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I
THESUPERNATURAL IN THETRAGEDIES
OF EURIPIDES
AS ILLUSTRATED IN PRAYERS, CURSES, OATHS,
ORACLES, PROPHECIES, DREAMS
AND VISIONS
ERNEST HEINRICH KLOTSCHE
A THESIS
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate College in the
University of Nebraska in Partial Fulfillment of
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, Department of Greek
History and Literature
LI.\CX)LX, XKBRASKA
March i8, 1918. . ,
PRESS OF
THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY
LANCASTER, PA.
MAI
PREFACE.
To my esteemed instructor in Greek and Sanskrit Literature,
Professor J. T. Lees, Ph.D., Head of Department of Greek His-
tory and Literature in the L^niversity of Nebraska, who has aided
me especially in the composition of this thesis, I owe a great debt
of gratitude. He has suggested the subject, and to his valuable
counsel and assistance important corrections and improvements
are due.
I have further consulted in one way or other nearly all the
books and monographs mentioned in the bibliography. Consid-
erable use has been made of the following works : J. Adam : " Re-
ligious Teachers of Greece"; C. H. Moore: "The Religious
Thought of the Greeks " ; C. F. Whitmore : " The Supernatural
in Tragedy " ; W. Nestle : " Euripides, der Dichter der griechi-
schen Aufklarung"; P. Decharme : " Euripide et I'esprit de son
theatre."
In quoting from the original I have availed myself of the Teub-
ner text. Deviations from this have been noted where they occur.
Excepting some of the fragments the translations are by A. S.
Way, in the Loeb Classical Library, Heinemann, 1912.
K
4?>5628
CONTENTS.
Page
Introduction i
The Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophecies, Dreams, and Visions
in the Alcestis 4
Medea 8
Hippolytus 14
Hecuba 23
Andromache 26
Ion 28
SuppHces 33
Heracleidae 36
Hercules Furens 37
Iphigenia in Tauris 41
Troades 51
Helena 56
Phoenissae 61
Electra 68
Orestes 71
Iphigenia at Aulis 76
Bacchse 79
Cj'clops 83
Fragments 84
Summary Results of the Preceding Discussion 89
Index of References 100
Bibliography 105
THE SUPERNATURAL IN THE TRAGEDIES OF
EURIPIDES AS ILLUSTRATED IN PRAYERS,
CURSES, OATHS, ORACLES, PROPH-
ECIES, DREAMS, AND VISIONS
BY ERNEST HEINRICH KLOTSCHE
The spirit of the Greek drama is preeminently reHgious. Not
only in its beginnings, but throughout the most flourishing period
of its history, it was in intimate connection with the supernatural
which entered into its very heart, and constituted one of its essen-
tial elements. The theatrical representations at Athens, even in
the days of Euripides and Aristophanes, were constituent parts
of a great religious celebration.
The presence of the supernatural element in Greek tragedy
involved a definite attitude toward it on the part of each indi-
vidual dramatist. The strength of personality which .^schylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides possessed made them voice their own
conceptions concerning the supernatural.
^schykis, himself profoundly religious, accepted the popular
religion unhesitatingly trying to reconcile it with the more ad-
vanced conceptions of his time, by purifying its grossness and
harmonizing its various inconsistencies, thus imparting to the re-
ligion a new intense vitality. The moral government of all things,
the misery and mystery of sin, the power and mysterious dealings
of the gods, their terrible and inscrutable wrath, their certain ven-
geance upon sinners form the background of his thought. A
I
sublime imagination lifts him to a region where tl
of the universe seem to be close about him. No
passed him in his power of creative imagination
■ brings a whole world of mythical figures into being
ing impressiveness he presents the dim borderlan
material and the spiritual. With dreams and vi
habitually and brings them into his dramatic fa
summate skill. At times in his reference to the d
Zeus he almost approaches a stern and sombr
" One God above all, who directs all, who is the
(Ag., 163, 1485).
Sophocles, on the other hand, has no profound
supernatural, but accepts it as a traditional feati
Though he is by no means unconscious of the discc
in human life and destiny, he firmly believes in th(
the justice of the Gods, not attempting to solve a ]
odicy. His interest is primarily in the conflict of h
set before us in definite characters. Behind the n
however, are the gods, and with an original and
the supernatural elements he makes them really cc
whole design, without allowing them to overpov
participants.
A man of a different spirit, and, although cont
Sophocles, a man of a dift'erent world, is Eurip
world was dying, the new world was not yet born,
of intellectual growth, but of religious decay, w
were disengaging themselves from their tradition
popular religion — the very foundation of tragedy-
dermined. Scepticism had begun to be busy w:
which that religion consecrated. Neither Gods n
mandcd all the old unquestioning faith, and yet 1
still kept a real hold on the minds even of the n"
Under these circumstances the duty of the tragic [
some difficulty, especially as far as the handling
natural in tragedy was concerned. Sophocles rer
the old faith in the Gods of his age and nation pr
ward acquiescence in the traditional beliefs, while
p ¥. ,fe i 11: * 6. » » *.fjl.1tt *■
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 3
preaching tradition with the liberal frankness of the new age, is
by no means favorable to the established religion which had served
the two older dramatists so well ; and yet in his tragedies super-
natural manifestations play just as important a part as in those
of his predecessors. This fact occasions surprise, indeed, and
certainly demands discussion.
It is peculiarly difficult to estimate correctly the moral and re-
ligious views of Euripides. He is an elusive poet, not easy to
comprehend. Many even of his fellow-countrymen failed to un-
derstand him, and modern critics, since the middle of the eight-
eenth century until a recent period, have generally considered
him not only a bad poet, but a bad man ; and yet no other Greek
poet, except Homer, has made so deep and lasting an impression
on ancient and modern literature. Despite the jibes of Aris-
tophanes who declared that Euripides' poetry died along with
him (Frogs, 869), and vehemently refused him recognition even
in Hades, Euripides after his death was universally regarded as
a great poet. The Greek tragic poets of the succeeding centuries
patterned their plays upon his. At Rome he was early made
known through the translations of Ennius and had a marked in-
fluence upon the Roman drama. Poets in all ages have thought
well of him and he has generally been the favorite with modern
authors and dramatists far more than .Eschylus and Sophocles.
Milton felt and expressed great admiration for him. Racine,
Alfieri, Browning, Goethe, and others were influenced by the
ancient poet and imitated him. He was not only a favorite with
the masses in ancient times, he appeals to the reader of to-day as
well ; and this fact is in part doubtless due to his modern treat-
ment of the same human interests that are alive for us to-day.
Concerning the religious sentiments of Euripides the late Dr.
Verrall in his " Euripides the Rationalist," " Essays on Four
Plays of Euripides," and " The Bacchantes of Euripides " has at
great length and with much subtlety made an ingenious attempt
to prove that Euripides was a destructive thinker, " a sceptic of
the aggressive type," who wrote his plays with the intention of
attacking the traditional religion, but in order to avoid posing as
an open enemy to the state religion, attempted to accomplish his
Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
4
ends by handling the supernatural elements as uneonvincing or
even ridiculous ^^^^^^ ^^ ^,^ ^ods in an unfa-
vorl^: U M, andLs no real -rence for then, b.^^^^^ '«
— ft;::5^3r^:t— .h:
^lu^r " 1 e n st relr^dhere's to the ntethod of using the
s.fXu^a; ^-p'f •'^:;: -n:r;indr::""a;7.::ii;"
rrhiaCfdiL:^:: :«r orrect. ^^^i^::^:^:,
to the religious ideas of his time. ^^^^
, 'TJ^:^7^^:^"^^^^^'>^ - super-
nal in hi'strai'dies as ilLtrated in prayers, curses, oaths,
the ei^nieci f -; „ | -^^i^ ^as come down to us
::':;■ irlle^ ;" is"rah™st umversalK. reeogni.ed as
Spurious
I. The Alcestis
The earliest of the exiant plays of Euripides, the " Alcestis,"
iiie earnebL u ■ ,^q v C ^<^ the fourth play of a
'^xrr:^"rl,t:t:xri:':;x .ece, .r ....c
seu'racHficTher conjugal love and .-;^;;riy ca. are e^^^^^^^^
^-r=Xt^::--,^;-:;;a„athehonte:
Ale. 163-69: , n.
8k<T^oiv\ h^ yap tpxof^ai Kara X'^oros,
rk.' bp<i>ai'd'<Tai rapid, Kal rw ptv 4>i->^V>'
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 5
avi^ev^ov a\oxoi', rfj 5e yevvaiov ivoaiv.
H-r]8' clxTTTip avTcbp 17 TeKova aTr6Wvfj.a(.
{^avtlv adopovs TralSaj, dXX' evdainovas
tv yfi -KaTpi^q. rtpirvov tKTv\fiaai filov.
" Queen, for I pass beneath the earth, I fall
Before thee now, and nevermore, and pray: —
Be mother to my orphans : mate with him
A loving wife, with her a noble husband.
Nor as their mother dieth, so may they.
My children, die untimely, but with weal
In the home-land fill up a life of bliss."
It is worth noticing that the poet does not expose Alcestis to
view in the act of prayer, as though the situation were too solemn
to be exhibited before the eyes of the spectators. We learn Al-
cestis' prayer from her handmaid who describes in most affecting
terms her mistress's farewell to the beloved home.
A somewhat different mode of handling the supernatural ele-
ment is found in a prayer of the chorus representing the friends
of Admetus :
Ale. 213-25
ICO Zeu, Tis av ttcos wopos irq.
ykvoir' K. T. \.
wva^ Ilatd;',
e^ei'pe p.Tjxo-t'V'^ tiu' 'A5fj.riT0> KaKcov.
TTopi^e dij TToptfe. Kal irapos yap
TOL'6' e4>evpts, Kal vvv
XvTTjpios tK xiavarov yevov,
<f)6viov 5' aTTOiravaov Kihav.
"O Zeus, for our lords is there naught but despair?
No path through the tangle of evils, no loosing of chains that
have bound them?
. . . yet uplift we in prayer
Our hands to the Gods, for that power from the days everlasting
hath crowned them.
O Healer-king,
Find thou for Admetus the balm of relief, for the captive
deliverance !
Vouchsafe it, vouchsafe it, for heretofore
Hast thou found out a way ; even now once more
Pluck back our beloved from Hades' door.
Strike down Death's hand red-reeking with gore ! "
6 Ernest Ilcinrich Klotsclic
We should expect that Admetus' friends having heard of the
predicted fate of Alcestis, instead of praying desperately : "O
Zeus! O Healer-king!" would have acted and hurried to rescue
the queen from her fate and tell her and Admetus that the " fatal
day " will bring no further harm whatever. Their w^y of acting
can be explained only by assuming that they were entirely under
the influence of the traditional belief in oracular prediction.
A notable specimen of vision is found in the following verses
where Alcestis in language exceedingly pathetic describes the
apparition of Charon and Hades :
Ale. 252-6.? :
opij) 8'i.KCjinrov bpw crKa.4)OS
veKvcof 5i TropOfievs
itxcov x'fp' iirl kovtCo Xapcoi/ //' tjStj KoKti; k. t. X.
ayet n' d7et fie tls, ovx opas;
vfKvcov es avXav
vtt' 64>pv(TL Kvavavykcri /SXtTrwf TTTipoiTos At5as
Ti perils; fjiides. o'iav
bdov a btCkaLOTara irpo^alvui.
" I see the boat with the oars twin-sweeping,
And his hand on the pole as in haste aj'^e keeping,
Charon, the Ferryman calleth, 'What ho, wilt thou linger and
linger?
Hasten, — 'tis thou dost delaj' me ! ' he crieth with beckoning
finger.
One halcth me — lialctii me hence to the mansion
Of the dead ! — dost thou mark not the darkling expansion
Of the pinions of Hades, the blaze of his eyes 'neath their
caverns out-glaring! ,
What wouldst thou ? — Unhand me ! — In anguish and pain by
what path am I faring ! "
A "vision " is that which is seen otherwise than by the ordinary
sight ; it may be an imaginary, supernatural, or prophetic sight.
In this case it is an imaginary vision. While none of those pres-
ent are aware of the apparition. Alcestis hears the Ferryman call
her and sees winged Hades beckon. Such fancies are nothing
unusual in a woman who is approaching inevitable death and has
gone already through a prolonged series of fatiguing devotions
and harrowing farewells, from weakness to exhaustion, and
Tlie Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides y
finally to hallucination. Dying persons often imagine that they
see flitting forms, and appeal to others whether they are not
equally conscious of their presence, as Alcestis asks: ovx opas;
(259). That the poet, however, uses such visions as superna-
tural manifestations may be demanded by the traditional belief
and dramatic propriety. Such supernatural manifestations, which
often recur in connection with tragedy, always appeal to an in-
terest in the unseen deeply rooted in human nature. Even in the
most sceptical lingers a certain respect for such matters.
In the prologue Apollo proclaims an oracle of the Parcse :
Ale. 12-14:
ASfJiriTOV aSrjv tov -irapavriK eK<t)vyeii',
aXXof diaWa^avra rots Karcj vtKpbv.
" Admetus shall escape the imminent death
If he for ransom gives another life."
and making use of his prescience he predicts that Heracles shall
rescue the heroic Alcestis from the grave and the arm of death,
thus revealing the denouement of the drama :
Ale. 65-69:
f) ixrjv av irelffeL Kalirep oj/uos wj' iiyav
Tolos ^eprjTos elffi irpbs bbfxovs O-vijp,
Eupi;(r??etos ivkfjixpavTOs iinreLov fxtra
oxv/J'C- Qpv''^V^ *'^' Tbiruiv Svaxn-fj^^pcou,
8s bri ^euco^eis rolad' kv ^ kbp.r)rov bbp.ois
0lq. ywaiKa Tfji'Se a' k^aLprja-eraL.
" Surely thou shalt forbear, tliough ruthless thou.
So mighty a man to Pheres' hall shall come,
Sent of Eurystheus forth, the courser-car
From wintry-dreary lands of Thrace to bring.
Guest-welcomed in Admetus' palace here
By force yon woman shall he wrest from thee."
The fulfillment of this prophecy, namely the return of Alcestis
from death to life is the central theme of the play. But the pre-
diction itself is of religious importance ; it appeals to the re-
ligious instinct and offers an assurance that the just are in the
hands of God.
|^^Hlzg^-.a.Ji>-*^^'.UtjMl^BB^M|
8 Ernest HciuncJi Klotsche
2. The Medea
The "Medea" was acted in 431 B.C. We may grant that the
play is not a faultless one, but even the detractors of Euripides
cannot deny it the excellence of true tragic pathos. The char-
acter of the heroine of the play, her ardent temperament, her
proud and daring spirit are also portrayed in the prayers and
curses which the poet puts into her mouth.
Medea in utter distress imprecates death upon herself :
Med. 144-48:
atal,
6id nov Ke^aXds <^X6^ ovpavLa
Pairj ri 8k not ^rjv en Kkp5os;
(peii 4>^v' ^avarw KaToKvaalp-av
Piorav arvyepav ■KpoXnrovcra..
" Would God that the flame of Hghtning from heaven descending,
descending,
Might burn through mine head ! — for in Hving wherein any
more is my gain?
Alas and alas ! Would God I might bring to an ending, an
ending.
The life that I loathe, and behind me might cast all its burden
of pain 1 "
The chorus on comprehending the cause of her distress appeal
to the Gods and speak words of consolation :
Med. 149 flf. :
ates, w ZeD koI 7a koL 4>ibs,
axo-f o'iav a dvaravos
jitXiTfL vvjjL(t)a; K. T. X.
" O Zeus, Earth, Light, did }-e hear her,
How waileth the woe-laden breath
Of the bride in unhappiest plight? etc."
Then IMedea appeals to Artemis in the matter of her marriage
imprecating destruction and ruin upon Jason, her forsworn
husband :
Med. 160-65 :
d) fxeydXa Gtjui Kai' ttotvI Aprtpi,
Xevacrtd^ a irdtrxw, pteyaXoLs opKOLs
tvorjaaptva tov Karaparou
Tlie Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 9
Troffiv; 6v TTOT 670) uvfKpap t effiSoi/j.
avTols ixeXadpois 8LaKi>aioiJ.tvovs,
oi y' e/xk -wpoadtv To\fub(T a8t.Kelv.
"O Lady of Justice, O Artemis' Majesty, see it, O see it —
Look on the wrongs I suffer, by oaths everlasting who tied
The soul of mine husband, that never from the curse he might
free it, nor free it
From your vengeance ! O may I behold him at last, even him
and his bride,
Them, and these halls therewithal, all shattered in ruin, in
Cf. also Med. 332:
Zed, fii] \adot. ae rcbvd' oj airtos KaKcbv.
" Zeus, Zeus, forget not him who is cause of this ! "
After a bitter reproach against her husband's unmanhness
Medea expostulates with Zeus :
Med. 516-19:
0} Zev, tL 8ri xpv(Tov /xev os ki/SStjXos V
TeKfxripl avOpioTroLaiv ibiracras (Ta4)r\,
avhpihv 5' OTW XPV '''O" xaKov 5tet5«^at,
ovdels x°-P'^'^''"nP (■p.Tr't(f)VKe (Tcoyuart;
" O Zeus, ah wherefore hast thou given to men
Plain signs for gold which is but counterfeit.
But no assay-mark nature graven shows
On man's form, to discern the base withal?"
The chorus fully aware that the fatal act of Medea's killing
her own children cannot be prevented by any human interference,
call on the holy Earth which is about to sustain the pollution of
blood, and the Sun, that grandsire of the wretched woman not to
allow her to murder her children :
Med. 1251-60:
tw Va Ti Kol Trap.4>aT)%
clktIs 'AeXioUj KariSer ISere rav
oXontvav yvpalKa. irpiv 4>oiviav
TtKfots irpoff^aXelv x^P o-vtoktovov; k. r. X.
" O Eearth, O all-revealing splendour
Of the Sun, look down on a woman accurst.
Or ever she slake the murder-thirst
Of a mother whose hands would smite the tender
Fruit of her womb.
lO Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
But tliou. O heaven-begotten glory,
Restrain her, refrain her: the wretched, the gory
Erinys by demons dogged, we implore thee,
Snatch thou from yon home ! etc."
An earnest and impassioned invocation of the Gods is made by
Jason on account of his children nnuTlercd by Medea :
Med. 1405-07:
ZeD, rdS' o.Kovtis uis air tkavv 6 iJ.td\
old T€ iraaxofii" ^ Trjs fivaapas
Kal ■7raL5o4>6i'ov Trja5e \eaifqs; k. t. X.
"O Zeus, dost thou hear it, how spurned I am? —
What outrage I suffer of yonder abhorred
Child-murderess, j-onder tigress-dam? etc."
On Medea he pronounces an imprecation:
Med. 1327-29:
'ipyov rXdcra bvaae^kaTarov. o\olo.
" Thus hast thou wrought . . .
Now ruin seize thee ! "
Med. laSa-QO:
dXXd ff' 'EptvLis oXecreie rkKvuiv (jjovla re Aik-tj.
" Now the Fury-avenger of children smite thee.
And Justice that looketh on murder requite thee ! "
A curse presupposes the supernatural as well as a prayer. A
curse is a wish expressed in words that evil may befall a certain
person. The wish may be expressed by a God or spirit, in which
case it is wish, will, and fact in one; or it may be an appeal to
another supernattu-al person to execute it. Euripides makes
dramatic use of curse? not only because they were survivals from
the past, but also because the supernatural element connected
with imprecations had evidently still a hold upon the popular
imagination.
Wherever reference to oath is made in our play the religious
binding force of the oath is assumed and the perjurer considered
a cursed villain. ]Medea is amazed at the perjurer Jason:
The Supcrnainral in the Tragedies of Euripides ii
Med. 492-95 :
opKOiv de 4>pov5ri -k'kttis, ovh «x'^ y.ai^eiv
fi tJeoiis ^'Ojuifets robs tot ovk apxttv tTL,
fi Kaiva. Kelcri&at ^kaixi api)p6}irois to. vvi>.
iwti avfOLcrOa y' els tfi ovk tvopKos oiu.
" But faith of oaths hath vanished. I know not
Whether thou deem'st the olden Gods yet rule,
Or that new laws are now ordained for men.
For thine heart speaks thee unto me forsworn."
Indignant at Jason's perfidy the chorus exclaims :
Med. 439-40:
'EXXdSt TO, /x€7dX^ ixkvtL, aWepia 5' di'tTrro.
"Disannulled is the spell of the oath: no shame for the broken
troth
In Hellas the wide doth remain, but heavenward its flight hath
it taken."
At the conclusion of the play Medea declares Jason as forsaken
by the Gods, who will not heed his request because he is for-
Med. 1391-92:
TLS 8e kXvu aov i?e6s rj daifiuv,
Tov ^evdopKov Kal ^ewaTraTov;
" What God or what spirit will heed thy request,
Caitiff forsworn, who betrayest the guest?"
Medea demands an oath of ^-Egeus in order to attain a safe
refuge after having carried her designs into effect :
Med. 731-32:
earat. TaS'; dXXd wicTTis el ykvoiTo p.ot
TOVTOiv, exoi-li 0.V TrdvTa -rrpos akdev KoXcbs.
" So be it. Yet, were oath-pledge given for this
To me. then had I all I would of thee."
Med. 735-36:
. . . TOVTOIS 8\ OpKtOKTL n'iV ^Vyti%,
ayovinv ov fiedel' av en yaias ip.k.
" Oath-bound, thou couldst never yield me
To these, when they drag me from the land."
12 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
lEgtws takes the oath :
Med. 7S2-SZ'-
ofivvm Trjp Kal \ainrp6v 'HXiou <^doj
iStoiis re Travras knufvtlv a <tov k\vo}.
" Bj^ Earth, the Sun's pure ITlajest^^ and all
The Gods, I swear to abide by this thou hast said."
Medea asks him: What do you imprecate on yourself to suffer
if you do not abide by this oath?
Med. 754:
. . . rt 5 opKij} Tuide nij fjifj.tvuv TrdjJois;
"For broken trotli what penalt}-?"
-^geus answers :
Med. 755:
d Tolat 8va<7ej3ovai ylyveTai ^poTuiv.
" The worst that scourgeth God-despising men."
The oaths of Jason by which ]\Iedea was induced to cross from
Asia to Europe are represented as a person or supernatural power
which brought her :
Med. 206-10:
TOP kv X4x*t irpoboTav KaKovviKJiov
■deoKKvTtl 5' abiKa -wadoiiaa
TOLV TjCLVOS bpKlaV HkflLV,
a. viv ifiacrtv k. t. X.
"... the traitor to love who with false vows caught her
Who in strength of her wrongs chideth Heaven, assailing
The Oath-queen of Zeus, who with cords all prevailing
Forth haled her, and brought her o'er, etc."
The " Oath-queen," i.e., who watches over the fulfillment of
oaths. Themis caused IMedea to cross over, because the latter
believed in the oaths of Jason.
Among the Greeks, as among the ancients generally, the oath,
regarded as a divine institution, had a sacred character. \Mien
the Gods had been called to witness, one's obligation was abso-
lute. Zeus was called Zeus opKios (Hipp.. 1025), the "guardian
of oaths," or ranlas opKu (]\Ied., 170), the "steward of oaths,"
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 1 3
who punishes men who break them. In the ^ov\evTr]pLov at
Olympia there was a statue of Zei's op/ctos with a thunderbolt in
each hand. (Pans. V, 24, 9).
As regards the formula of oath sometimes a prayer of a some-
what conventional form constitutes the oath, but besides these in-
stances we find in the tragedies of Euripides as well as in Greek
literature in general numerous examples of well-marked formulas
of oath, which are mostly references to deities, as " by Zeus ; "
"I call Zeus to witness," val jud Ata- vrpos d^euu- 'iarco Zeus- a-v/i-
iiapTvai deols. Med. 619: 8aifxovas ixapTvpoixai.
Med. 21-22 :
Poa fiiv opKovs, avaKaXel 5e Sepias
iriaTLv fieyicTTTiv, Kal i^ioiis iiapTvptTai.
^oa opKovs implies the calling for the vengeance due to broken oath ;
Se^cds -KLCfTLs is used of plighting troth by the hand.
Med. 412-13 :
. . . {^eibv 5' ovK€Ti itiaTis apape.
^ecov TTtoTts is the appeal to the Gods as witnesses of a pledge, or
faith plighted in the sight of the Gods.
