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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at|http: //books .google .com/I THE NINETEEN TRAGEDIES AND FRAGMENTS OF EURIPIDES- TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL WODHULL, ESQ, A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED THROUGHOUT BY THE TRANSLATOR. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : PRINTED FOR JOHN WALKER ; T. PAYNE ; YERNOR, HOOD, & SHARPS; R.LEA; 3, NUNN ; CUTHELL & MARTIN; E; JEFFERY ; LONGMAN, HURST, REE8, AND ORME ; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, 6c CO. ; J. BOOKER; J. RICIL4RDSON; BLACK, PARRY, & KINGSBURY; J. FAULDER ; J. ASPERNE; AND J. HARRIS. 1809. £. Biackader, Friiuer, Took*« Court, Cbaiiccry Lxne. \'H-^l PREFACE. ■ \ EuRiPiDKS was borri in the island of^alamis, in the seventy-fifth Olympiad ; his parents Mne» sarchus and Clito having retired thither from Athens at the time that city was menaced by the powerful armament of Xerxes. Historians are by no means agreed as to the rank of our Poet's Father and Mother : the proofs which some en- deavour to adduce of their nobility do not appear by any means convincing ; and if we admit the oracle of Apollo to have been consulted by them during the pregnancy of Clito, in regard to the fortunes of their future Child, as an attention to the voice of soothsayers is by no means peculiar to those of high birth or afHuence, it might be too precipitate to conclude from thence, with Bayle, either that her station in life was superior to that of a6 herb- woman, or that the distressed circumstances of her Husband were not amon^ bis principal motives for changing the place of his abode. But whatever may have been the rank or occupation of Mnesarchus and Clito, they appear to have possessed the honourable title of free-born citizens of Athens. The day on which Euripides came into the world was peculiarly auspicious to his country, VOL. I. a ii PREFACE, being that of the Greeks' obtaining a decisive vic- tory over the Persian fleet, an event, to which he is supposed by Barnes and the ablest critics to have alluded, in his description of the sacred ta- pestry with which Ion decorated the tent he erected at Delphi ; a gross breach of chronology it must be owned, but such as the spirit of na- tional glory I. as always been found not only to ex- cuse, but applaud in a dramatic writer. In his youth, Euripides was brought up to the gymnastic exercises ; he moreover acquired sufiicient knowledge in painting to be considered as one of the antient artists by the writers who have treated on that subject: but he gave early hopes of becoming more distinguished by his philosophical studies, and continued to be a pu- pil of Anaxagoras, whose lessons he attended with great assiduity, till finding his master ex- posed to persecution from his ardent search after wisdom, and in imminent danger of losing bis life, he at about the age of eighteen applied him^- self to Dramatic Poetry ; but amidst these more attractive employments was never unmindful of the strict precepts which he had imbibed in his tender years : the attachment to real virtue so strongly displayed in his writings, and his inva- riable enmity to every species of Tyranny and Su- perstition, have secured to him that applause which mere genius is incapable of attaining; and it is with justice that he is considered by posterity as one of those few real Sages wh# PREFACE. Hi have indeed employed fiction, but employed it principally as a vehicle for the noblest truths. That Euripides did not, with the garb and pro- fession, by any means lay aside the study of Phi- losophy, is apparent, not only from the whole tenour of his works, but from the well-known in- timacy of his friendship with the immortal So- crates ; nor can it be unseasonable here to ob- serve, that his superior success in the attempts he made to instruct mankind, may be attributed to his having artfully blended the lessons he gave to his countrymen with interesting tales of Gods and Heroes, and formed an admirable com- bination of amusement with the most whole- some precepts that ever dignified the strain of the moral Muse. The events transmitted to us of Euripides's life, though extended to no inconsiderable length by Barnes and Bayle, are very few in number ; and we may collect from thence, that he passed most of his days in that unambitious retirement from public affairs, which is the usual sphere of a man deeply engaged in literary pursuits : the bio- graphers record that he was twice married, and proved each time so unsuccessful in his choice, that his frequently speaking in harsh terms of the female sex may in a great measure be ascribed to domestic grievances^ and the licentious conduct of his Wives, to whom they also impute his leav- ing Athens at an advanced age, and going to the court of Archelaus king of Macedon, by whom a2 IT PREFACE. be was received with distingaished bonoars. Af- ter residing at Pella about tbree year% be came to an unfortunate end : tbe general account is, tbat be was torn to pieces by bounds ; but tbe circumstances of bis deatb are variously repre- sented ; some have ascribed it to tbe malice of bis enemies, oibers to mere accident, and suppose tbat bis meditations caused bim to wander too far into a wood : be appears, at the time tbis cala- mity befel bim, to bave been more tban seventy years old Arcbelaus caused tbe remains of tbe Tragic Bard to be interred at Pella with great funereal magnificence. No sooner did tbe account of bis deatb reach Athens, than he was universdly la- mented by his countrymen; Sophocles, like a generous rival, appeared drest in mourning, and introduced his actors on the stage without ^r- lands. The road leading from the city to tbe Piraeus, was the spot pitched upon by tbe Athe- nians for erecting a monument in honour of Euri- pides. Though the pieces he composed were numerous, heing according to some writers seventy-five, and according to others ninety-two, Moschopulus says he gained only five prizes, four, while living, and one after his death : some years, however, before he retired to Macedon, Plutarch relates, in his Life of Nicias, that several Athe- nian soldiers whom the Sicilians had taken prisouers; by repeating to their conquerors some verses of Euripides, obtained the kindest PREFACF. V treatment, aiid a speedy release from their cap- tivity. Longinus celebrates Euripides for his peculiar excellence in describing Love and Madness : talents for moving pity in a superior degree to any other dramatic writer, have been with one consent allowed to be his characteristic. Quin- 1 tilian recommends his Tragedies in the strongest terms to pleaders at the bar ; and it would here ' be easy to fill many pages with testimonies highly honourable to him, both from the antients and moderns : but the merits of Euripides are so generally known, that I shall not attempt to enter on a minute discussion of them, being sen- sible that the translator of a favourite Author is of all men least adequate to the province of iixji- partial Criticism. A considerable portion of my time has for several years been employed in either forming or revising this version, which I submit to the deci- sion of the Public, and am by no means sanguipe in my hopes of its success : but whatever recep- tion this undertaking may meet with, I i^hall never be b;'Ought to consider any labours as utterly fruitless which have introduced me to a more intimate knowledge of these valuable remains of antiquity, than I should otherwise in all probabi** lity have acquired. Such a search as seemed ab- solutely necessary into most of the comments and various readings, poured in abundantly from vi PREFACE. •every quarter, very considerably retarded my pro- gress, but has not been without its use, in ena- bling me to rectify some material errors which had escaped notice : after all the circumspection I have made use of, the number of my inaccuracies will I fear be found considerable, and would inevitably have been much greater, but for the kindness of those learned Friends who have taken the trouble of comparing my translation with the original, in passages where the Author's sense seemed most dubious* Another Gentleman, who died about six yjsars ago, leaving those who had the happiness of knowing him every reason to regret his less, favoured me at an early period with sonae useful remarks on my version of the Orestes, and agreed with me that the subjoining to it a short History of the House of Tantalus might be of service, towards making events with which the greater part of Euripides's Tragedies have some degree of connection, better known to such readers as are not intimatqly conversant with the mythological records of those times, than coiild have beep done by splitting what is there collected into a variety of detached notes. As for jany help beyond what is already men- tioned, I have had no coadjutor, either in the translation or notes, some of which I am sensible will to many be uninteresting, but are inserted through a mere principle of self-defence, a3 vouchers for my interpretation. The ground- work on which I proceeded has beeu Barnes's PREFACE. vii valuable edition : of this, as near ninety yeiars are novr elapsed since its publication, I may be indulged with the more freedom in speaking my ^ntiments : to that learned Commentator I feel Hiyself under a multitude of obligations, which I shdi always acknowledge with pleasure: if it be objected that some of his notes are prolix and desultory, it oujht to be remembered on the Cthtr hand, that he had not only a considerable ^kill in terbal criticism, but always availed him* self of extensive reading, aided by a peculiar happtrtess of memory, for illustrating the mytho* logy and customs of the Antients, and throwing the deaf est light on some passages which before K^erfe cither totally misunderstood, or considered ad unintelligrble. But such is the imperfection of human capacity, that no editions are exempt froitj many defects. In the copy of Barnes which I made use of, I have from time to time written down on the margin such corrections or variations as occurred to me on perusing the notes of Val- kertaer, Mr. Markland, Dv, Musgrave, Mr. Tyr^ H^bitt, Bruiick, and others; most of which, es- pecially those which were so material as in any degree to interest an English reader, I afterwards examined with a greater degree of^ attention in revising my translation. The Index subjoined to the third volume is meant to assist the English reader, and supply the most material interpreta- tionii left deficient in my notes, which are some- times, I perceive, too thinly scattered, especially in the Fragments. via PREFACE. Wherever the antient Editions are cited, I have seldom failed turning to the passage in them, or consulting a quotation in its original Author before I ventured to transcribe it : but even in these respects the library of an obscure individual will not always second the wishes of its p^vner, or enable him to proceed uoiformly in his search ; nor oiust I omit memtioning amopg its deficiencies that of frequently reducing me to give my own version of lines quoted from the Poets, because I had none to copy. Jn regard to Manuscripts, jwherever they are mentioned, I produce my vouchers, and am not able to say any thing from myself: to such readings, brought forward by later Editors, as are founded on their joint con- currence, I have considered the utmost deference as due : Jhese X am very happy tp find are by far less numerous and less violent in their operation than I had been taught to apprehend. As for mere conjiectural alterations, from whatever quarter they proceed, or however eagerly they are maintained, they are universally allowed to be extremely dangerous auxiliaries to a translator, unless their boasted acuteness and ingenuity is corroborated by a necessity for th^}r introduc- tion. At my first jentrance on this undertaking, I did not extend my views beyond a volume of select Tragedies; but th^ farther I proceeded, thp more dubious I found myself what to choose and what to reject .-'added tp this mptiye,. the PREFACE. ix disapprobation with which imperfect editions or versions of celebrated writers are frequently re- ceived by the Public, determined me, after makr ing some small progress, to translate the whole : flor did the Fragments, consisting of more than two thousand five hundred lines, appear to- me in the light of trivial gleanings, which I was at full liberty to retain or omit : their intrinsic merit is frequently very great, and so ample a callectioQ, first formed and digested in Barnes's edition, but having received many subsequent improvements and augmentations from Heathy Falkenaer, and Dr. Musgrave, has indisputable claim.) to the attention of a Translator. A whole Volume of no inconsiderable size we find appro- priated by Carmelli to the Fragments and Index : they have caused some addition to the bulk, but not to the number, of my three volumes : some few, which seemed ill calculated for rendering into English, I have omitted : as the Anagram consisting of those Greek letters which form the name of Theseus, together with here and there an imperfect sentence, or such as was nearly similar with what had already occurred. It may not, however, be superfluous to pre- ' mise, that among those invaluable remains of the Philosophic Bard, which abound with the noblest precepts of morality, the Reader will find some few sentences of an opposite tendency, supposed to be the language of men who were exhibited on the Athenian stage, not for the purpose of dis- X PREFACE. 5e[ninating their blasphemous or immoral senti- ments, but in order to strike offenders with ter- ror by their signal punishment, as Belleropbon, Sisyphus, and Ixion : it is with great injustice therefore that Plutarch cites one of these de- jtached passages, as shewing the irreligious dis^ position of Euripides. I have retained the order of the nineteen Tra- gedies as I found it in almost every Editor and Translator down to Dr. Musgrave. Canterus has prefixed to his edition of Euripides, printed by Christopher Plantin,. at Antwerp, in 1571, a list of pieces composed by the three Tragic wiitt;rs of Greece, iEscbylus, Sophocles and Euripides, ar- ranged with a view to the order of time when the events on which they are founded took place. Brumoy has copied it ; but neither the one nor the other has thought fit to bring it into practice : as far as relates to Euripides, the £pllowing is the order in which they ^re placed ; 1. low, t. Bacchanalians. 3. Meoea. 4. HiPPOLYTUS. 5. Alcestis. 6. HEltCtJLES l!)lStfiACtED. 7. Ph(enician Damsels. 8. Suppliants. 9. tPHIGENIA IN AULIS. iO» Rhesus. 11. Trojan Captivei. /12. Hecuba. 13. Cyclops. 14. Children of Hercules. 15. Electra. >16. Orestes. 17. Andromache. 18. IPHIGENrA IN TAURIS, 19. Helen. In thg above catalogue, various inaccuracies may with ease be pointed out. Mr. JodreU ha$ PREFACE. xi clearly shewn that the arrangement of the twp first Tragedies ought t,o be inverted : the Medea, however, from the circumstances of its bearing date very soon after the Argonautic expedition, and being prior to the birth of Theseus, derives ^ Utle to the third place, which I cannot but look upoa as satisfactory, though Mr. Potter gives prece- dence to the Alcestis ; the Phoenician Damsels I would place fourth, and then its sequel the Sup- pliants, from which we collect that Theseus was at that time still a young man, but had performed some of his most memorable exploits ; that Hero and Hercules having been comrades in arms, the arrangement of the pieces which relate to them is in some degree a matter of mere opinion ; but if the Hippolytus stands sixth, and the Alcestis and Hercules Distracted foUow, the transactions of each of those illustrious personages will be pre* served in a more unbroken series. The reign of Acamas and Demophoon at Athens is not usually understood to have commenced till after the siegp of Troy ; but it appears from more than one |:)^s- sage in the writings of Euripides, that he entirely passes over the usurpation of Menestheus, and considers the two sons of Theseus as having as- cended the (hrone immediately upon the death of their Father ; and what most clearly proves that the Tragedy of the Children of Hercules could. not be subsequent to the return of the Greeks from the siege of Troy, is Hyllus's being marked out as yet a stripling, and some of his Brothers and Sisters as in a state of absolute in- xii PREFACE. fancy : I must therefore place this, as Mr. Pot- ter has done, before the five which precede it according to Canterus. In the ten piajs which are founded either on the Trojan war, or the ad- ventures of those Princes who there signalized themselves, aind on those of their children, I have only one transposition to recommend, and that is bringing the Helen, which expressly precedes Menelaus's return to Greece, between the'Cy- clops and Electra, and ending with the Iphi- genia in Tauris, which will thus stand at a very wide and aukward distance from the Iphigenia in Aulis, to which it is as evident a sequel as the Suppliants are to the Phoenician Damsels. After I had weighed the inconveniencies of either ar- rangement, the idea of any play being more easily referred to (if I left them in their former state) by those who are conversant \yiih Euripides, was what preponderated : but such readers as prefer ^ chronological arrangement will meet vi^ith the best I am able to give them in the following list, with references to the volumes and pages, which will enable them with the greatest ease to mak^ use of it in the perusal. 1. Bacchanalians - - - - . - - - - il, 347. 2. Ion - - - till, 89^ 3. Medea , I, 247. 4. Phgbnici AN Damsels - I, 157. 5. Suppliants --»- 11^ 1, 6. HiPPOLYTCS ---«. I, 315, 7. Alcestis - I, 387. 8. Hercules Distracted ------ III, 177. 9. Children of Hercules II, 451. 10. Iphigenia in Aulis 7 11, 65. PREFACE. xiii 11. Rhesus --••n, 239. 12. Trojan Captives II, 289. 13. HecCba -^ I, 1. 14. Cyclops II, 411. 15. Helen ---- Ill, i, 16. Electra -- ni, ^43.^ 17. Orestes ------ I, 59^ 18. Andromache X :** h ^9- 19. Iprigenia in Taitris II, 157. If I have not translated the arguments prefixed to each Tragedy, it is by no means owing to any wish to decline so small an addition to the task I had engaged in, but merely to my judging that the Prologues or introductory speeches, which are usually very clear and circumstantial, render such assistance less needful for the purpose of illustrating Eurip'ides, than in any dramatic per- formances I ever recollect to have met with, whether antient or modern : which made me ap- prehend, that such double preludes, first in plain prose and then in verse, might be thought super- fluous. France, always accustomed to take the lead of other European nations, in the various de- partments of polite literature, produced very early translations of two Tragedies of Euripides. The Hecuba, by Lazarus de Baif, was printed by Robert Stephens in 1544 and again in 1550. Juvigny, in his edition of Croix de Maine, ob- serves, that the verses are of all measures, and most of them very bad, but that there is a degree of simplicity in some parts, which makes us still read them with pleasure ; and that the Iphigenia xiv PREFACE. in AuUs by Thomas Sibillet, Paris 1549, abounds with quaintness, and is written in a style far from beautiftil, though the translator is spoken of as a man of no inconsiderable learning and merit. Previous to the years 1748 and 1749, when a translation of the Iphigenia in Tauris by Gil- bert West, Esq. made its appearance, and ano- ther of the Hecuba by the Reverend Dr. Morell, I have never met with any Tragedy from Eu- ripides in the English language, except the motley piece of the Jocasta by Gascoigne and Kin- welmersh : this I have had occasion to mention in my notes on the Phoenician Damsels, which is the foundation that served those two writers, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for erecting a most incongruous superstructure ; frequently have they deviated from the original for whole scenes toge- ther, and every where abound with the grossest barbarisms of language. Tanner, in his Bibliotheca Britannica, p. 488, mentions there being ex- tant in manuscript, a translation of Iphigenia from Greek into English, by Joanna Lumley, Daughter to the Earl of Arundel. At the time of advertising in the papers my iateniion of publishing this translation, which was in the month of February 1774, I thought that about one year would have been sufficient for finishing the work, and preparing my manu- script for the press ; but^ on a closer view, the PREFACE. . XT task was found to be so much more arduous than I was apprehensive /it would have proved, that notwithstanding about eight years have elapsed^ during which I cannot charge myself with any gross degree of remissness or inattention, I feel much more inclined to express my fears, lest I should have been too hasty in the publication^ than to apologise for my tardiness. But on finding it was given out by some (espe- cially since the appearance of an anonymous translation of four select Tragedies from Euripi- • des in 1780, and a quarto volume, containing nine Tragedies, with which the Reverend Mn Potter of Seaming in Norfolk, last summer, fa- voured his Subscribers) that I had totally aban- doned this undertaking (than which nothing could be more distant from my thoughts), I apprehended, that similar expressions, and even whole lines, which will sometimes occur with little or no variation, where passages are literally trans- lated from the same original, especially into blank verse, might give rise to a suspicion that I kept myself ia reserve, merely to take undue advantages in availingmyself of the labours of my competitors, if I waited till either of these Gen- tlemen had published the whole of his version before I committed mine to the press, of which it seemed eligible not to make separate publica- tions. I therefore considered it as incumbent on me to exert redoubled diligence, in order to produce it as expeditiously as I could, con- xvi PREFACE. sistently with an attention to those errors and inaccuracies which I was sensible demanded a revisal. Of the n©tes, which I have already mentioned, I have little more to say, but that they are col- lected from a variety of editors and commenta- tors> and will, E hope, many of them, be found explanatory of antient manners, and the history of the Fabulous and Heroic ages : the few of my own which I have hazarded, however defective in other respects, I can venture to speak of as written by an unconnected man, who is not disposed to step aside either to flatter the living, or insult the dead, and whose peculiar attention it has been to keep them cKear from every the smallest allusion to any modern disputes either in politics or lite- rature. If opinions relative to matters of criticism are there at any time maintained against those to whom it might seem that implicit deference is due from one so greatly their inferior, I trust it will be found, upon examination, that I am « not contending for readings or interpretations of my own broaching, but such as have been received by those who are the more to be relied upon, be- cause their fame has stood undiminished throug)i a series of years. Jfril 24ith, 1782. CONTENTS. VOL. I, PAGE. Hecuba ^ ....... . 1 Orestes 50 Ph(enician Damsels , . • 157 Medea , 247 HippoLYTus r 315 Alcestis 387 Andromache , 449 CONTENTS. VOL. I, PAGE. Hecuba • ^ . . 1 Orestes • 50 Ph(enician Damsels , . . 157 Medea 247 HippoLYTus r 315 Alcestis 387 Andromache . . • , 449 HECUBA. THE GHOST OF POLYDORE. Xj BATING the cavern of the dead^ and gates Of darkness^ where from all the Gods apart Dwells Pluto, come I Polydore, the son Of Hecuha from royal Cisseus sprung. And Priam, who, when danger threaten'd Troy, Fearing his city by the Grecian arms Would be laid low in dust, from Phrygia's realm In privacy conveyed me to the house Of Polymestor, of his Thracian friend. Who tills the Chersonesus' fruitful soil, Ruling a nation fam'd for generous steeds; But secretly, with me, abundant gold My father sent, that his surviving children Might lack no sustenance, if Ilion's walls Should by the foe be levell'd with the ground. I was the youngest of all Priam's sons. By stealth he therefore sent me from the realm ; Nor could my feeble arm sustain the shield. Or launch the javelin : but while yet entire Each antient land-mark on our frontiers stood. The turrets of the Phrygian state remained Unshaken, and my brother Hector's spear Prosper'd in battle ; nurtur'd by the man Of Thrace, my father's friend, I, wretched youth. Grew like a vigorous scion. But when Troy, When Hector fail'd, when my paternal dome Was hom its basis rent, and Priam's sel^ 4 HECUBA. My aged father, at the altar bled Which to the Gods his pious hands had rear'dy Butcher'd by curst Achilles' ruthless son ; Me, his unhappy guest, my father's friend Slew for the sake of gold, and having slain, Plung'd me into the sea, that he might keep Those treasures in his house. My breathless corsty In various eddies by the rising waves Of ocean tost, lies oh the craggy shore^ Unwept, unburied. But by filial love For Hecuba now prompted, I ascend A disembodied ghost, and thrice have seen The morning dawn, to Chersonesus land. Since my unhappy mother came from Troy. But all the Grecian ai-my, in their ships. Here anchoring on this coast of Thrace remain Inactive ; for appearing on his tomb Achilles, Peleus' son, restrain'd the troops. Who homeward else hadsteer'd their barks, and claims Polyxena my sister, as a victim Most precious at his sepulchre to bleed; And her will he obtain, nor will his friends Withold the gift ; for fate this day decrees That she shall die: my Mother must behold Two of her slaughtered children's corses> mine. And this unhappy maid's — that in a tomb I may be lodg'd, where the firm beach resists The waves, I to her servant will appear. Since from the powers of hell I have obtain'd The privilege of honorable interment. And. that a mother's hand these rites perform : I shall accomplish what my soul desir'd. But on the aged Hecuba's approach, Far hence must I retreat ; for from the tent Of Agamemnon she comes forth, alarm'd By my pale spectre. O my wretched mother^ How art thou torn from princely roofs to view HECUBA. 5 T1)is kour of servitude ! what sad reverse Of fortune ! some malignant God hath balanced Tby present misery 'gainst thy former bliss. [Exit. HECUBAj ATTENDED BY TROJAN DAMSELS. HECUBA. Forth from these doors^ ye gentle virgins, lead me, A weak old woman : O ye nymphs of Troy, Support your fellow-servant, once your queen ; Bear me along, uphold my tottering frame. And take me by this aged hand ; your arm Shall be my staff to lean on, while I strive My tardy pace to quicken. O ye Lightnings Of Jove, O Night in tenfold darkness wrapt. By such terrific phantoms from my couch Why am I scared i Thou venerable earth. Parent of dreams that flit on raven wing; The vision I abhor, which I in sleep This night have seen, relating to my son, IVho here is foster'd in the Thr^ian r.ealny. And to Polyxena my dearest daughter: For I too clearly saw and understood The meaning of that dreadful apparition; _ ■ Ye tutelary Gods of this doipain. Preserve the onjy anchor of our house. My son, who dwells in Thracian fields, o*erspread With snow, protected by his father's friend. Some fresh event awaits us, and ere long By accents mo§t unwelcome sh^U the ear Of wretchedness be >vounded: till this hour. By such incessant horrors, such alarais, My soul was never seiz'd. Where shall I view The soul of Helenus, on whom tlie God Beatow'd prophetic gifts, ye Phrygian maids? Where my Cassandra to unfold the dream? With bloody fangs I saw a vfoli) who sle^y 6 HECUBA. A dappled hind, which forcibly he tore From these reluctant arms, and what encrea»*d My fears, was this ; Achilles' spectre stalk'd Upon the summit of his tomb, and claim'd A gift, some miserable Trojan (i) captive. You therefore I implore, ye Gods, avert Such doom from my lov'd daughter, CHORUS, HECUBA. CHORUS. I to thee, A' To thee, O Hecuba, with breathless speed. Fly from the tents of our imperious lords. Where I by lot have been assigned, and doom'd To be a slave, driven'by the pointed spear From Troy ; by their victorious arms the Greeks Have made me captive : nothing can I bring. Thy sorrows to alleviate ; but to thee Laden with heaviest tidings am I come The herald of affliction. For 'tis said, (1) From the most antfaentic account oi human sacrifices at theu- first origin, they appear either to have consisted of virgins, or young men, in a state of celibacy. No less than four instances occur in the tragedies of Euripides, three of whom, Polyxena, Iphigenia, and Ma. caria, are virgins, and Menaeceus is unwedded; the latter is expressly marked out by Tiresias as the only fit victim in Creon's family, on ac- count of Haemon his other son being affianced to Antigore. It may be necessary to premise thus much, as the name of Polyxena is not once mentioned in the account given by the Chorus, in Uie ensuing speech of the debate among the Grecian chiefs, among whom the question ap- pears to have been, whether she (the only virgin of Priam's house) should be given as a victim to appease the Ghost of Achilles : she was naturally fixed upon, both on account of her royal birth, and having been betrothed to him ; nor do they seem to have had any intentions^ (as Brumoy too hastily asserts) of sacrificing Cassandra, the concubine of Agamemnon, whose attachment to that princess is incidentafly men« tioned as tlie cause of his interesting himself in behalf of her mother^ arid wishing to save her sister Polyxena, whom the Ghost of Achilles had demanded as a victim. HECUBA. - 7, Greece In full council hath resolved thy daughter A victhn to Achilles shall be given. The warrior mounting on his tomb, thou know'st, AppearM in golden armour, ^^nd restrained The fleet just ready to unfurl its sails, Exclaiming, ^^ Whither would ye steer your course, *^ Ye Greeks, and leave no offering on my grave ?" A storm of violent contention rose. And two opinions in the martial synod Of Greece went forth; the victim, some maintain'd^ Ought on the sepulchre to bleed, and some Such offering disapproved. But Agamemnon, Who shares the bed of the Prophetic Dame, Espous'd thy interest; while the (2) sons of Theseus^ {2) Acamas and Demophoon* When the afiairs of Theseus became - desperate, and he no longer found himself able to mamtain his authori- ty at Athens against the friends of Menestheus, h^ privately sent his two sons to Eiiba'a, from whence, Plutarch asserts, tiey followed the ' Imnners of Elphenor, as private men, to the siege of Troy ; which ac« comits for Homer's making no mention of them in his Catalogue of the Grecian Fleet : but In Tryphydorus and Quintus Calaber, we find the names of them both among the warriors who were endos'd in the Wooden Horse. M enestheus commanded the Athenian troops during the Trojan war, and died in his return in the isle of Melos ; upon which Acamas and Demophoon became joint kings of Athens. But accor- ding to Euripides, they were in possession of that throne, at the time when Alcmena, the widow of Hercules, fled thither with her children to sue for protection from the Athenians against Eurystlieus, which must have been previous to the Trojan war. In the account of the Ccfedan Fleet, at the time of its rendezvous at Aulis, in the Iphigenia of EuripMies, which d^ers considerably from Homer's, the Athenian squadron is said to have been commanded by '^ the son of Theseus," whom the poet does not name ; but, as Barnes observes in his note, either Acamas or Demophoon must be the person there meant: these two passages, however, of Homer and Euripides, seem to have led the gentlemen, who republished Robert Stephens*s Latin Thesaurus, with very considerable additions, at L.ondon, in 1734, into a most j^ross and palpable «rror; under the article Menestheus, tliey call him tlie son Qf Theseus and Phaedra, though it is well known he was the son of JPetftus; and it appears from Plutarch's Life of Theseus, which I have aifaready cited, that he did not obtain the Atlienian sceptre by right of Udieritancei but by forcibly wresting it from that monarch; Ges|i^r^ 8 HECUBA. Branches from the Athenian root, discuss'd The question largely in each point of view, But in the same opinion both concurred. And said that never should Cassandra's love To great Achilles* valor be preferred : Equally balanced the debate still hung. When he, that crafty orator, endued With sweetest voice, the favorite of the crowd, Laertes* son, persuaded all the host, Not to reject the first of Grecian chiefs^ And yield the preference to a victim slave : Lest some vindictive ghost, before the throne Of Proserpine arising, might relate How Greece unmindful of her generous sonSy Who nobly perish'd for thejr native land, ^rom Ilion's fields departed. In a moment Ulysses will come hither, from thy breast> And aged arms to drag the tender maid. But to the temples, to the altars, go. In suppliant posture clasp Atrides' knees. Invoke the Gods of heaven and bell beneath, # For either thou wilt by thy prayers avert Thy daughter's fate, else must thou at the tomb Behold the virgin fall distain'd with gore. And gushing from her neck a crimson stream. HECUBA, Wretch that I am ! ah me ! what clamorous sounds^ What words, what plaints, what dirges shall I find. Expressive of the anguish which I feel? Opprest by miserable old age, bow'd down Under a load of servitude too heavy To be endur'd : what sanctuary remains. in his Thee, Lat lipiic, 1749, not only retBuis this miitakey bat exagb geratei it, by caOing Menestheus the brother of I>emopboon. In translating aiovuv piAut p^( nrm- y^t^n h ^la oi/vfyupmnv, I have followed the interpretation of HeaUer, ivho has illubtrated tliis single pla;^ witl| as tiaboiate fommcnt of 291 leaves, printed at Lipsic in 1554. HECUBA.- 9 What valiant race, what city will protect me? The hoary Priam is no more, my sons Are now no more. Or to this path^ or thatj Shall I direct my steps ? or whither go? Where shall I find some tutelary God f < Ye Phrygian captives, messengers of ill, O ye who with unwelcome tidings fraught. Come hither, ye have ruinM me^ The orb Of day shall never rise to fill this breast With any comfort more. Ye luckless feet. Bear an infirm old woman to the tent Of our captivity. Come forth, my daughter. Come forth and listen to thy mother's voice. That thou may'st know the rumor I have heard. In which thy life is interested. POLYXENA, HECUBA, CHORUS. Jjf , POLYXENA. *^ ^v^ - O mother, \ What mean you by those shrieks ? what fresh event Proclaiming, from my chamber, like a bird. Have you constiain'd me, urg'd by fear, to speed My flight? HECUBA. Ah, daughter ! POLYXENA. With foreboding voice. Why do you call me ? these are evil omens. , . HECUBA. Alas] thy life, Polyxena. • POLYXENA. Speak out. Nor aggravate the horrors yet untold By long suspence. I fear, O mother, much I fear. What nvean those oft repeated groans ? HECUBA. Thou child of a most miserable mother ! A l&. HECUBA; POLYXENA^ Why speak you thus ? HECtJBA. The Greeks, with one consent. Resolve that on the tomb of Peleus' son Thou shalt be sacrific'd. POLYXENA What boundless woes Are these which to your daughter you announce ! Yet, O my mother, with the tale proceed. HECUBA. Of a most horrible report I speak. Which says, that, by the suffrage of the Greeks, It is resolv'd to take away thy hfe. POLYXENA. """^ O, my unhappy mother, doom'd to suffer Wrongs the most dreadful, doom'd to lead a life Of utter wretchedness : what grievous curse. Such as no language can express, on you Hath some malignant Demon hurl'd ! no more Can I, your daughter, share the galling yoke Of servitude with your forlorn old age ; For like some lion's whelp, or heifer bred Upon the mountains, hurried from your arms Shall you behold me, and with sever'd head Consigned to Pluto's subterraneous realms Of darkness, there among the silent dead. Wretch that I am, shall I be laid. These tears Of bitter lamentation I for you. For you, O mother, shed ; but my own life I heed not, nor the shame, nor fatal stroke. For I in death a happier lot obtain. CHORUS. To thee, O Hecuba, with hasty step Behold Ulysses some iiew message bringst HfiCUBA. ' 11 ULYSSES, HECUBA, POLYXENA, CHORUS, ULYSSES. . .