THE COMPLETE GREEK DRAMA
THE
Complete Greek Drama ALL THE EXTANT TRAGEDIES OF AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES AND EURIPIDES, AN...
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THE COMPLETE GREEK DRAMA
THE
Complete Greek Drama ALL THE EXTANT TRAGEDIES OF AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES AND EURIPIDES, AND THE COMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANES AND MENANDER, IN A VARIETY OF TRANSLATIONS
EDITED BY
WHITNEY J. OATES AND
EUGENE O'NEILL, JR.
IN TWO VOLUMES
i
VOLUME ONE
RANDOM HOUSE
.
NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT. I938 • BY RANDOM
FtYJt
MANUFACTURED
IN THE
HOUSE' INCORPORAr"lJ
Edttion
UNITED
STATES
01~< ~ti'> ~ .
Thou-thou whose face is bent to earth-dost thou avow, or disavow, this deed? ANTIGONE
I avow it; I make no denial. CREON (to GUARD) Thou canst betake thee whither thou wilt, free and clear of a grave charge. (Exit GUARD) (To ANTIGONE) Now, tell me thou-not in many words, but brieflyknewest thou that an edict had forbidden this? ANTIGONE
I knew it: could I help it? It was public. CREON
And thou didst indeed dare to transgress that law? ANTIGONE
Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not such are the laws set among men by the Justice who dwells with the gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of heaven. For their life is not of to-day or yesterday, but from all time, and no man knows when they were first put forth. Not through dread of any human pride could I answer to the gods for
Antigone 435 breaking these. Die I must,-I knew that well (how should I not?)-even without thy edicts. But if I am to die before my time, I count that a gain: for when anyone lives, as I do, compassed about with evils, can such an one find aught but gain in death? So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that would have grieved me; for this, I am not grieved. And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The maid shows herself passionate child of passionate sire, and knows not how to bend before troubles. CREON
Yet I would have thee know that o'er-stubborn spirits are most often humbled; 'tis the stiffest iron, baked to hardness in the fire, that thou shalt oftenest see snapped and shivered; and I have known horses that show temper brought to order by a little curb; there is no room for pride, when thou art thy neighbour's slave.-This girl was already versed in insolence when she transgressed the laws that had been set forth; and, that done, 10, a second insult,-to vaunt of this, and exult in her deed. Now verily I am no man, she is the man, if this victory shall rest with her, and bring no penalty. No! be she sister's child, or nearer to me in blood than any that worships Zeus at the altar of our house,-she and her kinsfolk shall not avoid a doom most dire; for indeed I charge that other with a like share in the plotting of this burial. And summon her-for I saw her e'en now within,-raving, and not mistress of her wits. So oft, before the deed, the mind stands self-convicted in its treason, when folks are plotting mischief in the dark. But verily this, too, is hateful,-when one who hath been caught in wickedness then seeks to make the crime a glory. ANTIGONE
Wouldst thou do more than take and slay me? CREON
No more, indeed; having that, I have all. ANTIGONE
Why then dost thou delay? In thy discourse there is nought that pleases me,-never may there bel-and so my words must needs be unpleasing to thee. And yet, for glory-whence could I have won a nobler, than by giving burial to mine own brother? AIl here would own that they thought it well, were not their lips sealed by fear. But royalty, blest in so much besides, hath the power to do and say what it will.
Sophocles CREON
Thou differ est from all these Thebans in that view. ANTIGONE
These also share it; but they curb their tongues for thee. CREON
And art thou not ashamed to act apart from them? ANTIGONE
Xo; there is nothing shameful in piety to a brother. CREON
Was it not a brother, too, that died in the opposite cause? ANTIGONE
Brother by the same mother and the same sire. CREON
Why, then, dost thou render a grace that is impious in his sight? ANTIGONE
The dead man will not say that he so deems it. CREON
Yea, if thou makest him but equal in honour with the wicked. ANTIGONE
It was his brother, not his slave, that perished. CREON
Wasting this land; while he fell as its champion. ANTIGONE
N"evertheless, Hades desires these rites. CREON
But the good desires not a like portion with the evil. ANTIGONE
"Vho knows but this seems blameless in the world below? CREON
A foe is never a friend-not even in death. ANTIGONE
'Tis not my nature to join in hating, but in loving.
Antigone
437
CREON
Pass, then, to the world of the dead, and, if thou must needs love, love them. While I live, no woman shall rule me. (Enter ISMENE from the house, led in by two attendants.) CHORUS (chanting) Lo, yonder Ismene comes forth, shedding such tears as fond sisters weep; a cloud upon her brow casts its shadow over her darkly-flushing face, and breaks in rain on her fair cheek. CREON
And thou, who, lurking like a viper in my house, wast secretly draining my life-blood, while I knew not that I was nurturing two pests, to rise against my throne--come, tell me now, wilt thou also confess thy part in this burial, or wilt thou forswear all knowledge of it? ISMENE
I have done the deed,-if she allows my claim,-and share the burden of the charge. ANTIGONE
Nay, justice will not suffer thee to do that: thou didst not consent to the deed, nor did I give thee part in it. ISMENE
But, now that ills beset thee, I am not ashamed to sail the sea of trouble at thy side. ANTIGONE
Whose was the deed, Hades and the dead are witnesses: a friend in words is not the friend that I love. ISMENE
Nay, sister, reject me not, but let me die with thee, and duly honour the dead. ANTIGONE
Share not thou my death, nor claim deeds to which thou hast not put thy hand: my death will suffice. ISMENE
And what life is dear to me, bereft of thee? ANTIGONE
Ask Creon; all thy care is for him.
Sophocles IS:llENE
Why vex me thus, when it avails thee nought? ANTIGONE
Indeed, if I mock, 'tis with pain that I mock thee. ISME~""E
Tell me,-how can I serve thee, even now? ANTIGONE
Save thyself: I grudge not thy escape. ISMENE
Ah, woe is me! And shall I have no share in thy fate? ANTIGONE
Thy choice was to live; mine, to die. ISMENE
At least thy choice was not made without my protest. ANTIGONE
One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine. ISMENE
Howbeit, the offence is the same for both of us. ANTIGONE
Be of good cheer; thou livest; but my life hath long been given to death, that so I might serve the dead. CREON
Lo, one of these maidens hath newly shown herself foolish, as the other hath been since her life began. ISMENE
Yea, 0 king, such reason as nature may have given abides not with the unfortunate, but goes astray. CREON
Thine did, when thou chosest vile deeds with the vile. ISMENE
'What life could I endure, without her presence? CREON
Nay, speak not of her 'presence'; she lives no more.
Antigone
439
ISMENE
But wilt thou slay the betrothed of thine own son? CREO:;\[
Nay, there are other fields for him to plough. ISME:;\[E
But there can never be such love as bound him to her. CREON
I like not an evil wife for my son. ANTIGONE
Haemon, beloved! How thy father wrongs thee! CREON
Enough, enough of thee and of thy marriage! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Wilt thou indeed rob thy son of this maiden? CREON
'Tis Death that shall stay these bridals for me. LEADER
'Tis determined, it seems, that she shall die. CREON
Determined, yes, for thee and for me.-(To the two attendants) No more delay-servants, take them within! Henceforth they must be women, and not range at large; for verily even the bold seek to fly, when they see Death now closing on their life. (Exeunt attendants, guarding ANTIGONE and ISMENE.-CREON remains.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I Blest are they whose days have not tasted of evil. For when a house hath once been shaken from heaven, there the curse fails nevermore, passing from life to life of the race; even as, when the surge is driven over the darkness of the deep by the fierce breath of Thracian seawinds, it rolls up the black sand from the depths, and there is a sullen roar from wind-vexed headlands that front the blows of the storm. antistrophe I I see that from olden time the sorrows in the house of the Labdacidae are heaped upon the sorrows of the dead; and generation is
440
Sophocles
not freed by generation, but some god strikes them down, and the race hath no deliverance. For now that hope of which the light had been spread above the last root of the house of Oedipus-that hope, in turn, is brought low -by the blood-stained dust due to the gods infernal, and by folly in speech, and frenzy at the heart. strophe 2 Thy power, 0 Zeus, what human trespass can limit? That power which neither Sleep, the all-ensnaring, nor the untiring months of the gods can master; but thou, a ruler to whom time brings not old age, dwellest in the dazzling splendour of Olympus. And through the future, near and far, as through the past, shall this law hold good : Nothing that is vast enters into the life of mortals without a curse. antistrophe 2 For that hope whose wanderings are so wide is to many men a comfort, but to many a false lure of giddy desires; and the disappointment comes on one who knoweth nought till he burn his foot against the hot fire. For with wisdom hath some one given forth the famous saying, that evil seems good, soon or late, to him whose mind the god draws to mischief; and but for the briefest space doth he fare free of woe. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But 10, Haemon, the last of thy sons;-{;omes he grieving for the doom of his promised bride, Antigone, and bitter for the baffled hope of his marriage? (Enter
HAEMON)
CREON
We shall know soon, better than seers could tell us.-My son, hearing the fixed doom of thy betrothed, art thou come in rage against thy father? Or have I thy good will, act how I may? HAEMON
Father, I am thine; and thou, in thy wisdom, tracest for me rules which I shall follow. No marriage shall be deemed by me a greater gain than thy good guidance. CREON
Yea, this, my son, should be thy heart's fixed law,-in all things to obey thy father's will. 'Tis for this that men pray to see dutiful children
Antigone
44 I
grow up around them in their homes,-that such may requite their father's foe with evil, and honour, as their father doth, his friend. But he who begets unprofitable children-what shall we say that he hath sown, but troubles for himself, and much triumph for his foes? Then do not thou, my son, at pleasure's beck, dethrone thy reason for a woman's sake; knowing that this is a joy that soon grows cold in clasping arms,-an evil woman to share thy bed and thy home. For what wound could strike deeper than a false friend? Nay, with loathing, and as if she were thine enemy, let this girl go to find a husband in the house of Hades. For since I have taken her, alone of all the city, in open disobedience, I will not make myself a liar to my people-I will slay her. So let her appeal as she will to the majesty of kindred blood. If I am to nurture mine own kindred in naughtiness, needs must I bear with it in aliens. He who does his duty in his own household will be found righteous in the State also. But if anyone transgresses, and does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to his rulers, such an one can win no praise from me. No, whomsoever the city may appoint, that man must be obeyed, in little things and great, in just things and unjust; and I should feel sure that one who thus obeys would be a good ruler no less than a good subject, and in the storm of spears would stand his ground where he was set, loyal and dauntless at his comrade's side. But disobedience is the worst of evils. This it is that ruins cities; this makes homes desolate; by this, the ranks of allies are broken into headlong rout; but, of the lives whose course is fair, the greater part owes safety to obedience. Therefore we must support the cause of order, and in no wise suffer a woman to worst us .. Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man's hand; then we should not be called weaker than a woman. LEADER
To us, unless our years have stolen our wit, thou seemest to say wisely what thou sayest. HAEMoN
Father, the gods implant reason in men, the highest of all things that We call our own. Not mine the skill-far from me be the questl-to say wherein thou speakest not aright; and yet another man, too, might have some useful thought. At least, it is my natural office to watch, on thy behalf, all that men say, or do, or find to blame. For the dread of thy frown forbids the citizen to speak. such words as would offend thine ear; but I can hear these murmurs in the dark, these moanings of the city for this maiden; 'no woman,' they say, 'ever merited her doom less,-none ever was to die so shamefully for deeds so glorious as hers; who, when her own brother had fallen in bloody strife, would not leave him unburied, to be
Sophocles
[69 8-734] devoured by carrion dogs, or by any bird:-deserves not sIze tDe meed
442
of golden honour?' Such is the darkling rumour that spreads in secret. For me, my father, no treasure is so precious as thy welfare. What, indeed, is a nobler ornament for children than a prospering sire's fair fame, or for sire than son's? y,lear not, then, one mood only in thyself; think not that thy word, and thine alone, must be right. For if any man thinks that he alone is wise,-that in speech, or in mind, he hath no peer,-such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty. No, though a man be wise, 'tis no shame for him to learn many things, and to bend in season. Seest thou, beside the wintry torrent's course, how the trees that yield to it save every twig, while the stiff-necked perish root and branch? And even thus he who keeps the sheet of his sail taut, and never slackens it, upsets his boat, and finishes his voyage with keel uppermost. Nay, forego thy wrath; permit thyself to change. For if I, a younger man, may offer my thought, it were far best, I ween, that men should be all-wise by nature; but, otherwise-and oft the scale inclines not so-'tis good also to learn from those who speak aright. LEADER
Sire, 'tis meet that thou should est profit by his words, if he speaks aught in season, and thou, Haemon, by thy father's; for on both parts there hath been wise speech. CREON
Men of my age-are we indeed to be schooled, then, by men of his? HAEMON
In nothing that is not right; but if I am young, thou shouldest look to my merits, not to my years. CREON
Is it a merit to honour the unruly? HAEMON
I could wish no one to show respect for evil-doers. CREON
Then is not she tainted with that malady? HAEMON
Our Theban folk, with one voice, denies it. CREON
Shall Thebes prescribe to me how I must rule?
Antigone
443
HAEMON
See, there thou hast spoken like a youth indeed. CREON
Am I to rule this land by other judgment than mine own? IiAEMoN
That is no city which belongs to one man. CREON
Is not the city held to be the ruler's? IiAEMON
Thou wouldst make a good monarch of a desert. CREON
This boy, it seems, is the woman's champion. IiAEMON
If thou art a woman; indeed, my care is for thee. CREON
Shameless, at open feud with thy father! IiAEMON
Nay, I see thee offending against justice. CREON
Do I offend, when I respect mine own prerogatives? IiAEMON
Thou dost not respect them, when thou tramplest on the gods' honours. CREON
o dastard nature, yielding place to woman! IiAEMON
Thou wilt never find me yield to baseness. CREON
All thy words, at least, plead for that girl. HAEMON
And for thee, and for me, and for the gods below. CREON
Thou canst never marry her, on this side the grave.
444
Sophocles
[75 1-77 1 ]
HAEMON
Then she must die, and in death destroy another. CREON
How! doth thy boldness run to open threats? HAEMON
\Vhat threat is it, to combat vain resolves? CREON
Thou shalt rue thy witless teaching of wisdom. HAEMON
Wert thou not my father, I would have called thee unwise. CREON
Thou woman's slave, use not wheedling speech with me. HAEMON
Thou wouldest speak, and then hear no reply? CREON
Sayest thou so? Kow, by the heaven above us-be sure of it-thou shalt smart for taunting me in this opprobrious strain. Bring forth that hated thing, that she may die forthwith in his presence-before his eyesat her bridegroom's side! HAEMON
No, not at my side-never think it-shall she perish; nor shalt thou ever set eyes more upon my face:-rave, then, with such friends as can endure thee. (Exit HAEMON) LEADER
The man is gone, 0 king, in angry haste; a youthful mind, when stung, is fierce. CREON
Let him do, or dream, more than man-good speed to him!-But he shall not save these two girls from their doom. LEADER
Dost thou indeed purpose to slay both? CREON
Not her whose hands are pure: thou sayest well.
[77 2 - 816 ]
Antigone
445
LEADER
And by what doom mean'st thou to slay the other? CREON
I will take her where the path is loneliest, and hide her, living, in a rocky vault, with so much food set forth as piety prescribes, that the city may avoid a public stain. And there, praying to Hades, the only god whom she worships, perchance she will obtain release from death; or else will learn, at last, though late, that it is lost labour to revere the dead. (CREON CHORUS
goes into the palace.)
(singing) strophe
Love, unconquered in the fight, Love, who makest havoc of wealth, who keepest thy vigil on the soft cheek of a maiden; thou roamest over the sea, and among the homes of dwellers in the wilds; no immortal can escape thee, nor any among men whose life is for a day; and he to whom thou hast come is mad.
antistrophe The just themselves have their minds warped by thee to wrong, for their ruin: 'tis thou that hast stirred up this present strife of kinsmen; victorious is the love-kindling light from the eyes of the fair bride; it is a power enthroned in sway beside the eternal laws; for there the goddess Aphrodite is working her unconquerable will.
is led out of the palace by two of CREON'S attendants who are about to conduct her to her doom.)
(ANTIGONE
But now I also am carried beyond the bounds of loyalty, and can no more keep back the streaming tears, when I see Antigone thus passing to the bridal chamber where all are laid to rest.
(The following lines between ANTIGONE and the CHORUS are chanted responsively. ) ANTIGONE
strophe I See me, citizens of my fatherland, setting forth on my last way, looking my last on the sunlight that is for me no more; no, Hades who gives sleep to all leads me living to Acheron's shore; who have had no portion in the chant that brings the bride, nor hath any song been mine for the crowning of bridals; whom the lord of the Dark Lake shall wed.
Sophocles
[817-861]
CHORUS
systema I Glorious, therefore, and with praise, thou departest to that deep place of the dead: wasting sickness hath not smitten thee; thou hast not found the wages of the sword; no, mistress of thine own fate, and still alive, thou shalt pass to Hades, as no other of mortal kind hath passed. ANTIGONE
antistrophe 1 I have heard in other days how dread a doom befell our Phrygian guest, the daughter of Tantalus, on the Sipylian heights; 1 how, like clinging ivy, the growth of stone subdued her; and the rains fail not, as men tell, from her wasting form, nor fails the snow, while beneath her weeping lids the tears bedew her bosom; and most like to hers is the fate that brings me to my rest. CHORUS
systema
2
Yet she was a goddess, thou knowest, and born of gods; we are mortals, and of mortal race. But 'tis great renown for a woman who hath perished that she should have shared the doom of the godlike, in her life, and afterward in death. ANTIGONE
strophe
2
Ah, I am mocked! In the name of our fathers' gods, can ye not wait till I am gone,-must ye taunt me to my face, 0 my city, and ye, her wealthy sons? Ah, fount of Dirce, and thou holy ground of Thebe whose chariots are many; ye, at least, will bear me witness, in what sort, unwept of friends, and by what laws I pass to the rock-closed. prison of my strange tomb, ab me unhappy! who have no home on the earth or in the shades, no home with the living or with the dead. CHORUS
strophe 3 Thou hast rushed forward to the utmost verge of daring; and against that throne where Justice sits on high thou hast fallen, my daughter, with a grievous fall. But in this ordeal thou art paying, haply, for thy father's sin. ANTIGONE
antistrophe
2
Thou hast touched on my bitterest thought,-awaking the evernew lament for my sire and for all the doom given to us, the famed
[86r-9 I I ]
Antigone
447
house of Labdacus. Alas for the horrors of the mother's bed! alas for the wretched mother's slumber at the side of her own son,-and my sire! From what manner of parents did I take my miserable being! And to them I go thus, accursed, unwed, to share their home. Alas, my brother, ill-starred in thy marriage, in thy death thou hast undone Ply life! CHORUS
antistrophe 3 Reverent action claims a certain praise for reverence; but an offence against power cannot be brooked by him who hath power in his keeping. Thy self-willed temper hath wrought thy ruin. ANTIGONE
epode Unwept, unfriended, without marriage-song, I am led forth in my sorrow on this journey that can be delayed no more. No longer, hapless one, may I behold yon day-star's sacred eye; but for my fate no tear is shed, no friend makes moan. (CREON enters from the palace.) CREON
Know ye not that songs and wailings before death would never cease, if it profited to utter them? Away with her-away! And when ye have enclosed her, according to my word, in her vaulted grave, leave her alone, forlorn-whether she wishes to die, or to live a buried life in such a home. Our hands are clean as touching this maiden. But this is certain-she shall be deprived of her sojourn in the light. ANTIGONE
Tomb, bridal-chamber, eternal prison in the caverned rock, whither I go to find mine own, those many who have perished, and whom Persephone hath received among the dead! Last of all shall I pass thither, and far most miserably of all, before the term of my life is spent. But I cherish good hope that my coming will be welcome to my father, and pleasant to thee, my mother, and welcome, brother, to thee; for, when ye died, with mine own hands I washed and dressed you, and poured drink-offerings at your graves; and now, Polyneices, 'tis for tending thy corpse that I win such recompense as this. And yet I honoured thee, as the wise will deem, rightly. Never, had I been a mother of children, or if a husband had been mouldering in death, would I have taken this task upon me in the city's despite. What law, ye ask, is my warrant for that word? The husband lost, another might have been found, and child from another, to replace the first-born; but, father
Sophocles and mother hidden with Hades, no brother's life could ever bloom for me again. Such was the law whereby I held thee first in honour; but Creon deemed me guilty of error therein, and of outrage, ah brother mine! And now he leads me thus, a captive in his hands; no bridal bed, no bridal song hath been mine, no joy of marriage, no portion in the nurture of children; but thus, forlorn of friends, unhappy one, I go living to the vaults of death. 2 And what law of heaven have I transgressed? Why, hap~ess one, should I look to the gods any more,-what ally should I invoke,-when by piety I have earned the name of impious? Nay, then, if these things are pleasing to the gods, when I have suffered my doom, I shall come to know my sin: but if the sin is with my judges, I could wish them no fuller measure of evil than they, on their part, mete wrongfully to me. CHORUS
Still the same tempest of the soul vexes this maiden with the same fierce gusts. CREON
Then for this shall her guards have cause to rue their slowness. ANTIGONE
Ah me! that word hath come very near to death. CREON
I can cheer thee with no hope that this doom is not thus to be fulfilled. ANTIGONE
o city of my fathers in the land of Thebe! 0
ye gods, eldest of our race!-they lead me hence-now, now-they tarry not! Behold me, princes of Thebes, the last daughter of the house of your kings,see what I suffer, and from whom, because I feared to cast away the fear of Heaven! (ANTIGONE CHORUS
is led away by the guards.)
(singing)
strophe I Even thus endured Danae in her beauty to change the light of day for brass-bound walls; and in that chamber, secret as the grave, she was held close prisoner; yet was she of a proud lineage, 0 my daughter, and charged with the keeping of the seed of Zeus, that fell in the golden rain. But dreadful is the mysterious power of fate; there is no deliver-
Antigone
[95 2 -994]
449
ance from it by wealth or by war, by fenced city, or dark, sea-beaten ships.
antistrophe I And bonds tamed the son of Dryas, swift to wrath, that king of the Edonians; so paid he for his frenzied taunts, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was pent in a rocky prison. There the fierce exuberance of his madness slowly passed away. That man learned to know the god, whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries; for he had sought to quell the god-possessed women, and the Bacchanalian fire; and he angered the Muses that love the flute. strophe 2 And by the waters of the Dark Rocks, the waters of the twofold sea, are the shores of Bosporus, and Thracian Salmydessus; where Ares, neighbour to the city, saw the accurst, blinding wound dealt to the two sons of Phineus by his fierce wife,-the wound that brought darkness to those vengeance-craving orbs, smitten with her bloody hands, smitten with her shuttle for a dagger. antistrophe 2 Pining in their misery, they bewailed their cruel doom, those sons of a mother hapless in her marriage; but she traced her descent from the ancient line of the Erechtheidae; and in far-distant caves she was nursed amid her father's storms, that child of Boreas, swift as a steed over the steep hills, a daughter of gods; yet upon her also the gray Fates bore hard, my daughter. (Enter
TEIRESIAs,
led by a Boy, on the spectators' right.) TEIRESIAS
Princes of Thebes, we have come with linked steps, both served by the eyes of one; for thus, by a guide's help, the blind must walk. CREON
And what, aged Teiresias, are thy tidings? TEIRESIAS
I will tell thee; and do thou hearken to the seer. CREON
Indeed, it has not been my wont to slight thy counseL TEIRESIAS
Therefore didst thou steer our city's course aright.
45 0
Sophocles CREON
I have felt, and can attest, thy benefits. TEIRESIAS
Mark that now, once more, thou standest on fate's fine edge. CREON
What means this? How I shudder at thy message! TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt learn, when thou hearest the warnings of mine art. As I took my place on mine old seat of augury, where all birds have been wont to gather within my ken, I heard a strange voice among them; they were screaming with dire, feverish rage, that drowned their language in a jargon; and I knew that they were rending each other with their talons, murderously; the whirr of wings told no doubtful tale. Forthwith, in fear, I essayed burnt-sacrifice on a duly kindled altar: but from my offerings the Fire-god showed no flame; a dank moisture, oozing from the thigh-flesh, trickled forth upon the embers, and smoked, and sputtered; the gall was scattered to the air; and the streaming thighs lay bared of the fat that had been wrapped round them. Such was the failure of the rites by which I vainly asked a sign, as from this boy I learned; for he is my guide, as I am guide to others. And 'tis thy counsel that hath brought this sickness on our State. For the altars of our city and of our hearths have been tainted, one and all, by birds and dogs, with carrion from the hapless corpse, the son of Oedipus: and therefore the gods no more accept prayer and sacrifice at our hands, or the flame of meat-offering; nor doth any bird give a clear sign by its shrill cry, for they have tasted the fatness of a slain man's blood. Think, then, on these things, my son. All men are liable to err; but when an error hath been made, that man is no longer witless or unblest who heals the ill into which he hath fallen, and remains not stubborn. Self-will, we know, incurs the charge of folly. Nay, allow the claim of the dead; stab not the fallen; what prowess is it to slay the slain anew? I have sought thy good, and for thy good I speak: and never is it sweeter to learn from a good counsellor than when he counsels for thine own gain. CREON
Old man, ye all shoot your shafts at me, as archers at the butts ;-ye must needs practise on me with seer-craft also;-aye, the seer-tribe hath long trafficked in me, and made me their merchandise. Gain your gains, drive your trade, if ye list, in the silver-gold of Sardis and the gold of India; but ye shall not hide that man in the grave,-no, though the eagles of Zeus should bear the carrion morsels to their Master's throne--no, not
[ro42-ro6r]
Antigone
4S r
for dread of that defilement will I suffer his burial:-for well I know that no mortal can defile the gods.-But, aged Teiresias, the wisest fall with a shameful fall, when they clothe shameful thoughts in fair words, for lucre's sake. TEIRESIAS
Alas! Doth any man know, doth any consider. CREON
Whereof? What general truth dost thou announce? TEIRESIAS
How precious, above all wealth, is good counsel. CREON
As folly, I think, is the worst mischief. TEIRESIAS
Yet thou art tainted with that distemper. CREON
I would not answer the seer with a taunt. TEIRESIAS
But thou dost, in saying that I prophesy falsely. CREON
Well, the prqphet-tribe was ever fond of money. TEIRESIAS
And the race bred of tyrants loves base gain. CREON
Knowest thou that thy speech is spoken of thy king? TEIRESIAS
I know it; for through me thou hast saved Thebes. CREON
Thou art a wise seer; but thou lovest evil deeds. TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt rouse me to utter the dread secret in my soul. CREON
Out with it!-Only speak. it not for gain.
45 2
Sophocles
[1062- 10 99J
TEIRESIAS
Indeed, methinks, I shall not,-as touching thee. CREON
Know that thou shalt not trade on my resolve. TEIRESIAS
Then know thou-aye, know it well-that thou shalt not live through many more courses of the sun's swift chariot, ere one begotten of thine own loins shall have been given by thee, a corpse for corpses; because thou hast thrust children of the sunlight to the shades, and ruthlessly lodged a living soul in the grave; but keepest in this world one who belongs to the gods infernal, a corpse unburied, unhonoured, all unhallowed. In such thou hast no part, nor have the gods above, but this is a violence done to them by thee. Therefore the avenging destroyers lie in wait for thee, the Furies of Hades and of the gods, that thou mayest be taken in these same ills. And mark well if I speak these things as a hireling. A time not long to be delayed shall awaken the wailing of men and of women in thy house. And a tumult of hatred against thee stirs all the cities whose mangled sons had the burial-rite from dogs, or from wild beasts, or from some winged bird that bore a polluting breath to each city that contains the hearths of the dead. Such arrows for thy heart-since thou provokest me-have I launched at thee, archer-like, in my anger,-sure arrows, of which thou shalt not escape the smart.-Boy, lead me home, that he may spend his rage on younger men, and learn to keep a tongue more temperate, and to bear within his breast a better mind than now he bears. (The Boy leads
TEffiESIAS
out.)
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The man hath gone, 0 King, with dread prophecies. And, since the hair on this head, once dark, hath been white, I know that he hath never been a false prophet to our city. CREON
I, too, know it well, and am troubled in soul. 'Tis dire to yield; but, by resistance, to smite my pride with ruin-this, too, is a dire choice. LEADER
Son of Menoeceus, it behoves thee to take wise counsel. CREON
What should I do, then? Speak, and I will obey.
[IIOO-II3S]
Antigone
453
LEADER
Go thou, and free the maiden from her rocky chamber, and make a tomb for the unburied dead. CREON
And this is thy counsel? Thou wouldst have me yield? LEADER
Yea, King, and with all speed; for swift harms from the gods cut short the folly of men. CREON
Ah me, 'tis hard, but I resign my cherished resolve,-I obey. \Ye must not wage a vain war with destiny. LEADER
Go, thou, and do these things; leave them not to others. CREON
Even as I am I'll go :-{)n, on, my servants, each and all of you,-take axes in your hands, and hasten to the ground that ye see yonder 1 Since our judgment hath taken this turn, I will be present to unloose her, as I myself bound her. My heart misgives me, 'tis best to keep the established laws, even to life's end. (CREON
and his servants hasten out on the spectators' left.) CHORUS
(singing) strophe I
o thou of many names, glory of the Cadmeian bride, offspring of loud-thundering Zeus! thou who watchest over famed Italia, and reignest, where all guests are welcomed, in the sheltered plain of Eleusinian Deo! 0 Bacchus, dweller in Thebe, mother-city of Bacchants, by the softly-gliding stream of Ismenus, on the soil where the fierce dragon's teeth were sown 1
antistrophe
I
Thou hast been seen where torch-flames glare through smoke, above the crests of the twin peaks, where move the Corycian nymphs, thy votaries, hard by Castalia's stream. Thou eomest from the ivy-mantled slopes of N ysa's hills, and from the shore green with many-clustered vines, while thy name is lifted up on strains of more than mortal power, as thou visitest the ways of Thebe:
454
Sophocles strophe
2
Thebe, of all cities, thou holdest first in honour, thou, and thy mother whom the lightning smote; and now, when all our people is captive to a violent plague, come thou with healing feet over the Parnassian height, or over the moaning strait!
antistraphe
2
o thou with whom the stars rejoice as they move, the stars whose breath is fire; 0 master of the voices of the night; son begotten of Zeus; appear, 0 king, with thine attendant Thyiads, who in nightlong frenzy dance before thee, the giver of good gifts, Iacchus!
(Enter MESSENGER, on the spectators' left.) MESSENGER
Dwellers by the house of Cadmus and of Amphion, there is no estate of mortal life that I would ever praise or blame as settled. Fortune raises and Fortune humbles the lucky or unlucky from day to day, and no one can prophesy to men concerning those things which are established. For Creon was blest once, as I count bliss; he had saved this land of Cadmus from its foes; he was clothed with sole dominion in the land; he reigned, the glorious sire of princely children. And now all hath been lost. For when a man hath forfeited his pleasures, I count him not as living,-I hold him but a breathing corpse. Heap up riches in thy house, if thou wilt; live in kingly state; yet, if there be no gladness therewith, I would not give the shadow of a vapour for all the rest, compared with joy. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And what is this new grief that thou hast to tell for our princes? MESSENGER
Death; and the living are guilty for the dead. LEADER
And who is the slayer? Who the stricken? Speak. MESSENGER
Haemon hath perished; his blood hath been shed by no stranger. LEADER
By his father's hand, or by his own? MESSENGER
By his own, in wrath with his sire for the murder.
[II7 8- 122 3]
Antigone
455
LEADER
o prophet, how true, then, hast thou proved thy word! ~IESSENGER
These things stand thus; ye must consider of the rest. LEADER
Lo, I see the hapless Eurydice, Creon's wife, approaching; she comes from the house by chance, haply,--or because she knows the tidings of her son. (Enter EURYDICE from the palace.) EURYDICE
People of Thebes, I heard your words as I was going forth, to salute the goddess Pallas with my prayers. Even as I was loosing the fastenings of the gate, to open it, the message of a household woe smote on mine ear: I sank back, terror-stricken, into the arms of my handmaids, and my senses fled. But say again what the tidings were; I shall hear them as one who is no stranger to sorrow. MESSENGER
Dear lady, I will witness of what I saw, and will leave no word of the truth untold. Why, indeed, should I soothe thee with words in which I must presently be found false? Truth is ever best.-I attended thy lord as his guide to the furthest part of the plain, where the body of Polyneices, torn by dogs, still lay unpitied. We prayed the goddess of the roads, and Pluto, in mercy to restrain their wrath; we washed the dead with holy washing; and with freshly-plucked boughs we solemnly burned such relics as there were. We raised a high mound of his native earth; and then we turned away to enter the maiden's nuptial chamber with rocky couch, the caverned mansion of the bride of Death. And, from afar off, one of us heard a voice of loud wailing at that bride's unhallowed bower; and came to tell our master Creon. And as the king drew nearer, doubtful sounds of a bitter cry floated around him; he groaned, and said in accents of anguish, 'Wretched that I am, can my foreboding be true? Am I going on the wofullest way that ever I went? My son's voice greets me.-Go, my servants,-haste ye nearer, and when ye have reached the tomb, pass through the gap, where the stones have been wrenched away, to the cell's very mouth,-and look, and see if 'tis Haemon's voice that I know, or if !lline ear is cheated by the gods.' This search, at our despairing master's word, we went to make; and in the furthest part of the tomb we descried her hanging by the neck, slung by a thread-wrought halter of fine linen; while he was embracing
Sophocles her with arms thrown around her waist,-bewailing the loss of his bride who is with the dead, and his father's deeds, and his own ill-starred love. But his father, when he saw him, cried aloud with a dread cry and went in, and called to him with a voice of wailing:-'Unhappy, what a deed hast thou done! What thought hath come to thee? What manner of mischance hath marred thy reason? Come forth, my child! I pray thee - I implore!' But the boy glared at him with fierce eyes, spat in his face, and, without a word of answer, drew his cross-hilted sword:-as his father rushed forth in flight, he missed his aimi-then, hapless one, wroth with himself, he straightway leaned with all his weight against his sword, and drove it, half its length, into his side; and, while sense lingered, he clasped the maiden to his faint embrace, and, as he gasped, sent forth on her pale cheek the swift stream of the oozing blood. Corpse enfolding corpse he lies; he hath won his nuptial rites, poor youth, not here, yet in the halls of Death; and he hath witnessed to mankind that, of all curses which cleave to man, ill counsel is the sovereign curse. (EURYDICE
retires into the house.)
LEADER
What wouldst thou augur from this? The lady hath turned back, and is gone, without a word, good or evil. MESSENGER
I, too, am startled; yet I nourish the hope that, at these sore tidings of her son, she cannot deign to give her sorrow public vent, but in the privacy of the house will set her handmaids to mourn the household grief. For she is not untaught of discretion, that she should err. LEADER
I know not; but to me, at least, a strained silence seems to portend peril, no less than vain abundance of lament. MESSENGER
Well, I will enter the house, and learn whether indeed she is not hiding !'lOme repressed purpose in the depths of a passionate heart. Yea, thou say('.st weIl: excess of silence, too, may have a perilous meaning.
(The MESSENGER goes £nto the palace. Enter CREON, on the spectators' left, with attendants, carrying the shrouded body 0/ HAEMON on a bier. The following lines between CREON and the CHORUS are chanted responsively.)
Antigone
457
CHORUS
La, yonder the king himself draws near, bearing that which tells too clear a tale,-the work of no stranger's madness,-if we may say it,-but of his own misdeeds. CREON
strophe
I
Woe for the sins of a darkened soul, stubborn sins, fraught with death! Ah, ye behold us, the sire who hath slain, the son who hath perished! Woe is me, for the wretched blindness of my counsels! Alas, my son, thou hast died in thy youth, by a timeless doom, woe is me! -thy spirit hath fied,-not by thy folly, but by mine own! CHORUS
strophe 2 Ah me, how all too late thou seemest to see the right! CREON
Ah me, I have learned the bitter lesson! But then, metbinks, oh then, some god smote me from above with crushing weight, and hurled me into ways of cruelty, woe is me,--overthrowing and trampling on my joy! Woe, woe, for the troublous toils of men! (Enter MESSENGER from the house.) MESSENGER
Sire, thou hast come, methinks, as one whose hands are not empty, but who hath store laid up besides; thou bearest yonder burden with thee; and thou art soon to look upon the woes within thy house. CREON
And what worse ill is yet to follow upon ills? MESSENGER
Thy queen hath died, true mother of yon corpse-ah, hapless lady!by blows newly dealt. CREON
antistrophe I Oh Hades, all-receiving, whom no sacrifice can appease! Hast thou, then, no mercy for me? 0 thou herald of evil, bitter tidings, what word dost thou utter? Alas, I was already as dead, and thou hast smitten me anew! What sayest thou, my son? What is this new message that thou bringest-woe, woe is me!--of a wife's doom,of slaughter heaped on slaughter?
Sophocles CHORUS
Thou canst behold: 'tis no longer hidden within.
(The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of EURYDICE is disclosed. ) CREON
antistrophe
2
Ah me,-yonder I behold a new, a second woe! What destiny, ah what, can yet await me? I have but now raised my son in my arms, -and there, again, I see a corpse before me! Alas, alas, unhappy mother! Alas, my child! MESSENGER
There, at the altar, self-stabbed with a keen knife, she suffered her darkening eyes to close, when she had wailed for the noble fate of Megareus 3 who died before, and then for his fate who lies there,-and when, with her last breath, she had invoked evil fortunes upon thee, the slayer of thy sons. CREON
strophe 3 Woe, woe! I thrill with dread. Is there none to strike me to the heart with two-edged sword?-O miserable that I am, and steeped in miserable anguish! MESSENGER
Yea, both this son's doom, and that other's, were laid to thy charge by her whose corpse thou seest. CREON
And what was the manner of the violent deed by which she passed away? MESSENGER
Her own hand struck her to the heart, when she had learned her son's sorely lamented fate. CREON
strophe 4 Ah me, this guilt can never be fixed on any other of mortal kind, for my acquittal! I, even I, was thy slayer, wretched that I am-I own the truth. Lead me away, 0 my servants, lead me hence with all speed, whose life is but as deathl
[ I3 2 3- I 353]
Antigone
459
CHORUS
Thy counsels are good, if there can be good with ills; briefest is best, when trouble is in our path. CREON
antistrophe 3 Oh, let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my last daY,-aye, best fate of all! Oh, let it come, that I may never look upon to-morrow's light. CHORUS
These things are in the future; present tasks claim our care: the order· ing of the future rests where it should rest. CREON
All my desires, at least, were summed in that prayer. CHORUS
Pray thou no more; for mortals have no escape from destined woe. CREON
antistroplze 4 Lead me away, I pray you; a rash, foolish man; who have slain thee, ah my son, unwittingly, and thee, too, my wife-unhappy that I am! I know not which way I should bend my gaze, or where I should seek support; for all is amiss with that which is in my hands,-and yonder, again, a crushing fate hath leapt upon my head.
(As
CREON
is being conducted into the palace, the speaks the closing verses.)
LEADER OF THE
CHORUS
LEADER
Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness; and reverence towards the gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to be wise.
NOTES FOR ANTIGONE
1.
Antigone is referring to the story of Niobe.
2. Lines 904-920, rendered in this paragraph, are rejected as spurious
by Jebb. 3. l\legareus, the other son of Creon, was one of the Theban champions who defended a gate of the city, in Aeschylus' The Seven Against Thebes. Euripides, in The Phoenissae calls him Menoeceus and presents a version of his death.
IV
THE TRACHINIAE
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
DEIANEIRA NURSE HYLLUS, son oj HERACI.ES and DEIANEIRA MESSENGER LrcHAS, the herald of HERACLES HERACLES AN OLD MAN CHORUS OF TRACHlNrA..N MAIDENS
INTRODUCTION
THE TRACHINIAE is presumably a later work of Sophocles, but there is no means of determining its exact date. The theory that it is a later composition of the poet rests upon the fact that it bears the unmistakable marks of Euripidean influence. The Chorus is much less integral to the play than is normal in Sophocles. The odes in general serve merely as lyrical interludes between the several episodes of the tragedy. Likewise, there is the motif of the poisoned robe, which naturally calls to mind its use in Euripides' Medea. Furthermore, Deianeira's opening speech is almost a perfect example of a conventional Euripidean prologue. Because of these and other reasons, The Trachiniae holds a position somewhat apart from Sophocles' other tragedies. Myths of Heracles were always absorbing to the Greek audience, since hero-cults for his worship were widespread in the ancient world. The particular antecedents of Sophocles' plot in The Trachiniae, which derive from the legends of Heracles, begin with the story of his marriage to Deianeira, whom he rescued from the wooing of the river-god, Achelous. After he had taken his bride away, the newly married couple came to a river across which the centaur, Nessus, carried travellers. While Nessus was transporting Deianeira over the river, he attempted to lay violent hands upon her, whereupon Heracles in anger shot him with one of his poisoned arrows. As N essus was dying he told Deianeira to take some of the blood which was clotted round his wound, and use it as a charm to win back the love of Heracles if ever he should prove unfaithful to her. Later, after Heracles had completed his labours for Eurystheus l he and his family were banished to Trachis because he had treacherously slain a man. HeracIes was further punished by Zeus, for he was made to serve a year under Omphale, the queen of Lydia. The Trachiniae begins fifteen months after Heracles had departed for Lydia. Deianeira has had no word from her husband. The play's power and effectiveness lie almost wholly in its portrayal of Deianeira. There are, to be sure, excellent delineations of the subordinate characters, such as Lichas and Hyllus, and several poetic passages of great lyric beauty. However, the closing scenes which present the suf4 63
Introduction ferings of the dying Heracles constitute a serious defect in the play. Despite the stoutest efforts of enthusiastic Sophoclean apologists, Heracles remains a brutal and self-centred character, for whom there can be little sympathy. Sophocles in the latter part of the play seems to have become so preoccupied with presenting Heracles' physical agony that he loses sight of Deianeira, his truly great tragic creation, and the artistic integrity of the whole piece is correspondingly impaired.
THE TRACHINIAE
(SCENE:-At Trachis, before the house of HERACLES. Enter DEIANEIRA from the house, accompanied by the NURSE.) DEIANEIRA THERE is a saying among men, put forth of old, that thou canst not rightly judge whether a mortal's lot is good or evil, ere he die. But I, even before I have passed to the world of death, know well that my life is sorrowful and bitter; I, who in the house of my father Oeneus, while yet I dwelt at Pleuron, had such fear of bridals as never vexed any maiden of Aetolia. For my wooer was a river-god, Achelous, who in three shapes was ever asking me from my sire,-coming now as a bull in bodily form, now as a serpent with sheeny coils, now with trunk of man and front of ox, while from a shaggy beard the streams of fountain-water flowed abroad. With the fear of such a suitor before mine eyes, I was always praying in my wretchedness that I might die, or ever I should come near to such a bed. But at last, to my joy, came the glorious son of Zeus and Alcmena; who closed with him in combat, and delivered me. How the fight was waged, I cannot clearly teil, I know not; if there be anyone who watched that sight without terror, such might speak: I, as I sat there, was distraught with dread, lest beauty should bring me sorrow at the last. But finally the Zeus of battles ordained weil,-if well indeed it be: for since I have been joined to Heracles as his chosen bride, fear after fear hath haunted me on his account; one night brings a trouble, and the next night, in turn, drives it out. And then children were born to us; whom he has seen only as the husbandman sees his distant field, which he visits at seedtime, and once again at harvest. Such was the life that kept him journeying to and fro, in the service of a certain master. But now, when he hath risen above those trials,-now it is that my anguish is sorest. Ever since he slew the valiant Iphitus, we have been dwelling here in Tracbis, exiles from our home, and the guests of a stranger; but where he is, no one knows; I only know that he is gone, and hath pierced my heart with cruel pangs for him. I am almost sure that some evil hath befallen him; it is no short space that hath passed, but
4 65
Sophocles ten long months, and then five more,-and still no message from him. Yes, there has been some dread mischance;-witness that tablet which he left with me ere he went forth: oft do I pray to the gods that I may not have received it for my sorrow. NURSE
Deianeira, my mistress, many a time have I marked thy bitter tears and lamentations, as thou bewaiIedst the going forth of Heracles; but now,-if it be meet to school the free-born with the counsels of a slave, and if I must say what behoves thee,-why, when thou art so rich in sons, dost thou send no one of them to seek thy lord;-Hyllus, before all, who might well go on that errand, if he cared that there should be tidings of his father's welfare? Lo! there he comes, speeding towards the house with timely step; if, then, thou deemest that I speak in season, thou canst use at once my counsel, and the man. (HYLLUS comes in from the side.) DEIANEIRA
My child, my son, wise words may fall, it seems, from humble lips; this woman is a slave, but hath spoken in the spirit of the free. HYLLUS
How, mother? Tell me, if it may be told. DEIANEIRA
It brings thee shame, she saith, that, when thy father hath been so long a stranger, thou hast not sought to learn where he is. HYLLUS
Nay, I know,-if romour can be trusted. DEIANEIRA
And in what region, my child, doth romour place him? HYLLUS
Last year, they say, through all the months, he toiled as bondman to a Lydian woman. DEIANEIRA
If he bore that, then no tidings can surprise. HYLLUS
Well, he has been delivered fro)ll that, as I hear. DEIANEIRA
Where, then, is he reported to be now,-alive, or dead?
The Trachiniae HYLLUS
He is waging or planning a war, they say, upon Euboea, the realm of Eurytus. DEIANEIRA
Knowest thou, my son, that he hath left with me sure oracles touching that land? HYLLUS
What are they, mother? I know not whereof thou speakest. DEIANEIRA.
That either he shall meet his death, or, having achieved this task, shall have rest thenceforth, for all his days to come. So, my child, when his fate is thus trembling in the scale, wilt thou not go to succour him? For we are saved, if he find safety, or we perish with him. HYLLUS
Ay, I will go, my mother; and, had I known the import of these prophecies, I had been there long since; but, as it was, my father's wonted fortune suffered me not to feel fear for him, or to be anxious overmuch. Now that I have the knowledge, I will spare no pains to learn the whole truth in this matter. DELlliEIRA
Go, then, my son; be the seeker ne'er so late, he is rewarded if he learn tidings of joy. departs as the CHORUS OF TRACHINIAN MAIDENS enters. They are free-born young women of Trachis who are friends and confidantes of DEIANEIRA. She remains during their opening choral song.)
(HYLLUS
CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I Thou whom Night brings forth at the moment when she is despoiled of her starry crown, and lays to rest in thy splendour, tell me, I pray thee, 0 Sun-god, tell me where abides Alcmena's son? Thou glorious lord of flashing light, say, is he threading the straits of the sea, or hath he found an abode on either continent? Speak, thou who seest as none else can see! antistrophe I For Deianeira, as I hear, hath ever an aching heart; she, the battleprize of old, is now like some bird lorn of its mate; she can never lull her yearning, nor stay her tears; haunted by a sleepless fear for her
Sophocles absent lord, she pines on her anxious, widowed couch, miserable in her foreboding of mischance. strophe 2 As one may see billow after billow driven over the wide deep by the tireless south-wind or the north, so the trouble of his life, stormy as the Cretan sea, now whirls back the son of Cadmus, now lifts him to honour. But some god ever saves him from the house of death, and suffers him not to fail. antistrophe 2 Lady, I praise not this thy mood; with all reverence will I speak, yet in reproof. Thou dost not well, I say, to kill fair hope by fretting; remember that the son of Cronus himself, the all-disposing king, hath not appointed a painless lot for mortals. Sorrow and joy come round to all, as the Bear moves in his circling paths. epode Yea, starry night abides not with men, nor tribulation, nor wealth; in a moment it is gone from us, and another hath his turn of gladness, and of bereavement. So would I wish thee also, the Queen, to keep that prospect ever in thy thoughts; for when hath Zeus been found so careless of his children? DEIANEIRA
Ye have heard of my trouble, I think, and that hath brought you here; but the anguish which consumes my heart-ye are strangers to that; and never may ye learn it by suffering! Yes, the tender plant grows in those sheltered regions of its own; and the Sun-god's heat vexes it not, nor rain, nor any wind; but it rejoices in its sweet, untroubled being, till such time as the maiden is called a wife, and finds her portion of anxious thoughts in the night, brooding on danger to husband or to children. Such an one could understand the burden of my cares; she could judge them by her own. Well, I have had many a sorrow to weep for ere now; but I am going to speak of one more grievous than them all. When Heracles my lord was going from home on his last journey, he left in the house an ancient tablet, inscribed with tokens which he had never brought himself to explain to me before, many as were the ordeals to which he had gone forth. He had always departed as if to conquer, not to die. But now, as if he were a doomed man, he told me what portion of his substance I was to take for my dower, and how he would have his sons share their father's land amongst them. And he fixed the time; say-
The Trachiniae ing that, when a year and three months should have passed since he had left the country, then he was fated to die; or, if he should have survived that term, to live thenceforth an untroubled life. Such, he said, was the doom ordained by the gods to be accomplished in the toils of Heracles; as the ancient oak at Dodona had spoken of yore, by the mouth of the two Peleiades. And this is the precise moment when the fulfilment of that word becomes due; so that I start up from sweet slumber, my friends, stricken with terror at the thought that I must remain widowed of the noblest among men. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Hush-no more ill-omened words; I see a man approaching, who wears a wreath, as if for joyous tidings. (A MESSENGER enters.) MESSENGER
Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first of messengers to free thee from fear. Know that Alcmena's son lives and triumphs, and from battle brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land. DEIANEIRA
What news is this, old man, that thou hast told me? MESSENGER
That thy lord, admired of all, will soon come to thy house, restored tc thee in his victorious might. DEIANEIRA
What citizen or stranger hath told thee this? MESSENGER
In the meadow, summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is proclaiming it to many: from him I heard it, and flew hither, that I might be the first to give thee these tidings, and so might reap some guerdon from thee, and win thy grace. DEIANEIRA
And why is he not here, if he brings good news? MESSENGER
His task, lady, is no easy one; all the Malian folk have thronged around him with questions, and he cannot move forward: each and all are bent on learning what they desire, and will not release him until they are satisfied. Thus their eagerness detains him against his will; but thou shalt presently see him face to face.
Sophocles
470
[200-2 35]
DEIANEIRA
o Zeus, who rulest the meads of Oeta, sacred from the scythe, at last, though late, thou hast given us joy! Uplift yOUI' voices, ye women within the house and ye beyond our gates, since now we are gladdened by the light of this message, that hath risen on us beyond my hope! LEADER OF ONE SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Let the maidens raise a joyous strain for the house, with songs of triumph at the hearth; and, amidst them, let the shout of the men go up with one accord for Apollo of the bright quiver, our Defender! And at the same time, ye maidens, lift up a paean, cry aloud to his sister, the Ortygian Artemis, smiter of deer, goddess of the twofold torch, and to the Nymphs her neighbours! LEADER OF OTHER SEMI-CHORUS My spirit soars; I will not reject the wooing of the flute.-O thou sovereign of my soul! Lo, the ivy's spell begins to work upon me! Euoe!--even now it moves me to whirl in the swift dance of Bachanals! CHORUS Praise, praise unto the Healer! LEADER OF WHOLE CHORUS See, dear lady, see! Behold, these tidings are taking shape before thy gaze. DEIANEIRA I see it, dear maidens; my watching eyes had not failed to note yon company. (Enter LICHAS, followed by Captive Maidens. Conspicuous among them is IOLE.)-All hail to the herald, whose coming hath been so long delayed!-if indeed thou bringest aught that can give joy. LICHAS We are happy in our return, and happy in thy greeting, lady, which befits the deed achieved; for when a man hath fair fortune, he needs must win good welcome. DEIANEIRA
o best of friends, tell me first what first I would know,-shall I receive HeracIes alive? LICHAS
I, certainly, left him alive and weIl,-in vigorous health, unburdened by disease.
The Trachiniae
47 I
DEIAl.'1ElRA
Where, tell me-at home, or on foreign soil? LICHAS
There is a headland of Euboea, where to Cenaean Zeus he consecrates altars, and the tribute of fruitful ground. DEIANEIRA
In payment of a vow, or at the bidding of an oracle? LICHAS
For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and despoil the country of these women who are before thee. DEIANEIRA
And these-who are they, I pray thee, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their plight deceives me. LICHAS
These are captives whom he chose out for himself and for the gods, when he sacked the city of Eurytus. DEIANEIRA
Was it the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days? LICHAS
Not so: the greater part of the time he was detained in Lydia,-no free man, as he declares, but sold into bondage. No offence should attend on the word, lady, when the deed is found to be of Zeus. So he passed a whole year, as he himself avows, in thraldom to Omphale the barbarian. And so stung was he by that reproach, he bound himself by a solemn oath that he would one day enslave, with wife and child, the man who had brought that calamity upon him. Nor did he speak the word in vain; but, when he had been purged, gathered an alien host, and went against the city of Eurytus. That man, he said, alone of mortals, had a share in causing his misfortune. For when Heracles, an old friend, came to his house and hearth, Eurytus heaped on him the taunts of a bitter tongue and spiteful soul,-saying, 'Thou hast unerring arrows in thy hands, and yet my sons surpass thee in the trial of archery'; 'Thou art a slave,' he cried, 'a f!'ee man's broken thrall': and at a banquet, when his guest was full of wine, he thrust him from his doors. Wroth thereat, when afterward Iphitus came to the hill of Tiryns, in search for horses that had strayed, Heracles seized a moment when the man's wandering thoughts went not with his wandering gaze, and hurled
Sophocles him from a tower-like summit. But in anger at that deed, Zeus our lord, Olympian sire of all, sent him forth into bondage, and spared not, because, this once, he had taken a life by guile. Had he wreaked his vengeance openly, Zeus would surely have pardoned him the righteous triumph; for the gods, too, love not insolence. So those men, who waxed so proud with bitter speech, are themselves in the mansions of the dead, all of them, and their city is enslaved; while the women whom thou beholdest, fallen from happiness to misery, come here to thee; for such was thy lord's command, which I, his faithful servant, perform. He himself, thou mayest be sure,-so soon as he shall have offered holy sacrifice for his victory to Zeus from whom he sprang,-will be with thee. After all the fair tidings that have been told, this, indeed, is the sweetest word to hear. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Now, 0 Queen, thy joy is assured; part is with thee, and thou hast promise of the rest. DELL'N"EIRA
Yea, have I not the fullest reason to rejoice at these tidings of my lord's happy fortune? To such fortune, such joy must needs respond. And yet a prudent mind can see room for misgiving lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse. A strange pity hath come over me, friends, at the sight of these ill-fated exiles, homeless and fatherless in a foreign land; once the daughters, perchance, of free-born sires, but now doomed to the life of slaves. 0 Zeus, who tumest the tide of battle, never may I see child of mine thus visited by thy hand; nay, if such visitation is to be, may it not fall while Deianeira lives! Such dread do I feel, beholding these. (To IOLE) Ah, hapless girl, say, who art thou? A maiden, or a mother? To judge by thine aspect, an innocent maiden, and of a noble race. Lichas, whose daughter is this stranger? Who is her mother, who her sire? Speak, I pity her more than all the rest, when I behold her; as she alone shows a due feeling for her plight. LICHAS
How should I know? Why should'st thou ask me? Perchance the offspring of not the meanest in yonder land. •
DEIANEIRA
Can she be of royal race? Had Eurytus a daughter? LICHAS
I know not; indeed, I asked not many questions.
The Trachiniae
473
DEIANEIRA
And thou hast not heard her name from any of her companions? LICHAS
No, indeed, I went through my task in silence. DEIANEIRA
Unhappy girl, let me, at least, hear it from thine own mouth. It is indeed distressing not to know thy name. (IOLE maintains her silence.) LICHAS
It will be unlike her former behaviour, then, I can tell thee, if she opens her lips: for she hath not uttered one word, but hath ever been travailing with the burden of her sorrow, and weeping bitterly, poor girl, since she left her wind-swept home. Such a state is grievous for herself, but claims our forbearance. DEIANEIRA
Then let her be left in peace, and pass under our roof as she wishes; her present woes must not be crowned with fresh pains at my hands; she hath enough already.-Now let us all go in, that thou mayest start speedily on thy journey, while I make all things ready in the house. (LrcHAs leads the captives into the house. DEIANEIRA starts to follow them, but the MESSENGER, who has been present during the entire scene, detains her. He speaks as he moves nearer to her.) MESSENGER
Ay, but first tarry here a brief space, that thou mayest learn, apart from yonder folk, whom thou art taking to thy hearth, and mayest gain the needful knowledge of things which have not been told to thee. Of these I am in full possession. DEIANEIRA
What means this? Why wouldest thou stay my departure? MESSENGER
Pause and listen. My former story was worth thy hearing, and so will this one be, methinks. DEIANEIRA
Shall I call those others back? Or wilt thou speak before me and these maidens? MESSENGER
To thee and these I can speak freely; never mind the others.
474
Sophocles DEIANEIRA
Well, they are gone;-so thy story can proceed. ::\IESSENGER
Yonder man was not speaking the straight-forward truth in aught that he has just told. He has given false tidings now, or else his former report was dishonest. DEIANEIRA
How sayest thou? Explain thy whole drift clearly; thus far, thy words are riddles to me. MESSENGER
I heard this man declare, before many witnesses, that for this maiden's sake Heracles overthrew Eurytus and the proud towers of Oechalia; Love, alone of the gods, wrought on him to do those deeds of arms,-not the toilsome servitude to Omphale in Lydia, nor the death to which Iphitus was hurIed. But now the herald has thrust Love out of sight, and tells a different tale. Well, when he could not persuade her sire to give him the maiden for his paramour, he devised some petty complain t as a pretext, and made war upon her land,-that in which, as he said, this Eurytus bore sway,-and slew the prince her father, and sacked her city. And now, as thou seest, he comes sending her to this house not in careless fashion, lady, nor like a slave; -no, dream not of that,-i t is not likely, if his heart is kindled with desire. I resolved, therefore, 0 Queen, to tell thee all that I had heard from yonder man. Many others were listening to it, as I was, in the public place where the Trachinians were assembled; and they can convict him. If my words are unwelcome, I am grieved; but nevertheless I have spoken out the truth. DEIANEIRA
Ah me unhappy! In what plight do I stand? What secret bane have I received beneath my roof? Hapless that I am! Is she nameless, then, as her convoy sware? MESSENGER
Nay, illustrious by name as by birth; she is the daughter of Eurytus, and was once called Iole; she of whose parentage Lichas could say nothing, because, forsooth, he asked no questions. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Accursed, above other evil-doers, be the man whom deeds of treachery dishonour!
The Trachiniae
475
DEIANEIRA
Ah, maidens, what am I to do? These latest tidings have bewildered me! LEADER
Go and inquire from Lichas; perchance he will tell the truth, if thou constrain him to answer. DEIANEIRA
Well, I will go; thy counsel is not amiss. MESSENGER
And I, shall I wait here? Or what is thy pleasure? DEIANEIRA
Remain ;-here he comes from the house of his own accord, without summons from me. (Enter LICHAS) LICHAS
Lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Give me thy commands, for, as thou seest, I am going. DEIANEIRA
How hastily thou art rushing away, when thy visit had been so long delayed,-before we have had time for further talk. LICHAS
Nay, if there be aught that thou would'st ask, I am at thy service. DEIANEIRA
Wilt thou indeed give me the honest truth? LICHAS
Yes, be great Zeus my witness,-in anything that I know. DEIANEIRA
Who is the woman, then, whom thou hast brought? LICHAS
She is Euboean; but of what birth, I cannot say. MESSENGER
Sirrah, look at me:-to whom art thou speaking, think'st thou? LICHAS
And thou-what dost thou mean by such a question?
Sophocles :\IESSENGER
Deign to answer me, if thou comprehendest. LICHAS
To the royal Deianeira, unless mine eyes deceive me,-daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles, and my queen. ::'IESSENGER
The very word that I wished to hear from thee:-thou sayest that she is thy queen? LICH..l.S
Yes, as in duty bound. }IESSENGER
'Yell, then, what art thou prepared to suffer, if found guilty of failing in that duty? LICHAS
Failing in duty? '"\That dark saying is this? MESSENGER
'Tis none; the darkest words are thine own. LrcHAs
I will go,-I was foolish to hear thee so long. MESSENGER
No, not till thou hast answered a brief question. LrcHAs
Ask what thou wilt; thou art not taciturn. MESSENGER
That captive, whom thou hast brought horne-thou knowest whom I mean? LrCHAS
Yes; but why dost thou ask? MESSENGER
Well, saidst thou not that thy prisoner-she, on whom thy gaze now turns so vacantly-was Iole, daughter of Eurytus? LrcH.4.s
Said it to whom? "Yho and where is the man that will be thy witness to hearing this from me?
The Trachiniae
477
::.\IESSENGER
To many of our own folk thou saidst it: in the public gathering of Trachinians, a great crowd heard thus much from thee. LrcHAs
Ay-said they heard; but 'tis one thing to report a fancy, and another to make the story good. MESSENGER
A fancy! Didst thou not say on thine oath that thou wast bringing her as a bride for Heracles? LICHAS
I? bringing a bride?-In the name of the gods, dear mistress, tell me who this stranger may be? MESSENGER
One who heard from thine own lips that the conquest of the whole city was due to love for this girl: the Lydian woman was not its destroyer, but the passion which this maid has kindled. LICHAS
Lady, let this fellow withdraw: to prate with the brainsick befits not a sane man. DEIANEIRA
Nay, I implore thee by Zeus whose lightnings go forth over the high glens of Oeta, do not cheat me of the truth! For she to whom thou wilt speak is not ungenerous, nor hath she yet to learn that the human heart is inconstant to its joys. They are not wise, then, who stand forth to buffet against Love; for Love rules the gods as he will, and me; and why not another woman, such as I am? So I am mad indeed, if I blame my husband, because that distemper hath seized him; or this woman, his partner in a thing which is no shame to them, and no wrong to me. Impossible! No; if he taught thee to speak falsely, 'tis not a noble lesson that thou art learning; or if thou art thine own teacher in this, thou wilt be found cruel when it is thy wish to prove kind. Nay, tell me the whole truth. To a free-born man, the name of liar cleaves as a deadly brand. If thy hope is to escape detection, that, too, is vain; there are many to whom thou hast spoken, who will tell me. And if thou art afraid, thy fear is mistaken. Not to learn the truth,that, indeed, would pain me; but to know it-what is there terrible in that? Hath not Heracles wedded others ere now,-ay, more than living man,-and no one of them hath had harsh word or taunt from 1l1ei nor shall this girl, though her whole being should be absorbed in her passion;
Sophocles
for indeed I felt a profound pity when I beheld her, because her beauty hath wrecked her life, and she, hapless one, all innocent, hath brought her fatherland to ruin and to bondage. 'VeIl, those things must go v.1.th wind and stream.-To thee I say,deceive whom thou wilt, but ever speak the truth to me. LEADER
Hearken to her good counsel, and hereafter thou shalt have no cause to complain of this lady; our thanks, too, will be thine. LICHAS
Nay, then, dear mistress,-since I see that thou thinkest as mortals should think, and canst allow for weakness,-I will tell thee the whole truth, and hide it not. Yes, it is even as yon man saith. This girl inspired that overmastering love which long ago smote through the soul of Herades; for this girl's sake the desolate Oechalia, her home, was made the prey of his spear. And he,-it is just to him to say so,-never denied this, -never told me to conceal it. But I, lady, fearing to wound thy heart by such tidings, have sinned, if thou count this in any sort a sin. Now, however, that thou knowest the whole story, for both your sakes, -for his, and not less for thine own,-bear with the woman, and be content that the words which thou hast spoken regarding her should bind thee still. For he, whose strength is victorious in all else, hath been utterly vanquished by his passion for this girl. DEIANEIRA
Indeed, mine own thoughts move me to act thus. Trust me, I will not add a new affliction to my burdens by waging a fruitless fight against the gods. But let us go into the house, that thou mayest receive my messages; and, since gifts should be meetly recompensed with gifts,-that thou mayest take these also. It is not right that thou shouldest go back with empty hands, after coming with such a goodly train. (Exit MESSENGER, as LICHAS and DEIANEIRA go into the house.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe Great and mighty is the victory which the Cyprian queen ever bears away. I stay not now to speak of the gods; I spare to tell how she beguiled the son of Cronus, and Hades, the lord of darkness, or Poseidon, shaker of the earth. But, when this bride was to be won, who were the valiant rivals that entered the contest for her hand? Who went forth to the ordeal of battIe, to the fierce blows and the blinding dust?
[508-5 60 ]
The Trachiniae
479
antistrophe One was a mighty river-god, the dread form of a horned and fourlegged bull, Acheloiis, from Oeniadae: the other came from Thebe, dear to Bacchus, with curved bow, and spears, and brandished club, the son of Zeus: who then met in combat, fain to win a bride: and the Cyprian goddess of nuptial joy was there with them, sale umpire of their strife. epode Then was there clatter of fists and clang of bow, and the noise of a bull's horns therewith; then were there close-locked grapplings, and deadly blows from the forehead, and loud deep cries from both. Meanwhile, she, in her delicate beauty, sat on the side of a hill that could be seen afar, awaiting the husband that should be hers. So the battle rages, as I have told; but the fair bride who is the prize of the strife abides the end in piteous anguish. And suddenly she is parted from her mother, as when a heifer is taken from its dam. enters from the house alone, carrying in her arms a casket containing a robe.)
(DEIANEIRA
DEIANEIRA
Dear friends, while our visitor is saying his farewell to the captive girls in the house, I have stolen forth to you,-partiy to tell you what these hands have devised, and partly to crave your sympathy with my sorrow. A maiden,--or, methinks, no longer a maiden, but a mistress,-hath found her way into my house, as a freight comes to a mariner,-a merchandise to make shipwreck of my peace. And now we twain are to share the same marriage-bed, the same embrace. Such is the reward that Heracles hath sent me,-he whom I called true and loyal,-for guarding his home through all that weary time. I have no thought of anger against him, often as he is vexed with this distemper. But then to live with her, sharing the same union-what woman could endure it? For I see that the flower of her age is blossoming, while mine is fading; and the eyes of men love to cull the bloom of youth, but they turn aside from the old. This, then, is my fear,-lest Heracles, in name my spouse, should be the younger's mate. But, as I said, anger ill beseems a woman of understanding. I will tell you, friends, the way by which I hope to find deliverance and relief. I had a gift, given to me long ago by a monster of olden time, and stored in an urn of bronze; a gift which, while yet a girl, I took up from the shaggybreasted Nessus,-from his life-blood, as he lay dying; Nessus, who used
Sophocles
[5 60-599]
to carry men in his arms for hire across the deep waters of the Evenus, using no oar to waft them, nor sail of ship. I, too, was carried on his shoulders,-when, by my fatber's sending, I first went forth with Heracles as his wife; and when I was in mid-stream, he touched me with wanton hands. I shrieked; the son of Zeus turned quickly round, and shot a feathered arrow; it whizzed through his breast to the lungs; and, in his mortal faintness, thus much the Centaur spake:'Child of aged Oeneus, thou shalt have at least this profit of my ferrying,-if thou wilt hearken,-because thou wast the last whom I conveyed. If thou gatherest with thy hands the blood clotted round my wound, at the place where the Hydra, Lerna's monstrous growth, hath tinged the arrow with black gall,-this shall be to thee a charm for the soul of Heracles, so that he shall never look upon any woman to love her more than thee.' I bethought me of this, my friends-for, after his death, I had kept it carefully locked up in a secret place; and I have anointed this robe, doing everything to it as he enjoined while he lived. The work is finished. May deeds of wicked daring be ever far from my thoughts, and from my knowledge,-as I abhor the women who attempt them! But if in any wise I may prevail against this girl by love-spells and charms used on Heracles, the means to that end are ready;-unless, indeed, I seem to be acting rashly: if so, I will desist forthwith. LEADER
Nay, if these measures give any ground of confidence, we think that thy design is not amiss. DEIANEIRA
Well, the ground stands thus,-there is a fair promise; but I have not yet essayed the proof. LEADER
Nay, knowledge must come through action; thou canst have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial. DEIANEIRA
Well, we shall know presentIy:-for there I see the man already at the doors; and he will soon be going.---On1y may my secret be well kept by you! While thy deeds are hidden, even though they be not seemly, thou wilt never be brought to shame. (LICHAS enters from the house.) LICHAS
What are thy commands? Give me my charge, daughter of Oeneus; for alre;o.dy I have tarried over long.
The Trachiniae DEIANEIRA
Indeed, I have just been seeing to this for thee, Lichas, while thou wast speaking to the stranger maidens in the house;-that thou shouldest take for me this long robe, woven by mine own hand, a gift to mine absent lord. And when thou givest it, charge him that he, and no other, shall be the first to wear it; that it shall not be seen by the light of the sun, nor by the sacred precinct, nor by the fire at the hearth, until he stand forth, conspicuous before all eyes, and show it to the gods on a day when bulls are slain. For thus had I vowed,-that if I should ever see or hear that he had come safely home, I would duly clothe him in this robe, and so present him to the gods, newly radiant at their altar in new garb. As proof, thou shalt carry a token, which he will quickly recognise within the circle of this seal. Now go thy way; and, first, remember the rule that messengers should not be meddlers; next, so bear thee that my thanks may be joined to his, doubling the grace which thou shalt win. LICHAS
Nay, if I ply this herald-craft of Hermes with any sureness, I will never trip in doing thine errand: I will not fail to deliver this casket as it is, and to add thy words in attestation of thy gift. DEIANEIRA
Thou mayest be going now; for thou knowest well how things are with us in the house. LICHAS
I know, and will report, that all hath prospered. DEIANEIRA
And then thou hast seen the greeting given to the stranger maidenthou knowest how I welcomed her? LICHAS
So that my heart was filled with wondering joy. DEIANEIRA
What more, then, is there for thee to tell? I am afraid that it would be too soon to speak of the longing on my part, before we know if I am longed for there. (LrcHAs departs with the casket and DEIANEIRA retires into the house.)
[633- 668 J
Sophocles CHORUS
(singing) strophe I
o ye who dwell by the warm springs between haven and crag, and by Oeta's heights; 0 dwellers by the land-locked waters of the Malian sea, on the shore sacred to the virgin-goddess of the golden shafts, where the Greeks meet in famous council at the Gates;
antistroplte I Soon shall the glorious voice of the flute go up for you again, resounding with no harsh strain of grief, but with such music as the lyre maketh to the gods! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus is hastening homeward, with the trophies of all prowess.
stroplze 2 He was lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months, and knew nothing; and his loving wife, sad dweller with sad thoughts, was ever pining amid her tears. But now the War-god, roused to fury, hath delivered her from the days of her mourning.
antistrophe 2 May he come, may he come! Pause not the many-oared ship that carries him, till he shall have reached this town, leaving the island altar where, as rumour saith, he is sacrificing! Thence may he come, full of desire, steeped in love by the specious device of the robe, on which Persuasion hath spread her sovereign charm! (DEIANEIRA
comes out of the house in agitation.)
DEIANEIRA
Friends, how I fear that I may have gone too far in all that I have been doing just now! LEADER
What hath happened, Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus? DEIA..1>ffiIRA
I know not; but feel a misgiving that I shall presently be found to have wrought a great mischief, the issue of a fair hope. LEADER
It is nothing, surely, that concerns thy gift to Heracles?
The Trachiniae DEIANEIRA
Yea, even so. And henceforth I would say to all, act not with zeal, if ye act without light. LEADER
Tell us the cause of thy fear, if it may be t'Jld. DEIANEIRA
A thing hath come to pass, my friends, such that, if I declare it, ye will hear a marvel whereof none could have dreamed. That with which I was lately anointing the festal robe,-a white tuft of fleecy sheep's wool,-hath disappeared,-not consumed by anything in the house, but self-devoured and self-destroyed, as it crumbled down from the surface of a stone. But I must tell the story more at length, that thou mayest know exactly how this thing befell. I neglected no part of the precepts which the savage Centaur gave me, when the bitter barb was rankling in his side: they were in my memory, like the graven words which no hand may wash from a tablet of bronze. Now these were his orders, and I obeyed them:-to keep this unguent in a secret place, always remote from fire and from the sun's warm ray, until I should apply it, newly spread, where I wished. So had I done. And now, when the moment for action had come, I performed the anointing privily in the house, with a tuft of soft wool which I had plucked from a sheep of our home-flock; then I folded up my gift, and laid it, unvisited by sunlight, within its casket, as ye saw. But as I was going back into the house, I beheld a thing too wondrous for words, and passing the wit of man to understand. I happened to have thrown the shred of wool, with which I had been preparing the robe, into the full blaze of the sunshine. As it grew warm, it shrivelled all away, and quickly crumbled to powder on the ground, like nothing so much as the dust shed from a saw's teeth where men work timber. In such a state it lies as it fell. And from the earth, where it was strewn, clots of foam seethed up, as when the rich juice of the blue fruit from the vine of Bacchus is poured upon the ground. So I know not, hapless one, whither to turn my thoughts; I only see that I have done a fearful deed. Why or wherefore should the monster, in his death-throes, have shown good will to me, on whose account he was dying? Impossible! No, he was cajoling me, in order to slay the man who had smitten him: and I gain the knowledge of this too late, when it avails no more. Yes, I alone--unless my foreboding prove false--I, wretched one, must destroy him! For I know that the arrow which made the wound did scathe even to the god Cheiron; and it kills all beasts that it touches. And since 'tis this same black venom in the blood that hath passed out
Sophocles through the wound of N essus, must it not kill my lord also? I ween it must. Howbeit, I am resolved that, if he is to fall, at the same time I also shall be swept from life; for no woman could bear to live with an evil name, if she rejoices that her nature is not evil. LEADER
Mischief must needs be feared; but it is nat well to doom our hope before the event. DEIANEmA
Unwise counsels leave no room even for a hope which can lend courage. LEADER
Yet towards those who have erred unwittingly, men~s anger is softened; and so it should be towards thee. DEIAJ."EIRA
Nay, such words are not for one who has borne a part in the iII deed, but only for him who has no trouble at his own door. LEADER
'Twere well to refrain from further speech, unless thou would'st tell aught to thine own son; for he is at hand, who went erewhile to seek his sire.
(Enter HYLLUS) HYLLUS
o mother, would that one of three things had befallen
thee! Would that thou wert dead,--or, if living, no mother of mine,-or that some new and better spirit had passed into thy bosom. DEIANEIRA
Ah, my son, what cause have I given thee to abhor me? HYLLUS
I tell thee that thy husband-yea, my sire-hath been done to death by thee this day! DEIANEIRA
Oh, what word hath passed thy lips, my child! HYLLUS
A word that shall not fail of fulfilment; for who may undo that which hath come to pass?
The Trachiniae DEIANEIRA
What saidst thou, my son? Who is thy warranty for charging me with a deed so terrible? HYLLUS
I have seen my father's grievous fate with mine own eyes; I speak not from hearsay. DEIANEIRA
And where didst thou find him,-where didst thou stand at his side? HYLLUS
If thou art to hear it, then must all be told. After sacking the famous town of Eurytus, he went his way with the trophies and first-fruits of victory. There is a sea-washed headland of Euboea, Cape Cenaeum, where he dedicated altars and a sacred grove to the Zeus of his fathers; and there I first heheld him, with the joy of yearning love. He was about to celebrate a great sacrifice, when his own herald, Lichas, came to him from home, bearing thy gift, the deadly robe; which he put on, according to thy precept; and then began his offering with twelve bulls, free from blemish, the firstlings of the spoil; but altogether he brought a hundred victims, great or small, to the altar. At first, hapless one, he prayed with serene soul, rejoicing in his comely garb. But when the blood-fed flame began to blaze from the holy offerings and from the resinous pine, a sweat broke forth upon his flesh, and the tunic clung to his sides, at every joint, close-glued, as if by a craftsman's hand; there came a biting pain that racked his bones; and then the venom, as of some deadly, cruel viper, began to devour him. Thereupon he shouted for the unhappy Lichas,-in no wise to blame for thy crime,-asking what treason had moved him to bring that robe; but he, all-unknowing, hapless one, said that he had brought the gift from thee alone, as it had been sent. When his master heard it, as a piercing spasm clutched his lungs, he caught him by the foot, where the ankle turns in the socket, and hurled him at a surf-beaten rock in the sea; and he made the white brain to ooze from the hair, as the skull was dashed to splinters, and blood scattered therewith. But all the people lifted up a cry of awe-struck grief, seeing that one was frenzied, and the other slain; and no one dared to come before the man. For the pain dragged him to earth, or made him leap into the air, with yells and shrieks, till the cliffs rang around, steep headlands of Locris, and Euboean capes. But when he was spent with oft throwing himself on the ground in his anguish, and oft making loud lament,-cursing his fatal marriage with
486
Sophocles
thee, the vile one, and his alliance with Oeneus,-saying how he had found in it the ruin of his life,-then, from out of the shrouding altar-smoke, he lifted up his wildly-rolling eyes, and saw me in the great crowd, weeping. He turned his gaze on me, and called me: '0 son, draw near; do not :fly from my trouble, even though thou must share my death. Come, bear me forth, and set me, if thou canst, in a place where no man shall see me; or, if thy pity forbids that, at least convey me with all speed out of this land, and let 1lle not die where I am.' That command sufficed; we laid him in mid-ship, and brought himbut hardly brought him-to this shore, moaning in his torments. And ye shall presently behold him, alive, or lately dead. Such, mother, are the designs and deeds against my sire whereof thou hast been found guilty. May avenging Justice and the Erinys visit thee for them! Yes, if it be right, that is my prayer: and right it is,-for I have seen thee trample on the right, by slaying the noblest man in all the world, whose like thou shalt see nevermore! (DEIANEmA moves towards the house.) LEADER (to DEIANEIRA) Why dost thou depart in silence? Knowest thou not that such silence pleads for thine accuser? (DEIANEIRA goes in the house.)
HYLLUS
Let her depart. A fair wind speed her far from my sight! Why should the name of mother bring her a semblance of respect, when she is all unlike a mother in her deeds? No, let her go,-farewell to her; and m'ay such joy as she gives my sire become her own! (Exit HYLLus, into the house.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I See, maidens, how suddenly the divine word of the old prophecy hath come upon us, which said that, when the twelfth year should have run through its full tale of months, it should end the series of toils for the true-born son of Zeus! And that promise is wafted surely to its fulfilment. For how shall he who beholds not the light have toilsome servitude any more beyond the grave? . antistrophe I If a cloud of death is around him, and the doom wrought by the Centaur's craft is stinging his sides, where cleaves the venom which Thanatos begat and the gleaming serpent nourished, how can he look upon to-morrow's sun,-when that appalling Hydra-shape holds him
The Trachiniae in its grip, and those murderous goads, prepared by the wily words of black-haired Nessus, have started into fury, vexing him with tumultuous pain? strophe 2 Of such things this hapless lady bad no foreboding; but she saw a great mischief swiftly coming on her home from the new marriage. Her own hand applied the remedy; but for the issues of a stranger's counsel, given at a fatal meeting,-for these, I ween, she makes despairing lament, shedding the tender dew of plenteous tears. And the coming fate foreshadows a great misfortune, contrived by guile. antistrophe 2 Our streaming tears break forth: alas, a plague is upon him more piteous than any suffering that foemen ever brought upon that glorious hero. Ah, thou dark steel of the spear foremost in battle, by whose might yonder bride was lately borne so swiftly from Oechalia's heights! But the Cyprian goddess, ministering in silence, hath been plainly proved the doer of these deeds. LEADER OF ONE SEMI-CHORUS
Is it fancy, or do I hear some cry of grief just passing through the house? What is this? LEADER OF OTHER SEMI-CHORUS
No uncertain sound, but a wail of anguish from within: the house hath some new trouble. LEADER OF WHOLE CHORUS
And mark how sadly, with what a cloud upon her brow, that aged woman approaches, to give us tidings. (Enter NURSE, from the house.) NURSE
Ah, my daughters, great, indeed, were the sorrows that we were to reap from the gift sent to Heracles! LEADER
Aged woman, what new mischance hast thou to tell? NURSE
Deianeira hath departed on the last of all her journeys, departed without stirring foot.
Sophocles LEADER
Thou speakest not of death? KURSE
My tale is told. LEADER
Dead, hapless one? KURSE
Again thou hearest it. CHORUS
Hapless, lost one! Say, what was the manner of her death? NURSE
Oh, a cruel deed was there! CHORUS
Speak, woman, how hath she met her doom? NURSE
By her own hand hath she died. CHORUS
What fury, what pangs of frenzy have cut her off by the edge of a dire weapon? How contrived she this death, following death,-all wrought by her alone? NURSE
By the stroke of the sword that makes sorrow. CHORUS
Sawest thou that violent deed, poor helpless one? NURSE
I saw it; yea, I was standing near. CHORUS
Whence came it? How was it done? Oh, speak! NURSE
'Twas the work of her own mind and her own hand. CHORUS
What dost thou tell us? NURSE
The sure truth.
The Trachiniae CHORUS
The first-born, the first-born of that new bride is a dread Erinys for this house! NURSE
Too true; and, hadst thou been an eye-witness of the action, verily thy pity would have been yet deeper. LEADER
And could a woman's hand dare to do such deeds? NURSE
Yea, with dread daring; thou shalt hear, and then thou wilt bear me witness. When she came alone into the house, and saw her son preparing a deep litter in the court, that he might go back with it to meet his sire, then she hid herself where none might see; and, falling before the altars, she wailed aloud that they were left desolate; and, when she touched any household thing that she had been wont to use, poor lady, in the past, her tears would flow; or when, roaming hither and thither through the house, she beheld the form of any well-loved servant, she wept, hapless one, at that sight, crying aloud upon her own fate, and that of the household which would thenceforth be in the power of others. But when she ceased from this, suddenly I beheld her rush into the chamber of Heracles. From a secret place of espial, I watched her; and saw her spreading coverings on the couch of her lord. \\Then she had done this, she sprang thereon, and sat in the middle of the bed; her tears burst forth in burning streams, and thus she spake: 'Ah, bridal bed and bridal chamber mine, farewell now and for ever; never more shall ye receive me to rest upon this couch.' She said no more, but with a vehement hand loosed her robe, where the gold-wrought brooch lay above her breast, baring all her left side and arm. Then I ran with all my strength, and warned her son of her intent. But 10, in the space between my going and our return, she had driven a two-edged sword through her side to the heart. At that sight, her son uttered a great cry; for he knew, alas, that in his anger he had driven her to that deed; and he had learned, too late, from the servants in the house that she had acted without knowledge, by the prompting of the Centaur. And now the youth, in his misery, bewailed her with all passionate lament; he knelt, and showered kisses on her lips; he threw himself at her side upon the ground, bitterly crying that he had rashly smitten her with a sIander,-weeping, that he must now live bereaved of both alike,--of mother and of sire. Such are the fortunes of this house. Rash indeed, is he who reckons on
Sophocles
49 0
the morrow, or baply on days beyond it; for to-morrow is not, until to-day is safely past. CHORes (singing)
strophe I \Yhich woe shall I bewail first, which misery is the greater? Alas, 'tis hard for me to tell. atltistroplze I One sorrow may b~ seen in the house: for oDe we wait with foreboding: and suspense hath a kinship with pain. strophe 2 Oh that some strong breeze might corne with wafting power unto our hearth, to bear me far from this land, lest I die of terror, when I look but once upon the mighty son of Zeus! For they say that he is approaching the house in torments from which there is no deliverance, a wonder of unutterable woe. antistrophe
2
Ah, it was not far off, but close to us, that woe of which my lament ~ave warning, like the nightingale's piercing note! ~len of an alien race are coming yonder. And how, then, are they bringing him? In sorrow, as for some loved one, they move on their mournful, noiseless march. Alas, he is brought in silence! What are we to think; that he is dead, or sleeping? (Enter
HYLLUS and an OLD :MAN, CLES upon a litter.)
with attendants, bearing
lliRA-
HYLLUS
Woe is me for thee, my father, woe is me for thee, wretched that I am! Whither shall I tum? What can I do? Ah me! OLD MAN (whispering) Hush, my son! Rouse not the cruel pain that infuriates thy sire! He lives, though prostrated. Oh, put a stern restraint upon thy lips! HYLLUS
How sayest thou, old man-is he alive? OLD MA..~ (whispering) Thou must not awake the slumberer! Thou must not rouse and revive the dread frenzy that visits him, my son!
[98r-ror6]
The Trachiniae
49 I
HYLLUS
Nay, I am crushed with this weight of misery-there is madness in my heart! HERACLES
(awaking)
o Zeus, to what land have I come? \Vb.o are these among whom I lie, tortured with unending agonies? \Vretched, wretched that I am! Oh, that dire pest is gnawing me once more! OLD MAN
(to
HYLLUS)
Knew I not how much better it was that thou should est keep silence, instead of scaring slumber from his brain and eyes? HYLLUS
Nay, I cannot be patient when I behold this misery. lliRACLES
o thou Cenaean rock whereon mine altars rose, what a cruel reward hast thou won me for those fair offerings,-be Zeus my witness! Ah, to what ruin hast thou brought me, to what ruin! Would that I had never beheld thee for thy sorrow! Then had I never come face to face with this fiery madness, which no spell can soothe! \vnere is the charmer, where is the cunning healer, save Zeus alone, that shall lull this plague to rest? I should marvel, if he ever caPle within my ken!
strophe
I
Ah! Leave me, hapless one, to my rest-leave me to my last rest!
strophe
2
\\There art thou touching me? '\vnither wouldst thou turn me? Thou wilt kill me, thou wilt kill me! If there be any pang that slumbers, thou hast aroused it! It hath seized me,--oh, the pest comes again!-'\Vb.ence are ye, most ungrateful of all the Greeks? I wore out my troublous days in ridding Greece of pests, on the deep and in all forests; and now, when I am stricken, will no man succour me with merciful fire or sword?
antistrophe
I
Oh, will no one come and sever the head, at one fierce stroke, from this wretched body? Woe, woe is me!
Sophocles
49 2
OLD :JfA:::-< Son of Heracles, this task exceeds my strength,-help thou,-for strength is at thy command, too largely to need my aid in his relief. HVLLUS
My hands are helping; but no resource, in myself or from another, avails me to make his life forget its anguish:-such is the doom appointed by Zeus ~ HERACLES
o my son, where art
strophe 3 thou? Raise me,-take hold of me,-thus,
thus! Alas, my destiny! antistrophe 2 Again, again the cruel pest leaps forth to rend me, the fierce plague with which none may cope! o Pallas, Pallas, it tortures me again! Alas, my son, pity thy sire, --draw a blameless sword, and smite beneath my collar-bone, and heal this pain wherewith thy godless mother hath made me wild! So may I see her fall,-thus, even thus, as she hath destroyed me! antistrophe 3 Sweet Hades, brother of Zeus, give me rest, give me rest,-end my woe by a swiftly-sped doom! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
I shudder, friends, to hear these sorrows of our lord; what a man is here, and what torments afflict him! HERACLES
Ah, fierce full oft, and grievous not in name alone, have been the labours of these hands, the burdens borne upon these shoulders! But no toil ever laid on me by the wife of Zeus or by the hateful Eurystheus was like unto this thing which the daughter of Oeneus, fair and false, hath fastened upon my back,-this woven net of the Furies, in which I perish! Glued to my sides, it hath eaten my flesh to the inmost parts; it is ever with me, sucking the channels of my breath; already it hath drained my fresh lifeblood, and my whole body is wasted, a captive to these unutterable bonds. Not the warrior on the battle-field, not the Giants' earth-born host, nor the might of savage beasts, hath ever done unto me thus,-not Hellas, nor the land of the alien, nor any land to which I have come as a deliverer: no, a woman, a weak woman, born not to the strength of man, all alone hath vanquished me, without stroke of sword!
