THE ION OF EURIPIDES, LITERALLY TRANSLATED. Price, 2- J. HALL AND pOX, CAMDUIDGK. IM THE ION OF EURIPIDES, A NEW AND ACCURATE TRANSLATION FROM THE TEXT OF F. A. PALEY, With Notes Critical and Explanatory. BY E. S. CROOKE, B. A., Late ofPemb. Coll. Cambridge. CAMBRIDGE : J. HALL AND SON ; LONDON : WHITTAKER & CO ; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & OO. AND BELL AND DAI DY. 1866. THE ION, if one of the most beautiful, is in some respects one of the most difficult of Euripides' plays, and the more so, because there are no scholia upon it extant. The edition of Hermann, published forty or fifty years ago, is a valuable one. But the recent edition of Mr Paley, embodying as it does the corrections and explanations of all the best critics, with his own judicious and valuable remarks, seems far the best that has appeared. The following translation is based upon his text, and I have pretty gene- rally adopted the English versions of particular passages given in his notes : here and there I have ventured to differ from him, but always with reluctance and hesitation. The only thing (and that a minor matter) with which I should be disposed to find any fault, is a peculiarity of punctuation in several places, in which he has, it is clear, too implicitly followed Hermann and other German editors. I have endeavoured to be very literal, perhaps to a -fault, and at the same time as far as possible to preserve the spirit of the original Greek. In how many cases I have failed, I am well aware. Any one who has made the attempt, knows the extreme difficulty of combining the literal with the virtual in the translation of a Greek play. E. S. C. June, 1866. 2015287 PLOT. CKEUSA, daughter of Erechtheus, having been ravished by Apollo, gave birth to a son, whom she exposed in the grotto which had been the scene of this amour. At the request of Apollo, Mercury brought the infant to his temple at Delphi, and laid him down on the steps. There he was found by the Pythia, and was brought up in the temple, where he was afterwards taken into the special service of the god. In the meanwhile Creusa has married Xuthus. Having no family, but desiring one, they come to Delphi to consult the oracle on the subject, Creusa secretly hoping at the same time to have an opportunity of learning the fate of her offspring. In answer to Xuthus, Apollo bids him salute as his son the first person he should meet on leaving the temple. He meets the son of of Apollo and Creusa, and declares himself his father, naming him Ion, but, to avoid offence to Creusa, bids him keep the matter a secret for the present. Creusa however gets information of it, and attemps to poison Ion. This plot is discovered, and Ion is only prevented from killing her by her taking refuge at Apollo's altar. The Pythia endeavours to calm him, and bids him seek out his mother, taking with him as tokens the cradle or basket in which she found him, and the clothes and ornaments which she has carefully preserved with it. Creusa suddenly recognizes these, and a de'nouement takes place. DRAMATIS PERSONS. MERCURY. ION. CHORUS OF CREUSA'S HANDMAIDS. CREUSA. XUTHUS. PEDAGOGUE. MALE ATTENDANT OF CREUSA. THE PYTHIA. MINERVA. SCENE. DELPHI. THE ION OF EURIPIDES. *** Italics (except in the foot-notes) mark that there is no corresponding word in the Greek text. MERCURY. Atlas, who with brazen shoulders upholds heaven the ancient abode of the gods, by one of the goddesses begot Maia, who bore me, Mercury, minister of the deities, to all-great 1 Jove. And I am 5 come to this land of Delphi, where Phoebus occupying the central navel of the earth chants responses to mortals, ever divining of the things that are and are to be. 2 For there is a not obscure city of the Greeks, called the city of Pallas of the golden 10 spear, where Phoebus by force subjected to his embraces 3 Creusa daughter of Erechtheus, at that spot in the land of the Athenians where are the northern rocks below the hill of Pallas which the kings of the Attic territory call the Macrae. 4 And unknown to her father (for so it was well-pleasing to the god) she bore the burden of her womb; and when the 15 time came, having brought forth a boy in the palace, Creusa bore away the babe to the same cavern 1. Lit. Greatest. 2. i. e. Giving oracular explanations or directions about things that are, and prophesying things that are to be. 3. Lit. Yoked to nuptials. 4. Lit Where of the land of the Athenians &c. the kings of the Attic territory call the northern rocks the Macro:. A EURIPIDES 17 39 where she had lain 1 with the god, and exposes him to die 2 in the well-rounded circle of a hollow basket, 20 observing the custom of her forefathers and earth- born Erichthonius : for to him the daughter of Jove attached two guardian snakes as protectors of his person, when she gave him to the Agraulian 25 maids to take care of. Hence there is there a custom among the Erechthidse 3 to rear their children in snakes of beaten gold. Well : 4 having put what fine raiment the maid had upon the child, about to die, as she supposed, 5 she left him. And Phcebus, 30 being my brother, makes this request 8 of me ; My brother, go to the earth-born people of renowned Athens (for thou knowest the city of the goddess), take the new-born babe and bring him out of the hollow rock, with the basket itself and the swaddling- clothes which he has, to my oracle of Delphi, and 35 lay him at the very entrance of my house. And the rest, for (that thou mayst know it) the boy is mine, shall be my care. 7 And I, wishing to do 8 a favour to my brother Loxias, took up the wicker basket and brought it, and place the boy on the steps of the temple here, having opened the woven basket of 1. Lit Lay. 2. Lit. Ai to die. 3. Lit. For to him the daughter of Jove having attached two guardians snakes protectors of Ms person, gives him to #c. whence there is there a certain custom to the Erechthidce. For the Mythological allusions see Dictionary of Mythology. What the poet's exact meaning is in this passage, is not quite transparent. It seems however to be, that the memory of Erichthonius' guardian snakes was preserved, in the case of Creusa, by the round, coil-like shape of the cradle and by the coil or collar of snakes round the child's neck, and in the case of his later descendants, by a similar coil or collar which children used to wear. 4. Lit. But. 5. I/it. As about to die. 6. Lit. Bequests these things. 7. Lit. Shall be a care to us. 8. Lit Doing. 4065 ION. 3 the cradle, that the boy might be seen. And early as 40 the orb 1 of the sun riding Jorth the prophetess chances to enter the oracle of the god, and having cast her eyes on the infant boy, wondered that 2 any damsel of the Delphian maids should dai'e to place her 45 stealthy offspring 3 at the house of the god, and she was minded to eject him beyond the area of the temple : but for pity she left her cruelty, and the god was an ally to the boy, that he should not be cast out from the edifice. And she takes him and rears him : but she knows not of Phoebus who begat him, nor of 50 the mother of whom he was born, and the boy is ignorant of those who gave him birth. He roved therefore, as long as he was young, sporting about the altars amid which he was reared : 4 but when his form grew to manhood, the Delphians made him treasure- keeper of the god and trusty guardian of all, and 55 in the palace of the god he lives on a holy life to this very day. 5 And Creusa who bore the youth marries Xuthus by such coincidence as this : between Athens and the sons of Chalcodon, who possess the Eubcean 60 land, intervened the flood of war, 6 which having toiled through with the Athenians and aided them with his spear in driving back, 7 he received the honour of marriage with Creusa, not being a native of the land, but born an Achaean 8 of ^Eolus the son of Jupiter: and having entered into late wedlock, he is childless, and Creusa: and for this reason they 65 1. Lit. Along with the orb. 2. Lit.//. 3. Lit. Labour. 4. Lit. Altar rearings. 5. Lit. Constantly thus far. 6. Lit. There was to Athens Sfc. a flood of war. 7. Lit. Having jointly iaken away. 8. i. e. Phthian. 4 EURiriDEs 66 95 are come to the oracle here of Apollo through desire of children. But Loxias puts off his 1 good for- tunes to this time, and he has not been forgotten by him, as he seems to be. For he will present to Xuthus, 70 when he has entered this oracle, his own son, and will declare that he is his offspring, 2 in order that having come to his mother's abode, he may be made known to Creusa, and both the loves of Loxias may be s con- cealed, and the boy may have his rights. 