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AESCHYLUS'
PROMETHEUS BOUND
AND THE
SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.
LITERALLY TRANSLATED,
WITH CRITICAL AND ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES,
BY
THEODORE ALOIS BUCKLEY, B.A.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
EDWAKD B BOOKS, JE,
PHILADELPHIA :
DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER,
1022 MARKET STREET.
Copyright, 1897, by DAVID McKAY.
INTRODUCTION.
.ZEscHYLUs, the first of the great Grecian writers of
tragedy, was born at Eleusis, in 525 B.C. He was the
son of Euphorion, who was probably a wealthy owner of
rich vineyards. The poet's early emploj T ment was to
watch the grapes and protect them from the ravages of
men and other animals, and it is said that this occupation
led to the development of his dramatic genius. It is
more easy to believe that it was responsible for the devel-
opment of certain other less admirable qualities of the
poet.
His first appearance as a tragic writer was in 499 B.C.,
and in 484 B.C. he won a prize in the tragic contests.
He took part in the battle of Marathon, in 490 B.C., and
also fought in the battle of Salamis, in 480 B.C. He
visited Sicily twice, and probably spent some time in that
country, as the use of many Sicilian words in his later
plays would indicate.
There is a curious story related as to his death, which
took place at Gela in 456 B. C. It is said that an eagle,
mistaking his bald head for a stone, dropped a tortoise
upon it in order to break its shell, and that the blow quite
killed ^Eschylus. Too much reliance should not be
placed upon this story.
It is not known how many plays the poet wrote, but
2056199
vi INTRODUCTION.
only seven have been preserved to us. That these trage-
dies contain much that is undramatic is undoubtedly true,
but it must be remembered that at the time he wrote,
jEschylus found the drama in a very primitive state . The
persons represented consisted of but a single actor, who
related some narrative of mythological or legendary inter-
est, and a chorus, who relieved the monotony of such a
performance by the interspersing of a few songs and
dances. To JEschylus belongs the credit of creating the
dialogue in the Greek drama by the introduction of a
second actor.
In the following pages will be found a translation of
two of the poet's greatest compositions, viz., the "Pro-
metheus Chained" and the "Seven Against Thebes."
The first of these dramas has been designated " The sub-
limest poem and simplest tragedy of antiquity," and the
second, while probably an earlier work and containing
much that is undramatic, presents such a splendid spec-
tacle of true Grecian chivalry that it has been regarded as
the equal of anything which the author ever attempted.
The characters represented in the "Prometheus" are
Strength, Force, Vulcan, Prometheus, lo, daughter of
Inachus, Ocean and Mercury. The play opens with the
appearance of Prometheus in company with Strength,
Force and Vulcan, who have been bidden to bind Prome-
theus with adamantine fetters to the lofty cragged rocks
of an untrodden Scythian desert, because he has offended
Jupiter by stealing fire from heaven and bestowing it
upon mortals.
Vulcan is loth to obey the mandates of Jove, but urged
on by Strength and Force and the fear of the consequences
INTRODUCTION. vii-
which disobedience will entail, with mighty force drives
the wedges into the adamantine rocks and rivets the cap-
tive with galling shackles to the ruthless crags.
Prometheus, being bound and left alone, bemoans his
fate and relates to the chorus of nymphs the base ingrati-
tude of Jove, who through his counsels having over-
whelmed the aged Saturn beneath the murky abyss of
Tartarus, now rewards his ally with indignities because
he had compassion upon mortals.
Ocean then comes to Prometheus, offering sympathy
and counsel, urging him not to utter words thus harsh
and whetted, lest Jupiter seated far aloft may hear them
and inflict upon him added woes to which his present suf-
ferings will seem but child's play.
Ocean having taken his departure, Prometheus again
complains to the chorus and enumerates the boons which
he has bestowed upon mankind, with the comment that
though he has discovered such inventions for mortals, he
has no device whereby he may escape from his present
misfortune.
lo, daughter of Inachus, beloved by Jove, but forced,
through the jealous hatred of Juno, to make many wan-
derings, then appears, and beseeches Prometheus to dis-
cover to her what time shall be the limit of her sufferings.
Prometheus accedes to her request and relates how she
shall wander over many lands and seas until she reaches
the city of Canopus, at the mouth of the Nile, where she
shall bring forth a Jove-begotten child, from whose seed
shall finally spring a dauntless warrior renowned in arch-
ery, who will liberate Prometheus from his captivity and
accomplish the downfall of Jove.
INTRODUCTION.
Io then resumes her wanderings, and Mercury, sent by
Jove, comes to question Prometheus as to the nuptials
which he has boasted will accomplish the overthrow of the
ruler of the Gods. Him Prometheus reviles with oppro-
brious epithets, calling him a lackey of the Gods, and re-
fuses to disclose anything concerning the matter on which
he questions him. The winged God, replying, threatens
him with dire calamities. A tempest will come upon him
and overwhelm him with thunderbolts, and a bloodthirst-
ing eagle shall feed upon his liver. Thus saying, he de-
parts, and immediately the earth commences to heave,
the noise of thunder is heard, vivid streaks of lightning
blaze throughout the sky and a hurricane the onslaught
of Jove sweeps Prometheus away in its blast.
The " Seven against Thebes " includes in its cast of
characters Eteocles, King of Thebes, Antigone and Is-
mene, Sisters of the King, a Messenger and a Herald.
The play opens with the siege of Thebes. Eteocles ap-
pears upon the Acropolis in the early morning, and exhorts
the citizens to be brave and be not over-dismayed at the
rabble of alien besiegers. A messenger arrives and an-
nounces the rapid approach of the Argives. Eteocles
goes to see that the battlements and the gates are prop-
erly manned, and during his absence the chorus of The-
ban maidens set up a great wail of distress and burst
forth with violent lamentations. Eteocles, returning, up-
braids them severely for their weakness and bids them
begone and raise the sacred auspicious shout of the paean
as an encouragement to the Theban warriors. He then
departs to prepare himself and six others to meet in com-
bat the seven chieftains who have come against the city.
INTRODUCTION. ix
He soon re-enters, and at the same time comes the
messenger from another part of the city with fresh tid-
ings of the foe and the arrangement of the invaders
around the walls of the city. By the gate of Proetus
stands the raging Tydeus with his helm of hairy crests
and his buckler tricked out with a full moon and a gleam-
ing sky full of stars, against whom Eteocles will marshal
the wary son of Astacus, a noble and a modest youth, who
detests vain boastings and yet is not a coward.
By the Electron gate is stationed the giant Campaneus,
who bears about him the device of a naked .man with a
gleaming torch in his hands, crying out " I will burn the
city." Against him will be pitted the doughty Polyphon-
tes, favored by Diana and other gods.
Against the gate of Neis the mighty Eteoclus is wheel-
ing his foaming steeds, bearing a buckler blazoned with a
man in armor treading the steps of a ladder to his foe-
man's tower. Megareus, the offspring of Creon, is the
valiant warrior who will either pay the debt of his nurture
to his land or will decorate his father's house with the
spoils of the conquered Eteoclus.
The fiery Hippomedon is raging at the gate of Onca
Minerva, bearing upon his buckler a Typhon darting forth
smoke through his fire-breathing mouth, eager to meet
the brave Hyperbius, son of (Enops, who has been se-
lected to check his impetuous onslaught.
At the gate of Boreas the youthful Parthenopaeus takes
his stand, a fair-faced stripling, upon whose face the
youthful down is just making its appearance. Opposed
to him stands Actor, a man who is no braggart, but who
will not submit to boastful tauntings or permit the rash
intruder to batter his way into the city.
i*
x INTRODUCTION.
The mighty Amphiarus is waiting at the gate of Ho-
molbis, and in the meantime reproaches his ally, Tydeus,
calling him a homicide, and Polynices he rebukes with
having brought a mighty armament into his native city.
Lasthenes, he of the aged mind but youthful form, is the
Thebian who has been chosen to marshal his forces against
this invader.
At the seventh gate stands Polynices, brother of Eteo-
cles, bearing a well-wrought shield with a device con-
structed upon it of a woman leading on a mailed warrior,
bringing havoc to his paternal city and desirous of becom-
ing a fratricide. Against him Eteocles will go and face
him in person, and leader against leader, brother against
brother and foeman against foeman, take his stand.
Eteocles then departs to engage in battle, and soon
after the messenger enters to announce that six of the
Theban warriors have been successful, but that Polynices
and Eteocles have both fallen, slain by each other's hand.
Antigone and Ismene then enter, each bewailing the
death of their brothers. A herald interrupts them in
the midst of their lamentations to announce to them the
decree of the senate, which is that Eteocles, on account
of his attachment to his country, though a fratricide,
shall be honored with fitting funeral rites, but that Poly-
nices, the would-be overturner of his native city, shall be
cast out unburied, a prey to the dogs.
Against this decree Antigone rebels, and with her final
words announces her unalterable intention of burying
her brother in spite of the fate which awaits her disobe-
dience to the will of the senate.
PROMETHEUS CHAINED.
PROMETHEUS having, by his attention to the wants of men,
provoked the anger of Jove, is bound down in a cleft of a
rock in a distant desert of Scythia. Here he not only relates
the wanderings, but foretells the future lot of lo, and like-
wise alludes to the fall of Jove's dynasty. Disdaining to
explain his meaning to Mercury, he is swept into the abyss
amid terrific hurricane and earthquake.
PERSONS REPEESENTED.
STRENGTH.
FORCE.
VULCAN.
PROMETHEUS.
CHORUS OF NYMPHS, DAUGH-
TERS OF OCEAN.
10, DAUGHTER OF INACHUS.
MERCURY.
STRENGTH, FORCE, VULCAN, PROMETHEUS.
STRENGTH. 1- \Ve are come to a plain, the distant bound-
1 Lucian, in his dialogue entitled " Prometheus," or " Cau-
casus," has given occasional imitations of passages in this play,
not, however, sufficient to amount to a paraphrase, as Dr.
Blomfield asserted. Besides, as Lucian lays the scene at
Caucasus, he would rather seem to have had the "Prometheus
solutus" in mind. (See Schutz, Argum.) But the ancients
commonly made Caucasus the seat of the punishment of Pro-
metheus, and, as ^Eschylus is not over particular in his geogra-
phy, it is possible that he maybe not altogether consistent with
himself. Lucian makes no mention of Strength and Force, but
brings in Mercury at the beginning of the dialogue. More-
over, Mercury is represented in an excellent humor, and ral-
lies Prometheus good-naturedly upon his tortures. Thus, 6,
12 PROMETHEUS. [2-15.
ary of the earth, to the Scythian track, to an untrodden 1
desert. Vulcan, it behooves thee that the mandates, which
thy Sire imposed, be thy concern to bind this daring
wretch 2 to the lofty-cragged rocks, in fetters of adamantine
chains that can not be broken ; for he stole and gave to mor-
tals thy honor, the brilliancy of fire [that aids] all arts. 3
Hence for such a trespass he must needs give retribution to
the gods, that he may be taught, to submit to the sovereignty
of Jupiter, and to cease from his philanthropic disposition.
VULCAN. Strength and Force, as far as you are con-
cerned, the mandate of Jupiter has now 4 its consummation,
aud there is no farther obstacle. But I have not the courage
he says, t\> tXf. (caraTrrJjo-trai <5t fifij xat b derS; atraKtpwv TO rjjrap,
a>r iravra \oir ivri rir (caXrjr- Kai ti>jir)\avo TrXairriKrjS". In regard
to the place where Prometheus was bound, the scene doubtless
represented a ravine between two precipices rent from each
other, with a distant prospect of some of the places mentioned
in the wanderings of lo. (See Schutz, ibid.) But as the whole
mention of Scythia is an anachronism, the less said on this
point the better. Compare, however, the following remarks
of Humboldt, Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 140, "The legeud of Prome-
theus, and the unbinding of the chains of the fire-bringing
Titan on the Caucasus by Hercules in journeying eastward
the ascent of lo from the valley of the Hybrites [See Griffiths'
note on v. 717, on vfipurrfis" irorapds-, which must be a proper
name] toward the Caucasus; and the myth of Phryxus and
Helle all point to the same path on which Phoauician naviga-
tors had earlier adventured."
1 Dindorf, in his note, rightly approves the elegant reading
a^ps-o'j (=Airav9pwoii) in lieu of the frigid aparov. See Blomf.
and Surges. As far as this play is concerned, the tract was not
actually impassable, but it was so to mortals.
2 AEa>pyo~=/5a<5>upyo~, iravovpyoT, iraKoCpyoS". Cf. Liddell and
Linwood, s. v. The interpretation and derivation of the etym.
magn. o rds bvBpo-nuv TrXdor/jr, is justly rejected by Dindorf, who
remarks that ^Eschylus paid no attention to the fable respect-
ing Prometheus being the maker of mankind.
3 The epithet Travrc\.vov, which might perhaps be rendered
"art-full," is explained by v. 110 and 254.
* See Jelf. Gk. Gr. 720, 2d.
I6-34-] PROMETHEUS. 13
to bind perforce a kindred god to this weather-beaten ravine.
Yet in every way it is necessary for me to take courage for
this task ; for a dreadful thing it is to disregard 1 the direc-
tions of the Sire. 2 Lofty-scheming son of right-counseling
Themis, unwilling shall I rivet thee unwilling in indissoluble
shackles to this solitary rock, where nor voice nor form of any
one of mortals shalt thou see ; s but slowly scorched by the
bright blaze of the sun thou shalt lose the bloom of thy
complexion ; and to thee joyous shall night in spangled
robe* veil the light ; and the sun again disperse the hoar-
frost of the morn ; and evermore shall the pain of the pres-
ent evil waste thee ; for no one yet born shall release thee.
Such fruits hast thou reaped from thy friendly disposition to
mankind. For thou, a god, not crouching beneath the wrath
of the gods, hast imparted to mortals honors beyond what
was right. In requital whereof thou shalt keep sentinel on
this cheerless rock, standing erect, sleepless, not bending a
knee : 5 and many laments and unavailing groans shalt thou
utter ; for the heart of Jupiter is hard to be entreated ; and
every one that has newly-acquired power is stern.
1 There seems little doubt that c$<apia$eiv is the right read-
ing. Its ironical force answers to Terence's "probe curasti."
2 I have spelled Sire in all places with a capital letter, as
Jove is evidently meant. See my note on v. 49.
3 This is not a mere zeugma, but is derived from the suppo-
sition that sight was the chief of the senses, and in a manner
included the rest. (Cf. Plato Tim. p. 533, C. D.) See the ex-
amples adduced by the commentators. Schrader on Musseus
5, and Boyes, Illustrations to Sept. c. Th. 98. Shakespeare has
burlesqued this idea in his exquisite buffoonery, Midsummer
Night's Dream, Act v. sc. 1.
Pyramus. I see a voice : now will I to the chink,
To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face.
* Claudian de rapt. Pros. II. 363. " Stellantes nox picta sinus."
See on Soph. Trach. 94.
5 I.e., having no rest. Soph. (Ed. Col. 19. <cXa xdpijjov rou<5'
iv' ajtorou Trt'rpsu.
14 PROMETHEUS. [35-54-
ST. Well, well ! Why art thou delaying and vainly com-
miserating ? Why loathest thou not the god that is most
hateful to the gods, who has betrayed thy prerogative to
mortals ?
VUL. Relationship and intimacy are of great power.
ST. I grant it but how is it possible to disobey the Sire's
word ? Dreadest thou not this the rather ?
VUL. Ay truly thou art ever pitiless and full of boldness.
ST. For to deplore this wretch is no cure [for him]. But
concern not thou thyself vainly with matters that are of no
advantage.
VUL. O much detested handicraft !
ST. Wherefore loathest thou it ! for with the ills now
present thy craft in good truth is not at all chargeable.
VUL. For all that, I would that some other had obtained
this.
ST. Every thing has been achieved except for the gods to
rule ; for no one is free save Jupiter. 1
VUL. I know it and I have nothing to say against it. 2
ST. Wilt thou not then bestir thyself to cast fetters about
this wretch, that the Sire may not espy thee loitering ?
VUL. Ay, and in truth you may see the manacles ready.
1 The difficulties of this passage have been increased by no
one of the commentators perceiving the evident opposition be-
tween Seal and Zcv~. As in the formula S> ZEU xal Qeoi (cf. Plato
Protag. p. 193, E.; Aristoph. Plut. I. with Bergler's note; Ju-
lian Caes. p. 51, 59, 76; Dionys. Hal. A. E. II. p. 80, 3281, 20,
ed. Sylb.) so, from the time of Homer downward, we find Zci>-
constantly mentioned apart from the other gods (cf. II. I. 423,
494), and so also with his epithet narijp, as in v. 4, 17, 20, etc.)
(Eustath, on II. T. I., p. Ill, 30, on ZsuS" a\\nxoi> niv OTrXur Trarhp
i\ex9n). There is evidently, therefore, the opposition expressed
in the text; "'Tis not for the other gods (i.e. roir aXXoir eioir)
to rule, but for Jove alone." This view was approved, but not
confirmed, by Paley.
3 See Dindorf.
55-74-] PROMETHEUS. 15
ST. Take them, and with mighty force clench them with
the mallet about his hands : rivet him close to the crags.
VUL. This work of ours is speeding to its consummation
and loiters not.
ST. Smite harder, tighten, slacken at no point, for he hath
cunning to find outlets even from impracticable difficulties.
VUL. This arm at all events is fastened inextricably.
ST. And now clasp this securely, that he may perceive
himself to be a duller contriver than Jupiter.
VUL. Save this [sufferer], no one could with reason find
fault with me.
ST. Now by main force rivet the ruthless fang of an ada-
mantine wedge right through his breast. 1
VUL. Alas ! alas ! Prometheus, I sigh over thy sufferings.
ST. Again thou art hanging back, and sighest thou over
the enemies of Jupiter ? Look to it, that thou hast not at
some time to mourn for thyself.
VUL. Thou beholdest a spectacle ill-sighted to the eye.
ST. I behold this wretch receiving his deserts. But fling
thou these girths round his sides.
VUL. I must needs do this ; urge me not very much.
ST. Ay, but I will urge thee, and set thee on too. Move
downward, and strongly link his legs.
VUL. And in truth the task is done with no long toil.
ST. With main force now smite the galling fetters, since
stern indeed is the inspector of this work.
VUL. Thy tongue sounds in accordance with thy form.
ST. Yield thou to softness, but taunt not me with ruth-
lessness and harshness of temper.
1 Paley well observes that there is no objection to this inter-
pretation, for if Prometheus could endure the daily gnawing
of his entrails by the vulture, the rivets wouldn't put him to
much trouble. Lucian, # 6, is content with fastening his hands
to the two sides of the chasm.
16 PROMETHEUS. [75-104.
VTTL. Let us go ; since lie hath the shackles about his
limbs.
ST. There now be insolent ; and after pillaging the pre-
rogatives of the gods, confer them on creatures of a day.
In what will mortals be able to alleviate these agonies of
thine ? By no true title do the divinities call thee Prome-
theus ; for thou thyself hast need of a Prometheus, by means
of which you will slip out of this fate. 1
[Exeunt STRENGTH and FORCE.
PROMETHEUS. O divine aether, and ye swift-winged
breezes, and ye fountains of rivers, and countless dimpling 2
of the waves of the deep, and thou earth, mother of all
and to the all-seeing orb of the Sun I appeal ; look upon me,
what treatment I, a god, am enduring at the hand of the
gods ! Behold with what indignities mangled I shall have
to wrestle through time of years innumerable. Such an
ignominious bondage hath the new ruler of the immortals
devised against me. Alas ! alas ! I sigh over the present
suffering, and that which is coming on. How, where must
a termination of these toils arise ? And yet what is it I am
saying? I know beforehand all futurity exactly, and no
suffering will come upon me unlooked-for. But I needs
must bear my doom as easily as may be, knowing as I do,
that the might of Necessity can not be resisted.