Sometimes a curse is invoked on himself by the swearer that
he may perish if he fails to keep his oath, as Med. 755. The
Greeks usually swore by a divinity that was in some way con-
nected Avith the subject of discourse. So Medea (395) swears
by Hekate, the patroness not only of witches, but of all who com-
pounded poisons, philters, etc. Medea figures throughout the
play as a magician and accomplishes her vengeance largely
through the aid of sorcery.
An oracle is mentioned in vv. 666 E. /Egeus has been to Delphi
to inquire how he may be blessed with offspring. He is on his
way to Pittheus to consult him on the meaning of the obscure
oracle. The God had said :
Med. 679 and 681 :
acTKOv p.e Tov Trpovxovra p.ri \vaai iroSa,
TTplv av irarpVav avdis ecrriav /uoXa'.
"Loose not the wine-skin's forward-jutting foot,
Till to the hearth ancestral back thou come."
14 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
This oracle adds nothing particular to our search, except that it
is a striking instance of an obscure and ambiguous oracle. Its
real meaning being " to preserve continence till his return
home"; hni acKov Xvaat -n-oda also signified "to untie the foot-
skin of a wine-bag."
3. Thk Hippolytus
In the " Hippolytus " we meet with several remarkable features
of the supernatural element. The subject of the play is the ven-
geance which Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, exacts from the
hero after whom the play is named. The prologue is spoken by
Aphrodite. She tells us that she is- wroth against Hippolytus,
because he has slighted her in- word and deed ; then she goes on
to declare her intention of avenging herself by a plot involving
Phaedra's destruction as well as his.
" Theseus shall know this thing ; all bared shall be :
And him that is my foe his sire shall slay
By curses, whose fulfilment the Sea-king
Poseidon gave to Theseus in this boon —
To ask three things of him, nor pray in vain.
And she shall die — O yea, her name unstained,
Yet Phaedra dies : I will not so regard
Her pain, as not to visit on my foes
Such penalty as is mine honour's due.
But, — forasmuch as Theseus' son I see
Yonder draw near, forsaking hunting's toil,
Hippolytus, — forth will I from this place.
Ha, a great press of henclimen following shout
Honouring with songs the Goddess Artemis !
He knows not Hades' gates wide flung for him.
And this day's light the last his eyes shall see."
(42-38.)
By means of this prediction — as is usually the case in the pro-
logues of Euripides — the spectators are made familiar before-
hand with the subject of the play. In the opening scene the hero
of the play enters with attendant huntsmen whom he exhorts to
extol the praise of Artemis. They respond in the lofty strain:
TJic SupcrnaiuraJ in flic Tragedies of Euripides i =;
Hipp. 61-72 :
TTOTVia TTOTVia (TfUPOTaTa,
Zai^os yepedXov.
Xaipe x^Ipe MOt, w Kopa k. t. X.
'O Majesty, Daughter of Zeus, dread Queeu,
I hail thee, Artemis, now,
O Leto's Daughter, O Zeus's child.
Loveliest far of the Undefiled !
In that great Home of the Mighty Father,
The palace of Zeus, mid the glorj'-sheen
Of gold — there dwellest thou.
O fairest, to theeward in greeting I call,
Artemis, fairest of Maidens that gather
In Olympus' hall ! "
Then Hippolytus offers a garland of flowers to Artemis ; hence
our play is sometimes called " Stephanephoriis," the " wreath-
bearer."
Hipp. 73-87:
aoi Tovde irXeKTOv <Tjk4>avov e^ aK-qparov
Xttyuajcos, CO diffTTOLva, Koanrjaas 4>epo},
€vd' ovT€ iroLfj,r]v dftoZ </)€p/3etj' Soto.
ovt' ^Xde TTW aL5r)pos, dXX' aK-qparov k. t. X.
" For thee this woven garland from a mead
Unsullied have I twined, O Queen, and bring.
There never shepherd dares to feed his flock.
Nor steel of sickle came: only the bee
Roveth the springtide mead undesecrate :
And Reverence watereth it with river-dews.
Now Queen, dear Queen, receive this anadem
From reverent hand to deck thy golden hair;
For to me sole of men this grace is given.
That I be with thee, converse hold with thee,
Hearing thy voice, yet seeing not thy face.
And may I end life's race as I began."
In this beautiful prayer the poet portrays with exquisite skill
the ideal of a chaste and pious character. Hippolytus' piety is as
untainted as his purity.
The Old Nurse who tries in vain to persuade Hippolytus to
worship Aphrodite steps up to the altar of that Goddess whose
WL
1 6 Ernest Hcinrich KlotscJic
statue or symbol, like that of Artemis, was on the stage, and
utters the following prayer :
Hipp. 114-20:
•flfifTs Se, Tous viovs yap ov iiitxr^Tkor,
(ppovovvTes ovToos Cos wpiTret. SovXois XeYeit",
irpoaev^Ofxeada Tolat, aols ayaX/iacri.,
SkffTTOLva Kvirpi.
K. T. X.
" But we — wlio must not tread in steps of j-outh —
With whispered humbleness most meet for thralls
Make supplication to thine images.
Queen Cypris. It beseems thee to forgive,
If one that bears through youth a vehement heart
Speak folly. Be as though thou heardest not ;
For wiser Gods should be than mortal men."
The same sentiment of piety and devotion as in the prayer of
Hippolytus in vv. 73-87 is expressed in the words in which he
addresses his favorite Goddess, when he knew that his fate was
sealed :
Hipp. 1092-94:
CO (pikTCiTr) fxoi daLfxoucov A777or's Kopr}
avv^aKe (rvyKvvaye, 4>ev^ovy.€<Tda. Sfi
KXetfds 'Ai?T7fas.
" Dearest of Gods to me, O Leto's Child,
Companion, fellow-huntress, I shall flee
Athens the glorious."
The end soon comes, and the dying Hippolytus is brought
home. In lamentations loud and deep he calls on Death, the
healer :
Hipp, isrs-yd-
Kal ttoi Qavaros Tlaiav ?Xi?oi.
vpoaairbWuTt ti 6Wvt€t6v dvaSainov •
Sianoipaaat.
" Give ye sleep unto me,
Death-salve for my pain.
The sleep of the sword for the wretched — I long, oh I long to
be slain."
Then suddenly is he aware of the presence of Artemis. A mar-
The Supernal itral in the Tragedies of Euripides ly
vellous fragrance reveals her presence, and the dying youth mo-
mentarily revives and addresses the Goddess to whom he is faith-
ful unto death :
Hipp. 1391-93:
& Oelop odixrjs wvtvixa' Kal yap iv KaKois
&v Xtcrdonriv aov KavtKov^yladrjv Zknas-
((jt' kv TOTTOKJL tol(tL8' Apre/xts tJea;
" Ah, perfume-breath celestial ! — mid my pains
I feel thee, and mine anguish is assuaged.
Lo in this place the Goddess Artemis ! "
But the same pious, innocent Hippolytus being keenly conscious
of the injustice of his fate pours out his grief to the Gods:
Hipp. io6o-f»i :
w !?eoi, tL drira rovfxov oh Xvu aTOfia,
ooTts 7' v<t>' vfjov, ovs (T€/3w SioXXii/ittt;
" O Gods, whj can I not unlock my lips,
Who am destroyed by you whom I revere ? "
and cries out as he dies : •
Hipp. 1363-69:
ZeD ZeD, rdS' opas',
68 6 (Tinvos kyu) Kal dtoakirrixip,
68' 6 (TU(j)po(jvv{i Travras vvepax^v
irpoviTTOv « AiStji/ crretx'^ Kara, yfis,
okkaat ^loTov p.6xdovs 5' aXXcos
T^j evceffias
eis iivd^ponrovs eTrofrjaa.
" Ah Zeus hast thou seen ?
Innocent I, ever fearing the Gods, who was wholly heart-clean
Above all men beside, —
Lo, how I am thrust
Unto Hades, to hide
My life in the dust!
All vainly I reverenced God, and in vain unto man was I just."
The chorus, too, though confessing they derive consolation
from a belief in the care of the Gods, declare that on looking at
the chances and changes of human life, they fail to get a clear
view of the dealings of providence :
" When faith overfloweth my mind, God's providence all-embracing
Banisheth griefs : but when doubt whispereth 'Ah but to know ! '
1 8 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
No clue through the tangle I find of fate and of life for my
tracing:
There is ever a change and many a change,
And the mutable fortune of men evermore swaj-s to and fro
Over limitless range.
Ah, would the Gods hear prayer! etc." (Hipp. ii02ff.)
The j)rayer which Euripides puts into the mouth of Hippolytus
(1363-69) not only shows lack of consistency in drawing the
character of Hippolytus, but it also illustrates how ready Euripi-
des is to discredit the religion he did not believe in. Here the
question arises: Why, if Artemis so loved Hippolytus, did she
not interfere to save him? In vv. 1327 ff. she explains why she
could not prevent the deed, for there is a law of the Gods not to
oppose one another :
Hipp. 1325-30:
. . . dXX' o^ws
Ct' i(TTL aol KOI TWPdt (Tl»77l'aj/i77S TVXill''
KvTTpis yap fjdiX' cbcrre yiyveffdai raSe,
nXripovcra dvptov. deolffi, 5' u5' exet v6^io%-
oiibds awoLvrav /SouXerat Tvpodvp-lq.
rfi Tov dk\ovTO'i, aXX' a4>L(rTafxead^aei.
This explanation given by Artemis well fits Prof. Jebb's note-
worthy conception of our play. According to him the whole
action of the play is made to turn on the jealous feud between
Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, and Artemis, the Goddess of
chastity. " The natural agency of huinan passion is now re-
placed by a supernatural machinery ; the slain son and the be-
reaved father are no longer the martys of sin, the tragic wit-
nesses of an inexorable law ; rather they and Phaedra are alike
the puppets of a divine caprice, the scapegoat of an Olympian
quarrel in which they have no concern." (Jebb on Euripides in
Encycl. P>ritannica.)
Some examples of imprecations or curses occur in our play.
Phaedra pronounces a curse on the Nurse who without the queen's
knowledge and consent has revealed to Hippolytus the whole
situation :
The Supernakiral in the Tragedies of Euripides 19
Hipp. 682-S6:
o) irayKaKiffTt) koI <}>L\cav 5ia4>dopev,
ol eipyaaco jue. Zeus tre yivvrjTicp kfxos
Trpoppi^ov hKTpl\j/ti.ev oiiracras wvpL. k. t. X.
" Vilest of vile ! destroyer of thy friends !
How hast thou ruined me ! May Zeus my sire
Smite thee with flame, blast thee to nothingness !
Did I not tell thee — not divine thy purpose?"
Another example is found in vv. 887 ff., where Hippolytus
charged by Theseus with the crime of having made dishonorable
proposals to Phaedra, is cursed by his father with a fatal curse :
Hipp. 887 ff. :
dXX' w TTCLTtp Ylocrtibov, as e^oi irore
dpa? VTTtaxov rptls, /^t^ Karkpyaaat.
TOVTwv kp.6v 7raI5', r]fxipav 5e p-i) ^vyot
Ti)vb\ tlirep r]p.lv co7ra<ras cra^els dpds.
7; yap Iloo'etSaij' avrov els AtSou irvXas
■davovTa irepxfeL rots e/xds dpds cre/Scor,
7) TTJade xwpfls eKTreacbv dXcoyueros
^ivTjv kir' alav \vTrp6v. avrX-qati. ^lov.
" Father Poseidon, thou didst promise me
Three curses once. Do thou with one of these
Destroy my son : may he not escape this day,
If soothfast curses thou hast granted me.
Either Poseidon, reverencing my pra}ers.
Shall slay and speed him unto Hades' halls.
Or, banished from this land, a vagabond
On strange shores shall he drain life's bitter dregs."
W'wh this passage compare vv. 44 it., where Aphrodite predicts
this curse :
" And him that is mj- foe his sire shall slay
By curses, whose fulfillment the Sea-king
Poseidon gave to Theseus in this boon —
To ask three things of him, nor pray in vain."
and vv. 1173 ff., where the messenger brings the news of the ful-
fillment of the curse.
Hippolytus asserts his innocence imprecating Zeus' punishment
upon himself in case he is guilty :
20 Ernest He in rich KlotscJie
Hipp. 1 191-93:
Zeii, fxrjKtT^ t ''?'', *' KaKos Tri(j}VK^ avrjp-
aladoiTo 8' ijjuas cos drcud'^eL Tranjp
fjTOL ^avovras rj <f>a.os dedopKoras.
" Zeus, may I die if I a villain am !
May my sire know that he is wronging me,
When I am dead, if not while I see light!"
Finally the innocent Hippolytus being deadly wounded cries
out :
Hipp. 1415:
(j>ev eW fiv dpalov 8alp.o(Xiv ^porup ykvos.
" O that men's curses could but strike the Gods ! "
The same innocent, pious Hippolytus who according to his own
words had "ever reverenced and feared the Gods," wishes that
the human race had the power of bringing curses on the Gods!
What greater condemnation of the traditional Gods could there
be than this !
In the well known passage v. 612 Euripides seems to express
doubt as to the sanctity of oath. When the Nurse adjured Hip-
polytus by his oath not to betray her wretched mistress he ex-
claims in his fury :
Hipp. 612:
77 y\ib(Tcr' 6fi(jL>nox', V 5e 4>prtv dvuporos.
" My tongue has sworn : no oath is on mj' soul."
Cicero who renders this celebrated line : Juravi lingua, mentem
injuratam gero (De Ofif. HI, 29), defends the sentiment. Aris-
tophanes parodies it in several passages (Arist. Acharn. 398-99;
Frogs 102; 1471 ; and Thesin. 275-76). The comic poet, like
many others, misrepresents this line of Euripides, as though he
justified the breach of an uttered oath on the plea of a mental
reservation. This verse is also said to have brought upon Euripi-
des the charge of impiety (Arist. Rhet. HI, 15). That the poet
intended to imperil the respect due to oaths, is an unjust and ab-
surd accusation. First of all it is always precarious to judge a
dramatic poet by the excited utterances of his characters ; and
then, if this verse is read in its proper place and interpreted in its
TJie Supernal iiral in the Tragedies of Euripides 21
context, it is easily explained. Phaedra's nurse before she in-
forms Hippolytus of the passion which Phaedra has conceived for
him, makes the young man promise not to reveal the secret she is
about to communicate to him. Having made the promise under
oath Hippolytus declares that if he were not bound by his oath
he would unhesitatingly reveal the whole truth to his father, The-
seus. This shows that the utterance in v. 612 is nothing but a
sudden outburst of self-reproach on the part of a youth of stain-
less purity, indignant at having been entrapped into a verbal oath
of whose true meaning he was at the time utterly ignorant. Paley
considers it uncertain whether Hippolytus spoke these words in
earnest or merely to frighten the Nurse. But whatever may be
said to explain this line, we know that Hippolytus feels himself
bound by the oath :
Hipp. 656-58:
€v 8' ladt, Tovfxov a' eucre/Ses cru>^ei, yxivai-
el fxri yap op/cots Oecbv a.<t)paKTOS 77 p'td-qv,
ovK ixv TTor' 'iaxoy /l"? 011 rdS' t^eiwelv Trarpl.
" Woman, I fear God : know, that saveth thee.
For, had I not by oaths been trapped unawares,
I had ne'er forborne to tell this to my sire,'
and at the conclusion of the play, we find him bearing his father's
unjust resentment, and even exile and death, rather than violate
this very oath, which he declares in 612 to be no oath at all:
Hipp. 1062-63 :
oil drjra iravTus oil -iridoLp.' av ovs /xe del,
p,a.TT]v 5' a.u opKovs avyx'ta-i-P-^ ovs wpoo-a.
" No !— whom I need persuade, I should not so,
And all for naught should break the oaths I swore ! "
And Artemis bears testimony to Hippolytus' faithfulness in the
following words :
Hipp. 1306-09:
fi cru) 51 opKiiiv Traihl arfpaivei voaov.
6 6' (IxTirep wv SiKaios oiiK eipeaireTO
'Koyoiatv, ouS' av Trpos aedev KaKovpevos
&PKCOV d</)€tXe ■KiCTi.v, evffe^rii 7e7ws.
"... her nurse
22 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
Told under oath-seal to thy son her pangs :
He, even as was righteous, would not heed
The tempting; no, nor when sore-wronged of thee
•Broke he the oath's pledge, for he feared the Gods."
Taken in its context v. 612 may, indeed, be justified; but the
formula itself is objectionable on account of the possible abuse of
its application. When Euripides distinguished between the
tongue that pronounces the formula of the oath and the mind
that does or does not acquiesce in the words pronounced, he did
certainly not intend to express doubt as to the sanctity of oaths
or even justify perjury, but intended to distinguish between valid
and invalid oaths thus attempting to goad people to reflection.
We may, however, well iinagine that the Greeks in Euripides'
days, who were nourished on the idea that the formula of oath,
when pronounced, was absolutely binding, were scandalized when
they heard in the theatre that oaths might be discriminated ac-
cording to the circumstances under which they were made.
The following oath of the chorus is important for the sequel
of the play. It prevents the chorus from revealing to Theseus
the truth about the relations of Hippolytus and Phjedra and
saving Hippolytus:
Hipp. 713-14:
onvvfiL crefivqv Aprefiiv Atos Kop-qv,
IJ.r]8ii> KaKoiv aCiv ets 4>aos Sel^eiv irork.
" I swear by reverend Artemis, Zeus' child,
Never to bare to light of thine ills aught."
The formula "Apre/xti' Atos Koprjv was suggested by the statue of
Artemis, which stood on the stage.
Euripides had no regard for the function of soofJisaycrs or
prophets. He evidently considers them as public impostors and
attacks them whenever opportunity offers. Hippolytus driven
frotn Attica by his father, complains that he has been exiled
without a trial, without proof of the crime of which he is accused,
and without consultation of the soothsayers :
Hipp. 1055-56:
ovS' opKov ovSk ttLcttlv ov8e navrtccf
<j)ijna$ kXty^a^ clkpltov kK0a\tls pe 7^s;
TJic Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 23
" Nor oath, nor pledge, nor prophet's utterance
Wilt test, but cast me forth the land untried?"
and Theseus replies with no respect for the art of ornithomancy:
Hipp. 1057-59:
17 5eXros r;5€ KXrjpof ov Stdeynevr]
KaT-qyopei aou iriCTTa- tovs 5 inrtp Kapa
(poiTcopTas opveis ttoXX' tyw xtttpeti' \tyo3.
" This tablet, though it bear no prophet's sign,
Acuseth thee, not lieth : but the birds
That roam o'erhead — I wave them long farewell."
NB. In vv. 6i6 ft". Hippolytus expostulates with Zeus and lays
the blame on him that woman is man's scourge :
" Why hast thou given a home beneath the sun,
Zeus, unto woman, specious curse to man? etc."
The whole passage is a sally of doubtful sincerity, and since it is
not so much an invective against Zeus as an invective — and per-
haps the most bitter piece of an invective — against women, it is
of little importance in regard to the poet's handling of the super-
natural element.
4. The Hecuba
The "Hecuba" (about 425 B.C.) treats of the revenge of
Hecuba, the widowed queen of Priam, of Polymestor, king of
Thrace, who had murdered her youngest son Polydorus, after
her daughter Polyxena had already been sacrificed by the Greek?
to the shade of Achilles.
Hecuba appears on the stage and declares that she has been
driven from within her tent in alarm at a vision. The vision was
the ghost of her murdered son, Polydorus, whom she believes to
be safe and well in Thrace. She adds that she also has been
warned by an ominous dreaui about her daughter Polyxena.
From these apparitions she infers that some misfortune is im-
pending over both her children and is anxious to consult her
prophetic children, Cassandra and Helenus, as to the purport of
these supernatural manifestations. Besides this vision and this
24 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
dream a previous appearance of Achilles' ghost over his tomb had
added to the alarm and confusion.
Hec. 68-78:
w orepoTra Atos, -ai aKoria vv^,
tI ttot' aLpop.cn evvvxo'i o'iru
Seinacn tpaafxaai.; Jj iroTPia Xi?oIjr, k. t. X.
" O lightning splendour of Zeus, O mirk of the night,
Why quake I for visions in slumber that haunt me
With terrors with phantoms? O Earth's majestic might,
Mother of dreams that hover in dusk-winged flight,
I cry to the vision of darkness ' Avaunt thee!' —
The dream of m}^ son wlio was sent into Thrace to be saved
from the slaughter,
The dream that I saw of Polj'xena's doom,
Which I saw, which I knew, which abideth to daunt me."
Hec. 90 ff. :
iibov yap /SaXtav e\a4>ov \vkov a'inovL x^Xa
(Tcpa^onkfav, aw' i.y.wv yovarwv airaadtKrav avayKq. oiKTpibs.
" For a dappled fawn I beheld which a wolf's red fangs were
tearing.
Which he dragged from my knees, whereto she had clung in
her piteous despairing."
Hecuba reflects again on the apparition of her son :
Hec. 702-06:
iiijioL, alal, €p.ai)ov ivvirvLOV buixaroiv
eficov '6\ptv, ov p.e wape^a 0d-
(Tfjia fxeXavoirTepov,
au efftlSov i.fj.<l>l a',
w rkKvov, ouKer' ovra Atos tv </)d«t.
" Woe's me, I discern it, the vision that blasted my sight !
Neither flitted unheeded that black-winged phantom of night,
Which I saw, wliich revealed that my son was no more of the
light."
Doubtless, Euripides employs such supernatural element of
dreams and visions as a survival of a primitive belief. But the
predominant reason for employing supernatural apparitions and
manifestations in tragedy, especially where a serious effect is
aimed at, is the desire of the poet to arouse terror. The fear of
ghosts and the fear resulting from dreams, is, of course, vague
TJie Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 25
and hard to define, but the feeling is rooted deeply in the human
soul that there are such supernatural forces and that they are of
doubtful friendliness to man. Hence Euripides calls Earth "the
Mother of dreams " regarding dreams as sent up from the re-
cesses of the earth, i.e., from Hades; therefore they are "black-
winged," i.e., gloomy and of evil portent.
Different types of prayers occur in the " Hecuba." In utter
distress Hecuba fervently implores the Gods to spare her children :
Hec. 79-80:
CO x^o'''ot t?€oi, (TcocraTe 7rat5 e/UOJ',
OS novos o'Lkuv ajKvp' iixHiv.
" Gods of the Underworld save ye my son,
Mine house's anchor, its only one."
Hec. 96-97 :
(xtt' efxcLS ovv dir' tjias rode waidos
irkn^pare, dalfiopes, i/cereuw.
" O Gods, I am suppliant before you ! — In any wise turn, I im-
plore you.
This fate from the child of my womb!"
Euripides, who sometimes seems to deny or call in question the
existence of the Gods, makes Talthybius moralize on the strange
dispensations of heaven and the caprice of fortune:
Hec. 488-91;
o) Zev, Tt Xejco; Trorepd cr' avOpdcirovs bpav;
fj do^av aWws rijvbe KtKTr\adai. ixaT-qv
xpevSfj, SoKovvTas daLnovoiv tivaL ■ykvo'i,
rvxTl" 5* "Kavra rav ^pOTols kivLcyKOTrelv;
"What shall I say, Zeus? — that thou look'st on men?
Or that this fancy false we vainly hold
For nought, who deem there is a race of Gods,
While chance controlleth all things among men?"
In conformity with this sentiment the poet makes Polymestor
say:
Hec. 958-60:
4>pvpovai 5 avTO. tJeot TrdXti' re Kai, irpoffu}
Tapay/jLov efTidepres, cos dyvwalq.
ak^Ufiev avrovs.
" All things the Gods confound, hurl this way and that,
26 Ernest HcinyicJi Klotsche
Turmoiling all, that we, foreknowing nought.
May worship them."
Prayers to the dead are of frequent occurrence in Euripides.
Achilles' son attempts to propitiate his father's ghost by sacrifice
and prayer and all the host joined in that prayer:
Hec. 534 ff-:
Se^at xoas ixov rdaSe k. t. X.
" Son of Peleus, father mine,
Accept from me these drops propitiator}-,
Ghost-raising. Draw thou nigh to drink pure blood
Dark-welling from a maid. We give it thee.
The host and I. Gracious to us be thou ; etc."
Invocations of the dead presuppose that the departed soul,
though beneath the earth, still has the semblance of existence and
the power of hearing. In this case the spirit of the dead was not
only thought to be propitiated by the sacrifice, but actually to
taste it.
