THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT From the Library of Henry Goldman, Ph.D. 1886-1972 THE TRAGEDIES (COMPLETE) > TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE, FROM THE TEXTS OF BLOMFIELD, AND SCHOLEF1ELD. WITH NOTES. SECOND EDITION OXFORD: H. SLATTEll, HIGH STKEET: LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN; AND WHITTAKER, TREACHER, & ARNOT, LONDON. M DCCC XXIX. FR1NTED BY R. WATTS, TROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAH- Annex Vn 45 2W 51W Stack Annex TO THE READER. THE Five first Plays have been translated from the Text of BLOMFIELD : the Two last, from that of SCHOLEFIELD. PROMETHEUS. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. STRENGTH. FORCE. VULCAN. PROMETHEUS. NYMPHS OF THE OCEAN. OCEANUS. IO. MERCURY. PROMETHEUS. STRENGTH, FORCE, VULCAN, PROMETHEUS. STRENGTH. AT length we are come to the remotest 1 plain of earth to the regions of Scythia, and its unpeopled solitudes. It is therefore your duty, O Vulcan, to fulfil the commands which the Father imposed on you, and to bind this malefactor to the lofty steeps of these rocks, in the indissoluble fetters of adamantine bonds. For having stolen your privileged ornament, the ray of all-inventive fire 2 , he bestowed the gift on mortals. It is therefore fit that he should atone, by punishment, for such an offence against the Gods ; that he may be taught to acquiesce in the sovereignty of Jupiter, and cease from displaying his benevolent disposition to- wards men. VULCAN. Strength, and Force 3 , the command of Jove, as far as regards you, is completed ; and no further services remain : (1) The vast and barren mountain of Caucasus, where the scene of this drama is laid, was supposed, in the times of the Poet, to be the utmost limit of the habitable globe. Later ages saw a fatal proof of the existence of populous countries even beyond this barrier ; for it was through the wild passes of Derbent, or Caucasia Portee, that the Huns poured, in such countless swarms, upon the devoted provinces of the Roman Empire. (2) " At peractis omnibus, quse constant ingenio, artem natura faciente, succurrit mirari, nihil poene non igni perfici." Plin. Hist, Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 27. (3) " These two allegorical personages were of high antiquity and illus- trious birth, the sons of Pallas and Styx. Cceus, the son of Ouranus and Gaia, was the father of Pallas by Eurybia, daughter of Pontus and Gaia: Styx was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. When Jupiter assem- bled the Gods on Olympus, and declared his gracious intention to reward B 2 and 4 AESCHYLUS. but I have no heart to bind a kindred God, by force, to these rifted and inclement rocks. Still there is a strong necessity that I should assume courage for the task ; for it is danger- ous to slight the commands of the Father. High-minded son of sagacious Themis 1 , unwilling shall I rivet you unwilling, in the firm embrace of chains, to this desolate mountain ; where you shall neither hear the voice nor see the form of any mortal 2 ; but, scorched by the unclouded blaze of the sun, you shall lose the bloom of your complexion; and glad shall you be when the starry mantle of night shall hide the day, and when the sun shall again disperse the hoar- frosts of morning 3 ; for the weight of present affliction shall ever wear you away ; and he that shall alleviate your suffer- ings is not yet born 4 . Such is the recompence you receive for your friendly disposition towards men : for you, a God, not dreading the resentment of Gods, bestowed, unjustly, their honours on mortals. In punishment of these trans- gressions, you shall be fixed to the joyless station 5 of this and honour each that should be auxiliary to him in his wars against the Titans, Styx, by the advice of her father, was the first that attended him, leading with her these her two sons: Jupiter received her with great respect, appointed her to be the sacred oath of the Gods, and ad- mitted her sons to be constant attendants on his own person." POTTEK. (1) " Hesiodus Prometheum lapeti et Clymenes ; Apollodorus lapeti et Asise ; JEschylus autem, patre non nominato, Themidis filium facit." SCHUTZ. (2) The sufferings of the unhappy Prometheus are aggravated by being denied even the sympathy of mortals, for the sake of whom he despises the threats of Jupiter and braves the tortures of his ministers. (3) " In the morning thou shall say, Would God it were even ! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning ! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." Deut. xxviii. 67. (4) Garbitius and the Scholiasts suppose that Vulcan here alludes to Hercules ; but Schutz gives the meaning of the passage much more correctly : " Nemo plane in rerum nalurd est, qui le liberare velit autpossit." The secret of his destiny was confined to Prometheus ; and it is absurd, at any rate, to suppose that Vulcan could penetrate a futurity which was dark to Jupiter. (5) " Sic v. 143. povpct* fa\ov. Translationibus a re militari maxime delectatur ./Eschylus animosissimus poe'ta." BUTLER. PROMETHEUS. 5 rock, in upright posture, unvisited by sleep, and unable to recline your limbs ; and many unavailing lamentations and complaints you shall utter ; for the resolves of Jove may not be swayed by prayer ; and every one is harsh whose power is newly acquired. STRENGTH. Enough : why do you delay, and express this vain compassion ? Why do you not hate the God most detested by Gods, who betrayed your honour to mortals 1 ? VULCAN. Our kindred blood, and our ancient inter- course, are strong ties of friendship. STRENGTH. I agree with you : but how is it possible to disobey the command of the Father? Do you not fear this more ? VULCAN. You are ever merciless, and full of audacity. STRENGTH. For there is no good in bewailing his fate ; and do you cease to trouble yourself in vain with that which profits nothing. VULCAN. O skill of my hands, how much are you to be hated ! STRENGTH. Why should you hate it? for your art, to speak the truth, is no cause of his present ills. VULCAN. Would, however, that it had been allotted to the possession of some other ! STRENGTH. There is pain in every thing, except in bear- ing rule among the Gods ; for no one is free, save Jupiter. VULCAN. I know it ; and I have nothing to allege to the contrary of what you say. STRENGTH. Will you not, then, hasten to fasten the chains around him ; that the Father may not behold you delaying in your task ? VULCAN. See ! here are his fetters lying ready 2 . (1) " Incendere cupit Kpdros Vulcanum, dum ei domesticam injuriam a Prometheo acceptam in memoriam revocat." SCHUTZ. (2) Vulcan, it may be supposed, entered at the beginning of the scene, " Clavos trabales et cuneos raanu Gestans ahena ;" but, disgusted with the cruel task imposed on him, he has indignantly flung the instruments of torture on the ground. AESCHYLUS. STRENGTH. Take them, then ; and with all your force clench them, with the hammer, on his hands, and rivet him to the rocks. VULCAN. This work hastens to completion, and is not delayed. STRENGTH. Strike harder, wrench firmer, and leave him not in any quarter loose ; for he is skilful in devising escape, even from difficulties that seem insuperable. VULCAN. This arm at least is fastened, so that it can never get free. STRENGTH. Secure now the other, also, with its clasp, that he may be taught how unequal are his devices to the wisdom of Jove. VULCAN. Except this sufferer, no one can justly blame my work 1 . STRENGTH. Now drive with force, through his breast 2 , the remorseless fang of the adamantine wedge. VULCAN. Alas ! alas ! Prometheus, I grieve on account of your sufferings. STRENGTH. Do you again delay, and lament for the enemies of Jove ? Beware, lest you have yet cause to sorrow for yourself ! VULCAN. You see a spectacle fearful for the eye to look on. STRENGTH. I see this traitor only rewarded with what he deserved. But proceed, and fasten around his sides these iron girths. VULCAN. I am compelled to perform this task : do not urge me unnecessarily. STRENGTH But I will urge you; nay more, and chide you. Descend lower, and force the rings on his legs. (1) " Dicit acleo se bene vinxisse Prometheum, ut nemo queri possit prseter eum qui vinctus erat : in cujus perniciem sc. cedebat ars Vulcani, et in quern suse artis specimen patient! grave, ediderat." STANLEY. (2) Butler, in opposition to Schiitz and Blomfield, translates v 8o/ra|, across his breast. Not only is the literal meaning of the word against him, but the expressions of compassion which immediately follow from Vulcan make it probable that it was the severer torture that was employed. PROMETHEUS. 7 VULCAN. This work, too, is finished without long toil. STRENGTH. Drive now, with force, the fetters through his feet ; for the overseer of this work is stern. VULCAN. Your tongue utters sentiments that accord with your shape. STRENGTH. Be you as merciful as you please ; but do not reproach me with my resolute nature and sternness of disposition. VULCAN. Let us go ; for he has the toils around his limbs. STRENGTH. Here, now, display your insolence ; and pil- fering the honours of the Gods, confer them on mankind ! From which of these toils are mortals able to relieve you ? The Deities have falsely bestowed on you the name of Prometheus ; for you yourself have need of a Prometheus, to devise the means by which you may be extricated from the art that has bound you '. PROM. O divine rether, and light-winged breezes, and fountains of rivers, and Ocean smiling with its countless waves 2 , and Earth our universal mother, and orb of the Sun that surveys all Nature 3 ! to you I make my appeal. Behold what indignities I, a God, suffer from the Gods ! Mark by what tortures racked I must endure their agony, for innumerable years 4 ; and what ignominious bonds the Ruler of the Gods hath devised to constrain me ! Alas ! alas! I groan both for my present and my coming ills 5 . Oh ! when is it fated that the close of these sorrows shall (1 ) This passage is to be construed, in the original : avrdv o-e 8e? n>S, OS &V TrpOlXtflfVOlTO OTtf TpOJT(j>>, &C. (2) " Refertur ad levera sonum undarum ventis exagitatarum, qui etiam aliquantulum crispant maris dorsum quasi amabili quadani ye Juwia." STANLEY. (3) " Omnia qui video, per quern videt omnia tellus, Mundi oculus." Ovid. Met. IV. 227. (4) " Supple Kara, tempore infinite, vel, dflAevVw XP^ ^ tolerabo, et magna cum difficultate perferam, et superabo temporis diuturnitatem immensum." GARB. (5) " Nee videt interea qui terminus esse malorum Possit, nee quae sit pcenarum denique finis." Lucr. III. 1033. AESCHYLUS. appear? And yet, what do I say ? I clearly know, before its time, every thing that is to come, nor can any suffering reach me unforeseen. But it becomes me to bear my doom as calmly as possible, since I know that the force of necessity may not be resisted. It is thus impossible for me to speak, nor yet to refrain from speaking of my cala- mities j for I am enthralled as the wretched victim of this inevitable doom, because I gave to men the honours of the Gods. My search discovered the fount of fire 1 , whose stolen treasures filled the cane 2 ; and which being made known to man, hath taught him every art, and opened to him infinite resources. By such a punishment I now atone for my transgressions, being here rivetted with chains, be- neath an inclement sky. But, ah ! what sound, what odour 3 faintly approaches me, proceeding from divinity, or from mortal, or from an union of these natures ? Does some Being seek this hill on the verge of the world, to be- hold my sufferings, or by what other purpose impelled ? Behold in his bondage an ill-fated God, the enemy of Jove, and one who hath incurred the hatred of all the Gods that frequent the courts" of Jove, on account of his rash affection for mortals. Alas ! alas ! what is this flut- (1) " Scribit Theophrastus, idcirco" dici Prometheum hominibus de- disse ignem coelo dereptum, quia philosophiam ac lumen vitae intellec- tualis, quse divina est, mortalibus invexit." Ex Cic. Tusc. V. MOJIELL. (2) Martial, in an epigram on the cane, alludes to tins ingenious device of Prometheus : " Invisae nimium pueris grataeque magistris Clara Prometheo munere ligna sumus." Hesiod and Apollodorus give the same circumstantial account of Ihe fraud ; and, except Theophrastus believed that there was philosophy in a flogging, we cannot fancy how he managed to allegorize this part of the story. (3) " Credebant scilicet antiqui benigniora Numina odorem gratum fundere. Virg. JEn.\. 403 : " Ambrosiaeque comae divinum vertice odorem Spiravere." GIACOMELLI. (l) " Non temere dicit ; sed ut ostendat illam subitam et universalem, quae est in aulicis, pro indignatione ct gratia magnatuin erga aliquem." GAHB. PROMETHEUS. 9 tering of winged forms that I again hear near me ? The air gently murmurs with the light pinions that fan it : but every thing that approaches inspires me with fear. CHORUS. Fear nothing ; for it is in friendship that our winged band hath approached this hill with the rivalry of speed, having with difficulty persuaded to our wishes the mind of our father : but swiftly have the breezes wafted me on my way ; for the echoing clang of iron penetrated the depths of our caverns, and banished from my cheek the blush of reserve ; and hither have I rushed, unsandalled ', in my winged car 2 . PROM. Alas ! alas ! ye daughters of fruitful Tethys, sprung from her embraces with your father Oceanus 3 , who pours around the whole world his restless streams, here turn your eyes, and behold by what a chain enclasped I shall keep no enviable watch on the highest peaks of this cleft rock ! CHORUS. I see, O Prometheus ! and the cloud of fear hath settled on my eyes, filling them with tears, as I be- hold your body withering away on the rocks in the tor- (1) Potter informs us, on his own authority, that " the Nymphs of the Waters wore no sandals." In this case, it would have been very idle in the Chorus to have mentioned to Prometheus that they came to visit him in their usual undress. It is quite obvious, that they simply mean to ex- press the haste of their departure from Ocean ; and that they would have come with their sandals, had not their affectionate alarm forbidden them to delay. In like manner Theocritus, Idyl. xxiv. 36 : redis vird ffdf5a\a 0i7jJ. (y) No fears be thine: a kind intent Our winged speed from Ocean bent. Soon as our sire's consent was wrung, Away upon the breeze we sprung ; Unsandalled in my haste I came, For pity conquered virgin shame, When through our caverns rang the shock Of iron on the rifted rock. (3) " Duxerat Oceanus quondam Titanida Tethyn, Qui terrain liquidis qua patet ambit aquis." Ov. Fust.iv. 81. 10 yESCHYLUS. tures of these adamantine bonds: for new Rulers bear sway in Olympus ; and Jove, without regard to justice, maintains his power by laws of his own invention, setting at nought all that was in earlier time revered. PROM. Would that he had sent me beneath the earth, and the mansions of the dead in Hades, to the boundless Tartarus, having forced upon me cruel and indissoluble bonds, so that neither a God nor any other might have exulted in my misery ! But now I, wretched, the sport of the winds 1 , endure calamities that give joy to my enemies. CHORUS. Who of Gods is so hard-hearted as to expe- rience joy at your sufferings ? Who is there, except Jove 2 , who does not sympathize with your sorrows ? But he, ever sternly displaying an inflexible spirit, compels to submis- sion the race of heaven ; nor will he cease, until he have satiated his heart, or some other shall acquire by stratagem the difficult possession of his throne. PROM. The Ruler 3 of the Gods, however, shall yet have need of me, though now enduring torture in these stub- born chains, to reveal to him the new counsel by which he shall be deprived of his sceptre and his honours. But neither shall he soften my purpose by the charms of per- suasion's honeyed words; nor shall I, through dread of his violent threats, disclose what he wishes, until he release me from these cruel fetters, and be willing to make atonement for this wanton wrong. CHORUS. You, indeed, are both bold, and do not in the slightest degree yield to your bitter sufferings, but vent too freely your indignation. The thrilling emotions of fear, therefore, distract my soul ; and I tremble for your fate in uncertainty of the time when it is destined that you (1) " Each on his rock transfix'd, the sport and play Of racking whirlwinds." Paradise Lost, II. 181. (2) "A/x 8^ Aios. Si nimirum a Jove discesscris ! yt est scilicet." SCHUTZ. " Errat vir doctus, A/x yf Aiis reddenduin est potiiis, uno lumen cxceplo Jove, vel, si Jovem saltern exceperis" BUTLER. (3) The term irpvrwis is applied contemptuously ; as if he had said, " This Magistrate of the Gods." PROMETHEUS. 11 shall behold in the harbour of safety the close of these afflictions: for the son of Saturn has a disposition that yields not to mercy, and a heart whose purpose may not be bent by prayer. PROM. I know that Jupiter is harsh, and controuls justice according to his own will ; but still he shall, on some future day, bear a more humble mind, when he shall have been crushed beneath the doom I foresee : then shall he subdue the violence of his rage, and eagerly join with my eager wishes in hastening to friendship and re- conciliation. CHORUS. Disclose, and plainly declare to us, the whole tale; in what crime Jupiter having detected you, thus ignominiously and cruelly tortures you. Make it known to us, provided you are not injured in any respect by telling what we ask. PROM. The tale is both painful for me to tell, and painful to conceal, and full of grief in every way it can be viewed. From the first moment that wrath was kindled in heaven 1 , and discord awoke among its different Powers, (1) There have been various accounts given of the early dissensions in heaven ; but on the whole, it appears that Saturn, for whom Prometheus expresses so much compassion, was the first cause of all the mischief. Without any good reason, he armed himself one day with a scythe, and, having mowed off the legs and arms of his father Ouranus, ended by dis- membering his government as well as his person. He had not been long seated on the throne, when he discovered, that he was fated , in like manner, to lose its possession by the rebellion of one of his own children. With the view of preventing this unpleasant retaliation, he made it a practice to devour his offspring as fast as llhea produced them. The Gods were disgusted, when they observed the iniquitous diet of their Ruler; and mur- mured (as Plato has expressed it in his Euthyphron) on rovs vtovs Kare- aivev OVK tc SI'KJJ. llhea, of course, was particularly dissatisfied with his unparental behaviour ; and in place of Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune, of whom she was delivered at a birth, she contrived to give her husband three large stones, which he masticated with great satisfaction, and with- out having any suspicion of the clumsy device of his consort. It was high time that a God whose faculties were in this state should relinquish the reins of government ; and Jupiter accordingly ejected him, by the pro- cess which Prometheus relates. 12 AESCHYLUS. some wishing to dispossess Saturn of his throne that Jupiter forsooth might reign, and others on the contrary striving that Jupiter might never obtain command over the Gods, then I, having formed the wisest counsels, endea- voured, but in vain, to persuade the Titans, the offspring ofOuranus and Terra ; for they, despising, in their stub- born pride, the craft of my skilful designs, thought that without difficulty they should gain by their force the so- vereign power. But my mother Themis and Terra 1 , one being distinguished by many names, had foretold to me, more than once, in what way the future event should be decided ; that it was not by strength or force, but by guile, that it was fated for those who conquered to prevail ; and yet, though I explained to them the method by my words, they would not deign to pay me any regard. It therefore seemed to me best, in these circumstances, to take my mother along with me, and join, a willing and welcome ally, in assisting Jove : and by my counsels the dark and deep abyss of Tartarus encloses the ancient Saturn 2 , with all who fought on his side. The Ruler of the Gods, after having received such benefits at my hands, requites me with these cruel punishments in return : for the distrust of friends is a malady that is somehow inherent in absolute power 3 . But, as to what you ask, on what ground of accusation he tortures me, I will now make this clear to you. As soon as he had taken his seat on his father's throne, he immediately distributes various honours to va- rious Gods, and assigns to each, in order, the extent of his power : but of wretched mortals he took no account ; and designed, after having annihilated the whole race, to plant (1) Themis is represented in the Eumenides (v. 3) as the daughter of Terra. (2) Homer has in like manner assigned this dismal abode to Saturn : 1v 'lairerJs re Kpdvos rt "H/j.(>>oi, OUT" avyrjs 'Virtplovos TjeA/oto TtpirovT, oSr' avf^oiffi' 0a9vs 54 re Taprapos d/jupts. 11. 0. 479. (3) " In ethicis sententiis ubique JEsch vlum noscas, hominetn nempe, A thenienseni,liberae republics civem,fortem, prudentem." JO.MULLER. PROMETHEUS. 13 a new kind in their place. No one opposed these pur- poses, except me : but I had courage for the task, and saved mortals from descending to Hades by a violent de- truction. It is therefore that I am bowed beneath these sufferings, which are painful to be endured, and melancholy to be seen. I, who displayed pity for mortals, am not con- sidered worthy of pity in my turn; but have here, without mercy, been enchained a spectacle that reflects little honour on Jove. CHORUS. He is of iron mind, and formed from the rock, whoever, O Prometheus, sympathizes not with your sor- rows : for I would rather that I had not seen such horrors ; and seeing them, I have been grieved in my soul. PROM. Yes, I am indeed a mournful spectacle for my friends. CHORUS. Did you not, in some respects, proceed even farther than you have told ? PROM. I was the cause that mortals ceased from fore- seeing their fate 1 . CHORUS. Having discovered what remedy for this pest ? PROM. I implanted blind hopes 2 in their bosoms. CHORUS. -You bestowed, in this, a mighty benefit on men 3 . PROM. In addition to these gifts, I furnished them with fire 4 . (1) " Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa 1 nocte premit deus." Hor. Lib. III. Od. xxix. (2) "An, quibus mortales esse obliviscimur, rerum gerendarum utenda- rumque vani in longum prospectus ? An mavis cultiores de immortalitate obscuram expectationem cepisse ? Nam spes, quam fraudem, laborioso generi in beneficium contulisse videri mallet." Jo. MULLER. " Posteriorem interpretationem ulpote elegantissime et exquisitissime excogitatam, amplectimur, proesertim cum mythologia apprime conve- niat; de qua vide Dram. Pers." BUTLER. (3) 'A ycip 87) iro\vTT\ayKTOs \irls rioAAoiy nv Svriais dvSpwv, Soph. Antig. v. 625. (4) " Audax lapeti genus Ignem fraude mala* gentibus intulit." Hor. Lib. I. Od. iii. 14 AESCHYLUS. CHORUS. And do the creatures of a day now enjoy the bright radiance of fire ? PROM. Yes; and from that possession they shall acquire the knowledge of many arts. CHORUS. Is it for such causes of complaint that Jupiter tortures you, and never grants you a respite from misery ? Is there no limit of suffering appointed for you ? PROM. No ; there is no other, than when it shall seem good to him. CHORUS. But how shall it seem good to him ? What hope can you entertain ? Do you not see you have erred ? But how you have erred, it were neither pleasant for me to tell, and would be painful for you to hear. Let us for- bear this subject ; and do you seek some means of escape from your sufferings. PROM. It is easy for him who enjoys a path apart from calamity, to admonish and advise the victim of an unhappier fate l . But I knew all that awaited me. Of my own accord I erred, I will not deny it. In relieving mortals, I brought suffering on myself. I did not dream, however, that I should be wasted away, by such a punishment, on these lofty rocks, being fixed to this desolate and unfrequented hill. And yet, do not lament my present afflictions ; but, descending to the plain, hear my coming misfortunes, that you may learn thoroughly the whole that awaits me. Obey me, obey me, and bestow your sympathy on the griefs that now oppress me ; for in the same way, Misfortune, in her varying course, now takes up her abode with one, and now with another 2 . CHORUS. You have urged this request, O Prometheus, on those who are willing to comply with it : and now, for- saking with light foot my rapid car, and the pure air through (1) "Hei mihi ! quam facile est, quamvis hoc contigit omnes Alterius luctu fortia verba loqai." Ovid. Eleg. in Drusum, v. 9. " Facile omnes, cftm valemus, recta consilia aegrotis damus." Terent. Andr. II. 1. (-2) Vid. Blomf. Gloss. 283.' PROMETHEUS. 15 which the birds wing their flight, I will approach to this rocky soil ; for I am anxious to hear fully of all your suf- ferings. OCEANUS. I am come to you, Prometheus! having reached the goal of a lengthened journey, and having directed, without need of the bit, the swift flight of this bird ' by instinct % But know that I sympathize in your misfortunes ; for both the tie of kindred 3 , I think, constrains me to such feeling ; and even without considering that our blood is the same, there is no one to whom I should be inclined to accord a greater share of affection than to you. But you shall know that these words are true, and that it is not in my nature to use kind language with hollow purpose: for come now, tell me in what it is of consequence for me to aid you, and you shall never have reason to say that you have a more staunch friend than Oceanus. PROM. Ha ! how is this ? Are you also come to behold my sufferings ? How have you ventured, having left the stream that bears your name, and its caves wrought by na- ture in the o'er-arching rock, to approach to 4 Earth, the mother of iron ? Have you come to contemplate my mis- fortunes, and to sympathize in my sorrows ? Lo, then, be- hold the friend of Jove, the ally who established his throne, beneath what a weight of woe I am bowed by his command ! OCEANUS. I see, O Prometheus ; and, wise 5 as you are, (1) The wild and marvellous scenes of this play are puzzling to a Frencb^comprehension. Brumoy is particularly distressed at the man- ner in which Oceanus thinks fit to travel : " II parolt monte sur je ne s<;ai quel animal atle' ; bizzarrerie inexplicable." (2) Vid. Blomf. Gloss. 295 ; where we prefer the latter interpretation. The remark of Schiitz will apply to either: " Admirationis enim augen- dae causa, non brutus, sed mente ac ratione praeditus esse fingitur." (3) lapetus, the father of Prometheus, was the brother of Oceanus. (4) Or " this Earth," as denoting Scythia, from which the Chalybians first extracted iron. (5) T//CTC 8' iJjrepKt/Sai/Ta Mfvotrioi>, ?}8t Upo^-qBea. TloiKl\ov, euoAJ/xijru'. lies. Theog. v. 510. 16 ;ESCHYLUS. I wish to give you the best advice. Know yourself, and adopt new manners ; for there is a new King among the Gods. If you shall thus vent harsh and indignant words, perhaps Jupiter, though seated so far on high, may hear you; so that the present sufferings which his wrath has im- posed shall appear as sport 1 in comparison of the future. But banish, O wretched being! the fierce spirit you now bear, and seek a release from these afflictions. Perhaps what I urge upon you may seem old-fashioned ; but such, however, are the rewards, O Prometheus, of the tongue that uses too haughty language : for you are not yet humble, nor submissive to your misfortunes, but seem in- clined to draw down others in addition to the present. You will not, if you follow my counsel, kick against the pricks 2 , seeing that a severe and absolute monarch holds the power. And now, indeed, I go ; and I will try, if I be able, I to free you from these sufferings. But do you remain quiet, and not give too free reins to your tongue. Do you not, with all your wisdom, well know, that punishment is inflicted on the imprudent tongue 3 ? PROM. I consider you enviable; because you have escaped the blame, though you shared all my plans, and dared equal attempts 4 . But now leave me to my fate, nor let my release be a care to you ; for assuredly you shall not persuade him, since his purpose is not easily changed. But do you look out for yourself, lest you suffer any harm in consequence of this journey. (1) " ncudiav, Child's play. Grsecorum proverbium est, cum cluorum alterum alteri longe anteponunt, wcuSia (pcuvoiro av cTrai, vel \ijpos' ut dooet Casaub. Animadv. ad Athenaeum, p. 70." JAC. TATK, (2) See Act. Apost. ix. 5. and Find. Pylh. II. 173. -- jrorl Kfvrpov 8* TOI Acumfe'/xev, 'A.vSfj.ov T* T<5 r^Aoy Swrrvxt'a. Eurip. Bacch. v. 38r>. (4) " In omnibus, quse egerat Prometheus, adjutorem sibi habuerat Oceanum. Quare hie miratur quod eum non punierit Jupiter, ut nunc puniebatur ipse. Nescio an alii Mythologi idem dicant." PAUW. PROMETHEUS. ' 17 OCEANUS. You are much better skilled by nature to school others than yourself. I draw my certain proof of this from fact, and not merely from words. But you shall by no means divert me from the purpose I am so eager to pursue : for I trust, I confidently trust, that Jove will grant me this boon, so as to release you from these suf- ferings. PROM. I praise, and shall never cease to praise you, for your intentions; for you shew no lack of zeal in my service. But spare yourself the trouble ; for your labour, however willing you might be to bestow it, would be thrown away, and be of no profit to me. Rather remain quiet, and keep yourself out of the danger ; for though I am myself in adversity, I would not on this account wish my misfortunes to extend to numbers of others. Oh, surely no I for already I am deeply pained by the sufferings of my bro- ther Atlas, who stands in the regions of the West, supporting on his shoulders the pillar of heaven and earth ', no easy burden for the arms. And I was moved to pity, as I saw subdued by force the earthborn inhabitant of the Cilician caves 2 , the monster hostile to heaven, impetuous Typhon of the hundred heads, who opposed the Gods in fight, breathing slaughter from his horrid jaws ; and from his eyes there flashed an appalling glare, as if he were about to overthrow by force the empire of heaven. But the sleepless bolt of Jupiter smote him the down-descending thunder with its breath of flame, which quickly drove him from such haughty boasts : for being stricken to the very soul, his strength was reduced to ashes, and blasted by the power of the thunder ; and now his helpless form lies outstretched near the straits of the sea, crushed beneath the roots of ^Etna 3 . But Vulcan, seated on the summits of (1) "ArXos 8' O3pco>di> evpdv tyi-i Kparfpfjs /V Ufipami' li> yaiijfy -rpdirap 'EffirfpiSwv \tywfxAvuv. Hes. Theog. v. 517. (2) Pindar describes his residence in nearly the same words, Pyth. I. 31. (3 In the first Pythian Ode, to which we have just referred, the body C of 13 .ESCHYLUS. the mountain, forges the glowing mass; whence, in after- times, shall rivers of fire be disgorged, to devour, with their fell jaws, the level meads of fair and fertile Sicily 1 . Typhon, though reduced to ashes by the thunderbolt of Jove, will thus pour forth his rage in the fiery darts of a resistless and fire-breathing tempest. But you are not ignorant, from want of experience ; nor do you require me to warn you. Save yourself, then, by such means as you know how to use ; and I will endure my present fortune, until his wrath subside in the spirit of Jove. OCEANUS. Are you not aware, O Prometheus, that rea- soning has a power to heal the distempers of passion ? PROM. It has, if one shall soften the heart at the pro- per season, and not reduce by force the swellings of anger. OCEANUS. Tell me, do you see any harm in foresight and in daring ? PROM. Superfluous toil, and unreflecting folly. OCEANUS. Suffer me to be afflicted with this malady, since it is best that one who counsels wisely should not ap- pear to be wise. of Typhon is described as extending even to the shores of Italy : and Ovid (Metamorph. V. 346.) has indulged in a similar strain of poetical exag- geration : " Vasta giganteis ingesta est insula membris Trinacris; et magnis subjectum molibus urget ^thereas ausum sperare Typhoea sedes. Nititur ille quidem, pugnatque resurgere saepe : Dextra sed Ausonio manus est subjecta Peloro ; Laeva, Pachyne, tibi ; Lilybseo crura premuntur ; Degravat JEtna. caput, sub qua" resupinus arenas Ejectat, flammamque fero vomit ore Typhoeus. Saepe remoliri luctatur pondera terrae, Oppidaque et magnos evolvere corpora monies." (1) JEschylus spent the latter part of his life in Sicily, at a time when the eruptions of Mtna. were very frequent and violent. Miiller has there- fore remarked, with justice : " Sic ultimum hanc tragcediam suspiceris la- borem ; quo etiam facto ad omnes homines, quam ad Atticos ritus et Grse- cos heroas magis pertinet. Senis vividissima mens, tanto open par, adrni- rationem incutit." PROMETHEUS. 19 PROM. This will appear to be my fault. OCEANUS. Your words plainly direct that I should re- turn home. PROM. Because I am afraid, lest the compassion you have expressed for me should involve you in enmity. OCEANUS. Do you mean, with him who has lately taken his seat on the throne of omnipotent command ? PROM. Beware, lest his heart be displeased. OCEANUS. Your calamity, O Prometheus, is a warning to me. PROM. Away! depart! preserve your present sentiments. OCEANUS. You have enjoined these commands on me as I am hastening to return ; for the quadruped bird al- ready grazes with his wings the liquid path of air, and gladly will he recline his limbs in his native stalls of Ocean. CHORUS. I pity you, O Prometheus, on account of your calamitous fortune ; and a stream of tears, descending from my fast-flowing eyes, bedews my cheek with the liquid gush of sorrow : for Jupiter, commanding this harsh doom by virtue of his own laws, wields a haughty sceptre over the Gods who preceded him in power. Already hath the whole land uttered the voice of sorrow, lamenting the boasted pride and ancient dignity of thy honour and that of thy kindred ; and all the mortals who inhabit the re- gions that extend over sacred Asia sympathize in your deeply-mournful sufferings ; both the virgins, undaunted in fight, who dwell in the Colchian land ; and the tribes of Scythia who occupy around the Lake Masotis the remotest regions of earth; and the warlike flower of Arabia 1 , who (l) In an able article on Blomfield's edition of this play, in the Edin- burgh Review, No. 33, the critic has himself favoured us with the fol- lowing note :- " Cum tota Chori oratio in Maris Euxini accolis recensendis versetur, jure mirantur interpretes, unde hsec Arabise mentio. Nonnulli ad emendationem confugiunt, quorum conjecturas memorare supersedeo. Magis placet Butleri sententia, qui ostendere conatur nomen Arabiae latins olim quam vulgd creditur patuisse. Sed nolim hanc queestionem mmis curiose tractare. Nam verisimile est jEschylum geographize nihilo peritiorem fuisse tragico nostrate, qui oram Bohemia; maritimam me- morat." c2 20 JESCHYLUS. have their home and country amid the lofty precipices that border on Caucasus a martial hand, that rush with fury to the conflict of the pointed spear. I have before seen only one other God subject to the tortures of adamantine bonds the Titan Atlas ; who ever, exerting transcendent strength, supports on his shoulders, with groaning toil, the solid pole of heaven. The billows of the sea moan, as they dash together ; its depths murmur; the dark abyss of Orcus sends forth, from beneath the earth, a troubled sound ; and the fountains of sacred streams wail as they flow, for thy anguish and thy sorrow. PROM. Do not think that I am silent through pride or a stubborn spirit ; but, seeing myself thus ignominiously treated, I am pained by the reflections of my mind : for who, but I, entirely distributed their honours to these new Gods ? But, as to these favours, I am silent, for I should relate to you what you know : but listen to the evils that existed among mortals how I implanted in them, who were before in the ignorance of infancy, the power of intellect, and the capability of knowledge 1 : and I will tell you the tale, not to reflect any blame on men, but to explain my kind intention in the gifts I bestowed on beings who, at first, had eyes and saw not ; ears had they, and heard not' ; but, like to the shapes of dreams 3 , left for long their whole course of life to chance and confusion, and neither knew how to con- struct houses of brick with their fronts to the sun, nor yet the art of working in wood ; but dwelt beneath the earth, like the tiny ant, in the sunless depths of caves 4 : and (1) Prometheus only claims for himself the merit of having taught civilization and the use of reason to mankind, and does not at all allude to the common fable of his having actually formed the original race from clay. -In the former character he was worshipped by the Athenians along with their tutelary Goddess ; and his temple, in the Academia, re- ceived equal honours. (2) See Isaiah vi. 9. Matt. iii. 13, 14. (3) " We are such stuff As dreams are made of." Shak. Tempest, Act. IV. (1) " Laterarias domos contituerunt primi Euryalus et Hyperbius fratres Athenis; antea specus eranl pro domibus." Plin. vii. 56. The same PROMETHEUS. 21 they knew no certain sign of winter, or of flowery spring or of fruitful summer, but pursued all their occupations without discernment, until I explained to them the risings of the stars and their mysterious settings. Besides, 1 first dis- covered for them numbers, the highest of inventions 1 ; and the structure of a written language ; and Memory, the mother of the Muse, effective in every art. And I was the first who bound in harness animals made obedient to the yoke ; and, in order that they might prove, by their strength, the substitutes for mortals in the greatest toils, I forced the steeds to be guided by the rein in chariots 1 , the orna- ments of wealth and luxury. And no one before me in- vented the bark of the mariner, that traverses the sea with its canvas wings. Yet I, who was the author of these in- ventions to man, have not, in my own misery, any device by which I can obtain relief from the sufferings which op- press me ! CHORUS. You have been subjected to undeserved cala- mity : but you wander apart from wisdom ; and, like an un- skilful physician, having fallen into disease, you despair, and are not able to discover by what remedies your cure is to be wrought. PROM. Hearing the rest of my benefits, you will be still more surprised at the arts and inventions I contrived. And this not the least : if any one was assailed by disease, there was no specific against it, either in food, unguent or draught, but the sick fell away through want of medicine, until I taught them to compound soothing restoratives, by which same author represents Daedalus as having first taught the art of work- ing in wood ; and Sophocles, in a Fragment preserved by Achilles Tatius, ascribes to Palamedes the inventions of Astrology and Numbers, which Prometheus proceeds to enumerate among the many benefits which he bestowed on men. (1) Abreschius has translated this most villainously : " Arithmeticam omnifraude superiorem." (2) " Primus Ericthonius currus et quatuor ausus Jungere equos." Virg. Geory. III. 113. 22 AESCHYLUS. they might be able to repel all maladies 1 . I marked out, also, various modes of divination ; and first determined what dreams would prove true; and made clear to them the hid- den interpretation of ominous sounds, and of meetings by the way " ; and plainly pointed out the distinction in the flight of birds with crooked talons, both those which are pro- pitious in their nature and those which are ill-omened, and what kind of life they each lead, and what are their mutual enmities and sympathies and intercourse ; and the smooth- ness of the entrails, and what colour they must have to be pleasing to the Gods; and the various shapes that were fortunate in the gall and liver : but having consumed with fire the limbs enclosed in the fat and the long loin, I shewed mortals a path through the difficulties of this art ; and I re- vealed to them the inferences to be drawn from the blaze of flame, which were before hidden from their knowledge. Such was, in part, the nature of my gifts : and who can as- sert that he discovered before me the benefits for mankind that lie concealed beneath the earth brass, and iron, and silver, and gold ? no one, I am sure, who does not wish to talk idly and falsely 3 ! But, in a few words, you shall learn at once the extent of my benefits : There is no art among men that is not derived from Prometheus. CHORUS. Do not, I pray you, aid mortals beyond what is fitting, and then manifest a want of care for your own misfortunes ; for I cheer myself with the hope, that you (1) Apollo disputes the honour of this invention with Prometheus: " Inventum medicina meum est ; opiferque per orbem Dicor, et herbarum subjecta potentia nobis." Ovid. Met. 1. 521. (2) " Obvia signa quse fausta aut infausta in itinere occurrunt ; quale Xerxi de equa leporem pariente, et Agamemnoni de aquilis leporem vorantibus, in Agam. v. 120." STANLEY. (3) Pliny (vii. 56.) has ventured, notwithstanding these hard words of Prometheus, to ascribe the discovery of the metals to others : " Fer- rum Hesiodus in Greta eos qui vocati sunt Dactyli Idsei. Argentum invenit Ericthonius Atheniensis, ut alii yEacus. Auri metalla et c-onfla- turam Cadmus Phosnix ad Pangseum montem ; ut alii, Thoas et jEaclis in Panchaia, aut Sol Oceani filius." PROMETHEUS. 23 shall yet escape these bonds, and become in power not in- ferior to Jove. PROM. The fate that consummates all events has not decreed that your hopes should be thus fulfilled : but I shall only escape my chains after having been crushed by infinite sufferings and woes ; for art is by far weaker than necessity. CHORUS. Who, then, holds the sway of necessity ? PROM. The triple Fates, and vengeful Furies. CHORUS. Is Jupiter, then, weaker than those Powers ? PROM. He cannot escape at least the decrees of Fate. CHORUS. For what is decreed for Jupiter, except eter- nal empire ? PROM. This you may not yet know; so persist not in inquiring. CHORUS. Is it some important mystery that you conceal ? PROM. Bethink yourself of some other subject ; for the time is not yet come, to declare what you seek : but, on the contrary, it must be concealed with all care ; for by preserving this secret I shall gain an escape from my galling chains and sorrows. CHORUB. May Jupiter, the ruler of the universe, never array his power in opposition to my will ! nor may I fail to approach the Gods with sacred festivals of slaughtered victims beside the inexhaustible streams of my father Oceanus ! nor may I sin in my words ; but may this prin- ciple remain to me, and never feel decay ! There is a cer- tain charm in spending a long life in cheering hopes, and in buoying up the soul with joyous hilarity ; but I shudder as I behold you racked by innumerable pains. For not fearing Jove, O Prometheus, you are led, by your self- will, to pay too much regard to mortals. Tell me, then, O friend, if that favour be not requited with ingratitude ; or where there is any advantage to be derived from it ? What aid can mortals afford ? Have you not discovered how feeble, and how like a dream, is the imbecility which enshackles the blind race of men ? Never can the counsels of mortals transcend the settled laws of Jove. I have 24 AESCHYLUS. been convinced of this truth, O Prometheus, by seeing the misery of your lot. How different is the strain that now greets you, the present from the past, when beside the bath and your bridal couch I awoke the nuptial hymn, amid the mirth of the festival, at the time when you gained our sister Hesione for your bride, having won her by your gifts to become the wedded partner of your bed ! 10. What land is this? what race? Whom shall I say that I here behold, exposed to the storm, and fettered to the rock? For what transgression does this punishment destroy you? Tell me to what part of the world I have wandered in my misery. Ah! ah! again the gadfly 1 envenoms my wretched body. O earth ! avert the spectre of the earth- born Argus ! I shudder as I behold the herdsman of the hundred eyes ; for he follows me with his guileful aspect ; and not even in death does the earth confine him; but, passing from the Shades, he closely pursues his unhappy victim, and forces me to wander, famished, along the sands of the sea; while his pipe, compacted of the reeds with wax, pours forth a murmuring sound, as it awakes its drowsy measures. Alas, alas, ye Gods ! where, O Gods, where do these lengthened wanderings conduct my steps? Of what sin, O Son of Saturn, having ever found me guilty, hast thou bowed me beneath the yoke of these sufferings ? Alas ! alas ! why do you thus torture me to phrensy, through wretched terror of that maddening sting ? Consume me with thy flame, or bury me beneath the earth, or give me as a prey to the monsters of the deep ; but do not, O king, be unwilling to grant me these prayers ! Sufficient hath been the toil of my many wan- derings ; and still I know not how I can find relief from (1) " Asper, acerba sonans ; quo tota exterrita sylvis Diffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aether Concussus, sylvseque et sicci ripa Tanagri. Hoc quondam monstro horribiles exercuit iras Inachue Juno pestem meditata juvencae." Virff.Georg.UL 147. PROMETHEUS. 25 calamity. Hearest thou the voice of the virgin that bears the heifer's form ' ? PROM. How should I not hear the virgin maddened by the gadfly, the daughter of Inachus, who inflames the heart of Jupiter with love, and who, through the hate of Juno, is now compelled to the toil of these lengthened wanderings ? 10. Whence hast thou learned to pronounce the name of my father ? O tell to me, an unhappy being, who thou art ? thyself unhappy, that thus dost truly address me as wretch- ed, and hast named the heaven-sent pest which consumes my life, evenoming me with its maddening stings ! Ah ! ah ! hither have I bounding come, being goaded to speed by the pangs of famine, and forced to submit to the malig- nant designs of Juno. Among the victims of misfortune, are there any who, alas ! suffer such sorrows as mine ? But do you clearly shew to me what I am yet fated to endure, and what I shall escape. Disclose to me, if you possess the knowledge, some remedy for this disease. O speak ; nor hide it from the forlorn and wandering virgin ! PROM. I will clearly tell you all which you seek to know ; not weaving a dark discourse, but in plain words ; as it is fitting that we should utter our sentiments to friends. You see Prometheus, the giver of fire to mortals. jo. Unhappy Prometheus ! thou who didst appear for ( 1) There has been much discussion as to the shape in which we are to suppose that lo made her appearance on the stage. Brumoy, Schiitz, and Heath, have ridiculed the idea of a cow supporting a character ; and have maintained, that, with the exception of horns, the unhappy daughter of Inachus preserved her natural form. Dacier is of a contrary opinion ; and we conceive that the text justifies it beyond a doubt. The miseries of which lo complains, are those which afflict the herd : and so Virgil has justly represented them, in the passage quoted above. If she had suffered no other change but in the addition of horns, why should she have spoken with such horror of the persecution of the gadfly ? It is certainly diffi- cult for us to imagine how she could have actually appeared as a cow, without exciting the ridicule, rather than the sympathy, of the spectator: but this play is altogether wild and fanciful ; and being beyond common nature, is not to be judged by common rules. 26 AESCHYLUS. the general benefit of mankind ! in punishment for what offence dost thou suffer these pains ? PROM. I have just ceased bewailing my sufferings. 10. Will you not, then, vouchsafe this boon to me ? PROM. Let me know what you request; for you shall learn every thing from me. 10. Tell me, who rivetted you to this cleft rock ? PKOM. The counsel, indeed, was Jove's; but the work, Vulcan's. 10. And for what sin do you atone by this punishment ? PROM. I have already declared to you enough. 10. Still, tell me, besides, the end of my wanderings, and what period shall arrive to my unhappy doom ? PROM. It were better for you not to learn, than to learn what you seek. 10. Do not, however, conceal from me that which I am about to suffer. PROM. Nay, do not suppose that I grudge to bestow what you ask. 10. Why, then, should you delay to declare the whole? PROM. I feel no reluctance, except in my fear to pain your mind. 10. Do not any longer be solicitous on my account, since your compliance would be agreeable to me. PROM. If such is your wish, it becomes me to speak. Then hear CHORUS. Not yet, I pray ; but grant to me, also, a share in the gratification. Let us first inquire of her disease, from this virgin ; herself relating her deadly cala- mities : and then let the rest of her sufferings be disclosed by you. PROM. It is your duty, lo, to bestow on them this fa- vour, both for other reasons, and especially because they are sisters of your father 1 . It is, besides, no vain waste of (J) Inachus, the father of lo, was descended, like all the other rivers, from Occanus and Tethys. PROMETHEUS. 27 time to mourn and bewail misfortunes with those from whom, when they hear the tale, one is likely to win their tears. 10. I know not how I can refuse your request; and you shall therefore hear from me, in plain words, all that you seek to learn. And yet I am ashamed to tell of the storm of heaven's wrath, and of the sad change of my form, from .whence they visited their unhappy victim : for visions of the night, ever visiting the chambers of my virgin youth, beguiled my heart with these seductive words : " O maid, highly-favoured by heaven ! why dost thou so long a maid remain, when it is granted to thy hopes to gain the proudest of marriages? for Jove hath been inflamed, from thy beauty, by the shaft of desire, and longs to enjoy with thee the sweets of love. Do not then, O virgin, despise the em- brace of Jove, but seek, amid the fertile meads of Lerna, the pastures and folds of thy father, that the eye of Jove may rest from its desire." By such dreams M r as I cruelly haunted every night, until I took courage to tell my father of the visions that disturbed my repose; and he sent to Py tho and to Dodona ' many a seer to consult the Gods, that he might learn by what deeds or words he might be able to fulfil the pleasure of the Gods ; but his messengers returned to tell of oracles of dubious interpretation, ob- scure and mysteriously expressed: until, at length, there came a clear response to Inachus, enjoining and express- ing, without ambiguity, that he should drive me away from my home and my country, to wander, abandoned to my fate, to the remotest regions of the earth ; and if he re- fused to comply, it was denounced that the fiery bolt of Jove should descend, and annihilate all his race. Per- suaded by such oracles of Apollo, he unwilling banished and excluded me unwilling from his house : " but the com- mand of Jove compelled him to do this deed against his will. (1) The Scholiast has detected an anachronism in this mention of the Oracles ; as even Dodona, the most ancient in Greece, was not consecrated till after the times of Deucalion. 