LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PRESENTED BY Miss Rosario Curletti THE TRAGEDIES OF -dESCHYLOS THE TRAGEDIES OF /ESCHYLOS ^Translation, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY, AND AN APPENDIX OP RHYMED CHORAL ODES BY E. H. PLUMPTRE, D.B. PROFESSOR OK DIVINITY, KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON ; VICAR OF BICKLEY ; PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S PHILADELPHIA : DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER, 1022 MARKET STREET. THB MOST RKVXRKKD RICHARD CHENEYIX TRENCH, D.D., ABCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN. DEAB friend, of old true guide of pilgrims known, Leading their steps where Wisdom's fair pearla li With orient gems, in Truth's rich treasury, On to the altar-stairs and sapphire Throne, Now reaping harvest which thou hadst not sown, The heaped-up debt of far ancestral crimes, Bearing the brunt of these our troublous times, While mists are thick, and loud the night-winds moan ' Scant leisure thine to look with studious eyes On these poor transcripts of a glorious page, The heathen's dim, ' unconscious prophecies,' The dreams of Hellas in her golden age : Nay, gird thee to thy task, come good, come ill, And eo 'mid storms and fears thy Master's heat fulfil. PREFACE. I HAVE been led by the interest which I found in the work of translating Sophocles, and in part also by the reception which my translation met with, to enter on another, and, in some respects, more difficult task, in which I have had predecessors at once more numerous and of higher mark. I leave it to others to compare the merits and defects of my work with theirs. I have adhered in it to the plan of using for the Choral Odes such unrhymed metres, observing the strophic and antistrophic arrangement, as seemed to me most analogous in their general rhythmical effect to those of the original ; while, for the sake of those who cannot abandon their preference for the form with which they are more familiar, I have added, in an Appendix, a rhymed version of the chief Odes of the Oresteian trilogy. Those in the other dramas did not seem to me of equal interest, or to lend themselves with equal facility to a like attempt. I have for the most part followed the text of Mr. Paley's edition of 1861, and, in common with all Viii PREFACE. students of 2Eschylos, I have to acknowledge a large debt of gratitude to him both for his textual criticism and for the varied amount of illustrative material which he has brought together in his notes. It is right to name Professor Conington also as at once among the most distinguished of those with whose labours my own will have to be compared, and as one who has done for JEschylos at Oxford what Mr. Paley has done at Cambridge, bringing to bear on the study of his dramas at once the accuracy of a critic and the insight of a poet. Had his work as a translator been carried further, had the late Dean of St. Paul's left us more than the single tragedy of the Agamemnon, or my friend, Miss Swanwick, been able to complete what she began so well in her version of the Oresteian trilogy, I should probably not have undertaken the work which I have now brought to a conclusion. I have felt, however, that it was desirable for the large mass of readers to whom the culture which comes through the study of Greek literature in the inimitable completeness of the originals is more or less inacces- sible, that there should be a translation within thei* reach, embracing all that has been left to us by one who takes all but the highest place among the tragic poets of Athens, and making it, as far as was possible, intelligible and interesting in its connexion with the history of Greek thought, political and theological. I have indicated by an asterisk (*) passages where PREFACE. a, the reading or the rendering is mere or less con- jectural, and in which therefore the student would do well to consult the notes of commentators. Passages which are regarded as spurious by editors of authority are placed between brackets [ ]. It only remains that I should once again acknow- ledge my obligations to my friend the Rev. Charles Hole, for much help kindly given in the progress of my work through the press. NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The whole work has been subjected to revision. Additional notes have been added where they seemed necessary. I have thought it best to arrange the plays in their chrono- logical order. CONTENTS. M*l 07 JB3CHTLO* xiii THE PERSIANS ........! THE SEVEN \VHO POT7GHT AGAINST THEBES . 45 PROMETHEUS BOUND ...... .89 THE SUPPLIANTS 133 AGAMEMNON ...*..;. 177 OHOEPHORI, OB THE LIBATION-POUKERS . . 247 EUMENIDES ...... 203 FBAQMENTS .... 337 Or SHYMKD OXOKUK28 . ti6 LIFE OF ^ESCHYLOS. THE materials for a life of 2Eschylos are like in kind and quantity to those which we possess for a life of Sophocles. A brief anonymous memoir, written pro- bably some four or five hundred years after his death, 1 ft few scattered facts in scholia and lexicons, a few anecdotes or allusions in contemporary, or all but con- temporary, authors ; this is all we have to deal with. 3 My purpose in this essay is to do for the older as I have done for the younger dramatist, to put these dis- jecta membra together in such an order as may best Bhow what the man himself was, to illustrate them from the poet's own works, to throw light on thee temper as of one who places noble blood above wealth, because it more often goes together with nobleness of nature is seen in his scorn for " gold- decked " houses where the hands of those who dwell in them are soiled, (Agam. v. 748,) while he maintains that there is no inevitable connexion between greatness and the fall that so often follows on it, that there are families in which prosperity and honour pass on from generation to generation, (Agam. v. 736.) Nor can the fact that he was born at Eleusis be (1) One may note the parallelism of Dante's vehement protest against **Ja yente nunva," "le bfstie Fitxolam," that had been received into Flo- rence from neighbouring cities, or made their way to power by f**iafni."J"/crn. xv. 62, xvi. 73. LIFE OF JESCHYLOS. considered as of less importance. Initiation into the Mysteries that were connected with that spot, may have been postponed, indeed, (if he was ever actually initiated,) 1 to mature age. But the local influence must have been round him from the first. Men came there to pass through the rites of probation, counted it the blessedness of their life to be admitted by the hierophant, spoke of it as unfolding the secrets of immortality. Theories as to the nature and teacher of these and other mysteries, have indeed varied very widely.* Some have seen in them the channels by which a primitive religion was kept from perishing utterly, and faith in the providence, perhaps in the unity, of God, and in a future retribution, transmitted to fit recipients. Others have discerned nothing more than a Phallic symbolism of the reproductive powers of nature, the attractions of which lay in the debasing character of the symbols and the stimulus they sup- plied to a prurient imagination. Others have found in them symbols, indeed, but symbols no longer under- stood, the story which had once clothed a thought being dramatised for its own sake, till the thought (1) The question remains nib fudiee. On the one side there is the state- ment preserved by Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata, (ii. 166,) that when accused before the Areiopagos of having brought the mysteries on the stage., he defended himself by pleading that he had never been ini- tiated. On the other, we have the fact that Aristophanes, in the Frog*, (v. 886,) represents him as invoking Demeter, " Who hast trained my soul To meetness for thy holy mysteries." The latter testimony, as being nearly contemporary, seems to have greatest weight. Aristotle, however, in referring to the case as illustrating his doctrine of sins of ignorance, (Eth. JV'teom. iii. 2,) may be thrown into the other scale, as corroborating the tradition given by Clement. (2) WUrburton, in his Divine Legation of Muses, has brought together most of the ancient authorities on the subject. Lobeck, in a treatisa bearing the title of Aglaophaitus, has treated the question with a more exhaustive scholarship. St. Croix'B JtccAt rales tur let JJyitiret may also be consulted. LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. itself was forgotten in the interest of the fantastic mythos that embodied it. With views so divergent before us, we cannot safely build much on any esti- mate of the influence which the mysteries of Eleusis may have exercised upon the mind of ^Eschylos. It may be suggested, perhaps, that they, like all other symbolic rites, degenerated as they grew older ; that whatever of obscenity or triviality was in them, was of later growth ; that if they were parables of Nature and her life-giving power, they also helped men to think of that life as extending into a more distant future. Like the secrets of Freemasonry, they may have had a religious meaning at first, which afterwards degenerated into a mere conventional mystery, and a fantastic triviality which a later age strove in vain to re-clothe with a religious significance. The language in which Sophocles and Pindar speak of them 1 forbids us to think of them as in his time other than witnesses to a loftier truth than that held by the uninitiated many. The stress laid by ^Eschylos on the righteous government of God, on the immortality of the spirits of the dead, may possibly be traceable to that witness. His reverence for the Goddess of Eleusis was at all events thought of as so characteristic, that he is repre- sented, in the Aristophanic caricature already quoted, as swearing by her name and no other. (1) Sophocles, Fragm. 719 " Thrice happy they who having seen these rite* Then pass to Hades : there to these alone Is granted life ; all others evil find." Pindar, Thren. J-'ragm. 8 " Blessed is he who having looked on them, Passes below the hollow earth, for he Knows life's true end, and Zeus-given sov' reign ty." LIFE OF .lESCHYLOS. The education of Jllschylos would, in its main out- lines, be such as has been described in my life of Sophocles. It would want, indeed, that which the latter found as he grew to manhood in the dramas of JEscbylos himself. It would want also the poetry of Pindar, 1 But the music, and the athletic training, and the poetry of Homer, were already there to form the character and develop its nascent powers. The care taken by Peisistratos to collect and arrange the so- called Homeric poems, and the formation of a library at Athens by his sons Hippias and Hipparchos, were at once symptoms and causes of the intellectual life which was about to bud and blossom and bear fruit with such unexampled rapidity. The education of the \ young men of Athens was based thenceforward upon Homer. The cycle of the Iliad supplied nearly the whole material which was to be worked up by the coming dramatists. jEschylos himseff spoke of his'; tragedies as being but " made-up dishes " (T/u.a^) from the great Homeric banquet, (Athcn. viii. p. 347.) Nor can we forget that the name which has stamped itself upon dramatic art was then beginning to be known, and that the works of Thespis began, teul years before the birth of 2Eschylos, to give a ne\ri character to the festival of the Dionysia. Concurrently with the influence of the heroic, there must also have taen that of the early gnomic poetry of Greece. The sententious morality of Theognis appears to have im- pressed itself on a mind which loved to reproduce even the earlier, simpler proverbs that entered into (1) Pindar and Simonides vve, however, contemporaries of the grent dramatist, and might easil" .^ercisc some influence on the growth oi lua Jtviil LIFE OF JESCHYLOS. the common speech of men, those which bade them not to " kick against the pricks," or taught them that ' out of a little seed may spring a mighty tree," that *'pain is gain," that "wisdom comes by sorrow," that " the highest wisdom is self-knowledge," and the like. And, accord ngly, the parallelisms between the two writers are striking enough to exclude the notion of mere coincidence. 1 The resemblance is, however, in mind and teaching much more than in words and images. There is the same dread of the evils of over-prosperous fortune, the same reverence for the rights of the suppliant and (1) I owe the references to these passages to a note of Mr. Comp. (1) Theognis. w. 44-9 " In all my deeds thou'lt find me like pure gold, Still glowing red, though tried by touchstone's tei And the black stain not e'en the surface mars." Again, v. 381 " And like to worthless bronze, By friction tried and tests, It turns to tarnished blackness in its hue.* (1) Theogn. v. 151 " But full-flushed Lust hegetteth Recklessness, When prosperous fortune comes U> villain aouL Atom. v. 738 " But Recklessness of old Is wont to breed another Recklessness ; That in its youth, in turn Doth full-flushed Lust beget, Begets Satiety." () Theogn. T. 961 " Many there are with false mood counterfeit, Who hide their lies with show of short-lived z2. T. 76O- " Men there are who right transgressing, Honour semblance more than being : O'er the sufferer all are ready Wail of bitter grief to utter, Though the biting pang of sorrow Never to their heart appipaches; So with counterfeit rejoicing Men strain laces Uiat lire suuleleao." LIFE OF JS.SCHYLOS. the guest, the same belief in a Nemesis working at times slowly and secretly, but sure to manifest itself at last as the avenger of outrage, and turbulence, and wrong. Even the tone in which the ethical poet speaks of the chastisement which the Gods had sent upon the haughty Medes is in the same key as that which pervades the Persians (vv. 744 and 775) of the dramatist. Both are intensely national ; both are also intensely the poets of an aristocracy. Theognis com- plains (vv. 53-58) " This State is still a State, but men are changed ; Those who ere while knew nought of Right and Law, And clad in goatskin lived outside the gates, These are now known as nobles, and the men. Who once were noble, now as cowards L've. Men honour wealth, and wealth corrupts the blood, Bad marrying good, and good with villains wed." Just as .ZEschylos makes Athena warn her people " But if with streams defiled and tainted soil Clear river thou pollute, no drink thou'lt find." Eumen. v. 664 and utters his complaint that " Now Success It man's sole God and more." Lib. Pourert, T. 50. The chronological relation of the two poets to each other was just such as to bring the younger poet under the influence of the older. Theognis lived to witness the overthrow of the Persians, and died just as .ZEschy- los was rising into fame. The reference in Fragm. 123 to the story of the eagle shot with one of its own feathers, as taken from LIFE OF jESCHYLOS. the Libyan Fables, seems to indicate an acquaintance also with that form of composition which, about this time, was travelling from Asia and Africa into the literature of Greece. The legend which has come down to us through Pausanias, (Alt. i. 21, 3,) though too remote in time to claim a place among the elements of a biography, may yet be received as the expression of the influence exercised on .ZEschylos by the new art which Thespis had introduced, and its religious associations. " Ho was set," so the story runs, " to watch grapes as they were ripening for the vintage, and fell asleep : And lo ! as he slept, Dionysos appeared to him, and bade him give himself to write tragedies for the great festival of the God. And when he awoke, he found himself invested with new powers of thought and utterance, and the work was as easy to him as if he had been trained to it for many years." The parable shadows forth, as I have said elsewhere, the chief characteris- tics both of the excellence and the faults of JEschylos, the presence of a creative power flaming as with a divine light, striking out lofty thoughts, and clothing them in words of singular felicity, yet wanting in the supreme refinement and equilibrium of a deliberate and conscious art. Of the dramatic poets who preceded him we know the names, and little more. The date assigned to the first exhibition of tragedies at Athens by Thespis is B.C. 535. So far as we can judge amid conflicting statements of the precise nature of the changes intro- duced by him, they consisted (1.) In the introduction of now subjects, still, however, confined to the Dio- LIFE OF ^JSCHYLOS. nysiac cycle ; (2.) in the addition of dialogue to the choral songs which had previously made r.p, as it were, the libretto of the Dionysian opera; and (3.) in the use of masks, or pigments, to make personation oi characters more life-like. Groups of satyrs, following the chariot of the God, singing his adventures, and representing some of these adventures in rude mimetic action, seem to have furnished the starting-point oi Greek drama. Then came, at Sikyon or elsewhere, (Herod, v. 67,) the celebration of the deeds of other gods, or of the heroes of the Homeric cycle, but still confined to odes, and with a satyr chorus as the chief or only actors. 1 The recitation of the Homeric poems by the travelling minstrels known as Rhapsodists, would naturally tend to enlarge the range of the sub- jects in which spectators were interested. Thespis had the credit of seizing on the opening thus given, and introducing an actor on the stage conversing with the chorus. Possessed of the versatile mimetic power which has in our own times led men like Charles Ma- thews and Albert Smith to sustain many characters, and so to be the one actor in a drama which yet had something of a plot, he appeared now in one dress, now in another ; now, e.g., as Dionysos, now as Pen- theus, now as Agave ; and so on, representing the whole story which we find in the Bacclue of Euripides. At first, apparently, the change was in the mode rather than in the subjects. When these, too, were altered, and when the people came to the vintage festival, and found, as in the plays of Phrynichos and ^schylos, (1) The people of Sikyon, the historian tells us, honoured the hero Adrastos, the son of Tallies, with "tragic choruses" which celebrated bus ad ventures, and which were transferred by Cleistlwnes to DionyKK. XXU LIFE OF ^BSCHYLOS. notliing that reminded them of the vintage God, they missed the rough, coarse mirth in which they had revelled, and asked in words which passed into a pro- verb, " What has this to do with Dionysos ? M1 The change from one cycle of subjects to the whole range of the legends of the heroic age was analogous to that which passed over the English drama when Ferrex and Porrex and Gorboduc took the place of the " mys- teries" and " miracle plays" of an earlier period. The later arrangement, which made a satyric drama the necessary completion of a tragic trilogy, (as the Christmas pantomime comes, in the modern drama, after the five-act tragedy,) was probably of the nature of a compromise between the tastes of the men of culture and those of the people, who still craved for something of the old rough sport, and frolicsome, ram- pant humour. Phrynichos, whose name thus meets us in conjunc- tion with that of ^Eschylos, (he gained his first prize B.C. 511, and his last B.C. 476,) went further in the development of the new art. The impulse given to the study of Homer by the influence of Peisistratos, supplied him, as it afterwards supplied his successors, not only, as has been said, with an almost inexhaust- ible material, loftier and nobler than the subjects of the old Dionysian mimes or the earlier dramas of Thespis, but also with a higher culture generally. The choral odes of his dramas were long remembered as at once exquisitely sweet, and pure and lofty in their tone. With Aristophanes, he is the type of the older and better style of poetry and music, as com< (I) Plutarch, Syntpos. ii. p. 109 LIFE OF ASCHYLOS. pared v/ith later and more artificial refinements. His songs are " sweet as the honey of the bee." He him- self is the " master of all singers." 1 The introduction of masks for the female characters, and of solemn measures for the rhythmical movements of the chorus, was also ascribed to him. Perhaps the most striking fact in connexion with him is, that he was the first to seize on the facts of contemporary history as subjects? for his dramas, and in B.C. 494, brought on the stage the capture of Miletos, which had just fallen into the hands of the Persians. With a just perception of the true purpose of the drama, the Athenians, though moved to tears by the sorrows which were thus brought before them, felt that the sufferings of a city so nearly related to them should not be displayed for the amusement of the people. They fined the poet a thousand drachmae, and forbade the reproduction of the drama. Taught by this experience, at a later period, with the victorious Themistocles as his cho- rdgos, he dramatised, not the disasters, but the suc- cesses of the Athenians ; and in a drama which bore the title of the Phcenikians, represented, probably in B.C. 476, the defeat of Xerxes, and so set the example which jiEschylos followed in his Persians. Phryni- chos, however, did not stand alone. The intellectual activity of the time threw itself at Athens into this line of work, and little as we know of Choarilos, Pra- tinas, and other contemporaries, we must bear in mind that they were there, stimulating the mind of ^Eschy- los to emulation, and contributing, each of them, soma new improvement to the progress of the art. (1) Athen. yiii. p. 348; Aristoph., Birds, v. 748; Waff*, VT. 210-268 Frofft, w. 911-1294 ; 3'hetm. v. 164. LIFE OK /ESCHYLOS. But before we enter on the dramatic career of him who was to surpass thorn all, it will be well to note some other influences to which he must, in the nature of things, have been exposed, and the operation of which we can actually trace in his writings. (1.) Foremost among these must be noted the spirit of enterprise which was leading the Greeks to voyages of discovery and to settlements in remote lands. The temper, of which the Odyssey, and the legend of the Argonauts, were the first-fruits, had rapidly developed itself in them. They had begun to establish them- selves in Egypt in the time of Psammitichos, and the wonders which the land of the Nile presented to their view, drew travellers who, like Herodotos a little later, gazed round them in astonishment, and sought to dis- cover affinities between the myths of Egypt and those of Hellas. Others pressed on, as Herodotos also did, to the land of the two great rivers, to the cities on the shores of the Euphrates and the Tigris, to those of the Medes and Persians. The invasion of Syria and the seaboard of the Euxine by the Skythians, had brought them also into prominence, increased, of course, by the stories of the expedition of Dareios against them. In the West also, colonies of Greeks had settled in the south of Italy and Sicily. The marvels of Skylla and Charybdis, of ^Etna and the Kyclops, of Atlas and the pillars of Heracles, and the Islands of the Blessed, and the mysterious Atlantis, had impressed themselves on their imagination. M&- chylos himself, there is some reason to believe, shared in some of these adventurous voyages, and visited Sicily before he had reached the age of twenty-six, LIFE OF AESCHYLUS. before his success as a dramatist began. 1 Wben he dwells on the wonders which travellers had told, he may have reproduced what he had thus heard hknself. "When he went to the court of Hieron after his defeat by Sophocles, it was not as a stranger, but as one who had already made friends there, and was sure of patronage. He at any rate shared in the spirit which delighted in these reports from far-off lands. In pro- portion to the, distance, the tales of travellers were stranger and more fantastic. What the Spanish Main and El Dorado, and the "still vexed Bermoothes" and Prester John, were to the Elizabethan dramatists, that the one-eyed Arimaspi, and the long-lived, happy Hyperborei, and the Gorgons, and the Kyclops, were to the dramatic poets of Athens. And in .ZEschylos the position which they occupy is obviously a pro- minent one. In the Prometheus the wanderings of lo are brought in, if in part for deeper mythological reasons, yet in part also to enable the tale of these marvels to be told fully. In it and in the Suppliants he yields to the fascination of the mysterious legends of lo and the " touch-born " Epaphos, and claims a common origin for the Argives and the Egyptians. He revels, and his hearers must have revelled, (some of them remembering their own adventures,) in the uncouth names and wild imagery into which he thus plunges. He delights, as Milton delighted, in the rhythmic grandeur of semi-barbaric names, each with its associations of mystery and wonder. ( 1) The question lies more or less in the region of conjecture. Hi* migration to Sicily is assigned by different writers now to this, now to that cause, and is. placed by some before, by some after, the de-.ith <>' Gelon. I follow Hermann (f.'pusc. ii., fie Ckorn E"intu ) in ilie hypo- thesis that the accounts may be reconciled by us>uuiing tiiie* or won distinct journeys. LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. (2.) As thp Greeks were thus stimulated in their intellectual life by the spirit of discovery, so also were they by their struggle for political freedom against the "tyranny" of Peisistratos and his sons, and by the contest imminent as ^schylos was growing up to manhood, and over before any of his extant tragedies were composed with the non-Hellenic races gathered uuder the command, first of Dareios and then of Xerxes. What Spain was to the poets of England under Elizabeth, (to return to the analogy already suggested,) Persia was to those of Greece, and the victory of Salamis had its analogue in the overthrow of the Armada. It was the lot of Sophocles, then a mere stripling, to lead the choral band that celebrated that victory. It was the work of ^Eschylos, in the Persians, (probably the earliest of his extant plays,) to give it a yet more illustrious and lasting monument ; to bring before an Athenian audience the strange dresses, and the servile prostrations, and the wild wailings, and the strange-sounding names of the de- feated invaders. But beyond the limits of that play we find traces of the same feeling. The pride and pomp of the " barbarian " are instanced in the embroi- dered tapestry which Clyttemnestra spreads for the march of Agamemnon, in order that he may bring upon himself the wrath of the Hellenic Gods, (Agam. 892.) (3.) I am disposed to assign a larger share of influ- ence upon the character and poetry of ^schylos than is commonly recognised, to that strange mysterious personage who appeared for a short moment on the stage of Athenian history about seventy years kefore LIFE OF ^SCHYLOS. his birth, (B.C. 596,) Epirnenides, the prophet of Crete. Scanty as are the materials for any history of the man or of his teaching, it is clear that at the time his fame was like in kind and almost equal in degree to that ot Pythagoras. 1 The ascetic life, (it was said that no man ever saw him eat;) the ecstatic state which issued in prophetic utterances, and led men to think that he was communing with the Gods ; the sleep, prolonged through fifty years, out of which he woke with a new and heaven-taught wisdom ; all this invested him in the eyes of the Greeks with a mysterious, supernatural character. 2 Like Balaam the son of Beor, he was sent for from far countries to bless or to curse, to teach men how to purify their land from the guilt of blood, to appease their dread of the unseen Powers. His arrival at Athens in obedience to the summons which called him to their help, when pestilence and discoid seemed to proclaim the wrath of the Gods against the guilt which the " bloody Louse " of the Alcmaeonidaa had brought upon the land bv their treacherous murder of Kylon and his adherents, must have left a deep impression. Echoes of his teaching (so far as that teaching has come down to us in fragmentary notices) are found in .ZEschylos. (a.) The prophet refers all his power to predict to the wisdom which he had gained in his long slumber, (1) It has been often said, as by Cicero, (Tiac. Disp. if. 10,) fhat JEschylos was " non poeta solum, Bed etiara Pytlwgoreus ; " and Mr. Paley, in his Preface, has enlarged on the thought, and pointed out many interesting coincidences between the poet and the philosopher. For the most part, however, they belong to tenets characteristic of both Pytha- goras and Epimenides, and the derivation is more easily traceable in the ease of the latter than of the former. (2) Comp. Heinrich's elaborate monograph, Epimenidet atu Kreta, Where all that is known about him is brought together and discussed, and JIoeck'B Kreta, iii. 2, s. 11. LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. and which was renewed in visions of the night. 1 Tha poet proclaims " And slowly dropping on the heart in deep, Comes woe-recording care, And makes the unwilling yield to wiser thoughts.** Again, v. 173. (fc.) The idea of a transmitted pollution cleaving to a family from generation to generation, sin becoming the penalty of sin, until some one comes who, by penitence and prayer, and rites of expiation, obtains pardon and deliverance, was that which had brought Epimenides to Athens. He is pre-eminently the "purifier," the "prophet-healer," the servant of Apollo in the work of cleansing and clearing the guilty, as that god is brought before us in the Eumenides. It is needless to point out that this is throughout the key-note of tbe Oresteian trilogy. We meet it in Clyta3mnestra's reference to the Alastor, the avenging fiend, with whom she identifies herself (A/jam, v. 1478) in her hope that her crime will " At last have freed my house From madness that sets each man's hand 'gainst each/' (Agam. v. 1552 ;) in the stress which Orestes lays on the rites of purifi- cation that have cleansed him, (Eumen. v. 423.) The more generalised teaching, " But how to hlot the guilt of kindred hlood, This needs a great atonement, many victims falling to many Gods, to heal the woe," (Suppl. v. 444,) U) Ulaximua Tyr. xxxviii. 3. LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. almost reproduces the process by which Epimenides is said to have purified Athens by turning loose a flock of sheep, black and white mingled, and sacrificing them to the Gods at whose altars they fell, erecting an altar, if they rested where none existed previously, to the UNKNOWN or to an unnamed GOD. Even the sacrifice of Iphigeneia has a parallel in the story preserved by Atben&os (xiii. 8), that a noble youth, Cratinos, had immolated himself, with the sanction of the Cretan prophet, to appease the wrath of the Gods. (c.) Epimenides, it is said, on leaving Athens, told its inhabitants to erect on the Areiopagos 1 two unhewn stones as altars to Outrage (vflpis) and Shamelessness. They were to look on those personified attributes as the demons who had vexed their city, and whom they must entreat never again to trouble them. It is im- possible, I think, not to recognise an echo of that teaching, (1) in the reverence which 2Eschylos shows in the last play of the Oresteian trilogy for the court of the Areiopagos ; and (2) in the like personification of the self-same evil Powers " But Outrage (u/3pc) done of old, Is wont to breed another Outrage still, Sporting its youth in human miseries, At once, or whensoe'er the fixed time cornea." Agam., 738. (d.) The Cretan prophet is said to have done much to naturalise at Athens the worship of the Chthoniau Goddesses, (dwelling, i.e., in the thick darkness below the Earth,) known as the Erinuyes or Euiuenides, wha (1) Clem. Alex., frotrept., p. tti; Cicero, Uf, L introduce. C *IX1T 1IFE OF JESCHYLOS. looked back on it as the great glory of his life. "When he wrote his own epitaph, in advanced age and in a distant land, it was to record, not that he had been a poet and had won thirteen prizes from the Athenian people, but that the " plain of Marathon and the long- haired Mede " could attest his well-tried valour. 1 The glory of Marathon was, however, probably fol- lowed by the mortification of another defeat. The Athenians (already pushing forward to intellectual as well as military excellence) wanted for those who had fallen in the battle an elegy that should be worthy of their fame, and when the prize was awarded to Simonides, ^Eschylos, it is said, was irritated at his failure, and again took his departure for Sicily in B.C. 488. z Gelon was at that time rising to power, and with him, almost sharing his authority, was his brother Hieron. In that prince, the patron of poets and philosophers, the friend (1) The epitaph is given, p. xlvii. (2) The two epitaphs are given in th Anthologia Grosea, and may be rendered as follows : SIJIONIDBS. Farewell, ye heroes, warriors famed in fight, Ye youth of Athens, horsemen strong in might, Who for your goodly country gave your prime, And in the sight of all of Helliis' clime, Fought against myriads with a faith sublime 1 .328CHYLO8. These valiant swordsmen gloomy Fate laid low. In act to free the plains where roam the sheep, But still for those who yielded to the blow Lives glory, though in Ossa's dust they sleep. The two elegiac poems here given are identified with the Marathonisn epitaphs by Stanley, in his notes on the Life of ^schylos, with a " facile crederem," (ii. p. 172) ; by Droysen. (ii. p. 302) ; and by Bunsen, (God in History, ii. p. 153), without any qualification. I agree, however, with Bode (Geidiicfitr, des HtUenisctien [Hchtkunst, ii. p. 262; iii. p. '2li>,) in look- ing on the conjecture as very uncertain in either case. That ascribed to ^schylos seems to refer to some unrecorded act of heroism on the part at the Thessalians, and is indeed described in some MSB. as written v their warriors. See Jacobs' ^nUwUjg. israta, notee ua Book vu, LIFE OF JKSCUYLOS. erf Pindar and Simonides, immortalised by the forme* as victor at Olympic games, he found a liberal patron. Sicily became almost a second home to him, a place of refuge after any trouble or disappointment in his own city. This time, however, his absence was not of long duration, and in the interval between Marathon and Salamis, in B.C. 484, he was for the first time success- ful in his competition with those who had been the leading dramatic poets, Pratinas, Phrynichos, and Choerilos. It was the beginning of a series of thirteen like successes. 1 Most, if not all, the prizes awarded to him were obtained between that date and B.C. 470. It was the period when the policy of Kimon and Aris- teides was in the ascendant, when the Eupatrids were* yet able to resist the encroachments of the democracy. With that policy then, as afterwards, ZEschylos identi- fied himself. He was the poet of the conservative party, as Sophocles was afterwards the representative poet of the cultivated liberalism of that of Pericles. Of the plays now extant, the Persians stands first in order of time. Written, as it was, within eight years of the battle of Salamis, it appealed to those in whose memories every incident of the battle was yet iresh- The vividness and minuteness of the account there given of the engagement seems to indicate that he himself, like his brother Arneinias, had a large share in the glory of the day. 2 It has accordingly the in- (1) The total number of dramas ascribed to him is stated by Snidas a* ninety, by the anonymous biographer as seventy. We have the titles of *eventy-eight. (2) To Ameinias the Athenians awarded the aristeia, or prize of valour, M to the man who, of all the Greeks that fought at Salamis, had done the worthiest deeds. Some years afterwards, when 2Eschylos was accused of impiety, as having divulged the mysteries, and was on the point of being toned, Amoiniita was said to havo shown the arm, the baud of which. had SLXXvi LIFE OF /ESCHYLOS. terest of being a contemporary record by an eye- witness, and represented before eye-witnesses, and gives, we may well believe, a truer account than that which we find forty years later in Herodotos, when there had been time for the growth of numerous em- bellishments, approaching in some instances almost to the character of legends. The drama itself is for us, perhaps, apart from this fact, one of the least interest- ing of the seven extant plays. At the time, it was probably accepted as worthy of the triumph which it celebrated. To understand the Persians, we must think of it as a spectacle, performed before thousands of those who had fought themselves, or had had brothers or fathers in the battle, exulting over the thought that the Gods had fought for them, and that their enemies had been defeated. The nearest ana- logue in literature, in spite of the difference in form, is found in the Song of Deborah. The close of that hymn, picturing, as it does, the mother of Sisera look- ing out of her lattice, anticipating tidings of victory when she is about to hear those of utter failure, sug- gests a theme which, with a nation of greater dramatic power than the Hebrews, might have been developed as ^schylos does tho like emotions in the mother of Xerxes. In each case the poem supplies facts which the history, compiled at a later period, omits or colours. 1 In both there is the same fiery glow, the t>i lost at PnlnmiB, and with that to have pleaded his brother's cans. The judges yielded to the appeal, mid gave a verdict of acquittal. Thia apparently WHS the trial of which Clement of Alexandria, in the passag* already quoted, gives so different an account. Julian. V.H. v. 19. (1) Comp., e.g., the account of the disaster which befell the Persians a they crossed the frozen Stiymon, (fern. vv. 500510,1 and that of thg destruction of the hosts of Jabin as they crossed thf swollen torrent ol the Kihhou (Judg. v. 21, 24. LIFE OF .SSCHYLOS. same sense of a victory over aliens. In the work of the Athenian, we must not forget that what seems to us as we read it, the monstrous iteration of interjec- tions, cries, lamentations, must have been, as it was performed, one of its most striking features. It was because these wailings, and tearing of hair, and beat- ing of breasts, and rending of robes, were regarded as especially Asiatic and barbarous, that the Athenians loved to listen to, and to look on them, when they were associated with the defeat and disgrace of their foes. Their own civilisation had raised them above these violent displays of grief, and from the time of Solon, who had legislated against them, even wives and mothers had learnt to bear the deaths of those they loved with a more decent and tranquil sorrow. The success which had attended this treatment of a naval engagement, led -ZEschylos, in his next trilogy, probably in the following year, (B.C. 471,) to take another equally warlike, (" fall of Ares," as Aristo- phanes calls it,) and to represent in The Seven who fonyht against Thebex the incidents of a siege, the war- riors heading the storming-party, each bearing his shield, the leaders with some device and motto painted on it in bright colours, the women of the besieged city going in procession to offer their prayers at the shrinea of the Gods, the scouts looking out from the ramparts, and bringing back word of the disposition of the enemy's forces, and the issue of the conflict. The fact that he was writing of a mythical, not of an actual war in which living men had taken part, robs The Seven against Thebes, indeed, of the interest which attaches to the Persians. But here also there was a political 1IFK OF .ffiSCHYLOS. purpose mingling with the poet's work. The bearing of the play was directed against the policy of aiming at the supremacy of Athens by attacking other Greek states. It brought before men the horrors that attend the capture of a city, and led them to ask whether these horrors should be perpetrated on a Hellenic city by those who spoke the same Hellenic speech, (Seven ag. Thebes, vv. 78-168.) It maintained, that is, the policy of Aristeides as against that of Themistocles, and when the words were uttered which described a statesman and a general "who sought to be just in deed as well as name," 1 (v. 588,) the enthusiasm which burst out from an audience raised to the highest pitch of excitement, showed that the skill of the poet had not been wasted. Within a few years, (in B.C. 4G8,) the career of suc- cess was interrupted by the rising genius of a poet of higher culture, and the first prize at the Dionysian festival was awarded to Sophocles, then in his twenty- ninth year. The defeat was, perhaps, the more mor- tifying as occurring under the direction of Kimon, the leader of the party to which ^Eschylos had attached himself. 8 It led him to leave Athens for a time, and to visit Sicily. Other causes may have contributed to that decision. He had incurred, it is said, at some period the date of which it is not easy to fix, the displeasure of the Athenians by introducing in his drama some of the mystic rites which were confined to the initiated few. The spectators, seeiug on the stage what many among them knew to belong to the mysteries of Eleu (1) Plutarch, Arist. o. 8. U) Plutarch, A"ii. ComD. the account in my Life o LIFE OF jESCHYLOS. eis, were roused to a wild frenzy, and rushed upon the poet, who, as himself acting, was on the stage. His life was in danger, and he only escaped by fleeing to the altar of Dionysos as to the privilege of sanctuary. By the intercession of members of the court of Areio- pagos, he was rescued, brought to a more formal trial, and acquitted. 1 If the Prometheus, the date of which is uncertain, had been performed before this time, it may well have contributed to shock the feelings of the Athenians. He had probably, as has been before stated, been previously acquainted with the country, and had already come within the attraction of the pa- tronage extended by Hieron to artists and men of letters. Here, it is said, he composed dramas, the subject-matter of which was taken from local legends, The Women of JEtna, and the like ; and,, at the request of Hieron, reproduced the Persians on the stage of Syracuse. Here too he may have heard of the ravages of the great volcanic eruption of B.C. 477, to which he refers in his Prometheus, (vv. 870-380,) even if he had not been one of the actual spectators during his previous visit. The date assigned to the Suppliants rests upon the assumption that it is connected with the alliance be- (l) The account is given by Eustratnis (p. 40) in a passage quoted by I/obeck, (Aglanph. i. 12.) The trilogy which gave occasion to the suspi- cion is said to have included the plays of Sisyphos, Iphigeneia, and (Edipus. Lobeck inclines to the belief, not that there was any disclosure of the eeret dnctrineg of the mysteries, (if indeed there were any such,) but that eome solemn stag* procession, like that which we find at the close of the EumcniUes, startled the Athenians by its resemblance to that with which the initiated were familiar: It is in connexion with this charge that w meet with the two versions of the stO7-y given respectively by Mlia* and Clement of Alexandria (1.) That his brother Ameinias pleaded fur him with his handless arm ; (!i.) That he defended himself by asserting thai, he hail never been initiated in the mysteries, and therefore could not diwlge them. LIFE OF ^SCHYLOS. tween Argos and Athens, which was entered on io B.C. 461, and the war with the Persian forces in Egypt, upon which the Athenians had entered aa allies of the Libyan prince Inaros and a section of the Egyptian population. 