Sallftntjme pwfls 
 
 BAU.ANTVNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH
 
 HECUBA 
 
 A ND O THER PLAYS 
 
 BY 
 
 EURIPIDES 
 
 TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY 
 
 MICHAEL WODHULL 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HEXRY MORLEY 
 
 LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERAT 
 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON 
 
 LONDON 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS 
 
 BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL 
 GLASGOW AND NEW YORK 
 
 1888
 
 MORLEY'S UNIVERSAL LIBRARY. 
 
 I. Sheridan's Plays. 33- Emerson's Essays, &*. 
 
 2. Plays from Moliere. By 34. Southey 1 s Life of Nelson. 
 English Dramatists. i 35. De Quincey's Confessions 
 
 3. Marlowe's Faustus and of an Opium-Eater, &>c. 
 
 Goethe's Faust. 36. Stories of Ireland. By Miss 
 4. Chronicle of the Cid. EDGEWORTH. 
 
 5. Rabelais' Gargantuaxn&\ht 37. Frere's Aristophanes: 
 Heroic Deeds of Pnntagruel. Acharnians, Knights, Birds. 
 
 6. Machiavelli's Prince. 
 
 38. Burke' s Speeches and Letters. 
 
 7. Bacon's Essays. 
 8. Defoe's Journal of the 
 
 39. Thomas a Kempis. 
 40. Popular Songs of Ireland. 
 
 Plague Year. 
 
 41. Potter's sEschylus. 
 
 9. Locke on Civil Government 
 
 42. Goethe's Faust: Part II. 
 
 IO. Butler's Analogy of Religion. 
 
 43. Famous Pamphlets. 
 
 II. Dryden's Virgil. 
 12. Scoifs Demonology and 
 
 44. Francklin's Sophocles. 
 45. 7J/. (7. Lewis's Tales of 
 
 Witchcraft. 
 
 Terror and Wonder. 
 
 13. Her rick's Hesperidts. 
 
 46. Vestiges of the Natural 
 
 14. Coleridge's 7 able-Talk. 
 
 History oj Creation. 
 
 15. Boccaccio's Decameron. 
 
 47. Drayton's Barons 1 Wars, 
 
 1 6. Sterne's Tristram Shandy. 
 17. Chapman' s Homer's Iliad. 
 
 Nymfhidia, &>c. 
 48. Cobbetfs Advice to Young 
 
 1 8. Medieval Tales. 
 19. Voltaire's Candide, and 
 Johnson's Rasselas. 
 20. jf onsen's Plays and Poems. 
 
 Men. 
 49. The Banqttet of Dante. 
 50. Walker's Original. 
 51. Schiller's Poems and 
 
 21. H abbes' s Leviathan. 
 22. Samuel Butler's Hudibras. 
 23. Ideal Commonwealths. 
 24. Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. 
 
 Ballads. 
 52. Peele's Plays and Poems. 
 53. Harrington's Oceana. 
 54. Euripides: Ahestis and 
 
 other Plays. 
 
 25 & 26. Z?0 Quixote. 
 
 55. PraecTs Essays. 
 
 2 7 . Burlesque Plays and Poems . 
 
 56. Traditional Tales. 
 
 28. Dante's Divine Comedy. 
 
 ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. 
 
 LONGFELLOW'S Translation. 
 
 57. Hooker's Ecclesiastical 
 
 29. Goldsmith's Vicar of Wake- 
 
 Polity. Books I. -IV. 
 
 field, Plays, and Poems . 
 
 58. Euripides: The Bacchanals 
 
 30. tables and Proverbs from 
 
 and other Plays. 
 
 the Sanskrit. (Hitofadesa.) 
 
 59. Izaak ll'alton's Lives. 
 
 31. Lamb's Essays of Elta. 
 
 60. Aristotle's Politics. 
 
 32. The History of Thomas 
 
 61. Euripides: Hecuba and 
 
 Ell-wood. 
 
 oth;r Plays. 
 
 "Marvels of clear type and general neatness." Daily Telegraph.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 WE left the history of the House of Tantalus with a reference to 
 Helen, as we find her in the translated play which is among 
 those which here complete the collection of the extant works of 
 Euripides. 
 
 Menelaus sent ambassadors to Troy to demand back Helen, 
 his wife, whom P.iris had carried off. The counsels of Antenor 
 were set aside at Troy, by the persuasions of Paris that gave 
 occasion to the Siege of Troy. Agamemnon, on the throne of 
 the deposed Thyestes, had extended his dominion. Homer 
 gave him command over a hundred ships in the expedition 
 against Troy. Some were from Mycene, which although but six or 
 seven miles from Argos had been capital of a separate kingdom 
 until it was reunited to Argos after the defeat and death of 
 Eurystheus ; and when Agamemnon succeeded his father 
 Atreus, he enlarged and beautified Mycene. Twenty-eight un- 
 successful suitors of Helen were summoned by Menelaus to 
 contribute aid, and under command of the strongest of the 
 confederates, Agamemnon who was the brother of Menelaus, 
 and who then had by his wife Clytemnestra three daughters, 
 Iphigenia, Chrysothemis, and Electra, also one son, Orestes, 
 then an infant the expedition sailed for Troy. 
 
 But first, when the confederate fleets met as agreed, in the 
 haven of Aulis they were stayed by a dead calm. Guidance 
 was sought from the Oracle, and the soothsayer Calchas 
 reminded Agamemnon of a vow made in the year of Iphigenia's 
 birth that he would sacrifice to Diana the most beautiful pro- 
 duction of the year. That was his daughter, Iphigenia, whom 
 now Diana claimed. The fleet would remain bound in Aulis 
 until the sacrifice of Iphigenia. The story of the sacrifice, of the 
 anger of the maiden's mother Clytemnestra, and her lover 
 Achilles, is told by Euripides in his " Iphigenia in Aulis." The 
 Goddess in the act of sacrifice miraculously substituted a hind 
 for the daughter, whom she wafted in a cloud to her temple 
 among the Scythians at Tauris, where she became a Priestess, 
 
 2028S87
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and where it was the custom of the barbarous people to sacrifice 
 every Greek who landed on their .shores. 
 
 In the siege of Troy, Paris was slain by the arrows of Philoc- 
 tetes. Helen then married his brother Deiphobus, whom she 
 betrayed to the Greeks. When she came again into the hands 
 of Menelaus, he was soon reconciled to her. In returning from 
 the ten years' siege of Troy, many of the companions of Aga- 
 memnon were lost by wreck on the coast of Eubcea, where the 
 father of Palamedes, to avenge the unjust killing of his son in 
 the camp of ihe Greeks, had set up false lights. Agamemnon 
 came safely to Argos with the captive prophetess Cassandra, 
 whom he intended for himself. This was a new affront to 
 Clytemnestra ; who remembered the murder of her first husband 
 Tantalus and her first infant, who remembered also the sacrifice 
 of Iphigenia, and who had found a paramour in yEgisthus, son 
 of Thyestes. Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon with an axe 
 as he was coming out of the bath, and then married /Egisthus, 
 who took Agamemnon's throne. 
 
 The young Orestes was saved from his stepfather by a faithful 
 servant, who carried him to Phocis, and there put him under the 
 protection of Strophius. Electra remained at Argos and was 
 married to a peasant, lest a husband powerful in the State 
 should help to restore to their birthrights the children of 
 Agamemnon. 
 
 When Orestes had passed out of childhood, he went for 
 guidance to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and was directed to 
 avenge the murder of his father. He went then, with his 
 inseparable friend Pylades, in disguise to Argos, and was received 
 in a cottage on the boundary of Argos, by Electra and her 
 peasant husband. He learnt that the peasant, strongly attached 
 to the family of Agamemnon, had cancelled the wrong intended 
 by ^Cgisthus, and had never claimed rights of a husband. Electra 
 was still a maiden princess. Brother and sister then devised 
 and carried out a plan for the killing of their mother Clytem- 
 nestra and yEgisthus. 
 
 But when the hands of Orestes were stained with his mother's 
 blood, the Furies rose from Hell, and drove him to distraction. 
 Six days after the murder of Clytemnestra, the citizens of Argos 
 met to pass sentence on Orestes and Electra. Menelaus after a 
 voyage from Troy of seven years' long delays, then landed at 
 Nauplia near Argos, and would have helped his nephew Orestes ; 
 but he gave up Orestes and Electra to the people of Argos upon 
 being told by Tyndnrus that if he interfered he should never 
 return to Sparta. The Council of Argos gave leave to Orestes and 
 Electra to carry out upon themselves its sentence of death. After 
 consulting with Pylades they resolved to kill Helen and seize 
 their uncle's one daughter. Hermione, as hostage. Helen had 
 vanished ; Menelaus breathed revenge : Apollo descended to 
 save Orestes from his uncle, and from the people, by declaring
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 that Orestes had done what the gods required. But Apollo bade 
 him cleanse away pollution of his mother's blood by a year's 
 banishment, after which he was to submit himself to the judg- 
 ment of the Areopagus at Athens. 
 
 Before the Areopagus one of the Furies was his accuser, 
 Apollo witnessed in his favour. The votes of the Court were 
 equal, and Athene gave the casting vote for his acquittal. But 
 still the Furies were implacable, and Orestes, again appealing 
 to Apollo's Oracle, was ordered to bring the statue of Diana from 
 Tauris to Athens. Orestes sailed upon this mission with 
 Pylades, whom he had affianced to his sister Electra. When the 
 friends landed on the coast of Tauris, the barbarous people 
 seized them and they were carried to Iphigenia to be sacrificed 
 according to the custom of the land. When on the point of 
 being sacrificed, discovery was made, and, with help of Minerva, 
 not only the image of the goddess Diana, but also Iphigenia 
 her priestess, was conveyed to Athens, in whose territories, at 
 Brauronia, Iphigenia remained priestess until her death. 
 
 Meanwhile Menelaus had married his only daughter, Her- 
 mione, to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. Neoptolemus, who 
 had offended Apollo by making the god answerable for the 
 death of Achilles, went to Delphi to appease his wrath. Orestes, 
 who sought Hermione for wife, went also to Delphi and 
 persuaded the people there that Neoptolemus sought plunder 
 of the temple. Neoptolemus was, therefore, murdered by the 
 people of Delphi, as he was going unarmed to the temple to 
 propitiate the god. Then Orestes carried off Hermione, and 
 married her, at the same time when his sister Electra was 
 married to Pylades. The plays of Euripides here leave Orestes ; 
 ruler on the throne of Agamemnon, reconciled to Menelaus, and 
 married to Hermione, through whom, by right of her mother 
 Helen and her father Menelaus, he may hope to bring also 
 under his rule the dominions of Sparta. 
 
 Here ends an abstract of an abstract of the History of the 
 House of Tantalus, as given by Michael Wodhull, Esq., to show 
 the relations to each other of the stories upon which Euripides 
 based many of his plays. 
 
 This volume completes our set of English versions of all 
 extant plays of Euripides. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 April 1888
 
 TO THE READERS OF THE 
 UNIVERSAL LIBRARY. 
 
 THE next volume of this Library, published in Miy 1888, will 
 Complete our household edition of Rabelais with the Sequel to 
 Pantagruel. This will be followed in June by " A Miscellany " 
 of short works of special interest taken from different periods of 
 English life. The sixty-three volumes of the Universal Library, 
 re-arranged in historical order, will then form a completed 
 series, and the supply of standard literature in shilling monthly 
 volumes will be left to other editors whose good work in this 
 direction has been called into existence by the success of the 
 Universal Library, which on its first appearance broke new 
 ground.' 
 
 The work done in these volumes will be continued, without 
 change of aim, in a new series that has been planned to permit 
 issue of large books without the crowding of type which, in this 
 series, has been now and then found necessary. In the New 
 Series, there will be a complete change of form. Substantial 
 and handsome volumes of the best literature will be published 
 in alternate months at a price that will add not more than 
 three shillings to the present annual cost of " The Universal 
 Library." The name of the new Library will change from the 
 Universal to the Particular. Its books may be named from 
 their habitat, and they will usually be edited where the eye 
 raised from the paper and ink rests upon Carisbrooke Castle. 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME OF 
 
 /lDorleg'6 Carisbroofee Xibrarg 
 
 Will bt published on the First of October, 1888. 
 
 H. M.
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 POLYDORE'S GHOST. 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 CHORUS OF CAPTIVE TROJAN 
 
 DAMES. 
 POLYXENA. 
 
 ULYSSES. 
 
 FEMALE ATTENDANT OF HECUBA. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 POLYMESTOR. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS. 
 
 SCENE. THE THRACIAN CHKRSONESUS. 
 
 THE GHOST OF POLYDORE. 
 LEAVING the cavern of the dead, and gates 
 Of darkness, where from all the gods apart 
 Dwells Pluto, come I Polydore, the son 
 Of Hecuba from royal Cisseus sprung, 
 And Priam, who, when danger threatened Troy, 
 Fearing his city by the Grecian arms 
 Would be laid low in dust, from Phrygia's realm 
 In privacy conveyed me to the house 
 Of Polymestor, of his Thracian friend, 
 Who tills the Chersonesus' fruitful soil, 
 Ruling a nation famed for generous steeds ; 
 But secretly, with me, abundant gold 
 My father sent, that his surviving children 
 Might lack no sustenance, if llion's walls 
 Should by the foe be levelled with the ground. 
 I was the youngest of all Priam's sons, 
 By stealth he therefore sent me from the realm ; 
 Nor could my feeble arm sustain the shield, 
 Or launch the javelin ; but while yet entire 
 Each ancient landmark on our frontiers stood, 
 The turrets of the Phrygian state remained 
 Unshaken, and my brother Hector's spear
 
 lo EURIPIDES. 
 
 Prospered in battle ; nurtured by the man 
 Of Thrace, my father's friend, I, wretched youth, 
 Grew like a vigorous scion. But when Troy, 
 When Hector failed, when my paternal dome 
 Was from, its basis rent, and Priam's self, 
 
 My aged father, at the altar bled 
 Which to 
 
 the gods his pious hands had reared, 
 Butchered by curst Achilles' ruthless son ; 
 Me, his unhappy guest, my father's friend 
 Slew for the sake of gold, and having slain, 
 Plunged me into the sea, that he might keep 
 Those treasures in his house. My breathless corse, 
 In various eddies by the rising waves 
 Of ocean tost, lies on the craggy shore, 
 Unwept, unburied. But by filial love 
 For Hecuba now prompted, I ascend 
 A disembodied ghost, and thrice have seen 
 The morning dawn, to Chersonesus land, 
 Since my unhappy mother came from Troy. 
 But all the Grecian army, in their ships, 
 Here anchoring on this coast of Thrace remain 
 Inactive ; for appearing on his tomb 
 Achilles, Peleus' son, restrained the troops, 
 Who homeward else had steered their barks, and claims 
 Polyxena my sister, as a victim 
 Most precious at his sepulchre to bleed ; 
 And her will he obtain, nor will his friends 
 Withhold the gift ; for fate this day decrees 
 That she shall die : my mother must behold 
 Two of her slaughtered children's corses, mine, 
 And this unhappy maid's that in a tomb 
 I may be lodged, where the firm beach resists 
 The waves, I to her servant will appear, 
 Since from the powers of hell I have obtained 
 The privilege of honourable interment, 
 And that a mother's hand these rites perform: 
 I shall accomplish what my soul desired. 
 But on the aged Hecuba's approach, 
 Far hence must I retreat ; for from the tent 
 Of Agamemnon she comes forth, alarmed 
 By my pale spectre. O my wretched mother, 
 How art thou torn from princely roofs to view 
 This hour of servitude ! what sad reverse 
 Of fortune ! some malignant god hath balanced 
 Thy present misery 'gainst thy former bliss. \E.\it. 
 
 HECUBA, attended by TROJAN DAMSELS. 
 HEC. Forth from these doors, ye gentle virgins, lead me, 
 A weak old woman : O ye nymphs of Troy,
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 Support your fellow-servant, once your queen 
 
 Bear me along, uphold my tottering frame, 
 
 And take me by this aged hand ; your arm 
 
 Shall be my staff to lean on, while I strive 
 
 My tardy pace to quicken. O \ e lightnings 
 
 Of Jove, O Night in tenfold darkness wrapt, 
 
 By such terrific phantoms from my couch 
 
 Why am I scared ? Thou venerable earth, 
 
 Parent of dreams that flit on raven wing; 
 
 The vision I abhor, which I in sleep 
 
 This night have seen, relating to my son, 
 
 Who here is fostered in the Thracian realm, 
 
 And to Polyxena my dearest daughter ; 
 
 For I too clearly saw and understood 
 
 The meaning of that dreadful apparition ; 
 
 Ye tutelary gods of this domain, 
 
 Preserve the only anchor of our house, 
 
 My son, who dwells in Thracian fields, o'erspread 
 
 With snow, protected by his father's friend. 
 
 Some fresh event awaits us, and ere long 
 
 By accents most unwelcome shall the ear 
 
 Of wretch. edness be wounded : till this hour, 
 
 By such incessant horrors, such alarms, 
 
 My soul was never seized. Where shall I view 
 
 The soul of Helenus, on whom the god 
 
 Bestowed prophetic gifts, ye Phrygian maids ? 
 
 Where my Cassandra to unfold the dream? 
 
 With bloody fangs I saw a wolf, who slew 
 
 A dappled hind, which forcibly he tore 
 
 From these reluctant arms, and what increased 
 
 My fears, was this Achilles' spectre stalked 
 
 Upon the summit of his tomb, and claimed 
 
 A gift, some miserable Trojan captive. 
 
 You therefore I implore, ye gods, avert 
 
 Such doom from my loved daughter, 
 
 CHORUS, HECUBA. 
 
 CHOR. I to thee, 
 
 To thee, O Hecutn, with breathless speed, 
 Fly from the tents of our imperious lords, 
 Where I by lot have been assigned, and doomed 
 To be a slave, driven by the pointed spear 
 From Troy ; by their victorious arms the Greeks 
 Have made me captive : nothing can I bring, 
 Thy sorrows to alleviate ; but to thee 
 Laden with heaviest tidings am I come 
 The herald of affliction. For 'tis said, 
 Greece in full council hath resolved thy daughter 
 A victim to Achilles shall be given.
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 The warrior mounting on his tomb, thou know'st, 
 
 Appeared in golden armour, and restrained 
 
 The fleet just ready to unfurl its sails, 
 
 Exclaiming, " Whither would ye steer your course, 
 
 Ye Greeks, and leave no offering on my grave ? " 
 
 A storm of violent contention rose, 
 
 And two opinions in the martial synod 
 
 Of Greece went forth ; the victim, some maintained, 
 
 Ought on the sepulchre to bleed, and some 
 
 Such offering disapproved. But Agamemnon, 
 
 Who shares the bed of the Prophetic Dame, 
 
 Espoused thy interest ; while the sons of Theseus, 
 
 Branches from the Athenian root, discussed 
 
 The question largely in each point of view, 
 
 But in the same opinion both concurred, 
 
 And said that never should Cassandra's love 
 
 To great Achilles' valour be preferred : 
 
 Equally balanced the debate still hung, 
 
 When he, that crafty orator, endued 
 
 With sweetest voice, the favourite of the crowd, 
 
 Laertes' son, persuaded all the host, 
 
 Not to reject the first of Grecian chiefs, 
 
 And yield the preference to a victim slave : 
 
 Lest some vindictive ghost, before the throne 
 
 Of Proserpine arising, might relate 
 
 How Greece, unmindful of her generous sons, 
 
 Who nobly perished for their native land, 
 
 From Ilion's fields departed. In a moment 
 
 Ulysses will come hither, from thy breast, 
 
 And aged arms to drag the tender maid. 
 
 But to the temples, to the altars, go, 
 
 In suppliant posture clasp Atrides' knees, 
 
 Invoke the gods of heaven and hell beneath, 
 
 For either thou wilt by thy prayers avert 
 
 Thy daughter's fate, else must thou at the tomb 
 
 Behold the virgin fall distained with gore, 
 
 And gushing from her neck a crimson stream. 
 
 HEC. Wretch that I am ! ah me ! what clamorous sounds, 
 What words, what plaints, what dirges shall I find, 
 Expressive of the anguish which I feel ? 
 Opprest by miserable old age, bowed down 
 Under a load of servitude too heavy 
 To be endured : what sanctuary remains, 
 What valiant race, \\hat city will protect me ? 
 The hoary Priam is no more, my sons 
 Are now no more. Or to this path, or that. 
 Shall I direct my steps ? or whither go ? 
 Where shall I find some tutelary god ? 
 Ye Phrygian captives, messengers of ill,
 
 HECUBA. 13 
 
 ye who with unwelcome tidings fraught, 
 Come hither, ye have ruined me. The orb 
 Of day shall never rise to fill this breast 
 With any comfort more. Ye luckless feet, 
 Uear an infirm old woman to the tent 
 
 Of our captivity. Come forth, my daughter, 
 Come forth and listen to thy mother's voice, 
 That thou may'st know the rumour I have heard, 
 In which thy life is interested. 
 
 POLYXENA, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 POLYX. O mother, 
 
 What mean you by those shrieks ? what fresh event 
 Proclaiming, from my chamber, like a bird, 
 Have you constrained me, urged by fear, to speed 
 My flight ? 
 
 HEC. Ah, daughter ! 
 
 POLYX. With foreboding voice, 
 
 Why .do you call me ? these are evil omens. 
 
 HEC. Alas ! thy life, Polyxena. 
 
 POLYX. Speak out, 
 
 Nor aggravate the horrors yet untold 
 By long suspense. I fear, O mother, much 
 
 1 fear. What mean those oft repeated groans ? 
 
 HEC. Thou child of a most miserable mother ! 
 
 POLYX. Why speak you thus ? 
 
 HEC. The Greeks, with one consent, 
 
 Resolve that on the tomb of Peleus' son 
 Thou shalt be sacrificed. 
 
 POLYX. What boundless woes 
 
 Are these which to your daughter you announce ! 
 Yet, O my mother, with the tale proceed. 
 
 HEC. Of a most horrible report I speak, 
 Which says, that, by the suffrage of the Greeks, 
 It is resolved to take away thy life. 
 
 POLYX. O, my unhappy mother, doomed to suffer 
 Wrongs the most dreadful, doomed to lead a life 
 Of utter wretchedness : what grievous curse, 
 Such as no language can express, on you 
 Hath some malignant demon hurled ! no more 
 Can I, your daughter, share the galling yoke 
 Of servitude with your forlorn old age ; 
 For like some lion's whelp, or heifer bred 
 Upon the mountains, hurried from your arms 
 Shall you behold me, and with severed heac. 
 Consigned to Pluto's subterraneous realms 
 Of darkness, there among the silent dead, 
 Wretch that I am, shall I be laid. These tears 
 Of bitter lamentation I for you,
 
 i 4 EURIPIDES. 
 
 For you, O mother, shed ; but my own life 
 I heed not, nor the shame, nor fatal stroke, 
 For I in death a happier lot obtain. 
 
 CHOR. To thee, O Hecuba, with hasty step 
 Behold Ulysses some new message brings. 
 
 ULYSSES, HECUBA, POLYXENA, CHORUS, 
 
 ULY. Though I presume the counsels of our troops 
 And their decision are already known 
 To thee, O woman, yet must I repeat 
 Th' unwelcome tidings ; at Achilles' tomb, 
 Polyxena, thy daughter, have the Greeks 
 Resolved to slay ; me to attend the virgin 
 Have they commanded : but Achilles' son 
 Is at the altar destined to preside, 
 And be the priest. Know'st thou thy duty then ? 
 Constrain us not to drag her from those arms 
 With violence, nor strive with me ; but learn 
 The force of thy inevitable woes : 
 For there is wisdom, e'en when we are wretched, 
 In following reason's dictates. 
 
 HEC. Now, alas ! 
 It seems a dreadful struggle is at hand, 
 With groans abounding and unnumbered tears. 
 I died not at the time I ought to die, 
 Neither did Jove destroy me; he still spares 
 My life, that I may view fresh woes, yet greater, 
 Wretch that I am, than all my former woes. 
 But if a slave, who not with bitter taunt, 
 Or keen reproach, her questions doth propose, 
 Might speak to freemen, now 'tis time for you 
 To cease, and give me audience while I ask 
 
 ULY. Allowed, proceed ; for I without reluctance 
 Will grant thee time. 
 
 HEC. Remember you when erst 
 
 You came to Troy a spy, in tattered garb 
 Disguised, and from your eyes upon your beard 
 Fell tears extorted by the dread of death? 
 
 ULY. I well remember : for by that event 
 My inmost heart was touched. 
 
 HEC. But Helen knew you, 
 
 And told me only. 
 
 ULY. I can ne'er forget 
 
 Into what danger I was fallen. 
 
 HEC. My knees 
 
 You in a lowly posture did embrace. 
 
 ULY. And to thy garment clung with faltering hand. 
 
 HEC. At length I saved and from our land dismissed you. 
 
 ULY. Hence I the solar beams vet view.
 
 HECUBA. 15 
 
 HEC. What language 
 
 Did you then hold, when subject to my power ? 
 
 ULY. Full many were the words which I devised 
 To save my life. 
 
 HEC. Doth not your guilt appear 
 
 From your own counsels ? Though your tongue avows 
 The generous treatment you from me received 
 No benefit on me do you confer, 
 But strive to harm me. O ungrateful race 
 Of men, who aim at popular applause 
 By your smooth speeches ; would to Heaven I ne'er 
 Had known you, for ye heed not how ye wound 
 Your friends, whene'er ye can say ought to win 
 The crowd. But what pretence could they devise 
 For sentencing this virgin to be slain ? 
 Are they constrained by fate, with human victims, 
 To drench the tomb on which they rather ought 
 To sacrifice the steer ? or doth Achilles 
 Demand her life with justice, to retaliate 
 Slaughter on them who slaughtered ? But to him 
 Hath she done nought injurious. He should claim 
 Helen as victim at his tomb, for she 
 His ruin caused by leading him to Troy. 
 If it was needful that some chosen captive 
 Distinguished by transcendent charms should die, 
 We were not meant ; for the perfidious daughter 
 Of Tyndarus is most beauteous, and her crimes 
 To ours at least are equal. Justice only 
 In this debate supports me : hear how large 
 The debt which 'tis your duty to repay 
 On my petition : you confess you touched 
 My hand, and these my aged cheeks, in dust 
 Grovelling a suppliant ; yours I now embrace, 
 From you the kindness which I erst bestowed 
 Again implore, and sue to you : O tear not 
 My daughter from these arms, nor slay the maid : 
 Sufficient is the number of the slain. 
 In her I yet rejoice, in her forget 
 My woes ; she, for the loss of many children, 
 Consoles me, I in her a country find, 
 A nurse, a staff, a guide. The mighty ought not 
 To issue lawless mandates, nor should they, 
 On whom propitious fortunes now attend, 
 Think that their triumphs will for ever last : 
 For I was happy once, but am no more, 
 My bliss all vanished in a single day. 
 Yet, O my friend, revere and pity me, 
 Go to the Grecian host, admonish them 
 How horrible an action 'twere to slay
 
 1 6 EURIPIDES. 
 
 These captive \vomen whom at first ye spared, 
 And pitied when ye dragged them from the altars. 
 For by your laws 'tis equally forbidden 
 To spill the blood of freemen, or of slave. 
 "Although you weakly argue, will your rank 
 Convince them : for the self-same speech, when uttered 
 By the ignoble, and men well esteemed, 
 Comes not with equal force. 
 
 CHOR. The human soul 
 
 Is not so flinty as to hear the woes 
 And plaintive strains thou lengthen'st out, nor shed 
 The sympathizing tear. 
 
 ULY. To me attend, 
 
 Hecuba, nor through resentment deem 
 That from a foe such counsels can proceed : 
 
 1 am disposed to save thee, and now hold 
 No other language : but will not deny 
 What I to all have snid ; since Troy is taken, 
 On the first warrior of the host who asks 
 
 A victim, should thy daughter be bestowed. 
 
 The cause why many cities are diseased 
 
 Is this : the brave and generous man obtains 
 
 No honourable distinction to exalt him 
 
 Above the coward. But from us, O woman, 
 
 Achilles claims such homage, who for Greece 
 
 Died nobly. Is not this a foul reproach. 
 
 If, while our friends yet live, we seek their aid, 
 
 But after death ungratefully forget 
 
 Past services ? Should armed bands once more 
 
 Assemble, and renew the bloody strife, 
 
 Will not some hardy veteran thus exclaim : 
 
 " Shall \ve go forth to battle, or indulge 
 
 The love of life, now we have seen the dead 
 
 Obtain no honours ? " While from day to day 
 
 I live, though I have little, yet that little 
 
 For every needful purpose will suffice. 
 
 But may conspicuous trophies o'er my grave 
 
 Be planted, for such tribute to my name 
 
 Will last to after-ages. If thou call 
 
 Thy sufferings piteous, hear what in reply 
 
 We have to urge ; amidst the Grecian camp 
 
 Are many aged dames, as miserable 
 
 As thou art, with full many a hoary sire, 
 
 And weeping bride, torn from her valiant lord, 
 
 O'er whose remains hath Ida's dust been strewn. 
 
 Support thy woes : if with mistaken zeal 
 
 We have resolved to honour the deceased, 
 
 Our crime is ignorance : but ye barbarians 
 
 Pay no distinction to your friends, no homage
 
 HECUBA. 17 
 
 To the illustrious dead ; hence Greece prevails ; 
 But ye from your pernicious counsels reap 
 The bitter fruits they merit. 
 
 CHOR. Ah, what ills 
 
 Ever attend the captive state, subdued 
 By brutal violence, and forced t' endure 
 Unseemly wrongs. 
 
 HEC. Those words I vainly spoke 
 
 Thy slaughter to avert, in air were lavished ; 
 But, O my daughter, if thy power exceed 
 Thy mother's, like the nightingale send forth 
 Each warbled note, to save thy life, excite, 
 By falling at his knees, Ulysses' pity, 
 And on this ground, because he too hath children, 
 Entreat him to compassionate thy doom. 
 
 POLYX. I seethee, O Ulysses, thy right hand 
 Beneath thy robe concealing, see thee turn 
 Thy face away, lest I should touch thy beard. 
 Be of good cheer; I'll not call down the wrath 
 Of Jove who guards the suppliant, but will follow 
 Thy steps, because necessity ordains 
 And 'tis my wish to die ; if I were loth, 
 I should appear to be an abject woman, 
 And fond of life : but what could lengthened life 
 Avail to me, whose father erst was lord 
 Of the whole Phrygian realm ? Thus first I drew 
 My breath beneath the roofs of regal domes ; 
 Then was I nurtured with the flattering hope 
 That I should wed a monarch, and arrive ' 
 At the proud mansion of some happy youth. 
 Ill-fated princess, thus I stood conspicuous 
 Amid the dames and brightest nymphs of Troy, 
 In all but immortality a goddess ; 
 But now am I a slave, and the first cause 
 Which makes me wish to die, is that abhorred 
 Unwonted name ; else some inhuman lord 
 With gold perchance might purchase me, the sister 
 Of Hector, and full many a valiant chief, 
 Might make me knead the bread, and sweep the floor, 
 And ply the loom, and pass my abject days 
 In bitterness of woe : some servile mate 
 Might bring dishonour to my bed, though erst 
 I was deemed worthy of a sceptred king : 
 Not thus. These eyes shall to the last behold 
 The light of freedom. O ye shades receive 
 A princess. Lead me on then, O Ulysses, 
 And as thou lead'st despatch me, for no hope, 
 No ground for thinking, I shall e'er be happy, 
 Can I discern : yet hinder not by word
 
 i8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Or deed the steadfast purpose I have formed ; 
 But, O my mother, in this wish concur 
 With me, that I may die ere I endure 
 Such wrongs as suit not my exalted rank. 
 For whosoe'er hath not been used to taste 
 Of sorrow, bears indeed the galling yoke, 
 Yet is he grieved, when he to such constraint 
 Submits his neck : but they who die may find 
 A bliss beyond the living ; for to live 
 Ignobly were the utmost pitch of shame. 
 
 CHOR. A great distinction, and among mankind 
 The most conspicuous, is to spring from sires 
 Renowned for virtue ; generous souls hence raise 
 To heights sublimer an ennobled name. 
 
 HEC. Thou, O my daughter, well indeed hast spoken ; 
 Yet these exalted sentiments of thine 
 To me will cause fresh grief ; but, if the son 
 Of Peleus must be gratified, and Greece 
 Avoid reproach, Ulysses, slay not her, 
 But me, conducting to Achilles' tomb, 
 Transpierce with unrelenting hand. I bore 
 Paris, whose shafts the son of Thetis slew. 
 
 ULY. Not thee for victim, O thou aged dame, 
 But her, Achilles' spectre hath demanded. 
 
 HEC. Yet slay me with my daughter ; so shall earth, 
 And the deceased who claims these hateful rites, 
 A twofold portion drink of human gore. 
 
 ULY. Enough in her of victims ; let no more 
 Be added : would to Heaven we were not bound 
 To offer up this one ! 
 
 HEC. The dread behests 
 
 Of absolute necessity require, 
 That with my daughter I should die. 
 
 ULY. What mean'st thou 
 
 I know no lord to counteract my will. 
 
 HEC. Her, as the ivy clings around the oak, 
 Will I embrace. 
 
 ULY. Not if to wiser counsels 
 
 Thou yield just deference. 
 
 HEC. I will ne'er consent 
 
 My daughter to release. 
 
 ULY. Nor will I go, 
 
 And leave her here. 
 
 POLYX. Attend to me, my mother, 
 
 And, O thou offspring of Laertes, treat 
 The just emotions of parental wrath 
 With greater mildness. But, O hapless woman, 
 Contend not with our conquerors. Would you fall 
 Upon the earth and wound your aged limbs,
 
 HECUBA. 19 
 
 Thrust from me forcibly, by youthful arms 
 
 Torn with disgrace away ? Provoke not wrongs 
 
 Unseemly ; O, my dearest mother, give 
 
 That much-loved hand, and let me join my cheek 
 
 To yours ; for I no longer shall behold 
 
 The radiant orb of yonder sun. Now take 
 
 A last farewell, O you who gave me birth ; 
 
 I to the shades descend. 
 
 HEC. But I the light 
 
 Am doomed to view, and still remain a slave. 
 
 POLYX. Unwedded, reft of promised bridal joys. 
 
 HEC. Thou, O my daugher, claim'st the pitying tear : 
 But I am a most miserable woman. 
 
 POLYX. There shall I sleep among the realms beneath, 
 From you secluded. 
 
 HEC. What resource, alas ! 
 
 For me, the wretched Hecuba is left ? 
 Where shall I finish this detested life? 
 
 POLYX. Born free, I die a slave. 
 
 HEC. I too, bereft 
 
 Of all my children. 
 
 POLYX. What commands to Hector, 
 
 Or to your aged husband, shall I bear? 
 
 HEC. Tell them I of all women am most wretched. 
 
 POLYX. Ye paps which sweetly nourished me 
 
 HEC. Alas! 
 
 My child's untimely miserable fate. 
 
 POLYX. Farewell, my mother, and my dear Cassandra. 
 
 HEC. To others in that language speak; be theirs 
 The happiness thy mother cannot taste. 
 
 POLYX. And thou, my brother Polydore, who dweli'st 
 Among the Thracians, famed for generous steeds 
 
 HEC. If yet he live ; but this I greatly doubt, 
 Because I am in all respects so wretched. 
 
 POLYX. He lives, and when the hour of death is come, 
 Will close your eyes. 
 
 HEC. I'm prematurely dead 
 
 While yet alive, bowed down to earth by woe. 
 
 POLYX. Now bear me hence, Ulysses, o'er my face 
 Casting a veil : for ere I at the altar 
 Am slain, this heart is melted by the plaints 
 Of my dear mother, and my tears augment 
 Her sorrows. O thou radiant light ; for still 
 Am I permitted to invoke thy name, 
 But can enjoy thee only till I meet 
 The lifted sword, and reach Achilles' tomb. 
 
 {Exeunt ULYSSES and POLYXENA. 
 
 HEC. I faint, my limbs are all unnerved; return, 
 My daughter, let me touch that hand once more,
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Leave me not childless. O, my friends, I perish ; 
 Ah, would to Heaven I could see Spartan Helen, 
 In the same state, that sister to the sons 
 Of Jove, for by her beauteous eyes was Troy, 
 That prosperous city, with disgrace o'erthrown. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Ye breezes, who the ships convey, 
 That long becalmed at anchor lay, 
 
 Nor dared to quit the strand; 
 As the swift keel divides the wave, 
 Say whither am I borne a slave, 
 Ordained to tread the Doric land, 
 Or Phthia, where beset with reeds, 
 Apidanus, the sire of limpid rills, 
 
 Winding a-down the channelled hills, 
 
 Waters the fruitful meads ? 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Or to that isle, with dashing oar 
 Impelled, shall I my woes deplore, 
 
 And on the sacred earth, 
 Where first the palm and laurel rose, 
 Memorials of Latona's throes, 
 Which to the twins divine gave birth, 
 Teach the harmonious strain to flow ; 
 With Delos' nymphs Diana's praise resound, 
 Her hair with golden fillet bound, 
 
 And never-erring bow ? 
 
 II. i. 
 
 Or, pent in some Athenian tower, 
 Devoted to Minerva's power, 
 
 On the robe's tissued ground 
 While, shadowed by my needle, spread 
 Expressive forms, in vivid thread, 
 Picture the goddess whirling round 
 Her chariot with unrivalled speed ; 
 Or represent the Titan's impious crew, 
 Whom Jove's red lightnings overthrew, 
 
 Those monsters doomed to bieed ? 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Alas ! my sons, a valiant band, 
 My fathers, and my native land,
 
 HECUBA. 21 
 
 Ye shared the general fate. 
 Sacked by the Greeks, Troy's bulwarks smoke. 
 But I , constrained to bear the yoke, 
 Shall soon behold some foreign state, 
 To ignominious bondage led ; 
 And leaving vanquished Asia Europe's slave, 
 Debarred an honourable grave, 
 Ascend the victor's bed. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 TAL. Where, O ye Phrygian damsels, shall I find 
 The wretched Hecuba, who erst was queen 
 Of Ilion ? 
 
 CHOR. Prostrate near you on the ground, 
 Wrapt in her mantle, there she lies. 
 
 TAL. Great Jove ! 
 
 What shall I say ? that thou from Heaven look'st down 
 Upon mankind, or have they rashly formed 
 A vain opinion, deeming that the race 
 Of gods exist, though fortune governs all ? 
 Ha '. was not this the queen of wealthy Phrygin, 
 And was not she the happy Priam's wife ? 
 But her whole city by the hostile spear 
 Is now destroyed, while she a siave, bowed down 
 By age, and childless, stretched upon the ground, 
 Defiles with dust her miserable head. 
 Old as I am, yet gladly would I die 
 Rather than sink into abhorred disgrace. 
 Arise, unhappy woman, O lift up 
 That feeble body, and that hoary ht ad. 
 
 HEC. Away ! O suffer this decrepit frame 
 To rest. Why move me ! Whosoe'er thou art, 
 What mean'st thou ? why dost thou molest th' afflicted ? 
 
 TAL. Talthybius : me, the herald of the Greeks, 
 O woman, Agamemnon hath despatched 
 To fetch you. 
 
 HEC. , Conrst thou, by the Greeks ordained, 
 My friend, to slay me also at the tomb ? 
 How welcome were such tidings ; let us go, 
 With speed conduct me thither. 
 
 TAL. To inter 
 
 Your daughter, I invite you ; both the sons 
 Of Atreus, and the assembled Grecian host, 
 Have sent me for that purpose. 
 
 HEC. Ah ! what say'st th: u ; 
 
 Thou com'st not to inform me I must die, 
 But to unfold the most disastrous tidings. 
 Then art thou lost, my daughter, from the arms 
 Of thy fond mother torn ; of thee, my child
 
 22 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Am I bereft. But how did ye destroy her, 
 
 Respectfully, or with the ruthless hand 
 
 Of hostile rage ? Speak, though it wound my soul. 
 
 TAL. A second time, in pity to your daughter, 
 You make me weep ; for now while I relate 
 Her sufferings, tears bedew these swimming eyes, 
 Such as I shed when at the tomb she perished. 
 To view the sacrifice the Grecian host 
 Were all assembled : taking by the hand 
 Polyxena, on the sepulchral hillock 
 Achilles' son then placed her : I drew near, 
 Attended by the chosen youths of Greece, 
 To hold the tender victim, nnd prevent 
 Her struggles. But Achilles' son, uplifting 
 With both his hands a cup of massive gold, 
 Poured forth libations to his breathless sire; 
 And gave a sign to me, through the whole camp 
 Strict silence to proclaim. I in the midst 
 Stood up and cried : " Be mute, ye Greeks, let none 
 Presume to speak, observe a general silence." 
 The troops obeyed, and through their crowded ranks 
 Not e'en a breath was heard, while in these words 
 The chief expressed his purpose : " Son of Peleus, 
 My father, the propitiatory drops 
 Of these libations which invite the dead 
 Accept ; O come and quaff the crimson blood 
 Of this pure virgin, whom to thee all Greece 
 And I devote ; be thou benign, O grant us 
 Securely to weigh anchor, to unbind 
 Our halsers, and on all of us bestow 
 A happy voyage to our native land 
 From vanquished Troy." He ceased, and in his prayer 
 Joined the whole army, when the chief unsheathed 
 His golden-hilted sword, and gave a sign 
 To chosen youths of Greece to hold the virgin, 
 Which she perceived, and in these words addressed 
 The warriors : " O ye Argives, who laid waste 
 My city, willingly I die, let no man 
 Confine these arms, I with undaunted breast 
 Will meet the stroke. I by the gods conjure you 
 Release, and slay me as my rank demands 
 Like one born free ; for I from mighty kings 
 Descend, and in the shades beneath should blush 
 To be accounted an ignoble slave." 
 Through all the host ran murmurs of assent, 
 And royal Agamemnon bade the youths 
 Release the virgin ; they their monarch's voice, 
 Soon as they heard, obeyed ; our lord's behests 
 The princess too revering, from her shoulder
 
 HECUBA. 23 
 
 Down to her waist rent off the purple robe, 
 Displayed her bosom like some statue formed 
 In exquisite proportion, and to earth 
 Bending her knee, in these affecting words ' 
 Expressed herself: " If at my breast thou aim 
 The wound, strike here ; if at my neck, that neck 
 Is ready bared." Half willing, and half loth, 
 Through pity for the maid, he with keen steel 
 Severed the arteries ; streams of blood gushed forth : 
 Yet even thus, though at her latest gasp, 
 She showed a strong solicitude to fall 
 With decency, while stood the gazing host 
 Around her : soon as through the ghastly wound 
 Her soul had issued, every Greek was busied 
 In various labours ; o'er the corse some strewed 
 The verdant foliage, others reared a pyre 
 With trunks of fir : but he who nothing brought, 
 From him who with funereal ornament 
 Was laden, heard these taunts : " O slothful wretch, 
 Bear'st thou no robe, no garland, hast thou nought 
 To give in honour of this generous maid ?" 
 Such their encomiums on thy breathless daughter. 
 You, of all women, who in such a child 
 Were happiest, now most wretched I behold. 
 CHOR. Fate, the behests of the immortal gods 
 
 Accomplishing, with tenfold weight hath caused 
 
 This dreadful curse to fall on Priam's house, 
 
 And on our city. 
 
 HEC. 'Midst unnumbered ills 
 
 I know not, O my daughter, whither first 
 
 To turn my eyes, for if on one I touch, 
 
 Another hinders me, and I again, 
 
 By a long train of woes succeeding woes, 
 
 To some fresh object am from thence called off; 
 
 Nor can I from my tortured soul efface 
 
 The grief thy fate occasions ; yet the tale 
 
 Of thy exalted courage checks my groans, 
 
 Which else had been immoderate. No just cause 
 
 Have we for wonder, if the barren land 
 
 Cheered by Heaven's influence, with benignant suns 
 
 Yields plenteous harvests, while a richer soil 
 
 Deprived of every necessary aid 
 
 Bears weeds alone. But 'midst the human race 
 
 The wicked man is uniformly wicked, 
 
 The good still virtuous, nor doth evil fortune 
 
 Corrupt his soul; the same unsullied worth 
 
 He still retains. Is this great difference owing 
 
 To birth, or education ? We are taught 
 
 What virtue is, by being nurtured well,
 
 24 EURIPIDES. 
 
 And he who thoroughly hath learnt this lesson, 
 
 Guided by the unerring rule of right, 
 
 Can thence discern what's base. My soul in vain 
 
 Hath hazarded these incoherent thoughts. 
 
 But, O Talthybius, to the Greeks repair. 
 
 And strict injunctions give, that no man touch 
 
 My daughter's corse, but let the gazing crowd 
 
 Be driven away. For in a numerous host 
 
 Its multitudes break loose from all restraint?, 
 
 The outrages of mariners exceed 
 
 Devouring flame, and whosoe'er abstains 
 
 From mischief, by his comrades is despised. 
 
 But, O my aged servant, take and dip 
 
 That urn in ocean's waves, and hither bring, 
 
 Filled with its water, that the last sad rites 
 
 To my departed daughter I may pay, 
 
 And lave the corse of that unwedded bride, 
 
 Of that affianced virgin : but alas ! 
 
 Whence with such costly gifts as she deserves, 
 
 Her tomb can I adorn ? My present state 
 
 Affords them not, but what it doth afford 
 
 Will I bestow, and from the captive dames 
 
 Appointed to attend me, who reside 
 
 Within these tents, some ornamems collect. 
 
 If, unobserved by their new masters, aught 
 
 They have secreted. O ye splendid domes, 
 
 Ye palaces once happy, which contained 
 
 All that was rich and fair ; O Priam thou 
 
 The sire, and I who was the aged mother 
 
 Of an illustrious race, how are we dwindled 
 
 To nothing, stripped of all our ancient pride ! 
 
 Yet do we glory, some in mansions stored 
 
 With gold abundant, others when distinguished 
 
 Among the citizens by sounding titles. 
 
 Vain are the schemes which with incessant care 
 
 We frame, and all our boastful words are vain. 
 
 The happiest man is he who, by no ill 
 
 O'ertaken, passes through life's fleeting day. 
 
 [Etft HECUBA. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 By Heaven was my devoted head 
 Menaced with impending ill, 
 What time the pines, whose branches spread 
 Their tutelary shade o'er Ida's hill,
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 Were laid by Phrygian Paris low, 
 That his adventurous bark might stem the tide, 
 From Sparta's coast to waft the fairest bride 
 On whom the solar beams their golden radiance throw. 
 
 Surrounding labours were at hand 
 
 Leagued with the behests of fate ; 
 
 Then did such madness seize the land, 
 As called down vengeance from a foreign state. 
 
 The royal swain with dazzled eyes 
 Gave that decree, the source of all our woes, 
 When from three rival goddesses he chose 
 Bright Venus, and pronounced that she deserved the prize. 
 
 The spear and death hence raged around, 
 Hence were my mansions levelled with the ground ; 
 
 Staining with tears Eurotas' tide, 
 Too deeply grieved to share the victor's pride, 
 
 The Spartan virgin too in vain 
 Bewails her favoured youth untimely slain, 
 While, sprinkling ashes o'er their vest 
 And hoary head, the matrons bend 
 O'er their sons' urns ; their groans to Heaven ascend, 
 They tear their cheeks, and beat their miserable breast. 
 
 ATTENDANT, CHORUS. 
 
 ATT. Where is the wretched Hecuba, my friends, 
 Who in her woes surpasses all, or male. 
 Or of the female race ? her none can rob 
 Of her just claim, pre-eminence in grief. 
 
 CHOR. With the harsh sounds of that ill-boding tongue. 
 O wretch, what mean'st thou ? wilt thou never cease 
 To be th' unwelcome herald of affliction ? 
 
 ATT. Most grievous are the tidings which I bring 
 To Hecuba, nor easy were the task 
 tn words auspicious to make known to mortals 
 Such dire calamities. 
 
 CHOR. From her apartment 
 
 She seasonably comes forth to give thee audience. 
 
 HECUBA, ATTENDANT, CHORUS. 
 
 ATT. O most unfortunate, whose woes exceed 
 All that the power of language can express, 
 My queen, you perish, doomed no more to view 
 The blessed light ; of children, husband, city, 
 Bereft and ruined. 
 
 HEC. Nothing hast thou told
 
 26 EURIPIDES. 
 
 But what I knew, thou only com'st t ; insult me : 
 Yet wherefore dost thou bring to me this corse 
 Of my Polyxena, o'er whom 'twas said 
 The Grecian host with pious zeal all vied 
 To heap a tomb ? 
 
 ATT. She knows not, but laments 
 
 For the deceased Polyxena alone, 
 And to her recent woes is yet a stranger. 
 
 HEC. Ah, bring'st thou the inspired prophetic head, 
 And the dishevelled tresses of Cassandra ? 
 
 ATT. You speak of one yet living, but bewail not 
 This the deceased : survey the naked corse 
 Of him whose death to you will seem most strange 
 And most unlocked for. 
 
 HEC. Ha, I see my son, 
 
 My dearest Polydore, whom he of Thrace 
 Beneath his roof protected. I am ruined ; 
 Now utterly I perish. O my son, 
 For thee, for thee I wake the frantic dirge, 
 By that malignant demon which assumed 
 Thy voice, thy semblance, recently apprized 
 Of this calamity. 
 
 ATT. O wretched mother, 
 
 Know you then what was your son's fate ? 
 
 HEC. A sight 
 
 Incredible and new to me is that 
 Which I behold : for from my former woes 
 Spring woes in long succession, and the day 
 When I shall cease to weep, shall cease to groan, 
 Will never come. 
 
 CHOR. The woes which we endure 
 
 Alas ! are dreadful. 
 
 HEC. O my son, thou son 
 Of an ill fated mother, by what death 
 Didst thou expire ? through what disastrous cause 
 Here liest thou prostrate ? ah, what bloody hand 
 
 ATT. I know not : on the shore his corse I found. 
 
 HEC. Cast up by the impetuous waves, or pierced 
 With murderous spear ? 
 
 ATT. The surges of the deep 
 
 Had thrown it on the sand. 
 
 HEC. Alas ! too well 
 
 I comprehend the meaning of the dream 
 Which to these eyes appeared : the spectre borne 
 On sable pinions no illusion proved, 
 When, O my son, thee, thee it represented 
 No longer dwelling in the realms of light. 
 
 CHOR. Instructed by that vision, canst thou name 
 The murderer ?
 
 HECUBA. 27 
 
 HEC. 'Twas my friend, the Thracian king, 
 
 With whom in secrecy his aged sire 
 Had placed him. 
 
 CHOR. Ha ! what mean'st thou ? to possess 
 
 That gold by slaying him ? 
 
 HEC. O, 'twas a deed 
 
 Unutterable, a deed without a name, 
 Surpassing all astonishment, unholy, 
 And not to be endured. Where now the laws 
 Of hospitality ? Accursed man, 
 How cruelly hast thou with reeking sword 
 Transpierced this unresisting boy, nor heard 
 The gentle voice of pity ! 
 
 CHOR. Hapless queen, 
 
 How hath some demon, thy malignant foe, 
 Rendered thee of all mortals the most wretched : 
 But I behold great Agamemnon come, 
 And therefore, O my friends, let us be silent. 
 
 AGAMEMNON, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 AGA. Whence this delay ? why go you not t' inter, 
 
 Hecuba, your daughter, whom Talthybius 
 Directed that no Greek might be allowed 
 
 To touch ? We therefore have with your request 
 Complied, nor moved the corse. But you remain 
 Inactive, which I wonder at, and come 
 To fetch you, for each previous solemn rite 
 That best might please, if aught such rites can please, 
 Have we performed. But ah, what Trojan youth 
 Do I behold lie breathless in the tent ? 
 For that he was no Greek, the garb informs me 
 In which he's clad. 
 HEC. Thou wretch, for of myself 
 
 1 speak, when thee, O Hecuba, I name ; 
 What shall I do, at Agamemnon's knees 
 Fall prostrate, or in silence bear my woes ? 
 
 AGA. Why weep, with face averted, yet refuse 
 T' inform me what hath happened ? who is he ? 
 
 HEC. But from his knees, if, deeming me a slave 
 And enemy, the monarch should repel me, 
 This would but make my sorrows yet more poignant. 
 
 AGA. I am no seer, nor can I uninformed 
 Trace out the secret purpose of your soul. 
 
 HEC. Am I mistaken then, while I suppose 
 A foe in him who doth not mean me ill ? 
 
 AGA. If 'tis your wish I should not be apprized, 
 We both are of one mind ; you will not speak, 
 And I as little am disposed to hear. 
 
 HEC. Without his aid no vengeance for my child
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Can I obtain : yet why deliberate thus ? 
 Prosper or fail I must take courage now. 
 O royal Agamemnon, by those knees 
 A suppliant I conjure you, by that beard, 
 And- that right hand, victorious o'er your foes. 
 
 AGA. What do you wish for ? To obtain your freedom ? 
 This were not difficult. 
 
 HEC. No, give me vengeance 
 
 On yonder guilty wretch, and I am willing 
 To linger out the remnant of my life 
 In servitude. 
 
 AGA. Then why implore our aid ? 
 
 HEC. For reasons you suspect not. Do you see 
 That breathless corse o'er which my tears I shed ? 
 
 AGA. The corse I see ; but cannot comprehend 
 What follows next. 
 
 HEC. Him erst I bore and nurtured. 
 
 AGA. Is the deceased, O miserable dame, 
 One of your children ? 
 
 HEC. Not of those who fell 
 
 Beneath Troy's walls. 
 
 AGA. What ! had you other sons ? 
 
 HEC. Yes, him you see, born in an evil hour. 
 
 AGA. But where was he when Ilion was destroyed? 
 
 HEC. His father, apprehensive of his death, 
 Conveyed him thence. 
 
 AGA. From all the other children 
 
 Which then he had, where placed he this apart ? 
 
 HEC. In this same region where his corse was found. 
 
 AGA. With Polymestor, sovereign of the land ? 
 
 HEC. He, to preserve that execrable gold, 
 Was hither sent. 
 
 AGA. But, by what ruthless hand, 
 
 And how, was he despatched? 
 
 HEC. By whom beside? 
 
 The murderer was his friend, the Thracian king. 
 
 AGA. Was he thus eager? O abandoned wretch, 
 To seize the gold ! 
 
 HEC. E'en thus : soon as he knew 
 
 Troy was o'erthrown. 
 
 AGA. But where did you discover 
 
 The body, or who brought it ? 
 
 HEC. On the shore 
 
 This servant found it. 
 
 AGA. Or in quest of him 
 
 Or other task then busied ? 
 
 HEC. To fetch water 
 
 To lave Polyxena's remains she went.
 
 HECUBA. 29 
 
 AGA. When he had slain him, it appears, his friend 
 Did cast him forth. 
 
 HEC. He to the waves consigned 
 
 The stripling's mangled corse. 
 
 AGA. O wretched woman, 
 
 Surrounded by immeasurable woes. 
 
 HEC. I am undone ; no farther ill remains 
 For me t* experience. 
 
 AGA. Ah ! what woman e'er 
 
 Was born to such calamities ? 
 
 HEC. Not one 
 
 Exists, whose sorrows equal mine, unless 
 You of Calamity herself would speak. 
 Yet hear the motive why I clasp your knees. 
 If I appear to merit what I suffer, 
 I must be patient ; but if not, avenge 
 My wrongs upon the man who 'gainst his guest 
 Such treachery could commit, who, nor the gods 
 Of Erebus beneath, nor those who rule 
 In Heaven above regarding, this vile deed, 
 Did perpetrate, e'en he with whom I oft 
 Partook the feast, on whom I showered each bounty, 
 Esteeming him the first of all my friends ; 
 Yet, when at Ilion's palace with respect 
 He had been treated, a deliberate scheme 
 Of murder forming, he destroyed my son, 
 On whom he deigned not to bestow a tomb, 
 But threw his corse into the briny deep. 
 Though I indeed am feeble, and a slave, 
 Yet mighty are the gods, and by their law 
 The world is ruled : for by that' law we learn 
 That there are gods, and can mark out the bounds 
 Of justice and injustice ; if such law 
 To you transmitted, be infringed, if they 
 Who kill their guests, or dare with impious hand 
 To violate the altars of the gods, 
 Unpunished 'scape, no equity is left 
 Among mankind. Deeming such base connivance 
 Unworthy of yourself, revere my woes, 
 Have pity on me, like a painter take 
 Your stand to view me, and observe the number 
 Of my afflictions ; once was I a queen, 
 But now am I a slave ; in many a son 
 I once was rich, but now am I both old 
 And of my children reft, without a city, 
 Forlorn, and of all mortals the most wretched. 
 But whither would you go ? With you I seem 
 To have no interest. Miserable me !
 
 30 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Why do we mortals by assiduous toil, 
 
 And such a painful search as their importance 
 
 Makes requisite, all other arts attain, 
 
 Yet not enough intent on the due knowledge 
 
 Of that sole empress of the human soul 
 
 Persuasion, no rewards bestow on those 
 
 Who teach us by insinuating words 
 
 How to procure our wishes ? who can trust 
 
 Hereafter in prosperity ? That band 
 
 Of my heroic sons is now no more, 
 
 Myself a captive, am led forth 10 tasks 
 
 Unseemly, and e'en now these eyes behold 
 
 The air obscured by llion's rising smoke. 
 
 It might be vain perhaps, were I to found 
 
 A claim to your assistance on your love : 
 
 Yet must I speak : my daughter, who in Troy . 
 
 Was called Cassandra, the prophetic dame, 
 
 Partakes your bed ; and how those rapturous nights 
 
 Will you acknowledge, or to her how show 
 
 Your 'gratitude for all the fond embraces 
 
 Which she bestows, O king, or in her stead 
 
 To me her mother ? I n the soul of man 
 
 Th' endearments of the night, by darkness veiled, 
 
 Create the strongest interest. To my tale 
 
 Now listen : do you see that breathless corse ? 
 
 Each act of kindness which to him is shown, 
 
 Upon a kinsman of the dame you love 
 
 Will be conferred. But, in one point my speech 
 
 Is yet deficient. By the wondrous arts 
 
 Of Daedalus, or some benignant god, 
 
 Could I give voice to each arm, hand, and hair, 
 
 And each extremes! joint, they round your knees 
 
 Should cling together, and together weep, 
 
 At once combining with a thousand tongues. 
 
 monarch, O thou light of Greece, comply, 
 And stretch forth that avenging arm to aid 
 An aged woman, though she be a thing 
 
 Of nought, O succour : for the good man's duty 
 Is to obey the dread behests of justice, 
 And ever punish those who act amiss. 
 
 CHOR. ; Tis wonderful, indeed, how all ever.ts 
 Happen to mortals, and the dread behests 
 Of fate, uncircumscribed by human laws, 
 Constrain us to form amities with those 
 To whom the most inveterate hate we bore, 
 And into foes convert our former friends. 
 . AGA. To you, O Hecuba, >our son, your fortunes, 
 And your entreaties, is my pity due. 
 
 1 in obedience to the gods and justice
 
 HECUBA. 3i 
 
 Wish to avenge you on this impious friend, 
 Could I appear your interests to espouse, 
 Without the troops suspecting that I slay 
 The Thracian monarch for Cassandra's sake : 
 My terrors hence arise ; the host esteem 
 Him our ally, and the deceased a foe : 
 What though you held him dear, his fate, the loss 
 Of you alone, affects not the whole camp. 
 Reflect too, that you find me well disposed 
 To share your toils, and in your cause exert 
 My utmost vigour ; but, what makes me slow, 
 Is a well-grounded fear of blame from Greece. 
 
 HEC. Alas! there's no man free: for some are slaves 
 To gold, to fortune others, and the rest, 
 The multitude or written laws restrain 
 From acting as their better judgment dictates. 
 But since you are alarmed, and to the rabble 
 Yield an implicit deference, from that fear 
 I will release you ; only to my schemes 
 Be privy, if some mischief I contrive 
 Against the murderer of my son : but take 
 No active part. If, when the Thracian suffers, 
 As he shall suffer, 'mongst the Greeks a tumult 
 Break forth, or they attempt to succour him, 
 Restrain them, without seeming to befriend 
 My interests. As for what remains, rely 
 On me, and I will manage all things well. 
 
 AGA. How then ? what mean you ? With that aged hand 
 To wield a sword, and take away the life 
 Of that barbarian, or by drugs endued 
 With magic power ? the help you need, what arts 
 Can furnish ? what strong arm have you to fight 
 Your battles ? whence will you procure allies ? 
 
 HEC. These tents conceal a group of Trojan dames. 
 
 AGA. Mean you those captives whom the Greeks have 
 seized. 
 
 HEC. With them I on the murderer will inflict 
 Due punishment. 
 
 AGA. How can the female sex 
 
 O'er men obtain a conquest ? 
 
 HEC. Numbers strike 
 
 A foe with terror, and the wiles of women 
 Are hard to be withstood. 
 
 AGA. They may strike terror, 
 
 But in their courage I no trust can place. 
 
 HEC. What ? did not women slay yEgyptus' sons, 
 And in their rage exterminate each male 
 From Lemnos ? But leave me to find out means 
 How to effect my purpose. Through the camp
 
 32 EURIPIDES. 
 
 In safety this my faithful sen-ant send ; 
 And thou, when to my Thracian friend thou com'st, 
 Say, " Hecuba, erst Oueen of Troy, invites 
 Thee and thy children, on thy own account, 
 Xo less than hers, because she to thy sons 
 And thee the self-same message must deliver/' 
 The newly slain Polyxena's interment 
 Defer, O Agamemnon ; in one flame 
 That when their kindred corses are consumed : 
 The brother with the sister, who demand 
 A twofold portion of their mother's grief 
 Together may be buried in one grave. 
 AGA. These rites shall be performed, which could the 
 
 troops 
 
 Set sail, I needs must have denied : but now, 
 Since Neptune sends not an auspicious breeze. 
 Expecting a more seasonable voyage, 
 Here must we wait. But may success attend you : 
 For 'tis the common interest of mankind, 
 Of every individual, every state, 
 That he who hath transgressed should suffer ill. 
 And fortune crown the efforts of the virtuous. 
 
 [Exit AGAMEMNON. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 i. i. 
 
 No more, O Troy, thy dreaded name 
 
 Conspicuous in the lists of fame, 
 ! Midst fortresses impregnable shall stand. 
 
 In such thick clouds an armed host 
 
 Pours terrors from the Grecian coast. 
 And wastes thy vanquished land : 
 
 Shorn from thy rampired brow the crown 
 Of turrets fell ; thy palaces o'erspread 
 
 With smoke lie waste, no more I tread 
 
 Thy wonted streets, my native town. 
 
 I perished at the midnight hour, 
 
 When, aided by the banquet's power, 
 Sleep o'er my eyes his earliest influence shed ; 
 
 Retiring from the choral song, 
 
 The sacrifice and festive throng, 
 Stretched on the downy bed 
 
 The bridegroom indolently lay. 
 His massive spear suspended on the beam 
 
 No more he saw the helmets gleam. 
 
 Or nautic troops in dread array.
 
 HECUBA. 33 
 
 While me the golden mirror's aid, 
 
 My flowing tresses taught to braid 
 In graceful ringlets with a fillet bound, 
 
 Just as I cast my robe aside, 
 
 And sought the couch ; extending wide 
 Through every street this sound 
 Was heard ; " O when, ye sons of Greece, . 
 
 This nest of robbers levelled with the plain, 
 Will ye behold your homes again ? 
 
 When shall these tedious labours cease ? " 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Then from my couch up starting, drest 
 Like Spartan nymph in zoneless vest, 
 
 At Dian's shrine an ineffectual prayer 
 Did I address ; for hither led, 
 First having viewed my husband dead, 
 
 Full oft I in despair, 
 As the proud vessel sailed from land, 
 
 Looked back, and saw my native walls laid low, 
 Then fainting with excess of woe 
 At length lost sight of Ilion's strand. 
 
 ill. 
 
 Helen that sister to the sons of Jove, 
 And Paris Ida's swain, 
 
 With my curses still pursuing, 
 
 For to them I owe my ruin, 
 
 Me they from my country drove, 
 
 Never to return again, 
 
 By that detested spousal rite 
 
 On which Hymen never smiled, 
 No, 'twas some demon who with lewd delight 
 
 Their frantic souls beguiled : 
 
 Her may ocean's waves no more 
 
 Waft to her paternal shore. 
 
 POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 POLYM. For thee, O Priam, my unhappy frier.d, 
 And you, my dearest Hecuba, I weep, 
 Beholding your distress, your city taken, 
 Your daughter newly slain : alas ! there's nought 
 To be relied on ; fame is insecure, 
 Nor can the prosperous their enjoyments guard 
 Against a change of Fortune, for the gods 
 Backward and forward turn her wavering wheel, 
 And introduce confusion in the world, 
 That we, because we know not will happen, 
 
 i
 
 34 EURIPIDES. 
 
 May worship them. But of what use are plaints 
 Which have no virtue to remove our woes ? 
 If you my absence censure, be appeased, 
 For in the midst of Thracia's wide domains 
 I from these coasts was distant at the time 
 Of your arrival: soon as I returned, 
 When from the palace I was issuing forth, 
 This your attendant met me, and delivered 
 The message, hearing which, I hither came. 
 
 HEC. O Polymestor, wretched as I am, 
 I blush to see thy face ; because thou erst 
 In happier days didst know rne, I with shame 
 Appear before thee in my present fortunes. 
 Nor can I look at thee with steadfast eyes : 
 But this thou wilt not deem to be a mark 
 Of enmity : the cause of such behaviour 
 Is only custom, which forbids our sex 
 To gaze on men. 
 
 POLYM. No wonder you thus act 
 
 Under such circumstances. But what need 
 Have you of me, and wherefore did you send 
 To fetch me from the palace ? 
 
 HEC. I in private 
 
 A secret of importance would disclose 
 To thee and to thy children. From these tents 
 Give orders for thy followers to depart. 
 
 POLYM. [to his attendants, "who retire.'] 
 Withdraw ; this solitary spot is safe. 
 For you and the confederate Grecian host 
 Are all attached to me. But 'tis incumbent 
 On you t' inform me what my prosperous fortunes 
 Can yield to succour my unhappy friends ! 
 For this is what I wish to do. 
 
 HEC. Say first, 
 
 If he. my son, whom this maternal hand 
 And his fond father in thy mansions placed, 
 My Polydore, yet live. I'll then pursue 
 My questions. 
 
 POLYM. Yes, in him you still are blest. 
 
 HEC. How kind, how worthy of thyself that speech, 
 My dearest friend ! 
 
 POLYM. What farther would you know ? 
 
 HEC. If haply yet the youth remember aught 
 Of me his mother. 
 
 POLYM. Much he wished to come 
 
 And visit you in private. 
 
 HEC. Is the gold 
 
 He brought from Troy preserved ?
 
 HECUBA. 35 
 
 POLYM. I keep it safe 
 
 In my own palace. 
 
 HEC. Keep it if thou wilt : 
 
 But covet not the treasures of thy friends. 
 
 POLYM. I do not covet them ; my utmost wish 
 Is to enjoy, O woman, what I have. 
 
 HEC. Know'st thou then, what to thee and to thy sons 
 I want to say ? 
 
 POLYM. I know not ; till in words 
 
 Your thoughts are signified. 
 
 HEC. Bestow such love 
 
 On Polydore as thou receiv'st from me. 
 
 POLYM. What is it that to me and to my children 
 You would disclose ? 
 
 HEC. The spot, where deep in earth, 
 
 The ancient treasures of all Priam's house 
 Lie buried. 
 
 POLYM. Is this secret what you wish 
 Should to your son be mentioned ? 
 
 HEC. Yes, by thee, 
 
 Because thou art a virtuous man ! 
 
 POLYM. But wherefore 
 
 Did you require these children should be present ? 
 
 HEC. For them to know the secret, if thou die, 
 Will be of great advantage. 
 
 POLYM. You have spoken 
 
 Well and discreetly. 
 
 HEC. Know'st thou where at Troy 
 
 Minerva's temple stands ? 
 
 POLYM. Is the gold there ? 
 
 But by what mark shall I the spot distinguish ? 
 
 HEC. Above the surface rises a black stone. 
 
 POLYM. Will you describe the place yet more minutely ? 
 
 HEC. The gold I in thy custody would place, 
 Which I from I lion hither bring. 
 
 POLYM. Where is it ? 
 
 Concealed beneath your garment ? 
 
 HEC. 'Midst a heap 
 
 Of spoils laid up within yon tents. 
 
 POLYM. Where mean you ? 
 
 These are the Grecian mariners' abode. 
 
 HEC. In separate dwellings have the>fc placed the captives ? 
 
 POLYM. But how can we rely upon the faith 
 Of those within ? doth no man thither come ? 
 
 HEC. There's not a Greek within ; we are alone: 
 But enter thou these doors : for now the host, 
 Impatient to weigh anchor, would return 
 From Ilion to their homes. Thou with thy children
 
 36 EURIPIDES. 
 
 T accomplish all the dread behests of fate, 
 Shalt thither go where thou hast lodged my son. 
 
 \Exeunt HECUBA and POLYM ESTOR. 
 CHOR. Thou hast not yet received the blow, 
 But justice sure will lay thee low. 
 Like him who headlong from on high 
 Falls where no friendly haven's nigh, 
 Into the ocean's stormy wave, 
 Here shalt thou find a certain grave : 
 For twofold ruin doth impend 
 O'er him who human laws pursue, 
 And righteous gods indignant view : 
 Thee shall the hope of gain mislead, 
 Which prompts thee to advance with speed, 
 And Pluto's loathed abode descend : 
 Soon shalt thou press th' ensanguined strand, 
 Slain by a woman's feeble hand. 
 
 POLYM. \within^\ Ah me, the light that visited these eyes 
 Js darkened. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Heard ye, O my friends, the shriek 
 Of yonder Thracian ? 
 
 POLYM. {within^ Yet again, alas, 
 My children's foul and execrable murder ! 
 
 SEMICHOR. My friends, some recent mischief hath within 
 Been perpetrated. 
 
 POLYM. [/#*/.] Though your feet are swift, 
 Ye shall not 'scape, for through the walls I'll burst 
 My passage. 
 
 SEMICHOR. With a forceful hand, behold 
 He brandishes the javelin. Shall we rush 
 To seize him ? This important crisis bids us 
 Assist our queen and Phrygia's valiant dames. 
 
 HEC. Now do thy worst, and from their hinges rend 
 Yon massive gates ; no more canst thou impart 
 To those lost eyes their visual orbs, nor see 
 Thy sons, whom I have slain, to life restored. 
 
 HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 CHOR. Hast thou, my honoured mistress, caught the Thracian, 
 Over this treacherous friend hast thou prevailed, 
 And all thy threats accomplished ? 
 
 HEC. Ye shall see him 
 
 Before the tent, without delay, deprived 
 Of sight, advancing with unsteady foot, 
 And the two breathless corses of his sons, 
 Whom I, assisted by the noblest matrons 
 Of Troy, have slain. Th' atonement he hath paid 
 To my revenge, is just. But now behold
 
 HECUBA. 37 
 
 He issues forth : I will retire and shun 
 The Thracian chief's unconquerable rage. 
 
 POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 POLYM. Ah, whither r.m I going ? wretched me ! 
 Where am I ? what supports me ? With these hands 
 Groping my way like some four-footed beast, 
 How shall I turn me, to the right or left, 
 That I those murderous Phrygian dames may seize 
 Who have destroyed me ? Impious and accurst 
 Daughters of Ilion, in what dark recess 
 Do they escape me ? Would to heaven, O Sun, 
 Thou to these bleeding eyeballs could'st afford 
 A cure, that thou my blindness could'st remove. 
 But hush, I hear those women's cautious tread. 
 How shall I leap upon them ? with their flesh 
 How shall I glut my rage, and for a feast 
 To hungry tigers cast their mangled bones, 
 In just requital of the horrid wrongs, 
 Which I from them, ah wretched me, have suffered ? 
 But whither, by what impulse am I borne, 
 Leaving the corses of my sons exposed 
 To hellish Bacchanalians, as they lie 
 Torn by the dogs, and on the mountain's ridge 
 Cast forth unburied ! Where shall I stand still ? 
 Or whither shall I go ? Like some proud bark 
 Towed into harbour, which contracts its sails ; 
 I to that fatal chamber which contains 
 The corses of my murdered sons rush onward 
 With speed involuntary. 
 
 CHOR. Hapless man, 
 
 How art thou visited by woes too grievous 
 To be endured ! but by dread Jove thy foe, 
 On him whose deeds are base, it is ordained 
 That the severest punishments await. 
 
 POLYM. Rouse, O ye Thracians, armed with ponderous 
 
 spears, 
 
 Arrayed in mail, for generous steeds renowned, 
 A hardy race, whom Mars himself inspires. 
 To you, O Grecian troops, and both the sons 
 Of Atreus, I with clamorous voice appeal : 
 Come hither, I implore you by the gods. 
 Do any of you hear me ? Is there none 
 Who will assist ? Why loiter ye ? Those women, 
 Those captives have destroyed me. Horrid wrongs 
 Have I endured ; ah me, the foul reproach ! 
 But whither shall I turn, or whither go? 
 Through the aerial regions shall I wing 
 My swift career to that sublime abode
 
 38 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Where Sirius or Orion from his eyes 
 
 Darts radiant flames ? or, to perdition doomed, 
 
 Shall I descend to Pluto's sable flood ? 
 
 CHOR. He merits pardon, whosoe'er assailed 
 By ills too grievous to be borne, shakes off 
 The loathed encumbrance of a wretched life. 
 
 AGAMEMNON, POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 AGA. Hearing thy shrieks I came. For Echo, child 
 Of craggy mountains, in no gentle note 
 Wafted those sounds tumultuous through the host. 
 Had we not known that by the Grecian spear 
 The towers of vanquished Phrygia are o'erthrown, 
 Such uproar would have caused no small alarm. 
 
 POLYM. My dearest friend, soon as I heard your voice, 
 I instantly perceived 'twas Agamemnon. 
 See you my sufferings ? 
 