^ Tho* I presume the counsels of our troops And tbeir decision.are already known To thee, O woman, yet must I repeat Th* unwelcome tidings ; at Achilles' tomb, Polyxena, thy daughter, have the Greeks Resolv'd to slay ; me to attend the virgia Have they commanded ; but Achilles' son Is at the altar destin'd to preside. And be the priest., Know'st thou thy duty then ? donstrain us not to drag her from those arms With violence, nor strive with me j but learn The force of thy inevitable woes : For ttiere is wisdom, e'en when we are wretched. In following reason's dictates, HECUBA.. Now, alas! It seems a dreadful struggle is at hand, With groans abounding and unuumber'd tears. I died not at the time I ought to die. Neither did Jove destroy me ; he still spares My life, that I may view fresh woes, yet greater. Wretch that 1 am, than all my former woes. But if a slave, who not with bitter taunt. Or keen reproach, her questions doth propose. Might speak to freemen, now 'tis time for you To cease, and give me audience while I ask— ULYSSES. AUow'd, proceed; fori without reluctance Will grant^thee time. HECU53A. Remember you when erst You came to Troy a spy, in tatter'd garb Disguis'd, and from your eyes upon your beard. Fell tears extorted. by the dread of death i IS HECUBA. VIYSSS8# I well remember : for by that event Mj inmost heart was touch'd. HECUBA* But (3) Helen knew yon. And told me only. ULYSSES. I can ne'er forget Into what danger I was fallen. HECUBA. My knees You in a lowly posture did embrace ULYSSES. And to thy garment clung with faltering hand, HECUBA. At length I sav'd, and from our land dismissed you* ULYSSES. Hence I the solar beams yet view. HECUBA. What language Did you then hold, when subject to my power i ULYSSES. Full many were the words which I devis'd To save my life. HECUBA. Doth not your guilt appear From your own counsels ? Though your tongue avows The generous treatment you from me received No benefit on me do you confer. But strive to harm me. O ungrateful race Of men, who aim at popular applause By your smooth speeches ; would to heav'n I ne*er Had known you, for ye heed not how ye wound Your friends, whene'er ye can say aught to win The crowd. But what pretence could they devise (3) See ^omer, O&ym. I iv. vet. i^f-HtM. HECUBA. W For sentencing thh virgi^ to be slain i Are they censtrain'd by fate, with human victims^ To drench the tomb on which they rather ought To sacrifice the steer ? or doth Achilles Demand her life with justice, to retaliate Slaughter on them who slailgbter'd ? But to him Hath she done nought injurious. He should claim Helen as victim at his tomb^ for she His ruin caus'd by leading him to Troy, If it was needful that some chosen captive Distinguished by transcendent charms should die. We were not meant ; for the perfidious daughter Of Tyndanis is most beauteous^ and her crimes To ours at least are equal. Justice only In this debate supports me: hear how large The debt which 'tis your duty to repay On my petition : you confess you touch'd My hand^ and these my aged cheeks, in dust Groveling a suppliant; yours I now embrace, From you the kindness which I erst bestow'd Again implore, and sue to you : O tear not My daughter from these arms, nor slay the maid : Sufficient is the number of the slain. In her I yet rejoice, in her forget My woes; she, for the loss of many childitn. Consoles me, lin her a country find, A nurse, a stafi^, a guide. The mighty ought not To issue lawless mandates, nor should they, , On whom propitious fortunes now attend. Think that their triumphs will for ever last : For I was happy once, but am no more. My bliss all vanished in a single day. Yet, O my friend, revere and pity me, Go to the Grecian host, admonish them How horrible an action 'twere to slay These captive women whom at first ye spai'S, And pitied when ye dragg'd them from the altars. Z 14 HECUBA- For by yonr laws 'tis equally forbidden To spill the blood of freeman^ or of slave^ Altho' you weakly argue^ will your rank Convince them : for the self-same speech^ when uttei^d By the ignoble^ and men well esteem'dj Comes not with eqa'al fioroe. CHORUS. The human soul Is not so flinty as to hear the woes And plaintive strains thou lengthen'st out, nor shed The sympathising tear. ULTSSBS. 1*0 me attend, 0 Hecuba^ nor thro' resentment deem That from a foe such counsels can proceed : 1 am disposed to sstve thee, and now hold No other language : but will not deny What I to all have said^ since Troy is taken> On the first warrior of the host who asks A victim, should thy daughter be bestow'd. The cause why many cities are diseas'd Is this : the brave and generous man obtains Ho honorable distinction to exalt him Above the coward. But from us, O woman^ Achilles claims such homage^ who for Greece Died nobly. Is not this a foul reproach. If, while our friends yet live, we seek their aid. But after death ungratefully forget Past services f Should armed bands once more Assemble, and renew the bloody strife. Will not some hardy veteran thus exclaim; " Shall we go forth to battle, or indulge *' The love of life,- now we have seen the dead '' Obtain no honors ?" While from day to day I live, though I have little, yet that little For every needful purpose will suffice. HECUBA. 15 But may conspicuous trophies o'er my grave Be planted^ for such tribute to my name Will last to after-ages. If thou call Thy sufferings piteous, hear what in reply We have to urge ; amidst the Grecian camp Are many aged dames, as miserable As thou art, with full many a hoary sire. And weepitig bride, torn from her valiant lord. O'er whose remains hath Ma's dust been strewn^ Support thy woes : if with mistaken zeal We have resolv'd to honor the deceased. Our crime is ignorance : but ye Barbarians Pay no distinction to your friends, no homage To the illustrious dead; hence Greece pievaik; But ye from your pernicious counsels reap The bitter fruits tliey merit. CHORUS. Ah, what ills Ever attend the captive state, subdued By brutal violence, and forc*d t' endure Unseemly wrongs, HECUBA. Those words I vainly spoke Thy slaughter to avert, in air were lavished : But, O my daughter, if thy power exceed Thy mother's, like the nightingale send forth Each warbled note, to save thy life, excite. By falling at his kn^es, Ulysses* pity. And on this ground, because he too hath children^ Entreat him to compassionate thy doom. POLYXBNA. I see thee, O Ulysses, thy right hand Beneath thy robe concealing, see thee turn Thy face away, lest I should touch thy beard. Be of good cheer; Til not call down the wrath Of Jove who guards the suppliant, but will follow 16 HECUBA. Thy step», because necessity ordains And 'tis mj' wish to die ; if I were loth, I should appear to be an abject woman. And fond of life : but what could lengthen'd life Avail to me, whose father erst was lord Of the whole Phrygian realm ? Thus first I drew My breath beneath the roofs of regal domes; Then was I nurtured with the flattering hope That 1 should wed a monarch, and arrive At the proud mansion of some happy youth. Ill-fated princess, thus 1 stood conspicuous Aniicf the dames and brightest nymphs of Troy, In all but immortality a Goddess ; But now am 1 a slave, and the first cause Which makes me wish to die, is that abhorr'd Unwonted name ; else some inhuman lord With gold perchance might purchase me, the sister Of Hector, and full many a valiant chief. Might make me knead the bread, and sweep the floor. And plj' the loom, and pass my abject days In bitterness of woe : some servile mate Might bring dishonor to my bed, tho* erst I was deem'd worthy of a scepter'd king : Not thus. These eyes shall to the last behold The light of freedom. 0 ye shades receive A princess. Lead me on then, O Ulysses, And as thou lead'st dispatch me, for no hope, No ground for thinking, I shall e'er be happy. Can I discern : yet hinder not by word Or deed the stedfast purpose I have form'd ; But, O my mother, in this wish concur ] With me, that I may die ere I endure Such wrongs as suit not my exalted rank. For whosoe'er hath not been us'd to taste Of sorrow, bears indeed the galling yoke. Yet is he griev'd, when he to such constraint Submits bis neck: but they who die paay find HECUBA. It A bliss beyond the living ; for to live Ignobly were the uimost pitch of shame. CUO£US. A great distinction, and among mankind The most conspicuous^ is to spring from sires Kenown'd for virtue ; generous souls hence raises To heights sublimer an ennobled name. HECUBA. Thou, O my daughter^ well indeed hast spoken ; Yet these exalted sentiments of thine To me will cause fresh grief: but, if the son Of Peleus must be gratified, and Greece Avoid reproach, Ulysses, slay not her. But me, conducting to Achilles' tomb, « Transpierce with unrelenting hand. I bore Paris, whose shafts the son of Thetis slew. ULYSSES. Not thee for victim, O thou aged dame. But her, Achilles* spectre hath demanded. HECUBA. Yet slay me with my daughter ; so shall Earth, And the Deceased who claims these hateful rites, A twofold portion drink of human gore. ULYSSES. Enough in her of victims ; let no more Be added : would to heaven we were not bound To offer up this one ! HECUBA. The dread behest» Of absolute necessity require. That with my daughter I should die^ ULYSSES. What mean'st^thou } I know no Lord to counteract my will. HECUBA. Her, as the ivy clings around the oak, Will 1 embrace. VOL. I. c 18 HECUBA. ULYSSES. Not if to wiser counsels Thou yield just deference. HECUBA. I will ne'er consent My daughter to release. ULYSSES. Nor will I go. And leave her here. POLYXENA. Attend to me, my mother^ And, O thou offspring of Laertes, treat The just emotions of parental wrath With greater mildness. But, O hapless woman, Contend not with our conquerors. Would you faH Upon the earth and wound your aged limbs. Thrust from me forcibly, by youthful arms Tom with disgrace away f Provoke not wrongs Unseemly ; O, my dearest mother, give That much-lov*d hand, and let me join my cheek To yours ; for I no longer shall behold The radiant orb of yonder Sun. Now take A last farewell, O you who gave me birth ; I to the shades descend. HECUBA* But I the light Am doom'd to view, and still remain a slave. POLYXENA. Un wedded, reft of promis'd bridal joys. HECUBA, Thou, O my daughter, elaim*st the pitying tear : But I am a most niiserable woman. POLYXENA. There shall I sleep among the realms beneath. From 3'ou secluded. HEeU?A- w What resource^ alas ! For me, th6 wretched Hecuba is left f Where shall I finish tbi3 cletested life i l^OLYXENA. Born free, I die a slave. ♦ HECUBA. L too, bereft Of (4) all my children. POLYXENA. What commands to Hector, Or to your aged Husband, shall I bear i HECUBA. Tell them I of al} woqaen am most wretched. POLYXENA. Ye paps which sweetly nourish'd me — HECUBA. Alas! My child's untimely miserable fate. r POLyXENA. Farewell, ipy mother, and my dear Cassandra. HECUBA* To others in that language ^^eak ; be theirs The happiness thy mother cannot taste. POLYXENA. And thou, my brother t^olydbre, who dwell'st Among the Thracians, fam'd for generous steeds — HECUBA. If yet he Uve ; but this I greatly doUbt, Because I am in ail respects so wretched. (4) In the original k is nfrnxont Hot&iv, pf myjl^ <4nMren; bat the Scholiast observes, thi^t tl^ spprioHS children of Priam arehere added by Hecuba to her own, .who were nineteen in number, to increase the pa- thos. Priam's whole fa^lily, according to Homer, in the nxth book of the niad, coasisted of -fifly sons and twelve danghteis, in «U sixty-two chiMrtii.. . C « «0 HECUBA. POLYXENA. He lives, and when the hour of death is come. Will close your ejes. HECUBA. I'm prematurely dead While yet alire^ bow*d down to earth by woe. POtYXEKA. Now bear me hence, Ulysses, o'er my face Casting a veil : for ere I at the altar Am slain, this heart is melted by the plaints Of my dear Mother, and my tears augment Her sorrows. O thou radiant Light ; for still Am I permitted to invoke thy name. But can enjoy th^ only till I meet The lifted sword, and reach Achilles' tomb. Exeunt ULYSSES and polyxena. HECUBA. I faint, my limbs are all unnerv'd ; return. My daughter, let me touch that hand once more. Leave me not childless. O, my friends, I perish ; Ah would to Heaven I could see Spartan Helen, In the same state, that Sister to the Sons Of Jove, for by her beauteous eyes, was Troy, That prosperous city, with disgrace o'erthrown. CHORUS. ODE. L 1. Ye breezes, who the ships convey, That long becalm'd at anchor lay» Nor dar'd to quit the strand ; As the swift keel divides the wave. Say whither am I borne a slave, Ordain'd to tread the Doric land. Or Phthia, where beset with reeds, Apidanus, the Sire of limpid rills. Winding a-down the channell'd hills, ' Waters the fruitfal meads? /. HECUBA. 21 I. 2. Or to that Isle, with dashing oar Impeird, shall I my woes deplore. And on the sacred earthy Where first the palm and laurel rose. Memorials of Latona's throes. Which to the Twins Divine gave birth, Teach the harmonious strain to flow; With Delos' nypiphs Diana's praise resound. Her hair with golden fiUet bound. And never-erring bow ? II. 1. Or, pent in some Athenian tower. Devoted to Minerva's power. On the robe's tissued ground While, shadow'd by my needle, spread Expressive forms, in vivid thread. Picture the Ooddess whirling round Her diariot with unrivalFd speed ; Or represent the Titan's impious crew, Wboin Jove's red lightnings oyejr|;bFew, Those monsters doomed to bleed i II. 2. Alas ! my sons, a valiant band. My fathers, and my native land, Ye shar'd the general fate. Sack'd by the' Greeks, Troy's bulwarks smoke. But I, constrain'd to bear the yoke. Shall soon behold some foreign state. To ignominious bondage led; And leaving vanquish'd Asia Europe's slave, Debarr'd an honourable (5) grave. Ascend the,victor^s bed. (5) Cannelli, the Italian translator of Euripides, ia <Mte of bis Latin oolses, inteiprets A>Xci(t»( oAi ^a9us^;, pro regiis patriisqae tfaakunis seu domibus tristia loca sortita; tbe mora difiiise paraphrase of Qeader coih - ^ Q2 HECUBA. TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS. TALTHYBIUS. Where, O ye Phrygian dams^els, shall I find The wretched Hecuba, who erst was Queen Of lUon ? CHORUM. Prostrate near you on the gfouiid. Wrapt in her mantle, there she lies. veys much the same meaning; but the word euin seems to require a more literal version ; and Erasmus renders it, mutam mdrte faces thalami, which by no means accords with the sentiments expressed, in the prece- ding part of tliis ode, by the Trojan captives, who form the chorus ; for, instead of entertaining any apprehensiotts of being put to death, they have given a detail of the occupationB in which they expected to be en- gaged after landing in Greece. King has given what appears to me the clearest and best interpretation of these words, in those of redimens me morte toro ; and Henry Stephens, iA his Greek Thesaurus, mentions this passage as an instance of the verb eOO^'Ao used (n/7tqpo^, and proposes to read euiu ^aXajocoi;; as does Dr. Muaqgrave ouJa, in the genitive case. But the expression, as it now stands.in tlie printed editions, seems to be ex- actly a similar mode of speaking in the Greek, with Horace's cur valle permutem Sabink divitias operosiortes,, in the Latin. The idea here meant to be conveyed is, I doubt not, the same with that tdikh ife more amply expressed by AAdromaehe in Mrgil: O felix una ante alias Priameia virgo Hostilem ad tumulum Trojae sub moenibus altis Jussa mori, quae sortitiis non perttdit idlos, Nee victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile. Oh only happy maid of Priam's race. Whom death deUver'd from the foe*s embrace! Commanded on Achilles' tomb to die. Not forc'd like us to hard ci^tivity. Or in a hauj^ty master's arms to lie. Dryden. The edition of this play by Hemy Stephens, in his Trag. Select, differs from all others I have seen, by putting this second Antistrophe into the mouth of Hecuba, and a marginal note written, with a pencil by the late Kev. Caesar De Missy, in the copy of king's Euripides now in my pos- session, mentions this stanza being also ascribed to Hecuba in a manu- script, containing, I think, the three first Tragedies of Euripides, which, at the sale of his books, was purchased by the British Museum. But the very next lines shew Hecuba stretched on the ground, and reduced by her gri^ to a state of stap^utioii. } Great Jove ! What shall I Say? that ihou from Heaven look'st down Upon mankind, or^have they rashly ibim'd A vain opinion^ deeming that the race Of Gods etistf tho' Fortniie governs all ? Ha 1 was not this the Queen of wealthy Phrygia, And was not she the happy Priam's wife f But her whole city by the hostile spear Is now destroy'd, while she a slave, bow'd down By age, and childless, stretcht upon the ground, Defiles with dust her miserable head. Old as I am, yet gladly would I die Rather than Bink into abhorr'd disgrace. Arise, unhappy woman, O lift up That feeble body, and that hoary head. HECtJBA. Away ! O suffer this decrepid frame To rest. Why move me ? Whosoe'er thou art. What mean'st thou? why dost thou molest th' afflicted? TALTHYBIUS. Talthybius : me, the Herald of the Greeks, O woman, Agamemnon bath dispatch'd To fetch you. HECUBA. Com'st thou, by the Greeks ordain'd, My friend, to slay me ^ilso at the tomb f How welcome were such tidings ; let us go. With speed conduct me thither. . TALTHYBIUS. To inter Your daughter, I invite you ; both the sons Of Atreus, and the assembled Grecian host. Have sent me for that purpose. HECUBA. Ah ! what say'st thou ? Thon com'st not to inform me X must die. M HECUBA. But to unfold the most disastrous tidings* Then art thou lost^ my daughter, from the arms Of thy fond mother torn ; of thee> my child Am I berefL But how did ye destroy her, Respectfully, or with the ruthless hand Of hostile rage i Speak, tho' it wound my souL TALTHYBIU8. A second time, in pity to your daughter. You make me weep ; for now while I relate Her sufferings, tears bedew these swimming eyes. Such as I shed when at the tomb she perish'd. To view the sacrifice the Grecian host Were all assembled : taking by the hand Polyxena, on the sepulcral hilloc Achilles' son then plac'd her: 1 drew near. Attended by the chosen youths of Greece, To hold the tender victim, and prevent Her struggles : But Achilles's son, uplifting With both bis hands a cup of massive gold, Pour'd forth libations to his breathless Sire ; And gave a sign to me, thro' the whole camp Strict silence ^o proclaim, I in the midst Stood up and cried ; " Be mute, ye Greeks, let none *' Presume to speak, observe a general silence." The troops obey 'd, and thro' their crowded rankt Not e'en a breath was heard, while in these words The Chief expressed his purpose ; *' Son of Peleus, *^ My father, the propitiatory drops "*' Of these libations which invite the dead ^ Accept ; O come and quaff the crimson blood " Of this pure virgin, whom to thee all Greece " And 1 devote ; be thou benign, O grant us ''Securely to weigh anchor, to unbind '' Our halsers, and on all of us bestow '* A happy voyage to our native land ** From vanquished Troy.*' He ceas'd, and in his prayer / \ HECUBA. 85 Join'd the whole army^ when the Chief unsheathed His golden-hilted sword^ and gave a sign To chosen youths of Greece to hold the Virgin, Which she perceiv'd^ and in these words address*d The warriors ; *' O ye Argives, who laid waste ** My city, willingly I die, let no man *' Confine these arms, I with undaunted breast *' Will meet th^ strok^, I by the Gods conjure you *' Release, and slay me as my rank demands *' Like one bom free ; for 1 from mighty kmgs '' Descend, and in the shades beneath should blush '* To be accounted an ignoble slave." Thro' all the host ran murmurs of absent. And royal Agamemnon bade the youths Release the Virgin; they their monarch's voice. Soon as they Heard, obey'd ; our Lord's behests The Princess too revering, from her shoulder Down to her waist rent off the purple robe^ Display'd her bosom like some statue form'd In exquisite proportion, and to earth Bending her knee, in these affecting words £xpress'd herself; " If at my breast thou aim '* The wound, strike here ; if at my neck, that neck *' Is ready bar*d." Half willing, and half loth. Thro' pity for the maid, he with keen steel Sever'd the arteries ; streams of blood gush'd forth : Yet even thus, tho' at her latest gasp. She shew'd a strong solicitude to fall With decency, while stood the gazing host Around her : soon as thro' the ghastly wound Her soul had issued, every Greek was busied In various labors ; o'er the corse some strew'd The verdant foliage, others rcc.r'd a pyre With trunks of fir : but he who nothing brought. From him who with funereal ornament Was laden, heard these taunts; " O slothful wretch, ^ Bear'st th/ou no robe, no garland, hast thou nought «6 HECUBA. ** To give in lionor of this generous Maid ?* Such their encomiums on thy breathless daughter. You, of all women, who in such a child Were happiest, now most wretched I behold. <!;UORUS. Fate, the behests of the immortal Gods Accomplishing, with tenfold weight hath caus'd This dreadful curse to fall on Priam's house^ And on our city, HECUBA. Midst unnumbered ills I know not, O my daughter,* whither first To turn my eyes, for if on one I touch. Another hinders me, and I again, • By a long train of woes succeeding woes. To some fresh object am from thence calFd off; Nor can I from my tortur'd soul efface The grief thy fate occasions ; yet the tale Of thy exalted courage checks my groans. Which else had been immoderate. No just cause Have we for wonder, if the barren land Chear'd by Heaven's influence with benignant suns Yields plenteous harvests, while a richer soil Deprived of every necessary aid Bears weeds alone. But midst the human race The wicked man is uniformly wicked. The good still virtuous, nor doth evil fortune Corrupt his soul ; the same unsullied worth He still retains. Is this great difference owing To birth, or education ? We are taught What virtue is, by being nurtur*d well, ^ And he who thoroughly hath learnt this lesson. Guided by the unerring rule of right. Can thence discern what's base. — Mv soul in vaitt Hath hazarded these incoherent thoughts. But, O Talthybius, to xhe Greeks repair. And strict injunctions give, that no man touch HECUBA. «r My daughter's corse, but let the gazing crowd Be driven away. For in a numerous host Its multitudes break loose from all restraints. The outrages of mariners exceed Devouring flame, and whoso*er abstains From mischief, by his comrades is despis'd. But, O my aged servant, take and dip That urn in ocean's waves, and hither bring, Fill'd with its water, that the last dad rites To my departed daughter I may pay, And lave the corse of that unwedded bride. Of that afiianc'd virgin : but alas ! Whence with such costly gifts as she deserves. Her tomb can I adorn ? My present state Aflbrds them not, but what it doth afford Will I bestow, and from the captive dames Appointed to attend me, who reside Within these tents, some ornaments collect. If, unobserv'd by their new masters, aught They have secreted* O ye splendid domes. Ye palaces once happy, which contained All that was rich and fair ; O Priam thou The sire, and I who was the aged mother Of an illustrious race, how are we dwindled To nothing, stripp'd of all our antient pride ! Yet do we glory, some in mansions stor'd With gold abundant, others when distinguished Among the citizens by sounding titles. Vain are the schemes which with incessant care We frame, and all our boastful words are vain. The happiest man is he who, by no ill O'ertaken, passes thro' life's fleeting day. Exit HECUBA. . . .^. . £t HECUBA. CHORUS. ODE. L (6) By Heaven was my devoted head Menac'd with impending ill, , What time the pines, whose branches spread Their tutelary shade o'er Ida's hill. Were laid by Phrygian Paris low. That his adventurous bark might stem the tide. From Sparta's coast to waft the fairest bride On whom the solar beams their golden radiance throw. n. Surrounding labors were at hand Leagu'd with the behests of fate ; Then did such madness seize the land. As call'd down vengeance from a foreign state. The royal Swain with dazzled eyes Gave that decree, the source of all our woes. When from three rival Goddesses he chose Bright Venus, and pronounc'd that she deserved the prize. nr. The spear and death hence rag'd around, Hence were my mansions levell'd with the ground ; Staining with tears Eurotas' tide. Too deeply griev'd to share the victor's pride. The Spartan virgin too in vain Bewails her favour'd youth untimely slain, (6) The earliest Latin translations I hrnvt seen firom Euripides are thit Tragedy, by G. Anselm, published singly in 4to, at Parma, in Jane 1506, and Hecuba, with Iphigenia in Aulis, by Erasmus, printed in small folio, at Paris, in September 1506 ; the stanzas now before us, which the Poet puts into the mouUi of the Chorus, are transited, with some additions, by Marinus, and thrown into twelve stamas of Saphic metre, which he entitles ^ Hecubae Captivae querela," and inserts in his Hjrmns, p. 166, PmiSy 1537 : Buchanan has transplanted much from hence and the Iph|p_ genia m Aulis, into his Jephthes. HECUBA. 29 While, sprinkling ashes o'er their vest And hoary head^ the matrons bend O'er their sons' urns; their groans to Heaven ascend. They tear their cheeks, and beat their miserable breast. ATTENDANT, CHORUS. ATTENDANT. Where is the wretched Hecuba, my friends. Who in her woes surpasses all, or male. Or of the female race i her none can rob Of her just claim, pre-eminence in grief. CHORUS. ^ With the harsh sounds of that ill-boding tongue, O wretch, what mean'st thou ? wilt thou never cea-li i. To be th' unwelcome herald of affliction i ATTENDANT, M«8t grievous are the tidings which I bring To Hecuba, nor easy were the task In words auspicious to make known to mortals Such dire calamities. CHORTTS. From her apartment She seasonably comes forth to give thee audience. HECUBA, ATTENDANT, CHORUS. ATTENDANT. O most unfortunate, whose woes exceed All that the power of language can express, My Queen, you perish, doom'd no more to view The blessed light ; of children, husband, city. Bereft wd ruin'd. HEOUBA. Nothing hast thou told But what I knew,- thou only com'st t'insult me ; Yet wherefore dost thou bring to me this corse Of my Polyxena, o'er whom 'twas said 30 HECUBA. The Grecian host with pious zeal all vied To heap a tomb? ATTENDANT. She knows not, but laments For the deceased Polyxena alone. And to her recent woes is yet a stranger. HECUBA* Ah, bring'st thou the inspired prophetic head. And the dishevel'd tresses of Cassandra? ATTENDANT. You speak of one yet living, but bewail not This the deceased : survey the naked corse Of him whose death to you will seem most strange And most unlook^d for. HECUBA. Ha, I see my son^ My dearest Polydore, whom he of Thrace Beneath his roof protected. I am ruin'd ; Now utterly I perish. O my son, For thee, for thee L wake the frantic dirge. By that malignant Demgn which assum'd Thy voice, thy semblance, recently apprized Of this calamity. ATTENDANT. O wretched niother. Know you then what was your son's fate ? HECUBA. A sight Incredible and pew to me is that Which I behold : for from my former wq^b Spring woes in long succession, and the day When I shall cease to weep, shall cease to groan. Will never come. CHOHUS. The woes which we endure Alas ! are dreadful. HECUBA. 31 HECUBA. O my son, tliou son Of an ill fated mother, by what death Didst thou expire ? thro' what disastrous cause Here liest thou prostrate i ah, what bloody hand — ^? ATTENDANT. I know not : on the shore his corse I found. HBCUBA. Cast up by the impetuous waves, or pierced With murderous spear ? ATTENDANT. The surges of the deep Had thrown it on the sand. HECUBA. Alas ! too well I comprehend the meaning of the dream Which to these eyes appear'd : the spectre borne On sable pinions nd illusion prov'd. When, O my son, thee, thee it represented No longer dwelling in the realms of light. CHORUS. Instructed by that vision^ canst thou name The murderer ? HECUBA. Twas my friend, the Thracian King, With whom in secresy his aged Sire Had plac'd him. CHOKUS. Hal what mean'st thou ? to possess That gold by slaying him ? HECUBA.^ O, 'twas a deed Unutterable, a deed without a name, Surpassing all astonishment, unholy. And not to be endur'd* Where now the laws Of hospitality ? Accursed mau; 3€ HECUBA* How cruelly ha«t thou with reeking sword Transpiere'd this unresisting boy, nor heard The gentle voice of pity ! * CHORUS* Hapless Queen, How hath some Demon, thy malignant foe, 3?ender'd thee of all mortals the most wretched : But I behold great Agamemnon come. And therefore, O my friends, let us be silent. AGAMEMNON, .HECUBA, CHORUS. AGAMEMNON. Whence this delay? why go you not f inter, 0 Hecuba, your daughter^ whom Talthybius Directed that no Greek might be allow'd To touch ? We therefore have with your request Complied, nor mov'd the corse. But you remain Inactive, which I wonder at, and come To fetch you, for each previous solemn rite That best might pleiase, if aught such rites can please. Have we performed. But ha, what Trojan youth Do I behold lie breathless in the tent i For that he was no Greek, the garb informs me In which he's clad. . HECUBA. Thou wretch, for of myself 1 speak, when thee, O Hecuba, I name ; What shall I do, at Agamemnon's knees Fall prostrate, or in silence bear my woes? ' AGAMBMNOK. Why weep, with face averted, yet refuse T* inform me what hath happen'd ? who is he? HECUBA. But from his knees, if, deeming me a slave And enemy, the Monarch should repell me. This would but make my sorrows yet more poignant* HECUBA. 33 AGAMEMNON. I am no seer, nor can I uninfortn'd Trace out the secret purpose of your soul. HECUBA. Am I mistaken then, while I suppose A foe in him who doth not mean me ill i AGAMEMNON. If 'tis your wish I should not he apprized. We hoth are of obe mind ; you will not speak. And I as little am dispos'd to hear. HECUBA. Without his aid no vengeatice for my child Can I obtain : yet why deliberate thus ? Prosper or fail I must take courage now. O royal Agamemnon, by those knees A suppliant I. conjure you, by that beard. And thdt right hand, rictorious o'er your foes. AGAMEMNON. What do you wish for? To obtain your freedom i This were not difficult. HECUBA. No, give me vengeance On yonder guilty wretch, and I am willing To linger out the remnant of my life In servitude. AGAMEMNON. Then why implore our aid ? HECUBA. For reasons you suspect not. Do you see That breathless corse o'er which my tears I shed ? AGAMEMNON. The corse I see; but cannot comprehend What follows next. HECUBA. Him erst I bore and nurtured. VOL. I. D 34 HECUBA. AGAMEMNON* Is the deceas*d, O miserable Dame, One of your children ? HECUBA. Not of those who fell Beneath Troy's walls, AGAMEMNON. What ! had you other sons ? HECUBA. Yes^ . him you see, born in an evil hour AGAMEMNON. / But where was he when Ilion was destroyed i HECUBA. His Father, apprehensive of his death, Convey'd him thence. AGAMEMNON. From all the other children Which then he had, where plac'd he this apart i HECUBA. In this same region where his corse was found. AGAM^EMNON. With Polymestor, sovereign of the land ? HECUBA. He, to preserve that execrable gold. Was hither sent. AGAMEMNON. I But, by what ruthless hand, And how, was he dispatched ? HECUBA. By whom beside ? The murderer was his friend, the Thracian King AGAMEMNON. Was he thus eager ? O abandoned wretch. To seize the gold ! HECUBA. E'en thus ; soon as he knew Troy was o'erthrown. HECUBA, 55 A6AMBMNON.* But where /did you discover The body^ or who brought it ^ HECUBA* On the shore This servant found it^ AGAMEMNON. Or in quest of him Or other task then busied ? HECUBA. To fetch water To lave Polyxena's remains^ she went. AGAMEMNON. When he had slain him^ it appears, his friend Did cast him forth. HECUBA. He to the waves consigned The stripling's mangled corse. AGAMEMNON. O wretched woman, Surrounded by immeasurable woes. HECUBA. I am undone; no farther ill remains For me t' experience. AGAMEMNON. Ah ! what woman e*er Was bom to such calamities ? « HECUBA. Not one Exists, whose sorrows, equal mine, unless You of Calamity herself wpuld speak. Yet hear the motive why I clasp your knees. If I appear to merit what J suffer, I must be patient; but if not, avenge My wrongs upon the man who 'gainst his guest Such treachery could commit, who, nor the Gods o 2 36 HECUBA. Of Erebus beneath, nor thote wha rule In Heaven above regarding, this vile deed. Did perpetrate, e'en he with whom I oft Partook the feast, on whom I shower'd each bounty, Esteeming him the firdt of all my friends; Yet, when at Ilion's palace with respect He had been treated, a deliberate scheme Of murder forming, he destroyed my son. On whom he deign'd not to bestow a tomb. But threw his corse into the briny deep. Tho' I indeed am feeble, and a slave. Yet mighty are the Gods, and by their law The world is rulM : for by that law we learn That there are Gods, and can mark out the bounds Of justice and injustice; if such law To you transmitted, be infring'd, if they Who kill their guests, or dare with impious hand To violate the altars of the Gods, Unpunished scape, no equity is left Among mankind. Deeming such base connivance Unworthy of yourself, revere my woes. Have pity on me, like a painter take Your stand to view me, and observe the number Of my aflSictions; once was I a Queen, But now am I a slave ; in many a son I once was rich, but now am I both old And of my children reft, without a city. Forlorn, and of all mortals the most wretched. But whither would you go ? With you I seem To have no interest. Miserable me ! Why do we mortals by assiduous toil. And such a painful search as their importaqce Makes requisite, all other arts attain. Yet not enough intent on the due knowledge Of that sole Empress of the human soul Persuasion, no rewards bestow on those Who teach us by insinuating words *.*! HECUBA. 37 How to proctki'e our wishes? who can trust Hereafter in prosperity ? That band Of my heroic Sons is now no more^ Myself a captive^ am led forth to tasks Unseemly, attd e*en now these eyes behold The air obscured by (7) Ilion's rising smoke. It might be vaip perhaps, were I to found A claim to/jicur assistance on your loye : Yet must I speak : my Daughter, who in Troy Wasi caird Cassandra, the prophetic dame. Partakes your bed ; and how those rapturous nights Will you acknowledge, or to her how shew Your gratitude for all the fond embraces "Which she bestows, O King, or in her stead To me her mother ? In the soul of man Th* endearments of the night, by darkness veil'd. Create the strongest interest. To my tale Now listen : do you see that breathless corse i Each act of kindness which to him is shewn, Upon a kinsman of the Dame you love (7) The inconsiderable widtli of the Hellespont, now called the strait of the Dardanelles, which divides the Thracian Chersonesus from the Continent of Aua, on which Troy stood not far from the coast, makes the bteral truth of this circumstance by no means improbable. It was very natural for the Greeks, who had only passed this narrow frith, and not yet lanched their fleet into the main ocean, to speak of tiie voyage from Troy to their native land as yet unperformed : and after examining the passages pointed ou.t by Dr. Musgrave, as instances of Euripides ha- ving repeatedly changed the scene from Thrace to Troy, I can consider them only, as inaccuracies of expression, and by no means sufficient to autiiorise the.';harge of his having so grossly and repeatedly violated the unity of place; to preserve which, we must indeed suppose the tomb of Achilles, where Polyxena was sacrificed, to have been erected in the do- minions of Polymestor, and not on the Sigeian promontory, where Strabo has placed it: but the account given of that hero's interment in tlie last book of the Odyssey, is worded in so vague a manner, it being only there said that las countrymen bore his body to the ships, and raised a tomb on the shore of the Hellespont, that it is possible for a succeeding writer, treading closcjy in the steps of Homer, to understand by what he there says, that the ships conveyed the body of Achilles to the opposite Bhore of the HeUespont, which was the Thracian Cliorsonesus. 3S HEGtJBA. Will be conferred. Bat, in one point my speech Is yet deficient. By the wondrons arts Of Da&dalus, or some benignant God^ Could I give voice to each arm, hand,- and bair. And each extremest joints they round your knees Should cling together, and together weep, lo At once combining with a thousand tongues* ' O monarch, O thou light of Greece, comply. And stretch forth that avenging arm to aid An aged woman, tho' she be a thing Of nought, O succour : for the good man's duty Is to obey the dread behests of justice, ■:; And ever punish those who act amiss. ciroKU5. 