,  by 
A.  J.  W.  Morrisos,  B.A.  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  4  vols.  8vo,  now  completed,  with  a 
General  Index,  cloth,  lettered  (pub.  at  3/.  is.),  21.  Is.  Oxford,  1815 

The  Fourth  Volume  may  be  had  separately.    Cloth,  16» 

"An  important  work :  it  may  be  said  to  have  superseded  all  the  previous  histories  of-philo-' 
sophy,  and  to  have  become  the  standard  work  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Johnson  is  also  exempt 
from  the  usual  faults  of  translators."— Quarterly  Review. 

SCHOMANN'S    HISTORY    OF    THE    ASSEMBLIES    OF    THE    ATHENIANS, 

translated  from  the  Latin,  with  a  complete  Index,  8vo  (pub.  at  10s.  6d.),  cloth,  5s.       Camb.  1838 
A  book  of  the  same  school  and  character  as  the  works  of  Heereh,  Boechk,  Scheegel,  &c. 

ELLENDTS  GREEK  AND  ENGLISH  LEXICON  TO  SOPHOCLES,  translated  by 
Cary.    8vo  (pub.  at  12s.),  cloth,  Cs.  lid.  Oxford,  Talboys,  1811 

STUARTS    HEBREW    CHRESTOMATHY,  designed  as  an  Introduction  to  a  Course  of 

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This  work,  which  was  designed  by  its  learned  author  to  facilitate  the  study  of  Hebrew,  has 

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and  is  sufficient  to  complete  the  system  of  instruction  in  that  language. 

TACITUS,  CUM  NOTIS  BROTIERI,  CURANTE  A.  J.  VAUPY.  Editto  nova,  cum 
Appendice.    4  vols.  8vo  (pub.  at  11.  16s.),  cloth,  li.  is. 

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Oxford  Talboys,  1839. 


28  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 

TENNEMANN'S  MANUAL  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  translated  fro 
the  German,  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  Johnson,  M.A.  Prolessor  of  Anglo-Saxon  in  the  Universi 
of  Oxford.     In  1  thick  closely  printed  vol.  Svo  (pub.  at  14s.),  boards,  9s.      Oxford,  Tatboys,  is;  j 

"A  work  which  marks  out  all  the  leading  epochs  in  philosophy,  and  gives  minute  chronol 
gical  information  concerning  them,  with  Mographical  notices  of  the  founders  and  followers 
the  principal  schools,  ample  texts  of  their  works,  and  an  account  of  the  principal  editions.  ] 
a  word,  to  the  student  of  philosophy,  I  know  of  no  work  in  English  likely  to  prove  half  so  us 
ful."— Hayward,  in  his  Translation  of  Goethe's  Faust. 

TERENTIUS,  CUM  NOTIS  VARIORUM,  CURA  ZEUNII,  cura  Giles;  acced.  Ind< 
copiosiasimus.    Complete  in  1  thick  vol.  svo  (pub.  at  16s.),  cloth,  8s.  is 

TURNER'S  (DAWSON  W.)  NOTES  TO  HERODOTUS,  for  the  Use  of  Collej 
Students.    Svo,  cloth,  12s.  IS- 

VALPY'S  GREEK  TESTAMENT,  WITH  ENGLISH  NOTES,  accompanied  by  parall 
passages  from  the  Classics.    Fifth  Edition,  3  vols.  8vo,  with  2  maps  (pub.  at  21.),  cloth,  It.  5a 

181 

VIRGIL.   EDWARDS'S  SCHOOL  EDITION.     VirgUli  JEnais,  cura  Eivh-ards,  et  Quest 
ones  Virgilianre,  or  Notes  and  Questions,  adapted  to  the  middle  forms  in  Schools,  2  vols,  in  . 
12mo,  bound  in  cloth  (pub.  at  6s.  6d.),  3s. 
***  Either  the  Text  or  Questions  may  be  had  separately  (pub.  at  3s.  Gd.),  2s.  Gd. 