The Trachiniae
493
Son, show thyself my son indeed, and do not honour a mother's name above a sire's: bring forth the woman that bare thee, and give her with thine own bands into my hand, that I may know of a truth which sight grieves thee most,-my tortured frame, or hers, when she suffers her rigl:teous doom! Go, my son, shrink not-and show thy pity for me, whom many might deem pitiful,-for me, moaning and weeping like a girl;-and the man lives not who can say that he ever saw me do thus before; no, without complaining I still went whither mine evil fortune led. But now, alas, the strong man hath been found a woman. Approach, stand near thy sire, and see what a fate it is that hath brought me to this pass; for I will lift the veil. Behold! Look, all of you, on this miserable body; see how wretched, how piteous is my plightl Ah, woe is me! The burning throe of torment is there anew, it darts through my sides - I must wrestle once more with that cruel, devouring plague! o thou lord of the dark realm, receive me! Smite me, 0 fire of Zeus! Hurl down thy thunderbolt, 0 King, send it, 0 father, upon my head! For again the pest is consuming me; it hath blazed forth, it hath started into fury! 0 hands, my hands, 0 shoulders and breast and trusty arms, ye, now in this plight, are the same whose force of old subdued the dweller in N emea, the scourge of herdsmen, the lion, a creature that no man might approach or confront; ye tamed the Lernaean Hydra, and that monstrous host of double form, man joined to steed, a race with whom none may commune, violent, lawless, of surpassing might; ye tamed the Erymanthian beast, and the three-headed whelp of Hades underground, a resistless terror, offspring of the dread Echidna; ye tamed the dragon that guarded the golden fruit in the utmost places of the earth. These toils and countless others have I proved, nor hath any man vaunted a triumph over my prowess. But now, with joints unhinged and with flesh tom to shreds, I have become the miserable prey of an unseen destroyer,-I, who am called the son of noblest mother,-I, whose reputed sire is Zeus, lord of the starry sky. But ye may be sure of one thing:-though I am as nought, thougb r cannot move a step, yet she who hath done this deed shall feel my heavy hand even now: let her but come, and she shall learn to proclaim this message unto all, that in my death, as in my life, I chastised the wicked! LEADER
Ah, hapless Greece, what mourning do I foresee for her, if she must lose this man!
494
Sophocles
[III4- I I 34]
HYLLUS
Father, since thy pause permits an answer, hear me, afflicted though thou art. I will ask thee for no more than is my due. Accept my counsels, in a calmer mood than that to which this anger stings thee: else thou canst not learn how vain is thy desire for vengeance, and how causeless thy resentment. HERACLES
Say what thou wilt, and cease; in this my pain I understand nought of all thy riddling words. HYLLUS
I come to tell thee of my mother,-how it is now with her, and how she sinned unwittingly. HERACLES
\'illain! \\nat-hast thou dared to breathe her name again in my hearing,-the name of the mother who hath slain thy sire? HYLLUS
Yea, such is her state that silence is unmeet. HERACLES
"Unmeet, truly, in view of her past crimes. HYLLUS
And also of her deeds this day,-as thou wilt own. HERACLES
Speak,-but give heed that thou be not found a traitor. HYLLUS
These are my tidings. She is dead, lately slain. liERAcLES
By whose hand? A wondrous message, from a prophet of ill-omened voice! HYLLUS
By her own hand, and no stranger's. liERACLES
Alas, ere she died by mine, as she deserved! HYLLUS
Even thy wrath would be turned, couldst thou hear all.
[I!35- I I 7!]
The Trichiniae
495
HERACLES
A strange preamble; but unfold thy meaning. HYLLUS
The sum is this;-she erred, with a good intent. liERACLES
Is it a good deed, thou wretch, to have slain thy sire? HYLLUS
Nay, she thought to use a love-charm for thy heart, when she saw the new bride in the house; but missed her aim. HERACLES
And what Trachinian deals in spells so potent? HYLLUS
Nessus the Centaur persuaded her of old to inflame thy desire with such a charm. HERACLES
Alas, alas, miserable that I am! Woe is me, I am lost,-undone, undone! No more for me the light of day! Alas, now I see in what a plight I stand! Go, my son,-for thy father's end hath come,-summon, I pray thee, all thy brethren; summon, too, the hapless Alcmena, in vain the bride of Zeus,-that ye may learn from my dying lips what oracles I know. HYLLUS
Nay, thy mother is not here; as it chances, she hath her abode at Tiryns by the sea. Some of thy children she hath taken to live with her there, and others, thou wilt find, are dwelling in Thebe's town. But we who are with thee, my father, will render all service that is needed, at thy bidding. HERACLES
Hear, then, thy task: now is the time to show what stuff is in thee, who art called my son. lt was foreshown to me by my Sire of old that I should perish by no creature that had the breath of life, but by one that had passed to dwell with Hades. So I have been slain by this savage Centaur, the living by the dead, even as the divine will had been foretold. And I will show thee how later oracles tally therewith, confirming the old prophecy. I wrote them down in the grove of the Selli, dwellers on the hills, whose couch is on the ground; they were given by my Father's oak of many tongues; which said that, at the time which liveth and now is, my release from the toils laid upon me should be accomplished. And I
Sophocles looked for prosperous days; but the meaning, it seems, was only that I should die; for toil comes no more to the dead. Since, then, my son, those words are clearly finding their fulfilment, thou, on thy part, must lend me thine aid. Thou must not delay, and so provoke me to bitter speech: thou must consent and help with a good grace, as one who hath learned that best of laws, obedience to a sire. HYLLUS
Yea, father,-though I fear the issue to which our talk hath brought me,-I will do thy good pleasure. HERACLES
First of all, lay thy right hand in mine. RYLLUS
For what purpose dost thou insist upon his pledge? HERACLES
Give thy hand at once-disobey me not! HYLLUS
Lo, there it is: thou shalt not be gainsaid. IiERACLES
Xow, swear by the head of Zeus my sire! HYLLUS
To do what deed? May this also be told? HERACLES
To perfonn for me the task that I shall enjoin. HYLLUS
I swear it, with Zeus for witness of the oath. IiERACLEs
And pray that, if thou break this oath, thou mayest suffer. HYLLUS
I shall not suffer, for I shall keep it:-yet so I pray. lliRAcLES Well, thou knowest the summit of Oeta, sacred to Zeus? HYLLUS
Ay; I have often stood at his altar on that height.
The Trachiniae
497
HERACLES
Thither, then, thou must carry me up with thine own hands, aided by what friends thou wilt; thou shalt lop many a branch from the deeprooted oak, and hew many a faggot also from the sturdy stock of the wild-olive; thou shalt lay my body thereupon, and kindle it with flaming pine-torch. And let no tear of mourning be seen there; no, do this without lament and without weeping, if thou art indeed my son. But if thou do it not, even from the world below my curse and my wrath shall wait on thee for ever. HYLLUS
Alas, my father, what hast thou spoken? How has thou dealt with me! lliRACLES
I have spoken that which thou must perform; if thou wilt not, then get thee some other sire, and be called my son no more! HYLLUS
Woe, woe is me! What a deed dost thou require of me, my father,that I should become thy murderer, guilty of thy blood! lliRACLES
Not so, in truth, but healer of my sufferings, sole physician of my pain! HYLLUS
And how, by enkindling thy body, shall I heal it? lliRACLES
Nay, if that thought dismay thee, at least perform the rest. HYLLUS
The service of carrying thee shall not be refused. lliRACLES
And the heaping of the pyre, as I have bidden? HYLLUS
Yea, save that I will not touch it with mine own hand. All else will I do, and thou shalt have no hindrance on my part.
lliRACLES Well, so much shall be enough.-But add one small boon to thy large benefits. HYLLUS
Be the boon never so large, it shall be granted.
Sophocles
[1219-1245]
HERACLES
Knowest thou, then, the girl whose sire was Eurytus? HVLLUS
It is of Iole that thou speakest, if I mistake not. HERACLES
Even so. This, in brief, is the charge that I give thee, my son. When I am dead, if thou wouldest show a pious remembrance of thine oath unto thy father, disobey me not, but take this woman to be thy wife. Let no other espouse her who hath lain at my side, but do thou, 0 my son, make that marriage-bond thine own. Consent: after loyalty in great matters, to rebel in less is to cancel the grace that had been won. HYLLUS
Ah me, it is not well to be angry with a sick man: but who could bear to see him in such a mind? HERACLES
Thy words show no desire to do my bidding. HYLLUS
,,'hat! When she alone is to blame for my mother's death, and for thy present plight besides? Lives there the man who would make such a choice, unless he were maddened by avenging fiends? Better were it, father, that I too should die, rather than live united to the worst of our foes! HERACLES
He will render no reverence, it seems, to my dying prayer.-Nay, be sure that the curse of the gods will attend thee for disobedience to my voice. HYLLUS
Ah, thou wilt soon show, methinks, how distempered thou art! liERACLES
Yea, for thou art breaking the slumber of my plague. HYLLUS
Hapless that I am! What perplexities surround me! lliRACLES
Yea, since thou deignest not to hear thy sire. HYLLUS
But must I learn, then, to be impious, my father?
The Trachiniae
499
HER."..CLES
'Tis not impiety, if thou shalt gladden my heart. HYLLVS
Dost thou command me, then, to do this deed, as a clear duty? HER."..CLES
I command thee,-the gods bear me witness 1 H~LLUS
Then will I do it, and refuse not,-calling upon the gods to witness thy deed. I can never be condemned for loyalty to thee, my father. HERACLES
Thou endest well; and to these words, my son, quickly add the gracious deed, that thou mayest lay me on the pyre before any pain returns to rend or sting me. Come, make haste and lift me! This, in truth, is rest from troubles; this is the end, the last end, of Heracles! HYLLUS
Nothing, indeed, hinders the fulfilment of thy wish, since thy command constrains us, my father. HERACLES (chanting) Come, then, ere thou arouse this plague, 0 my stubborn soul, give me a curb as of steel on lips set like stone to stone, and let no cry escape them; seeing that the deed which thou art to do, though done perforce, is yet worthy of thy joy! HYLLUS (chanting) Lift him, followers! And grant me full forgiveness for this; but mark the great cruelty of the gods in the deeds that are being done. They beget children, they are hailed as fathers, and yet they can look upon such sufferings.
(The attendants raise HERACLES on the litter and move slowly off, as HYLLUS chants to the CHORUS in the closing lines.)
No man foresees the future; but the present is fraught with mourning for us, and with shame for the powers above, and verily with anguish beyond compare for him who endures this doom. Maidens, come ye also, nor linger at the house; ye who have lately seen a dread death, with sorrows manifold and strange: and in all this there is nought but Zeus.1
);OTE FOR THE
TRACHI~IAE
I. There is a puzzling, almost Euripidean, ring to these last lines. They scarcely reflect the normal thought of Sophocles. It may be reasonable to suggest that the lines are a result of the poet's inability to resolve to his satisfaction the problems of the concluding section of the play.
V ELECTRA
CHARACTERS
ORESTES,
IN
son oj Agamemnon and
THE
PLAY
CLYTEMNESTRA
ELEC'I'RA }. CHRYSOTHEMIS slsters AN OLD ~IAN, jormerly CLYTEMNESTRA
oj ORESTES the PAEDAGOGUS or Attendant oj
ORESTES
AEGISTHCS CHORUS OF \VOMEN OF :MYCENAE
l\lute Persons PYLADES, son oj Strophius, King oj erisa, the jriend oj ORESTES. A handmaid of CLYTEMNESTRA. Two attendants of ORESTES
INTRonUCTION
THE Electra, the date of whose composition is unknown, gives us Sophocles' version of the legendary events interpreted by Aeschylus in his Choephori, and Euripides in his Electra. Sophocles' plot differs only in minor points from that of Aeschylus. In the Sophoclean play Orestes, whom Electra saved as a child by placing him in the care of the friendly King Strophius in Phocis, returns to avenge the murder of his father, Agamemnon. Clytemnestra and her paramour, Aegisthus, the murderers of Agamemnon on his return from Troy, have been ruling in Argos, but are haunted by the fear that one day Orestes will return to wreak his vengeance. Electra, who has made no effort to conceal her hatred for Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, has been brutally treated by them, whereas her sisters by prudent silence have lived comfortably in the palace. Electra has clung steadfastly through long years to the hope that Orestes will appear to right the wrongs that she and her father have suffered. The play opens dramatically with the entrance of the long-absent Orestes. Electra is the focal point of the play. Sophocles gives her a full-length portrait, largely through his familiar technique of placbg her in contrast with the other persons of the play. In the scene with her sister, Chrysothemis, a close parallel to the scene between Antigone and Ismene in the Antigone, Electra's courage and fixity of purpose clearly emerge. Further details are added to the characterization when she comes face to face with Clytemnestra, or again, in a most dramatically effective scene, when she addresses the urn which she believes to contain the ashes of her brother, although, unknown to her, her brother stands living at her side. By the end of the play, Sophocles has skilfully delineated every salient feature of her being. The action of the play centres on the consummation of an act of vengeance. In Aeschylus, the religious and psychological implications of such an act loom large, as do the psychological and emotional factors in the Euripidean counterpart. In the Sophoclean rendering, the act of murder and matricide is condoned. No Furies threaten Orestes, and the play ends on a note of triumph. It has been argued that Sophocles is here being archaic, if not archaistic, and is dealing with the problem in a
50 3
Introduction Homeric fashion, or at least according to a pre-Aeschylean theology. Perhaps it may be that Sophocles here was not primarily interested in probing the religious aspects of his problem, but rather in the psychological study, on the human level, of an individual caught in this particular situation. In this sense our play may be regarded as a dimly remote ancestor or Hamlet and dramas of its type.
ELECTRA
(SCENE:-At Mycenae, before the palace of the Pelopidac. It is morning and the new-risen sun is brigizt. The PAEDAGOGUS enters on the left of the spectators, accompanied by the two youths, ORESTES and FYLADES.) PAEDAGOGUS
of him who led our hosts at Troy of old, son of Agamemnon!-now thou mayest behold with thine eyes all that thy soul hath desired so long. There is the ancient Argos of thy yearning,-that hallowed scene whence the gad-fiy drove the daughter of Inachus; and there, Orestes, is the Lycean Agora, named from the wolf-slaying god; there, on the left, Hera's famous temple; and in this place to which we have come, deem that thou seest Mycenae rich in gold, with the house of the Pelopidae there, so often stained with bloodshed; whence I carried thee of yore, from the slaying of thy father, as thy kinswoman, thy sister, charged me; and saved thee, and reared thee up to manhood, to be the avenger of thy murdered sire. Now, therefore, Orestes, and thou, best of friends, Pylades, our plans must be laid quickly; for 10, already the sun's bright ray is waking the songs of the birds into clearness, and the dark night of stars is spent. Before, then, anyone comes forth from the house, take counsel; seeirlg that the time allows not of delay, but is full ripe for deeds. SON
ORESTES
True friend and follower, how well dost thou prove thy loyalty to our house! As a steed of generous race, though old, loses not courage in danger, but pricks his ear, even so thou urgest us forward, and art foremost in our support. I will tell thee, then, what I have determined; listen closely to my words, and correct me, if I miss the mark in aught. When I went to the Pythian oracle, to learn how I might avenge my father on his murderers, Phoebus gave me the response which thou art now to hear:-that alone, and by stealth, without aid of arms or numbers, I should snatch the righteous vengeance of my hand. Since, then, the god spake to us on this wise, thou must go into yonder house, when oppor-
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tunity gives thee entrance, and learn all that is passing there, so that thou mayest report to us from sure knowledge. Thine age, and the lapse of time, will prevent them from recognising thee; they will never suspect who thou art, with that silvered hair. Let thy tale be that thou art a Phocian stranger, sent by Phanoteus; for he is the greatest of their allies. Tell them, and confirm it with thine oath, that Orestes hath perished by a fatal chance,-hurled at the Pythian games from his rapid chariot; be that the substance of thy story. \Ye, meanwhile, will first crown my father's tomb, as the god enjoined, with drink-offerings and the luxuriant tribute of severed hair; then come back, bearing in our hands an urn of shapely bronze,-now hidden in the brushwood, as I think thou knowest,-so to gladden them with the false tidings that this my body is no more, but has been consumed with fire and turned to ashes. \Yhy should the omen trouble me, when by a feigned death I find life indeed, and win renown? I trow, no word is ill-omened, if fraught with gain. Often ere now have I seen wise men die in vain report; then, when they return home, they are held in more abiding honour: as I trust that from this rumour I also shall emerge in radiant life, and yet shine like a star upon my foes. o my fatherland, and ye gods of the land, receive me with good fortune in this journey,-and ye also, halls of my fathers, for I come with a divine mandate to cleanse you righteously; send me not dishonoured from the land, but grant that I may rule over my possessions, and restore my housel Enough;-be it now thy care, old man, to go and heed thy task; and we twain will go forth; for so occasion bids, chief ruler of every enterprise for men. ELECTRA
(within)
Ah me,ahme! PAEDAGOGUS
Hark, my son,-from the doors, methought, came the sound of same handmaid moaning within. ORESTES
Can it be the hapless Electra? Shall we stay here, and listen to her laments? PAEDAGOGUS
No, no: before all else, let us seek to obey the command of Loxias, and thence make a fair beginning, by pouring libations to thy sire; that brings victory within our grasp, and gives us the mastery in all that we do.
[86- I 36]
Electra
(Exeunt PAEDAGOGUS on the spectators' left, ORESTES and PYLADES on the right.-Enter ELECTRA, from the house. She is meanly clad.) ELECTRA
(chanting) systema
o thou pure sunlight, and thou air, earth's canopy, how often have
ye heard the strains of my lament, the wild blows dealt against this bleeding breast, when dark night fails! And my wretched couch in yonder house of woe knows well, ere now, how I keep the watches of the night,-how oiten I bewail my hapless sire: to whom deadly Ares gave not of his gifts in a strange land, but my mother, and her mate Aegisthus, cleft his head with murderous axe, as woodmen fell an oak. And for this no plaint bursts from any lip save mine, when thou, my father, hath died a death so cruel and so piteous! antisystema But never will I cease from dirge and sore lament, while I look on the trembling rays of the bright stars, or on this light of day; but like the nightingale, slayer of her offspring, I will wail without ceasing, and cry aloud to all, here, at the doors of my father. o home of Hades and Persephone! 0 Hermes of the shades! 0 potent Curse, and ye, dread daughters of the gods, Erinyes,-ye who behold when a life is reft by violence, when a bed is dishonoured by stealth,--{;ome, help me, avenge the murder of my sire,-and send to me my brother; for I have no more the strength to bear up alone against the load of grief that weighs me down. (As ELECTRA finishes her lament, the CHORUS OF VIOMEN OF MYCENAE enter. The following lines between ELECTRA and the CHORUS are chanted responsively.) CHORUS
strophe I Ah, Electra, child of a wretched mother, why art thou ever pining thus in ceaseless lament for Agamemnon, who long ago was wickedly ensnared by thy false mother's wiles, and betrayed to death by a dastardly hand? Perish the author of that deed, if I may utter such a prayer! ELECTRA
Ah, noble-hearted maidens, ye have come to soothe my woes. I know and feel it, it escapes me not; but I cannot leave this task. undone, or cease from mourning for my hapless sire. Ah, friends whose love responds to mine in every mood, leave me to rave thus,-oh leave me, I entreat you!
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antistrophe I But never by laments or prayers shalt thou recall thy sire from that lake of Hades to which all must pass. Xay, thine is a fatal course of grief, passing ever from due bounds into a cureless sorrow; wherein there is no deliverance from evils. Say, wherefore art thou enamoured of misery? ELECTRA
Foolish is the child who forgets a parent's piteous death. No, dearer to my soul is the mourner that laments for ltys, Itys, evermore, that bird distraught with grief, the messenger of Zeus. Ab, queen of sorrow, Niobe, thee I deem divine,-thee, who evermore weep est in thy rocky tomb! CHORUS
strophe 2 Kot to thee alone of mortals, my daughter, hath come any sorrow which thou bearest less calmly than those within, thy kinswomen and sisters, Chrysothemis and Iphianassa/ who still live,-as he, too, lives, sorrowing in a secluded youth, yet happy in that this famous realm of Mycenae shall one day welcome him to his heritage, when the kindly guidance of Zeus shall have brought him to this land,Orestes. ELECTRA
Yes, I wait for him with unwearied longing, as I move on my sad path from day to day, unwed and childless, bathed in tears, bearing that endless doom of woe; but he forgets all that he has suffered and heard. What message comes to me, that is not belied? He is ever yearning to be with us, but, though he yearns, he never resolves. CHORUS
antistrophe 2 Courage, my daughter, courage; great still in heaven is Zeus, who sees and governs all: leave thy bitter quarrel to him; forget not thy foes, but refrain from excess of wrath against them; for Time is a god who makes rough ways smooth. Not heedless is the sen of Agamemnon, who dwells by Crisa's pastoral shore; not heedless is the god who reigns by Acheron. ELECTRA
Nay, the best part of life hath passed away from me in hopelessness, and I have no strength left; I, who am pining away without children,-whom no loving champion shields,-but, like some de-
Electra spised alien, I sen'e in the halls of my father, clad in this mean garb, and standing at a meagre board. CHORUS
strophe 3 Piteous was the voice heard at his return, and piteous, as thy sire lay on the festal couch, when the straight, swift blow was dealt him with the blade of bronze. Guile was the plotter, Lust the slayer, dread parents of a dreadful shape; whether it was mortal that wrought therein, or god. ELECTRA
o that bitter day, bitter beyond all that have come to me;
0 that night, 0 the horrors of that unutterable feast, the ruthless deathstrokes that my father saw from the hands of twain, who took my life captive by treachery, who doomed me to woe! 11ay the great god of Olympus give them sufferings in requital, and never may their splendour bring them joy, who have done such deeds! CHORUS
antistrophe 3 Be advised to say no more; canst thou not see what conduct it is which already plunges thee so cruelly in self-made miseries? Thou hast greatly aggravated thy troubles, ever breeding wars with thy sullen soul; but such strife should not be pushed to a conflict with the strong. ELECTRA
I have been forced to it,-forced by dread causes; I know my own passion, it escapes me not; but, seeing that the causes .are so dire, I will never curb these frenzied plaints, while life is in me. Who indeed, ye kindly sisterhood, who that thinks aright, would deem that any word of solace could avail me? Forbear, forbear, my comforters! Such ills must be numbered with those which have no cure; I can never know a respite from my sorrows, or a limit to this wailing. CHORUS
epode At least it is in love, like a true-hearted mother, that I dissuade thee from adding misery to miseries. ELECTRA
But what measure is there in my wretchedness? Say, how can it be right to neglect the dead? Was that impiety ever born in mortal? Never may I have praise of such; never, when my lot is cast
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in pleasant places, may I cling to selfish ease, or dishonour my sire by restraining the wings of shrill lamentationl For if the hapless dead is to lie in dust and nothingness, while the slayers pay not with blood for blood, all regard for man, all fear of heaven, will vanish from the earth. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
I came, my child, in zeal for thy welfare no less than for mine own; but if I speak not well, then be it as thou wilt; for we will follow thee. ELECTRA
I am ashamed, my friends, if ye deem me too impatient for my oft complaining; but, since a hard constraint forces me to this, bear with me. How indeed could any woman of noble nature refrain, who saw the calamities of a father's house, as I see them by day and night continually, not fading, but in the summer of their strength? I, who, first, from the mother that bore me have found bitter enmity; next, in mine own home 1 dwell with my father's murderers; they rule over me, and with them it rests to give or to withhold what I need. And then think what manner of days I pass, when I see Aegisthus sitting on my father's throne, wearing the robes which he wore, and pouring libations at the hearth where he slew my sire; and when I see the outrage that crowns all, the murderer in our father's bed at our wretched mother's side, if mother she should be called, who is his wife; but so hardened is she that she lives with that accursed one, fearing no Erinys; nay, as if exulting in her deeds, having found the day on which she treacherously slew my father of old, she keeps it with dance and song, and month by month sacrifices sheep to the gods who have V!rought her deliverance. But I, hapless one, beholding it, weep and pine in the house, and bewail the unholy feast named after my sire,-weep to myself alone; since I may not even indulge my grief to the full measure of my yearning. For this woman, in professions so noble, loudly upbraids me with such taunts as these: 'Impious and hateful girl, hast thou alone lost a father, and is there no other mourner in the world? An evil doom be thine, and may the gods infernal give thee no riddance from thy present laments.' Thus she insults; save when anyone brings her word that Orestes is coming: then, infuriated, she comes up to me, and cries;-'Hast not thou brought this upon me? Is not this deed thine, who didst steal Orestes from my hands, and privily convey him forth? Yet be sure that thou shalt have thy due reward.' So she shrieks; and,aiding her, the renowned spouse at ber side is vehement in the same strain,-that abject dastard, that utter pest, who fights his battles with the help of women, But I, looking
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Electra
ever for Orestes to come and end these woes, languish in my misery. Always intending to strike a blow, he has worn out every hope that I could conceive. In such a case, then, friends, there is no room for moderation or for reverence; in sooth, the stress of ills leaves no choice but to follow evil ways. LEADER
Say, is Aegisthus near while thou speakest thus, or absent from home? ELECTRA
Absent, certainly; do not think that I should have come to the doors, if he had been near; but just now he is afield. LEADER
Might I converse with thee more freely, if this is so? ELECTRA
He is not here, so put thy question; what wouldst thou? LEADER
I ask thee, then, what sayest thou of thy brother? or is he delaying? I fain would know.
,-rill he corne soon,
ELECTRA,
He promises to come; but he never fulfils the promise. LEADER
Yea, a man will pause on the verge of a great work. ELECTRA
And yet I saved him without pausing. LEADER
Courage; he is too noble to fail his friends. ELECTRA
I believe it; or I should not have lived so long. LEADER
Say no more now; for I see thy sister corning from the house, Chrysothemis, daughter of the same sire and mother, with sepulchral gifts in her hands, such as are given to those in the world below. (CHRYSOTHEMIS enters from the palace. She is richly dressed.) CHRYSOTHEMIS
0-
Why, sister, hast thou come forth once more to declaim thus adt e public doors? Why wilt thou not learn with any lapse of time to eslSt
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[331-377J
from vain indulgence of idle wrath? Yet this I know,-that I myself am grieved at our plight; indeed, could I find the strength, I would show what love I bear them. But now, in these troubled waters, 'tis best, methinks, to shorten sail; I care not to seem active, without the power to hurt. And would that thine own conduct were the same! Nevertheless, right is on the side of thy choice, not of that which I advise; but if I am to live in freedom, our rulers must be obeyed in all things. ELECTRA
Strange indeed, that thou, the daughter of such a sire as thine, shouldst forget him, and think only of thy mother! All thy admonitions to me have been taught by her; no word is thine own. Then take thy choice,-to be imprudent; or prudent, but forgetful of thy friends: thou, who hast just said that, couldst thou find the strength, thou wouldst show thy hatred of them; yet, when I am doing my utmost to avenge my sire, thou givest no aid, but seekest to tum thy sister from her deed. Does not this crown our miseries with cowardice? For tell me,--{)r let me tell thee,-what I should gain by ceasing from these laments? Do I not live?-miserably, I know, yet well enough for me. And I vex them, thus rendering honour to the dead, if pleasure can be felt in that world. But thou, who tellest me of thy hatred, hatest in word alone, while in deeds thou art with the slayers of thy sire. I, then, would never yield to them, though I were promised the gifts which now make thee proud; thine be the richly-spread table and the life of luxury. For me, be it food enough that I do not wound mine own conscience; I covet not such privilege as thine,-nor wouldst thou, wert thou wise. But now, when thou mightest be called daughter of the noblest father among men, be called the child of thy mother; so shall thy baseness be most widely seen, in betrayal of thy dead sire and of thy kindred. LEADER
Xo angry word, I entreat! For both of you there is good in what is urged,-if thou, Electra, wouldst learn to profit by her counsel, and she, again, by thine. CHRYSOTHEMIS
For my part, friends, I am not wholly unused to her discourse; nor should I have touched upon this theme, had I not heard that she was threatened with a dread doom, which shall restrain her from her longdrawn laments. EL:ECTRA
Come, declare it then, this terrorl If thou canst tell me of aught worse than my present lot, I will resist no more.
Electra CHRYSOTHEMIS
Indeed, I will tell thee all that I know. They purpose, if thou wilt not cease from these laments, to send thee where thou shalt never look upon the sunlight, but pass thy days in a dungeon beyond the borders of this land, there to chant thy dreary strain. Bethink thee, then, and do not blame me hereafter, when the blow hath fallen; now is the time to be wise. ELECTRA
Have they indeed resolved to treat me thus? CHRYSOTHEMIS
Assuredly, whenever Aegisthus comes home. ELECTRA
If that be all, then may he arrive with speed! CHRYSOTHEMI5
Misguided one! what dire prayer is this? ELECTRA
That he may come, if he hath any such intent. CHRYSOTHEMI5
That thou mayst suffer-what? Where are thy wits? ELECTRA
That I may fly as far as may be from you all. CHRYSOTHEMIS
But hast thou no care for thy present life? ELECTRA
Aye, my life is marvellously fair. CHRYSOTHEMIS
It might be, couldst thou only learn prudence. ELECTRA
Do not teach me to betray my friends. CHRYSOTHEMIS
I do not,-but to bend before the strong. ELECTRA
Thine be such flattery: those are not Ply ways.
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Sophocles CHRYSOTHEMIS
'Tis well, however, not to fall by folly. ELECTRA
I will fall, if need be, in the cause of my sire. CHRYSOTHEMIS
But our father, I know, pardons me for this. ELECTRA
It is for cowards to find peace in such maxims. CHRYSOTHEMIS
So thou wilt not hearken, and take my counsel? ELECTRA
No, verily; long may be it before I am so foolish. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Then I will go forth upon mine errand. ELECTRA
And whither goest thou? To whom bearest thou these offerings? CHRYSOTHEMIS
Our mother sends me with funeral libations for our sire. ELECTRA
How sayest thou? For her deadliest foe? CHRYSOTHEM1S
Slain by her own hand-so thou wouldest say. ELECTRA
What friend hath persuaded her? Whose wish was this? CHRYSOTHEMIS
The cause, I think, was some dread vision of the night. ELECTRA
Gods of our housel be ye with me--now at last! CHRYSOTHEMIS
Dost thou find any encouragement in this terror? ELECTRA
If thou wouldst tell me the vision, then I could answer.
Electra
SIS
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Nay, I can tell but little of the story. ELECTRA
Tell what thou canst; a little word hath often marred, or made, men's fortunes. CHRYSOTHEMIS
'Tis said that she beheld our sire, restored to the sunlight, at her side once more; then he took the sceptre,---Qnce his own, but now borne by Aegisthus,-and planted it at the hearth; and thence a fruitful bough sprang upward, wherewith the whole land of ~Iycenae was overshadowed. Such was the tale that I heard told by one who was present when she declared her dream to the Sun-god. ~Iore than this I know not,-save that she sent me by reason of that fear. So by the gods of our house I beseech thee, hearken to me, and be not ruined by folly! For if thou repel me now, thou wilt come back to seek me in thy trouble. ELECTRA
Nay, dear sister, let none of these things in thy hands touch the tomb; for neither custom nor piety allows thee to dedicate gifts or bring libations to our sire from a hateful wife. No-to the winds with them! or bury them deep in the earth, where none of them shall ever come near his place of rest; but, when she dies, let her find these treasures laid up for her below. And were she not the most hardened of all women, she would never have sought to pour these offerings of enmity on the grave of him whom she slew. Think now if it is likely that the dead in the tomb should take these honours kindly at her hand, who ruthlessly slew him, like a foeman, and mangled him, and, for ablution, wiped off the blood-stains on his head? Canst thou believe that these things which thou bringest will absolve her of the murder? It is not possible. No, cast these things aside; give him rather a lock cut from thine own tresses, and on my part, hapless that I am,-scant gifts these, but my best,-this hair, not glossy with unguents, and this girdle, decked with no rich ornament. Then fall down and pray that he himself may corne in kindness from the world below, to aid us against our foes; and that the young Orestes may live to set his foot upon his foes in victorious might, that henceforth we may crown our father's tomb with wealthier hands than those which grace it now. I think, indeed, I think that he also had some part in sending her these appalling dreams; still, sister, do this service, to help thyself, and me, and him, that most beloved of all men, who rests in the realm of Hades, thy sire and mine.
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Sophocles LEADER
The maiden counsels piously; and thou, friend, wilt do her bidding, if thou art wise. CHRYSOTHEMIS
I will. When a duty is clear, reason forbids that two voices should contend, and claims the hastening of the deed. Only, when I attempt this task, aid me with your silence, I entreat you, my friends; for, should my mother hear of it, methinks I shall yet have cause to rue my venture. (CHRYSOTHEMIS
departs, to take the offerings to Agamemnon's grave.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe If I am not an erring seer and one who fails in wisdom, Justice, that hath sent the presage, will come, triumphant in her righteous strength,-will come ere long, my child, to avenge. There is courage in my heart, through those new tidings of the dream that breathes comfort. X ot forgetful is thy sire, the lord of Hellas; not forgetful is the two-edged axe of bronze that struck the blow of old, and slew him with foul cruelty.
antistrophe The Erinys of untiring feet, who is lurking in her dread ambush, will come, as with the march and with the might of a great host. For wicked ones have been fired with passion that hurried them to a forbidden bed, to accursed bridals, to a marriage stained with guilt of blood. Therefore am I sure that the portent will not fail to bring woe upon the partners in crime. Verily mortals cannot read the future in fearful dreams or oracles, if this vision of the night find not due fulfilment.
epode
o chariot-race of Pelops long ago, source of many a sorrow, what weary troubles hast thou brought upon this land! For since Myrtilus sank to rest beneath the waves, when a fatal and cruel hand hurled him to destruction out of the golden car, this house was never yet free from misery and violence. (CLYTEMNESTRA
enters from the palace.)
CLYTEMNESTRA
At large once more, it seems, thou rangest,-for Aegisthus is not here, who always kept thee at, least from passing the gates, to shame thy friends. But now, since be is absent, thou takest no heed of mei though
Electra
51 7
thou hast said of me oft-times, and to many, that I am a bold and lawless tyrant, who insults thee and thine. I am guilty of no insolence; I do but return the taunts that I often hear from thee. Thy father-this is thy constant pretext-was slain by me. Yes, by me-I know it well; it admits of no denial; for Justice slew him, and not I alone,-Justice, whom it became thee to support, hadst thou been rightminded; seeing that this father of thine, whom thou art ever lamenting, was the one man of the Greeks who had the heart to sacrifice th\" sister to the gods-he, the father, who had not shared the mother's pa~gs. Come, tell me now, wherefore, or to please whom, did he sacrifice her? To please the Argives, thou wilt say? Kay, they had no right to slay my daughter. Or if, forsooth, it was to screen his brother Menelaus that he slew my child, was he not to pay me the penalty for that? Had not Menelaus two children, who should in fairness have been taken before my daughter, as sprung from the sire and mother who had caused that voyage? Or had Hades some strange desire to feast on my offspring, rather than on hers? Or had that accursed father lost all tenderness for the children of my womb, while he was tender to the children of Menelaus? "Vas not that the part of a callous and perverse parent? I think so, though I differ from thy judgment; and so would say the dead, if she could speak. For myself, then, I view the past without dismay; but if thou deemesl me perverse, see that thine own judgment is just, before thou blame thy neighbour. ELECTRA
This time thou canst not say that I have done anything to provoke such words from thee. But, if thou wilt give me leave, I fain would declare the truth, in the cause alike of my dead sire and of my sister. CLYTEMNESTRA
Indeed, thou hast my leave; and didst thou always address me in such a tone, thou wouldst be heard without pain. ELECTRA
Then I will speak. Thou sayest that thou hast slain my father. What word could bring thee deeper shame than that, whether the deed was just or not? But I must tel! thee that thy deed was not just; no, thou wert drawn on to it by the wooing of the base man who is now thy spouse. Ask the huntress Artemis what sin she punished when she stayed the frequent winds at Aulis; or I will tell thee; for we may not learn from her. My father-so I have heard-was once disporting himself in the grove of the goddess, when his footfall startled a dappled and antlered stag; he shot it, and chanced to utter a certain boast concerning its slaughter. Wroth thereat, the daughter of Leta detained the Greeks, that, in
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[S7 I - 62I ]
quittance for the wild creature's life, my father should yield up the life of his own child. Thus it befell that she was sacrificed; since the fleet had no other release, homeward or to Troy; and for that cause, under sore constraint and with sore reluctance, at last he slew her-not for the sake of Menelaus. But grant-for I will take thine own plea-grant that the motive of his deed was to benefit his brother;-was that a reason for his dying by thy hand? Under what law? See that, in making such a law for men, thou make not trouble and remorse for thyself; for, if we are to take blood for blood, thou wouldst be the first to die, didst thou meet with thy desert. But look if thy pretext is not false. For tell me, if thou wiIt, wherefore thou art now doing the most shameless deeds of all,--dwelling as wife with that blood-guilty one, who first helped thee to slay my sire, and bearing children to him, while thou hast cast out the earlier-born, the stainless offspring of a stainless marriage. How can I praise these things? Or wilt thou say that this, too, is thy vengeance for thy daughter? Nay, a shameful plea, if so thou plead; 'tis not well to wed an enemy for a daughter's sake. But indeed I may not even counsel thee,-who shriekest that I revile my mother; and truly I think that to me thou art less a mother than.a mistress; so wretched is the life that I live, ever beset with miseries by thee and by thy partner. And that other, who scarce escaped thy hand, the hapless Orestes, is wearing out his ill-starred days in exile. Often hast thou charged me with rearing him to punish thy crime; and I would have done so, if I could, thou mayst be sure:-for that matter, denounce me to all, as disloyal, if thou wilt, or petulant, or impUdent; for if I am accomplished in such ways, methinks I am no unworthy child of thee. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
I see that she breathes forth anger; but whether justice be with her, for this she seems to care no longer. CLYTEMNESTRA (to the CHORUS) And what manner of care do I need to use against her, who hath thus insulted a mother, and this at her ripe age? Thinkest thou not that she would go forward to any deed, without shame? ELECTRA
Now be assured that I do feel shame for this, though thou believe it not; I know that my behaviour is unseemly, and becomes me ill. But then the enmity on thy part, and thy treatment, compel me in mine own despite to do thus; for base deeds are taught by base.
Electra CLYTEMNESTRA
Thou brazen one! Truly I and my sayings and my deeds give thee too much matter for words. ELECTRA
The words are thine, not mine; for thine is the action; and the acts find the utterance. CLYTEMNESTRA
Now by our lady Artemis, thou shalt not fail to pay for this boldness, so soon as Aegisthus returns. ELECTRA
La, thou art transported by anger, after granting me free speech, and hast no patience to listen. CLYTEMNESTRA
Now wilt thou not hush thy clamour, or even suffer me to sacrifice, when I have permitted thee to speak unchecked? ELECTRA
I hinder not,-begin thy rites, I pray thee; and blame not my voice, for I shall say no more. CLYTEMNESTRA
Raise then, my handmaid, the offerings of many fruits, that I may uplift my prayers to this our king, for deliverance from my present fears. Lend now a gracious ear, 0 Phoebus our defender, to my words, though they be dark; for I speak not among friends, nor is it meet to unfold my whole thought to the light, while she stands near me, lest with her malice and her garrulous cry she spread some rash rumour throughout the town: but hear me thus, since on this wise I must speak. That vision which I saw last night in doubtful dreams-if it hath come for my good, grant, Lycean king, that it be fulfilled; but if for harm, then let it recoil upon my foes. And if any are plotting to hurl me by treachery from the high estate which now is mine, permit them not; rather vouchsafe that, still living thus unscathed, I may bear sway over the house of the Atreidae and this realm, sharing prosperous days with the friends who share them now, and with those of my children from whom no enmity or bitterness pursues me. Lycean Apollo, graciously hear these prayers, and grant them to us all, even as we ask! For the rest, though I be silent, I deem that thou, a god, must know it; all things, surely, are seen by the sons of Zeus. (The PAEDAGOGUS enters.)
o
520
Sophocles
[660-679J
PAEDAGOGUS
Ladies, might a stranger crave to know if this be the palace of the king ;\egisthus? LEADER
It is, sir; thou thyself hast guessed aright. PAEDAGOGUS
And am I right in surmising that this lady is his consort? She is of queenly aspect. LEADER
Assuredly: thou art in the presence of the queen. PAEDAGOGUS
Hail, royal lady! I bring glad tidings to thee and to Aegisthus, from a friend. CLYTEMNESTRA
I welcome the omen; but I would fain know from thee, first, who may have sent thee. PAEDAGOGUS
Phanoteus the Phocian, on a weighty mission. CLYTEMNESTRA
What is it, sir? Tell me: coming from a friend, thou wilt bring, I know, a kindly message. PAEDAGOGUS
Orestes is dead: that is the sum. ELECTRA
Oh, miserable that I am! I am lost this day! CLYTEMNESTRA
"'bat sayest thou, friend, what sayest thou?-listen not to her! PAEDAGOGUS
I said, and say again-Orestes is dead. ELECTRA
I am lost, hapless one, I am undone r CLYTEMNESTRA
(to
ELECTRA)
See thou to thine own concerns.-But do thou, sir, tell me exactly,how did he perish?
Electra
52I
PAEDAGOGUS
I was sent for that purpose, and will tell thee all. Having gone to the renowned festival, the pride of Greece, for the Delphian games, when he heard the loud summons to the foot-race which was first to be decided, he entered the lists, a brilliant form, a wonder in the eyes of all there; and, having finished his course at the point where it began, he went out with the glorious meed of victory. To speak briefly, where there is much to tell, I know not the man whose deeds and triumphs have matched his; but one thing thou must know; in all the contests that the judges announced, he bore away the prize: and men deemed him happy, as oft as the herald proclaimed him an Argive, by name Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who once gathered the famous armament of Greece. Thus far, 'twas well; but, when a god sends harm, not even the strong man can escape. For, on another day, when chariots were to try their speed at sunrise, he entered, with many charioteers. One was an Achaean, one from Sparta, two masters of yoked cars were Libyaru; Orestes, driving Thessalian mares, came fifth among them; the sixth from AetoIia, with chestnut colts; a Magnesian was the seventh; the eighth, with white horses, was of Aenian stock; the ninth, from Athens, built of gods; there was a Boeotian too, making the tenth chariot. They took their stations where the appointed umpires placed them by lot and ranged the cars; then, at the sound of the brazen trump, they started. All shouted to their horses, and shook the reins in their hands; the whole course was filled with the noise of rattling chariots; the dust flew upward; and all, in a confused throng, plied their goads unsparingly, each of them striving to pass the wheels and the snorting steeds of his rivals; for alike at their backs and at their rolling wheels the breath of the horses foamed and smote. Orestes, driving close to the pillar at either end of the course, almost grazed it with his wheel each time, and, giving rein to the trace-horse on the right, checked the horse on the inner side. Hitherto, all the chariots had escaped overthrow; but presently the Aenian's hard-mouthed colts ran away, and, swerving, as they passed from the sixth into the seventh round, dashed their foreheads agairut the team of the Barcaean. Other mishaps followed the first, shock on shock and crash on crash, till the whole race-ground of Crisa was strewn with the wreck of the chariots. Seeing this, the wary charioteer from Atheru drew aside and paused, allowing the billow of chariots, surging in mid course, to go by. Orestes was driving last, keeping his horses behind,-for his trust was in the end; but when he saw that the Athenian was alone left in, he sent a shrill cry ringing through the ears of his swift colts, and gave chase. Team was brought level with team, and so they raced,-first one man, then the other, showing his head in front of the chariots.
522
Sophocles
Hitherto the ill-fated Orestes had passed safely through every round, steadfast in his steadfast car; at last, slackening his left rein while the horse was turning, unawares he struck the edge of the pillar; he broke the axle-box in twain; he was thrown over the chariot-rail; he was caught in the shapely reins; and, as he fell on the ground, his colts were scattered into the middle of the course. But when the people saw him fallen from the car, a cry of pity went up for the youth, who had done such deeds and was meeting such a doom, -now dashed to earth, now tossed feet uppermost to the sky,-till the charioteers, with difficulty checking the career of his horses, loosed him, so covered with blood that no friend who saw it would have known the hapless corpse. Straightway they burned it on a pyre; and chosen men of Phocis are bringing in a small urn of bronze the sad dust of that mighty form, to find due burial in his fatherland. Such is my story,-grievous to hear, if words can grieve; but for us, who beheld, the greatest of sorrows that these eyes have seen. LEADER
Alas, alas! Now, methinks, the stock of our ancient masters hath utterly perished, root and branch.
o Zeus,
CLYTEMNESTRA
what shall I call these tidings,-glad tidings? Or dire, but gainful? 'Tis a bitter lot, when mine own calamities make the safety of my life. PAEDAGOGUS
Why art thou so downcast, lady, at this news? CLYTEMNESTRA
There is a strange power in motherhood; a mother may be wronged, but she never learns to hate her child. PAEDAGOGUS
Then it seems that we have come in vain. CLYTEMNESTRA
Nay, not in vain; how canst thou say 'in vain,' when thou hast brought me sure proofs of his death?-His, who sprang from mine own life, yet, forsaking me who had suckled and reared him, became an exile and an alien; and, after he went out of this land, he saw me no more; but, charging me with the murder of his sire, he uttered dread threats against me; so that neither by night nor by day could sweet sleep cover mine eyes, but from moment to moment I lived in fear of death. Now, howeversince this day I am rid of terror from him, and from this girl,-that worse
Electra
52 3 plague who shared my home, while stilI she drained my very life-blood,now, methinks, for aught that she can threaten, I shall pass my days in peace. ELECTRA
Ah, woe is me! Now, indeed, Orestes, thy fortune may be lamented, when it is thus with thee, and thou art mocked by this thy mother! Is it not well? CLYTEMNESTRA
Not with thee; but his state is well. ELECTRA
Hear, Nemesis of him who hath lately died! CLYTEMNESTRA
She hath heard who should be heard, and hath ordained well. ELECTRA
Insult us, for this is the time of thy triumph. CLYTEMNESTRA
Then will not Orestes and thou silence me? ELECTRA
We are silenced; much less should we silence thee. CLYTEMNESTRA
Thy coming, sir, would deserve large recompense, if thou hast hushed her clamorous tongue. PAEDAGOGUS
Then I may take my leave, if all is well. CLYTEMNESTRA
Not so; thy welcome would then be unworthy of me, and of the ally who sent thee. Nay, come thou in; and leave her without, to make loud lament for herself and for her friends. (CLYTEMNESTRA and the PAEDAGOGUS enter the palace.) ELECTRA
How think ye? Was there not grief and anguish there, wondrous weeping and wailing of that miserable mother, for the son who perished by such a fate? Nay, she left us with a laugh! Ah, woe is me! Dearest Orestes, how is my life quenched by thy death! Thou hast tom away with thee from my heart the only hopes which still were mine,-that thou wouldst live to return some day, an avenger of thy sire, and of me unhappy. But now-whither shall I tum? I am alone, bereft of thee, as of my father.
Sophocles Henceforth I must be a slave again among those whom most I hate, my father's murderers. Is it not well with me? But never, at least, henceforward, will I enter the house to dwell with them; nay, at these gates I will lay me dOt;;"I1, and here, without a friend, my days shall wither. Therefore, if any in the house be ",-roth, let them slay me; for 'tis a grace, if I die, but if I Ii\ye, a pain; I desire life no more.
(The following lines between respclflsivcly.)
ELECTRA
and the
CHORUS
are chanted
CHORUS
strophe
I
Where are the thunderbolts of Zeus, or where is the bright Sun, if they look upon these things, and brand them not, but rest? ELECTRA
'Yoe, woe, ah me, ah me! CHORUS
o daughter, why weepest thou? ELECTRA
(with hands outstretched to heaven)
Alas~
CHORUS
Utter no rash cry! ELECTRA
Thou wilt break my heart! CHORUS
How meanest thou? ELECTRA
If thou suggest a hope concerning those who have surely passed to the realm below, thou wilt trample yet more upon my misery. CHORUS
antistrophe I N"ay, I know how, ensnared by a woman for a chain of gold the prince Amphiaraus found a grave; and now beneath the earth~ ELECTRA
Ah me, ah me! CHORUS
-he reigns in fulness of force.
[84 2 - 864]
Electra
52 5
ELECTRA
Alas! CHORUS Alas indeed! for the murderessELECTRA
Was slain. CHORUS Yea. ELECTRA
I know it, I know it; for a champion arose to avenge the mourning dead; but to me no champion remains; for he who yet was left hath been snatched away. CHORUS
strophe
2
Hapless art thou, and hapless is thy lot! ELECTRA
Weil know I that, too weil,-I, whose life is a torrent of woes dread and dark, a torrent that surges through all the months! CHORUS We have seen the course of thy sorrow. ELECTRA
Cease, then, to divert me from it, when no more-CHORUS How say est thou? ELECTRA
-when no more can I have the comfort of hope from a brother, the seed of the same noble sire. CHORUS
antistrophe 2 For all men it is appointed to die. ELECTRA
What, to die as that ill-starred one died, amid thEt tramp of racing steeds, entangled in the reins that dragged him? CHORUS Cruel was his doom, beyond thought 1
Sophocles ELECTRA
Yea, surely; when in foreign soil, without ministry of my handsCHORUS
Alas! ELECTRA
-he is buried, ungraced by me with sepulture or with tears. (CHRYSOTHEMIS
enters in excitement.)
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Joy wings my feet, dear sister, Dot careful of seemliness, if I come with speed; for I bring joyful news, to relieve thy long sufferings and sorrows. ELECTRA
And whence couldst thou find help for my woes, whereof no cure can be imagined? CHRYSOTHEMIS
Orestes is with us,-know this from my Iips,-in living presence, as surely as thou seest me here. ELECTRA
What, art thou mad, poor girl? Art thou laughing at my sorrows, and thine own? CHRYSOTHEMIS
Nay, by our father's hearth, I speak not in mockery; I tell thee that he is with us indeed. ELECTRA
Ah, woe is me! And from whom hast thou heard this tale, which thou believest so lightly? CHRYSOTHEMIS
I believe it on mine own knowledge, not on hearsay; I have seen dear proofs. ELECTRA
What hast thou seen, poor girl, to warrant thy belief? Whither, I wonder hast thou turned thine eyes, that thou art fevered with this baneful fire? CHRYSOTHEMIS
Then, for the gods' love, listen, that thou mayest know my story, before deciding whether I am sane or foolish.
Electra ELECTRA
Speak on, then, if thou findest pleasure in speaking. CHRYSOTHEMIS
\Vell, thou shalt hear all that I have seen. \Vhen I came to our father's ancient tomb, I saw that streams of milk had lately flowed from the top of the mound, and that his sepulchre was encircled with garlands of all flowers that blow. I was astonished at the sight, and peered about, lest haply some one should be close to my side. But when I perceived that all the place was in stillness, I crept nearer to the tomb; and on the mound's edge I saw a lock of hair, freshly severed. And the moment that I saw it, ah me, a familiar image rushed upon my soul, telling me that there I beheld a token of him whom most I love, Orestes. Then I took it in my hands, and uttered no ill-omened word, but the tears of joy straightway filled mine eyes. And I know well, as I knew then, that this fair tribute has come from none but him. \"\'hose part else was that, save mine and thine? And I did it not, I know,-nor thou; how shouldst thou?-when thou canst not leave this house, even to worship the gods, but at thy peril. Nor, again, does our mother's heart incline to do such deeds, nor could she have so done without our knowledge. No, these offerings are from Orestes! Come, dear sister, courage! No mortal life is attended by a changeless fortune. Ours was once gloomy; but this day, perchance, will seal the promise of much good. ELECTRA
Alas for thy folly! How I have been pitying thee! CHRYSOTHEMIS
What, are not my tidings welcome? ELECTRA
Thou knowest not whither or into what dreams thou wander est. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Should I not know what mine own eyes have seen? ELECTRA
He is dead, poor girl; and thy hopes in that deliverer are gone: look not to him. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Woe, woe is mel From whom hast thou heard this? ELECTRA
From the man who was present when he perished.
Sophocles CHRYSOTHEMIS
And where is he? \\'onder steals over my mind. ELECTRA
He is within, a guest not unpleasing to our mother. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Ah, woe is me! \Vhose, then, can have been those ample offerings to our father's tomb? ELECTRA
110st likely, I think, some one brought those gifts in memory of the dead Orestes. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Oh, hapless that I am~ And I was bringing such news in joyous haste, ignorant, it seems, how dire was our plight; but now that I have come, I fmd fresh sorrows added to the old! ELECTRA
So stands thy case; yet, if thou wilt hearken to me, thou wilt lighten the load of our present trouble. CHRYSOTREMIS
Can I ever raise the dead to life? ELECTRA
I meant not that; I am not so foolish. CHRYSOTREMIS
What biddest thou, then, for which my strength avails? ELECTRA
That thou be brave in doing what I enjoin. CRRYSOTREMIS
Nay, if any good can be done, I will not refuse. ELECTRA
Remember, nothing succeeds without toil. CRRYSOTREMIS
I know it, and will share thy burden with all my power. ELECTRA
Hear, then, how I am resolved to act. As for the support of friends, thou thyself must know that we have none; Hades hath taken our friends away, and we two are left alone. I, so long as I heard that my brother
[95 1 -
1008
J
Electra
still lived and prospered, had hopes that he would yet come to avenge the murder of our sire. But now that he is no more, I look next to thee, not to flinch from aiding me thy sister to slay our father's murderer, Aegisthus:-I must have no secret from thee more. How long art thou to wait inactive? \'"hat hope is left standing, to which thine eyes can turn? Thou hast to complain that thou art robbed of thy father's heritage; thou hast to mourn that thus far thy life is fading without nuptial song or wedded love. Kay, and do not hope that such joys will ever be thine; Aegisthus is not so ill-advised as ever to permit that children should spring from thee or me for his own sure destruction. But if thou wilt follow my counsels, first thou wilt win praise of piety from our dead sire below, and from our brother too; next, thou shalt be called free henceforth, as thou wert born, and shalt find worthy bridals; for noble natures draw the gaze of all. Then seest thou not what fair fame thou wilt win for thyself and for me, by hearkening to my word? \Vbat citizen or stranger, when be sees us, will not greet us with praises such as these?-'Behold these two sisters, my friends, who saved their father's house; who, when their foes were firmly planted of yore, took their lives in their hands and stood forth as avengers of blood! Worthy of love are these twain, worthy of reverence from all; at festivals, and wherever the folk are assembled, let these be honoured of all men for their prowess.' Thus will every one speak of us, so that in life and in death our glory shall not fail. Come, dear sister, hearken! Work with thy sire, share the burden of thy brother, win rest from woes for me and for thyself,-mindful of this, that an ignoble life brings shame upon the noble. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
In such case as this, forethought is helpful for those who speak. and those who hear. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Yea, and before she spake, my friends, were she blest with a sound mind, she would have remembered caution, as she doth not remember it. Now whither canst thou have turned thine eyes, that thou art arming thyself with such rashness, and calling me to aid thee? Seest thou not, thou art a woman, not a man, and no match for thine adversaries in strength? And their fortune prospers day by day, while ours is ebbing and coming to nought. Who, then, plotting to vanquish a foe so strong, shall escape without suffering deadly scathe? See that we change not our evil plight to worse, if anyone hears these words. It brings us no relief or benefit, if, after winning fair fame, we die an ignominious death; for mere death is not the bitterest, but rather when one who craves to die cannot obtain even that boon.
53 0
Sophocles
Nay, I beseech thee, before we are utterly destroyed, and leave our house desolate, restrain thy rage! I will take care that thy words remain secret and harmless; and learn thou the prudence, at last though late, of yielding, when so helpless, to thy rulers. LEADER
Hearken; there is no better gain for mortals to win than foresight and a prudent mind. ELECTRA
Thou hast said nothing unlooked-for; I well knew that thou wouldst reject what I proffered. 'VeIl! I must do this deed with mine own hand, and alone; for assuredly I will not leave it void. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Alas! Would thou hadst been so purposed on the day of our father's death! What mightst thou not have wrought? ELECTRA
My nature was the same then, but my mind less ripe. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Strive to keep such a mind through all thy life. ELECTRA
These counsels mean that thou wilt not share my deed. CHRYSOTHEMIS
No; for the venture is likely to bring disaster. ELECTRA
I admire thy prudence; thy cowardice I hate. CHRYSOTHEMIS
I will listen not less calmly when thou praise me. ELECTRA
Never fear to suffer that from me. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Time enough in the future to decide that. ELECTRA
Begone; there is no power to help in thee. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Not SO; but in thee, no mind to learn.
Electra ELECTRA
Go, declare all this to thy mother! CHRYSOTHEM1S
But, again, I do not hate thee with such a hate. ELECTR.>\
Yet know at least to what dishonour thou bringest me. CHRYSOTREM1S
Dishonour, no! I am only thinking of thy good. ELECTRA
Am I bound, then, to follow thy rille of right? CHRYSOTHEM1S
When thou art wise, then thou shalt be our guide. ELECTR.>\
Sad, that one who speaks so well shoilld speak. amiss! CHRYSOTREMIS
Thou hast well described the fault to which thou cleavest. ELECTRA
How? Dost thou not think that I speak with justice? CHRYSOTREM1S
But sometimes justice itself is fraught with harm. ELECTRA
I care not to live by such a law. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Well, if thou must do this, thou wilt praise me yet. ELECTRA
And do it I will, no whit dismayed by thee. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Is this so indeed? Wilt thou not change thy counsels? ELECTRA
No, for nothing is more hateful than bad counsel. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Thou seemest to agree with nothing that I urge.
53 1
53 2
Sophocles ELECTRA
My resolve is not new, but long since fixed. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Then I will go; thou canst not be brought to approve my words, nor I to commend thy conduct. ELECTRA
Nay, go within; never will I follow thee, however much thou mayst desire it; it were great folly even to attempt an idle quest. CHRYSOTHEMIS
Nay, if thou art wise in thine own eyes, be such wisdom thine; by and by, when thou stand est in evil plight, thou wilt praise my words. (CHRYSOTHEMIS goes into the palace.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I "''hen we see the birds of the air, with sure instinct, careful to nourish those who give them life and nurture, why do not we pay these debts in like measure? Nay, by the lightning-flash of Zeus, by Themis throned in heaven, it is not long till sin brings sorrow. Voice that comest to the dead beneath the earth, send a piteous cry, I pray thee, to the son of Atreus in that world, a joyless message of dishonour; antistraphe I tell him that the fortunes of his house are now distempered; while, among his children, strife of sister with sister hath broken the harmony of loving days. Electra, forsaken, braves the storm alone; she bewails alway, hapless one, her father's fate, like the nightingale unwearied in lament; she recks not of death, but is ready to leave the sunlight, could she but quell the two Furies of her house. Who shall match such noble child of noble sire? strophe 2 No generous soul deigns, by a base life, to cloud a fair repute, and leave a name inglorious; as thou, too, 0 my daughter, hast chosen to mourn all thy days with those that mourn, and hast spurned dishonour, that thou mightest win at once a twofold praise, as wise, and as the best of daughters. antistrophe 2 May I yet see thy life raised in might and wealth above thy foes, even as now -it is humbled beneath their hand! For I have found thee
Electra
533
in no prosperous estate; and yet, for observance of nature's highest laws, winning the noblest renown, by thy piety towards Zeus. (ORESTES
enters, with PYLAllES and two attendants, one of them car-
rying a funeral urn.) ORESTES
Ladies, have we been directed aright, and are we on the right path to our goal? LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And what seekest thou? \Vith what desire hast thou come? ORESTES
I have been searching for the home of Aegisthus. LEADER
Well, thou hast found it; and thy guide is blameless. ORESTES
Which of you, then, will tell those within that our company, long desired, hath arrived? LEADER
This maiden,-if the nearest should announce it. ORESTES
I pray thee, mistress, make it known in the house that certain men of Phocis seek Aegisthus. ELECTR" heaven's fairest gift, look with a favouring eye; never may Cypris, goddess dread, fasten on me a temper to dispute, or restless jealousy, smiting my soul with mad desire for unlawful love, but may she hallow peaceful married life and shrewdly decide whom each of us shall wed, strophe 2 my own dear home! God grant I may never be an outcast from my city, leading that cruel helpless life, whose every day is misery. Ere that may I this life complete and yield to death, ay, death; for there is no misery that doth surpass the loss of fatherland.
o my country, 0
antistrophe 2 I have seen with mine eyes, nor from the lips of others have I the lesson learnt; no city, not one friend doth pity thee in this thine awful woe. May he perish and find no favour, whoso hath not in him honour for his friends, freely unlocking his heart to them. Never shall he be friend of mine. (MEDEA has been seated in despair on her door-step during the choral
song.
MGEUS
and his attendants enter.)
Euripides
[663-680]
AEGEUS
All hail, ~Iedea! no man knoweth fairer prelude to the greeting of friends than this. MEDEA
All hail to thee likewise, :\egeus, son of wise Pandion. Whence comest thou to this land? AEGE"C"S
From Phoebus' andent oracle. MEDEA
What took thee on thy travels to the prophetic centre of the earth? AEGEUS
The wish to ask how I might raise up seed unto myself. MEDEA
Pray tell me, hast thou till now dragged on a childless life? AEGEUS
r have no child owing to the visitation of some god. MEDEA
Hast thou a wife, or hast thou never known the married state? AEGEUS
I have a wife joined to me in wedlock's bond. MEDEA
What said Phoebus to thee as to children? AEGEUS
Words too subtle for man to comprehend. MEDEA
Surely I may learn the god's answer? AEGEUS
Most assuredly, for it is just thy subtle wit it needs. MEDEA
What said the god? speak, if I may hear it. AEGEUS
He bade me "not loose the wineskin's pendent neck." MEDEA
Till when? what must thou do first, what country visit?
,JIedea
739
.-illGEUS
Till I to my native home return. l.IEDEA
\Vbat object hast thou in sailing to this land? AEGEUS
O'er Troezen's realm is Pittheus king. MEDEA
PeIops' son, a man devout they say. AEGEUS
To him I fain would impart the oracle of the god. MEDEA
The man is shrewd and versed in such-like lore. MGEUS
Aye, and to me the dearest of all my warrior friends. MEDEA
Good luck to thee! success to all thy wishes! AEGEUS
But why that downcast eye, that wasted cheek? MEDEA
o Aegeus, my husband has proved most evil. MGEUS
What meanest thou? explain to me clearly the cause of thy despondency. MEDEA
Jason is wronging me though I have given him no cause. AEGEUS
What hath he done? tell me more clearly. MEDEA
He is taking another wife to succeed me as mistress of his house. AEGEUS
Can he have brought himself to such a dastard deed? MEDEA
Be assured thereof; I, whom he loved of yore, am in dishonour now.
740
Euripides AEGEUS
Hath he found a new love? or does he loathe thy bed? MEDEA
Much in love is he! A traitor to his friend is he become. AEGEUS
Enough! if he is a villain as thou sayest. MEDEA
The alliance he is so much enamoured of is with a princess. AEGEUS
Who gives his daughter to him? go on, I pray. MEDEA
Creon, who is lord of this land of Corinth. AEGEUS
Lady, I can well pardon thy grief. MEDEA
I am undone, and more than that, am banished from the land. AEGEUS By whom? fresh woe this word of thine unfolds. MEDEA
Creon drives me forth in exile from Corinth. AEGEUS
Doth Jason allow it? This too I blame him for. MEDEA
°
Not in words, but he will not stand out against it. 0, I implore thee by this beard and by thy knees, in suppliant posture, pity, pity my sorrows; do not see me cast forth forlorn, but receive me in thy country, to a seat within thy halls. So may thy wish by heaven's grace be crowned with a full harvest of offspring, and may thy life close in happiness! Thou knowest not the rare good luck thou findest here, for I will make thy childlessness to cease and cause thee to beget fair issue; so potent are the spells I know. AEGEUS
Lady, on many grounds I am most fain to grant thee this thy boon, first for the god~' sake, next for the children whom thou dost promise I shall beget; for in respect of this I am completely lost. 'Tis thus with me; if
Medea
741 e'er thou reach my land, I will attempt to champion thee as I am bound to do. Only one warning I do give thee first, lady: I will not from this land bear thee away, yet if of thyself thou reach my halls, there shalt thou bide in safety and I will never yield thee up to any man. But from this land escape without my aid, for I have no wish to incur the blame of my allies as well. }lEDEA
It shall be even so; but wouldst thou pledge thy word to this, I should
in all be well content with thee. AEGEUS
Surely thou dost trust me? or is there aught that troubles thee? MEDEA
Thee I trust; but Pelias' house and Creon are my foes. 'Wherefore, if thou art bound by an oath, thou wilt not give me up to them when they come to drag me from the land, but, having entered into a compact and sworn by heaven as well, thou wilt become my friend and disregard their overtures. Weak is any aid of mine, whilst they have wealth and a princely house. AEGEUS
Lady, thy words show much foresight, so if this is thy will, I do not refuse. For I shall feel secure and safe if I have some pretext to offer to thy foes, and thy case too the firmer stands. Now name thy gods. MEDEA
Swear by the plain of Earth, by Relios my father's sire, and, in one comprehensive oath, by all the race of gods. AEGEUS
What shall I swear to do, from what refrain? tell me that. MEDEA
Swear that thou wilt never of thyself expel me from thy land, nor, whilst life is thine, pennit any other, one of my foes maybe, to hale me thence if so he will. AroEUS
By Earth I swear, by the Sun-god's holy beam and by all the host of heaven that I will stand fast to the terms I hear thee make.
MEDEA 'Tis enough. If thou shouldst break this oath, what curse dost thou invoke upon thyself?
742
[755-8IO J
Euripides AEGEUS
Whate'er betides the impious. MEDEA
Go in peace; all is well, and I with what speed I may, will to thy city come, when I have wrought my purpose and obtained my wish. (AEGEUS CHORUS
and his retinue depart.)
(chanting)
:\Iay ?lIaia's princely son go with thee on thy way to bring thee to thy home, and mayest thou attain that on which thy soul is set so firmly, for to my mind thou seemest a generous man, Aegeus.
°
°
MEDEA
Zeus, and Justice, child of Zeus, and Sun-god '5 light, now will I triumph o'er my foes, kind friends; on victory's road have I set forth; good hope have I of wreaking vengeance on. those I hate. For where we were in most distress this stranger hath appeared, to be a haven in my counsels; to him will we make fast the cables of our ship when we come to the town and citadel of Pallas. But now will I explain to thee my plans in full; do not expect to hear a pleasant tale. A servant of mine will I to Jason send and crave an interview; then when he comes I will address him with soft words, say, "this pleases me," and, "that is well," even the marriage with the princess, which my treacherous lord is celebrating, and add "it suits us both, 'twas well thought out"; then will I entreat that here my children may abide, not that I mean to leave them in a hostile land for foes to flout, but that I may slay the king's daughter by guile. For I will send them with gifts in their hands, carrying them unto the bride to save them from banishment, a robe of finest woof and a chaplet of gold. And if these ornaments she take and put them on, miserably shall she die, and likewise everyone who touches her; with such fell poisons will I smear my gifts. And here I quit this theme; but I shudder at the deed I must do next; for I will slay the children I have borne; there is none shall take them from my toils; and when I have utterly confounded Jason's house I will leave the land, escaping punishment for my dear children's murder, after my most unholy deed. For I cannot endure the taunts of enemies, kind friends; enough! what gain is life to me? I have no country, home, or refuge left. 0, I did wrong, that hour I left my father's home, persuaded by that Hellene's words, who now shall pay the penalty, so help me God. Never shall he see again alive the children I bore to him, nor from his new bride shall he beget issue, for she must die a hideous death, slain by my drugs. Let no one deem me a poor weak woman who sits with folded hands, but of another mould, dangerous to foes and well-disposed to friends; for they win the fairest fame who live their life like me.
[811- 855]
Medea
743
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Since thou hast imparted this design to me, I bid thee hold thy hand, both from a wish to serve thee and because I would uphold the laws men make. MEDEA
It cannot but be so; thy words I pardon since thou art not in the same
sorry plight that I am. LEADER
o lady, wilt thou steel thyself to slay thy children twain? MEDEA
I will, for that will stab my husband to the heart. LEADER
It may, but thou wilt be the saddest wife alive. MEDEA
No matter; wasted is every word that comes 'twixt now and then. Ho! (The NURSE enters in answer to her call.) Thou, go call me Jason hither, for thee I do employ on every mission of trust. No word divulge of all my purpose, as thou art to thy mistress loyal and likewise of my sex. (The NURSE goes out.) CHORUS
(singing)2
stroplze I Sons of Erechtheus, heroes happy from of yore, children of the blessed gods, fed on wisdom's glorious food in a holy land ne'er pillaged by its foes, ye who move with sprightly step through a climate ever bright and clear, where, as legend tells, the Muses nine, Pieria's holy maids, were brought to birth by Harmonia with the golden hair. antistrophe I And poets sing how Cypris drawing water from the streams of fairflowing Cephissus breathes o'er the land a gentle breeze of balmy winds, and ever as she crowns her tresses with a garland of sweet rose-buds sends forth the Loves to sit by wisdom's side, to take a part in every excellence. strophe 2 How then shall the city of sacred streams, the land that welcomes those it loves, receive thee, the murderess of thy children, thee whose presence with others is a pollution? Think. on the murder of thy children, consider the bloody deed thou takest on thee. Nay, by thy knees we, one and all, implore thee, slay not thy babes.
744
Euripides
antistrophe 2 Where shall hand or heart find hardihood enough in wreaking such a fearsome deed upon thy sons? How wilt thou look upon thy babes, and still without a tear retain thy bloody purpose? Thou canst not, when they fall at thy feet for mercy, steel thy heart and dip in their blood thy hand. (JASON
enters.)
JASON
I am come at thy bidding, for e'en though thy hate for me is bitter thou shalt not fail in this small boon, but I will hear what new request thou hast to make of me, lady. MEDEA
Jason, I crave thy pardon for the words I spoke, and well thou mayest brook my burst of passion, for ere now we twain have shared much love. For I have reasoned with my soul and railed upon me thus, /lAh! poor heart! why am I thus distraught, why so angered 'gainst all good advice, why have I come to hate the rulers of the land, my husband too, who does the best for me he can, in wedding with a princess and rearing for my children noble brothers? Shall I not cease to fret? What possesses me, when heaven its best doth offer? Have I not my children to consider? do I forget that we are fugitives, in need of friends?" When I had thought all this I saw how foolish I had been, how senselessly enraged. So now I do commend thee and think thee most wise in forming this connection for us; but I was mad, I who should have shared in these designs, helped on thy plans, and lent my aid to bring about the match, only too pleased to wait upon thy bride. But what we are, we are, we women, evil I will not say; wherefore thou shouldst not sink to our sorry level nor with our weapons meet our childishness. I yield and do confess that I was wrong then, but now have I CO)Ile to a better mind. Come hither, my children, come, leave the house, step forth, and with me greet and bid farewell to your father, be reconciled from all past bitterness unto your friends, as now your mother is; for we have made a truce and anger is no more. (The ATTENDANT comes out oj the house with the children.) Take his right hand; ah me! my sad fate! when I reflect, as now, upon the hidden future. 0 my children, since there awaits you even thus a long, long life, stretch forth the hand to take a fond farewell. Ah me! how new to tears am I, how full of fear! For now that I have at last released me from my quarrel with your father, I let the tear-drops stream adown my tender cheek.
[9 06-94 I
]
Medea
745
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
From my eyes too bursts forth the copious tear; 0, may no greater ill than the present e'er befall! JASON
Lady, I praise this conduct, not that I blame what is past; for it is but natural to the female sex to vent their spleen against a husband when he trafficks in other marriages besides his own. But thy heart is changed to wiser schemes and thou art determined on the better course, late though it be; this is acting like a woman of sober sense. And for you, my sons, hath your father provided with all good heed a sure refuge, by God's grace; for ye, I trow, shall with your brothers share hereafter the foremost rank in this Corinthian realm. Only grow up, for all the rest your sire and whoso of the gods is kind to us is bringing to pass. May I see you reach man's full estate, high o'er the heads of those I hate! But thou, lady, why with fresh tears dost thou thine eyelids wet, turning away thy wan cheek, with no welcome for these my happy tidings? MEDEA
'Tis naught; upon these children my thoughts were turned. JASON
Then take heart; for I will see that it is well with them. MEDEA
I will do so; nor will I doubt thy word; woman is a weak creature, ever given to tears. JASON
Why prithee, unhappy one, dost moan o'er these children? MEDEA
. I gave them birth; and when thou didst pray long life for them, pity entered into my soul to think that these things must be. But the reason of thy coming hither to speak with me is partly told, the rest will I now mention. Since it is the pleasure of the rulers of the land to banish me, and well I know 'twere best for me to stand not in the way of thee or of the rulers by dwelling here, enemy as I am thought unto their house, forth from this land in exile am I going, but these children,-that they may know thy fostering hand, beg Creon to remit their banishment. JASON
I doubt whether I can persuade him, yet must I attempt it.
Euripides MEDEA
At least do thou bid thy wife ask her sire this boon, to remit the exile of the children from this land. JASON
Yea, that will Ii and her methinks I shull persuade, since she is a woman like the rest. MEDEA
I too will aid thee in this task, for by the children's hand I will send to her gifts that far surpass in beauty, I well know, aught that now is seen 'mongst men, a robe of finest tissue and a chaplet of chased gold. But one of my attendants must haste and bring the ornaments hither. (A servant goes into the house.) Happy shall she be not once alone but ten thousandfold, for in thee she wins the noblest soul to share her love, and gets these gifts as well which on a day my father's sire, the Sun-god, bestowed on his descendants. (The servant returns and hands the gifts to the children.) My children, take in your hands these wedding gifts, and bear them as an offering to the royal maid, the happy bride; for verily the gifts she shall receive are not to be scorned. JASON
But why so rashly rob thyself of these gifts? Dost think. a royal palace wants for robes or gold? Keep them, nor give them to another. For well I know that if my lady hold me in esteem, she will set my price above all wealth. MEDEA
Say not SO; 'tis said that gifts tempt even gods; and o'er men's minds gold holds more potent sway than countless words. Fortune smiles upon thy bride, and heaven now doth swell her triumph; youth is hers and princely power; yet to save my children from exile I would barter life, not dross alone. Children, when we are come to the rich palace, pray your father's new bride, my mistress, with suppliant voice to save you from ~xile, offering her these ornaments the while; for it is most needful that .,he receive the gifts in her own hand. Now go and linger not; may ye suco-::eed and to your mother bring back the glad tidings she fain would hear I (JASON,
the
ATTENDANT, CHORUS
and the children go out together.)
(singing)
strophe I Gone, gone is every hope I had that the children yet might live; forth to their doom they now proceed. The hapless bride will take, ay, take the golden crown that is to be her ruin; with her own hand will she lift and place upon her golden locks the garniture of death.
Medea
747
antistrophe I Its grace and sheen divine will tempt her to put on the robe and crown of gold, and in that act will she deck herself to be a bride amid the dead. Such is the snare whereinto she will fall, such is the deadly doom that waits the hapless maid, nor shall she from the curse escape. strophe 2 And thou, poor wretch, who to thy sorrow art wedding a King's daughter, little thinkest of the doom thou art bringing on thy children's life, or of the cruel death that waits thy bride. ,Voe is thee! how art thou fallen from thy high estatel antistrophe 2 Next do I bewail thy sorrows, 0 mother hapless in thy children, thou who wilt slay thy babes because thou hast a rival, the babes thy husband hath deserted impiously to join him to another bride. (The
ATTENDANT
enters with the children.)
ATTENDANT
Thy children, lady, are from exile freed, and gladly did the royal bride accept thy gifts in her own hands, and so thy children made their peace with her. MEDEA
Ab! ATTENDANT
Why art so disquieted in thy prosperous hour? ~l1y turnest thou thy cheek away, and hast no welcome for my glad news? MEDEA
Abme! ATTENDANT
These groans but ill accord with the news I bring. MEDEA
Ab me! once more I say. ATTENDANT
Have I unwittingly announced some evil tidings? Have I erred in thinking my news was good? MEDEA
Thy news is as it is; I blame thee not.
Euripides
[I012-105 6 ]
ATTENDANT Then why this downcast eye, these floods of tears? MEDEA Old friend, needs must I weep; for the gods and I with fell intent devised these schemes. ATTENDA.."l'T Be of good cheer; thou too of a surety shalt by thy sons yet be brought home again. ::'.lEDEA Ere that shall I bring others to their home, ah! woe is me! ATTENDANT Thou art not the only mother from thy children reft. Bear patiently thy troubles as a mortal must. MEDEA I will obey; go thou within the house and make the day's provision for the children. (The ATTENDANT enters the house. MEDEA turns to the children.) 0 my babes, my babes, ye have still a city and a home, where far from me and my sad lot you will live your lives, reft of your mother for ever; while I must to another land in banishment, or ever I have had my joy of you, or lived to see you happy, or ever I have graced your marriage couch, your bride, your bridal bower, or lifted high the wedding torch. Ah me! a victim of my own self-will. So it was all in vain I reared my sons; in vain did suffer, racked with anguish, enduring the you, cruel pangs of childbirth. 'Fore Heaven I once had hope, poor me! high hope of ye that you would nurse me in my age and deck my corpse with loving hands, a boon we mortals covet; but now is my sweet fancy dead and gone; for I must lose you both and in bitterness and sorrow drag through life. And ye shall never with fond eyes see your mother more, for o'er your life there comes a change. Ah me! ah me! why do ye look at me so, my children? why smile that last sweet smile? Ah me! what am I to do? My heart gives way when I behold my children's laughing eyes. 0, I cannot; farewell to all my former schemes; I will take the children from the land, the babes I bore. Why should I wound their sire by wounding them, and get me a twofold measure of sorrow? No, no, I will not do it. Farewell my scheming! And yet what possesses me? Can I consent to let those foes of mine escape from punishment, and incur their mockery? I must face this deed. Out upon my craven heartl to think that I should even have let the soft words escape my soul. Into the house, children! (The children go into the house.) And whoso feels he must not be present at my sacrifice, must see to it himself; I will not spoil my handiwork. Ah!
°
[IoS6-IIIS]
Medea
749 ah! do not, my heart, 0 do not do this deed! Let the children go, unhappy one, spare the babes! For if they live, they will cheer thee in our exile there. Nay, by the fiends of hell's abyss, never, never will I hand my children over to their foes to mock and flout. Die they must in any case, and since 'tis so, why I, the mother who bore them, will give the fatal blow. Ih any case their doom is fixed and there is no escape. Already the crown is on her head, the robe is round her, and she is dying, the royal bride; that do I know full well. But now since I have a piteous path to tread, and yet more piteous still the path I send my children on, fain would I say farewell to them. (The children come out at her call. She takes them in her arms.) 0 my babes, my babes, let your mother kiss your hands. Ah! hands I love so well, 0 lips most dear to me! 0 noble form and features of my children, I wish ye joy, but in that other land, for here your father robs you of your home. 0 the sweet embrace, the soft young cheek, the fragrant breath! my children! Go, leave me; I cannot bear to longer look upon ye; my sorrow wins the day. At last I understand the awful deed I am to do; but passion, that cause of direst woes to mortal man, hath triumphed o'er my sober thoughts. (She goes into the house with the children.) CHORUS (chanting) Oft ere now have I pursued subtler themes and have faced graver issues than woman's sex should seek to probe; but then e'en we aspire to culture, which dwells with us to teach us wisdom; I say not all; for small is the class amongst women-( one maybe shalt thou find 'mid many)-that is not incapable of wisdom. And amongst mortals I do assert that they who are wholly without experience and have never had children far surpass in happiness those who are parents. The childless, because they have never proved whether children grow up to be a blessing or curse to men are removed from all share in many troubles; whilst those who have a sweet race of children growing up in their houses do wear away, as I perceive, their whole life through; first with the thought how they may train them up in virtue, next how they shall leave their sons the means to live; and after all this 'tis far from clear whether on good or bad children they bestow their toil. But one last crowning woe for every mortal man I now will name; suppose that they have found sufficient means to live, and seen their children grow to man's estate and walk in virtue's path, still if fortune so befall, comes Death and bears the children's bodies off to Hades. Can it be any profit to the gods to heap upon us mortal men beside our other woes this further grief for children lost, a grief surpassing all?
(MEDEA comes out of the house.)
75 0
Euripides
[rrr6-II5 6]
l\IEDEA
Kind friends, long have I waited expectantly to know how things would at the palace chance. And lor I see one of jason's servants coming hither, whose hurried gasps for breath proclaim him the bearer of some fresh tidings. (::/. MESSENGER rushes in.) :MESSENGER
Fly, fly, :.\Iedea! who hast wrought an awful deed, transgressing every law; nor leave behind or sea-borne bark or car that scours the plain. MEDEA
Why, what hath chanced that calls for such a flight of mine? MESSENGER
The princess is dead, a moment gone, and Creon too, her sire, slain by those drugs of thine. MEDEA
Tidings most fair are thine! Henceforth shalt thou be ranked amongst my friends and benefactors. MESSENGER
Hal What? Art sane? Art not distraught, lady, who hearest with joy the outrage to our royal house done, and art not at the horrid tale afraid? MEDEA
Somewhat have I, too, to say in answer to thy words. Be not so hasty, friend, but tell the manner of their death, for thou wouldst give me double joy, if so they perished miserably. MESSENGER
'When the children twain whom thou didst bear came with their father and entered the palace of the bride, right glad were we thralls who had shared thy griefs, for instantly from ear to ear a rumour spread that thou and thy lord had made up your former quarrel. One kissed thy children's hands, another their golden hair, while I for very joy went with them in person to the women's chambers. Our mistress, whom now we do revere in thy room, cast a longing glance at Jason, ere she saw thy children twain; but then she veiled her eyes and turned her blanching cheek away, disgusted at their coming; but thy husband tried to check his young bride's angry humour with these words: "0, be not angered 'gainst thy friends; cease from wrath and turn once more thy face this way, counting as friends whomso thy husband counts, and accept these gifts, and for my sake crave thy sire to remit these children's exile." Soon as she saw the
[II5 6- 121 9]
Medea
75 1
ornaments, no longer she held out, but yielded to her lord in all; and ere the father and his sons were far from the palace gone, she took the broidered robe and put it on, and set the golden crown about her tresses, arranging her hair at her bright mirror, with many a happy smile at her breathless counterfeit. Then rising from her seat she passed across the chamber, tripping lightly on her fair white foot, exulting in the gift, with many a glance at her uplifted ankle. When lo! a scene of awful horror did ensue. In a moment she turned pale, reeled backwards, trembling in every limb, and sinks upon a seat scarce soon enough to save herself from falling to the ground. An aged dame, one of her company, thinking belike it was a fit from Pan or some god sent, raised a cry of prayer, till from her mouth she saw the foam-flakes issue, her eyeballs rolling in their sockets, and all the blood her face desert; then did she raise a loud scream far different from her former cry. Forthwith one handmaid rushed to her father's house, another to her new bridegroom to tell his bride's sad fate, and the whole house echoed with their running to and fro. By this time would a quick walker have made the turn in a course of six plethra 3 and reached the goal, when she with one awful shriek awoke, poor sufferer, from her speechless trance and oped her closed eyes, for against her a twofold anguish was warring. The chaplet of gold about her head was sending forth a wondrous stream of ravening flame, while the fine raiment, thy children's gift, was preying on the hapless maiden's fair white flesh; and she starts from her seat in a blaze and seeks to fly, shaking her hair and head this way and that, to cast the crown therefrom; but the gold held firm to its fastenings, and the flame, as she shook her locks, blazed forth the more with double fury. Then to the earth she sinks, by the cruel blow o'ercome; past all recognition now save to a father's eye; for her eyes had lost their tranquil gaze, her face no more its natural look preserved, and from the crown of her head blood and fire in mingled stream ran down; and from her bones the flesh kept peeling off beneath the gnawing of those secret drugs, e'en as when the pine-tree weeps its tears of pitch, a fearsome sight to see. And all were afraid to touch the corpse, for we were warned by what had chanced. Anon came her hapless father unto the house, all unwitting of her doom, and stumbles o'er the dead, and loud he cried, and folding his arms about her kissed her, with words like these the while, "0 my poor, poor child, which of the gods hath destroyed thee thus foully? Who is robbing me of thee, old as I am and ripe for death? 0 my child, alas! would I could die with thee!" He ceased his sad lament, and would have raised his aged frame, but found himself held fast by the fine-spun robe as ivy that clings to the branches of the bay, and then ensued a fearful struggle. He strove to rise, but she still held him back; and if ever he pulled with all his might, from off his bones his aged flesh he tore. At last he gave it up, and breathed forth his soul in
Euripides
75 2
awful suffering; for he could no longer master the pain. So there they lie, daughter and aged sire, dead side by side, a grievous sight that calls for tears. And as for thee, I leave thee out of my consideration, for thyself must discover a means to escape punishment. Not now for the first time I think this human life a shadow; yea, and without shrinking I will say that they amongst men who pretend to wisdom and expend deep thought on words do incur a serious charge of folly; for amongst mortals no man is happy; wealth may pour in and make one luckier than another, but none can happy be. (The MESSENGER departs.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS
This day the deity, it seems, will mass on Jason, as he well deserves, a heavy load of evils. 'Woe is thee, daughter of Creon! We pity thy sad fate, gone as thou art to Hades' halls as the price of thy marriage with Jason. MEDEA
My friends, I am resolved upon the deed; at once will I slay my children and then leave this land, without delaying long enough to hand them over to some more savage hand to butcher. Needs must they die in any case; and since they must, I will slay them-I, the mother that bare them. o heart of mine, steel thyself! Why do I hesitate to do the awful deed that must be done? Come, take the sword, thou wretched hand of mine! Take it, and advance to the post whence starts thy life of sorrow! Away with cowardice! Give not one thought to thy babes, how dear they are or how thou art their mother. This one brief day forget thy children dear, and after that lament; for though thou wilt slay them yet they were thy darlings stilI, and I am a lady of sorrows. (MEDEA enters the house.) CHORUS (chanting) sun whose beam illumines all, look, look upon this lost woman, ere she stretch forth her murderous hand upon her sons for blood; for 10! these are scions of thy own golden seed, and the blood of gods is in danger of being shed by man. 0 light, from Zeus proceeding, stay her, hold her hand, forth from the house chase this feU bloody fiend by demons led. Vainly wasted were the throes thy children cost thee; vainly hast thou borne, it seems, sweet babes, 0 thou who hast left behind thee that passage through the blue Symplegades, that strangers justly hate. Ah! hapless one, why doth fierce anger thy soul assail? Why in its place is fell murder growing up? For grievous unto mortal men are pollutions that come of kindred blood poured on the earth, woes to suit each crime hurled from heaven on the murderer's house.
o earth, 0
Medea FIRST SON
753
(within)
Ah, me; what can I do? Whither fly to escape my mother's blows? SECOND SON
(within)
I know not, sweet brother mine; we are lost. CHORUS
(chanting)
Didst hear, didst hear the children's cry? 0 lady, born to sorrow, victim of an evil fate! Shall I enter the house? For the children's sake I am resolved to ward off the murder. FIRST SON
(within)
Yea, by heaven I adjure you; help, your aid is needed. SECOND SON
(within)
Even now the toils of the sword are closing round us. CHORUS
(chanting)
o hapless mother, surely thou hast a heart of stone or steel to slay the offspring of thy womb by such a murderous doom. Of all the wives of yore I know but one who laid her hand upon her children dear, even Ina, whom the gods did madden in the day that the wife of Zeus drove her wandering from her home. But she, poor sufferer, fiung herself into the sea because of the foul murder of her children, leaping o'er the wave-beat cliff, and in her death was she united to her children twain. Can there be any deed of horror left to follow this? Woe for the wooing of women fraught with disaster! What sorrows hast thou caused for men ere now! (JASON
and his attendants enter.)