 AGA. Wretched Polymestor ! 
 
 Who hath destroyed thee ? who bereaved of sight 
 Thy bleeding orbs, and those thy children slew ? 
 Whoe'er the author of such deeds, his rage 
 Was dreadful sure 'gainst thee and 'gainst thy sons. 
 
 POLYM. With the assistance of those captive dames, 
 Me Hecuba hath murdered, more than murdered. 
 
 AGA. What mean'st thou ? Are you guilty of the crime 
 With which he charges you ? and have you dared 
 To perpetrate an action thus audacious ? 
 
 POLYM. Ah me ! what said you ? Is she near at hand ? 
 Inform me where to find, that I may seize her, 
 And scatter wide to all the fowls of heaven 
 Her mangled corse. 
 
 AGA. Ha ! what is thy design? 
 
 POLYM. Allow me, I conjure you by the gods, 
 To grasp her with this frantic arm. 
 
 AGA. Desist, 
 
 And casting forth all rancour from thy heart, 
 Now plead thy cause ; that, hearing both apart, 
 I with unbiassed justice may decide, 
 If thou these sufferings merit'st. 
 
 POLYM. I will speak. 
 
 There was one Polydore, the youngest son 
 Of those whom Hecuba to Priam bore; 
 Him erst removing from the Phrygian realm, 
 His sire to me consigned, that in my palace 
 He might be nurtured, when that hoary king 
 The fall of Troy suspected : him I slew: 
 But hear my motives for the deed, to prove 
 How justly and how prudently I acted,
 
 HECUBA. 39 
 
 Your enemy, that boy, if he survived 
 
 The ruin of his country, might, I feared, 
 
 Collect the scattered citizens of Troy, 
 
 And there again reside. I also feared, 
 
 That \\hen the Greeks knew one of Priam's line 
 
 Was living, with a second fleet invading 
 
 The shores of Phrygia, they again might drain 
 
 Of their inhabitants our Thracian fields, 
 
 Involving us, their neighbours, in the vengeance 
 
 They on their foes at Ilion wreak. To us 
 
 Already hath such neighbourhood, O king, 
 
 Proved baneful. But, apprized of her son's fate, 
 
 Hecuba drew me hither, on pretence 
 
 She would inform me where in massive gold 
 
 The hidden treasures of old Priam's race 
 
 Beneath Troy's ruins were secured. Alone, 
 
 She with my children brought me to this tent, 
 
 That none beside might know. With bended knee, 
 
 While on a couch I sat, some on my left, 
 
 And others on my right, as with a friend, 
 
 Full many of the Trojan damsels took 
 
 Their places, holding up against the sun 
 
 My robe, the woof of an Edonian loom; 
 
 Some feigned t' admire it, others viewed my spear, 
 
 And stripped me of them both. From hand to hand 
 
 The matrons, seeming to caress my children, 
 
 Removed them far from their unhappy sire : 
 
 And after their fond speeches, in an instant, 
 
 (Could you believe it ?) snatching up the swords, 
 
 W T hich they beneath their garments had concealed, 
 
 They stabbed my sons, whom while I strove to aid, 
 
 In hostile guise their comrades held my arms 
 
 And feet : if I looked up, they by the hair 
 
 Confined me ; if I moved my hands, my struggles 
 
 Proved ineffectual, through the numerous band 
 
 Of women who assailed me, and to close 
 
 The scene of my calamity, accomplished 
 
 A deed with more than common horror fraught, 
 
 For they tore out my bleeding eyes, and fled. 
 
 But, like a tiger starting up, I chased 
 
 These ruthless fiends, and with a hunter's speed 
 
 Each wall examined, dashing to the ground, 
 
 And breaking what I seized. These cruel wrongs, 
 
 While I your interests study to maintain, 
 
 O Agamemnon, and despatch your foe, 
 
 Have I endured. To spare a long harangue, 
 
 The whole of what 'gainst woman hath been said 
 
 By those of ancient times, is saying now, 
 
 Or shall be said hereafter, in few words
 
 40 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Will I comprise ; nor ocean's waves, nor earth, 
 
 Nurture so vile a race, as he who most 
 
 Hath with the sex conversed, but knows too well. 
 
 CHOR. Curb that audacious virulence of speech, 
 Nor, by thy woes embittered, thus revile 
 All womankind ; the number of our sex 
 Is great, and some there are, whom as a mark 
 To envy, their distinguished worth holds forth, 
 Though some are justly numbered with the wicked. 
 
 HEC. O Agamemnon, never ought the tongue 
 To have a greater influence o'er mankind 
 Than actions ; but whoever hath done well, 
 Ought to speak well; and he, whose deeds are base, 
 To use unseemly language, nor find means 
 By specious words to colour o'er injustice. 
 Full wise indeed are they to whom such art 
 Is most familiar : but to stand the test 
 Of time not wise enough ; for they all perish, 
 Not one of them e'er 'scapes. These previous thoughts 
 To you, O mighty king, have I addressed. 
 But now to him I turn, and will refute 
 The fallacies he uttered. What pretence 
 Hast thou for saying, that to free the Greeks 
 From such a second war, and for the sake 
 Of Agamemnon, thou didst slay my son ? 
 For first, O villain, the barbarian race 
 With Greece, nor will, nor ever can be friends. 
 What interest roused thy zeal ? Didst thou expect 
 To form a nuptial union ? Wert thou moved 
 By kindred ties, or any secret cause? 
 Greece with a fleet forsooth would have returned 
 To lay thy country waste. Who, canst thou think, 
 Will credit such assertions ? If the truth 
 Thou wilt confess, gold and thy thirst of gain 
 Were my son's murderers. Why, when Troy yet flourished, 
 Why, when the city was on every side 
 Fenced by strong bulwarks, why, when Priam lived, 
 And Hector wielded a victorious spear, 
 Didst thou not, if thou hadst designed to act 
 In Agamemnon's favour, at the time 
 When thou didst nurture my unhappy son, 
 And in thy palace shelter, either slay, 
 Or to the Greeks surrender up the youth 
 A living prisoner? But when I lion's light 
 Was utterly extinguished, when the smoke 
 Declared the city subject to our foes, 
 The stranger thou didst murder, at thy hearth 
 Who sought protection. To confirm thy guilt, 
 Now hear this farther charge: if thou to Greece
 
 HECUBA. 41 
 
 Hadst been a friend indeed, them should'st have given 
 
 The gold thou say'st thou keep'st, not for thine own, 
 
 But Agamemnon's sake, among the troops 
 
 Who suffer want, and from their native land 
 
 Have for a tedious season been detained. 
 
 But thou from those rapacious hands e'en now 
 
 Canst not endure to part with it, but hoard'st it 
 
 Still buried in thy coffers : as became thee, 
 
 Hadst thou trained up my son, hadst thou to him 
 
 Been a protector, great is the renown 
 
 Thou would'st have gained ; for in distress the good 
 
 Are steadfast ; but our prosperous fortunes swarm 
 
 With friends unbidden. Hadst thou been in want, 
 
 And Polydore abounded, a sure treasure 
 
 To thee would he have proved : but now no longer 
 
 In him hast thou a friend ; thou of thy gold 
 
 Hast lost th' enjoyment, thou thy sons hast lost, 
 
 And art thyself thus wretched. But to you, 
 
 O Agamemnon, now again I speak : 
 
 If you assist him, you will seem corrupt ; 
 
 For you will benefit a man devoid 
 
 Of honour, justice, piety, or truth ; 
 
 It might be said that you delight in evil ; 
 
 But, I presume not to reproach my lords. 
 
 CHOR. How doth a virtuous cause inspire the tongue * 
 With virtuous language ! 
 
 AGA. On a stranger's woes 
 
 Reluctant I pronounce, but am constrained ; 
 For shame attends the man who takes in hand 
 Some great affair, and leaves it undecided. 
 Know then, to me thou seem'st not to have slain 
 Thy guest through an attachment to my cause, 
 Nor yet to that of Greece, but that his gold 
 Thou might'st retain : though in this wretched state 
 Thou speak to serve thy interests. Among you 
 Perhaps the murder of your guests seems light ; 
 We Greeks esteem it base. If I acquit thee 
 How shall I 'scape reproach ? Indeed I cannot : 
 Since thou hast dared to perpetrate the crime, 
 Endure the consequence. 
 
 POLYM. Too plain it seems, 
 
 Ah me ! that, vanquished by a female slave, 
 Here shall I perish by ignoble hands. 
 
 HEC. Is not this just for the atrocious deed 
 Which thou hast wrought ? 
 
 POLYM. My children, wretched me ! 
 
 And these quenched orbs. 
 
 HEC. Griev'st thou, yet think'st thou not 
 
 That I lament mv son ?
 
 42 EURIPIDE-S. 
 
 POLYM. -Malignant woman, 
 
 Do you rejoice in taunting my distress ? 
 
 HEC. In such revenge have not I cause for joy ? 
 
 POLYM. Yet not so hastily, when ocean's wave 
 
 HEC. Shall in a bark convey me to the shores 
 Of Greece ? 
 
 POLYM. Shall whelm you in its vast abyss 
 Fall'n from the shrouds. 
 
 HEC. Raised thither by what impuls e ? 
 
 POLYM. Up the tall mast you with swift foot shall climb. 
 
 HEC. On feathered pinions borne, or how ? 
 
 POLYM. With form 
 
 Canine endued, and eyeballs glaring fire. 
 
 HEC. Whence didst thou learn that I such wondrous change 
 Shall undergo ? 
 
 POLYM. Bacchus, the Thracian seer, 
 
 Gave this response. 
 
 HEC. To thee did he unfold 
 
 Nought of the grievous sufferings thou endur'st ? 
 
 POLYM. Then could you ne'er have caught me by your wiles. 
 
 HEC. But on this change of being, after death, 
 Or while I yet am living, shall I enter? 
 
 POLYM. After your death, and men shall call your tomb 
 
 HEC. By my new form, or what is it thou mean'st ? 
 
 POLYM. The sepulchre of that vile brute, an object 
 Conspicuous to the mariner. 
 
 HEC. I care not; 
 
 My vengeance is complete. 
 
 POLYM. Cassandra too, 
 
 Your daughter, must inevitably bleed. 
 
 HEC. Abomination ! On thy guilty head 
 
 These curses I retort. 
 
 POLYM. Her shall the wife 
 
 Of Agamemnon slay, who sternly guards 
 His royal mansion. 
 
 HEC. Such a frantic deed 
 
 As this may Tyndarus' daughter ne'er commit ! 
 
 POLYM. She next uplifting the remorseless axe 
 Shall smite her lord. 
 
 AGA. Ha ! madman, dost thou court 
 
 Thy ruin ? 
 
 POLYM. Slay me ; for the murderous bath 
 Awaits you, when to Argos you return. 
 
 AGA. Will ye not drag him from my sight by force ? 
 
 POLYM. Hear you with grief what I announce ? 
 
 AGA. My followers, 
 
 Why stop ye not the miscreant's boding mouth ? 
 
 POLYM. This mouth be closed for ever : I have spoken. 
 
 AGA. Will ye not cast him with the utmost speed
 
 HECUBA. 43 
 
 Upon some desert island, since he dares 
 To speak with such licentiousness ? Depart, 
 O wretched Hecuba, and both those corses 
 Deposit in the grave. But, as for you, 
 Ye to your lord's pavilions must repair, 
 O Phrygian dames : for I perceive the gales 
 Rising to waft us homeward ; may success 
 Attend the voyage to our native land ! 
 And in our mansions may we find nil well, 
 Freed from these dangers ! 
 
 CHOR. To the haven go, 
 
 And to the tents, my friends, t' endure the toils 
 Our lords impose : for thus harsh fate enjoins.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 AMPHITRYON. 
 
 MEGARA. 
 
 CHORUS OF THEBAN OLD 
 
 MEN. 
 HERCULES. 
 
 LYCUS. 
 
 IRIS. 
 
 A FIEND. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 THESEUS. 
 
 SCENE. BEFORE THE ALTAR OF JUPITER, AT THE ENTRANCE 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF HERCULES IN THEBES. 
 
 AMPHITRYON, MEGARA. 
 
 AMP. Is there on earth, a stranger to the man 
 Who shared the same auspicious nuptial bed 
 With Jove, Amphitryon born at Argos, sprung 
 From Perseus' son Alcaeus, me the sire 
 Of Hercules ? He in these regions dwelt, 
 Where from the soil a helmed crop arose ; 
 Mars, a small number of that race, preserved, 
 Whose children's children people Cadmus' city. 
 Hence Creon king of Thebes, Menasceus' son, 
 Derives his birth, and Creon is the sire 
 Of this unhappy Megara, to grace 
 Whose hymeneal pomp, each Theban erst 
 Attuned the jocund lute, into my house 
 When Hercules conducted her. But leaving 
 This realm where I resided, and his consort 
 And kindred, my son chose to fix his seat 
 Within the walls of Argos, of that city 
 Erected by the Cyclops, whence I fled 
 Stained with Electryon's gore : but to alleviate 
 My woes, and in his native land obtain 
 A quiet residence, this great reward 
 He on Eurystheus promised to bestow, 
 That he would rid the world of every pest : 
 Harassed by Juno's stings, or envious fate, 
 With her conspiring : but, his other labours 
 Accomplished, he through Taenarus' jaws at length
 
 46 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Went to the house of Pluto, to drag forth 
 
 Into the realms of day hell's triple hound : 
 
 He thence returns not. But an old tradition 
 
 Among the race of Cadmus hath prevailed, 
 
 That Lycus, Dirce's husband, erst bore rule 
 
 Over this city, till Jove's sons, Amphion 
 
 And Zethus, who on milk-white coursers rode, 
 
 Became its sovereigns. Lycus' son who bears 
 
 His father's name, no Theban, but arriving 
 
 From the Eubcean state, slew royal Creon, 
 
 And having slain him, seized the throne, invading 
 
 The city with tumultuous broils convulsed. 
 
 But the affinity which we have formed 
 
 With Creon, seems to be my greatest curse : 
 
 For while my son stays in the realms beneath, 
 
 Lycus th' egregious monarch of this land 
 
 Would with the children of Alcides kill 
 
 His consort, by fresh murders to extinguish 
 
 The past, and kill me too (if one through age 
 
 So useless may be numbered among men), 
 
 Lest when the boys attain maturer age, 
 
 They should avenge their grandsire Creon's death. 
 
 But I (for my son left me here to tend 
 
 His children, and direct the house, since he 
 
 Entered the subterraneous realms of night), 
 
 With their afflicted mother, lest the race 
 
 Of Hercules should bleed, for an asylum 
 
 Have chosen this altar of protecting Jove, 
 
 Which my illustrious son for a memorial 
 
 Of his victorious arms did here erect, 
 
 When he in battle had subdued the Minyans. 
 
 But we, though destitute of every comfort, 
 
 Of food, drink, clothing, though constrained to lie 
 
 On the bare pavement, here maintain our seat, 
 
 For every hospitable door is barred 
 
 Against us, and we have no other hope 
 
 Of being saved. Some of our friends I see 
 
 Are faithless, and the few who prove sincere, 
 
 Too weak to aid us. Such is the effect 
 
 Of adverse fortune o'er the race of men; 
 
 May he to whom I bear the lenst attachment, 
 
 Never experience that unerring test 
 
 Of friendship. 
 
 MEG. Thou old man, who erst didst storm 
 
 The Taphian ramparts, when thou with renown 
 Didst lead the host of Thebes ; the secret will 
 Of Heaven, how little can frail mortals know ! 
 For to me too of no avail have proved 
 The fortunes of my father, who elate
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 47 
 
 With wealth and regal power (whence at the breasts 
 
 Of its possessors spears are hurled by those 
 
 Whose souls the lust of mad ambition fires), 
 
 And having children, gave me to thy son, 
 
 Joining a noble consort in the bonds 
 
 Of wedlock with Alcides, through whose death 
 
 These blessings are all fled. Now I, and thou, 
 
 Old man, are doomed to perish with the sons 
 
 Of Hercules, whom, as the bird extends 
 
 Her sheltering wings over her callow brood, 
 
 I guard. By turns they come and question me : 
 
 " O mother, whither is my father gone ? 
 
 What is he doing ? when will he return ?" 
 
 Though now too young sufficiently to feel 
 
 How great their loss, thus ask they for their sire. 
 
 I change the theme, and forge a soothing tale, 
 
 But am with wonder smitten when the doors 
 
 Creak on their massive hinges, and at once 
 
 They all start up, that at their father's knees 
 
 They may fall prostrate. But what hope hast thou 
 
 Of saving us, or what support, old man ? 
 
 For I to thee look up. We from the bounds 
 
 Of these domains unnoticed cannot 'scape ; 
 
 Mightier than us, a watchful guard is placed 
 
 At every avenue, and in our friends 
 
 No longer for protection can we trust. 
 
 Explain thyself, if thou hast any scheme, 
 
 By which thou from impending death canst save us ; 
 
 But let us strive to lengthen out the time, 
 
 Since we are feeble. 
 
 AMP. 'Tis no easy task 
 
 In such a situation, O my daughter, 
 To form a sure and instantaneous judgment. 
 
 MEG. What is there wanting to complete thy woes, 
 Or why art thou so fond of life ? 
 
 AMP. _ That blessing 
 
 I still enjoy, still cherish pleasing hopes. 
 
 MEG. I also hope, old man : but it is folly 
 To look for what we never can attain. 
 
 AMP. We by delaying might avert our fate. 
 
 MEG. But I in this sad interval of time 
 Feel piercing anguish. 
 
 AMP. The auspicious gales 
 
 Of fortune, O my daughter, yet may waft 
 Both you and me out of our present troubles, 
 If e'er my son your valiant lord return. 
 But O be pacified yourself, and cause 
 Your children to dry up their streaming tears ; 
 With gentle language and delusive tales
 
 48 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Beguile them, though all fraudful arts are wretched. 
 
 For the disasters which afflict mankind 
 
 Are wearied out ; the stormy winds retain not 
 
 Their undiminished force ; nor are the blest 
 
 Perpetually blest : for all things change, 
 
 And widely differ from their former state. 
 
 The valiant man is he who still holds fast 
 
 His hopes; but to despair bespeaks the coward. 
 
 CHORUS, AMPHITRYON, MEGARA. 
 CHOR. Propped on my faithful staff, from home, 
 And from the couch of palsied age, 
 In melancholy guise I roam, 
 Constrained to chaunt funereal strains, 
 As the expiring swan complains, 
 A war of words alone I wage, 
 In semblance, but a flitting sprite, 
 An airy vision of the night. 
 I totter ; yet doth active zeal 
 This faithful bosom still inspire. 
 Ye children who have lost your sire, 
 Thou veteran, and thou aged dame, 
 Doomed for thy lord these griefs to feel, 
 Whose Pluto's dreary mansions claim ; 
 
 weary not your tender feet. 
 
 Like steeds by galling harness bound, 
 To turn the ponderous mill around, 
 
 1 would advance my friends to meet, 
 Yet are my utmost efforts vain, 
 
 This shattered frame I scarce sustain : 
 Draw near, O take this trembling hand, 
 And holding fast my robe, support 
 My steps, thy needful aid I court, 
 Because I am too weak to stand. 
 Lead on the chief, though now by years 
 Bowed down, who marshalled on the strand, 
 His comrades erst a hardy band ; 
 With him in youth we launched our spears, 
 Nor then belied our native land. 
 See how their eyes dart liquid fire, 
 Those children emulate their sire ; 
 But still hereditary fate, 
 Pursues with unrelenting hate 
 Their tender years, nor can their charms 
 Redeem them from impending harms. 
 What valiant champions of thy cause, 
 O Greece, thy violated laws, 
 When these thy great supports shall fail, 
 Torn from thy fostering land wilt thou bewail.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 49 
 
 But I behold the monarch of the realm, 
 Tyrannic Lycus, who these doors approaches. 
 
 LYCUS, AMPHITRYON, MEGARA, CHORUS. 
 
 LYC. This question (if I may) I to the sire 
 And consort of Alcides would propose 
 (But, as your king, I have a right to make 
 Any inquiries I think fit) : How long 
 Seek ye to spin out life ? What farther hope 
 Have ye in view, what succour to ward off 
 The stroke of death ? Expect ye that the father 
 Of these deserted children, who lies stretched 
 Amid the realms beneath will thence return, 
 That ye bely your rank, and meanly utter 
 These clamorous plaints on being doomed to die ? 
 Through Greece hast thou diffused an idle boast, 
 That Jove enjoyed thy consort, and begot 
 An offspring like himself; while you exulted 
 In being called wife to the first of heroes. 
 But what great action hath your lord performed, 
 In having slain that hydra at the lake, 
 Or the Nemaean lion whom with snares 
 He caught, and then did arrogantly boast 
 That he had strangled in his nervous arms? 
 Will these exploits enable you to vie 
 With me ? and for such merit am I bound 
 To spare the sons of Hercules, who gained 
 A name which he deserved not ? He was brave 
 In waging war with beasts, in nought beside, 
 With his left hand he never did sustain 
 The shield, nor faced he the protended spear, 
 But with his bow, that weapon of a dastard, 
 Was still prepared for flight : such arms afford 
 No proof of courage ; but the truly brave 
 Is he who in the ranks where he is stationed 
 Maintains his ground, and sees with steadfast eye 
 Those ghastly wounds the missile javelin gives. 
 Old man, I act not thus through cruelty, 
 But caution ; for I know that I have slain 
 Creon her father, and possess his throne. 
 These children therefore will not I allow 
 To live till they attain maturer years, 
 Lest they should punish me for such a deed. 
 
 AMP. Jove will assert the cause of his own son. 
 But as for me, O Hercules, my care 
 Shall be to prove the folly of this tyrant : 
 For thy illustrious name I will not suffer 
 To be reproached. First from a hateful charge
 
 So EURIPIDES. 
 
 (And that of cowardice I deem most hateful), 
 
 Calling the gods to witness, am I bound 
 
 To vindicate thy honour. I appeal 
 
 To Jove's own thunder, and th' impetuous steeds, 
 
 Which drew Alcides' chariot when he sped 
 
 Those winged arrows to transpierce the flanks 
 
 Of earth-born giants, and among the gods 
 
 Triumphant revelled at the genial board. 
 
 Go next to Pholoe's realm, thou worst of kings, 
 
 And ask the Centaurs' monstrous brood, what man 
 
 They judge to be most brave, whether that title 
 
 Belongs not to my son, who only bears, 
 
 As you assert, the semblance of a hero ? 
 
 But should you question the Eubcean mount 
 
 Of Dirphys, where your infancy was nurtured, 
 
 It cannot sound your praise : you have performed 
 
 No glorious action for your native land 
 
 To testify, yet scorn that wise invention 
 
 The quiver fraught with shafts : attend to me 
 
 And I will teach you wisdom. By his arms 
 
 Encumbered, stands the warrior who is sheathed 
 
 In ponderous mail, and through the fears of those 
 
 Who fight in the same rank, if they want courage, 
 
 Loses his life ; nor, if his spear be broken, 
 
 Furnished with nought but courage, from his breast 
 
 Can he repel the wound ; but he who bends 
 
 With skilful hand the bow, hath this advantage, 
 
 Which never fails him : with a thousand shafts 
 
 He smites the foe, no danger to himself 
 
 Incurring, but securely stands aloof, 
 
 And wreaks his vengeance while they gaze around, 
 
 Without perceiving whence the weapon comes : 
 
 His person he exposes not, but takes 
 
 A guarded post : for what in war displays 
 
 The greatest prudence, is to vex the foe, 
 
 Nor rush at random on their pointed spears. 
 
 Such reasoning on the subject in debate 
 
 With yours indeed agrees not : but what cause 
 
 Have you for wishing to destroy these children? 
 
 How have they injured you? In one respect 
 
 I deem you wise, because you dread the race 
 
 Of valiant men, and feel yourself a coward : 
 
 Yet is it hard on us, if we must bleed 
 
 Your apprehensions to remove ; you ought 
 
 To suffer all we would inflict, from us 
 
 Whose merit is superior far to yours, 
 
 Were Jove impartial. Would you therefore wield 
 
 The sceptre of this land, let us depart 
 
 As exiles from the i ealm ; or } ou shall meet
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 51 
 
 With strict retaliation, when the gales 
 Of wavering 1 fortune alter. O thou land 
 Of Cadmus (for to thee I now will speak, 
 But in reproachful accents), such protection 
 Aftbrd'st thou to the sons of Hercules, 
 Who singly warring with the numerous host 
 Of Minyae, caused the Thebans to lift up 
 Their free-born eyes undaunted ? I on Greece 
 No praises can bestow, nor will pass over 
 In silence its base treatment of my son, 
 For 'twas its duty in these children's cause, 
 Bearing flames, pointed spears, and glittering mail, 
 To have marched forth, and recompensed the toils 
 Of their great father, who hath purged the sea 
 And land from all its monsters. Such protection 
 Nor doth the Theban city, O my children, 
 Nor Greece afford you ; but ye now look up 
 To me a feeble friend who can do nought, 
 But plead for you with unavailing words. 
 For all the vigour which I once possessed 
 Hath now deserted me ; old age assails 
 My trembling limbs and this decrepit frame. 
 Were I again endued with youthful strength, 
 I would snatch up my javelin, and defile 
 With gore the yellow ringlets on the head 
 Of that oppressor, whom his fear should drive 
 Beyond the most remote Atlantic bounds. 
 
 CHOR. Are there not causes such as may provoke 
 Those who are virtuous to express their thoughts, 
 Though destitute of eloquence ? 
 
 LYC. 'Gainst me 
 
 Speak what thou wilt, for thou art armed with words, 
 But for injurious language by my deeds 
 Will I requite thee. Go, send woodmen, some 
 To Helicon, some to Parnassus' vale, 
 Bid them fell knotted oaks, and having borne them 
 Into the city, heap their ponderous trunks 
 Around the altar, and with kindled flames 
 Consume the bodies of this hated race ; 
 So shall they learn that Creon the deceased 
 No longer is the ruler of this land, 
 But that I wield the sceptre. As for you 
 Who thwart my counsels, O ye aged men, 
 Not for the sons of Hercules alone 
 Shall ye lament, but for those evil fortunes 
 W T hich ye and your own house are doomed to suffer : 
 But this shall ye remember, that to me, 
 Your monarch, ye are slaves. 
 
 CHOR. O ye the race
 
 52 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Of earth, whom Mars erst sowed, when he had torn 
 
 From the huge dragon's jaws th' envenomed teeth, 
 
 With those right hands why will ye not uplift 
 
 The staves on which ye lean, and with his gore 
 
 Defile the head of this unrighteous man, 
 
 Not born at Thebes, but in a foreign realm, 
 
 From inconsiderate youths who gains that homage 
 
 Which he deserves not ? but in evil hour 
 
 O'er me shalt thou bear rule, nor shall my wealth 
 
 Acquired by many toils be ever thine : 
 
 Go, act the tyrant in Exibcea's land, 
 
 From whence thou hither cam'st : for while I live, 
 
 The sons of Hercules thou ne'er shalt slay, 
 
 Nor is their mighty father plunged so deep 
 
 Beneath earth's surface, that he cannot hear 
 
 His children's outcries. Thou to whom this land 
 
 Owes its destruction dost possess the throne : 
 
 But he its benefactor is deprived 
 
 Of the rewards he merits. Me thou deem'st 
 
 Officious, for protecting those I love 
 
 E'en in the grave, where friends are needed most. 
 
 O my right arm, how dost thou wish to wield 
 
 The spear, but through enfeebling age hast lost 
 
 Thy vigour : else would I have quelled thy pride 
 
 Who dar'st to call me slave, and in this Thebes, 
 
 Where thou exult'st, with glory dwelt. A city 
 
 Diseased through mutiny and evil counsels 
 
 Is void of wisdom, or would ne'er have chosen 
 
 Thee for its lord. 
 
 MEG. Ye veterans, I applaud 
 
 Your zeal ; for indignation at the wrongs 
 His friends endure becomes the virtuous friend. 
 But let not anger 'gainst your lord expose you 
 To suffer in our cause. My judgment hear, 
 Amphitryon, if to thee in aught I seem 
 To speak discreetly. I these children love 
 (And how can I help loving those I bore ?) 
 For whom I have endured the painful throes 
 Of childbirth. And to die is what I think of 
 As of a thing most dreadful ; but the man 
 Who with necessity contends I hold 
 An idiot. But let us, since die we must, 
 Not perish in the flames to furnish scope 
 Of laughter to our foes, which I esteem 
 An ill beyond e'en death : for much is due 
 To the unsullied honour of our house, 
 For thee who erst in arms hast gained renown, 
 To die with cowardice, were a reproach 
 Not to be borne. My lord, though I forbear
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 53 
 
 To dwell on his ju^t praises, is so noble, 
 
 He would not wish these children saved, to bear 
 
 The imputation of an evil name : 
 
 For through the conduct of degenerate sons 
 
 Reproach oft falls on their illustrious sires ; 
 
 And the examples which my husband gave me, 
 
 I ought not to reject. But view what grounds 
 
 Thou hast for hope, that I of these may form 
 
 A proper estimate. Dost thou expect 
 
 Thy son to issue from the realms beneath ? 
 
 What chief deceased from Pluto's loathed abode 
 
 Did e'er return ? Can we by gentle words 
 
 Appease this tyrant ? No : we ought to fly 
 
 From fools who are our foes : but to the wise 
 
 And generous yield ; for we with greater ease 
 
 May make a friend of him in whom we find 
 
 A sense of virtuous shame. But to my soul 
 
 This thought occurs, that we, the children's sentence, 
 
 By our entreaties, haply might obtain 
 
 Converted into exile : yet this too 
 
 Is wretched, at th' expense of piteous need 
 
 To compass our deliverance. For their friends 
 
 Avoid the face of guests like these, and look 
 
 No longer kindly on the banished man 
 
 After one day is over. Rouse thy courage, 
 
 And bleed with us, thee too, since death awaits. 
 
 By thy great soul, O veteran, I conjure thee. 
 
 Although the man who labours to repel 
 
 Evils inflicted by Heaven's wrath, is brave, 
 
 Yet doth such courage border upon frenzy : 
 
 For what the fates ordain, no god can frustrate. 
 
 CHOR. While yet these arms retained their youthful strength, 
 Had any one insulted thee, with ease 
 Could I have quelled him ; but I now am nothing : 
 On thee, Amphityron, therefore 'tis incumbent 
 To think how best thou may'st henceforth ward off 
 Th' assaults of fortune. 
 
 AMP. No unmanly fear, 
 
 No wish to lengthen out this life, prevents 
 My voluntary death : but I would save 
 The children of my son, though I appear 
 To grasp at things impossible. Behold 
 I bear my bosom to the sword ; pierce, slay, 
 Or cast me from the rock. But I, O king, 
 For this one favour sue to you ; despatch 
 Me and this hapless dame before the children, 
 Lest them we view, most execrable sight, 
 In death's convulsive pangs, to her who bore them, 
 And me their grandsire, shrieking out for aid.
 
 54 EURIPIDES. 
 
 But as for all beside, do what you list, 
 
 For we have now no bulwark which from death 
 
 Can save us. 
 
 MEG. I entreat one favour more, 
 
 Which to us both will equally be grateful. 
 Permit me in funereal robes to dress 
 My children ; for that purpose be the gates 
 Thrown open (for the palace now is closed 
 Against us) that they irom their father's house 
 This small advantage may obtain. 
 
 LYC. Your wishes 
 
 Shall be complied with. I my servants bid 
 Unbar the gates. Go in, bedeck yourselves ; 
 The costly robes I grudge not : but no sooner 
 Shall ye have put them on, than I to you 
 Will come, and plunge you in the shades beneath. 
 
 {Exit LYCUS. 
 
 MEG. Follow your hapless mother, O my children, 
 To your paternal house, where, though our wealth 
 Be in the hands of others, our great name 
 We still preserve. 
 
 AMP. O Jove, 'twas then in vain 
 
 Thnt thou didst deign to share my nuptial couch, 
 In vain too, of thy son have I been styled 
 The father, for thou hast not proved the friend 
 Thou didst appear to be. I, though a man, 
 Exceed in virtue thec a mighty god ; 
 Because I to their foes have not betrayed 
 The sons of Hercules : but thou, by stealth, 
 Entering my chamber, to another's wife 
 Without permission cam'st ; yet know'st not how 
 To save thy friends ; thou surely art a god 
 Either devoid of wisdom, or unjust. 
 
 \Exeunt AMPHITRYON and MEGARA. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 For Linus' death, by all the tuneful Nine 
 
 Bewailed, doth Phoebus' self complain, 
 And loudly uttering his auspicious strain, 
 Smite with a golden quill the lyre ; but mine 
 Shall be the task, while songs of praise 
 I chaunt and twine the laureate wreath, 
 His matchless fortitude t' emblaze, 
 Who sought hell's inmost gloom, the dreary shr.dcs beneath
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 55 
 
 Whether I call the hero son of Jove, 
 
 Or of Amphitryon ; for the fame 
 To which his labours have so just a claim, 
 Must e'en in death attract the public love : 
 In the Nemsean forest first he slew 
 
 That lion huge, whose tawny hide 
 
 And grinning jaws extended wide, 
 He o'er his shoulders threw. 
 
 I. 2. 
 The winged arrows whizzing from his bow, 
 
 Did on their native hills confound 
 The Centaurs' race with many a deadly wound : 
 Alcides' matchless strength doth Peneus know, 
 Distinguished by his limpid waves, 
 The fields laid waste of wide extent, 
 With Pelion, and the neighbouring caves 
 Of Hoinoles, uprooting from whose steep ascent, 
 Tall pines that cast a venerable shade, 
 The monsters armed their forceful hands, 
 And strode terrific o'er Thessalia's lands : 
 Then breathless on th' ensanguined plain he laid 
 That hind distinguished by her golden horns, 
 And still in Dian's temple seen 
 His prize, to glad the huntress queen, 
 Genoa's walls adorns. 
 
 The chariot with triumphal ensigns graced 
 
 Ascending, to his stronger yoke 
 He Diomedes' furious coursers broke, 
 Scorning the bit, in hateful stalls who placed 
 
 By their fell lord, the flesh of man 
 
 Raging devoured, accursed food ; 
 
 A stream from their foul mangers ran, 
 Filled with unholy gore, and many a gobbet crude. 
 O'er Hebrus' silver tide at the command 
 
 Of Argos' unrelenting king 
 Eurystheus, he these captive steeds did bring, 
 Close to Anauros' mouth on Pelion's strand. 
 Inhuman Cycnus, son of Mars, next felt 
 
 The force of his resounding bow, 
 
 Unsocial wretch, the stranger's foe, 
 Who in Amphanea dwelt. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Then came he to th' harmonious nymphs, that band 
 
 Who in Hesperian gardens hold 
 Their station, where the vegetative gold 
 Glows in the fruitage ; with resistless hand
 
 56 EURIPIDES. 
 
 To snatch the apple from its height ; 
 The dragon wreathed his folds around 
 The tree's huge trunk, portentous sight, 
 In vain ; that monster fell transfixed with many a wound. 
 
 Into those straits of the unfathomed main 
 He entered, with auspicious gales, 
 
 Where feared the mariner t' unfurl his sails, 
 
 And fixing limits to the watery plain 
 
 His columns reared: then from the heavens' huge load 
 The wearied Atlas he relieved, 
 His arm the starry realms upheaved, 
 And propped the gods' abode. 
 
 Foe to the Amazons' equestrian race 
 
 He crossed the boisterous Euxine tide, 
 
 And gave them bnttle by Mseotis' side. 
 
 What friends through Greece collected he to face 
 Hippolita, th' intrepid maid, 
 That he the belt of Mars might gain, 
 And tissued robe with golden braid. 
 Still doth exulting Greece the virgin's spoils retain, 
 
 Lodged in Mycene's shrine, with gore imbrued, 
 The dog of Lerna's marshy plain, 
 
 Who unresisting multitudes had slain, 
 
 The hundred-headed hydra, he subdued, 
 
 Aided by fire, and winged shafts combined, 
 These from his well-stored quiver flew, 
 And triple-formed Geryon slew, 
 Fierce Erythraea's hind. 
 
 ill. 2. 
 
 But having finished each adventurous strife, 
 
 At length in evil hour he steers 
 To Pluto's mansion, to the house of tears, 
 The goal of labour, there to end his life, 
 
 Thence never, never to return ; 
 
 His friends dismayed forsake these gates, 
 
 In hopeless solitude we mourn. 
 
 Hell's stern award is passed, the boat of Chnron waits 
 To their eternal home his sons to bear, 
 
 Most impious lawless homicide ! 
 For thee, O Hercules, thee erst his pride, 
 Thy sire now looks with impotent despair. 
 Had I the strength which I possessed of yore, 
 
 I with my Theban friends, arrayed 
 
 In brazen nrms, thy sons would aid : 
 But youth's blest days nre o'er.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 57 
 
 Clad in funereal vestments I behold 
 The children of Alcides erst the great, 
 With his loved wife and his decrepit sire 
 Conducting them. O wretched me ! no longer 
 Can I restrain the fountain of these tears 
 Which gush incessant from my aged eyes. 
 
 MEGARA, AMPHITRYON, CHORUS. 
 
 MEG. Come on. What priest, what butcher is at hand 
 To slay these wretched children, or transpierce 
 My bosom ? Now the victims stand prepared 
 For their descent to Pluto's loathed abode. 
 By force, my children, are we borne along 
 United in th' unseemly bands of death ; 
 Decrepit age with helpless infancy 
 And intermingled matrons. O dire fate 
 Of me and of my sons, whom these sad eyes 
 Shall never more behold ! Alas ! I bore, 
 I nurtured you, to be the scorn, the sport, 
 Of our inveterate foes, and by their hands 
 To perish. Each fond hope, which from the words 
 Of your departed father erst I formed, 
 Hath proved fallacious. The deceased to thee 
 Allotted Argos, in Eurystheus' palace 
 Wert thou to dwell a mighty king, and wield 
 The sceptre of Pelasgia's fruitful land, 
 Then with the lion's hide himself had worn 
 Thy front he covered : you were to ascend 
 The throne of Thebes for brazen chariots famed, 
 Possessing my hereditary fields, 
 Such were the hopes of your exulting sire, 
 Who to your hand consigned that ponderous mace 
 Deceitful gift of Dsedalus : on thee, 
 Thou little one, he promised to bestow 
 Oecalia, which his shafts had erst laid waste : 
 To you all three, these realms in threefold portions 
 Did he distribute ; for your father's views 
 Were all magnanimous : but I marked out 
 Selected consorts for you, and formed schemes 
 Of new affinities, from the domains 
 Of Athens, Sparta, and the Theban city ; 
 That binding up your cables, and secure 
 From the tempestuous deep, ye might enjoy 
 A happy life : these prospects now are vanished : 
 For to your arms hath changeful Fortune given 
 The Destinies to be your brides, while tears 
 Are your unhappy mother's lustral drops. 
 Your grandsire celebrates the nuptial feast,
 
 5 8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 O'er which he summons Pluto to preside, 
 The father of your consorts. But, alas ! 
 Whom first of you my children, or whom last 
 To this fond bosom shall I clasp, on whom 
 Bestow a kiss, whom in my arms sustain ? 
 How like the bee with variegated wings 
 Shall I collect the sorrows of you all, 
 And blend the whole together in a flood 
 Of tears exhaustless ? O my dearest lord, 
 If any of those spirits who reside 
 In Pluto's realms beneath, can hear the voice 
 Of mortals, in these words to thee I speak : 
 
 Hercules, thy father and thy sons 
 
 Are doomed to bleed ; I perish too who erst 
 On thy account was by the world called happy. 
 Protect us, come, and to these eyes appear, 
 Though but a ghost ; thy presence will suffice : 
 For these thy children's murderers, when with thee 
 Compared, are dastards. 
 
 AMP. To appease the powers 
 
 Of hell beneath, O woman, be thy care. 
 But lifting to the skies my suppliant hands, 
 
 1 call on thee, O Jove, that, if thou mean 
 To be a friend to these deserted children, 
 Thou interpose without delay and save them, 
 For soon 'twill be no longer in thy power : 
 Thou oft hast been invoked ; but all my prayers 
 Are ineffectual ; die, it seems, we must. 
 
 But, O ye aged men, the bliss which life 
 Can yield is small, contrive then how to pass 
 As sweetly as is possible the hours 
 Which fate allots you, e'en from morn till night 
 Shaking off every grief: for Time preserves not 
 Our hopes entire, but on his own pursuits 
 Intent, deserts us, borne on rapid wings. 
 Look but on me, amid the sons of men 
 Conspicuous erst performing glorious deeds ; 
 And yet hath Fortune in one single day 
 Taken all from me, like a feather wafted 
 Into the trackless air. I know not him 
 To whom collected stores of wealth or fame 
 Are durable. Farewell, for this, my comrades, 
 Is the last time ye shall behold your friend. 
 
 HERCULES, MEGARA, AMPHITRYON, CHORUS. 
 
 MEG. Ha ! O thou need man, do I behold 
 My dearest husband? How shall I find utterance? 
 
 AMP. I know not, O my daughter ; for I too 
 Am with amazement seized.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 59 
 
 MEG. This sure is he 
 
 Who as we heard was in the realms beneath ; 
 Else doth some vision in the noontide glare 
 Delude our senses. But what frantic words 
 Were those I spoke as if 'twas all a dream ? 
 This is no other than thy real son, 
 Thou aged man. Come hither, O my children, 
 Cling to your father's robe, with speed advance, 
 Quit not your hold, for ye in him shall find 
 An equal to our great protector Jove. 
 
 HER. All hail, thou mansion, and thou vestibule 
 Of my abode ; thee with what joy once more 
 Do I behold, revisiting the light. 
 Ha ! what hath happened ? I my children see 
 With garlands on their temples, and my wife 
 Amidst a throng of men, my father too 
 Weeping for some mischance. I'll go to them, 
 And ask the cause. What recent ill, O woman, 
 Hath happened to this house? 
 
 MEG. My dearest lord, 
 
 O thou who to thy aged father com'st 
 A radiant light, in safety hast thou reached, 
 At this important crisis, the abodes 
 Of those thou lov'st. 
 
 HER. What mean you by these words ? 
 
 What tumults, O my sire, are we involved in ? 
 
 MEG. We are undone ; but, O thou aged man, 
 Forgive, if I've anticipated that 
 Thou would'st have said to him : for in some points 
 Our sex are greater objects of compassion 
 Than males. I deem my children dead ; I too 
 Am perishing. 
 
 HER. O Phcebus ! with what preludes 
 
 Do you begin your speech ? 
 
 MEG. My valiant brothers, 
 
 And aged sire, alas ! are now no more. 
 
 HER. Who slew them, how, or with what weapon ? 
 
 MEG. Lycus, 
 
 The monarch of this city, was their murderer. 
 
 HER. With arms did he oppose them, or prevail, 
 When foul sedition through the land diffused 
 Its pestilent contagion? 
 
 MEG. By revolt 
 
 He holds the sceptre of the Theban realm. 
 
 HER. But wherefore hath this sudden panic reached 
 You and my aged sire ? 
 
 MEG. He would have slain 
 
 Thy father, me, and these defenceless children. 
 
 HER. What mean you? could he fear my orphan race?
 
 60 EURIPIDES. 
 
 MEG. Lest they hereafter might avenge the death 
 Of Creon. 
 
 HER. But what garb is this they wear, 
 Which suits some corse ? 
 
 MEG. Already in these vestments 
 
 For our funereal rites are we arrayed. 
 
 HER. And were ye on the point of perishing 
 By violence ? Ah me ! 
 
 MEG. Our friends desert us ; 
 
 For we have heard that thou wert dead. 
 
 HER. Whence rose 
 
 This comfortless depression of the soul ? 
 
 MEG. Eurystheus' heralds the sad tidings bore. 
 
 HER. But for what cause did ye forsake my house, 
 My sacred Lares ? 
 
 MEG. From his bed thy sire 
 
 Was forcibly dragged forth. 
 
 HER. So void of shame 
 
 Was Lycus as to treat his age with scorn ? 
 
 MEG. Shame dwells not near the shrine of brutal force. 
 
 HER. Were we thus destitute of friends when absent ? 
 
 MEG. What friends abide with him who is unhappy ? 
 
 HER. But did they scorn the battles which I fought 
 Against the Minyans ? 
 
 MEG. I to thee repeat it, 
 
 Calamity is friendless and forlorn. 
 
 HER. Will ye not cast from your dishevelled hair 
 These wreaths of Pluto ? will ye not look up 
 To yon bright sun, and ope your eyes to view 
 Scenes far more pleasing than the loathsome shades 
 Of hell beneath ? But I, for wrongs like these 
 Demand my vengeful arm, with speed will go 
 And overturn the house of that new king, 
 His impious head I to the ravenous hounds 
 Lopped from his trunk will cast, and each base Theban 
 Who with ingratitude repays my kindness 
 With this victorious weapon smite : my shafts 
 The rest shall scatter, till Ismenos' channel 
 Be choked up with the corses of the slain, 
 And Dirce's limpid fountain stream with gore. 
 For whom, in preference to my wife, my children, 
 And aged father, shall I aid ? Farewell, 
 Ye labours which unwittingly I strove 
 T ; accomplish, mindless of these dearest pledges ; 
 In their defence I equally am bound 
 To yield up life, if for their father they 
 Were doomed to bleed. What ! shall we call it noble 
 To war against the hydra or the lion, 
 And execute the mandates of Eurystheus,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 6 1 
 
 If I avert not my own children's death ? 
 No longer else shall I, as erst, be styled 
 Alcides the victorious. 
 
 CHOR. It is just 
 
 Parents should aid their sons, their aged sire, 
 And the dear partner of the nuptial bed. 
 
 AMP. My son, this mighty privilege is yours, 
 To be the best of friends to those you love, 
 And a determined foe to those you hate. 
 But be not too impetuous. 
 
 HER. In what instance 
 
 Have I been hastier, O my honoured sire, 
 Than it becomes me ? 
 
 AMP. To support his cause, 
 
 The king hath many, who in fact are poor, 
 Though fame accounts them rich ; they raised a tumult, 
 And caused the ruin of the state, to plunder 
 Their neighbours ; for the fortunes they possessed 
 Are through their own extravagance and sloth 
 Reduced to nothing. As the gates you entered, 
 These could not fail to see you : O beware 
 Lest since you by your foes have been perceived, 
 You perish when you least foresee your danger, 
 Oppressed by numbers. 
 
 HER. Though all Thebes beheld me, 
 
 I care not. But when I descried a bird 
 Of evil omen perched aloof, I knew 
 That there had some calamity befallen 
 My house, and therefore with presaging soul 
 In secrecy I entered these domains. 
 
 AMP. Draw near with pious awe, my son, salute 
 The Lares, and display that welcome face 
 In your paternal mansions. For to drag 
 Your wife and children forth, with me your sire 
 To murder us, the king himself will come. 
 But all will prosper, if you here remain, 
 And a secure asylum will you find, 
 Nor through the city spread a loud alarm 
 Ere your designs succeed. 
 
 HER. Thus will I act, 
 
 For thou hast rightly spoken ; I am entering 
 The palace. From the sunless caves beneath 
 Of Proserpine, after a long delay 
 Returning, first to our domestic gods 
 Will I be mindful to address my vows. 
 
 AMP. Have you indeed then visited the house 
 Of Pluto, O my son ? 
 
 HER. And thence the dog 
 
 With triple-head brought to these realms of light.
 
 6s EURIPIDES. 
 
 AMP. Conquered in battle, or on you bestowed 
 By hell's indulgent goddess ? 
 
 HER. I prevailed 
 
 O'er him in combat, and have been so happy 
 As to behold the far-famed mystic orgies. 
 
 AMP. But is the beast lodged in Eurystheus' palace ? 
 
 HER. Him Cthonia's groves and Hermion's walls 
 confine. 
 
 AMP. Knows not Eurystheus that you are returned 
 Into this upper world ? 
 
 HER. He doth not know : 
 
 For I came first to learn what passes here. 
 
 AMP. But wherefore in the realms beneath, so long 
 Did you remain ? 
 
 HER. I there prolonged may stay, 
 
 My sire, to bring back Theseus from the shades. 
 
 AMP. And where is he, gone to his native land ? 
 
 HER. He went to Athens, pleased with his escape 
 From the infernal regions. But attend 
 Your father to the palace, O my sons, 
 Which now ye enter in a happier state 
 Than when ye left it : but take courage, cease 
 To pour forth floods of tears ; and, O my wife, 
 Collect thyself, let all thy terrors cease, 
 And loose my garments ; for I have not wings, 
 Nor would I vanish from my friends. Alas ! 
 Their hold they quit not, but cling faster still, 
 And faster to my vest. Because ye stand 
 Upon the verge of ruin, I will take 
 And bear you hence, as by the ship light boats 
 Are guided o'er the deep : for I refuse not 
 The care my children claim. Here all mankind 
 Are on a level, they of nobler rank 
 And mean condition, to their progeny 
 Bear equal love. The gifts of fortune vary, 
 Some have abundant wealth, and some are poor ; 
 But the whole human race feels this attachment. 
 
 [Exettnt HERCULES and MEGARA, with the children. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 Youth is light, and free from care 
 But now a burden on my head 
 Heavier than ^Etna's rock, old age, I bear } 
 Before these eyes its sable veil is spread,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 63 
 
 Not for the wealth of Asiatic kings, 
 
 Or heaps of gold that touched yon roof sublime, 
 
 Ere would I barter life's enchanting prime ; 
 
 Hence wealth a brighter radiance flings, 
 
 And poverty itself can charm : 
 
 But thou, curst dotage, art the sum . _i 
 
 Of every fancied, every real harm ; 
 May'st thou be plunged beneath the deep, nor come 
 To peopled town, or civilized abode, 
 Go wing thy distant flight along th' aerial road. 
 
 Did the gods with sapient care 
 
 Mete out their bounty to mankind, 
 The good, the gift of twofold youth should share 
 Unquestioned token of a virtuous mind, 
 Behold life's son its blest career renew, 
 While the degenerate sleep to wake no more. 
 We by these means distinctly might explore 
 
 Their merits with as clear a view, 
 
 As sailors, who each starry spark 
 
 Enumerate that adorns the skies. 
 But now the gods have by no certain mark 
 Directed whom we for their worth should prize, 
 Whom shun as wicked : uninformed we live, 
 Revolving time hath nought but plenteous wealth to give. 
 
 Mindful of its ancient themes, 
 This faltering tongue shall ne'er refuse, 
 Oft as I wander by their haunted streams, 
 To blend each gentle grace and tuneful muse : 
 O may I dwell among the harmonious choirs, 
 My brows still circled with a laureate wreath ! 
 Still shall the bard, a hoary veteran, breathe 
 The strains Mnemosund inspires : 
 While memory wakes, I ne'er will cease 
 Th' exploits of Hercules to sing; 
 Where Bromius yields the purple vine's increase, 
 Where Libyan pipes and the lute's sevenfold string 
 Are heard in dulcet unison ; to praise 
 The Nine who aid the dance, I'll wake my choral lays. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Delian virgins at the gate 
 
 Assembled, festive paeans sing, 
 The triumphs of Latona's son relate, 
 And nimbly vaulting form their beauteous ring.
 
 64 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Into thy temple, by devotion led, 
 
 O Phoebus, will I raise my parting breath ; 
 
 The swan thus warbles at the hour of death : 
 
 Though hoary hairs my cheeks o'erspread. 
 
 How great the hero's generous love, 
 
 Whose merits aid our votive song, 
 Alcides the resistless son of Jove ; 
 Those trophies, which to noble birth belong 
 By him are all surpassed, his forceful hand 
 Restoring peace, hath cleansed this monster-teeming land. 
 
 LYCUS, AMPHITRYON, CHORUS. 
 
 LYC. Forth from the portals at due season comes 
 Amphitryon ; for 'tis long since ye were decked 
 In robes and trappings such as suit the dead. 
 But go, command the children and the wife 
 Of Hercules without these gates t' appear, 
 Because ye have engaged that ye will die 
 By your own hands. 
 
 AMP. You persecute, O king, 
 
 Me whom already fortune hath made wretched, 
 And with sharp taunts insult my dying race : 
 Although in power supreme, you ought to act 
 With moderation ; but since you impose 
 This harsh necessity, we must submit, 
 And execute your will. 
 
 LYC. Where's Megara? \ 
 
 Where are the children of Alcmena's son? 
 
 AMP. To me she seems, as far as I can guess, 
 From looking through the door 
 
 LYC. What grounds hast thou 
 
 For this opinion ? 
 
 AMP. In a suppliant posture 
 
 To sit before the Lares. 
 
 LYC. And implore them 
 
 With unavailing plaints to save her life. 
 
 AMP. In vain too calls she on her lord deceased. 
 
 LYC. But he is absent, he can ne'er return. 
 
 AMP. Unless some god should raise him up again. 
 
 LYC. Go thou, and from the palace lead her hither. 
 
 AMP. 'Twould make me an accomplice in the murder, 
 If this I acted. 
 
 LYC. Since thy soul recoils, 
 
 I, whom such idle scruples cannot move, 
 Will with their mother bring the children forth. 
 Follow my steps, my servants, that at length 
 We may behold sweet peace succeed our toils. 
 
 [Exit LYCUS.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 65 
 
 AMP. Depart : for to that place the Fates ordain 
 You now are on the road ; perhaps the sequel 
 Will be another's province : but expect, 
 Since you have done amiss, to suffer vengeance. 
 He, O ye veterans, at a lucky hour 
 Enters the palace, for on ambushed swords 
 His feet will stumble, while the villain hopes 
 Those he would murder are too near at hand 
 To 'scape : but I will go to see him fall 
 A breathless corse : for when our foe endures 
 The just requital of his impious deeds, 
 There is a jjy resulting from his death. 
 
 {Exit AMPHITRYON. 
 
 CHOR. Changed are our evil fortunes. To the shades 
 He who was erst a mighty king descends. 
 O justice, and ye dread vicissitudes 
 Of fate, ordained by Heaven ! 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Thou art at length 
 
 Gone thither, where by death thou for those taunts, 
 With which thou o'er the virtuous didst exult, 
 Shalt make atonement. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. My delight bursts forth 
 
 In floods of tears : for now is come that day 
 The tyrant deemed would never visit him. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. But let us also look into the palace, 
 My aged friend, and mark if yonder miscreant 
 Be punished as I wish. 
 
 LYC. {within^ Ah me ! ah me ! 
 
 CHOR. That melody most grateful to mine ear 
 Beneath yon roofs commences ; nor is death 
 Far distant ; for these cries the monarch utters 
 Are but a prelude to the fatal stroke. 
 
 LYC. \wjithin^\ Ye realms of Cadmus, I through treachery 
 perish ! 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Others have perished by that bloody 
 
 hand. 
 
 Since then the retribution thou endur'st 
 Is just, endure it bravely. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Where is he 
 
 Who uttered 'gainst the blest immortal powers 
 His foolish blasphemies, and called the gods 
 Too weak to punish him ? 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. That impious man 
 
 Is now no more. Yon vaulted roofs are silent, 
 Let us begin the harmonious choral lay ; 
 For, as I wished, our comrades prove victorious.
 
 66 EURIPIDES. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 The sumptuous banquet, with th' enlivening dance 
 
 Now every Theban shall employ ; 
 
 Dried are our tears, and past mischance 
 Yields to the lyre abundant themes of joy : 
 
 Stretched low in dust the tyrant lies ; 
 
 But he, who by an ancient right 
 
 Obtains the sceptre, is our king ; 
 From Acheron's loathed stream behold him rise, 
 Revisiting the cheerful realms of light, 
 And hope, unlocked for, doth fresh transports bring. 
 
 r. 2. 
 The gods take cognizance of broken trust, 
 
 Nor are they deaf to holy prayer. 
 
 On gold and fortune, power unjust 
 Attends ; man's reason is too weak to bear 
 
 The joint temptations. Heaven at length, 
 
 Whose kind protection we invoke, 
 
 Deigning with pity to behold 
 Our woes, to the neglected laws their strength 
 Restoring, with vindictive fury broke 
 The sable car which bore the god of gold. 
 
 Now let the flowery wreath, the victor's pride, 
 Adorn Ismenos ; let each street employ 
 
 The hours in dance and social joy ; 
 Let Dirce from the silver wave arise, 
 And old Asopus' daughters by her side, 
 
 Forsaking their paternal stream, 
 
 Conspire to aid our rapturous theme, 
 And for Alcides claim the victor's prize. 
 Ye Pythian rocks, with waving forests crowned, 
 And seats of Helicon's melodious choir, 
 
 Come every nymph, with cheerful sound, 
 Visit these walls which to the clouds aspire ; 
 In helmed crop here warriors filled the plains. 
 Whose lineage undecayed from age to age remains. 
 
 O ye, the partners of one nuptial bed, 
 Happy Amphitryon, sprung from mortal race, 
 And Jove, who rushed to the embrace
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 6? 
 
 Of bright Alcmena ; for of thee aright, 
 Though erst, O Jove, I doubted, was it said 
 
 Thou didst enjoy that beauteous dame ; 
 
 With the renown his triumphs claim, 
 Time through the world displays Alcides' might, 
 Emerged from grisly Pluto's realms abhorred, 
 Who quits the darksome caverns of the earth, 
 
 To me a far more welcome lord, 
 Than yon vile tyrant of ignoble birth. 
 Now to the bloody strife we lift our eyes ; 
 The vengeful sword is bared, if Justice haunt the skies. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Ha ! are we all by the same panic seized : 
 My aged friends, what spectre, hovering o'er 
 The palace, do I see ? Those tardy feet 
 Raise from the ground, precipitate thy flight, 
 Be gone. From me, O Paean, mighty king, 
 Avert these evils. 
 
 IRIS, A FIEND, CHORI/S. 
 IRIS. O, ye aged men, 
 
 Be not dismayed : the fiend whom ye behold 
 Is daughter of old Night, and I am Iris, 
 The gods' ambassadress. We are not come 
 To harm your city ; for we only war 
 Against one man, who, sprung 'tis said from Jove 
 And from Alcmena : till he had performed 
 Severest labours, fate preserved his life ; 
 Nor did his father Jove permit, or me, 
 Or Juno, e'er to hurt him : but, each toil 
 Eurystheus' hate enjoined, now he hath finished, 
 Those oft-polluted hands with recent gore 
 \Viil Juno stain, by urging him to slay 
 His children : in this scheme I too conspire. 
 Come on then, armed with a relentless heart, 
 Unwedded daughter of the pitchy Night ; 
 Instil into that hero's breast such frenzy 
 As shall o'erturn his reason, and constrain him 
 To perpetrate this murder ; his wild steps 
 Goad onward, throw the bloody cable forth, 
 That having sent this band of graceful sons, 
 Slain by their father's arm, adown the gulf 
 Of Acheron, th' effects of Juno's wrath 
 And mine, he may experience ; for the gods 
 Would be mere things of no account, but great 
 Would be the power of man, if he escaped 
 Unpunished. 
 
 FIEND. I from noble parents spring, 
 Night is my mother ; and that blood which streamed 
 From the foul wound of Ouranus, my sire : 
 
 C 2
 
 68 EURIPIDES. 
 
 To me belongs this praise, I 'gainst my friend 
 
 No envious rancour feel, nor with delight 
 
 Invade them ; but this counsel would suggest 
 
 To you and Juno, ere I see you rush 
 
 Into a fatal error, if my words 
 
 Can move you : he into whose house you send me 
 
 Is not obscure, or in the realms beneath, 
 
 Or yet among the gods : for when o'er lands, 
 
 Impervious erst, and o'er the stormy waves, 
 
 He had established peace, he to the' gods 
 
 Their ancient honours, which by impious men 
 
 Had been abolished, singly did restore. 
 
 I therefore would dissuade you from contriving 
 
 'Gainst him these mischiefs. 
 
 IRIS. Blame not thou the schemes 
 
 Devised by Juno and by me. 
 
 FIEND. ' Your steps 
 
 Into a better path, from that which leads 
 To evil, would I turn. 
 
 IRIS. The wife of Jove 
 
 Sent thee not hither to act thus discreetly. 
 
 FIEND. Witness, thou sun, reluctant I obey. 
 But if constrained to be the instrument 
 Of Juno's wrath and yours, I with such speed 
 As when the hounds obey the huntsman's voice, 
 Your signal will attend ; nor shall the deep 
 Upheaving with a groan its troubled waves, 
 The earthquake, or the thunderbolt, whose blast 
 Is winged with fate, outstrip me, when I rush 
 Into the breast of Hercules : the gates 
 Will I burst open, and assail the house, 
 First causing his devoted sons to bleed ; 
 Nor shall their murderer know that his own hand 
 Slew those whom he begot, till he is rescued 
 From the distraction I inspire. Behold 
 He at the barrier stands, and shakes his head, 
 And rolls in silence his distorted eyes, 
 Flaming with anger. To contain his breath 
 No longer able, like a bull, prepared 
 To make the terrible assault, he bellows, 
 And calls the Furies from the dire abyss 
 Of Tartarus. Thee I to a greater height 
 Of frenzy soon will rouse, and through thy soul 
 Caruse my terrific clarion to resound. 
 O noble Iris, to Olympus' height 
 Now wing your swift career, while I, unseen, 
 Will enter the abodes of Hercules. 
 
 {Exeunt IRIS and the FIEND.
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 69 
 
 CHOR. Thou city, groan ; thy choicest flower, 
 The son of Jove, is cropped: O Greece, 
 Thy benefactor's fatal hour 
 Impends. To thee for ever lost, 
 Assailed by that infernal pest. 
 The dauntless chief, deprived of peace, 
 Shall feel his agonizing breast 
 With horrible distraction tossed. 
 Hence in her brazen chariot went 
 The raging fiend, on mischief bent ; 
 She urges with a scorpion goad 
 Her steeds along th' ethereal road. 
 That hundred-headed child of Night 
 With all those hissing snakes around, 
 From her envenomed eyeballs bright 
 The Gorgon thus directs the wound. 
 Soon changed by Heaven's supreme decree, 
 Is man's short-lived felicity. 
 Ye infants, soon shall ye expire, 
 Slain by your own distracted sire. 
 Ah me ! thy son, without delay, 
 Shall be left childless, mighty Jove; 
 For on his tortured soul shall prey 
 Yon fiend, and by the powers above 
 Vengeance commissioned to destroy. 
 
 mansion erst the scene of joy ! 
 To form a prelude to this dance, 
 Neither the cheering timbrel's sound, 
 Nor sportive Menades advance ; 
 Here human gore shall stream around, 
 Instead of that refreshing juice, 
 Which Bacchus' purple grapes produce. 
 Away, ye children, danger's nigh, 
 
 For he who wakes this hostile strain, 
 Traces your footsteps as \ e fly ; 
 Nor will the fiend with fruitless rage, 
 A war beneath those mansions wage. 
 Alas ! we sink o'erwhelmed with woe, 
 My tears shall never cease to flow. 
 
 1 wail the grandsire hoar with age, 
 The mother too who bore that train 
 Of lovely children, but in vain. 
 
 Lo, what a tempest shakes the wall, 
 And makes th' uprooted mansion fall ! 
 What mean'st thou, frantic son of Jovs? 
 The hellish uproar thou dost raise, 
 Filling the palace with amaze, 
 Is such as vexed the realms above,
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Till issuing with victorious might, 
 Pallas invincible in fight 
 The huge Enceladus oppressed, 
 And piled all ^tna on his breast. 
 
 MESSENGER, CHORUS. 
 
 MES. O ye whose heads are whitened o'er with age ! 
 
 CHOR. Why dost thou call me with so loud a voice ? 
 
 MES. Atrocious are the mischiefs which have happened 
 Within the palace. 
 
 CHOR. I need now call in 
 
 No other seer. The boys are slain. Ah me ! 
 
 MES. Indulge your groans, for such events as these 
 Demand them. 
 
 CHOR. By a foe, e'en by the hand 
 
 Of their own sire, in whom that foe they found. 
 
 MES. No tongue can utter woes beyond what we 
 Have suffered. 
 
 CHOR. What account hast thou to give 
 
 Of the dire fate the father on his sons 
 Inflicted ? Sent by the avenging gods. 
 Say why such mischiefs visited this house, 
 And how the children miserably fell. 
 
 MES. To purify the house were victims brought 
 Before Jove's altar, after Hercules 
 Had slain and cast the monarch of this land 
 Forth from these doors. Beside the victor stood 
 His band of graceful children, with his sire 
 And Megara. The sacred vase was borne 
 Around the altnr: from ill-omened words 
 We all abstained. But while Alcmena's son 
 In his right hand a kindled torch sustained, 
 Ready to dip it in the lustral water, 
 He made a silent stand ; on this delay 
 The children steadfastly observed their sire, 
 But he no longer was the same ; his eyes 
 Were seized with strong convulsions, from their fibres 
 Blood started forth, his bearded cheeks with foam 
 Were covered : he midst bursts of laughter wild 
 Cried : " Wherefore need I kindle, O my father, 
 The fire for sacrifice, ere I have slain 
 Eurystheus, in a double toil engaged. 
 When I at once mi^ht belter finish all ? 
 Soon as I hither bring Eurystheus' head, 
 These hands which reek already with the gore 
 of Lycus, will I cleanse. Pour forth those waters 
 Upon the ground, and cast your urns away. 
 Who brings my bow, my club ? I to Mycene 
 Will go : let spades and levers be prepared,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 71 
 
 That I from their foundations may o'erturn 
 
 Those walls which with the plummet and the line. 
 
 The Cyclops reared." Then eager to depart, 
 
 Although he had no chariot, yet he talked 
 
 As if he had one, fancying that he mounted 
 
 The seat, and with his hand as with a thong 
 
 Drove the ideal steeds. His servants laughed, 
 
 And at the same time trembled ; till one cried 
 
 (As on each other they with eager eyes 
 
 Were gazing), " Doth my master sport with us, 
 
 Or is he frantic ? " Meanwhile through the palace 
 
 Backward and forward he with hasty step 
 
 Was walking : but no sooner did he reach 
 
 That spacious hall, where at the genial board 
 
 The men are wont t' assemble, than he said 
 
 That he was come to Nisus' ancient city, 
 
 And to th' imperial dome : and on the floor, 
 
 As if reclining at the genial board, 
 
 Bade us set forth the banquet. But the pause 
 
 Which intervened was short, ere he exclaimed, 
 
 That he was traversing the Isthmian rocks 
 
 O'ergrown with woods ; then casting off his mantle 
 
 He strove though there was no antagonist 
 
 With whom to strive, proclaimed himself the victor, 
 
 The name of that imaginary foe 
 
 Announcing, over whom he had prevailed : 
 
 But 'gainst Eurystheus he anon did utter 
 
 Menaces the most horrible, and talk 
 
 As if he at Mycene had been present. 
 
 His father strove to hold his vigorous arm, 
 
 And said to him ; " What mean you, O my son ? 
 
 What wanderings into distant realms are these? 
 
 Hath not the blood of him you have just slain 
 
 Distracted you?" Then for Eurystheus' sire 
 
 Mistaking his own father, as he strove 
 
 To touch his hand, repelled the trembling suppliant : 
 
 Against his sons, the quiver and the bow, 
 
 Thinking to slay the children of Eurystheus, 
 
 He next made ready ; they with terror smitten 
 
 Ran different ways ; the first beneath the robes 
 
 Of his unhappy mother skulked ; a second 
 
 Flew to the shade the lofty column formed : 
 
 Under the altar quivering like a bird, 
 
 The last concealed himself: their mother cried, 
 
 " What mean'st thou, O thou father, would'st thou slay 
 
 Thy sons ?" Aphitryon too, that aged man, 
 
 And all the servants shrieked, But round the pillar 
 
 The boy pursuing, he at length turned short, 
 
 And meeting him, as foot to foot they stood,
 
 72 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Transfixed his liver with a deadly shaft ; 
 
 Supine he fell, and with his streaming gore 
 
 Distained the sculptured pillars, at whose base 
 
 He breathed his last. But, with a shout, Alcides 
 
 Uttered these boasts : " One of Eurystheus' brood 
 
 Slain by this arm, for the inveterate hate 
 
 His father bore me, to atone, here lies 
 
 A breathless corse." Against another then, 
 
 Who to the basis of the altar fled, 
 
 And hoped to 'scape unseen, he bent his bow ; 
 
 But ere he gave the wound, the wretched youth 
 
 Fell at his father's knees, stretched forth his hands 
 
 To touch his chin, or twine around his neck, 
 
 And cried : " O spare my life, my dearest sire, 
 
 Yours, I am yours indeed; nor will you slay 
 
 Eurystheus' son." But he with glaring eyes 
 
 Looked like a Gorgon, while the boy pressed on 
 
 So close, he had no scope to aim the shaft, 
 
 But as the smith the glowing anvil smites, 
 
 Full on his auburn tresses he discharged 
 
 The ponderous mace, the crashing bones gave way. 
 
 Scarce had he slain the second, when he ran 
 
 To butcher his third son o'er both their corses : 
 
 But the unhappy mother in her arms 
 
 Caught up, into an inner chamber bore 
 
 The child, and closed the doors : but he, as if 
 
 He had indeed been at the Cyclops' city, 
 
 With levers from their hinges forced them, pierced 
 
 His wife and offspring with a single shaft, 
 
 And then to slay his aged father rushed 
 
 With speed impetuous : but a spectre came, 
 
 Which to our eyes the awful semblance bore 
 
 Of Pallas brandishing her pointed spear, 
 
 And threw a rocky fragment at the breast 
 
 Of Hercules, which checked his murderous frenzy, 
 
 And plunged him into sleep. Upon the ground 
 
 Headlong he fell, where 'midst the ruins lay, 
 
 Rent from its pedestal a broken column : 
 
 But rallying from our flight, we, by his sire 
 
 Assisted, to the pillar bound him fast 
 
 With thongs, that on his wakening from this trance 
 
 He might commit no more atrocious deeds. 
 
 There doth he taste an inauspicious sleep, 
 
 First having slain his children and his consort. 
 
 I know no mortal more completely wretched. 
 
 {Exit MESSENGER. 
 
 CHOR. There was a murder in the Argive land 
 Most wondrous and unparalleled through Greece 
 In days of yore, which the confederate daughters
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 73 
 
 Of Danaus perpetrated ; but their crimes 
 
 By the dire fate of Progne's only son 
 
 Were far surpassed. I of a bloody deed 
 
 Now speak which they committed, they whose voice 
 
 Equals the Muses' choir ; but thou who spring's! 
 
 From Jove himself, hast in thy frenzy slain 
 
 All thy three sons ; for them what groans, what tears, 
 
 What invocations to the shades beneath, 
 
 Or songs shall I prepare to soothe the rage 
 
 Of grisly Pluto ? Shivered on the ground 
 
 The portals of that lofty mansion view, 
 
 Behold the corses of the children stretcht 
 
 Before their miserable sire, whose senses, 
 
 Since he hath slain them, in profoundest sleep 
 
 Are buried. Mark those knotty cords around 
 
 The brawny limbs of Hercules, entwined 
 
 And to the columns in the palace fixed. 
 
 But old Amphitryon, like a bird who wails 
 
 Over its callow brood, with tardy step 
 
 Comes hither in the bitterness of grief. 
 
 AMPHITRYON, CHORUS. 
 
 The Palace gates thrown open, discover HERCULES stretched on 
 the ground and sleeping. 
 
 AMP. Ye aged Thebans, will ye not be silent, 
 Will ye not suffer him dissolved in sleep 
 His miseries to forget ? 
 
 CHOR. These tears, these groans, 
 
 To you, O venerable man, I pay, 
 To those slain children, and the chief renowned 
 For his victorious conflicts. 
 
 AMP. Farther still 
 
 Retire ; forbear, forbear those clamorous sounds, 
 Lest his repose ye break, and from a trance 
 The sleeper rouse. 
 
 CHOR. How dreadful was this slaughter ! 
 
 AMP. Ha ! ha ! begone, for he in wild confusion 
 Is starting up. Why will ye not lament, 
 Ye aged men, in a more gentle tone ? 
 Lest roused from sleep he burst his chains, destroy 
 The city, smite his sire, and with the ground 
 Lay these pround mansions level. 
 
 CHOR. This I hold 
 
 Impossible. 
 
 AMP. Be silent, I will mark 
 
 Whether he breathe : O let me place my ear 
 Still closer. 
 
 CHOR. Sleeps he ?
 
 74 EURIPIDES. 
 
 AMP. An accursed repose, 
 
 Alas ! he tastes, who hath his consort slain, 
 And slain his sons with that resounding bow. 
 
 CHOR. Now wail. 
 
 AMP. I wail those children's fate. 
 
 CHOR. Your son, 
 
 Alas ! old man, our equal pity claims. 
 
 AMP. Observe strict silence, for again he rises 
 And turns around : I will conceal myself 
 Beneath that roof. 
 
 CHOR. Be of good cheer : night seals 
 
 The eyelids of your son. 
 
 AMP. Mark, mark me well, 
 
 I am so wretched that without reluctance 
 I can bid life adieu : but if he kill 
 Me too who am his father, guilt on guilt 
 Shall he accumulate, and join the stings 
 Of parricide to those which from the Furies 
 Who haunt him, he already doth endure. 
 
 CHOR. Better you then had died, when you prepared 
 T' .avenge the slaughtered brothers of Alcmena, 
 And stormed the fortress of the Taphian isle. 
 
 AMP. Fly, leave the palace instantly ; avoid 
 That frantic man, who from his sleep is roused, 
 For adding soon fresh slaughter to the past, 
 With Bacchanalian transport shall he range 
 Through Cadmus' city. 
 
 CHOR. Why hast thou, O Jove, 
 
 Hated thy son so bitterly, and plunged him 
 Into this sea of troubles ? 
 