4 And he will bring it to pass that he be called throughout 75 Greece Ion by name, founder of colonies in the Asiatic land. But I will go into the laurel coverts here, that I may learn what is determined about the youth. For I see the son of Loxias coming out, 5 that he may make the portico in front of the temple clean with 80 branches of laurel. And I am the first of the gods to call him by the name which he is about to obtain, Ion. IOBT. Already the sun is wheeling this his bright chariot of four steeds over the earth, and the stars are 85 flying from the sky before these his fires into sacred night, and the untrodden Parnassian peaks illumined welcome the car 6 of day for mortals. And the smoke 90 of myrrh from desert lands 7 wings its way to the roof of Phoebus, and the Delphic priestess 8 is sitting on the divine tripod, chanting to the Greeks the utterances which Apollo pronounces. But, ye Delphian mi- 95 nisters of Phoebus, go to the Castalian silvery 1. i. e. Ion's. 2. Lit. Has been begotten of Mm i. e. XvtTws. 3. Li t. Become. 4. Lit The ihintis meet. 5. Lit. The -rovce, which is not wanted in the English, denotes his entrance on the stage. 6. lAi Wheel. 7. Lit. Waterless myrrh. 8. Lit. Woman. But ywr, is virtually a much higher word. 96139 IOK. 5 eddies, and having laved yourselves in the pure dews, come to the temple : guard a mouth of good omen and favourable, and utter 1 from your own tongue words favourable to those who desire to consult the god. 100 And I (a labour which I have ever from a boy performed) will make the portals of Phoebus bright with branches of laurel and holy garlands, and the 105 ground moist with sprinkled water, 2 and will put to flight with my bow and arrows 3 the flocks of birds which mar the holy offerings; for as being motherless and fatherless I serve the temple no of Phcebus which reared me. Come, thou new- grown implement 4 of fairest laurel, which sweepest the pavement of Phoebus beneath his temple, from im- 115 mortal groves where sacred dews sending forth their ever-flowing stream lave the sacred foliage of 120 the myrtle, with which the livelong day I sweep the floor of the god, serving him day by day early as 5 the fleet wing of the sun. Paean, Paean, be thou blessed, blessed, O son of Latona. Honour- 125 able is the work in which I serve thee, Phoebus, before thine house, revering thy oracular abode: 130 and glorious to me is the work to have hands 8 minis- tering to the gods, and not to mortals, but immortals : and I faint not to labour in works of praise. Phcebus 135 is to me a sire, a father: for I bless him that nourishes me. And for his benefits to me I call Phcebus who dwells in the temple by the name of 1. Inf. in the imperative sense. The previous clause seems to imply a negative, as this a positive evtprjuia. 2. Lit. Watery sprinklings. 3. The pi. has very commonly a wider or looser sense than the singular, as here. 4. Lit. thou service. Abstr. for concrete. 6. Lit. Together with. 6. Lit. A hand. A2 6 EURIPIDES 140 171 140 father. 1 Pa?an, Paean, be thou blessed, blessed, son of Latona. But I will cease 2 from my labours 145 with the trailing of the laurel, and from golden vessels will sprinkle on the ground the stream which the 150 eddies of Castalia pour forth, throwing on it moisten- ing water, all holily, as being pure from the love of women. that I may not cease thus to serve Phcebus ever, or may cease with happy destiny. Ha ! 155 ha ! the winged ones are already on the move and are leaving their nests on Parnassus: 4 I bid them not approach the eaves nor to the gold-decked temple. Once more 5 I will hit thee with my bow and arrows, 1 60 thou messenger of Jove, surpassing the strength of all other birds with thy beak. Here is a swan too steer- ing his flight towards the steps of the temple. 6 Wilt thou not move thy bright red foot another way? In no 165 way shall the lyre of Phcebus in unison with thy song save thee 7 from my bow : turn aside thy wings : go to the Delian lake. Thou shalt quench in blood thy 170 sweet-voiced songs, if thou wilt not obey. Ha! ha! What fresh bird is this that has come ? Is it to place 1. This is somewhat involved, but the literal sense appears to be And according to the beneficial to me I call (the name) of Phoebus in the temple the name of father. 2. Lit. But (I will now perform another duty,) for I ivill cease fyc. 3. Tbe genitive in such a sense is extremely unusual. Commonly there is the same ethical difference between piirTem with genitive, and pliTTfiv Trpos as between cast at and cast on. 4. Lit. The couches of Parnassus. 5. Either this alludes to Ion's having hit the Eagle on some former occasion, or it may be taken (preferably perhaps) as elliptical I warn thee once more. 6. Lit. This here another swan is rowing towards the area aXXos used in tbe same way as it is in ol ai/opes KOI al ii\\ai ywaiKti, or as the superlative in aioXoyo>TaTos TWV irpoyeyevrineviav. QvpeXri (1) An altar: (2) the quasi-altar of Dionysus in a Greek theatre, on a rectangular platform ascended by steps : hence (3) generally, a platform, an area: and hence (4) the platform or area, ascended by steps, on which a temple stood : perhaps (5) these steps. 7. Lit. Should save thee (if thou thoughtest so). 172 205 ION - 7 a nest of dry twigs beneath the eaves for its young ones? The twanging of the bow shall prevent thee. Wilt thou not obey? Go and breed in the eddies 175 of Alpheus, or to the Isthmian glen, that the offerings and temple of Phrebus be not interfered with. For I am loth to slay you that announce the oracles of 180 the gods to mortals : but I will serve Phoebus in the work to which I am devoted, and will not cease to minister to those who nourish me. CHO. A. Not in divine Athens only were there dwellings of the gods decked with fair columns, nor 185 there only the service of Agyieus : but in the house of Loxias also the son of Latona is there the fair- eyed light of the twin countenances. 1 CHO. B. Lo ! see here; 2 the son of Jupiter is 190 slaying the Lerntean hydra with golden scimetar : dear sister, behold this with thine eyes. CHO. A. I see. And near him another is raising 195 a blazing torch. Who is this? Is it the warrior lolaus whose story is related to me as I work at my loom, 3 who undertaking a common labour with the son 200 of Jove is helping him to accomplish it ? CHO. c. And look too at this hero mounted on winged steed: he is slaying the fire-breathing three-formed monster. 4 CHO. A. Yes, I am directing my eyes 5 all 205 1. i. e. The images of Apollo and Diana, painted on the walls. Heath. 2. Lit. This here (sc. the hydra). 3. Lit. Who is related in story beside my web i. e. whose story is related to me by some one at my side, that I may weave a represen- tation of it. 4. Lit. Might. 5. IAt. Eyelid. EURIPIDES 206 230 around. Observe the conflict with the giants on the stone walls. CHO. D. We are looking here, dear sisters, * * * CHO. E. Seest thou then one brandishing her 210 gorgon shield against Enceladus? CHO. F. I see Pallas my own deity. CHO. G. Why, dost thou not see the mighty thunderbolt all- blazing in the far-darting hands of Jove? CHO. H. I see : he is burning up the hostile 215 Mimus with the flames. CHO. i. And Bromius Bacchus is slaying another of the sons of earth with unwarlike ivy -bound staff. CHO. A. To thee I call who art by the temple, 220 is it lawful to ascend to the shrine, I mean 1 with purc- washed foot * * * ? ION. It is not lawful, stranger-maids. CHO. K. And might I not enquire a word from thee? ION. What then wilt thou ? CHO. L. Does the house of Phoebus really occupy the central navel of the earth ? ION. Ay, clad in garlands, and on either hand are Gorgons. 225 CHO. M. So also rumour declares. ION. If you have offered a cake before the temple, and ye desire to enquire aught of Phoebus, pass on to the steps : but without sheep sacrificed 2 pass not into the chambers of the house. 230 CHO. N. I understand: and we offer not to 1. The force of ?v = mild ? If not, are we to take VMV to mean Apollo and me ? Then what is the meaning of e Tralda TOV rrov, Apollo again ? It makes nonsense. The " double entente " must, I fear, be given up, though the passage at first sight, presents every appearance of one. Though I can see nothing in the commentators better than Hermann's first explanation, it is not one which very naturally belongs to the words, and I am inclined to believe that the passage has not yet been properly understood. 