1 That connexion accounts for the popularity of a tragedy in which, as in the Per- sians, we find more of the excellence of a spectacle than a poem. The object was to represent the ene- mies of another race with whom they were in conflict, as more barbarous and insolent than the Persians themselves. The allusions to the wolves of Hellas as stronger than the dogs of Egypt ; to the barley- bread and wine of the Hellenes as better than the byblos fruit and beer of the Egyptians, (SuppL, vv. 740-930 ;) the implied reminder that there might be found affinities of race and religion among some of the Egyptians, in spite of diversities of dress and com- plexion ; all these had, we may well believe, a sig- nificance at the time which it is difficult for us now to estimate. The date of the trilogy of which the Prometheut Bound forms a part, is more a matter of conjecture than that of any other of the plays of .ZEschylos. SoiLe, on the strength of the reference to /Etna, (v. 874,) have supposed it to have been written shortly after the eruption took place B.C. 477 ; others have referred it to B.C. 470. In the absence of more direct evidence, it is open to maintain as probable that it belongs to the period after he had returned from Sicily, when allusions to its phenomena would be natural, and after the attention of the Athenians had beea Cl) Thuo i. 102-104. LIFK OF /ESCHYLOS. xli drawn, by the force of circumstances, to the legends of Egypt. The prominence given to the episode of lo and Epaphos is hardly intelligible, unless it is taken in connexion with the position which that legend occupies in the Suppliants. The pervading unity of thought in the two plays, so far as they both deal with the seeming caprice and cruelty of Zeus, and yet imply an ultimate prevalence of his compassion, be- longs to another region of inquiry. It may be touched on here as at least strengthening the circumstantial evidence of the probable nearness of the two plays as to the date of their composition. It is possible that the lines in which Prometheus generalises his expe- rience as to the ingratituc^a of princes " For somehow this disease in sovereignty Inheres, of never trusting to one's friends," ,1'rom., 230) may have had their origin in some slight which the irascible poet may have thought he had received at the hands of Hieron. The date of the Oresteian trilogy is fixed, both by external and internal evidenca, at B.C. 458. In the ten years which had passed since the first success of Sophocles, the greater part of which had been spent by ^schylos abroad, the principles to which the latter were most opposed had made rapid progress. He found on his return new men, new measures, a new philosophy, a new taste in poetry. The old order of the days of Marathon was passing away. Men who could claim no connexion with Eupatrid descent were pressing forward to the foremost place of power. The LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. institutions which were held most sacred as the safe- guard of Athenian religion were criticised and attacked. The court of Areidpagos, which had exercised an awful and undefined authority in all matters connected, directly or indirectly, with the religious life of the state, was covertly attacked under the plea of reform- ing its administration. Oracles and divinations no longer commanded men's reverence and trust. There were whispers that men were beginning to say that there was no God, or that the old name of Zeus was to pass away before those of a Supreme Intelligence, or a measureless Vortex. And the leader of the move- ment in all its bearings upon religion, politics, art, and thought, was one who inherited the curse of the Alc- mseonidae, against whom the aristocratic party had revived the memory of that curse, who had been sus- pected himself of sacrilege and scepticism an account of his connexion with Anaxagoras. It is impossible to mistake the bearing of the whole trilogy upon the state of things thus described. We hear the protest of the poet of conservatism against the coming changes, and his praise of the old Eupa trids, in the words which proclaim, " Great gain it is to meet with lords who own Ancestral wealth. But whoso reap full crops They never dared to hope for, these in all, And beyond measure, to their slaves are harsh." Ayatn., 1010-13. The excellence of a constitutional government, such as the Athenians had inherited, and the necessity of reverence as its safeguard, is urged in the speech of Athena : LIFE OF ./ESCHYLOS. xliii 44 1 give my counsel to you, citizens, To reverence and guard well that form of state Which is nor lawless nor tyrannical, And not to cast all fear from out the city." Eumen., 666-9. The scepticism of those who could not trace a divine order in the mingled course of human life and its events, meet with his rebuke in terms which must have suggested a direct application to some well-known individual teacher like Anaxagoras : " Yea, one there was who said The Gods deign not to care for mortal men, By whom the grace of things inviolable Is trampled under foot : No fear of God had he." Agam., 360-4. The idea cf a curse hanging over the doers of guilt to the third and fourth generation, was dwelt upon aa illustrated at every stage by the history of the sons of Atreus : while the poet at once saved himself from the charge of making God the author of man's evil, and sharpened the edge of his attack upon the democratic leader, by declaring that the curse was transmitted because each generation accepted and reproduced the deeds of its fathers : " There lives an old saw, framed in ancient days, In memories of men, that high estate, Full grown, brings forth its young, nor childless dies, But that from good success Springs to the race a woe insatiable. But I, apart from all, Hold this my creed alone: For impious act it is that offspring breeds Like to their parent stock." He proclaims, as the burden of his prophecy, that LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. " Recklessness of old Is wont to breed another Recklessness." Agam., 731-96. The natural exultation of Pericles and his party, such as we find later in the Funeral Oration of Thuc. ii. 35-46, in the material prosperity and political greatness of Athens, is met with the warning that all such pros- perity is hollow and uncertain : " But Justice shineth bright In dwellings that are dark and dim with smoke, And honours life law-ruled, While gold-decked homes conjoined with hands denied She with averted eyes Hath left, and draweth near To holier things, nor worships might of wealth, If counterfeit its praise." Agam., 750. " Of high, o'erflowing health There is no limit fixed that satisfies ; For evermore disease, as neighbour close, "Whom but a wall divides, Upon it presses, and man's prosperous state Moves on its course, and strikes Upon an unseen rock." Agam., 971. All tendencies to new and more philosophical thoughts of the Gods than those of the Greek people, are re- pressed by the protest already quoted : "Weighing all other names, I fail to guess Aught else but Zeus, if I would cast aside Clearly, in very deed, From off my soul this weight of vaguest care." Agam., 154. The helief that man receives course! and guidance from oracles and prophets, and in visions of the night, is again and again asserted. Loxiae is the prophet of h\s father Zeus, (Eumen. 19,) and the poet turns to LIFE OF ^SCHYLOS. "Zeus, who leadeth men in wisdom's way, And fixeth fast the law, That pain is gain." Agam. t 170. The belief that men incurred a guilt by deeds of vio- lence and wrong, and yet could be cleansed from that guilt by rites of expiation, such as Epimenides had taught and practised, is the key-note, as has been already shown, both of the Libation- P our ers and the Eumenides. The very ceremonies of purification are dwelt on, like those of supplication, with a manifest delight. And, lastly, the whole scheme and interest of the trilogy culminates in the assertion, in the last play, of the divine authority of the Areiopagos, Personal gratitude for the help which the leading members of that court had given to the poet-prophet of their party in his hour of peril may have combined with his reli- gious convictions to lead him to rush to the rescue when it too was imperilled. It is represented as insti- tuted by the guardian Goddess of the State : " This council I establish pure from bribe, Reverend, and keen to act, for those that sleep An ever- watchful sentry of the land." umen. t 674. Even the Argive alliance, as part of the policy of those who defended the jurisdiction of the Areiopagos, is dwelt 011 as that which shall " Last as law for evermore." Eutnen., 643. It was, in part, owing to the earnestness which made the Oresteian trilogy the channel through which to utter the deepest convictions of his heart, that it rises to xlvi LIFE OF JESCHYLOS. such a high pre-eminence over all the other works ol JSschylos. But in part, also, that pre-eminence is dne to the gradual ripening of powers that had at first been spasmodic and irregular in their action. The poet had profited even by the discipline of defeat, and had learnt some lessons from the higher finish and more conscious art of his younger rival. 1 Written at the age of sixty, and but three years before his death, the trilogy exhibits all his powers in their full perfec- tion. There is a far deeper human interest, a fuller unfolding of human passions, than we find in the Per- sians, the Suppliants, or the Seven against Thebes. While the " spectacle" element was not wanting, it was no longer the chief source of interest. Of all the earlier plays, the Prometheus is the only one which at all approaches to it in greatness, and that is but a frag- ment of a whole, requiring the two lost companion plays to enable us to judge fairly of its excellence. No character in any other can be compared with that ol Clytajmnestra. The actual result of the representation as a political movement was disappointing. It did not stop the action of the reforming party. The schemes of Ephi- altes and Pericles were carried into effect, and the Areiopagos, though not abolished, lost something of its old power and more of its old glory. The introduction in the Eumenides of a chorus of the avenging Erinnyes, fifty in number, with masks of unequalled and horrible ugliness, serpents twisted in their hair, blood dropping (1) Such, e.g., as the introduction of a third actor in the dialogues, more elaborate and expressive dances, the "pantomime" which told a tale without words, tliu buskin, and the masks which increased the voluuia at the voice. LIFE OF .ffiSCHYLOS. from their eyes, a red tongue projecting between thedr lips, so startled the spectators that it was said to have sent children into fits and frightened women into miscarriage. Popular feeling was once more excited against him. The old charges were probably raked up. The poet of a failing party could not live harmoniously with the Athenian demos. He left Athens soon after the date of the trilogy, never to return, and settled once more at Gela under the patronage of Hieron. The three years that followed were spent in the fullest activity as a writer. To this period some have referred the repetition of the Persians and the compo- sition of the Women of JEtna, which have been assigned here to an earlier visit. He was, at all events, a welcome and an honoured guest. His death, if the account given be not mythical, was the result of a strange casualty. An eagle seized a tortoise and carried it off, dropped it that it might break the shell and get at the flesh, and it fell upon the head of ^Eschylos, as he was in the act of writing, and killed him on the spot. He was buried at Gela, and on his monument was placed an epitaph which, it was said, he had composed for himself, and which, in the absence of all mention of what the Sicilians most honoured in him, and the prominence given to what the poet looked oja as the great glory of his life, has at least a strong internal presumption in favour of its genuineness : " This tomb the dust of J^schylos doth hide, Euphorion's son, and fruitful Gela's pride; How tried his valour Marathon may tell, And long-haired Medes who knew it all too well." The Athenians showed their reverence for hif Xlviii '' LIFE OK .SSCHYLOS. memory by a decree, that any one who would under- take to represent his dramas should be supplied with a giant from the public treasury to defray the cost. 1 II. THE THEOLOGY OF ^SCHYLOS. The question, " What did this or that poet believe as to the will of God, the government of the universe, the destinies of mankind ?" seems to a large school of critics an almost idle inquiry. " We are concerned," they say, " with the elements of perfection in his work, not with his opinions or beliefs. The function of the poet is that of the supreme artist, capable of sympa- thising with all fixed moods and passing impulses of man's nature, so far as to gain the power of repro- ducing them, and therefore with his religious affections among others. His own religious affections, if he have any, are nought to us. He is called to Sit apart, holding no form of creed, And contemplating all ; ' to be many-sided, myriad-minded, as Shakspeare and Goethe were. Strong convictions, a definite creed, may have their value, in the formation of character or in various forms of action upon men ; but as regards the poet's work, they are simply detrimental ; tending, at the best, to a second-rate excellence, marring the fair bloom and exquisite beauty of the artist's work- manship, bringing it down to the level of hymns, or sermons in verse, or didactic morality." (1) It is argued, however, by Bahrn, in his De Vittt Jtschyli, that thii rather implies that the dramas were not popular enough to be perlorrned nthout some such legislative protection. LIFE OF ^ESCHYLOS. lilt The question thus raised is a wider one than can De adequately discussed now. It may be conceded that the power of entering into other forms of character, and therefore into other forms of religious belief than his own, is essential to the highest work of the poet, an indis- pensable condition of the drama or the dramatic idyll. But the critics who infer from this that the excellence of the poet varies inversely as the strength of his religious convictions, seem to forget (1.) That this contemplation of many creeds, this power of drama- tising the inner life of each, is only possible when the poet is the heir of many ages, and has himself lived through a manifold experience. It belongs to the latest period of national culture. One might almost speak of it as a symptom of national decay. It comes, when firm faith and strong emotion, bounding joy and passionate hope, have died out ; and it is not easy to strike the balance of what has been lost and gained since the earlier days, when men sang and wrote because " their heart was hot within them," and at last the " fire kindled" and so they " spake with their tongue." If there be in the history of most nations a still earlier period, when their literature is more simply objective, when, as yet, their minds are not vexed with questions, it must be remembered that the second stage is the fruit of a progress upwards, of thoughts widening with the years ; and that, if there be a third and higher stage of excellence, it must be found in a combination of what was good in each, not by a mere return, or effort to return, to the first. (2.) They forget that many of the poems which have fixed them- selves in men's hearts and memories psalms, hymns, d LIFE OF ^ESCHYLOS. battle-songs have been of the kind which they despise, the utterance of strong emotion having its root in very definite religious convictions. (3.) It is true that even of those who are most many-sided, and seem most creedless, that they preach a creed, that they are then at their highest point when they cease to bring before us the dramatis persona of their ideal world, and utter something which they have felt intensely, and therefore speak strongly. Even of Goethe, Browning, and Ten- nyson, we may say that the words of theirs which dwell most with men, are those which bring some mes- sage to them, offering, truly or falsely, some new apocalypse. If this is not true of the " sovrano poeta " eart anU tltt Jtiiblt. LIFE OF JESCHYLOS. II poems themselves are as a dead letter to us. "Would those who bid us look only to the artistic perfection oi the works of Sophocles and .^Eschylos, regard an in- quiry into the teaching of the book of Job as to the divine government of the world, as beyond the province of true criticism ? And if we have already learnt to see, as we have seen in the case of .ZEschylos, that any given poet throws himself, with all the intensity of his nature, into the cause of one party against another in a great political controversy, if that controversy were inex- tricably blended with all the movements of thought, feeling, taste, that affect men's inner as well as outer life, then we may well believe that his poetry would be pervaded by his religious convictions also. Even if they be regarded as a disturbing force, they must yet be taken into account, if we wish to understand the special excellences and the special defects of his genius. If authority were needed for such an inquiry into the theology of JEschylos, it might be found in the copious and interesting literature which has gathered round it. 1 What we have seen then of this political action on the part of JEschylos will help us to estimate his position in relation to the religious history of Greece. We cannot place him with the great thinkers, who, (1( The mere tities -would fill a page. I name, (1.) as most accessible to the English reader, Miiller's Dissertation on the Etmtenides ; the chapters on the Greek Dramatists in Bunsen's God in History : Mr. B. F. West- cott's masterly article on "^Escliylos as a Kelipious Teacher," in the Contemporary Review for Nov. 1806; a paper by Mr. Paley on "Chtho- nian AVorship," in the Journal of Philnlngy for June, 1868 ; the section* bnaring on this subject in A. W. Schleg-el'R Ifistory of Dramatic Literature. in Grote's and Thiilwall's Histories of Greece, in Miiller and L)onaldson' Vistiiry nf Gr>ek Literature ; and (2.) as worth consulting by those who ha^e the opportunity, Klausen's Theolngmaena jEsc/tyli ; Dronke's Dit rtliyinsen und sHUichen Vorstellungen de-s jEschylns tiud Sup/inkles, and Nagelsbach's Kachkomerische Thtologit dei Griecltischtn yoJuaiaubent. til LIFE OP .SSCHYLOS. like Socrates and Plato, recognised the corrupting cha- racter of much of the current mythology, and would fain have banished it from their polity, who, in part at least, seem to stand forth as witnesses to the Divine unity, whose conformity with popular worship is but a tolerance of that which is imperfect, because the perfect is not yet come. His belief does not stand on the same level as the Theism of Anaxagoras, or the Pan- theism or Atheism of Diagoras. When he speaks of the Gods, it is neither with the serenity of Sophocles, as looking to eternal laws that belong altogether to a different region of thought, nor with the ill- concealed Voltairian irony of Euripides. He is the Calderon, not the Goethe of Greek literature. He takes his thoughts of the Gods from Homer and Hesiod from the latter even more than the former and (with some notable exceptions) abides by them. He is conservative in religion as in politics ; looks with real alarm on the decay of reverence in the demos of Athens and among the young men of culture ; would have sympathised, we may believe, with Aristophanes in his attack on Socrates as unsettling their minds ; with Nikias in his respect for omens, his reverence for the dead, his shrinking from over-much prosperity ; with the alarm and irritation caused by the mutilation of the Hermae- busts, and the alleged proi'anation of the Mysterien : l perhaps even with tnose who condemned the -preacher of righteousness" who hai dwelt amon iiurn to drink the hemlock. (11 The fact that he had been himself charged with a lite offrpec TronUI toot have made him less tolerant of an offence, the animus ot which waa, Of btciiiud to him, so different from that winch had actuated him. LIFE OF jESCHYLOS. lifi lie starts then with a belief that the myths of Greece represent the facts of the Divine history, and is not troubled by questions and doubts about them. Zeus reigns supreme, after having deposed Cronos, as Cronos had deposed Uranos : " Nor He who erst was great, Full of the might to war, Avails now : He is gone, And He who next came hath departed too, His victor meeting." Again., 162-168. The Titans rose against him in support of the old order, and he hurled them down to Tartaros, or buriec 1 them beneath volcanoes. The Olympian deities who reign under him with a limited jurisdiction, are his sons and daughters. He governs with inexorable severity ; just, but with little sympathy for the suffer- ings of mankind. Their progress towards knowledge and power and culture under the teaching of Prome- theus is displeasing to him. He punishes the "phi- lanthropy" of the more benevolent Titan by a penalty that is to last for ages. All this lay, however, in the remote past. In the age in which the Hellenes lived and acted, the deliverer of the Titan had come ; a vicarious death had freed him from his agony j 1 there had been a solution of what seemed harsh and unjust in the government of Zeus. He looked on man with a more benignant eye. The worshipper could think of Him as po longer arbitrary in his chastisement. It is obvious that this recognition of a Supreme Ruler over (1) This is implied in the fact that the Prnmtthtus Unbound was the third play of the trilof*y, and that the mode of deliverance w;is found in the readiness of Cheiroa to bear the penalty of itulh in Prometheus' toad, and go to work out a redemption for him. LIFE OF ^ESCHYLOS. many Gods might clothe itself in lofty words, sima latmg almost the language of a monotheistic creed ; " Safe, by no fall tripped-up The full- wrought deed decreed by brow of Zeus: For dark and shadowed o'er The pathways of the counsels of His heart, And difficult to see. And from high-towering hopes He hurleth dowm To utter doom the heir of mortal birth ; Yet sets He in array No forces violent : All that God works is effortless and calm :* Seated on loftiest throne, Thence, though we know not how, He works His perfect will." Supply 85-94. this, " King of kings, and bleit Above all blessed ones, And power most mighty of the mightiest ; O Zeus of high estate, Hear this our prayer." Ibid., 618-521. Or this, " He is our Father, author of our life, The King whose right hand worketh all His will, Our line's great Author, in His counsels deep Recording things of old, Directing all His plans, the great Work-master, Zeua. For not, as suppliant sitting at the beck Of strength above his own, Reigns He subordinate to mightier powers, ft) Comp. the recurrence of the same thought in the words of ApoUt l fcaua., ver. 620 " But all thinps else He tnrneth up onfl down, And orders without toil or wcurrneaa." LIFE OF jESCHYLOS. Nor does He pay His homage from below While one sits throned in majesty above : Act is for Him as speech To hasten what ilis teeming mind resolves." Ibid., 684-530. If Fragm. 293 be genuine, we have a yet clearei pantheistic, if not monotheistic creed: " The air is Zeus, Zeus earth, and Zeus the heaven, Zeus all that is, and what transcends them all." But with all this, the believing polytheist is still there. Artemis, Apollo, Hera, are to him real, not imaginary beings, each with a region of activity and a delegated sovereignty, as much as they were to Homer. The primary meaning of the myths of Hellas, as we explain them, as symbols of the changes of day and night, dawn and sunset, has for him passed away into the dim distance, and he sees it not. Attributes have become persons ; men's wandering fancies have crys- tallised and hardened. A change had come, however, over the religion of Greece since the Homeric age. It is inherent in the nature of Polytheism that a promi- nence is given to the worship, now of this deity, and now of that ; that new rites, symbols, mysteries, con- fraternities, rise up to meet the ever-restless fears or fancies of men's hearts ; that these come more or less into collision with each other. The story of the migration of Apollo from Delos to Delphi, of Orpheus and the mysteries which he founded, indicates a tran- sition from the Homeric thought of the Sun, as slaying men with its arrows of pestilence, to that of the Giver of light, the Revealer of secrets, the Prophet of his father Zeus, (Eumen., v. 19.) That of the travels of M LIFE OF ^ESCHYLOS. Dionysos, of the throng of Ma;nads who followed him, of the fate of Pentheus, and of Orpheus himself, indi- cates a struggle between the calmer and the more violent cultus, between the inspiration which issues in wisdom and poetry, and that which shows itself in the abdication, by man's reason, of its sovereignty over his brute nature. And in this conflict, JEschylos, true to the influence of Epimenides, 1 is clearly on the side of the former. Frequent as are the appeals to Zeus, Apollo, Athena, it is noticeable that no single invo- cation of Dionysos is found in the extant plays. In the lost tetralogy of the Lycuryeia, which had the adven- tures of Dionysos for its subject, he seems to have brought in the death of Orpheus as the servant of Apollo, a martyr in the cause of sun-worship. 2 Whether in that stage of his religious development the issue of the whole drama was a reconciliation of the conflicting powers, like that which we see in the Eumenides, and must assume in the Prometheus Unbound, is a question which we have not data to answer. In either case, the absence of the name of Dionysos from ^Eschylos, as compared with its prominence in Sophocles and Euri- pides, is striking and significant. 3 (1) The Cretan prophet is described bv Epiphanius, folio-wins? some old tradition, as having been a priest of Alithras, the Pereiai. analogue ol Apollo. (2) I take the following account of the play from an extract from Eratosthenes, given by Ahrens in his dissertation on the Fragment* ol .aCsohylos, (Midot., 1842.) " Biit Orpheus paid no honour to Dionysos, holding the Sun, -whom lUso lie called Apollo, to be. the greatest of the Gods. And rising up by night, before the earliest dawn, he was wont to go to the mountain called Pangteos, and there to wait for the Sun, that he might look on him as he first ose. Wherefore Dionysos WHS wroth, and sent the B^ssarid women against him," (analogous to the Maenads and Thyiads, which are more familiar names to us.) "as JEsrhylos the poet Rays, and they tore him in pieces, and cast out his limbs one by one. And the Muses gathered them together, and buried them in the place called Lcibethra." (8) Petersen, in an interesting monograph on Die Delphitcke Festeyclua, LIFE OF JKSCHYLOS. Ivii WitL the same tendency in his choice among the' **Gods many and Lords many" of the Greek Pantheon, we may note the prominence which he gives to the Chthonian as distinguished from the Olympian Gods, to those who dwell in darkness as contrasted with those who dwell in light. He turns to the worship of Demeter, as initiated, it may be, in the mysteries which had their local habitation in his native deme. 1 He dwells, with devoutest reverence on the thought, (speaking of Hades where the Chthonian Gods had their dwelling,) that "... There, as men relate, a second Zeus Judges men's evil deeds, and to the dead Assigns their last great penalties." Suppl., 226, 227. Bo in like tone he speaks in the same play of " The Avenger terrible, God that destroyeth, who not e'en in Hades Gives freedom to the dead." Ibid., 409, 410. The same feeling leads him to dwell on the office of Hermes as the escort of the souls of the dead, and to introduce the spectres of the dead, as in the Persians pp. 24, 25, mges that in the inner theology of Delphi, the contending 1 claims had been reconciled mainly through the teaching of the Orphic Confraternities, and that Zeus, Hades, Apollo, and Liionysos were all recognised for one and the self-same Power, manifesting itself in many Trays. He refers especially to the strange treatise of Plutarch, De El *vvd Ddphns, as showing that Dionysos, Zagreus, Phoabos, Apollo, Aidoneus, were all tnanifestatioca of the Divine Unity, of which that mystic word was, as he interpret* it, the symbol. With this we may oornpare the remarkable verse quoted by Justin .Martyr, (CoAurt. ad Grax. t O. 15J ad from Orpheus. " There is one Zeus, one Hades, and one Sun, One Dionysos, yea, one God in all." In all such passages, however, there is the risk of our trnnsferring to an parlier age the Pantheistic specul .it ions which were specially chantcterijtM f DAREIOS occupying the position of the thymele. Enter Chorus of Persian Elders. We the title bear of Faithful, l . Friends of Persians gone to Hellas, "Watchers left of treasure city,* . Gold-abounding, whom, as oldest, Xerxes hath himself appointed, He, the offspring of Dareios, As the warders of his country. And about our king's returning, And our army's, gold-abounding, Over-much, and boding evil, Does my mind within me shudder " (For our whole force, Asia's offspring, Now is gone), and for our young chief Sorely frets : nor courier cometh, Nor any horseman, bringing tidings To the city of the Persians. From Ecbatana departing, Susa, or the Kissian fortress,' (1) " The Faithful," or " trusty," seems to have been a special title of honour given to the veteran councillors of the king, (Xenoph. Anab. L 15), just as that of the "Immortals" was chosen for his body-guard. (Herod, vii. 83.) (2) Susa was pre-eminently the treasury of the Persian kings (Herod. V. 49 ; Strabo, xv. p. 731), their favourite residence in spring, as Ecbatana in Media was in summer and Babylon in winter. (3) Kissia was properly the name of the district in which Susa stood ; but here, and in v. 123, it is treated as if it belonged to a separate city. Throughout the play there is, indeed, a lavish use of Persian barbaric names of persons and places, without a very minute regard to historical ccura;y. THE PERSIANS. Forth they sped upon their journey, Some in ships, and some on horses, Some on foot, still onward marching, In their close array presenting Squadrons duly armed for battle : ** Then Amistres, Artaphernes, Megabazes, and Astaspes, Mighty leaders of the Persians, Kings, and of the great King servants, 1 March, the chiefs of mighty army. Archers they and mounted horsemen. Dread to look on, fierce in battle, Artembares proud, on horseback, And Masistres, and Iinseos, * Archer famed, and Pharandakes, And the charioteer Sosthanes. Neilos mighty and prolific Sent forth others, Susikanes, Pegastagon, Egypt's offspring, And the chief of sacred Memphis ; Great Arsames, Ariomardos, Ruler of primeval Thebae, And the marshmen, 2 and the rowers, Dread, and in their number countless. * And there follow crowds of Lydians, Very delicate and stately, 3 (1) Here, aa in Herodotos and Greek writers generally, the title, " the Kin;?," or " the great King," was enough. It could be understood only of the Persian. The latter name had been borne by the kings of Assyria. (2 Kings xviii. 28.) A little later it passed into the fuller, more boastful form of " the King of kings." (2) The inhabitants of the Delta of the Nile, especially those of the marshy districts near the Heracleotic month, were famed as supplying the best and bravest soldiers of any part of Egypt- Comp. Thucyd. 110. (3) The epithet was applied probably by ^sohylos to the Lydians pro- perly so called, the barbaric race with whom the Hellenes had little or nothing in common. They, in dress, diet, mode of life, their distaste for the contests of the arena, seemed to *he Greeks thf- very type of effemi- nacy. The Ionian Greeks, howvtr, were brought under the same influence, and gradually acquired the same character. The suppression of the name of the lonians in the list of the Persian forces may be noticed as characteristic. The Athenian poet would not bring before an Athenian Audience ths slmine of their Asiat THE PERSIANS. Who the people of the mainland Eulo throughout, whom Mitragathes And brave Arkteus, kingly chieftains, Led, from Sardis, gold-abounding, Hiding on their many chariots, Three or four a-breast their horsea, Sight to look upon all dreadful. And the men of sacred Tmolos l Rush to place the yoke of bondage On the neck of conquered Hellas. * Mardon, Tharabis, spear-anvils, 2 And the Mysians, javelin -darting;* Babylon too, gold-abounding, Sends a mingled cloud, swept onward, Both the troops who man the vessels, And the skilled and trustful bowmen ; And the race the sword that beareth, Follows from each clime of Asia, At the great King's dread commandment. These, the bloom of Persia's greatness, Now are gone forth to the battle ; And for these, their mother country, Asia, mourns with mighty yearning ; Wives and mothers faint with trembling Through the hours that slowly linger, Counting each day as it passes. STHOPH. L The king's great host, destroying cities mighty, Hath to the land beyond the sea passed over, Crossing the straits of Athamantid Helle, 4 * On raft by ropes secured,. !1) Tmolos, sacred as being the mythical birth-place of Dionysos. 2) " Spear-anvils," ac., meeting the spear of their foes as the anvils Would meet it, turning its point, themselves steadfast and immovable. (3) So Herodotos (vii. 74) in his account of the army of Xerxes de- scribes the Mysians as using for their weapons those darts or "javelins" made by hardening thfe ends in the fire. (4) Helle the daughter of Athamas, from whom the Hellespont took its name. For the description oi the pontoons formed by boats, which wer moored together with cables and finally covered with faggote, cum p. Herod, vii. 36. THE PERSIANS. And thrown- his path, compact of many a vessel, As yoke upon the neck of mighty ocean. ANTISTBOPH. I. Of populous Asia thus the mighty ruler 'Gainst all the land his God-sent host directeth In two divisions, both by land and water, Trusting the chieftains stern, The men who drive the host to fight, relentless He, sprung from gold-born race, a hero god-like. 1 " STBOPH. II. Glancing with darkling look, and eyes as of ravening dragon, With many a hand, and many a ship, and Syrian chariot driving, 2 He upon spearmen renowned brings battle of conquering arrows. 3 ASTISTBOPR. II. Yea, there is none so triod as, withstanding the flood of the mighty, To keep within steadfast bounds that wave of ocean re- sistless ; Hard to fight is the host of the Persians, the people stout- hearted. MKSODK. Yet ah ! what mortal can ward the craft of the God all-deceiving ? * Who, with a nimble foot, of one leap is easily sovereign Y (1) " Gold-born," te., descended from Perseus, the child of Dana. ( At variance with each other. And my son Learnt it, and checked and mollified their wrath, And yokes them to his chariots, and his collar He places on their necks. And one was proud Of that equipment, 2 and in harness gave Her mouth obedient ; but the other kicked, And tears the chariot's trappings with her hands, And rushes off uncurbed, and breaks its yoke Asunder. And my son falls low, and then His father comes, Dareios, pitying him. And lo ! when Xerxes sees him, he his clothes "^ Rends round his limbs. These things I say I saw In visions of the night ; and when I rose, And dipped my hands in fountain flowing clear, 8 I at the altar stood with hand that bore Sweet incense, wishing holy chrism to pour To the averting Gods whom thus men worship. And I beheld an eagle in full flight To Phoebos' altar-hearth ; and then, my friends, M0 I stood, struck dumb with fear ; and next I saw A kite pursuing, in her winged course, And with his claws tearing the eagle's head, Which did nought else but crouch and yield itself. Such terrors it has been my lot to see, And yours to hear : For be ye sure, my son, If he succeed, will wonder-worthy prove ; (1) "With reference either to the mythos that Asia and Europa were both daughters of Okeanos, or to the historical fact that the Asiatic Ionian* and the Dorians of Europe were hoth of the same Hellenic stock. The con- trast between the long flowing robes of the Asiatic women, and the short, scanty kilt-like dress of those of Sparta must be borne in mind if we would see the picture in its completeness. (2) Athenian pride is flattered with the thought' that they had resisted while the Ionian Greeks had submitted all too willingly to the yoke of the Barbarian. (3) Lustrations of this kind, besides their genond significance in cleansing from defilement, hiid a special force as charms to turn asida dangers threatened by foreboding dreams. Couip. Aristopu. Vrogt, f . U04; 1'ersius, Sat. ii. 1& THE PERSIANS. IJ But if he fail, still irresponsible He to the people, and in either case, He, should he but return, is sovereign still. 1 Chor, We neither wish, O Lady, thee to frighten O'ermuch with what we say, nor yet encourage : But thou, the Gods adoring with entreaties, If thou hast seen aught ill, bid them avert it, And that all good things may receive fulfilment For thee, thy children, and thy friends and country. ** And next 'tis meet libations due to offer To Earth and to the dead. And ask thy husband, Dareios, whom thou say'st by night thou sawest, With kindly mood from 'neath the Earth to send thee Good things to light for thee and for thine offspring, While adverse things shall fade away in darkness. Such things do I, a self-taught seer, advise thee Iii kindly mood, and any way we reckon That good will come to thee from out these omens. Atoss. Well, with kind heart, hast thou, as first expounder, Out of my dreams brought out a welcome meaning For me, and for my sons ; and thy good wishes, May they receive fulfilment I And this also, As thou dost bid, we to the Gods will offer " And to our friends below, when we go homeward. But first, my friends, I wish to hear of Athens, Where in the world do men report it standeth ?* Chor. Far to the West, where sets our king the Sun-God. A toss. Was it this city my son wished to capture ? Chor. Aye, then would Hellas to our king be subject. A toss. And have they any multitude of soldiers ? Vhor. A mighty host, that wrought the Medes much mischief. (1) The political bearing of the passage as contrasting this characteristic of the despotism of Persia with the strict account to which all Athenian generals were subject, is, of course, unmistakable. (2) The question, which seems to have rankled in the minds of the Athenians, is recorded as an historical fact, and put into the mouth of Dareios by Herodotos, (v. 101.) He had asked it on hearing that Sardii had been attacked and burnt by them. THE PERSIANS. Atoss. And what besides P Have they too -wealth sufficing ? Chor. A fount of silver have they, their land's trea- sure. 1 9M Atoss, Have they a host in archers' skill excelling ? Chor. Not so, they wield the spear and shield and bucklers." Atosa. "What shepherd rules and lords it o'er their people ? Chor. Of no man are they called the slaves or subjects. Atoss. How then can they sustain a foe invading ? Chor. So that they spoiled Dareios' goodly army. Atoss. Dread news is thine for sires of those who 're marching. Chor. Nay, but I think thou soon wilt know the whole truth ; This running one may know is that of Persian : * For good or evil some clear news he bringeth. Enter Messenger. Mess. O cities of the whole wide land of Asia I O soil of Persia, haven of great wealth ! How at one stroke is brought to nothingness Our great prosperity, and all the flower Of Persia's strength is fallen ! Woe is me I 'Tis ill to be the first to bring ill news ; Yet needs must I the whole woe tell, ye Persians : All our barbaric mighty host is lost. 4 (tj The words point to the silver mines of Lanreion, which had been worked under Peisistratos, and of which this is the first mention in Greek literature. 12) Once more the contrast between the Greek hoplite and the light- arnicd archers of the invaders is dwelt upon. The next answer of the Chonis dwells upon the deeper contrast, then prominent in the minds of all Athenians, between their democratic freedom and the despotism of Persia. Comp. Herod, v. 78. (3) The system of postal communications by means 'A couriers which DsTeios had organized had made their speed in running proverbial, (Herod, viii. 97 ) (4) With the characteristic contempt of a Greek for other race*, ^Eschylos makes the Persians speak of themselves throughout as 'barb** ' 'barbaric.' THE PERSIANa BTROPH. I* CAor. O piteous, piteous woe ! O strange and dread event ! Weep, O ye Persians, hearing thie great grief I Mess. Yea, all things there are ruined utterly ; And I myself beyond all hope behold The light of day at home. AXTISTBOPH. I. Chor. O'er-long doth life appear To me, bowed down with years, On hearing this unlooked-for misery. Mess. And I, indeel, being present and not hearing The tales of others, can report, ye Persians, What ills were brought to pass. STEOPH. II. CJior. Alas, alas ! in vain The many-weaponed and commingled host Went from the land of Asia to invade The soil divine of Hellas. Mess. Pull of the dead, slain foully, are the coasts Of Salamis, and all the neighbouring shore. ANTISTROPH. II. . Chor. Alas, alas ! sea-tossed The bodies of our friends, and much disstained : Thou say'st that they are drifted to and fro *In far out-floating garments. 1 Mesa. E'en so ; our bows availed not, but the host Has perished, conquered by the clash of ships. STBOPH. III. Chor. Wail, raise a bitter cry M * And full of woe, for those who died in fight. How eveiy way the Gods have wrought out ill, Ah me ! ah me, our army all destroyed. Mess. O name of Salamis that most I loathe I Ah, how I groan, remembering Athens too I (I) Perhaps " On planks that floated onward," Or *' Onl and and sea fax spreading.'* THE PERSIANS. ASTWTBOPH. III. Chor. Yea, to her enemies Athens may well be hateful, and our minds Eemember how full many a Persian wife She, for no cause, made widows and bereaved. Atoss. Long time I have been silent in my woa, Crushed down with grief; for this calamity Exceeds all power to tell the woe, or ask. Yot still we mortals needs must bear the griefs The Gods send on us. Clearly tell thy tale, Unfolding the whole mischief, even though Thou groan'st at evils, who there is not dead, And which of our chief captains we must mourn, And who, being set in office o'er the host, Left by their death that office desolate. Mess. Xerxes still lives and sees the light of day. Atoss. To my house, then, great light thy words have brought, Bright dawn of morning after murky night. Mess. Artembares, the lord of myriad horse, On the hard flinty coasts of the Sileni Is now being dashed ; and valiant Dadakes, Captain of thousands, smitten with the spear, Leapt wildly from his ship. And Tenagon, Best of the true old Bactrians, haunts the soil Qf Aias' isle ; Lilaios, Arsames, And with them too Argestes, there defeated, Hard by the island where the doves abound, 1 Beat here and there upon the rocky shore. [And from the springs of Neilos, 2Egypt's stream, Arkteus, Adeues, Pheresseues too, These with Pharnuchos in one ship were lost ;] Matallos, Chrysa-born, the captain bold Of myriads, leader he of swarthy horse (1) Possibly Salami's itself, as famed for the doves which were reared" there as sacred to Aphrodite, but possibly also one of the smaller island* in the Saronic gulf, which the epithet would be enough to designate tor an Athenian audience. The " coasts of the Sileni " in v. 305 are identified \rf bchoiiosts with Salamis. THE PERSIANS IJ Some thrice ten thousand strong, has fallen low, His red beard, hanging all its shaggy length, Deep dyed with blood, and purpled all his skin. Arabian Magos, Bactrian Artames, They perished, settlers in a land full rough. [Amietris and Amphistreus, guiding well The spear of many a conflict, and the noble Ariomardos, leaving bitter grief For Sardis ; and the Mysian Seisames.] With twelve score ships and ten came Tharybis ; Lyrnsoan he in birth, once fair in form, lie lies, poor wretch, a death inglorious dying : And, first in valour proved, Syennesis, Kilikian satrap, who, for one man, gave Most trouble to his foes, and nobly died. ** Of leaders such as these I mention make, And out of many evils tell but few. Atoss. "Woe, woe : I hear the very worst of ills, Shame to the Persians, cause of bitter wail ; But tell me, going o'er the ground again, How great the number of the Hellenes' navy, That they presumed with Persia's armament To wage their warfare in the clash of ships. Mess. As far as numbers went, be sure the ships Of Persia had the better, for the Hellenes *** Had, as their total, ships but fifteen score, And other ten selected as reserve. 1 And Xerxes (well I know it) had a thousand Which he commanded those that most excelled * In speed were twice five score and seven in number ; So stands the account. Deem'st thou our forces less In that encounter ? Nay, some Power above Destroyed our host, and pressed the balance down With most unequal fortune, and the Gods Preserve the city of the Goddess Pallas. (1J Perhaps " And ten of these selected as reserve." (2) As regards the number of the Persian ships, 1000 of average, and 207 of special swiftness. jEschylos agrees with Herodotus, who tnres tin total of 1207. The latter, however, reckons the Greek ships not at 3l\X but 378 (vii. 89, viii. 48). 13 THE PERSIANS. Atnss. Is the Athenians' city then unsacked ? "* Jl/ss. Their men are left, and that is bulwark strong. 1 Atoss. Ne^t tell me how the fight of ships begau. Who led the attack ? Were those Hellenes the first, Or was't my son, exulting in his strength ? Mess. The author of the mischief, O my mistress, Was some foul fiend or Power on evil bent ; For lo ! a Hellene from the Athenian host J Came to thy son, to Xerxes, and spake thus, That should the shadow of the dark night come, The Hellenes would not wait him, but would leap * 8 Into their rowers' benches, here and there, And save their lives in secret, hasty flight. And he forthwith, this hearing, knowing not The Hellene's guile, nor yet the Gods' great wrath, Gives this command to all his admirals, Soon as the sun should cease to burn the earth. With his bright rays, and darkness thick invade The firmament of heaven, to set their ships In three-fold lines, to hinder all escape, And guard the billowy straits, and others place ** In circuit round about the isle of Aias : For if the Hellenes 'scaped an evil doom, And found a way of secret, hasty flight, It was ordained that all should lose their heads.* Such things he spake from soul o'erwrought with pride, For he knew not what fate the Gods would send ; And they, not mutinous, but prompt to serve, Then made their supper ready, and each sailor Fastened his oar around true-fitting thole (1) The fact that Athens had actually been taken, and its chief build- ings plundered and laid waste, was, of course, not a pleasant one for tb poet to ('.well on. It could hardly, however, be entirely passed over, and this is the one allusion to it. In the truest sense "it was still "un- sacked : " it had not lost its most effective defence, its -nost precious treasure. (2) As the story is told by Herodotos, (viii. 75,) this was Sikinnos, the slavt of Theroistocles, and the stratagem was the device of that com- mande* to save the Greeks from the disgrace and ruin of a aauve gui ptot flight in all directions. (3) The Greeks never beheaded thoir criminals, and the punishment it mentioned as be-ng specially characteristic of the barbaric Persian) THE PERSIANS. 