Polymestor having obtained an oracle from the Thracian seer
Dionysus foretells to Hecuba that she shall die by a fall from a
mast after having been changed into the canine species, and to
Agamemnon that he will die by the hand of his wife:
Hec. 1261 ff. :
KpiApri flip ovv Tteffovaav be Kapx'l<f^^v k- t. X.
" Nay, but shall whelm thee fallen from the mast.
Yea — slay him too, upswinging high the axe."
5. The Andromache
The " Andromache " was not acted at Athens in the author's
life-time. Its plot belongs to the same division of the Trojan
affairs as the " Hecuba " and the " Troades," viz., the fortune
of the captives after the destruction of their city. The "An-
dromache " is by no means one of the best plays of Euripides. It
also contributes only a few examples to our discussion, but those
few are characteristic of the poet's handling the supernatural
element.
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 27
Orestes, who prays to his patron God:
Andr. 900:
" O Healer Plioebus, grant from woes release ! "
assumes that the Gods do wrong; in the following verse (901) he
asks Hermione :
"What ails thee? Art thou wronged of Gods or men?"
and Hermione answers in the affirmative :
" Of myself partly, partly of mj' lord.
In part of some God : ruin is everywhere ! "
In the choral ode (lOOQff.) the divine founders of Troy, Apollo
and Poseidon, are upbraided for having abandoned to destruction
their once beloved city :
Andr. 1009-16:
CO ^oi^e TTvpywa-as
Tov kv 'IXicj) tvT€L-)ifi wayov k. t. X.
ToXaivav ixe^elre Tpoiav;
" O Phoebus, who gavest to Ilium glory
Of diadem-towers on her hights, — and O Master
Of Sea-depths, whose grey-gleaming steeds o'er the hoary
Surf-ridges speed, — to the War-god, The Waster
With spears, for what cause for a spoil did he cast her,
Whom your own hands had fashioned, dishonoured to lie
In wretchedness, wretchedness — her that was Troy?"
In the famous speech which the poet puts into the mouth of
Andromache, and in which he expresses his own dislike of the
Spartans, he pronounces an imprecation on that people :
Andr. 451-53:
ov \kyoPTes aWa y.tv
yXcoacry, 4>poi>ovvT€s 5 aXX e(l)€VpLaKe(ni) aei;
oXoiffde.
" Convicted liars, saying
This with the tongue, while still your hearts mean that,
Now^ ruin seize ye ! "
The oracle-god is portrayed as a pitiless character, who con-
28 Ernest Hc'nirich Klotsche
demns Neoptolemus to death when engaged in expiating a small
offence thus seeking by prayer and sacrifice to assuage the wrath
of the God:
Andr. 1 161-65:
ToiaDi?' 6 Tois aXXotffi iJeffirifwi' ava^,
6 Twv biKa'iwv Tracriv avd puirois KpiTrjs,
SiKas dLSovra ttoIS' eSpacr' 'Ax'XXews.
e)xvr]n6vev(re 8 cbawep avdponros KaKos
waXaia peiKj]- ttws di' ovv etij ao<p6s',
" Thus he that giveth oracles to the world,
He that is judge to all men of the right,
Hath wreaked revenge upon Achilles' son, —
Yea, hath remembered, like some evil man.
An old, old feud! How then shall he be wise?"
The satire in these lines so freely reflecting on the alleged
justice, impartiality, and wisdom of Apollo is in keeping with the
poet's attitude elsewhere; cf. Ion 436 ff. The poet's enemies of
old were delighted with the handle which such passages oft'ered
against him. (Arist. Thesm. 450.)
6. The Ion
The " Ion " — chronologically placed somewhere between 424-
421 B.C. — may safely be called one of the most perfect and beau-
tiful of the Greek tragedies. The young Ion is a priest at the
temple of Delphi when Xuthus and his wife Creusa, daughter of
Erechtheus, come to inquire of the God concerning their child-
lessness ; and it is discovered that Ion is the son of Creusa by the
God Apollo.
The " Ion " represents the supernatural, and especially the
oracle-god in as unpleasant a light as possible.
In a monody of remarkable beauty, and full of pure-minded
and devout sentiments Ion describes with enthusiasm the pleas-
ure, he takes in the service of Apollo, his patron god, vv. 82-183.
To quote only :
Ion 128-43:
KoXov y€ t6v irovov, w
<l'oT/3e, <Tol irp6 bbfioiv Xarpevu k. t. X.
"'Tis my glory, the service I render
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 29
In thy portals, O Phoebus, to thee !
I honour thj^ prophet-shrine.
Proud labour is mine — it is thine !
I am thrall to the Gods divine :
Not to men, but Immortals, I tender
My bondage ; 'tis glorious and free :
Never faintness shall fall upon me
For my father thee, Phoebus, I praise.
Who hast nurtured me all my days :
My begetter, mine help, my defender
This temple's Phoebus shall be.
O Healer, O Healer-king.
Let blessing on blessing upring
Unto Leto's Son as I sing!"
There are few things more charming in Greek literature than
the picture of Ion's childHke innocence and priestly sanctity which
Euripides portrays in these lines. Ion reininds one strongly of
the boy Samuel whose ministrations are painted with so exquisite
a grace in the Old Testament. But as soon as Ion hears of the
God's deed he breaks forth in this wise :
Ion 436-51 :
vovdeT7]Teos 5e juot
$oZ/3os, TL Trdcrxet' TrapOhovs jSlq. yancou
■Kpodi8a)c7t., k. t. X.
"... Yet must I plead
With Phoebus — what ails him ? He ravisheth
Maids, and forsakes ; begetteth babes by stealth,
And heeds not, though they die. Do thou not so !
Being strong, be righteous. For what man soe'er
Transgresseth, the Gods visit this on him.
How were it just then that ye should enact
For men laws, and 3'ourselves work lawlessness?
For if — it could not be, yet put it so —
Ye should pay mulct to men for lawless lust,
Thou, the Sea-king, and Zeus the Lord of Heaven,
Paying for wrongs should make your temples void.
For, following pleasure past all wisdom's bounds,
Ye work unrighteousness. Unjust it were
To call men vile, if we but imitate
What Gods deem good : — they are vile who teach us this."
30 Ernest Hcinrlcli Klotsche
For the same sentiment cf. Creusa's words,
vv. 249 ff. :
"... looking on Apollo's dwelling place,
I traversed o'er an ancient memory's track :
Afar my thoughts were, and my body here.
Ah, wrongs of women ! — wrongful-reckless deeds
Of Gods! For justice where shall we make suit,
If 'tis our Lord's injustice crushes us?"
Again she charges Apollo with injustice
Ion 384 ff. :
cj <I>oZ/3€, KaKel K'di'iydS 011 diKaios el k. t. X.
"O Phoebus, there and here unjust art thou
Unto the absent one whose plea is here.
Thou shouldst have saved thine owai, yet didst not save ; etc."
and in the violent invectives vv. 88i ff. she cannot find sufficient
imprecations wherewith to curse before Heaven the " ravisher-
bridegroom " (911) who has made her mother.
These passages not only show that the poet requires the Gods
to teach by example and not merely by precept in order to furnish
a moral standard for humanity, but these verses also illustrate
how ready Euripides is to bring forward with great force the
grosser side of the Greek legend, and to discredit the religion
with which he is not at all in inner harmony. Toward the end of
the play, however, — as in other tragedies of Euripides, where the
Gods are most severely assailed, — the conduct of the God is vin-
dicated by Athena who speaks for her brother, vv. 15951^. "Well
hath Apollo all things done : etc. ; " and Creusa finally admits the
justice of Apollo :
" Here me : Phoebus praise I, whom I praised not in mine hour
of grief,
For that whom he set at naught, his child, to me he now re-
stores, etc."
and the chorus insists at the end that the God's ways are not our
ways, and that their seeming injustices are made good in due
time :
The Siipcniatiiral in the Tragedies of Euripides 31
Ion 1619-21 :
d) Atos Atjtoi's t AttoXXoc, X'^'-P ot(^ b tkahvtTaL k. t. X.
" Zeus' and Leto's Son Apollo, hail ! Let him to powers divine
Render homage undismayed, whose house affliction's buffets
smite :
For the good at last shall overcome, at last attain their right ;
But the evil, by their nature's law, on good shall never light."
Creusa's prayer in vv. 410 ff. is characteristic on account of its
ambiguity :
Ion 410-12:
J) TTOTVia ^ol^ov nfjTep, el 'yap alcriws
'i\&oifxev, a. re vHov crvulSoXaia npoadii' fjv
€S 7raI5a top <t6v, fxtTairecroi ^(Xriofa.
" Queen, Phoebus' mother, grant our home-return
Prosperous : all our dealings heretofore
Touching thy son, to happier issue fall ! "
With this prayer Creusa intentionally deceives her husband. She
secretly refers to the relation between herself and Apollo, while
Xuthus is to take vu)v for himself and his wife, the au^jSoXata
being the sacrifices which they two had formerly made to Apollo
for children.
Two other prayers of less importance to our investigation may
be mentioned here. The choral ode in vv. 1048 ff. opens as a
prayer to Hekate, the Goddess of sorcery and secret poisoning.
She is invoked to direct to a favorable issue the stealthy attempt
on Ion's life :
'■ Goddess of Highways, Demeter's Daughter,
Queen of the nightmare darkness-ranger,
Guide thou tlie hand that for noontide slaughter
Shall fill the chalice, my lady's avenger, etc."
The prayer of the chorus in vv. 452 fif. is an invocation to
Athena and Artemis to intercede with their brother in favor of
the ancient royal house of Erechtheus :
" My Queen, at whose birth-tide was given
Of the Lady of Travail-pang
No help, hear, Pallas, my prayer, etc."
32 Ernest Heinrich KlotscJic
The DcJpJiic oracle and the Delphic God are exhibited in a very
unfavorable light in our play. Apollo is represented as a seducer
of women, who attempts to hide his misdeeds by means of fraud-
ulent response :
Ion 365-67:
TTOJS 6 {}i6s b \adeiv /3o6Xerai ixavTevatrai.;
eiTrep Kadi^ei TpiwoSa KOivbv EXXdSos.
aiaxwerai ro irpdyixa- fii] '^eXeyx^ vlv.
Ion: "How should the God reveal that he would hide?"
Creusa: "How not? — his is the nation's oracle."
Ion : " His shame the deed is. Question not of him."
In other words : the God will never reveal in the oracle secrets
against himself. Therefore the seer Trophonius
"... took not on him to forestall the word
Of Phoebus. This he said — nor thou nor I
Childless shall wend home from the oracle."
(vv. 407-09.)
The following verses refer to the ambiguity of Apollo's oracle:
Ion 787-88:
OTiif ^vvavTr]<7€uv tK vaov (Tvdels
Trpwrco TTOcTis ffos, 7raI5' eScoK* aurw deos.
" Whomso thy lord should first meet as he passed
From the God's fane, the God gave him for son."
According to vv. 537, 775, and 788 the God's oracle was : 818^^1
(TOL TOP TToiSa, thus leaving it ambiguous whether the boy was the
son of Xuthus or his own son. Therefore Creusa says:
Ion 1534-36:
Trf<t)VKkvaL fxlv ovxh Sujpelrai 54 <re
avTov yeyoira- Kal yap civ <pi\os (f>l\w
8oItj top avTov waioa dfffwoTijv 56jucoi'.
" Nay, not begotten ; but his gift art thou.
Sprung from himself, — as friend to friend should give
His own son, that his house might have an heir."
and Ion asks :
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 33
Ion 1537-38:
6 dibs a\r]dh t) /jLarrju fxavTeverai',
kfiov Tapcuratt, ixrJTep, eiKorcos 4)pkva.
"Is the God true? — or doeth his oracle He?
Alotlier, my soul it troubleth : well it may."
" Loxias " ^^ " Apollo " was according to the popular deriva-
tion "the God of crooked answers," because his oracles were
\6^La " crooked " and so ambiguous.
At the end after Apollo's plot has been discovered, Athena
comes to speak for her brother, wdio is ashamed to appear in
person, lest he be reproached for the manner in which he has
managed affairs :
Ion 1556-58 :
IlaXXas, dpo/jiu crirevaacr' 'AttoXXwj'os irdpa,
OS els nev o\piv cr4>ibv fxaXelv ovk r]^Lov,
jj.7] T(j>v Tvapof&e nkp.\pLs els pkcTov noXy.
" I Pallas from Apollo speed in haste,
Who deigned not to reveal him to your sight,
Else must he chide a^ou for things overpast."
Literally translated the last line reads : " lest blame for former
things should come between " referring to Apollo's conduct in
the past.
The poet's usual contempt for the art of divination is expressed
in the following verses :
Ion 374-77:
els ycLp ToaovTOP afiadias eXdoi/jLeu dp,
el Toi's deovs OLKOPras eKirovi]aop.ev
(j)pa^eLP a p,r] deXovaiP r} Trpo^cop-iois
<j<j)aya'Cai p.rjXuv ri bl oloiPOiP nTepols.
" For, lo what height of folly should we reach
If in the God's despite we wrest their will,
By sacrifice of sheep on altars, or
By flight of birds, to tell what they would veil."
7. The Supplices
The " Supplices " is almost entirely free from sceptical and ir-
religious sentiments and replete with respect for the Gods. The
34
Ernest Hcinrich Klotsclic
short prologue from .-Ethra is really an indirect prayer to Demeter
at Eleusis :
Siippl. 1-7 :
Sij/xTjTep kcTTiovx' 'EXevalvos xi^opos
Trja5' K. T. X.
" Demeter, warder of Eleusis-land
And ye which keep and serve the Goddess' fanes,
Grant me and my son Theseus prosperous days,
Grant them to Athens and to Pittheus' land,
Where in a happy home my sire nursed me,
^thra, and gave me to Pandion's son
^geus, to wife, by Loxias' oracle."
Theseus, who denies the old saying " that evil more abounds
with men than good" (vv. 196-97), expresses his gratitude
toward divine Providence :
" Praise to the God who shaped in order's mould
Our lives redeemed from chaos and the brute,
First, by implanting reason, giving then
The tongue, world-herald, to interpret speech ;
l^arth's fruit for food, for nurturing thereof
Raindrops from heaven, to feed earth's fosterlings.
And water her green bosom ; therewithal
Shelter from storms, and shadow from the heat,
Sea-tracking ships, that traffic might be ours
With fellow-men of that which each land lacks "
(vv. 201-10) ;
and his firm belief in dhiiiation:
Suppl. 211-13:
a 5' ear' ixcrrjua kov o'a<^^, yiyvuffKotxev
tls irvp l3\tirovT€s, Kai Kara. awXayxvoiv vrvxas
fiavras irpoarjfialvovaiv omvwv t' diro.
" And for invisible things or dimlj' seen,
Soothsayers watch the flame, the liver's folds,
Or from the birds divine the things to be."
Cf. also vv. 155 fi., where Theseus asks Adrastus :
Suppl. 155:
"Didst seek to seers, and gaze on altar flames?"
mmmmimKmmm
> Mi m, J». .ik^ im* L^
The Supernal It ral in the Tragedies of Euripides 35
and Aclrastus confesses:
"Ah me! thou presscst mc where most I erred!" (156.)
In vv. 627 ff. Euripides lets the chorus appeal to Zeus :
Suppl. 627-30 :
icb ZeD, rds TraXaiofxaTopos
Traidayofe iropLOs Ivaxov.
ytpov ra8' ev/xepiis.
" Zeus, hear us, whose offspring was born of yore
Of Inachus-daughter, the heifer-maid!
Oh be our champion thou,
To our citj' be gracious now ! "
•Adrastus professes that humanity is in close dependence upon
Zeus :
Suppl. 734-36:
ci) ZeO, tL 8f]Ta tovs raXaLTrcopovs (3poTOvs
(jjpovelv XkyovaL; crov yap k^ripTrip.eda
8pufj.ku re rotaDt?' av au rvyxfifO^ ^eXoJv.
" Zeus, wherefore do they say that wretched man
Is wise? For lb, we hang upon thy skirts,
And that we do, it is but as thou wilt."
If things go as Heaven has ordained, no wonder that the same
Adrastus admits that prayer is of no avail. He leaves the sup-
pliant-bough on the altar as a protest that his prayer has been
slighted, and exclaims :
Suppl. 260-62:
^eovs T€ Kal yrjv Ti)v re Trvp4>6pov deav
Ar]nr)Tpa defxevac fidpTvp' r]\iov re <j)CJS,
(is ovdiv Tj/xlv ripKiaav \lto.I deuiv.
" Calling to witness heaven and earth, Demeter,
Fire-bearing Goddess, and the Sun-god's light.
That naught our prayers unto the Gods availed."
Athena who comes in ex macJiina, bids Theseus not to sur-
render the bodies of the seven chieftains without their pledging
themselves ever after to be faithful to Athens, and promising,
under the most solemn imprecations, never to invade the Attic
36 Ernest HcinricJi Klotsche
territory. She prescribes the ritual of the oath, vv. 1 183-1226.
Theseus as well as the chorus express their willingness to obey :
Theseus :
Suppl. 1227-31 :
bkairoLV^ 'Adava, neiaonai Xoyoiai. trols"
• K. T. X.
" Athena, Queen, thy words will I obey :
Thou guidest me ever that I may not err.
Him will I bind with oaths : only do thou
Still lead me aright ; for gracious while thou are
To Athens, shall we ever safely dwell."
Chorus :
Suppl. 1232-35:
crretxcoMfj ASpacrt?', opKia dwfieu
ToJS' avdpl TToXet t • a^ia 5 tiij.Iv
irpoixefiox^VKaac ffk^eadat..
" On pass we, Adrastus, and take oath-plight
Unto Theseus and Athens. That worship requite
Their travail for us, is meet and right."
8. The Heracleid/E
In the " Heracleidas " Demophon, king of Athens, informs
lolus that they who have charge of ancient oracles declare, one
and all, that success in the pending conflict can only be assured
by sacrificing to Ceres the maiden daughter of an illustrious sire :
HcracL 403-09:
XPT/CMW*' 5' iiOiSovs iravras els tv aXicras
fjXey^a k. t. X.
" All prophecy-chanters have I caused to meet.
Into old public oracles have I searched,
And secret, for salvation of this land.
And, mid their manifold diversities.
In one thing glares the sense of all the same: —
They bid me to Demeter's Daughter slay
A maiden of a high-born father sprung."
In compliance with this oracle, IMacaria offers herself a willing
victim for the welfare of the state, vv. 500 ff.
Another oracle is proclaimed by the captured Eurystheus who
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 37
foretells the future destiny of those who are now triumphant
over him :
Heracl. 1026-29 :
KTi'w, ov Trapat.ToviJ.aL ae- k. t. X.
XpijCTfJ.ii) iraXaiu) Ao^iov do:pr](TOfxaL, k. t. X.
" Slay: I ask not thy grace. But I bestow
On Athens, who hath spared, who shamed to slay me
An ancient oracle of Loxias,
Whicli in far days shall bless her more than seems."
His prophecy is accepted by all as a revelation vv. 1053 ff. :
" I also consent. On, henchman-train
March on with the doomed. No blood-guilt stain,
Proceeding of us, on our kings shall remain."
The words of Alcmena uttered against her divine lover, Zeus,
are in mitigated form a cruel reproach for the past :
Heracl. 869-72:
CO 7,€V, xporw fjikv rap. kireaKiipco KaKa,
Xapiv 5' o/jws (Toi Tcbv ■weirpayp.evtjov exw"
Kol Tvalba rbv ep.6v Ttpbadev oh boKova^ 'eyoi
t?€oIs bpCKelv vvv eivlaTapaL cra^cos.
" Zeus, late on mine affliction hast thou looked ;
Yet thank I thee for all that thou hast wrought.
Now know I of a surety that my son
Dwelleth with Gods : — ere this I thought not so."
See also her discreet complaints in vv. 718-19:
" Never of me shall ill be said of Zeus ;
But is he just to me-ward? Himself knows!"
9. The Hercules Furens
The " Hercules Furens " is, as regards the svipernatural ele-
ment in the play, a condemnation through Hera and Zeus of the
whole system of Gods. To the poet's favorite subject — accusa-
tion of the Gods for their alleged injustice and immorality — is
made allusion in the invocation of the chorus:
H. F. 798 ff. :
w "KkKTpoiv bvo avyyiveis
(vvai, K. T. X.
38 Ernest Heinrich Klotsclie
" Hail to the couch where the spousals divine
With the mortal were blended,
Where for love of the Lady of Perseus' line
Zeus' glory descended ! etc."
It finds explicit expression in the characteristic passage in which
Amphitryon expostulates with Zeus on account of his seduction
of Alcmena, and his desertion of Hercules :
H. F. 339-47 :
tb ZeD, ixdTrjv ap' Ofxoyafiov a tKTricraixriv,
fiarriv de iratdos yove k/jLOV (t' kKXy^o/iev
(TV 8 fjff^ dp riaaov fi Sokcls elvai <f>i\os.
i-perrj at pikHj -dmjTos oiv deov /leyav
TralSas yap ov TvpovdcoKa tovs lipaKKtovs.
(TV 5' els n'tv ivva.% Kpv4>Los TfirlaTOi fj.o\tlv,
TaWorpca XtKTpa Sovtos ovSevos Xa0ihv,
aco'C^eLV 8e tovs crovs ovk ewlaTaaai (piXovs.
afxad-qs TLs el i?e6s, el diKaios ovk e(f>vs.
" Zeus, for my couch-mate gained I thee in vain.
Named thee in vain co-father of my son.
Less than thou seemedst art thou friend to us !
Mortal, in worth thy godhead I outdo :
Hercules' sons have I abandoned not.
Cunning wast thou to steal unto my couch, —
To filch another's right none tendered thee, —
Yet know'st not how to save thy dear ones now !
Thine is unwisdom, or injustice thine."
In the following verses Amphitryon cries to Zeus :
H. F. 497-502 :
ey(j) 8k a\ w Zeu, xei-p' es ovpavov 8lkuv
a{)86}, TiKvoLcnv et tl toi<j18^ oKpeXelv
fj.eX\eLS, aixvveiv, k. t. X.
" But I, O Zeus, with hand to heaven upcast.
Cry — if for these babes thou hast any help,
Save them ; for soon thou nothing shalt avail.
Yet oft hast thou been prayed : in vain I toil ;
For now, meseems, we cannot choose but die."
For the same sentiment see also Ion 436 ft. and Heracl. /iSfif.
and H. F. 212: "If Zeus to us were righteously inclined."
Nor does Hera command our respect. The poet represents
her as solely responsible for the undeserved sufferings of the
great benefactor of humanity :
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 39
H. F. 1127-28:
A: o) ZeD, Trap' Hpas ap' 6pq.s dp6v(jiv rdSe;
H: dXX' 7) Ti KtWtv irokkfiLov ireirop^anei';
A: "Zeus seest thou this bolt from Hera's throne? "
H: "Ha; have I suffered mischief of her hate?"
Hera drives Hercules mad and makes him slayer of his own
innocent children, all because of the Goddess's jealousy of Zeus.
In reference to her fierce resentment the chorus exclaim :
H. F. 888-90 :
tcb ZeD, TO arov ykvos ayovov avTiKa
\vaaix.bt% wp-o^pcores airoLVobiKoi dlKai
KaKoidiv eKK€Td(rovcrip.
" Ah misery ! Zeus, mad vengeance ravenous-wild
Straightway, athirst for requital, with evils on evils piled,
Shall trample thy son unto dust, as though he were not thy
child."
Such a Goddess has no claim on the adoration of men. No
wonder that Hercules when the dreadful truth is brought home
to him, cries :
H. F. 1307-10 :
TOiavrri i)eu>
tLs av TTpoaeiixoii^' ', fj yvvaiKos eivsKa
\iKTpo3v 4>^ovovaa Zrjvl robs tiiepytras
EXXdSos dTrcbXecr ov8ev ovras alriovs.
" To such a Goddess
Who shall pray now? — who, for a woman's sake
Jealous of Zeus, from Hellas hath cut off
Her benefactors, guiltless though they were ! "
" Dare not with thine admonitions trammel Hera's schemes and
mine!" (885)
is Iris's answer to Lyssa who appeals in vain for mercy:
H.F. 847-54:
■n-apaii'tcrat 8k, irplv acpaXelaav elatSilv,
Hp?. i?eXw ffoi t', k. t. X.
" Fain would I plead with Hera and with thee.
Ere she have erred, if ye will heed my words.
This man, against whose house ye thrust me on.
Nor on the ea^th is fameless, nor in heaven.