'Tis wonderful, indeed, how all events Happen to mortals, a'nd the dread behests Of fate, uncircumscribM by human laws. Constrain us to form amities with those To whom the most inveterate hate we bore. And into foes convert our former friends. A6AMBMNON. To you, O Hecuba, your Son, your fortunes. And your entreaties, is my pity due. I in obedience to the Gods and Justice Wish to avenge you on this impious, friend. Could I appear your interests to espouse^ Without the troops suspecting that I slay The Thracian monarch for Cassandra's sake ; My terrors hence arise ; the host esteem Him our ally- and the deceased a foe : What tho' you held him dear, his fate, the loss Of you alone, ailects not the whole camp. Reflect too, that you find me well dispos'd To share your toils/ and in your cause exert My utmost vigour; but, what makes me slow» Is a well grounded fear of blame from Greece, 9 HECUBA. Alas ! there's no man free : for some are slaves To gold^ to fortune others, and the rest^ The multitude or written laws restrain From acting as their better judgement dictates. But since you are alarm'd, and to the rabble Yield an implicit deference, from that fear I will release you ; only to my schemes Be privy, if some mischief I contrive Against the murderer of my Son : but take No active part. If, when the Thracian suffers. As he shall suffer, 'mongst the Greeks a tumult Break forth, or they attempt to succour him. Restrain them) without seeming to befriend My interests. As for what remains, rely On me, and I will manage all things well. AGAMEMNON. How then ? what mean you ? With that aged hand To wield a sword, and take awav the life Of that Barbarian, or by drugs endued With magic power? the help you need, what arts Can furnish i what strong arm have you to fight Your battles ? whence will you procure allies ? HECUBA. These tents conceal a groupe of Trojan Dames. AGAMEMNON. Mean you those captives whom the Greeks have seized HECUBA. With them I on the murderer will inflict Due punishment. AGAMEMNON. How can the female sex 0*er men obtain a conquest ? HECUBA. Numbers strike A foe with terror, and the wiles of women Are hard to be withstood* 40 HECUBA. AG4MBMN0N. They may strike terror. But in their courage I no trust can place. HECUBA. What ? did not women slay -Sgyptus' Sons, And in their rage exterminate each male From Lemnos i But leave me to find out means How to effect my purpose. Thro* the camp In safety this my faithful servant send ; And thou, when to liiy Thracian friend thou com'st, - * Say, ^' Hecuba, erst Queen of Troy, invites '^ Thee and thy children, on thy own account, " No less than hers, because she to thy Sons ^^ And thee the self-same message must deliver.'* The newly-slain Polyxena's interment Defer, O Agamemnon ; in one ilame That when their kindred corses are consumed ; The Brother with the Sister, who demand A twofold portion of their Mother's grief. Together may be buried in one grave. AGAMEMNON. These rites shall be performed, which could the troops Set sail, I needs must have denied : but now. Since Neptjime sends not an auspicious breeze. Expecting a more seasonable voyage. Here must we wait. But may success attend you ; For 'tis the common interest of mankind. Of every individual, every state. That he who hath transgress'd should suffer ill. And Fortune crown the efforts of the virtuous. [Exit AGAMEMNON. CHORUS. 1. 1. No more, O Troy, thy dreaded ftame Conspicuous in tlie lists of fajjae. HECUBA. 41 Midst fortresses impregnable shall standi In such thick clouds an armed host Poors terrors from the Grecian coast^ And wastes thy vanquished land : Shorn from thy rampir'd brow the crown Of turrets fell ; thy psdaces overspread With smoke lie waste^ no more I tread Thy wonted streets, my native tQ^rji, I perish'd at the midnight hour^ When, aided by the banquet's power. Sleep o'er my eyes his earliest influence shed ; Retiring from the choral song The sacrifice and festive throng, Stretcht on the downy bed The bridejgroom indolently lay. His massive spear suspended on the beam. No more he saw the helmets gleam. Or nautic troops in dread array. n. !• While me the golden mirror's aid. My flowing tresses taught to braid In graceful ringlets with a fillet bound. Just aa I cast my robe aside^ And sought the couch ; extending wide Thro' every street this sound Was heard; *^ O when, ye sons of Greece, '* This nest of robbers levell'd with the plain, '' Will ye behold your homes again ? '' When shall these tedious labours cease ?** n.2. Then from my couch up starting, drest Like Spartan nymph in zoneless vest, At Dian's shrine an ineffectual prayer Did I address ; for hither led. First having view'd my Husband dead, Full oft I in despair. 42 HECUBA. As the proud vessel sail'd from land^ Look'd back^ and saw my native walls laid low;^ Then fainting with excess of woe At length lost sight of Ilion's strand, III. Helen that Sister to the sons of Jove, And Paris Ida's swain. With my curses still pursuing. For to them I owe my ruin. Me they from my country drove. Never to return again. By that detested spousal rite On which Hymen never smil'd. No, 'twas some Demon who with lewd delight Their frantic souls beguil'd : Her may ocean's waves no more Waft to her paternal shore. POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. POLYMESTOR. For thee, O Priam, my unhappy friend, And you, my dearest Heeuba, I weep, Beholding your distress, your city taken. Your Daughter newly slain : alas ! there's nought To be relied on ; fame is insecure. Nor can the prosperous their enjoyments guard Against a change of Fortune, for the Gods Backward and forward turn her wavering wheel. And introduce confusion in the world. That we, because we know not will happen. May worship them. But of what use are plaints Which have no virtue to remove our woes i If you my absence censure, be appeas'd. For in the midst of Thracia's wide domains I from these coasts was distant at the time Of your arrival : soon as I return'd. When from the palace I was issuing forthj HECUBA. 43 This your attendant met me^ and delivered The message^ hearing which^ I hither came. HECUBA. O Polymestor, wretched as I am, I blush to see thy face ; because thou erst In happier days didst know me^ I with shame Appear before thee in my present fortunes. Nor can I look at thee with stedfast eyes : But this thou will not deem to be a mark Of enmity : the cause of such behaviour Is only custom, which forbids our sex To gaze on men; POLYMESTOR. No wonder you thus act Under such circumstances. But what need Have you of me, and wherefore did you send* To fetch me from the palace ? UECUBA. I in private A secret of importance would disclose To thee and to thy children. From these tents Give orders for thy followers to depart. POLYMESTOR. (to hts attendants, who retire,) Withdraw ; this solitary spot is safe. For you and the confederate Grecian host Are all attach'd to me. But ^tis incumbent On you t' inform me what my prosperous fortunes Can yield to succour my unhappy friends! For this is what I wish to do. HECUBA. Say first. If he my Son, whom this maternal band And his fond Father in thy mansions plac'd^ My Polydore yet live. Til then pursue My questions. POLYMESTOR. Yes, in him you still are blest. 44 HECUBA. HECUBA. H('W kind, bow worthy of thyself that speeeb^ My dearest friend ! POLTMESTOB. What farther would yon know ^ HECUBA. If haply yet the youth remember aught Of me his Mother ? POLYMESTOB. Much he wishM to come And visit you in private. HECUBA. Is the gold He brought from Troy preserved ? POI.YMB9TOB. { keep it safe In my own palace. HECUBA. Keep it if thou wih : But covet not the treasures of thy friends. POLYMEiJTOR. I do not covet them ; my utmost wish Is to enjoy, O Woman, what I have. HECUBA. Know'st thou then, what to thee and to thy sons I want to say ? POLYMESTOB. I know not ; till in words Your thoughts are signified. HECUBA. Bestow such love On Polydore as thou receiv'st from me. POLYMESTOR. What is It that to m^ and to my children You would disclose i f ■ ■ ' HECUBA. 45 HECUBA. The spot, where deep in earth. The antient treasures of all Priam^s hofase Lie buried. POLYMESTOR. Is this secret what you wish Should to your Son be mentioned i H£CUBA. Yes, by thee. Because thou art a virtuous man ! POLYMESTOR. But wherefore Did you require these children should be present? HECUBA. For them to know the secret, if thou die^ Will be of great advantage. POLYMESTOR4 You have spoken Well and discreetly. HECUBA. Know'st thoQ where at Tro/ Miperva's temple stands ? POLYMESTOR. Is the gold there ? But by what mark shall I the spot distinguish f HECUBA. Above the surface rises a black stone. POLYMESTOR. Will you describe the place yet more minutely? HECUBA. The gold I in thy custody would place. Which I from Ilion hither bring. POLYMESTOR.^ Where is k ? Conceal!d beneath your garment ? 46 HECUBA. HECUBA. Midst a heap Of spoils laid up within yoa tents. POLYMESTOR. Where mean you? These are the Grecian mariners' abode. H30U9A. In separate dwellings have they placed the captives ? POLYMESTOR. But how can we rely upon the faith Of those within ? doth no man thither come? HECUBA. There's not a Greek within ; we are alone : But enter thou these doors : for now the host^ Impatient to weigh anchor^ would return From Ilion to their homes. Thou with thy children T^accompUsh all the dread behests of fate, Shalt thither go v^hexfi thou hast lodg'd my Son. {Exeunt hecvb A and FOj.yuESjo't^f CHORUS. Thou hast not yet received the blow^ Sat justice sure will lay thee low. like him who headlong from on high Falls where no friendly haven's nigh. Into the ocean's stormy wave, HcFe shalt thou find a certain grave: For twofold ruin doth impend O'er him who human laws pursue. And righteous Gods indignant view : Thee shall the hope of gain mislead. Which prompts thee to advance with speed. And Pluto's loath'd abode descend : Soon shalt thou press th' ensanguin'd strand^ Slain by a woman's feeble hand. POLYMESTOR. (within*) Ah me, the light that visited these eyes Is darken'd. HECUBA. 47 SEMICnORUS. Heard ye, O my friends, the shriek Of yonder Thracian i POLYMESTOR. (witkln,) Yet again, alas^ My children'3 foul and execrable murder! SEMICH0RU8. My friends, some recent mischief hath within Been perpetrated. POLYMESTOR. (witlun.) Tho' your feet are swift, Ye shall not scape, fop through the walls Fll burst My passage. SEMICHORUS. With a forceful hand, behold He brandishes the javelin. Shall we rush To seize him ? This important crisis bids us Assist our Queen and Phrygians valiant dames. HECUBA. Now do thy worst, and from their hinges rend Yon massive gates : no more canst thou impart To those lost eyes their visual orbs, nor see Thy sons, whom I have slain, to life restor'd. HECUBA, CHORUS. CHORUS. Hast thou, my honor'd mistress, caught the Thracian, Over this treacherous friend hast thou prevail'd. And all thy threats accomplish'd ? HECUBA. Ye shall see him • Before the tent, without delay, depriv'd Of sight, advancing with unsteady foot. And the two breathless corses of his sons. Whom I, assisted by the noblest matrons Of Troy, have slain. Th' atonement he hath paid 4S HECUBA. To my revenge, is just. But iiaW behold He issues forth : I will retire and shun The Thracian chiefs unconquerable rag^. POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. POLYMB8TOR. Ah, whither am I going f wretched me ! Where am I ? what supports me i With these bands Groping my way like some four-footed beast. How shall I turn me, to the right or left. That I those murderous Phrygian dames may seize Who have destroy'd mei Impious and accurst Daughters of Ilion, in what dark recess Do they escape me ? Would to Heaven, O Sun, Hiou to these bleeding eye-balls could'st aiFord A cure, that thou my.blindness could'st remove. But hush, I hear those women's cautious tread* How shall I leap upon them I with their flesh How shall I glut my rage, and for a feast To hungry tigers cast their mangled bones. In just requital of the horrid wrongs. Which I from them, ah wretched me, have suffered ? But whither, by what impulse am I borne, Leaving the corses of my Sons expos'd To hellish Bacchanalians, as they lie Tom by the dogs, and on the mountain's ridge Cast forth unburied ! Where shall I stand still I Or whither shall I go ? Like some proud bark Tow'd into harbour, which contracts its sails ; I to that fatal chamber which contains The corses of my murdetM sons rush onward With speed involuntary. CHORUS. Hapless man. How art thou visited by woes too grievous To be endur'd ! but by dread Jove thy focj HECUBA^ 49 On him whose deedg are base^ it is ordain'd^ That the severest punishments await. POLYMBSTOR. Rouse^ O ye Thracians^ arm'd with ponderous spears, Array'd in mail, for generous steeds renowned, A hardy race, whom Mars himself inspires. To you, O Grecian troops, and both the sons Of Atreus, I with clamorous voice appeal : Come hither, I implore you by the Gods* Do any o^ you hear me ? is there none Who will assist ? why loiter ye ? Those women. Those captives have destroyed me. Horrid wrongs Have I endur'd : ah me, the foul reproach ! But whither shall I turn, or whither go i Through the aerial regions shall I wing My swift career to that sublime abode Where Sirius or Orioh from his eyes Darts radiant flames i or, to perdition doomed. Shall I descend to Pluto's sable flood i v . CHORUS. He merits pardon, whosoe'er assail'd By ills too grievous to be borne, shakes o£f The loath'd incumbrance of a wretched life. AGAMEMNON, POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS. . AGAMEMNON. Hearing thy shrieks I came : for Echo, child Of craggy mountains, in no gentle note Wafted those sounds tumultuous thro' the host. Had yre not known that by the Grecian spear The towers of vanquish'd l^hrygia are o'erthrown. Such uproar would have caus'd no small alarm. POLYMB8TOR. My dearest friend, soon as I heard your voice, I instantly perceiv'd 'twas Agamemnon, See you my suffering^ ? VOL. I. B so HECUBA. AGAMEMKOK. Wretched Polymestor ! Who hath destroyed tbee ? who bereaved of sight Thy bleeding orbs, and those thy children dew? Whoe'er the autbor of such deeds^ his rage Was dreadful sore 'gainst thee and 'gainst thy sons. POLTILESTOK. With the assistance of those captive dames. Me Hecaba hath murder'd^ more than murdered. AGAMEMNON. What mean'st thou? — are you guilty of the crime .. With which he charges you i and have you dar^d To perpetrate an action thus audacious ? POLYMESTOB* Ah me ! vhat said you ? is she near at hand? Inform me where to find^ that I may seize heo And scatter wide to all the fowls of Heaven Her mangled corse. AGAMEMNON. Ha ! what is thy design f POLYMESTOR. Allow me, 1 conjure you by the Gods, To grasp her with this frantic arm. AGAMEMNON. Desist, And casting forth all rancour from thy heart. Now plead thy cause ; that, hearing both apartj^ I with unbiass'd justice m^ decide. If thou these sufierings merit'st. pbliYMSSTOB. I will speak. There was one Polydore,'the youngest son Of those Whom Hecuba to Priam bore ; Him erst removing from the Phrygian reahn. His Sire to me consign 'd, that in my palace HECUBA. 51 He might be nortnr'd, when that hoary King The fall of Troj suspected : him I slew : But hear my motives for the deed, to prove How jastly and how prudently I acted. Your enemy, that fjoy, if he survived THe ruin of his country, might, I fcar'd. Collect the scattered citizens of Troy, And there again reside. I also fear'd, That when the Greeks knew one of Priam's line Was livings with a second fleet invading The shores of Phrygia, they again might drain Of their inhabitants our Thracian fields, Involving us, their neighbours, in the vengeance, They on their foes at Ilion wreak* To us Already hath such neighbourhood, O King, Prov'd baneful. But, apprised of her son's fate, Hecuba drew me hither, on pretence She would inform mc where in mnniiive gold The hidden treasures of old Priam's race Beneath Troy's ruins were securM. Alonr, She with my children brought me to this tent. That none beside might know. With bended km^e, While on a couch I sat, some on my left, And others on my right, as with a friend, Full many of the Trojan darqsels took Their places, holding up against the sun My robe, the woof of an (fi) Edonian loom : Some feign'd t' admire it, others viewM my spear. And stripped me of them both. From hand to baud The matrons, seeming to caress my children, Removed them far from their unhappy Sire : (8) E4oilk wsi • maritiiiut dii trict of Ttince, bordfrHng on the JE^fMi scs, and diffclsd from Mscedoda on tbs Sooth west by tlie river Htry^ Thb provines U, bf spost writers, supposed to bv/t derived its nsine from the mounUdn Edon, frequeuU/ inetitipned by tlie Poetx, on iiccouttt of its befaif batmted by the fSnmde votsriei of Baccfatis, ivfoom we ^40 ftod oAsa csOod fidofikns. 0 O 5« HECUBA- And after tbeir fond speeches, in an instant, (Could you believe it?) snatching up the swords. Which they beneath their garments had conceal'd. They stabb'd my sons, whom while I strove to aid, In hostile guise their comrades held my arms And feet ; if I looked up, they by the hair Confin'd me; if I mov'd my hands, my struggles Proved ineiFectual, thro' the numerous band Of women who assail'd me, and to cloiie The scene of my calamity, accomplish'd A deed with more than common horror fraught. For they tore out my bleeding, eyes, and fled. But, like a tiger starting up, I chas'd These ruthless fiends, and with an hunter's speed Each wall examined, dashing to the ground. And breaking what I seiz'd. Thefse cruel wronger While I your inter;?sts study to maintain, O Agamemnon, and dispatch your foe. Have I endur'd. To spare along harangue. The whole of what 'gainst woman hath been said By those of antient times, is saying now>. Or shall be said hereafter, in few words Will I comprise; nor ocean's waves, nor eartb> Nurture so vile a race, as he who nK)st Hath with the sex conversed, but knows too welL CUOKUS. Curb that audacious virulence of speech. Nor, by thy woes embitter'd, thus revile Air womankind ; the number of our sex Is great, and some there are, whom as a mark To envy, their distinguished worth holds forth,. Tho' some are justly numbered with the wicked^. HECY7BA* O Agamemnon, never ought the tongue To have a greater influence o'er mankind Than actions ; but whoever hath done wellt HECUBA. S3 Ought to speak ^ell; and he^ whose deeds are base. To ttse nnseemly language, nor find means By specious words to colour -o'er injustice. Full wise indeed are they to whom such art Is most familiar: but to stand the test Of time not wise enough ; for they all perish^ Not one of them e'er scapes. These previous thoughts Toyou^ O mighty King, have I address'd. But now to him I turn, and will refute The fallacies he uttered. What pretence Hast tbou for saying, that to free the Greeks From such a jsecond war, and for the sake Of Agamemnon, thou didst slay my son? For first, O villain, the Barbarian race With Greece, nor will, nor ever can be friends. What interest rous'd thy zeal ? didst thou expect To form a njuptial union ! wert thou mov'd By kindred ties, or any secret cause? Greece with a fleet forsooth would have returned To lay thy country waste. Who, canst thou think. Will credit such assertions? If the truth Thou wilt confess, gold and thy thirst of gain Were my Son's murderers. Why,whenTroy yet flourish^ dj Why, when the city was on every side Fenced by strong bulwarks, why, when Priam liv'd. And Hector wielded a victorious spear. Didst thou not, if thou hadst design'd to act In Agamemnon's favor, at the time When thou didst nurture my unhappy Son, And in thy palace shelter, either slay. Or to the Greeks surrender up the youTh A living prisoner f But when llion's light Was utterly extinguish'd, when the smoke Declar d the city subject to our foes, The stranger thou didst murderi at thy hearth Who sought protection. To confirm thy guilt, I^ow Iiear this f&^ther charge : if thou to Greece M HECU3A. Hadst been a friend indeed^ thou should'st haive fpMKL The gold thou say'st thou keep'st^ not for tbine ovn^ But Agamemnon's sake, among the troops Who suffer want, and from their native land Have for a tedious season been detained. But thou from those rapacious hands e'en now Canst not endure to part Vfith it, but hoard'st it Still buried in thy coffers : as became thee, Hadst thou train'd up my Son, hadst thou to him Been a protector, great is the renown Thou would'st have gain'd; for in distress the good Are stedfast ; but our prosperous fortunes swarm With friends unbidden. Hadst ,thou been in want. And Polydore abounded, a sure treasure To thee would he have prov'd : but now no longer Jn him hast thou a friend ; thou of thy gold Hast lost tb' enjoyment, thou thy Sons hast lost^ And art thyself thus wretched. But to yOu, O Agamemnon, now again I speak : If you assist him, you will seem corrupt ; For you will benefit a man devoid Of honor, justice, piety, or truth ; It might be said that you delight in evil ; But, I presume not to reproach my lords. CHORUS. How doth a virtuous cause inspire the tongue With virtuous language ! AGAMEMNON. On a stranger's woes Reluctant I pronounce, but am constrain'd ; For shame attends the man who takes in hand Some great affair, and leaves it undecided. Know then, to me thou seem'st not to have slain Thy guest thro' an atachment to my cause. Nor yet to that of Greece, but that his gold Thou might'st retain j tho' in this wretched state Thou speak to serve, lliyintefesitf* Among you Perlj^pa tbtf qivrd^i* of your guests- seisms ligbt> We Greeks esteem it b^sf?. If I acquit thee How shall I sciipe reproach i locked I capnot: Since thou hast dar'd to perpetrate the crime, £nd9i]s(» |I|e c<9Dseqence. • • POLTMBSTOB; Too plain it seems Ah me! thit^ Tanquish'd by a female slave^ Here shall I perish by ignoble hands. HECUBA. Is not this just for the atrocious deed Which thou hast wrought ? FOETMEStOK. My childr&> wretched me ! And these quench'd orbsi HECUBA. Griev'st thou, yet think'st thou not That I lamtot rty Son f rOLYMESTOR. Malignant woman. Do ybu rejoice in taunting my distress f HECUBA. In such revenge have not I cause for joy ? POLYMESTOR. Yet not SO hastily, when ocean's wave— HECUBA. Shall in a bslrk convey me to the shores Of Greece ? POLYMESTOK. Shall whelm you in its vast abyss Fall^ from the shrouds. HECUBA. Rais'd thither by what impulse ? 56 HECUBA. POLYME8TOR* Up the tall mast you with swift foot shall climb. HECUBA. On feather'd pinions borne, or how i POLYMESTOR. With form Canine endued, and eyeballs glaring fire. HECUBA. Whence didst thou learn that I such wondrous chaoge Shall undergo f POLYMESTOR. Bacchus, the Thracian Seer, Gave this response. HECUBA. To thee did he unfold Nought of the grievous sufferings thou endur'st i POLYMESTOR. Then could you ne'er have caught me by your wiles. HECUBA. But on this change of being, after death. Or while I yet am living, shall I enter i POLYMESTOR. After your death, and men shall call your tomb"-*. * HECUBA. By my new foqn, or what is it thou mean'st ? POLYMESTOR. (9) The sepulchre of that vile brute, an object Conspicuous to the mariner. (9) Ki/iosarifM, the term here made use o^ is the same we meet with in Strabo, who calls the tomb of Hecuba by that name, and describes it as situated on that part of the coast of the Thracian Chersonesos whidi is opposite the month of the river Rhodins. Dr. Chandler, in his Travels through Asia, mentions seeing << Cynossema^^or the barrow of Hecuba, which, he adds, ^ is still very conspicuous.'* He confirms Strabo's ac- count of its site. The dwelling so long on this transformation of Troy's unhiq>py Queen will, no doubt, q>pear to some readers inconsistent with the dignity of the Tragic Muse, especially if they happen to recollect th($ HECUBA. 5T HBCUBA. I care not ; If J yengeance is complete. . P0LYME8TOR. Cassandra too, Yonr Daughter, must inevitably bleed. HECUBA. Abomination ! on thy guilty head These curses I retort* POLYMSSTOB. Her shall the Wife Of Agamemnon slay^ who sternly guards His royal mansion. UBCUBA. Such a frantic deed As this may Tyndarus* Daughter ne'er commit ! POLYMESTOB. She next uplifting the remorseless axe Shall smite her Lord. AGAMEMNON. Ha ! madman^ dost thou court Thy ruin ? POLYMESTOK. Slay me ; for the murderous bath Awaits you, when to Argos you return. ludicrous manner in which it is set forth by Plautas in his Maenechmi. I duUl therefore only refer those, iwho wish for a more circumstantial ac- count of Hecuba's Metamorphosis, to Orid, where they will find her, ^ Stthonios ululare per agros." He differs, indeed, in some respects from Euripides, particularly in the representing her as yet alive when this change of form took place ; bat in Quintus Calaber her metamorphose inlo the canine species precedes the departure of the Greeks from Troy, and is accompanied with an immediate petrifaction of her whole frame ; 9tKlf •J'W J^va wa»J« ^nm Qtog, 1. 14. V, 399 ; the Poet, however, represents her, even in that state, as borne away by the victore with the rest of their plunder. The inspired Cassandra, in the Trojan Captives of Euripides, just foretells the death of Hecuba, but, with a singuhir degree of elegance and delicacy, adds^ «i!KKk v h muiw ; I spare the shameful sequeU 68 .HECUBA. AGAMEMNON. Will ye not drag him from my sight by force ? POLYMBSTOR. Hear you with grief what I announce ? AGAMEMNON. My. followers^ Why stop ye not the miscreant's boding mouth ? POLYMESTOR. This mouth be clos'd for ever : I have spoken. AGAMEMNON. Will ye not cast him with the utmost speed Upon some desert island^ since he dares To speak with such licentiousness ?— Depart, .* ' O wretched Hecuba, and both those corses Deposit in the grave. But, as for you. Ye to your lord's pavilions must i*epair, O Phrygian dames : for I perceive the gales Rising to waft us hoiaeward : may success Attend the voyage to our native land ! And in our mansions may we find all "well. Freed from these dangers ! CHORUS. To the haven go. And to the tents, my friends, t' endure the toils Our lords impose : for thus harsh fate enjoins. ORESTES. Mt}I^1oyoy filiVficct firoiyfltl*;^ val^o^. ifitCHTLCS* PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. ELECTRA. HELEN. CHORUS OF ARGIVE DAMSELS, attendaiits on EMcnuu ORESTES. SfENELAUS. TYNDARUS. FYLADES. A MESSENGER. HERMIONE. A PHRYGUN. APOLLO. BCFMJE^AS OPEN COURT BEFORE THE PALACE AT AROOS. ORESTES. ELECTRA. T%e Palace Doors thrown open, discover obsst]R8 $kq>itig on a Couch* 1 hbbb's not an evil in the power of words T express^ no dire calamity^ no scourge Inflicted by the Gods^ whose weight the race Of man endures not. For e'en he who sprung, Tis said^ from Jove^ e'en Tantalus the blest, (Nor do I speak in too presumptuous terms Of his past fortunes, when I style them blest) Scar'd by the rock impending o'er his head. Floats in the midway air, and suffers thus. As fame relates, because, when with the Gods Admitted, tho' a mortal, to partake The social board, by an unbridled tongue He did offend most foully : he begot Pelops, the Sire of Atreus, whom the Fates, As in their loom they wove his vital thread, Ordain'd with discord and fraternal hate To vex Thyestes. Why should I recount Such execrable deeds ? Wheniie had slain Thyestes' children, Atreus at tiie banquet Plac'd them before their Father. But to Atreus And Cretan i&rope, for" I suppress The intermediate fortunes of our house, Was Agamemnon the illustrious boro, (If tp the chief who so ignobly died, Hie title of illustrious can belong) 62 ORESTES. And Menelaus; Helen, by the Gods, Abhorr'd, was Menelaus' Wife, his brother The royal Agamemnon to his bed Took Ciytemnestra a distinguished dame: Three daughters from that impious Mother sprung^ Chrysomethis, the victim Ipliigenia (1), And I Electra, with one son Orestes. My Mother, casting o'er hid head the folds Of an inextricable garment, slew Her Lord : but why she slew him, to relate Would ill become a virgin ; I this deed Of darkness leave for public speculation. But why should we charge Phcebus with injustice, Tho' he enjoin'd Orestes to destroy His Mother ? Not by all was he for this = ' ' Applauded; yet he slew her iti obedience I'o the prophetic Deity. I too. As far as woman could, that abtion shared. And with us valiant Pylades (^tispir'd. Wretched Orestes wasting thro' disease Heuce lingers on a couch, his Mother's blood With madness fires his brain : I dread to name Those Goddesses, th' Eumenides, who strike His inmost soul with terror. But this day Is now the sixth since his slain Mother's corse Was purified by fire, and in that space No food hath he receive, nor once hath lat^ His wearied frame ; but in his mantle wrapt, -> Soon as the frenzy leaves him, wheli returns His better reason, weeps : bat from the couch (1) In both the Greek and Lati% the quantity of Iphigema's naime 9 the same with that of her Great Grandmother Hif^podantitt, the wife o^ Pelops, the last syllable but one beh^ long : but it i»sow almofit unlfeifi^. sally pronounced otherwise in Eagliflh, paHiculfllrly since two of our fiiK poets^ Dryden andJPope, have by their example authpr^^ed the coii» traction into Iphigema. The arbitrium et jus et noroialoqiieAdi arie hf Horace assigned to custom; and the translator thoAgM ft beott^faknloi acquiesce, rather than seeAi to ^ute alidl'litotfattilQr^b^MSiictiSgftft observe its directions. ORESTES. 63 Starts ever and anon, swift as the steed Bursting his yoke. But Argos hath decreed ; Beneath his roof or at the sacred hearth. That no man shall receive us, no man speak To us our Mother^s murderers. But this day The city hath appointed for deciding By puhlic vote^ whether with showers of stones They will o'erwhelm us, or with sharpened sword Lop off our heads. One hope of scaping death We yet have left; for Menelaos comes From Troy, and crowding with his fleet the port Of Nauplia^ anchors on these shores, full long A wanderer in his voyage. To our palace Hath he sent forward Helen, guilty cause Of many woes^ observing when the night Concealed her with its shade, lest one of those Whose sons at Ilion fell^ had he by day Mark'd her arrival, might have hurl'd the stone To smite her: here within she sits, lamenting: Her Sister, and the fortunes of this house. But, to alleviate her distress, she finds Hermione her Daughter, from the realm/ Of Sparta bearing when he saii'd for Troy, Beneath these roofs, whom Menelaus left Entrusted to my Mother's guardian care, In her rejoicing she forgets her woes. But I observe each avenue, to see If Menelaus come, for every help We have beside is feeble ; if in him We find not a protector, fall we must. No prop supports the, house of wretchedness! HELEN, ELECTRA rORESTES on a cauck.) HELEN. O thou, from Spartan Clytemnestra sprung. And Agan^emnon, who hast long remained A virgin ; miserable Electra, say 64 ORESTES. Both how thou far'st, and how thy brother fares. That wretch Orestes who his Mother slew ? To thee, without pollution^ by transferring That crime from you to Phoebus, can I speak. Yet I bewail the fate of Clytemnestra , My Sister, whom, since I to Ilion sail'd (For sail I did, by Heaven's decrees inspired With frenzy), never have these eyes beheld. But reft of her that sad event I mourn. ELECTRA. What need of Words, when you a present witness, 0 Helen, Agamemnon's race behold, Plung'd in calamity ? Sleep's balmy joys 1 taste not, seated by my Brother's corse. He hardly breathes, nor when I term him dead. Do I his woes exaggerate. You meantime, Tho' blest yourself, and tho' jrour Lord is blest. Come to th' abode of us who are most wretched. HELEN. How long hath he lain prostrate on his couch ? ELEGTRA. E'er since he in maternal gore imbrued His hands. HELEN. O hapless youth, O wretched fate Of her whom her own furious offspring slew ! ELECTRA. Surrounded by afflictions I despair^ HELEN. O virgin, I conjure thee by the Gods, Wilt thou comply with the request 1 make ? ELECTRA. In strict attendance on my hapless brother Am I engag'd, and have no leisure. HELEN. Wilt thou Go to my Sistei^s tomb ? ORESTBS. 65 You mean my Mother's* On what account ? Tb bear my votive tresses^ And sprinkle due libations to her shade. ELECTTRA. Are not you sufl^r'd to attend in person The sepulchre of one you hold so dear? HELEN. Before the Argive citizens I blush To shew my face. ELECTRA. At lien^th are you^ who erst Basely your home abandoned, grown discreet. HELEN. Though thou hast safctOtft^truth, yet dost thou speak Unlike a friend to me; ELECTRA. What can excite Your shame amidst Mycene's kindred race i HELEN. I dread the Sires of those who fell at Troy. ELECTRA. All Argos with one voice proclaims you curst. HELEN. My fears removing, O do thou confer On me Abis favour. ELECTRA. I my Mother's grave Cannot endure to see. HELEN. Twere sure unseemly ThiaK offerings by a servant to convey. '' ELECTRA. Why on such errand scruple you to send Hermione your Daughter? ▼OL. I. w 66 ORESTES. HELEN* It becomes not A bashful maid in public to advance. ELECTRA* She by this action would repay the cares Of the deceas'd, who nurtured her. HELEN. Well spoken ; To thee I yield, O Virgin, and will send My daughter, for thy words are just.— Come forth^ Hermione, without the palace, take These offerings in thy hand, and my shorn tresses: Soon as thou reachest Clytemnestra's tomb Pour mingled streams of honey, milk, and wine. On her sepulchral hilloc as thou stand'st, And say; " On thee these gifts thy sister Helen '^ Bestows, not daring to approach thy grave, '' Because she fears a lawtess Aigive crowd." Implore her with benign ant x»re to watch O'er me, thyself, my husband, and these two By the prophetic God involved in ruin. Then, as the ties of kindred love enjoin. From me each offering promise that is due To the deceas'd. My daughter, go with speed; And when these holy rites thou hast perform'd. Without delay forget not to return. [Exit hel^n ELECTRA. O Nature, to some mortals what a source Of mischief art thou ! but haw great a blessing To those whom thou with virtj5i hast endued ! Mark how she cuts the edges of her hair, Studious her wonted graces to retain, (2) And the same woman still. Thee may the Gods (S) The artful behaviour of Helen i^ described by Gasa^ Archbisiiop of Benevento, in the following vefses, ,the insertion of which may not be unacceptable to the classical reader : Ut capta rcdiens Helen^ cum conjnge Troj^ Lento homine atq; animi lenis nimiiimq^ reinissi, { ORESTES. 67 » Pursue with hate for having ruin'd me. My brother, and all Greece. Wretch that I am! But in my plaintive notes to join, again My lov'd companions cpme: perhaps from sleep Orestes now reposing will they rouse. And from these eyes force tears when I behold My brother frantic. Tread, my dearest friends. With silent foot ; let no rude sound be heard ; ' For grateful is your kindness, yet to wake him Would b^ unfortunate. CHORUS, ELECTRA, (ORESTES on his couch.) ELECTRA. Hush, hush, my friends ! Advance on tiptoe, gently, gently step. Keep at a distance from my Brother's couch. CHORUS. Thee I obey. EL£CTRA. In whispers, O my friend, * Speak like the flute that's form'd of slender reed. CHORUS. Lo in a tone, soft as the breathing pipe, I to my words give utterance. ELECTRA. It is well, E'en thus : yet sink your voice. Move gently on Incidit in caedem ipsaja^fiinias ferte sororis, Quam preceps miseri vii lus jogularat Orestis, Succisam de more comam missura sepulto Germanae cineri, fertur dempstese capillo Vixtiktideai eftdmm<j pauhun, ne ferte placeret Tonsa niniis meiitueiis Spartanis improba mopchis . • .' . ' . f A copious discussion of the subject, in Otters between Casa and Peter Victorias, who understood this passage in a different sense, construing Hop' flwfoS', " close to the roots'* instead of " at the extremities," and llakcu fm, " still retaimng her antient beauty," occur m Miciiaelis Bruti Epist. Clar. Vir, p. 1— 19, JUigd. 