19 And when the sunlight vanished, and the night Had come, then each man, master of an oar, Went to his ship, and all men bearing arms, And through the long ships rank cheered loud to rank ; And so they sail, as 'twas appointed each, And all night long the captains of the fleet Kept their men working, rowing to and fro ; Night then came on, and the Hellenic host In no wise sought to take to secret flight. And when day, bright to look on with white steeds, O'erspread the earth, then rose from the Hellenes "* Loud chant of cry of battle, and forthwith Echo gave answer from each island rock ; And terror then on all the Persians fell, Of fond hopes disappointed. Not in flight The Hellenes then their solemn paeans sang : But with brave spirit hasting on to battle. With martial sound the trumpet fired those ranks ; And straight with sweep of oars that flew through foam, They smote the loud waves at the boatswain's call ; And swiftly all were manifest to sight. ** Then first their right wing moved in order meet ; l Next the whole line its forward course began, And all at once we heard a mighty shout, " sons of Hellenes, forward, free your country; Free too your wives, your children, and the shrines Built to your'fathers' Gods, and holy tombs Your ancestors now rest in. Now the fight Is for our all." And on our side indeed Arose in answer 'din of Persian speech, And time to wait was over ; ship on ship *** iJashed its bronze-pointed beak, and first a barque Of Hellas did the encounter fierce begin, 1 And from Phosnikian vessel crashes off (1) The j^srinetans and Megarians, according to the account pre- served by Uiodoros, (xi. 18,) or the Lacedaemonians, according to He- rod otos, (viii. (55.) (2) This may be meant to refer to the achievements of Ameinias of Pallene, who appears in the traditional life of -K.schylus as his youngest brother. 20 THE PERSIANS. Her carved prow. And each against his neighbour Steers his own ship : and first the mighty flood Of Persian host held out. But when the ships Were crowded in the straits, 1 nor could they give Help to each other, they with mutual shocks, With beaks of bronze went crushing each the other, Shivering their rowers' benches. And the ships Of Hellas, with manoeuvring not unskilful, Charged circling round them. And the hulls of shipa *** Floated capsized, nor could the sea be seen, Strown, as it was, with wrecks and carcases ; And all the shores and rocks were full of corpses. And every ship was wildly rowed in fight, All that composed the Persian armament. And they, as men spear tunnies, 2 or a haul Of other fishes, with the shafts of oars, Or spars of wrecks went smiting, cleaving down; And bitter groans and wailings overspread The wide sea- waves, till eye of swarthy night ** Bade it all cease : and for the mass of ills, Not, though my tale should run for ten full days, Could I in full recount them. Be assured That never yet so great a multitude Died in a single day as died in this. Atosa. Ah, me ! Great then the sea of ills that breaks On Persia and the whole barbaric host. Mess. Be sure our evil fate is but half o'er : On this has supervened such bulk of woe, As more than twice to outweigh what I've told. **" Atoss. And yet what fortune could be worse than this ? Say, what is this disaster which thou tell'st, That turns the scale to greater evils still ? Mesa. Those Persians that were in the bloom of life, (1) Se., in Herod, viii. fiO, the strait between Salamis and the mainland. (2) Tunny-fishing has always been prominent in the occupations of th Mediterranean coasts, and the sailors who formed so large a part ol every Athenian audience would be familiar with the process here de- scribed, of striking or harpooning them. Aristophanes (ll'eupi, 1087) coins (or uses) the word "to tunny" (Vvvvd^ta} to express the act Corap Herod. 1. 62. THE PERSIANS. 21 Bravest in heart and noblest in their blood, And by the king himself deemed worthiest trust, Basely ar.d by most shameful death have died. Atoss. Ah ! woe is me, my friends, for our ill fate I What was the death by which thou say'st they perished F Mess. There is an isle that lies off Salamis, 1 Small, with bad anchorage for ships, where Pan, Pan the dance-loving, haunts the sea-washed coast. There Xerxes sends these men, that when their foes, Being wrecked, should to the islands safely swim, They might with ease destroy th' Hellenic host, And save their friends from out the deep sea's paths ; But ill the future guessing : for when God Gave the Hellenes the glory of the battle, In that same hour, with arms well wrought in bronze Shielding their bodies, from their ships they leapt, And the whole isle encircled, so that we *** Were sore distressed, 2 and knew not where to turn ; .For here men's hands hurled many a stone at them ; And there the arrows from the archer's bow Smote and destroyed them ; and with one great rush, At last advancing, they upon them dash And smite, and hew the limbs of these poor wretches, Till they each foe had utterly destroyed. [And Xerxes when he saw how deep the ill,* Groaned out aloud, for he had ta'en his seat, With clear, wide view of all the army round, On a high cliff hard by the open sea ; And tearing then his robes with bitter cry, -lt And giving orders to his troops on shore, (1) 8e., Psyttaleia, lying between Ralamis and the mainland. Pausanwa (i. .'i'i-82) describes it in hit* time as Laving no artistic shrine or statue, but full everywhere of roughly-carved images of Pan, to whom the island was sacred, it lay just opposite the entrance to the Peiraoa. The con- nexion of Pan with fcSolamis and its adjacent islands seems implied ia Sophocles, Aias. 695. (2) The manoeuvre was, we learn from Ilerodotos (viii. 95), the work of Aristeides, the personal friend of .^Eschylos, and the statesman with whose policy he had most sympathy. (3) The lines are noted as probably a spurious addition, by a weaker baud, to the text, as introducing surplusage, as inconsistent with LLarodv* toe, and as faulty in their metrical structure. THE PERSIANS. He sends them off in foul retreat. This grief Tis thine to mourn besides the former ills.] Atoss. hateful Power, how thou of all their hopes Hast robbed the Persians ! Bitter doom my son Devised for glorious Athens, nor did they, The invading host who fell at Marathon, Suffice ; but my son, counting it his task To exact requital for it, brought on him So great a crowd of sorrows. But I pray, As to those ships that have this fate escaped, *** Where did'st thou leave them ? Can'st thou clearly tell ? Mess. The captains of the vessels that were left, With a fair wind, but not in meet array, Took flight : and all the remnant of the army Fell in Boeotia some for stress of thirst About the fountain clear, and some of us. Panting for breath, cross to the Phokians' land, The soil of Doris, and the Melian gulf, Where fair Spercheios waters all the plains With kindly flood, and then the Achaean fields * And city of the Thessali received us, Famished for lack of food ; l and many died Of thirst and hunger, for both ills we bore ; And then to the Magnetian land we came, And that of Macedonians, to the stream Of Axios, and Bolbe's reed-grown marsh, And Mount Pangaios and the EcLmian land. And on that night God sent a mighty frost, "Unwonted at that season, sealing up The whole course of the Strymon's pure, clear flood ; * And they who erst had deemed the Gods as nought, *"* Thou prayed with hot entreaties, worshipping Both earth and heaven. And after that the host (1) So Herodotos (viii. 115) describes them as driven by hunger to eat even pi-ass and leaves. i'2) No trace of this pnssMEre over the frozen fitrymon appears in Hero- dotos, who leaves thw reader to imagim- that it was crossr.l, as before, by a bridge. It is hardly, indeed, consistent with dramatic probability i.hsit the courier should have remained to watch the whole retreat of tlio defeated army; and on this and other grounds, the latter part of tltt ryeech has been rejected by some critics aa a later addition. THE PERSIANS. Ceased from its instant calling on the Gods, It crosses o'er the glassy, frozen stream; And whosoe'er set forth before the rays Of the bright God were shed abroad, was saved ; For soon the glorious sun with burning blaze Reached the mid-stream and warmed it with its flame, And they, confused, each on the other fell. Blest then was he whose soul most speedily Breathed out its life. And those who yet survived And gained deliverance, crossing with great toil And many a pang through Thrake, now are come, Escaped from perils, no great number they, To this our sacred land, and so it groans, This city of the Persians, missing much Our country's dear-loved youth. Too true my tale, And many things I from my speech omit, Ills which the Persians suffer at God's hand. Chor. O Power resistless, with what weight of woe On all the Persian race have thy feet leapt ! A toss. Ah ! woe is me for that our armv lost ! vision of the night that cam'st in dreams, K0 Too clearly did'st thou shew me of these ills ! But ye (to Chorus) did judge them far too carelessly; Yet since your counsel pointed to that course, 1 to the Gods will first my prayer address. And then with gifts to Earth and to the Dead, Bringing the chrism from my store, I'll come. For our past ills, I know, 'tis all too late, But for the future, I may hope, will dawn A better fortune ! But 'tis now your part In these our present ills, in counsel faithful To commune with the Faithful ; and my son, Should he come here before me, comfort him, And home escort him, lest he add fresh ill To all these evils that we suffer now. [**#. Chor. Zeus our king, who now to nothing Bring'st the army of the Persians, Multitudinous, much boasting ; 14 THE PERSIANS. And with gloomy woe hast shrouded Both Ecbatana and Susa ; , Many maidens now are tearing With their tender hands their mantles, And with tear-floods wet their bosoms, In the common grief partaking ; And the brides of Persian warriors, Dainty even in their wailing, Longing for their new-wed husbands, Eeft of bridal couch luxurious, With its coverlet so dainty, Losing joy of wanton youth-time, Mourn in never-sated wailings. And I too in fullest measure Eaise again meet cry of sorrow, Weeping for the loved and lost ones. STROPH. I. For now the land of Asia mourneth sore, Left desolate of men, 'Twas Xerxes led them forth, woe ! wool 'Twas Xerxes lost them all, woe ! woe I 'Twas Xerxes who with evil counsels sped Their course in sea-borne barques. Why was Dareios erst so free from harm, First bowman of the state, The leader whom the men of Susa loved, AXTISTBOPH. I. While those who fought as soldiers or at sea, These ships, dark-hulled, well-rowed, Their own ships bore them on, woe ! woe I Their own ships lost them all, woe ! woe I Their own ships, in the crash of ruin urged, And by Ionian hands ? 1 The king himself, we hear, but hardly 'scapes, Through Thrake's wide-spread steppes, And paths o'ei which the tempests wildly sweep. (1} The lonians, not of the Asiatic Ionia, but of Attioa. THE PERSIANS. STBOPH. II. And they who perished first, ah me I "* Perforce unburied left, alas ! Are scattered round Kychreia's shore, 1 woe ! woe I Lament, mourn sore, and raise a bitter cry, Grievous, the sky to pierce, woe ! woe I And let thy mourning voice uplift its strain Of loud and full lament. AVTISTROPH. . T T. Torn by the whirling flood, ah me I Their carcases are gnawed, alas ! By the dumb brood of stainless sea, woe ! woe I ** And each house mourneth for its vanished lord ; And childless sires, woe ! woe ! Mourning in age o'er griefs the Gods have sent, Now hear their utter loss. STROPH. HI. And throughout all Asia's borders None now own the sway of Persia, Nor bring any more their tribute, Owning sway of sovereign master. Low upon the Earth, laid prostrate, Is the strength of our great monarch. ANTISTROFH. III. No more need men keep in silence Tongues fast bound : for now the people May with freedom speak at pleasure ; For the yoke of power is broken ; And blood-stained in all its meadows Holds the sea-washed isle of Aias What was once the host of Persia. He-enter ATOSSA. Atoss. Whoe'er, my friends, is vexed in troublous times, * (1) Kychreia, the archaic name of Salamis. 86 THE PERSIANS. Knows that when once a tide of woe sets in, A man is wont to fear in everything,; But when Fate flows on smoothly, then to trust That the same Fate will ever .send fair gales. So now all these disasters from the Gods Seem in mine eyes filled full of fear and dread, And in mine ears rings cry unpaeanlike, So great a dread of all has seized my soul : And therefore now, without or chariot's state Or wonted pomp, have I thus issued forth From out my palace, to my son's sire bringing Libations loving, gifts propitiatory, Meet for the dead ; milk pure and white from cow Unblemished, and bright honey that distils From the flower- working bee, and water drawn From virgin fountain, and the draught unmarred From mother wild, bright child of ancient vine ; And here too of the tree that evermore Keeps its fresh life in foliage, the pale olive, Is the sweet-smelling fruit, and twined wreath? Of flowers, the children of all-bearing earth. 1 ** But ye, my friends, o'er these libations poured In honour of the dead, chant forth your hymns, And call upon Dareios as a God : While I will send unto the Gods below These votive offerings whioh the earth shall drink. [Goes to the tomb o/DAKEios in the centrt of the stage. Chor. royal lady, honoured of the Persians, Do thou libations pour To the dark chambers of the dead below; And we with hymns will pray The Powers that act as escorts of the dead To give us kindly help beneath the earth. But oh, yc holy Ones in darkness dwelling, THE PERSIANS. Hermes and Earth, and thou, the Lord of Hell, Send from beneath, a soul Up to the light of earth ; For should he know a cure for these our ilia, He, he alone of men, their end may tell. STBOPH. I. Doth he, the blest one hear, The king, like Gods in power, Hear mo, as I send forth My cries in barbarous speech, Yet very clear to him, Sad, varied, broken cries So as to tell aloud Our troubles terrible ? ** Ah, doth he hear below ? AUTISTBOPH. I. But thou, Earth, and ye, The other Lords of those Beneath the grave that dwell J Grant that the godlike one May come from out your home, The Persians' mighty God, In Susa's palace born ; Send him, I pray you, up, The like of whom the soil Of Persia never hid. STROPH. H. Dear was our chief, and dear to us his tomb, For dear the life it hides ; Aidoneus, Aidoneus, send him forth, Thou who dost lead the dead to Earth again, *Yea, send Dareios. . . What a king was he I AVTISTKOPH. II. For never did he in war's bloody woe Lose all his warrior-host, But Heaven-taught Counsellor the Persians called him, THE PERSIANS. And Heaven-taught Counsellor in truth he proved, Since he still ruled his hosts of subjects welL STEOPH. in. Monarch, ancient monarch, come, oh, come, Come to the summit of sepulchral mound, Lifting thy foot encased In slipper saffron-dyed, And giving to our view Thy royal tiara's crest : * Speak, Dareios, faultless father, speak. ANTISTBOPH. III. Yea, come, that thou, Lord, may'st hear the woes, Woes new and strange, our lord has now endured ; For on us now has fallen A dark and Stygian mist, Since all the armed youth Has perished utterly ; Speak, Dareios, faultless father, speak. EPODB. O thou, whose death thy friends Bewail with many tears, *Why thus, Lord of lords, *In double error of wild frenzy born, Have all our triremes good Been lost to this our land, Ships that are ships no more, yea, ships no more P The Ghost of DAREIOS appears on the summit of tfo mound. Dar. O faithful of the Faithful, ye who were Companions of my youth, ye Persian elders, What troubles is 't my country toils beneath ? The whole plain groans, cut up and furrowed o'er,* (1) The description obviously gives the state dress of the Persian king*. They alone wore the tiara erect. Xen. Kyrop. viii. 3, 13. (2) Either that he has felt the measured tread of the mourners round kie tomb, as they went wailing round and round, or that he baa heard THE PERSIANS. 29 And I, beholding now my queen beloved Standing hard by my sepulchre, feared much, ** And her libations graciously received ; But ye wail loud near this my sepulchre, And shouting shrill with cries that raise the dead, Te call me with your plaints. No easy task Is it to come, for this cause above all, That the great Gods who reign below are apter To seize men than release : yet natheless I, Being great in power among them, now am come. Be quick then, that none blame me as too late ; * What new dire evils on the Persians weigh ? Chor. I fear to look on thee, Fear before thee to speak, With all the awe of thee I felt of old. Dar. But since I came by thy complaints persuaded, From below rising, spin no lengthened tale ; But shortly, clearly speak, and tell thy story, And leave awhile thine awe and fear of me. Chor. I dread thy wish to grant, *I dread to say thee nay, 2 Saying things that it is hard for friends to speak. Dar. Nay, then, since that old dread of thine prevents thee, Do thou \to ATOSSA], the ancient partner of my bed, 10 My noble queen, from these thy plaints and meanings Cease, and say something clearly. Human sorrows May well on mortals fall ; for many evils, Some on the sea, and some on dry land also, Happen to men if life be far prolonged. Atoss. thou, who in the fate of fair good fortune Excelled'st all men, who, while yet thou sawest The sun's bright rays, did'st lead a life all blessed, Admired, yea, worshipped as a God by Persians, the rush of armies, and seen the plain tracked by chariot- wheels, and comes, not knowing all these things, to learn what it means. (1) The words point to the widespread belief that when the souls of the dead were permitted to return to earth, it was with strict liiaiUtUuu* s to the time of their leave of absence. (2j Perhaps " I dread to speak the truth." JO THE PERSIANS. Now, too, I count thee blest in that thou died'st Before thou saw'st the depth of these our evils. For now, Dareios, thou shalt hear a story Full, yet in briefest moment. Utter ruin, To sum up all, is come upon the Persians. A faultless issue of this war we wage I And Thou, O blessed queen, As Guardian Oiica known, 5 Save thy seven-gated seat. (1) "Worthy of his name a* the Wolf-destroyer, mighty to destroy hi foes. (2) Possibiv, ".from battlements attacked." In the primitive siegei of (jreek warfare stones were used as missiles alike by besieged and be- eie:rers. (3) The name of Onca belonged especially to the The! an worship oi Pallas, and was said to have been of Phtmikian origin, introduced by Cadmos. There seems, however, to have been a town Onkee in Bujotia, with which the name was doubtless connected. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 55 STBOPH. HL And ye, all-working Gods, Of either sex divine, Protectors of our towers, Give not our city, captured by the spear, To host of alien speech. 1 Hear ye our maidens ; hear, As is most meet, our prayers with outstretched hands. AUTISTT.OPH. ILL. O all ye loving Powers, Compass our State to save ; Show bow that State ye love ; Think on our public votive offerings, And as ye think, oh, help : Be mindful ye, I pray, Of all our city's rites of sacrifice. Re-enter ETEOCLES. Eteoc. (to the Chorus.} I ask you, O ye brood intoler- able, Is this course best and safest for our city ? "Will it give heart to our beleaguered host. That ye before the forms of guardian Gods Should wail and howl, ye loathed of the wise;* Ne'er be it mine, in ill estate or good, To dwell together with the race of women ; For when they rule, their daring bars approach, And when they fear, alike to house and State Comes greater ill : and now with these your mshings Hither and thither, ye have troubled sore Our subjects with a coward want of heart ; (1) " Alien," on account of the difference of dialect between the speech of Argos and that of Boeptia, though both were Hellenic. (2) The vehemence with which Eteocles reproves the wild frenzied wailing of the Chorus may be taken as an element of the higher cuUtira showing itself in Athenian life, which led Solon to restrain such lamenta- tions by special laws, (Plutarch, Solon, c. 20.) Here, teo, we note io .<.- chylos an echo of the teaching of -Lpirnenidea. 56 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. And do your best for those our foes without ; ** And we are harassed by ourselves within. This comes to one who dwells with womankind. And if there be that will not own my sway, Or man or woman in their prime, or those "Who can be classed with neither, they shall take Their trial for their life, nor shall they 'scape The fate of stoning. Things outdoors are still The man's to look to : let not woman counsel. Stay thou within, and do no mischief more. Hear'st thou, or no ? or i-poak I to the deaf? . STROPH. I. Chor. Dear son of (Edipus, * I shuddered as I heard the din, the din Of many a chariot's noise, When on the axles creaked the whirling wheels, *And when 1 .aeard the sound *0f fire-wrought curbs within the horses' mouths. Eteoc. "What then ? Did ever yet the sailor flee From stern to stein, and find deliverance so, While his ship laboured in the ocean's wave ? * ANTISTROPIT. I. Chor. Nay, to the ancient forms Of mighty Powers I rushed, as trusting Gods ; And when behind the gates Was heard the crash of fierce and pelting storm, ** Then was it, in my fear, I prayed the Blessed Ones to guard our city. Eteoc. Pray that our towers hold out 'gainst spear of foes.* Chor. Do not the Gods grant these things ? (1) As now the sailor of the Mediterranean turns to the irnnpe of his patron saint, so of old he ran in his distress to the figure of his Crod upon the prow of his ship, (often, as in Acts xxviii. 11, that of the Dioscuri,) and called to it for deliverance, (comp. Jonah i. 8.) (2) Eteocles seems to wish for a short, plain prayer for deliveranoq, instead of the cries and supplications and vam repetitions of the Chorus. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 57 fteoc. Nay, the Goda, Bo say they, leave the captured city's walls. 1 STBOPH. EL Chor. Ah ! never in my life May all this goodly company of Gods Depart ; nor may I see This city scene of rushings to and fro, *And hostile army burning it with fire I Eteoc. Nay, call not on the Gods with counsel base ; Obedience is the mother of success, Child strong to save. Tis thus the saying runs, ANTISTBOPH. H. CJior. True is it ; but the Gods Have yet a mightier power, and oftentimes, In pressure of sore ill, It raises one perplexed from direst woe, When dark clouds gather thickly o'er his eyes. Eteoc. 'Tis work of men to offer sacrifice And victims to the Gods, when foes press hard ; Thine to be dumb and keep within the house. BTKOPH. III. Chor. 'Tis through the Gods we live In city unsubdued, and that our towers "Ward off the multitude of jealous foes. What Power will grudge us this ? Eteoc. I grudge not your devotion to the Gods ; But lest you make my citizens faint-hearted Be tranquil, nor to fear's excess give way. (1) The thought thns expressed was, that the Gods, yielding: to the mightier law of destiny, or in their wrath at the guilt of men, left the city before its capture. The feeling was all but universal. Its two representative instances are found in Virgil, ^E/i. 351 " Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis Di quibus imperium hoc steterat ; " and the narrative given alike by Tacitus, (flisl. v. 13,) and Josephni (Brll. J'td. vi. 5, 8,) that the cry "Let us depart hence," was heard at midnight through the courU of the Temple, before the destruction at Jerusalem. 58 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. ANTISTBOPH. HI. Chor. Hearing but now a din Strange, wildly mingled, I with shrinking fear Here to our city's high Acropolis, Time-hallowed spot, have come * Etcoc. Nay, if ye hear of wounded men or dying, Bear them not swiftly off with wailing loud ; *For blood of men is Area' chosen food. 1 Chor. Hark ! now I hear the panting of the steeds. Eteoc. Clear though thou hear, yet hear not overmuch. Chor. Lo ! from its depths the fortress groans, be- leaguered. Eteoc. It is enough that I provide for this. Chor. I fear : the din increases at the gates. Eteoc. Be still, say nought of these things in the city. Chor. O holy Band ! 2 desert ye not our towers. *** Eteoc. A curse fall on thee ! wilt thou not be still ? Chor. Gods of my city, from the slave's lot save me I Eteoc. 'Tis thou enslav'st thyself and all thy city. Chor. Oh, turn thy darts, great Zeus, against our foes! Eteoc. Oh, Zeus, what race of women thou hast given us ! Chor. A sorry race, like men whose city falls. Eteoc. What ? Cling to these statues, yet speak words of ill? Chor. Fear hurries on my tongue in want of courage. Eieoc. Could'st thou but grant one small boon at my prayer Chor. Speak it out quickly, and I soon shall know. Eteoc. Be still, poor fool, and frighten not thy friends. Chor. Still am I, and with others bear our fate. Eteoc. These words of thine I much prefer to those And further, though no longer at the shrines, Pray thou for victory, that the' Gods fight with us . (1) Se., Blood must be shed in war. Ares would not be Ares without it. It is better to take it as it comes. (2) Sc., the company of Gods, Pallas, Hera and the others whom the Chorus had invoked. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 59 And when my prayers thou hearest, then do thou Raise a loud, welcome, holy paean-shout, The Hellenes' wonted ciy at sacrifice ; So cheer thy friends, and check their fear of foes; And I unto our country's guardian Gods, ** Who hold the plain or watch the agora, The springs of Dirke, and Ismenos' stream ;- If things go well, and this our city's saved,- I vow that staining with the blood of sheep The altar-hearths of Gods, or slaying bulls, We'll fix our trophies, and our foemen's robes On the spear's point on consecrated walls, Before the shrines I'll hang. 1 Pray thou this prayer, Not weakly wailing, nor with vain wild sobs, For no whit more thou'lt 'scape thy destined lot : "* And I six warriors, with myself as seventh, Against our foes in full state like their own, Will station at the seren gates' entrances, Ere hurrying heralds and swift-rushing words Come and inflame them in the stress of need. [Exit. BTBOPH. I. Chor. My heart is full of care and knows not sleep, By panic fear o'ercome ; And troubles throng my soul, And set a-glow my dread Of the great host encamped around our walls, As when a trembling dove Fears, for her callow brood, ** The snakes that come, ill mates for her soft nest ; For some upon our towers March in full strength of mingled multitude ; And what will me befall ? And others on our men on either hand Hurl rugged blocks of stone. (1) Reference to this custom, which has passed from Papnn temple* into Christian churches, is found in the Agamemnon, v. 662. It was connected, of course, with the general practice of offering 1 as ex votot any personal ornaments or clothing as a token of thanksgiving for special mercies. THE SEVKN AGAINST THESES. In every way, ye Zeus-born Gods, defend The city and the host That Cadmos claim as sire. ANTISTBOPH. I. What better land will ye receive for this, If ye to foes resign This rich and fertile clime, And that Dirksean stream, Goodliest of founts by great Poseidon sent Who circleth earth, or those Who Tethys parent call? 1 And therefore, O ye Gods that guard our city, Sending on those without Our towers a woe that robs men of their life, And makes them lose their shield, Gain glory for these countrymen of mine ; And take your standing-ground, As saviours of the city, firm and true, In answer to our cry Of wailing and of prayer. STBOPH. IL For sad it were to hurl to Hades dark A city of old fame, The spoil and prey of war, With foulest shame in dust and ashes laid, By an Achaean foe at God's decree ; And that our women, old and young alike, Be dragged away, ah me .' Like horses, by their hair Their robes torn off from them. And lo, the city wails, made desolate, While with confused cry The vrretched prisoners meet doom worse than death. Ah, at this grievous fate I shudder ere it comes. (I) Siren and stream* as the childra of Tethys and Okeaaoc. THE SEVEN AGAINST THESES. 6l AjtTISTBOPH. EL. And piteous 'tis for those whose youth, is fresh, Before the rites that cull Their fair arid first-ripe fruit, To take a hateful journey from their homes. Nay, but I say the dead far better far a Than these, for when a city is subdued It bears full many an ill. This man takes prisoner that, Or slays, or burns with fire ; And all the city is denied with smoke, And Ares fans the flame In wildest rage, and laying many low, Tramples with foot unclean On all men sacred hold. STBOPH. III. And hollow din is heard throughout the town, Hemmed in by net of towers ; And man by man is slaughtered with the spear, And cries of bleeding babes, Of children at the breast, Are heard in piteous wail, And rapine, sister of the plunderer's rush ; Spoiler with spoiler meets, And empty-handed empty-handed calls, Wishing for share of gain, Both eager for a portion no whit less, For more than equal lot With what they deem the others' hands have found, AXTISTBOPH. m. And all earth's fruits cast wildly on the ground, Meeting the cheerless eye Of frugal housewives, give them pain of heart; And many a gift of earth In formless heaps is whirled Iii waves of nothingness ; 62 THK SEVEN AGAINST THKBES. And the young maidens know a sorrow new ; For now the foe prevails, And gains rich prize of wretched captive's bed; "* And now their only hope Is that the night of death will come at last, Their truest, beet ally, To rescue them from sorrow fraught with tears. Enter ETEOCLES, followed ly his Chief Captains, and by the Scout. Semi-Clior. A. The army scout, so deem I, brings to us, Dear friends, some tidings new, with quickest speed Plying the nimble axles of Ir.s feet. Semi-Char. B. Yea, the king's self, the son of GEdipus, Is nigh to hear the scout's exact report; And has1;e denies him too an even stop. Mess. I knowing well, will our foes' state report, *" How each his lot hath stationed at the gates. At those of Prcetos, Tydeus thunders loud, And him the prophet suffers not to cross Ismenos' fords, the victims boding ill. 1 And Tydeus, raging eager for the fight, Shouts like a serpent in its noon-tide scream, And on the prophet, CEcleus' son, heaps shame, That he, in coward fear, doth crouch and fawn Before the doom and peril of the fight. And with such speech he shakes his triple crest, O'ershadowing all his helm, and 'neath his shield Bells wrought in bronze ring out their chimes of fear ; And on his shield he bears this proud device, A firmament enchased, all bright with stars ; a (1) Here, as in v. 571, Tydeus appears aa the real leader of the expedi- tion, who had persuaded Adrastos find the other chiefs to join in it, and Amphiaraos, the prophet, the son of (Ecleus, as haying all a onj,' foreseen its disastrous issue. The account of the expedition in the (Edipus at Colonos (13001330) maybe compared with this. (2) The legend Df the Medusa's head on the shield of Athena shows 1h* practice of thus decorating shields to have been of remote date. In Homer it does not appeal- as common, and the accoiint (riven of the shield of Aclullt* lays stress upon the work of the artist (UepUwatos) wl* THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 63 And in the midst the full moon's glittering orb, Sovran of stars and eye of Night, shines forth. And thus exulting in o'er boastful arms, By the stream's hank he shouts in lust of war, [E'en as a war-horse panting in his strength Against the curb that galls him, who at sound Of trumpet's clang chafes hotly.] Whom wilt thou Set against him ? "Who is there strong enough When the bolts yield, to guard the Prcetan gates P "* Eteoc. No fear have I of any man's array ; Devices have no power to pierce or wound, And crest and bells bite not without a spear } And for this picture of the heavens at night, Of which thou tellest, glittering on his shield, *Perchance his madness may a prophet prove ; For if night fall upon his dying eyes, Then for the man who bears that boastful siga It may right well be all too truly named, * And his own pride shall prophet be of ilL And against Tydeus, to defend the gates, I'll set this valiant son of Astacos ; Noble is he, and honouring well the throne Of Eeverence, and hating vaunting speech. Slow to all baseness, unattuned to ill : And of the dragon-race that Ares spared l He as a scion grows, a native true, E'en Melanippos ; Ares soon will test His valour in the hazard of the die : And kindred Justice sends him forth to war, For her that bore him foeman's spear to check. *** BTBOPH. I. Chor. May the Gods grant my champion good success ! wrought the shield in relief, not, as here, upon painted insignia. They were obviously common in the time of JEschylos. ( 1 ) The older families of Thebes boasted that they spiang from the sur- vivors of the Sparti, who, sprang from the Dragon's teeth, waged deadly war against each other, till all but five were slain. The later settlers, who were said to have come with Cadinoa, stood to these as the ' greater '' M the "lesaer ytntu " THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. For justly he goes forth For this our State to fight ; But yet I quake with fear To see the deaths of those who die for friends. Mess. Yea, may the Gods give good success to him! Tho Electran gates have fallen to Capaneus, A second giant, taller far than he Just named, with boast above a mortal's bounds; Aud dread his threats against our towers (0 Fortune, *"* Turn them aside !) for whether God doth will, Or willeth not, ho says that he will sack l The city, nor shall e'en the wrath of Zeus, On the plain swooping, turn him from his will; And the dread lightnings and hot thunderbolts He likens to the heat of noon-day sun. And his device, the naked form of one Who baars a torch ; and bright the blaze shines forth And in gold characters ho speaks the words, " THE CITY I WILL BUKN." Against this man Send forth .... but who will meet him in the fight P * Who, without fear, await this warrior proud ? Eteoc. Herein, too, profit upon-profit comes; And 'gainst the vain and boastful thoughts of men, Their tongue itself is found accuser true. Threatening, equipped for work is Capaneus, Scorning the Gods : and giving speech full play, And in wild joy, though mortal, vents at Zeus, High in the heavens, loud-spoken foaming words. And well I trust on him shall rightly come Fire-bearing thunder, nothing likened then To heat of noon-day sun. And so 'gainst him, m Though very bold of speech, a man is set Of fiery temper, Polyphonies strong, A trusty bulwark, by the loving grace Of guardian Artemis* and other Goda. Describe another, placed at other gates. (1) So in the Antigone of Sophocles, (v. 134,) Capanens apear* iw the special representative of boastful, rt'ckl>?Bs impiety. (2) Artemis, ua UIMJ of the special IxuUea to whom Thebes wa THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 65 ANTISTKOPH. I. Chor. A curse on him who 'gainst our city boasts ! May thunder smite him down ** Before he force his way Into my home, and drive Mo from my maiden bower with haughty spear I Mess. And now I'll toll of him who by the gates Stands next ; for to Eteoclos, as third, To march his cohort to Ne'istian gates, Leaped the third lot from upturned brazen helm : And he his mares, in head-gear snorting, whirls, Full eager at the gates to fall and din ; Their whistling nozzles of barbaric mode, Are filled with loud blast of the panting nostrils. 1 In no poor fashion is his shield devised ; ** A full-armed warrior climbs a ladder's rungs, And mounts his foeman's towers as bent to sack; And he too cries, in words of written speech, That " NOT E'EN ARES FROM THE TOWERS SHALL DRIVB HIM." Send thou against him some defender true, To ward the yoke of bondage from our State. Eteoc. Such would I send now ; by good luck indeed He has been sent, his vaunting in his deeds, Megareus, Creon's son, who claims descent From those as Sparti known, and not by noise Of neighings loud of warlike steeds dismayed, ** Will he the gates abandon, but in death Will pay our land his nurture's debt in full," Or taking two men, and a town to boot, (That on the shield,) will deck his father's house With those his trophies. Of another tell The bragging tale, nor grudge thy words to me. (1) Apparently an Asiatic invention, to increase the terror of an nttacl; of war-chariots. (2) The phrase and thought were almost proverbial in Athens. Men, as citizens, were thought of as fed at a common table, bound to contribute their gifts to the common stock. When they offered up their lives in battle, they were giving, as Pericles says, (Thucyd. ii. 4.3,) their noblect "contribution," paying in full their subscription to the society of which they were members. I 66 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. BTBOPH. n. Chor. Him I -wish good success, guardian of my home, and for his foes All ill success I pray ; And since against our land their haughty words With maddened soul they speak, May Zeus, the sovran judge, With fiery, hot displeasure look on them ! 4 Mess. Another stands as fourth at gates hard by, Onca- Athena's, with a shout of war, Hippomedon's great form and massive limbs ; And as he whirled his orb, his vast shield's disk, 1 shuddered ; yea, no idle words I speak. No cheap and common draughtsman sm-e was lie Who wrought this cunning ensign on his shield: Typhon emitting from his lips hot blast Of darkling smoke, the flickering twin of fire : And round the belly of the hollow shield A rirn was made with wreaths of twisted snakes. And he too shouts his war-cry, and in frenzy, As man possessed by Ares, hastes to battle, Like Thyiad, darting terror from his eyes. 1 'Gainst such a hero's might we well may guard; Already at the gates men brag of rout. Eteoc. First, the great Onca-Pallas, dwelling nigh Our city's gates, and hating man's bold pride, Shall ward him. from her nestlings like a snake Of venom dread ; and next Hyperbios, The stalwart son of O3nops, has been chosen, A hero 'gainst this hero, willing found To try his destiny at Fortune's best. No fault has he in form, or heart, or arms; And Hermes with good reason pairs them off; KOI man with man will fight as enemy, And on their shields they'll bring opposing Gods; For this man beareth Typhon, breathing fire, (1) Thyiad, another name for the Maenads, the frenzied attendant* Dionysoe. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 6* A.nd on Hyperbios' shield sits father Zeus, Pull firm, with burning thunderbolt in hand; And never yet has man seen Zeus, I trow, O'ercome. Such then the favour of the Gods, Wo with the winners, they with losers are : l Good reason then the rivals so should fare, If Zeus than Typhon stronger be in fight, And to Hyperbios Zeus will saviour prove, As that device upon his shield presents him. A.VTISTROT'H. H. Chor. Now do I trust that he Who bears upon his shield the hated form Of Power whom Earth doth shroud, Antagonist to Zeus, unloved by men And by the ageless Gods, Before those gates of ours To his own hurt may dash his haughty head. " Mess. So may it be ! And now the fifth I tell, Who the fifth gates, the Northern, occupies, Hard by Amphion's tomb, the son of Zeus ; And. by his spear he swears, (which he is bold To honour more than God or his own eyes,) That he will sack the fort of the Cadineians With that spear's might. So speaks the offspring fair Of mother mountain-bred, a stripling hero; And the soft down is creeping o'er his cheeks, B3 Youth's growth, and hair that floweth full and thick ; And ho with soul, not maiden's like his name,* But stern, with flashing eye, is standing there. Nor stands he at the gate without a vaunt ; For on his brass-wrought buckler, strong defence, Full-orbed, his body guarding, he the shame Of this our city bears, the ravenous Sphinx, With rivets fixed, all burnished and embossed ; ' (1) Sc., in the legends of Typhon, not he, but Zens, had proved th conqueror. The warrior, therefore, who chose Typhon for his badee wa identifying himself -with the losing, not the winning side. (2) The name, as we HI e toid in v. 642, is Partnenopsuos, the maiden-faced. (3J The Sphinx, besides its general character aa an emblem of terror, 68 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. And under her she holdeth a Cadmeian, That so on him most arrows might be shot. No chance that he will fight a peddling fight, . Nor shame the long, long journey he hath come, Parthenopseos, in Arcadia born : This man did Argos welcome as a guest, And now he pays her for her goodly rearing, And threatens these our towers with . . . God avert it I Eteoc Should the Gods give them what they plan 'gainst us, Then they, with those their godless boastings high, Would perish shamefully and utterly. Arid for this man of Arcady thou tell'st of, We have a man who boasts not, but his hand Sees the right thing to do ; Actor, of him " I named but now the brother, who no tongue Divorced from deeds will e\er let within Our gates, to spread and multiply our ills, Nor him who bears upon his foeman's shield The image of the hateful venomed beast ; But she without shall blame him as he tries To take her in, when she beneath our walls Gets sorely bruised and battered. 1 And herein, If the Gods will, I prophet true shall prove. STBOPH. IIL Chor. Thy words thrill through my breast ; My hair stands all on end, To hear the boastings great Of those who speak great things Unholy. May the Gods Destroy them in our land ! Mess. A sixth I tell of, one of noblest mood, Amphiaraos, seer and warrior famed ; He, stationed at the Homoloian gates, had. of course, a special meaning as directed to the Thebans. The Trarrioi who bore it th ea toned to renew the old days when the monster whom CEdipus had overcome had laid waste their city. (1) Se., the Sphinx on his shield will not be allowed to enter the city. It will only serve as a mark, attracting men to attack both it and th warrior who bears it. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 69 Reproves the mighty Tydeus with sharp -words As ' murderer,' and ' troubler of the State, 1 ' To Argos teacher of all direst ills, ' Erinnys' sumpnour,' 2 ' murder's minister,' Whose counsels led Adrastos to these ills. *And at thy brother Polyneikes glancing With eyes uplifted for his father's fate, And ending, twice he syllabled his name, 3 And called him, and thus speaketh with his lips : "A goodly deed, and pleasant to the Gods, Noble for after age to hear and tell, Thy father's city and thy country's Gods To waste through might of mercenary host ! And how shall Justice stay thy mother's tears?* ** And how, when conquered, shall thy fatherland, Laid waste, become a true ally to thee ? As for myself, I shall that land make rich, 8 A prophet buried in a foeman's soil : To arms ! I look for no inglorious death." So spake the prophet, bearing full-orbed shield Wrought all of bronze, no ensign on that orb. He wishes to be just, and not to seem, 6 (1) The quarrel between Tydeus and the seer Amphiaraos had been already touched upon. (2) I have used the old English word to express a term of like technical rise in Athenian law processes. As the " sumpnour " called witnesses or parties to a suit into court, so Tydeus had summoned the Erinnys to do her work of destruction. (3) Sc., so pronounced his name as to emphasize the significance of its two component parts, as indicating that he who bore it was a man of much contention. (4) The words are obscure, but seem to refer to the badge of Polyneikes, the figure of Justice described in v. 643 as on his shield. How shall that Justice, the seer asks, console Jocasta for her son's death t Another rendering gives, " And how shall Justice quench a mother's life !" the " mother " being the country against which Polyneikes wars. (5) The words had a twofold fulfilment, (1) in the burial of AmphiaraoB, in the Theban soil ; and (2) in the honour which accrued to Thebes after his death, through the fame of the oiacle at his shrine. (6) The passage cannot be passed over without noticing the old tradi- tion, (Plutarch, Aritteid. c. 3,) that when the actor uttered these words, ha and the whole audience looked to Aristeides, surnamed the Just, aa recognising that the words were true of him as they were of no one else, ," instead of ' just," is, however, a very old various reading. 