 HER. [waking.] Ha ! I breathe, 
 
 And view each wonted object, air, and earth, 
 And these bright solar beams. Into what storm, 
 What dreadful perturbation of the soul 
 Have I been plunged ! all heated I transpire, 
 Not from my lungs, but from my feverish heart. 
 Behold me ! wherefore am I bound with chains, 
 Like a disabled ship towed into haven, 
 And by this youthful chest and nervous arm 
 Joined to a broken pillar ? Here I sit 
 Contiguous to the corses of the slain ; 
 My winged shafts lie scattered on the ground, 
 With that unerring bow which erst I bore 
 In war to guard me, and with care preserved. 
 Sent by Eurystheus, am I then arrived 
 A second time at the drear shades beneath ? 
 Neither the rock of Sisyphus, nor Pluto, 
 Nor Ceres' sceptred daughter, do I see. 
 I sure am stricken senseless with amazement,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 75 
 
 And know not where I am. But ho ! what friend 
 Is near, or at a distance, who will come 
 To give me information ? For each object 
 Which I was erst acquainted with seems strange. 
 
 AMP. Shall I approach this scene of my afflictions 
 Ye aged men ? 
 
 CHOR. I wiil attend your steps, 
 
 Nor meanly in calamity betray you. 
 
 HER. Why dost thou weep, my sire, and veil those 
 
 eyes, 
 Retiring far from thy beloved son ? 
 
 AMP. My son for though unhappy, you are mine. 
 
 HER. But what calamity do I endure 
 That causes thee to shed these tears ? 
 
 AMP. Your woes 
 
 Are such, that any god, if he endured 
 The same, would groan. 
 
 HER. This hath a dreadful sound : 
 
 But you, my fortunes have net yet explained. 
 
 AMP. Because if you your senses have recovered, 
 Yourself behold them. 
 
 HER. . Tell me what thou mean'st 
 
 If to my charge thou lay'st some recent crime. 
 
 AMP. If you no longer to the powers of hell 
 Are subjected, the truth will I unfold. 
 
 HER. Alas ! how darkly thou again allud'st 
 To what my soul suspects. 
 
 AMP. Your looks I watch 
 
 To see if reason wholly be restored. 
 
 HER. I recollect not that I e'er was frantic. 
 
 AMP. \io the CHORUS.] 
 Shall I unbind the shackles of my son, 
 Or how must we proceed ? 
 
 HER. Say who was he 
 
 That bound me ? for with scorn have I been treated. 
 
 AMP. Thus much of your afflictions may you know : 
 Forbear all farther questions. 
 
 HER. Is thy silence 
 
 Sufficient then to teach me what I wish 
 To learn ? 
 
 AMP. O Jove, dost thou behold the curses 
 Hurled on thy son from envious Juno's throne? 
 
 HER. What dire effects of her inveterate rage 
 Have I endured ? 
 
 AMP. Of that vindictive goddess . ' 
 
 No longer think : but to your own afflictions 
 Attend. 
 
 HER. Alas ! I utterly am ruined ! 
 What farther ill wouldst thou disclose?
 
 76 EURIPIDES. 
 
 AMP. See there 
 
 The corses of your murdered children lie. 
 
 HER. Alas! what dreadful objects strike these eyes ! 
 
 AMP. My son, against your progeny you waged 
 An inauspicious war. 
 
 HER. Why talk of war ? 
 
 Who slew them ? 
 
 AMP. You, your arrows, and the cause 
 
 Of all these mischiefs, that remorseless goddess. 
 
 HER. What mean'st thou, or what crime have I committed, 
 My father, O thou messenger of ill ? 
 
 AMP. By frenzy urged. But you such questions ask, 
 As I with grief must answer. 
 
 HER. Have I murdered 
 
 My consort also ? 
 
 AMP. All these deeds of horror 
 
 That single arm did perpetrate. 
 
 HER. Alas! 
 
 A cloud of griefs surrounds me. 
 
 AMP. For this cause 
 
 Your fortunes I lament. 
 
 HER. Have I demolished 
 
 My own house too, with Bacchanalian rage 
 Inspired? 
 
 AMP. The whole of what I know amounts 
 To this, that you are most completely wretched. 
 
 HER. Where did this fatal madness seize me first ? 
 
 AMP. As round the altar, you, a flaming brand, 
 To expiate the foul murder which distains 
 Your hands, were bearing. 
 
 HER. Ah ! why lengthen out 
 
 A guilty life, when of my dearest children 
 I am become the murderer ? Why delay 
 To leap from the high rock, or with a sword 
 Transpierce this bosom, on myself their blood 
 Avenging ? or t' avert that infamy 
 Which waits me, shall I rush into the flames ? 
 But Theseus comes to bar these desperate counsels, 
 My kinsman and my friend ; in a true light 
 To him shall I appear, and the pollution 
 I have incurred by slaying my own sons 
 Will be conspicuous to my dearest comrade. 
 What shall I do ? or where can I find out 
 A solitude impervious to my woes ? 
 On rapid wings, O could I mount, or plunge 
 Into the nether regions of the earth ? 
 Give me a veil to darken o'er my head. 
 For 'tis with shame I think on the offence 
 Caused by this deed : but to myself alone
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 77 
 
 Ascribing the defilement of their blood, 
 I wish not to contaminate the guiltless. 
 
 THESEUS, AMPHITRYON, HERCULES, CHORUS. 
 
 THE. An armed squadron of Athenian youths 
 I hither bring, who near Asopus' stream 
 Are stationed to assist your son in battle. 
 For to the city of Erectheus' race 
 A rumour came, that Lycus, having seized 
 The sceptre of this land, is waging war 
 'Gainst you. O aged man, I to repay 
 The benefits which Hercules conferred 
 On me, whom from the deary shades beneath 
 In safety he redeemed, on your behalf 
 Attend, if of this arm, or of my troops, 
 Ye need the help. But, ha, what means the floor 
 With weltering corses heaped ? hath my design 
 Proved ineffectual ? am I then arrived 
 Too late to remedy the dreadful mischiefs 
 Which have already ta'en effect ? who slew 
 Those children, or whose consort was the dame 
 Whom I behold ? for where the boys are laid, 
 No signs appear of any battle fought : 
 But sure I of some other recent ill 
 Now make discovery. 
 
 AMP. O thou goddess, throned 
 
 Upon that hill where verdant olives spring. 
 
 THE. Why speak you to me in this piteous tone, 
 And with such prelude ? 
 
 AMP. Grievous are the ills 
 
 Which we endure through Heaven's severe behest. 
 
 THE. What boys are they o'er whose remains you weep ? 
 
 AMP. Them did my miserable son beget, 
 And when begotten slay, this impious murder 
 He dared to perpetrate. 
 
 THE. Express yourself 
 
 In more auspicious terms. 
 
 AMP. I wish t' obey 
 
 Th' injunctions thou hast given. 
 
 THE. What dreadful words 
 
 Are these which you have uttered ! 
 
 AMP. In a moment 
 
 Were we undone. 
 
 THE. What mean you, what hath happened ? 
 
 AMP. This frenzy seized him sprinkled with the venom, 
 Which from the hundred-headed hydra flowed. 
 
 THE. Such Juno's wrath. But who, O aged man, 
 Stands 'mong the dead ?
 
 7 8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 AMP. My son, my valiant son, 
 
 Inured to many toils, who in that war 
 Where earth's gigantic brood were slain, advanced 
 Among the gods to the Phlegrasan field 
 Armed with his buckler. 
 
 THE. Ah, what mighty chief 
 
 Was e'er so wretched ? 
 
 AMP. Scarcely shalt thou know 
 
 A man with greater labours vexed, and doomed 
 To wander through more regions. 
 
 THE. But why veils he 
 
 Beneath that robe his miserable head ? 
 
 AMP. Because thy presence, friendship's sacred ties 
 Added to those of kindred, and the gore 
 Of his slain children, fill his soul with shame. 
 
 THE. I with his griefs am come to sympathize ; 
 Uncover him. 
 
 AMP. That garment from your eyes 
 
 Remove, display your visage to the sun. 
 It ill becomes my dignity to weep : 
 Yet I a suppliant strive to touch your beard, 
 Your knees, your hand, and shed these hoary tears. 
 
 curb your soul, my son, whose fierceness equals 
 That of the lion, else 'twill hurry you 
 
 To bloody impious rage, and make you add 
 Mischiefs to mischiefs. 
 
 THE. Ho ! on thee I call, 
 
 On thee, who to that seat of misery seem'st 
 Fast riveted ; permit thy friends to see 
 Thy face : for darkness hath no cloud so black 
 As to conceal thy woes. Why dost thou wave 
 Thy hand and point to those whom thou hast slain, 
 Lest by this converse I pollute myself? 
 
 1 am not loth to share thy woes ; I erst 
 Was happy (which my soul is ever bound 
 To recollect with gratitude) when thou 
 
 From hell's loathed gloom, the mansion of the dead, 
 Didst safely bear me to the realms of light. 
 For I abhor th' attachment of those friends 
 Which time impairs, him too who would enjoy 
 Their better fortunes, but refuse to sail 
 In the same bark with those who prove unblest. 
 Rise up, unveil thy miserable head 
 And look on me. A noble mind sustains 
 Without reluctance what the gods inflict. 
 
 HER. Did you, O Theseus, see me slay my children ? 
 
 THE. I heai d, and now behold the ills thou speak'st of. 
 
 HER. Then why didst thou uncover to the sun 
 My guilty head ?
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 79 
 
 THE. Why not ? canst thou, a man, 
 
 Pollute the gods ? 
 
 HER. Avaunt, O wretch, i. vaunt, 
 
 For I am all contagion. 
 
 THE. To a friend 
 
 No mischief from his friend can be transmitted. 
 
 HER. Your conduct I applnud, nor will deny 
 That I have served you. 
 
 THE. I who erst received 
 
 Those favours at thy hands, now pity thee. 
 
 HER. I am indeed an object of your pity, 
 From having slain my sons. 
 
 THE. For thee I weep, 
 
 Because to me thou heretofore wert kind 
 When vexed by other ills. 
 
 HER. Did you e'er meet 
 
 With those who were more wretched ? 
 
 THE. Thy afflictions 
 
 Are of such giant bulk, that they to heaven 
 Reach from this nether world. 
 
 HER. Hence am I ready 
 
 For instant death. 
 
 THE. Canst thou suppose the gods 
 
 Regard thy threats ? 
 
 HER. Self-willed are they and cruel, 
 
 And 1 defy the gods. 
 
 THE. ' Restrain thy tongue, 
 
 Lest thou by uttering such presumptuous words 
 Increase thy sufferings. 
 
 HER. I with woes am fraught 
 
 Already, nor remains there space for more. 
 
 THE. But what design'st thou? whither art thou borne 
 With frantic rage ? 
 
 HER. In death will I return 
 
 To those abodes beneath, whence late I came. 
 
 THE. Thou speak'st the language of a vulgar man. 
 
 HER. Exempt from all calamity yourself, 
 On me these admonitions you bestow. 
 
 THE. Are these fit words for Hercules to use, 
 Who many toils endured ? 
 
 HER. I had not suffered 
 
 Thus much, if any bounds had circumscribed 
 My labours. 
 
 THE. Benefactor of mankind, 
 And their great friend ? 
 
 HER. From them no aid I find; 
 
 But Juno triumphs. 
 
 THE. Greece will not permit thee 
 
 To perish unregarded.
 
 8o EURIPIDES. 
 
 HER. Hear me now, 
 
 That I with reason your advice may combat ; 
 To you will I explain both why it is 
 And long hath been impossible for me 
 To live; and first, because from him, I spring, 
 Who, having slain the father of Alcmena, 
 Defiled with murder, wedded her who bore me. 
 When thus the basis of a family 
 Is laid in guilt, the children must be wretched. 
 But Jove (or some one who assumed the name 
 Of Jove) begot me ; hence to Juno's hate 
 Was I obnoxious. Yet, O let not this 
 Offend thine ear, old man, for thee, not Jove, 
 I deem my real sire. While yet I hung 
 An infant at the breast, Jove's wife by stealth 
 Sent snakes into my cradle to destroy me. 
 But after I attained the bloom of manhood, 
 Of what avail were it, should I recount 
 The various labours I endured, what lions, 
 What typhous with a triple form, what giants, 
 Or what four-footed centaurs, who in crowds 
 Rushed to the battle, by this arm were slain ? 
 How I despatched the hydra too, that monster 
 With heads surrounded, branching out anew, 
 And having suffered many toils beside, 
 Went to the mansions of the dead, to bring 
 Hell's triple-headed dog into the realms 
 Of light, for thus Eurystheus had enjoined ? 
 But I at last, wretch that I am, this murder 
 Did perpetrate, and my own children slay, 
 That to their utmost summit I might raise 
 The miseries of this house. My fate is such 
 That in my native Thebes I must not dwell : 
 But if I here continue, to what temple 
 Or friends can I repair ? for by such curses 
 I now am visited, that none will dare 
 To speak to me. To Argos shall I go ? 
 How can I, when my country drives me forth ? 
 To any other city should I fly, 
 The consequence were this : with looks askance 
 I should be viewed as one well known, and harassed 
 With these reproaches by malignant tongues : 
 " Is not this he, the son of Jove, who murdered 
 His children and his consort ? from this land 
 Shall not th' accursed miscreant be expelled?" 
 To him who was called happy once, such change 
 Is bitterness indeed : as for the man 
 Whose sufferings are perpetual, him, when wretched, 
 No kinsman pities. I to such a pitch 
 Of woe shall come, I deem, at length, that earth,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 81 
 
 Uttering a voice indignant, will forbid me 
 To touch its surface, ocean, o'er its waves, 
 And every river, o'er its streams, to pass. 
 I shall be like Ixion then, with chains 
 Fixed to the wheel. 'Twere better that no Greek 
 With whom I in my happier days conversed 
 Should see me more. What motive can I have 
 For living ? or to me of what avail 
 Were it to keep possession of this useless 
 And this unholy being ? flushed with joy, 
 Let Jove's illustrious consort, in the dance, 
 Strike with her sandals the resplendent floor 
 Of high Olympus : for she now hath gained 
 Her utmost wish, and from his basis torn 
 The first of Grecian warriors. Who can pray 
 To such a goddess, who, with envy stung, 
 Because Jove loved a woman, hath destroyed 
 The benefactors of the Grecian realm, 
 Those blameless objects of her hate ? 
 
 THE. This mischief 
 
 Springs from no god except the wife of Jove. 
 Well dost thou judge, in saying that 'tis easier 
 To give thee wholesome counsel, than endure 
 Such agonies. But no man 'scapes unwounded 
 By fortune, and no god ; unless the songs 
 Of ancient bards mislead. Have not the gods 
 Among themselves formed lawless marriages ? 
 Have they not bound in ignominious chains 
 Their fathers, to obtain a throne? In heaven 
 Yet dwell they, and bear up beneath the load 
 Of all their crimes. But what canst thou allege, 
 If thou, frail mortal as thou art, those ills 
 Immoderately bewail'st to which the gods 
 Without reluctance yield ? from Thebes retire, 
 Since thus the laws ordain ; and follow me 
 To Pallas' city : when thy hands are there 
 Cleansed from pollution, I to thee will give 
 A palace, and with thee divide my wealth. 
 The presents which the citizens to me 
 Appropriated, when twice seven blooming victims 
 I by the slaughter of the Cretan bull 
 Redeemed, on thee will I bestow. For portions 
 Of land are through the realm to me assigned : 
 These, while thou liv'st henceforth shall by thy name 
 Be called : but after death, when to the shades 
 Of Pluto thou descend'st, with sacrifice 
 And with the sculptured tomb, shall Athens grace 
 Thy memory. For her citizens have gained 
 This fairest wreath from every Grecian state,
 
 82 EURIPIDES. 
 
 By yielding succour to the virtuous man 
 Their glories are augmented : and to thee 
 Will I repay with gratitude the kindness 
 Which thou deserv'st for saving me ; for thou 
 Hast need of friends at present : but no friend 
 Is wanted when the gods confer renown ; 
 For, if he wills, Jove's aid is all-sufficient. 
 
 HER. You hold a language foreign to my griefs. 
 But I suppose not that the gods delight 
 In lawless nuptials, that their hands are bound 
 With galling chains, nor did I e'er believe, 
 Nor can I be convinced, that one bears rule 
 Over another. For a deity 
 If he be truly such, can stand in need 
 Of no support. But by some lying bard 
 Those miserable fables were devised. 
 Although I am most wretched, yet I thought 
 I might be charged with cowardice for leaving 
 These realms of light. For he who bears not up 
 'Gainst adverse fortune, never can withstand 
 The weapon of his foe. I am resolved 
 To wait for death with firmness : to your city 
 Meantime will I retreat, and am most grateful 
 For your unnumbered gifts. Unnumbered labours 
 Have I been erst acquainted with ; from none 
 Did I e'er shrink, these eyes did never stream 
 With tears, nor thought I that I e'er should come 
 To such a pitch of meanness as to weep : 
 But now, it seems, must Fortune be obeyed. 
 I am content. Thou, O my aged sire, 
 Behold'st my exile, thou in me behold'st 
 The murderer of my children : to the tomb 
 Consign their corses with funereal pomp, 
 And o'er them shed the tributary tear : 
 For me the laws allow not to perform 
 This office. Let their mother, e'en in death, 
 Clasp to her breast, and in her arms sustain, 
 Our wretched offspring, whom in evil hour 
 I slew reluctant. But when thou with earth 
 Hast covered them, thy residence still keep 
 Here in this city, miserably indeed, 
 Yet on thy soul lay this constraint, to bear 
 With me the woes which I most deeply feel. 
 The very sire, ye children, who besot, 
 Murdered you ; no advantage ye derive 
 From what this arm by nil my labours gained, 
 And from your father's triumphs no renown. 
 Have not I slain thee too who didst preserve 
 My bed inviolate, and o'er my house 
 Long wa'.ch with patient care ? Ah me ! my wife,
 
 HERCULES DISTRACTED. 83 
 
 My sons : but how much more to be lamented 
 
 Am I myself, from them for ever torn ? 
 
 Ye melancholy joys of kisses lavished 
 
 On their remains, and ye my loathed companions, 
 
 The weapons which I still retain, but doubt 
 
 Whether to keep or dash them to the ground ; 
 
 For they, while at my side they hang, will seem 
 
 To utter these reproachful words : " With us 
 
 Thy consort and thy children hast thou slain, 
 
 Yet thou the very instruments preserv'st 
 
 Which were their murderers." After such a charge 
 
 Can I still bear them ? what can I allege ? 
 
 But stripping off those arms with which through Greece 
 
 I have achieved full many glorious deeds, 
 
 Shall I expose myself to those who hate me, 
 
 And die ignobly ? I must not abandon 
 
 But keep them still, though sorrowing. Aid me, Theseus, 
 
 In this one enterprise; to Argos go 
 
 And for your friend obtain the great reward 
 
 Promised for dragging from the shades of hell 
 
 That execrable hound : lest if by you 
 
 Deserted, I through grief for my slain children 
 
 Should come to some calamitous end. Thou realm 
 
 Of Cadmus, and ye citizens of Thebes, 
 
 With tresses shorn, in concert weep ; the tomb 
 
 Of my slain children visit, there bewail, 
 
 In one funereal dirge, the dead, and me ; 
 
 For smitten with the same dire scourge of fate 
 
 By Juno, we all perish. 
 
 THE. Hapless man, 
 
 Arise ; enough of tears. 
 
 HER. I cannot rise, 
 
 These limbs are now grown stiff. 
 
 THE. Calamity 
 
 Subdues the valiant. 
 
 HER. Would I were a stone, 
 
 Insensible to sufferings ! 
 
 THE. Cease these plaints ; 
 
 And to the friend who comes to serve thee, give 
 Thy hand. 
 
 HER. But let me not wipe off the blood 
 Upon your garments. 
 
 THE. Wipe it off, nor scruple, 
 
 For I object not. 
 
 HER. Of my sons bereft, 
 
 In you the likeness of a son I find. 
 
 THE. Fling round my neck thine arm: I'll lead the way. 
 
 HER. A pair of friends : though one o r us be wretched. 
 Such, O my aged father, is the man 
 We ought to make a friend.
 
 84 EURIPIDES. 
 
 THE. His native realm 
 
 Produces an illustrious progeny. 
 
 HER. Turn me around, that I may see my sons. 
 
 THE. Hoping such philtre may thy griefs appease. 
 
 HER. This earnestly I wish for, and would clasp 
 My father to this bosom. 
 
 AMP. Here, lo, here ! 
 
 For what my son desires, to me is grateful. 
 
 THE. Of all the labours thou didst erst achieve, 
 Hast thou thus lost the memory ? 
 
 HER. All those ills 
 
 Were less severe than what I now experience. 
 
 THE. Should any one behold thee grown unmanly, 
 He could not praise thee. 
 
 HER. Though to you I seem 
 
 Degraded to an abject life, I trust 
 That I my former courage shall resume. 
 
 THE. Where nov/ is' the illustrious Hercules ? 
 
 HER. What had you been, if still you in the shades 
 Had miserably dvv"elt ? 
 
 THE. Then sunk my courage 
 
 Beneath the meanest of the human race. 
 
 HER. Why then persist in saying that my woes 
 Have quite subdued me ? 
 
 THE. Onward ! 
 
 HER. Good old man, 
 
 Farewell. 
 
 AMP. Farewell too, O my son. 
 
 HER. My children 
 
 Inter as I directed. 
 
 AMP. O, my son, 
 
 But who will bury me ? 
 
 HER. I. 
 
 AMP. When will you 
 
 Come hither ? 
 
 HER. After thou hast for my children 
 
 Performed that pious office. 
 
 AMP. How ? 
 
 HER. I'll fetch thee 
 
 From Thebes to Athens. Bear into the palace 
 My children's corses which pollute the ground. 
 But as for me, who have disgraced and plunged 
 My house in ruin, I will follow Theseus, 
 Towed like a battered skiff. Whoe'er prefers 
 Wealth or dominion to a steadfast friend, 
 Judges amiss. 
 
 CHOR. Most wretched, drowned in tears, 
 
 Reft of our great protector, we depart.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 lOLAUS. 
 COPREUS. 
 
 CHORUS OF ATHENIAN 
 OLD MEN. 
 
 DEMOPHOON. 
 MACARIA. 
 ALCMENA. 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 EURYSTHEUS. 
 
 SCENE. BEFORE THE ALTAR OF JUPITER, IN THE FORUM AT 
 MARATHON, A CITY IN THE ATHENIAN DOMINIONS. 
 
 lOLAUS. 
 
 LONG have I held this sentiment : the just 
 
 Are born the streams of bounty to diffuse 
 
 On all around them ; while the man whose soul 
 
 Is warped by interest, useless in the State, 
 
 Untractable and harsh to every friend, 
 
 Lives only for himself; in words alone 
 
 This doctrine I imbibed not. Through a sense 
 
 Of virtuous shame and reverence for my kindred 
 
 When I in peace at Argos might have dwelt, 
 
 I singly shared the toils of Hercules, 
 
 While he on earth remained ; but now he dwells 
 
 In heaven, I guard his children, though protection 
 
 Be what I need myself. For when their sire 
 
 Forsook this nether world, Eurystheus strove 
 
 Immediately to slay us; but I 'scaped 
 
 From that oppressor's fangs, and though to me 
 
 Lost is my country, I have saved my life. 
 
 But we poor vagabonds, from city fly 
 
 To some fresh city, ever forced to change 
 
 Our dwelling ; for Eurystheus deems it meet 
 
 To add this wrong to former wrongs, he sends 
 
 His heralds wheresoe'er he hears we settle, 
 
 And claims and drives us forth from every land ; 
 
 No slight resentment from the Argive realm 
 
 Against our friends denouncing, he reminds them 
 
 Of his own prosperous fortunes ; when they see
 
 86 EURIPIDES. 
 
 My weakness, and these little ones bereft 
 
 Of their great father, to superior might 
 
 They crouch, and force the suppliant to depart. 
 
 But with the exiled race of Hercules 
 
 A voluntary exile, I partake 
 
 Their evil fortunes, steadfastly resolved 
 
 Not to betray them ; by malignant tongues 
 
 It never shall be said, u Oh, mark these orphans ! 
 
 Since their sire's death their kinsman lolaus 
 
 Protects them not." But, exiled from all Greece, 
 
 On reaching Marathon and the domain 
 
 Subject to the same rulers, here we sit 
 
 Before the altars of the gods, and sue 
 
 For their assistance. In this region dwell 
 
 Two sons of Theseus, I ran told, by lot 
 
 Who portion out this realm, they from Pandion 
 
 Descend, and to these children are allied. 
 
 We therefore undertook our present journey 
 
 To the Athenian realm ; two aged guides 
 
 Conduct the h.-pless wanderers ; my attention 
 
 Is to the boys devoted ; but Alcmena, 
 
 Entering the adjacent temple, in her arms 
 
 Tenderly clasps the female progeny 
 
 Of her departed son. Amid the crowd 
 
 We fear to introduce these tender virgins, 
 
 Or place them at the altars of the gods. 
 
 But Hyllus and his brothers, more mature 
 
 In years, inquire in what far distant land 
 
 A fortress for our future residence 
 
 We yet can find, if we from these domains 
 
 By force should be expelled. My sons, come hither, 
 
 Cling to this garment ; for to us I see 
 
 Eurystheus' herald coming, by whose hate, 
 
 We wanderers, banished from each friendly realm, 
 
 Are still pursued. Thou, execrable miscreant, 
 
 Perish thyself, and perish he who sent thee : 
 
 For to the noble father of these children 
 
 Oft hath that tongue enjoined severest toils. 
 
 COPREUS, IOLAUS. 
 
 COP. What, think'st thou unmolested to enjoy 
 This pleasant seat, and have thy vagrant steps 
 Entered at length a city prompt to fight 
 Thy battles ? for the man who will prefer 
 Thy feeble arm to that of great Eurystheus, 
 Exists not. Hence ! why m these useless toils 
 Dost thou persist ? thou must return to Argos 
 Where they have doomed thee to be st"ned.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES, 87 
 
 lOL. Not thus : 
 
 For in this altar shall I find protection, 
 And this free country on whose soil we tread. 
 
 COP. Wilt thou constrain me then to have recourse 
 To violence ? 
 
 lOL. With forceful hand, nor me 
 
 Nor these poor children shall thou hence expel. 
 
 COP. Ere long shalt thou perceive that thou hast uttered 
 Erroneous prophesies. 
 
 lOL. This ne'er shall be 
 
 Long as I live. 
 
 COP. Depart, for I will seize them 
 
 ''Gainst thy consent, and to Eurystheus' power 
 Surrender up, for they to him belong. 
 
 lOL. Aid me, ye ancient citizens of Athens, 
 For we, though suppliants, forcibly are torn 
 E'en from Jove's public altar, and the wreaths 
 Twined round our sacred branches are polluted ; 
 Shame to your city, insult to the gods. 
 
 CHORUS, IOLAUS, COPREUS. 
 
 CHOR. What clamorous voices from yon altars rise ? 
 What mischiefs are impending ? 
 
 IOL. See a man 
 
 Burdened with age, wretch that I am ! lie prostrate. 
 
 CHOR. Who threw thee down ? what execrable hand 
 
 IOL. 'Tis he, O stranger, he who to your gods 
 Yielding no reverence, strives with impious force 
 E'en now, to drag me from this hallowed seat 
 Before Jove's altar. 
 
 CHOR. He ! But from what land 
 
 Cam'st thou, old man, to this confederate state 
 Formed of four cities ? From the distant coast 
 Of steep Eubcea did ye ply your oars ? 
 
 IOL. The life I lead, O stranger, is not that 
 Of vagrant islanders ; but in your realm 
 From famed Mycene's bulwarks I arrive. 
 
 CHOR. Among thy countrymen, old man, what name 
 Thou bear's!, inform me. 
 
 IOL. Ye perchance knew somewhat 
 
 Of lolaus, great Alcides' comrade, 
 A name not quite unnoticed by renown. 
 
 CHOR. I formerly have heard of him : but say 
 Who is the father of that infant race, 
 Whom with thy arm thou guid'st ? 
 
 IOL. These are the sons 
 
 Of Hercules, O strangers, they, to you, 
 And to your city, humble suppliants come.
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 CHOR. On what account, inform me ; to demand 
 An audience of the state ? 
 
 IOL. That to their foes 
 
 They may not be surrendered up, nor torn 
 Forcibly from the altars of your gods, 
 And carried back to Argos. 
 
 COP. But thy lords 
 
 Who bear rule over thee, and hither trace 
 Thy steps, will ne'er be satisfied with this. 
 
 CHOR. O stranger, 'tis our duty to revere 
 The suppliants of the gods : with forceful hand 
 Shall no man drag thee from this holy spot, 
 This seat of the immortal powers ; dread justice 
 Shall guard thee from the wrong. 
 
 COP. Out of your land 
 
 The vagrant subjects of Eurystheus drive, 
 As I admonish ; and this hand shall use 
 No violence. 
 
 CHOR. How impious is that city 
 
 Which disregards the helpless stranger's prayer ! 
 
 COP. 'Twere best to interfere not in these broils, 
 And to adopt some more expedient counsels. 
 
 CHOR. You, therefore, to the monarch of this realm 
 Should have declared your errand, ere thus far 
 You had proceeded : but with brutal force 
 These strangers from the altars of the gods 
 Presume not to convey, and to this land 
 Of freedom yield due reverence. 
 
 COP. But what king 
 
 Rules this domain and city ? 
 
 CHOR. Theseus' son, 
 
 Renowned Demophoon. 
 
 COP. Better I with him 
 
 This contest could decide : for all I yet 
 Have spoken, is but a mere waste of words. 
 
 CHOR. Behold, he hither comes in haste, and with him, 
 To hear this cause, his brother Acamas. 
 
 DEMOPHOON, IOLAUS, COPREUS, CHORUS. 
 
 DEM. Since by thy speed, old man, thou hast outstripped 
 Thy juniors, and already reached the shrine 
 Of Jove, inform me what event hath caused 
 This multitude t' assemble. 
 
 CHOR. There the sons 
 
 Of Hercules in suppliant posture sit, 
 And with their wreaths, as you behold, O king, 
 Adorn the altar ; that is lolaus, 
 The faithful comrade of their valiant sire. 
 
 DEM. How needed their distress these clamorous shrieks ?
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 89 
 
 CHOR. \turning towards COPREUS.] 
 He raised the uproar, when by force he strove 
 To bear them hence, and on his knees, to earth 
 Threw the old man, till I for pity wept 
 
 DEM. Although he in the habit which he wears 
 Adopts the mode of Greece, such deeds as these 
 Speak the barbarian. But without delay 
 On thee it is incumbent now to tell me 
 The country whence thou cam'st. 
 
 COP. I am an Argive ; 
 
 Thus far to solve your question : but from whence 
 I come, and on what errand, will I add ; 
 Mycene's king, Eurystheus, sends me hither 
 To fetch these vagrants home : yet I, O stranger, 
 Will with abundant justice, in my actions, 
 As well as words, proceed ; myself an Argive, 
 I bear away these Argives, I but seize 
 The fugitives who from my native land 
 Escaped, when by the laws which there prevail 
 They were ordained to bleed. We have a right, 
 Because we are the rulers of the city, 
 To execute the sentence we enact 
 'Gainst our own subjects. To the sacred hearths 
 Of many other states when they repaired, 
 We urged the self-same reasons, and none ventured 
 To be the authors of their own destruction. 
 But haply they in you may have perceived 
 A foolish tenderness, and hither come, 
 Desperate themselves, you also to involve 
 In the same perils, whether they succeed 
 Or fail in the emprise : for they no hope 
 Can cherish, while you yet retain your reason, 
 That you alone, in all the wide extent 
 Of Greece, whose various regions they have traversed, 
 Should pity those calamities which rise 
 But from, their own imprudence. Now compare 
 Th' alternative proposed ; by sheltering them. 
 In these dominions, or allowing us 
 To bear them hence, what gain may you expect ? 
 Side but with us, these benefits are yours : 
 Eurystheus' self, and Argos' numerous troops, 
 Will aid this city with their utmost might ; 
 But if, by their seducing language moved, 
 Ye harbour groundless pity for their woes, 
 Arms must decide the strife. Nor vainly think 
 We will desist till we have fully tried 
 The temper of our swords. But what excuse 
 Have ye to plead ? Of what domains bereft 
 Are ye provoked to wage a desperate war
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 With the Tirynthian Argives ? What allies 
 
 Will aid you ? What pretext can ye allege 
 
 To claim funereal honours for the slain ? 
 
 The curses of your city will await 
 
 Such conduct; for the sake of that old man, 
 
 Whom I may justly call a tomb, a shadow, 
 
 And those unfriended children, should you step 
 
 Into the yawning gulf. Suppose the best 
 
 Which possibly can happen, that a prospect 
 
 Of future good hence rises; distant hopes 
 
 Fall short of present gain. In riper years 
 
 111 can these youths be qualified to fight 
 
 Against the Argive host (if this ela'.e 
 
 Your soul with hope), and ere that wished event 
 
 There is a length of intermediate time 
 
 In which ye may be ruined ; but comply 
 
 With my advice ; on me no gift bestow, 
 
 Let me but take what to ourselves belongs, 
 
 Mycene shall be yours. But oh, forbear 
 
 To act as ye are wont, nor form a league 
 
 With those of no account, when mightier friends 
 
 May be procured. 
 
 DEM. Who can decide a cause 
 
 Or ascertain its merits till he hear 
 Both sides distinctly ? 
 
 IOL. In your land, O king, 
 
 This great advantage, freedom of reply 
 To the malignant charge against me urged, 
 I find, and no man, as from other cities, 
 Shall drive me hence. But we have nothing left 
 For which it now behoves us to contend 
 With him, nor aught, since that decree hath passed, 
 To do with Argos ; from our native land 
 We are cast forth. In this distressful state, 
 How cnn he drag us back again with justice 
 As subjects of Mycene, to that realm 
 Which hath already banished us ? We there 
 Are only foreigners. But why should he 
 Whom Argos dooms to exile, by all Greece 
 Be also exiled ? Not by Athens sure ; 
 For ne'er will Athens from its blest domains 
 Expel the race of Hercules, appalled 
 By Argos' menaced wrath. For neither Trachis, 
 Nor is that city of Achaia here, 
 Whence thou by boasting of the might of Argos 
 In weeds like those which thou hast uttered now, 
 These supplhnts didst unjustly drive away 
 Though seated at the altars. If thy threats 
 prevail, no longer shall wq find.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 91 
 
 Freedom, not e'en in Athens ; but I know 
 
 Full well the generous temper of its sons, 
 
 And rather would they die. For to the brave 
 
 Shame is a load which renders life most hateful. 
 
 Enough of Athens for immoderate praise 
 
 Becomes invidious ; I remember too 
 
 How oft I have been heretofore distressed 
 
 By overstrained encomiums. But on you 
 
 How greatly 'tis incumbent to protect 
 
 These children will I show, since o'er this land 
 
 You rule ; for Piltheus was the son or Pelops, 
 
 From Pittheus ALihra. sprung, from ^uhra Theseus 
 
 Your father ; from your ancestors to those 
 
 Of your unhappy suppliants I proceed ; 
 
 Alcides was the son of thundering Jove 
 
 And of Alcmena; from Lysidice, 
 
 Daughter of Pelops, did Alcmena spring, 
 
 One common grandsire gave your grandame birth, 
 
 And theirs ; so near in blood are you to them ; 
 
 But, O Demophoon, what beyond the ties 
 
 Of family you to these children owe 
 
 Will I inform you, and relate how erst 
 
 With Theseus in one bark I sailed, and bore 
 
 Their father's shield, when we that belt, the cause 
 
 Of dreadful slaughter, sought ; and from the caves 
 
 Of Pluto, Hercules led back your sire. 
 
 This truth all Greece attests. They in return 
 
 From you implore this boon, that to their foes 
 
 They may not be surrendered up, nor torn 
 
 By force from these your tutelary gods, 
 
 And banished from this realm. For to yourself 
 
 'Twere infamous and baneful to your city 
 
 Should suppliants, exiles, sprung from ancestors 
 
 The same with yours (ah, miserable me ! 
 
 Behold, behold them !) with a forceful arm 
 
 Be dragged a\vay. But to your hands, and beard, 
 
 Lifting these hallowed branches, I entreat you 
 
 Slight not Alcides' children, undertake 
 
 Their cause ; and, oh, to them become a kinsman, 
 
 Become a friend, a father, brother, lord, 
 
 For better were it to admit these claims, 
 
 Than suffer them to fall beneath the rage 
 
 Of Argive tyrants. 
 
 CHOR. ' I with pity heard 
 
 Their woes, O king, but now I clearly see 
 How noble birth to adverse .fortune yields ; 
 For though they spring from an illustrious sire, 
 Yet meet they with afflictions they deserve not. 
 
 DEM. Three powerful motives urge me, while I view
 
 92 EURIPIDES. 
 
 The misery which attends you, not to spurn 
 
 These strangers ; first dread Jove, before whose altars 
 
 You with these children sit; next kindred ties, 
 
 And services performed in ancient days, 
 
 Give them a claim to such relief from me 
 
 As from their godlike father mine obtained ; 
 
 And last of all that infamy which most 
 
 I ought to loathe ; for if I should permit 
 
 A foreigner this altar to despoil, 
 
 I in a land of freedom shall no longer 
 
 Appear to dwell, but to surrender up, 
 
 Through fear, the suppliants to their Argive lords, 
 
 In this extreme of danger. Would to heaven 
 
 You had arrived with happier auspices ; 
 
 But tremble not lest any brutal hand 
 
 Should from this hallowed altar force away 
 
 You and the children. Therefore go thou back 
 
 To Argos, and this message to Eurystheus 
 
 Deliver ; tell him too if there be aught 
 
 Which 'gainst our guests he can allege, the laws 
 
 Are open ; but thou shalt not drag them hence. 
 
 COP. Not if I prove that it is just, and bring 
 Prevailing reasons ? 
 
 DEM. f How can it be just 
 
 To drive away the suppliant ? 
 
 COP. Hence no shame 
 
 Shall light on me, but ruin on your head. 
 
 DEM. Should I permit thee to convey them hence 
 In me 'twere base indeed. 
 
 COP. Let them be banished 
 
 From your domains, and I elsewhere will seize them. 
 
 DEM. Thou fool, who deem'st thyself more wise than 
 Jove ! 
 
 COP. All villains may, it seems, take refuge here. 
 
 DEM. This altar of the gods, to all affords 
 A sure asylum. 
 
 COP. In a different light, 
 
 This to Mycene's rulers will appear. 
 
 DEM. Am not I then the monarch of this realm ? 
 
 COP. Offer no wrong to them, if you are wise. 
 
 DEM. Do ye then suffer wrong when I refuse 
 To violate the temples of the gods ? 
 
 COP. I would not have you enter on a war 
 Against the Argives. 
 
 DEM. Equally inclined 
 
 Am I to peace, yet will not I yield up 
 These suppliants. 
 
 COP. Hence am I resolved to drag 
 
 Those who belong to me.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 93 
 
 DEM. Thou then to Argos 
 
 Shalt not with ease return. 
 
 COP. Soon will I make 
 
 Th J experiment and know. 
 
 DEM. If thou presume 
 
 To touch them, thou immediately shalt rue it. 
 
 COP. I by the gods conjure you not to strike 
 A herald. 
 
 DEM. Strike I will, unless that herald 
 Learn to behave discreetly. 
 
 CHOR. Go. And you, 
 
 king, forbear to touch him. 
 
 COP. I retire : 
 
 For weak in combat is a single arm. 
 But I again shall hither come, and bring 
 A host of Argives armed with brazen spears : 
 Unnumbered warriors wait for my return. 
 The king himself, Eurystheus, is their chief ; 
 He on the borders of Alcathous' realm 
 Waits for an answer. He in glittering mail, 
 Soon as he hears your arrogant reply, 
 To you, your subjects, this devoted realm, 
 And all its wasted forests will appear, 
 For we in vain at Argos should possess 
 A band so numerous of heroic youths, 
 If we chastised not your assuming pride. \Exit COPREUS. 
 
 DEM. Away, detested miscreant ; for I fear not 
 Thy Argos : and thou ne'er, by dragging hence 
 These suppliants, shalt disgrace me : for this city 
 As an appendage to the Argive realm 
 
 1 hold not, but its freedom will maintain. 
 CHOR. 'Tis time each sage precaution to exert, 
 
 Ere to the confines of this land advance 
 The troops of Argos : for Mycene's wrath 
 Is terrible in combat, and more fierce 
 Than heretofore will they invade us now. 
 For to exaggerate facts beyond the truth 
 Is every herald's custom. To his king, 
 How many specious tales do you suppose 
 Of the atrocious insults he endured, 
 He will relate, and add how he the Joss 
 Of life endangered ? 
 
 IOL. To the sons devolve 
 
 No honours which exceed the being born 
 Of an illustrious and heroic sire, 
 And wedding into virtuous families. 
 But on that man no praise will I bestow, 
 Who by his lusts impelled, among the wicked 
 A nuptial union forms; hence to his sons
 
 94 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Disgrace, instead of pleasure, he bequeaths. 
 
 For noble birth repels adversity 
 
 Belter than abject parentage. When sinking 
 
 Under the utmost pressure of our woes, 
 
 We find these friends and kinsmen, who alone 
 
 Amid the populous extent of Greece 
 
 Stand forth in our behalf. Ye generous youths, 
 
 Now give them your right hands, and in return 
 
 Take those of your protectors : O my sons, 
 
 Draw near : we have made trial of our friends. 
 
 If ye again behold your native walls, 
 
 Possess the self-same mansions, and the honours 
 
 Which your illustrious father erst enjoyed ; 
 
 These deem your saviours and your friends, nor wield 
 
 Against their fostering land the hostile spear. 
 
 On your remembrance let these benefits 
 
 Be ever stamped, and hold this city dear ; 
 
 For they deserve your reverence, who from us 
 
 Repel so great a nation, such a swarm 
 
 Of fierce Pelasgian troops : and, though they see 
 
 Our poverty and exile, have refused 
 
 To yield us up, or banish from their realm. 
 
 Both while I live, and after the cold grave 
 
 Receives me at the destined hour, my friend, 
 
 I with loud voice your merits \vill applaud, 
 
 Approaching mighty Theseus, and my words 
 
 Shall soothe your father's ear when I recount 
 
 With what humanity you have received us, 
 
 And how protected the defenceless sons 
 
 Of Hercules : by your illustrious birth 
 
 Distinguished, you the glories of your sire 
 
 Through Greece maintain : sprung from a noble lineage, 
 
 Yet are you one among that chosen few 
 
 Who in no instance deviate from the virtues 
 
 Of your great ancestry : although 'mid thousands 
 
 Scarce is a single instance to be found 
 
 Of those who emulate their father's worth. 
 
 CHOR. This country, in a just and honest cause, 
 Is ever prompt to succour the distressed. 
 Hence in its friends' behalf hath it sustained 
 Unnumbered toils, and now another conflict 
 I see impending. 
 
 DEM. Rightly hast thou spoken, 
 
 And in such toils I feel a conscious pride. 
 These benefits shall never be forgotten ; 
 But an assembly of the citizens 
 I instantly will summon, and arrange 
 A numerous squadron, to receive the onset 
 Of fierce Mycene's host, first sending spies
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 
 
 95 
 
 To meet them, lest they unawares assail us. 
 For the bold warrior, who without delay 
 Goes forth to battle, keeps the foe aloof. 
 I also will collect the seers, and slay 
 The victims ; but do you, old man, meanwhile 
 Enter the palace with these children, leaving 
 Jove's altar: for my menial train are there, 
 Who will with fond solicitude attend you, 
 Although I am not present : but go in. 
 
 IOL. I will not leave the altar ; on this seat 
 We suppliants will remain, and pray to Jove, 
 That prosperous fortunes may attend your city. 
 But when you from this conflict are with glory 
 Released, we to your palace will repair ; 
 Nor are the gods, who war on our behalf, 
 O king, inferior to the gods of Argos. 
 For o'er that city, Jove's majestic consort, 
 Juno, but here Minerva doth preside. 
 This I maintain, that nought ensures success 
 Beyond the aid of mightier deities, 
 Nor will imperial Pallas be subdued. \Exit DEMOPHOON. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Boast as thou wilt, and urge thy proud demand, 
 This nation disregards thy ire, 
 Thou stranger from the Argive land. 
 Nor can thy sounding words control 
 The steadfast purpose of my soul : 
 Great Athens, by her lovely choir 
 Distinguished, shall unstained preserve 
 Her ancient glory, nor from virtue swerve ; 
 But thou, devoid of wisdom, dost obey 
 The son of Sthenelus, the tyrant's impious sway, 
 
 II, 
 
 Who com'st amidst an independent state, 
 
 In nought inferior to the strength 
 
 Of Argos, and with brutal hate 
 
 Da^st, though a foreigner, to seize 
 
 The exiles, who our deities 
 
 Implore, and in these realms at length 
 
 From their distress obtain a shield : 
 Thou e'en to sceptred monarchs will not yield, 
 Yet no just plea thy subtle tongue hath found. 
 How can such conduct warp the man whose judgment'?? 
 
 sound ?
 
 96 EURIPIDES. 
 
 in. 
 Peace is the object of my dear delight : 
 
 But thou, O tyrant, thou whose breast 
 Well may I deem by frenzy is possest, 
 If 'gainst this city thou exert thy might, 
 Pant'st after trophies which thou ne'er shalt gain. 
 
 Bearing targe and brazen lance 
 
 Others with equal arms advance. 
 O thou, who fondly seek'st th' embattled plain, 
 
 Shake not these turrets, spare the haunt 
 Of every gentle grace. Thou wretch, avaunt. 
 
 DEMOPHOON, IOLAUS, CHORUS. 
 
 lOL. Why com'st thou hither, O my son, with eyes 
 Expressive of affliction ? from the foe 
 What recent information canst thou give ? 
 Do they delay their march, are they at hand, 
 Or bring'st thou any tidings ? for the threats 
 That herald uttered sure will be accomplished. 
 Blest in the favour of the gods, the tyrant 
 Exults, I know, and arrogantly deems 
 That he o'er Athens shall prevail ; but Jove 
 Chastises the presumptuous. 
 
 DEM. Argos comes 
 
 With numerous squadrons, and its king Eurystheus, 
 Myself beheld him. It behoves the man 
 Who claims the merit of an able chief, 
 Not to depend upon his spies alone 
 To mark the foe's approach. But with his host 
 He hath not yet invaded these domains, 
 But halting on yon mountain's topmost ridge 
 Observes (I from conjecture speak) the road 
 By which he may lead forth his troops to battle, 
 And where he in this realm with greatest safety 
 May station them. Already have I made 
 Each preparation to repel their onset. 
 The city is in arms, the victims stand 
 Before the altars, with their blood t' appease 
 The wrath of every god, and due lustrations 
 Are sprinkled by the seers, that o'er our foes 
 We may obtain a triumph, and preserve 
 This country. Every prophet who expounds 
 The oracles, convening, have I searched 
 Into ench sage response of ancient times, 
 Or public or concealed, on which depends 
 The welfare of the realm. In all beside 
 Differ Heaven's mandates : but one dread behest
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 97 
 
 Runs through the several auspices, to Ceres 
 
 They bid me sacrifice some blooming maid 
 
 Who from a nobler sire derives her birth. 
 
 Zeal have I shown abundant in your cause, 
 
 But will not slay my daughter, nor constrain 
 
 Any Athenian citizen to make 
 
 Such an abhorred oblation : for the man 
 
 Exists not, who is so devoid of reason, 
 
 As willingly to yield his children up 
 
 With his^own hands. But what afflicts me most 
 
 Is this : tumultuous crowds appear; some cry, 
 
 'Tis just that we the foreign suppliants aid, 
 
 But others blame my folly. If no means 
 
 Can be devised to satisfy them all, 
 
 Soon will a storm of civil war arise. 
 
 See thou to this, and think of some expedient, 
 
 How ye and how this country may be saved, 
 
 Without the citizens' calumnious tongues 
 
 My fame assailing. For I rule not here 
 
 With boundless power, like a barbarian king; 
 
 Let but my deeds be just, and in return 
 
 Shall I experience justice. 
 
 CHOR. Will not Jove 
 
 Suffer this city to exert its courage, 
 And aid these hapless strangers as we wish ? 
 
 lOL. Our situation, O my sons, resembles 
 That of the mariners, who having 'scaped 
 The storm's relentless fury, when in sight 
 Of land, are from the coast by adverse winds 
 Driven back into the deep. Thus from this realm 
 Just as we reach the shore, like shipwrecked men, 
 Are we expelled. O inauspicious Hope, 
 Why didst thou soothe me with ideal joy, 
 Although it was ordained that thou shoulcl'st leave 
 Thy favours incomplete ? The king deserves 
 At least to be excused, if he consent not 
 To slay his subjects' daughters; to this city 
 My praise is due, and if the gods would place me 
 In the same prosperous fortunes, from my soul 
 Your benefits should never be effaced. 
 But now, alas ! no counsel can I give 
 To you, my children. Whither shall we turn ? 
 What god have we neglected ? To what land 
 Have we not fled for shelter ? We must perish, 
 We shall be yielded up. My being doomed 
 To die, I heed but for this cause alone, 
 That by my death I shall afford delight 
 To our perfidious foes. But, O my sons. 
 For you I weep, I pity you, I pity
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Alcmena, aged mother of your sire, 
 
 Oh, most unhappy in a life too long ! 
 
 I too am wretched, who unnumbered toils 
 
 Have fruitlessly endured ; it was ordained, 
 
 It was ordained, alas ! that we should fall 
 
 Into the hands of our relentless foes, 
 
 And meet a shameful, miserable death. 
 
 Know you, what still remains for you to do, 
 
 On my behalf? For all my hopes of saving 
 
 The children are not vanished. In their stead 
 
 Me to the Argive hcst surrender up, 
 
 O king, and rush not into needless danger, 
 
 Yet save these children. To retain a love 
 
 Of life becomes me not ; I yield it up 
 
 Without regret. It is Eurystheus' wish 
 
 The rather to seize me, and to expose 
 
 To infamy, because I was the comrade 
 
 Of Hercules ; for frenzy hath possessed 
 
 His soul. The wise man, e'en in those he hates, 
 
 Had rather find discretion than a want 
 
 Of understanding; for a foe endued 
 
 With sense will pay due reverence to the vanquished. 
 
 CHOR. Forbear, old man, thus hastily to blame 
 This city; for to us though it might prove 
 More advantageous, yet to our disgrace 
 Would it redound, should we betray our guests. 
 
 DEM. A generous, but impracticable, scheme 
 Is that thou hast proposed : for Argos' king 
 In quest of thee no squadrons hither leads. 
 What profit to Eurystheus from the death 
 Of one so old as thou art could arise ? 
 He wants to murder these : for to their foes 
 The rising blossoms of a noble race, 
 To whom the memory of their father's wrongs 
 Is present, must be dreadful : for all this 
 He cannot but foresee. But if thou know 
 Of any other counsel more expedient, 
 Adopt it ; for my soul hath been perplexed, 
 Since that oracular response 1 heard 
 Which fills me with unwelcome apprehensions. 
 
 [Exit DEMOPHOON. 
 
 MACARIA, IOLAUS, CHORUS. 
 MAC. Deem not that I, O strangers, am too bold 
 Because I from my chamber venture forth ; 
 This is my first request : for silence, 'oined 
 With modesty and a domestic life, 
 Is woman's best accomplishment. I heard 
 Your groans, O lolaus, and advanced
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 
 
 Though not appointed by our house to act 
 As their ambassadress ; in some degree 
 Yet am I qualified for such an office, 
 I have so great an interest in the weal 
 Of these my brothers ; on my own account 
 I also wish to hear if any ill, 
 Added to those you have already suffered, 
 Torture your soul. 
 
 lOL. Not now for the first time, 
 
 On thee, O daughter, most of all the children 
 Of Hercules my praise can I bestow : 
 But our ill-fated house, just as it seemed 
 Emerging from its past disgraces, sinks 
 Afresh into inextricable ruin. 
 The king informs us, that the seers, whose voice 
 Expounds the will of heaven, have signified 
 No bull nor heifer, but some blooming- maid 
 Who from a noble sire derives her birth, 
 Must bs the victim, if we would redeem 
 The city and ourselves from utter ruin ; 
 Here then are we perplexed : for his own children 
 He says he will not sacririce, nor those 
 Of any of his subjects. Though to me 
 Indeed he speaks not plainly, in some sort 
 He intimates, that if we by no means 
 Can extricate ourselves from these distresses, 
 We must find out some other land to flee to, 
 For he this realm would from destruction save. 
 
 MAC. May we indulge the hope of our escape 
 Upon these terms ? 
 
 lOL. These only : in all else 
 
 With prosperous fortunes crowned. 
 
 MAC. No longer dread 
 
 The spear of Argos, for myself, old man, 
 Am ready, ere they doom me to be slain, 
 And here stand forth a voluntary victim. 
 For what could we allege on our behalf, 
 If Athens condescend to undergo 
 Dangers so great, while we who have imposed 
 These toils on others, though within our reach 
 Lie all the means of being saved, yet shrink 
 From death ? Not thus : we should provoke the laugh 
 Of universal scorn, if, with loud groans, 
 We suppliants, at the altars of the gods, 
 Should take our seats, and prove devoid of courage, 
 From that illustrious father though we spring. 
 How can the virtuous reconcile such conduct ? 
 This to our glory would forsooth redound 
 (O may it never'happen !) when this city 
 
 D 2 
 
 99
 
 ) EURIPIDES. 
 
 Is takevi, should we fall into the hands 
 
 Of our triumphant foes, when after all 
 
 Some noble maid reluctant must be dragged 
 
 To Pluto's loathed embrace. But from these realms 
 
 Cast forth, should I become an abject vagrant. 
 
 Must I not blush when any one inquires, 
 
 " Why came ye hither with your suppliant branches 
 
 Too fond of life ? Retreat from these domains, 
 
 For we no aid to cowards will afford." 
 
 But if when these are dead, my single life 
 
 Be saved, I cannot entertain a hope 
 
 That I shall e'er be happy : through this motive 
 
 Have caused full many^to betray their friends. 
 
 For who with a deserted maid will join, 
 
 Or in the bonds of wedlock, or desire 
 
 That I to him a race of sons should bear ? 
 
 I therefore hold it better far to die, 
 
 Than to endure, without deserving them, 
 
 Such foul indignities, as can seern light 
 
 To her alone, who, from a noble race 
 
 Like mine, descends not : to the scene of death 
 
 Conduct, with garlands crown me, and prepare 
 
 If ye think fit, th' initiatory rites ; 
 
 Ye hence the foe shall conquer : for this soul 
 
 Shrinks not with mean reluctance. I engage 
 
 For these my brothers, and myself, to bleed 
 
 A willing victim; for with ease detached 
 
 From life, I have imbibed this best of lessons, 
 
 To die with firmness in a glorious cause. 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! what language shall I find, t' express 
 My admiration of the lofty speech 
 I from this virgin hear, who for her brothers 
 Resolves to die ? What tongue can utter words 
 More truly generous ; or what man surpass 
 Such deeds as these ? 
 
 lOL. Thou art no spurious child, 
 
 But from the godlike seed of Hercules, 
 O daughter, dost indeed derive thy birth. 
 Although thy words are such as cannot shame, 
 Thy fate afflicts me. Yet will I propose 
 What may with greater justice be performed. 
 Together call the sisters of this maid, 
 And to atone for the whole race, let her 
 On whom th' impartial lot shall fall, be slain ; 
 But without such decision 'tis not just 
 That thou should'st die. 
 
 MAC. I will not die as chance 
 
 The lot dispenses ; for I hence should forfeit 
 All merit : name not such a scheme, old man.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 
 
 If me ye will accept, and of my zeal 
 
 Avail yourselves, I gladly yield up life 
 
 Upon these terms, but stoop not to constraint. 
 
 IOL. The speech thou now hast uttered soars beyond 
 What thou at first didst say, though that was noble : 
 But thou thy former courage dost surpass 
 By this fresh instance of exalted courage, 
 The merit of thy former words, by words 
 More meritorious. Daughter, I command not, 
 Nor yet oppose thy death : for thou by dying 
 Wilt serve thy brothers. 
 
 MAC. You in cautious terms 
 
 Command me : fear not, lest on my account 
 You should contract pollution : for to die 
 Is my free choice. But follow me, old man, 
 For in your arms would I expire : attend, 
 And o'er my body cast the decent veil : 
 To dreadful slaughter dauntless I go forth, 
 Because I from that father spring, whose name 
 With pride I utter. 
 
 IOL. At the hour of death 
 
 I cannot stand beside thee. 
 
 MAC. Grant but this, 
 
 That when I breathe my last, I may be tended 
 By women, not by men. 
 
 IOL. It shall be thus, 
 
 O miserable virgin : for in me 
 'Twere base, if I neglected any rite 
 That decency enjoins, for many reasons ; 
 Because thy soul is great, because 'tis just, 
 And of all women I have ever seen, 
 Because thou art most wretched. But from these 
 And from thy aged kinsman, if thou wish 
 For aught, to me thy last behests address. 
 
 MAC. Adieu, my venerable friend, adieu ! 
 Instruct these boys in every branch of wisdom, 
 And make them like yourself, they can attain 
 No higher pitch ; strive to protect them still, 
 And for their sake that valued life prolong ; 
 Your children we, to you our nurture owe. 
 Me you behold, mature for bridal joys, 
 Dying to save them. But may ye, my band 
 Of brothers who are here, be blest, and gain 
 All those advantages, which to procure 
 For you, the falchion shall transpierce my breast. 
 Revere this good old man, revere Alcmena 
 Your father's aged mother, and these strangers. 
 Should ye be ever rescued from your woes, 
 Should gracious Heaven permit you to revisit
 
 102 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Your native land, forget not to inter, 
 With such magnificence as I deserve, 
 Your benefactress, for I have not proved 
 Deficient in attention to your welfare, 
 But die to save our family. To me 
 These monumental honours shall suffice 
 Instead of children, or the virgin state, 
 If there be aught amid the realms beneath, 
 But 'tis my wish there may not : for if grief 
 On us frail mortals also there attend, 
 I know not whither any one can turn : 
 For by the wise hath death been ever deemed 
 The most effectual cure for every ill. 
 
 IOL. O thou, distinguished by thy lofty soul, 
 Be well assured thy glory shall outshine 
 That of all other women ; both in life 
 And death, shall thou be honoured by thy friends. 
 But ah, farewell ! for with ill-omened words 
 I tremble lest we should provoke the goddess, 
 Dread Proserpine, to whom thou now art sacred. 
 
 {Exit MACARTA. 
 
 My sons I perish : grief unnerves my frame ; 
 Support and place me in the hallowed seat : 
 And, O my dearest children, o'er my face 
 Extend this garment : for I am not pleased 
 With what is done : yet, had not Heaven's response 
 Found this completion, we must all have died ; 
 For we must then have suffered greater ills 
 Than these, which are already most severe. 
 
 In just prc 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 proportion, as the gods ordain, 
 Is bliss diffused through life's short span, 
 Or sorrow portioned out to man : 
 No favoured house can still maintain 
 From age to age its prosperous state, 
 
 For swift are the vicissitudes of fate, 
 
 Who now assails pride's towering crest, 
 Now makes the drooping exile blest. 
 From destiny we cannot fly ; 
 No wisdom can her shafts repel ; 
 
 But he who vainly dares her power defy 
 
 Compassed with endless toils shall dwell. 
 Ask not from Heaven with impious prayer, 
 Blessings it cannot grant to man, 
 Nor waste in misery life's short span 
 O'erwhelmed by querulous despair.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 103 
 
 The nymph goes forth to meet a noble death, 
 
 Her brothers and this land to save, 
 
 And fame, with tributary breath 
 
 Shall sound her praises in the grave. 
 
 For dauntless virtue finds a way 
 Through labours which her progress would delay. 
 
 Such deeds as these, her father grace, 
 
 And add fresh splendour to her race, 
 But if with reverential awe thou shed 
 
 Over the virtuous dead 
 A tear of pity, in that tear I'll join, 
 
 Inspired with sentiments like thine. 
 
 SERVANT, IOLAUS, CHORUS. 
 
 SER. Ye children, hail ! but where is lolaus, 
 That aged man ; and hath your grandame left 
 Her seat before the altar? 
 
 IOL. Here am I, 
 
 If aught my presence can avail. 
 
 SER. On earth 
 
 Why. art thou stretched, what means that downcast look ? 
 
 IOL. Domestic cares have harrowed up my soul. 
 
 SER. Lift up thy head, arise. 
 
 IOL. I am grown old, 
 
 And all my strength is vanished. 
 
 SER. But to thee 
 
 I bring most joyful tidings. 
 
 IOL. Who art thou ? 
 
 Where have I seen thee ? I remember not. 
 
 SER. Hyllus' attendant, canst thou not distinguish 
 These features ? 
 
 IOL. O my friend, art thou arrived 
 
 To snatch me from despair ? 
 
 SER. Most certainly : 
 
 Moreover the intelligence I bring 
 Will make thee happy. 
 
 IOL. Thee I call, come forth, 
 
 Alcmena, mother of a noble son. 
 And listen to these acceptable tidings : 
 Full long thy soul, for those who now approach, 
 Was torn with grief, lest they should ne'er return. 
 
 ALCMENA, SERVANT, IOLAUS, CHORUS. 
 ALC. Whence with your voice resounds this echoing dome, 
 O lolaus, is another herald 
 From Argos come, who forcibly assails you ? 
 My strength indeed is small, yet be assured 
 Of this, presumptuous stranger, while I live 
 Thou shalt not bear them hence. May I no more
 
 io 4 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Be deemed the mother of that godlike son, 
 When I submit to this. But if thou dare 
 To touch the children, with two aged foes 
 Ignobly wilt thou strive. 
 
 IOL. Be of good cheer, 
 
 Thou hoary matron, banish these alarms ; 
 No herald with a hostile message comes 
 From Argos. 
 
 ALC. Why then raised you that loud voice, 
 
 The harbinger of fear ? 
 
 IOL. That from the temple 
 
 Thou might'st come forth, and join us. 
 
 ALC. What you mean 
 
 I comprehend not. Who is this ? 
 
 IOL. He tells us 
 
 Thy grandson marches hither. 
 
 ALC. Hail, O thou 
 
 Who bear'st these welcome tidings ? but what brings him 
 To these domains ? Where is he ? What affairs 
 Prevented him from coming hither with thee, 
 To fill my soul with transport ? 
 
 SER. He now marshals 
 
 The forces which attend him. 
 
 ALC. In this conference 
 
 Am I no longer then allowed to join ? 
 
 IOL. Thou art : but 'tis my business to inquire 
 Into these matters. 
 
 SER. Which of his transactions 
 
 Say art thou most solicitous to know ? 
 
 IOL. The number of the troops he leads ? 
 
 SER. Is great, 
 
 I cannot count them. 
 
 IOL. The Athenian chiefs 
 
 Are sure apprized of this. 
 
 SER. They are apprized, 
 
 And the left wing is formed. 
 
 IOL. Then the whole host 
 
 Arrayed in arms is ready for the battle. 
 
 SER. The victims to a distance from the ranks 
 Already are removed. 
 
 IOL. But at what distance 
 
 Is the encampment of the Argive warriors ? 
 
 SER. So near that we their leader can distinguish. 
 
 IOL. What is he doing ; marshalling our foes ? 
 
 SER. This we conjecture : for I could not hear 
 His voice : but I must go ; for I my lord 
 Will not abandon when he nobly braves 
 The dangers of the field. 
 
 IOL. I too with thee
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 105 
 
 Will join him ; for the same are our intentions, 
 As honour bids us, to assist our friends. 
 
 SER. Unwisely hast thou spoken. 
 
 IOL. With my friends 
 
 Shall not I then the stubborn conflict share ? 
 
 SER. That strength which erst was thine is now no more. 
 
 IOL. Can I not pierce their shields ? 
 
 SER. Thou may'st : but first, 
 
 More likely, fall thyself. 
 
 IOL. No foe will dare 
 
 To meet me face to face. 
 
 SER. By thy mere looks, 
 
 With that debilitated arm, no wound 
 Canst thou inflict. 
 
 IOL. My presence in the field 
 
 Will to our troops give courage, and augment 
 Their number. 
 
 SER. Of small service to thy friends 
 
 Will thy appearance prove. 
 
 IOL. Detain me not : 
 
 I for some glorious action am prepared. 
 
 SER. Thou hast the will to act, but not the power 
 
 IOL. I will not be reproached for loitering here, 
 Say what thou wilt beside. 
 
 SER. But without arms 
 
 How wilt thou face yon warriors sheathed in mail ? 
 
 IOL. The various implements of war are lodged 
 Beneath these roofs ; with freedom will I use, 
 And if I live, return them ; if I die, 
 The god will not demand them back again. 
 Go then into the temple, and reach down 
 Those martial trappings from the golden nails 
 On which they hang, and bring them to me swiftly. 
 For this were infamous, while some are fighting, 
 If others loiter slothfully behind. [Exti SERVANT. 
 
 CHOR. Time hath not yet debased that lofty soul 
 'Tis vigorious, though thy body be decayed. 
 Why should'st thou enter on these fruitless toils, 
 Which only injure thee, and to our city 
 Can be of little service ? on thy age 
 Should'st thou reflect, and lay aside attempts 
 That are impossible, for by no arts 
 The long-lost force of youth canst thou regain. 
 
 ALC. What schemes are these? distempered in yojar mind, 
 Me and my children mean you to abandon ? 
 
 IOL. The battle is man's province : to thy care 
 Them I consign. 
 
 ALC. But if you die, what means 
 
 Have I of being saved ?
 
 io 5 EURIPIDES. 
 
 IOL. The tender care 
 
 Of the surviving children of thy son. 
 
 ALC. Should they too meet \vith some severe mishap, 
 Which may the gods forbid. 
 
 IOL. These generous strangers 
 
 Will not betray thee ; banish every fear. 
 
 ALC. In them I trust : I have no other friend. 
 
 IOL. Jove too, I know, is mindful of thy toils. 
 
 ALC. I will not speak in disrespectful terms 
 Of Jove: but whether he his plighted troth 
 Have kept, full well he knows. 
 
 SER. \returning^\ Thou here behold'st 
 
 The brazen panoply, now haste to sheathe 
 Thy limbs in mail ; the battle is at hand, 
 And Mars detests a loiterer : if thou fear 
 Accoutrements so ponderous, to the field 
 Advance disarmed, nor till thou join the ranks 
 Wear these unwieldly trappings ; for meantime 
 I in my hands their burden will sustain. 
 
 IOL. Well hast thou spoken ; with those arms attend me 
 Ready for the encounter, place a spear 
 In my right hand, and under my left arm 
 Hold me, and guide my steps. 
 
 SER. Shall I conduct 
 
 A warrior like a child ? 
 
 IOL. I must tread sure, 
 
 Else 'twere an evil omen. 
 
 SER. Would thy power 
 
 Equalled thy zeal. 
 
 IOL. Haste: greatly 'twill afflict me 
 
 If, left behind, I cannot join the fray. 
 
 SER. Slow are thy steps, and hence thou deem'st I move not. 
 
 IOL. Behold'st thou not the swiftness of my pace ? 
 
 SER. Thou to thyself I see appear'st to hasten, 
 Although thou gain'st no ground. 
 
 IOL. When in the field 
 
 Thou seest me, thou wilt own I speak the truth. 
 
 SER. What great exploit achieving ? I could wish 
 That thou might'st prove victorious. 
 
 IOL. Through his shield 
 
 Some foe transfixing. 
 
 SER. We at length may reach 
 
 Th' embattled plain, but this I greatly fear. 
 
 IOL. Ah, would to heaven, that thou, my withered arm, 
 Again wert vigorous, as in former days 
 Thee I remember, when thou didst lay waste 
 The Spartan realms with Hercules ; thus fight 
 My battles now, and singly will I triumph 
 Over Eurystheus, for that dastard fears
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 107 
 
 To face the dangers of th' embattled field : 
 Too apt in our ideas to unite 
 Valour with wealth, yet to the prosperous man 
 Superior wisdom falsely we ascribe. 
 
 [Exeunt IOLAUS and SERVANT. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 O fostering Earth, resplendent Moon, 
 Who gladd'st the dreary shades of night, 
 And thou, enthroned at broadest noon, 
 Hyperion, 'midst exhaustle=s light, 
 To me propitious tidings bring, 
 Raise to the skies a festive sound, 
 And waft the gladsome notes around, 
 Till, from the palace of our king, 
 They echo through Minerva's fane : 
 My house, my country, to maintain 
 Against the ruthless spoiler's pride, 
 Menaced because this realm extends 
 Protection to its suppliant friends, 
 I with the sword our contest will decide. 
 
 Although there seem just cause for dread, 
 When cities like Mycene blest, 
 Whose triumphs fame hath widely spread 
 Enter this region to invest 
 Our bulwarks, harbouring ruthless hate. 
 Think, O my country, think what shame, 
 Should we reject the suppliant's claim 
 Appalled by Argos' haughty state. 
 Resistless Jove shall aid the spear 
 I brandish unappalled by fear ; 
 The tribute of eternal praise 
 From all that breathe, to him is due: 
 Nor magnified by our weak view 
 Shall men above the gods their trophies raise. 
 
 Descend with venerable mien, 
 O thou our guardian and our queen, 
 For on thy fostering' soil we stand, 
 These walls were reared by thy command,
 
 io8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Drive from our menaced gates the lawless host, 
 Suppress that Argive tyrant's boast ; 
 
 For if by you unaided, is this hand 
 Too weak their fury to withstand. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Thee, O Minerva, we adore, 
 
 Thy altar ever streams with gore : 
 
 We on each moon's concluding day 
 
 To thee our public homage pay ; 
 Through every fane harmonious numbers sound, 
 
 Sweet minstrelsy then breathes around, 
 And th' echoing hills their nightly dance repeat 
 
 As the nymphs move with agile feet. 
 
 SERVANT, ALCMENA, CHORUS. 
 
 SER. O royal dame, the message that to you 
 I bring, is both concise, and what reflects 
 On me abundant glory to relate, 
 In fight have we prevailed, and trophies reared 
 On which the armour of your foes is hung. 
 
 ALC. This day hath brought thee hither, O my friend, 
 Thy freedom for such tidings to receive : 
 But one anxiety there still remains 
 To which thou leav'st me subject ; much I fear 
 For the important lives of those I love. 
 
 SER. They live, and have obtained from all the host 
 The greatest fame. 
 
 ALC. And lolaus too, 
 
 My aged friend ? 
 
 SER. Yet more, he hath performed 
 
 Through the peculiar favour of the gods 
 Exploits most memorable. 
 
 ALC. What glorious deed 
 
 Hath he achieved in fight? 
 
 SER. From an old man, 
 
 He is grown young again. 
 
 ALC. Thou speak'st of things 
 
 Most wonderful. But first, how fought our friends 
 With such success, I wish thee to inform me. 
 
 SER. All that hath passed, at once will I relate 
 When, to each other in the field opposed, 
 We had arranged both armies, and spread forth 
 The van of battle to its full extent, 
 Hyllus alighting from his chariot, stood 
 In the midway 'twixt either host, and cried : 
 " Thou leader of the Argive troops, who com'st 
 With hostile fury to invade this land, 
 Thy interests recommend what I propose,
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 109 
 
 Nor can Mycene suffer from the loss 
 
 If thou deprive her of a single warrior ; 
 
 Therefore with me encounter hand to hand, 
 
 And if thou slay me, seize and bear away 
 
 The sons of Hercules ; but if thou die, 
 
 My palace and hereditary rank 
 
 Permit me to enjoy." The troops assented, 
 
 And praised what he had spoken as the means 
 
 Of finishing their labours, and a proof 
 
 Of his exalted courage. But Eurystheus 
 
 Unmoved by reverence for th' assembled host 
 
 Who heard the challenge, and with terror smitten, 
 
 Forgot the general's part, nor dared to face 
 
 The lifted spear, but acted like a dastard : 
 
 Yet he who was thus destitute of courage 
 
 Came to enslave the sons of Hercules. 
 
 Hyllus again retreated to his rank; 
 
 The prophets too, when they perceived no peace 
 
 Could be effected by a single combat, 
 
 Without delay the blooming virgin slew, 
 
 Auspicious victim, from whose pallid lips 
 
 Her trembling spirit fled. The lofty car 
 
 Some mounted, o'er their sides while others flung 
 
 Their bucklers to protect them. To his host, 
 
 Meantime the king of Athens, in a strain 
 
 Worthy of his exalted courage, spoke : 
 
 " Ye citizens, the land to which ye owe 
 
 Your nourishment and birth, now claims your aid." 
 
 Equally loth to sully the renown 
 
 Of Argos and Mycene, in like terms 
 
 The foe besought his partners of the war 
 
 Their utmost vigour to exert. No sooner 
 
 Had the loud signal by Etruria's trump 
 
 Been given, than they in thickest battle joined. 
 
 Think with what crash their brazen shields resounded, 
 
 What groans and intermingled shouts were heard ! 
 
 First through our lines the host of Argos burst, 
 
 And in their turn gave way : then foot to foot, 
 
 And man to man opposed, in stubborn cosflict 
 
 We all persisted : multitudes were slain ; 
 
 But in this language either chief his troops 
 
 Encouraged : " O ye citizens of Athens, 
 
 O ye who till the fruitful Argive field, 
 
 Will ye not from your native land repel 
 
 The foul disgrace ?" But with our utmost efforts 
 
 Scarce could we put to flight the Argive host. 
 
 When lolaus saw young Hyllus break 
 
 The ranks of battle, he with lifted hands 
 
 Entreated him to place him in his car,
 
 iio EURIPIDES. 
 
 Then seized the reins, and onward in pursuit 
 
 Of the swift coursers of Eurystheus drove. 
 
 As to the sequel ; from report alone 
 
 Let others speak, I tell what I have seen : 
 
 While through Pallene's streets he passed, where rise 
 
 Minerva's altars, soon as he descried 
 
 The chariot of Eurystheus, he a prayer 
 
 Addressed to blooming Hebe, and to Jove, 
 
 That for that single day he might recover 
 
 The pristine vigour of his youth, and punish 
 
 His foes as they deserve. You now shall hear 
 
 What a miraculous event ensued ; 
 
 Two stars 'bove lolaus' chariot stood, 
 
 And overshadowed it with gloomy clouds, 
 
 Which, by the wise 'tis said, were Hercules 
 
 Your son, and blooming Hebe : from that mist 
 
 Which veiled the skies, the chief grown young again, 
 
 Displayed his vigorous arms, and near the rocks 
 
 Of Scyron, seized Eurystheus in his car. 
 