JASON
Ladies, stationed near this house, pray tell me is the author of these hideous deeds, Medea, still within, or hath she fled from hence? For she must hide beneath the earth or soar on wings towards heaven's vault, if she would avoid the vengeance of the royal house. Is she so sure she will escape herself unpunished from this house, when she hath slain the rulers of the land? But enough of this! I am forgetting her children. As for her, those whom she hath wronged will do the like by her; but I am come to save the children's life, lest the victim's kin visit their wrath on me, in vengeance for the murder foul, wrought by my children's mother. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Unhappy man, thou knowest not the full extent of thy misery, else had thou never said those words.
Euripides
754
JASON
How now? Can she want to kill me too? LEADER
Thy sons are dead; slain by their own mother's hand.
o God!
JASON
what sayest thou? Woman, thou hast sealed my doom. LEADER
Thy children are no more; be sure of this. JASON
Where slew she them; within the palace or outside? LEADER
Throw wide the doors and see thy children's murdered corpses. JASON
Haste, ye slaves, loose the bolts, undo the fastenings, that I may see the sight of twofold woe, my murdered sons and her, whose blood in vengeance I will shed. appears above the house, on a chariot drawn by dragons; the children's corpses are beside her.)
(MEDEA
MEDEA
Why shake those doors and attempt to loose their bolts, in quest of the dead and me their murderess? From such toil desist. If thou wouldst aught with me, say on, if so thou wilt; but never shalt thou lay hand on me, so swift the steeds the sun, my father's sire, to me doth give to save me from the hand of my foes. JASON
Accursed woman! by gods, by me and all mankind abhorred as never woman was, who hadst the heart to stab thy babes, thou their mother, leaving me undone and childless; this hast thou done and still dost gaze upon the sun and earth after this deed most impious. Curses on thee! I now perceive what then I missed in the day I brought thee, fraught with doom, from thy home in a barbarian land to dwell in Hellas, traitress to thy sire and to the land that nurtured thee. On me the gods have hurled the curse that dogged thy steps, for thou didst slay thy brother at his hearth ere thou cam'st aboard our fair ship, Argo. Such was the outset of thy life of crime; then didst thou wed with me, and having borne me sons to glut thy passion's lust, thou now hast slain them. Not one amongst the wives of Hellas e'er had dared this deed; yet before them all I chose
Medea
755
thee for my wife, wedding a foe to be my doom, no woman, but a lioness fiercer than Tyrrhene Scylla in nature. But with reproaches heaped a thousandfold I cannot wound thee, so brazen is thy nature. Perish, vile sorceress, murderess of thy babes! Whilst I must mourn my luckless fate, for I shall ne'er enjoy my new-found bride, nor shall I have the children, whom I bred and reared, alive to say the last farewell to me; nay, I have lost them. MEDEA
To this thy speech I could have made a long reply, but Father Zeus knows well all I have done for thee, and the treatment thou hast given me. Yet thou wert not ordained to scorn my love and lead a life of joy in mockery of me, nor was thy royal bride nor Creon, who gave thee a second wife, to thrust me from this land and rue it not. \'Vherefore, if thou wilt, call me e'en a lioness, and Scylla, whose home is in the Tyrrhene land; for I in tum have wrung thy heart, as well I might. JASON
Thou, too, art grieved thyself, and sharest in my sorrow. MEDEA
Be well assured I am; but it relieves my pain to know thou canst not mock at me. JASON
o my children, how vile a mother ye have found: MEDEA
My sons, your father's feeble lust has been your ruin! JASON
'Twas not my hand, at any rate, that slew them. MEDEA
No, but thy foul treatment of me, and thy new marriage. JASON
Didst think that marriage cause enough to murder them? :MEDEA
Dost think a woman counts this a trifling injury? JASON
SO she be self-restrained; but in thy eyes all is evil. MEDEA
Thy sons are dead and gone. That will stab thy heart.
Euripides JASON
They live, methinks, to bring a curse upon thy head. ~IEDEA
The gods know, whoso of them began this troublous coil. JASON
Indeed, they know that hateful heart of thine. MEDEA
Thou art as hateful. I am aweary of thy bitter longue. JASON
And I likewise of thine. But parting is easy. MEDEA
Say how; what am I to do? for I am fain as thou to go. JASON
Give up to me those dead, to bury and lament. MEDEA
No, neverl I will bury them myself, bearing them to Hera's sacred field/ who watches o'er the Cape, that none of their foes may insult them by pulling down their tombs; and in this land of Sisyphus I will ordain hereafter a solemn feast and mystic rites to atone for this impious murder. Myself will now to the land of Erechtheus, to dwell with Aegeus, Pandian's son. But thou, as well thou mayst, shalt die a caitiff's death,s thy head crushed 'neath a shattered relic of Argo, when thou hast seen the bitter ending of my marriage. JASON
The curse of our sons' avenging spirit and of Justice, that calls ror blood, be on thee! MEDEA
What god or power divine hears thee, breaker of oaths and every law of hospitality? JASON
Fie upon thee! cursed witch! child-murderess! MEDEA
To thy house I go, bury thy wife. JASON
I go, bereft of both my sons.
Medea
757
:'\IEDEA
Thy grief is yet to come; wait till old age is with thee too.
o my dear, dear children!
JASON
::'\IEDEA
Dear to their mother, not to thee. JASON
And yet thou didst slay them? MEDEA
Yea, to vex thy heart. JASON
One last fond kiss, ah me! I fain would on their lips imprint. MEDEA
Embraces now, and fond farewells for them; but then a cold repulse! JASON
By heaven I do adjure thee, let me touch their tender skin. l\lEDEA
.No, no! in vain this word has sped its flight. JASON
o Zeus, dost hear how I am driven hence; dost mark the treatment I receive from this she-lion, fell murderess of her young? Yet so far as I may and can, I raise for them a dirge, and do adjure the gods to witness how thou hast slain my sons, and wilt not suffer me to e!llbrace or bury their dead bodies. Would I had never begotten them to see thee slay them after all I
(The chariot carries MEDEA away.) CHORUS
(chanting)
Many a fate doth Zeus dispense, high on his Olympian throne; oft do the gods bring things to pass beyond man's expectation; that, which we thought would be, is not fulfilled, while for the unlookedfor, god finds out a way; and such hath been the issue of this matter.6
NOTES FOR
MEDEA
COLERIDGE'S translation has been slightly altered in the following lines: 37, I84, 229, 232,236,577,578,592,690, I049, I089, I272, I35 1. I. Coleridge renders thus the Greek noun, sophrosyna, which is difficult if not impossible to translate into English by a single word. Its core of meaning includes the notions of self-restraint, self-control, temperance, and moderation. 2. This choral ode in praise of Athens is one of the most famous in Euripides. The Medea itself is noteworthy for the high quality of its poetry. 3. A plethron was approximately roo feet. 4. This probably refers to a temple of Hera on the Acrocorinthus. Medea's words would therefore be in general agreement with the cult tradition that the children were buried in Corinth. 5. Coleridge's note here reads, "Legend told how Jason was slain·by a beam faIling on him as he lay asleep under the shadow of his ship Argo." 6. These lines, here with a slight addition, are likewise found at the conclusion of the Alcestis, Helen, The Bacchae, and the Andromache.
III
HIPPOL YTUS
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
APHRODITE HIPPOLYTUS,
bastard son of THESEUS
ATTENDANTS OF HIPPOLYTUS CHORUS OF TROEZENIAN WOMEN NURSE OF PHAEDRA PHAEDRA, wife of THESEUS THESEUS MESSENGER ARTEMIS
INTRODUCTION
EURIPIDES produced the Hippolytus in the spring of 428 B.C. He had already written one tragedy with this title, not now extant, which the Athenians did not receive with favour. Hence our present piece is evidently i reworking of the first version, and in the form in which we now have it, in the opinion of many, is by far the greatest of Euripides' plays. Its tone in many places is almost Sophoclean, and yet it contains as well lyric passages, marked by an awareness of nature's beauty, which have a distinct romantic ring. The plot is relatively simple and depends but slightly upon events that have transpired prior to the opening of the play. We need know only that Theseus is now living with his new and younger wife, Phaedra, at :rroezen. With them dwells a bastard son of Theseus named Hippolytus, whom the queen of the Amazons had borne him in his youth. The drama grows directly from this situation and in the end unfolds the tragedy of these three persons. Despite its apparent simplicity, the play is most difficult to interpret. Critics tend to reduce the tragedy to a study of the conflict between the two forces symbolized by Artemis and Aphrodite-sexual purity, ascetism over against passionate love. These symbols have their human proponents in Hippolytus and Phaedra. One might be tempted to argue that if each had not been guilty of going to extremes, there would have been no tragic outcome. Such an interpretation, however, seems to lead to an over-simplification, for the characters and the problem, when examined carefully, prove to be far more complicated. Hippolytus is clearly a victim of hybris, overweening pride. Pure and chaste though he actually may be, he is pure in his own conceit. Likewise, though Phaedra has struggled courageously to overcome her passion for Hippolytus, at the last she exhibits a fatal weakness. Also Theseus, who does not function symbolically, as in a sense Phaedra and Hippolytus do, and on whom the heaviest burden of the tragedy falls at the end, pays the penalty not only for his incontinence as a youth, but also for his hasty condemnation of his son. The clash of these relatively complex characters renders suspect any simplified interpretation of the play. One of the most powerful features of the tragedy is the manner in which Euripides rehabilitates the character of Hippolytus just before
76r
Introduction he dies. The young man's eyes are at last opened; no longer is he preoccupied with his own purity, but he is able to get outside himself, see the situation from Theseus' point of view, and to realize that his father's fate to live is far worse than his own to die. This awakening of Hippolytus, accomplished partly by his mm suffering and partly through Artemis (who appears at the close as a deus ex machina) to whose worship he has devoted his life and who comforts him in death, raises the play to a universal level reached only by the greatest tragedy. The role which the gods perform in the drama is most puzzling to explain. As has already been noted, both Artemis and Aphrodite serve partially as symbols, but on the other hand they do not seem to be completely deVoid of religious significance. What constitutes the major difficulty is that they seem to be capricious, vindictive, and jealous of each other. Aphrodite announces in the prologue that she is going to punish Hippolytus for neglecting her worship, and Artemis at the end vows she will exact her vengeance from Aphrodite for her favorite's death. Here as always Euripides' theological thought is unclear. On the human level, the poet's grasp of his problem is firm. Phaedra, Hippolytus and Theseus all have the stature of tragic figures. We can only conclude either that Euripides believed it to be a matter of little importance that man strive to understand the nature of the divine power, which is ultimately inscrutable and therefore should be completely accepted as such, or that he was so interested in analyzing man's emotional and psychological states that he never came finally to grips with the problems of religion.
HIPPOL YTUS
(SCENE:-Before the royal palace at Troezen. There is a statue of on one side; on the other, a statue of ARTEMIS. There is an altar before each image. The goddess APHRODITE appears alone.)
APHRODITE
APHRODITE
o'er man my realm extends, and proud the name that I, the goddess Cypris, bear, both in heaven's courts and 'mongst all those who dwell within the limits of the sea and the bounds of Atlas, beholding the sungod's light; those that respect my power I advance to honour, but bring to ruin all who vaunt themselves at me. For even in the race of gods this feeling finds a home, even pleasure at the honour men pay them. And the truth of this I soon will show; for that son of Theseus, born of the Amazon, Hippolytus, whom holy Pittheus taught, alone of all the dwellers in this land of Troezen, calls me vilest of the deities. Love he scorns, and, as for marriage, will none of it; but Artemis, daughter of Zeus, sister of Phoebus, he doth honour, counting her the chief of goddesses, and ever through the greenwood, attendant on his virgin goddess, he clears the earth of wild beasts with his fleet hounds, enjoying the comradeship of one too high for mortal ken. 'Tis not this I grudge him, no! why should I? But for his sins against me, I will this very day take vengeance on Hippolytus; for long ago I cleared the ground of many obstacles, so it needs but trifling toil. For as he came one day from the home of Pittheus to witness the solemn mystic rites and be initiated therein in Pandion's land, Phaedra, his father's noble wife, caught sight of him, and by my designs she found her heart was seized with wild desire. And ere she came to this Troezenian realm, a temple did she rear to Cypris hard by the rock of Pallas where it o'erlooks this country, for love of the youth in another land; and to win his love in days to come she called after his name the temple she had founded for the goddess. Now, when Theseus left the land of Cecrops, flying the pollution of the blood of Pallas' sons, and with his wife sailed to this shore, content to suffer exile for a year, then began the wretched wife to pine away in silence, moaning 'neath love's cruel scourge, and none of her servants knows what disease afflicts her. But lilis passion of hers must WIDE
763
Euripides not fail thus. No, I will discover the matter to Theseus, and all shall be laid bare. Then will the father slay his child, my bitter foe, by curses, for the lord Poseidon granted this boon to Theseus; three wishes of the god to ask, nor ever ask in vain. So Phaedra is to die, an honoured death 'tis true, but still to die; for I will not let her suffering outweigh the payment of such forfeit by my foes as sh811 satisfy my honour. But lor I see the son of Theseus coming hither-Hippolytus, fresh from the labours of the chase. I will get me hence. At his back follows a long train of retainers, in joyous cries of revelry uniting and hymns of praise to Artemis, his goddess; for little he recks that Death hath oped his gates for him, and that this is his last look upon the light.
vanishes. HIPPOLYTUS and his retinue of hunting ATTENDenter, singing. They move to worship at the altar of ARTEMIS.)
(APHRODITE ANTS
HIPPOLYTUS
Come follow, friends, singing to Artemis, daughter of Zeus, throned in the sky, whose votaries we are. ATTENDANTS
Lady goddess, awful queen, daughter of Zeus, all hail! hail! child of Latona and of Zeus, peerless mid the virgin choir, who hast thy dwelling in heaven's wide mansions at thy noble father's court, in the golden house of Zeus. All hail! most beauteous Artemis, lovelier far than all the daughters of Olympusl HIPPOLYTUS
(speaking)
For thee, 0 mistress mine, I bring this woven wreath, culled from a virgin meadow, where nor shepherd dares to herd his flock nor ever scythe hath mown, but o'er the mead unshorn the bee doth wing its way in spring; and with the dew from rivers drawn purity that garden tends. Such as know no cunning lore, yet in whose nature self-control, made perfect, hath a home, these may pluck the flowers, but not the wicked world. Accept, I pray, dear mistress, mine this chaplet from my holy hand to crown thy locks of gold; for I, and none other of mortals, have this high guerdon, to be with thee, with thee converse, hearing thy voice, though not thy face beholding. So be it mine to end my life as I began. LEADER OF THE ATTENDANTS
My prince! we needs must call upon the gods, our lords, so wilt thou listen to a friendly word from me? HIPPOLYTUS
Why, that WIll I! else were I proved a fool.
Hippolytus LEADER
Dost know, then, the way of the world? HIPPOLYTUS
N at I; but wherefore such a question? LEADER
It hates reserve which careth not for all men's love. HIPPOLYTUS
And rightly too; reserve in man is ever galling. LEADER
But there's a charm in courtesy? HIPPOLYTUS
The greatest surely; aye, and profit, too, at trifling cost. LEADER
Dost think the same law holds in heaven as well? HIPPOLYTUS
I trow it doth, since all our laws we men from heaven draw. LEADER
Why, then, dost thou neglect to greet an august goddess? HIPPOLYTUS
Whom speak'st thou of? Keep watch upon thy tongue lest it some mischief cause. LEADER
Cypris I mean, whose image is stationed o'er thy gate. HIPPOLYTUS
I greet her from afar, preserving still my chastity. LEADER
Yet is she an august goddess, far renowned on earth. HIPPOLYTUS
'Mongst gods as well as men we have our several preferences. LEADER
I wish thee luck, and wisdom too, so far as thou dost need it. HIPPOLYTUS
No god, whose worship craves the night, hath charms for me.
Euripides LEADER
Illy son, we should avail us of the gifts that gods confer. HIPPOLYTUS
Go in, my faithful folIowers, and make ready food within the house; a well-filled board hath charms after the chase is o'er. Rub down my steeds ye must, that when I have had my fill I may yoke them to the chariot and give them proper exercise. As for thy Queen of Love, a long farewell to her. (HIPPOLYTUS goes into the palace, jollowed by all the ATTENDANTS except the LEADER, who prays bejore the statue oj APHRODITE.) LEADER
:3leantime I with sober mind, for I must not copy my young master, do offer up my prayer to thy image, lady Cypris, in such words as it becomes a slave to use. But thou shouId'st pardon all, who, in youth's impetuous heat, speak idle words of thee; make as though thou hearest not, for gods must needs be wiser than the sons of men. (The LEADER goes into the palace. The CHORUS OF TROEZENIAN WOMEN enters.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I A rock there is, where, as they say, the ocean dew distils, and from its beetling brow it pours a copious stream for pitchers to be dipped therein; 'twas here I had a friend washing robes of purple in the trickling stream, and she was spreading them out on the face of a warm sunny rock; fr01l1 her I had the tidings, first of alI, that my mistressantistrophe r Was wasting on the bed of sickness, pent within her house, a thin veil o'ershadowing her head of golden hair. And this is the third day I hear that she hath closed her lovely lips and denied her chaste body all sustenance, eager to hide her suffering and reach death's cheerless bourn. strophe 2 Maiden, thou must be possessed, by Pan made frantic or by Hecate, or by the Corybantes dread, and CybeIe the mountain mother. Or maybe thou hast sinned against Dictynna, huntress-queen, and art wasting for thy guilt in sacrifice unoffered. For she doth range o'er lakes' expanse and past the bounds of earth upon the ocean's tossing
billows.
[I5 I - 202 ]
Hippolytus
antistrophe 2 Or doth some rival in thy house beguile thy lord, the captain of Erechtheus' sons, that hero nobly born, to secret amours hid from thee? Or hath some mariner sailing hither from Crete reached this port that sailors love, with evil tidings for our queen, and she with sorrow for her grievous fate is to her bed confined? epode Yea, and oft o'er woman's wayward nature settles a feeling of miserable helplessness, arising from pains of child-birth or of passionate desire. I, too, have felt at times this sharp thrill shoot through me, but I would cry to Artemis, queen of archery, who comes from heaven to aid us in our travail, and thanks to heaven's grace she ever comes at my call with welcome help. Look! where the aged nurse is bringing her forth from the house before the dbor, while on her brow the cloud of gloom is deepening. My soul longs to learn what is her grief, the canker that is wasting our Queen's fading charms. (PHAEDRA is
led out and placed upon a couch by the NURSE and attendants. The following lines between the NURSE and PHAEDRA are chanted.) NURSE
0, the ills of mortal men! the cruel diseases they endure! \Vnat can I do for thee? from what refrain? Here is the bright sun-light, here the azure sky; lor we have brought thee on thy bed of sickness without the palace; for all thy talk. was of coming hither, but soon back to thy chamber wilt thou hurry. Disappointment follows fast with thee, thou hast no joy in aught for long; the present has no power to please; on something absent next thy heart is set. Better be sick. than tend the sick; the first is but a single ill, the last unites mental grief with manual toil. Man's whole life is full of anguish; no respite from his woes he finds; but if there is aught to love beyond this life, night's dark pall doth wrap it round. And so we show our mad love of this life because its light is shed on earth, and because we know no other, and have naught revealed to us of all our earth may hide; and trusting to fables we drift at random. PHAEDRA (wildly) Lift my body, raise my head! My limbs are all unstrung, kind friends. 0 handmaids, lift my arms, my shapely arms. The tire on my head is too heavy for me to wear; away with it, and let my tresses o'er my shoulders fall.
768
Euripides NURSE
Be of good heart, dear child; toss not so wildly to and fro. Lie still, be brave, so wilt thou find thy sickness easier to bear; suffering for mortals is nature's iron law. PHAEDRA
Ah! would I could draw a draught of water pure from some dewfed spring, and lay me down to rest in the grassy meadow 'neath the poplar's shade! NURSE
!\Iy child, what wild speech is this? 0 say not such things in public, wild whirling words of frenzy bred! PHAEDRA
Away to the mountain take me! to the wood, to the pine-trees I will go, where hounds pursue the prey, hard on the scent of dappled fawns. Ye gods! what joy to hark them on, to grasp the barbed dart, to poise Thessalian hunting-spears close to my golden hair, then let them fly. NURSE
Why, why, my child, these anxious cares? What hast thou to do with the chase? Why so eager for the flowing spring, when hard by these towers stands a hill well watered, whence thou may'st freely draw? PHAEDRA
o Artemis, who watchest o'er sea-beat Limna and the race-course thundering to the horse's hoofs, would I were upon thy plains curbing Venetian steeds! NURSE
Why betray thy frenzy in these wild whirling words? Now thou wert for hasting hence to the hills away to hunt wild beasts, and now thy yearning is to drive the steed over the waveless sands. This needs a cunning seer to say what god it is that reins thee from the course, distracting thy senses, child. PHAEDRA (more sanely) Ah mel alasl what have I done? Whither have I strayed, my senses leaving? Mad, mad! stricken by some demon's curse! Woe is me! Cover my head again, nurse. Shame fills me for the words I have spoken. Hide me then; from my eyes the tear-drops stream, and for very shame I turn them away. 'Tis painful coming to one's senses
Hippolytus again, and madness, evil though it be, has this advantage, that one has no knowledge of reason's overthrow. NURSE
There then I cover thee; but when will death hide my body in the grave? :Many a lesson length of days is teaching me. Yea, mortal men should pledge themselves to moderate friendships only, not to such as reach the very heart's core; affection's ties should be light upon them to let them slip or draw them tight. For one poor heart to grieve for twain, as I do for my mistress, is a burden sore to bear. Men say that too engrossing pursuits in life more oft cause disappointment than pleasure, and too oft are foes to health. 'Vherefore I do not praise excess so much as moderation, and with me wise men will agree. (PHAEDRA lies back upon the couch.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS
(speaking)
o aged dame, faithful nurse of Phaedra, our queen, we see her sorry plight; but what it is that ails her we cannot discern, so fain would learn of thee and hear thy opinion. NURSE
I question her, but am no wiser, for she wiIl not answer. LEADER
Nor tell what source these sorrows have? NURSE
The same answer thou must take, for she is dumb on every point. LEADER
How weak and wasted is her body! NURSE
What marvel? 'tis three days now since she has tasted food. LEADER
Is this infatuation, or an attempt to die? NURSE
'Tis death she courts; such fasting aims at ending life. LEADER
A strange story if it satisfies her husband. NURSE
She hides from him her sorrow, and vows she is not ill.
77 0
Euripides LEADER
Can he not guess it from her face? NURSE
He is not now in his own country. LEADER
But dost not thou insist in thy endeavour to find out her complaint, her crazy mind? NURSE
I have tried every plan, and all in vain; yet not even now will I relax my zeal, that thou too, if thou stayest, mayst witness my devotion to my unhappy mistress. Come, come, my darling child, let us forget, the twain of us, our former words; be thou more mild, smoothing that sullen brow and changing the current of thy thought, and I, if in aught before I failed in humouring thee, will let that be and find some better course. If thou art sick with ills thou canst not name, there be women here to help to set thee right; but if thy trouble can to men's ears be divulged, speak, that physicians may pronounce on it. Come, then, why so dumb? Thou shouldst not so remain, my child, but scold me if I speak amiss, or, if I give good counsel, yield assent. One word, one look this way! Ah me! Friends, we waste our toil to no purpose; we are as far away as ever; she would not relent to my arguments then, nor is she yielding now. Well, grow more stubborn than the sea, yet be assured of this, that if thou diest thou art a traitress to thy children, for they will ne'er inherit their father's halls, nay, by that knightly queen the Amazon who bore a son to lord it over thine, a bastard born but not a bastard bred, whom well thou knowest, e'en Hippolytus(At the mention of his name PHAEDRA'S attention is suddenly caught.) PHAEDRA
Oh! oh! NURSE
Ha! doth that touch the quick? PHAEDRA
Thou hast undone me, nurse; I do adjure by the gods, mention that man no more. NURSE
There now! thou art thyself again, but e'en yet refusest to aid thy children and preserve thy life.
Hippolytus
77 I
PHAEDRA
J\ly babes I love, but there is another storm that buffets me. NURSE
Daughter, are thy hands from bloodshed pure? PHAEDRA
My hands are pure, but on my soul there rests a stain. NURSE
The issue of some enemy's secret witchery? PHAEDRA
A friend is my destroyer, one unwilling as myself. NURSE
Hath Theseus wronged thee in any wise? PHAEDRA
Never may I prove untrue to him1 NURSE
Then what strange mystery is there that drives thee on to die? PHAEDRA
0, let my sin and me alone! 'tis not 'gainst thee I sin. NURSE
Never willingly! and, if I fail, 'twill rest at thy door. PHAEDRA
How now? thou usest force in clinging to my hand. NURSE
Yea, and I will never loose my hold upon thy knees. PHAEDRA
Alas for thee! my sorrows, shouldst thou learn them, would recoil on thee. NURSE
What keener grief for me than failing to win thee? PHAEDRA
'Twill be death to thee; though to me that brings renown. NURSE
And dost thou then conceal this boon despite my prayers?
77 2
Euripides PHAEDR4.
I do, for 'tis out of shame I am planning an honourable escape. NURSE
Tell it, and thine honour sball the brighter shine. PHAEDRA
Away, I do conjure thee; loose my band. NURSE
I will not, for the boon thou shouldst have granted me is denied. PHAEDRA
I will grant it out of reverence for thy holy suppliant touch. NURSE
Henceforth I hold my peace; 'tis thine to speak. from now. PHAEDRA
Ah! hapless mother, what a love was thine! NURSE
Her love for the bull? daughter, or what meanest thou? PHAEDRA
And woe to thee! my sister, bride of Dionysus. NURSE
What ails thee, child? speaking ill of kith and kin. PHAEDRA
Myself the third to suffer! how am I undone! NURSE
Thou strik'st me dumb! \Vhere will this history end? PHAEDRA
That "love" has been our curse from time long past. NURSE
I know no more of what I fain would learn. PHAEDRA
Ah! would thou couldst say for me what I bave to tell. NURSE
I am no prophetess to unriddle secrets.
Hippolytus
773
PHAEDRA
\Yhat is it they mean when they talk of people being in "love"? NlJ'RSE
At once the sweetest and the bitterest thing, my child. PHAEDRA
I shall only find the latter half. NURSE
Ha! my child, art thou in love? PHAEDRA
The Amazon's son, whoever he may be-NURSE
Mean'st thou Hippolytus? PHAEDRA
'Twas thou, not I, that spoke his name.
°
NURSE
heavens! what is this, my child? Thou hast ruined me. Outrageous! friends; I will not live and bear it; hateful is life, hateful to mine eyes the light. This body I resign, will cast it off, and rid me of existence by my death. Farewell, my life is o'er. Yea, for the chaste 1 have wicked passions, 'gainst their will maybe, but still they have. Cypris, it seems, is not a goddess after aU, but something greater far, for she hath been the ruin of my lady and of me and our whole family. CHORUS (chanting) 0, too clearly didst thou hear our queen uplift her voice to tell her startling tale of piteous suffering. Come death ere I reach thy state of feeling, loved mistress. horrible! woe, for these miseries! woe, for the sorrows on which mortals feed! Thou art undone! thou hast disclosed thy sin to heaven's light. What hath each passing day and every hour in store for thee? Some strange event will come to pass in this house. For it is no longer uncertain where the star of thy love is setting, thou hapless daughter of Crete.
°
PHAEDRA
Women of Troezen, who dwell here upon the frontier edge of PeIops' land, oft ere now in heedless mood through the long hours of night have I wondered why man's life is spoiled; and it seems to me their evil case is not due to any natural fault of judgment, for there be many dowered with sense, but we must view the matter in this light: by teaching and ex-
774
Euripides
perience we learn the right but neglect it in practice, some from sloth, others from preferring pleasure of some kind or other to duty. Now life has many pleasures, protracted talk, and leisure, that seductive evil; likewise there is shame which is of two kinds, one a noble quality, the other a curse to families; but if for each its proper time were clearly known, these twain could not have had the selfsame letters to denote them. So then since I had made up my mind on these points, 'twas not likely any drug would alter it and make me think the contrary. And I will tell thee too the way my judgment went. When love wounded me, I bethought me how I best might bear the smart. So from that day forth I began to hide in silence what I suffered. For I put no faith in counsellors, who know well to lecture others for presumption, yet themselves have countless troubles of their own. Next I did devise noble endurance of these wanton thoughts, striving by continence for victory. And last when I could not succeed in mastering love hereby, methought it best to die; and none can gainsay my purpose. For fain I would my virtue should to all appear, my shame have few to witness it. I knew my sickly passion now; to yield to it I saw how infamous; and more, I learnt to know so well that I was but a woman, a thing the world detests. Curses, hideous curses on that wife who first did shame her marriage-vow for lovers other than her lord! 'Twas from noble families this curse began to spread among our sex. For when the noble countenance disgrace, poor folk of course will think that it is right. Those too I hate who make profession of purity? though in secret reckless sinners. How can these, queen Cypris, ocean's child, e'er look their husbands in the face? do they never feel one guilty thrill that their accomplice, night, or the chambers of their house will find a voice and speak? This it is that calls on me to die, kind friends, that so I may ne'er be found to have disgraced my lord, or the children I have borne; no! may they grow up and dwell in glorious Athens, free to speak and act, heirs to such fair fame as a mother can bequeath. For to know that father or mother bas sinned doth turn the stoutest heart to slavishness. This alone, men say, can stand the buffets of life's battle, a just and virtuous soul in whomsoever found. For time unmasks the villain soon or late, holding up to them a mirror as to some blooming maid. 'Mongst such may I be never seen! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Now look! how fair is chastity 1 however viewed, whose fruit is good repute amongst men. NURSE
My queen, 'tis true thy tale of woe, but lately told, did for the moment strike me with wild alarm, but now I do reflect upon my foolishness;
Hippolytus
775
second thoughts are often best even with men. Thy fate is no uncommon one nor past one's calculations; thou art stricken by the passion Cypris sends. Thou art in love; what wonder? so are many more. Wilt thou, because thou lov'st, destroy thyself? 'Tis little gain, I trow, for those who love or yet may love their fellows, if death must be their end; for though the Love-Queen's onset in her might is more than man can bear, yet doth she gently visit yielding hearts, and only when she finds a proud unnatural spirit, doth she take and mock it past belief. Her path is in the sky, and mid the ocean's surge she rides; from her all nature springs; she sows the seeds of love, inspires the warm desire to which we sons of earth all owe our being. They who have aught to do with books of ancient scribes, or themselves engage in studious pursuits, know how Zeus of Semele was enamoured, how the bright-eyed goddess of the Dawn once stole Cephalus to dwell in heaven for the love she bore him; yet these in heaven abide nor shun the gods' approach, content, I trow, to yield to their misfortune. Wilt thou refuse to yield? thy sire, it seems, should have begotten thee on special terms or with different gods for masters, if in these laws thou wilt not acquiesce. How many, prithee, men of sterling sense, when they see their wives unfaithful, make as though they saw it not? How many fathers, when their sons have gone astray, assist them in their amours? 'Tis part of human wisdom to conceal the deed of shame. Nor should man aim at too great refinement in his life; for they cannot with exactness finish e'en the roof that covers in a house; and how dost thou, after falling into so deep a pit, think to escape? Nay, if thou hast more of good than bad, thou wiIt fare exceeding well, thy human nature considered. 0 cease, my darling child, from evil thoughts, let wanton pride be gone, for this is naught else, this wish to rival gods in perfectness. Face thy love; 'tis heaven's will thou shouldst. Sick thou art, yet tum thy sickness to some happy issue. For there are charms and spells to soothe the soul; surely some cure for thy disease will be found. Men, no doubt, might seek it long and late if our women's minds no scheme devise. LEADER
Although she gives thee at thy present need the wiser counsel, Phaedra, yet do I praise thee. Still my praise may sound more harsh and jar more cruelly on thy ear than her advice. PHAEDRA
'Tis even this, too plausible a tongue, that overthrows good governments and homes of men. We should not speak to please the ear but point the path that leads to noble fame.
Euripides NURSE
What means this solemn speech? Thou needst not rounded phrases,but a man. Straightway must we move to tell him frankly how it is with thee. Had not thy life to such a crisis come, or wert thou with self-control 1 endowed, ne'er would I to gratify thy passions have urged thee to this course; but now 'tis a struggle fierce to save thy life, and therefore less to blame. PHAEDRA
Accursed proposal! peace, woman! never utter those shameful words again! NURSE
Shameful, maybe, yet for thee better than honour's code. Better this deed, if it shall save thy life, than that name thy pride will kill thee to retain. PHAEDRA
I conjure thee, go no further! for thy words are plausible but infamous; for though as yet love has not undermined my soul, yet, if in specious words thou dress thy foul suggestion, I shall be beguiled into the snare from which I am now escaping. NURSE
If thou art of this mind, 'twere well thou ne'er hadst sinned; but as it is, hear me; for that is the next best course; I in my house have charms to soothe thy love,-'twas but now I thought of them;-these shall cure thee of thy sickness on no disgraceful terms, thy mind unhurt, if thou wilt be but brave. But from him thou lovest we must get some token, a word or fragment of his robe, and thereby unite in one love's twofold stream. PHAEDRA
Is thy drug a salve or potion? NURSE
I cannot tell; be content, my child, to profit by it and ask no questions. PHAEDRA
I fear me thou wilt prove too wiSe for me. NURSE
If thou fear this, confess thyself afraid of all; but why thy terror? PHAEDRA
Lest thou shouldst breathe a word of this to Theseus' son.
Hippolytus
777
NURSE
Peace, my child! I will do all things well; only be thou, queen Cypris, ocean's child, my partner in the work! And for the rest of my purpose, it will be enough for me to tell it to our friends within the house.
(The CHORUS
NtJRSE
goes into the palace.)
(singing) strophe
I
o Love, Love, that from the eyes diffusest soft desire, bringing on the souls of those, whom thou dost camp against, sweet grace, 0 never in evil mood appear to me, nor out of time and tune approach! :K"or fire nor meteor hurls a mightier bolt than Aphrodite's shaft shot by the hands of Love, the child of Zeus.
antistrophe
I
Idly, idly by the streams of Alpheus and in the Pythian shrines of Phoebus, Hellas heaps the slaughtered steers; while Love we worship not, Love, the king of men, who holds the key to Aphrodite's sweetest bower,-worship not him who, when he comes, lays waste and marks his path to mortal hearts by wide-spread woe.
strophe
2
There was that maiden ~ in Oechalia, a girl unwed, that knew no wooer yet nor married joys; her did the Queen of Love snatch from her home across the sea and gave unto Alcmena's son, mid blood and smoke and murderous marriage-hymns, to be to him a frantic fiend of hell; woe! woe for his wooing!
antistrophe
2
Ah! holy walls of Thebes, ah! fount of Dirce, ye could testify what course the love-queen follows. For with the blazing levin-bolt did she cut short the fatal marriage of Semele, mother of Zeus-born Bacchus. All things she doth inspire, dread goddess, winging her flight hither and thither like a bee. PHAEDRA
Peace, oh women, peace! I am undone. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What, Phaedra, is this dread event within thy house? PHAEDRA
Hush! let me hear what those within are saying.
Euripides LEADER
I am silent; this is surely the prelude to evil. PHAEDRA
(chanting)
Great gods! how awful are my sufferings! CHORUS
(chanting)
What a cry was there! what loud alarm! say what sudden terror, lady, doth thy soul dismay. PHAEDRA
I am undone. Stand here at the door and hear the noise arising in the house. CHORUS
(chanting)
Thou art already by the bolted door; 'tis for thee to note the sounds that issue from within. And tell me, 0 tell me what evil can be on foot. PHAEDRA
'Tis the son of the horse-loving Amazon who calls, Hippolytus, uttering foul curses on my servant. CHORUS
(chanting)
I hear a noise, but cannot clearly tell which way it comes. Ah! 'tis through the door the sound reached thee. PHAEDRA
Yes, yes, he is calling her plainly enough a go-between in vice, traitress to her master's honour. CHORUS
(chanting)
Woe, woe is me! thou art betrayed, dear mistressl What counsel shall I give thee? thy secret is out; thou art utterly undone. PHAEDRA
Ah me! ah me! CHORUS
(chanting)
Betrayed by friends 1 PHAEDRA
She hath ruined me by speaking of my misfortune; 'twas kindly meant, but an ill way to cure my malady. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
o what wilt thou do now in thy cruel dilemma?
[599-6I 5]
Hippolytus
779
PHAEDRA
I only know one way, one cure for these my woes, and that is instant death. (HIPPOLYTUS bursts out of the palace, followed closely by the NURSE.)
o mother earth!
HIPPOLYTUS
0 SW1'S unclouded orb! What words, W1fit for any lips, have reached my ears! NURSE
Peace, my son, lest some one hear thy outcry. HIPPOLYTUS
I cannot hear such awful words and hold my peace. NURSE
I do implore thee by thy fair right hand. HIPPOLYTUS
Let go my hand, touch not my robe. NURSE
o by thy knees I pray, destroy me not utterly. HIPPOLYTUS
Why say this, if, as thou pretendest, thy lips are free from blame? NURSE
:My son, this is no story to be noised abroad. HIPPOLYTUS
A virtuous tale grows fairer told to many. NURSE
N ever dishonour thy oath, my son. HIPPOLYTUS
My tongue an oath did take, but not my heart.s NURSE
My son, what wilt thou do? destroy thy friends? HIPPOLYTUS
Friends indeed! the wicked are no friends of mine. NURSE
o pardon me; to err is only human, child.
Euripides
[6r6-66 7]
HIPPOLYTUS
Great Zeus, why didst thou, to man's sorrow, put woman, evil counterfeit, to dwell where shines the sun? If thou wert minded that the human race should multiply, it was not from women they should have drawn their stock, but in thy temples they should have paid gold or iron or ponderous bronze and bought a family, each man proportioned to his offering, and so in independence dwelt, from women free. But now as soon as ever we would bring this plague into our home we bring its fortune to the ground. Tis clear from this how great a curse a woman is; the very father, that begot and nurtured her, to rid him of the mischief, gives her a dower and packs her off; while the husband, who takes the noxious 'weed into his home, fondly decks his sorry idol in fine raiment and tricks her out in robes, squandering by degrees, unhappy wight! his house's wealth. For he is in this dilemma; say his marriage has brought him good connections, he is glad then to keep the wife he loathes; or, if he gets a good wife but useless kin, he tries to stifle the bad luck with the good. But it is easiest for him who has settled in his house as wife a merecipher,4 incapable from simplicity. I hate a clever woman; never may she set foot in my house who aims at knowing more than women need; for in these clever women Cypris implants a larger store of villainy, while the artless woman is by her shallow wit from levity debarred. No servant should ever have had access to a wife, but men should put to live with them beasts, which bite, not talk, in which case they could not speak to anyone nor be answered back by them. But, as it is, the wicked in their chambers plot wickedness, and their servants carry it abroad. Even thus, vile wretch, thou cam'st to make me partner in an outrage on my father's honour; wherefore I must wash that stain away in running streams, dashing the water into my ears. How could I commit so foul a crime when by the very mention of it I feel myself polluted? Be well assured, woman, 'tis only my religious scruple saves thee. For had, not I unawares been caught by an oath, 'fore heaven! I would not have refrained from telling all unto my father. But now I will from the house away, so long as Theseus is abroad, and will maintain strict silence. But, when my father comes, I will return and see how thou and thy mistress face him, and so shall I learn by experience the extent of thy audacity. Perdition seize you both! I can never satisfy my hate for women, no! not even though some say this is ever my theme, for of a truth they always are evil. So either let some one prove them chaste/ or let me still trample on them for ever. (HIPPOLYTUS
departs in anger.)
[668-7 0 5]
Hippolytus CHORUS
(chanting)
o the cruel, unhappy fate of women! ,rhat arts, what arguments have we, once we have made a slip, to loose by craft the tight-drawn knot? PHAEDRA
(chanting)
I have met my deserts. 0 earth, 0 light of day! How can I escape the stroke of fate? How my pangs conceal, kind friends? "'bat god will appear to help me, what mortal to take my part or help me in unrighteousness? The present calamity of my life admits of no escape. Most hapless I of all my sex! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Alas, alas! the deed is done, thy servant's schemes have gone awry, my queen, and all is lost. PHAEDRA
(to the
NURSE)
Accursed woman! traitress to thy friends! How hast thou ruined me! May Zeus, my ancestor, smite thee with his fiery bolt and uproot thee from thy place. Did I not foresee thy purpose, did I not bid thee keep silence on the very matter which is now my shame? But thou wouldst not be still; wherefore my fair name will not go with me to the tomb. But now I must another scheme devise. Yon youth, in the keenness of his fury, will tell his father of my sin, and the aged Pittheus of my state, and fill the world with stories to my shame. Perdition seize thee and every meddling fool who by dishonest means would serve unwilling friends! NURSE
Mistress, thou may'st condemn the mischief I have done, for sorrow's sting o'ermasters thy judgment; yet can I answer thee in face of this, if thou wilt hear. 'Twas I who nurtured thee; I love thee still; but in my search for medicine to cure thy sickness I found what least I sought. Had I but succeeded, I had been counted wise, for the credit we get for wisdom is measured by our success. PHAEDRA
Is it just, is it any satisfaction to me,that thou shouldst wound me first, then bandy words with me? NURSE
We dwell on this too long; I was not wise, I own; but there are yet ways of escape from the trouble, my child.
Euripides PHAEDRA
Be dumb henceforth; evil was thy first advice to me, evil too thy attempted scheme. Begone and leave me, look to thyself; I will my own fortunes for the best arrange.
(The
NURSE
goes into the palace.)
Ye noble daughters of Troezen, grant me the only boon I crave; silence bury what ye here have heard.
In
LEADER
By majestic Artemis, child of Zeus, I swear I will never divulge aught of thy sorrows. PHAEDRA
'Tis well. But I, with all my thought, can but one way discover out of this calamity, that so I may secure my children's honour, and find myself some help as matters stand. For never, never will I bring shame upon my Cretan home, nor will I, to save one poor life, face Theseus after my disgrace. LEADER
Art thou bent then on some cureless woe? PHAEDRA
On death; the means thereto must I devise myself. LEADER
Hush! PHAEDRA
Do thou at least advise me well. For this very day shall I gladden Cypris, my destroyer, by yielding up my life, and shall own myself vanquished by cruel love. Yet shall my dying be another's curse, that he may learn not to exult at my misfortunes; but when he comes to share the self-same plague with me, he will take a lesson in wisdom.l. (PHAEDRA
CHORUS
enters the palace.)
(chanting) strophe
I
o to be nestling 'neath some pathless cavern, there by god's creating hand to grow into a bird amid the winged tribes! Away would I soar to Adria's wave-beat shore and to the waters of Eridanus; where a father's hapless daughters in their grief for Phaethon distil into the glooming flood the amber brilliance of their tears.
Hippolytus antistrophe
I
And to the apple-bearing strand of those minstrels in the west I then would come, where ocean's lord no more to sailors grants a passage o'er the deep dark main, finding there the heaven's holy bound, upheld by Atlas, where water from ambrosial founts wells up beside the couch of Zeus inside his halls, and holy earth, the bounteous mother, causes joy to spring in heavenly breasts. strophe
o
2
white-winged bark, that o'er the booming ocean-wave didst bring my royal mistress from her happy home, to crown her queen 'mongst sorrow's brides! Surely evil omens from either port, at least from Crete, were with that ship, what time to glorious Athens it sped its way, and the crew made fast its twisted cable-ends upon the beach of Munychus, and on the land stept out. antistrophe
2
Whence comes it that her heart is crushed, cruelly afflicted by Aphrodite with unholy love; so she by bitter grief o'erwhelmed will tie a noose within her bridal bower to fit it to her fair white neck, too modest for this hateful lot in life, prizing o'er all her name and fame, and striving thus to rid her soul of passion's sting. (The
NURSE
rushes out oj the palace.)
NURSE
Help! ho! To the rescue all who near the palace stand! She hath hung herself, our queen, the wife of Theseus. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Woe worth the day! the deed is done; our royal mistress is no more, dead she hangs in the dangling noose. NURSE
Haste! some one bring a two-edged knife wherewith to cut the knot about her neck. FmsT SEMI-CHORUS
Friends, what shall we do? think you we should enter the house, and loose the queen from the tight-drawn noose? SECOND SEMI-CHORUS
Why should we? Are there not young servants here? To do too much is not a safe course in life.
Euripides
[786-8roJ
NURSE
Layout the hapless corpse, straighten the limbs. This was a bitter way to sit at home and keep my master's house! (Size goes in.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS
She is dead, poor lady; 'tis this I hear. Already are they laying out the corpse. (THESEUS and his retinue have entered, unnoticed.) THESEUS
Women, can ye tell me what the uproar in the palace means? There came the sound of servants weeping bitterly to mine ear. None of my household deign to open wide the gates and give me glad welcome as a traveller from prophetic shrines. Hath aught befallen old Pittheus? No" Though he be well advanced in years, yet should I mourn, were he to quit this house. LEADER
'Tis not against the old, Theseus, that fate, to strike thee, aims this blow; prepare thy sorrow for a younger corpse. THESEUS
Woe is me! is it a child's life death robs me of? LEADER
They live; but, cruellest news of all for thee, their mother is no more. THESEUS
What! my wife dead? By what cruel stroke of chance? LEADER
About her neck she tied the hangman's knot. THESEUS
Had grief so chilled her blood? or what had befallen her? LEADER
I know but this, for I am myself but now arrived at the house to mourn thy sorrows, 0 Theseus. THESEUS
Woe is me! why have I crowned my head with woven garlands, when misfortune greets my embassage? Unbolt the doors, servants, loose their fastenings, that I may see the piteous sight, my wife, whose death is death to me. (The central doors of the palace open, disclosing the corpse.)
Hippolytus CHORUS (chanting) Woe! woe is thee for thy piteous lot! thou hast done thyself a hurt deep enough to overthrow this family. Ahl ah! the daring of it! done to death by violence and unnatural means, the desperate effort of thy own poor hand! Who cast the shadow o'er thy life, poor lady? THESEUS (chanting) Ah me, my cruel lot! sorrow hath done her worst on me. 0 fortune, how heavily hast thou set thy foot on me and on my house, by fiendish hands inflicting an unexpected stain? Nay, 'tis complete effacement of my life, making it not to be lived; for I see, alas! so wide an ocean of grief that I can never swim to shore again, nor breast the tide of this calamity. How shall I speak of thee, my poor wife, what tale of direst suffering tell? Thou art vanished like a bird from the covert of my hand, taking one headlong leap from me to Hades' halls. Alas, and woe! this is a bitter, bitter sight! This must be a judgment sent by God for the sins of an ancestor, which from some far source I am bringing on myself. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
My prince, 'tis not to thee alone such sorrows come; thou hast lost a noble wife, but so have many others. THESEUS (chanting) Fain would I go hide me 'neath earth's blackest depth, to dwell in darkness with the dead in misery, now that I am reft of thy dear presence! for thou hast slain me than thyself e'en more. Who can tell me what caused the fatal stroke that reached thy heart, dear wife? Will no ,one tell me what befell? doth my palace all in vain give shelter to a herd of menials? Woe, woe for thee, my wife! sorrows past speech, past bearing, I behold within my house; myself a ruined man, my home a solitude, my children orphans! CHORUS (chanting) Gone and left us hast thou, fondest wife and noblest of all women 'neath the sun's bright eye or night's star-lit radiance. Poor house, what sorrows are thy portion now! My eyes are wet with streams of tears to see thy fate; but the ill that is to follow has long with terror filled me. THESEUS
Hal what means this letter? clasped in her dear hand it hath some strange tale to tell. Hath she, poor lady, as a last request, written her bidding as to my marriage and her children? Take heart, poor ghost; no wife henceforth shall wed thy Theseus or invade his house. Ab! how yon
Euripides seal of my dead wife stamped with her golden ring affects my sight! Come, I will unfold the sealed packet and read her letter's message to me. CHORUS
(chanting)
'Voe unto us! Here is yet another evil in the train by heaven sent. Looking to what has happened, I should count my lot in life no longer worth one's while to gain. My master's house, alas! is ruined, brought to naught, I say. Spare it, 0 Heaven, if it may be. Hearken to my prayer, for I see, as with prophetic eye, an omen boding ill.
o horror!
THESEUS
woe on woe! and still they come, too deep for words, too heavy to bear. Ah me! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What is it? speak, if I may share in it. THESEUS
(chanting)
This letter loudly tells a hideous tale! where can I escape my load of woe? For I am ruined and undone, so awful are the words I find here written clear as if she cried them to me; woe is me! LEADER
Alas! thy words declare themselves the harbingers of woe. THESEUS
I can no longer keep the cursed tale within the portal of my lips, cruel
though its utterance be. Ah me! Hippolytus hath dared by brutal force to violate my honour, recking naught of Zeus, whose awful eye is over all. 0 father Poseidon, once didst thou promise to fulfil three prayers of mine; answer one of these and slay my son, let him not escape this single day, if the prayers thou gavest me were indeed with issue fraught.
o king, I
LEADER
do conjure thee, call back that prayer; hereafter thou wilt know thy error. Hear, I pray. THESEUS
It cannot be! Moreover I will banish him from this land, and by one of two fates shall he be struck down; either Poseidon, out of respect to my prayer, will cast his dead body into the house of Hades; or exiled from this land, a wanderer to some foreign shore, shall he eke out a life of misery.
Hippolytus LEADER
Lo! where himself doth come, thy son Hippolytus, in good time; dismiss thy hurtful rage, King Theseus, and bethink thee what is best for thy house. (HIPPOLYTUS enters.; HIPPOLYTUS
I heard thy voice, father, and hasted to come hither; yet know I not the cause of thy present sorrow, but would fain learn of thee. (He sees PHAEDRA'S body.) Hal what is this? thy wife is dead? 'Tis very strange; it was but now I left her; a moment since she looked upon the light. How came she thus? the manner of her death? this would I learn of thee, father. Art dumb? silence availeth not in trouble; nay, for the heart that fain would know all must show its curiosity even in sorrow's hour. Be sure it is not right, father, to hide misfortunes from those who love, ay, more than love thee. THESEUS
o ye sons of men, victims of
a thousand idle errors, why teach your countless crafts, why scheme and seek to find a way for everything, while one thing ye know not nor ever yet have made your prize, a way to teach them wisdom whose souls are void of sense? HIPPOLYTUS
A very master in his craft the man, who can force fools to be wise! But these ill-timed subtleties of thine, father, make me fear thy tongue is running wild through trouble. THESEUS
Fie upon thee! man needs should have some certain test set up to try his friends, some touchstone of their hearts, to know each friend whether he be true or false; all men should have two voices, one the voice of honesty, expediency's the other, so would honesty confute its knavish opposite, and then we could not be deceived. HIPPOLYTUS
Say, hath some friend been slandering me and hath he still thine ear? and I, though guiltless, banned? I am amazed, for thy random, frantic words fill me with wild alarm. THESEUS
o the mind of mortal man! to what lengths will it proceed? What limit will its bold assurance have? for if it goes on growing as man's life advances, and each successor outdo the man before him in villainy, the gods will have to add another sphere unto the world, which shall take in
788
Euripides
the knaves and villains. Behold this man; he, my own son, hath outraged mine honour, his guilt most clearly proved by my dead wife. Now, since thou hast dared this loathly crime, come, look thy father in the face. Art thou the man who dost with gods consort, as one above the vulgar herd? art thou the chaste 1 and sinless saint? Thy boasts will never persuade me to be guilty of attributing ignorance to gods. Go then, vaunt thyself, and drive thy petty trade in viands formed of lifeless food; 5 take Orpheus for thy chief and go a-revelling, with all honour for the vapourings of many a written scroll, seeing thou now art caught. Let all beware, I say, of such hypocrites! who hunt their prey with fine words, and all the while are scheming villainy. She is dead; dost think that this will save thee? Why this convicts thee more than all, abandoned wretch! What oaths, what pleas can outweigh this letter, so that thou shouldst 'scape thy doom? Thou wilt assert she hated thee, that 'twixt the bastard and the true-born child nature has herself put war; it seems then by thy showing she made a sorry bargain with her life, if to gratify her hate of thee she lost what most she prized. 'Tis said, no doubt, that frailty finds no place in man but is innate in woman; my experience is, young men are no more secure than women, whenso the Queen of Love excites a youthful breast; although their sex comes in to help them. Yet why do I thus bandy words with thee, when before me lies the corpse, to be the clearest witness? Begone at once, an exile from this land, and ne'er set foot again in god-built Athens nor in the confines of my dominion. For if I am tamely to submit to this treatment from such as thee, no more will Sin is, robber of the Isthmus, bear me witness how I slew him, but say my boasts are idle, nor will those rocks Scironian, that fringe the sea, call me the miscreants' scourge. LEADER
I know not how to call happy any child of man; for that which was first has turned and now is last. HIPPOLYTUS
Father, thy wrath and the tension of thy mind are terrible; yet this c.harge, specious though its arguments appear, becomes a calumny, if one lay it bare. Small skill have I in speaking to a crowd, but have a readier wit for comrades of mine own age and small companies. Yea, and this is as it should be; for they, whom the wise despise, are better qualified to speak before a mob. Yet am I constrained under the present circumstances to break silence. And at the outset will I take the point which formed the basis of thy stealthy attack on me, designed to put me out of court unheard; dost see yon sun, this earth? These do not contain, for all thou dost deny it, chastity 1 surpassing mine. To reverence God I count the highest knowledge, and to adopt as friends not those who attempt in-
Hippolytus justice, but such as would blush to propose to their companions aught disgr;).ceful or pleasure them by shameful services; to mock at friends is not my way, father, but I am stilI the same behind their backs as to their face. The very crime thou thinkest to catch me in, is just the one I am untainted with, for to this day have I kept me pure from women. !\or know I aught thereof, save what I hear or see in pictures, for I haye no wish to look even on these, so pure my virgin soul. I grant my claim to chastity 1 may not convince thee; well, 'tis then for thee to show the way I was corrupted. Did this woman exceed in beauty all her sex? Did I aspire to fill the husband's place after thee and succeed to thy house? That surely would have made me out a fool, a creature void of sense. Thou wilt say, "Your chaste 1 man loves to lord it." No, no! say I, sovereignty pleases only those whose hearts are quite corrupt. Now, I would be the first and best at alI the games in Hellas, but second in the state, for ever happy thus with the noblest for my friends. For there one may be happy, and the absence of danger gives a charm beyond all princely joys. One thing I have not said, the rest thou hast. Had I a witness to attest my purity, and were I pitted 'gainst her still alive, facts would show thee on enquiry who the culprit was. Now by Zeus, the god of oaths, and by the earth, whereon we stand, I swear to thee I never did lay hand upon thy wife nor would have wished to, or have harboured such a thought. Slay me, ye godsl rob me of name and honour, from home and city cast me forth, a wandering exile o'er the earth! nor sea nor land receive my bones when I am dead, if I am such a miscreant! I cannot say if she through fear destroyed herself, for more than this am I forbid. With her discretion took the place of chastity/ while I, though chaste, was not discreet in using this virtue. LEADER
Thy oath by heaven, strong security, sufficiently refutes the charge. THESEUS
A wizard or magician must the fellow be, to think he can first flout me, his father, then by coolness master my resolve. HIPPOLYTUS
Father, thy part in this doth fill me with amaze; wert thou my son and I thy sire, by heaven! I would have slain, not let thee off with banishment, hadst thou presumed to violate my honour. THESEUS
A just remark! yet shalt thou not die by the sentence thine own lips pronounce upon thyself; for death, that cometh in a moment, is an easy end for wretchedness. Nay, thou shalt be exiled from thy fatherland, and
79 0
Euripides
wandering to a foreign shore drag out a life of misery; for such are the wages of sin. HIPPOLYTUS
Oh! what wilt thou do? Wilt thou banish me, without so much as waiting for Time's evidence on my case? THESEUS
Ay, beyond the sea, beyond the bounds of Atlas, if I eQuId, so deeply do I hate thee. HIPPOLYTUS
,,'hat! banish me untried, without even testing my oath, the pledge I offer, or the voice of seers? THESEUS
This letter here, though it bears no seers' signs, arraigns thy pledges; as for birds that fly o'er our heads, a long farewell to them. HIPPOLYTUS
(aside)
Great gods! why do I not unlock my lips, seeing that I am ruined by you, the objects of my reverence? No, I will not; I should nowise persuade those whom I ought to, and in vain should break the oath I swore. THESEUS
Fie upon thee! that solemn air of thine is more than I can bear. Begone from thy native land forthwithl HIPPOLYTUS
Whither shall I turn? Ah mel whose friendly house will take me in, an exile on so grave a charge? THESEUS
Seek one who loves to entertain as guests and partners in his crimes corrupters of men's wives. HIPPOLYTUS
Ah mel this wounds my heart and brings me nigh to tears to think that I should appear so vile, and thou believe me so. THESEUS
Thy tears and forethought had been more in season when thou didst presume to outrage thy father's wife. HIPPOLYTUS
o house, I would thou couldst speak for me and witness if I am so vile!
[ro76-IIIO]
Hippolytus
79 1
THESEUS
Dost fly to speechless witnesses? This deed, though it speaketh not, proves tny guilt clearly. HIPPOLYTUS
Alas! \Vould I could stand and face myself, so should I weep to see the sorrows I endure. THESEUS
Ay, 'tis thy character to honour thyself far more than reverence thy parents, as thou shouldst. HIPPOLYTUS
Unhappy mother! son of sorrow! Heaven keep all friends of mine from bastard birth! THESEUS
Ho! servants, drag him hence! You heard my proclamation long ago condemning him to exile. HIPPOLYTUS
Whoso of them doth lay a hand on me shall rue it; thyself expel me, if thy spirit move thee, from the land. THESEUS
I will, unless my word thou straight obey; no pity for thy exile steals into my heart. (THESEUS goes in. The central doors of tlte palace are closed.) HIPPOLYTUS
The sentence then, it seems, is passed. Ah, misery! How well I know the truth herein, but know no way to tell it! 0 daughter of Latona, dearest to me of all deities, partner, comrade in the chase, far from glorious Athens must I fly. Farewell, city and land of Erechtheus; farewell, Troezen, most joyous home wherein to pass the spring of life; 'tis my last sight of thee, farewell! Come, my comrades in this land, young like me, greet me kindly and escort me forth, for never will ye behold a purer 1 soul, for all my father's doubts. (HIPPOLYTUS departs. Many follow him.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I In very deed the thoughts I have about the gods, whenso they come into my mind, do much to soothe its grief, but though I cherish secret hopes of some great guiding will, yet am I at fault when I survey the fate and doings of the sons of men; change succeeds to change, and man's life veers and shifts in endless restlessness.
79 2
[IIII-IIS6] antistrophe I
Euripides
Fortune grant me this, I pray, at heaven's hand,-a happy lot in life and a soul from sorrow free; opinions let me hold not too precise nor yet too hollw; but, lightly changing my habits to each morrow as it comes, may I thus attain a life of bliss!
strophe 2 For now no more is my mind free from doubts, unlooked-for sights greet my vision; for lo! I see the morning star of Athens, eye of Hellas, driven by his father's fury to another land. l\lourn, ye sands of my native shores, ye oak-groves on the hills, where with his fleet hounds he would hunt the quarry to the death, attending on Dictynna, awful queen.
antistrophe 2 No more will he mount his car drawn by Venetian steeds, filling the course round Limna with the prancing of his trained horses. Nevermore in his father's house shall he wake the Muse that never slept beneath his lute-strings; no hand will crown the spots where rests the maiden Latona 'mid the boskage deep; nor evermore shall our virgins vie to win thy love, now thou art banished.
epode While I with tears at thy unhappy fate shall endure a lot all undeserved. Ah1 hapless mother, in vain didst thou bring forth, it seems. I am angered with the gods; out upon them! 0 ye linked Graces, why are ye sending from his native land this poor youth, a guiltless sufferer, far from his home? LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But lot I see a servant of Hippolytus hasting with troubled looks towards the palace.
(A
MESSENGER
enters.)
MESSENGER
Ladies, where may I find Theseus, king of the country? pray, tell me if ye know; is he within the palace here? LEADER
Lo! himself approaches from the palace. (THESEUS
enters.)
[II57- I2 00J
Hippolytus
793
MESSENGER
Theseus, I am the bearer of troublous tidings to thee and all citizens who dwell in Athens or the bounds of Troezen. THESEUS
How now? hath some strange calamity 0 'ertaken these two neighbouring cities? MESSENGER
In one brief word, Hippolytus is dead. 'Tis true one slender thread still links him to the light of life. THESEUS
\Vho slew him? Did some husband come to blows with him, one whose wife, like mine, had suffered brutal violence? MESSENGER
He perished through those steeds that drew his chariot, and through the curses thou didst utter, praying to thy sire, the ocean-king, to slay thy son. THESEUS
Ye gods and king Poseidon, thou hast proved my parentage by hearkening to my prayer! Say how he perished; how fell the uplifted hand of Justice to smite the villain who dishonoured me? MESSENGER
Hard by the wave-beat shore were we combing out his horses' ~anes, weeping the while, for one had come to say that Hippolytus was harshly exiled by thee and nevermore would return to set foot in this land. Then came he, telling the same doleful tale to us upon the beach, and with him was a countless throng of friends who followed after. At length he stayed his lamentation and spake: ""Why weakly rave on this wise? My father's commands must be obeyed. Ho 1 servants, harness my horses to the chariot; this is no longer now city of mine." Thereupon each one of us bestirred himself, and, ere a man could say 'twas done, we had the horses standing ready at our master's side. Then he caught up the reins from the chariot-rail, first fitting his feet exactly in the hollows made for them. But first with outspread palms he called upon the gods, "0 Zeus, now strike me dead, if I have sinned, and let my father learn how he is wronging me, in death at least, if not in life." Therewith he seized the whip and lashed each horse in turn; while we, close by his chariot, near the reins, kept up with him along the road that leads direct to Argos and Epidaurus. And just as we were coming to a desert spot, a strip of sand beyond the borders of this country, sloping right to the Saronic gulf,
Euripides [I201-I26o] 794 there issued thence a deep rumbling sound, as it were an earthquake, a fearsome noise, and the horses reared their heads and pricked their ears, while we were filled with wild alarm to know whence came the sound; when, as we gazed toward the wave-beat shore, a wave tremendous we beheld towering to the skies, so that from our view the cliffs of Sciron vanished, for it hid the isthmus and the rock of Asclepius; then swelling and frothing with a crest of foam, the sea discharged it toward the beach where stood the harnessed car, and in the moment that it broke, that mighty wall of waters, there issued from the wave a monstrous bull, whose beIIowing fiIIed the land with fearsome echoes, a sight too awful as it seemed to us who witnessed it. A panic seized the horses there and then, but our master, to horses' ways quite used, gripped in both hands his reins, and tying them to his body puIIed them backward as the sailor pulls his oar; but the horses gnashed the forged bits between their teeth and bore him wildly on, regardless of their master's guiding hand or rein or jointed car. And oft as he would take the guiding rein and steer for softer ground, showed that buII in front to turn him back again, maddening his team with terror; but if in their frantic career they ran towards the rocks, he would draw nigh the chariot-rail, keeping up with them, until, suddenly dashing the wheel against a stone, he upset and wrecked the car; then was dire confusion, axle-boxes and linchpins springing into the air. W'hile he, poor youth, entangled in the reins was dragged along, bound by a stubborn knot, his poor head dashed against the rocks, his flesh all torn, the while he cried out piteously, "Stay, stay, my horses whom my own hand hath fed at the manger, destroy me not utterly. 0 luckless curse of a fatherl Will no one come and save me for all my virtue?" Now we, though much we longed to help, were left far behind. At last, I know not how, he broke loose from the shapely reins that bound him, a faint breath of life still in him; but the horses disappeared, and that portentous bull, among the rocky ground, I know not where. I am but a slave in thy house, 'tis true, 0 king, yet will I never believe so monstrous a charge against thy son's character, no! not though the whole race of womankind should hang itself, or one should fill with writing every pine-tree tablet grown on Ida, sure as I am of his uprightness. LEADER
Alas! new troubles come to plague us, nor is there any escape from fate and necessity. THESEUS
My hatred for him who hath thus suffered made me glad at thy tidings, yet from regard for the gods and him, because he is my son, I feel neither joy nor sorrow at his sufferings.
[126I- I 3 IO
J
Hippolytus
795
MESSENGER
But say, are we to bring the victim hither, or how are we to fulfil thy wishes? Bethink thee; if by me thou wilt be schooled, thou wilt not harshly treat thy son in his sad plight. THESEUS
Bring him hither, that when I see him face to face, who hath denied having polluted my wife's honour, I may by words and heaven's visitation convict him. (The CHORUS
1:IESSENGER
departs.)
(singing)
Ah! Cypris, thine the hand that guides the stubborn hearts of gods and men; thine, and that attendant boy's, who, with painted plumage gay, flutters round his victims on lightning wing. O'er the land and booming deep on golden pinion borne flits the god of Love, maddening the heart and beguiling the senses of all whom he attacks, savage whelps on mountains bred, ocean's monsters, creatures of this sun-warmed earth, and man; thine, 0 Cypris, thine alone the sovereign power to rule them all. (ARTEMIS ARTEMIS
appears above.)
(chanting)
Hearken, I bid thee, noble son of Aegeus: lo! 'tis I, Latona's child, that speak, I, Artemis. Why, Theseus, to thy sorrow dost thou rejoice at these tidings, seeing that thou hast slain thy son most impiously, listening to a charge not clearly proved, but falsely sworn to by thy wife? though clearly has the curse therefrom upon thee fallen. Why dost thou not for very shame hide beneath the dark places of the earth, or change thy human life and soar on wings to escape this tribulation? 'Mongst men of honour thou hast !lOW no share in life. (She now speaks.)
Hearken, Theseus; I will put thy wretched case. Yet will it naught avail thee, if I do, but vex thy heart; stilI with this intent I came, to show thy son's pure heart,-that he may die with honour,-as well the frenzy and, in a sense, the nobleness of thy wife; for she was cruelly stung with a passion for thy son by that goddess whom all we, that joy in virgin purity, detest. And though she strove to conquer love by resolution, yet by no fault of hers she fell, thanks to her nurse's strategy, who did reveal her malady unto thy son under oath. But he would none of her counsels, as indeed was right, nor yet, when thou didst revile him, would he break the oath he swore, from piety. She meantime, fearful of
Euripides
[13 10- 1 355]
being found out, wrote a lying letter, destroying by guile thy son, but yet persuading thee. THESEUS
Woe is me! ARTE~IS
Doth my story wound thee, Theseus? Be stilI awhile; hear what follows, so wilt thou have more cause to groan. Dost remember those three prayers thy father granted thee, fraught with certain issue? 'Tis one of these thou hast misused, unnatural wretch, against thy son, instead of aiming it at an enemy. Thy sea-god sire, 'tis true, for all his kind intent, hath granted that boon he was compelled, by reason of his promise, to grant. But thou alike in his eyes and in mine hast shewn thy evil heart, in that thou hast forestalled all proof or voice prophetic, hast made no inquiry, nor taken time for consideration, but with undue haste cursed thy son even to the death. THESEUS
Perdition seize me! Queen revered! ARTEMIS
An awful deed was thine, but still even for this thou mayest obtain pardon; for it was Cypris that would have it so, sating the fury of her soul. For this is law amongst us gods; none of us will thwart his neighbour's will, but ever we stand aloof. For be well assured, did I not fear Zeus, never would I have incurred the bitter shame of handing over to death a man of all his kind to me most dear. As for thy sin, first thy ignorance absolves thee from its villainy, next thy wife, who is dead, was lavish in her use of convincing arguments to influence thy mind. On thee in chief this storm of woe hath burst, yet is it some grief to me as well j for when the righteous die, there is no joy in heaven, albeit we try to destroy the wicked, house and home. CHORUS (chanting) La! where he comes, this hapless youth, his fair young flesh and auburn locks most shamefully handled. Unhappy house! what twofold sorrow doth o'ertake its halls, through heaven's ordinance! (HIPPOLYTUS enters, assisted by his attendants.) HIPPOLYTUS (chanting) Ahl ah! woe is me! foully undone by an impious father's impious imprecationl Undone, undonel woe is me! Through my head dart fearful pains; my brain throbs convulsively. Stop, lei me rest my worn-out frame. Oh, oh! Accursed steeds, that mine own hand did
[1355- 1400 ]
Hippolytus
797
feed, ye have been my ruin and my death. 0 by the gods, good sirs, I beseech ye, softly touch my wounded limbs. "·ho stands there at my right side? Lift me tenderly; with slow and even step conduct a poor wretch cursed by his mistaken sire. Great Zeus, dost thou see this? Me thy reverent worshipper, me who left all men behind in purity/ plunged thus into yawning Hades 'neath the earth, reft of life; in vain the toils I have endured through my piety towards mankind. Ah me! ah me! 0 the thrill of anguish shooting through me! Set ·me down, poor wretch I am; come Death to set me free! Kill me, end my sufferings. 0 for a sword two-edged to hack my flesh, and close this mortal life! Ill-fated curse of my father! the crimes of bloody kinsmen, ancestors of old, now pass their boundaries and tarry not, and upon me are they come all guiltless as I am; ah! why? Alas, alas! what can I say? How from my life get rid of this relentless agony? o that the stern Death-god, night's black visitant, would give my sufferings rest! ARTEMIS
Poor sufferer! cruel the fate that links thee to it! Thy noble soul hath been thy ruin. HIPPOLYTUS
Ah! the fragrance from my goddess wafted! Even in my agony I feel thee near and find relief; she is here in this very place, my goddess Artemis. ARTEMIS
She is, poor sufferer! the goddess thou hast loved the best. HIPPOLYTUS
Dost see me, mistress mine? dost see my present suffering? ARTEMIS
I see thee, but mine eyes no tear Play weep. HIPPOLYTUS
Thou hast none now to lead the hunt or tend thy fane. .ARTEMIS
None now; yet e'en in death I love thee still. HIPPOLYTUS
None to groom thy steeds, or guard thy shrines. ARTEMIS
'Twas Cypris, mistress of iniquity, devised this evil.
Euripides HIPPOLYTUS
Ah me! now know I the goddess who destroyed me. ARTEMIS
She was jealous of her slighted honour, vexed at thy chaste life. l HIPPOLYTUS
Ah! then I see her single hand hath struck down three of us. ARTEMIS
Thy sire and thee, and last thy father's wife. flrpPOLYTUS
My sire's ill-luck as well as mine I mourn. ARTEMIS
He was deceived by a goddess's design. HIPPOLYTUS
Woe is thee, my father, in this sad mischance! THESEUS
~Iy
son, I am a ruined man; life has no joys for me. HIPPOLYTUS
For this mistake I mourn thee rather than myself. THESEUS
o that I had died for thee, my son!
HIPPOLYTUS
Ah! those fatal gifts thy sire Poseidon gave. THESEUS
Would GDd these lips had never uttered that prayer! HIPPOLYTUS
Why not? thou wouldst in any case have slain me in thy fury then. THESEUS
Yes; Heaven had perverted my power to think. HIPPOLYTUS
o that the race of men could bring a curse upon the gods! ARTEMIS
Enough! for though thou pass to gloom beneath the earth, the wrath of Cypris shall not, at her will, fallon thee unrequited, because thou hadst
Hippolytus
799
a noble righteous soul. For I with mine own hand will with these unerring shafts avenge me on another,o who is her votary, dearest to her of all the sons of men. And to thee, poor sufferer, for thy anguish now will I grant high honours in the city of Troezen; for thee shall maids unwed before their marriage cut off their hair, thy harvest through the long roll of time of countless bitter tears. Yea, and for ever shall the virgin choir hymn thy sad memory, nor shall Phaedra's love for thee fall into oblivion and pass away unnoticed. But thou, 0 son of old Aegeus, take thy son in thine arms, draw him close to thee, for unwittingly thou slewest him, and men may well commit an error when gods put it in their way. And thee Hippolytus, I admonish; hate not thy sire, for in this death thou dost but meet thy destined fate. And now farewell! 'tis not for me to gaze upon the dead, or pollute )!lY sight with death-scenes, and e 'en now I see thee nigh that evil. (ARTEMIS vanishes.) HIPPOLYTUS
Farewell, blest virgin queen! leave me ROW! Easily thou resignest our long friendship! I am reconciled with my father at thy desire, yea, for ever before I would obey thy bidding. Ah me! the darkness is settling even now upon my eyes. Take me, father, in thy arms, lift me up. THESEUS
Woe is me, my son! what art thou doing to me thy hapless sire! HIPPOLYTUS
I am a broken man; yes, I see the gates that close upon the dead. THESEUS
Canst leave me thus with murder on my soul! HIPPOLYTUS
No, no; I set thee free from this bloodguiltiness. THESEUS
What sayest thou? dost absolve me from bloodshed? HIPPOLYTUS
Artemis, the archer-queen, is my witness that I do. THESEUS
My own dear child, how generous dost thou show thyself to thy father! HIPPOLYTUS
Farewell, dear father! a long farewell to thee!
800
Euripides THESEUS
o that holy, noble soul of thine!
HIPPOLYTUS
Pray to have children such as me born in lawful wedlock. THESEUS
o leave me not, my son;
endure awhile. HIPPOLYTUS
·Tis finished, my endurance; I die, father; quickly veil my face with a mantle. THESEUS
o glorious Athens, realm of Pallas,
what a splendid hero ye have lostl Ah me, ah me! How oft shall I remember thy evil works, 0 Cypris! CHORUS (singing)
On all our citizens hath come this universal sorrow, unforeseen. Now shall the copious tear gush forth, for sad news about great men takes more than usual hold upon the heart.
NOTES FOR HIPPOL YTVS
COLERIDGE'S translation has been slightly altered in the following lines: 4 0,95, 163-164,278,467,636, 788 ,801,821, 855, 893, 901, 905-906, 9 2 4, 934, 135 1, 144 1, 145 8. I. All the words with which this note is keyed are Coleridge's renderings of the same Greek word in the original, sophrosyne, either in the nominal, adjectival, or verbal form. It appears so frequently in the Greek text at important points that it comes to be a conception central to the meaning of the whole play. In a sense Euripides is endeavouring to make clear what real sophrosyne actually is. It is impossible to find a single English word which will carry its entire meaning. Coleridge's usual renderings, "chastity" or "purity" must be supplemented by the connotations of self-restraint, moderation, temperance and self-control. 2. This refers to the story of Herac1es and Iole. Cf. Sophocles, The
Trachiniae. 3. Cf. Aristophanes Frogs, lines 101-102, and 147I. 4. Cf. note on line 638 in J. E. Harry's edition of the Hippolytus. 5. Theseus is taunting Hippolytus for being associated with the Orphic mysteries. 6. This refers to Adoms.
IV HECUBA
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
THE GHOST OF POLYDORUS, SO/Z oj HECUBA and Priam, HECUBA, wife of Priam CHORUS OF CAPTIVE TROJAN WOMEN POLYXENA, daughter HECUBA and Priam ODYSSEUS
of
TALTHYBIUS, herald :\IAID OF HECUBA AGAMEMKON
of AGAMEMNON
POLYMESTOR, King of the Thracian Chersonese Children of POLYMESTOR, Attendants, and guards
King oj Troy
INTRODUCTION
THE date when Euripides presented his Hecuba is not precisely known. Available evidence indicates that it was produced about the year 425 B.C., some three or four years after the appearance of the Hippolytus. The play is the first of those now extant wherein the poet turns to the legends of the Trojan War for his material. He chooses as his central figure, Hecuba, the queen of the fallen city. She is now the slave of Agamemnon, leader of the conquering Greek host which, as the play opens, is on the point of sailing home. Although the Hecuba is often regarded as the first of Euripides' series of "war plays," the high point of which is, of course, the pageant-like Tyo jan Women, the emphasis in the play is less upon the horrors of war as they are manifested in the character of Hecuba, than upon the psychological analysis of the character and its reaction to manifold sufferings, which only in part derive from war. The Hecuba is sharply divided into two parts. The first deals with the sacrifice of Polyxena, daughter of the queen, whom the Greeks have cruelly voted to slay in order to appease and honour the spirit of Achilles. The second part reveals Hecuba as she exacts her vengeance from the king of Thrace, Polymestor, to whom she had entrusted her young son, Polydorus, for safe keeping during the course of the war. Polymestor, when the war ended, treacherously killed the youth to gain the sum of money which had been given him to hold in trust when he accepted the guardianship. Hecuba, by chance, discovers Polydorus' death, and then takes steps towards her revenge. The two sections of the play are integrated through the medium of Hecuba's character, and only by this means does the poet manage to achieve a requisite degree of artistic unity for his piece. In the first half of the play, Hecuba, comforted by the fact that she has two children left, Polyxena and Polydorus, endures the ghastly experience of seeing her daughter carried off to death. She is strengthened by the calm courage displayed by Polyxena, who with nobility and dignity goes forth to meet her doom. Surely one of the finest passages in Euripides is the speech of Talthybius, the Greek herald, describing how she died. In the latter section, the discovery of the death of Polydorus hardens Hecuba into cold-blooded unemotional bitterness. She revenges herself on Poly80 5
806
Introduction
mestor with horrible ferocity, yet the effect of this half of the play, as critics generally hold, is marred by the almost formal debate carried on between Hecuba and Polymestor before Agamemnon, who is acting in the role of judge. Despite this defect, the delineation of Hecuba is notable, and the poet has portrayed her effectively as she passes from a state of abject despair into one of cold fury.
HECUBA
(SCENE:-Bejore AGAMEMNON'S tent in the Greek camp upon the shore oj the Thracian Chersonese. The GHOST OF POLYDORUS appears.) GHOST
Lol I AM come from out the charnel-house and gates of gloom, where Hades dwells apart from gods, I Polydorus, a son of Hecuba the daughter of Cisseus and of Priam. Now my father, when Phrygia's capital was threatened with destruction by the spear of Hellas, took alarm and conveyed me secretly from the land of Troy unto Polymestor's house, his friend in Thrace, who sows these fruitful plains of Chersonese, curbing by his might a nation delighting in horses. And with me my father sent great store of gold by stealth, that, if ever llium's walls should fall, his children that survived might not want for means to live. I was the youngest of Priam's sons; and this it was that caused my stealthy removal from the land; for my childish arm availed not to carry weapons or to wield the spear. So long then as the bulwarks of our land stood firm, and Troy's battlements abode unshaken, and my brother Hector prospered in his warring, I, poor child, grew up and flourished, like some vigorous shoot, at the court of the Thracian, my father's friend. But when Troy fell and Hector lost his life and my father's hearth was rooted up, and himself fell butchered at the god-built altar by the hands of Achilles' murderous son; then did my father's friend slay me his helpless guest for the sake of the gold, and thereafter cast me into the swell of the sea, to keep the gold for himself in his house. And there I lie one thne upon the strand, another in the salt sea's surge, drifting ever up and down upon the billows, unwept, unburied; but now am I hovering o'er the head of my dear mother Hecuba, a disembodied spirit, keeping my airy station these three days, ever since my poor mother came from Troy to linger here in Chersonese. Meantime all the Achaeans sit idly here in their ships at the shores of Thrace; for the son of Peleus, even Achilles, appeared above his tomb and stayed the whole host of Hellas, as they were making straight for home across the sea, demanding to have my sister Polyxena offered at his tomb, and to receive his guerdon. And he will obtain this
,
80 7
808
Euripides
prize, nor will they that are his friends refuse the gift; and on this very day is fate leading my sister to her doom. So will my mother see two children dead at once, me and that ill-fated maid. For I, to win a grave, ah me! will appear amid the rippling waves before her bond-maid's feet. Yes! I have won this boon from the powers below, that I should find a tomb and fall into my mother's hands; so shall I get my heart's desire; wherefore I will go and waylay aged Hecuba, for yonder she passeth on her way from the shelter of Agamemnon's tent, terrified at my spectre. Woe is thee! ah, mother mine! from a palace dragged to face a life of slavery! how sad thy lot, as sad as once 'twas blest! Some god is now destroying thee, setting this in the balance to outweigh thy former bliss. (The GHOST vanishes. HECUBA enters from the tent of AGAMEMNON, supported by her attendants, captive Trojan women.) HECUBA (chanting) Guide these aged steps, my servants, forth before the house; support your fellow-slave, your queen of yore, ye maids of Troy. Take hold upon my aged hand, support me, guide me, lift me up; and I will lean upon your bended arm as on a staff and quicken my halting footsteps onwards. 0 dazzling light of Zeus! 0 gloom of night! why am I thus scared by fearful visions of the night? 0 earth, dread queen, mother of dreams that flit on sable wings! I am seeking to avert the vision of the night, the sight of horror which I saw so clearly in my dreams touching my son, who is safe in Thrace, and Polyxena my daughter dear. Ye gods of this land 1 preserve my son, the last and only anchor of my house, now settled in Thrace, the land of snow, safe in the keeping of his father's friend. Some fresh disaster is in store, a new strain of sorrow will be added to our woe. Such ceaseless thrills of terror never wrung my heart before. Oh! where, ye Trojan maidens, can I find inspired Helenus or Cassandra, that they may read me my dream? For I saw a dappled hind mangled by a wolf's bloody fangs, torn from my knees by force in piteous wise. And this too filled me with affright; o'er the summit of his tomb appeared Achilles' phantom, and for his guerdon he would have one of the luckless maids of Troy. Wherefore, I implore you, powers divine, avert this horror from my daughter, from my child.
(The
CHORUS OF CAPTIVE TROJAN WOMEN
enters.)
CHORUS (singing) Hecuba, I have hastened away to thee, leaving my master's tent, where the lot assigned me as his appointed slave, in the day that I was driven from the city of Ilium, hunted by Achaeans thence at the
Hecuba
80 9
point of the spear; no alleviation bring I for thy sufferings; nay, I have laden myself with heavy news, and am a herald of sorrow to thee, lady. 'Tis said the Achaeans have determined in full assembly to offer thy daughter in sacrifice to Achilles; for thou knowest how one day he appeared standing on his tomb in golden harness, and stayed the sea-borne barques, though they had their sails already hoisted, with this pealing cry, "Whither away so fast, ye Danai, leaving my tomb without its prize?" Thereon arose a violent dispute with stormy altercation, and opinion was divided in the warrior host of Hellas, some being in favour of offering the sacrifice at the tomb, others dissenting. There was Agamemnon, all eagerness in thy interest, because of his love for the frenzied prophetess; but the two sons of Theseus, scions of Athens, though supporting different proposals, yet agreed on the same decision, which was to crown Achilles' tomb with fresh-spilt blood; for they said they never would set Cassandra's love before Achilles' valour. Now the zeal of the rival disputants was almost equal, until that shifty, smooth-mouthed varlet, the son of Laertes, whose tongue is ever at the service of the mob, persuaded the army not to put aside the best of all the Danai for want of a bond-maid's sacrifice, nor have it said by any of the dead that stand beside Persephone, "The Danai have left the plains of Troy without one thought of gratitude for their brethren who died for Hellas." Odysseus will be here in an instant, to drag the tender maiden from thy breast and tear her from thy aged arms. To the temples, to the altars with theel at Agamemnon's knees throw thyself as a suppliant 1 Invoke alike the gods in heaven and those beneath the earth. For either shall thy prayers avail to spare thee the loss of thy unhappy child, or thou must live to see thy daughter fall before the tomb, her crimson blood spurting in deep dark jets from her neck with gold encircled. (The following lines between HECUBA and POLYXENA are chanted responsively. ) HECUBA
Woe, woe is me! What words, or cries, or lamentations can I utter? Ah mel for the sorrows of my closing years! for slavery too cruel to brook or bear! Woe, woe is me! What champion have I? Sons, and city-where are they? Aged Priam is no more; no more my children now. Which way am I to go, or this or that? Whither shall I turn my steps? Where is any god or power divine to succour me? Ah, Trojan maids! bringers of evil tidings 1 messengers of woe! ye have made an end, an utter end of me; life on earth has no more charm for me. Ah! luckless steps, lead on, guide your aged mistress to yon tent.
Euripides
810
[17 1 - 20
7J
(calling) My child, come forth; come forth, thou daughter of the queen of sorrows; listen to thy mother's voice, my chil?, that thou mayst know the hideous rumour I now hear about thy hfe. (POLYXENA enters from the tent.)
o mother
POL'lXENA
mother mine! why dost thou call so loud? what news is it thou hast' proclaimed, scaring me, like a cowering bird, from my chamber by this alarm? HECUBA
Alas, my daughter! POLYXENA
Why this ominous address? it bodeth sorrow for me. HECUBA
Woe for thy life! POLYXENA
Tell all, hide it no longer. Ah mother! how I dread, ay dread the import of thy loud laments. HECUBA
Ah my daughter! a luckless mother's child! POLYXENA
Why dost thou tell me this? HECUBA
The Argives with one consent are eager for thy sacrifice to the son of Peleus at his tomb. POLYXENA
Ah! mother mine! how canst thou speak of such a horror? Yet tell me all, yes all, 0 mother dear! HECUBA
'Tis a rumour ill-boding I tell, my child; they bring me word that sentence is passed upon thy life by the Argives' vote. POLYXENA
Alas, for thy cruel sufferings! my persecuted mother! woe for thy life of grief! What grievous outrage some fiend hath sent on thee, hateful, horrible! No more shall I thy daughter share thy bondage, hapless youth on hapless age attending. For thou, alas! wilt see thy hapless child torn from thy arms, as a calf of the hills is torn from
8rr
Hecuba
its mother, and sent beneath the darkness of the earth with severed throat for Hades, where with the dead shall I be laid, ah me! For thee I weep with plaintive wail, mother doomed to a life of sorrow! for my own life, its ruin and its outrage, never a tear I shed; nay, death is become to me a happier lot than life. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
See where Odysseus comes in haste, to announce some fresh command to thee, Hecuba. (ODYSSEUS
enters, with his attendants.)
ODYSSEUS
Lady, methinks thou knowest already the intention of the host, and the vote that has been passed; still will I declare it. It is the Achaeans' will to sacrifice thy daughter Polyxena at the mound heaped o'er Achilles' grave; and they appoint me to take the maid and bring her thither, while the son of Achilles is chosen to preside o'er the sacrifice and act as priest. Dost know then what to do? Be not forcibly tom from her, nor match thy might 'gainst mine; recognize the limits of thy strength, and the presence of thy troubles. Even in adversity 'tis wise to yield to reason's dictates. HECUBA
Ah me! an awful trial is nigh, it seems, fraught with mourning, rich in tears. Yes, I too escaped death where death had been my due, and Zeus destroyed me not but is still preserving my life, that I may witness in my misery fresh sorrows surpassing all before. Still if the bond may ask the free of things that grieve them not nor wrench their heart-strings, 'tis well that thou shouldst make an end and hearken to my questioning. ODYSSEUS
Granted; put thy questions; that short delay I grudge thee not. HECUBA
Dost remember the day thou earnest to spy on llium, disguised in rags and tatters, while down thy cheek ran drops of blood? 1 ODYSSEUS
Remember it! yes; 'twas no slight impression it made upon my heart. HECUBA
Did Helen recognize thee and tell me only? ODYSSEUS
I well remember the awful risk I ran.