WILSONS  (JAMES,  PROFESSOR  OF  FRENCH  IN  ST.  GREGORY'S  COLLEGi 

FRENCH-ENGLISH  AND  ENGLISH-FRENCH  DICTIONARY,  containing  full  Expl. 
nations,  Definitions,  Synonyms,  Idioms,  Proverbs,  Terms  of  Art  and  Science,  and  Rulei 
Pronunciation  in  each  Language.    Con  piled  from  the  Dictionaries  of  the  Academy,  Bowyei 
Chambaup,  Garner,  Laveaux,  Des  Carrieres  and  Fain,  Johnson  and  Walker. 
large  closely  printed  vol.  imperial  8vo  (pub.  at  2t.  2s.),  cloth,  U.  8s.  181 

XENOPHONTIS  OPERA,  GR.  ET  LAT.  SCHNEIDERI  ET  ZEUNII,  Accedit  Inde 
(Porson  and  Elmsley's  Edition),  10  vols.  12mo,  handsomelv  printed  in  a  large  type,  done  I 
in  5  vols.  (pub.  at  it.  10s.),  cloth,  ISs.  18- 

■  The  same,  large  paper,  10  vols,  crown  8vo,  done  up  in  5  vols,  cloth,  1/.  5«. 

XENOPHON'S  WHOLE  WORKS,  translated  by  Spelman  and  others.  The  only  complei 
Edition,  1  thick  vol.  Svo,  portrait  (pub.  at  15a.),  cloth,  lUi. 


iSobtls,  SSJorfts  of  Jputton,  Htc#t  Centring. 


AINSWORTH'S   WINDSOR    CASTLE.    An  Historical  Romance,  Illustrated  by  Georg 
Cruikshank  and  Tony  Johannot.    Medium  8vo,  fine  Portrait,  and  105  Steel  and  Woo  - 
Engravings,  gilt,  cloth,  5s.  184 

BREMER'S  (MISS)  HOME:  OR,  FAMILY  CARES  AND  FAMILY  JOYS,  translated  b 
Mary  Hownr.    Second  Edition,  revised,  2  vols,  post  8vo  (pub.  at  1/.  Is.),  cloth,  7s.  6d.     184 

THE  NEIGHBOURS,     A    STORY    OF    EVERY    DAY    LIFE.      Translated    by    Mar 
Howitt.    Third  Edition,  revised.     2  vols,  post  8vo  (pub.  at  18s.),  cloth,  7».  Gd.  1S4 

f.RUIKSHANK  "AT  HOME;"  a  New  Family  Album  of  Endless  Entertainment,  consistin 
of  a  Series  of  Tales  and  Sketches  by  the  most  popular  Authors,  with  numerous  clever  an 
humorous  Illustrations  on  Wood,  bv  Cruikshank  and  Seymour.  Also,  CRUIKSHANK' 
ODD  VOLUME,  OR  BOOK  OF  VARIETY.  Illustrated  by  Tv*>  Odd  Fellows— Setmou 
and  Cruikshank.    Together  4  vols,  bound  in  2,  fcap.  Svo  (pub.  at  21. 18s.),  cloth,  giit,  los.  C< 

184 

HOWITT'S  (WILLIAM)   LIFE   AND   ADVENTURES   OF  JACK  OF  THE   MILL 

A  Fireside  Story.    By  William  Howitt.    Second  Edition.    2  vols.  fcap.  Svo,  with  4C  lllus 
trations  on  Wood  (pub.  at  15s.),  cloth,  7s.  id.  184 

HOWITT'S    (WILLIAM)     WANDERINGS     OF     A     JOURNEYMAN      TAILOR 

THROUGH  EUROPE   AND  THE    EAST,  DURING  THE  YEARS  1821  to  1810.     Trans 
lated  by  William  Howitt.    Fcap.  Svo,  with  Portrait  (pub.  at  6s.),  cloth,  3s.  Gd.  184 

HOWITT'S  (WILLIAM)  GERMAN  EXPERIENCES.  Addressed  to  the  English,  bof 
Goers  abroad  and  Stayers  at  Home.    1  vol.  fcap.  8vo  (pub.  at  6s.),  cloth,  3s.  6d.  184 

JANE'S  (EMMA)  ALICE  CUNNINGHAME,  or,  the  Christianas  Daughter,  Sister,  Friend 
and  Wife.    Post  8vo  (pub.  at  5j.),  cloth,  2s.  Gd.  184 

JOE  MILLER'S  JEST-BOOK;  being  a  Collection  of  the  most  excellent  Eon  Mots,  TSrHUan 
Jests,  and  Striking  Anecdotes  in  the  English  Language.  Complete  In  1  thick  and  closely  hu 
elegantly  printed  vol.  fcap.  12mo,  Frontispiece  (pub.  at  4s.),  doth,  3s.  184 