40 Ernest He in rich Klofsche
The pathless land, the wild sea, hath he tamed,
And the God's honours hath alone restored,
When these by impious men were overthrown.
Therefore I plead, devise no monstrous wrong."
That Hercules is the object of divine resentment is also implied
in Iris' answer to the chorus' appeal to Psean :
H. F. 820-21 :
<j)va^ Ilataj',
dTTOTpOTTOS ykvOlO HOI, TVr)y.6.T0iP.
" Healer, to thee,
O King to avert from me yon bane I pray ! "
Iris: "Fear not: this is the child of Night ye see,
Madness, grey sires : I, handmaid of the Gods,
Iris. We come not for your city's hurt;
Only on one man's house do we make war —
His, whom Zeus' and Alcmena's son they call.
For, till he had ended all his bitter toils,
Fate shielded him, and Father Zeus would not
That I, or Hera, wrought him ever harm.
But now he has toiled Eurystheus' labours through,
Hera will stain him with the blood of kin,
That he shall slay his sons : her will is mine."
(vv. 822-32.)
If this is the principle on which Olympus is organized we need
not wonder that the Olympians turn a deaf ear to the prayers of
suffering mankind and that things go wrong on earth. This is
the idea which the poet through such passages — intentionally or
unintentionally — suggests.
Hercules who is believed to be in Hades is invoked by Megara
to appear:
H. F. 490-96 :
J) 0iXrar', «t rts cjyi^dyyos eicraKoverai
dvr)T(j}v Trap' AiSjj, aol rd8', 'HpdicXets, Xeyw ic. t. X.
" Dear love, — if any in Hades of the dead
Can hear, — I cry this to thee, Hercules :
Thy sire, thy sons, are dj'ing; doomed am I,
I, once through thee called blest in all men's eyes.
Help ! — come ! — Though as a shadow, yet appear !
The Supernatural in the Tragtu s of Euripides 41
Thy coming as a dream-shape would suffice
To daunt the cravens who would slay thy sons ! "
Then Hercules is suddenly seen, and though he has in fact re-
turned bodily from the nether world, he is at first taken for a
spectre who has come at the bidding of Megara ; but soon she be-
comes aware that it is no " dream," but Hercules himself :
" 'Tis he who lay, we heard, beneatli the earth,
Except in broad day we behold a dream !
What say I? — see they dreams, these yearning eyes?
This is none other, ancient, than thy son.
Boys, hither ! — hang upon j'our father's cloak.
Speed ye, unhand him not ; for this is he,
Your helper he, no worse than Saviour Zeus."
(vv. 516-22.)
Megara in invoking Hercules in Hades expresses her belief in
an invisible world, with which mortals have commerce.
10. The Iphigenia in Tauris
Iphigenia who had been doomed to die at Aulis for the Greeks
had been snatched from that death by Artemis and had become
priestess of the Goddess at the Tauris shrine where human vic-
tims were immolated. On landing among the Tauri two strangers
were captured by the inhabitants and sentenced to die at the altar
according to custom. Iphigenia discovers in them her brother
Orestes and his friend Pylades. They plan not only escape for
all, but also means of conveying away the statue of the Goddess,
which was the special end of their mission. They are recaptured
and finally delivered by Athena who commands Thoas, king of
the land, to permit their departure.
A god-fearing herdman in Taurica who first notices the two
fugitives, Orestes and Pylades, takes them for Gods, or for the
two Dioscuri, or two of the Xeried nymphs, and prays to them :
I. T. 270-74 :
d> -KOTvia^ ■wal XevKodkas, vewv 4>v\o,^,
SecnroTa WaXalnov, eXecos rn^lv yfvov,
etr oi'v eir aKrals OkiTCFeTov ALOCKopw,
7) NTjpeoJs dyaX/jLa^ , bs tov evyevrj
iTiKTe TriVTr)KOVTa Ntjp'JJScoi' xopov.
42 Ernest Hcinricli Klotsche
" Guardian of ships, Sea-queen Leucothea's son
O Lord Palsemon, gracious be to us ;
Or ye, Twin Brethren, if ye yonder sit;
Or Nereus' darlings, bom to him of whom
That company of fifty Nereids sprang."
Here the poet adopts the natural expressions of superstitious
Greek seamen. Leucothea and Pal?emon were sea-gods beneficent
to mariners.
Iphigenia pleads with Artemis to rescue her and her two coun-
trymen or else " Phoebus' lips must lose their truth to mortal men,
through thee ! "
I. T. 1083-88:
03 irOTVl , TJTTtp ^l' AllXtSoS KCLTO. TTTl'XO-S
beivfts eercoffas k. t. X.
" O Goddess-queen, who erst bj' AuHs' clefts
Didst save me from my sire's dread murderous hand,
Save me now too with these ; else Loxias' \vords
Through thee shall be no more believed of men.
But graciously come forth this barbarous land
To Athens. It beseems thee not to dwell '
Here, when so blest a city may be thine.'
and again she prays to Artemis :
I. T. 1398-1402:
u! A77T0DS Kopr),
aihaov fit Tr\v ar]v leplav k. t. X.
"Leto's Child, O Maid,
Save me, thy priestess ! Bring me unto Greece
From alien land ; forgive my theft of thee !
Thy brother, Goddess, dost thou also love :
O then believe that I too love my kin ! "
Iphigenia inquires after her enemies, first of all Helen, then
Calchas the seer who had died on his way from Troy, and finally
Odysseus who with others had plotted the immolation of Iphi-
genia. She pronounces a curse on Odysseus :
I.T. 535:
6X0LT0, vbarov ixijiroT etj Trdrpai' tvxwv.
"Now ruin seize him! Never win he home!"
The Supernatural in tlie Tragedies of Euripides 43
Iphigenia requests her brother to take her home or
" Else to thine house will I become a curse, Orestes."
I. T. 277-78 :
7) trots apaia hwnaaiv yevrjao/xai,
'Opeffi?', K. T. \.
alkiding to the influence of the vengeful, haunting spirit of a
wronged person.
In the following lines we have a striking example of a prayer
which is used to deceive others. Iphigenia prays to Artemis :
I. T. 1230-33:
u> Atos \r)TOvs r' avaaaa irapdfv' , 7)1' rti/co 4>6vov
Twv5e Kal {}v(T0ifxei> ovxpVj xaOapov OLK-qaus bopiov,
evri'xeis 5' rjnels eaofxeda. raXXa 6 oii Xkyovir , o/xois
rots TO. TrXetoj/' ecSocrtc deals aol re (rrjpaivco, dea.
" Queen, O child of Zeus and Leto, so the guilt from these I lave,
So I sacrifice where meet is, stainless temple shalt thou have :
Blest withal shall we be — more I say not, yet to Gods who know
All, and Goddess, unto thee, mine heart's desire I plainly show."
The ambiguous meaning of this prayer is apparent to the spec-
tator, but not to the party for whose hearing it is intended. King
Thoas, a devout man and zealous for the honor of the Goddess,
is persuaded by Iphigenia that not only the two strangers, but the
image of the Goddess itself requires purification. So he is easily
induced to send the captives to the sea-shore, while Iphigenia fol-
lows with the image to perform, as Thoas supposes, the solemn
rite of lustration, but in reality to take ship and transport the
image to Greece. It is at this occasion that Iphigenia utters the
equivocal prayer in the hearing of the king. The last words of
the prayer " more I say not, etc.," are of course said aside. What
the barbarian king understands of the priestess and her charge,
duly reinstated in the purged temple, means to the spectators of
the scene Athens and the deliverance of Iphigenia.
That the will of Heaven must be carried out is finally admitted
even by Thoas who says :
I.T. 1475-76:
a.va.a<j^ 'AOdva, rolffi roiv ddhv Xoyois
6<rris k\{)wi> aTTiCTTOj, oi/K opdus (ppovtl.
44 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
" Athena, Queen, who liears the words of Gods,
And disobej'eth them, is sense-bereft."
Pylades under a solemn oath promises Iphigenia to present the
document written by Iphigenia, to Orestes, or in case the docu-
ment be lost to deliver the message to Orestes in person ; while
Iphigenia promises to send Pylades home unhurt, 735 ff. The
solemn ceremony is concluded with the usual self-imprecation in
case of violating the covenant :
I. T. 747-52 :
11: tLv ovv eirbfivvs Toiaid' opKiov deusv;
I : Apreniv, ev i^crwep dunacnv tlucls ex^-
n : kyo) 8 avaKra. y ovpavov, aep.v6v Ata.
I: 61 6' tKKnricv tov opKov adiKoirjs (fie;
n : auoo'Tos tirjv tL 8t ai), fxi] auiaaaix. /it;
I : jXTjiroTe Kar' Apyos fwtr' Ixvos ^eirjv ttoSos.
P: "What God dost take to witness this thine oath?"
I : " Artemis, in whose fane I hold mine office."
P : " And I by Heaven's King, reverend Zeus."
I: "What if thou fail thine oath, and do me wrong?"
P: "May I return not. If thou save me not? — "
I : " Alive in Argos may I ne'er set foot."
cf. also Medea 754.
Iphigenia implores the chorus to keep silence about her plan to
save her brother and herself. The chorus, consisting of captured
Greek women who were spared by the Taurians for a life of
servitude, promise under oath:
I. T. 1076-77 :
ws iK y' hfiov (701 Travra a ty r]di]<7eTaL,
laru fieyas Zeus, w eTrio-KjjTTTets irepi.
" I W'ill keep silence touching all the things
Whereof thou chargest me : great Zeus be witness."
Orestes impressed with the danger into which he has come
through Apollo's oracle upbraids the God for having led him
again into a net, when he had looked for a happy termination of
his toils :
I. T. 77-94:
CO ^olfie, Trot )u' av Ti]vb^ « apKvv fiyayi%
Xprjaas, k. t. X.
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 45
" Phcebus, why is thy word again my snare,
When I have slain my mother, and avenged
My sire? From tired Fiends Fiends take up the chase,
And exiled drive me, outcast from my land,
In many a wild race doubling to and fro.
To thee I came and asked how might I win
My whirling madness' goal, my troubles' end.
Wherein I travailed, roving Hellas through.
Thou badst me go unto the Taurian coasts
Where Artemis, thy sister hath her altars,
And take the Goddess' image, which, men say,
Here fell into this temple out of heaven.
And, winning it by craft or happy chance,
All danger braved, to the Athenians' land
To give it — nought beyond was bidden me ; —
This done, should I have respite from my toils.
Hither I came, obedient to thy words.
To a strange land and cheerless."
Orestes had slain his mother in obedience to an oracle of
Apollo. Pursued by the Furies in consequence of this deed, a
second oracle had directed him to Athens to be tried before the
court of Areopagus. The votes for and against were equal, but
though Athena thereby declared him acquitted he did not escape
the continued persecution of the Furies. Again Orestes sought
counsel of Apollo at Delphi. He was bidden to convey to Attica
from the land of the Taurians the image of Artemis worshipped
there, with the promise that his sufferings shall end. He sails
with his faithful friend Pylades to perform this exploit. At their
arrival at Taurica Orestes learns from Pylades that strangers are
sacrificed at the teinple of Artemis. He then impressed with the
danger of their position appeals to Artemis, yy ff.
But Orestes who thus impeached the God is reprimanded by
Pylades not to speak evil of the oracle of the God :
I.T. 105-
Tov Tov deov 5e xP^Cf^o" ov KaKicrreop.
" Nor craven may we be to the oracle."
Then we hear Orestes say :
46 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
I.T. ii8ff.:
... oil yap TO Tov deov y'alTiov yevqaerai
Trefftlf OLKpavTOv dtacparov ToXixrjTiou k. t. X.
" Best withdraw ourselves
Unto a place where we shall lurk unseen.
For, if his oracle fall unto the ground,
The God's fault shall it not be. We must dare.
Since for j^oung men toil knoweth no excuse."
Orestes seems to mean that if we do not all we can, it will be our
own fault if the oracle prove vain. But Orestes invariably comes
around to his sceptical grievances and inveighs against the in-
justice of the oracle-god:
I.T. 711-15:
rjfjLas 6' 6 4>oZ/3os /xdfris cov k^ptvaaro- .
Texvqv dk ^e/xevos K. t. X.
" Me Phoebus, prophet though he be deceived,
And by a cunning shift from Argos drave
Afar, for shame of those his prophecies.
I gave up all to him, obeyed his words.
My mother slew — and perish now myself ! "
Orestes calls Apollo " prophet "= /idp'rts' which had come to be
an unpopular title at the time our play was written. Then he
charges the God with a stratagem (rexvw 5' ■dejievos) to put him
out of the way that the falseness of his oracle might not be
known, the first oracle commanding matricide having proved a
mistake, cf. 77 fi. Again Orestes declares openly his judgment of
the God :
I. T. 723 :
TO. 't'ot/Sou 5' ovSkv wipeKel fj,' 'iin].
" Phoebus' words avail me nothing now."
But despite all the bitter attacks Orestes has made upon the
justice of the oracle-god, towards the end of the play the oracle
is proved right. This is nothing unusual in Euripides. In those
of his tragedies where the Olympians appear in the most unfa-
vorable light, their conduct is generally vindicated in the end. It
seems that in the " Iphigenia in Tauris " the poet intended to
make the spectators feel that the oracle of Apollo, ordaining the
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 47
removal of the statue, ought not to seem fulfilled through strat-
agem and theft. So he represents Orestes no longer as the
despondent sceptic, but makes him argue that if their undertaking
is in harmony with the will of Artemis, it is also in harmony with
the will of Apollo, for a conflict between the will of Apollo and
the will of Artemis is impossible.
I.T. 1012-15:
el ■Kpoaavre'i -qv roSe
'Apt€ij.l8i, irws ai' Aortas idkatrLae
Koixlaai ti ayoKua ??€ds iroXicrfxa IlaXXaSos
Kal (TOP irpoaoiirov tluLheiv.
" Hear mine opinion — if this thing displease
Artemis, how had Loxias bidden me
To bear her statue unto Pallas' burg —
Yea, see thy face ? "
This passage presents a difficulty, namely, that the meeting of
the brother and sister (/vat adv Trpoaojirov dai-bdv) is not intimated
in the words of the God, vv. yj ft". Palay, Seidler, and others
assume that Apollo had not expressly said that Orestes would see
his sister; he had probably used 0-6770^0$ (v. 86) ambiguously.
The oracle probably was : 'hda avyyovos ^cofjiovs exet, thus apply-
ing either to Apollo's sister Artemis, or to Orestes' sister Iphi-
genia. Others suppose a lacuna in the text, before the words:
Kal adv TrpoacoTov eicndelv. Verrall sees in the words : Kal aov
■wpba: K. T. X. a kind of a pia fraus. Orestes adds them, because
" he naturally feels that, as things turn out, the oracle ought to
have said — then must have said — then did say doubtless — or at
any rate mean, that he was to meet his sister." This interpreta-
tion does not take into account Athena's words :
I.T. 143S-42:
TTtlTpOJukvOS yap ^i(T(}>a.TOl(TL Ao^tOU
bevp fjXi^' 'Opkarrii, tov t' 'Epivvcov xoXov
cl>e{jyo}v a.Bek4>ris r' Apyos elairtfxipcop 5e/xas
iiyaXfia- t' Upov els kfir]i> a^icv x^opa.
" For foreordained by Loxias' oracles,
Orestes came, to escape the Erinyes' wrath,
And lead his sister unto Argos home,
And bear the sacred image to my land.
So to win respite from his present woes."
48 Ernest Heiurich KlotscJie
If we compare these words with v. 1015 '• ^ai aov -Kpoawirov eiaiSeiv,
it is evident that Orestes somehow or other had learned before-
hand that he would meet his sister in Taurica. He either inferred
this knowledge from the ambiguous avyyovos or, — as is generally
believed, — a portion of Orestes' argument has been lost from the
text after v. 1014, by which he explained how he obtained his
knowledge.
The seer Calchas interprets the burnt offerings to which Aga-
memnon had resorted in order to learn the will of Heaven, and
proclaims his prophecy:
I. T. 18 ff.:
'Ayanefj-vov, ov fxri vavs acpopurjcri;! xi'ows,
irplv dv KopTjv ar]!/ 'Icfuyev^Lav Aprenis
Xdj(3]7 <T(j)ayeZaav
"Agamemnon, thou shalt not sail from the land
Ere Artemis receive thy daughter slain,
Iphigenia, ...
Whom thou must offer."
This time the seer safely escapes — strange though it is — the taunts
Euripides always has in store for soothsayers.
From Iphigenia's lips we hear the recital of her dream-vision:
I. T. 42 ff. :
& Kaiva 5' iJKei vi)^ (j)epov(Ta (ftaanara,
Xe^w Tcpos aidep', et t' Si) t68' ear clkos k. t. X.
" Now the Strange visions that the night has brought
To heaven I tell — if aught of help be there.
In sleep methought I had escaped this land
And dwelt in Argos. In my maiden-bower
I slept : then with an earthquake shook the ground.
I fled, I stood without, the cornice saw
Of the roof falling, — then, all crashing down.
Turret and basement, hurled was the house to earth.
. . . Now thus I read this dream of mine:
Dead is Orestes — him I sacrificed ; — etc."
It was held an eft"ectual method of averting the fulfillment of evil
dreams to come out into the open air and tell them to the sky,
as Iphigenia here does with her sinister dream, Xe^co xpos aidepa.
This dream-vision has convinced her that her brother Orestes
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 49
must be dead ; cf . also
I.T. 348-49:
vvv 5 6^ ovilpoiv dlcnv rj-ypioifxeda,
SoKova' 'OpkaT-qv fxr]Kt§' ^\ioi> ^XeTreiv.
" But now, from dreams wherebj^ mj^ heart is steeled,—
Who deem Orestes seeth light no more." —
and she has summoned her attendants to assist her in pouring a
libation to him as to a spirit in Hades, vv. 61 ff.
By the knowledge of Iphigenia's delusion in supposing her
brother dead the spectator is led to think mainly about the fate
of Orestes when the arrival of the two strangers is announced.
A similar device of an ominous dream by which the spectators
are prepared for events to come has been adopted in the " He-
cuba," where a vision of a dappled fawn torn from Hecuba's
knees by a wolf, portends the sacrifice of Polyxena, Hec. Qofif.
Iphigenia here makes the mistake of interpreting the dream with
reference to the past, while it was intended as a warning to her of
the coming event. This trust in an ominous dream is ridiculed by
Iphigenia ; when she hears that her brother lives, she cries :
I.T. 569:
^€i;5els oveipoi, x^tpeT"'' ohbtv fjr' ixpa.
" False dreams, avaunt ! So then ye were but nought."
And Orestes who knows nothing of her dreams adapts his words
to hers in a characteristic reflection of his own, at the same time
directing his attack against the Gods especially Apollo whom
he supposes to have deceived him, and the art of divination in
general :
I. T. 570-75 : ^
ovd' oi CTo4>oi ye 8aifj.oves KeK\r]nkvoL
irTT/jvuv bvelpwv eialv a\f/evde(TTepoi.
" Ay, and not even Gods, whom men call wise.
Are less deceitful than the fleeting dreams.
Utter confusion is in things divine
And human. Wise men grieve at this alone
When — rashness? — no, but faith in oracles
Brings ruin — how deep, they that prove it know."
50 F.nirst Hcinrich Klotschc
Dreams obtained by dream-oraeles are described by the poet as
a kind of spurious and deceptive divination sent by Earth in vexa-
tion for her ejected daughter Themis who alone possessed the
power of predicting the truth. In order to punish Apollo for the
deposition of her daughter Themis, Earth instituted a dream-
oracle which was consulted by sleeping upon the ground by the
shrine. Here, Earth sent up dreams, which deluded mankind,
who trusted more to the predictions derived from dreams than to
the oracles themselves.
I.T. 1259 ff.:
QtixLv 5' eTTtt 7ds lull'
TratS' awevacraaTO Aa-
rwos CLTTO ^adtccv
XP'rjcTTrjpLuv, uvxi-O- x. t. \.
" But the Child of the Earth did his coming make
Of her birthright dispossessed,
For the oracle-sceptre of Themis he lirake :
Wherefore the Earth from her breast,
To make of his pride a derision, sent forth dream-vision on
vision,
Whereby to sons of men the tilings that had been ere then,
And the things for the God's decision
Yet waiting beyond our ken,
Through the darkness of slumber she spake, and from
Phoebus — in fierce heart-ache
Of jealous wrath for her daughter's sake —
His honor so did she wrest."
Thereupon Apollo appeals to Zeus to stop the baneful power of
Earth, 1270 fif. Zeus puts an end to the nightly visions and con-
firms Apollo's authority :
I.T. 1277-83:
iravaev pvxi^vs oveipovs,
diri di \aBo(jvi>av
VVKTUTTOP k^elXfv ^porijiv, K. T. X.
" And he made an end to the voices of night ;
For he took from mortals the dream-visitations,
Truth's shadows upfloating from Earth's dark womb ;
And he sealed by an everlasting right
Loxias' honours, that all men might
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 51
Trust vvhollj^ his word, when the thronging nations
Bowed at the throne where he sang fate's doom."
This theme is pecuh'arly in harmony with the plot of the play
which turns on Apollo's oracle being proved right in the end, and
Iphigenia's dream wrong. The choral ode vv. 1234 ff. celebrates
the institution of that oracle, and the abolition of the ancient
dream-oracles. The ode closes with a glorification of " Apollo's
clear prophetic song " in contrast with " the divination of dark-
ness " at Delphi :
I.T. 1251-58:
tKaves, S} ^ol^e, fxav-
Ttloiv 5' eirk^as ^adeccv, k. t. X.
" Tliou, Phoebus, didst slay him, didst take for thine
The oracle's lordship, the right divine.
And still on the tripod of gold are keeping
Thy session, dispensing to us, to the race
Of men, revelation of heaven's design,
From thy throne of truth, from the secret shrine,
By the streams through Castaly's cleft up-sweeping,
Where the heart of the world is thy dwelling-place."
11. The Troades
The "Troades" is a vivid picture of the miseries endured by
noble Trojan dames — Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra — imme-
diately after the capture of Troy. Measured by the usage of the
stage the piece is not a perfect play, but it is full of tragic scenes,
— less a drama than a pathetic spectacle. The concluding scene,
where the captive women, allotted as slaves to dififerent masters,
leave Troy in flames behind them, and are led towards the ships,
is truly grand. Euripides produced the " Troades " when the
great fleet of the Athenians was getting ready to sail for the con-
quering of Sicily (415), as though he were foreboding this fatal
expedition that brought Athens to her doom. Murray, therefore,
calls the "Troades" "the work rather of a prophet than a mere
artist," and we may add : the work of a prophet whose words are
life and truth in our days as well as in the days of Euripides.
Never can a great tragedy seem more real to us, than the " Tro-
52 Ernest HeinricJi Klotsche
jan Women," at this moment of the history of the world. To
the people of the present day might the prophetess Cassandra
speak her message just as well as to those nearly three thousand
years ago :
" Sooth, he were best shun war, whoso is wise :
If war must be, his country's crown of pride
Is death heroic, craven death her shame."
(400-02.)
And Poseidon, when mourning over the fall of Troy, has the
same to say of the terrors of war, which we have to say of them
to-day :
" Fool, that in sack of towns lays temples waste.
And tombs, the sanctuaries of the dead !
He, sowing desolation, reaps destruction."
(95^7-)
Euripides generally employs a God, through whom the predic-
tion of the future in the finales of his tragedies is made. In the
" Troades " he uses the more impressive method of a mortal
soothsayer to reveal the future. Cassandra in a state of frenzy
-comes on the stage (308), singing a wild strain on her supposed
nuptials with the Argive king. Then she imparts to Hecuba a
long prophecy. She sees the vision of Agamemnon's body —
murdered by his wife — and other impending events. Talthybius
intervenes and receives a summary of the future wanderings of
Odysseus. Finally she declares that she will come a victress to
Hades after the death of herself and Agamemnon : vv. 353-460.
At times Euripides is openly iconoclastic in dealing with cur-
rent religious practice. Even prayer and sacrifices are sometimes
regarded as of doubtful aid. A striking instance is found in the
prayer which he puts into the mouth of ITecuba:
Tr. 469-71 :
w diol- KaKovs fJ-iv avaKoXw tovs ci'/u/uaxous,
oraif Tis r)y.<jiv bvarvxv ^o-^V t^XV^-
" O Gods ! to sorry helpers I appeal ;
Yet to invoke the Gods hath some fair show
When child of man on evil fortune lights."