28 AESCHYLUS. My form and my mind immediately underwent a change ; the heifer's horns, as ye see, were given to me ; and, enve- nomed by the keen bite of the gadfly, I rushed with mad- dened speed to the fair waters of Cenchrea's stream, and to the fount of Lerna : but Argus, the earthborn shepherd, intemperate in his anger, followed my course, watching all my steps with his hundred eyes. An unexpected and sud- den fate deprived him of life ; but I, stung by the gadfly, am still forced, by that scourge of heaven, to roam from land to land. You hear my past fortunes; and if you can tell aught of my future sufferings, declare it, nor, through pity, soothe me with false words ; for I account a fictitious tale an evil and a disgrace. CHORUS. Ah! ah I alas! forbear! Never, never could I have dreamed that such a marvellous tale should reach my ears ; nor that calamities, wrongs, and horrors, so dire to be seen and endured in their sharpest of pangs, should freeze my soul. Alas ! alas ! thou power of Fate ! I shudder as I behold the condition of lo. PROM. You groan too soon, and yield yourself too easi- ly to fear. Stay, till you have also heard the rest. CHORUS. Speak and inform me : it is a relief to the af- flicted to know clearly, before its time, the coming evil 1 . PROM. Your former request, at least, you obtained from me without difficulty : for you first desired to learn from this maid the tale of her own sufferings. Hear now those which are yet in store for her, and what calamities it is fated that she shall endure from the wrath of Juno : and do you, O daughter of Inachus, lay up my words in your mind, that you may clearly discover where your wanderings are to end. First, when you leave this mountain, having turned" towards the rising of the sun, pursue your way over an un- cultivated region ; and you shall come to the pastoral ' (1) This sentiment is both untrue to nature, and inconsistent with the more philosophical view which the poet had already taken of the same subject in a previous part of the drama. ViiL 255 2CO. (2) " Namque ad extremas partes Septentrionis pervenisse supponi- tur." STANLEY. PROMETHEUS. 9 Scythians, who, armed with the far-darting bow, dwell in wattled abodes, that are constructed on high, above the wheels of their cars. Do not approach these tribes ; but, di- recting your steps to the rocky shore of the tempestuous sea, pass forth from the country. On the left dwell the Chalybians, skilled in working iron, a people whom you ought to avoid ; for they are rugged in their dispositions, and may not be approached by strangers with safety '. But you shall come to the river Hybristes ', betokening its vio- lence by its name ; which you shall not attempt to pass, for its streams allow no easy ford, until you come to Cauca- sus itself, the monarch of mountains, where from the highest steeps this river pours forth its foaming tide. After you have crossed the summits of this heaven-kissing hill, you must proceed in a southward course ; by which you shall come to the unwedded tribes of Amazons, who, at some future period, shall found Themiscyra, beside Thermodon 3 , where the rug- ged Salmydessian Promontory, the stepmother of ships, threatens, amid the sea, destruction to mariners. These virgins shall, with willing zeal, conduct you on your way ; and you shall come to the Cimmeric Isthmus, beside the nar- row entrance of the lake, which you must leave without fear, and cross the Straits of the Ma?otis. The fame of this pas- sage shall ever be celebrated among mortals ; and it shall be called Bosphorus 4 , in honour of your name. Thus, having left the plains of Europe, you shall come to the continent of Asia. Does not, then, the tyrant of the Gods appear to (1) " Non ita sit metuenda tibi, saevissima quanquam, gens Chaly- bum." Vuler. Place. Argonaut, iv. 610. (2) Some commentators have considered i5/3pm)i> as an epithet applied to the Araxes, or some other of the great rivers which flow through the same region. Schiitz, after successfully combating this opinion, con- eludes by remarking : " Nomen huic iltimini -Hybristes fuerit necesse est, quanquam hodie, quemnam fluvium eo nomine designaverit poeta, conjectura vlx exputari potest, nedum certd definiri." (3) " Quales Threiciae cum ad flumina Thermodontis Pulsant, etpictis bellanturAmazones armis/' Virg. .oi diet*, quia canae." (2) Euryale, Stheno, and Medusa. (3) " In Asiatica Scythia terrae sunt locupletes, inhabitabiles tamen : nam cum auro et gemmis affluant, Grypes tenent universa, allies ferocis- simze et ultra omnem rabiem saevientes, quarum immanitate obsistente ad venas divites accessus difficilis ac rarus est ; quippe visos discerpunt, ve- luti geniti ad plectendum avaritiaS temeritatem." Solin. c. 15. " As when a gryphon through the wilderness Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd The guarded gold : so eagerly the fiend, O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, "With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way." Milton. P. L. II. 943. PROMETHEUS. 33 dumb and ravenous hounds of Jove, and the equestrian bands of the one-eyed Arimaspians l , who dwell around the streams of Plutus and the fount that flows with gold. These approach not : but you shall come, in a far-distant land, to a swarthy race, who dwell near the sources of the dawn, beside the ./Ethiopian river : along this river's banks pursue your course, until you come to the cataract, where, from the Bybline mountains, the Kile pours his sacred and salubrious 1 tide : his stream will conduct you to the triangular Nilotic land ; where, lo, it is fated for you and your children to found a distant colony. If any of these words are dark and unintelligible to you, renew your inquiries, and learn the whole distinctly ; for I have more leisure than I wish. CHORUS. If you have any of her sad and many wan- derings remaining or omitted to tell her, speak ; but if you have told her of all, now grant to us the favour which we asked, and which haply you remember. PROM. She has already been informed of the comple- tion of all her wanderings : and that she may know that she has not heard my predictions without authority, I will declare the labours she endured before she came hither, and thus offer a corroboration of my words. The main burden of the narrative I will indeed omit, and advance to the very close of your wanderings ; for when you came to the plains of Molossus, and traversed the lofty steeps of Dodona, where are the oracle and shrine of Thesprotian Jove, and that incredible prodigy the vocal oaks, you were hailed by them clearly, and without dubious mean- ing, as the illustrious spouse of Jove, who was to be ; a title, of which the remembrance even now delights your soul. Being driven thence by the gadfly, along the paths by the sea, you rushed to the mighty gulf of Rhea ; from which you now pursue the stormy course of your return. (1) See Herodot. IV. 27. (2) " Hue pertinet Pescennii dictum ad milites, Nilum habetis, et vi- num queritis Plura de dulcedine aquae Nilotic* Spartianus in Pescennio Nigro." STANLEY. D 34 AESCHYLUS. But in future time, be well assured, that bay of the ocean shall be called the Ionian ; as a memorial, to all mortals, of the way through which you passed. Let these be the proofs to you of my intelligence, that its vision penetrates farther than that which is revealed to the eye. But I will tell the rest to you and her as common information, returning to the same track of my former narrative. In the remotest regions of the world stands the city Ca- nopus, beside the very mouth and alluvial formations of the Nile, where Jupiter shall again restore you to your senses, by only touching and stroking you with his sooth- ing hand. And, with name derived from the mode in which he was engendered by Jupiter, you shall bring forth the dark Epaphus, who shall enjoy the fruits of all the shores that are washed by the broad waters of the Nile. But the fifty virgins 1 , who form the fifth generation from him, shall unwillingly return to Argos, seeking to escape the kindred marriage of their cousins 2 ; who, hurrying in the flutter of passion, like hawks following closely on the doves 3 , shall come to seek a marriage eluding their pur- suit, and court embraces of which the Gods shall deny to them the enjoyment. But the Pelasgic land shall receive the bodies of the lovers, overpowered by a deed of female daring that watched for the opportunity of the midnight slaughter: for each bride shall deprive her husband of life, and dye in his blood the double edge of the whetted sword. O that Venus would visit with such rites my ene- mies* ! But desire shall soften one 5 of the virgins, so as not to slay the partner of her bed ; but she shall feel her (1) The daughters of Danaus. (2) The sons of ^Egyptus. (3) " Sic ego currebam, sic me fenis ille premebat ; Ut fugere accipitrem penna trepidante columbae, Ut solet accipiter pavidas urgere columbas." Ovid. Met. V. 604. (4) " Passim habes apud antiques ejusmodi plurima, quae nulla litera- rum cultura, nulla praecepta philosophise, donee lux Christianae religio- nis effulsisset, humanissimas gentes dedocere potuerunt." BUTLER. (5) Hypermnestra, who spared her husband Lynceus. PROMETHEUS. 35 purpose blunted ; and of two choices, she shall prefer to be called faint of heart, rather than bloody of hand. She shall give birth, in Argos, to a line of kings 1 . There were need of many words to unfold clearly their history ; but from this seed, however, shall spring a dauntless warrior, renowned for the bow, who shall release me from these toils. Such was the prediction which my ancient mother, Titanian Themis, delivered to me : but how and where, requires a long tale to describe ; and you by learning it would gain nothing. io.-!-Alas ! alas ! The agony of pain, and madness of the phrensied mind, again inflame me ; and the sting of the gadfly envenoms me with its fiery poison. My heart, in its terror, beats violently against my bosom, and my eyes roll wildly around ; and I am driven out of my course by the furious gust of phrensy, without the power of controlling my tongue; for its turbid words dash at random against the waves of hateful calamity 2 . CHORUS. Wise in truth, wise in truth was he who first supported this maxim in opinion, and promulgated it in words; that to wed in an equal alliance is by far the best ' ; and that it is vain for the lowly of degree to be enamoured of those who revel in the luxury of wealth, or of those who pride themselves in the grandeur of their birth. Never, never, O ye Fates, may ye behold me as the partner of the bed of Jove ! nor may I be laid by the side of any bride- groom of the race of heaven ! for I tremble as I behold the virgin lo, in consequence of her not having loved a (1) Her immediate descendant was Abas, who, after the expulsion of Danaus, succeeded to the throne. (2) " Id ex hisce non apparet, et ridiculus est poe'ta, ea proferens quse contrariiim probant aperte. Debuisset linguae et mentis confusionem verbis exprimere." PAUW. A more absurd criticism cannot well be imagined. The words of lo express most admirably the disordered state of her mind, becoming gradually more wild and incoherent, till at length they end in absolute raving. Butler only condemns the arrogance of his brother commentator : " Hypercriticum hie certe superat Pauwius, et solitum sibi supercilium plusquam Zoili rabie contrahit." (3) " Si qua voles apte nubere, nube pari." Ovid. Ep, Her. IX. 32. D2 3G AESCHYLUS. mortal, cruelly tortured by the toilsome wanderings in- flicted by Juno. But I feel not fear, since my equal mar- riage gives me no cause of alarm ; only may not the love of mightier Gods regard me with the glance that will not be denied ! This war at least baffles all resistance, and forces its way through every difficulty ; nor do I know what would become of me, for I see not how I could avoid the purpose of Jove. PROM. Nevertheless Jove, although his thoughts be stubborn, shall yet be humbled ; for he prepares to con- tract such a marriage as will utterly banish him from his kingdom and throne ; and then shall be fully consummated the curse of his father Saturn, which he imprecated when he was driven from his ancient throne. None of the Gods, except me, can clearly disclose to him the method of escaping from these calamities ; but I know both the me- thod and the means. Let him sit, then, as if secure, putting his trust in the thunders of the sky, and brandish- ing in his hand his fire-breathing bolt ; for these weapons shall not avail, to save him from falling degraded into intolerable ruin ; so dread is the adversary ' that he now prepares against himself, the prodigy of resistless might, who shall discover a flame that obscures his lightning, and the strength of a sound that deafens his thunders, and who by force shall shiver the spear of Neptune, the trident of the sea, the pest that shakes the earth. Then shall Jove, when he comes suddenly on this calamity, be taught how great is the difference between the tyrant and the slave. CHORUS. You indeed imprecate against Jove what you wish to happen. PROM. I speak of what shall happen, as well as what I wish. CHORUS. Are we to expect that some one shall obtain power over Jupiter? (1) " Non hie Hercules denotatur, ut putabat Brumocus, nunquam enim ille Jovem regno exturbavit, sed filius nunquam revera natus, qui vero nasci debebat, si nuptias cum Thetide consummasset Jupiter." HEATH. PROMETHEUS. 37 PROM. Yes; and that he shall have to bow to sufferings more intolerable than mine. CHORUS. How do you not fear giving vent to such words ? PROM. What should I fear, to whom it is not fated to die ? CHORUS. But he may inflict on you a suffering still more grievous than the present. PROM. Let him inflict it then; for the worst is to be ex- pected by me. CHORUS. They who venerate Adrastea 1 are wise. PROM. Venerate, worship, flatter him whoever happens to be in power; but I care for Jove less than nothing. Let him act, let him rule for this brief time, as he pleases ; for his empire of heaven soon draws to a close. But I re- frain from saying more ; for I see at hand the Messenger of Jove, the servant of the new tyrant. Without doubt he has come to tell some new resolve. MERCURY. My message is to you, the inventor of fraud to you, so violent in your rage, who sinned against the Gods in com- municating their honours to mortals, and who stole from heaven the fire. The Father commands you to declare what are the nuptials you boast of, by which he shall be expelled from the sovereignty ; and to tell your meaning in no enigmatical way, but clearly to explain every circum- stance. And do not, Prometheus, impose on me the necessity of returning on this mission ; for you see that Jove is incensed by such stubbornness. PROM. Your speech is arrogant, and full of pride, considering that it comes from a lackey of the Gods. New in office, ye enjoy your upstart power, and think that ye dwell in towers secured against disaster. Have I not seen two Rulers" driven by force from these very towers ? and, as a third, I shall behold him who now bears the sway most (1) Or, Nemesis. For the derivation of the name, and all the learn- ing respecting this Goddess, see the elaborate note of Stanley. (2) Coelus and Saturn. 38 AESCHYLUS. quickly and most disgracefully resign it. Do I seem to you in aught to fear or dread the new Gods ? I am far and altogether removed from such a thought. But do you hasten back, by the road by which you came; for you shall learn nothing of what you ask me. MERC. It was by a similar obstinacy that you formerly brought yourself into these misfortunes. PROM. Be assured that I would not exchange the hard- ships of my lot for your slavery ' : for I deem it better to be in bondage to this rock, than to have been born the faithful messenger of father Jove*. It is proper thus to taunt with insult the insolent. MERC. You seem to delight in your present circum- stances. PROM. Delight! In such delightful state may I behold my enemies 3 ! and I count you for one in the number. MERC. For do you also lay to my charge some share in your misfortunes ? PROM.- In good truth, I hate all the Gods, as many as, having partaken of my benefits, persecute me with in- justice. MERC. I perceive, from what I hear, that you are dis- tempered with no slight phrensy. PROM. May I feel distemper ! if such it be, to hate my enemies. (1) " Grseca libertas mente (Prometheo) odium servitutis altissimum insidere vult. In .flSschylo semper eum videbis, qui, Maratlione pugnasse, ita sibi pne reliquis operibus glorise duxit, ut in sepulchri in- scriptione hujus unius diei mentionem fieri voluisse, Pausanias in Atticis memorise prodit." MULLEK. (2) " Here we may reign secure : and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition, though in hell : Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." Millon.P.L.1.260. " Thou art a King, a sovereign over men ; I am a Druid, servant of the Gods Such service is above sovereignty." Mason's Caraclacus. (3) " Utinam male qui mihi volunt, sic rideant." Plaudit, Asin. v. 1. PROMETHEUS. 39 MERC. You would be intolerable if you were in pro- sperity. PROM. Alas 1 MERC. Jupiter does not know this word. PROM. But time, as it advances, teaches all things. MERC. And yet you, for instance, have not yet learned to be wise. PROM. If I had, I should not have addressed you, who are a slave. MERC. You seem as if you would tell nought of what the Father seeks to know. PROM. And certainly, as being indebted to him, I ought to return a favour. MERC. You have taunted me, forsooth, as if I were a boy. PROM. For are you not a boy, and even more foolish than a boy, if you think that you shall learn any thing from me ? There is no torture nor device by which Jove shall prevail upon me to declare these secrets, before the bonds that afflict me shall have been loosed. Let, therefore, his blazing lightnings be hurled ; and let him confound and disturb the universe with white-winged snow, and with thunders that shake the earth ; for none of these terrors shall bend my purpose, so as to make me declare by whom it is decreed that he shall be expelled from his throne '. (1) " It is not necessary to send the ladies to Pindar for their informa- tion in this celestial anecdote ; as our courtly Lansdowne, in his Masque of Peleus and Thetis, is ready to discover the secret. Jupiter beheld the charms of Thetis, daughter of Oceanus, with the eye of a lover, and in- tended to advance her, as his consort, to the imperial throne of heaven. Now it was in the Fates, that this lady should have a son, who was to be greater than his father. Prometheus alone, by his divine foresight, could open the danger to Jupiter ; but this he firmly refused to do, till he should be released from the rock. After that Hercules, by the per- mission of Jupiter, had killed the tormenting eagle, and unbound his chains, he disclosed the decree of the Fates ; Thetis was given in mar- riage to Peleus ; and the prophecy was accomplished in the famous Achilles." POTTER. ~- 40 ^SCHYLUS. MERC. See, now, if such counsels appear to be of ad- vantage to you. PROM. They have long since been considered, and ma- turely determined. MERC. Submit, O foolish being! submit at length to judge rightly with regard to your present misfortunes. PROM. You trouble me with your persuasions, as vainly /as the wave assails the rock. Never let it enter your imagi- nation, that I, fearing the intentions of Jove, shall become of dastard spirit, and with hands uplifted, like a woman, be- seech the object of my bitter hate to set me free from these bonds : I am far from such a thought. MERC. I seem, after all that I have said, to have spoken in vain ; for you are in no degree moved or softened, as to your heart, by entreaty ; but champing the bit like an un- manageable colt, you strain and contend against the rein. And yet it is on a weak argument that you display this violence ; for obstinacy, in the case of him who deliberates unwisely, is by itself of less avail than nothing. But con- sider, if you be not persuaded by my words, what a storm and violent surge of evils shall inevitably assail you ; for first, indeed, the Father of the Gods shall rend this rugged cliff with the thunder and the flame of the lightning, and shall bury your body, and the rock shall bear you away in its embrace. After a long lapse of time, you shall again return to the light ; but the winged hound of Jove, the blood-thirsty eagle, shall ravenously mangle all your la- cerated body, coming an unbidden guest to prolong the banquet through the whole day, and shall gorge his hunger by gnawing your black liver. Of this agony you need not expect a close, till some one of the Gods shall appear as a successor to your toils, and be willing to descend to the gloomy Hades and to the dark abysses of Tartarus 1 . Therefore deliberate; since these threats are (1) " Puto poetara hie intelligere liberationem ccelestem generis human! : de qua" baud dubie cognorat qua-darn ex prophetiis et sapientia Hebraeorum, sicut turn etiam in vaticiniis Sibyllinis multa de hoc mysterio PROMETHEUS. 41 not feigned, but spoken in earnest ; for the mouth of Jove knows not to utter what is false, but will bring to comple- tion its every word. But do you look around you, and consider ; nor ever account obstinacy better than prudent counsel. CHORUS. To us, indeed, Mercury appears to speak with reason ; for he advises you to lay aside your obstinacy, and to search after wise counsel. Be thus persuaded ; for it is disgraceful to the wise to err. PROM. He has urged this message on me who foreknew it ; but it is nothing dishonourable for an enemy to suffer evils from his enemies. Let, therefore, the wreaths of the forked lightning be hurled against me ; and let the air be disturbed by the thunder, and by the convulsion of wild winds ; and let the fury of their blast shake by the very roots the earth from its foundations, and in the tempest of tumultuous waves confound the billows of the sea, and the paths of the stars through heaven ; and head- long to the gloomy Tartarus let him cast my body in the resistless eddies of necessity ! for it is still beyond his power to deprive me of life ! MERC. Such counsels and words you may hear from the insane ; for in what respect does he fall short of delirium, if even in misfortune he does not moderate his rage ? But mysterio celebrabantur." GARBIT. " Hoc vult Mercurius, nullus plane tibi erit finis aerumnarum. Conditionem enim liberationis addit, quae nullo pacto erat expectanda. Similis figura dictionis in jllo Teren- tiano, Andr. 1. 2- Verberibus caesura te in pistrinum, Dave, dedam usque ad necem; Hac lege atque oinine, ut, si te hide exemerim, ego pro te molam." SCHUTZ. Butler supposes that the allusion is to Hercules; which is still more unsatisfactory than the former explanations ; for the secret of his deliverance, which Prometheus so carefully guarded, was of course un- known to Mercury. The Scholiast explains the passage, by saying, that whoever attempted to relieve Prometheus, should himself be sent to the shades of Orcus, and the dark abyss of Tartarus. It is quite clear, from the text, that this is not its natural interpretation ; but it is equally difficult to suggest any other that will remove the obscurity. 42 .ESCHYLUS. do you at least, who sympathize in his sufferings, depart hence with speed to some other place, lest the hoarse bel- lowing of the thunder distract your minds. CHORUS. Speak, and advise something else, to Which you may be able to persuade me ; for you have here interweaved a counsel which is by no means to be endured. How can you exhort me to practise what is base ? Along with this sufferer, I am willing to meet his fate : for I have learned to hate those who are untrue to their friends, and there is no pest which I abhor more than faithlessness. MERC. But do you bear in mind my warnings ; and do not, when overtaken by calamity, accuse fortune, nor ever say that Jove has precipitated you into unforeseen disas- ter : no truly, but you have precipitated yourselves ; for knowing your fate, and not on a sudden nor in secret, you are about to be entangled, through your folly, in the inextricable trials of calamity. PROM. And truly, in deed, and no longer in word, the earth hath been shaken ; and the deep-resounding roar of the thunder bellows past us, and the volleyed flames of lightning break from the clouds, and the whirlwinds raise the eddies of dust, and the blasts of all the winds are in wild commotion, arraying against each other their conflict- ing storms, and the sky hath been confounded with the sea. Such a power of Jove's awakening fear is manifestly di- rected against me. O dread divinity of my mother Earth ! O firmament of heaven, that diffusest thy common light to all ! ye behold the wrongs I suffer ! THE SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. ETEOCLES. MESSENGER. CHORUS OF VIRGINS. ISMENE. ANTIGONE. HERALD. THE SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. ETEOCLES. YE citizens of Cadmus, it becomes him to deliver season- able counsels, whoever is the guardian of affairs in the vessel of the state, directing aright its helm without lulling his eyelids to repose. For if our fortunes prosper, all is ascribed to the God ; but if, on the other hand which may Heaven forbid! calamity should befall us, the name of Eteocles would alone be loudly resounded through the city by the people, in tumultous reproaches and lamenta- tions : of which, may Jupiter, in accordance with his name, prove the averter from the city of the CadmaBans ! But it behoves you now, both him who hath not yet attained the flower of youth, and him who through age hath passed his prime, buoying up the full vigour of the body and each in the manner that befits the season of his life to assist his country, and the altars of his country's Gods, so that their honours may never be defaced, and his children, and the land that gave him birth and reared him with fondest affection. For your country, enduring all the labour of your nurture, hath brought you up, since you first planted your infant steps on her friendly soil, to dwell within her borders in valour and faith, that ye might be ready to her aid in emergency like this. And now, indeed, up to this period, our fortunes go well ; for to us already, so long in- vested within these walls, the war for the most part succeeds favourably, by the blessing of the Gods. But now, as the 46 /ESCHYLUS. prophet declares, the feeder of birds 1 , passing in array be- fore his ears and mind * their auguries, without the aid of fire, by the skill of his unerring art he that is gifted with knowledge of such oracles declares, that a great attack of the Grecians has been proclaimed for this night, and that they are planning stratagems against the city. But hasten all to the battlements and gates of the towers ; rush in your panoplies ; man the breast-work ; and take your station on the stories of the turrets ; and, firmly abiding at the outlets of the gates, be of good courage, nor dread too much the crowd of invaders : the God will grant the event to be prosperous. But I have also sent scouts and spies to watch their army, who, I trust, will not linger on their way ; and having heard their report, I shall not be surprised by any stratagem. MESSENGER. Most gallant Eteocles, king of the Cadmaeans, I come from the army, bringing clear intelligence of their pro- ceedings ; and I myself am an eye-witness of what I relate : for seven chiefs, impetuous leaders of the host, having slain a bull above a shield of sable rim, and dipping their hands in the blood of the victim, swore by Mars and Bellona and blood-thirsting Terror, that either, working the downfall of our walls, they would sack by force the city of the Cadmaeans, or, dying, would mingle their blood with the dust of this land 3 . And they wreathed with their hands, ( J) " In verbis ouav&v frrrijp explicandis infelix est Schiitz., qui propterea sic vocari Tiresiam putat, quia aves cicures aluerit, ex quibus auspicia caperet, nee felicior Schwenk., qui ab avibus carne sacrificiorum alendis hoc nomen eum traxisse opinatur. Recte vidit Wunderl. p. 193. eum avium dommum vocari, quatenus ex iis vaticinandi facultatem habebat." WE L LATTER. (2) Tiresias was punished by Minerva with blindness, because he had been so presumptuous as to gaze upon her naked charms. His mother Chariclo interceded in his behalf; but the Goddess was unable to restore his sight ; and therefore gave him, as a compensation, the faculty of understanding the voices of all birds. Divination by fire, and other ocular signs, were, of course, beyond the reach of his art. (3) This description has been quoted by Longinus, with warm praises of its SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 47 around the chariot of Adrastus l , memorials of themselves to their parents at home, shedding the tear : but no sign of pity appeared in their looks ; for their minds, enkindled by courage, breathed only of iron purpose, like lions from whose eyes glares the spirit of battle. And the informa- tion of these circumstances is not protracted by delay ; for I left them casting lots, how each, as it fell to his fortune, should lead onward his squadron to the gates. Therefore quickly station at the outlets of the gates the chosen and braviest warriors of our city ; for already the army of the Argives is advancing in full armour, and hastening amid clouds of dust, while the white foam from the snortings of their steeds sprinkles, with its gouts, the plain. But do you, like the prudent pilot of a ship, provide for the security of the city, before the blasts of Mars burst on it ; for the wave of the army now roars along the plain 2 : and embrace, in what you do, the quickest opportunity : and I, for the fu- ture, will employ my eye in faithful watch by day 3 , so that, learning from my clear intelligence the motions of the army without the walls, you shall be secure from danger. ETEOCLES. O Jove ! and Earth ! and ye Gods who pos- sess our city ! and thou curse of our race, the potent fiend invoked by my father ! do not, I pray, destroy utterly from its foundations, in captive ruin, a city that utters the lan- guage of Greece, nor the hearths of our homes ! O never, beneath a yoke of slavery, bind a land of freedom and the city of Cadmus ; but prove our defence ! For I trust that I its sublimity. There is an attempt in the Lysistrata to turn it into ridicule ; which only displays the ill-nature without the usual wit of the author. (1) It had heen predicted by Amphiaraus, that, of the seven chiefs, Adrastus alone should survive the war. His chariot is therefore selected to bear home the last gifts of his fated companions. (2) " Nemo sane belli impetus et pericula descripsit fortius et melius qukm hie bellator noster fortissimus, ^Eschylus ; imaginibus verb utitur, quae ut plurimum admirationis et terroris incutiunt, quippe a ventorum marisque turbati impetu translatis." BURTON. (3) " Quia antea noctu exploravit, v. 29." STANLEY. 48 AESCHYLUS. speak for our common interest; since a city in prosperity pays honour to the Gods '. CHORUS. I mourn for these dangers, so fearful and mighty. The army, leaving its camp, is poured against us ; and hither- ward flow their vast troops of cavalry, in front of the array. The dust that appears in the air convinces me ; a silent messenger, but true and certain in its tidings. The sound of clanging hoofs on the plain approaches to startle our repose, even now more nearly is wafted through the air, and deepens in its din, like some resistless torrent that tears its mountain channel. Oh ! oh ! oh ! O Gods and Goddesses, avert the coming evil! for the bands, that wave their white shields beyond the walls, now rush on with shouts in goodly array, directing their course to our towers. Who then, of Gods or Goddesses, will deliver us ? who then stand to our defence ? Before which statues of the Gods shall I fall ? O ye blessed Powers, seated on your glorious thrones, now is the moment to cling as sup- pliants to your images ! Why then, in this height of our misery, do we delay ? Hear, or hear ye not, the din of shields ? When, if not now, shall we betake ourselves to the suppliant offering of robes 2 and chaplets ? I see the sound ! that clash was of no single spear. What dost thou design, O Mars, ancient God of our country ? wilt thou betray this, thine own land ? O God of the golden helm, look down from heaven, look down on this city, which thou erst didst fix in thy fond affection ! O Gods of the country, whose temples are within these walls, behold, O all behold this band of virgins imploring you to escape captivity! for the tide of warriors with waving crests chafes around the city, impelled before the blasts of Mars. (1) *E^ 5" d.Ko\ovOf'i j8 \riffrov ij0os rfj ei/ri^ia, on rrjs TI^TJS. Arist, Rhet. II. 19. (2) " Interea ad templum non aequae Palladia ibant Crinibus Iliades passis, peplumque ferebant Suppliciter tristes." Virg. Mn. 1. 479. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 4!) But, O Father Jove, thou perfect God, with all thy power avert our subjection to the foe ! for the Argives are investing the city of Cadmus, and fear of their martial arms pervades me ; and the bits that are bound through the jaws of their horses sound dismally of slaughter ; and seven chiefs, the noblest of the host, stand at the seventh gate 1 , in spear-proof armour, each having obtained his station by lot. But do thou, O heavenly Power, whose joy is in the battle Minerva, daughter of Jove, arise to defend our city ! And O Neptune, inventor of the steed, who rulest the ocean with thy trident, that smites its mon- sters, do thou grant us a release from our terrors ! And do thou, O Mars, alas ! alas ! protect the city that bears the name of Cadmus, and manifestly prove thy regard for it ! And do thou, O Venus, who first gavest birth to our race, avert these calamities ! for from thy blood we are sprung 2 . Giving voice to prayers that implore thy hea- venly aid, we now approach thee. And do thou, O Ly- caean Apollo, justify thy name 3 on the host of the enemy, moved by the cry of our groans ! And do thou, O virgin daughter of Latona, beloved Diana, propitiously assume thy bow ! Oh! oh! oh! oh! I hear the din of chariots around the city. O awful Juno ! the boxes of the loaded axles resound ; the air rages with the whizzing spears. What will our city suffer ? what will become of it ? and to what issue will the God conduct its fate ? Even now, O dear Apollo ! the shower of stones, hurled by the light- armed of the enemy, assails our battlements 4 . At the (1) Thomas Magister is followed by Stanley and Schiitz in translating e /35oV, septem, instead of septimus ; which is its usual and literal mean- ing. The point seems clearly to be settled against them, in the excel- lent note of Valckenaer, quoted by Blomfield, p. 15. (2) Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, married Harmonia, the daughter of Mars and Venus : the Chorus, therefore, avail themselves of the plea of consanguinity, to invoke the aid of both their divine progenitors. (3) By proving a wolf to the enemy ; a pun on the epithet " Lyccean," which cannot of course be translated. (4) " Quanquam Pauwius more suo acriter urget, haec de lapidibus e nuiris in hostilem exercitum jactis intelligenda esse ; verum tamen est, E quod 50 AESCHYLUS. gates is heard the clash of the hrazen shields ; and there is the Sacred Band, commissioned by Jove, that brings war to its close. But do thou, O blessed Queen, amid the battle in defence of our city, rescue the seat of the seven gates ! O ye Divinities present to save, ye perfect Gods and God- desses who defend the towers of this land, do not, in the strife of the spear, betray the city to an army whose lan- guage is not ours 1 ! Listen to these virgins! listen, in justice, to the prayers they offer with uplifted hands ! O friendly Powers, do ye, walking around our walls as their guardians, prove how well ye love this city ; and shew your regard for the religious observances of the people ; and, regarding them, protect them with your favour ; and forget not, I pray, the willing sacrifice offered in the public rites of the city ! ETEOCLES. I ask of you, ye intolerable creatures ! if it be best and most likely to save the city or inspire confi- dence in our beleaguered troops, thus falling down before the images of the Gods who guard our city, to shriek and clamour, ye objects of hatred to the wise 2 ? Neither in quod Heathius vidit, significari potius imbrem lapldeum ab hostibus in summa propugnacula missitm. Prirnum enim utitur poeta verbo epx< Te "? non dipifTcti, aut simili. Deinde exterritas mulieres, prse metu vix sui com- potes, prout meticulosorum mos est, ad ea soluvn attendere consentaneum est, quae terrorem augere possint, non ad ea quse spem hostium impetum propulsandi ostendant." SCHUTZ. (1) Commentators have been puzzled to reconcile this expression with the appeal made by Eteocles, v. 72. in behalf of a city 'EAAaSos fyOdyyov xiov. Pauw supposes frepo^vcp only to allude to the dissension of opinion, or difference of voices between the contending parties; while Schutz and Heath consider the expression warranted by the dissimi- larity of the Argive and Boeotian dialect. The interpretation of Butler is the most simple, as well as satisfactory : " At vero fTepoQwixp tantum paulo gravius dictum ad miserationem pro alieniyena vel hostili." (2) " Potest vel ad virgines referri, ut v. 166. 6p{/j./j.ar' OVK avacrxfrd' vel ad ipsum sermonem et ejulatus virginum, sicut Scholiastes accepit, et Grotius, qui hunc versum sententiam fecit. Rectius fortasse ad mulieres; ut sit sententia, vos 6pffj.fjMr' OVK avacrxeTci, vos inquam, ffaQpfotav fjiunj/j.a.Ta interrogo." STANLEY. " Fateor tamen mihi etiamnum perplacere eorum sententiam, qui ad aveiv, \ai, has voces referendas judicant." BLOM- FIELD. The interpretation of Stanley is clearly to be preferred. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 51 adversity nor in beloved prosperity, may I be fated to dwell with womankind : for in power, their arrogance is not to be endured; and in fear, they are a still greater evil to a house or city. And now, hurrying in these dis- orderly flights, ye spread, by your clamours, a heartless cowardice among the citizens, and assist in the greatest degree the cause of the enemy ; while we within are ruined by ourselves. Such are the benefits you may reap from dwelling along with women. But if either man or woman, or other between these names', shall disobey my com- mands, the sentence of death shall be resolved against them, and they shall not escape the destruction of public stoning. For the works of war are a care to men : let not a woman take counsel for them 2 : but keeping within, she does not create mischief. Have you heard, or not heard ? or do I speak to the deaf? CHORUS. O dear son of CEdipus, I trembled as I heard the din of the sounding chariots, when the naves of the circling wheels loudly rattled ; and as I heard the guiding bits, that are forged in the fire, ceaselessly champed in the mouths of the horses ! ETEOCLES. What then? Does the mariner attain the means of safety by flying from the rudder to the prow 3 , when his bark is labouring amid the billows of the ocean ? CHORUS. No ; but I came with haste to the ancient images of the Gods, placing my trust in their divinity, when arose the sound of the sleet of death descending at the gates. Then, in truth, was I impelled by fear to sup- plicate the blessed Gods, that they would stretch forth their power to save our city. (1) " Locum verto, Vir etfcemina, el quicquid inter hcec nomina, omit to ; i.e. pueri, virgines, &c." BLOMFIELD. (2) 'AAA' ij olKovlovaa. rot ffavrijs tpya Koptfe 'iffTOV T, ^\OKOT1)' T, KO.I Ct/U^HTToAOieTl Kf\Uf "Epyov firoixf/j.ovs T' tjUou'y, 'Eprin'ta fdp tt6\iv STU.V Xel/3j) KOKTJ, Nocrfl rd rois, ovs T' alvos oTOt)s rlci'TaTCM /cAafbwra /.taAa \iyv, irorvia. pyTTjp' Ov ydp ?x 61 ttlOMNffaf tirapittffai, Afoschus, Idyl, S 7 . 21. (2) " Erat Ogyges rex perantiquus, quern alii Attica;, alii Thebarum regem constituunt, in quibus irv\as 'tiyvyias volunt ab illo sic dictas, ip- sam urbem Ogygiam : unde Statius bellum hoc Ogygium vocat, VII. 33. Propter verb regis illius antiquitatem, antiqua omnia vocabantur uyvyia." STANLEY. 56 AESCHYLUS. before they have known the rites of love that crop its bleeding flower. But why should I dwell on such scenes ? I affirm, that the dead are happier in their lot than the living: for when a city is subdued, alas! alas! alas! many and sad are the calamities it endures : one drags away or kills another, or in a different direction bears fire; the whole city is sullied by smoke; and Mars, de- stroying the people and polluting piety, vents all the breathings of his rage : tumultuous clamours pervade the city ; and against its walls approaches the engine to storm the towers : man is slain by man, with the spear ; and the cries of infants at the breast are murmured inarticu- lately, being choked with blood ; and rapine begins, ac- companied with eager running through the streets : one, as he bears away the booty, gives the watchword to another ; and the spoiler who hath been luckless calls on his fellow, wishing to have him as a partner, but neither desiring a less nor an equal share. What of these calami- ties is it possible (o paint in words? The stores of various produce, being scattered on the ground, give pain to the beholder, and bitter is the countenance of the stewards of the house ; and the gifts of earth, indiscriminately mixed, are borne away in vast and unvalued streams : and the youthful handmaids are first made acquainted with sorrow, in consequence of a hostile victor having gained command of their wretched and enslaved embraces ; so that I trust life's gloomy close will first arrive, to bury beneath its tide our deeply-mournful woes. SEMI-CHORUS. The spy, as it appears to me, my friends, brings to us some new intelligence from the army, urging in haste the chariot-like speed of his steps. SEMI-CHORUS. And here, in truth, comes the king himself, the son of CEdipus, at an opportune moment, to hear the tidings of his messenger ; and his haste also does not suffer his steps to be composed. MESSENGER. With your permission, I will relate, from my certain knowledge, intelligence of the enemy ; and how each, by lot, has obtained his station at the gates. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 57 Tydcus, indeed, already rages at the Prcetiam gates; but the prophet 2 will not permit him to pass the stream of Ismenus, because the sacrifices are not propitious. But Tydeus, madly impatient, and thirsting for the battle, sends forth his shouts like some serpent hissing in the mid-day heat 3 ; and he assails with reproach the wise prophet, son of (Ecleus, for dallying through cowardice with the approach of death and battle. Loudly uttering such taunts, he waves on high the three o'er-arching plumes that crest his helmet ; while the bells, wrought of brass, within his buckler, ring forth the note of fear. On his shield he bears this arrogant device the sky em- blazoned as bright with stars ; and the bright full moon, the eye of night and glory of the heavens, shines conspi- cuously in the middle of the shield. Displaying such madness in the vaunting bearings of his arms, he shouts his war-cry by the banks of the river ; and burning for the fray, he awaits its onset like some steed champing the bit, which, when it hears the sound of the trumpet, rushes for- ward to the war. Whom will you appoint to encounter this leader ? Who, when bolt and bar give way, may be held sufficient to defend his station at the gates of Prcetus ? ETEOCLES. I should not be inclined to fear any orna- ments of an enemy; nor do devices inflict wounds 4 . The crest and the bells pierce not, without the spear ; and even this night, which you describe as blazing on his shield with the stars of heaven, may haply, in a certain signification, (1) So called from a certain Prostus, who, being driven out from Thebes by Acrisius, fixed his abode before the gate, which in after-ages bore his name. See Paus. IX. 12. ( ( 2) Amphiaraus. (3) " Ecce inter medios patrise ciet agmina gentis Fulmineus Tydeus, jam ketus et integer artus, Ut primum strepuere tubae, ceu lubricus alta Anguis humo verni blanda et spiramina solis Erigitur liber, senio et squalentibus annis Exutus, ketisque minax interviret herbis !" Slat.Theb.lV.9'2. (I) " Non eiiiui cristas vulnera facere ; et per piota atque aurata scuta transire Ilomanum pilum." Liv. X. 39. 58 ^SSCHYLUS. be prophetic of his doom : for if the shades of night shall settle on his dying eyes, this haughty device will rightly and justly fulfil the omen of its name on him that wears it, and he shall predict against himself the import of these boasting signs'. But I will oppose to Tydeus the vir- tuous son of Astacus, as the defender of our gates ; a hero of noblest soul, who honours the throne of Modesty, and hates the words of the proud ; for he is slow to what is base, but is not wont to be a coward in action. His lineage is derived from the dragon race, whom Mars spared ; and Melanippus 2 is, in truth, a son of this soil : but Mars will de- cide the event in the hazard of the die. In the mean while, as being truly of the same blood, he is with justice sent forth to ward the hostile spear from the mother to whom he owes his birth. CHORUS. May the Gods now grant my champion to prosper, since he advances, as becomes him, to fight in defence of his country ! But I tremble on account of my friends, lest I see their deadly fate, as they fall. MESSENGER. May the Gods indeed grant that he prosper, as you pray ! But Capaneus has obtained, by lot, his station at theElectran gates ; a giant he 3 , of even loftier bearing than the other I before described, and his boasts are beyond the bounds of human pride. Against these ( 1) " Hunc versum vulgo male explicant : El ipse adversiis se conlumeliam vaticinaturtis esset. Neque melius Schiitz., cum quo facit Schweuk. : El ipse secundum suam ipsius insolenliam vaticinabilur. Sensus hie videtur : El ipse superbiam illam, i.e. superbum illud signum, vaticinium vel omen in se ipsum fecerit." WELLAUER. (2) Melanippus was successful in the combat, and slew his antagonist : "Astacides Menalippus erat, nee prodidit ipse, Et vellet latuisse manum, sed gaudia turmae Monstrabant trepidum, nam flexus in ilia Tydeus Submissum latus, et clype'i laxaverat orbem." Slalius, VIII. 7 15. It is probable that he also fell himself in the battle ; for Pausanias makes mention of his tomb, as being situated without the Proetan gates, on the road to Chalcis. (3) " Unus ut e sylvis Pholoes habitator opacae, Inter et vEtnaeos aequus consurgere fratres." Slalius, Theb. III. 604. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 59 towers he utters threats, which I pray the God to frustrate ! for he declares that he will sack the city, whether the God be willing or not ; and that not even the angry bolt of Jove, hurled down to earth, should restrain him in his course 1 ; and he compares the lightning and the bolts of thunder to the mid-day heat of the sun. He has for his device a naked man bearing fire, who is armed with a blazing torch in his hands, and says, in golden letters, i WILL BURN THE CITY. Against such a warrior send . Who will encounter him ? Who, without fear, will await the attack of this boastful chief? ETEOCLES. In his case, also, a second advantage is pro- duced, in addition to the former 2 . Of the vain pride of men, the tongue proves the true accuser. But Capaneus utters threats, which he is prepared to execute, to the dis- honour of the Gods; and practising his tongue in unwise exultation, he, though a mortal, vents his tumid boasts to be heard by Jove in heaven. But I trust that the fire- breathing bolt of thunder will descend with just vengeance on his head 3 , its flames in nought to be compared with the mid-day heat of the sun. But an opponent hath been chosen to meet him, even though he be so threatening in his words ; a gallant spirit, the mighty Polyphontes, one whom we may trust to maintain our defence, if favoured (1) " Capanei apud inferos etiam in Jovem ferocientis praeclaram de- scriptionem habes apud Dantem in Divina Commedia Infern. Cant. XIV. unde imagines quasdam mutuatus est Miltonus noster in Paradis. Amiss. lib. I." BUTLER. (2) " Intelligit autem idem fatum fore Capanei qubd Tydei." STANLEY. (3) We are informed by Euripides that his fate was such as Eteocles predicts: 'HSr; virfpfialvovra. yelffffa T(^e'wi/ BaAAet Kfpavv. Phcen, 1 187. And Vegetius, IV. 21. accounts on more common principles for the feet : " Qui scalis in obsidione urbium utuntur frequenter periculum sus- tinent ; exemplo Capanei, a quo primum scalarum propugnatio perhibetur inventa, qui tanld mole lapidum fuit obrutus a Thebanis, ut fulminibus dicatur extinctus." -9 60 JE S C H Y L U S. by Diana our guardian Power, and aided by the other Gods. Tell of some other, who has obtained his station at a different gate. CHORUS. May he perish who threatens such outrage to the city ! and may the bolt of thunder check his career, before he rushes within my home, and with conquering spear bears me away from my virgin chambers ! MESSENGER. I will now speak of him who hath next obtained his station at the gates. For Eteoclus was the third to whom the third lot leapt from the inverted brazen helmet, appointing him to lead his bands against the Neitan gates : and he turns upon the plain his steeds, that fret against their frontlet trappings, and pant to pour their fury against the gates ; and their bridles ring wildly, being filled with the breath of their snorting nostrils. But his shield hath been fashioned with no mean device : for a warrior, in full armour, is advancing up the steps of a ladder to the tower of the enemy, wishing to storm it ; and he too ex- claims, in the syllables of letters, that not even Mars should force him from the battlements. Against this leader send also an opponent on whom we may rely, to ward off the yoke of slavery from the city. ETEOCLES. I would willingly send such a man, and may it be with the favour of fortune ! for he hath already been sent, a hero who bears no boast to the war, Megareus, the son of Creon, who owns his lineage from the teeth of the dragon ; and who will not retreat from the gates, daunted by the mad noise of neighing horses, but, either dying, shall repay the debt of nurture to his native land, or, taking both the two men and the city on the shield, shall adorn with spoils the house of his father. Now boast of another, nor be unwilling to tell me. CHORUS. I pray that this chief may prosper, the cham- pion of our homes ! and that his adversaries may fail ; and, as they utter arrogant threats against the city, in the mad- ness of their souls, thus may Jove, the avenger, look down on them in his wrath ! SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. Cl MESSENGER. Another, the fourth, having the neighbour- ing gates of Onca 1 Minerva allotted him, stands by them, loudly shouting, the haughty bearing and giant form of Hippomedon. I shuddered as he moved around the vast circumference I mean the orb of his shield : I will not deny it. But he that made the device was no mean artist, who furnished this representation to the shield a Typhon, emitting from his fire-breathing mouth the dark smoke, the flickering brother of flame ; and the orbed boss of the hollow shield hath been made firm with wreaths of ser- pents. But he himself raised the shout of battle, and, in- spired by Mars, maddens, like some M a3iiad *, for the com- bat, flashing terror from his eyes. We must guard well against the attempts of such an enemy ; for fear is already excited at the gates by his boasts. ETEOCLES. In the first place, Onca Minerva, who dwells near our city, the neighbour of its gates, will, in hatred of the insolence of this man, repel him from her young, like some noxious dragon; and Hyperbius, the virtuous son of CEnops, has been chosen to encounter him, foe with foe, willing to question his fate in the crisis of fortune, and faultless in form, in courage, and in the array of his arms. Mercury has, with good reason, brought them together : for the hero is hostile to the hero with whom he will engage, and they will bring to the conflict hostile Gods on their shields : for Hippomedon bears the fire-breathing Typhon ; but on the shield of Hyperbius, father Jove is represented standing with his blazing bolt in his hand ; and no one has yet seen Jove in any conflict subdued. Such, then, is the friendship of the Deities ; and we are on the side of the victors, and they of the vanquished, if Jove at least be stronger in fight than (1) Minerva derived this appellation from a village of Bceotia, whore Cadmus had erected her statue. (2) " Quails commotis excita sacris Thyias, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho Orgia, nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithaeron." 