7O THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. Reaping full harvest from his soul's deep furrows, Wheiice ever new and noble counsels spring. ** I bid thee send defenders wise and brave Against him. Dread is he who fears the Gods. Eteoc. Fie on the chance that brings the righteous mail Close-mated with the ungodly ! In all deeds Nought is there worse than evil fellowship, A crop men should not reap. Death still is found The harvest of the field of frenzied pride ; For either hath the godly man embarked With sailors hot in insolence and guile, 1 And perished with the race the Gods did loathe J ** Or just himself, with citizens who wrong The stranger and are heedless of the Gods, Falling most justly in the self-same snare, By God's scourge smitten, shares tho common doom. And thus this seer I speak of, CEcleus' son, Eighteous, and wise, and good, and reverent, A mighty prophet, mingling with the godless *And men fall bold of speech in reason's spite, Who take long march to reach a far-off city, 1 If Zeus BO will, shall be hurled down with them. "* And he, I trow, shall not draw nigh the gates, Not through faint-heart or any vice of mood, But well he knows this war shall bring his death, If any -fruit is found in Loxias' words; And He or holds his speech or speaks in season. Yet against him the hero Lasthenes, A foe of strangers, at the gates we'll set ; Old is his mind, his body in its prime, His eye swift-footed, and his hand not slow To grasp the spear from 'neath the shield laid bare:* ** Yet 'tis by God's gift men must win success. (1) If the former reference to Aristeides be admitted, we can scarcely avoid seeing in this passage an allusion to Themistocles, s one with whose reckless and democratic policy it was dangerous for the more con- servative leader to associate himself. (2) The far-off city, not of Thebes, but Hades. In the legend of Thebet, the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraos, as in 583. (3) The short spear was usually carried under the shelter of the shield i when brought into action, it wa, of course, laid bare. THE SEVEX AGAINST THEBES.' J\ Chor. Hear, ye Gods ! our prayerg, Our just entreaties grant, That so our State be blest, Turn ye the toils of war Upon the invading host. Outside the walls may Zeus With thunder smite them low ! Mess. The seventh chief then who at the seventh gate stands, Thine own, own brother, I will speak of now, What curses on our State he pours, and prays * That he the towers ascending, and proclaimed By herald's voice to all the territory, And shouting out the captor's paean-cry, May so tight with thee, slay, and with thee die ; Or driving thee alive, who did'st him wrong, May on thee a vengeance wreak like in kind. So clamours ho, and bids his father's Gods, His country's guardians, look upon his prayers, [And grant them all. So Polyneikes prays.] And he a new and well- wrought shield dotn boar, And twofold sign upon it riveted ; * For there a woman with a stately tread Leads one who seems a warrior wrought in gold : Justice she calls herself, and thus she speaks : " I WILL BRETO BACK THIS MAN, AKD HE SHALL HAVE THE CITY AND HIS FATHER'S DWELLING-PLACE." Such are the signs and mottoes of those men ; And thou, know well whom thou dost mean to send : So thou shalt never blame my heraldings ; And thou thyself know how to steer the State. Eteoc. O frenzy-stricken, hated sore of Gods I *" O woe-fraught race (my race !) of OZdipus ! Ah me ! ny father's curse is now fulfilled ; But neither is it meet to weep or wail, Lest ciy more grievous on the issue come, Of Polyneikes, name and oinen true, 71 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. We soon shall know what way his badge shall end, Whether his gold-wrought letters shall restore him, His shield's great swelling words with frenzied soul. Ail if great Justice, Zeus's virgin child, Ruled o'er his words and acts, this might have been; ** But neither when he left his mother's womb, Nor in his youth, nor yet in ripening age, Nor wl eti his beard was gathered on his chin, Did Justice count him meet for fellowship ; Nor do I think that she befriends him now In this great outrage on his father's land. Yea, justly Justice would as falsely named Be known, if she with one all-daring joined. In this I trust, and I myself will face him : Who else could claim a greater right than I ? "* Brother with brother fighting, king with king, And foe with foe, I'll stand. Come, quickly fetch My greaves that guard against the spear and stones. Chor. Nay, dearest friend, thou son of (Edipus, Be ye not like to him with that ill name. It is enough Cadmeian men should fight Against the Argives. That blood may be cleansed; But death so murderous of two brothers born, This is pollution that will ne'er wax old. Eteoc. If a man must bear evil, let him still 68U Be without shame sole profit that in death. [No glory comes of base and evil deeds]. Chor. What dost thou crave, my son ? Let no ill fate, Frenzied and hot for war, Carry thee headlong on ; Check the first onset of an evil lust. Eteoc. Since God so hotly urges on the matter, Let all of Laios' race whom Phoebos hates, Drift with the breeze upon Cokytos' wave. Chor An over-fierce and passionate desire Stirs thee and pricks thee on To work an evil deed Of guilt of blood thy hand should never shed. * THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. Eteoc. Nay, my dear father's curse, in full-grown hate. Dwells on dry eyes that canuot shed a tear. And speaks of gain before the after-doom. Clutr. But be not thou urged on. The coward's name Shall not be thine, for thou Hast ordered well thy life. Dark-rolied Erinnys enters not the house, "Wiien at men's hands the Gods Accept their sacrifice. Eteoc. As for the Gods, they scorned us long ago, And smile but on the offering of our deaths ; What boots it then on death's doom still to fawn ? Chor. Nay do it now, while yet 'tis in thy power ; l Perchance may fortune shift With tardy change of mood, And come with spirit less implacable : At present fierce and hot She waxeth in her rage. Eleoc. Yea, fierce and hot the Curse of (Edipus; And all too true the visions of the night, My father's treasured store distributing. Chor. Yield to us women, though thou lov'st us not. Eteoc. Speak then what may be done, and be not long. "* Chor. Tread not the path that to the seventh gate leads. Eteoc. Thou shalt not blunt my sharpened edge with words. Chor. And yet God loves the victory that submits.* Eteoc. That word a warrior must not tolerate. Chor. Dost thou then haste thy brother's blood to shed ? Eteoc. If the Gods grant it, he shall not 'scape harm. [Exeunt ETEOCLES, Scout, and Captains. STROPH. L Chor. I fear her might who doth this whole house wreck, (1) Perhaps " since death is nigh at hind." (2) The Chorns means that if Eteocles would allow himself to be over- come in this contest of his wishes with their prayers, the Gods would honour that defeat as if i' were indeed a victory. He mikes answer thai the very thought of beinpr overcome implied in the word "defeat" il is one which tin; true warrior cuuuiot bear. 74 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. The Goddess unlike Gods, The prophetess of evil all too true, The Erinnys of thy father's imprecations, w Lest she fulfil the curse, O'er- wrathful, frenzy-fraught, The curse of (Edipus, Laying his children low. This Strife doth urge them on. ANTISTBOPH. L And now a stranger doth divide the lots, The Chalyb, 1 from the Skythians emigrant, The stern distributor of heaped-up wealth, The iron that hath assigned them just so much Of land as theirs, nu more, As may suffice for them As grave when they shall fall, Without or part or lot In. the broad-spreading plains. 1 * STUOPH. H. And when the hands of each The other's blood have shed, And the earth's dust shall drink The black and clotted gore, Who then r.an purify ? Who cleanse them from the guilt P Ah me ! O sorrows new, That mingle with the old woes of our house I ANTISTBOPH. H. I tell the ancient tale Of sin that brought swift doom ; ** Till the third ago it waits, Since Laios, heeding not Apollo's oracle, (Though spoken thrice to him (1) The ' Chalyb stranger ' is the sword, thought of as taking its naip* from the Skythian tribe of the Chalybes, between Colchis and Armenia, i'oiurh tlw Tlir&kitUis iiiio Greece. TUK SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. In Pythia's central shrine,) That dying childless, he should save the State. STBOPH. EH. But he by those he loved full rashly swayed, Doom for himself begat, Hi* rnunleier (Edipus, Who dared to sow in field Unholy, whence he sprang, A root of blood-flecked woe. Madness together brought Bridegroom and bride accursed. ANTISTHOPH. TTT. And now the sea of evils pours its flood; This falling, others rise, As with a triple crest, Which round the State's atern roara; And but a bulwark slight, A tower's poor breadth, defends : "* And lest the city fall With its two kings I fear. STBOPH. IV. *And that atonement of the ancient curse Receives fulfilment now ; l *And when they ccme, the evils pass not by. E'en so the wealth of sea-adventurers, When heaped up in excess, Leads but to cargo from the stern thrown out.* AXTISTROPII. IV. For whom of mortals did the Gods so praise, And fellow- worshippers, *And race of those who feed their flocks and herds,* (1) The two brothers, i.e., are set at one again, but it is not in the bonds of friendship, but in those of death. (2) Tiie image meets us again in Agam. 980. Here the thought is, that a man too prosperous is like a ship too heavily freighted. He must part with a portion of his possession in order to save the rest. Not to part with them leads, when the storm rages, to an enforced abandonment and Utter loss. (3) Another reading gives "And race of those who crowd the Agora." 76 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. As much as then they honoured CEdipus, Who from our country's bounds Had driven the monster, murderess of men P STBOPH. V. And when too late he knew, Ah, miserable man ! his wedlock dire, Vexed sore with that dread shame, With heart to madness driven, He wrought a two-fold ill, And with the hand that smote his father's life *Blinded the eyes that might his sons have seen. AXTISTROPH. V. And with a mind provoked By nurture scant, he at his sons did hurl * His curses dire and dark, (Ah, bitter curses those !) That they with spear in hand Should one day share their father's wealth ; and I Fear now lest swift Erinnys should fulfil them. Enter Messenger. Mi-ss. Be of good cheer, ye maidens, mother-reared ; Our city has escaped the yoke of bondage, The boasts of mighty men are fallen low, And this our city in calm waters floats, And, though by waves lashed, springs not any leak. Our fortress still holds out, and we did guard The gates with champions who redeemed their pledge. In the six gateways almost all goes well ; But the seventh gate did King Apollo choose,* (1) This seems to have been one form of the legends as to the cause of the curse which CEdipus had launched upon his sons. An alternative rendering is And with a mind enraged At thought of what they we're whom he had reared, He at his sons did hurl His curses dire and dark. (2) Be., when Eteocles fell, Apollo took his place at the seventh gat% and turned the tide of war in favour of the Thebuus. THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 7J Seventh mighty chief, avenging Laios' want O*. -ounsel on the sons of CEdipus. Chor. What new disaster happens to our city? 1 "* Mesa. The city's saved, but both the royal brothers, . . . Chor. Who ? and what of them ? I'm distraught with fear. Mess. Be calm, and hear : the sons of CEdipus, .... Chor. Oh wretched me ! a prophet I of ill I Mess. Slain by each other, earth has drunk their blood. Chor. Came they to that ? 'Tis dire ; yet tell it me. Mess. Too true, by brother's hand our chiefs are slain. Chor. What, did the brother's hands the brother slay? Mesa. No doubt is there that they are laid in dust. Chor. Thus was there then a common fate for both ? Mess. *Yea, it lays low the whole ill-fated race. Chor. These things give cause for gladness and for tears, 81 Seeing that our city prospers, and our lords, The generals twain, with woll-wrought Skythian steel, Have shared between them ail their store of goods, And now shall have their portion in a grave, Borne on, as spake their father's grievous curse.* Mess. [The city's saved, but of the brother-kings The earth has drunk the blood, each slain by each.] Chor. Great Zeus ! and ye, O Gods I Guardians of this our town, Who save in very deed The towers of Cadmos old, ** Shall I rejoice and shout Over the happy chance That frees our State from harm ; Or weep that ill-starred pair, The war-chiefs, childless and most miserable, Who, true to that ill name Of Polyneikes, died in impious mood, Contending overmuch ? (1) 1 follow in this dialogue the arrangement which Paley adopts from Hermann. 12) There seems an intentional ambiguity. They are " borne OB," btl4 ft u QM the corpses of the dead are borne to the sepulchre. 78 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. STBOPH. Oh dark, and all too true That curse of CEdipus and all his race, 1 Au evil chill is falling on my heart, " And, like a Thyiad wild, Over his grave I sing a dirge of grief, Hearing the dead have died by evil fate, Each in foul bloodshed steeped ; Ah me I Ill-omened is the spear's accord.' ANTISTBOPH. Tt hath wrought out its end, And hath not failed, that prayer the father poured ; And Laios' reckless counsels work till now : I fear me for the State ; The oracles have not yet lost their edge ; O men of many sorrows, ye have wrought This deed incredible ; Not now in word come woes most lamentable. [As the Chorus are speaking, the todies of ETEOCLE8 and POLYNEIKES are brought in solemn procession by Theban Citizens. EPODB. Yea, it is all too clear, The herald's tale of woe comes full in sight ; Twofold our cares, twin evils born of pride, Murderous, with double doom, Wrought unto full completeness all these ills. What shall I say ? What else Are they than woes that make this house their home ? But oh ! my friends, ply, ply with swift, strong gale, That even stroke of hands upon your head, 3 (1) Not here the curse uttered by CKdipus, but that which rested on him and all his kin. There is ppssib'y on allusion to the curse which Pelops is said to have uttered against Laios when ha stole his son Chry- sippos. Comp. v. 837. (3) As in v. 763, we read of the brothers as mnde one in death, so now of the conoord which is wrought out by cumlict, the concord, i.e., of the grave. (3) The Chorus are called on to change their character, and to pasi THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 79 In funeral order, such as evermore O'er Acheron sends on *That bark of State, dark-rigged, accursed its voyage, Which nor Apollo visits nor the sun, 1 On to the shore unseen, The resting-place of all. PSMENE and ANTIGONE are seen approaching in mourn- ing garments, followed by a procession of women wail* ing and lamenting.'] !For see, they come to bitter deed called forth, Ismene and the maid Antigone, To wail their brothers' fall ; With little doubt I deem, That they will pour from fond, deep-bosomed breasts A worthy strain of grief : But it is meet that we, Before we hear their cry, " Should utter the harsh hymn Erinnys loves, And sing to Hades dark The Paean of distress. ye, most evil-fated in your kin, Of all who gird their robes with maiden's band, 1 weep and wail, and feigning know I none, That I should fail to speak My sorrow from my heart. STBOPII. L Semi-Chor. A. Alas ! alas ! Men of stern mood, who would not list to friends, Unwearied in all ills, Clt from the attitude of suppliants, with outstretched arms, to that of mourners at a funeral, beatin stcu b-peciaUy in their treatment of Aristeidaa. PROMETHEUS I30OTD. ARGUMENT. In ihe old time, when Cronos was sovereign of the Gods, Zeus, whom he had begotten, rose up against him, and the Gods wert divided in their counsels, some, the Titans chiefly, siding with the father, and some with tJie son. And Prometheus, the son of Earth or Themis, though one of the Titans, supported Zeus, as did also Okeanos, and by his counsels Zeus obtained the victory, and Cronos was chained in Tartaros, and the Titans buried under mountains, or kept in bonds in Hades. And t/ien Prometheus, seeing the miseries of the race of men, of whom Zeus took little heed, stole the fire which till then had belonged to none but Heph&stos and was used only for the Gods, and gave it to mankind, and taught them many arts whereby tJieir wretchedness was lessened. But Zeus being wroth with Pro- metheus for this deed, sent Hephastos, with his two helpers, Strength and Force, to fetter him to a rock on Caucasos. And in yet another story was the cruelty of the Gods made known. For Zeus loved lo, t/ie daughter of Inachos, king of Argos, and she was haunted by visions of the night, telling her of his passion, and she told her father thereof. And Inachos, tending to the God at Delphi, was told to drive lo forth from her home. And Zeus gave her the horns of a cow, and Hera, who hated her because she was dear to Zeus, sent with her a gadfly that stung her, and gave her no rest, and drove her over many lands. Note. The play is believed to have been the second of a Trilogy, of which the first was Prometheus the Fire-giver, and the third Prowctiicvt Jlramatis PROMETHEUS. OKEANOS. HEPH.E8T08. HERMES. STRENGTH. FORCE. ChoriM of Ocean Nymph? PKOMETHEUS BOUND. SCENE. Skythia, on the heights of Caucasoa. Th JEuxine seen in the distance. Enter HEPH^ESTOS, STRENGTH, and FORCE, leading PROMETHEUS in chains. 1 Strength. Lo ! to a plain, earth's boundary remote, We now are come, the tract as Skythian known, A. desert inaccessible : and now, Hephaestos, it is thine to do the hests The Father gave thee, to these lofty craga To bind this crafty trickster fast in chains X)f adamantine bonds that none can break ; \For he thy choice flower stealing, the bright glory yOf fire that all arts spring from, hath bestowed it (On mortal men. And so for fault like this lie now must pay the Gods due penalty, That he may learn to bear the sovereign rule M Of Zeus, and cease from his philanthropy. Heph. Strength, andthou, O Force, the hest of Zeus, As far as touches you, attains its end, And nothing hinders. Yet my courage fails (1) The scene seems at first an exception to the early conventional rule, which forbade the introduction of a third actor on the Greek stage. But it has been noticed that (1) 1'orce does not speak, and (2) Prometheus does not speak till Strength and Force have retired, and that it is there- fore probable that the whole work of nailing is done on a lay fig-ore or effigy of some kind, and that one of the two who had before taken part in the dialogue then speaks behind it in the character of Prometheus. So the same actor must have appeared in succession as Okeanoa, lo, and 94 PROMETHEUS BOUND. To bind a God of mine own kin by force To this bare rock where tempests wildly sweep ; And yet I needs must muster courage for it : 'Tis no slight thing the Father's words to scorn. thou of Themis [to PKOMETUEUS] wise in counsel son, Full deep of purpose, lo ! against my will, 1 1 fetter theo against thy will with bonds Of bronze that none can loose, to this lone height, Where thou shalt know nor voice nor face of man, But scorching in the hot blaze of the sun, Shalt lose thy skin's fair beauty. Thou shalt long (For starry-mantled night to hide day's sheen, (For sun to melt the rime of early dawn ; And evermore the weight of present ill Shall wear thee down. Unborn as yet is he Who shall release thee : this the fate thou gain'st As due reward for thy philanthropy. For thou, a God not fearing wrath of Gods, In thy transgression gav'st their power to men ; And therefore on this rock of little ease Thou still shalt keep thy watch, nor lying down, Nor knowing sleep, nor ever bending knee ; And many groans and wailings profitless Thy lips shall utter ; for the mind of Zeus Remains inexorable. Who holds a power But newly gained 2 is ever stern of mood. ^treiigth. Let be ! Why linger in this idle pity P Why dost not hate a God to Gods a foe, Who gave thy choicest prize to mortal men ? Ifeph. Strange is the power of kin and intercourse. 8 (1) Prometheus (Forethought] is the son of Themis (RighC) the second occupant of the Pythian Oracle (Eumen. v. 2.) His sympathy with man leads him to impart the gift which raised them out of savage animal life, and for this Zeus, who appears throughout the play as a hard taskmaster, sentences him to fetters. Hepheestos, from horn this fire had been stolen, has a touch of pity for him. Strength, who comes as the servant, not of Hephsestos, but of Zeus himself, acts, as such, with merciless cruelty. (2) The generalised statement refers to Zeus, as having but recently expelled Cronos from his throne in Heaven. (3) Hephsestos, as the great fire-worker, had taught Prometheus to BM the fire which lie afterwards bestowed on men. PROMETHEUS BOUND. 95 Strength. I own it ; yet to slight the Father's words, ** How may that be ? Is not that fear the worse ? Heph. Still art thou ruthless, full of savagery. Strength. There is no help in weeping over him : Spend not thy toil on things that profit not. Heph. O handicraft to me intolerable ! Strength. Why loath' st thou it ? Of these thy present griefs That craft of thine is not one whit the cause. Heph. And yet I would some other had that skill. Strength. *A11 things bring toil except for Gods to reign ; l For none but Zeus can boast of freedom true. 60 Heph. Too well I see the proof, and gainsay not. Strength. Wilt thou not speed to fix the chains on him, Lest He, the Fat her, see thee loitering here ? He^h. Well, here the handcuffs thou may'st see pre- pared. Strength. In thine hands take him. Then with all thy might Strike with thine hammer ; nail him to the rocks. Heph. The work goes on, I ween, and not in vain. Strength. Strike harder, rivet, give no whit of ease : A wondrous knack has he to find resource, Even where all might seem to baffle him. Heph. Lo ! this his arm is fixed inextricably. Strength. Now rivet thou this other fast, that lie May learn, though sharp, that he than Zeus is duller. Heph. No one but he could justly blame my work. Strength. Now drive the stern jaw of the adamant wedge Eight through his chest with all the strength thou hast. Heph. Ah me ! Prometheus, for thy woes I groan. Strength. Again, thou'rt loth, and for the foes of Zeua Thou graanest : take good heed to it lest thou fcJre long- with cause thyself commiserate. Heph. Thou see'st a sight unsightly to our eyes. f i) Peihups, " All might is ours except o'er Gods to rule." 96 PROMETHEUS BOUND. Strength. I see this man obtaining his deserts : " Nay, cast thy breast-chains round about his ribs. Heph. I must needs do it. Spare thine o'er much bid- ding ; Go Ihou below and rivet both his legs. 1 Strength. Nay, I will bid thee, urge thee to thy work. Heph. There, it is done, and that with no long toil. Strength. Now with thy full power fix the galling fetters : Thou hast a stern o'erlooker of thy work. Heph. Thy tongue but utters words that match thy form. 2 Strength. Choose thou the melting mood ; but chide not me For my self-will and wrath and ruthlessness. * Heph. Now let us go, his limbs are bound in chains. Strength. Here then wax proud, and stealing what belongs To the Gods, to mortals give it. What can they Avail to rescue thee from these thy woes ? Falsely the Gods have given thee thy name, Prometheus, Forethought ; forethought thou dost need To free thyself from this rare handiwork. [Exeunt HEPEUESTOS, STRENGTH, and FORCB, leaving PKOMETHEUS on the rock. Prom. 3 Thou firmament of God, and swift-winged winds, Ye springs of rivers, and of ocean waves That smile innumerous ! Mother of us all, M Earth, and Sun's all-seeing eye, behold, 1 pray, what I a God from Gods endure. (1) The words indicate that the effigy of Prometheus, now nailed to the rock, was, as being that of a Titan, of colossal size. (2) The touch is characteristic as showing that here, as in the Eumenides, 2Eschylos relied on the horribleness of the masks, as part of the machinery ol his plays. (3) The silence of Prometheus up to this point was partly, as has been said, consequent on the conventional laws of the Greek drama, but it ia also a touch of supreme insight into the heroic temper. In the presencn of his torturers, the Titan will not utter even a groan. When they ai* gone, he appeals to thu symp.aUy oi PROMETHEUS BOUND. 97 Beheld in what foul case I for tori thousand years Shall struggle in my woe, In these unseemly chains. Such doom the new-made Monarch of the Blest Hath now devised for me. Woe, woe ! The present and the oncoming pang I wail, as I search out The place and hour when end of all these ills Shall dawn on me at last. ** What say I ? All too clearly I foresee The things that come, and nought of pain shall be By me unlooked-for ; but I needs must bear My destiny as best I may, knowing well The might resistless of Necessity. And neither may I speak of this my fate, Nor hold my peace. For I, poor I, through giving Great gifts to mortal men, am prisoner made In these fast letters ; yea, in fennel stalk l I snatched the hidden spring of stolen fire, Which is to men a teacher of all arts, ** Their chief resource. And now this penalty Of that offence I pay, fast riveted In chains beneath the open firmament. Ha! ha! What now ? What sound, what odour floats invisibly P * Is it of God or man, or blendinjr both !' And has one come to this remotest rock To look upon my woes '1 Or what wills he P (1) The legend is from Hesiod, (Theogon. v. 567.) The fennel, or narfhex. eems to have been a large umbelliferous plant, with a large stem filled With a sort of pith, which was used when dry as tinder. Stalks were car- ried as wands (the thyrsi) by the men .and women who joined in Baccha- nalian processions. In modern botany, the name is given to the plant which produces Asafu-tida, and the stem of which, from its resinous character, would burn fieely. and so connect itself with the Promethean myth. On the other hand, the Narthex Asafaetida is found at present only in Persia, Afghanistan, and the I'unjiiub. (2) The ocean nymphs, like other divine ones, would be anointed with ambrosial unguents, and the odour would be wafted before them by the rustling of their wings. This too we may think of as port of the " stag* fleets" of the play. H PROMETHEUS BOUND. Behold me bound, a God to evil doomed, The foe of Zeus, and held In hatred by all Gods ** Who tread the courts of Zeus: And this for my great love, Too great, for mortal men. Ah me ! what rustling sounds Hear I of birds not far ? With the light whirr of wings The air re-echoelh : All that draws nigh to me is cause of fear. 1 Enter Chorus of Ocean Nymphs, with wings, floating in the air. 2 Chor. Nay, fear thou nought : in love All our array of wings In eager race hath come m To this high peak, full hardly gaining o'er Our Father's mind and will ; And the swift-rushing breezes bore me on : For lo ! the echoing sound of blows on iron Pierced to our cave's recess, and put to flight My shamef'ast modesty, And I in unshod haste, on winged car, To thee rushed hit herward. Prom. Ah me ! ah me ! Offspring of Tuthys blest with many a child, ** Daughters of Old Okeanos that rolls Bound all the earth with never-sleeping stream. Behold ye me, and see With what chains fettered fast, I on the topmost crags of this ravine Shall keep my sentry-post unenviable. Chor. I see it, O Prometheus, and a mist (1) The -words are not those of a vaprue terror only. Tha sufferer fcnr^rs thiit his tormentor is to come to him before long on wings, and therefore the sound ns of the flip-lit of birds is fill I of terrors. (2) By some stujre ineuhiinism the Chorus i cumins in the ail' till verse Z80, when, at the request of Prometheus, thtj- aiigat. PROMETHEUS BOUND. 99 Of fear and full of tears comes o'er mine eyes, Thy frame beholding thus, Writhing on these high rocks *** In adamantine ills. New pilots now o'er high Olympos rale, And with new-fashioned laws Zeus reigns, down-trampling right, And all the ancient powers He sweeps away. Prom. Ah ! would that 'neath the Earth, 'neatli Hades too, Home of the dead, far down to Tartaros *** Unfathomable He in fetters fast In wrath had hurled me down : So neither had a God Nor any other mocked at these my woes ; But now, the wretched plaything of the winds, V I suffer ills at which my foes rejoice. Chor. Nay, which of all the Gods Is so hard-hearted as to joy in this ? Who, Zeus excepted, doth not pity thee In these thine ills ? But He, Ruthless, with soul unbent, Subdues the heavenly host, nor will He cease * ** Until his heart be satiate with power, Or some one seize with subtle stratagem The sovran might that so resistless seemed. Prom. Nay, of a truth, though put to evil shame, In massive fetters bound, The Ruler of the Gods Shall yet have need of me, yes, e'en of me, To tell the counsel new That seeks to strip from him His sceptre and his might of sovereignty. PROMETHEUS BOUND. In vain "will He with words Or suasion's honeyed charms Sooth me, nor will I tell Through fear of his stern threats, Ere He shall set me free From these my honds, and make, Of his own choice, amends For all these outrages. Chor. Full rash art thou, and yield'st In not a jot to bitterest form of woe ; Thou art o'er-free and reckless in thy speech : But piercing fear hath stirred My inmost soul to strife ; For I fear greatly touching thy distress, As to what haven of these woes of thine ' Thou now must steer : the son of Cronos hath A stubborn mood and heart inexorable. Prom. I know that Zeus is hard, And keeps the Eight supremely to himself; But then, I trow, He'll bo Full pliant in his will, When Ho is thus crushed down. Then, calming down his mood Of hard and bitter wrath, He'll hasten unto me, As I to him shall haste, For friendship and for peace. Chor. Hide it not from us, tell us all the tale : "For what offence Zeus, having seized thee thus, So wantonly and bitterly insults thee : If the tale hurt thee not, inform thou us. Prom. Painful are these things to me e'en to speak I Painful is silence ; everywhere is woe. For when the high Gods fell on mood of wrath, And hot debate of mutual strife was stirred, Some wishing to hurl Cronos from his throne, That Zeus, forsooth, might reign ; while others strove, Eager that Zeus might never rule the Gods : PROMETHEUS BOUND. IOI Then I, full strongly seeking to persuade The Titans, yea, the sons of Heaven and Earth, Failed of my purpose. Scorning subtle arts, With counsels violent, they thought that they By force would pain full easy mastery. But then not once or twice my mother Themis And Earth, one form though bearing many names,* Had prophesied the future, how 'twould run, That not by strength nor yet by violence, But guile, should those who prospered gain the day. And when in my words I this counsel gave, They deigned not e'en to glance at it at all. And then of all that offered, it seemed best To join my mother, and of mine own will, Not against his will, take my side with Zeus, And by my counsels, mine, the dark deep pit Of Tartaros the ancient Cronos holds, Himself and his allies. Thus profiting By me, the mighty ruler of the Gods ** Repays me with these evil penalties : For somehow this disease in sovereignty Inheres, of never trusting to one's friends.* And since ye ask me under what pretence He thus maltreats me, I will show it you : For soon as He upon his father's throne Had sat secure, forthwith to divers Gods He divers gifts distributed, and his realm Began to order. But of mortal men He took no heed, but purposed utterly To crush their race and plant another new; And, I excepted, none dared cross his will ; But I did dare, and mortal men I freed From passing on to Hades thunder-stricken ; (1) The words leave it uncertain -whether Themis is identified wi*h Earth, or, as in the Kummitles. (v. 2.) di ting-uish (! f -om her. The iLa a a-* a class, then, children of Oi-eanos ai d Chthon (another name fir L*nil or Earth,) are i he kin lied rathe , him the brothers of Pi ometheus. (8) The generalising word- her", as in v. 35, appeal to the Athenian hatred oi uU lhat was represented by the words tyrant and tyranny. IO2 PROMETHEUS BOUND. And therefore am I bound beneath these woes, Dreadful to suffer, pitiable to see : And I, who in my pity thought of men More than myself, have not been worthy deemed To gain like favour, but all ruthlessly I thus am chained, foul shame this sight to Zeus. Chor. Iron- hearted must he be and made of rock ** Who is not me ved, Prometheus, by thy woes : Fain could I wish I ne'er had seen such things, And, seeing them, am wounded to the heart. I'nt'iti. Yea, I am piteous for my friends to see. Chor. Did'st thou not go to farther lengths than this ? From. I made men cease from contemplating death. 1 A Chor. What medicine did'st thou find for that disease ? Prom. Blind hopes I gave to live and dwell with them. Chor. Great service that thou did'st for mortal men ! Prom. And more than that, I gave them fire, yes I. zei Chor. Do short-lived men the flaming fire possess ? Prom. Yea, and i'ull many an art they'll learn from it. Chor. And is it then on charges such as these That Zeus maltreats thee, and no respite gives Of many woes ? And has thy pain no end ? Prom. End there is none, except as pleases Him. Chor. How shall it please ? What hope hast thou P See'st not That thou hast sinned ? Yet to say how thou sinned'st Gives me no pleasure, and is pain to thee. Well ! let us leave these things, and, if we may, Seek out some means to 'scape from this thy woe. *" Prom. 'Tis a light thing for one who has his foot Beyond the reach of evil to exhort And counsel him who suffers. This to me Wat all well known. Yea, willing, willingly (1) The stite desc ibad is that of men \vho " 1 hrough fear of death are ah their lif.'time subject to boi d'jre. hat state, the paient of all 8np rstitiui. fos ere. I tli slavi li awe in which Z us deliph i d. Promc- iu-;us. lpie? ntinfc the active intellect fit' in..in, bet tows new powers, new Interests, new houus, wh.ch at Li.-t iLvert thu.u fro... that icar. PROMETHEUS BOUND. I sinned, nor will deny it. Helping men, I for myself found trouble : yet I thought not That I with such dread penalties as these Should wither here on these high-towering crags, Lighting on this lone hill and ueighbourless. Wherefore wail not for these my present woes, But, drawing uigh, my coming fortunes hear, That ye may learn the whole tale to the end. Nay, hearken, hearken ; show your sympathy With him who suffers now. 'Tis thus that woe, Wandering, now falls on this one, now on that. Chor. Not to unwilling hearers hast thou uttered, Prometheus, thy request, And now with nimble foot abandoning My swiftly rushing car, And the pure aether, path of birds of heaven, *** I will draw near this rough and rocky land, For much do I desire To hear this tale, full measure, of thy woes. Enter OKEA^OS, on a car drawn by a ivingcd grypJton. Okean. Lo, I come to thee, Prometheus, Beaching goal of distant journey, 1 Guiding this my winged course?) By my will, without a bridle ; S And thy sorrows move my pity. Force, in part, I deem, of kindred Leads me on, nor know I any, Whom, apart from kin, I honour " More than thee, in fuller measure. This thou shalt own true and earnest : I deal not in glozing speeches. Come then, tell me how to help thee : Ne'er shalt thou say that one more friendly Is found than unto thee is Okean. Prom. Let be. What boots it ': Thou then too art come il) The home of Okeanos was in the far west, HI the boundary f the great, stream surniuneUiijj the whole world, irom which, he too.c hu 104 PROMETHEUS BOUND. To gaze upon my sufferings. How did'st dare Leaving the stream that bears thy 4 name, and caves Hewn in the living rock, this land to visit, Mother of iron ? What then, art thou come To gaze upon my fall and offer pity ? * Behold this sight : see here the friend of Zeus, Who helped t.o seat him in his sovereignty, With what foul outrage I am crushed by him ! Okean. I see, Prometheus, and I wish to give thee My best advice, all subtle though thou be. Know ihou thyself, 1 and fit thy soul to moods To thee full new. New king the Gods have now ; But if thou utter words thus rough and sharp, Perchance, though sitting far away on high, B0 Zeus yet may hear thee, and his present wrath Seem to thee but as child's play of distress. Nay, thou poor sufferer, quit the rage thou hast, And seek a remedy for these thine ills. A tale thrice-told, perchance, I seem to speak : Lo ! this, Prometheus, is the punishment Of thine o'er lofty speech, nor art thou yet Humbled, nor yieldest to thy miseries, And fain would' st add fresh evils unto these. But thou, if thou wilt take me as thy teacher, " Wilt not kick out against the pricks ; 3 seeing well A monarch reigns who gives account to none. And now I go, and will an effort make, If I, perchance, may free thee from thy woes ; Be still then, hush thy petulance of speech, Or knowest thou not, o'er-clever as thou art, That idle tongues must still their forfeit pay ? Prom. I envy thee, seeing thou art free from blamo Though thou shared'st all, and in my cause wast bold ; s (1) <~>ne of the siyings of the Seven Sages, already recognised and jnoted as a familiar vroverb. (2) See note on Again. 1602. (3) Inlhe mythos, Ukeanos had given hi* daughter Tlesione in mar- riape to Pro etheus after th .- theft of fire, and thus had Men .iiied himself w.tli his transgression. PROMETHEUS BOUND. Nay, let ine be, nor trouble thou thyself ; Thou wilt not, canst not soothe Him ; very hard Is He of soothing. Look to it thyself, Lest thou some mischief meet with in the way. . Okean. It is thy wont thy neighbours' minds to school Far better than thine owu. 1'rom deeds, not words, I draw my proof. But do not draw me back When I. am hasting on, for lo, I deem, I deem that Zeus will grant this boon to me, That I should free thee from these woes of thine. Pram. I thank thee much, yea, ne'er will cease to thank ; For thou no whit of zeal dost lack ; yet take, I pray, no trouble for me ; all in vain Thy trouble, nothing helping, e'en if thou Should'st care to take the trouble. Nay, be still ; Keep out of harm's way ; sufferer though I be, I would not therefore wish to give my woes A wider range o'er others. No, not so : For lo ! my mind is wearied with the grief Of that my kinsman Atlas, 1 who doth stand In the far West, supporting on his shoulders The pillars of the earth and heaven, a burden His arms can ill but hold : I pity too The giant dweller of Kilikian caves, "* Dread portent, with his hundred hands, subdued By force, the mighty Typhon, 2 who arose (1) In the Thengony of Hesiod, (v. 509,) Prometheus and Atlis appear M th" sons of tw > sistt/rs. As other Titans were thought of as buried under volcanoes, so thi . one wa< identified with the mountain which had been seen bv traveller* to Western Africa, or in the seas beyond it, rising like a column t<> support the vault o. heaven. In Herodotos (iv. 174) and all la vv writers, the name is given to the chain of mountains in Lybia, as one time volcanic. Homer ( Odyss. i. 531 represents him as holding the pillars which separate hea-.en from oiuth; nesiod (Thtogon. v. 517) aa himself standing near the Hesperides. (this too points t.^ Teneriffe) sus- tai 1 ing th heavens with his he id and shoulders. (2) Th - volcanic charac.er of the whole of Asia Minor, and the liability to earthquakes which has marked nearly i-very period of its history, led men to connect it also with the traditions o. Uie Titans, some accordingly 106 PROMETHEUS BOUND. 'Gainst all the Gods, with sharp and dreadful jawa Hissing out slaughter, and from out his eyes There flushed the terrihle brightness as of one Who would lay low the sovereignty of Zeus. But Ihe unsleeping dart of Zous came on him, Down-arwooping thunderbolt that breathes out flame, Which from his lofiy boas! ings startled him, For he i' the heart was struck, to ashes burnt, ** His strength all thunder- shattered; and he lies A helpless, powerless carcase, near the strait Of the great sea, last pressed beneath the roots Of ancient JEtna, where on highest peak Hephrestos sits and smites his iron red-hot, From whence hereafter streams of fire shall burst, 1 Devouring with fierce jaws the golden plains Of fruitful, fair Sikelia. Such the wrath That Typhon shall belch forth with bursts of storm, Hot, breathing fire, and unapproachable, Though burnt and charred by thunderbolts of Zeus. 3tt Not inexperienced art thou, nor dost need My teaching : save thyself, as thou know'st how; And I will drink my fortune to the dregs, Till from his wrath the mind of Zeus shall rest. 8 Okean. Know'st thou not this, Prometheus, even this, Of wrath's disease wise words the healers are ? Prom. Yea, could one soothe the troubled heart in time, Nor seek by force to tame the soul's proud flesh. Okean. But in due forethought with bold daring blent, What mischief see'st tho\i lurking ? Tell me this. 39 Prom. Toil bootless, and simplicity full fond. placing the home of Typhon in Phrygia, some near Sardis, some, as here, in Kilikia. Hesiod ( '] heognn. v. 820) describes Typhon (or Typhoeus) oa a serpent-monster hissing out fire ; Pindai (J'yt/t. i. 30, viii. 21) as lying with his head and i>reast crushed bei.eath the weight of 21tnu, and his feet extending 1 ,o fumse. (1) The words point pr bably to an eruption, then fresh ia mtn'f memorie-, which ad happened B.C. 476. (2) Bv sonic editors this opoech from "No, not so," to " th-u knotr ;t tow," is assigned to ULt-ouus. PROMETHKUS BOUND. Okean. Let me, I pray, that sickness suffer, since Tis best being wise to have not wisdom's show. From. Nay, but this error shall b deemed as mine. Okean. Thy word then clearly sends mo home at once. Prom. Yea, lest thy pity for me make a foe. . . . Okean. What ! of that new king on his mighty throne * Prom. Look to it, lest his heart be vexed with thee. Okean. Thy fate, Prometheus, teaches me that lesson. Prom. Away, withdraw ! keep thou the mind thou hast. 40 Okean. Thou urgest me who nm in act to haste ; For this my bird four-footed flaps with wings The clear path of ilia eether; and full fain Would he bend knee in his own stall at home. [Exit. STKOPH. L Chor. I grieve, Prometheus, for thy dreary fate, Shedding from tender eyes The dew of plenteous tears ; With streams, as when the watery south wind blows, My cheek is wet ; iie For lo ! these things are all unenviable, And Zeus, by his own laws his sway maintaining, Shows to the elder Gods A mood of haughtiness. ANTISTROPH. I. And all the country echoeth with the moan, And poureth many a tear For that magnific power Of ancient days far-seen that thou did'st share With those of one blood sprung ; And all the mortal men who hold the plain * Oi holy Asia as their land of sojourn, They grieve in sympathy For thy woes lamentable. STROPIT. n. And they,- the maiden band who find their home On distant Colchian coasts, 108 PEOilETHEUS BOUND. Fearless of fight, 1 Or Skythian horde in earth's remotest clim, By far Maeotic lake ; t AXTISTBOPH. IL *And warlike glory of Arabia's tribes,' Who nigh to Caucasus ** In rock-fort dwell, An army fearful, with sharp-pointed spear Baging iii war's array. STBOPH. TTT. One other Titan only have I seen, One other of the Gods, Thus bound in woes of adamantine strength- Atlas, who ever groans Beneath the burden of a crushing might, The out-spread vault of heaven. ANTISTBOPH. m. And lo ! the ocean billows murmur loud *** In one accord with him ; * The sea-depths groan, and Hades' swarthy pit Re-echoeth the sound, And fountains of clear rivers, as they flow, Bewail his bitter griefs. Prom. Think not it is through pride or stiff self-will That I am silent. But my heart is worn, Self-contemplating, as I see myself Thus outraged. Yet what other hand than mine (1) These are, of course, the Amazons, who were believed to have oome through Thiake from the Tauric Chersones'-s, and had left traces of their name ;md habits in the Attic traditions of Theseus. (2) Beyond the plains of Skythia, and the l;ike Mseotis (the sea of Azov) there would be the great river Okeanos, which was belie . ed to flow round the earth. (3) Sarmatia has been conjectured instead of Arabia. No Greek author sanct ons the extension of the latter name to so remote a region as that north of the Caspian. (4) The Greek leaves the ob ; ect of th- 1 sympathy undefined, but it eems better to refer it to that which Atlas receives from the wa. c te of waters around, and the dark world bent-.-ith, than to the pity shown to Prometheus. This had already been dwelt oil iii li PROMETHEUS BOUND. IO9 Gave these young Gods in fulness all their gifts ? But these I speak not of ; for I should tell To you that know them. But those woes of men, 1 ** List ye to them, how they, before as babes, By me were roused to reason, taught to think ; And this I say, not finding fault with men, But showing my good-will in all I gave. For first, though seeing, all in vain they saw, And hearing, heard not rightly. But, like forms Of phantom- dreams, throughout their life's whole length They muddled all at random ; did not know Houses of brick that catch the sunlight's warmtli, Nor yet the work of carpentry. They dwelt In hollowed holes, like swarms of tiny ants, ** In sunless depths of caverns ; and they had No certain signs of winter, nor of spring Flower-ladeu, nor of summer with her fruits ; But without counsel fared thoir whole life long, Until I showed the risings of the stars, And settings hard to recognise. 2 And I Found Number for them, chief device of all, *Groupings of letters, Memory's handmaid that, And mother of the Muses. 