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 53
A bold sentiment, indeed, plainly indicating a disbelief in the
popular theology ! The same idea recurs in the following verses
where Hecuba says :
Tr. 1280-81:
Iw deal. Kal tI roiis Seovs KaXco;
Kal irplv yap ovk fiKovaav avaKa\ovfj.€V0L.
" O ye Gods ! — why call I on the Gods ?
For called on heretofore they hearkened not ! "
and vv. 1240 ff. she says:
" Nought was in Heaven's design, save woes to me
And Troy, above all cities loathed of them.
In vain wc sacrificed ! "
In these passages is expressed the inmost theme of the whole
play, a search for an answer to the question: if the righteous are
not treated better in this life than the wicked, if injustice triumphs
over justice, what must we think of the Gods? "Such Gods are
as a matter of fact the moral inferiors to good men, and Euripides
will never blind his eyes to their inferiority ; and as soon as peo-
ple see that their God is bad, they tend to cease believing in his
existence at all." (Murray, Troj. Women.)
The same thought that the Gods turn a deaf ear to the cries of
mankind in distress finds expression in the following choral ode:
Tr. 1060 ff.:
OVTO} 8r] TOP tv Wlw
vaov . . . irpovSiiinas . . . w Zeu, . . . ava^
ovpavi.ov 'ibpavov €7rt/3e/3d)s
al^kpa t' eyuas vroXeos okop.kvas, k. t. X.
" So then thy temple in Troy fair-gleaming.
And thine altar of incense heavenward steaming
Hast thou rendered up to our foes Achsean,
O Zeus, and the flame of our sacrificing, etc. . . .
Dost thou care, O King, I muse, heart-aching, —
Thou who sittest on high in the far blue heaven
Enthroned, — that my city to ruin is given, etc."
Long before Euripides Homer had represented Zeus as aldepi
valuiv, cf. Iliad II, 412. In vv 1078-79 Euripides shows us Zeus
enthroned on his celestial seat and on ether, while in other pas-
54 Ernest Heinrich Klotschc
sages he confounds the dweller in the ether with his dwelling so
that ether and Zeus are one, cf. Fragm. 596, 869. 935.
The curious prayer of Hecuba shows how vacillating Euripides'
view on this subject was :
Tr. 884-88:
03 7^s oxw Kairl ■yr)s tx^^ ibpav,
offTis ttot' tl (TV, dvcTTOTracTTos eidivat,
Zeiis, etr' 6.i>ayKr] c^uffeos elre vovs fiporuv,
Trpoar]v^anriv ere- Travra yap bl a^6<t)OV
^ati'coi' KeKevdov Kara. blKi)v ra dfrir' ayu<;.
" O Earth's Upbearer, thou whose throne is Earth,
Whoe'er thou be, O past our finding out,
Zeus, be thou Nature's law, or Mind of Man,
Thee I invoke ; for, treading soundless paths.
To Justice' goal thou bring'st all mortal things."
The audience may well have echoed Menelaus' exclamation :
Tr. 889:
tL 6' eaTLv; evxo-s cos e/caificras decop.
"How now? — what strange prayer this unto the Gods?"
This prayer was of a new kind, indeed! Zeus had never heard
its like. — What do we find in it? All through the play Hecuba
is a woman of remarkable intellectual power and of fearless
thought. She treats the Olympian Gods as beings that have be-
trayed her, and whose names she scarcely deigns to speak. Zeus,
if there is such a being at all, is either the air, that both sustains
the earth and rests upon it, or the irresistible power of nature to
produce all things after a certain law ; or else intellect, or, rather
the directing agency which ordains all things from the first and
which exists in the soul of every man. She is far from denying
the existence of a divine power, and yet in her prayer she rejects
all current polytheism. In the first place we have in this prayer
the poet's customary identification of Zeus with ether. Here we
notice the influence of Anaximenes and especially of Diogenes of
Apollonia. The theory that the earth is supported by the air is
ascribed by Plutarch (Mor. 896 E) to Anaximenes, and by Aris-
totle (De Cselo H, 13) to Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, and De-
mocritus. The following words of Anaximenes imply this view :
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 55
" Even as our soul, which is air, holds us together, so breath
(Tvevtio) and air encompass the whole universe." The doctrine
that the supreme Godhead is the Air is ascribed by Cicero in De
Nat. Deor. I, 29, to Diogenes of Apollonia. Diogenes deified air
and spoke of it as omnipresent. It is by virtue of its intelligence,
according to Diogenes, that " the element of Air steers all things
and has power over all things." Then in line 886 Euripides gives
us a pantheistic interpretation of Zeus. The divine principle,
which the common people in ignorance of its nature call Zeus,
shows itself as intellect in the mind of man {vovs ^porcbv), and as
necessary and immutable law in nature (avajKr] (jyvaeoos), of which
he says Ale. 965 : that above it there is nothing {Kpelaaov ov8eu
avayKrjs); cf. also Helen 514! Seti'TJs avayKrjs oiiSev laxveLv irXeov.
This pantheism finds expression elsewhere in Euripides' poetry.
In Fragm. 935 he identifies divinity with all embracing ether:
" Seest thou the boundless ether there on high,
That folds the earth around with dewy arms?
This deem thou Zeus, this reckon one with God."
Cf. also Fragm. 596. Such utterances explain how Aristophanes
should have accused Euripides of convincing men that there are
no Gods. Finally in the last verse of the prayer the poet charac-
terizes the divine reason as world-ruling Justice. To Euripides
Justice and God are one, cf. also El. 771 :
"Gods! All-seeing Justice thou hast come at last!"
Euripides conceives of Justice as a quasi-personal being, the
"Weltgeist" or " Weltvernunft " as the German critic Nestle
calls it in his " Euripides," a being not transcendent but immanent
in all things, forming and directing all things to universal har-
mony. This idea which preeminently pervades the dramas of
Sophocles was generally not carried out by Euripides and recon-
ciled with the inequality of the distribution of blessings and evils
among men. So also Hecuba's prayer breathes discord rather
than harmony. "If there is any explanation, any justice, she will
be content and give worship (Trpoarjv^aiJLrjv ae), but it seems that
there is not."
56 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
12. The Helena
This play is founded on a strange variation of the Helen-legend,
in which Helen was borne away by Hermes to Eg)^pt and detained
there, while only a wraith of Helen passed to Troy. She lived
like a true wife in Egypt until Menelaus rescued her from Theo-
clymenus, king of the land, and brought her safely back to Greece.
The play is not one of the poet's happier efforts ; it furnishes,
however, considerable material of the supernatural element.
Helen's prayer to Hera and Aphrodite is a line and impressive
one inspired by the energy of despair :
Hel. 1093 flf. :
w TTOTVL fj Aioicnv kv Xe/crpots
lipa, 611' oLKTpcb (^ojt' avaxpv^ov irovoiv,
alrov/ieS^ opdas coXei'as wpos ovpavov k. t. X.
" O Queen, who restest on the couch of Zeus,
Hera, to hapless twain grant pause from ills,
We pray, with arms flung upward to the sky.
Thy mansion wrought with arabesque of stars.
And thou, by mine hand winner of beauty's prize,
Cypris, Dione's child, destroy me not !
Enough the scathe thou hast done me heretofore,
Lending my name, not me, to alien men :
But let me die, if 'tis thy will to slay.
In homeland, etc."
Of the same character is ]\Ienelaus' prayer to Poseidon:
Hel. 1584-87:
w vaicj}v aXa
woTPie Hoaftoov k. t. X.
" . . . O Sea-abider
Poseidon, and ye, Nereus's daughters pure.
Me bring ye and my wife to Xauplia's shores,
Safe from this land."
Menelaus sends another impressive prayer to Zeus, in which he
points out that he had acted toward the Gods the part of a pious
man, yet he adds, as if upbraiding them for their present neglect:
" Not endless ills I merit."
Hel. 1441-51 :
J) Zei', iraTTjp re Kal ffo^os xXjlfet deos,
. . . 6<^eiXw 5' ovK ael Trpaaativ kukus k. t. X.
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 57
" Zeus, Father art thou called, and the Wise God :
Look upon us, and from our woes redeem ;
And as we drag our fortunes up the steep,
Lay to thine hand : a finger-touch from thee,
And good-speed's haven long desired we win.
Suffice our travail heretofore endured.
Oft have ye been invoked, ye Gods, to hear
My joys and griefs: no endless ills I merit,
But in plain paths to tread. Grant this one boon.
And happy shall ye make me all my days."
The prayer of the chorus tends to the same purport:
Hel. 855-56:
0} deal, yevka'dio 5r] ttot' evrvx^s yepos
TO TavToXeiov Kal neraffT-qTco kukuv.
" Gods, grant at least fair fortune to the line
Of Tantalus, and rescuing from ills ! "
Menelaus prays to his dead father-in-law, and to Hades. He
is well aware that though the dead cannot restore Helen, the re-
quest will not be altogether vain :
Hel. 926 flf. :
S) ykpov, OS oUels TovSe 'Kawov Ta4>ov,
aTTodos, ctTratraJ Trji> efxriv Sanaprd ere, k. t. X.
" O ancient, dweller in this tomb of stone.
Restore thy trust : I claim of thee my wife.
Sent hither of Zeus to thee, to ward for me.
Thou who art dead, canst ne'er restore, I know :
But this thy child will think scorn that her sire.
Glorious of old, from the underworld invoked
Have infamy, etc.
O Hades, on thy championship I call,
. . . render back my wife."
The prophetess Theonoe advises Helen to pray to the Gods, w.
1024 fif., and to address to her dead father the following prayer:
Hel. 1028-29:
ail 5', 03 davuv ^tot irdrep, oaov y eyui adtfu,
ovTTOTe K€K\r]<jii Svffffe^ris olvt evaefiovs.
" And thou, dead sire, so far as in me lies.
Impious for righteous ne'er shalt be misnamed."
58 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
It is against the art of soothsaying and those who make it their
business of interpreting the tliglit of birds and other signs of the
divine will, that the attacks of Euripides are more especially di-
rected, and for the common trust in omens and prophecies he has
only ridicule. At Athens especially prophecies sprang up like
mushrooms. Soothsayers of all sorts plied a lively trade and
were regarded as " fond of money." Even Sophocles, who treats
them and their predictions with respect and even with awe, alludes
to this notorious quality of the soothsayers, Antig. 1055, where
Creon says to Teiresias :
TO fxavTiKov yap wdv (i)i\apyvpov yevos.
" The race of seers is ever fond of mone}-."
Euripides defines the idavr to be " one who speaks few truths,
but many lies " (Iph. A. 957), and his most bitter invective against
the art of divination is contained in our play :
Hel. 744-57:
aXXd rot TO. pavreuv
icreldov cos <j)av\^ iarl Koi \ieL'5<if TrXta.
ovK rjv ap' vyiis ovdev ipirvpov <{)}\.oy6s
ov8e TTTepoiTOiif ipdeytxar • tvrjdes 5e tol
TO Kal doKelv oppi^as d)<f)e\elv PpoToi)^.
K. T. X.
tL drJTa navTevopeda; toIs 'Seolai XP^"
dvovTas alTiTf ayada, fjLavrelas 8' edv
^iov yap ctXXcos deXeap -qvpktJr] rode,
Kovdels eirXovTrjcr^ ep.Trvpoi.cnv apyos cbv
yvcopr; 5' aplarr] p.dvTLS fi t' evjSovXia.
"... But the lore of seers,
How vain it is I see, how full of lies.
Utterly naught then were the altar-flames.
The voices of winged things ! Sheer folh^ this
Even to dream that birds may help mankind.
Calchas told not, nor gave sign to the host,
Yet saw, when for a cloud's sake died his friends :
Not Hclenus told ; but Troy for nought was stormed !
' Yea, for the Gods forbade,' thou mightest say.
Why seek 3^e then to seers? With sacrifice
To Gods, ask blessings : let soothsayings be.
They were but as a bait for greed devised :
No sluggard getteth wealth through divination.
Sound wit, with prudence, is the seer of seers."
The Supernatural in tlie Tragedies of Euripides 59
As the tragedy of " Helen " was played in 412 shortly after the
Sicilian expedition which had ended so disastrously, it is probable
that Euripides directed these invectives against the soothsayers
whom he regarded as mischievous tools in the hands of the war
party, and who as such had especially urged the people to under-
take the expedition. Euripides was not the only one who at-
tacked this " worthless class of idlers " ; cf . the scene in Arist.
Birds. 959-991.
Beside this well-known passage where the poet so violently
attacks the art of divination, we have in the same play other pas-
sages regarding the same object, where Euripides follows the
traditional belief and represents Theonoe, the prophetess and
sister of Theoclymenus, as a true oracle possessing supernatural
knowledge. Referring to her Helen says :
Hel. 819:
cot' evSov avTU) ^ii/i/xaxos ^eoZs tar],
" An ally wise as Gods he hath within."
and Helen again asserts :
Hel. 861^2:
aiTOvcra yap ae Kal irapoua a.4>Lyixkvov
8evp olSev.
" Present or absent still she knows of thee,
How thou art come."
From the sequel of the play we know that the prophetess con-
trols Destiny ; Theonoe herself declares :
Hel. 887 ff. :
TtKos 5 e0 i7Mt'', eti'' o. ^ovXerai Kvirpis
K. T. X.
" The issue rests with me — to tell nij^ brother,
As Cypris wills, thy presence, ruining thee,
Or, standing Hera's ally, save thy life, etc."
Theonoe chooses to save IMenclaus and Helen, and the decision of
the Gods follows that of the prophetess.
Allusion to vision is made when Helen, aware of the imreality
of the Trojan Helen, exclaims :
6o Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
Hel. 119:
"What if he nursed a heaven-sent phantasy?"
and when ]Menelaus exclaims:
Hel. 569:
" Light-bearer Hecate, send gracious visions ! "
Menelaus appeals to Hecate, since spectres and phantoms were
regarded as the attendants of that Goddess.
Respect for the word of an oath is expressed by ]\Ienelaus:
Hel. 977-79:
opKois KeKkV/Jted', ws [xadris, k. t. X.
" Know, maiden, I have bound me by an oath
To dare thy brother, first, unto the fight :
Then he or I must die, my word is passed."
An example of a ciirsc-oatli is contained in
Hel. 835-41 :
E: dXX' a~/v6v opKov aov Kapa Karoc/jioaa
^I : Tt <i>ris; davelcrdat kovttot' dXXd^eti' Xex'?!
E: TavTih ^icpei ye- Kelaop.ai 5e crov TreXas.
M: fTTL TolaSe roivvv Se^ids eju^s diye.
E: xj/avoi, OavovTos aov rod' iK\ii\petv (paos.
"M: Kayij} aTeprjdeU uov TeXev-rjao: 0iov.
H: " Naj^ by thine head I swear a solemn oath — ''
M : " How ? — Wilt thou die ere thou desert thy lord ? "
H : " Yea, by thy sword : beside thee will I lie."
M : " Then, for this pledge, lay thou thine hand in mine."
H: "I clasp — I swear to perish if thou fall."
M: "And I. of thee bereft, to end my life."
Helen when swearing invokes the river Eurotas to witness :
Hel. 348 ff. :
ae yap tKoKeaa, ae 8i Karonocra,
Tov vSpoevra 56vaKi. x^^po" EupcoTai', k. t. X.
" Thee I invoke, I swear bj' thy name.
O river with ripple-washed reed-beds green,
Eurotas! — if true was the word that came
That my lord on the earth is no more seen."
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides
6i
13. The Phceniss^
The subject of the " Phcenisss " is the same as that of the
^schylean play: "The Seven against Thebes," namely, the war
of succession between Polyneices and Eteocles.
locaste who speaks the prologue prays for her two sons, Poly-
neices and Eteocles :
Phcen. 84-87:
AXX' CO <f>aevva.s ovpavov valuiv -KTyxo-s
ZeD, ddaov rinas, 86s 5k avix0aai.v reKwis.
Xpri 5', ei <^o<p6s Trk(f>vKas, oiiK kdv ^porbv
rov avTOV ad bvcTTVXV Ka&taravai.
" O dweller Zens in heaven's veiling light,
Save us, grant reconciling to my sons !
Thou oughtest not, so thou be wise, to kave
The same man overcome to be unblest."
In Antigone's prayer addressed to Nemesis :
Phcen. 182 ff. :
NeMeo-t Ktti Atos ^apv^poixoi ^povrai,
KepavvGiv T€ 4>Ci% al'9a\6ev, <^v tol
fxeyaXayopiav virepavopa Koi/xtfets-
" O Nemesis, O ye thunders rolling deep
Of Zeus, thou flaming light of his levin,
Overweening vaunts dost thou hush into endless sleep !
the imprecation is impUed : "the haughty boastings of man dost
thou silence; mayest thou silence his!" i.e., Capaneus . Then
Antigone appeals to Artemis :
Phcen. 190-92:
ixi]TOT€ ixriiroTe ravS', do iroTVia, k. r. X.,
' AprenL, 8ov\offvvav rXatTjj'.
"Never, ah, never, O Artemis Queen,
Zeus' child with tresses of golden sheen.
Bowed under bondage may I be seen 1 "
The chorus appeal to the Gods to reconcile the two brothers:
Phoen. 586-87:
w deoi, yevoiade rcbvd' airoTpoTOi kclkuv
Kal ^vfiPaa-lv riv OiSivroL' rkKvoiS Sort.
" Ah Gods, be ye averters of these ills,
And set at one the sons of CEdipus ! "
62 Ernest Hcinrich Klotschc
Polyneices having resigned and abjured his native Gods, prays
to the Argive Hera, whose votary he had become, to assist him in
slaying his brother:
Phoen. 1365-68:
w ttStvi Hpa, cos yap tl/j.', tirtl 7a/iois
efeu^' ' AdpdcTTOv iralda Kal vaioi x^ova,
86s fioi KTaviiv abtK4>6v, Aprijpr} 8 ktJ.r\v
Kadainarcbaai de^idv viKr)<i)6pov.
" Queen Hera, — for thine am I since I wed
Adrastus' child, and dwell within thy land, —
Grant me to slay my brother, and to stain
My warring hands witli blood of victory! "
Eteocles prays to Pallas :
Phoen. 1373-76 :
CO Atos Kopr],
86s ^7X0^ W'*" KaWiviKov «K' x^pos
els (TTtpj'' a8e\(j)ov Tijad' (xtt' tliXevrjs ^a\elv
KTavtiv t?' OS ffKde waTpida Tzopdrjaiov 'tpr\v.
"... Daughter of Zeus,
Grant that the conquering spear, of mine hand sped.
Yea, from this arm, may smite mj^ brother's breast,
And slay him who hath come to waste my land ! "
The two brothers met their doom owing to a curse pronounced
upon them by their father. In a fit of anger GLdipus had pro-
nounced on his sons that they might share the kingdom with the
sword :
Phcen. 67-68:
dpds apdrai Traicrlv dvoffiooTCiTas,
drjKTw ai8r)pu Schfxa SiaXaxilv T68e.
" A curse most impious hurled he at his sons,
That they might share their heritage with the sword."
They fearing the accomplishment of the curse had agreed to rule
by turns for a year :
" They terror-stricken lest, if they should dwell
Together, Gods might bring the curse to pass,
Made covenant that Polyneices first,
The younger, self-exiled, should leave the land.
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 63
That Eteocles, tarrying wear the crown
One j'ear — then cliange." (vv. 69-74.)
See also 474-75 ; and 624, where the mother locaste admonishes
her sons :
" Flee, O flee j-our father's curses ! "
See also 765 and 1355. The fate imprecated upon the sons of
CEdipus is inevitable although the two sons fancied they could
outwit the Gods :
" And OLdipus' sons, who fain had cloaked it over
With time, as though they could outrun the Gods,
In folly erred" (vv. 872-74).
The chorus exclaim :
Phoen. 1425-26:
<j>ev (t>tv, KaKuv auv, OISLttov, <r oawv arkvco-
ras ffds 6' dpds eoLKev iKTrXrjaai i?e6s.
" Alas ! I wail thy sore griefs, QLdipus !
Thy malisons, I wot, hath God fulfilled."
From these passages we learn that destiny can be aroused by the
huinan will in a curse,' and in this case the curse becomes a part
of destiny and sways the fate of its victims. In vv. 1595 ff.
CEdipus speaks of a hereditary transmission of the curse which
works down to the grandchildren and even utterly extirpates a
race :
Phoen. 1608-14:
KTavcov 8 knavTov Trarkp' 6 Suadai/j.aji' kyw
tls nrjTpds r}\dov Tfjs ToKanruipov Xexos,
■Kolbas T a8e\(f)0vs 'irtKov, ovs airuiXeaa.
dpds TvapaXapuv Aatov Kai irai-crl dovs. k. t. X.
" So mine own father did I slay, and came, —
Ah wretch ! — unto mine hapless mother's couch.
Sons I begat, my brethren, and destroyed,
Passing to them the curse of Laius.
For not so witless am I from the birth.
As to devise these things against mine eyes
And my sons' life, but by the finger of God."
64 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
Cf. also ^sch. Eum. 934 ff. The Greeks modified their theory of
the hereditary transmission of a curse by arguing that each gen-
eration commits new sins.
The poet's opinion in regard to the importance of dreams is
iUustrated by the following simile. The feeble trembling feet of
CEdipus are like a dream in respect of strength :
Plicen. 1721-22 :
Tg.8e T^Se 0adi /xot.,
TaSe rade iroda rldeL k. t. X.
" Let thy feet follow hither mine hand,
strengthless as dream of the night!"
A few examples of oath are found in our play. Polyneices calls
the Gods to witness that it is against his own will to take up arms
against his relation :
Phoen. 433-34:
deoiis 5' eTrcofxatr' ws aKovaicos
Tois <t>i\rdTois knovffiv ripdfjir]i> 86pv.
" And. hy the Gods I swear, unwillingly
1 lift the spear against my father's house."
Polyneices expresses his indignation at his brother Eteocles
who has not kept what he had promised under oath :
Phcen. 481-83 :
6' alcecas rai'i?' opKcovs re Sous t?eoi)s,
'iSpacTev ovdev oiv virecrxeT', k. t. X.
" And he consented, in the God's sight swore.
Yet no whit keepeth troth, but holdeth still
The kingship and mine half the heritage."
and angrily proceeds :
Phoen. 491-93 :
judpTi'pas 8i T(i)v8i Saipova^ KaXoi,
us TavTa irpdaaui' aiiv b'lKxi, Sutjs drep
6.iro(TTepovpai iraTpiSos avoffiurara.
"... I call the Gods to witness this —
That, wholly dealing justly, robbed am I
Of fatherland, unjustly, impiously."
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 65
and again he exclaims :
Phcen. 626-27:
rijv 5e dpexpacrav ij,€ yalav Kal ^toiis fxaprvpofxat,
cos CLTLixos oiKTpa Tva.<Jx<^v k^eXavvofiat x^ovos, k. t. X.
" I call to witness earth that nursed me, witness Gods in heaven,
How with shame and piteous usage from the home-land I am
driven, etc."
For oath in general see vv. 1240-41 :
" On these terms made they truce, and in mid-space
The chiefs took oaths whereby they should abide."
As regards the prophecies and oracles in our play the poet's
usual vacillation is obvious. On the one hand he treats the sub-
ject in harmony with the popular belief and shows that oracles
are inexorably fulfilled ; on the other hand he shows his wonted
contempt for the prophets and their functions. So he makes
CEdipus profess that Phoebus' oracles inevitably come true :
Phoen. 1595-99:
ayouov AttoWop Aatoj p. kdtcnricre k. r. X.
" Ere from my mother's womb I came to light,
Phoebus to Laius spake me, yet unborn,
My father's murderer — etc."
and Phcen. 1703 and 05:
vw xPV^f^os, 0} waZ, Ao^iov ■Kepalverai.
tv rals ' K-&TivaLS KaT^avelv p* aXdcpevov.
" Now, child, doth Loxias' oracle come to pass.
That I, a wanderer, should in Athens die."
The choral ode vv. 638 ft. relates the fulfillment of the oracle
which enjoined Cadmus to found a city wherever a heifer driven
from a certain herd should throw itself upon the ground:
Phoen. 640-42:
poaxo^ ahapavTov Tricrrjpa
5tK£ TtKe(j4>6pov hibovaa.
XP'ri(Tp6v, ov KaroLKicraL k. t. X.
" That so was accomplished the oracle spoken
When the God for the place of his rest gave token, etc."