2O EURIPIDES 422 445 do thou, my lady, take branches of laurel and at 1 the altars pray to the gods that I may bring away from the house of Apollo a response granting children to us. 425 CR. This shall be done, it shall be. But if Loxias should choose even now 2 to make amends for his former misdeeds, he would not be all favourable to us, but whatever he deigns, for he is a god, will I accept. ION. What can be the reason why 3 the stranger- 430 lady is constantly speaking by dark hints and throwing out reproaches against the god in secret speeches ? Is it either because she loves her on whose behalf she consults the god, or else 4 because she would conceal something which need be concealed? 5 But what care I for the daughter of Erectheus? She is noiight to me. 8 Well, I will go and with golden 435 pitchers place water in the lavers. But I must remind Phoebus what he is doing : he deflowers virgins by force and deserts them : he begets children clandestinely and suffers them to die. Do not thou thus : but, since thou art mighty, pursue virtuous 440 deeds. For whoever among mortals is evil, him the gods chastise. How then is it right that ye, having laid down the law for mortals, should yourselves be guilty of breaking the law ? But if ye (it will not be so, but I will use the argument) shall make satis- 445 faction to men for your forcible amours, thou and 1. Lit. About. 2. Nui/ dXXd i. e. el fj.ii trporepov, &\\a vvv. 3. Lit. Why ever? 4 Lit. Or also. 5. Lit. Something of ihe things which it is necessary shoitld be kept silent. 6. Lit. She nought appertains to me. 446 488 ION. 2 1 Neptune and Jove who rules the sky, you will empty 1 your temples to pay the penalties of your wrong deeds. For ye do wrong by your eagerness for your pleasures in preference to reason : no more is it right to call men evil, since we imitate the evil deeds of 450 the gods, but those who teach them these things. CHO. I beseech thee, ray patron goddess Minerva, who didst need no Ilithyia to assist at the pangs of thy birth, 2 brought forth from the crown of Jove's 455 head by Promethean Titan, thou august Vic- tory, fly from the golden chambers of Olympus to the public ways and come to the Pythian 460 abode, where the Phcebean shrine in the mid- navel of the earth delivers unfailing 3 oracles at the choir-girt tripod, thou and the maid Latona-born, 465 two goddesses, two virgins, revered sisters of Phcebus. And supplicate him, maidens, that the ancient race of Erectheus may obtain the blessing of off- 470 spring, though late, by his holy responses. For it 4 involves 5 surpassing happiness, an undisturbed fund of joy, to mortals to whom youthful scions of children 475 flourish 6 fruitful in their fathers' halls, to keep 7 wealth inherited from their fathers for other children: for 480 it is an aid in troubles, and with good fortune it is a delightful thing, and it brings protecting aid to their native land with the spear. To me before 485 wealth and royal nuptials be a dear offspring of beloved children. But I abhor childless life, and 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. i. e. Of treasure. I/it. Ilithyia-less of birth-pangs. Lit. Accomplishes. Sc. rfreiw/a. Lit. Has (in it). Lit. Shine. "Eoi>re Constr. KOTO: aweo-ii/, agrees with iraToes implied in 22 EURIPIDES 489 516 I blame him for whom it has charms : l and, with 490 moderate possessions in life, may I be reckoned blest with children. ye abodes of Pan and thou rock neighbouring to the cavernous Macrae, where the three 495 daughters of Agraulos 2 foot it in the dance o'er the green course 3 before the temple of Pallas, to the varied 500 sound of the strains of thy pipe, when thou pipest, Pan, in thy rustic cave, where a maid, wretched one ! having brought forth a babe to Phoebus, exposed it as a banquet to birds and a bloody repast to 505 wild beasts, the offspring of forced embraces bearing bitter fruit. 4 Neither in works of the loom have 1 seen it, nor in story have I heard 5 the fame that children of mortals by the gods partake of a happy destiny. 510 ION. Ye attendant women, who wait for your master, keeping watch about the steps of this incensed temple, has Xuthus already quitted the sacred tripod and oracle, or is he staying yet in the house en- quiring of his childless condition ? CHO. He is in the temple, stranger : he comes not forth from this house as yet. But I hear the 515 noise of the doors here, as if he were at the por- tals, and now thou mayst see my lord coming out. 1. Lit. To whom it seems good. 2. Viz. Agraulos, Herse and Pandrosus, daughters of Cecrops and Agraulos. 3. The construction appears to be Xopous crrelfiovai TroSolv o-ra&a, taking ardSia as the object of the compound expression xopoii? cn-f i/3oucri Tro&olv. See the larger grammars for other examples of this peculiar Grecism. 4. Lit. The violence of bitter nuptials, where the cause is put for the effect. 5. "A'iov used by Zeugma with e-n-l Ktasiaa as well as \6yoti 4>driv. So JSsch. Prom. Vinct. (in init.) "lv oCre vi]v cure TOW 517530 ION. 23 Xu. All well to thee, my child (for it becomes me to address thee first 1 ). ION. All's well with me: but be thou in thy sober senses, and two of us will be the better for it. 2 Xu. Give me to kiss thy hand and to embrace thy body. ION. Art thou in thy sober senses, stranger, or 520 has some curse of the god driven thee mad ? Xu. I am in my senses, since, having found my best beloved, I seek to embrace him. ION. Hold, touch not the fillets of the god nor break them with thy hand. Xu. I will touch thee and yet I seek not to tear thee away, 3 but I have found 4 my beloved child. ION. Wilt thou not let me go, before thou receivest my arrows in thy lungs ? Xu. Why, I pray, wouldst thou fly 5 from me, now 525 that thou hast discovered thy own dearest parent ? ION. I love not to bring rude and crazy strangers to their senses. Xu. Slay me, burn me: well, if thou slay me, thou wilt be the murderer of thy father. ION. And how art thou my father ? Is not this laughable for me to hear ? Xu. No : My account of the matter will quickly shew thee who I am. 6 ION. And what is it thou wilt tell me ? 530 1. Lit. For the beginning of speaking is becoming to me. 2. Lit. And we, being tivo, shall fare well. Paley explains this differently. But I believe the above version is right. We must suppose Xuthus, as he said u> TCKVOV, yalpe, to have added some demonstrative expression of his paternal love, such as seeking to embrace him. Ion naturally repels this familiarity. 3. 'Pvffiaw lit. to seize a pledge as a matter of right. See also note on 231. 4. Lit. Ifind. 5. See note on 231. 6. Lit. Sunning would shew thee my affairs. 24 EURIPIDES 531543 Xo. I am thy father, and thou art my son. ION. "Who declares so ? Xu. Loxias who reared thee, being really mine. ION. Thou to thyself art witness. Xu. Yes, but after learning the oracle of the god. ION. Thou didst mistake, having heard some ambiguous response. Xu. Then my ears deceive me. 1 ION. What now are Ph rebus' words ? Xu. That he who met me 535 ION. Met thee how? 4 Xu. As I came out from this temple of the god ION. What then of him ? 3 Xu. Was my son. ION. Thine born, or the gift to thee of others ? Xu. A gift, but of me begotten. ION. And thy footsteps first fall in with me ?* Xu. None else, my child. ION. Whence can the strange event have come to pass? 5 Xu. We twain marvel at one strange event alike. 540 ION. Good heavens ! But of what mother was I born to thee ? Xu. I cannot tell. ION. And did not Phoebus say ? Xu. At this rejoiced, I questioned not of that. ION. I sprung, it seems then, from the earth as my mother. Xu. The ground brings not forth children. ION. How then should I be thine ? 1. Lit. Then I hear not aright. 2. Lit. (Met thee) what meeting ? cogn. ace. 3. Lit. Fell in with what event ? 4. Lit. Thou joinest thy foot first indeed with me. 5. Lit. Whence ever has the fortune come (to us) ? 543553 I0 *- 25 Xu. I know not, but I refer the conformation of it to the god. ION. Come, let us take up other discourse. Xu. 'Twere better to do this, my son. ION. Didst thou ever approach any illegitimate 545 bed? Xu. In the folly of youth. ION. Before thou tookest to wife the daughter of Erectheus ? Xu. Yes ; for never yet have I since approached any. ION. Didst thou then beget me thus I 1 Xu. There is a correspondence in time at least. ION. And then how could I come 2 hither ? Xu. I am at a loss to tell this. ION. And accomplish so long a journey ? 3 Xu. This confounds me too. ION. And earnest thou ever before to the Pythian 550 rock? Xu. Yes, to the orgies 4 of Bacchus. ION. And didst thou tarry in the house of any of the public hosts ? Xu. One, who with the Delphian maids ION. Joined thee in the Bacchic dances ? or what meanest thou ? 