 Binding his hands with chains, he hither brings 
 
 The Argive tyrant, a distinguished prize, 
 
 Who once was happy ; but on all mankind 
 
 Loudly inculcates by his present fortunes 
 
 This lesson : not too rashly to ascribe 
 
 Felicity to him who in appearance 
 
 Is prosperous, but to wait till we behold 
 
 His close of life ; for fortune day by day 
 
 Doth waver. 
 CHOR. Thou great author of success, 
 
 O Jove, at length am I allowed to view 
 
 The day, by which my terrors are dispelled. 
 
 ALC. 'Twas late indeed, when thou, O Jove, didst look 
 
 On my afflictions ; yet am I to thee 
 
 Most grateful for the kindness thou hast shown me. 
 
 And though I erst believed not that my son 
 
 Dwells with the gods, I clearly know it now. 
 
 Now, O my children, ye from all your toils 
 
 Shall be set free, and of Eurystheus, doomed 
 
 With shame to perish, burst the galling yoke, 
 
 Behold your father's city, the rich fields ' 
 
 Of your inheritance again possess, 
 
 And sacrifice to your paternal gods, 
 
 From whom excluded, in a foreign land 
 
 Ye led a wandering miserable life. 
 
 But with what sage design yet undisclosed, 
 
 Hath lolaus spared Eurystheus' life, 
 
 Inform me : for to us it seems unwise 
 
 Not to avenge our wrongs when we have caught 
 
 Our enemies.
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES, in 
 
 SER. He through respect to you 
 
 Hath acted thus, that you might see the tyrant 
 Vanquished, and rendered subject to your power, 
 Not by his own consent, but in the yoke 
 Bound by necessity ; for he was loth 
 To come into your presence, ere he bleed, 
 And suffer as he merits. But farewell, 
 O venerable matron, and remember 
 The promise you first made when I began 
 These tidings, and, oh, set me free : for nought 
 But truth should from ingenuous lips proceed. 
 
 [E.iit SERVANT. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 To me the choral song is sweet, 
 When the shrill flute and genial banquet meet, 
 If Venus also grace the festive board : 
 
 I taste a more refined delight 
 Now I behold my friends (transporting sight !) 
 To unexpected happiness restored. 
 For in this nether world, eventful Fate, 
 And Saturn's offspring Time, full many a change create. 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Follow the plain and beaten way, 
 From Justice, O my country, never stray, 
 Nor cease the powers immortal to revere. 
 
 To heights scarce short of frenzy rise 
 The errors of that mortal, who denies 
 Assent to truths confirmed by proofs so clear. 
 Jove's power by signal judgments is descried, 
 Oft as his vengeance blasts the towering crest of pride. 
 
 In heavenly mansions with the blest, 
 Thy son, O venerable dame, doth rest ; 
 He hath confuted those invidious tales, 
 
 That to loathed Pluto's house he came 
 Soon as he perished in that dreadful flame : 
 He under roofs of burnished gold regales, 
 On the soft couch of lovely Hebe placed ; 
 Them two, both sprung from Jove, O Hymen, thou hast 
 
 graced.
 
 EU-RIPWES. 
 
 Events, which strike man's wondering eyes, 
 From a variety of causes rise. 
 For fame relates how Pallas saved the sire, 
 
 And from her city far renowned, 
 Her race, protection have the children found ; 
 She hath suppressed th' o'erweening tyrant's ire, 
 Whose violence no laws could ere control ; 
 Curse on such boundless pride, that fever of the soul. 
 
 MESSENGER, EURYSTHEUS, ALCMENA, CHORUS. 
 
 MES. Your eyes indeed behold, O royal dame, 
 Yet shall this tongue declare that we have brought 
 Eurytheus hither, unexpected sight, 
 Reverse of fortune his presumptuous soul 
 Foresaw not, this oppressor little deemed 
 That he should ever fall into your hands, 
 When from Mycene, by the Cyclops' toil 
 Erected, he those squadrons led, and hoped 
 With pride o'erweening to lay Athens waste ; 
 But Heaven our situation hath reversed : 
 And therefore with exulting Hyllus joins 
 The valiant lolaus, in erecting 
 Trophies to Jove the author of our conquest. 
 But they to you commanded me to lead 
 This captive, wishing to delight your soul : 
 For 'tis most grateful to behold a foe 
 Fall'n from the height of gay prosperity. 
 
 ALC. Com'st thou, detested wretch ? at length hath Justice 
 O'ertaken thee ? First hither turn thy head, 
 And dare to face thine enemies: for, dwindled 
 Into a vassal, thou no longer rul'st. 
 Art thou the man (for I would know the truth) 
 Who didst presume to heap unnumbered wiongs, 
 Thou author of all mischief, on my son 
 While yet he lived, wherever now resides 
 His dauntless spirit? For in what one instance 
 Didst thou not injure him? At thy command, 
 Alive he travelled to th' infernal shades ; 
 Thou sent'st, and didst commission him to slay 
 Hydras and lions. Various other mischiefs, 
 Which were by thee contrived, I mention not, 
 For an attempt to speak of them at large 
 Would be full tedious. Nor was it enough 
 For thee to venture on these wrongs alone, 
 But thou, moreover, from each Grecian state 
 Me and these children hast expelled, though seated 
 As suppliants at the altars of the gods,
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 113 
 
 Confounding those whose locks are grey through age 
 
 With tender infants. But thou here hast found 
 
 Those who were men indeed, and a free city 
 
 Which feared thee not. Thou wretchedly shalt perish, 
 
 And pay this bitter usury to atone 
 
 For all thy crimes, whose number is so great 
 
 That it were just thou more than once shouldst die. 
 
 MES. You must not kill him. 
 
 ALC. Then have we in vain 
 
 Taken him captive. But what law forbids 
 His being slain? 
 
 MES. The rulers cf this land 
 
 Consent not. 
 
 ALC. Is it not by them esteemed 
 
 A glorious action to despatch our foes ? 
 
 MES. Not such as they have seized alive in battle. 
 
 ALC. Is Hyllus satisfied with this decree? 
 
 MES. He, in my judgment, will forsooth act rightly, 
 If he oppose what Athens shall enjoin. 
 
 ALC. The captive tyrant ill deserves to live, 
 Or longer view the sun. 
 
 MES. In this first instance 
 
 They did amiss, when by their swords he died not. 
 
 ALC. Is it not just that he should suffer still ? 
 
 MES. He who will slay him is not to be found. 
 
 ALC. What shall I say if some adventurous hand 
 
 MES. If you do this, you will incur great censure. 
 
 ALC. I love this city, I confess : but no man, 
 Since he is fall'n into my power, shall force 
 This prisoner from me: let them call me bold 
 And more presumptuous than becomes a woman, 
 I am resolved to execute my purpose. 
 
 MES. Full well I know the hatred which you bear 
 To this unhappy man is terrible, 
 And such as merits pardon. 
 
 EUR. Be convinced 
 
 Of this, O woman, that I cannot flatter, 
 Nor to preserve this wretched life say aught, 
 Whence they may brand me with a dastard's name. 
 For I with much reluctance undertook 
 This contest ; near in blood am I to thee, 
 And of that race whence sprung thy son Alcides. 
 But whether I consented, or was loth, 
 Me Juno caused by her immortal power 
 To harbour this dire frenzy in my breast. 
 Since I became his foe, since I resolved 
 Upon this strife, much mischief I devised, 
 And brooded o'er it many a tedious night, 
 That after I had wearied out and slain
 
 114 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Those I abhorred, I might no longer lead 
 A life of fear : for well I knew thy son 
 Was no mere cipher, but a man indeed : 
 Though strong my hate, on him will I confer 
 The praise he merits from his valiant deeds. 
 But after he was dead, was I not forced, 
 Because I was a foe to these his sons, 
 And knew what bitter enmity 'gainst me 
 They from their sire inherited, to leave 
 No stone unturned, to slay, to banish them, 
 And plot their ruin ? Could I have succeeded 
 In these designs, my throne had stood secure. 
 If thou my prosperous station hadst obtained, 
 Wouldst thou not have attempted to hunt down 
 The lion's whelps, instead of suffering them 
 At Argos unmolested to reside ? 
 Thou canst prevail on no man to give credit 
 To such assertions : therefore, since my foes 
 Forbore to slay me, when prepared to lose 
 My life in battle, by the laws of Greece, 
 If I now die. my blood will fix a stain 
 Of lasting guilt on him who murders me. 
 
 This city hath discreetly spared my life, 
 More influenced by its reverence for the gods 
 
 Than by the hatred which to me it bears. 
 
 My answer to the charges thou hast urged 
 
 Against me, having heard, esteem me now 
 
 A suppliant, and though wretched, still a king, 
 
 For such is my condition : though to die 
 
 I wish not, yet can I without regret 
 
 Surrender up my life. 
 CHOR. To you, Alcmena, 
 
 A little wholesome counsel would I give, 
 
 This captive monarch to release, since such 
 
 The pleasure of the city. 
 ALC. If he die, 
 
 And to the mandates of th' Athenian realm 
 
 I still submit, what mischief can ensue ? 
 CHOR. 'Twere best of all. But how can these two things 
 
 Be reconciled? 
 ALC. I will inform you how 
 
 This may with ease be done. I, to his friends, 
 
 When slain will yield him up, and with this land 
 
 Comply in the disposal of his corse : 
 
 But he shall die to sate my just revenge. 
 
 EUR. Destroy me if thou wilt ; to thee I sue not : 
 
 But on this city, since it spared my life 
 
 Through pious reverence, and forbore to slay me, 
 
 Will I bestow an ancient oracle
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HERCULES. 115 
 
 Of Phoebus, which in future times shall prove 
 
 More advantageous than ye now suppose ; 
 
 For after death, so have the Fates decreed, 
 
 My corse shall ye inter before the temple 
 
 Of the Pallenian maid : to you a friend 
 
 And guardian of your city, shall I rest 
 
 Beneath this soil for ever ; but a foe 
 
 To those who spring from this detested race 
 
 When with their armies they invade this land 
 
 Requiting with ingratitude your kindness : 
 
 Such strangers ye protect. But thus forewarned, 
 
 Why came I hither ? Through a fond belief 
 
 That Juno was with far superior power 
 
 To each oracular response endued, 
 
 And that my cause she ne'er would have betrayed. 
 
 On me waste no libations, nor let gore 
 
 Be poured forth on the spot of my interment, 
 
 For I to punish these their impious deeds, 
 
 Will cause them with dishonour to return : 
 
 From me shall ye receive a double sain, 
 
 For you I will assist, and prove to them 
 
 Most baneful e'en in death. 
 
 ALC. Why are ye loth 
 
 To slay this man, if what ye hear be true, 
 That welfare to this city hence \\ ill spring, 
 And your prosperity ? For he points out 
 The safest road. Alive he is a foe. 
 But after he is dead will prove a friend. 
 Ye servants bear him hence, and to the dogs 
 Cast forth without delay his breathless corse : 
 Think not, presumptuous wretch, that thou shall live 
 Again t' expel me from my native land. 
 
 CHOR. With this am I well pleased. My followers, go. 
 For hence in our king's sight shall we stand guiltless.
 
 RHESUS. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 CHORUS OF TROJAN 
 
 SENTINELS. 
 HECTOR. 
 
 .(ENEAS. 
 DOLON. 
 
 A SHEPHERD. 
 RHESUS. 
 
 ULYSSES. 
 DIOMEDE. 
 PARIS. 
 MINERVA. 
 THE MUSE. 
 THE CHARIOTEER OF 
 RHESUS. 
 
 SCENE. BEFORE HECTOR'S TENT AT THE GATES OF TROY. 
 
 CHORUS, HECTOR. 
 
 CHOR. Let some swift sentinel to Hector's tent 
 Go and inquire if any messenger 
 Be yet arrived, who recent tidings bears 
 From those, who during the fourth nightly watch 
 Are by the host deputed. On your arm 
 Sustain your head, unfold those low'ring eyelids, 
 And from your lowly couch of withered leaves, 
 O Hector, rise, for it is time to listen. 
 
 HEC. Who comes ? art thou a friend ? pronounce the watch- 
 word. 
 
 Who are ye, that by night approach my bed ? 
 Speak out. 
 
 CHOR. We guard the camp. 
 
 HEC. Why com'st thou hither 
 
 With this tumultuous haste ? 
 
 CHOR. Be of good cheer. 
 
 HEC. I am. Hast thou discovered in the camp 
 This night some treachery ? 
 
 CHOR. None. 
 
 HEC. Why then deserting 
 
 The post where thou art stationed, dost thou rouse 
 The troops, unless thou through this midnight gloom 
 bring some important tidings ? know'st thou not 
 That near the Argive host we under arms 
 Take our repose.
 
 n8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 CHOR. Prepare your brave allies : 
 
 Go to their chambers, bid them wield the spear. 
 Rouse them from slumber, and despatch your friends 
 To your own troop ; caparison the steeds. 
 Who bears the swift alarm to Pantheus' son ? 
 Who to Europa's offspring, Lycia's chief? 
 Where are the priests who should inspect the victims? 
 Who leads the light-armed squadron to the field? 
 And where are Phrygia's archers ? Let each bow 
 Be strung. 
 
 HEC. Thy tidings are in part alarming, 
 In part thou giv'st us courage, though thou speak 
 Nought plainly. By the terrifying scourge 
 Of Pan hast thou been smitten, that thou leav'st 
 Thy station to alarm the host ? Explain 
 These clamorous sounds. What tidings shall I say 
 Thou bring'st ? Thy words are many, but their drift 
 I comprehend not. 
 
 CHOR. All night long, O Hector, 
 
 The Grecian camp hath kindled fires, the torches 
 Amid their fleet are blazing, and the host 
 Tumultuous rush to Agamemnon's tent, 
 At midnight calling on the king t' assemble 
 A council : for the sailors never yet 
 Were thus alarmed. But I, because I fear 
 What may ensue, these tidings hither bring, 
 Lest you should charge me with a breach of duty. 
 
 HEC. Full seasonably thou com'st, although thou speak 
 Words fraught with terror : for these dastards hope 
 They in their barks shall from this shore escape 
 Ere I discover them : their kindled fires 
 Prove this suspicion. Thou, O partial Jove, 
 Hast robbed me of my triumph, like the prey 
 Torn from the lion, ere I have destroyed 
 With this avenging spear the Grecian host. 
 Had not the sun withdrawn his radiant beams, 
 I the successful battle had prolonged 
 Till I had burnt their ships, and hewn a way 
 Through their encampments, and in slaughter drenched 
 My bloody hand. I would have fought by night 
 And taken my advantage of the gales 
 Sent by auspicious fortune : but the wise, 
 And seers who knew the will of Heaven, advised me 
 To wait but till to-morrow's dawn appeared, 
 And then sweep every Grecian from the land. 
 But now no longer will they stay to prove 
 The truth of what my prophets have foretold : 
 For cowards in the midnight gloom are brave. 
 Instantly therefore through the h fi st proclaim
 
 RHESUS. 119 
 
 These orders : " Take up arms, and rouse from sleep ; " 
 Pierced through the back as to the ships he flies, 
 So shall full many a dastard with his gore 
 Distain the steep ascent; the rest fast bound 
 In galling chains shall learn to till our fields. 
 
 CHOR. O Hector, ere you leani the real fact, 
 You are too hasty : for we know not yet 
 That they are flying. 
 
 HEC. Wherefore then by night 
 
 Are those fires kindled through the Grecian camp ? 
 
 CHOR. I am not certain, though my soul full strongly 
 Suspects the cause. 
 
 HEC. If thou fear this, thou tremblest 
 
 At a mere shadow. 
 
 CHOR. Such a light ne'er blazed 
 
 Before among the foes. 
 
 HEC. Nor such defeat 
 
 In battle, did they e'er till now experience. 
 
 CHOR. This have you done ; look now to what remains. 
 
 HEC. I give this short direction : take up arms 
 Against the foe. 
 
 CHOR. Behold ! yEneas comes : 
 
 Sure, from his haste, some tidings, which deserve 
 His friends' attentive ear, the warrior brings. 
 
 AENEAS, HECTOR, CHORUS. 
 
 yENE. What mean the watch, O Hector, who by night 
 Were to their stations in the camp assigned, 
 That they, with terror smitten, at your chamber 
 In a nocturnal council have assembled ? 
 And why is the whole army thus in motion ? 
 
 HEC. Put on thy arms, yneas. 
 
 ;ENE. What hath happen: d ? 
 
 Are you informed that in this midnight gloom 
 The foe hath formed some stratagem ? 
 
 HEC. They fly ! 
 
 They mount their ships. 
 
 .<ENE. What proof have you of this ? 
 
 HEC. All night their torches blaze ; to me they seem 
 As if they would not wait to-morrow's dawn : 
 But, kindling fires upon their lofty decks, 
 They sure fly homeward from this hostile land. 
 
 ^ENE. But why, if it be thus, prepare your troops 
 For battle ? 
 
 HEC. As they mount the deck, this spear 
 
 Shall overtake the dastards ; I their flight 
 Will harass : for 'twere base, and prejudicial 
 As well as base, when Heaven delivers up
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 The foe into our hands, to suffer those 
 Who wronged us to escape without a conflict. 
 
 .XENE. Ah ! would to Heaven you equally stood foremost 
 In wisdom, as in courage : but one man 
 By bounteous Nature never was endued 
 With knowledge universal : various gifts 
 Doth she dispense, to you the warrior's palm, 
 To others sapient counsels : now you hear 
 Their torches blaze, you thence infer the Greeks 
 Are flying, and would lead the troops by night 
 Over the trenches : but when you have passed 
 The yawning fosse, should you perceive the foes 
 Instead of flying from the land, resist, 
 With dauntless courage, your protended spear, 
 If you are vanquished, to these sheltering walls 
 You never can return : for in their flight 
 How shall the troops o'er slanting palisndes 
 Escape, or, how the charioteer direct 
 Over the narrow bridge his crashing wheels ? 
 If you prevail, you have a foe at hand, 
 The son of Peleus, from your flaming torches 
 Who will protect the fleet, nor suffer you 
 Utterly to destroy the Grecian host 
 As you expect ; for he is brave. Our troops 
 Let us then leave to rest from martial toils, 
 And sleep beside their shields. That we despatch 
 Amid the foe some voluntary spy, 
 Is my advice : if they prepare for flight, 
 Let us assail the Greeks ; but if those fires 
 Are kindled to ensnare us, having learned 
 The enemy's intentions, let us hold 
 A second council on this great emprise. 
 Illustrious chief, I have declared my thoughts. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 These counsels I approve : thy wayward scheme, 
 
 O Hector, change, and think the same : 
 
 For perilous commands I deem, 
 Given by the headstrong chief, deserve our blame. 
 
 Why send not to the fleet a spy, 
 Who may approach the trenches, and descry 
 With what intent our foes upon the strand 
 
 Have kindled many a flaming brand ? 
 
 HEC. Ye have prevailed, because ye all concur 
 In one opinion : but depart, prepare 
 Thy fellow- soldiers, for perhaps the host
 
 RHESUS. 121 
 
 May by the rumours of our nightly council 
 
 Be put in motion. I will send a spy 
 
 Among the Greeks ; and if we learn what schemes 
 
 They have devised, the whole of my intentions 
 
 To theewill I immediately reveal 
 
 In person. With confusion and dismay 
 
 But if the foe precipitate their flight, 
 
 Give ear, and follow where the clanging trump 
 
 Summons thee forth, for then I cannot wait, 
 
 But will this night attack the Grecian host, 
 
 Storm their entrenchments, and destroy their fleet. 
 
 yNE. Despatch the messenger without delay. 
 For you now think discreetly, and in me 
 Shall find, when needed, in your bold emprise 
 A firm associate. [Exit AENEAS. 
 
 HEC. What brave Trojan, present 
 
 At this our conference, as a spy will go 
 T' explore the Grecian navy ? to this land 
 What generous benefactor will arise? 
 Who answers ? for I singly cannot serve 
 The cause of Troy and its confederate bands 
 In every station. 
 
 DOL. For my native realm, 
 Facing this danger, to the fleet of Greece 
 I as a spy will go ; and when I've searched 
 Into the progress of our foes, return : 
 But I on these conditions undertake 
 The toilsome enterprise 
 
 HEC. Thou well deserv'st 
 
 Thy nnme, and to thy country art a friend, 
 
 Dolon ; for this day thy father's house, 
 Which is already noble, thou exalt'st 
 With double fame. 
 
 DOL. I therefore ought to strive : 
 
 But after all my labours let me reap 
 A suitable reward. If gain arise 
 From the performance of the task enjoined, 
 We feel a twofold joy. 
 
 HEC. This were but just : 
 
 1 contradict thee not : name thy reward ; 
 Choose what thou wilt, except the rank I bear. 
 
 DOL. Your rich domains I wish not to possess. 
 
 HEC. To thee a daughter of imperial Priam 
 In marriage shall be given. 
 
 DOL. With my superiors 
 
 I will not wed. 
 
 HEC. Abundant gold is ours, 
 
 If thou prefer this stipend. 
 
 DOL. My own house
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 With wealth is furnished, I am far remote 
 From want. 
 
 HEC. What then dost thou desire that Troy 
 
 Contains ? 
 
 DOL. When you have conquered the proud Greeks, 
 Promise to give me = 
 
 HEC. I will give thee all 
 
 That thou canst ask, except my royal captives. 
 
 DOL. Slay them ; I seek not to withhold your arm 
 From cutting off the vanquished Menelaus. 
 
 HEC. Is it thy wish, Oileus' son to thee 
 Should be consigned ? 
 
 DOL. The hands of princes, nurtured 
 
 Effeminately, are not formed to till 
 The stubborn soil. 
 
 HEC. From which of all the Greeks 
 
 Taken alive wouldst thou receive his ransom ? 
 
 DOL. Already have I told you, that at home 
 I have abundant riches. 
 
 HEC. Thou shalt choose 
 
 Among our spoils. 
 
 DOL. For offerings let them hang 
 
 High in the temples of the gods. 
 
 HEC. What gift 
 
 Greater than these canst thou from me require ? 
 
 DOL. Achilles' steeds : for when I stake my life 
 On Fortune's die, 'twere reasonable to strive 
 For such an object as deserves my toils. 
 
 HEC. Although thou in thy wishes to possess 
 Those steeds hast interfered with me : for sprung 
 From an immortal race themselves immortal 
 They bear Pelides through the ranks of war, 
 Neptune, 'tis said, the king of ocean, tamed them 
 And gave to Peleus : I, who prompted thee 
 To this emprise, will not bely thy hopes, 
 But to adorn thy noble father's house, 
 On thee Achilles' generous steeds besto\v. 
 
 DOL. This claims my gratitude : if I succeed, 
 My courage will for me obtain a palm, 
 Such as no Phrygian ever won before : 
 Nor should you envy me, for joys unnumbered 
 And the first station in the realm, are yours. 
 
 [Exit HECTOR. 
 CHORUS. 
 ii. 
 
 The danger's great, but great rewards allure 
 Thee, generous youth, t' assert thy claim, 
 Thrice blest if thou the gift procure, 
 
 Yet will thy toils deserve immortal fame :
 
 RHESUS. 123 
 
 Th' allies of kings let grandeur tend, 
 May Heaven and Justice thy emprise befriend, 
 For thou already seem'st to have acquired 
 
 All that from man can be desired. 
 
 DOL. I am resolved to go : but my own doors 
 First must I enter, and myself attire 
 In such a garb as suits my present scheme, 
 Thence will I hasten to the Argive fleet. 
 
 CHOR. What other dress intend'st thou to assume 
 Instead of that thou wear'st ? 
 
 DOL. Such as befits 
 
 My errand and the stealth with which I travel. 
 
 CHOR. We ought to gain instruction from the wise. 
 What covering hast thou chosen for thy body ? 
 
 DOL. I to my back will fit the tawny hide 
 Of a slain wolf, will muffle up my front 
 With the beast's hairy visage, fit my hands 
 To his fore-feet, thrust into those behind 
 My legs, and imitate his savage gait ; 
 Approaching undiscovered by the foe, 
 The trenches and the ramparts that defend 
 The navy : but whenever I shall come 
 To desert places, on two feet I mean 
 To travel : such deception have I framed. 
 
 CHOR. May Hermes, Ma'ia's offspring, who presides 
 O'er well-conducted fallacies, assist 
 Thy journey thither, and with safety lead 
 Thy homeward steps ! for well thou understand'st 
 The business ; there is nought which yet thou need'st 
 But good success. 
 
 DOL. I shall return in safety. 
 
 And having slain Ulysses, or the son 
 Of Tydeus, bring to you their ghastly heads : 
 For omens of assured success are mine : 
 Then say that Dolon reached the Grecian fleet. 
 These hands distained with gore, my native walls 
 Will I revisit ere the sun arise. [Exit DOLON. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 O thou, who issuing with majestic tread 
 From Delian, Lycian, or Thymbraean fanes, 
 Twang'st thy unerring bow; on Phrygia's plains 
 Apollo, thy celestial influence shed, 
 Hither come with nightly speed, 
 The enterprising chief to leal
 
 124 EUR IP IDES. 
 
 Through mazes undiscovered by our foes ; 
 Aid thy loved Dardanian line, 
 For matchless strength was ever thine, 
 
 Constructed by thy hand Troy's ancient bulwarks rose. 
 
 Speed Dolon's journey to the Grecian fleet, 
 Let him espy th' entrenchments of their host ; 
 Again in triumph from the stormy coast 
 Conduct the warrior to his native seat ; 
 
 May he mount that chariot drawn 
 
 By steeds that browsed the Phthian lawn 
 When our brave lord, the Mars of Greece, hath slain ; 
 
 Coursers of unrivalled speed, 
 
 Which erst to Eacus' seed 
 To Peleus, Neptune gave who rules the billowy main. 
 
 His country, his paternal walls, to save, 
 The generous youth explores the anchored fleet : 
 From me such worth shall due encomiums meet. 
 How few with hardy bosoms stem the wave, 
 When Hyperion veils his face, 
 And cities tremble on their base ! 
 At this dread crisis Phrygian heroes rise, 
 Mysian chiefs, uncurbed by fear, 
 Brandish with nervous arm the spear , 
 Curst be the lying tongue that slanders my allies. 
 
 In savage guise now Dolon stalks arrayed, 
 With step adventurous o'er the hostile ground : 
 What Grecian chief shall feel the deadly wound. 
 \Vhile the wolf 's hide conceals his glittering blade ? 
 
 Weltering first in crimson gore, 
 
 May Menelaus rise no more; 
 Next may the victor, Agamemnon's head 
 
 Bear to Helen, stung with grief 
 
 At her affinity to that famed chief 
 Who in a thousand ships to Troy his squadrons led. 
 
 A SHEPHERD, HECTOR, CHORUS. 
 
 SHEP. Most gracious monarch, may I ever greet 
 My lords with tidings such as now I bring ! 
 
 HEC. Full oft misapprehension clouds the soul 
 Of simple rustics : to thy lord in arms 
 Thou of thy fleecy charge art come to speak
 
 RHESUS. 125 
 
 At this unseemly crisis : know'st them not 
 
 My mansion, or the palace of my sire ? 
 
 There ought'st thou to relate how fare thy flock. 
 
 SHEP. We shepherds are, I own, a simple race, 
 Yet my intelligence deserves attention. 
 
 HF.C. Such fortunes as befall the fold, to me 
 Relate not, for I carry in this hand 
 The battle and the spear. 
 
 SHEP. I too am come 
 
 Such tidings to unfold ; for a brave chief, 
 Your friend, the leader of a numerous host, 
 Marches to fight the battles of this realm. 
 
 HEC. But irom what country? 
 
 SHEP. Thrace, and he is called 
 
 The son of Strymon. 
 
 HEC. Didst thou say, that Rhesus 
 
 Hath entered Ilion's fields ? 
 
 SHEP. You comprehend me, 
 
 And have anticipated half my speech. 
 
 HEC. Why doth he travel over Ida's hill, 
 Deserting that broad path where loaded wains 
 With ease might move ? 
 
 SHEP. I have no certain knowledge ; 
 
 Yet may we form conjectures ; 'tis a scheme 
 Most prudent, with his host to march by night 
 Because he hears the plain with hostile bands 
 Is covered : but us rustics he alarmed, 
 Who dwell on Ida's mount, the ancient seat 
 Of Ilion's first inhabitants, by night 
 When through that wood, the haunt of savage beasts 
 The warrior trod : for with a mighty shout 
 The Thracian host rushed on, but we, our flocks, 
 With terror smitten, to the summit drove, 
 Lest any Greek should come to seize the prey. 
 And waste your crowded stalls : till we discovered 
 Voices so different from the Hellenian tribes, 
 That we no longer feared them. I advanced, 
 And in the Thracian language made inquiry 
 Of the king's vanguard, as they moved along 
 To explore a passage for the host, what name 
 Their leader bore, sprung from what noble sire, 
 To Ilion's walls he came, the friend of Priam. 
 When I had heard each circumstance I wished 
 To know, I for a time stood motionless, 
 And saw majestic Rhesus, like a god. 
 High in his chariot, drawn by Thracian steeds 
 Whiter than snow, a golden beam confined 
 Their necks, and o'er his shoulders hung a shield 
 Adorned with sculptures wrought in massive gold ;
 
 126 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Like that which in Minerva's ^Egis flames, 
 Bound on the courser's front, a brazen Gorgon 
 Tinkled incessant with alarming sound. 
 The numbers of an army so immense 
 I cannot calculate ; the horse were many, 
 Many the ranks of troops with bucklers armed, 
 And archers ; and a countless multitude, 
 Like infantry in Thracian vests arrayed 
 Brought up the rear. Such is th' ally who comes 
 On Troy's behalf to combat ; nor by flight, 
 Nor by withstanding his protended spear, 
 Can Peleus' son escape him. 
 
 CHOR. When the gods 
 
 Are to a realm propitious, each event 
 Is easily converted into bliss. 
 
 HEC. Since I in battle prosper, and since Jove 
 Is on our side, I shall have many friends ; 
 But those we need not who in former time 
 Our toils partook not, with malignant blast 
 When on the sails of Ilion Mars had breathed. 
 Rhesus hath shown too plainly what a friend 
 He is to Troy, for to the feast he comes, 
 Yet was he absent when the hunters seized 
 Their prey, nor did he share the toils of war. 
 
 CHOR. You justly scorn such friends ; yet, O receive 
 Those who would aid the city. 
 
 HEC. We who long 
 
 Have guarded Ilion can defend it now. 
 
 CHOR. Are you persuaded you have gained already 
 A triumph o'er the foes ? 
 
 HEC. I am persuaded, 
 
 And when to-morrow's sun the heaven ascends 
 This shall be proved. 
 
 CHOR. Beware of what may happen ; 
 
 Jove oft o'erthrows the prosperous. 
 
 HEC. I abhor 
 
 These tardy succours. 
 
 SHEP. O, my lord, 'twere odious, 
 
 Should you reject with scorn the proffered aid 
 Of our allies : the sight of such a host 
 Will strike the foe with terror. 
 
 CHOR. Since he comes 
 
 But as a guest, not partner in the war, 
 Let him approach your hospitable -board, 
 For little thanks are due from Priam's sons 
 To such confederates. 
 
 HEC. Prudent are thy counsels, 
 
 Thou too hast rightly judged : and in compliance 
 With what the messenger hath said, let Rhesus
 
 RHESUS. 127 
 
 Refulgent in his golden arms draw near, 
 P'or Uion shall receive him as her friend. 
 
 \Exit SHEPHERD. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Daughter of Jove, forbear to wreak 
 Impending venge ince, though the tongue, 
 
 Nemesis, its boastful strain prolong : 
 
 1 the free dictates of my soul will speak. 
 
 Thou com'st, brave son of that illustrious spring, 
 Thou com'st thrice welcome to our social hall : 
 At length doth thy Pierian mother bring 
 Her favoured child, while ling'ring in his fall, 
 Adorned by many a bridge, thee with paternal call 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Doth Strymon summon to the field : of jore 
 When he the tuneful Muse addressed, 
 A gliding stream he sought her snowy breast, 
 Thee, lovely youth, the yielding goddess bore : 
 To us thou com'st a tutelary power 
 Yoking thy coursers to the fervid car : 
 O Phrygia ! O my country ! at this hour 
 Hastes thy deliverer glittering from afar, 
 Him may'st thou call thy Jove, thy thunderbolt of war. 
 
 II. i. 
 
 While swiftly glides th' unheeded day, 
 
 Again shall Troy without control 
 Chant the young loves, and o'er the foaming bowl 
 The sportive contest urge 'midst banquets gay ; 
 But Atreus' sons desponding cross the wave, 
 And sail from Ilion to the Spartan strand. 
 Accomplish what thy friends foretold, O save 
 These menaced walls by thy victorious hand, 
 Return with laurels crowned, and bless thy native land. 
 
 n. 2. 
 
 To dazzle fierce Pelides' sight, 
 Before him wave thy golden shield 
 Obliquely raised, that meteor of the field. 
 Vault from thy chariot with unrivalled might, 
 And brandish with each dexterous hand a lance ; 
 Whoever strives with thee shall ne'er return 
 To Argive fanes, and join Saturnia's dance, 
 He by the spear of Thrace in combat slain, 
 Shall lie a breathless corse on Troy's exulting plain.
 
 128 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Hail, mighty chief ! ye Thracian realms, the mien 
 Of him ye bore speaks his exalted rank. 
 Observe those nervous limbs with plated gold 
 Incased, and hearken to those tinkling chairs 
 Which on his shield are hung. A god. O Troy, 
 E'en Mars himself, from Strymon's current sprung, 
 And from the Muse, brings this auspicious gale. 
 
 RHESUS, HECTOR, CHORUS. 
 
 RHE. Thou brave descendant of a noble sire, 
 Lord of this realm, O Hector, I accost thee 
 After a tedious absence, and rejoice 
 In thy success, for to the turrets reared 
 By Greece, thou now lay'st siege, and I am come 
 With thee those hostile bulwarks to o'erthrou', 
 And burn their fleet. 
 
 HEC. Son of the tuneful Muse, 
 
 And Thracian Strymon's stream, I ever love 
 To speak the truth, for I am not a man 
 Versed in duplicity ; long, long ago, 
 Should you have come to succour Troy, nor suffered, 
 Far as on you depended, by our foes 
 This city to be ta'en. You cannot say 
 That uninvited by your friends you came not, 
 Because you marked not our distress. What heralds, 
 What embassies to you did Phrygia send, 
 Beseeching you, the city to protect, 
 What sumptuous presents did she not bestow ? 
 But you, our kinsman, who derive your birth 
 From a barbarian stem, to Greece betrayed 
 Us, a barbarian nation, though from ruling 
 Over a petty state, by this right arm 
 I raised you to the wide-extended throne, 
 When round Pangeeum and Pasonia's realm 
 Rushing upon the hardiest Thracian troops 
 I broke their ranks of battle, and subdued 
 The people to your empire : but you spurn 
 My benefits, nor come with speed to succour 
 Your friends in their distress. Though they who spring not 
 From the same ancestors, observed our summons ; 
 Of whom full many in yon field of death 
 Have tombs heaped o'er them, a most glorious proof 
 Of faith unshaken; others under arms 
 Their chariots mount, and steadfastly endure 
 The wintry blasts, the parching flames of heaven, 
 Nor on a gay convivial couch reclined 
 Like you, O Rhesus, drain the frequent bowl. 
 That you may know I yet can stand alone,
 
 RHESUS. 129 
 
 Such conduct I resent ; this to your face 
 I speak. 
 
 RHE. I also am the same: my language 
 Is plain and honest ; I am not a man 
 Of mean duplicity. My soul was tortured 
 With greater anguish far than thou couldst feel, 
 Because I was not present in this land ; 
 But Scythia's tribes who near our confines dwell 
 Made war against me just as I to Troy 
 Was journeying; I had reached the Euxine shore 
 To sail with Thracia's host, the Scythian blood 
 There stained our spears, and my brave troops expired 
 'Midst intermingled slaughter: this event 
 Hindered my reaching Troy, and aiding thee 
 In battle. Having conquered them, and taken 
 For hostages their children, them I bound 
 To pay me annual tribute ; with my fleet 
 Then crossed the Hellespont, and marched on foot 
 Through various realms, nor, as thou proudly say'st, 
 Drained the intoxicating bowl, nor slept 
 Beneath a gilded roof, but to such blasts 
 As cover with thick ice the Thracian wave, 
 Or through Paeonia howl, was I exposed 
 Wrapped in this mantle many a sleepless night. 
 But I, though late, am in due season come : 
 For this is the tenth year since thou hast waged 
 An ineffectual war, day after day 
 By thee is idly lavished, while the die 
 Of battle 'twixt the Argive host and thine 
 Spins doubtful ere it fall. But it for me 
 Will be sufficient that the sun once mount 
 The heavens, while I their bulwarks storm, invade 
 Their fleet, and slay the Greeks. To my own home 
 I the next day from Ilion will return, 
 Thy toils soon ending : let no Trojan bear 
 A shield : for with this spear will I subdue 
 The boasters, though 'twas late ere I arrived. 
 
 CHOR. My soul this language doth approve, 
 
 Such friends as thou art sent by Jove, 
 
 But humbly I that god beseech, 
 
 To pardon thy presumptuous speech. 
 
 The navy launched from Argos' strand, 
 
 Though freighted with a daring band, 
 
 Neither in former times, nor now 
 
 Contained a chief more brave than thou. 
 
 How shall Achilles' self withstand, 
 
 Or Ajax meet, thy vengeful hand ? 
 
 O may the morn with orient ray 
 
 Exhibit that auspicious day, 
 
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 When thou the victor's prize shalt gain 
 And dye with crimson gore the plain. 
 
 RHE. Soon with exploits like these will I atone 
 For my long absence : but, with due submission 
 To Nemesis, I speak ; when from the foe 
 We have delivered this beleaguered city 
 And seized their spoils for offerings to the gods ; 
 With thee to Argos will I go, invade, 
 And ravage with victorious arms, all Greece, 
 To teach them in their turn what 'tis to suffer. 
 
 HEC. Could I escape from the impending stroke, 
 And with that safety which we erst enjoyed 
 These walls inhabit, I to Heaven should pay 
 Full many a grateful vow : but as for Argos, 
 As for the Grecian states, to lay them waste 
 By arms were far less easy than you speak of. 
 
 RHE. Is it not said the bravest chiefs of Greece 
 Came hither : 
 
 HEC. Them I hold not in contempt, 
 
 But long have kept at bay. 
 
 RHE. When these are slain, 
 
 We therefore each obstruction have removed. 
 
 HEC. Forbear to think of distant prospects now, 
 While our immediate interests lie neglected. 
 
 RHE. Art thou so tame as to endure such wrongs 
 Without retorting them ? 
 
 HEC. While I maintain 
 
 What I possess, my empire is sufficient. 
 But freely take your choice, or in the left 
 Or the right wing, or centre of our host 
 Display your shield, and range your troops around. 
 
 RHE. I singly will encounter all our foes, 
 O Hector ; but if thou esteem it base 
 Not to assist me when I burn their fleet, 
 Because thou hast already toiled so long, 
 Oppose me to Achilles in the front 
 Of battle. 
 
 HEC. We at him no spear must aim. 
 
 RHE. Yet was I told he sailed for Troy. 
 
 HEC. He sailed, 
 
 And still is here, but angry with the chiefs, 
 Refuses to assist them. 
 
 RHE. In the camp 
 
 Of Greece, say who is second in renown ? 
 
 HEC. Ajax, I deem, and Tydeus' son are equal 
 To any ; but most fluent in his speech, 
 And with sufficient fortitude inspired, 
 Is that Ulysses, from whom Troy hath suffered 
 Insults the most atrocious ; for by night,
 
 RHESUS. 131 
 
 Entering Minerva's fane, he stole her image, 
 And bore it to the Grecian fleet : disguised 
 In tattered vest, that vile impostor next 
 Entered the gates, and cursed the Argive host, 
 Sent as a spy to Ilion ; having slain 
 The sentinels, he through the gates escaped, 
 And in some fraudful scheme is ever found : 
 At the Thymbraean temple is he stationed 
 Hard by our ramparts, we in him contend 
 With a most grievous pest. 
 
 RHE. The valiant man 
 
 Is never mean enough to slay his foes 
 By stealth, he loves to meet them face to face ; 
 But, as for him, the recreant chief thou nam'st, 
 Who lurking with a thievish purpose frames 
 These dark contrivances, as through the gates 
 I sally forth to combat, I will seize him ; 
 Driven through his back, my spear shall leave the miscreant 
 Food for the vultures, for the impious robber 
 Who spoils the temples of the gods deserves 
 No better fate. 
 
 HEC. Now choose, for it is night, 
 
 The spot for an encampment : I will show you 
 A separate quarter where your troops must sleep. 
 But mark me well, Apollo is the watchword ; 
 In case of an emergency, announce 
 This signal to the Thracian host. \Exit RHESUS. 
 
 Extend 
 
 The watch beyond the lines, and there receive 
 Dolon our spy, who sallied forth t' explore 
 The navy of our foes ; if he be safe 
 He, by this time, the trenches must approach. 
 
 \Exit HECTOR. 
 CHORUS. 
 
 i. 
 
 Who comes this rampart to defend ? 
 The times assigned us sentinels is o'er ; 
 Yon fading constellation shines no more 
 Now the seven Pleiades the heaven ascend* 
 In ether view the eagle glide. 
 Wake! what means this long delay? 
 Rise and watch ; now dawns the day 2 
 Saw ye the moon diffuse her radiance wide ? 
 Aurora is at hand : but at the gate 
 
 (For Dolon sure returns) what faithful guard shall Wait ? 
 SEMICHOR. To whom did the first watch belong ? 
 SEMICHOR. Tis said 
 
 Choraebus, son of Mygdon, is their chief. 
 
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 SEMICHOR. Who in his room was stationed ? 
 
 SEMICHOR. The Pae^nians 
 
 Called from their tent Cilicia's hardy troops. 
 
 SEMICHOR. The Mysians summoned us. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Haste, let us seek 
 
 The fifth division of the watch, and rouse 
 Lycia's brave warriors as by lot ordained. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Hark ! couched on her ill-omened nest, 
 Fell murderess of her son, in varied strains 
 Near Simois' banks the nightingale complains : 
 What sounds melodious heave her throbbing breast ! 
 The flocks on Ida wont to feed 
 Still browse o'er that airy height, 
 Soothing the cold ear of night, 
 Hark to the murmurs of the pastoral reed. 
 Sleep on our closing eyelids gently steals ; 
 Sweet are its dews when morn her earliest dawn reveals. 
 SEMICHOR. But wherefore doth not he draw near whom 
 
 Hector 
 Sent to explore the fleet ? 
 
 SEMICHOR. He hath so long 
 
 Been absent that I tremble. 
 
 SEMICHOR. If he fell 
 
 Into some ambush, and is slain, we soon 
 Shall have sufficient cause for fear. 
 
 SEMICHOR. But haste, 
 
 Rouse Lycia's warriors as by lot ordained. \Exit CHORUS. 
 
 ULYSSES, DIOMEDE. 
 
 ULY. Heard'st thou, O Diomede, the sound of arms, 
 Or in these ears did empty murmurs ring ? 
 
 DlO. No ; but the steely trappings which are linked 
 To yonder chariots, rattled, and I too 
 With vain alarm was seized, till I perceived 
 The coursers, who their clanging harness shook. 
 
 ULY. Beware, lest in this gloom of night thou stumble 
 Upon the sentinels. 
 
 DlO. Though in the dark 
 
 We tread, I with such caution will direct 
 My steps as not to err. 
 
 ULY. But, should'st thou wake them, 
 
 Thou know'st the watchword of their host. 
 
 Dio. I know 
 
 It is Apollo ; this I heard from Doion. 
 
 ULY. Ha ! I perceive our foes have left these chambers.
 
 RHESUS. 133 
 
 Dio. Here, Dolon told us, is the tent of Hector : 
 'Gainst him I wield this javelin. 
 
 ULY. What hath happened? 
 
 Is the whole squadron too elsewhere removed ? 
 
 Dio. Perchance they too 'gainst us may have contrived 
 Some stratagem. 
 
 ULY. For Hector now is brave 
 
 Since he hath conquered. 
 
 Dio. How shall we proceed? 
 
 For in this chamber him we cannot find, 
 And all our hopes are vanished. 
 
 ULY. To the fleet 
 
 Let us in haste return : for him some god 
 Protects, and crowns him with triumphant wreaths : 
 We must not strive 'gainst Fortune's dread behests. 
 
 Dio. Then to ^Eneas will we go, or Paris 
 That Phrygian most abhorred, and with our swords 
 Lop off their heads. 
 
 ULY. But how, in darkness wrapt, 
 
 Canst thou direct thy passage through the troops, 
 To slay them without danger ? 
 
 Dio. Yet 'twere base, 
 
 Back to the Grecian fleet should we return, 
 No fresh exploit performing 'gainst the foe. 
 
 ULY. What means this language ? hast thou not performed 
 A great exploit ? have we not slain the spy 
 Who to our navy went, and are not these 
 The spoils of Dolon? how canst thou expect 
 To spread a general havoc through their troops ? 
 Comply ; let us retire : may Fortune speed 
 Our progress homeward. 
 
 MINERVA, ULYSSES, DIOMEDE. 
 
 MIN. With affliction stung, 
 
 Why from the Trojan camp do ye retire ? 
 Although the gods forbid you to destroy 
 Hector or Paris, heard ye not that Rhesus, 
 A mighty chief, with numerous troops is come 
 To Troy ? If he outlives this night, nor Ajax, 
 Nor can Achilles hinder him from wasting 
 The camp of Greece, demolishing your walls, 
 And forcing a wide passage through your gates 
 With his victorious spear : him slay, and all 
 Is yours; but go not to the couch of Hector, 
 Nor hope to leave that chief a weltering trunk, 
 For he must perish by another hand. 
 
 ULY. Dread goddess, O Minerva, I distinguished 
 Thy well-known voice : for midst unnumbered toils 
 Thou ever dost support me : but, oh say,
 
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 Where sleeps the mighty warrior thou hast named, 
 And in what part of the barbarian host 
 Have they assigned his station ? 
 
 MlN. Near at hand, 
 
 And separate from the Phrygian troops, he lies; 
 Hector hath placed him just without the lines 
 Till morn arise; conspicuous in the gloom 
 Of night, and close beside their sleeping lord, 
 Yoked to the car his Thracian coursers stand, 
 White as the glossy plumage of the swan : 
 Them bear away \\hen ye have slain their lord, 
 A glorious prize, for the whole world can boast 
 No car beside drawn by such beauteous steeds. 
 
 ULY. Either do thou, O Diomede, transpierce 
 The Thracian soldiers, or to me consign 
 That task ; meanwhile seize thou the steeds. 
 
 DlO. To slay 
 
 The foe be mine ; do you the coursers guide, 
 For you are practised in each nicer art, 
 And quick of apprehension. To each man 
 Should that peculiar station be assigned 
 In which he can be useful. 
 
 MIN. But to us 
 
 Paris I see is coming, who hath heard 
 A doubtful rumour from the watch, that foes 
 Enter the trenches. 
 
 DlO. Hath he any comrade, 
 
 Or marches he alone ? 
 
 MIN. Alone he seems 
 
 To go to Hector's chamber, to announce 
 That there are foes discovered in the camp. 
 
 DlO. Is it not first ordained that he shall die? 
 
 MIN. You can no more, the Destinies forbid : 
 For Hector must not perish by your hand ; 
 But haste to him on whom ye came to wreak 
 Fate's dreadful purposes : myself meanwhile 
 Assuming Venus' form, who 'midst the toils 
 Of battle by her tutelary care 
 Protects him, will with empty words detain 
 Paris your foe. Thus much have I declared : 
 Yet he, whom you must smite, though near at hand, 
 Nor knows, nor hears, the words which I have uttered. 
 \Excimt ULYSSES and DIOMEDE. 
 
 PARIS, MINERVA. 
 
 PAR. General and brother, Hector, thee I call: 
 Yet sleep'st thou ? doth not this important hour 
 Demand thy vigilance ? some foes approach, 
 Robbers or spies.
 
 RHESUS. 135 
 
 MIN. Be of good cheer ; for Venus 
 
 Protects you : I in all your battles feel 
 An interest, mindful of the prize I gained 
 Favoured by you, and am for ever grateful : 
 Now to the host of Ilion I conduct 
 Your noble Thracian friend, who from the Muse, 
 Harmonious goddess, and from Strymon springs. 
 
 PAR. To Troy and me thou ever art a friend. 
 In thy behalf when I that judgment gave, 
 I boast that for this city I obtained 
 The greatest treasure life affords. But hither, 
 Hearing an indistinct account, I come ; 
 For 'mong the guards there hath prevailed a rumour, 
 That Grecian spies have entered Ilion's walls : 
 Though the astonished messenger who bore 
 These tidings, saw them not himself, nor knows 
 Who saw them : I on this account am going 
 To Hector's tent. 
 
 MIN. Fear nought ; for in the camp 
 
 No new event hath happened. To arrange 
 The Thracian troops is Hector gone. 
 
 PAR. Thy words 
 
 Are most persuasive, and to them I yield 
 Implicit credence. From all fears released, 
 I to my former station will return. 
 
 MIN. Go and depend upon my guardian care 
 To see my faithful votaries ever blest ; 
 For you in me shall find a zealous friend. [Exit PARIS. 
 
 ULYSSES, DIOMEDE, MINERVA. 
 MIN. But now to you, my real friends, I speak. 
 Son of Laertes, O conceal your sword, 
 For we have slain the Thracian chief, and seized 
 His coursers, but our foes have ta'en th' alarm 
 And rush upon you, therefore fly with speed, 
 Fly to the naval ramparts. Why delay 
 To save your lives when hostile throngs approach ? 
 
 [Evil MINERVA. 
 CHORUS, ULYSSES, DIOMEDE. 
 CHOR. Come on, strike, strike, destroy. Who marches 
 
 yonder? 
 
 Look, look, 'tis him I mean ! these are the robbers 
 Who in the dead of night alarmed our host. 
 Hither, my friends, haste hither; I have seized them. 
 What answer mak'st thou ? tell me whence thou cam'st, 
 And who thou art. 
 
 ULY. No right hast thou to know; 
 
 Insult me, and this instant thou shalt die.
 
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 CHOR. Wilt thou not, ere this lance transpierce thy 
 
 breast, 
 Repeat the watchword ? 
 
 ULY. That thou soon shalt hear; 
 
 Be satisfied. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Come on, my friends, strike! strike ! 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Hast thou slain Rhesus ? 
 
 ULY. I have slain the man 
 
 Who would have murdered thee : forbear. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. I will not. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Forbear to slay a friend. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Pronounce the watchword. 
 
 ULY. Apollo. 
 
 and SEMICHOR. Thou art right ; let not a spear 
 Be lifted up against him. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Know'st thou whither 
 
 Those men are gone ? 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. We saw not. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Follow close 
 
 Their steps, or we must call aloud for aid. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Yet were it most unseemly to disturb 
 Our valiant comrades with our nightly fears. 
 
 {Exeunt ULYSSES and DIOMEDE. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 What chief is he, who moved along ; 
 What daring plunderer fleet and strong, 
 Shall boast he 'scaped my vengeful hand ? 
 How overtake his rapid flight ? 
 To whom compare him, who by night, 
 With dauntless step passed through our armed band 
 
 And slumbering guards ? doth he reside 
 In Thessaly, near ocean's boisterous tide 
 In Locris, or those islands scattered o'er 
 The waves ? whence comes he to this fell debate ? 
 
 What power supreme doth he adore ? 
 ist SEMICHOR. Was this Ulysses' enterprise, or whose ? 
 2nd SEMICHOR. If we may form our judgment from the past, 
 
 Who but Ulysses 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Think'st thou that it was ? 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Why not? 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. He is an enterprising foe. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. What bravery ? whom do you applaud ? 
 ist SEMICHOR. Ulysses. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Praise not the treacherous weapon of a 
 robber.
 
 RHESUS. 137 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 He entered I lion once before, 
 With foam his eyes were covered o'er, 
 In tatters hung his squalid vest ; 
 He artfully concealed his sword, 
 And sued for fragments from our board; 
 Shorn was his head, and like a beggar dressed ; 
 
 He cursed with simulated hate 
 Th' Atrides, rulers of the Grecian state. 
 May just revenge his forfeit life demand : 
 Would he had perished as his crimes deserve, 
 
 Before he reached the Phrygian land. 
 
 1st SEMICHOR. Whether this deed was by Ulysses wrought 
 It matters not, I shrink with fear, for Hector 
 Will to us guards impute the blame. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. What charge 
 
 Can he allege ? 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. He will suspect. 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Why shrink 
 
 With terror ? 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. 'Twixt our ranks they passed. 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Who passed ? 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. They, who this night have entered Phrygia's 
 camp. 
 
 CHARIOTEER OF RHESUS, CHORUS. 
 
 CHA. Alas ! intolerable stroke of fate ! 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Be silent. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Rouse ! for some one may have fallen 
 
 Into the snare. 
 
 CHA. O dire calamity 
 
 Of Troy's allies, the Thracians ! 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Who is he 
 
 That groans ? 
 
 CHA. Ah ! wretched me, and O thou king 
 
 Of Thrace, who in an evil hour beheld'st 
 Accursed Ilion ; what an end of life 
 Was thine ! 
 
 CHOR. But which of our allies art thou ? 
 For o'er these eyes the gloom of night is spread, 
 And I discern thee not. 
 
 CHA. Where shall I find 
 
 Some of the Trojan chiefs ? beneath his shield 
 O where doth Hector taste the charms of sleep ? 
 To which of Ilion's leaders shall I tell 
 All we have suffered ? and what wounds unseen
 
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 Some stranger hath on us with ruthless hand 
 Inflicted? but he vanished and hath heaped 
 Conspicuous sorrows on the Thracian realm. 
 
 CHOR. Some terrible disaster to the troops 
 Of Thrace it seems hath happened, if aright 
 I comprehend what I from him have heard. 
 
 CHA. Our host is utterly destroyed, our king 
 Hath been despatched by some foul secret stroke. 
 How am I tortured by a deadly wound, 
 Yet know not to what cause I must impute 
 My perishing ! 'Twas by the Fates ordained, 
 That I, and Rhesus, who to Ilion led 
 Auxiliar troops, ingloriously should bleed. 
 
 CHOR. He in no riddle hath expressed the tale 
 Of our misfortunes ; he asserts too clearly 
 That our allies are slain. 
 
 CHA. We are most wretched, 
 
 And to our wretchedness have joined disgrace, 
 A twofold evil. For, to die with glory, 
 If glory must be purchased at the expense 
 Of life, is very bitterness I deem 
 To him who bleeds (for what can make amends 
 For such a loss as life) ; but to the living 
 Is he the source of pride, from him his house 
 Derives renown. But we, alas ! like fools, 
 Ignobly perish. Hector in the camp 
 No sooner fixed our station, and pronounced 
 The watchword, than we slept upon the plain, 
 O'ercome with toil; no sentinels were stationed 
 To watch our troops by night, nor were our arms 
 Duly arranged, and to the harnessed steeds 
 Hung no alarm bell ; for our monarch heard 
 That ye had proved victorious, and with ruin 
 Threatened the Grecian fleet. Immersed we lay 
 In luckless slumber ; till disturbed in mind 
 I started up, and with a liberal hand 
 Measured the coursers' food, resolved betimes 
 To yoke them for the battle. I beheld 
 Two men, who, in the midnight darkness, walked 
 Around our camp ; but when I moved, they fled, 
 And disappeared immediately ; with threats 
 I bade them keep aloof: 'twas my conjecture 
 That robbers, some of our own countrymen, 
 Approached : they answered not, nor know I more. 
 Returning to my tent, again I slept, 
 And forms tremendous hovered in my dream. 
 For near my royal master, ns I stood, 
 I saw two visionary wolves ascend 
 Those coursers' backs which I was wont to guide,
 
 RHESUS. 159 
 
 Oft lashing with their tails they forced them on, 
 Indignant breathing as they champed the bit, 
 And struggling with dismay ; but in attempting 
 To drive away these ravenous beasts, I woke, 
 Roused by the terrors of the night, and heard, 
 Soon as I raised my head, expiring groans; 
 The tepid current of my master's blood, 
 Yet gasping in the agonies of death, 
 Besprinkled me. As from the couch I leaped 
 Unarmed, and sought for weapons, some strong warrior 
 Smote with his sword my ribs ; the ghastly wound 
 Displayed his might : prostrate I sunk to earth. 
 Bearing the steeds away, and glittering car, 
 They by the swiftness of their feet escaped, 
 Tortured -with pain, too faint to stand, I know 
 Too well the dire calamity these eyes 
 Beheld ; but cannot say, or through what means, 
 Or by the hand of whom, my lord was slain : 
 Yet can I guess that by our friends we suffer. 
 
 CHOR. O charioteer of Thracia's wretched king, 
 Be well assured this deed was by our foes 
 Committed. For lo ! Hector's self, apprized 
 Of this calamity, draws near ; he feels 
 Such anguish as he ought for thy disasters. 
 
 HECIOR, CHARIOTEER OF RHESUS, CHORUS. 
 
 HEC. O ye accursed authors of this mischief, 
 How did those spies, who by the foe were sent 
 Thus, to your infamy, escape, and spread 
 Dire havoc through the host ; both as they entered 
 And as they left the camp ? Yet, unmolested, 
 Ye suffered them to pass. Who should be punished 
 But you ? for you, I say, were stationed here 
 To watch the camp ; but they without a wound 
 Are vanished, laughing at the Phrygian troops 
 For their unmanly cowardice, and me 
 Their leader. Be assured, by Jove I swear, 
 All-gracious father, or the scourge or death 
 Shall wait you for such guilt, else deem that Hector 
 Is but a thing of nought, a very coward. 
 
 CHOR. Great is, alas ! my danger, mighty prince, 
 The foe stole in while I to you conveyed 
 Those tidings, that the Greeks around their ships 
 Had kindled fires : through all the live-long night 
 These watchful eyes have ne'er been sealed by sleep. 
 By Simois' holy fountain I conjure you, 
 My royal lord, impute no blame to me, 
 For I am wholly guileless. If you learn 
 That in my d eds or words I have offended,
 
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 Plunge me alive beneath earth's deepest vault ; 
 I ask no mercy. 
 
 CHA. Why dost thou upbraid 
 
 These for the guilt ? by plausible harangues 
 Wouldst thou impose on thy barbarian friends ; 
 
 thou barbarian, thou the bloody deed 
 
 Didst perpetrate ; nor can our slaughtered comrades, 
 
 Nor we \\ ho linger pierced with ghastly wounds, 
 
 Admit that ''twas another. There requires 
 
 A long and subtle speech to make me think 
 
 Thou didst not basely murder thy allies, 
 
 Because the beauty of our steeds attracted 
 
 Thy admiration, and on their account 
 
 Hast thou slain those who at thy earnest prayer 
 
 Landed on Ilion's shore; they came, they died. 
 
 With greater decency than thou observ'st, 
 
 Who dost assassinate thy friends, did Paris 
 
 The rites of hospitality infringe. 
 
 Pretend not that some Grecian came unseen 
 
 And smote us. Who subdued the Phrygian host, 
 
 Who reached our quarters unobserved by Hector ? 
 
 Thou with the Trojan army wert before us ; 
 
 But who was wounded, who among thy troops 
 
 Expired, when through their ranks as thou pretend'st 
 
 The foe to us advanced ? But I was wounded, 
 
 And they, whom a more grievous ill o'ertook, 
 
 No more behold the sun. To be explicit, 
 
 1 charge no Greek : what foe could come by night 
 And find out Rhesus' tent, unless some god 
 
 Had told the murderers, for they sure knew nought 
 Of his arrival ? therefore all this mischief 
 Must be thy sole contrivance. 
 
 HEC. Our allies 
 
 Have long assisted us since first the Greeks 
 This realm invaded ; and I never heard 
 They to my charge imputed any crime. 
 Could I begin with thee ? by such desire 
 For beauteous steeds may I be never seized, 
 As to induce me to destroy my friends. 
 Ulysses was the author of this deed. 
 What Greek could have accomplished or contrived 
 Such an exploit, but he ? Him much I fear : 
 My soul is also troubled lest he light 
 On Dolon too, and slay him, for 'tis long 
 Since he went forth, nor doth he yet return. 
 
 CHA. I know not that Ulysses whom thou nam'st, 
 Nor did a foe inflict this ghastly wound. 
 
 HEC. Therefore retain, since thus to thee it seems, 
 Thy own opinion.
 
 RHESUS. 141 
 
 CHA. O my native land, 
 
 Might I but die in thee ! 
 
 HEC. Thou shall not die : 
 
 For of the dead the number is sufficient. 
 
 CHA. Reft of my lord, but whither shall I turn ? 
 
 HEC. Thou in my house shalt careful treatment find, 
 And healing balsams. 
 
 CHA. Shall the ruthless hands 
 
 Of murderers dress my wounds? 
 
 HEC. He will not cense 
 
 Alleging the same charge. 
 
 CHA. Perdition seize 
 
 The author of this bloody deed ! my tongue 
 Has fixed no charge, as them pretend'st, on thee ; 
 But Justice knows. 
 
 HEC. Conduct him to my palace 
 
 With speed, that we may 'scape his clamorous plaints. 
 But you must go, and to the citizens 
 Proclaim, acquainting Priam, and the elders 
 Who sit in council, first, that I direct 
 The bodies of the slain shall be interred 
 With due respect beside the public road. 
 
 \Exit CHARIOTEER, supported by one of 
 HECTOR'S Attendants. 
 
 CHOR. Why from the summit of exalted bliss 
 Into fresh woes hath some malignant god 
 Plunged Troy, why caused this sad reverse of fortune ? 
 
 The MUSE appears in the air, HECTOR, CHORUS. 
 
 CHOR. High o'er our heads what deity, O king, 
 Is hovering ? in her hands a recent corse 
 She bears : I shudder at the dreadful sight. 
 
 MUSE. Ye Trojans, mark me well : for I a Muse 
 Who by the wise am worshipped, hither come, 
 One of the nine famed sisters, having seen 
 The wretched fate of this my dearest son, 
 Who by the foe was slain : but he who smote 
 The generous youth, Ulysses, that dissembler, 
 At length shall suffer as his crimes deserve. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Parental anguish rends my breast, 
 For thee my son, my son, I grieve, 
 Thy mother sinks with woes oppressed. 
 Why didst thou take this road, why leave 
 Thy home, and march to Ilion's gate, 
 Where death did thy arrival wait ?
 
 I 4 2 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Oft with maternal zeal I strove 
 Thy luckless courage to restrain, 
 And oft thy sire opposed in vain. 
 But now with ineffectual love, 
 My dearest son, thee now no more, 
 Thee, O my son, must I deplore. 
 CHOR. As far as bosoms, by no kindred ties 
 
 United, can partake a mother's grief, 
 
 Do I bewail thy son's untimely fate. 
 
 MUSE. 
 
 ii. 
 
 On him your tenfold vengeance shed 
 From Oeneus who derives his birth, 
 Smite base Ulysses' perjured head, 
 Ye fiends who desolate the earth ; 
 Through them with agonizing pain 
 I mourn my valiant offspring slain ; 
 May Helen too partake their doom, 
 "Who from her bridal mansions fled, 
 And sought th' adulterer's Phrygian bed ; 
 For thou in Troy art to the tomb 
 By her consigned ; and many a state 
 Bewails its bravest warriors' fate. 
 
 Much while on earth, and since thy murmuring ghost 
 Was plunged in Orcus' dreary mansions more, 
 
 offspring of Philammon, didst thou wound 
 My soul : that arrogance which caused thy ruin, 
 That contest with Pieria's choir, gave birth 
 
 To this unhappy youth : for having passed 
 The rapid current, with incautious step 
 Approaching Strymon's genial bed, we mounted 
 Pangaeum's summit, for its golden mines 
 Distinguished; each melodious instrument 
 Around us in full concert breathed ; our strife 
 Was there decided with the Thracian minstrel ; 
 That Thamyris who dared blaspheme our art, 
 We of his eyes deprived. But since I bore 
 Thee, O my son, through deference for my sisters, 
 And for my own reputed chastity, 
 Thee to the watery mansions of thy sire 
 
 1 sent ; and Strymon, to no human care, 
 
 But to the nymphs who haunt his limpid founts, 
 For nurture did consign thee ; from those virgins 
 When, O my dearest son, thou hadst received 
 The best of educations, thou becam'st 
 Monarch of Thrace, the first of men. I felt
 
 143 
 
 No boding apprehensions of thy death ; 
 
 By thee, while marshalled on thy native ground, 
 
 Athirst for blood the dauntless squadrons moved. 
 
 But thee I cautioned, for I knew thy fate, 
 
 That thou to Troy shouldst never go ; but thee 
 
 Th' ambassadors of Hector and the Senate, 
 
 By oft repeated messages, persuaded 
 
 To come to the assistance of thy friends. 
 
 Yet think not, O Minerva, thou sole cause 
 
 Of my son's fate, that thou these watchful eyes 
 
 Hast 'scaped ; Ulysses and the son of Tydeus 
 
 Were not the authors of this bloody deed, 
 
 Although they gave the wound. We sister Muses 
 
 Honour thy city, in thy land we dwell. 
 
 Orpheus, the kinsman of this hapless youth 
 
 Whom thou hast slain, dark mysteries did unfold ; 
 
 And by Apollo, and our sister choir, 
 
 Thy venerable citizen Musaeus 
 
 Was taught to soar beyond each warbled strain 
 
 Of pristine melody : but in return 
 
 For all these favours, bearing in my arms 
 
 My son, I utter this funereal dirge ; 
 
 But I no other minstrel will employ. 
 
 CHOR. Falsely the wounded Thracian charioteer 
 Charged us with a conspiracy to slay him. 
 
 HEC. Full well I knew, there needed not a seer 
 T' inform me, that he perished by the arts 
 Of Ithncus. But was it not my duty 
 When I my country saw by Grecian troops 
 Besieged, to send forth heralds to my friends, 
 Requesting them to aid us ? I did send, 
 And Rhesus came, by gratitude constrained, 
 Illustrious partner of my toils. His death 
 Lamenting, will I raise a tomb to grace 
 The corse of my ally, and o'er the flame 
 Strew tissued vests : for with confederate arms 
 Dauntless he came, though piteous was his death. 
 
 MUSE. They shall not plunge him in the yawning grave, 
 Such vows will I address to Pluto's bride, 
 Daughter of fruitful Ceres, to release 
 His ghost from the drear shades beneath : she owes 
 To Orpheus' friends such honours. But henceforth, 
 Dead as it were to me, will he no more 
 Behold the sun, we ne'er must meet again, 
 Nor shall he see his mother, but shall lie 
 Concealed beneath the caverns of that land 
 With silver mines abounding, from a man 
 Exalted to a god, restored to life, 
 The priest of Bacchus, and of him who dwells
 
 144 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Beneath Pangeum's rock, a god adored 
 By those who haunt his orgies. But ere long 
 To yonder goddess of the briny waves 
 Shall I bear doleful tidings : for by fate 
 It is decreed, her offspring too shall die ; 
 But first our sisterhood, in choral plaints, 
 Will sing of thee, O Rhesus, and hereafter 
 Achilles, son of Thetis, shall demand 
 Our elegiac strains, not she who slew 
 Thee, hapless youth, Minerva, can redeem him ; 
 Such an inevitable shaft is stored 
 In Phcebus' quiver. O ye pangs that rend 
 A mother's breast, ye toils the lot of man ; 
 They who behold you in your real light 
 Will live without a progeny, nor mourn 
 With hopeless anguish o'er their children's tomb. 
 
 [E 
 
 CHOR. To bury the deceased with honours due, 
 Will be his mother's care : but if, O Hector, 
 Thou mean'st to execute some great emprise, 
 'Tis now the time : for morn already dawns. 
 
 HEC. Go, and this instant bid our comrades arm, 
 Harness the steeds : but while ye in these toils 
 Are busied, ye the signal must await, 
 Th' Etrurian trumpet's clangour ; for I trust 
 I first shall o'er the Grecian host p revail, 
 Shall storm their ramparts, and then burn their fleet, 
 And that Hyperion's orient beams will bring 
 A day of freedom to Troy's valiant race. 
 
 CHOR. Obey the monarch : clad in glittering mail 
 Let us go forth, and his behests proclaim 
 To our associates j for that god who fights 
 Our battles, haply will bestow success.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 NEPTUNE. 
 MINERVA. 
 HECUBA. 
 
 CHORUS OF CAPTIVE 
 TROJAN DAMES. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS. 
 
 CASSANDRA. 
 
 ANDROMACHE. 
 
 MENELAUS. 
 
 HELEN. 
 
 SCENE. BEFORE THE ENTRANCE OF AGAMEMNON'S TENT 
 IN THE GRECIAN CAMP NEAR TROY. 
 
 NEPTUNE. 
 
 FROM the ^Egean deep, in mazy dance 
 
 Where Nereus' daughters glide with agile feet, 
 
 I Neptune hither come. For round the fields 
 
 Of Ilion, since Apollo and myself 
 
 With symmetry exact reared many a tower 
 
 Hewn from the solid rock ; the love I bore 
 
 The city where my Phrygian votaries dwelt, 
 
 Laid waste by Greece, where smoke e'en now ascends 
 
 The heavens, hath ne'er been rooted from this breast, 
 
 For on Parnassus bred, the Phocian chief 
 
 Epeus, by Minerva's arts inspired, 
 
 Framed with a skilful hand, and through the gates 
 
 Sent that accursed machine, the horse which teemed 
 
 With ambushed javelins. Through forsaken groves, 
 
 Through the polluted temples of the gods, 
 
 Flow tides of crimson slaughter ; at the base 
 
 Of altars sacred to Hercaean Jove, 
 
 Fell hoary Priam. But huge heaps of gold 
 
 And Phrygian plunder, to the fleet of Greece 
 
 Are sent : the leaders of the host that sacked 
 
 This city, wait but for a prosperous breeze, 
 
 That after ten years absence they their wives 
 
 And children may with joy behold. Subdued 
 
 By Juno, Argive goddess, and Minerva, 
 
 Who leagued in Phrygia's overthrow, I leave
 
 146 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Troy the renowned, and my demolished shrines. 
 
 For when pernicious solitude extends 
 
 O'er cities her inexorable sway, 
 
 Abandoned are the temples of the gods, 
 
 None comes to worship there. Scamander's banks 
 
 Re-echo many a shriek of captive dames 
 
 Distributed by lot ; th' Arcadians, some, 
 
 Some the Thessalians gain, and some the sons 
 
 Of Theseus leaders of th' Athenian troops : 
 
 But they whom chance distributes not, remain 
 
 Beneath yoa roof selected by the chiefs 
 
 Of the confederate army. Justly deemed 
 
 A captive, among them is Spartan Helen : 
 
 And if the stranger wishes to behold 
 
 That wretched woman, Hecuba lies stretched 
 
 Before the gate, full many are her tears, 
 
 And her afflictions many : at the tomb 
 
 Of stern Achilles her unhappy daughter 
 
 Polyxena died wretchedly, her lord 
 
 The royal Priam, and her sons are slain, 
 
 That spotless virgin too whom from his shrine 
 
 Apollo with prophetic gifts inspired, 
 
 Cassandra, spurning every sacred rite, 
 
 Did Agamemnon violently drag 
 
 To his adulterous bed. But, O farewell, 
 
 Thou city prosperous once ; ye splendid towers, 
 
 Had not Minerva's self oi'dained your fall, 
 
 Ye still on your firm basis might remain. 
 
 MINERVA, NEPTUNE. 
 
 MIN. May I accost the god who to my sire 
 In blood is nearest, mighty, through high Heaven 
 Revered, and lay aside our ancient hate ? 
 
 NEP. 'Tis well, thou royal maid : an interview 
 'Twixt those of the same house, is to the soul 
 An efficacious philtre. 
 
 MIN. I applaud 
 
 Those who are temperate in their wrath, and bring 
 Such arguments, O monarch, as affect 
 Both you and me. 
 
 NEP. From all th' assembled gods 
 
 Some new commission beai j st thou, or from Jove, 
 Or what celestial power ? 
 
 MIN. From none of these. 
 
 But in the cause of Troy, whose fields we tread, 
 I to your aid betake me, and would join 
 Our common strength. 
 
 NEP. Hast thou then laid aside
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 147 
 
 Thy former hate, to pity Troy, consumed 
 By the relentless flames ? 
 
 MIN. First, thither turn 
 
 Your views : to me will you unfold your counsels, 
 And aid the schemes I would effect ? 
 
 NEP. With joy : 
 
 But I meanwhile would thy designs explore, 
 Whether thou com'st on the behalf of Greece, 
 Or Troy. 
 
 MIN. The Trojans, erst my foes, I wish 
 To cheer, and to embitter the return 
 Of the victorious Grecian host. 
 
 NEP. What means 
 
 This change of temper ? to excess thou hat'st 
 And lov'st at random. 
 
 MIN. Know you not the insult 
 
 Which hath been shown to me, and to my temple ? 
 
 NEP. I know that Ajax violently tore 
 Cassandra thence. 
 
 MIN. Yet by the Greeks unpunished 
 
 He 'scaped, and e'en uncensured. 
 
 NEP. Though the Greeks 
 O'erthrew Troy's walls through thy auxiliar might 
 
 MIN. And for this very cause will I conspire 
 With you to punish them. 
 
 NEP. I am prepared 
 
 For any enterprise thou wilt. What mean's! tliou ? 
 
 MIN. Their journey home I am resolved to make 
 Most inauspicious. 
 
 NEP. While they yet remain 
 
 Upon the shore, or 'midst the briny waves ? 
 