66 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
The oracle contained in vv. 409 ff. is an example that oracles
present an inevitable future in terms that are dim, ambiguous,
equivocal, ironical :
Phoen. 409 and 411 :
ixpTfCF^ 'A5pa(rT(^ Aortas xPV^t^o" Tiva.
KaTTpcj) 'KiofTl d' apfxoaoLi. iraiSup yafxovs.
" To Adrastus Loxias spake an oracle :
' Tln^ daughters wed to a lion and a boar.' "
Eteocles who formerly had mocked at the seer Teiresias admits
that he cannot dispense with the seer's advice concerning an im-
portant undertaking :
Phoen. 766 :
iv 6' iarli' rinlv dpyov, ei rt i)t(j4>aTov
oliovotxavTis Tetpectas ex*'' 4>po.<yoLi.,
rovo' eKTTvdecrdai ravr'- . . .
eyw di Tkxvt\v ptavTiKijv kn^ix^pafx-qv k. t. X.
" One thing abides undone, to ask the seer
Teiresias touching this, if aught he hath
Of oracles to tell. ...
But the seer's art in time past liave I mocked
Unto his face ; so he may bear me grudge."
The aged seer Teiresias led by his daughter enters the stage
saying :
Plioen. 838-40:
K\ripovs re ^lo^ (pvXaacre Ttapdkvui xepl, k. t. X.
" Guard in thy maiden hand the augury-lots
Which, when I marked the bodings of the birds,
In the holy seat I took, where I divine."
The " augury-lots " {K\r)povs) are the notes which the seer had
written down after having observed the flight of the birds.
Teiresias claims to have secured through the art of divination
the victory for Athens over Eleusis and displays as his reward a
golden crown, the first-fruits of the spoil: ■ •
Phcen. 854-58:
. . . Kal rbvbe xpvffo'j*' <TTt4>ai'0P, ojs opas, *x<^
Xa/Scoj' &wapxo.s TroXefiiuv cTKvXevfiaTiov.
The Supernatural iu llie Tragedies of Euripides 6y
" There too was war, against Eumolpus' spear,
Where I to Cecrops' sons gave victory.
This crown of gold, as thou mayst see, have I
As firstfruits of the foemen's spoil received."
Then Teiresias being urged to declare the truth, affirms that
the sole hope of the safety of Thebes lies in the sacrifice of
Creon's only son, Menoecus :
Phoen. 911-14:
cLKove 617 vvv t?ecT<pdTcov tixiov bbov
atpa^ai Mei'otKij Tovde del a virep irarpas
aov TraZS', (.TreLSrj t7}v tvxV o-vto), KaXels.
" Hear tlien the tenor of mine oracle,
What deed of yours shall save the Thebans town.
Menoecus must thou slay for fatherland.
Thy son — since thou thyself demandest fate."
Teiresias leaves the stage with the following characteristic
words upon his lips :
Phoen. 954-59:
ocrrts 5' eyUTrupw XPV'''"-'- Tex^H,
fxaraios' fiv (xiv exJ?P<i ff-qiJ.'qvas ti'X!7,
TTiKpos KaxJkcTTrix ols av olcovoaKOTrf]-
yf^evdij 6' inr' o'iktov roiai, xP'<JM«fots X'tyoiv
adiKei to. rihv x}tuiv. ^olfiov avd picirois jxbvov
XPVv i^eairioidelv, os 8e8oLKev ovdkva.
"... Who uses the diviner's art
Is foolish. If he heraldeth ill things.
He is loathed of those to whom he prophecies.
If pitying them that seek to him, he lie,
He wrongs the Gods. Sole prophet unto men
Ought Phoebus to have been, who feareth none."
Euripides renders his condemnation of the soothsayers most
effective when he makes the aged seer himself confess that sooth-
sayers often do not dare to tell the truth to those that consult
them and therefore arc compelled to cheat their clients in order
not to give offence. No wonder that Creon says to his son :
Phoen. 971 :
aKoXaar' eacras p-avreoiv dtairlcrpaTa.
" Heed not tlie reckless words of soothsayers."
68 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche.
14. The Electra
The "Electra," produced about 413, treats of the same subject
as the " Choephorse " of /Eschylus, and the " Electra " of Soph-
ocles, namely the return of Orestes from exile, and his revenge
upon Clytemnestra.
The chorus admonish Electra to worship the Gods and pray to
them:
El. 194-97:
ixr\ TifiiLcra deovs, Kpari)-
ativ ex'^pojv; ovtol crTocaxats,
dXX' ei'xaio't ^fovs atfii-
^ova^ e^ets evanepiav, w iral.
" If thou give honour not to Gods, shall bring
Thy foes low? — reverencing
The Gods with prayers, not groans, shalt thou obtain
Clear shining after rain."
but Electra answers :
El. 198-200:
oi'dels deoiv (voTras KXi'ti
rds dvadainovos, ov TraXat-
wv Tvarpos (T<j)ayiaffijubi>.
" No God regards a wretch's cries.
Nor heeds old flames of sacrifice
Once on my father's altar burning."
and yet in her distress she prays desperately :
El. 221 :
w $01)3' ' AttoWop, TrpocTTTtTj'w ae /ut) daveiv.
" Phoebus, T pray thee that I be not slain ! "
Electra is exhorted by the Old Man to pray to the Gods :
El. 563 and 565:
J) ttStvI, tvxov, dvyartp 'HXe/ixpa, i9eots
'Kafftiv <f>L\ov drjaavpdv, 5v fpalvei i?e6s.
" Daughter, Electra — princess ! — pray to the Gods —
To win the precious treasure God reveals ! "
and she replies :
The Supernatural in the- Tragedies of Euripides 69
El. 566:
l5ov, KoKH} t}covs.
" Lo, I invoke them."
The prayer in vv. 671 ft", which is according to Murray's ar-
rangement in turn recited by Orestes, Electra, and the Old Man,
contains also an invocation of the dead:
El. 671-83 :
O. CO ZeD iraTpue Kal rpoTral' ex'^P'^*' tp-^v,
H. OLKTeipe t?' rjnas, olKTpa yap weir6i>dap.cv, k. t. X.
O. " My father's God, Zeus, smiter of my foes,"
E. " Pity us : pitiful our wrongs have been."
O. M. "Yea, pity those whose lineage is of thee!"
E. " Queen of Mycenae's altars, Hera, help ! "
O. " Grant to us victory, if we claim the right."
O. M. " Grant for their father vengeance unto these ! "
E. " O Earth, O Queen, on whom I lay mine hands,"
O. " Father, by foul wrong dweller 'neath the earth,"
O. M. " Help, help them, these thy children best-beloved,"
O. " Come ! bring all those thy battle-helpers slain "
E. " All them whose spears with thee laid Phrygians low,"
O. M. " Yea, all which hate defilers impious ! "
O. " Hear'st thou, O foully-entreated of my mother?"
This prayer to the dead father presupposes the presence of the
spirit of the dead, his sympathy and co-operation with the sur-
viving kinsmen. Electra asserts (v. 684) :
" Our sire hears all, I know."
In the following invocation of the Gods Electra identifies the
Gods with world-ruling Justice :
El. 771 :
CO i?€ot, ALkt) re Trdi'i? opcoo , fiXOis rrore.
" Gods ! All-seeing Justice thou hast come at last ! "
Orestes has come by divine command to avenge his father's
death :
El. 87-89:
d<i>lyiJ,aL 6' Ik ^eov xP'7<'''''7piwi' k. t. X.
"JO Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
"... At Phcebus' oracle-hest I come
To Argos' soil, none privy thereunto,
To paj' my father's murderers murder-wage."
Orestes expresses his belief in Apollo's oracles, but has no re-
gard for the tribe of soothsayers :
El. 399-400:
S.oi,lov yap enireSoi
XprjffijLoi, PpoTuv be fxavTLKTiv xaiptiv fH}.
"... ; for Loxias' oracles
Fail not. Of men's soothsaying will I none."
In the end of the play the Dioscuri suddenly appear and abuse
Apollo on account of his oracle which has brought about the
dreadful events, but he is their superior and therefore they cannot
speak too plainly :
El. 1296-97 :
irpd^iv <t>oviav.
"... for on Phoebus I lay the guilt
Of the blood thou hast spilt, etc."
Likewise lays Orestes the responsibility for the murder of Cly-
temnestra and its consequences at the door of Apollo :
El. 971 and 973 :
w <l>oI/3<, TToWrjv 7' d/jiadlav tdkuinaas.,
'6(TTL<i fj,' exP'Jffas fir]Ttp', fji> ov xPWj KTavclv.
" O Phoebus, folly exceeding was thine best —
Who against nature bad'st me slaj- mj- mother ! "
and El. 1190-96:
to) <I>oij8', avvfivriaas dlKav. k. t. X.
" Phoebus, the deed didst thou commend
Aye whispering ' Justice.' Thou hast bared
The deeds of darkness, and made end,
Through Greece, of lust that murder dared.
But me what land shall shield? What friend.
What righteous man shall bear to see
The slayer of his mother — me?"
Tlic Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides y\
15. The Orestes
The Orestes was acted in 408. The first part of the play tells
us that after the murder of Aigisthus and Clytemnestra Orestes
was haunted by the Furies. In torment thereof he continued six
days. Then both, Orestes and Electra were condemned to death
by the Argive people. The later portion of the play contains the
intrigues for their rescue and the final achievement for their de-
liverance.
Orestes desires to pray at the grave of his father:
Or. 796-97:
Kal fie Trpos TVfxj3ov ■Kopevcjov iraTpos,
cos VIP LKtTtvaw fie aaitrai.
" Even to my father's grave-mound guide me on.
I would pray him to deliver."
Orestes, Electra, and Pylades pray to Agamemnon in Hades :
Or. 1225 fif.:
O. w Scbfxa vaiu^v vvktos 6p4>i'aia^ Trdrcp, k. t. X.
H. w Trdrep, Ikov Stjt', el fcXuets e'iaco x^ovos
reKvciov KoKovvroiv, ol aedev ifv-qaKova' inrep.
n. o) avyytveia Trarpos ep.ov, Kafjias Xtrds,
' Ay a nefxvov, eiaa.KovcToi', eKffiocrov Ttuva..
O. " Father, who dwellest in dark halls of night,
Thy son Orestes bids thee come to help
Those in sore need. For thy sake suffer I
Wrongfully — by thy brother am betrayed.
Though I wrought righteousness. I fain would seize
His wife, and slay: be thou our help therein!"
E. " Come, father, come, if thou in earth's embrace
Hearest thy children cry, who die for thee ! "
P. " My father's kinsman, to my prayers withal,
Agamemnon, hearken ; save thy children thou ! etc."
and Pylades adds :
Or. 1240-43:
iravcraade, Kal irpos tpyov e^opfiwue^a.
etirep yap etcrco yfj's aKovri^ovcr' dpai,
kXuci. ail 5', co ZfD irpoyove Kal Aiktjs a'e^as,
Sot' evTVxvo'o.i twS' kfxoi re rfiSe re.
" Cease ye, and let us haste unto the deed ;
For if prayers, javelin-like, pierce earth, he hears.
72 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
Forefather Zeus, and Justice' majesty,
To him, to me, to her. grant happy speed ! "
Electra prays :
Or. 1299-1300:
w Alos, 03 Alox a'tvaov Kparos,
?X»>' iiriKovpov ifwlffL <t)i\oiat iravTuis.
" O power of Zeus, of Zeus, — eternal power,
Come, aid my friends in this supremest hour ! "
Electra pronounces a curse on Helen :
Or. 130-31 :
iSeol at tJ.i(Tr)(THav, ois n' aTrwXecras
Kal Toude ■wacav ??' EXXdSa.
"... —Still the Helen of old !
God's hate be on thee, who hast ruined me.
My brother, and all Hellas ! "
Only one instance of oath is found in our play :
Or. 1516-17:
0. oixocrov, il Se nil, Krevw ere, /ujj Xkyeiv ey.r)v x<ip"'-
^. Tr]v ifJLTiv \pvxvv Kardifioa', ffv av evopKoln' kyu).
O. " Swear— or I will slaj' thee, — that thou speakest not to
pleasure me.
Phr. B3' my life I swear — an oath I sure sliould honour sacredly."
In the prologue Electra asserts that the oradc-god is guilty of
the most unholy thing, the most abominable deed :
Or. 28-31 :
4>ot/3oi' 5' abiKLap ntv ri 5el KaTrjyoptlv;
ireideL 6' 'OpeffT-qv nrirkp' f) (T<p' kyeii'aro
KTtivai, irp6% ohx awa.vTa's evKKnav (t>epov.
<5/xcos 5' &.irkKT€iv' ovk atrudrjaas i?€w.
" What boots it to lay wrong to Phoebus' cliarge,
Wlio thrust Orestes on to slay the mother
Tliat bare him? — few but cry shame on the deed,
Tliough in obedience to the God he slew."
Line 30 means literally translated " a deed that does not bring to
all the idea that this was creditable in a God," i.e., " that brings
discredit to him with some."
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 73
That Phoebus was the real author of the deed is admitted by
Helen :
Or. 76:
els "i>oI/3oj' a.va4>tpovaa Tr)v afxaprlav.
" Since upon Phoebus all thy sin I lay, etc."
Apollo's oracle is called an unjust one by Electra :
Or. 162-64:
ixdiKos ixdiKa tot ap' tXaKef eXaKev, airo-
(fjovov 6t' (ttI TpLTrodi Qe/dLbos ap' tdiKaffe
4>6vov 6 Aortas tM^s yuaxepos.
" Wrongful was he who uttered that wrongful rede
When Loxias, thronged on the tripod of Themis, decreed
The death of mj^ mother, a foul, unnatural deed!"
And Orestes exclaims :
Or. 275-76:
tL dfiTa ;ueXXer'; e^aKpi^er' aidepa
TTTepols' TO. <i>ot/3oi; 5' alTLaade dtcrtf^aTa.
" Why tarry ye ? Soar to the welkin's height
On wings ! There rail on Phoebus' oracles ! "
and he continues :
Or. 285-87 :
Xo^iq. di fieiJ.4>oiJ.aL,
ooTts fj. tirapas tpyov avocnioTaTov.
Tols p.iv \6yois r]v4>paiv€, rots 5' epyoiCTW ov.
"... Loxias I blame,
Who to a deed accursed thrust ine on,
And cheered me still with words, but not with deeds."
Orestes, when seized with madness, in his lucid intervals again
and aszain blames the God for the deed :
Or. 414 ff.
0. dXX' iaTLv rjiJilv ai'a4>opa. rfjs ^Uju^opds
<t'oi/3os, KeXevaas fX7]Tp6s iKvpa^ai <f)6vov.
M. afj.adt(TTep6s y dv tov koKov Kal ttjs 5tK7js
0. BovXevofxev 'deals, 6 tl ttot' eicrlv ol -deol.
^I. k^t' oIk ay.{'V€L Aortas rots aols KaKols',
0. jueXXtf TO ^elov 8' euTi toiovtov 4>v(rei,.
O. " Yet can I cast my burden of affliction
74 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
On PIioel)us, who bade spill my mother's blood."
M. " Sore lack was his of justice and of right! "
O. " The God's thralls are we — whatsoe'er Gods be."
M. "And doth not Loxias shield thee in thine ills?"
O. " He tarrieth long — such is the God's wont still."
Or. 591-96:
'AttoWcov OS ne(TOfj.(f)a.\ovs (Spas
. vaiwv 0poTol<Ti. arofxa vend (Ta<f>ecTTaToi',
<fi -wtLdontada ttclviV ocr' av Ktlvos Xeyjj,
TOVTCi} TTLdonevos Triv TtKovaav tKravou.
tKeivov Tiyelad' avbaiov Kal KTeivere-
tKeivos i^fiapr', om kyu.
"... Apollo at earth's navel-throne
Gives most true revelation unto men,
Whom we obey in whatsoe'er he saith.
Obeying him, my mother did I slay.
Account }'e him unholy : yea, slay him !
He sinned, not I."
After the poet has thoroughly censured the oracle-god for his
injustice the play concludes with the usual justification of Apollo's
wisdom. Apollo himself appears and gives his oracles as to how
afifairs should be managed, vv. 1625-65. Orestes perfectly satis-
fied addresses Apollo :
Or. 1666-67:
CO Ao^ta /jiavTele auiv decnrLafj.aTojv
ov xpevbonavTLs fja^' dip', dXX' eriiTvnos.
" Hail, Prophet Loxias, to thine oracles !
No lying prophet went thou then, Init true."
and Or. 1680-81 :
(caTcb TotovTos' airiv8oiJ.at 8e avn4>opais,
Mej/tXce, Kal aols, Ao|ia, deairianaaiv.
" I am as he to my fate reconciled.
To Menelaus, and thine oracles."
The prophet Glaucus, from whom Menelaus learned the news
of his brother's fate, is called the " unerring God " :
Or. 362 ff.:
. . . N77pea)s vpo<i>i]TTis VKavKos 6.\fev5ris deos, k. t. X.
"... from the waves
The shipman's seer, the unerring God, the son
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 75
of Nereus, Glaucus, made it known to me :
' Thy brother, Menclaus, lieth dead, etc' "
The word Trpo^Tjrrjs, however, does not necessarily imply the power
of predicting; Trpo^iyrijs is properly an interpreter or speaker for
another, as Apollo was the prophet of Zeus and Glaucus of
Nereus.
Reference to dreams is made in
Or. 618:
oveipar ayyeWoixra Taya/jLtfivovos.
" TeHino- of dreams from Agamemnon sent."
This verse is generally considered as spurious. Paley thinks that
the notion was borrowed from dreams of vengeance sent to Cly-
temnestra by Agamemnon as described in the " Choephori " of
/^schylus and in Sophocles' Electra 425 ; it is not elsewhere al-
luded to by Euripides.
In the extremely fine passage vv. 255 ff., which must have been
truly terrific when impersonated by a good actor, we have the
famous vision of Orestes who sees the Furies by his side :
Or. 255-57:
TCis ot;uaTW7roi;s Koi dpaKovrudas Kopas.
avrai yap a Drat ir\r](Tiov OpuiaKOval jjlov.
" Mother ! — beseech thee, hark not thou on me
'Yon maidens gory-eyed and snaky-haired !
Lo there ! — lo there ! They are nigh, they leap on me ! "
At this moment Orestes in his delirium makes a violent efifort to
leap from his couch ; Therefore Electra, his sister, who sits by his
bed and administers to him with the most tender afifection as-
suages him saying :
Or. 258-59:
ixkv , CO raXatTTcop", arpkixa crols ev Sep.pioi'S'
opas yap ovdtv uv doKfls <Td<j> etSevat.
" Stay, hapless one, unshuddering on thy couch :
Nought of thy vivid vision seest thou."
In these lines we have a striking example how Euripides manages
76 Ernest He'mrich Klotsche
the supernatural in contrast with yEschylus. According to the
latter the Furies are real deities, living persons of objective ex-
istence, who even come upon the stage to torture the murderer.
According to Euripides Orestes in his delirium fancies he sees
the forms of the Furies pursuing him, while Electra expresses her
disbelief in the visible presence of them. She admits that a
fancied illness is as afflicting to the patient, as a real one, but
insists that the illness is nothing but a vision that haunts the brain
of a delirious man :
Or. 311-15 :
dXXa kXIpov tls evvr)v btjias,
Kol ^l^7 TO rap^ovv KaK(j>o0ovy cr^ tK benvlwv
ayav d7ro5exoi') M*''* 5' tirl arpoiTOV \kxov^.
Kav fir] voajjs yap, dXXd. So^af ets voat'iv
KCLnaros ^poTolcnv kwoplare ylyvtrai.
" . . . But lay thee down,
And heed not terrors overmuch, that scare
Thee from thy couch, but on thy bed abide.
For, though thy sickness be but of the brain,
This is affliction, this despair, to men.''
16. The Iphigenia at Aulis
The " Iphigenia at Aulis " was acted after the death of Euripi-
des. Its subject forms a prelude to the "Iphigenia in Tauris."
Calchas the prophet had proclaimed — and he was backed by
Odysseus and Menelaus — that Artemis claims the sacrifice of
Iphigenia, eldest daughter of Agamemnon, before the adverse
winds can fall. Iphigenia, doomed by her father to die at Aulis,
is miraculously saved by the Goddess and removed to another
land, the Tauric Chersonese.
As in the " Hippolytus " so also in the " Iphigenia at Aulis," a
characteristic passage is contained, where Euripides refers to an
oath which is invalid. This is the oath sworn to Tyndareus by
Helen's suitors :
LA. 390 ff.:
wfLoaav TOP Twdapetov opKov ol KaK6(t>poves
(pLXoyafiot p.vr\(TTr)pK . . .
ovs Xaficjv ffTparev'- eVoiyuot 5' elcrl ficoplq. <i>pev(hv.
TJic Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 77
" Those infatuate marriage-craving suitors swore an oath indeed
Unto Tyndareus ; . . .
Lead them thou — O these are read)- in tlie folly of their soul ! "
This oath was invahd because it was extorted on a false pretense :
I. A. 66-67 :
tTret 5' kiriffTwdriaav e/x7re5ajs, ytpuiv
inrriKdev avTovs Tvifdapeus irvKufi <^peft, k. t. X.
" So when they had pledged them thus, and cunningly
Old Tyndareus had hy craft outwitted them, etc."
The oath was taken under the usual solemn forms of swearing
and an imprecation of harm to him who should fail in his obliga-
tion was added, {eTvapaaaadat) :
I. A. 57-65 :
Kal VLv elcrrj'K^ei' Ta5e,
opKovs (TwoApai Sejtas t€ avix^akeiv k. t. X.
"... and this thing came into his mind,
That each to each the suitors should make oath,
And clasp right hands, and with burnt sacrifice
Should pour drink-offerings, and swear to this : —
Whose wife soever Tyndareus' child should be,
Him to defend: if any from her home
Stole her and fled, and thrust her lord aside,
To march against him, and to raze his town,
Hellene or alien, with their mailed array."
The suitors had taken the oath because each hoped to be the hus-
band of Helen ; and since they were bound by this oath they had
to take the consequences of their folly and join the Trojan expe-
dition, and so fulfil their oath. In taking such an oath they are
called KaK6(l)poves "infatuate," vv. 390-91. But Euripides adds
that while men may be in the dark about the validity or invalidity
of oaths the Godhead well knows how to distinguish those which
are valid from those which are not :
LA. 395-^6:
oil yap iavuerov to ^eiov, dXX' ex*' ffvvikvai
roxjs KaKUs Trayevras opKovs Kal KaTrjvayKaankvovs.
"God is not an undiscerning judge; his eyes are keen to try
Oaths exacted by constraint, and troth-plight held unrighteously."
78 Ernest He in rich Klofsche
Menelaus under a solemn oath by his and Agamemnon's an-
cestors declares that he no longer desires to possess a bad wife at
the cost of a good brother's happiness :
I. A. 473 ff. :
]Ie\o7ra KdTotxvvyJ , oy Trarrip rovfxov irarpos
Toil aov t' tKXridri, tov TtKovra 7' 'Axpea,
K. T. X.
" I swear by Pelops, of my sire and thine
Named father, and bjr Atreus our own sire,
That from mine heart's core I will speak to thee.
To serve no end, l)ut all mine inmost thought, etc."
Likewise Achilles, when swearing, invokes his ancestor :
I. A. 948-50 :
/[id TOV dl vypibi> Kvnaruv red panfikvov
N77pea, <t>vTovpy6v Bert5os v m' tTtiVaro,
ovx atperaL ffTJs i^vyarpos \\.y ap.eij.vijii> ava^.
" No, by the foster-son of Ocean's waves,
Nereus, the sire of Thetis who bare me,
King Agamemnon shall not touch thy child."
The poet's dislike for seers also finds expression in our play :
I. A. 520-21 :
TO navTLKov Trdi' airkpp.a (jiLXoTtpov KaKov.
Kovdiv 7' apearov ov5t xP'^'^'-l^ov wapop.
Agam. " The whole seer-tribe is an ambitious curse."
Menel. " Abominable and useless, — zvhile alive."
Cf. also El. 400; Hel. 755 ; I. T. 574.
Achilles bitterly asks :
LA. 956:
Tts 8e pdvTis i(TT' dn7p;
" What is a seer? "
and answers his own question :
LA. 957-58:
5s oKiy a\r]dfj, woWa 8i \pev8fi \iyu
Tvx<j^f orav bi pij rvxil^ dioixeraL.
" A man who speaks few truths, but many lies.
When his shafts hit, who is ruined if he miss."
(I.e., he loses all credit when he fails.)