62 JE S C H Y L U S. Typhon. But it is reasonable to suppose that the mortal antagonists will have corresponding fortunes ; and, in ac- cordance with the device, may Jove, who is represented on the shield of Hyperbius, prove his preserver ! CHORUS. I trust that he, who bears on his shield the adversary of Jove, the hateful form of the earth-born deity, an image abhorred both by mortals and the long- lived Gods, shall lay his head in dust before the gates ! MESSENGER. May it be so ! 'But I will now tell of the fifth, who is stationed at the fifth Borrrean gates, beside the very tomb of Amphion, the son of Jove ; and he swears by the spear which he bears, daring to hold it in higher reve- rence than a God 1 and dearer than his eyes, that he will lay waste the city of the Cadmeans, even in spite of Jove. Thus boasts the offspring of a mother whose dwelling was amid the mountains, a hero of beauteous aspect, and endowed with manly vigour in his youth ; for the down is just appearing on his cheek, and the thick hairs engendered by his ripening years begin to arise. But he, having a savage spirit, not in accordance with the name he derived from the virgin nymph a , and a stern countenance, abides at his station. Not without boasts, however, does he stand beside our gates ; for he brandishes on his brazen shield the disgrace of this city, the bright embossed figure of the ravenous Sphinx, affixed by studs to the orbed defence of his body ; and she bears in her talons a man, one of the Cadmeans, so that the greatest number of darts should fall on him 3 . But this youth, the Arcadian Parthenopaeus, (1) " Dextra, mihi Deus, et telum, quod missile libro." Virg. jEn.~K.773. (2) Parthenopaeus was the son of Meleager and Atalanta ; and derived his name from the circumstance of his mother having been one of the vir- gin attendants of Diana. Statius has also celebrated him for his beauty : " Pulchrior haud ulli triste ad discrimen ituro Vultus, et egregiae tanta indulgentia formae : Nee desunt animi, veniat modb fortior setas." Theb. IV. 251. (3) The figure of the Theban on the shield ; and not Parthenopaeus himself, as it has been interpreted by Heath. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 63 having come, seems as if he would not sell the fight, nor disgrace the distant journey of this expedition; and he, a hero such as I have described, having dwelt as a stranger in Argos, and now repaying to it the splendid recompense of his nurture, utters threats against these towers, which I pray the God to frustrate. ETEOCLES. Would that they may receive from the Gods the same doom that they design against us in these impious boasts ! for then should they surely perish, in utter ruin and misery. But there is opposed also to the Arcadian of whom you speak, a man whose tongue boasts not of prowess, but whose hand is awake to a warrior's deeds ; Actor, the brother of the chief I last mentioned ; and one who will not permit a boasting tongue, unseconded by action, to come within the gates and augment our evils ; nor will admit within the city him who bears on his hostile shield the image of that savage and hateful monster, who, being without, shall have no cause to thank him who at- tempts to bear her within, in consequence of meeting with many a blow beneath our walls. If the Gods be willing, I would gladly prove true in the event I foretell. CHORUS. The words I have heard penetrate to my heart; and the locks of my hair stand on end, as I hear the proud boasts of these vaunting and impious men. I there- fore pray that the Gods may destroy them in this land ! MESSENGER. I willnow, if you please, tell of the sixth, a chief of most modest demeanour, and yet unequalled in courage, the might of the prophet Amphiaraus. Sta- tioned at the Homoloian ' gates, he reviles with many re- proaches the valiant Tydeus" Denouncing him as a homi- (1) The Homoloian gates derived their name, according to one of the Scholiasts, from a daughter of Niobe. This explanation is more satis- factory than that which ascribes the honour of the title to the Homoloian Jupiter ; as we are still left in ignorance, by the latter, of the meaning of the epithet, as applied to the God. (2) Amphiaraus directs his reproaches against Tydeus, as being the chief instigator of the war ; which he had himself dissuaded, and of which his prophetic power enabled him to foresee the fatal termination. 64 JE S C H Y LU S. cide 1 , the disturber of the state, the principal author of calamities to Argos, the summoner of the Fury, the minister of slaughter, and the adviser that prompted Adrastus to these evils. And next approaching your brother, the mighty Polynices, with scowling eye, and twice dividing his name into syllables, he calls on him, and utters these words from his lips : " Truly it is a godlike deed, and by Gods esteemed, to give to devastation the city of your fathers and the Gods of your country, invading them with a foreign enemy ! But what plea of right shall staunch the fount of a mother's tears ? Shall thy native land, when conquered by the spear in consequence of thy exertions, ever conspire to aid thee ? I indeed shall fatten its soil, lying in a hostile land a prophet within the tomb. But now for the battle! I look not for a coward's death." Thus spoke the prophet, as he waved on high the shining orb of his brazen shield : but within that orb no device appeared ; for he does not wish to appear, but to be just 9 , cultivating in his soul those deep furrows from which spring the counsels of wisdom. I recommend to you to send wise and brave opponents to meet him, for terrible is the might of the warrior who reverences the Gods. ETEOCLES. Alas for the omen that unites a just man with that impious crew ! In all the affairs of life there is nothing more hurtful than to hold communion with the wicked, and no harvest of advantage is to be reaped from it. For either a pious man, having embarked in a vessel with mariners prone to violence and with some deed of deepest sin, perishes along with a race of men condemned by heaven ; or living, himself upright among fellow-ci- tizens who violate the laws of hospitality and disregard the Gods, having justly fallen into the same toils and (1) Tydeus was the son of (Eneus the king of Calydon, but had fled to Argos on account of having killed one of his kinsmen. (2) " Huic fabulse primum actse interfuit Aristides cognominatus Justus; qui ad htec verba, totius theatri oculos in se converses habuit. Plutarch. Apophtheg. lleg. et due. p. 186. Tale Sallustianum illud de M. Catone, Bell. Catil. c. 57. Esse quam vitleri bonus malebat." STANLEY. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 65 being struck with the scourge of the God, he sinks a victim in the common ruin. Thus this prophet, (I mean the son of GEcleus,) temperate, just, virtuous, pious, and famed for skill in his art, having, in spite of his better judgment, associated himself with companions impious in their deeds and arrogant in their words, shall, if Jove be willing, share in the overthrow of those who have under- taken this distant expedition in the vain hope of again re- turning. I therefore think that he M'ill not even approach to the gates ; not through fear or cowardice of dispo- sition, but because he knows that he must die in this battle, if there is to be fulfilment to the oracles of Apollo. But he is wont to be silent, or to speak what suits the oc- casion. Notwithstanding, we shall appoint against him the mighty Lasthenes a guardian of our gates, no friend to strangers, with the wisdom of age in his mind but the vigour of youth in his person, keen in the glance of his eye, and not slow with his hand to snatch from beside his shield his unsheathed weapon. But the success of mor- tals is the gift of the Gods. CHORUS. May the Gods, hearing my just supplications, favourably accord success to the city, scattering, in the deadly strife of the spear, the invaders of our country ! and may Jove, repelling them from these towers, slay them with his bolt of thunder ! MESSENGER. I will now relate of the seventh leader, at the seventh gate your own brother; what calamities he imprecates, and entreats, by vows, to befall the city ; that, having scaled its towers and been proclaimed king of the land, and having loudly raised the pasan of capture, he may encounter you, and, slaying you, die by your side ; or, if you live, repay, in the same manner, with exile, you who stripped him of his honours and drove him forth from the land. Thus the mighty Polynices exclaims, and ve- hemently implores the Gods of his race and of his native country to regard his prayers. But he bears a shield, fresh from the forge and light to the arm, with a double device attached to it ; for a certain woman leads under her 66 AESCHYLUS. temperate guidance a warrior embossed in gold and ap- pearing armed to the view ; and she says, according to the purport of the letters, " My name is Justice ; and I will both restore this man, and he shall obtain possession of the city of his fathers, and return to his home." Such are their devices 1 . But do you yourself now determine whom you think it best to send ; so that you may never blame me on account of my intelligence, and you may know your- self how to direct the city aright. ETEOCLES. O race of OEdipus, rendered frantic by heaven and the great abhorrence of the Gods ! O sad source from which I have sprung ! Now, too surely, (woe is me !) are the curses of my father fulfilled. But it is neither fitting to weep nor to lament, lest thence a more intolerable cause of sorrow should be engendered. But I say to Polynices, who hath rightly derived his name from conten- tion, that we shall soon know what his devices will pro- duce ; and whether the golden letters, that foolishly display on his shield the madness of his mind, will effect his return. If Justice, the virgin daughter of Jove, were present to his deeds and thoughts, this might haply be ; but Justice never regarded him with favour, nor claimed him as her own, neither at the time when he escaped from the darkness of his mother's womb, nor in his infancy, nor in his youth, nor in the thickening of the hairs of his beard ; nor do I deem she will now come to his assistance, in this unjust occupation of his native country : for Justice would most justly be held unworthy of her name, were she to join the cause of a man who is prone to extreme violence in his thoughts. Trusting to these hopes, I go, and will myself encounter him. Who may more justly claim this combat? I will engage in it, leader with leader, brother with brother, and foe with foe ! Bring, with all speed, my greaves, the armour of defence against the spear and stones ! ( 1 ) This scene, which is magnificent in its descriptions and general de- tail, is also curious, as affording us the earliest notice that is known of heraldic bearings. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 67 CHORUS. Do not, dearest of men, son of CEdipus, be like in temper to him whom you have so much reviled ! Let it suffice that the Cadmean citizens meet the Argives in battle ; for their blood may be atoned for : but when bro- thers die, each by the other's hand, there is no old age in- cident to such pollution. ETEOCLES. If any one must submit to evils, let it be without disgrace ; for this is the only gain that results to the dead : but from what is cowardly or base you can- not boast of any fair fame. CHORUS. And dost thou abide by thy resolution, my son ? O be not hurried away by the maddening rage for battle that fills thy mind, but banish the first emotions of baneful passion ! ETEOCLES. Since the God with all his power urges our fates to their close, let the whole race of Laius, hated by Apollo and destined to Cocytus, drift before the gale to its waters ! CHORUS. Too fierce is that cannibal desire that urges thee to seek the blood of slaughter that is forbidden to be shed, and bitter in the fruits of its retribution. ETEOCLES. For the cruel and fatal curse of my dear father presents itself before me with glazed and tearless eyes, suggesting the advantage of an early rather than a later death 1 . CHORUS. But do not you hasten its completion ; for you shall not be esteemed base, if you order well your life. The Fury disturbs not with her murky tempests the abodes of men from whose hands the Gods receive the sacrifice. ETEOCLES. We are already in a manner abandoned by heaven ; and the joy produced by our destruction is gratefully welcomed by the Gods. Why then should \ve any longer court a delay of death ? CHORUS. Even now, when the opportunity is presented ( 1 ) Commentators are not by any means agreed as to the meaning of this passage. Wellauer, the kst Editor of our Poet, takes it thus : " De- nuntlans lucrum, quod prius erit morle posteriore, i.e. victoriam, quam se- quetur mors, qui sensus, consultb obscuriiis expressus, aptissimus viiletur." F 2 68 ^SCIIYLUS. to thee ; since Fortune, veering to a late change of spirit, may yet visit thee, perchance, with more genial gales : but now her fury is at the height. ETEOCLES. For the curses of CEclipus have furiously burst forth ; and too true were the visions of the dreams of night that foretold the distribution of my father's wealth. CHORUS. O listen, though reluctant, to a woman's prayer ! ETEOCLES. Speak, then, that which I may permit ; and be brief as is fitting. CHORUS. Do not tread the path that leads to the seventh gate. ETEOCLES. You cannot turn by words the whetted edge of my purpose. CHORUS. The God, however, honours victory, even when obtained without glory '. ETEOCLES. It befits not an armed chief to approve of such a sentiment. CHORUS. Can you wish to shed the blood of your own brother ? ETEOCLES. If the Gods grant my wishes, he shall not escape unharmed. CHORUS. I shudder with dread of the Fiend that lays waste this house, a Goddess not bearing the trace of hea- venly nature, too truly felt, too sadly predicted ; lest now, listening to the prayers of a father, she fulfil the angry curses of the maddened (Edipus. This murderous con- tention of his children excites her aid ; and the Chalybian stranger, from the land of the Scythians, is dealing out the lots, a bitter divider of the wealth of their possessions, the ruthless sword, that but assigns them so much land for their dwelling as they shall occupy when dead, baffled in their hopes of a wider domain. But when they shall have fallen by mutual slaughter, each by a brother's hand, and the dust of the earth have absorbed the black and gory (1) " NJKT? KCUOJ hie no'n est victoria injusta, sed, ut bene Slanleius, in- ffloria, i.e. ab homine ignavo, et qui pericula ipse detrectat, aliorum virtute reportata." HEATH. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 69 clots of their blood, who shall bring the expiation ? who shall cleanse them from that stain ? Alas for the new sorrows of the house that mingle with its ancient ills ! For I speak of the old transgression of the race visited by a speedy pu- nishment; but it remains to the third generation; when Laius, (in spite of Apollo, who thrice announced from the central shrines of Pytho that if he died without offspring he should save the city,) being overcome by the persua- sions of his friends 1 , begat in his madness the author of his own death, the parricide CEdipus, who dared to plant in the forbidden field from which he sprung the germ of future bloodshed 2 . Madness united the infatuated pair; and like a sea, it rolls onward the waves of calamity, one subsiding as another rears its triple crest, and loudly beats against the stern of the city. But between us and destruction our towers extend their defence only for a slight breadth ; and I fear, lest, along with our princes, the city be subdued : for the ancient curses are fulfilled, and the sad reconciliation and its bloody close pass not away. The prosperity of inventive men, when enriched to excess, entails the necessity of casting overboard from the stern. For whom of men did the Gods and his fellow-citizens and the fruitful generations of mortals so much admire, as they honoured CEdipus, when he removed from this country the pest that destroyed its inhabitants ? But after he re- gained his senses, being grieved on account of his unhappy nuptials and impatient of suffering, he wrought, in the phrensy of his spirit, two evil designs ; with the hand that glew his father, he deprived himself of his eyes, that were more valuable to him than his children; and indignant on account of his stinted subsistence, he poured forth the curses of bitter imprecation on his sons, and prayed that with sword in hand they might one day divide their possessions : and now I tremble, lest Erinnys, whose feet are swift to shed blood, fulfil that prayer. (1) "A quibus ebrius factus cum uxore concubuit." STANLEY. ('2) In allusion to his sons, Eteocles and Pulynices. 70 .ESCIIYLUS. MESSENGER. Be of good cheer, ye virgins, daughters of our dames ! This country has escaped the yoke of slavery : the boastings of the men of violence have been humbled : O and the city is both past the dangers of ther storm, and in the many dashings of the waves hath not admitted their surge. Our towers remain proof against assault ; and we have fenced the gates with champions, who, in the single combat, bore them worthy of the trust. At six gates our fortunes, for the most part, have prospered ; but at the seventh, King Apollo has taken his place, the awful seventh leader, wreaking on the race of OEdipus the ancient in- fatuation of Laius. CHORUS. What unwonted 1 event has happened to the city? MESSENGER. The chiefs have died by mutual slaughter. CHORUS. Who ? what sayest thou ? I am distracted through terror of your words. MESSENGER. Now, composing yourself, hear my answer the children of (Edipus. CHORUS. Alas for my afflictions ! I am the prophetess of evils ! MESSENGER. Too truly are they laid low in dust ! CHORUS. And have they come to this ? Sad, indeed, is your intelligence ! yet still relate it. MESSENGER. Too fatally, as I have told, they fell, each by a brother's hand. CHORUS Thus a common fate was shared by both ! MESSENGER. Even the fate which destroys all their un- happy race. CHORUS. We may both rejoice and mourn at the event : rejoicing, that our country has been preserved ; but mourn- ing, that its princes, the two leaders, have divided all the (1) Nerf/coroj here, as well as in other passages of ./Eschylus, means more than new, which is the translation generally given of it, and implies, even in its most literal sense, novae indolis, or novi generis. Some strange and momentous consequence might be expected from the marked inter- ference of Apollo ; and the question of the Chorus very naturally points to such a conclusion. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 71 possessions of their wealth with the well-forged Scythian sword. And they shall gain of their territories only so much as they occupy in the tomb ; being hurried away to destruction, according to the dark omens of their father's curses. MESSENGER. The city is saved; but the earth hath drunk the blood of the royal brothers, who perished by mutual slaughter. CHORUS. O mighty Jove, and guardian Gods of our city, who manifestly defend these towers of Cadmus ! whether shall I rejoice, and wake the strains of triumph to the God that hath preserved our country from danger ? or shall I shed the tear for the wretched death of its ill-fated and childless chiefs, who, justifying too truly by their thirst of contention the omen of a name, perished in their impious designs ? O dark and fatal curse of the race of CEdipus! the chill of horror is curdling around my heart! With the phrensy of a Maenad I framed this dirge for their burial, when I heard that they lay dead amid their reeking blood, the victims of a mournful slaughter. How fatal in its omens was their encounter of the spear ! The import of their father's curses hath been fulfilled, and hath not failed in its effect : the counsels of the unbelieving Laius pervade to his posterity with their punishment : and anxious cares are felt through the city ; for the venge- ance of heaven hath not been predicted in vain. O ye lamented youths ! ye have wrought in this an incredible deed, and sufferings have visited you in sad reality. The proof is manifest ; and our eyes behold, what the messenger described, a twofold grief: the mishap of the two chiefs who perished by each other's hands, and the sufferings of the fate which they shared, are all now perfected. In what terms shall I characterize them ? how otherwise, than as being troubles upon troubles that never forsake this house? But do ye, O my friends! ply adown the tide of sorrow the speeding stroke of the hands on the head, which ever conducts through Acheron the sacred bark of T-l /ESCHYLUS. sable sails, whose freight is groans, and whose crew the dead, bearing it to that unseen shore that is never trod by Apollo, and to the abodes that are appointed for all living. But cease ; for here come Antigone and Ismene, to fulfil a mournful duty in singing the dirge for their brothers. I deem that in no equivocal grief they will pour from their lovely and shapely bosoms a strain that is worthy of their woe. But it is fitting, before they uplift their voices, that we should utter the dismal notes of the hymn of Erynnis, and chaunt to Pluto his hateful pagan. Alas ! ye that are the most unhappy in your brothers of all that bind the girdle around their robes, I weep, I groan, and, without deceit, pour forth from my soul its sincere sorrows ! SEM. Alas ! alas ! ye infatuated youths, who, deaf to the persuasions of your friends and unwearied in calamities, sought, beneath an evil destiny, to obtain by the spear the possession of your father's house ! SEM. Wretched, indeed, they were, who met with a wretched death, to the ruin of their house. SEM. Alas ! alas ! ye who overthrew the walls of your house, and saw a bitter reign as kings, have now been reconciled by the sword ! SEM. And the awful Fury of your father CEdipus hath fulfilled too truly his curses. SEM. Pierced through the left breast. SEM. Yes, and pierced through their kindred sides. SEM. Alas ! alas ! for your unhappy fate ! and alas for the curses of the dead repaying with death ! SEM. You speak of the mortal blow. SEM. I speak of them who were fatally wounded in their fortunes and their lives. SEM With silent fury, and with fatal discord, impre- cated by their father. CHORUS. But lamentation pervades even the city : its towers groan, and the land mourns through affection for its sons : and for their posterity remain the possessions on account of which contention, and death in the end, came on SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 73 the unhappy brothers. In the fierceness of their hearts, they divided their possessions, so as to obtain an equal share ; but the arbiter gave not satisfaction to their friends, nor did joy result from the strife. SEM. Pierced by the sword, here they lie : and prepared by the sword, there awaits them perhaps some one might ask, What ? the inheritance of the tombs of their fathers. SEM. Our heart-rending sorrow sends forth to them its deep notes from the house, the grief as the loss its own, with thoughts of woe and averse to joy, pouring forth tears in sincerity from the soul, which pines away in affliction, as I weep for these two princes. SEM. We may assert with truth of these unhappy youths, that they wrought many evils to the citizens, and to the ranks of all the strangers who fell thickly in the fight. SEM. Wretched was she who bore them, above all women as many as have been called mothers. Having taken her own son as husband, she brought forth these children ; and they have thus fallen by the mutual slaughter of kindred hands. SEM. Kindred indeed they were, yet deadly to the uttermost, in that unkind severing, in the phrensy of anger and the close of the strife. But their enmity has ceased, and their life-blood is mingled in the reeking earth ; and too truly they are of the same blood ! Fatal was the ar- biter of their contentions, the stranger from beyond the sea, the whetted sword rushing from the fire ; and Mars, making their father's curses true, proved a fatal and cruel divider of their wealth. Unhappy youths ! they have only obtained a portion of calamities inflicted by heaven ; and in the tomb their possessions of earth shall be bound- less. Alas ! ye have made this house teem with a thou- sand woes ; and at its fall these Furies wildly raised the notes of triumph on high, as its race gave way in utter rout and ruin. And the Fiend hath placed the trophies of Ate at the gates where they slew each other ; and having now made both a prey, hath ceased from havoc. 74 AESCHYLUS. ANTIGONE, ISMENE. ANTIGONE. Struck, you struck 1 . ISMENE. And you died, having slain. ANT. You slew with the spear. ISM. And by the spear you died. ANT. Inflicting anguish. ISM. And suffering anguish in return. ANT. Let the wail arise. ISM. Let the tears flow. ANT. Having slain, he shall lie among the dead. ISM. Alas ! alas ! ANT. My mind is maddened by grief. ISM. And my heart mourns within me. ANT. Alas ! you require all our tears. ISM. And you, too, are utterly wretched. ANT. By a friend you died. ISM. And a friend you slew. ANT. Double woes to tell ! ISM. And double woes to see ! ANT. Our calamities approach near to their calamities. ISM. And we sisters are near our brothers. CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! thou destiny of sorrow that load- est us with evils ! and thou awful shade 2 of CEdipus, dark Fiend, too truly thy influence is of mighty power ! ANT. Alas ! alas ! these calamities horrible to view (1) "In alternis quae sequuntur dictis observandum est, Antigonem semper de Polynice, Ismenen verb Eteocle loqui." SCHUTZ. (2) " Miror utrumque Scholiastem hoc accepisse, quasi (Edipus adhuc in vivis fuerit, cum in tola hac fabula nihil reperiatur quod id suadere possit. Gemina fuit veterum de hSc re sententia : alii, quorum Diodorus Siculus, tradunt (Edipi filios, cum ad setatem pervenissent, patrem suum coegisse ob dedecus non egredi domum, ipsos verb alternatim regnum ad- ministrasse : at ex Pausania et Suida constat fratres nondum imperium suscepisse, donee (Edipus vita cesserat. Priorem licet sententiam sequuti sint Sophocles et Euripides, nihil tamen exigit quin credam TEschylum posterioris fuisse. 2/ua et umbra de niortui manibus frequenlissime su- mitur." STANLEY. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 75 ISM. He displayed to me after his return from exile. ANT. Nor did he come back when he had slain. ISM. But after having been saved, he lost his life. ANT. Too truly he lost it. ISM. Yes, and deprived his brother of his life. ANT. Wretched race ! ISM. Wretched have been their sufferings. ANT. And wretched their griefs, in accordance with the omen of the name 1 . ISM. Their fortunes have been steeped in deadliest ca- lamity. ANT. Mournful to tell. ISM. And mournful to see. CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! thou destiny of sorrow, that loadest us with evils ! and thou, awful shade of CEdipus, dark Fiend, too truly thy influence is of mighty power ! ANT. You, for one, know it by experience. ISM. And you, too, have learned it no later. ANT. When you returned to the city. ISM. An adversary of the spear to your brother. ANT. Mournful to tell. ISM. Mournful to see. ANT. Alas ! what anguish ! ISM. Alas ! what evils to this house ! ANT. Alas! and also to this land ; but, above all, to me! ISM. Alas ! alas ! and still more to me ! ANT. Alas ! alas ! for our wretched sorrows. ISM. O king Eteocles, our leader ! ANT. O ye, who have been of all the most miserable ! ISM. Alas ! alas ! ye were driven, by phrensy, to ill. ANT. Alas! alas ! where shall we lay them in earth? ISM. Alas ! alas ! in the most honourable tomb. ( 1) " KySea nimirum pro fratribus, quorum cura nondum sorores dese- ruerat. 'Ojuww^o, quia ambo dulcissimo fratrum nomine compellandi erant." SCHUTZ. " Sed aliter Interpres Gallicus, et, ni fallor, rectius, cui praecessit." HEATH." Race accallee de maux diplorables, presages par ton nom (a Polynice). Saep jam supra vidimus jEschylum talibus allusionibus delectari." BUTLER. 76 ^SCHYLUS. ANT. Alas ! alas ! their slaughtered bodies shall lie beside our father. 1 HERALD. It is my duty to announce what has been approved of, and resolved upon, by the leaders of the people, in this city of Cadmus. It has been decreed to bury this body of Eteocles, on account of his good-will towards the country, with a friendly sepulture in its soil : for he met with death in the city while repelling the enemy ; and, free from pol- lution with respect to the sacred rights of his country, he fell without a stain, where it is honourable for the young to die. Concerning Eteocles, indeed, it has thus been com- manded me to speak : but it has been decreed to cast out the dead body of his brother Polynices, unburied, a prey to dogs ; since he would have brought ruin on this land of Cadmus, if some one of the Gods had not stood in oppo- sition to his spear : and even in death he shall be held pol- luted in the sight of his country's Gods, whom he dis- honouring, attempted to storm the city, by leading a foreign army against it. It therefore seems good, that he, being entombed with ignominy by winged birds, should receive his just reward; and that neither the labour of the hand in raising the mound attend his burial, nor that men honour him with the strains of shrill lamentation, but that he be disgracefully deprived of being borne to his funeral by his friends. Such resolutions have seemed good to the rulers of the Cadmeans. ANTIGONE. But I say to the rulers of the Cadmeans, that, if no other be willing to aid me in his burial, I will bury him, and will expose myself to the danger in performing this duty to my brother ! Nor do I feel (1) Mr. Thomas Campbell, in his Lectures on Poetry, ventures to re- mark of this sceqe, that " The lamentations of Antigone and Ismene over their brothers form a terrible duo, to which no translation has ever done, or probably ever will do, justice." If the authority were good, this dic- tum would be discouraging : but we have no hesitation in asserting, to the contrary, that the whole passage is, even in the original, full of unnatural absurdity, and alike unworthy of the subject and the Poet. SEVEN CHIEFS AGAINST THEBES. 77 ashamed to display this disobedience, in opposition to the commands of the State. There is a strong tie in the com- mon source from which we sprung, of our wretched mother and of our unhappy father : share therefore in his sorrows, O my soul ! with kindred affection, willing with the unwilling, living with the dead. But the ravenous wolves shall not mangle his flesh ! let no one suppose it ; for I myself, though a woman, will contrive for him a tomb, and a grave beneath the ground, bearing earth in the fold of my robe of fine linen, and with my own hands will cover him : let no one think the contrary : a skill equal to effect its purpose shall second my courage. HERALD. I bid you not act violently against the State, in this design. ANT. And I bid you not bring your idle messages to me. HERALD. The people, however, are severe, after having escaped from dangers. ANT. Severe indeed ! but still, he shall not be un- buried. HERALD. But will you honour with a tomb him whom the city condemns ? ANT. His fortunes hitherto have not been held in dishonour by the Gods'. HERALD. They have not, before at least he exposed this country to danger. ANT. Having suffered evils, he retaliated the same. HERALD. But his enterprise was directed against all, in- stead of one. Contention is the last Goddess to finish a dispute. ANT. But I will bury him : do not waste your words. HERALD. But know that you do it on your own coun- sel ; for I forbid it. (1) "Locus mihi sic interpretandus videtur: Num jam a Diis Inc dehmestatus est? ut w SiareTi/xTjTat positum sit pro TJreTi^Tou. Quare interrogationis notam addidi, quae vulgo abest. Iluic deinde interroga- tion! aptissimum cst quod respondet prseco." WEI.LAUEH. 78 .ESCHYLUS. CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! O fatal Furies, triumphant in the destruction of this race ! how utterly have ye extirpated the family of CEdipus ! What will become of me ? what shall I do ? what can I devise ? How shall I endure, neither to weep for your death, nor to conduct your body to the tomb ? I would willingly, but that I fear and shrink from the threats of the citizens. You 1 , indeed, shall have many a mourner ; but he 8 , the wretched, departs, unlamented, with only the sorrowful dirges of a sister. Who can endure such cruelty ? SEM. Let the city fulfil, or not fulfil, its threats against those who lament Polynices. We indeed will go ; and, leading the procession, will assist at his burial. For this grief is common to the people, and the State at different times approves of different maxims of justice. SEM. But we will accompany Eteocles, as the State and justice alike approve ; for, next to the blessed Gods and the power of Jupiter, he saved the city of the Cadmeans from being destroyed and fatally overwhelmed by the tor- rent of foreign enemies. (1) Eteocles. (2) Polynices. THE PERSIANS. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. CHORUS. ATOSSA. MESSENGER. GHOST OF DARIUS. XERXES. THE PERSIANS. CHORUS. WE are the Faithful Band left by the Persians who de- parted to the shores of Greece, the guardians of these wealthy seats 1 and their stores of gold, whom our king himself, Xerxes, the royal son of Darius, selected, on ac- count of eminence, to bear sway over the country. But my mind is already dreadfully agitated within my breast, through evil presage respecting the return of the king, and of his warlike bands that went forth richly arrayed in gold ; for all the strength of the land hath departed from Asia, and she 2 moans for the absence of her youthful hero. And neither does any courier nor horseman come to the city of the Persians ; who, forsaking Susa and Ecbatana and the ancient bulwarks of Cissia, departed on their way, some mounted on the steed, and some in ships, and some in the slow ranks of infantry, supplying the thick array of (1) The scene is laid in Susa, which, after the conquests of Cyrus, be- came famous for its wealth and splendour. Aristagoras described its royal treasures in such glowing colours, that he nearly tempted Cleomenes to undertake the invasion of Persia ; and when the haughty capital yielded in a later day to the arms of Alexander, the gold and silver that rewarded his victory exceeded even the inflamed expectations of Grecian cupidity. See Herod. V. 49. and Diod. Sic. xvii. 6. (2) We agree with Brunck in separating 'Mia from its compound, and making it the nominative to 0ai/f. This construction is more natural than the one adopted by Blomfield and Pauw, who refer back for the no- minative to flu/ios, and consider the intermediate clause to be parenthe- tical. Wellauer inclines to the same opinion ; but is so little satisfied with it, that he suspects the passage to be corrupt. G 82 AESCHYLUS. war : such as Amistres, and Artaphreries, and Megabazes, and Astaspes, leaders of the Persians, kings that own the sovereignty of the great king, rush to the war, the com- manders of a countless host, both those who quell by the bow and those who rein the steed, terrible in truth to behold, and desperate in the fight through their gallant glory of soul. And there is Artembares exulting in his war-horse, and Masistres, and the brave Imasus resistless with the bow, and Pharandaces urging onwards his steeds, and Sosthanes. And the great and widely-fer- tilizing Nile hath sent others Susiscanes, Pegastagon of ./Egyptian birth, and the mighty Arsames the ruler of sacred Memphis, and Ariomardus who bears the sway over ancient Thebes, and the dwellers in the marshes 1 , the skilful rowers of ships, and who are in numbers num- berless. And a crowd of luxurious Lydians 2 follow, who occupy throughout the wide continent the seats of their tribes, whom Mithragathes and Arcteus the brave, their princely leaders, and Sardis that shines with gold 3 , send forth mounted on many a chariot, in ranks of double and triple yokes, a spectacle terrific to behold. And they who dwell by the sacred 4 Tmolus are fixed in their purpose to impose on Greece the yoke of slavery, Mardon and Tharybis, anvils of the spear, and the Mysians armed with the javelin; and Babylon the city of gold sends forth in one vast crowd her mingled tribes, both the mariners that (1) " Paludibus profecti, quae insula Chemmide notantur, atque in Sebennyticum Bolbitinum, falsumque Nili ostium, defluunt." MULLER. (2) The luxury and effeminacy of the Lydians became proverbial ; and though in early times they were a warlike people, we may learn from Herodotus (1.94.) how greatly they had degenerated. (3) Sardis obtained its reputation for wealth from the famous trea- sures of Gyges and Crcesus, its early kings. Schiitz, in his usual trifling way, supposes the epithet iio\vxpvffot to be used in reference to the par- tides of gold washed down from Tmolus by the river Pactolus, which flowed through the streets of the town. (4) Tmolus is probably thus designated from having been honoured by the birth of Bacchus, when he was released from his second gestation in the thigh of Jupiter. THE PERSIANS. 83 embark in her ships, and warriors proud of the strength with which they draw the bow. And the bands that bear the sword follow from the whole of Asia under the dread command of the king. Such a flower of her sons hath de- parted from the realm of Persia, for whom all the land of Asia that reared them laments in the excess of regret ; and parents and wives, counting each day, tremble at the lengthening time. Already indeed the royal army, bear- ing destruction to cities, hath passed over to the opposite adjoining shores, having crossed by the raft with its fastenings of cables the Straits of Helle 1 the daughter of Athamas, after having placed a way 2 compacted by many a nail as a yoke on the neck of the sea. And the impetuous Ruler of populous Asia leads in two divisions, against every land, his more than mortal bands, trusting to the marshals of his infantry, and by sea to his firm and valiant captains; himself the peer of Gods, a hero whose lineage is derived from the seed of the golden shower 3 . But flashing from his eyes the dark glare of the bloody dragon, with many a warrior and many a mariner, and urging on the Syrian chariot, he leads his martial bands that subdue with the bow against men that are famed for the spear. And no one withstanding this mighty tide of men is of sufficient strength to exclude by firm bulwarks the resistless billows of the sea 4 : for the army of the Per- sians may not be encountered, and valiant is all the (1) The Hellespont derived its name from Helle, the daughter of Athamas king of Thebes, who, flying from the cruelties of her step- mother Ino, fell from the golden ram which Neptune had given her to assist her escape, and was drowned in the sea. (2) " Fama canit tumidum super sequora Xerxem Construxisse vias, multum cum pontibus ausus, Europamque Asiae, Sestonque admovit Abydo : Incessitque fretum rapidi super Hellespont! Non Eurum Zephyrumque timens." Lucan. II. 672. (3) The Persians claimed their descent and name from Perseus, the son of Danae. See Herod. VII. 61. (4) " Fluctum enim totius Barbarise ferre urbs una non poterat." Cic. ad Attic, vii. 4. G2 84 AESCHYLUS people 1 . But what mortal man shall escape the trea- cherous deceit of Heaven 2 ? who shall surmount it by the elastic step of an easy bound ? for courting him at first, as if with friendly intent, it decoys its victim into the thickest of the toils, whence it is impossible for man to escape by flight. For a fate from Heaven established of old and enjoined on the Persians to pursue such wars as lay waste towers, and the tumults in which the steed rejoices, and the destruction of cities. But they have taught themselves to look on the marine fields of the wide sea when tossed into foam by the gusts of the wind, trusting to cables of slender fabric, and to machines for transporting a people 3 . Therefore 4 my bosom, wrapt in gloom, is harrowed with fear, alas ! on account of this Persian army, lest the State shall learn that the mighty city of Susa is made desolate of her sons, and the walls of Cissia; (the crowd of women shall utter in responsive strain, alas ! giving voice to this word ;) and lest rending shall fall on the robes of fine linen. For all the people, either urging the steed or marching over the plains, have departed, like a swarm of bees, along with the leader of the host, having passed the promontory of the sea common to either continent and united by the bridge. But the nuptial couches are filled with tears through regret of absent husbands ; and each of the Persian dames, a prey to excessive grief on account (1) The Persians, as far as we have any accounts of them, appear to have been distinguished, in their earlier history, by great courage as well as success in arms. (2) Stanley considers this passage to refer to the vision which appeared to Xerxes in his sleep and encouraged him to undertake the expedition against Greece ; but it is more consonant to the spirit of the author to give a general interpretation to the reflections of the Chorus. (3) The Chorus are speaking indignantly of the innovations on " the wisdom of their ancestors ;" and we have therefore translated their words as if they had been used ironically, and not, according to Butler, as merely " an elegant periphrasis for ships." (4) " Tauro refer ad superiora 5o\ dirdrav 0eo, et quse sequuntur- Cum diu fuerimus felices, rerum vicissitudinem metuo, et rijv aaivovaw liolpav reformido." PAUW. THE PERSIANS. 85 of anxious longing for her beloved lord, having sent away the bold and warlike partner of her bed, is left in lonely misery. But come, ye Persians ! having taken our seats beneath this ancient roof 1 , let us employ prudent and well- pondered counsel, (for the occasion for .it is come,) how haply fares Xerxes, the royal offspring of Darius, being of our own race by his hereditary name*, and whether the shaft from the bow-string hath prevailed, or the strength of the pointed lance hath triumphed in the fray. But cease ; for here comes the mother of the king, and my queen, a light equal to the eyes of the Gods : I fall before her ; and fitting it is that all should address her with the words of salutation O Queen, who art unrivalled amid the shapely dames of Persia! hail thou aged mother of Xerxes and consort of Darius ! Thou didst share the bed of the God of the Persians ; and art too the mother of a God, unless its former fortune hath now forsaken our army. ATOSSA. For this reason I come, having left the gold-decked palace, and the common chamber where Darius and I reposed : and anxious care distracts my soul ; but I will relate to you a tale, being besides, my friends, of my own suggestion, by no means without fear 3 lest our great (1) " The scene of this tragedy is at Susa, before the ancient structure appropriated to the Great Council of State, and near the tomb of Darius." POTTER. (2) " Sensum recte explicat Scholiastes : o Hard irarepa avyytvfo rj/uv, TOUT' to-rli/, 6 eit irpoybvoiv. lOayfi^s, causam enim aff'ert Chorus, cur de Xerxe sollicitus sit, quod ex ipsorum gente et patre rege sit natus, eaque tanquara epexegesis vocabulo Aapeioytvijs apponitur." WELLAUER. (3) " Nullus dubito quin sola praepositio dird sit subaudienda. 'ATT' t/jLaurijs oSffa. dSefytcwros. Sed scopuni loci vix satis assecuti sunt inter- pretes. Metuere se ait regina, ne vetus ilia felicitas exercitum deseru- erit, eaque de causa advenisse, ut /wdov, somnium suum narret, quamvis et ipsa per se absque illo somnio, handquaquam sit timoris expers, &c. Nunc locum habes plane expeditum." BUTLER. We scarcely agree with the concluding sentence ; for though we have adopted the same interpretation, we cannot help thinking it a little forced. The whole speech labours under a considerable degree of obscu- rity, and, even where the meaning may be discovered, is harsh and devoid of elegance. 86 ^SCHYLUS. wealth, having swept too rapidly along, should overturn with its foot the prosperity which Darius raised on high, not without the aid of some God. Therefore there is in my breast a douhle unutterable care, lest no one hold in honour a store of wealth unprotected by men, nor that light shines to those who are devoid of riches so far as their strength would justify. For our wealth at least is not to be despised, but I have fear concerning the eye of these possessions : for I deem the presence of its master the eye of the house. Therefore, since these things are so, be my counsellors in this case, ye aged pledges of Persia's faith ; for all good counsels for me reside in you. CHORUS. Be well assured of this, O Queen of this land ! that you should not twice command either word to be spoken or deed to be done where our power was able to lead the way to completion 1 : for you call on us who bear you friendly feeling to be your counsellors in these diffi- culties. ATOSSA. I have been ever haunted, indeed, with many visions by night from the time that my son, having prepared his forces, departed with intent to devastate the land of the lonians. But I have never yet beheld any vision so distinct as during last night ; and I will describe it to you. Two women in fair attire, the one clad in Persian robes and the other again in Doric, appeared to rise before my view, by far the most graceful in stature of all living of their sex, and faultless in beauty, and sisters of the same race. And they dwelt in their native countries, the one having obtained by lot the Grecian, and the other the Barbaric* (1) It is strange that Blomfield should have been puzzled with this passage, in which, though the expressions are circumlocutory, the meaning is obvious. Wellauer translates it entirely to our satisfaction : " omnia, in quilus vis se mihi ducem prcebere vult." (2) The learned Germanus Valens Guellius has thus commented on this expression : " Desierat etiam apud Barbaros ipsa vox Qdpfiapos in- vidiosa haberi : nimirum in Persis jEschyli passim Persse Persarumque regina de sua regione loquentes fiappdpovs et pdpftapov ffrparov et Pappdpovs j'jjaj usurpant. This is a complete begging of the question ; and its ab- surdity THE PERSIANS. 87 land. These two, as it seemed to my eyes, created some quarrel with each other; but my son, having perceived it, restrained them, and soothed them, and yokes them beneath his chariot, and places collars on their necks. And the one, when thus equipped, carried her head proudly, and kept her mouth obedient to the rein ; but the other kept plunging, and tears in pieces with her hands the harness of the chariot, and hurries it away by force unchecked by the curb, and breaks asunder the middle of the yoke. And my son falls, and his father Darius stands by expressing pity for his misfortune ; but when Xerxes sees him, he rends the robes around his person. And such appearances, indeed, I affirm that I beheld during the night. But when I arose, and touched with my hands the fair flow of the fount, I took my stand beside the altar 1 , with the incense in my hand, wishing to offer the thick libation to the Gods the averters of ill, to whom these rites are due. But I be- hold an eagle flying towards the altar of Phoebus ; and I stood speechless, my friends, through terror ; and after- wards I spy a hawk pursuing on its track in rapid flight, and tearing the head of the eagle with its talons : but he did nothing else than, cowering, lend his body to the wound. These sights are terrible to me at least to behold, and to you to hear of: for ye well know, that my son, if blessed with success, would become a man of marvellous fame ; but if his fortunes be bad, he is not accountable to the State ; and if but preserved 2 , he is still equally the monarch of these realms. surdity is so manifest, that it is strange that Stanley should have quoted the remark with approbation, and stranger still that Butler should have followed him with the decisive note of Pauw before his eyes. This able critic sums up the matter in a very few words : " Bdpfiapov aptum est in ore jEschyli, sed ineptum in ore Atossse, id apertum : sic tamen im- prudens ./Eschylus etiam alibi." (1) " Hsec sunt ab Herodoto prorsus aliena, qui de Persarum sacris ritibus verba faciens, 1. 132. Otfre, inquit, j8w,uoi)s iroitvvrcu, otfrt irvp dva- Kalovffi, jue'XAoKres Qwiv" STANLEY. (2) This agrees with the doctrine of Aristotle, that dwXa/<}, or the safety of the monarch's person, is the object of tyranny. 88 /ESCHYLUS. ' CHORUS. We do not wish, O mother, either too much to alarm you by our words, or to restore your confidence ; but approaching the Gods as a suppliant, implore them, if you have seen any thing disastrous, to grant that it may be averted, but that what is favourable may be brought to pass, to you and to your children, to the city and to all your friends. In the next place, it is your duty to pour forth libations to Earth and to the dead ; and in soothing manner make these requests to your husband Darius, whom you say that you saw in the night, that he send what is good for you and your son from beneath the earth to light, and that the contrary of what is good 1 , being chained beneath the earth, lie buried in darkness. These things, on the suggestion of my mind", I have with kind feeling recommended to you ; and we judge concerning these circumstances that the Gods will in every respect make their issue favourable. ATOSSA. But you indeed/the first judge of these dreams, have, with friendly disposition at least, sanctioned this in- terpretation for my son and my house. May what is good then come to pass ! But when I have entered the palace, I will perform all these things, as you have prescribed, to the Gods and to the kindred shades beneath the earth. But I wish, O my friends I fully to learn this, in what part of the world they say that Athens is situated 3 . (1) The Chorus make use of this circumlocution in order to avoid a word of evil omen. (2) u vn6fi.avru dicitur is qui insita mentis prudentia usus, non divino numine afflatus, futura prsedicit." SCHUTZ. (3) Nothing can be more absurd, than that Atossa for the first time should be making such inquiries ; and the clap-trap purpose for which they were introduced has justly excited the censures of Pauw : " Haec frigent, et jEschylus absque ullo judicio ingessit, ut Athenas suas cele- braret. An nunc demum hsec sciscitabatur regina ? An de Athenis nihil ant eii inaudiverat ? an animus perterritus, et ad deorum averruncorum aras applicitus, haecce nunc poterat volvere ? Vident omnes verum esse quod, dico : sed ineptuli erant omnes Athenienses, ubi de Athenis suis aliquid crocitare poterant. Hoc ^Eschylum excusat, si communis error excusare possit." THE PERSIANS. 89 CHORUS. Far in the west, where the royal sun goes down. ATOSSA. But did my son indeed desire to take this city? CHORUS. Yes ; for all Greece would thus have become subject to the king. ATOSSA. Is there at their command any so great a number of men in their armies ? CHORUS. Even such an army as hath already been the cause of many calamities to the Medes. ATOSSA. And what other resources in addition to these ? Have they a sufficient store of wealth at home ? CHORUS. A certain fountain of silver belongs to them, the treasure of the earth 1 . ATOSSA. Whether does the arrow of the bent bow dis- play itself in their hands ? CHORUS. By no means: theirs is the close-thrusting spear, and panoply protected by the shield. ATOSSA. But what leader commands, and sways as a master, the host ? CHORUS. They are not called the slaves nor vassals of any mortal man. ATOSSA. How then can they abide the attack of invading foemen ? CHORUS. Even so as to have destroyed the vast and goodly army of Darius. ATOSSA. You say what is frightful to the thoughts of the parents of their invaders. CHORUS. But, as it appears to me, you shall quickly know the whole accurate account ; for the running of this man is obviously, to our perception, that of a Persian ; and he clearly bears the news of some event, either prosperous or disastrous to hear. MESSENGER. O ye cities of all the land of Asia ! O ye realms of Per- sia, and vast haven 2 of wealth ! how, by one blow, hath your (1) The silver mines at Laureium. (2) " AJIUTJJ' est porlus, statio. Et forte regiam urbem intelligit, ubi maximi divitiarum thesauri congest! erant ; vel latius Persici regni opu- lentiaui." BUTLEU. 