1561 ; & Casae Lat. Monumenta, Florent,i564; p. 2, 86,&20i. ,.. . I With silent step. Say for what came ye elites. For here he lies long wrapt in quiet sleep. CHORUS. Tell ns, lov*d Maid, how fares he ? ELECTRA. In wh^t Wbird* Shall I express his woes f He yet just breathes, And groans at frequent intervals. CHORUS. What say'st thbU f O wretch ! ELECTRA. You'll kill me, if you make him ope Those eye-lids heavy with delicious slumber. CHORUS. Unhappy youth, what punishments hath Heaven On thee inflicted ! grievous are thy toils. ELECTRA. Alas ! alas ! unjust was the response Unjust Apollo gave, when from the tripod Of Themis he impelfd us to commit That execrable murder of our Mother. CHORUS. See'st thou i his limbs beneath the garment move. ELECTRA. Because unseasonably, with clamorous voice. Intruding, his repose you have disturb'd. CSORUS. I think he slumbers stilL ELECTRA. Are ye not gone^ From his apartment will ye not retire In quiet, lest you scare him f CHORUS. Yet he sleeps* ELECTRA. These words are gratefuL ORESTEjSi. e9 CHORUS, Venerable Night, O thou who giVst sweet sleep to man with toils Exhausted, borne on sable pinions, cqme From Erebus to Agamemnon's house. For, by calamity and grief overwhelmed. We sink to rise no more. Ye are too loud, GHOI^US. No. ELBCTBA. leave the oQUch ia silenqe ; O refrain Your tOAgUjes, and. grant him the calm joys of sleep. CSiORVS. Say what will be the period of his woes f ELECTRA. Death. For what else but death can now ensue f He loathes all food. CHORUS. His fate is then tpo plain, ELECTRA. Apollo was the author of our ruin, When he pronounc'd that blood demanded blood, That she who slew our Father should be slain. CHORUS. Tho' justice urg^d^ yet from her Children's hands Foul was the blow. ELECTRA. My Mother, thou didst smite. Didst perish ; but my Father, and the race Spning from thy womb^ e'en us, haat thou involved Deep in perdition; we are like the dead: For while thou dweli'st amid the shades beneath, I, more than half my life, in groans, in plaints. And midnight tears, consume ; unwedded> childless^ 70 ORESTES. Torn with aflflictions which can never end, I thus drag out the remnant of my days* CHORUS. Approach, take heed, Electra, lest death steal Upon thy Brother ere thou art aware. For this long intermission of his frenzy I Hke not. ORESTES, (nxOemg,) Sleep, thou medicine, who reliev'st Every disease, how sweetly didst thou come To visit nie, e'en on that hour when most Thy help I needed ; venerable oblivion Of misery, how art thou endued with T^isdom^, Benignant Goddess, whom each Wifetch adores ! But whence, or by what means did I come hither f For I have lost my reason, and forget • ' ■ ^ All that has pass'd. ELECTRA. ' Dear Brother, with Wh*at joy "■ Have I beheld thee sleep!— Shall I support Thy feeble body ? ORESTES. Lend your pious hand. Wipe off that foam which loads my clammy mouth, And on these eye-lids hangs. ELECTRA. Lo, T perform The grateful service, and am nothing loth To tend my Brother with a Sister's care.^ ORESTES. Permit me on that arm awhile to lean. And from my face remove the clotted hair. For it obstructs my sight. ELECTRA. How are the ringlets Of this thy miserable head defird. From being long unwash'd ! ORESTE& U ORESTES. Upon the bed Lay me again ; soon as the frenzy leaves me I droop unnerved, and feel each limb grow weak. £L£CTRA« See how the couch to the sick man is welcome, A thing we love not, but which oft we need. ORESTES. Stretch forth again and raise me from the couch. CHORUS. The sick thro^ listlessness are hard to please*' ELECTRA. Wilt thou not set thy foot upon the ground After so long an interval? In all things Variety affords delight. ORESTES. Most gladly : For this appears like health, and to seem well, EVn tho* we are not, is of some advantage. ELECTRA, Now, O my Brother, to my voice attend, While yet thou by the Furies art allow'd Thy senses to retain. ORESTES. Is there aught new You would disclose to me? if it be good. You will rejoice me; but if fraught with ill. Already I've enough to make me wretched. ELECTRA. ' Thy Uncle Menelaus is arrived ; In Nauplia's haven lies his anchored fleet. ORESTES. What say you ? With auspicious beams of light. The cloud of our afflictions to dispell. Comes he our kinsman, he who by the ties Of gratitude wasto our Father bound ? 7£ ORCSTB& He comes^ indeed *; believe me, when I add^ Helen accompanies his march from Troj:* CMRESTEB. Had he been sav'd alone> he had been happier; But, if he bring his Consort^ he con«8 laden Wilh no small mischief. Tyndarus bath begoden A race of Daughters, by their shame distinguished, And infaipous thro* Greece. ORESTES. Now be it yours, (For surely it is possible,) io act A widely different part from those vile women ; Nor let your virtue be to words alone Confin'di but deeply rooted in the heart. EUXTTRA. My Brother^ how those eye-balls roll ! sure thou, Who but this moment wert in thy right mind. Art suddenly grown frantic. ORESTES. O, my Mother, Forbear to rouse against me, I beseech, Those blood-stain'd Virgins arm'd with hissing snakes ; See, see they leap upon my couch. ELECTRA. Poor wretch, liie still ; these visions are but frmcy's coinaget ORBSTES. Me, mighty Phoebus, with their dog-ey -d glare. Frowning askance, thosQ Priestesses of Hell, E'en those terrific Goddesses, would murder. ELECTRA. X I will not loose, but hold thee with firm hand^ Lest hence with inauspicious rage thou spring. OBJESTES. 73 ORESTES. Let me alone ; one of my Furies too Are you who grasp me round the waist, beneath The yawning depth of Tartarus to plunge me. ELECTRA. Ah, wretched me ! what aid can I obtain When Heaven itself'^ against us ? ORESTES. Reach my bow, He present of Apollo, who ordaia'd I with this sounding weapon should repell Those direful Goddesses whene'er they came To scare me into madness. ELECTRA. Can a God By human arm be wounded ? CmESTES. From my sight Unless they vanish.— Heard ye the loud twang ? Behold ye not the winged arrows sped With force unerring from a distant bow ? But, ah ! what means this strange delay ? Ascend Th' etherial fields, on rapid pinions borne, And charge Apollo's oracles with guilt. Why droop my spirits ? wherefore do my lungs Retain no power of breathing ? from the couch Ah, whither have I wander'd ? But again The storm I see subsides, and all is calm. My Sister, covering with a veil your head. Why do you weep ? It shames me to involve In my calamities a guiltless maid. My woes bewail no longer : you indeed Approved the project, but 'twas I that slew My Mother, tho' the guilt I charge on Phcebus, Who, after he had urg'd me to commit An action the most impious, with vain words. Not in effect, consol'd me. For my Sire, 74 ORESTES. I deem, if him I to his face had question'd. Whether by filial duty 1 was bottnd To slay my Mother, would with many prayers Have earnestly conjur'd me by this beard In the maternal bosom not to plunge My sword, since he to life could ne'er return, And I must hence be thus completely wretched ! Yet, O my Sister, now remove that veil. And tho' we are unhappy, cease to weep. But whensoever you see my reason lost, Curb and console my frenzy ; oft as you Lament for our afflictions, 'tis my part To give you soothing counsel : from a friend Benignant offices like these are grateful. But to an inner chamber, hapless maid, Awhile retiring, close those sleepless eyes> Refresh yourself with wholesome food, and bathe That wearied body in the cooling spring ; For if you leave me, or thro' long attendance On me, contract diseases, I must perish, For I have you, and you alone to aid me, ' Deserted, you perceive, by all beside. ELECTRA. Not thus : with thee I am resolv'd in death As well as life to share, for either state Is now to me the same. If thou expire. Ah, what can I, a feeble woman, do. How find support alone ? of Brother, Sire, And every friend bereft. Yet, if thy pleasure Be such, I ought t'obey thee. But recline Upon the couch, and suffer not thy fears To make thee start up hastily, but rest In the same posture: for although thou feel No sickness, if thou think thyself diseased. Like real maladies can fancy wound [Exit electra. ORESTES. 75 CHORUS. O D E. I. Upborne on rapid wings, O Goddesses, who fire The soul with madness, who in tears delight, Nor imitate gay Bacchus* festive rite. Ye fell Eumenides, ye swarthy choir. Who midst the boundless tracts of air, to smite The crest of guilt, direct your way, . And every murderous deed requite : From Orestes* tortur'd breast. To you, to you I pray, • ' ' Banish distractioi^'s raging pest. What toils, ordain'd to perish, wretched youth, O son of Agamemnon, didst thou brave. Obedient to the voice of aweful truth, Apollo's dread response pour'd from earth's central cave. II. Where is thy inercy, J ove ? for ah, what tortures rend The murderer's bosom! adding tears to tears. Some evil genius wakes these conscious fears. And bids his mother's blood from earth ascend These mansions to pollute : his foul disgrace. His loss of reason I deplore. Prosperity with man's frail race Lasts not e'en thro' life's short day^ We sink to rise no more. As when the sail is rent away From the swift bark by some God's vengeful hand, Plung'd in an ocean of tempestuous woe. What house henceforth our reverence shall demand. If we behold the race of Tantalus laid low? But royal Menelaus comes, from far Distinguish'd by his graceful mien, as one Who springs from Tantalus' illustrious blood ; 76 ORESTES. O thouy who with a thousand ships didst anchor On Asia's coasts^ all hail ; for in an hour Most fortunate com'st thou whose utmost wishes Have been acconaplish'd by th' indulgent Gods. M£N£LAUS, ORESTES, CHORUS. MENBLAUS. Thee, well-known mansioB, from the siege of Troy At length returning^ I with mingled pleasure And grief behold ; for by severer wpes These eyes have never seen a house besieg'd. Anchoring at Malea, I the piteous tale Of Agamemnon's fate, and by his Wife How he was slain^ there learn 'd : for from die waves The sailor's prophet (5) Glancus, who unfoldi Sage Nerens^ oracles, that God renowned For strict veracity, arose, and utter'd With too distinct a voice these words; ^^ Thy l^othfr, '^ O Menelaus, in th' accursed bath '' Plung'd by his Consort lies, and thence no more *' Shall he emerge." Me and my hardy troops These tidings caus'd to shed full many a tear. But soon as I the coast of Nanplia reach'd^ And landed Helen here, when I expected To have embraced in these fond arms Orestes The son of Agamemnon, and his mother^ As if they yet had liv'd and prosper'd both ; I by a certain fisherman was told Of Clytemnestra's murder. Gentle virgins, Inform me where is Agamemnon's son^ Who dar'd to perpetrate this impious deed ? (3) <^ Apollonius Rhodius, in bis ArgonauticB, 1. 1. ver. 1310. ^ velatei '< a similar appearance of Glaucus, who is there likewise called the Pro- '< phet of Nerens." Bninck. The appearance and prophesy of Ghuicus to the Argonauts is likewise recorded by Diodoms Siculus. Pansanias informs us, that the Glaucus here spoken of was a fisberqiAn of Aqthedon in Bceotia ; and that he chanced to taste a certaiQ lierb, which caused him to become a Sea God, and foretell future events. (JRESTES. 77 For he was yet an infant iu the arms Of Tyiidarus' daughter^ when I left my home And saird for liion ; hence^ should i behold^ I cannot recollect him. ORESTES. 1 am he For whom^ O Menelaus, you enquire ; I am Orestes^ willingly to you Will I disclose my sufferings, but first cling Around your knees, and sue in humble words For pity, tbo' the boughs by suppliants borne Are wanting : save, O save me, for you come Just in the crisis of my woes. AIENELAUS. Ve Gods, What spectre from the shades do I behold? ORESTES. Well have you spoken : for I am too wretched To be accounted still a living man. Although 1 view the sun. MENEIAUS. How bristle up Thy clotted locks ! ORSSTESl My torments are not owing To what I see, they spring from what Tve done. MENELAUfl. With those parched eye-balls horribly thou glar'st. ORESTE& My body is consumed ; but of my name I am not yet deprived. BfENEIAUS. That aiter'd form With wonder I behold. ORfeSTES. I am the mai^ Who slew my mother. 78 ORESTES. MENEIAUS. This I heard : no more; For evil deeds should cautiously be mention'd* -ORESTES. I cease : but on my head some Demon showers Abundant cursea. MENELAUS- What dost thou endare, And by what malady art thou destroyed ? ORESTES. By conscience, which brings 1>ack atrocious crimet To my remembrance. MENELAUS. " " ' What is it thou mean'st i By speaking plainly wisdom is displayed. And not in mystic riddles. ORESTES. Sorrow gnaws My inmost vitals. MENELAUS. . ,. . . ■/; She is a severe, Hfeti^ Yet placable Divinity. ^^^ ORESTES. . '.: .* <::: /r; >• . Combin'd With madness to avenge my mother's blood* MENELAUS.- ' •" •-•T But when began this frfen2y I name the day. ORESTES. As o'er my wretched mother'i^ corse I heaped The tomb. • iC MENELAUS. ■' '^ ■'■/•■ ■■■• ■'' ^^ Wert thou at home/ or didst thou sit By the funereal pyre f ORESTES. •> . A nightly, guard Over her bones I watched. ORESTES. 79 MENELAUS. To raise thee up From earth, when fallen, was any one at hand7 ORESTES. Yes, Py lades, who joined with me to slay My mother, partner in the bloody deed. MENELAUS. But by what phantoms art thou vex'd ? ORESTES. Methought I saw three hideous maids arise^ whose loorks Resemble night. MENELAUS. The virgins thou describ'st I know^ l)ut will not name them. ORESTES. They inspire Just 'awe; beware, and speak not of them^ rashly. MENELAUS. Do they, in vengeance for maternal gore. Inflame thy soul with madness. ,,;i^> ORESTES. Wretched me ! With what inveterate rage am I pursued ! MENELAUS. Are not such horrid punishments the due Of those who perpetrate these horrid deeds ^ ORESTES. But from myself can I transfer the charge •— MENELAUS. O speak not of thy father's death : for this Were indiscreet. ORESTIES. On Phoebus, whoenjoin'd me To slay my mother. MENELAUS. lo the laws^ of justice And honor inexperienc'd. go ORESTES. We obey The Gcm)' commaDds; for whatsoe'er they bci Still are they Gods. MENEIAUS. Doth not Apollo yield Some aid in thy afflictions? ORESTES. He delays : Slow is the nature of th' immortal powers. MENEIAU& How long the time since Clytemnestra drew Her latest breath ? ORESTES. Six days : the pyre yet smokes. MENELAUS. How swiftly do those Goddesses from thee Claim an atonement for thy mother's death ! ORESTES. Unwisely^ yet with truth against thy friends Hast thou maintain'd this charge. MENELAUS. Of what avail To thee hath been this vengeance of thy Sire? ORESTES. It hath not yet availed me^ and I deem Whatever is delay'd a thing of nought. MENELAUS. How stand'st thou in th' affections of the city^ After this action ? ORESTES. I am so abhorr'd^ That none will speak to me. MENELAUS. Hast thou neglected^ By such lustrations as the laws ordain^ To cleanse thy bloody hands i ORESTES. 81 ORESTES. ^Gainst me the doors Of every house to which I go are clos'd, MENELAUS; What citizens are thej^, who from the land Strive to expel thee ? ORESTES. Oeax, who transfers To me the hate which he against my Sire Conceiv'd at Troy. MENELAUS. I understand thee well ; On thee this furious brother Would avenge The death of Palamedes, ORESTES. In that crime I shar'd not : but I (4) utterly am ruin'd. MENELAUS. /Who else conspire against thee ? are they some Of slain -ffigisthus' friends ? ORESTES. With cruel taunts. They who engage the public ear, revile me. MENELAUS. But do they still allow thee to retain The sceptre 7\gamemnon bore ? ORESTES. What mean you? They will not even suffer me to live. MENELAUS. Inform me as distinctly ias thou canst, (4) Brunck, in a note on tliis Hne, which has caused a variety of opinions among the preceding commentators, and induced Dr. Morell and Dr. Musgrave to hazard each his different conjectural alteration, observes, that the expression iia r^m, bic nihil aliud est quam, Ua/luyn aut iice/lt^. The term rfiKUfxuusy in the Troades, is with one assent rendered gravibus procellis; and it is well known, that the term *^ thrice^ is ftequently used, as well in tbe English language as in the antient classical writers^ to de- note ** very," as 9^; /Moxo^t;, ter beati, thrice happy. VOL* !• O 82 ORESTES. What practices are carrying on against thee. ORESTES. On us this day is sentence to be pass'd. MENELAUS. Exile^ or death, or some what^ short of death ? ORESTES. We by th' assembled city shall be ston'd. MENELAUS. But from the limits of this realni by flight, VVh}' dost not thou escape ? ORESTES. With brazen arms Am I encompassM. MENELAUS. By thy private foes, Or the whole realm of Argos ? ORESTES. In one word. All are combined to take my life away. MENELAUS. O wretched man, on tlie extremest verge Of fate thou stand'st. ORESTES. * On you I rest the hope OF finding an asylum in my woes : But since a prosperous visitant you come To the unhappy, portion out your bliss Among your friends, nor to yourself alone Keep all the good you freely have received ; But be content to share my labours too. My father's benefits, to me his son Repaying, who such debts with justice claim : For they who in calamity desert us, Are but in name, and not in deed, our friends. CHORUS. Behold the Spartan Tyndarus hither comes Tottering with aged step, in sable vest ORESTES. 8S Array'd, and shorn in a funereal guise For his slain daughter. ORESTES. I> O Menelaus, Expire, for Tyndarus hither doth advance. He, in wliose presence, conscious as I am Of these foul deeds, it shames me to appear. For he and Leda nourish'd me, while yet I was an infant, and on me bestow'd Pull many a kiss, as in their arms they bore The son of Agamemnon^ and rever'd me No less than the immortal Twins of Jove. Them, for such kindness, (O my wretched heart !) Have I with foul ingratitude repaid. What darkness o'er my visage shall I spread. Or how before me place so thick a cloud. As to conceal me from the searching eyes Of that incens'd and venerable man ? TYNDARUS, MENELAUS, ORESTES, CHORUS. TYNDARUS. Where is my daughter's husband Menelaus ? For as I pour'd libations on the tomb Of Clytemnestra ; with his wife I heard He had in safety reach'd the Nauplian coast. After an absence of full many years. Lead on ; for close beside him would I stand Ready to greet my friend, whom it is long Since I have seen. MENELAUS. Hail, O thou aged man. Who didst enjoy with Jove one common bide. TYNDARUS. Thee too, my son-in-law> may health attend ! Ah, how unhappy is it that we know not Aught of the future ! He, the wretch I hate. That serpent reeking with maternal gore, e 2 84 ORESTES* Before the portals brandishes his stingy And darts forth venom. To this impious inurdere^^ O Menelaus, wherefore wilt thou speak ? MENELAUS. What mean'st thou ? He's my dearest brother's son* TYNDARUS, Could one. so vile from him derive his birth ? MENELAUS. From Agamemnon sprung^ he justly claims My reverence, if unhappy. TYNDARUS. Thou hast sojourn'd Among Barbarians, till thou art thyself Grown a Barbarian. MENELAUS, r ., Tis a Grecian part, Our kindred ever to revere* TYNDARUS. Nor aim At soaring 'bove the laws. MENELAUS. The wise submit To whatsoe'er necessity ordains. TYNDARUS. Hold, if thou wilt, a principle so mean ; I scorn in these opinions to concur. MENELAUS. Passion conspiring with old age obscures Thv reason. TYNDARUS. Was the subject of my strife With him about pre-eminence in wisdom? If what is right and wrong, to all mankind^ Be evident : what foUv can exceed That of the impious wretch, who hath not paid To justice due attention^ nor observed Those public laws, by which all Greece is bound I /t ORESTES. fi5 For, smitten by my daughter's ruthless hand. Since Agamemnon breath'd his last (a deed So infamous I never can applaud) 'Gainst her, Orestes was in duty bound To have required atonement for the blood Of his slain father, urging the pursuit Till from the paliace he had cast her forth An exile; hence, in this distressful state. He by forbearance had obtained renown, And shewn a pious reverence for the laws : But with his mother now is he involv'd In equal guilt. ; for while he justly deem'd That she was wicked, he himself became More wicked by her murder. I this question To thee, O Menelaus, will propose ; If fn her husband's blood a wife imbrue Her hands, and, to avenge his death, the son Should slay the mother, and himself t' atone For such a deed, by his own offspring fall. What endless train of horrors would ensye ! In antient days our sires this wholesome law Enacled, that, the man who had committed An act of homicide, should ne'er appear In public, or in social converse join ; By banishment they purg'd his crimes away. But suffered not th* avenger to destroy him. For otherwise must he, whose hands receive The last defilement, ever be expos'd To strict retaliation. I abhor All impious women, and my daughter first AVho slew her Lord; yet on thy consort Helen No praise can I bestow, nor will I parly With her, qor thee applaud, who in the cause Of that vile prostitute didst sail for Troy. But with my utmost power will I assert The laws prohibiting these murderous deeds Qf brutal force which ever prove the bane f " 86 OREST^. Of empires and of cities. For, O wretch. How voi(} of tender pity was your soul, When your unhappy mother bar'd her breast. And at your knees a suppliant fell ! I saw not Those horrors, yet ray aged eyes overflow With tears. One circumstance confirms the truth Of what I say ; detested by the Gods For having slain your mother, you are doom'd To wander stung by frenzy and by fear. In matters which ourselves discern, what need Of evidence ? Be warn'd, O Mehelaus, Nor act in opposition to the Gods By an attempt to succour him; permit The citizens to stone him, or thou ne'er To thy domains at Sparta shalt return. Although my daughter in her death but suffered What she deserv'd, she ought to have escaped The weapon of a son. In all things else I justly may be styl'd a happy man. But am, alas ! most wretched in xx\y daughters. CHORUS. Blest is the man, who in his children proves So fortunate, as not to find them sources Of greaj; palamity. ORESTES. I dread to speak Before thee, «ged monarch, since my words ^ust fill thy soul with grief; in that I slew My mother, I am impious, but deserve To be accounted pious, call the deed I have committed by another name. Just vengeance for nay father : O retreat. While I my cause &m pleading, aged man, Bepause thy presence interrupts my Speech ! And I proceed : but now, by thy grey hairs. Am I o'eraw'd. How ought I to have acted I Weigjj both my parents in an equal scale \ ORESTES. 87 » My Sire begot, thy Daughter brought me forth : As the tiird ground receives the scattered grain ; Without the father never could the child Have had a being : hence I reasoned thus; I to the cause of my existence ought To furnish succour, rather than to her Who only gave me nurture. But thy Daughter (On whom I blush to waste the honoured liame Of Mother) sought stol'n pleasures, and ascended The bed of an adulterer : on myself. Will the reproach I cast on her, rebound ; Yet speak I must. Within this palace lurk'd Her secret husband, the accurst JEgisthus ; Him first I slew, nor sheath'd my vengeful sword Till I had stain'd it with maternal gore ; The laws indeed I broke, but have exacted A strict requital for my Father's, death : Vet since for this, 'gainst me thou hast pronounc'd The threat of being ston'd ; hear how I serv'd All Greece ; for if our women should attain To such a pitch of boldness as to slay ^heir Lords, and then fly with their bosoms bar'd. Imploring pity, to their sons for refuge, The murder of their husbands would be held 'Mongst them no fault, when any slight pretence 43ccurs to give a sanction. By committing This deed, which thou call'st horrid, I suppressed Such usage, and, with virtuous hatred fir^d Against my mother, justly smote the Dame, Who to her Lord was false, while he fron^ home In brazen arms was absent, mighty Chief Of the whole Grecian land ; nor undefil'd Preserv'd her nuptial couch : yet, by the stings Of conscience goaded for that foul offence. No penalty imposing on herself, Wreak'd bitter vengeance on her husband's head, An(J, to avoid his just resentment, slew . -N 88 ORESTES. My Father. By the Gods, (tho' while I plead The cause of blood, it misbecomes my tongue * To mention the immortal Powers) in silence Had I conuiv'd at the foul deeds my Mother Committed, what would my slain Sire have done To punish me ? would not his hate have rous'd The Furies ? To avenge my Mother's death If those ren^orseless Goddesses attend. Would not his greater wrongs have claimed their aid ?• Thou, in begetting that abandoned Daughter, Didst ruin me, O venerable Man, For of my Father in an evil hour Heft by her daring lust, am I become My Mother's murderer. Mark Ulysses' Wife ; Telemachus destroy'd not her ; for she Form'd with no second Lord the nuptial league. Her first yet living : in her house renxains A spotless bridal couch. Observe how Phgebus, • Erecting in the center of the world His fane, dispenses oracles to man Which never cr.n mislead, whose dread behests With an implicit reverepce all obey; By him enjoin'd^ my mother have I slain, Condemn him then as impious, let him bjeed. He sinn'd, but I was guiltless. What remain'd For me to do ? Is not the God himself. When I to him transfer the charge, sufficient To expiate my, offence ? Where shall th' accus'd Henceforth for shelter fly, if his command Rescue me not from death ? Forb^ear to charge me With acting wrong, but rather ss^y, that this To me hath prov'd an inauspicious deed, Blest is the life of him whose nuptial choice Is wisely made; but he who to his arras Takes an unworthy Consort, when at home. And when abrpac}, is wretched. ORESTES. 89 CHORUS. In the hour Of adverse fortune, ever near at hand Is woman, to augment the woes of man, TYNDARUS. Since, flush'd with brutal arrogance you pay No. deference to my arguments, but make Such harsh replies ^s wound my inmost soul. The more my just resentment wjU you rouse. Till I your death have compass'd ; to the toils Of an unwelcome ofEce, the adorning My daughter's tomb, which caus'd me to come hither. Hence shall I add renown : for I will go Tp the assembled Argives, and stir up The citizens, aheady well disposed Without reluctance to drag forth and stone You and your sister, who deserves to die Yet more than you, because she 'gainst yourmother £mbitter*d you : she ever did instil Into your ear words to provoke your hate, Recounting dreams by Agamemnon sent, An'd how the powers of hell beneath abhorr'd ^gisthus' nuptials ; on this theme she long With.raijpor dwjelt, till, kindled by her breath. These mansions caught a flame yet more intense Than that of Vulcan's forge. O Menelaus, What I to thee profess, I will perform, If thou the least regard to my resentment Or our affiqity would'st pay, that wretch Protect not in de^ance of the Gods : Suffer the citizens with stones to slav him. Or thou to Sparta never shalt return. Remember the advice thou hear'st, nor choose The impious for thy friends^ and slight the good. |!ipad Die^ my servants, from this loath'd abode. [^Exii TYNDARUS, go ORESTES, ORESTES. Depart, that what I have to say may reach HisX^^r without disturbance, and escape Thy virulent old age. — But whither turn Your feet, O Menelaus, with that air Of anxious thought, 'twixt two opinions lost, As if you entered on a road obscure And intricate f MENELAUS. O leave me ! many thoughts In iny own soul revolving, I yet know not With whom I in this crisis ought to side. ORESTES. Form no conclusive judgement now ^ but, hearing^ My arguments, on them your counsels ground. MENELAUS. Proceed in thy defence ; 'twas wisely urg'd : Toy silence, and a fluency of words. Each in due season may the preference claim. ORESTES. Encourag'd thus, I speak : a long narration Hath in my case th' advantage of a brief one. And is by far more clear. On me bestow None of your wealth, but make a due return For bounties which on you my father shower'd : I mean not to solicit you for gold, But a possession to my soul most dear, If you my life preserve. Do I exceed The bounds of justice in this fond request ? From you, since I am wretched, I deserve Somewhat beyond what I could justly claim: For Agamemnon, my illustrious Sire^ Generous, not merely just, the host of Greece Assembling, sail'd for Troy; the Chief himself Transgressed not, but came forward to exact Atonement for the crime of him who stole Your Consort, Sure a benefit like this ORESTES, or Claims AQ equivalent. As for their friends Friends ought to act, in battle he expos'd For you his person to severest toils, That you the ravish'd Helen might regain. Then grant me back this favour in the stead Of all which you at Ilion have received ; ; Py danger unappall'd, one single day Stand forth to save me, not ten tedious years. To you my sister I resign, who bled A spotless victim at the straits of Aulis ; 3Iay not Hermione to make atonement. For you were born, on me while fortune lours * ^ at the present moment, to be blest And merciful to me : but spare my life, ]Both for the sake of my unhappy father, And of my sister, who hath long remain*d /k. virgin : since, by dying, I shall leave i Without an heir the mansions of my Sire. You'll say ; " that 'tis impossible to grant What I request." But it behoves a friend. His friends in their calamity to aid : For when with bounteous hand propitious Fortune Scatters her gifts, what need have we of friends? 3ufficient is the Goddess, if dispos'd Per votaries to protect. To all the Greeks, You seem to love your Consort ; this I say not TT insinuate myself by flattering arts Into your favor: in her name I sue. Wretch that I am, how low doth my distress Force me to stoop ! yet why should I be loth To use entreaties, since for our whole house I intercede ! O Brother of my Sire, Think the deceased amid the shades beneath Now hears my voice, and, hov'ring o'er your liead A disetnbodied spirit, in such words As I have done, accost^ you. This I utter Midst tears, and plaints, and woes, and crouch for lire Which all, and not I only, strive to save. d2 ORESTES. • CHORUS. With him, I loo, a female suppliant join In these entreaties ; succour the distrest. For thou art able ! MENELAUS. I for thee, Orestes, A strong attachment feel, and would partake in thy disastrous fortunes ; for we ought Thus to relieve our kinsman's woes, if Heaven With strength endue us, midst impending deatbj^ And covered with the slaughter of our foes. Yet need I the assistance of the Gods T' enable me : for in a bark unfurnished With combatants I come, a wanderer harass'4 By toils unnumber'd 5 my surviving friends Are but a feeble, and a scanty band : In battle therefore cannot I subdue Pelasgian Argos ; but, if gentle words Have an}' force, on them my hopes I ground. How should the efforts of the weak prevail Over the mighty ? to indulge a wish Like this, were madness. For when anger once Finds entrance in the people's breasts, to tame Their fury, is as hard as to extinguish . A conflagration ; but if we give way To their impetuous spirit, and observe Our proper season^ it perhaps will spe^d Its vehemence, and when their heat subsides. We easily may mold them to our will ; Great is their pity and their rage: to those Who watch their opportunity, they prove The best of friends. But I wil] go and strive On Tyndarus and the Gity to prevail Ta make a moderate use of power supreme. For when its rudder's strain'd, beneath the waves^ The vessel sinks; but if we loose the bands. Again it rises. Courage unrestrained To Jove himself is odious, and abhorrec} «► ORESTES- 93 By all mankind ; to save thee now from foes Mightier than we, discretion and not strength Td what I need, nbr speak I thus at random. Not by my prowess in th' embattled field. As thou perhaps may'st deem, could I pTrotect thee : Nor were it easy for one single lance Amidst the evils which around thee swatm, Tb raise the victor's trophies ; else I ne'er 'Would have accosted, in a soothing strain Th' inhabitants of Argos : but the wise Are now constrain'd to be the slaves of fortune. [£j:if-MENElAUS» ORESTES. O thou, in all things else devoid of merit, . Except to combat in a woman's cause. Who hast no spirit to protect thy friends. Dost thou forsake me with averted eyes? Were Agamemnon's benefits in vain Lavish'd on thee ? in thy distress, my father, Thou hadst no friend. Ah me! I am betray'd. No hopes of any shelter now remain Whither I may betake me, to escape From Argos and from death : for I in him As a secure asylum plac'd my trust. But lo my Pylades, that best of men. From Phocis hastening, greets my raptur'd eyes. In our adversity the faithful friend Is a more pleasing object than a calm To mariners. PYLADES, ORESTES, CHORUS. PYLADES. I, with the utmost speed. Came through the city, when I heard and saw The people were assembled to pass judgement On you and on your sister, whom they seem Resolved to slay immediately. .How fare you. f ^ 94 ORESTES. What are you doing, dearest comrade, frJertdy And kinsman ? for to me are you all these ! ORESTES. In one short word, to sura up all my woes^ I perish. PYLADES. Me too, by the roots torn up, In the same fate will you involve; for friends Have but one common interest. dRESTES. Both to me. And to my sister, Menelaus proves Most base. PYLADES. How natural is it> that the husbancf Of that abandoned woman should be wicked! ORESTES. As well for me if he had ne'er arrived. PYLADES. But is he landed on these shores indeed ? ORESTES. After a long delay : but I full soon Perceiv'd that he Was treacherous to his friends. PYLADES. And was the bark, in which he hither came. Freighted with his vile wife? ORESTES. He brought not her. But him she hither brings. PYLADES. Where is that Dame Who slew so many Greeks ? ORESTES. Here in my palace. If I may venture yet to call it mine. PYLADES. What said you to the brother of your sire ? ORESTES. 95 ORESTES. Him I conjur'd, not tamely to behold Me and my sister by the people slain. PYLADES. Just heavens ! what answer made he? tell me aj^ ORESTES, *^ With that ungenerous caution he behav'd, \Vhich to their friends is practis'd by false friends* PYLADES. What plausible excuse could he allege ? When this I know, I shall have learnt the whole. ORESTES. The sire of those egregious females came. PYLADES; Tyndarus you mean ; inflam'd perhaps with rage 'Gahist you for his slain daughter. ORESTES. Thou art right, And such affinity did he prefer To my sire's cause. PYLADES. Nor dar'd he to partake Your toils, tho' present when you claim'd his aid? ORESTES. Unwont to launch the spear, this Chief displays His courage only for a female prize. PYLADES. Your miseries are extreme, and fate ordains That you shall die. ORESTES. We, for our mother's bloody Must by the citizens be judg'd. PYLADES. What sentence Will they pronounce ? for greatly do I fear. ORESTES. Our death, or life : for, by one single word. 96 ORESTES. The most important questions they decide. . PYLADES. Leave these abodes, aAd with your sister flyy ORESTES. Perceive you not, by guards on every side. How strictly we are watch'd ? PYLADES. I saw the streets Impervious, and beset with hostile spears. ORESTES. Here, like a city, by an host of foes I closely am beleaguer'd. PYLADES. How I fare. Now ask, for I too utterly am ruin'd. ORESTES. By whom ? thro' the misfortune of my friendi Will my calamities become more gxievous. PYLADES. My father Strophius from my native laud Hath banish'd me in anger. ORESTES. On a charge Of some offence committed 'gainst himself. Or 'gainst the public i PYLADES. For assisting you To slay your mother, which he terms a deed Most impious. ORESTES. Wretched kinsman ! in. my woes You seem to be involv'd. PYLADES. I will not act Like Menelaus : them I ought to bear. ORESTES. Have you no fear, lest Argos should deprive OBXSTEQ. 