 MIN. As to their homes from Ilion's coast they sail 
 For Jove will send down rain, immoderate hail, 
 And pitchy blasts of air : he promises 
 To give me too his thunderbolts to smite 
 The Greeks and fire their ships ; but join your aid, 
 Cause the ^Egean deep with threefold waves, 
 And ocean's whirlpools horribly to rage, 
 Fill with their courses the unfathomed caves 
 Beneath Eubcea's rocks, that Greece may learn 
 My shrines to reverence, nor provoke the gods. 
 
 NEP. It shall be done : there need not many words 
 To recommend thy suit. My storms shall rouse 
 Th' JEgean deep ; the shores of Mycone, 
 Scyros with Lemnos, all the Delian rocks, 
 And steep Caphareus with full many a corse 
 Will I o'erspread. But mount Olympus' height, 
 And from the Thunderer's hand his flaming shaft? 
 Receiving, mark when the devoted host
 
 148 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Of Greece weigh anchor. Frantic is the man 
 
 Who dares to lay the peopled city waste, 
 
 Temples with tombs profaning, and bereaves 
 
 Of their inhabitants those sacred vaults 
 
 Where sleep the dead ; at length shall vengeance smite 
 
 That hardened miscreant in his bold career. \Exeiint. 
 
 The Scene opens, and discovers HECUBA on a couch. 
 
 HEC. Arise, thou wretch, and from the dust uplift 
 Thy drooping head ; though I lion be no more, 
 And thou a queen no longer, yet endure 
 With patience Fortune's change, and as the tide 
 Or as capricious Fortune wills, direct 
 Thy sails, nor turn against the dashing wave 
 Life's stubborn prow, for chance must guide thy voyage. 
 Alas ! for what but groans belongs to me 
 Whose country, children, husband, are no more ? 
 Oh, mighty splendour of my sires, now pent 
 In a small tomb, how art thou found a thing 
 Of no account ! What portion of my woes 
 Shall I suppress, or what describe, how frame 
 A plaintive strain ? Now fixed on this hard couch, 
 Wretch that I am, are my unwieldy limbs. 
 Ah me ! my head, my temples, ah, my side ! 
 Oh, how I wish to turn, and to stretch forth 
 These joints ! My tears shall never cease to flow, 
 For like the Muse's lyre, th' affecting tale 
 Of their calamities consoles the wretched. 
 Ye prows of those swift barks which to the coast 
 Of fated Ilion, from the Grecian ports 
 Adventurous launched amid the purple wave, 
 Accompanied by inauspicious paeans 
 From pipes, and the shrill flute's enlivening voice, 
 While from the mast devolved the twisted cordage 
 By Egypt first devised, ye to the bay 
 Of Troy did follow Menelaus' wife, 
 Helen, abhorred adult'ress, who disgraced 
 Castor her brother, and Eurotas' stream : 
 She murdered Priam, sire of fifty sons, 
 And me the wretched Hecuba hath plunged 
 Into this misery. Here, alas ! I sit 
 In my loathed prison, Agamemnon's tent ; 
 From princely mansions dragged, an aged slave, 
 My hoary tresses shorn, this head deformed 
 With baldness. But, alas ! ye hapless wives 
 Of Ilion's dauntless warriors, blooming maids, 
 And brides affianced in an evil hour, 
 Together let us weep, for Ilion's smoke 
 Ascends the skies. Like the maternal bird,
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 149 
 
 Who wails her callow brood, I now commence 
 A strain far different from what erst was heard 
 When I on mighty Priam's sceptred state 
 Proudly relying, led the Phrygian dance 
 Before the hallowed temples of the gods. 
 
 \_She rises, and comes forth from the tent. 
 SEMICHORUS, HECUBA. 
 
 SEMICHOR. O Hecuba, what mean these clamorous notes, 
 These shrieks of woe ? for from the vaulted roof 
 Thy plaints re-echoing smite my distant ear, 
 And fresh alarms seize every Phrygian dame 
 Who in these tents enslaved deplores her fate. 
 
 HEC. E'en now, my daughter, at the Grecian fleet 
 Th' exulting sailors ply their oars. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Ah me! 
 
 What mean they ? will they instantly convey me 
 Far from my ruined country ? 
 
 HEC. By conjecture 
 
 Alone am I acquainted with our doom. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Soon shall we hear this sentence : " From 
 
 these doors 
 
 Come forth ye Trojnn captives, for the Greeks 
 Are now preparing to return." 
 
 HEC. O cease, 
 
 My friends, nor from her chambers hither bring 
 Cassandra, frantic prophetess, denied 
 By Argive ruffians, for the sight of her 
 Would but increase my griefs. 
 
 SEMICHOR. Troy, wretched Troy, 
 
 Thou art no more, they to whom fate ordains 
 No longer on thy fostering soil to dwell 
 Are wretched, both the living and the slain. 
 CHORUS, HECUBA. 
 
 CHOR. Trembling I come from Agamemnon's tent, 
 Of thee my royal mistress to inquire 
 Whether the Greeks have doomed me- to be slain, 
 And whether yet along the poop arranged 
 The mariners prepare to ply their oars. 
 
 HEC. Deprived of sleep through horror, O my daughter, 
 I hither came : but on the road I see 
 A Grecian herald. 
 
 CHOR. Tell me to what lord 
 
 Am wretched I consigned. 
 
 HEC. E'en now the lot 
 
 Is casting to decide your fate. 
 
 CHOR. What chief 
 
 To Argos, or to'Phthin, me shall bear, 
 Or to some island, sorrowing, far from Troy?
 
 i S o EURIPIDES. 
 
 HEC. To whom shall wretched I, and in what land 
 Become a slave, decrepit like the drone 
 Through age, mere semblance of a pallid corse, 
 Or flitting spectre from the realms beneath ? 
 Shall I be stationed or to watch the door, 
 Or tend the children of a haughty lord, 
 Erst placed at Troy in rank supreme ? 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! 
 
 HEC. With what loud plaints do;t thou revive thy woes ! 
 
 CHOR. I never more through Ida's loom shall da:t 
 The shuttle, nor behold a blooming race 
 Of children, in those lighter tasks employed 
 Which suit the young and beauteous, to the couch 
 Of some illustrious Greek conveyed, the joys 
 Which night and fortune yields are lost to me ; 
 Or filled with xvater, from Pirene's spring 
 Shall I be doomed to bear the ponderous urn. 
 
 HEC. O could we reach the famed and happy realm 
 Of Theseus, distant from Eurotas' tide, 
 And curst Therapne's gates, where I should meet 
 Perfidious Helen, and remain a slave 
 To Menelaus, who demolished Troy. 
 
 CHOR. By fame's loud voice I am informed, the vale 
 Of Peneus, at Olympus base, abounds 
 With wealth and plenteous fruitage. 
 
 HEC. This I make 
 
 My second option, next the blest domain 
 Of Theseus. 
 
 CHOR. I am told that Vulcan's realm 
 
 Of vEtna, opposite Phoenicia's coast 
 The mother of Sicilian hills, is famed 
 For palms obtained by valour. Through the realm 
 Adjacent, bordering on th' Ionian deep, 
 Crathis the bright, for auburn hair renowned, 
 The tribute of its holy current pours, 
 And scatters blessings o'er a martial land. 
 But lo, with hasty step a herald comes 
 Bearing some message from the Grecian host ! 
 \Vhat is his errand ? for we now are slaves 
 To yon proud rulers of the Doric realm. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 TAL. O Hecuba, full oft, you know, to Troy 
 I, as their herald, by the Grecian host 
 Have been despatched ; you cannot be a stranger 
 To me, Talthybius, who to you, and all, 
 One message bring. 
 
 HEC. This, this, my dearest friends, 
 
 Is what I long have feared.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 151 
 
 TAL. The lots are cast 
 
 Already, if your terrors thence arose. 
 
 HEC.' Alas, to what Thessalian city saidst thou, 
 Or to the Phthian, or the Theban realm 
 Shall we be carried ? 
 
 TAL. To a separate lord 
 
 Hath each of you distinctly been assigned. 
 
 HEC. To whom, alas, to whom am I allotted ? 
 What Phrygian dames do happier fortunes wait ? 
 
 TAL. I know ; but be distinct in your inquiries, 
 Nor ask at once a multitude of questions. 
 
 HEC. Say who by lot hath gained my wretched daughter 
 Cassandra ? 
 
 TAL. Her the royal Agamemnon 
 
 His chosen prize hath taken. 
 
 HEC. As a slave 
 
 To tend his Spartan wife ? ah, me ! 
 
 TAL. No slave, 
 
 But concubine. 
 
 HEC. What, Phoebus' votive maid, 
 
 To whom the god with golden tresses gave 
 This privilege, that she should pass her life 
 In celibacy? 
 
 TAL. With the shafts of love 
 
 Hath the prophetic nymph transpierced his breast. 
 
 HEC. My daughter, cast the sacred keys away, 
 And rend the garlands thou with pride didst wear. 
 
 TAL. Is it not great for captives, to ascend 
 The regal couch ? 
 
 HEC. But where is she whom late 
 
 Ye took away, and whither have ye borne 
 That daughter ? 
 
 TAL. Speak you of Polyxena, 
 
 Or for whom else would you inquire ? 
 
 HEC. On whom 
 
 Hath chance bestowed her ? 
 
 TAL. At Achilles' tomb 
 
 It is decreed that she shall minister. 
 
 HEC. Wretch that I am ! for his sepulchral rites 
 Have I then borne a priestess ? but what law 
 Is this, what Grecian usage, O my friend? 
 
 TAL. Esteem your daughter happy; for with her 
 All now is well. 
 
 HEC. What saidst thou ? doth she live ? 
 
 TAL. 'Tis her peculiar fate to be released 
 From all affliction. 
 
 HEC. But, alas ! what fortune 
 
 Attends the warlike Hector's captive wife, 
 How fares it with the lost Andromiche ?
 
 152 EURIPIDES. 
 
 TAL. Her to Achilles' son hath from the band 
 Of captives chosen. 
 
 HEC. As to me who need 
 
 For a third foot, the staff which in these hands 
 I hold, whose head is whitened o'er with age, 
 To whom am I a slave ? 
 
 TAL. By lot the king 
 
 Of Ithaca Ulysses hath obtained you. 
 
 HEC. Alas ! alas ! let your shorn temples feel 
 The frequent blow ; rend your discoloured cheeks. 
 Ah me ! 1 am allotted for a slave 
 To a detestable and treacherous man, 
 Sworn foe of justice, to that lawless viper, 
 With double tongue confounding all, 'twixt friends 
 Exciting bitter hate. Ye Trojan dames, 
 O shed the sympathizing tear : I sink 
 Beneath the pressure of relentless fate. 
 
 CHOR. Thy doom, O queen, thou know'st : but to what chief, 
 Hellenian or Achaian, I belong 
 Inform me. 
 
 TAL. Peace ! Conduct Cassandra hither 
 
 With speed, ye guards, into our general's hands 
 When I his captive have delivered up, 
 That we the rest may portion out. Why gleams 
 That blazing torch within ? would Ilion's dames 
 Their chambers fire ? what mean they ? doomed to leave 
 This land, and to be borne to Argive shores, 
 Are they resolved to perish in the flames ? 
 The soul, inspired with an unbounded love 
 Of freedom, ill sustains such woes. Burst open 
 The doors, lest, to their honour and the shame 
 Of Greece, on me the censure fall. 
 
 HEC. They kindle 
 
 No conflagation, but, with frantic step, 
 My daughter, lo ! Cassandra rushes hither. 
 
 CASSANDRA, TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 CAS. Avaunt ! the sacred flame I bring 
 With reverential awe profound, 
 And wave the kindled torch around, 
 
 Hymen, thou benignant king. 
 
 The bridegroom comes with jocund pride, 
 
 1 too am styled a happy bride, 
 
 My name through Argos' streets shall ring, 
 O Hymen, thou benignant king ! 
 While thou attend'st my father's bier, 
 O Hecuba, with many a tear, 
 While Ilion's ramparts overthrown 
 From thee demand th' incessant groan,
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 153 
 
 Ere the bright sun withhold his ray, 
 
 E'en in the glaring front of day, 
 
 I bid the nuptial incense blaze 
 
 To thee, O Hymen, thee whose power 
 
 Invoking at her bridal hour 
 
 The bashful virgin comes. Yon maze 
 
 Encircling, J mid the choral dance, 
 
 As ancient usage bids, advance, 
 
 And in thy hand a naming pine, 
 
 O mother, brandish. God of wine, 
 
 Thy shouting votaries hither bring, 
 
 As if in Ilion thou hadst found 
 
 Old Priam still a happy king. 
 
 Range that holy group around, 
 
 D Phoebus, in thy laureate mead, 
 
 Thy temple, shall the victim bleed. 
 
 Let Hymen, Hymen, Hymen, sound. 
 
 My mother, for the dance prepare, 
 
 Vault nimbly, and our revels share. 
 
 At Hymen's shrine, my friends, prolong 
 
 Your vows, awake th' ecstatic song ; 
 
 In honour of my bridal day, 
 
 Chant, Phrygian nymphs, the choral lay, 
 
 And celebrate the chief whom fate 
 
 Ordains to be Cassandra's mate. 
 CHOR. Wilt thou not stop the princess, lest she rush 
 With frantic step amid the Grecian host ? 
 
 HEC. O Vulcan, wont to light the bridal torch, 
 Now dost thou brandish an accursed flame ; 
 My soul foresaw not this. Alas ! my daughter, 
 I little thought, that 'midst the din of arms, 
 Or while we crouch beneath the Argive spear, 
 Thou couldst have celebrated such espousals. 
 Give me the torch, for while with frantic speed 
 Thou rushest on, it trembles in thy hand. 
 Nor yet have thy afflictions, O my daughter, 
 Brought back thy wandering reason, thou remain'st 
 Disordered as before. Ye Trojan dames, 
 Remove yon blazing pines, and in the stead 
 Of these her bridal songs let tears express 
 The anguish of your souls. 
 
 CAS. O mother, place 
 
 A laureate wreath on my victorious brow, 
 Exulting lead me to the monarch's bed. 
 And if for thee too slowly I advance, 
 Drag me along by force ; for I am now 
 No more the spouse of Phoebus ; but that king 
 Of Greece, famed Agamemnon, shall in me 
 Take to his arms a bride more inauspicious
 
 1 54 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Than even Helen's self : him will I smite, 
 
 And lay his palace waste, in great revenge 
 
 For my slain sire and brothers. But I cease 
 
 These menaces, and speak not of the axe 
 
 Which shall smite me and others, or the conflict 
 
 My wedlock shall produce, whence by the hands 
 
 Of her own son a mother shall be slain, 
 
 And th' overthrow of Atreus' guilty house. 
 
 This city will I prove to have been happier 
 
 Than the victorious Greeks (for though the gods 
 
 Inspire, I curb the transports of my soul), 
 
 Who for one single woman, to regain 
 
 The beauteous Helen only, wasted lives 
 
 Unnumbered. Their wise leader, in the cause 
 
 Of those he hated, slew whom most he loved; 
 
 He to his brother yielded up his daughter, 
 
 Joy of his house, for that vile woman's sake, 
 
 Who with her own consent, and not by force, 
 
 Was borne away. But at Scamander's banks 
 
 When they arrived, they died, though not by exile 
 
 Torn from their country, or their native towers : 
 
 But them who in embattled fields were slain 
 
 Their children saw not, nor in decent shroud 
 
 Were they enwrapped by their loved consorts' hands, 
 
 But lie deserted on a foreign coast : 
 
 Their sorrows also who remained at home 
 
 Are similar ; in widowhood forlorn 
 
 Some die ; and others, of their own brave sons 
 
 Deprived, breed up the children of a stranger ; 
 
 Nor at their slighted tombs is blood poured forth 
 
 To drench the thirsty ground. Their host deserves 
 
 Praises like these. 'Tis better not to speak 
 
 Of what is infamous, nor shall my Muse 
 
 Record the shameful tale. But, first and greatest 
 
 Of glories, in their country's cause expired 
 
 The Trojans ; the remains of those who fell 
 
 In battle, by their friends borne home, obtained 
 
 Sepulchral honours in their native soil, 
 
 That duteous office kindred hands performed : 
 
 While every Phrygian who escaped the sword 
 
 Still with his wife and children did reside, 
 
 Joy to the Greeks unknown. Now hear the fate 
 
 Of Hector, him whom thou bewail'st, esteemed 
 
 The bravest of our heroes, by the Greeks 
 
 Landing on Ilion's coast the warrior fell ; 
 
 In their own country had the foe remained, 
 
 His valour ne'er had been displayed : but Paris 
 
 Wedded the daughter of imperial ]ovc, 
 
 In her possessing an illustrious bride.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 155 
 
 It is the wise man's duty to avoid 
 
 Perilous war. After the die is cast, 
 
 He who undaunted meets the fatal stroke, 
 
 Adds to his native city fair renown ; 
 
 But the last moments of a coward shame 
 
 The land which gave him birth. Forbear to weep, 
 
 My mother, for thy ruined country's fate; 
 
 Weep not because thou seest thy daughter borne 
 
 To Agamemnon's bed, for by these spousals 
 
 Our most inveterate foes shall I destroy. 
 
 CHOR. How sweetly 'midst the sorrows of thy house 
 Thou smil'st ! ere long perchance wilt thou afford 
 A melancholy instance that thy strains 
 Are void of truth. 
 
 TAL. Had not Apollo fired 
 
 E'en to distraction thy perverted soul, 
 Thou on my honoured leader, ere he quit 
 The shores of Ilion. shouldst not unavenged 
 Pour forth these omens. But, alas ! the great, 
 And they who in th' opinion of mankind 
 Are wise, in no respect excel the vulgar. 
 For the dread chieftain of the Grecian host, 
 The son of Atreus, loves with boundless passion 
 This damsel frantic as the Maenades. 
 Myself am poor, yet would not I nccept 
 A wife like her. Since thou hast lost thy reason, 
 I to the winds consign thy bitter taunts 
 'Gainst Argos, with the praises thou bestow'st 
 On Troy. Thou bride of Agamemnon, come, 
 Follow me to the fleet. But when Ulysses 
 Would bear you hence, O Hecuba, obey 
 The summons, you are destined to attend 
 A queen called virtuous by all those who come 
 To Ilion. 
 
 CAS. Arrogant, detested slave ! 
 All heralds are like thee, the public scorn, 
 Crouching with abject deference to some king 
 Or city. Say'st thou, " To Ulysses' house 
 My mother shall be borne ? " Of what account 
 Were then the oracles Apollo gave 
 Uttered by me his priestess, which declare, 
 " She here shall die ? " I spare the shameful tale. 
 He knows not, the unhappy Ithacus, 
 What evils yet await him, in the tears 
 Of me and every captive Phrygian maid, 
 While he exults, and deems our misery gain. 
 Ten more long years elapsed beyond the term 
 Spent in besieging Ilion, he alone 
 Shall reach his country ; witness thou who dwell'st
 
 156 EURIPIDES. 
 
 'Midst ocean's straits tempestuous, dire Charybdis, 
 
 Ye mountains where on human victims feast 
 
 The Cyclops, with Ligurian Circe's isle, 
 
 Whose wand transforms to swine, the billowy deep, 
 
 Covered with shipwrecks, the bewitching Lotus, 
 
 The sacred Oxen of the Sun, whose flesh 
 
 Destined to utter a tremendous voice 
 
 The banquet shall embitter : he at length, 
 
 In a few words his history to comprise, 
 
 Alive must travel to the shades beneath, 
 
 And hardly 'scaping from a watery grave 
 
 In his own house find evils numberless. 
 
 But why do I recount Ulysses' toils ? 
 
 Lead on, that I the sooner in the realms 
 
 Of Pluto, with that bridegroom may consummate 
 
 My nuptials. Ruthless miscreant as thou art, 
 
 Thou in the tomb ignobly shalt be plunged 
 
 At midnight ; nor shall the auspicious beams 
 
 Of day illumine thy funereal rites, 
 
 leader of the Grecian host, who deem'st 
 That thou a mighty conquest hast achieved. 
 Near to my lord's remains, and in that vale, 
 Where down a precipice the torrent foams, 
 My corse shall to the hungry wolves be thrown, 
 The corse of Phoebus' priestess. O ye wreaths 
 Of him whom best of all the gods I loved, 
 Adieu, ye symbols of my holy office, 
 
 1 leave those feasts the scenes of past delight, 
 Torn from my brows avaunt, for I retain 
 My chastity unsullied still ; the winds 
 
 To thee shall waft them, O prophetic king. 
 Where is your general's bark, which I am doomed 
 T' ascend ? the rising breezes shall unfurl 
 Your sails this instant ; for in me ye bear 
 One of the three Eumenides from Troy. 
 Farewell, my mother, weep not for my fate, 
 O my dear country, my heroic brothers, 
 And aged father, in the realms beneath, 
 Ere long shall ye receive me : but victorious 
 Will I descend among the mighty dead, 
 When I have laid th' accursed mansions waste 
 Of our destroyers, Atreus' impious sons. 
 
 {Exeunt CASSANDRA and TALTHYBIUS. 
 CHOR. Attendants of the aged Hecuba, 
 Behold ye not your mistress, how she falls 
 Upon the pavement speechless ? Why neglect 
 To prop her sinking frame ! Ye slothful nymphs, 
 Raise up this woman, whom a weight of years 
 Bows to the dust.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 157 
 
 HEC. Away, and on this spot 
 
 Allow me, courteous damsels, to remain : 
 No longer welcome as in happier days 
 Are your kind offices ; this humble posture, 
 This fall best suits my present lowly state, 
 Best suits what I already have endured 
 And still am doomed to suffer. O ye gods, 
 In you I call upon no firm allies, 
 Yet sure "'tis decent to invoke the gods 
 When we by adverse fortune are opprest. 
 First, therefore, all the blessings I enjoyed 
 Would I recount, hence shall my woes demand 
 The greater pity. Born to regal state, 
 And with a mighty king in wedlock joined, 
 A race of valiant sons did I produce ; 
 I speak not of their numbers, but the noblest 
 Among the Phrygian youths, such as no Trojan, 
 Nor Grecian, nor barbarian dame could boast : 
 Them saw I fall beneath the hostile spear, 
 And at their tomb these tresses cut : their sire, 
 The venerable Priam, I bewailed not, 
 From being told of his calamitous fate 
 By others, but these eyes beheld him slain, 
 E'en at the altar of Hercaean Jove, 
 And Ilion taken. I those blooming maids 
 Have also lost, whom with maternal love 
 I nurtured for some noble husband's bed ; 
 They from these arms are torn : nor can I hope 
 Or to be seen by them, or e'er to see 
 My children more. But last of all, to crown 
 My woes, an aged slave, shall I be borne 
 To Greece ; and in such tasks will they employ me 
 As are most grievous in the wane of life ; 
 Me, who am Hector's mother, at the door 
 Stationed to keep the keys, or knead the bread, 
 And on the pavement stretch my withered limbs, 
 Which erst reposed upon a regal couch, 
 And in such tattered vestments, as belie 
 My former rank, enwrap my wasted frame. 
 Wretch that I am, who, through one woman's nuptials, 
 Have borne, and am hereafter doomed to bear, 
 Such dreadful ills. O my unhappy daughter, 
 Cassandra, whom the gods have rendered frantic, 
 With what sad omens hath thy virgin zone 
 Been loosed ! and where, Polyxena, art thou, 
 O virgin most unfortunate ? but none 
 Of all my numerous progeny, or male 
 Or female, comes to aid their wretched mother. 
 Why, therefore, would ye lift me up ? what room
 
 158 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Is there for hope ? me who with tender foot 
 Paced through the streets of Troy, but now a slave, 
 Drag from the palace to the rushy mat 
 And stony pillow, that where'er I fall 
 There may I die, through many, many tears 
 Exhausted. Of the prosperous and the great 
 Pronounce none happy till the hour of death. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Prepare, O Muse, prepare a song 
 
 Expressive of the fall of Troy ; 
 
 The sympathetic dirge prolong 
 
 And binish every note of joy. 
 I with loud voice of Ilion's fate will speak, 
 
 Sing how the foe our ramparts stormed 
 
 Through the machine their treachery formed, 
 The vehicle of mnny a daring Greek, 
 Who burst like thunder from that wooden steed, 
 With gorgeous trappings graced, in mimic state, 
 Concealing armed bands, which passed the Scaean gate, 
 
 They whom such semblance could mislead, 
 The unsuspecting crowd, 
 
 As on Troy's citadel they stood, 
 
 Exclaimed ; " Henceforth our toils shall cease, 
 Come on, and to Minerva's fane convey 
 
 This holy image, pledge of peace." 
 What veteran paused? what youth but led the way ? 
 Enlivening songs breathed round in notes so sweet, 
 That gladly they received the pestilential cheat. 
 
 Then did all Phrygia's race combine 
 Through their devoted gates to bear, 
 Enclosed in the stupendous pine 
 The fraud of Greece, that latent snare, 
 To glut Minerva with Dardanian blood, 
 To pacify th' immortal maid, 
 They the huge mass with ropes conveyed': 
 Thus the tall bark, into the briny flood * 
 Too ponderous to be home, is rolled along : 
 Till they had lodged it in th' ill-omened fane 
 Of her to whom we owe our ruined country's bane. 
 After their toil and festive song, 
 
 The cloud-wrapped evening spread 
 Her veil o'er each devoted head, 
 Shrill Phrygian voices did resound,
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 159 
 
 And Libya's flutes accompanied the choir, 
 
 While nymphs high vaulting from the ground, 
 Mixed their applauses with the chorded lyre, 
 And from each hearth the flames with radiance bright, 
 While heedless warriors slept, dispelled the shades of night. 
 
 Then o'er the genial board, to her who reigns 
 In woodland heights, Diana, child of Jove, 
 
 I waked the choral strains. 
 But soon there flew a dismal sound 
 Pergamus' wide streets around: 
 The shrieking infant fondly strove 
 To grasp the border of a mother's vest, 
 And with uplifted hands its little fears expressed : 
 
 Mars from his ambush by Minerva's aid 
 Conspicuous issued and the fray began, 
 
 Thick gore adown our altars ran, 
 And many a slaughtered youth was laid 
 
 A headless trunk on the disfigured bed, 
 Tli at Greece might shine with laureate wreaths arrayed, 
 By Troy while fruitless tears are shed. 
 
 ANDROMACHE, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 CHOR. Seest thou, Andromache, O queen, this way 
 Advancing, wafted in a foreign car ? 
 Eager to cling to the maternal breast 
 Close follows her beloved Astyanax, 
 The son of Hector. 
 
 HEC. Whither art thou borne, 
 
 O wretched woman, on a chariot placed 
 'Midst Hector's brazen armour, and those spoils 
 From captive Phrygian chiefs in combat torn, 
 With which Achilles' son from Ilion's siege 
 Triumphant, will the Phthian temples grace ? 
 
 AND. Our Grecian masters drag me hence. 
 
 HEC. Alas ! 
 
 AND. Why with vour groans my anguish strive t' assuage ? 
 
 HEC. Oh ! 
 
 AND. I by griefs am compassed 
 
 HEC. Mighty Jove ! 
 
 AND. And dread vicissitudes of fate. 
 
 HEC. My children. 
 
 AND. We once were blest. 
 
 HEC. Now are those prosperous days 
 
 No more ; and Ilion is no more. 
 
 AND. Most wretched ! 
 
 HEC. My noble sons. 
 
 AND. Alas !
 
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 HEC. Alas my 
 
 AND. Woes. 
 
 HEC. O piteous fortune 
 
 AND. Of the city 
 
 HEC. Wrapt 
 
 In smoke. 
 
 AND. Return, my husband, O return, 
 
 HEC. In clamorous accents thou invok'st my son, 
 Whom Pluto's realms detain, unhappy woman. 
 
 AND. Thy consort's tutelary power. 
 
 HEC. And thou, 
 
 Whose courage long withstood the Grecian host, 
 Thou aged father of our numerous race, 
 Lead me, O Priam, to the shades beneath. 
 
 AND. Presumptuous are such wishes. 
 
 HEC. We endure 
 
 These grievous woes. 
 
 CHOR. While ruin overwhelms 
 
 Our city, for on sorrows have been heaped 
 Fresh sorrows, through the will of angry Heaven, 
 Since in an evil hour thy son was snatched 
 From Pluto, who, determined to avenge 
 Those execrable nuptials, with the ground 
 Hath levelled Pergamus' beleaguered towers. 
 Near Pallas' shrine the corses of the slain 
 Weltering in gore to vultures lie exposed, 
 And Ilion droops beneath the servile yoke. 
 Thee, O my wretched country, I with tears 
 Forsake : e'en now thou view'st the piteous end 
 Of all thy woes, and my loved native house. 
 
 HEC. My children ! O my desolated city ! 
 Your mother is bereft of every joy. 
 
 CHOR. What shrieks, what plaints resound ! what 
 
 floods of tears 
 
 Stream in our houses ! but the dead forget 
 Their sorrows, and for ever cease to weep. 
 
 HEC. To those who suffer, what a sweet relief 
 Do tears afford ! the sympathetic Muse 
 Inspires their plaints. 
 
 AND. O mother of that chief, 
 
 Whose forceful javelin thinned the ranks of Greece, 
 Illustrious Hector, seest thou this? 
 
 HEC. I see 
 
 The gods delight in raising up the low, 
 And ruining the great. 
 
 AND. Hence with my son, 
 
 A captive am I hurried ; noble birth 
 Subject to these vicissitudes now sinks 
 Into degrading slavery.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 161 
 
 HEC. Uncontrolled 
 
 The power of fate : Cassandra from these arms 
 But now with brutal violence was torn ! 
 
 AND. A second Ajax to thv daughter seems 
 To have appeared. Yet hast thou other griefs. 
 
 HEC. All bounds, all numbers they exceed; with ills 
 Fresh ills as for pre-eminence contend. 
 
 AND. Polyxena, thy daughter, at the tomb 
 Of Peleus' son hath breathed her last, a gift 
 To the deceased. 
 
 HEC. Wretch that I am, alas ! 
 
 Too clearly now I understand the riddle 
 Which in obscurer terms Talthybius uttered. 
 
 AND. I saw her bleed, and lighting from this car 
 Covered her with the decent shroud and wailed 
 O'er her remains. 
 
 HEC. Alas ! alas ! my child 
 
 To bloody altars dragged by impious hands, 
 Alas ! alas ! how basely wert thou slain ! 
 
 AND. Most dreadfully she perished ; yet her lot 
 Who perished is more enviable than mine. 
 
 HEC. Far different, O my daughter, is the state 
 Of them who live, from them who breathe no more : 
 For the deceased are nothing : but fair hope, 
 While life remains, can never be extinct. 
 
 AND. Thou whom, although I sprung not from thy womb, 
 I deem a mother, to my cheering words 
 With patience listen, they will yield delight 
 To thy afflicted soul. 'Tis the same thing 
 Ne'er 'to be born, or die ; but better far 
 To die, than to live wretched : for no sorrow 
 Affects th' unconscious tenant of the grave. 
 But he who once was happy, he who falls 
 From fortune's summit down the vale of woe, 
 With an afflicted spirit wanders o'er 
 The scenes of past delight. In the cold grave, 
 Like one who never saw the blessed sun, 
 Polyxena remembers not her woes. 
 But I who aimed the dextrous shaft, and gained 
 An ample portion of renown, have missed 
 The mark of happiness. In Hector's house 
 I acted as behoves each virtuous dame. 
 First, whether sland'rous tongues assail or spare 
 The matron's chastity, an evil name, 
 Her who remains not at her home, pursues : 
 Such vain desires I therefore quelled, I stayed 
 In my own chamber, a domestic life 
 Preferring, and forbore to introduce 
 Vain sentimental language, such as gains
 
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 Too oft the ear of woman : 'twas enough 
 
 For me to yield obedience to the voice 
 
 Of virtue, that best monitor. My lord 
 
 With placid aspect and a silent tongue 
 
 I still received, for I that province knew 
 
 In which I ought to rule, and when to yield 
 
 Submission to a husband's will. The fame 
 
 This conduct gained me, reached the Grecian camp, 
 
 And proved my ruin : for when I became 
 
 A captive, Neoptolemus resolved 
 
 To take me to his bed, and in the house 
 
 Of murderers I to slavery am consigned. 
 
 If shaking off my Hector's loved remembrance 
 
 To this new husband I my soul incline, 
 
 I shall appear perfidious to the dead ; 
 
 Or, if I hate Achilles' son, become 
 
 Obnoxious to my lords ; though some assert 
 
 That one short night can reconcile th' aversion 
 
 Of any woman to the nuptial couch ; 
 
 I scorn that widow, reft of her first lord, 
 
 Who listens to the voice of love, and weds 
 
 Another. From her comrade torn, the mare 
 
 Sustains the yoke reluctant, though a brute 
 
 Dumb and irrational, by nature formed 
 
 Subordinate to man : but I in thee 
 
 Possessed a husband, O my dearest Hector, 
 
 In wisdom, fortune, and illustrious birth, 
 
 For me sufficient, great in martial deeds : 
 
 A spotless virgin-bride, me from the house 
 
 Of my great father, didst thou first receive ; 
 
 But thou art slain, and I to Greece must sail 
 
 A captive, and endure the servile yoke ! 
 
 Is not the death of that Polyxena, 
 
 Whom thou, O Hecuba, bewail'st, an ill 
 
 More tolerable than those which I endure ? 
 
 For hope, who visits every wretch beside, 
 
 To me ne'er comes ; to me no promised joys 
 
 Afford a flattering prospect to deceive 
 
 This anxious bosom'; for 'tis sweet to think 
 
 E'en of ideal bliss. 
 
 CHOR. Thou art involved 
 
 In the same sufferings, and in plaintive notes 
 Bewailing thy calamity, inform'st me 
 What treatment to expect. 
 
 HEC. I ne'er did mount 
 
 A ship, yet I from pictures and report 
 These matters know : amidst a moderate storm, 
 Such as they hope to weather out, the sailors 
 To save themselves, exert a cheerful toil :
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 163 
 
 This to the rudder, to the shattered sails 
 That goes, a third laborious at the pump 
 Draws off the rising waters ; but if vanquished 
 By the tempestuous ocean's rage, they yield 
 To fortune, and consigning to the waves 
 Their vessel, are at random driven along. 
 Thus I am mute beneath unnumbered woes, 
 Nor can this tongue expatiate, for the gods 
 Such torrents pour as drown my feeble voice ! 
 But, O my daughter, cease to name the fate 
 Of slaughtered Hector, whom no tears can save. 
 Pay due attention to thy present lord, 
 With amorous glances and a fond compliance 
 Receiving him ; act thus, and thou wilt cheer 
 Our friends, and this my grandson educate 
 A bulwark to fallen Ilion, that his race 
 The city may rebuild, and dwell in Troy. 
 But a fresh topic of discourse ensues. 
 What servant of the Greeks do I behold 
 Again draw near, t' announce some new design ? 
 
 TALTHYBIUS, ANDROMACHE, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 TAL. O thou who erst wert Hector's wife, that bravest 
 Of Phrygians, hate me not ; for with reluctance 
 Will I the general sentence of the Greeks 
 And Pelops' progeny, announce. 
 
 AND. What means 
 
 This evil prelude. 
 
 TAL. 'Tis decreed thy son 
 
 How shall I speak it ? 
 
 AND. To a separate lord 
 
 Shall be consigned ? 
 
 TAL. None of the Grecian chiefs 
 
 Shall ever o'er Astyanax bear rule. 
 
 AND. Must I leave here, him who alone remains 
 Of all that erst was dear to me in Troy ? 
 
 TAL. Alas ! I know not in what terms t' express 
 The miseries that await thee ? 
 
 AND. I commend 
 
 Such modesty, provided thou canst speak 
 Aught to afford me comfort. 
 
 TAL. They resolve 
 
 To slay thy son ; thou hear'st my dismal errand. 
 
 AND. Ah me ! thou hast unfolded to these ears 
 An evil, greater than my menaced spousals. 
 
 TAL. By his harangues to the assembled Greeks, 
 Ulysses hath prevailed. 
 
 AND. Alas ! abs ! 
 
 Immoderate arc the sorrows I endure, 
 
 F 2
 
 1 64 EURIPIDES. 
 
 TAL. Saying they ought not to train up the son 
 Of that heroic sire. 
 
 AND. May he obtain 
 
 O'er his own children triumphs great as these ! 
 
 TAL. He from the towers of I lion must be thrown : 
 But I entreat thee, and thou hence shall seem 
 More prudent, strive not to withhold thy son, 
 But bear thy woes with firmness ; nor, though weak, 
 Deem thyself strong ; for thou hast no support, 
 And therefore must consider that thy city- 
 Is overthrown, thy husband is no more, 
 Thou art reduced to servitude ; and \\ e 
 Are strong enough to combat with one woman : 
 O therefore brave not this unequal strife, 
 Stoop not to aught that's base, nor yet revile, 
 Nor idly scatter curses on thy foes ; 
 For if thou utter aught that may provoke 
 The anger of the host, thy son will bleed 
 Unburied and unwept : but if thou bear 
 With silence and composure thy misfortunes, 
 Funereal honours shall adorn his grave, 
 And Greece to thee her lenity extend. 
 
 AND. Thee, O my dearest son, thy foes will slay ; 
 Soon art thou doomed to leave thy wretched mother. 
 What saves the lives of others, the renown 
 Of an illustrious sire, to thee will prove 
 The cause of death : by this paternal fame 
 Art thou attended in an evil hour. 
 To me how luckless proved the genial bed, 
 And those espousals, th:it to Hector's house 
 First brought me, when I trusted I should bear 
 A son, no victim to the ruthless Greeks, 
 But an illustrious Asiatic king. 
 
 Weep'st thou, my son ? dost thou perceive thy woes ? 
 Why cling to me with timid hands ? Why seize 
 My garment ? thus beneath its mother's wings 
 The callow bird is sheltered. From the tomb, 
 No Hector brandishing his massive spear 
 Rushes to saves thee; no intrepid kinsman 
 Of thy departed father, nor the might 
 Of Phrygian hosts is here : but from aloof 
 Borne headlong by a miserable leap, 
 Shalt thou pour forth thy latest gasp of life 
 Unpitied. Tender burden in the arms 
 Of thy fond mother ! what ambrosial odours 
 Breathed from thy lips ? I swathed thee to my breast 
 In vain, I toiled in vain, and wore away 
 My strength with fruitless labours. Yet embrace 
 Thy mother once again ; around my neck 
 Entwine thine arms, and give one parting kiss.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 165 
 
 Ye Greeks, who studiously invent new modes 
 
 Of unexampled cruelty,*why slay 
 
 This guiltless infant? Helen, O thou daughter 
 
 Of Tyndarus, never didst thou spring from Jove, 
 
 But I pronounce thee born of many sires, 
 
 An evil Genius, Envy, Slaughter, Death, 
 
 And every evil that from Earth receives 
 
 Its nourishment ; nor dare I to assert 
 
 That Jove himself begot a pest like thee, 
 
 Fatal to Greece and each barbarian chief. 
 
 Perdition overtake thee ! for those eyes 
 
 By their seducing glances have o'erthrown 
 
 The Phrygian empire. Bear this child away, 
 
 And cast him from the turrets if ye list, 
 
 Then banquet on his quivering flesh : the gods 
 
 Ordain that I shall perish : nor from him 
 
 Can I repel the stroke of death. Conceal 
 
 This wretched form from public view, and plunge me 
 
 In the ship's hold ; for I have lost my son, 
 
 Such the blest prelude to my nuptial rite. 
 
 CHOR. Thy myriads, hapless Ilion, did expire 
 In combat for one woman, to maintain 
 Paris' accursed espousals. 
 
 AND. Cease, my child, 
 
 Fondly to lisp thy wretched mother's name, 
 Ascend the height of thy paternal towers, 
 Whence 'tis by Greece decreed thy parting breath 
 Shall issue. Take him hence. Aloud proclaim 
 This deed ye merciless : that wretch alone 
 Who never knew the blush of virtuous shame, 
 Your sentence can applaud. 
 
 {Exeunt ANDROMACHE and TALTHYBIUS. 
 
 HEC. O child, thou son 
 
 Of my unhappy Hector, from thy mother 
 And me thou unexpectedly art torn. 
 W T hat can I do, what help afford ? for thee 
 I smite this head, this miserable breast ; 
 Thus far my power extends. Alas ! thou city, 
 And, O my grandson ! is there yet a curse 
 Beyond what we have felt ? remains there aught 
 To save us from the yawning gulf of ruin ? 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 In Salamis' profound retreat 
 Famed for the luscious treasures of the bee, 
 
 High raised above th' encircling sea 
 Thou, Telamon, didst fix thy regal seat ;
 
 1 66 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Near to those sacred hill-, where spread 
 The olive first its fragrant sprays, 
 
 To form a garland for Minerva's head, 
 And the Athenian splendor raise : 
 With the famed archer, with Alcmena's son 
 Thou cam'st exulting with vindictive joy ; 
 By your confederate arms was Ilion won, 
 
 When from thy Greece thou cam'st our city to destroy. 
 
 Repining for the promised steeds, 
 From Greece Alcides led a chosen band, 
 
 With hostile prows th' indented strand 
 He reached, and anchored near fair Simois' meads ; 
 
 Selected from each ship, he led 
 
 Those who with dextrous hand could wing 
 Th' unerring shaft, till slaughter reached thy head, 
 
 Laomedon, thou perjured king: 
 Those battlements which Phoebus' self did rear 
 The victor wasted with devouring flame ; 
 Twice o'er Troy's walls hath waved the hostile spear, 
 Twice have insulting shouts announced Dardania's shame. 
 
 Thou bear'st the sparkling wine in vain 
 With step effeminate, O Phrygian boy, 
 
 Erewhile didst thou approach with joy 
 To fill the goblet of imperial Jove ; 
 For now thy Troy lies levelled with the plain, 
 And its thick smoke ascends the realms above. 
 
 On th' echoing coast our plaints we vent. 
 As feathered songsters o'er their young bewail, 
 
 A child or husband these lament, 
 And those behold their captive mothers sail : 
 The founts where thou didst bathe, th' athletic sports, 
 
 Are now no more. Each blooming grace 
 Sheds charms unheeded o'er thy placid face, 
 
 And thou frequent'st Heaven's splendid courts. 
 Triumphant Greece hath levelled in the dust 
 The throne where Priam ruled the virtuous and the just. 
 
 With happier auspices, O love, 
 Erst didst thou hover o'er this fruitful plain, 
 
 Hence caught the gods thy thrilling pain ; 
 By thee embellished, Troy's resplendent towers 
 Reared their proud summits blest by thundering Jove, 
 For our allies were the celestial powers. 
 
 But J no longer wjjl betray
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 167 
 
 Heaven's ruler to reproach and biting shame. 
 
 The white-winged morn, blest source of day, 
 Who cheers the nations with her kindling flame, 
 Beheld these walls demolished, and th' abode 
 
 Of that dear prince who shared her bed 
 In fragments o'er the wasted champaign spread : 
 
 While swift along the starry road, 
 Her golden car his country's guardian bore : 
 False was each amorous god, and I lion is no more. 
 ^ 
 
 MENELAUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 MEN. Hail, O ye solar beams, who on this day, 
 When I my consort Helen shall regain 
 Your radiance shed. For I am he who long 
 Endured the toils of battle, Menelaus, 
 Attended by the Grecian host. To Troy, 
 Not in a woman's cause, as many deem, 
 I came, but cnme to punish him who broke 
 The laws of hospitality, and ravished 
 My consort from my palace. He hath suffered 
 As he deserved, such was the will of Heaven, 
 He and his country by the spear of Greece 
 Have been destroyed. But I am come to bear 
 That Spartan dame away, whom with regret 
 \ term my consort, though she once was mine. 
 But she beneath these tents is with the rest 
 Of Phrygia's captives numbered : for the troops 
 Whose arms redeemed her, have to me consigned 
 That I might either take away, or spare 
 Her life, and waft her to the Argive coast. 
 I am resolved that Helen shall not bleed 
 In Troy, but o'er the foaming waves to Greece 
 Will I convey her, and to them whose friends 
 Before yon walls were slain, surrender up 
 To perish by their vengeance. But with speed 
 Enter the tent, thence by that hair defiled 
 With murder, O my followers, drag her forth, 
 And hither bring : for when a prosperous breeze 
 Arises, her will I to Greece convey. 
 
 HEC. O thou who mov'st the world, and in this earth 
 Hast fixed thy station, whosoe'er thou art, 
 Impervious to our reason, whether thou, 
 O Jove, art dread necessity which rules 
 All nature, or that soul which animates 
 The breasts of mortals, thee do I adore, 
 For in a silent path thou tread'st and guid'st 
 With justice the affairs of man. 
 
 MEN. What means
 
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 This innovation in the solemn prayer 
 You to the gods address ? 
 
 HEC. I shall applaud 
 
 The stroke, O Menelaus, if thou slay " 
 Thy wife ; but soon as thou behold'st her, fly, 
 Lest she with love ensnare thee. For the eyes 
 Of men she captivates, o'erturns whole cities, 
 And fires the roofs of lofty palaces, 
 She is possessed of such resistless charms ; 
 Both I and thou and thousands to their cost, 
 Alas ! are sensible how great her power. 
 
 HELEN, MENELAUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 HEL. O Menelaus, this is sure a prelude 
 To greater horrors. For with brutal hands 
 I by your servants from these tents am dragged ? 
 Too well I know you hate me, yet would learn, 
 How you and Greece have of my life disposed. 
 
 MEN. Thou by the utmost rigour of the laws 
 Hast not been sentenced ; but the host, to me 
 Whom thou hast wronged, consign thee to be slain. 
 
 HEL. May not I answer to these harsh resolves, 
 That if I bleed, unjustly shall I bleed ? 
 
 MEN. I came not hither to debate, but slay thee ? 
 
 HEC. Hear her, nor let her die, O Menelaus, 
 Without this privilege. Me too allow 
 To make reply to her defence ; for nought 
 Of the foul deeds, which she in Troy committed 
 Yet know'st thou : if united, the whole tale 
 Must force thee to destroy her, and preclude 
 All means of her escaping. 
 
 MEN. An indulgence 
 
 Like this supposes leisure to attend ; 
 However, if she have a wish to speak, 
 She may : but be assured, that my compliance 
 To your request is owing, for such favour 
 To her I would not grant. 
 
 HEL. Perhaps with me 
 
 Whom you account a foe, you will not deign, 
 Whether I seem to utter truth or falsehood, 
 To parley. But to each malignant charge 
 With which, O Hecuba, I know thou com'st 
 Prepared against me, will I make reply, 
 And to o'erbalance all that thou canst urge 
 Produce recriminations. First, she bore 
 Paris, the author of these mischiefs, next 
 Did aged Priam ruin Troy and me, 
 When erst that infant he forbore to slay, 
 That baleful semblance of a flaming torch 1
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 169 
 
 Hear what ensued ; by Paris were the claims 
 
 Of the three rival goddesses decided. 
 
 The gift Minerva proffered ; that commanding 
 
 The Phrygians, he should conquer Greece ; while Juno 
 
 Promised, that he his empire should extend 
 
 From Asia to remotest Europe's bounds, 
 
 If he to her adjudged the golden prize; 
 
 But Venus, who in rapturous terms extolled 
 
 My charms, engaged that as the great reward 
 
 She would on him bestow me ; to her beauty 
 
 If o'er each goddess he the preference gave. 
 
 Observe the sequel : Venus, o'er Minerva 
 
 And Juno, gained the triumph ; and my nuptials 
 
 Thus far have been a benefit to Greece ; 
 
 Ye are not subject to barbarian lords, 
 
 Crushed by invasion, or tyrannic power. 
 
 But I my ruin owe to what my country 
 
 Hath found thus advantageous, for my charms 
 
 To Paris sold, and branded with disgrace, 
 
 E'en for such deeds as merited a wreath 
 
 To crown these brows. But you may urge, that all 
 
 I have alleged is of no real weight, 
 
 Because by stealth I from your palace fled. 
 
 Accompanied by no mean goddess, came 
 
 That evil genius, sprung from Hecuba, 
 
 Distinguish him by either name you Hit, 
 
 Paris or Alexander, in your house, 
 
 Whom, O delirious, you behind you left, 
 
 And sailed from Sparta to the Cretan isle. 
 
 Well, be it so. Of my own heart, not you 
 
 I in regard to all that hence ensued 
 
 Will ask the question. What could have induced me, 
 
 Following that stranger, to forsake my home, 
 
 False to my native land ? impute the guilt 
 
 To Venus, and assume a power, beyond 
 
 E'en that of Jove, who rules th' inferior gods 
 
 But yields to her behests. My crime was venial ; 
 
 Yet hence you may allege a specious charge 
 
 Against me; since to earth's dark vaults the corse 
 
 Of Paris was consigned, no longer bound 
 
 Through Heaven's supreme decree in nuptial chains, 
 
 I to the Grecian fleet should have escaped 
 
 From Ilion's palace ; such was my design : 
 
 This can the guards of Troy's beleaguered towers, 
 
 And sentinels who on the walls were stationed, 
 
 Attest, that oft they caught me, as with ropes 
 
 By stealth I strove to light upon the ground ; 
 
 But a new husband, fierce Deiphobus, 
 
 Obtaiued me for a wife by brutal force,
 
 1 70 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Though every Phrygian disapproved. What law 
 
 Can sentence me, whom 'gainst my will he wedded, 
 
 By you, my lord, with justice to be slain ? 
 
 But for the benefits through me derived 
 
 To Greece, I in the stead of laureate wreaths 
 
 With slavery am requited. If you wish 
 
 To overcome the gods' supreme behests, 
 
 That very wish were folly. 
 
 CHOR. O my Queen, 
 
 Assert thy children's and thy country's cause, 
 'Gainst her persuasive language, for she speaks 
 With eloquence, though guilty : curst imposture ! 
 
 HEC. I those three goddesses will first defend, 
 And prove that she has uttered vile untruths: 
 For of such madness ne'er can I suspect 
 Juno and Pallas that immortal maid, 
 As that the first should to barbarian tribes 
 Propose to sell her Argos, or Minerva 
 To make her Athens subject to the Phrygians : 
 Seeking in sportive strife the palm of beauty 
 They came to Ida's mount. For through what motive 
 Could Juno with such eagerness have wished 
 Her charms might triumph ? to obtain a husband 
 Greater than Jove ? could Pallas, who besought 
 Her sire she ever might remain a virgin, 
 Propose to wed some deity ? Forbear 
 To represesent these goddesses as foolish, 
 That thy transgressions may by their example 
 Be justified : thou never canst persuade 
 The wise. Thou hast presumed t' assert (but this 
 Was a ridiculous pretence) that Venus 
 Came with my son to Menelaus' house. 
 Could she not calmly have abode in Heaven, 
 Yet wafted thee and all Amycla's city 
 To Ilion ? but the beauty of my son 
 Was great, and thy own heart, when thou behcld'st him 
 Became thy Venus : for whatever folly 
 Prevails, is th' Aphrodite of mankind : 
 That of Love's goddess, justly doth commence 
 With the same letters as an idiot's name. 
 Him didst thou see in a barbaric vest 
 With gold refulgent, and thy wanton heart 
 Was thence inflamed with love, for thou wert poor 
 While yet thou dicist reside in Greece ; but leaving 
 The Spartan regions, thou didst hope, the city 
 Of Troy, with gold o'erflowing, could support 
 Thy prodigality ; for the revenues 
 Of Menelaus far too scanty proved 
 For thy luxuriant appetites : but sayst thou
 
 THE TROjAti CAPTIVES. 17 i 
 
 That Paris bore thee thence by force ? what Spartan 
 
 Saw this ? or, with what cries didst thou invoke 
 
 Castor or Pollux, thy immortal brothers, 
 
 Who yet on earth re'mained, nor had ascended 
 
 The starry height ? But since thou cam's't to Troy, 
 
 And hither the confederate troops of Greece 
 
 Tracing thy steps, began the bloody strife, 
 
 Whene'er thou heard'st that Menelaus prospered 
 
 Him didst thou praise, and make my son to grieve 
 
 That such a mighty rival shared thy love : 
 
 But if the Trojan army proved victorious, 
 
 He shrunk into a thing of nought. On Fortune 
 
 Still didst thou look, still deaf to Virtue's call 
 
 Follow her banners : yet dost thou assert 
 
 That thou by cords hast from the lofty towers 
 
 In secrecy attempted to descend, 
 
 As if thou here hadst been constrained to stay ? 
 
 Where then wert thou surprised, or sharpened sword. 
 
 Or ropes preparing, as each generous dame 
 
 Who sought her former husband would have done ? 
 
 Oft have I counselled thee in many words : 
 
 " Depart, O daughter, that my sons may take 
 
 Brides less obnoxious :- thee aboard the ships 
 
 Of Greece, assisting in thy secret flight, 
 
 Will I convey. O end the war 'twixt Greece 
 
 And Ilion." But to thee was such advice 
 
 Unwelcome ; for with pride thou in the house 
 
 Of Paris didst behave thyself, and claim 
 
 The adoration of barbaric tribes, 
 
 For this was thy great object. But e'en now 
 
 Thy charms displaying, clad in gorgeous vest 
 
 Dost thou go forth, still daring to behold 
 
 That canopy of Heaven which o'erhangs 
 
 Thy injured husband ; thou detested woman ! 
 
 Whom it had suited, if in tattered vest 
 
 Shivering, with tresses shorn, in Scythian guise 
 
 Thou hadst appeared, and for transgressions past 
 
 Deep smitten with remorse, assumed the blush 
 
 Of virtuous matrons, not that frontless air. 
 
 O Menelaus ! I will now conclude ; 
 
 By slaying her, prepare for Greece the wreaths 
 
 It merits, and extend to the whole sex 
 
 This law, that every woman who betrays 
 
 Her lord shall die. 
 
 CHOR. As that illustrious stem 
 
 Whence thou deriv'st thy birth, and as thy rnnk 
 Demand, on thy adulterous wife inflict 
 Just punishment, and purge this foul reproach, 
 This instance of a woman's lust, from Greece :
 
 172 EURIPIDES. 
 
 So shall thy very enemies perceive 
 Thou art magnanimous. 
 
 MEN. Your thoughts concur 
 
 With mine, that she a willing fugitive 
 My palace left and sought a toreign bed ; 
 But speaks of Venus merely to disguise 
 Her infamy ! Away ! thou shalt be stoned, 
 And in one instant for the tedious woes 
 Of Greece make full atonement ; I will teach thee 
 That thou didst shame me in an evil hour. 
 
 HEL. I by those knees entreat you, O forbear 
 To slay me, that distraction sent by Heaven 
 To me imputing : but forgive me. 
 
 HEC. Wrong not 
 
 Thy partners in the war, whom she hath slain ; 
 In theirs, and in my children's cause, I sue. 
 
 MEN. Desist, thou hoary matron : her entreaties 
 Move not this steadfast bosom. O my followers 
 Attend her, I command you, to the ships 
 Which shall convey her hence. 
 
 HEC. Let her not enter 
 
 Thy ship. 
 
 MEN. Is she grown heavier than before ? 
 
 HEC. He never loved who doth not always love, 
 Howe'er the inclinations of the dame 
 He loves may fluctuate. 
 
 MEN. All shall be performed 
 
 According to thy wish ; she shall not enter 
 My bark : for thou hast uttered wholesome counsels 
 But soon as she in Argos' lands, with shame, 
 As she deserves, shall she be slain, and warn 
 All women to be chaste. No easy task : 
 Yet shall her ruin startle every child 
 Of folly, though more vicious still than Helen. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 E'en thus by too severe a doom, 
 
 To Greece, O Jove, hast thou betrayed 
 Our shrines, our altars, dropping rich perfume, 
 The lambent flame that round the victims played, 
 
 Myrrh's odorous smoke that mounts the skies. 
 Yon holy citadel, with Ida's grove 
 Around whose oaks the clasping ivy plies, 
 
 Where rivulets meandering rove
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 173 
 
 Cold and translucent from the drifted snows ; 
 
 On that high ridge with orient blaze 
 The sun first scatters his enlivening rays, 
 And with celestial flame th' ecstatic priestess glows. 
 
 Each sacrifice, each pious rite, 
 
 Hence vanished, with th' harmonious choirs 
 Whose accents soothed the languid ear of night, 
 While to the gods we waked our sounding lyres ; 
 
 Their golden images no more 
 Twelve times each year, on that revolving eve 
 When shines the full-orbed moon, do we adore. 
 
 Harassed by anxious fears, I grieve, 
 Oft thinking whether thou, O Jove, wilt deign 
 
 To listen to our piteous moan, 
 High as thou sitt'st on thy celestial throne; 
 For Troy, by fire consumed, lies level with the plain. 
 
 Thou, O my husband, roam'st a flitting shade, 
 To thee are all funereal rites denied, 
 
 To thee no lustral drops supplied : 
 But I by the swift bark shall be conveyed 
 
 Where Argos' cloud-capped fortress stands, 
 Erected by the Cyclops' skilful hands. 
 Before our doors assembling children groan, 
 
 And oft repeat with clamorous moan 
 A mother's name. Alone shall I be borne 
 Far from thy sight, by the victorious host 
 
 Of Greece, and leaving I lion's coast, 
 O'er ocean's azure billows sail forlorn, 
 Either to Salamis, that sacred land, 
 Or where the Isthmian summit o'er two seas 
 A wide extended prospect doth command, 
 Seated in Pelops' straits where Greece the prize decrees. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Its arduous voyage more than half complete, 
 In the JEgean deep, and near the land. 
 
 May the red lightning by Jove's hand 
 Winged from the skies with tenfold ruin, meet 
 
 The bark that wafts me o'er the wave 
 From Troy to Greece a miserable slave. 
 Before the golden mirror wont to braid 
 
 Her tresses, like a sportive maid, 
 May Helen never reach the Spartan shore, 
 Those household gods to whom she proved untrue, 
 
 Nor her paternal mansions view,
 
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 Enter the streets of Pitane no more, 
 Nor Pallas' temple with its brazen gate ; 
 Because her nuptials teemed with foul disgrace 
 To mighty Greece through each confederate state ; 
 And hence on Simois' banks were slain Troy's guiltless race 
 
 But ha ! on this devoted realm are hurled 
 Successive woes. Ye hapless Phrygian dames, 
 Behold the slain Astyanax, whom Greece 
 With rage inhuman from yon towers hath thrown. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 The Body of ASTYANAX borne in upon a Shield. 
 
 TAL. O Hecuba, one ship is left behind 
 To carry the remainder of the spoils 
 Which to Achilles' son have been adjudged, 
 To Phthia's coast. For Neoptolemus, 
 Hearing that recent evils hath befali'n 
 His grandsire Peleus, and that Pelias' son 
 Acastus hath expelled him from his realm, 
 Already hath departed with such speed 
 As would admit of no delay : with him 
 Andromache is gone, for whom I shed 
 A stream of tears, when from the land she went 
 Wailing her country, and to Hector's tomb 
 Her plaints addressing : the victorious chief 
 Hath she entreated, to allow the corse 
 Of your unhappy Hector's son, who perished 
 From Ilion's ramparts thrown, to be interred, 
 Nor bear this shield, the terror of the Greeks, 
 With brass refulgent, which his father placed 
 Before his flank in battle, to the house 
 Of Peleus ; nor to that ill-omened chamber 
 Where spousals dire on her arrival wait 
 The mother of the slain ; for such an object 
 Must grieve her to behold : but in the stead 
 Of cedar and the monumental stone, 
 Bury the child in this : for she the corse 
 Hath to your arms consigned, that you may grace it 
 With many a fragrant garland, and with vests 
 Such as your present fortunes will afford. 
 For she has sailed, and through his haste her lord 
 Prevented her from lodging in the grave 
 Her son. While thus you his remains adorn 
 We will mark out the spot, and with our spears 
 Dig up the ground. Without delay perform 
 These duties : I one task to you most irksome 
 Have rendered needless : for I laved the body,
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 175 
 
 And cleansed the wounds as o'er Scamander's stream 
 
 I passed. But to prepare for the deceased 
 
 A tomb, I go, that with united toil 
 
 When this we have accomplished, they may steer 
 
 Our vessel homeward. [Ex-it TALTHVBIUS. 
 
 HEC. Place that orbed shield 
 
 Of Hector on the ground, a spectacle 
 
 Most piteous, and unwelcome to these eyes. 
 
 How, O ye Greeks, whose abject souls belie 
 
 Your brave achievements, trembling at a child, 
 
 Could ye commit this unexampled murder, 
 
 Lest at some future time he should rebuild 
 
 The walls of Ilion ? Ye inhuman cowards ! 
 
 Our ruin from that fatal hour we date 
 
 When Hector with unnumbered heroes fell. 
 
 But having sacked our city, and destroyed 
 
 Each Phrygian warrior, feared ye such an infant 
 
 The dastard I abhor who meanly shrinks 
 Through groundless panic. O for ever loved, 
 
 By what a piteous fate didst thou expire ! 
 
 Hadst thou, the champion of thy country, died, 
 
 In riper years, when married, and endued 
 With power scarce second to th' immortal gods, 
 Thou hadst been blest, if aught on earth deserves 
 The name of bliss. But thou, my son, beheld'st 
 And hadst a distant knowledge of these joys, 
 Which thou didst ne'er experience : for to thee 
 The treasures which the palaces of Troy 
 Contained, proved useless. O unhappy youth, 
 How wert thou hurled from thy paternal walls 
 Reared by Apollo's hand ; and through those ringlets, 
 Which oft thy mother smoothed and kissed, the gore 
 Bursts from thy fractured skull : but let me waive 
 So horrid a description. O ye hands, 
 How in your fingers do ye still retain 
 A pleasing sad remembrance of your sire, 
 Or why do ye lie motionless before me ? 
 Dear mouth, full many a babbling accent wont 
 To utter, art thou closed by death ? Thy voice 
 Deceived me erst, when clinging to these garments, 
 " O mother," oft didst thou exclaim, " the hair 
 Shorn from my brows to thee I will devote, 
 Lead round thy tomb my comrades, and address 
 Thy hovering ghost in many a plaintive strain." 
 Now not to me, alas ! dost thou perform 
 These duteous offices, but I, bowed down 
 With age, an exile, of my children reft, 
 Must bury the disfigured corse of thee 
 A tender infant. These unnumbered kisses,
 
 i?6 EURIPIDES. 
 
 \ My cares in nurturing thee, and broken sleep, 
 Proved fruitless. What inscription can the bard 
 Place o'er thy sepulchre ? " The Greeks who feared 
 This infant, slew him ! " Such an epitaph 
 Would shame them. As for thee who hast obtained 
 Nought of thy wealth paternal, yet this shield 
 In which thou shall be buried will be thine. 
 O brazen orb, which erst wert wont to guard 
 The nervous arm of Hector, thou hast lost 
 Thy best possessor : in thy concave circle 
 Ho\v is that hero's shape impressed; it bears 
 Marks of that sweat which dropped from Hector's brow, 
 Wearied with tuil, when 'gainst thy edge he leaned 
 His cheek. Hence carry, to adorn the corse, 
 Whate'er our present station will Afford, 
 For such the fortunes which Jove grants us now 
 As splendour suits not : yet accept these gifts 
 Out of the little I possess. An idiot 
 Is he, who thinking himself blest, exults 
 As if his joys were stable : like a man 
 Smitten with frenzy, changeful fortune bounds 
 Inconstant in her course, now here, now there, 
 Nor is there any one who leads a life 
 Of bliss uninterrupted. 
 
 CHOR. All is ready : 
 
 For from the spoils yon Phrygian matrons bear 
 Trappings to grace the dead. 
 
 HEC. On thee, my son, 
 
 Not as a victor who with rapid steeds 
 Didst ever reach the goal, or wing the shaft 
 With surer aim, an exercise revered 
 By each unwearied Phrygian youth, thy grandame 
 Places these ornaments which erst were thine : 
 But now hath Helen, by the gods abhorred, 
 Stripped thee of all thou didst possess, and caused 
 Thy murder, and the ruin of our house. 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! thou hast transpierced my inmost soul, 
 O thou, whom I expected to have seen 
 Troy's mighty ruler. 
 
 HEC. But I now enwrap 
 
 Thy body with the vest thou shouldst have worn 
 At Hymen's festive rites, in wedlock joined 
 With 'Asia's noblest princess. But, O source 
 Of triumphs numberless, dear shield of Hector, 
 Accept these laureate wreaths : for though by death 
 Thou canst not be affected, thou shalt lie 
 Joined with this corse in death ; since thou deserv'st 
 More honourable treatment, than the arms - 
 Of crafty and malignant Ithacus.
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 177 
 
 CHOR. Thee, much lamented youth, shall earth receive. 
 Now groan, thou wretched mother. 
 
 HEC. Oh ! 
 
 CHOR. Commence 
 
 Those wailings which are uttered o'er the dead. 
 
 HEC. Ah me ! 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! too grievous are thy woes 
 
 To be endured. 
 
 HEC. These fillets o'er thy wounds 
 
 I bind, and exercise the healing art 
 In name and semblance only, but, alas ! 
 Not in reality. Whate'er remains 
 Unfinished, 'mid the shades beneath, to thee 
 With tender care thy father will supply. 
 
 CHOR. Smite with thy hand thy miserable head 
 Till it resound. Alas ! 
 
 HEC. My dearest comrades. 
 
 CHOR. Speak to thy friends ; O Hecuba, what plaints 
 Hast thou to utter ? 
 
 HEC. Nought but uoe for me 
 
 Was by the gods reserved ; beyond all cities 
 To them hath Troy been odious. We in vain 
 Have offered sacrifice. But had not Jove 
 O'erthrown and plunged us in the shades beneath, 
 We had remained obscure, we by the Muse 
 Had ne'er been sung, nor ever furnished themes 
 To future bards. But for this hapless youth 
 Go and prepare a grave ; for the deceased 
 Is v/ith funereal wreaths already crowned : 
 Although these pomps, I deem, are to the dead 
 Of little consequence ; an empty pride 
 They in the living serve but to display. 
 
 CHOR. Thy wretched mother on thy vital thread 
 Had stretched forth mighty hopes: though styled most h ippy 
 From thy illustrious birth, thou by a death 
 Most horrid didst expire. 
 
 HEC. Ha ! who are these 
 
 Whom I behold, in their victorious hands 
 Waving those torches o'er the roofs of Troy ? 
 E'en now o'er Ilion some fresh woes impend. 
 
 TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. 
 
 TAL. To you I speak, O leaders of the troops 
 Who are ordained to burn this town of Priam. 
 No longer in your hands without effect 
 Reserve those blazing torches : but hurl flames 
 On this devoted city, for when Troy 
 Is utterly demolished, we shall leave
 
 T7S EURIPIDES. 
 
 Its hated shores, exulting. But to you, 
 
 Phrygians, I the same behests address ; 
 When the shrill trumpet of our chief resounds, 
 Ye to the Grecian navy must repair 
 
 And from these regions sail. But as for thee, 
 Thou aged and most miserable dame, 
 Follow their steps who from Ulysses come, 
 To whom thy fate consigns thee for a slave 
 Far from thy country in a foreign land. 
 
 HEC. Ah, wretched me ! this surely is the last, 
 The dire completion this, of all my woes. 
 
 1 leave my country : I lion's bulwarks flame. 
 Yet, O decrepit feet, with painful haste 
 Bear me along, that I may bid adieu 
 
 To my unhappy city. Thou, O Troy, 
 
 Distinguished erst among barbarian tribes 
 
 By thy superior prowess, soon shalt lose 
 
 The most illustrious name thou didst acquire : 
 
 Thee will the flames consume, and us our foes 
 
 Drag from our home to slavery. O ye gods ! 
 
 Upon the gods yet wherefore should I call ? 
 
 For when we erst invoked them oft, they heard not. 
 
 Come on, and let us rush amid the flames : 
 
 For in the ruins of my blazing country 
 
 'Twill be to me most glorious to expire. 
 
 TAL. Thy griefs, O wretched woman, make thee frantic. 
 But lead her hence, neglect not. For Ulysses 
 Obtained this prize, and she to him must go. 
 
 HEC. O dread Saturnian king, from whom the Phrygians 
 Derive their origin, dost thou behold 
 Our sufferings, most unworthy of the race 
 Of Dardanus ? 
 
 CHOR. He surely doth behold : 
 
 But this great city, city now no more, 
 Is ruined : nought remains of Troy. 
 
 HEC. The blaze 
 
 Of Ilion glares, the fire hath caught the roofs, 
 The streets of Pergamus, and crashing towers. 
 
 CHOR. As the light smoke on rapid wing ascends 
 To heaven, how swiftly vanishes fallen Troy ! 
 Torrents of flame have laid the palace waste, 
 And o'er its summit waves the hostile spear. 
 
 HEC. O fostering soil, that gave my children birth. 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! alas ! 
 
 HEC. Yet hear me, O my sons, 
 
 Your mother's voice distinguish. 
 
 CHOR. With loud plaints 
 
 Thou call'st upon the dead, those aged limbs 
 Stretched on the ground, and scraping up the dust
 
 THE TROJAN CAPTIVES. 179 
 
 With either hand. I follow thy example 
 Kneeling on earth's cold bosom, and invoke 
 My wretched husband in the shades beneath. 
 
 HEC. We forcibly are borne 
 
 CHOR. Most doleful sound! 
 
 HEC. To servile roofs. 
 
 CHOR. From my dear native land. 
 
 HEC. Slain, uninterred, abandoned by thy friends, 
 Thou sure, O Priam, know'st not what I suffer. 
 For sable death hath closed thine eyes for ever ; 
 Though pious, thou by impious hands wert murdered. 
 O ye polluted temples of the gods, 
 And thou my dearest city. 
 
 CHOR. Ye, alas ! 
 
 Are by the deadly flame and pointed spear 
 Now occupied, on this beloved soil 
 Soon shall you lie a heap of nameless ruins : 
 For dust, which mixed with smoke, to Heaven ascends, 
 No longer will permit me to discern 
 Where erst my habitation stood : the land 
 Loses its very name, and each memorial 
 Of pristine grandeur ; wretched Troy's no more. 
 
 HEC. Ye know the fatal truth, ye heard the crash 
 Of falling tOAvers. Our city to its basis 
 Is shaken. O ye trembling, trembling limbs, 
 Support my steps I 
 
 TAL. Depart to end thy days 
 
 In servitude. Alas ! thou wretched city ! 
 Yet to the navy of the Greeks proceed.
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 I ULYSSES. 
 
 ? SATYRS. | POLYPHEMI 
 
 SCENE. THE MOUNTAIN OF ^TNA IN SICILY. 
 
 SILENUS. I ULYSSES. 
 
 CHORUS OF SATYRS. POLYPHEME THE CYCLOPS. 
 
 SILENUS. 
 
 BACCHUS, for thy sake have I endured 
 Unnumbered toils, both at the present hour. 
 
 And when these nerves by vigorous youth were strung 
 
 By Juno first with wild distraction fired, 
 
 Thou didst forsake the mountain nymphs whose care 
 
 Nurtured thy infancy. Next in that war 
 
 With the gigantic progeny of earth, 
 
 Stationed beside thee to sustain thy shield, 
 
 Piercing the buckler of Enceladus, 
 
 1 slew him with my lance. Is this a dream ? 
 By Jove it is not : for I showed his spoils 
 To Bacchus, and the labours I endure 
 
 At present, are so great that they exceed 
 
 E'en those. For since 'gainst thee Saturnia roused, 
 
 To bear thee far away, Etruria's race 
 
 Of impious pirates, I soon caught th' alarm, 
 
 And sailed in quest of thee with all my children : 
 
 Myself the stern ascended, to direct 
 
 The rudder, and each satyr plied an oar 
 
 Till ocean's azure surface with white foam 
 
 Was covered ; thee, O mighty King, they sought. 
 
 Near Malea's harbour as the vessel rode, 
 
 An eastern blast arose, and to this rock 
 
 Of ALtna., drove us, where the sons of Neptune, 
 
 The one-eyed Cyclops, drenched with human gore, 
 
 I nhabit desert caves ; by one of these 
 
 Were we made captives, and beneath his roof 
 
 To slavery are reduced. Our master's name
 
 1 82 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Is Polypheme ; instead of Bacchus' orgies 
 
 We tend the tlocks of an accursed Cyclops. 
 
 My blooming sons, on yonder distant cliffs, 
 
 Feed the young lambs' ; while I at home am stationed 
 
 The goblet to replenish, and to scrape 
 
 The rugged floor ; to this unholy lord, 
 
 A minister of impious festivals : 
 
 And now must I perform the task assigned 
 
 Of cleansing with this rake the filthy ground, 
 
 So shall the cave be fit for his reception, 
 
 When with his flocks my absent lord returns. 
 
 But I already see my sons approach, 
 
 Their fleecy charge conducting. Ha ! what means 
 
 This uproar ? would ye now renew the dance 
 
 Of the Sicinnides, as when ye formed 
 
 The train of amorous Bacchus, and assembled, 
 
 Charmed by the lute, before Althaea's gate ? 
 
 CHORUS, SILENUS. 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Sprung from an untainted race, 
 
 Hardy father of the fold, 
 
 Why, bounding o'er that craggy space, 
 
 Roa'm'st thou desperately bold, 
 
 Far from the refreshing gale, 
 
 The verdant herbage of the mead, 
 
 And sloping channel wont to feed 
 
 Thy trough with springs that never fail? 
 
 Yon caves with bleating lambkins ring, 
 
 Come, depasture with the flock ; 
 
 Leave, O leave the dewy rock, 
 
 Ere this ponderous stone I fling. 
 
 Thee with speeding horns I call 
 
 To the Cyclops' lofty stall. 
 
 Thou too those swollen udders yield, 
 That thy young ones may be fed, 
 Who, while thou browsest o'er the field, 
 Lie neglected in the shed ; 
 Slumbering all the livelong day 
 At length with clamorous plaints they wake, 
 Thou t' appease them wilt forsake 
 ./Etna's valleys ever gay.
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 183 
 
 Young Bromius and his jocund rout 
 
 Here their orgies ne'er repeat, 
 
 No thyrsus waves, no drums they beat ; 
 
 Where the gurgling currents spout, 
 
 Here no vineyards yield delight, 
 
 Nor sport the nymphs on Nyssa's height. 
 