JERROLD'S  (DOUGLAS)  CAKES  AND  ALE,  A  Collection  of  humorous  Tales  an. 
Sketches.  2  vols,  post  8vo,  with  PIMes,  l»  Geokqb  Chciksiia.sk  (pub,  «  15t.),  elotl 
Silt,  8..  »* 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BY  II.  G.  BOHN.  29 

LAST  OF  THE  PLANTAGENETS,  an  Historical  Narrative,  Illustrating  the  Public  Event*, 
anil  Domestic  and  Ecclesiastical  Manners  of  the  15th  and  10th  Centuries.  Fcap.  8vo,  Third 
Edition  (pub.  at  7s.  M.),  cloth,  3s.  Gd.  1839 

LEVERS    ARTHUR    OLEARY;     HIS    WANDERINGS    AND    PONDERlNGS    IN 

MANY  LANDS.    Edited  by  Harry  LoiiREiiUER.    Cruiksiiank.'s  New  Illustrated  Edition. 
Complete  in  1  rol.  8vo  (pub.'  at  12.!.),  cloth,  9s.  184S 

LOVER'S  LEGENDS  AND  STORIES  OF  IRELAND.  Hoth  Series.  2  vols.  fcap.  8vo, 
Fourth  Edition,  embellished  with  Woodcuts,  by  Harvsy  (pub.  at  15s. ),  cloth,  6».  6d.  1847 

LOVER'S  HANDY  ANDY.  A  Tale  of  Irish  Life.  Medium  8vo.  Third  Edition,  with  24 
characteristic  Illustrations  on  Steel  (pub.  at  13s.),  cloth,  7s.  lid.  1849 

LOVER'S  TREASURE  TROVE;  OR  L.  S.  D.  A  Romantic  Irish  Tale  of  the  last  Cen- 
tury. Medium  Svo.  Second  Edition,  with  20  characteristic  Illustrations  on  Steel  (pub.  at  14.i.)> 
cloth,  9s.  1846 

MARRYATS  (CAPT.)  POOR  JACK,  Illustrated  by  46  large  and  exquisitely  beautiful 
Engravings  on  Wood,  after  the  masterlv  designs  of  Clarkson  Stanfielu,  R.A.  1  handsome 
vol.  royal  Svo  (pub.  at  14s.),  gilt  cloth,  9s.  1850 

MARRYAT'S  PIRATE.  AND  THE  THREE  CUTTERS,  svo.with  20  most  splendid  line 
Engravings,  after  Stanfielu,  Engraved  on  Steel  by  Charles  Heath  (originally  pub.  at 
11.  is.),  gilt  cloth,  IOj.  Gd.  1843 

MILLER'S    GODFREY    MALVERN,    OR    THE    LIFE    OF    AN    AUTHOR.    By  the 

Author  of  "Gideon  Giles,"  "Kovston  Gower,"  "Day, in  the  Woods,"  kc.  kc.    2  vols  in  1, 
,8vo,  with  21  clever  Illustrations  by'l'mz  (pub.  at  13j.),  cloth,  6s.  6d.  1843 

'"    "This  work  has  a  tone  and  an  individuality  which  distinguish  it  from  all  others,  and  cannot 
be  read  without  pleasure.    Mr.  Miller  has  the  forms  and  colours  of  rustic  life  more  completely 
under  his  control  than  any  of  his  predecessors." — Athenteum. 
'MITFORD'S  (MISS)  OUR  VILLAGE;  complete  in  2  vols,  post  8vo,  a  Series  of  Rural  Tales 

and  Sketches.    New  Edition,  beautiful  Woodcuts,  gilt  cloth,  IOj. 
PHANTASMAGORIA  OF  FUN,    Edited  and  Illustrated  by  Alfred  Crowquill.  2  vols, 
post  Svo,  illustrations  by  Leech,  Cruikshank,  Sic  (pub.  at  18s.),  cloth,  7s.  6d.  1843 

PICTURES  OF  THE   FRENCH.     A  Series  of  Literary  and  Graphic  Delineations  of  French 

Character.    By  Jules  Janin,  Balzac,  Cormenin,  and  other  celebrated  French  Authors. 