97 You too of life? .., r . . No right to punish me Hath Argosj ipr to Phocis I belong. ORATES. The maltittide is terrible^ when led By Chiefs unprincipled* % PYLADES. But well dispos*d^ If virtuous men bear rule. ORESTES. Enough : my cause In public am I now constraint to plead. PYLADES. By what resistless destiny impell'd i ORESTES. If I before the citizens should go. And say — — ' PYIAPES. You acted justly i ORESTE& In avenging My father's death. PYLADES. I fear they would receive This plea unfavourably. ORESTES. With terror smitten. Or should I die in silence— .. PYLADES. i This were mean And dastardly; - '^. :: . ORESTES. How then shall I proceed ? PYLADES. Have you the smallest chance, if here you stay. Of being sav'd i ORESTES. ^ I have not. VOL. I. H 98 ORESTES. PYLADES. ^ * ?:iC If you go Before the people^ is there dot sbihe hope Of gaining a deliverance fmm yoiir woes?' . '^ ORESTES. Twere possible if fortune thus ordain. PYIADES. This is far better than continuing here. ORESTES. Shall I then go ? PYIADES. , You hence ensure^ if doomed To die, a far more honourable death. ORESTES* My cause is just. PYIADES. O may it thus appear! ORESTES. Well have you spoken ; so shall I escape The imputation of a timid conduct. PYIADES. Rather than if you here remained. ORESTES. And some Perhaps with pity may behbld my fall. PYIADES. Great is the influence of your noble birth. ORESTES. My father's death reaenting — PYIADES. All these facts Before their eyes place in the strongest light. ORESTES. I must go forth ; it ill becomes a man To die ingloriously. PYIADES. Your bold resolve, I praise*- ORESt&H^ »i ■ -x OltESTESr. Shall we disclose it to my sister? PYLADES. Name it not, I conjure you by the Gods. ORESTES. She might shed tears. PYIADES. Which were an evil omen* ORESTES* Twere evidently best then to be silent PYLADES. You by delay will some advantage gain. ORESTES. One obstacle alone remains. PYIADES. Why start Fresh scruples ? ORESTES. Lest those Goddesses should seize me With frenzy. PYLADES. On my fostering care rely. ORESTES. Loathsome it is to handle the diseased. PYLADES. Not so to me^ while you I tend. ORESTES. Beware, Lest you partake my frenzy. PYLADES. Such vain fears I utterly discard. ORESTES. Will you not loiter ? PYLAtoES. Great evils among friends from loitering rise. ORESTES. O faithful rudder of my steps^ pix>ceed. US ■» ■' w - ^ " ' lOQ ORESTES. PYIADES. Pleas'd with such charge. ORESTES. Apd to my fathei^s tomb Conduct me. PYLADESk For what purpose thither go .'^ • >• ORESTES. I would implore his tutelary aid. PYLADES. This were a prdper hdmage^ ORESTES. But not -View My mother^s tomb. FYIADES. . . Because she was a foe. But ere the Argivesy^od J)y their votes Condemn you, haste, and lean upon this arm Your feeble body wasted with disease. For I will lead you thro'the public streets By shame unmov'd, and heedless of the crowd. Of real friendship how could I give proof. If I *mid such calamities refiis'd • ' To aid you? .. ORESTES^ > This it i^ tcr bavcrtrue friends. And not relations onjjj^? for the ffiaf>> By similarity of manner jipin'di Although he be an -alien, is more worthy Of our attachment than a ttioosatid kinsmen. i {Exeunt ouEST^s and pylades. CHORUS. O P .E. I- Lost is the bliss, the rank supreme. The valour, Atreus' son displayed Thro' Greece, and on the banks of Simois* stream^ The victor's ;^itteriiig troj^hieis^cirie decayed ^' 1 • ORESTES. 101 Of that ill-fated house the woes revive, As, for the golden ram, when fate. Steeling their breasts with ruthless hate, Ordain'd the seed of Tantalus to strive ; Dire was the feast where fbyal infants bled ; A ISeries heiice ensued of ftn^fous deeds. To slaughter past fresh slaughter still succeeds, Ajid their forefathers' guilt rests on the(5)children8' head. The stroke tho' justice might demand. In thee was it unjust to slay A parent, and with unrelenting hand Thy sword high waving in the solar ray. To glory in the blood which thou hadst spilt. ^ In thy deliberate crime we find Impiety with murder join^. And the distraction- which attends on guilt. ForTyndarus' wretched daughter did exclaim Thro* fear of death ; " Unholy is the deed '^ Thou would'st commit: if thus thy mother bleed, " Zeal for thy Sire will brand thee with perpetual shame." (5) An objectioato the term jwnnyoiv A7p«^ having been started by the Scholiast, who says nothing terrible had happened in Menelaus' house, and considers the Poet as saying of the two Brothers, what is applicable mdy to Agamenmon ; Dr. Mosgraye, in his notes, conjectures that we OH^ttoread iuunt^ diviuis. But, inlike manner as theToWaXiJtM, in this very stanza are Atrens and Thyestes, who were not the sons, but the grands sons of Tantahis ; I cannot entertain the smallest doubt, that '' the two Atrides** here spoken of are Orestes and Electra, the grandchildren, and not Agamemnon and Menelaus the sons of Atreus. The same mode of qpeaking in regard to far more remote descendants is by no means uncom*> mon IP tiie Greek language ; and the reader will find upon consulting He- rodotus, that HpttxXft^, which is the title to one of the Tragedies of £u- lipidei^ and there signifies ^' the children of Hercules,** continued to be applied to their posterity for twenty-two generations, and through a JBCries of more than five hundred years. Since I wrote the above, it occurs to me, that kma vw fAmn Alfnieuif is the very expression used by the I|Aigeida of onr .Aathor, when she speaks of he^rself and her i^rother Or«ste8> fit the lull iaf th^ir endeavouring to effect tiidr eflcQM» SromTauris. IM ORESTES. Is there a being more forlorn on earthy To whom are tears and pity due^. Rather than to the youth who drew His ruthless blade 'gainst her who gave him birtb Since this exploit hath frenzy^ direful pest^ Haunted the conscious breast Of Agamemnon's son ; for from the shades Th' Eumenides hell's aweful maids To sting the mnrderer rise; Glaring roll his haggard eyes. Inhuman wretch ! who could his mother view In vain for pity sue^ When she her tissued robe did tear. And lay her throbbing bosom tare. Yet aim the wound with unabated ire. Determined to revenge his Sire* ELECTRA, CHORUS. ELECTRA. Ye Damsels, hath the miserable Orestes, Overcome by that distraction which the Gods Inflict, left these abodes ? CHORUS. No ; he is gone Before the Argive people, to be tried At their tribunal ; they are now deciding The question, whether ye shall live or die. ELECTRA. What hath he done ? ah me ! at whose persuasion. t CHORUS. At that of Pylades. But lo with speed A Messenger approaches to unfold Your Brother's doom. MESSENGER, ELECTRA, CHORUS. MESSENGER. O thou unhappy danghter Of Agamemnon, our illustrious e*ii*f, . ^ - -* «Ki . A 'm ORESTES* 103 Electra^ royal vifgiii, lend an ear To th' inaaspicions message which I bring* ELECTTRA* Alas! we are.imdoBe; your words betray you : For it appears too plainly that you come With evil tidings, MESSBNOEIL By a public Vote This day have the Pelasgians doom'd thy Brother^ And thee^ O miserable Maid, to die. ELECTRA. ^ My apprehensions are, alas! AilfilPd; For thro' the fear of mischiefs yet to come Oft have I shed th' involuntary tear* But what debates, what speeches to the people Of ArgoSy have induced them to pronounce Sentence of death against usf say, old Man, Have they resolv*d to stone, or to destroy Me and my Brother by the lifted sword ? MESSENGER. ^ Hither I from the country came, and enter'd The gates^ solicitous to hear the doom Of thee and of Orestes : for thy Sire I ever lov'd, and in thy house was nurtured. Poor as 1 Jim, yet an exalted sense Of gratitude I to. my friends retain. The citizens, in motion, I beheld. Repairing to their stations on that hill Where *tis recorded that the people first In solemn council met, when Danaus answered iBgyptus' charge. Observing what a crowd Assembled ; of some citizen unknoji^n. What new event hath happen'd in the irealm Of Argos, I enquir'd, if from our foes Some haughty message this commotion raised? He gave this answer: '* See'st thou not Orestes ^ Draw n^ar, drd^fi'd.td nin the race of death ?' 104 ORESTES. A spectacle (which would to Heaven these €yc$ " . Had never witnessed !) I behdd ; thy Brother • By Pylades attended, with discsase Weak and unneiVd ; while with iraternal love The comrade shar'd th* afflictioDi of his- firiend. His sickness watch'd, and led him gently o». ' No sooner with the citizens of Argos Was the assembly fill'd^ than' there stood up A Herald and gave notice ; '* Who will say " Whether Orestes, who his Mother slew, " Shall be acquitted or condemp'd ?" Then rose Talthybius first, the comrade of thy Sire ■'■ When Ilion fell; ambiguous were his words. To those in power subservient, he extolFd Thy Father ; but no praises on thy Brother Bestowing, artfully conceaFd his malice ; Such precedent, he said, might 'stablish laws -* Baleful to every Parent ; and still cast A smiling glance upon iEgisthus' friends^ Such igre the race of Heralds, they direct Their steps to the most prosperous, and their friend Is he who in exalted station placed Governs the city. Diomede the (6) King (6) Though Diomede derived his title of King from iEtolia, a district of Greece, situated at a considerable distance from Argos, he never waa in actual possesaon of that throne, but appears to have rended chiefly at Argos, till the time of his forming ain establishment in Italy, ly deai%' banishM from his ovim country by his fiither Oeneas, who was then seat^ < on the throne of ^tolia, fled to Argos, and married Deipyle, one of ' Adrastus* daughters; foUoviring the banners of his father-in4aw to the siege of Thebes, he was there shun, leavmg his son Diomede, who was Bom at Argos, and was then an infant, under the protection of AdnoAiL When Diomede was grown up to years of maturity, ApoUodonis informs us, that he went from Argos to ^tolia, slew the sons of Agrius, who had depos'd and coiffined Oeneus his aged grandfather; and placed Aiir draemon, the husband of Oeneus* daughter, on the throne: he then re- turned to Argos, and was one of the heroes- who avenged their iathei^ deaths, and sacked Thebes. In Homer*s account of the Grecian fleet in the second book of the Iliad, we find the ^tolians commanded hy Thoas, the son of Andraemon, whom Dibm^dB had placed on thc'timme, V: ORBSTES. 105 Replied, fbrbiddidg them t' imbrae tbeit bauds Eidier in thine or in thy brother's blood : But own'd, that by: the exile of you both They piously vould act. His speech was heard With murmurs of applause, and mingled blame. He ceased, and tbete arose a Inan endued With fluent speech and boldness unappalt'd, • An Argive, who in Argos was not born. But 'mongst its native denizens by force Obtained a seat ; in tumult he relied. And an unletter'd confidence, ndr wanted The talent of persuasion to involve them In any mischief. For whene'er the man, Who joins to a perverted soul the gifts Of eloquence, beguiles the public ear. He to thei city proves a grievous curse : But they whobe virtuous counsels never swerve From wisdom's^ dictates, to the state are useful Hereafter, tho' not instantly. Ttie ruler Of penetration should look well to this. For both th^ man who utters and applauds Such speech, is equally to .blame. He said. Ye should be ston'd, Orestes and thyself. ■t ■ ., . ' and Diomede actiig mder the auspices of AgamemnoD, as general of Hit troops innushed by the city of Argos, subdivided from those of Mycene , v/iaidk were led by Agamemnon fahnself. Hie dissohite conduct of ^Bgiale, Diomede's wife^- who appears to ha^e been daughter of ^gia- leus, AdrBstOB^sen, was so notorious during the absence of her husban4 at the siege of Troy, that ' Nee tibi contingat matrona pudicior iUa QuH potuttTydeUs erubuisse nuhi is one of the imprecations in the Ibis of Ovid; and Diomede's resolution to leave Greece is ascribed to her infidelities. But as the followers^ with whose aisoBtaBee he founded a colony in the province of A|>uliay where he erected a city called Arpi, according to VirgU, consisted of Aleves ; Vidimus o eive^ Diomeden, Argivaque castra, he may very reasonably be supposed to have dveelt at Argos during the space which intervened between his return from Troy and his sailing for Italy, and to hanre bean G|iie of those Argive citizens who sat in Judgement upon Ores- tes: the next speaker is contrasted vrith him as no native of Argos. lOO ORECTES. This language he by Tyndarus was suborn'd To hold, that he might take your lives away* He was opposed by one whose outward form Is void of grace, but an intrepid warrioFj Who seldom from the city or the bar Contracts pollution, to his own affairs Attentive (to such m^i alone the land Its safety owes) of apprehension quick. Home to the purpose ever wont to speak, Fam'd for simplicity and blameless manners; Orestes, Agamemnon's son, he said^ Deserv'd a crown, because^ resolv'd t' avenge His Sire, he slew a vile and impious woman. Whose conduct future heroes might prevent From wielding arms, and issuing forth to battle Far from their homes, if th6se they leave behind Seduce their wives, and make the nuptial couch A scene of infamy. With due applause These sentiments each virtuous ear received* Here ended the debate : but now advanced Thy brother, and addressed them in these words ; '^ O ye possessors of the antient realm " Of Inachus, erst call'd Pelasgians, next " From Danaus nam'd, I to avenge your wrongs '* As well as those of my great father, slew •' My mother ; for if women are allow'd *' To kill their lords, no longer can ye scape " From death ; or, if ye scape, ye to your wives '' Must yield a slavish deference, and subvert •' Those usages which decency enjoins. '* She who betray'd my father's bed, now lies '' A breathless corse : but sentence me to bleed, ^^ And ye the law 'gainst murder will annull; ^ No man can breathe in safety, for no longer *' Will it be rare to find a Clytemnestra,." (7) (f) Mane OytenuMestnan noUns oon vicos babeMu JvT. Sftt «• V. 656. ■ » *-, ORESTES. 107 Yet he the people could not move^ tho' just His reasoning seemed ; for on the crowd prevaii'd That wicked man who counseled them to slay Thy broth'er and thee too. Scarce could Orestes Persuade them not to stone you: he hath made A promise^ that you both by your own hands Will on this day your lives together end. From tlie assembly Pylades with tears Conducts him^ followed by his weeping friends^ Who pity him, and now to tKee he comes With ghastly countenance : prepare the sword, Or twine the gliding noose> for thou must view The sun no longer ; thy illustrious birth Hath been of no avails nor Pythian Phoebus, Who seated on his holy tripod gave That dire response, for to the God thou ow'st Thy ruin. CHORUS. Hapless virgin, on the ground. How do you fix those eyes, which with a veil Are covered, and in mournful sile!ice stand. As if your anguish would ere long burst forth Into unbidden groans and bitter plaints. ELECTRA. ODE. I. To thee, Pelasgia, first my plaints I breathe. Tear my pale cheeks, and smite my drooping head. In youth's gay morn reluctant victim led To the fair (8) Empress of the realms beneath. Thou city which the Cyclops did adorn Howl loudly, and bewail with (JJ) tresses shorn, '(d^ PfOferpine. (9' Ttais also Greg. Nazianzen, in some verses on the death of Martin llflva ii loumn tt, nm it/pM Tluffffru yams Mvratori Anecdota Graeca. p. 8. ^::::-' :". ..u^i^ lOS ORESTES. The house of AtreUB* miserable fet^ To us its last poor relics doom'd io riew The sun no more, is tenfold pity du^, Because our Sire in arms erst rul'd' eiacb Grecian state. Now lost, for (ever lost, is Pelops' race. For wide domains and prosperous fortunes known. But, by the envy of the gods overthrown, Sentenc'd to bleed, and covered with disgrace. Ye tribes of mortals, destined from ybur birth To weep and toil while ye remain on earth. See Fate with unexpected strides advance, To sufferings past, fresh sofferfngs still succeed; Since first his reign began hath Tiin^ decreed That man's unstable life shall be the sport of chance. III. O that to yonder rock I could ascend. Which hangs supported . by a golden chaiu Rivetted on Olympus' plain. Still whirling round, huge (10) oiass decreed t'impeiid Midway 'twixt Heaven and earthy That I with Tantalus, from whom. my birth, My inauspicious birth, I trace, In sympathetic plaints may wail. And dwell on the affecting tale Of generations doom'd to view Incessant woes : With thundering pace Since the mares of Pelojw flew, XlO) The Scholiast, ^d Dr. Mnsgrave in his notes on this passage, in- terpret /SwXov as meaning " the sasLf and Euripides cited by the sehofiasts in ApoUonius Rhodius, 1. iv. 498, is referred to by Henry Stephens in his Greek Thesaurus as calling the sun -^^j/iKntet fiw^at; but '^^jgvareutn is here an epithet to tihjo-sn, and by the word /SwXvr which Dr. Miisgrave*s and a great variety of other Latin versions render glebam, Ele^^tra ap* pears to me to be still speaking of a rock, or large mass of earth sofr* pended in the midway air over the head of Tantahus, which is conform- able to th^ accou9t she has already given of her ancestor's ^pifi^frings at the beginning of this tragedy. ORESTES. 109 While in his chariot Myrtilus he bore To the steep beach of the Eubaean shore, Him from Gerastia did the victor throw Ipto the foaming tide below: Hence that horrid curse we date Arising firom the son of Maia's hate. Who cau3*d the ram with golden fleece Dire portent, amid th' increase Of Atreus' flocks to mingle, when such fray Ensued as caus'd the sun to steer Retrogade a new career From th'.Hesperian regions to the east, And the seven Pleiades by Jove Were into distant orbits forc'd away; Nor from that hour hath slaughter ceas'd. In consequence of the detested feast Known by Thyestes' name : The Cretan .£rope's lascivious bed. By m&ptials fraught with equal shame Hath been succeeded, and at length Fate in her progress gathering strength. Still too^ house an unrelenting foe. Hath ponr'd destruction, on my head. And laid my noble father low. CHORUS. Behpid your hapless brother, doom'd to die. Moves slowly on, and Pylades most faithful Of all mankind, e'en he whose firm attachment Is equal tp fraternal love,, supports Orestes and directs bis languid steps. ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, CHORUS. ELECTRA. Alas, my Brother, thee with groans I view Placed on the verge of an untimely grave. Just ere they kindle thy funereal pjrre. To gratify the powers of hell beneath* ^ii i-'i no ORESTES. Ah me, once more ! how have my senses wander'd. While with these eyes I take a iast fond look ! ORESTES. Will you not yield in silence to what Heaven Ordains, and lay aside those female plaints ? What tho* our doom be piteous, you are bound The pressure of misfortunes to endure. ELECTRA. Yet how can I be mute f We are allow'd ' To view Hyperion's radiant beams no more* ORESTES. Ah ! do not kill me ; wretched I am slain Enough already by th* uphfted bands Of Argos : but on these our present, woes No longer dwell. ELECTRA. O miserable Orestes, Torn from the joys of youth by ruthless fate, * Just at the time thou should'st begin to live. Thy life's short day is closing. ORESTES. * By the Gods, Unman me not, nor force my tears to stream' By wakening the remembrance of our griefs. ELECTRA. We both must die ; nor can those groans be stifled. For all mankind regret the loss of life. ORESTES. This Is the day ordain'd ; we must entwine The gliding noose, or wield the sharpen'd sword. ELECTRA. Now slay me, O my Brother, lest some Argive Should take my life away, and bring disgrace On Agamemnon's progeny. ORESTES. Distain'd Enough already with maternal gore, ORESTES. 1 1 1 I will not be my sister's murderer : die By youif own hand in any mode you list ELECTRA. It shall be so ; nor will thy faithiul sword Desert me: but I wish to throw my arms Around thy neck. ORESTES. Such unsubstantial pleasure Enjoy, if an embrace afford delight To -those whose steps are hastening to the grave. ELECTRA. O most belov'd ! O name for ever dear ! O thou whose soul is with thy sister's soul Inseparably united! ORESTES. I shall catch The soft contagion^ eager to return With these fond arms th' embraces you bestow. For what is there which can excite a blush In me who am so wretched? O my sister. Whom to this throbbmg breast e'en now I clasp; Instead of children, and the bridal couch^ The only comfort that we wretches have. Is in this Conference to express our grief. ELECTRA. If this may be permitted, by one sword Transpierc'd, ah, how shall we together fall, Hi)W shall one tomb receive the fragrant chest Of cedar with our mingled ashes fraught? * ORESTES. This were indeed most grateful : but you see How destitute we are of friends to lay us In the same sepulchre. ELECTRA. Did Menelaus, That yOe -betrayer of thy Sire, say nought 112 ORESTES. In thy behalf^ nor shew an anxious zeal To save our lives i ORESTES. He would not eiren shew His face^ but fixing his insatiate hopes Upon the sceptre, fear'd to save his friends. But be it ours to act a generous part^ And die as Agamemnon'ii children ought* I to ungrateful Argos will display My courage, piercing with my sword my breast; You it behoves to imitate my darings. As a spectator ofer the bloody deed^ O Pylades, do thou preside, adorn Our breathless corses, in my father's tomb Together bury us ; and now farewell. For thou perceiv'st I to this great emprise Am hastening. PYLADE& H,4>I(| : I now for the first time Have a just causa to blame you, if you think That I can be so mean as to survive you. ORESTE& But of what service is thy dying with me? FYLADES. Why do you ask this.questjon ? what can life Avail without your friendship I ORESTES. Thou like me Thy mother ne'er did'st slay. PYIADES. But I with you Cpnspir'd, and therefore oia^bt with you to suffer. ORJBSTES. Yield thyself to the mercy of thy Sire, Nor die with me : for thou hast yet a country ; But I, alas ! have none ; thy father's house Expects thee, and its coffb-s jHl'd with gold. i ORESTES. 1 IS This miserable virgin thou hast lost^ Whom I to thee my honoured friend engag'd; But thou another consort mayst obtain To bear a noble issue : for here ends Th' affinity, betwixt us. But, Oname For ever dear, thoq best of friends, farewell : Be transports thine which I can never taste ; For we of all enjoyments are bereft By an untimely death. PYIADES. You much mistake My purpose. Never may the fruitful earth. Or bright etherial realm, receive my blood. If I prove treacherous, and desert my friend To purchase my own safety : for with you I in the murder of your mother shar'd. This will not I disown : and since my counsels ^icourag'd you to execute the deed ^ For which you suffer, I am bound to die With you and with your sister : for I look Upon that Virgin my afhanc'd Bride As tho* she were my Consort. What excuse Could I allege, should I again behold The shore where Delphi's holy turrets rise That far-fam'd citadel of Pbocis' realm. If I, who while you prospered, was your friend. Now you are wretched, am your friend no longer i Such meanness I detest ; our thoughts are iix'd On the same object ; but since die we must. Let us consult together how t' involve The perjur'd Menelaus in our woes. My dearest friend, Wkir pleasure would I die Could I see this. PYLADES. Obey my counsel now. And for a while defer the fatal stroke^ TOt.. U I' U4 ORE^ES^ I would defer. .:•.'•= :.>..'.:.. ?■-..•• ■- v-.n* --■; •; :.; ;•..••■ • I My ixiend,^ obeerve strict ^il^ce; '^' ' ■ For I in women plstce botlittle trust*- ^'^J • --J-' ^ - '-OORESTES*' ^' ■ ■''*** ''• * . Fear nought From these :- oar friends iik>i:^ are here' PYLADES. ■ ^ ' His Helen will we slay> .a bitter sourqe Of grief to Menel^u3. » = ORESTES. ; Bow f Fm ready, • 'j-''' *' If it be feasible. ., : • t . ' * .-.-PYLADES; ■'•:'•' ;Pur swords may pierce — ■ • / Her bosom; for she lurkft within your house. ' • ' ' ORESTSiS ' • Yea, and on all , my lorfeit treasures stamps = Her signet. . . : i . . : ' PYLADES*. . J'.: '•■ .' • ■■•< '. i But .o*er the$e abodes no longer ■ ; : ♦ Shall she preside, for Pluto's bridal couc|\ . , : ' Awaits her. •: , \ OIUSSTE&--- . ... How i for by Q^barian slaves :: She is accompanied. /. > ■ PYLADES.' - - . - '"< Efy whom;? I fear , < No Phrygian. , .; j - .; : : ORESTES; , .'. ' - :': ., »-•. ■'•-•* From their childhood traiia'd to hold The mirror, or in fragrant ointmemis.Dkiird. PYLADES. -^ - y. • .:■. * Fraught with extraneous luxuries from Troy Is she come hither then ? * • * • OuJrOiffeiSh roofs ■ = Seem low to her ambition. '^ PYIADfe. Tbe whole race Of slaves^ opposed to free-born might, are nothing. OREStiBS. <!!ould I accomplish such a great emprise As this, I wotild^not scruple twice to die. PYLADES; .... Nor I to aid thee. ^ . ORE8t*ES. ' O point out tfae'rbad. And let thy afctiotis justifj^ thte words ^ Which thou hast uttered;' • FYtADJES. We the doors will enter Like men colddemnM to bleed. - '"' ' ORESTES. Thus far thy meaning I trace,' tho* ignorant of what's to follbw. PYLADES. Our sufferings in her presence we Will mbum. ORESTES. That she, altho' hei* heart rejoice, may weep * '^ PYLADES. While we shall be engag'd in clBwrying on The same deception. ORESTES. " ' How shall we then fight This battle? ' "' PYLADES. ' We Vril carry swbfds conceafd Under our garments. . ' ' ; ' .y ORESTES. ' . • Bat what slaughter ifirst Must there be ol&de'tiinong heribeaiM le ., .». r» . V 1 16 ORESTES. PVIAOES. Them we in different cbambers will seeure. ORESTES. And kill the first who speaks. VYIADE3. We from events Shall then learn how to act. ORESTES. Helen must bleed ; I understand the sign* PYLADES. Full well you know My project; but now bear on what just motives I found these counsels. Had we drawn the sword Against a virtuous matron, such a deed As this were a dishonourable murder : But she will make atonement to all Greece, To them whose fathers, them whose valiant sons She hath destroy'd, and to the blooming Nymphs, Reft of their Husbands, in the bridal hour Whom she made widows ; shouts shall pierce the air> And kindled flames on every altar blaze. While they with one assent invoke the Gods To shower down plenteous blessings on our heads, for having slain this execrable Woman. After her death, no more shall you be styl'd " The murderer of your Mother ;" but that term Of foul reproach for ever laid aside, Obtain this better title ; ^' He who smote '' Perfidious Helen, the detested cause ** OF many murders." Ill doth Menelaus Deserve to prosper, while your father, yon, Your sister, and your mother bleed ; (I wave A theme which 'twere indecent to discuss,) And govern your hereditary realm. Since he regained his consort by the aid Of Agamemnon's spear : perdition seize me OREStteS. 117 If I Against her lift not the vengeful sword : Should we be frastrated in oar design Of slaying Helen ; let ns fire this house 4nd perish : for we will not lose the whole Of our high aims^ but purchase lasting fame. Whether we nobly die^ or live with glory. CHORUS. Such Tyndaru^ Daughter^ who such foul reproach Hath cast on her whole sex, deserves the hate Of every woman. 0]R£STE8. There is nought on earth More precious than the friend who may be trusted, Nor gold, nor empire ; multitudes coropar'd ' With such a friend are worthless : thou didst first Devise ^gisthus' bane, and stand beside me tn all my dangers : now, on those I hate An am[]tle Vengeance thiou again bestow'st. Scorning to leave me in this fatal hour. Yet will I cease thy merits to extol. For most oflensive is immoderate praise. But I, who must inevitably bleed. Some punishment would on my foes inflict. Then shall I die content; I would requite The villains who hetray'd me, with destruction. And those who made me wretched, cause to groan. For I am Agamemnon's son ; my Sire Was chosen by the public voice to rule O'er Greece, no tyrant was the generous Chief, Although by the immortal Gods endued With more than human might; nor will I shame His memory by expiring like a slave, But yield up my last breath with free*born spirit, On Menelaus wreaking just revenge. What happiness were ours could we attain. This one great object, an escape from death. By some eyeot foe which 1 hardly dare 118 OR|SSTES. To hope ; and sl^y, not pecUh ; such my prayer. The wish at least which I have form'd is sweet. And I^ with words ^oon lost in air^ delighfe My soul on easy tenns* ELECTRA. Metfainks> Q Broth^|> , I an expedient have devis'd, to save T]xy IxHe, with that of Pylades, apdmin^ . \ OBESTE8. The counsels you have utter'd, by some God .. Aie dictated ; but tell iac where to meet With such resource : for well I know your soul Is most sagacious. . * - • IXECTBA. ■ -H * Now give ear, O Brother, And to my wprds, O Pylades, attend. OjetESTES. Speak: for some picture doth result from talking Of bliss ideal. ELECTEA. Know'st thou Helen's Daughter ? I ask a question thou with ease capst solve. ORE8TE& Hermione, I know, who by my mother .• . Was nurtured. ELECTRA. .■'.,;. HencCto Cly tern uestra's tomb' . i She went. / : ORESTES. .- , : C- With what design F is this.a ground \ Foranyhope? : ;, ELECTRA. . • /■ ...i; ;.. irT Over the grave U>pow . . > ■ lu \ Libations in her mother^s 8tea4* i' ■ ORESTES. • • '.V" .WJij;8pe»k» -•/:■'.; .:i."; Of this, as tho' it might conduce ;l0,-MKiilt>i'ii juios '''d k 1< ■> r . -'i 'v Her for an- hostage? sQi^e when she returns. • ORESTES. ' . • - ;. How can thifi in^asure temedy the ills i Of us three friends ? ' : • l . ELECVRA.' ' .. -J "^ Wlien' Helen is no more, T Should Menelaai9'Btriv<e to ptmish tbee^ .-. ^A\ Or Pylades, orttte> (for we Are all :! . : • \ Made one by friendship) tell ttim thou wilt slay Hermio(6^- 'IMid' it^' theWirgiB'9 ^ctr • Point thy dtaiwn sW:Olrdv' Bii^$ ifheap9Jte ^h}r I'lfi^,' Requesting that his daughter 4liay not die. When Helen welcerrng-in berbiood he views. Surrender up the damiEfelto heriSire; .. .' But, if unable to restrain bis passion, He seeks to kill thee, in the (li)i virgin's brenst Thy weapon plunge; but faie, ilt tbe first onset Tho' violent, ere longy I deein> will calm ; . > For he is equally devpid of 'firifanes^ "t And enterprising coiimg^ : on* this gr6uhd/. .. . ' I btfiid^DXiii? safety; 'H^eve oondhdes my spleech* y ./ - ■' ^;^ftEW^.'- '■' ■■'•■ ■•' O you, whd with a tiiranlj^Wcml jpbsJeks A form adorn'd by eyetf-kinkVe^kt^, ..... :. - 1 How much til<yrfe -^ortby aVe yovt to^ektehd ' ' * Your lifeVshofrt s^atr/ thkn pi^irifli thtis untttiiely: •■ • i Thee fate hath do6m% 6 Vp^Qei, to lose A Bride witfr Whbiil thbtt' inighftt H^fe pass'd thy dag* In blissful unibti.' ' '' ' • ' ' * ' • ' '^' » (ll)RoberteUas,m'fab€»Mii«i^oi]f AilstbU Po«tic^ AbtMbg^iye ^ dastmction made in one of th^; Ortek fugnments prefixed to this Tragedy, that it is Mifta^sf^f defective in.point of moadity4,aU the charactejrs •being bad ones eiLcept PyIades,ob6er?es that in his ppin^on Pyuides is also a,yi- cious cfaara<fteV, fbr ddbisiti^ tfakibdib'k^riii^' andF(ei^n'i£hoii1df iSejpki to death, p. 171, Flor, ap. Torrent. 1548 : foiJtlioagh^ idots AAt mtc the proposal he evidently a8Mi|M^tf| /t^ ^ ^; 120 ORESTES. Graot it, O yt Gods! And with auspicious hymeneal pomp Th' exulting Phocian city may she reach* ORESTES. But when will fair Hermione return To these abodes i For you in all beside Have wisely, spoken, if we here succeed, And seize this child of an accursed Sire. ELECTRA. She must be near the palace, from the length .. Of time, I judge, since she departed hence. ORESTES. Tis well : before yon massive portals take Your station, O my Sister, and there wait Th* arrival of the Virgin : but observe If, ere we have slain Helen, to this house Some comrade, or the Brother of my Sire, Colne to prevent us ; and to us within Give the alarm by thundering at the gate. Or calhng with loud voice. But let us, enter, Arm'd with drawn swords, prepared for desperate conflict^ O Pylades, for thou with me partak^st All dangers. — ^ O my Father, whose abode Is in the caverns of eternal night. Thy son Orestes calls thee, come and succour Those who thy aid implore : for in thy cause. Wretch that I am, unjustly I endure These woes, and by tby Brother am betray'd, Tho* what I did, by justice was ^njoin'd : His Wife am I resolVd to seize and slay ; Do thou assist us in our bold emprise, ELECTRA. Come then, my Shre, if in the realms beneath Thou hear thy children's call, who for thy sake Are doom'd to bleed. PYLADES: Illustrious A^amemnqi^^ ORESTES. 121 Thou kinsman of my Father^ to my prayen O listen and arise to save thy children. ORESTES. I smote my mother. PYLADES. I the: falchion drew. ELECTRA. But I encourag'd^ I remov'd thy fear. < ORESTES. Thy murder, O my Father^ I aveng'd. ELECTRA. Nor yet by me wert thou betray'd. PYLADES. Then hear These plaints^ and save thy children. Orestes. Streaming tears To thee for my libations I present. ELECTRA. These lamentations I^ PYLADES. Cease; letus ronse To action : for he hears us, if prayers enter Those subterraneous regions. -But do thou, O Jove, our great Progenitor, thou God Of Justice, grant success in this emprise To Him and Me, and Her: for to three friends Join'd in one conflict, the same fate is due. To live together, or together die. {Exeunt orestbs hii^ pyladbs. * ■ ELECTRA. Dear virgins of Mycene, who possess The most distinguished station in the realm Of fam'd Pelasgian ArgOB**^ . ^ V CHORUS. What strange word:^^ O Princess, dostthoututer? Fo;r tothee i«C ORESTES. Still in thistfity is such honour paid. ELECTRA. Some in this avenue your stations take ; And others at a different path, to guard The palace. CHORUS; Wherefore gW^t |bou this command i Inform us, dearest maid. .. . . fl ELECTRA; I with dismay •:: - jT Am seiz'd, lest some one standing near the gate. While they are slaying Helen, should devise ' .- -1 'Gainst us fresh mischiefs. . SEMICHORUS 1. Let us go with speed ; ; > > i : I will observe this road which Phcebus gilds With orient beams. SEMIGHORtS II. . '. I that vhich fronts the west. ELECTRA. -sir Obliquely cast swift glances, turn your eyes Now. here, now there, and every moment look A different way. :'.: .7 CHORUS. ■ •. ■ - in Thy mandates we observe. \, O ELECTRA. ■'■ \(^ Now roll around, those piercing orbs of sight, • oT And part the tresses which their lids o'erhang. ^ > T* SEMIOiORUSL iT #But lo, advancing o-er the beaten path. What hind to these abodes directs bis way ? ELECTRA. . :. ?♦..'' We are undone, my friends, if to our ioes He ^e two lions instantly point out ' Who in the palace lurk with falchions armM. ..:. SEMICHORUS IL Dismiss thytfirrors: vacant is. theipatfe:' ''.••'• I'l Which by some hostHci straiig^rj O i^iy frieQclj, Thou dost think occuined. • • ELECTRA. But 4oth your station Remain secure i O publish the glad tidiqga Before that front of Argof ' regal dome. If yet thespacci be void. . .... !•,-■ -.S^miCDQHiUS II.- . -V-'- ,^.:. t .; AUihfregoj^s^rigbt: But look VOji^^ifqitfbl^ ^,m thfere CQHieB None of the rac^ pfrPftMpQ.;.; - •:;•.:.. ..;:• :io.:i.:j-Oonpepott* - Concur; nor in this quarter are there fpwid Any tumultuous citizens. i % EPLECTRA; ir My voice , . , Now will T raise^ and thro' the portals s^nd — ^ Why thus delay, O ye w)iO!.ar/e within The pajLap^j while aJl's quiet^ to imbrue Your falchions in, th^ yictii|i'a gore N-* They hear not* Ah, wretched me i /bath then her beauty blant^ - • The edge of theii: l^een ^wprdsf Iq nuiil firray'd^ . Perhaps some Argiye. with impet^^s step , « Comes to jb^r ^epcuie* . Be py>re w^tcbiiil now; >/. • You must.m^jiit 4m^tiye,i .bvt look ^omd r . . - 1 Oa^his side and :W ds^^ -->• ^ :i j •> ^ . >cmRus.-:..' . : ...} ./. We change our posture^ And wat^ : Ac. vnvpiis pfitbs pn every jiilletij I f PeJiu^n. Argcs^ J[ ami)B8e<y stainl • , , .. .; . , ■ ^ Heard ye ? They execute witb.blppdy l^and^^.. ;, •;.[ Their purpose. Tbesejr I gViQfS f^^^ Helen 's shrieks. Fail not, :Q tlimfteraaA jnigii^ 9f ;Mfc;.; - /. J: .1 ie4 ORESTES. To stccour mj adventurous friends f '^ HELEN (wiML) I die, 0 Menelaas ! thou art near at hand. Yet com^st not to my aid. ELEGTRA. Kill, smite, destroy; Wielding your falchions with unwearied arm Against the dame who left her aged Sire, Who left her royal husband, and hath cans'd Unnurobery Greeks in battle to expire Beside tlie stream, where tears on tears were shed, Transfix'd with hostile javelins on the banks Of fam'd Scamander. ' CH0RU9. Silence ! for I heard The sound of one advancing in the path Which to this mansion leads, ELECTRA. My dearest friends^! Hermione amidst the slaughter comes : Let us forbear to speak ; for she advances. Ready to fall into the net, and prove, If I can take her, a most glorious prize. Once more compose your looks^ nor by a change * In your complexion make our purpose known. 1 o'er these eyes will also cast a gloom. As tho' I were not privy to the deed. HERMIONE, ELECTRA, CHORUS. ELECTRA. Hast thou, O virgin, deck'd with flowery wreaths The tomb of Clytemnestra, and pour'd forth Libations to her shade i HERMIOKE. ' I havfe performed C^I^ expiatory rite : but some strange* fear ^. 