1 TV\TIS is retained by Dindorf, but rsxvns is defended by
Griffiths and Paley. I think, with Burges, that it is a gloss
Upon Ilpo/irjOtuj.
2 So Milton, P. L. iv. 165.
Cheer'd with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles.
Lord Byron (opening of the Giaour) :
There mildly dimpling Ocean's cheek
Eeflects the tints of many a peak,
Caught by the laughing tides that lave
Those Edens of the eastern wave.
105-132.] PROMETHEUS. 17
But yet it is not possible for me either to hold my peace,
or not to hold my peace touching these my fortunes. For
having bestowed boons upon mortals, I am enthralled un-
happy in these hardships. And I am he that searched out
the source of fire, by stealth borne-off inclosed in a fennel-
rod, 1 which has shown itself a teacher of every art to mor-
tals, and a great resource. Such then as this is the ven-
geance that I endure for my trespasses, being riveted in
fetters beneath the naked sky.
Hah ! what sound, what ineffable odor 2 hath been wafted
to me, emanating from a god, or from mortal, or of some
intermediate nature? Has there come anyone to the re-
mote rock as a spectator of my sufferings, or with what in-
tent ! 3 Behold me an ill-fated god in durance, the foe of
Jupiter, him that hath incurred the detestation of all the
gods who frequent the court of Jupiter, by reason of my
excessive friendliness to mortals. Alas ! alas ! what can
this hasty motion of birds be which I again hear hard by
me ? The air too is whistling faintly with the whirrings of
pinions. Every thing that approaches is to me an object of
dread.
CHORUS. Dread thou nothing ; for this is a friendly band
that has eome with the fleet rivalry of their pinions to this
1 Literally "filling a rod," TrXtfpuroj here being active. Cf.
Agam. 361, arijj iraxaA&jrou. Choeph. 296, Trap<ji8j.pT<a n6pu>. Pers.
105, TroXe/ioos irvpyoSaixTovf. See also Blomfield, and Person on
Hes. 1117, vapBriZ is "ferula" or "fennel-giant," the pith of
which makes excellent fuel. Blomfield quotes Proclus on
Hesiod, Op. 1, 52, "the vapOnl preserves flame excellently, having
a soft pith inside, that nourishes, but can not extinguish the
flame." For a strange fable connected with this theft, see
.Elian Hist. An. VI. 51.
2 On the preternatural scent supposed to attend the presence
of a deity, cf Eur. Hippol. 1391. with Monk's note, Virg. .<En. I.
403, and La Cerda. See also Boyes's Illustrations.
3 On th cf. Jelf, Gk. Gr. 723, 2.
18 PROMETHEUS. [133-167.
rock, after prevailing with difficulty on the mind of our
father. And the swiftly-wafting breezes escorted me ; for
the echo of the clang of steel pierced to the recess of our
grots, and banished my demure-looking reserve ; and I sped
without my sandals in my winged chariot.
PR. Alas ! alas ! ye offspring of prolific Thetys, and
daughters of Ocean your sire, who rolls around the whole
earth in his unslumbering stream ; look upon me, see clasped
in what bonds I shall keep an unenviable watch on the top-
most crags of this ravine.
CH. I see, Prometheus : and a fearful mist full of tears
darts over mine eyes, as I looked on thy frame withering
on the rocks 1 in these galling adamantine fetters : for new
pilots are the masters of Olympus ; and Jove, contrary to
right, lords it with new laws, and things aforetime had in
reverence he is obliterating.
PR. Oh would that he had sent me beneath the earth, and
below into the boundless Tartarus of Hades that receives the
dead, after savagely securing me in indissoluble bonds, so
that no god at any time, nor any other being, had exulted
in this my doom. Whereas now, hapless one, I, the sport of
the winds, suffer pangs that gladden my foes.
CH. Who of the gods is so hard-hearted as that these
things should be grateful to him ? Who is there that sym-
pathizes not with thy sufferings, Jove excepted? He, in-
deed, in his wrath, assuming an inflexible temper, is ever-
more oppressing the celestial race ! nor will he cease before
that either he shall have sated his heart, or some one by
some stratagem shall have seized upon his sovereignity that
will be no easy prize.
1 Elmsley's reading, irerpa . . . rate, is preferred by Dindorf,
and seems more suitable to the passage. But if we read raiafc,
it will come to the same thing, retaining irirpaiT.
168-202.] PROMETHEUS. 19
PR. In truth hereafter the president of the immortals 1
shall have need of me, albeit that I am ignominiously suffer-
ing in stubborn shackles, to discover to him the new plot by
which he is to be despoiled of his sceptre and his honors.
But neither shall he win me by the honey -tongued charms of
persuasion ; nor will I at any time, crouching beneath his
stern threats, divulge this matter, before he shall have re-
leased me from my cruel bonds, and shall be willing to yield
me retribution for this outrage.
CH. Thou indeed both art bold, and yieldest nought to
thy bitter calamities, but art over free in thy language. But
piercing terror is worrying my soul ; for I fear for thy for-
tunes. How, when will it be thy destiny to make the haven
and see the end of these thy sufferings? for the son of Saturn
has manners that supplication cannot reach, and an inexo-
rable heart.
PR. I know that Jupiter is harsh, and keeps justice to
himself ; but for all that he shall hereafter be softened in
purpose, when he shall be crushed in this way ; and, after
calming his unyielding temper with eagerness will he here-
after come into league and friendship with me that will
eagerly [welcome him].
CH. Unfold and speak out to us the whole story, from
what accusation has Jupiter seized thee, and is thus disgrace-
fully and bitterly tormenting thee. Inform us, if thou be
in no respect hurt by the recital.
PR. Painful indeed are these things for me to tell, and
painful too for me to hold my peace, and in every way
grievous. As soon as the divinities began discord, and
a feud was stirred up among them with one another one
1 Surely we should read this sentence interrogatively, as in
V. 99, T'! TTOT p6xO(.ov Xpf) ripfiara r<D>)<5' eirtrei\ai ; although the
editions do iiot agree as to that passage. So Burges.
20 PROMETHEUS. [203-231.
party 1 wishing to eject Saturn from his throne, in order
forsooth that Jupiter might be king, and others expediting
the reverse, that Jupiter might at no time rule over the
gods : then I, when I gave the best advice, was not able to
prevail upon the Titans, children of Uranus and Terra ; but
they, contemning in their stout spirits wily schemes, fancied
that without any trouble, and by dint of main force, they
were to win the sovereignty. But it was not once only that
my mother Themis, and Terra, a single person with many
titles, had forewarned me of the way in which the future
would be accomplished ; how it was destined, that, not
by main force, nor by the strong hand, but by craft the
victors should prevail. When, however, I explained such
points in discourse, they deigned not to pay me any regard
at all. Of the plans which then presented themselves to
me, the best appeared that I should take my mother and
promptly side with Jupiter, who was right willing [to
receive us]. And 'tis by means of my counsels that the
murky abyss of Tartarus overwhelms the antique Saturn,
allies and all. After thus being assisted by me, the tyrant
of the gods hath recompensed me with this foul recom-
pense. For somehow this malady attaches to tyranny, not
to put confidence in its friends. But for your inquiries
upon what charge is it that he outrages me, this I will make
clear. As soon as he has established himself on his father's
throne, he assigns forthwith to the different divinities each
his honors, and he was marshaling in order his empire ; but
of woe-begone mortals he made no account, but wished, after
1 Nominativus Pendens. Soph, Antig. 259, A<5yo< 6' iv d\\fi-
\oiatv ippdOow KOLKOI, <pv\a% i\iyx,<av <j>v\aKa, where see Wunder, and
Elmsley on Eur. Heracl. 40. But it is probably only the o\nn<t
Ka6' 6'Aoi/ KOI /jcpor, on which see Jelf, Gk. Gr. 478, aud the same
thing takes place with the accusative, as in Autig. 21, sq. 561.
See Erfurdt on 21.
232-260.] PROMETHEUS. 21
having annihilated the entire race, to plant another new
one. And these schemes no one opposed except myself.
But I dared : I ransomed mortals from being utterly de-
stroyed, and going down to Hades. 'Tis for this, in truth,
that I am bent by sufferings such as these, agonizing to
endure, and piteous to look upon. I that had compassion
for mortals, have myself been deemed unworthy to obtain
this, but mercilessly am thus coerced to order, a spectacle
inglorious to Jupiter.
CH. Iron-hearted and formed of rock too, Prometheus, is
he, who condoles not with thy toils : for I could have wished
never to have beheld them, and now, when I behold them, I
am pained in my heart.
PR. Ay, in very deed I am a piteous object for friends
to behold.
CH. And didst thou chance to advance even beyond this ?
PR. Yes ! I prevented mortals from foreseeing their
doom.
CH. By finding what remedy for this malady ?
PK. I caused blind hopes to dwell within them.
CH. In this thou gavest a mighty benefit to mortals.
PR. Over and above these boons, however, I imparted
fire to them.
CH. And do the creatures of a day now possess bright fire ?
PB. Yes from which they will moreover learn thoroughly
many arts.
CH. Is it indeed on charges such as these that Jupiter is
both visiting thee with indignities, and in no wise grants
thee a respite from thy pains ? And is no period to thy toils
set before thee ?
PR. None other assuredly, but when it may please him.
CH. And how shall it be his good pleasure ? What hope
is there? Seest thou not that thou didst err ? but how thou
22 PROMETHEUS. [261-295.
didst err, I can not relate with pleasure, and it would be a
pain to you. But let us leave these points, and search thou
for some escape from thine agony.
PK. 'Tis easy, for any one that hath his foot unentangled
by sufferings, both to exhort and to admonish him that is
in evil plight. But I knew all these things willingly, will-
ingly I erred, I will not gainsay it ; and in doing service to
mortals I brought upon myself sufferings. Yet not at all did
I imagine, that, in such a punishment as this, I was to wither
away upon lofty rocks, meeting with this desolate solitary
crag. And yet wail ye not over my present sorrows, but
after alighting on the ground, list ye to the fortune that is
coming on, that ye may learn the whole throughout. Yield
to me, yield ye, take ye a share in the woes of him that is
now suffering. Hence in the same way doth calamity, roam-
ing to and fro, settle down on different individuals.
CH. Upon those who are nothing loth hast thou urged
this, Prometheus : and now having with light step quitted
my rapidly-wafted chariot-seat, and the pure aether, high-
way of the feathered race, I will draw near to this rugged
ground : and I long to hear the whole tale of thy sufferings.
Enter OCEAN.
I am arrived at the end of a long journey, 1 having passed
over [it] to thee, Prometheus, guiding this winged steed of
mine, swift of pinion, by my will, without a bit ; and, rest
assured, I sorrow with thy misfortunes. For both the tie of
kindred thus constrains me, and, relationship apart, there
is no one on whom I would bestow a larger share [of my
regard] than to thyself. And thou shalt know that these
words are sincere, and that it is not in me vainly to do lip-
service ; for come, signify to me in what it is necessary for
1 See Linwood's Lexicon, s. v. a/^i'/Scj, whose construing I
have followed.
296-321.] PROMETHEUS. 23
me to assist thee ; for at no time shalt thou say that thou
hast a stancher friend than Oceanus.
PR. Hah ! what means this ? and hast thou too come to
be a witness of my pangs? How hast thou ventured, after
quitting both the stream that bears thy name, and the rock-
roofed self-wrought 1 grots, to come into the iron teeming
land? Is it that you may contemplate my misfortunes, and
as sympathizing with my woes that thou hast come ? Be-
hold a spectacle, me here the friend of Jupiter, that helped
to establish his sovereignty, with what pains I am bent by
him,
Oc. I see, Prometheus, and to thee, subtle as thou art, I
wish to give the best counsel. Know thyself, and assume to
thyself new manners ; for among the gods too there is a new
monarch. But if thou wilt utter words thus harsh and
whetted, Jupiter mayhap, though seated far aloft, will hear
thee, so that the present bitterness of sufferings will seem to
thee to be child's play. But, O hapless one ! dismiss the
passion which thou feelest, and search for a deliverance from
these sufferings of thine. Old-fashioned maxims these, it
may be, I appear to thee to utter ; yet such becomes the wages
of the tongue that talks too proudly. But not even yet art
thou humble, nor submittest to ills ; and in addition to those
that already beset thee, thou art willing to bring others upon
thee. Yet not, if at least thou takest me for thy instructor,
1 Cf. Virg. 2En. I. 167, "Intus aquae dulces, vivoque sedilia
saxo."
"The rudest habitation, ye might think
That it had sprung from earth self-raised, or grown
Out of the living rock." Wordsworth's Excursion,
Book vi.
Compare a most picturesque description of Diana's cave, in
Apul. Met. II. p. 116 ; Elm. Telemachus. Book I. ; Uudine, ch.
viii. ; Lane's Arabian Nights, vol. iii. p. 385.
24 PROMETHEUS. [322-348.
wilt thou stretch out thy leg against the pricks ; as thou seest
that a harsh monarch, and one that is not subject to control,
is lording it. And now I for my part will go, and will essay,
if I be able, to disinthrall thee from these thy pangs. But be
thou still, nor be over impetuous in thy language. What !
knowest thou not exactly, extremely intelligent as thou art,
that punishment is inflicted on a froward tongue ?
PR. I give thee joy, because that thou hast escaped cen-
sure, after taking part in and venturing along with me in all
things. And now leave him alone, and let it not concern
thee. For in no wise wilt thou persuade him ; for he is not
open to persuasion. And look thou well to it that thou take
not harm thyself by the journey.
Oc. Thou art far better calculated by nature to instruct
thy neighbors than thyself : I draw my conclusion from fact,
and not from word. But think not for a moment to divert
me from the attempt. For I am confident, yea, I am confi-
dent, that Jupiter will grant me this boon, so as to release
thee from these pangs of thine.
PR. In part I commend thee, and will by no means at any
time cease to do so. For in zeal to serve me thou lackest
nothing. But trouble thyself not ; for in vain, without be-
ing of any service to me, 1 wilt thou labor, if in any respect
thou art willing to labor. But hold thou thy peace, and
keep thyself out of harm's way J for I, though I be in mis-
fortune, would not on this account be willing that sufferings
1 Although Dindort has left SIRS ANOS before the lines begin-
ning with ov dnra, yet as he in his notes, p. 54, approves of the
opinion of Elmsley (to which the majority of critics assent), I
have continued them to Prometheus. Dindorf (after Burges)
remarks that the particles oil <5<?ra deceived the copyists, who
thought that they pointed to the commencement of a new
speaker's address. He quotes Soph. (Ed. C. 433; Eur. Alcest.
555; Heracl. 507, sqq., where it is used as a continuation of a
previous argument, as iu the present passage.
349-366.] PROMETHEUS. 25
should befall as many as possible. No, indeed, since also
the disasters of my brother Atlas gall my heart, who is sta-
tioned in the western regions, sustaining on his shoulders the
pillar of heaven and of earth, a burden not of easy grasp.
I commiserated too when I beheld the earth-born inmate of
the Cilician caverns, a tremendous prodigy, the hundred-
headed impetuous Typhon, overpowered by force, who with-
stood all the gods, hissing slaughter from his hungry jaws ;
and from his eyes there flashed a hideous glare, as though
he would perforce overthrow the sovereignty of Jove. But
the sleepless shaft of Jupiter came upon him, the descending
thunderbolt breathing forth flame, which scared him out of
his presumptuous bravadoes ; for having been smitten to his
very soul he was crumbled to a cinder, and thunder-blasted
in his prowess. And now, a helpless and paralyzed form is
he lying hard by a narrow frith, pressed down beneath the
roots of ..Etna. 1 And, seated on the topmost peaks, Vulcan
1 It has been remarked that JEschylus had Pindar in mind,
see Pyth, I. 31, and VIII. 20. On this fate of Enceladns cf.
Philostrat. de V. Apoll. V. 6 ; Apollodorus I. ; Hygin. Fab. 152;
aud for poetical descriptions, Cornel. Severus 2Etua, 70, " Gur-
gite Trinacrio morientem Jupiter ^Etna Obruit Enceladum,
vasti qui pondere montis ^stuat, et patulis exspirat faucibus
ignes." Virg. .<En. III. 578; Valer. Flacc. II. 24; Ovid. Met.
V. Fab. V. 6 ; Claudian, de raptu Pros. I. 155 ; Orph. Arg. 1256.
Strabo, I. p. 42, makes Hesiod acquainted with these eruptions.
(See Goettling on Theog. 821.) But Prometheus here utters a
prophecy concerning an eruption that really took place during
the life of ^schylus, Ol. 75, 2, B C. 479. Cf. Thucydides III.
116; Cltiver, Sicil. Antig. p. 104, and Dindorfs clear and
learned note. There can be little doubt but Enceladus aud Ty-
phon are only different names for the same monster. Burges
has well remarked the resemblance between the Egyptian Ty-
pho and the Grecian, and considers them both as "two out-
ward forms of one internal idea, representing the destructive
principle of matter opposed to the creative." I shall refer the
reader to Plutarch's entertaining treatise on Isis and Osiris ; but
26 PROMETHEUS. [367-386.
forges the molten masses, whence there shall one day burst
forth floods devouring with fell jaws the level fields of
fruitful Sicily : with rage such as this shall Typhon boil
over in hot artillery of a never-glutted fire-breathing storm ;
albeit he hath been reduced to ashes by the thunder-bolt of
Jupiter. But thou art no novice, nor needest thou me for
thine instructor. Save thyself as best thou knowest how ;
but I will exhaust my present fate until such time as the
spirit of Jupiter shall abate its wrath.
Oc. Knowest thou not this then, Prometheus, that words
are the physicians of a distempered feeling 7 1
PR. True, if one seasonably soften down the heart, and
do not with rude violence reduce a swelling spirit.
Oc. Ay, but in foresight along with boldness' 2 what mis-
chief is there that thou seest to be inherent? inform me.
PK. Superfluous trouble and trifling folly.
Oc. Suffer me to sicken in this said sickness, since 'tis of
the highest advantage for one that is wise not to seem to be
wise.
PR. (Not so, for) this trespass will seem to be mine.
to quote authorities from Herodotus down to the Apologetic
Fathers, would be endless.
1 I think, notwithstanding the arguments of Dindorf, that
<5pyffr voc-owrjr means "a mind distempered," and that A<5yo<
mean "arguments, reasonings." Boyes, who always shows a
poetical appreciation of his author, aptly quotes Spenser's
Fairy Queen, b. 2, c. 8, st. 26.
"Words well dispost,
Have secrete powre t' appease inflamed rage."
And Samson Agonistes :
"Apt words have power to swage
The tumors of a troubled inind."
The reading of Plutarch, ^vxvr appears to be a mere gloss.
3 Intell ige audaciam prudentid conjunctam. Blomfield.
387-421.] PROMETHEUS. 27
Oc. Thy language is plainly sending me back to my
home.
PR. Lest thy lamentation over me bring thee into ill-will.
Oc. What with him who hath lately seated himself on the
throne that ruleth over all ?
PR. Beware of him lest at any time his heart be moved
to wrath.
Oc. Thy disaster, Prometheus, is my monitor.
PR. Away ! withdraw thee, keep thy present determina-
tion.
Oc. On me, hastening to start, hast thou urged this in-
junction ; for my winged quadruped flaps with his pinions
the smooth track of zether ; and blithely would he recline
his limbs in his stalls at home. [Exit OCEAN.