90 AESCHYLUS. high happiness been laid low, and the flower of the Persians fallen and perished ! Ah me I it is a misery to be the first messenger of ill : but still it is necessary to disclose all their calamities to the Persians, for the whole army of Barbarians hath perished. CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! for these sad, sad, wretched, and unwonted evils ! Give vent to your tears, O Persians ! hearing this tale of sorrow. MESSENGER. You may, since at least every thing there has gone to ruin ; and I, for one, beyond my hopes see the light of return. CHORUS. This life, indeed, appears to have been pro- tracted too long to our aged years, to hear of this unex- pected calamity. MESSENGER. And I indeed, being present, and not hearing the account from others, can tell what evils were dealt out on the Persians. CHORUS. Alas! it was all in vain that the mingled weapons of every nation went forth from the land of Asia against a hostile land, the shores of Greece. MESSENGER. The strand of Salamis, and all the ad- jacent regions, are covered with the dead bodies of those who wretchedly perished. CHORUS. Alas! you tell of the bodies of our friends, tossed by the sea and steeped in its wave 1 , being borne in death along the double-shifting surface of the tide*. MESSENGER. For the bow was of no avail ; and all the host hath perished, overpowered by the attacks of the ships. CHORUS. Shriek forth the sad cry of bitter woe for the wretched Persians ! since they have managed every thing with fatal ruin ; alas ! alas ! our army being destroyed. (1) " Post TroAu/ScKpTj non intelligendum sanguine t ut Schol. voluit, sed undit." SCHUTZ. (2) Blomfield translates it, " on the ebbing and flowing surface of the sea ;" which is undoubtedly the correct, though not quite the literal meaning. Stanley renders the same words, " duplicibus tabulis navium confractarum ;" and Schvitz has been so obliging as to keep him in coun- tenance in this absurdity. THE PERSIANS. 91 MESSENGER. O name of Salamis, most hateful to hear ! Alas ! how I groan when I think upon Athens ! CHORUS. Yes, Athens is hateful to her foes ; we have cause to remember how, in our fruitless attempts, they made many of the Persian women childless and widowed. ATOSSA. I, wretched, have long since been struck dumb and stupified by these ills : for this calamity is so exces- sive, that one may neither tell nor inquire into our losses. But still it is necessary that mortals should bear with mis- fortunes, when the Gods inflict them. Speak therefore, and disclose all our sufferings yourself composed, however distressed at this affliction. Who is not dead ? And whom of the leaders of the people shall we lament, who, appointed to bear the ensigns of command, left at his death his bands without their chief 1 ? MESSENGER. Xerxes himself, indeed, both lives, and beholds the light. ATOSSA. You have declared, indeed, a great light to my house, and the brightness of day after the deep gloom of night. MESSENGER. But Artcmbares, the leader of ten thou- sand horse, is dashed against the rugged shores of the Si- lenians ; and Dadaces, the commander of a thousand, struck by the spear, leapt with light bound from the ship ; and Tenagon, the true-born and gallant chief of the Bactri- ans, has now his dwelling in the sea-beat island of Ajax. Lilasus, and Arsames, and Argestes the Third, being also overpowered beside the island abounding in doves', (1) Atossa, though anxious for her son, fears to inquire directly respecting his fate. (2) " Salaminem insulam Veneris in tutela fuisse ex Homero disci- mus, Hymn. IX. 4. ; unde probabile est columbas summS cura incolas enutrivisse, atque insulam us abund^sse : Veneri enim sacra haec avis." STANLEY. Butler has combatted this notion at some length, and has shewn pretty clearly that the Salamis mentioned by Homer must have been the city of that name in the island of Cyprus. He then adds, in explanation of the epithet : " Asperam et saxosam fuisse insulam illam, arboribus consitam, idedque columbarum nidis satis idoneam, in confesso est." 92 AESCHYLUS. butted 1 its rocky shores ; and Arcteus who dwelt near the fountains of Egyptian Nile, Adeues, Pheresseues the Third, and Pharnuchus, all fell from the same ship. Ma- tallus of Chrysa, the leader of numbers, having fallen, the chief in command over thrice ten thousand black horse, bedewed in the sea the tawny hair of his thick and shaggy beard, changing its colour for the purple dye ; and Arabus the Magian, and Artames the Bactrian, transferring his abode to a rugged land, there perished. Amestris, and Amphistreus who wielded an impetuous spear, and Ario- mardus the brave ******** causing sorrow to Sardis, and Sesames the Mysian ; and Tharybis the leader of five times fifty ships, a Lyrnaean by birth and a warrior of beauteous form, lies in wretched death, the victim of no happy fortune : and Syennesis 2 , peerless in valour, the prince of the Cilicians, having with his single arm caused the greatest distress to the enemy, in glory expired. Of the fate of such chiefs I have now made mention ; but I tell but a few of the many evils that are present. ATOSSA. Alas ! alas ! I hear these by far the greatest of ills, bringing disgrace to the Persians, and awakening shrill lamentations ! But tell me this, returning to your tale, how great was the number of the Grecian fleet, so that they dared to encounter the Persian host with the assault of the beaks of the ships? MESSENGER. Be well assured, indeed, that in point of numbers the Barbarian fleet had the advantage ; for to the Greeks the whole number of their ships was but three hundred, and besides these there were ten of superior excellence ; but to Xerxes (for I know it) the number of (1) " Cornibus petierunt terram duram : capitibus acti sunt in terrain et saxa. Comicum hoc, ut et *-oAeI praecedens, alterumque irjSrjfia novtyov (K vfws d^TfAaro. To irptirov non servat tragicus : nam nuntius lugenshic loquitur: pueri sentiunt, et revera nihil ridiculum magis." PAUW. The absurd passage which immediately follows, about the beard of Ma- tallus, may justly come in for a share of this censure. (2) The common appellation of the Princes of Cilicia, used in like manner with the Labynetus of Babylon and the Pharaoh of Egypt. THE PERSIANS. 93 those which he led was in truth a thousand, while those which surpassed in speed were two hundred and seven. Such is the account of them. Do we seem to you to have been inferior in point of numbers in this battle ? We were not ; but it was some God that thus destroyed the army, depressing the scales with no equipoise of fortune. ATOSSA. The Gods preserve the city of the Goddess Pallas 1 ! But is, then, the city of Athens still unsacked ? MESSENGER. Yes ; for whilst her sons survive, her bul- warks are secure 2 . ATOSSA. But tell what was the beginning of the naval conflict. Who commenced the fight ? the Greeks ; or my son, elated by the number of his ships ? MESSENGER. A fiend, or evil spirit, that from some quar- ter appeared, began, O Queen, the whole of our evils. For a Greek 3 , coming from the army of the Athenians, gave this information to your son Xerxes ; That, when the clouds of dark night should descend, the Greeks would not remain, but, leaping on the benches of their ships, would in various directions seek to preserve .their lives by secret flight. But he, the instant that he heard it, not being aware of the stratagem of the Greek 4 , nor that the Gods grudged his success, sets forth these commands to all the leaders of the fleet ; That, when the sun should cease to illumine the earth with his rays, and darkness tenant the temple of the sky, they should draw up in three divisions the thick array of their ships, to guard the outlets and passes of the murmuring sea, and station others in a circle around the island of Ajax; since if the Greeks should (1) " Atossa, quae antea de Athenis omnia ignorabat, ut vidimus supra, hie probe scit eas Palladi esse sacras. Quid ais ? haec belle cojiae- rent." PAUW. (2) " Combusto oppido, non muris sed viris civitatem constare pulchre dicit." MULLER. "AcSpes yoLp WAw, /col ov TS/XTJ, oi55t* vijes dvSpwv tcevai. Thucyd.VII.77. (3) " Cui nomen Sicinus. Astutissimum hoc Themistoclis commen- tum memorat Herodotus, VIII. 76. et Diodorus Siculus, XI. p. 251." STANLEY. (4) " Calliditas Graia, atque astus pollentior armis." Sil. 7taJ.xiv.338. 94 AESCHYLUS. escape from fatal destruction, having discovered some secret means of flight with their ships, it was announced to all that they should be deprived of their heads. Such commands he gave, moved by the impetuous violence of his mind ; for he weened not of the future how it was ordained by the Gods. But they, not in disorder, but with minds obedient to command, both prepared their evening meal 1 , and each mariner lashed his oar to the well-fitted oar-lock. And when the light of the sun had faded and night came on, each man lord 2 of the oar, and each who bore sway over arms, proceeded to his vessel ; and band kept cheering band in the ships of war, and they sail as each was appointed ; and through the whole night the commanders of the ships kept all their naval forces employed in sailing without intermission. And night ad- vanced, and the army of the Greeks did not at all attempt to sail forth by stealth in any quarter. But when Day, drawn by white steeds, had extended her empire over all the world, gladdening mortal light with her beams, first indeed a loud strain from the Grecians bade hail in mea- sured chaunt to Echo, and Echo at the same time flung back from the rocks of the island the inspiring note : and terror filled all the Barbarians, deceived in their expecta- tions ; for the Greeks did not then awake the hymn of the sacred paean as for flight, but as hastening to the fight with gallant confidence of soul: and the trumpet, with its clangor, inflamed all their bands ; and quickly, with the joint stroke of the dashing oar, they cleft the resound- ing surge. In a short time their whole numbers were dis- (1) " Persre semel tantum in die, idque ad ccense tempus, cibum ca- pessebant. Hinc facetum Megacreontis dictum, cujus meminit Herodo- tus, VII. 1 20. Abderitas Deos postulare suasit ut dimidium futurorum malorum a se propulsaretur; nam de prseteritis rnagnam se gratiam illis habere, quod rex Xerxes non bis quotidie cibum capere consuesset : Tlap^x fl " y&P &* 'Aj857j/>fT7jos EvpiiriSov iji5ts non sunt Acheloides insulae, quas ignorant hoc loco Geographi, sed dxeAwfttes W\ts dicuntur urbes maritime, quia, ut recte monet Scholiastes, omne 55*>p 'Axt\ otj TrenwjjKorey ele?. Spenser, whether from imitation, or more pro- bably from poetical coincidence, elegantly uses the same figure in speak- ing of a hind deprived of her young : ' Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.' It is really mortifying to see a fine passage so ill used : Musgrave is the least delinquent, who would read ydvov for -ndvov, though that would be to take a plume from the poet : but one cannot help feeling angry with Stanley, Potter, and Dr. Blomfield, for rendering ptvds rpoiraiav scilicet, deinde humana- mentis conditio, quae ut in scelera proclivis sit, ubi semel impetum acceperit facile praeceps ruat, describitur, quam breviter, sed quam gravissime. Ferocitas verb ducum ad bellum ardentium, et vir- ginis preces patris invocantis aspernantium, et trap* otitiv fantvw, ita vel hac una imagine depingitur, ut nihil ad rem ipsam declarandam, vel ad affectus commovendos prseclarrus cogitari possit." BUTLER. AGAMEMNON. 125 flow to the ground the folds of her saffron veil, she thrilled each of her sacrificers with the melting beams of pity from her eyes, and looked, as though in a picture, wishing to speak : since oft in the hospitable halls of her sire she had sung, and in her virgin estate had with chaste voice affec- tionately honoured the life of her beloved father worthy of the third libation and blessed with happy fate 1 . What followed I saw not, nor tell ; but the arts of Calchas are not without completion. Justice makes knowledge come to man by suffering. But as to the future, since there may be no escape, let the thought of it be far from us : for that were the same as lamenting calamity before it came ; and the future will clearly arrive, in accordance with these predictions, May good fortune then result in the coming hour ! as pray we, the nearest and sole support of the Apian land. I come, Clytemnestra, reverencing your power ; for it is right to honour the wife of a ruling Chief, when the throne is deprived of the male. If having heard some good intel- ligence, or if not, you only sacrifice on the hopes of happy tidings, I would fain know : but if you be silent, I am not displeased. (1) The reader will do well to compare with this beautiful passage the rival description of the same scene in Lucretius I. 83. For his further gratification, we take the liberty of making the following extract from the version of Mr. Symmons : " Now as she stood, and her descending veil, Let down in clouds of saffron, touch'd the ground, The priests, and all the sacrificers round, All felt the melting beams that came With softest pity wing'd, shot from her lovely eyes. Like some imagined pictured maid she stood, So beauteous look'd she, seeming as she would Speak, yet still mute : though oft her father's halls Magnificent among, She, now so mute, had sung Full many a lovely air, In maiden beauty, fresh and fair ; And with the warbled music of her voice Made all his joyous bowers still more rejoice." 126 .ESCHYLUS. CLYTEMNESTRA. Bearing glad tidings, as runs the proverb, may the Morning be ushered from its mother Night ! But you shall learn a joy beyond what you expected to hear: for the Argives have taken the city of Priam. CHORUS. How say you ? Your words have escaped me, in consequence of my disbelief. CLYTEM. I say that Troy is in the possession of the Achaeans. Do I now speak clearly ? CHORUS. Joy steals over all my senses, calling forth the tear. CLYTEM. Your eye gives token of your friendly sen- timents. CHORUS. But have you any certain proof of the tidings you relate ? CLYTEM. I have : and why not ? if the God hath not deceived me. CHORUS. Is it that you pay regard to the specious visions of dreams ? CLYTEM. No : for I would not admit the fancies of the soul when steeped in slumber. CHORUS. Has some sudden rumour, then, been the cause of your joy? CLYTEM. You scorn my judgment, like that of some young girl. CHORUS. But how long is it since the city has been sacked ? CLYTEM. I tell thee, that it was during the night that gave birth to this dawn. CHORUS. And what messenger could come with such speed ? CLYTEM. 'Twas Vulcan, pouring forth from Ida the splendour of his beams; and beacon hither sent on beacon kindled from the courier flame. Ida first trans- mitted the light to the Hermaean steeps of Lemnos : and Athos, the mountain of Jove, next received the mighty torch from the island ; and the flame of the pine rising joyously on high, so that the strong reflection of that speeding AGAMEMNON. 127 lamp was flung along the ridges of the waves, heralded like the sun the flashings of its golden blaze to the watch- man of Macistus. And he, not delaying his duty nor care- lessly overcome by sleep, passed on the entrusted message ; and the light of the beacon, piercing afar to the streams of the Euripus, signifies its approach to the watchmen of Messapius ; and they answered the signal of the flame, and communicated it onward by lighting up a heap of withered heath. And the glare of the torch brightening and in no wise dimned, having danced like the glittering moon-beams across the plain of Asopus to the cliffs of Cithaeron, awoke in succession another beacon, to waft its tidings onward. Nor did the watch disown the far-sprung light, but kindled a greater blaze than any of the former. The light thence darted beyond the lake Gorgopis ; and coming to the moun- tain of ^Egiplancton, urged its watchmen not to neglect the regular succession of the fire. They kindling into resistless fury the streaming beard of fire, sent it flaming on, so as to tower beyond the promontory that looks down on the Sa- ronic Gulf^ thence it flung its light, till it came to the Arachnaean steeps, our neighbouring watch-tower: and last, it bursts on these roofs of the sons of Atreus, a light that claims a genuine origin from the Idsean fire. Such has been the succession of these speeders of the torch, each from each in turn receiving it ; and the last and the first in the course are the best. Such a proof and such tokens do I declare to you, my husband having transmitted to me the tidings from Troy*. CHORUS. I will pray hereafter, O queen, to the Gods : but I would gladly again hear at length, and wonder at the tale you tell. (1) "Qubd si fabulosse sint facea istse Agamemnonise quas .ZEschylus memorat Clytemnestrse fuisse nuntias Trojse captae, d Troja' Mycenas usque, saltern certum est veras esse potuisse ; cum faces in Ida accensse facile possint videri ab iis qui in summo Athene versantur, ac quivis nun- tius similiter per faces traduces ex uno monte in alium ad remotissima etiam loca momento pene possit propagari." Isaac. Voss. ad Melam. I. 2. p. 119. 128 AESCHYLUS. CLYTEM. This very day the Greeks are in posses- sion of Troy. Through her streets, methinks, there reign no harmonious sounds. Pour the oil and the vinegar into the same vase, and you will say they are at variance and unwilling to unite. Thus you may hear apart the voices of the captives and the conquerors, on account of their different fortunes. These indeed, having fallen on the bodies of husbands and brothers, and children clinging to their aged parents, shall no longer with unenthralled necks lament the fate of their dearest kindred. But the toil of the restless night places their conquerors beside the banquet, to satiate their hunger, now the battle is past, on all the city affords, according to no certain order of distri- bution in turn, but as each has drawn the lot of fortune. In the subject abodes of the Trojans they now dwell secure from the dews and frosts of the inclement sky, and, like the favoured of fortune 1 , shall sleep through the whole un- guarded night. And if they duly reverence the Gods who preside over the city of the conquered land 2 , they shall not, after having been the spoilers, become in turn the prey. But let no passion first seize the army, to desire, through the persuasion of gain, that which is forbidden ! For they have yet again to trace the other side of the double stadium, so as to obtain a safe return to their homes : and even (1) The common reading is 5vo-5afytoj/ey, which Mr. Symmons has adopted and translated, " like careless poor men tired, Sleep through the watches of th' unguarded night." (2) " It was observed, in the preface to this tragedy, that the character of Clytemnestra is that of a high-spirited, close, determined, dangerous woman : this character now begins to unfold itself. She had with deep premeditation planned the murder of her husband : he was now returning : her soul of course must at this time be full of her horrid design, and all her thoughts intent upon the execution of it : we have in the remaining part of this speech a strong proof of this ; she is dark, sententious, and even religious; so the Chorus understands her words, and so she intends they should ; but the very expressions by which she wishes to conceal, and does conceal, her purpose from the Argive senators, by being ambiguous, and comprehending a double meaning, so far mark the working of her mind, as to give us a hint of what is revolving there." POTTER. AGAMEMNON. 129 should the army come without erring in its course, and no fresh deeds of ill be done, still the blood of the slain might not be forgotten by the Gods. Such sentiments you may hear from me, a woman ; but may our better fortunes pre- vail, and so that the balance may not seem dubiously poised ! for I would wish to be blessed with the enjoyment of many goods 1 . CHORUS. O queen, your words display a prudence like that of a wise man : but I, having heard from you these undoubted proofs, prepare myself duly to address the Gods ; for the grateful toils that have been atchieved are not undeserving of honour. O royal Jove ! and friendly night, disposer of great glories, who over the towers of Troy didst fling the enclosing toils, so that neither could strength nor youth avail to bound over the mighty drag- net of slavery, a visitation that swept them all ! I humbly adore the mighty Jove, protector of the host, the God that hath wrought this deed, who long since bent his bow against Paris, so that neither before its hour, nor yet in vain, flight beyond the stars, he might discharge the bolt. They have not escaped the weapon of Jove : this we may safely assert, and clearly trace in the event: His hand hath wrought what his will decreed. Some one denied that the Gods deigned to regard those mortals by whom the reve- rence for what is holy was trampled under foot : but his sentiment was not pious ; for such men have shewn them- selves" to be the offspring of those who breathe the au- dacious spirit of desperate deeds more than what is just, (1) " Mihi quidem ydp ad praecedens ^-fj Sixoppoiras i8e ' making our hair like the shay of wild beasts.' Where in these words can he find the shadow of his own version, ' Shrouded ill in shaggy coverings' 2" StMJIONS. 136 AESCHYLUS. slain. But why is it necessary that the living should sum up the numbers of those that have perished, and grieve for the chances of wayward fortune ? I myself think it right to bid a long farewell to miseries. To us, the survivors of the Argive host, the gain preponderates, and the loss is light in the scale; so that we may justly, after winging our way be- yond sea and land, boast to this light of the sun : " The banded warriors of the Argives having taken Troy, have hung on high these spoils to the Gods of Greece, a glit- tering offering to their ancient temples !" It befits all who hear this boast to speak nobly of the city and its rulers ; and the favour of Jove, that hath granted this completion, shall be duly honoured. You have heard me out. CHORUS. Persuaded of the truth of your words, I do not refuse my assent ; for the being open to instruction is a prin- ciple that is always vigorous in the old. But it is reason- able that these tidings should chiefly excite the concern of this house and of Clytemnestra, and at the same time should enrich my happiness. CLYTEM. I long since raised the shout through joy, when the first messenger of flame appeared through the darkness to proclaim the capture and destruction of Troy : and some one, chiding me, said : " Persuaded by beacons, do you think that Troy hath now been sacked ? How like a woman, to be thus transported in mind !" According to these remarks, I appeared to be deceived : but still I offered the sacrifice, and with the female strain, each in different quarters through the city, raised on high the shout of joy, giving voice to its glad acclaim, as they lulled to sleep 1 in the temples of the Gods the fragrant flame amid the con- suming incense. But now what need is there for you to narrate more to me ? I shall hear the whole account from the king himself. And I shall hasten to receive with most fitting welcome my revered lord on his return. For what day can be more grateful for a woman to behold, than that (1) "Reqte Butlerus vidit, Koifwints a participio fvtyfwSvTfs pendere, ut sermo sit de acclamationibus in fine sacrificii fieri solitis : acclamulant exstinguentes ftammam" WZLLAUEH. AGAMEMNON. 137 when she opens the gate to her husband whom the Gods have preserved from the war ? Bear back this message to my lord ; That he come as quickly as possible, being eagerly desired by the city ; and, on his arrival, that he will find in his palace a faithful wife, such even as he left, the watch-dog of his house, true to him, hostile to his enemies, and the same in every thing else, having broke no seal 1 of what was entrusted to her in all this length of time. Nor have I known the pleasure, nor the slanderous reproach of ano- ther's embrace, more than the metal from the mine the stain of the tincture 9 . (1) "In this message to her husband, Clytemnestra, according to the usage of those simple times, reports to him that she had not broken one seal in his house, though he had been so long away. It appears to have been the custom of the ancient Greek ladies (and a very good custom it was) to send to their husbands at a distance these comforting assurances, that housewifery had not suffered in their absence, that their strong box had not been broken open, nor their cellars entered. Potter, however, and Schutz (which is more surprising, for Schiitz is the very best in- terpreter of ^Eschylus), disdaining such humbleness, figures away with expressions about the seal of constancy, giving her words a metaphorical meaning. I am surprised that any scholar should so render (nj^amfptop, limited by the word oi)5^, ' / have not broken one seal.' How can such an expression refer to a seal of constancy ? Were there, then, many seals of constancy ? The trespass in such a case must be one and indivisible ; whereas she might have broken open his strong box, and yet not entered his cellar. Had the poet intended that sense, he would have said cri)/Aai>- rripiov fvvTJs, or some such phrase." SYMMONS. " Variis modis profec- turi de castitate conjugal! prospiciebant, ne violatio lateret. Vide quse Michaelis ad jus Mosaicum de signis virginitatis et passim ad Prophetas subtiliter disputavit." Jo. MULLER. Mr. Symmons has not taken notice of this quaint opinion ; but his objections to the interpretation of ffrifiavrnpiov in a metaphorical sense are still more strongly conclusive against it as a literal seal of constancy. In the able note, of which we have given an abridgment above, the reader will observe a parenthesis dedicated to the praise of Schiitz. We are surprised at this, both because we consider the opinions of that critic as a melancholy display of human absurdity, and because Mr. Symmons himself almost invariably condemns them : witness his last note, and the following, which we transcribe from the same page. (2) " Potter has rendered this, ' More than the virgin metal in the mines knows an adulterate and debasing mixture.'' See his note, in which he con- fesses 138 .ESCHYLUS. HERALD. Such a boast, being replete with truth, is not dishonourable for a noble dame to utter. CHORUS. She indeed has thus spoken for your informa- tion, in clear words that speciously interpret her meaning. But do you tell me, herald, for I wish to ask of Menelaus, if he will come with you in safe return to his home, the be- loved monarch of this land ? HERALD. It is impossible that I should state a specious falsehood, so that my friends could for any length of time enjoy the delusion. CHORUS. But how can you be able to say what is both good and true ? for these qualities were very obviouslydis - joined by you. HERALD.: That leader has disappeared from the Achasan host, both he and his ship. I tell what is true. CHORUS. Whether having sailed out in your sight from Troy ? or did some storm, distressing all the fleet, force him to part company ? HERALD. You have hit the mark, like a skilful archer ; and have briefly included in your words no small compass of suffering. CHORUS. Whether was it currently reported among the other mariners that he was dead or alive ? HERALD. No one knows so as clearly to declare of this, except the sun that supplies fertility to the earth. CHORUS. But how do you relate that this storm, sent on our naval armament by the wrath of the Gods, arose and subsided ? HERALD. It is not fitting to sully this auspicious day with the words of evil tidings : the honour of the Gods forbids. But when a messenger with gloomy look brings fesses himself doubtful,~and acknowledges his guide, Pauw, to be at a loss. Dr. Blomfield seems also a little puzzled ; but, at any rate, does right in condemning Schiitz's rendering x'*** '' ^ads, ' wlnera cere facto? Dr. Butler and Abreschius are clearly right in rendering it ' tinctura ceris,' ' the dyeing of metals ;' & proverbial expression, to signify 'a thing impos- sible or out of the question,' dyeing being a process peculiar to wool, and inapplicable to metals." SYMMONS. AGAMEMNON. 139 home the unwelcome tidings of the ruin and fall of an army, telling that one general wound has befallen the city, and that many of her citizens have been sacrificed from many houses by the double scourge which Mars loves, the twin furies of battle, the yoke he harnesses for blood, then were it fitting that, freighted with so many calamities, he should utter this paean of the Furies : but coming to a city rejoicing in prosperity, the welcome messenger of safety and success, how shall I mingle the happy with the sad, relating the tempest that assailed the Achaeans, not without the wrath of Heaven ? For elements formerly most hostile, fire and water, conspired together, and gave proof of their fidelity, by destroying the wretched host of the Argives. In the night awoke the terrors of the troubled deep ; for the Thracian blasts dashed the ships against each other ; and many, lashed furiously by the whirlwind of the storm and the beatings of the whelming surge, were driven away from view, beneath the uncertain guidance of a dangerous shepherd 1 . And when the bright light of the sun returned, we see the dead bodies of the Achaean mariners, and the wrecks of their ships, strewing, thick as fallen blossoms, the waves of the /Egaean. But some one either secretly withdrew from the danger, or in- terceded to save, both us and our ship, with her timbers unstrained : some God it must have been, and no mortal, that laid hold of the helm: and Fortune, our preserver, sat directing our course, so that neither in the anchorage was the ship exposed to the fury of the waves, nor yet was stranded on the rugged shore. Having, then, escaped a watery grave, yet scarce believing our good fortune, through the serene day we ruminated sadly on the recent disaster, all our comrades having suffered from it, and having been miserably wrecked. And now, if any of them be alive, they speak of us as dead- why not? and we deem of them as subject to this fate. But may the event be for the best ! Expect, then, first, and most certainly, that (1) " no|U7jj/ KOKOS hie est ipsa tempestas." PAUW. 140 AESCHYLUS. Menelaus will come: for if any beam of the sun discovers him still living, and looking on the light, preserved by the contrivances of Jove, who is yet unwilling to extirpate the race, there is hope that he will return to his home. Having heard thus much, know that you have heard the truth. CHORUS. Who was it that thus in every respect so truly marked with her name (was it not some one, whom we see not, directing though in a chance circumstance his tongue with a prescience of the future ?) Hellen the bride of the spear and the cause of contention ? since, in accordance with her name, a Hell ' to ships, to men, and to cities, she sailed from her silk-enwoven bower before the gales of earth-born Zephyr 2 ; and many were the mail-clad warriors, pursuing on the viewless track of her oars, that moored their barks by the green-wood banks of Simoiis, thirsting for the bloody strife. And vengeance, consummating its purpose, brought on Ilion an alliance, rightly named from grief, exacting punishment, though late, for the dishonour done to the hospitable board, and to Jove the guardian of the (1) " Helena, in allusion to her name, is here called Helenas, Hel- andros, Heleptolis, the destroyer of ships, the destroyer of men, the de- stroyer of cities. A translator in such a case can only catch the general idea : if he retains the particular one, the fallen star becomes only a cold jelly." POTTER. Notwithstanding this opinion, we have endeavoured to follow the turn of the original ; and have expressed it by a word with which Mr. Potter may connect some idea of a fallen star, but in which he will not find much of his cold jelly. Mr. Symmons, in alluding to the play upon words which we constantty meet with in the Greek Tragedians, has finely remarked: " It may at first excite our surprise that these writers, who so religiously abstain from any mixture of comedy or buf- foonery, should in this .solitary instance have affected what we should call punning. But a nearer view of the subject will teach us that they intended nothing jocular; and that they had in view the doctrines of some mysterious and Pythagorean philosophy, which inculcated that the giving of names, indicative of the destiny of individuals, was a matter of predes- tination. Plato, in his Cratylus, full of false and fanciful etymologies, dwells largely and gravely on this subject." (2) Zephyr was the son of Aurora, and of Astrseus, a descendant of the Titans. AGAMEMNON. 141 host, who horribly avenged the nuptial song in honour of the bridegroom, which it then fell to the lot of his brothers to sing. But the aged city of Priam, learning another strain, now laments with deepest groans, arraigning Paris the polluter of the bed, and having for long before endured a wretched existence on account of the cruel slaughter of her citizens. Thus has a man reared for the bane of his house a lion just weaned from the milk, yet still loving the teat, gentle in the outset of life, the playmate of the child- ren, and even a favourite with the old : and ofttimes he was caressed in their arms like a nursling babe, coming with pleased look to the hand, and fawning in the necessi- ties of hunger. But as he became older, he shewed the disposition he had inherited from his parents ; for requiting the debt of his nurture, he prepared an unbidden banquet on the mangled limbs of the slaughtered sheep, and the house was dabbled with blood an unconquerable torment to the inmates of the dwelling, and a mighty pest that spread wide havoc ! But by the decree of Heaven he was reared in the house, as a high-priest for these calamitous rites. In the same way I would say that there came to the city of Ilion the spirit of breathless calm, wealth's imaged form of beauty with noiseless tread, softly aiming, in side- long glances from the eye, the flowery shafts of love, to wound the bleeding heart : but in the end she brought a bitter close to the nuptials, having come an evil inmate and fatal associate to the children of Priam, sent by Jove the protector of the host to prove a fiend in the woe of that wedlock'. There has long been celebrated among mortals (1) Mr. Symmons has translated this beautiful passage with conside- rable power and richness of expression : " When first she came to Ilion's towers, O what a glorious sight, I ween, was there ! The tranquil beauty of the gorgeous queen Hung soft as breathless summer on her cheeks, Where on the damask sweet the glowing zephyr slept ; And like an idol beaming from its shrine, So o'er the floating gold around her thrown Her peerless face did shine ; And 142 ^SCHYLUS. an ancient proverb, That the high and perfect happiness of a man gives birth to a future progeny, nor dies barren of descent ; but that from mere good fortune intolerable cala- mity arises for the race. Now, in this I vary in my senti- ments from others ; for it is only the impious deed that after- wards engenders more resembling the origin which they own, while it is the lot of those houses that swerve not from justice to be ever blessed with a fair succession. Inso- lence indeed, of an ancient date, is wont again to beget in- solence, springing up afresh in the ills of mortals, either now or then, whensoever its hour shall have come ; and that new insolence gives birth to an invincible fiend, ab- horred by the light, even the accursed and fearless Power of Ruin descending darkly on the abodes of men, all hideous as its parents. But Justice sheds her light in the smoke-obscured cottage, and honours the righteous life; while, leaving with averted eyes mere tinselly goods ac- quired with pollution of the hand, she approaches what is holy, having no regard for the power of wealth that is falsely stamped with praise : and every event she directs to its completion. Come then, O King, destroyer of the city of Troy, son of Atreus ! how shall I salute thee? how shall I pay thee my homage, neither exceeding, nor yet falling short of, the measure of grateful feeling ? There are many among men who prefer the appearance of j ustice, while they transgress And though sweet softness hung upon their lids, Yet her young eyes still wounded where they look'd. She breathed an incense like Love's perfumed flower, Blushing in sweetness ; so she seemed in hue, And pained mortal eyes with her transcendent view : E'en so to Paris' bed the lovely Helen came. But dark Erinnys, in the nuptial hour, Rose in the midst of all that bridal pomp, Seated midst the feasting throng, Amidst the revelry and song ; Erinnys, led by Xenius Jove, Into the halls of Priam's sons, Erinnys of the mournful bower, Where youthful brides weep sad in midnight hour." AGAMEMNON. 143 its laws : and every one is ready to lend his groans to the man who is in distress, but the real smart of grief does not reach to their hearts : in like manner they rejoice with others in their joy, assuming the same expression, and forcing their countenances that refuse the smile. But whosoever is a good discerner of his flock, it is impossible that the countenance of a man, which merely seems from a friendly regard to fawn on him with a diluted friendship, should deceive his observation. But you, indeed, at the time when you led forth the expedition on account of Hellen (for I will not conceal it) were represented in my mind in very harsh colours, as not directing aright the helm of your thoughts, in forcing an unwilling hardihood on men who marched to death. But now, from the bottom of my heart, nor with aught but the feelings of friendship, I glow with warm regard for those who have gloriously crowned their toils. In time you will learn, by inquiry, which of your people have kept watch over the city with justice, and which have transgressed it. AGAMEMNON. First of all, it is right that I should salute Argos 1 and the Gods of the country, the joint causes of my return, and of the just vengeance which I exacted from the city of Priam. For the Gods hearing the question in truth, and not as pleaded by the tongue, without hesitation placed their votes for the destruction of Troy and its people in the urn of blood ; and Hope went up in vain to the opposite urn, which was not filled by the hand. The city even now gives clear token of its capture by the smoke ; the tempest of ruin is not yet spent ; and the dying ashes send up rich clouds of consuming wealth. On account of this success we ought to pay the tribute of lasting gratitude to the Gods, since we have effected a matchless snare; and to avenge a woman, the Argive monster hath laid the city in (l) " Tandem revertor sospes ad patrios lares. O chara salve terra ! tibi tot barbarze Dedere gentes spolia : tibi felix diu Potentis Asiae Troja summisit manus." Sen, Agam. 782. 144 AESCHYLUS. the dust; our warriors lightly brandishing their shields as they issued from the horse which leaped 1 within the walls, about the setting of the Pleiades. The ravening lion, having bounded over the towers, lapped, till he was glutted, the blood of princes. To the Gods I have extended this pre- lude ; but with respect to what you said of your sentiments, I remember to have heard it, and I coincide with you in the same, and grant you my full accord: for in few of men is there implanted the virtue of honouring without envy the prosperity of a friend ; since a malignant poison rankling in the heart loads with a double burden the victim of its infection ; and he is both oppressed with his own misfortunes, and groans as he beholds the happiness of his neighbour. From my experience 1 would affirm, and I well have proved their intercourse, that they who formerly appeared my warmest friends were only like the image on the mirror the shadow of a shade. Ulysses, who sailed against his will, alone lent me any ready aid in the harness of the yoke, whether I vouch this for him dead or alive. As to what remains concerning the city and the Gods, hav- ing instituted public debate in the full assembly, we will resolve ourselves ; and counsel must be taken that all that now is well may long continue the same ; while, if in any case there be need of healing medicine, we will endeavour, by applying cautery or incision with kind intention, to avert the evils of the malady. But now advancing to my palace and the hearth of my home, I will first salute the Gods, who having sent me to a distant clime now grant my return ; and may Victory, since she hath so far attended our steps, securely abide with us ! CLYTEM. Men of this city, ye senators of Argos 2 ! I will (1) " Cum fatalis equus saltu super ardua venit Pergama." Virg. JEn. VI. 515. (2) " According to the simplicity of ancient manners, Clytemnestra should have waited to receive her husband in the house ; but her affected fondness led her to disregard decorum. Nothing can be conceived more artful than her speech ; but that very art shews that her heart had little share in it : her pretended sufferings during his absence are touched with great delicacy and tenderness ; but had they been real, she would not have stopped AGAMEMNON. 145 not be ashamed to disclose before you my conjugal affec- tion ; for by long intercourse, bashful timidity diminishes in the human breast. Not being taught by others, I will from my own experience recount the hardships of my life, endured for so long a time, as he was warring beneath the walls of Troy. In the first place, it is no light evil for a woman to sit in solitude at home, bereft of her husband, hearing many afflicting reports ; and that one messenger should come, and that another should follow with tidings of ill even worse than the first, announcing them to the house '. If my lord here had met with as many wounds as rumour told through various channels at home, he had been perforated, if I may so say, even more than a net; and if he had died as oft as the thickening reports told, he might have boasted, that, like a second Geryon with three bodies, he had received while on the earth (for I talk not of the stopped him here with the querulous recital: the joy for his return, had she felt that joy, would have broke out first : this is deferred to the latter part of her address ; there, indeed, she has amassed every image expressive of welcome ; but her solicitude to assemble these leads her beyond nature, which expresses her strongest passions in broken sentences, and with a nervous brevity, not with the cold formality of a set harangue. Her kst words are another instance of the double sense which expresses reverence to her husband, but intends the bloody design with which her soul was agitated." POTTER. (J) "Nothing can be plainer: one messenger comes; another after him brings in the tidings of bad news, worse than the bad (brought in by the first) : \dffKovras, of course, applies to both. How Dr. Blomfield can separate rov ^v from Tjxetj', and vbv Se from eTreia-^/pew', I cannot conceive ; nor how he can be satisfied with the sense arising from such punctuation. What ? would Clytemnestra tell her husband to his face, in a studied and affected recital of her unhappiness during his absence, that one of her causes of misery was the arrival of a messenger with news that he was coming ? a strange compliment, or rather piece of sincerity, to escape her lips ! And again, of another messenger's arriving with news that Cassandra was coming : a most strange and injudicious topic to select for one like Clytemnestra, even had it been possible for her to have heard of it : but the poet has made it impossible, by representing the return of Agamemnon to have taken place instantly on the taking of Troy ; and it is well known that Cassandra did not fall into his possession till that event." SYMMONS. L 146 AESCHYLUS. grave) an ample triple coil of clay, dying once in each form 1 . On account of these melancholy rumours the hands of others have often loosed the nooses suspended from above around my neck, which was thus by force frustrated of its intention. In consequence of this, your son Orestes, the pledge of our faithful loves, is not here, as were fitting, by my side. But be not surprised at this ; for a faithful friend acquired in war is attending to his nurture, Strophius the Phocian, who predicted to me many dubious calamities, both in your danger beneath the walls of Troy, and if the anarchy of the turbulent people should overthrow the Senate*; as it is natural for men to trample the more on the (1) " Geryon was a king of Spain killed by Hercules, fabled to have had three bodies. Clytemnestra compares her husband to this giant ; and says, that if he had been slain as often as reported, this second triple Geryon (meaning Agamemnon under that name, for it were ominous to talk of the dead) might well boast to have received his triple vest, meaning his three bodies, and to have died once in each shape." POTTER. " Dr. Blomfield has vitiated this passage, by a wrong punctuation and interpretation : xAeuVa rptuotpos must mean the body of the giant, and can by no means be understood of the earth which covered him. To talk of a three-fated vest of earth, meaning a sepulchre, would, in English, be rank nonsense ; and I am afraid that x Qov * TPIMOIPON x**' /ai '> so con - strued, would deserve no better name in Greek. Besides, in matter of taste, can any thing be more frigid than this interment of the giant ? for the critic not only buries him, but calculates with mathematical precision the quantity of earth that it took to cover him, without reckoning the quan- tity that lay under him." SYMMONS. " Sensus hie esse debet: Si vero tot mortes oliisset, guol multiplied bant rumores, posset, tanquam alter Geryon tricorpor, s&pius sibi triplex in terra (nam quod sub terra est Geryonis corpus, non dico) corpus contigisse gloriari. Quod vero addit, se non de tricorpore umbra Geryonis loqui, quae apud inferos sit, id non otiosum est, sed ad in- vidiam removendam et ad sustentandam earn, quam prae se fert, amoris speciem, comparatum. Quum enim Agamemnonem cum Geryone com- paret, fieri possit, ut aliquis de Geryone apud inferos habitante cogitet eumque cum Agamemnone mortuo conferat, quare subjicit : longe absit, ut de Agamemnone mortuo loquar." WELLAUER. (2) " This I contend, with Stanley, Schiitz, and Butler, to mean ' over- throwing the Senate or Council of State.' Who ever heard that &ov\fr Ka-rapp'nrnu> meant ' concilium inire ' ? As to the anachronism of a Senate at Argos in those days, it is notorious that the Attic Tragedians committed many of the same description, applying to the times of the Trojan War the AGAMEMNON. 147 fallen. Such a pretext, indeed, bears with it no guile. The gushing fountains of my tears have in fact become dry, nor is there a drop left ; and I have dimmed my eyes by late watchings, gazing through their tears for the beacon that never told thy return. Even in my dreams I was startled by the gnat as it whizzed by me on light wings, seeing more calamities befal you than were commensurate with the time passed in slumber. Now. after having en- dured all these woes in my mourning breast, I would say of this man, that he was the watch-dog of the fold, the cable by which the ship rides through the storm, the shafted pillar of the lofty roof, a child whose father hath but one, the land when first descried by the despairing mariner, the day breaking gladly on the sight after the night of storm, and the fountain stream gushing to the parched traveller. Welcome is the escape from all hard constraint. Of such salutation I account him worthy ; and let it pro- duce no offence, for I have formerly endured many evils. But now I pray thee, my dear lord, descend from this cha- riot, not placing on the ground, O king, thy foot which laid Ilion low. Why do ye delay, ye maidens, to whom the office was commanded of strewing with tapestry the surface of his path ? Let the way of entrance be instantly covered with purple, that Justice may lead him into an unexpected abode. As to what remains, my anxious thought, not over- come with sleep, shall, with the assistance of the Gods, execute justly the decrees of fate. AGAM. O daughter of Leda, guardian of my house, you have spoken in a manner corresponding to my absence ; for you have extended your words to a great length. But praise, to be becoming, must be an honour proceeding from others. And besides, do not soothe me with adulation, as though I were a woman ; nor, like a barbaric slave prostrate the language and customs, &c. of their own time. But why might not .dEschylus imagine a jSouA.?) yfpovTuv, to assist Clytemnestra in the cares of government ? and do not the Chorus, in the opening of the play, consider themselves in that light, calling themselves dnias yaias IJMVO- picos?" SYMMONS. L2 148 yESCHYLUS. on the ground before me, open the mouth with eager cla- mour ; nor, having strewed the garments for my feet, make my path obnoxious to the envy of Heaven. We ought to honour the Gods with such gifts ; and for me, who am a mortal, to tread on these embroidered robes of beauty, is a daring I cannot contemplate without fear. I bid you ho- nour me as a man, not as a God. Without tapestry for the feet or the embroidered woof, Fame proclaims my glory : and the absence of presumptuous thoughts is the greatest gift of the Gods. The man whom alone we must pronounce happy is he who ends his life in sweet pro- sperity : and would that I may thus in every thing conduct myself without arrogance ! CLYTEM. And yet do not say so to thwart my purpose. A GAM. Be assured, indeed, that I will not yield my pur- pose. CLYTEM. Had you been in fear, you would have vowed to the Gods to do this. AGAM. I clearly knowing, if ever any man did, have pronounced my final determination. CLYTEM. What do you think that Priam would have done, if he had atchieved this victory ? AGAM. I think that he would have undoubtedly trodden on the tapestry. CLYTEM. Do not you, then, regard the blame of men. AGAM. The rumours muttered among a people have, however, great power. CLYTEM. The man who is not envied is surely not the object of admiration. AGAM. It is not the part of a woman to be desirous of contention. CLYTEM. But it is becoming those who are in high pro- sperity to yield. AGAM. Do you value the triumph in this contest ? CLYTEM. O be persuaded, and willingly resign to me the victory ! AGAM. I yield unwilling ; but if these things seem good to you, let some slave quickly unbind the sandals on which AGAMEMNON. 