 Yet here I chaunt the strains which Bacchus taught, 
 To that Venus whom I sought 
 When with the Maenades I ranged. 
 Where, gentle Evan, dost thou tread 
 
 Alone, and from thy comrades far estranged, 
 
 Those auburn ringlets floating from thy head ? 
 
 Thy votary once, but now a slave 
 
 To yonder one-eyed Cyclops, I abide 
 
 In this detested cave : 
 Covered with a goat's vile hide, 
 Thy friend, alas ! exposed to scorn 
 Wanders helpless and forlorn. 
 
 SIL. My sons, be silent : bid your followers drive 
 Their flocks into the stony cave. 
 
 CHOR. Proceed. 
 
 But wherefore, O my father, in this haste ? 
 
 SlL. A Grecian vessel, stranded on the coast, 
 I see, and to this cave the mariners 
 Attend their leader, on their heads they bear 
 Those empty vessels which express they want 
 Provisions, with fresh water too their urns 
 Would they replenish. O unhappy strangers ! 
 Who are they ? unapprised what lord here rules, 
 Dread Polypheme, they in an evil hour 
 Are entering this inhospitable threshold, 
 And rushing headlong e'en into the jaws 
 Of this fierce Cyclops, gorged with human flesh. 
 But interrupt me not ; I will inquire 
 Whence to Sicilian Etna's mount they came. 
 
 ULYSSES. SILENUS, CHORUS. 
 
 ULY. Can ye direct me, strangers, where to find 
 Fresh springs to slake our thirst ; or who will sell 
 Food to the hungry sailor ? But what means 
 That group of satyrs, whom before yon cave 
 I see assembled ? "we at Bacchus' city 
 Seem to have landed. Thee, the elder-born, 
 Thee first I hail.
 
 1 84 EURIPIDES. 
 
 SIL. Hail ! foreigner ; acquaint us 
 
 Both who you are, and from what realm you came. 
 
 ULY. Ulysses, king of Ithaca, and th' 'isle 
 Of Cephalene. 
 
 SlL.' That loquacious man, 
 
 The crafty brood of Sisyphus, full well 
 I know. 
 
 ULY. Reproach me not, for I am he. 
 
 SlL. Whence sailed you to Sicilia ? 
 
 ULY. From the shores 
 
 Of blazing Ilion, from the war of Troy. 
 
 SlL. What, knew you not the way to your own country ? 
 
 ULY. The tempests violently drove me hither. 
 
 SlL. By Heaven, your fortunes are the same with mine. 
 
 ULY. What cam'st thou hither too against thy will ?, 
 
 SlL. Yes, in pursuit of those accursed pirates 
 Who seized on Bromius. 
 
 ULY. But what land is this, 
 
 And by what men inhabitated ? 
 
 SIL. This mountain, 
 
 Called ^Etna, overlooks Sicilia's plains. 
 
 ULY. Where are the fortresses and lofty towers 
 Which guard its peopled cities ? 
 
 SlL. They exist not. 
 
 No men, O stranger, on these summits dwell. 
 
 ULY. But who possess the land, a savage race 
 Of beasts ? 
 
 SIL. The Cyclops occupy these caves, 
 
 They have no houses. 
 
 ULY. Governed by what chief? 
 
 Is this a mere democracy ? 
 
 SIL. They lead 
 
 The life of shepherds, and in no respect 
 Yield to each other. 
 
 ULY. Do they sow the grain 
 
 Of Ceres, or on what do they subsist ? 
 
 SlL. On milk, on cheese, and on their sheep, they feed. 
 
 ULY. Affords the vine, nectareous juice, the drink 
 Bacchus invented ? 
 
 SlL. No such thing : they dwell 
 
 In an ungrateful soil. 
 
 ULY. But do they practise 
 
 The rites of hospitality, and hold 
 The stranger sacred ? 
 
 SIL. They aver the flesh 
 
 Of strangers is a most delicious food. 
 
 ULY. What saidst thou, banquet they on human flesh? 
 
 SlL. Here no man lands who is not doomed to bleed. 
 
 ULY. Where is this Cyclops, in the cave ?
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 185 
 
 SIL. He went 
 
 To Etna's summit, with his hounds to trace 
 The savage beasts. 
 
 ULY. But know'st thou by what means 
 
 We from this region may escape ? 
 
 SIL. I know not. 
 
 But, O Ulysses, I'll do everything 
 To serve you. 
 
 ULY. Sell us bread, supply our want. 
 
 SlL. I told you we have nothing here but flesh. 
 
 ULY. By this, sharp hunger, which makes all things sweet, 
 May be assuaged. 
 
 SIL. Cheese from the press, and milk 
 
 Of heifers too. 
 
 ULY. Produce them : while the day 
 
 Yet lasts, should \\ e conclude our merchandise. 
 
 SIL. With how much gold will you repay me ? Speak. 
 
 ULY. No gold I bring, but Bacchus' cheering juice. 
 
 SIL. My dearest friend, you mention what we long 
 Have stood in need of. 
 
 ULY. This enchanting liquor 
 
 Did Maron, offspring of the courteous god, 
 On us bestow. 
 
 SIL. Whom erst, while yet a boy 
 
 I in these arms sustained. 
 
 ULY. The son of Bacchus, 
 
 T' inform thee more minutely who he is. 
 
 SlL. Aboard the ship, or have you hither brought it? 
 
 ULY. Here is the cask, old man, which thou perceiv'st 
 Contains the wine. 
 
 SlL. It hardly is a sup. 
 
 ULY. But we have twice as much as this will yield. 
 
 SlL. A most delicious spring is that you named. 
 
 ULY. Shall I first treat thee with some wine unmixed, 
 That thou may'st taste? 
 
 SIL. Well judged : this specimen 
 
 Soon will induce me to conclude the purchase. 
 
 ULY. A cup too I have brought as well as cask. 
 
 SIL. Pour forth, that I may drink, and recollect 
 The grateful taste of wine. 
 
 ULY. Look there ! 
 
 SIL. Ye gods ! 
 
 How beauteous is its odour ! 
 
 ULY. Hast thou seen it? 
 
 SlL. By Jove I have not, but I smell its charms. 
 
 ULY. Taste, nor to words alone confine thy praise. 
 
 SIL. Ha ! ha ! now Bacchus to the choral dance 
 Invites me. 
 
 ULY. Hath it moistened well thy palate ?
 
 186 EURIPIDES. 
 
 SlL. So well as e'en to reach my fingers' ends. 
 
 ULY. Beside all this, shall money too be thine. 
 
 SIL. Empty the vessel, and reserve your gold. 
 
 ULY. Bring forth the cheese and lambs. 
 
 SIL. That will I do, 
 
 Regardless of my lord, because I wish 
 To drain one goblet of this wine, and give 
 The flocks of all the Cyclops in its stead. 
 I'd from Leucade, when completely drunk, 
 Into the ocean take a lover's leap, 
 Shutting my eyes* For he who, when he quaffs 
 The mantling bowl, exults not, is a madman. 
 Through wine new joys our wanton bosoms fire, 
 With eager arms we clasp the yielding fair, 
 And in the giddy dance forget each iH 
 That heretotore assailed us. So I kiss 
 The rich potation ; let the stupid Cyclops 
 Weep with that central eye which in his front 
 Glares horribly. \_Exit SlLENUS. 
 
 CHOR. Attend : for we must hold 
 
 A long confabulation, O Ulysses. 
 
 ULY. We meet each other like old friends. 
 
 CHOR. Was Troy 
 
 By you subdued ? was Helen taken captive ? 
 
 ULY. And the whole house of Priam we laid waste. 
 
 CHOR. When ye had seized on that transcendent fair, 
 Did ye then all enjoy her in your turn, 
 Because she loves variety of husbands ? 
 False to her vows, when she the painted greaves 
 Around the legs of Paris, on his neck 
 The golden chain, beheld, with love deep smitten 
 From Menelaus, best of men, she fled. 
 Ah ! would to Heaver, no women had been born 
 But such as were reserved for my embraces. 
 
 SILENUS returning, ULYSSES, CHORUS. 
 
 SIL. Here, King Ulysses, is the shepherd's food : 
 Banquet on bleating lambs, and bear away 
 As many curdled cheeses as you can ; 
 But from these caverns with your utmost speed 
 Depart, when ye have given me in return 
 The clustering vine's rich juice which Bacchus loves. 
 
 ULY. The Cyclops comes. What shall we do ? Old man, 
 We are undone. Ah, whither can we fly ? 
 
 SIL. Ye may conceal yourselves beneath that rock. 
 
 ULY. Most dangerous is the scheme thou hast proposed, 
 To rush into the toils. 
 
 Sir,. No danger truly ; 
 
 For in this rock is many a hiding-place. 
 . ULY. N( t thus : indignant Troy might gronn indeed
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 187 
 
 If from a single arm we basely fled. 
 Oft with my shield against a countless band 
 Of Phrygians have I fought. If we must die, 
 Let us die nobly : or with life maintain 
 The fame we erst in dubious fields acquired. 
 
 POLPYHEME, SlLENUS, CHORUS, ULYSSES. 
 
 POL. What mean these transports, this insensate uproar, 
 These Bacchanalian orgies? Nyssa's god, 
 The brazen timbrel, and the rattling drum, 
 Are distant from these regions. In the cave 
 How fare the new-yeaned lambkins ? do they suck, 
 Or follow they the ewes ? have ye prepared 
 In wicker vats the cheeses ? No reply ? 
 This club shall make ye weep forthwith. Look up, 
 Not on the ground. 
 
 CHOR. We lift our dazzled eyes 
 
 To Jove himself; I view the twinkling stars 
 And bright Orion. 
 
 POL. Is my dinner ready? 
 
 CHOR. It is. Prepare your jaws for mastication. 
 
 POL. Are the bowls filled with milk ? 
 
 CHOR. They overflow, 
 
 And you may drink whole hogsheads if you will. 
 
 POL. Of sheep, or cows, or mixed ? 
 
 CHOR. Whate'er you please ; 
 
 But swallow not me too. 
 
 POL. No certainly ; 
 
 For ye \vould foot it in my tortured paunch, 
 And kill me with those antics. But what crowd 
 Behold I in the stalls ? Some thieves or pirates 
 Are landed : at the mouth of yonder cave 
 The lambs are bound with osiers, on the floor 
 The cheese-press scattered lies, and the bald head 
 Of this old man is swoll'n with many bruises. 
 
 SIL. Ah me ! into a fever I am beaten. 
 
 POL. By whom, old man, who smote thy hoary head ? 
 
 SIL. O Cyclops, by these ruffians whom I hindered 
 From carrying off their plunder. 
 
 POL. Know they not 
 
 I am a god sprung from the blest immortals ? 
 
 SlL. All this I told them, yet they seized your goods, 
 Eat up your cheese without my leave, dragged forth 
 The lambs, declared they would exhibit you 
 In a huge collar of three cubits long, 
 Closely imprisoned, and before that eye, 
 Which in the centre of your forehead glares, 
 Bore out your entrails, soundly scourge your hide, 
 Then throw you into their swift vessel's hold 
 Tied hand and foot, and sell you, with a lever
 
 1 88 EURIPIDES. 
 
 To heave up ponderous stone?, or to the ground 
 Level some door. 
 
 POL. Indeed ! go whet the knives 
 
 Without delay, collect a mighty pile 
 Of wood, and light it up with flaming brands, 
 They shall be slain immediately, and broiled 
 To satisfy my appetite with viands 
 Hot from the coals. The rest shall be well sodden ; 
 For I am sated with unsavoury beasts, 
 Enough on lions have I banqueted 
 And stags that haunt this mountain : but 'tis long 
 Since human flesh I tasted. 
 
 SlL. My dread lord, 
 
 Variety is sweet : no other strangers 
 Have reached of late th'ese solitary caves. 
 
 ULY. O Cyclops, hear the strangers also speak, 
 In their defence. We, wanting to buy food, 
 Came to your caverns from our anchored bark. 
 These lambs to us he bartered for our wine, 
 And of his own accord, when he had drank, 
 Yielded them up ; no violence was used : 
 But the account he gives is utter falsehood, 
 Since he was caught without your privity . 
 Vending your goods. 
 
 SlL. I? curses on your head ! 
 
 ULY. If I have uttered an untruth. 
 
 SlL. By Neptune 
 
 Your sire, O Cyclops, by great Triton, Nereus, 
 Calypso, Nereus' daughters, by the waves, 
 And all the race of fishes, I protest, 
 Most beauteous Cyclops, my dear little lord, 
 I sold not to the foreigners your goods ; 
 May swift perdition, if I did, o'ertake 
 These sinners here, my children, whom I love 
 Beyond expression. 
 
 CHOR. Curb thy tongue : I saw thee 
 
 Vending thy lord's possessions to the strangers : 
 If I speak falsehood, may our father perish ! 
 But injure not these foreigners. 
 
 POL. Ye lie ; 
 
 For I in him much rather would confide 
 Than Rhadamanthus, and pronounce that he 
 Is a more upright judge. But I to them 
 Some questions would propose. Whence sailed, strangers 
 Where is your country and your native town ? 
 
 ULY. We in the realms of Ithaca were born ; 
 But after we had laid Troy's bulwarks waste, 
 O Cyclops, by those howling winds which raise 
 The ocean's boisterous surges, to your coast 
 Our vessel was impelled.
 
 THE CYCLOPS. x 
 
 POL. Are ye the men 
 
 Who worthless Helen's ravisher pursued 
 To I lion's turrets on Scamander's bank ? 
 
 ULY. The same : most dreadful toils have we endured. 
 
 POL. Dishonourable warfare ; in the cause 
 Of one vile woman ye to Phrygia sailed. 
 
 ULY. Such was the will of Jove ; on no man charge 
 The fault. But we to you, O generous son 
 Of ocean's god, our earnest prayers address, 
 Nor fear with honest freedom to icmonstrate 
 That we your hapless friends, who to these caves 
 For refuge fly, deserve not to be slain 
 To satiate with accursed human food 
 Your appetite : for to your sire, great king, 
 Full many a temple on the shores of Greece 
 Have we erected ; Tsenarus' sacred haven 
 To him remains inviolate, the cliff 
 Of Malea, Sunium for its silver mines 
 Renowned, on whose steep promontory stands 
 Minerva's fane, and the Gerastian bay. 
 But those intolerable wrongs which Greece 
 From Troy had suffered, could we not forgive. 
 Our triumph interests you, who in a land 
 With Greece connected, dwell, beneath the rock 
 Of flaming JEtna. Let those public laws 
 Which all mankind obey, on you prevail 
 To change your ruthless purpose, and admit 
 Your suppliants to a conference, who have long 
 Endured the perils of the billowy deep ; 
 With hospitable gifts, and change of raiment 
 Assist us, nor affix our quivering limbs 
 On spits, to sate your gluttony. Enough 
 Hath Priam's land depopulated Greece, 
 Whole myriads have in fighting fields been slain ; 
 The widowed bride, the aged childless matron, 
 And hoary sire, hath Troy made ever wretched. 
 But if you burn, and at your hateful feasts 
 Devour the scattered relics of our host, 
 Whither shall any Grecian turn ? but listen 
 To my persuasion, Cyclops, and control 
 Your gluttony. What piety enjoins, 
 Prefer to this defiance of the gods : 
 For ruin oft attends unrighteous gain. 
 
 SIL. Leave not the smallest morsel of his flesh ; 
 Take my advice, and if you eat his tongue, 
 You certainly, O Cyclops, will become 
 A most accomplished orator. 
 
 POL. Vile caitiff, 
 
 Wealth is the deity the wise adore, 
 But all things else are unsubstantial boasts,
 
 QO EURIPIDES. 
 
 And specious words alone. I nought regard 
 Those promontories sacred to my sire. 
 Why dost thou talk of them? I tremble not, 
 
 stranger, at the thunderbolts of Jove, 
 Him I account not a more powerful god 
 Than I am, nor henceforth will heed him : hear 
 My reasons ; when he from the skies sends down 
 The rain, secure from its inclemency 
 
 Beneath this rock I dwell, and make a feast 
 On roasted calves, or on the savage prey, 
 Stretched at my length supine, then drain a pitcher 
 Of milk, and emulate the thunder's sound. 
 When Thracian Boreas pours his flaky showers, 
 In hides of beasts my body I enwrap, 
 Approach the fire, nor heed the pelting snows. 
 Compelled by strong necessity, the ground 
 Produces grass, and nourishes my herds, 
 Whom, to no other god except myself, 
 And to this belly, greatest of the gods, 
 
 1 sacrifice. Because each day to eat, 
 
 To drink, and feel no grief, is bliss supreme, 
 The Heaven, the object of the wise man's worship. 
 I leave those gloomy lawgivers to weep, 
 Who by their harsh impertinent restrictions 
 Have chequered human life ; but will indulge 
 My genius, and devour thee. That my conduct 
 May be exempt from blame, thou shalt receive 
 As pledges of our hospitality 
 The fire, and that hereditary cauldron 
 Well heated, which shall boil thy flesh : walk in, 
 Ye shall adorn my table, and produce 
 Delicious meals to cheer my gloomy cave, 
 Such as a god can relish. _ 
 
 ULY. I have 'scaped, 
 
 Alas ! each danger at the siege of Troy, 
 'Scaped the tempestuous ocean ; but in vain 
 Attempt to soften the unpitying heart 
 Of him who spurns all laws. Now, sacred queen, 
 Daughter of Jove, now aid me, O Minerva, 
 For I such perils as far, far exceed 
 My Phrvgian toils, encounter : and, O Jove, 
 Dread guardian of each hospitable lite, 
 Who sitt'st enthroned above the radiant stars, 
 Look down : for if thou view not this, though deemed 
 Omnipotent, thou art a thing of nought. 
 
 Exeunt POLYPHEME, ULYSSES, and SILENUS. 
 jst SEMICHOR. That insatiate throat expand, 
 
 Boiled and roast are now at hand 
 
 For thee, O Cyclops, to devour : 
 
 From the coals in evil hour
 
 THE CYCLOPS. j 
 
 Yet reeking, shall thy teeth divide 
 The limbs of each unhapppy guest, 
 To thy table served when dressed 
 In dishes formed of shaggy hide. 
 O betray me not, my friend, 
 For I on you alone depend * 
 Now approach the shades of night, 
 Launch the bark, and aid our flight. 
 nd SEMICHOR. Thou cave, and ye unholy rites, 
 Adieu, the Cyclops' cursed delights, 
 Who on his prisoners wont to feed, 
 Hath banished pity from his breast. 
 Inhuman execrable deed ! 
 On his own hearth, the suppliant guest, 
 Regardless of the Lares' guardian powers, 
 Now he slays, and now devours : 
 Hot from the coals, with odious jaws, 
 Human flesh the miscreant gnaws. 
 
 ULYSSES, CHORUS. 
 
 ULY. How, mighty Jove ! shall I express myself? 
 The dreadful scenes I in the cave have viewed 
 Are so astonishing, they more resemble 
 Some fable than the actions of a man. 
 
 CHOR. What now, Ulysses, on your loved companions 
 Feasts this most impious Cyclops ? 
 
 ULY. Two, the fattest, 
 Having well viewed and poised them in his hands 
 
 CHOR. How did you bear, O miserable man, 
 These cruel outrages ? 
 
 ULY. Soon as we entered 
 
 The rocky cave, he lighted first the fire, 
 On the wide blaze heaped trunks of lofty oaks, 
 A load sufficient for three wains to bear ; 
 Then near the flaming hearth, upon the ground, 
 Arranged his couch of pine leaves, filled a bowl, 
 Holding about ten firkins, with the milk 
 Of heifers, and beside it placed a jug 
 Adorned with ivy, the circumference seemed 
 Three spacious ells, the depth no less than four : 
 Then made his cauldron bubble, and reached down 
 Spits burnt at the extremities, and polished 
 Not with a knife, but hatchets ; ALtna. furnished 
 Such instruments for sacrifice, the stems 
 Of thorn. No sooner had the hellish cook 
 Finished his preparations, than he seized 
 Two of my valiant comrades, whom he slew 
 \\hii calm deliberation ; one he cast 
 Into the hollow cauldron ; from the ground 
 Then lifting up his fellow by the foot
 
 192 
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Dashed out his brains against the pointed rock ; 
 
 Severing his flesh with an enormous knife, 
 
 Part at the fire he roasted, and to boil, 
 
 His other joints into the cauldron threw. 
 
 But I, though from these eyes full many a tear 
 
 Burst forth, approached the Cyclops, and on him 
 
 Attended, while my friends, like timorous birds 
 
 Lurked in the distant crannies of the rock, 
 
 And all the blood forsook their pallid frame. 
 
 When sated with his feast the monster lay 
 
 Supine, and snored, a thought by Heaven inspired 
 
 Entered this bosom ; having filled a cup 
 
 With Maron's juice unmingled, I to him 
 
 Bore it, that he might drink ; and cried, " Behold, 
 
 Cyclops, son of Neptune, how divine 
 
 The beverage which our Grecian vineyards yield 
 
 The stream of Bacchus." But already g'utted 
 
 With his abominable food, he seized 
 
 And emptied the whole bumper at one draught, 
 
 Then lifting up, in token of applause, 
 
 His hand : "O dearest stranger," he exclaimed, 
 
 " To a delicious banquet thou hast added 
 
 Delicious wine." Perceiving he grew merry 
 
 1 plied him with a second cup, well knowing 
 That wine will stagger him : he soon shall feel 
 Such punishment as he deserves. He sung ; 
 
 I poured forth more and more, to warm his bowels 
 
 With strong potations : 'midst my weeping crew 
 
 He makes the cave with unharmonious strains 
 
 Re-echo. But I silently came forth, 
 
 And, if ye give consent, design to save 
 
 You, and myself. Say, therefore, will ye fly 
 
 From this unsocial monster, and reside 
 
 With Grecian maids beneath the roofs of Bacchus ? 
 
 Your sire within approves of these proposals : 
 
 But now grown feeble and o'ercharged with wine, 
 
 Attracted by the goblet, as if birdlime 
 
 Had smeared his wings, he wavers. But with me 
 
 Do thou preserve thyself, for thou art young : 
 
 And I to Bacchus, to thy ancient friend 
 
 Far different from this Cyclops, will restore thee. 
 
 CHOR. My dearest friend, O could we see that day, 
 And 'scape yon impious monster ! for we long 
 Have been deprived of the enlivening bowl, 
 Nor entertain a single hope of freedom. 
 
 ULY. Now hear the means by which I can requite 
 This odious savage, and thou too mayst 'scape 
 From servitude. 
 
 CHOR. Speak, for we should not hear
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 193 
 
 The sound of Asia's harp with more delight, 
 Than the glad tidings of the Cyclops' death. 
 
 ULY. By wine enlivened, he resolves to go 
 And revel with his brethren. 
 
 CHOR. I perceive 
 
 You mean to seize and kill him when alone, 
 By some enchantment, or to dash him headlong 
 From the steep rock. 
 
 ULY. I have no such design 
 
 As these : on craft alone my plan depends. 
 
 CHOR. How then will you proceed ? For we long since 
 Have heard that you for wisdom are renowned. 
 
 ULY. I will deter him from the feast, and say 
 He must not portion out among the Cyclops 
 This liquor, but reserve it for himself 
 And lead a joyous life : when overcome 
 By Bacchus' gifts he sleeps, this sword shall point 
 An olive pole, which to my purpose suited 
 Lies in the cave : I in the fire will heat, 
 And, when it flames, direct the hissing brand 
 Full on the Cyclops' forehead, to extinguish 
 The orb of sight. As when some artist frames 
 A nautic structure, he by thongs directs 
 The ponderous auger : thus will I whirl round 
 Within the Cyclops' eye the kindled staff, 
 And scorch his visual nerve. 
 
 CHOR. Ho ! I rejoice ; 
 
 This blest invention almost makes me frantic. 
 
 ULY. Thee, and thy friends, and thy decrepit sire, 
 This done, aboard my vessel will I place, 
 And from this region with a double tier 
 Of oars convey. 
 
 CHOR. But is it possible 
 
 That I, as if dread Jove were my confederate, 
 Shall guide the well-poised brand, and of his eyesight 
 Deprive the monster ? For I wish to share 
 In such assassination. 
 
 ULY. I expect 
 
 Your aid : the brand is weighty, and requires 
 Our social efforts. 
 
 CHOR. I'd sustain a load 
 
 Equal to what a hundred teams convey, 
 Could I dash out the cursed Cyclops' eye 
 E'en as a swarm of wasps. 
 
 ULY. Be silent now ; 
 
 (Ye know my stratagem) and at my bidding 
 To those who o'er th' adventurous scheme preside 
 Yield prompt obedience: for I scorn to leave 
 My friends within, and save this single life.
 
 194 EURIPIDES. 
 
 True, 'scape I might, already having passed 
 The cavern's deep recess : but it were mean 
 If I should exlricate myself alone, 
 False to the faithful partners of my voyage. 
 
 {Exit ULYSSES. 
 CHOR. Who first, who next, with steadfast hand 
 
 Ordained to guide the flaming brand, 
 
 The Cyclops' radiant eye shall pierce ? 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. Silence ! for from within a song 
 
 Bursts on my ear in tuneless verse, 
 
 Insensate minstrel, doomed ere long 
 
 This luxurious meal to rue, 
 
 He staggers from yon rocky cave. 
 
 Him let us teach who never knew 
 
 How at the banquet to behave, 
 
 Outrageous and unmannered hind, 
 
 Soon shall he totally be blind. 
 2nd SEMICHOR. Thrice blest is he, in careless play 
 
 'Midst Bacchus' orgies ever gay, 
 
 Streched near the social board whence glides 
 
 The vine's rich juice in purple tides, 
 
 Who fondly clasps with eager arms 
 
 The consenting virgin's charms ; 
 
 Rich perfumes conspire to shed 
 
 Sweetest odours on his head, 
 
 While enamoured of the fair 
 
 He wantons with her auburn hair. 
 
 But hark ! for surely 'tis our mate 
 
 Exclaiming, " Who will ope the gate ? " 
 
 POLYPHEME, ULYSSES, SILENUS, CHORUS. 
 
 POL. Ha ! ha ! I am replete with wine, the banquet 
 Hath cheered my soul : like a well-freighted ship 
 My stomach's with abundant viands stowed 
 Up to my very chin. This smiling turf 
 Invites me to partake a vernal feast 
 With my Cyclopean brothers. Stranger, bring 
 That vessel from the cave. {Exit ULYSSES. 
 
 CHOR. With bright-eyed grace 
 
 Ou> master issues from his spacious hall ; 
 (Some god approves the kindled torch) that form 
 Equals the lustre of a blooming nymph 
 Fresh from the dripping caverns of the mr.in. 
 S;>on shall the variegated wreath adorn 
 Your temples. 
 
 ULY. \returningl\ Hear me, Cyclops ; well I know 
 Th' effect of this potation, Bacchus' gift, 
 Which I to you dispensed,
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 195 
 
 POL. Yet say what sort 
 
 Of god is Bacchus by his votaries deemed ? 
 
 ULY. The greatest source of pleasure to mankind. 
 
 POL. I therefore to my palate find it sweet. 
 
 ULY. A god like this to no man will do wrong. 
 
 POL. But in a bottle how can any gcd 
 Delight to dwell ? 
 
 ULY. In whatsoever place 
 
 We lodge him, the benignant power resides. 
 
 POL. The skins of goats are an unseemly lodging 
 For deities. 
 
 ULY. If you admire the wine, 
 
 Why quarrel with its case ? 
 
 POL. Those filthy hides 
 
 I utterly detest, but love the liquor. 
 
 ULY. Stay here ; drink, drink, O Cyclops, and be gay. 
 
 POL. This luscious beverage, must I not impart 
 To cheer my brothers ? 
 
 ULY. Keep it to yourself 
 
 And you shall seem more honourable. 
 
 POL. More useful, 
 
 If I distribute largely to my friends. 
 
 ULY. Broils, taunts, and discord from the banquet rise. 
 
 POL. Though I am fuddled, no man dares to touch me. 
 
 ULY. He who hath drunk too freely, O my friend, 
 Ought to remain at home. 
 
 POL. Devoid of reason 
 
 Is he who when he drinks pays no regard 
 To mirth and to good-fellowship. 
 
 ULY. More wise, 
 
 O'ercharged with wine, who ventures not abroad. 
 
 POL. Shall we stay here? What think'st thou, O 
 Silenus? 
 
 SIL. With all my heart. What need, for our carousals, 
 Of a more numerous company? 
 
 POL. The ground 
 
 Beneath our feet, a flowery turf adorns. 
 
 SIL. O how delightful 'tis to drink, and bask 
 Here in the sunshine : on this grassy couch r 
 
 Beside me take your seat. 
 
 POL. Why dost thou place 
 
 The cup behind my elbow ? 
 
 SIL. Lest some stranger 
 
 Should come and snatch the precious boon away. 
 
 POL. Thou mean'st to tope clandestinely-, between us 
 Here let it stand. O stranger, by what name 
 Say shall I call thee ? 
 
 ULY. Noman is my name. 
 
 But for what favour shall I praise your kindness ? 
 
 G 2
 
 I 9 6 EURIPIDES. 
 
 POL. The last of all the crew will I devour. 
 ULY. A wondrous privilege is this, O Cyclops, 
 Which on the stranger you bestow. 
 
 POL. What mean'st thou ? 
 
 Ha ! art thou drinking up the wine by stealth ? 
 SIL. Only the gentle Bacchus gave that kiss, 
 Because I look so blooming. 
 
 POL. Thou shalt weep, 
 
 Because thy lips were to the wine applied, 
 Nor did it seek thy mouth. 
 
 SIL. Not thus, by Jove ; 
 
 I drank because the generous god of wine 
 Declared that he admired me for my beauty. 
 POL. Pour forth ; give me a bumper. 
 SIL. I must taste 
 
 To see what mixture it requires. 
 
 POL. Damnation ! 
 
 Give it me pure. 
 
 SIL. Not so, the heavens forbid ! 
 
 Till you the wreath bind on your ample front, 
 And I again have tasted. 
 
 POT.. What a knave 
 
 Is this my cupbearer ! 
 
 SlL. Accuse me not ; 
 
 The wine is sweet : you ought to wipe your mouth 
 Before you drink. 
 
 POL. My lips and beard are clean. 
 
 SIL. Loll thus upon your elbow with a grace, 
 Drink as you see me drink, and imitate 
 My every gesture. 
 
 POL. What art thou about ? 
 
 SlL. I swallowed then a most delicious bumper. 
 POL. Take thou the cask, O stranger, and perform 
 The office of my cupbearer. 
 
 ULY. These hands 
 
 Have been accustomed to the pleasing office. 
 POL. Now pour it forth. 
 ULY. Be silent : I obey. 
 
 POL. Thou hast proposed a difficult restraint 
 To him who largely drinks. 
 
 ULY. Now drain the bowl ; 
 
 Leave nought behind : the toper must not prate 
 Before his liquor's ended. 
 
 POL. In the vine 
 
 There's wisdom. 
 
 ULY. When to plenteous food you add 
 
 An equal share of liquor, and well drench 
 The tnroat beyond what thirst demands, you sink 
 Into sweet s'.eep : but if you leave behind
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 197 
 
 Aught of th' unfinished beverage in your cup, 
 Bacchus will scorch your entrails. 
 
 POL. Tis a mercy 
 
 How I swam out ; the very heavens whirl round 
 Mingled with earth. I view Jove's throne sublime, 
 And the whole synod of encircling gods. 
 Were all the Graces to solicit me, 
 I would not kiss them : Ganymede himself 
 Appears in matchless beauty. 
 
 SIL. I, O Cyclops, 
 
 Am Jove's own Ganymede. 
 
 POL. By Heaven thou art ! 
 
 Whom from the realms of Dardanus I bore. 
 
 [Exit POLYPHEME. 
 
 SIL. Ruin awaits me. 
 
 CHOR. Dost thou loathe him now 
 
 SIL. Ah me ! I from this sleep shall soon behold 
 The most accursed effects. [Exit SILENUS. 
 
 ULY. Come on, ye sons 
 
 Of Bacchus, generous youths ; for soon dissolved 
 In slumber shall the monster from those jaws 
 Vomit forth flesh, within the hall now smokes 
 The brand, and nought remains but to burn out 
 The Cyclops' eye: act only like a man. 
 
 CHOR. The firmness of my soul shall equal rocks 
 And adamant. But go into the cave 
 With speed, before tumultuous sounds assail 
 Our aged father's ears ; for to effect 
 Your purpose, all is ready. 
 
 ULY. Vulcan, king 
 
 Of ^Etna, from this impious pest, who haunts 
 Thy sacred mountain, free thyself at once, 
 By burning out his glaring eye ; and thou 
 Nurtured by sable night, O sleep, invade 
 With thy resistless force this beast abhorred 
 By Heaven ; nor after all the glorious deeds 
 Achieved at I lion, with his faithful sailors, 
 Destroy Ulysses' self, by him who heeds 
 Nor god nor mortal. Else must \ve hold fortune 
 A goddess, and all other deities 
 Inferior to resistless fortune's power. {Exit ULYSSES. 
 
 CHOR. The neck of him who slays his guest, 
 With burning pincers shall be prest, 
 And fire bereaving him of sight 
 Soon shall destroy that orb of light. 
 Within the embers near at hand 
 Lies concealed a smoking brand, 
 Torn from its parental tree. 
 Maron, we depend on thee;
 
 198 EURIPIDES. 
 
 May th' exasperated foe 
 With success direct the blow ! 
 May the Cyclops lose h>s eye, 
 And curse his ill-timed jollity ! 
 Thee, Bromius, how I long to meet 
 Thy front adorned with ivy twine ; 
 Leaving this abhorred retreat. 
 Ah, when shall such delight be mine ? 
 
 ULYSSES, CHORUS. 
 
 ULY Be silent, O ye savages, restrain 
 
 Those clamorous tongues : by Heaven ye shall not breathe, 
 Nor wink your eyes, nor cough, lest ye awaken 
 This pest, the Cyclops, ere he of his eyesight 
 Is by the fire bereft. 
 
 CHOR. We will be silent, 
 
 And in our jaws confine the very air. 
 
 ULY. The ponderous weapon seize with dauntless hands, 
 Entering the cavern ; for 'tis fully heated. 
 
 CHOR. Will you not give directions who shall first 
 Manage the glowing lever, and burn out 
 The Cyclops' eye, that in one common fortune 
 We all may share. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. We who before the portals 
 Are stationed, are not tall enough to drive 
 Full on its destined mark the hissing brand. 
 
 2nd SEMICHOR. But I am with a sudden lameness seized. 
 
 ist SEMICHOR. The same calamity which you experience 
 To me hath also happened ; for my feet 
 Are by convulsions tortured, though the cause 
 I know not. 
 
 ULY. If ye feel such dreadful spasms, 
 
 How can ye stand ? 
 
 CHOR. Our eyes are also filled 
 
 With dust or ashes. 
 
 ULY. These allies of mine 
 
 Are worthless cowards. 
 
 CHOR. We forsooth want courage 
 
 Because we feel compassion for our shoulders, 
 Nor would be beaten till our teeth drop out. 
 But I a magic incantation know, 
 Devised by Orpheus, which hath such effect, 
 That of its own accord the brand shall pierce 
 The skull of him, the one-eyed son of earth. 
 
 ULY. Long have I known ye are by nature such ; 
 But more than ever do I know you now. 
 On my own friends I therefore must rely. 
 Yet if thou hast no vigour in that arm, 
 Exhort my drooping friends to act with valour 
 And let thy counsels aid the bold emprise. \Exil ULYSSES.
 
 THE CYCLOPS. 199 
 
 CHOR. Such be my province : we this Carian's life 
 Will hazard. But my counsels shall induce them 
 To burn the Cyclops. Ho ! with courage whirl 
 The brand, delay not to scorch out the eye 
 Of him who banquets on the stranger's flesh. 
 With fire assail the savage, pierce the front 
 Of Etna's shepherd, lest, with anguish stung, 
 On you he perpetrate some deed of horror. 
 
 POL. [////'.] Ah me ! by burning coals I am deprived 
 Of eyesight. 
 
 CHOR. That was a melodious paean : 
 To me, O Cyclops, sing th' enchanting strain. 
 
 POLYPHEME, CHORUS. 
 
 POL. Ah, how am I insulted and destroyed ! 
 Yet shall ye never from this hollow rock 
 Escape triumphant, O ye things of nought : 
 For in my station rooted, where this cleft 
 Opens a door, will I spread forth my hands 
 And stop your passage ! 
 
 CHOR. Ha ! what means these outcries, 
 
 O Cyclops ? 
 
 POL. I am ruined. 
 
 CHOR. You appear 
 
 To have much been abused. 
 
 POL. Deplorably. 
 
 CHOR. When fuddled, did you fall 'mid burning coals ? 
 
 POL. Noman hath ruined me. 
 
 CHOR. To you then no one 
 
 Hath offered any wrong. 
 
 POL. These lids hath Noman 
 
 Deprived of sight. 
 
 CHOR. You therefore are not blind. 
 
 POL. Would thou couldst see as little. 
 
 CHOR. How can no man 
 
 Put out your eye ? 
 
 POL. Thou art disposed to jest. 
 
 But where is Noman ? 
 
 CHOR. He is nowhere. Cyclops. 
 
 POL. That execrable stranger, mark me well, 
 Is author of my ruin, who produced 
 The fraudful draught, and burned my visual nerves. 
 
 CHOR. Wine is invincible. 
 
 POL. By all the gods, 
 
 Answer me I conjure you ; did they fly, 
 Or are they here within ? 
 
 CHOR. They on the top 
 
 Of yonder rock which screens them from your reach, 
 In silence take their stand. 
 
 POL. But on which side ?
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 CHOR. Your right. 
 
 POL. Where, where ? 
 
 CHOR. Upon that very rock. 
 
 Have you yet caught them ? 
 
 POL. To mischance succeeds 
 
 Mischance ; I have fallen down and cracked my skull. 
 
 CHOR. They 'scape you now. 
 
 POL. Ye misinformed me sure ; 
 
 They are not here. 
 
 CHOR. I say not that they are. 
 
 POL. Where then ? 
 
 CHOR. They wheel around you on your left. 
 
 POL. Ah me ! I am derided, ye but mock 
 At my affliction. 
 
 CHOR. They are there no longer : 
 
 But Noman stands before you. 
 
 POL. O thou villain, 
 
 Where art thou ? 
 
 ULYSSES, POLYPHEME, CHORUS. 
 
 ULY. Keeping cautiously aloof, 
 
 Thus I, Ulysses, guard rny threatened life. 
 
 POL. What saidst thou ? Wherefore hast thou changed 
 
 thy name 
 T' assume a new one ? 
 
 ULY. Me my father named 
 
 Ulysses. It was destined you should suffer 
 A just requital for your impious feast ; 
 For I in vain had with consuming flames 
 Laid I lion waste, had I forborne t' avenge 
 On you the murder of my valiant friends. 
 POL. Now is that ancient oracle, alas ! 
 Accomplished, which foretold, that I by thee, 
 On thy return from Troy, should be deprived 
 Of sight : but that thou also for a deed 
 So cruel, shalt be punished, and full long 
 Endure the beating of tempestuous waves. 
 
 ULY. Go weep, my actions justify these words. 
 But to the shore I haste ; and to my country 
 Will steer the vessel o'er Sicilia's waves. 
 
 POL. Thou shalt not ; with this fragment of the rock 
 Hurled at thy head, thee and thy perjured crew 
 Will I demolish : for I yet, though blind, 
 Can mount the cliff which overhangs the port, 
 And in its wonted crannies fix my steps. 
 
 CHOR. But we, blest partners in Ulysses' voyage, 
 Henceforth the laws of Bacchus will obey.
 
 HELEN. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 HELEN. 
 TEUCER. 
 
 CHORUS OF GRECIAN DAMES 
 (HELEN'S ATTENDANTS). 
 
 FEMALE SERVANT. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 THEOCLYMENUS. 
 
 THEONOE. 
 
 CASTOR AND POLLUX. 
 
 MENELAUS. 
 
 SCENE. PROTEUS' TOMB, AT THE ENTRANCE OF THEOCLYMENUS' 
 PALACE IN PHAROS, AN ISLAND AT THE MOUTH OF THE NILE. 
 
 HELEN. 
 
 BRIGHT are these virgin currents of the Nile 
 Which water Egypt's soil, and are supplied, 
 Instead of drops 'from heaven, by molten snow. 
 But Proteus, while he lived, of these domains 
 Was lord, he in the isle of Pharos dwelt, 
 King of all ygypt; for his wife he gained 
 One of the nymphs who haunt the briny deep, 
 Fair Psamathe, after she left the bed 
 Of Abacus ; she in the palace bore 
 To him two children, one of them a son 
 Called Theoclymenus, because his life 
 Is passed in duteous homage to the gods ; 
 A daughter also of majestic mien, 
 Her mother's darling, in her infant years 
 (Eidothea called by her enraptured sire) : 
 But when the blooming maid became mature 
 For nuptial joys, Theonoe was the name 
 They gave her ; all the counsels of the gods, 
 The present and the future, well she knew, 
 Such privilege she from her grandsire Nereus 
 Inherited. But not to fame unknown 
 Are Sparta's realm, whence I derive my birth, 
 And my sire, Tyndarus. There prevails a rumour 
 That to my mother Leda Jove was borne 
 On rapid wings, the figure of a swan
 
 202 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Assuming, and by treachery gained admission 
 
 To her embraces, flying from an eagle, 
 
 If we may credit such report. My name 
 
 Is Helen ; but I also will recount 
 
 What woes I have endured ; three goddesses, 
 
 For beauty's prize contending, in the cave 
 
 Of Ida, came to Paris ; Juno, Venus, 
 
 And Pallas, virgin progeny of Jove, 
 
 Requesting him to end their strife, and judge 
 
 Whose charms outshone her rivals. But proposing 
 
 For a reward, my beauty (if the name 
 
 Of beauty suit this inauspicious form) 
 
 And promising in marriage to bestow me 
 
 On Paris, Venus conquered : for the swain 
 
 Of Ida, leaving all his herds behind, 
 
 Expecting to receive me for his bride, 
 
 To Sparta came. But Juno, whose defeat 
 
 Fired with resentment her indignant soul, 
 
 Our nuptials frustrated ; for to the arms 
 
 Of royal Priam's son, she gave not me, 
 
 But in my semblance formed a living image 
 
 Composed of ether. Paris falsely deemed 
 
 That he possessed me ; from that time these ills 
 
 Have been increased by the decrees of Jove, 
 
 For he with war hath visited the realms 
 
 Of Greece, and Phrygia's miserable sons, 
 
 That he might lighten from th' unrighteous swarms 
 
 Of its inhabitants the groaning earth, 
 
 And on the bravest of the Grecian chiefs 
 
 Confer renown. While in the Phrygian war, 
 
 As the reward of their victorious arms, 
 
 I to the host of Greece have been displayed, 
 
 Though absent, save in likeness and in name. 
 
 But Mercury, receiving me in folds 
 
 Of air, and covering with a cloud (for Jove 
 
 Was not unmindful of me), in this house 
 
 Of royal Proteus, who of all mankind 
 
 Was in his judgment the most virtuous, placed me, 
 
 That undefiled I might preserve the bed 
 
 Of Menelaus. I indeed am here ; 
 
 But with collected troops my hapless lord 
 
 Pursues the ravisher to Ilion's towers. 
 
 Beside Scamander's stream hath many a chief 
 
 Died in my cause ; but I, who have endured 
 
 All these afflictions, am a public curse ; 
 
 For 'tis supposed, that treacherous to my lord, 
 
 I have through Greece blown up the flames of war. 
 
 Why then do I prolong my life ? these words 
 
 I heard from Mercury: " That I ngain
 
 HELEN. 203 
 
 In Sparta, with my husband shall reside, 
 
 When he discovers that I never went 
 
 To Troy :" he therefore counselled me to keep 
 
 A spotless chastity. While Proteus viewed 
 
 The solar beams, I from the nuptial yoke 
 
 Still lived exempt ; but since the darksome grave 
 
 Hath covered his remains, the royal son 
 
 Of the deceased solicits me to wed him : 
 
 But honouring my first husband, at this tomb 
 
 Of Proteus, I a suppliant kneel, to him, 
 
 To him I sue, to guard my nuptial couch, 
 
 That if through Greece I bear a name a: sailed 
 
 By foul aspersions, no unseemly deed 
 
 May cover me with real infamy. 
 
 TEUCER, HELEN. 
 
 TEU. Who rules this fortress ? such a splendid dome 
 With royal porticos and blazoned roofs 
 Seems worthy of a Plutus for its lord. 
 But, O ye gods, what vision ! I behold 
 That hateful woman who hath ruined me, 
 And all the Greeks. Heaven's vengeance on thy head ! 
 Such a resemblance bear'st thou to that Helen, 
 That if I were not in a foreign land, 
 I with this stone would smite thee ; thou shouldst bleed 
 For being like Jove's daughter. 
 
 HEL. Wretched man, 
 
 Whoe'er you are, why do you hate me thus 
 Because of her misfortunes ? 
 
 TEU. I have erred 
 
 In giving way to such unseemly rage. 
 All Greece abhors Jove's daughter. But forgive me, 
 O woman, for the words which I have uttered. 
 
 HEL. Say who you are, and from what land you ccme? 
 
 TEU. One of that miserable race the Greeks. 
 
 HEL. No wonder is it then, if you detest 
 The Spartan Helen. But to me declare, 
 Who are you, whence, and from what father sprung ? 
 
 TEU. My name is Teucer, Telamon my sire ; 
 The land which nurtured me is Salamis. 
 
 HEL. But wherefore do you wander o'er these meads 
 Laved by the Nile ? 
 
 TEU. I from my native land 
 
 Am banished. 
 
 HEL. You, alas ! must needs be wretched. 
 
 Who drove you thence ? 
 
 TEU. My father Telamon. 
 
 What friend canst thou hold dearer ? 
 
 HEL. For what cause
 
 204 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Were you- to exile doomed ? your situation 
 Is most calamitous. 
 
 TEU. My brother Ajax, 
 
 Who died at Troy, was author of my ruin. 
 
 HEL. How ? by your sword deprived of life ? 
 
 TEU. He fell. 
 
 On his own blade, and perished. 
 
 HEL. Was he mad ? 
 
 Who could act thus whose intellects are sound ? 
 
 TEU. Know'st thou Achilles, Peleus' son ? 
 
 HEL. He erst, 
 
 I heard, to Helen as a suitor came. 
 
 TEU. He, at his death, his comrades left to strive 
 W T hich should obtain his arms. 
 
 HEL. But why was this 
 
 Hurtful to Ajax ? 
 
 TEU. When another won 
 
 Those arms, he gave up life. 
 
 HEL. Do your afflictions 
 
 Rise from his fate ? 
 
 TEU. Because I died not with him. 
 
 HEL. O stranger, went you then to Troy's famed city ? 
 
 TEU. And having shared in laying waste its bulwarks, 
 I also perished. 
 
 HEL. Have the flames consumed, 
 
 And utterly destroyed them ? 
 
 TEU. Not a trace 
 
 Of those proud walls is now to be discerned. 
 
 HEL. Through thee, O Helen, do the Phrygians perish. 
 
 TEU. The Greeks too : for most grievous are the mischiefs 
 Which have been wrought. 
 
 HEL. What length of time's elapsed 
 
 Since Troy was sacked ? 
 
 TEU. Seven times the fruitful year 
 
 Hath almost turned around her lingering wheel. 
 
 HEL. But how much longer did your host remain 
 Before those bulwarks ? 
 
 TEU. Many a tedious moon ; 
 
 There full ten years were spent. 
 
 HEL. And have ye taken 
 
 That Spartan dame ? 
 
 TEU. By her dishevelled hair, 
 
 Th' adult'ress, Menelaus 'dragged away. 
 
 HEL. Did you behold that abject of distress, 
 Or speak you from report ? 
 
 TEU. These eyes as clearly 
 
 Witnessed the whole, as I now view thy face. 
 
 HEL. Be cautious, lest for her ye should mistake 
 Some well-formed semblance which the gods have sent.
 
 HELEN. 205 
 
 TEU. Talk if thou wilt on any other subject ; 
 No more of her. 
 
 HEL. Believe you this opinion 
 
 To be well-grounded ? 
 
 TEU. With these eyes I saw her, 
 
 And she e'en now is present to my soul. 
 
 HEL. Have Menelaus and his consort reached 
 Their home. 
 
 TEU. They are not in the Argive land, 
 
 Nor on Eurotas' banks. 
 
 HEL. Alas ! alas ! 
 
 The tale you have recounted, is to her 
 Who hears you, an event most inauspicious. 
 
 TEU. He and his consort, both they say are dead. 
 
 HEL. Did not the Greeks in one large squadron sail? 
 
 TEU. Yes ; but a storm dispersed their shattered fleet. 
 
 HEL. Where were they, in what seas ? 
 
 TEU. They at that time 
 
 Through the mid waves of the ^gean deep 
 Were passing. 
 
 HEL. Can none tell if Menelaus 
 
 Escaped this tempest ? 
 
 TEU. No man ; but through Greece 
 
 'Tis rumoured he is dead. 
 
 HEL. I am undone. 
 
 Is Thestius' daughter living? 
 
 TEU. Mean'st thou Leda ? 
 
 She with the dead is numbered. 
 
 HEL. Did the shame 
 
 Of Helen cause her wretched mother's death ? 
 
 TEU. Around her neck, 'tis said the noble dame 
 Entwined the gliding noose. 
 
 HEL. But live the sons 
 
 Of Tyndarus, or are they too now no more ? 
 
 TEU. They are, and are not, dead ; for two accounts 
 Are propagated. 
 
 HEL. Which is best confirmed ? 
 
 O wretched me ! 
 
 TEU. Some say that they are gods 
 
 Under the semblance ot two radiant stars. 
 
 HEL. Well have you spoken. But what else is rumoured? 
 
 TEU. That on account of their lost sister's guilt 
 They died by their own swords. But of these themes 
 Enough : I wish not to renew my sorrows. 
 But O assist me in the great affairs 
 On which I to these royal mansions came, 
 Wishing to see the prophetess Theonoe, 
 And learn, from Heaven's oracular response, 
 How I may steer my vessel with success
 
 206 EURIPIDES. 
 
 To Cyprus' isle, where Phoebus hath foretold 
 That I shall dwell, and on the walls I rear 
 Bestow the name of Salamis, yet mindful 
 Of that dear country I have left behind. 
 
 HEL. This will your voyage of itself explain : 
 But fly from these inhospitable shores, 
 Ere Proteus' son, the ruler of this land, 
 Behold you : fly, for he is absent now 
 Pursuing with his hounds the savage prey. 
 He slays each Grecian stranger who becomes 
 His captive : ask not why, for I am silent ; 
 And what could it avail you to be told ? 
 
 TEU. O woman, most discreetly hast thou spoken ; 
 Thy kindness may the righteous gods repay ! 
 For though thy person so resemble Helen, 
 Thou hast a soul unlike that worthless dame. 
 Perdition seize her ; never may she reach 
 The current of Eurotas : but mayst thou, 
 Most generous woman, be for ever blest. \Exit TEUCER. 
 
 HEL. Plunged as I am 'midst great and piteous woes, 
 How shall I frame the plaintive strain, what Muse 
 With tears, or doleful elegies, invoke ? 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Ye syrens, winged daughters of the earth, 
 Come and attune the sympathetic string, 
 
 Expressive now no more of mirth, 
 To soothe my griefs, the flute of Libya bring ; 
 Record the tortures which this bosom rend, 
 And echo back my elegiac strains : 
 Proserpine next will I invoke, to send 
 Numbers adapted to her votary's pains ; 
 So shall her dark abode, while many a tear I shed, 
 Waft the full dirge to soothe th l illustrious dead. 
 
 CHORUS, HELEN. 
 CHORUS. 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Near the cerulean margin of our streams 
 I stood, and on the tufted herbage spread 
 My purple vestments in those beams 
 Which from his noontide orb Hyperion shed, 
 When on a sudden from the waving reeds 
 I heard a plaintive and unwelcome sound 
 Of bitter lamentation ; o'er the meads 
 Groans inarticulate were poured around : 
 Beneath the rocky cave, dear scene of past delight. 
 Some Naiad thus bewails Pan's hasty flight.
 
 HELEN. 207 
 
 HELEN. 
 
 Ye Grecian nymphs, whom those barbarians caught, 
 And from your native land reluctant bore, 
 The tidings which yon sailor brought 
 Call forth these tears; for Ilion is no more, 
 By him of Ida, that predicted flame 
 Destroyed ; through me, alas ! have myriads bled, 
 If not through me, through my destested name. 
 By th' ignominious noose is Leda dead 
 Who my imaginary guilt deplored ; 
 And doomed by the relentless Fates in vain 
 To tedious wanderings, my unhappy lord 
 At length hath perished 'midst the billowy main : 
 The twin protectors of their native land, 
 Castor and Pollux, from all human eyes 
 Are vanished, they have left Eurotas' strand, 
 And fields, in playful strife where each young wrestler vies. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 My royal mistress, your disastrous fate 
 
 With many a groan and fruitless tear I mourn. 
 
 I from that hour your sorrows date 
 When amorous Jove on snowy pinions borne, 
 In form a swan, by Leda was carest. 
 Is there an evil you have not endured ? 
 Your mother is no more, through you unblest 
 Are Jove's twin sons. Nor have your vows procured 
 Of your dear country the enchanting sight, 
 A rumour too through various realms hath spread, 
 Caught by the envious vulgar with delight, 
 Assigning you to the barbarian's bed. 
 Amid the waves, far from the wished-for shore, 
 Your husband hath been buried in the main. 
 You shall behold your native walls no more 
 Nor under burnished roofs your wonted state maintain. 
 
 HELEN. 
 
 in. 
 What Phrygian artist on the top of Ide, 
 
 Or vagrant of a Grecian line, 
 
 Felled that inauspicious pine, 
 To frame the bark which Paris o'er the tide 
 
 Dared with barbaric oars to guide,
 
 208 EURIPIDES. 
 
 When to my palace, in an evil hour 
 
 Caught by beauty's magic power, 
 
 He came to seize me for his bride ? 
 But crafty Venus, authoress of these broils, 
 Marched thither, leagued with death, t' annoy 
 
 Triumphant Greece and vanquished Troy, 
 (Wretch that I am, consumed with endless toils !) 
 And Juno seated on her golden throne, 
 Consort of thundering Jove, 
 
 Sent Hermes from the realms above, 
 Who found me, when I carelessly had strewn 
 
 Leaves plucked from roses in my vest, 
 As Minerva's votary drest ; 
 He bore me through the paths of air 
 To this loathed, this dreary land, 
 Called Greece, and Priam's friends the strife to share, 
 And roused to bloody deeds each rival band ; 
 
 Where Simois' current glides, my name 
 
 Hence is marked with groundless shame. 
 CHOR. Your woes I know are grievous : but to bear 
 With tranquil mind the necessary ills 
 Of life, is most expedient. 
 
 HEL. To what ills 
 
 Have I been subject, O my dear companions ! 
 Did not my mother, as a prodigy 
 Which wondering mortals gaze at, bring me forth ? 
 For neither Grecian nor barbaric dame 
 Till then produced an egg, in which her children 
 Enveloped lay, as they report, from Jove 
 Leda engendered. My whole life and all 
 That hath befallen me, but conspires to form 
 One series of miraculous events ; 
 To Juno some, and to my beauty some, 
 Are owing. Would to Heaven, that, like a tablet 
 Whose picture is effaced, I could exchange 
 This form for one less comely, since the Greeks 
 Forgetting those abundant gifts showered down 
 By prosperous Fortune which I now possess, 
 Think but of what redounds not to my honour, 
 And still remember my ideal shame. 
 Whoever therefore, with one single species 
 Of misery is afflicted by the gods, 
 Although the weight of Heaven's chastising hand 
 Be grievous, may with fortitude endure 
 Such visitation : but by many woes 
 Am I oppressed, and first of all exposed 
 To slanderous tongues, although I ne'er have erred. 
 It were a lesser evil e'en to sin 
 Then be suspected falsely. Then the gods,
 
 HELEN. 209 
 
 'Midst men of barbarous manners, placed me far 
 From my loved country : torn from every friend, 
 I languish here, to servitude consigned 
 Although of free born race : for 'midst barbarians 
 Are all enslaved but one, their haughty lord. 
 My fortunes had this single anchor left, 
 Perchance my husband might at length arrive 
 To snatch me from my woes ; but he, alas ! 
 Is now no more, my mother too is dead, 
 And I am deemed her murd'ress, though unjustly, 
 Yet am I branded with this foul reproach ; 
 And she who was the glory of our house, 
 My daughter in the virgin state grown grey, 
 Still droops un wedded : my illustrious brothers, 
 Castor and Pollux, called the sons of Jove, 
 Are now no more. But I impute my death, 
 Crushed as I am by all these various woes, 
 Not to my own misdeeds, but to the power 
 Of adverse fortune only : this one danger 
 There yet remains, if at my native land 
 I should again arrive, they will confine me 
 In a close dungeon, thinking me that Helen 
 Who dwelt in Ilion, till she thence was borne 
 By Menelaus. Were my husband living, 
 We might have known each other, by producing 
 Those tokens to which none beside are privy : 
 But this will never be, nor can he e'er 
 Return in safety. To what purpose then 
 Do I still lengthen out this wretched being ? 
 To what new fortunes am I still reserved ? 
 bhall I select a husband, but to vary 
 My present ills, to dwell beneath the roof 
 Of a barbarian, at luxurious boards 
 With wealth abounding, seated ? for the dame 
 Whom wedlock couples with the man she hates 
 Death is the best expedient. But with glory 
 How shall I die ? the fatal noose appears 
 To be so base, that e'en in slaves 'tis held 
 Unseemly thus to perish ; in the poniard 
 There's somewhat great and generous. But to me 
 Delays are useless : welcome instant death : 
 Into such depth of misery am I plunged. 
 For beauty renders other women blest, 
 But hath to me the source of ruin proved. 
 
 CHOR. O Helen, whosoe'er the stranger be 
 Who hither came, believe not that the whole 
 Of what he said, is truth. 
 
 HEL. But in plain terms 
 
 Hath he announced my dearest husband's death.
 
 2io EURIPIDES. 
 
 CHOR. The false assertions which prevail, are many. 
 
 HEL. Clear is the language in which honest Truth 
 Loves to express herself. 
 
 CHOR. You are inclined 
 
 Rather to credit inauspicious tidings 
 Than those which are more favourable. 
 
 HEL. By fears 
 
 Encompassed, am I hurried to despair. 
 
 CHOR. What hospitable treatment have you found 
 Beneath these roofs ? 
 
 HEL. All here, except the man 
 
 Who seeks to wed me, are my friends. 
 
 CHOR. You kno\v 
 
 How then to act : leave this sepulchral gloom, 
 
 HEL. What are the counsels, or the cheering words 
 You wish to introduce ? 
 
 CHOR. Go in, and question 
 
 The daughter of the Nereid, her who knows 
 All hidden truths, Theonoe, if your lord 
 Yet live, or view the solar beams no more : 
 And when you have learnt this, as suit your fortunes 
 Indulge your joys, or pour forth all your tears : 
 But ere you know aught fully, what avail 
 Your sorrows ? therefore listen to my \vords ; 
 Leaving this tomb, attend the maid : from her 
 Shall you know all. But why should you look farther 
 When truth is in these mansions to be found ? 
 With you the doors I'll enter ; we together 
 The royal virgin's oracles will hear. 
 For 'tis a woman's duty to exert 
 Her utmost efforts in a woman's cause. 
 
 HEL. My friends, your wholesome counsels I approve : 
 But enter ye these doors, that ye, within 
 The palace, my calamities may hear 
 
 CHOR. You summon her who your commands obey:; 
 Without reluctance. 
 
 HEL. Woeful day ! ah me, 
 
 What lamentable tidings shall I hear ? 
 
 CHOR. Forbear these plaintive strains, my dearest queen, 
 Nor with presaging soul anticipate 
 Evils to come. 
 
 HEL. What hath my wretched lord 
 
 Endured ? Doth he yet view the light, the sun 
 Borne in his radiant chariot, and the paths 
 Of all the starry train ? Or hath he shared 
 The common lot of mortals, is he plunged 
 Among the dead, beneath th' insatiate grave ? 
 
 CHOR. O construe what time yet may bring to pass 
 In the most favourable terms.
 
 HELEN. 211 
 
 HEL. On thee 
 
 I call to testify, and thee adjure, 
 Eurotas, on whose verdant margin grow 
 The waving reeds : O tell me, if my lord 
 Be dead, as fame avers. 
 
 CHOR. Why do you utter 
 
 These incoherent ditties ? 
 
 HEL. Round my neck 
 
 The deadly noose will I entwine, or drive 
 With my own hand a poinard throught my breast ; 
 For I was erst the cause of bloody strife ; 
 But now am I a victim, to appease 
 The wrath of those three goddesses who strove 
 On Ida's mount, when 'midst the stalls where fed 
 His lowing herds, the son of Priam waked 
 The sylvan reed, to celebrate my beauty. 
 
 CHOR. Cause these averted ills, ye gods, to light 
 On other heads ; but, O my royal mistress, 
 May you be happy. 
 
 HEL. Thou, O wretched Troy, 
 
 To crimes which thou hast ne'er committed, ow'st 
 Thy ruin, and those horrible disasters 
 Thou hast endured. For as my nuptial gifts, 
 Hath Venus caused an intermingled stream 
 Of blood and tears to flow, she, griefs to griefs 
 And tears to tears hath added ; all these sufferings 
 Have been the miserable Ilion's lot. 
 Of their brave sons the mothers were bereft 
 The virgin sisters of the mighty dead 
 Strewed their shorn tresses on Scainander's banks, 
 While, by repeated shrieks, victorious Greece 
 Her woes expressing, smote her laurelled head, 
 And with her nails deep furrowing tore her cheeks. 
 Happy Calisto, thou Arcadian n\mph 
 Who didst ascend the couch of Jove, transformed 
 To a four-footed savage, far more blest 
 Art thou than she to whom I owe my birth : 
 For thou beneath the semblance of a beast, 
 Thy tender limbs with shaggy hide o'erspread, 
 And glaring with stern visage, by that change 
 Didst end thy griefs. She too whom Dian drove 
 Indignant from her choir, that hind whose horns 
 Were tipped with gold, the bright Titanian maid, 
 Daughter of Merops, to her beauty owed 
 That transformation : but my charms have ruined 
 Both Troy ar.d the unhappy Grecian host. 
 
 \ Exeunt HELEN rt//// CHORUS.
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 MENELAUS. 
 
 O Pelops, in the strife on Pisa's field, 
 Who didst outstrip the fiery steeds that whirled 
 The chariot of Oenomaus, would to Heaven 
 That when thy severed limbs before the gods 
 Were at the banquet placed, thou then thy life 
 Amidst the blest immortal powers hadst closed, 
 Ere thou my father Atreus didst beget, 
 Whose issue by his consort ^Erope 
 Were Agamemnon and myself, two chiefs 
 Of high renown. No ostentatious words 
 Are these ; but such a numerous host, I deem, 
 As that which we to Ilion's shore conveyed, 
 Ne'er stemmed the tide before ; these troops their king 
 Led not by force to combat, but bore rule 
 O'er Grecian youths his voluntary subjects, 
 And among these, some heroes, now no more, 
 May we enumerate ; others from the sea 
 Who 'scaped with joy, and to their homes returned, 
 E'en after fame had classed them with the dead. 
 But I, most wretched, o'er the briny waves 
 Of ocean wander, since I have o'erthrown 
 The battlements of Troy, and though I wish 
 Again to reach my country ; by the gods 
 Am I esteemed unworthy of such bliss. 
 E'en to the Libyan deserts have I sailed, 
 And traversed each inhospitable scene 
 Of brutal outrage ; still as I approach 
 My country, the tempestuous winds repel me, 
 Nor hath a prosperous breeze from Heaven yet filled 
 My sails, to waft me to the Spartan coast : 
 And now a shipwrecked, miserable man, 
 Reft of my friends, I on these shores am cast, 
 My vessel hath been shivered 'gainst the rocks 
 Into a thousand fragments : on the keel, 
 The only part which yet remains entire 
 Of all that fabric, scarce could I and Helen, 
 Whom I from Troy have borne, escape with life 
 Through fortunes unforeseen : but of this land 
 And its inhabitants, the name I know not : 
 For with the crowd I blushed to intermingle 
 Lest they my squalid garments should observe, 
 Through shame my wants concealing. For the man 
 Of an exalted station, when assailed 
 By adverse fortune, having never learned 
 How to endure calamity, is plunged 
 Into a state far worse than he whose woes 
 Have been of ancient date. But pinching need
 
 HELEN. 213 
 
 Torments me : for I have not either food 
 
 Or raiment to protect my shivering frame, 
 
 Which may be guessed from these vile rags I wear 
 
 Cast up from my wrecked vessel : for the sea 
 
 Hath swallowed up my robes, my tissued vests, 
 
 And every ensign of my former state. 
 
 Within the dark recesses of a cave 
 
 Having concealed my wife, that guilty cause 
 
 Of all my woes, and my surviving friends 
 
 Enjoined to guard her, hither am I come. 
 
 Alone, in quest of necessary aid 
 
 For my brave comrades whom I there have left, 
 
 If by my search I haply can obtain it, 
 
 I roam ; but when I viewed this house adorned 
 
 With gilded pinnacles, and gates that speak 
 
 The riches of their owner, I advanced : 
 
 For I have hopes that from this wealthy mansion 
 
 I, somewhat for my sailors, shall obtain. 
 
 But they who want the necessary comforts 
 
 Of life, although they are disposed to aid us, 
 
 Yet have not wherewithal. Ho ! who comes forth 
 
 From yonder gate, my doleful tale to bear 
 
 Into the house ? 
 
 FEMALE SERVANT, MENELAUS. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Who at the threshold stands ? 
 Wilt thou not hence depart, lest thy appearance 
 Before these doors give umbrage to our lords ? 
 Else shalt thou surely die, because thou cam'st 
 From Greece, whose sons shall never hence return. 
 
 MEN. Well hast thou spoken, O thou aged dame. 
 Wilt thou permit me ? For to thy behests 
 Must I submit : but suffer me to speak. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Depart : for 'tis my duty to permit 
 No Greek to enter this imperial dome. 
 
 MEN. Lift not thy hand against me, nor attempt 
 To drive me hence by force. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Thou wilt not yield 
 
 To my advice, thou therefore art to blame. 
 
 MEN. Carry my message to thy lords within. 
 
 FEMALE SER. I fear lest somewhat dreadful might ensue, 
 Should I repeat your words. 
 
 .MEN. I hither come 
 
 A shipwrecked man, a stranger, one of those 
 Whom all hold sacred. 
 
 FEMALE SER. To some other house, 
 
 Instead of this, repair. 
 
 MEN. I am determined 
 
 To enter : but comply with my request.
 
 214 EURIPIDES. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Be well assured thou art unwelcome here, 
 And shalt ere long by force be driven away. 
 
 MEN. Alas ! alas ! where are my valiant troops ? 
 
 FEMALE SER. Elsewhere, perhaps, thou wert a mighty man ; 
 But here art thou no longer such. 
 
 MEN. O Fortune, 
 
 How am I galled with undeserved reproach ! 
 
 FEMALE SER. Why are those eyelids moist with tears, why 
 griev'st thou ? 
 
 MEN. Because I once was happy. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Then depart, 
 
 And mingle social tears with those thou lov'st. 
 
 MEN. But what domain is this, to whom belong 
 These royal mansions ? 
 
 FEMALE SER. Proteus here resides ; 
 
 This land is Egypt. 
 
 MEN. Egypt ? wretched me ! 
 
 Ah, whither have I sailed ! 
 
 FEMALE SER. But for what cause 
 
 Scorn'st thou the race of Nile ? 
 
 MEN. I scorn them not : 
 
 My own disastrous fortunes I bewail. 
 
 FEMALE SER. Many are wretched, thou in this respect 
 Art nothing singular. 
 
 MEN. ' Is he, the king 
 
 Thou speak'st of, here within? 
 
 FEMALE SER. To him belongs 
 
 This tomb ; his son is ruler of this land. 
 
 MEN. But where is he : abroad, or in the palace ? 
 
 FEMALE SER. He's not within: but to the Greeks he bears 
 The greatest enmity. 
 
 MEN. Whence rose this hate, 
 
 Productive of such bitter fruits to me ? 
 
 FEMALE SER. Beneath these roofs Jove's daughter Helen 
 dwells. 
 
 MEN. What mean'st thou? Ha! what words with wonder 
 
 fraught 
 Are these \\ hich thou hast uttered ? O repeat them. 
 
 FEMALE SER. The child of Tyndarus, she who in the realm 
 Of Sparta erst abode. 
 
 MEN. Whence came she hither ? 
 
 How can this be ? 
 
 FEMALE SER. From Lacedaemon's realm. 
 
 MEN. When ? Hath my wife been torn from yonder cavt ? 
 
 FEMALE SER, Before the Greeks, O stranger, went to Troy 
 Retreat then from these mansions, for within 
 Hath happened a calamitous event, 
 By which the palace is disturbed. Thou com'st 
 Unseasonably, and if the king surprise thee,
 
 HELEN. 21$ 
 
 Instead of hospitable treatment, death 
 
 Must be thy portion. To befriend the Greeks 
 
 Though well inclined, yet thee have I received 
 
 With these harsh words, because I fear the monarch. 
 
 \Exit FEMALE SERVANT. 
 MEN. What shall I say ? For I, alas ! am told 
 Of present sorrows added to the past. 
 Come I not hither, after having borne 
 From vanquished Troy my consort, whom I left 
 Within yon cave well guarded ? Yet here dwells 
 Another Helen, whom that woman called 
 Jove's daughter. Lives there on the banks of Nile 
 A man who bears the sacred name of Jove ? 
 For in the heavens there's only one. What country, 
 But that where glides Eurotas' stream beset 
 With waving reeds, is Sparta ? Tyndarus' name 
 Suits him alone. But is there any land 
 Synonymous with Lacedrcmon's realm, 
 And that of Troy ? I know not how to solve 
 This doubt ; for there are many, it appears, 
 In various regions of the world, who bear 
 Like appellations ; city corresponds 
 With city ; woman borrows that of woman ; 
 Nor must we therefore wonder. Yet again 
 Here will I stay, though danger be announced 
 By yonder aged servant at the door : 
 For there is no man so devoid of pity 
 As not to give me food, when he the name 
 Of Menelaus hears. That dreadful fire 
 By which the Phrygian bulwarks were consumed 
 Is memorable, and I who kindled it 
 Am known in every land. I'll therefore wait 
 Until the master of this house return. 
 But I have two expedients, and will practise 
 That which my safety shall require ; of soul 
 Obdurate, if he prove, in my wrecked bark 
 Can I conceal myself, but if the semblance 
 Which he puts on, be mild, I for relief 
 From these my present miseries, will apply. 
 But this of all the woes that I endure 
 Is the most grievous, that from other kings 
 I, though a king myself, should be reduced 
 To beg my food : but thus hath Fate ordained. 
 Nor is it my assertion, but a maxim 
 Among the wise established, that there's nought 
 More powerful than the dread behests of Fate.
 
 216 EURIPIDES. 
 
 HELEN, CHORUS, MENELAUS. 
 
 CHOR. I heard what yon prophetic maid foretold, 
 
 Who in the palace did unfold 
 The oracles ; that to the shades profound 
 
 Of Erebus, beneath the ground 
 Interred, not yet hath Menelaus ta'en 
 
 His passage : on the stormy main 
 Still tossed, he cannot yet approach the strand, 
 
 The haven of the Spartan land : 
 The chief, who now his vagrant life bewails, 
 
 Without a friend, unfurls his sails, 
 From Ilion's realm to every distant shore 
 Borne o'er the deep with luckless oar. 
 HEL. I to this hallowed tomb again repair, 
 Now I have heard the grateful tidings uttered 
 By sage Theonoe, who distinctly knows 
 All that hath happened ? for she says my lord 
 Is living, and yet views the solar beams : 
 But after passing o'er unnumbered straits 
 Of ocean, to a vagrant's wretched life 
 Full long inured, on these ^Egyptian coasts, 
 When he his toils hath finished, shall arrive. 
 Yet there is one thing more, which she hath left 
 Unmentioned, whether he shall come with safety. 
 This question I neglected to propose, 
 O'erjoyed when she informed me he yet lives ; 
 She also adds, that he is near the land, 
 From his wrecked ship, with his few friends, cast forth, 
 
 mayst thou come at length ; for ever dear 
 To me wilt thou arrive. Ha ! who is that ? 
 Am not I caught, through some deceitful scheme 
 Of Proteus' impious son, in hidden snares ? 
 Like a swift courser, or the madding priestess 
 Of Bacchus, shall I not with hasty step 
 
 Enter the tomb, because his looks are fierce 
 Who rushes on, and strives to overtake me ? 
 
 MEN. On thee I call, who to the yawning trench 
 Around that tomb, and blazing altars hiest 
 Precipitate. Stay : wherefore dost thou fly ? 
 With what amazement doth thy presence strike 
 And almost leave me speechless ! 
 
 HEL. O my friends, 
 
 1 suffer violence ; for from the tomb 
 
 I by this man am dragged, who to the king 
 Will give me, from whose nuptial couch I fled. 
 
 MEN. We are no pirates, nor the ministers 
 Of lustful villany.
 
 HELEN. 
 
 HEL. Yet is the vest 
 
 You wear unseemly. 
 
 MEN. Stay thy rapid flight, 
 
 Dismiss thy fears. 
 
 HEL. I stop, now I have reached 
 
 This hallowed spot. 
 
 MEN. Say, woman, who thou art ; 
 
 What face do I behold ? 
 
 HEL. But who are you ? 
 
 For I by the same reasons am induced 
 To ask this question. 
 
 MEN. Never did I see 
 
 A greater likeness. 
 
 HEL. O ye righteous gods ! 
 