5 Xu. Yes with the Msenades of Bacchus. ION. Whilst thou was in thy senses, or drunk with wine ? 1. lAi.-There. 2. Person on Eurip. Phcen. 13/3 lays it down that TTUJS nal, TTOV xai &c. simply ask for information, but KKI iru>, icai irou &c. mark an objection or contradiction. This will be most clearly expressed in the present passage by inserting could. 3. Lit. Hailing come through the^ long way. 4. Lit. Torches or torch-processions. 5. Lit. How (i. e. in what sense) sayest thou these things? 26 EURIPIDES 553 568 Xu. In the pleasures of Bacchus. ION. This is the source whence I was sprung. 1 Xu. Fate hath found thee, my child. 555 ION. And how came I to the temple ? Xu. A cast-away perhaps by the hands of the maiden. ION. I have escaped the fate of servile origin. Xu. Receive thy father then, my child. ION. It is not meet indeed to disbelieve the god. Pu. Then thou art wise. ION. And what else should I wish Xu. Now thou seest as thou shouldest see. ION. Than to be born son of the son of Jove ? Xu. "Which falls to thy lot. 560 ION. Shall I indeed embrace him that begot me ? Xu. Yes, in obedience to the god. ION. Hail, father. Xu. Joyous those accents have I heard. ION. And hail, thou day now present. Xu. Yes, happy has it made me. ION. mother dear, shall I ever 2 see thy form also? Now long I more than ever 3 to behold thee, 565 whoever thou art. But perhaps thou art dead, and I can never 4 behold thee. CHO. Shared by us are the good fortunes of thy house : but still I had wished that our mistress also and the race of Erectheus were happy in possessing children. 6 1. Lit. This is that where tee were "begotten. 2. HOT' Spa L e. dpa vo-re, unquamne 1 Vide prsefat. ad Soph. CEdip. Col. p. 13. Hermann. But see Paley's note. 3. Lit. Before. 4. Lit. Nought, in no way. 5. Lit. As to children. 569593 ION - 27 Xu. My son, as to thy recovery the god has duly accomplished the oracle, and he hath both united thee 570 to me, and thou on thy part hast discovered thy dear parent, not knowing him before. But what thou hast rightly with so much eagerness desired, this I too long for 1 that thou, my son, mayst discover thy mother, and her, I of whom thou wast brought forth. And, if we leave it to time, we may perhaps discover this. But 575 quit the temple of the god and thy unsettled life, 2 and yielding thy will to thy father come to Athens, where the prosperous sceptre of thy father awaits thee and abundant wealth; and thou wilt not, though unfor- tunate in one respect, 3 be called at the same time 580 ignobly born and poor, but high-born and rich in substance. Art thou silent ? Why keepest thou thine eye fixed on the ground? 4 And thou art lost in thought, 5 and changed again from thy joyfulness inspirest fears in thy father. 8 ION. The face of things whilst they are at a 585 distance, and when looked at close, appears not the same. I embrace my fortune in having discovered thee as my father : but hear about what I am thinking on. They say that the famed earth-born Athens is no 590 alien race, and there 7 I shall fall under two disadvan- tages which I possess, 8 being of an alien father and myself of bastard birth. And having this reproach, I 1. Lit. This a longing possesses me too. 2. Lit. The floor of the god and thy wanderings. 3. Lit. In one thing of two i. e. in not knowing thy mother. 4. Lit. Why having cast thine eye to the ground keepest thou it (there)? 5. Lit. Thou art gone away into thoughts. G. Lit. Addest fear to thy father. 7. Lit.- Where. 8. Lit. Shall fall into two disabilities, possessing them. 2 8 EUIUPIDE3 593 ^21 shall be esteemed * * * nought and of mean birth, 1 if 595 destitute of power : but if aiming at the first seat in the vessel 2 of the state, I seek to be something, I shall be hated by the humbler sort : 3 for superiors are obnoxious to them : and amongst all that, being good and enduring to be wise, hold their peace and 600 are not eager to engage in state affairs, I shall incur ridicule and the charge of folly 4 , because I keep not quiet in a city full of censure : and I shall be the more jealously guarded by the votes of those on the other hand who are eloquent and follow politics, if I attain to 605 eminence. For thus, my father, are these things wont to be : those who possess political power and eminence, are most hostile to their rivals. And when I come an intruder to a strange house, and to a childless lady, who, sharing thy misfortune with thee before, but now 6 10 having ceased to be of equal lot, 5 will bear her fate alone with bitter sorrowing, how 6 shall I fail to be naturally hated by her, when I stand by thee near thy foot, and she, childless as she is, beholds thy beloved one with bitter jealousy, and then either thou abandonest me and hast regard to thy wife, or 615 upholdest me, and embroilest thy house? How many ways of blood-shed and destruction by deadly poisons have women invented for men. And moreover I pity thy wife, my father, growing old still childless : for, 620 born of noble ancestors, she ought not to lack children to continue the race. Of royalty that is falsely praised, 1. Lit. Of -no (parents). 2. Lit. Rower's bench. 3. Lit. The powerless. 4. Lit. Folly cause for effect. Corap. Eurip. Med. 298. Xtopj* yap aXXtjs ijs fX vaiv evTuX'as implied in ev-rvxelv. 3. In v-eviav there is an allusion perhaps to the reclining attitude of banqueters. Paley. 4. Lit Natal of thee. 5. This seems to be the force of $n. 6. AJjOei; 7. From Iwv going. 8. Lit. With ox-slaughtered enjoyment. 9. Lit. Being about to quit. 10. Lit. I (declare) death to you having told fyc. 668699 IOK - 3 1 ION. I will go : but one thing in my fortune is lacking to me : if I shall not find her who bore me, my father, I cannot endure life : but, if I must utter a 670 prayer, may the woman who gave me birth be of Athens, that freedom of speech may be accorded to me through my mother. For if any alien's lot is cast in a city 1 of pure race, though he be in name a citizen, yet has he his mouth enslaved, and possesses not freedom to speak his thoughts. 675 CHO. Tears,* tears I see, and the woful beginnings of groans besides 2 , when my royal mistress beholds her husband blessed with a son 8 , and she is childless herself 680 and destitute of offspring. What a prophetic strain didst thou utter, presaging son of Latona ? whence, from whom of women, did this youth nurtured about thy temple, spring ? For the response of the god not 685 pleases me, as I am afraid that it involves some deceit. I fear to what the event will come. For marvellous he 690 (i. e. apparently, Xuthus) reports responses marvel- lous to me, sounding well perhaps 4 to this young man. The youth bred of some other race has this good fortune by some deceit. 5 Who will not agree with me in this ? Dear sister slaves, shall we tell all this distinctly to my 695 lady's ear about her husband, whose hopes and fears, poor soul, she used to share, having all her affections bound up in him 6 ? But now she is overwhelmed with 1. Lit. For if any alien fall into a city. 2. See note on 161. 3. Lit. Having child-blessedness. 4. It seems impossible to make sense of -nadi TTOT" ev^tjua. I have substituted TX for TroVe. This however is not satisfactory, and the passage appears hopelessly corrupt. 5. Lit. -Ha* deceit and the fortune hendiadys, if the text is not corrupt, which is most probably the case. 6. In Greek it is more usual, when a participle and verb are combined in a clause, to put the participle first and construct the relative or other pronoun with it, leaving the pronoun to be understood with the verb. English idiom requires this to be reversed. 32 EURIPIDES 699 727 calamity, but he is fortunate, she fallen into grey 700 age, 1 but her husband caring nought for his partner. 2 Wretched man ! who having come an alien to the house, into great power and wealth, 8 has not preserved consistency ivith his fortunes. May he perish, may he 705 perish who has deceived my beloved mistress: and may he not find favour when he offers at the fire the cake sending forth its bright flame to the gods : but he 710 shall know me * * * * friend of the royal house.* Already is approaching to the new-spread banquet the son, and the new-found father. ye crags that 715 occupy the peaks and cloud-girt heights 5 of the rock of Parnassus, where uplifting blazing torches, Bacchus nimbly bounds with night-roaming Bacchanals. Never 6 720 may the youth come to my city, but may he quit his young life and die. For the city would have reason in lamenting the entering in of strangers. But enough, enough for as King Erectheus that was our prince before. 