149 my steps advance, lest, as I tread on these works of ocean's dye, some envy of the eye of Heaven glance on me from on high. Great, too, is my reluctance to waste the possessions of my palace, destroying with my feet the costly robes, the enwoven purple priced with silver. Of this enough. But with gentle feelings conduct the maid of foreign land within. Whoso tempers victory with mercy, him does the God from his throne on high regard with benignant eye. For no one with willing choice submits to the yoke of slavery ; and she, the choicest flower of countless wealth, gift of the host, hath followed in my train. But since I am forced to obey you in this request, I go within the courts of my palace, treading on the robes of purple. CLYTEM. There is a sea, and who shall staunch its founts ? In its depths it breeds the oozing purple, ever bubbling up afresh, costly as silver, dye of the robe ; and there exists, O king, by the blessing of the Gods, the pos- session of these treasures in our palace. Poverty is a stranger to its halls. Many a vest for the tread of your foot would I have vowed, had it previously been an- nounced to the house in oracles that I should thus work a charm to win back your life. For while the root remains, the foliage spreads over the house, extending a shade that defies the rays of the dog-star : and you having returned to the hearth of your home, you herald the approach of the summer's heat in winter ; and when Jove is preparing the wine from the bitter juice of the unripe grape, then already through the house spreads a cooling temperature, the sovereign's self making its home his haunt. Jove, O Jove, that givest consummation to every thing, consum- mate these my prayers ; and be those things to thee a care which thou art now on the eve of consummating ! CHORUS. Why does this terror, incessantly dwelling in my presence, hover before my boding heart ? and why that strain ,, unbidden and unbribed, sound its prophetic note ? and why does not persuasive confidence, rejecting this dread, like mysterious dreams, take its seat on the grateful throne of my mind ? But time hath elapsed since its influence 150 AESCHYLUS. wasted the barks fastened to the shore by the ligature of the cables, at the time when our naval bands rushed beneath the walls of Troy. And I learn their return from my own eyes, being a present witness of its certainty j yet still my mind, obeying its own internal impulse, awakes without the lyre the dirge of Erinnys, not entertaining all the sweet confidence of hope. And my heart within my breast is, not without cause, tossed in the eddies of care, in consequence of my just presages that will certainly reach their comple- tion. But I pray that, contrary to my expectation, they may prove false, so as never to come to pass. For surely the extreme of high health is not exempt from danger ; since disease plants itself as a neighbour within the next wall; and the fortune of a man, even while proceeding in the fairest course, is wont to strike on the hidden rock. Still, when a provident fear hath cast overboard from a moderate sling a part of the wealthy freight, the whole fortunes of the house have not sunk, being too deeply laden with calamity, nor has its burden made the bark go down. Oft, too, have the ample gifts from the bounty of Jove and the harvest of the year banished the pest of famine. But the dark life- blood of man, which hath once fallen on the ground before him, who shall by incantation again recall ? Had it been permitted, Jove would not have checked him whose un- erring knowledge could restore souls to light with indem- nity to the dead 1 . But did not fate, a fate ordained by the Gods, prohibit me from declaring more, my heart, antici- pating my tongue, would pour forth all. Now in darkness it murmurs, grieving in its thoughts, and never expecting that it will unravel any of these mysteries in time to save, although my soul is consumed with the burning anguish which they impart. ( 1) " Sensus blc est : Neque, si Dii vellent mortuos reviviscere, Jupiter cum qui rem Lene, perspectam habct (^Bscitlapium), prohibuisstt, quomiuiis mortuorum aliquem ad inleyritalem reduceret." WELLAUEH.. ./Esculapius was tempted by a costly bribe to display the triumpb of his art by re- storing Hippolytus to life ; but Jupiter, indignant at this violation of his laws, slew with the same thunderbolt the presumptuous physician and the unlucky patient. AGAMEMNON. 151 CLYTEM. Do you also (I mean Cassandra) betake your- self within; since Jove has leniently placed you in this house, to share in the sacred lavations, along with many slaves stationed beside the household altar. Descend from this chariot, and be not too proud for your fortunes ; for they say that even the son of Alcmena 1 once submitted to be sold to bondage, and to stoop by force to the yoke. But if, then, the necessity of this condition befal any one, they have much reason to be thankful who meet with masters in the possession of hereditary 2 wealth: for they who unexpectedly have reaped the harvest of success are harsh in all things to their slaves, and obey not the rule of right. With us you will have all those privileges that are usual and just. CHORUS. To you having addressed these clear words, she now pauses : and being within the toils of fate, you will surely, if you may, comply : but perchance you may be in- clined to refuse. CLYTEM. Why if she have not, like the swallow, accents barbarous and unintelligible, speaking within her compre- hension I must persuade her by my words. CHORUS. Follow her: she advises what in your present circumstances is best. Be persuaded then, and leave the seat of the chariot. CLYTEM. I have not leisure to delay longer beside this stranger at the gates ; for already are the sheep placed by the central altar for the blazing sacrifice, a token of thanks- giving from us who never expected to enjoy this delight. But do you, if you will do any of these things, no longer delay : but if through ignorance you understand not my (1) Hercules was condemned by Jupiter to serve Omphale queen of Lydia for the space of a year, as a punishment for the cowardly stratagem by which he murdered Iphitus. (2) " Poe'tse sententiam clarissime prosequitur Philosophus, Ilhe- toric. II. 32. Atcitbepei 5f rols vtcaffrl KeKTi^u^j'ois, Kal TO?S TraAcu TO, ijOi)' ftp aTracTo [M\\oi> Kal (f>av\^Tfpa, TU KUKO, Ix*" 7 ro " s V(OTr\ovT0i>s' uffvfp yap tffrl, TO vt6w\ovruv elcat." STANLEY. 152 AESCHYLUS. words, do you, in place of speech, reply to me in signs with your barbaric hand 1 . CHORUS. The stranger maid appears to require a clear interpreter. Her manner is like that of some wild beast, when newly caught. CLYTEM. Surely she is mad, and obeys a distempered fancy, having come from the recent sack of her native city ; and she knows not how to endure the bit, before she have spent her fury in bloody foam. But I will not submit to be dishonoured by casting away more words. CHORUS. But I (for I pity her*) will not be angry. Come, O unhappy maid! forsake this chariot, and, yielding to necessity, endure the first trial of the yoke. CASSANDRA. Alas and alas! OGods! O Earth! O Apollo! O Apollo! CHORUS. Why hast thou uttered alas along with the name of Loxias ? For he is not such a God as should be invoked by the mourner 3 . CASS. Alas and alas! O Gods! -O Earth! O Apollo! O Apollo ! CHORUS. She again with words of evil omen calls on the God to whom it in nought belongs to be present at la- mentations. (1) This speech of Clytemnestra affords the most perfect specimen which we know of a classical bull , nor does the attempted explanation of Dr. Blomfield in the least remove the absurdity. (2) " The Chorus, as it became them, express themselves with tender, ness and humanity to the unhappy princess : this introduces a scene, the finest perhaps that tragedy has yet known. It would be an affront to the understanding of the reader to point out the nice gradation of the pro- phetic fury ; and that heart must be hard indeed which does not feel the pathos." POTT ER. (3) " So Callimachus beautifully makes even the mourning of Thetis for her son stop, when the hymns of Apollo were heard: Oi55t ens 'Ax'AA.7ja KiviSptrat a1\u>a fMTrjp, 'OTTTTOT' ir) irairjov^ } irairjov axowirjj. In the next line the poet plays upon the meaning of the word Apollo. Plato, in Cratylus, gives the same etymology from diro\\v derivari videtur. Multus est in hisce allusionibus ^Bschylus noster, 'AyvtfG, inquit, & iroi iror' Ifyayts /*e ; ita 'A.iro\\uv t^os, airw'Atcras yap." STANLEY. 154 AESCHYLUS. about to do the deed, after having refreshed in the bath the husband the partner of thy bed. How shall I tell the end ? for this will quickly come. Lo ! hand succeeding hand thrusts forth the eager blow ! CHORUS. I do not yet understand : for now, in conse- quence of their double meaning, I am bewildered by your obscure oracles. CASS. Ha ! ha ! Alas ! alas ! what is this I see before me ? Is it not some net of Hell? Yes, and the partner of his bed is that net, she the joint cause of his death. Now let the band of Furies, never sated with the blood of this race, ring forth their pa?an in joy at this horrid sacrifice. CHORUS. What Furies are these that you call on to raise their wild scream in this house ? Your words bring no gladness to my aspect ; and the blood runs to my heart, changing from the red to the pale-yellow hue, such as to those who have fallen by the spear aids in extinguishing the rays of life's setting sun. But Calamity quickly ap- proaches. CASS. Ha! ha! see there! see there! Keep away the Bull from the Heifer. Having entangled in the vest the black-horned Bull, she smites him with the deadly weapon, and he falls amid the waters of the bath. I tell you of the fortune of that cauldron reeking with the blood of as- sassination. CHORUS. I cannot boast to be a skilful interpreter of oracles, but I conjecture that these denote some ill. From oracles, indeed, what promise of good ever comes to mortals ? The ambiguous arts of divination only force us to feel the terror of predicted evil. CASS. Alas! for the ill-starred fortunes of me a wretched woman! For I lament my own sufferings, adding them to mingle with his. Why hast thou brought me with all my sorrows hither ? For nothing but to die along with thee for how otherwise can it be? CHORUS. You are maddened with a phrensy inflicted by Heaven; and you utter concerning your own fate a strain AGAMEMNON. 155 whose notes should be unsung; like some dusky bird, insatiate of wailing, that laments in bitter grief ' Itys,' ' Itys,' through a life that, alas, blooms but with misery that bird the nightingale. CASS. Oh! would that the fate of the tuneful nightingale were mine ! for the Gods have invested her with a winged form, and a life of sweet pleasures unstained by tears. But for me what remains, but the rending wound of the double-edged spear ? CHORUS. Whence hast thou these visionary woes, burst- ing upon thee and maddening thee with their impulse? Why dost thou sing of such images of terror with ill- omened voice, and at the same time in high -raised strains? Whence is it that thou hast been led into those boundaries of the path of prophecy that only betoken ill ? CASS. Alas for the nuptials the nuptials of Paris, so deadly to his friends! Alas for the streams of my native Scamander ! Once was a time when I, doomed to misery, was reared to womanhood on thy banks : but now, methinks, I shall soon raise my prophetic notes beside Cocytus and the shores of Acheron. CHORUS. Why hast thou too clearly predicted these words? A child might read their meaning. I am struck to the heart by a mortal pang as you pour forth your plaintive strains, because of your hapless state, telling of griefs that it breaks my heart to hear. CASS. Alas for the sorrows, the sorrows of my native city that hath perished in utter ruin ! Alas for the sacri- fices with unsparing slaughter of the pasturing herds offered by my father in behalf of our towers! But no remedy availed to prevent the city from suffering all the woes under which it is now sunk ; and I my mind still glowing with inspiration shall soon dash my dying body on the ground. CHORUS. You have uttered these words in consonance with your former predictions : and some spirit, urging you to thoughts of ill, and assailing you with overpowering 156 AESCHYLUS. influence, inspires you to sing of these sad and deadly suf- ferings. But I vainly strive to know the issue. CASS. Then, in truth, the oracle shall no longer look forth from behind the veil, like some new-married bride : but it seems as if, with violent gales, it would rush to the rising of the sun, so as to dash, like the wave, with increas- ing flow towards the dawn of this calamity '. But I will no longer instruct you by enigmas ; and do ye bear wit- ness to me, as I follow hard on their scent the steps of guilty deeds that were wrought of old. For there is a choir that never leaves this roof, accordant in their strains, and yet harsh to hear ; for their note is not of good. And having quaffed, till their daring waxed higher, the blood of man, the band of sister Furies prolong their revel in this house, refusing to depart without. As they sit around the domes, they chaunt as their song the first fatal source" of calamity to the race ; and in turn they shudder, as they name the nuptial couch of a brother bringing cruel revenge on him who invaded it. Have I erred in my aim ; or, like some archer's, has my arrow reached the prey ? Or am I false in my oracles, a strolling babbler of lies ? Bear me witness, by the pledge of an oath, that I have shewn in my words a true knowledge of the ancient crimes of these abodes. CHORUS. And how, in such circumstances, could the sanction of an oath, though accorded without guile, have any healing power 2 But I wonder that you, who have 1 l) The beauty of this image can only be properly appreciated by those who have observed the extraordinary way in which the waves of the aea appear to rush towards the rising sun. The commentators are all wide of the proper meaning of the passage. (2) This is generally referred to the adultery of Thyestes with Aerope, his brother's wife ; but we are rather inclined to suppose, with Heath, that the crime indicated was the treacherous murder of Myrtilus by Pelops, from which flowed the discord of his sons, and, in fact, all the calamities of the devoted race. Cassandra, in the end of this speech, uses the plural ouaprt'ar, and must therefore be presumed to have before alluded to more than one transgression in the strain which she ascribes to the Furies. AGAMEMNON. 157 spent your life beyond the sea, in a city whose language is not ours, should speak of these events as if you had been present at their occurrence. CASS. The prophet Apollo appointed me to this office. CHORUS. Was it because, even though a God, he owned the power of love ? CASS. Before this time I felt ashamed to tell it. CHORUS. That was because every one when in prospe- rity is so fastidious. CASS. Well, he struggled for my affections, and in- spired in me too deeply the raptures of love. CHORUS. Did you ever join in that embrace that brings the fruits of love ? CASS. No ; for after having promised my consent, I de- ceived the God. CHORUS. Were you at that time possessed by the power of inspiration ? CASS. I had already foretold all their calamities to my countrymen. CHORUS. How then were you unpunished by the wrath of Apollo ? CASS.' I persuaded no one of aught I said from the time that I committed this offence. CHORUS. To us, however, you appear to predict what is worthy of belief. CASS. lo ! lo ! Alas ! Alas what woes ! Again the fear- ful pains of inspired prophecy labour in my breast, wildly disturbing it with oracular preludes. See ye these infants that are seated on the roofs, resembling the phantoms of dreams ? They are children who were slain by those who should have loved them, bearing their hands filled with the food of their own flesh ; and you may mark them holding up their entrails and their bowels, a horrid repast on which a father fed. In consequence of these deeds, I declare that a certain unwarlike lion, wallowing, while left to guard the house, in a wanton bed, is plotting revenge, ah me ! against my master on his return. My master ? Yes, for I am forced to bear the yoke of slavery. He, the leader of 158 AESCHYLUS. the fleet, and the destroyer of Ilium, knows not what the tongue of that hateful bitch, after having spoken and pro- longed its words with the semblance of joy, will, like some hidden Fiend, prepare for his disastrous fate. Such are the deeds she dares : a female is the slayer of the male. Calling her what loathsome monster shall I name her aright an amphisbasna, or a Scylla that dwells amid the rocks for the destruction of the mariner, the raving dam of Hell, a Fury breathing against her friends the implacable rage of war ? How in her fearless audacity did she raise the shout of triumph over him, as if in the moment when the battle gives way ! But she appears to rejoice in his safe return, ^nd if I fail to persuade you of what I have declared, it is all one. For why ? that which must be, will come ; and you, ere long, being present, will say of me with pity, that I was too true a prophetess. CHORUS. Of the banquest of Thyestes on the flesh of his children I have heard, and shuddered to hear j and fear seizes me as I now listen to that which bears no slight re- semblance to the truth. But as to the rest which I heard, I run bewildered astray from the course. CASS I say, that you shall see the death of Agamemnon. CHORUS. O wretched woman ! lull your ill-omened tongue to silence. CASS. Why ? since there is no healing power to con- troul what I have foretold. CHORUS. Not if it shall take place : but may Heaven in some way avert it ! CASS. You indeed offer your prayers, but they are intent on the murder. CHORUS. By what man is this execrable deed projected? CASS. Have you glanced so far wide of the meaning of my oracles ? CHORUS. For I have not understood the device of the assassin. CASS. And yet you know full well the Grecian tongue. CHORUS. The oracles of Apollo, too, are in Greek, and yet they are hard to be understood. AGAMEMNON. 159 CASS. Alas ! what a flame ! and is it rushing on me ? Alas ! Alas ! O Lycaean Apollo ! Ah me ! Ah me ! She, the biped lioness, that bedded with the wolf in the absence of the generous lion, will slay me, a wretched victim ; and, like one who prepares a poison, she will add to the phial of her wrath the reward of his love for me. She vaunts, as she whets the sword against her husband, that she will make him atone with his life for having brought me hither. Why then do I retain the mockery of these orna- ments 1 , the wand, and the wreaths of a prophetess around my neck ? I will yet work your destruction before my own death. Away with ye, and perish ! dashed at least to earth by my hands : thus will I requite you. Enrich with your baneful gifts some other votary, in place of me. And lo ! Apollo himself disrobing me of my prophetic garb ! And thou couldest, unmoved, behold me derided even in these ornaments, derided among my friends, and in no dubious way by my enemies. But called a mad stroller, like some conjuress, poor, wretched, and perishing with hunger, I endured it all. And now the prophet, divesting me of the honours of his Prophetess, hath led me into these fatal cir- cumstances ; and in place of the altar at which my father fell, the block awaits me, to perish by the death-wound amid my reeking gore. But we shall not die, however, un- revenged by the Gods : for again shall there come another, to exact retribution for our fate a son, to slay his mother, and be the avenger of his father. He, a wandering exile, long estranged from the land, returns to complete the (1) " Quando sunt morituri, omnia prius ornamenta et officii sui in- signia, ne hoc habitu moriantur abjicere facit yEschylus. Similia psene de Amphiarao vate jam jam absorbendo canit Statius Papinius, extremo sep- timo : Audio jam rapidse cursum Stygis atraque Ditis Flumina, tergeminosque mail custodis hiatus. Accipe commissum capiti decus, accipe lauros, Quas Erebo deferre nefas : nunc voce suprema Deceptum tibi, Phoebe larem, poenasque nefandae Conjugis et pulchrum nati commendo furorem. Euripides quoque Troad. hujus rei dederat exemplum." CANTER. Nov. Led. III. 9. 160 AESCHYLUS. parapet 1 of ruin for his race ; for a mighty oath hath been sworn by the Gods, that the prostrate body of his mur- dered father shall recall him. Yet why should I, who am but a stranger in this house, thus lament, since I have before seen the city of Ilium suffering as it suffered, and since they who dwelt within its walls have thus had their doom assigned by the judgment of the Gods ? I will go and meet my fate; I will dare to die: and I further adjure these gates of Hades, and pray that I may meet with a well-sped blow, so that without a struggle, my life-blood flowing easily away, I may close these eyes. CHORUS. O maiden, exceeding in sorrows as in wisdom, you have extended your words to a long discourse : but if you know truly your own fate, how, like the steer, led by heavenly impulse to the sacrifice, do you advance so boldly to the altar ? CASS. There is no more escape gained, O strangers, by putting off the time. CHORUS. But the latest moment of time is the best. , CASS. The fated day is come : I shall gain little by flight. CHORUS. But know, that you suffer from the too rash courage of your mind. CASS But a glorious death is grateful to mortals. CHORUS. No one hears such sentiments from the happy. CASS. Alas! my father, for thee and for thy high-born race ! CHORUS. What may this mean? What terror makes thee recoil ? CASS. Oh horror ! horror ! CHORUS. Why hast thou uttered this exclamation, except there be the feelings of horror in your heart ? CASS. This house breathes the scent of the dripping gore of murder. ( 1 ) " Gpryicol sunt domus vel muri pinnacula, sive mince ; ita Opiytulw est coronam vel fastigium tedificio imponere. Reverh enim Orestes coronidem calamitatibus Pelopidarum imposuit ; facinusque ab eo patratum ultimuni erat istius domus infortunium." HEATH. AGAMEMNON. 161 CHORUS. And how should such an odour arise from the sacrifices consuming on the altar? CASS. The vapour is like that from the charnel-house. CHORUS. You tell of no delight of Syrian fragrance within these walls. CASS. But I go to bewail, even in the house, my own fate, and that of Agamemnon. Let the period of life that hath been assigned me suffice. O strangers ! I do not yield to any fruitless fear, like the bird when beset in the brake. Bear witness for me of this, when for me, a woman, shall a woman die, and for a man ill-starred in his nuptials shall fall a man. As now about to die, I will ask this friendly office at your hands. CHORUS. O unhappy sufferer ! I pity thee on account of thy predicted fate. CASS. Yet once more I would utter the words or notes of my own dirge ; and pray to the Sun, even to these the last of his beams I shall behold, that my avengers may wreak a like destruction on both my hateful murderers at once, in return for me who a captive die, an unresisting victim. Alas for the fortunes of mankind ! In prosperity, a shadow can throw them to the ground ; and should they pass through adversity, a moistened sponge at a touch effaces the impression : and I lament more for the latter evil than the former \ CHORUS. It is in the nature of prosperity not to cause satiety to any of mankind ; and no one excludes with re- pulse the man of note from his .house, saying, Enter not here. Thus to our king the Gods have granted that he should take the city of Priam ; and honoured of Heaven he (l) It is more to be lamented that man should derive no lasting im- pression from adversity, than that his prosperity should be fleeting and unstable. This fine reflection of Cassandra has been grossly misunder- stood by all the commentators except Schutz ; whose merits, in this in- stance, we the more readily acknowledge, as we have been generally obliged to speak of him in terms of censure. The translation of Mr. Symmons omits all notice of the last line of the speech ; and, in fact, he would have found it difficult to have reconciled it with his mistaken view of the preceding sentiment. M 162 ^SCHYLUS. returns home. But now, if he shall atone for the blood previously shed by his race, and dying, in addition to the dead, shall cause the consummation of the penalties and judgments of other deaths, who of mortals, as he hears this tale, would not pray to have been born beneath the in- fluence of a more harmless fortune ? AGAM. Oh me ! I am pierced ! I feel the mortal wound. CHORUS 1. Hush! Who shrieks of his wound, being stabbed by a weapon thrust home ? AGAM. Oh me again ! I am a second time struck ! CHORUS 2. It appears to me, from the cries of the king, that the deed has been perpetrated. CHORUS 3. But how shall we concert safe counsels ' ? CHORUS 4. I indeed declare to you my opinion, to call on the citizens to bring assistance hither to the palace. CHORUS 5. But to me it appears that we ought to break in with all haste, and convict the deed, while the sword yet reeks with blood. CHORUS 6. I too, agreeing in the same opinion, give my vote that we bestir ourselves ; for this is not the moment for delay. (1) Mr. Symmons has attempted an explanation, or rather justification, of this absurd scene ; in which of course he fails, with all his learning, to make his argument good. We admit the fact, that the Chorus could not leave the stage, to the assistance of Agamemnon ; but it surely was not imperative that they should talk nonsense if they stayed. Why, if all the audience knew that they could not stir from the Thymele, should they even propose to rush into the palace ? Dr. Butler has observed the incon- gruities of the passage, and has judiciously remarked : " Nihil certe verius quam senibus dilationem convenire ; sed, ut libere loquar quid sentiam, crediderim ^Eschylum hoc loco non tam ejus quod person* cuique conve- nirct, quam legis ex natura sibi impositse studiosum fuisse. Et quod illi laudi vertunt Stanl. et Schiitz, vereor ne id vitio vertendum fuerit. Quid enim frigidius, quid ipsi naturae repugnantius, quam dum regem auxilium invocantem audiunt, Chorum quid agendum sit deliberare ? Haec est ne senibus quidem digna cunctatio, at gemellum habes locum apud Eurip. Med. v. 1283. ubi Chorus, auditis puerorum quos Medea trucidat excla- mationibus, similiter deliberat. Ortum hoc apud utrumque ex necessi- tate sibi impositd ut Chorus e scena non exiret; quam quidem legem cum suis laborare incomraodis uterque sentiret, earn tamen contra naturae ipsius fidem servandam sibi constituerunt." AGAMEMNON. 163 CHORUS 7. That is evident ; for they exhibit symptoms as if they would set up the ensigns of tyranny in the city. CHORUS 8. Because we delay; while they, treading un- der foot the character of delay, do not slumber in action. CHORUS 9. I know not what counsel I can fall upon to suggest. But we may also take some measures respecting the murderer. CHORUS 10. I am of the same opinion; since I am at a loss how we can by words again raise the dead to life. CHORUS 11. And shall we, dragging out our lives, thus yield to the polluters of this house to be our masters ? CHORUS 12. No, it is not to be borne : it were better to die, for death is a milder fate than submission to tyranny. CHORUS 13. Shall we infer, by the proofs of his shrieks, that the king then has perished ? CHORUS 14. We ought to speak of such an event from clear information ; for conjecture is very different from certain knowledge. CHORUS 15. I am in every way much induced to accord with this opinion, to learn clearly how the son of Atreus is situated. CLYTEM. Many things having been before said by me to suit the time, I shall not now blush to declare the con- trary. For why not ? Who would not, when preparing hostile designs against enemies who seem to be friends, fence around them the toils of destruction to a height that no bound could hope to clear? But to me this strife of victory, arising from an ancient cause, and not unpremedi- tated of old, hath now, though late, arrived. I stood where I struck him, after the deed was done '. And so I did it, and I will not deny it, that he could neither shun nor avert his fate. I fix around him a net without an outlet, like (1) " These hands have struck the blow ! "Tis like the deeds that have been done of yore ! Past ! and my feet are now upon the spot ! Thus have I translated in three lines, without adding a single idea, the single line, 8' jlvff i-naur' iir' t^tipyaa^fvois, M 2 One 164 AESCHYLUS. that of fishes, the baneful splendour of the robe ; and I strike him twice, and after two groans he let sink his relaxing limbs. Then, as he lay on the ground, I inflict in addition a third wound, a votive boon to Pluto, that guards the dead below the earth. Thus having fallen, he breathes away his life ; and sending forth in gushes the bubbling blood from his death-wound, he strikes me with the dark drops of that bloody dew me who rejoiced in it, no less than the cultured field in the sparkling shower bestowed by Heaven what time the ear bursts into life. Since this is so, ye senators of Argos, ye may rejoice if ye be disposed to joy j for I glory in the deed. And if it were fitting to pour libations over a dead body, this would with justice have here been done. For he having filled a cup of such accursed calamities in the house, himself most justly is forced to drain it on his return. CHORUS. We are amazed at thee! How audacious thou art in thy language, who boastest over the body of thy husband in terms like these ! CLYTEM. Ye try me as if I were a woman weak in judgment; but I, with fearless heart, say to you who know me and whether you choose to praise or blame me it is all one here lies Agamemnon, my husband, dead, the work of this right-hand, the executioner of justice. And these things are even so. CHORUS. Having tasted, O woman, what poison either of solid substance produced by the earth or liquid de- rived from the tides of the sea, have you invested yourself One of the causes of the misunderstanding this line, is its brevity and its interruptions ; and the critics have not observed that it is a soliloquy, and not part of the narrative. Clytemnestra advances on the stage, firm in resolution, yet full of horror at the deed she had been committing, partly soliloquizing, partly addressing the Chorus. The line in question is a soliloquy, broken, interrupted, with long intervening pauses, and should not be printed as if it were in the plain continuity of narrative, but, *Er)/j.a x A '5*? y gaudium, quod ad priores delicias accedit." Mr. Symmons is clearly wrong : " His love ! his beauty ! 'Twas to me he brought This piece of daintiness, to cheat my bed." Cassandra must surely, in any case, be the nominative to firrfyajfy as well as to Kflrai. (2) " Haec si satis salva sint habenda ad utramque Helenam et.Cly. temnestram traherem prsesertim cum tiupvtiat prsecesserit. Habent enim, ni fallor, comparatiouem malorum quae Atreo et Thyestss illata sunt, cum AGAMEMNON. 167 body, like some hateful raven, she boasts that she will chaunt a discordant strain. CLYTEM. Now thou hast uttered a juster sentiment from thy lips, in arraigning the tremendous fiend of this race: for it is by him that the thirst for lapping gore has been made to rage in our bowels. Before the ancient wounds are staunched, fresh blood flows. SEM. You assent to its being the mighty fiend who visits this house with his heavy wrath alas ! alas ! an evil assent to fatal and insatiable calamity. Alas ! alas ! it pro- ceeds from Jove, the first and last cause of every event : for what among mortals comes to its completion without the will of Jove ? What of these deeds hath not been ratified by Heaven ? CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! my king, my king, how shall I lament thee ? What wailings shall I pour forth, from the affection of my soul ? Ah ! here thou liest, in this woven work of Arachne, having breathed forth thy life by an impious murder. SEM. Ah me ! Ah me ! Lowly thou liest on no kingly couch, slain by an assassin's deed, with the double-edged axe wielded in the hand. CLYTEM. You assert justly that this was my deed ; but do not add that I am the wife of Agamemnon. For it was the ancient furious fiend of Atreus, the ruthless banqueter, that having come in apparition like to the wife of this dead man, cut him off, sacrificing a full-grown victim in addition to the babes. SEM. Who will attest that thou art guiltless of this murder ? How, how can it be ? Perchance the avenging Spirit of his ancestry might assist in the deed. For Mars is urged on in these miseries by the streams of kindred iis quse per Helenam et Clytemnestram Menelao et Agamemnotri conti- gerunt. Id notat vox Iff6tyvxov, quae h. 1. nihil aliud quam simpl. fcroc, par vel simile valet. Verterim igitur, O Genie, qua in hasce domos et yeminos Tanlalidas (Atreum et Thyestem) grams incumbis, pur robur jam per fee- minus (Hel. scilicet et Clytemnestrana) quo mihi cor angitur, exerces" BCTLEII. 168 AESCHYLUS. blood; and there is a point to which advancing lie will even freeze with horror 1 him who fed on his children. CHORUS. Alas! alas! my king, my king, how shall I lament thee? What wailings shall I pour forth, from the affection of my soul ? Ah ! here thou liest, in this woven work of Arachne, having breathed forth thy life by an im- pious murder. SEM. Ah me! Ah me! Lowly thou liest on no kingly couch, slain by an assassin's deed, with the double-edged axe wielded in the hand.. : CLYTEM. I do not deem that his death was ignominious : for did not he cause a treacherous calamity to his house ? But having done undeserved wrong to my offspring sprung from his embrace, the much-lamented Iphigenia, and hav- ing met with a deserved return, let him not proudly boast in Hades, since by the death of the murderous sword he hath atoned for the injuries which he inflicted. SEM. I am perplexed, through want of judgment, in what way I shall turn my anxious and subtle thought so as to bring reh'ef amid the ruin of this house. I tremble to hear the splashing of the shower of blood that shakes these walls ; for it falls no longer in drops. And Fate for another baneful deed is sharpening the edge of vengeance on a fresh whetstone. CHORUS. O earth ! earth ! would that thou hadst en- tombed me, before that I had seen him laid in the lowly bed of the silver-encircled bath ! Who will bury him who bewail him? Will you dare, after having slain your hus- band, to lament his death, and impiously bestow this thankless favour in atonement of your atrocious deeds? SEM. But who uttering with tears the funeral eulogy of this godlike hero will exert himself in the task with sincerity of feeling ? CLYTEM. It pertains not to thee to speak of this office : by us he fell, he died and we will bury him not with (1) We have no hesitation in adopting W^w as the time reading, both because it is required by the sense of the passage, and has been sanctioned by the very best authorities. AGAMEMNON. 169 lamentations issuing from these walls j but Iphigenia, hav- ing come forth to meet her father, as she ought, beside the rapid flow of the streams of sorrow, and having thrown her arms affectionately around him, will greet him with a daughter's kiss. SEM. This reproach succeeds to reproach : but of these things it is difficult to judge what will be the issue. The spoiler is spoiled, the slayer is slain. And this law re- mains, while Jove remains, that sooner or later the guilty shall suffer in return. Who, then, shall banish from this house the imprecated succession of calamities authorised by Heaven ? Its race is fast bound in misery. CHORUS. O earth ! earth ! would that thou hadst en- tombed me, before that I had seen him laid in the lowly bed of the silver-encircled bath ! Who will bury him ? who bewail him ? Will you dare, after having slain your husband, to lament his death, and impiously bestow this thankless favour in atonement of your atrocious deeds ? SEM. But who uttering with tears the funeral eulogy of this godlike hero will exert himself in the task with sincerity of feeling ? CLYTEM. He met, as justice required, with this pro- phetic doom. But I now wish, having made a league with the fiend of the Pleisthenida?, to resign myself to these present woes, though hard to be endured ; but that for the future, departing from this house, he wear out some other race by kindred murders. And it will quite suffice for me if I retain but a small portion of our wealth, and succeed in removing from these abodes .the madness of mutual slaughters. JEGISTHUS. O gladdening light of this avenging day l ! Now would I say, that the Gods on high, exacting retribution from mortals, looked down on the pollutions of the earth ; since (1) "jEgisthi personam, quamvis in ipso fine dramatis, rairo cum artificlo depinxit /Eschylus, prosperis in rebus insolentem, sua ipsius scelcra speciosa retributionis nomine obtegentem, quin et divinam quoque justi- tiam secum facere fingentem, et adversus imbelles senes, quod pravitatis et ignaviae certissimum indicium est, jactantiorem." BUTLEJI. 170 AESCHYLUS. I behold, to my joy, this man out-stretched in the enfolding tissue of the Furies, repaying by his death the treacherous deeds of his father's hands. For Atreus his father, the Ruler of this land, being at contention about the sovereignty with Thyestes my father and, to explain it clearly, his own brother expelled him from his country and his home. And the wretched Thyestes, returning again a suppliant at the altar, gained thereby a safe protection, so that he should not himself, dying, stain with his blood the pave- ment of his father's house. But Atreus, the impious father of this man, with seeming courtesy rather than friendship, appearing to celebrate joyfully a day of feasting in welcome of my father, gave him to feed on the flesh of his children. Sitting aloof in secret, he minced the extremities of the feet and the ends of the fingers ; and Thyestes, straightway taking through ignorance the disguised fragments, ate a banquet that you see has proved the cause of unsparing ruin to his race. Afterwards, when he knew too late the unnatural deed, he shrieked, and falls backward, disgorg- ing the bloody feast: and he imprecates an intolerable destiny on the Pelopidae, justly consigning to curses the outrage of that banquet, that by a like fate might the whole race of Pleisthenes perish. In consequence, you behold this man laid low before you ; and I with justice have devised his death. For he drove me out, along with my wretched father, being his thirteenth child, and yet a babe in swaddling-clothes : but Justice restored me, when reared to manhood. And though I was not present, yet I reached this man, having combined against him all the stratagems of hostile counsel. Thus even death would seem glorious to me, now that I have seen him subdued in the toils of Vengeance. CHORUS. ^Egisthus, I do not approve of insolence in a coward : but do you avow that you wilfully slew this man, and alone plotted the death that was dealt on him ? I say, that you may be assured your head shall not escape the execrations of the people, and the volleys of stones hurled against you in just punishment. S. Do you, who sit at the lowest oar, utter these AGAMEMNON. 171 threats against your masters in the higher station of the vessel ? You shall learn, being an old man, how grievous it is for one of your years to be taught that you are deficient in wisdom : for chains, and the pangs of famine, are physicians of the mind, the most skilful in divining a remedy to instruct even old age. Looking at this example, do you not perceive my meaning ? Do not kick against the pricks, lest striking them you suffer injury. CHORUS. O woman! didst thou, the guardian of the house of this man who but lately returned from the war, after dishonouring his bed, also devise this death against a hero the leader of armies ? .ffiGisTHUs. These words, too, will be the cause to you of sorrow. But you have a tongue unlike that of Orpheus : for he, indeed, drew every thing after him by the rap- ture inspired by his voice; whilst you, having provoked even the mild by your barkings, will hurry them away. But being overcome, we shall see you more peaceable. CHORUS. Shalt thou, forsooth, be king of the Argives, who after having plotted the death of this man, hadst not courage to do the deed with thy own hand ? JEGISTHUS. Because guile was obviously the province of a woman, and I was, of old, a suspected enemy. But, by means of his wealth, I will endeavour to rule the citizens ; and I will bind to a heavy yoke the unruly and pampered colt that refuses to run in my harness ; and hateful hunger, dwelling with him in darkness, shall soon see him tamed. CHORUS. Why didst thou not dare, in thy coward soul, to slay this man with thy own hand ? but a woman, the pollution of her country and her country's Gods, deprived him of life. Does Orestes then somewhere behold the light, that, returning hither with favouring fortune, he may prove the all-conquering slayer of this guilty pair ? JEGISTHUS. But if ye are determined to act and speak in this manner, ye shall quickly feel CHORUS. What ho ! my dear comrades, the struggle is at hand ! 172 yESCHYLUS. jEGISTHUS. * **#**##* CHORUS. What ho! let every one lightly wield his unsheathed sword. JEGISTHUS. I too, with sword in hand, will not refuse to die. CHORUS. You have said you will die to us who accept the omen: but let us put our fortunes to the question. CLYTEM. By no means, O dearest of men ! let us do further harm ; for even to have reaped thus much is a harvest of bitter misery. There is already enough of woe : let us shed no more blood. But go now, old men, to your several homes, before ye suffer from your attempts. It was fated that we should undertake what we have done: and if there be sorrow to any one in consequence, we too have enough of this, being struck calamitously by the heavy wrath of the deity. Such is the advice of a woman, if any one deign to listen to it. /EGISTHUS. But that they should thus scatter against me the flowers of their empty speech, and vent such words, tempting their fate, and should err from temperate discre- tion against me their master CHORUS. It never can be in the nature of an Argive to fawn on a base man. ^GISTHUS. But I shall yet get at you, some future day. CHORUS. Not if the. God shall direct the steps of Orestes hither. ^EGISTHUS. I know that exiles feed on hope. CHORUS. Go on ; batten on your guilt ; and pollute justice; since now the power is granted to you. ^EGISTHUS. Know, that you shall yet pay me the penalty of this folly. CHORUS. Boast without fear, like the cock beside his dame. CLYTEM. Do not regard these vain barkings : you and I, bearing the sway in this house, will order all its affairs aright. THE CHOEPHOR.E. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. ORESTES. ELECTRA. CLYTEMNESTRA. jEGISTHUS. PYLADES. NURSE. SERVANT. CHORUS. THE CHOEPIIOR^, ORESTES. 1 O MERCURY, God of the shades and guardian of thy Father's realms 2 , do thou prove a preserver and an ally to me thy suppliant ! for I come and return from exile to this land ; and on this mound of his sepulchre I invoke my father to listen, to hear * * * * * On his tomb I offer this ringlet, which I cherished for Inachus ; and this a second gift, in token of my sorrow ******* But what do I behold ? What is this band of women that approaches, arrayed in sable garments ? to what event shall I ascribe their appearance ? Whether has some new death oc- curred in this house ? or am I right in conjecturing that they are bearing libations to my father, the offerings that soothe the dead? It can be nothing else; for I think that I see my sister Electra advancing, conspicuous by the excess of her sorrow. O Jove, give me to revenge the death of a father, and do thou willingly vouchsafe thy aid to my cause ! Pylades, let us stand aside, that I may (1) Aristophanes has censured the ambiguities and tautologies of this prologue, in an amusing dialogue in the Frogs, v. 1150. The speakers are Euripides and ./Escbjlus ; and it is of course the part of the ktter to de- fend himself against the criticisms of his rival. (2) " In verbis irarptf' liroirrevu>i> Kpdrij ambiguitatem quaesivit apud Aristophanem Euripides, quse neque editores non fefellit, possunt enim ilia significare aut : qui patris met imperium respicis, aut qid officia & palre tito tibi tradita exsequeris. Priorem expficationem admodum ineptam, quam joci causa Euripidi tribuit Aristophanes, veram putant Schutz et Butler., altera verb quam apud Aristophanem ./Eschylus ipse profert, unice vera et sensui accommodata est." WELLAVEH. We agree with this editor in condemning his brethren ; but his own interpretation is still a little too lax. 176 AESCHYLUS. clearly learn what is the object of this suppliant band of women. CHORUS. I have been sent from the palace to conduct the libation to the tomb with the impetuous beating of the hand. My cheek is marked with the blood-streaming wound, the fresh-ploughed furrow of the nail 1 : my heart for ever lives but on the food of sorrow ; and the rent that destroys the tissue of the robe hath been severed in my grief, the folds that deck my bosom disparting through these gloomy calamities. For terror thrilling through the stiffened hair, presaging by dreams in the palace, and breathing his dread -influence on sleep, fearfully awoke in the centre of our dwelling a midnight cry as he descended with all his horrors on the chambers of the women : and the interpre- ters of these dreams have, under solemn oath, announced from Heaven, that those beneath the earth are strongly moved with indignation and wrath against their mur- derers. The impious woman (O mother Earth !) sends me on this mission, seeking by such a thankless offering to avert her ills. But I fear to utter the words that she bade ; for what can cleanse the stain of blood that hath' been shed on the ground ? Alas for this hearth, devoted to sorrow ! alas for this house, that must sink in ruin ! A sunless and abhorred gloom hath involved its walls since the day that its master died. And the majesty invincible, unconquered and irresistible of old, that was renowned in the discourse and in the recollections of his people, hath now departed ; and every one is afraid. But good fortune is both a God among mortals ; and more than a God : for the sudden vengeance of justice visits some indeed in the day; while on others, gathering force by the delay, it bursts I i (1) " Sic Ceres apud Claudian. de raptu Proserp, v. 425 ; Accipe, quas merui poenas; en ora fatiscunt Vulneribu9, grandesque rubent in pectore sulci. Immemor en uterus crebrd contunditur ictu. Simplicius extulit Euripide, Electr. 147. K ard i\ ttwxi Tt\u>opkva. SCHUTZ. THE CHOEPHOR^E. 177 forth at the twilight ; and others it makes it prey amid the deepest shades of night. On account of the blood ab- sorbed by the bounteous earth, there has been decreed an avenging slaughter, which will not pass away. The direst of visitations shall destroy the guilty cause of the disease by which we are pervaded. For to him that violates the nuptial chamber there is no salvation ; and all the rivers, flowing in one channel, would flow in vain to wash the stain of murder from the polluted hand '. But to me (for the Gods have reduced me to the fate of captivity, and far from the home of my fathers have forced me into a servile state) it is bitter to praise the deeds, right or wrong, of those who rule with violence, submitting in a manner un- worthy of my earlier life, and suppressing by force the strong abhorrence of my soul. But I weep beneath my garments for the unavenged calamities of my masters, and my soul is congealed by its secret sorrows. ELECTRA. Ye captive maids, whose task it is to deck the chambers, since ye are here with me as conductors of these offerings, assist me with your advice in what I am about to inquire of you. As I pour forth on the tomb the libations of his kindred, how shall I say what is grateful to the dead? how shall I invoke the shade of my father ? Shall I say that I bear these offerings to a beloved husband, from a loving wife from my mother ? I have not the heart to utter it; nor do I know what I can say, as I pour this thick libation on the tomb of my father. Or shall I speak these words as is the custom of mortals 2 , that he recompense those who send these garlands with a gift befitting their evil deeds ? Or silently and ignominiously, as my father perished, having ( 1 ) " Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand ? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous sea incarnadine, Making the green one red." Macbeth, Act II. 1. (2) " Pertinet ad jus talionis inter homines receptum ; non ut Stanl. putabat ad morem inter effundendam libationem manes defuncti allo- quendi." SCHUTZ. N 178 ^SCHYLUS. poured forth the libation on the thirsty earth, shall I return, like one having emptied filth, casting away the vessel with averted eyes ? Assist me, O friends, in this counsel ; for we entertain a common hatred in the house. Conceal not your sentiments within your hearts, through fear of any one : for the decree of fate awaits alike the free, and the slave who is subject to another's hand. Speak, if you know any better counsels than these. CHORUS. Reverencing as an altar the tomb of your father, I will speak, since you desire it, the sentiments of my mind. ELECTRA. Speak then, as you reverence the tomb of my father. CHORUS. Pray, as you pour forth the libation, for blessings to those who favour his cause. ELECTRA. But who are those that I should name as his friends ? CHORUS. First, indeed, yourself, and whoever hates jflEgisthus. ELECTRA. Shall I make this prayer, then, both for my- self and you ? CHORUS. Do you consider yourself as already acquainted with this. ELECTRA. Whom besides, then, shall I add to this band? CHORUS. Forget not Orestes, even though he be far away. ELECTRA. You suggest this well, and have wisely in- structed me. CHORUS. Next for the guilty, mindful of the murder. ELECTRA. What shall I pray? teach, and inform my ignorance. CHORUS. That there should come to them some deity, or some mortal ELECTRA. Whether do you mean as a judge or as an avenger ? CHORUS. Say simply, one who shall slay in return. ELECTRA. Is it consistent with religion for me to ask such things from the Gods ? THE CHOEPHORJE. 179 CHORUS. How not? to repay an enemy with evils'. ELECTRA. O Mercury, God of the shades, come and proclaim to me that the Powers beneath the earth, the guardians of my father's house, hear my prayers ; and Earth herself, who gives birth to all things, and having nourished them again receives their increase ! And I, as I pour forth these lustral waters for mortals, pray, invoking my father, that he will pity me and the dear Orestes, so that we may again reign in his palace. For now -we wander, being sold, as it were, by our mother ; and she has taken in exchange, as a husband, ^Egisthus, who shared with her in your murder. I indeed am in the place of a slave ; while Orestes is an exile from his wealth : and they, in their pride, triumph greatly in your downfal. But I pray, O father, and do you hear me ! that Orestes may come hither with prosperous fortune ; and grant to me, that I may be chaster than my mother, and more pious in my deeds ! For our- selves we offer these prayers ; but for our enemies I im- plore, O father, that an avenger of thy death may ap- pear, and may requite thy murderers with the death which they deserve ! I insert these words in the midst of my prayer for good, uttering against them this evil imprecation. But do thou send to us from below the blessings we desire, along with the Gods, and Earth, and victorious Justice ! After such prayers, I pour forth these libations. But it is fitting for you to burst forth into lamentations, giving loud voice to the pa3an of the dead. CHORUS. Pour forth, amid groans, the mournful tear for our murdered lord, that we may thus confirm what is good, and avert the accursed abomination of evil by the libation of the sacred stream. Hear me, O august master ! hear me, as I pray from my darkened spirit ! O woe ! alas ! alas ! When shall the deliverer of the house arise, the Scy- (1) Before the introduction of Christianity, revenge was generally con- sidered as a virtue ; and we find even Aristotle talking, without any con- demnation, of its pleasures. The new Religion, which denounced it as an unholy and baneful passion, did more for the civilization and tranquillity of the world, by the propagation of this single doctrine, than all the boasted wisdom of heathen philosophy. N 2 180 .ESCHYLUS. thian warrior of the stubborn spear ; and Mars, amid the combat shaking in his hand the curved dart, and brandish- ing by the hilt the weapons of the close encounter ? ELECTRA. My father, indeed, hath already received the libations through the pores of the earth ; (O mightiest Herald of the Powers above and below ! ') but do you listen to the new tidings which I bring. CHORUS. Relate them, if you please ; but my heart beats violently through fear. ELECTRA. I behold these shorn ringlets on the tomb. CHORUS. To what man, or deep-bosomed maid, may they belong? ELECTRA. This offers an easy conjecture to the opinion of every one. CHORUS. How then am I, aged, to be instructed by you younger ? ELECTRA. There could be no one who would cut them off, except me. CHORUS. For they are enemies, whose duty it were to offer the mourner's tribute of hair. ELECTRA. And, in truth, this is of a very similar hue in appearance. CHORUS. To what hair ? for this I wish to know. ELECTRA. It is very like in appearance to my own. CHORUS. Can it be that this is the secret gift of Orestes ? ELECTRA. It most resembles his locks. CHORUS. But how could he have dared to come hither ? ELECTRA He has sent this shorn ringlet as a grateful offering to his father. CHORUS. You utter words which do not the less excite my sorrow, if he is never to touch this land with his foot. ELECTRA. On my heart, too, hath gushed the wave of bitter grief; and I have been struck as by a piercing dart. But from my eyes, long dry, there fall the unexpected (l) Hermann and "VVellauer condemn this line, which appears to have crept in here, out of its proper place at v. 118. THE CHOEPIIORyE. 