CH. I bewail thee for thy lost fate, Prometheus. A flood
of trickling tears from my yielding eyes has bedewed my
cheek with its humid gushings ; for Jupiter commanding this
thine unenviable doom by laws of his own, displays his
spear appearing superior o'er the gods of old. 1 And now
the whole land echoes with wailing they wail thy stately
and time-graced honors, and those of thy brethren ; and all
they of mortal race that occupy a dwelling neighboring on
hallowed Asia 2 mourn with thy deeply-deplorable sufferings :
the virgins that dwell in the land of Colchis too, fearless
of the fight, and the Scythian horde who possess the most
remote regions of earth around lake Mreotis ; and the war-
like flower of Arabia, 3 who occupy a fortress on the craggy
1 ai'x//a is rendered "indoles" by Paley (see on Ag. 467).
Linwood by " authority," which is much nearer the truth, as
the spear was anciently used for the sceptre. Mr. Surges op-
portunely suggests Pindar's eyxor SdxoTov, which he gives to
Jupiter, Nem. vi. 90.
z Asia is here personified.
8 All commentators, from the scholiast downward, are natu-
28 PROMETHEUS. [422-444.
heights in the neighborhood of Caucasus, a warrior-host,
clamoring amid sharply-barbed spears.
One other god only, indeed, have I heretofore beheld in
miseries, the Titan Atlas, subdued by the galling of adaman-
tine 1 bonds, who evermore in his back is groaning beneath 2
the excessive mighty mass of the pole of heaven. And the
billow of the deep roars as it falls in cadence, the depth
moans, and the murky vault of Hades rumbles beneath the
earth, and the fountains of the pure streaming rivers wail
for his piteous pains.
PR. Do not, I pray you, suppose that I am holding my
peace from pride or self-will ; but by reflection am I gnawed
to the heart, seeing myself thus ignominiously entreated. 3
And yet who but myself denned completely the prerogative
for these same new gods? But on these matters I say noth-
ing, for I should speak to you already acquainted with these
things. But for the misfortunes that existed among mortals,
hear how I made them, that aforetime lived as infants,
rational and possessed of intellect. 4 And I will tell you,
rally surprised at this mention of Arabia, when Prometheus is
occupied in describing the countries bordering on the Euxine.
Surges conjectures 'A/3tip<or, which he supports with consider-
able learning. But although the name 'ApApt6cs~ (mentioned
by Suidas) might well be given to those whodwelt in unknown
parts of the earth, from the legendary travels of Abaris with
hisarrow, yet the epithet apctov ui/flor seems to point to some
really existing nation, while 'Adapter would rather seem pro-
verbial. Till, then, we are more certain, ^Eschylus must still
stand chargeable with geographical inconsistency.
1 I have followed Burges and Dindorf, although the latter
retains dffa^airoWroir in his text.
3 Why Dindorf should have adopted Hermann's frigid
{<irovreyd^ct, is not easily seen. The reader will, however, find
Griffiths' foot-note well deserving of inspection.
8 On vpov<ri\ovnevov, see Dindorf.
4 Among the mythographi discovered by Maii, and subse-
quently edited by Bode, the reader will find some allegorical
445-459-] PROMETHEUS. 29
having no complaint against mankind, as detailing the kind-
ness of the boons which I bestowed upon them : they who at
first seeing saw in vain, hearing they heard not. But, like
to the forms of dreams, for a long time they used to huddle
together all things at random, and naught knew they about
brick-built 1 and sun-ward houses, nor carpentry; but they
dwelt in the excavated earth like tiny emmets in the sunless
depths of caverns. And they had no sure sign either of
winter, or of flowery spring, or of fruitful summer ; but they
used to do every thing without judgment, until indeed I
showed to them the risings of the stars and their settings, 2
hard to be discerned.
And verily I discover for them Numbers, the surpassing
all inventions, 3 the combinations too of letters, and Memory,
explanations of these benefits given by Prometheus. See
Myth, primus I. 1, and tertius 3, 10, 9. They are, however,
little else than compilations from the commentary of Servius
on Virgil, and the silly, but amusing, mythology of Fulgeutius.
On the endowment of speech and reason to men by Prome-
theus, cf. Them 1st Or. xxxvi. p. 323, C. D. and xxvi. p. 338, C.
ed. Hard.; and for general illustrations, the notes of Wasse on
Sallust, Cat. sub init.
1 Brick-building is first ascribed toEuryalus and Hyperbius,
two brothers at Athens, by Pliny, H. N. vii. 56, quoted by
Stanley. After caves, huts of beams, filled in with turf-clods,
were probably the first dwellings of men. See Mallet's North-
ern Antiquities, p. 217, ed. Bohn. This whole passage has been
imitated by Moschion apud Stob. Eel. Phys. I. 11, while the
early reformation of men has ever been a favorite theme for
poets. Cf. Eurip. Suppl. 200 sqq.; Manilius I. 41, sqq.; and
Bronkhus, on Tibnll. I. 3, 35.
2 Cf. Apul. de Deo Socr. $ II. ed. mese, " quos probe callet, qui
signorum ortus et obitus comprehendit," Catullus (in a poem
imitated from Callimachus) carm. 67, 1. "Onmia qui magni
dispexit lumina mundi, Qui stellarum ortus comperit atque
obitus." See on Agam. 7.
3 On the following discoveries consult the learned and en-
tertaining notes of Stanley.
30 PROMETHEUS. [460-487.
effective mother-nurse of all arts. I also first bound with
yokes beasts submissive to the collars ; and in order that
with their bodies they might become to mortals substitutes
for their severest toils, I brought steeds under cars obedient
to the rein, 1 a glory to pompous luxury. And none other
than I invented the canvas-winged chariots of mariners that
roam over the ocean. After discovering for mortals such
inventions, wretch that I am, I myself have no device
whereby I may escape from my present misery.
CH. Thou hast suffered unseemly ills, baulked in thy dis-
cretion thou art erring ; and like a bad physician, having
fallen into a distemper thou art faint-hearted, and, in refer-
ence to thyself, thou canst not discover by what manner of
medicines thou mayest be cured.
PR. When thou nearest the rest of my tale, thou wilt won-
der still more what arts and resources I contrived. For the
greatest if that any one fell into a distemper, there was
no remedy, neither in the way of diet, nor of liniment, nor of
potion, but for lack of medicines they used to pine away to
skeletons, before that I pointed out to them the composition 2
of mild remedies, wherewith they ward off all their maladies.
Many modes too of the divining art did I classify, and was
the first that discriminated among dreams those which are
destined to be a true vision ; obscure vocal omens 3 too I made
1 Jjyayov 0iXii'iour ) i.e. tSort ^iXrjviowS" tlvai.
2 See the elaborate notes of Blomfield and Burges, from
whence all the other commentators have derived their infor-
mation. Kpdo-ir is what Scribouius Largus calls " compositio."
Cf. Ehodii Lexicon Scribon, p. 364-5; Serenus Sammonicus
"synthesis." The former writer observes in his preface, p. 2,
"est enim haec pars (compositio, scilicet) medicinseut maxime
necessaria, ita certe antiquissima, et ob hoc primum celebrata
atque illustrata. Siquidem verum est, antiques herbis ac radi-
cibus earum corporis vitia curasse."
3 Apul. de Deo Socr. $ 20, ed, mese, " ut vidcmus plerisque usu
488-s 1 1.] PROMETHEUS. 31
known to them ; tokens also incidental on the road, and the
flight of birds of crooked talons I clearly defined, both those
that are in their nature auspicious, and the ill-omened, and
what the kind of life that each leads, and what are their
feuds and endearments 1 and intercourse one with another :
the smoothness too of the entrails, and what hue they must
hare to be acceptable to the gods, the various happy forma-
tions of the gall and liver, and the limbs enveloped in fat :
and having roasted the long chine I pointed out to mortals
the way into an abstruse art ; and I brought to light the fiery
symbols 2 that were aforetime wrapt in darkness. Such in-
deed were these boons ; and the gains to mankind that were
hidden under ground, brass, iron, silver, and gold who
could assert that he had discovered before me ? No one, I
well know, who does not mean to idly babble. And in one
brief sentence learn the whole at once All arts among the
human race are from Prometheus.
CH. Do not now serve the human race beyond what is pro-
fitable, nor disregard thyself in thy distress : since I have
good hopes that thou shalt yet Deliberated from these shac-
kles, and be not one whit less powerful than Jove.
PR. Not at all in this way is Fate, that brings events to
their consummation ordained to accomplish these things : but
venire, qni nimia ominum superstitione, non suopte corde, sed
alterius verbo, reguntur : et per angiporta reptantes, consilia ex
alienis vocibus colligunt." Such was the voice that appeared
to Socrates. See Plato Theog. p. 11. A. Xenoph. Apol. 12 ; Pro-
clus in Alcib. Prim. 13, p. 41, Creuz. See also Stanley's note.
1 On these augurial terms see Abresch.
2 Although the Vatican mythologist above quoted observes
of Prometheus, " deprehendit prseterea rationem fulminum, et
hominibns indicavit " I should nevertheless follow Stanley
and Blomfield, in understanding these words to apply to the
omens derived from the flame and smoke ascending from the
sacrifices.
32 PROMETHEUS. [512-552.
after having been bent by countless sufferings and calamities,
thus am I to escape from my shackles. And art is far less
powerful than necessity.
CH. Who then is the pilot of necessity ?
PR. The triform Fates and the remembering Furies.
CH. Is Jupiter then less powerful than these ?
PR. Most certainly he can not at any rate escape his
doom. 1
CH. Why, -what is doomed for Jupiter but to reign for
evermore ?
PR. This thou mayest not yet learn, and do not press it.
CH. 'Tis surely some solemn mystery that thou veilest.
PR. Make mention of some other matter ; it is by no
means seasonable to proclaim this ; but it must be shrouded
in deepest concealment ; for it is by keeping this secret that
I am to escape from my ignominious shackles and miseries.
CH. Never may Jupiter, who directs all things, set his
might in opposition to my purpose : nor may I be backward
in attending upon the gods at their hallowed banquets, at
which oxen are sacrificed, beside the restless stream of my
sire Ocean ; and may I not trespass in my words ; but may
this feeling abide by me and never melt away. Sweet it is to
pass through a long life in confident hopes, making the
spirits swell with bright merriment; but I shudder as I be-
hold thee harrowed by agonies incalculable. . . . For not
standing in awe of Jupiter, thou, Prometheus, in thy self-
will honorest mortals to excess. Come, my friend, own how
boonless was the boon ; say where is any aid ? What relief
can come from the creatures of a day ? Sawest thou not the
powerless weakness, nought better than a dream, in which
1 Of. Herodot. I. 91, quoted by Blomfield : T)-,V Treirpwuivrjv fiot-
pr)v ddvvard ion. aTcofyvyicw icai roJ 0oj. Oil this Pythagorean 11O-
tioii of JSschylus see Stanley.'
553-564-1 PROMETHEUS. 33
the blind race of men is entangled ? Never shall at any time
the schemes of mortals evade the harmonious system of Ju-
piter. This I learned by witnessing thy destructive fate,
Prometheus. And far different is this strain that now flits
toward me from the hymenaeal chant which I raised around
the baths and thy couch with the consent 1 of nuptials, when,
after having won Hesione with thy love-tokens, thou didst
conduct her our sister to be thy bride, the sharer of thy bed.
Enter Io. 2
What land is this ? what race ? whom shall I say I here
behold storm-tossed in rocky fetters ? Of what trespass is
the retribution destroying thee? Declare to me into what
part of earth I forlorn have roamed. Ah me ! alas ! alas !
again the hornet 3 stings me miserable : O earth avert* the
1 Or, " in pleasure at the nuptials." See Linwood. Burges :
" for the one-ness of marriage."
2 No clew is given as to the form in which Io was repre-
sented on the stage. In v. 848, the promise ivravBa 6f> at Zewr
rie^aiv c/uppova does not imply any bodily change, but that Io
labored under a mental delusion. Still the mythologists are
against us, who agree in making her transformation complete.
Perhaps she was represented with horns, like the Egyptian
figures of Isis, but in other respects as a virgin, which is
somewhat confirmed by v. 592, /cXfcir 00<fy^a rSr povKepwirafOinoo.
3 "Gad-fly" or ''brize." See the commentators.
4 On the discrepancies of reading, see Dind. With the whole
passage compare Nounus, Dionys. III. p. 62, 2.
Taupo0vi)r ore rdp-rir a/iei/So^itvoio Trpoaunrov
fir ayi\rjv aypa"Aor i\avvtro avvvofior 'lai.
irat fafid^S" ayfivirvov iOnxaro fiovic6\ov "Hprj
irouclXov <nr\avetr<Ti KtKaa^kvov '\pyov dirajirdiS"
ZrivdS" dirurevTrjpa f3ooKpaip(i)v Vfitvaibiv.
"ii\vd? aOnfiroio rai eS~ ifOftdv Sjie xovpri,
6tp6a\ftovT rpofiiovaa jroAuyAjji/oio vojirjor.
*yu<o/3<5p<j ft ftiitiiTri "X.apaaaonivTr\ fiftaT 'lai
'lovujr [aAoT] olifia Kareyptupe (poirdii Xfi\!j.
ij\9c KOH eir * AtyvTrrov
This writer, who constantly has the Athenian dramatists in
2*
34 PROMETHEUS. [565-590.
goblin of earth-born Argus i 1 I am terrified at the sight of
the neatherd of thousand eyes, for he is journeying on,
keeping a cunning glance, whom not even after death does
earth conceal ; but issuing forth from among the departed
he chases me miserable, and he makes me to Avander famished
along the shingled strand, while the sounding wax-compacted
pipe drones on a sleepy strain. Oh ! oh ! ye powers ! Oh !
powers ! whither do my far-roaming wanderings convey me ?
In what, in what, O son of Saturn, hast thou, having found
me transgressing, shackled me in these pangs ? Ah ! ah !
and art thus wearing out a timorous wretch frenzied with
sting-driven fear. Burn me with fire, or bury me in
earth, or give me for food to the monsters of the deep, and
grudge me not these prayers, O king ! Amply have my
much-traversed wanderings harassed me ; nor can I discover
how I may avoid pain. Hearest thou the address of the ox-
homed maiden ?
PR. How can I fail to hear the damsel that is frenzy-
driven by the hornet, the daughter of Inachus, who warms
view, pursues the narrative of lo's wanderings with an evident
reference to ^Eschylus. See other illustrations from the poeta
iu Stanley's notes.
1 The ghost of Argus was doubtless whimsically represented,
but probably without the waste of flour that is peculiar to
modern stage spectres. Perhaps, as Burges describes, "a mute
in a dress resembling a peacock's tail expanded, and with a
Pan's pipe slung to his side, which ever and anon he seems to
sound; and with a goad in his hand, mounted at one end with
a representation of a hornet or gad-fly." But this phantom,
like Macbeth 's dagger, is supposed to he in the mind only.
With a similar idea Apuleius, Apol. p. 315, ed. Elm. invokes
upon ^milianus in the following mild terms: " At . . . sem-
per obvias species mortuorum, quidquid umbrarumest usquam,
quidquid lemurum, quidquid manium, quidquid larvarum
ocnlis tuis oggerat: omnia noctium occursacula, omnia busto-
rum formidamina, omnia sepulchrorum terriculamenta, a qui-
bus tamen sevo emerito baud louge abes."
591-621.] PROMETHEUS. 35
the heart of Jupiter with love, and now, abhorred of Juno,
is driven perforce courses of exceeding length ?
Io. From whence utterest thou the name of my father?
Tell me, the woe-begone, who thou art, who, I say, O hapless
one, that hast thus correctly accosted me miserable, and hast
named the heaven-inflicted disorder which wastes me, fret-
ting with its maddening stings ? Ah ! ah ! violently driven
by the famishing tortures of my boundings have I come a
victim to the wrathful counsels of Juno. And of the ill-fated
who are there, ah me ! that endure woes such as mine ? But
do thou clearly define to me what remains for me to suffer,
what salve : l what remedy there is for my malady, discover
to me, if at all thou knowest : speak, tell it to the wretched
roaming damsel.
PK. I will tell thee clearly every thing which thou desirest
to leam, not interweaving riddles, but in plain language, as
it is right to open the mouth to friends. Thou seest him
that bestowed fire on mortals, Prometheus.
Io. O thou that didst dawn a common benefit upon mor-
tals, wretched Prometheus, as penance for what offense art
thou thus suffering ?
PR. I have just ceased lamenting my own pangs.
Io. Wilt thou not then accord to me this boon ?
PR. Say what it is that thou art asking, for thou mightest
learn everything from me.
Io. Say who it was that bound thee fast in this cleft?
PR. The decree of Jupiter, but the hand of Vulcan.
Io. And for what offenses art thou paying the penalty ?
PR. Thus much alone is all that I can clearly explain to
thee.
1 I have followed Dindorf s elegant emendation. See his
note, and Blomf. on Ag. 1.
36 PROMETHEUS. [622-645.
Io. At least, in addition to this, discover what time shall
be to me woe-worn the limit of my wanderings.
PR. Not to learn this is better for thee than to learn it.
Io. Yet conceal not from me what I am to endure.
PR. Nay, I grudge thee not this gift.
Io. Why then delayest thou to utter the whole ?
PR. 'Tis not reluctance, but I am loth to shock thy feel-
ings.
Io. Do not be more anxious on my account than is agree-
able to me. 1
PR. Since thou art eager, I must needs tell thee : attend
thou.
CH. Not yet, however ; but grant me also a share of the
pleasure. Let us first learn the malady of this maiden, from
her own tale of her destructive 2 fortunes ; but, for the sequel
of her afflictions let her be informed by thee.
PR. It is thy part, Io, to minister to the gratification of
these now before thee, both for all other reasons, and that
they are the sisters of thy father. Since to weep and lament
over misfortunes, when one is sure to win a tear from the
listeners, is well worth the while.
Io. I know not how I should disobey you ; and in a plain
tale ye shall learn everything that ye desire ; and yet I am
pained even to speak of the tempest that hath been sent upon
me from heaven, and the utter marring of my person, whence
it suddenly came upon me, a wretched creature ! For nightly
visions thronging to my maiden chamber, would entice me
1 After the remarks of Dindorf and Paley, it seems that the
above must be the sense, whether we read > with Hermann,
or take wr for r\ cir with the above mentioned editor.
2 Paley remarks that ra~ iro\. rv\a~ is used in the same man-
ner as in Pers. 453. </,0api>rtS-=" shipwrecked" (see his note),
or " wandering." He renders the present passage " the adven-
tures of her long wanderings."
646-679-] PROMETHEUS. 37
with smooth words: "O damsel, greatly fortunate, why
dost thou live long time in maidenhood, when it is in thy
power to achieve a match the very noblest? for Jupiter is
fired by thy charms with the shaft of passion, and longs
with thee to share in love. But do not, my child, spurn
away from thee the couch of Jupiter ; but go forth to Lerna's
fertile mead, to the folds and ox-stalls of thy father, that
the eye of Jove may have respite from its longing." By
dreams such as these was I unhappy beset every night, until
at length I made bold to tell my sire of the dreams that
haunted me by night. And he dispatched both to Pytho
and Dodona 1 many a messenger to consult the oracles, that
he might learn what it behooved him to do or say, so as to
perform what was well-pleasing to the divinities. And they
came bringing a report back of oracles ambiguously worded,
indistinct, and obscurely delivered. But at last a clear re-
sponse came to Inachus, plainly charging and directing him
to thrust me forth both from my home and my country, to
stray an outcast to earth's remotest limits; and that, if he
would not, a fiery-visaged thunder-bolt would come from
Jupiter, and utterly blot out his whole race. Overcome by
oracles of Loxias such as these, unwilling did me expel and
exclude me unwilling from his dwelling : but the bit of
Jupiter 2 perforce constrained him to do this. And straight-
way :ny person and my mind were distorted, and horned, as
ye see, stung by the keenly-biting fly, I rushed with maniac
boundings to the sweet stream of Cerchneia, and the foun-
tain 3 of Lerna ; and the earth-born neatherd Argus of un-
1 With the earlier circumstances of this narrative compare
the beautiful story of Psyche in Apuleius, Met. IV. p. '157, sqq.