1 » f.» ' ^ ■m ORESTES. ii5 Seized my bo$oiii; for I heard the shrieks Of one within, while y^tl from the palace Was distant far. ELECTRA. What mean'at thou? such events Have happened as deserve these groans. HERMIONE. Use words Of better omen. But what recent tidings Would you communicate ? ELECTRA. This land hath sentenc'd Me and Orestes to immediate death. HERMIONE. Just heaven forbid! for ye are both my kindred. ELECTRA. Thus 'tis ordain'd : we in the galling yoke Of fate are bound. HERMIONE. And did the clamorous voice I heard within the palace, hence arise? ELECTRA. A Suppliant falls at Helen's knees^ and sqes Aloud for p*ity« HERMIONE. Who ? I have no knowledge Of what hath pass'd, unless you will inform me. ELECTRA. The miserable Orestes, he in treats That she from death would save both him and me. HERMIONE. . A cause ^o just for th' inauspicious sounds Which thro' this house are beard. ELECTRA. Than these, what plaints Can be more urgent t But, O come and join Thy friends in their intreaties, bending low • ■ t ._ ,^ # 126 ORESTES. ■ Before thy Mother, that moftt happy datbe,, " That Menelaus will not see Of die. But O do thou, who by my Mother's care W^rt nurtured, pity and relieve our woes. Enter this contest ; I will lead the way : For all our safety rests on thee alone. ' HERMIONE. Lo! to the threshold I direct my step: _ Far as on me depends, be safety yours. \JBant HBBMIORB. ELEGTRA, O ye, my friends, who in the palace stand With falchions arm'd, will ye not seize your prey ? HERMIONE (fK^Om.) Ah me ! but who are these whom I behold ? •' ORESTES (n^Mu) Thou must be silent : for thou hither com'st Us to preserve, whatever thyself betide, ELECtltA. Hold, hold her fast, and, aiming at her neck' Your swords, delay the stroke, that Menelaus May see her danger; as his crimes deserve. Since now he suffers, having met with men, Not Phrygian dastards. A tumultuous din. And clamorous shout, before these mansions raise^ To drown the cries of slaughter, O my friends. Lest Argos catch th' alarm, and to the aid Of Helen rush, ere I her weltering corse Can with these eyes behold, or by some servant The tidings hear : for I already know Her danger, but not whether she be slain. [£nV SLBGTSA. CHORUS. With justice hath the vengeance of the Gods Overtaken faithless Helen : for all Greece With tears she filFd, thro* that accursed swaiii Of Ida, Paris, who from Sparta's coast ^ . I a? To distant Ilicm borethebeauieous dathev ' Bat O be silent ; for the palai^e gates Are with loud ^ound unban-'d^ and thence com^s forth One of the Phrygian captives ; we by him May be informM of what hath passed within. PHYRGIAN, CHORUS. PHYRGIAN. \j from the sword of Argos and from deaths In Phrygian sandals, thro' apartments scap'd. Whose sculptured* roofs with cedar are adorn'd^ And Doric triglyphs, A strange land, alas! Is this to the Barbaric fugitive. Ye Ibreign Dames, ah> whither shall I go For refuge, to the blue etherial fields^ Or waves, which Ocean horned monarch' pours From his exhaustless source, with giant arms * This nether world encircling ? CHORUS. What hath happen'djt Say, O thou slave of Helen, thou who com'st Ffomlda? PHRYGIAN. nion, Ilion, O thou city Of Phrygia, for thy fruitful soil renown'd ! Thon sacred mount of Ida, thy destruction How do I wail, tiiese mournful strains attuning With a barbaric voice ! Thou to the eyes Of her .the Swan begot, thy ruin ow'st. To Leda's daughter, execrable Helen, That baneful fiend, who overthrew the towers Erected by Apollo's skilful hand. Hapless Dar^ania ! O thou martial realm. Erst in an evil hour didst thou produce Jove's minion, Ganym^cle. CHORUS. To us relate^ • < k i£d ORESTES. In terms explicit^ all thai hatb been done Within the Palace : for what erst I knew not, ^ " « I now can guess. ' *> PHRYGIAN. Those ( 12 J words^ those plaintive wordif* Which still commence the sad funereal dirge. Barbarian tribes, with Asiatic voice. And piteous wailings utter, when the blood Of mighty kings, slain by the sword, to sate * Remorseless Pluto, on the ground js pour'd. Into the palace (if I must repeat Each circumstance) two Grecian lions rush'd : The father of the first of these was call'd The (13) Mighty Chief, his comrade, Strophios* Sod, A man in every mischievous device Slciird ; like Ulysses, silently deceitful. But firm in his attachment to his friends; A dauntless combatant, in martial wiles Expert, a serpent who still thirsts for gore. Curse on the seeming mildness he assumed, (12) Frequently as the expression in the original AiXiwr, which Khif and Dr. Musgrave render '* JElinon/ occurs in the Greek Poets, I never recollect to have met with it translated into English. Ancient writers vary in their accounts both of the birth and death of lioni. Diodorus Siculus speaks of him as the first Greek who invented ihyme and melody, and mcations his attempting to teach Hercules to play oa the lyre, but with such ill success as provok'd him to strike bis pupi^ who retum*d the blow and kill*d his master with the instrument on wfaicb he was practising. Conon calls Apollo the fkther, and Psamathi the mother of Linus, and informs us^ thut while he was yet an infant, he was accidentally torn to pieces by shepherds* dogs: but PiMisanias says it is generally reported that Amphitnarus, son of Neptune, was his ftither, and the Muse Urania his Mother, and adds, that he was killed by ApoUo, whom he contended with in song. He represents the lamentations ibr the deatii of Linus as having reached even the Barbanan nations ; and makes particular mention, as also does Herodotus, of elegiac verses among the ^Egyptians distinguished , by his name. This general celebrity of Linus sufficiently obviates any objection against Euripides^ for putting the term^ Atiurcv into the mouth of this Phrygian slave. (13) Agamemnon. ORESTES. 129 The forethought of that villain ! they together Entering the palace^ both approached the throne Of her whom Paris,, our fam'd archer, wedded. Their eyes were drench'd in tears, low on the ground Apart they sat to guard on either side The royal dame, and clung with suppliant hands. Round Helen's knees : but to their Queen with speed The Phrygian servants ran, and spoke their thoughts Each to bis fellow, dreading vile deceit : Some deem'd this was not fraud : but others saw Fall clearly, that the serpent who had 9lain His Motker, in inextricable snares Wish'd to entangle the surviving Daughter :Of Tyndarus. CHORUS. At that moment where wert thou ? By terror seizM hadst thou already fled I PHRYGIAN. After our Phrygian usages I stood Before the beauteous Helen, o'er whose hair And crimson cheeks I with a ftin difFusM The cooling' air ; thus are Barbaric Queens Attended : she meantime the lengthened thread With her swift fingers from the distaff roH'd, That Ilion's spoils, for Clytemnestra*s tomb^ A purple robe, fit offering, might afford. But to the Spartan fair, Orestes said ; " Daughter of Jove, descending from thy throne, *' Visit with me that hallow'd spot, where stands *' An altar rear'd in antient days by Pelops '' My ancestor, you there shall know my schemes.'* He led her on ; she followed, having form'd No sad presage of what would soon ensue : But his vile Phocian friend in other tasks Engag'd, then cried ; '^ Why will ye not depart ? ^' But Phrygians ever harbour needless fears." He then dispersing thro' this vast abode VOL. I. ^ K 130 ORESTES. Our troop, or in the stalls where coursers feed. Or chambers near the vestibule, confin'd us; Placing some here, some there, all far remov'd From our unhappy Mistress. CHORUS. What disaster PoUow'd this prelude ? PHRYGIAN. Queen of Ida's Mount Rhea, thou mighty Mother, what dire scenes Of crimson slaughter, and what impious deeds Have these astonish'd eyes alas beheld « Within the palace ! when their hidden swords They from beneath their purple robes had drawn^ Each cast his eyes around, to see that none Were there to aid her ; then like ruthless boars Both rushing on a woman, they exclaim'd, '^ Death, death must be thy portion, thy base Lord ^' Is li . who causes thee to forfeit life, *' By yielding up his Brother's Son to bleed ,, '^ At Argos," But she shriek'd, " Ah me!" and saiote With snowy aym her breast and head, then strove To scape in golden sandals : but Orestes, Twining his hand around her hair, advanc'd With furious stride, and bending back her head Over her shoulder, rais'd his sword on high To plunge it in her throat. CHORUS. Where was her band Of menial Phrygians? came ye to he^'aid? PHRYGIAN. We shouted, and with levers bursting open The doors of our captivity, rush'd forth From every distant quartei of the house To her assistance ; in his hands this bore A stone, a javelin that, a third was arm'd AVith a drawn &word : but Pylades advanc'd ORESTteS. ISI Against tis, undisihay'd as Phrygian HeClOi*> Or Ajax with his triple-crested hehn, Whom in the gates of Priam I beheld. Our swords to theirs opposing, soon wc found « How far inferior in th' embattled field Are we to Grecian warriors. One ^scap'd. Another was depriv'd of life, here grovel'd The wounded, there t' avert th' impending stroke . The suppliant crouched, while some of us found shelter/ In an obscure recess ; but on the ground* Drench'd with their gore the breathless corses lay, And some were yet to fall, some fall'n already* But to the palace in that moment fcame Hermione, just as the ruthless blade Was lifted to destroy her wretched Mother } When (tho' they bore no thyrsus) w ith a speed Equal to that of Bacchus' frantic train. They, as a hunter seizes on his prey, ^ The virgin caught, and made anothtir effort ^^ Jove's Daughter to have slain ; but thro* the palace She from those inner chambers 'scap'd unseen, O Jove, thou foodftil Earth, thou radian*^ Sun, And all-concealing Night, thro* (14) drugs 6ndued With wondrous virtue, thro' magicians' wiles, . Or stolen away by the celestial Powers, * (14) iTie Poet is here sup]>ose(l by his Scholiast to allude to the magic drugs Helen obtained in JEgjpt, according to Homer, Odyss. L. iv. ver. 229. Tout Ato; ^vyetki^ iyij ^a^fjubut f/ailtot/ld These Drugs, so friendly to the joys of life, Bright Helen leanVdfrom Thone's imperial wife, Who sway'd the sceptre wherte pvolific Nile, With various simples cloathes the fetten'd soil. With wholesome herbage mix'd, the direful bane Of vegetable venom taints the plain. Pof£* Kl2 13^ ORESTES. But what ensued I know not, for unseen I thro' the portal fled. Unnumber'd toils Hath Menelaus suffered, and in vain From Troy recovered his unhappy Wife. CHORUS. E'en in a moment, from these fresh events A fresh event ensues : for lifting high His vengeful sword, before these doors I see 4[)restes marching with impetuous step. ORESTES, PHRYGIAN, CHORU& ORESTES. Where is that slave, who from the pidace fled. And scap'd my falchion ? , . PHRYGIAN, You, O King, I worship, Prostrate on earth, in our Barbaric guise* ORESTES. Not Ilion's realm, but Argos is the scene Of these transactions. PHRYGIAN* In all places, life Is far more grateful to the wise than deaths ORESTES. That Menelaus to thy aid might come. Didst thou cry out i PHRYGIAN, To fight in your behalf Am I resolv'd ; for you deserve our love. ORESTES. Was Tyndarus' Daughter Helen justly slain ? PHRYGIAN. Most justly. Had she had three lives> she thrit^ Deserv'd to die. ORESTES; Thou flatter'st with thy tongue Thro' fear, tho' in thy heart thou think not thus. ORESTES. iss PHRYGIAN. Why not ? Her crimes have utterly destroy 'd Both Greece and Phrygia i ORESTES. Swear, or I will slay thee, Tliou speak'st not thus my favour to obtain. PHRYGIAN. I by my life have sworn, and such an oath Ne'er can I violate. ORESTES. Did every Phrygian At Troy thus dread the sword ? PHRYGIAN. Remove the pointy For at my breast directed it portends Dire slaughter. ORESTES. Fear'st thoU; lest thou sbould'st be changed Into a stone like those who view the Gorgon ? PHRYGIAN. Death's what alarms me ; of the Gorgon's head I nothing know. ORESTES. Dost thou, an abject slave^ Fear death, which would release thee from thy woes i PHRYGIAN. All men, tho' slaves, with pleasure view the sun. ORESTES. Well spoken ; thee thy prudence saves ; but go Into the palace. PHRYGIAN. Will you then forbear V* To slay me ? ORESTES. I release you. t>HRYGUN. By that word 134 0KESTE8. you comfort mc. ORESTES. My purpose still may change^ PHRYGIAN. Again you speak amiss. ORESTES. Thou art a fool Jf thou believ'st T with thy gore would stain My sword : for thou deserv'st not to be classed With women, or with men. But to prevent Thy cries, I from the palace issued forth ; Else would all Argos soon have heard thy voice And mutinied. I fear not with this sword T' encounter Menelaus; let him come Exulting in those auburn locks that wave Over his shoulders : but against this hous^ If the collected citizens he lead, RevcBging Helen's death, and will not spare My Sister, me, and Pylades, who aided In our emprise, he shall behold his Daughter Joia'd with his Consort, each a breathless corse, lExeunt orestes and fhuyoijilvi^ CHORUS. Again, .O advente Fortune, is the house Of Atreus' Spns invojv'd in fresji distress. SEMICHORUS I. What shall we dp? tUese tidipgs thro' the cit^ Proclaim ; or will it be more ^afe to wait In silence, 0 my friends f SEMICHORUS II. Befofe these doors. See h<Ag that smoke ^sc^oding to the skies Apticipgrfes our tidings. si;mjchojius i. They have kindle^ Torches of pine, as if resolv'd to fire The rogfs of Tapt^Jus' devoted race, ^ ■■"..' ft *•. ORESTES. 185 Nor yet desist they from their murderous deeds. To mortals Jove dispenseth at his will Future events : but some resistless Power This house hath smitten, aided by the Fiends; Here streams abundant gore, since from the car Myrtilus was thrown headlong. 8EMICH0RUS II. But these eyes Discern fierce Menelaus, who with speed The royal dome approaches : he no doubt. By fame hath been appris'd of this event Which hath just happened. Therefore barring fast The massive gates, ye progeny of Atreus Who are within, will ye not stop his entrance ? The man whom prosperous fortunes still attend Is terrible to those who are as wretched As thou, Orestes, in this present hour, MENELAUS, CHORUS. ORESTES, PYLADEs, Old uBRMioNE, appear on a Tower above. MENELAUS. Hearing the horrid and audacious deeds. Two lions, for I cannot call th^m men. Have dar'd to perpetrate, I hither come. For I am told my Consort was not slain. But vanished from all eyes ; this groundless tale Onp whom his fear bewilder'd, hath to me Related : but suqji stratagems are forg'd With sportive cruelty, by those who murder'd Their Mother. Ope the doors, my servants, force ^ Their hinges, that at least I may set free 7' My Daughter from the hands of bloody men. And the remains of my uribappy Wife Receive, with whom her murderers by this arm Shall perish, ^ ISS ORESTES. .-ORESTES* » Ho ! touch not those bai*s; I call To thee, G Menelaus, who art strong In pride alone ; or from this antient roof I will disjoin the sculptur'd pinnacle. And crush thy perjur'd head* Wjtl;t-aiassive bars Against thy rage these doors are fortified. Thou canst not force an entrance* MENELAUS. Ha! what mean The blazing torches with these eyes behold ? Why stand they on the summit of the palace. Secure from danger, while the sword impends Over ray Daughter's neck. ORESTES* Art thou disposed To question us, or listen to my words i MENELAUS. - I would avoid such option : but it seemB Hear you 1 must. ORESTES. Know then I am resolv'd To slay thy Daughter. MENELAUS. Having murder'd Helen, Fresh slaughter to that slaughter will you add? ORESTES. Ah ! would to Heaven, ere Helen by the Gods Was stolen away, this sword had pierc'd her heart ! MENELAUS. Do you deny the bloody deed, and forge This tale but to insult me ? ORESTES. Tis' with grief That I deny : while earnestly I wish— MENELAUS. What mean you ? for these words alarm my soul. ORESTES. Ijy ORESTE& That I had plung'd that Fiend, the bane of Greece, Beneath the shades of hell. MENELAUS. My Consort's body Kestore, that I may lodge it in the tomb. ORESTES. Apply to Heaven : thy Daughter too FU slay. MENELAUS. Still with fresh murders reek th' accursed hand Of him who smote his Mother. ORESTES. In avenging My Father, whom thou didst betray, and leave His death unpuuish'd. MENELAUS. Is it not enough That you are sprinkled with her Mother's blood ? ORESTES. I never can be wearied with destEoying Vile women. MENELAUS. Wert thou too, O Pylades, Concem'd^in slaying her? ORESTES. He by his silence Asserts the fact : and if I speak for both, Twill be sufficient. MENELAUS. Qut ye shall not triumph, Unless endued with wings to speed your flight. ORESTES. Flight we disdain, but are resolv'd to fire These mansions. MENELAUS^ Would you then lay waste th' abodes Of your forefathers i 138 ORESTES. ORESTES. Lest thou should'st possess them ; And o'^r the flames Hermione sh^U bleed.' MENELAUS: Strike : soon as you have slain her, you shall suflfer . As you deserve. X ORESTES. 1 will. . - MENELAUS. Yet, ah forbear. ORESTES. In silence now endure those grievous ills Which thou hast merited. MENELAUS. Can it be just That you should live ? ORESTES. Yea, and command a realm. MENELAUS. What realm ? ORESTES. My heritage, this wide domain, Pelasgran Argos. MENELAUS. Are you qualified To touch the sacred lustral va^e i M ORESTES. Why not ? MENELAUS. And ere the battle joins present your victims ? ORESTES. Canst thou perform such holy rite ? MENELAUS. My hands Are pure and undefil'd. ORESTES. Not so thy heart. « ORESTES. 139 MENEIAUS. Who will converse with you ? ORESTES. The man who loves His Sire. MENELAUS. , But as for him, who doth revere His Mother ? ORESTES. He is blest. MENELAUS. So are not you. ORESTES. Because I like not those abandoned Dames. MENELAUS. That weapon from my Daughter's breast remove. ORESTES. Thou art deceiv'd. MENELAUS. Will you then take st^i^ The virgin's life ? ORESTES. Here thy delusion ends. MENELAUS. Ah me ! how shall I act ? ORESTES. Go and persuade The Argives. MENELAUS. To do what ? ORESTES. Implore the city To spare our lives. MENELAUS. * ' My Daughter else must bleed ? ORESTES. Such is the state of things. :y.' 140 ORESTES. MENELAU8. O wretched Helen ! ORESTES* Am not I wretched too ? MENELAUS. Have I from Phrygia Borne her to fall a victim by your hand f ORESTES. Would to the Gods thou had'st! MENELAUS. After enduring Unnumbered toils ? ORESTES. No dangers in my cause Didst thou endure. MENELAUS. Most grievous are my woes. ORESTES. Thou dJL^Bt refuse to aid me in distress. MENELAUS. You've caught me. ORESTES. Thy own wickedness hath caught thee. But ho^ Electra> so intense a fire Kindle beneath as may consume the palace : And you, O Pylades^ of all my friends Most stedfast, burn these roofs. MENELAUS. Thou land of Danaus^ And ye inhabitants of Argos fam'd For generous steeds, why will ye not in arms Rush forth to aid me i for this miscreant wars 'Gainst our whole city, to preserve his life, Tho' be with impious hand hath slain his Mother. ORESTES. 141 APOLLO, MENELAUS, CHORUS. ORESTES^ PYLAD^s^ d^^J HERMioNE, appear abovc on a Tower. APOLLO. O Menelaus^ lay thy rage aside^ For I Apollo, from Latona sprung^ Am near at hand^ ^od now to thee I call : And thou, Orestes, who thv falchion wav'st Over that virgin^ to my voice attend ; That Helen who**JTuded thy assault. When thou, provoking Meneiaus' anger. Didst eagerly rush on, resolv'd to take Her life away, is she whom in yon folds Of air thou seest, from thy vindictive hand Preserved, and living still; at Jove's behest I saVd, I snatchM her from thy lifted sword : For 'tis decreed by fate^ she shall enjoy Immortal life, because she is J ove's Daughter, And in th' ethereal regions take her seat With Castor and with Pollux, to protect The mariners. But thou into thy house Shalt take another Consort, since the Gods EmbroiFd the Greeks and Phrygians thro* ber charnu^ And caused unnumber'd deaths, that they might purge The groaning world of its unrighteous swarms. Thus much for Helen. Yet must tliou, Orestes, Quitting the confines of this land, reside For one whole year in the Parrhasian realm ^ After thy exile, shall the place receive From those of Aza and th' Arcadian race The name of Oresteum : thou to Athens . Must thence proceed, a trial to jendure For having slain thy Mother, and thy cause Against the three Eumenides defend : The Gods themselves thy judges, on the hill Of Mars a righteous sentence shall award. 14« ORESTES. J And there shall thou prevail : yet more, the Fates Ordain thou wed her o'er whose neck thou wav'st Thy sword, the bright Herm^ine ; in vain Doth Neoptolemus the promised bride Expect, for her he never shall possess. But by the sword at Delphi shall he fall, Because his impious tongue from me hath claim'd Atonement for his Sire' Achilles' death. On Pylades, to whom thou didst affiance. Bestow thy Sister ; for their future lives Shall happiness attend. — O Menelaus, In Argos let Orestes rule ; go thou • And wield the sceptre of the Spartan realm. Retaining still the dower thy Consort brought. By whom till now thou in unnumber'd toils (15) Hast ever been involved. I who constrain*d Orestes in maternal gore ^ imbrue * His furious hands, all tumult in the city Will for his sake appease. ORESTES. Prophetic God I Thy oracles, O Phoebus, never prov'd Fallacious, but by truth's unerring voice Were dictated. Some Demon had, I fear'd, Usurp'd thy tripod, and in mimic sounds Impos'd a specious falshood on mine ear ? ' But amply hath thy promise been fulfiU'd, And thy behest I therefore will obey. . Lo, I release Hermione from death. And for the partner of my nuptial bed Will take the virgin, if her Sire approve. (15) Tlie editions of Barnes and Dr. Musgrave follow that of AlduB in placing a comma after h,ht<m, and render this passage quae te mnltos dans in labores, hue reduxit. On the authority of Brunck's edition of tiiit Tragedy, printed at Strasburg 1779^ I have erased the comma, and availed m^-self of the ^prsion given by hhn iu a note, quae te mdesinenter hue usque laberibtts impficmt. ORESTES. * 143 MENEIAUS4 Daughter of Jove, all hail! for thee, O Helen, Who in the mansions of the Gods resid'st I term supremely hiest. — ^To you Orestes, My Daughter, I, as Phoebus gives command. Affiance; nobly born, and to the child Of noble parents wedded, may both you. And I who give her to your arms, be blest. APOLLO. Now to the place assign'd let each repair. And cease your contests. MENELAUS. I ani bound t' obey. ORESTES. And so I am. But now to tiiee I pledge My friendship, thro' compassion for the woes Which thou, O Menelaus, hast endur'd ; And to thy oracles, O Phoebus, yield Implicit homage. APOLLO. Go your several ways. Revering Peace the loveliest of the God^. But to Jove's, palace, Helen, will I lead. Traversing the resplendent starry pole. Where seated close to Juno and the Bride Of great Alcides, Hebe, she by mortals Ackaowledg'd as a tutelary Goddess, The rich libation ever shall receive. With the Tyndaridse the Sons of Jove, Guiding the sailors while they plough the deep. CHORUS. O venerable Victory, take possession Of my whole life, nor ever cease to twine Around these brows thy laureat wreath divine* HISrORY OF THE HOUSE OF TANTALUS. Ihe transactions of the Ancestors of OrcstdJ are 86 often - referred to in the preceding Drama^ that I thought it would not he unacceptable to the reader to have a sketch of their history placed before him in one point of view, instead of being interrupted by a variety of detached references, especiatly as it may be service- able in giving those who are not intimately conversant with the Classical writers, a clearer view of the other pieces connected with this story, which form a very con- siderable part of the works of Euripides. Amidst many different, and not unfrequently contradictory accounts^ I have made it my business to select such as are either conformable to the Tragedies before us, or serve to supply and connect what the Poet has left deficient. The Mother of Tantalus was Phita, the wife of Tmoius, a Lydian King, but Jupiter is said to have been4)it real Father? the place of his residence was Sipylusi which Achilles, in the Iphigenia in Auhs of our author, re^ presents as an obscure frontier Town, though the riehes of Tantalus appear, by the manner in which Plato speaks of them in his Euthypbro, to have been so great that they became proverbial : the Gods honoured his table with their presence at a feast, but his vanity induced him to betray their conversation : he was pu- nished, according to Euripides, for this offence, by a stone of enormous size perpetually hanging in the air suspended ove^ his head : the history of his murdering his son Pelops, and serving up his mangled limbs to his celestial guests, is mentioned by Iphigenia in her captivity among the Tauric Scythians as an improbable HISTORY, &c. 145 tale, forged by those savage nations delighting in hu* man sacrifices, who hoped to justify their own cruelties by falsely representing the Gods as having partaken so execrable -a banquet. By his Wife Euryanassa, Tan- talus had two sons, Pelops and Broteas, and one daughter, Niobe, who married Amphion : after having seen her numerous progeny all slain by the shafts of Apollo and Diana, she was herself transformed into a rock ; the tomb of her seven Daughters is mentioned in our Author's Phcenissse, as situated not far without the gates of Thebes, whose walls her husband Amphion bad erected by his lyre. According to Aristotle in his Meteorology, and Strabo, who argues for the proba- bility of such an event from natural causes, the Town of Sipylus was entirely swallowed up by an earthquake ; but Plutarch says, the poets considered its demolition as a signal instance of divine vengeance : in such hor- ror and detestation was the memory of Tantalus held by the antients, notwithstanding the great power and heroic qualities of several of his descendants. The account of Tantalus's death given by Antoninus Libe- ralis, in his Metamorphosis^ is, that having denied with an oath the receipt of a pledge entrusted to him by Pandareus the son of Merops, Jupiter punished his perjury by throwing him headlong from, the mountain of the same name, at the Foot of which the Town of Sipylus was situated ; and Pausanias informs us, that he there saw a conspicuous monument erected to his memory. After the death of Tantalus, Pelops, who succeeded him, being defeated in several encounters by Ilus the founder of the Trojan nation, sought an establishment in Greece, and entered the lists as one of the com- petitors for Hippodamia, whose Father, Oenomaus king of Pisa, promised to give her in marriage to the suitor who overcame him in a chariot race ; but every one who made unsuccessful pretensions to the Princess VOL. I. i« \ 146 HISTORY OF THE was to suffer death. Many had accepted this alterna* live, and perished ; for the chafioi of Oenomaus was driven by Myrtilus, the son of Mercury, under whose guidance the horses of that monarch always reached the goal first : but Pelops having bribed Myrtilus, by swearing to reward him with the first night's enjoyment of the beautiful Hippodamia, for whom he had be*n presumptuous enough to entertain a passion, the per- fidious charioteer joined his master's whtseir to. the axle with wax only, in consequence of Mrhich. Oeno- maus was overthrown in the midst of his career. Some disputes no doubt arising between Oenomaus and Pelops in consequence of a victory thus dishonourably won, the latter encountered and slew his antagonisjt with a spear, which Euripides informs us was pre- served as a memorial of his triumph in the palace of his descendants : but no sooner was the victorious Pelops reminded by Myrtilus of the promise he bad made to him, than he killed his benefactor, and threw his dead body into the sea ; thereby drawing down the vengeance of Mercury on his two eldest sons, ^ Atreus and Thyestes, whom Pausanias instances as affording a striking menM)rial of the truth of the re- sponse given by the Pythian oracle to Glaucus son of Epicydas, who consulted it in regard to a false oath, that the man who commits a perjury draws down the wrath of Heaven on his posterity. But Pelops him- self was attended by a degree of prosperity which far exceeded his merits^ and notwithstanding the dis- honourable means by which l>e won the race, he cele- brated Olympic games with great magnificence,, as me-^ morials of his conquest, and in process of tinie form* ing several powerful alliances by the marriages of his children, acquired such accessions of territory and au- thority, that the large peninsula of Greece, which had till ihtn been known by the names of Apiaand Pelasgia, xecewjtd frombim that of Peloponesus^ which is usually HOUSE OF TANTALUS. 147 adopted in the maps of antient geography. Besides Atreus and Thyestes, of^hom I shall soon have occa- sion to speak more fully, Pelops had five legitimate aons, Letreus, Alcathous, Plistheries, Traezen, and Piitheus : the latter of theae (whose Daughter iEthra Was the Mother of Theseus) is spoken of by Euripides as a man of singular pitty ; his residence was at TrajzenCj a city in the Argive territories, so named from his brother Trszen^ where he lived to a very advanced age, and educated his Great-grandson JHippolitus, the son of Theseus. Plutarch expressly says, that Pelops had many Daughters^ bat I have not been able to discover the names of more than three; Anaxibia^ Lysidice, and^icippe; the first married Strophius king of Phocis, and was Mother to Pylades, whose friendship for his kiosman Orestes has been universally celebrated ; the second married Electryon king of Mycene^ to whom she bore Alcmena, the Mother of Hercules ; the third married Sthenelus, who, upon the death of Electryon, whom Amphitryon, the husband of his Daughter Alcmena, had accidentally slain, seized the throne of , Mycene, in which he was succeeded by Eurystheus, his son by Nicippe, whose tyrannical behaviour to his kinsman Hercules, and after that hero's death to his children, whom he pursued with unremitting cruelty, is largely treated of in the Tragedy called Heraclidae^ or the Children of Hercules, Chrysiypus, a natural - son of Pelops, was treacherously stolen from him by liaius his guest, who by this breach of hospitality drew down upon himself the vengeance of Heaven, and perished, as the oracle had foretold, by the hands of Jiis own son Oedipus. After the death of Pelops, the rest of his children having dispersed themselves through various parts of the Peloponesus, Atreus and Thyestes remained in the undivided possession of Argos, till Mercury having caused a Bisia with a golden iSeece to ap]^ear among H8 HISTORY OF THE * the flocks of the former, he claimeil the thmne in cona sequence of this prodigy, supposed to be vouchfafed from Heaven in his favour. The citizens were, bv public prochimation, called together to decide this im.- portant question ; but, previous to their meeting, Thyestes, with the assistance of iErope, his Brother^s Wife whom he had debauched, conveyed the Golden^ Ham into his own stalls, and thereby procured from the assembly a declaration in his favour. AH succeeds ing ages have recorded with detestation the cruelty with which these injuries were revenged by Atreus, who caused two children, the fruits of this incestuous commerce between Thyestes and ^rope, to be killed, and served up to their Father at an entertainment: the sun recoiled with horror at such an execrable feast, and many portentous signs of the wrath of Heaven appeared in ihe skies, ^rope herself was thrown into the sea by the remorseless Atreus, who for a time prospered in his wickedness, and not only kept possession of tbe throne of Argos, whence he expelled Thyestes ; but, ?is Thucydides informs us, upon his nephew Eurystheus being slain in Attica by the sons of Hercules, added to ^is domains the neighbouring city of Mycene, which jyas considered as agreat accession of power both tohimr self and his successors : vengeance however at length overtook him, for iEgisthus, son of Thyestes, by an incestuous commerce of a far more horrid nature with bis own Daughter Pelopia, had no sooner attained man's estate, than he murdered his Uncle Atreus, and reinstated his Father Thyestes. Agamemnon and Me* pelaus, the two sons whom -ffirope had borne to Atreus previous to her seduction by Thyestes, were saved from the' fury of the conqueror, and sent to Sicyon, where Polyidus then reigned, who for their greater security consigned them to the protection of Oeneus king of Oetolia. In this.state of precarious dependance, Aga« IQiemnonpei|>etrated:a daring and atrocioos^ acttoft^ HOUSE 01^ TANTALUS. 149 imifdering a prince called Tantalus, #h<5 was either son of Brotcasj whom I have already mentianed as younger son of the first Tantalus, or of Thyestes; for Pausanias, from whom I extract my account of him, leaves that point doubtful. Agamemnon's motive for killing hiro, appears to have been in order to take pos- session of his Wife Cl5'temncstra, Daughter toTyn- darus king of Sparta, who reproaches him in the Iphigenia in Aulis, one of the Tragedies of our author) with having also destroyed her child by her first hu^ band, then an infant, whom he tore from her arms, and dashed against the pavement. Castor and Polkix, t&e two celebrated sons of Jupiter, whom Leda bore to tliat 'Grod in consequence of his approaching 'her under the • form of a Swan, made war on the ravisher, and de- feated him :^ the troops of a man in his situation, could have consisted only of a band of robbers gathered to- gtether by the hopes of plunder : but upon his being tanquished, and becoming a suppliant, Tyndanis for- gave him, 'bestowed Clytemneslra on him in marriage, aiii«d assis^i^ig him with his troops, enabled him and lii» Brother Menelaus to subdue Thyestes, who fled to fart'*' altar of Juno as an asylum, from whence he capi. tuJi^ted tmd surrendered himself up to his nephews, oii tlj*>ir taking an oath that they would spare his lij'e ; they dftfcetved thefr engngemerit, but deposed and confined htm to >the island of Cithera, wliere he ended his day^. - Mertelaus. the younger son of Atreus, inarried Helen, I^ndiartis's other daughter, the most beautiful womah T)(^lje*rtiitie, atid heiress to the kingdom of Sparta : she had'feomahy powerful Grecian Princes for her suitors^ tbdther Father was extremelv embarrassed how to dis- jid^e<jff*ie^-,'lest'hy prefening one of those who loriiieil preteifSitms; he should draw uf)on hmi.-^elf a number t)f iScmftfdable enemies. The followii^ expedient oeeur- rcd'to' himt h^ing prevailed on them all it> swear, %H4t tfeey would uirite ib 8Up|Joitiiig t*^e future husbantl 150 HISTORY OF THE of the Princess against any man, whether Greek or Biirbiirian^ who presnmed to violate his bed, he per- mitted Helen to make her own choice; and she de- cided in favour of Menelaus, to whom she was imme* diately wedded : but their nuptial happimss was soon interrupted by the arrival of Paris^ one of the sons of Priam king of Troy, who sailed to Sparta, magnificently equipped, and with a sumptuous train of attendants. Menelaus received him with great hospitality; and he gained so far on the affections of* Helen as to prevail on her, during the absence of her husband, whom some affairs of importance summoned to Crete, to embark and fly with him from Sparta. The success of Paris in this dishonourable amour, is by Euripides, in several of his Tragedies, as well as by most other antient writers, attributed to the favour of Venus, to whom he had ad- judged the Golden Apple, the prize of beauty, for which that Goddess contended with Juno and Minerva: but in the Tragedy, intitk'd Helen, we meet with a yet fuller vindication of Helen's character than the assertion of her being inspired with irresistible love by the im- pulse of Venus; it being related bow she was conveyed by Mercury through the air into Egypt, and consigned to the care of Proteus, the kipg of that country, whil« Paris only bore away a cloud which resembled hen The deception, we are told, continued during the whole siege of Troy, and till Menelaus was driven to the shores of Egypt, in his return from that ten years war: on his landing, the shadow vanished, and be re- covered the rca] Helen, whose virtue had been prer served iincontaminated : nor is this the mere invention of the Poet, but has the sanction of Herodotus, the father of Greek Historians, in whom the reader will find the same account, with some httle variations. The real or imaginary Helen being thus conveyed from Sparta by Paris, Menelaus sent ambassadors iq demand her back again; but tb^ influence of tb« HOUSE OF TANTALUS. 