8I2
Euripides HECUBA
Didst thou embrace my knees in all humility? ODYSSEUS
Yea, so that my hand grew dead and cold upon thy robe. HECUBA
,"Vhat saidst thou then, when in my power? ODYSSEUS
Doubtless I found plenty to say, to save my life. HECUBA
Was it I that saved and sent thee forth again? ODYSSEUS
Thou didst, and so I still behold the light of day. HECUBA
Art not thou then playing a sorry part to plot against me thus, after the kind treatment thou didst by thy own confession receive from me, showing me no gratitude but all the ill thou canst? A thankless race! all ye who covet honour from the mob for your oratory. Oh that ye were unknown to me! ye who harm your friends and think no more of it, if ye can but say a word to win the mob. But tell me, what kind of cleverness did they think it, when against this child they passed their bloody vote? Was it duty led them to slay a human victim at the tomb, where sacrifice of oxen more befits? or does Achilles, if claiming the lives of those who slew him as his recompense, show his justice by marking her out for death? No! she at least ne'er injured him. He should have demanded Helen as a victim at his tomb, for she it was that proved his ruin, bringing him to Troy; or if some captive of surpassing beauty was to be singled out for doom, this pointed not to us; for the daughter of Tyndareus was fairer than all womankind, and her injury to him was proved no less than ours. Against the justice of his plea I pit this argument. Now hear the recompense due from thee to me at my request. On thy own confession, thou didst fall at my feet and embrace my hand and aged cheek; I in my turn now do the same to thee, and claim the favour then bestowed; and I implore thee, tear not my child from my arms, nor slay her. There be dead enough; she is my only joy, in her I forget my sorrows; my one comfort she in place of many a loss, my city and my nurse, my staff and journey's guide. 'Tis never right that those in power should use it out of season, or when prosperous suppose they will be always so. For I like them was prosperous once, but now my life is lived, and one day robbed me of all my bliss. Friend, by thy beard, have some regard and pity for me;
Hecuba
81 3
go to Achaea's host, and talk them over, saying how hateful a thing it is to slay women whom at first ye spared out of pity, after dragging them from the altars. For amongst you the self-same law holds good for bond and free alike respecting bloodshed; such influence as thine will persuade them even though thy words are weak; for the same argument, when proceeding from those of no account, has not the same force as when it is uttered by men of mark. LEADER
Human nature is not so stony-hearted as to hear thy plaintive tale and catalogue of sorrows, without shedding a tear. ODYSSEUS
o Hecuba! be schooled by me, nor in thy passion count him a foe who speaketh wisely. Thy life I am prepared to save, for the service I received; I say no otherwise. But what I said to all, I will not now deny, that after Troy's capture I would give thy daughter to the chief est of our host because he asked a victim. For herein is a source of weakness to most states, whene'er a man of brave and generous soul receives no greater honour than his inferiors. Now Achilles, lady, deserves honour at our hands, since for Hellas he died as nobly as a mortal can. Is not this a foul reproach to treat a man as a friend in life, but, when he is gone from us, to treat him so no more? How now? what will they say, if once more there comes a gathering of the host and a contest with the foe? "Shall we fight or nurse our lives, seeing the dead have no honours?" For myself, indeed, though in life my daily store were scant, yet would it be all-sufficient, but as touching a tomb I should wish mine to be an object of respect, for this gratitude has long to run. Thou speakest of cruel sufferings; hear my answer. Amongst us are aged dames and grey old men no less miserable than thou, and brides of gallant husbands reft, o'er whom this Trojan dust has closed. Endure these sorrows; for us, if we are wrong in resolving to honour the brave, we shall bring upon ourselves a charge of ignorance; but as for you barbarians, regard not your friends as such and pay no homage to your gallant dead, that Hellas may prosper and ye may reap the fruits of such policy. LEADER
Alas! how cursed is slavery alway in its nature, forced by the might of the stronger to endure unseemly treatment. HECUBA
Daughter, my pleading to avert thy bloody death was wasted idly on the air; do thou, if in aught endowed with greater power to move than thy mother, make haste to use it, uttering every pleading note like the
Euripides tuneful nightingale, to save thy soul from death. Throw thyself at Odysseus' knees to move his pity, and try to move him. Here is thy plea: he too hath children, so that he can feel for thy sad fate. POLYXENA
Odysseus, I see thee hiding thy right hand beneath thy robe and turning away thy face, that I may not touch thy beard. Take heart; thou art safe from the suppliant's god in my case, for I will follow thee, alike because I must and because it is my wish to die; for were I loth, a coward should I show myself, a woman faint of heart. Why should I prolong my days? I whose sire was king of all the Phrygians?-my chiefest pride in life. Then was I nursed on fair fond hopes to be a bride for kings, the centre of keen jealousy amongst suitors, to see whose home I would make my own; and o'er each dame of Ida I was queen; ah me! a maiden marked amid her fellows, equal to a goddess, save for death alone, but now a slave! That name first makes me long for death, so strange it sounds; and then maybe my lot might give me to some savage master, one that would buy me for moneY,-me the sister of Hector and many another chief,who would make me knead him bread within his halls, or sweep his house or set me working at the loom, leading a life of misery; while some slave, bought I know not whence, will taint my maiden charms, once deemed worthy of royalty. No, never! Here I close my eyes upon the light, free as yet, and dedicate myself to Hades. Lead me hence, Odysseus, and do thy worst, for I see naught within my reach to make me hope or expect with any confidence that I am ever again to be happy. Mother mine! seek not to hinder me by word or deed, but join in my wish for death ere I meet with shameful treatment undeserved. For whoso is not used to taste of sorrow's cup, though he bears it, yet it galls him when he puts his neck within the yoke; far happier would he be dead than alive, for life of honour reft is toil and trouble. LEADER
A wondrous mark, most clearly stamped, doth noble birth imprint on men, and the name goeth still further where it is deserved. HECUBA
A noble speech, my daughter! but there is sorrow linked with its noble sentiments. Odysseus, if ye must pleasure the son of Peleus, and avoid reproach, slay not this maid, but lead me to Achilles' pyre and torture me unsparingly; 'twas I that bore Paris, whose fatal shaft laid low the son of Thetis. ODYSSEUS
'Tis not thy death, old dame, Achilles' wraith hath demanded of the Achaeans, but hers.
Hecuba
8IS
HECUBA
At least then slaughter me with my child; so shall there be a double draught of blood for the earth and the dead that claims this sacrifice. ODYSSEUS
The maiden's death suffices; no need to add a second to the first; would we needed not e'en this! HECUBA
Die with my daughter I must and will. ODYSSEUS
How so? I did not know I had a master. HECUBA
I will cling to her like ivy to an oak. ODYSSEUS
Not if thou wilt hearken to those who are wiser than thyself. HECUBA
Be sure I will never willingly relinquish my child. ODYSSEUS
Well, be equally sure I will never go away and leave her here. POLYXENA
Mother, hearken to me; and thou, son of Laertes, make allowance for a parent's natural wrath. My poor mother, fight not with our masters. Wilt thou be thrown down, be roughly thrust aside and wound thy aged skin, and in unseemly wise be torn from me by youthful arms? This wilt thou suffer; do not so, for 'tis not right for thee. Nay, dear mother mine! give me thy hand beloved, and let me press thy cheek to mine; for never, nevermore, but now for the last time shall I behold the dazzling sun-god's orb. My last farewells now take) 0 mother, mother mine! beneath the earth I pass. HECUBA
o my daughter, I am still to live and be a slave. POLYXENA
Unwedded I depart, never having tasted the married joys that were my due! HECUBA
Thine, my daughter, is a piteous lot, and sad is mine also.
8r6
Euripides POLYXENA
There in Hades' courts shall I be laid apart from thee. HECUBA
Ah me, what shall I do? where shall I end my life? POLYXENA
Daughter of a free-born sire, a slave I am to die. HECUBA
K ot one of all my fifty children left! POLYXENA
What message can I take for thee to Hector or thy aged lord? HECUBA
Tell them that of all women I am the most miserable. POLYXENA
Ah! bosom and breasts that fed me with sweet food! HECUBA
Woe is thee, my child, for this untimely fate! POLYXENA
Farewell, my mother! farewell, Cassandra 1 HECUBA
"Fare well!" others do, but not thy mother, no! POLYXENA
Thou too, my brother Polydorus, who art in Thrace, the home of steedsl HECUBA
Aye, if he lives, which much I doubt; so luckless am I every way. POLYXENA
Oh yes, he lives; and, when thou diest, he will close thine eyes. HECUBA
I am dead; sorrow has forestalled death here. POLYXENA
Come veil my head, Odysseus, and take me hence; for now, ere falls the fatal blow, my heart is melted by my mother's wailing, and hers no less by mine. 0 light of day! for still may I call thee by thy name, though now my share in thee is but the time I take to go 'twixt this and the sword at Achilles' tomb. (ODYSSEUS and his attendants ltad POLYXENA away.)
Hecuba HECUBA
Woe is me! I faint; my limbs sink under me. 0 my daughter, embrace thy mother, stretch out thy hand, give it me again; leave me not childless 1 Ah, friends! 'tis my death-blow. Oh! to see that Spartan woman, Helen, sister of the sons of Zeus, in such a plight; for her bright eyes have caused the shameful fall of Troy's once prosperous town. (HECUBA CHORUS
sinks fainting to the ground.)
(singing) strophe I
o breeze from
out the deep arising, that waftest swift galleys, ocean's coursers, across the surging mainl whither wilt thou bear me the child of sorrow? To whose house shall I be brought, to be his slave and chattel? to some haven in the Dorian land, or in Phthia, where men say Apidanus, father of fairest streams, makes fat and rich the tilth?
antistrophe
I
or to an island home, sent on a voyage of misery by oars that sweep the brine,leading a wretched existence in halls where the first-created palm and the bay-tree put forth their sacred shoots for dear Latona, memorial fair of her divine travail? and there with the maids of Delos shall I hymn the golden snood and bow of Artemis their goddess?
strophe 2 Or in the city of Pallas, the home of Athena of the beauteous chariot, shall I upon her saffron robe yoke horses to the car, embroidering them on my web in brilliant varied shades, or the race of Titans, whom Zeus the son of Cronos lays to their unending sleep with bolt of flashing flame?
antistrophe 2 Woe is me for my children! woe for my ancestors, and my country which is falling in smouldering ruin 'mid the smoke, sacked by the Argive spear! while I upon a foreign shore am called a slave forsooth, leaving Asia, Europe's handmaid, and receiving in its place a deadly marriage-bower.
(The herald, TALTHYBIUS, enters.) TALTHYBIUS
Where can I find Hecuba, who once was queen of Ilium, ye Trojan maidens?
818
Euripides LEADER OF THE CHORUS
There she lies near thee, Talthybius, stretched full length upon the ground, wrapt in her robe. TALTHYBIUS
Great Zeus! what can I say? that thine eye is over man? or that we hold this false opinion all to no purpose, thinking there is any race of gods, when it is chance that rules the mortal sphere? Was not this the queen of wealthy Phrygia, the wife of Priam highly blest? And now her city is utterly o'erthrown by the foe, and she, a slave in her old age, her children dead, lies stretched upon the ground, soiling her hair, poor lady! in the dust. \VeIl, well; old as I am, may death be my lot before I am caught in any foul mischance. Arise, poor queen! lift up thyself and raise that hoary head. HECUBA
(stirring)
Ahl who art thou that wilt not let my body rest? why disturb me in my anguish, whosoe'er thou art? TALTHYBIUS
'Tis I, Talthybius, who am here, the minister of the Danai; non has sent me for thee, lady. HECUBA
Agamem~
(rising)
Good friend, art come because the Achaeans are resolved to slay me too at the grave? How welcome would thy tidings bel Let us hasten and lose no time; prithee, lead the way, old sir. TALTHYBTIJS
I am come to fetch thee to bury thy daughter's corpse, lady; and those that send me are the two sons of Atreus and the Achaean host. HECUBA
Ah! what wilt thou say? Art thou not come, as I had thought, to fetch me to my doom, but to announce ill news? Lost, lost, my child! snatched from thy mother's arms! and I am childless now, at least as touches thee; ah, woe is me! How did ye end her life? was any mercy shown? or did ye deal ruth~ lessly with her as though your victim were a foe, old man? Speak, though thy words must be pain to me. TALTHYBTIJS
Lady, thou art bent on making mine a double meed of tears in pity for thy child; for now too as I tell the sad tale a tear will wet my eye, as it did at the tomb when she was dying. All Achaea's host was gathered there in full array before the tomb to see
[5 22 -5 82 ]
Hecuba
8I9
thy daughter offered; and the son of Achilles took Polyxena by the hand and set her on the top of the mound, while I stood near; and a chosen band of young Achaeans followed to hold thy child and prevent her struggling. Then did Achilles' son take in his hands a brimming cup of gold and poured an offering to his dead sire, making a sign to me to proclaim silence throughout the Achaean host. So I stood at his side and in their midst proclaimed, "Silence, ye Achaeans 1 hushed be the people all! peace! be still!" Therewith I hushed the host. Then spake he, "Son of PelellS, father mine, accept the offering I pour thee to appease thy spirit, strong to raise the dead; and come to drink the black blood of a virgin pure, which I and the host are offering thee; oh! be propitious to us; grant that we may loose our prows and the cables of our ships, and, meeting with a prosperous voyage from Ilium, all to our country come." So he; and all the army echoed his prayer. Then seizing his golden sword by the hilt he drew it from its scabbard, signing the while to the picked young Argive warriors to hold the maid. But she, when she was ware thereof, uttered her voice and said: "0 Argives, who have sacked my city! of my free will I die; let none lay hand on me; for bravely will I yield my neck. Leave me free, I do beseech; so slay me, that death may find me free; for to be called a slave amongst the dead :fills my royal heart with shame." Thereat the people shouted their applause, and king Agamemnon bade the young men loose the maid. So they set her free, as soon as they heard this last command from him whose might was over all. And she, hearing her captors' words took her robe and tore it open from the shoulder to the waist, displaying a breast and bosom fair as a statue's; then sinking on her knee, one word she spake more piteous than all the rest, "Young prince, if 'tis my breast thou'dst strike, lo! here it is, strike home! or if at my neck thy sword thou'lt aim, behold! that neck is bared." Then he, half glad, half sorry in his pity for the maid, cleft with the steel the channels of her breath, and streams of blood gushed forth; but she, e'en in death's agony, took good heed to fall with maiden grace, hiding from gaze of man what modest maiden must. Soon as she had breathed her last through the fatal gash, each Argive set his hand to different tasks, some strewing leaves o'er the corpse in handfuls, others bringing pine-logs and heaping up a pyre; and he, who brought nothing, would hear from him who did such taunts as these, "Stand'st thou still, ignoble wretch, with never a robe or ornament to bring for the maiden? Wilt thou give naught to her that showed such peerless bravery and spirit?" Such is the tale I tell about thy daughter's death, and I regard thee as lJlest beyond all mothers in thy noble child, yet crossed in fortune more than all.
820
Euripides LEADER
Upon the race of Priam and my city some fearful curse hath burst; 'tis sent by God, and we must bear it.
o my daughter!
HECUBA
'mid this crowd of sorrows I know not where to turn my gaze; for if I set myself to one, another will not give me pause; while from this again a fresh grief summons me, finding a successor to sorrow's throne. No longer now can I efface from my mind the memory of thy sufferings sufficiently to stay my tears; yet hath the story of thy noble death taken from the keenness of my grief. Is it not then strange that poor land, when blessed by heaven with a lucky year, yields a good crop, while that which is good, if robbed of needful care, bears but little increase; yet 'mongst men the knave is never other than a knave, the good man aught but good, never changing for the worse because of misfortune, but ever the same? Is then the difference due to birth or bringing up? Good training doubtless gives lessons in good conduct, and if a man have mastered this, he knows what is base by the standard of good. Random shafts of my soul's shooting these, I know. (To TALTHYBIUS) Go thou and proclaim to the Argives that they touch not my daughter's body but keep the crowd away. For when a countless host is gathered, the mob knows no restraint, and the unruliness of sailors exceeds that of fire, all abstinence from evil being counted evil. (TALTHYBIUS goes out.) (Addressing a servant) My aged handmaid, take a pitcher and dip it in the salt sea and bring hither thereof, that I for the last time may wash my child, a virgin wife, a widowed maid, and lay her out,-as she de~ serves, ah! whence can I? impossible! but as best I can; and what will that be? I will collect adornment from the captives, my companions in these tents, if haply any of them escaping her master's eye have some secret store from her old home. (The MAID departs.) otowering halls, 0 home so happy once, 0 Priam, rich in store of fairest wealth, most blest of sires, and I no less, the grey-haired mother of thy race, how are we brought to naught, stripped of our former pride! And spite of all we vaunt ourselves, one on the riches of his house, another because he has an honoured name amongst his fellow-citizens! But these things are naught; in vain are all our thoughtful schemes, in vain our vaunting words. He is happiest who meets no sorrow in his daily walk. (HECUBA enters the tent.)
Hecuba CHORUS
82I
(singing) strophe
Woe and tribulation were made my lot in life, soon as ever Paris felled his beams of pine in Ida's woods, to sail across the heaving main in quest of Helen's hand, fairest bride on whom the sun-god turns his golden eye.
antistrophe For here beginneth trouble's cycle, and, worse than that, relentless fate; and from one man's folly came a universal curse, bringing death to the land of Sima is, with trouble from an alien shore. The strife the shepherd decided on Ida 'twixt three daughters of the blessed gods,
epode brought as its result war and bloodshed and the ruin of my home; and many a Spartan maiden too is weeping bitter tears in her halls on the banks of fair Eurotas, and many a mother whose sons are slain, is smiting her hoary head and tearing her cheeks, making her nails red in the furrowed gash.
:MAID (entering excitedly, attended by bearers bringing in a covered corpse) Oh! where, ladies, is Hecuba, our queen of sorrow, who far surpasses all in tribulation, men and women both alike? None shall wrest the crown from her. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What now, thou wretched bird of boding note? Thy evil tidings never seem to rest. MAID
'Tis to Hecuba I bring my bitter news; no easy task is it for mortal lips to speak smooth words in sorrow's hour. LEADER
La! she is coming even now from the shelter of the tent, appearing just in time to hear thee speak. (HECUBA
comes out of the tent.)
MAID Alas for thee! most hapless queen, ruined beyond all words of mine to tell; robbed of the light of life; of children, husband, city reft; hopelessly undone!
Euripides
822
HECUBA
This is no news but insult; I have heard it all before. But why art thou come, bringing hither to me the corpse of Polyxena, on whose burial Achaea's host was reported to be busily engaged? l\IAID (aside) She little knows what I have to tell, but mourns Polyxena, not ing her new sorrows.
grasp~
HECUBA
Ah! woe is me! thou art not surely bringing hither mad Cassandra, the prophetic maid?
MAID She lives, of whom thou speakest; but the dead thou dost not weep is here. (Uncovering the corpse) Mark well the body now laid bare; is not this a sight to fill thee with wonder, and upset thy hopes? HECUBA
Ah me! 'tis the corpse of my son Polydorus I behold, whom he of Thrace was keeping safe for me in his halls. Alas! this is the end of all; my life is o'er. (Chanting) 0 my son, my son, alas for thee! a frantic strain I now begin; thy fate I learnt, a moment gone, from some foul fiend. MAID
What! so thou knewest thy son's fate, poor lady. HECUBA (chanting)
I cannot, cannot credit this fresh sight I see. Woe succeeds to woe; time will never cease henceforth to bring me groans and tears. LEADER
Alas! poor lady, our sufferings are cruel indeed. HECUBA
(chanting)
o my son, child of a luckless mother, what was the manner of thy death? what lays thee dead at my feet? Who did the deed? I know not. On the
sea~shore
MAID I found him.
HECUBA (chanting) Cast up on the smooth sand, or thrown there after the murderous blow?
Hecuba MAID
The waves had washed him ashore. HECUBA (chanting) Alas! alas! I read aright the vision I saw in my sleep, nor did the phantom dusky-winged escape my ken, even the vision I saw concerning my son, who is now no more within the bright sunshine. LEADER
Who slew him then? Can thy dream-lore tell us that? HECUBA (chanting) 'Twas my own, own friend, the knight of Thrace, with whom his aged sire had placed the boy in hiding. LEADER
o horror!
what wilt thou say? did he slay him to get the gold?
HECUBA (chanting) 0 deed without a name! beggaring wonder! impious! intolerable! Where are now the laws 'twixt guest and host? Accursed monster! how hast thou mangled his flesh, slashing the poor child's limbs with ruthless sword, lost to all sense of pity!
o awful crime!
LEADER
Alas for thee! how some deity, whose hand is heavy on thee, hath sent thee troubles beyond all other mortals! But yonder I see our lord and master Agamemnon coming; so let us be stilI henceforth, my friends. (AGAMEMNON enters.) AGAMEMNON
Hecuba, why art thou delaying to come and bury thy daughter? for it was for this that Talthybius brought me thy message begging that none of the Argives should touch thy child. And so I granted this, and none is touching her, but this long delay of thine fills me with wonder. Wherefore am I come to send thee hence; for our part there is well performed; if herein there be any place for "well."
(He sees the body.) Ha! what man is this I see near the tents, some Trojan's corpse? 'tis not an Argive'S body; that the garments it is clad in tell me. HECUBA
(aside)
Unhappy one! in naming thee I name myself; 0 Hecuba, what shall I do? throw myself here at Agamepmon's knees, or bear my sorrows in silence?
Euripides AGAMEMNON
Why dost thou turn thy back towards me and weep, refusing to say what has happened, or who this is? HECUBA
(aside)
But should he count me as a slave and foe and spurn me from his knees, I should but add to my anguish. AGAMEMNON
I am no prophet born; wherefore, if I be not told, I cannot learn the current of thy thoughts. HECUBA
(aside)
Can it be that in estimating this man's feelings I make him out too illdisposed, when he is not really so? AGAMEMNON
If thy wish really is that I should remain in ignorance, we are of one mind; for I haye no wish myself to listen. HECUBA
(aside)
Without his aid I shall not be able to avenge my children. Why do I still ponder the matter? I must do and dare whether I win or lose. (Turn~ ing to AGAMEMNON) 0 Agamemnon! by thy knees, by thy beard and conquering hand I implore thee. AGAMEMNON
What is thy desire? to be set free? that is easily done. HECUBA
Not that; give me vengeance on the wicked, and evermore am I willing to lead a life of slavery. AGAMEMNON
Well, but why dost thou call me to thy aid? HECUBA
'Tis a matter thou little reckest of, 0 king. Dost see this corpse, for whom my tears now flow? AGAMEMNON
I do; but what is to follow, I cannot guess. HECUBA
He was my child in days gone by; I bore him in my womb.
Hecuba AGAMEMNON
Which of thy sons is he, poor sufferer? HECUBA
Not one of Priam's race who fell 'neath Ilium's walls. AGAMEMNON
Hadst thou any son besides those, lady? HECUBA
Yes, him thou seest here, of whom, methinks, I have small gain. AGAMEMNON
Where then was he, when his city was being destroyed? HECUBA
His father, fearful of his death, conveyed him out of Troy. AGAMEMNON
Where did he place him apart from all the sons he then had? HECUBA
Here in this very land, where his corpse was found. AGAMEMNON
With Polyrnestor, the king of this country? HECUBA
Hither was he sent in charge of gold, most bitter trust! AGAMEMNON
By whom was he slain? what death o'ertook him? HECUBA
By whom but by this man? His Thracian host slew him. AGAMEMNON
The wretch! could he have been so eager for the treasure? HECUBA
Even so; soon as ever he heard of the Phrygians' disaster. AGAMEMNON
Where didst find him? or did some one bring his corpse? HECUBA
This maid, who chanced upon it on the sea-shore.
Euripides
[779-816 ]
AGAMEMNON Was she seeking it, or bent on other tasks? HECUBA
She had gone to fetch water from the sea to wash Polyxena. AGAMEMNON It seems then his host slew him and cast his body out to sea. HECUBA
Aye, for the waves to toss, after mangling him thus. AGAMEMNON Woe is thee for thy measureless troubles! HECUBA
r am ruined; no evil now is left, 0
Agamemnon.
AGAMEMNON Look you! what woman was ever born to such misfortune? HECUBA
There is none, unless thou wouldst name misfortune herself. But hear my reason for throwing myself at thy knees. If my treatment seems to thee deserved, r will be content; but, if otherwise, help me to punish this most godless host, that hath wrought a deed most damned, fearless alike of gods in heaven or hell; who, though full oft he had shared my board and been counted first of all my guest-friends and after meeting with every kindness he could claim and receiving my consideration, slew my son, and bent though he was on murder, deigned not to bury him but cast his body forth to sea. r may be a slave and weak as well, but the gods are strong, and custom too which prevails o'er them, for by custom it is that we believe in them and set up bounds of right and wrong for our lives. Now if this principle, when referred to thee, is to be set at naught, and they are to escape punishment who murder guests or dare to plunder the temples of gods, then is all fairness in things human at an end. Deem this then a disgrace and show regard for me, have pity on me, and, like an artist standing back from his picture, look on me and closely scan my piteous state. I was once a queen, but now r am thy slave; a happy mother once, but now childless and old alike, reft of city, utterly forlorn, the most wretched woman living. Ah! woe is me! whither wouldst thou withdraw thy steps from me? (as AGAMEMNON is turning away) My efforts then will be in vain, ah me! ah me! Why, oh! why do we mortals toil, as needs we must, and seek out all other sciences, but persuasion, the only real mistress of mankind,
Hecuba we take no further pains to master completely by offering to pay for the knowledge, so that any man might upon occasion convince his fellows as he pleased and gain his point as well? 2 How shall anyone hereafter hope for prosperity? All those my sons are gone from me, and I, their mother, am led away into captivity to suffer shame, while yonder I see the smoke leaping up o'er my city. Further-though perhaps this were idly urged, to plead thy love, still will I put the case:-at thy side lies my daughter, Cassandra, the maid inspired, as the Phrygians call her. How then, 0 king, wilt thou acknowledge those nights of rapture, or what return shall she my daughter or I her mother have for all the love she has lavished on her lord? For from darkness and the endearments of the night mortals reap by far their keenest joys. Hearken then; dost see this corpse? By doing him a service thou wilt do it to a kinsman of thy bride's. One thing only have I yet to urge. Oh! would I had a voice in arms, in hands, in hair and feet, placed there by the arts of Daedalus or some god, that all together they might with tears embrace thy knees, bringing a thousand pleas to bear on thee! 0 my lord and master, most glorious light of Hellas, listen, stretch forth a helping hand to this aged woman, for all she is a thing of naught; still do so. For 'tis ever a good man's duty to succour the right, and to punish evil-doers wherever found. LEADER
'Tis strange how each extreme doth meet in human life! Custom determines even our natural ties, making the most bitter foes friends, and regarding as foes those who formerly were friends. AGAMEMNON
Hecuba, I feel compassion for thee and thy son and thy ill-fortune, as well as for thy suppliant gesture, and I would gladly see yon impious host pay thee this forfeit for the sake of heaven and justice, could I but find some way to help thee without appearing to the army to have plotted the death of the Thracian king for Cassandra's sake. For on one point I am assailed by perplexity; the army count this man their friend, the dead their foe; that he is dear to thee is a matter apart, wherein the army has no share. Reflect on this; for though thou find'st me ready to share thy toil and quick to lend my aid, yet the risk of being reproached by the Achaeans makes me hesitate. HECUBA
Ah! there is not in the world a single man free; for he is either a slave to money or to fortune, or else the people in their thousands or the fear of public prosecution prevents him from following the dictates of his heart. But since thou art afraid, deferring too much to the rabble, I will rid thee of that fear. Thus; be privy to my plot if I devise mischief against
Euripides
this murderer, but refrain from any share in it. And if there break out among the Achaeans any uproar or attempt at rescue, when the Thracian is suffering his doom, check it, though without seeming to do so for my sake. For what remains, take heart; I will arrange everything well. AGAMEMNON
How? what wilt thou do? wilt take a sword in thy old hand and slay the barbarian, or hast thou drugs or what to help thee? Who will take thy part? whence wilt thou procure friends? HECUBA
Sheltered beneath these tents is a host of Trojan women. AGAMEMNON
Dost mean the captives, the booty of the Hellenes? HECUBA
With their help will I punish my murderous foe. AGAMEMNON
How are women to master men? HECUBA
N"umbers are a fearful thing, and joined to cr:lft a desperate foe. AGAMEMNON
True; still I have a mean opinion of the female race. HECUBA
What? did not women slay the sons of Aegyptus, and utterly clear Lemnos of men? But let it be even thus; put an end to our conference, and send this woman for me safely through the host. And do thou (To a servant) draw near my Thracian friend and say, "Hecuba, once queen of ilium, summons thee, on thy own business no less than hers, thy children too, for they also must hear what she has to say." (The servant goes out.) Defer awhile, Agamemnon, the burial of Polyxena lately slain, that brother and sister may be laid on the same pyre and buried side by side, a double cause of sorrow to their mother. AGAMEMNON
So shall it be; yet had the host been able to sail, I could not have granted thee this boon; but, as it is, since the god sends forth no favouring breeze, we needs must abide, seeing, as we do, that sailing cannot be. Good luck to theel for this is the interest alike of citizen and state, that the wmng-doer be punished and the good man prosper. (AGAMEMNON departs as HECUBA withdraws into the tent.)
Hecuba
[9 0 5-957]
CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I No more, my native Ilium, shalt thou be counted among the towns ne'er sacked; so thick a cloud of Hellene troops is settling all around, wasting thee with the spear; shorn art thou of thy coronal of towers, and fouled most piteously with filthy soot; no more, ah me! shall I tread thy streets. antistrophe I 'Twas in the middle of the night my ruin came, in the hour when sleep steals sweetly o'er the eyes after the feast is done. My husband, the music o'er, and the sacrifice that sets the dance afoot now ended, was lying in our bridal-chamber, his spear hung on a peg; with never a thought of the sailor-throng encamped upon the Trojan shores; strophe 2 and I was braiding my tresses 'neath a tight-drawn snood before my golden mirror's countless rays, that I might lay me down to rest; when lo! through the city rose a din, and a cry went ringing down the streets of Troy, "Ye sons of Hellas, when, oh! when will ye sack the citadel of Ilium, and seek your homes?" antistrophe 2 Up sprang I from my bed, with only a mantle about me, like a Dorian maid, and sought in vain, ah me! to station myself at the holy hearth of Artemis; for, after seeing my husband slain, I was hurried away o'er the broad sea; with many a backward look at my city, when the ship began her homeward voyage and parted me from Ilium's strand; till alas! for very grief I fainted,
epode cursing Helen the sister of the Dioscuri, and Paris the baleful shepherd of Ida; for 'twas their marriage, which was no marriage but a curse by some demon sent, that robbed me of my country and drove me from my home. Oh! may the sea's salt flood ne'er carry her home again; and may she never set foot in her father's halls! (HECUBA
comes out of the tent as POLYMESTOR, his children and guards
enter.) POLYMESTOR
My dear friend Priam, and thou no less, Hecuba, I weep to see thee and thy city thus, and thy daughter lately slain. Alas! there is naught to be relied on; fair fame is insecure, nor is there any guarantee that weal will
Euripides not be turned to woe. For the gods confound our fortunes, tossing them to and fro, and introduce confusion, that our perplexity may make us worship them. But what boots it to bemoan these things, when it brings one no nearer to heading the trouble? If thou art blaming me at all for my absence, stay a moment; I was away in the very heart of Thrace when thou wast brought hither; but on my return, just as I was starting from my home for the same purpose, thy maid fell in with me, and gave me thy message, which brought me here at once. HECUBA
Polymestor, I am holden in such wretched plight that I blush to meet thine eye; for my present evil case makes me ashamed to face thee who didst see me in happier days, and I cannot look on thee with unfaltering gaze. Do not then think it ill-will on my part, Polymestor; there is another cause as well, I mean the custom which forbids women to meet men's gaze. POLYMESTOR
No wonder, surely. But what need hast thou of me? Why didst send for me to come hither from my house? HECUBA
I wish to tell thee and thy children a private matter of my own; prithee, bid thy attendants withdraw from the tent. POLYMESTOR
(to his Attendants)
Retire; this desert spot is safe enough. (The guards go out; to HECUBA) Thou art my friend, and this Achaean host is well-disposed to me. But thou must tell me how prosperity is to succour its unlucky friends; for ready am I to do so. HECUBA
First tell me of the child Polydorus, whom thou art keeping in thy halls, received from me and his father; is he yet alive? The rest will I ask thee after that. POLYMESTOR
Yes, thou still hast a share in fortune there. HECUBA
Well said, dear friend! how worthy of thee! POLYMESTOR
What next wouldst learn of m«:?
[99 2 -
Hecuba
100 7J
HECUBA
Hath he any recollection of me his mother? POLYMESTOR
Aye, he was longing 10 steal away hither to thee. HECUBA
Is the gold safe, which he brought with him from Troy? POLYMESTOR
Safe under lock and key in my halls. HECUBA
There keep it, but covet not thy neighbour's goods. POLYMESTOR
Not I; God grant me luck of what I have, lady! HECUBA
Dost know what I wish to say to thee aI).d thy children? POLYMESTOR
Not yet; thy words maybe will declare it. HECUBA
May it grow as dear to thee as thou now art to me! POLYMESTOR
What is it that I and my children are to learn? HECUBA
There be ancient vaults filled full of gold by Priam's line. POLYMESTOR
Is it this thou wouldst tell thy son? HECUBA
Yes, by thy lips, for thou art a righteous man. POLYMESTOR
What need then of these children's presence? HECUBA
'Tis better they should know it, in case of thy death. POLYMESTOR
True; 'tis also the wiser way.
Euripides
[1008-1033J
HECUBA
Well, dost thou know where stands the shrine of Trojan Athena? POLYMESTOR
Is the gold there? what is there to mark it? HECUBA
A black rock rising above the ground. POLYMESTOR
Is there aught else thou wouldst tell me about the place? HECUBA
I wish to keep safe the treasure I brought from Troy. POLYMESTOR
'Vhere can it be? inside thy dress, or hast thou it hidden? HECUBA
'Tis safe amid a heap of spoils within these tents. POLYMESTOR
Where? This is the station built by the Achaeans to surround their fleet. HECUBA
The captive women have huts of their own. POLYMESTOR
It is safe to enter? are there no men about? HECUBA
There are no Achaeans within; we are alone. Enter then the tent, for the Argives are eager to set sail from Troy for home; and, when thou hast accomplished all that is appointed thee, thou shalt return with thy children to that bourn where thou hast lodged my son. (HECUBA leads POLYMESTOR and his children into the tent.) CHORUS (chanting) Not yet hast thou paid the penalty, but maybe thou yet wilt; like one who slips and falls into the surge with no haven near, so shalt thou lose thy own life for the life thou hast taken. For where the rights of justice and the law of heaven are one, there is ruin fraught with death and doom. Thy hopes of this journey shall cheat thee, for it hath led thee, unhappy wretch! to the halls of death; and to no warrior's hand shalt thou resign thy life.
Hecuba
o horror!
POLYMESTOR (within the tent) I am blinded of the light of my eyes, ah me! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Heard ye, friends, that Thracian's cry of woe?
o horror!
POLYMESTOR (within) horror! my children! 0 the cruel blow. LEADER
Friends, new ills are brought to pass in yonder tent. POL YMESTOR (within) Nay, ye shall never escape for all your hurried flight; for with my fist will I burst open the inmost recesses of this hall. LEADER
Hark! how he launches ponderous blows I Shall we force an entry? The crisis calls on us to aid Hecuba and the Trojan women. (HECUBA
enters, calling back into the tent.)
HECUBA
Strike on, spare not, burst the doors! thou shalt ne'er replace bright vision in thy eyes nor ever see thy children, whom I have slain, alive again. LEADER
What! hast thou foiled the Thracian, and is the stranger in thy power, mistress mine? is all thy threat now brought to pass? HECUBA
A moment, and thou shalt see him before the tent, his eyes put out, with random step advancing as a blind man must; yea, and the bodies of his two children whom I with my brave daughters of Troy did slay; he hath paid me his forfeit; look where he cometh from the tent. I will withdraw out of his path and stand aloof from the hot fury of this Thracian, my deadly foe. (POLYMESTOR rushes out. Blood is streaming from his eyes.) POLYMESTOR (chanting) Woe is mel whither can I go, where halt, or whither tum? shall I crawl upon my hands like a wild four-footed beast on their track? Which path shall I take first, this or that, eager as I am to clutch those Trojan murderesses that have destroyed me? Out upon ye, cursed daughters of Phrygia! to what corner have ye fled cowering before me? 0 sun-god, would thou couldst heal my bleeding orbs, ridding me of my blindness!
Euripides
[ r 07D-rII9]
Ha! hush! I catch their stealthy footsteps here. Where can I dart on them and gorge me on their flesh and bones, making for myself a wild beasts' meal, exacting vengeance in requital of their outrage on me? Ah, woe is me! whither am I rushing, leaving my babes unguarded for hell-hounds to mangle, to be murdered and ruthlessly cast forth upon the hills, a feast of blood for dogs? Where shall I stay or turn my steps? where rest? like a ship that lies anchored at sea, so gathering close my linen robe I rush to that chamber of death, to guard my babes. LEADER
Woe is thee! what grievous outrage hath been wreaked on thee! a fearful penalty for thy foul deed hath the deity imposed, whoe'er he is whose hand is heavy upon thee. POLYMESTOR (chanting) Woe is me! Ho! my Thracian spearmen, clad in mail, a race of knights whom Ares doth inspire! Ho! Achaeans! sons of Atreus hot to you I loudly call; come hither, in God's name come! Doth any hearken, or will no man help me? Why do ye delay? Women, captive women have destroyed me. A fearful fate is mine; ah me! my hideous outrage! Whither can I turn or go? Shall I take wings and soar aloft to the mansions of the sky, where Orion and Sirius dart from their eyes a flash as of fire, or shall I, in my misery, plunge to Hades' murky flood?
LEADER
'Tis a venial sin, when a man, suffering from evils too heavy to bear, rids himself of a wretched existence. (AGAMEMNON and his retinue enter.) AGAMEMNON
Hearing a cry I am come hither; for Echo, child of the mountain-rock, hath sent her voice loud-ringing through the host, causing a tumult. Had I not known that Troy's towers were levelled by the might of Hellas, this uproar had caused no slight terror. POLYMESTOR
Best of friends! for by thy voice I know thee, Agamemnon, dost see my piteous state? AGAMEMNON
What! hapless Polymestor, who hath stricken thee? who hath reft thine eyes of sight, staining the pupils with blood? who hath slain these children? whoe'er he was, fierce must have been his wrath against thee and thy children.
[II20-IIS8]
Hecuba POLYMESTOR
Hecuba, helped by the captive women, hath destroyed me; no! not destroyed, far worse than that. AGAMEMNON (addressing HECUBA) What hast thou to say? Was it thou that didst this deed, as he avers? thou, Hecuba, that hast ventured on this inconceivable daring? POLYMESTOR
Ha! what is that? is she somewhere near? show me, tell me where, that I may grip her in my hands and rend her limb from limb, bespattering her with gore. AGAMEMNON
Ho! madman, what wouldst thou? POLYMESTOR
By heaven I entreat thee, let me vent on her the fury of my arm. AGAMEMNON
Hold! banish that savage spirit from thy heart and plead thy cause, that after hearing thee and her in turn I may fairly decide what reason there is for thy present sufferings. POLYMESTOR
I will ten my tale. There was a son of Priam, Polydorus, the youngest, a child by Hecuba, whom his father Priam sent to me frolU Troy to bring up in my halls, suspecting no doubt the fall of Troy. Him I slew; but hear my reason for so doing, to show how cleverly and wisely I had planned. My fear was that if that child were left to be thy enemy, he would repeople Troy and settle it afresh; and the Achaeans, knowing that a son of Priam survived, might bring another expedition against the Phrygian land and harry and lay waste these plains of Thrace hereafter, for the neighbours of Troy to experience the very troubles we were lately suffering, 0 king. Now Hecuba, having discovered the death of her son, brought me hither on this pretext, saying she would tell me of hidden treasure stored up in Uium by the race of Priam; and she led me apart with my children into the tent, that none but I might hear her news. So I sat me down on a couch in their midst to rest; for there were many of the Trojan maidens seated there, some on my right hand, some on my left, as it had been beside a friend; and they were praising the weaving of our Thracian handiwork, looking at this robe as they held it up to the light; meantime others examined my Thracian spear and so stripped me of the protection of both. And those that were young mothers were dandling my children in their arms, with loud admiration, as they passed them on from hand
Euripides
[IIS8-I2IIJ
to hand to remove them far from their father; and then after their smooth speeches (wouldst thou believe it?) in an instant snatching daggers from some secret place in their dress they stab my children; whilst others, like foes, seized me hand and foot; and if I tried to raise my head, anxious to help my babes, they would clutch me by the hair; while if I stirred my hands, I could do nothing, poor wretch! for the numbers of the women. At last they wrought a fearful deed, worse than what had gone before; for they took their brooches and stabbed the pupils of my hapless eyes, making them gush with blood, and then fled through the chambers; up I sprang like a wild beast in pursuit of the shameless murderesses, searching along each wall with hunter's care, dealing buffets, spreading ruin. This then is what I have suffered because of my zeal for thee, 0 Agamemnon, for slaying an enemy of thine. But to spare thee a lengthy speech; if any of the men of former times have spoken ill of women, if any doth so now, or shall do so hereafter, all this in one short sentence will I say; for neither land or sea produces a race so pestilent, as whosoever hath had to do with them knows full well. LEADER
Curb thy bold tongue, and do not, because of thy own woes, thus embrace the whole race of women in one reproach; for though some of us, and those a numerous class, deserve to be disliked, there are others amongst us who rank naturally amongst the good. HECUBA
Never ought words to have outweighed deeds in this world, Agamemnon. No! if a man's deeds had been good, so should his words have been; if, on the other hand, evil, his words should have betrayed their unsoundness, instead of its being possible at times to give a fair complexion to injustice. There are, 'tis true, clever persons, who have made a science of this, but their cleverness cannot last for ever; a miserable end awaits them; none ever yet escaped. This is a warning I give thee at the outset. Now will I turn to this fellow, and will give thee thy answer, thou who sayest it was to save Achaea double toil and for Agamemnon's sake that thou didst slay my son. Nay, villain, in the first place how could the barbarian race ever be friends with Hellas? Impossible, ever. Again, what interest hadst thou to further by thy zeal? was it to form some marriage, or on the score of kin, or, prithee, why? or was it likely that they would sail hither again and destroy thy country's crops? Whom dost thou expect to persuade into believing that? Wouldst thou but speak the truth, it was the gold that slew my son, and thy greedy spirit. Now tell me this; why, when Troy was victorious, when her ramparts still stood round her, when Priam was alive, and Hector's warring prospered, why didst thou
[1211-12 53]
Hecuba
not, if thou wert really minded to do Agamemnon a service, then slay the child, for thou hadst him in thy palace 'neath thy care, or bring him with thee alive to the Argives? Instead of this, when our sun was set and the smoke of our city showed it was in the enemy's power, thou didst murder the guest who had come to thy hearth. Furthermore, to prove thy villainly, hear this; if thou wert really a friend to those Achaeans, thou shouldst have brought the gold, which thou sayst thou art keeping not for thyself but for Agamemnon, and given it to them, for they were in need and had endured a long exile from their native land. \\nereas not even now canst thou bring thyself to part with it, but persist est in keeping it in thy palace. Again, hadst thou kept my son safe and sound, as thy duty was, a fair renown would have been thy reward, for it is in trouble's hour that the good most clearly show their friendship; though prosperity of itself in every case finds friends. Wert thou in need of money and he prosperous, that son of mine would have been as a mighty treasure for thee to draw upon; but now thou hast him no longer to be thy friend, and the benefit of the gold is gone from thee, thy children too are dead, and thyself art in this sorry plight. To thee, Agamemnon, I say, if thou help this man, thou wilt show thy worthlessness; for thou wilt be serving one devoid of honour or piety, a stranger to the claims of good faith, a wicked host; while I shall say thou delightest in evil-doers, being such an one thyself; but I rail not at my masters. LEADER
Look you! how a good cause ever affords men an opening for a good !\peech. AGAMEMNON
To be judge in a stranger's troubles goes much against my grain, but still I must; yea, for to take this matter in hand and then put it from me is a shameful course. My opinion, that thou mayst know it, is that it was not for the sake of the Achaeans or me that thou didst slay thy guest, but to keep that gold in thy own house. In thy trouble thou makest a case in thy own interests. Maybe amongst you 'tis a light thing to murder guests, but with us in Hellas 'tis a disgrace. How can I escape reproach if I judge thee not guilty? I cannot do it. Nay, since thou didst dare thy horrid crime, endure as well its painful consequence. POLYMESTOR
Woe is me! worsted by a woman and a slave, I am, it seems, to suffer by unworthy hands.
Euripides HECUBA
Is it not just for thy atrocious crime? POLYMESTOR
Ah, my children! ah, my blinded eyes! woe is me! HECUBA
Dost thou grieve? what of me? thinkst thou I grieve not for my son? POLYMESTOR
Thou wicked wretchl thy delight is in mocking me. HECUBA
I am avenged on thee; have I not cause for joy? POLYMESTOR
The joy will soon cease, in the day when ocean's floodHECUBA
Shall convey me to the shores of Hellas? POLYMESTOR
Nay, but close o'er thee when thou fallest from the masthead. HECUBA
Who will force me to take the leap? POLYMESTOR
Of thy own accord wilt thou climb the ship's mast. HECUBA
With wings upon my back, or by what means? POLYMESTOR
Thou wilt become a dog with bloodshot eyes. HECUBA
How knowest thou of my transformation? POLYMESTOR
Dionysus, our Thracian prophet, told me so. HECUBA
And did he tell thee nothing of thy present trouble? POLYMESTOR
No; else hadst thou never caught me thus by guile.
Hecuba HECUBA
Shall I die or live, and so complete my life on earth? POLYMESTOR
Die shalt thou; and to thy tomb shall be given a nameHECUBA
Recalling my form, or what wilt thou tell me? POLYMESTOR
"The hapless hound's grave," a mark for mariners. 3 HEcuBA
'Tis naught to me, now that thou hast paid me forfeit. POLYMESTOR
Further, thy daughter Cassandra must die. HECUBA
I scorn the prophecy! I give it to thee to keep for thyself. POLYMESTOR
Her shall the wife of Agamemnon, grim keeper of his palace, slay. HECUBA
Never may the daughter of Tyndareus do such a frantic deed! POLYMESTOR
And she shall slay this king as well, lifting high the axe. AGAMEMNON
Hal sirrah, art thou mad? art so eager to find sorrow? POLYMESTOR
Kill me, for in Argos there awaits thee a murderous bath. AGAMEMNON
Ho! servants, hale him from my sight! POLYMESTOR
Hal my words gall thee? AGAMEMNON
Stop his mouth! POLYMESTOR
Close it now; for I have spoken.
Euripides AGAMEMNON
Haste and cast him upon some desert island, since his mouth is full of such exceeding presumption. Go thou, unhappy Hecuba, and bury thy two corpses; and you, Trojan women, to your masters' tents repair, for lo! I perceive a breeze just rising to waft us home. God grant we reach our country and find all well at home, released from troubles here! (POLYMESTOR is dragged away by AGAMEMNON'S guards.) CHORUS (chanting) Away to the harbour and the tents, my friends, to prove the toils of slavery! for such is fate's relentless hest.
NOTES FOR HECUBA
THE translation of Coleridge has been slightly modified in the following lines: 193,424, 608, 614, 710,874, 901, 903, 1028, 1038, 1040, 1113, II37, II46, 12 37. This episode is in part recorded in Homer's Odyssey, IV, 240 ff. These lines reflect the growing importance of rhetoric in Athens at the time when the Hecuba was first produced. Plato, although he was writing somewhat later, has much to say of the "art of persuasion." 3. The transformation and death of Hecuba were traditionally connected with the name of a promontory in the Thracian Chersonese, Cynossema. 1.
2.
V
ANDROMACHE
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
ANDROMACHE MAID OF ANDROMACHE CHORUS OF PHTHIAN WOMEN HERMIONE, daughter of MENELAUS
and wife of Neoptolemus
King of Sparta son of ANDROMACHE and Neoptolemus FELEUS, father of Achilles
MENELAUS, MOLOSSUS,
NURSE OF HERMIONE ORESTES,
son of Agamemnon
MESSENGER THETIS, the
goddess, wife of PELEUS Various attendants
INTRODUCTION
THE Andromache has never ranked high among Euripides' tragedies. It was written and produced probably in the early years of the Peloponnesian War, but unfortunately we do not possess the requisite infonnation to date it more precisely. We do know, however, that it was presented for the first time not at Athens, but in one of the dramatic contests held in some rural district. The plot is focussed upon the fortunes of Andromache, the widow of Hector, but now the slave and concubine of Achilles' son, N eoptolemus. In the prologue, composed in the customary Euripidean fashion, Andromache herself explains her situation-that after Troy's destruction she became the captive of N eoptolemus, that she has borne him a son, and that she is hated by Hermione, whom her master has recently married. It is regrettable that Euripides has not concentrated his attention upon a study of this domestic situation and its implications, but rather has tended to emphasize the plot, which, though it contains tense moments, is unconvincingly developed through too frequent use of timely but ill-motivated entrances of new characters. Structurally the play seems to fall into two parts which are but re·· motely connected with one another. The first section, wherein the proud Hermione and her villainous father, Menelaus, are on the point of killing Andromache and her son, seems to end satisfactorily, if somewhat melodramatically, when the aged Peleus comes to the rescue. But the play goes on to present Hermione in hysterical remorse, Orestes coming to take Hermione away, since he has already planned her husband's murder, Peleus bearing the undeserved brunt of the "tragedy" when Neoptolemus' body is brought in, and the final adjustment of the situation when the goddess Thetis appears. The poet loses sight of Andromache and the play loses its unity accordingly. Menelaus as a character is interesting. He embodies all the most detestable Spartan characteristics which were rousing the hatred of the Athenians during these early days of the war. In fact, the contemporary situation of Athens in its conflict with Sparta seems to have been prominent in the poet's mind as he wrote. The portrayal of Andromache is likewise not without its power, but the treatment of character throughout
845
Introduction seems to suffer because Euripides uses too often the somewhat artificial technique of formal debate between the persons of his play. However, despite defects in structure and portrayal of character, and despite its failure to achieve a universality necessary to tragedy, the play is notable for passages where Euripidean pathos is at its best. Andromache and her son as they face their doom will always stir emotional depths. Any play which contains such scenes as this will command its fair due of respect from the discriminating critic.
ANDROMACHE (SCENE:-Before the temple of THETIS in Thessaly. ANDROMACHE, dressed as a suppliant, is clinging to the altar in front of the temple. The palace of Achilles is nearby.) ANDROMACHE
o CITY of Thebes, glory of Asia, whence on
a day I came to Priam's princely home with many a rich and costly thing in my dower, affianced unto Hector to be the mother of his children, I Andromache, envied name in days of yore, but now of all women that have been or yet shall be the most unfortunate; for I have lived to see my husband Hector slain by Achilles, and the babe Astyanax, whom I bore my lord, hurled from the towering battlements, when the Hellenes sacked our Trojan home; and I myself am come to Hellas as a slave, though I was esteemed a daughter of a race most free, given to Neoptolemus that island-prince, and set apart for him as his special prize from the spoils of Troy. And here I dwell upon the boundaries of Phthia and Pharsalia's town, where Thetis erst, the goddess of the sea, abode with Peleus apart from the world, avoiding the throng of men; wherefore the folk. of Thessaly call it the sacred place of Thetis, in honour of the goddess's marriage. Here dwells the son of Achilles and suffers Peleus still to rule Pharsalia, not wishing to assume the sceptre while the old man lives. Within these hans have I borne a boy to the son of Achilles, my master. Now aforetime for all my misery I ever had a hope to lead me on, that, if my child were safe, I might find some help and protection from my woes; but since my lord in scorn of his bondmaid's charms hath wedded that Spartan Hermione, I am tormented by her most cruelly; for she saith that I by secret enchantment am making her barren and distasteful to her husband, and that I design to take her place in this house, ousting her the rightful Jllistress by force; whereas I at first submitted against my will and now have resigned my place; be almighty Zeus my witness that it was not of my own free will I became her rival! But I cannot convince her, and she longs to kill me, and her father 847
Euripides Menelaus is an accomplice in this. E'en now is he within, arrived from Sparta for this very purpose, while I in terror am come to take up a position here in the shrine of Thetis adjoining the house, if haply it may save me from death; for Peleus and his descendants hold it in honour as a symbol of his marriage with the Nereid. My only son am I secretly conveying to a neighbour's house in fear for his life. For his sire stands not by my side to lend his aid and cannot avail his child at all, being absent in the land of Delphi, where he is offering recompense to Loxias for the madness he committed, when on a day he went to Pytho and demanded of Phoebus satisfaction for his father's death,1 if haply his prayer might avert those past sins and win for him the god's goodwill hereafter. (The MAID OF ANDROMACHE enters.) MAID
Mistress mine, be sure I do not hesitate to call thee by that name, seeing that I thought it thy right in thine own house also, when we dwelt in Troy-land; as I was ever thy friend and thy husband's while yet he was alive, so now have I come with strange tidings, in terror lest any of our masters learn hereof but still out of pity for thee; for Menelaus and his daughter are forming dire plots against thee, whereof thou must beware. ANDROMACHE
Ahl kind companion of my bondage, for such thou art to her, who, erst thy queen, is now sunk in misery; what are they doing? What new schemes are they devising in their eagerness to take away my wretched life?
MAID Alas! poor lady, they intend to slay thy son, whom thou hast privily conveyed from out the house. ANDROMACHE
Ah me! Has she heard that my babe was put out of her reach? Who told her? Woe is me! how utterly undone! MAID
I know not, but thus much of their schemes I heard myself; and Menelaus has left the house to fetch him. ANDROMACHE
Then am I lost; ah, my child! those vultures twain will take and slay thee; while he who is called thy father lingers still in Delphi.
MAID True, for had he been here thou wouldst not have fared so hardly, I am sure; but, as it is, thou art friendless.
Andromache ANDROMACHE
Have no tidings come that Peleus may arrive? MAID
He is too old to help thee if he came. ANDROMACHE
And yet I sent for him more than once. MAID
Surely thou dost not suppose that any of thy messengers heed thee? ANDROMACHE
Why should they? Wilt thou then go for me?
MAID How shall I explain my long absence from the house? ANDROMACHE
Thou art a woman; thou canst invent a hundred ways.
MAID There is a risk, for Hermione keeps no careless guard. ANDROMACHE
Dost look to that? Thou art disowning thy friends in distress.
MAID Not so; never taunt me with that. I will go, for of a truth a woman and a slave is not of much account, e'en if aught befall me. (The MAID withdraws.) ANDROMACHE
Go then, while I will tell to heaven the lengthy tale of lamentation, mourning, and weeping, that has ever been my hard lot; for 'tis woman's way to delight in present misfortunes even to keeping them always on her tongue and lips. But I have many reasons, not merely one for tears,my city's fall, my Hector's death, the hardness of the lot to which I am bound, since I fell on slavery's evil days undeservedly. 'Tis never right to call a son of man happy, till thou hast seen his end, to judge from the way he passes it how he will descend to that other world. (She begins to chant.) 'Twas no bride Paris took with him to the towers of Ilium, but a curse to his bed when he brought Helen to her bower. For her sake, 0 Troy, did eager warriors, sailing from Hellas in a thousand ships, capture and make thee a prey to fire and sword; and the son of seaborn Thetis mounted on his chariot dragged my husband Hector
Euripides
[108-155]
round the walls, ah woe is me! while I was hurried from my chamber to the beach, with slavery's hateful pall upon me. And many a tear I shed as I left my city, my bridal bower, and my husband in the dust. Woe, woe is me! why should I prolong my life, to serve Hermione? Her cruelty it is that drives me hither to the image of the goddess to throw my suppliant arms about it, melting to tears as doth a spring that gushes from the rock. (The CHORUS OF PHTHIAN WOMEN enters.) CHORUS (singing)
strophe
I
Lady, thus keeping thy weary station without pause upon the floor of Thetis' shrine, Phthian though I am, to thee a daughter of Asia I come, to see if I can devise some remedy for these perplexing troubles, which have involved thee and Hermione in fell discord, because to thy sorrow thou sharest with her the love of Achilles' son.
antistrophe
I
Recognize thy position, weigh the present evil into the which thou art come. Thou art a Trojan captive; thy rival is thy mistress, a trueborn daughter of Sparta. Leave then this home of sacrifice, the shrine of our sea-goddess. How can it avail thee to waste thy comeliness and disfigure it by weeping by reason of a mistress's harsh usage? Might will prevail against thee; why vainly toil in thy feebleness?
strophe
2
Come, quit the bright sanctuary of the Nereid divine. Recognize that thou art in bondage on a foreign soil, in a strange city, where thou seest none of all thy friends, luckless lady, cast on evil days.
antistroplte
2
Yea, I did pity thee most truly, Trojan dame, when thou camest to this house; but from fear of my mistress I hold my peace, albeit I sympathize with thee, lest she, whom Zeus's daughter bore, discover my good will toward thee. (HERMIONE enters, in complete royal regalia.) HERMIONE With a crown of golden workmanship upon my head and about my body this embroidered robe am I come hither; no presents these I wear from the palace of Achilles or Peleus, but gifts my father Menelaus gave me together with a sumptuous dower from Sparta in Laconia, to insure me freedom of speech. Such is my answer to you (to the CHORUS) ; but as
Andromache
85 1
for thee, slave and captive, thou wouldst fain oust me and secure this palace for thyself, and thanks to thy enchantment I am hated by my husband; thou it is that hast made my womb barren and cheated my hopes; for Asia's daughters have clever heads for such villainy; yet will I check thee therefrom, nor shall this temple of the Nereid avail thee aught, no! neither its altar or shrine, but thou shalt die. But if or god or man should haply wish to save thee, thou must atone for thy proud thoughts of happier days now past by humbling thyself and crouching prostrate at my knees, by sweeping out my halls, and by learning, as thou sprinklest water from a golden ewer, where thou now art. Here is no Hector, no Priam with his gold, but a city of Hellas. Yet thou, miserable woman, hast gone so far in wantonness that thou canst lay thee down with the son of the very man that slew thy husband, and bear children to the murderer. Such is all the race of barbarians; father and daughter, mother and son, sister and brother mate together; the nearest and dearest stain their path with each other's blood, and no law restrains such horrors. Bring not these crimes amongst us, for here we count it shame that one man should have the control of two wives, and men are content to turn to one lawfullove, that is, all who care to live an honourable life. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Women are by nature somewhat jealous, and do ever show the keenest hate to rivals in their love. ANDROMACHE
Ah! well-a-day! Youth is a bane to mortals, in every case, that is, where a man embraces injustice in his early days. Now I am afraid that my being a slave will prevent thee listening to me in spite of many a just plea, or if I win my case, I fear I may be damaged on this very ground, for the high and mighty cannot brook refuting arguments from their inferiors; still I will not be convicted of betraying my own cause. Tell me, proud young wife, what assurance can make me confident of wresting from thee thy lawful lord? Is it that Laconia's capital yields to Phrygia? is it that my fortune outstrips thine? or that in me thou seest a free woman? Am I so elated by my youth, my full healthy figure, the extent of my city, the number of my friends that I wish to supplant thee in thy home? Is my purpose to take thy place and rear myself a race of slaves, mere appendages to my misery? or, supposing thou bear no children, will anyone endure that sons of mine should rule o'er Phthia? Ah no! there is the love that Hell as bears me, both for Hector's sake and for my own humble rank forsooth, that never knew a queen's estate in Troy. 'Tis not my sorcery that makes thy husband hate thee, nay, but thy own failure to prove thyself his help-meet. Herein lies love's only charm; 'tis not beauty, lady, but virtuous acts that win our husbands' hearts. And
Euripides though it gall thee to be told so, albeit thy city in Laconia is no doubt a mighty fact, yet thou findest no place for his Scyros, displaying wealth 'midst poverty and setting Menelaus above Achilles: and that is what alienates thy lord. Take heed; for a woman, though bestowed upon a worthless husband, must be with him content, and ne'er advance presumptuous claims. Suppose thou hadst wedded a prince of Thrace, the land of flood and melting snow, where one lord shares his affections with a host of wives, wouldst thou have slain them? If so, thou wouldst have set a stigma of insatiate lust on all our sex. A shameful charge! And yet herein we suffer more than men, though we make a good stand against it. Ah! my dear lord Hector, for thy sake would I e'en brook a rival, if ever Cypris led thee astray, and oft in days gone by I held thy bastard babes to my own breast, to spare thee any cause for grief. By this course I bound my husband to me by virtue's chains, whereas thou wilt never so much as let the drops of dew from heaven above settle on thy lord, in thy jealous fear. Oh! seek not to surpass thy mother in hankering after men, for 'tis well that all wise children should avoid the habits of such evil mothers. LEADER
Mistress mine, be persuaded to come to terms with her, as far as readily comes within thy power. HERMIONE
Why this haughty tone, this bandying of words, as if, forsooth, thou, not I, wert the virtuous wife? ANDROMACHE
Thy present claims at any rate give thee small title thereto. HERMIONE
Woman, may my bosom never harbour such ideas as thine! ANDROMACHE
Thou art young to speak on such a theme as this. HERMIONE
As for thee, thou dost not speak thereof, but, as thou canst, dost put it into action against me. ANDROMACHE
Canst thou not conceal thy pangs of jealousy? HERMIONE
What! doth not every woman put this first of all?
Andromache ANDROMACHE
Yes, if her experiences are happy; otherwise, there is no honour in speaking of them. HERMIONE
Barbarians' laws are not a standard for our city. ANDROMACHE
Alike in Asia and in Hellas infamy attends base actions. HERMIONE
Clever, clever quibbler! yet die thou must and shalt. ANDROMACHE
Dost see the image of Thetis with her eye upon thee? HERMIONE
A bitter foe to thy country because of the death of Achilles. ANDROMACHE
'Twas not I that slew him, but Helen that mother of thine. HERMIONE
Pray, is it thy intention to probe my wounds yet deeper? ANDROMACHE
Behold, I am dumb, my lips are closed. HERMIONE
Tell me that which was my only reason for coming hither. ANDROMACHE
No! all I tell thee is, thou hast less wisdom than thou needest. HERMIONE
Wilt thou leave these hallowed precincts of the sea-goddess? ANDROMACHE
Yes, if! am not to die for it; otherwise, I never will. HERMIONE
Since that is thy resolve, I shall not even wait my lord's return. ANDROMACHE
N or yet will I, at any rate ere that, surrender to thee. HERMIONE
I will bring fire to bear on thee, and pay no heed to thy entreaties
Euripides ANDROMACHE
Kindle thy blaze then; the gods will witness it. HERMIONE
And make thy flesh to writhe by cruel wounds. ANDROMACHE
Begin thy butchery, stain the altar of the goddess with blood, for she will visit thy iniquity. HERMIONE
Barbarian creature, hardened in impudence, wilt thou brave death itself? Still will I find speedy means to make these quit this seat of thy free will; such a bait have I to lure thee with. But I will hide my meaning, which the event itself shall soon declare. Yes, keep thy seat, for I will make thee rise, though molten lead is holding thee there, before Achilles' son, thy trusted champion, arrive. (HERMIONE
departs.)
ANDROMACHE
My trusted champion, yes! how strange it is, that though some god hath devised cures for mortals against the venom of reptiles, no man ever yet hath discovered aught to cure a woman's venom, which is far worse than viper's sting or scorching flame; so terrible a curse are we to mankind. CHORUS
(singing) strophe
I
Ah! what sorrows did the son of Zeus and Maia herald, in the day he came to Ida's glen, guiding that fair young trio of goddesses, all girded for the fray in bitter rivalry about their beauty, to the shepherd's fold where dwelt the youthful herdsman all alone by the hearth of his lonely hut.
antistrophe
I
Soon as they reached the wooded glen, in gushing mountain springs they bathed their dazzling skin, then sought the son of Priam, comparing their rival charms in more than rancorous phrase. But Cypris won the day by her deceitful promises, sweet-sounding words, but fraught with ruthless overthrow to Phrygia's hapless town and Ilium's towers.
strophe
2
Would God his mother had smitten him a cruel death-blow on the head before he made his home on Ida's slopes, in the hour Cassandra,
Andromache
855
standing by the holy bay-tree, cried out, "Slay him, for he will bring most grievous bane on Priam's town." To every prince she went, to every elder sued for the babe's destruction.
antistraphe 2 Ah! had they listened, Ilium's daughters ne'er had felt the yoke of slavery, and thou, lady, hadst been established in the royal palace; and Hellas had been freed of all the anguish she suffered during those ten long years her sons went wandering, spear in hand, around the walls of Troy; brides had never been left desolate, nor hoary fathers childless. (MENELAUS and his retinue enter. He is leading MoLOssus by the hand.) MENELAUS Behold I bring thy son with me, whom thou didst steal away to a neighbour's house without my daughter'S knowledge. Thou wert so sure this image of the goddess would protect thee and those who hid him, but thou hast not proved clever enough for Menelaus. And so if thou refuse to leave thy station here, he shall be slain instead of thee. Wherefore weigh it well: wilt die thyself, or see him slain for the sin whereof thou art guilty against me and my daughter? ANDROMACHE
o fame, fame! full many a man ere now of no account hast thou to high estate exalted. Those, indeed, who truly have a fair repute, I count blest; but those who get it by false pretences, I will never allow have aught but the accidental appearance of wisdom. Thou for instance, caitiff that thou art, didst thou ever wrest Troy from Priam with thy picked troops of Hellenes? thou that hast raised such a storm, at the word of thy daughter, a mere child, and hast entered the lists with a poor captive; unworthy I count thee of Troy's capture, and Troy still more disgraced by thy victory. Those who only in appearance are men of sense make an outward show, but inwardly resemble the common herd, save it be in wealth, which is their chiefest strength. Come now, Menelaus, let us carry through this argument. Suppose I am slain by thy daughter, and she work her will on me, yet can she never escape the pollution of murder, and public opinion will make thee too an accomplice in this deed of blood, for thy share in the business must needs implicate thee. But even supposing I escape death myself, will ye kill my child? Even then, how will his father brook the murder of his child? Troy has no such coward's tale to tell of him; nay, he will follow duty's call; his actions will prove him a worthy scion of Peleus and Achilles.
Euripides Thy daughter will be thrust forth from his house; and what wilt thou say when seeking to betroth her to another? wilt say her virtue made her leave a worthless lord? Nay, that will be false. Who then will wed her? wilt thou keep her without a husband in thy halls, grown grey in widowhood? Unhappy wretch! dost not see the flood-gates of trouble opening wide for thee? How many a wrong against a wife wouldst thou prefer thy daughter to have found to suffering what I now describe? We ought not on trifling grounds to promote great ills; nor should men, if we women are so deadly a curse, bring their nature down to our level. No! if, as thy daughter asserts, I am practising sorcery against her and making her barren, right willingly will I, without any crouching at altars, submit in my own person to the penalty that lies in her husband's hands, seeing that I am no less chargeable with injuring him if I make him childless. This is my case; but for thee, there is one thing I fear in thy disposition; it was a quarrel for a woman that really induced thee to destroy poor TIium's town. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Thou hast said too much for a woman speaking to men; that discretion hath shot away its last shaft from thy soul's quiver. MENELAUS
Women, these are petty matters, unworthy, as thou sayest, of my despotic sway, unworthy too of Hellas. Yet mark this well; his special fancy of the hour is of more moment to a man than Troy's capture. I then have set myself to help my daughter because I consider her loss of a wife's rights most grave; for whatever else a woman suffers is second to this; if she loses her husband's love she loses her life therewith. Now, as it is right Neoptolemus should rule my slaves, so my friends and I should have control of his; for friends, if they be really friends, keep nothing to themselves, but have all in common. So if I wait for the absent instead of making the best arrangement I can at once of my affairs, I show weakness, not wisdom. Arise then, leave the goddess's shrine, for by thy death this child escapeth his, whereas, if thou refuse to die, I will slay him; for one of you twain must perish. ANDROMACHE
Ah me! 'tis a bitter lot thou art offering about my life' whether I take ' It or not I am equally unfortunate. Attend to me, thou who for a trifling cause art committing an awful crime. Why art thou bent on slaying me? What reason hast thou? What city have I betrayed? Which of thy children was ever slain by me? What house have I fired? I was forced to be my master's concubine; and spite of that wilt thou slay me not him who is to blame, passing by the cause and hurrying to the ine;itable result?
.
Andromache Ah me! my sorrows! Woe for my hapless country! How cruel my fate! Why had I to be a mother too and take upon me a double load of suffering? Yet why do I mourn the past, and o'er the present never shed a tear or compute its griefs? I that saw Hector butchered and dragged behind the chariot, and Ilium, piteous sight! one sheet of flame, while I was haled away by the hair of my head to the Argive ships in slavery, and on my arrival in Phthia was given to Hector's murderer as his mistress. What pleasure then has life for me? Whither am I to turn my gaze? to the present or the past? My babe alone was left me, the light of my life; and him these ministers of death would slay. No! they shall not, if my poor life can save him; for if he be saved, hope in him lives on, while to me 'twere shame to refuse to die for my son. Lo! here I leave the altar and give myself into your hands, to cut or stab, to bind or hang. Ah! my child, to Hades now thy mother passes to save thy dear life. Yet if thou escape thy doom, remember me, my sufferings and my death, and tell thy father how I fared, with fond caress and streaming eye and arms thrown round his neck. Ah! yes, his children are to every man as his own soul; and whoso sneers at this through inexperience, though he suffers less anguish, yet tastes the bitter in his cup of bliss. LEADER
Thy tale with pity fills me; for every man alike, stranger though he be, feels pity for another's distress. Menelaus, 'tis thy duty to reconcile thy daughter and this captive, giving her a respite from sorrow. MENELAUS
Ho! sirrahs, seize this woman (His attendants swiftly carry out the order.); hold her fast; for 'tis no welcome story she will have to hear. It was to make thee leave the holy altar of the goddess that I held thy child's death before thy eyes, and so induced thee to give thyself up to me to die. So stands thy case, be well assured; but as for this child, my daughter shall decide whether she will slay him or no. Get thee hence into the house, and there learn to bridle thy insolence in speaking to the free, slave that thou art. ANDROMACHE
Alas! thou hast by treachery beguiled me; I was deceived. MENELAUS
Proclaim it to the world; I do not deny it. ANDROMACHE
Is this counted cleverness amongst you who dwell by the Eurotas?
Euripides lIENELAUS
Yes, and amongst Trojans too, that those who suffer should retaliate. ANDROMACHE
Thinkest thou God's hand is shortened, and that thou wilt not be punished? MENELAUS
Whene'er that comes, I am ready to bear it. But thy life will I have. ANDROMACHE
Wilt likewise slay this tender chick, whom thou hast snatched from 'neath my wing? MENELAUS
Not I, but I will give him to my daughter to slay if she will. ANDROMACHE
Ah me! why not begin my mourning then for thee, my child? MENELAUS
Of a truth 'tis no very sure hope that he has left. ANDROMACHE
o citizens of Sparta, the bane of all the race of men, schemers of guile, and masters in lying, devisers of evil plots, with crooked minds and tortuous methods and ne'er one honest thought, 'tis wrong that ye should thrive in Hellas. What crime is wanting in your list? How rife is murder with you! How covetous ye are! One word upon your lips, another in your heart, this is what men always find with you. Perdition catch ye! Still death is not so grievous, as thou thinkest, to me. No! for my life ended in the day that hapless Troy was destroyed with my lord, that glorious warrior, whose spear oft made a coward like thee quit the field and seek thy ship. But now against a woman hast thou displayed the terrors of thy panoply, my would-be murderer. Strike then! for this my tongue shall never flatter thee or that daughter of thine. For though thou wert of great account in Sparta, why so was I in Troy. And if I am now in sorry plight, presume not thou on this; thou too mayst be so yet. (MENELAUS and his guards lead ANDROMACHE out.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe I Never, oh! never will I commend rival wives or sons of different mothers, a cause of strife, of bitterness, and grief in every house. I would have a husband content with one wife whose rights he shareth with no other.
Andromache antistrophe I Not even in states is dual monarchy better to bear than undivided rule; it only doubles burdens and causes faction amongst the citizens. Often too will the Muse sow strife 'twixt rivals in the art of minstrelsy. strophe 2 Again, when strong winds are drifting mariners, the divided counsel of the wise does not best avail for steering, and their collective wisdom has less weight than the inferior mind of the single man who has sole authority; for this is the essence of power alike in house and state, whene'er men care to find the proper moment. antistrophe 2 This Spartan, the daughter of the great chief Menelaus, proves this; for she hath kindled hot fury against a rival, and is bent on slaying the hapless Trojan maid and her child to further her bitter quarrel. 'Tis a murder gods and laws and kindness all forbid. Ah! lady, retribution for this deed will yet visit thee. But lot before the house I see those two united souls, condemned to die. Alas! for thee, poor lady, and for thee, unhappy child, who art dying on account of thy mother's marriage, though thou hast no share therein and canst not be blamed by the royal house. enters, her arms bound. Her son clings to her. MENEand the guards follow, intent on accomplishing the murder. The following lines are chanted responsively.)
(ANDROMACHE LAUS
ANDROMACHE
Behold me journeying on the downward path, my hands so tightly bound with cords that they bleed. MOLOSSUS
o mother, mother mine!
I too share thy downward path, nestling
'neath thy wing. ANDROMACHE
A cruel sacrifice! ye rulers of Phthia! MOLOSSUS
Come, father! succour those thou lovest. ANDROMACHE
Rest there, my babe, my darling! on thy mother's bosom, e'en in death and in the grave.
860
Euripides MOLOSSUS
Ah, woe is me! what will become of me and thee too, mother mine? MENELAUS
Away, to the world below! from hostile towers ye came, the pair of you; two different causes necessitate your deaths; my sentence takes away thy life, and my daughter Hermione's requires his; for it would be the height of folly to leave our foemen's sons, when we might kill them and remove the danger from our house.
o husband mine!
ANDROMACHE
I would I had thy strong arm and spear to aid
me, son of Priam. MOLOSSUS
Ah, woe is me! what speII can I now find to turn death's stroke aside? ANDROMACHE
Embrace thy master's knees, my child, and pray to him. MOLOSSUS
Spare, 0 spare my life, kind master! ANDROMACHE
Mine eyes are wet with tears, which trickle down my cheeks, as doth a sunless spring from a smooth rock. Ah me! MOLOSSUS
What remedy, alas! can I provide me 'gainst my ills? MENELAUS
Why fall at my knees in supplication? hard as the rock and deaf as the wave am I. My own friends have I helped, but for thee have I no tie of affection; for verily it cost me a great part of my life to capture Troy and thy mother; so thou shalt reap the fruit thereof and into Hades' halls descend. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Behold! I see Peleus drawing nigh; with aged step he hasteth hither. (PELEUS enters with an attendant.) PELEUS (calling out as he comes in sight) What means this? I ask you and your executioner; why is the palace in an uproar? give a reason; what mean your lawless machinations? Menelaus, hold thy hand. Seek not to outrun justice. (To his attendant) For-
[55 1 -5 86 ]
Andromache
861
ward! faster, faster! for this matter, methinks, admits of no delay; now if ever would I fain resume the vigour of my youth. First however will I breathe new life into this captive, being to her as the breeze that blows a ship before the wind. Tell me, by what right have they pinioned thine arms and are dragging thee and thy child away? Like a ewe with her lamb art thou led to the slaughter, while I and thy lord were far away. ANDROMACHE
Behold them that are haling me and my child to death, e'en as thou seest, aged prince. Why should I tell thee? For not by one urgent summons alone but by countless messengers have I sent for thee. No doubt thou knowest by hearsay of the strife in this house with this man's daughter, and the reason of my ruin. So now they have torn and are dragging me from the altar of Thetis, the goddess of thy chiefest adoration and the mother of thy gallant son, without any proper trial, yea, and without waiting for my absent master; because, forsooth, they knew my defenceless ness and my child's, whom they mean to slay with me his hapless mother, though he has done no harm. But to thee, 0 sire, I make my supplication, prostrate at thy knees, though my hand cannot touch thy friendly beard; save me, I adjure thee, reverend sir, or to thy shame and my sorrow shall we be slain. PELEUS
Loose her bonds, I say, ere some one rue it; untie her folded hands. MENELAUS
I forbid it, for besides being a match for thee, I have a far better right to her. PELEUS
What! art ihou come hither to set my house in order? Art not content with ruling thy Spartans? MENELAUS
She is my captive; I took her from Troy. PELEUS
Aye, but my son's son received her as his prize. MENELAUS
Is not all I have his, and all his mine? PELEUS
For good, but not evil ends; and surely not for murderous violence.
862
Euripides MENELAUS
Never shalt thou wrest her from my grasp. PELEUS
With this good staff I'll stain thy head with blood! MENELAUS
Just touch me and see! Approach one step! PELEUS
What! shalt thou rank with men? chief of cowards, son of cowards! What right hast thou to any place 'mongst men? Thou who didst let a Phrygian rob thee of thy wife, leaving thy home without bolt or guard, as if forsooth the cursed woman thou hadst there was a model of virtue. No! a Spartan maid could not be chaste, e'en if she would, who leaves her home and bares her limbs and lets her robe float free, to share with youths their races and their sports,- For no woman, Hellene or barbarian, gives hirth to babes in eggs inclosed, as they say Leda bare me to Zeus. My life and all T do is one miracle, partly owing to Hera, and partly is my beauty to blame. Would God T could rub my beauty out like a picture, and assume hereafter in its stead a form less comely, and oh! that Hellas had forgotten the evil fate that now I bear, and were now remembering my career of honour as surely as they do my deeds of shame. Now, if a man doth turn his eyes to a single phase of fortune, and meets ill-usage at heaven's hands, 'tis hard no doubt; but still it can be borne; but I in countless troubles am involved. First, although T never sinned, my good name is gone. And this is a grief beyond the reality, if a man incurs blame for sins that are not his. Next, have the gods removed me from my native land, to dwell with men of barbarous ways, and reft of every friend, I am become a slave though free by birth; for amongst barbarians all are slaves
Helen
IS
but one. And the last anchor that held my fortunes, the hope that my husband would return one day, and rid me of my woes, is now no more, lost since the day he died. l\ly mother too is dead, and I am called her murderess, unjustly it is true, but still that injustice is mine to bear; and ~he that was the glory of my house, my darling child, is growing old and grey, unwedded still; and those twin brethren, called the sons of Zeus, are now no more. But 'tis fortune, not my own doing, that hath crushed me with sorrow and slain me. Alld this is the last evil of all; if ever I come to my native land, they will shut me up in prison, thinking me that Helen of Ilium, in quest of whom Menelaus came thither. Were my husband still alive, we might have recognized each other, by having recourse to tokens which ourselves alone would know. But now this may not be, nor is there any chance of his escape. Why then do I prolong my life? What fortune have I still in store? Shall I choose marriage as an alternative of evils, and dwell with a barbarian lord, seated at his sumptuous board? No! when a husband she loathes is mated with a woman, even life is loathly to her. lle~t for her to die; but how shall 1 die a noLle death? The dangling noose is an uncomely end; even slaves consider it disgrace; to stab oneself hath something fair and noLle in it; 'tis a small thin~ that moment of ridding the flesh of life. Yes, it mllst be; I am plunged so deep in misery; for that beauty, which to other women is a boon, to me hath been a very bane. LEADER
Helen, never believe that the stranger, whoe'er he was that came, has spoken naught but truth. HELEN
Yet he said so clearly that Illy lord was clead. LLAlll'R
There is much that falsehood seems to make quite clear. HELEN
The word of truth hath a very different sound to falsehood. LEAIH,R
Thou art inclined to misfortune, rather than to luck HELEN
Fear girds me with terrors as with a garment, and takes me in her train. LEADER
What friends ha!-'t thou within the palacr?
16
Euripides HELEN
All are my friends here save him who seeks to wed me. LEADER
Thy action then is clear; leave thy seat at the tomb. HELEN
To what words or advice art thou leading up? LEADER
Go in and question the daughter of the ocean Nereid, who knoweth all things, even Theonoe, whether thy husband is still alive, or whether he hath left the light of day; and when thou knowest for certain, be glad or sorrowful, as fits thy fortune. But before thou hast right knowledge, what shall sorrow avail thee? Nay, hearken to me; leave this tomb and seek the maiden's company, that she may tell thee the truth, for from her shalt thou learn all. If thou abide here in this seat, what prospect hast thou? And I will myself go in with thee, and with thee inquire of the maiden's oracles; for 'tis a woman's bounden duty to share a sister's trouble.
(The following lines arc chanted responsively by
HELEN
and thr
CHORUS.)
HELEN
Kind friends, I welcome your advice. Come in, come in, that ye may learn the result of my struggle within the palace. CHORUS
Thy invitation comes to very willing ears. HELEN
Woe for this heavy day I Ah me! what mournful tidings shall I hear? CHORUS
Dear mistress mine, be not a prophetess of sorrow, forestalling lamentation. HELEN
What is the fate of my poor husband? Doth he still behold the light turning towards the ~un-god 's chariot and the stars in their courses? Or among the dead, beneath the earth, is he to death consigned? CHORUS
Of the future take a brighter view, whatever shall betide.
Helen HELEN
On thee I call, and thee adjure, Eurotas green with river-reeds, to tell me if this rumour of my husband's death be true. CHORUS
What boots this meaningless appeal? HELEN
About my neck wiII I fasten the deadly noose from above, or drive the murdcrous knife with self-aimed thrust deep into my throat to scver it, striving to cut my flesh, a sacrifice to those goddesses three and to that son of Priam, who in days gone by would wake the music of his pipe around his steading. CHORUS
Oh may sorrow be averted otherwhither, and thou be blest! HELEN
Woe is thee, unhappy Troy! Thou through deeds not done by thee art ruined, and hast suffered direst woe; for thc gift that Cypris gave to me, hath caused a sea of blood to flow, and many an eye to weep, with grief on grief and tear on tear. All this hath Ilium suffered and mothers have lost their children; and virgin sisters of the slain have cut off their tresses by the swollen tide of Phrygian Scamander. And the land of Hellas hath lifted her voice of woe and broken forth in wailing, smiting on her head, and making tender cheeks to stream with gore beneath the rending nail. Ah blest maid Callisto, who long ago in Arcady didst find favour with Zeus, in the semblance of a beast four-footed, how much happier was thy lot than my mother's, for thou hast changed the burden of thy grief and now with savage eye art weeping o'er thy shaggy monster-shape; aye, and hers was a happier lot, whom on a day Artemis drove from her choir, changed to a hind with horns of gold, the fair Titanian maid, daughter of Merops, because of her beauty; but my fair form hath proved the curse of Dardan Troy and doomed Achaea's sons. and the CHORllS go into the palace. il/ter the doors have closed upon them, MENELAUS enters. IIe is alone and clad in rags. )
(HELEN
MENELAUS
Ah! Pelops, easy victor long ago 0 'er thy rival Oenomaus in the chariotrace on Pisa's plain, would thou hadst ended thy career amongst the gods that day thou wcrt beguiled into making a banquet for them, or ever thou hadst begotten my father Atreus, to whom were born by Aerope hi9
Euripides
18
wife, Agamemnon and myself Menelaus, an illustrious pair; and herein 1 make no idle boast, for 'twas a mighty host, 1 trow, that 1 their leader carried 0 'er the sea to Troy, using no violence to make them follow me, but leading all the chivalry of Hellas by voluntary consent. And ::,ome of these must we number 'mid the slain, and some to their joy have 'scaped t he sea, bearing to their homes again names long reckoned drac!o But I, poor wretch, go wandering o'er grey Ocean's swell a weary ~pace, lung as that which saw me sack the towers of Ilium; and for all my longing to reach my country 1 am not counted worthy of this boon by heaven, but to Libya's desert cheerless roadsteads have 1 sailed, to each and all of them; and whensoe'er 1 draw me near my native land, the storm-wind drives me back again, and never yet have favouring breezes fIlled my sails, to let me reach my fatherland. And now a wretched, shipwrecked mariner, my friends all lost, am 1 cast up upon this shore; and my ship is shattered in a thousand pieces against the rocks; and its keel was wrested from its cunning fastenings; thereon did 1 with diffIculty escape, most unexpectedly, and Helen also, for her had I rescued from Troy and had with me. But the name of this country and its people 1 know not; for 1 blushed to mingle with the crowd to question them, anxious for very shame to hide Illy misfortunes which reduce me to these sorry rags. For when a man of high degree meets with adversity, he feels the strangeness of his fallen state more keenly than a sufferer of long standing. Dire want is wasting me; for I have neither food, nor raiment to gird myself withal; behold the facts before you to judge from-1 am clad in tatters cast up from the ship; while all the robes 1 once did wear, glorious attire and ornaments, hath the sea swallowed; and in a cavern's deep recesses have T hidden my wife, the cause of all my trouble, and have come hither, after straitly charging the survivors of my friends to watch her. Alone am T come, seeking for those there left some help, if haply 1 may find it after careful search. Su when 1 saw this palace girt with towering walls and stately gates of some prosperous lord, 1 drew nigh: for 1 have hope to obtain somewhat for my sailors from this wealthy house, whereas from houses which have no store, the inmates for all their goodwill could furnish naught. Ho! there, who keeps the gate and will come forth to bear my tale of woe into the house?
(A
FORTRESS
comcs out o! the palare in answcr to his rail.) PORTRESS
Who stands before the door? Begone from the house! stand not at the court-yard gate, annoying my masters! otherwi::,e shalt thou die, for thou art a Hellene born, and with them have we no dealings.
Helen MENELAUS
l\Iother, herein say est thou rightly on all points. 'Tis well; I will obey, but moderate thy words. PORTRESS
Away ~ stranger, my orders are to admit no Hellene to thIs palace. MENELAUS
Ha! do not seek to pU;,h me hence, or thru;,t me away by violence. PORTRESS
Thou clost not heed my words, ancl therefore hast thyself to blaml" MENELAUS
Carry my message to thy master in the palace PORTRESS
Some one would rue it, methinks, were I to take thy mrssagc MENELAUS
I come as a shipwrecked man and a stranger, whom heaven
pr()t('ct~
PORTRESS
Wrll, get thee to some other how,e than this. l\IENELAUS ~ay,
but I will pa;,s into the house, so listen to me. PORTRESS
Let me tell thee thou art unwelcome, and soon wilt be forcillly ejrrtcd. MENELAUS
Ah mr! where are now tho,"e famou" troops of mine? PORTRESS
Elsewhere maybe thou wert a mighty man, thou art not here.
o fortune!
l\fENELAUS
I have not deserved such insult. PORTRESS
Why are thy eyes with tear-drops wet? Why so sad? MENELAUS
'Tis the contrast with my fortunes erst so blest. PORTRESS
Hence! then, and give thy friends those tears.