TJic Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 79
17. The Bacch^
The " Bacchffi " was composed or completed during the resi-
dence of Euripides with Archelaus in Macedonia and in all prob-
ability was the work of his latest years. It brings before us the
conflict between divine power claiming its due recognition (Dion-
ysus), and human arrogance denying that claim (Pentheus).
The play details the miserable end of Pentheus, who stands alone
in obstinate resistance to the worship of Dionysus. A devout
and religious tone is predominant throughout this play. The
splendid choral odes of the " Bacchanals," their passionate cries
and wild ecstatic prayers express the one theme of pious devotion
in varying forms following the development of the action.
The chorus in an ecstatic prayer call the Goddess of Sanctity
to listen to the impious language of Pentheus :
Bacch. 370 ff. :
'Offta TTOTva ^eccv,
'Offta 5' a Kara yav
Xpvakav ■KTipvya. <^€pets, k. t. X.
" O Sanctity, thou who dost bear dominion
Over Gods, yet low as this earthly ground,
Unto usward, stoopest thy golden pinion, —
Hear'st thou the words of the king, and the sound
Of his blast of defiance, of Pentheus assailing
The Clamour-king? — hear'st thou this blasphemous railing
On Semele's son, who is foremost found
Of the Blest in the festival beauty-crowned? etc."
In the spirit of Bacchic frenzy the chorus invoke the God :
Bacch. 414-15 :
CKelcr (iye ^te, Bpo^iie BpojUte, k. t. X.
"... Thitherward lead me, O Clamour-king !
O Revel-god, guide where the Graces abide
And Desire, — where danceth, of no man denied,
The Bacchanal ring."
The chorus call upon the God to come and check the insolence of
the king :
Bacch. 550 flf. :
i<7op5.s xdS , w Atos Tral
ALovvffe, (joi's Trpo4>r]Tas k. t. X.
8o Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
"... Son of Zeus, are his deeds of thine eye unbeholden,
Dionysus? — thy prophets with tyrannj^ wrestling in struggle and
strain?
Sweep down the slope of Olympus, uptossing thy thyrsus golden :
Come to us. King, and the murderer's insolent fury refrain, etc."
Having called upon the hounds of Madness to arouse the
Maenads against Pentheus, the godless intruder into their sacred
rites, the chorus invoke Justice and the presence of the God
himself :
Baccli. 1012-23:
iroj 5iKa <f>ai'ep6s, troi ^i07j06pos k. t. X.
W, W BdKX«) K- T- ^•
"Justice, draw nigli us, draw nigh, with the sword of avenging
appear :
Slay the unrighteous, the seed of Echion. the earth-born, and
shear
Clean through his throat; for he feareth not God, neither law
doth he fear."
" O Dionysus, reveal thee ! — appear as a bull to behold.
Or be thou seen as dragon, a monster of heads manifold,
Or as a lion with splendours of flame round the limbs of him
rolled.
Come to us, Bacchus, and smiling in mocker\- compass him
around
Now with the toils of destruction, and so shall the hunter be
bound,
Trapped mid the throng of the ^Isenads, the quarry- his questing
hath found."
Since the " Bacchse " apparently breathe a more religious spirit
than most of the earlier dramas of Euripides, scholars have often
maintained that the play is a sort of recantation on the part of the
poet, "a reactionary manifesto in favour of orthodoxy." In the
judgment of G. Murray this is a "view which hardly merits refu-
tation." Even in the " Bacchas," towards the close of the play in
the colloquy between Agave and Dionysus, Euripides does not
shrink from exposing the imperfections of the legend and repre-
senting the Gods in an obnoxious light :
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 8i
Bacch. 1344-49:
A. Aiovvffe, XicffoyuecriJd <r , ridiKriKanev.
A. 6x1/ knadtd- rjnas, ore 5 exPV^, "i-"^ vSere.
A. kyvuKafxev ravr • dXX kire^kpx^i- Xiaf.
A. Kal yap irpos vp-uv {fto^ yeyus v0pi.'^6pr]v.
A. opyas ■wpkirit ^eovs ovx oixoiovadac ^porols.
A. TraXat raSe Zeus oii/xos hirivevaev irarrjp.
A. " Dionysus, we beseech thee ! — we have sinned."
D. " Too late ye know me, who knew not in your hour."
A. " We know it — but thy vengeance passeth bounds."
D. " I am a God : ye did despite to me."
A. " It fits not that in wrath Gods be as men."
D. " Long since mj- father Zeus ordained this so."
Dionysus possesses prophetic knowledge and predicts future
events. No doubt, some verses of Dionysus' speech have been lost
at the end of the play. The portion preserved begins with his
prophecy of the weird transformation of Cadmus:
Bacch. 1330 ff. :
bpaKccv yevrjcrei /uera/SaXcov, k. t. X.
XPV^'fJ-os us Xe7et Atos, k. t. X.
" Thou to a serpent shalt be changed ; thy wife, etc.
. . . Zeus' oracle saith, etc."
Teiresias, the prophet of Apollo, describes Dionysus as a God
possessed of oracular power and prophetic madness :
Bacch. 298-99:
IxavTLs S' 6 halpxiiv 65e' to yap ^aKxeixripov
Kal TO fiavLuSes pavTLKriv ttoWtji' ex*'-
" A prophet is this God : the Bacchic frenzy
And ecstacy are full-fraught with prophecy."
cf . also Hec. 1267 :
6 Opri^l pavTLs elire Aiovvffos Ta8r.
Dramatically appropriate in the lips of the aged seer Teiresias
is the conservative tone in which he protests against rationalizing
and speculating about the Gods, as if our reason were capable of
dealing with the question, vv. 200 ff.
" 'Tis not for us to reason touching Gods.
Traditions of our fathers, old as time,
82 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
We hold : no reasoning shall cast them down, —
No, though of subtlest wit our wisdom spring, etc."
We cannot, however, unreservedly accept the seer as the spokes-
man of the opinion of the poet, who, as appears from passages in
other plays, had no great lovi^; for prophets and soothsayers ; and
even a play of such a religious character as the " Bacchae " con-
tains a strong invective against the diviners : The taunts of venal-
ity which Euripides in vv. 255 ff. allows to be flung at Teiresias
by Pentheus, — taunts which remain unanswered by the seer, may
well make us hesitate in accepting the prophet as the exponent of
the poet's own opinion in vv. 200 ff. Pentheus severely attacks
Teiresias :
Bacch. 255-57:
ai) ravT^ 'iTreiaas, Teipecta- t6v8' av ^k\et,s
rov BaL/JLOv' avOpiciroiaLV ticr^tpcoi/ v'tov
OKOirelv irrepuTovs Kaixiriipcav y-iadovs <^kpeiv.
" Thou didst, Teiresias, draw him to this :
'Tis thou wouldst foist this new God upon men
For augurj^ and divination's wage ! "
The service of a new God was pretty sure to bring with it some
new profits from the credulous, especially as Dionysus was an
oracular God. The function of the soothsayer seems to have been
held in small repute among the contemporaries of Euripides, and
passages like these (see also Hipp. 1059; Ion 374-8; Hel. 744-57;
El. 400; Phoen. 772; I. A. 520; and Frgm. 793) reflect the feeling
of the day. Such censure of false prophets, so common in Euripi-
des, is doubtless due to the conduct of the mendicant soothsayers
and jugglers of the time.
For formula of oath see:
Bacch. 534-35 :
in val TOLV fioTpvcodrj
A1.0PVCTOV X'^-P'-^ owas.
"... I swear by the full-clustered
Grace of the vine Dionj-sian."
The Greeks usually called a divinity to witness that was connected
with the subject of discourse.
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 83
18. The Cyclops
The " Cyclops " is the only extant example of a satyric drama.
Although the play brings us into contact with customs and modes
of religious worship of a period long before Euripides, it fur-
nishes very little material for our search of the supernatural.
Odysseus prays to Athena and Zeus :
Cycl. 3SO-55 :
ci) IlaXXds, o! bkaiTOLva L^^ioyevts dea, k. r. X.
ZtD i,kvL opa ra5'' k. t. X.
" O Pallas, Child of Zeus, O Heavenly Queen,
Help, help me now, for never have I been,
Mid all Troy's travail, in such strait as this !
Oh, this is peril's bottomless abyss !
O Dweller in the starry Halls of Light,
Zeus, thou Guest-champion, look upon my plight !
If thou regard not, vainly we confess
Thy godhead, Zeus, who art mere nothingness ! "
For the same thought see :
Cycl. 375-7(^-
<h 7.ev, tL Xe^co, deiv' idihv avrpo^v ecco
Kov iricrTO., fxMokS etKor' ov5' tpyoLs ^porchv;
" O God, that cave ! — that mine eyes should behold
Horrors incredible, etc."
Odysseus also appeals to Hephsestus, the presiding God of Etna
to help him in getting rid of the Cyclops who is a pest to the
island :
Cycl. 599-607:
H^atcrr' iiva^ AlTvale, yeirovos KaKOv
Xa/jLTTpoy Tvvpoicras op.ix airaXXax^^' aira^,
K. T. X.
" O Fire-god, king of Etna, burn away
The eye of thy vile neighbour, and for aye
Rid thee of him ! O child of black Night, Sleep,
On this god-hated brute in full power leap !
Bring not Odysseus and his crew to naught.
After these glorious toils in Ilium wrought,
Through one who gives to God nor man a thought !
84 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
Else must we think that Chance bears rule in heaven,
That lordship over Gods to her is given."
The drunken Silenus pronounces curses on Odysseus and his
comrades :
Cycl. 261 :
KaKibi yap i^oXoio.
"... devil take you ! "
Cycl.268-69 :
fj KaKUS OVTOl KaKoi
oi TralSes dTroXotiro.
"... Else-^may they go to hell
These bad boys ! "
Silenus swears " by all the gods and little fishes " that he has not
sold the lambs of Cyclops :
Cycl. 262 ff . :
/id TOP HoCTflScb TOV TtKOVTa O , d) KuK'Xwi/',
/id TOV ixeyav TplTcova nal tov Nrjpka,
/id Trjv KaKuipCo rds t€ NTjpecos Kopas,
/id t?' lepd /cv/iar' ix'^^''^'' ''"^ ""^'^ y^fos,
airw/xocT , K. t. X.
" By the Sea-god your father, Sir, I vow,
By mighty Triton, Nereus, Lord of Waters,
Calj'pso, and all Nereus' pretty daughters,
By ever}' holy wave that swings and swishes —
In short, by all the gods and little fishes
I swear — . . . etc."
19. The Fr.\gments
In the Fragments of Euripides the following prayers and in-
vocations are contained :
fr. 123:
o) deoL, tIv^ eis yrjv jSap^apixiv a4>iyfxeda k. t. X.
" O Gods, what barbarous land have wc reached ! etc."
Fr. 132:
(TV 5' w Tvpavve deuv re Kavdpwiroiu Kpcos, k. t. X.
" Eros, thou mistress of the Gods and men, etc."
The Supernatural in t!ie Tragedies of Euripides 85
fr. 177:
<L Tfal AiuvTjs, cos e<^i;s fityas t?e6s,
Ai6vv<7e, dvrjTols t' ou5a^tws vTroararo's.
" O Dionysus, Dione's son, how great a God hast thou become,
in no wise inferior to mortals ! "
f r. 705 contains an invocation addressed to Apollo :
CO <I>oIjS' AttoWov Avkls, tL Tore yu' tpyaaei;
fr. 867 one addressed to xA.hprodite :
CO KiiTrpts, cos fjdila Kal ,uoxdrip6s il.
The following beautiful fragment contains a praise of the
world-pervading reason or intelligence :
fr. 596:
ere TOf avTo<pvrj tov tv aWepiw
pviJ-^u TravTOiv ^vaiv ijj.irXk^avd^ ,
Of irkpi. ixev (pais, irept 5' 6p4>vaia
vii^ aioXoxpcos, iiKpiTos t' darpcov
oxXos ej'SeXexcos ap-cpixopevfL.
" Thee, self-begotten, who, in ether rolled
. Ceaselessly round, by mystic links dost blend
The nature of all things, whom veils enfold
Of light, of dark night flecked with gleams of gold.
Of star-hosts dancing round thee without end."
Cf . also fr. 935 :
" Seest thou the boundless ether there on high,
That folds the earth around with dewy arms?
This deem thou Zeus, this reckon one with God."
and fr. 869:
dXX' aldr]p TiKret, ae, Kopa,
Zeiij OS api^pwtrois ouond^erai.
" Maiden, 'twas Ether gave thee birth,
Who is named Zeus by sons of earth."
(See also pages 80 ff. on Troad. 884-88.)
In another fragment we read :
fr. 938:
Kal Tala nrjrep- Eariav 8e a ol (TO<pol
^poTwv KoKovaiv i}p.kvriv €v al^kpi..
86 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
" O mother Earth, the wise of mortals call thee Hestia whose
seat is in the sky."
The vague belief of the poet finds expression in the following
prayer :
f r. 904 :
aol Tu> irdvTOiv fiedeovTL x^V^
ireXavSp re (fykpu, Zeus elr' ' Ai5r]s
ovofxa^ofj-fvoi ffTipyeis' ffii 5e fioi
d^vaioiV aiTvpov irayKapireiai
Se^ai w'Krjprj ■wpoxvL^eTaai'. ^
(711 yap ev re ^eols rois ovpapiSais
(TKrJTTTpoi' TO Aios ixeTaxtipl^oiv
X&ovUov j9' At5g p-erkxtt-s dpx^s-
■rrkp.\pov 5' « 0cos i/'uxas kveputv
Tols 0ov\op.kvoL^ a!?Xoiis Trpopadtiv k. t. X.
" To thee, ruler of all things, whether thou choosest to be named Zeus
or Hades, I bring libation and offerings, etc. . . . thou, who art wielding
the sceptre among the Gods in heaven and rulest among the Gods in Hades
send souls of those beneath the earth up to light to those who are eager
to know the origin of troubles and the source of evils, etc."
Perhaps line 9 should be read :
irkn^ov p.hv <j>ws ^vxo-'-'S 6.vipcov.
" Send light to the souls of men ! "
The following two examples are taken from the fragmenta
dubia et spuria of Euripides :
fr. 1 104 ascribes to Zeus omniscience and omnipresence:
3} Zev iravdwra Kai KaToitra Tvavraxov.
fr. 1094 contains a prayer addressed to Athena, — " almost the only
Goddess," as J. Adam says, " from whom the poet refrains his
sacrilegious hand " :
o) Tov fieyicrTov Ztjj'os a\Ktpop re/cos
IlaXXas, ri dpufxev k. t. X.
"O Pallas, thou mighty Child of great Zeus, what shall we do?"
In his "Danae" the poet makes one of his characters declaim the
following prayer to gold :
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 87
fr. 326:
d) xP^'^^t Se^tcoyua KaXXterrof (iporols,
d)s oiire ixrjT-qp 7i5ova^ TOidad ex«',
oil iralSes av^puiroccnv, ov (piXos iraTrip,
oias (TV xoi- fft buixacTLv KtKTijp.ei'OL.
el 5' 17 T\.virpts toiovtov 6<^(9aXjuoIs opa,
ov t?ai}/i' epwTtts ixvpiovs avTTjv ex«J'.
" O Gold, most beautiful delight of mortals ! Neither their mother, nor
their children, nor their father enjoy such pleasures as thou and those who
possess thee. If Cypris has such (splendor) in her eyes, no wonder that
she has a thousand lovers ! "
This eulogy of gold was undoubtedly meant by the poet to be
ironical. But the Athenian public was scandalized by such an
utterance which seemed opposed to the traditional belief, and, as
Seneca tells us, rose at these words and would have driven the
actor and the play from the stage had Euripides not come out
and announced that the actor was going to be punished for the
godless utterance he had made. Seneca Epist. 115: . . . totus
populus ad eiciendum et actorem et carmen consurrexit uno im-
petu, donee Euripides in medium ipse prosiluit petens ut expec-
tarent viderentque quem admirator auri exitum faceret.
Although Euripides stood aloof from public life he missed no
opportunity to declare his love for liberty and his hatred of abso-
lute power. Upon tyranny and all those who are in sympathy
with it he pronounces a curse :
fr. 277:
KaKws 5' oXoivTO iravTis o'i Tvppavfidi.
Xaipovcriv oXiyr) t' ev iroXet p.ovapxla.
" Cursed be all those who rejoice to see the city in the hands of a
single man or under the yoke of a few men ! "
Prayer to the dead is in vain :
fr. 336:
ooKtis TOP Aidrjv cruv tl <f>poi'Ti'^eLV "yboiv
KoX TraZd' avr\aeiv t6i> <t6v, ei deXois arkveLv;
■Kavaar k. t. X.
" Do you believe that Hades heeds thy lamentations,
. . . and sends up thy sons? Be silent! etc."
For similar thought see fr. 454, where we read about Hercules:
88 Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
" For if he dwelleth in the underworld
Midst those that are no more, he is strengthless all."
and f r. 536 :
"... All who have died
Are shadows and dust: nothingness fades to nothingness."
These passages are striking examples of the contradictions which
are so common in Euripides. For the poet's opposite view on the
subject cf. El. 677 ff.; Hec. 534-41 ; Troad. 1302, 1307.
Reference to oath is made :
fr. 491 :
onvvfiL 5' lepov aWtp', oiK-qaw Slos.
" I swear by holj^ Ether, the dwelling of Zeus."
and fr. 1030:
ffiryyvconopas tol tovs i^eovs elfai Sojcels,
oTav Tis opKU ^avarov kK<^vytiv dtKf};
" Dost thou believe the Gods are disposed to pardon, if someone
wishes to escape death by oath? "
Zeus is called the most truthful fxavris among the Gods,
fr. 875:
Zers tv deolai, yudirts a\pev5icrraTos
Kal reXoy airos ex^i--
Melanippe is described as one who proclaimed unerring proph-
ecies :
f r. 485 :
^ irpoira fitv to. ^ela wpovfiaPTivaaro
XP7)crp.diai. (Ta4>katv aarkpoiv tjr' diroXais
The following fragments are in keeping with the poet's usual con-
tempt for soothsayers :
fr. 963:
fiavTis 5 apiCTOs oaris et^dfei KaXcos.
" The best seer is he who guesses well."
and fr. 793:
tL SrJTa (Jd/cots fxavTiKols tuTifxeuo'.
(Ta(t>o)s bi6p.vv(r&^ tibkpo.L rd Sai/uovwi'.',
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 89
ov rihvhe x^'-P'^vaKTt'i avdponroL Xoycjp-
ocrrts yap avxcl jJecof kirlaTaadaL v'tpi.,
ovbkv TL ixaWov oldfv fj ntldeiv \kyijiv.
" Why do you, who hold prophetic seats, declare that you have perfect
knowledge of things divine? There are no diviners! For he who pre-
tends to know the will of Heaven only knows how to deceive by his talk."
Summary Result of the Preceding Discussion
Even after having carefully examined all the available material
on the subject the difficulty still remains to reach tenable conclu-
sions in regard to the poet's view of the supernatural. For all
his lucidity of language, Euripides is not lucid about his ideas
especially in connection with the supernatural. No wonder that
few subjects connected with Euripides have attracted the atten-
tion of scholars more than his religious views, and that the schol-
ars do not agree among themselves in answering the question :
What position does the poet take up with reference to the super-
natural? "As a thinker," says Murray, "he is even to this day
treated almost as a personal enemy by scholars of orthodox and
conformist minds ; defended, idealized, and sometimes transformed
beyond recognition by various champions of rebellion and the
free intellect." Schlegel advises: "We may distinguish in him a
two-fold character, thc'poet, whose productions were consecrated
to a religious solemnity, who stood under the protection of re-
ligion, and who therefore, on his part, was bound to honor it, and
tJie sophist with his philosophical dicta, who endeavoured to in-
sinuate his sceptical opinions and doubts into the fabulous mar-
vels of religion from which he derived the subjects of his plays."
Schlegel's view is right, if we grant his premises, viz., that the
poet's insinuating of sceptical opinions and doubts is of set pur-
pose; and even then the question is left to be answered: Where
speaks the poet, and where the sophist? — Donaldson, in his " The-
atre of the Greeks " briefly describes Euripides as " altogether
devoid of religious feelings," while Haigh characterizes the poet's
mind " as essentially of a religious and meditative cast.": — Ac-
cording to the theory lately propounded by Dr. Verrall our poet
is the " sceptic " and " rationalist " whose plays are a covert but
intended attack on the popular religion, bearing one meaning to
90 Ernest Hcinnch Klotsclic
the multitude and another to the " advanced thinkers " of the
day. " The orthodoxy is pretended fiction, a mere theatrical trick,
required in the first instance, and to some extent throughout, by
the peculiar conditions of the tragic stage at Athens, but main-
tained in part out of a natural love for duplicity, ambiguity, irony,
and the play of meaning, which was characteristic of the people
and the time" (Euripides the Rationalist, pp. 231-232). But if
Euripides really was concealing a rationalistic doctrine under the
garb of his drama, we can hardly imagine how this would have
escaped the scrutiny of the most keen-eyed and merciless of
critics, Aristophanes. Nor can we imdcrstand that for more than
two thousand years none of all the painstaking students has been
able to penetrate the disguise, which Dr. Verrall has discovered
in the works of Euripides. There can be no doubt that the opin-
ion of modern scholars has been influenced by Aristophanes who
presents Euripides as a proselyting atheist. Yet the comic poet
must not be mistaken for a historian, and his manifest exag-
gerations should have put professional critics on their guard, all
the more as he swung his comic lash over Euripides with special
vigor because of personal feeling.
To do Euripides justice we must first of all realize that he was
the child of a particular age. He lived in a time of general dis-
solution when everything in the moral, religious, and social life
was fluctuating. It was the age of the sophists with their agnos-
ticism on the one hand and their virtual atheism on the other.
Protagoras had been expelled from Athens for his free-thinking.
To quote his own words : " About the Gods I am unable to affirm
either that they exist or that they do not exist, nor what they are
like." Prodicus declared that the so-called Gods were only per-
sonifications of those objects which experience had found benefi-
cial to the life of man : Demeter was only the apotheosis of bread,
as Dionysus of wine, Poseidon of water, Hephaestus of fire, and
so forth. With these men Euripides was contemporary, and he
undoubtedly acquainted himself with their thoughts on nature,
man, and God. Then the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.)
in its bearings on religious ideas was also of vital importance. In
time of distress and misfortune, men often begin to reconsider
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 91
the foundations of their behefs. One fate appeared for the
righteous and the wicked, for those that sacrificed and for those
that sacrificed not. This bitter experience had shaken the already
weakened joints of the ancestral religious structure, and finally
the old beliefs themselves went by the board.
Euripides is above all others the spokesman of his time, the
poet in wdiom the spirit of revolt against the older conceptions of
the supernatural appears. How far the dissolution of the tra-
ditional beliefs had proceeded in his time is difficult to say. It is,
however, probable that his attacks on the religion of the masses
were preceded by other attacks. At any rate, people's minds in
Euripides' days were prepared to hear, even in the theatre, doubt
cast on what concerned the Gods ; and when Euripides approached
religious tradition with scepticism and liberal frankness he was
supported by the spirit of the time in which he lived.
Here the question arises: H Euripides was so at variance with
the traditional beliefs, why then did he make such frequent use of
the supernatural in his tragedies ? It is possible, though not very
probable, that one of his reasons was to counteract the popular
prejudice against his supposed atheism. The main reason, how-
ever, was that he could not put aside the historic atmosphere of
the Attic drama. Tradition and dramatic propriety compelled
him to take his themes from the myths and heroic legends, how-
ever abhorrent many of these must have been to him. No one in
Euripides' days could have broken free from these traditions ; in
attempting to do so he must have wrecked either his fame or his
art. And above all we must not forget that Euripides was a
dramatic poet and not a theological teacher. His task was rather
to interest than to instruct, not to inculcate certain sceptical views
and theological criticism, but to give to the people the pleasure
which a good tragedy can aiTord.
We must, moreover, always bear in mind that it will not do to
take, without discriniination, all the views which his characters
maintain for the reflective opinion of the dramatic poet. Fre-
quently these views are contradictory and necessarily vary ac-
cording to the dramatis personae and to the dramatic situation.
But after all due allowances have been made it cannot be
92 Ernest Hcinrich Klotschc
denied that Euripides through his characters and choruses, not
only now and then, but throughout his tragedies, expresses views
on the supernatural with evident satisfaction, and in a language
that leaves no doubt that these views are dear to him and reflect
his own thought.