725 CR. aged pedagogue 7 of Erectheus the father that once was mine, when he was still in being, 8 ascend 9 1. Hermann translates eli'Xa. This may be. 5. Lit. Abode. 6. Lit Never at all. 7. For some account of the position and duties of a " psedagogus see Diet, of Antiq. 8. Lit. In light. 9. Lit. Raise thyself I e. come up the steps. 727743 ION - 33 to the oracle of the god, that thou mayest rejoice with me, if King Loxias has spoken any oracle purporting 1 the birth of children ; for it is delightful to be pros- 730 perous in the company of friends, and if any evil (but may it not so prove) should befal, it is sweet to look upon the face of a man that loves us. But thee I cherish in a father's place, thy mistress though I am, as thou too didst my father once. PEDAGOGUE. Daughter, thou preservest the worthy manners of 735 worthy parents, and hast not disgraced thy race, ancient as it is, sprung from the soil itself. 2 Pull me on, pull me on and lead me to the temple. The oracle is high up in truth : but do thou, helping my limbs to accomplish the task, 3 be physician of mine old age. 740 CR. Come along with me then : but be careful where thou settest thy foot. PED. See. My foot indeed is slow, but my will is quick. CR. And support thyself, with thy staff as thou goest over the ground. 4 1. 'Es not regarding, but to the purpose of. 2. If the old reading is correct, which is very doubtful, we certainly cannot take together TOUS o-oiis auTo'xfWns or any similar words, but must put commas after o-ous and TraXaious; and then I know of no better way of understanding eKyovov? auro'xOovas than that proposed by Barnes, viz. as = -rous e' ainij^ rjjs x^ "^ yeyevij- fjLfvovi, though this is violent. 3. Lit. Working out my limb icith me. 4. ~Explora solum scipione circa te. Hermann. The accusative is that of motion over a place (Hel. 598). More fully fldx-rvw epeidou (cf. Tro. 150. Hec. 66) trrifiov Tropevonevo* The real difficulty is rather in the epithet irepi^^ than in the grammatical construction. Faley. I am somewhat disposed to think that the words may be taken thus fpelduv (i. e. epetSe 6p7) -)(Qovot PCIKTIHO support for thyself thy going ambient of the ground with thy staff i. e. support thy footsteps with thy staff as they go over the 34 EURIPIDES 744 _ 759 FED. This too is a blind guide, when I cannot see. 745 CR. Thou hast well said: but do not give in to the toil. FED. I will not do so then willingly, but I have no control over what is wanting to me. CR. Ye women, faithful slaves of my loom and shuttle, inform me what luck my husband who is gone, has met with as to children, 1 for the sake 750 of whom we came : for if ye shall declare good neivs to me, thou 2 wilt not confer joys on a mistress 3 that will be faithless to reward you. CHO. fate ! FED. The prelude to your words is not fortunate. CHO. Ah ! wretched. 755 FED. But is there aught should grieve me in the response given to my lord ? 4 CHO. Well. What are we to do about a matter about which death is the appointed penalty ? CR. What strain is this, and about what are your fears ? CHO. Shall we tell her, or be silent, or what shall we do? CR. Tell me ; as thou knowest some calamity affecting me. ground. Though this is not the ordinary meaning of tpeloofjiai, it is strictly in analogy. But even taking epeioov in its usual sense and regarding trriflav as a kind of cognate accus., as Paley suggests, I must at least strongly contend for the meaning I have assigned to 7re/Hepf) see Paley's note. 6. Lit At. 4 EURIPIDES 884 g22 shepherds on the dumb sounding-board, to thee, son 885 of Latona, will I proclaim reproach before this light of day. Thou earnest to me, thy locks all glittering with gold, when I was gathering into the bosom of 890 my robe the blooming crocus leaves of golden sheen : and clinging to the white wrists of my hands, thou, a god, leddest me, in spite of my virgin shame, crying out " mother, mother," into the chamber of a grot, 895 to lie with me, doing a pleasure to the Cyprian queen. And I, ill-fated maid, bear to thee a boy, whom from fear of my mother I place in the grotto ivldch thou closest for thy couch, where thou didst embrace 900 hapless me in hapless intercourse, ill-fated maid: (ah me ! ah me !) and now to me is lost thy poor boy, carried away as a feast for the birds, but thou 905 makest music with thy lyre, playing songs of joy. Ho ! to the son of Latona I speak, to thee who grantest by lot 1 the divine voice of prophecy ; before thy 910 golden shrine and dwelling in mid-earth, in thine ears will I utter aloud my speech. Ha ! base seducer that thou art, who, having received from him no favours to 915 repay, 2 art bringing a son to dwell in the house of my husband ; whilst my child and thine own 3 has perished unnoticed, carried off by birds of prey, stripped of his mother's swathing bands. 4 Hates thee Ddos, and the 920 branches of the laurel beside the delicate-leaved palm, where Latona bore thee, her divine offspring, by impregnation of Jove. 1. Those who would consult the god, cast lots for the order in which they should receive responds. 2. The force of IT/DO iu 7rpoXo/3o>p. 3. The force of ye. 4. Lit. Having passed out of, not, I think, having exchanged hem for others (Paley's version) for what could these others be? 9 2 3~ 939 ION - 4i CHO. Alas ! how great a store of evils is being opened, at which any one might shed the tear. PED. Daughter, I cannot in truth look long 925 enough on thy face to satisfy myself that this is not a dream, and I am beside my senses. For as I was just getting rid of a wave of troubles in my mind, 1 another in the wake upheaves me, raised by thy words, in which, 2 no sooner hast thou spoken of the troubles immediately before thee, than thou hast gone off to a sad recital of other woes. 3 "What sayest thou ? what 930 charge bringest thou against Loxias ? what son is this thou sayest thou didst bear ? where placedst him in the city, to be entombed as a sweet meal in the bowels of wild beasts ? 4 Repeat it to me again. CR. I feel abashed before thee, old man, but nathless I will tell it. PED. Ay, for I know how to mourn in generous 935 sympathy with friends. CR. Hear then : thou knowest the cavern on the north side of the Cecropian rock, 5 which we call the Macro) ? 6 PED. I know it, where there are a shrine and altars of Pan close by. CR. Here I went through 7 a terrible struggle. 1. This sentence is an instance of anacoluthon, the construction in this line, nominative, being changed in the next to the accusative. 2. See note on 697. 3. Lit. Thou hast by a change gone the sad direction of other woes. See Paley's note on the genitive TUV imp. KO.KU>V in the preceding line. 4. Lit. An entombed thing dear to the wild beasts. 5. i. e. The Acropolis. 6. This is spoken in a loose sense. Strictly speaking the cavern was not called Macrae, but the rocks in which it was situated. 7. 'HywvtffneOa, must here be pluperf., not perf. Engl. idiom requires that it should be translated as an aor., which would be the more usual tense in Greek. 42 EURIPIDES 940 955 940 PED. What struggle ? Say, for my tears rise at thy words. 1 CR. I contracted a hapless intercourse with Phoebus against my will. PED. Daughter, was this then what I heard of? CR. I know not : but if thou art right in what thou speakest of, I will confess it. PED. When thou wast suffering in secret from some concealed malady ? 945 CR. Then it was that the evil happened which I now plainly declare to thee. PED. And after how didst thou conceal thy amours with Phoebus ? CR. I bore a child : endure to hear this from me, aged man. PED. Who delivers thee ? and where ? Or dost thou go through these sufferings all alone ? CR. Alone, in the very 2 cavern where I was em- braced by the god. 950 PED. But where is the child ? Say, that no longer childless thou mayest be. CR. He is dead, old man, having been exposed to the wild beasts. PED. Dead ? And did that base Apollo in no way aid him ? CR. He aided him not, but he is spending his boyhood in Hades. PED. Why, who exposed him ? For surely thou didst not. 955 CR. I did, in the darkness, swathing him with my robe. 1. Lit. Since tears meet for me thy wards. 2. The irep in olirep. 956966 ION. 43 PED. And did none aid thee in exposing the child? Ca. None beside my misfortunes and the necessity for concealment. 