3 And I first Bound in the yoke wild steeds, submissive made ** Or to the collar or men's limbs, that so They might in man's place bear his greatest toils ; And horses trained to love the rein I yoked To chariots, glory of wealth's pride of state ; * Nor was it any one but I that found (1) The passage that follows [has for modern palaeontologists the inte- rest of coinciding with their views as to the progress of human society, and trie condition of mankind during what has been called the " Stone * period. Comp. Lucretius, v. 955-984. (2) Comp. Mr. Blakesiey's note on Herod, ii. 4, as showing that here there was the greater risk of faulty observation. (3) Another reading gives perhaps a better sense " Memory, handmaid true And mother of the Muses." (4) In '"'reece, as throughout the East, the ox was used for all agricul- tural labours, the horse by the noble awl the rich, either in war chariot*, or stately processions, o: in chariot races in the great Barnes. IIO PROMETHEUS BOUND. Sea-crossing, canvas-winged cars of ships: Such rare designs inventing (wretched me !) For mortal men, I ; et have no device 15y which to free myself from this my woe. 1 Chor. Foul shame thou sufferest: of thy sense be- reaved, * ' Thou errest greatly : and, like leech unskilled, Thou losest heart when smitten with disease, And know'st not how to find the remedies Wherewith to heal thine own soul's sicknesses. Prom. Hearing what yet remains ihou'lt wonder more, What arts and what resources I deviled : And this the chief: if any one fell ill, There was no help for him, nor healing food, Nor unguent, nor yet potion ; but for want Of drugs they wasted, till I showed to them The blendinyrs of all mild medicaments, 2 * 90 Wherewith they ward the attacks of sickness sore. 1 gave them many modes of prophecy ; 3 And I first taught them what dreams needs must prove True visions, and made known the ominous sounds Full hard to know ; and tokens by the way, And flights of taloned birds I clearly marked, Those on the right propitious to mankind. And those sinister, and what form of life They each maintain, and what their enmities Each with the other, and their loves and friendships ; "^ And of the inward parts the plumpness fcmooth, (1) Compare with this the account of the inventions of Falamedes in Sophocles, Fragm. 379. (2i Herf we can recognise the knowledge of one who had studied in the schools of Pythagoras, or had at any rate picked up their terminology. A more immediate connexion mav perhaps be traced with the influence of Epimenides, who was said to have spent many rears in searching out the healing virtu s of plants, and to have written books about them. (3) The lines that follow form almost a manna, of the art of divinatior as then practised. The "ominou- sounds" include ch.ince words, strai ge cries, nny unexpected utterance that conn cted itself with men'i feai s for the future. The flights of birds were watched by t ;> e diviner as he faced the north, and s > the region on the right h:md was that of the sunrise, light, blessedness ; on the left there were dai kness and gloom and death. PROMETHEUS BOUND. Ill And with what colour they the Gods would please, And the streaked comeliness of gall and liver : And with burnt limbs enwrapt in fat, and chine, I led men on to art full difficult : And I gave eyes to omens drawn from fire, Till then dim-visioned. So far then for this. And 'neath the earth the hidden boons for men, Bronze, iron, silver, gold, who else could say " That he, ere I did, found them ? None, I know, Unless he fain would babble idle words. In one short word, then, loai'ii the truth condensed, All arts of mortals from Prometheus spring. Clior. Nay, bo not thou to men so over-kind, While thou thyself art in sore evil case ; For I am sanguine that thou too, released From bonds, shalt be as strong as Zeus himself. Prom. It is not thus that Fate's decree is fixed ; But I, long crushed with twice ten thousand woes *** And bitter pains, shall then escape my bonds ; Art is far weaker than Necessity. Chor. Who guides the helm, then, of Necessity P Prom. Fates triple-formed, Eriunyes unforgetting. Chor. Is Zeus, then, weaker in his might than these ? Prom. Not even He can 'scape the thing decreed. Chor. What is decreed for Zeus but still to reign P Prom. Thoumay'st no further learn, ask thou no more. Chor. 'Tis doubtless some dread secret which thou hidest. Prom. Of other theme make mention, for the time K * Is not yet come to utter this, but still It must be hidden to the uttermost ; For by thus keeping it it is that I Escape my bondage foul, and these my pains. STKOPH. L Chor. Ah ! no'er may Zeus the Lord, Whose sovran sway rules all, His strength in conflict set Ill PROMETHKUS BOUND. Against my feeble will ! Nor may I fail to serve The Gods with holy least Of whole burnt-otferiugs, Where the stream ever flows That bears my father's name, The great Okeanos ! Nor may I sin in speech ! May this grace more and more Sink deep into my soul And never fade away I ASTIBTBOPH. L Sweet is it in strong hope To spend long years of life, With bright and cheering joy Our heart's thoughts nourishing. I shudder, seeing thee Thus vexed and harassed sore By twice ten thousand woes ; For thou in pride ot heart, Having no fear of Zeus, In thine own obstinacy, Dost show for mortal men, Prometheus, love o'erinuch. STBOPH. n. See how that boon, dear friends, For thee is bootless found. Say, where is any help ? What aid from mortals comes P Hast thou not seen this brief and powerless life, Fleeting as dreams, with which man's purblind race Is fast in fetters bound ? Never shall counsels vain Of mortal men break through The harmony of Zeus. ANTISTROPH. n. This lesson have I learnt J&OMKTHKUS BOUND. II] Beholding thy sad fate, Prometheus ! Other strains Come back upon my a hid, When I sang wedding hymns around thy bath, And at thy bridal bed, when thou did'st take In wedlock's holy bands One of the same sire born, Our own Hesione, Persuading her with gifts As wife to share thy couch. Enter Io inform like a fair woman with a heifer' I horrw, 1 fo/lowtd by the Spectre of ARGOS. Io. What land is this? What people? Whom shall I Say that I see thus vexed With bit and curb of rock P For what oll'ence dost thou Bear fatal punishment ? Tell me to what far land I've wandered here in woe. Ah mo ! ah mo ! Again the gadfly stings me miserable. Spectre of Argos, thou, the earth-born one Ah, keep him off, Earth ! I fear to look upon that herdsman dread, * Him with ten thousand eyes : Ah Io ! he cometh with his crafty look, Whom Earth refuses even dead to hold ; * (1) 80 lo was represented, we are told, by Greek sculptors, (Herod, ii. 41.) as Isis w.is by those of- Egypt. Tiie points ot cont:ict between the myt.i of Io and that bf Prometheus, as adopted, or perhaps developed, by JKschylos, are (1) that from er the destined deliverer of the chained Tit n is to come ; (2) that both were suffering from the cruelty of Zeus ; (Ifj that the wanderings of lo gave scope for the wild tales of far coun- tries on which the imagination of the Athenians fed greedily. But, as the Suppliants may serve to show , the story itself had a strange fascina- tion for hiiu. In the birth of Epaphos, and Jo's release from ner frenzy, he saw, it may be, a reconciliation of what had seemed hard to reconcile, * solution of the problems of the world, like in kind to that which wag hadowed forth in the lost Prometheus Unbound. (2) Arpos had been slain by Hermes, and his eyes transferred by Han to the tail of the peacock, and that bird was thenceiorth sacred to her. I PROMETHEUS BOUND. But coming from beneath lie hunts mo miserable, And drives me famished o'er the sea-beach Rand. STBOPH. And still his waxened reed-pipe soundeth clear A soft and slumberous strain ; O heavens ! ye Gods 1 ** Whither do these long wanderings lead me on? For what offence, O e=on of Cronos, what, Hast thou thus bound mo fast In these great miseries ? All me ! ah me ! And why with terror of the gadfly's sting Dost thou thus vex me, frenzied in my soul? Burn me with fire, or bury me in earth, Or to wild sea-beasts give me as a prey t Nay, grudge me not, O King, An answer to my prayers : " Enough my many-wjindeivd wanderings Have exercised my -soul, Nor have I power to lc j am How to avert the woe. (To Promethnis}. Hear'st thou the voice of maiden crowned with horns ? Prom. Surely I heard the maid by gadfly driven, Daughter of Inachos, who wanned the heart Of Zeus with love, and now through Hera's hate Is tried, perforce, with wanderings over-long ? AXTISTBOPH. lo. How is it that thou speak'st my father's name ? Tell me, the suffering one, " Who art thou, who, poor wretch, Who thus so truly nam'st me miserable, And tell'st the plague from Heaven, Which with its haunting stings Wears me to death ? Ah woe ! And I with famished and unseemly bounds Rush madly, driven by Hera's jealous craft. PROMETHEUS BOUND. Ah, vrho of all tliat suffer, bom to woe, Have trouble like the pain that I endure? But thou, make clear to me What yet for ine remains, What remedy, what healing for my pangs. Show me, if thou dost know: Speak out and toll to me, The maid by wanderings vexed. Prom. I will say plainly all thou seek'st to know; Not in dark tangled riddles, but plain speech, As it is meet that friends to friends should speak ; Thou see'st Prometheus who gave fire to men. ** lo. thou to men as benefactor known. Why, poor Prometheus, sufferest thou this pain? Prom. I have but now mine own woes ceased lo wail. lo. Wilt thou not then bestow this boon on me ? Prom. Say what thou seflk'st, for I will tell thee all. In. Tell me, who fettered thee in this ravine ? Prom. The counsel was of Zeus, the hand Hephsestos*. I<>. Of what offence dost thou the forfeit pay ? Prom. Thus much alone am I content to tell. lo. Tell me, at least, besides, what end shall come e * To my drear wanderings ; when the time shall be. Prom. Not to know this is better than to know. lo. Nay, hide not from me what I have to boar. Prom. It is not that I grudge the boon to thee. lo. Why then delayest thou to tell the whole ? Prom. Not from ill will, but loth to vex thy soul. lo. Nay, care thou not beyond what pleases me. Prom. If thou desire it I must speak. Hear then. Chor. Not yet though ; grant me share of pleasure too, Let us first ahk the tale of her great woe, **$ While she unfolds her life's consuming chances; Her future sufferings let her learn from thee. Prom. 'Tis thy work, To, to grant these their wish, On other grounds and as thy father's kin : l (I) luachos the father of lo (identified with the Arrive river of the earn* name) was, like all rivers, a so of Okeanos, and therefore brother to UM nyn phs whr* had coine to see Prometheus. Il6 PROMETHEUS BOUND. For to bewail and moan one's evil chance, Here where one trusts to gain a pitying tear From those who hear, this is not labour lost. Jo. I know not how to disobey your wish ; So ye shall learn the whole that ye desire In speech full clear. And yet I blush to tell ** The storm that came from God, and brought the loss Of maiden face, what way it seized on me. For nightly vis ons coming evermore Into my virgin bower, sought to woo me With glozing words. " O virgin greatly blest, Why art thou s H 'll a virgin when thou might'st Attain to highest wedlock ? For with dart Of passion for thee Zeus doth glow, and fain Would make thee his. And thou, O chLd, spurn not The bed of Zeus, but go to Lerna's field, * T * Where feed thy father's flocks and herda, That so the eye of Zeus may find repose From this his craving." With such visions I Was haunted every evening, till 1 dared To tell my father all these drenms of night, And he to Pytho and Dodona sent Full many to consult the Gods, that he Might learn what deeds and words would please Heaven's lords. And they came bringing speech of oracles Shot with dark sayings, dim and hard to know. At last a clear word came to Inachos Charging him plainly, and commanding him To thrust Die from my country and my home, To stray at large l to utmost bounds of earth ; And, should he gainsay, that the fiery bolt Of Zeus should come and sweep away his race. And he, by Losias' oracles induced, w*in^ti wiicn.- i IK .v iiiM-'i. i jic inic vi iv, nn uif t 'iiuc utrvunru IAJ /^t'US 8Q animalised in form, was thus shadowed forth in the very language of the Oracle PROMETHEUS BOUND. 117 Thrust me. against his will, against mine too, And drove me from my home ; but spite of all, Tho curb of Zeus constrained him this to do. *" And then forthwith my face and mind were changed ; And horned, as ye see me, stung to the quick By biting gadfly, I with maddened leap Hushed to Kerchneia's fair and limpid stream, And fount of Lerna. 1 And a giant herdsman, Argos, full rough of temper, fo' lowed me, With many an eye beholding, on my track : And him a sudden and unlooked-for doom Deprived of life. And I, by gadfly stung, By scourge from Heaven am driven from land to land. 7 * What has been done thou hearest. And if thou Can'st tell what yet remains of woe, declare it; Nor in thy pity soothe me with false words ; For hollow words, I deem, are worst of ills. Chor. Away, away, let be : Ne'er thought I that such tales Would ever, ever come unto mine ears ; Nor that such terrors, woes, and outrages, Hard to look on, hard to bear, 7lt Would chill my soul with shai'p goad, double-edged. Ah fate! Ah fate ! I shudder, seeing lo's fortune strange. Prom. Thou art too quick in groaning, full of fear : Wait thou a while until thou hear the rest. Chvr. Speak thou and tell. Unto the sick 'tis sweet Clearly to know what yet remains of pain. Prom. Tour former wish ye gained full easily. Your first desire was to learn of her "* The tale she tells of her own sufferings ; Now therefore hear' the woes that yet remain For this poor maid to bear at llera's hands. And thou, O child of Inachos ! take heed (t) Lerm was a lake near the mouth of the fnachoo close to the aea. Kerchneia may perhaps be identified with the Ku.Lrti lathings." The thought underlying the legend may be taken either as a distortion of some primi- tive tradition, or as one of the " unconscious prophecies " of heathenism. The deliverer is not to be born after the common manner of men, and is to have a divine as well as a human p-irentnge. (3) Kee the argument of t.ie S>ippli Herm. fool, take heart, take heart at last in time, To form right thoughts for these thy present woes. Prom. Like one who soothes a wave, thy speech in vain Vexes my soul. But deem not thou that I, Fearing the will of Zeus, shall e'er bocome PROMETHEUS BOUND. 129 As womanised in mind, or shall entreat Him whom I greatly loathe, with upturned hand, In woman's fashion, from these bonds of mine To set me free. Far, far am I from that. Ilerm. It seems that I, saying much, shall speak in vain; For thou in nought by prayers art pacified, Or softened in thy heart, but like a colt Fresh harnessed, thou dost champ thy bit, and strive, And fight against the reins. Yet thou art stilf In weak device ; for self-will, by itself, In one who is not wise, is less than nought. Look to it, if thou disobey my words, How great a storm and triple wave of ills, 1 Not to be 'scaped, shall come on thee ; for first, With thunder and the levin's blazing flash The Father this ravine of rock shall crush, And shall thy carcase hide, and stern embrace Of stony arms shall keep thee in thy place. 1 ** 1 And having traversed space of time full long, Thou shalt come back to light, and then his hound, The winged hound of Zeus, the ravening eagle, Shall greedily make banquet of thy flesh, Coming all day an uninvited guest, And glut himself upon thy liver dark. And of that anguish look not for the end, Before some God shall come to bear thy woes, And will to pass to Hades' sunless realm, And the dark cloudy depths of Tartaros.* 105 Wherefore take heed. No feigned boast is thi, (1) Either a mere epithet of intensity, as in onr "thrice blest," or rising from the supposed fcict that every third wave was larg-er and more impetuous than the others, like the Jtuctm decutnama of the Latins, or from the sequence of three great waves which some have noted as a com- mon ph< notm-non in storms. (2) Here apun we have a strange shadowing forth of the mystery of Atonement, and what we have learnt to cull vicarious " satisfaction. )n the later leg-end, Cheiron, suffering from the agony of his wounds, re- ig-ns his immortality. >tnrl submits to dieiu place of the ever-living dieatl 1 to which I'romethua was doomed. X PROMETHEUS BOUND. But spoken all too truly ; for the lipa Of Zeus know not to speak a lying speech, But will perform each single "word. And thou, Search well, be wise, nor think that self-willed pride Shall ever better prove than counsel good. Chor. To us doth Hermes seem to utter words Not out of season ; for he bids thee quit Thy self-willed pride and seek for counsel good. Hearken thou to him. To the wise of soul It is foul shame to sin persistently. Prom. To me who knew it all He hath this message borne ; And that a foe from foes Should suffer is not strange. Therefore on me be hurled The sharp-edged wreath of fire ; And let heaven's vault be stirred With thunder and the blasts Of fiercest winds ; and Earth From its foundations strong, E'en to its deepest roots, Let storm-wind make to rock ; And let the Ocean wave, With wild and foaming surge, Be heaped up to the paths Where move the stars of heaven. ; And to dark Tartaros Let Him my carcase hurl, With mighty blasts of force : Yet me He shall not slay. Herm. Such words and thoughts from one Brain-stricken one may hear. What space divides his state From frenzy ? What repose Hath he from maddened rage ? But ye who pitying stand And share his bitter griefs, Quickly from hence depart, PROMETHEUS BOUND. I|J Lest the relentless roar Of thunder stun your souL Chor, With other words attempt To counsel and persuade, And I will hear : for now Thou hast this word thrust in That we may never bear. How dost thou bid me train My soul to baseness vile P With him I will endure Whatever is decreed. Traitors I've learnt to hate, Nor Is there any plague * That more than this I loathe Herm. Nay then, remember y* What now I say, nor blame Your fortune : never say That Zeus hath cast you down To evil not foreseen. Not so ; ye cast yourselves : For now with open eyes, Not taken unawares, In Ate's endless net Ye shall entangled be By folly of your own. Bli [A pause, and then flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. 1 Prom. Yea, now in very deed, No more in word alone, The earth shakes to and fro, And the loud thunder's voice Bellows hard by, and blaze (1) It is noticeable that both .SIschylos and Sophocles havs left ru tra- gedies which end in a thunderstorm as an element of effect. But the contrast between the Prometheus and the (Edipus at Oolonos as to the im- pression left in the one case of serene reconciliation, and in the other of Violent antagonism, is hardly less striking th.m the resemblance in th outward phenomena, which are common to the two. FKOMKTHEUS BOUND. The flashing levin-fires ; And tempests whirl the dust, And gusts of all wild winds On one another leap, In wild conflicting blasts, And sky with sea is blent r Such is the storm from Zeus That comes as working fear, In terrors manifest. O Mother venerable I O JEther 1 rolling round The common light of all, See'st thou what wrongs I bear? THE SUPPLIANTS. ARGUMENT. , after many wanderings, had found refuge in j^gypt, ant, having been touched by Zeus, had given birth to Epaphos, it came to past that he and his descendants ruled over the region of Canopos, near one of tJie seven mouths of Neilos. And in the Jifth generation there were two brothers, Danaos and JEyyptos, the sons of Belos, and the former had fifty daughters and the latter fifty sons, and JSgyptos sought the daughters of Danaos in marriage for his sons. And they, looking on the r.wi'iage as unholy, and hating those who wooed them, took fii-jhi and came to Argot, where Pelasgos then ruled as king, *? to the land whence lo, from whom, they sprang, had come. And thither the sont of AZgyptot followed them in hot pursuit. Jlramalia Jltrscm*. PELASGOS, foV20 of Argon, Herald. Choru$ of the daughters of LIANAOS. THE SUPPLIANTS. SCENE. Argos, the entrance of the gates. Statues oj Zzus, ARTEMIS, and other Gods, placed against the watts. [Enter Chorus of the Daughters of DANAOS, 1 in the dress of Egyptian women, with the houghs of suppliants in their hands, and fillets of white wool twisted round them, chanting as they move in processicn to take up their position round the thymek. Zeus, the God of Suppliants, kindly Look on this our band of wanderers, That from banks at mouths of Neilos, Banks of finest sand, departed 1 * Yea, we left the region sacred, Grassy plain on Syria's borders, 8 Not for guilt of blood to exile By our country's edict sentenced, But with free choice, loathing wedlock, Fleeing marriage-rites unholy "With the children of 2Egyptos. And our father Danaos, ruler, Chief of council, chief of squadrons, Playing moves on fortune's draught-board,* (1) The daughters of Danaos arc always represented as fifty in number. It seems probable, however, that the vocal chorus was limited to twelve, the others appearing as mutes. (2) The alluvial deposit of the Delta. <8) Syria is used obviously with a certain geographical vagueness, as including all that we know as Palestine, and the wilderness to the south of it, and so as conterminous with Egypt. (4) Elsewhere in 2Eschylos (Agam. 33, Fr. 132) we trace allusion to gamea played with dice. Here we have a reference to one, the details of which 138 THE SUPPLIANTS. Choso what seemed the best of evils, Through the salt ^ea-waves to hasten, Steering to the land of Argos, Whence our race has risen to greatness ; Sprung, so honsts it, from the heifer Whom the stinging gadfly harassed, By the touch of Zeus love-breathing: * And to what land more propitious Could we come than this before us, * Holding in our hand the branches Suppliant, wreathed with white wool fillets P O State ! O land ! O water gleaming 1 Ye the high Gods, ye the awful, In the dark the graves still guarding ; Thou too with them, Zeus Preserver,* Guardian of the just man's dwelling, Welcome with the breath of pity, Pity as from these shores wafted, TJs poor women who are suppliants. And that swarm of men that follow, Haughty offspring of .2Egyptos, * Ere they set their foot among you On this silt-strown shore, 3 oh, send them Seaward in their ship swift-rowing ; There, with whirlwind tempest-driven, There, with lightning and with thunder, There, with blasts that bring the storm-rain, May they in the fierce sea perish, Ere they, cousin-brides possessing, Eest on marriage-beds reluctant, Which the voice of right denies them I n not accurately known to us, but which seems to hare been analogous to draughts or chess. (1) See the whole story, given as in prophecy, in the Prometheus, v. 865-880. (2) The invocation is addressed (I) to the Olympian Gods in the brightness of heaven ; (2) to the Chthonian deities in the darkness belo\r the earth ; (3) to Zeus the 1-reserver, as the supreme Lord of both. (3) An Athenian nudience would probably recognise in this a descrip- tion of the swampy maidows near the coast of Lerna. The descendant* of To had como to the very spot where the tragic history of their ancestor* bed had its onyiii. THE SUPPLIANTS. STKOPH. L And now I call on him, the Zeus-sprung steer, 1 * Our true protector, far beyond the sea, Child of the heifer-foundress of our line, Who cropped the flowery mead, Born of the breath, and named from touch of Zeus. *And lo ! the destined time *Wrought fully with the name, And she brought forth the " Touch-born," Epaphoa. AJJTISTBOPH. I. And now invoking him in grassy fields, * Where erst his mother strayed, to dwellers hero Telling the tale of all her woes of old, I surest pledge shall give ; And others, strange beyond all fancy's dream, Shall yet perchance be found; And in due course of time Shall men know clearly all our history, STBOPH. II. And if some augur of the land be near, Hearing our piteous cry, Sure he will deem he hears The voice of Tereus' bride,* Piteous and sad of soul, The nightingale sore harassed by the kite. * Asnsr&ofB. TL, *For she, driven back from wonted haunts and streams,* Mourns with a strange new plaint The home that she has lost, And wails her son's sad doom, How he at her hand died, Meeting with evil wrath unmotherly ; (1) The invocation passes on to Epaphos, as a guardian deity, able and willing to succour his afflicted children. (2) Philomela. See the tale as given in the notes to Agam. 1113. (8) " Streams," aa flowing through the shady solitude of the grovel Vfaich the nightingale frequented. I4O THE SUPPLIANTS. BTEOPH. HL E'en so do I, to wailing all o'er-given, In plaintive music of Ionian mood, 1 *Vex the soft cheek on Neilos' banks that bloomed, And heart that bursts in tears, And pluck the flowers of lamentations loud, Not without fear of friends, * *Lest none should care to help This flight of mine from that mist-shrouded snore. ANTISTBOPH. HI. But, O ye Gods ancestral ! hear my prayer, Look well upon the justice of our cause, Nor grant to youth to gain its full desire Against the laws of right, But with prompt hate of lust, our marriage bless. *Even for those who come As fugitives in war The altar serves as shield that Gods regard. STBOPH. IV. May God good issue give I * And yet the will of Zeus is hard to scan : Through all it brightly gleams, E'en though in darkness and the gloom of chanoo For us poor mortals wrapt. ASTISTBOPH. IV. Safe, by no foil tripped up, The full- wrought deed decread by brow of Zeus ; For dark with shadows stretch The pathways of the counsels of hia heart, And difficult to see. STBOPH. V. And from high-towering hopes He hurieth down * To utter doom the heir of mortal birth ; (1) "Ionian," as soft and elegiac, in contrast with the more military character of Dorian music. (2) In the Greek the paronomasia turns npon the supposed etymological connexion between #6eandri0///u. I have here, as elsewhere, attempted an analogous rather than identical jeu de toot. THE SUPPLIANTS. Yet sets He in array No forces violent ; Ail that Gods work is effortless and calm: Seated on holiest throne, Thence, though we know not how, He works His perfect will. ANTISTBOPH. V. Ah, let him look on frail man's wanton pride, With which the old stock burgeons out anew, By love for me constrained, In counsels ill and rash, * And in its frenzied, passionate resolve Finds goad it cannot shun ; But in deceived hopes, Shall know, too late, its woe. STBOPB. VI. Such bitter griefs, lamenting, I recount, With cries shrill, tearful, deep, (Ah woe ! ah woe !) That strike the ear with mourner's woe-fraught cry, Though yet alive, I wail mine obsequies ; Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff, 1 I greet (our alien speech Thou knowest well, O land,) And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate, On robe of linen and Sidonian veiL AJITMTROPH. VL But to the Gods, for all things prospering well, When death is kept aloof, Gifts votive come of right. Ah woe ! Ah woe ! Oh, troubles dark, and hard to understand I (1) The Greek word which I have translated ' bluff" was one not familiar to Attic ears, and was believed to be of Kyrenean origin. ^schrlos accordingly puts it into the lips of the daughters of Danaos, am characteristic more or less of the " alien speech " of the land from which they came. THE SUPPLIANTS. Ah, thither will these waters carry me P Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff, M> I greet (our alien speech Thou knowest well, O land,) And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate, On robe of linen and Sidonian veil. STBOPH. VII. The oar indeed and dwelling, timber-wrought, With sails of canvas, 'gainst the salt sea proof Brought me with favouring gales, By stormy wind unvexed ; Nor have I cause for murmur. Issues good May He, the all-seeing Father, grant, that, I, ** Great seed of Mother dread, In time may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, My suitor's marriage-bed. ANTISTBOPH. VTI. And with a will that meets my will may She, The unstained child of Zeus, on me look down, *Our Artemis, who guards The consecrated walls ; And with all strength, though hunted down, uncaught, May She, the Virgin, me a virgin free, ^ Great seed of Mother dread, That I may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, My suitor's marriage-bed. STKOPH. VTH. But if this may not be, We, of swarth sun-burnt race, Will with our suppliant branches go to him, Zeus, sovereign of the dead, 1 The Lord that welcomes all that come to him, Dying by twisted noose ** (11 So in T. 235 Danaos speaks of the " second Zeus" who sit as Judge in Hades. The feeling to which the Chorus gives utterance is that of "Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheron ta movebo." THE SUPPLIANTS. 143 If -wo the grace of Gods Olympian miss. By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst lo virulent, The Gods' wrath seeks us out, And I know well the woe Comes from thy queen who reigns in heaven victorious ; For after stormy wind The tempest needs must rage. ANTISTBOPH. VIII. And then shall Zeus to words Unseemly be exposed, Having the heifer's offspring put to shame, ** Whom He himself begat, And now his face averting from our prayers: Ah, may he hear on high, Tea, pitying look and hear propitiously I By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst lo virulent, The Gods' wrath seeks us out, And I know well the woe Comes from thy queen, who reigns in heaven victorious ; For after stormy wind 17 The tempest needs must rage, Danaos. My children, we need wisdom ; lo ! ye came With me, your father wise and old and true, As guardian of your voyage. Now ashore, With forethought true I bid you keep my words, As in a tablet-book recording them : I see a dust, an army's voiceless herald, Nor are the axles silent as they turn ; And I descry a host that bear the shield, And those that hurl the javelin, marching on With horses and with curved battle-cars. Perchance they are the princes of this land, ** Come on the watch, as having news of us ; But whether one in kindly mood, or hot With anger fierce, leads on this great array, It is, my children, best on all accounts To take your stand hard by this hill of Gods 144 THE SUPPLIANTS. Who rulo o'er conflicts. 1 Better far than towers Are altars yea, a shield impenetrable. But with all speed approach the shrine of Zeus, The God of mercy, in your left hand holding The suppliants' boughs wool-wreathed, in solemn guise,* And greet our hosts as it is meet for us, *** Coming as strangers, with all duteous words Kindly and holy, telling them your tale Of this your flight, unstained by guilt of blood ; And with your speech, let mood not over-bold, Nor vain nor wanton, shine from modest brow And calm, clear eye. And be not prompt to speak, Nor full of words ; the race that dwelleth here Of this is very jealous : ? and be mindful Much to concede ; a fugitive thou art, A stranger and in want, and 'tis not meet That those in low estate high words should speak. Chor. My father, to the prudent prudently ** Thou speakest, and my task shall be to keep Thy goodly precepts. Zeus, our sire, look on us ! Dan. Yea, may He look with favourable eye ! Cher. I fain would take my seat not far from thee. [Chorus moves to the altar not far from DANAOS. Dan. Delay not then ; success go with your plan. Chor. Zeus, pity us with sorrow all but crushed ! Dan. If He be willing, all shall turn out well. Chor. ..... Dan. Invoke ye now the mighty bird of Zeus. 4 (1) Some mound dedicated to the Gods, with one or more altars and sta- tues of the Gods on it, is on the stage, and the suppliants are told to take up their places there. The Gods of conflict who are named below, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, presided generally over the three great games of Greece. Hermes is added to the list. (2) Comp. Libation-Pourers, 1024, Etimen. 44. (3) The Argives are supposed to share the love of brevity which w* commonly connect with their neighbours the Laconians. (4) The "mighty bird of Zeus" seems here, from the answer of tho Chorus, to mean not the "eagle" but the "sun," which roused men from their sleep as the cock did, so that "cock-crow" and "sunrise" were synonymous. It is, in any case, striking that Zeus, rather than Apollo, appears as the Sun-God. THE SUPPLIANTS. 145 Chor. We call the sun's bright rays to succour us. Dun. Apollo too, the holy, in that Ilo, *** A God, has tasted exile from high heaven. 1 Chor. Knowing that fate, He well may feel for men. Dan. So may He feel, and look on us benignly I Chor. Whom of the Gods shall I besides invoke I* Dan. I >ee this trident here, a God's great symbol. 1 Chor. Well hath He brought us, well may He receive I Dan. Here too is Hermes/ as the Hellenes know him. Chor. To us, as free, let Him good herald prove. Dun. Yea, and the common shrine of all these Goda Adore ye, and in holy precincts sit, Like swarms of doves in fear of kites your kinsmen, M Foes of our blood, polluters of our race. How can bird prey on bird and yet be pure ? And how can he be pure who seeks in marriage Unwilling bride from father too unwilling? Nay, not in Hades' self, shall he, vain fool, Though dead, "scape sentence, doing deeds like this j For there, as men relate, a second Zeus 4 Judges men's evil deeds, and to the dead Assigns their last great penalties. Look up, And take your station here, that this your cause May win its way to a victorious end. Enter the KNQ on his chariot, followed ly Attendants. King. Whence comes this crowd, this non- Hellenic band, In robes and raiment of barbaric fashion So gorgeously attired, whom now we speak to P (1) The words refer to the myth of Apollo's banishment from heaven and servitude under Admetos. (2) In the Acropolis at Athens the impress of a trident was seen on the rock, and was believed to commemorate the time whim Poseidon h.ui claimed it as his own by setting vp his weapon there. Something o; tne same kind seems here to be supposed to exist at Argos, where a like legend prevailed. (3) The Hellenic Hermes is distinguished from his Egyptian counter- part, Thoth, as being different in form and accessories. (4) A possible reference to the Egyptian Osiris, M lord or judffe of Hadea. Cornp. v. 146. It 146 THE SUPPLIANTS. This woman's dress is not of Argive mode, Nor from the climes of Hellas. How ye darod, Without a herald even or protector, Yea, and devoid of guides too, to come hither Thus boldly, is to me most wonderful. And yet 1heso boughs, as is the suppliant's wont, Are set by you before the Gods of conflicts : By this alone will Hellas guess arigh.t. Much more indeed we might have else conjectured, " "Were there no voice to tell me on the spot. CJior. Not false this speech of thine about our garb ; But shall I greet thee as a citizen, Or bearing Hermes' rod, or city ruling P 1 King. Nay, for that matter, answer thou and speak Without alarm. Paleechthon's son am I, Earth-born, the king of this Pulasgic land ; And named from me, their king, 2 as well might be, The race Pulasgic reaps our country's fruits ; *And all the land through which the Stryinon pours ** Its pure, clear waters to the West I rule ; And as the limits of my realm I mark The laud of the Perrhaobi, and the climes Near the Paeouians, on the farther side Of Pindos, and the Dodonsean heights ; 8 And the sea's waters form its bounds. O'er all Within these coasts I govern ; and this plain, The Apian land, itself has gained its name Long since from one who as a healer lived ; * For Apis, coming from Naupactian land (1) " Shall I," the Chorus asks, "speak to you aa a private citizen, or M a herald, or as a king ? " (2) It would appear from this that the king himself bore the name Pelasgos. In some versions of the story he is so designated. (3). The lines contain a tradition of the wide extent of the old Pelasgic rule, including 1 Thessalia, or the Pelasgic Argos, between the mouths of Peneus and Pindos, Perrhsebia, Dodona, and finally the Apian land or Peloponnesos. (4) The true meaning of the word- " Apian," as applied to the Pelo- ponnesos, seems to have been "distant." Here the myth is followed Which represented it as connected with Apis the son of Telchin, (son ol Apollo, in the sense of being' a physician-prophet,) who had freed th land from monsters. THE SUPPLIANTS. I4J That lies beyond th straits, Apollo's son, Prophet and healer, frees this land of ours ** From man-destroying monsters, which the soil, Polluted with the guilt of blood of old, By anger of the Gods, brought forth, fierce plagues, The dragon-brood's dread, unblest company ; And Apis, having for this Argive land Duly wrought out his saving surgery, Gained his reward, remembered in our prayers ; And thou, this witness having'at my hands, May'st tell thy race at once, and further speak ; Yet lengthened speech our city loveth not. Chor. Full short and clear our tale. We boast that we Are Argives in descent, the children true Of the fair, fruitful heifer. And all this "Will I by what I speak show firm and true. King. Nay, strangers, what ye tell is past belief For mo to hear, that ye from Axgos spring ; For ye to Libyan women are most like, 1 And nowise to our native maidens here. Such race might Neilos breed, and Kyprian mould, Like yours, is stamped by skilled artificers On women's features ; and I hear that those Of India travel upon camels borne, "*' Swift as the horse, yet trained as sumpter-mules, E'en those who as the 2Ethiops' neighbours dwell. And hud ye borne the bow, I should have guessed, Undoubtiug, ye were of th' Amazon's tribe, Man-hating, flesh-devouring. Taught by you, I might the better know how this can be, That your descent and birth from Argoa come. Chor. They tell of one who bore the temple-keys Of Hera, lo, in this Argive land. King. So was't indeed, and wide the fame prevails : And was it said that Zeus a mortal loved ? ** (1) The description would seem to indicate (1) that the daughter of T)anaos appeared on the stage as of swarthy complexion ; and (2) that Indians. /Ethiopians, Kyprians, and Amazons, were all thought of as in this respect alike. 148 THE SUPPLIANTS. Chor. And that embrace was not from Hera hid. King. What end had then these strifes of sovereign Ones P Chor. The Argive goddess made the maid a heifer. King. Did Zeus that fair-horned heifer still approach P Chor. So say they, fashioned like a wooing steer. King. How acted then the mighty spouse of Zeus P Chor. She o'er the heifer set a guard all-soeing. King. What herdsman strange, all- seeing, speak'st thouof? Chor. Argos, the earth -horn, him whom Hermes King. What else then wrought she on the ill-starred heifer P Chor. She sent a stinging gadfly to torment her. [Those who near Neilos dwell an wstros call it.} King. Did she then drive her from her country far P Chor. All that thou say'st agrees well with our tale. King. And did she to Canobos go, and Memphis ? Chor. Zeus with his touch, an offspring then begets. King. What Zeus - born calf that heiler claims as mother ? CJior. *He from that touch which freed named Epa- phos. S1 King, [What offspring then did Epaphos beget ?~\ l Chor. Libya, that gains her fame from greatest land. King. What other offspring, born of her, dost tell of? Chor. Sire of my sire here, Belos, with two sons. King. Tell me then now the name of yonder sage. Chor. Danaos, whose broth'er boasts of fifty sous. King. Tell me his name, too, with ungrudging speech. Chor. .ZEgyptos : knowing now our ancient stock, Take heed thou bid thine Argive suppliants rise. King. Ye seem, indeed, to make your ancient claim To this our country good : but how came ye To leave your father's house ? What chance constrained you ? (1) The line is conjectural, but some question of this kind is implied is the answer of the Chorus. THE SUPPLIANTS. Chor. king of the Pelasgi, manifold Are ills of mortals, and thou could'st not find The self-same form of evil anywhere. Who would have said that this unlooked-for flight Would bring to Argos race once native here, Driving them forth in hate of wedlock's couch? King. What seek'st thou then of these the Gods oi conflicts, Holding your wool-wreathed branches newly-plucked ? Clior. That I serve not JEgyptos' sons as slave. King. Speak'st thou of some old feud, or breach of right ? 33 Clior. Nay, who'd find fault with master that one loved? King. Yet thus it is that mortals grow in strength. 1 Chor. Time ; when men fail, 'tis easy to desert them. King. How then to you may I act reverently ? Chor. Yield us not up unto JEgyptos' sons. I^ing. Hard boon thou ask'st, to wage so strange a war. Chor. Nay, Justice champions those who fight with her. King. Yes, if her hand was in it from the first. Chor. Yet reverence thou the state-ship's stem thus wreathed,* King. I tremble as 1 see these seats thus shadowed. M0 STBOPH. I. Chor. Dread is the vrratii of Zeue, the God of sup- pliants : Son of Palsechthon, hear , Hear, Pelasgic king, with kindly b.eart. Behold me suppliant, exile, wanderer, *Like heifer chased by wolves Upon the lofty crags, Where, trusting in her strength, (1} By sacrificing personal likings to schemes of ambitkm, men and women contract marriages which increase their power. (a) The Gods of conflict are the pilots of the ship of the State. The altar dedicated to them is as its stern ; the garlands and wan da of nip- piiants which adorn it are as the decorations of thu vessel*. ISO THE SUPPLIANTS. She liftoth up her voice And to the shepherd tells her tale of grief. King. I see, o'ershadowed with the new- plucked boughs, *Bent low, a band these Gods of conflict own ; And may our dealings with these home-sprung stran- gers ** Be without peril, nor let strife arise To this our country for unlooked-for chance And unprovided 1 This our State wants not. ANTISTBOPH. I. Chor. Yea, may that Law that guards the suppliant's right Free this our flight from harm, Law, sprung from Zeus, supreme Apportioner, But thou, [to the King,'] though old, from me, though younger, learn : If thou a suppliant, pity Thou ne'er shalt penury know, So long as Gods receive Within their sacred shrines Gifts at the hands of worshipper unstained. King. It is not at my hearth ye suppliant eit ; But if the State be as a whole denied, tu Be it the people's task to work the cure. I cannot pledge my promise to you first Ere I have counselled with my citizens. 1 STnopH. II. Chor. Thou art the State yea, thou the common- wealth, Chief lord whom none may judge ; 'Tis thine to rule the country's altar-hearth, (1) Some editors have seen in this an attempt to enlist the constitu- tional Hympathies or an Athenian audience in favour of the Argive knitf, who will not act without consulting his assembly. There seems more reason to think that the aim of the dramatist was in precisely the oppo- site direction, and that the words which follow set forth his admiration for the king? who can act, as compared with one ttho is tied and hampered by restrictions. TUB SUPPLIANTS. With the sole vote of thy prevailing nod; And thou on throne of state, Sole -sceptred in thy sway, Bringest each matter to its destined end ; Shun thou the curse of guilt. King. Upon my foes rest that dread curse of guilt I *" Yet without harm I cannot succour you, Nor gives it pleasure to reject your prayers. In a sore strait am I ; fear fills my soul To take the chance, to do or not to do. ANTISTBOPH. II. Chor. Look thou on Him who looks on all from heaven, Guardian of suffering men Who, worn with toil, unto their neighbours come As suppliants, and receive not justice due : For these the wrath of Zeus, Zeus, the true suppliant's God, Abides, bj r wail of sufferer unappeased. King. Yet if 2Egyptos' sons have claim on thee By their State's law, asserting that they come As next of kin, who dare oppose their right ? Thou must needs plead that by thy laws at home They over thee have no authority. 1 STROPH. III. Chor. Ah ! may I ne'er be captive to the might Of males ! Where'er the stars Are seen in heaven, I track my way in flight, As refuge from a marriage that I hate. But thou, make Eight thy friend, And hon DUT what the Gods count pure and true, *** (1) By an Attic law, analogous in principle to that of the Jews, (Num. xxxvi. 8; 1 Chron. xxiit. '22), heiresses were absolutely bound to marry their next of kin, if he claimed his right. The king at once asserts this as the law which was priuta facie applicable to the case, and declares hini- eelf ready to surrender it if the petitioners can show that their own municipal law is on the other side. He will not thrust his country's cus- toms upon foreigners, who can prove that they live under a different rula. but in the absence of evidence must act on the law which he in bound officially to recognise. 15* THE SUPPLIANTS. King. Hard is the judgment : choose not me as judge. But, as I said before, I may not act Without the people, sovereign though I be, Lest the crowd say, should aiight fall out amiss, " In honouring strangers, thou the State did'st ruin." ANTISTR6PH. III. Clior. Zeus, the great God of kindred, in these things Watches o'er both of us, Holding an equal scale, and fitly giving To the base evil, to the righteous blessing. Why, when these things are set In even balance, fear'st thou to do right ? *" King. Deep thought we noed that brings deliverance, That, like a diver, mine eye too may plunge Clear-seeing to the depths, not wine-bedrenched, That these things may be harmless to the -State, And to ourselves may issue favourably : That neither may the strife make you its prey, Nor that we give you up, who thus are set Near holy seat of Gods, and so bring in To dwell with us the Avenger terrible, God that destroyeth, who not e'en in Hades " Gives freedom to the dead. Say, think ye not That there is need of counsel strong to save ? STKOPH. L Chor. Take heed to it, and be Friend to the stranger wholly faithful found ; Desert not thou the poor, Driven from afar by godless violence. ASTISTBOPH. I. See me not dragged away, thou that rul'st the land ! from seat of Gods : Know thou men's wanton pride, And guard thyself against the wrath of Zeus. STBOPH. II. Endure not thou to see thy suppliant, Despite of law, torn off, THE SUPPLIANTS. 