181 drops of a tempestuous shower, as I gaze upon this lock : for how can I suppose that its tresses belonged to any other of the citizens ? And surely neither could the murderess have shorn it, surely not my mother, she who feels senti- ments of hatred towards the children by no means accor- dant with the maternal name. But I know not how I can directly assent to the opinion that this ornament came from Orestes, the most dear to me of mortals : but I am soothed by the hope. Alas ! would that it had a welcome voice, like a messenger, so that I might no longer be agitated be- tween contending thoughts ; but that I might either reject the detected tress, if at least it had been cut from the head of an enemy, or that if it were from kindred it might be able to bear token of sorrow along with me, an ornament of this tomb, and an honour of my father 1 ! But we invoke the Gods, who know indeed in what storms, like mariners, we are tossed ; but if we are fated to obtain safety, a mighty stem may arise from a small seed. And, besides, here is a second sign 2 , the prints offset, that resemble and correspond with mine ; for these are the marks of two foot- steps, both of himself and of some companion of his journey. The heels and the marks of the tendons, being measured, coincide exactly with the impress of mine 3 . But anguish and confusion of the senses oppress me. ORESTES. Pray that what remains may fall out well, uttering to the Gods such prayers as require completion. ELECTRA. For what have I now obtained, by the bless- ing of the Gods? ORESTES. You have come to the sight of those whom you lately prayed to see. (1) The accusatives in the text are governed by tls understood. (2) Is this to be considered as a reKfntpu>v, according to Aristotle's defi- nition ? Pauw, who had a quick eye for an absurdity, has attacked it with the ferocity for which he was also distinguished: " Hoc Sevrepov TCK- wpiov plane ridiculum est ; et mirum, quod eruditissimus Comicus id non perfuderit aceto suo ; sentiunt omnes qui aliquid scntiunt." (3) This is a reK/j.ijpiot', and a good one, that the symmetry of Electra's person was not the most faultless. 182 AESCHYLUS. ELECTKA. And whom of mortals do you know me to have called on? ORESTES. I know that you were earnestly longing for Orestes. ELECTRA. And in what, then, do I obtain my prayers ? ORESTES. I am he : seek not one more dear than me. ELECTRA. But are you not, O stranger, involving me in some deceit ? ORESTES. In that case I should be inventing stratagems against myself. ELECTRA. But do you not wish to mock my mis- fortunes ? ORESTES. No; for in mocking yours I should also mock my own. ELECTRA. Do I then address you with these words as being really Orestes ? ORESTES. When you see me in my own person, then you refuse to recognise me; but yet when you looked on this shorn tress of votive hair corresponding with the head of your brother, and examined the traces of my footsteps, you were quickly fluttered, and thought that you saw me. Mark now this ringlet of hair, applying it to the place from which it was shorn ; and behold this woven garment, the work of your hand, and the strokes of the shuttle and the figures of wild animals inwrought! Compose yourself; and do not let your senses forsake you through joy : for I know that those who ought to be dearest to us are our bitter enemies. ELECTRA. O dearest care of your father's house, long- lamented hope of salvation to your race ! confiding in your valour you shall regain the palace of your father. O be- loved being, who combine in yourself four ties to my regard 1 ! for it needs must be that I address you as father ; and my natural affection for my mother inclines to you, for she is most justly hated; and for my sister, who was (l) " Affectionem ait suam naturalem in quatuor paries divisam ; nempe, erga patrem, matrem, sororem Iphigeniam, et fratrcm Orestem, in unum jam collatam fuisse Orestem ; quippe cum pater et soror mortui esseiit, inater exosa." STANLEY. THE CHOEPHOR^:. 183 cruelly sacrificed; and you are my faithful brother, bringing glory to me, if only Strength and Justice, with a third, Jove the mightiest of all, be present to my aid. ORESTES. Jove, O Jove ! do thou regard our state, and behold the orphan young of the eagle sire who died in the folds and wreaths of a deadly serpent ! But the pangs of hunger afflict his orphaned race ; for they are not able to bear the prey, like their father ', to the nest. Thus you may behold both me and her (I mean Electra) a fatherless offspring, both subject to the same exile from their home. And having destroyed these young of a father who sacrificed at thy shrines and greatly honoured thee, whence shalt thou obtain from a like hand the honours of the solemn feast? Neither, if thou permittest the offspring of the eagle to perish, shalt thou again have it in thy power to send credible signs of thy will to mortals ; nor shall the stem of this royal race, if utterly blasted, again avail thy altars on the days of sacrifice. Bestow on us thy care ; and raise from its ruins a mighty house, which now appears to have fallen for ever ! CHORUS. O children, O preservers of your father's house, be silent! lest some one should hear, O children, and, indulging his tongue, should relate all to those in power, whom may I one day behold lifeless amid the pitchy smoke of the flaming pyre ! ORESTES. The mighty Oracle of Loxias will not prove false ; which bade me encounter this danger, and loudly excited me to the task ; and denounced the fiercest storms of anguish in my fevered breast, if I should not pursue with vengeance the guilty murderers of my father, whom he com- manded me to requite in the same manner with slaughter, being driven to fury by the loss of my possessions ; and he announced, that if I failed I should make atonement to my (1) Blomfield very correctly renders &>ipa.v ira-rptfav, prcedam qualem pater capere solebat. Schiitz has it : " non enim valent (matris et /Egisthi vi prohibit!) prcedam paternam nidis inferre, h. e. bonorum pater- norum haereditatis jure ad se pertinentium usufructu prohibentur." Nothing can be conceived more vilely repugnant to all taste and sense. 184 J3SCHYLUS. father's shade by being subjected to many bitter ills. For he declared, as he spoke, such punishment from the sterile soil to our citizens as would make their enemies rejoice ; but to us, diseases leprosies, that with cruel fangs should fasten on the flesh, corroding and destroying its former nature, and white hairs which should spring up after this disease. And he announced, that I should see clearly, even when I directed my gaze in darkness, other attacks of the Furies, that would result from my father's unavenged blood. For the dark shaft sent from the shades by the kindred dead who call for vengeance, and madness, and vain fears by night, harrow and disturb their victim ' ; and his body, lacerated by their brazen scourge, is driven from the city. And for such it is the lot, neither to have a share in the festal goblet nor the libation of sacrifice ; and that the un- seen wrath of a father should exclude him from the altar ; that no one should receive him or aid him in his expiation ; and that, unhonoured and forsaken of all, he should at length die, miserably consumed by an unsparing destruc- tion. In these oracles, therefore, it is my duty to confide ; and even though I disbelieved them, still the deed must be done. For many desires conspire to this end both the commands of the Gods, and the deep sorrow for my father, and the want of possessions which oppresses me in addi- tion that the inhabitants of this land, the most glorious of mortals, who with gallant souls overthrew Troy, should no longer be subject to two women. For the mind of ^Egis- thus is that of a woman: and if not, he shall soon give proof of it. CHORUS. But, O ye mighty Fates, grant, with the sanc- tion of Jove, that this may be consummated in the way in which justice should proceed! In return for hostile words let hostile words be repaid thus Justice, as she exacts (1) " Nolite enim putare, quemadmodum in fabulis siepenumerb vi- detis, eosquialiquid impie scelerateque commiserint, agitari et perterreri furiarum taeclis ardentibus. Sua quenique fraus et suus terror niaxime vexat, suum quenique scelus agitat, amentiaque afficit, suae malte cogi- tatioiies conscientiieque auimi terrent." Cic. Oral, pro Rose. c. 24. THE CHOEPHORJ3. 183 her debt, loudly exclaims and for the bloody wound let the guilty suffer the bloody wound in return. The worker of wrong must feel its retribution, and very ancient is the saying that proclaims this truth. ORESTES. O father, unhappy father, by saying or doing what shall I succeed in wafting by prosperous gales from afar, where the chambers of thy repose contain thee, a light that may compensate for our former gloom? For then should the strains of joy be celebrated, and his dirge reflect glory on the son of Atreus, the ancient lord of this house. CHORUS. My child, the devouring jaw of the flame quells not the spirit of the dead, but from the tomb he manifests his wrath. The slain is lamented, and the mur- derer is brought to light; and the righteous grief for fathers and the authors of existence makes search into all the guilty deed, agitated by strong emotion to its quest of vengeance. ELECTRA. Hear now, O father, in turn, my mournful woes ! The sepulchral lamentation of your two children bewails your fate ; and your tomb has received us at once as suppliants and exiles. Which of these is well? and which without evils? Is not ours an overpowering calamity ? CHORUS. But yet from these sorrowings the God, if he wills it, may cause more joyful sounds to arise ; and, in place of sepulchral lamentations, the hymn of triumph in the royal abodes may hail the new return of the object of our love. ORESTES. Would, O father, that beneath the walls of Troy thou hadst perished by the wound of some Lycian spear ! Bequeathing thy renown to thy house, and esta- blishing an envied course of life for thy children to pursue ', thou wouldest have occupied a tomb of lofty structure in (1) " Liberorumque v' tee ac rebus felicem cetatem condcns: Kf\fd9ois ele- gans ita, et notum ; firiffrpfTn-ov qua; mcntes et oculos in se convertat." PAUW. " Verte, vitam in qua libcri sine impedimenta versari posslnt." BLOMFIELU. We have given the preference to the former inter- pretation of the word, both because we consider it more elegant and leas forced. 196 AESCHYLUS. a foreign land a fate that would have caused lighter sorrow to thy race 1 . CHORUS. Beloved by thy friends who there gloriously died, thou wouldest have been even beneath the earth a king distinguished by sacred honour, and a minister of the mighty Powers that rule the shades ; for thou wert, while in life, a king among those who fill their appointed station with the hand of power and the awe-commanding sceptre. ELECTRA. Nor slain beneath the walls of Troy hast thou been buried, O father, along with the other victims of the spear beside the streams of Scamander. Oh ! would that thy murderers had thus first been subdued, so that thou, when afar, hadst heard of their deadly fate, thyself exempted from these sufferings ! CHORUS. The wishes that you express, my child, are better than gold, and greater than high and Hyperborean fortune " ; but they are the cause of pain. For the sound of this double scourge approaches : the allies of these two 3 are already beneath the earth ; and the hands of the hate- ful pair in power are stained with guilt : but on the children that scourge hath more heavily descended. ELECTRA. These words have pierced right through my car, like a sharp weapon. Jove, O Jove, if thou sendest up from below the visitation of a late vengeance on the daring and guilty hand of mortals, even on a parent must the punishment be alike inflicted ! (1) " JEdibus tolerabilem, scil. tuis liberornmque tuorum propriis." PAUW. " Mdifieiis amplum ab tvt atrio oberrabnt neglecta." PAUW. THE CHOEPHOR.E. 189 ORESTES. I call upon you, O father, to aid those who are dear to you ! ELECTRA. And I, drenched in tears, add my voice to the request. CHORUS. And this band of common friends echoes the prayer. Hear, coming to the light, and lend thy aid against enemies ! ORESTES. May Mars engage with Mars, and vengeance with vengeance ! ELECTRA. O Gods, consummate according to justice CHORUS. Trembling steals over me, as I hear these prayers. Fate remains fixed of old, and, to those who pray for it, may come. Alas for the calamities of this race, and the unnatural and bloody wound of destruction ! Alas for these grievous and intolerable woes ! Alas for the irre- mediable anguish that ever festers in this house ! It is the subject of exulting hymns to the bloody Goddesses be- neath the earth, that neither from afar, nor by strangers, but by kindred hands, they shall sacrifice life. But hear- ing, O blessed Powers beneath the earth, this prayer will- ingly send assistance to lead the children to victory ! ORESTES. O father, whose death was not such as became a king, grant to my request that I obtain the power in thy palace. ELECTRA. And I, father, proffer to thee a similar prayer, that I may escape, after inflicting a dire fate on ZEgisthus ! ORESTES. For thus should ritual feasts be instituted by men to thy honour ; but if not, thou shalt be forgotten at the splendid banquet 1 , and amid the fires of sacrifice that arise with fragrance from earth. ELECTRA. And I shall bring to thee from the paternal abode the nuptial offerings of my unwasted inheritance 2 ; for beyond all others I shall reverence this tomb. (1) " Agamemnonem mortuum nee inferiis nee silicernio honestatum plus semel conqueritur Electra, turn apud nostrum, turn apud Sophoclem et Euripidem : credebant quippe veteres defunctorum animas ab inferis excitatas iis vesci et delectari." STANLEY. (2) Affection to her father peculiarly marks the character of Electra, of 190 AESCHYLUS. ORESTES. O Earth, restore to me my father, to behold the strife ! ELECTRA. O Proserpine, do thou grant us victory in its fairest shape ! ORESTES. Remember, O father, the baths in which thou wert deprived of life ! ELECTRA. And remember the invention of the net, which they practised against thee ! ORESTES. Thou wert bound, O father, in fetters, but not of brass. ELECTHA. Basely entangled in the folds of the insidious garment. ORESTES. Is thy spirit not roused, O father ! by these insults ? ELECTRA. Dost thou not raise aloft thy dearest head ? ORESTES. Send either justice to assist your friends, or grant that your enemies be recompensed with equal suffer- ings, if at least, after having been conquered, you wish to prevail in your turn ! ELECTRA. And hear, O father, this my last appeal ! Beholding these young ones sitting by thy tomb, pity both the female and the male offspring ; and do not extinguish the blood of this race of Pelops ! For thus, even in the tomb, thou art not yet dead ; since children are to the departed hero the preservers of his fame, and, as corks, support the net, preserving the entwisted line from sinking in the deep. Hear ! It is for thy sake that such lamentations are poured ; and do thou remember and regard these words ! CHORUS. And, in truth, ye have both uttered blameless speeches, in honour of his tomb, and of his fate which has been yet unpitied. But as to what remains, since you are animated in thought to the deed, you may now fulfil its work, and make trial of your fortune. ORESTES. It shall be done : but it is not out of the way of which she could not give a stronger instance than this. Deprived, as she now was, of all her share of her father's riches, she had it not in her power to offer any presents at his tomb ; but should yEgisthus be slain, she de- votes even her nuptial dowry to that purpose." POTTER. THE CHOEPHOR^l. 191 to inquire, why she hath sent the libations ? from what reason she pays this late honour to a calamity that cannot be assuaged ? The wretched offering was sent to the dead, and not to the living who could regard it. I cannot con- jecture the object of these gifts ; but they are insufficient to expiate her crime : for though you should pour forth end- less libations in atonement for one murder, the labour were in vain : such is the common saying. But tell to me, if you know it, what I wish to hear. CHORUS. I know it, O my child, for I was present : the impious woman having been agitated by dreams and ter- rors that disturb her repose, hath sent these libations. ORESTES. Have you also learned the dream, so as to re- late it correctly ? CHORUS. She thought, as she herself says, that she had given birth to a serpent. ORESTES. How does this tale end ? and what is its issue ? CHORUS She fancied that the new-born monster lay, like a child, in swaddling-clothes, desiring some food ; and in the dream she gave it her own breast. ORESTES. And how was it that the nipple was un- wounded by her horrid suckling ? CHORUS. It was wounded, so that with the milk it drew the clotted blood. ORESTES. The dreams of mortals come with no vain warning. CHORUS. But she, startled from her sleep, shrieked in terror ; and many lamps which had been extinguished in darkness again blazed up in the palace, at the call of my mistress. And afterwards she sends these funeral libations, expecting them to prove an effectual remedy of her ills. ORESTES. But I pray to this earth, and to the tomb of my father, that this dream may be accomplished as I desire ! and, in truth, I judge of it that it seems all consistent. For if the serpent, leaving the same birth-place with me, was dressed in my swaddling-clothes, and applied its mouth to the same breath that gave me nourishment, and mingled a mother's milk with the clotted blood, while she shrieked 192 AESCHYLUS. through anguish and dread it is fated, that, as she nursed this horrid monster, she should die a violent death ; and that I, assuming the serpent's nature, should slay her, as this dream foretells. But concerning these portents I choose you as my interpreter. CHORUS. May it be as you have spoken ! But explain to your friends what remains to be executed, telling these what they are to do, and those from what they are to re- frain. ORESTES. My commands are simple : I advise Electra to go within, and to conceal the designs which we have mutually formed ; so that they who slew by guile a hero in his glory may be also the victim of guile, dying in the same toils, even as has been predicted by the God of Ora- cles, king Apollo, the Prophet that never yet hath erred. For in the character of a stranger, and completely equipped as such, I will approach with Pylades to the gates of the court, pretending to be a guest and foreign friend of the house. But we will both speak the Parnassian language, imitating the sounds of the Phocian tongue. And if it happen that no one of the keepers of the gates receive us with glad inclination, since the house is distracted by its misfortunes, we will remain as we are, so that some one passing by the palace may conjecture our wishes and speak these words : " Why with the closed gate do ye exclude the suppliant, if ^Egistlius being present at home knows it ?" If then I shall pass the threshold of the gates of the court, and shall find him on the throne of my father, or even if coming before me he shall address me and cast his eyes upon me, be assured, that before he has said " Of what country is the stranger ?" I will lay him dead, having swiftly transfixed him with my sword ; and the Fury, who hath not been stinted of slaughter, shall drink a third draught of undiluted blood. Do you ', therefore, now watcli well the proceedings in the house, that all may happen agreeably to our designs*: and to you" I recommend to keep (1) Electra. (2) The Chorus. THE CHOEPHOH/E. 193 strict guard on your tongues, and to be silent where it is proper, and to speak only what is required by the season. As for what remains, I commit it to the vigilance of the friend who assists my success in this contest of the sword. CHORUS. The earth indeed breeds many and dreadful objects of fear and horror ; and the arms of the sea teem with creatures hostile to mortals; and meteors on high flash through the regions of middle air ; and one might tell of monsters that creep and monsters that fly, and of the stormy fury of the whirlwinds. But who can tell the extreme audacity of the thoughts of man ; and of women daring in mind ; and the lawless impetuosity of loves that mingle with the calamities of mortals ? The force of for- bidden passion, prevailing in the female breast, violates the harmonies of social union both among men and the inferior animals. Let him who is not heedless of reflection acknow- ledge this truth, when he hears of the device of the con- suming fire which the wretched daughter of Thestius 1 con- trived for the destruction of her son, committing to the flames the fatal brand, whose existence was destined to be the same with that of her son from the time that he uttered his first cries on coming from the womb, and to correspond with it in measure through his life to the day appointed by fate for its termination. There is another, too, celebrated in story, whom we ought to hate the bloody Scylla, who, at the instigation of enemies, destroyed a father whom she should have loved, being persuaded by the gifts of Minos, the Cretan necklaces of gold, and having with shameless purpose despoiled Nisus of his immortal ringlet as he lay (1) " When Althaea, the daughter of Thestius, was delivered of Me- leager, the Destinies attended at her labour ; and upon the birth of the child, throwing a log on the fire as they spun his thread of life, pro- nounced this charm : ' O new-born child, we assign the same period of existence to this log and to thee !' then vanished. Althaea snatched the log from the flames, and preserved it with great care ; till Meleager having slain her two brothers, for rudely taking the head of the Calydonian boar from Atalanta, to whom he had presented it, this unnatural mother threw the fatal brand into the fire, and the charm of the Destinies was fulfilled." POTTEH. O 194 AESCHYLUS. breathing in unsuspecting sleep 1 : but Hermes overtook her with retribution. But since I have made mention of ruthless cruelties, I will include, though their place should have been the first, the hateful marriage detested by this house, and the plots devised in the mind of a woman. Honour is to be paid to the warrior arrayed in armour and raging in battle against his enemies ; but at home I approve of a hearth undisturbed by violence, and in women of a disposition that is not prone to daring. Of former ills the Lemnian" is the most celebrated in story ; and it has been deplored in succeeding times with execra- tion ; for men are wont to compare any horrible deed to the Lemnian atrocities. But through pollutions abhorred of Heaven the race of mortals perishes unhonoured ; for no one holds in reverence that which is displeasing to the Gods. Which of these combined instances have I not quoted with justice ? But the bitter point of the sword of vengeance will soon inflict a mortal wound through the lungs ; for the guilt of those who lawlessly transgress the awful decrees of Jove shall not be trampled under foot and forgotten. The foundations of the altar of Justice are firmly fixed ; and Fate, forging the sword, prepares it for the deed ; while the triumphant Fury, bringing her myste- rious purposes to light, introduces fresh slaughter into the house, and at length avenges the pollution of the blood that was shed of old. ORESTES. O boy, boy, be not deaf to the knocking at the gate of the court ! O boy, boy, I again repeat, who is (1) Nisus, the king of Alcathoe, had a lock of purple hair, on the pre- servation of which his safety depended. His daughter Soylla was per- suaded by the love or gifts of Minos to cut oif the charmed ringlet, while her father was asleep ; and his city, before impregnable, immediately yielded to the arms of the enemy. (2) " All the men of Lemnos that were able to bear arms had invaded Thrace, and continued the war for three years : their wives, stung with rage and jealousy^ formed a horrid design, which they executed the very night on which their husbands returned, to murder every male on the island. Hypsipyle alone saved her father Thoas; Statius has related the whole transaction with his usual spirit, Theb.V. 1.70." POTTER. THE CIIOEPHOILE. 195 within in the house ? For the third time I call on you to come forth from the house, if the mighty ^gisthus is hospitable to strangers. SERVANT. Well ! I hear. Of what country is the stranger? whence comes he ? ORESTES. Announce me to the rulers of the house, to see whom I have come, and am the bearer of new tidings : but make haste, for the dark chariot of night is also hasten- ing on its way, and it is time that travellers should drop anchor in the abodes of hosts who deny welcome to none. Let some woman, ruling with full authority, come forth from the house: but it were more proper that a man should receive us ; for in such a case the absence of shame in conversation prevents the obscurity of expres- sion : a man speaks with confidence to a man, and signifies with clear certainty his meaning. CLYTEMNESTRA. Strangers, it is permitted you to speak, if you have need of any thing ; for such things as befit the house are present, both warm baths, and the couch to soothe your toils, and the presence of just eyes. But if it is necessary to transact any other affair of deeper moment, this is the business of men, to whom we will impart your wishes. ORESTES. I indeed am a Daulian stranger, from the country of the Phocians ; and as I was going to Argos, bearing my own baggage, after I had set out in this direc- tion on foot, an unknown person whom I met said to m unknown, having asked whither I was bound, and having pointed out the way Strophius thePhocian (for I learned his name during the conversation) : " Since for other rea- sons, O stranger, you are going to Argos, tell to his parents that Orestes is dead ; strictly remembering my words, and by no means let them escape you : whether, therefore, the opinion of his friends shall prevail to carry away the body, or that we should bury him amongst us, for ever a stranger to his home, bring back their com- mands : for now the sides of the brazen urn contain the 196 AESCHYLUS. ashes of the man whose death has been bewailed with due rites." I have now told all that I heard : and if I chance to be speaking to those in power and to his kindred, I know not ; but it is fitting that his parents should be in- formed of what has happened. ELECTRA. Ah me, how utterly we are now undone ! Fiend, that devotest this house to inevitable ruin, how many even of those objects that seemed secured by distance hast thou marked for thy prey, and vanquished from afar with unerring shafts ! Thou hast stripped of every friend me thy unhappy victim. And now Orestes for his fate had fallen better, preserving his foot from the mire of de- struction now also he for ever blots out the only hope of allaying the guilty phrensy that hath been triumphing in this house. ORESTES. I, indeed, to hosts thus blessed by fortune would have wished to have become known, and to have been welcomed by them for the sake of good tidings : for what can be more friendly than the feeling of the guest towards his host ? But I considered it as impious not to fulfil my duty in this matter to my friends, after having given my promise to the one, and being bound by the ties of hospitality to the other. CLYTEM. You shall not, in truth, meet with less than you deserve ; nor should you with right have been less dear to this house ; for some other would have come in like manner to announce these tidings. But it is time that strangers who have spent the day in long travel should obtain what their wants require. Conduct him into the hospitable male-apartments of the house, and his attendants, and those that may be travelling along with him j and there let them meet with a reception worthy of the house. And 1 recommend you to do this as one from whom an account of his conduct will be required. But we will both impart these things to the rulers of the house, and, not destitute of friends, will resolve ourselves concerning this calamity. CHORUS. Say then, ye dear virgins who serve in this house, when shall we put forth the strength of our prayers THE CHOEPHOR^E. 197 for Orestes? O awful earth, and awful confines of the sepulchral mound, which art now laid above the royal body of the leader of the fleet, now hear our supplications ! now lend your aid ! for now is the time for guileful Per- suasion, and for Mercury the conductor of the dead, to descend together, and to guide the dark avenger to these contests of the murderous sword. SERVANT. The stranger appears to be working evil. But I see the nurse of Orestes approach, weeping. Whither are you passing, O Gilissa 1 , through the gates of the house? But an unbribed 2 grief is the companion of your way. NURSE. My mistress commanded me to call ^Egisthus as quickly as possible to the strangers, that, having come, the man might more clearly learn from a man the new tidings of this report. Before the domestics, indeed, she suppressed her exultation within eyes of sad seeming 3 , concealing the joy she felt for deeds that had been perpetrated with good fortune to her, but which are fraught with misery to this house, from the tidings which the strangers have clearly announced. ^Egisthus without doubt will rejoice in his mind, when he shall have heard the tale. Alas for my unhappy state! How deeply has the accumulation of former intolerable woes, that happened in this house of Atreus, already pained the feelings of 1 my bosom ! But never yet have I endured such a suffering as the present. I drained indeed with patience the cup of other ills ; but now I have lost the dear Orestes, the chief care of my soul, whom I reared, having received from his mother, being often disturbed in the night by his shrill cries, and having in vain endured many and grievous troubles : for the un- thinking infant must be reared, like the young of the flock, (1) The same personage is called Arsinoe by Pindar, Pyth. CW.XI. 26. (2) Or, genuine. Dutheil translates it in a different sense, but with his usual elegance : " La doulewr qui vous accompagne^ eolate malgre, vous." (3) "At ille, quanquam perfecto voto, prostrate intmico Isetus ageret, vultu tamen gaudium tegit et frontem asseverat, dolorem simulans ; et omnia quidem lugentium officia solerter affingit, sed solse lachrymae pro- cedere noluerunt." Apul* Melam.VIII, p. 156. 198 AESCHYLUS. (and how otherwise ?) by mere guess. For a child, while yet in swaddling-clothes, says nothing, whether hunger or thirst or the call of nature is felt by him, and the belly of the infant consults for its own relief. Endeavouring to foresee its necessities but often, I own, deceived, and there- fore forced to clean the clothes of the child the washer and nurse had the same office. But I, performing this double labour, revived Orestes to be reared for his father. And now I, wretched, hear that he is dead : and I am going to a man, the author of wrong to this house, who will learn these tidings with joy 3 . CHORUS. How, then, does she bid him come prepared? NURSE. How do you mean? Speak again, that I may learn more clearly. CHORUS. Whether with guards, or alone ? NURSE. She bids him bring attendants, armed with the spear. CHORUS. Do not you now carry this message to our detested master; but desire him to come as quickly as possible, with rejoicing mind, that he may listen without alarm to the tidings ; for a faulty message may be set to rights by the bearer. NURSE. Are you in your senses to say so, after the news that have been reported ? CHORUS. But what if Jupiter shall yet grant a happy change from misfortune ? ( 1) " avrdpicns recte" explicat Schol : lavry dpKftv Kal &or)Qtlv /3ov\ercu, i. e. aliorum auxilium non exspeclat, sed ipsa statim sibi sufficit, et facit, qua necessaria videntur" WELLAUEH. (2) Commentators have been so ingenious as to discover that there is a great deal of beauty and nature in this speech 5 and Schutz, in particu- lar, is excited to raptures by the congenial nonsense of the foolish old Nurse. Of all his tribe, this person has the least of taste or discrimination in his criticism ; and the more faulty the passage may be, the louder does he sound his fulsome and worthless praises. The flight of .flSschylus, though lofty, was irregular, as every judicious reader must have dis- covered and lamented. It is vain to deny, that, in attempting to make Gilissa speak in character, he has given her language which is not the lan- guage of grief ; and has, in consequence, not only violated natural propriety, but has sunk very far beneath the dignity of the tragic vein. THE CIIOEPHOR^E. 199 NURSE. How can it occur? Orestes, the hope of the house, is gone. CHORUS. Not yet: even a dull prophet might discern this. NURSE. What do you say ? Do you know any thing beyond what has been announced ? CHORUS. Proceed on your errand, and do as you have been desired. Those things are a care to the Gods, for the care of which they may chance to provide. NURSE. But I go, and in these particulars will obey your request; and, with the blessing of the Gods, may all turn out for the best ! CHORUS. O Jupiter, Father of the Olympian Gods, grant, to my request, that I may see my masters searching well after discretion ! I have spoken every word with justice. O Jupiter, do thou preserve him, and exalt above his enemies the stranger within the palace ! since, if thou raisest him to glory, thou shalt receive, if thou wilt, a double and triple recompence. Think of the orphan young of a beloved hero harnessed in the chariot of afflic- tions, and prescribe a limit to his course. Oh that one might see the eager bound of the steps that complete it, advancing in measured order over this plain! And ye, who within the house preside over chambers proud of their wealth, hear, ye accordant Gods I Haste, and expiate the blood of those who were slain of old, by a fresh vengeance ! Let the ancient murder no longer produce its breed in the house ; but oh, do Thou, who dwellest in the mighty cavern of Delphi, grant that the abode of this man may at the same time behold a deed of righteous slaughter, and that when this gloomy veil is removed he may see freely and clearly with his dear eyes I And may the propitious Son of Maia justly aid his cause, and grant a successful issue ! Apollo, if he wishes it, will bring to light many other mys- teries ; for by uttering obscure oracles he brings night and darkness before the eyes, and by day his decrees are not more lucid *. Then, at last, we will raise with full notes the (l) It seems strangely out of place in this Chorus, and more particu-- larly in this part of it, to think of taxing even Oracles with obscurity. 200 AESCHYLUS. female song of triumph, to celebrate the release of this house, and at the same time pour from the lyre of the mourners a strain of sorrow for the dead. Such an issue is fortunate for the State ; and my gain, even mine, is in- creased, and Calamity takes her leave of my friends. But do you with courage, when your share in the deed has arrived, shouting the name of father to her when she ex- claims to you 'My child,' complete a just and irreproachable vengeance. Bearing in your breast the heart of Perseus ', and performing as a kindness, both to the friends below the earth and those above it, a deed of bitter resentment, inflict a bloody fate on those within the palace, and destroy for ever the wretch who was guilty of the murder. JEGISTHUS. I come indeed not uncalled, but at the bidding of a mes- senger ; and I hear that certain strangers who have arrived report news of an unwelcome 8 nature, even the death of Orestes ; for to communicate this to the house would be a new and cruel affliction to a family that is already lacerated and pained by former slaughter. How shall I deem that this intelligence is true and clear ? Or do agitated rumours, spread by women, fly abroad 3 , to perish without effect ? Which of these would you say was right, so as to prove it to my mind ? CHORUS. We have heard indeed ; but, going within, make your own inquiries of the strangers. The authority of messengers is nothing, compared with the investigation of the facts by a man himself. JEGISTHUS. I wish to see, and again to examine, the mes- senger, whether he himself was present at the death of Orestes, or whether he speaks from the information of an (1) See Blomf. Gloss. 817. for a summary of the opinions relative t this expression ; none of which, however, including the last and most learned, are entirely satisfactory. (2) " Ait se non gaudere nuntio de inexpectata morte Orestis : hsec loquitur alludens ad piaculutn quod contractum fuerat a priore oede Aga- memnonis." STANLEY. (3) Literally, " through the air" THE CHOEPHORyE. 201 obscure report. He will find it impossible to deceive a vigilant mind. CHORUS. Jupiter! O Jupiter! what shall I say? whence shall I begin my prayers and vehement appeal to thee ? How, speaking from the dictates of my good wishes, shall I obtain by thy favour an equivalent boon ? For the bloody deeds of the murderoms swords are now about to cause, utterly and for ever, the destruction of the house of Aga- memnon ; or, kindling fire and flame on the altar for the re- turn of freedom and the beginning of civic rule, he shall regain the mighty wealth of his fathers. Such a con- flict is Orestes, waiting singly for the struggle, about to engage in with two ; and may his efforts be crowned with victory ! JEGISTHUS. Ah ! ah ! alas ! alas ! CHORUS. Again alas ! alas ! How is it ? how hath the deed been done in the house? Let us stand apart from the completion of the affair, that we may not appear to have had any share in these evils : for the issue of the strife hath now been determined. SERVANT. Alas ! well I may say alas, on account of my murdered master. Alas ! I again repeat with, a third utter- ance. ^Egisthus is no more. But open with all speed, and unbar the chambers of the women. We have need of a very vigorous ally, but not to assist the slain ; for what would that avail ? Hollo 1 hollo ! I shout to the deaf, and idly exclaim to those who slumber when they ought not. Where is Clytemnestra ? what is she about ? It seems as if her neck were soon to fall on the edge of the sword, and to be stricken by a just vengeance! CLYTEM. What is the matter ? Why do you raise this cry in the house ? SERVANT. I tell you that the dead are slaying the living. CLYTEM. Ah me ! I understand the meaning of your enigma. We perish by guile, in like manner as we slew. Let some one give me, as quickly as possible, the deadly 202 ^SCHYLUS. axe '. Let us see whether we shall conquer or fall ; for to this crisis of misfortune we have come. ORESTES. You next I seek : for I have done his busi- ness for the other. CLYTEM. Ah me ! Art thou dead, O dearest ^Egisthus ? ORESTES. Do you love him ? If so, you shall lie in the same tomb ; and not forsake him, even in death. CLYTEM. Restrain your hand, O son! and respect, my child, this breast 2 , on which you, often slumbering, sucked with your gums the genial nutriment of its milk. ORESTES. Pylades, what shall I do ? Shall I suffer my filial reverence to restrain me from slaying my mother ? PYLADES. What, then, has become of the oracles of Loxias announced from Delphi, and the faith of the oaths which you pledged ? Account all as your enemies, rather than the Gods. ORESTES. I award the victory to your persuasions ; and you advise me well. Follow : I wish to slay you beside the body of ^Egisthus ; for you preferred him, while he lived, to my father. Sleep, then, with him in death ; since you love this man, and hate him whom you ought to love. CLYTEM. I nursed your infancy, and with you I wish to pass my age. ORESTES. Shall you, after having slain my father, dwell along with me ? (1) " Eandemne intelligemus securim peti a Clytemnestra qua rdv HvSpa percusserat ? atque inde dvSpoKfjiTJTa." ABRESCH. " Ineptum esset quod Abreschio in mentem venit, hie eandem securim intelligere qua" Clytem- nestra maritum percusserat. Omninb est, Securis homini occidendo ido- nea" SCHUTZ. We agree, on the whole, with the latter interpretation, but at the same time there is nothing absurd in the first. If Clytemnes- tra did not ask for the identical axe with which she had before distin- guished herself, she shewed at all events a singular partiality for the weapon. (2) There is a Greek epigram in which Clytemnestra is made to ap- peal in similar terms to the natural affections of her son : vveis ; Kara yaffrtpos fj Kara /j.a$Sv ; THE CHOEPHOR^E. 203 CLYTEM. Fate, O my child, was in part the cause of these things. ORESTES. And Fate also has been the cause of the doom that now awaits you. CLYTEM. Do you not stand in awe, my child, of the curses of a parent ? ORESTES. No; for you, who gave me birth, cast me out, to struggle with adversity. CLYTEM. I did not cast you out, surely, in sending you to the house of a friend ? ORESTES. I was sold as a slave to a foreign land, though sprung from a free father. CLYTEM. Where, in truth, is the price, which I received in return? ORESTES. I am ashamed to taunt you, in plain words, with the just reproach 1 . CLYTEM. Be not ashamed ; but mention also, at the same time, the errors a of your father. ORESTES. Do not, sitting in indolence at home, upbraid him who endures the toil. CLYTEM. It is a hardship, my son, for women to be de- barred from intercourse with a husband. ORESTES. It is the labour of the husband, however, which supports them inactive within the house. CLYTEM. You appear, my son, as if you were about to slay your mother. ORESTES. You in truth, not I, will be the cause of your own death. CLYTEM. Think of the issue; beware of the angry Furies of a mother. ORESTES. But how shall I escape those of a father, if I forego this deed ? CLYTEM. I seem, living, to lament in vain to one who is dead 3 to my entreaties. (1) Her intercourse with ^Egisthus. (2) " Mdras ciim dicit, concubinarum amores tangit, quibus Agamem- non obnoxius fuerat." SCHUTZ. (3) See Blomfield's Glossary, 913. 204 7ESCHYLUS. ORESTES. For the fate of my father hastens thy death. CLYTEM. Ah me ! I have brought forth and nursed a . serpent ! Too true has been the presage of my fearful dreams. ORESTES. Since you slew him, whom you ought to have have spared, you must now suffer a punishment as un- meet 1 . CHORUS. Let us lament, then, the double calamity, even of this guilty pair. But since the unhappy Orestes has brought a close to many slaughters, we still accept with gratitude that the eye of the house has not utterly pe- rished. Vengeance for the fallen race of Priam has come, though late a heavy and penal vengeance ; and the two lions, the brother warriors, have rushed into the house of Agamemnon. The exile, of whom Apollo prophesied, hath prospered through all his enterprise, having been justly excited to his purpose by the commands of the Gods. Raise, then, the shout of joy for the escape of the royal house from evils, and from the spoliation of its wealth by the polluted pair, its former lamentable fortune. For guileful Punishment, who delights in the assassin strife, hath at length come ; and the Daughter of Jove hath in earnest applied her hand to the battle, (well do we mortals denominate her Justice,) breathing against her enemies the wrath of destruction. The God of Oracles, the Parnassian Apollo, who dwells in the mighty cavern of earth amid the steeps of Delphi, at length visits, undis- guisedly, her who in disguise wrought the unnatural and murderous deed. The power of Heaven maintains its empire, because it never favours the wicked. It is meet that we should reverence the sway of the Gods 1 ; for we (1) The remarks of Butler on the previous scene are not unworthy of notice: " Rectius forte totum hunc dialogum ffrixofjivOovfi.fi'ov omississet Noster, habet enim argutias et amarulentam certe criminationem, sed nihil elatum et tragicum, nihil ad terrorem vel misericordiam confictum, quae utique summa fuisset modo post v. 907. niatrem Orestes intro abripuisset." (2) " His dictis Orestem apparere fingit Interpres Gallus et apertis regije foribus ./Egisthi et Clytemiicstrae cadavcra cunspici unaque fatalem vest em THE CHOEPHOR^E. 205 may now behold the light ; and the mighty chain which bound this house hath been broken. Uplift your heads then, ye palaces ; for far too long have ye been prostrate on the ground. Soon shall our full band enter with joy the portals of your dwellings, when unsparing purification shall have cleansed and banished every pollution from the hearth, and it may be the fortune of the mourners to hear and see every thing under more smiling circumstances. The intruders who possessed this house shall fall into a reverse of their prosperity. It it now given us to behold the light. ORESTES. Behold the two tyrants of the country, and the murderers of my father, who have laid waste this house ! Proud were they in former times, when seated on their thrones ; and loving are they even now, as we may conjecture from the state in which they lie ; and the oath remains unbroken to their plighted faith. They swore indeed to inflict death on my wretched father, and to perish together themselves ; and this catastrophe is in accordance with their oath. But next behold, ye witnesses of these ills, the guileful contrivance, the chain of my unhappy father, both the fetters of his hands and the yoke in which his feet were bound ! Extend the fatal robe, and, standing near in a circle, display it to the view, that the Father not mine, but the Sun, who surveys all these trans- gressions may behold the atrocious deeds of my mother ; so that he may afterwards appear, in the hour of judgment, to attest, in my behalf, that I have pursued a j ust venge- ance in this death I mean the death of my mother ; for I name not that of ^Egisthus, since he has only met, as he deserved, the punishment of an adulterer. But she who devised this hateful snare for a husband from whom she had borne the weight of children beneath herzone children vestem adferri, qu'i irretitus Agamemnon interiit. Quibus visis Chorus in illas laetitiae voces erumpit, Uapd TO &>* iSeiv. Eleganter hoc quidem, et ex illustrate scense apparatu, loco huic difficilliuio baud parum luci* accedit." BUTLER. 206 ^SCHYLUS. once dear, but now, as it seems, her hostile bane what think you of her share in the deed ? Does she not seem, by reason of her audacity and guilty spirit, to have been a torpedo or viper, able to poison by its touch even an unwounded victim ? What shall I call this device, and succeed in giving it a right name ? a snare for a wild beast, or a garment of the bath entangling the feet of the slain? a net then you might call it, and toils, and robes reaching to the feet. It is such a snare as might be pos- sessed by a robber, who was accustomed to defraud strangers, and to spend his life in plunder ; and slaying many in such deceitful toils, he might oft rejoice his mind. May such a wife never be an inmate of my house! but may I sooner perish, by the will of the Gods, without children ! CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! for these mournful deeds ! Thou hast fallen by a cruel death : but suffering shall also arise to the survivor. ORESTES. Was he guilty, or was he innocent of the deed? This robe indeed bears witness to me that the sword of ./Egisthus tinged it with this hue ; for the stain of blood coincides with the date of the murder, having de- stroyed the many dyes of the splendid vest. Now do I approve of the deed, and now, with this spectacle be- fore me, I lament it ; and addressing this garment, by which my father was slain, I mourn indeed for both the crime and the punishment, and for all this race, feeling how little to be envied is the pollution of such a victory. CHORUS. No one of mortals shall pass uninjured through a life exempt from pain ; for of sorrows, one visits us im- mediately, and another will soon come. ORESTES. But, that you may know it, I am well aware how this will end. I drive, as if with horses, without the course : for ungovernable thoughts overpower and hurry me away, and terror in my heart is ready to sing and to dance in its phrensy. But while I yet retain my senses, I proclaim to my friends, and assert, that not without justice THE CHOEPHOR^E. . 207 I slew a mother, who was polluted with my father's blood and abhorred of the Gods. And I vouch as my incitement to this daring the Pythian God of Oracles, who announced to me, that if I did this deed I should be free from the re- proach of guilt : but I will not tell with what punishments he threatened me if I neglected it ; for no one can reach by conjecture such sufferings. And now do ye behold me, how, furnished with this suppliant bough and wreath, I am about to repair to the central seats of earth, the plain of Loxias, and the blaze of flame famed as eternal, seeking to escape the pollution of this kindred blood ? Apollo commanded me to betake myself to no other shrine. And I call all the Argives to witness, that these evils were dealt out by me after a long lapse of time. But I, a wanderer, and an exile from this land, living and dead shall have this fame CHORUS. But having done well, neither compel your lips to utter words of evil omen, nor presage misfortune. You have freed all the city of the Argives, having success- fully cut off the heads of these two serpents. ORESTES. Ah ! ah ! behold them, ye handmaids, clad, like Gorgons, in sable robes, and with many snakes twining in their hair ! I can no longer endure the sight ! CHORUS. What phantoms, O dearest of men to your father, agitate your mind ? Command your feelings : do not fear, after triumphing so far. ORESTES. They are no unreal phantoms of horror that I behold ; for they are manifestly the angry Furies of my mother. CHORUS. For the blood is still fresh on your hands, and from this cause distraction assails your mind. ORESTES. O king Apollo, their numbers thicken, and they drop loathsome blood from their eyes ! CHORUS. There are means of purification ; and if you seek the aid of Apollo, he will deliver you from these horrors. ORESTES. You, indeed, do not behold them ; but I behold 208 AESCHYLUS. them, and am driven away by them, and can no longer re- main 1 . CHORUS. But may you be fortunate ! and may the God, propitiously regarding you, defend your safety in these deadly calamities ! This third storm that hath blown on the race of this royal house hath at length ceased. The devouring of his children by the wretched Thyestes was the first beginning of its sorrows. Next came the suffer- ings of our royal lord, and the warlike leader of the Greeks perished in the bloody bath. But now there hath come from some quarter a third preserver or shall I not rather call him a destroyer ? Where in truth will calamity cease, or where extinguish its fury in repose ? ( 1) Aut Agamemnonius scenis agitatus Orestes, Armatam facibus matrem iet serpentibus atris Cum fugit, ultricesque sedent in limine Dirse. Virg. JEn. IV. 4; 1 . THE FURIES. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. THE PYTHIAN PRIESTESS. APOLLO. ORESTES. GHOST OF CLYTEMNESTRA. CHORUS OF FURIES. MINERVA. ATTENDANTS. THE FURIES. PRIESTESS. 1 DEVOTE the first honours of this prayer to Earth, the earliest oracle of the Gods ; and next to Themis, who, as legends tell, inherited from her mother this seat of pro- phecy. But in third succession, Themis being willing and unconstrained by any one, Titanian Phoebe, another daugh- ter of Earth, occupied her throne ; and she gave it, at his natal hour, as a gift to Phosbus, who has also derived his name from Phoebe. Having left the lake and cliffs of Delos, and having landed in the harbours of the shores of Pallas, he came to this land, and to the seats of Parnassus : and the sons of Vulcan ', preparing his path, and smoothing the rugged earth, conducted him on his way, and greatly adored his power. The people of this land, and Delphus its sovereign ruler, hailed his approach with highest honours ; and Jupiter, having inspired his mind with the power of prophecy, places him the fourth oracular divinity on this throne, whence Loxias declares the will of his father Jupiter. These deities I honour the first in my prayers. But Pallas Pronrea 2 , who is famed in story, shall not be forgotten in my vows : and I adore the (1) " Athenienses, quibus passim gratulatur /Eschylus, Vulcani vocat filios, quasi artium omnium peritissimos. Ni potius quia Ericthonius, a quo Athenienses, Vulcani erat films." STANLEY. " Per Ke\tv9diroioi waS 'H^euVrou simpliciter intelligo fabros et id genus artifices merce- naries, viam salebrosam difficilemque pompse sternentes et impedimenta omnia amoventes ad Delphum proficiscentibus. Locus est appositissimus Lucse in Evangelio ex prophetiis, iii. 4." WAKEFIELD. Butler con- tends for the former interpretation, and Schiitz for the latter; but the subject of dispute is unimportant, and the reader may make his choice as seems good to him. (2) This name is derived from the shrine which was dedicated to Minerva in front of the temple at Delphi. P2 212 JE S C H Y L U S. Nymphs who dwell in the cave of the Corycian rock, amid shades that are tuneful with birds and the haunt of Gods : for Bromius has possessed the region ; nor am 1 forgetful of it, from the time that the God led the bands of his votaries, and brought Pentheus, like a hare, into the toils of de- struction. I next invoke the fountains of Plistus ', and the might of Neptune 2 , and the perfect and supreme Jupiter : and now I proceed to occupy, as a prophetess, the sacred seat. May the Gods, then, grant that I now succeed much better than in any of my former approaches to the shrine ! And if any of the Greeks are present, let them come forward, as they obtain their turn by lot, according to our custom ; for I declare the oracles as the God directs me 3 Horrors that are fearful to tell, and appalling to the sight, have sent me back from the temple of Loxias, so that I am neither able to stand nor to advance my steps ; but I fly by the assistance of my hands, and not by the swiftness of my legs ; for an old woman in fear is nothing, and scarcely equals a child in strength. I indeed advanced to the sanctuary covered with garlands, and I behold a polluted mortal sitting as a suppliant at the central shrine, reeking, as to his hands, with blood, and bearing a sword fresh from the sheath, and a lofty branch of olive decorously wreathed with ample folds of wool, with the white fleece ; for I will thus clearly explain my meaning 4 . But before this man a (1) The river Plistus was, according to Apollonius, II. 711, the father of the Corycian Nymphs. (2) "Non sine ratione et Neptunum invocat, cujus priusfuerat urhs Del- phi, donee earn Calauria (Taenaro, ut Strabo) permutaverat." SANLEV. (3) " Intelligendum est vatem ingressam templum subito rediisse insanam, pavefactam et trementem." STANLET. It was little consistent, however, with the tragic dignity to represent her crawling on her hands and feet ; but Euripides also does not scruple to bring Polymnestor on the stage in the same ridiculous attitude. Vid. Hec. v. 1041. (4) ** Haclenus enim certa loquor : sequentia non aeque certa : at verba indicant." PAUW. " Hoc est, .tic enim explicate dixi quod dixeram : nee quidem infrequens est apud poetam nostrum ut, cum verba paulo duriuscula prius usurparet, interpretamentum ex verbo cui vulgi aures assuetoe adderet. Sept. Theb. v. 495. "AAo. THE FURIES. 213 wondrous band of women sleep recumbent on the seats : not women, but Gorgons I should call them ; arid yet I cannot exactly compare them to the forms of Gorgons. I have formerly seen the Harpies ' represented in pictures, as flying away with the feasts of Phineus ; but those in the temple did not appear to have wings, and were black and utterly horrible. They snore with breathings which it were fatal to approach, and distil a loathsome venom from their eyes ; and their apparel is not such as ought to be worn, either before the images of the Gods or within the abodes of men. I am not acquainted with the country of this sisterhood, nor do I know what land can boast that it has reared them with impunity, so as not to lament here- after on account of troubles from its progeny 2 . Let the events that are now to arise be a care to the lord of this temple himself, to Loxias the great in might ; for he has divine power to heal, and is an interpreter of portents, and can cleanse from pollution the mansions of others 3 . AAw 8e TroAATjv, dffiriSos KVK\OV \tyta, Seipsum, eodem modo, explicat Euripides in Hecuba, v. 736. I Sgdffa ; -- " Per dpyirrt n<*\\f igitur interpretafcur TO Aijfi/et." STANLEY. The latter interpretation is clearly to be preferred. (1) We are informed by Palsephatus, a very foolish philosopher, who endeavoured to explain the romantic traditions of antiquity by historical fects, that Fhineus, king of Pseonia, being old and blind, his daughters, Pyria and Erasia, wasted his wealth in wanton riot ; and that it was hence said that the Harpies snatched the viands from his table. A modern writer has more ingeniously conjectured, that the ravages of the locusts, which still abound in the ancient Paeonia, probably suggested to Grecian imagination the fable of the Harpies. (2) " Neque scio (hoc enim ex onama. intelligitur) quanam tellus jaetare possit hoc genus impune alens, se non propter dolores inde enatos gemiluram." SCHOLEFIELD. (3) " Bene haec supplementis illustravit Scholiastes. Si res medicina eget, medicus est ; si divinatione, aruspex est ; si expiatione, est is, qui lustrare et purgare valeat. rolaw &\\ois SW/JMTUV KoSdpa-tos potest explicari : alias quoque sedes valet purgare, quanto magis suas cedes hac Furiarum et Orestis praesentia contaminatas." SCHUTZ. 214 * AESCHYLUS. APOLLO. I will not betray you ; but will continue, to the end, to be present as your defender, even when I am far distant ; and will not shew mercy to your enemies. You now behold your fierce pursuers sunk in lethargy; and the accursed Sisters are overpowered by sleep, the ancient grisly Vir- gins, whom no God nor mortal, nor even wild beast, ever sought to embrace: for they were born for the sake of evil, and dwell in hateful gloom, in Tartarus, beneath the earth, the objects of horror to men and to the Olympian Gods. Fly, however, from their pursuit; and do not faint under your toils ; for they will follow you through the extended continent, though you should ever traverse the earth with wandering steps ', and beyond the sea and the islands that are washed by its waves. Do not therefore sink beneath the labours which you have undertaken j but, going to the city of Pallas, take your seat as a suppliant, and embrace with your arms the ancient image. Having there obtained judges of your cause and words that will soothe their minds, we will find means to free you for ever from these troubles: for I persuaded you to kill your mother. ORESTES. O king Apollo, you know to be just to your suppliants : and since you know it, learn also not to neglect me. Your power is my assurance that you will perform your pro- mises aright. APOLLO. Remember that power, and let not fear subdue your mind. But do you, O Hermes my brother, who share my blood from a common father, defend this man ; and, in accordance with your name 2 , be his conductor, protecting with a shepherd's care this my suppliant. Jupiter honours your office, which was instituted by his laws, when you de- scend to mortals to conduct them to happy fortune \ (1) " Locum sic explico : persequentur enim te per continenlem, (siquidem semper per terrain vagis cursibus peragratam migraveris.) et trans mare" 7j, cooper/wm, sc. vestibus ; h.e. sive stet sive sedeat." SCHOLEFIELD. This may perhaps convey the strict meaning of the original ; but it is, at the same time, so tame and prosaic, that we have ventured to deviate a little from literal translation. (3) It was in the plains of Phlegra that Minerva overthrew Enceladus and his host of giant s, THE FURIES. 223 CHORUS. Neither shall Apollo nor the might of Minerva deliver you, so as not to perish neglected, not knowing where to seek for joy in your mind, the bloodless prey of the Infernal Powers, a shadow. Do you refuse to reply, and disdain my words, you who are nourished for my victim and devoted to my vengeance ? You shall furnish my banquet from your living veins, without been slain at the altar ; and you shall hear this hymn, that binds you with its charms. Come then, let us also weave the dance '; since it has been resolved that we should pour forth our strains of horror, and declare how our band fulfils its destined office among men, and how we delight in being the ministers of inflexible justice. No wrath from us pursues him who possesses pure hands, and the innocent passes through life secure from harm : but whosoever, being stained with sin, like this man, conceals a murderer's hands, we appear as faithful witnesses to the dead, and arise as the fatal avengers of blood to the guilty. Mother ! O Mother Night ! who hast brought me forth a curse to the living and the dead, listen to my wrongs ! for the son of Latona robs me of my honours, by rescuing from my pursuit this trembling prey, this wretch who is justly devoted to destruction for the murder of a mother. But let us wake over the victim this strain, that is fraught with phrensy, delirium, and madness of the mind ; this hymn of the Furies, that binds the spirit by its spell, discordant to the notes of the lyre, and blasting to the life of man. For prevailing Fate has assigned to us, as our fixed office, that we should pursue those by whom the blood of kindred has been rashly shed, until the murderer descend to shades ; and even in death he is not too free from our power. But let us wake over the victim this strain, that is fraught with phrensy, delirium, and madness of the mind ; this hymn of the Furies, that binds the spirit by its spell, discordant to the notes of the lyre, and blasting to the life of man. This office was (0 SchiiU has .justly compared this scene to the song and dance of the Witches in Macbeth. 224 /E S C H Y L U S. assigned to us by Fate, at our birth : but we were com- manded to restrain our hands from the Immortals, nor will any other Power deign to share our feasts. And I own no portion nor possession of white garments ; for I have chosen to work the overthrow of houses, when Mars, being kindred, shall have slain a friend: for then, O Sisters, pursuing the murderer, though he be powerful, we in like manner destroy him by a new shedding of blood '. We strive to withhold from all others the execution of this office ; and to prevent any of the Gods from fulfilling the prayers which are addressed to us, or appearing as arbiters of our causes. For Jupiter disdains to have intercourse with the execrable race whose hands are stained with blood : but I, bounding swiftly from afar, descend to earth with heavy impulse of the foot, and overthrow with intolera- ble ruin the guilty, who vainly fly with trembling limbs 2 . (1) " Schol, fy>' ofyioTos viov explicat, Sio rJ) vtov cSpa.. Rectius fortasse construeretur cum eViSio/xefai, ad sanguinem et indicia recentis factooj de hutitiu dictum, ut saepissime oWroj de tristitia) jttstitiam colat ? " WELLAUEH. 230 JB S C H Y L U S. a life that is free from controul, nor that which is at the mercy of another's thrall. The God hath assigned the victory to every mean ; but he regards the extremes with an altered eye. In accordance with this sentiment, I declare, that insolence is truly the child of impiety ; but that from a healthy mind arises the happiness that is dear to all, and courted by many prayers. But altogether I would further admonish you, that you reverence the altar of justice, nor, looking to gain, spurn it with impious foot ; for punishment will follow, and an inevitable doom awaits the guilty. Let each, therefore, duly honour the sanctity of parents, and regard the rights of the guest who seeks the hospitality of his house 1 . He who is just on these principles shall not, without some fatal necessity, become unhappy ; and, at the worst, he shall never sink beneath utter ruin. But I assert, that he who, on the contrary, dares to transgress these laws, and who, without justice, confounds right and wrong, shall at length perish by a violent fate, when the storm shall smite the sail of his broken sail-yard. Then shall he invoke those who are deaf to his prayers, in the midst of the resist- less whirlpool ; but the God shall laugh to scorn that auda- cious mortal, seeing him, who never expected such a fate, involved in inextricable calamities, and unable to escape to the shore : for having made shipwreck of his former hap- piness on the rock of justice, he perishes for ever, unwept and unknown. MINERVA. Make proclamation, Herald, and restrain the crowd ; and let the notes of the Tuscan trumpet 2 pierce the sky, as, filled with mortal breath, it declares its thrilling summons to the people. For when this Council is fully (1) Orestes had violated the first precept, by the murder of Clytem- nestra ; and the second, by that of /Egisthus, to whom he obtained access on the privilege of a guest. (2) Sophocles and Euripides also talk of the Tuscan trumpet, as being known in Greece at the Trojan sera; but Stanley has learnedly proved that this instrument was not known or introduced till a later age. It would be well if we had not to charge our author, and his illustrious suc- cessors, with more flagrant anachronisms. THE FURIES. 231 assembled, it is good to be silent, and that all the city should learn for ever my laws; and that this suppliant should attend to them, in order that his cause may be righteously decided. CHORUS. O king Apollo ! administer the affairs that acknowledge your right. Tell what you have to do with this matter. APOLLO. I have come to bear witness : for this man was the suppliant of my altars, and sought the protection of my courts, and I purified him from the stain of blood : and I have also come to justify myself along with him ; for I bear the blame of the murder of his mother. But do you ' open the proceedings, as you know is right, and bring the decision to an issue. MINERVA. It is with you 2 to speak, though I open the proceedings 3 ; for the plaintiff, by first stating the case, may best inform us of its facts. CHORUS. We are many, but we will speak in few words ; and do you reply, adapting your answer, in turn, to the question. Say, first, if you slew your mother. ORESTES. 1 slew her : of that there is no denial. CHORUS. Thus then we win the first of three falls 4 . ORESTES. You utter this boast over an adversary who is not yet thrown. CHORUS. But you must also tell how you slew her. ORESTES. I will tell what you ask : with the sword in my hand, I pierced her neck. CHORUS. By whom were you persuaded ? and whose counsels did you follow ? (1) Minerva. (2) The Furies. (3) " Hoc scilicet erat praesidis judicii officium, reis copiam dicendi facere, ac deinde judices in suffragia mittere." SCHUTZ. There is no term used in modern judicature which properly expresses the sense of the original. (4) In the public games of Greece, the wrestler who threw his anta- gonist thrice was declared the winner. As Orestes pleads guilty to the indictment, one important point is gained by his prosecutors, who appear, in consequence, to feel secure of victory. 232 7ESCHYLUS. OUESTES. Tlie oracles of this God, who will bear wit- ness to me of the truth. CHORUS. Did the prophet instigate you to the murder of your mother ? ORESTES. As far as this is concerned, I shall never blame my fortune. CHORUS. But if the vote shall condemn you, you will perhaps speak in a different strain. OKESTES. I fear not the event; for my father will send aid to me from the tomb. CHORUS. You, who have slain a mother, do well to trust in the dead. ORESTES. I slew her because she bore the stain of two pollutions. CHORUS. How so ? Inform the judges of your meaning. ORESTES. When she slew her husband, she slew also my father 1 . CHORUS. But you indeed live to suffer ; while she is free, by her death, from the punishment of murder. ORESTES. Why then did you not persecute her when she was alive? CHORUS. She was not of the same blood with the man whom she slew. ORESTES. But am I of the same blood with my mother? CHORUS. How else, O miscreant ! could she have (1) " Patrem interficiens me interfecit, qui pars sum patris, et filius in patre interfectus sum : Pater et filius habentur pro una persona, notis- simum est in Jure Romano ; et talis fictio etiam Inc." PAUW. Potter has the complaisance to characterize this strange nonsense as "a judi- cious observation of Pamv." Our Author shews a sufficient inclination, in this scene, to quibble of his own accord, without being assisted by the fictions of the later lloman Law, with which it is ingeniously presumed that he was well acquainted. It might, at any rate, have struck the Critics, that such an argument would have been preposterous in the mouth of a living person ; and if Orestes had used it, he might certainly have added, like John L.ittle\vit, in Bartholomew Fair, " I have a con- ceit left me in my misery, a miserable conceit." Wakefield has con- cisely expressed the whole sense of the passage : " Homo, quern inter- fecit, ipsi uiaritus erat, et mihi pater." THE FURIES. 233 nourished you in her womb ? Do you disown the dearest blood of a mother ? ORESTES. Do you now, O Apollo, bear witness 1 ; and declare for me, if I slew her with justice. For we will not deny the deed, since it is done. But do you make answer, whether this blood seems, to your mind, to have been shed justly or not, that I may plead it to these judges. APOLLO. I will speak without deceit to you, this great Council of Minerva ; and, being a prophet, I will not lie. I have never uttered aught from my oracular seat, concerning man, or woman, or city, except what Jupiter, the father of the Olympian Gods, has commanded*. I admonish you, therefore, to consider how great is the power of this justice, and to follow the counsel of the Father ; for an oath is not of greater weight than Jupiter. CHORUS. Did Jupiter, as you assert, dictate this oracle, that you should command Orestes to avenge the murder of his father, and to bear no reverence to his mother? APOLLO. For it is by no means the same thing with the death of a woman, that a noble hero should fall, who is honoured by Jupiter with the trust of the sceptre ; and should fall too by a woman, though not by the attack of the far-darting bow, like the deed of an Amazon, but as you, O Pallas, shall hear, and those who sit to decide by their vote concerning this matter. For, having welcomed him with the bath when he returned from the war, where he had conducted all things better than can be told, she flung a garment around him as he left the bath and stood by its side, and slew her husband when she had entangled him in that inextricable and treacherous robe. I have thus described to you the fate of a chief who was renowned (I) Tt was high time that Orestes should call in the aid of Apollo: for all his previous defence, and particularly his last question, justify the common saying, that " he who is counsel in his own cause has a fool for his client." ('2) " Accipite ergo, animis atque haec mea figite dicta ; Quse Phcebo pater onmipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo Praedixit, vobis Furiarutn ego maxima pando." Virg. Mn. iii. 250. 234 AESCHYLUS. among all, the leader of the warlike fleet; and I have painted his murderess in such colours, that the Council which has been appointed to judge this cause may feel a just indignation. CHORUS. Jupiter, according to your account, pays the greater regard to the death of a father : and yet he bound in chains his aged father Saturn. How do you not allege this preference, contrary to that example ! I call upon you who are the judges to mark these words. APOLLO. O monsters, detested by all, and abhorred by the Gods !, might not any one undo the fetters ? Relief may be obtained from such an evil, and there are a thousand methods of deliverance : but when the dust has once drunk the life-blood of man, no one can again bid the dead arise. My father has invented no charms that will recall life, though he destroys and renews all other things besides without fatigue of his might. CHORUS. See, then, how you defend him from being banished for his crime. Shall he who shed the kindred blood of a mother on the ground afterwards inhabit the house of his father in Argos ? Which of the public altars shall he dare to approach ? What tribe will admit him to its lustral waters ? APOLLO. I will also declare this ; and do you mark how justly I speak. The mother is not the parent of what is called her child ', but only the nurse of the infant germ ; for the male begets the offspring ; while the female, like a stranger for a stranger, preserves the plant, when God does not mar the increase. I will give you a proof of my asser- tion : there may be a father without a mother ; for here, as an example, is the daughter of Olympian Jove, who was never nourished in the darkness of the womb, and yet is (l) " Quamvis partus nominatus sit matris -rtitvov, quasi ronevs ilia fuerit." WAKE FIELD. Both the physics and metaphysics of Apollo are excessively absurd ; and we should not easily discover, from his theory of generation, that he was the God either of Medicine or Wisdom. He seems even to have been ignorant of the common, but profound, adage, " that it is a wise child that knows its own father." THE FURIES. 235 such an offspring as no Goddess could have produced. But I, O Pallas, will both in other respects, as far as I am able, increase the glory of your state and people : and I have sent this man, as a suppliant, to your temple, that he may be for ever after a faithful adherent ; and that you may acquire him, O Goddess, and his descendants, to your alliance ; and that this covenant may abide for ever, and be cherished with fidelity by the future generations of either people '. MINERVA. I now request these judges to pass a just vote according to their true opinion ; since enough has been said. CHORUS. To us, indeed, every shaft has been already shot ; but I wait to hear how the trial will be decided. MINERVA. Yet why ? for, how decreeing, shall I be un- blamed by you ? CHORUS. You have heard what you have heard, O stran- gers! and, as you give your sentence,revere in heart the oath. MINERVA. You may now hear the law, O citizens of Athens, who are to decide in this first trial for the shedding of blood : and this Council of judges shall ever remain in future to the people of ^Egeus 2 . The Amazons chose this hill of Mars as their seat and encampment, when they came in hostile array through hatred of Theseus, and then reared their fortifications against the towers of the new 3 city, and offered sacrifices to Mars, whence this rock and hill bear the name of the God. Within these precincts the reverence of the citizens, and their fear in unison, shall restrain them from injustice, alike by night and day, if the people themselves do not change the laws. If you pollute the (1) " Tj/S, horum eivium qui adsunt." PAUW. " Horum, et Athe- niensiiun, et Argivorum ; respicit enim fcedus inter Argivos et Athe- nienses initium." BUTLIR. (2) jGgeus was the father of Theseus. (3) " avTfirvpyuaav est turres oppositas fecerunt turribus novae urbis, a Theseo cxtructte et recenter adornatse, cum Athenienses in unum con- gregasset, et priscas illas Athenas plurimis aedificiis ac inuris amplifi- casset." BUTLER. 236 AESCHYLUS. pure fount with baser streams and with mud, you will never be able to drink of its waters. Imparting to my citizens neither anarchy nor tyranny, I admonish them to respect this tribunal, and not to cast forth all reverential fear from the city. For who of mortals that owns no fear is just in his deeds ? If, therefore, you preserve a righteous awe for the majesty of this institution, you will possess a defence of your country, and a safeguard of your city, such as no men enjoy,either among the Scythians or in the realms of Pelops '. I have appointed this Council, incorruptible by gain, swayed by honour, and severe in punishment, that it might protect this land with a wakeful care for those who are slain. I have delivered this lengthened speech as an exhortation to my citizens for the future : and it is now fitting that you should arise and give your votes, and decide the trial. My charge has been given to men that revere an oath. CHORUS. I advise you by no means to slight the evils that will flow from our presence in this land. APOLLO. And I warn you to revere my oracles and those of Jove, and not to deprive them of effect. CHORUS. But you make matters of blood your care, though you have no right to such office : and if you remain here, you will no longer utter pure oracles. APOLLO. Did my father err in his counsels, though he listened, after the first murder, to the supplications of Ixion ? CHORUS. You may say as you please ; but if I fail to obtain justice, my terrors shall hereafter haunt this land. APOLLO. But you are without honour, both among the new and more ancient Gods ; and I shall prevail in this contest. CHORUS. Such also were your deeds in the house of Pheres 2 , when you persuaded the Fates to exempt mortals from death. (1) ^Ischylus probably alludes to the Scythian Anacharsis and the Spartan Lycurgus ; though neither of these Legislators existed till long after the time of Orestes. (2) Admetus, whose wife Alcestis was restored to life by the agency of Apollo, was the son of Fheres. THE FURIES. 237 APOLLO. Is it not right to confer benefits on a votary, both at all other times, and especially when he stands in need of assistance ? CHORUS. You mocked the power of the ancient Deities, having deceived with wine the aged Goddesses. APOLLO You will quickly, when you lose this decision, vomit forth a poison that hurts not your enemies. CHORUS. Since, in the pride of youth, you insult my age, I will wait to hear the issue of this trial ; for I am doubtful whether I ought to be angry with this state. MINERVA. It is my part to be the last in adjudging the cause ; but I will give Orestes the help of my vote. For there is no mother who brought me forth : and with all my soul I commend the male in all things, except in the union of marriage ; and I am devoted to the cause of the father 1 . I will not, therefore, set a higher value on 'the fate of a woman, who slew a husband, the guardian of the house. But Orestes triumphs, even if the votes be equal in the decision 2 . Let those to whom the office of judges has been assigned produce, as quickly as possible, the lots from the urns. ORESTES. O Phoebus Apollo ! how will this cause be determined ? CHORUS. O Night, our gloomy mother! dost thoti regard these doings ? ORESTES. Now must I meet the doom of strangling, or live to see the light 3 . (1) Or, " I am devoted to my father." It appears at least to be taken in this sense by Wakefield, who gives this ludicrous translation : " I am a chip of the old block." (2) " Nempe si suffragia essent utrimque tequalia, suum ipsius suf- fragium Oreatis causa.- adjectum Minerva praevaliturum decernit." SCHUTZ. (3) Wakefield and Pauw perversely ascribe this speech to the Furies : the former, that he might support an emendation ; the latter, that he might have an opportunity of railing at the author. 238 JE S C H Y L U S. CHORUS. And now must our power be overthrown, or victory permit us to administer our office in future 1 . APOLLO. Count rightly the votes, as they issue from the urns ; and study, O strangers, that there be no fraud in the division. CHORUS. The calamity is great, if the judgment be un- favourable ; and the difference of one vote ruins or restores a house 2 . MINERVA. This man has escaped the doom of blood ; for the number of votes is equal. ORESTES. O Pallas, you have preserved my house, and restored me, from exile, to the seats of my native land. Now shall some one of the Greeks say, The man is again an Argive, and dwells in the possessions of his fathers, by the blessing of Pallas and Apollo, and of a third protecting Power, the ruler of all things, who, regarding the fate of my father, has preserved me, seeing that these Furies assert the rights of my mother. But I now depart home, having pledged my oath to this country and to your people, that, through all the long lapse of succeeding time 3 , no Chief who rules my land shall march hither, and bend against these towers his martial spears : for we, though then in the tomb, shall cause those who transgress my present oaths to repent of their undertaking, involving them in inextricable calamities, and sending dismay and evil omens to attend their paths 4 . But we will shew favour to those who sup- port and ever honour this city of Pallas with their alliance in war. And now may both you, O Goddess, prosper, and (1) Schiitz makes nonsense of this speech ; the sense of which has been correctly given by Heath : " Nobis enim adest, out pessum ire, aut honores nostros in futurum obtinere," (2) " Si defuerit suffragium, h.e. non faverit. Deinde, Unum suffragium vel dejicit vel erigit." SCHOLEFIELD. (3) " Deinceps in omne tempus futurum quamvis longissimum sit" HEATH. (4) " Cave referas hsec, cum Stanleio, ad Xerxem, quse revera ad sanctitatem fcederis Argivos inter et Athenienses, de quo supra jam diximus, unice spectant." BUTLER. THE FURIES. 239 the people who possess your city ! and may you have inevitable overthrow for your enemies, and safety and triumph from your spear I CHORUS. You have trampled, O more youthful Gods ! on ancient laws, and have rescued a victim from my hands. But I, though dishonoured and wretched, shall cherish a deep resentment, and, in requital of my wrongs, shall shed on this land a distillation from my heart, that will blast the produce of the soil. For that venom shall descend on the plain, O Justice ! with fatal influence to the fruits of the earth and the offspring of man, and shall leave in the country the poison spots that are deadly to mortals. Shall I groan ? What shall I do ? What will become of me ? I have met with sufferings that shall, in turn, be intolerable to this people 1 ; for, O unhappy daughters of Night! great are our wrongs, and deep our grief of shame. MINERVA. If you take my advice, you will bear your lot without such heavy lamentation : for you have not been conquered; since the cause was decided truly by equal votes, and did not detract from your honours. But the suppliant was acquitted, because clear evidences were present from Jove, and because the God who gave the oracle came him- self to bear witness, that it was not just that Orestes should suffer hurt for these deeds. Do not, therefore, launch the terrors of your wrath on this land, nor indulge your resent- ment, nor cause sterility by shedding the poison of demons and the baleful influences that destroy the seed. For I promise you, with solemn truth, that, seated on the thrones of splendid shrines, you shall possess temples and sanctua- ries in a righteous land, and be worshipped by these citizens. CHORUS. You have trampled, O more youthful Gods ! on ancient laws, and have rescued a victim from my hands. But I, though dishonoured and wretched, shall cherish a deep resentment, and, in requital of my wrongs, shall shed (1) "Si vera sit lectio vulgata, sensus est, Mffourra Zira.6ov, at probe curabo ne mihi soli, sed et civibus etiam haec sint intolerabilia. Intole- randa pertuli, sed ea quae cives cum magno suo detrimento intoleranda csse sentient." BUTLER. 240 AESCHYLUS. on this land a distillation from my heart, that will blast the produce of the soil. For that venom shall descend on the plain, O Justice ! with fatal influence to the fruits of the earth and the offspring of man, and shall leave in the country the poison-spots that are deadly to mortals. Shall I groan? What shall I do? What will become of me? I have met with sufferings that shall, in turn, be intolerable to this people ; for, O unhappy daughters of Night! great are our wrongs, and deep our grief of shame. MINERVA. You have not been dishonoured, O Goddesses; and do not, in the violence of your wrath, send a blight on the land of mortals. I also have reliance on Jove : and why need I assert it ? for I alone of Deities know the keys of the abodes in which the thunder lies sealed 1 . But here there is no need of its terrors; for do you, willingly complying with my request, cease to vent against this land the impre- cations of a rash tongue, causing every thing to meet with misfortune. Lull to sleep the bitter fury of the dark tem- pest of your soul ; since you shall be honoured with worship, and dwell with me in these seats ; and, enjoying for ever the first-fruits of these wide realms, and the sacrifices for the birth of children and rights of marriage, you will hereafter praise my counsel. CHORUS. That I should suffer these wrongs ; that I, a Goddess of ancient wisdom, should dwell in this land, is, alas! a dishonourable pollution. I breathe rage and utmost fury. Alas ! alas ! what pain pierces my side ? Listen to my indignant complaint, O Mother Night! for the evil artifices of the Gods have ignominiously deprived me of my public honours. MINEU.VA. I will bear with your anger; for you are older and also much wiser than I am, though Jupiter has given to me no mean share of wisdom. But if you seek the coun- try of another people, you will feel a longing regret for this land. I warn you of this ; for time, as it advances, shall (1) This piece of information conveys a very plain hint to the Furies, that, if a soft speech did not turn away their wrath, there was another and more effectual way of dealing with them. THE FURIES. 2-il bring fuller honour to these citizens ; and you shall have a seat beside the abodes of Erectheus, honoured by men and by the bands of women, such as you could never obtain from other mortals. But do you neither cast in these my favoured regions, incentives to blood, the bane of youthful breasts, that madden them with a fury not inspired by wine 1 ; nor, as if you had extracted the heart of cocks 2 , implant in my citizens civil strife, and rage against each other. Let the war be foreign, and let it often be waged 3 , if it be one in which there shall flourish the strong desire of glory : but I forbid the combat of the domestic bird. It is permitted you to make such a choice from my gifts, and, conferring and receiving benefits, to share with due honours this country, which is most dear to Gods. CHORUS. That I should suffer these wrongs ; that I, a Goddess of ancient wisdom, should dwell in this land ; is, alas ! a dishonourable pollution. I breathe rage and utmost fury. Alas! alas! what pain pierces my side ? Listen to my indignant complaint, O Mother Night ! for the evil artifices of the Gods have ignominiously deprived me of my public honours. MINERVA. I will not cease to suggest good counsels to you ; so that you may never have it to say that you, an (1) Schiitz need not have condemned the reading of doivois, nor Pauw and Abresch have gone so far astray in interpreting its meaning. The phrase is without mystery ; and Wellauer, who is astonished at the stu- pidity of his predecessors, has simply and satisfactorily explained the force of the expression : " Furore, non ex vino nato, sed a Furiis injecto." (2) " Neque, tanquam cor gallorum abstulisses, et tibi indidisses, insems civibus Mortem." SCHOLEFIELD. Instead of the supplemental tibi of the learned Editor, we should be inclined to substitute civibus meis. Wakefield seerns to have adopted this sense ; but he confesses that he is not entirely pleased with his version : " Neque ponas inter meos cives contentiosum Martem, quasi exsecueras, ut in eorum corpora transferres cor gallorum, pugnacissimi animalis" (3) Professor Scholefield has greatly surpassed the attempts of former Commentators, in his ingenious explanation of the difficult and disputed phrase, ot /M$\IS irapiav : " Bellum sit peregrinum, idque non oigre, sed abunde, adveniens. Quantumcunque sit, nihil moror, dummodo non sit domesticum." R 242 AESCHYLUS. ancient Goddess, were driven ignominiously and inhospita- bly from this plain, by my younger power, and by the mortals who inhabit my city. But if the power of per- suasion is revered by you, and my words can soothe and mitigate your wrath ', you will remain : and yet, if you do not choose to remain, you could not with justice send wrath and vengeance on this city, or ruin on its people : for it is in your power to be for ever justly honoured in this happy land. CHORUS. O royal Minerva! what seat do you say that I shall possess ? MINERVA. One that is secure from all calamity: and I pray you to accept it! CHORUS. In truth, I accept it 2 . But what honour awaits me? MINERVA. That no house shall flourish without your favour. CHORUS. Will you bring it to pass, that I shall have so great power ? MINERVA. Yes ; for we will prosper the fortunes of him who worships you. CHORUS. And will you warrant your promises to me for all time ? MINERVA. I will; for it is not permitted to me to pro- mise what I will not perform. CHORUS. You have almost soothed me : and I relent from my wrath. (1) " Frustra in hoc loco explicando laborarunt VV. DD. nemo enim satis expeditam constructionem adhuc proposuit. Locus erit forte satis expeditus, modo ad /teiA^a KM 6e\Krrigu>v repetas eVri, addito post y\uffv, contentio nostra bonorum, h.e. certamen utrum plus boni Minerva an Eumenides civitati conferant, in teternum valebit. Semper certabimus utrum plus ego an vos urbi benefaciamus." BUT LEU. (3) " 'Apwa\icrai, avide arripiat: locum sic concipio : Neque pulvis san- ffuine civium saturatus accipiat (corporibus nempe moribundis stratus) ultwnes per furorem mutuum fcwtas ; cades scil. propter cades, ut fit in bellis civi- libus alio alium ulciscente." WAKEFIELD. THE FURIES. 245 But may the people rather bestow joys on each other, with zeal for the common good ; and may they hate with the same mind the common enemy : for such sentiments are the remedy of many evils among mortals. MINERVA. Do you then, with wiser thoughts, discover the way to prayers of good? I foresee, that, from these dread forms, great gain shall yet accrue to these citizens : for if ye 1 shall ever greatly honour these friendly Powers with friendly worship, ye shall all conduct with glory the affairs of this land and of this righteous city. CHORUS. Farewell! farewell in the prosperity of wealth ! farewell, O people of this city ! who sit near Jove, and, being dear to the dear Virgin, learn to be wise in time: for the Father looks with favour on those who are pro- tected by the wings of Pallas. MINERVA. Farewell to you too! But it first behoves me to go and point out your abodes. Proceed towards the sacred light, with these guides; and, departing beneath the earth 2 , as these hallowed victims fall in honour of you 3 , bind in chains below that which is baneful to this country, and send that which is advantageous to the city, to crown its victories. But do you shew the way, O citizens, children of Cranaiis, to these Goddesses, that seek to dwell among you ; and may there be a good remembrance of good to this people ! CHORUS. Farewell, farewell, I again repeat, to all who dwell within these walls, both Gods and mortals, the inha- bitants of the city of Pallas ! If you rightly honour my residence in your land, you shall never have to complain of the calamities of life. MINERVA. I approve of the words of these prayers ; and I will send the light of blazing torches into the regions be- neath the earth, together with the attendants who piously guard my image. For let the flower of all the land of (1) The Athenians. (2) " In fano Eumenidibus dicato erat cella subterranea, ubi nocturna iis sacrificia faciebant. In hanc igitur cellam deducuntur, indeque fin- guntur ad Tartarum descendere." SCHUTZ. (3) " Verte, Dum ha victims venerandce vobis maclantur." Du HEH. 246 AESCHYLUS. Theseus come forth, a glorious band of youths and maids, and a train of aged matrons clothed in robes of purple dye. Pay honour to these Powers ; and let the blaze of flame burst forth ; that these Sisters, who seek our land, may, for the future, be famed for their benevolence, and bestow prosperity on mortals. ATTENDANTS. O mighty virgin daughters of Night ! depart to your abodes, with friendly honours, and the favouring wishes of this train. Give utterance to words of propitious omen ; and descend to the ancient abysses of earth, revered with honours and sacrifices, and happy in your fortune. Pour forth your prayers for good, with one voice. Propitious and benevolent to this land, come hither, ye hallowed Powers, who delight in the blazing torch ; and now, as ye advance on your way, break forth in acclaim to our strains. Libations, shining in the light of the torch, shall ever flow in your temple. Thus have all-seeing Jove and Fate de- scended together, to bless the citizens of Pallas. And now break forth in acclaim to our strains. THE SUPPLICANTS. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. CHORUS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF DANAUS. DANAUS. KING OF THE ARGIVES. HERALD. THE SUPPLICANTS. CHORUS. MAY Jove, the God of the suppliant, regard with favour our naval array, that sailed from the shallow streams at the mouths of the Nile ! We have departed in exile from the divine land that borders on Syria; not being condemned for the crime of blood by any public vote of the State, but abhorring the impious and incestuous nuptials of the sons of jEgyptus, from whose embraces we have fled '. Our father Danaus, who is the author of our counsels, and the leader of our band, as he revolved these circumstances, decided that it was the most honourable resource in our calamities to fly with unintermitted speed across the billows of the sea, and to direct our course to the land of Argos ; whence our race boasts that it derived its origin from the touch of the heifer 2 , that was maddened by the gad-fly, and from the breath of Jove. To what land, then, more friendly than this can we repair with these weapons 3 of the suppliant, the boughs that are wreathed with wool? Ye Powers, to whom this city, this land, and these fair streams 4 are consecrated ! ye Gods supreme in heaven! and ye dread (1) "70/1105 Qvl-dixiip est connubium cum viris, quosfugimus." WELLAUEH. (2) Io, after having been restored to her senses and natural shape by the touch of Jupiter, brought forth Epaphus, whose son Belus was the father of Danaus and ./Egyptus. (3) Butler is right in supposing that jEgyptus uses the word tyxfiptiiv in a metaphorical sense ; instead of taking it, in the tame and literal signi- fication, as simply denoting ra Iv X I P<- (4) " The scene is near the shore, in an open grove, close to the altar and images of the Gods presiding over the sacred games ; with a view of the sea and the ships of TEgyptus on one side, and of the towers of Argos on the other ; with hills, and woods, and vales, a river flowing between them ; altogether, with the persons of the drama, forming a picture that would have well employed the united pencils of Poussin and Claude Lorraine." POTTER. 250 AESCHYLUS. Avengers, whose dominion is in the seats beneath the earth ! and Jove, our protector, the third, the guardian of the house of righteous men ! receive with the spirit of benevo- lence, in this land, the female train who implore your favours ! But drive to the deep, in their hurrying bark, the insolent crew, the band of males that sprung from ^Egyptus, before they place their steps on this marshy soil ; and there, having encountered the fury of the sea, let them perish by the whirlwind of the drifting storm, by the thunder and light- ning, and the tempest of showery winds, before they ascend our unwilling couches, from which justice excludes them, and force to their union ' this kindred train ! But now will we invoke to our aid the divine heifer 2 from beyond the sea, and the offspring of our transformed ancestress that browsed on flowers, whose birth was due to the touch and breath of Jove : for the fated time confirmed in just accord- ance the omen of the name, and brought forth Epaphus ; whom adding to my invocation, I will now, in the fertile regions where his mother pastured of old, make mention of her former toils ; and I will exhibit clear proofs of our here- ditary claims, which, being unexpected, will, I know, appear improbable : but each will at length acknowledge the truth of my words. If any augur 3 chance to be near in this land, he will think, as he listens to our mournful wail, that he hears the voice of the wretched wife of the crafty Te- reus 4 , and of the nightingale pursued by the hawk; who, (1) " 2<]>fTepi^dfjL(vov ad ffffMv refertur. Grant autem virgines ne a viris abripiantur, et in eorum potestatem veniant, ac tanquam propriae ab ipsis usurpentur : id enim est ff4>erepifaf>a.i. " STANLEY. (2) Both lo and her son are invoked ; and not Epaphus alone, as is contended by Schutz. (3) " Nimirum quia augures avium linguas callere putabantur, facilius quam alii Danaidum querelas cum lugubri Philomelse cantu comparare poterant." SCHUTZ. If this explanation be correct, and we cannot suggest a better, we must still consider the allusion to be frigid, and hurtful to the beauty of the passage. (4) " Typeiai ju^'So,-, id est, Tereos ; ut &n 'HpwcAeii?, Hercules. Ita autem dicitur propter neiandum illud consilium, quod ad stuprandam rhilomelam et ad occultandum scelus concepit." THE SUPPLICANTS. 251 driven from her native scenes and rivers, laments with new sorrow for her banished haunts 1 , and interweaves in the strain the fate of her son, how cruelly he perished by her own hand, the victim of a mother's unrelenting wrath. Thus I, too, devoted to grief, tear, after the Ionic' custom, my soft cheek, that caught its summer tint by the Nile ! , and my heart, that before was a stranger to tears ; and I cull the blossoms of sorrow in the fear that I feel of my friends 4 , if there be any of them that are interested in my flight from the sable shores of Egypt. But, O ye Gods of our race! hear our prayers, and regard aright the justice of our cause ! for, either by refusing to grant completion to their impious wishes, or by openly shewing your abhor- rence of their insolence, you would prove just with respect to this wedlock. The altar, even to those who fly when discomfited in war, affords a defence against calamity, in the reverence paid to its Divinities 5 . Would that the God in certain truth would arrange our fortunes happily ! The purpose of Jove is not within the easy grasp of human thought ; but it bursts forth from the gloom that envelopes it, with dark misfortunes to the various tribes of men. The event that hath received its final sanction by the nod of Jove falls securely, and is not overcome and laid prostrate on the ground : for the ways of his thoughts extend through gloom and shade, impenetrable to mortal view; and he dashes from their towering hopes the abandoned race of (1) This is the only part of the simile that is exactly appropriate to the fate of the Chorus. (2) Schiitz has fancifully translated 'luovioiffi vSpoifft, Ills modis. (3) Nearly all the Editors wish to banish the beautiful epithet NeiAofcpr;, and to insert their own nonsense in its place. Potter has had the good taste to follow the original text, which he has elegantly translated : " And rend those cheeks, that ripening drew On Nile's warm banks their vermeil hue." (4) Heath* and Butler suppose that the Argives are denoted by this expression ; but Schiitz applies it to the kindred of the Chorus, the sons of jEgyptus. (5) " Est ctiam hello nfflictis fttgilivis altare, deorum voieraiio, ubi Dii roluntur, vel ob Deorum ruverentiam, noxai propufftiaculum." BUTLER. 252 JE S C H Y L U S. men, without arming against them the force of the Gods, which ever effects its purpose without toil 1 . His spirit, though its dwelling be on high in the pure seats of heaven, can thence fully consummate its every fiat. Let him regard, then, the insolence of mortals, to what deeds the father 2 animates his offspring on account of our nuptials, in the perverted counsels of his mind, being actuated in his thoughts by the inevitable impulses of madness, and too late learning his loss in our flight, that has deceived his hopes 3 . I tell with lamentation these wretched sufferings, that are fraught with bitter wailing, with heavy woe and falling tears, alas ! alas ! accordant with the funeral strain. Ere life hath departed, I honour my fate with the dirge of the dead. I implore the favour of the Apian land; and, though a stranger, you 4 will easily understand my voice 5 . But I often rend 6 my robes of fine linen, and my Sidonian veU. To the Gods shall their rites be justly paid, if no evu result from these attempts of our enemies, and death be absent. Alas ! and alas ! no close of these toils can be discerned. Whither will this billow bear us? I implore the favour of the Apian land ; and, though a stranger, you will easily understand my voice. But I often rend my robes of fine linen, and my Sidonian veil. The oar indeed, and the walls fastened with flax, that make the vessel proof against the waves, have wafted me hither with gentle breezes over the unruffled sea : nor do I blame this omen (1) " Neque vero exarmat vim Deorum, qua sine labore operator." SCHOLEFIELD. (2) " Ad qua scelera inaudita adigit liberos suos." CASAUBON. " Per TrvB^v igitur vir Magnus videtur intellexisse ./Egyptian, per rb 6d\os liberos ejus." BUTLEE. (3) " Sero tandem noxam sibi fuga nostra factam, fraude nostra cognita, intelliffensS' SCHUTZ. Heath has translated it better, in fewer words: " Damnum suum ex frustratione demum deprehendens." (1) The Apian land. (5) This reasoning of the Chorus is. very inconclusive : but none of the various readings that have been proposed do much to mend the sense. (6) " 'Enirnvtiv %uv \AKtSi, nihil aliud est quam discerpere, dilacerare, impetum in vestes facere laeerando." SCHUTZ. THE SUPPLICANTS. 253 of our fortunes ; but may the all-seeing Father, in time, give them as propitious a close, so that we, who derive our high origin from an illustrious mother, may, unwedded and un- violated, escape the embraces of these men ! May the chaste Daughter of Jove willingly regard me, her willing votary ; bearing in her awful countenance the promise of security, and displaying in all her counsels her might ! May she, a virgin, prove in my persecutions the protector of a virgin's safety ; so that we, who derive our high origin from an illus- trious mother, may, unwedded and unviolated, escape the embraces of these men ! If she refuse her aid, we, a dark race, whose hues are from the sun, having perished by the suspended noose, will descend with our suppliant boughs, rejected by the Olympian Gods, to the God beneath the earth, the Jove of the dead ', whose halls are thronged with many a guest. O Jove ! O wrath of the Gods, that perse- cutes lo ! I know that the vengeance of the Wife of Jove hath baffled the mercy of his heavenly will ; for this tem- pest hath arisen from her unrelenting spirit 2 . And then will Jove have to bear the words of reproach, if he deny honour to the son of the heifer, whom he himself formerly begot, and if, in our supplication, he avert his eye. But may he propitiously listen to our prayer in heaven ! O Jove! O wrath of the Gods, that persecutes lo ! I know that the vengeance of the Wife of Jove hath baffled the mercy of his heavenly will ; for this tempest hath arisen from her unrelenting spirit. DANAUS. My children, it is necessary to be prudent ; and ye have come with your aged father, a prudent and faithful guide of your naval enterprise. And now, as to your conduct on land, I advise you to be careful in exercising foresight, ( 1) " Sin minus, fusca, soils radiis icta gens, ad Jovem inferorum ibimus.'' 