Elm.
2 Cf Ag. 217, T' c' dvdyica~ <5 X7ra<5"0i'.
3 xpfivriv is the elegant conjecture of Canter, approved by
38 PROMETHEUS. [680-707.
tempered fierceness, kept dogging me, peering after my
footsteps with thick-set eyes. Him, however, an unlooked-
for sudden fate bereaved of life ; but I hornet-stricken am
driven by the scourge divine from land to land. Thou
hearest what has taken place, and if thou art able to say
what pangs there remain for me, declare them ; and do not,
compassionating me, warm me with false tales, for I pro-
nounce fabricated statements to be a most foul malady.
CH. Ah ! ah ! forbear ! Alas ! Never, never did I expect
that a tale [so] strange would come to my ears, or that suf-
ferings thus horrible to witness and horrible to endure, out-
rages, terrors with their two-edged goad, would chill my
spirit. Alas! alas! O Fate ! Fate! I shudder as I behold
the condition of lo.
PR. Prematurely, however, are thou sighing, and art full
of terror. Hold, until thou shalt also have heard the residue.
CH. Say on ; inform me fully : to the sick indeed it is
sweet to get a clear knowledge beforehand of the sequel of
their sorrows.
PR. Your former desire at any rate ye gained from me
easily ; for first of all ye desired to be informed by her re-
cital of the affliction 1 that attaches to herself. Now give ear
to the rest, what sort of sufferings it is the fate of this young
damsel before you to undergo at the hand of Juno : thou too,
seed of Inachus, lay to heart my words, that thou mayest be
fully informed of the termination of thy journey. In the
Dindorf. In addition to the remarks of the commentators, the
tradition preserved by Pausanias II. 15, greatly confirms this
emendation. He remarks, Ocpov^ &s afa o-<j>io-iv t<m rd prf/iara,
n\fiv TMV ev A.epvrj. It was probably somewhat proverbial.
1 I shall not attempt to enter iuto the much-disputed geog-
raphy of lo's wanderings. So much has been said, and to so
little purpose, on this perplexing subject, that to write addi-
tional notes would be only to furnish more reasons for doubt-
ing.
708-738.] PROMETHEUS. 39
first place, after turning thyself from this spot toward the
rising of the sun, traverse unplowed fields ; and thou wilt
reach the wandering Scythians, who, raised from off the
ground, inhabit wicker dwellings on well-wheeled cars,
equipped with distant-shooting bows ; to whom thou must
not draw near, but pass on out of their land, bringing thy
feet to approach the rugged roaring shores. And on thy left
hand dwell the Chalybes, workers of iron, of whom thou must
needs beware, for they are barbarous, and not accessible to
strangers. And thou wilt come to the river Hybristes, 1 not
falsely so called, which do not thou cross, for it is not easy
to ford, until thou shalt have come to Caucasus itself, loftiest
of mountains, where from its very brow the river spouts
forth its might. And surmounting its peaks that neighbor
on the stars, thou must go into a southward track, where
thou wilt come to the man-detesting host of Amazons, who
hereafter shall make a settlement, Themiscyra, on the banks
of Thermodon, where lies the rugged Salmydessian sea-
gorge, a host by mariners hated, a step-dame to ships ; and
they will conduct thee on thy way, and that right willingly.
Thou shalt come too to the Cimmerian isthmus, hard by the
very portals of a lake, with narrow passage, which thou un-
dauntedly must leave, and cross the Mseotic frith ; and there
shall exist for evermore among mortals a famous legend
concerning thy passage, and after thy name it shall be called
the Bosphorus; and after having quitted European ground,
thou shalt come to the Asiatic continent. Does not then
the sovereign of the gods seem to you to be violent alike to-
ward all things? for he a god lusting to enjoy the charms of
1 Probably the Kurban. Schutz well observes that the words
ov i^tvo&m^of could not be applied to an epithet of the poet's own
creation. Such, too, was Humboldt's idea. See my first note
on this play.
40 PROMETHEUS. [739-764.
this mortal fair one, hath cast upon her these wanderings.
And a bitter wooer, maiden, hast thou found for thy hand ;
for think that the words which thou hast now heard are not
even for a prelude.
lo. Woe is me ! ah ! ah !
PR. Thou too in thy turn 1 art crying out and moaning :
what wilt thou do then, when thou learnest the residue of
thy ills ?
CH. What ! hast thou aught of suffering left to tell to
her?
PR. Ay, a tempestuous sea of baleful calamities.
lo. What gain then is it for me to live ? but why did I
not quickly fling myself from this rough precipice, that dash-
ing on the plain I had rid myself of all my pangs ? for better
is it once to die, than all one's days to suffer ill.
PR. Verily thou wouldst hardly bear the agonies of me to
whom it is not doomed to die. For this would be an escape
from sufferings. But now there is no limit set to my hard-
ships, until Jove shall have been deposed from his tyranny.
lo. What ! is it possible that Jupiter should ever fall from
his power?
PR. Glad wouldst thou be, I ween, to witness this event.
lo. And how not so, I, who through Jupiter am suffering
ill?
PR. Well, then, thou mayest assure thyself of these things
that they are so.
lo. By whom is he to be despoiled of his sceptre of tyr-
anny.
PR. Himself, by his own senseless counsels.
Jo. In what manner? Specify it, if there be no harm.
PR. He will make such a match as he shall one day rue. 2
1 See Schutz and Griffiths.
2 Wrapped in mystery as the liberation of Prometheus is in
76S-774-] PROMETHEUS. 41
lo. Celestial or mortal ? If it may be spoken, tell me.
PR. But why ask its nature ? for it is not a matter that I
can communicate to you.
lo. Is it by a consort that he is to be ejected from his
throne ?
PR. Yes, surely, one that shall give birth to a son mightier
than the father. 1
lo. And has he no refuge from this misfortune ?
PR. Not he, indeed, before at any rate I after being liber-
ated from my shackles
lo. Who, then, is he that shall liberate thee in despite of
Jupiter?
PR. It is ordained that it shall be one of thine own de-
scendants.
lo. How sayest thou ? Shall child of mine release thee
from thy ills ?
PR. Yes, the third of thy lineage in addition to ten other
generations. 2
this drama, it may be amusing to compare the following ex-
tracts from the Short Chronicle prefixed to Sir I. Newton's
Chronology.
"968. B.C. Sesak, having carried on his victories to Mount
Caucasus, leaves his nephew Prometheus there, to guard the
pass, etc.
"937. The Argonautic expedition. Prometheus leaves Mount
Caucasus, being set at liberty by Hercules," etc. Old Trans-
lator.
1 Stanley compares Pindar, Isth. vii. 33.
Treirpta/jiivov rjv Qep-
-rfpov y6vov [of] avaxra Trarp&S" TEKSIV.
And Apoll. Ehod. iv. 201. Also the words of Thetis herself in
Nonnus, Dionys. xxxiii. 356.
Zcv~ fie Trarrip <5i&)r icai ri0\ev er yafiov ?X<f(v,
el fifj fiiv iroOeovra yipwv dveKoirre Hpopr]0e65' )
Oc(nri^<jiv KpoviuvoS" dpciova nalla tpvreiiaai.
2 "These were; 1. Epaphus; 2. Lybia; 3. Belus; 4. Danaus;
42 PROMETHEUS. [775-797-
lo. This prophecy of thine is no longer easy for me to form
a guess upon.
PE. Nor seek thou to know over well thine own pangs.
lo. Do not, after proffering me a benefit, withhold it from
me.
PR. I will freely grant thee one of two disclosures.
lo. Explain to me first of what sort they are, and allow
me my choice.
PR. I allow it thee ; for choose whether I shall clearly tell
to thee the residue of thy troubles, or who it is that is to be
my deliverer.
CH. Of these twain do thou vouchsafe to bestow the one
boon on this damsel, and the other on me, and disdain thou
not my request. To her tell the rest of her wanderings, and
to me him that is to deliver thee ; for this I long [to hear].
PK. Seeing that ye are eagerly bent upon it, I will not
oppose your wishes, so as not to utter every thing as much
as ye desire. To thee in the first place, lo, will I describe
thy mazy wanderings, which do thou engrave on the record-
ing tablets of thy mind.
When thou shalt have crossed the stream that is the
boundary of the Continents, to the ruddy realms of morn
where walks the sun 1 having passed
over the roaring swell of the sea, until thou shalt reach the
Gorgonian plains of Cisthene, where dwell the Phorcides,
three swan-like aged damsels, that possess one eye in com-
mon, that have but a single tooth, on whom ne'er doth the
sun glance with his rays, nor the nightly moon. And hard
5. Hypermnestra ; 6. Abas; 7. Prcetus; 8. Acrisius; 9. Danae;
10. Perseus; 11. Electryon; 12. Alcmena; 13. Hercules."
Blomfield.
1 For two ways of supplying the lacuna in this description
of lo'a travels, see Diudorf and Paley.
798-826.] PROMETHEUS. 43
by are three winged sisters of these, the snake-tressed Gor-
gons, abhorred of mortals, whom none of human race can
look upon and retain the breath of life. 1 Such is this cau-
tion 2 which I mention to thee. Now lend an ear to another
hideous spectacle ; for be on thy guard against the keen-
fanged hounds of Jupiter that never bark, the gryphons, and
the cavalry host of one-eyed Arimaspians, who dwell on the
banks of the gold-gushing fount, the stream of Pluto : go not
thou nigh to these. And thou wilt reach a far-distant land,
a dark tribe, who dwell close upon the fountains of the sun,
where is the river jEthiops. Along the banks of this wend
thy way, until thou shalt have reached the cataract where
from the Bybline mountains the Nile pours forth his hal-
lowed, grateful stream. This will guide thee to the trian-
gular land of the Nile ; where at length, lo, it is ordained
for thee and thy children after thee to found the distant
colony. And if aught of this is obscurely uttered, and hard
to be understood, question me anew, and learn it thoroughly
and clearly : as for leisure, I have more than I desire.
CH. If indeed thou hast aught to tell of her baleful Avan-
derings, that still remains or hath been omitted, say on ; but
if thou hast told the whole, give to us in our turn the favor
which we ask, and you, perchance, remember.
PR. She hath heard the full term of her journeying.
And that she may know that she hath not been listening to
me in vain, I will relate what hardships she endured before
she came hither, giving her this as a sure proof of my state-
1 Being turned into stone. Such was the punishment of the
fire-worshipers in the story of the first Lady of Baghdad. See
Arabian Nights, Vol. I., p. 198. The mythico-geographical al-
lusions in the following lines have been so fully and so learn-
edly illustrated, that I shall content myself with referring to
the commentators.
2 See Linwood's Lexicon and Griffiths' note.
44 PROMETHEUS. [827-852.
ments. The very great multitude indeed of words I shall
omit, and I will proceed to the termination itself of thine
aberrations. For after that thou hadst come to the Molos-
sian plains, and about the lofty ridge of Dodona, where is
the oracular seat of Thesprotian Jove, and a portent passing
belief, the speaking oaks, by which thou wast clearly and
without any ambiguity saluted illustrious spouse of Jove that
art to be; if aught of this hath any charms for thee. 1 Thence
madly rushing along the seaside track, thou didst dart away
to the vast bay of Rhea, from which thou art tempest-driven
in retrograde courses : and in time to come, know well that
the gulf of the deep shall be called lO-nian, a memorial of
thy passage to all mortals. These hast thou as tokens of my
intelligence, how that it perceives somewhat beyond what
appears.
The rest I shall tell both to you and to her in common,
after reaching the very identical track of my former narra-
tive. There is on the land's utmost verge a city Canopus,
hard by the Nile's very mouth and alluvial dike ; on this
spot Jupiter at length makes thee sane by merely soothing
and touching thee with his unalarming hand. And named
after the progeniture of Jupiter 2 thou shalt give birth to
swarthy Epaphus, who shall reap the harvest of all the land
which the wide-streaming Nile waters. But fifth in descent
1 There is still much doubt about the elision tows', tl. Others
read the passage interrogatively. See Griffiths and Dindorf.
2 This pun upon the name of Epaphus is preserved by Mos-
chus II. 50.
iv $' J\v ZttiJ", i-nafywptvoS' fipijta xeiatt Oetirj
7r<ipr(or 'Ivaxi'qS'. rfiv iirTair6pw irapa NfiXaj
ix |3<5or eiiKcpdoto irdXiv //crd//<|3 yvvalKa.
and Nonnus, III. p. 62, 20 :
tvd' *Fjira<pov 6il rixrev axrtpaaiwv ori xd\ir<a>>
'IvaXtr/s (Ja/jaAr/r iiraQfiaaro OsloS" dKOirtiS"
853-874-] PROMETHEUS. 45
from him a generation of fifty virgins shall again come to
Argos, not of their own accord, fleeing from incestuous wed-
lock with their cousins ; and these with fluttering hearts,
like falcons left not far behind by doves, shall come pursuing
marriage such as should not be pursued, but heaven shall be
jealous over their persons ; l and Pelasgia shall receive them
after being crushed by a deed of night-fenced daring, wrought
by woman's hand ; for each bride shall bereave her respec-
tive husband of life, having dyed in their throats 2 a sword
of twin sharp edge. Would that in guise like this Venus
might visit my foes ! But tenderness shall soften one 3 of the
maidens, so that she shall not slay the partner of her
couch, but shall be blunt in her resolve ; and of the two al-
ternatives she shall choose the former, to be called a coward
rather than a murderess. She in Argos shall give birth to a
race of kings. There needs a long discourse to detail these
things distinctly ; but from this seed be sure shall spring a
dauntless warrior renowned in archery, who shall set me
free from these toils. Such predictions did my aged mother
1 There is much difficulty in tins passage. Dindorf under-
stands ixtiviav (/Egypt! filiorum), and so Paley, referring to his
notes on Ag. 938, Suppl. 437. Mr. Jelf, Gk. Gr., g 696, Obs. 3, ap-
pears to take the same view. There does not, therefore, seem
any need of alteration. On the other interpretation some-
times given to <pS6vov <i adipartov, see Linwood, v. QOAvos".
2 <r</>aya!<ri is rightly rendered "in jugulo" by Blomfield,
after Buhnk. Ep. Crit. I. p. 71. To the examples quoted add
Apul. Met. I. p. 108, "per jugulurn sinistrum capulotenus
pladium totum ei demergit," and p. 110, "jugulo ejus vulnus
dehiscit in patorem." The expression vvKrt/ppo -print Opdaei is
well illustrated by the words of Nounus, 1. c. p. 64, 17.
Kal Kpvipioir ^Kpiecrat aidripo'pdpiav iiri \tKTptav
apacva yv^ivdv aprja Kartvvaat OJjXiT ivv<*>.
3 See Nonnus I. c. Ovid, ep. xiv. 51, sqq.
"Sed timor, et pietas crudelibus obstitit ausis:
Castaque mandatum dextra refugit opus."
46 PROMETHEUS. [875-902.
the Titaness Themis rehearse to me ; but how and when to
tell this requires a long detail, and thou in knowing it all
wouldst be in nought a gainer.
lo. Eleleu ! Eleleu ! Once more the spasm 1 and madden-
ing frenzies inflame me and the sting of the hornet, wrought
by no fire, 2 envenoms me ; and with panic my heart throbs
violently against my breast. My eyes, too, are rolling in a
mazy whirl, and lam carried out of my course by the raging
blast of madness, having no control of tongue, but my
troubled words dash idly against the surges of loathsome
calamity.
[Exit lo.
CH. Wise was the man, ay, wise indeed, who first weighed
well this maxim, and with his tongue published it abroad,
that to match in one's own degree is best by far ; 3 and that
one who lives by labor should woo the hand neither of any
that have waxed wanton in opulence, nor of such as pride
themselves on nobility of birth. Never, O Destines,* never
may ye behold me approaching as a
partner the couch of Jupiter : nor may I be 5 brought to the
arms of any bridegroom from among the sons of heaven :
for I am in dread when I behold the maiden lo, contented
with no mortal lover, greatly marred by wearisome wander-
ings at the hand of Juno. For myself, indeed inasmuch
as wedlock on one's own level is free from apprehension I
feel no alarm. 6 And oh I never may the love of the mightier
1 On <r0a<fAor see Eahnk. Tim. p. 123, and Blornfield.
2 See Paley. a is never intensive.
3 Ou this admonition, generally attributed to Pittacus, see
Griffiths, and for a modern illustration in the miseries of Sir
John Anvil (or Euville), Knt., the Spectator, No. 299.
* Paley would supply vdrviai to complete the metre.
5 I have followed Griffiths.
6 Dindorf would throw out apo^or, Paley Av USta, remarking
that the sense appears to require ore.
903-929.] PROMETHEUS. 47
gods cast on me a glance that none can elude. This at least
is a war without a conflict, accomplishing things impossible : l
nor know I what might became of me, for I see not how I
could evade the counsel of Jove.
PR. Yet truly shall Jove, albeit he is self-willed in his
temper, be lowly, in such 2 wedlock is he prepared to wed, as
shall hurl him out of his sovereignty and off his throne a
forgotten thing ; and the curse of his father Saturn shall
then at length find entire consummation, which he impre-
cated when he was deposed from his ancient throne. From
disasters such as these there is no one of the gods besides
myself that can clearly disclose to him a way of escape. I
know this, and by what means. Wherefore let him rest on
in his presumption, putting confidence in his thunders aloft,
brandishing in his hand a fire-breathing bolt. For not one
jot shall these suffice to save him from falling dishonored in
a downfall beyond endurance ; such an antagonist is he now
with his own hands preparing against himself, a portent that
shall baffle all resistance ; who shall invent a flame more po-
tent than the lightning, and a mighty din that shall surpass
the thunder; and shall shiver the ocean trident, that earth-
convulsing pest, the spear of Neptune. And when he hath
stumbled upon this mischief, he shall be taught how great
is the difference between sovereignty and slavery.
CH. Thou forsooth art boding against Jupiter the things
thou wishest.
PR. Things that shall come to pass, and that I desire to
boot
1 I.e. possessing resources even among impossibilities. Cf.
Antig. 360. airopo? in oii&iv Zpxerai, and for the construction,
Jelf, Gk. Gr. ? 581, 2. obs.
2 I think Elmsley has settled the question in favor of roiov
for olov.
48 PROMETHEUS. [930-955.
CH. And are we to expect that any one will get the mas-
tery of Jove ?
PR. Ay, and pangs too yet harder to bear than these [of
mine] shall he sustain.
CH. And how is it that thou art not dismayed blurting out
words such as these ?
PR. Why at what should I be terrified to whom it is not
destined to die ?
CH. Yet perchance he will provide for thee affliction more
grievous than even this.
PR. Let him do it then, all is foreseen by me.
CH. They that do homage to Adrasteia are wise.
PR. Do homage, make thy prayer, cringe to each ruler of
the day. I care for Jove less than nothing ; let him do, let
him lord it for this brief span, e'en as he list, for not long
shall he rule over the gods. But no more, for I descry
Jove's courier close at hand, the menial of the new monarch :
beyond all [doubt] he has come to announce to us some
news.
Enter MERCURY.
Thee, the contriver, thee full of gall and bitterness, who
sinned against the gods by bestowing their honors on crea-
tures of a day, the thief of fire, I address. The Sire com-
mands thee to divulge of what nuptials it is that thou art
vaunting, by means of which he is to be put down from his
power. And these things, moreover, without any kind of
mystery, but each exactly as it is, do thou tell out ; and en-
tail not upon me, Prometheus, a double journey ; and thou
perceivest that by such conduct Jove is not softened.
PR. High sounding, i' faith, and full of haughtiness is thy
speech, as beseems a lackey of the gods. Young in years, ye
are young in power j 1 and ye fancy forsooth that ye dwell in
1 " In JEschylus we seem to read the vehement language of
956-977-] PROMETHEUS. 49
a citadel impregnable against sorrow. Have I not known
two monarchs 1 dethroned from it ? And the third that now
is ruler I shall also see expelled most foully and most quickly.