 For 'tis a privilege the gods alone 
 Confer, to recognize our long-lost friends, 
 
 MEN. Art thou a Grecian or a foreign dame ? 
 
 HEL. Of Greece: but earnestly I wish to know 
 Whence you derive your origin. 
 
 MEN. In thee 
 
 A wonderful resemblance I discern 
 Of Helen. 
 
 HEL. Menelaus' very features 
 These eyes in you behold, still at a loss 
 Am I for words t' express my thoughts. 
 
 MEN. Full clearly 
 
 Hast thou discovered a most wretched man. 
 
 HEL. O to thy consort's arms at length restored ! 
 
 MEN. To what a consort ? O forbear to touch 
 My garment ! 
 
 HEL. E'en the same, whom to your arms, 
 
 A noble bride, my father Tyndarus gave. 
 
 MEN. Send forth, O Hecate, thou orb of light, 
 Some more benignant spectre. 
 
 HEL. You in me 
 
 Behold not one of those who minister 
 At Hecate's abhorred nocturnal rites. 
 
 MEN. Nor am I sure the husband of two wives. 
 
 HEL. Say, to whom else in wedlock are you joined ? 
 
 MEN. To her who lies concealed in yonder cave, 
 The prize I hither bring from vanquished Troy. 
 
 HEL. You have no wife but me. 
 
 MEN. If I retain 
 
 My reason yet, these eyes are sure deceived. 
 
 HEL. Seem you not then, while me you thus behold, 
 To view your real consort ? 
 
 MEN. Though your person 
 
 Resemble hers, no positive decision 
 Can I presume to form. 
 
 217
 
 2i8 EURIPIDES. 
 
 HEL. Observe me well, 
 
 And mark wherein we differ. Who can judge 
 With greater certainty than you ? 
 
 MEN. Thou bear"st 
 
 Her semblance, I confess. 
 
 HEL. Who can inform you 
 
 Better than your own eyes ? 
 
 MEN. What makes me doubt 
 
 Is this ; because I have another wife. 
 
 HEL. To the domains of Troy I never went : 
 It was my image only. 
 
 MEN. Who can fashion 
 
 Such bodies, with the power of sight endued ? 
 
 HEL. Composed of ether, you a consort have, 
 Heaven's workmanship. 
 
 MEN. Wrought by what plastic god ? 
 
 For the events thou speak'st of are most wondrous. 
 
 HEL. Lest Paris should obtain me, this exchange 
 Was made by Juno. 
 
 MEN. How couldst thou be here, 
 
 At the same time, and in the Phrygian realm ? 
 
 HEL. The name, but not the body, can be present 
 At once in many places. 
 
 MEN. O release me ; 
 
 For I came hither in an evil hour. 
 
 HEL. Will you then leave me here, and bear away 
 That shadow of a wife ? 
 
 MEN. Yet, O farewell, 
 
 Because thou art like Helen. 
 
 HEL. I'm undone : 
 
 For though my husband I again have found, 
 Yet shall not I possess him. 
 
 MEN. My conviction, 
 
 From all those grievous toils I have endured 
 At Ilion, I derive, and not from thee. 
 
 HEL. Ah, who is there more miserable than I am 5 
 My dearest friends desert me : I, to Greece, 
 To my dear native land, shall ne'er return. 
 
 MESSENGER, MENELAUS, HELEN, CHORUS. 
 
 MES. After a tedious search, O Menelaus, 
 At length have I with difficulty found you, 
 But not till over all the wide extent 
 Of this barbaric region I had wandered ; 
 Semt by the comrades whom you left behind. 
 
 MEN. Have ye been plundered then by the barbarians ? 
 
 MES. A most miraculous event hath happened, 
 Yet less astonishing by far in name 
 Than in reality.
 
 HELEN. 
 
 MEN. Speak, for thou bring'st 
 
 Important tidings by this breathless haste. 
 
 MES. My words are these : in vain have you endured 
 Unnumbered toils, 
 
 MEN. Those thou bewail'st are ills 
 
 Of ancient date. But what hast thou to tell me ? 
 
 MES. Borne to the skies your consort from our sight 
 Hath vanished, in the heavens is she concealed, 
 Leaving the cave in which we guarded her, 
 When she these words had uttered : " O ye sons 
 Of hapless Phrygia, and of Greece : for me 
 Beside Scamander's conscious stream ye died, 
 Through Juno's arts, because ye falsely deemed 
 Helen by Phrygian Paris was possest : 
 But after having here remained on earth 
 My stated time, observing the decrees 
 Of Fate, I to my sire the liquid ether 
 Return : but Tyndarus' miserable daughter, 
 Though guiltless, hath unjustly been accused.'' 
 Daughter of Leda hail ! wert thou then here ? 
 While I as if thou to the starry paths 
 Hadst mounted, through my ignorance proclaimed 
 Thou from this world on rapid wings wert borne. 
 But I no longer will allow thee thus 
 To sport with the afflictions of thy friends ; 
 For in thy cause thy lord and his brave troops 
 On Ilion's coast already have endured 
 Abundant toils. 
 
 MEN. These are the very words 
 
 She uttered ; and by what ye both aver 
 The truth is ascertained. O happy day 
 Which gives thee to my arms ! 
 
 HEL. My dearest lord, 
 
 Menelaus, it is long indeed 
 
 Since I have seen you : but joy comes at last. 
 My friends, transported I receive my lord 
 Whom I once more with these fond arms enfold, 
 After the radiant chariot of the sun 
 Hath oft the world illumined. 
 
 MEN. I embrace 
 
 Thee too : but having now so much to say 
 
 1 know not with what subject to begin. 
 
 HEL. Joy raises my exulting crest, these tears 
 Are tears of ecstasy, around your neck 
 My arms I fling with transport, O my husband, 
 O sight most wished for ! 
 
 MEN. I acquit the Fates, 
 
 Since Jove's and Leda's daughter I possess, 
 On whom her brothers borne on milk-white steeds
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Erst showered abundant blessings, when the torch 
 
 Was kindled at our jocund nuptial rite ; 
 
 Though from my palace her the gods conveyed. 
 
 But evil now converted into good 
 
 To me thy husband hath at length restored 
 
 My long-lost consort : grant, O bounteous Heaven, 
 
 That I these gifts of fortune may enjoy. 
 
 HEL. May you enjoy them, for my vows concur 
 With yours ; nor, of us two, can one be wretched 
 Without the other. O my friends, I groan 
 No longer, I no longer shed the tear 
 For my past woes : my husband I possess 
 Whom I from Troy expected to return 
 Full many, many years. 
 
 MEN. I still am thine, 
 
 And thee with these fond arms again enfold. 
 But oft the chariot of the sun revolved 
 Through his diurnal orbit, ere the frauds 
 Of Juno I discerned. Yet more from joy 
 Than from affliction rise the tears I shed. 
 
 HEL. What shall I say ? what mortal could presume 
 E'er to have hoped for such a blest event ? 
 An unexpected visitant once more 
 I clasp you to my bosom. 
 
 MEN. And I thee 
 
 Who didst appear to sail for Ida's town, 
 And Ilion's wretched turrets. By the gods, 
 Inform me, I conjure thee, by what means 
 Thou from my palace hither wert conveyed. 
 
 HEL. Alas ! you to the source of all my woes 
 Ascend, and seai'ch into most bitter tidings. 
 
 MEN. Speak : for whate'er hath been ordained by Heaven 
 Ought to be published. 
 
 HEL. I abhor the topic 
 
 On which I now am entering. 
 
 MEN. Yet relate 
 
 All that thou know'st; for pleasing 'tis to hear 
 Of labours that are past. 
 
 HEL. I never went 
 
 To that barbarian youth's adulterous couch 
 By the swift oar impelled : but winged love 
 Those hapless spousals formed. 
 
 MEN. What god, what fate 
 
 Hath torn thee from thy country ? 
 
 HEL. O my lord, 
 
 The son of Jove hath placed me on the banks 
 Of Nile. 
 
 MEN. With what amazement do I hear 
 This wondrous tale of thy celestial guide !
 
 HELEN. 221 
 
 HEL. Oft have I wept, and still the tear bedews 
 These eyes : to Juno, wife of Jove, I owe 
 My ruin. 
 
 MEN. Wherefore wished she to have heaped 
 Mischiefs on thee ? 
 
 HEL. Ye sources of whate'er 
 
 To me hath been most dreadful, O ye baths 
 And fountains, where those goddesses adorned 
 Their rival beauties, from whose influence rose 
 That judgment ! 
 
 MEN. Were those curses on thy head 
 
 By Juno showered, that judgment to requite ? 
 
 HEL. To rescue me from Venus. 
 
 MEN. What thou mean'st 
 
 Inform me. 
 
 HEL. Who to Paris had engaged 
 
 MEN. O wretched woman ! 
 
 HEL. Wretched, wretched me ! 
 
 Thus did she waft me to th' Egyptian coast. 
 
 MEN. Then in thy stead to him that image gave, 
 As thou inform'st me. 
 
 HEL. But alas ! what woes 
 
 Thence visited our wretched house ! ah mother ! 
 Ah me! 
 
 MEN. What sayst thou ? 
 
 HEL. Leda is no more. 
 
 Around her neck she fixed the deadly noose 
 On my account, through my unhappy nuptials 
 O'erwhelmed with foul disgrace. 
 
 MEN. Alas ! But lives 
 
 Hermione our daughter ? 
 
 HEL. Yet unwedded, 
 
 Yet childless, O my husband, she bewails 
 My miserable 'spousals, my disgrace. 
 
 MEN. O Paris, who hast utterly o'erthrown 
 All my devoted house, these curst events, 
 Both thee, and myriads of the Grecian troops 
 With brazen arms refulgent, have destroyed. 
 
 HEL. But from my country in an evil hour, 
 From my loved native city, and from you, 
 Me hath the goddess driven, a wretch accursed 
 In that I left our home, and bridal bed, 
 Which yet I left not, for those base espousals. 
 
 CHOR. If ye hereafter meet with happier fortune, 
 This may atone for all ye have endured 
 Already. 
 
 MES. To me too, O Menelaus. 
 Communicate a portion of that joy 
 Which I perceive, but know not whence it springs-
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 MEN. Thou too, old man, shall- in our conference share. 
 
 MES. Was not she then the cause of all the woes 
 Endured at Troy ? 
 
 MEN. Not she : we were deceived 
 
 By those immortal Powers, whose plastic hand 
 Moulded a cloud into that baleful image. 
 
 MES. What words are these you utter? have we toiled 
 In vain, and only for an empty cloud ? 
 
 MEN. These deeds were wrought by Juno, and the strife 
 'Twixt the three goddesses. 
 
 MES. But is this woman 
 
 Indeed your wife? 
 
 MEN. E'en she : and thou for this 
 
 On my assertion safely mayst depend. 
 
 MES. My daughter, O how variable is Jove, 
 And how inscrutable ! for he with ease. 
 Whirls us around, now here, now there ; one suffers 
 Full many toils ; another, who ne'er knew 
 What sorrow was, is swallowed up at once 
 In swift perdition, nor in Fortune's gifts 
 A firm and lasting tenure doth enjoy. 
 Thou and thy husband have endured a war, 
 Of slander thou, but he of pointed spears : 
 For by the tedious labours he endured 
 He nothing could obtain, but now obtains 
 The greatest and the happiest of all boons, 
 Which comes to him unsought. Thou hast not shamed 
 Thy aged father, and the sons of Jove, 
 Nor acted as malignant rumour speaks. 
 I now renew thy hymeneal rite, 
 And still am mindful of the torch I bore, 
 Running before the steeds, when in a car 
 Thou with this favoured bridegroom wert conveyed 
 From thy paternal mansion's happy gates. 
 For worthless is that servant who neglects 
 His master's interests, nor partakes their joys, 
 Nor feels for their afflictions. I was born 
 Indeed a slave, yet I with generous slaves 
 Would still be numbered, for although the name 
 I bear is abject, yet my soul is free. 
 Far better this, than if I had at once 
 Suffered two evils, a corrupted heart, 
 And vile subjection to another's will. 
 
 MEN. Courage, old man : for thou hast borne my 
 
 shield, 
 
 And in my cause endured unnumbered toils, 
 Sharing my dangers : now partake my joys ; 
 Go tell the friends I left, what thou hast seen, 
 And our auspicious fortunes : on the shore
 
 HELEN. 223 
 
 Bid them remain, till our expected conflict 
 
 Is finished ; and observe how we may sail 
 
 From this loathed coast ; that, with our better fortune 
 
 Conspiring, we, if possible, may 'scape 
 
 From these barbarians. 
 
 MES. Your commands, O king, 
 
 Shall be obeyed. But I perceive how vain 
 And how replete with falsehood is the voice 
 Of prophets : no dependence can be placed 
 Upon the flames that from the altar rise, 
 Or on the voices of the feathered choir. 
 It is the height of folly to suppose 
 That birds are able to instruct mankind. 
 For Calchas, to the host, nor by his words 
 Nor signs, declared, " I for a cloud behold 
 My friends in battle slain." The seer was mute, 
 And Troy in vain was taken. But perhaps 
 You will rejoin, " 'Twas not the will of Heaven 
 That he should speak." Why then do we consult 
 These prophets ? We by sacrifice should ask 
 For blessings from the gods, and lay aside 
 All auguries. This vain delusive bait 
 Was but invented to beguile mankind. 
 No sluggard e'er grew rich by divination, 
 The best of seers are Prudence and Discernment. 
 
 \Exit MESSENGER. 
 
 CHOR. My sentiments on prophets well accord 
 With those of this old man. He whom the gods 
 Th' immortal gods befriend, in his own house 
 Hath a response that never can mislead. 
 
 HEL. So be it. All thus far is well. But how 
 You came with safety, O unhappy man, 
 From Troy, 'twill nought avail for me to know ; 
 Yet with the sorrows of their friends, have friends 
 A wish to be acquainted. 
 
 MEN. Thou hast asked 
 
 A multitude of questions in one short 
 And blended sentence. Why should I recount 
 To thee our sufferings on the ;gean deep, 
 Those treacherous beacons, by the vengeful hand 
 Of Nauplius kindled on Eubcea's rocks, 
 The towns of Crete, or in the Libyan realm, 
 Which I have visited, and the famed heights 
 Of Perseus ? never could my words assuage 
 Thy curiosity, and, by repeating 
 My woes to thee, I should but grieve the more, 
 And yet a second time those sufferings feel. 
 
 HEL. You in your answer have been more discreet 
 Than I who such a question did propose.
 
 224 
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 But pass o'er all beside, and only tell me 
 How long you wandered o'er the briny main. 
 
 MEN. Year after year, besides the ten at Troy, 
 Seven tedious revolutions of the sun. 
 
 HF.L. The time you speak of, O unhappy man, 
 Is long indeed : but from those dangers saved 
 You hither come to bleed. 
 
 MEN. What words are these ? 
 
 What dost thou mean ? O, how hast thou undone me ! 
 
 HEL. Fly from these regions with your utmost speed : 
 Or he to whom this house belongs will slay you. 
 
 MEN. What have I done that merits such a fate ? 
 
 HEL. You hither come an unexpected guest, 
 And are a hindrance to my bridal rite. 
 
 MEN. Is there a man then who presumes to wed 
 My consort ? 
 
 HEL. And with arrogance to treat me, 
 
 Which I, alas ! have hitherto endured. 
 
 MEN. Of private rank, in his own strength alone 
 Doth he confide, or rules he o'er the land? 
 
 HEL. Lord of this region, royal Proteus' son. 
 
 MEN. This is the very riddle which I heard 
 From yonder female servant. 
 
 HEL. At which gate 
 
 Of this barbarian palace did you stand ? 
 
 MEN. Here, whence I like a beggar was repelled. 
 
 HEL. What, did you beg for food ! ah wretched me ! 
 
 MEN. The fact was thus : though I that abject name 
 Assumed not. 
 
 HEL. You then know, it seems, the whole 
 
 About my nuptials. 
 
 MEN. This I know : but whether 
 
 Thou has escaped th' embraces of the king 
 I still am uninformed. 
 
 HEL. That I have kept 
 
 Your bed still spotless, may you rest assured. 
 
 MEN. How canst thou prove the fact? if thou speak 
 
 truth 
 To me, it will give pleasure. 
 
 HEL. Do you see, 
 
 Close to the tomb, my miserable seat ? 
 
 MEN. I on the ground behold a couch : but what 
 Hast thou to do with that, O wretched woman ? 
 
 HEL. Here I a suppliant bowed, that I might 'scape 
 From those espousals. 
 
 MEN. Couldst thou find no altar, 
 
 Or dost thou follow the barbarian mode ? 
 
 HEL. Equally with the temples of the gods 
 Will this protect me.
 
 HELEN. 225 
 
 MEN. Is not then my bark 
 
 Allowed to waft thee to the Spartan shore? 
 
 HEL. Rather the sword than Helen's bridal bed 
 Awaits you. 
 
 MEN. Thus should I of all mankind 
 
 Be the most wretched. 
 
 HEL. Let not shame prevent 
 
 Your 'scaping from this land. 
 
 MEN. And leaving thee, 
 
 For whom I laid the walls of Ilion waste ? 
 
 HEL. 'Twere better than to perish in the cause 
 Of me your consort. 
 
 MEN. Such unmanly deeds 
 
 As these thou speak'st of would disgrace the chief 
 Who conquered Troy. 
 
 HEL. You cannot slay the king, 
 
 Which is perhaps the project you have formed. 
 
 MEN. Hath he then such a body as no steel 
 Can penetrate ? 
 
 HEL. My reasons you shall know. ' 
 
 But it becomes not a wise man t' attempt 
 What cannot be performed. 
 
 MEN. Shall I submit 
 
 My hands in silence to the galling chain ? 
 
 HEL. You know not how to act in these dire straits 
 To which \ve are reduced : but of some plot 
 Must we avail ourselves. 
 
 MEN. 'Twere best to die 
 
 In some brave action than without a conflict. 
 
 HEL. One only hope of safety yet remains. 
 
 MEN. By gold can it be purchased, or depends it 
 On dauntless courage, or persuasive words ? 
 
 HEL. Of your arrival if the monarch hear not. 
 
 MEN. Who can inform him ? he will never sure 
 Know who I am. 
 
 HEL. He hath a sure associate, 
 
 Within his palace, equal to the gods. 
 
 MEN. Some voice which from its inmost chambers 
 sounds? 
 
 HEL. No : 'tis his sister, her they call Theonoe 
 
 MEN. She bears indeed a most prophetic name; 
 But say, what mighty deeds can she perform ? 
 
 HEL. All things she knows, and will inform her brother 
 That you are here. 
 
 MEN. We both, alas ! must die, 
 
 Nor can I possibly conceal myself. 
 
 HEL. Could our united supplications move her ? 
 
 MEN. To do what action ? Into what vain hope 
 Wouldst thou mislead meP 
 
 H
 
 226 EURIPIDES. 
 
 HEL. Not to tell her brother 
 
 That you are in the land. 
 
 MEN. If we prevail 
 
 Thus far, can we escape from these domains ? 
 
 HEL. With ease, if she concur in our design, 
 But not without her knowledge. 
 
 MEN. This depends 
 
 On thee : for woman best prevails with woman. 
 
 HEL. Around her knees these suppliant hands I'll twine. 
 
 MEN. Go then ; but what if she reject our prayer ? 
 
 HEL. You certainly must die ; and I by force 
 Shall to the king be wedded. 
 
 MEN. Thou betray'st me ; 
 
 That force thou talk'st of is but mere pretence. 
 
 HEL. But by your head that sacred oath I swear. 
 
 MEN. What sayst thou, wilt thou die, and never change 
 Thy husband ? 
 
 HEL. By the self-same sword : my corse 
 
 Shall lie beside you. 
 
 MEN. To confirm the words 
 
 Which thou hast spoken, take my hand. 
 
 HEL. I take 
 
 Your hand, and swear that after you are dead 
 I will not live. 
 
 MEN. And I will put an end 
 
 To my existence, if deprived of thee. 
 
 HEL. But how shall we die so as to procure 
 Immortal glory ? 
 
 MEN. Soon as on the tomb 
 
 Thee I have slain, myself will I destroy. 
 But first a mighty conflict shall decide 
 Our claims who to thy bridal bed aspire. 
 Let him who dares, draw near : for the renown 
 I won at Troy, I never will belie, 
 Nor yet returning to the Grecian shore 
 Suffer unnumbered taunts for having reft 
 Thetis of her Achilles, and beheld 
 Ajax the Telamonian hero slain, 
 With Neleus' grandson, though I dare not bleed 
 To save my consort. Yet on thy behalf 
 Without regret, will I surrender up \ 
 This fleeting life : for if the gods are wise 
 They lightly scatter dust upon the tomb^. 
 Of the brave man who by his foes is slain, 
 But pile whole mountains on the coward's breast. 
 
 CHOR. O may the race of Tantalus, ye gods, 
 At length be prosperous, may their sorrows cease ! 
 
 HEL. Wretch that I am ! for such is my hard fate ; 
 O Menelaus, we are lost for ever.
 
 HELEN. 227 
 
 The prophetess Theonoe, from the palace 
 Comes forth ; I hear the sounding gates unbarred. 
 Fly from this spot. But whither can you fly ? 
 For your arrival here, full well she knows, 
 Absent, or present. How, O wretched me, 
 Am I undone ! in safety you return 
 From Troy, from a barbarian land, to rush 
 Again upon the swords of fresh barbarians. 
 
 THEONOE, MENELAUS, HELEN, CHORUS. 
 
 THEON. {to one of her Attendants.} 
 Lead thou the way, sustaining in thy hand 
 The kindled torch, and fan the ambient air, 
 Observing every due and solemn rite, 
 That we may breathe the purest gales of Heaven. 
 Meanwhile do thou, if any impious foot 
 Have marked the path, with lustral flames efface 
 The taint, and wave the pitchy brand around, 
 That I may pass; and when we have performed 
 Our duteous homage to th' immortal powers, 
 Into the palace let the flame be borne, 
 Restore it to the Lares. What opinion 
 Have you, O Helen, of th' events foretold 
 By my prophetic voice ? Your husband comes, 
 Your Menelaus in this land appears, 
 Reft of his ships, and of your image reft. 
 'Scaped from what dangers, O unhappy man, 
 Art thou arrived, although thou know'st not yet 
 Whether thou e'er shalt to thy home return, 
 Or here remain. For there is strife in Heaven ; 
 And Jove on thy account this day will hold 
 A council ; Juno who was erst thy foe, 
 Now grown benignant, with thy consort safe 
 To Sparta would convey thee, that all Greece 
 May understand that the fictitious nuptials 
 Of Paris, were the baleful gift of Venus. 
 But Venus wants to frustrate thy return, 
 Lest she should be convicted, or appear 
 At least the palm of beauty to have purchased 
 By vending Helen for a wife to Paris. 
 But this important question to decide, 
 On me depends ; I either can destroy thee, 
 Which is the wish of Venus, by informing 
 My brother thou art here ; or save thy life 
 By taking Juno's side, and thy arrival 
 Concealing from my brother, who enjoined me 
 To inform him whensoe'er thou on these shores 
 Shouldst land. Who bears the tidings to my brother,
 
 228 EURIPIDES. 
 
 That Menelaus' self is here, to save me 
 From his resentment ? 
 
 HEL. At thy knees I fall, 
 
 O virgin, as a suppliant, and here take 
 My miserable seat, both for myself, 
 And him whom, scarce restored to me, I see 
 Now on the verge of death. Forbear t ! inform 
 Thy brother, that to these fond arms my lord 
 Again is come. O save him, I implore thee ; 
 Nor gratify thy brother, by betraying 
 The feelings of humanity, to purchase 
 A wicked and unjust applause : for Jove 
 Detests all violence, he bids us use 
 What we possess, but not increase our stores 
 By rapine. It is better to be poor, 
 Than gain unrighteous wealth. For all mankind 
 Enjoy these common blessings, Air and Earth ; 
 Nor ought we our own house with gold to fill. 
 By keeping fraudfully another's right, 
 Or seizing it by violence. For Hermes, 
 Commissioned by the blest immortal powers, 
 Hath, at my cost, consigned me to thy sire, 
 To keep me for this husband, who is here 
 And claims me back again : but by what means 
 Can he receive me after he is dead ? 
 Or how can the /Egyptian king restore me 
 A living consort to my breathless lord ? 
 Consider therefore, both the will of Heaven 
 And that of thy great father. Would the god, 
 Would the deceased, surrender up or keep 
 Another's right ? I deem they would restore it. 
 Hence to thy foolish brother shouldst not thou 
 Pay more respect than to thy virtuous sire. 
 And sure if thou, a prophetess, who utter'st 
 Th' oracular responses of the gods, 
 Break'st through thy father's justice, to comply 
 With an unrighteous brother : it were base 
 In thee to understand each mystic truth 
 Revealed by the immortal powers, the things 
 That are, and those that are not ; yet o'erlook 
 The rules of justice. But O stoop to save 
 Me, miserable me, from all those ills 
 In which I am involved ; this great exertion 
 Of thy benignant aid, my fortunes claim. 
 For there is no man who abhors not Helen ; 
 'Tis rumoured through all Greece that I betrayed 
 My husband, and abode beneath the roofs 
 Of wealthy Phrygia. But to Greece once more 
 Should I return', and to the Spartan realm ;
 
 HELEN. 22$ 
 
 When they are told, and see, how to the arts 
 
 Of these contending goddesses they owe 
 
 Their ruin ; but that I have to my friends 
 
 Been ever true, they to the rank I held 
 
 'Midst chaste and virtuous matrons, will restore me : 
 
 My daughter too, whom no man dares to wed, 
 
 From me her bridal portion shall receive ; 
 
 And I, no longer doomed to lead the life 
 
 Of an unhappy vagrant, shall enjoy 
 
 The treasures that our palaces contain. 
 
 Had Menelaus died, and been consumed 
 
 In the funereal pyre, I should have wept 
 
 For him far distant in a foreign realm ; 
 
 But now shall I for ever be bereft 
 
 Of him who lives, and seem to have escaped 
 
 From every danger. Virgin, act not thus ; 
 
 To thee I kneel a suppliant ; O confer 
 
 On me this boon, and emulate the justice 
 
 Of your great sire. For fair renown attends 
 
 The children, from a virtuous father sprung, 
 
 Who equal their hereditary worth. 
 
 THEON. Most piteous are the words which you have 
 
 spoken ; 
 
 You also claim my pity : but I wish 
 To hear what Menelaus yet can plead 
 To save his life. 
 
 MEN. I cannot at your knees 
 
 Fall prostrate, or with tears these eyelids stain : 
 For I should cover all the great exploits 
 Which I achieved at Ilion with disgrace, 
 If I became a dastard ; though some hold 
 'Tis not unworthy of the brave to weep 
 When wretched. But this honourable part 
 (If such a part can e'er be honourable) 
 I will not act, because the prosperous fortunes 
 Which erst were mine, are present to my soul. 
 If then you haply are disposed to save 
 A foreigner who justly claims his wife, 
 Restore her, and protect us : if you spurn 
 Our suit, I am not now for the first time, 
 But have been often wretched, and your name 
 Shall be recorded as an impious woman. 
 These thoughts, which I hold worthy of myself, 
 And just, and such as greatly must affect 
 Your inmost heart, I at your father's tomb 
 With energy will utter. Good old man, 
 Beneath this marble sepulchre who dwell'st, 
 To thee I sue, restore my wife, whom Jove 
 Sent hither to thy realm, that thou for me
 
 230 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Might'st guard her. Thou, I know, since thpu art dead, 
 
 Canst ne'er have power to give her back again : 
 
 But she, this holy priestess, will not suffer 
 
 Reproach to fall on her illustrious sire, 
 
 Whom I invoke amid the shades beneath : 
 
 For this depends on her. Thee too I call, 
 
 O Pluto, to my aid, who hast received 
 
 Full many a corse, which fell in Helen's cause 
 
 Beneath my sword, and still retain'st the prize : 
 
 Either restore them now to life, or force 
 
 Her who seems mightier than her pious father, 
 
 To give me back my wife. But of my consort 
 
 If ye resolve to rob me, I will urge 
 
 Those arguments which Helen hath omitted. 
 
 Know then, O virgin, first I by an oath 
 
 Have bound myself, your brother to encounter, 
 
 And he, or I, must perish ; the plain truth 
 
 Is this. But foot to foot in equal combat, 
 
 If he refuse to meet me, and attempt 
 
 To drive us suppliants from the tomb by famine, 
 
 My consort will I slay, and with the sword 
 
 Here on this sepulchre my bosom pierce, 
 
 That the warm current of our blood may stream 
 
 Into the grave. Thus shall our corses lie 
 
 Close to each other on this polished marble : 
 
 To you eternal sorrow shall they cause, 
 
 And foul reproach to your great father's name. 
 
 For neither shall your brother wed my Helen, 
 
 Nor any man beside : for I with me 
 
 Will bear her ; if I cannot bear her home, 
 
 Yet will I bear her to the shades beneath. 
 
 But why complain ? If I shed tears, and act 
 
 The woman's part, I rather shall become 
 
 An object of compassion, than deserve 
 
 To be esteemed a warrior. If you list, 
 
 Slay me, for I can never fall inglorious. 
 
 But rather yield due credence to my words, 
 
 So will you act with justice, and my wife 
 
 Shall I recover. 
 
 CHOR. To decide the cause 
 
 On which we speak, belongs to thee, O virgin : 
 But so decide as to please all. 
 
 THEON. By nature 
 
 And inclination am I formed to act 
 With piety, myself too I revere : 
 Nor will I e'er pollute my sire's renown, 
 Or gratify my brother by such means 
 As might make me seem base. For from my birth, 
 Hath justice in this bosom fixed her shrine:
 
 HELEN. 231 
 
 And since from Nereus I inherited 
 
 This temper, Menelaus will I strive 
 
 To save. But now since Juno is disposed 
 
 To be your friend, with her will I accord : 
 
 May Venus be propitious, though her rites 
 
 I never have partaken, and will strive 
 
 For ever to remain a spotless maid. 
 
 But I concur with thee, O Menelaus, 
 
 In all thou to my father at his tomb 
 
 Hast said : for with injustice should I act 
 
 If I restored not Helen : had he lived, 
 
 My sire on thee again would have bestowed 
 
 Thy consort, and her former lord on Helen. 
 
 For vengeance, in the shades of Hell beneath, 
 
 And among all that breathe the vital air, 
 
 Attends on those who break their plighted trust. 
 
 The soul of the deceased, although it live 
 
 Indeed no longer, yet doth still retain 
 
 A consciousness which lasts for ever, lodged 
 
 In the eternal scene of its abode, 
 
 The liquid ether. To express myself 
 
 Concisely, all that you requested me 
 
 Will I conceal, nor with my counsels aid 
 
 My brother's folly ; I to him shall show 
 
 A real friendship, though without the semblance, 
 
 If I his vicious manners can reform 
 
 And make him more religious. Therefore find ' 
 
 Means to escape yourselves ; for I will hence 
 
 Depart in silence. First implore the gods ; 
 
 To Venus sue, that she your safe return 
 
 Would suffer ; and to Juno, not to change 
 
 The scheme which she hath formed, both to preserve 
 
 Your lord and you. O my departed sire, 
 
 For thee will I exert my utmost might, 
 
 That on thy honoured name no foul reproach 
 
 May ever rest. [Exit THEONOE, 
 
 CHOR. No impious man e'er prospered : 
 
 But fairest hopes attend an honest cause. 
 
 HEL. O Menelaus, as to what depends 
 Upon the royal maid, are we secure : 
 But next doth it become you to propose 
 Some means our safety to effect. 
 
 MEN. Now listen 
 
 To me ; thou in this palace long hast dwelt, 
 An inmate with the servants of the king. 
 
 HEL. Why speak you thus ? for you raise hopes, as 
 
 though 
 You could do somewhat for our common good. 
 
 MEN. Canst thou prevail on any one of those
 
 232 EURIPIDES 
 
 Who guide the harnessed steeds, to furnish us 
 With a swift car ? 
 
 HEL. Perhaps I might succeed 
 
 In that attempt. But how shall we escape 
 Who to these fields and this barbarian land 
 Are strangers ? An impracticable thing 
 Is this you speak of. 
 
 MEN. Well, but in the palace 
 
 Concealed, if with this sword the king I slay. 
 
 HEL. His sister will not suffer this in silence 
 If you attempt aught 'gainst her brother's life. 
 
 MEN. We have no ship in which we can escape ; 
 For that which we brought hither, by the waves 
 Is swallowed up. 
 
 HEL. Now hear what I propose ; 
 
 From woman's lips if wisdom ever flow. 
 Will you permit a rumour of your death 
 To be dispersed ? 
 
 MEN. This were an evil omen : 
 
 But I, if any benefit arise 
 From such report, consent to be called dead 
 While I yet live. 
 
 HEL. That impious tyrant's pity 
 
 Our female choir shall move, with tresses shorn, 
 And chaunt funereal strains. 
 
 MEN. What tendency 
 
 Can such a project have to our deliverance ? 
 
 HEL. I will allege that 'tis an ancient custom; 
 And of the monarch his permission crave, 
 That I on you, as if you in the sea 
 Had perished, may bestow a vacant tomb. 
 
 MEN. If he consent, how can this feigned interment 
 Enable us to rly without a ship ? 
 
 HEL. I will command a bark to be prepared, 
 From whence into the bosom of the deep 
 Funereal trappings I may cast. 
 
 MEN. How well 
 
 And wisely hast thou spoken ! but the tomb 
 If he direct thee on the strand to raise, 
 Nought can this scheme avail. 
 
 HEL. But I will say 
 
 'Tis not the usage, in a Grecian realm, 
 With earth to cover the remains of those 
 Who perished in the waves. 
 
 MEN. Thou hast again 
 
 Removed this obstacle : I then with thee 
 Will sail, and the funereal trappings place 
 In the same vessel. 
 
 HEL. Tis of great importance
 
 HELEN. 233 
 
 That you, and all those mariners who 'scaped 
 The shipwreck, should be present. 
 
 MEN*. If we find 
 
 A bark at anchor, with our falchions armed 
 In one collected band will we assail 
 And board it. 
 
 HEL. To direct all this, belongs 
 
 To you ; but may the prosperous breezes fill 
 Our sails, and guide us o'er the billowy deep. 
 
 MEN T . These vows shall be accomplished; for the gods 
 At length will cause my toils to cease : but whence 
 Wilt thou pretend thou heard'st that I was dead ? 
 
 HEL. Yourself shall be the messenger ; relate 
 How you alone escaped his piteous doom, 
 A partner of the voyage with the son 
 Of Atreus, and the witness of his death. 
 
 MEN. This tattered vest will testify my shipv/reck. 
 
 HEL. How seasonable was that which seemed at firit 
 To be a grievous loss ! but the misfortune 
 May end perhaps in bliss. 
 
 MEN. Must I with thee 
 
 Enter the palace, or before this tomb 
 Sit motionless ? 
 
 HEL. Here stay : for if the king 
 
 By force should strive to tear you hence, this tomb 
 And your drawn sword will save you. But I'll go 
 To my apartment, shear my flowing hair, 
 For sable weeds this snowy vest exchange, 
 And rend with bloody nails the-e livid cheeks : 
 For 'tis a mighty conflict, and I see 
 These two alternatives : if in my plots 
 Detected, I must die ; or to my country 
 I shall return, and save your life. O Juno, 
 Thou sacred queen, who shar'st the couch of Jove, 
 Relieve two wretches from their toils ; to thee 
 Our suppliant arms uplifting high t'wards Heaven 
 With glittering stars adorned, thy blest abode, 
 We sue : and thou, O Venus, who didst gain 
 The palm of beauty through my promised 'spousals, 
 Spare me, thou daughter of Dione, spare ; 
 For thou enough hast injured me already ; 
 Exposing not my person, but my name, 
 To those barbarians ; suffer me to die, 
 If thou wilt slay me, in my native land. 
 Why art thou still insatiably malignant ? 
 Why dost thou harass me by love, by fraud, 
 By the invention of these new deceits, 
 And by thy magic philtres plunge in blood 
 Our miserable house ? If thou hadst ruled
 
 234 EURIPIDES. 
 
 With mildness, them to man hadst been most grateful 
 Of all the gods. I speak not this at random. 
 
 [HELEN and MENELAUS retire behind the tomb, 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 On thee who build'st thy tuneful scat 
 Protected by the leafy groves, I call, 
 O nightingale, thy accents ever sweet 
 Their murmuring melancholy fall 
 Prolong ! O come, and with thy plaintive strain 
 
 Aid me to utter my distress, 
 Thy woes, O Helen, let the song express, 
 And those of Troy now levelled with the plain 
 By Grecian might. From hospitable shores, 
 
 Relying on barbaric oars, 
 
 The spoiler Paris fled, 
 And o'er the deep to Priam's realm with pride 
 
 Bore his imaginary bride, 
 Fancying that thou hadst graced his bed, 
 To nuptials fraught with shame by wanton Venus led. 
 
 Unnumbered Greeks, transpierced with spears, 
 Or crushed beneath the falling ramparts, bled : 
 Hence with her tresses shorn, immersed in tears 
 
 The matron wails her lonely bed, 
 But Nauplius, kindling near th' Euboean deep 
 
 Those torches, o'er our host prevailed ; 
 Though with a single bark the traitor sailed, 
 He wrecked whole fleets against Caphareus' steep, 
 And the ^Egean coasts, the beacon seemed 
 
 A star, and through Heaven's conclave gleamed, 
 
 Placed on the craggy height. 
 While flushed with conquest, from the Phrygian strand 
 
 They hastened to their native land, 
 
 Portentous source of bloody fight. 
 The cloud by Juno formed, beguiled their dazzled sight. 
 
 Whether the image was divine. 
 Drew from terrestrial particles its birth, 
 Or from the middle region, how define 
 
 By curious search, ye sons of earth ?
 
 HELEN. 235 
 
 Far from unravelling Heaven's abstruse intents, 
 
 We view the world tost to and fro, 
 Mark strange vicissitudes of joy and woe, 
 Discordant and miraculous events. 
 Thou, Helen, art indeed the child of Jove. 
 
 The swan, thy sire, inflamed by love, 
 
 To Leda's bosom flew : 
 Yet with imputed crimes malignant fame 
 
 Through Greece arraigns thy slandered name. 
 
 Of men I know not whom to trust, 
 But what the gods pronounce have I found ever just. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Frantic are ye who seek renown 
 Amid the horrors of th' embattled field, 
 Who masking guilt beneath a laurel crown 
 
 With nervous arm the falchion wield, 
 Not slaughtered thousands can your fury sate. 
 
 If still success the judgment guide, 
 If bloody battle right and wrong decide, 
 Incessant strife must vex each rival state : 
 Hence from her home departs each Phrygian wife, 
 
 O Helen, when the cruel strife 
 
 Which from thy charms arose, 
 One conference might have closed : now myriads dwell 
 
 With Pluto in the shades of Hell, 
 
 And flames, as when Jove's vengeance throws 
 The bolt, have caught her towers and finished Ilion's woes. 
 
 THEOCLYMENUS, CHORUS (HELEN and MENELAUS 
 behind the tomb}. 
 
 THEOC. Hail, O thou tomb of my illustrious sire ! 
 For thee have I interred before my gate, 
 That with thy shade I might hold frequent conference, 
 O Proteus ; Theoclymenus thy son 
 Thee, O my father, oft as he goes forth, 
 Oft as he enters these abodes, accosts. 
 But to the palace now convey those hounds 
 And nets, my servants. I full many a time 
 Have blamed myself, because I never punished 
 With death such miscreants ; now I am informed 
 That publicly some Greek to these domains 
 Is come unnoticed by my guards, a spy, 
 Or one who means to carry Helen off 
 By stealth : but if I seize him, he shall die. 
 Methinks I find all over : for the daughter 
 Of Tyndarus sits no longer at the tomb, 
 But from these shores hath fled, and now is crossing
 
 236 EURIPIDES. 
 
 The billowy deep. Unbar the gates, bring forth 
 My coursers from the stalls, and brazen cars ; 
 Lest through my want of vigilance the dame 
 Whom I would make my consort, should escape me, 
 Borne from this land. Yet stay ; for I behold 
 Those we pursue still here beneath this roof, 
 Nor are they fled. Ho ! why in sable vest 
 Hast thou arrayed thyself, why cast aside 
 Thy robes of white, and from thy graceful head 
 With ruthless steel thy glowing ringlets shorn, 
 And wherefore bathed thy cheek with recent tears ? 
 Groan'st thou, by visions of the night apprized 
 Of some calamity, or hast thou heard 
 Within, a rumour that afflicts thy soul ? 
 
 HEL. My lord (for I already by that name 
 Accost you), I am utterly undone, 
 My former bliss is vanished, and I now 
 Am nothing. 
 
 THEOC. Art thou plunged into distress 
 So irretrievable ? what cruel fate 
 Hath overtaken thee ? 
 
 HEL. My Menelaus, 
 
 (Ah, how shall I express myself ?) is dead. 
 
 THEOC. Although I must not triumph in th' event 
 Thou speak'st of, yet to me 'tis most auspicious. 
 How know'st thou ? Did Theonoe tell thee this ? 
 
 HEL. She and this mariner, who when he perished 
 Was present, both concur in the same tale. 
 
 THEOC. Is there a man arrived, who for the truth 
 Of that account can vouch? 
 
 HEL. He is arrived : 
 
 And would to Heaven that such auspicious fortune 
 As I could wish attended him. 
 
 THEOC. Who is he ? 
 
 Where is he ? I would know the real fact. 
 
 HEL. 'Tis he who stupefied with sorrow sits 
 Upon the tomb. 
 
 THEOC. In what unseemly garb 
 
 Is he arrayed, O Phcebus ! 
 
 HEL. ' In that dress, 
 
 Ah me ! methinks my husband I behold. 
 
 THEOC. But in what country was the stranger born, 
 And whence did he come hither ? 
 
 HEL. He's a Greek, 
 
 One of those Greeks who with my husband sailed. 
 THEOC. How doth he say that Menelaus died ? 
 HEL. Most wretchedly, engulfed amid the waves. 
 
 THEOC. Where ? as he passed o'er the barbarian 
 seas ?
 
 HELEN. 237 
 
 HEL. Dashed on the rocks of Libya, which affords 
 No haven. 
 
 THEOC. But whence happened it, that he 
 This partner of his voyage did not perish ? 
 
 HEL. The worthless are more prosperous than the brave. 
 
 THEOC. Where left he the wrecked fragments of his ship 
 When he came hither ? 
 
 HEL. There, where would to Heaven 
 
 Perdition had o'ertaken him, and spared 
 The life of Menelaus. 
 
 THEOC. He, it seems, 
 
 Is then no more : but in what bark arrived 
 This messenger ? 
 
 HEL. Some sailors, as he says, 
 
 By chance passed by, and snatched him from the waves. 
 
 THEOC. But where's that hateful pest which in thy stead 
 Was sent to Ilion ? 
 
 HEL. Speak you of a cloud, 
 
 Resembling me ? it mounted to the skies. 
 
 THEOC. O Priam, for how frivolous a cause 
 Thou with thy Troy didst perish ! 
 
 HEL. In their woes 
 
 I too have been involved. 
 
 THEOC. But did he leave 
 
 Thy husband's corse unburied, or strew dust 
 O'er his remains ? 
 
 HEL. He left them uninterred, 
 
 Ah, wretched me ! 
 
 THEOC. And didst thou for this cause 
 
 Sever the ringlets of thy auburn hair ? 
 
 HEL. Still is he dear, lodged in this faithful breast 
 
 THEOC. Hast thou sufficient reason then to weep 
 For this calamity ? 
 
 HEL. Could you bear lightly 
 
 Your sister's death ? 
 
 THEOC. No surely. But what means 
 
 Thy still residing at this marble tomb ? 
 
 HEL. Why do you harass me with taunting words, 
 And why disturb the dead ? 
 
 THEOC. Because, still constant 
 
 To thy first husband, from my love thou fliest. 
 
 HEL. But I will fly no longer : haste, begin 
 The nuptial rite. 
 
 THEOC. 'Twas long ere thou didst come 
 
 To this : but I such conduct must applaud. 
 
 HEL. Know you then how to act ? let us forget 
 All that has passed. 
 
 THEOC. Upon what terms ? with kindness 
 
 Should kindness be repaid.
 
 238 EURIPIDES. 
 
 HEL. Let us conclude 
 
 The peace, and O be reconciled. 
 
 THEOC. All strife 
 
 With thee I to the winds of heaven consign. 
 
 HEL. Now, since you are my friend, I by those knees 
 Conjure you. 
 
 THEOC. With what object in thy view, 
 To me an earnest suppliant dost thou bend ? 
 
 HEL. I my departed husband would inter. 
 
 THEOC. What tomb can be bestowed upon the absent 
 Wouldst thou inter his shade ? 
 
 HEL. There is a custom 
 
 Among the Greeks established, that the man 
 Who in the ocean perishes 
 
 THEOC. What is it ? 
 
 For in such matters Pelops' race are wise. 
 
 HEL. To bury in their stead an empty vest. 
 
 THEOC. Perform funereal rites, and heap the tomb 
 On any ground thou wilt. 
 
 HEL. We in this fashion 
 
 Bury not the drowned mariner. 
 
 THEOC. How then? 
 
 I am a stranger to the Grecian customs. 
 
 HEL. Each pious gift due to our breathless friends 
 We cast into the sea. 
 
 THEOC. On the deceased 
 
 What presents for thy sake can I bestow ? 
 
 HEL. I know not : for in offices like these 
 Am I unpractised, having erst been happy. 
 THEOC. An acceptable message have you brought, 
 
 stranger. 
 
 MEN. Most ungrateful to myself 
 
 And the deceased. 
 
 THEOC. What funereal rites on those 
 
 Ocean hath swallowed up, do ye bestow ? 
 
 MEN T . Such honours as each individual's wealth 
 Enables us to pay him. 
 
 THEOC. Name the cost, 
 
 And for her sake receive whate'er you will. 
 
 MEN". Blood is our first libation to the dead. 
 
 THEOC. What blood? inform me, for with your 
 instructions 
 
 1 will comply. 
 
 MEN. Determine that thyself, 
 
 For whatsoe'er thou giv'st will be sufficient. 
 
 THEOC. The customary victims 'mong barbarians 
 Are either horse or bull. 
 
 MEN. Whate'er thou giv'st, 
 
 Let it be somewhat princely.
 
 HELEN. 239 
 
 THEOC. My rich herds 
 
 With these are amply furnished. 
 
 MEN. And the bier 
 
 Without the corse is borne in solemn state. 
 
 THEOC. It shall : but what is there beside which custom 
 Requires to grace the funeral. 
 
 MEN. Brazen arms : 
 
 For war was what he loved. 
 
 THEOC. We will bestow 
 
 Such presents as are worthy of the race 
 Of mighty Pelops. 
 
 MEN. And those budding flowers 
 
 Th' exuberant soil produces. 
 
 THEOC. But say, how 
 
 And in what manner ye these offerings plunge 
 Into the ocean. 
 
 MEN. We must have a bark 
 
 And mariners to ply the oars. 
 
 THEOC. How far 
 
 Will they launch forth the vessel from the strand ? 
 
 MEN. So far as from the shore thou scarce wilt sec 
 The keel divide the waves. 
 
 THEOC. But why doth Greece 
 
 Observe this usage ? 
 
 MEN. * Lest the rising billows 
 
 Cast back to land th' ablutions. 
 
 THEOC. Ye shall have 
 
 A swift Phoenician vessel. 
 
 MEN. This were kind, 
 
 And no small favour shown to Menelaus. 
 
 THEOC. Without her presence, cannot you perform 
 These rites alone ? 
 
 MEN. Such task or to a mother, 
 
 Or wife, or child, belongs. 
 
 THEOC. 'Tis then her duty, 
 
 You say, to bury her departed lord ? 
 
 MEN. Sure, piety instructs us not to rob 
 The dead of their accustomed dues. 
 
 THEOC. Enough : 
 
 On me it is incumbent to promote 
 Such virtue in my consort. I will enter 
 The palace, and from thence for the deceased 
 Bring forth rich ornaments ; with empty hands 
 You from this region will not I send forth, 
 That you may execute what she desires. 
 But having brought me acceptable tidings, 
 Instead of these vile weeds shall you receive 
 A decent garb and food, that to your country 
 You may return : for clearly I perceive
 
 240 EURIPIDES. 
 
 That you are wretched now. But torture not 
 
 Thy bosom with unprofitable cares, 
 
 O hapless woman, for thy Menelaus 
 
 Is now no more, nor can the dead revive. 
 
 MEN. Thee it behoves, O blooming dame, to love 
 Thy present husband, and to lay aside 
 The fond remembrance of thy breathless lord ; 
 For such behaviour suits thy fortunes best. 
 But if to Greece with safety I return, 
 That infamy which erst pursued thy name 
 I'll cause to cease, if thou acquit thyself 
 Of these great duties like a virtuous consort. 
 
 HEL. I will; nor shall my husband e'er have cause 
 To blame me : you too, who are here, shall witness 
 The truth of my assertions. But within 
 Go lave your wearied limbs, O wretched man, 
 And change your habit ; for without delay 
 To you will I become a benefactress. 
 Hence too with greater zeal will you perform 
 The rites my dearest Menelaus claims, 
 If all due honours you from me receive. 
 
 {Exeunt THEOCLYMENUS, HELEN, and MENELAUS. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 O'er mountains erst with hasty tread 
 Did the celestial mother stray, 
 Nor stop where branching thickets spread, 
 Where rapid torrents crossed her way, 
 
 Or on the margin of the billowy deep ; 
 
 Her daughter whom we dread to name 
 
 She wept, while hailing that majestic dame, 
 
 Cymbals of Bacchus from the craggy steep 
 
 Sent forth their clear and piercing sound, 
 Her car the harnessed dragons drew ; 
 
 Following the nymph torn from her virgin crew. 
 
 Amidst her maidens swift of foot were found 
 Diana skilled the bow to wield, 
 Minerva, who in glittering state 
 
 Brandished the spear and raised her Gorgon shield ; 
 
 But Jove looked down from Heaven t' award another fate. 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Soon as the mother's toils were o'er, 
 When she had finished her career, 
 And sought the ravished maid no more, 
 To caves where drifted snows appear,
 
 HELEN. 241 
 
 By Ida's nymphs frequented, did she pass, 
 
 And threw herself in sorrow lost, 
 On rocks and herbage crusted o'er with frost, 
 Despoiled the wasted champaign of its grass, 
 
 Rendered the peasant's tillage vain, 
 
 Consuming a dispeopled land 
 With meagre famine ; Spring at her command 
 Denied the flocks that sickened on the plain 
 
 The leafy tendrils of the vine ; 
 
 Whole cities died, no victims bled, 
 No frankincense perfumed Heaven's vacant shrine ; 
 Nor burst the current from the Spring's obstructed head. 
 
 Then ceased the banquet, wont to charm 
 
 Both gods above and men below : 
 
 The mother's anger to disarm, 
 
 And mitigate the stings of woe, 
 Till in these words Jove uttered his behests : 
 
 " Let each benignant grace attend 
 Sweet music's sympathizing aid to lend, 
 And drive corrosive grief from Ceres' breast 
 
 Indignant for her ravished child : 
 
 Now, O ye Muses, with the lyre 
 Join the shrill hymns of your assembled choir, 
 The brazen trumpet fill with accents wild, 
 
 And beat the rattling drums amain." 
 
 Then first of the immortal band, 
 Venus with lovely smile approved the strain, 
 And raised the deep-toned flute in her enchanting hand. 
 
 The laws reproved such foul desire, 
 
 Yet 'gainst religion didst thou wed ; 
 
 Thy uncle caught love's baleful fire, 
 
 And rushed to thy incestuous bed. 
 Thee shall the mighty mother's wrath confound, 
 
 Because, through thee, before her shrine 
 No victims slain appease the powers divine. 
 Great virtue have hinds' hides, and ivy wound 
 
 Upon a consecrated rod ; 
 
 And youths, with virgins in a ring, 
 
 When high from earth with matchless force they spring, 
 Loose streams their hair, they celebrate that god 
 
 The Bacchanalian votaries own, 
 
 And waste in dance the sleepless night. 
 But thou, confiding in thy charms alone, 
 Forgett'st the moon that shines with more transcendent 
 light.
 
 242 EV RIP WES. 
 
 HELEN, CHORUS. 
 
 HEL. Within the palace, O my friends, we prosper 
 For Proteus' royal daughter, in our schemes 
 Conspiring when her brother questioned her 
 About my lord, no information gave 
 Of his arrival : to my interests true 
 She said, that cold in death he views no longer 
 The radiant sun. But now my lord hath seized 
 A vengeful falchion, in that mail designed 
 To have been plunged beneath the deep arrayed, 
 With nervous arm he lifts an orbed shield, 
 In his right hand protended gleams the spear, 
 As if with me he was prepared to pay 
 To the deceased due homage. Furnished thus 
 With brazen arms, he's ready for the battle, 
 And numberless barbarians will subdue 
 Unaided, soon as we the ship ascend. 
 Exchanging those unseemly weeds which clothe 
 The shipwrecked mariner, in splendid robes 
 Have I arrayed him, from transparent springs 
 The laver filled, and bathed his wearied limbs 
 But I must now be silent, for the man 
 Who fancies I am ready to become 
 His consort, leaves the palace. O my friends, 
 In your attachment too I place my trust, 
 Restrain your tongues, for we, when saved ourselves, 
 If possible will save you from this thraldom. 
 
 THEOCLYMENUS, HELEN, MENELAUS, CHORUS. 
 
 THEOC. Go forth, in such procession as the stranger 
 Directs you, O my servants, and convey 
 These gifts funereal to the briny deep. 
 But if thou dissapprove not what I say, 
 Do thou, O Helen, yield to my persuasions, 
 And here remain. For whether thou attend, 
 Or art not present at the obsequies 
 Of thy departed husband, thou to him 
 Wilt show an equal reverence. Much I dread 
 Lest hurried on by wild desire thou plunge 
 Into the foaming billows, for the sake 
 Of him on whom thou doat'st, thy former lord, 
 Since thou his doom immoderately bewail'st 
 Though he be lost, and never can return. 
 
 HEL. O my illustrious husband, I am bound 
 To pay due honours to the man whom first 
 I wedded, of our ancient nuptial joys 
 A memory still retaining, for so well 
 I loved my lord that I could even die
 
 HELEN, 243 
 
 With him. But what advantage would result 
 To the deceased, should I lay down my life ? 
 Yet let me go myself, and to his shade 
 Perform each solemn rite. But may the gods, 
 On you, and on the stranger who assists me 
 In this my pious task, with liberal hand 
 Confer the gifts I wish. But you in me 
 Shall such a consort to your palace bear 
 As you deserve, to recompense your kindness 
 To me and Menelaus. Such events 
 In some degree are measured by the will 
 Of Fortune : but give orders for a ship 
 To be prepared, these trappings to convey, 
 So shall your purposed bounty be complete. 
 
 THEOC. [to one of his Attendants^ 
 Go thou, and furnish them a Tyrian bark 
 Of fifty oars, with skilful sailors manned. 
 
 HEL. But may not he who decorates the tomb 
 Govern the ship ? 
 
 THEOC. My sailors must to him 
 
 Yield an implicit deference. 
 
 HEL. This injunction 
 
 Repeat, that they may clearly understand it. 
 
 THEOC. A second time, will I, and yet a third, 
 Issue this self-same mandate, if to thee 
 This can give pleasure. 
 
 HEL. May the gods confer 
 
 Blessings on you, and prosper my designs ! 
 
 THEOC. Waste not thy bloom with unavailing tears. 
 
 HEL. To you this day my gratitude will prove. 
 
 THEOC. All these attentions to the dead are nought 
 But unavailing toil. 
 
 HEL. My pious care 
 
 Not to those only whom the silent grave 
 Contains, but to the living too extends. 
 
 THEOC. In me thou mayst expect to find a husband 
 Who yields not to the Spartan Menelaus. 
 
 HEL. I censure not your conduct, but bewail 
 My own harsh destiny. 
 
 THEOC. Bestow thy love 
 
 On me, and prosperous fortunes shall return. 
 
 HEL. It is a lesson I have practised long, 
 To love my friends. 
 
 THEOC. Shall I my navy launch, 
 
 To join in these funereal rites ? 
 
 HEL. Dread lord, 
 
 Pay not unseemly homage to your vassals. 
 
 THEOC. Well ! I each sacred usage will allow 
 Practised by Pelops' race, for my abodes
 
 244 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Are undefiled with blood : thy Menelaus 
 
 In ./Egypt died not. But let some one hnste 
 
 And bid the nobles bear into my house 
 
 The bridal gifts : for the whole earth is bound 
 
 To celebrate in one consenting hymn 
 
 My blest espousals with the lovely Helen. 
 
 But go, embark upon the briny main, 
 
 O stranger, and as soon as ye have paid 
 
 All decent homage to her former lord 
 
 Bring back my consort hither : that with me 
 
 When you have feasted at our nuptial rite 
 
 You to your native mansion may return, 
 
 Or here" continue in a happy state. [Exit THEOCLYMENUS. 
 
 MEN. O Jove, thou mighty father, who art called 
 A god supreme in wisdom, from thy heaven 
 Look down, and save us from our woes : delny not 
 To aid us : for we drag the galling yoke 
 Of sorrow and mischance : if with thy finger 
 Thou do but touch us, we shall soon attain 
 The fortune which we wish for, since the toils 
 We have endured already are sufficient. 
 Ye gods, I now invoke you, from my mouth 
 So shall ye hear full many joyful accents 
 Mixed with these bitter plaints : for I deserve not 
 To be for ever wretched ; but to tread 
 At length secure. O grant me this one favour, 
 And make my future life completely blest. 
 
 [Exeunt MENELAUS and HELEN. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 
 Swift bark of Sidon, by whose dashing oars 
 Divided oft, the frothy billows rise, 
 Propitious be thy voyage from these shores : 
 In thy train the dolphins play, 
 O'er the deep thou lead'st the way, 
 While motionless its placid surface lies. 
 Soon as Serenity the fair, 
 That azure daughter of the main, 
 Shall in this animating strain 
 Have spoken : "To the gentle breeze of air 
 Expand each undulating sail, 
 Row briskly on before the gale, 
 Ye mariners, in Perseus' ancient seat 
 Till Helen rest her wearied feet."
 
 HELEN. 245 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Those sacred nymphs shall welcome thy return 
 Who guard the portals of Minerva's fane 
 Or speed the current from its murmuring urn : 
 
 Choral dances of delight 
 
 That prolong the jocund night, 
 At Hyacinthus' banquet shalt thou join, 
 
 Fair stripling, whom with luckless hand 
 
 Unwitting did Apollo slay 
 
 At games that crowned the festive day, 
 Hurling his quoit on the Laconian strand ; 
 
 To him Jove's son due honours paid : 
 
 At Sparta too, that lovely mnid 
 Shalt thou behold, whom there thou left'st behind, 
 
 Still to celibacy consigned. 
 
 O might we cleave the air, like Libyan cranes, 
 Who fly in ranks th' impending wintry storm ; 
 When their shrill leader bids them quit the plains, 
 
 They the veteran's voice obey, 
 
 O'er rich harvests wing their way, 
 Or where parched wastes th' unfruitful scene deform. 
 
 W T ith lengthened neck, ye feathered race 
 
 Who skim the clouds in social band, 
 
 Where the seven Pleiades expand 
 Their radiance, and Orion heaves his mace, 
 
 This joyous embassy convey 
 
 As near Eurotas' banks ye stray ; 
 That Menelaus to his subject land 
 
 Victorious comes from Phrygia's strand. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 Borne in your chariot down th' ethereal height, 
 At length, ye sons of Tyndarus, appear, 
 While vibrates o'er your heads the starry light : 
 
 Habitants of heaven above, 
 
 Now exert fraternal love, 
 If ever Helen to your souls was dear, 
 
 A calm o'er th' azure ocean spread, 
 
 Bridle the tempests of the main, 
 
 Propitious gales from Jove obtain, 
 Your sister snatch from the barbarian's bed : 
 
 Commenced on Ida's hill, that strife, 
 
 Embittered with reproach her life, 
 Although she never viewed proud Ilion's tower 
 
 Reared by Apollo's matchless power.
 
 246 EURIPIDES. 
 
 THEOCLYMENUS, MESSENGER, CHORUS. 
 
 MES. O king, I have discovered in the palace, 
 Events most inauspicious : what fresh woes 
 Is it my doleful office to relate ! 
 
 THEOC. Say what hath happened ? 
 
 MES. Seek another wife, 
 
 For Helen hath departed from this realm. 
 
 THEOC. Borne through the air on wings, or with swift foot 
 Treading the ground ? 
 
 MES. Her o'er the briny main 
 
 From ^Egypt's shores, hath Menelaus wafted, 
 Who came in person with a feigned account 
 Of his own death. 
 
 THEOC. O dreadful tale ! what ship 
 
 From these domains conveys her ? thou relat'st 
 Tidings the most incredible. 
 
 MES. The same 
 
 You to that stranger gave, and in one word 
 To tell you all, he carries off your sailors. 
 
 THEOC. How is that possible ? I wish to know : 
 For such an apprehension never entered 
 My soul, as that one man could have subdued 
 The numerous band of mariners, with whom 
 Thou wert sent forth. 
 
 MES. When from the royal mansion 
 
 Jove's daughter to the shore was borne, she trod 
 With delicate and artful step, pretending 
 To wail her husband's loss, though he was present, 
 And yet alive. But when we reached the haven, 
 Sidonia's largest vessel we hauled forth, 
 Furnished with benches, and with fifty oars; 
 But a fresh series of incessant toil 
 Followed this toil ; for while one fixed the mast, 
 Another ranged the oars, and with his hand 
 The signal gave, the sails were bound together, 
 Then was the rudder fastened to the stern 
 With thongs, cast forth : while they observed us busied 
 In such laborious task, the Grecian comrades 
 Of Menelaus to the shore advanced, 
 
 Clad in their shipwrecked vestments. Though their form 
 Was graceful, yet their visages were squalid : 
 But Atreus' son, beholding their approach, 
 Under the semblance of a grief that masked 
 His treacherous purpose, in these words addressed them : 
 " How, O ye wretched sailors, from what bark 
 Of Greece that hath been wrecked upon this coast 
 Are ye come hither ? will ye join with us 
 In the funereal rites of Menelaus.
 
 HELEN. 247 
 
 Whom Tyndarus's daughter, to an empty tomb 
 
 Consigns, though absent?" Simulated tears 
 
 They shed, and went aboard the ship, conveying 
 
 The presents to be cast into the sea 
 
 For Menelaus. But to us these things 
 
 Appeared suspicious, and we made remarks 
 
 Among ourselves upon the numerous band 
 
 Of our intruding passengers ; but checked 
 
 Our tongues from speaking openly, through deference 
 
 To your commands. For when you to that stranger 
 
 Trusted the guidance of the ship, you caused 
 
 This dire confusion. All beside, with ease 
 
 Had we now lodged aboard, but could not force 
 
 The sturdy bull t' advance; he bellowing rolled 
 
 His eyes around, bending his back and low'ring 
 
 Betwixt his horns, nor dared we to approach 
 
 And handle him. But Helen's husband cried : 
 
 " O ye who laid Troy waste, will ye forget 
 
 To act like Greeks ? why scruple ye to seize 
 
 And on your youthful shoulders heave the beast 
 
 Up to the rising prow, a welcome victim 
 
 To the deceased?'"' His falchion, as he spoke, 
 
 The warrior drew. His summons they obeyed, 
 
 Seized the stout bull, and carried him aboard : 
 
 But Menelaus stroked the horse's neck 
 
 And face, and with this gentle usage led him 
 
 Into the bark. At length when all its freight 
 
 The vessel had received, with graceful foot 
 
 Helen, the steps ascending, took her seat 
 
 On the mid deck ; and Menelaus near her, 
 
 E'en he who they pretended was no more. 
 
 But some on the right side, and on the left 
 
 Others in equal numbers, man to man 
 
 Opposed, their station took, their swords concealing 
 
 Beneath their garments. We distinctly heard 
 
 The clamorous sailors animate each other 
 
 To undertake the voyage. But from land 
 
 When a convenient distance we had steered, 
 
 The pilot asked this question : " Shall we sail, 
 
 O stranger, any farther from the coast, 
 
 Or is this right ? for 'tis my task to guide 
 
 The vessel." He replied : " Enough for me." 
 
 Then seized with his right hand the falchion, leaped 
 
 Upon the prow, and standing o'er the bull 
 
 The victim (without mentioning the name 
 
 Of any chief deceased ; but as he drove 
 
 The weapon through his neck) thus prayed : " O Neptune, 
 
 Who in the ocean d well's t, and ye chaste daughters 
 
 Of Nereus, to the Nauplian shore convey
 
 248 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Me and my consort, from this hostile land, 
 
 In safety." But a crimson tide of blood, 
 
 Auspicious to the stranger, stained the waves ; 
 
 And some exclaimed : " There's treachery in this voyage, 
 
 Let us sail homewards, issue thy commands, 
 
 And turn the rudder." But the son of Atreus, 
 
 Who had just slain the bull, to his companions 
 
 Called loudly: "Why delay, O ye the flower 
 
 Of Greece, to smite, to slaughter those barbarians, 
 
 And cast them from the ship into the waves ? " 
 
 But to your sailors our commander spoke 
 
 A different language : " Will not some of you 
 
 Tear up a plank, or with a shattered bench, 
 
 Or ponderous oar, upon the bleeding heads 
 
 Of those audacious foreigners our foes, 
 
 Impress the ghastly wound ? " But on their feet 
 
 All now stood up ; our hands with nautic poles 
 
 Were armed, and theirs with swords : a tide of slaughter 
 
 Ran down the ship. But Helen from the poop 
 
 The Greeks encouraged ; " Where is the renown 
 
 Ye gained at Troy ? display 'gainst these barbarians 
 
 The same undaunted prowess. 1 ' In their haste 
 
 Full many fell, some rose again, the rest 
 
 Might you have seen stretched motionless in death. 
 
 But Menelaus, sheathed in glittering mail, 
 
 Wherever his confederates he descried 
 
 Hard pressed, rushed thither with his lifted sword, 
 
 Driving us headlong from the lofty deck 
 
 Into the waves, and forced your mariners 
 
 To quit their oars. But the victorious king 
 
 Now seized the rudder, and to Greece declared 
 
 He would convey the ship : they hoisted up 
 
 The stately mast : propitious breezes came ; 
 
 They left the land: but I from death escaping, 
 
 Let myself gently down into the waves 
 
 Borne on the cordage which sustains the anchor ; 
 
 My strength began to fail, when some kind hand 
 
 Threw forth a rope, and brought me safe ashore, 
 
 That I to you these tidings might convey. 
 
 There's nought more beneficial to mankind 
 
 Than wise distrust. 
 
 CHOR. I never could have thought 
 
 That Menelaus who was here, O king, 
 
 Could have imposed so grossly or on you 
 
 Or upon us. 
 THEOC. Wretch that I am, ensnared 
 
 By woman's treacherous arts ! the lovely bride 
 
 I hoped for, hath escaped me. If the ship 
 
 Could be o'ertaken by our swift pursuit,
 
 HELEN. 249 
 
 My wrongs would urge me with vindictive hand 
 To seize the strangers. But I now will punish 
 That sister who betrayed me ; in my house 
 Who when she saw the Spartan Menelaus, 
 Informed me not : she never shall deceive 
 Another man by her prophetic voice. 
 
 CHOR. Ho ! whither, O my sovereign, would you go, 
 And for what bloody purpose ? 
 
 THEOC. Where the voice 
 
 Of rigid justice summons me. Retire, 
 And stand aloof. 
 
 CHOR. Yet will not I let loose 
 
 Your garment ; for you hasten to commit 
 A deed most mischievous. 
 
 THEOC. Wouldst thou, a slave, 
 
 Govern thy lord ? 
 
 CHOR. Here reason's on my side. 
 
 THEOC. That shall not 1 allow, if thou refuse 
 To quit thy hold. 
 
 CHOR. I will not then release you. 
 
 THEOC. To slay that worst of sisters. 
 
 CHOR. That most pious. 
 
 THEOC. Her who betrayed me. 
 
 CHOR. Glorious was the fraud 
 
 That caused so just a deed. 
 
 THEOC. When she bestowed 
 
 My consort on another. 
 
 CHOR. On the man 
 Who had a better claim 
 
 THEOC. But who is lord 
 
 Of what belongs to me ? 
 
 CHOR. Who from her sire 
 
 Received her. 
 
 THEOC. She by Fortune was bestowed 
 On me. 
 
 CHOR. But ta'en away again by Fate. 
 
 THEOC. Thou hast no right to judge of my affairs. 
 
 CHOR. If I but speak to give you better counsels. 
 
 THEOC. I am thy subject then, and not thy king. 
 
 CHOR. For having acted piously, your sister 
 I vindicate. 
 
 THEOC. Thou seem'st to wish for death. 
 
 CHOR. Kill me. Your sister you with my consent 
 Shall never slay ; I rather would yield up 
 My life on her behalf. It is most glorious 
 To generous servants for their lords to die.
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 CASTOR and POLLUX, THEOCLYMENUS, CHORUS. 
 
 CAS. and POL. Restrain that ire that hurries thee away 
 Beyond the bounds of reason, O thou king 
 Of ^Egypt's realm ; and listen to the voice 
 Of us twin sons of Jove, whom Leda bore 
 Together with that Helen who is fled 
 From thy abodes. Thou rashly hast indulged 
 Thine anger, for the loss of her whom Fate 
 Ne'er destined to thy bed. Nor hath thy sister 
 Theonoe, from th' immortal Nereid sprung, 
 To thee done any injury ; she reveres 
 The gods, and her great father's just behests. 
 For till the present hour, was it ordained 
 That Helen in thy palace should reside : 
 But when Troy's walls were from their bases torn, 
 And she had to the rival goddesses 
 Furnished her name, no longer was it fit 
 That she should for thy nuptials be detained, 
 But to her ancient home return, and dwell 
 With her first husband. In thy sister's breast 
 Forbear to plunge the sword, and be convinced 
 That she in this affair hath acted wisely. 
 We long ere this our sister had preserved, 
 Since Jove hath made us gods, but were too weak 
 At once to combat the behests of Fate, 
 And the immortal powers, who had ordained 
 That these events should happen. This to thee. 
 O Theoclymenus. I speak. These words 
 Next to my lovely sister, I address ; 
 Sail with your husband, for a prosperous breeze 
 Your voyage shall attend. We your protectors 
 And your twin brothers, on our coursers borne 
 Over the waves, will guide you to your country, 
 But after you have finished life's career, 
 You shall be called a goddess, shall partake 
 With us the rich oblations, and receive 
 The gifts of men : for thus hath Jove decreed. 
 But where the son of Maia placed you first, 
 When he had borne you from the Spartan realm, 
 And formed by stealth from the aerial mansions 
 An image of your person, to prevent 
 Paris from wedding you, there is an isle 
 Near the Athenian realm, which men shall call 
 Helen in future times, because that spot 
 Received you, when in secrecy conveyed 
 From Sparta. The Heavens also have ordained 
 The wanderer Menelaus shall reside 
 Among the happy islands. For the gods
 
 HELEN. 251 
 
 To those of nobler minds no hatred bear ; 
 At their command though grievous toil await 
 The countless multitude. 
 
 THEOC. Ye sons of Jove 
 
 And Leda, I the contest will decline 
 Which I at first so violently urged, 
 Hoping your lovely sister to obtain, 
 And my own sister's life resolve to spare : 
 Let Helen to her native shores return, 
 If 'tis the will of Heaven : but be assured, 
 The same high blood ye spring from with the best 
 And chastest sister : hail then, for the sake 
 Of Helen with a lofty soul endued, 
 Such as in female bosoms seldom dwells. 
 
 CHOR. A thousand shapes our varying fates assume 
 The gods perform what least we could expect, 
 And oft the things for which we fondly hoped 
 Come not to pass ; but Heaven still finds a clue 
 To guide our steps through life's perplexing maze, 
 And thus doth this important business end.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 ANDROMACHE. I MOLOSSUS. 
 
 ATTENDANT. PELEUS. 
 
 CHORUS OF PHTHIAN NURSE OF HERMIONE. 
 
 WOMEN. ORESTES. 
 
 HERMIONE. MESSENGER. 
 
 MENELAUS. THETIS. 
 
 SCENE. THE VESTIBULE OF THETIS' TEMPLE BETWEEN 
 
 PlITIIIA AND PlIARSALIA IN THESSALY. 
 
 ANDROMACHE. 
 
 THEKES, thou pride of Asia, from whose gate 
 
 1 came resplendent with a plenteous dower, 
 To Priam's regal house, the fruitful wife 
 Of Hector : his Andromache was erst 
 
 An envied name : but now am I more wretched 
 
 Than any woman, or already born, 
 
 Or to be born hereafter ; for I saw 
 
 My husband Hector by Achilles slain, 
 
 And that unhappy son whom to my lord 
 
 I bore, Astyanax, from Troy's high towers 
 
 Thrown headlong ; when our foes had sacked the city, 
 
 Myself descended from a noble line 
 
 Of freeborn warriors, reached the Grecian coast, 
 
 On Neoptolemus that island prince 
 
 For the reward of his victorious arms 
 
 Bestowed : selected from the Phrygian spoils. 
 
 'Twixt Phthia and Pharsalia, in these fields, 
 
 I dwell, where Thetis from the haunts of men 
 
 Retreating, with her Peleus erst abode. 
 