153 As horses by their frontlets, from the forma Of sculptured deities, Nor yet the outrage of their wanton hands, Seizing these broidered robes. AJITISTBOWI. n. For know thou well, whichever course thou take, Thy sons and all thy house *Must pay in war the debt that Justice claims, Proportionate in kind. ** Lay well to heart these edicts, wise and true, Given by great Zeus himself. King. Well then have I thought o'er it. To this point Our ship's course drives. Fierce war we needs must risk Either with these (pointing to the Gods') or those. Set fast and firm Is this as is the ship tight wedged in stocks ; And without trouble there's no issue out. For wealth indeed, were our homes spoiled of that, There might come other, thanks to Zeus the Giver, More than the loss, and filling up the freight ; *** And if the tongue should aim its adverse darts, Baleful and over-stimulant of wrath, There might be words those words to heal and soothe. But how to blot the guilt of kindred blood, This needs a great atonement many victims Falling to many Gods to heal the woe. *I take my part, and turn aside from strife ; Ajid I far rather would be ignorant Than wise, forecasting evil. May the end, Against my judgment, show itself as good ! Ghur. Hear, then, the last of all our pleas for pity. King. I hear ; speak on. It shall not 'scape my heed. * Chor. Girdles I have, and zones that bind my robes. King. Such things are fitting for a woman's state. Chor. With these then, know, as gool and rare de vice . . . t$4 THE SUPPLIANTS. King. Nay, speak. What word is this thou'lt utter now ? Chor. Unless thou giv'st our band thy plighted word .... King. "What wilt thou do with this device of girdles P Chor. With tablets new these sculptures we'll adorn. King. Thou speak'st a riddle. Make thy meaning plain. Chor. Upon these Gods we'll hang ourselves at once. King. I hear a word which pierces to the heart. * 80 Chor. Thou see'st our meaning. Eyes full clear I've given. King. Lo then ! in many ways sore troubles come. A host of evils rushes like a flood ; A sea of woe none traverse, fathomless, This have I entered ; haven there is none. For if I fail to do this work for you, Thou tellest of defilement unsurpassed ; * And if for thee against vEgyptos' sons, Thy kindred, I before my city's walls In conflict stand, how can there fail to be A bitter loss, to stain the earth with blood ** Of man for woman's sake ? And yet I needa Must fear the wrath of Zeus, the suppliant's God ; That dread is mightiest with the sons of men. Thou, then, aged father of these maidens ! Taking forthwith these branches in thine arms, Lay them on other altars of the Gods Our country worships, that the citizens May all behold this token of thy coming, And about me let no rash speech be dropped ; For 'tis a people prompt to blame their rulers. And then perchance some one beholding them, ** And pitying, may wax wrathful 'gainst the outrage Of that male troop, and with more kindly will The people look on you ; for evermore Men all wish well unto the weaker side. (1) Sc., the pollution which the statues of the Gods would contract tf they saiiied into execution their threat of suicide. THE SUPPLIANTS. 155 Dan. This boon is counted by us of great price, To find a patron proved so merciful. And thou, send with us guides to lead us on, And tell us how before their shrines to find The altars of the Gods that guard the State, *And holy places columned round about; And safety for us, as the town we traverse. Not of like fashion is our features' stamp ; ** * For Neilos rears not race like Inachos. 1 Take heed lest rashness lead to bloodshed here ; Ere now, unknowing, men have slain their friends. King (to Attendants'). Go then, my men; full well the stranger speaks .; And lead him where the city's altars stand, The seats of Gods ; and see ye talk not not much To passers-by as ye this traveller lead, A suppliant at the altar-hearth of Gods. [Exeunt DANAOS and Attendants. Clior. Thou speak' st to him; and maybe go as bidden 1 But what shall I do ? What hope giv'st thou me ? King. Leave here those boughs, the token of your grief. ** Chor. Lo ! here I leave them at thy beck and word. King. Now turn thy steps towards this open lawn. Chor. What shelter gives a lawn unconsecrate ? a King. We will not yield thee up to birds of prey. Chor. Nay, but to foes far worse than fiercest dragons. King. Good words should come from those who good hare heard. Chor. No wonder they wax hot whom fear enthrals. King. But dread is still for rulers all unmeet. Chor. Do thou then cheer our soul by words and deeds. King. Nay, no long time thy sire will leave thea lorn ; (1) Inachos, the river-God of Argos, and' as such contrasted \ritli Neilos. (2) i.e., " Unconsecrate," marked out by no barriers, accessible to all, and therefore seeming to offer but little prospect of a safe asylum. Tha pl;ice described seems to have been an open piece of turf rather than grove of ti ted. THE SUPPLIANTS. And I, all people of the land convening, Will the great mass persuade to kindly words ; And I will teach thy father what to say. Wherefore remain and ask our country's Gods, With suppliant prayers, to grant thy soul's desire, And I will go in furtheiance of thy \vish : Sweet Suasion follow us, and Fortune good I [Exit. STEOPH. L CJior. King of kings ! and blest Above all blessed ones, And Power most mighty of the mightiest I O Zeus, of high estate ! * Hear thou and grant our prayer I Drive thou far off the wantonness of men, The pride thou hatest sore, And in the pool of darkling purple hue Plunge thou the woe that comes in swarthy barque. ANTISTBOPH. I. Look on the women's causo ; Hecall the ancient tale, Of one whom Thou did'st love in time of old, The mother of our race : Eemember it, O Thou Who did'st on lo lay thy mystic touch. We boast that we are come Of consecrated land the habitants, And from this land by lineage high descended. STROPH. II. Now to the ancient track, Our mother's, I have passed, The flowery meadow-land where she was watched, The pastures of the herd, Whence lo, by the stinging gadfly driven, Flees, of her sense bereft, Passing through many tribes of mortal men ; And then by Fate's decree THE SUPPLIANTS. 157 Crossing the billowy straits, On either side she leaves a continent. 1 *** ANTISTROPH. IL Now through the Asian land She hastens o'er and o'er, Hight through the Phrygian fields where feed the flocks ; And passes Teuthras' fort, Owned by the Mysians, 2 and the Lydian plains ; And o'er Kilikian hills, And those of far Pamphylia rushing on, By ever-flowing streams, On to the deep, rich lands, And Aphrodite's home in wheat o'erflowing.' STBOPH. in. And so she cometh, as that herdsman winged ** Pierces with sharpest sting, To holy plain all forms of life sustaining, Fields that are fed from snows,* Which Typhon's monstrous strength has traversed,* And unto Neilos' streams, By sicily taint untouched, 8 Still maddened with her toil of ignominy, By torturing stings driven on, great Hera's frenzied slave. ANTISTBOPH. m. And those who then the lands inhabited, Quivered with pallid fear, * !t) Comp. the narrative as given in Prometheus Bound, vr. 660, et seq. 2) Teuthras' fort, or Teuthrania, is described by Strabo (xii. p. 571) a* lying between the Hellespont and Mount Sipylos, in Magnesia. (3) Kypros, as dedicated to the worship of Aphrodite, and famous for its wine, and oil, and corn, (4) The question, what caused the mysterious exceptional inundntiona of the Nile, occupied, as we see from Herodotos (it. c. 19-27), the minds of the Greeks. Of the four theories which the historian discusses, .^schylps adopts that which referred it to the melting of the snows on the mountains of central Africa, (5) Typhen, the mythical embodiment of the power of evil, was fabled to have wandered over Egypt, seeking- the body of Osiris. Isis, to baffle him, placed coffins in all parts of Egypt, all empty but the one which con- tained the body. (6) The fame of the Nile for the purity of its water, after the earthly matter held in solution had been deposited, seems to have been as great in the earliest periods of its history as it is now. 158 THE SUPPLIANTS. That filled their soul at that unwonted marvel, Seeing that monstrous shape, The human joined with brute, Half heifer, and half form of woman fair : l And sore amazed were they. Who was it then that soothed Poor lo, wandering in her sore affright, Driven on, and ever on, by gadfly's maddening sting f STBOPH. IV. Zeus, Lord of endless time [Was seen All-working then ;"] He, even He, for by his sovereign might That works no ill, was she from evil freed ; ** And by his breath divine She findeth rest, and weeps in floods of tears Her sorrowing shame away ; And with new burden big, Not falsely ' Zeus-born ' named, Bhe bare a son that grew in faultless growth, ANTISTBOPH. IV. Prosperous through long, long years ; And so the whole land shouts with one accord, " Lo, a race sprung from him, the Lord of life, In very deed, Zeus-born! * "Who else had checked the plagues that Hera sent ? " This is the work of Zeus : And speaking of our race That sprang from Epaphos As such, thou would'st not fail to hit the mark. STBOPH. V. Which of the Gods could I with right invoke As doing juster deeds ? He is our Father, author of our life, (1) To was represented as a woman with a heifer's head, and was pro- bably a symbolic representation of the moon, with her crescent horns. Sometimes the transformation is described (as in v. 294} in words which imply a more thorough change. THE SUPPLIANTS. I$g The "King -whose right hand worketh all his will, Our line's great author, in his counsels deep Eecording things of old, Directing all his plans, the great work-master, Zeiufc ANTISTBOPH. V. For not as subject hastening at the beck Of strength above his own, 1 Beigns He subordinate to mightier powers; * Nor does He pay his homage from below, While One sits throned in majesty above;* Act is for him as speech, To hasten what his teeming mind resolves. Re-enter DANAOS. Dan. Be of good cheer, my children. All goes well With those, who dwell here, and the people's voice Hath passed decrees full, firm, irrevocable. Chor. Hail, aged sire, that telPst me right good news I But say with what intent the vote hath passed, And on which side the people's hands prevail. Dan. The Argives have decreed without division, So that my aged mind grew young again ; ** For in full congress, with their right hands raised Eustled the air as they decreed their vote That we should sojourn in their land as tree, Free from arrest, and with asylum rights ; And that no native here nor foreigner Should lead us off; and, should he venture force, That every citizen who gave not help Dishonoured should be driven to exile forth. Such counsel giving, the Pelasgian King * Gained their consent, proclaiming that great wrath (1) Perhapa- " For not as subject sitting 'neath the sway Of strength above his own." (2) The passage takes its place union;; the noblest utterances of a faith passing- above the popular polytheism to the thought of one sovereign Will ruling and guiding all things, as Will, without effort, in the calm- ness of a power irresistible. l6O THE SUPPLIANTS. Of Zeus the God of suppliants ne'er would let The city wax in fatness, warning them That double guilt l upon the State would come, Touching at once both guests and citizens, The food and sustenance of sore disease That none could heal. And then the Argive host. Hearing these things, decreed by show ot hands, Not waiting for the herald's proclamation, So it should be. They heard, indeed, the crowd Of those Pelasgi, all the winning speech, The well- turned phrases cunning to persuade ; But it was Zeus that brought the end to pass. Chor. Come then, come, let us speak for Argives Prayers that are good for good deeds done; ** Zeus, who o'er all strangers watches, May He regard with his praise and favour The praise that comes from the lips of strangers, *And guide in all to a faultless issue. STBOPH. I. Half-Chor. A. Now, now, at last, ye Gods of Zeua begotten, 2 Hear, as I pour my prayers upon their race, That ne'er may this Pelasgic city raise From out its flames the joyless cry of War, War, that in other fields Beapeth his human crop : For they have mercy shewn, And passed their kind decree, Pitying this piteous flock, the suppliants of great Zeus. AjfTISTBOPH. I. They did not take their stand with men 'gainst women Casting dishonour on their plea for help, (1) Double, as involving 1 a sin against the laws of hospitality, BO far am the suppliants were strangers a sin against the laws ot kindred, so fiir am they might claim by descent the rights ot citizenship. (2) If, as has been conjectured, the tragedy was written with a view to the alliance between Argos and Athens, made in B.C. 461, this choral oda must have been the centre, if not of the dramatic, at all events of th political interest of the play. THE SUPPLIANTS. l6l *But looked to Him who sees and works from heaven, *Full hard to war with. Yea, what house could bear To sea Him on its roof Casting pollution there ? * Sore vexing there he sits. Yes, they their kin revere, Suppliants of holiest Zeus ; ** Therefore with altars pure shall they the Gods delight. STBOPH. II. Therefore from faces by our boughs o'ershadowed ' Let prayers ascend in emulous eagerness : Ne'er may dark pestilence This State of men bereave ; May no fierce party-strife Pollute these plains with native carcases ; And may the bloom of youth Be with them still uncropt ; And ne'er may Aphrodite's paramour, ** Ares the scourge of men, Mow down their blossoms fair I AJJTISTP.OPH. H. And let the altars tended by the old *Blaze with the gifts of men with hoary hairs ; So may the State live on In full prosperity ! Let them great Zeus adore, The strangers' God, the one Supreme on high, By venerable law Ordering the course of fate. And next we pray that ever more and more Earth may her tribute bear, And Artemis as Hecate preside s O'er woman's travail-pangs. (1) The image is that of a bird of evil omen, perched upon the roof, and defiling the house, while it uttered its boding cries. (2) The suppliants' boughs, so held as to shade the face from view. (3) The name of Hecate connected Artemis as, on the one side, with the unseen world of Hades, so, on the other, with child-birth, and the purit nations that followed on it. 1C THE SUPPLIANTS. STBOPH. IIL Let no destroying strife come on, invading This city to lay waste, Setting in fierce array "War, with its fruit of tears. Lyreless and danceless all, And cry of people's wrath ; And may the swarm of plagues, Loathly and foul to see, Abide far off from these our citizens, And that Lykeian king, may He be found Benignant to our youth ! l ASTISTROPH. HI. And Zeus, may He, by his supreme decree, Make the earth yit Id her fruits Through all the seasons round, And grant a plenteous brood Of herds that roam the fields ! May Heaven all good gifts pour, And may the voice of song Ascend o'er altar shrines, TJnmarred by sounds of ill ! And let the voice that loves with lyre to blend Go forth from lips of blameless holiness, In accents of great joy ! STBOPH. IV. *And may the rule in which the people share Keep the State's functions as in perfect peace, E'en that which sways the crowd, *Which sways the commonwealth, By counsels wise and good ; And to the strangers and the sojourners May they grant rights that rest on compacts sure, (1) The name Lykeian, originally, perhaps, simply representing Apollo as the God of Light, came afterwards to be associated with tha might of destruction (the Wolf-destroyer) and the darts of pestilence and sudden death.. The prayer is therefore that he, the Uestroyer, may hearken to the suppliants, and spare the people for whom thej pray. THE SUPPLIANTS. l6j Ere War is roused to arms, So that 110 trouble come I ANTISTUOPH. IV. And the great Gods who o'er this country watch, May they adore them in the land They guard, With rites of sacrifice, And troops with laurel boughs, As did our sires of old ! For thus to honour these who gave us life, This stands as one of three great laws on high, 1 Written as fixed and firm, The laws of Eight revered. Dan. I praise these seemly prayers, dear children mine. But fear ye not, if I your father speak Words that are new, and all unlooked-for by you ; For from this station to the suppliant given I see the ship ; too clear to be mistaken The swelling sails, the bulwark's coverings, And prow with eyes that scan the onward way,' But too obedient to the steerman's helm, Being, as it is, unfriendly. And the men Who sail in her with swarthy limbs are seen, In raiment white conspicuous. And I see *** Full clear the other ships that come to help ; And this as leader, putting in to shore, Furling its sails, is rowed with equal stroke. Tis yours, with mood of calm and steadfast soul, To face the fact, and not to slight the Gods. , And I will come with friends and advocates ; For herald, it may be, or embassy, May come, and wish to seize and bear you off, Grasping their prey. But nought of this shall be ; (1) The " thr> great laws '* were those ascribed to Triptolemos, " t honour parents, to worship the Gods with the fruits of the earth, to hart neither man nor boost." (2) The Egyptian ships, like those of many other Eastern countries, had eyes (the eyes of Osiris, as they were called} painted on theii pom. 164 THE SUPPLIANTS. Fear ye not them. It were well done, however. If we should linger in our help, this succour w In no wise to forget. Take courage then ; In their own time and at the appointed day, "Whoever slights the Gods shall pay for it. STBOPH. I. Chor. I fear, my father, since the swift-winged ships Are come, and very short the time that's left. A shuddering anguish makes me sore afraid, Lest small the profit of my wandering flight. I faint, my sire, for fear. Dan. My children, since the Argives' vote is passed, Take courage : they will fight for thee, I know. *" AjfTISTROPH. I. Chor. Hateful and wanton are JEgyptos' sons, Insatiable of conflict, and I speak To one who knows them. They in timbered ships, Dark-eyed, have sailed in wrath that hits its mark, With great and swarthy host. Dan. Yet many they shall find whose arms are tanned In the full scorching of the noontide heat. 1 STBOPH. II. Chor. Leave me not here alone, I pray thee, father I Alone, a woman is as nought, and war Is not for her. Of over-subtle mind, And subtle counsel in their souls impure, Like ravens, e'en for altars caring not, Such, such in soul are they. "Dan That would work well indeed for us, my children, Should they be foes to Gods as unto thee. AXTISTBOPH. II. Chor. No reverence for these tridents or the shrines Of Gods, my father, will restrain their hands : (11 A side-thrnst, directed by the poe',, wl.o had fought at Marathon, against the growing effeminacy of the Athenian youth, many of whom were learning to shrink Irom all activity and exposure that might spot! tlttar complexion*. Comp. 1'lato, Phuedroa, p. 23U. THtt SUPPLIANTS. 165 Full stout of heart, of godless mood unblest, JFed to the full, and petulant as dogs, And for tho voice of high Gods caring not, Such, such in soul are they. Dan. Nay, the tale runs that wolves prevail o'er dogp; Tfc And byblos fruit excels not ear of corn. 1 Chor. But since their minds are as the minds of brutes, Eestless and vain, we must beware of foi*ce. Dan. Not rapid is the getting under weigh Of naval squadron, nor their anchoring, Nor the safe putting into shore with cables. Nor have the shepherds of swift ships quick trust In anchor-fastenings, most of all, as now, When coming to a country havenless ; And when the sun has yielded to the night, That night brings travail to a pilot wise, T * [Though it be calm and all the waves sleep still ;] So neither can this army disembark Before the ship is safe in anchorage. And thou beware lest in thy panic fear Thou slight the Gods whom thou hast called to help. The city will not blame your messenger, Old though he be, being young in clear voiced-thought. Exit. STBOT>H. L Chor. Ah, me ! thou land of jutting promontory Which justly all revere, What lies before us ? Whore in Apian land Shall we a refuge find, If still there be dark hiding anywhere P Ah ! that I were as smoke fll The saying is somewhat dark, but the meaning seems to be that if the dogs" of Egypt are strong, the "wolves" of Argos are stronger ; that the wheat on which the Hellenes lived g;ive greater strength tolimts and sinew than the " byblos fruit" on which the Egyptian soldiers and wilors habitually lived. Some writers, however, have seen in the lart line, rendered " The byblos fruit not always bears full ear," A proTeib like the English. 1 There's many a slip 'Twutt the ciip and the lip." 166 THE SUPPLIANTS. That riseth full and black Nigh to the clouds of Zeus, Or soaring up on high invisible, Like dust that vanishes, Pass out of being with no help from wings t AXTISTBOPH. L *E'en so the ill admits not now of flight ; My heart in dark gloom throbs ; My father's work as watcher brings me low ; I faint for very fear, And I would fain find noose that bringeth death, In twisted cordage hung, Before the man I loathe Draws near this flesh of mine : Sooner than that may Hades rule o'er me Sleeping the sleep of death I STEOPH. IL Ah, might I find a place in yon high vault, Where the rain-clouds are passing into snow, Or lonely precipice Whose STimmit none can see, Eock whore the vulture haunts, Witness for me of my abysmal fall, Before the marriage that will pierce my heart Becomes my dreaded doom ! ANTISTBOPH. IL I shrink not from the thought of being the prey Of dogs and birds that haunt the country round j For death shaW. make me free From ills all lamentable : Yea, let death rather come Than the worse doom of hated marriage-bed I What other refuge now remains for me That marriage to avert ? THE SUPPLIANTS. 167 STBOPH. ITL Yea, to the Gods raise thou Cloud-piercing, wailing cry Of songs and litanies, Prevailing, working freedom out for me : And thou, O Father, look, Look down upon the strife, "With glance of wrath against our enemies From eyes that see the right ; "With pity look on us thy suppliants, O Lord of Earth, Zeus omnipotent I AXTISTBOPH. IH. For lo ! -3Sgyptos' house, In pride intolerable, O'er-masculine in mood, Pursuing me in many a winding course, Poor wandering fugitive, With loud and wild desires, Seek in their frenzied violence to seize : But thine is evermore The force that turns the balance of the scale : What comes to mortal men apart from Thee t Ah! ah! ah! ah! *Here on the land behold the ravisher Who comes on us by sea ! *Ah, may'st thou perish, ravisher, ere thou Hast stopped or landed here ! *I utter cry of wailing loud and long, *I see them work the prelude of their Crimea) Their crimes of violence. Ah ! ah ! Ah me ! Haste in your flight for help ! The mighty ones are waxing fat and proud. By sea and land alike intolerable. Be thou, King, our bulwark and defence ! l68 THE SUPPLIANTS. Enter Herald of the sons of EYPTOS' advancing to the daughters of DAXAOS. Her. Haste, haste with all your speed unto the barque. Chor. Tearing of hair, yea, tearing now will come, And print of nails in flesh, And smiting off of heads, With murderous stream of hlood. Her. Haste, haste ye, to that barque that yonder lies, Ye wretches, curse on you. STROPH. L Chor. Would thou had'st met thy death Where the salt waves wildly surge, Thou with thy lordly pride, In nail-compacted ship : *Lo ! they will smite thee, weltering in thy blood, MC *And drive thee to thy barque. Her. I bid you cease perforce, the cravings wild Of mind to madness given. Ho there ! what ho ! I say; * Give up those seats, and hasten to the ship : I reverence not what this State honoureth. AXTISTBOPH. L Chor. Ah, I may ne'er again Behold the stream where graze the goodly kine, Nourished and fed by which 1 The blood of cattle waxes strong and full I *As with a native's right, *And one of old descent, I keep, old man, my seat, my seat, I say. Her. Nay, in a ship, a ship thou shalt soon go, ** With or without thy will, By force, I say, by force (1) The words recall the vision of the "seven well-favoured kine and fat-fleshed," which " came out of the river," as Pharaoh dreamed, (Gen. xli. 1, 2,) and which were associated so closely with the fertility which it ordinarily produced through the whole extent of the valley ol the Nile. THE SUPPLIANTS. 169 Come, come, provoke not evils terrible, Palling by these my hands. STBOPII. EL CTior. Ah me ! ah me ! Would thou may'st perish with no hand to help, Crossing the sea's wide plain, In wanderings far and wide, Whore Sarpedouian sand-bank 1 spreads its length, Driven by the sweeping blasts ! Her. Sob thou, and howl, and call upon the Goda : "* Thou shalt not 'scape that barque from 2Egypt come, Though thou should' st pour a bitterer strain of grief. A.VTISTROPH. II. Clior. Woe ! woe ! Ah woe ! ah woe, For this foul wrong ! Thou utterest tearful things ; Thou art too bold and insolent of speech. *May mighty Nile that reared thee turn away Thy wanton pride and lust That we behold it not ! Her. I bid you go to j r on ship doublo-prowed,* With all your speed. Let no one lag behind ; But little shall my grasp your ringlets spare. [/Seizes on the leader of the Suppliants STBOPH. III. Clior. Ah me ! my father, ah ! The help of holiest statues turns to woe ; He leads me to the sea, With motion spider-like, Or like a dream, a dark and dismal dream, Ah woe ! ah woe ! ah woe ! mother Earth ! O Earth ! O mother mine I Avert that cry of fear, O Zeus, thou king ! sou of mother Earth ! (1) Two dangerous low he.idlnnds seem to have been known by this name, one on the coast of Kilikia, the other on that of the Thrakian Chersonese. (2) No traces of ships of this structure are found in Egyptian art; but, if the reading be right, it implies the existence of boats of some kind, Ml built that they could be steered from either end. THE SVPPLIANTS. Her. Nay, I fear not the Gods they worship here; They did not rear nor lead me up to age. * AXTISTKOPH. III. Chor. Near me he rages now, That biped snake, And like a viper bites me by the foot. Oh, \voe is me ! woe ! woe ! O mother Earth !' Earth ! O mother mine i Avert that cry of fear. Z:>us, thou king ! O son of mother Earth. Her. If some one yield not, and to yon ship go, The hand that tears her tunic will not pity. STBOPH. IV. Chor. Ho! rulers of the State! " Ye princes ! I am seized. Her. It seems, since ye are slow to hear my words, That I shall have to drag you by the hair. ANTISTROPH. IV. Chor. "We are undone, undone ! We suffer, prince, unlooked-for outrages. Her. Full many princes, heirs of great JEgyptoa, Ye soon shall see. Take courage ; ye shall have No cause to speak of anarchy as there. Enter KrxG followed by his Bodyguard. King. Ho there ! "What dost thou ? and with what intent Dost thou so outrage this Pelasgic land ? Dost think thou comest to a town of women ? 88C Too haughty thou, a stranger 'gainst Hellenes, And, sinning much, hast nothing done aright. Her. What sin against the riht have I then done ? King. First, thou know'st not how stranger-guest should act. THE SUPPLIANTS. Her. How so ? When I, but finding what I lost . . . Sing. Whom among us dost thou then patrons call ? Her. Hermes the Searcher, chiefest patron mine. 1 King. Thou, Gods invoking, honourest not the Gods. Her. The Gods of Neilos are the Gods I worship. King. Ours then are nought, if I thy meaning catch. ** Her. These girls I'll lead, if no one rescues them. King. Lay hand on them, and soon thou'lt pay the cost. Her. I hear a word in no wise hospitable. King. Who rob the Gods I welcome not as guests. Her. I then will tell ^Egyptos' children this. King, This threat is all unheeded in my mind. Her. But that I, knowing all, may speak it plain, (For it is meet a herald should declare Each matter clearly,) what am I to say ? By whom have I been robbed of that fair band Of women whom I claim as kindred ? Nay, tw But it is Ares that shall try this cause, And not with witnesses, nor money down, Settling the matter, but there first must fall Full many a soldier, and of many a life The rending in convulsive agony. King. Why should I tell my name ? In time thou'lt know it, Thou and thy fellow-travellers. But these maidens, With their consent and free choice of their wills, Thou muy'st lead off, if godly speech persuade them: But this decree our city's men have made With one consent, that we to force yield not This company of women. Here the nail " Is driven tight home to keep its place full firm ; ' (1) Hermes, the guardian deity of heralds, is here described by thf epithet, which marked him out as being also the patron of detectives. Every stranger arriving in a Greek port had to place himself under a proxenoa or patron of some kind. The herald, having no proxenoa among the citizens, appeals to his patron deity. (2) The words refer to the custom of nailing decrees, proclamations, treaties, and the like, engraved on metal or marblo, upon the walls 01 temples or public buildings. Traajs of the same idea may possibly bt I7 THE SUPPLIANTS. These things are -written not on tablets only, [Nor signed and sealed in folds of byblos-rolls ;"] Thou hear'st them clearly from a tongue that speaks With full, free speech. Away, away, I say : And with all speed from out my presence haste. Her. It is thy will then a rash war to wage : May strength and victory on our males attend I [Exit, King. Nay, thou shalt find the dwellers of this land Are also males, and drink not draughts of ale 93 * From barley brewed.l \_To the Suppliants.'] But ye, and your attendants, Take courage, go within the fenced city, Shut in behind its bulwark deep of towers ; Tea, many houses to the State belong, And I a palace own not meanly built, If ye prefer to live with many others In ease and plenty : or if that suits better, Ye may inhabit separate abodes. Of these two offers that which pleases best Choose for yourselves, and I as your protector, * And all our townsmen, will defend the pledge Which our decree has given you. Why wait'st thou For any better authorised than these ? Chor. For these thy good deeds done may'st thou in good, All good, abound, great chief of the Pelasgi I But kindly send to us Our father Danaos, brave and true of heart, To counsel and direct. His must the first decision be where we Should dwell, and where to find A kindly home ; for ready is each one found in the promise to Eliakim that he shall be " as a nail in a tmn place," (Isa. xxii. 23,) in the thanksgiving of Ezra that God had given His people " a nail in his holy place," (Ezra ix. 8.) (1) As before, the bread of the Hellenes was praised to the disparage- ment of the " byblos fruit " of Egypt, so here their wine to that of thl r, which was the ordinary drink of the lower classes. THE SUPPLIANTS. I?3 To speak his word of blame 'gainst foreigners. "* But may all good be ours I And so with fair repute and speech of men, Free from all taint of wrath, So place yourselves, dear handmaids, in the land, As Danaos hath for each of us assigned Dowry of handmaid slaves, t Enter DANAOS followed ly Soldiers. Dan. My children, to the Argives ye should pray, And sacrifice, and full libations pour, As to Olympian Gods, for they have proved, With one consent, deliverers : and they heard *A11 that I did towards those cousins there, * *Those lovers hot and bitter. And they gave To me as followers these that bear the spear, That I might have my meed of honour due, And might not die by an assassin's hand A death unlooked-for, and thus leave the land A weight of guilt perpetual : and 'tis fit That one who meet such kindness should return, *From his heart's depths, a nobler gratitude ; And add ye this to all already written, Tour father's many maxims of true wisdom, That we, though strangers, may in time be known ; ** For as to aliens each man's tongue is apt For evil, and spreads slander thoughtlessly ; But ye, I charge you, see ye shame me not, With this your life's bloom drawing all men's eyes. The goodly vintage is full hard to watch, All men and beasts make fearful havoc of it, Nay, birds that fly, and creeping things of earth; And Kypris offers fruitage, dropping ripe, *As prey to wandering lust, nor lets it stay ; l And on the goodly comeliness of maidens * (1) The -words present a striking parallelism to the erotic imagery of the Sony / Soliraion : " Take us the loxes, the little foxes that spoil OHf vuics, for 'our Tines have tender grapes" UL lal. 174 THE SUPPLIANTS. Each passer-by, o'ercome with hot desire, Darts forth the amorous arrows of the eye. And therefore let us suffer nought of this, Through which our ship has ploughed such width of sea, Such width of trouble ; neither let us work Shame to ourselves, and pleasure to our foes. This two-fold choice of home is open tc you : [Velasgos offers his, the city theirs,] To dwell rent-free. Pull easy terms are these : Only, I charge you, keep your father's precepts, Prizing as more than life your chastity. " Chor. May the high Gods that on Olympos dwell Bless us in all things ; but for this our vintage Be of good cheer, my father; for unless The counsels of the Gods work strange device, I will not leave my spirit's former path. STEOPH. I. Semi- Chor. A. Go then and make ye glad the high Gods, blessed for ever, Those who rule our towns, and those who watch over our city, And they who dwell by the stream of Erasinos ancient. 1 Semi-CJior. B. And ye, companions true, Take up your strain of song. M0 Let praise attend this city of Pelasgos ; Let us no more no more adore the mouths of Neilos With these our hymns of praise ; ANTISTROPH. I. Semi-Chor. A. Nay, but the rivers here that pour calm streams through our country, 2 (1) The Erasinos -was supposed to rise in Arcadia, in Mount Stym- plmlos, to disappear below the earth, and to come to sight again in Arfjolis. (2) In this final choral ode of the Suppliants, as in that of the Seven against Thel>e.8, we have the phenomenon of the division of the Chorus, hitherto -united, into two sections of divergent thought and purpose. Semi-Chorus A. remains steadfast in its purpose of perpetual virginity ; Semi-Chorus B. relents, and is ready to accept wedlock. THE SUPPLIANTS. Parents of many a son, making glad the soil of out meadows, With wide flood rolling on, in full and abounding rich- ness. Semi-Chor. B. And Artemis the chaste, May she behold our band With pity ; ne'er be marriage rites enforced On us by Kythereia : those who hate us, Let that ill prize be theirs. i STBOPH. IL Semi-CTior. A. Not that our kindly strain does slight to Kypris immortal ; For she, together with Hera, as nearest to Zeus is mighty, A goddess of subtle thoughts, she is honoured in mys- teries solemn. Semi-Chor. B. Yea, as associates too with that their mother beloved, 102 Are fair Desire and Suasion, 1 whose pleading no man can gainsay, Yea, to sweet Concord too Aphrodite's power is entrusted, *And the whispering paths of the Loves. ANTISTBOPH. II. Simi-Chor. A. Yet am I sore afraid of the ship that chases us wanderers, Of terrible sorrows, and wars that are bloody and hateful; *Why else have they had fair gale for this their eager pursuing ? 103 Semi-Chor. D. Whate'er is decreed of us, I know that it needs must happen ; The mighty purpose of Zeus, unfailing, admits no trans- gression : (1) The two names were closely connected in the local worship of Athens, the temples of Aphrodite and Peitho (Suasion) standing at the south-west angle of the Acropolis. If any special purpose is to be traced in the invocation, we may see it in the poet's desire to bring out the nobler, more ethical side of Aphrodite's attributes, in contrast with the growing tendency to look on her as simply the patroness el brutal lust. i;6 THE SUPPLIANTS. *May this fate come to us, as to many women before us, *Fate of marriage and spouse I STBOPH. III. Scmi-Chor. A. Ah, may groat Zeus avert From me all marriage with wEgyptos' sous I Semi-Cher. B. Nay, all will work for good. Semi-Chor. A. Thou glozest that which will no glozing bear. 10 " Semi-Chor. B. And thou know' at not what future comes to us. ANTISTBOPH. III. Semi-Chor. A. How can I read the mind Of mightiest Zeus, to sight all fathomless ? Semi-Chor. B. "Well-tempered be thy speech! Semi-Chor. A. What mood of calmness wilt thon school me in ? Semi-Chor. B. Be not o'er-raah in what concerns the Gods. STBOPH. IV. Semi-Chor. A. Nay, may our great king Zeus avert that marriage With husbands whom we hate, E'en He who, touching her with healing hand. Freed lo from her pain, Putting an end from all her wanderings, Working with kindly force 1 IC * ANTISTBOPH. V. Semi-Chor. B. And may He give the victory to women! I choose the better part, Though mixed with ill ; and that the trial end Justly, as I have prayed, By means of subtle counsels which God gives To liberate from ills. 1 (1) The play, as acted, formed part of a trilogy, and the next play, th Danaids, probably contained the sequel of tlie story, the acceptance by th Suppliants of tie sons of .JEgyptos in marriage, the plot of Danaos I'oi the destruction -if the bridegrooms on the wedding-night, and the execu- tion of the deed of blood by all but Hyperiunestra. ARGUMENT. Tin years had passed sines Agamemnon, got, sf Atreus, king of Mykenee, had led the Hellenes to Tro'ia to take vengeance on Alexandras (also known as Paris}, son of Priam. For Paris had basely wronged Menelaos, king of Sparta, Agamemnon s brother, in that, being received by him as a guest, he enticed his wife Helena to leave her lord and go with him to Tro'ia. And now the tenth year had come, and Paris was slain, and tlie city of the Tro'ians was taken and destroyed, and Aga- memnon and tfo Hellenes were on their way homeward with the spoil and prisoners they had taken. Hut meanwhile Clytccmnestra tco, Agamemnon's queen, had been unfaithful, and had taken as her paramour JEgisthos, son of that Thyestes whom Atreus, his brotlier, had made to eat, unknowing, of the Jlesh of his own children. And now, partly led by her adul- terer, and partly seeking to avenge the death of her daughter Jphigeneia, whom Agamemnon had sacrificed to appease the wrath of Artemis, and partly also jealous because he was bringing back Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, as his con- cubine, she plotted with AZgisthos against her husband's life. But this was done secretly, and she stationed a guard on the roof of the royal palace to give notice when he saw the beacon - fires, by which Agamemnon had promised that he would send tidings that Tro'ia was taken.* The unfaithfulness of Clytwmnestra and the murder of Agamem- non had entered into the Homeric cycle of the legends of the bouse of Atreus. In the Odyssey, however, ^Egisthos is the chief agent in this crime, (Odyss- iii- 264, iv. 91, 532, xi. 409); and the manner of it differs from that which jEschylos has adopted. Clytwmnestra first appears as slaying both her husband and Cassandra in Pindar (Pytk persona. Watchman. Chorus of Argive Elder*. CLYT^MNESTRA. Herald, (TALTHYBIOt.) AGAMEMNON. CASSAKBKA. JEGISTHOS. AGAMEMNON. SCENE. Argos. The. Palace of AGAMEMNON ; statues of the Oods in front. Watchman on the roof. Time, night. Watchman. I ask the Gods a respite from these toils, This keeping at my post the whole year round, Wherein, upon the Atreidse's roof reclined, Like dog, upon my elbow, I have learnt To know night's goodly company of stars, And those bright lords that deck the firmament, And winter bring to men, and harvest-tide ; [The rising and the setting of the stars.] And now I watch for sign of beacon-torch, The flash of fire that bringeth news from Tro'ia, And tidings of its capture. So prevails *A woman's manly-purposed, hoping heart ; M And when I keep my bed of little ease, Drenched with the dew, un visited by dreams, (For fear, instead of sleep, my comrade is, So that in sound sleep ne'er I close mine eyes,) And when I think to sing a tune, or hum, (My medicine of song to ward off sleep,) Then weep I, wailing for this house's chance, No more, as erst, right well administered. Well ! may I now find blest release from toils, * When fire from out the dark brings tidings good. [Pauses, then springs up suddenly, seeing a light in the distance. Hail I thou torch-bearer of the night, that shedd'st Light as of morn, and bringest full array 182 AGAMEMNON. Of many choral bands in Argos met, [Because of this success. Hurrah ! hurrah I So clearly tell I Agamemnon's queen, With all speed rising from her couch to raise Shrill cry of triumph o'er this beacon-fire Throughout the house, since Ilion's citadel ]s taken, as full well that bright blaxe shows. " I, for my part, will dance my prelude now ; [Leaps and dances. For I shall score my lord's new turn of luck, This beacon-blaze my throw of triple six. 1 Well, would that I with this mine hand may touch. The dear hand of our king when he comes home I As to all else, the word is " Hush !" An ox J Rests on my tongue ; had the house a voice 'Twould tell too clear a tale. I'm fain to speak To those who know, forget with those who know not. [Exit. Enter Chorus of twelve Argive elders, chanting as they march to take up their position in the centre of the stage. A procession of women learntg torches is seen in the distance. Lo ! the tenth year now is passing * Since, of Priam great avengers, Menelaos, Agamemnon, (1) The form of gambling 1 from which the phrase is taken, had clearly become common in Attica among the class to which the watchman was w r posed to belong, and had given rise to proverbial phrases like that in tin text The Greeks themselves supposed it to have been invented by the Lydibng, (Herod, i. 94), or I'alamedes, one of the heroes of the tale of Truia, but it enters also into Egyptian legends (Herod, ii. 12-2.) and it prevalence from remote antiquity in thefaither East, as in the Indian story of Nala and Damaynnti, makes it probable that it originated there. The game was commonly played, as the phrase shows, with three dice, the highest throw being that which gave three sixes. JKschylos. it may bo noted, appears in a lost drama, which bore the title of Paiameiles, to have brought the game itself into his plot. It is referred to, as invented by that hero, in a fragment of Sophocles, (f'r. 380,) and again in the proverb, " The dice of Zeus have ever lucky throws." (Fr. 763.) (2) Here, also, the watchman takes up another common proverbial phrase, belonging to the same group as that of " kicking p.gainst the pricks " in v. 1624. He has his reasons for silence, weighty as would b* the tread of an ex to close his lips. AGAMEUNOK. Double-throned and double-sceptred, Power from sovran Zeus deriving Mighty pair of the Atreidse Raised a fleet of thousand vessels Of the Argives from our country, Potent helpers in their warfare, Shouting cry of Ares fiercely ; E'en as vultures shriek who hover, "Wheeling, whirling o'er their eyrie, In wild sorrow for their nestlings, With their oars of stout wings rowing, Having lost the toil that hound them To their callow fledglings' couches. But on high One, or Apollo, Zeus, or Pan, the shrill cry hearing, Cry of birds that are his clients, 1 Sendeth forth on men transgressing, Erinnys, slow but sure avenger ; So against young Alexandras 3 Atreus' sons the great King sendeth, Zeus, of host and guest protector : He, for bride with many a lover, Will to Danai give and Troians Many conflicts, men's limbs straining, When the knee in dust is crouching, And the spear-shai't in the onset Of the battle snaps asunder. But as things are now, so are they, So, as destined, shall the end be. Nor by tears, nor yet libations Shall he soothe the wrath unbending Caused by sacred rites left fireless.* " (1) The rultures stand, i.e., to the rnlers of Heaven, in the iame rela- tion as the foreign sojourners in Athens, the Metoeca, did to the citizen* under whose protection they placed themselves. (2) Alexandros, the other name of Paris, the sedncer of Helen. (3) The words, perhaps, refer to the grief of Menelaos, as leading him to neglect the wonted sacrifices to Zeus, but it seems better to see in them a reference to the sin of Paris. He, at least, who had carried off his host's wile, had not oileied acceptable sacrifices, had neglected aiJ 184 AGAMEMNON. We, with old frame little honoured, Left behind that host are staying, Besting strength that equals childhood*! On our staff : for in the bosom *0f the boy, life's young sap rushing, Is of old age but the equal ; Ares not as yet is found there : And the man in age exceeding, "When the leaf is sere and withered, Goes with thi-ee feet on his journey ; * " Not more Ares-like than boyhood, Like a day-seen dream ho wanders. [Enter CLYMEMXESTRA, followed by the procession of torch-bearers. Thou, of Tyndareus the daughter, Queen of Argos, Clytsemnestra, "What has happened ? what news cometh ? What perceiving , on what tidings Leaning, dost thou put in motion All this solemn, great procession P Of the Gods who guard the city, Those above and those beneath us, Of the heaven, and of the market, * Lo ! with thy gifts blaze the altars ; And through all the expanse of Heaven, Here and there, the torch-fire rises, With the flowing, pure persuasion Of the holy unguent nourished, *And the chrism rich and kingly From the treasure-store's recesses. Telling what of this thou canst tell, What is right for thee to utter, Be a healer of my trouble, aeriflcea to Zens Xcnios, the God of host and p-upnt. The allusion to th Bacrinee of Iphigeneia, which some (Donaldson and Paley) have found bre, and the wrath of Clytremnestra, which Agaraemnuu will fail to toot he, seems more far-fetched. (1) An allusion, such as the audience would catch and delipht in, to the Well-known enigma of the Sphinx. Sue Sophocles, ('1 raiu.,) p. L AGAMEMNON. 