1 ' WELLAUER. This Editor has greatly improved the text by his judicious emendations in this passage* (2) " Nil mirum ira Junonis frequenter procellas citari ; ae'r ilia fuit." MULLER. It is almost impossible to imagine a more miserable perversion of criticism. 254 /E S C H Y L U S. and to inscribe my words on your minds. I see dust in the air, the silent messenger of an advancing army : the naves of the rapid wheels give audible note of their ap- proach: and now I can behold a numerous band 1 , that bear the shield and wield the lance, with horses and with curved chariots. Perhaps the ruler of this land comes to observe us, having heard of our arrival from messengers. But, whether he advance against this train without medi- tating injury, or whether he be filled with savage wrath, it is best on every account, ye damsels, to take our seats on this sacred mound of the Gods who preside over the games". The altar is stronger than a tower, and forms an impenetrable shield of defence. Go then, as quickly as possible, and, taking reverently in your suppliant hands the suppliant boughs of the snowy wreath, the ensigns of Jove, the God of mercy, reply to the strangers with respectful, sad, and becoming speech, as befits those who have come to a foreign land ; and clearly relate your flight, which was not compelled by any crime of blood. Take especial care that no boldness attend your words, and that no unseemly look be cast from your modest brows and downcast eyes. And be not the first to speak, nor be tedious in your dis- course; for the people in this region are quick to take offence: but remember to be submissive. You are a destitute exiled stranger ; and it becomes not those who are in humble condition to be haughty in their words. CHORUS. You have spoken, O father, wisely to the wise ; and I shall study to remember the prudent commands ( 1) " Has militum copias ex poetae mente rex Argivorum non ideo videtur contraxisse, quod ab adventu Danaidum periculi quid metueret ; sed erant milites prsesidiarii, quos rex jaculando, aurigando, ceterisque artibus bellicis exercebat." SCHUTZ. " Id unde comparet nescio." BUTLER. This short remark conveys a satisfactory answer to the spe- culations of Schiitz ; but such gratuitous nonsense was worthy of a more severe casttgation. (2) " These Gods were, Jupiter, as presiding over the Olympic Games; Neptune, as over the Isthmian; Apollo, as institutor of the Pythian; and Mercury, who taught the graceful exercises of the Palaestra." POTTER. THE SUPPLICANTS. 255 which you have given. But may Jove, the God of our race, regard our cause ! DAN. Do not now delay; but let there be vigour in the execution of your design. CHORUS. I would that already I had my seat beside you 1 ! JOAN, O Jove, pity us, before we are destroyed by our sufferings ! CHORUS. May he, in truth, regard us with a propitious eye; for if it be his will, our fortunes will have a prosperous issue. DAN. And now invoke this bird of Jove ~. CHORUS. We invoke to our aid the rays of the Sun, and the chaste Apollo, a God who was exiled from heaven '. Having experienced an exile's lot, he might sympathize with the like hardships of mortals. DAN. May he sympathize with us, and stand by our side, a willing ally ! CHORUS. Shall I still invoke any other of these Deities ? DAN. I behold this trident, ensign of a God. CHORUS. He hath conducted us hither in safety ; and may he receive us with safety in this land ! DAN. This other is Mercury, according to the rites of the Greeks 4 . CHORUS. Let him now be the herald of good tidings to the free ! (1) " Tanturn abest, ut segniter agam, ut vellem jam prope assidere till, illo nempe in irdyy aywvlw flewr." ABRESCH. (2) Apollo is thus absurdly denominated, because the cock announces the rising of the sun. (3) Jupiter having slain j^sculapius with his thunderbolt, because he restored Hippolytus to life, Apollo, the father of JEsculapius, took the fate of his son very much to heart, and shewed his resentment by destroy- ing the Cyclops who had manufactured the thunder. He was banished for this offence from heaven, and tended, in his exile, the flocks of Ad- metus. (4) " Danaus does well to explain this image to his daughters; for in the ^Egyptian rites, Mercury was depicted with his caduceus and talaria indeed, but with the head of a dog, as the latrator Anubis." POTTEH. 256 ^SCHYLUS. DAN. Next, address with reverence all the sovereign Powers that share these common altars ; and take your seats within their sacred precincts, like a flock of doves that have been scared by hawks of kindred plumage, ene- mies of the same blood, who would pollute the race. How can a bird that makes a bird its prey be pure? And how can he that forces to marriage an unwilling bride, from an unwilling father, be free from pollution ? Not even in the realms of death should he who was guilty of such a deed escape the punishment of presumptuous crime; for in Hades, it is said, there reigns another Jove, who visits, with their final retribution, the transgressions of the dead. Consider your danger ; and remove to this place, in order that the present circumstances may turn out prosperously to your wishes. KING OF THE ABGIVE3. Of what country is this band that we address this train, that gives no token of Greece, luxuriously decked in the barbaric robe, that wraps them with many a fold ? for this female attire is not like that of Argos, or any Grecian realm. But it is astonishing, how you have boldly dared to come to this country, without being announced by heralds, introduced by a public host, or conducted by guides ! Boughs, indeed, have been laid by you, after the custom of suppliants, at the altars of the Gods who pre- side over the games. That you have come therefore as suppliants, is the only fact that the Grecian land can gain by conjecture; though there are many other things of which we might guess, if you were not present, and had a voice to disclose the truth. CHORUS. You have spoken with truth respecting our costume. But, whether do I address you as one of the people, or as a guardian of the temple and bearer of the sacred wand, or as the Ruler of the State ? KING. As far as these matters are concerned 1 , I pray you to speak and to make answer to my questions, without (1) " irgbs Tat-r' 4/xe/8ou non est: ad haec responde, seel propter hac, quod ad h&c dtlinel, fidenter respondeas." WELI.AITER. THE SUPPLICANTS. 257 fear. I am Pelasgus, son of the earth-born Palaecthon, the ruler of this country ; and the race of the Pelasgians, who derive their appropriate name from me their sovereign, cultivate these fields. I hold the supreme power over all the regions through which the Algus flows, and Strymon towards the setting sun ; and my empire is bounded by this land of the Perrhaebians, and by the tracts beyond Pindus, near the Paeonians, and by the mountains of Dodona. On the other side, the boundary of the watery sea confines its extent ; but of all within these limits I am master. But this plain of the Apian land 1 of old received its name in honour of a man who excelled in the healing art : for Apis, the son of Apollo, endowed with divine knowledge of medicine, having crossed from Naupactus, cleared this land of the deadly monsters which Earth, stained by the pollutions of ancient slaughter, had sent forth, with rage to destroy, the accursed brood of a dragon race. Apis, having successfully devised effective remedies that released the Argive land from these pests, obtained, as a reward, that his memory should be held sacred in our prayers. Having now heard from me these evidences of our history, you may proclaim, in return, your lineage, and proceed with your tale. But remember, that this city does not love a long narration 2 . CHORUS. Our speech shall be short, and clear. We boast that we are Argives by descent, the offspring of the heifer, glorious in her race : and I will make all this ap- pear true, by my words. KING. The tale which you tell, O strangers, sounds incredible to my ears, that this your race is derived from Argos ; for you more resemble the women of Libya 3 , and in no respect the natives of this land. The Nile, too, might (t) The Peloponnesus was called ^Egialea, before it derived its new name from Apis. (2) " Ut Lacones, sic Argivi breviloquentiam colebant. Find. Isthm. VI. 87. fS>v 'Apyfl PpaxiffTois." ABHESCH. (3) " The ladies of Ancient Greece, like the fair females that grace our happy country, were remarkable for that soft and delicate composition of s colour, 258 .ESCHYLUS. nourish such an offspring ; and such in Cyprus is the image that is commonly impressed on female forms by male artists 1 : and I have heard' that the pastoral Indians, who ride on camels that bear the load like horses 3 , dwell in a land that borders on the ^Ethiopians. If you had been armed with the bow, I should certainly have conjectured that you were the virgin Amazons, who feed on the flesh of animals : but when you have explained, I shall better know how your race and lineage have flowed from Argos. CHORUS. They say that Jo was formerly guardian of the temple of Juno in this Argive land ; whom, as rumour chiefly prevails *********. KING. Is there not also a legend, that Jupiter embraced a mortal ? CHORUS. And held this wanton intercourse, without the knowledge of Juno. KING. How, then, did the contention of these Powers 1 end? CHORUS. The Argive Goddess transformed the woman to a heifer. KING. Did Jupiter, then, approach the horned heifer ? CHORUS. They say that he did, having assumed the form of a wanton bull. colour, which consists of a fine red, beautifully intermixed and incor- porated with white : when Pelasgus, therefore, observed the glowing tints of these dames, he pronounces them not of Argive race, but readily de- rives them from some warmer clime. Mr. Addison, in his Cato, has expressed the same idea, in these charming lines : " The glowing dames of Zama's royal court Have faces flush'd with more exalted charms : The sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads, Works up more fire and colour in their cheeks." POTTER. (1) Such are the daughters of Cyprian parents. (2) " Quum hoc se audiisse dicit rex, manifestb ob id ipsum dicit, quod similitudinem inesse putat." WELLAUEH. (3) " Vagnm exercere paslorum vitam cum camelis more equino clitrllas vehentibus" SCHOLEFIECD. (4) Jupiter, and Juno. THE SUPPLICANTS. 259 KING. How, in truth, did the mighty wife of Jove next proceed ? CHORUS. She placed over the heifer a keeper, who watched her with many eyes '. KING. Who was this herdsman with many eyes, of whom you speak ? CHORUS. Argus, the son of Earth, whom Mercury slew. KING. What else did she next devise against the ill- fated heifer ? CHORUS. The gad-fly, the restless pest of the herd : they who dwell by the Nile call it the oestrum 2 . KINO. Did it, then, chase her from her country, in a lengthened flight ? CHORUS. You have spoken all these words in accord- ance with mine. KING. And did she come to Canopus and to Memphis? CHORUS. Yes ; and Jupiter, touching her with his hand, implanted an offspring. KING. Who, then, boasts to be this calf of the heifer' that sprung from Jupiter ? CHORUS. Epaphus ; who justly derived his name from the method by which his mother was freed from her sorrows. KING. #*#******. CHORUS. Libya; who enjoyed the greatest portion of this land. KING. What other offspring, derived from this source, have you yet to tell? CHORUS. Belus ; who begat two sons ; the father of this my father. KING. Declare to me now the name of this sage 3 ? (1) " Argum fama refert centeno lumine cinctum Corporis excubiis unam servasse juvencam." Claudian. (2) Virgil, on the contrary, tells us that this is the Greek name : " Cui nomen asilo Romanum est, cestrum Graii vertere vocantes." Georg. III. 147. (3) " Quasi Aewa&s a Sewji/ai scire." STANLEY. Schiitz follows this fan- ciful interpretation ; but Pauw has justly exposed the absurdity of making S /2 Pelasgus 260 M S C II Y L U S. CHORUS. Danaus: and his brother is the father of fifty sons. KING. Make known to me also his name, with willing information. CHORUS. ^Egyptus: but, having learned my ancient lineage, may you so act, as to restore to prosperity this Argive band ! KING. You appear, indeed, to me to have derived of old your common origin from this land. But how have you dared to forsake your paternal abodes ? What chance constrained you ? CHORUS. King of the Pelasgians, the misfortunes of men are various ; and you can nowhere behold calamity advancing on the same wing: for who could have thought, that, in this unexpected flight, a tribe, whose lineage was of old the same, should seek refuge in Argos, shuddering with horror of the nuptial couch ? KING. What do you say, that you ask for the sake of these Gods who preside over the Games, bearing in your hands the boughs wreathed with wool, that have been newly plucked from the tree ? CHORUS. That I may not become a domestic slave to the race of ^gyptus. KING. Whether do you mean on account of hatred, or because such ties are forbidden? CHORUS. Who would seek to obtain kindred as masters? KING. Greater strength would thus accrue to mortals. CHORUS. And it is easy to slight the claims of the un- fortunate 1 . Pelasgus pun upon a name which he had never heard. Butler is probably right in the following conjectures: "Credo duos versus deesse, quorum in primo rex qusesierat, quisnam esset virginum pater, in altero respon- derant virgines eum esse prudentem ac sapientem virum, vel tale aliquid. Quarum orationem rex excipit, jubendo, ut hujus sapientis viri nomen dicerent. Nam rb vkvaofyov TOTTO hopa. aliquam troQias mentionem ante- cessisse aperte indicat." (I) " Et ab infelicibus quidem fatilis est discessus: h.e. ipso, quod nobis modo dedisti, response satis ostendisti, nihil facilius esse quam homines infelices, THE SUPPLICANTS. Ml KINO. How, then, can I act with proper feeling towards you? CHORUS. By not delivering us to the sons of ^Egyptus, when they demand us back. KING. You suggest what is grievous, that we should undertake a new war. CHORUS. But Justice fights for those who are her allies. KING. If at least, from the beginning, she had a share in the transaction. CHORUS. Reverence these altars at the stern ' of the State, thus crowned with garlands. KING. I shudder, as I look on the boughs that shade these seats. CHORUS. Grievous indeed is the wrath of Jove, the God of the suppliant. O son of Palsecthon, king of the Pelas- gians, listen to my prayers with willing heart ! Behold me, a wandering exile, a suppliant for thy mercy ; like some dappled heifer which, on the lofty rocks, lows to announce her distress to the herdsman, from whom she expects relief 2 . infelices, opem et auxilium petentes, excusatione aliqua sic dimittere, ut te suppetias iis ferendi officio exsolvas. Nempe cum Daiia'ides iniquum esse se patrueles suos dominos emere pronuntiassent, rex nihil aliud respondebat, quam ^Egypti tiliis hoc ad augendas opes conducibile esse. Id igitur moleste ferentes acerbe respondent : " Kal Svffrvxovvrwv y* ev/J.aprjs dTra^ayt]. " Neque vero rex non assecutus est, quid his verbis innuerent puellae. Statim enim regerit : " irs d5v itpos vfj.a.'i evfff&rjs tyd TrtAw; " quasi diceret : Satis vntellexi me a vobis carpi, quod causam vestram deserere, et justum vobis auxilium recusare velle videar. Itaque dicite quid faciendo vobis pietatem et justitiam prtestare possim." SCHUTZ. (1) " np^/wa v6\eos hie sine dubio est irdyos ifpbs in quo considebant Dana'ides : in eo Dii urbis praesides, ideoque locus editior et sacer ita dictus Tragico : urbis salus in ista puppe, et qui in ea stabant Dii, ir6\t6 JE S C H Y L U S. across its waves, or any harbour of shelter from misfor- tune. For if, indeed, I shall not fulfil to you this boon, you have denounced a pollution, which no efforts can al- leviate : but if, on the other hand, standing before the walls, I should try the issue of the combat with the sons of ^Egyptus, your kindred, how should not the loss be bitter, if men, in the cause of women, should stain with their blood the plain ? Yet, still it is necessary to revere the wrath of Jove, the protector of suppliants ; for there is no awe more dread among mortals. Do you then, aged father of these virgins, having quickly taken these boughs in your arms, place them on the other altars of the Gods of this country, that all the citizens may see the signs of your arrival : but let no allusion be made to me ' ; for the peo- ple are eager to attach blame to those in power. And perhaps some compassion, at the sight of these objects, may awake detestation for the insolence of the band of males, and the people become more disposed to your fa- vour ; for every one bears good-will to the weaker. DANAUS. This kindness is highly prized by us, that we should find a revered host propitious to our claims. But send along with us some of the people of this country, as attendants and guides; so that we may find, in front of the temples, the altars and seats of the Gods who protect the State; and that we may be safe, as we proceed through the city. The appearance of our persons is not like that of the natives ; for the Nile breeds a race that is different from that of Inachus ~. We must, therefore, beware lest boldness beget fear ; for men have, through ignorance, slain their friends. KING. You may go, attendants; for the stranger sug- gests what is prudent. Lead the way to the altars of the city, the seats of the Gods : and it is not fitting that you should hold much talk with those whom you meet, as you conduct this stranger from the sea to t-he altar of the Gods. ( 1) " Neque.projiciatur verbum de me." STANLEY. (2) Not the ancient king of the Arigves ; but a river, that derived its name from him. THE SUPPLICANTS. 267 CHORUS. You have given your commands to him ; and now may he go, in obedience to their injunctions. But what shall I do ? how will you give confidence to me ? KING. Leave your suppliant boughs here, in token of your distress. CHORUS. And, in truth, I leave them as I am directed by your voice and hand '. KING. Now turn your steps into this wide grove. CHORUS. How can an unconsecrated grove protect me? KING. We will not give you up, as the prey of ravenous birds. CHORUS. But, what if you should deliver us to those who are more hateful than hostile dragons ? KING. Let your words be well-omened, as those with which you been saluted. CHORUS. There is no wonder if, in the terror of my mind, I am impatient. KING. Fear is ever unworthy of kings 2 . CHORUS. I pray you then, by your actions as well as words, to cheer my mind. KING. But your father shall not long be left alone ; for I, having called together the people of this country, will persuade them in common, that I may render them favourable to you ; and I will tell your father what he ought to say. Remain therefore, and supplicate in prayer the Gods of the country for those blessings which you are desirous to obtain : but I will return, when I have effected these objects ; and may persuasion attend me with good fortune to fulfil our desires ! CHORUS. King of kings, most blessed of the blessed, and, among the perfect, most perfect Power O Jove, su- preme in felicity, listen to our prayer, and let its wishes (1) " Auctoritate et verbis hits. Xelp, auctoritas, potentia." PAUW. " Potius xelpa. fidem interpretatus essem." BUTLER. The literal trans- lation of the word seems, to us, to make the sense quite as good. (2) " Non principum est timere : si tu times, non ego quoque" SCHOLE- FIELD. Wellauer suspects, from the imperfect sense, that some lines are wanting in this place. 268 .ESCHYLUS. be granted ! Avert, in thy righteous indignation, the in- solence of the youths ; and sink in the dark depths of the sea their accursed bark, with all its swarthy crew ! Regarding the cause of women ', and our race of ancient fame that sprang from a woman who was dear to thee, renew the praise of thy former benevolence ! O let not the remembrance slumber, how thy hand soothed the sorrows of lo '\ from whom we boast our lineage, the offspring of this land in which we now dwell 3 ! For I have returned to the scenes where my mother roamed of old, to the flowery pastures where she was watched by Argus, to the meadow where the heifer fed, and whence lo, driven by the gad-fly, fled in delirium, passing through many tribes of mortals ; and she touched the limits of the two opposite continents, having found a path, as the Fates had ordained, through the billows of the sea 4 . In her course through the realms of Asia, she traversed Phrygia, the land of flocks ; and she passed the city of Teuthras in Mysia, and the Lydian fields ; and held her impetuous way through the moun- tains of Cilicia and Pamphylia, by the rivers whose streams are ever full 5 , by the land 6 that teems with wealth, and by the fertile region 7 that is sacred to Venus. At length she came, her winged herdsman impelling her with the sting, to the divine and genial grove, to the meadows whose ( 1 ) " Id quod ad mulieres attinet, vel preces qua a mulieribus prqficiscun- tur respiciens, erga antiquum nostrum genus a dilecta progenitrice muliere oriundum, renova laudem benevolam." WELLAUER. (2) " Foe, O tu, qui olim contrectatione tua lonem impragnasti, ut nunc ejus rei diligenter recorderis .'" SCHUTZ. (3) " Sensus est : Gloriamur hujtts terra incolce esse, (erant enim turn in ea) qui originem etiam ex ea duxerunt." WELLAUER. (4) " Bis vero fati necessitate adacta /return maritimum, nempe Bospo- rum Thracium, et Bosporum Cimmerium, nando superans, ad oppositam continentem pervenit." SCHUTZ. " At^ op 'fe, utrinque tangit, utrumque terminum tangit, h.e. ex hoc littore ad illud transit." SCHOLEFIELD. (5) " Fluminum Syrise, quaa Tauro, Amano, Libano prodeunt, con- tinuos cursus, rivis Peloponnesi componit, maxima anni parte aqua carentibus." MULLER. (6) Lydia, or Phoenicia ; but more probably the latter. (7) Syria. THE SUPPLICANTS. 269 streams are fed by the snows, and over which flows, be- neath the influence of warm gales, the salubrious water of the Nile, maddened by her ignominious toils, and by the torturing pangs inflicted by the divine Juno. The mortals who then inhabited that land were agitated in their minds by pale fear at the unwonted sight, beholding an intracta- ble animal that shared the human form, partly a heifer and partly again a woman ; and they were deeply amazed at the prodigy. Who was it that then soothed the wretched lo, after her many wanderings and the persecutions of the gad-fly ? It was Jupiter, the Lord of unceasing time ; ******* But the violence of her malady was banished by the unconquered might of the God, and by the afflation of his divinity ; and lo, restored to her senses, shed the tears of sorrow and shame at the remembrance of her former state. But having received, as is truly said, the offspring of Jove in her womb ', she gave birth to a blameless son, whose life, through long years, was crowned with bliss : whence all the earth ex- claims, that the vital germ of this race was truly derived from Jove ; for who could have brought to a close the in- sidious diseases inflicted by Juno ? This was the work of Jove : and if you say that this race is sprung from Epa- phus, you will not err from the truth. Whom of the Gods, then, could I justly invoke, to sanction more righteous deeds? the Father from whom our line is sprung the King who created it by his touch the wise and mighty founder of our ancient race Jove, by whose favour alone every device reaches its completion ! For he does not, be- neath the rule of another, enjoy a power inferior to the highest; nor, as a subject, revere any monarch enthroned above him ; but, when his fiat is declared, effective power (1) " Pulchra metaphora ducta a saburra navium ad mulieres, quse utero gerunt foetum." ROBORT. The metaphor is sufficiently obvious ; but the beauty of it admits of question. It would not be considered very dignified in modern poetry to talk of a woman having got her ballast. 270 IE S C H Y L U S. is present to fulfil at once the counsels which the wisdom of his mind shall suggest. DANAUS. Be of good cheer, my children ! The proceed- ings of the natives are favourable : authoritative decrees O of the people have been passed. CHORUS. O hail, old man! for you have announced to me the dearest tidings. Tell me how the decision was ra- tified, and for what sentence the prevailing votes of the people abounded? DANAUS. The opinions of the Argives were not divided on the question, but were such as to restore the spirit of youth to my aged mind ; for, in the full assembly, the air bristled with the uplifted right-hands of those who ap- proved the decree ; That we should be permitted to dwell in this land, without loss of freedom ; that we should be considered as pledges that could not be redeemed, and held as exempt from violence among men ; and that no one, either of the inhabitants or of strangers, should re- move us : but if force should be attempted, that he of these citizens who did not assist us should be dishonoured, and driven in exile from the people. The king of the Pelasgians persuaded them, by delivering a speech re- specting our claims ; in which he bade them beware, lest, at some future time, the great wrath of Jove, the protec- tor of suppliants, should descend heavily on the city ; and denounced, that if there arose in the State a double pollu- tion which affected both the laws of hospitality and the honour of the city, it would prove an inexhaustible source of calamity. The Argive people having heard his argu- ments, decreed by th'eir votes, without waiting for the summons of the Herald, that this sentence should be passed. The Pelasgic citizens listened to the persuasive turns of his popular harangue, and Jupiter granted the desired end. CHORUS. Come now, let us, in return for good, utter good prayers for the Argives ! and may Jove, the protec- tor of strangers, truly regard the honours of a stranger's words, and without failure grant the full completion of THE SUPPLICANTS. 271 our vows ! Now at length, ye Gods descended from Jove, hear us, as we pour the prayer for blessings to this race ! May never fierce Mars, who reaps his harvest of slaughter in forbidden fields 1 , raise his joyless shout as he wraps in flames this city of the Pelasgians ! for they have had com- passion for our wrongs, and have passed a decree in our favour. They have respected the suppliants of Jove, and the abject fortunes of this band ; nor have they lent their votes to the support of the men, disowning the cause of women ; but have regarded the unconquerable Deity, who marks and avenges guilt, whom no house would wish to pollute its roofs; for he descends on them with heavy visi- tation. They have received with pious reverence their kindred, the suppliants of sacred Jove ; and they shall therefore please the Gods, when they approach their holy altars. Let, then, the prayer that rises in their honour proceed from our veiled lips". May never pestilence bring desolation on the city of these men ! nor may war stain the plain of this land with the bleeding bodies of her fallen people ! May the flower of her youth be spared ! and may the lover-of Venus, the homicide Mars, never sweep to destruction her blooming race ! May her altars, at which the aged attend, be thronged with an honoured priesthood, and blaze with the sacrifice, that the city may (1) " Agris metens inaliis, quam quibus solet meti' 11 WELLAUER. This turn of words is common in our author ; and the meaning of the passage is sufficiently clear. Schiitz has, however, thought fit to darken it with an interpretation, the mystery cf which must ever lie hid in impenetra- ble obscurity : " 'Ev apArois &\\ois Gepifav ideo Mars dici videtur, quod quemadmodum in bello agri demetuntur ab iis, qui sementem haud fecerunt ; sic etiam homines in prseliis cseduntur, quos jure civili nemini bellantium licebat occidere !" This sin ought to have sufficed : but the unfortunate Critic, for whose bane the line was written, proposes, in his second edition, to read a\caats instead of &\\on, and to substitute this interpretation : " Mortales in aratis agris (ubi prselia committuntur) demetens." We know of nothing equal to the absurdity of the first note, except the bad taste of the second. (2) 'tiroffKlwv, velato pro sexus decore vultu." MULLER. Stanley supposes the epithet to refer to the boughs of olive which the Dana'ides carried in their hands ; but the sense is not, thus, so simple or natural. 272 ^SCHYLUS. be ruled aright ! May the people venerate the mighty Jove ; but above all, Jove, the protector of the stranger ', who directs Fate by the laws of hoary antiquity! We pray, that successive Rulers of this land may ever be born! and that Diana, who sends her shafts from afar, will watch over the travail of the women ! May no deadly pestilence invade this city with its ravages, banishing the dance and the notes of the lyre, to awake the sorrows of war and the groans of a people ! May all the host of diseases encamp afar from the citizens, and be forbidden to enjoy their power, while the Lycian God' is propitious to all the youth ! May Jove crown the fruitful earth with the ful- ness of increase at every season ! may the flocks that feed before the city be in like manner productive of numerous young ! and may the people receive every blessing from the Gods ! May the Muses and the Goddesses of Song awake their glad notes ; and may the strain that loves the symphony of the lyre be poured from chaste lips ! May the public Magistracy which governs the city, provident in its wise counsels for the common weal, preserve the sanc- tity of its honours ! and may our Rulers be inclined to grant to strangers the terms of easy conciliation, without arming Mars, or encountering disaster ! May they honour the Gods of their country, who preside over this land, with the laurel wreath and the sacrifice of the herd, accord- ing to the institutes of their fathers ! for the reverence O of parents 3 is inscribed the third in the -Laws of supreme Justice. DANAUS. I approve, my dear children, of these wise prayers : but do not be alarmed when you hear from your father new and unexpected tidings : for I behold, from the (1) " Magnum Jovem venerentur, hospitalem autem maxime." WEL- LAUER. (2) In this petition against diseases, Apollo is naturally invoked as the God of Medicine ; but the propriety of the epithet, by which he is de- signated, seems, in this case, to be questionable. (3) " Nimirum qui more majorum deos colunt, ipsis quoque majoribus et parentibus ea re honorem habent, quod ritus sacros ab ipsis acceptos haud aboleri patiantur." SCIIUTZ. THE SUPPLICANTS. 273 heights of your suppliant station, the ship ', which is too clearly seen to deceive my eye ; for the folds of the sails may be plainly discerned, and the benches of the rowers, and the prow which marks out the way in advance with its eyes 2 , and, as if unfriendly to our wishes, too well obeys the guidance of the helm in the stern of the ship* The crew may be distinctly seen, with their black limbs that ap- pear from their white garments ; and other vessels, and all the train that are to assist their enterprise, may now be discerned. But the ship which leads the way, having furled her sails by the shore, is rowed along with the strongest efforts. You ought, therefore, to regard this matter calmly and discreetly, and not to neglect these Gods ; and I will return, when I have procured those who will assist in our defence, and assert our rights, CHORUS. But perhaps some herald or ambassador may come, wishing to seize and carry us off as pledges. DANAUS. None of these things shall happen : have no apprehension of them. CHORUS, Yet it were better, if we do not soon receive aid, not to forget the Powers who here afford us protec- tion. DANAUS. Be of good cheer: at the appointed day and hour shall every one of mortals who contemns the Gods suffer punishment. CHORUS. Father, I am afraid, since the swift-winged ships have arrived, and no long time will elapse before their crews appear. I am, in truth, agitated by the utmost dread whether my long flight will be of any advantage to me. I faint, my father, through terror. DANAUS; Since the decree of the Argives has been passed, my children, be of good cheer ; for I am sure they will fight in your defence. CHORUS. The furious sons of ^Egyptus are reckless in their deeds, and insatiate of battle : I speak to one who (1) " Signate rb ir\o7ov, navem video, sc. illam quam venturam metui- mus." ABRESCH. (2) " Respicit etymologiam vocis irp&pa quasi irptfopo." STANLEY. 274 JE S C H Y L U S. knows their character; and having many firmly-compacted ships with azure prows, they have sailed hither in wrath, that has succeeded in its aim, with a numerous host of sable warriors. DANAUS. And they shall find many here, whose arms have been strung to toil in the noon-tide heat. CHORUS. But O do not leave me alone, I beseech you, father ! A woman, if unaided, is powerless ; and no spirit of Mars inspires her. Our enemies bear the counsels and thoughts of guile in their impious minds, seeking their prey like ravens, and reverencing in nought the altar. DANAUS. It would much avail our cause, O my children, if they were detested both by you and the Gods. CHORUS. They will not, O father, through reverence of these tridents, or the sanctity of the Gods, restrain their hands from us ; for they are fierce in excess, mad- dened by impious rage, emboldened with canine fury, and deaf to the commands of the Gods. DANAUS. But they say that wolves are more than a match for dogs ' : and the fruit of the papyrus does not surpass the ear of corn. CHORUS. We must guard against their might ; for they own the dispositions of cruel and savage beasts. DANAUS. The motions of a naval armament are slow ; nor is a station soon found, nor the cables stretched with safety to the shore ; nor do the commanders of ships rea- dily feel confidence in the anchorage, especially when they approach a shore without a harbour. When the sun sinks in darkness, the night is wont to be the parent of cares to the prudent pilot. There cannot, therefore, be any safe landing of their bands before the ship be secured in her station. But beware, lest, in your alarm, you neglect to (1) "As the Chorus had compared the sons of jEgyptus to ravening dogs, Danaus expresses the Grecians by wolves, as stronger and fiercer animals : perhaps it would be too great a refinement with Stanley to de- rive the former allusion from their Anubis, and the latter from the Apollo Awcews. The comparison is continued in the next line ; where the papyrus, whose root was a common food in Egypt, is despised, as inferior to he corn of Greece." POTTER. THE SUPPLICANTS. 275 seek the assistance of the Gods. The city shall not have cause to blame its aged messenger, who retains the vigour of youth in his thoughts and language '. CHORUS. O land of mountains, just object of our re- verence, what shall we suffer ? Whither can we fly for re- fuge in the Apian land 2 , if the shades of concealment may yet be found ? Would that I were the black smoke ascending to the confines of the clouds of Jupiter, and dis- appearing for ever from the view ! or would that I might rise into the air like dust without wings, and be lost to the earth ! My heart can no longer refrain from flight 3 , and my gloomy spirit is thrilled with dread. The sight that my father described has undone me : I sink beneath my fears. May I perish by the fastenings of the fatal noose, before a detested man approach me with rude hand ! and may Pluto, ere that hour, receive my shade in his dominions ! O that I could attain to a seat in the realms of air, where the snow and the watery clouds have their birth ; or a rugged rock, inaccessible to goats, of undiscovered height, and in the solitude of whose hanging cliffs the vultures build their nest*, that it might witness my fall from its steeps before I be constrained to a marriage that rends my heart ! For then I should not refuse to be a prey to dogs, or to feast the birds of this country ; since death 5 would bring me a (.1) Danaus is so much pleased with the way in which he has managed mat- ters,that be cannot conclude without payingacompliment to his ownabilities. (2) *' Stanleius vertit ; quo fugiamus Apia a terra. Malim, in quern locum Apia terras fugiamus. Sic trol yrjs 6yw, non est, quo fugiam a terra, sed, quo terrarum fugiam." ARNALD* (3) " Parum abest quin cor mihi abitum et fugam paret. Seu ut Plautus: Cor colligatis vasis exspectat meum, Ut exulatum a pectore aufugiat meo." ABRESCH. (4) " Vultures in excelsissimis rupibus nidificant, adeo ut nidos eorum nemo attingat." Plin. Hist. Nat. x. 6. (5) " Cuivis hie in mentem veniet nobilis ille nostratis ./Eschyli locus in tragoedia cui titulus Hamlet, Act III. Sc. I. who would fardels bear, And groan and sweat under uneasy burdens, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin ?" BUTLER. T '2 276 JE S C H Y L U S. release from mournful calamities : and I pray that its fate may be mine, before I ascend the nuptial couch ! What means for my safety, and what escape from the marriage, can I now devise ? Uplift your voices to heaven, in strains that supplicate its Powers ; and pray that your wishes may be consummated, and may bring my deliverance. Look down, O Father, on the strife ; and let thy just eyes re- gard, but not with favour, the deeds of violence ! Take pity on thy suppliants, O Jupiter, Ruler of the earth, and God of infinite power ! For the male offspring of JEgyp- tus, intolerable in their insolence, pursuing me in haste, seek to seize by violence, me, who have vainly sought safety in a mournful flight. But do thou, as Arbiter of all, ba- lance thy scales ! for what without thee is perfected to mortals ? Alas ! alas ! the ravisher, descending from the ship, approaches along the shore. But, may you, O ra- visher, after having disembarked, be the first to suffer ' ! I raise the cry of woe. I see that these preludes indicate the approach of my violent sufferings. Alas! alas! haste in flight to the protection of the altar ! Our enemy boasts ' of that which is cruel and intolerable on sea or shore. Stand forth, O King, in our defence ! HERALD. Haste, haste, with all speed to the ship 3 ! CHORUS. Shall there not then be tearings, and stab- bings, and the bloody and fatal severing of the head ? HERALD. Haste, ye abandoned wretches! haste, with a (1) " Pro KaKxas Schiitz. conjecit aj8/3ay. Prius ipse patiaris, post- quam in terram descenderis" SCHOLEFIELD. The merit of the emen- dation is due to Stanley, from whom Schiitz borrowed it. "Wellauer also assigns it to Schiitz, who has little need to have the property of other people thus thrust upon him ; as he is too apt, at all times, to help him- self without invitation. (2) Scholefield judiciously follows Wellauer, in taking x^ 8 ? as a verb : " Jactat ferocia et intoleranda" (3) " The timid modesty of these Virgins, and the sober piety of Da- naus, are finely contrasted with the brutal insolence and sacrilegious violence of the ./Egyptian Herald : this carries the distress to its greatest height, raises our pity and terror, and adds a peculiar lustre to the calm dignity of Pelasgus in the next scene." POTTER. THE SUPPLICANTS. 271 mischief, to the ship ! I shall now force you, with the tri- umph of a master, to the waves of the briny deep, and to the well-compacted ship ; and place you, covered with blood, on its deck, where you may afterwards shriek as you please. I imperiously command you to banish from your mind its desires arid phrensy 1 . CHORUS. Alas 1 alas ! HERALD. Leave these seats, and proceed to the ship. I do not reverence the Gods who are worshipped in this city. CHORUS. I pray that I may never again behold the genial waters of the Nile, whence the life-blood of mortals is quickened with vigour. I cling, old man, a pious votary to these sacred seats. HERALD. But you shall quickly go, whether you will or not, by strong compulsion, to the ship. Depart hence, then, to the ship, ere you suffer evil from the violence of my hands ! CHORUS. Alas ! alas ! May you perish, where no hand can save, in the plains of ocean, and be tossed by the sweeping winds round the sandy promontory of Sarpedon' ! HERALD. Shriek, and rend your robes, and invoke the Gods ; for you shall not escape from the ^Egyptian bark. Shriek, and pour forth your most bitter waitings, bearing the name of grief. CHORUS. Alas! alas! the pollution from the shore threatens us more fiercely: you boast of the dangers that approach us ; but as for your demands, may the great Nile overwhelm you, for having insulted us with this outrageous wrong ! HERALD. I command you to proceed, as quickly as pos- sible, to the returning ship 3 : let no one delay; for the hand that drags you shall not respect your locks. (1) It is needless to point out to the Reader, that this speech of the Herald, and many of the latter passages of this play, are exceedingly corrupt. (2) The Promontory of Sarpedon was on the coast of Cilicia. (3) " Verte ; in navem revertenlem. Dum enim altercantur Virgines et Praeco credibile erat navem circumactatn a remigio proram pelago obvertisse ; quippe in .(Egyptum cum captivis reversuram." HEATH. T3 278 & S C H Y L U S. CHORUS. Alas! alas, my father! the promised aid of men has been my ruin. He drags me to the sea, as the spider slowly drags its victim, O vision, black with horror ! Alas, O mother Earth, avert the sounds of fear ! O Jupi- ter, son of Earth, come to our aid ! HERALD. -^1 do not fear the Gods of this country ; for they neither nourished my youth, nor reared me to old age. CIJORUS. A biped serpent rages near me, and would gnaw me like a viper. Alas, O mother Earth, avert the sounds of fear ! O Jupiter, son of Earth, come to our aid ! HERALD. Unless each shall go to the ship, in obedience to my commands, rending shall not spare the texture of her robe. CHORUS. O princes, who rule this city, I am overpowered! HERALD. It seems I must drag you away by the hair, since you do not quickly obey my commands. CHORUS. We are undone ! we suffer, O king, unexpected wrongs ! HERALD. You shall quickly see many kings, the sons of ^Egyptus. Be of good cheer: you shall not have to complain of a want of rulers. KING. Ho you ! What are you about ? By what auda- city have you been led to insult this land of Pelasgic men ? Do you think you have come to a city of women ? Being a Barbarian, you assume too much insolence towards Greeks; and having fallen into many errors, you have judged nothing rightly in your mind. HERALD. What error have I committed in these pro- ceedings, contrary to justice? KINO. In the first place, you know not how,to conduct yourself, as a stranger. HERALD. How have I shewn the contrary ? I, finding what was lost KINO. Having applied to which of the natives as patrons ' ? (I) " Alludit sc. ad morem, quo peregrin! omnes unum aliquem e civi- bus Atheniensibus sibi deligere coacti sunt, cujus clientele ac fldei se eommendarent, et, quo patrono jus peterent, neque enim per se petere licebat." BUTLER. THE SUPPLICANTS. 279 HERALD. To Mercury, the greatest patron of search. KING. Having addressed the Gods, you do not shew reverence for their authority. HERALD. I venerate the Gods of the Nile. KING. And not at all those of this country, as I under- stand you. HERALD. I would take these virgins away, if no one shall rescue them. KING. You will repent, if you touch them ; and that shortly. HERALD I hear words that are by no means friendly to a stranger. KING. For I will not receive as friends those who despoil the Gods. HERALD. Go, and announce your purpose to the sons of ./Egyptus '. KING. That is a matter of indifference to my mind. HERALD. But that, knowing the truth, I may more clearly tell it (for it becomes a herald to relate every cir- cumstance distinctly), how shall I say, and by whom, that I come deprived of this band of kindred women ? Mars does not decide such a plea by witnesses ; nor does he end the strife by accepting silver : but there must first be the fall of many men, and many struggles of expiring life. KING. Why should I tell you my name ? Learning it in good time, both you, and those who came hither with you, shall have cause to remember it. But you may take away these virgins, according to the free and willing inclination of their minds, if just arguments can persuade them ; for an unanimous decree has been passed, by the public con- sent of the State, never to give up on compulsion this train (1) " Aliens hcec nuncia q. d. talia magistris meis exprobare non au- deres. Deinde a&ovit6\rrrov TOVTO, id mihi non curce est, has minus nihil moror." SCHOI.EFIELD. Wellauer rather palliates the extreme impu- dence of the Herald, by supposing him ignorant of the rank of Pelasgus : " Praeco, se cum rege loqui ignorans, jubet eum ipsum haec convicia ad ./Egyptios perferre, deinde quum rex hoc personae suze convenire negas. set, qugerit prseco, quis sit." 280 JE S C H Y L U S. of women ; and the nail has been securely driven thrpugh this resolve 1 , so as to remain immoveable. This answer is not inscribed on tablets, nor sealed in the folds of letters ; but you hear its clear declaration, in the free words of my tongue. Depart with all speed from my sight ! HERALD. Be assured, then, of this consequence, that you will be involved in a new war ; and may victory and strength be to the males ! KING. But you will find male inhabitants of this land, who do not drink the wine of barley 2 . Now, virgins, take courage ; and all repair, with your friendly attendants, to the well-fortified city, surrounded with the defence of lofty towers. Within its walls are many public abodes ; and my palace has been reared with costly labour. It is pleasant to live in wealthy mansions, along with many others : but, if you prefer it, you may inhabit a private dwelling. Of these, it is in your power to choose that which seems best and most agreeable to you : but I will be your patron, as well as all the citizens, by whom this decree has been passed. What higher authority should you seek? CHORUS. In return for your bounties, may you be blessed with the bounties of fortune, O divine king of the Pelas- gians! But have the kindness to send hither our father Danaus, firm and prudent in his mind, the author of our counsels ; for his opinion shall decide where we ought to dwell, and where we may be situated apart from envy. Every one is ready to utter reproaches against strangers ; but may a fairer fortune be granted to us ! KING. Without reproach, or angry rumour of the people, do ye also inhabit this country, ye friendly attendants, according as Danaus has assigned your services as a por- tion to each of his daughters 3 . (1) " Metaphoram poeta a legum tabula aerea aut lignea clavis affixa petiisse videtur." SCHUTZ. (2) " lit yEgyptii solebant : de quibus Herodotus II. 77. Ob? S" tn Kpi~ 6iwv v(iroii]ij,tvtfi Sia,xgta>vTt*i> ov ydg ar<(>i tiffin tv rrj x^SV fyirt^oi." STANLEY. (3) As the first part of the speech seems to have been addressed to the Chorus, and the last is clearly designed for the attendants, there is reason THE SUPPLICANTS. 281 DANAUS. We ought, O my children, to offer vows and sacrifices and libations to the Argives, as to the Olym- pian Gods ; since they undoubtedly have been our pre- servers ; and they have heard from me, with indignation, what measures we have been forced to take against the persecutions of kindred friends '. They have also assigned to me these attendants and guards, that I might have an honourable distinction, and that I might not unexpectedly or secretly perish by the fatal wound of the spear, and become a perpetual pollution to the country. Since we have obtained such benefits, you ought to regard, with even higher honour than is due to me, this willing benevolence ~ of the public mind : and you shall inscribe these precepts, in addition to the many wise admonitions of your father impressed on your thoughts, so that the merits of this unknown train may be discovered in time. Every one is ready to direct the tongue of slander against a stranger ; and it is an easy matter to give utterance to calumny. I would therefore exhort you, since you have this bloom of life which attracts the eyes of men, not to bring dishonour on your father. The ripening fruits of youth may not easily be preserved 3 . Wild beasts and men work, their reason to suspect some corruption of the text. Schiitz has made a vain attempt to get over the difficulty, by reading " l\cu KOU. SyuwfSer," which the Learned deny to be consistent with the metre. (1) " iriKgws tfKovffav, cum indignalivne audiverunt, quod negare Bull, miror. Deinde, si sana omnia, quas fecerimus contra amicos pertinaces, consanguineos nostros." SCHOLEFIELD . (2) " Benevolam mentis gratiam. Hgv/jadi est puppis in qua gubernacu- lum, quo ipsa navis flectitur. Inde metaphorice finrgv^s x<^"* Qgtvbs est propensum animi beneficium" BUTLER. (3) '* Hunc JEschyli locum in mente habuit incertus auctor poematii quod inscribitur, jErumnse Cereris, intactse dura est custodia pubis : Nee patitur formosa moras Pindarus, Isthm. II. 8. pulchritudinem vocat 'Ao8/ras ia>&at eigav oir by " sine famulis" (2) "In Argolico sunt noti a nines, Erasinus atque Tnachus." Pom- ponius Mela, ii. 4. THE SUPPLICANTS. 283 SEMI-CHORUS. But this grateful strain forgets not the Cyprian Goddess ; for she equals Juno in her high influ- ence with Jove ; and the delusive power of her divinity is acknowledged in her mighty works. SEMI-CHORUS. And there are present, as companions to the Mother of Love, Desire and Persuasion, to whose soothing charms nought is ever denied : and to Harmonia have been imparted the powers of Venus, and the deceitful ways of love. SEMI-CHORUS. But again, I dread the urgency of flight, and bitter sorrows, and bloody wars. Why, if not for my ruin, have they prospered in their voyage, and in their rapid pursuit ? SEMI-CHORUS. That which is decreed by the Fates must come to pass '. The high and mighty purposes of Jove arc not to be transcended ; and these nuptials may, in their issue, resemble the nuptials of many former women. SEMI-CHORUS. May the great Jupiter ward off from me the marriage of the sons of ^Egyptus ! SEMI-CHORUS. That fortune were the happiest : but you seek to soothe by prayers the inexorable. SEMI-CHORUS.- But you at least have not read the future. SEMI-CHORUS. How should I be able to discern the will of Jove, which is deeply hidden from human view ? Pray now for what is moderate. SEMI-CHORUS. What moderation do you teach me ? SEMI-CHORUS. Not to bear with impatience the dispen- sations of Heaven. SEMI-CHORUS. May we be rescued from the hostile nup- tials of these detested males by the royal Jupiter, who relieved lo from her sufferings by gently suppressing her pains with his healing hand, and who established her race by his beneficent might ! (1) " This is an allusion, dark as it ought to be, to the future fortune of these persecuted ladies : their story is well known. The Epistle of Hypermnestra to Lynceus, by Ovid, is a fine supplement to this tra- gedy." POTTER. AESCHYLUS. SEMI-CHORUS. And may he award the victory to women! for I approve of the lesser evil, and of that fortune which is not wholly bad 1 ; and that judgment should accord with justice, in unison with my prayers, that have obtained the saving help of the God. ( 1) " Malunt nimirum exsules esse, quam ^Egypti filiis nubere." SCHUTZ. THE END,