 By Thessaly's inhabitants, this spot 
 
 Is from th' auspicious nuptials ot that goddess 
 
 Called Thetidseum : here Achilles' son 
 
 Residing, suffers Peleus still to rule 
 
 Pharsalia's land, nor will assume the sceptre 
 
 While liveshis aged grandsire. In these walls
 
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 ' A son, who to th' embraces of my lord 
 Achilles' offspring, owes his birth, I bore, 
 And though I had been wretched, a fond hope 
 Still cherished, that while yet the boy was safe 
 I some protection and relief might find 
 In my calamities ; but since my lord 
 (Spurning my servile couch) that Spartan dame 
 Hermione espoused, with ruthless hate 
 By her am I pursued ; for she pretends 
 That I, by drugs endued with magic power, 
 Administered in secret, make her barren 
 And odious to her lord, because I wish 
 To occupy this mansion in her stead, 
 And forcibly to drive her from his couch, 
 To which, at first I with reluctance came, 
 But now have left it : mighty Jove can witness 
 That I became the partner of his bed 
 Against my own consent. But she remains 
 Deaf to conviction, and attempts to slay me : 
 In this design her father Menelaus 
 Assists his daughter, he is now within, 
 And on such errand left the Spartan realm : 
 Fearing his rage, I near the palace take 
 My seat, in Thetis' temple, that the goddess 
 From death may save me ; for both Peleus' self, 
 And the descendants of that monarch, hold 
 This structure reared in memory of his wedlock 
 With the fair Nereid, in religious awe. 
 But hence, in secret, trembling for his life, 
 My only child have I conveyed away, 
 Because his noble father is not present 
 To aid me, and avails not now to guard 
 His son, while absent in the Delphic land, 
 To expiate there the rage with which he sought 
 The Pythian tripod, and from Phcebus claimed 
 A reparation for his father's death. 
 If haply he can deprecate the curses 
 Attendant on his past misdeeds, and make 
 The god propitious to his future days. 
 
 FEMALE ATTENDANT, ANDROMACHE. 
 
 ATT. My queen, for still I scruple not to use 
 The same respectful title which I gave you 
 When we in llion dwelt ; you and your lord 
 While he was living, shared my duteous love, 
 And now I with important tidings fraught 
 To you am come, trembling indeed lest one 
 Of our new rulers overhear the tale,
 
 AND ROM A CHE. 255 
 
 Yet greatly pitying your disastrous fate : 
 
 For Menelaus and his daughter form 
 
 Dire plots against you ; of these foes beware. 
 
 AND. O my dear fellow-servant (for thou shar'st 
 Her bondage who was erst thy queen, but now 
 Is wretched), ah ! what mean they ? what fresh schemes 
 Have they devised to take away my life, 
 Who am by woes encompassed ? 
 
 ATT. They intend, 
 
 O miserable dame, to kill your son, 
 Whom privately you from this house conveyed. 
 
 AND. Are they informed I sent the child away ? 
 Ah me ! who told them ? in what utter ruin 
 Am I involved ! 
 
 ATT. I know not ; but thus much 
 
 Of their designs I heard; in quest of him 
 Is Menelaus from these doors gone forth. 
 
 AND. Then am I lost indeed : for, O my child, 
 These two relentless vultures mean to seize thee, 
 And take away thy life, while he who bears 
 A father's name, at Delphi still remains. 
 
 ATT. You had not fared so ill, I am convinced, 
 If he were present, but now every friend 
 Deserts you. 
 
 AND. Is there not a rumour spread 
 
 Of Peleus' coming ? 
 
 ATT. He, though he were here, 
 
 Is grown too old to aid you. 
 
 AND. More than once 
 
 I sent to him. 
 
 ATT. Suppose you that he heeds 
 
 None of your messengers ? 
 
 AND. What means this question ? 
 
 Wilt thou accept such office ? 
 
 ATT. What pretext 
 
 To colour my long absence from this house 
 Shall I allege ? 
 
 AND. Full many are the schemes 
 
 Which thou, who art a woman, can devise. 
 ATT. 'Twere dangerous ; for Hermione is watchful. 
 AND. Dost thou perceive the danger, and renounce 
 Thy friends in their distress ? 
 
 ATT. Not thus : forbear 
 
 To brand me with so infamous a charge : 
 I go ; for of small value is the life 
 (VVhate'er befall me) of a female slave. 
 
 \JExit^ ATTENDANT. 
 
 AND. Proceed : meanwhile I to the conscious air 
 Those plaints and bitter wailings will repeat,
 
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 On which I ever dwell. Unhappy women 
 
 Find comfort in perpetually talking 
 
 Of what they suffer. But my groans arise 
 
 Not from one ill, but many ills : the walls 
 
 Of my loved country razed, my Hector slain, 
 
 And that hard fortune, in whose yoke bound fast, 
 
 Thus am I fallen into th' unseemly state 
 
 Of servitude. We never ought to call 
 
 Frail mortals happy, at their latest hour 
 
 Till we behold them to the shades descend. 
 
 ELEGY. 
 
 In Helen sure, to Troy's imperial towers 
 Young Paris wafted no engaging bride, 
 
 But when he led her to those nuptial bowers, 
 Some fiend infernal crossed the billowy tide. 
 
 With brandished javelin and devouring flame, 
 For her the Grecian warriors to thy shore, 
 
 O Ilion, in a thousand vessels came, 
 And drenched thy smould'ring battlements with gore. 
 
 Around the walls, my Hector, once thy boast, 
 Fixed to his car, was by Achilles borne, 
 
 And from my chamber hurried to the coast 
 I veiled my head in servitude forlorn. 
 
 Much wept these streaming eyes, when in the dust 
 My city, palace, husband, prostrate lay. 
 
 Subject to fierce Hermione's disgust, 
 Why should I still behold the hated day ? 
 
 Harassed with insults from that haughty dame, 
 Round Thetis' bust my suppliant arms I fling, 
 
 And here with gushing tears bewail my shame, 
 As from the rock bursts forth the living spring. 
 
 CHORUS, ANDROMACHE. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 O thou, who seated in this holy space, 
 Hast Thetis' temple thy asylum made, 
 
 Though Phthia gave me birth, to aid 
 Thee, hapless dame of Asiatic race,
 
 ANDROMACHE. 257 
 
 I hither come ; would I from direful harms 
 Could guard, could heal the strife 
 
 'Twixt thee and that indignant wife 
 Hermione, whom ruthless discord arms 
 To punish thee the rival of her charms, 
 
 A captive, to the genial bed, 
 
 Who by Achilles' son wert led. 
 
 Aware of fate, th' impending evil weigh, 
 A helpless Phrygian nymph, thou striv'st in vain 
 
 'Gainst her of Sparta's proud domain : 
 Cease, to this sea-born goddess, cease to pray, 
 And at her blazing shrine no longer stay : 
 For how can it avail 
 
 To thee with hopeless sorrow pale 
 To suffer all thy beauties to decay, 
 Because thy rulers with oppression sway ? 
 
 Thou to superior might must bend. 
 
 Why, feeble as thou art, contend ? 
 
 Yet hasten from the Nereid's lofty seat, 
 Consider that thou tread'st a foreign plain, 
 
 And that these hostile walls detain 
 In strictest bondage thy reluctant feet, 
 Here none of all those friends, that numerous band, 
 Who shared thy greatness, is at hand, 
 To cheer thee in these days of shame, 
 O wretched, wretched dame. 
 
 A miserable matron thou art come 
 From Troy to our abodes, unwilling guest ; 
 
 Though mine the sympathizing breast, 
 Yet I through reverence to our lords am dumb, 
 Lest she, who springs from Helen, child of Jove, 
 Should be a witness of that love 
 Which I to thee whose griefs I share, 
 Impelled by pity bear. 
 
 HERMIONE, ANDROMACHE, CHORUS. 
 
 HER. The gorgeous ornaments of gold, these brows 
 Encircling, and the tissued robes I wear, 
 I from Achilles', or from Peleus' stores, 
 As chosen presents when I hither came, 
 Received not, but from Sparta's realm, these gifts 
 My father Menelaus hath bestowed 
 
 I
 
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 With a large dower, that I might freely speak 
 Such is the answer which to you I make, 
 
 Phthian dames. But thou, who art a slave 
 And captive, wouldst in these abodes usurp 
 Dominion, and expel me ; to my lord 
 
 Thy drugs have made me odious, hence ensues 
 
 My barrenness : the Asiatic dames, 
 
 For these abhorred devices are renowned ; 
 
 But thee will I subdue, nor shall this dome 
 
 Of the immortal Nereid, nor her altar 
 
 Or temple save thee from impending death ; 
 
 If either man or god should be disposed 
 
 To rescue thee, 'twere fit, that to atone 
 
 For the proud thoughts thou in thy happier days 
 
 Didst nourish, thou shouldst tremble, at my knees 
 
 Fall low, and sweep the pavement of my house, 
 
 Sprinkling the waters from a golden urn. 
 
 Know where thou art : no Hector governs here, 
 
 No Phrygian Priam doth this sceptre wield ; 
 
 This is no Chrysa, but a Grecian city. 
 
 Yet thou, O wretched woman, art arrived 
 
 At such a pitch of madness, that thou dar'st 
 
 To sleep e'en with the son of him who slew 
 
 Thy husband, and a brood of children bear 
 
 To him whose hands yet reek with Phrygian gore, 
 
 Such is the whole abhorred barbarian race ; 
 
 The father with his daughter, the vile son 
 
 With his own mother, with her brother too 
 
 The sister, sins, friends by their dearest friends 
 
 Are murdered ; deeds like these no wholesome law 
 
 Prohibits : introduce not among us 
 
 Such crimes, for 'tis unseemly that one man 
 
 Possess two women ; the fond youth who seeks 
 
 Domestic harmony, confines his love 
 
 To one fair partner of the genial bed. 
 
 CHOR. The female sex are envious, and pursue 
 With an incessant hatred those who share 
 Their nuptial joys. 
 
 AND. Alas ! impetuous youth 
 
 Proves baleful to mankind, and there are none 
 Who act with justice in their blooming years. 
 But what I dread is this, lest slavery curb 
 My tongue, though I have many truths to utter : 
 In this dispute with you, if I prevail, 
 That very triumph may become my bane : 
 For those of haughty spirits ill endure 
 The most prevailing arguments when urged 
 By their inferiors. Yet my better cause 
 
 1 will not thus betray. Say, youthful princess.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 259 
 
 What reasons of irrefragable force 
 
 Enable me to drive you from the couch 
 
 Of your own lawful husband ? to the Phrygians 
 
 Is Sparta grown inferior, and hath fortune 
 
 On us conferred the palm ? Do you behold me 
 
 Still free ? elate with youth, a vigorous frame, 
 
 The wide extent of empire I possess, 
 
 And number of my friends, am I desirous 
 
 To occupy these mansions in your stead, 
 
 That in your stead I might bring forth a race 
 
 Of slaves, th' appendages of my distress ? 
 
 Will any one endure (if you produce 
 
 No children) that my sons should be the kings 
 
 Of Phthia ? the Greeks love me for the sake 
 
 Of Hector, I too was forsooth obscure, 
 
 And not a queen, in Troy. Your husband's hate, 
 
 Not from my drugs, but from your soul, unsuited 
 
 For social converse, springs : there is a philtre 
 
 To gain his love. Not beauty, but the virtues, 
 
 woman, to the partners of our bed 
 Afford delight. But if it sting your pride 
 That Sparta's a vast city, while you treat 
 Scyros with scorn, amidst the poor, display 
 Your riches, and of Menelaus speak 
 
 As greater than Achilles ; hence your lord 
 
 Abhors you. For a woman, though bestowed 
 
 On a vile mate, should learn to yield, nor strive 
 
 For the pre-eminence. In Thrace o'erspread 
 
 With snow, if you were wedded to a king, 
 
 Who to his bed takes many various dames, 
 
 Would you have slain them ? you would cast disgrace 
 
 On your whole sex by such unsated lust ; 
 
 Base were the deed : for though our souls are warmed 
 
 With more intense desires than those of men 
 
 We modestly conceal them. For thy sake 
 
 I, O my dearest Hector, loved the objects 
 
 Of thy affections, whene'er Venus' wiles 
 
 Caused thee to err, and at my breast full oft 
 
 Nourished thy spurious children, that in nought 
 
 Thy joys I might embitter : acting thus 
 
 1 won him by my virtues. But you tremble 
 E'en if the drops of Heaven's transparent dew 
 Rest on your husband. Strive not to transcend 
 Your mother in a wild excess of love, 
 
 O woman. For the children, if endued 
 With reason, such examples should avoid 
 Of those who bore them, as corrupt the soul. 
 
 CHOR. As far as possible, O queen, comply 
 With my advice, and in mild terms accost her. 
 
 I 2
 
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 HER. What mean'st thou by this arrogance of speech, 
 This vain debate, as if thou still wert chaste, 
 And I had strayed from virtue's path ? 
 
 AND. The words 
 
 You have been using, now at least are void 
 Of modesty. 
 
 HER. O woman, may this breast 
 
 Harbour no soul like thine. 
 
 AND. Though bashful youth 
 
 Glow on your cheek, indecent is your language. 
 
 HER. Thou by thy actions more than by thy words 
 Hast proved the malice which to me thou bear'st. 
 
 AND. Why will you not conceal th' inglorious pangs 
 Of jealous love? 
 
 HER. What woman but resents 
 
 Such wrongs, and deems them great ? 
 
 AND. The use some make 
 
 Of these misfortunes adds to their renown : 
 But shame waits those who are devoid of wisdom. 
 
 HER. We dwell not in a city where prevail 
 Barbarian laws. 
 
 AND. In Phrygia or in Greece 
 
 Base actions are with infamy attended. 
 
 HER. Though most expert in every subtle art, 
 Yet die thou must. 
 
 AND. Behold you Thetis' image 
 
 Turning its eyes on you ? 
 
 HER. She loathes thy country 
 
 Where her Achilles treacherously was slain. 
 AND. Your mother Helen caused his death, not I. 
 HER. Wouldst thou retrace still farther the sad tale 
 Of our misfortunes ? 
 
 AND. I restrain my tongue. 
 
 HER Speak to me now on that affair which caused 
 My coming hither. 
 
 AND. All I say is this : 
 
 You have not so much wisdom as you need. 
 
 HER. From this pure temple of the sea-born goddess 
 Wilt thou depart ? 
 
 AND. Not while I live : you first 
 
 Must slay, then drag me hence. 
 
 HER. I am resolved 
 
 How to proceed, and wait my lord's return 
 No longer. 
 
 AND. Nor will I before he come 
 Surrender up myself. 
 
 HER. With flaming brands 
 
 Hence will I drive thee, and no deference pay 
 To thy entreaties.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 261 
 
 AND. Kindle them ; the gods 
 
 Will view the deed. 
 
 HER. The scourge too is prepared. 
 
 AND. Transpierce this bosom, deluge with my gore 
 The altar of the goddess, you by her 
 Shall be at length o'ertaken. 
 
 HER. From thy cradle, 
 
 Trained up and hardened in barbarian pride, 
 Canst thou endure to die ? from this asylum 
 Soon will I rouse thee by thy own consent, 
 I with such baits am furnished, but conceal 
 My purpose, which th' event itself ere long 
 Will make conspicuous. Keep a steady seat, 
 For though by molten lead thou wert enclosed 
 Hence would I rouse thee, ere Achilles' son, 
 Whom thou confid'st in, to this land return. 
 
 [Exit HERMIONE. 
 
 AND. In him I place my still unshaken trust. 
 Yet is it strange that the celestial powers, 
 To heal the serpent's venom, have assigned 
 Expedients, but no remedy devised 
 Against an evil woman who surpasses 
 Or vipers' stings or the consuming flame : 
 Thus baleful is our influence on mankind. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 The winged son of Maia and of Jove 
 To many sorrowful events gave birth, 
 And scattered discord o'er the bleeding earth, 
 When he through sacred Ida's piny grove 
 Guided the car of three immortal dames, 
 (The golden prize of beauty to obtain, 
 In hateful strife engaged, who urged their claims) ; 
 To where in his mean hut abode a lonely swain. 
 
 No sooner had they reached the destined bower, 
 Than in the limpid spring her snowy frame 
 Each goddess laved ; to Priam's son then came 
 With artful speeches of such winning power 
 As might beguile the rash and amorous boy : 
 Venus prevailed ; her words, though sweet their sound, 
 Proved of destructive consequence to Troy, 
 Whose stately bulwarks hence lie levelled with the "round.
 
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 When new-born Paris first beheld the light, 
 Would that his mother, o'er her head, this brand 
 Ordained by Heaven to fire his native land, 
 Had cast, before he dwelt on Ida's height. 
 Unheeded from the bay's prophetic shade 
 Exclaimed Cassandra : " Let the child be slain ; 
 Kill him, or Priam's empire is betrayed." 
 Frantic she raved and sued to every prince in vain. 
 
 Deaf was each prince, or Ilion ne'er had felt 
 The servile yoke, nor hadst thou, hapless fair, 
 Beneath these roofs, encompassed by despair, 
 And subject to a rigid master, dwelt. 
 O had he died, the fated toil of Greece, 
 That stubborn war through ten revolving years, 
 Had roused no heroes from the lap of peace, 
 Nor caused the widow's shrieks, the hoary father's tears. 
 
 MENELAUS, MOLOSSUS, ANDROMACHE, CHORUS. 
 
 MEN. Your son I hither bring, whom from this fane 
 With secrecy, you to another house, 
 Without my daughter's knowledge, had removed. 
 You boasted that this image of the goddess 
 To you, and those who hid him, would afford 
 A sure asylum : but your deep-laid craft, 
 
 woman, cannot baffle Menelaus. 
 
 If you depart not hence, he in your stead 
 
 Shall be the victim ; therefore well revolve 
 
 Th' important question ; had you rather die, 
 
 Or, with his streaming gore, let him atone 
 
 The foul offence 'gainst me and 'gainst my daughter 
 
 By you committed ? 
 
 AND. Thou, O v.iin opinion, 
 
 Hast with renown puffed up full many men 
 Who were of no account. I deem those blest 
 On whom with truth such honour is bestowed : 
 But them who by fallacious means obtain it 
 
 1 hold unworthy of possessing fame. 
 When all their seeming wisdom but arises 
 
 From Fortune's gifts. Thou with the bravest chiefs 
 Of Greece, from Priam erst didst wrest his Troy ; 
 E'en thou who art so mean as to inspire 
 Thy daughter with resentment 'gainst a child, 
 And strive with me a miserable captive : 
 Unworthy of thy conquest over Troy
 
 ANDROMACHE. 263 
 
 Thee do I hold, and Troy yet more disgraced 
 
 By such a victor. Some indeed there are 
 
 To all appearance upright, who awhile 
 
 Outwardly glitter, though they in their hearts 
 
 Are on a level with the worthless bulk 
 
 Of mortals, and superior but in wealth 
 
 Whose power is great. This conference let us end, 
 
 Menelaus, be it now supposed 
 
 1 by thy daughter am already slain : 
 'Twill be impossible for her to 'scape 
 From the pollution ruthless murder brings ; 
 Thou too by many tongues wilt be accused 
 Of this vile deed, with her will they confound 
 Thee the abettor. But if I preserve 
 
 My life, are ye resolved to slay my son ? 
 
 How will the father tamely bear the death 
 
 Of his loved offspring ? he was not esteemed 
 
 At Troy so void of courage. He is gone 
 
 Whither his duty calls. Soon will the chief 
 
 Act worthy of the race from which he springs, 
 
 The hoary Peleus, and his dauntless sire 
 
 Achilles, he from these abodes will cast 
 
 Thy daughter forth, and when thou to another 
 
 In marriage giv'st her, what hast thou to say 
 
 On her behalf? "That from a worthless lord 
 
 Her wisdom drove her?" This would be a falsehood 
 
 Too gross. But who would wed her ? till grown grey 
 
 In widowhood, shall she beneath thy roofs 
 
 Fix her loathed residence ? O wretched man, 
 
 The rising conflux of unnumbered woes 
 
 Behold'st thou not ? hadst thou not rather find 
 
 Thy daughter wronged by concubines, than suffering 
 
 Th' indignities I speak of? we from trifles 
 
 Such grievous mischiefs ought not to create ; 
 
 Nor if we women are a deadly bane, 
 
 To the degenerate nature of our sex 
 
 Should men conform. If I pernicious drugs 
 
 Have to thy daughter ministered, and been, 
 
 As she pretends, the cause of her abortion, 
 
 Immediately will I without reluctance, 
 
 And without grovelling at this altar's base, 
 
 To any rigid punishment submit 
 
 Inflicted by thy son-in-law, from whom 
 
 I surely merit as severe revenge 
 
 For having made him childless. Such am I : 
 
 But in thy temper I perceive one cause 
 
 Of just alarm, since in that luckless strife 
 
 About a woman, and a vile one too, 
 
 Thou the famed Phrygian city didst destroy.
 
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 CHOR. Too freely hast thou spoken, in a tone 
 Which ill becomes thy sex, and that high soul 
 The bounds of wisdom hath o'erleaped. 
 
 MEN. O woman, 
 
 So small an object, as you rightly judge, 
 Deserves not the attention of my realm, 
 Nor that of Greece. But learn this obvious truth : 
 To any man whate'er he greatly needs, 
 Is of more worth by far than taking Troy. 
 My daughter I assist, because I deem it' 
 A wrong of great importance should she lose 
 Her bridal rights : for every woman looks 
 On all beside as secondary ills : 
 But if she from her husband's arms be torn, 
 Seems reft of life itself. That Phthia's prince 
 Direct my servants, and that his obey 
 Me and my race, is fitting : for true friends 
 Have no distinct possessions, but hold all 
 In common. While I wait for the return 
 Of her long absent lord, should I neglect 
 My daughter's interests, I were weak, not wise. 
 But leave this shrine of Thetis : for the child 
 Shall if you bleed escape th' impending doom : 
 Him, if you die not, will I slay, since fate 
 Of you or him the forfeit life demands. 
 
 AND. Ah me ! a bitter and unwelcome choice 
 Of life on terms like these hast thou proposed ; 
 Wretch that I am ! for whether I decline 
 Or make such option, I am wretched still. 
 O thou, who by a trifling wrong provoked, 
 Committ'st great crimes, attend : for what offence 
 Wouldst thou bereave me of my life ? what city 
 Have I betrayed ? what child of thine destroyed ? 
 What mansion fired ? I to my master's bed 
 By force was dragged : yet me alone, not him 
 The author of that crime, thou mean'st to slay. 
 Thou, the first cause o'erlooking, on th' effect 
 Which it produces, vent'st thy rage. What woes 
 Encompass wretched me ! alas ! my country ! 
 How dreadful are the wrongs which I endure ! 
 But wherefore was I doomed to bear a child, 
 And to the burden under which I groan 
 Add a new burden ? what delight can life 
 To me afford ? or on what fortunes past 
 Or present should I turn these eyes which saw 
 The corse of Hector by the victor's car 
 Whirled round the walls, and wretched Troy a heap 
 Of blazing ruins ? I meantime a slave 
 By my dishevelled hair was dragged abonrd 
 The Argive navy ; when I reached the coast
 
 ANDROMACHE. 265 
 
 Of Phthia, and cohabited with those 
 
 Who slew my Hector ; (but why lavish plaints 
 
 On past calamities, without deploring 
 
 Or taking a due estimate of those 
 
 Which now impend ? ) I had this only son 
 
 My life's last comfort left, and they who take 
 
 Delight in deeds of cruelty, would slay him ; 
 
 Yet to preserve my miserable life 
 
 He shall not perish ; for auspicious hopes, 
 
 Could he be saved, his future days attend : 
 
 But if I died not for my son, reproach 
 
 Would be my portion. Lo ! I leave the altar 
 
 And now am in thy hands, stab, slay me, bind, 
 
 Strain hard the deadly noose. My son, thy mother, 
 
 To rescue thee from an untimely grave, 
 
 Descends the shades beneath ; if thou escape 
 
 The ruthless grasp of fate, remember me 
 
 How miserably I suffered ; and with kisse?, 
 
 At his return, when thou goest forth to mcet > 
 
 Thy father, when a flood of tears thou shedd'st, 
 
 And cling'st around him with those pliant arms, 
 
 Inform him how I acted. All men hold 
 
 Their children dear as life ; but he who scorns them 
 
 Because he ne'er experienced what it is 
 
 To be a father, though with fewer griefs 
 
 Attended, but enjoys imperfect bliss. 
 
 [Rises, and advances from the altar. 
 
 CHOR. I with compassion to this moving tale 
 Have listened ; for distress, to all mankind, 
 Though strangers, must seem piteous : but on thee, 
 O Menelaus, 'tis incumbent now 
 To reconcile thy daughter, and this captive, 
 That she may from her sorrows be released. 
 
 MEN. Seize her, and bind her hands ; for she shall hear 
 No pleasing language : I proposed to slay 
 Your son, that you might leave that hallowed altar 
 Of Thetis, and thus craftily induced you 
 To fall into my handstand meet your death ; 
 Be well assured, such is the present state 
 Of your affairs : as for that boy, on him 
 My daughter shall pass judgment, or to kill, 
 Or spare him : but now enter these abodes, 
 That you may learn, slave as you are, to treat 
 Those who are free no longer with disdain. 
 
 AND. Thou hast o'erreached me by thy treacherous arts ; 
 Alas ! I am betrayed. 
 
 MEN. Proclaim these tidings 
 
 To all men; for I shall not contradict them. 
 
 AND. By those who dwell beside Eurotas' stream 
 Are such base frauds called wisdom ?
 
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 MEN. Both at Troy 
 
 And there, 'tis just the injured should retaliate. 
 
 AND. Believ'st thou that the gods are gods no longer, 
 Nor wield the bolt of vengeance ? 
 
 MEN. We must look 
 
 To that : but you shall die. 
 
 AND. And wilt thou seize 
 
 This unfledged bird, to slay him ? 
 
 MEN. No, I will not, 
 
 But give him to my daughter, who must act 
 As she thinks fit. 
 
 AND. Then how, alas, my son ! 
 
 Can I sufficiently bewail thy fate ? 
 
 MEN. " Him," 'twas but now with arrogance you said, 
 " Auspicious hopes attend." 
 
 AND. Ye worst of foes 
 
 To all mankind, inhabitants of Sparta ! 
 Expert in treacherous counsels, still devising 
 New falsehoods, curst artificers of mischief, 
 Your paths are crooked, yet though void of worth, 
 Through Greece by circumspection ye uphold 
 An undeserved pre-eminence. What crimes, 
 What murders, what a thirst for abject gain 
 Characterize your realm ! with specious tongue 
 Uttering a language foreign to your heart, 
 Are ye not ever caught ? Perdition seize you ! 
 Death is less grievous than thou deem'st to me 
 Who date my utter ruin from that hour 
 When I lion's wretched city was involved 
 In the same fate with my illustrious lord, 
 Whose spear oft drove thee trembling from the field 
 Into thy ships : but now against his wife 
 A formidable warrior art thou come 
 To murder me : strike, for this coward tongue 
 Shall never leave thine and thy daughter's shame 
 Unpublished. If in Sparta thou art great, 
 So was I erst in Ilion; but exult not 
 In my disasters, for on thee ere long 
 The same reverse of fortune may attend. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Two rival consorts ne'er can I approve, 
 Or sons, the source of strife, their birth who owe 
 To different mothers ; hence connubial love 
 Is banished, and the mansion teems with woe.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 267 
 
 One blooming nymph let cautious husbands wed, 
 And share with her alone an unpolluted bed. 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 No prudent city, no well-governed state, 
 
 More than a single potentate will own ; 
 
 Their subjects droop beneath the grievous weight 
 
 When two bear rule, and discord shakes the throne ; 
 
 And if two bards awake their sounding lyres 
 
 E'en the harmonious Muse a cruel strife inspires, 
 
 II. I. 
 
 To aid the bark, when prosperous gales arise, 
 
 Two jarring pilots shall misguide the helm : 
 
 Weak is a multitude when all are wise, 
 
 One simpler monarch could have saved the realm. 
 
 Let a sole chief the house or empire sway, 
 
 And all who hope for bliss their lord's behests obey. 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 This truth hath Menelaus' daughter shown, 
 Furious she comes the victim to destroy ; 
 And, that their blood may nuptial wrongs atone, 
 The Phrygian captive, and that hapless boy, 
 With impious rage unjust would cause to bleed ; 
 May pity, awful queen, thy lifted arm impede ! 
 
 But I before these doors behold the pair 
 
 On whom the fatal sentence now is passed. 
 
 Thou wretched dame, and wretched child who diest 
 
 Because thy mother to a foreign bed 
 
 By force was dragged, in her imputed guilt 
 
 Thou wert not an accomplice, thou thy lords 
 
 Hast not offended. 
 
 AND. To the realms beneath, 
 
 Lo, I am hurried, with these bloody hands 
 Fast bound in galling chains. 
 
 MOL. I too, O mother, 
 
 Under thy wing, to those loathed shades descend 
 A victim. O ye lords of Phthia's land, 
 And thou, my father, succour those thou lov'st. 
 
 AND. Cling to thy mother's bosom, O my child, 
 Together let us die. 
 
 MOL. Ah me ! how grievous 
 
 My sufferings are ! too clearly I perceive 
 That I, and thou my mother, both are wretched. 
 
 MEN. Go both together to th' infernal realm : 
 For ye from hostile turrets hither came. 
 Although the cause why you and he must bleed 
 Is not the same, my sentence takes away
 
 268 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Your life, and my Hermione's your son's. 
 
 The highest folly were it to permit 
 
 A foe to live and vex us, whom with ease 
 
 We might despatch, and from our house remove 
 
 Such danger. 
 
 AND. O my husband, would to Heaven 
 
 I had thy arm to aid me ; and thy spear, 
 Thou son of Priam. 
 
 MOL. Wretched me ! what charm 
 
 Can I devise t' avert impending fate ? 
 
 AND. My son, implore the mercy of our lord 
 Clasping his knees. 
 
 MOL. Dear monarch, spare my life, 
 
 AND. Tears from these eyes burst forth like trickling drops 
 By the sun's heat forced from a solid rock, 
 Wretch that I am ! 
 
 MOL. What remedy, alas ! 
 
 For these dire evils can my soul devise ? 
 
 MEN. Why dost thou idly grovel at my feet 
 With fruitless supplications, while I stand 
 Firm as a rock, or as th' unpitying wave ? 
 Such conduct serves my interests: no affection 
 To thee I bear, because my morn of life 
 Was wasted in the conflict, ere I took 
 Troy and thy mother, whose society 
 Thou in the realms of Pluto shall enjoy. 
 
 TELEUS, MENELAUS, ANDROMACHE, MOLOSSUS, CHORUS. 
 
 CHOR. Peleus, I see, draws near, his aged feet 
 With eager haste advancing. 
 
 PEL. You, and him 
 
 Who stands presiding o'er a murderous deed, 
 What means this uproar that disturbs the house, 
 I question, and what practices are these 
 Ye carry on unauthorized by law ? 
 O Menelaus, stay thy furious hand, 
 And let not execution thus outstrip 
 
 All righteous judgment. O my friends, lead on ; 
 For such a dread emergency appears 
 T' admit of no delay. Could I regain 
 
 That youthful vigour which I erst enjoyed 
 As prosperous breezes aid the floating sails, 
 This captive would I favour. Say, what right 
 Have they to bind your hands, and drag along 
 You and your son ? for like the bleating mother, 
 Led forth to slaughter with her lamb, you perish, 
 While I and your unwitting lord are absent. 
 
 AND. They, as thou seest, O venerable man, 
 Me and my son thus bear to instant death.
 
 A NDROMA CHE. 269 
 
 What shall I say to thee, whom I with speed 
 Not by one single messenger but thousands 
 Have sent for? sure thou, of the fatal strife 
 In these divided mansions, with his daughter, 
 To which I owe my ruin, must have heard : 
 And from the violated shrine of Thetis, 
 Who bore to thee a noble son, the goddess 
 Whom thou rever'st e'en now with brutal force 
 Me have they torn, nor judged my cause, nor wait 
 For absent Neoptolemus, but, knowing 
 That I and that this child who hath committed 
 No fault, are left alone and unprotected, 
 Would slay us both. But, O thou aged man, 
 Thus prostrate on my knees, to thee I sue, 
 And, though this hand must not presume to touch 
 Thy honoured beard, conjure thee by the gods, 
 Rescue us, or to thy eternal shame 
 Both he and I must miserably bleed. 
 
 PEL. My orders are that you those galling chains 
 Unbind and loose her hands, else will I make 
 The disobedient weep. 
 
 MEN. But I, your equal, 
 
 Who have much more authority o'er her, 
 Forbid them. 
 
 PEL. Com'st thou hither to direct 
 
 My household ? is it not enough for thee 
 To rule thy Spartans ? 
 
 MEN. Her I took at Troy. 
 
 PEL. She, to reward his valour, was bestowed 
 Upon my grandson. 
 
 MEN. Doth not all he owns, 
 
 To me, and what is mine, to him belong ? 
 
 PEL. For honest purposes, but not for crimes 
 And murderous violence. 
 
 MEN. You ne'er shall take her 
 
 Out of my hands. 
 
 PEL. Thy head I with this sceptre 
 
 Will smite. 
 
 MEN. Draw near ; if you presume to touch me, 
 Soon shall you rue such outrage. 
 
 PEL. O thou villain, 
 
 Sprung from a race of impious sires, what right 
 To be accounted an illustrious man, 
 And numbered with the truly brave, hast thou, 
 Who by a Phrygian wanderer wert deprived 
 Of thy fair consort, after thou hadst left 
 Thy house unbarred and destitute of guards, 
 As if thou in thy mansions hadst possessed 
 A virtuous dame, though she of all her sex
 
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 Was the most dissolute ? nor if she would 
 
 Can any Spartan nymph be chaste ? for wandering 
 
 From their own homes, distinguished by bare legs, 
 
 And zoneless vest, they with young men contend 
 
 In swiftness and in wrestling ; I such customs 
 
 Hold in abhorrence. Is there any room 
 
 For wonder if the women prove unchaste 
 
 Whom thus you educate ? thy Helen ought 
 
 To have proposed these questions, ere she left 
 
 Her native realm, regardless of thy love, 
 
 And by that youthful paramour seduced, 
 
 Wantonly fled into a foreign land. 
 
 Yet for her sake didst thou that numerous host 
 
 Of Greeks collect, and lead them to assail 
 
 The Phrygian ramparts. Thou that beauteous dame 
 
 Shouldst rather have despised, nor in her cause 
 
 Wielded the javelin, when thou found'st her worthless, 
 
 But suffered her in Ilion to remain, 
 
 And sent rich gifts to Paris on these terms, 
 
 That to thy house she never should return. 
 
 But thou, instead of suffering these just motives 
 
 To make their due impression on thy soul, 
 
 Full many valiant warriors hast destroyed, 
 
 Made th' aged matron childless, and deprived 
 
 Of his illustrious sons the hoary sire. 
 
 Numbered with those who owe to thee thy ruin 
 
 Am wretched I : for like some evil genius 
 
 In thee do these indignant eyes behold 
 
 The murderer of Achilles : thou alone, 
 
 Save by the missile shaft, umvounded cam'st 
 
 From Ilion's hostile shores ; in burnished chests 
 
 Didst thou bear thither the same glittering arms 
 
 Which thou bear'st back again. Before he wedded, 
 
 I warned my grandson to form no connection 
 
 With thee, nor into these abodes admit 
 
 The brood of that adult'ress ; for the daughters 
 
 Their mother emulate in deeds of shame. 
 
 Look well to this, ye suitors, and select 
 
 The damsel with maternal worth endued. 
 
 Then with what scorn didst thou thy brother treat, 
 
 Commanding him 'gainst reason to transgress, 
 
 And sacrifice his daughter. Thou such fears, 
 
 Lest thou that execrable wife shouldst lose, 
 
 Didst entertain. When thou hadst taken Troy, 
 
 This too I urge against thee, though thou hadst 
 
 Thy consort in thy power, thou didst not slay her, 
 
 But when her throbbing bosom thou beheld'st 
 
 Didst cast away thy sword, receive her kisses, 
 
 And soothe the fears of her who had betrayed thee.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 271 
 
 O worthless miscreant, whom the Cyprian Queen 
 
 Hath thus debased ! thou after this intrud'st 
 
 Into my grandson's palace, in his absence 
 
 Committ'st these outrages, and basely slay'st 
 
 A miserable woman, and her child, 
 
 Thee and thy daughter who shall cause to weep 
 
 Though trebly illegitimate his birth. 
 
 Oft the parched heath, when duly tilled, exceeds 
 
 The richest soil, and greater instances 
 
 Of virtue are in many a bastard found 
 
 Than in the lawfully begotten race. 
 
 But take thy daughter hence. Far better is it 
 
 To form affinity and strictest friendship 
 
 With a poor man of worth, than him who, joins 
 
 Iniquity with wealth : but as for thee, 
 
 Thou art a thing of nought. 
 
 CHOR. Among mankind, 
 
 Oft from a small beginning doth the tongue 
 Great strife occasion : but the wise beware 
 Of entering on a contest with their friend. 
 
 MEN. Why do we speak in such exalted terms 
 Of aged men, as if they were endued 
 With wisdom, though in former days supposed 
 By the whole Grecian race to judge aright ? 
 When you, O Peleus, who derive your birth 
 From an illustrious sire, and with my house 
 So nearly are connected, hold a language 
 Disgraceful to yourself, and slander me, 
 For a barbarian dame, whom from this land 
 You ought to banish far beyond the Nile, 
 Beyond the Phasis, and applaud my vengeance ; 
 Because she comes from Asiatic shores, 
 Where many valiant Grecian chiefs lie slain. 
 And hath in part been guilty of the blood 
 Of your famed son ; for Paris, by whose shaft, 
 Transpierced, Achilles perished, was the brother, 
 And she the wife of Hector : yet you enter 
 The same abode with her, the genial board 
 With her partake, allow her to bring forth 
 Under your roofs an execrable brood. 
 These mischiefs both to you and me, old man, 
 Foreseeing, have I snatched her from your hands 
 With a design to kill her. But, O say, 
 (For there is nought of meanness in our holding 
 This conference), if my daughter bear no child. 
 And she have sons, will you appoint them lords 
 Of this your Phthian land ? shall they who spring 
 From a barbarian race, o'er Greeks bear rule ? 
 Am I, because I hate injustice, void
 
 272 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Of understanding, and are you discreet ? 
 
 Reflect on this ; had you bestowed your daughter 
 
 On any citizen, were she thus treated, 
 
 Would you sit down and bear her wrongs in silence ? 
 
 I deem you would not. Why then with such harshness 
 
 Speak you in favour of a foreign dame 
 
 Against your nearest friends ? as great a right 
 
 To vengeance as her husband, hath the wife 
 
 Whom her lord injures : for while he whose doors 
 
 An unchaste consort enters, in his hands 
 
 Hath power to right himself, a woman's strength 
 
 Lies only in her parents and her friends. 
 
 My daughter, therefore, am I bound to aid : 
 
 You show the marks of age : for while you talk 
 
 Of that famed war I waged, you more befriend me 
 
 Than if you had been silent. Deep in woe 
 
 Was Helen plunged, not by her own consent 
 
 But by the gods : and this event hath proved 
 
 To Greece most advantageous, for its sons 
 
 Who knew not how till then to wield the spear, 
 
 Grew valiant. From experience, best of tutors, 
 
 Men gather all the knowledge they possess. 
 
 But when I saw my consort, in forbearing 
 
 To take away her life, I acted wisely : 
 
 And would that you had done like me, nor slain 
 
 Your brother Phocus ; this to you I speak 
 
 Through mere benevolence, and not in wrath : 
 
 But if resentment o'er your soul usurp 
 
 An empire, such intemperance of the tongue 
 
 Will be in you more shameful, while my wishes 
 
 I by a prudent forethought shall attain. 
 
 CHOR. Now both desist (for this were better far) 
 From such unprofitable strife of words, 
 O ye will both offend. 
 
 PEL. Ah me ! through Greece 
 
 What mischievous opinions have prevailed ! 
 When with the spoils of vanquished foes, the host 
 A trophy rear, they think not how 'twas gained 
 By those brave soldiers who endure the toil 
 Of battle, while their general bears away 
 All the renown : though he was only one 
 Who stood 'midst thousands brandishing his spear, 
 Nor any single combatant surpassed, 
 He gains a larger portion of applause. 
 The venerable rulers of a city, 
 Placed in exalted stations, yet devoid 
 Of any real merit, overlook 
 The populace, though many in the crowd 
 Of their inferiors are more wise than they,
 
 ANDROMACHE. 273 
 
 If haply courage and an honest zeal 
 
 Unite to place them in the public view. 
 
 Thou and thy brother thus are swollen with pride, 
 
 From having led those troops to conquer Troy, 
 
 And triumph in the sufferings of your friends. 
 
 But henceforth will I teach thee not to look 
 
 On Paris, Ida's shepherd, as a foe, 
 
 More terrible than Peleus. If with speed 
 
 Thou quit not these abodes, and take away 
 
 Thy childless daughter, my indignant grandson, 
 
 By her dishevelled hair around the palace 
 
 Will drag this barren dame, who stung with envy, 
 
 Cannot endure the fruitful mother's joys. 
 
 But, if she prove so luckless as to bare 
 
 No issue, ought she therefore to deprive us 
 
 Of our posterity ? Begone, ye slaves, 
 
 That I may see who dares obstruct my loosing 
 
 Her hands. Rise up : though trembling with old age, 
 
 Your chains can I unbind. O worthless man, 
 
 Hast thou thus galled her hands ? didst thou suppose 
 
 Thou held'st a bull or lion in the snare ? 
 
 Or didst thou shudder lest she should snatch up 
 
 A sword, and wreak just vengeance on thy head ? 
 
 Come hither to these sheltering arms, my child, 
 
 Unbind thy mother's chains ; in Phthia, thee 
 
 I'll educate, to them a bitter foe. 
 
 Should Sparta's sons by the protended spear 
 
 Obtain no fame, nor in th' embattled field 
 
 Their prowess signalize, be well assured 
 
 Ye have no other merit. 
 
 CHOR. Old men talk 
 
 With freedom, and their vehemence of soul 
 Is hard to be restrained. 
 
 MEN. Extremely prone 
 
 Are you to slander; much against my will 
 I came to Phthia, and am here resolved 
 That I will neither do nor suffer aught 
 Disgraceful : but to my own home with speed 
 Am I returning, and have little time 
 In vain debates to lavish : for a city 
 Not far from Sparta's gates and erst a friend 
 Is waging war against us : I would lead 
 My hardy squadrons forth t' assail the foe, 
 And utterly subdue them. To my wish 
 Soon as this great affair I shall have settled, 
 Hither will I return, and face to face, 
 When I my reasons to my son-in-law 
 Have in the clearest terms proposed, will hear 
 What he can urge ; and if he punish her,
 
 274 EURIPIDES. 
 
 And for the future courteously to me 
 
 Demean himself, from me he in return 
 
 Shall meet with courtesy ; but if he rage, 
 
 He of my rage the dire effects shall feel : 
 
 For still such treatment as his deeds deserve 
 
 Shall he experience. But I am not hurt 
 
 By these injurious words of yours ; for like 
 
 Some disembodied ghost, you have a voice, 
 
 Although you are not able to do aught 
 
 But merely speak. [E.vit MEXELAUS. 
 
 PEL. Lead on, my boy ; here take 
 
 Thy station under these protecting arms ; 
 And thou too, O thou miserable dame, 
 Driven hither by the furious storm ; at length 
 Into a quiet haven are ye come. 
 
 AND. On thee and thy descendants may the gods 
 Shower every blessing, venerable man, 
 For having saved this child, and wretched me ; 
 Yet O beware, lest in some lonely spot 
 They suddenly assail us, and by force 
 Drag me away, perceiving thou art old, 
 That I am a weak woman, and my son 
 Is but an infant : all precautions use, 
 Else we, who have escaped them, may again 
 Be caught. 
 
 PEL. Forbear to utter, in such language 
 
 As this, the dictates of a woman's fear. 
 Advance, who dares to touch you ? he shall weep. 
 For with the blessing of th' immortal gods, 
 And by unnumbered troops of valiant horse, 
 And infantry supported, I bear rule 
 Over the Phthian land. I am robust, 
 Nor, as you deem, impaired by palsied age. 
 Were I, opposed in battle, but to look 
 On such a man as this, old as I am, 
 An easy conquest soon should I obtain. 
 Superior is the veteran, if with courage 
 Inspired, to many youths : for what avails 
 A vigorous body with a coward's heart ? 
 
 [Exeunt PELEUS, ANDROMACHE, and MOLOSSUS. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 My wish were this ; or never to be born, 
 Or to descend from generous sires, and share 
 The blessings which attend a wealthy heir. 
 
 If heaviest woes assail, ne'er left forlorn
 
 ANDROMACHE. 275 
 
 Without a friend are they of nobler race, 
 Hereditary trophies deck their head : 
 The records of the brave with joy we trace, 
 No distant age their memory can efface, 
 For virtue's torch unquenched pours radiance o'er the dead. 
 
 Better is conquest, when we gain our right 
 By no reproachful means, no deeds of shame, 
 Than if to envy we expose our fame, 
 
 And trample on the laws with impious might. 
 Such laurels which at first too sweetly bloom, 
 
 Ere long are withered by the frost of time, 
 And scorn pursues their wearers to the tomb. 
 I in my household or the state presume 
 To seek that power alone which rules without a crime. 
 
 O veteran, sprung from ALa.cus, thy spear 
 
 Chilled the Lapithae with fear, 
 And from their hills the Centaurs drove. 
 
 When glory called, and prosperous gales 
 Swelled the Argo's daring sails, 
 Intrepid didst thou pass that strait 
 Where ruin oft the crashing bark attends, 
 
 And ocean's foam descends 
 From the Symplegades' obstructing height. 
 Next didst thou land on perjured Ilion's shore, 
 \Vith Hercules illustrious son of Jove, 
 
 Then first its bulwarks streamed with gore : 
 
 Till crowned with fame a partner of his toil, 
 
 Europe again thou sought'st and Phthia's frozen soil. 
 
 THE NURSE OF HERMIONE, CHORUS. 
 NUR. How doth a rapid series of events 
 The most disastrous, O my dearest friends, 
 This day invade us ! for within these doors 
 Hermione my mistress, by her sire 
 Forsaken, and grown conscious of the guilt 
 She hath incurred, by that attempt to murder 
 Andromache and her unhappy son, 
 Resolves to die, because she dreads, lest fired 
 With indignation at her guilt, her lord 
 Should cast her forth with scorn, or take away 
 Her life, because she purposed to have slain 
 The innocent. The servants who attend 
 Can hardly by their vigilance prevent her 
 From fixing round her neck the deadly noose, 
 Or snatch the dagger from her hand, so great
 
 276 . EURIPIDES. 
 
 Is her affliction, and she now confesses 
 
 That she has done amiss. My strength's exhausted 
 
 In striving to withhold my royal mistress 
 
 From perishing by an ignoble death. 
 
 But enter ye these mansions, and attempt 
 
 To save her life, for strangers can persuade 
 
 Far better than old friends. 
 
 CHOR. We hear the voice 
 
 Of her attendants from within -confirm 
 Th" intelligence thou hither cam'st to bring : 
 That hapless woman seems just on the point 
 Of showing with what rage she by her guilt 
 Is hurried on : for lo, she rushes forth 
 From yon abodes, already hath she 'scaped 
 Her servants' hands, and is resolved to die. 
 
 HERMIONE, NURSE, CHORUS. 
 
 HER. Ah me ! these ringlets how will I tear off, 
 How rend my cheeks ! 
 
 NUR. What mean'st thou, O my daughter ? 
 
 Wilt thou thus injure that fair frame ? 
 
 HER. Away, 
 
 O thou slight veil, I pluck thee from my head, 
 And toss thy scattered fragments in the air. 
 
 NUR. Cover thy bosom with the decent robe. 
 
 HER. Why with a robe my bosom should I hide? 
 The crimes I have committed 'gainst my lord 
 Are clear, well known, and cannot be concealed. 
 
 NUR. Griev'st thou because thou hast formed schemes 
 
 to slay 
 Thy rival ? 
 
 HER. I with many groans bewail 
 Those hostile darings, execrable wretch, 
 Wretch that I am, an object of just hate 
 To all mankind. 
 
 NUR. Thy husband such offence 
 
 Will pardon. 
 
 HER. From my hand why didst thou snatch 
 
 The sword ? Restore, restore it, O my friends, 
 That I this bosom may transpierce. 'Why force me 
 To quit yon pendant noose ? 
 
 NUR. In thy distraction 
 
 Shall I forsake and leave thee thus to die ? 
 
 HER. Where shall I find (inform me, O ye Fates) 
 The blazing pyre, ascend the craggy rock, 
 Plunge in the billows, or amidst the woods 
 On a steep mountain waste the life I loathe, 
 That after death the gods beneath may take me 
 To their protection ?
 
 ANDROMACHE. 277 
 
 CHOR. Why wouldst thou make efforts 
 
 So violent ? some mischiefs sent by Heaven 
 Sooner or later visit all mankind. 
 
 HER. Me like a stranded bark, thou, O my sire, 
 Hast left forsaken and without an oar. 
 To thee I owe my ruin. I no longer 
 In these my bridal mansions can reside. 
 To the propitious statues of what God 
 With suppliant haste shall I repair, or fall 
 At a slave's knees, myself an abject slave ? 
 I from the land of Phthia, like a bird 
 Upborne on azure wings, would speed my flight, 
 Or imitate that ship whose dashing oars 
 'Twixt the Cyanean straits first urged their way. 
 
 NUR. As little, O my daughter, can I praise 
 That vehemence which caused thee to transgress 
 Against the Trojan dame, as these thy fears 
 Which are immoderate. For such slight offence 
 Thy lord, misled by the pernicious tongue 
 Of a barbarian woman, from his couch 
 Will not expel thee : for thou art not his 
 By right of conquest, borne from vanquished Troy ; 
 But thee, the daughter of a mighty king, 
 He with abundant dower, and from a city 
 Most flourishing, received : nor will thy sire, 
 His child forsaking, as thou dread'st, permit thee 
 To be cast forth : but enter these abodes, 
 Nor show thyself without, lest some affront 
 Thou shouldst receive if haply thou art seen 
 Before these doors. \Exit NURSE. 
 
 CHOR. Behold a man, whose dress 
 
 Is of such different fashion that it speaks 
 The foreigner, comes swiftly from the gate. 
 
 ORESTES, HERMIONE, CHORUS. 
 
 ORE. Is this th' abode of great Achilles' son, 
 The regal mansion, O ye foreign dames ? 
 
 CHOR. It is as thou hast said. But who art thou 
 That ask'st this question ? 
 
 ORE. Agamemnon's son, 
 
 And Clytemnestra's ; but my name's Orestes : 
 I to Dodona, th' oracle of Jove, 
 Am on my road ; but since I now have reached 
 The land of Phthia, first would I inquire 
 How fares Hermione, the Spartan dame, 
 My kinswoman ; doth she yet live and prosper ? 
 For though from me far distant be the land 
 In which she now resides, she still is dear. 
 
 HER. O son of Agamemnon, who thus make
 
 278 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Your seasonable appearance, like the haven 
 To mariners amidst a furious storm, 
 Take pity, I implore you by those knees, 
 On me a wretch whose inauspicious fortunes 
 You witness. Hence around your knees I fling 
 These arms, which ought to prove of equal force 
 With hallowed branches by the suppliant borne. 
 
 ORE. What's this ? am I deceived ? or do my eyes 
 Indeed behold the queen of these abodes, 
 And Menelaus' daughter ? 
 
 HER. Th' only child 
 
 Whom to the Spartan monarch Helen bore. 
 Mistake me not. 
 
 ORE. O Phcebus, healing power, 
 
 Protect us ! But what dire mischance hath happened ? 
 Or from the gods, cr human foes, proceed 
 The evils thou endui j st ? 
 
 HER. Some from myselt, 
 
 But others from the husband whom I wedded 
 The rest from one of the immortal gods. 
 I utterly am ruined. 
 
 ORE. What afflictions 
 
 Can any woman who's yet childless feel 
 But those which from her nuptial union spring ? 
 
 HER. Hence these distempers of the soul arise, 
 And well do you anticipate my words. 
 
 ORE. Enamoured with another, is thy lord 
 False to thy bed ? 
 
 HER. He loves a captive dame, 
 
 The wife of Hector. 
 
 ORE. This of which thou speak'st 
 
 Is a great evil, when one man possesses 
 Two wives. 
 
 HER. 'Twas thus, till I avenged the wrong. 
 
 ORE. Didst thou with arts familiar to thy sex 
 Plot 'gainst thy rival's life ? 
 
 HER. I would have killed 
 
 Her and her spurious son. 
 
 ORE. Hast thou despatched them ? 
 
 Or were they screened from their impending fate ? 
 
 HER. Old Peleus to these worthless objects showed 
 Too great a reverence. 
 
 ORE,. Was there any friend 
 
 Ready to aid thee in the purposed slaughter ? 
 
 HER. My sire, who for this cause from Sparta came. 
 
 ORE. Yet by that aged man was he subdued ? 
 
 HER. Abashed he fled, and left me here alone. 
 
 ORE. I understand thee well : thy husband's wrath 
 Thou fear'st for what thou'st done.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 279 
 
 HER. The fact you know : 
 
 Hence justly will he take away my life. 
 What can be said? yet by immortal Jove, 
 Our grandsire, I conjure you, send me far 
 From these domains, or to my father's house. 
 Had but these walls a voice, they would proclaim 
 The sentence of my exile, for the land 
 Of Phthia hates me. If my lord return 
 From Phoebus' oracle, for the misdeeds 
 I have committed, he will strike me dead, 
 Or force me to become that harlot's slave 
 Whom erst I ruled. 
 
 ORE. By some will it be asked 
 
 Whence then into such errors didst thou fall ? 
 
 HER. My ruin I derive from the admission 
 Of these vile women, who inflamed my pride 
 By uttering these rash words : '' Wilt thou endure 
 Beneath thy roof that odious slave who shares 
 Thy bridal couch ? by Juno, awful queen, 
 I would not suffer such a wretch to breathe 
 In my polluted chamber." When I heard 
 The language uttered by these crafty sirens, 
 Artificers of mischief, who, to suit 
 Their purpose, in persuasive strains displayed 
 The power of eloquence, I was puffed up 
 With folly : for what need had I to hold 
 My lord in reverence while possessed of all 
 That I could wish ? abundant wealth was mine, 
 O'er these abodes I reigned, and any children 
 I to my husband might hereafter bare 
 Would be legitimate ; but hers, by mine 
 In strict subjection held, a spurious race. 
 But never, never (I this truth repeat) 
 Should \\ edded men, who have the gift of reason, 
 Let women have a free access, and visit 
 Their consort. For they teach her evil lessons : 
 Urged by the hopes of lucre, one corrupts 
 Her chastity ; a second hath already 
 Transgressed herself, and wishes that her friend 
 May be as vicious : many by their lust 
 Are led astray : hence to their husband's house 
 A train of mischief rises. Guard the doors 
 Of your abodes with locks and massive bars ; 
 Since from the intrusion of these female guests, 
 No good, but mischiefs numberless ensue. 
 
 CHOR. Thou to thy tongue hast given too free a 
 
 scope 
 
 In thus aspersing the whole female race : 
 Thy present woes indeed our pardon claim ;
 
 280 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Yet every woman is in duty bound 
 
 To gloss o'er the misconduct of her sex. 
 
 ORE. Wisdom pertained to him who taught mankind 
 To hear the reasons by both parties urged 
 In a debate. Aware of the confusion 
 In these abodes, and of the strife 'twixt thee 
 And Hector's wife, I stayed not to observe 
 Whether thou in this house wouldst still remain, 
 Or through a fear of yonder captive dame 
 Abandon it : I therefore hither came, 
 Nor waited for intelligence from thee. 
 And if a satisfactory account 
 Of thy proceedings thou to me canst give, 
 I will convey thee hence. For thou, who 'erst 
 Wert mine, with this thy present husband liv'st, 
 Through the perfidious conduct of thy sire. 
 Who ere he entered the domains of Troy 
 Affianced thee to me, and then to him 
 Who now possesses thee, again engaged, 
 If he the Phrygian city should subdue. 
 But I forgive thy lather tor this wrong, 
 When hither great Achilles' son returned, 
 And to the bridegroom sued that he would loose 
 Thy plighted hand ; of all my various fortunes 
 Informing him, and of my present woes; 
 How feasible it were for me to wed 
 Among my friends, but that for such an exile 
 As I am, driven from my paternal throne, 
 'Twould not be easy to obtain a consort 
 In any foreign land : on this he grew 
 More arrogant, and bitterly reproached me 
 Both with my mother's murder, and those Furies 
 Whose blood-stained visages inspire dismay. 
 By the misfortunes of my house bowed down 
 To earth, I grieved indeed, but grieving bore 
 The weight of these calamities, and reft 
 Of thee my bride, reluctantly departed. 
 But since thy fortunes now nave undergone 
 A change so unexpected, and involved 
 In woe, thou stand'st aghast ; from these abodes 
 Thee will I take and to thy sire convey. 
 For wondrous is the force of kindred ties ; 
 And in misfortunes nought exceeds the friend 
 Who from the self-same house derives his birth. 
 
 HER. My father will take care how to dispose 
 Of me in marriage, nor is it my province 
 Such question to decide. But, O convey me 
 From these loathed mansions with the utmost speed, 
 Lest when my husband at his first return
 
 ANDROMACHE. 281 
 
 Enters the doors, he intercept my flight ; 
 
 Or, hearing that I leave his grandson's house, 
 
 Peleus pursue me with his rapid steeds. 
 
 ORE. Be of good cheer against that aged man, 
 And from thy furious lord, Achilles' son, 
 Who treated me with scorn, fear nought ; this hand 
 Hath with such cautious artifice prepared 
 For him th' inevitable snares of death, 
 Of which no previous mention will I make : 
 But when it is accomplished, this exploit 
 Shall on the rock of Delphi be proclaimed. 
 I who my mother slew, if th' armed friends 
 Whom I have stationed in the Pythian realm 
 Observe their oaths, will teach him that he ought 
 To have abstained from wedding any dame 
 Betrothed to me. He in an evil hour 
 Shall claim atonement for his father's death 
 Of Phcebus mighty king ; nor shall repentance 
 For these audacious blasphemies avail 
 To save the miscreant on whose impious head 
 Apollo wreaks just vengeance ; by his wrath 
 O'ertaken, and entangled in my snares, 
 He wretchedly shall perish. For the gods 
 Subvert the prosperous fortunes of their foes 
 Nor suffer pride to rear her towering crest. 
 
 \Exeunt ORESTES and HFRMIONE. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ODE. 
 i. i. 
 
 Phcebus, thou god who with a mound 
 Of stately towers didst llion's rock surround ; 
 And thou, O Neptune, ruler of the main, 
 
 Borne swiftly by thy azure steeds 
 In a light car, who cleav'st the watery plain ; 
 After exerting with unwearied toil 
 
 Such skill as human works exceeds, 
 'Gainst wretched Troy when Mars his javelin bore, 
 Why, faithless to that chosen soil, 
 Left ye your city drenched in gore ? 
 
 i. 2. 
 
 The steeds ye yoked on Simois' banks 
 Whirled many a chariot through the broken ranks ; 
 No hero gathered in that stubborn fray 
 
 One laurel to adorn his head : 
 Phrygia's illustrious rulers swept away,
 
 282 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Took their last voyage to a distant shore, 
 And mingled with the vulgar dead, 
 
 While the polluted altars ceased to gleam 
 Upwafting to the skies no more 
 Their frankincense in odorous steam. 
 
 Slain by his wife Atrides fell ; 
 His furious son sent to the shades of Hell 
 The murderess, and returned th' unnatural deed, 
 
 That fatal stroke the god approved, 
 His oracles ordained that she should bleed, 
 When young Orestes at the inmost shrine 
 
 Was by a heavenly impulse moved, 
 His hands in gore maternal to imbrue. 
 
 O Phoebus, O thou power divine, 
 
 How shall I think th' assertion true ? 
 
 In Greece doth many a dame complain 
 Chaunting rude dirges for her children slain ; 
 Others their native land reluctant leave, 
 
 And to a foreign lord are brought. 
 Nor yet hast thou alone just cause to grieve, 
 Nor to thy friends hath Heaven's peculiar hate 
 
 These signal miseries wrought : 
 Victorious Greece still feels as deep a wound, 
 
 From whence the thunderbolt of fate 
 
 Through Phrygia scattered deaths around. 
 
 PELEUS, CHORUS. 
 
 PEL. Answer my questions, O ye Phthian dames, 
 For doubtful is the rumour I have heard, 
 That Menelaus' daughter, when she left 
 This house departed from the realm. I come 
 Anxious to learn if this account be true. 
 For 'tis their duty who remain at home 
 To guard the fortunes of their absent friends. 
 
 CHOR. What thou hast heard, O Peleus, is the truth, 
 And ill would it become me to conceal 
 The woes in which I deeply am involved : 
 Our royal mistress from these walls is fled. 
 
 PEL. What feared she ? say. 
 
 CHOR. ^ The anger of her lord, 
 
 Lest he from these abodes should cast her forth. 
 
 PEL. Because she plotted to have slain the boy ? 
 
 CHOR. E'en so it was. Yon captive too she dreaded, 
 
 PEL. But from these mansions did she go, attended, 
 Or by her father or by whom ?
 
 ANDROMACHE. 283 
 
 CHOR. The son 
 
 Of Agamemnon from this land conveyed her. 
 
 PEL. What are his views ? to take her for his bride ? 
 
 CHOR. Thy grandson too he meditates to slay. 
 
 PEL. Stationed in secret ambush, or resolved 
 To meet the dauntless warrior face to face ? 
 
 CHOR. Beneath Apollo's unpolluted fane 
 With Delphi's citizens. 
 
 PEL. Atrocious crime ! 
 
 Ah me ! will no one with his utmost speed 
 Go to the altar of the Pythian god, 
 And to our friends disclose what passes here, 
 Ere by his foes Achilles' son is slain ? 
 
 MESSENGER, PELEUS, CHORUS. 
 
 MES. What evil tidings do I bring to you, 
 
 aged man, and all my master's friends ! 
 PEL. By a sad presage which affects my soul 
 
 1 of th' impending evil am forewarned. 
 
 MES. Know then, O Peleus, that your wretched grandson 
 Is now no more, with such unnumbered wounds 
 He by the Delphic citizens transpierced, 
 And by that stranger from Mycene died. 
 
 CHOR. Alas ! alas ! but what resource is left 
 For thee, thou hoary veteran ? do not fall ; 
 Raise thyself up. 
 
 PEL. To very nothing now 
 
 Am I reduced, I utterly am ruined : 
 The power of speech deserts me, and these limbs 
 Forget their office. 
 
 MES. Hear me, and from earth 
 
 Arise, if, with th' assistance of your friends, 
 You for this murder wish to be revenged. 
 
 PEL. How hast thou compassed wretched me, who stand 
 On the last verge of spiritless old age, 
 O cruel fate ! say how the only son 
 Of my deceased, my only son, was slain. 
 These tidings though unwelcome would I hear. 
 
 MES. After we reached Apollo's sacred realm, 
 While thrice the chariot of the sun performed 
 Its bright career, we satiated our eyes 
 With viewing all around. The circumstance 
 Which raised suspicion first, was this : the people 
 Who dwell within the temple of the god 
 Held frequent meetings, and in crowds assembled. 
 Meanwhile the son of Agamemnon went 
 Through the whole city, and in every ear 
 Whispered malignant words like these : " Behold
 
 284 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Him who is visiting the hallowed shrine 
 
 Of Phoebus piled with gold, the treasures given 
 
 By all mankind ; the miscreant conies again 
 
 On the same purpose which first drew him hither, 
 
 To overthrow the temple of the god." 
 
 Through the whole city hence an evil rumour 
 
 Went forth, and all the magistrates, to whom 
 
 The holy treasures were consigned, assembled, 
 
 In secret councils held, and placed a guard 
 
 Behind the massive columns in the fane. 
 
 We, unapprized of this, meantime had caught 
 
 Some sheep, that fed amid Parnassus' grove, 
 
 And with our Delphic friends and Pythian seers 
 
 Approached the altar : some one said: "Young man, 
 
 What vows on thy behalf shall we address 
 
 To Phcebus ? for what purpose art thou come ? " 
 
 He answered : " To the god I wish to make 
 
 A due atonement for my past offence, 
 
 Because I erst from him with impious tongue 
 
 Claimed satisfaction for my father's blood." 
 
 Hence did Orestes' calumnies appear 
 
 To have great weight, suggesting that my lord 
 
 Spoke an untruth, and that he hither came 
 
 With vile designs. Beneath the holy roof, 
 
 That to Apollo he might offer up 
 
 His prayers in that oracular abode, 
 
 He now advanced, and as they blazed, observed 
 
 The victims : here a troop with falchions armed 
 
 Screened by the branching laurels stood ; the son 
 
 Of Clytemnestra was the sole contriver 
 
 Of all these stratagems. Our lord stood forth, 
 
 And, in the sight of this insidious band, 
 
 Adored the god : while they with their keen swords, 
 
 Ere he discerned them, pierced Achilles' son 
 
 Unsheathed in mail. He instantly retreated ; 
 
 For he as yet had by no deadly wound 
 
 Been smitten ; but snatched up in his retreat 
 
 Those glittering arms which near the portals hung, 
 
 And stood a champion terrible to view, 
 
 Close to the blazing altar : with loud voice 
 
 He questioned the inhabitants of Delphi : 
 
 " Me who a pious votary hither come, 
 
 Why, or for what offences, would ye slay ! " 
 
 Although the number of his foes was great, 
 
 None of them answered, but all hands hurled stones : 
 
 On every side assaulted by a storm 
 
 Thick as the falling snows, he warded off, 
 
 Extending the broad margin of his shield, 
 
 Each missile weapon : but of no avail
 
 ANDROMACHE. 285 
 
 Was this resistance : for the spear, the shaft, 
 
 The dart, were thrown at once, and at his feet 
 
 Mixed instruments of sacrifice lay scattered. 
 
 Th' agility with which your grandson shunned 
 
 The blows they aimed, was wondrous to behold : 
 
 They in a circle gathering round, closed in, 
 
 Nor gave him space to breathe, till from the altar 
 
 Descending with a leap like that which bore 
 
 The hapless Grecian chief to Phrygia's coast, 
 
 He rushed among them : like a flock of doves 
 
 Who see the hawk appear, they turned and fled : 
 
 In heaps on heaps promiscuous, many fell, 
 
 Some in the narrow passage wounded lay, 
 
 While others o'er them trampled, and their groans 
 
 Unholy echoed through the hallowed dome. 
 
 But, tranquil as the waters in a calm, 
 
 In golden arms my lord resplendent stood, 
 
 Till from the inmost sanctuary burst forth 
 
 A deep-toned voice of horror, which impelled 
 
 The recreant warriors to renew the fight : 
 
 Achilles' son then smitten through the flank 
 
 With a keen sword, by one of Delphi fell, 
 
 Who slew him, yet ignobly, with the aid 
 
 Of multitudes. But after he to earth 
 
 Was fallen, what sword transpierced him not, what hand 
 
 Threw not a stone to smite him ? his whole frame, 
 
 So graceful erst, was with unnumbered wounds 
 
 Disfigured : till at length his mangled corse, 
 
 Which stained the altar's basis, from the fane 
 
 Drenched with the blood of victims they cast forth. 
 
 But gathering up with speed, his loved remains 
 
 To you we bear, O venerable man, 
 
 That o'er them you may shed the plenteous tear, 
 
 And grace them with sepulchral rites. Thus Phoebus, 
 
 Who prophesies to others, mighty king, 
 
 And deals out justice to th' admiring world, 
 
 Hath on Achilles' son revenged himself, 
 
 And, like some worthless human foe, revived 
 
 An ancient grudge : how then can he be wise ? 
 
 \_Exit MESSENGER. 
 
 CHOR. But lo ! our royal master, from the land 
 Of Delphi borne, approaches these abodes ! 
 Wretched was he, by such untimely doom 
 O'ertaken : nor art thou, O aged man, 
 Less wretched than the slaughtered youth : for thou 
 Into thy doors receiv'st Achilles' son, 
 But not as thou couldst wish ; thou too art fallen 
 Into affliction's snare. 
 
 PEL. What piteous object,
 
 386 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Ah me ! do I behold, and with these hands 
 
 Receive into my house ! we are undone, 
 
 We are undone, O thou Thessalian city ; 
 
 I have no children, no descendants left, 
 
 To occupy these mansions. On what friend 
 
 Shall I a wretched sufferer turn my eyes, 
 
 And hope to find relief? O thou dear face, 
 
 Ye cheeks, ye hands ! thee would to Heaven that fate 
 
 In those embattled fields of Troy had slain 
 
 Beside the waves of Simois ! 
 
 CHOR. He in death 
 
 Hence would have found renown ; thou too, old man, 
 Wouldst have been happier. 
 
 PEL. Thou, O wedlock, wedlock, 
 
 These mansions and my city hast o'erthrown. 
 My grandson, through the inauspicious nuptials 
 By thee contracted, would to heaven my gates 
 Had ne'er received that execrable fiend 
 Hermione, thy bane ! O had she first 
 With thunderbolts been smitten ! nor hadst thou, 
 Presumptuous mortal, charged the Delphic god 
 With having aimed the shaft which slew thy sire ! 
 
 CHOR. I will awake the sad funereal dirge, 
 And wailing pay to my departed lord 
 Such customary tribute as attends 
 The shades of mighty chiefs, 
 
 PEL. Ah me ! at once 
 
 With misery and old age bowed down to earth, 
 I shed th' incessant tear. 
 
 CHOR. Thus hath the god 
 
 Ordained, the god's vindictive arm hath wrought 
 All these calamities. 
 
 PEL. O most beloved, 
 
 This house, ah me ! a desert hast thou left, 
 And me a miserable old man made childless. 
 
 CHOR. Before thy children, O thou aged man, 
 Thou shouldst have died. 
 
 PEL. Shall I not rend my hair, 
 
 And beat with desperate hands this hoary head ? 
 O city ! Phoebus hath of both my sons 
 Deprived me. 
 
 CHOR. O thou miserable old man, 
 
 What evils hast thou witnessed and endured ! 
 How wilt thou pass the remnant of thy life ? 
 
 PEL. Childless, forlorn, no period to my woes 
 Can I discover, but till death must drink 
 The bitter potion. 
 
 CHOR. Sure the gods in vain 
 
 Showered blessings on thy nuptials.
 
 ANDROMACHE. 287 
 
 PEL. Fled and withered 
 
 Is all our ancient pomp. 
 
 CHOR. Alone thou mov'st 
 
 Around thy lonely house. 
 
 PEL. I have no city. 
 
 Thee, O my sceptre, to the ground I cast, 
 And from yon dreary caverns of the main, 
 Daughter of Nereus, me wilt thou behold 
 Utterly ruined, grovelling in the dust. 
 
 CHOR. Ha ! who was it that moved? what form divine 
 Do I perceive? look there ! ye nymphs, attend, 
 With rapid passage through the fleecy clouds 
 Borne onward, some divinity arrives 
 At Phthia's pastures, famed for generous steeds. 
 
 THETIS, PELEUS, CHORUS. 
 
 THE. O Peleus, mindful of the ties which bound 
 Our plighted love, I hither from the house 
 Of Nereus come, and with these wholesome counsels 
 Begin ; despair not, though thy present woes 
 Are grievous : for e'en I who should have borne 
 A race of children such as ne'er might cause 
 My tears to stream, have lost the son who crowned 
 Our hopes, Achilles, swift of foot, the first 
 Of Grecian heroes. But to thee, the motives 
 Which brought me hither, will I now relate ; 
 O listen to my voice. Back to that altar 
 Devoted to the Pythian god, convey 
 This body of Achilles' slaughtered son, 
 And bury it ; so shall his tomb declare 
 The murderous violence Orestes' band 
 Committed : but yon captive dame, I mean 
 Andromache, on Helenus bestowed 
 In marriage, in Molossia's land must dwell, 
 And her young son, the only royal branch 
 Which of the stem of ^Eacus remains ; 
 From him in long succession shall a race 
 Of happy kings Molossia's sceptre wield : 
 Nor will our progeny, O aged man, 
 Be utterly extinct, when blended thus 
 With Ilion, still protected by the gods. 
 Though by Minerva's stratagems it fell. 
 But, as for thee, that thou mayst know the blessing 
 Of having wedded me, who am by birth 
 A goddess and the daughter of a god, 
 From all the ills which wait on human life 
 Releasing, thee immortal will I make 
 And incorruptible ; with me a goddess 
 In Nereus' watery mansions thou a god
 
 288 EURIPIDES. 
 
 Hereafter shalt reside, and from the waves 
 Emerging with dry feet, behold our son 
 Achilles, to his parents justly dear, 
 Inhabiting that isle whose chalky coasts 
 Are laved by the surrounding Euxine deep. 
 But go to Delphi's city by the gods 
 Erected, thither bear this weltering corse, 
 And when thou hast interred it, to this land 
 Return, and in that cave which through the rock 
 Of Sepia time hath worn, thy station keep 
 Till from the waves I with my sister choir 
 The fifty Nereids come, to bear thee hence. 
 Thou must endure the woe's imposed by fate, 
 For thus hath Jove ordained. But cease to grieve 
 For the deceased : for by the righteous gods 
 The same impartial sentence is awarded 
 To the whole human race, and death's a debt 
 Which all must pay. 
 
 PEL. Hail, venerable dame, 
 
 Daughter of Nereus, my illustrious wife : 
 For what thou dost is worthy of thyself, 
 And of thy progeny. I cease to grieve 
 At thy command, O goddess, and will go, 
 Soon as my grandson's corse I have interred, 
 To Pelion's cave, where first thy beauteous form 
 I in these arms I'eceived. The man whose choice 
 Is by discretion guided, should select 
 A consort nobly born, and give his daughters 
 To those of virtuous families, nor wish 
 .To wed a damsel sprung from worthless sires, 
 Though to his house a plenteous dower she bring : 
 So shall he ne'er incur the wrath of Heaven. 
 
 CHOR. A thousand shapes our varying fates assume, 
 The gods perform what we could least expect, 
 And oft the things for which we fondly hoped 
 Come not to pass : but Heaven still finds a clue 
 To guide our steps through life's perplexing maze. 
 And thus does this important business end. 
 
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