Seem I to thee in aught to be dismayed at, and to crouch
beneath the new gods ? Widely, ay altogether, do I come
short [of such feelings]. But do thou hie thee back the way
by which thou earnest : for not one tittle shalt thou learn of
the matter on which thou questionest me.
MER. Yet truly 'twas by such self-will even before now
that thou didst bring thyself to such a calamitous moor-
ing.
PR. Be well assured that I would not barter my wretched
plight for thy drudgery ; for better do I deem it to be a
lackey to this rock, than to be born the confidential courier
of father Jove. Thus is it meet to repay insult in kind.
MER. Thou seemest to revel in thy present state.
PR. Eevel ! Would that I might see my foes thus revel-
ing, and among these I reckon thee.
MER. What dost thou impute to me also any blame for thy
mischances ?
PR. In plain truth, I detest all the gods, as many of them
as, after having received benefits at my hands, are iniqui-
tously visiting me with evils.
MER. I hear thee raving with no slight disorder.
an old servant of exploded Titanism : with him Jupiter and the
Olympians are but a new dynasty, fresh and exulting, inso-
lent and capricious, the victory just gained and yet but imper-
fectly secured over the mysterious and venerable beings who
had preceded, TIME, HEAVEN, OCEAN, EAETH and her gi-
gantic progeny : Jupiter is still but half the monarch of the
world ; his future fall is not obscurely predicted, and even
while he reigns, a gloomy irresistible destiny controls his
power." Quart. Eev. xxviii, 416.
1 Uranus and Saturn. Cf. Agam. 167 sqq.
3
50 PROMETHEUS. [978-1001.
PR. Disordered I would be, if disorder it be to loathe
one's foes.
MER. Thou wouldst be beyond endurance, wert thou in
prosperity.
PR. Woe's me !
MER. This word of thine Jove knows not.
PR. Ay, but Time as he grows old teaches all things.
MER. And yet verily thou knowest not yet how to be dis-
creet.
PR. No i' faith, or I should not have held parley with thee,
menial as thou art.
MER. Thou seemest disposed to tell nought of the things
which the Sire desires.
PR. In sooth, being under obligation as I am to him, I am
bound to return his favor.
MER. Thou floutest me, forsooth, as if I were a boy.
PR. Why, art thou not a boy, and yet sillier than one, if
thou lookest to obtain any information from me ? There is
no outrage nor artifice by which Jupiter shall bring me to
utter this, before my torturing shackles shall have been loos-
ened. Wherefore let his glowing lightning be hurled, and
with the white feathered shower of snow, and thunderings
beneath the earth let him confound and embroil the
universe ; for nought of these things shall bend me so much
as even to say by whom it is doomed that he shall be put
down from his sovereignty.
MER. Consider now whether this determination seems
availing.
PR. Long since has this been considered and resolved.
MER. Kesolve, O vain one, resolve at length in considera-
tion of thy present sufferings to come to thy right senses.
PR. Thou troublest me with thine admonitions as vainly as
1002-1026.] PROMETHEUS. 51
[thou mightest] a billow. 1 Never let it enter your thoughts
that I, affrighted by the purpose of Jupiter, shall become
womanish, and shall importune the object whom I greatly
loathe, with effeminate upliftings of my hands, to release
me from these shackles : I want much of that.
MER. With all that I have said I seem to be speaking to
no purpose ; for not one whit art thou melted or softened in
thy heart by entreaties, but art champing the bit like a colt
fresh yoked, and struggling against the reins. But on the
strength of an impotent scheme art thou thus violent ; for
obstinacy in one not soundly wise, itself by itself availeth less
than nothing. And mark, if thou art not persuaded by my
words, what a tempest and three-fold surge of ills, from
which there is no escape, will come upon thee. For in the
first place the Sire will shiver this craggy cleft with thunder
and the blaze of his bolt, and will overwhelm thy body, and
a clasping arm of rock shall bear thee up. And after thou
shalt have passed through to its close, a long space of time,
thou shalt come back into the light ; and a winged hound
of Jupiter, a blood-thirsting eagle, shall ravenously man-
gle thy huge lacerated frame, stealing upon thee an un-
bidden guest, and [tarrying] all the live-long day, and shall
banquet his fill on the black viands 2 of thy liver. To such
1 Milton, Samson Agon.
Dalilah. "I see thou art implacable, more deaf
To prayers than winds or seas."
Merchant of Venice, Act 4, sc. 1.
" You may as well go stand upon the beac^
And bid the main flood hate his usual height."
See Schrader on Musseus, 320.
2 See Linwood's Lexicon. Cf. Nonnus, Dionys, II. p. 45, 22.
ietr/na tjtvyutv <!oX<5//7rir OfiapTfiatu T[po^ r )9Vg )
fJTraror fyJoJoiror a^eiSca iairi'itovrja
v Spviv e\uv Tro/OT^a Kc\evdov.
$2 PROMETHEUS. [1027-1064.
labors look thou for no termination, until some god shall
appear as a substitute in thy pangs, and shall be willing to
go both to gloomy Hades, and to the murky depths around
Tartarus. Wherefore advise thee, since this is no fictitious
vaunt, but uttered in great earnestness ; for the divine mouth
knows not how to utter falsehood, but will bring every word
to pass. But do thou look around and reflect, and never for
a moment deem pertinacity better than discretion.
CH. To us, indeed, Mercury seems to propose no unsea-
sonable counsel ; for he bids thee to abandon thy reckless-
ness, and seek out wise consideration. Be persuaded ; for
to a wise man 'tis disgraceful to err.
PR. To me already well aware of it hath this fellow urged
his message ; but for a foe to suffer horribly at the hands of
foes is no indignity. Wherefore let the doubly-pointed
wreath of his fire be hurled at me, and ether be torn piece-
meal by thunder, and spasm of savage blasts ; and let the
wind rock earth from her base, roots and all, and with
stormy surge mingle in rough tide the billow of the deep
and the paths of the stars ; and fling my body into black
Tartarus, with a whirl, in the stern eddies of necessity. Yet
by no possible means shall he visit me with death.
MER. Resolutions and expressions, in truth, such as these
of thine, one may hear from maniacs. For in what point
doth his fate fall short of insanity 7 1 What doth it abate
from ravings ? But do ye then at any rate, that sympathize
with him in his sufferings, withdraw hence speedily some-
whither from this spot, lest the harsh bellowing of the
thunder smite you with idiotcy.
CH. Utter and advise me to something else, in which
too thou mayest prevail upon me ; for in this, be sure, thou
1 I have adopted Dindorf s emendation. See his note.
1065-1093.] PROMETHEUS. 53
hast intruded a proposal not to be borne. How is it that
thou urgest me to practice baseness ? Along with him here
, I am willing to endure what is destined, for I have learned
to abhor traitors ; and there is no evil which I hold in
greater abomination.
MER. Well, then, bear in mind the things of which I
forewarn you : and do not, when ye have been caught in
the snares of At, throw the blame on fortune, nor ever at
any time say that Jove cast you into unforeseen calamity :
no indeed, but ye your ownselves : for well aware, and not
on a sudden, nor in ignorance, will ye be entangled by
your senselessness in an impervious net of At.
[Exit MERCURY.
PR. And verily in deed and no longer in word doth the
earth heave, and the roaring echo of thunder rolls bellow-
ing by us ; and deep blazing wreaths of lightning are glaring,
and hurricanes whirl the dust ; and blasts of all the winds
are leaping forth, showing one against the other a strife of
conflict gusts ; and the firmament is embroiled with the deep. 1
Such is this onslaught that is clearly coming upon me from
Jove, a cause for terror. O dread majesty of my mother
Earth, O ether that diffusest thy common light, thou be-
holdest the wrongs I suffer.
1 How the cosmoramic effects here described were repre-
sented on the stage, it is difficult to say, but such descriptions
are by no means rare in the poets. Compare Musseus, 314, sqq.
Lucan, I. 75 sqq. and a multitude in the notes of La Cerda on
Virgil, jEn. I. 107, and Barthius on Claudian. Gigant. 31, sqq.
Nonnus, Diouys. I. p. 12.
^"V ^
Wallace High SGhool<
No,
THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.
THE siege of the city of Thebes, and the description of the
seven champions of the Theban and Argive armies, The
deaths of the brothers Polynices and Eteocles, the mourn-
ings over them, by their sisters Antigone and Ismeue, and
the public refusal of burial to the ashes of Polynices, against
which Antigone boldly protests, conclude the play.
PERSONS EEPEESENTED.
ETEOCLES.
A MESSENGER.
CHOBUS OF THEBAN VIRGINS.
ISMENE.
ANTIGONE.
A HERALD.
SCENE. The Acropolis of Thebes. Compare v. 227, ed. Blomf.
TIME. Early in the morning; the length of the action can
scarcely be fixed with absolute certainty. It certainly did not
exceed twelve hours.
The expedition of " the Seven " against Thebes is fixed by
Sir I. Newton, B.C. 928. Cf. of his Chronology, p. 27. Blai'r
carries it as far back as B.C. 1225. OLD TRANSLATOR.
ETEOCLES. Citizens of Cadmus ! it is fitting that he should
speak things seasonable who has the care of affairs on the
poop of a state, managing the helm, not lulling his eyelids
in slumber. For if we succeed, the gods are the cause ; but
if, on the other hand (which heaven forbid), mischance
should befall, Eteocles alone would be much bruited through
the city by the townsmen in strains clamorous and in wail-
ings, of which may Jove prove rightly called the Averter to
(54)
IO-34-] THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. 55
the city of the Cadmaeans. l And now it behooves you both
him who still falls short of youth in its prime, and him who in
point of age has passed his youth, nurturing the ample vigor
of his frame and each that is in his prime, 2 as is best fitting
to succor the city, and the altars of your country's gods, so
that their honors may never be obliterated ; your children
too, and your motherland, most beloved nurse ; for she, tak-
ing fully on herself the whole trouble of your rearing, nurtured
you when infants crawling on her .kindly soil, for her trusty
shield-bearing citizens, that ye might be [trusty 3 ] for this
service. And, for the present indeed, up to this day, the
deity inclines in our favor ; since to us now all this time be-
leaguered the war for the most part, by divine allotment,
turns out well. But now, as saith the seer, the feeder* of
birds, revolving in ear and thoughts,, without the use of fire,
the oracular birds with unerring art he, lord of such divin-
ing powers, declares that the main Achaean assault is this
night proclaimed, 5 and [that the Achaeans] attempt the city.
But haste ye all, both to the battlements and the gates of
the tower works ; On ! in full panoply throng the breast-
works, and take your stations on the platforms of the' towers,,
and, making stand at the outlets of the gates, be of good
1 Or, "of which may Jove the Averter be what his name
imports." See Paley and Linwood's Lex.
2 This interpretation is now fully established, See Paley.
Thus Cffisar, B. G. I. 29, "qui arma ferre possent : et item sepa-
ratius pueri, senes;" II. 28, Eteocles wishes even the axpdot to
assist iu the common defense.
3 Trio-! is to be supplied with yivotc-Oc.
4 Although portip may be compared with the Eoman pullarius,
yet the phrase is here probably only equivalent to (Snr<5rjr
pavTfnpdTiav soon after.
5 Paley prefers " nocturno concilio agitari," comparing Ehes.
88, ra; <rar TrpdS" tuvar 0vAar tXflcii/rtr <t>6$u> WKTriyopovai. On the
authority of Griffiths, I have supplied rovr 'Axaiovr before
56 THE SEVEN [3S~59.
heart, nor be over-dismayed at the rabble of the aliens ; God
will give a happy issue. Moreover, I have also dispatched
scouts and observers of the army, who will not, I feel assured,
loiter on their way ; and when I have had intelligence from
these, I shall, in no point, he surprised by stratagem.
MESSENGER. Most gallant Eteocles ! sovereign of the
Cadmaaans, I have come bearing a clear account of the mat-
ters yonder, from the army ; and I myself am eye-witness of
the facts. For seven chieftains, impetuous leaders of bat-
talions, cutting a bull's throat, 1 over an iron-rimmed shield, 2
and touching with their hands the gore of the bull, by oath
have called to witness 3 Mars, Enyo, and Terror, that delights
in bloodshed, that either having wrought the demolition
of our city they will make havoc of the town of the Cad-
maeans, or having fallen will steep this land of ours in gore.
Memorials too of themselves, to their parents at home, were
they with their hands hanging in festoons* at the car of Adras-
tus, dropping a tear, but no sound of complaint passed their
lips. 5 For their iron-hearted spirit glowing with valor was
panting, as of lions that glare battle. And the report of
these my tidings is not retarded by sluggishness. But I left
them in the very act of casting lots, that so each of them,
obtaining his post by lot, might lead on his battalion to our
gates. Wherefore do thou with all speed marshal at the
outlets of the gates the bravest men, the chosen of our city ;
for already the host of Argives hard at hand armed cap-a-pie
1 See my note on Prom. 863. 2 See commentators.
3 Cf. Jelf. Gk. Gr. 566, 2.
* See Linwood, s. v. art<j>tiv. Paley compares v. 267, A.a$vpa
Sduv iovpiirtjxd' dyvotS" SdpoiS" 2r!//w irpd vatav. AdrastUS alone had
been promised a safe return home.
6 Cf. Earn. 515, O'IKTOV oiVritratro, would utter cries of pity. Suppl.
59, olxTov oiKTpiv attav, hearing one mournful piteous cry. The old
translations rendered it, " no regret was expressed on their
countenance."
60-77-] AGAINST THEBES. 57
is in motion, is speeding onward, and white foam is staining
the plain with its drippings from the lungs of their chargers.
Do thou then, like the clever helmsman of a vessel, fence 1
our city before the breath of Mars burst like a hurricane
upon it, for the main-land billow of their host is roaring.
And for these measures do thou seize the very earliest oppor-
tunity ; for the sequel I will keep my eye a faithful watch
by day, and thou, knowing from the clearness of my detail
the movements of those without, shalt be unscathed.
[Exit MESSENGER.
ET. O Jupiter ! and earth ! and ye tutelary deities ! and
thou Curse, the mighty Erinnys of my sire ! do not, I pray,
uproot with utter destruction from its very base, a prey to
foemen, our city, which utters the language of Greece, and
our native dwellings. 2 Grant that they may never hold the
free land and city of Cadmus in a yoke of slavery ; but be ye
our strength nay, I trust that I am urging our common in-
terests, for a state that is in prosperity honors the divinities. 3
[Exit ETEOCLES.
1 Perhaps we might render <t>pa{at, dam, in order to keep up
the metaphor of the ship. Cf. Horn. Od. V. 346, <ppd{e 6s piv
fiiireovi 6iapTrepir o'urvivijtrt. The closing the ports of a vessel to
keep out the water will best convey the meaning to modern
readers.
2 This seems the true meaning of i<pe<rrtovs; indigenous in
Greece, as Blomfield interprets, quoting Hesych, itpiario?, aM-
\6wv, i>oi<cor, II. B. 125, etc. An Athenian audience, with their
political jealousy of Asiatic influence, and pride of indigenous
origin, would have appreciated this prayer as heartilyas the
one below, V. 158, v6\tv Soflmm n^ Trpo6w9' ''Erepoduivia orpar(j>,
which their minds would connect with more powerful associa-
tions than the mere provincial differences of Bceotiaand Argos.
How great a stress was laid upon the ridicule of foreign dia-
lect, may be seen from the reception of Pseudartabas in the
Acharnians.
3 Cf. Arist. Ehet. II. 17, 6. The same sentiment, though ex-
pressed the contrary way, occurs in Eur. Troad. 26, 'Epripia yap
iri\iv Srav Xd/Sj Kaxfi, TSoacl rd ruv flccoi/ oii&i ri/jao-ai OtAti.
3*
58 THE SEVEN [78-98.
CHORUS. 1 I wail over our fearful, mighty woes ! the army
is let loose, having quitted its camp, a mighty mounted host
is streaming hitherward in advance 3 the dust appearing high
in the air convinces me, a voiceless, clear, true messenger ;
the noise of the clatter of their hoofs upon the plain, 3 reach-
ing even to our couches, approaches my ears, is wafted on,
and is rumbling like a resistless torrent lashing the moun-
tain-side. Alas ! alas ! oh gods and goddesses, avert the ris-
ing horror ; the white-bucklered 4 well-appointed host is rush-
ing on with a shout on the other side our walls, speeding its
way to the city. Who then will rescue us, who then of gods
and goddesses will aid us ? Shall I then prostrate myself
before the statues of the divinities? Oh ye blessed beings,
seated on your glorious thrones, 'tis high time for us to cling,
to your statues why do we deeply sighing delay? Hear
ye, or hear ye not, the clash of bucklers ? When, if not now,
1 The chorus survey the surrounding plains from a high part
of the Acropolis of Thebes, as Antigone from the top of the
palace in the Phcenissa? of Euripides, v. 103, sqq.
2 jrp&6pop.os-=so as to be foremost. Cf. Soph. Antig. 108,0uyu<5a xp6-
dpoftov (if urtpfo Kivfiaaaa xaAmJ.
3 This passage is undoubtedly corrupt, but Dindorf s conjec-
ture cA ft t/iir 0puar &ios" 8ir\b>v KrvTroTiroTiXftifiirTtTat^ <5ia iri&ov fioot
Trorarai, ftpa^ct 6' , although ingenious, differs too much from
the ductus literarum, to be considered safe. Paley from the in-
terpretation of the Medicean MS. and the reading of Eobortelli,
tAIAc/^var, has conjectured AIA <3t yar /ias~ irc&C AirkoiirvTrov, which
seems preferable. Perhaps we might read rt ft yds- iredwrr\oKruTTOi)
ucrlv XPI//T. /Soa, by tmesis, for ivixpi^rcTai. ^Eschylus used the
compound, yxpin-Twflm, Suppl. 790, and nothing is more common
than such a tmesis. I doubt whether vdiov\oKTVirov is not one
of ^Eschylus' own " high-crested " compounds. Mr. Burges has
kindly suggested a parallel passage of an anonymous author,
quoted bySuidas, S. V. 7raparro^i/i;r : 'iinrwv XpcneTi{,dVTUV t rflS' y>}r
TflTr TToa-lv dvTotv waparro^Ey^r, ov\div auyKpouo/uu&H',
* Cf. Soph. Antig. 106.
99-H2.] AGAINST THEBES. 59
shall we set about the orison of the peplus 1 and chaplets ? I
perceive a din, a crash of no single spear. What wilt thou
do? wilt thou, O Mars, ancient guardian of our soil, aban-
don thine own land ? God of the golden helm, look upon,
loot upon the city which once thou didst hold well-beloved.
Tutelary gods of our country, behold, 2 behold this train of
virgins suppliant to escape from slavery, 3 for around our
city a surge of men with waving crests is rippling, stirred
by the blasts of Mars. But, O Jove, sire all-perfect ! avert
thoroughly from us capture by the foemen ; for Argives are
encircling the fortress of Cadmus ; and I feel a dread of mar-
tial arms, and the bits which are fastened through the jaws
of their horses are knelling slaughter. And seven leaders
of the host, conspicuous in their spear-proof harness, are tak-
ing their stand at our seventh gate, 4 assigned their posts by
lot. Do thou too, O Jove-born power that delightest in bat-
tle, Pallas, become a savior to our city ; and thou, equestrian
monarch, sovereign of the main, with thy fish -smiting tri-
dent, O Neptune, grant a deliverance, a deliverance from our
terrors. Do thou too, O Mars, alas ! alas ! guard the city
which is named after Cadmus, and manifestly show thy care
1 Cf. Virg. jEn. I. 479;
" Interea ad templnm non sequse Palladia ibant
Crinibus Iliades passis, peplumque ferebant
Suppliciter tristes "
Statius, Theb. x. 50 :
" et ad patrias fusse Pelopeides aras
Sceptriferse Junonis opem, reditumque suorum
Exposcunt, pictasque fores, et frigida vultu
Saxa terunt, parvosque decent procumbere natos
' * * * * * *
Peplum etiam dono, cujus mirabile textnm," etc.