185 Trouble now my soul disturbing, ** * While anon fond hope displaying Sacrificial signs propitious, "Wards off care that no rest knoweth, Sorrow mind and heart corroding. The Chorus, tuking their places round the central thymele, begin their song. 1 STEOPETB. Able am I to utter, setting forth The might from omens sprang *What met the heroes as they journeyed on, (For still, by God's great gift, My age, yet linked with strength, *Breathes suasive power of song,) How the Achseans' twin-throned majesty, Accordant rulers of the youth of Hellas, *** With spear and vengeful hand, Were sent by fierce, strong bird 'gainst Teucrian shore, Kings of the birds to kings of ships appearing, One black, with white tail one, Near to the palace, on the spear-hand side, On station seen of all, A pregnant hare devouring with her young, Robbed of all runs to come : (I] The Chorus, though too old to take part in the expedition, are yet able to tell both of what passed as the expedition started, and of tha terrible fulfilment of the omens which they had seen. The two eagles are, of course, in the symbolism of prophecy, the two chieftains, Menelaos and Agamemnon. The "white feathers" of the one may point to the less heroic character of Menelaos : so, in v. 123, they are of " diverse mood." The hare whom they devour is, in the first instance, Trola, and so far the omen is good, portending the success of the expedition ; but, as Artemis hates the fierceness of the eagles, so there is, in the eyes of the seer, a dark token of danger from her wrath against the Atreidse. Either their victory will be sullied by cruelty which will bring down ven- geance, or else there is some secret sin in the past which must be atoned for by a terrible sacrifice. In the legend followed by Sophocles, (E/ectr. 566,) Agamemnon had offended Artemis by slaying a doe sacred to her, aa he was hunting. In the manifold meanings of such omens there is, probably, a latent suggestion of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia by the two chieftnins, though this was nt the time hidden from the sper. The fact that they are eeu on Uie right, uot ou the lull hand, was itself ominous of good. 186 AGAMEMNON. Wail as for Linos, wail, -wail bitterly, And yet may good prevail ! l ia * AjmSTBOPHJS. And the -wise prophet of the avny seeing* The brave Atreidso twain Of diverse mood, knew those that tore the hare, And those that led the host ; And thus divining spake : " One day this armament Shall Priam's city sack, and all the herds Owned by the people, countless, by the towers, Fate shall with force lay low. Only take heed lest any wrath of Gods *3 Blunt the great curb of Tro'ia yet encamped, Struck down before its time ; For Artemis the chaste that house doth hate, Her father's winged hounds, Who slay the mother with her unborn young, And loathes the eagles' feast. Wail as for Linos, wail, wail bitterly ; And yet may good prevail 1 EPODB. " *For she, the fair One, though so kind of heart To fresh-dropt dew from mighty lion's womb,* And young that suck the teats (1) The song of Linos, originally the dirge with which n\en mourned for the death of Linos, the minstrel-son of Apollo and Uran, brother of Orpheus, who was slain by Heracles, a type, like Thammuz and Adonis, of life prematurely closed and bright hopes never to be fulfilled, had come to be the representative of all songs of mourning. So Hesiod (in Eustath. on Horn. 11., vii. 509) speaks of the name, as applied to all funeral dirges o\er poets and minstrels. So Herodotos (ii. 79) compare* it, as the type of this kind of music among the Greeks, with what ha found in Egypt connected with the name of Maneros, the only son of the first king ot Egypt, who died in the bloom of youth. The name had, therefore, as definite a connotation for a Greek audience as the words Miserere or Jubilate would have for us, and ought not, I believe, to disap- pear from the translation. (2) The comparison of a lion's whelps to dew-drops, bold as the fignr* is, has something in it analogous to that with which we are more familiar, describing the children, or the army of a, king, as the " dew " from "tbt womb of the uioruiug " (Pa. ex. 3). AGAMEMNON. Of all that roam the fields, *** *Yet prays Him bring to pass The portents of those birds, The omens good yet also full of dread And Paean I invoke As Healer, lest she on the Danai send Delays that keep the ships Long time with hostile blasts, So urging on a new, strange sacrifice, Unblest, uniVstivalled, 1 By natural growth artificer of strife, Bearing far other fruit than wife's true fear, .For there abideth yet, Fearful, recurring still, Ruling the house, full subtle, unforgetting, Vengeance for children slain." 2 *" Such things, with great good mingled, Calchas spake, In voice that pierced the air, As destined by the birds that crossed our path To this our kingly house : And in accord with them, Wail as for Linos, wail, wail bitterly; And yet may good prevail. STROPH. I. O Zeus whate'er He be,* If that Name please Him well, By that on Him I call : (1) The sacrifice, i.e., was to he such as rould not, according to the ooo- ternary ritual, form a feast for the worshippers. (2) The dark words look at once before and after, back to the murder of the sons of Thyestes, forward, though of this the seer knew not, to the sacrifice of Iphigeneia. Clytwmnestra is the embodiment of the Ven- geance of which the Chorus speaks. (3) As a part of the drama the whole passage that follows is an asser- tion by the Chorus that in this their trouble they will turn to no other God. invoke no other name, but that of the Supreme 2eus. But it can hardly be doubted that they have a meaning beyond this, and are tha utterance by the poet of his own theology. In the second part of the Promethean trilogy (all that we now know of it) he had represented Zeus-oa ruling in the might of despotic sovereignty, the representative of a Power which men could not resist, but also could not love, inflicting needle** uifej-iugs ou Uie sous of iaeu. Now be has grown wier. l'i l88 AGAMEMNON. Weighing all other names I fail to guess Aught else but Zeus, if I would cast aside, Clearly, in very deed, From off my soul this idle weight of care. ** ANTISTBOPH. I. Nor He who erst was great, 1 Pull of the might to war, * Avails now ; He is gone ; And He who next came hath departed too, His victor meeting ; but if one to Zeus, High triumph-praise should sing, His shall be all the wisdom of the wise ; STBOPH. II. Yea, Zeus, who leadeth men in wisdom's way, "* And fixeth fast the law, That pain is gain ; And slowly dropping on the heart in sleep Comes woe-recording care, And makes the unwilling yield to wiser thoughts : And doubtless this too comes from grace of Gods, *Seated in might upon their awful thrones. AKTISTEOPH. II. And then of those Achaean ships the chief,* The elder, blaming not Or seer or priest ; sovereignty of Zens is accepted as part of the present order of the world ; trust in Him brines peace ; the pain which He permits is the one only way to wisdom. The stress laid upon the name of Zeus implies a wish to cleave to the religion inherited from, the older Hellenes, as contrasted with those with which their intercourse with the East had made the Athenians familiar. Like the voice which came to Epimenides, as he was building a sanctuary to the Muses, bidding 1 him dedicate it not to them but to Zeus, (Dioa.We reference, not only to the story, but to the actual word* at Homer, Ii. i. 45-62. 2O2 AGAMEMNON. These I invoke ; my patron Ilermes too, Dear herald, whom all heralds reverence, Those heroes, too, that sent us, 1 graciously To welcome back the host that war has spared. ** Hail, O ye royal dwellings, home beloved! Ye solemn thrones, and Gods who face the sun I 3 If e'er of old, with cheerful glances now After long time receive our king's array. For he is come, in darkness bringing light To you and all, our monarch, Agamemnon. Salute him with all grace ; for so 'tis meet. Since he hath dug up Troi'a with the spade Of Zeus the Avenger, and the plain laid waste j Fallen their altars and the shrines of Gods ; fu The seed of all the land is rooted out, This yoke of bondage casting over Troia, Our chief, the elder of the Atreidao, comes, A man full blest, and worthiest of high honour Of all that are. For neither Paris' self, Nor his accomplice city now can boast Their deed exceeds its punishment. For he, Found guilty on the charge of rape and theft,* Hath lost his prize and brought his father's house, With lands and all, to waste and utter wreck ; And Priam's sons have double forfeit paid.* * (1) Specially the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeukes. (2) Such a position (especially in the case of Zens or Apollo) was com- mon in the temples both of Greece and Rome, and had a very obviniu signification. As the pl^iy was performed, the actual hour of the day probably coincided wilh that required by the dramatic sequence of events, and the statues of the Gods were so placed on the stage as to catch tha rays of the morning sun when the herald entered. Hence the allusion to the bright " cheerful glances " would have a visible aa well ae ethical fitness. (3) It formed part of the guilt of Paris, that, besides his seduction of Helena, he had carried otf part of the treasures of Menelaos. (4) The idea of a payment twofold the amount of the wrong done, as a complete satisfaction to the sufferer, was common in the early jurispru- dence both of Greeks and Hebrews, (Kxod. xxii. 4-7.) In some cases it was even more, as in the four or fivefold restitution of Kxod. xxii. 1. In the grand opening of Isaiah's message of glad tidings the fact that Jeru- salem has received " double for all her sins" is made the ground on tin strength of which she may now hope for pardon. Comp. also lua, Lxi, 7] Zeoh.ix.12. AGAMEMNON. 2OJ Chor. Joy, joy, them herald of the Achaean host I Her. All joy is mine : I shrink i'rom death no more. Chor. Did love for this thy fatherland so try thee ? Her. So that mine eyes weep tears for very joy. Chor. Disease full sweet then this ye suffered from . . . Her. How so ? "When taught, I shall thy meaning master. Chor. Ye longed for us who yearned for you in turn. Her. Say'st thou this land its yearning host yearned o'er ? Chor. Tea, so that oft I proaned in gloom of heart. Her. Whence came these bodings that an army hates? 53 Chor. Silence I've held long since a charm for ill. Her. How, when your lords were absent, feared ye any ? Chor. To use thy words, death now would welcome be. Her. Good is the issue ; but in so long time Some things, one well might say, have prospered well, And some give cause for murmurs. Save the Gods, Who free from sorrow lives out all his life ? For should I tell of toils, and how we lodged Pull hardly, seldom putting in to shore, 1 And then with couch full hard. . . . What gave us not Good cause for mourning ? What ill had we not ** As daily portion ? And what passed on land, That brought yet greater hardship : for our beds Were under our foes' walls, and meadow mists Prom heaven and earth still left us wringing wet, A constant mischief to our garments, making Our hair as shaggy as the beasts'. 3 And if One spoke of winter frosts that killed the birds, By Ida's snow-storms made intolerable, 3 Or heat, when Ocoau in its noontide couch (1) Perhaps " Full hardly, and the close and crowded decks." (2) So stress is laid upon this form of hardship, as rising from the climate of Tro'ia, by Sophocles, Aias, 1206. (3) One may conjecture that here also, as with the passage describing the succession of beacon fires, (w. 281-314,) the description would have for an Athenian audience the interest of recalling personal reminiscence* ut bouie recent campaign in Thrake, or on the coasta of Asia. 204 AGAMEMNON. Windless reclined and slept without a wave. . . I Jut why lament o'er this ? Our toil is past ; ** Past too is theirs who in the warfare foil, So that no care have they to rise again. Why should I count the number of the dead, Or he that lives mourn o'er a past mischance P To change and chance I bid a long Farewell : With us, the remnant of the Argive host, Good fortune wins, no ills as counterpoise. So it is meet to this bright sun we boast, Who travel homeward over land and sea ; " The Argive host who now have captured Troi'a, ** These spoils of battle 1 to the Gods of Hellas Hang on their pegs, enduring prize and joy." 2 Hearing these things we ought to bless our country And our commanders ; and the grace of Zeus That wrought this shall be honoured. My tale's told. Chor. Thy words o'ercome me, and I say not nay ; To learn good keeps youth's freshness with the old. 'Tis meet these things should be a special care To Clytsemnestra and the house, and yet That they should make me sharer in their joy. Enter CLYTSEMNESTRA. Clytfem. I long ago for gladness raised my cry, When the first fiery courier came by night, Telling of Tro'ia taken and laid waste : And then one girding at me spake, "Dost think, Trusting in beacons, Tro'ia is laid waste ? This heart elate is just a woman's way." In words like these they made me out distraught ; Yet still I sacrificed, and with a strain (1) We may, perhaps, think of the herald, as he speaks, placing: some representative trophy upon the pegs on the pedestals of the statue* at the great Gods of Hellas, whom he had invoked on his entranco. U) Or, " So that to this bright morn onr sons may boast, As they o'er land and ocean take 1 heir flight, 'The Argive host of old, who c;ipf Hollos, Hung (in their pegs, a trophy of old days.' " AGAMEMNON. 205 Bhrill as a woman's, they, now here, now there, Throughout the city hymns of blessing raised In shrines of Gods, and lulled to gentle sleep The fragrant flame that on the incense fed. And now why need'st thou lengthen out thy words P I from the king himself the tale shall learn; And that I show all zeal to welcome back My honoured lord on his return (for what Is brighter joy for wife to see than this, "When God has brought her husband back from war, To open wide her gates ?) tell my lord this, " To come with all his speed, the city's idol ; " And " may he find a faithful wife at home, Such as he left her, noble watch-dog still For him, and hostile to his enemies ; And like in all things else, who has not broken One seal of his in all this length of time." 1 No pleasure have I known, nor scandal ill With any other more than . . . stains on bronze.* Such is my vaunt, and being full of truth, Not shameful for a noble wife to speak. 3 [Exit. (1) The husband, on his departure, sealed up hit special treasures. It was the glory of the faitMul wife or the trusty steward to keep these seals unbroken. (2) There is an ambiguity, possibly an intentional one, in the compa- rison which Clytaemnestra uses, if there was no such art as that of "staining bronze" (or copper) known at the time, the words would be a natural phrase enough to describe what was represented as an impossi- bili y. Later on in the history of art, however, as in the timepf Plut-iroh, a process so described (perhaps analogous to enamelling) is desciibed (I IK I'yUt. Orac ( 2) as common. If we suppose the art to have been a mys ery known to the few, but not to the many, in the time of jEschylos, then the words would have for the hearers the point of a dnMe entendre. She seems to the masa to disclaim what yet, to those in the secret 8h< acknowledges Another rendering refers "bronze" to the "sword," and makes tha Btains those of blood ; as though she said, " I am as guiltless of adultery as of mui der," while yet she knew that she had committed the one, and meant to commit the other. The possibility of such a meaning is cer- 1,iiuly in the words, and with a sharp-witted au<]if>nrp catching at uenigmns and dark sayings may have added to their suggestiveness. The ambi- guous comment of the Chorus shows that they read, as between the lines, the shameful secret which they knew, but of which the Herald was ignorant. (31 The last, two lines are by some editors assigned to the Herald. S06 AGAMEMNON. Chor. [to Tltrald.'] She hath thus spoken in thy hear- ing now A goodly word for good interpreters. But tell me, herald, toll of Monelaos, ** If, coming home again in safety he Is with you, the dear strength of this our land. Her. I cannot make report of false good news, So that my friends should long rejoice in it. Chor. Ah 1 could'st thou good news speak, and also true ! These things asunder are not well concealed. Her. The chief has vanished from the Achaean host, He and his ship. I speak no falsehood here. Chor. In sight of all when he from Ilion sailed ? Or did a storja's wide evil part him from you ? *** Her. Like skilful archer thou hast hit tho mark, And in few words hast told of evil long. Chor. And was it of him as alive or dead The whisper of the other sailors ran ? Her. None to that question answer clear can give, Save the Sun-God who feeds the life of earth. Chor. How say'st thou ? Did a storm come on our fleet, And do its work through anger of the Gods? Her. It is not meet a day of tidings good To mar with evil news. Apart for each Is special worship. But when courier brings With louring face the ills men pray against, And tells a city that its host has fallen, That for the State there is a general wound, That many a man from many a home is driven, As banned by double scourge that Ares loves, Woe doubly-barbed, Death's two-horsed chariot this * . When with such griefs as freight a herald comes, 'Tis meet to chant the Erinnyes' dolorous song; But for glad messenger of good deeds wrought That bring deliverance, coming to a town Rejoicing in its triumph, . . . how shall I Blend good with evil, telling of a storm AGAMEMNON. 2O7 That smote the Achaoans, not without God's wrath ? For they a compact swore who erst were foes, Ocean and Fire, and their pledges gave, Wrecking the ill-starred army of the Argives ; And in the night rose ill of raging storm : For Thrakian tempests shattered all the ships, Each on the other. Some thus crashed and bruised, By the storm stricken and the surging foam Of wind-tost waves, soon vanished out of sight, *** Whirled, by an evil pilot. And when rose The sun's bright orb, behold, the .ZEgsean sea Blossomed with wrecks of ships and dead Achaeans. And as for us and our uninjured ship, Surely 'twas some one stole or begged us off, Some God, not man, presiding at the helm ; And on our ship with good will Fortune sat, Giver of safety, so that nor in haven Felt we the breakers, nor on rough rock -beach Ran we aground. But when we bad escaped *" The hell of waters, then in clear, bright day, Not trusting in our fortune, we in thought O'er new ills brooded of our host destroyed, And eke most roughly handled. And if still Breathe any of them they report of us As having perished. How else should they speak ? And we in our turn deem that they are so. God send good ending ! Look you, first and chief, For Menelaos' coming ; and indeed, If any sunbeam know of him alive Aud well, by help of Zeus who has not willed *** As yet to blot out all the regal race, Some hope there is that he '11 come back again. Know, hearing this, that thou the truth hast heard. [Exit Herald. STKOPII. I. Clior. Who was it named her with such wondrous truth? (Could it be One unseen, JO8 AGAMEMNON. In strange prevision of her destined work, Guiding the tongue through chance ?) Who gave that war-wed, strife-upstirring one The name of Helen, ominous of ill ? * For all too plainly she Hath been to men, and ships, And towers, as doom of Hell. From bower of gorgeous curtains forth she sailed With breeze of Zephyr Titan-born and strong ;* And hosts of many men, ' Hunters that bore the shield, Went on the track of those who steered their boat Unseen to leafy banks of Siinois, On her account who came, Dire cause of strife with bloodshed in her train. ANTISTBOPH. L And so the wrath which works its vengeance out Dear bride to Ilion brought, (Ah, all too truly named ! ) exacting still * After long lapse of time The penalty of foul dishonour done To friendship's board and Zeus, of host and guest The God, from those who paid Their loud-voiced honour then Unto that bridal strain, That hymeneal chorus which to chant (1) It need hardly be said that it is as difficult to render a parnnomafa of this kind as it is to reproduce those, more or less analogous, which we find in the prophels of 1he Old Testament, (comp. especially Micah i. ;) but it t-eems better to substitute something which approaches, however imperfectly, to an equivalent than to obscure the reference to the rcmen et omen by abandoning the attempt to translate it. "Hell of men, and hell of ships, and heu of towers," has been the rendering adopted by many previous translators. The Greek fondness for this play on names ia seen in Sophocles, Aias, v. 401. (2) Zephyros, Boreas, and the other great winds were represented in the Ilieogmiy of Ilesiod (v. 134) as the offspring 1 of Astrieos imd Eos, and Astreeus was a Titan. The west wind was, of course, favourable to Paris U he went with Helen from Greece to TroTa. (8) Here again the translator has to meet the difficulty of a pun. Af & alternative we might take "To Ilion brought, well-named, A. muxriage marring nil," AGAMEMNON. 209 Fell to the lot of all the bridegroom's kin. 1 But learning other song, Priam's ancient city now "^ Bewaileth sore, and calls on Paris' name, Wedded in fatal wedlock ; all the time * Enduring tear-fraught life * For all the blood its citizens had lost, STBOI-H. IL So once a lion's cub, A mischief in his house, As foster child one reared,* While btill it loved the teats ; In life's preluding dawn Tame, by the children loved, ** And fondled by the old, 3 Oft in his arms 'twas held, Like infant newly born, With eyes that brightened to the hand that stroked, And fawning at the hest of hunger keen. ANTISTBOPH. n. But when full-grown, it showed The nature of its sires ; For it unbidden made A feast in recompense Of all their fostering care, * By banquet of slain sheep ; *** With blood the house was stained, (1) The sons of Priam are thought of as taking part in the celebration of Helen's marriage with Paris, and as, therefore, involving themselves in the guilt and the penalty of his crime. (2) Here, too, it may be well to give an alternative rendering " A mischief in his house, A man reared, not on milk." Home-reared lions seem to have been common as pets, both among Greeks and Latins, (Arist., Hist. Anim. is.. 31 ; Plutarch, de Coftib. ira, jj 14, p. 822,) sometimes, as in Martial's Epigram, ii. 25, with fatal consequences. The text shows the practice to have been common enough in the time of Pericles to supply a similitude. (3) There may, possibly, be a half allusion here to the passage in the 77iaJ, (TV. 154-160,) which describes the fascination which the beauty oj Helen exercised on the Troi'an elders. P HO AGAMEMNON. A curse no slaves could check, Great mischief murderous : By God's decree a priest of Ate thus Was reared, aud grew within the man's own houee. STBOPH. III. So I would tfll that thus to Ilion came Mood -as of calm when all the air is still, The gentle pride and joy of kingly state, A tender glance of eye, The full-blown blossom of a passionate love, Thrilling the very soul ; And yet she turned aside, And wrought a bitter end of marriage feast, Coming to Priam's race, 111 sojourner, ill friend, Sent by great Zeus, the God of host and guest Erinnye, for whom wives weep many tears. AjmsTitorn. HI. Theie lives an old saw, framed in ancient days, 1 In memories of men, that high estate Full-grown brings forth its young, nor childless dies, But that from good success Springs to the race a woe insatiable. But I, apart from all, Hold this my creed alone : For impious act it is that offspring breeds, Like to their parent stock : For still in every house That loves the right their late for evermore Rejoiceth in an issue fair and good. (1) The poet becomes a prophet, and asserts what it has be*B ffiven him to know of the righteous government of God. The dominant creed of Greece at the lime was, that the Gods were envious of man's pros- perity, that this alone, apart from moral evil, was enough to draw nown their wrath, and bring a curse upon the prosperous house. So, e.g., Amasis tells Polycrates (Herod, iii. 40) that the unseen Divinity tlint rules the world is envious, that power and glory are inevitably th precursors of destruction. Comp. also the speech of Artabanos, (Herod, vii. 10, 46.) Ae-ainst this, in the tone of one who speaks single* handed Jbr the truth, 2schylos, through the Chorus, eaters Jus protest. AGAMEMNON. ill BTBOPH. IV. But Recklessness of old Is wont to breed another Recklessness, Sporting its youth in human miseries, Or now, or then, whene'er the fixed hour comes : *** That in its youth, in turn, Doth full-flushed Lusfc beget, And that dread demon-power unconquerable, Daring that fears not God, Two curses black within the homes of men, Like those that gendered them. A:msTBOpH. IV. But Justice shineth bright In dwellings that are dark and dim with smoke, And honours life law-ruled, While gold-decked homes conjoined with hands defiled 7 * She with averted eyes Hath left, and draweth near To holier things, nor worships might of wealth, If counterfeit its praise ; But still directeth all the course of things Towards its destined goal. [AGAMEMNON is seen approaching in hit chariot, followed by another chariot, in which GAS- SANDRA is standing, carrying her prophet's wand in her hand, and wearing fillets round her temples, and by a great train of soldiers bearing trophies. As they come on the *taye the Chorus sings its welcome. Come then, king, thou son of Atreua, Waster of the towers of Troia, What of greeting and of homage Shall I give, nor overshooting, Nor due need of honour missing P ' Men there are who, right transgressing, Honour semblance more than being. *** O'er the sufferer all are ready 212 AGAMEMNON. Wail of bitter grief to utter, Though the biting pang of sorrow Never to their heart approaches ; So with counterfeit rejoicing Men strain faces that are smileless ; But when one his own sheep knoweth, Then men's eyes cannot deceive him, When they deem with kindly purpose, "** And with fondness weak to natter. Thou, when thou did'st lead thine army For Helen's sake (I will not hide it) Wast to me as one whose features Have been limned by unskilled artist, Guiding ill the helm of reason, Giving men to death's doom sentenced * Courage which their will rejected. 1 Now nor from the spirit's surface, Nor with touch of thought unfriendly, All the toil, I say, is welcome, If men bring it to good issue. And thou soon shalt know, enquiring, ** Him who rightly, him who wrongly Of thy citizens fulfilMh Task of office for the city. 8 Agam. First Argos, and the Gods who guard the land, 'Tis right to greet ; to them in part I owe This my return, and vengeance that I took On Priam's city. Not on hearsay proof Judging the cause, with one consent the Gods Cast in their votes into the urn of blood For Ilion's ruin and her people's death ; * I' the other urn Hope touched the rim alone, * (1) Se., Agamemnon, by the sacrifice of Iphig'eneia, had induced hit troops to persevere in an expedition from which, in their inmost hearts, they shrank back with strong dislike. A conjectural reading gives, " By the sacrifice he offered Giving death-doomed men false boldness." (2) The tone oi ambiguous irony mingles, it will be seen, even her*, with the praises of the Chorus. AGAMEMNON. Still far from being filled full. 1 And even yet The captured city by its .smoke is seen, * The incense clouds of Ate live on still ; And, in the act of dying with its prey, From richest store the dust sends savours sweet. For these things it is meet to give the Gods Thank-offerings long-enduring ; for our nets Of vengeance we set close, and for a woman Our Argive monster laid the city low, 1 Foaled by the mare, a people bearing shield, Taking its leap when set the Pleirides ; 3 And, bounding o'er the tower, that ravenous lion Lapped up its fill of bluod of kingly race. This prelude to the Gods I lengthen out ; And as concerns thy feeling (this I well Remember hearing) I with thee agree, And thou in me may'st find an advocate. With but few men is it their natural bent To honour without grudging prosperous friend . For ill-souled envy that the heart besets, Doubles his woe who suffers that disease : He by his own griefs first is overwhelmed, And groans at sight of others' happier lot. * And I with good cause say, (for well I know,) They are but friendship's mirror, phantom shade. Who seemed to be my most devoted friends. Odysseus only, who against his will 4 Soiled with us, still was found true trace-fellow; And this I say of him or dead or living. (1) Possibly an allusion to Pandora's box. Here, too, Hope alone left, but it only came up to where the curve of the rim began, not to its top. The imagery is drawn from the older method of voting, in which (as in Kitmrtiidet, v. 678) the votes for condemnation and acquittal wero cast into separate urns. !2) The lion, as the symbol of the house of Atreus, s*ill seen in tha sculptures of Mykente ; the horso, in allusion to the stratagem by wine,*' Tnria had been taken. .3) At the end of autumn, and therefore at a season when a storm lik that described by the herald would be a probable incident enough, (4) 80 in Sophocles, 1'hiloctetes (v. 1025) taunts Odysseus : ' And yet thou sailedst with them by constraint, By tricks fast, bound." 214 AGAMEMNON. But as for all that touches on the State, Or on the Gods, in full assembly we, Calling our council, will deliberate : ** For what goes well we should with care provide How longest it may last ; and where there needs A healing charm, there we with all good- will, By surgery or cautery will try To turn away the mischief of disease. And now will I to home and household hearth Move on, and first give thanks unto the Gods Who led me forth, and brought me back again. Since Victory follows, long may she remain ! Enter CLYT^EMNESTRA, followed by female attendant* carrying purple tapestry. Clytcem. Ye citizens, ye Argive senators, I will not shrink from telling you the talo Of wife's true love. As time wears on one drops All over-shyness. Not learning it from others, I will narrate my own unhappy life, The whole long time my lord at Ilion stayed. For first, that wife should sit at home alone Without her husband is a monstrous grief, Hearing full many an ill report cf him, Now one and now another coming still, Bringing news home, worse trouble upon bad. Yea, if my lord had met as manj r wounds As rumour told of, floating to our house, He had been riddled more than any net ; And had he died, as tidings still .poured in, Then he, a second Geryon l with three lives, Had boasted of a threefold coverlet Of earth above, (I will not say below him,) 3 (1) Geryon appears in the myth of Hercules as a monster with three Beads and three bodies, ruling- over the island Erytheia, in the far West, beyond Hesperia. To destroy him and seize his cattle was one of th " twelve labours," with which Hesiod (Theogon, w. 287-294) had already made men familiar. (2) When a man is buried, there is earth above and earth below him Clytieinneatra having used the words "coverlet," pauses to make ha AGAMEMNON. Dying one death for each of those his forms ; And eo, because of all these ill reports, Full many a noose around my neck have others Loosed by main force, when I had hung myself. And for this cause no son is with me now, Holding in trust the pledges of our love, As he should be, Orestes. Wonder not ; For now a kind ally doth nurture him, iStrophios the Phokian, telling me of woes Of twofold aspect, danger on thy side At Ilion, and lest loud-voiced anarchy Should overthrow thy council, since 'tis still The wont of men to kick at those who fall. No trace of guile bears this excuse of mine; As for myself, the fountains of my tears Have flowed till they are dry, no drop remains, And mine eyes suffer from o'er-late repose, Watching with tears the beacons set for thee, 1 Left still unheeded. Arid in dreams full oft I from my sleep was startled by the gnat With thin wings buzzing, seeing in the night Ills that stretched far beyond the time of sleep.* Now, having borne all this, with mind at ease, I hail my lord as watch-dog of the fold, The stay that saves the ship, of lofty roof ** Main column-prop, a father's only child, Land that beyond all hope the sailor sees, Morn of great brightness following after storm, language accurate to the very letter. She is speaking only of the earth winch would hiive been laid over her husband s corpse, had he died aa often as he w;is repor od lo have done. She will not utter anything so ominous as an allusion to the dcpiUs below l"m stretching down to Hades. (1) Or "Weeping because the torches in thy house No more were lighted as tLey were of yure." (2) The words touch upon the psychological fact that in dreams, as in Other abnormal states of the mind, the usiutl measures of time disappear, and we seem to pass through the experiences of many years in toe 8lui-?. ber of a few minute*. 216 AGAMEMNON. Clear-flowing fount to thirsty traveller. 1 Yes, it is pleasant to escape a'.l straits : With words of welcome such as these I greet thee; May jealous Heaven forgive them ! for we bore Full many an evil in the past ; and now, Dear husband, leave thy car, nor on the ground, King, set thou the foot that Ilion trampled. Why linger ye, [turning to her aUend(ud8,~\ ye maids, whose task it was To strew the pathway with your tapestries ? Let the whole road be straightway purple-strown, That Justice lead to home he looked not for. All else my care, by slumber not subdued, Will with God's help work out what fate decrees. 1 {The handmaids advance, and are about to lay the purple carpets on the ground.} Agam. child of Leda, guardian of my home, Thy speech hath with my absence well agreed For long indeed thou mad'st it but fit praise Is boon that I must seek at other hands. 1 pray thee, do not in thy woman's fashion Pamper my pride, nor in barbaric guise Prostrate on earth raise full-mouthed cries to me ; Make not my path offensive to the Gods By spreading it with carpets. 3 They alone (1) The rhetoric of the passage, with all its multiplied similitudes, fine as it is in itself, receives its dramatic significance by being put into the lips of Clyi eemnestra. She " doth protest too much." A true wife would have been content with fewer words. (2) The last three lines of the speech are of course intentionally am> biguous, earrving one meaning to the ear of Agamemnon, and another to that of the audience. (31 There is obviously a side-thnist, such as an Athenian audience would catch at, at the token of homage which the Persian Kings required of their subjects, the prostration at their IVet, the earth spread over with costly robes. Of the latter custom we have examples in the history of Jehu, (2 Kings ix. 13,) in our Lord's entry into Jerusalem, (Mark xi. 8,) in the usages of modern Persian kings, (Malcolm's Persia, i. 580;) perhaps also in the true tendering of 1's. xlv. U. "She shall be brought unto the king on raiment of nuedU'-wnrk " In the inarch of Xerxes across the Hellespont myrtle-boughs strown on th' bridge of boats took the pliiee of robes, (Herod, vii. 54.) To the Green character, with its trong love of independence, such customs were hateful. The case oi AGAMEMNON. 117 May claim that honour ; but for mortal men To walk on fair embroidery, to me Seems nowise without peril. So I bid you To honour me as man, and not as God. Apart from all foot-mats and tapestry My fame speaks loudly ; and God's greatest gift ** Is not to err from wisdom. We must bless Him only who ends life in fair estate. 1 iSbould I thus act throughout, good hope were mine. Chjtcem. Nay, say not this my purposes to thwart. Ayam. Know I change not for the worse my pur- pose. Clytam. In fear, perchance, thou vowed'st thus to act. Agum. If any, I, with good ground spoke my will. 2 Ciyt&m. What think'st thou Priam, had he wrought such deeds . . . ? Agam. Full gladly he, I trow, had trod on carpets. Clytdb-m. Then shrink not thou through fear of men's dispraise. 9l Agam, And yet a people's whisper hath great might. 3 Clytffim. Who is not envied is not enviable. Agam. 'Tis not a woman's part to crave for strife. Clytam. True, yet the prosperous e'en should some- times yield. Agam. Dost thou then prize that victory in the strife ? Clytcem. Nay, list; with all good- will yield me this boon. Agam. Well, then, if thou wilt have it so. with speed Let some one loose my buskins, 4 (servants they Pausanias, who offended the national feeling by assuming the outward state of the Persian kings, must have been recalled to the minds of tho Athenians, intentionally or otherwise, by such a passave as this. (1) The "old saying, famed of many men," which we find in the Trachinite of Sophocles, (v. 1,) and in the counsel of Solon to Croesos, (Herod i. 32.) (2) He who had suffered so much -from the wrath of Artemis at Aulis knew what it was to rouse the wrath and jealousy of the Gods. (3) An echo of a line in Hesiod, ( Wmkt and Days, 7(U) "No whispered rumours which the many spread Can ever wholly perish." (4", Here, too, we may trace a reference to the < Jvientnl custom ol g the sanctity of a consecrated place by taking the shoes front 2l8 AGAMEMNON. Doing the foot's true work,) and as I tread Upon these robes sea-purpled, may no wrath From glance of Gods smite on me from afar I * Great shame I feel to trample with my foot This wealth of carpets, costliest work of looms ; So far for this. This stranger \_pointing to CASSANDRA] lead thou in With kindliness. On him who gently wields His power God's eye looks kindly from afar. None of their own will choose a bondslave's life ; And she, the chosen flower of many spoils, Has followed with me as the army's gift. But since I turn, obeying thee in this, I'll to my palace go, on purple treading. * Clyttxm. There is a sea, and who shall drain it dry ? Producing still new store of purple juice, Precious as silver, staining in any a robe. And in our house, with God's help, O my king, 'Tis ours to boast our palace knows no stint. Trampling of many robes would 1 have vowed, Had that been ordered me in oracles, V/hen for my lord's return I then did plan My votive gifts. For while the root lives on, The folinge stretches even to the house, And spreads its shade against the dog-star's rage j ** So when thou comest to thy hearth and home, Thoti show'st that warmth hath come in winter time; And when from unripe clusters Zeus matures The wine, 1 then is there coolness in the house, If the true master dwelleth in his home. Ah, Zeus ! the All-worker, Zeus, work out for me off the feet, as in Exod. iii. 5, in the services of the Tabernacle n4 Temple, through all their history, (Juven., Sat. vi. 15!',) in all mosques to the present day. Agamemnon, yielding to the teinpticss, seeks to make a compromise with his conscience, lie will walk upon the tapestry, but will treat it as if it, of right, belonged to the Gods, and were a conse- crated thing. It is probably in connexion with iliis incident thut /Ksohylos was said to have been the first to bring actors on the stage in these boots or buskins, (Suidas. s v. ap/3u\7j.) (1) The words of Isaiah, (xviii. 5,) " when the sour grape is ripening ia the dower," present aii almost verbal parallel. AGAMEMNON. 219 All that I pray for ; let it be thy care To look to what Thou purposest to work. 1 [Exeunt AGAMEMNON, 'walking on the tapestry, and her attendantt. STBOPH. L Ohor. Why thus continually Do haunting phantoms hover at the gate P Of my foreboding heart ? Why floats prophetic song, unbought, unbidden P Why doth no steadfast tmst Sit on my mind's dear throne, To fling it from me as a vision dim ? Long time hath passed since stern-ropes of our ships Were fastened on the sand, when our great host Of those that sailed in ships Had como to Ilion's towers : * A.NTISTBOPH. L And now from these mine eyes I learn, myself reporting to myself, Their safe return ; and yet My mind within itself, taught by itself, Chunteth Ermnys' dirge, Tlie lyreless melody, And hath no strength of wonted confidence. Not vain these inner pulses, as my heart Whirls eddying in breast oracular. I, against hope, will pray It prove false oracle. STROPH. n. Of high, o'erflowing health There is no bound that stays the wish for more, For evermore disease, as neighbour close Whom but a wall divides, (1) The ever-recurring ambiguity of Clytremnes^ra's language is again traceable, as is also her fondness fur rhetorical similitudes. (2) The Chorus speaks in perplexity. It cannot get rid of its forebod- ings. and jet it would seem as if the time for the fulfilment of the dark words of Calchas must have passed long since. It actually sees the saf return of the leadei of the host, yet still iu lean haunt it. 22O AGAMEMNON. Upon it presses ; and man's prosperous state *Moves on its course and strikes Upon an unseen rock ; But if his fear for safety of his freight, A part, from well- poised sling, shall sacrifice, * Then the whole house sinks not, O'erfilled with wretchedness, Nor does he swamp his boat : So, too, abundant gift From Zeus in bounteous fulness, and the fruit Of glebe at harvest tide Have caused to cease sore hunger's pestilence; ANTISTBOPU. IT. But blood that once hath flowed In purple stains of death upon the ground At a man's feet, who then can bid it back By any charm of song '< Else him who knew to call the dead to life* * Zeus had not sternly checked, ** * As warning unto all ; But unless Fate, firm-fixed, had barred our fate From any chance of succour from the Gods, Then had my heart poured forth Its thoughts, outstripping speech.* But now in gloom it wails Sore vexed, with little hope At any time hereafter fitting end ** To find, unravelling, My soul within me burning with hot thoughts. Re-enter CLYT^EMXESTUA. Gil/teem, [to CASSANDRA, who has remained in the chariot durinrj the choral ode."] Thou too I mean Cassandra go within ; (1) Asclepios, whom Zeus smote with his thunderbolt for having restored Hippolytos to life. (2) The Chorus, in spi'e of their suspicions and foreboding, have pivL-ii the king no warning. They excuse themselves by the plea of necessity, tha sovereign decree of Zeus overruling oil man's attempt* to withstand it. AGAMEMNON. Since Zeus hath made it thine, and not in wrath, To share the lustral waters in our house, Standing with many a slave the altar nigh Of Zeus, who guards our goods. 1 Now get thee down From out this car, nor look so over proud. They say that e'en Alcmena's son endured * Being sold a slave, constrained to bear the yoke : And if the doom of this ill chance should come, Great boon it is to meet with lords who own Ancestral wealth. But whoso reap full crops im They never dared to hope for, these in all, And beyond measure, to their slaves are harsh : * From us thou hast what usage doth prescribe. Clior. So ends she, speaking words full clear to thee ; And seeing thou art in the toils of fate, If thou obey, thou wilt obey ; and yet, Perchance, obey thou wilt not. Clytcvm. Nay, but unless she, like a swallow, speaks A barbarous tongue unknown, I, speaking now Within her apprehension, bid obey. Chor. [to CASSANDRA, still standing motionless] Go with her. What she bids is now the best; Obey her : leave thy seat upon this car. Clytcem. I have no leisure here to stay without : For as regards our central altar, there The sheep stand by as victims for the fire ; For never had we hoped such thanks to give : If thou wilt do this, make no more delay ; (1) Cassandra is summoned to on act of worship. The household ifl gathered, the altar to Zeus Ktesios, (the God of the family property, slaves included,) standing in the servants' hall, is ready. The new slave must come in and take her plce with the others. (2) As in the stoi-y which forms the groundwork of the Traehinia of Sophocles, w. 250-280, that Heracles had been sold to Omphale as a slave, in penalty for the murder of Iphitos. (3) Political as well as dramatic. The Eupatrid poet appeals to public opinion against tue nfinve.aux riches, the tanners and lamp-makers, who were already beginning to push themselves forward towards prominence and power. The way was 1 hus prepared in the first play of the Trilogy for what is known to have been the main object of the last. Comp. Arist., Ma*. ii.jK. 122 AGAMEMNON. But if thou understandest not my words, Then wave thy foreign hand in lieu of speech. [CASSANDRA shudders as in horror, but makes no siyn. Chor. The stranger seems a clear interpreter To need. Her look is like a captured deer's. Clytff.m. Nay, she is mad, and follows evil thoughts, Since, leaving now her city, newly-captured, She comes, and knows not how to take the curb, Ere she foam out her passion in her blood. I will not bear the shame of uttering more. [Exit. Chor. And I I pity her, and will not rage : Come, thou poor sufferer, empty leave thy car ; Yield to thy doom, and handsel now the yoke. [CASSANDEA li-aves the chariot, and bursts into a cry of waiting, STROPH. I. Cass. Woe! woe, and well-a-day I Apollo! O Apollo! * CJior. Why criest thou so loud on Loxias P The wailing cry of mourner suits not him. AxTisTROpn. I. Cass. Woe ! woe, and well-a-day I Apollo ! Apollo ! Chor. Again with boding words she calls the God, Though all unmeet as helper to men's groans. STBOPH. n. Cass. Apollo ! Apollo ! God of all paths, Apollo true to me ; For still thou dost appal me and destroy. 