20
Euripides MENELAUS
What land is this? whose is the palace? FORTRESS
Proteus lives here. It is the land of Egypt. MENELAUS
Egypt? Woe is mel to think that hither I have sailedl PORTRESS
Fray, what fault hast thou to fmd with the race of Nile? MENELAUS
'Twas no fault I found; my own disasters I lament. PORTRESS
There be plenty in evil case; thou art not the only one. MENELAUS
Is the king, of whom thou speakest, here within? PORTRESS
There is his tomb; his son rules in his stead. MENELAUS
And where may he be? abroad, or in the house? PORTRESS
He is not within. To Hellas is he a Litter foe. MENELAUS
His reason, pray, for this enmity? the results whereof I have experienced. PORTRESS
Beneath this roof dwells the daughter of Zeus, Helen. MENELAUS
What mean'st thou? what is it thou hast said? Repeat, I pray, thy words. PORTRESS
The daughter of Tyndareus is here, who erst in Sparta dwelt. MENELAUS
Whence came she? What means this business?
Helen
21
PORTRESS
She came from Lacedaemon hither. MENELAUS
When? Surely I have never been robbed of my wife from the cave! PORTRESS
Before the Achaeans went to Troy, sir stranger. But get thee hence; for somewhat hath chanced within, whereat the whole palace is in an uproar. Thou comest most unseasonably; and if my master catch thee, death will be thy stranger's gift. This say I, because to Hellas I am well disposed, albeit I gave thee harsh answers for fear of my master. (The
PORTRESS
goes back into the palace.)
MENE!.AUS
What can I think or say? For after my previous troubles, this is a fresh piece of ill-luck I hear, if, indeed, after recovering my wife from Troy and bringing her hither, and putting her for safety in the cave, I am then to find another woman living here with the same name as my wife. She called her the begotten child of Zeus. Can there be a man that hath the name of Zeus by the banks of Nile? The Zeus of heaven is only one, at any rate. Where is there a Sparta in the world save where Eurotas glides between his reedy banks? The name of Tyndareus is the name of one alone. Is there any land of the same name as Lacedaemon or Troy? I know not what to say; for naturally there are many in the wide world that have the same names, cities and women too; there is nothing, then, to marvel at. Nor yet again will I Jly from the alarm a servant raises; for there is none so cruel of heart as to refuse me food when once he hears my name. All have heard of Ilium's burning, and I, that set it ablaze, am famous now throughout the world, I, Menelaus. I therefore wait the master of this house. There are two issues I must watch; if he prove somewhat stern of heart, I will to my wreck and there cOIlceal myself; but if he show any sign of pity, I will ask for help in this my present strait. This is the crowning woe in all my misery, to beg the means of life from other princes, prince though I be myself; still needs must I. Yea, this is no saying of mine, but a word of wisdom, "Naught in might exceedeth dread necessity." (HELEN
and the
CHORUS
enter from the palace. They do not notice
MENELAUS.) CHORUS
(singing)
I have heard the voice of the maiden inspired. Clear is the answer she hath vouchsafed within yon palace, declaring that 1\lenclaus is not yet dead and buried, passed to the land of shades, where darkness
22
Euripides
takes the place of light; but on the stormy main is wearing out his life, nor yet hath reached the haven of his country, a wanderer dragging out a piteous existence, reft of every friend, setting foot in every corner of the world, as he voyageth home from Troy. HELEN Lo! once again I seek the shelter of this tomb, with Theonoe's sweet tidings in my ears; she that knoweth all things of a truth; for she saith my lord is yet alive and in the light of day, albeit he is roaming to and fro after many a weary voyage, and hither shall he come when so he reach the limit of his toils, no novice in the wanderer's life. But one thing did she leave unsaid. Is he to escape when he hath come? And I refrained from asking that question clearly, so glad was I when she told me he was safe. For she said that he was somewhere nigh this shore, cast up by shipwreck with a handful of friends. Ah! when shall I see thee come? How welcome will thy advent be! (She catches sight of MENELAUS.) Ha! who is this? Am I being snared by some tri~k of Proteus' impious son? Oh! let me, like a courser at its speed, or a votary of Bacchus, approach the tomb! for there is something wild about this fellow's looks, who is eager to o'ertake me. MENELAUS Ho there! thou that with fearful effort seekest to reach the basement of the tomb and the pillars of burnt sacrifice, stay thee. Wherefore art tlying? Ah! with what s[w('chlcss amaze the sight of thee affects me!
o friends!
HELEN
J am being ill-treated. This man is keeping me from the
tomb, and is eager to take and give me to his master, whose wooing I was seeking to avoid. MENELAUS No robber I, or minister of evil. HELEN At any rate the garb wherein thou art clad is unseemly. MENELAUS Stay thy hasty flight; put fear aside. HELEN I do so, now that I have reached this spot. MENELAUS Who art thou? whom do I behold in thee, lady?
155 8-573]
Helen
23
HELEN
Nay, who art thou? The self-same reason prompts us both. l\IENELAUS
I never saw a closer rcsemblance. HELEN
Great God! Yea, for to recognize our friends is of God. MENELAUS
Art thou from Hellas, or a native of this land? HELEN
From Hellas; but I would learn thy story too. l\lENELAUS
Lady, in thee I see a wondrous
Iikene~s
to Helen.
HELEN
And I in thee to l\Ienelaus; I know not what to say. MENELAUS
'Veil, thou hast recognized aright a man of many sorrows. HELEN
Hail! to thy wife's arms restored at last! MENELAUS
Wife indeed! Lay not a fmger on my robe. HELEN
The wife that Tyndareus, my father, gave thee. MENELAUS
o Hecate, giver of light, send thy visions favourably! HELEN
In me thou beholdest no spectre of the night, attendant on the queen of phantoms. MENELAUS
l'\ or yet am I in my single person the husband of two wives. HELEN
What other woman calls thee lord? MENELAUS
The inmate of yonder cave, whom I from Troy lOuvey.
24
Euripides HELEN
Thou hast nonc other wife but me. MENELAUS
Can it be my mind is wandering, my sight failing? HELEN
Dost not believe thou seest in me thy wife? MENELAUS
Thy form resembles her, but the real truth robs me of this belief. HELEN
Observe me well; what need hast thou of clearer proof? MENELAUS
Thou art like her; that will I never deny. HELEN
Who then shall teach thee, unless it be thine own eyes? MENELAUS
Herein is my dilemma; J have another wife. HELEN
To Troy I never went; that was a phantom. MENELAUS
Pray, who fashions living bodies? HELEN
The air, whence thou hast a wife of heaven's workmanship. MENELAUS
What god's handiwork? Strange is the talc thou tellest. HELEN
Hera made it as a substitute, to keep me from Paris. MENELAUS
How then couldst thou have been here, and in Troy, at the same time? HELEN
The name may be in many a place at once, though not the body. MENELAUS
Unhand me! the sorrows I brought with me suffice.
Helen HELEN
What! wilt leave me, and take that phantom bride away? MENELAUS
For thy likeness unto Helen, fare thee well. HELEN
Ruined I in thee I found my lord only to lose thee. MENELAUS
The greatness of my troubles at Troy convinces me; thou dost not. HELEN
Ah, woe is me! who was ever more unfortunate than I? Those whom r love best are leaving me, nor shall I ever reach Hellas, my own dear native land. (The FIRST MESSENGER enters in hast/'.) MESSENGER
At last I find thee, Menelaus, after an anxious search, not till J have wandered through the length and breadth of this foreign strand; I am sent by thy comrades, whom thou didst leave behind. MENELAUS
What news? surely you are not being spoiled by the barbarians?
1\1 ESSENGIoR A miracle hath happened; my words arc too weak for the reality. MENELAUS
Speak; for judging by this haste, thou hast stirring news. MESSENGER
My message is: thy countless toils have all been toiled in vain. MENELAUS
That is an old tale of woe to mourn! come, thy news? MESSENGER
Thy wife hath disappeared, soaring away into the embracing air; in heaven she now is hidden, and as she left the hollowed cave where we were guarding her, she hailed us thus, "Ye hapless Phrygians, and all Achaea's race! for me upon Scamander's strand by Hera's arts ye died from day to day, in the false belief that Helen was in the hands of Paris But I, since I have stayed my appointed time, and kept the laws of fate, will now depart unto the sky that gave me birth; but the unhappy daughter cf Tyndareus. through no fault of hers, hath borne an evil name with-
Euripides out reason." (Catching sight of HELEN) Daughter of Leda, hail to thee, so thou art here after all! I was just announcing thy departure to the hidden starry realms, little knowing that thou couldst fly at wiII. I wiII not a second time let thee flout us thus, for thou didst cause thy lord and his comrades trouble all for naught in Ilium . .MENELAUS
This is even what she said; her words are proved true; 0 longed-for day, h(lw hath it restored thee to my arms~ HELEN
o l\lenelaus, dearest
husband, the timp of sorrow has been long, but joy is now ours at last. Ah, friends, what joy for me to hold my husband in a fond embrace after many a wpary cycle of yon blazing lamp of day! MENELAUS
What joy for me to hold my wife! but with all that J would ask about these years, J now know not where 1 may fire who die at sea upon the shorc. MENELAUS
Thou removpst this obstacle t()O; I then will sail with thee anel help stow the funeral garniture in lhl' same :--hip. HELEN
Above all, it is necessary th:1t thou and all thy sailors who escaped from the wreck should be at hand l\JENELAUS
Be sure if once I fll1d a ship at her mom ings, they shall be there man for man, each with his sword. HELEN
Thou must direct everything; only let there be winds to waft our sails and a good ship to speed before them! l\JENHAUS
SO shall it be; for the deiCes will cause my troubles to cease. But from whom wilt thou say thou hadst tidings of my death? HELEN
From thee; declare thyself the one and only survivor, telling how thou wert sailing with the son of Atreus, and didst see him peri~h.
Helen l\IENELAUS
Of a truth the garments I have thrown about me, will bear out my talc that they were rags collected from the wreckage. HELEN
They come in most opportunely, uut they were ncar being lost just at the wrong time. Maybe that misfortune will turn to fortune. MENELAUS
Am T to enter the palace with thee, or are we to sit here at the tomb quietly? HELEN
Abide here; for if the king attempts to do thee any mischief, this tomb and thy gond sword will protect thee. But T will go within and cut off my bair, and exchange my white rohc for sable weeds, and rcnd my cheP]~ with this halllJ's ulnod-thirsty nail. For 'tis a mighty struggle, and I see two possible issues; ei t her T must die if detect ed in my plot, or else to my country shall 1 corne amI save thy soul alive. 0 Hera! awful queen, who sharest the couch of Zeus, grant some respite from thcir toil to two unhappy wretchcs; to thee I pray, tos"ing my arms uJlward to heavcn, where thou hast thy home in the star-spangled firmament. Thou, too, that did~t win the prize of ueauty at thc prile of my marriage; 0 Cypris! daughter of Dionc, destroy me not utterly. Thou hast injured me enough aforetime, delivering up Illy name, though not my person, to live amongst baruarians Oh! suffer me to serves. So let the shout go up, whose notes are those of joy.
Electra
93
and PYLADES rnter, followed by attendants who are braring the body of Aegisthus.)
(ORESTES
ELECTRA
Hail! glorious victor, Orestes, son of a sire who won the day 'neath Ilium's walls, accept this wreath to bind about the tresses of thy hair. Not in vain hast thou run thy course unto the goal and reached thy home again; no! but thou hast slain thy foe, Aegisthus, the murderer of our father. Thou too, 0 Pylades, trusty squire, whose training shows thy father's sterling worth, receive a garland from my hand, for thou no less than he hast a share in this emprise; and so I pray, good luck be thine for ever! ORESTES
First recognize the gods, Electra, as being the authors of our fortune, and then praise me their minister and fate's. Yea, I come from having slain Aegisthus in very deed, no mere pretence; and to make thee the more certain of this, I am bringing thee his corpse, which, if thou wilt, expose for beasts to rend, or set it upon a stake for birds, the children of the air, to prey upon; for now is he thy slave, once called thy lord and master. ELECTRA
I am ashamed to utter my wishes. ORESTES
What is it? speak out, for thou art through the gates of fear. ELECTRA
I am ashamed to flout the dead, for fear some spite assail me. ORESTES
No one would blame thee for this. ELECTRA
Our folk are hard to please, and love to blame. ORESTES
Speak all thy mind, sister; for we entered on this feud with him on terms admitting not of truce. ELECTRA
Enough! (Turning to the corpse of ACf!.isthus) With which of thy iniquities shall I begin my recital? With which shall I end it? To which allot a middle place? And yet I never ceased, as each day dawned, to rehear:ltions and these tresses of mine in thy hands, and go pour r(lund Clyt ellllll'st ra's tomb a mingled cup of honey, l1Iilk, and fr'llhing winr; thrn stand upon the heaped-up grave, and proclaim therefrom, "Helen, thy sister, sends thee tl1('o,e lihatioDs as her gift, fearing brr~l'lf to approach thy tomh from terror of the Argive moL"; and bid her harbour kindly thoughts towards mf' and HlPe and my hm~h;llld; towards these two wretched ~lifft'n'rs, too, whom Heaven hath afllic!rd. T,ikewise promise thaI 1 will p,~y in full whatl'w; funeral gifts are due from me to a sister. Now go, Illy child, a:1d tarry no!; and Sllon as thou hast made thc orrering at the tomb, bethink thee uf thy return.
goes into tiJ(' pa!Il(,(, as IILRMIONE aud hl'r llit(,l1dllnts drpart u,itlz tiJe offerings.)
(HET_EN
ELECTRA
o hum Everything seems a danger to venturous spirits, when their feet begin to tread an enemy's country. StiII I trust my mother, and at the same time mistrust her for persuading me to come hither under truce. Well, there is heIp at hand, for the altar's hearth is close and there are people in the palace. Come, let me sheath my sword in its dark scabbard and ask these maidens standing near the house, who they are. Ladies of another land, teB me from what country ye come to the haIls of HeIlas. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Phoenicia is my native land where I was born and bred; and Agenor's children's children sent me hither as a first-fruits of the spoils of war for Phoebus; but when the noble son of Oedipus was about to escort me to the haIlowed oracle and the altars of Loxias, came Argives meantime against his city. Now teB me in return who thou art that comes to this fortress of the Theban realm with its seven gates. POLYNEICES
My father was Oedipus, the son of Laius; my mother Jocasta, daughter of Menoeceus; and I am caIled l'olyneices by the folk of Thebes. CnoRus (chantinr;)
o kinsman of Agenor's race, my royal masters who sent me hither, at thy feet, prince, I throw myself, according to the custom of my home. At last art thou come to thy native land; at last! Hail to thee! all hail! Come forth, my honoured mistress, open wide the doors. Oost hear, 0 mother of this chief? Why art thou delaying to leave the sheltering roof to fold thy son in thy embrace? (JOCASTA en/as from the palaO'.)
Euripides JOCA~TA
13 01 -3 6 51
((hanting)
Maidens, I hear you call in your Phoenician tongue, and myoid feet drag their tottering steps to meet my son. 0 my son, my son, at last after many a long day I see thee face to face; throw thy arms about thy mother's bosom; reach hither thy cheek to me and thy dark locks of clustering hair, o'ershadowing my neck therewith. Hail to thee! all hail! scarce now restored to thy mother's arms, when hope and expectation both were dead. What can I say to thee? how recall in every way, by word, by deed, the bliss of days long past, expressing my joy in the mazy measures of the dance? Ah! my son, thou didst leave thy father's halls desolate, when thy brother's despite drove thee thence in exile. Truly thou wert missed alike by thy friends and Thebes. This was why I cut off my silvered locks and let them fall for grief with many a tear, not clad in robes of white, my son, but instead thereof taking for my wear these sorry sable tatters; while within the palace that aged one with sightless orbs, ever nursing the sorrow of a double regret for the pair of brethren estranged from their home, rushed to lay hands upon himself with the sword or by the noose suspenrlerl o'er his chamber-roof, moaning his curses on his sons; and now he buries himself in darkness, weeping ever and lamenting. And thou, my child,-I hear thou hast taken an alien to wife and art begetting children to thy joy in thy home; they tell me thou art courting a foreign alliance, a ceaseless woe to me thy mother and to Laius thy ancestor, to have this woeful marriage foisted on us. 'Twas no hand of mine that lit for thee the marriage-torch, as custom ordains and as a happy mother ought; no part had Ismenus at thy wedding in supplying the luxurious bath; and there was silence through the streets of Thebes, what time thy young bride entered her home. Curses on them! whether it be the sword or strife or thy sire that is to blame, or heaven's visitation that hath burst so riotously upon the house of Oedipus; for on me is come all the anguish of these troubles. LFADER OF THE CHORUS
Wondrous dear to woman is the chilrl of her travail, anrl all her race hath some affection for its babes. POLYNEICES
~Iother,
I have come amongst enemies wisely or foolishly; but all men needs must love their native land; whoso saith otherwise is pleased to say so but his thoughts are turned elsewhere. So fearful was I and in such terror, lest my brother might slay me by treachery that I made my way through the city sword in hand, casting my eyes all round me. My only hope is the truce and thy plighted word which induced m~ to enter my
[3 66-395]
The Phoenissae
179
paternal walls; and many a tear I shed by the way, seeing after a weary while my home and the altars of the gods, the training ground, scene of my childhood, and Dirce's founts from which I was unjustly driven to sojourn in a strange city, with tears ever gushing from mine eyes. Yea, and to add to my grief I see thee with hair cut short and clad in sable robe; woe is me for my sorrows! How terrible, dear mother, is hatred 'twixt those once near and dear; 110W hard it makes all reconciliation! What doth my aged sire within the house, his light all d:lrkness now? what of my sisters twain? Ah! they, I know, bewail my bitter exile. jOCASTA
Some god with fell intent is plaguing the race of Oedipus. Thus it all began; I broke God's law and bore a son, and in an evil hour married thy father and thou wert born. But why repeat these horrors? what Heaven sends we have to bear. I am afraid to ask thee what I fain would, for fear of wounding thy feelings; yet 1 long to. POLYNEICES
Nay, question me, leave naught unsaid; for thy will, mother, pleasure too.
IS
my
jOCASTA
Well then, first J ask thee what J long to have answered. \Vhat means exile from one's country? is it a great eviP POLYNEICES
The greatest; harder to bear than tell. jOC"ASTA
What is it like? what is it galls the exile? POLYNEICES
One thing most of all; he cannot speak his mind. jOCASTA
This is a slave's lot thou describest, to refrain from uttering what one thinks. POLYNEICES
The follies of his rulers must he bear. jOCASTA
That too is bitter, to join in the folly of fools. Pm Y"iEICES
Yet to gain our ends we must submit
again~t
our nature.
180
Euripides ]OCASTA
Hope, they say, is the exile's food. POI.YNEICES
Aye, hope that looks so fair; but she is ever in the future. ]OCASTA
But doth not time expose her futility? POLYNEICES
She hath a certain winsome charm in misfortune. jOCASTA
Whence hadst thou means to live, ere thy marriage found it for thee r POL YNEICES
One while I had enough for the day, and then maybe I had it not. ]OCASTA
Did not thy father's friends and whilom guests assist thre? POLYNEICES
Seek to be prosperous; once let fortune lour, ami the aid supplied by friends is naught. jOCASTA
Did not thy noble breeding exalt thy horn for thee? POLYNEICES
Poverty is a curSt'; breeding would not fmd me food. jOCASTA
Man's dearest treasure then, it seems, is his country. POLYNEICES
No words of thine could tell how dear. jOCASTA
How was it thou didst go to Argos? what was thy scheme? POLYNEICES
I know not; the deity summoned me thither in accordance with my destiny. jOCASTA
He doubtless had some wise design; but how didst thou win thy wife?
The Phocnissae POLYNEICES
Loxias had given Adrastus an oracle. JOCASTA
What was it? what meanest thou? I cannot guess. POLYNEICES
That he should wed his daughters to a boar anu a lion. JOCASTA
What hadst thou, my son, to do with the name of ueasts) POLYNEICES
It was night when I reached the porch of Aurastus. JOCASTA
In search of a resting-place, or wandering thither in thy exile? POLYNEICES
Yes, I wandered thither; and so did another like me. JOCASTA
Who was he? he too it seems was in evil plight. POLYNEICES
Tydeus, son of Oeneus, was his name. JOCASTA
But why did Adrastus liken you to wild beasts? POLYNEICES
Because we came to blows about our bed. JOCASTA
Was it then that the son of Talaus understood the orade? POLYNEICl,S
Yes, and he gave to us his daughters twain. JOCASTA
Art thou blest or curst in thy marriage? POLYNEICES
As yet I have no fault to find with it. JOCASTA
How didst thou persuade an army to follow thee hither?
Euripides POLYNEICES
To me and to Tydeus who is my kinsman by marriage, Adrastus sware an oath, even to the husbands of his daughters twain, that he would restore us both to our country, but me the fIrst. So many a chief from Argos and Mycenae has joined me, doing me a bitter though needful service, for 'tis against my own city I am marching. Now I call heaven to witness, that it is not willingly I have raised my arm against parents whom I love full well. But to thee, mother, it belongs to dissolve this unhappy feud, and, by reconciling brothers in love, to end my troubles and thine and this whole city's. Tis an old-world maxim, but I will cite it for all that: "Men set most store by wealth, and of all things in this world it hath the greatest power." This am I come to secure at the head of my countless host; for good birth is naught if poverty go with it. LEADER
La! Eteocles comes hither to discuss the truce. Thine the task, 0 mother ]ocasta, to speak such words as may reconcile thy sons. (Eu:ocLI:s and his retinue enter.) ETEOCLES
Mother, I am here; but it was only to pleasure thee I came. What am I to do? Let some one begin the conference; for I stoppeu marshalling the citizens in double lines around the walls, that I might hear thy arbitration bet ween us; for it is under this truce that thou hast persuaded me to admit this fellow within the walls. ]OCASTA
Stay a moment; haste never carries justice with it; but slow deliberation oft attains a wise result. Restrain the fIerceness of thy look, that panting rage; for this is not the Gorgon's severed head but thy own brother whom thou seest here. Thou too, Polyneices, (urn and face thy brother; for if thou and he stand face to face, thou wilt adopt a kindlier tone and lend a readier ear to him. I fain would give you both one piece of wholesome counsel; when a man that is angered with his friend confronts him face to face, he ought only to keep in view the object of his coming, forgetting all previous quarrels. Polyneices my son, speak first, for thou art come at the head of a Danaid host, alleging wrongful treatment; and may some god judge betwixt us and reconcile the trouble. POLYNEICES
The words of truth are simple, and justice needs no subtle interpretations, for it hath a fitness in itself; but the words of injustice, being rotten in themselves, require clever treatment. I provided for his interests and mine in our father's palace, being anxious to avoid the curse which Oedipus
The Phocnissae once uttered against us; of my own free-will I left the land, allowing him to rule our country for one full year, on condition that I should then take the sceptre in turn, instead of plunging into deadly enmity and thereby doing others hurt or suffering it myself, as is now the case. But he, after consenting to this and calling the gods to witness his oath, has performed none of his promises, but is still keeping the sovereignty in his own hands together with my share of our heritage. Even now am I ready to take my own and dismiss my army from this land, receiving my house in turn to dwell therein, and once more restore it to him for a like period instead of ravaging our country and planting scaling-ladders against the towers, as I shall attempt to do if I do not get my rights. Wherefore I call the gods to witness that spite of my just dealing in everything I am being unjustly robbed of my country by most godless fraud. Here, mother, have I stated the several points on their own merits, without collecting words to fence them in, but urging a fair case, I think, alike in the judgment of skilled or simple folk. LEADER
To me at least, albeit I was not born and bred in Bellas, thy words seem full of sense. ETEOCLES
If all were at one in their ideas of honour and wisdom, there would have been no strife to make men disagree; but, as it is, fairness and equality have no existence in this world beyond the name; there is reaIly no such thing. For instance, mother, I will teIl thee this without any concealment; I would ascend to the rising of the stars and the sun or dive beneath the earth, were I able so to do, to win a monarch's power, the chief of things divine. Therefore, mother, I will never yield this blessing to another, but keep it for myself; for it were a coward's act to lose the greater and to win the less. Besides, I blush to think that he should gain his object by coming with arms in his hand and ravaging the land; for this were foul disgrace to glorious Thebes, if I should yield my sceptre up to him for fear of Argive might. He ought not, mother, to have attempted reconcilement by armed force, for words compass everything that even the sword of an enemy might effect. Still, if on any other terms he cares to dwell here, he may; but the sceptre wiII I never willingly let go. ShaIl I become his slave, when I can be his master? Never! Wherefore come fire, come sword! harness your steeds, fiIl the plains with chariots, for I will not forego my throne for him. For if we must do wrong, to do so for a kingdom were the fairest cause, but in all else virtue should be our aim. LEADER
Fair words are only called for when the deeds they crown are fair; otherwise they lose their charm and offend justice.
Euripides ]OCASTA
EteocIes, my child, it is not all evil that attends old age; sometimes its experience can offer sager counsel than can youth. Oh! why, my son, art thou so set upon Ambition, that worst of deities? Forbear; that goddess knows not justice; many are the homes and cities once prosperous that she hath entered and left after the ruin of her votaries; she it is thou madly followest. Better far, my son, prize Equality that ever linketh friend to friend, city to city, and allies to each other; for Equality is man's natural law; but the less is always in opposition to the greater, ushering in the dayspring of dislike. For it is Equality that hath set up for man measures and divisions of weights and hath distinguished numbers; night's sightless orb, and radiant sun proceed upon their yearly course on equal terms, and neither of them is envious when it has to yield. Though sun and gloom then both are servants in man's interests, wilt not thou be content with thy fair share of thy heritage and give the same to him? if not, why where is justice? Why prize beyond its worth the monarch's power, injustice in prosperity? why think so much of the admiring glances turned on rank? Nay, 'tis vanity. Or wouldst thou by heaping riches in thy halls, heap up toil therewith? what advantage is it? 'tis but a name; for the wise find that enough which suffIces for their wants. Man indeed hath no possessions of his own; we do but hold a stewardship of the gods' property; and when they will, they take it back again. Riches make no settled home, but are as transient as the day. Come, suppose I put before thee two alternatives, whether thou wilt rule or save thy city? Wilt thou say "Rule"? Again, if Polyneices win the day and his Argive warriors rout the ranks of Thebes, thou wilt see this city conquered and many a captive maid brutally dishonoured by the foe; so will that wealth thou art so bent on getting become a grievous bane to Thebes; but still ambition fills thee. This I say to thee; and this to thee, Polyneices; Adrastus hath conferred a foolish favour on thee; and thou too hast shown little sense in coming to lay thy city waste. Suppose thou conquer this land (which Heaven forefend!) tell me, I conjure thee, how wilt thou rear a trophy to Zeus? how wilt thou begin the sacrifice after thy country's conquest or inscribe the spoils at the streams of Inachus with "Polyneices gave Thebes to the flames and dedicated these shields to the gods"? Oh! never, my son, be it thine to win such fame from Hcllas! If, on the other hand, thou art worsted and thy brother's cause prevail, how shalt thou return to Argos, leaving countless dead behind? Some one will be sure to say, "Out on thee! Adrastus, for the evil bridegroom thou hast brought unto thy house; thanks to one maid's marriage, ruin is come on liS." Towards two evils, my son, art thou hasting,-loss of influence there and ruin in the midst of thy efforts here. Oh! my children, lay aside your violence; two men's follies, once they meet, result in very deadly evil.
The Phoenissae
o heaven,
ISS
LEADER
avert these troubles and reconcile the sons of Oedipus in
some 'hay! ETEOCLES
Mother, the season for parley is past; the time we still delay i~ idle waste; thy good wishes are of no avail, for we shall never be reconciled except upon the terms already named, namely, that T ~ho\lld kt'tp the sceptre and be king of this land: wherefore cease these tediou'i warnings and let me be. (Turning to POLYNEICES) And as for thee, outside the walls, or die I POLYNEICES
\Vho will slay me? who is so invulnerable as to plunge his sword in my body without reaping the self-same fate? ETEOCLES
Thou art near him, aye, very near; dost see my arm? POLYNEICES
I see it; but wealth is cowardly, a craven too fond of life. ETEOCLLS
Was it then to meet a dastard thou camest with all that host to war? POLYNEICES
In a general caution is better than foolhardiness. En:ocLES
Relying on the truce, which saves thy life, thou turnest boaster. POLYNEICES
Once more I ask thee to restore my sceptre and share in the kingdom. ETEOCLES
I have naught to restore; 'tis my own house, and I will dwell therein. POLYNEICES
What! and keep more than thy share? ETEOCLES
Yes, I will. Begone! POLYNEICES
o altars of my
fathers' gods!ETEOCLES
Which thou art here to raze.
186
Euripides
1 60 5- 612
1
POLYNElCES
Hear me. ETEOCLES
\\'ho would hear thee after thou hast marched against thy fatherland? POLYNEICES
o temples of those gods that ride on snow-white steeds! ETEOCLES
They hate thee. POLYNEICES
I am being driven from my country. ETEOCLES
Because thou earnest to drive ot hers thence. POLYNEICES
Unjustly, 0 ye gods! ETEOCLES
Call on the gods at Mycenae, not here. POLYNEICES
Thou ha"t outraged rightETEOCLES
But I have not like thee become my country's foe. l'or.YNElCES
By drh-ing me forth without my portion. ETEOCLES
And further I will slay thee. POLYNEICES
o father, dost thou hear what I am suffering? ETEOCLES
Yea, and he hears what thou art doing. POLYNEICES
Thou too, mother mine? ETEOCLES
Thou hast no right to mention thy mother.
e
The Phoenissae POLYNEICES
o my city! ETEOCLES
Get thee to Argos, and invoke the waters or Lerna. T'OLYNEICr.S
T will; trouble not thyself; all thanks to thee though, mother mine. ETEOCLES
Forth from the land! POLYNElCI:S
I go, yet grant me to behold my father. ETEOCLES
Thou shalt not have thy wish. POLYNEICES
At least then my tender sisters. ETEOCLES
No! them too thou shalt never see. T'OLYNEICE:,
Ah, sisters mine! ETEOCLES
Why dost thou, their bitterest fue, call on them? POLYNEICES
Mother dear, to thee at least farewell! jOCASTA
A joyous faring mine in sooth, my son! POLYNEICES
Thy son no more! JOCASTA
Born to sorrow, endless sorrow, I! POLYNEICES
Tis because my brother treat'> me despitefully. ETEOCLES
T am treated just the same.
Euripides
188
POLYNEICES
Where wilt thou be stationed before the towers? ETEOCLES
Why ask me this? POLYNEICES
I will array myself against thee for thy death. ETEOCLES
I too have the same desire. jOCASTA
Woe is mel what will ye do, my sons? POLYNEICES
The event will show. ]OCASTA
Oh, fly your father's curse! (JOCASTA
enters the palace.)
ETEOCLES
Destruction seize our whole house! POLYNEICES
Soon shall my sword be busy, plunged in gore. But I call my native land and heaven too to witness, with what contumely and bitter treatment I am being driven forth, as though I were a "lave, not a son of Oedipus as much as he. If aught happen to thee, my city, blame him, not me; for I came not willingly, and all unwillingly am I driven hence. Farewell, king Phoebus, lord of highways; farewell palace and comrades; farewell ye statues of the gods, at which men offer shepp; for I know not if J shall ever again address you, though hope is still awake, which makes me confident that with heaven's help J shall slay this fellow and rule my native Thebes. (POLYNEICES
departs.)
ETEOCLES
Forth from the land! 'twas a true name our father gave thee, when, prompted by some god, he called thee Polyneices, a name denoting strife. CHORUS
(singing) strophe
To this land came Cadmus of Tyre, at whose feet an unyoked heifer threw itself down, giving effect to an oracle on the spot where
The P hocni s sar
the god's response bade him take up his abode in Aonia's rich cornlands, where gushing Dirce's fair rivers of water pour o'er verdant fruitful fields; here was born the Bromian god by her whom Zeus made a mother, round whom the ivy twined its wreaths while he was yet a babe, swathing him amid the covert of its green foliage as a child of happy destiny, to be a theme for Bacchic revelry among the maids and wives inspired in Thebes. antistrophr There lay Ares' murderous dragon, a savage warder, watching with roving eye the watered glens and quickening streams; him did Cadmus slay with a jagged stone, when he came thither to draw him lustral water, smiting that fell head with a blow of his deathdealing arm; but by the counsel of Pallas, motherless goddess, he ca.~t the teeth upon the earth into deep furrows, whence sprang to sight a mail-clad host above the surface of the soil; but grim slaughter once again united them to the earth they loved, bedewing with blood the ground that had disclosed them to the sunlit breath of heaven. cpodr Thee too, Epaphus, child of Zeus, sprung from 10 our ancestress, I call on in my foreign tongue; all hail to thee! hear my prayer uttered in accents strange, and visit this land; 'twas in thy honour thy descendants settled here, and those goddesses of twofold name, Persephone and kindly Demeter or Earth the queen of all, that feedeth every mouth, won it for themselves; send to the help of this land those torch-bearing queens; for to gods all things are easy. ETEOCLES (to an attrndant) Go, fetch Creon son of l\Ienoecl'us, the brother of Jocasta my mother; tell him I fain would confer with him on matters ,:ffecting our puhlic and private weal, before we set (lut to battle and the arraying of our host. But 10! he comes and saves thee the trouble of going; I see him on his way to my palace. (CREON cnt rrs. ) CREON
To and fro have I been, king Eteocles, in my desire to see thee, and have gone all round the gates and sentinels of Thebes in quest of thee. ETEOCLES
Why, and T was anxious to see thee, Creon; for I found the terlm of peace far from satisfactory, when I came to confer with Polyneices.
Euripides CREON
I hear that he has wider aims than Thebes, relying on his alliance with the daughter of Adrastus and his army. Well, we must leave this dependent on the gods; meantime I am come to tell thee our chief obstacle. ETEOCLES
What is that? I do not understand what thou sayest. CRLON
There is come one that was captured by the Argives. ETEOCLES
What news does he bring from their camp? CREON
He says the Argive army intend at once to draw a ring of troops round the city of Thebes, about its towers. ETEOCLES
In that case the city of Cadmus must lead out its troops. CREON
Whither? art thou so young that thine eyes see not what they should? ETEOCLES
Across yon trenches for immediate action. CREON
Our Theban forces are small, while theirs are numberless. ETEOCLES
I well know they are reputed brave. CREON
No mean repute have those Argives among Hellenes. ETEOCLES
Never fear! I will soon fill the plain with their dead. CREON
I could wish it so; but I see great diffIculties in this. ETEOCLES
Trust me, I will not keep my host within the walls. CREON
Still victory is entirely a matter of good counsel.
The Phoenissar ETEOCLES
Art anxious then that I should have recourse to any other scheme? CREON
Aye to every scheme, before running the risk once for all. ETEOCLES
Suppose we fall on them by night from ambuscadr;; CREON
Good! provided in the even t of defeat thou canst secure thy return hither. ETEOCLES
Night equalizes risks, though it rather favours daring. CREON
The darkness of night is a terrible time to suffer disaster. ETEOCLES
Well, shall I fall upon them as they sit at meat? CREON
That might cause them fright, but victory is what we w:mt. ETEOCLES
Dirce's ford is deep enough to prevent their rrtreat. CREON
No plan so good as to kerp well guardrd. ETEOCLES
What if our cavalry make a sortie against the host of Argos? CREON
Their troops too are fenced all round with chariots. ETEOCLES
"What then can I do? am I to surrender the city to the foe? CREON
Nay, nay! but of thy wisdom form some plan. ETEOCLES
Pray, what scheme is wiser than mine? CREON
They have seven chiefs, I hear.
Euripides ETEOCLES
What is their appointed task? their might can be but feeble. CREON
To lead the several companies and storm our seven gates. ETEOCLES
What are we to do? I will not wait till every chance is gone. CREON
Choose seven chiefs thyself to set against them at the gates. ETEOCLES
To lead our companies, or to fight single-handed? CREON
Choose our very bravest men to lead the troops. ETEOCLES
I understand; to repel attempts at scaling our walls. CREON
With others to share the command, for one man sees not everything. ETEOCLES
Selecting them for courage or thoughtful prudence? CREON
For both; for one is naught wi thou t the other. ETEOCLES
It shall be done; I will away to our seven towers and post captains at the gates, as thou advisest, pitting them man for man against the foe. Tu tell thee each one's name were grievous waste uf time, when the foe is camped beneath our very walls." But T will go, that my hands may no longer hang idle. May I meet my brother face to face, and encounter him hand to hand, e'en to the death, for coming to waste my country! But if I suffer any mischance, thou must see to the marriage 'twixt Antigone my sister and Haemon, thy son; and now, as I go forth to battle, I ratify their previous espousal. Thou art my mother's brother, so why need I say morc? take care of her, as she deserves, both for thy own sake and mine. As for my sire he hath been guilty of folly against himself in putting out his eyes: small praise have I for him; by his curses maybe he will slay us too. One thing only have we still to do, to ask Teiresias, the seer, if he has aught to tell of heaven's will. Thy son Menm'ceus, who bears thy father's name, will I send to fetch Teiresias hither, Creon; for with thee
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193
he will readily converse, though I have ere now so scorned his art prophetic to his face, that he has reasons to reproach me. This commandment, Creon, I lay upon the city and thee; should my cause prevail, never give Polyneices' corpse a grave in Theban soil, and if so be some friend should bury him, let death reward the man. Thus far to thee; and to my servants thus, bring forth my arms and coat of mail, that I may start at once for the appointed combat, with right to lead to victory. To save our city we will pray to Caution, the best goddess to serve our end. (ETEOCLES and his rctinur go out.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe why, why art thou possessed by a love of blood and death, out of harmony with the festivals of Bromius? 'Tis for no crowns of dancers fair that thou dost toss thy youthful curls to the breele, singing the while to the lute's soft hreath a strain to charm the dancers' feet; but with warriors clad in mail thou dost lead thy sombre revelry, breathing into Argive breasts a lust for Theban blood; with no wild waving of the thyrsus, clad in fawnskin thou dancest, but with chariots and bitted steeds wheel est thy charger strong of hoof. O'er the waters of Ismenus in wild career thou art urging thy horses, inspiring Argive breasts with hate of the earth-born race, arraying in brazen harness against these stone-built walls a host of warriors armed with shields. Truly Strife is a goddess to fear, who devised these troubles for the princes of this lanrl, for the much-enduring sons of Labdacus.
o Ares, god of toil and trouble!
antistro pIli'
o Cithaeron, apple of the eye of Artemis, holy vale of leaves, amid
whose snows full many a beast lies couched, would thou hadst never reared the child exposed to die, Oedipus the fruit of Jocasta's womb, when as a babe he was cast forth from his home, marked with a golden brooch; and would the Sphinx, that winged maid, fell monster from the hills, had never come to curse our land with inharmonious strains; she that erst drew nigh our walls and snatched the sons of Cadmus away in her taloned feet to the pathless fields of light, a fiend sent by Hades from hell to plague the men of Thebes; once more unhappy strife is bursting out between the sons of Oedipus in city and home. For never can wrong be right, nor children of unnatural parentage come as a glory to the mother that bears them, but as a stain on the marriage of him who is father and brother at once.
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194
[818-857] cpode
o earth, thou once didst bear,-so long ago I heard the story told
by foreigners in my own home,-a race which sprang of the teeth of a snake with blood-red crest, that fed on beasts, to be the glory and reproach of Thebes. In days gone by the sons of heaven came to the wedding of Harmonia, and the walls of Thebes arose to the sound of the lyre and her towers stood up as Amphion played, in the midst between the double streams of Dirce, that watereth the green meadows fronting the Ismenus; and 10, our horned ancestress was mother of the kings of Thebes; thus our city through an endless succession of divers blessings has set herself upon the highest pinnacle of martial glory. (TEIRESIAS
cntcrs, lcd by !tis daughtcr. They are accompall/cd by
MENOECEUS. ) TEIRESIAS
Lead on, my daughter; for thou art as an eye to my blind feet, a~ certain as a star to mariners; lead my steps on to level ground; then go before, that we stumble not, for thy father has no strength; keep safe for me in thy maiden hand the auguries I took in the days I observed the flight and cries of birds seated in my holy prophet's chair. Tell me, young Menoeceus, son of Creon, how much further toward the city is it ere I reach thy father? for my knees grow weary, and I can scarce keep up this hurried pace. CREON
Take heart, Teiresias, for thou hast reached thy moorings and art near thy friends; take him by the hand, my child; f()r just as every carriage has to wait for outside help to steady it, so too hath the step of age. TEIRESIAS
Enough; I have arrived; why, Creon, clost thou summon me so urgently? CREON
I have not forgotten that; but first collect thyself and regain breath, shaking off the fatigue of thy journey. TEIRESIAS
I am indeed worn out, having arrived here only yesterday from the court of the Erechtheidae; for they too were at war, fighting with Eumolpus, in which contest I insured the victory of ('ecrops' sons; and I received the golden crown, which thou seest me wearing, as first-fruits of the enemy's spoil.
[8S8-898]
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CREON
I take thy crown of victory as an omen. We, as thou knowest, are exposed to the billows of an Argive war, and great is the struggle for Thebes. Eteocles, our king, is already gone in ful1 harness to meet "Mycenae's champions, and hath bidden me inquire of thee our best course to save the city. TEIRESIAS
For Eteocles J would have closed my lips and refrained from all response, but to thee J will speak, since 'tis thy wish to learn. This country, Creon, has been long affiicted, ever since Laius became a father in heaven's despite, begetting hapless Oedipus to be his own mother's husband. That bloody outrage on his eyes was planned by heaven as an ensample to Hel1as; and the sons of Oedipus made a gross mistake in wishing to throw over it the veil of time, as if forsooth they could outrun the gods' decree; for by robbing their fat her of his due honour and allowing him no freedom, they enraged their luckless sirr; so he, stung by suffering and disgrace as well, vented awful curses against them; and I, because J left nothing undone or unsaid to prevent this, incurred the hatred of the sons of Oedipus. But death inflicted by each other's hands awaits them, Creon; and the many heaps of slain, some from Argive, some from Theban missiles, shall cause bitter lamentation in the land of Thebes. Alas! for thee, poor city, thou art being involved in their ruin, unless J can persuade one man. The best course was to prevent any child of Oedipus becoming either citizen or king in this land, since they were under a ban and would overthrow the city. But as evil has the mastery of good, there is still one other way of safety; but this it were unsafe for me to tell, and painful too for those whose high fortune it is to supply their city with the saving cure. Farewell! I will away; amongst the rest must I endure my doom, if need be; for what will become of me? CREON
Stay here, old man. TEIRESIAS
Hold me not. CREON
Abide, why dost thou seek to fly? TEffiESIAS
'Tis thy fortune that flies thee, not J CREON
Tell me what can save Thebes and her citizens.
Euripides TEIRESIAS
Though this be now thy wish, it will soon cease to be. CREON
Not wish to save my country? how can that be? TEIRESIAS
Art thou still eager to be told? CREON
Yea; for wherein should I show greater zeal? TElRESIAS
Then straightway shalt thou hear my words prophetic. But first I would fain know for certain where Menoeceus is, who led me hither. CREON
Here, not far away, but at thy side. TElRESIAS
Let him retire far from my prophetic voice. CREON
He is my own son and will preserve due silence. TEIRESIAS
Wilt thou then that I tell thee in his presence? CREON
Yea, for he will rejoice to hear the means of safety. TEIRESIAS
Then hear the purport of my oracle, the which if ye observe ye shall save the city of Cadmus. Thou must sacrifice Menoeceus thy son here for thy country, since thine own lips demand the voice of fate. 4 CREON
What mean'st thou? what is this thou hast said, old man? TElRESIAS
To that which is to be thou also must conform. CREON
o the eternity of woe thy minute's tale proclaims! TElRESIAS
Yes to thee. but to thy country great salvation.
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CREON
I shut my ears; I never listened; to city now farewell! TEJRESJAS
Hal the man is changed; he is drawing back. CREON
Go in peace; it is not thy prophecy I need. TEffiESJAS
Is truth dead, because thou art curst with woe? CREON
By thy knees and honoured locks I implore thee! TEJRESIAS
Why implore me? thou art craving a calamity hard to guard against. CREON
Keep silence; tell not the city thy news. TEIRESIAS
Thou biddest me act unjustly; I will not hold my peace. CREON
What wilt thou then do to me? slay my child? TEIRESJAS
That is for others to decide; T have but to speak. CREON
Whence came this curse on me aIHi my son? TEIRESIAS
Thou dost right to ask me and to test what T have said. In yonder lair, where the earth-born dragon kept watch alld ward o'er Dirce's springs, must this youth be offered and shed his life-blood on the ground by reason of Ares' ancient grudge against Cadmus, who thus avenges the slaugh1er of his earth-born snake. If ye do this, ye shall win Ares as an ally; and if the earth receive crop for crop and human blood for blood, ye shall find her kind ag3in, that erst to your sorrow reared from that dragon's seed a crop of warriors with golden casques; for needs must one sprung from the dragon's teeth be slain. Now thou art our only survivor of the seed of that sown race, whose lineage is pure alike on mother's and on father's side, thou and these thy sons. Haemon's marriage debars him from being the victim, for he is no longer single; for even if he have not consummated his marriage, yet is he betrothed; but this tender youth, con-
Euripides secrated to the city's service, might by dying rescue his country; and bitter will he make the return of Adrastus and his Argives, flinging o'er their eyes death's dark pall, and will glorify Thebes. Choose thee one of these alternatives; either save the city or thy son. Now hast thou all I have to say. Daughter, lead me home. A fool, the man who practises the diviner's art; for if he should announce an adverse answer, he makes himself disliked by those who seek to him; while, if from pity he deceives those who are consulting him, he sins against Heaven. Phoebus should have been man's only prophet, for he fears no man. (His daughter leads TEIRESIAS out.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Why so silent, Creon, why are thy lips hushed and dumb? I too am no less stricken with dismay. CREON
Why, what could one say? 'Tis clear what my words must be. For I will never plunge myself so deeply into misfortune as to devote my son to death for the city; for love of children binds all men to life, and none would resign his own son to die. Let no man praise me into slaying my children. I am ready to die myself-for I am ripe in years-to set my country free. But thou, my son, ere the whole city learn this, up and fly with all haste away from this land, regardless of these prophets' unbridled utterances; for he will go to the seven gates and the captains there and tell all this to our governors and leaders; now if we can forestall him, thou mayst be saved, but if thou art too late, we are undone and thou wilt die. MENOECEUS
Whither can I fly? to what city? to which of our guest-friends? CREON
Fly where thou wilt bp furthest removed from this lam!. MENOEr'EUS
'Tis for thee to name a place, for me to carry out thy bidding. CREON
After passing DelphiMENOECEUS
Whither must I go, father? CREON
To Aetolia.
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199
l\JENOECEUS
Whither thence? CREON
To the land of Thesprotia. MENOECEUS
To Dodona's hallowed threshold? CREON
Thou follow est me. MENOECEUS
What protection shall I find me there? CREON
The god will send thee on thy way. MENOECEUS
How shall I find the means? CREON
I will supply thee with money. IHENOECEUS
A good plan of thine, father. So go; for I will to thy sister, Jocasta, at whose breast I was suckled as a babe when reft of my mother and left a lonely orphan, to give her kindly greeting and then will I seck my safety. Come, come! be going, that there be no hindrance on thy part. (CREON departs.) How cleverly, ladies, I banished my father's fears by crafty words to gain my end; for he is trying to convey me hence, depriving the city of its chance and surrendering me to cowardice. Though an old man may be pardoned, yet in my case there is no excuse for betraying the country that gave me birth. So I will go and save the city, be assured thereof, and give my life up for this land. For this were shame, that they whom no orades bind and who have not come under Fate's iron law, should stand there, shoulder to shoulder, with never a fear of death, and fIght for their country before her towers, while I escape the kingdom like a coward, a traitor to my father and brother and ci ty; and wheresoe 'er I live, I shall appear a dastard. Nay, by Zeus and all his stars, by Ares, god of blood, who 'stablished the warrior-crop that sprung one day from earth as princes of this land, that shall not be! but go I will, and standing on the topmost battlements, will deal my own death-blow over the dragon's deep dark den, the spot the seer described, and will set my country free. I have spoken. Now I go to make the city a present of my life, no mean offering,
200
Euripides
to rid this kingdom of its affliction. For if each were to take and expend all the good within his power, contributing it to his country's weal, our states would experience fewer troubles and would for the future prosper. (MENOECEUS goes out.) CHORUS
(singing)
strophe Thou cam'st, 0 winged fiend, spawn of earth and hellish viperbrood, to prey upon the sons of Cadmus, rife with death and fraught with sorrow, half a monster, half a maid, a murderous prodigy, with roving wings and ravening claws, that in days gone by didst catch up youthful victims from the haunts of Dirce, with discordant note, bringing a deadly curse, a woe of bloodshed to our native land. A murderous god he was who brought all this to pass. In every house was heard a cry of mothers wailing and of wailing maids, lamentation and the voice of weeping, as each (ook up the chant of death from street to street in turn. Loud rang the mourners' wail, and one great cry went up, whene'er that winged maiden bore some victim out of sight from the city. antistrophe At last came Oedipus. the man of sorrow, on his mission from Delphi to this land of Thebes, a joy to them then but afterwards a cause of grief; for, when he had read the riddle triumphantly, he formed with his mother an unhallowed union, woe to him! polluting the city; and by his curses, luckless wight, he plunged his sons into a guilty strife, causing them to wade through seas of blood. All reverence do we feel for him, who is gone to his death in his country's cause, bequeathing to Creon a legacy of tears, but destined to crown with victory our seven fenced towers. May our motherhood be blessed with such nohle sons, 0 Pallas, kindly queen, who with wellaimed stone didst spill the serpent's blood, rousing Cadmus as thou didst to brood upon the task, whereof the issue was a demon's curse that swooped upon this land and harried it. (The
FIRST MESSENGER
enters.)
MESSENGER
Ho there! who is at the palace-gates? Open the door, summon Jocasta forth. Ho there! once again I call; spite of this long delay come forth; hearken, noble wife of Oedipus; cease thy lamentation and thy tears of woe. (JOCASTA enters from the palace in answer to his call.)
[ I0 72 -II06]
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JOCASTA
Surely thou art not come, my friend, with the sad news of Eteocles' death, beside whose shield thou hast ever marched, warding from him the foeman's darts? What tidings art thou here to bring me? Is my son alive or dead? Declare that to me. MESSENGER
To rid thee of thy fear at once, he lives; that terror banish. JOCASTA
Next, how is it with the seven towers that wall us in? MESSENGER
They stand unshattered still; the city is not yet a prey. JOCASTA
Have they been in jeopardy of the Argive spear? MESSENGER
Aye, on the very brink; but our Theban warriors proved too strong for l\lycenae's might. JOCASTA
One thing tell me, I implore; knowest thou aught of Polyneices, is he yet alive? for this too I long to learn. MESSENGER
As yet thy sons are living, the pair of them. JOCASTA
God bless thee! How did you succeed in lwating off from our gates the Argive hosts, when thus beleaguered? Tell me, that I may go within and cheer the old blind man, since our city is still safe. MESSENGER
After Creon's son, who gave up life for country, had taken his stand on the turret's top and plunged a sword dark-hilted through his throat to save this land, thy son told off seven companies with their captains to the seven gates to keep watch on the Argive warriors, and stationed cavalry to cover cavalry, and infantry to support infantry, that assistance might be close at hand for any weak point in the walls. Then from our lofty towers we saw the Argive host with their white shields leaving Teumessus, and, when near the trench, they charged up to our Theban city at the double. In one loud burst from their ranks and from our battlements rang out the battle-cry and trumpet-call. First to the K eistian gate, Parthenopaeus, son of the huntress maid, led a company bristling
202
Euripides
with serried shields, himself with his own peculiar badge in the centre of his targe, Atalanta slaying the Aetolian boar with an arrow shot from far. To the gates of Proetus came the prophet Amphiaraus, bringing the victims on a chariot; no vaunting blazon he carried, but weapons chastely plain. Next prince Hippomedon came marching to the Ogygian port with this device upon his boss, Argus the all-seeing with his spangled eyes upon the watch whereof some open with the rising stars, while others he closes when they set, as one could see after he was slain. At the Homoloian gates Tydeus was posting himself, a lion's skin with shaggy mane upon his buckler, while in his right hand he bore a torch, like Titan Prometheus, to fIre the town. Thy own son Polyneices led the battle 'gainst the Fountain gate; upon his shield for blazon were the steeds of Potniae galloping at frantic speed, revolving by some clever contrivance on pivots inside the buckler close to the handle, so as to appear distraught. At Electra's gate famed Capaneus brought up his company, bold as Ares for the fray; this device his buckler bore upon its iron back, an earth-born giant carrying on his shoulders a whole city which he had wrenched from its base, a hint to us of the fate in store for Thebes. Arlrast us was stationed at the seventh gate; a hundred vipers fIlled his shield with graven work, as he bore on his left arm that proud Argive badge, the hydra, and serpents were carrying off in their jaws the sons of Thebes from within their very walls. Now I was enabled to see each of them, as T carried the watch-word along the line to the leaders of our companies. To brgin with, we fought with bows and thonged javelins, with slings that shoot from far and showers of crashing stones; and as we were conquering, Tydcus and thy son on a wdden cried aloud, "Ye sons of Argos, before being riddled by their fIre, why delay to fall upon the gates with might and main, the whole of you, light-armed and horse and charioteers?" No loitering then, soon as they heard that call; and many a warrior fell with bloody crown, and not a few of us thou couldst have seen thrown to the earth like tumblers before the walls, after they had given up the ghost, bedewing the thirsty ground with streams of gore. Then Atalanta's son, who was not an Argive but an Arcadian, hurling himself like a hurricane at the gates, called for fire ; 'nd picks to raze the town; but Prrirlymenus, son of the ocean-god, ttayed his wild career, heaving on his hrad a waggon-load of stone, even the coping torn from the battlements; and it shattered his head with the hair and crashed through the sutures of the skull, dabbling with blood his cheek just showing manhood's flush; and never shall he go back alive to his fair archer-mother, the maid of Maenalus. Thy son then, seeing these gates secure, went on to the next, and I with him. There I saw Tydeus and his serried ranks of targeteers hurling their Aetolian spears into the opening at the top of the turrets, with such good aim that our men fled and left the beetling battlements: but thy son rallied
The Phoenissae
20 3
them once more, as a huntsman cheers his hounds, and made them man the towers again. And then away we hastened to other gates, after stopping the panic there. As for the madness of Capaneus, how am I to describe it? There was he, carrying with him a long scaling-ladder and loudly boasting that even the awful lightning of Zeus would not stay him from giving the city to utter destruction; and even as he spoke, he crept up beneath the hail of stones, gathered under the shelter of his shield, mounting from rung to rung on the smooth ladder; but, just as he was scaling the parapet of the wall, Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt; loud the earth re-echoed, and fear seized every heart; for his limbs were hurled from the ladder far apart as from a sling, his head toward the sky, his blood toward earth, while his legs and arms went spinning round like Ixion's wheel, till his charred corpse fell to the ground. But when Adrastus saw that Zeus was leagued against his army, he drew the Argive troops outside the trench and halted them. Meantime our horse, marking the lucky omen of Zeus, began driving forth their chariots, and our menat-arms charged into the thick of the Argives, and everything combined to their discomfIture; men were falling and hurled headlong from chariots, wheels flew off, axles crashed together, while ever higher grew the heaps of slain; so for to-day at least have we prevented the destruction of our country's bulwarks; but whether fortune will hereafter smile upon this land, that rests with Heaven; for, even as it is, it owes its safety to some deity. Victory is fair; and if the gods are growing kinder, it would be well with me. ]OCASTA
Heaven and fortune smile; for my sons are yet alive and my country hath escaped ruin. But Creon seems to have reaped the bitter fruit of my marriage with Oedipus, by losing his son to his sorrow, a piece of luck for Thebes, but bitter grief to him. Prithee to thy tale again and say what my two sons next intend. MESSENGER
Forbear to question further; all is well with thee so far. JOCASTA
Thy words but rouse my suspicions; I cannot leave it thus. MESSENGER
Hast thou any further wish than thy sons' safety? JOC'ASTA
Yea, I would learn whether in the sequel I am also blest.
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Euripides
[I213-1258]
MESSENGER
Let me go; thy son is left without his squire. jocASTA
There is some evil thou art hiding, veiling it in darkness. MESSENGER
Maybe; I would not add ill news to the good thou hast heard. jOCASTA
Thou must, unless thou take wings and flyaway. MESSENGER
Ah! why didst thou not let me go after announcing my good news, instead of forcing me to disclose evil? Those two sons of thine are resolved on deeds of shameful recklessness, a single combat apart from the host, addressing to Argives and Thebans alike words T would they had never uttered. Eteocles, taking his stand on a lofty tower, after ordering silence to be proclaimed to the army, began on this wise, "Ye captains of Hellas, chieftains of Argos here assembled, and ye folk of Cadmus, barter not your lives for Polyneices or for me! For I myself excuse you from this risk, and will engage my brother in single combat; and if I slay him, I will possess my palace without rival, but if I am worsted I will bequeath the city to him. Ye men of Argos, give up the struggle and return to your land, nor lose your lives here; of the earth-sown folk as well there are dead enough in those already slain." So he; then thy son Polyneices rushed from the array and assented to his proposal; and all the Argives and the people of Cadmus shouted their approval, as though they deemed it just. On these terms the armies made a truce, and in the space betwixt them took an oath of each other for their leaders to abide by. Forthwith in brazen mail those two sons of aged Oedipus were casing themselves; and lords of Thebes with friendly care equipped the captain of this land, while Argive chieftains armed the other. There they stood in dazzling sheen, neither blenching, all eagerness to hurl their lances each at the other. Then came their friends to their side, first one, then another, with words of encouragement, to wit: "Polyneices, it rests with thee to set up an image of Zeus as a trophy, and crown Argos with fair renown." Others hailed Eteocles : "Now art thou fighting for thy city; now, if victorious, thou hast the sceptre in thy power." So spake they, cheering them to the fray. Meantime the seers were sacrificing sheep and noting the tongues and forks of fIre, the damp reek which is a bad omen, and the tapering flame, which gives decisions on two points, being both a sign of victory and de-
[12 58- 12 77]
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feat. But, if thou hast any power or subtle speech or charmed spell, go, stay thy children from this fell affray, for great is the risk they run. The issue thereof will be grievous sorrow for thee, if to-day thou art reft of both thy sons. (The MESSENGER departs in haste as ANTIGONE comes out of the palace ) ]OCASTA
Antigone, my daughter, come forth before the palace; this heavensent crisis is no time for thee to be dancing or amu"ing thyself with girlish pursuits. But thou and thy mother must prevent two gallant youths, thy own brothers, from plunging into death and falling by each other's hand. ANTIGONE
Mother mine, what new terror art thou proclaiming to thy dear ones before the palace? ]OCASTA
Daughter, thy brothers are in danger of their life. ANTIGONE
What mean'st thou? ]OCASTA
They have resolved on single combat. ANTICONE
o horror!
what hast thou to tell, muther? ]OCASTA
No welcome news; follow me. ANTIGONE
Whither away from my maiden-bower? ]OCASTA
To the army. ANTIr.ONE
I cannot face the crowd. ]OCASTA
Modesty is not for thee now. ANTIGONE
But what can I do? ]OCASTA
Thou shalt end thy brothers' strife.
[1278-1318]
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206
ANTIGONE
By what means, mother mine? jOCASTA
By falling at their knees with me. ANTIGONE
Lead on till we are 'twixt the armies; no time for lingering now. jOCASTA
Haste, my daughter, haste! For, if T can forestall the onset of my sons, I may yet live; but if they be dead, I will lay me down and die with them. (JOCASTA CHORUS
and
ANTIGONE
hurriedly depart.)
(singing) strophe
Ah me! my bosom thrills with terror; and through my flesh there passes a throb of pity for the hapless mother. Which of her two sons will send the other to a bloody grave? ah, woe is me! 0 Zeus, 0 earth, alas! brother severing brother's throat and robbing him of life, cleaving through his shield to spill his blood? Ah me! ah me! which of them will claim my dirge of death? antistraphe
Woe unto thee, thou land of Thrbes! two savage beasts, two murderous souls, with brandished spears will soon be draining each his fallen foeman's gore. \\'oe is them, that they ever thought of single combat! in foreign accent will 1 chant a dirge of tears and wailing in mourning for the dead. Close to murder stands their fortune; the coming day will decide it. Fatal, ah! fatal will this slaughter he, because of the avenging fiends. But 1 see Creon on his way hither to the palace with brow o'ercast; I will check my present lamentations. (CREON
enters. IIr: is followed hy attendants carrying IiiI' body of
MENOECEUS. ) CREON
Ah me! what shall I do? Am I to mourn with bitter tears myself or my city, round which is settling a swarm thick enough to send us to Acheron? My own son hath died for his country, bringing glory to his name but grievous woe to me. His body I rescued but now from the dragon's rocky lair and sadly carried the self-slain victim hither in my arms; and my house is filled with weeping; but now I come to fetch my sister jocasta,
The Phoenissac age seeking age, that she may bathe my child's corpse and lay it out. For the living musl reverence the nether god by paying honour to the dead. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Thy sisler, Creon, hath gone forth and her daughter Anligone went wilh her. CREON
Whither went she? and wherefore? tell me. LEADER
She heard that her sons were about to engage in single combat for the royal house. CREON
What is this? I was paying the last honours to my dead son, and so am lale in learning this fresh sorrow. LEADER
'Tis some time, Creon, since thy sisler's departure, and I expect the struggle for life and death is already decided by the sons of Oedipus. CREON
Alas! I see an omen lhere, the gloomy look and clouded brow of yonder messenger coming to tell us the whole matter. (The SECOND MESSENGER enters.) MESSENGER
Ah, woe i::, me! what language can I find to tell my tale? CREON
Our fate is ~ealed; thy opening words do naught to reassure us. MESSENGER
Ah, woe is me! I do repeat; for beside the scenes of woe already enacted I bring tidings of new horror. CREON
What is thy tale? MESSENGER
Thy sisler's sons are now no more, Creon. CREON
Alas! thou hast a heavy tale of woe for me and Thebes LEADER
o house of Oedipus, hast thou heard these tidings?
208
[1343- 1382 ]
Euripides CREON
Of sons slain by the self-same fate. LEADER
A tale to make it weep, were it endowed with
sen~e.
CREON
Ohl most grievous stroke of fate! woe is me for my sorrows! woel MESSENGER
Woe indeed I didst thou but know the sorrows still to tell. CREON
How can they be more hard to bear than these? MESSENGER
With her two sons thy sister has sought her death. CHORUS
(chanting)
Loudly, loudly raise the wail, and with white hands smite upon your heads! CREON
Ah! woe is thee, Jocasta! what an end to life and marriage hast thou found the riddling of the Sphinx! But telI me how her two sons wrought the bloody deed, the struggle caused by the curse of Oedipus. MESSENGER
Of our successes before the towers thou knowest, for the walls are not so far away as to prevent thy learning each event as it occurred. Now when they, the sons of aged Oedipus, had donned their brazen mail, they went and took their stand betwixt the hosts, chieftains both and generals too, to decide the day by single combat. Then Polyncices, turning his eyes towards Argos, lifted up a prayer; "0 Hera, awful queen,-for thy servant T am, since I have wedrled the daughter of Adrastus and dwell in his land,-grant that T may slay my brother, and stain my lifted hand with the blood of my conquered foe. A shameful prize it is I ask, my own brother's blood." And to many an eye the tear would rise at their sad fate, and men looked at one another, casting their glances round. But Eteocles, looking towards the temple of Pallas with the golden shield, prayed thus, "Daughter of Zeus, grant that this right arm may launch the spear of victory against my brother's breast and slay him who hath come to sack my country." Soon as the Tuscan trumpet blew, the signal for the bloody fray, like the torch that falls," they darted wildly at one another and, like boars whetting their savage tusks, began the fray, their beards wet with foam; and they kept shooting out their spears, but
The Phoenissae each crouched beneath his shield to let the steel glance idly off; but if either saw the other's face above the rim, he would aim his lance thereat, eager to outwit him. But both kept such careful outlook through the spy-holes in their shields, that their weapons found naught to do; while from the on-lookers far more than the combatants trickled the sweat caused by terror for their friends. Suddenly Eteocles, in kicking aside a stone that rolled beneath his tread, exposed a limb outside his shield, and Polyneices seeing a chance of dealing him a blow, aimed a dart at it, and the Argive shaft went through his leg; whereat the Danai, one and all, cried out for joy. But the wounded man, seeing a shoulder unguarded in this effort, plunged his spear with all his might into the breast of Polyneices, restoring gladness to the citizens of Thebes, though he brake off the spear-head;- and so, at a loss for a weapon, he retreated foot by foot, till catching up a splintered rock he let it fly and shivered the other's spear; and now was the combat equal, for each had lost his lance. Then clutching their swordhilts they closed, and round and round, with shields close-locked, they waged their wild warfare. Anon Eteocles introduced that crafty Thessalian trick, having some knowledge thereof from his intercourse with that country; disengaging himself from the immediate contest, he drew back his left foot but kept his eye closely on the pit of the other's stomach from a distance; then advancing his right foot he plunged his weapon through his navel and fixed it in his spine. Down falls Polyneices, bloodbespattered, ribs and belly contracting in his agony. But that other, thinking his victory now complete, threw down his sword and set to spoiling him, wholly intent thereon, without a thought for himself. And this indeed was his ruin; for Polyneices, who had fallen first, was still faintly breathing, and having in his grievous fall retained his sword, he made a last effort and drove it through the heart of Eteocles. There they lie, fallen side by side, biting the dust with their teeth, without having decided the mastery. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Ah, woe is thee! Oedipus, for thy sorrows! how I pity thee! Heaven, it seems, has fulfilled those curses of thine. MESSENGER
N ow hear what further woes succeeded. Just as her two sons had fallen and lay dying, comes their wretched mother on the scene, her daughter with her, in hot haste; and when she saw their mortal wounds, "Too late," she moaned, "my sons, the help I bring"; and throwing her
268
Euripides
[1°37- 107°]
LEADER
Thebes hath o'er me no sway! None save Him I obey, Dionysus, Child of the Highest, Him I obey and adore! MESSENGER
One can forgive theel-Yet 'tis no fair thing, Maids, to rejoice in a man's suffering. LEADER
Speak of the mountain side! Tell us the doom he died, The sinner smitten to death, even where sin was sore! MESSENGER
We climbed beyond the utmost habitings Of Theban shepherds, passed Asopus' springs, And struck into the land of rock on dim Cithaeron-Pentheus, and, attending him, I, and the Stranger who should guide our way. Then first in a green dell we stopped, and lay, Lips dumb and feet unmoving, warily Watching, to be unseen and yet to see. A narrow glen it was, by crags o'ertowererl, Torn through by tossing waters, and there lowered A shadow of great pines over it. And there The Maenad maidens sate; in toil they were, Busily glad. Some with an ivy chain Tricked a worn wand to toss its locks again; Some, wild in joyance, like young steeds set fre!", Made answering songs of mystic melody. But my poor master saw not the great band Before him. "Stranger," cried he, "where we stand Mine eyes can reach not these false saints of thin!'. Mount we the bank, or some high-shouldered pine, And I shall see their follies clear I" At that There came a marvel. For the Stranger straight Touched a great pine-tr!"e's high and heavenward crown, And lower, lower, lower, urged it down To the herbless floor. Round like a bending bow, Or slow wheel's rim a joiner forces to, So in those hands that tough and mountain strm Bowed slow-{)h, strength not mortal dwelt in th!"m , To the very earth. And there he sat the King,
lJ070-IIIS]
The Bacchae
And slowly, lest it cast him in its spring, Let back the young and straining tree, till high It towered again amid the towering sky; And Pentheus in the branches! Well, I ween, He saw the Maenads then, and well was seen! For scarce was he aloft, when suddenly There was no Stranger any more with me, But out of Heaven a Voice--oh, what voice else?'Twas He that called! "Behold, 0 damosels, I bring ye him who turneth to despite Both me and ye, and darkeneth my great Light. 'Tis yours to avenge! " So spake he, and there came 'Twixt earth and sky a pillar of high flame. And silence took the air, and no leaf stirred In all the forest dell. Thou hadst not heard In that vast silence any wild thing's cry. And up they sprang; but with bewildered eye, Agaze and listening, scarce yet hearing true. Then came the Voice again. And when they knew Their God's clear call, old Cadmus' royal brood, Up, like wild pigeons startled in a wood, On flying feet they came, his mother blind, Agave, and her sisters, and behind All the wild crowd, more deeply maddened then, Through the angry rocks and torrent-tossing glen, Until they spied him in the dark pine-tree: Then climbed a crag hard by and furiously Some sought to stone him, some their wands would fling Lance-wise aloft, in cruel targeting. But none could strike. The height o'ertopped their rage, And there he clung, unscathed, as in a cage Caught. And of all their strife no end was found. Then, "Hither," cried Agave; "stand we round And grip the stem, my Wild Ones, till we take This climbing cat-o'-the-mount! He shall not make A tale of God's high dances!" Out then shone Arm upon arm, past count, and closed upon The pine, and gripped; and the ground gave, and down It reeled. And that high sitter from the crown Of the green pine-top, with a shrieking cry Fell, as his mind grew clear, and there hard by Was horror visible. 'Twas his mother stood O'er him, first priestess of those rites of blood.
27 0
Euripides
[III5- 11 52 J
He tore the coif, and from his head away Flung it, that she might know him, and not slay To her own misery. He touched the wild Cheek, crying: "Mother, it is I, thy child, Thy Pentheus, born thee in Echion's hall! Have mercy, Mother! Let it not befall Through sin of mine, that thou shouldst slay thy son!" But she, with lips a-foam and eyes that run Like leaping fire, with thoughts that ne'er should he On earth, possessed by Bacchios utterly, Stays not nor hears. Round his left arm she put Both hands, set hard against his side her foot, Drew .•. and the shoulder severed!-Not by might Of arm, but easily, as the God made light Her hand's essay. And at the other side Was Ino rending; and the torn flesh cried, And on Autonoe pressed, and all the crowd Of ravening arms. Yea, all the air was loud With groans that faded into sobbing breath, Dim shrieks, and joy, and triumph-cries of death. And here was borne a severed arm, and there A hunter's booted foot; white bones lay bare With rending; and swift hands ensanguined Tossed as in sport the flesh of Pentheus dead. His body lies afar. The precipice Hath part, and parts in many an interstice Lurk of the tangled woodland-no light quest To find. And, ah, the head! Of all the rest. His mother hath it, pierced upon a wand, As one might pierce a lion's, and through the land, Leaving her sisters in their dancing place. Bears it on high! Yea, to these walls her face Was set, exulting in her deed of blood, Calling upon her Bromios, her God, Her Comrade, Fellow-Render of the Prey, Her All-Victorious, to whom this day She bears in triumph . . • her own broken heart! For me, after that sight, I will depart Before Agave comes.--Oh, to fulfil God's laws, and have no thought beyond His will, Is man's best treasure. Aye, and wisdom true, :\1ethinks, for things of dust to cleave unto! (The MESSENGER departs into thl' Castll'.)
The Bacchae CHORUS
27 1
(singing)
Some Maidens Weave ye the dance, and call Praise to God! Bless ye the Tyrant's fall! Down is trod Pentheus, the Dragon's Seed! Wore he the woman's weed? Claspt'd he his dt'ath indeed, Clasped the rod? A Bacchanal Yea, the wild ivy lapt him, and the doomed Wild Bull of SacrifIce before him loomed! Othcrs Ye who did Bromios scorn, Praist' Him the more, Bacchanals, Cadmus-born; Praise with sore Agony, yea, with tears! Great are the gifts he bears! Hands that a mother rears Red with gore! LlcADER
But stay, Agave cometh! And her eyes .:\Iake fire around her, reeling! Ho, the prize Cumeth! All hail, 0 Rout of Dionyse! (Entcr from the Mountain AGAVE, mad, and to all seeming wondrously happy, bearing the head of PENTIlEUS in hrr hand. The CHORUS MAIDENS stand horror-struck at the sight; the LEADER, also horror-struck, strives to accept it and rejoice in it as the God's deed.) AGAVE
Ye from the lands of Morn! LEADER
Call me not; I give praise! AGAVE
1.0, from the trunk new-shorn Hither a Mountain Thorn
27 2
Euripides Bear we! 0 Asia-born Bacchanals, bless this chase I LEADER
I see. Yea; I see. Have I not welcomed thee? AGAVE
(very calmly and peacefully) Hp was young in the wildwood: Without nets I caught him! Nay; look without fear on The Lion; I have ta'en him! LEADER
Where in the wildwood-" Whence have ye brought him? AGAVE
Cithaeron . . . . LEADER
Cithaeron? AGAVE
The Mountain hath slain him! LEADER
Who first came nigh him? AGAVE
I, I, ·tis confessed I And they named me there by him Agave the Blessed! LEADER
Who was next in the band on him? AGAVE
The daughters . . . . LEADER
The daughters? AGAVE
Of Cadmus laid hand on him. But the swift hand that slaughters
[II82-II9S]
The Bacchae Is mine; mine is the praise! Bless ye this day of days! (The LEADER tries to speak, but is not able; begins gently stroking the head.)
273
AGAVE
AGAVE
Gather ye now to the feast! LEADER
Feast! -0 miserable! AGAVE
See, it falls to his breast, Curling and gently tressed, The hair of the Wild Bull's crestThe young steer of the felI! LEADER
Most like a beast of the wild That head, those locks defIled. AGAVE
(lifting up the head, more excitedly) He wakened his Mad Ones, A Chase-God, a wise God! He sprang them to seize this! He preys where his band preys. LEADER (brooding, with horror) In the trail of thy Mad Ones Thou tearest thy prize, God! AGAVE
Dost praise it? LEADER
I praise this? AGAVE
Ah, soon shall the land praise! LEADER
And Pentheus, 0 Mother, Thy child?
274
Euripir/rs
lII95- 12I SI
AGAVE
He shan cry on My name as none other, Bless the spoils of the Lion! LEADER
Aye, strange is thy treasure! AGAVE
And strange was the taking! LEADER
Thou art glad? AGAVE
Beyond measure; Yea, glad in the breaking Of dawn upon an this land, By the prize, the prize of my hand! LEADER
Show then to an the land, unhappy one, The trophy of this deed that thou hast done! AGAVE
Ho, an ye men that round the citadel And shining towers of ancient Thebe dwell, Come! Look upon this prize, this lion's spoil, That we have taken-yea, with our own toil, We, Cadmus' daughters! Not with leathern-s{·t Thessalian javelins, not with hunter's net, Only white arms and swift hands' bladed fan. Why make ye much ado, and boast withal Your armourers' engines? See, these palms were bare That caught the angry beast, and held, and tare The limbs of him! . . . Father! . . . Go, bring to me )Jy father! . . . Aye, and Pentheus, where is he, ;\Iy son? He shall set up a ladder-stair Against this house, and in the triglyphs there K ail me this lion's head, that gloriously I bring ye, having slain him-I, even I! (She Koes through the crowd towards the Castle, showinK thr head and looking for a place to hanK it. Eflter from thr Mountain CADMUS, with attendants, bearing the body of PENTHEUS on a bier.)
r I 2 16- 12 50
J
The Bacchae CADMUS
On, with your awful burden. Follow me, Thralls, to his house, whose body grievously With many a weary search at last in dim Cithaeron's glens I found, torn limb from limb, And through the interweaving forest weed Scattered.-Men tuld me of my daughter's deed. When I was just returned within these walls. With grey Teiresias, from the Bacchanals. And back I hied me to the hills again To seek my murdered son. There saw I plain Actaeon's mother, ranging where he died, Autonoe; and Ino by her side, Wandering ghastly in the pine-copses. Agave was not there. The rumour is She cometh fleet-foot hither.-Ah! 'Tis true; A sight I scarce can bend mine eyes unto. AGAVE
(turning from the Palace and seeing him) My father, a great boast is thine this hour. Thou hast begotten daughters, high in power And valiant above all mankind-yea, all Valiant, though none like me! I have let fall The shuttle by the loom, and raised my hand For higher things, to slay from out thy land Wild beasts! See, in mine arms I bear the prize, That nailed above these portals it may rise To show what things thy daughters did! Do thuu Take it, and call a feast. Proud art thou now And highly favoured in our valiancy! CADMUS
o depth of grief, how can I
fathom thee Or look upon theel-Poor, poor, bloodstained hand! Poor sisters!-A fair sacrifice to stand Before God's altars, daughter; yea, and call Me and my citizens to feast withal! Nay, let me weep-for thine affliction most, Then for mine own. All, all of us are lost, Not wrongfully, yet is it hard, from one Who might have loved-our Bromios, our own!
275
Euripides
[125 1 - 12 72
AGAVE
How crabbed and how scowling in the eyes Is man's old agel-Would that my son likewise Were happy of his hunting, in my way, When with his warrior bands he will essay The wild beast I-Nay, his violence is to fight With God's will! Father, thou shouldst set him right. Will no one bring him hither, that mine eyes May look on his, and show him this my prize! CADMUS
Alas, if ever ye can know again The truth of what ye did, what pain of pain That truth shall bring! Or were it best to wait Darkened for evermore, and deem your state Not misery, though ye know no happiness? AGAVE
What seest thou here to chide, or not to bless? CADMUS
(aflrr hrsilation, rrsolving hi111Srlf) Raise me thine eyes to yon blue dome of air! AGAVE
'Tis done. What dost thou bid me seek for there? CADMUS
Is it the same, or changed in thy sight? AGAVE
More shining than before, more heavenly bright! CADMUS
And that wild tremor, is it with thee still? AGAVE (troublrd) I know not what thou sayest; but my will Clears, and some change cometh, I know not how. CADMUS
Canst hearken then, being changed, and answer, now? AGAVE
J have forgotten something; else I could.
J
The Bacchae CADMUS
What husband led thee of old from mine abode? AGAVE
Echion, whom men named the Child of Earth. CADMUS
And what child in Eehion's house had birth? AGAVE
Pentheus, of my love and his father's bred. CADMUS
Thuu Learest in thine arms an head-what head? AGAVE
(beginning to tremble, alld not looking at what site rarrirs) A lion's-so they all said in the chase. CADMUS
Turn to it now-'tis no long tuil-and gaze. AGAVE
Ah! But what is it? What am I carrying here? CADMUS
Look once upon it full. till all be clear! AGAVE
I see . . . most deadly pain! Oh, woe is me! CADMUS
Wears it the likeness of a lion to thee? AGAVE
No; 'tis the head-O God!-of Pentheus, this! CADMUS
Blood-drenched ere thou wouldst know him! Aye, 'tis his. AGAVE
Who slew him?-How came I to hold this thing? CADMUS
o cruel Truth, is this thine home-coming? AGAVE
Answer! l\Iy heart is hanging on thy brrath!
Ruripidrs CADMUS
'Twas thou.-Thou and thy sisters wrought his death. AGAVE
In what place was it? His own house, or where? CADMUS
"There the dogs tore Actaeon, even there. AGAVE
Why went he to Cilhaeron? What sought he? CADMUS
To mock the God and thine own ecstasy. AGAVE
But how should we be on the hills this day? CADMUS
Being mad~ A spirit drove all the land that way. AGAVE
Tis Dionyse hath done it! Now I see. CADMUS
(earnestly)
Ye wronged Him! Ye denied his deity! AGAVE
(turning from him)
Show me the body of the son 1 love! CADMUS (leading Itcr to tlte bitr) Tis here, my child. Hard was the quest thereof. AGAVE
Laid in due slate? (As tltere is no ansU'a, she lifts tlte veil of th" bier, and sl'l's.) Oh, if I wrought a sin, Twas mine! What portion had my child therein? CADMUS
He made him like to you, adoring not The God; who therefore to one bane halh brought You and his body, wrecking all our line, And me. Aye, no man-child was ever mine; And now this first-fruit of the flesh of thee, Sad woman, foully here and frightfully Lies murdered! Whom the house looked up unto, (kne"zing by tit" body)
The Bacchac lI3 0B - 1 33 0 ] o Child, my daughter's child! who heldest true My castle walls; and to the folk a name Of fear thou wast; and no man sought to shame My grey beard, when they knew that thou wast there, Else had they swift reward!-And now I fare Forth in dishonour, outcast, I, the great Cadmus, who sowed the seed-rows of this state Of Thebes, and reaped the harvest wonderful. o my beloved, though thy heart is dull In death, 0 still beloved, and alway Beloved! Never more, then, shalt thou lay Thine hand to this white beard, and speak to me Thy "Mother's Father"; ask "Who wrongeth thee? Who stints thine honour, or with malice stirs Thine heart? Speak, and I smite thine injurers!" But now-woe, woe, to me and thee also, \Voe to thy mother and her sisters, woe Alway! Oh, whoso walketh not in drC'ad Of Gods, let him but look on this man dead!
279
LEADER
Lo, I weep with thee. 'Twas but due reward God sent on Pentheus; but for thee . . . 'Tis hard. AGAVE
~Iy
father, thou canst see the change in me,
* *
* *
*
*
* *
* *
* *
*
*
*
1.4 page or more has here been torn out of the MS. from which all ollr copies of "The Bacchae" arc drrh'rd. It evidrntly contained a sprrch of Agave (followed prrsumably by some words of the CHORUS), and an apprarance of DIONYSUS upon a cloud. Ill' must Itave pronoUllced judgment upon the Theballs in grneral, and cspl'r"ially upon the daughters of CADMUS, ha~'r justifird !tis O'iJ.Ill action, alld declared his dctrrmination to establish his godhrud Where the MS. begins again, "U'e find him addrrssing CADMUS. I DIONYSUS
* * * * * * * * * And tell of Time, what gifts for thee he bears, *
What grief" and wonders in the winding years. For thou must chan.ge and be a Serpent Thing'
280
Euripides Strange, and beside thee she whom thou didst bring Of old to be thy bride from Heaven afar, Harmonia, daughter of the Lord of War. Yea, and a chariot of kine--so spake The word of Zeus-thee and thy Queen shall take Through many lands, Lord of a wild array Of orient spears. And many towns shall they Destroy beneath thee, that vast horde, until They touch Apollo's dwelling, and fulfil Their doom, back driven on stormy ways and steep. Thee only and thy spouse shall Ares keep, And save alive to the Islands of the Blest. Thus speaketh Dionysus, Son confessed Of no man but of Zeus!-Ah, had ye seen Truth in the hour ye would not, all had been Well with ye, and the Child of God your friend! AGAVE
Dionysus, we beseech thee! We have sinned! DIONYSUS
Too late! When there was time, ye knew me not! AGAVE
We have confessed. Yet is thine hand too hot. DIONYSUS
Ye mocked me, being God; this is your wage. AGAVE
Should God be like a proud man in his rage? DIONYSUS
'Tis as my sire, Zeus, willed it long ago. AGAVE
(turning from him almost with disdain) Old Man, the word is spoken; we must go. DIONYSUS
And seeing ye must, what is it that ye wait? CADMUS
Child, we are come into a deadly strait, All; thou, poor sufferer, and thy sisters twain, And my sad self. Far off to barbarous men,
[ 133 0 - 1354]
The Bacchae A grey-haired wanderer, I must take my road. And then the oracle, the doom of God, That I must lead a raging horde far-flown To prey on Hellas; lead my spouse, mine own Harmonia, Ares' child, discorporate And haunting forms, dragon and dragon-mate, Against the tombs and altar-stones of Greece, Lance upon lance behind us; and not cease From toils, like other men, nor dream, nor past The foam of Acheron find my peace at last. AGAVE
Father! And I must wander far from thee! CADMUS
o Child, why wilt thou reach thine arms to me, As yearns the milk-white swan, when old !->walls die? AGAVE
Where shall I turn me else? No home have 1. CADMUS
I know not; I can help thee not. AGAVE
Farewell, 0 home, 0 ancient tower! Lo, I am outcast from my bower. And leave ye for a worser lot. CADMUS
Go forth, go forth to misery, The way Actaeon's father went' AGAVE
Father, for thee my tears are spent. CADMUS
Nay, Child, 'tis I must weep for thee; For thee and for thy sisters twain! AGAVE
On all this house, in bitter wise. Our Lord and l\Iaster, Dionyse, Hath poured the utter dregs of pain!
Euripides DIONYSUS
In bitter wise, for bitter was the shame Yet did me, when Thebes honoured not my name. AGAVE
Then lead me where my sisters be; Together let our tears be shed, Our ways be wandered; where no red Cithaeron waits to gaze on me; ~or I gaze back; no thyrsus stem, N or song, nor memory in the air. Oh, other Bacchanals be there, Not I, not I, to dream of them!
with her group of attendants goes out on the side away from the 1IJ ountain. DIONYSUS rises upon the Cloud and rlisappcafS. )
(AGAVE
CHORUS
(singing)
There be many shapes of mystery. And many things God makes to be, Past hope or fear. And the end men looked for cometh not, And a path is there where no man thought. So hath it fallen here,n
(Exeunt)
NOTES } Truly we have long heard of thy cleverness. ODYSSEUS
J mean to keep him from this revel, saying he must not give this drink to his brethren but keep it for himself alone and lead a happy life. Then when he falls asleep, o'erma"tered by the Bacchic god, I will put a point with this sword of mine to an olive-branch J saw lying in the cave, and will set it on [lre; and when I see it well alight, I will lift the heated brand, and, thrusting it full in the Cyclops' eye, melt out his sight with its blaze; and, as when a man in fitting the timbers of a ship makes his auger spin to and fro with a double "trap, so will I make the brand revolve in the eye that gives the Cyclops light and will scorch up the pupil thereof.
The Cyclops LEADER
Ho! hoI how glad I feel! wild with joy at the contrivance! ODYSSEUS
That done, 1 will embark thee and those thou lovest with old Silenus in the deep hold of my black ship, my ship with double banks of oars, and carry you away from this land. LEADER
Well, can I too lay hold of the blinding brand, as though the god's libation had been poured? for I would fain have a share in this offering of blood. ODYSSEUS
Indeed thou 1I1uSt, for the brand is large, and thou must help hold it. LEADER
How lightly would I lift the load of e'en a hundred wains, if that will helpu;, to grub out the eye of the doomed Cyclops, like a waoop's nest. ODYSSEUS
Hush I for now thou knowest my plot in full, and when I bid you, obey the author of it; for I am not the man to dr~l'rt my friends in~irle the cave and save my;,elf alone. And yrt 1 might escape; 1 am dear of the cavern's depths already, but no I to desert the friends with whom I journeyed hither and only save my;,elf is nut a righteous course.
(11e
rc-cntcrs
the
cave.)
FIRST SFMI-ClIORUS (sInging)
Come, who will be the first and who the next to him upon the list to grip the handle of the brand, and, thrusting it into the Cyclops' eye, gouge out the light thercof? SEC'OND SEMI-CIIORllS (sil1{;illg)
Hush! hush! Rehold the drunkard leaves his rocky home, trolling loud some hideous lay, a clumsy tunele;,s clown, whom tears await. Come, let us give this boor a lesson in revelry. Ere long he be blind at any rate.