Euripides' characters often appeal to the Gods in prayer, and
some of their prayers are of the finest type expressing the pro-
found sentiments of a devout and godly soul. But side by side
with this kind of prayers are others of an entirely opposite char-
acter — and these are by no means the exception but the rule. Our
poet often employs prayers which are nothing but expressions of
disbelief in the use and value of prayer. Others are in reality no
prayers at all, but mere expostulations, invectives, maledictions,
and blasphemies hurled against the Gods. That this is the pre-
vailing attitude of the poet towards the Gods of Greek mythology
has sufficiently been illustrated by various examples in the pre-
ceding discussion. But how do we account for this extent of the
poet's iconoclasm ?
It has been maintained that Euripides was an atheist, hence
his violent attack against the traditional beliefs which he consid-
ered nothing but superstitions and follies. I venture to say that
he was not in any sense an atheist. The often quoted fragment
from the " Bellerophontes " :
fr. 288:
(^Tjaif Tts tivai 5rjr if ovpaui^ deovs;
OVK eiffiv, ovK eiaiv.
"Doth any saj- that there are Gods in heaven?
Xay there are none ! "
does not prove the atheism of Euripides any more than Prome-
theus' maledictions against Zeus prove the impiety of ^^schylus.
Bellerophontes like Prometheus is godless, and for his godless-
ness is blasted by the thunderbolt. We must also take into ac-
count that a radical denial of the Gods would have been impossible
in an Athenian theatre in the days of Euripides.
In denying the Gods of Greek mythology our poet does not deny
the existence of divine powers altogether ; but as to what these
The Snpcrnalural in the Tragedies of Euripides 93
divine powers really are he does not make any positive sugges-
tions. He speaks of God and of the Gods promiscuously. The
question whether polytheism or monotheism never roused his in-
terest. At times his conception of the divine being is that of a
pantheist, at times that of an agnostic. But "whoever Zeus may be,"
offTLs 6 Zeus, H. F. 1263; fr. 483; whether he be Ether, or Neces-
sity, or Mind, or Justice, — "whatever Gods be," Or. 418: 6 n
TOT elalv ol deoi — -there is but one thing which Euripides de-
mands as an essential quality in a divinity, namely, that it must
be morally blameless and absolutely just. The common people
endowed the Gods with all the human passions. This unreason-
ableness and immorality of popular beliefs was exceedingly re-
pugnant to Euripides. He makes Iphigenia say, I. T. 385 ff. :
" It cannot be that Zeus' bride Leto bare
Such folly. Nay, I hold unworthy credence
The banquet given of Tantalus to the Gods, —
As though the Gods could savour a child's flesh !
Even so, this folk, themselves man-murderers.
Charge on their Goddess their own sin, I ween ;
For I believe that none of Gods is vile! "
and one of the poet's characters in the " Bellerophontes " de-
clares :
f r. 294, 7 :
el tjeoi Ti dpojcrii' alaxpov, ovu tlali/ Otol.
"If the Gods do aught base, tlien they are not Gods."
This latter declaration is according to the German scholar, Nestle,
the basic principle of Euripides' whole attack upon the Gods of
Greek mythology. Over against this verse of Euripides Nestle
sets the following verse of Sophocles :
fr. 226, 4:
oXcTXPOV niv ovSev 03V i<j>ri'Y0vvT ai deo'i,
" Nothing to which the Gods lead men is base.''
and points out what both poets have in common with each other
and in what they differ from one another. Common to both is
the assumption " that God and sin arc nmtually exclusive terms " ;
94 Ernest Ilciiirich Klotschc
but they differ in the conclusion which they draw from this as-
sumption. Sophocles infers: Everything the Gods do is right, no
matter how it may seem to us ("even if they bid thee travel be-
yond the right" (e^oj SiKrjs). luiripides draws the opposite con-
clusion: The sinful Gods of mythology are no Gods at all.
Furthermore, Euripides, as contrasted with Sophocles, could
not reconcile the baffling spectacle of injustice triumphing over
justice with a belief in the existence of just beings such as he
held the Gods must be. The cruel inequality of the distribution
of blessings and evils among men leads him sometimes to doubt
the providential government of the world in any sense of the
term.
These conceptions that the popular Gods are devoid of justice,
and that there is no divine justice in the government of the world,
fully explain the poet's attitude to represent these Gods, when-
ever opportunity offers, in an unfavorable, obnoxious, and shame-
ful light, thus holding forth what a miserable set of deities men
had formed for themselves out of their own imagination.
Euripides makes frequent use of prayers addressed to the dead.
Such prayers presuppose at least the existence and presence of
the spirit of the dead. In this respect Euripides seems, at first
thought, to share the views of the two older dramatists who be-
lieved in immortality and a future life; but in reality his many
reflections on the subject are of such a conflicting and confusing
character that they do not give us any consistent views on the
possibility of a future life. Even the prayer of ^Nlegara ad-
dressed to Hercules in Hades begins with a sceptical remark :
" Deat" love,- — if anj- in Hades of the dead
Can hear, — I crj' tliis to thee, Hercules ! "
H. F. 490 ft".; see also page 130, frgg. 336, 454, 536.
E^r flections on life beyond the grave reveal the same
ir<-or-" ■. views which we are everywhere to witness in cou-
nt, .. ith his handling of the supernatural element.
Curses as well as prayers presuppose the existence of some
supernatural power to execute for man his heart's expressed de-
sire. All three tragic poets furnish examples where destiny is
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 95
aroused and set in motion l)y human will in the curse. The be-
liefs in the intervention of protecting and punishing supernatural
powers, inherited curses, and evil destinies play an important part
in the tragedies of /Eschylus, but according to him it is not a
blind fate with which man has to deal ; he is only blinded and
hastened to destruction when he has voluntarily made an evil
choice:
Pers. 742:
aXX' orav crirevS'O ris avros, xw ^^os awairT€Tai.
" When the fool to folh^ hasteth, God shall speed him to his fall."
According to Sophocles destiny as the mere expression of the will
of the Godhead is just. CEdipus, for example, v;hen informed of
the evil in store acts " neither seeing nor inquiring " {oM^ bpdv
oM' laTopoiv) in killing his father and marrying his mother. It is
the shortsightedness of man rather than the deception of God
which brings him to ruin. Most of the curses in the tragedies of
Euripides are imprecations common in the every day life of the
Greeks, and they throw but little light on our question regarding
the supernatural. But where he refers to hereditary or family
curses, as in the " Hippolytus " and the " Phoenissse," he makes
them a part of inevitable fate. In conformity with his conception
of the providential government of the world he identifies them
with unknown forces that, past human control, bring man to ruin.
That Euripides did not intend to cast doubt on the sacred char-
acter of oaths has already been stated ; for the two examples in
question see I. A. 394 ff., and Hipp. 612. In reference to the
general outcry against the latter passage Mahafify with indigna-
tion expresses his doubt " whether any criticism, ancient or mod-
ern, contains among its myriad injustices, whether of negligence,
ignorance, or deliberate malice, a more flagrantly absurd accusa-
tion." (Classical Greek Literature, Vol. I, page 335.) Euripides
throughout his plays shows a deep regard for the sanctity of
oath, but as a profound and advanced thinker he rejects the
narrow and unintelligent formalism of the herd. It is not the
mere formula of oath which when once pronounced is absolutely
binding, even though one be not able to keep one's word. In the
96 Ernest Ilcinrich Klotschc
opinion of Euripides only that oath is vaHd and binding that has
been made deliberately and without constraint.
In Greek life oracles and prophecies played a considerable part.
Behef in divination was particularly strong in the hours of politi-
cal crisis and national ])eril. as e.g., during the Peloponnesian
War where people were so uncertain about the future the Gods
held in store for them. The Greek writers reflect the influence
of divination in various ways. How important a figure it cut in
Greek thought and life is shown especially by the prominence
which ^schylus assigns to divination in Prometheus 484 fif.
Oracles and Prophecies are also of frequent occurrence in the
tragedies of Euripides and yet the poet has no regard for the art
of diviuation. Only one of his characters speaks favorably of
soothsaying — Theseus in the " Supplices " (211 IT.), and he is
certaii/y not the medium of the poet's thought. Plis own thought
on the subject finds expression in nearly all his tragedies. Un-
sparingly he attacks the "ambitious breed" of soothsayers, who
a'-<^ impostors, and whose art is a lying art. And his attacks
upon oracles and divination arc made the more effective by pre-
senting the oracle-god himself in the most shameful light. It is,
however, not only the worthless and doubtful character of the
seers themselves that provokes Euripides to assail the diviners.
The basic principle of his attack must be sought in the poet's
conception of divination in general. See Hel. 744 fi. ; I. A. 957 ;
fr. 793 ; 963. The knowledge to read the thoughts of the Gods is
not within the reach of mortals. Those who pretend to possess
this knowledge deceive people by their talk. The inscrutable
ways of Heaven are past finding out and therefore divination
cannot reveal them. It is at this point that Euripides is prin-
cipally at variance with his predecessors as far as divination is
concerned.
The same spirit of the free-thinker, in contrast with the two
older dramatists, is revealed in Euripides' handling of dreams
and z'isiois. Tiic belief in the divine and prophetic character of
dreams and visions is universal throughout Greek literature. In
Homer the sender of dreams is Zeus. II. II, 4 ft. ^-Eschylus
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 97
believed that in sleep the human mind is open to influences which
in waking moments are denied :
Eum. 104-5 :
ei'dovcra yap 4>pr)v omxacnv \aixTvphvtTaL,
kv fifxkpa 5e ixolp' air poa 1(0110% pporicv.
" For oft in sleep comes light upon the soul,
But in the day their fate is hid from men."
He also includes the discovery of the rules of oneiromancy among
the important things for which mankind are indebted to Pro-
metheus (485). Euripides following the traditional belief em-
ploys dreams and visions in his dramas. Their usage was too
well established and they were also too convenient to be given up
altogether. He introduces them especially where a pathetic or
serious efifect is aimed at in tragedy, but at the same time he
leaves no doubt as to his own opinion about dreams and visions.
In his eyes they belong not to the world of reality, but to the
world of illusion. \Miatever warrant of truth they have lies in
their native power of attraction and in the response which they
call out from unprejudiced feeling. Dreams and visions accord-
ing to Euripides are natural phenomena without any superna-
tural background; see.L T. 569, 570-75; Or. 255; Ale. 252 ff.
All his life Euripides had been deeply perplexed on the subject
of the supernatural, and he found himself no nearer to the truth
at the end than he was at the beginning. It has often been main-
tained that towards the close of his life he has drawn nearer to
the religion of his fathers. The only monument of this alleged
change is that remarkable play, the " Bacchse " which has been
considered a recantation, or at least an attempt on the part of the
poet "to put himself right with the public in matters on which he
had been misunderstood " (J. E. Sandys, The Bacchse of Euripi-
des, Introd., p. Ixxxi). That this play written in the home of
Dionysus, whose worship was intimately connected with the
origin and development of the Greek drama, deals predominantly
with religious matters, such as the Dionysiac possession, divine
madness, and enthusiasm, is only natural. But despite the re-
ligious character of the play the handling of the supernatural as
98 Ernest Hcinrich Klotsche
illustrated in prayer and divination in the "Bacchae" is in keep-
ing with the poet's general attitude toward the supernatural.
Even if we accept the view held by C. H. IMoore and James Adam
that Dionysus in the play " stands for the spirit of enthusiasm
in the ancient Greek meaning of the word," and " that the prin-
cipal lesson of the drama is to be found in the words : Not zvith
knoivledge is zinsdojii bought (395), that is, there is something
stronger and greater than reason in the life of man, namely en-
thusiasm, inspiration," — the indisputable fact still remains that
our poet even in the " Bacchse " relapses into the old iconoclastic
manner.
Euripides marks a transition-period. He stands between tra-
ditional belief, which still retained its hold over the minds of the
common people, and modern thought, which had already awak-
ened and enlightened the minds of many thinking men. He has
not altogether thrown off the shackles of tradition, nor has he
stepped into the freedom of a new belief. Himself a tragic poet
and an advanced and philosophical thinker he is at a double dis-
advantage. Constrained by the unwritten laws of Greek tragedy
he could not sever all connection with the past. Like his prede-
cessors he had to take the subjects for his plays from the myths
and heroic legends, but in contrast with the two older tragedians
he used his themes as the old forms which he filled with a new
spirit. He had to put new wine into old bottles.
But the new wine bursts the outworn bottles. H we consider
that Euripides for nearly half a century presented, before all
Athens in the theatre, again and again, his modern conceptions
of the supernatural, it is out of question that he helped hurry to
complete overthrow the falling superstition of Olympus and
thus contributed even more than the sophists to the dissolution of
the ancient beliefs. In this negative or destructive aspect of his
teaching Euripides closely resembles the great satirist of the sec-
ond century A.D., Lucian of Samosata, who far more openly than
Euripides professes the scorn of irrational belief and unsparingly
drives the pagan Gods from their thrones in the minds of think-
ing men. But the Church — strange to say ! — did not consider him
an ally but an enemy of Christianity, who, according to Suidas, in
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 99
the everlasting hell-fire along with Satan shall suffer for the
harm he has done the cause of Christ ; while the destructive teach-
ing of Euripides beguiled some of the Fathers of the Church to
the point of believing that he was a sort of forerunner of Chris-
tianity.
As regards the positive or constructive side of Euripides' con-
ceptions of the supernatural he offers no decided or settled con-
victions, but " he raises," as James Adam says, " nearly all the
fundamental questions which men will always ask and never fully
answer." He presents problems rather than principles, ^schy-
lus sets forth the operation of great principles. Sophocles por-
trays great characters. Euripides presents great problems. With
a higher type of the supernatural than that of the traditional
mythology constantly in view he calls the attention of his fellow-
men to the imperfections of the customary belief in order to goad
them to reflection.
Euripides is one of the great religious poets of the world, and
it is only right and proper that James Adam in his " Religious
Teachers of Greece " dedicated an entire chapter to our poet.
He is even more than this : not only a religious poet whose mind,
like a mirror, reflects the religious ideas of his time, but also a
prophet whose message proclaims the morning of a new era.
Ernest Hcinrich Kloischc
Play
References to the Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophe-
cies, Dreams, and Visions in the Tragedies and
Fragments of Euripides
Page
Prayers
Curses
Oracles Proph.
Dreams
Visions
Ale.
Medea.
Hipp.
Hecuba .
25
29
32
33
143
34
35
163-69
213-25
149 ff.
332
516-19
1251-60
1405-07
61-62
73-87
114-20
1092-94
1373-76
1391-93
1060-61
1363-69
1325-30
144-48
160-65
1327-29
12-14
492-95
439-40
1391-92
731-32
735-36
752-53
754-55 1
206-10'
619 I
21-22I
412-13I
679-81
682-86
887 ff.
44 ff.
1173 ff-
1191-93
141S
612
656-58
1062-63
1306-09
713-14
65-69
42-58
1055-56
1057-59
612
252-63
68-7f
90 ff.
The Supernatural hi the Tragedies of Euripides loi
IxDEx OF References to the Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophe-
cies, Dreams, and Visions in the Tragedies and
Fragments of Euripides
Play
Page
Prayers
Curses
Oaths
Oracles
Pi-oph. Dreams Visions
Hecuda
Andr.
Ion.
Suppl.
Heracl.
II. F.
36
37
38
121
39
40
42
43
44
45
'46'
47
48
49
SO
SI
52
S3
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
79-80
96-97
488-91
534 ff.
900
1009-16
128 ff.
436-51
384 ff.
1619-21
410-12
1048 ff.
452 ff.
1-7
628-30
734-36
260-62
1227-31
869-72
798 ff.
339-47
497-502
1127-28
888-90
1307-10
847-54
820-21
490-96
1261 ff.
451-53
1161-65
365-67
407-09
787-88
1534-36
1537-38
1537-38
1556-58
1227-31
1232-35
403-09
1226-29
1267
702-06
374-77
211-13
155
516-18
I02
Ernest Heinrich Klotschc
Index of References to the Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophe-
cies, Dreams, and Visions in the Tragedies and
Fragments of Euripides
Play
Page
Prayers
Curses
Oaths 1 Oracles i Proph. Dreams j Visions
H.F
I. T
141
62
63
'64'
490-01
270-74
1082-88 '
1398-1402
1230-33
535
277-78
747-52
'
65
66
1475-76
1076-77
67
68
77-94
105
118
711-15
723
1012-15
1438-42
. : 18 ff.
69
70
71
72
73
42 ff. 42 ff.
348-49
569
74
570-75
1259 ff.
1277-83
1251-58
353-460
75
76
78
79
80'
81
84
85
86
87'
89
Treacles. . . .
353-460
Helen
469-71
1280-81
1060 ff.
884-88
889
1093 ff.
1584-87
I 44 1-5 I
855-56
962 ff.
1028-29
744-57 744-57
819 819
861-62 1 861-62
887 ff. 1 887 ff.
1
1
569
1
119
90
: 977-79
- 835-41
348 ff.
Phan
91
84-87
182 ff.
190-92
The Supeniatural in ihc Tragedies of Euripides 103
Index of Rkferences to the Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophe-
cies, Dreams, and Visions in the Tragedies and
Fragments of Euripides
Play
Page
Prayers
Curses
Oaths
Oracles
Proph. 1 Dreams
Visions
Phoen
92
92
93
586-87
365-68
[373-76
67-68
474-75
624
[425-26
1608-14
433-34
481-83
491-93
626-27
[721-22
6x8
94
95
1597-99
1703. 1705
640-42
409, 411
901-14
766
838-40
854-58
954-59'
971
362 ff.
96
97
98
99
100
lOI
102
103
103
104
Electra
194-97 '
198-200
201
563-65
566
671-83
771 ■
87-89
399-400
1296-97
971-73
1190-96
28-31
76
162-64
275-76
414 ff.
591-96
1666-67
1680-81
105
106
107
1190-96
796-97
1225 ff.
1240-43
I299-I3OO
Orestes
130-31
1516-17
108
109
IIO
HI
^
255-57
258-59
112
I113
311-15
I. A
.390 ff.
104
Ernest Heinrich Klotsche
Index of Referexces to the Prayers, Curses, Oaths, Oracles, Prophe-
cies, Dreams, and Visions in the Tragedies and
Fragments of Euripides
Play
Page Prayers
Curses Oaths Oracles j Proph.
Dreams Visions
I. A.
Bacchae.
Cj'clops. .
Fragm.
114
"5 i
116
126
126
127
128
129
130
131
66-67
57-65
395-96
473 ff.
948-50
370 ff.
414-15
I 550 ff.
J1012-23
1344-49
118
119
120
121
122
123 350-55
375-76
124 I 599-607
123
132
177
705
867
596
869
938
904
1 104
1094
326
261
268-69
534-35!
262 ff.
520-21
956
957-58
1330 ff. ;
298-99:
2 55-571
336
277
491
1020
875
485
963
793
The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 105
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adam, J. The Religious Teachers of Greece. 1909.
Aristotle's Poetics.
Bayfield, M. A. The Ion of Euripides. 1889.
Beckwith, I. T. Euripides' Bacchantes. 1885.
Bergk, T. Griechisclic Literaturgeschichte. 4 vols., 1872-94.
Bouche-Leclerque, A. Histoire de la divination dans I'antiquite. 4 vols.
Campbell, L. Religion in Greek Literature. 1898.
Cicero. De Natura Deorum.
Cicero. De Divinatione.
Croiset, A. et M. Histoire de la literature grecque. 5 vols., 1887-99.
Decharme, P. Euripide et I'esprit de son theatre. 1893. English trans-
lation In' James Loeb. Euripides and the Spirit of his Dramas. 1906.
Donaldson, J. W. The Theatre of the Greeks. 1875.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. nth ed. Articles on Euripides and Greek
Literature.
Earle, M. L. Euripides' Alcestis. 1894.
England, E. B. The Iphigenia among the Tauri of Euripides. 1883.
Fairbanks. A. Handbook of Greek Religion. 1910.
Farnell, L. R. The Cults of the Greek States. 5 vols., 1896-1907.
Flagg, I. Euripides' Iphigetiia among the Taurians. 1899.
Girard, J. Le sentiment religieux an Grece. 3d ed., 1887.
Gompez, T. Greichische Denker. 3 vols., 2d ed., 1903-09. English trans-
lation : Greek Thinkers.
Haigh, A. E. The Tragic Drama of the Greeks. 1896.
Haigh, A. E. The Attic Theatre. 2d ed., 1898.
Halliday, W. R. Greek Divination.
Harry, J. E. Euripides Hippolytus. 1899.
Hayley, H. W. The Alcestis of Euripides. 1898.
Heberden, C. B. Euripides' Medea. 1886.
Hellenica. Edited by E. Abbott. Essays on yEschylus, Sophocles, and
Greek Oracles. 1880.
Hyslop, A. R. F. The Andromaclie of Euripides. 1900.
Jebb, R. C. Classical Greek Poetry. 1894.
Lectures on Greek Literature. Delivered at Columbia University, 1912.
Mahaffy, J. P. History of Classical Greek Literature. 3d ed., 1891.
Moore, C. H. The Religious Thought of the Greeks. 1916.
Moore. G. F. History of Religions. 1914.
Moultcn, R. G. The Ancient Classical Drama. 1890.
Miiller, K. O. Literature of Ancient Greece.
Murray, G. Euripides and his Age.
Murray, G. The Trojan Women of Euripides. 1915.
Nauck, A. Euripides Tragcedis. Teubner Series. 2 vols., 1895.
io6 Ernest HcinricJi Klotschc
Nauck, A. Euripides Perditarum Tragoediarum Fragmenta. Tcubner
Scries. 1892.
Nestle, W. Euripides der Dichter der griechischen Aufkliiruug. 1902.
Packard. L. R. Studies in Greek Thought. 1886.
Paley, F. A. Euripides, with an EngHsh Commentary. 3 vols.. 2d ed.,
1R72.
Patin, M. f2tude sur les tragiques grecs. 3 vols., 1861.
Plutarch. De Pythio Oraculo, and De Defectu Oraculorum.
Sandys, J. E. The Bacchse of Euripides. 1885.
Schlegel, A. W. von. Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. (Eng-
lisli translation.)
Tyrrell. R. Y. The Troades of Euripides. 1897.
Vaschide, N., and Pieron, H. Prophetic Dreams in Greek and Roman
Antiquity. Tr. by T. J. McCormack. (Monist, XI, 161-194.)
Verrall, A. W. Euripides the Rationalist. 1895.
Verrall, A. W. Essays on fotir plays of Euripides. 1905.
Verrall, A. W. The Bacchantes of Euripides. 1908.
Way, A. S. Euripides with an English Translation. 4 vols.. 1912.
Whitmore, C. E. The Supernatural in Tragedy. 1915.
Whibley, L. A Companion to Greek Studies. 1905.
The Snpcniatitral in the Tragedies of liuripidcs 107
VITA AUCTORIS
Ernest Heinrich Klotsche, born August 7, 1875, at Elstra,
Saxony; visited public school, in Elstra, 1882-90; Fortbildungs-
schule (High School), 1890-93; took private lessons in Latin,
Greek, and Music, 1888-93 ; entered the Foreign IMission Semi-
nary (Collegium der ev. luth. Mission) at Leipzig, 1893; finished
the humanistic course (gymnasial course), with English compul-
sory and French elective, 1896; finished the theological course,
with Hebrew inclusive, 1899; took the beginner's and advanced
course in Tamil, 1898-99; studied music besides: violin, pipe
organ, and theory of music, 1893-99; was employed as assistant
pastor in Detern, Prov. Hannover, 1899-1900; ordained for the
ministry by the Royal Superintendent O. Pank, D.D., Leipzig,
June 3, 1900; sent to India as missionary; passed the prescribed
examination in Tamil, 1902; married February 3, 1903; studied
Sanskrit with two Brahmin teachers, January, 1901, to July, 1903.
Suffering from the consequences of a sunstroke he had to leave
the tropical climate ; came to America in September, 1903 ; was
pastor in South Dakota till 1907, in Nebraska till 1913; took the
first papers of citizenship in 1904, the second papers August 28,
1909; in 1913 he accepted a call as theological professor in the
Martin Luther Seminary, 2840 Sumner St., where he teaches,
besides theology, Hebrew, Latin, German, and music. Since
1914 he has been a student of the University of Nebraska. In
1 91 6 he took a summer course (eleven weeks) in Greek and
French at the University of Chicago. He took his master's de-
gree in the University of Nebraska in 1916.
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