1  large  vol.  royal  Svo,  Illustrated  by  upwards  of  230  humorous  and  extremely  clever  Wood 

"'"-  Engravings  by  distinguished  Artists  (pub.  at  \l.  5s.),  cloth  gilt,  10s.  1840 

This  book  is  extremely  clever,  both  in  the  letter-press  and  plates,  and  has  had  an  immense 

run  in  France,  greater  even  than  the  Pickwick  Papers  in  this  country. 

POOLE'S  COMIC  SKETCH  BOOK;  OR,  SKETCHES  AND  RECOLLECTIONS 
BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  PAUL  PRY.  Second  Edition,  2  vols.,  post  8vo.,  fine  portrait, 
cloth  gilt,  with  new  comic  ornaments  (pub.  at  18s.),  7s.  Sd.  1843 

SKETCHES  FROM  FLEMISH   LIFE.    By  Hendkik  Conscience.    Square  12mo,  130  Wood 

Engravings  (pub.  at  6s.),  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

TROLLOPKS  (MRS.)  LIFE  AND  ADVENTURES  OF  MICHAEL  ARMSTRONG, 
1        THE  FACTORY  BOY',  medium  8vo,  with  21  Steel  Plates  (pub.  at  12s.), gilt  cloth,  6s.  Gel.    1840 

TROLLOPE'S  (MRS.)  JESSIE  PHILLIPS.  A  Tale  of  the  Present  Day,  medium  8vo,  port, 
and  12  Steel  Plates  (pub.  at  12s.),  cloth  gilt,  Cs.  Gd.  1844 

UNIVERSAL  SONGSTER,  Illustrated  bv  Ckuikshank,  being  the  largest  collection  of  tho 
best  Songs  in  the  English  language  (upwards  of  5,000),  3  vols.  Svo,  with  87  h&norous. En- 
gravings on  Steel  and  Wood,  by  George  Cruikshank,  and  8  medallion  Portraits  (nub.  at 
U.  16s.),  cloth,  13s.  Gd. 


3Jubcnik  anti  lEltmentarji  dBoolis,  CUgmnastfcs,  §rc. 

ALPHABET  OF  QUADRUPEDS,  Illustrated  by  Figures  selected  from  the  works  of  the 
Old  Masters,  square  12mo,  with  21  spirited  Engravings  after  Berghbm,  Rembrandt,  Coyp, 
Paul  Potter,  &c.  and  with  initial  letters  by  Mr.  Shaw,  cloth,  gilt  edges  (pub.  at  4».  6V.),  !»■ 

1850 

,  the  same,  the  plates  colou*d,  gilt  cloth,  gilt  edges  (pub.  at  7s.  6d.)  5s. 

CRABB'S  (REV.  G.)  NEW  PANTHEON,  or  Mythology  of  all  Nations;  especially  for  the 
Use  of  Schools  and  Young  Persons  ;  with  Questions  for  Examination  on  the  Plan  of  Pinnock., 
18mo,  with  30  pleasing  lithographs  (pub.  at  3s.),  cloth, 2s.  1847i 

CROWQUILL'S  PICTORIAL  GRAMMAR.  lOmo,  with  120  humoreus  illustrations  (pub. 
at  5s.),  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2s.  Gd.  1814' 

DRAPER'S  JUVENILE  NATURALIST,  or  Country  Walks  In  Spring,  Summer,  Autumn,, 
an^  Winter,  square  ilrno,  with  SO  beautifully  executed  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  7s.  Gd.),  cloth,  gilt* 
edges,  4s.  Gd.  1845 

■ENCYCLOPAEDIA  OF  MANNERS  AND  ETIQUETTE,  comprising  an  Improver* edition 
of  Chesterfield's  Advice  to  his  Sim  on  Men  and  Manners;  and  the  Young  Man's  owiuBook;  a' 
Manual  of  Politeness,  Intellectual  Improvement,  «ad  Moral  Deportment,  21mo,  frontispiece,, 
cloth,  gilt  edges,  2s.  1MS 


30  CATALOGUE  OF  NEW  BOOKS 


EQUESTRIAN  MANUAL  FOR  LADIES,  by  h»n2oraD,  Fcap.  8vo,  upwards  of  59 
Beautiful  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  4s. ),  gilt  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2s.  lij.  lg4t 

GAMMER  GRETHEL'S  FAIRY  TALES  AND  POPULAR  STORIES,  translated  from 
the  German  of  Grimm  (containing  12  Fairy  Tales),  post  Svo,  numerous  Woodcuts  by  Georgb 
Cruikshank  (pub.  at  7s.  Cd. ),  cloth  gilt  5s  i840 