,,,,ill
FIRST SFlm -CUORUS (Shl{;il1{;) Happy he who plays the Bacchanal amid thr precious streams distilled from grapes, stretched at full length for a revel, his arm around the friend he loves, and some fair dainty damsel on his cOllch, his hair prrfunleci with nard and glossy, the while he calls, "Oh! who will ope the door for me?"
(Thl'
CYCLOPS
(IItl'rs. IIe is oh"iollSly dru/lk.)
410
Euripides
CYCLOPS (singing) Ha! hal full of wine and merry with a feast's good cheer am T, my hold freighted like a merchant-ship up to my belly's very top. This turf graciously invites me to seek my brother Cyclopes for a revel in the spring-tide. Come, stranger, bring the wine-skin hither and hand it over to me. SH'ONIJ SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Forth from the house Its fair lord comes, casting his fair glance round him. We have someone to befriend us. A hostile brand is awaiting thee, no tender bride in dewy grot. No single colour will those garlands have, that soun shall cling so close about thy brow.
ODYSSEUS
(returning with thc winc-sf..-i11. He is followed by drunk.)
SILENUS,
who is also
Hearken, CycIup5; for I am well versed in the ways of Bacchus, whmn I have given thee to drink. CYCLOPS
And who is Bacchus? some reputed god? ODYSSEUS
The greatest god men know tu cheer their life. CYCLOPS
I like his after-taste at any rate ODYSSEUS
This is the kind of god he is; he harmeth no man. CYCLOPS
But how doe, a god lik£' heing housed in a wine-skin? ODYSSEUS
Put him where one ma~', he is content there. CYCLOPS
It is not right that gods should he clad in leather. ODYSSEUS
What of that, provided h(' plt'ase th£'c) doc, tlw leather hurt thee? CYCLOPS
I hate the wine-skin, hut the liquor w(' ha\'e here 1 love
Thr Cyclops
[53 0 -545]
411
ODYSSEUS
Stay, then, Cyclops; drink and be merry. CYCLOPS
Must J not give my brethren a "hare in this liquor? ODYSSEUS
~(),
keep it thyself and thou wilt appear of more honour. CYCLOPS
Give it my friend~ and I shall appear of more use. ODYSSEUS
Revelling is apt to end in blows, abuse, and strife. CYCLOPS
I may be drunk, but no man will lay hands on me for all that. ODYSSEUS
Better stay at home, my friend, minion? CYCLOPS (attemptmg to carry him l1:tO the ({lvl') To be sure, Ganymede whom I am carrying off from the halls of Dardanus. SILENUS
I am undone, my children; outrageous treatment waits me. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Dost find fault with thy lover? dost scorn him in his cups? SILENUS
Woe is me! most bitter shall I find the wine ere long. (SILENUS is dragged into the cave by the
CYCLOPS.)
ODYSSEUS
Up now, children of Dionysus, sons of a noble sire, soon will yon creature in the cave, relaxed in slumber as ye see him, spew from his shameless maw the meat. Already the brand inside his lair is vomiting a cloud of smoke; and the only reason we prepared it was to bum the Cyclops' eye; so mind thou quit thee like a man. LEADER
I will have a spirit as of rock or adamant; but go inside, before my father suffers any shameful treatment: for here thou hast things read~·. ODYSSEUS
o Hephaestus, lord of Aetna, rid
thyself for once and all of a troublesome neighbour by Imming his bright eye out. Come, Sleep, as well, offspring of sable Night, come with all thy power on the monster goddetested; and never after Troy's most glorious toils destroy Odysseu~ and his crew by the hands of one who recketh naught of God or man; ehe ;TI'lst we reckon Chance a goddess, and Heaven's wiII inferior to hers. (ODYSSEUS fe-enters the cave.) CHORUS (singing) Tightly the pincers shall grip the neck of him who feasts upon hi~ guests; for soon will he lose the light of his eye by fire; already the brand, a tree's huge limb, lurks amid the embers charred. Oh! come ye then and work his doom, pluck out the maddened Cyclops' eye, that he may rue his drinking. And I too fain would leave the Cyclops' lonely land and see king Bromius, ivy-crowned, the god I sorely miss Ah! shall T ever come to that?
The Cyclops
4 1":l
ODYSSEUS (leaving tlte cave cautiously) Silence, ye cattle! I adjure you; close your lips; make not a sound! I'll not let a man of you so much as breathe or wink or clear his throat, that yon pest awake not, until the sight in the Cyclops' eye has passed through the fIery orriea\. LEADER OF THE CnoRlls
Silent we stand with bated breath. ODYSSEUS
In then, anri mind your fIngers grip the Immri, for it is splendidly redhot. LEADER
Thyself ordain who first must SEUS
These are sorry fellows, worthless as allies. LEADER
Because I feel for my back and spine, and express no wish to have my teeth knocked out, I am a coward, am I? Well, but I know a spell of Orpheus, a most excellent one, to make the brand enter his skull of its own accord, and set alight the one-eyed son of Earth. ODYSSEUS
IJong since I knew thou wert by nature such an one, and now I know it better: J must employ my own friends: but, though thou bring no active
Euripides aid, cheer us on at any rate, that I may find my friends emboldened by thy encouragement. (ODYSSEUS goes back into the cave.) LEADER
That will I do; the Car ian ~ sball run the risk for us; and as far as encouragement goes, let the Cyclops smoulder. CHORUS (singing) What ho! my gallants, thrust away, make haste and hurn hIs eyebrow off, the monster's guest-devouring. Oh! singe and scorch the shepherd of Aetna; twirl the brand and drag it round and be careful lest in his agony he treat thee to some wantonness. CYCLOPS (brllowing in the cavr) Oh! oh! my once bright eye is burnt to cinders now.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Sweet indeed the triumph-song; pray sing it to
US,
Cyclops.
CYCLOPS (franz within) Oh! oh! once more; what outrage on me and what ruin! But never shall ye escape this rocky cave unpunished, ye worthle"s creatures; for I will stand in the entrance of the cleft and fit my hands into it thus. (Staggering to the entrance)
LEADER
Why dost thou cry out, Cyclops? CYCLOPS
I am undone. LEADER
Thou art indeed a sorry sight. CYCLOPS
Aye, and a sad ont, too. LEADER
Didst fal! among the coals in a drunken fit? CYCLOPS
N oman has undone me. LEADER
Then there is no one hurting thee after all.
The Cyclops CYCLOPS
Noman is blinding me. LEADER
Then art thou not blind. CYCLOPS
As blind as thou, forsooth. LEADER
How, pray, could no man have marie thee blind? CYCLOPS
Thou mockest me; but where is this Noman? LEADER
Nowhere, Cyclops. CYCLOPS
1t was the stranger, vile wretch! who proved my ruin, that thou mayst understand rightly, by swilling me with the liquor he gave me. LEADER
Ah! wine is a terrible foe, hard to wrestle with. CYCLOPS
Tell me, I adjure thee, have they escaped or are thE'Y still within? (During the following lincs, ODYSSEUS and his despite his efforts to stop them.)
11/1'/1
slip by the
CYCLOPS,
LEADER
Here they are ranged in silence, taking the rock to screen them. CYCLOPS
On which side? LEADER
On thy right. CYCLOPS
WherE'? LEADER
Close against the rock. lIast caught them? CYCLOPS
Trouble on trouble! I have run my skull against the rock and cracked it.
Euripides LEADER
Aye, and they are escaping thee. CYCLOPS
This way, was it not? 'Twas this way thou saidst. LEADER
t\o, not this way. CYCLOPS
Which then? LEADER
They are getting round thee on the left. CYCLOPS
Alas! I am being mocked, ye jeer me in my evil plight. LEADER
They are no longer there; but facing thee that stranger stands. CYCLOPS
Master of villainy, where, oh! where art thou? ODYSSEUS
Some way from thee I am keeping careful guard over the person of Odysseus. CYCLOPS
What, a new name! hast changed thine? ODYSSEUS
Yes, Odysseus, the name my father gave me. But thou wert doomed to pay for thy unholy feast; for I should have seen Troy burned to but sorry purpose, unless I had avenged on thee the slaughter of my comrades. CYCLOPS
Woe is me! 'tis an old oracle coming true; yes, it said I should have my eye put out by thee on thy way home from Troy; but it likewise foretold that thou wouldst surely pay for this, tossing on the sea for many a day. ODYSSEUS
Go hang! E'en as I say, so have I done. And now will I get me to the beach and start my hollow ship across the sea of Sicily to the land of my fathers.
The Cyclops CYCLOPS
Thou shalt not; I will break a boulder off this rock and crush thee, crew and all, beneath my throw. Blind though I be, I will climb the hill, mounting through yonder tunnel. LJ,ADER
As for us, henceforth will we be the servants of Bacchus, sharing the voyage of this hero Oclysseus.
NOTES FOR THE CYCLOPS
COLERIDGE '5
translation has been modifIed in the following lines:
169-
I7I, 54 6 , and 584. I. Reference to Odysseus as the son of Sisyphus is for the purpose of casting a slur upon him. C1. the Iphigcnia in 11ulis, note 2. 2. Coleridge's note here in part runs: "i.e., to let some one, whose life is less valuable, run the risk instead of doing so oneself. The Carians, being the earliest mercenaries, were commonly selected for any very dangerous enterprise, and so this proverb arose."
THE PLAYS OF ARISTOPHANES
I THE ACHARNIANS
CHARACTERS
IN
THE
PLAY
DICAEOPOLIS HERALD AMPHITlIEUS AMBASSADORS PSEUDARTABAS TlIEORUS DAU(;HTER OF DICAEOPOLIS SLAVE OF EURIPIDES EURIPIIJlcS LAMACHUS A MEGARIAN Two YOUNG GIRLS,
daughters of thr .Mcgal'ian
AN INFORMER A BOEOTIAN NICARCHllS SLAVE OF LAMACllUS A HUSBANDMAN A WEDDIl\:G Gll]\EOl'OLIS
Oh! by Bacchus! what a bouquet! It has the aroma of nectar and ambro"ia; this d()e~ !lilt "ay to us, "Provision yourselves for three days." But it lisps the gentle numbers, "Go whither you will." I accept it, ratify it,
The Acharnians
437
drink it at one draught and consign the Acharnians to limbo. Freed from the war and its ills, I shall celebrate the rural Dionysia. AMPHITHEUS
And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the Acharnians. (AMPHITHEUS runs oj]. ThcAWPOLlS goes into his hou,c, carrying his truce. Tlte CHORUS OF ACHARNIAN CHARCOAL BURNI,RS cnters, in great hastc and excitement.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS
This way all! Let us follow our man; we will demand him of everyone we meet; the public weal makes his seizure imperative. Ho, there! tell me which way the bearer of the truce has gone. CUORUS (singing) He has escaped us, he has disappeared. Damn old age! When I was young, in the days when J followed Phayllus, running with a sack of coals on my back, this wretch would not have eluded my pursuit, let him be as swift as he will. LEADER OF THE CIIORUS
But now my lim bs are stiff; old Lacratides feels his legs are weighty and the traitor escapes me. No, no, let us follow him; old Acharnians like ourselves shall not be set at naught by a scoundrel . . . CHORUS (singing) . . . who has dared, by Zeus, to conclude a truce when J wanted the war continued with double fury in order to avenge my ruined lands. 1\0 mercy for our foes until I have pierced their heart~ like a sharp reed, ~o that they dare never again ravage my vineyards. LEADER OF THE ClIORllS
Come, let us seek the rascal; let us look everywhere, carrying our stones in our hands; let us hunt him from place to place until we trap him; I could never, never tire of the delight of stoning him. DICAEOPOLIS
(from within)
Peace! profane men! LEADER OF THE CnORUS
Silence all! Friends, do you hear the sacred formula? Here is he, whom we seek! This way, all! Get out of his way, surely hc comes to offer an oblation. (The CHORUS withdmws to onc Side.) nICAEOPOLIS
(comes out with a pot in his hand; he is followed hy
[24 1- 28 51
,1 ris to plwl1 r s
/tis wijr, /tis dallg!ttrr, who carries a basket, limitwo ,I{arles, w/to CIlrry tlte phallus.)
Peace, profane men! Let the basket-bearer cume forward, and thou, Xanthias, hold the phallus well upright. Daughter, set down the basket and let us begin the sacrifice. (putting dOWl1 th(' baskl'l and takl11g out the sacred cake)
DAUGHTER OF DICAEOPOLlS
::\fother, hand me the ladle, that I may spread the sauce on the cake I )ICAEOPOLl3 1t is well! Oh, mighty Bacchus, it is with joy that, freed from military duty, I and all mine perform this solemn rite and offer thee this sacrifice; grant that I may keep the rural Dionysia without hindrance and that this truce of thirty years may be propitious for me. Come, my child, carry the basket gracefully and with a grave, demure face. Happy he who shall be your possessor and embrace you so firmly at dawn, that you fart like a weasel. Go forward, and have a care they don't snatch your jewels in the crowd. Xanthias, walk behind the basket-bearer and hold the phallus well erect; I will follow, singing the Phallic hymn; thou, wife, look on from the top of the terrace. Forward! (He sings) Oh, Phales, companion of the orgies of Bacchus, night reveller, god of adultery and of pederasty, these past six years I have not been able to invoke thee. With what joy I return to my farmstead, thanks to the truce I have concluded, freed from cares, from fighting and from Lamachuses! How much sweeter, oh Phalcs, Phalcs, is it to surprise Thratta, the pretty woodmaid, Strymodorus' slave, stealing wood from Mount Phelleus, to catch her under the arms, to throw her on the ground and lay her, Oh, Phalt~s, Phales! If thou wilt drink and bemuse thyself with me, we shall to-morrow consume some good dish in honour of the peace, and I will hang up my buckler over the smoking hearth. (The procession reaches the place 'lJ.'hrl"e the CHORUS is hiding.) LEADER OF TIlE CHORUS
That's the man himself. Stone him, stone him, stone him, strike the wretch. All, all of you, pelt him, pelt him! DICAEOPOLIS
(using his pot for a shield)
What is this? By Heracles, you will smash my pot. (The daughter and the two slaves retreat.) CHORUS (singing
It is you that we are stoning, you
exritedly) 11li~t'rahl('
scrHlIlrlrrl.
The AcliamiullS
439
DICAEOPOLlS
And for what sin, Acharnian elders, tell me that! CHORUS (singing, with greater excitement) You ask that, you impudent rascal, traitor to your country; you alone amongst tiS all have concluded a truce, and you dare to look tiS in the face! DICAEOPOLIS
But you do not know why I have treated for peace. Listen! CHORUS (singing fiercely) Listen to you? No, no, you are about to die, we will annihilate you with our stones. DICAEOPOLIS
But fIrst of all, listen. Stop, my friends. CHORUS (singing; with intrnse hatred) I will hear nothing; do not address me; J hate you more than I do Cleon, whom one day I shall flay to make sandals for the Knights.
Listen to your long speeches, after you have treated with the Laconians? No, I will punish you. DICAEOPOLIS
Friend", leave the Laconians out of debate and consider only wI 1t' it is quite young, but in good time it will have a big one, thick and red. But if you are willing to bring it up you will have a very tine sow. I>ICAEOPOLIS
The two are as like as two peas. MEGARIAN
They are born of the same father and mother; let them be fattened, let them grow their bristles, and they will be the finest sows you ca.n offer to Aphrodite. DICAEOPOLIS
Rut sows are not immolated to Aphrodite. MEGARIAN
Not sows to Aphrodite! \Vhy, she's the only goddess to whom they are offered! the flesh of my sows will be excellent on your spit. DICAEOPOLIS
Can they eat alone? They no longer need their mother?
Aristophancs l\h:CARIAN
Certainly not, nor their father. DICAEOPOLIS
What do they like most? l\IEGARIAN
Whatever is given them; but ask for yourself. DICAJo.OPOLIS
Speak! Ii ttle sow. DAUGHTERS
Wee-wee, wee-wee! DICAEOPOLIS
Can you eat chick-pease? 10 DAUGHTERS
\Vee-wee, wee-wee, wee-wee! DICAEOPOLIS
And Attic figs? DAUGHTERS
Wee-wee, wee-wee I DICAEOPOLIS
What sharp squeaks at the name of fIgS. Come, let some figs be brought for these little pigs. Will they eat them? Goodness! how they munch them, what a grinding of teeth, mighty Heraclesl I believe those pigs hail from the land of the Voracians. MEGARIAN
(aside)
But they have not eaten all the figs; I took this one myself. DICAEOPOLIS
Ah! what curious creatures! For what sum will you sell them? MEGARIAN
I will give you one for a bunch of garlic, and the other, if you like, for a quart measure of salt. DICAEOPOLIS
I'll buy them. Wait for me here. (He goes into the house.)
[ 81 5-833]
The Acharnians
457
MEGARIAN
The deal is done. Hermes, god of good traders, grant I may sell both my wife and my mother in the same way! (An INFORMER m!crs,) INFORMER
Hi! fellow, what country are you frum? MEGARIAN
I am a pig-merchant from Megara. INFORMER
I shall denounce both your pigs and yourself as public enemies, MEGARIAN
AhI here our troubles begin afresh! INFORMlcR
Let go of that sack. I'll teach you to talk Megarian! MEGARIAN
(loudly)
Dicaeopolis, Dicaeopolis, they want to denounce me. DICAEOPOLIS
(fronz within)
Who dares do this thing? (fI(' (OIll('S out of his house.) Inspectors, drive out the informers. Ah! you offer to enlighten us without a lamp! 11 INFORMER
What! I may not denounce our enemies? DICAEOPOLIS
(wit lz a tlzrmt(,lIing gesture)
Watch out for yourself, and go off pretty quick and denounce elsewhere. (TIle INFORMER runs aWIlY ) MEGARIAN
What a plague to Athens! DICAEOPOLIS
Be reassured, Megarian. Here is the price for your two s()wIets, the garlic and the salt. Farewell and much happiness! MEGARIAN
Ah! we npver have that amongst us. DIC'AEOPOLIS
Oh, I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing.
Aristophanes l\IEGA.RIAN
Farewell, dear little sows, and seck, far from your father, to munch your brr3ct with ~alt, if they give you any. (fh departs and DICAEOPOLIS takes the "SOUlS" into his house.) CHORUS (singing) Here is a man truly happy. Srr how everything succeeds to his wish. Peacefully seated in his market, he will earn his living; woe to Ctesias, and all other informers who dare to enter there! Y uu will not be cheated as to the value of wart'S, you will not again see l'repis wiping his big arse, nur will Cleonymus jostle you; you will take your walks, clothed in a fine tunic, without meeting Hyperbolus and his unceasing quibblings, without being accosted on the public place by any importunate fellow, neither by Cratinus, shaven in the fashion of the adulterers, nor by this musician, who plagues us with his silly improvisations, that hyper-rogue Artemo, with his arm-pits stinking as foul as a goat, like his father before him. You will not be the butt of the villainous Pauson's jeers, nor of Lysistratus, the disgrace of the Cholargian deme, who is the incarnat ion of all the vices, and endures cold and hunger more than thirty days in the month. (A BOEOTIAN enters, folloUled by his sla7!c, 'who is carryil1~ a large assortment of articlrs of food, and by a troop of flllte players.) BOEOTIAN
By Heracles! my shoulder is quite black and blue. Tsmenias, put the penny-royal down there very gently, and all of you, musicians from Thebes, strike up on your bone fiutes "The Dog's Arse." (The lllusicians immediately begin an atrocious rendition of a vulgar tunc. ) DICAEOPOLIS
Enough, damn you; get out of here! Rascally hornets, away with you! Whence has sprung this accursed swarm of Chaeris fellows which comes assailing my door? (The Musicians depart.) BOEOTIAN
Ah! by Iolas! Drive them off, my dear host, you will please me immensely; all the way from Theb(~s, tlley were there piping behind me and they have completely stripped my penny-roy:!l (If its blossom. But will you buy anything of me, some rhirkplls or s(,me k'custs? DICAEOPOLIS
Ah! good day, Boeotian, eater of good roulld loaves. What do you bring?
The AGhamians
459
BOEOTIAN
All that is good in Boeotia, marjoram, penny-royal, rush-mats, lampwicks, ducks, jays, woodcocks, water-fowl, wrens, divers. DrCAEOPOLrs
A regular hail of birds is beating down on my market. BOEOTIAN
.I also bring gerse, hares, faxes, moles, hedgehogs, cats, lyres, martins, otters and eels from the Copaic lake. DreM.oPOLIS
.'\h! my friend, you, who bring me the most delicious of fish, let me salute your eels. BOEOTIAN (in Im{!,ir style) Come, thou, the eldest of my fIfty Copaic virgins, come and complete the joy of our host. DH'A],OPOLIS
(likr,(I{sr)
Oh! my well-beloved, thou object of my long regrets, thou art here at last then, thou, after whom the comic poets sigh, thOll, who art dear to Morychus. Slaves, hither with the stove and the bellows. Look at this charming eel, that returns to us after six long years of absence. Salute it, my children; as for myself, I will supply coal to do honour to the stranger Take it into my house; death itself could not separate me from her, if cooked with beet leaves. BOEOTIAN
And what will you give me in return? DrCAEOPOLb
It will pay for your market dues. And as to the rest, what dD you wi,h to sell me? BOEOTIAN
Why, everything. DrCAEOPOLIS
On what terms? For ready-money or in wares from these parts? BOEOTIAN
I would take some Athenian produce, that we have not got in Boeotia. DrcAEOPoLIS
Phaleric anchovies, pottery?
Aristophancs BOEOTIAN
Anchovies, pottery? But these we have. I want produce that is wanting with us and that is plentiful here. DICAEOPOLIS
Ah! I have the very thing; take away an informer, packed up carefully as crockery-ware. BOEOTIAN
By the twin gods! I should earn big money, if I took one; I would exhibit him as an ape full of spite. DICAEOPOLIS (as an informer enters) Hah! here we have Nicarchus, who comes to denounce you. BOEOTIAN
How small he is! DICAEOPOLIS
But all pure evil. NICARCHUS
Whose are these goods? DICAEOPOLIS
Mine; they come from Boeotia, I call Zeus to witness. NICARCIIUS
I denounce them as coming from an enemy's country. BOEOTIAN
What! you declare war against birds? NrcARcHuS
And I am going to denounce you too. BOEOTIAN
What harm have I done you? NrCARCHUS
I will say it for the benefit of those that listen; you introduce lampwicks hom an enemy's country. DICAEOPOLIS
Then you even denounce a wick. NrCARCIIUS
It needs but one to set an arsenal afire.
The Acharnians DICAEOPOLIS A wick set an arsenal ablaze! But how, great gods? NICARCHUS Should a Boeotian attach it to an insect's wing, and, taking advantage of a violent north wind, throw it by means of a tube into the arsenal and the fire once get hold of the vessels, everything would soon be devoured by the flames. DICAEOPOLIS Ah! wretch! an insect and a wick devour everything!
(He strikes him.) NICARCHUS (to the CHORUS) You will bear witness, that he mishandles me. DICAEOPOLIS (to the BOEOTIAN) Shut his mouth. Give me some hay; I am going to pack him up like a vase, that he may not get broken on the road. (The INFORMER IS bound and f!.agged and packed In hay.) LEADER OF THE CHORUS Pack up your goods carefully, friend; that the stranger may not break it when taking it away. DIC'AEOPOLI'i I shall take great care with it. (fTe hits tire INFORMER on the head alld a stifted cry is heard.) One would say he is cracked already; he rings with a false note, which the gods abhor. LEADER OF THE CHORUS But what will Le done with him? DICAEOPOLIS This is a vase good for all purposes; it will be used as a vessel for holding all foul things, a mortar for pounding together law-suits, a lamp for spying upon accounts, and as a cup for the mixing up and poisoning of everything. LEADER OF THE CHORUS None could ever trust a vessel for domestic use that has such a ring about it. DICAEOPOLIS Oh! it is strong, my friend, and will never get broken, if care is taken to hang it head downwards.
Aristophancs LEADER OF THE CHORUS
(to t/tr
BOEOTIAN)
There! it is well packed now~ BOEOTIAN
Well then, I will proceed to carry off my bundle. LEAfJU{ OF TIlE CHORUS
Farrwell, worthie"t of s(ranger~, take this informrr, gt)()d for anything, :md fling him where you like. l;.lh! this rogul.' h,:" giv(,ll pick lip your po( terr.
I )I1.'.\I.OI'OLI~ enough (rouble to pack' Hert' , gtleotian,
111e
BOFOTIAN
Stoop, bmenias, (hat I may put it on your shoulder, and be very careful wi tl! it. DrCAEOPOLIS
You carry nothing worth having; however, take it, f()r .' (IU will profit oy your bargain; th(' in formers will bring you luck. (Tlte BOEOTIAN alld hij sla,Ic depart; DrcAEoPoLIS !ion illto 111.1 hOI/.I'(;
a slave COllies out of
LAMACIIUS'
house.)
Dicaeopolis! DICAEOPOLIS
(from 7J.!ithin)
What's (he matter? Wby are you calling me? SLAVL
Lamachus wants to keep the Feast of Cups, and I come by his order to bid you one drachma for "nllW (hrushe-bolt" S:IY "at-top-speed!" DEMOSTHENES
"At-top-speed! " NrCIAS Splendid! Just as if you were masturbating; first slowly, "Let-usbolt"; t hen quick and firmly, "at-top-speed!" DEMOSTIIENES
Let -us-bolt, let-us-bolt -at-top-speed! NrcIAS Hah! does that not please you', DEMOSTHENES
Yes, indeed, yet I fear YOllr omen bodes no good to my hidC'o l\'rcIAS How so? DEMOSTHENES
Because masturbation chafes the skin. NrCIAS The best thing we C:In do for the moment is to throw ourselves at the feet of the statue of some god. DEMOSTIIENES
Of which s(:Itue? Any :,tatue? Do you then believe (here arc gods?
The Knights NICIAS
Certainly. DEMOSTHENES
What proof hilve you? N1CIAS
The proof that they have taken a grudge against me. Is that not enough? DEMosTHENEs
I'm convinced it is. But to pass on. Do you consent to my telling the spectators of our troubles? NICIAS
There's nothing wrong with that, and we might ask them to show us by their manner, whether our facts and actions are to their liking. DEMOSTHENES
T will begin then. We have a very brutal master, a perfect glutton for bcans, and most bad-tempered; it's Demos of the Pnyx, an intolerable old man and half deaf. The beginning of last month he bought a slave, a l'aphlagonian tanner, an arrant rogue, the incarnation of calumny. This man of leather knows his old master thoroughly; he plays the fawning Cllr, flatters, cajolt's, wheedles, and dupes him at will with little scraps of leavings, which he allows him to get. "Dear Dt'mos," he will say, "try a single case and you will have done enough; then take your bath, eat, ~wallow and devour; here are three obols." Then the Paphlagonian fdchcs from one of us what we have prepared and makes a present of it tll our old man. The other day I had just kneaded a Spartan cake at Pylos, the cunning rogue came behind my back, sneaked it and offered the cake, which was my invention, in his own name. He keeps us at a distance and suffers none but himself to wait upon the master; when Demos is dining, he keeps close to his side with a thong in his hand and puts the orators to flight. He keeps singing oracles to him, so that the old man now thinks of nothing but the Sibyl. Then, when he sees him thoroughly obfuscated, he uses all his cunning and piles up lies and calumnies against the household; then we are scourged and the Paphlagonian runs about among the slavcs to demand contributions with threats and gathers them in with both hands. He will say, "You see how I have had Hy las beaten! Either content me or die at once ~" Weare forced to give, for otherwise the old man tramples on us and makes us crap forth all our body contains. (To NIC'IAS) There must be an end to it, friend. Let us see! what can be done? \\'ho will get us out of this mess?
Aristophanes NICIAS
The best thing, friend, is our famous "Let-us-bolt!" DEMOSTIIENES
But none can escape the Paphlagonian, his eye is everywhere. And what a »tride! Hc has one leg on Pylos and the othcr in the Assembly; his arse gapes exactly over the land of the Chaonians, his hands are with the Aetolians and his mind with the Clopidians. NlCIAS
It's best then to die; but let us seek thc most heroic death. DEMOSTHENES
Let me think, what is the most heroic? NICIAS
Let us drink the blood of a bull; that's the death Themistocles chose. DEMOSTIIENES
No, not that, but a bumper of good unmixed wine in honour of the Genius; perchance we may ::.tumble on a happy thought.
C(l()(\
NICIAS
Look at him! "Unmixed wine!" Your mind is on drink intent? Can a man strike out a brilliant thought when drunk? DEMOSTHENES
Without question. Go, ninny, Llow yourself out with water; do you dare to accuse wine of clouding thc reason? Quote me more marvellous effects than those of wine. Look! when a man drinks, he is rich, evcrything he touches succeeds, he gains lawsuits, is happy and helps his friends. Come, bring hither quick a flagon of wine, that I may soak my brain and get an ingenious idea. NICIAS
My God! What can your drinking do to help us? DEMOSTHENES
IVluch. But Lring it to me, while I take my scat. Once drunk, I shall strew little ideas, lillIe phrases, lillie reasonings everywhere. (NICIAS cntcrs the house and returns almost immediately with a b(}tllt~.) NICIAS
It is lucky I was not caught in the house stealing the wine. DEMOSTIIENES
Tell me, what is the Paphlagonian doing now?
The Knights NICIAS
The wretch has just gobbled up some confiscated cakes; he is drunk and lies at full-length snoring on his hides. DEMOSTIIENES
Very well, come along, pour me out wine and plenty of it. NICIAS
Take it ami offer a libation to your Good Genius. DEMOSTHENES (to himself) Inhale, ah, inhale (he spirit of (he genius of Pramnium. (Ilr drinks. Inspiredl),) Ah! Good Genius, thine the plan, not mine! NICIAS
Tell me, what is it? DEMOSTHENES
Run indoors quick and steal the oraclcs of the Paphlagonian, while he is asleep. NICIAS
RIess me! I fear this Good Genius will be but a very Dad Genius for me. (JIe gol's into thl' house.) DEMOSTHENES
Ano I'll set the flagon near me, that I may moisten my wit to invent some brilliant notion. (l\ICIAS (,Ilters thr house and returns at 011((,.) KICIAS
How loudly the Paphlagonian farts and snores! I was able to seize the sacred oracle, which he ""Lt, guarding with the greatest care, without his sceing me. DEMOSTIIENES
Oh! clever fellow! Hand it here, that I may read. Come, pour me out some drink, bestir yourself! Let me see what there is in it. Oh! prophecy! Some drink! some drink! Quick! NICIAS
Well! what says the oracle? DEMOSTHENES
Pour again.
Aristo phanc s
[122- 1 39]
NICIAS
Is "pour again" in the oracle? DEJI.IOSTIlENES
Oh, Bacist NIl'lAS
But what
i~
in it? DEMOSTllENES
Quick! some dnnk: N1CIAS
Bacis is very df) : DEMOSTlIENES
Oh! miseraule Paphlagonian! Thi~ then is why you have so long taken such precautions; your horu"cope gave you qualms of terror. NlClAS
What does it say? DEMOSTHENES
11 say" here how he l1lU"t end NICIAS
And how? fkMOSTHENES
How? the oracle announces clearly that a dealer in oakum must fIrst govern the city."' NICIAS
That's one tradesman. And after him, who? Dl-.MOSTIIENES
.\fter him, a shet'p-dealer . NICIAS
Two tradesmen, eh!' And what is this one's fate? DEMOSTHENES
To reign until a filthirr scoundrel than he arises; then he perishes and in his place the leather-seller appears, the Paphlagonian robber, the bawler, who roars like a torrent. NIC'IAS
.\nd the leather-seller
I1lU~t
destroy the
"heep-~rller?
Thr Knights DEMOSTHENES
Yes. NICIAS
Oh! woe is me 1 Where can another seller be found, is there ever a one left? DEMOSTHENES
There is yet Ol1e, who plies a fIrst-rate trade. 1\' ICIi\S Tell me, pla:-', what is that? DEMOSTIIENES
You really want to know? NICIAS
Yes. DEMOSTHENES
Well then! it's a sausage-seller who must overthrow him. 1\' ICIAS A sausage-seller! Ah! by Posidon! what a fine trade! But where can this man be found? DEMOSTHENES
Let's seck him. But look! there he is, going towards the market-place: 'tis the gods, the gods who send him! (C aUing out) This way, t his way, oh, lucky sausage-seller, cume forward, dear friend, Oll! saviour. the saviour of our city. (Enter AGORACRITUS, II seller of saUSll[!.CS, rarryin{; a basket of hiS wares.) SAUSAGE-SELLER
What is it? Why do you call me? DEMOSTHENES
Come here, come and learn about your good luck, you who are Fl'rtum"s favourite! NICIAS
Come 1 Relieve him of his basket-tray and tell him the oracle of the goo: I will go and look after the Paphlagonian. (II c [!.oes into the house) DEMOSTHENES
Fir',t pllt d'>wl1 all your gear, then worship the earth and the
g()d~
Aristoplzancs SAUSAGE-SELLER
])one. What is the matter? DEMOSTHENES
Happiness, riches, power; to-day you have nothing, to-morrow you will have all, oh! chief of bappy Athens. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Why not leave me to wash my tripe and to sell my sau"ages instead of making game of me? 1)r:MOSTIIENES
Oh! the fooll Your tripe!
])0
you see these tiers of people?
SAUSAGE-SELLER
Yes. DEMOSTHENES
You shall be master to them all, governor of the mark;'t, of the harbours, of the Pnyx; you "hall trample the Senate undl:'r foot, be able to cashier th~ generals, load thl:'m with fetters, throw them into gaol, and you will fornicate in the Prytaneull1. SAUSAGE-SELLER
What! I? DEMOSTTIENI'.S
YOll, without a doubt. But you do not yet see all the glory awaiting you. Stand on your basket and look at all the islands that surround Athens. SAUSAGE-SELLER
I sec them. What then? DEMOSTHENES
Look at the sto:ehouses and the shipping. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Ye5, I am looking. DEMOSTHENES
Exists there a mortal more blest than you? Furthermore, turn your right eye towards Caria and your left toward Carthage! SA USAGE-SELLER
Then it's a blessing to be cock-eyed 1
The Knights DEMOSTHENES
No, but you are the one who is going to trade away all this. According to the oracle you must become the greatest of men. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Just tell me how a sausage-seller can become a great man. DEMOSTHENES
That is precisely why you will be great, because you are a sad rascal without shame, no better than a common market rogue. SAUSAGE-SELLER
I do not hold myself worthy of wielding power. DEMOSTHENES
Oh! by the gods! Why do you not hold yourself worthy? Have you then such a good opinion of yourself? Come, arc you of honest parentage? SAUSAGE-SELLER
By the godsl Nol of very bad indeed. DFMOSTJlENES
Spoilt child of fortune, everything fits together to ensure your greatness. SAUSAGE-SELLER
But I have not had the least education. 1 can only read, and that very badly. DEMOSTHENES
That is what may stand in your way, almost knowing how to read. A demagogue must be neither an educated nor an honest man; he has to be an ignoramlls and a rogue. But do not, do not let go this gift, which the oracle promises. SAUSAGE-SELLER
But what does the oracle say? DEMOSTHENES
Faith, it is put together in very fine enigmatical style, as elegant as it is clear: "When the cagle-tanner with the hooked claws shall seize a stupid dragon, a blood-sucker, it will be an end to the hot Paphlagonian pickled garlic. The god grants great glory to the sausage-sellers unless they prefer to sell their wares." SAtJSAGE-SEI.LER
In what way docs this concern me? Please instruct my ignorance.
49 0
Aristophanes DEMOSTHENES
The eagle-tanner is the Paphlagonian. SAUSAGE-S:ELLI;R
What do the hooked claws mean? DEMOSTIIENES
It means to ~ay, that he robs and pillages us with his claw-like hand~. SA USAGE-SELLER
And thc dragon? DEMOSTIIENES
That is quitc clear. The dragon is long and so also is tIl(' sausagc; the sausage like thc dragon is a drinker of blood. Therefore the oracle says, that the dragon will triumph over the eaglr-tanner, if he does not let himself be cajoled with words. SAUSAGE-SELLER
The oracles of the gods !latter me' Faith! I do not al all understand how I can be capable of governing the people. DEMOSTHENES
Kothing simpler. Continue your trade. MIX and knead together all the state business as you do for your ~~\llsages. To win I he people, always cook them ~()me savoury that pleases them. Besides, you possess all the attributes of a demagogue; a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, croSo,grained nature and the language of the market-place. Tn you all is united which is needful for governing. The oracles are in your favour, cven including that of Delphi. Comc, take a chaplet, offer a libation to the god of Stupidity and take care to fight vigorously. SAUSAGE-SELLER
\Vho will be my ally? for the rich shudder at the sight of him.
fe~:r
the l'aphbgonian and the poor
DEMOSTHENES
You will have a thousand brave l\. nights, who del est him, on your side; also the honest citizens amongst the spectators, those who are men of brave hearts, and fmally myself and the god. Fear not, you will not see his features, for none have dared to make a mask resembling him. But the public have wit enough to recognize him. NICIAS (from within)4 011! mercy! here comes the Paphlagonian! (CLU)N
I'lIslzrs out of tllr hOI/st.)
[235- 268 ]
The Knights
49 I
CLEaN By the twelve gods! Woe betide you, who have too long been conspiring against Demos. What means this Chalcidian cup? 1\0 doubt you are provoking the Chalcidians to revolt. You shall be killed and butchered, you brace of rogues. DEMOSTHENES (to the SAUSAGE-SELLER) What! are you for running away? Come, come, stand firm, bold Sausage-seiler, do not betray us. To the rescue, oh, Knights. Now is the time. Simon, Panaetius, get you to the right wing; they are coming on; hold tight and return to the charge. I can see the dust of their horses' hoofs; they are galloping to our aid. (To the SAUSAGE-SELLER) Courage! Attack him, put him to flight. (The CHORUS OF KNIGHl S enters at top speed.) LEADER OF TIlE CnoRus Strike, strike the villain, who has spread confusion amongst the ranks of the Knights, this public robber, this yawning gulf of plunder, this devouring Charybdis, this villain, this villain, this villain! I cannot say the word too often, for he is a villain a thousand times a day. Come, strike, drive, hurl him over and crush him to pieces; hate him as we hate him; stun him with your blows and your shouts. And beware lest he escape you; he knows the way Eucrates took straight to a bran sack for concealment. CLEON Oh! vetrran Heliasts, brotherhood of the three obols, whom I fostered by bawling at random, help me; I am being beaten to death by rebels. Lb\IlER OF THE CHORUS And justly too; you devour the public funds that all should share in; you treat the treasury officials like the fruit of the fig tree, squeezing them to find which arc still green or more or less ripe; and, when you find a simple and timid one, you force him to come from the Chersonese, then you seize him by the middle, throttle him by the neck, while you twist his shoulder balk; he falls and you devour him. Besides, you know very well how to select from among the citizens those who are as meek as lambs, rich, without guile and loathers of lawsuits. CLEON Eh! what! Knights, are you helping them? But, if I am beaten, it is in your cause, for I was going to propose to erect a statue in the city in memory of your bravery."
49 2
Aristophanes LEADER OF TIlE CnORUS
Oh I the impostor! the dull varlet! See! he treats us like old dotards and crawls at our feet to deceive liS; but the cunning wherein his power lies shall this time recoil on himself; he trips up himself by resorting to such artifIces. CLEON
Oh citizens! oh people! see how these brutes are bursting my belly. LEAD!m OF lHE CHORUS
What shouts! but it's this very bawling that incessantly upsets the city! SAUSAGE-SELLER
I can shout too-and so loud that you will flee with fear. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
If you shout loudpr than he dol's I will strike up the triumphal hymn; if you surpass him in impudence the cake is ours. CLEON
I denounce thb fellow; he has had tasty stews exported from Athens for the Spartan fleet. SA USAGE-SELLER
And I denounce him; he runs into the Prytaneum with an empty belly and comes out with it full. DEMOSTHENES
And by Zeus! he carries off bread, mrat, anrl fIsh, which is forbidden. Pericles hil11o,(,jf never had this right. (.4 sCl'cami71f!, match now (,I1SUCS, each linc more raucous than the last. The rapidity of the dialoguc likewise increases.) CLEON
You are travrlling the right road to gel killed. SA USAGE-SELLER
I'll bawl thrre timrs as loud as you. CLEON
I will drafen you with my yells. SA USAGE-SELLER
And I you with my bellowing.
The Knights
493
CLEON
I shall calumniate you, if you become a Strategus. SA USAGE-Sr:LJ. ER
Dog, I will lay your back open with the lash. CLEON
I will make you drop your arrogance. SAUSAGE' SELLER
I will baffie your machinations. CLEON
Dare to look me in the face! SAUSAGE-SELLER
I too was brought up in the market-place. CLEON
I will cut you to shreds if you whisper a word. SAUSAGE-SELI.ER
If you open your mouth, I'll shut it with shit. CLEON
J admit I'm a thief; that's more than you do. SAUSAGE-SELLER
By our Hermes of the market-place, if caught ill the act, why, J jure myself before those who saw me.
pcr~
CLEON
These are my own special trick~. I will denounce you to the l'rytanes as the uwner uf sacred tripe, that has not paid tithe. CnoRus (singing) Oh! you scoundrel! you impudent bawler! everything is filled with your daring, all Attica, the Assembly, the Treasury, the decrees, the tribunals. As a furious torrent you have overthrown our city; your outcries have deafened Athens and, pusted upon a high rock, you have lain in wait for the tribute moneys as the fIsherman does for the tunny-fish. CLEON (somewhat less loudly) I know your tricks; it's an old plot resoled. SA USAGE-SELLER
If you know naught of soling, I understand nothing of sausages; you,
494
,~ristop/tanrs
who cut bad leather on the slant to make it look stout and deceive the country yokels. They had !lot worn it a day before it had stretrhed some two spans. DEMOSTHENES
That's the very trick he played on mt'; both my neighbours and 111Y friends laughed heartily at nlP, and before 1 reached Pergasae I was swimming in my shoes. CHORUS (singing) Have you not always shown that blatant impudence, which is tIle sole strength of our orators? You push it so far, that you, the head of the State, dare to milk the purses of the opulent aliens and, at sight of you, the son of Hippodamus melts into tears. But here is another man who gives me pleasure, for he is a much greater rascal than you; he will overthrow you; 'tis easy to see, that he will beat you in roguery, in brazenness and in clever turns. Come, you, who have been brought up among the class which to-day gives us all our great men, show us that a liberal education is mere tomfoolery. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Just hear what sort of fellow that fllle cit izcn is. CLEON
Will you not let me speak? SAUSAGE-SHLER
Assuredly not, for 1 too am an awful rascal. DEMOSTHENES
] f he does not give in at that, tell him your parents wert' awful ray
DEMOSTHENES)
What a huhhub! To the Devil with you, bawlers' Alas I my olive branch, which they have torn down! 10 Ah! it's you, Paphlagonian ..'\nd who, pray, has brrn maltrpating you? CLEON
You are the cause of this man and thrse young people having coverrc\ me with blows. DEMOS
And why?
The Knights
50 7
CI,EON
Because you love me pJ.ssionately, Demos. DEMOS (to the SAUSAGE-SELLER)
And you, who are you? SAUSAGE-SELLFR
His rival. For many a long year have 1 loved you, have I wished to do you honour, I and a crowd of other men of means. But this rascal here has prevented us. You re~emble those young men who do not know where to choose their lovers; you repulse honest folks; to earn your favours. one has to be a IJ.mp-seller, a cobbler, a tanner or a currier. I am the l){'nefactor of the
CLEaN p~Dple.
SAUSAGE-SELLER
In what way, pleJ.se? CLEON
Tn whJ.t way? I supplJ.nted the Generals at Pylos, I hurried thither ane! brought back the LaconiJ.n captives. SAUSAGE-SELLER
And T, whilst simply loitering, cleared off with a pot from a shop, which anotlwr fellow had been boiling. CLEON
Demos, convene the as:-.embly at once to decide which of us two loves you best and most merits your favour. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Yes, yes, provided it be not at the l'nyx. DEMOS
1 could not sit elsewhere; it is at the Pnyx that y')U must :1pfle:ll" bet. Ire me. (If c sit s down on a stolle ill t lie Orchesl ra.) SAUSAGE-SELLER
Ah! great gods! I am undone! At home this old fellow is the m()~t sensible of men, but the instant he is seated on those cursed stone seats, he is there with mouth agape as if he were hanging up figs by their stems to dry. FIRST SEMI-CHORUS
(sinr:il1g)
Come, loose all sail. Be bold, skilful in attack and entangle him in arguments which admit of no reply. It is difficult to brat him, for he
508
Aristophancs
is full of craft and pulls himself out of the worst corners. Collect all your forces to come forth from this fight covered with glory. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But take care! Let him not assume the attack, get rcady your grapples and advance with your vessel to board him! CLEON
Oh! guardian goddess of our city! oh! Athene if it be true that next to Lysicles, Cynna and Salabaccho none have done so J1lUl h goon for the Athenian people as I, suffer me to continue to be fed at the Prytaneum without working; but if I hate you, if I am not ready to fIght in your defence alone and against all, may 1 perish, be sawn to bits alive and my skin cut up into thongs. SAUSAGE-SELLER
And I, Demos, if it be not true, that 1 love and cherish you, may I be cooked in a stew; and if that is not saying enollgh, may 11Je grated on this table with some cheese and then ha"hed, maya hook be pa~sed through my balls and let me be dragged thus to the Ceramicus I CLEON
Is it possible, Demos, to love you more than I do? And [1rstly, as long as you have governed with my consent, have T not filled your treasury, putting pressure on some, torturing others or be[lgin~; of them, indifferent to the opinion of private individuals, and solely anxiuus to please you? SAUSAGE-SELLER
There is nothing so wonderful in all that, Demos; I will do as much; T will thieve the bread of others to serve up to you. No, he h,ls IJeither love for yuu nor kindly feeling; his only care is to WLllm him"clf with your wood, and I will prove it. You, who, sword in hand, saved Attica from the Median yoke at Marathon; you, whose glorious triumphs we love to extol unceasingly, look, he cares little whether he ~ecs you seated U!lCOIllfortably upon a stone; whereas I, 1 bring you this cu"hion, which I have sewn with my own hands. Rise and try this nile soft scat. Did you nut put enough strain on your bottom at Salamis? (H e giN'S DEMOS the (ushiol1; DEMOS sits on it.} DEMOS
'Who arc you then? Can you be of the race of IIarmodius? Upon my faith, that is nobly done and like a true friend of Demos. CLEON
Petty flattery to prove him your goodwill!
The Knights SAUSAGE-SELLER
But you have caught him with even smaller baits! CLEON
N ever had Demos a defender or a friend more devoted than myself; on my head, on my life, I swear it! SA USAGE-SELLER
You pretend to love him and for eight years you have seen him housed in casks, in crevices and dovecots,Jl where he is blinded with the smoke, and you lock him in without pity; Archeptolemus brought peace and you tore it to ribbons; the envoys who come to propose a truce you drive from the city with kicks in their arses. CLEON
The purpose of this is that Demos may rule over all the Greeks; for the oracles predict that, if he is patient, he mu:,t one day sit as judge in Arcadia at live obols per day. l\1('anwhile, I will nourish him, look after him and, above all, I will ensure to him his thn'e obols. SAUSAGE-SELLER
No, little you care for his reigning in Arcadia, it's to pillage and impose on the allies at will that you reckon; you wi:-,h the war to conceal your rogueries as in a mist, that Demos may see nothing of them, and harassed by cares, may only depend on yourself for his bread. But if ever peace is restored to him, if ever he returlls to his lands to comfort himself once more with good cakes, to greet his cherished olives, he will know the blessings you have kept him out of, even though paying him a salary; and, ftllcd with hatred and rage, he will rise, bumingwith desire to vote against you. You know this only too well; it is for this you rock him to sleep with your lies. CLEON
Is it not shameful, that you shmll(1 dare thus to calumniate me before Iknws, me, to whom Athel1s, I swear it by Demeter, already owes more than it ever did to Thcmistocles? SAUSAGE-SEHFR (dcclaiming) Oh! citizens of Argos, do you hear what he says? (to CLEON) You dare to compare yourself to Themistocles, who found our city half empty and left it full to overflowing, who one day gave us the Piraeus for dinner, and auded fresh fl~h to all our usual meals. You, on the contrary, you, who compare yourself with Themistocles, have only sought to reduce our city in size, to shut it within i:s walls, to c~ant oracles to us. And Themistodes goes into exile, while you gorge yourself on the most excellent fare.
510
Aristophanes CL£ON
Oh! Demos! Am I compelled to hear myself thus abused, and merely beca use I love you? DEMOS
Silence! stop your abuse! All too long have I been your dupe. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Ah! my dear little Demos, he is a rogue who has played you many a scurvy trkk; when your back is turned, he taps at the root the lawsuits initiated by the peculators, swallows the proceeds wholesale and helps himself with both hands from the public funds. CLEaN
Tremble, knave; I will convict you of having stulen thirty thousand drachmae. SAUSAGE-SELLER
For a rascal of your kidney, you shout rarely! Well! I am ready to die if I do not prove that you have accepted more than forty minae from the Mitylenaeans. SH:OND SEMI-Cmmus (sil1ging) This indeed may be termed talking. Oh, benefactor of the human race, proceed and you will be the most illust rious of the Greeks. You alone shall have sway in Athens, the allies wiII obey you, and, trident in hand, you will go about "haking and ovrrturning everything to enrich yourself. But, stick to your m,m, let him not go; with lungs like yours you will soon have him fmished. CI,EON
No, my brave friends, no, you are running too fast; I have done a sufficiently brilliant deed to shut the mouth of all enemies, so long as one of the bucklers of Pylos remains. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Of the bucklers 1 Hold! I stop you there and I hold you fast. For if it be true that you love the people, YOll would not allow these to be hung up with their rings; l~ but it's with an intent you have done this. Demos, take knowledge of his guilty purpose; in this way you no longer can punish him at your pleasure. Note the swarm of young tanners, who really surround him, and close to them the sellers of honey and cheese; all these are at one with him. Very well! you have but to frown, to speak of ostracism and they will rush at night to these bucklers, take them down and seize our granaries.
[85 8- 886 ]
The Knights
SII
DEMOS
Great gods! what I the bucklers retain their rings! Scoundrel! ah! too long have you had me for y~r dupe, cheated and played with me! CLEON But, dear sir, never you believe all he tells you. Oh! never will you fmd a more devoted friend than me; unaided, I have known how to put down the conspiracies; nothing that is hatching in the city escapes me, and I hasten to proclaim it loudly. SAUSAGE-SELLER
You are like the fjshers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing is good; in the same way it's only in troublous times that you line your pockets. But come, tell me, you, who sell so many skins, have you ever made him a present of a pair of sales for his slippers? and you pretend to love him! DEMOS
No, he has never given me any. SAUSACE-SELLER
That alone shows up the man; but 1, I have bought you this pair of shoes; accept them. (He gives DEMOS the shoes; DEMOS puts them on.) DEMOS
None ever, to my knowledge, has merited so much from the people; you are the most zealous of all men for your country and for my toes. CLEON
Can a wretched pair of slippers make you forget all that you owe me? Is it not 1 who curbed the pederasts by erasing Gryttus' name from the lists 0 f ci tizens ? SAUSAGE-SELLER
Ah! noble Inspector of Arses, let me congratulate you. Moreover, if you set yourself against this form of lewdness, this pederasty, it was for sheer jealousy, knowing it to be the school for orators. But you see this poor Demos without a cloak and that at his age too! 50 little do you care for him, that in mid-winter you have not given him a garment with sleeves. Here, Demos, here is one, take it! (He gives DEMOS a rloak; DEMOS puts it Of/,) DEMOS
This even Themistocles never thought of; the Piraeus was no doubt a happy idea, but I think this tunic is quite as fine an invention.
512
Aristophanes CLEaN
Must you have recourse to such jackanapes' tricks to supplant me? SAUSAGE-SELLER
No, it's your own tricks that I am borrowing, just as a drunken guest, when he has to take a crap, seizes some other man's shoes. CLEaN
Oh! you shall not outdo me III Hattery! I am going to hand Demos this garment; all that remains to you, you rogue, is to go and hang yourself. DEMOS (as CLEaN throws a cloak around his shoulders) Faugh! may the plague seize you! You stink of leather horril)ly. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Why, it's to smother you that he has thrown this cloak around you en top of the other; and it is not the first plot he has planned against you. 1h you remember the time when silphium was so cheap? DEMOS
Aye, to be sure I do! SAUSAGE-SELLER
Very well! it was Clean who had caused the price to fall so low, that all mi~;ht eat it, and the jurymen in the Courts were almost Llsphy:\.iated from far ling in each others' faces. DEMOS
Hah! why, indeed, a Dungtownite told me the same tl!in;!. SAUSAGE-SELUeR
Were you not yourself in those days quite reel in the gills with farting? DEMOS
Why, it was a trick worthy of
l'yrrhandrll~!
CLEON
With what other idle trash will you seek to ruin me, you wretch! SAUSAGE-SELLER
Oh! I shall be more brazen than you, for it's the goddess who has commanded me. CLEON
No, on my honour, you will not! Here, Demos, fea!'.t on this dish; it is your salary as a r]icast, which you gain through me for doing naught.
The Knights
51 3
SAUSAGE-SELLER Wait! here is a little box of ointment to rub into the sores on your legs. CLEON I will pluck out your white hairs amI make you young again. SAUSAGE-SELLER Take this bare's tail to wipe the rheum from your eyes. CLEaN When you wipe your nose, clean your fmgers on my head. SAUSAGE-SELLER No, on mine. CLEON On minco (To tll(, SAUSAGE-SELLEH) T will have you made a trierarch and you will gl'l ruined through it; I will arrange that you are given an old vr~sel wit h rotten sails, which you will have to repair constantly and at great cost. SAUSAGE-SELLER Our man is on the boil; enough, enough, he is boiling over; remove some of the embers from under him and skim off his threats. CLEON I will punish your self-importance, I will crush you with imposts; I will have you inscribed on the list of the rich. SAUSAGE-SELLER For me no threats-only one simple wish. That you may be having some cuttle-fIsh frierl on the stove just as you are going to set forth to pI earl the cause of the Milesians, which, if you gain it, means a talent in your pocket; that YOll hurry over devouring the fish to rush off to the Assembly; suddenly you are called and run off with your mouth full so as not to lose the talent and choke yourself. There! that is my wish. LEADER OF TIlE CHORUS
Splendid! by Zeus, Apollo and Demeter! DEMOS Faith! here is an excellent citizen indeed, such as has not been seen for a long time. He's truly a man of the lowest scum! As for you, Paphlagonian, who pretend to love me, you only feed me on garlic. Return me my ring, for you cease to be my steward.
Aristophancs CLEaN
Here it is, but be assured, that if you bereave mil of my power, my iuccessor will be worse than I am. DEMOS
This cannot be my nng, 1 see another device, unles!> purblind.
r
am l;:oinl;:
SAl'SAGE-:"'ELLlcR
What was your device? DEMOS
A fig-leaf, stuffed with hllliLlt k's fat. l,; S.'\'l)!:>AGE-SELLER
No, that is not it. DEMOS
What is it then? SAUSAGE-SELLER
It's a gull with beak wide open, Iwranguing the people from the top of a stone. DEMOS
Ah! great gods! SAllSAGE-SELLER
What is the mattrr? DEMOS
Away! away out of my sight' It's not my ring he bad, it wa" t hat of ClrllnYl11lls. (To the SAUSAGE-SELLlcR) Wait, I'll give you this one; you shall be my steward. CU.ON
Master, I adjure you, decide nothing till you have
hr~mll1lY
oracles.
SAUSAGE-SELLER
And mine. CLEaN
If you believe him, you will have to prostitute yourself for him. SAUSAGE-SELLER
If you listen to him, you'll have to let him peel you to the very stump.
The Knights CLEON
My oracles say that you are to reign over the whole earth, crowned with chaplets. SAUSAGE-SEHER
.\nd mine say that, clothed in an embroidered purple robe, you shall pursue Smicythe amI her spouse, standing in a chariot of gold and with a crown on your hear! DEMOS
Go, fetch me your oracles, that the Paphlagonian may hear them. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Willingly. DEMOS
And you yours. CLEON
I'll run.
(III' I'1/shcs into tlte house oj
DEMOS.)
SAUSAGE-SELLER
And I'll run too; nothing could suit me better!
(IIe departs in haste.) CHORUS
(singing)
Oh! happy day for us and for our children if Cleon perish. Yet just now I heard some old cross-grained pleaders on the marketplace who hold not this opinion discoursing together. Said they, "If Cleon had not had the power, we should have lacked two most useful tools, the pestle and the soup-ladle." 1 t You also know what a pig'!, education he has had; his school-fellows can recall that he only liked the Dorian style and would st udy no other; his music-master in displeasure sent him away, saying; "This youth, in matters of harmony, will only learn the Dorian style because it is akin to bribery." Jr, CLEON
(coming out oj the house with a large package)
There, look at this heap; and yet I'm not bringing them all. SAUSAGE-SELLER
(entering with on even larger package)
Ugh! The weight of them is squeezing the crap right out of me, and still I'm not bringing them all!
Aristo phanes
[999- 1016 ]
DEMOS
What are these? CLEON
Oracles. DEMOS
All these? CLEON
Does that astonish you? Why, I have another whole boxful of them. SAUSAGE-SELLER
And I the whole of my attic and two rooms besides. DEMOS
Come, let us sec, whose are these oracles? CLEON
Mine are those of Eacis. DEMOS
(to the
SAUSAGE-SELLER)
And whose are yours? SAUSAGE-SELLER ('without hesitating) Glanis's, the elder brother of Bacis. DEMOS
And of what do they speak? CLEON
Of Athens and Pylos and you and me and everything. DEMOS
And yours? SAUSAGE-SELLER
Of Athens and lentils and Laced;.emonians and fresh mackerel and scoundrelly flour-sellers and you and me. Ah! ha! now watch him gnaw his own tool with chagrin! DEMOS
Come, read them out to me and especially that one I like so much, which says that I shall become an cagle and soar among the clouds. CLEON
Then listen and be attentive! "Son of Erechtheus, understand the meaning of the words, which the sacred tripods set resounding in the
[1016-10 44]
The Knights
sanctuary of Apollo. Preserve the sacred dog with the jagged teeth, that barks and howls in your defence; he will ensure you a salary and, if he fails, will perish as the victim of the swarms of jays that hunt him down with their screams." DEMOS
By Demeter! I do not underst:md a word of it. What connection is there between Erechtheus, the jays and the dog? CLEaN
I am the dog, since I bark in your defence. \Vell! Phoebus commands you to keep and cherish your dog. SAUSAGE-SELLER
That is not what the god ~ays; this clog seems to me to gnaw at the oracles as others gnaw at doorposts. Here is exactly what Apollo says of the dog. DEMOS
Let us hear, but I must first pick up a stone; an oracle which spe:lks of a clog might bite my tool. SAUSAGE-SELLER
"Son of Erechtheus, beware of this Cerberus that enslaves free men; he fawns upon you with his tail when you are dining, but he is lying in wait to devour your dishes should you turn your head an instant; at night he sneaks into the kitchen and, true dog that he is, licks up with one lap of his tongue both your (li~hes and . . . the islands." DEMOS
By god, Glanis, you speak better than your brother. CLEON
Condescend again to hear 11If and then judge: "A woman in sacred Athens will he delivered of a lion, who shall fIght for the people against clouds of gnats with the same ferocity as if he were defending his whelps; care ye for him, erect wooden walls around him and towers of brass." Do you understand that? DEMOS
Not the least bit in the world. CLEON
The god tells you here to look after me, for 1 am your lion. DEMOS
How! You have become a lion and I never knew a thing about it?
518
Aristophanes
[1045-1066]
SAUSAGE-SELLER
There is only one thing which he purposely keeps from you; he does not say what this wall of wood and brass is in which Apollo warns you to keep and guard him. DEMOS
What does the god mean, then? SAUSAGE-SELLER
He advises you to tit him into a five-holed wooden collar. DEMOS
Hah! I think that oracle is about to be fulfilled. CLEaN
Do not believe it; these arc but jcdous crows, that caw against me; but never cease to cherish your good hawk; never forget that he brought you those Lacedaemonian fish, loaded with chains. SAUSAGE-SELLER
Ah! if the Paphlagonian ran auy risk that day, it was because he was drunk. Oh, too credulous son of Cecrops, do you accept that as a glorious exploit? A woman would carry a heavy burden if only a man had put it on her shoulders. But to fight! Go to! he would empty his bowels before he would ever fight. CLEON
Note this Pylos in front of Pylos, of which the oracle speaks, "1'ylos is before Pylas." DEMOS
How "in front of Pylas"? What does he mean by that? SAUSAGE-SELLER
He says he will seize upon your bath-tuus. ' " DEMOS
Then I shall not bathe to-day. SAUSAGE-SELLER
N 0, as he has stolen our baths. But here is an oracle about the fleet, to which I beg your best attention. DEMOS
Read on! I am listening; let us first see how we are to pay our sailors.
The Knights SAUSAGE-SELLER
"Son of JEgeus, beware of the tricks of the dog-fox, he bites from the rear and rushes off at full speed; he is nothing but cunning and perfidy." Do you know what the oracle intends to say? DEMOS
The dog-fox is Philostratus. SAUSAGE-SELLER
No, no, it's Cleon; he is incessantly asking you for light vessels to go and collect the tributes, and Apollo advises you not to grant them. DEMOS
What connection is there between a galley and dog-fox? SAUSAGE-SELLER
What connection? Why, it's quite pbin-a galley travels as fast as a dog. DEMOS
\\'hy, then, does the oracle not say dog instead of dog-fox? SAUSAGE-SELLER
Because he compares the soldiers to young foxes, who, like them, eat the grapes in the fields. DEMOS
Good! Well then! how am I to pay the wages of my young foxes? SAUSAGE-SELLER
I will undertake that, and in three days too! But listen to this further oracle, by which Apollo puts you on your guard against the snares of t he greedy fist. DEMOS
Of what greedy fist? SAUSAGE-SELLER
The god in this oracle very clearly points to the hand of eleon, who incessantly holds his out, saying, "Fill it." CLEaN
That's a lie! Phoebus means the hand of Diopithes. But here I have a winged oracle, which promises you shall become an eagle and rule over all the earth.
rlOS8-II 101
Aristophancs
520
SA USAGE-SELLER
I have one, which says that you ~hall be King of the Earth and of the Red Sea too, and that you shall administer justice in Ecbatana, eating fme rich stews the while. CLEON
I have seen Athene in a dream, pouring out fuIl vials of riches and health over the people. SAUSAGE-SELLER
I too have seen the goddess, descending from the Acropolis with an owl perched upon her helmet; on your head she was pouring out ambrosia, on that of Cleon garlic pickle. DEMOS
Truly Glanis is the wi
Formerly it was a hailstorm of
blow~.
UNJUST DlSCOllRSE
I deck nwself with your abuse.
b,[sin, quick!
c..,t;
Aristophancs
,) I
JUST DISCOURSE
What impudence! UNJlTST DISCOURSE
\Vhal tomfoolery! JUST DISCOURSE
It is because of you that the youth no longcr attends the srliools. The Athenians will soon recognize what lcssons you teach those who are fools enough to believe you. UNJUST DISCOURSE
You arc ovcrwhelmed with wretchedness. JUST DISCOURSE
Am! you, you prosprr. Y pt you were poor when you said, "T am thc l\Iysian Tc1cphus," and uscd to sluff your wallct with maxims of l'andc1etus to nihhle at. UNJUST DIscounSE
Oh! the beautiful wisdom, of which you arc
IWW
boasting!
JUST DISCOURSE
~larllll:lll!
But yet madder the city that keeps you, you, tne corrupter
of its youth! UNJUST DISCOURSE
It is not you wllo will teach this young man; you arc as old and oul of datc at Cronus. JUST DISCOURSE
~ay,
it will certainly he 1, if he does not wish to be lo!:>t and tu verbosity only.
pr;~(tise
UNJUST DISCOURSE (to PIIIDIPl'IVI,S) Comc hcre and leave him to beat the air. JUST DISCOURSE
You'll rrgret it, if you touch him. CHOIWS-LEADER
(stepping bctwcen tltem as tliry arc about to (ome to blows)
A truce to your quarrellings and abuse! nut you expound what you taught us formerly, and you, your new doctrine. Thus, after hearing each of you argue, hc will be able to choose betwixt the two schools.
The Clouds
579
JUST DISCOURSE
I am quite agreeable. UNJUST DISCOURSE
And I too. LEADl:.R OF 111E CHORUS
Who is to speak first? UNJUST DISCOURSE
Let it be my opponent, he has my full consent; then I shall follow upon the very ground he shall have chosen and shall shatter him with a hail of new ideas and subtle fancies; if after that he dares to breathe another word, I shall sting him in the face and in the eyes with our maxims, which are as keen as the sting of a wasp, and he will die. CBORUS (singing)
Here are two rivals confident in their powers of oratory and in the thoughts over which they have pondered so long. Let us see which will come triumphant out of the contest. This wisdom, for which my friends maintain such a persistent fight, is in great danger. LEADl'.R OF THE CI10RUS
Come then, you, who crowned men of other days with so many virtues, plead the cause dear to you, make yourself known to us. JUST DISCOURSE
Very well, I will tell you what was the old education, when I used to teach justice with so much success and when modesty was held in veneration. Firstly, it was required of a child, that it should not utter a word. In the street, when they went to the music-school, all the youths of the same district marched lightly clad and ranged in good order, even when the snow was falling in great flakes. At the master's house they had to stand with their legs apart and they were taught to sing either, "Pallas, the Terrible, who overturneth cities," or "A noise resounded from afar" in the solemn tones of the ancient harmony. If anyone indulged in buffoonery or lent his voice any of the soft inflexions, like those which to-day the disciples of Phrynis take so much pains to form, he was treated as an enemy of the Muses and belaboured with blows. In the wrestling school they would sit with outstretched legs and without display of any indecency to the curious. When they rose, they would smooth over the sand, so as to leave no trace to excite obscene thoughts. Never was a child rubbed with oil below the belt; the rest of their l~odit:'s thus retained its fre~h bloom and down, like a velvety peach. They were n,)t to be seen approaching a lover and themselves rousing his passion by soft modulation of the voice
580
Aristo phancs
1980-1019]
and lustful gaze. At table, they would not have dared, before those older than themselves, to have taken a radish, an aniseed or a leaf of parsley, and much less eat fish or thrushes or cross their legs. UNJUST DISCOURSE
What alltiquated rubLio,h! Have we got back to the days of the festivals of Zeus l'olieus, to the Duphonia, to the time of thl' poe! ('ecides and the golden cicadas? JUST DISCOURSE
Nevertheless by suchlike teaching I built up the men of Marathon. But you, you teach the children of to-day to bundle themselves quickly into their clothes, and I am enraged when I see them at the l'anathenxa forgetting Athenc while they dance, and covering tlwir tools with their bucklers. Hence, young man, dare to range yourself beside me, who follow justice and truth; you will then be aLle to shun the public place, to refrain from the baths, to bluo,h at all that is shameful, to fire up if your virtue is mocked at, to give place to your elders, to honour your parents, in short, to avoid all that is evil. Be modesty itself, and do not run to applaud the dancing girls; if you delight in such scenes, some courtesan will ca"t you her apple and your reputation will be done for. Do not bandy words with your father, nor treat him as a dotard, nor reproach the old man, who has cherished you, with his age. UNJUST DISCOURSE
If you listen to him, by Bacchus! you will be the image of the sons of
Hippocrates and will be called
1110/
her's bi/!, ninny.
JUST DISCOURSE
No, but you will pass your days at the gymnasia, glowing with strength and health; you will not go to the public place to cackle and wrangle as is done nowadays; you will not live in fear that you may be dragged before the courts for some trifle exaggerated by quibbling. But you will go down to the Academy to run beneath the sacred olives with some virtuous friend of your own age, your head encircled with the white reed, enjoying your ease and breathing the perfume of the yew and of the fresh sprouts of the poplar, rejoicing in the return of springtide and gladly listening to the gentle rustle of the plane tree and the elm. (With Krcatcr warmth from here on) If you devote yourself to practising my precepts, your chest will be stout, your colour glowing, your shoulders broad, your tongue short, your hips muscular, but your tool small. Rut if you follow the fashions of the day, you will be pallid in hue, have narrow shoulders, a narrow ch('~t, a long tongue, small hips and a big thing; you will know how to spin forth long-winded arguments on law. You will be persuaded also to regard as
[1020-1°54]
The Clouds
581
splendid everything that is shameful and as shameful everything that is honourable; in a word, you will wallow in degeneracy like Antimachus. CHORUS
(smgi/lg)
How beautiful, high-souled, brilliant is this wisdom that you practise! What a sweet odour of honesty is emitted by your discourse! Happy were those men of other days who lived when you were honourecl! And you, seductive talker, come, find some fresh arguments, for your rival has done wonders. LEADER OF THE CUORUS
You will have to bring out against him all the battery of your wit, if you desire to beat him and not to be laughed out of court. UNJUST DISCOURSE last~
1 was choking with impaliC"llce, 1 \.as uurning to upset his argL\menl~! If 1 am called the Weaker Reasoning in the schools, it is just because 1 was the first to discover the means to confute the laws and the decrees of justice. To invoke solely the weaker arguments and yet triumph is an art worth more than a hundred thousand drachmae. But see how 1 shall batter down the sort of education of which he is so proud. Firstly, he forbids you to bathe in hot water. What grounds have you for condemning hot baths? AI
JUST DISCOURSE
Because they are uaneful and enervate men. UNJUST DISCOURSE
Enough said! Oh! you P()or wrestler! From the very outset I have seized you and hold you rollnd the middle; you cannot escape me. Tell me, of all the sons of Zcus, who had the stoutest heart, who performed the most doughty deeds? JUST DISCOURSE
None, in my opinion, surpassed Herac1es. UNJUST DISCOURSE
Where havc you ever !-.cen cold baths called' Bath of Herac1es'? And yet who was braver than he? JUST DISCOURSE
It is because of such quibbles, that the baths are seen crowded with young folk, who chatter there the livelong day while the gymnasia remain empty.
Aristophancs
[ 10 55- 108 5]
UNJUST DISCOURSE
Next you condemn the habit of frequenting the market-place, while I approve this. If it were wrong Homer would never have made Nestor speak in public as well as all his wise heroes. As for the art of speaking, he tells you, young men should not practise it; I hold the contrary. Furthermore he preaches chastity to them. Both precepts are equally harmful. Have you ever seen chastity of any usc to anyone? Answer and try to confute me. JUST DISCOURSE
To many; for instance, Peleus won a sword thereby. UNJUST DISCOURSE
A sword! Ah! what a finc present to make him! Poor wretch! Hyperbolus, the lamp-seller, thanks to his villainy, has gained more than . . . I do not know how many talents, but crrtainly no sword. JUST DISCOURSE
I'eleus owed it to his chast ity that he became the husband of Thetis. UNJUST DISCOURSE
who left him in the lurch, for he was not the most ardent; in those nocturnal sports betwcen the sheets, which so please women, he possessed but little merit. Get you gone, you are but an old fool. But you, young man, just consider a little what this temperancr means and the delights of which it deprives you-young fellows, women, play, dainty dishes, wine, b()i~terous laughter. And what is life worth without these? Then, if you happrn to commit one of thc!:'(' faults inherent in human weakness, some seduction or adultery, ,md you are caught in the act, you ale lo"t, if you cannot speak. But follow my teaching and you will be able to satisfy your passiuns, to dance, to laugh, to blush at nothing. Suppose rou are caught in the act of adultcry. 'Ihm up and tell thc husband you are not guilty, and recall to him the example of Zeus, who allowed himsrlf to be conquerrd by love amI by women. Being but a mortal, can you be stronger than a god? JUST DISCOURSE
Suppose your pupil, following your advice, gets the radish rammed up his arse and thcn is depilated with a hot coal; 1 ~ how arc you going tu prove to him that he is not a broad-arse? 1:1 UNJUST DISCOURSE
What's the mattcr with being a broad-arse?
[1086-1104]
The Clouds
JUST DISCOURSE Is there anything worse than that? UNJUST DISCOURSE Now what will you say, if I beat you eVf'n on this point? JUST DISCOURSE J should certainly have to be silent then. UNJUST DISCOURSE Well then, reply! Our advocates, what arr thc'Y? JUST DISCOURSE Sons of broad-arses. UNJUST DISCOURSE Nothing is more true. And our tragic poets? JUST DISCOURSE Sons of broad-arses. UNJUST DISCOURSE Well said again. And our demagogues? JUST DISCOURSE Sons of broad-arses. UNJUST DISCOURSE You admit that you have spoken nonsense. And tllf' spectators, what are they for thr most part? Look at them. JUST DISCOURSE I am looking at them. UNJUST DrSCOURSE \Veli! "Vhat do you sec? JUST DISCOURSE By the gods, thry are nearly allllroad-ars('s. (point inK) Sec, this one I know to be sllch and that one and that other with the long hair. UNJUST DIscounsE What have you to say, then? JUST DISCOURSE T am beaten. Debauchers! in the name of the gods, receivr my cloak; I pass over to you r ranks. (III' go!'s /)(11 k ill/f) llz(' Tlllluglztf'ry.)
Aristophancs
rIIOS-II4S1
UNJUST DISCOURSE Well then! Are you going to take away your S0n or do you wish me to teach him how to speak? STREPSIADES Teach him, chastise him and do not fail to sharpen his tongue well, on one side for petty law-suits and on the other for important cases. UNJUST DISCOURSE Don't worry, I shall return him to you an accompli~hed sophist. PIUDIPPIDES Very pale then and thoroughly hang-dog-looking. LEADER OF T1TE CHORUS
Take him with you. (The UNJUST DISCOURSE and PHIDIPPIIJES go into the THOUGHTERY. To STREPSIADES, who is just {{oing into his own house.) I think you will regret this. (The CHORUS turns and farrs the audience.) Judges, we are all about to tell you what you will gain by awarding us the crown as equity requires of you. In spring, when you wish to give your fields the first dressing, we will rain upon you Jirst; the others shall wait. Then we will watch over your corn and over your vinestocks; they will have no excess to fear, neither of heat nor of wet. But if a mortal dares to insult the goddesses of the Clouds, let him think of the ills we shall pour upon him. For him neither wine nor any harvest at all! Our terrible slings will mow down his young olive plants and his vines. If he is making bricks, it will rain, and our round hailstones will break the tiles of his roof. If he himself marries or any of his relations or friends, we shall cause rain to fall the whole night long. Verily, he would prefer to live in Egypt than to have given this iniquitous verdict. STREPSIADES (coming out again) Another four, threc, two days, then the eve, then the day, the fatal day of payment! I tremble, I quake, I shudder, for it's thc day of the 010 moon and the new. Then all my creditors take the oath, pay their depoo,its,11 swear my downfall and my ruin. As for me, I beseech them to be rcasonable, to be just, "My friend, do not demand this Slim, wait a little for this other and give me time for this third one." Then they will pretend that at this rate they will never be repaid, will accuse me of bad faith and will threaten me with the law. Well then, let thcm sue me! I care nothing for that, if only Phidippides has learnt to speak fluently. I :lln going to find out; I'll knock at the door of the school. (He knocks.) •.. Ho! slave, slave!
The Clouds
[1145- 11 75]
SOCRATES
58 5
(coming out)
Welcome! Strepsiades! S fREPSIADES Welcome! Socrates! But first take this sack (0 Ders him a sack of flour) ; it is right to reward the master with some present. And my son, whom you took off lately, has he learnt this famous reasoning? Tell me. SOCRATES
He has learnt it. STREPSIADES
Wonderful! Oh! divine Knavery! SOCRATES
You will win just as many causes as
YOli
choose.
STREl'SIADES
Even if 1 have borrowed before witnesses? SOCRATES
So mllch the better, even if there are a thousand of them! STREPSIADES (burstll1g into song)
Then I am going to shout with all my might. "Woe to the usurers, woe to their capital and their interest and their compound interest! You shall play me no more bad turns. 1\1y son is being taught there, his tongue is being sharpened into a double-edged weapon; he is my defender, the saviour of my house, the ruin of my foes! His poor father was crushed down with misfortune and he delivers him." Go and call him to me quickly. 011! my child! my dear little one! run forward to your father's voice! SOCRATES (singing)
Lo, the man him::.elf' STREPSIAD\,S (sin;;ing)
Oh, my friend, Illy
dearc~t
friend!
SOCRAHS (singl7lg)
Take your son, and get you gone. STREPSIADES (as l'UIDIPPIDES appears) Oh, my son! oh! oh! what a pleasure to see your pallor! You are ready first to deny and then to contradict; it's as clear as noon. What a child of your country you are! How your lips quiver with the famous, "What have you to say now?" How well you know, I am certain, to put on the
586
.t1ristophanrs
look of a victim, when it is you who are making both victims and dupes! And what a truly Attic giance! Come, it's for you to save me, seeing it is you who have ruined me. PUllJII'I'IDLS
What is it you fear then? STJU.PSIADES
The day of the old and the new. I'll IIJIPI'IDES Is there then a day of the old and the new? STREPSIAIlES
The day on which they threaten to pay deposit agdinst meY PHIDIPPIOES
Then so much the wurSt for those who have deposited! fur it's not possible for one day tu be two. STREPSIADES
What? PIIIDIPPlOES
Why, undoubtedly, unless a woman can be both old and young at the same time. STREPSIAOES
But so runs the law. l'HIDIPPIDES
I think the meaning of the law is quite misllllderstoorl. STREPSIADES
What does it mean? PHIDIPPIDES
Old Solon loved the people. STREPSIAOES
What has that to do with the old day and the new? l'HlOU'l'lDES
He has fixed two days for the summons, the last day of the old moon and the fIrst day of the new; but the deposits must only be paid on the fIrst day of the new nYlon.
The Clouds STREPSIADES
And why did he also name the last day of the old? 1'1 JIIJIPPIIJES
SO, my dear sir, that the debtors, being there the day i>efore, mi,~ht free themselves by mutual agreement, or that else, if not, the creditor might begin his action on the morning of the new moon. STREPSIADES
Why then do the magistrates have the deposits pJ.id on the last of the month and not the next day? PHIDIPPIDES
T think they do as the gluttons do, who arc the first to pounce upon the dishes. Being eager to carry off these deposits, they have them paid in a day too soon. STREPSIADES
Splendid! (to the audicnrr) Ah 1 you po;]r brutes, who serve for food to us clever folk! You are only down here to swell the number, true blockheads, sheep for shearing, heap of empty puts! Hence 1 will sing a song of victory for my son and myself. "Oh! happy, Strepsiades! what cleverness is thine! and what a son thou hast here!" Thus my frirnds and my neighbours will say, jealous at seeing me gain all my suits. But come in, I wish to regale you fmt.
(Thry both go in. A moment later a rreditor arrives, with his witness.) PASIAS (10 the WITNl,SS) A man should never lend a single obolus. It would be better to put on a
brazen face at the outset than to get entangled in such matters. I wanl to sec my money again and I bring you here to-clay to attest the loan. I am going to make a foe of a neighbour; but, as long as I live, I do not wi~h my country to have to blush for me. Come, I am going to summon Strep!>iades. . . . STREPSIADES
(romil1g out of his house)
Who is this? T'ASJ.\S
for the old day and the new. STREPSIADES
(to the
WITNESS)
I call you to witness, that he has nJll1ed two days. What do of me?
YOll
want
S88
Aristophane s
[1224-1240]
PASIAS
I claim of you the twelve minae, which you borrowed from me to buy the dapple-grey horse. STREPSIADES
A horse! do you hear him? 1, who detest horses, as is well known. PASIAS
1 call Zeus to witness, that you swore by thc gods to return 1hcm to mc. STREPSIADES
Because at that time, by Zeus! Phidippides did not yet know the irrefutable argument. PASIAS
Would you deny the deut on that account? STREPSIADES
If not, what usc is his science to me? PASIAS
Will you dare to swear by the gods that you owe me nothing? STREPSIADES
By which gods? PASIAS
By Zeus, Hermes and Posidon! STREPSIADES
Why, I would give t:1:Te oonls for the pleasure of swearing oy them. l'ASIAS
Woe upon YOll, impudent knave! STREPSIADJo.S
Oh! what a fmc wine-skill you would make if Hayed! PASIAS
Heaven! he jeers at me! STREPSIADES
It would hold six gaJlons easily. PASIAS
By great Zeus! by all the gods! you shall not scoff at me with impunity.
The Clouds STREPSIADES
Ah! how you amuse me with your gods! how ridiculous it seems to a sage to he:lI' Zeus invoked. PASIAS
Your blasphemies will one day meet their reward. But, come, will you repay me my money, yes or no? Answer me, that I may go. STREPSIADES
\\'ait a moment, I am going to give you a distinct answer. (II (' d,)ors and refllYllS immediately with a kneading-trough.)
~o('s
il/-
PASIAS (to the WITNESS) \Vhat do you think he will do? Do you think he will pay? STREPSIADES
\Vhere i:, the Illan who demands money? Tell n1(', what is this? PASIAS
J-lim? Why, he is your kneading-trough. STREPSIADES
And you dare to demand money of me, when you are so ignorant? I will not return an obolus to anyone who says him instead of hrr for a knealml on a point like this? PJIlllIPPIDES
It's the easiest thing in the world. Choose whichever of tlte two reasollings you like. STREPSIADES
Of which reasonings? PHIDIPPIDES
The Stronger and the W caker. STREPSIADES
Miserable fellow! Why, I am the one who had you taught how to refute what is right, and now you would persuade me it is right a son should beat his father. PHIDIPPIDES
1 think 1 shall convince you so thoroughly that, when you have heard me, you will not have a word to say. STlH,PSIADES
Well, I am curious to hear what you have to say. CnoRUS (singing)
Consider well, old man, how you can best triumph over him. His brazenness shows me that he thinks himself sure of his casr; he has some argument which gives him nerve. Kote the confidrnce in his look! LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But how did the fight begin? tell the Chorus; you cannot help doing that much. STREPSIADES
I will tell you what was the start of the quarrel. At the end of the meal, as you know, I bade him take his lyre and sing me the air of Simonides, which tells of the fleece of the ram. He replied bluntly, that it was stupid, while drinking, to play the lyre and sing, like a woman when she is grinding barley. PHIDIPPIDES
Why, by rights T ought to have beaten and kieLce! you the very moment you told me to sing!
594
Aristophancs STREPSIADES
That is just how he spoke to mc in the house, furthermore he added, that Simonides was a detestable poet. However, 1 mastered myself and for a while said nothing. Then 1 said to him, 'At least, take a myrtle branch and recite a passage from Aeschylus to me.'-'For my own part,' he at once replied, '1 look upon Aeschylus as the fIrst of poets, for his verses roll superbly; they're nothing but incoherence, bombast and turgidity.' Yet still I smothered my wrath and said, 'Then recite one of the famous pieces from the modern poets.' Then he commenced a piece in which Euripides shows, oh! horror! a brother, who violates his own uterine sister.lII Then 1 could not longer restrain myself, and attacked him with the most injurious abuse; naturally he retorted; hard words were hurled on both sides, and finally he sprang at me, broke my bones, bore me to earth, strangled and started killing me! l'IlIDIPPIDES
I was right. What! not praise Euripides, the greatest of our poets? STREPSIADES
II c the greatest of our poets? Ah! if I bu t dared to speak! but the blows would rain upon me harder than ever. PUIPIPPIDES
Undoubtedly and rightly too. STREPSIADES
Rightly! oh! what impudence! to me, who brought you up! when you could hardly lisp, I guessed what you wanted. If you said broo, Moo, well, J brought YOIl your milk; if you asked for mam mam, I gave you bread; and you had no sooner said, caea, than I took you outside and held you out. Anel ju~t now, when you were strangling me, I shouted, I bellowed that I was ab()ut to crap; and you, y()U scoundrrl, har! not the heart tn take me oubide, so that, though almost choking, I was compelled to do my crapping right there. CHORUS (singing)
Young men, your hearts must be panting with impatience. What is l'hidippides going to say? If, after such conduct, he proves he has done well, I would not give an obolus for the hide of old men. LEADER OF TI-IE CHORUS
Come, you, Whll know how to brandish and hurl the keen shafts of the new science, find a way to convince us, give your language an appear:mcc of truth.
[1399- 1 43 1 J
The Clouds
595
PI-IIDIPPIDES
How pleasant it is to know these clever new inventions and to be able to defy the established laws! When I thought only about horses, I was not able to string three words together without a mistake, but now that the master has altered and improved me and that I live in this world of subtle thought, of reasoning and of meditation, I count on being able to prove satisfactorily that I have done well to thrash my father. STREPSIADES
Mount your horse! By Zeus! I would rather defray the keep of a fourin-hand team than be battered with blows. PUIDIPPIDES
I revert to what 1 was saying when you interrupt-:d me. And first, answer me, did you brat me in my childhood? STREPSIADES
Why, assuredly, for your good and in your own Lest interest. PTTlDIPPJDES
Tell me, is it not right, that in turn 1 should beat you for your good, since it is for a man's own Lest interest to be beaten? What! must your body be free of blows, and not mine? am I not free-born too? the children are to weep and the bthers go free? You will tell me, that according to the Jaw, it is the J()t of chihl:-cn to he heaten. But I reply that the old men are children twice over and that it is far more fItting to chastise them than the young, for there is less excuse for their faults. STRIcPSIADES
But the law nowhere admits that fathers should Le treated thus. I'HIDJPPIDES
Was not the legislator who carried this law a man like you and me? In those days he got men to believe him; then why should not I too have the right to establish for the future a new law, allowing children to beat their fathers in turn? We make you a present of all the blows which were received before his law, and admit that you thrashed us with impunity. But look how the cocks and other animals fIght with their fathers; and yet what difference is there betwixt them and ourselves, unless it be that they do not propose decrees? STREPSIADES
But if you imitate the cocks in all things, why don't you scratch up the dunghill, why don't you sleep on a perch?
Aristo phancs PHIUIPPIDES
That has no bearing on the case, good sir; Socrates would find no conilection, I assure you. STREPSIADES
Then do not beat at all, for otherwise you have only yourself to blame afterwards. 1'lIlDIPPIDES
What for? STREPSIADES
I have thc right to chastise you, and you to chastisc your son, if you have one. PHIUIPPWES
And if I have Dot, I shall have cried in vain, and you will die laughing in my face. STR EPSIADES
What say you, all here present? It seems to me that hc is right, ancl ] am of opinion that they should he accorded their right. If we think wrongly, it is but just we should be beaten. 1'lIIUIPPWES
Again, consider this other point. STRLPSIADES
It will be the death of me. PHIUIPPlDES
But you will certainly feel no more anger because of the blows I have given you. STREPSIADU;
Come, show me what profit I shall gain from it.
p} I IIHPPIDt.S I shall beat my mother just as I have you. STREPSIADES
What do you say? what's that you say? Hah! this is far worse still. PHIDIPPIUES
And what if I prove to you by our school reasoning, that one ought tn beat one's mothcr?
The Clouds
597
STREPSIADES
Ah! if you do that, then you will only have to throw yourself, along with Socrates and his reasoning, into the Barathrum. Oh! Clouds! all our troubles emanate frmil you, from you, to whom I entrusted myself, body and soul. LEADEH OF I'll E CHORUS
No, you alone are the cause, because you have pursued the path of evil. STREPSIADES
Why did you not say so then, instead of egging on a poor ignor:tnt old man? LLADEH OF I'll E C'HOHUS
We always act thus, when we see a. man conceive a passion for what is evil; we strike him with some terrible disgrace, so that he may learn to fear the gods. STREPSIADES
Alas! oh Clouds! that's hard indeed, but it's just' T ought not to have cheated my creditors. . . . But come, my dear son, come with me to take vengeance on this wretched Chaerephon and 011 Socrates, who have deceived us both. PIIIDIPPIDES
I shall do nothing against our masters. STREPSIADES
Oh! show some reverence for ancestral Zeus!