2 Here there is a gap in the metre. See Dindorf.
3 "pro vitanda servitute." Paley.
* Not " at the seven gates," as Valckenaer has clearly shown.
60 THE SEVEN [143-172.
and thou, Venus, the original mother of our race, avert [these
ills] for from thy blood are we sprung ; calling on thee with
heavenward orisons do we approach thee. And thou, Ly-
csean king, be thou fierce as a wolf 1 to the hostile army,
[moved] by the voice of our sighs. 2 Thou too, virgin-
daughter of Latona, deftly adorn thyself with thy bow, O
beloved Diana. Ah ! ah ! ah ! I hear the rumbling of cars
around the city, O revered. Juno, the naves of the heavy-
laden axles creak, the air is maddened with the whizzing
of javelins what is our city undergoing? What will be-
come of it? To what point is the deity conducting the
issue ? s ah ! ah ! A shower of stones too from their slingers
is coming over our battlements. O beloved Apollo ! there
is the clash of brass-rimmed shields at the gates, and the
just issue in battle must be decided by arms according to
the disposal of Jove. 4 And thou Onca, 5 immortal queen,
that dwellest in front of our city, rescue thy seven-gated seat.
O gods, all-potent to save, O ye gods and goddesses, perfect
guardians of the towers of this land, abandon not our war-
wasted city to an army of aliens. Listen to these virgins,
listen to our all-just prayers, as is most right, to the orisons
of virgins which are offered with out-stretched hands. O
1 The paronomasia can only be kept up by rendering, "do
thou, king of wolves, fall with wolf-like fierceness," etc. Miil-
ler, Dorians, vol. i. p. 325, considers that Au/cnor is connected
with AtJ<% light, not with Au*or, a wolf.
2 I follow Paley's emendation, dtfraij.
3 See a judicious note of Paley's.
4 I have borrowed Griffiths' translation. It seems impossible
that a-yvdv Xof could ever be a personal appeal, while <ri> rt
evidently shows that the address to Pallas Onca was uncon-
nected with the preceding line. As there is probably a lacuna
after AiMsv, it is impossible to arrive at any certain meaning.
5 See Stanley. 'Oy*a is a Phoanician word, and epithet of
Minerva.
173-206.] AGAINST THEBES. 61
beloved divinities, hovering around our city as its deliverers,
show how ye love it ; give heed to our public rituals, and
when ye give heed to them succor us, and be ye truly mind-
ful, I beseech ye, of the rites of our city which abound in
sacrifices.
Re-enter ETEOCLES.
Intolerable creatures ! is this, I ask you, best and salutary
for our city, and an encouragement to this beleagured force,
for you to fall before the statues of our tutelary gods, to
shriek, to yell O ye abominations of the wise. Neither in
woes nor in welcome prosperity may I be associated with
womankind ; for when woman prevails, her audacity is more
than one can live with ; and when she is affrighted, she is a
still greater mischief to her home and city. Even now, having
brought upon your countrymen this pell-mell flight, ye have,
by your outcries, spread dastard cowardice, and ye are serv-
ing, as best ye may, the interests of those without, but we
within our walls are suffering capture at our own hands ;
such blessings will you have if you live along with women.
"Wherefore if any one give not ear to my authority, be it
man or woman, or other between [these names 1 ], the fatal
pebble shall decide against him, and by no means shall he
escape the doom of stoning at the hand of the populace.
For what passeth without is a man's concern, let not woman
offer advice but remaining within do thou occasion no mis-
chief. Heard' st thou, or heard' st thou not, or am I speaking
to a deaf woman ?
CH. O dear son of CEdipus, I felt terror when I heard the
din from the clatter of the cars, when the wheel-whirling
naves rattled, and [the din] of the fire-wrought bits, the
1 The boys, girls, etc.
62 THE SEVEN [207-230.
rudders 1 of the horses, passing through their mouths that
know no rest.
ET. What then ? does the mariner who flees from the stern
to the prow 2 find means of escape, when his bark is laboring
against the billow of the ocean ?
CH. No ; but I came in haste to the ancient statues of the
divinities, trusting in the gods, when there was a pattering
at our gates of destructive sleet showering down, even then
I was carried away by terror to offer my supplications to the
Immortals, that they would extend their protection over
the city.
ET. Pray that our fortification may resist the hostile
spear.
CH. Shall not this, then, be at the disposal of the gods?
ET. Ay, but 'tis said that the gods of the captured city
abandon it.
CH. At no time during my life may this conclave of gods
abandon us : never may I behold our city overrun, and an
army firing it with hostile flame.
ET. Do not thou, invoking the gods, take ill counsel ; for
subordination, woman, is the mother of saving success ; so
the adage runs.
CH. But the gods have a power superior still, and oft in
adversity does this raise the helpless out of severe calamity,
when clouds are overhanging his brow.
ET. It is the business of men, to present victims and offer-
1 Cf. Eur. Hippol. 1219, sqq.
Kai iccwirris ftiv 'unrlieots iv fiOttrt
iroAtir ^vvoixouiv ilpiratr, jjviar xepatv,
tX/f( Si KiJJvriv Start vavfla.rr)T hvf)p,
2 I.e. to adore the images placed at the head of the vessel.
See Griffiths.
231-256.] AGAINST THEBES. 63
ings of worship to the gods, when foenieu are making an
attempt : 'tis thine on the other hand to hold thy peace and
abide within doors.
CH. 'Tis by the blessing of the gods that we inhabit a
city unconquered, and that our fortification is proof against
the multitude of our enemies. What Nemesis can feel
offended at this ?
ET. I am not offended that ye should honor the race of
the gods ; but that thou mayest not render the citizens faint-
hearted, keep quiet and yield not to excessive terrors.
CH. When I heard the sudden din, I came, on the very
instant, in distracting panic to this Acropolis, a hallowed
seat.
ET. Do not now, if ye hear of the dying or the wounded,
eagerly receive them with shrieks ; for with this slaughter of
mortals is Mars fed.
CH. And I do in truth hear the snortings of the horses.
ET. Do not now, when thou hearest them, hear too
distinctly.
CH. Our city groans from the ground, as though the foes
were hemming her in.
ET. Is it not then enough that I take measures for this ?
CH. I fear ! for the battering at the gates increases.
ET. Wilt thou not be silent? Say nought of this kind in
the city.
CH. O associate band [of gods], abandon not our towers.
ET. Can not ye endure it in silence, and confusion to
ye?
CH. Gods of my city ! let me not meet with slavery.
Ex. Thou thyself art making a slave both of me, of thy-
self, and of the city.
CH. O all-potent Jove ! turn the shaft against our foes.
Er. Jove ! what a race hast thou made women !
64 THE SEVEN [257-283.
CH. Just as wretched as men when their city is taken.
Ex. Again thou art yelping as thou claspest the statues !
CH. Yes, for in my panic terror hurries away my tongue.
ET. Would to heaven that you would grant me a trifling
favor on my requesting it.
CH. Tell me as quickly as you can, and I shall know at
once.
ET. Hold thy peace, wretched woman, alarm not thy
friends.
CH. I hold my peace with others I will suffer what is
destined.
ET. I prefer this expression of thine rather than thy
former words ; and moreover, coming forth from the statues,
pray thou for the best that the gods may be our allies.
And after thou hast listened to my prayers, then do thou
raise the sacred auspicious shout of the Psean, the Grecian
rite of sacrificial acclamation, an encouragement to thy
friends that removes the fear of the foe. And I, to the
tutelary gods of our land, both those who haunt the plains,
and those who watch over the forum, and to the fountains of
Dirce, and I speak not without those of the Ismenus, 1 if
things turn out well and our city is preserved, do thus make
my vows that we, dyeing the altars of the gods with the
blood of sheep, offering bulls to the gods, will deposit tro-
phies, and vestments of our enemies, spear-won spoils of the
foe, in their hallowed abodes. Offer thou prayers like these
to the gods, not with a number of sighs, nor with foolish and
wild sobbings ; for not one whit the more wilt thou escape
1 This far-fetched interpretation of an absurd text is rightly
condemned by W. Dindorf in his note, who elegantly reads
with Lud. Dindorf v&aoi r 'lannvov. Paley has clearly shown
the origin of the corruption. Linwood is equally disinclined
to support the common reading.
284-317-] AGAINST THEBES. 65
Destiny. But I too, forsooth, 1 will go and marshal at the
seven outlets of our walls, six men, with myself for a seventh,
antagonists to our foes in gallant plight, before both urgent
messengers and quickly-bruited tidings arrive, and inflame
us by the crisis. [Exit ETEOCLES.
CH. I attend, but through terror my heart sleeps not, and
cares that press close upon my heart keep my dread alive,
because of the host that hems our walls 2 around ; like as
a dove, an all-attentive nurse, fears, on behalf of her brood,
serpents evil intruders into her nest. For some are advanc-
ing against the towers in all their numbers, in all their
array ; (what will become of me ?) and others are launching
the vast rugged stone at the citizens, who are assailed on all
sides. By every means, O ye Jove-descended gods ! rescue
the city and the army that spring from Cadmus. What better
plain of land will ye take in exchange to yourselves than
this, after ye have abandoned to our enemies the fertile land,
and Dirce's water best fed of all the streams that earth-
encircling Neptune sends forth, and the daughters of Te-
thys ? Wherefore, O tutelary gods of the city ! having
hurled on those without the towers the calamity that
slaughters men, and casts away shields, achieve glory for
these citizens, and be your statues placed on noble sites, as
deliverers of our city, 3 through our entreaties fraught with
1 Blomfield reads lyu Si y' Mpa?, the change of AEr to AEI1
being by no means a difficult one. Linwood agrees with this
alteration, and Dindorf in his notes. But Paley still defends
the common reading, thinking that i* ix9poTr is to be taken
from the following line. I do not think the poet would have
hazarded a construction so doubtful, that we might take M
either with avfpar, exOpois; or by tmesis, with afco.
3 The construction of the exegetical accusative is well illus-
trated in Jelf s Gk. Gr. ? 580, 3.
s I have followed Blomfield, and Dindorf in his notes, in
reading *Jor roiofa wXirair.
66 THE SEVEN [318-352.
shrill groanings. For sad it is to send prematurely to de-
struction an ancient city, a prey of slavery to the spear, in-
gloriously overthrown in crumbling ashes by an Achaean
according to the will of heaven ; and for its women to be
dragged away captives, alas ! alas ! both the young and the
aged, like horses by their hair, while their vestments are
rent about their persons. And the emptied city cries aloud,
while its booty is wasted amid confused clamors ; verily I
fearfully forbode heavy calamities. And a mournful tiling
it is for [maidens] just marriageable, 1 before the celebration
of rites for culling the fresh flower of their virginity, to
have to traverse a hateful journey from their homes. What?
I pronounce that the dead fares better than these ; for full
mauy are the calamities, alas ! alas ! which a city undergoes
when it has been reduced. One drags another, 2 slaughters,
and to parts he sets fire the whole city is denied with
smoke, and raving Mars that tramples down the nations,
violating piety, inspires them. Throughout the town are
uproars, against the city rises the turreted circumvallation, 3
and man is slain by man with the spear. And the cries of
children at the breast all bloody resound, and there is rapine
sister of pell-mell confusion. Pillager meets pillager, and
the empty-handed shouts to the empty-handed, wishing to
have a partner, greedy for a portion that shall be neither less
nor equal. What of these things can speech picture ? Fruits
of every possible kind strewn 4 upon the ground occasion
1 This is perhaps the sense required ; but, with Dindorf, I
can not see how it can be elicited from the common reading.
Perhaps Schneider's apnrp<50oir is right, which is approved by
Dindorf, Linwood, and Paley.
2 There is the same irregular antithesis between a\\ov ayet
and ra 6e (=ra ie) Trvp<j>opeT; as in Soph. Ant. 138, ?* i' HXXa ra
fniv, n\\a 6 ITT' aAXoiT iirEviafta "Ap^T.
3 See Elmsl. on Eur. Bacch. 611. I follow Griffiths and Paley.
* There is much difficulty in the double participle vfcuv-
353-382.] AGAINST THEBES. 67
sorrow, and dismal is the face of the stewards. And full
many a gift of earth is swept along in the worthless streams, in
undistinguished medley. And young female slaves have new
sorrows, a foe being superior 1 and fortunate as to their
wretched captive couch, so that they hope for life's gloomy
close to come, a guardian against their all-mournful sorrows.
SEMI-CH. The scout, methinks, my friends, is bringing us
some fres.h tidings from the army, urging in haste the for-
warding axles 2 of his feet.
SEMI-CH. Ay, and in very truth, here comes our prince,
son of CEdipus, very opportunely for learning the messen-
ger's report and haste does not allow him to make equal
footsteps. 3
[Re-enter MESSENGER and ETEOCLES/TOTH different sides.
MES. I Avould fain tell, for I know them well, the arrange-
ments of our adversaries, and how each has obtained his lot
at our gate. Tydeus now for some time has been raging hard
by the gates of Prcetus ; but the seer allows him not to cross
the stream of Ismenus, for the sacrifices are not auspicious.
So Tydeus, raving and greedy for the fight, roars like a ser-
pent in its hissings beneatli the noontide heat, and he smites
the sage seer, son of Oi'cleua, with a taunt, [saying] that he
/o'prjo-ar. Dindorf would altogether omit vpifrar, as a gloss.
But surely irtouv was more likely to be added as a gloss, than
Kvpno-as-. I think that the fault probably lies in veauv.
1 This passage is scarcely satisfactory, but I have followed
Paley. Perhaps if we place a comma after imeprepo-', and treat
&>r d6p. i. VTT. tiirvx. as a genitive absolute, there will be less ab-
ruptness, rXn-i'r tan standing for ikwi&vct, hy a frequent enallage.
2 The turgidity of this metaphor is almost too much even
for ^Eschylus!
3 The multitude of interpretations of the common reading
are from their uniform absurdity sufficient to show that it is
corrupt. I have chosen the least offensive, but am still certain
that awapr'^ei is indefensible. Hermann (who, strange to say,
is followed by Wellauer) reads Karapyi^ei, Blomfield *arapris.
68 THE SEVEN [383-404,
is crouching to both Death and Battle out of cowardice.
Shouting out such words as these, he shakes there shadowy
crests, the hairy honors of his helm, while beneath his
buckler bells cast in brass are shrilly pealing terror : on
his buckler too he has this arrogant device a gleaming sky
tricked out with stars, and in the centre of the shield a
brilliant full moon is conspicuous, most august of the
heavenly bodies, the eye of night. Chafing thus in his
vaunting harness, he roars beside the bank of the river,
enamored of conflict, like a steed champing his bit with
rage, that rushes forth when he hears the voice of the trum-
pet. 1 Whom wilt thou marshal against this [foe] ? Who,
when the fastenings give way, is fit to be intrusted with the
defense of the gate of Proetus ?
ET. At no possible array of a man should I tremble ; and
blazonry has no power of inflicting wounds, and crests and
bell bite not 2 without the spear. And for this night which
thou tellest me is sparkling on his buckler with the stars of
heaven, it may perchance be a prophet in conceit ; s for if
night shall settle on his eyes as he is dying, verily this
vaunting device would correctly and justly answer to its
name, and he himself will have the insolence ominous
1 Besides Stanley's illustrations, see Pricseus on Apul. Apol.
p. 58. Pelagonius in the Geoponica, XVI. 2, observes uyaflou Si
ImroS jrat TOVTO reKpriptov, Orav <7r;*a>r n't dvcXirat, aXXa Kporuiv rhv
yfiv &<nrcp rpexetv M-iflti/jJ). St. Macarius Horn. XXIII. 2, lnav Si
\na.6r\ (6 !Wor) *al o-vveOladri !r rdv ir(5Xs/iOv, Srav dtrifrpavSr] xal dxovarj
tywvriv Tro\c/tov, Swrdr iroijiuif epxerat cm roOr ixOpov?, iaare xal OTT'
iurflr rfjr ^covijr Trr6i\a(.v i/nroi etv roiT TrvXt/iiiriS", Marmion,
Cauto V.,
" Marmion, like charger in the stall,
That hears without the trumpet's call,
Began to chafe and swear."
2 See Boyes' Illustrations, p. 11.
8 This seems to be the sense of //ai/ris* iwola. Blomfield
would add iwoia to the dative, which is easier.
405-431 ] AGAINST THEBES. 69
against himself. But against Tydeus will I marshal this
wary son of Astacus, as defender of the portals, full nobly
born, and one that reverences the throne of Modesty, and
detests too haughty language, for he is wont to be slow at
base acts, but no dastard. And from the sown heroes whom
Mars spared is Melanippus sprung a scion, and he is thor-
oughly a native. But the event Mars with his dice will
decide. And justice, his near kinswoman, makes him her
champion, 1 that he may ward off the foeman's spear from
the mother that bare him.
CH. Now may the gods grant unto our champion to be
successful, since with justice 2 does he speed forth in defense
of the city ; but I shudder to behold the sanguinary fate of
those who perish in behalf of their friends.
MES. To him may the gods so grant success. But Capa-
neus has by lot obtained his station against the Electran
gate. This is a giant, greater than the other aforementioned,
and his vaunt savors not of humanity ; but he threatens hor-
rors against our towers, which may fortune not bring to
pass ! for he declares, that whether the god is willing or
unwilling, he will make havoc of our city, and that not the
Wrath 3 of Jove, dashing down upon the plain, should stop
him. And he is wont to compare both the lightnings and
the thunder-bolts to the heat of noontide. He has a bearing
1 So Linwood. Justice is styled the near relation of Mela-
nippus, because he was aicxpuv apydr, v. 406. The scholiast
however interprets it rd rijr fwyyEveiar fixatov.
2 Dindorfs substitution of (S<*ai'ar for Hicatur is no improve-
ment. Paley's <5t*raioy is more elegant, but there seems little
reason for alteration.
3 Probably nothing more than the lightning is meant, as
Blomfield supposes. Paley quotes Enr. Cycl. 328, TorXov icpovei,
AIOJ ppovTa'io-iv el; eptv KTVVWV. And this agrees with the fate
of Capaneus as described in Soph. Autig. 131, sqq. ; Nonnus,
XXVIII. p. 480; Eur. Phcen. 1187, sqq.
70 THE SEVEN [432-456.
too, a naked man bearing fire, and there gleams a torch with
which his hands are armed ; l and, in letters of gold, he is
uttering, I WILL BURN THE CITY. Against a man such as
this do thou send 2 . Who will engage with him?
Who will abide his vaunting and not tremble ?
ET. And in this case 3 also one advantage is gained upon
another. Of the vain conceits of man in sooth the tongue of
truth becomes accuser. But Capaneus is menacing, prepared
for action, dishonoring the gods, and practicing his tongue
in vain exultation ; mortal as he is, he is sending loud-
swelling words into heaven to the ears of Jove. But I trust
that, as he well deserves, the fire-bearing thunder-bolt will
with justice come upon him, in no wise likened to the noontide
warmth of the sun. Yet against him, albeit he is a very
violent blusterer, is a hero marshaled, fiery in his spirit,
stout Polyphonies, a trusty guard by the favor of Diana our
protectress, and of the other gods. Mention another who
hath had his station fixed at another of our gates.
CH. May he perish 4 who proudly vaunts against our city,
and may the thunder-bolt check him before that he bursts
into my abode, or ever, with his insolent spear force us
away from our maiden dwellings.
MES. And verily I will mention him that hath next had
1 Blomfield compares Ear. Bacch. 733, Ovpaot; tia x^polv
awAitf/icvaf. But the present construction is harsher.