GOOD-NATURED  BEAR,  a  Story  for  Chiiuren  of  all  Ages,  by  B,  H.  Ho-kne.  Square  8vo 
plates  (pub.  at  5s.)  cloth,  3s.,  or  with  the  piates  coloured,  4s.  igj,) 

GRIMM'S  TALES  FROM  EASTERN  LANDS.  Square  12mo,  plates  (pub.  at  5s.),  cloth 
3s.  6d.,  or  plates  coloured,  4*.  6d.  jo^i 

HALL'S  (CAPTAIN  BASIL)  PATCHWORK,  a  New  Series  of  Fragments  of  Voyages  and 
Travels,  Second  Edition,  12mo,  cloth,  with  the  back  very  richly  and  appropriately  gilt  with 
patchwork  devices  (pub.  at  15s.),  7s.  6d.  I84j 

HOLIDAY  LIBRARY,  Edited  by  William  Hazlitt.  Uniformly  printed  in  3  vols,  plates 
(pub.  at  19s.  6d.),  cloth,  10s.  6J.,  or  separately,  viz:— Orphan  of  Waterloo,  3s.  6rf.  Holly 
Grange,  3s.  6d.    Legends  of  Kubezahl,  and  Fairy  Tales,  3s.  6d.  1845 

HOWITT'S  (WILLIAM)  JACK  OF  THE  MILL.  2  vols.  i2mo  (pub.  at  lSs.),  cloth  gilt, 
7s.  6d.  mi 

HOWITT'S  (MARY)  CHILD'S  PICTURE  AND  VERSE  BOOK,  commonly  called 
"Otto  Speckter's  Fable  Book:"  translated  into  English  Verse,  with  Frencl.  and  German 
Verses  opposite,  forming  a  Triglott,  square  12mo,  with  100  large  Wood  Engravings  (puh  at 
10s.  6d.),  extra  Turkey  cloth,  gilt  edges,  5s.  j84S 

This  is  one  of  the  most  elegant  juvenile  books  ever  produced,  and  has  the  novelty  of  being  In 
three  languages. 

LAMB'S  TALES  FROM  SHAKSPEARE,  designed  principally  for  the  nse  of  Young  Persons 
(written  by  Miss  and  Charles  Lame),  Sixth  Edition,  embellished  with  20  large  ami  beautiful 
Woodcut  Engravings,  from  designs  by  Harvey,  fcap.  8vo  (puh.  at  7s.  6rf.),  cloth  gilt,  5s.  1S43 
**  One  of  the  most  useful  and  agreeable  companions  to  the  understanding  of  Shakspeare  which 
have  been  produced.  The  youthful  reader  who  is  ahout  to  taste  the  charms  of  our  great  Bard, 
is  strongly  recommended  to  prepare  himself  by  first  reading  these  elegant  tales."— Quarterly 
Review. 

L.  E.  L.  TRAITS  AND  TRIALS  OF  EARLY  LIFE.  A  Series  of  Tales  addressed  to 
Young  People.  By  L.  E.  L.  (Miss  Landon).  Fourth  Edition,  fcap.  8vo,  with  a  beautiful 
Portrait  Engraved  on  Steel  (pub.  at  5s.),  gilt  cloth,  3s.  1845 

LOUDON'S  (MRS.)  ENTERTAINING  NATURALIST,  being  popular  Descriptions, 
Tales  and  Anecdotes  of  more  than  500  Animals,  comprehending  all  the  Quadrupeds,  Birds, 
Fishes,  Reptiles,  insects,  &c.  of  which  a  knowledge  is  indispensable  in  Polite  Education; 
Illustrated  by  upwards  of  500  beautiful  Woodcuts,  by  Bewick,  Hahvey,  Whimper,  and 
others,  post  8vo,  gilt  cloth,  7s.  6d .  1850 

MARTIN  AND  WESTALL'S  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  BIBLE,  the  letter- 
press by  the  Rev.  Hobaiit  Caunter,  8vo,  144  extremely  beautiful  Wood  Engravings  by  the 
first  Artists  (including  reduced  copies  of  Martin's  celebrated  Pictures,  Belshazzar's  Feast, 
The  Deluge,  Fall  of  Nineveh,  &C.J,  cloth  gilt,  gilt  edges,  reduced  to  12s.  Whole  bound  mor. 
richly  gilt,  gilt  edges,  18s.  1846 

A  most  elegant  present  to  young  people. 