I'll ]flIPI'ID!' ~ Mark him alld his ancestral Zeus! What a fool heing as Zeus exist?
y()U
are! Does :my such
STREPsrADFS Why, assuredly. PrUDIPPIDLS
No, a thousand times no! The rul(::r of the world is the \\'l1irlwind, that has unseated Zeus. STIu:rSIADJo.S
He has not dethroned him. I believed it, lJecau~e of thi~ whirligig here. Unhappy wretch that I am! 1 have taken a piece (If day te) be a g')(l.
Aristophancs PHIDIPPIDES
Very well! Keep your stupid nonsense for your own consumption. (lIe gops back into STREPSIADES' housl'.) STREPSIADES
Oh! what madness! I had lost my reason when I threw over the gods through Socrates' seductive phrases. (Addressing the statue oj lIermcs) Oh! good Hermes, do not destroy me in your wrath. Forgive me; their babbling had driven me crazy. Be my counselor. Shall I pursue them at law or shall I ..• ? Order and I obey.-You are right, no law-suit; but up! let us burn down the home of those praters. Here, Xanthias, here! take a ladder, come forth and arm yourself with an axe; now mount upon the Thoughtery, demoli~h the roof, if you love your master, and may the house fall in upon them. Ho! bring me a blazing torch! There is more than one of them, arch-impostors as they are, on whom I am determincd to have vengeance.
A DISCIPLE (from within) Oh! oh! STREPSIADES
Come, torch, do your duty! Burst into full ilame! DISCIPLE
What are you up to? STREPSIADES
What am I up to? Why, I am entering upon a subtle argunJmt with the beams of the house. SECOND DISCIPLE (from within) Hullo! hullo! who is burning down our Ih)lJsl'? STREPSIADES
The man whose cloak you have appropriated. SECOND DISCIPLE
You are killing us! STREPSIADES
That is just exactly what I hope, unless my a',r plays me false" or I fall and break my neck. SOCRATES (appearing at tlte window) IIi! you fellow or: the roof, what are you doing IIjl there?
The Clouds
[15°2- 1 510 ] STREPSIADES
599
(mocking SOCRATES' mallner)
I am traversing the air and cOlltrmplating the
SUIl.
SOCRATES
Ah! ah! woe is upon me! I am suffocating! SECOND DISCIPLE
And I, alas, shall be burnt up! STREPSIADES
Ah! you insulted the gods! You studied the face of the moon! Chase them, strike and beat them down! Forward! they have richly deserved their fate-above all, hy reason of their blasphemies. LhADER OF THE CHORUS
So let the Chorus file off the stage. Its part is played.
NOTES FOR TIlE CLOUDS
I. City slaves were normally punished by being forced to leave the delights of urban life and to undergo the unwanted rigours of agricultural labour. The Peloponnesian War, with its almost annual invasions of Attica, rendered it impossible to till the fields of the country-side and thus diffICult to punish the slaves of Athens. 2. The ending -ippus (Greek hip/)os, "horse") had honorific connotations suggesting wealth and status. The combining form Phid-, on the other hand (Greek phrido, "tbrift") suggested precisely the opposite. 3. Aristophanes here coins the word dicntrreuma, meaning a "looking through intestines." A French translator renders, "intcstigation." 4. A regular part of the ritual of sacrifice was the sprinkling of the head of the victim with flour. 5. These are characters from the lost Banqueters, which Aristophanes exhibited in 427, his fIrst production. 6. Socrates here is speaking, of course, of poetical measures, whereas Strrpsiades consistently misunderstands and takes them for measures of capacity. It is the same as if someone were to ask, "Do you like the hexameter?" and to receive the answer, "I prrfer the kilometer." 7. The primary meaning of the Greek word daktvlos was "finger." R. The vocative case of Greek masculines in -as has the apparently feminine ending -a. 9. A pun on koris, the Greek word for "bug." IO. The sons of Earth were the Titans, who had fought against the gods. Hence the epithet here implies atheism or irreligion on the part of Socrates and his disciples. I I. The terminology of the sophists designated the Just Discourse as the stronger, the Unjust as the weaker, reasoning. 12. This was the punishment supposed to be meted out to adulterers. 13. The Greek word is ruryproktos; its precise signification in ordinary usage is difficult to determine, and it has seemed better to give its etymologically literal translation in the text and then to explain in this note that it was probably only a general term of abuse. 14. By Athenian law, if anyone summonrd another to appear in court,
600
Notes for the Clouds
601
hc was obliged to deposit a sum sufficient to cover the costs of procedure. IS. A person who fell off an ass was one who got himself into trouble through no one's fault but his own, hence a stupid persun. The expression also contains a pun, ap' onoll pescin, "to fall off an as~" bcing vcry like apo nou pescill, "to lose one's wits." 16. Marriage with a half-~i!-.ter was incestuous in the eyes of the Athenians only when the common parent was the Illother.
IV THE WASPS
CHARACTERS
IN
THE PLAY
PHILO CLEaN
his 5011 Slave oj Philocleon XANTHIAS, Slave oj Philoclf(Jn BDELYCLEON,
SOSIAS,
Boys DOGS
A GUEST
A
BAKER'S WIFE
AN ACCUSER CnORUS OF WASPS
INTRODUCTION
A LITTLE less than a year after the signal and merited failure of The Clouds, Aristophanes won the third victory of his career with The Wasps, which he produced at the Lenaean festival of 422 under the pseudonym of Philonides. The play is thoroughly political in its theme and genuinely comic in its treatment, and its construction testifIes to a care and exhibits a skill that have not hitherto been observable in the poet's productions. It is evident that the disappointment of 423, so far from discouraging him, has ch:lllenged Aristophanes to greater achievement and taught him a number of fruitful lessons. What he has still to acquire is a sure and reliable sense of proportion, and the only significant defect of The Wasps lies in the fact that the fIrSt part is longer than the essential humour of its theme can justify, while the latter section is not developed to the full extent of its potentialities. The play is customarily designated as a satire on an excessive passion for litigation and juridical proceedings which is supposed to have characterized the Athenian populace, but this pronouncement, apposite enough to Lcs Plaideurs of Racine, is both wide of the mark and far too general if applied to the The Wasps of Aristophanes. Nowhere in this comedy docs the poet suggest that the Athenian judicial institutions themselves are anything but admirable, nor docs he ever give us to understand that the litigious mania which he so amusingly lampoons was in any sense epidemic with his countrymen. A keener analysis and a sounder judgment disclose that the true targets of the poet's attack are the abuses of the Athenian judicial system, for which he obviously holds the demagogues solely or primarily culpable. Thus Thr Wasps is a sort of appendix to The Knil:hts, a less direct and more specialized continuation of the fight against Cleon, begun as early as 426 with the lost Babylonians. The first part of the play, as br as the parabasis, is taken up with the efforts of the antidemagogical Bdelycleon to prevent his father Philocleon, the tanner's friend, from indulging his insatiable craving for jury service. The old man has hitherto been completely successful in nullifying these attempts, and Bdelydeon in desperation has shut him up in the house and stretched a huge net around it. Two sleepy slaves strive man-
60 5
Introduction fully to kerp watch on the front of the house, while Bdclyckon himself m()unts guard on the roof. The conH'dy opens with this taLlrall of varied vigilance, 3ntl as soon as the situation has been explained to the audiencE' the acti'Ji1 is initiatE'd in a series of frantic and fantastic efforls on the part of J'hibcIeon to escape his odious conflllcment and to get t() cou:·t in time for the trials. Fir~t he is heard in thr ,,[o\'f'-Cb:lllllX'r, "ferretin~~ ahout likr a rat in his hole," and a moment la1er he affects to be the sl,hJke coming out of the chimney. Balked in this, he requests hi~; SOil to Jet him go Ullt to sell his d once in fifty years, and now it is more common than salt-fish, the word is even current on the market. If you are buying gurnards and don't want anchovies, the huckster next door, who is selling the latter, at once exclaims, "That is a man whose kitchen savours of tyranny!" If you ask for onions to season your fish, the green-stuff woman winks one eye and asks, "Ha, you ask for onions! are you seeking to tyrannize, or do you think that Athens must pay you your seasonings as a tribute?" XANTHIAS
Yesterday I went to see a whore abou t noon and told her to get on top; she flew into a rage, pretending I wanted to restore the tyranny of Hipphs.'" BDELYCLEON
That's the talk that pleases the people! As for myself, I want m)father to lead a joyous life like Morychus instead of going away be fort: dawn basely to calumniate and condemn; and for this I am accused of conspiracy and tyrannical practice!
Aristophanes PHILOCLEON
And quite right too, by Zeus! The most exquisite dishes do not make up to me for the life of which you deprive me. I scorn your red mullet and your eels, and would far rather eat a nice little lawsuitlet cooked in the pot. BDELYCLEON
That's because you have got used to seeking your pleasure in it; but if you will agree to keep silence and hear me, I think I could persuade you that you deceive yourself altogether. PHILOCLEON
I deceive myself, when I am judging? BDELYCLEON
You do not see that you are the laughing-stock of these men, whom you are ready to worship. You are their slave and do not know it. PHILOCLEON
I a slave, I, who lord it over all? BDELYCLEON
Not at all, you think you are ruling when you are only obeying. Tell me, father, what do you get out of the tribute paid by so many Greek towns. PHILOCLEON
Much, and I appoint my colleagues jurymen. BDELYCLEON
And I also. (To the slaves) Release him. PUILOCLEON
And bring me a sword; If I am worsted in this debate, I shall fall on the blade. BDELYCLEON
Tell me whether you will accept the verdict of the Court. PHILOCLEON
May I never drink my Heliast's pay in honour of the Good Genius, if I do not. CHORUS (singing) Now it is necessary for you, who are of our school, to say something novel, that you may not seem . . .
The Wasps DDF.J.YC'LEON
(ill! c,rY pting)
And J must note down everything he says, so as to remember it; someone bring me a tablet, (!I:ick. CllOlWS (Iinging)
. . . to side with this y()uth in his opinions. You see how serious the question has become; if he ~hould prevail, which the gods forfend, it will be all over for us. l'HILOCLEON
But what will you say of it, if he should triumph in the debate? CHORUS (sil1ginr;)
That old men are no longer goud for anything; we shall be perpetually laughed at in the streets, shall be called thallophores, mere brief -bags. LEADER OF TilE ('nORUS
You are to be the champion of all our lights and sovereignty. Come, take courage! Bring into action all the resources of your wit. 1'lIlLOCLEON
At the outset 1 will prove to you that there exists no king whose might is greater than ours. Is there a pleasure, a blessing comparable with that of a juryman? Is there a being who lives more in the midst of delights, who is mGre feared, aged though he he? From the moment I leave my bcd, mrn of power, the most illustrious in the city, await me at the bar of the tribunal; the moment I am seen from the greatest distance, they come forward to offer me a gentle hand,-that hus pil [ered the public funds; they entreat me, bowing right low and with a piteous voice, "Uh, father," they "ay, "pity me, I adjure you by the profit you were able to mal;e in the public service or in the army, when dealing with the victuals." Why, the man who speaks thus would not know of my existence, had I not let him off on some former occasion. Bm:LYCLFON
Let us note this fIrst point, the supplicants. PllILOCLEON
These entreaties have appeased my wrath, and I enter-firmly resolved to do nothing that I have promised. N everthcless I listen to the accused. Oh! what tricks to secure acquittal! Ah! there is no form of flattery tb~t is 1I0t addressed to the Helia~t! Some I!roan over their poverty anti exaggerate it. Others tell us anecdotes or some comic story from Aesop. Others, again, cut jokes; they fancy I shall be appeaser! if
628
Aristophanes
[5 68 - 602]
I laugh. If we are not even then won over, why, then they drag forward their young children by the hand, both boys and girls, who prostrate themselves and whine with olle accord, and then the father, trembling as if before a god, beseeches me not to condemn him out of pity for them, "If you love the voice of the lamb, have pity all my sons"; and because I am fond of little SOWS,l!l I must yield to his daughter's prayers. Then we relax the heat of our wrath a little for him. Is not this great power indeed, which allows even wealth to be disdained? BDELYCLEON
A second point to note, the disdain of wealth. And now recall to me what are the advantages you enjoy, you, who pretend to rule over Greece? PHILOCLEON
We are entrusted with the inspection of the young men, and thus we have a right to examine their tools. If Oeagrus is accused, he is not acquitted before he has recited a passage from 'Niobr' and he chooses the finest. If a flute-player gains his case, he adjusts his mouth-strap in return and plays us the fmal air while we are leaving. A father on his deathbed names some husband for his daughter, who is his sole heir; but we care little for his will or for the shell so solemnly placed over the seal; we give the young maiden to him who has best known how to secure our favour. Name me another duty that is so important and so irresponsible. BDELYCLEON
Aye, it's a fme privilege, and the only one on which I can congratulate you; but surely to violate the will is to act badly towards the heiress. PHILOCLEON
And if the Senate and the people have trouble in deciding some important case, it is decreed to send the culprits before the Heliasts; then Euathlus and the illustrious Colaconymus, who cast away his shield, swear not to betray us and to fight for the people. Did ever an orator carry the day with his opinion if he had not fIrst declared that the jury should be dismissed for the day as soon as they had given their first verdict? We are the only ones whom Clean, the great bawler, does not badger. On the contrary, he protects and caresses us; he keeps off the flies, which is what you have never done for your father. Theorus, who is a man not less iIlustrious than Euphemius, takes the sponge out of the pot and blacks our shoes. See then what good things you deprive and despoil me of. Pray, is this obeying or being a slave, as you pretended to be able to prove?
The Wasps BDELYCLEON
Talk away to your heart's content; you must come to a stop at last and then you shall see that this grand power only resembles an anus; no matter how much you wash it, you can never get it clean. PIIILOCLEON
But I am forgetting the 1110st pleasing thing of all. When I return home with my pay, everyone runs to greet me because of my money. First my daughter bathes me, anoints my feet, ~tO()PS to kiss me and, while she is calling me "her dearest father," fishes out my triobolus with her tongue; 11 then my little wife comes to wheedle me and brings a nice light cake; she sits beside me and entreats me in a thousand ways, "Do take this now; do have some more." All this delights me hugely, and I have no need to turn towards you or the steward to know when it shall please him to serve my dinner, all the while cursing and grumbling. But if he does not quickly knead my cake, I have something which is my defence, my shield against all ills. If you do not pour me out drink, I have brought this long-eared jar full of wine. How it brays, when I bend back and bury its neck in my mouth! It farts like a whole army, and haw I laugh at your wine-skins. (With increasing ('xcitcmcnt) As to power, am I not equal to the king of the gods? If our assembly is noisy, all say as they pass, "Great gods! the tribunal is rolling out its thunder!" If I let loose the lightnin/!:, the richest, aye, the noblest are half dead with terror and crap for fright. You yourself are afraid of me, yea, by Demeter! you are afraid. But may I die if you frighten 111(,. CHORUS (singing) N ever have I heard speech so elegant or so sensible. PHILOCLEON
Ah! he thought he had only to turn me round his fmger; he should, however have known the vigour of my eloquence. CHORUS (singing) He has said everything without omission. I felt myself grow taller while I listened to him. Methought myself meting out justice in the Islands oi the Blest, so much was I taken with the charm of his words. BDELYCLEON
How overjoyed they are! What extravagant delight! Ah! ah! you are going to get a thrashing to-day. CHORUS (singing) Come, plot everything you can to beat him; 'tis not easy to soften me if you do not talk on my side.
Aristophanes LEADER OF THE CnORUS
If you have nothing but nonsense to SPOl;t, it's time to buy a good millstone, freshly cut withal, to crush my anger. BDELYCLEON
The cure of a disease, so inveterate and ~o widespread in Athens, is a difficult task and of too great importance for the scope of comedy. Nevertheless, myoId father . . . PHILOCLEON
Cease to call me by that name, for, if you do not prove me a slave ;\:1r1 that quickly too, you must die by my hand, even if I must be deprived of my share in the sacred feasts. BDELYCLEON
Listen to me, dear little father, unruffle that frowning brow and reckon, you can do so without trouble, not with pebbles, hut on your fingers, what is the sum-total of the tribute paid by the allied towns; besides this we have the direct imposts, a mass of percentage dues, the fees of the courts of justice, the produce from the mines, the markets, the harbours, the public lands and the confIscations. All these together amount to nearly two thousand talents. Take from this sum the annual pay of the c1icasts; they number six thousand, and there have never been more in this town; so therefore it is one hundred and fI fty talents that come to you. PHILOCLEON
What! our pay is n8t even a tithe of !lIe state revenue? BDELYCLEON
Why no, certainly not. PHILOCLEON
And where does the rest go then? BDELYCLEON
To those who say: "I shall never betray the interests of the masses; I shall always fight for the people." And it is you, father, who let yourself be caught with their fme talk, who give them all power over yourself. They are the men who extort fifty talents at a time by thre:lt and intimidation from the allies. "Pay tribute to me," they say, "or I shall loose the lightning on your town and destroy it." And you, you arc con lent to gnaw the crumbs of your own might. What do the allies do? They see that the Athenian mob lives on the tribunal in niggard and miserable fashion, and they count you for nothing, for not more than the vote of Connus; it is on those wretches that they lavish everything, dishes of salt fish,
The Wasps wine, tapestries, cheese, honey, sesame-fruit, cushions, flagons, rich clothing, chaplets, necklets, drinking-cups, all that yields pleasure and health. And you, their m:l5trr, to YOll as a reward for all your toil both on land and sea, nothing is given, not even a clove of garlic to eat with your little fIsh. PUILOCLEON
No, undoubtedly not; T have had to send and buy some from Eucharides. But you told me I was a slave. Prove it then, for I am dying with impatience. BDELYCLEON
Is it not the worst of all slaveries to see all these wretches and their flatterers, whom t hey gorge with gold, at the head of affairs? As for you, you arc content with the three ohoLi which they give you and which you have so painfully earned in the galley;.::, in battles and sieges. But what I stomach least is that you go to sit 011 the tribunal by order. Some young fairy, the son of Chaen'as, to wit, enters your house wiggling his arse, foul with debauchery, on his straddling l~gs and charges you to come and judge at daybreak, and pr('ci~ely to the minute. "He who presents himself after the opening of the enurt," sa.\'!': he, "will not get the triobolus." But he himself, though he arrives late, will nevertheless get his drachma as a public advoG!te. If an accused man makes him some prpsent, he shares it with a colleague and the pair agrce to arrange the matter like two sawyers, one of whom pulls and the other pushes. As for you, you have only eyes for the public pay-clerk, and you sec nothing. PHIT"OCLEON
Can it be I am treated thus? Oh! what is it you arc saying? You stir me to the bottom of my heart! 1 am all cars! I cannot express what 1 fecl. BDELYCLEON
Consider then; you might be rich, bO(}l you and all Ule others; I know not why you Iet yourself ur fO(Jlrri by these folk who call themselves the people's friends. A myriacl of towns ouey you, from the Euxine to Sardis. What do you gain therehy? Nothing hut this miserable pay, and even that is like the oil with which thE' flock (If wool is impregnated and is doled to you drop by drop, just enough to keep you from dying of hunger. They want you to be poor, and 1 will tell you why. It is so that you mJ.Y know only those who nourish you, and so that, if it plt'ases them to loose you against one of their foes, you shall leap upon him with fury. If they wisll('d to assure the well-being of the people, nothing would be easier for them. We have now a thousand towns that pay us tribute; let them com-
Aristophancs mand each of these to feed twenty Athenians; then twenty thousand of our citizens would be eating nothing but hare, would drink nothing but the purest of milk, and always crowned with garlands, would be enjoying the delights to which the great name of their country and the trophies of l\Iarathon give them the right; whereas to-day you are like the hired labourers who gather the olives; you follow him who pays you. PHILOCLEON Alas! my hand is benumbed; I c.in no longer draw my sword. What has become of my strength;> BDELYCLEON When they are afraid, they promise to divide Eubrea among you and to give each fifty bushels of wheat, but what have they given you? Nothing excepting, quite recently, five bushels of barley, and even these you have only obtained with great difficulty, on proving you were not aliens, and then choenix by choenix. (With increasing excitement) That is why I always kept you shut in; I wanted you to be fed by me and no longer at the beck of these blustering braggarts. Even now I am ready to let you have all you want, provided you no longer let yourself be suckled by the payclerk. LEADER OF THE CHORUS (to BDEL YCLEON) He was right who said, "Decide nothing till you have heard both sides," for now it seems to me that you are the one who gains the complete victory. l\ly wrath is appeased and I throwaway my sticks. (To PIIILOCLEON) But, you, our comrade and contemporary . . . FIRST SEMI-CHORUS (tal.cinr; this up in s01lg) . . . let yourself be won over by his words; come, be not too obstinate or too perverse. \Vould that I had a relative or kinsman to correct me thus! Clearly some god is at hand and is now protecting you and loading you with bpneflts. Accept them. BDELYCLEON I will feed him, I will give him everything that is suitable for an old man; oatmeal gruel, a cloak, soft furs, and a wench to rub his tool and his loins. But he keeps silent and will not utter a sound; that's a bad sign. SECOND SEMI-CHORUS (singing) He has thought the thing over and has recognized his folly; he is reproaching himself for not having followed your advice always. But there he is, converted by your words, and wiser now, so that he will no doubt alter his ways in the future and always believe in none but you.
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
Alas! alas! BDELYCLEON
Now why this lamentation? l'IIILOCLEON (in tragic style) A truce to your promises! What I love is down there, down there I want to be, there, where the herald cries, "Who has not yet voted? Let him rise! " I want to be the last of all to leave the urn. Oh, my soul, my soul! where art thou? come! oh! dark shadows, make way for me! By Heracles, may I reach the court in time to convict Clean of theft. BDELYCLEON
Come, father, in the name of the gods, believe me! PHILOCLEON
Believe you! Ask me anything, anything, except one. BDELYCLEON
What is it? Let us hear. PHILOCLEON
N at to judge any more! Before I consent, I shall have appeared before Pluto. BDELYCLEON
Very well then, since you find so much pleasure in it, go down there no more, bUl stay here and deal out justice to your slaves. PHILOCLEON
But what is there to judge? Are you mad? BDELYCLEON
Everything as in a tribunal. If a servant opens a door secretly, you inflict upon him a simple fme; that's what you have repeatedly done down there. Everything can be arranged to suit you. If it is warm in the morning, you car. judge in the sunlight; if it is snowing, then seated at your fire; if it rains, you go indoors; and if you don't rise till noon, there will be no Thesmothetes to exclude you from the precincts. PHILOCLEON
The notion pleases me. BDELYCLEON
Moreover, if a pleader is long-winded, you will not be hungering and chafing and seeking vengeance on the accused.
Aristophanes
l779- 8oS]
PHILOCLEON
But could I judge as weII with my mouth full? BDELYCLEON
Much better. Is it not said, that the dicasts, when deceived by lying witnesses, have need to rmninClte well in order to arrive at the truth? PUILOCLEON
WeI! said, but you have not told me yet who wiII pay my salary. BDELYCLEON
I will. PHILOCLEON
So much the better; in this way I shall be paid by myself. Because that damned jester, Lysistratus, played me an infamous trick the other day. He rrceived a drachma for the two of us and went Oil the flsh-markf't to get it changed and then brought me back three mullet scales. I took them for obols and crammed them into my mouth; but the smell choked me and I quickly spat them out. So I dragged him before the court. BDELYCLIcON
And what did he say to that? PHILOCLEON
Well, he pretended 1 had the stomach of a cock. "You have soon digested the monry," he said with a laugh. BDEJ.YCLEON
You sec, that is yet another advantage. PUIT.OCLEON
And no small one rithcr. Come, do as you will. BDELYCLEON
Wait! I wiII bring everything here. (Ill' goes into the house.) PHlLOCLEON (to himself) You see, the oracles are coming true; I have heard it foretold, that one day the Athenians would dispense justice in their own houses, that each citizen would have himself a little tribunal constructed in his porch similar to the altars of Hecate, and that there would be such before every door.
(returning with slaves who are carrying various objects) There, what do you think of that? I have brought you everything
BDELYCLEON
[806-82 5]
The Wasps
needful and much more into the bargain. See, here is a thunder-mug in case you have to pee; I shall hang it up beside you. PIULOCLEON
Good idea! Right useful at my age. You have found the true alleviation of bladder troubles. BOELYCLEON
Here is a fire, and near to it are lentils, should you want to have a lJite to eat. PHILOCLEON
That's admirably arranged. In this way, even when feverish, I shall nevertheless receive my pay; and besides, I could eat my lentils without quitting my seat. But why this cock? BOELYCLEON
So that, should you doze during some pleading, he may awaken you by crowing up there. PHILOCLEON
I want only for one thing more; all the rest is as good as can be. BOELYCLEON
\"hat is that? PHILOCLEON
If only they could bring me an image of the hero Lycus. BOELYCLEON
Here it is! Why, you might think it was the god himself! PHILOCLEON
Oh! hero, my master! how repulsive you are to look at! BOELYCLEON
He looks just like Cleonymus. l'JIILOCLEON
That is why, hero though he be, he has no weapon. BDELYCLEON
The sooner you take your seat, the sooner I shall call a case. PHILOCLEON
Call il, for I have been seated ever so long.
Aristophancs BDELYCLEON
Let us see. What case shall we bring up first? Is there a slave who has done something wrong? Ah! you Thracian there, you burnt the stew-pot the other day. PHILOCLEON
Wait, wait! This is a fine state of affairs! You almost made me judge 'vithout a bar, and that is the most sacred thing of all for us. BDELYCLEON
There isn't any, by Zeus. PHILOCLEON
I'll run indoors and get one myself. (Exit) BDELYCLEON
What does it matter? Terrible thing, the force of habit. XANTHIAS (coming out oj the house) Damn that animal! How can anyone keep such a dog? BDELYCLEON
Hullo! what's the matter? XANTHIAS
Oh, it's Labes, who has just rushed into the kitchen and seized a whole Sicilian cheese and gobbled it up. BDELYCLEON
Good! this will be the first offence I shall make my father try. (To XANTHIAS) Come along and lay your accusation. XANTHIAS
No, not I; the other dog vows he will be accuser, if the matter is brought up for trial. BDELYCLEON
Well then, bring them both along. XANTHIAS
That's what we'll have to do. (lIe goes back into the house. A moment later
PHILOCLEON COn7I'S
BDELYCLEON
What is this? PHILOCLEON
The pig-trough of the swine dedicated to Hestia.
out.)
The Wasps BDELYCLEON
Did you steal it from a shrine? PHILOCLEON
No, no, by addressing Hestia first, I might, thanks to her, crush an adversary. But put an end to delay by calling up the casco My verdict is already settled. llDELYCLEON
Wait! I still have to bring out the tablets and the scrolls.
(He goes into tlte house.) PHILOCLEON
Oh! I am boiling, I am dying with impatience at your delays. I could have traced the ~entcnce in the dust. BDELYCLEON
(coming out with tablets and scrolls)
There you are. l'UILOC'LEON
Then call the case. BDELYCLEON
Right. Who is fIrst on the docket? PHILOCLEON
My god! This is unbearable! I have forgotten the urns. BDELYCLEON
N'ow where are you going? PHILOCLEON
To look for t he urns. BDELYCLEON
Don't bother, I have these pots. PHILOCLEON
Very well, then we have all we need, except the clepsydra. BDELYCLEON
(pointil1/!. to tlte thunder-mug)
What is this if it is not a clepsydra? PHILOCLEON
You know how to supply everything.
Aristopft.ancs
[860-897]
BDELYCLEON
Let fire be brought quickly from the house with myrtle boughs and incense, and let us invoke the gods before opening the sitting. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Offer them libations and your vows and we will thank them that a DDble agreement has put an end to your bickerings and strife. And first let there be a sacred silence. CHORUS (singing) Oh! god of Delphi! oh! Phoebus Apollo! convert into the greatest blessing for us all what is now happening before this house, and cure us of our error, oh, Paean, our helper! llDELYCLEON (solemnly) Oh! Powerful god, Apollo Aguieus, who watch est at the door of my entrance hall, accept this fresh sacrifice; I offer it that you may deign to soften my father's excessive severity; he is as hard as iron, his heart is like sour wine; do thou pour into it a little honey. Let him become gcntle toward other men, let him take more interest in the accused than in the accllsrrs, may he allow himself to be softened by entreaties; calm his acrid humour and deprive his irritable mind of all sting. CHORUS (singing) \Ve unite our vows and chants to those of this new magistrate. His words have won our favour and we are convinced that he loves the people more than any of the young men of the present day. (XANTHIAS brings in two persons rostumcd as dogs, hut with masks that suggest Larhes and Cleon.) BDELYCLEON
If there be any judge near at hand, let him enter; once the proceedings have opened, we shall admit him no more. PHILOCLEON
Who is the defendant? BDELYCLEON
This one. PIIILOCLEON
(aside)
He docs not stand a chance. BDELYCLEON
Listen to the indictment. A dog of Cydathenaea doth hereby charge Labes of Aexnnia with having devoured a Sicilian cheese by himself without accomplices. Penalty demanded, a collar of fig-tree wood.
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
Nay, a dog's death, if convicted. BDELYCLEON
This is Labes, the defendant. PHILOCLEON
Oh! what a wretched brute! how entirely he looks the rogue! He thinks to deceive me by keeping his jaws closed. Where is the plaintiff, the dog of Cydathenaea? DOG
Bow wow! bow wow! llDELYCLEON
Here he is. PIIILOCLEON
Why, he's another Labes, a great barker and a licker of dishes. BDELYCLEON
(as Herald)
Silence! Keep your seats! (To the Cydathenacan dog.) And you, up on your feet and accuse him. PHILOCI~EON
Go on, and I will help myself and cat these lentik DOG
Gentlemen of the jury, listen to this indictment I have drawn up. He In'> cot1lmitted the blackrst of crimes, a.!i"ainst both me and the seamen. Hr sought refuge in a dark corner to glutton on a big Sicilian checse, with which he sated his hunger. PIIILOCLEON
Why, the crimc is clear; thc fIlthy brute this very moment belched forth a horrible odour of cheese right under my nose. DOG
And he refused to share with me. And yet can anyone style himself your benefactor, when he does not cast a morsel to your poor dog? PHlLOCLl':ON
He has not shared anything, not even with his comrade. His madness is as hot as my lcntils.
Aristophancs BDELYCLEON In the name of the gods, father! No hurried verdict without hearing the other side! PHILOCLEON But the evidence is plain; the fact speaks for itself. DOG
Then beware of acquitting the most selfish of canine gluttons, who has devoured the whole cheese, rind and all, prowling round the platter. PHILOCLEON There is not even enough left for me to fill up the chinks in my pitcher. DOG
Besides, you must punish him, because the same house cannot keep two thieves. Let me not have barked in vain, else I shall never bark again. PHILOCLEON Oh! the black deeds he ha; just denounced! What a shameless thief! Say, cock, is not that your opinion too? Ha, hal He thinks as I do. Here, Thesmothetes! where are you? Hand me the thunder-mug. BDELYCLEON Get it yourself. I go to call the witnesses; these arc a plate, a pestle, a cheese knife, a brazier, a stew-pot and other half-burnt utensils. (To PIIILOCLEON) But you have not finished? you arc piddling away still! Have done and be seated. PHILOCLEON Ha, hal I reckon I know somebody who will crap for fright to-day. BDELYCLEON Will you never cease showing yourself hard and intractable, and especially to the accused? You tear them to pieces tooth ancl nail. (To LABES) Corne forward and defend yourself. What means this silence? Answer. PUILOCLEON No doubt he has nothing to say. BDELYCLEON Not at all, I think he has got what happened once to Thucydides in court; his jaws suddenly set fast. Get away! I will undertake your defence.-Gentlemen of the jury, it is a difficult thing to speak for a dog who has been calumniated, but nevertheless I will try. He is a good do ~, and he chases wolves finely.
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
He is a thief and a conspirator. BDELYCLEON
N 0, he is the best of all our dogs; he is capable of guarding a whole flock. PHILOCLEON
And what good is that, if he eats the cheese? BDELYCLEON
What? he fights for you, he guards your door; he is an excellent dog in every respect. Forgive him his larceny! he is wretchedly ignorant, he cannot play the lyre. PHILOCLEON
I wish he did not know how to write either; then the rascal would not have drawn up his pleadings. BDELYCLEON
Witnesses, I pray you, listen. Come forward, grating-knife, ani! speak up; answer me clearly. You were paymaster at the time. Did you grate out to the soldiers what was given you ?-He says he did so. PIIILOC'LEON
But, by Zeus! he lies. BDELYCLEON
Oh! have patience. Take pity on the un fortunate. Labes feeds only on fish-bones and fishes' heads and has not an instant of peace. The other is good only to guard the house; he nrver moves from here, but demands his share of all that is brought in and bites those who refuse. PHILOCLEON
(aside)
Oh! Heaven! have I fallen ill? I feel my anger cooling! Woe to me! I am softening! BDELYCLEON
Have pity, father, pity, I adjure you; you would not have him deai!. Where are his puppies? (A group of children costumed as puppies comes out.) Come, poor little beasties, yap, up on your haunches, beg and whine! PHILOC'LEON
Descend, descend, descend, descend!
15
Aristophanes BDELYCLEON 1 will de5cend, although that word, "descend," has too often raised false hupe. ]\;onc the less, I will descencl. l'UILOCLEON Plague seize it! Have 1 then done wrung to eat! What l I, crying! Ah: I certainly shuuld not be weeping, if I were not stuffed with lentils. BDELYCLEON Then he is acquitted? PIIlLOCLEON It is diffIcult to tell.
BDELYCLEON Ah! my dear father, be good! be humane! Take this voting pebble and rush with your eyes closed to that second urn and, father, acquit him. PHILOCLEON No, I know no more how to acquit than to play the lyre. BDELYCLEON Come quickly, I will show you the way. (lJ e takes his father by the hand and leads him to the second urn.) PUILOCLEON 1s this the first urn?
BDELYCLEON Yes.
l'lIlLOC'LEON (drOPPing in his vote) Then I have voted. BDELYCLEON (aside) 1 have fooled him and he has acquittecl in spite of himself. (To PHlLOCLEON) Come, I will turn out the urns. PIIILOCLEON What is the result? BDELYCLEON We shall see. (II e examines both urns.) Labes, you stand acquitted. (PHlLOCLEON faints) Eh! father, what's the matter, what is it? (To ~laves) Water! water! (To PmLocLEoN) Pull yourself together, sir!
The Wasps PHILOCLlcON (wrakly) Tell me! Is he reany acquitted? BDELYCLEON Yes, certainly. PHILOCLEON (falling back) Then it's all over with me! BDELYCLEON Cou:age, dear father, don't let this afflict you so terribly. PHILOCLEON (d,)lcjuUy) And so I have charged my conscience with the acquittal of an accused being! What will become of me? Sacred gods! forgive me. I did it despite myself; it is not in my character. BDELYCLEON Do not vex yourself, father; T wiII feed you wen, will take you everywhere to eat and drink with me; you shall go to every feast; henceforth your life shall be nothing but pleasure, and Hyperbolus shan no longer have you for a tool. But come, let us go in. PHILOCLEON (rcsignrdly) So be it; if you w11I, let us go in. (Tltcv all go into the house.)
LEADER OF THE CHORUS Go where it pleases you and may your happiness be great. (The CHORUS turns and jaus the audirncc.) You meanwhile, oh! countless myriads, listen to the sound counsels I am going to give you and take care they are not lost upon you. That would be the fate of vulgar spectators, not that of such an audience. Hence, people, lend me your ear, if you love frank speaking. The poet has a reproach to make against his audience; he says you have ill-treated him in return for the many services he has rendered you. At first he kept himself in the background and lent help secretly to other poets, and like the prophetic Genius, who hid himself in the belly of Euryc1es, slipped within the spirit of another and whispered to him many a comic hit. Later he ran the risks of the theatre on his own account, with his face uncovered, and dared to guide his Muse unaided. Though overladen with success and honours more than any of your ports, indeed despite all his glory, he does not Yft believe he has attained his ;.:,')al; his heart is not swollen with pride and he does not seck to seduce the young folk in the wrestling school. If any lover runs up to him to cwnplain be-
Aristophanes
[1026-1°77]
cause he is furious at seeing the object of his passion derideu on the stage, he takes no heed of such reproaches, for he is inspired only with honest motives and his Muse is no pander. From the very outset of his dramatic career he has disdained to assail those who were men, but with a courage worthy of Heracles himself he attacked the 1110St formidable monsters, and at the beginning went straight for that beast with the sharp teeth, with the terrible eycs that flashed lambent fire like those of Cynna, surrounded by a hundred lewd flatterers who spittle-licked him to his heart's content; he had a voice like a roaring torrent, the stench of a seal, the unwashed balls of a Lamia, and the arse of a camel. Our poet did not tremble at the sight of this horrible monster, nor did he dream of gaining him over; and again this very day he is fighting for your good. Last year besides, hc attacked those pale, shivering and feverish beings who strangled your fathers in the dark, throttled your grandfathers, and who, lying in the beds of the most inoffensive, piled up against them lawsuits, summonses and witnesses to such an extent, that many of them flew in terror to the l'olemarch for refuge. Such is the champion you have found to purify your country of all its evil, and last year you betrayed him, when he soweu the most novel ideas, which, however, did not strike root, because you did not understand their value; notwithstanding this, he swears by Bacchus, the while offering him libations, that none ever heard better comic verses. It is a disgrace to you not to have caught their drift at once; as for the poet, he is none the less appreciated by the enlightened judges. He shivered his oars in rushing boldly forward to board his foe. (With increasing excitemelll) But in future, my dear fellow-citizens, love and honour more those of your poets who seek to imagine and express some new thought. Make their ideas your own, keep them in your caskets like sweet-scented fruit. If you do, your clothing will emit an odour of wisdom the whole year through. FIRST SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Ah, once long ago we were brave in the dance, brave too in battle, and on this account alone the most courageous of men! That was formerly, was formerly; all that is gone now and these hairs of ours are whiter than the swan. But from what is left we must rekindle a youthful ardour; really we prefer our old age to the curly hair and the fine clothes and the effeminacy of many of the young. LEADbR OF TilE FIRST SEMI-CHORUS
Should any among you spectators look upon me with wonder, because of this wasp waist, or not know the meaning of this sting, I will soon dispel his ignorance. We, who wear this appendage, are the true Attic men, who alone are noble and native to the soil, the bravest of all people. We
[ I0 77- II2 4]
The Wasps
are the ones who, weapon in hand, did so much for the country, when the barbarian shed torrents of fire and smoke over our city in his relentless desire to seize our nests by force. At once we ran up, armed with lance and buckler, and, drunk with the bitter wine of anger, we gave them battle, man standing to man and rage distorting our lips. A hail of arrows hid the sky. However, by the help of the gods, we drove off the foe towards evening. Before the battle an owl had flown over our army. Then we pursued them with our lance-point in their loins as one hunts the tunny-fish; they fled and we stung them in the jaw and in the eyes, so that even now the barbarians tell each other that there is nothing in the world more to be feared than the Attic wasp. SECOND SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Oh! at that time I was terrible, I feared nothing; forth on my galleys I went in search of my foe and subjected him. Then we never thought of rounding fine phrases, we never dreamt of calumny; it was who should prove the strongest rower. And thus we took many a town from the Mrdes, and 'tis to us that Athens owes the tributes that our young men thieve to-day. LEADER OF TIlE SECOND SEMI-CUORUS
Look well at us, and you wiII see that we have all the character and habits of the wasp. Firstly, if roused, no beings are more irascible, more relentless than we are. In all other things, too, we act like wasps. We collect in swarms, in a kind of nests, and some go judging with the Archon, some with the Eleven, others at the Odeon; there are yet others, who hardly move at all, like the grubs in the cells, but remain glued to the walls, and bent double to the ground. We also pay full attention to the discovery of all sorts of mrans of existing and sting the first who comes, so as to live at his expense. Finally, we have among us drones, who have lIO sting and who, without giving themselves the least trouble, seize on our revenues as they flow past them and devour them. It's this that grieves us most of all, to see men who have never served or held either lance or oar in defence of their country, enriching themselves at our expense without ever raising a blister on their hands. In short, I give it as my deliberate opinion that in future every citizen not possessed of a sting shall not receive the triobolus. (PHILOCLEON comes out of tit,. housr, follo'U·rd by his SOli and a slave. The CHORUS turns to fare them.) PHILOCLEON
As long as I live, I will never give up this cloak; it's the one I wore in that battle when Boreas delivered us from such fierce attacks.
Aristophanes
[ 112 5- 11 43]
BDELYCLEON
You do not know what is good for you. PHILOCLEON
Ah! I do not know how to use fine clothing! The other day, when cramming myself with fried fish, I dropped so many grease spots that I had to pay three obols to the cleaner. BDELYCLEON
At least have a try, since you have once for all handed the care for your well-being ovrr to me. PUILOCLEON
Very well then! what must I do? BDELYCLEON
Take off your cloak, and put on this tunic in its stead. PHILOCLEON
Was it worth while to beget and bring up children, so that thb should now wish to choke me?
OEC
BDELYCLEON
Come, take this tunic and put it on without so much talk. PHILOCLEON
Great gods! what sort of a cursed garment is this? BDELYCLEON
Some call it a pelisse, others a Persian cloak. PHILOCLEON
Ah! I thought it was a wrap rascal like those made at Thymaetis. BDELYCLEON
No wonder. It's only at Sardis you could have seen them, and you haye never been there. PHILOCLEON
Of course not, but it seems to me exactly like the mantle Morychus sports. BDELYCLEON
Not at all; I tell you they are woven at Ecbatana. PHILOCLEON
What! are there woollen ox-guts
10
then at Ecbatana?
[1144-1161 ]
The Wasps BDELYCLEON
Whatever are you talking about? These are wuven by the barbarians at great cost. I am certain this pelisse has consumed more th:m a talent of wool. PHILOCLEON
It should be called wool-waster then instead of pelisse. BDELYCLEON
Come, father, just hold still for a moment and put it on. PlIILOCLEON
Oh! horrors! what a waft of heat the hussy sends up my
n()~e!
BDELYCLEON
Will you have done with this fooling? PHILOCLEON
No by Zeus. BDELYCLEON
But, good sir, PUILOCLEON
If need be, I prefer you should put me in the oven. BDELYCLEON
Come, I will put it round you. There! 1'1lILOCLEON
At all events, bring out a crook. llDELYCLEON
Why, whatever for? PHILOCLEON
To dr:lg me out of it before I am quite melted. BDELYCLEON
Now take off those wretched clogs and put on these nice Laconian slippers. PIIILOCLEON
I put on odious slippers made by our foes! Never! BDELYCLEON
Come! put your foot in and push hard. Quick!
Aristophancs PHILOCI.EON
You're doing wrong here. You want me to put my foot on Laconian ground. BDELY(,LEON
Now the other. PHILOCLEON
Ah! no, not that foot; one of its toes holds the Laconians in horror. BDELYCLEON
Positively you must. PHILOCLEON
Alas! alas! Thrn I shall have no chilblains in myoId age. BDELYCLEON
Now, hurry up and get them on; and now imitate the easy effeminate gait of the rich. See, like this.
(II r takes a trw steps.) PHILOCLEON (trying to do likcwisr) There! . . . Look at my get-up and tell me which rich man I most resemble in my walk. BDELYCT.EON
Why, you look like a garlic plaster on a boil. PIULOCLEON
Ah! I am longing to swagger and sway my arsr about. BDELYCLEON
Now, will you know how to talk gravely with well-infurl11rd men of good class? PHILOCLEON
Undoubtedly. BDELYCLEON
What will you say to them? PHILOCLEON
Oh, lots of things. First of all I shall say, that Lamia, seeing herself caught, let flee a fart; then, that Cardopion and his mother . . .
[1179- 1204]
The Wasps BDELYCLEON
Come, no fabulous tales, pray! talk of realities, of domestic facts, as is usually done. PHILOCLEON
Ah! I know something that is indeed most domestic. Once upon a time there was a rat and a cat . . . BDELYCLEON
"Oh, you ignorant fool," as Theagenes said to the dung-gatherer in a rage. Are you going to talk of cats and rats among high-class people? PIIILOCLEON
Then what should I talk about? BDELYCLEON
Tell some dignified story. Relate how you were sent on a solemn mbsion with Androcles and Clisthenes. PHILO('LEON
On a mission! never in my life, except once to Paros, a job which brought me in two obols a day.17 BDELYCLEON
At least say, that you have just seen Ephudion doing well in the pancratium with Ascondas and, that despite his age ancl his white hair, he is still robust in loin and arm and tlank and that his chest is a very breastplate. PHILOCLEON
Stop! stop! what nonsense! Who ever conlc~lcu at the pane rat iUI11 wilh a breast-plate on? Bm:LYCLEON
That is how well-behavrd folk like to talk. But another thing. When at wine, it would be fitting to relate some good story of your youthful days. What is your 1110st brilliant frat? I'IIILOCLEON
My best feat? Ah! when I stole Ergasion's vinc-props. BDELYCLEON
You and your vine-props! you'll be the death of me! Tell of one of your boar-hunts or of when you coursed the hare. Talk about some torch-race you were in; tell of some deed of daring.
Aristophancs
[12°5- 122 3]
PHILOCLEON
Ah! my most daring deed was when, quite a young man still, I prosecuted Phayllus, the runner, for dcbm;:tion, and he was condemned by a majority of two votes. BDELYCLEON
Enough of that! Now recline there, and practise the bearing that is fitting at table in society. PHILOCLEON
How must I recline? Tell me quick! BDELYCLEON
In an elegant style. PHILOCLEON
(lying on the ground)
Like this? BDELYCLEON
Not at all. PHILOCLEON
How then? BDELYCLEON
Spread your knees on the tapestries and give your body the most easy curves, like those taught in the gymnasium. Then praise some bronze vase, survey the ceiling, admire the awning stretched over the court. Water is poured over our hands; the tables are spread; we sup and, after ablution, we now offer libations to the gods. PUILOCLEON
But, by Zeus! this supper is but a dream, it appears! BDELYCLEON
The flute-player has finished the prelude. The guests are Theorus, Aeschines, Phanus, Cleon, Acestor; and beside this last, I don't know who else. You are with them. Shall you know exactly how to take up the songs that are started? PHILOCLEON
Quite well. BDELYCLEON
Really?
[ 122 3- 12 55]
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
Better than any born mountaineer of Attica. BDELYCLEON
That we shall see. Suppose me to be Cleon. I am the first to begin the song of Harmodius, and you take it up: "There never yet was seen in Athens . . . PHILOCLEON
such a rogue or such a thief."
1H
BDELYCLEON
Why, you wretched man, it will be the end of you if you sing that. He will vow your ruin, your destruction, to chase you out of the country. PHILOCLEON
Well! then I shall answer his threats with another song: "With your madne3s for supreme power, you will end by overthrowing the city, which even now totters towards ruin." BDELYCLEON
And when Theorus, prone at Cleon's feet, takes his hand and sings, "Like Admetus, love those who are brave," what reply will you make him? PUILOCLEON
I shall sing, "1 know not how to play the fox, nor call myself the friend of both parties." BDELYCLEON
Then comes the turn of Aeschines, the son of Scllus, and a well-trained and clever musician, who will sing, "Good things and riches for Clitagora and me and eke for the Thessalians!" PHILOCLEON
"The two of us have squandered a great deal between us." BDELYCLEON
At this game you seem at home. But come, we will go and dine with Philoctemon.-Slave! slave! place our dinner in a basket; we are going out for a good long drinking bout. PHILOCLEON
By no means, it is too dangerous; for after drinking, one breaks in doors, one comes to blows, one batters everything. Anon, when the wine is slept off, one is forced to pay.
Aristophanes BDELYCLEON
Not if you are with decent people. Either they undertake to appease the offended person or, better still, you say something witty, you tell some comic story, perhaps one of those you have yourself heard at table, either in Aesop's style or in that of Sybaris; everyone laughs and the trouble is ended. PUILOCLEON
Faith! it's worth while learning many stories then, if you are thus not punished for the iII you do. But come, no more delay! (They go out.) CHORUS (singing) More than once have I given proof of cunning and never of stupidity, but how much more clever is Amynias, the son of Sellus and of the race of forelock-wearers; him we saw one day coming to dine with Leogaras, bringing as his share one apple and a pomegranate, and bear in mind he was as hungry as Antiphon. He went on an embassy to Pharsalus, and there he lived solely among the Thessalian mercenaries; indeed, is he not the vilest of mercenaries himself? LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Oh! blessed, oh! fortunate Automenes, how enviable is your fortune! You have three sons, the most industrious in the world; one is the friend of all, a very able man, the first among the lyre-players, the favourite of the Graces. The second is an actor, and his talent is beyond all praise. As for Ariphrades, he is by far the most gifted; his father would swear to me, that without any master whatever and solely through the spontaneous effort of his happy nature, he taught himself to exercise his tongue in the whorehouses, where he spends the whole of his time. Some have said that I and Cleon were reconciled. This is the truth of the matter: Cleon was harassing me, persecuting and belabouring me in every way; and, when I was being fleeced, the public laughed at seeing me uttering such loud cries; not that they cared about me, but simply curious to know whether, when trodden down by my enemy, I would not hurl at him some taunt. Noticing this, I have played the wheedler a bit; but now, look! the prop is deceiving the vine! (XANTHIAS enters, weeping and wailing and rubbing his sides.) XANTHIAS
Oh! tortoises! happy to have so hard a skin! Oh! creatures full of sense! what a happy thought to cover your bodies with this shell, which shields it from blows! As for me, I can no longer move; the stick has so belaboured my body.
The Wasps LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Why, what's the matter, my child? for, old a~ he may be, one has the right to call anyone a child who has let himself oe be'aten. XANTHIAS
Alas! my master is really the worst of all plagues. He was the most drunk of all the guests, and yet among them were Hippyllus, Antiphon, Lycon, Lysistratus, Theophrastus and Phrynichus. But he was a hundred times more insolent than any. As soon as he had stuffed himself with a host of good dishes, he began to leap and spring, to laugh and to fart like a little ass well stuffed with barley. Then he set to beating me with all his heart, shouting, "Slave! slave!" Lysistratus, as soon as he saw him, let fly this comparison at him. "Old fellow," said he, "you resemble one of the scum assuming the airs of a rich man or a stupid ass that has broken loose from its stable." "As for you," bawled the other at the top of his voice, "you are like a grasshopper, whose cloak is worn to the thread, or like Sthenelus after his clothes had been sold." All applauded excepting Theophrastus, who made a grimace as behoved a well-bred man like him. The old man called to him, "Hi! tell me then what you have to be proud of? Not so much mouthing, you, who so well know how to play the buffoon and to lick-spittle the rich!" In this way he insulted each in turn with the grossest of jests, and he reeled off a thousand of the most absurd and ridiculous speeches. At last, when he was thoroughly drunk, he started towards here, striking everyone he met. Wait, here he comes reeling along. I will be off for fear of his blows. (PHILOCLEON enters, inebriated alld hilarious, carrying a torch; his other hand is occupied with a wholly nude flute-girl; he is jollowed by a group oj angry victims oj his exuberance.) PHILOCLEON (singing) Halt! and let everyone begone, or I shall do an evil turn to some of those who insist on following me. Clear off, rascals, or I shall roast you with this torch! GUEST
We shall all make you smart to-morrow for your youthful pranks. We shall come in a body to summon you to justice. PIIILOCLEON (singing) Ho! hoI summon me? what old women's babble! Know that I can no longer bear to hear even the name of suits. Ha! hal hal tltis is what pleases me, "Down with the urns!" Get out of here! Down with the dicasts! away with them, away with them! (Dropping into speech; to the flute-girl)
Aristophanes
[134 1- 1373]
Mount up there, my little gilded cock-chafer; take hold of this rope's end in your hand. Hold it tight, but have a care; the rope's a bit old and worn. But even though it's worn, it still has its virtues. Do you see how opportunely I got you away from the solicitations of those fellators, who wanted you to make love to them in their own odd way? You therefore owe me this return to gratify me. But will you pay the debt? Oh! I know well you will not even try; you will play with me, you will laugh heartily at me as you have done at many another man. And yet, if you would not be a naughty girl, I would redeem you, when my son is dead, and you should be my concubine, my little one. At present I am not my own master; I am very young and am watched very closely. My dear son never lets me out of his sight; he's an unbearable creature, who would quarter a thread and skin a flint; he is afraid I should get lost, for I am his only father. But here he comes running towards us. But be quick, don't stir, hold these torches. I am going to play him a young man's trick, the same as he played me before I was initiated into the mysteries. BOELYCLEON
Oh I oh! you debauched old dotard! you are amorous, it seems, of pretty baggages; but, by Apollo, it shall not be with impunity! PHlLOCLEON
Ah! you would be very glad to eat a lawsuit in vinegar, you would. BOELYCLEON
Only a rascal would steal the flute-girl away from the other guests. PHILOCLEON
What flute-girl? Are you distraught, as if you had just returned from Pluto? BOELYCLEON
By Zeus! But here is the Dardanian wench in person. PHILOCLEON
Nonsense. This is a torch that 1 have lit in the public SCjuare in honour of the gods. BDELYCLEON
Js this a torch? PHILOCLEON
A torch? Certainly. Do you not see it is of several different colours?
[1374- 1 395]
The Wasps
655
BOELYCLEON
And what is that black part in the middle? PHILOCLEON
That's the pitch running out while it burns. BDELYCLEON
And there, on the other side, surely that is a girl's boltom? PHILOCLEON
No. That's just a small bit of the torch, that projects. BOELYCLEON
What do you mean? what bit? Hi! you woman! come here! PHILOCLEON
Oh! What do you want to do? BOELYCLEON
To take her away from you and lead her off. You are too much worn out and can do nothing. (H e takes the girl into the house.) PHILOCLEON
Listen to me! One day, at Olympia, I saw Euphudion boxing bravely against Ascondas; he was already aged, and yet with a blow from his fIst he knocked down his young opponent. So watch out that I don't blacken your eyes. BOELYCLEON (who has returned) By Zeus! you have Olympia at your finger-ends! (A BAKER'S WIFE enters with an empty basket; she brings with her as witness.)
CHAEREPHON
BAKER'S WIFE (to CllAEREPHON) Come to my help, I beg you, in the name of the gods! This cursed man, when striking out right and left with his torch, knocked over ten loaves worth an obolus apiece, and then, to cap the deal, four others. BOELYCLEON
Do you see what lawsuits you are drawing upon yourself with your drunkenness? You will have to plead. PHILOCLEON
Oh, no, no! a little pretty talk and pleasant tales will soon settle the matter and reconcile her with me.
Aristophanes BAKER'S WIFE
Not so, by the goddesses twain! It shall not be said that you have with impunity spoilt the wares of Myrtia, the daughter of Ancylion and Sostratc. PHILOCLEON
Listen, woman, I wish to tell you a lovely anecdote. BAKER'S WIFE
By Zeus, no anecdotes for me, thank you. PHILOCLEON
One night Aesop was going out to supper. A drunken bitch had the impudence to bark near him. Aesop said to her, "Oh, bitch, bitch! you would do well to sell your wicked tongue and buy some wheat." BAKER'S \VIFE
You make a mock of me! Very well! I don't care who you are, T shall summons you before the market inspectors for damage done to my business. Chaerephon here shall be my witness. PHILOCLEON
But just listen, here's another will perhaps please you better. Lasus and Simonides were contesting against each other for the singing prize. Lasus said, "Damned if I care." BAKER'S WU'E
Ah! really, did he now! PUILOCLEON
As for you, Chaerephon, can you be witness to this woman, who looks as pale and tragic as Ino when she throws herself from her rock . . . at the feet of Euripides? (The
BAKER'S "rIFE
and
CIIAEREPHON
depart.)
BDELYCLEON
Here, I suppose, comes another to summons you; he has his witness too. Ah! unhappy indeed we are! (A badly bruised man enters.) ACCUSER
I summons you, old man, for outrage. BOELYCLEON
For outrage? Oh! in the name of the gods, do not summons him! I will be answerable for him; name the price and I will be more more grateful still.
[14 21 - 1 445]
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
J ask for nothing better than to be reconciled with him; for J admit I struck him and threw stones at him. So, first come here. Will you leave it in my hands to name the indemnity J must pay, if I promise you my friendship as well, or will you fix it yourself? AC('U~EI{
Fix it; I like neither lawsuits nor disputes. PHILOCLEON
A man of Sybaris fell from his chariot and wounded his head most severely; he was a very poor driver. One of his friends came up to him and !:>aid, "Every man to his trade." Well then, go you to Pittalus to get mended. BOELYCLEON
You are incorrigible. ACCUSER (to his witness) At all events, make a note of his reply. (They start to lrave.) PIlILOCLEON
Listen, instead of going off so abruptly. A woman at Sybaris broke a box. ACCUSER (to his witness) I again ask you to witness this. PHILOCLEON
The box therefore had the fact attested, but the woman said, "Never worry about witnessing the matter, but hurry off to buy a cord to tie it together with; that will be the more sensible course." ACCUSER
Oh! go on with your ribaldry until the Archon calls the case. (He and his witn/'ss depart.) BOELYCLEON (to PHILOCLEON) By Demeter! you'll stay here no longer! J am going to take you and carry you off. PUILOCLEON
And what for? BDELYCLEON
What for? I am going to carry you into the house, so that the accusers will not run out of witnesses.
Aristophancs PIIILOCLEON One day at Delphi, Aesop BDELYCLEON
I don't care a fig for that. PHILOCLEON . . . was accused of having stolen a sacred vase. But he replied, that the horn-beetle . . . BDELYCLEON Oh, dear, dear! You'll drive me crazy with your horn-beetle. (PIIILOCLEON goes on with his fable while BDELYCLEON is carrying him () if the scene by main force.) CHORUS (singing) . 1 envy you your happiness, old man. What a contrast to his former frugal habits and his very hard life! Taught now in quite another school, he will know nothing but the pleasures of ease. Perhaps he will jibe at it, for indeed it is difficult to renounce what has become one's second nature. However, many have done it, and adopting the ideas of others, have changed their use and wont. As for l'hiloclean's son, I, like all wise and judicious men, cannot sufficiently praise his filial tenderness and his tact. Never have I met a more amiable nature, and I have conceived the greatest fondness for him. How he triumphed on every point in his discussion with his father, when he wanted to bring him back to more worthy and honourable tastes! XANTHIAS (coming ()ut of the house) By Bacchus! Some Evil Genius has brought this unbearable disorder into our house. The old man, full up with wine and excited by the sound of the Ilute, is so delighted, so enraptured, that he is spending the night executing the old dances that Thespis first produced on the stage, and just now he offered to prove to the modern tragedians, by disputing with them for the dancing prize, that they are nothing but a lot of old dotards. (llDELYCLEON ((}11II'S
Ollt of the house 'with his father who is costumed as
POLYPHEMUS in Euripides' Cyclops.) PIIILOCLEON "Who loiters at the door of the vestibule?" XANTHIAS Here comes our pest, our plague!
The Wasps PHILOCLEON
Let down the barriers. The cbnce is now to hegin. (lIe begins to dance in a manner grotcsqurfy parodying that oj Euripides.) XANTHIAS
Or rather the madness. PHILOCLEON
Impetuous movement already twists am! racks my sides. How my nostrils wheeze! how my back cracks! XANTHIAS
Go and fIll yourself with hellebore. PlIlLOCLEON
l'hrynichus i:-, ,is bold as a cock and terrifies his rivals. XANTHIAS
He'Il be stoned. PUILOC'LEON
His leg kicks out sky-high XANTHIAS
and his arse gapes open. PIIILOCLEON
Mind your own business. Look how easily my leg-joints move. Isn't that good? XANTHIAS
God, no, it's merely insane! PHIl,OCLEON
And now I summon and challenge my rivals. If there be a tragic poet who pretends to be a skilful dancer, let him come and contest the matter with me. Is there one? Is there not one? XANTHIAS
Here comes one, and one only. (A very s111all dancer, costumed as a crab, enters.) PHILOCLEON
Who is the wretch? XANTHIAS
The younger son of Carcinus.
Aristophanes
660
[15°2- 1534]
PHILOCLEON
I will crush him to nothing; in point of keeping time, I will knock him out, for he knows nothing of rhythm. XANTHIAS
Ah! ah! here comes his brother too, another tragedian, and another son of Carcinus. (,lnother dancer, hardly larger than the first, and similarly costum(,d, enters.) PHILOCLEON
Him I will devour for my dinner. XANTHIAS
Oh! ye gods! I sec nothing but crabs. Here is yet another son of Carcinus. (A third danc('r enters, likewise rcsembling a crab, bllt mwller than either oj the others.) PHILOCLEON
What's this? A shrimp or a spider? XANTHIAS
It's a crab,-a hermit-crab, the smallest of its kind; it writes tragedies. PllILOCLEON
Oh! Carcinus, how proud you should be of your brood! What a crowd of kinglets have come swooping down here! But we shall have to measure ourselves against them. Have marinade prepared for seasoning them, in case I prove the victor. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Let us stand out of the way a little, so that they may twirl at their ease. CHORUS
(It divides in two and accompanies with its song the wild dancing of PIlILOCLEON and the sons oj CARCINUS in the centre oj the Orrhcs/1'(1. )
Come, illustrious children of this inhabitant of the brine, brothers of the shrimps, skip on the sand and the shore of the barren sea; show us the lightning whirls and twirls of your nimble limbs. Glorious offspring of Phrynichus, let fly your kicks, so that the spectators may be overjoyed at seeing your legs so high in air. Twist, twirl, tap your bellies, kick your legs to the sky. Here comes your famous father, the ruler of the sea, delighted to see his three lecherous kingletsY Go on
[1535- 1537]
The Wasps
661
with your dancing, if it pleases you, but as for us, we shall not join you. Lead us promptly off the stage, for never a comedy yet was seen where the Chorus finished off with a dance.
NOTES }'OR THE WASPS
The reference is to Cleon; see the Glossary. A pun on the Greek words dhaos, "people" and dcm6s, "faL" Aristophanes has used this before; see note 13 on The Knights. 3. "Going to the crows" was the ancient way of "going to Hell." 4. The implication is that certain other poets had sought to gain the favour of the audience by incorporating in their comedies scenes in which such distributions were made. 5. The poet has consoled himself by ascribing the failure of The Clouds the yrar before to the stupidity of t he spectators, and there is no reason to doubt that there was much in that comedy which baftled or eluded the vulgar comprehension; but the principal defects of the play cannot correctly be placed in this category, nor can its failure be plausibly deduced from this cause. 6. One of the methods by which a juryman signifIed the vote for condemnation was the tracing of a line horizontally across a waxed tablet; the other involved the use of a pebble, which was dropped in one or the other of two urns, that of conviction or that of acquittal. 7. The wood of the fig-tree, when burned, gives off the mo;,t acrid smoke, and thus is eminently suited to the proud sourness of Philocleon's temper. 8. "To quarrel over the shade of an ass" meant to dispute about next to nothing. The ancients explained the origin of this idiom by an aetiological tale of a traveller who had hired an a~c; and, being observed by the owner resting in the shade which the anim:d GlSl, was sued by that imaginative and avaricious individual on the ground that it had been the ass and not its shade that the traveller had hired. 9. The goddess here invoked is Artemis. 10. "The crackling of fig-leaves in the fIre" meant much ado ahout nothing. I I. "The parley and the rue" signifIed the mere beginnings of anyt hing. 12. The name Hippias contains the stem of the Greek wmd for horse (hippos). This remark and those of Bdelycleon in the preceding sperch suggest that the word tyranny was in Aristophanes' day used as frequently and as loosely as fascism and communism are today. I.
2.
662
N otcs for the Wasps 13. A pun on the Greek word choiros, which means both "sow" and "female genitalia." Aristophanes hac! made extensive use of this ambiguous word in one of the best scenes in The Acharnians (765-817). 14. Those in the ancient world who were too poor to afford a purse were wont to carry small coins in their mouths. 15. When the jurymen had been deeply moved by the pleading of the accused and had decided on acquit tal, they commanded him to descend from the rostrum; apparently this was by no means an infallible indication of acquittal, and the accused had the right to finish his speech. 16. Philocleon is comparing the thick and shaggy cloth of the pelisse to the intestines of an ox, which have a crinkly appearance. 17. The mention of the salary gives away the fact that it was merely as a common soldier that Philocleon had been sent to Paros. 18. In all three cases where Philocleon finishes the line he adds something unpleasantly appropriate to the guest who is supposed to have led off the song. I9. A pun on the Greek words triarchoi, "three kings" and triorchoi, "having three testicles," i.e., endowed with 5ojl,) more sexuality than normal.
V PEACE
CHARACTERS
IN
THE
PLAY
TRYGAEUS
Two
SERVANTS OF TRYGAEUS
DAUGHTERS Of' TRYGAEUS HERMES WAR TUMULT HIEROCLES, a Soothsayer AN ARMOURER A SICKLlc-MAKr:R
A
CREST-MAK]cll
SON OF LAMACHUS SON OF CLEONYMUS CHORUS OF HUSBANDMEN
INTRODUCTION
AT THE Great Dionysia of 42 I Aristophanes ushered in the best period of his extant work with Peace, which won the second prize, the first going to The Flatterers of Eupolis. The verdict of the audience, if just, is to be construed entirely as testimony to the superlative excellence of the older dramatist's production, and in no sense as a slur on what is very nearly the most delightful of the eleven comedies of Aristophanes that have come down to us. The play exhibits signs of having been hastily composed, but the infectious gaiety and spontaneous warmth with which it is so liberally endowed are attributable less to an impromptu composition than to the sentiments which the events and the hopes of the time had inspired in the poet's heart. The war of the Athenians with the Peloponnesians had begun as long ago as 43 I, and a decade of fighting had sorely afflicted the inhabitants of the rural districts of Attica. The frequent invasions of the Lacedremonians had compelled them to relinquish their ancestral farms and their beloved rustic life and to find such habitation as they could in the congested city, from whose walls they might tearfully observe the destruction of their houses and the devastation of their fIelds. But a powerful Peace Party, which they and their urban sympathizers might have organized, was forestalled of its effectiveness by the chicanery of the demagogues and the success of the navy. The repeated proposals of Sparta for a cessation of hostilities were haughtily rejected, and it was only in 422, when Athens had experienced two years of military reverses and Cleon had been killed in battle, that a definitely paciflstic policy was actively adopted. Sparta likewise, in spite of her recent successes, was known to be just as weary of the war as her opponent, and there was thus, in the early months of 42 I, every reason to anticipate a favourable issue of the negotiations that had been opened in the latter part of the previous year. The second of the three peace-comedies was thus composed in an atmosphere radically different from that which attended the production of The Aclzarnians four years earlier, and the two plays show little similarity in their emotional colouring. The later comedy has little of satire in it; its 667
Introduction author is too happy for that, and what he has written is at once a hymn of thanksgiving, a dance of joy, and a bright revery of future felicity. The opening of the play presents us with two slaves of Trygaeus, who are breathles~ly kneading cakes of excrement and feeding them to a dungbeetle which their master is keeping in his stable. Like Dicaeopolis in The Acltarnialls, he has despaired of obtaining peace through ordinary legislative channels and has resolved to do something auout it himself, but his sentiments are more panhellenic and his project more fantastic than those of the earlier pacifist, for he has resolved to go to none other than Zeus himself in order to put an end to the war. A previous effort to climb to the divine residence on ladders has netted him nothing more than a broken head, and he now proposes to fly to heaven on the back of his malodorous and economical Pegasus. The journey is negotiated with complete success, and at the door of the palace of Zeus he is rudely accosted by Hermes, from whom, after an easy propitiation, he learns of the disappointing state of affairs which the war has brought about in the celestial regions. The stupidities of the Greeks have utterly exhausted the patience of the gods, and they have moved away, as far away as possible, leaving their mortal subjects to the mercy of War and his slave Tumult. The first act of the new master of Hellenic affairs has been to cast Peace into a deep pit and then to heap numerous stones on her. He has then procured a huge mortar, in which he intends to grind up the cities of Greece into a wretched paste. No sooner has Hermes reported this than the villain himself appears and begins to realize his gruesome intentions; the cities, represented by their most noted products, are one by one tossed into the mortar, but the malignant god lacks a pestle and experiences diffIculties in obtaining one. Both Sparta and Athens have lost theirs; Cleon and Brasidas are dead now. Thus the horrible fate of Greece is momentarily averted and War departs to make his own pestle. Trygaeus, emerging from his hiding-place, realizes that he must liberate Peace immediately or else relinquish all hope of ever seeing her again, and he: therefore summons to his aid a number of labourers and farmers from all parts of Greece. The Chorus now enters, highly and, under the circumstances, perilously elated at the prospect of putting an end to the war. When quiet has fmally been restored and the objections of Hermes have melted away at the promise of future glory and sacrifices, the difficult task of extricating Peace is undertaken, with great enthusiasm and greater inefficiency. The difiiculties are delightfully Hellenic; the Boeotians are only pretending; Lamachus is in the way; the Argives laugh at the others while they profit from their troubles; the Megarians are trying hard, but :~re too undernourished to be of much usp; some of the Greeks are pulIing
Introduction one way and some another; the Laconians do their part, along with the Athenians, but even here it is only the farmers that are doing any real work. Through their exertions Peace is at last hauled out of the pit, along with Opora and Theoria, and Trygaeus starts on his return journey to the earth, taking Opora to his marriage-bed and Theoria to the Senate. The Chorus now delivers the parabasis. The anapests recite Aristophanes' claims to distinction as a comic poet. The ode begs the Muse to bring peace and attacks Carcinus and his sens as tragic poets. The antode extends this attack to others. The parabasis is incomplete, lacking the epirrhemes. Nor are these the only evidences of hurried writing, for in the anapests four lines are used verbatim from the parabasis of The Wasps, and the material generally is not new. More significant is the fact that indications of hasty composition are found nowhere else in the play, which would suggest that the parabases of most of the comedies were written last, after all the rest had been fmished, and were thus regarded by the poet as something separate and independent. At the conclusion of the parabasis Trygaeus comes limping in with Opora and Theoria, and almost immediately sets about preparing to enjoy the peace which he has obtained. Opora is taken into his house to be bathed and dressed for the wedding, Theoria is presented to the Senate, and a gala feast is begun. While Trygaeus and his servant are roasting the meat a belligerent soothsayer appears, mouthing oracles about the impossibility of ending the war (these were sounder prophecies than Aristophanes then realized), and trying by persuasion and by fraud to get a share of the feast. He is followed by a man who has been economically hard pre~sed by the war, a sickle-maker, who gratefully presents Tryg Where is he who called me? Where am I to find him? EpOP5
I have been waiting for you a long while! I never fail in my word to my friends. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Tititititititi. What good news have you for me? Epops
Something that concerns our common safety, and that is just as pleasant as it is to the point. Two men, who are subtle reasoners, have come here to seek me. LEADER
O}.
THE CnoRus
Where? How? What are you saying? EpOP5
I say, two old men have come from the abode of humans to propose a vast and splendid scheme to us. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Oh! it's a horrible, unheard-of crime! What are you saying? Epops
Never let my words scare you.
Aristo phanes LEADER OF THE CHORUS
\rhat have you done to me?
Epops I have welcomed two men, who wish to live with us. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And you have oared to do that!
Epops Yes, and I am delighted at having done so. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And are they already with us?
Epops Just as much as I am. CHORUS (singing) Ah! ah! we are betrayed; 'tis sacrilege! Our friend, he who picked up corn-seeds ill the same plains as ourselves, has violated our ancient laws; he has broken the oaths that bind all birds; he has laid a sna,'e for me, he has handed us over to the at tacks of that impious race which, throughout all time, has never ceased to war against us. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
As for this traitorous hird, we will ol'cide his case later, but the two old men shall be punished forthwith; we are going to tl'ar them to piece:" PITn ET J\ERUS
It's all over with us. EUELPlDES
You are thl' sole cause of all our trouble. Why did you bring me from down yonder? PITHETAERUS
To have you with me. EUELPIDES
Say rather to have me melt into tears. PITIJET AERUS
Go on! you are talking nonsense. How will you weep with your eyes pl'cked out?
The Birds
749
CHORUS (singing)
Io! io! forward to the attack, throw yourselves upon the foe, spill his blood; take to your wings and surround them on all sides. Woe to them! let us get to work with our beaks, let us devour them. Nothing can save them from our wrath, neither the mountain forests, nor the clouds that float in the sky, nor the foaming deep. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Come, peck, tear to ribbons. Where is the chief of the cohort? Let him engage the right wing. (They rush at thl' two Athenians.) EUELPIDES
This is the fatal moment. Where shall I fly to, unfortunate wretch that lam? PITHETAERUS
Wait! Stay here! EUELPIDES
That they may tear me to pieces? PITHETAERUS
And how do you think to escape them? EUELPIDES
I don't know at all. l'ITHETAERUS
Corne, I will tell you. We must stop and fight them. Let selves with these stew-pots. Why with the stew-puts? I'ITHETAERUS
The owl will not attack us then.ll EUELPIDES
But do you see all those hooked claws? PITHETAERUS
Take the spit and pierce the foe un your side. EUELPIDES
And how about my eyes?
ll~
arm our-
75 0
Aristophanes PITHETAERUS
Protect them with this dish or this vinegar-pot. EUELPIDES
Oh I what cleverness! what inventive genius! You are a great general, even greater than Nicias, where stratagem is concerned. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Forward, forward, charge with your beaks! Come, no delay. Tear, pluck, strike, flay them, and first of all smash the stew-pot. Epops (stcppin{{ in front of the CHORUS)
Oh, most cruel of all animals, why tear these two men to pieces, why kill them? What have they done to you? They belong to the same tribe, to the same family as my wife. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Are wolves to be spared? Are they not our most mortal foes? So let us punish them. Epops
If they are your foes by nature, they are your friends in heart, and they come here to give you useful advice. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Advice or a useful word from their lips, from them, the enemies of my forebears? Epops
The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution is the mother of safety. It is just such a thing as one will not learn from a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, it's the foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high walls, to equip long vessels of war; and it's this knowledge that protects our children, our slaves and our wealth. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Well then, I agree, let us fIrst hear them, for that is best; one can even Jearn something in an enemy's school. l'ITHETAERUS (to EUELPIDES) Their wrath seems to cool. Draw back a little. Epops
It's only justice, and you will thank me later.
The Birds
75 I
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Never have we opposed your advice up to now. PITHETAERUS
They are in a more peaceful mood; put down your stew-pot and your two dishes; spit in hand, doing duty for a spear, let us mount guard inside the camp close to the pot and watch in our arsenal closely; for we must not fly. EUELPIDES
You are right. But where shall we be buried, if we die? PITHETAERUS
In the Ceramicus; for, to get a public funeral, we shall tell the Strategi that we fell at Orneae, fighting the country's foes. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Return to your ranks and lay down your courage beside your wrath as the hoplites do. Then let us ask these men who they are, whence they come, and with what intent. Here, Epops, answer me. Epops Are you calling me? What do you want of me? LEADER OF THE CnoRus
Who are they? From what country? Epops Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And what fate has led them hither to the land of the birds? Epops Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; to dwell and remain with you always. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Indeed, and what are their plans? Epops They are wonderful, Incredible, unheard of. LEADER OF TIlE CHORUS
Whv do thev think to see some advantage that determines them to settle h~re? Ar~ they hoping with our help to triumph over their foes or to be useful to their friends?
75 2
Aristophancs
Epops They speak of benefIts so great it is impossible either to describe or conceive them; all shall be yours, all that we see here, there, above and below us; this they vouch for.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS Are they mad? Epops They are the sanest people in the world.
LEADER
OF
THE CHORUS
Clever men? Epops The slyest of foxes, cleverness its very self, men of the world, cunning, the cream of knowing foIlc
LEADER OF THE CHORUS Tell them to speak and speak quickly; why, as I listen to you, I am beside myself with delight. Epops (to two attendants) Here, you there, take all these weapons and hang them up inside close to the fire, near the fIgure of the god who presides there and under his protection; (to PITIJETAERUS) as for you, address the birds, tell them why I have gathered them together.
PITHETAERUS Not I, by Apollo, unless they agree with me as the little ape of an armourer agreed with his wife, not to bite me, nor pull me by the balls: nor shove things into my . . . EUELPIDES (bending over and pointing his finger at his anus) Do you mean this? PITIIETAERUS No, I mean my eyes. LEADER OF THE CHORUS Agreed. PITHETAERUS Swear it.
[445-47 0 ]
The Birds
753
LEADER OF THE CHORlTS I swear it and, if I keep my promise, let judges and spectators give me the victory unanimously. PITHETAERUS It is a bargain.
LEADER OF THE CnoRUS And if I break my word, may I succeed by one vote only. Epops (as HERALD) Hearken, ye people! Hoplites, pick up your weapons and return to your firesides; do not fail to read the decrees of dismissal we have posted. CHORUS (singing) Man is a truly cunning creature, hut nevertheless explain. Perhaps you arc going to show me some good way to extend my power, some way that 1 have not had the wit to find out and which you havr discovered. Speak! 'tis to your own interest as well as to mine, for if you secure me some advantage, I will surely share it with you. I~EADER OF THE CHORUS But what object can have induced you to come among us? Speak boldly, for I shall not break the truce,-unlil you have told us all.
PITHETAERUS I am bursting with desire to sp('ak; I have already mixed the dough of my address and nothing prevents me from knpading it. . . . Sla\,pl bring the chaplet and water, which you mllst pour over my hands. Be quick!12 EUELl'IDES Is it a question of feasting? What does it all mean? PI1IIETAERUS By Zeus, no! but I am hunting for fine, tasty words to break down the hardness of their hearts. (To the CHORUS) I grieve so much for yon, who at one time were kings . . . LEADER We kings? Over whom?
OF THE
CnORUS
PITHETAERUS . . . of all that exists, firstly of me and of this man, even of Zeus himself. Your race is older than Saturn, the Titans and the Earth.
754
Aristophanes LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What, older than the Earth! PITlIETAERUS
By Phoebus, yes. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
By Zeus, but I never knew that before! PITHETAERUS
That's because you are ignorant and heedless, and have never read your Aesop. He is the one who tells us that the lark was born before all other creatures, indeed before the Earth; his father died of sickness, but the Earth did not exist then; he remained unburied for five days, when the bird in its dilemma decided, for want of a better place, to entomb its father in its own head. EUELPIDES
So that the lark's father is buried at Cephalae. PITHETAERUS
Hence, if they existed before the Earth, before the gods, the kingship belongs to them by right of priority. EUELPIDES
Undoubtedly, but sharpen your beak well; Zeus won't be in a hurry to hand over his sceptre to the woodpecker. PITHETAERUS
It was not the gods, but the birds, who were formerly the masters and kings over men; of this I have a thousand proofs. First of all, I will point you to the cock, who governed the Persians before all other monarchs, before Darius and Megabazus. It's in memory of his reign that he is called the Persian bird. EUELPIDES
For this reason also, even to-day, he alone of all the birds wears his tiara straight on his head, like the Great King. PITHETAERUS
He was so strong, so great, so feared, that even now, on account of his ancient power, everyone jumps out of ben as soon as ever he crows at daybreak. Blacksmiths, potters, tanners, shoemakers, bat hmen, cornc1ealers, lyre-makers and armourers, all put on their shoes and go to work hdo~c it is daylight.
The Birds
755
LUEULDES
I can tell you something about that. It was the cock's fault that I lost a splendid tunic of l'hrygian wool. T was at a fcast in town, given to celebrate the birth of a chiJd; I h:,d drunk pretty frc('ly and had just fallen asleep, when a cock, 1 SUPPOS(' i11 a greater hurry than the rest, began to crow. I thought it was dawn and set uut for Halimus. I had hardly got beyond the walls, when a footpad struck me in the back with his bludgeon; down I went and wanted to shout, but he had already made off with my mantle. PITHETAERUS
Formerly also the kite was rulcr and king over the Greeks. LEADI'.R OF THI, CJTORU~
The Greeks? l'ITII ETAJo.RUS
And when h(' wac; king, he vias thc une who [Ir::,t taught them to fall on their knees Lefore the kites.J.' EUELPlDES
By Zeus~ that's what I did myself olle day on seeing a kite; but at the mument I wac; on my knt:'es, and leaning Jnckwards with mouth agape, I bolted an obolus and was forced to carry my meal-sack home empty.14 l'ITIIETAEIWS
The cllckoo was king of Egypt and of t he whole of Phoenicia. When hecallrd out .. clIckoo," all the Phoenicians hurried to the fields to reap their wl1t:'at and their barley. Em:Ll'lDES
Hence no doubt the proverb, "Cuckoo! cuckoo! go to the- fields, ye circumcised." 1 c. PITIJETAERUS
So powerful were the birds that the kings of Grecian cities, Agamemnon, 1\Tenelaus, for in~tanl'c, carried a bird on the tip of the-ir sceptres, who had his share of all presents. EUELPIDES
That I didn '( know and was much astonished when I saw Priam come upon the stage in the tragcdies with a Lird, which kept watching Lysicrates to scc if he got any present.
Aristophanes PITII :-:TAERUS
But the strongest proof of all is that Zeus, who now reigns, is represented as standing with an eagle on his head as a symbol of his royalty; his daughter has an owl, and Phoebus, as his servant, has a hawk. EUELPIDES
By Demeter, the point is well taken. But what arc all these birds doing in heaven? PITIIETAH~US
When anyone sacrifIces and, according to the rite, offers the entrails to the gods, these birds take their share before Zeus. Formerly men always swore by the birds and never by the gods. EUELPIDES
And even now Lampon swears by the goose whenever he wishes to deceive someone. PITHETAERUS
Thus it is clear that you were once great and sacred, but now you are lookcd upon as slaves, as fools, as l\Ianeses; ~tonps are thrown at you as at raving madmen, even in holy places. A crowd of bird-catchers sets snares, traps, limed twigs and nets of all sorts for you; you are caught, you are sold in heaps and the buyers finger you over to be certain yuu are fat. Again, if they would but serve YOll up simply roasted; but they rasp cheese into a mixture of oil, vinegar ann laserwort, to which another sweet and greasy sauce is added, and the whole is pourpd scalding hot over your back, for all the world as if you were diseaserl meat. CHORUS (singing)
1\1an, your words have made my heart bleed; I have groaned over the treachery of our fathers, who knew not how to transmit to us the high rank they held from their forefathers. But 'tis a benevolent Genius, a happy Fate, that sends you to us; you shall be our deliverer and I place the destiny of my little ones and my own in your hands with every confidence. LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Eut hasten to tell me what must be done; we should not be worthy to live, if we did not seek to regain our royalty by every possible means. PITHETAERUS
First I advise that the birds gather together in one city and that they IJuild a wall of great bricks, like that at Bahylon, round the plains of the air and the whole region of space that divides earth from heaven.
1553-5 80 J
The Birds
757
EpOP5
011, Cebriones! ob, Porphyrion! what a terribly stmn~ place! }'ITHETAFRUS
Then, when this has been well done and completed, YOll demand back the empire from Zeus; if he will not agree, if he refuses and does not at once confess himself beaten, you declare a sacred war again"t him and forbid the gods henceforward to pass through your country with their tools up, as hitherto, for the purpose of laying their Alcl11enas, their Alopcs, or their Semelcs! if thpy try to pass through, you put rings on their tools so th"t they can't make love any longer. You send another messenger to manklnd, who will proclaim to them that the birds are kings, that for the future they must first of all sacrifice to them, and only afterwards to the gods; that it is fitting to appoint to each deity the bird that has most in common with it. For instance, are tl1CY sacrificing to Aphrodite" let thcm at the sanlC time offer barley to the coot; are thpy imm()lalill~ a shf'ep to Posidun, let them consecrate wheat in honour of the duc];:; if a steer is lwing offered to Heracles, let honey-cakes bc dedicated to the gull; if a goat is being slain for King Zeus, there is a King-Bird, the wren, to whom the s::criflce of a male gnat is due hefore Zcus himsclf even. 'G EUELPIDES
This notion of an immolated gnat delights me! And now let the great Zeus thunder! LEADER OF TJlE CHORUS
TIut how will mankind recognize us as gods and not as jays? l~s, who h3 ve wings and f1y? T'TTIIETAEHllS
You talk rubbish ~ Hermes is a god and has wings and flies, and so do many other gods. Fir~t of all, Victury f1ies with goldpJ1 wings, Eros i~",)
Oh I no, never mind about that! l\IVRRHINE
1\0, by Artemis! lie on the bare sacking? never! That would be squalid. CINESIAS
Kiss me! MYRRIIINE
Wait a minute!
(She leaves him a{!,aill.) CINESIAS
ClJod guo, hurry up! l\h"RRHINE (ronzin{!, back with a 11/attress) Here is a mattress. Lie down, I am just going to undress. But you've got no pillow. CINESIAS
I don't want one either! l\IYRRHINE
But I do.
(She Il'a7Jes !tim again.) CINESIAS
011 god, oh god, she treats my tool just like Heracles! l\1YRRHINE (coming hack 'if'itlt a Pillow) There, lift your head, dear! (IVondering what else to tantali;;r with; to hcrsc1f) Is that all, I wonder? CrNESIAS (misunderstanding) Surely, there's nothing else. Come, my treasure.
"-'ill
Lysistrata MYRRHINE
I am just unfastening my girdle, But remember what you promised me about making peace; mind you keep your word, CINESIAS
Yes, yes, upon my life I will, IVlYRRHINE
Why, you have no blanket! CINESIAS
My god, what difference does tltat make? \Vhat I want is to make love!
M YRRIIINE ~ever
(gOI11{!, (Jut agalll)
fear-directly, directly! I'll be back in no time. CrNL~IAS
The woman will kill me with her blankets! l\lYRRlTINI~ ~ comi1lg
back willi
II
Mankel)
1\ow, get yourself up. CINESIAS (pointing)
I've got tltis up! MYRRHINE
\V ouldn 't you like me to scent you? CINESIAS
1\0, by Apollo, no, please don't!
:'1 YR RTTIN l~ Yes, by Aphrodit{·, but T will, whether you like it or not.
(She goes out agant.) CINESIAS
God, I wish she'd hurry up and get through with all this! MYRRIIINE
(coming back with
II
flask of perfume)
Hold out your hand; now rub it in. CrNESIAS
Oh! in Apollo's name, I don't much like the smell of it; but perhaps it will improvf' when it's well rubbed in. It does not somehow smack of the marriage bed!
Aristophanes MYRRHINE
Oh dear I what a scatterbrain I am; if I haven't gone and brought Rhodian perfumes! CINESIAS
Never mind, dearest, let it go now. MYRRHINE
You don't really mean that.