151 amorous Prince prevailing over the counsels of An te- nor and the more prudent senators, the Trojans re- fused to restore her, and plunged their country in a war virbich occasioned the total destruction of its capitial city, and the deaths of Paris, and almost' all the nu- merous family of Priam. The throne of the deposed Thyestes being occupied by Agamemnon, he extended his dominion over a con* siderabl^ part of the Pelopooesiis and neighbouring islands. The superior populousnesa and extent of his territories, beyond .those of the other confederate kings^ appears from thertrobps they furnished for the siege of Troy, being arranged in Homer's catalogue of the ships in two large divisions; the first of eighty ships from Argos, and several other places, under the com- mand of Diomede ; and the second furnished by My- cene, and the rest of Agamemnon's domains, consists iag of one hundred ships, which were commanded by himself in person. The cities of Argos and Mycenei which are at no greater distance from each other than fifty stadia, or about six miles and a quarter, were both built by Perseus and the Cyclops ; but became, accord- ing to Strabo, the capitals of separate kingdoms, when the posterity of Daiiaus and Amythaon parted the land into two distinct shares ; but after the defeat and death of Eurystheus, Mycene was reunited to Argos, and when Agamemnon succeeded his father Atreus, he enlarged and beautified Mycene so much, that some erroneously called him the founder of that city. The inaccurate manner in which Euripides is perpetually confounding Argos and Mycene, though the dramatic scene of action is confined to very narrow limits, has not escaped the notice of the Geographers. The unsuccessful suitors of Helen, who, if we may depend upon the list given of them by Apoliodorus, were twienty-eight in number^ and all of them the sons of /G.od^ or of Kings, or at least of celebrated Heroes, 153 HISTORY OF THE being summoned together by Menelaus to fulfill the solemn engagement they had entered into, collected a great naval armament from the various states of Greece, and appointed to the command, Agamemnon, brother to the injured husband, and by far thfe most- powerful monarch among the confederates. Before Agamemnon sailed for Troy, his wife Cly- temnestra had borne him four children : three of tbeta were daughters, Iphigenia, Chrysothemis, and Electra: his only son,, Orestes, was at that time an infant in his nurse's nrms. The confederate fleet of Greece being detained by a dead calm at the place of their rendez- vous, the haven of Aulis, a sea-port in the Boeotian territories, the leaders of the troops had recoui'se to the Oracle, and obtained a response from Calchas the soothsayer, who, reminding Agamemnon of a vow be hctd formerly made to sacrificie the most beautiful pro- duction of the year to Diana, informed him, that, in consequence thereof, his daughter Iphigenia was claim- ed by the Goddess for a victim, as being the most beau- tiful of all those who were born that year, and assured him that, the fleet would remain moored in the bay of Aulis till she was offered up. The struggles between paternal tenderness and the thirst of glory in Agamem- non, the insidious stratagems practised by Menelaus, urging him to consent to the unnatural sacrifice ; the plaints of iphigenia herself, when she first hears of her doom^ and the heroism with which she afterwards con- sents to yield up life, when she finds that by dying she shall conduce to the prosperity of her country, together with the indignation and resentment of her mother Clytemnestra and her lover Achilles, all conspire to' form one of the most pathetic tragedies of Euripides. When Iphigenia was borne to the altar, the wIkjIc army attended the moving spectacle ; and after the usual rites of consecration were finished, the knife iip- peared to transpierce' tloe bosom of the Princess : but HOUSE OF TANTALUS. 153 when they turned their eyes, they found a Hind lie gasping on the ground, which was substituted by Diana in the room of Iphigenia, who vanished frdm all eyes, and was wafted by the Goddess in a cloud lo her temple among the Scythians at Tauris, where she officiated as Priestess, and was constrained by the barbarous cus- toms adopted in that country to sacrifice every Greek who landed on those inhospitable shores. During the siege of Troy, Paris being slain by the ar- rows of Philoctetes, Helen married his Brother Deipho- bus, who perished when the city was taken, his perfidi- ous Consort betraying him to the Greeks. Helen then fell into the bands of her first husband Menelaus, who was soon reconciled to her. Agamemnon escaped the dangers of the sea, and the fate of many of his com- rades who were shipwrecked on the coast of Eubaja, being misguided by false lights placed on the promon- tory of Caphareus for that purpose by Nauplius, the Fa- ther of Palamedes, who had been unjustly put to death in the Grecian camp, through the treacherous contri- vances of Ulysses. The liCcider of the confederate Grecian trocJps reached Argos in triumph, and brought with him his captive, the prophetic Cassandra, whom he had reserved forhis concubine, at the division of the spoils. Clytemnestra, already embittered against him by the murder of her first Husband Tantalus, and the sacrifice of Tphigenia, whom she apprehended to have been really slain at the altar, would not brook this fresh indignity, but conspiring with her paramour -/Egisthni, the son of Thyestes, threw over Agamemnon, as he vr^k coming out of the bath, a garment sewed up at the neck and arms, and while he was struggling in th6 folds of this delusive vest, smote him with an axe, and killed him; after which she married the adulterer .Sigisthus, who took possession of the throne. ^ A faithful servant conveyed Orestes, on his Father's death, toPbocis, and placed him under tlie protection 154 HISTORY OF THE of Strophrus ; Electra remained at Argos, and was^ivM in marriage by the usurper to a Peasant, in order to pre* vent her becoming the wife of some man who might have had influence enough to reinstate the children of Agamemnon in their hereditary dominions. When .Orestes arrived at years of maturity, he repaired .to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, which commanded him to revenge his Father's death ; upon which be returned to Argos in disguise, accompanied by his inseparable friend Pylades: on their arrival, they were received in a cottage, on the confines of the Argive dominions, bj Electra and her nominal Husband; and learnt that the Princess still remained a virgin, the Peasant retaining a strong attachment to Agamemnon's family, and not considering ^gisthus as having any right to give her to him in marriage. After a short consultation together, they formed, and soon carried into execution, a plan for killing both ^gisthus and Clytemnestra ; but no sooner had Orestes imbrued his hands in his Mother's blood, than the Furies arising from hell haunted and drove him to distraction; the citizens of Argos in the mean time looking with horror upon the action committed bj him and Electra, refused to hold any intercourse with such profane wretches, and -assembled together to pass sentence on them six days after Clytemnestra's death : at this period, Menelaus, wholiad been separated from the rest of the fleet, and experienced a most tedious voyage, having, according to the account given by Teucer in the Helen of our Author, been seven years in bi$ return from Troy ; landed with Helen and his few surviving friends at Nauplia, a sea port in the neighbourhood of Argos, where he was immediately apprised of the calamities which had in his absence be- fallen his family: in his interview with his nephew, the unhappy Orestes, he shewed some disposition to assist him, but soon forsook, and gave him and his Sister up to the fury of the people, on being told by Tyndarusj^ HOUSE OF TANTALUS. 155 tliait, if he interfered, he should never return to Sparta, the sovereignty of that country being to devolve to Helen after the deatl^ of her aged Father, whoiiad no longer any son to inherit his dominions, both Castor and Pol- lux being translated to the Heavens, and become Stars. The council of Argos having condemned Orestesand Electra for the murder of their mother, and given them the option of putting themselves to death, they, after some consultation with Py lades, determined, as we have j-ust scjen in the Tragedy of Orestes, to revenge them* selves by killing Helen, and to detain Hermione as an hostage, to constrain her Father to pardon thenu While Menelaus was vowing vengeance against thcm^ for the supposed murder of his Wife, Mho had suddenly vanished, Apollo descended to save them both from their enraged Uncle apd the Argive people, by giving testimony in favour of Orestes, that he had acted in pursuance of the Gods' especial commands, by putting bis Mother to death; but directed him, in order to ex- piate the pollution he had incurred by shedding her blood, to remain in a stale of banishment for one year, and after that submit his cause to thejudgement of the Are/opagus at Athens. When Orestes attended lliat venerable assembly, one of the Furies appeared as his Accuser, and Apollo was for the second time a witness in his behalf : the votes for acquitting or condemning bim being found, upon casting them up, to be equal, Minerva decided the cause in his favour. The Furies however continued lo, persecute him, and he again had recourse to the oracle of Apollo, who ordered him ttf bring ti:e statue of Dianu from Tauris, and deposit it at Athens: he accordingly sailed on this expedition, ac- companied by his faithful friend and kinsman Pylades, whom he had previously affianced to his bister Electra; on their landing they were seized by the peasants of the country, and carried to Thoas the king, who consigned jthem l4) iheir Sister Iphi*^ciiia as fit victims to bleed at 136 HISTORY, &c. the altar, where they were on the point of being sacri- ficed, when a recognition happily ensued ; after which they all united in conceiting means for their escape, whith they with great difficulty eflfected, and not with- out the especial interposition of Minerva; carrying away their Sister, and the image of the Goddess Diana, to whom Iphigenia, during the remainder of her life, con- tinued to be a Priestess at Brauronia, in the Athenian territories. During the misfortunes of Orestes, Menelaus bestowed his only Daughter Hermione (whom he had promised in marriage to his Nephew) on Pyrrhus, or (as Euripides and several other writers call him) Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles ; having offended Apollo by imputing to him the death of his Father, slain in the temple of that God by the shafts of Paris, Neoptolemus went to Del- phi to deprecate his wrath. Orestes at the same time went thither to counteract his rival, and by artfully dif- fusing rumours among the inhabitants at Delphi, and pensuading them that Neoptolemus came thitl>er with no pious design, but in order to plunder their temple, the treasures of which were immense, caused them to attack and murder him, as he was going unarmed to makci his prapitiatoBy offerings to that Deity. Having contrived the death of Neoptolemus, Orestes came to PhlhiayCarried off Hermione, and married her, and his faithful comrade Pylades was at the same time united tO'Electra. — The account giyen by Euripidesof the des- cendants of Tantalus here x^eases, leaving Orestes in tranquil possession of the united kingdoms of Argos »%nd My cene,: reconciled to his Uncle and the citizens^ who had just before sentenced him to die, and, pur^ suant to the injunction of Apollo, married to the only Daughter of Menelaus and Helen, the heirefcs to the Spartan dominions* i •: . . i -j II. f./ • s $ THE PHGENICIAN DAMSELS, *n »X*^ c^Ofjiifvi' to; ^ aJKyioL xaXAtTr ^tcwaw fEftSONS OF THE DRAMA, JOCASTA. ATTENDANT. ANTIGONE, CHORUS OF PHOENICIAN DAMSELS- POLYNICE& ETEOCLES. CREON. MEN^CEUS. 'TIRESIAS. MESSENGER. ANOTHER MESSENGER. OEDIPUS. SCENE^AN OPEN COURT BEFORE THE PALACR AT THEBES. -^'•l THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS, JOCASTA. xJ Thou, who thro' the starry Heavens divid st Thy path, and on a golden chariot sitt'st Exalted, radiant San, beneath the hoofs Of whose swift steeds the fiery volumes roll. How inauspicious, o'er the Theban race Didst thou durt forth thy beams, the day when Cadmus Came to this land from the Phoenician coast; He erst obtained Harmonia for his bride. Daughter of Venus; of their loves the fruit Was Polydorus, and from him, as fame Relates, descended Labdacus the Sire Of Laius. From Menaeceus I derive My birth ; my Brother Creon and myself From the same Mother spring : but I am culJ'd Jocasta, 'twas the name my Father gave ; Me royal Laius married ; but when long Our' bed had prov'd unfruitful, he to search The oracle of Phoebus went, and sued To the prophetic God, that he our house Would cheer with an auspicious race of Sons : The God replied ; ^^ Beware (1) O thou who rul'st (1) The cause \ifliy this curse was denounced agamst Laius, though here omitted, is expressed in the oracte given to him, as preserved in the Greek Scholia to the Frogs of Aristophanes^ and prefixed l^y Barnes, Valkenaer, and Dr. Musgrave, to their editions of this Tragedy. Offspring of royal Labdacus, O Laius, For an auspicious progeny, to Heaven Suest thou ? on thee will I bestow a Son, But thee the Fates have doomed by that Son*s hands To perish : Pelops* imprecations mov'd ^^ , Indignant Jove, and to the Sire whose child ff ICO THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. ' Tlie martial Thebans, strive not to obtaia '^ A progeny against the will of Heaven: ^^ If thou beget a Son, that Son sliall slay thee, '^ And all thy houseliold shall be plung'd in blood. He overcome by lust, and flushed with wine. In an unguarded moment disobey 'd; But I no sooner had brought forth the child> Than he grown conscious of his foul offence Against Apollo's mandate, to his shepherds The new-born infant gave, in Juno's meads. And on Cithseron's Hill, to be expos'd, ]Viaiming^his feet with pointed steel, whence Greece Hath caird him Oedipus. But they who fed The steeds of Polybus, soon taking up Conveyed him to their home, and in the hands Of their kind Mistress plac'd, she at her breast Nurtur'd my Son, and artfully persuaded Her Lord that she was Mother to the Boy : Soon as the manly beard his check overspread. Aware from his own knowledge, or informed Of the deceit, sollicitous to learn Who w^ere his Parents, to Apollo's shrine He journey 'd; and at the same time was Laius, My Husband, hastening hither, to enquire Whether the child he had expos'd was dead. In Phocis, where two sever'd roads unite. They met : the charioteer of Laius cried In an imperious tone; " Give way to Kings, '' Thou tStranger :" yet the silent youth advanc'd With inborn greatness fir'd, till o'er his feet Distain'd with gore the steel-hoof 'd coursers trod ; Thou treacherously didst steal a\%-ay, the God Hath granted tliis irrevocable boon. In ApoUodonis, we meet with the fact on which the above verses are founded. Laius, after Laving been kindly entertained by Pelops, was so regardless of the laws of hospitality, as to carry off Chrysippus, that monarches natural son, who became his charioteer and minion. THE PHCENICUN DAMSELS. iCl Hence (for what need have I to speak of aught That's (2) foreign to my woes ?) th' unconscious Son Slew his own Father, seiz*d the spoils, and gave To Polybus, who nurtur'd.him, the car. But when with ruthless fangs the Sphynx kid waste The city, and my Husband was no more. My Brother Creoh by the herald's voice Proclaimed, that whosoever could expound Th' aenigma by that crafty Virgin forg'd Should win me for his bride : that mystic clue The luckless Oedipus my son unraveFd ; Hence o'er this land appointed King, he gain'd For his reward a sceptre ; wretched youth ! Unwittingly espousing me who bore him; Nor yet was I his Mother then aware That we committed incest. I produc'd To my own Son four children ; two were males, £teocles and Polynices fam'd For martial prowess ; daughters two, the one Her Father call'd Ismene, but the first I named Antigone* Soon as he learn'd That I whom he had wedded was his Mother^ The miserable Oedipus, o'erwhelm'd With woes accumulated, from their sockets # Tore with a golden clasp his bleeding eyes. But since the beard o'ershaded my Sons' cheeks, T^heir Sire they in a dungeon have confinM, (2) A3 this pai^ntfaesfs in the long narration of Jocasta, iirh^ch began with speaking of remote events, and dedacing her genealogy from Cad* mus the founder of Thebes, may perhaps appear to other readers, as I confess it does to myself, ill placed in that part of her speech, where sht relates a fact so immediately interesting to her as the death of LaiQS, X . am induced to publish the following manuscript note of the late RevetenA Stephen Caesar de Missy, written with a pencil m the margin of a copy of King's Euripides, now m my possession : ** Pro T« *i^ legendum suspicor « TimSk^utsententiasit, Qatd oniaie demaMvimAi spuses^ dicere? subm* * intellecta nimirum prxpositione n^ ; ut Odyss. L. xi. v. 173. Ei^t i» ** fjM iialgof Tf xMi Tifo; wy xoliXwiw." I havc howcver foUowtd the yilfft xcadiog, as I usoaUy do in dnbiouBiKiliits. ^2ck^ voi;.. 1. • . M 16« THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. The raeraory of this sad event t' efface. For which they needed every subtle art. Within these mansions he still lives, but sick With evil fortunes, on his Sons pours forth The most unholy curses, that this house They by the sword may portion out. Alarm'd Lest Heaven those vows accomplish if they dwell Together, they by compact have resolv'd The younger Brother Poly n ices first A voluntary exile shall depart, And, with Eteocles remaining here To wield the sceptre of this realm, exchange His station year by year : but th' elder-born Since he was seated on the lofty throne Departs not thence, and from this land expelU The injur'd Polynices, who, to Argos Repairing, with Adrastus hath contracted Most strict affinitv, and hither brings A numerous squadron of heroic youths; These bulwarks for their sevenfold gates renowned E*en now in arms approaching, he demands His Fathei'^s sceptre, and an equal share Of the domain. But I to end their strife, On Polynices have prevailed, to come Under the sanction of a warrior's faith,^ And parly with his Brother, ere the hosts In bcittle join: the messenger I sent Informs me he the summons will attend. O thou who dwell'st amidst Heaven s lucid folds. Save us, dread Jove, and reconcile my children : For thou, if thou art wise, wilt ne'er permit That one poor mortal should be always wretched. [Exit JOCASTA.. ANTIGONE, ATTENDANT. ^ -. . . ATTENDANT. 'Cfair Antigone, illustrious blossom Of jmr paternal house, since from your chamber TH£ PH(£NICIAN I>AMSm3. m Your Mother hath allowed yoa to come forth At your request^ and from these roofs behold The Argive hosts^ stay here, while I the road Explore, lest in our passage if we meet Some citizen, malignant tongues should blame Both me the servant who obey, and you For giving such command. But their whole camp Since I have search'd, to you will I relate All that these eyes have witness'd, and whatever I heard amidst the Argives, when cmplo/d By both your Brothers, I 'twixt either host Bore pledges of their cc»npact» But these mansions JNo citizen approaches : baste, ascend Yon antient stairs of cedar, and overlook The spacious fields that skirt Ismeno^' stream. And Dirce's fountain ; what an host of foes ! ANTIOONE. Thy aged arm stretch forth, and as I climb The narrow height, my tottering steps sustain. ATTENDANT. Give me your hand, for at a lucky hour You mount the turret, the Pelasgian host Is now in motion, and the troops divide. ANTIOONB. Thou venerable Daughter of Latona, Thrice sacred Goddess, Hecate, how gleams With brazen armour the whole field around ! ATTENDANT. For Polynices to his native land Returns not like a man of little note. But comes in anger by, unnumbered steeds Attended, and the loudest din of arms. ANTIGONE. Are the gates ^los'd ? what baxriers guard the walls Rear'd by Amphion's skill? ATTENDANT. Be of good chear. M 2 164 THE PHCENICUN DAMSELS" The city is made safe within. But look At him who first advances^ if you wbb To know him. ANTIGONE. By those snowy plumes distinguith'd. Before the ranks who marches in the van, With ease sustaining on his nervous arm That brazen shield i ATTENDANT. A General ; royal Maid. ANTIGONE. Who is he i in what country was he bom. Old Man, inform me, and what name he beari* ATTENDANT. Myc?ne glories in the warrior's birth. But near the marsh of Lema he resides ; His name's Hippomedon, a mighty Chief. ANTIGONE. Ah, with what pride, how terrible an aspect. How like an earthborn giant, doth he move! His targe with stars is cover'd, and that air Resembles not the feeble race of man. ATTENDANT, Behold you not the Chief who Dirce's stream Is crossing! ANTIGONE. In what different armour clad ! But who is he ? ATTENDANT. Tydeus, the noble son Of Oeneus ; in embattled fields his breast With true ^tolian courage is inspir'd. ANTIGONE. ' Is he, O veteran, Husband to the Sister Of Polynices' Consort ? how array'd In^party-colour'd mail, a Half-barbarian I \ \ \ THE PHCENICIAN DAMSE{4r m ATTENDANT. (3) All the JEtoIians, O my Daughter^ arm'd With bucklers^ can expertly hurl the lance* - t ANTIGONE. But whence, old Man^ art thou assured of. this? ATTENDANT. The various figures wrought upon the shields I notic'd> at the time I from the walls Went to your Brother with the pledge of truce : When these I see^ their wearers well I know* ANTIGONE. But who is he who moves round Zethus' tomby A youth with streaming ringlets, and with eyes Horribly glaring \ ATTENDANT. He too is a Chief. ANTIGONE. What multitudes in burnish'd armour clad Follow his steps 1 ATTENDANT. From Atalanta spningi Parthenopaeus is the name he bears* ANTIGONE., May Dian, who o'er craggy mount^ns speeds Attended by his Mother, with her shafts Transpierce th' audacious youth who comes to sack My city ! ATTENDANT. These rash vows suppress, O Daughter, For they with justice these domains invade. And therefore will the Gods I fear discern Their better cause. (3) '^ The ^tolians, living at the extremity of Europe, had a mixtore *^ of Greek and Barbarian mannen, being all ciad in armour, and hurl- «< ing their javelins. For in all probability at the time of the siege of '' Thebes, the Greeks made use of armour; but the Barbananti w^re ^ expert in throwing their spear8| which the Greeks afterwards learnt If the art of SC90UAST. . Ji I 166 tH B ntCENlCIAN DAMSELS ANTIOOKB. But where is be, whom Fate Decreed in evil hour from the same worab With me to spring ? Say, O thou dear old Manj Where's Polynices ? ATTfiOT>AKf. He beside the tomb Of Niobe's seven virgin Daughters stands Close to Adrastos. See you him i ANTIGONE* I see him. But not distinctly ; I can just discern A faint resemblance of that kindred form^ The image of that bosom. Would to Heaven, Borne on the skirts of yonder passing cloudj Thro' the etherial paths, I with these feet Could to my Brother urge my swift career ! Then would I fling my arms round the dear neck Of him who long hath been a wretched exile. How gracefully, in golden arms array'd Bright as Hyperion's radiant beamsi he moves ! ATTENDANT. To fill your soul with joy, the Chief, these doors, Secur'd by an inviolable tmce. Anon will enter. ANTIGONE. O thou aged man ; But who is he who on yon chariot, drawn By milk*white coursers, seated, guides the reins ? ATTENDANT. The seer Amphiareus, O royal Maid ; He bears the victims that with crimson tides Must drench the ground. ANTIGONE. Encircled with a zone • Of radiance, O thou daughter of the Sun, Pale Moon, who from his beams thy gpldea orb 7Iti;'PilCENICIAN DAMS^JtS. 167 Illum'st, behold with what a steady thong. And how discreetly he those coursers guides ! But where is Capaneus, who proudly utters Against this city the most horrid threats f ATTENDANT. To these seven turrets each approach he marks, The walls from their proud summit to their ba^e Measuring with eager eye. ANTIGONE. Dread Nemesis^ Ye too, O deep-ton*d thunderbolts of Jove, And livid flames of lightning ; yours, 'tis yours To blast such arrogance. Is this the man Who vow'd that he the captive Theban Dames In slavery plung'd, would to Mycene lead. To Lerna^ where the God, of Ocean fix'd His trident, whence its waters bear the name Of Amy6ii« i but, O child of Jove, Diana, venerable Queen, who bind'st Thy streaming tresses with a golden cawl, Never may I endure the loathsome yoke Of servitude. ATTENDANT. The royal mansion enter, O Dailghter, and beneath its roof remain In your apattment, since you have indulged You-wish, and view'd those objects you desir'd. A tumult in the city now prevails : The women to the palace rush in crowds, For the whole female sex are prone to slander. And soon as they some slight occasion find, On which malignant rupaours they can ground, Add many more : for on such baneful themes To them is it delightftil to converse. [^Exeuntt 168 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. CHORUS. ODE. 1. 1. Borne from Phoenician (4) shores I crossed the deep> My tender years to Phoebus they consign To spriqkle incense on his shrine^ And dwell beneath Parnassus' steep Cerspread with everlasting snow : Our dashing oars were plied in haste ^'^tifro* the Ionian wave, whose eddies flow -'Ibound Sicily's inhospitable waste (5); ^ Then vernal Zephyrs breath'd, our sails around^ '^;. ; And Heaven's high-vaulted roof ponvey'd the munpur- ing sound. ^) The original expression, ^vurnis an yan is rendered in the Wsions Phcenissa ab insnlft, which has given rise to a variety of conjec- tnres. The autlior of the Greek paraphrase qualifies the term hy that of Xfffotnnt, and Dr. Musgrave observes, that ntngy in the poets, sometiniet signifies a peqinsola, but the reader will, by turning to any map of an- tient geography, find that Phoenicia was by no means eitiier an bbiid or a Peninsubi, but a part of the Asiatic continent extendingitself fbr aooo- siderable length on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. It is not in* probable, that this passage was what Dr. Shuckford had immediately in view, when in a note to his Connection of Sacred 9pd Prophane Histoiyy Vol. I. p. 157. Sd edition, he speaks of the Antients calling such coon* tries Isles as bordered on the Sea, though they were natty part of the continent, especially if they usually siiiled to them. But the Phoenicim Island, jBays the Scholiast, i3 by some understood to mean Tyre^ and if ao^ the term itung will by no means stand in need of any qualification, as the junction of Tyre to the continent, which rendered it a peninsula, was ti^ fected by Alexander the Great, at a period subsequent not only Ur tlie days of Oedipus, but also to those of Euripides. But Valkenaer ^yn- cludes his note on the passage by observing, that tiie silence of the an* tient writers m regard to what city of Phoenicia was then taken, of virhich the Damsels composing the Chorus might be considered by the Poet aa tlie chosen spoils, has rendered all our enquiries on the subject inefiectoaL (5) *' In Sicily being called barren, which at that time was in|>abited « by the Cyclops, unacquainted with the art of sowipg com, there is no ^* great improbability : at least every one acknowledges, that tlie fielda " which lie close to the sea-shore, for the piost part produce no ** crops/' Piers. TKE PHOENICIAN DAMSE^. l6» . I. 2. A chosen offering to the Delphic God^ I from my native city, to this land Where aged Cadmus bore command. Am come^ obedient to the nod Of those who from Agenor spring, ' To the proud towers of Laius' race. Our kindred governed by a kindred king. Here stand I, like an image on its base, Tho' destin'd to partake refin'd delights. Bathe in Castalia's stream, and tend Apollo's rites* III. O mountain, from whose cloven height. There darts a double stream of light. Oft pn thy topmost ridge the Menaides are seen. And thou, each day distilling generous wine, O plant of Bacchus, whose ripe clusters shine, Blnsbiog thro' the leafs faint green; Ye caves, in which the Python lay. And hills, from whence Apollo twang'd his bow. Around your heights o'erspread with snow, 'Midst n!iy lov'd virgin comrades may I stray. Each anxious fear expelling Irpm my breast, In the world's center, that auspicious fw^ The residence of Phcebus blest. And bid ^ieu to Dirce's plain. . !!• 1. Bui now before these walls doth Mars advance, ^nd brandish slaughter's flaiiiing torch around; May Thebes ne'er feel the tlireaten*d wound, For to a friend bis friend's miscfaaDce Is grievous as his own : each ill That lights upon these sevenfold towers. With equal woe Phoenicia's realm muBt fill : For Thebes I mourn ; since of one blood with ours From lo's loves this nation dates its birth. Those sorrpws I partake which vex my kindred earth. 170 TH£ PHCENICIAN DAUSESS. 11, 2. Thick as a wintry cloud that phalanx stands^ Whose gleaming shields portend the bloody figlit. The God of War with stern delight, Shall to the siege those hostile bands Lead on^ and rouse the Fiends to smite The race of an incestuous bed : Much, O Pelasgian Argos, much thy might, And more the vengeance of the Gods I dread ; For arm'd with justice on his native land HuAes that banish'd youth, the sceptre to demand. PGLYNICES, CHORUS. POLYNICES. They who were station'd to observe the gates^ Unbait^d them, and with courtesy receiv'd me As I the fortress entered : hence I fear Lest now they in their wily toils have caught They should detain^ and slay me ; I with eyes Most vigilant must therefore look around To guard 'gainst treachery : but the sword which arms This hand shall give me courage. Ho! who's tbei^ ? Doth a mere sound alarm me i All things seem^ E'en to the bravest, dreadful^ when they march O'er hostile ground* I in my Mother plac'd Firm confidence, yet hardly can I trust Her who on me prevail'd t' accept the pledge^ And hither com€^ But I have near at hand A sure asylum^ for the blazing altars Are not remote^ nor yet is yonder house Without inhabitants. Be sheath'd my sword. Those courteous Nymphs who at the portals stand I'll question. O ye foreign Damsels^ say. What was the country whence to Greece ye came ^ CHORUS. Phcenicia is my native land, I there Was nurtured: but Agenor's martial racej TttE PHfENICIAN DAMSfeLS. 171 Me, the first fruit of their victorious arms, A votive oflFering to Apollo sent, But to the venerable prophetic domes. And blazing shrines of Phoebus, when Ihe Son Of Oedipus prepared to have convey'd me. The Argives 'gainst this city led their host. Now in return inform me who thou art. Who com'st to Thebe^ o'er whose seven gates are rear'd As many turrets, POLYNICES. Oedipus, the son Of Lai US, was my Sire: Menaeceus' Daughter Jocasta brought me forth; the name I bear Is Polvnices. CHORUS, O, illustrious King, Thou kinsman to Agenor's race, my lords By whom I was sent hither, at thy feet, I as the usage of my countiy bids Prostrate myself. Thou to thy native land After a tedious absence art returned. But ho! come forth, thou venerable Dame, Open the doors; O Mother of the Chief, Hear'bt thou my voice? why yet dost thou delay To cross the lofty palace, and with speed In those fond arms thy dearest son infold? JOCASTA, POLYNICES, CHORUS. JOCASTA. Within the palace, O Phoenician nymphs, Hearing your voice, I with a tardy step Trembling thro' age, creep hither. O my Son, At length, I after m^ny days, once more Behold that face: fling, fling those arms around The bosom of your Mother ; those lov*d cheeks Let me embrace, atid with your azvre tresses My neck o'ershadowing, tnix my streaming hair. 172 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. To these maternal arms you scarce return. Till hope and expectation both had fail'd. 0 how shall I accost you, how impart To my whole frame the transports of my soul. And all around me, wheresoe'er I turn. Bid pleasures past, and distant years revive i My Son, you left this mansion of your Sire A desert, by your haughty Brother wrong'd And exii'd from your counti-y. By each friend How greatly hath your absence been bewail'd ! How greatly by all Thebes ! My hoary locks Hence did I sever from this aged head. Hence weeping utter many piteous uOtes, ' And, O my Son, the tissued robes of white Which erst I wore, exchange for sable weeds. These loath'd habiliments. Within the palace Your Father pf his eyesight reft, bewails The disunited pillars of his house ; Resolv'd to slay himself, he sometimes strives To rush on the drawn sword ; then searches round For the high beam to fix the gliding noose. Groaning forth imprecations 'gainst his Son ; Thus uttering with shrill tone his clamorous plaints, , He lives encompass'd by perpetual night. But, ah ! my Spn, by wedlock's strictest bonds United, I am tpld that you enjoy A foreign Consort, in a foreign realm. To vex your Mother' soul and the stern ghost" Of Laius; on such ill-assorted nuptials Curses attend. The (6) Hymeneal torch 1 kindled not, to grace your spousal rites. As custom hath ordain'd, and it behoves A hapipy Mother : nor his cooling stream To fill the laver did Ismenos yield ; Nor on th' airival of thy royal Bride (6) ^ ItvasciKrtoiiwiyfor the Bride to be condocted by tbe motber ** of tbe bridegroom bearing a kindled torcb.* Sckouast^ .N THE PHOSNICIAN DAliSBLS. 175 Thro' Thebes were festive acclamations heard. * Perish the cause of this unnatural war^ Be it or sword/ or discord^ of your Sire^ Or Fate, whose horrors revel in the house Of Oedipus : for these disasters sting My soul with anguish. CHORUS. Great endearments rise From pangs maternal, and all women love Their progeny. POLYNICES. Amidst my foes I come, 0 Mother, whether wisely or unwisely, Great are my doubts : but all men are constrain d To love their country. He who argues aught Against a truth so clear, in empty words Takes pleasure, while his heart confutes his tongue. Yet with such panic terror was I seiz'd, Lest by some stratagem my Brother slay nie. That bearing a drawn falchion in my hand, 1 cast my eyes around on every side As I the city travers'd : my sole trust Is in the truce he swore to, and thy faith Which led me to this mansion x>f my Sire : Yet as I came, full many a tear I shed. After long absence, to behold the palace. The sacred altars of the Gods, that ring . Where wrestlers strive, scene of my youthful sports, And Dirce's fountain. Hence .unjustly driven, I in a foreign city dwell, and steep These eyes in tears incessant. But to add Grief to my griefs, thee with thy tresses shorn I see, and in a sable vest array'd. Wretch that I am ! how dreadful and bow hard To reconcile, is enmity 'twixt those Of the same house, O Mother. But how fares My aged Sire within, whose eyes are clos'd 174 THE PHOENICIAN DAMSBI^. In total darkness? how, my Sisters twaio^ Bewail they not their exil'd Brother's fate? JOCASTA, Some God hath smitten the devotee^ house Of Oedipus. I first 'gainst Heaven's deprees Brought forth a Son^ and in an evil hour Wedded that Son to whom you owe your birth. But wherefore should I dwell upon these scenes Of horror ? it behoves us to bear up Under the woes inflicted by the Gods. How shall I ask the questions which I wish ? Fearing to wound your soul, yet to propose them> (7) Is my desire most urgent. POLYNICE8. Question me, Leave nought unsaid : for, O my dearest Mother^ Whatever is thy pleasure, will to me Seem grateful. JOCASTA. With what most I wish to know. Will I begin my questions^ Is not exile A grievous ill ? POLYNICES. Most grievous, and indeed Worse than in name. JOCASTA. How happens this? whence rises. The miseiy of the banished man ? -POLYNICES. He's subject (?) << E\nK'jBa is the reading of the maniucripts I hav? consulted, i^ ^' wliich I apprehend they all concm* without any variation ; the Oxford '' edition ougiit not to have retained the blunder of e>>^a;, the origin '< of which VaUEjenaer has traced firom Hervaghis." Brvncx* I do not proceed with a translation ^f Bxunck's censures on Hervagius, who printed tiie word right in h»^rst edition, Biuil 1537, though not in those of 1544 and 1551. To one severe calamity, be wants freedom of speech.. JOCASTA. T The- wretch of whom you talk^ Who utters not his thoughts, is but a slave. POLYNICES. ' The follies of their rulers they must bear. JOCASTA. This were a pil^ous doom, to be constrained To rtoitate th' unwise. ... 