2 See Blomfield.
3 I follow Blomfield and Paley.
* " We embrace this opportunity of making a grammatical
observation with respect to the older poets, which, to the best
of our knowledge, has not hitherto been noticed by any gram-
marian or critic. Wherever a wish or a prayer is expressed,
either by the single optative mood of the verb, or with nn, Ads,
ei yap, c?6t yap, the verb is in the second aorist, if it have a dis-
tinct second aorist; otherwise it may be in the present tense,
but is more frequently in the first aorist." Edinb. Eev. xix.
485.
457-486.] AGAINST THEBES. 71
his post allotted against our gates : for to Eteoclus, third in
order, hath the third lot leapt from the inverted helm of
glittering brass, for him to advance his battalion against
the gates of Ne'is ; and he is wheeling his steeds fuming in
their trappings, eager to dash forward against the gates.
And their snaffles ring, in barbarian fashion, filled with the
breath of their snorting nostrils. His buckler, too, hath
been blazoned in no paltry style, but a man in armor is
treading the steps of a ladder to his foemen's tower, seeking
to storm it. And this man, in a combination of letters, is
shouting, how that not even Mars should force him from the
bulwarks. Do thou send also to this man a worthy cham-
pion to ward off from this city the servile yoke.
ET. I will send this man forthwith, and may it be with
good fortune ; and verily he is sent, bearing his boast in
deed, 1 Megareus, the offspring of Creon, of the race of the
sown ; 2 who will go forth from the gates not a whit terrified
at the noise of the mad snortings of the horses ; but, either
by his fall will fully pay the debt of his nurture to the land,
or, having taken two men 3 and the city on the shield, will
garnish with the spoils the house of his father. Vaunt thee
of another, and spare me not the recital.
CH. I pray that this side may succeed, O champion of my
dwellings ! and that with them it may go ill ; and as they,
with frenzied mind, utter exceedingly proud vaunts against
our city, so may Jove the avenger regard them in his wrath.
MES. Another, the fourth, who occupies the adjoining
gates of Onca Minerva, stands hard by with a shout, the
I I.e. not bearing a braggart inscription, but putting confi-
dence in his own valor. oi> was rightly thrown out by Erfurdt.
See Paley.
II I.e. from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus.
3 Eteoclus aud the figure 011 his shield.
72 THE SEVEN [487-514.
shape and mighty mould of Hippomedon ; and I shuddered
at him as he whirled the immense orb, I mean the circum-
ference of his buckler I will not deny it. And assuredly
it was not any mean artificer in heraldry who produced this
work upon his buckler, a Typhon, darting forth through
his fire-breathing mouth dark smoke, the quivering sister
of fire, and the circular cavity of the hollow -bellied shield
hath been made farther solid with coils of serpents. He
himself, too, hath raised the war-cry ; and, possessed by
Mars, raves for the onslaught, like a Thyiad, 1 glaring ter-
ror. Well must we guard against the attack of such a man
as this, for Terror is already vaunting himself hard by our
ET. In the first place, this Onca Pallas, who dwells in our
suburbs, living near the gates, detesting the insolence of the
man, will drive him off, as a noxious serpent from her
young. And Hyperbius, worthy son of CEnops, hath been
chosen to oppose him, man to man, willing to essay his
destiny in the crisis of fortune ; he is open to censure neither
in form, nor in spirit, nor in array of arm : but Mercury
hath matched them fairly ; for hostile is the man to the man
with whom he will have to combat, and on their bucklers
will they bring into conflict hostile gods ; for the one hath
fire-breathing Typhon, and on the buckler of Hyperbius
father Jove is seated firm, flashing, with his bolt in his
hand ; and never yet did any one know of Jove being by
any chance vanquished. 11 Such in good sooth is the friend-
1 Like a Bacchic devotee. See Virg. JSn. IV. 301, sqq. So
in the Agamemnon, v. 477.
fiaprvpcT Sc ftoi (fa<rjr
injXou Jivovpoj, Scfia *<5i/iy, rdSe.
2 Cf. Ag. 174. Ziiva Si rij liriviieia K\a^,tav t Tev^erai (jipevuv rd irac.
Dindorf would omit all the following lines. There is some
difficulty about the sense of irpoa$i\tia, which I think Pauw
5I5-537-] AGAINST THEBES. 73
ship of the divinities : we are on the side of the victors, but
they on that of the conquered, if at least Jove be mightier
in battle than Typhon. Wherefore 'tis probable that the
combatants will fare accordingly ; and to Hyperbius, in ac-
cordance with its blazonry, may Jove that is on his shield
become a savior.
CH. I feel confident that he who hath upon his shield
the adversary of Jove, the hateful form of the subterranean
fiend, a semblance hateful both to mortals and the everliving
gods, will have to leave his head before our gates.
MES. May such be the issue ! But, farthermore, I men-
tion the fifth, marshaled at the fifth gate, that of Boreas, by
the very tomb of Jove-born Amphion. And he makes oath
by the spear 1 which he grasps, daring to revere it more than
a god, and more dearly than his eyes, 2 that verily he will
make havoc of the city of the Cadmxans in spite of Jove :
thus says the fair-faced scion of a mountain-dwelling mother,
a stripling hero, and the down is j ust making its way through
his cheeks, in the spring of his prime, thick sprouting hair.
And he takes his post, having a ruthless spirit, not answer-
ing to his maidenly name, 3 and a savage aspect. Yet not
best explains as meaning " such is the god that respectively
befriends each of these champions."
1 Cf. Apollon. Rhod. I. 466, 'loroj vvv fdp-a Oovpov on,) irepiwtrwv
a\\tt)v Kt!<5AS" tut TTO\kfiotaiv deipoftai, oii&i \i dtf>\\st y.ev; r6croi> } bvrrii-
TIOV vep ififiv 66pv. Statius Theb. ix. 649 "ades o rnihi dextera
tantum Tu prsesens bellis, et inevitabile numen, Te voco, te
solani superum contemptor adoro." See Cerda ou Virg. jn. X.
773
2 So Catullus, iii. 4, 5.
Passer, delicise mese puellse,
Quern plus ilia oculis suis amabat.
And Vathek, p. 124 (of the English version), " Nonronihar
loved her cousin more than her own beautiful eyes." OLD
TRANSLATOR. See Valcken. on Theocrit. xi. 53.
3 A pun upon the word vapdevo; in the composition of Par-
thenopseus's name.
74 THE SEVEN [538-566.
without his vaunt does he take stand against our gates, for
on his brazen-forged shield the rounded bulwark of his body,
he was wielding the reproach of our city, the Sphinx of
ruthless maw affixed by means of studs, a gleaming embossed
form ; and under her she holds a man, one of the Cadmseans,
so that against this man 1 most shafts are hurled. And he, a
youth, Parthenopaeus an Arcadian, seems to have come to
fight in no short measure, 2 and not to disgrace the length of
way that he has traversed ; for this man, such as he is, is a
sojourner, and, by way of fully repaying Argos for the
goodly nurture she has given him, he utters against these
towers menaces, which may the deity not fulfill.
ET. O may they receive from the gods the things which
they are purposing in those very unhallowed vaunts ! As-
suredly they would perish most miserably in utter destruc-
tion. But there is [provided] for this man also, the Arca-
dian of whom you speak, a man that is no braggart, but his
his hand discerns what should be done, Actor, brother of the
one aforementioned, who will not allow either a tongue,
without deeds, streaming within our gates, to aggravate
mischiefs, nor him to make his way within who bears upon
his hostile buckler the image of the wild beast, most odious
monster, which from the outside shall find fault with him
who bears it within, when it meets with a thick battering
under the city. So, please the gods, may I be speaking the
truth.
CH. The tale pierces my bosom, the locks of my hair
stand erect, when I hear of the big words of these proudly-
1 The figure on the shield is undoubtedly the one meant.
2 I.e. " he will fight by wholesale." See comm. Perhaps the
English phrase to " deal a blow," to " lend a blow," is the
nearest approximation to this curious idiom. Boyes quotes
some neat illustrations.
567-585.] AGAINST THEBES. 75
vaunting impious men. Oh ! would that the gods would
destroy them in the land.
MES. I will tell of the sixth, a man most prudent, and in
valor the best, the seer, the mighty Ampliiaraus ; for he,
having been marshaled against the gate of Homolois, reviles
mighty Tydeus full oft with reproaches, as the homicide, the
troubler of the state, chief teacher of the mischiefs of Argos,
the summoner of Erinnys, minister of slaughter, and adviser
of these mischiefs to Adrastus. Then again going up 1 to thy
brother, the mighty Polynices, he casts his eye aloft, and, at
last, reproachfully dividing his name [into syllables, 2 ] he
calls to him : and through his mouth he gives utterance to
this speech "Verily such a deed is well-pleasing to the
gods, and glorious to hear of and to tell in after times, that
you are making havoc of your paternal city, and its native
gods, having brought into it a foreign armament. And what
Justice shall staunch the fountain of thy mother's tears?
1 This passage is a fair instance of the impossibility of con-
struing certain portions of ./Eschylus as they are edited. Din-
dorf in his notes approves of Dobree's emendation, xal r6v adv
avr dSc\<jidv if irarpdj fiApov 'E virrid ^iov ovofia, and SO Paley, except
tiiat he reads a/ipa with Schutz, and renders it " oculo in patrio
(Edipi fatum religiose sublato." Blomfield's 7rpo<r/<oAa)i> bn6<nropov
seems simpler, and in better taste. 6/jdoTrpov was doubtless ob-
literated by the gloss d6c\<}>eov (an Ionic form ill suited to the
senarius), and the (5/*o<oAevroc caused the remainder of the
error. Burges first proposed <5/5<nropoi/ in Troad. Append, p. 134,
D. As to Paley's idea that GEdipus' death was caused ' per
contentiorim filii indolem," I can not find either anthority for
the fact, or reason for its mention here, and I have therefore
followed Blomfield. Dindorfs translation I can not under-
stand. The explanations of sfwrriajwi' ovopa are amusing, and
that is all.
2 I.e. saying no\vvtiKc; iro\vveiKes. Paley ingeniously remarks
that tvtarcitrOnt is here used in a double sense, both of dividing
and reproaching. See his note, and cf. Phcen. 636. dAijOcoj
Svojia Ho\'jveiKri Trarijp cdero <roi 9sict } irpovoia t itixitnv iTtJJvonov,
76 THE SEVEN [586-615.
And how can thy father-land, after having been taken by the
spear through thy means, ever be an ally to thee ? I, for
my part, in very truth shall fatten this soil, seer as I am,
buried beneath a hostile earth. Let us to the battle, I look
not for a dishonorable fall." Thus spake the seer, wielding
a fair-orbed shield, all of brass ; but no device was on its
circle for he wishes not to seem but to be righteous, reap-
ing fruit from a deep furrow in his mind, from which sprout
forth his goodly counsels. Against this champion I advise
that thou send antagonists, both wise and good. A dread .
adversary is he that reveres the gods.
ET. Alas ! for the omen 1 that associates a righteous man
with the impious ! Indeed in every matter, nothing is worse
than evil fellowship the field of infatuation has death for
its fruits. 2 For whether it be that a pious man hath em-
barked in a vessel along with violent sailors, and some vil-
lany, he perishes with the race of men abhorred of heaven ;
or, being righteous, and having rightly fallen into the same
toils with his countrymen, violators of hospitality, and un-
mindful of the gods, he is beaten down, smitten with the
scourge of the deity, which falls alike on all. Now this seer,
I mean the son of Oi'cleus, a moderate, just, good, and pious
man, a mighty prophet, associated with unholy bold-mouthed
men, in spite of his [better] judgment, when they made their
long march, by the favor of Jove, shall be drawn along with
them to go to the distant city. 3 I fancy, indeed, that he
1 See Griffiths.
2 Porson, and all the subsequent editors have bracketed this
verse as spurious, but the chief objection to this seiise of
Kapirl&oOai seems to be obviated by Paley. See his note.
3 Either with ^-uAn/or v6\tv there is much difficulty, as with-
out an epithet TrSXij seems harshly applied to Hades. Paley
thinks that irfiv fiaxpav refers both to ^0^" and TTO\IV. Dindorf
adopts his usual plan when a difficulty occurs, and proposes to
616-640.] AGAINST THEBES. 77
will not make an attack on our gates, not as wanting spirit,
nor from cowardice of disposition, but he knows that it is his
doom to fall in battle, if there is to be any fruit in the oracles
of Apollo : 'tis his wont too to hold his peace, or to speak
what is seasonable. Nevertheless against him we will mar-
shal a man, mighty Lasthenes, a porter surly to strangers,
and who bears an aged mind, but a youthful form ; quick is
his eye, and he is not slow of hand to snatch his spear made
naked from his left hand. 1 But for mortals to succeed is a
boon of the deity.
CH. O ye gods, give ear to our righteous supplications,
and graciously bring it to pass that our city may be success-
ful, while ye turn the horrors wrought by the spear upon the
invaders of our country ; and may Jove, having flung them
[to a distance] from our towers, slay them with his thunder-
bolt
MES. Now will I mention this the seventh, against the
seventh gate, thine own brother what calamities too he im-
precates and prays for against our city ; that, he having scaled
the towers, and been proclaimed 2 to the land, after having
shouted out the paean of triumph at the capture, may engage
with thee ; and, having slain thee, may die beside thee, or
avenge himself on thee alive, that dishonored, that banished
him, 3 by exile after the very same manner. This does mighty
Polynices clamor, and he summons the gods of his race and
omit the line. Fritzsche truly said of this learned critic, that
if he had the privilege, of omitting everything he could not un-
derstand, the plays of the Grecian dramatists would speedily
be reduced to a collection of fragments.
1 When the spear was not in use, it was held in the left hand,
under the shield. See Blomfield.
2 Sc. king, or victor. Blomfield adopts the former,
3 This passage is not satisfactory. Paley reads di>
but I am doubtful about n3j . . . . rdv&c . . . Tpfaov
4*
78 THE SEVEN [641-674.
fatherland to regard his supplications. He has, moreover, a
newly-constructed shield, well suited [to his arm] and a double
device wrought upon it. For a woman is leading on a
mailed warrior, forged out of brass, conducting him
decorously ; and so she professes to be Justice, as the in-
scription tells : I WILL BRING BACK THIS MAN, AND HE
SHALL HAVE THE CITY OF HIS FATHERS, AND A DWELLING
IN THE PALACE. Such are their devices ; and do thou thy-
self now determine whom it is that thou thinkest proper to
send : since never at any time shalt thou censure me for my
tidings ; but do thou thyself determine the management of
the vessel of the state.
ET. O heaven-frenzied, and great abomination of the
gods ! Oh ! for our race of CEdipus, worthy of all mourn-
ing Alas for me ! now verily are the curses of my sire
coining to an accomplishment. But it becomes me not to
weep or wail, lest birth be given to a lament yet more intoler-
able. But to Polynices, that well deserves his name, I say,
soon shall we know what issue his blazonry will have ;
whether letters wrought in gold, vainly vaunting on his
buckler, along with frenzy of soul will restore him. If
indeed Justice, the virgin daughter of Jove, attended on
his actions or his thoughts, perchance this might be. But
neither when he escape the darkness of the womb, nor in
his infancy, nor ever in his boyhood, nor in the gathering
of the hair on his chin, did Justice look on him, or deem
him worthy her regards : nor truly do I suppose that she
will now take her stand near to hhn, in his ill-omened
possession of his father-land. Truly she would then in all
reason be falsely called Justice, were she to consort with a
man all-daring in his soul. Trusting in this I will go, and
face him in person. Who else could do so with better right ?
Leader against leader, brother against brother, foeman with
675-698-] AGAINST THEBES. 79
foeman, shall I take my stand. Bring me with all speed my
greaves, my spear, and my armor of defense against the stones.
[Exit MESSENGER.
CH. Do not, O dearest of men, son of CEdipus, become in
wrath like to him against whom thou hast most bitterly
spoken. Enough it is that Cadmseans come to the encounter
with Argives. For such bloodshed admits of expiation. But
the death of own brothers thus mutually wrought by their
own hands of this pollution there is no decay.
Ex. If any one receives evil without disgrace, be it so ;
for the only advantage is among the dead : but of evil and
disgraceful things, thou canst not tell me honor.
CH. Why art thou eager, my son? let not At, full of
wrath, raging with the spear, hurry thee away but banish
the first impulse of [evil] passion
ET. Since the deity with all power urges on the matter,
let the whole race of Laius, abhorred by Phoebus, having
received for its portion the wave of Cocytus, drift down with
the wind.
CH. So fierce a biting lust for unlawful blood hurries thee
on to perpetrate the shedding of a man's blood, of which the
fruit is bitter. 1
Ex. Ay, for the hateful curse of my dear father, consum-
mated, sits hard beside me with dry tearless eyes, telling me
that profit comes before my after doom. 2
CH. But do not accelerate it ; thou wilt not be called das-
tardly if thou honorably preservest thy life and Erinnys, 3
1 In the original there is, perhaps, a slight mixture of con-
struction, tiiftaro; partly depending upon xapiros implied in
TriKp6icapTrov, and partly upon dripetnutm, dvSpoKr..aifi. being the
slaughter of a man, by which his blood is shed.
2 Wellauer: denuntianslucrum, quod prius erit morte posteriore :
i.e. victoriam quam sequetur mors. And so Griffiths and Paley.
3 Shakespeare uses this name in the opening speech of King
Henry, in part I. :
8o THE SEVEN [699-721.
with her murky tempest, enters not the dwelling where the
gods receive a sacrifice from the hands [of the inmates].
ET. By the gods, indeed, we have now for some time been
in a manner neglected, and the pleasure which arises from
our destruction is welcomed by them ; why should we any
longer fawn 1 upon our deadly doom ?
CH. Do so now, while it is in thy power ; since the demon,
that may alter with a distant shifting of his temper, will
perchance come with a gentler air ; but now he still rages.
ET. Ay, for the curses of (Edipus have raged beyond all
bounds ; and too true were my visions of phantoms seen in
my slumbers, dividers of my father's wealth. 8
CH. Yield thee to women, albeit that thou lovest them not.
ET. Say ye then what one may allow you ; but it must not
be at length.
CH. Go not thou on in this way to the seventh gate.
ET. Whetted as I am, thou wilt not blunt me by argu-
ment.
CH. Yet god, at all events, honors an inglorious victory.
ET. It ill becomes a warrior to acquiesce in this advice.
CH. "What ! wilt thou shed the blood of thine own
brother ?
ET. By heaven's leave, he shall not elude destruction.
[Exit ETEOCLES.
CH. I shudder with dread that the power that lays waste
this house, not like the gods, the all-true, the evil-boding
Erinnys summoned by the curses of the father, is bringing
No more the thirsty Erinnys of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood.
OLD TRANSLATOR.
1 See above, v. 383.
2 Somewhat to the same effect is the dream of Atossa in
the Persse.
722-752.] AGAINST THEBES. 81
to a consummation the wrathful curses of distracted CEdipus. 1
'Tis this quarrel, fatal to his sons, that arouses her. And
the Chalybian stranger, emigrant from Scythia, is appor-
tioning their shares, a fell divider of possessions, the stern-
hearted steel, 2 allotting them land to occupy, just as much
as it may be theirs to possess when dead, bereft of their
large domains. 3 When they shall have fallen, slain by each
other's hands in mutual slaughter, and the dust of the ground
shall have drunk up the black-clotted blood of murder, who
\vill furnish expiation? who will purify them? Alas for
the fresh troubles mingled with the ancient horrors of this
family ! for I speak of the ancient transgression with its
speedy punishment ; yet it abides unto the third generation ;
since Lai'us, in spite of Apollo, who had thrice declared, in
the central oracles of Pytho, that, dying without issue, he
would save the state,* did, notwithstanding, overcome by
his friends, in his infatuation beget his own destruction, the
parricide CEdipus, who dared to plant in an unhallowed
1 I prefer Blomfield's transposition to Dindorf s correction,
p\aii'i'pp6b>s, which, though repudiated in the notes, is still
adopted by Paley.