PARLEY'S  (PETER)  WONDERS  OF  HISTORY.  Square  16mo,  numerous  Woodcuts 
(pub.  at  6s.),  cloth,  gilt  edges,  3s.  6d.  1846 

PERCY  TALES  OF  THE  KINGS  OF  ENGLAND;  Stories  or  Camps  and  Battle-Fields, 
Wars,  and  Victories  (modernized  from  Holinshed,  Froissart,  and  the  other  Chroniclers), 
2  vols,  in  1,  square  U'mo.  (Parley  size.)  Fourth  Edition,  considerably  improved,  completed 
to  the  present  time,  embellished  with  16  exceedingly  beautiful  Wood  Engravings  (pub.  at  9s.  J, 
cloth  idlt,  gilt  edges,  5s.  1850 

This  beautiful  volume  has  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  success,  and  deservedly. 

ROBIN  HOOD  AND  HIS  MERRY  FOfiESTERS.  By  Stephen  Percy.  Square  12mo, 
8  Illustrations  by  Gilbert  (pub.  at  5s.),  cloth,  3s.  6d.,  or  with  coloured  Plates,  5s.  1850 

STRICKLAND'S  (MISS  JANE)  EDWARD  EVELYN,  a  Tale  of  the  Rebellion  ofl745;  to 
which  is  added  "  The  Peasant's  Tale,"  by  Jefeerys  Taylor,  fcap.  8vo,  2  fine  Plates  (pub.  at 
5s.)  cloth  gilt,  2s.  Sd.  1849 

TOMKIN'S  BEAUTIES  OF  ENGLISH  POETRY,  selected  for  the  Use  or  Youth,  and 
designed  to  Inculcate  the  Practice  of  Virtue.  Twentieth  Edition,  with  considerable  additions, 
royal  ISmo,  very  elegantly  printed,  with  a  beautiful  Frontispiece  after  Harvey,  elegant  gilt 
edges,  3s.  6d.  1847 

WOOD-NOTES  FOR  ALL  SEASONS  (OR  THE  POETRY  OF  BIRDS),  a  Series  of 
Songs  and  Poems  for  Y  >ung  People,  contributed  by  Barry  Cornwall,  Wordsworth, - 
Moore,  Coleridge,  Campbell,  Joanna  Baillie,  Eliza  Cook,  Mary  Howitt,  Mrs. 
Hemans,  Hogg,  Charlotte  Smith,  &c.  fcap.  8vo,  very  prettily  printed,  with  15  beautiful 
Wood  Engravings  (pub.  at  3s.  Gd.),  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2j.  1848 

YOUTHS  (THE)  HANDBOOK  OF  ENTERTAINING  KNOWLEDGE,  In  a  Series  of. 

Familiar  Conversations  on  the  most  interesting  productions  of  Nature  and  Art,  and  on  other 
Instructive  Topics  of  Polite  Education.  By  a  Lady  (Mrs.  Palj.iser,  the  Sister  of  Captain 
Marryat),  2  vols.  fenp.  8vo,  Woodcuts  (pub.  at  15s.'),  cloth  gilt,  6».  184* 

This  is  a  very  clever  and  instructive  book,  adapted  to  tht  capacities  of  youig  people,  on  th» 
plan  of  the  Conversations  on  Chemistry,  Mineralogy,  BotaLy,  i.r. 


PUBLISHED  OR  SOLD  BT  H.  G.  EOHN.  31 


Jfflustc  antr  Jfflusical  SStorfts. 


THE  MUSICAL  LIBRARY.  A  Selection  of  the  best  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Music  both 
English  and  Foreign.  Edited  by  W.  Ayrton,  Esq.  of  the  Opera' House.  8  vols,  folio 'com- 
prehending mare  than  400  pieces  of  Music,  beautifully  primed  with  metallic  tvnes  limb  at 
«7.  is.),  sewed,  If.  11a.  6d.  ,v       iy        " 

The  Vocal  and  Instrumental  may  be  had  separately,  each  In  i  vols.  16j. 