1 Chor. She seems her own ills like to prophecy: vm The God's great gift is in the slave's mind yet. (1) Here again the translator has the task of finding an English paro- nnmasia which approximates to that of 1he Greek, between Apol!o and a7roXAwi> the ite.iti-oyer. To Apollo, as the God of paths, (siguieut,) an altar stood, column-fashion, before the street-door of every house, and to such tin alt r, placed by the door of Agamemnon's palace, Cassandra turns, vn'.h t U* twuluhl vluy upon the ilauis. AGAMEMNON, ASTISTBOPH. TL Cass. Apollo ! O Apollo I God of all paths, Apollo true to me ; What path hast led me 9 To what roof hast Drought P Chor. To that of the Atreidse. This I tell, If thou know'st not. Thou wilt not find it false. STBOPH. IIL Cass. Ah ! Ah ! Ah me ! Say rather to a house God hates that knows Murdor, self-slaughter, ropes, 1 * A human shamble, staining earth with blood. Chor. Keen scented seems this stranger, like a hound, And sniffs to see whose murder she may find. AsmsTuorn. HI. Cass. Ah ! Ah ! Ah me ! Lo ! [looking wildly, and pointing to the house,~\ there the witnesses whose word I trust, Those babes who wail their death, The roasted flesh that made a father's meal. Chor. We of a truth had heard thy seeress fame, But prophets now are not the race we seek. a STBOPH. IV. Cass. Ah me ! O horror ! What ill schemes she now ? What is this new great woe ? Great evil plots she in this veiy house, Ilard for its friends to bear, immedicable ; And help stands far aloof. Chor. These oracles of thine surpass my ken ; Those I know well. The whole town rings with them. 8 (1) This refers, probably, to the death of ITippodameia, the wife of Pelops, who killed herself, in remorse for the death of Chrysippos, or fear of her husband's anger. The horrors of the royal house of Arpos pass, one by one, before the vision of the" prophetess, and this leads the procession, followed t>y the spectres of the murdered children of Thyestes. ('2) The Chorns, as in 'heir last ode, had made up their minds, though foreboding ill, to let des iny t;tke its course. They do not wish that policy of non-interference to be changed by any too clear vision of the future. '3) The Chorus understands tie vision of the ciairvuyaHte as regard* the 324 AGAMEMNON. AHTISTBOPH. IV. Cast. Ah me ! daring one ! what work'st thou here, Who having in his bath Tended thy spouse, thy lord, then . . . How tell the rest P For quick it comes, and hand is following hand, Stretched out to strike the blow. Ioeo CJior. Still I discern not ; after words so dark I am perplexed with thy dim oracles. STBOPH. V. Cass. Ah, horror, horror ! "What is this I see P Is it a snare of Hell ? Nay, the true net is she who shares his bed, Who shares in working death. Ha ! let the Band insatiable in hate * Howl for the race its wild exulting cry O'er sacrifice that calls For death by storm of stones. STHOPH. VI. Chor. What dire Erinnys bidd'st thou o'er our house To raise shrill cry P Thy speech but little cheers ; And to my heart there rush Blood-drops of saffron hue, 3 *** * Which, when from deadly wound They fall, together with life's setting rays End, as it fails, their own appointed course : And mischief comes apace. AJJTISTBOPII. V. Cass. See, see, I say, from that fell heifer there. Keep thou the bull : 3 in robes part tragedy of the house of Atreus, but not that which seems to portend another actually imminent. (1) Fresh visions come before the eyes of the seeress. She beholds the Company of Krinnyes hovering over the accursed house, and calls on them to continue their work till the new crime has met with its duo Sunishmeut. The murder which she sees as if already wrought, demands eath by stoning. (2) The "yellow" look of fear is thought of as being caused by an actual change in the colour of the blood as it flows through the veins to the heart. 13) Here there is prevision as well as clairvoyance. The deed is not jet AGAMEMNON. 2*5 Entangling him, she with her weapon gores Him with the swarthy horns ; 1 Lo ! in that bath with water filled he falls, Smitten to death, and I to thee set forth Crime of a bath of blood, By murderous guile devised. AxTJSTROPH. VI. Chor. I may not boast that I keen insight have In words oracular ; yet bode I ill. * What tidings good are brought By any oracles To moital men ? These arts, In days of evils sore, with many words, Do still but bring a vague, portentous fear For men to learn and know. STBOPH. VTI. Cass. "Woe, woe ! for all sore ills that fall on me! It is my grief thou speak'st of, blending it With his. 2 [Pausing, and then crying out.] All I wherefore then Hast thou 3 thus brought me here, Only to die with thee ? What other doom is mine ? STBOPH. VITJ. Chor. Frenzied art thou, and by some God's might swayed, m * And utterest for thysell A melody which is no melody, Like to that tawny one, done. The sacrifice and the tenet are still going on, yet she sees the crime in all its circumstances. (1) As before 'v. 115) the black eagle had been the symbol of th Warrior-chief, so here the black-horned bull, that being one of the notes of the beat breed of cattle. A various reading gives "with her swarthy horn." (2) What the Chorns had just said as to fhe fmitlessness of prophetic Insight tallied all too well with her own bitter experience. (3) The ecstasy of horrm in' errupte the tenor of her speech, and th ccoud "thcu " is adlressednotto the Chorus, but to Agamemnon, whos* ieatii Cassattlra has just witnessed in her vision. 226 AGAMEMNON. Insatiate in her wail, The nightingale, who still with sorrowing soul, And "Itys, Itys," cry, 1 Bemoans a life o'erflourishing in ills. ANTTSTBOPH. VTL Cass. Ah, for the doom of clear- voiced nightingale I The Gods gave her a body bearing wings, And life of pleasant days With no fresh cause to weep : But for me waiteth still Stroke from the two-edged sword, AXTISTROPH. CTior. From what source hast thou these dread agonlei Sent on thee by thy God, Tet vague and little meaning ; and thy cries U2a Dire with ill-omened shrieks Dost utter as a chant, And blendest with them strains of shrillest grief? Whence treadest thou this track Of evil-boding path of prophecy ? BTROPH. IX. Cass. Woe for the marriage-ties, the marriage-ties Of Paris that brought ruin on his friends I Woe for my native stream, Scamandros, that I loved ! Once on thy banks my maiden youth was reared, (Ah, miserable me !) Now by Cokytos and by Acheron's shores "^ I seem too likely soon to utter song Of wild, prophetic speech. (1) The sang of the nightingale, represented by these sounds, was con- nected with a long legend, specially At Me in its origin Philomela, daughter of Pandion, king of Attica, suffered outrage at the hands of Tercus, who was married to her sister Procne, and was then changed into a nightingale, destined ever to lament the fate of Itys. her sister's son. The earliest form of the story appears in the Odyssey, (xix. 513). Coiup, Sophocles, Eicctr. T. 148. AGAMESINOK. STUOPH. X. Chor. "What hast thou spoken now With utterance all too clear ? *Evcn a boy its gist might understand ; I to the quick arn pierced With throe of deadly pain, Whilst thou thy moaning cries art uttering Over thy sore mischance, Wondrous for me to hear. H. DC. Cass. Woe foi the toil and trouble, toil and trouble Of city that is utterly destroyed 1 Woe for the victims slain Of herds that roamed the fields, My father's sacrifice to save his towers I No healing charm they brought To save the city from its present doom : And I with hot thoughts wild myself shall cast Full soon upon the ground. ANTISTBOPH. X. Chor. This that thou utterest now With all before agrees. Some Power above dooms thee with purpose ill, Down-swooping heavily, To utter with thy voice Sorrows of deepest woe, and bringing death. And what the end shall be Perplexes in the extreme. Case. Nay, now no more from out of maiden veils My oracle phall glance, like bride fresh wed ; l U8t But seems as though 'twould rush with speedy gales In full, clear brightness to the morning dawn ; So that a greater woe than this shall surge (1) In the marriage-rites of the Greeks of the time of 2Eschylos, the bridi for three days after the wedding wore her veil ; then, as now no longe* brinking from her matron life, she laid it aside and looked on her hu btiud with unveiled f^Oft* 228 AGAMEMNON. Like waye against the sunlight. 1 Now I'll teach No more in parables. Bear witness ye, As running with me, that I scent the track Of svil deeds that long ago were wrought: For never are they absent from this house, That choral band which chants in full accord, Yet no good music ; good is not their theme. And now, as having drunk men's blood, 2 and 89 Grown wilder, bolder, see, the revelling band, Erinnyes of the race, still haunt the halls, Not easy to dismiss. And so they sing, Close cleaving to the house, its primal woe,' And vent their loathing in alternate strains On marriage-bed of brother ruthless found To that defiler. *Miss I now, or hit, Like archer skilled ? or am I seeress false, A babbler vain that knocks at every door P Yea, swear beforehand, ere I die, I know (And not by rumour only) all the sins Of ancient days that haunt and vex this house. Chor. How could an oath, how firm soe'er confirmed, Bring aught of healing ? Lo, I marvel at thee, That thou, though born far off beyond the sea, Should'st tell an alien city's tale as clear As though thyself had stood by all the while. Case. The seer Apollo set me to this task. Chor. Was he, a God, so smitten with desire P Cass. There was a time when shame restrained my speech. Chor. True ; they who prosper still are shy and coy. Case. He wrestled hard, breathing hot love on me. Chor. And were ye one in act whence children spring P (1) The picture mig-ht be drawn by any artist of power, but we may, perhaps, trace a reproduction of one of the grandest pass ges in the Iliad, (iv. 422-426.) (2) So in the EumeniJes, (v. 293,) the Erinnyes appear as vampires, drinking 1he blood of their victims. (8) The death of MyHilos as the first crime in the long history of th house of Pelops. Comp. Soph. Electr. v. 470. The "dunler" if Who seduced Aerope, the wile of Atreua. AGAMEMNON. 229 . I promised Loxias, then I broke my vow. Char. Wast thou e'en then possessed with arts divine ? 118a Cass. E'en then my country's woes T prophesied. Chor. How wast thou then unscathed by Loxias' wrath ? Cass. I for that fault with no man gained belief. Chor. To us, at least, thou seem'st to speak the truth. Cass. [Again speaking wildly, as in an ecstasi/~\ Ah, woe is me ! Woe's me ! Oh, ills on ills I Again the dread pang of true prophet's gift With preludes of great evil dizzies me. See ye those children sitting on the house In fashion like to phantom forms of dreams ? "* Infants who perished at their own kin's hands, Their palms filled full with meat of their own flesh, Loom on my sight, the heart and entrails bearing, (A sorry burden that !) on which of old Their father fed. 1 And in revenge for this, I say a lion, dwelling in his lair, With not a spark of courage, stay-at-home, Plots 'gainst my master, now he's home returned, (Yes mine for still I must the slave's yoke bear ;) And the ship's ruler, Ilion's conqueror, Knows not what things the tongue of that lewd bitch Has spoken and spun out in welcome smooth, *** And, like a secret Atd, will work out With dire success : thus 'tis she plans : the man Is murdered by the woman. By what name Shall I that loathed monster rightly call ? An Arnphisbaena ? or a Skylla dwelling* Among the rocks, the sailors' enemy ? (1) The horror of the Thyestes banquet again haunts her as the Bonre* of all the evil* that followed, of the deaths both of Iphigeneia and Aga- memnon. The "stay-at-home" is ^Egisthos. (2) Both words point to the Sindbad-like stories of distant marvels brought back by Greek sailors. The Amphisbama, (double-goer), wrig- gling itself backward and forward, believed to have a head at each extremity, was looked upon as at once the most sub'le and the most venomous oi serpents. Skylla, already famous in its mythical form from the story in the Odyssey, (xii. 85-100,) was probably a "development" of the monstrous cuttle-fish of the straits of Alessina. AGAMEMNON. Hades' fierce raging mother, breathing out Against her friends a curse implacable ? Ah, how she raised her cry, (oh, daring one I) As for the rout of battle, and she feigns To hail with joy her husband's sale return I And if thou dost not credit this, what then ? What will be will. Soon, present, pitying me ttw Thou'lt own I am too true a prophetess. Chor. Thyestes' banquet on his children's flesh I know and shudder at, and fear o'ercoines me, Hearing not counterfeits of fact, but truths ; Yet in the rest I hear and miss my path. Caas. I say thou'lt witness Agamemnon's death. Chur. Hush, wretched woman, close those lips of thine! Cass. For this my speech no healing God's at hand. Chor. True, if it must be ; but may God avert it ! 1MO Cass. Thou utterest prayers, but others murder plot. Clior. And by what man is this dire evil wrought ? Cuss. Sure, thou hast seen my bodings all amiss. Chor. I see not his device who works the deed. Cass. And yet I speak the Hellenic tongue right well. Chor. So does the Pythian, yet her words are hard. Cass. [In another access of frenzy.] Ah me, this fire! It comes upon me now ! Ah me, Apollo, wolf- slayer ! woe is me I This biped lioness who takes to bed A wolf in absence of the noble lion, Will slay me, wretched me. Ami, as one Mixing a poisoned draught, she boasts that she Will put my price into her cup of wrath, Sharpening her sword to smite her spouse with death, So paying him for bringing me. Oh, why Do I still wear what all men flout and scorn, My wand and seeress wreaths around my neck ? * (1) As in Homer (H. i. 14) so here, the servant of Apollo bears th vand of augury, and fillets or wreaths round head and arms. Thi livming garments, in like manner, were of wliite liuen. AGAMEMNON. 231 Thee, ere myself I die I will destroy : [breaks her wand.] Perish ye thus: [casting off her wreaths,'] I soon shall follow you : Make rich another Ate ! in my place ; Behold Apollo's self is stripping me Of my divining garments, and that too, When he has seen me even in this garb Scorned without cause among my friends and kin, *By foes, with no diversity of mood. Beviled as vagrant, wandering prophetess^ Poor, wretched, famished, I endui-ed to live : And now the Seer who me a sceress made Hath brought me to this lot of deadly doom, Now for my father's altar there awaits me A butcher's block, where I am smitten down By slaughtering stroke, and with hot gush of blood. But the Gods will not slight us when we're dead; IMO Another yet shall come as champion for us, A son who slays his mother, to avenge His father ; and the exiled wanderer Far from his home, shall one day come again, Upon these woes to set the coping-stone : For the high Gods have sworn a mighty oath, His father's full, laid low, shall bring him back. Why then do I thus groan in this new home,* When, to begin with, Ilion's town I saw Faring as it did fare, and they who held That town are gone Ly judgment of the GodsP mo I too will fare as they and venture death : So I these gates of Hades now address, And pray for blow that bringeth death at once, That so with no tierce spasm, while the blood Flows in calm death, I then may close mine eyes. [Goes towards the duor ofthepaJaee t (1) If we adopt this reading, we must think of Cassandra as identifying herself wiih the woe (Ate) which makes up her life, just as afterwards Clytsemnestra speaks of herself as one with the avenging Demon (Alastor) cf the house of Atreus, (1473.) The alternative reading {jives, " Make rich in woe another in my place." (2) Perhaps, "in home not mine." AGAMEMNON. Clior. thou most wretched, yet again most wise : Long hast thou spoken, lady, but if well Thou know'st thy doom, why to the altar go'st thou, Like heifer driven of God, so confidently? l I9W Cass. For me, my friends, there is no time to 'scape. 8 Chor. Yea ; but he gains in time who comes the last. Cass. The day is come : small gain for me in flight. CJior. Know then thou sufferest with a heart ful] brave. Cass. Such words as these the happy never hear. Chor. Yet mortal man may welcome noble death. Cass. [Shrinking back from opening the dvor.~] Woe'a me'for thee and thy brave sons, my father ! * Chor. What cometh now ? What fear oppres*eth thee ? Cass. [Again going to the door and then shuddering in another burst of frenzy."] Fie on't, fie ! Chor. Whence comes this "Fie?" unless from mind that loathes ? [ lzw Cass. The house is tainted with the scent of death. Chor. How so ? This smells of victims on the hearth. Cass. Nay, it is like the blast from out a grave. Chor. No Syrian ritual tell'st thou for our house.* Cass. Well then I go, and e'en within will wail My fate and Agamemnon's. And for me, Enough of life. Ah, friends ! Ah ! not for nought I shrink in fear, as bird shrinks from the brake. 6 When I am dead do ye this witness bear, When in revenge for me, a woman, Death A woman smites, and man shall fall for man (1) When the victim, instead of shrinking and struggling 1 , went, as with good courage, to the altar, it was noted as a sign of divine impulse. Such a strange, new courage the Chorus notices in Cassandra. (2) Possibly, " My one escape, my friends, is but delay." (3) The implied thoughts of the words is that Priam and his sons, though they had died nobly, were yet misei able, and not happy. (4) The ftyriau ritiial had, it would seem, become proverbial for ita lavish use of frankincense and other -pices. (5) The close parallel of Shakspeare's Henry VI., Act. v. so. 6, is worth quoting " The bird that hath beon limed in o bush. With trembling eyes inisdoublelh every bush." AGAMEMNON. 233 In evil wedlock wed. This friendly office, As one about to die, I pray you do me. Chor. Thy doom foretold, poor sufferer, moves my pity. Casa. I fain would speak once more, yet not to wail Mine own death-song ; but to the Sun I pray, To his last rays, that my avengers wreak Upon my hated murderers judgment due For me, who die a slave's death, easy prey. Ah, life of man ! when most it prospereth, * It is but limned in outline ; l and when brought To low estate, then doth the sponge, full soaked, nw Wipe out the picture with its frequent touch : And this I count more piteous e'en than that.* [Passes through the door into the palace. Chor. 'Tis true of all men that they never set A limit to good fortune ; none doth say, As bidding it depart, * And warding it from palaces of pride, " Enter thou here no more." To this our lord the Blest Ones gave to take Priam's city ; and he comes Safe to his home and honoured by the Gods; But if he he now shall pay The forfeit of blood-guiltiness of old, And, dying, so work out for those who died, By his own death another penalty, UM Who then of mortal men, Hearing such things as this, Can boast that he was born With fate from evil free ? Agam. \Jrom, within.'] Ah, me! I am struck down with deadly stroke. Chor. Hush ! Who cries out with deadly stroke sore smitten ? Agam. Ah me, again ! struck down a second time ! [Dies. U) The older reading gives "A shadow might o'erturn it." (2) Her own doom, hard as it wis, touches her less than the common Lot of human suli'eiiug and mutability. 334 AGAMEMNON. Chor. By the king's groans I judge the deed is done; But let us now confer for counsels safe. 1 Chor. a. I give you my advice to summon here, Here to the palace, all the citizens. un Chor. 6. I think it best to rush at once on them, And take them in the act with sword yet wet. Chor. c. And I too give like counsel, and I vote For deed of some kind. 'Tis no time to pause. Chor. d. Who will see, may. They but the prelude work Of tyranny usurped o'er all the State. Chor. e. Yes, we are slow, but they who trample down The thought of hesitation slumber not. Chor. f. I know not what advice to find or speak : He who can act knows how to counsel too. Chor. g. I too think with thee ; for I have no hope With words to raise the dead again to lifu. Chor. h. What ! Shall we drag our life on and submit To these usurpers that defile the house ? Chor. i. Nay, that we cannot bear : To die were better; For death is gentler far than tyranny. Chor. k. Shall we upon this evidence of groans Guess, as divining that our lord is dead ? Cher. I. When we know clearly, then should we discuss : To guess is one thing, and to know another. Chor? So vote I too, and on the winning side, Taking the votes all round that we should learn How he, the son of Atreus, fareth now. Enter CLYT^MNESTRA from the palace, in roles with stains of blood, followed l>y soldiers and attendants. The open doors show the corpses of AGAMEMNON and CASSANDRA, the former lying in a silvered bath. Clytcem. Though many words before to suit the time (1) So far the dialogue hns been sustained by the Coryphreos, or leader of (he Chorus. Now each member of it speaks and gives his counsel. (2) The Coryphueos again takes up his part, sums up, and pronounce! bis decision,. AGAMEMNON. 83$ Were spoken, now I snail not be ashamed The contrary to utter : How could one By open show of enmity to foes "Who seemed as friends, fence in the snares of death Too high to be o'erleapt ? But as for me, Not without forethought for this long time past, This conflict comes to me from triumph old l Of his, though slowly wrought. I stand where I iWI Did smite him down, with all my task well done, So did I it, (the deed deny I not,) That he could nor avert his doom nor flee : I cast around him drag-net as for fish, "With not one outlet, evil wealth of robe : And twice I smote him, and with two deep groans He dropped his limbs : And when ho thus foil down I gave him yet a third, thank-offering true 2 To Hades of the dark, who guards the dead. So fallen, he gasps out his struggling soul, And breathing forth a sharp, quick gush of blood, He showers dark drops of gory rain on me, 1Wf Who no less joy felt in them than the corn, When the blade bears, in glad shower given of God, Since this is so, ye Argive elders here, Ye, as ye will, may hail the deed, but I Boast of it. And were't fitting now to pour Libation o'er the dead, 3 'twere justly done, Yea more than justly; such a goblet full Of ills hath he filled up with curses dire At home, and now has come to drain it off. Chor. W e marvel at the boldness of thy tongue, 137 Who o'er thy husband's corpse speak'st vaunt like this. (1) i.e. He had had his triumph over her when, forgetful of her mother's feelings, he had. sacrificed Iphigeneia. fcihe has now repaid him to the full. (2) The third libation at all feasts was to Zeus, as the Preserver ol Guardian Deity. Clj-t8Rmnestra boas's that her third blow was as an ottering to a God of other kind, to Him who hud in his keeping not the living, but the dead. (3) So in the Choephori, (w. 351, 476,) the custom of pouring libations on the burial-place of the dead is recognised as an element of their blessed- ness or shame in Hades, and Agamemnon is represented as lacking the honour which. oomen iroui them till he mxaves it at the baud ui'uieB'.ei. AGAMEMNON. Chjtcem. Ye test me as a woman weak of mind; But I with dauntless heart to you that know Say this, and whether thou dost praise or blame, Is all alike : here Agamemnon lies, My husband, now a corpse, of this right hand, As artist just, the handiwork : so stands it. STBOPHE. Chor. What evil thing, Queen, or reared on earth, Or draught from salt sea-wave 18M Hast thou fed on, to bring Such incense on thyself, 1 A people's loud-voiced curse ? 'Twas thou did'st sentence him, 'Twas thou did'st strike him down ; But thou shalt exiled be, Hated with strong hate of the citizens. Clytcem. Ha ! now on me thou lay'st the exile's doom, My subjects' hate, and people's loud-voiced curse, Though ne'er did'st thou oppose my husband there, Who, with no more regard than had been due To a brute's death, although he called his own. Full many a fleecy sheep in pastures bred, Yet sacrificed his child, the dear-loved fruit *"* Of all my travail-pangs, to be a charm Against the winds of Thrakia. Should' st thou not Have banished him from out this land of ours, As meed for all his crimes ? Yet hearing now My deeds, thou art a judge full stern. But I Tell thee to speak thy threats, as knowing well I am prepared that thou on equal terms Should'st rule, if thou dost conquer. But if God Should otherwise decree, then thou shalt learn, Late though it be, the lesson to be wise. (1) Tncense was placed on the head of the victim. The Chorns tells Chj^fenmestra that she has brought upon her own head the incense, not oi pi-aise niul admiration, but of hatred and wrath as though some poison Ltul driven her mad. AGAMEMNON. AXTISTBOPHB. Chor. Yea, thou art stout of heart, and speak'st big words ; 1 * uo And maddened is thy soul As by a murderous hate ; And still upon thy brow Is seen, not yet avenged, The stain of blood- spot foul ; And yet it needs must be, One day thou, reft of friends, Shalt pay the penalty of blow for blow. Clytcem. Now hear thou too my oaths of solemn dread : By my accomplished vengeance for my child, By At and Erinnys, unto whom I slew him as a victim, I look not That fear should come beneath this roof of mine, So long as on my hearth .^Egisthos kindles **** The flaming fire, as well disposed to me As he hath been aforetime. He to us Is no slight shield of stoutest confidence. There lies he, [pointing to the corpse of AGAMEMNON,] one who foully wronged his wife, The darling of the Chryse'ids at Tro'ia ; And there [pointing to CASSANDRA] this captwe slave, thia auguress, His concubine, this seeress trustworthy, * Who shared his bed, and yet was as well known To the sailors as their benches ! . . . They have fared Not otherwise than they deserved : for he Lies as you see. And she who, like a swan, 1 Has chanted out her last and dying song, iao (1) The species of swan referred to is said to be in the Oygnus Mtisicus. Aristotle (Hist. Anim. ix. 12) describes swans of some kind as having been heard by sailors near the coast of Libya, "singing with a lamentable cry." Mrs. Someryille (Phys. Geog., c. xxxiii. 3) describes their note as "like that of a violin." The same fact is reported or the swans of Iceland and other regions of the far North. The strange, tender beauty of the passage in the P/ia>iio of Plato, (p. 85, a,) which speaks of them ns singing when at the point of death, has done more than anything else to moke the illustration one of the commonplaces of rhetoric and poetry AGAMEMNON. Lies close to him she loved, and so has brought The zest of a new pleasure to my bed. STEOPH. L 1 CTwr. Ah me, would death might come Quickly, with no sharp throe of agony, Nor long bed-ridden pain, Bringing the endless sleep ; Since he, the watchman most benign of all, Hath now been smitten low, And by a woman's means hath much endured, And at a womaa's hand hath lost his life 1 STUOPH. H. Alas ! alas ! Helen, evil-souled, *** Who, though but one, hast slain Many, yea, very many lives at Tro'ia.* ***** STBOPH. IH. * But now for blood that may not be washed out * Thou hast to full bloom brought *A deed of guilt for ever memorable, For strife was in the house, "Wrought out in fullest strength, Woe for a husband's life. STBOPH. IV. Clytcem. Nay, pray not thou for destiny of death, Oppressed with what thou see'st ; Nor turn thou against Helena thy wrath, As though she murderess were, And, though but one, had many Dana'i's souls Brought low in death, and wrought o'erwhelming woe. ANTISTBOPH. L Chor. O PC wer that dost attrck (1) The structure of the lyrical dialogue that follows is rather compli- cated, and different editors have adopted different arrangements. I hav followed Paley's. (2) Several lines seem to have dropped out by some accident of traa- cription. AGAMEMNON. 239 Our palace and the two Tantalidae, 1 *And dost through, women wield *A might that grieves my heart 1* And o'er the body, like a raven foul, Against all laws of right, *Standing, she boasteth in her pride of heart * That she can chant her paean hymn of praise. MM ANTISTBOPH. IV. Clytcem. Now thou dost guide aright thy speech and thought, Invoking that dread Power, *The thrice-gorged evil genius of this house ; For he it is who feeds In the heart's depth, tffis raging lust of blood : Ere the old wound is hsaled, new bloodshed comes. STEOPH. V. CJior. Yes, of a Power thou tell'st *Mighty and very wrathful to this house ; Ah me ! ah me ! an evil tale enough *** Of baleful chance of doom, Insatiable of ill : Yet, ah ! it is through Zeua, The all-appointing and all-working One ; For what with mortal men Is wrought apart from Zeus ? What of all this is not by God decreed P* STBOPH. VL Ah me ! ah me I My king, my king, how shall I weep for thee P (1) Agamemnon and Henelaos, as descended fram Tantalos, the father of Pclops. (2) In each case women, Helen and Clytsemnestra, had been the uncon- scious instruments of the Divine Nemesis, to which the Chorus traces the ruin of the house of Atreus. (3) Or, with another reading, " He (c. the avenging Demon) boasteth in his pride of heart." (4^ It is characteristic of the teacliing of ^Eschylos that the Chorus posses from the thought of the agency of any lower Power to the supiem Will ul Zeua. 24O AGAMEMNON. What shall I speak from heart that truly loves f And now thou lie'st there, breathing out thy life, lfll In impious deed of death, In this fell spider's web, STBOPH. VII. (Yes, woe is me ! woe, woe I Woe for this couch of thine dishonourable !) Slain by a subtle death, 1 With sword two -edged which her right hand did wield. STBOPH. VTTL Clytcem. Thou speak' st big words, as if the deed were mine; Yet think thou not of me, As Agamemnon's spouse ; But in the semblance of this dead man's wife, The old and keen Avenger of the house Of Atreus, that cruel banqueter of old, Hath wrought out vengeance full On him who lieth here, "* And full-grown victim slain Over the younger victims of the past.* ANTISTEOPH. V. Chor. That thou art guiltless found Of this foul murder who will witness bear P How can it be so, how ? And yet, perchance, As helper to the deed, Might come the avenging Fiend Of that ancestral time ; And in this rush of murders of near kin Dark Ares presses on, Where he will vengeance work For clotted gore of children slain as food. M * (1) Or, " Dyingr, Rs dies a slave." (2) ClytJBmnestra still harps (though in ambiguous words, which may refer also to the murder of the children of Thyestes) upon the death 01 Iphigeneia aa the crime which it had been her work to avenge. AGAMEMNON. 24! AJTTISTBOPH. VL All me ! ah me ! My ting, my king, how shall I weep for thee t What shall I speak from heart that truly loves P And now thou lie'st there, breathing out thy life, In impious deed of death, In this fell spider's web, AJTTISTBOPH. VTL (Yes, woe is me ! woe, woe 1 Woe for this couch of thine dishonourable !) Slain by a subtle death, With sword two-edged which, her right hand did wield* AJTTISTBOPH. VHL Clytcem. Nay, not dishonourable His death doth seem to me : Did he not work a doom, In this our house with guile ?* *" Mine own dear child, begotten of this man, Iphigeneia, wept with many a tear, He slew ; now slain himself in recompense, Let him not boast in Hell, Since he the forfeit pays, Pierced by the sword in death, For all the evil that his hand began. BTBOPH. IX. Chor. I stand perplexed in soul, deprived of power Of quick and ready thought, Where now to turn, since thus IB * Our home is falling low. I shrink in fear from the fierce pelting storm Of blood that shakes the basement of the house: No more it rains in drops : And for another deed of mischief dire, Fate whets the righteous doom On other whetstones still. (I) Pertaj*. "And that, too, not a lUTrt.* 1 243 AGAMEMNON. ANTJSTBOPH. n. O Earth 1 Earth ! Oh, would thou had'st received me, Ere I saw him on coush Of bath with silvered walls thus stretchod in death I "Who now will bury him, who wail ? Wilt thou, When thou hast slain thy husband, have the heart uai To mourn his death, and for thy monstrous deeds Do graceless grace ? And who will chant the dirge With tears in truth of heart, Over our godlike chief ? BTBOPH. X. Clytoem. It is not thine to speak ; 'Twas at our hands he fell, Yea, he fell low in death, And we will bury him, ** Not with the bitter tears of those who weep As inmates of the house ; But she, his child, Iphigeneia, there Shall meet her father, and with greeting kind, E'en as is fit, by that swift-flowing ford, Dark stream of bitter woes, Shall clasp him in her arms, And give a daughter's kiss. ANTISTBOPH. IX. Chor. Lo ! still reproach upon reproach doth come; Hard are these things to judge: The spoiler still is spoiled, The slayer pays his debt ; Yea, while Zeus liveth through the ages, thia **** Lives also, that the doer dree his weird ; For this is law fast fixed. Who now can drive from out the kingly houM The brood of curses dark P The race to Ate cleaves. ANTMTBOPH. X. Clytcem. Yes, thou hast touched with truth That word oracular ; AGAMEMNON. But I for my part wish, (Binding with strongest oath The evil daemon of the Pleisthenida,) 1 Though hard it be to bear, To rest content with this our present lot ; And, for the future, that he go to vex Another race with homicidal deaths. ** Lo ! 'tis enough for me, Though small my share of wealth, At last to have freed my house From madness that sets each man's hand 'gainst each. Enter ^GISTHOS. ^Egis. Hail, kindly light of day that vengeance brings ! Now I can say the Gods on high look down, Avenging men, upon the woes of earth, Since lying in the robes the Erinnyes wove I see this man, right welcome sight to me, Paying for deeds his father's hand had wrought. M * Atreus, our country's ruler, this man's father, Drove out my sire Thyestes, his own brother, (To tell the whole truth,) quarrelling for rule, An exile from his country and his home. And coming back a suppliant on the hearth, The poor Thyestes found a lot secure, Nor did he, dying, stain the soil with blood, There in his home. But this man's godless sire,* Atreus, more prompt than kindly in his deeds, On plea of keeping festal day with cheer, To my sire banquet gave of children's flesn, "^ His own. The feet and finger-tips of hands * He, sitting at the top, apart concealed ; And straight the other, in his blindness taking The parts that could uot be discerned, did eat (1) Here the genealogy is carried one step further to Pleisthenea, the fether of Tantalos. (2) JEgisthos, in his version of the story, suppresses the adultery of Thyestes with the wife of Atreus, which led the latter to his horribli revenga. 244 AGAMEMNON. A meal which, as thou see'st, perdition worka For all his kin. And learning afterwards The deed of dread, he groaned and backward fell, Vomits the feast of blood, and imprecates On Pelops' sons a doom intolerable, And makes the o'erturning of the festive board, With fullest justice, as a general curse, That so might fall the race of Pleisthenes. 1 * 8 And now thou see'st how here accordingly This man lies fallen ; I, of fullest right, The weaver of the plot of murderous doom. For me, a babe in swaddling-clothes, he banished With my poor father, me, his thirteenth child ; And Vengeance brought me back, of full age grown . And e'en far off I wrought against this man, And planned the whole scheme of this dark device. And so e'en death were now right good for me, Seeing him into the nets of Vengeance fallen. Chor. I honour not this arrogance in guilt, .ZEgisthos. .Thou confessest thou hast slain Of thy free will our chieftain here, that thou Alone did'st plot this murder lamentable ; Be sure, I say, thy head shall not escape The righteous curse a people hurls with stones. JEgisth. Dost thou say this, though seated on the bench Of lowest oarsmen, while the upper row Commands the ship ? l But thou shalt find, though old, How hard it is at such an age to learn, When the word is, ' keep temper.' But a prison And fasting pains are admirably apt, As prophet-healers even for old age. Dost see, and not see this ? Against the pricks Kick not, 2 lest thou perchance should'st smart for it. (1) The Image is taken from the trireme with its three benches fall of rowers. The Chorus is compared to the men on the lowest, .tflgisthos and Cljrtsemnestra to those on the uppermost bench. (2) The earliest occurrence of the proverb with which we are familiar through the history of St. Paul's conversion, Acts ix. 5, xxvL 14. AGAMEMNON. 145 Chor. Thou, thou, Queen, when thy lord came frora war, While keeping house, thy husband's bed defiling, Did'st scheme this death for this our hero-chief. ^Eyisth. These words of thine shall parents prove of tears : But this thy tongue is Orpheus' opposite ; He with his voice led all things on for joy, But thou, provoking with thy childish cries, Shalt now be led ; and then, being kept in check, Thou shalt appear in somewhat gentler mood. mo Chor. As though thou should'st o'er Argives ruler be, Who even when thou plotted'st this man's death Did'st lack good heart to do the deed thyself ? <32yisth. E'en so ; to work this fraud was clearly part l<'it for a woman. I was foe, of old Suspected. But now will I with his wealth See whether I his subjects may command, And him who will not hearken I will yoke In heavy harness as a full-fed colt, Nowise as trace-horse ; l but sharp hunger joined With darksome dungeon shall behold him tamed. 1CS * Chor. Why did'st not thou tLea, coward as thou art, Thyself destroy him ? but a woman with thee, Pollution to our land and our land's Gods, She slew him. Does Orestes see the light, Perchance, that he, brought back by Fortune's grace, May for both these prove slayer strong to smite ? ^Egisth. Well, since thou think'st to act, not merely talk, Thou shalt know clearly .... [Calling his Guards from the palace. On then, my troops, the time for deeds is come. Chor. On then, let each man grasp his sword in hand. ^Egisth. With sword in hand, I too shrink not from death. ISJB Chor. Thou talkest of thy death ; we hail the word ; A.nd make our own the fortune it implies. (1) The trace-horse, as not under the pressure of the collar, was taken W the type of free, those that wore the yoke, of enforced submission. 246 AGAMEMNON. Clytcem. Nay, let us not do other evil deeds, Thou dearest of all friends. An ill-starred harvest It is to have reaped so many. Enough of woe : Let no more blood be shed : Go thou [to the Chorus} go ye, Ye aged sires, to your al.otted homes, Ere ye do aught amiss and dree your weird : * This that we have done ought to have sufficed ; But should it prove we've had enough of ills, We will accept it gladly, stricken low In evil doom by heavy hand of God. This is a woman's counsel, if there be That deigns to hear it. jEgisth. But that these should fling The blossoms of their idle speech at me, ** And utter words like these, so tempting Fate, And fail of counsel wise, and flout their master .... I Chor. It suits not Argives on the vile to fawn. JEgi&tli. Be sure, hereafter I will hunt thee down. Chor. Not so, if God should guide Orestes back. jffgisth. Eight well I know how exiles feed on hopes. Chor. Prosper, wax fat, do foul wrong 'tis thy day. jEgisth. Know thou shalt pay full price for this thy folly. Chor. Be bold, and boast, like cock beside his mate. Clytcem. Nay, care not thou for these vain howl- ings; I And thou together, ruling o'er the house, Will settle all things rightly. {Exeunt, CHOEPHOEI, THE LIBATION-POUBEBa ARGUMENT. It e*me to pass, after Agamemnon had been slain, that ClytdftHf nestra and JEgisthos ruled in Argos, and all things seemed to go well with them. Orestes, who was heir to Agamemnon, they had sent aicay to the care of Strophios of Phokis, and there he abode. Electra his sister, mourned in secret over her father's death, and prayed for vengeance, but no avenger came. And when Orestes grew up to man's estate, he went to ask counsel of the God at Delphi, and the God straitly charged him to take vengeance on his father's murderers f and so he started on his journey with his trusty friend Pylades, and arrived at Argos. And it chanced thct a little while before he came, the Gods sent Clyttemnestrc * fearful dream, that troubled her soul greatly ; and in her terror she bade Electra go with her handmaids to pour liba~ tions on the tomb of Agamemnon, that so she might appease his soul, and propitiate the Powers that rult wr ths dark awld of the dead. granralis OKESTES. ELECTHA. PYLADM. Servant. Chorui (ff Captive Women. THE LIBATION-POUREK& SCENE. Argos, in front of the palace of the Atreidce. The tomb of AGAMEMNOX (a raised mound of tartti) is seen in the background. Enter ORESTES and PTLADES from the left; ORESTES advances to the mound, and, a$ he speaks, lays on it a lock of his hair. Orest. Hermes of the darkness 'neath the earth. Who hast the charge of all thy Father's l sway, To me who pray deliverer, helper be ; For I to this laud come, from exile come, And on the raised mound of this monument I bid my father hear and list. One tress, Thank-offering for the gifts that fed my youth, To Inachos I consecrate, and this The second as the token of my grief ; * (1) Hermes is invoked, (1.) as the watcher over the souls of the dead in Hades, and therefore the natural patron of the murdered Agamemnon; (2.) as exercising an authority delegated by Zeus, and therefore capable of being, like Zeus himself, the deliverer "and helper of suppliants. So Eleetra, further on, invokes Hermes in the same character. The line may, however, be rendered, "Who stand'st as guardian of my father's house." The three opening lines are noticeable, as having been chosen by Aristo- phanes as the special object for his satirical, criticism (Frogs, 1126-1176,) abounding in a good score of ambiguities and tautologies. (2) The words point to the two symbolic aspects of one and the same practice. In both there are some points of analogy with the earlier and later forms of the Nazarite vow among the Jews. (l.J As being part of the body, and yet separable from it without mutilation, it became the representative of the whole man, and as such was the sign of a votive .dedication. As early as Homer, it was the custom for youths to keep one long, flowing lock as consecrated, ^nd when they reached manhood, they due punishment. THE LIBATION-POUKERS. 77 To cast their anchor ; and let some one come From out the house who hath authority ; * The lady, if so be one ruleth here, But, seemlier far, her lord ; for than no shame In converse makes our words obscure and dim ; But mau with man gains courage to speak out, And makes his mission manifest as day. Enter CLYT^EHXESTRA. Clytcem. If ye need aught, strangers, speak ; for here Is all that's fitting for a hoiise like ours ; Warm baths, 1 and bed that giveth rest from toil, And presence of right honest faces too ; If there be aught that needeth counsel more, That is men's business, and to them we'll tell it. teo Orest. A DauKan traveller, from Phokis corno, Am I, and as I went on business bound, My baggage with me, unto Argos, I (Just as I set forth,) met a man I knew not, Who knew not me, and he then , having asked My way and told me his, the Phokian Strophios (For so I learnt in talking) said to me, " Since thou dost go, my friend, for Argos bound, In any case, tell those who gave him birth, Kemembering it right well, Orestes' death; See thou forget it not, and whether plans *** Prevail to fetch him home, or bury him There where he is, a stranger evermore, Bear back the message as thy freight for us ; For now the ribbed sides of an urn of bronze The ashes hide of one whom men have wept." So much I heard and now have told ; and if I speak to kin that have a right in him I know not, but his father sure should know it. Clytcem. Ah, .thou hast' told how utterly our ruin Is now complete ! O Curse of this our house, Full hard to wrestle with ! How many things, * M (1) So in Homer, (II. xxii. 444,) the warm bath is prepared by Andro- mache fur Hector on bis r :tura from the battle in wblcfi be fait 2/8 THE LIBATION-POURERS. Though lying out of rea^h, thou aimest at, And with well-darted arrows from afar Dost bring them low ! And now thou strippest me, Most wretched one, of all that most I loved. A lucky throw Orestes now was making, Getting his feet from out destruction's slough ; But now the hope of high, exulting joy, *Which this house had as healer, he scores down As present in this fashion that we see. Orest. I could have wished to come to prosperous hosts, As known and welcomed for my tidings good ; For who to hosts is friendlier than a guest ? * But 'twould have been as impious in my thoughts Not to complete this matter for my friends, By promise bound and pledged as guest to host. Clytcbm. Thou eh alt not meet with less than thou deserv'st ; Nor wilt thou be to this house less a friend; Another would have brought news all the same : But since 'tis time that strangers who have made A long day's journey find the things they need, Lead him [to her Slave, pointing to OHESTES] to these our hospitable halls, And these his fellow-travellers and servants: TOO There let them meet with what befits our house. I bid thee act as one who gives account ; And we unto the masters of our house Will tell this news, and with no lack of friends Deliberate of this calamity. 1 [Exeunt CLYTVEMNESTEA, OEESTES, PYLADES, and Attendants. Chor, Come then, handmaids of the palace, When shall we with full-pitched voices Shew our feeling for Orestes ? fl) An in her speeches 5n