1 PED. And how hadst thou the heart to leave thy child in the cavern ? CR. How ? / left him after uttering many piteous words from my mouth. PED. Alas ! hard-hearted thou for the deed, but 960 more than thou the god. CR. Yes, hadst thou seen the boy stretching out his hands to me. PED. Seeking the breast, or to lie in thy arms ? CR. In them, from which it was cruel of me to keep him. 2 PED. But how came it into thy mind to expose the child ? CR. I thought that the god would preserve his 965 own son. 3 PED. Ah me ! How is the prosperity of thy house destroyed by storms. 1. Palcy corrects Dr. Badhain's translation "Calamity and concealment were my only witnesses," on which his own version is undoubtedly a considerable improvement; but he seems to have mistaken the meaning of TO Xavtidveiv. 2. Lit. There, where being not he was suffering unjust things from me. 3. On this and the preceding line, Paley has the following " 'Es TI 86% r|s jjX6e crot for rrii de inos es S6av 7\t)e. Hermann gives not $ es Tt <5o'ei(T77\0ei/. With the following o>? supply e^ej3a\ot> cos von'fyvva &c. See Ehes. 145. The old reading <7o>oin-a was corrected by several critics." About the general meaning of the passage there cannot be two opinions. But this is rather special pleading. 1 must confess 1 prefer Hermann's reading. Or I should like still better o-u m appears, preferably, proleptic in sense. 982 gg6 ION. 45 FED. In the sacred tent, where he is feasting his friends. CR. The slaying of him thus is an undisguised deed, and my slaves are weak to protect me. PED. Alas ! thou art turning coward. Come, do thou then propose something. CR. Well, I have a plan to kill him by guile and 985 a plan to act. 1 FED. In either 3 of these will I be thy helper. CR. Hear then : thou knowest about the battle of the sons of Earth ? PED. I do, the battle which the Giants waged with the gods at Phlegra. CR. There Earth brought forth the Gorgon, terrible monster. PED. As an ally to her children and foe of the 990 gods ? 3 CR. Yes: and the daughter of Jupiter, the goddess Pallas, slew her. PED. What sort of savage appearance had she ? CR. She had a breast-plate armed with the coils of a hydra. PED. Is this the story which I have long ago heard ? CR. That it is her hide which Minerva wears on 995 her breast. PED. What they call the aegis, the accoutrement of Pallas ? 1. I have endeavoured to preserve the "double entente." Apa 8. See note on 852. 1044 10 74 10N - 49 and help to slay him and to rid her house of him. 1 For it is a fine thing for men in prosperity to hold 1045 righteousness in honour, but when any one would work harm to enemies, there is no law laid down to forbid it. CHO. Enodia, 2 daughter of Ceres, who art queen of nightly visitants, 3 guide also in the light of day the 1050 contents of the fatal bowl to them for whom my loved, loved mistress sends it, contents taken from the drops trickling from the wounded throat of earth-born 1055 Gorgon, to him who aspires to the house of the Erecthidae. 4 Nor may any other of another house ever reign over the city besides the noble Erecthidae. 1 060 But if his death shall fail to be accomplished, and the eager schemes of our mistress, and the opportunity for the daring deed shall pass away, by which her hopes are now sustained, 5 either she will take 8 a sharpened sword, or she will fasten a noose to 1065 her throat about her neck, and putting an end to her sufferings by sufferings, she will go down to another form of life. 7 For never would she live and endure in the sight of her brightly beaming eyes 8 others of 1070 alien race ruling her house, she that is bom of so noble a line as hers. 9 I feel shame for the god of 1. Lit. Jointly remove him from the house. 2. i.e. Goddess of the roads, Lat. Trivia. Hecate is here invoked, as presiding over poisons. In making her the daughter of Ceres, Euripides confounds here with Proserpine. 3. i. e. Apparitions. 4. Paley's interpretation of this passage seems the only right one. 5. ep<:T' i. e. rfreperai. See Paley's note. 6. By a zeugma, v. This use of the aorist participle, in itself remarkable enough, is common in such expressions as /3aoVo seems a strange word to apply to the death of the dove. 2. Lit. A misfortune to my life, and a stony death to my mistress, aufjifpopal being in apposition not with one word, but all the former part of the sentence. In the previous /o^o-is Creusa was to die ppt.fyri's, which may either mean by hurling from a rock, or by being stoned. The former was the meaning intended, as we find by-and-by, but the Chorus seems to have understood it in the latter sense. 3. Lit. What flight shall I go f 4. Lit. Having mounted the swiftest hoof of four-horse chariots, or the poops on ships 1 The construction is rather involved, and the expression forced. Why not read reQp. tb/a (all gen.) eirifidtr', fi irfwuvas eiri vawv ? 5. A general proposition. Lit. When the god does not get us off stealthily, desiring it. 6. Lit In thy life. 7. Lit. Shall we suffer, choosing to do some mischief to our neighbours ? 8. Lit. For fatal slaughter, having been overcome. On the sing. K/3cn-jj6eIo-a after the pi. oiiaKomeaQa, see Paley. 58 EURIPIDES 1251 1268 culty hare I avoided death by getting the start of my pursuers in rushing from the house, 1 and it is only by stealth, by eluding my enemies, that I have come here. CHO. And whither else shouldest thou fly but to the altar ? CR. And what will this avail me ? 2 CHO. The gods permit not to slay a suppliant. CR. Yes, but it is by the law that I am to die. 1255 CHO. Yes, if thou shouldst be taken and shouldst be in their power. 3 CR. Ay, and here come on apace towards us 4 my bitter enemies sword in hand. CHO. Sit therefore at the altar. For even if thou shouldst be slain whilst thou art there, thou wilt entail on those who kill thee blood demanding vengeance : but we must bear our lot. ION. bull-faced visage of Cephisus her fore- 1 260 father, what a viper is this that thou hast begotten, or rather dragon with eyes flashing murderous flames of fire, 5 in whom is all daring, nor is she less cruel 6 than the drops of Gorgon's blood, with which she sought 1265 to kill me. Seize her, that the summit of Parnassus, whence she shall be hurled by a bound from the rock, may cause those unsullied locks of hers to be torn. 7 But a good fortune was mine, that prevented me from going 8 to the city of Athens and falling under 1. Paley's explanation is excellent ec/>0ao-a iro&a v-n-e^dyova- (e OLKIDV), coo-Te fail Qavelv. 2. Lit. And what more is this to me f 3. Lit. Having been taken in. their power. Xeipuz is proleptic. 4. Lit. Hither. 5. Lit. Looking up or back the murderous flame of fire. 6. Lit. Less. 7. Lit. May card thoroughly Hie unsullied locks of her. 8. Lit, But a good deity I met ivith, before I went $c. ia68 1286 ION. 59 the power of a step-mother. For amongst those who 1270 have befriended me do I reckon 1 thy disposition towards me, in that thou wast a spite and a foe to me : for if thou hadst once entrapped me in thy house, thou wouldst have sent me outright to the mansions of Hades. But neither will the altar nor the temple of Apollo save thee, and any feeling of pity for thee is outweighed by pity for me and for my mother: 2 for though her bodily presence is 1275 wanting to me, yet thus far is not the name of a mother wanting. 3 See what scheme after scheme this vile woman 4 has contrived : she has now crouched down at the altar, thinking to escape from the punishment due to her deeds. CR. I warn thee not to slay me where I have 1280 stationed myself, both for my sake and the god's. ION. And what hast thou to do with Phoebus ? 5 CR. I commit my body as sacred to the keeping of the god. 8 ION. And yet thou didst try to slay the child of the god with poison. CR. But thou wast no longer the child of 1285 Loxias, but thy own father's. ION. But I was, I mean in the absence of my father. 1. The aorist here has much the same sense as a perfect/ have reckoned and do reckon still. So eliroi in Med. 274 (Pors.) 2. Lit. And the pity that is thine is present i. e. is accorded stronger to me and to my mother. The meaning of the passage seems to be that the general feeling of pity for him and for his mother was so strpng, that none would connive at Creusa's escape from the altar, or aid her whilst she remained there. 3. This seems to mean As yet there is no reason to disbelieve that she still lives. 4. Lit. This vile woman, what scheme fyc. 5. Lit. And what is there in the midst common to Phcebtti and to thee f 6. Lit. To the god to keep. 60 EmuriDES 1287 1302 CR. Well, thou wast then : but now I am his, and thou art so no longer. ION. If thou art, thou art impious, 1 but I was pious then. CR. And I slew 2 thee, because thou wast an enemy to my house. 