(She goes.) CINESlflS
Damn the man who invented perfumes! MYRRHINE
(coming back with another flask)
Here, take this bottle. CINESIAS
I have a bettrr one all ready for you, darling. Come, you provoking creature, to bed with you, and don't bring another thing. MYRRHINE
Coming, coming; I'm just slipping off my shoes. Dear boy, will you vote for peace? CINESIAS
I'll think about it. (MYRRHINE runs away.) I'm a dead man, she IS killing mel She has gone, and left me in torment! (in tragic .It:\'II') I mUo,t have someone to lay, I must! Ah me! the loveliest of women has choused and cheated me. Poor little lad, how am I to J1:ive you what you want so badly? Where is Cynalopex? quick, man, get him a nurse, do! LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Poor, miserable wretch, baulked in your amorousness! what tortures are yours I Ah! you fill me with pity. Could any man's back and loins stand such a strain. He stands stiff and riJ1:id and there's never a wench to help him! CINESIAS
Ye gods in heaven, what pains I suffer! LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Well, there it is; it's her doing, that abandoned hussy! C'INESIAS
No, no! rather say that sweetest, dearest darling.
(He departs.)
Lysistrata LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
That dearest darling? no, no, that hussy, say I! Zeus, thou god of the skies, canst not let loose a hurricane, to sweep them all up into the air, and whirl them round, then drop them down crash! and impale them on the point of this man's tool!
(A Spartan HERALD enters; he shows signs of bei11g in the same condition as CINESIAS.) HERALD
Say, where shall I find the Senate and the Prytanes? I am bearer of despatches. (A11 Athenian MAGISTRATE enters.) MAGISTRATE
Are you a man or a Priapus? HERALD
(with all effort at offiriousl1(,SS)
Don't be stupid! I am a herald, of course, I swear I am, and I come from Sparta about making peace. l\IACISTliATE
(pointing)
But look, you are hiding a lance under your clothes, surely. HERALD
(embarrassed)
No, nothing of the sort. MAGISTRATE
Then why do you turn away like that, and hold your cloak out from your body? Have you got swellings in the groin from your journey? HERALD
By t he twin brethren! the man's an uld maniac. MAGISTRATE
But you've got an erection! You It'wcJ fellow! HERAJ.I)
I tell you no! but enough of this foolery. MAC.ISTRATl,
(pointing)
Well, what is it you have there then? HERALD
A Lacedaemonian 'sky tale.'
8so
Aristophancs
r992-I021:
MAGISTRATE
Oh, indeed, a 'sky talc,' is it? Well, well, speak out frankly; I know all tbout these matters. How are things going at Sparta now? HERAJ.D
Why, everything is turned upside down at Sparta; and all the allies have erections. We simply must have Pellenc. MAGISTRATE
What is the reason of it all? Is it the god Pan's doing? HERALD
No, it's all the work of Lampito and the women who are acting at her instigation; they have kicked the men out from l)ftween their thighs. MAGISTRATE
But what are you doing about it? lIEHALD
We are at our wits' end; we walk bent double, just as if we were carrying lantE'rns in a wind. The jades have sworn we shall not so much as touch them till we have all agreed to conclude peace. l\IAGISTRATE
Ah! I see now, it's a general conspiracy embracing all Greece. Go back to ~parta and bid th(,111 send envoys plenipotE'ntiary to trpat for peace. I will urge our Senators myself to name plenipotentiaries from us; and to persuade them, why. I will show them my own tool. HEJMU)
What could be better? I fly at your command. (They go out in opposite directions.) LEADER OF CnORUS OF OLD l\h.N
No wild beast is there, no flamE' of fire, more fierce and untamable than woman; the leopard is less savage and shameless. LEADER OF Cuonus OF \VOMEN
And yet you dare to make war upon me, wretch, when you might have me for your most faithful friend and ally. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
Never, never can my hatred cease towards women. LFADFR OF CHORUS OF \Vm-fEN
Well. suit yourself. Still J cannot bear to leave you all naked as you arp; folks would laugh at YOli. ComE', J am going to put this tunic on you
Lysistrata LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
You are right, upon my word I it was only in my confounded fit of rage that I took it off. LEADER OF ClIORUS OF \\"OJl;H.N
Now at any rate you look like a man, and they won't make fun of vou. Ah I if you had not offended me so badly, I would take out that n~sty insect you have in your eye for you. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD l\IEN
Ah I so that's what was annoying me so I Look, here's a ring, just remove the insect, and show it to me. By Zeus! it has been hurting my eye for a long time now. LEADER OF CnORUS OF WOMI'.N
Well, I agree, though your manners are not over and above pleasant. Ohl what a huge great gnat! just look I Tt's from Tricorythus, for sure. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
A thousand thanks! the creature was digging a regular well in my eye; now that it's gone, my tears can flow freely. LEADER OF CHORUS OF \\"OMEN
I will wipe them for you-bad, naughty man though you are. Now, just
one kiss. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
A kiss? certainly not I LEADFR OF CHORUS 01' \rOMEN
Just one, whether you like it or not. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD l\IEN
Oh! those confounded women I how they do cajole us! How true the saying: "'Tis impossible to live with the baggages, impossible to live without 'em!" Come, let us agree for the future not to regard each other any more as enemies; and to clinch the bargain, let us sing a choric song. COMnINED CHORUS OF WOMEN AND OLD MEN (singing) We desire, Athenians, to speak ill of no man; but on the contrary to say much good of everyone, and to do the like. We have had enough of misfortunes and calamities. If there is any man or woman who wants a bit of money-two or three minas or SO; well, our purse is full. If only peace is concluded, the borrower will not have to pay back. Also I'm inviting to supper a few Carystian friends, who are excellently well qualified. I have still a drop of good soup left, and a
Aristophanes young porker I'm going to kill, and the flesh will be sweet and tender. I shall expect you at my house to-day; but first away to the baths with you, you and your children; then CGme all of you, ask no one's leave, but walk straight up, as if you were at home; never fear, the door will be . . . shut in your faces! LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN Ah! here come the envoys from ~parta with their long flowing beards; why, you would think they wore pigstyes between their thighs. (l';ntcr t/;r LACONIAN ENVOYS afflicted like their herald.) Hail to you, first of all, Laconians; then tell us how you fare. LA("ONIAN ENVOY No need for many words; you can see what a state we are in.
LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN Alas! the situation grows more and more strained! the intensity of the thing is simply frightful. LACONIAN ENVOY It's beyond belief. But to world summon your Commissioners, and let us patch up the best peace we may. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD l\'fEN Ah! our men too, like wrestlers in the arena, cannot endllle a ra~ over their bellies: it's an athlete's malady, which only exercise can remedy. (The MAGISTRATE returns; he too now has an evident rcaSO'l to desire peace.) :MAGISTRATE Can anybody tell us where Lysistrata is? Surely she will have some compassion on our condition. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN (pointing) Look! now he has the very same complaint. (To t/xe MAGISTRATE) Don't you feel a strong nervous tension in the morning? l\lAGISTRATE Yes, and a dreadful, dreadful torture it is! Unless peace is In:J.de very soon, we shall find no recourse but to make love to Clisthenes. LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN Take my advice, and arrange your clothes as best you can; one of the fellows who mutilated the Hermae might see you.
Lysistrata MAGISTRATE
Right, by Zeus. (He endeavours, not too successfully, to conccul his condition.) LACON IAN ENVOY
Quite right, by the Dioscuri. There, I will put on my tunic. MAGISTRATE
Oh! what a terrible state we are in! Greeting to you, Laconian fellowsufferers. LACONIAN ENVOY (addressing one of his countr.'l'11/('J/) Ah! my boy, what a terrible thing it would have been if these fellows had seen us just now when we were on full stand! MAGISTRATE
Sreak out, Laconians, what is it brings you here? LACONIAN ENVOY
We have come to treat for peace. MAGISTRATE
Well said; we are of the same mind. Better call Lysistrata, then; she is the only person who will bring us to terms. LACON IAN ENVOY
Yrs, yes- and Lysistratus into the bargain, if you will. MAGISTRATE
N" eedless to call her; she has heard your voices, and here she comes.
(She comes out of the Acropolis.) LEADER OF CnoRUs OF OLD MlcN Hail, boldest and bravest of womankind! The time is come to show yourself in turn uncompromising and conciliatory, exacting and yielding, haughty and condescending. Call up all your skill and artfulness. Lo! the foremost men in Bellas, seduced Ly your fascinations, are agreed to entrust you with the task of ending their quarrels. LYSISTRATA
It will be an easy task-if only they refrain from mutual indulgence in
masculine love; if they do, I shall know the fact at once. Now, where is the gentle goddess Peace? (The godd(,ss, in the form of a beautiful nude girl is brought in by the Machine.) Lead hither the Laconian envoys. But, look you, no roughness or violence; our husbands always behaved so boorishly. Bring them to me with smiles, as women should. If any refuse
Aristophanes to give you his hand, then take hold of his tool. Bring up the Athenians too; you may lead them either way. Laconians, approach; and you, Athenians, on my other side. Now hearken all! I am but a woman; but I have good common sense; Nature has endowed me with discriminatin~ judgment, which I have yet further developed, thanks to the wise teachings of my father and the elders of the city. First I must bring a reproach against you that applies equally to both sides. At Olympia, and Th'rmopylae, and Delphi, and a score of other places too numerous to mention, you celebrate before the same altars ceremonies common to all Hellenes; yet you go cutting each other's throats, and sacking HcI!r:'ic cities, when all the while the barbarian yonder is threatening you! Tba1 is my first point. MAGISTRATE (devouring the goddess °witlt his eyes) Good god, this erection is killing me! LYSISTRATA
Now it is to you I address myself, Laconians. Have you forgotten how Periclidas, your own countryman, sat a suppliant before our altars? How pale he was in his purple robes! He had come to crave an army of us; it was the time when Messenia was pressing you sore, and the Sea-god waing)
Ho there! (The door opens and a Porter appears, whose dress s/zows him to be AEACUS, tlte Judge oj Ilze Dead.) AEAcus Who summons? DIONYSUS
Heracles the Brave. AEACUS
Thou rash, impure, and most abandOlwd man, Foul, in1y foul, yea fou1e;,t upon earth, \\'ho harrif'd our dog, Cerberus, choked him dumb, Fled, vanished, and left me to bear the blame, Who kept him !-Now J have thee on the hip! So close the black encaverned rocks of Styx And Acheronian crags a-drip with blood Surround thee, and Cocytu;,' circling hounds, And the hundred-headed serpent, that shall rend Thy bowels asunder; to thy lungs shall cleave The lamprey of Tartessus, and thy reins And inmo;,t entrails in one paste of gore Tithrasian Gorgons gurge for evermore! --To whom, even now,] speed my indignant course' (The Porter refires.) DIONYSUS
Please!
(w/zo has ja/lm prostrate)
10
XANTHIAS
"Vhat's the matter? Quick, get up again Before they come and see you. DIONYSUS
But I feel Faint.-Put a cold wet sponge against my heart. XANTIIIAS
There; you apply it.
(producing a sponge)
Aristo phancs DlON\SUS
Thanks. Where is it? XANTlIIAS
There. (DIONYSUS
takes and applies If.)
Ye golden gods, is it there you keep your heart? 1)lONYSUS
The nervous shock made i I go down a nd down! X"'NTHTAS
You arc the greatest coward 1 ever "aw, Of gods or humans! DIONYSUS
T a coward?---T had The presence of mind to ask you for a sponge. Few had done more! XANTHIAS
Could anyone do Ie,s? DlONV:-'US
A coward would still be flat there, sniffing salts; I rose, called for a sponge, and u~cd the Sp.,:1gC. XANTlIIAS
That was brave, by J'o"idon' DIONYSUS
I should think so.And weren't you frightened at his awful threals And language? XANTIIIAS
I? I never cared a rap. DIONYSUS
Oh, you're a hero, aren't you?-and want ghry. Well, you be 1II1'! rut on this lion's hide And take the club-if you're so claulllk's-hmrtcd. I'll take my turn, and he Y0ur luggage-hoy. X.\NIHL\S
Over with both of them I Of CI,\ll''ie Twill. (IIe proceeds to liIIi
Oil
the lioll-skill.)
The Frogs
1499-5 21 ]
Now watch if Xanthias-Heracles turns faint, Or shows the same "presence of mind," as you. DIONYSUS
The true Melitean jail-bird, on my life! . . . Well, I suppose I'd better take the luggage. (The exchange is just effected when tltc door agaill opens and there enters a MAID OF PERSEPHONE.) ~IAID
Dear Heracles, and is it you ollce more? Come in! No sooner did my mistress learn Your coming, than ~he set her bread to ba],e, Set pots of split-pea porridge, two or three, A-boiling, a whole ox upon the coals, Cakes in the oven, and big buns.-Oh, COI11(, in. XANTHIAS (as H FRACLES) She is very kind; perhaps some other time .
.:\LuJ) Oh, really; but T mustn't let you go! She's doing everything herself! Braised game, Spices and fruits and stoups of the sweetest wineCome in with me. XANIHIAS
Most kind, but . . . l\IAID
No exclisrs. I won't Irt go -A l1ute-player, vrry pretty, Is waiting for you, and two or three such sweet Young dancing girls XANIHIAS
Did
YOll
(wavering)
say dancing girls? MAID
Yes. Do come in.-They just were going to serve The fish, and have the table lifted in. XANTI-IIAS
1 will! I'll chance it!-Go straight in and tell Thuse dancing girls that Heraclrs is coming! ( The 1\1 AID rl'i ires a ga 111.) Here, boy, take up tlw bags and follow me.
947
Aristophancs DIONYSUS
Stop, please!-You didn't take it seriously When I just dressed you as Heracles for fun? You can't be so ridiculous, Xanthias. Take up the bags at once and bring them in. XANTlIIAS
What? Surely you don't mean to take away Your own gift? DIONYSUS
Mean it? No; I'm doing it! Off with that lion-skin, quick. (Begins to strip off the lion-skin by force.) XANTlIIAS
Help! I'm assaulted . . . (GivinK 'Way.) 1 leave it with the Gods! (procccding to dress himself again) The Gods, indeed 1 What senseless vanity to expect to be Alcmena's son, a mortal and a slave! DIONYSUS
XANTHIAS
Well, tak it. I don't care.-The time may he, God willing, when you'll feel the need of me! CIIORUS (.Iinging) That's the way such points to settle, Like a chief of tested mettle, Weather-worn on many seas, Not in one fIxed pattern stopping, Like a painted thing, but dropping Always towards the side of ease. 'Tis this instinct for soft places, To keep warm while others freeze, Marks a man of gifts and graces, Like our own Theramenes! DIONYSUS (singing) Surely 'twould the matter worsen, I f I saw this low-bred person On his cushions sprawling, so,
[5 22 -54 2 J
The Frogs
949
Served him drinking, watched him winking: If he knew what I was thinkingAnd he would, for certain, know, Being a mighty shrewd deviser Of such fancies-with a blow P'raps he'd loosen an incisor From the forefront of my row! (During this song there has entered almlg the streft (] soon followed by her servant, PLATHANE.) LANDLADY
Ro, Plathane, here, I want you, l'lathane! .. Here is that scamp who came to the inn before, Ate sixteen loaves of bread .. PLATliANE
Why, so it is: The very man! XANTHlAS
(aside)
Here's fun for somebody. LANDLADY
And twenty plates of boiled meat, half an obol At every gulp! XANTlllAS
(aside)
Some one'll catch it now! LANDLADY
And all that garlic. DIONYSUS
Nonsense, my good woman, You don't know what you're saying. rLATIIAK{~
Did you think I wouldn't know you in those high-heeled boots? LANDLADY
And all the salt-fIsh I've not mentioned yet. . . . T'LATHANE
(to
LANDLADY)
No, you poor thing; and all the good fresh cheese The man kept swallowing, and the baskets with it!
17_
LANDLADY,
who is
Aristo phanes
95 0
LANDLADY
(to XANTIUAS)
And when he saw me coming for the money Glared like a wild bull! Yes, and roared at me! XANTHIAS
Just what he does! His manners everywhere. LANDLADY
Tugged at his sword! Pretended to be marl ! PLATHANE
Yes, you poor thing; I don't know how you bore it! LANDLADY
And we got all of a tremble, both of us, And ran up the ladder to the loft! And he, He tore the matting up-and off he went! XANTlIIAS
Like him, again. PLATIIANE
But something must be done! LANDLADY (to PLATlJANE) Run, you, and fetch me my protector, ('leon.
as they run excitedly to go ojJ in dijJercnt directions) And you fetch me Hyperbolus, if you meet him .. Then we shall crush him! PLATTIANi:
(to the
LANDLADY,
(returning) Oh, that ugly jaw' If I could throw a stone, I'd like to break Those wicked teeth that ground my larder dry ~ LANDLADY
PLATHANE (rctuminr; on the otliel' side) And I should like to fling you in the pit! LANDLADY (turning again as she r;oes off) And I should like to get a scythe, and cut That throat that swallowed all my sausages. PLATJIANE (the same) Well, I'll go straight to Cleon, and this same day We'll worm them out in a law-court, come what may! (The LANDLADY and PLATHANE go 0 jJ il1 dilferclIf directions.)
The Frogs DIONYSUS
l'lague take me! ~o friend left me in the world. Except old Xanthias! XAN1HIAS
I know, I know! We all see what you want. But that's enough! I won't be Heracles. DIONYSUS
Now don't say that, Xanthias--{Jld lJoy! XANTH1AS
And how am J to be Alcmena's SOIl-a mortal and a slave? DIONYSUS
I know you're angry, and quite justly so. Hit me if you like; I won't say one word back. But, mark, if ever again in this wide world I rob you of these clothes, drstruction fall On me myself, my wife, my little ones,And, if you like, on the old bat Archedemus! XANTHIAS
That oath will do. 1 take it on those terms. CHORUS
(singing)
Now 'tis yours to make repayment For the h()nour of this raiment, Wear it well, as erst you wore, If it needs some renovating, Think of wholll you're personating, Glare like Heracles alld roar. Else, if any fear you show, sir, Any weakness at the core, Any jesting, back you go, sir, To the baggage as before! XANTIlIAS (singil1{!,)
Thank you for your kind intentioll, But I had some comprehension Of the task I undertook. Should the lion-skin make for profIt,
95 1
Aristophancs
95 2
He'll attempt to make me doff itThat I know-by hook or crook. Still I'll make my acting real, Peppery gait and fiery look. Ha! Here comes the great ordeal: See the door. I'm sure it shook! (The (entral door opens and the Porter, out with two other slaves.)
[599-618 ]
AEACUS,
comes
AEACUS
Here, seize this dog-stealer and lead him forth To justice, quick. DIONYSUS (imitating XANTHIAS) Here's fun for somebody. XANTIIIAS
(in a Hcraclran attitude)
Stop, zounds ! Not one step more! AEACUS
You want to fIght? Ho, Ditylas, Sceblyas, and Pardocas, Forward! Oblige this person with some fighting! DIONYSUS (while the Sc.vthians gradually over power How shocking to assault the constablesAnd stealing other people's things!
XANTHIAS)
AEACUS
Unnatural, That's what I call it. DIONYSUS
Quite a pain to see. XANTHIAS (now overpowered and disarmed) Now, by Lord Zeus, if ever I've been here Or stol'n from you the value of one hair, You may take and hang me on the nearest tree! Now, listen: and I'll act quite fairly by you; (Suddfnly indicating Take this poor boy, and put him to the question! 18 And if you find me guilty, hang me straight. AEACUS
What tortures do you allow?
DIONYSUS)
The Frogs
953
XANTHIAS
Use all you like. Tie him in the ladder, hang him by the feet, Whip off his skin with bristle-whips and rack him; You might well try some vinegar up his nose, And bricks upon his chest, and so on. Only :r-.;o scourges made of . . . leek or young shalotLj'l AEAcus A most frank offer, most frank.-If my treatment Disables him, the value shall be paId. XANTHIAS
Don't mention it. Remove him and begin. AEACUS
Thank you, we'll do it here, that you may witness Exactly what he says. (To DIONYSUS) Put down your bundle, And mind you tell the truth. DIONYSUS
(who has hitherto henz sp(,echless with horror, lIut)
J warn all present, To torture me is an illegal act, Being immortal! And whoevrr docs so 1\1 ust take the consequences. AEACUS Why, who arc you? DIONYSUS
The immortal Dionysus, son of Zeus; And this my slave. AEACUS (to XANTHIAS) You hear his protest?
XANTITlAS
Yes; All the more reason, that, for whipping him; If he's a real immortal he won't feel it. DIONYSUS
Well, but you claim to be immortal too; They ought to give you jlJst the same as me.
110W
ll1lrstlll,£!.
Aristophanrs
954
XANTHIAS
That's fair enough. All right; whichever of us You first [md crying, or the least bit minding Your whip, you're free to say he's no true god. AEACUS
Sir, you behave like a true gentleman; You come to justice uf yourself!-Now then, Strip, both. XANTI-IIAS
How will you test us? AEACUS
Easily: You'll each take whack and whack about. XANTIIIAS
All right. AEACUS
(strikinJ.:
XANTHli\S)
There. Xi\NTIIIi\S (controlling himself wilh all rftot/) "'atch now, if you see n1(' even wince. AEi\CUS
But I've already hit you' XANTHIAS
T think not. AJed, Pray, tell me on what particular ground a poet :-.hould claim admiration? EURIPIDES If his art is true, and his counsel sound; and if he brings help to the nation, By making men better in some respect. AESCHYLUS And suppose you have done the reverse, And havr had upon good strong men the effect of makilIg them weaker and worse, What, do you say, should your recompense bc? DIONYSUS Thc gallows' You nredn't ask him. AESCHYLUS Well, think what they were when he had them f[(im I1!C' (;ood !>ix-footers, solid of limb, Well-born, wcll-brrd, not ready to 11y from obeying their country's call, Nor in latter-day fa!'>hion to loiter and lie, and keep their consciences small ; Thcir life was in shafts of ash and of ('1m, in bright plumes t1uttering wide, In lance and greaves and corslet and helm, and hearts of sevenfold hide' EURIPIllES (asid(') Oh, now he's begun ami will probably run a whole arrnourer's shop on my head! (To AESCIlYLl1S) Stop: How was It duc in c5pecial to you, if they were so very-wrll-brecJ? DIONYSUS Come, answer him, Aeschylus' Don't be so hot, or smoulder in silent disdain. AESCITYLUS «(r1{s/llngty) By a tragedy 'brimming with Ares!' DIONYSUS A what? AESCHYLUS The "Seven against Thebes."
97 2
Aristophanes
[1022-10 39 ]
DIONYSUS
Pray explain. AESCHYLUS
There wasn't a man could see that play but he hungered for havoc and gore. DIONYSUS
I'm afraid that tells in the opposite way. For the Thebans profited more, It urged them to fight without flinching or fear, amI they did so; and long may you rue it! AESCHYLUS
The same thing was open to all of you here, but it didn't amuse you to do it! Then next I taught you for glory to long, and against all odd~ stand fast; That was "The Persians," which bodied in song the noblest deed of the past. DIONYSUS
Yes, yes! \Vhen Darius arose from the grave it gave me gcnuine joy, And the Chorus stood with its arms a-wave, and observed, "Yow-oy, Yow-oy!" ~, AESCHYJ_US
Yes, that's the effect for a play to produce! For observe, from the w(lrld's iirst start Those pocts have all been of practical usc who have been supreme in their art. First, Orpheus withheld us from bloodshed impure, and vouchsafed us the great revplation; 1\1 usapus was next, with wi"dom to Lure diseases anel tpach divination. Then He:,joLl showed us th!.' seas()n to plough, tf) sow, and to rea;). And thE' l:1Urels That shine upon Homer"s celestial brow are equally due to his morals! He taught men to stand, to march, and to arm. DIONYSUS
So that was old Homer's profession? Then I wish he could keep his successors from harm, like Pantacles in till' procession, Who fIrst got his helmet well strapped on his head, and then tried to put in the plume!
The Frogs
973
AESCHYLUS
There be many brave men that he fashionrd and bred, like Lamachus, now in his tomb. And in his great spirit my plays had a part, wilh Ihrir heroes many and bravrTeucers, T'atroc1uses, lions at hrart; who made 1l1V citizens crave To dash iike them at the face of the foe, and" leap at I he calI of a trumprt !-But no Stheneboea I've givrn YOIl, no; no T'hardra, no hrroine-strumpet! If I've once put a woman in love in one act of one play, may my teaching be scouted! EURIPIDES
No, you hadn't exactly the style to attract Aphrodite! AE:-'ClIYLUS
I'm better without it. A deal too milch of Ihat style she found in S01J1e of your friends and you, And once, at leasl, left you fiat on the ground! DIONYSUS
By Zeus, that's perfectly true. J f he dealt his neighbours such ral tIing blow'i, we must think how he suffered in person. EURIPIDES
And what are the public defects you suppose my poor Slheneboea I·) worsen? AESCHYLUS (nJadinJ; tlie questi()/1 with a j('st) She makes good women, and good men's wives, whrlJ their hrart, arp wrary and want ease, Drink jorums of hemlock and jinish their lives, to gratify Bellerophont(')! EURIPIDES
But did I invent the slory I lold of---Phaedra, say? Wasn't it history? AESCHYLUS
It was true, right enough; but the porI 5houltl hold sllch a trulh ('nvelopetl in mystery, And not represent it or make it a play. It's his duty to teach, and you know it. As a child learns from all who may comr in his way, so the grown world learns from the poet. Oh, words of good counsel should flow from his voice-
974
Aristopltan('s
[ 1056-1071]
EURIPIDES
And words like Mount Lycabettus Or Parnes, such as you give us for choice, must needs be good counsel?Oh, let us, Oh, let us at least use the language of men! AESCHYLUS
Flat cavil, sir! cavil absurd! When the subject is great and the sentiment, then, of necessity, great grows the word: When heroes give range to their hearts, is it strange if the speech of them over us towers? Nay, the garb of them too must be gorgeous to view, and majestical, nothing like ours. All this J saw, and establi~hed as law, till you came and spoilt it. EURIPIDES
How so? AESCHYLUS
You wrapped them in rags from old beggarmen's bags, to express their heroical woe, And reduce the spectator to tears of compassion! EURIPIDES
Well, what was the harm if I did? AESCHYLUS (r~)lldil/g fite qUI'sf ion as
be/orr)
Bah, your modern rich man has adopted the fashion, for remission of taxes to bid; "He couldn't provide a trireme if he tried;" he implores us his stdte to behold. DIONYSUS
Though rags outside may very well hide good woollens heneath, if it's cold! And when once he's exempted, he gilily departs and pOpS up at the fishmongers' stalls. AESCHYLUS
(rrmtinuing)
Then, next, you have trained in the speech making arts nigh every infant that crawls. Oh, this is the thing that Stich havoc has wrought in the wrestling-school, narrowed tl1(' hips Of the poor pale chattering children, and taught the crews of the pick of the ships
[ I0
72 -
II 03]
The Frogs
975
To answer back pat to their officer's nose! How unlike myoId sailor of yore, With no thought in his head but to guzzle his brose and sing as he bent at the oar! DIONYSUS
And spit on the heads of the rowers below/:' and garott stray lubbers on shore! But our new man just sails where it happens to bJuw, and argues, and rows no more! AESCHYLUS (more ra pldl)')
\Vhat hasn't he done that is under the sun, And the 10Vf'-dealing dames that wit h him have begun? One's her own brother\ wife; One says Life is not Life; And one goes into shrines to give birth to a son! Our city through him is filled to the hrim \\"ith monkeys who chatter to everyone's whim: Little scriveners' clerks With their winks and their lar];~, But for wrestle or race not a muscle in trim! DIONYSUS (still 111 orr ra/lidly)
Kol a doubl of it! Why, T laugh ted fit to cry At the Pan;~thenaea, a man to espy, Pair, flabby, and fat, And bent double at that, Puffing feebly behind, with a lear in his eye: Till there in their place, with cord and with hrace, \Vere the Potters assembled to quicken his pace; ,\nd down they came, whack' On sides, belly, and back, Till he blew out his torch and just Hed from t he race I CnORUS
(Sil1f!.IIlf!.)
K ever were such warriors, never Prize so rich and feud so keen: Dangerous, too, such knots to sever: /Ie drives on with stern endeavour, /Ie falls back, but rallies evn, Marks his spot and stabs il clean'
26
Aristophancs
[ I 104- I 128 ]
Change your step, though! Do not tarry; Other way~ thrre br to harry Old antagonists in art. Show whatever sparks you carry, Question, answer, thrust and parryBe they new or ancient, marry, Let them fly, well-winged and smart! If you feelr, from former cases, That thr audience p'raps may fail To appreciate your paces, Your allusions and your graces, Look a moment in their faces! They will tell anotber tale. Oft from long campaigns returning Thro' the devious roads of learning Thr~e have wandered, bool;.s in hand: l'\ature ~ave them kern discerning Eyrs; and you have set them burning! Sharpest thoughl or deepest yearningSpeak, and these will understand. ECRIPIVlcS
Quite so; I'll turn then to his prologues straight, AlHlmake in thel t fj rst part of tragedy :'.Jy first review in detail of this Genius! His exposition always was obscure. DIONYSUS
Which one will you examine! EURIPIDES
Which? Oh, lots! First quote me that from the Oresteia, please. DIONYSUS
lIo, silence in the cOllrt! Speak, Aeschylus. AESCHYH1S (quoting tlte first lincs of The ClwcjJ/rori) "Guide of the Dead, warding a father's way, Be thou my light and saviour, where I pray, In this my fatherland, returned, restored."
The Fro{;s DIONYSUS
977
(to EURIPlOl,~)
You fmd some false lines there? EURIl'IDFS
Al)(lut a dozen! DIONYSUS
Why, altogether I here are only thl ee! EllltIPIDES
But everyone ha;, twenty faults in drawing! (AESl'llYLLIS br'gilLl to il1tcl'mpt ) DIONYSUS
No, stor, c,top, Ae~chylu,,: or perhaps you'll fmd Your debb run up 10 morc than Ihlee iambics. AESCITYLlJS
(raging)
Stop to let him sjlcak? DIONYSUS
,,'ell, that's my advire. E tJRIl'IDES IIe',; gonr straight off some thousand miles
a~tray.
AF;,CllYLUS
Of course it's foolery-hut what do J rarc? Point out the faults. EURIPllJES
Repe:l1 the linrs again. AF:,Cl! YLUS
"Guide of the
1)1':1laves should rob free-born women of their pleasure". Lel lhe courtesans be free to sleep with the slaves. BLEPYRUS
I will march at your side, so that T may be seen and that everyone may say, "Look at the Dictator's husbandl"
(lIe follows
PRAXAGORA
iI/to their house.)
CHREMES
As for me, T shall arrange my belongings and take in ven tory of them, in order that I may take them to the markel-place.
(lIr departs.) (There is an interlude of dancing by the CrIOlws, after 'which CHREMES rctul'l1s 7.R.lith lzis belongings and arranges them in a long line.) CHREMES
Come hither, my beautiful sieve, T have nolhing more precious than you, come, all clotted with the flour of which J have poured so many saChS through you; YOll shall act the part of Canephorus in the procession of my chattels. Where is the sunshaue carrier? Ah! this stew-pot shall take his place. Great gods, how black it is! it could not be more so if Lysicrates had boiled the drngs in it with which he dyes his hair. Hither, my beautiful mirror. And you, my tripod, bear this urn for me; you shall be the water-bearer; and you, cock, whose morning song has so often roused me in the middle of the night to send me hurrying to the Assembly, you shall be my flute-girl. Scaphephorus, do you take the large basin, place in it the honeycomhs and twine the olive-branches over them, bring the tripods and the phial of perfume: as for the humble crowd of little pots, I will just leave them behind. CITIZEN
(watching
CHI{EMES
from a distance)
What folly to carry one's goods to the common store: I have a little more sense than that. l\o, no, by Posidon, I want first to ponder and calculate over the thing at leisure. T shall not be fool enough to strip myself of the fruits of my toil and thrift, if it is not for a very good reason; let us see first which way things turn. (IIe walks over to CTIREMES) Hil friend, what means this display of goods? Are you moving or are you going to pawn your stuff? CIIREMES
Neither.
The Ecclesiazusae
1035
CITIZEN
Why then are you setting all these things out in line? Is it a procession that you are starting off to Hiero, the public crier? CHREMES
No, but in accordance with the new law that has been decreed, I am going to carryall these things to the market-place to make a gift of them to the state. CITIZEN
Oh! bah! you don't mean that. CIIREMES
Certainly. CITIZEN
Oh ~ Zeus the Deliverer! you unfortunate IIlan! CHREMES
Why? CITIZEN
Why? It's as clear as noonday. CHREMES
Must the laws not be obeyed then? CITIZEN
What laws, you roor fellow? CHREMES
Those that have been decreed. CITIZEN
Decreed ~ .\r(' you mad, I ask you? CUREMES
Am I mad? CITIZEN
Oh! this is the height of folly! CHREMES
Because I obey the law? CITIZEN
Is that the duty of a smart man?
1036
Aristophanes CHREMES
Absolutely. CITIZEN
Say rather of a ninny. CHREMES
Don't you propose taking what belongs to you to the common stock? CITIZEN
I'll take good care I don't until I see what the majority are doing. CHREMES
There's but one opinion, namely, to contribute every single thing one hps. CITIZEN
J am waiting to see it, before 1 believe that. CHREMES
At least, so they say in every street. lITIZTcN
(sardonically)
And they will go on saying so. CllREMFS
Everyone t:llks of contributing all he has. (in the sa me tone)
CITIZEN
And will go on talking of it. lIlREMES
You weary me with your doubts and duhitations. (in t 11(' same tone)
CITIZFN
Everybody else will doubt it. CHREMES
The pest seize you! CITIZEN (in the same tone) It will take you. (T hen sc,.iou~ly) What? give up your goorls! Is there a man of sense who will do such a thing? Giving i~ not one of our CllStOTllS. Receiving is another matter; it's the way of the gods themselves. Look at the position of their hands on their statues; when we ask a favour, they present their hands turned palm up so as not to give, but to receive.
The Ecclesiazusae
10 37
CHREMES
Wretch, let me do what is right. Come, I'll make a bundle of all these things. Where is my strap? CITIZEN
Are you really going to carry them in? CHREMES
Undoubtedly, and there are my two tripods strung together alrearly. CITIZEN
What folly! Not to wait to see what the others do, and then C'UREMES
Well, and then what? CITIZEN
. . . wait and put it off again. CHREMES
What for? CITIZEN
That an earthquake may come or an ill-omened flash of lightning, that a black cat may run across the ~treet and no one carry in anything more, you fool! CUREMES
It would be a fme thing if I were to fmd no room left for placing all this. CITIZEN
You are much more likely to lose your sluff. As for placing it, you can be at easc, for there will be room enough as long as a month hence. C'UREMES
Why? CITIZEN
I know these people; a decree is readily passed, but it is not so easily attended to. C'HREMES
All will contribute their property, my friend. CITIZEN
But what if they don't?
103 8
Aristoplzanc s CHREMES
But there is no doubt that they will. ('lTlZEN (insistel1tly) But anylw'w, what if they don't? CUREMES
Do not worry; thry will. CITIZEN
And what if they opposr it? ClJREMES
We shall compel them to do so. CITIZEN
And what if they prove the stronger? CJJREMES
I shall leave my goods and go uff. CITIZEN
And what if they sell them for you? CUREMES
The plague take you! CITIZEN
And if it does? CIIREMES
It will be a good riddancr. CITIZEN (in al1 i11crcdulolls fonr) You are really bent on contributing, then? CHREMES
'Pon my soul, yes! Look, there are all my neighbours carrying they have.
jn
all
CITIZEN (sanastically) Oh yes, it's Antisthenes; he's the type that 'Would contributr! He would just as soon spend the next month sitting on the can. CHREMES
The pest seize you!
[810- 833]
The Ecclesiazusae
10 39
CITIZEN
Will CaIIimachus, the chorus-master, contribute anything? CIIREMES
Why, more than Calliasl CITIZEN
The man must want to spend all his money! ('llImMES
How you weary me! CITIZEN
Ah! I weary you? But, wretch, see what comes of decrees of this kind. Don't you remember the one reducing the price of salt? CHREMES
Why, certainly I do. ClTIZI' N
.\nd do you remember that about the copper coinage? ('HREMES
Ah! that cursed money did me enough harm. J had sold my grapes and had my mouth stuffed with pieces of copper; indeed I was going to the market to buy flour, and was in the act of holding out my bag wide open, when the herald started shouting, "Let none in future accept pieces of copper; those of silver are alone current." CITIZEN
And quite lately, were we not all swearing that the impost of onefortieth, which Euripides had conceived, would bring five hundred talents to the ~tate, and everyone was vaunting Euripides to the skies? But when the thing was looked at closely, it was seen that this fine decree was mere moonshine and would produce nothing, and you would have willingly burnt this very same Euripides alive. CUREMES
The cases are quite different, my good fellow. We were the rulers then, but now it's the women. CITIZEN
Whom, by Posidon, 1 will never allow to piss on my nose. CHREMES
J don't know what the devil you're chattering about. Slave, pick up that bundle.
1040
Aristophanes
[834-860 J
HI'.RALD (a woman)
Let all citizens come, let them hasten at our leader's biddingl It is the new law. The lot will teach each citizen where he is to dine; the tables are already laid and loaded with the most exquisite dishes; the couches are covered with the softest of cushions; the wine and water are already being mixed in the ewers; the slaves are standing in a row and waiting to pour scent over the guests; the fish is being grilled, the hares are on the spit and the cakes are being kneaded, chaplets are being plaited and the fritters are frying; the yuungest women are watching the' pea-soup in the saucepans, and in the midst of them all stands Smoeus, dressed as a knight, washing the crockery. And Ge'ron has come, dressed in a grand tunic and finely shod; he is joking with anothe'r young fellow and has already divested himself of his hravy shoes and his cloak. The pantry man is waiting, so come and u~e your jaws. (Exit) CITIZEN
All right, I'll go. Why should I delay, since the state commands me? CUREMES
And where are you going to, since you have not deposited your brlongings? CITIZEN
To the feast. CUREMES
If the women have any wits, they will Ilr"t insist on your depositing your goods. CITIZEN
But I am going to deposit them. CHREMES
When? CITIZEN
I am not the man to make delays. CHREMES
How do you mean? CITIZEN
There wiII be many less eager than I. CHREMES
In the metl.ntime you are going to dine.
The Ecclesiazusae
I04I
CITIZEN
What else should I do? Every sensible man mu~t give his help to the state. CIlREMES
But if admission is forlJidden you? CITIZEN
I shall duck my head and slip in. Clll{EMES
And if the women have you beaten? CITIZEN
I shall '>Ilmmon them. CHlmMES
And if they laugh in your face? CITIZEN
I shall stand ncar the door CIIIU.MES
And then? CITIZEN
. . . and seize upon the dishes as they pass. ('llREMES
Then go tllrre, but after me. Sicon and I'armen(), pick up all thi'> baggage. ('ITIZEN
Come,l will help you carry it CHREMES (jJUSltillg !tim away) No, no, I ~hould be afraid of your pretending to the leilrler that what I am dep()~iting belonged to YOIl.
(Exit 'with his belongings.) CITIZEN
Let me sec! let me think of SOl1le good trick by which I can keep my goods and yet take my ~harc of the cummon feast. (J[e reflects for 11 moment.) Ha! that's a fme idea! Quick! I'll go and dine, hal hal (Exit lallghil1g ) (Interlllde of dancil1g hy the CHORUS.) (The sc('ne shifts to a different sectiot! of .1/h(,l1s alld the two houses arc now to be thoug!tt of as those of two prostitutes.)
104 2
Aristophancs
FIRST OLD WOMAN (leaning out of the window of one house) How is this? no men are coming? And yet it must be fully time! Then it is for naught that I have painted myself with white lead, dressed myself in my beautiful yellow robe, and that I am here, frolicking and humming between my teeth to attract some passer-by! Oh, M u"es, alight upon my lips, inspire me with some soft Ionian love-song! YOUNG GIRL (In the window of the olher house) You putrid old thing, you have placed yourself at the window before me. You were expecting to strip my vines during my absence and to trap some man in your snares with your songs. If you sing, I shall follow suit; all this singing will weary the spectators, but is nevertheless very pleasant and very diverting.
FIRST OLD WOMAN (thumbing her nose at the YOUNG GIRL) Ha! here is an old man; take him and lead him away. (To Ihe fluteplayer) As for you, you young flute-player, let us hear some airs that are worthy of you and me. (She sin!;s) Let him who wishes to taste pleasure come to my side. These young things know nothing about it; it's only the women of ripe age who understand the art of love, and no one could know how to fondle the lover who possessed me so well as myself, the young girls are all flightiness. YOUNG GIRL (singin!; in her turn) Don't be jealous of the young girls; vol uptuousness resides in the pure outline of their beautiful limbs and blossoms on their rounded breasts; but you, old woman, you who are tricked out and perfumed as if for your own funeral, are an object of love only for grim Death himself.
FIRST OLD WOMAN (sin!;in!; again) May your tongue be stopped; may you be unable to find your couch when you want to be loved. And on your couch, when your lips seek a lover, may you embrace only a viper! YOUNG GIRL (sin !;ill!; agaill) Alas! alas! what is to become of me? There is no lover! I am left here alone; my mother has gone out. (Interrupting her son!;) There's no need to mention the rest. (Then singing a!;ain) Oh! my dear nurse, I adjure you to call Orthagoras, and may heaven bless you. Ah! poor child, desire is consuming you like an Ionian woman; (interrupting again) and yet you are no stranger to the wanton arts of the Lesbian women. (Resuming her song) But you shall not rob me
The Ecclcsiazusac
10 43
of my pleasures; you will not be able to reduce or filch the (ill1e (h;Jt fIrst belongs to me. FIRST OLD WOMAN
Sing as much as you please, peep out like a cat lying in wait, but none shall pass (hrough your duor without [Irs( having been to seC' me. YOUN(; GIRL
If anyone enter your house, it will be (0 carry out your corpse. And that will be something new for you, you rotten old thing I FIRST OLD WOMAN Can anything be new to an olrl woman? Myoid age will nut harm you. YOUNt; GIRL
Ah! shame on your painted cheeks! FIRST OLD "'OMAN
Why do you speak to me at all? YOUNG GIRL
And why do you place yourself at the wimluw? FmST OLD 'YmIAN
I am singing to myself about my lover,
EJli~;rnes.
YOUNG GIRL
Can you have any other lover than thai old for) Gere~? FIRST OLD WOMAN
Epigenes \'Vill show you that himself, for he is he is.
com:ll;~
tf)
me.
S~'(',
here
YOUNG GIRL
He's not thinking of you in the least. FIRST OLD \\'OMAN
Aye, but he i::.. YOUNG GIRL
Old starveling! Lrt'~ see what he will do. I \rill leave my window. FIRST OLD WOMAN
And 1 likewise You will see I am much wiser than you.
A YOUNG l\TAN (sings) Ah! could I but sleep with the yOllng girl without fIrSt makini! love (0 the old Oat-nose I Tt is intolerable for ,1 frC'('-burn man
Aristophanes
10 44
FIRST OLD WOMAN (singinR to the same tune) Willy nilly, you must first gratify my desire. There shall be no nonsense about that, for my authority is the law and the law must be obeyed in a democracy. (Speaking) But come, let me hide, to see what he's going to do. (She retires. ) YOUNG MAN
Ah! ye gods, if I were to find the sweet child alone! the wine has fired my lust. YOUNG GrRL (reappearing in her window) I have tricked that cursed old wretch; she has left her window, thinking r would stay at home. Ah! here is the lover we were talking of. (She sings) This way, my love, this way, come here and haste to rest the whole night in my arms. I worship your lovely curly hair; I am consllmed with ardent desire. Oh! Eros, in thy mercy, compel him to my bed.
(standlllf!. heneatlz the YOUNG GIRL'S window and singing) Come down and haste to open the door unless you want to see nl!' fall dead with desire. Dearest treasure, I am burning to yield myself to voluptuous sport, lying on your hosom, to let my hanels play with your bottom. Aphrodit{·, why dost thou [ITt: me with such delight in her? Oh! Eros, I beseech thee, have mercy and make her share my couch. 'Vords cannot express the tortures T am suffering. Oh! my adored one, J adjure you, open your door for me and press me to your heart; 'tis for you that T am sufferin,g. Oh! my jewel, my idol, you child of Aphrodite, the confidante of the Muses, the sister of the Graces, you living picture of voluptu()usneT
But why do you tarry, Blepyrus? Take these young girls with you and, while you are away a while, I will whet my appetite with some diningsong. LEADER OF TIlE CnoRUs
I have uut a few words to say. let the wise judge n1(' because 0f whatever is wise in this piece, and those who like a laugh by whatever has made them laugh. In this way I address pretty well evuyone. If the lot has assigned my comedy to be played first of all, don't let that 1)(' a rlisadvantage to me; engrave in your memory all that ~hall have pleased you in it and judge the competitors equitably as you have bound yourselves by oath to rio. Don't act like vile courtesans, who never remember any but their last lover. T\ rAID-SERVANT
It is time, friends, high tin1(' to go to the banfjuet, if we want to have our share of it. Open your ranks and let the Cretan rhythms regulate your dances. BLEPYRlTS
That's what I am doing. T\L\ID-SERVA:\"T
And you otl1('rs, let your light steps tnn keep time. '-ery soon we'lI lw eating ,; pailol hl1ar/ios8acltogdlco/.:rdlliol cf PS(f 11 odri my/,olri 1I111latosil pl;iofyro1l1Nito/,:dl (f kl'l ltY1l11'/Iokichl1'pi kr5ssypllO I,hdtfo pI"I"ist('ral/ klrY01/(i 1)1 ()kr phdl iO/..'illl.:1o pr/,·;o/(fgofosiraiolw jJltrt1'l7g([/ rSptl'rygon.' 0 Come, quickly,
seize hold of a plate, "natch up a cup, and let's run to secure a place at table. The fEst will have their jaws at work by this timc. CnORlTS (as 'hrv r!('jJ(ll"I, dancing, 7Oi'li TlLEPYRUS Tr'ading tltrm) Dance gaily! lai' la;' "'e shall dine! ElIoi! Ellai! Ella;' As for a triumph! Flloi! l~uoi I 1~lIai I F.ulli I
N(HLS ON TITE },CCL],SI,\ZUSAE
1. The operation of carding would expose the arms, and their soft and telltale contours would disastrously evince the sex of the carder. 2. It is not easy to sec why Praxagora here suhstitutes the cat for the usual young pig. Rogers seems on the right track when he says that the word for the young pig, c1lOiririioll, meaning also "young female genitalia," was ayoided hy Praxagora in an "assembly of laelies," but the implication that this wa~ motivated by considerations of delicacy is mbguided and Victorian. The real point is, perhaps, that this word would have provoked a number of irrelevant and femininc remarks, and the rcvulutionary leader has for some tillle been energetically striving to bring her followers down to the serious business that lies before them. 3. This is the usual gibe at the bibulollsness of the Athenian women. 4. An oath lI~ed by women only. 5. "'" reference to the aIliance with Thehes that Atlwns had concluded in 395. It was quickly joined by other states and for a while thlTe were high hopes, but like most such dc\'elnpme1]ts in fourth-century history, it came to Iit1le. 6. A reference to the Spartan invasions of Attica in the early year~ of the Pel(lponnesian 'Yar; the inhabitants of the rural districts sought refu~e in the city, where they were very inaueIJuately housed, 7. There is a pun here on the two senses of hypokrollcin, "to in terrupt " 8!1d "to make love to." 8. Dlepyrus personifies his intestif1al u:"r::es under the name Koprl'jos, which is formed, in the usual manner of personal nanlf'S, from kopros, "excrcmen 1." 9, The Greel: is Ar1lrariollsios, formed from Gehres, "wild pear" and at the same time suggesting the cleme Acherdus, ro. These were sif~n;, of lilt('J1e~s; sec noll' :; on Tlu' Ac!lIlrJIians. I r. l'raxagora's rem;lrk is nwrely an idiomatic phrase of abuse; Dlepyrus understands, or affectt; to understalld, it literally, J 2. There is a pun here on t hf' two Greek words l..·aptrill, "to stuff" and kappa, the name of the let1er J(, 13. do not know what the tax llcre referred to was, and the point 1054
"'c
N otr s on The Ecclcsia:usae
1055
of the Young Man's remark is thus ubscure; only one thing is clear, and this is that the rights of citizenship are invulved. It may be that thc Young Man may Jiut ratc ao> a slave unlcss a tax ha'> been paic! on his assessed value, but it i" equally po"sible that the Old Woman Illay not derive the bellcfIts of the new law until she has paid a capital levy of some sort. 14. These arc the customary formalities connected with the laying-out of the dead. IS. The Greek word here translated as "onions" is bolboi; we do not know just what plant it signifJes, but the ancicnt cOlllmentators know of its aphrodisiac effects, and these arc sufficient to explain its use here. 16. This magniflccnt word, the longest that has ever becn constructed in an Indo-Germanic language, is here merely transliterated from the Greek, amI the accents indicate how it should be read. The preci5c signification of some of the components is llot entirely certain, but so far as we can tell the ingredients of the dish are: limpets, slice~ of salt fish, thurnbacks, whistlr-fishes, lorncl-brrries, a rel110uLtde of Icftr),-er brains seasoned with silphilllll and cheese, thrushes basteu with honey, blackbirds, ringdoves, squabs, chickens, fried mullets, wagtails, rock-pigeons, hare, and wings ground up in new wine that has been boilrd down.
XI PLUTUS
CHARACTERS
~N
THE
PLAY
CHREMYLm,
Scnlullt Of ChrclIlyius l'Lun;s, God ()f Nichl's Bu:rsIDEMus, fricnd 0/ Chrcmylus
CARlO,
l'OVJo.RTY
\r Jil I':
OF ('IlIU:MYLUS
,\ JllST
:\L\N
;\N I?\F\)R~HR
AN OLD WOMAN A \' Oll'rll HFRl\HS
A
PI:IISl OF ZEtTS
('HORUS OF RU:-.11CS
INTRODUCTION
PRODUCED in 388, four years after Thr Erdl'sia:lIwr, Pll1tlls is the latest comedy of Aristophanes which we po""e"s, although we know that he wrote at least two more, which were produced in the name of his son Ararus. We have no information regarding the festival at which the play was brought out, nor are we told what prize it won. It is the least amusing of the extant comedies, and its chief interest for the modern reader lies in the fact that it is the nearest thing to a representative of the Middle Comedy that has come down to us. The later centuries of the ancient world and the schoolmasters of the Byzantine Empire, however, were inordinately fond of it, the former hecame of what th('~' reganied as its refmement, the latter because it only infrequently offended their moral tastes. The subject of the play is the Utopian situation produced by the restoration to Plut us, the God of "'ealth, of the sight of his eyes. ChremyIus, the human h['ro of the play, has consulted the oracle of Apollo on the C]uestion of how his son may sllcc(,pd in life without becoming a scoundrel, and the gocl has directed him to follow the first man he meets on leaving the temple. The obj£Oct of the divine reference ha~ turned out to 1)(' a clirty and disreputabl£O blind man, and Chrem:-'lus has been dutifully dogg;ing his heels ever since he fm:t laid eyes on him. By the time the play begins Cario, the slave of Chremylus and a character much more of the New than of the Old Com('dy, has quite lost patience with his master's ht£Ost foolishness and demands in no uncertain terms to know the reasons and the purposes of it. Chrelllylus explains, but Cario is far from convinced and insists on finding out who the blind m:m is. Plutus discloses his identity with the greatest rcluctance. for ev£Or since the malignity of Zeus had deprived him of his vi~ion, he has e,perienced nothing but the worst of tre~tl1leJ1t at the hand., of mankind every time he has revealed his name. At this point Chremylus is suddenly inspired with the ma~ nificent idea that if the blindness of Plut us is healed, all the ills of human life will be rectif}['r1, and we remember The Birds and the birth of Pithetaerus' projects. Plutus is sceptical at first, but Chremylus convinces him without too JOS0
1060
Introduction
much difficulty, and after dispatching his slave to fetch the husbandmen who are his boon companions, he takes the god into his house. The entrance of the Chorus has thus been motivated, and snon Cario comes in at the head of the rustic band, which plays a very unimportant r{lle in the comedy. Chremylus comes out and greets his country neighbours, but their mutual felicitations are interrupted by the arrival of Blepsidemus, a friend of Chremylus, who fmds much that is suspiciou~ in the sudden affluence of the household. Once it has been made quite clear to him that he too stands to profit by the situation, his hostile attitude loses its principal or solitary raison d'etrc and he enthusiastically supports the proposals of Chremylus. At this point both friends are frightened out of their wits by the entrance of a woman of superhuman stature and terrifying aspect, looking for all the world like some Fury detached from a tragic chorus. She turns out to be Poverty, and Chremylus engages her in a long debate on the question of whether it is she or Plutus who most benefits mankind; the scene is the descendant and the souvenir of the Agon in the Old Comecly. Beaten in the argument, Poverty leaves the stage with laments and threats, but Chremylus laughs at these and summons Cario, with whom he takes Plutus to the temple of Asclepius to be healed of his blindness. The stage is now left to the Chorus, and if we have not read The Erricsiazusac we expect the delivery of the parabasis; all that we have is the indication that there was an interlude of dancing by the Chorus. We must, however, assume the lapse of a considerable amount of time during this, for the scene which follows consists mainly of Cario's amusing report of the miraculous cure that has been performed on Plutus, and in a little while the god himself returns, rejoicing in the light that he can see again and in the Utopia which he is about to materialize. The scenes which follow the return of Plutus are more reminiscent of the Old Comedy than anything cIse in the play, for they represent the familiar series of anonymous and typical characters who iIIustrate the various social effects of the revolution which has been effected in the first part of the comedy. Thus the poet brings in first the happy Just Man, for whom the world has only now become tolerable, and after him the Informer, who fails to arouse the pity which seems his only means of livelihood at present, the Old Woman, whose gigolo will now have no reason to consort with her, Hermes, who is unable to fmd any use for his rascaIly talents in the Utopian society that a seeing Plutus has established, amI fmally a priest of Zeus, whom the hunger induced by a sacrifIccIess profession has driven to transfer his services to the new lord of the universe. The comedy ends rather lamelv with the assurance of Chremylus to the old woman that her young man ~il1 be with her this evening and the beginning of a sacred procession to install Plutus on the Acropolis.
Introduction
1061
If we make Plutus the first, rather than the last, comedy of Aristophanes that we read, we find it a sufficiently amusing play, but if we come to it fresh from Peace or The Thcsmophoriazusae it is a singularly disappointing performance. One may suspect, however, that if we knew the history of Athens as intimately from 410 to 388 as we know it from 43I to 4 I I we should be astonished at th(' resistance to change exhibited by the Old Comedy. The thirty-seven years between The Acharnians and P/utus brought with them an amollnt of alteration of the form and the spirit of comedy that is impressive and depressing enour:;h, but the changes in the social and economic life of Athens during this period were incomparably greater.
PL UTUS
(SCE~E '-Thl? Orchestra r('prcscnts a public square in .. It /tells. In the /}(/ck/irulllld is the house of emU.MYLUS .• J ragg('(i old blind man enters, followed by CIIREMYLUS alld IllS sla,'c CARro.)
C ARIO an unhappy fate, great gods, to be the slave of a fool! A servant may give the best of advice, but if his master does not follow it, the poor slave must inevitably have his share in the disaster; for fortune docs not allow him 10 di~pk Recatl'> whether it i;, bel tel' to be rich or starvl\1/!:; she will tell you that the rich send her a meal every month and that the poor make it disappear before it i~ even served, But /!:o and hang yourself and don't breathe another syllable, I will not be convinced against my will. POVERTY
"Oh! citizens of Argo,,! do you hear what he says?"" ClIREMYLUS
Invoke l'allson, your boon companion, rather. POVERTY
Alas! what b to
be~:ome
of me? ('rmEMYLUS
Get you gon(', be off quick and a pkasa:1t joun1PY to you. POVERTY
But where shall I go? CllREMYLUS
To gaol; but hurry up, let us put an end to this. POVERTY
(as she dl'parts)
One day you will recall me. ClIIWMYLUS
Then vou can return: but disappear for the present. I prefer to be rich; you are free to knock your head against the walls in your rage.
Aristophancs BLEPSIDJoMUS
And I tuo welcome wealth. I want, when I leave the bath all perfumed with essences, tu feao,t bravely with my wife and children and to fart in the faces of toilers and Poverty. CHREMYLUS
So that hussy has gone at last! But let us make haste to put I'lutu5 to bed in the Temple of Asclepius. BLEPSIDEMUS
Let us make haste; else some bothering fellow may again come to interrupt us. CHREMYLUS
(loudly)
Cario, bring the coverlets and all that I have got ready from the house; let us conduct the god to the temple, taking care to observe all the proper rites. (ames out of the house with a bundle under one arm and leading 7R'ith til(', otlter. CHREMYLUS and BLEPSIDEMUS join him and all four of them depart.) (lnterlud(, of r/Ilnrinf!, by the CUORUS.)
(CARIO
PUJTlTS
CARlO
Oh! you old fellows, who lIsed to dip out the broth served to the poor at the festival of Theseus with little pieces of bread hollowed like a spoon, how worthy of envy is your fate! How happy you are, both you and all juo,t men! LEADER OF TIlE CnORUS
?lIy good fellow, what has happened to your friends? You seem the bearer of good tidings. CARIO
What joy for my master and even more for Plutus! The god has regained his sight; his eyrs sparkle with the greatest brilliancy, thanks to the benevolent care of Asclepius. LEADJ,R OF' THE CHORUS
Oh! what transports of joy! oh! what shouts of gladness! CARIO
Aye! one is compelled to rejoice, whether one will or not. LEADER OF TIlE CHORUS
I will sing to the honour of Asclepills, the son of illustrious Zeus, with a resounding voice; he is the beneficent star which men adore.
Plutus CIIREMYLUS' WIFE (coming out of the house) What mean these shouts? Is there good news? With what impatience have I been waiting in the house, and for so long tOO! CARlO
Quick' quick, some wine, mistress. And drink some yourself, (aside)
it's much tu your taste. I bring you all blessings in a lump. WIFE
Where are they? CARlO
In my words, as you are going to
~ee.
WIFE
Have done wilh trilling! come, speak. ('ARlO
Listen, I am going to tell you everything from the f('ei to the hfad WIFE
Oh! don't throw anything at l11y head. CARlO
Not eVfn the happine
(aside)
Have a care for your tongue, you bearer of ill tidings! (To HERMES) Rut why does he want to treat us in that scurvy fashion? HERMES Because you have committed the most dreadful crime. Since Plutus has recovered his sight, there is nothing fur us uther gods, neither incense, nor laurels, nor cakes, nor victims, nor anything in the world. CARlO
And you will never be offered anything more; you governed us too iII HERMES I care nothing at all about the other gods, but it's myself. I tell you am dying of hunger.
r
CARlO
That's reasoning like a wise fellow. IhRMES Formerly, from earliest dawn, I was offered all sorts of good things in the wine-shops,-wine-cakes, honey, dried figs, in short, dishes wort hy of Hermes. Now, I lie the livelong day on my back, with my legs in the air, famishing. CARIO
And quite right too, for you often had them punished who treated you so well. HERMES Ah! the lovely cake they used to knead for me on the fourth of the month!
[11 2 7- 11 45]
Plutus
I II I
CARIO
You recall it vainly; your regrets are useless! HERMES
Ah! the ham I was wont to devour! CARlO
\Vell then! make use of your legs and hop on one leg upon the wineskin,J° to while away the time. HERMES
Oh! the griIled entrails I used to swallow down! CARlO
Your own have got the colic, I think. HERMES
OhI the delicious tipple, half-wine, half-water! CARlO
Here, take this and be off. (II e fart s.) HERMES (ill tragir style) Would you render service to the friend that loves you? CARlO
WiIIingly, if I can. HERMES
Give me some well-baked bread and a big hunk of the victims they are sacrificing in your house. CARlO
That would be stealing. HERMES
Do you forget, then, how I used to take care he knew nothing about it when you were stealing something from your master? CARlO
Because I uspd to share it with you, you rogue; some cake or other always came your way. HERMES
Which afterwards you ate up alI by yoursc1f. l l CARlO
But then you did not share the blows when I was caught.
III2
Aristophancs HERMES
Forget past injuries, now you have taken I'hyle. Ah! how I should like to live with you! Take pity and receive me. CARIO
You would leave the gods to stop here? HERMES
One is much better off among you. CARIO
What! you would desert! Do you think that is honest? HERMES
"\Vhere J live well, there is my country." CARlO
But how could we employ you here? HERMES
Place l11e near the door; I am the watchman god and would shift off the robbers. CARlO
Shift off! Ah! but we have no love for "hifts. HERMES
Entrust me with business dealings. CARlO
But we are rich: why should wr keep a haggling Hermes? HERMES
Let me intrigue for you. CARIO
No, no, intrigues are forbidden; we believe in good faith. HERMES
I will work for you as a guide. ('ARIO
But the god sees clearly now, so we no longer want a guide. HERMES
Well then, T will preside over the games. Ah! what can you olJjrct to in that? Nothing is fitter for Plutus than to give scenic amI gymnastic games. J"
Plutus
1113
CARIO
How useful it is to have so many names! Here you have found the means of earning your bread. J don t wonder the jurymen so eagerly try to get entered for many tribunals. HU{MLS
So then, you admit me on these terms? CARIO
(io and wash the ent rails of the victims at the well, so that you may .~how yourself serviceable at once. (Tirey both (,1Iter the hou.\('. A PRIEST of ZEUS comes hurrymg ill.) I'RHST
Can anyone tell me where Chremylus is? CIIREJll\,LUS (nl/f'I'gll1g
fro/ll tltr house)
What would you with him, friend? i'lnEST
~luch
ill. Since Pilitus h3S rec()vered his sight, T am perishing of starvation; 1, the priest of Zeus the UeliVE'rer, have nothing to eat! CllRFl\l\ LUS
,\nd what is the cause of that, pray? I'H1LST
~o
une dreams of offering sacrifices. CHH! MYLUS
Why not? PRIEST
Because all men are rich. Ah ~ when they had nothing, the merchant whf) esc::ped from shipwreck, the acclIsed who was acquitted, all inl1110latecl victim:" another wuuld sacrifice for the :,uccess of some wish anel the prie"t joined in :1t the feast; but now there i:-, not t he smallest victim, not one of the faithful in the temple, but thousands who come there to t3ke a crap. CHREMYLUS
Why don't you take your share of those offerings? PRIEST (igl/oring this)
Hence I think I too am goin\!: tu "ay good-bye to Zeus the Deliverer, and stop here myself.
Aristophanrs
1114
[ II88- 12 071
CllREMYLUS
Be at ease, all will go well, if it so please the god. Zeus the Deliverer is here; he came of his own accord. PRIEST
Ha! that's good news.
(Ile moves toward the door.) CHREMYLUS
Wait a little; we are going to install Plutus presently in the place he formerly occupied behind the Temple of Athene; there he will watch over our treasures for ever. (Calling out) Let lighted torches be brought to the priest. Take these and walk in solemn procession in front of the god. PRIEST
That's magnificent! CHREMYLUS
Let Plutus be summoned. (l'LUTlJS
conll's oul of l/i(' housr, followed by thr
OLD WOMAN.)
OLD WOMAN
And I, what am I to do? CHREMYLUS
Take the pots of vegetables which we are going to offer to the god in honour of his installation and carry them on your head; you just happen luckily to be wearing a beautiful embroidered robe. OLD WOMAN And what about the object of my coming? CHREMYLUS
E\'erything shall be according to your wish. The young man will be with you this evening. OLD WOMAN Oh! if you promise me his visit, I will right willingly carry the pots.
(She puts them on her head.) CHREMYLUS
Those are strange pots indeed! Generally the scum rises to the top of the pots, but here the pots are raised to the top of the old woman.].'
begins to march solernuly off the stage; the lo7J.'s !tim,)
(I'LUTUS
OLD WOMAN
fol-
l1208- 1209]
Plutus
IllS
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Let us withdraw without more tarrying, and follow the others, singing as we go (They do so.)
NOTES }.S, who beratcs them.) DEMFAS
Don't you hear? Be off. CIIRYSIS (bewildered) Where on earth am I to go, for pity's sake? DEMEAS
To the devil, off with you!
[15 8-17 1]
The Girl from Samos
II3 1
CURYSIS
o unkind fate!
(Size bursts into tears.) DEMEAS
(with bitter irony)
Oh, yes, unkind fate! Very moving, tears, to be sure. I'll put an end. I fancy, to your . . . (ll c suddenly checks himself.) CHRYSIS
To my doing what? DEMEAS
!\othing. You've got the baby and the old woman. Clear out at once. CHRYSIS
Because I kept the baby and because . . . ? DEMEAS
1\0 "ancb" at all. Because you kept the baby. CHRYSIS
Is that all that's wrong? I don't understand, DEMEAS
You clidn't know how to live in luxury. CHRYSIS
I didn't know how? \Vha t do you mean? DEMEAS
Yet you came to me with nothing !Jut the dress you had on, mind you, Chrysis, and a very plain one too. CURYSIS
What of it? DEMEAS
It was I you thought the world of in those days, when you weren't doing so well. CHRYSIS
And who is it now? DEl'.IEAS
No more of this. You have everything of yours. I'm giving you besides, see? Leave the house, Chrysis.
servant~
113 2
[17 1- 186]
Menander COOK
It's a fit of temper. I must go to him. Oh, sir, retlect. DEMEAs
What have you to say? COOK
Don't bite me!
(II e rrtires.) DEMEAS
Well, some other woman will put up with what I have to offer, Chrysis, from now on, and thank the gods too. CHRYSIS
What's the matter? DEMEAS
'Yhy, you 've got a son, that's all. COOK
He's not biting yet. (To
DEMEAS.)
Even so
DEMEAS (to th{' COOK) J'll smash your head, you fellow, if you give me any more of your talk.
COOK
Well, you've the right; but look, I'm going in
IlOW.
(Exit.) DEMEAS (resorting to sarwsJll) The great lady! Now YOldl disc()\'er in the city just who you are. Ladylove" like you, Chrysis, make a bare ten shillings, running about to dinners and drinking strong drink until they die--{)f until they go hungry, if they don't die promptly and speedily. Nobody will know what it i:. like any better than you will, I fancy, and you'll find out just what you amounted to when you made your mistake. (CllRYSIS approaches.) Stay where you are. (lIe Jlams tl/1' door ill her face.) CHRYSIS
Oh, what an unlucky girl T am!
(She 7J)rrps bitt('1·ly.) (At this point 1\ICEHATlJS apprars on the srrnr (s(orting from tizr market a skinny o/d sheep as his (orltrilmtion to his daughter's 7J)edding.)
The Girl from Samos
1133
NrCERATUS
When this sheep is sacrificed, the gods and goddesses will get their due. It has blood, bile enough, fine bones, a big spleen, just what the Olympians require. And I'll make hash of the fleece and send it to my friends for a taste, since that's all that's left for me. (The shap is taken into NICERATUS' house and hr: spies CllRYSIS.) But, Heracies, what's this? Here's Chrysis standing in front of the house in tears. Verily it's no other. Whatever has happened? CHRYSIS
I've been shown the door by your good-natured friend.
o Heracles!
J uee what Pamphila has to say about her husbancrs conduct. Thereupon Chat'Te SYRISC'US (indirating SMIC'RINES) How about that man? Does he suit you a~ a judge? DAVUS
Yes, goud luck to it. SVRISC'us (t () SMICRINES) If you please, sir, could you spare us a minute? SMIC'RINES
(t ('st tly)
You? What for? SYRISC'US
We have a disagrcement about something. SMIOUNES
Well, what's that to me? SYIUSCUS
We are looking for someone to decide it impartially. So if nothing prevents, do settle our dispute.
The Arbitration
1149
SMICRINES Confound the rascals. Do you mean to say that you go about arguing cases, you fellows in goatskins? SYRISCUS Suppose we do. It won't take long and it's no trouble to understand the case. Grant the favour, sir. Don't be contemptuous, please. Justice should rule at every moment, everywhere. \Vhoever happens to come along should make this cause his own concern, for it's a common interest that touches all men's lives. DAVUS (alarmed at this hurst of eloquence) I've got quite an orator on my hands. Why did I give him anything? S]I;IICRINES Well, trllme. Will you abirle by my decision? SYRISCUS Ahsolutely. SMICRINE'i I'll hear the case. Why shouldn't I? (Turning to the sullen DAVUS) You speak first, you that aren't saying anything. DAVUS (sllr(' of his case but not 1,('ry slire of hiS words, whi,h come slowly el1ou{!,h to 1!'a'lIe room for frequellt pauses) I'll go back a bit fIrst-not just my dealings with this fellow-so you'll l111d('r~land the transaction. In the scrubland not far from here I was watchmg my Hocks, sir, perhaps a month ago to-day, all by myself, when J found a baby left deserted there with a necklace and SOillC such trinkets as these. (lIe shows some trinkets.) SYRISCUS The dispute is about them. DAVUS He won '( let IlIe speak. SMICRINES (to SYR1SCUS)
If you interrupt, I'll take my stick to you. DAVUS And serve him right too. SMICRINES Go on.
lIsa
lIIcnandcr DAVUS
I will. I picked it up and went back home with it and was going to raise it. That's what 1 intended then. In the night, though, like everyone else, I thought it over to myself and argued it out: "Why should I bring up a baby and have all that trouble? Where am I to get all that money to spend? What do I want with all that worry?" That's the state I was in. Early next morning I was tending Illy flock again, when along camc this fellow, he's a charcoal-burner, to this same spot to get out stumps there. Hc had made friends with me before that. So we got talking togf'lher and he saw that I was gloomy and said: "Why so thoughtful, Davus?" "Why indced," said I, "I meddle with what doesn't concern mc." So I tell him what had happened, how I found the baby and how I picked it up. And he broke in at once, before I had fmished my story, and began entreating me: "As you hope for luck, Davus," he kept saying every other thing, "do give me the baby, as you hopc for fortune, as you hope for freedom. I've a wife, you see," says he, "and she had a baby, but it died." l\feaning this woman who is here now with the child, Did you entreat me, Syriscus? SYRISCUS
I admit it. DAVUS
He spent the whole day at it. FInally I yielded to his coaxing and teasing and promised him the child and he went off wishing me a million blessings. When he took it too, he kissed my hands. Didn't you? SYRISCUS
Yes, I did. DAVUS
He took himself off. Just now h(' ;lild his wife happened on me and all of a sudden hc claims the objects that I found with the child-it was some small matters, tomfoolery, nothillg really-and says he's cheated because 1 don't consent and lay claim to them myself. I say, though, that he ought tu be thankful for the share he did get by his entreaties. Though T don't givr him all of it, that's no reason why I should have to stand examination. Even if he had found it while we were going about together and it had been a case of share-your-Iuck, why he would have got part and I the rest. But I was alonc when I found it and you weren't even there and yet you think you ought to have all and I nothing. To conclude, I have given you some! hing of mine. If you arc satisfied with it, you may still keep it; but jf you arcn'l satisfied anrl have changed your mind, then give it back again to me and takc neither morr nor less than your due. But for you to havc the whole business, part with my consent, the rest forced from me, is not fair. That's all I have to say.
The Arbitration SYRISCUS
IISI
(keeping a r('sperl ful e)'c on I hc stick)
It that a]]? SMICRINES
Didn't you hear what he said:' He has finbl1l'l1. SYI,IC,C'U!>
(His words comc fast cnour,h liut his flir,hts of eloque1lCC have a tcndency til sink unexpectedly. However, his quick turns and livrly r,esturl's supply any deficiencies and DAVUS is left stranded just where he thour,ht himself most secure) Good. Then I'll take my turn. He was alone when he found the baby.
He is right about everything that he has mentioned. The facts are aay in meeting. Now then, this way, master, the portals wait thy entray in the end that at the present moment you're lxhavin)!; like a lunatic. What's the idea? Whom are you going to abduct? She is her own mistress. When a man's at a disadvantage and loves a woman, no cour~e is open but to win h('r by fair words. POLEMO~
But haven't I a case GLYCERA
A spring she mentioned and a shady nook. PATAECUS
The same that he who left the habps dpscribed to me. (iLYCERA
And who
wa~
he? If naught prevents, 1('( mp know too.
The Shearing of Gtyccra
1195
I'ATAECUS
A servant left you there, 'twas I who feared to rear you. (He embraces GLYCERA as his long-lost daughter.) GLYCERA
You abandoned your own children? What induced you? I'ATAECUS
Many are the sudden freaks, Illy child, of fortune. lour mother died in bearing you, and just the day before, my daughterGLYCERA
What happened, pray? God's mercy, how I tremble! l'ATALCUS
I was reduced to poverty, though used to wealth. GLYCERA
What! In one day? A frightful blow, ye gods! l'ATAECliS
r\ ews reached me that the ~hip which was our sole support was lost beneath the wild Aegean's briny waves.
o pity!
GLYCERA
what a fate was mine! PATAECUS
And so I chose to think that, facing beggary with clinging babes like boats in tow, 'twould class a lllan as utter fool to try to keep them. I sacrificed the best of all things, daughter. \\"hat is the rest like? GLYCERA
It shall all be li~ted. There was a necklace with a few engraved gems that were put with the babes as marks of recognition. PATAECUS
Shall we inspect them, GLYCERA
\Ye can't now. PATAECUS
Why so? GLYCER,\
My brother got the rcst as his share, of course,
Menander MOSCHION (to himself) Then this man, so it seems, is my father. l'ATAECUS Can you tell me what there was? GLYCERA There was a silver girdle. l'ATAECUS So there was. GLYCERA And the pattern on it girls in a dance. You recall it then? And a transparent wrap and a gold head-Land. That completes the list.
(Here another gap intervenes with .10m!' indication that :\10SCIIION at this point d!'clares himself and I'1nbrac('s his father and his sister. GLYCERA'S fortune is made and POLleMON has now no hop!, of 'winning her back. It is, howcver, just her ne7.£I-foUlld s(,curity that gIV!'S her confidence to face him and acccpt him 01lCC more as a lover. The final scene is pres(,rved. 1'0LD.lON is talking to DORIS.) POLEMON
I intended to hang myself. DORIS Oh, don't do that. POLEMON But what am I to do, Doris? How am I to live, God have mercy on me, apart from her? DORIS She'll come back to youPOLEMON Gracious heaven, what news: DORIS I f you'll do your best to be kind hereafter. POLE MaN
I'd never fall short in anything, I assure you, for you are more than right. Go at once. I'll set you free to-morrow, Doris. (l':xit DORIS.) But let me tell you what you are to say. She's gone in. Oh, my angry, angry passions, how you took me by storm! It was a brother, not a lover to
The Shearing of Glyccra
1197
whom she gave that kiss. And 1, fIend that I was, utterly blind with jealousy, at once ran amuck. As a result I was going to hang myself and for good reason. (DORIS returns.) What news, my dear Doris? DORIS Good news; she will come to you. POLEMON
Are you mocking me) DORIS Ko, by Aphrodil{·. But she was dressing up and parading for her falher. Kow you ought at once to celebrate her good fortune wilh a feast-it came in time of need-now that her ship has come in at last. POLI(MON
By Zeus 1 will, for you 're quite right. The cook from the market is in the hOll only po,ses!:>lUns. CONTIIYl. .... A dcme in Attica. CllPAIC I:El.S These Boeolian t.lehcaclcs camc flom L.lke CopalS, CORA or ("ORE See 1'1,""I·.I'IIONE. CllRCYRALAN WINC;!:> By the"c are meant WhiPS, an ,lrlick for wluch the island of ('orlyra, the modern Cod u, \Va, espcually famou!:> COIUlAX A d.mce, the prcClse luture of wlulh i!:> not known It seems to have been performed only in cO[l1ed) (,ORI.'fTII, A city on the bthmus, famou, for its pro,titutes. 'ORYUANll.S. Prie;;t, of Cybl'le, who WOl',hIpped her in orgia;.tlc dance'; they were supposed to be able to cure 10samty ('O}{\,(,II A nymph, from whom a cave on 1\1t Parna;.sus was named 1t was near the fountam of Castalta ("OTTAlll'S The n.lml' of a u)llvlvial game wluch W,I!:> very popular in Grl'cce. Thl'rc would !:>(,(,lll to have la'en l1Ul1lerrJu, varieties, hut in all of them the fundaml'ntal pOlllt was to test one's skIll in throwlllg "inc from a cup into some other ve"el at an agreed dIstance. COl \ 1A A hqUld measure, auout h.t1f a pmt The word mean;. "cup" (HANAl''; The mythl,al founder of Athens (" 11'1'11. The Greek is cplke( fwdo", Itterally "one who haS jU,t defecated"; a 1c.\lcon u;,ucllly qUlte ,t.lld a>;tonishl's u" "Ith "Shit tl'rling " (RAn.S A comic poel e:trlter th.m Anstophant'" ('({ATHIS A rivl'r in southelll Italy, which made golden thc hair of men and the fleece of sheep '" \ IINl·S. An older comIC poet; in 42,1 he won the first pnze and neatly turned the tabks on Aristophanes, who ha(i ca,t ,lurs on his srnihty the yeH before (KIl1.~ht\ 52(,ff) CREON J, Brother of J ocasta 2 A I{'~ endary kinr, of Corinth, ClU.1 L A ia rge i,land south of thc Aegean, 111 the fIfth ccntury famous for
GloSSa7'Y looseness of morals, but in the Heroic Age more highly re"pected. (InSA. A town in Phon,. CRONUS. Father of Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus. He was deprived of his throne by Zeus CUROT!WPliUS. An epithet of various dlvimtlcs; it means "nourhbmg the young." CYANEAN. Sc'e SY}.1I'I.EG\I'}.S. c\ DELE. An A"latlc goddess identifICd with Rhea. Her worolllp wa, wild and oq.da:.tic in character, and hener it h""II1'(' e losely connected with that of Diony"us. ( YC;IIRL \ An old ndn1(' for S"Llmis n ' ( LOI'I:S One-cyed glant-, as'I'itanb of lIepha(·,tlls, who wei e ,uppo;,ed to dwell hkewi", :t, shepherd, In Sicily (YCNOHr\!\IDAE.. "Swan-f rOV5- " ( ,('"1',,. A famolls robber "lam by Hcr.ldes. CYIJATlIE>,;.\L\. An Attic (kme, birthplace of Cleon and of Ari-toph.lIlcs CYLU.1'OL. A mountam in the P('\oponnrsus, 'i~ tred to J j t·rmes. (,\'1'O·\IOPL).. NICkname of thl' brothelI,eeper PhJlo,tr::tus, It mean- "dogfox" The mentIOn of the dog-fox in the or.lele Ir, Tilt' l\/1/,htl (1067ff) immeeh.ltrly oug~L,b Pllllo,tlatu" and this pa,:.age may serve as an index to hi, lharacter CY;';NA. 0111' of the best known courtesans in Athcn~l. CYI>;]I!US A mount:lIn i" Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and l\rtemi,. CYPRIS. Aphrodite Cl:l'ln:s. A large I-l:incl In the ?lll'lhtl'lrancan, south of Cdi,'la eYRIe1'OL I A City III northern :\11"':1, west of E~ypt 2 III /\nstophane-, till' name 01 a f.lIlIOU, (ourte,,:!n, pelil.1I)' of Cormt lu.lIl ()n~m, Illckrwl1lc,1 dodt'klll1'('(IIlIIlOS to lII(lIcate her m:l'tery of no Ie" llwn a dozen methods cf making love. (YRI'S Founder of the Pei sian Empil ('. ('Y!'lIEnA An i.,lalld off the ,out hem tIP of the Peloponl1t"u'i, f.lmous for it, wor5hip of Aphrodite CYLIlDIE YLLLOW, r\o ,1I(h c1~1' b
121 3
known to have existed, but thc inha bilants of CyZICUS had a reputation for cowardice anrl effeminacy and the name su~ge5t, the Greek word chczl'in, "to defec.!te " It may be that we ,hould correlt the text in such a way as to get the comic name "Chezicenc." A mythical person who was suppocl'd to havr made the first advances in tbe ar!>; of sClIlptur'~ and architect ure DANAA'f. ErJuivalent of Greek. DA"AE. Dau~hter of ArrislUs, king of Argos, who confmecl her in a brazen to\\er, since an or.!clc hild teJld him that :.he \\ ould bc.H a ehild who \\(lIlld kill 111m. Zeus Visited her m a sho,"er of gold, and ~he gave tmth to Persew.. Acn,ius ,hut mother and child m a chest, ca't it into the se,l, but both were rc,cucd 1"',A1 Desccnd,mt, of D.mall' 1:-erl frequently for the Greeks in ~cnrral DANArs. Set' IntroductIon to Ae'lhylus' Tilt' Suppilllnis. J)\Hll \:'i1'S. 1\1 yt l\lc.!1 ann"tor of the Trojam. lIenee nardanian is the equi\'all'nt of Trojan D UtJ1'S King of Per,ia, Lther of Xerxes. D.I1IS. A l'er'lan nal1ll' The mCln rl'~ fel red to III Prarr (Y:)9ff ) I' otherll 1-1' unknown; he cannot be the f.lmom l(,mmander at l\1.lr.lthon HIS r('~ mark contains a mistake in Greek. but this can hardly bc the whole point of its citatIOn. DAr LIS or DAl'r.J.\ ..\n anCIent to\\ n III PhOCIS DI J\"J lln Sec Sophocles' Tilf Trachl11IMWM.US.
we. A small j,l:lI1d in the .\(,:;:(,3n, birthplace of Apollo and Artemis DLI PllI. :\ t o\\'n in PhOCIS, :'Ite of a Llmous oracuhr shline of Apollo and of the p.' thl.lI1 Games nUIE. Thc term apphed to the ~ma\le~t dl\'i,ions of AttIca, corre'p(mdin~ to \\.11 cis or townships in modern states DUOS.
1214
Glossary
DEMETER. Goddess of agriculture, mother of Persephone. DEMOLOGOCLEON. A comic name meaning "mob-orator Cleon" and applIed, or misapplied, to Bdelycleon in The Wasps (34,,). DEMOS. 1. The Greek word for "people" and the name of a character in The Knights who is de(JI of incredible mdgnifIcellce. The term "Km,,'o; Eye" wa" applied to a number of officiaL who (onstit uled a !'ort of royal intdhgence 5t"fVicc and kept the monarch mform,'d of what wa'i g;oing on throughout hi., va .. t realm. K~H:JlTS. In early Attic hisLory, the SC'( onci hig;hest income bncket; later the cavalry arm, JOOO in number, JOO from c'](h trihe. The,e men were chosen from the two highest income
1(1X(;
\'..1'
brackets; they were traditionally con'iNvativc, and they had actively opposed Cleon. 1\ ,JHL Sec PLRSl:.P110!':C.
A kmg; of Thehes, t he father of LalU'" The name LabdaCldae IS otten given to hi'" descendants LABl:~ The Acxoni.Ln dog, accused of theft in The Walpl of Ari.,tophanes Thc nam(' ,ug;ge'its both the (;rcek ia/Jein, "to take" and Laches. 1.\' Ll)ALMO" Sec ~Pi\RTA. LA( liES. An Athelllan gencrcs of Athcnc and Artemis LEUCOL()I'Ht:S In The Frogs of /ui,tophancs (lST3) the father of Adlmant liS. In The Ecclcsza:usae (645) an unknown man, who cannot be the same as thc father of Adlmantus I f.{)COTllOr. A sca goddess Sec INO. IlBV~ EquI\-a1rnt of Africa. IlCYM ql', The hali-brother of Alcmena, \\ 110 \\',\S hIlled by Tlepolcmu-, the son of IIcraclcs In Tlte Dad, (J 242) the reference is to a tral,cdy of thIS n.!me by Euripldes, III \\ hICh some person or thing wa, consumell by lightning. lIM 'I \. A sea-coast town in T!Ol'zen l.I~I'S The personificatIOn of a dIrge or lamentation UPS\'[)RW, :\ 10calIt,', not a clemt'. in Attica, above Parnes, which \\'as fOl tified by the e~lled nobles of t he bmil~' of the Alcmeollidae, but in v,lin, for the partis:m, of Hippias Sllc(c,,;;fully besle~ed the pLtce :\ n.;( ophanes is \'Cry fond of 1lJ.\'lng his old warriors n'~ini,ce about e\'rnts which took place long; Defore they were born, anI! the reference to Lip:05. NAFPLlrs KI:'>: of Eubora, and father of Palamede:ranr/,on. Nn ODICE A woman's name, formed from nike, "victory" and dike, "Justier." NlC'OMACHI'S A corrupt under-secretary in the public service. NICOSTRATUS. A man who was inordi-
u,
Glossary nalcly fond of sacrifICes and of foreigners. NIOm:. Daup:hlrr of Tantalu" wIfe of Amphion of Thehes, mother of fourtl'en children, bccau,e of whIch she lhoup:hl herself ,upenor to Lelo All her offspring were slain by Apollo and Artemis and Niobe her,rlf wa" turnrd by Zrus inlo a stone on M t. Sipylu, in Lydia, which shrd trars in the summer. »;ISl'S King of Meganl. and fathrr of Scylla. NOMAN When Ody,seus was a"J..ed h) the Cyclops to give hIS namr, he an-swert·d "Koman" After thl' monster" l'ye har! bren burned out and he ha,l callrr! on hb fellow CYl lopes for a'sistance, thry a,J..l'd who was harmIng him and hr said "Noman " Thry natur.dly left him to hIS btl', and Ody''l'us made good his ('scapl'. NOTl', Thl' South WInd. NY'A. Thc ll'grndary 'ernc of the nurture of DIOnysus. Thrre arc srvcr.t! placrs which arl' givrn thIS name 00 A~PS.
The god of the water whiLh was belicvcd to surround the \\ hole e.lrth He was the hu,h.ll1l1 of Telh\', O[)EU~ The n,lme of one oj the buildings in which tri lb \\ rrr held; it had formerly been U',e(1 for mU'lcal contests. ODYS~iJo.FS Kinr( of Ithaca. son of Laertr·. hu,h.llld of Pelll'iope, Llthl'r of TelL-marhu' F"mous for hI' craft In('" and adroltne',•• hl' is lI'II.llly thl' n!l.'lll of tllP tragIc plot> III whIch 1H' appear" OE\ An unidentifIed Clag in Attic.l (lEM;RI'S A poplllar actor OFAX Brother of Palamc(\es OITlIAI L\ A tmln 111 Ellboe.1. (lEe I H'S Fathrr of Amplll,lrau[;X.
"Fond of alien;,,"' the name of a notorious pederast. I'IIINEUS. King of SalmydessU3 in Thrace. He blinded his sons becaw,e of a false accu,ation by their stepmother against them. The gods then blinded him and 5ent the Harpies to torment him He was delivered from thcsful Athenian admiral in the early years of the Pcloponnesian War, something of a martinet and of austere and frugal personal habits His hirsuteness was notorious PHORMISJUS. A very haIry man who wa, rather important politically m the years followmg the Sicilian expedItion. PHRATI{Y. A subdIvision of a tribe, 1Il the survivals of the old trilml organization of Attica Enrollment in a phratry was the tohen of legItimacy. PHRYGIAN. Trojan; Phrygia was a country in northwestern Asia Minor. PIlRYNIClllTS I. A tragic dramaU,t, tlw most important before Aeschylus, noted for the preponderance of lyric and dancing in his plays 2 The name of a comic poet, a contemporary and rival of Aristophanes 3. Thc name of a promincnt member of the oligarchical revolutIOnary group in 41 T PIIRYNIS. A composer of "modernistic" music for the lyre, and a talented performer on that instrument. PHRYX. "Phrygian," a slave-name. PIITlIIA. A distnct in southeastern Th(',saly, the realm of Achilles' PHYLARCH. The commander of a division of cavalry. Each of thc ten tribe,> contributed 100 horsemen, and a member of the knightly clas