2 A noble impersonation of the sword.
3 Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, sc. 2 :
That blood, which own'd the breadth of all this isle,
Three foot of it doth hold.
King Henry IV. part I. Act 5, sc. 5 :
Fare thee well, great heart !
Ill-weav'd ambition, how much art thou shrunk !
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound ;
But now, two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough.
4 Surely the full stop after Tt6\iv in v. 749 should be removed,
and a colon, or mark of hyperbaton substituted. Oil looking at
Paley's edition, I find myself anticipated.
82 THE SEVEN [7S3-79O.
field, where he had been reared, a bloody root. 'Twas
frenzy linked the distracted pair ; and as it were, a sea of
troubles brings on one billow that subsides, and rears another
triply cloven, which too dashes about the stern of our state.
But between [it and us] there stretches a fence at a small
interval, a tower in width alone. 1 And I fear lest the city
should be overcome along with its princes. For the execra-
tions, that were uttered long ago, are finding their accom-
plishment : bitter is the settlement, and deadly things in
their consummation pass not away. The wealth of enter-
prising merchants, 2 too thickly stowed, brings with it a cast-
ing overboard from the stern. For whom of mortals did the
gods, and his fellow-inmates in the city, and the many lives
of herding men, 3 admire so much as they then honored
CEdipus, who had banished from the realm the baneful pest
that made men her prey. But when he unhappy was ap-
prised of his wretched marriage, despairing in his sorrow,
with frenzied heart, he perpetrated a two-fold horror ; he
deprived himself with parricidal hand of the eyes that were
more precious than his children. And indignant because of
his scanty supply of food, 4 he sent upon his sons, alas ! alas !
a curse horrible in utterance, even that they should some
time or other share his substance between them with sword-
wielding hand ; and now I tremble lest the swift Erinnys
should be on the point of fulfilling that prayer.
1 This is Griffiths' version of this awkward passage. I should
prefer reading d\Kav with Paley, from one MS. So also Burges.
2 See my note on Soph. Philoct. 708, ed. Bohn.
3 This seems the best way of rendering the bold periphrase,
I TroX'i/soroy aiijv fiporuv. See Griffiths.
4 I follow Paley. Diudorf, in his notes, agrees in reading
rpo ./.ay, but the metre seems to require riVoro. Griffiths de-
fends the common reading, but against the ancient authority
of the schol. on (Ed. Col. 1375. See Blomfield.
791-809.] AGAINST THEBES. 83
Re enter MESSENGER.
Be of good cheer, maidens that have been nurtured by
your mothers. 1 This city hath escaped the yoke of servi-
tude ; the vauntings of our mighty foes have fallen ; and our
city is calm, and hath not admitted a leak from the many
buffets of the surge ; our fortification too stands proof, and
we have fenced our gates with champions fighting single-
handed, and bringing surety ; for the most part, at six of
our gates, it is well ; but the seventh, the revered lord of
the seventh, sovereign Apollo, chose for himself, bringing
to a consummation the ancient indiscretions of Lai'us.
CH. And what new event is happening to our city ?
MES. These men have fallen by hands that dealt mutual
slaughter. 2
CH. Who ? What is it thou sayest ! I am distracted
with terror at thy tidings.
MES. Now be calm and listen, the race of CEdipus
CH. Alas for me wretched 1 I am a prophetess of horrors.
MES. Stretched in the dust are they beyond all dispute.
CH. Came they even to that ? bitter then are thy tidings,
yet speak them.
MES. Even thus [too surely] were they destroyed by
brotherly hands.
CH. Even thus was the demon at once impartial to both.
1 Blomfield with reason thinks that a verse has been lost.
2 The care which the Messenger takes to show the bright
side of the picture first, reminds us of Northumberland's
speech, Shakespeare, King Henry IV. part II. Act 1, sc. 1 :
This thou would'st say Your son did thus and thus;
Your brother, thus; so fought the noble Douglas;
Stopping my greedy ear with their bold deeds;
But in the end, to stop mine ear indeed,
Thou hast a sigh to blow away this praise,
Ending with brother, son, and all are dead. OLD TKANSL.
84 THE SEVEN [810-828.
MES. And he himself, to be sure of this, is cutting off the
ill-fated race.
CH. Over such events one may both rejoice and weep
[rejoice] at the success of our city but [mourn because] 1
our princes, the two generals, have portioned out the whole
possession of their substance with the hammer-wrought
Scythian steel, and they will possess of land just as much as
they receive at their burial, carried off according to the un-
happy imprecations of their sire.
MES. The city is rescued, but earth hath drank the blood
of the brother princes through their slaughter of each other.
[Exit MESSENGER. 2
CH. Oh mighty Jove ! and tutelary divinities of our city !
ye that do in very deed protect these towers of Cadmus, am
I to rejoice and raise a joyous hymn to the savior of our city,
the averter of mischief, or shall I bewail the miserable and
ill-fated childless 3 commanders, who, in very truth, cor-
rectly, according to their name, 4 full of rancor, have per-
1 This is a good example of the figure chiasmus, the force of
which I have expressed by the bracketed words repeated from
the two infinities. See Latin examples in the notes of ArntZe-
nius ou Mamertin. Geneth. 8, p. 27; Pang. Vett. t. i.
2 The Messenger retires to dress for the Herald's part.
Horace's rule, " Nee quarta loqui persona laboret," seems to
have been drawn from the practice of the Greek stage. Only
three actors were allowed to each of the competitor-dramatists,
and these were assigned to them by lot. (Hesychius, Ns/ojmr
woiepiTtSv.) Thus, for instance, as is remarked by a writer in
the Quarterly Eeview, in the CEdipus at Colonus, v. 509, Is-
mene goes to offer sacrifice, and, after about forty lines, returns
in the character of Theseus. Soon afterward, v. 847, Antigone
is carried off by Creon's attendants, and returns as Theseus
after about the same interval as before. OLD TRANSLATION.
The translator had misquoted the gloss of Hesychius.
3 This is the tragic account. See Soph. Antig. 170, sqq. ;
Eurip. Phsen. 757, sqq. But other authors mention descend-
ants of both. * Another pun on lloXuw^r.
829-865.] AGAINST THEBES. 85
ished in impious purpose ? Oh dark and fatal curse of the
race and of CEdipus, what horrible chill is this that is falling
upon my heart ?* I, like a Thyiad, have framed a dirge for
the tomb, hearing of the dead, dabbled in blood, that per-
ished haplessly verily this meeting of spears was ill-omened.
The imprecation of the father hath taken full effect, and
hath not failed : and the unbelieving schemes of Lai'us have
lasted even until now ; and care is through our city, and the
divine declarations lose not their edge Alas ! worthy of
many a sigh, ye have accomplished this horror surpassing
credence ; and lamentable sufferings have come indeed.
This is self-evident, the tale of the messenger is before my
eyes Double are our sorrows, double are the horrors of them
that have fallen by mutual slaughter ; doubly shared are
these consummated sufferings. What shall I say ? What,
but that of a certainty troubles on troubles are constant in-
mates of this house? But, my friends, ply the speeding
stroke of your hands about your heads, before the gale of
sighs, which ever wafts on its passage the bark, on which no
sighs are heard, with sable sails, the freighted with the
dead, untrodden for Apollo, the sunless, across Acheron, and
to the invisible all-receiving shore. 1
But [enough] ! for here are coming to this bitter office
both Antigone and Ismene. I am assured beyond all doubt
that they will send forth a fitting wail from their lovely
deep-cinctured bosoms. And right it is that we, before the
1 Cf. Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, sec. 3 :
" I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins."
2 This passage is confessedly corrupt. Paley seems to have
rightly restored <5<m>Xo>> from the 5on>Xo< 8twfi&a in Bobertelli's
edition. This ship, as he remarks, would truly be ooroXor, in
opposition to the one sent to Delphi, which was properly said
o-rtXXcCTflai 7ri 9t<iipia.v. The words do-ri/jij' *6\\uvi confirm this
opinion. In regard to the allusions, see Stanley and Blonifield,
also Wyttenbach on Plato Phsedon. sub. init.
5
86 THE SEVEN [866-907.
sound of their wailing reach us, both ejaculate the dismal-
sounding chaunt of Erinnys, and sing a hateful paean to
Pluto. Alas ! ye that are the most hapless in your sister-
hood of all women that fling the zone around their robes, I
weep, I mourn, and there is no guile about so as not to be
truly wailing from my very soul.
SEMI-CHOKUS. Alas ! alas ! ye frantic youths, distrustful
of friends, and unsubdued by troubles, have wretched seized
on your paternal dwelling with the spear.
SEMI-CH. Wretched in sooth were they who found a
wretched tleath to the bane of their houses.
SEMI-CH. Alas ! alas 1 ye that overthrew the walls of
your palace, and having cast an eye on bitter monarchy, how
have ye now settled your claims with the steel ?
SEMI-CH. And too truly hath awful Erinnys brought [the
curses] of their father CEdipus to a consummation.
SEMI-CH. Smitten through your left Smitten in very
truth, and through sides that sprung from a common womb.
SEMI-CH. Alas for them, wretched I Alas ! for the impre-
cations of death which avenged murder by murder.
SEMI-CH. Thou speakest of the stroke that pierced through
and through those that were smitten in their houses and in
their persons with speechless rage, and the doom of discord
brought upon them by the curses of their father.
SEMI-CH. And moreover, sighing pervades the city, the
towers sigh, the land that loved her heroes sighs ; and for
posterity remains the substance by reason of which, by rea-
son of which, 1 contention came upon them whom evil des-
tiny, and the issue of death.
SEMI-CH. In the fierceness of their hearts they divided
1 This repetition of <5' Z>t> is not altogether otiose. Their con-
tention for estate was the cause both of their being aMpopot and
of the yct<cor that ensued.
908-950.] AGAINST THEBES. 87
between them the possessions, so as to have an equal share ;
but the arbiter 1 escapes not censure from their friends, and
joyless was their warfare.
SEMI-CH. Smitten by the steel, here they lie ; and smitten
by the steel 2 there await them one may perchance ask what ?
the inheritance of the tombs of their fathers.
SEMI-CH. From the house the piercing groan sends forth
its sound loudly over them, mourning with a sorrow suffer-
ings as o'er its own, melancholy, a foe to mirth, sincerely
weeping from the very soul, which is worn down while I
wail for these two princes.
SEMI-CH. We may say too of these happy men that they
both wrought many mischiefs to their countrymen, and to
the ranks of all the strangers, that perished in great num-
bers in battle.
SEMI-CH. Ill-fated was she that bare them before all wo-
men, as many as are mothers of children. Having taken to
herself her own son for a husband, she brought forth these,
and they have ended their existence thus by fraternal hands
that dealt mutual slaughter.
SEMI-CH. Fraternal in very truth ! and utterly undone
were they by a severing in no wise amicable, by frenzied
strife at the consummation of their feud.
SEMI-CH. But their emnity is terminated ; and in the
reeking earth is their life-blood mingled, and truly are they
of the same blood. A bitter arbiter of strife is the stranger
from beyond the sea, the whetted steel that bounded forth
from the fire ; and bitter is the horrible distributer of their
substance, Mars, who hath brought the curse of their father
truly to its consummation.
1 I.e. the sword. Cf. v. 885.
2 This epithet applied to their ancestral tombs doubtless al-
ludes to the violent deaths of La'ius and CEdipus.
88 THE SEVEN [951-975-
SEMI-CH. Hapless youths ! They have obtained their por-
tion of heaven-awarded woes, and beneath their bodies shall
be a fathomless wealth of earth. 1 Alas ! ye that have made
your houses bloom with many troubles ! And at its fall
these Curses raised the shout of triumph in shrill strain,
when the race had been put to flight in total rout ; a trophy
of Ate" has been reared at the gate at which they smote each
other, and, having overcome both, the demon rested.
Enter ANTIGONE and ISMENE.
ANT. When wounded thou didst wound again. 2
ISM. And thou, having dealt death, didst perish.
ANT. With the spear thou didst slay.
ISM. By the spear thou didst fall.
ANT. Wretched in thy deeds !
ISM. Wretched in thy sufferings 1
ANT. Let tears arise.
ISM. Let groans resound.
ANT. Having slain, he shall lie prostrate. Alas ! alas !
my soul is maddening with sighs.
ISM. And my heart mourns within me.
ANT. Alas ! thou that art worthy of all lamentation !
ISM. And thou again also utterly wretched.
ANT. By a friend didst thou fall.
ISM. And a friend didst thou slay.
ANT. Double horrors to tell of.
ISM. Double horrors to behold !
1 On the enallage o-co/iart for a&paai see Griffiths. The poet
means to say that this will be all their possession after death.
Still Blomfield's reading, xupan, seems more elegant and satis-
factory.
2 Pauw remarks that Polynices is the chief subject of Anti-
gone's mourning, while Ismene bewails Eteocles. This may
illustrate much of the following dialogue, as well as explain
whence Sophocles derived his master-piece of character, the
Thebau martyr-heroine, Antigone.
976-xooo.] AGAINST THEBES. 89
ANT. These horrors are near akin to such sorrows.
ISM. And we their sisters here are near to our brothers.
CH. Alas ! thou Destiny, awarder of bitterness, wretched t
and thou dread shade of CEdipus ! and dark Erinnys ! verily
art thou great in might.
ANT. Alas ! alas ! sufferings dismal to behold hath he
shown to me after his exile.
ANT. And he returned not when he had slain him.
ISM. No but after being saved he lost his life.
ANT. In very truth he lost it.
ISM. Ay, and he cut off his brother.
ANT. Wretched family !
ISM. That hath endured wretchedness. Woes that are
wretched and of one name. Thoroughly steeped in three-
fold sufferings.
ANT. Deadly to tell
ISM. Deadly to look on.
CH. Alas ! alas ! thou Destiny, awarder of bitterness,
wretched ! and thou dread shade of CEdipus ! and dark
Erinnys ! verily art thou great in might.
ANT. Thou in sooth knowest this by passing through it.
ISM. And so dost thou, having learned it just as soon as he.
ANT. After that thou didst return to the city.
ISM. An antagonist too to this man here in battle-fray.
ANT. Deadly to tell.
ISM. Deadly to look on.
ANT. Alas ! the trouble.
ISM. Alas ! the horrors upon our family and our land,
and me above all.
ANT. Alas ! alas I and me, be sure, more than all.
ISE. Alas ! alas ! for the wretched horrors 1 O sovereign
Eteocles, our chieftain !
ANT. Alas ! ye most miserable of all men.
5*
90 THE SEVEN [1001-1025.
ISM. Alas ! ye possessed by At.
ANT. Alas ! alas ! where in the land shall we place them
both ? Alas ! in the spot that is most honorable. Alas !
alas ! a woe fit to sleep beside my father. 1
Enter HERALD.
'Tis my duty to announce the good pleasure and the de-
cree of the senators of the people of this city of Cadmus. It
is resolved to bury this body of Eteocles for his attachment
to his country, with the dear interment in earth ! for in re-
pelling our foes he met death in the city, and being pure in
respect to the sacred rites of his country, blameless hath he
fallen where 'tis glorious for the young to fall ; thus, indeed,
hath it been commissioned me to announce concerning this
corpse : But [it has been decreed] to cast out unburied, a
prey for dogs, this the corpse of his brother Polynices, inas-
much as he would have been the overturner of the land of
Cadmus, if some one of the gods had not stood in opposition
to his spear : and even now that he is dead, he will lie under
the guilt of pollution with the gods of his country, whom he
having dishonored was for taking the city by bringing against
it a foreign host. So it is resolved that he, having been
buried dishonorably by winged fowls, should receive his
recompense, and that neither piling up by hands of the
mound over his tomb should follow, nor any one honor him
with shrill-voiced wailings, but that he be ungraced with a
funeral at the hands of his friends. Such is the decree of
the magistracy of the Cadmaeans.
1 Throughout this scene I have followed Dindorf s text, al-
though many improvements have been made in the disposition
of the dramatis personse. Every one will confess that the
length of io) i(j commonplaces in this scene would be much
against the play, but for the animated conclusion, a conclusion,
however, that must lose all its finest interest to the reader who
is unacquainted with the Antigone of Sophocles !
I026-I049-] AGAINST THEBES. 91
ANT. But I say to the rulers of the Cadmseans, if not an-
other single person is willing to take part with me in bury-
ing him, I will bury him, and will expose myself 1 to peril
by burying my brother.^ And I feel no shame at being
guilty of this disobedient insubordination against the city.
Powerful is the tie of the common womb from which we
sprung, from a wretched mother and a hapless sire. Where-
fore, my soul, do thou, willing with the willing share in his
woes, with the dead, thou living, with sisterly feeling and
nought shall lean-bellied wolves tear his flesh let no one
suppose it. All woman though I be, I will contrive a tomb
and a deep-dug grave for him, bearing earth in the bosom-
fold of my fine linen robe, and I myself will cover him ; let
none imagine the contrary : an effective scheme shall aid
my boldness.
HER. I bid thee not to act despite the state in this
matter.
ANT. I bid thee not announce to me superfluous things.
HER. Yet stern is a people that has just escaped troubles.
ANT. Ay, call it stern 2 yet this [corpse] shall not lie
unburied.
HER. What ! wilt thou honor with a tomb him whom our
state abhors ? 3
ANT. Heretofore he has not been honored by the gods.*
1 Wellauer (not Scholfield, as Griffiths says) defends the com-
mon reading from Herodot. V. 49.
2 rpaxwe But T. Burgess' emendation rpaxvr ye. seems better,
and is approved by Blomfield.
3 Soph. Ant. 44. i? yap voci~ Odvretv cip' dv6pprirov v6\ei.
* I have taken Griffiths' translation of what Dindorf rightly
calls "lectio vitiosa," and of stuff that no sane person can be-
lieve came from the hand of ^Eschylus. Paley, who has often
seen the truth where all others have failed, ingeniously sup-
poses that o-ii is a mistaken insertion, and, omitting it, takes
iiarenpriTat in this sense : "jam hie non amplius a diis hmoratur ;
92 THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. [.1050-1078
HER. Not so, at least before he put this realm in jeop-
ardy.
ANT. Having suffered injuriously he repaid with injury.
HEB. Ay, but this deed of his fell on all instead of one.
ANT. Contention is the last of the gods to finish a dis-
pute, 1 and I will bury him ; make no more words.
HER. Well, take thine own way yet I forbid thee.
[Exit HERALD.
CH. Alas ! alas ! O ye fatal Furies, proudly triumphant,
and destructive to this race, ye that have ruined the family
of CEdipus from its root. What will become of me ? What
shall I do ? What can I devise ? How shall I have the
heart neither to bewail thee nor to escort thee to the tomb ?
But I dread and shrink from the terror of the citizens.
Thou, at all events, shalt in sooth have many mourners ;
but he, wretched one, departs unsigned for, having the
solitary-wailing dirge of his sister. Who will agree to
this?
SEM. Let the state do or not do aught to those who bewail
Polynices. We, on this side will go and join to escort his
funeral procession ; for both this sorrow is common to the
race, and the state at different times sanctions different
maxims of justice.
SEM. But we will go with this corpse, as both the city
and justice join to sanction. For next to the Immortals and
the might of Jove, this man prevented the city of the Cad-
maeans from being destroyed, and thoroughly overwhelmed
by the surge of foreign enemies.
ergo ego eum honorabo." See his highly satisfactory note, to
which I will only add that the reasoning of the Antigone of
Sophocles, vss. 515, sqq. gives ample confirmation to his view of
this passage.
1 Blomfield would either omit this verse, or assign it to the
chorus.
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