1290 ION. I never 3 came in arms into thy land. CR. Yes, most certainly; thou wast going to set the house of Erectheus in a blaze. ION. With what torches, or with what flames of fire? CR. Thou was going to dwell in my home, and take it away in spite of me. ION. 'Twas because my father offered me the rule ofihe land which he had won. 1295 CR. But how had the descendants of ^Eolus any share in the land of Pallas ? ION. He delivered it by arms, not words. CR. An ally cannot be an original possessor o^ the soil. ION. And so thou didst attempt to slay me from fear of what ? 4 CR. In order that I might not die, the sure alternative, if thou shotildst not. 1300 ION. Art thou envious, because thou art child- less, at my father's having discovered me ? CR. Wilt thou then make havoc of the homes of the childless ? ION. Nay, but was I to have no share at least of my father's possessions ? 5 1. Lit. Not pious at least. 2. If the expression sleiv in the English seems violent, it must be remembered that the aorist in the original is violent also. 3. I^rce of the negative aorist. 4. Lit. From a fear of what, that it should come to pass f 5. Lit. Was there no portion to me (not of thine) but of my father's (property) f r 33 r 3 r 7 I0 *- 6 r CR. No more than 1 spear and shield : this is thy whole inheritance. ION. Quit the altar and the divine abode. CR. Keep thy exhortations for thy mother, 1305 wherever she is. 2 ION. And shalt thou attempt to kill me, and not undergo the penalty of thy crime ? CR. Yes, if thou art willing to slay me in this sanctuary. ION. What pleasure is it to thee to die grasping the wreaths 3 of the god ? CR. I shall cause grief to one of those by whom grief has been caused to me. 4 ION. Alas! Tis strange, how unfairly and 1310 without wise counsel the god has laid down his laws to mortals : for the wicked should not have been allowed to take refuge at 5 the altar, but it should have been permitted to drive them away from it ; for it is not good that evil hand should touch the gods : 6 but the righteous 7 only, any one that was wronged, should have been allowed to take refuge in holy 1315 places, and not the man that is good, and the man that is not, to meet together there and have equal protection from the gods. 1. Lit. As much as (and no more). 2. Lit. Exhort thy mother, wherever she is for thee. Sot is the ethical dative, here used with an ironical force. The allusion to Ion's mother is generally considered to involve a " double entente." The hyperbaton of wrepa is, as Mr. Paley observes, remarkable. 3. This is probably the meaning of eu o-re/x^ao-t, the i/ of circumstance. 4. These words are no doubt intended to be ambiguous. The one she inwardly meant was Apolto : Ion, would understand it of himself. 5. Lit. To occupy. G. Paley follows Hermann's punctuation, which is extremely awkward. There surely should be a colon at x e 'P a - 7. This dative evSiaoiv with expfjv is puzzling. F 62 EURIPIDES. 1318 1333 PYTHIA. Hold, my son: for I have left the divining tripod within 1 this enclosure, and am passing over it with my feet to come to thee, /, the prophetess 1320 of Phoebus, chosen out of all the Delphian women according to the ancient custom of the tripod. 8 ION. Hail, mother dear to me, although thou barest me not. PY. But at least I was called thy mother ; and the name is not unpleasing to me. ION. Hast thou heard how this woman en- deavoured to kill me by a plot ? 1325 PY. I have heard: and yet thou art doing wrong to be so wrathful. ION. Is it not right that I should in turn destroy those who seek to slay me ? PY. Wives were ever yet hostile to children born before their marriage. ION. Yes, and so are we to step-mothers, if we are ill treated. PY. Say not so. Leave the temple, and going to thy country 1330 ION. What, I pray, wouldst thou exhort me to do? 3 PY. With hands pure 4 from blood-guiltiness proceed to Athens attended by good omens. ION. Surely the hands of every one are pure who slays his enemies. PY. This do not thou: but hear from me the words which I have to tell thee. 1. Lit. Of. See Hermann's or Paley's note on this i 2. Lit. Preserving the ancient S(c. The two clauses form a sort of hendiadys. 3. Lit. Is it right tJtat, being exhorted, I should do ? 4. Lit. Purely. 1334 J347 10N - 6 3 ION. Speak : for thou wilt say whatever thou mayest say, in a friendly spirit. 1 PY. Seest thou this vessel which I am carrying 1335 in my hands ? 2 ION. I see an old basket decked with chaplets. 8 PY. In this I found thee once upon a time, a new-born babe. ION. What sayest thou? New to me is the story that has been related. 4 PY. Yes, for I kept it 5 secret, but now I make it known to thee. ION. How hast thou then concealed it from me 1340 so long, 6 if thou didst find me then ? PY. The God wished to keep thee as a minister in his temple. ION. And does he not desire to do so now ? In what way am I to be assured of this ? PY. Having revealed thy father, he bids thee depart from this land. ION. And hast thou preserved this by command, or from what motive ? PY. Loxias at the time suggested to my 1345 mind ION. To do what ? Say, finish thy story. PY. To preserve this that I had found, to the present time. 1. Lit. Being of friendly spirit. 2. Lit. Under-arm load (probably) of my hand. Anything can be put under the arm and yet carried with the hand, so that the expression seems not so forced as it has been called. 3. Lit. In chaplets. For this ev, see note on 1308. 4. Lit. Has been brought in. 5. Lit. Those things. 6. Lit. Wast thou concealing it. ..long since. 64 EURIPIDES 1348 1370 ION. But what good, or what harm does it do to meP 1 PY. Herein are laid up the swaddling-clothes in which thou wast. 1350 ION. Thou bringest these things forth as helps to discover 2 my mother. PY. Yes, as the god so wills, but did not before. ION. this day of happy omens to me ! PY. Take them therefore, and find her that bore thee. And when thou hast visited all Asia and the limits of Europe, thou wilt learn about these 1355 matters thyself. For the sake of the god I reared thee, my son, and I now restore to thee these things, which he willed that I should find and keep, though without express command: but wherefore he so willed, I am not able to say. But none of mortal 1360 beings knew that I had these, nor where they were hidden. And noiv farewell : for I embrace thee with equal affection as though I had given thee birth. But begin where thou oughtest to begin searching for thy mother; first, enquiring if any Delphian maid 8 having bom thee, brought thee to this temple 1365 and exposed thee, and next, if any Greek woman. 4 And now thou hast learned all from me and from Phoebus, who took part in thy fortunes. lox. Alas ! alas ! How I shed the moist tear from my eyes, when I turn my thoughts to the time 5 when she who bore me after furtive embraces, 1370 secretly put me away, and gave me not the breast; 1. Lit. Does it involve for me 1 2. Lit. Investigations. _ 3. Lit. Maid of Delphian icomen. 4. i. e. From any other part of Greece. 'EXXa? here ="EXXjws, very uncommon. 5. Lit. Thither. !37 J 39 2 ION - 6 5 but I passed the life of a servant in the abode of the god, without a name. The god was good, but my fate was hard : l for at the time that I ought to have been delicately nurtured 2 in the arms of my mother, and to have had some enjoyment of life, I was deprived of my dearest mother's nourishment. 1375 And wretched also is she who bore me, since she has shared the same fate 8 in losing the joy of possessing a son. And now I will take this basket and present it an offering to the god, that I may discover nothing that I would not. 4 For if a slave happens to have given me birth, to discover my 1380 mother is a worse thing for me than to say nought about her. 5 Phoebus, I present this to thy temple. Yet what am I doing ? I am opposing the good will of the god towards me, who has preserved these tokens of my mother for me. I must open this, 1385 and take heart. For never can I escape from 6 what is fated. sacred chaplets, 7 why, I pray, have ye been hidden from me, and ye bands, 8 by which my treasures were guarded? Behold the covering of the round basket, how it has been saved from growing 1390 old by some divine care, and the wicker-work is free from mouldiness : 9 but the interval of time is long indeed for these hoarded relics to have lasted. 1. Lit. The matters of tlie god were good, lut of fate heavy. 2. Lit. To have lived delicately. 3. Lit. Has experienced the same experience. 4. Lit. Nothing of the things which I do not wish. The meaning is that none of my discoveries may be of an unhappy nature. 5. Lit. Being silent, to let her be. 6. 'Yirep/foiV, pass over, leap over, a metaphor from an animal leaping over a hunting net to escape. 