MUSICAL  CABINET  AND  HARMONIST.  A  Collection  of  Classical  and  Popular  Vocal 
and  Instrumental  M  isic:  comprising  Selections  from  the  best  production!  of  all  the  Great 
Masters;  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  Melodies;  with  many  of  the  National  Airs  of  other 
Countries,  embracing  Overtures,  Marches,  Rondos,  Quadrilles,  Waltzes,  and  Gallopades-  also 
Madrigals,  Duets,  and  Glees;  the  whole  adapted  either  for  the  Voice,  the  Piano-forte  the 
Harp,  or  the  Organ;  with  Pieces  occasionally  for  the  Flute  and  Guitar,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  an  eminent  Professor.  4  vols,  small  folio,  comprehending  more  than  300  pieces  of 
Music,  beautifully  printed  with  metallic  types  (pub.  at  2/.  2.'.),  sewed,  16«. 

The  great  sale  of  the  Musical  Library,  In  consequence  of  its  extremely  low  price,  has  Induced 
the  Advertiser  to  adopt  the  same  plan  of  selling  the  present  capital  selection.  As  the  content* 
aie  quite  different  from  the  Musical  Library,  and  the  Intrinsic  merit  of  the  selection  is  equal, 
the  work  will  no  doubt  meet  with  similar  success. 

MUSICAL  GEM  ;  a  Collection  of  300  Modern  Songs,  Duets,  Glees,  &c.  by  the  most  celebrated 
Composers  of  the  present  day,  adapted  for  the  Voice,  Flute,  or  Violin  (edited  bv  John-  Parry), 
3  vols,  in  1,  8vo,  with  a  beautifully  engraved  Title,  and  a  very  richly  illuminated  Frontispiece 
(pub.  at  1(.  1«.),  cloth  gilt,  10».  6d.  1841 

The  above  capital  collection  contains  a  great  number  of  the  beat  copyright  pieces,  including 
iome  of  the  most  popular  songs  of  Braham,  Bishop,  &c.    It  forms  a  most  attractive  volume. 


Jfflrtfftfae,  Sburgcrp,  gtnatomp,  CDf)em(str|), 
^Ijgstologg,  kt. 


BARTON  AND  CASTLE'S  BRITISH  FLORA  MEDICA;  Or,  History  of  the  Medicinal 
Plants  of  Great  Britain,  2  vols.  8vo,  upwards  of  200  finely  coloured  figures  of  Plants  (mib  at 
31.3s.),  cloth,  1(.  16j.  y    ,g45 

An  exceedingly  cheap,  elegant,  and  valuable  work,  necessary  to  every  medical  practitioner. 

BATEMAN    AND    WILLANS    DELINEATIONS    OF    CUTANEOUS    DISEASES 

4to,  cot'alning  72  Plates,  beautifully  and  very  accurately  coloured  under  the  superintendence 
of  an  eminent  professional  Gentleman  (Dr.  Carswell),  (pub.  at  12/.  12s.),  half  hound  mor. 
51.  5s.  1840 

"  Dr.  Bateman's  valuable  work  has  done  more  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  cutaneous  diseases 
than  any  other  that  has  ever  appeared." — Dr.  A.  T.  Thompson. 

BEHR'S  HAND-BOOK  OF  ANATOMY,  by  Birkett  (Demonstrator  at  Guv's  Hospital), 
thick  12mo,  closely  printed,  cloth  lettered  (pub.  at  10s.  6cf.),  3j.  6d.  1846 

BOSTOCK'S  (DR.)  SYSTEM  OF  PHYSIOLOGY,  comprising  a  Complete  View  of  the 
present  state  of  the  Scienoe.  1th  Edition,  revised  and  corrected  throughout,  8vo  (900  pages), 
(pub.  at  1(. ),  cloth,  8j.  1834 

BURNS'S  PRINCIPLES  OF  MIDWIFERY,  tenth  and  best  edition,  thick  8vo,  cloth  lettered, 
(pub.  at  liu.),  5s. 

CELSUS  DE  MEDICINA.  Edited  by  E.  Millioaw,  M.D.  cum  Indice  coploslsslmo  ex  edit. 
Targie.    Thick  8vo,  Frontispiece  (pub.  at  IGj.),  cloth,  9».  1831 

This  Is  the  very  best  edition  of  Celsus.  It  contains  critical  and  medical  notes,  applicable  to 
the  practice  of  this  country;  a  parallel  Tahle  of  ancient  and  modern  Medical  terms,  synonymes, 
weights,  measures,  Sc.  and,  Indeed,  everything  which  can  be  useful  to  the  Medical  Student; 
together  with  a  singularly  extensive  Index. 

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