7. See 1336. 8. The fastenings of the am-lirn^. 9. Lit. Mould is absent from the things entwined. 66 EURIPIDES 1393 1408 CR. What apparition do I behold of things not even hoped for ? ION. Silence : thou wast an enemy to me before, 1395 CR. I cannot be silent c 1 exhort me not. For I see the basket in which 2 I formerly exposed thee, my child, when thou wast yet a helpless 3 babe, taking thee to the grotto of Cecrops and the cavernous Macrae. 4 But I will leave this altar, even if I must die. 400 ION. Seize this woman ; for inspired with a sudden frenzy by the god, she has leaped up and left the sculptured altar ; 5 and bind her arms. CR. Go on to slay me, if ye will; 6 since I will cling both to this and to thee and to what is shut up within it. ION. Is not this abominable? I am being dragged away on a pretended claim of relationship. 7 1405 CR. Not so, but thou near and dear to me art found by one near and dear to thee. ION. I near and dear to thee ? And that is the reason why thou wouldst have secretly murdered me ? CR. Yes, thou art my son, if that 8 is nearest and dearest to one who bore 9 thee. ION. Leave off inventing falsehoods : right surely will I take thee. 10 1. Lit. My affairs are not in silence. 2. Lit. Where. 3. Lit. Infant, dumb. 4. This line is suspected, and probably with good reason, as the grotto of Cecrops or rather of Aglauros Cecrops' daughter was not the same as the Paneum, hitherto described as the scene of Creusa's amour. 5. Lit. Sculptures of the altar. 6. Lit. Ye would not cease slaying me, (if ye did as Ibid you). 7. Lit. -By reason of mere words. On pua-td'touai comp. 523. 8. Lit. This. 9. Si mulier, de se loquens, pluralem adhibet numerum, genus etiam adhibet masculinum ; si masculinum adhibet genus, numerum etiam adhibet pluralem. Dawes' Canon. 10. Ion means/ trill convict thee right well. She affects to misunderstand him, and answers as though he meant I will accept thee as my mother. 1409 1423 lox - 67 CR. May I arrive at this happiness ; this, my son, is what I am aiming at. ION. Is this basket empty, or hides it any 1410 contents ? CR. Yes, thy garments, in which I formerly exposed thee. ION. And wilt thou tell the name of them, before thou seest them ? CR. Yes, and if I tell thee not, I will be bound 1 to die. ION. Speak; since thy boldness has about it something passing strange. CR. Look for the work which I wove when I was 1415 a girl in days gone by. ION. What sort of work ? Many are the works woven by maidens. CR. Not a perfect piece of work, but such as a first attempt at the loom might be. ION. What pattern has it ? thou must not try to catch me in this way. 2 CR. A Gorgon in the central tissue of the robe. ION. Jupiter, what destiny is this that pursues 1420 me to the end ? 3 CR. And it is bordered with snakes after the manner of the aegis. ION. See here ! this is the piece of work : sure as an oracle we find it. 4 CR. work 5 of my maidenhood found at last. 1. Lit. I put myself under (an engagement). 2. Lit. That thou mayst not catch me in this way. 3. 'E K , to the end. 4. I have ventured to give a new sense to the words, reading them 0e' sometimes actually obtains. 2. Mot the ethical dative. 8. Lit. From some other quarter. 4. Lit. Thy head. 5. Lit. ^Base-born from some quarter. 6. Lit. This. 7. Lit. At. 8. Lit. Crafty and not true. When words are doubled in Greek, as Xcyeis \eyeiv, it will be sometimes necessary, in consequence partly of the different order of the words, to double some other words in a translation. 1483 CR. Was I united in stealthy love. ION. Say on ; for thou art about to tell me some- what acceptable and fortunate to hear. CR. And at the tenth revolution of the month, I 1485 brought thee forth, a stealthy child, to Phoebus. ION. thou that hast spoken words of greatest joy, if thou speakest words of truth. CR. And I put on thee to cover thee 1 these swaddling-clothes the work of thy mother's maiden- hood, 2 the clumsy attempts 8 of my shuttle. And 1490 I gave thee not a mother's nurture with milk, nor with the breast, nor bathings with my hands, but in solitary cavern, for beaks of birds a prey 4 and feast, wast thou exposed to die 5 1495 ION. my mother that couldst endure to commit so terrible a deed. CR. By fear constrained I cast away thy life, my child ; 'twas against my will I slew 6 thee ION. And thou wast about to die by my hand in 1500 an impious way. CR. Ah ! Ah ! terrible was our fate then, and terrible are these last events too : we are tossed to and fro by misfortunes and back again by good fortunes, and the gale 7 is ever shifting. Be it 1505 constant at last : enough are the troubles of the past ; but now there has sprung up a fair wind to bear us forth out of our troubles, my son. CHO. Let none of men e'er think that aught is beyond hope, seeing what is happening now. 1. Lit. Cast about thee. 2. Lit. Maiden swaddling-clothes of thy mother. 3. Lit. Blunders. See 1417. 4. Lit. A slaughter. 5. Lit. For Hades. 6. On the aorist see Paley's note, and compare 1293. 7. Viz. Of fortune. ?2 EURIPIDES 1510 1530 1510 ION. Fortune that hast in turn caused myriads of mortals ere this both to be unfortunate and to be prosperous again, to what a point in life's career have I arrived in so nearly having killed a mother, 1 and in so nearly having suffered an unde- 1515 served death myself. Is it possible for the sun's bright course to witness 2 all these freaks of thine day by day? Well then, I have discovered thee, my mother, a joyful discovery for me, and such an 3 origin in my judgment, 4 is not at all to be despised. But the rest I wish to say to thee alone. Come hither ; for I would whisper 5 my words into thine ear, and 1520 cast the veil of secrecy over the facts. Be thou sure, my mother, that thou didst not first fall into the unfortunate error to which maidens are liable with regard to secret attachments, and then art laying the blame to the god, and art endeavouring to avoid the 1525 disgrace to me by saying that thou borest me to Phoebus, when thou borest me by no god at all. 8 CR. By Minerva the Victorious, 7 who of old aided Jove in battle against the giants with her car, 'tis none of mortals that is father to thee, my son, but the same king Loxias that reared thee up. 1530 ION. How then was it that he gave his son to 1. I fear that the exact meaning of this passage has not yet been thoroughly explained. I have followed Paley. 2. Lit. Learn. This passage again has not been quite satis- factorily cleared up. 3. Lit. This. 4. 'Qs fiftiv, 'itfv being the ethical dative. 5. Lit. Speak. G. Lit. See thou, mother, lest having tripped what irregularities arise amongst maidens vnih regard to secret nuptials, thou afterwards luyest the blame to the god, and endeavouring to Jlij from my dis- graceful, sayest thou borest me to Phoelus, having lorne me not from a god. On the indicative after M^J see Paley's note. Noo-ji/toTa is a cogn. ace. after o-^aXeicrct. 7. Comp. 457, which identifies Nfcnj with 'AflaW. ION - 73 another father, and declares that I was born son of Xuthus ? J CR. That thou wast so born, he says not, but though begotten of him, to Xuthus he gives thee : for a friend may give a friend his own son to be master of ' his house. 2 ION. Whether the god is true, or divines falsely, 1535 is a question, my mother, which not without reason disturbs my mind, CR. Hear now therefore the thoughts which have occurred to me, my son. It is to benefit thee, that 3 Loxias settles thee in a noble family : but, if thou hadst been called the god's, thou wouldst never have had a home entitling thee to full rights of citizen- 1540 ship, 4 nor the name of any father. For how couldst thou, when I myself wished to conceal my loves, and was for secretly killing thee 5 ? And it is to serve thee that 3 he assigns thee to another father. ION. I am following them up by no means inattentively : 8 but I will go into the temple and enquire 1545 of Phoebus whether I am the son of a mortal sire or of Loxias. Ha ! Who of the gods appears from the house fragrant with incense and shows a coun- tenance bright with the rays of the sun ? 7 Let us fly, 1. Lit. That I have been produced from Xuthus a son. 2. i. e. His heir. 3. Lit. Benefiting thee. Serving thee. 4. Lit. Of whole inheritance. 5. Paley's notes on this passage are well worth reading, though no explanation I have seen is quite satisfactory. O5 appears to me to be the adverb rather than the pronoun where = in a ease in which, when. 6. Lit. I am coming after them (i.e. thy tJwughts, as expressed ly thee) not so inattentively. On this meaning of u