7 POLYNICES. If gain ensue, We must submit,' tho' nature's voice forbid. ' \ JOCASTA. Hopes, it is said, the hungry exile feed* POLYNICES. -^ With smiles they view him, but are slow to aid« JOCASTA. Doth not Time prove their falshood i I POLYNICE& They possess An influence equal to the Queen of Love ; * * They banish every sorrow from the breast. JOCASTA. But whence procured you food, ere you obtain'^l A sustenance by wedlock f POLYNICES. For the day At times I had sufficient, but at times Was wholly destitute. JOCASTA. ^ Your father's friends. And they who shar'd his hospitable board, Did they not aid you ? " POLtNICES: B^ thou ever blest! For he who is unhappy hatb no friend. ' ** " 176 THE PHOENICTAT^ DAMSEIS: JOCASTA, But did not vour illustrious birth advance you To some exalted station ? POLYNICES. A great curse Is poverty : this high descent with food Supplied me not. JOCASTA. To all mankind it seems Their native land's most dear. POLYNICES. Words have nX)t power T' express what love I for my country feel. JOCASTA. But why to Argos went you, what design Had you then form'd ? POLYNICES. Apollo to Adrastus Pronounc'd a ceitain oracle. JOCASTA. What mean you ? I cannot comprehend. POLYNICES. That he in wedlock Should join his Daughters to the boar and lion. JOCASTA. How did the names of these ferocious beasts Relate to you, my Son ? POLYNICES. I cannot tell. To this adventure was I calPd by Fortune. . JOCASTA. That Goddess is discreet : but by what means Did you obtain your Consort i POLYNICES. It was nigh When to Adrastus' vestibule I came. THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. 177 JOCASTA. To seek your lodging like a banished vagrant ? POLYNICES. E'en so : and there I met another exile* JOCASTA. Who was he ? him most wretched too I deem. POLYNICES. Tydeus, the son of Oeneus, I am told. JOCASTA. But wherefore did Adrastus to wild beasts Compare you ? POLYNICES. (8) From our fighting for a den. JOCASTA. Did then the Son of Talaus thus expound The oracles ? POLYNICES. And on us two bestow'd His daughters. JOCASTA. But have these espousals prov*d Happy, or inauspicious? POLYNICES. I have found No reason yet to curse the day I wedded. (8) ** Statins paints Tydens and Polynices as fighting for a bed which ^ Tydens attempted to enter, not knowing that it was already occupied << by Polynices. Adrastus came up and se|>arated them, and, as they ** were entering the pa^ce, beheld Polynices clad in the terrific hide of ^ a Lion with its shaggy mane, and the bristies and tusks of the Boar of ** Calydon extended over the broad shoulders of Tydeus. The old man, ^ struck with astonishment at the omen, perceived the accomplishment ^* of the oracle of Apollo, which had marked out to hun his future sous- ed in4aw under the appellation of these two wild beasts. Hdw much <^ more probable is this than the account of Euripides ! to me, I must '^ confess the reason assigned by the Tragic Poet appeal* extremely " flat." VAUUDlABiU VOL. J. N • y 176 THE PH(£NICUN DAMSfiliS. JOCASTA. Yet how prevaird you on a foreign host -Hither to follow you ? POLYNICES. Adrastus sware To Tydeus and myself, his sons-in-law^ (Who now by strict affinity are join'd) That both of us, he in our native realms Will reinstate, but Polynices first. Unnumber'd Argives, and Mycene's chiefs Crowd to my banners, a lamented succour. But such as stern necessity demands. Affording : for my country I invade. Yet witness for me, O ye righteous Gods, 'Tis with reluctance that I wield the spear Against my dearest parents. But to thee, O Mother, it belongs to end this strife. To reconcile two Brothers, and to cause My toils, and thine, and those of Thebes, to cease. Indulge me while I quote an antient maxim ; " Of human honours. Riches are the source, '* And rule with power supreme the tribes of men ;" In quest of wealth I hither come, and lead Unnumber'd squadrons to the dubious field. For indigent nobility is scorn 'd, CHORUS. But lo Eteocles himself repairs. To the appointed conference. In such terms As may restore peace 'twixt thy Sons, be thine, Jocasta, the maternal task t' address them. ETEOCLES, POLYNICES, JOCASTA, CHORUS. ETEOCLES. With your request, O Mother, to comply. Hither 1 come : but what must now be done? I,et others speak before me. For the squadrons i round the walls have marshall'd, and rest^ain'd THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. 179 The ardor of the city, till I hear What terms of peace you would propose, what views Within these walls induc'd'you to receive My Brother, by the public feith secured. Extorting my consent. JOCASTA. Yet pause awhile ; For haste is incompatible with justice : But slow deliberations oft effect Such schemes as wisdom dictates. Lay aside Those threatening looks, that vehemence of soul ; For thou behold'st not the terrific head Lopp'd from Medusa's shoulders : but behold'st Thy Brother coming.— Your benignant eyes, O Polynices, on your Brother turn. For while you look upon that kindred face You will speaks better, and his words receive With more advantage* Fain would I suggest One act of wholesome prudence to you both ; An anger'd friend, when with his friend he m,eets. Should at such interview attend to nought But those pacific schemes on which he came, Their antient broils forgetting. 'Tis incumbent On you, O Polynices, to speak first, Because complaining of great wrongs, you lead An Argive army hither. May some God Judge 'twixt my Sons, and reconcile their strife ! POLYNICES. Plain are the words of truth, and Justice needs No subtlety t* interpret ; for it be^rs Enough to recommend it: but Injustice, Devoid of all internal worth, requires Each specious art. Mj^ Father s house, my interests. His also, I consuked : and the curse Which Oedipus had erst pronounc'd against us. Anxious to shun, from these domains retired N -2 .Jt. ^ 180 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. A voluntciry exile, and to Him Surrendered up the sceptre for one year. That in my turn I might be King, nor come With enmity and slaughter in my train. Those mischiefs which from discord must ensue To act or suffer. He, who to these terms Assented, and for sanctions of his oath Invok'd the Godsj hath not accomplished aught Of his engagements, but still keeps the throne. And u'er my portion of our Father's realm Without a colleague reigns. r> on receiving My rights, e'en now am ready, from this land To send the troops, and in my palace rule - For an appointed time, then yield again The empire to my Brother, nor lay waste My country, nor the scaling-ladder plant Against yon turrets : yet will I attempt To do all this, if justice be denied me. I call the Gods to witness ^hese assertions : That tho' each solemn contract on my part Hath been performed, I from my native lend By lawless force am driven. I have collected No. specious words, O Mother, to adorn Truths which with equal force must strike the wise And the illiterate, if I judge aright. CHORUS. To me, although I in a Grecian realm Have not been nurtur'd, thou appear'st to speak With much discretion. ETEOCLES. If, in their ideas Of excellence and wisdom, all concurred, No strife had e'er perplex'd the human race. But now, %mong the tribes of men, are Fit, And Right, and fair Equality, mere names. In real life no longer to be found. To you, O Mother, I without concealment THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. 181 Will speak my sentiments ; (9) I would ascend The starry paths whence bursts the orient Sun, And plunge beneath the central earth, to win (9) The late Bisliop Warburton, and other modem Critics, having particularly noticed the resemblance between this passage and the fol- lowing lines in tlie first part of Shalvcspeare*s Henry the Fourth, " By heav'n methinks it were aneasie leap, '** To pluck brisfht Honour from the pale-fac'd moon, ." Or dive into the bottom of the deep, " Where fitdom-line could never touch the ground, " And pluck np drowned Honour by tlie locks, " So he that could redeem her tlience might wear " Without co-rival all her dignities. " But out upon this lialf-pac'd fellowship r it being generally supposed, that Shakcspeaie was an utter stranger to the Greek, and had very little knowledge of the Latin language; it may not be unacceptable to tlie reader, to see the French and English tran^tions of the correspondent lines extant at the time he wrote :'the former I have extracted from the quotation of it in Plutarch's treatise on Fraternal Love, as it stands in Amyott's version of that author's works, printed at Paris iu 1574. " Jc monterois en Tcstoill^ sejour ** Du clair Solliell ou commence Je jour, " Et descendrois dessoubs la tcrre basse, ^< Sije poavois acqncrir par audace " La Royaut^ souveraine des Dieux." In the English, which is rendered with fi very inferior degree of succfss, the spirit, and even tlie meaning, of the original have in a gr^at m^easure perished. " If I could rule or raignc in heaven above, " And eeke command in deptli of darksome hell, " No toil ne travel shoul my sprites abashc, " To take the way unto my restless will " To cUmbe aloft, nor down for to descend.*' The edition of Mr. George Gascoigne*s works, whence I transcribed this, bears date 1675 ; bwt the translation of the Phoenissse, by the tkle of Jocasta, which is the jomt production of him and Mr. Francis- Kin- velmershe, is said in tlie title to have been presented by them at Grayes- Inne, in tlie year 1566, and often deviates widely from Hke original for whole scenes together. << Endeavouring my dreaded name to raise " Above the moon,'* occurs in Spencer*s Fairy Queen, JU % c. 3, at Sa« 182 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. Empire the greatest of th' immortal Powers. I therefore will not yield up such a good To feiny other, but for my own use Retain it, O my Mother : for of manhood Devoid is he who tamely bear^ the loss Of what he prizes most, and in its stead Accepts some mean exchange. Yet more, it shames me That he who proudly comes, with arms to lay Our country waste, his wishes should obtain. For this would be to Thebes a foul reproach. If trembling at Mycehe's spear, I gave To him my sceptre. Thus array'd in mail He ought not to negotiate terms of peace. For all that by the sword our haughty foes Hope to exact, might gentle words procure. If such his pleasure, he on other terms Sball^e permitted in this land to dwell ; But never can I willingly forego ^ That one great object, nor while sovereign power Is yet within my reach, will I e'er stoop To be his vassal : rather come, ye flames. Ye falchions ; let the warrior steed be harness'd. With brazen chariots cover all the field, I never will surrender up my throne. (10) Since if we must o'erleap the narrow bounds (10) '< SHetonius relates, that Jalius Caesar had these verses fre« '' quently in bis mouth. Cicero has translated them in his Offices, and '' Dionys. Halicamass. given the purport of them. But no man will be *' shocked at this speech, who observes that the Poet himself immedi. *' , itely expresses iiis disapprobation of it, his own opinion and ideas of ^ ^^ justice being usually ascribed to the Chorus : which may be observed ^' in a thousand passages. It becomes an imitator to put impious speeches '< into the parts of impious men, provided he consult the interests of sound f' morality by means of some other personage of more unblemished cha-* ^' racter, sis the Choruses usually are.** Barnes. Language similar to this, " Pro regno velim " Patriam, Penates, Coi\jugem flammis dare '< Imperia pretio quolibet constant bene.** is by Seneca put jHto the mouth of Pplvnices, 5 ; THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS: 183 Of justice, for an empire, ta transgress "Were glorious; we in every point beside Are bound to act as virtue's rules enjoin. m CHORUS. No ornantents of speech to evil deeds Are due, for Justice hates such borrow'd charms. JOCASTA. Believe me, O Eteooles my Son, Old age is not by wretchedness alone Attended : more discreetly than rash youth Experience speaks. Why dost thou woo Ambition, That most malignant Goddess ) O forbear ! '* For she's a foe to Justice, and hath entered Full many a mansion, many a prosperous city, Nor left them till in ruin she involves All those who harbpur her : yet this is she . On whom thou doat'st. Twere better, Q my Son, To cultivate Equality, who joins Friends, cities, heroes in one stedfa&t league ; For by the laws of nature, thro' the world Equality was stablished : but the wealthy Finds in the poorer man a constant foe; Hence bitter enmity derives its source. Equality, among the human race. Measures, . and weights, and numbers hath ordain'd : Both the dark orb of night and radiant sun Their annual circuits equally perform ; Each, free from envy, to the other yields Alternately ; thus day and night afford ^ Their services to m^-n. Yet wilt not thou Be satisfied to keep an equal portion Of these domains, and to thy Brother give ^ His due. Where then is justice ? such respect As sober reason disapproves, why pay'st thou To Empire, to oppression crown'd with triumph ? To be a public spectacle thou deem'st ,^ Wer^ honpurable. 'Tis but empty pride. 1S4 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. When thou hast much already, why submit To toils unnumber'd ? what's superfluous wealth. But a mere name ? Sufficient to the wise Is competence : ^ for man possesses nought Which he can call his own, Tho* for a time What bounty the indulgent Gods bestow We manage^ they resume it at their will ; Unstable riches vanish in a day. Should I to thee th' alternatiTe propose Either to reign, or save thy native land, Could'st thou reply, that thou hadst rather reign f But if he conquer, and the Argive spears Overpower the squadrons who from Cadmus spring, . Thou wilt behold Thebes taken, wilt behold Our captive virgins ravish'd by the foe : That empire which thou seek'st, will prove the baae Of thy lov'd country; yet thou still persist'st In mischievous ambition's wild career. Thus far to thee.*-And now to you I speak, O Polynices ; favpurs most unwise Are those Adrastus hath on you bestow'd. And with misjudging fury are ypu come To spread dire havoc o'er your native land. If you (which may the righteous Gods avert!) This city take, how will you rear the trophies Of such a battle ? how, when you have laid Your country waste, th' initiatory rites Perform, and slay the victims ? on the banks Of Inachus displayed, with what inscription Adorn the spoils ? ^^ From blazing Thebes these shields '' Hath Polyntces won, and to the Gods " Pevoted." Never, O my Son, thro' Greece May you obtain such glory. Bat if you Are vanq^uish'd , and Eteocles prevail ; To Argos, leaving the ensanguined field Strewn with unnumbered corses of the slain, Jtlow can you flee for succour? 'twill be 8ai4 Vi THE PHCBNICIAN DAIfSBLS. i$5 By some malignant tongue; ** A curst alliance *' Js this which, O Adrastus^ thou hast form'd: '^ We to the nuptials of one virgin owe *' Our ruin." You are hastening, O my Son, Into a twofold mischief: losing all That you attempt, and causing your brave friends j To perish. O my Sons, this wild excess Of rage, with joint concurrence, lay aside. By equal folly when two chiefs inspired. To battle rush, dire mischief must ensue. CHORUS. Avett these woes, and reconcile the sons Of Oedipus, ye Gods. ETEOCLES. No strife of words Is ours, O Mother ; we but waste the time^ And all your care avails not. For no peac^ Gan we conclude on any other terms Than those already nain'd, that I, still wielding The sceptre, shall be monarch of this land : Then leave me to myself, and cease to urge These tedious admonitions. As for thee, O Polynices, from these walls depart. Or thou shaltdie. POX-YNipES. By whom ? who can be found Invulnerable enough, with reeking sword To strike me dead, yet *scape the self-same fate? 15TE0CLES. Beside thee, and not distant far he stands. Seest thou this arm ? POLYNICES. I see it : but wealth makes Its owners timid, and too fond of liie. ^ £T£OCI£$. Art thou come hiiher with a numerous host ^Gainst him thou count'st a dasUrd in the field P 186 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELK POLYNICES. A cautious general's better than a bold. ETEOCLES. Thou on that compact, which preserves tl^y life> * Too haughtily presum^st. POLYNICES- Again I claim The sceptre and my portion of this realm* ETEOCLES. Ill-founded is thy claim, for I will dwell In my own house. POLYNICES. Retaining to yourself More than your share? ETEOCLES. ' The words which I pronounce Are these ; Depart thou from the Theban land. POLYNICES. Ye altars of my lov'd paternal Gods — ETEOCLES. Which thou art come to plunder — POLYNICES. Hear ray voice. ETEOCLES. What Deity will hear thee, 'gainst thy country While thus thou wagest war ? POLYNICES. And ye abodes Of those two (1 1) Gods on milk-white coursers borne. ETEOCLES. Who hate thee — POLYNICES. From the mansions of my Sire Am I expeird. (11) Zethus and Amphion, who, as Barnes observes in his note on this passage, are also called TavwmaSuj in the io^odndory speech t& the Hercules Distracted of our Ao^r. THE PHCENieiAN DAMSEIA. 187 ETEOCLES. Because thou hither earnest Those mansions to destroy. POLYNICES. Thence was I driven With foul injustice. O ve Powers Divine! ETEOCLES. Go to Mycene; there, and not at Thebes, Invoke the Gods. POLYNICES. You trample on the laws — ETEOCLES. - Yet am not I like thee my country's foe. POLYNICES. Reft of my portion, while you drive me forth An exile. ETEOCLES. . Thee moreover will I slay. POLYNICES. Hear'st thou what wrongs, my Father, I endure? ETEOCLES. Thy actions too have reach'd his ears. POLYNICES. And you My Mother. ETEOCLES. Thou thy Mother canst not name Without a profanation.- POLYNICES. O thou city ! ETEOCLES. To Argos haste, and there invoke the pool Of Lerna. POI^YNICES. I depart : forbear to grieve For me, O Mother, but accept my praise. ETEOCLESt From these domains avaunt. 188 THE PHOENICIAN i)AM^LS. POLYNICES. Before I go. Permit me to behold our Sire. ETEOCLES. Thpu shalt not Obtain this boon. POLYNICES. My virgin Sisters then. ETEOCLES. Them too thou ne'er shalf see. POLYNICES. Alas ! dear Sisters. ETEOCLES. Why nam'st thou those to whom thou art most hateful ? POLYNICES. Joy to my Mother ! JOCASTA, Have I any cause For joy, my Son ? POLYNICES. No longer am I yours. JOCASTA. Full many and most grievous are my woes. POLYNICES. Because he wrongs me. ETEOCLES. Equal are the wrongi^ I suffer. POLYNICES. Where wiD you your station take Before' yon turrets ? ETEOCLES. For wjiat purpose ask This question ? POLYNICES. I in battle am resolv'd To meet and slay you. • ^ THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. 159 ETEOCLES. The same wish now fires My inmost soul. JOCASTA. Alas ! my Sons, what mean ye ? ETEOCLES. The fact itself must shew. ^JOCASTA. Will ye not shun The curses of your She ? ^ ETEOCLES. Perdition seize On our whole house ! soon shall my sword imbrued With gore, no longer in its scabbard' rest. Exit JOCASTA. POLYNICES. Thou soil which nurtured mfe, and every God, Bear witness^ that with insults and with wrongs O'erwhelm'd, I from my country like a slave. Not like the son of Oedipus^ am driven^ Whate'er thou suffer, O thou city, blame \ Not me, but him : for I was loth t' invade This land, and with reluctance now depart. Thou too, O Phcebus, mighty King, who guard'st These streets, ye palaces, my youthful comrades, Farewell ; and, O ye statues of the Gods, Drench'd with the blood of victims : for I know not Whether I ever shall accost youmore. But Hope yet sleeps not, and in her I place My trust, that with Heaven's aid I shall enjoy The Theban realm, when I have slain this boaster. [Exit POLYNICES. teTEOCLES. Leave these domains : a forethought by the Gods Inspir'd, my Fatber prompted, when on thee The name of Polynices, to denote Abundance of contention, he bestow'd. lEtH BTSOCLES. 190 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS, I CHORUS. ODE- I. Erst to this land the Tyrian Cadmus came. When at his feet a Heifer lay, Who in the meads unyok'd was wont to stray, Fulfilling Heaven's response well known to fame> And mark'd the spot where he should dwell : The oracle announc'd this fruitful ground For his abode, where from her limpid well, Fair Dirce spreads a cooling stream around. And on her banks are vernal blossoms found ; Compress'd by amorous Jove Here Semele the ruddy Bromius bore. Whom ivy with luxuriant tendrils strove In infancy to maqtle o'er. And round his happy brows to spread. Hence, in Bacchanalian dance. With light an(^ wanton tread The Theban nymphs advance. And matrons all their cares resign. Gay Votaries to the God of wine. Mars at the fount its ruthless guardian plac'd. On scaly folds a Dragon rode, Wild glar'd his €yes, in vain the waters flow'd. Nor dar'd the thirsting passenger to taste ; Advancing with undaunted tread To draw libations for the Powers Divine, A ponderous stone full on the monster's head Cadmus discharg'd, then seiz'd and pierc'd his chine With frequent wounds ; so Pallas did injoin : This done, the teeth he sow'd. And instantly, dire spectacle, a train All clad in mail, on earth's torn surface glow'd ; Soon was each hardy warrior slain. And to the soil which gave him birth THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. igi Join'd once more ; a crimson flood Moisten'd the ]ap of earth ; By parching winds their blood Was visited, and still remain Its marks on the discolor'd plain, in. To thee, O Epaphus, the child of Jove, Sprung from our (12) Grandame lo's love, I cry'd in a Barbaric strain; O visit, visit this once favour'd plain Which thy descendants call their own. Two Goddesses by countless votaries known, Proserpina dread Queen who from our birth Conducts us to the tomb, with Cei'es the benign. E'en she whose foodful shrine Is throng'd by every denizen of earth. From earliest days this realm possess'd : With lambent glories on their front displayed, O send them to its aid ; Nought can withstand a Gods request. ETEOCLES, CHORUS. ETEOCLES to mu 0/ his Attendants. Go thou, and hither bring Menaeceus' son Creon, the noble brother of Jocasta My Mother; tell him, on my own affairs. And on the public interests of the state. With him I would consult, ere host opposed (12) According to Apollodorus, lo, after her long wanderings, took Epaphus, her son by Jupiter, with her into JEgypty where she married Teiegonus, the King of that country. Epaphus succeeded his Father4ii- law in his dominions, and married Memphis, the Daughter of Nilus, by whom he had one Daughter Libya, from whoi^ one of the quarters of the world now called Africa (but by l^trabo, and most of the antient Geogra- pliical writers, Libya) is generally supposed to have derived its name. The God Neptune was the Father, and Libya tlie Motlier, of Agenor, whose son Cadmus married Harmonia, and founded lliebes, as mention- ed in the prologue to this Tragedy : whence it appears that Eteodes and Polynices Mvejre nine generations removed from Jo« 192 TH£ PHCENICIAN DAMSfiLS. To host in battle meet, and launch the spear. But lo, he is at hand to spare thy feet The toil of this their errand : I behold hiin Approach the palace. CREON, ETEOCLES> CHORUS. CREON. I to every gate And every centinel, my royal Lord Have gone in quest of you. ETEOCLES, Thee too, I longed, O Creon, to behold : for I have found Treaties for peace all fruitless since I spoke With Polynices. CREON. He, 1 hear, looks down With scorn on Thebes, tru^ing in his ally Adrastus, and that numerous Argive host. But we to the decision of the Gods Must DOW refer. Most urgent are th' affairs Of which I come to tell. ETEOCLES. What means my friend. Thy words I comprehend not. CREON. From the camp Of Argos a Deserter came. ETEOCLES. To bring Some recent tidings of what passes there? CREON. Their host, he says, array'd in glittering mail. Will instantly besiege the Theban towers. ETEOCLES. The valiant race of Cadmus^ from these gates Must sally forth, to guard their native land. THE PHCENICtAN DAMSELS. vj3 CREON. What mean you ? sees not your impetuous youth Our strength in a false light f z '. ETEOCLES. * Without the trenches. To show that we are ready for the combat. CREON. Few are the Theban squadrons, but the numfcer Of theirs is great. ETEOCLES. In words I know them brave. CREON. The fame of Argos thro' all Greece resounds. ETEOCLES. Be of good cheer; I with their corses soon These fields will cover, CREON. With your wishes, mine Concur; but I foresee that such emprise Abounds with heaviest dangers. ETEOCLES. Be assur'd ^ I will not coop my host within the walls. CREON. On prudent counsels our success depends. ETEOCLES. Would'st thou persuade me therefore to attempt Some other method ? CREON. , Ere you risk our fate On one decisive battle, have recourse To all expedients. ETEOCLES. What if I rush forth From ambush, and encounter them by night ? CREON. Could you return, if worsted, and take shelter Within these walls ? VOL. I. O A^. . 194 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. ETEOCLES. Night to both hosts afTords The same impediments ; bat they fare besC Who give th' assault. CREON. 'Tis terrible to rush On danger midst the thickest clouds of darkness. ETEOCLES. Shall I then launch the javelin, while they sit Around the genial board? CREON. This might alarm them : Our business is, to conquer. ETEOCLES. Dirce's channel*. Which they must cross in their retreat, is deep. CREON. All schemes you can propose are less expedient Than if you with a prudent caution act. ETEOCLP. But what if we with cavalry attack The Argive camp ? CRfiON^ On every side the host With chariots is secured. ETEOCLES. What then remains- For me to do ? must I surrender up This city to our foes ? CREON. Not thus ; exert Your wisdom, and deliberate. ETEOCLES. What precaution^ Think'st thou, were most discreet ? CREON. I am informed They have seven Champions. THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS, 195 ETEOCLES. What's the task assigned For them t' effect ? their strength can be but small. CREON. To head as many bands^ and storm each gate. ETEOCLES. How then shall we proceed ? for I disdain To sit inactive. CREON. On your part select Seven warriors who the portals may defend. ETEOCLES. O'er squadrons to preside^ or take their stand As single combatants i CREON. To lead seven squadrons ; ^ - Choosing the bravest. ETEOCLES. Well I understand Thy purpose ; to prevent the foe from scaling The ramparts. CREON. Comrades of experience add ; For one man sees not all. ETEOCLES. Shall I to valour Or wisdom give the preference i CREON. Join them both : For one without the other is a thing Of no account. ETEOCLES. It shall be done : 111 march (13) Into the city, place at every gate (13) "The Scholiast says; Eteodes here speaks ridicalousty, lie- " causehewasahreadyin the city. But with his permissioiiy andthatof « all the Critics, I assert, that it is usual for a pePBon who slays all day a^ O 3 196 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. A chief, as thou hast counselFd, and the troops Distribute so that we on equal terms May with the foe engage. It would be tedious The name of every warrior to recount. Just at this moment, when beneath our walls i The enemy is posted. But with speed I go, that I in action may not prove A loiterer. May it be my lot to meet My Brother hand to hand, that with this spear I midst the Hnes of battle may transfix And kill that spoiler, whp h come to lay . My country waste. I to thy care entrust The nuptials pf Antigone my Sister And thy Son Haemon, if it be my fate. To perish in the combat, and enforce Our forp^r contract with my dying breath. Thou art J ocas ta's Brother : of what use Are many words ? my Mother in such rank Maintain, as j5uit8:thuy hgnp^irv and the love Thou bear'st me. AiS fpi* uyr W^^bABi^y §irej To his own folly are his sufferings due. Bereft of eye-sight ; him I cannot praise^ For by his curses ^ould he slay us both.. One thing have we omitted ; of the^Seer '' home, though he be m the city^ tb i>^ spoken of as not havmg gone '< mto the city that clay. This I metition in a cursory manner, lest the *^ Poet should be left destitute of that defie^Qe kt deserves.** Barn^s^ Carraelli nearty copies the above note. Grotihs in his preface observes, that it is well known that a palace, though contained in a city, may be distmguished from iU Valkenaer observes, that this is here true in its utmost extent, and that the Acropolis qr^citadel in wfaidi the pal^e stoo4, was originally detached from Thebes, which was built on lower groiUM^ till the city became so populous, and its buildings extended thiemselves so far as to form a junction. Dir.'Miisgrate echoes the Scholiast, and calls tke reading of iwxt* extremely absurd, and iirdjposes in its stead xwcxw, and inserts the word ambitinn in bis l^tm version : w^hifb, in ^diatever point «f view we consider the matter, may be detrimental, and canivot, I ap- iyteheftd, be the least improvement to the j^oniext. Bninck, however, wts Aldiei and jdl the manus^ts at defiance, uidlbi^c^ ittseits nvto^fr in ■»« edition* '- ' ■ii -i THE PHCENICIAN IIJiMSfilJS. 197 Tiresias^ to enquire^ if he bave ought Of Heaven's obscure responses to disclose. . : ^T Thy Son, Menaeceus from his Grandsire nam'd^ To fetch the Prophet hither^ will I send^ T 0 Creon, for he gladly will converse With thee : but I so scornfully have treated, E'en in his presence, the whole Soothsayer's art, That he abhors me. But I, on the city ' > And thee, O Creon, this injunction lay ; If I prove stronger, suffer not the corse Of Polynices in this Theban realm . To be interr'd : let death be the reward Of him who scatters dust o'er his remains, Although he be the dearest of my friends. Thus far to thee — But to my followers this 1 add ; bring forth my shield, my helm, my greaves. And radiant mail, that by victorious Justice Accompanied, I instantly may rush Amidst the fray which waits me. But to Prudence, Who best of all th' immortal Powei*s protects The interests of her votaries, let us pray That she this city would from ruin save. {Exit ETEOCLES. CHORUS. ODE. I. How long, stern Mars, shall scenes of "death inspire Aversion to the feasts gay Bacchus holds ? Why join'st thou not the beauteous virgin choir Whose heaving bosoms love's first warmth unfolds. Thy hair's loose ringlets waving o'er thy face, Pleas'd on some amorous theme the lute t' employ Dear to the Graces, dear to social joy f But thou, a foe to the devoted race 198 THB PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. V Of (14) Thebe, lead'st these Argives to their fields Forming dire preludes for a tragic dance ; Kor with the God whose hand the thyrsus wields^ In dappled skins of hinds dost thou advance ; Exulting in the thong and harness'd steeds. Thou driv'st thy chariot o'er Ismenos' meads, . And 'gainst th' invaders, in each Theban breast Infusing equal rancor, prompt'st that band. Seed of the Dragon's teeth, to take their stand ; These rush to guard the walls, and those t' invests Inhuman Goddess, Discord, to the Kings Of Labdacus's house a train of misery brings, II. With sacred foliage ever clad, ye groves Of fam'd Cithaeron, whose steep cliffs abound ~ With sylvan game, thou mount, where Dian loves To urge thro' drifted snows the rapid hound, Thou ouffht'st not to have nourish'd in thy shade Jocasta's Son ; then better had he died Whenf cast forth from the palace^ on thy side In glittering vest the royal child was laid : Nor ought the Sphyrtx, the curse of these domains, That subtle virgin, to have wing'd her way From thy proud heights with inauspicious strains; Arm'd with four talons clench'd to rend her prey These walls approaching, high into the air The progeny of Cadmus did^she bear. By Pluto sent from hell, 'gainst Thebes she came. New woes the Sons of Oedipus await. Again this city feels the scourge of fate. For virtue springs not from the couch of shame ; Fruits of th' incestous womb, their Sire'^ disgrace Are these devoted Youths, accurst and spurious race. (14) " Thebe wa3 the Daughter of Asopus, and wife of Zethus, and " from her the city of Thebes derived its name, according to ApoUodonis '' and Pausanias. See also the first verse of Pindar*s first Isthmian ** Ode '* MusGRAVE. The above interpretation of Dr* Mw^grave is confirmed by Brunck. 7HB PH(ENICIAN SAIfSSlJ^. f99 in. Erst thy teeming soil geve birth, <As in barbaric accents wiis made known To us by the load voice of fame,) O Thebes, to that illustrious brood of Earth, Sprung from the teeth of that slain Dragon sown. Thy realm their prowess did adorn. In honour of (15) Harmonia's bridal morn^ To this favour'd region came (15) The marriage of Cadmuft with Harmonia^ the Daughter of Mars and Veins, is recorded by Hesiod in his Generation of the Godi, and many other antient Poets and Historians. I^wsanias in particular men* tions in his Laconica, the Gods attending those nnptialsy and b^lowing their gifts on the wedded pair; and, in his Boeotica, he speaks of the Moses themselves celebrating these espousals with their songs. The fol* lowing linesy extracted firom the third book of the Bkmysiaca of Nonnos^ a pative of /Egypt, who flourished in the fifth century, are pact of the speech of the Crow to Cadmus : QtffAOi tfciii x«XiM at* Ti tVfA^ie 9u6^oi o^iviif j K^vi oi ftjbii^oirrof A^vu^oq tirMo ynrur HiiOa; trofjLWop ixiK> »« AfTi/*»»* icxto i^^x^en, A^fboyinf Airovofto, xat Ev^iinm* Aiiri rav^v* Jjptt lights his torch, and bids thee come away ; Tlion dothfiil Bridegroom, whence tins cold delay? Favoured of Heaven, who midst th' enchanting scene Where young Adonis wooed the Cyprian Queen, 'I DwelTst near the gates of Bybhs.— But in thee I am mistidien : for thou ne'er didst see Adonis' fount, and Byblis' land, where reign The Graces worshjpp'd in a statdy fime, Where in the dance Assyrian Venus moves. And Pallas frowns not on their wedded loves: Not Dian, but Penoasion, who the Bride Adorns with smiles auspicious, is thy gnld^ CherishM by her, man's amorous flames increase. Long hast tfaon roam*d; thy labours now shall cease: Harmoniafs plighted hand with joy receive, Aod to th^ BuU^ embrace Europa leave. «00 TH8 PHOENICIAN DAMSELS; All the celestial choir. What time the turrets, which this grateful b^nd Impregnable by human force esteems, , Rear'd by the hai'p, and not the artist's haqd^ Obedient to Amphion's lyre, : ; • Arose an^idst the fruitful meads Where gentle Dirce leads Her current, and Ismenos' waters 3'ield Abundant verdure to the field Encompassed by their streams. She, whom a l^eifer's horned front disguis'd^ >lo, was Mother to the Theban kings : Stfccessively, each bliss by mortals priz'd, Hath to this city given renown. And hither still fair Victory brings The noblest meed of war, the laurel's deathless crown. TIRESIAS, MEN^CEUS, CREON, CHOflUS. TIRESIAS, to his DmgkJter Manto. Lead on ; for thou, my Daughter, to the feet Of thy blind Father, prov'st an eye as sure As to the mariners the polar star. Place me where I on level ground may tread/: .- And go befoae, lest we both fall: thy Siie Is feeble. In thy virgin hand preserve > Those oracles which I in former days . « Receiv'd, when from the feather'd race I drew My auguries, and in the sacred chair Of prophecy was seated. Say^ thou youth Menseceus son of Creon, thro' the city , * How far must I proceed before I rfeach Thy Father, for my knees can scarce support n^e, This Poet has bestowed some thousands of Terses on the histoiy ci Cad- mus and Harmonift, and introduced not only the €r6d8, but 1U1 nature, and even thinga inanuaiiate,^ as bearing a part in th6 joy occasioned by their union. ' ..r THE PHffiNICIAN DAMSISU9. 901 And tho' full oft I raise these aching feet^ I seem to gain no ground. CREON. Be of good cheer, Tiresias,* for with well-directed step Already have you reach'd your friend. My Son Support him : for the chariot, and the foot Of an. infirm old man, is wont to need The kind assistance of some guiding hand. TIRESIAS. No matter. I am here : why with such haste, 0 Creon, calFst thou me ? CREON. I have not yet Forgotten ; -but till your exhausted strength Can be recovered after the fatigue Of your long march, take breath. TIRE3IAS. With wearied step 1 yesterday came hither from the realm Of Athens, for (l6) for there also was a war Against £umolpus, o'er whose troops I caused The dauntless race of Cecrops to prevail : (16) It is by no means uncommon for Poets to strain a point of Qiro^ nology in order to extoll the atchievements of their countrymen. By referring to Pausanias, we find that Neptune was the father, and Chione Daughter of Boreas and Orithya, tlie Mother of Eumolpus. Apollodo- nis is more circumstantisd, or at least more conformable to Euripides, in his account of the war here spoken of: he informs us, that £umo4|>i]8 brought a numerous army fr6m Thrace to assist the Eleusmians, when they attacked the Athenians during the reign of Erectheus, who having consulted the orpcle, was promised that he should prevail over the enemy on condition of his sacrificing one of his Daughters; his compliance with this hard altemative>in order tq pave his country, has been commemorated as well by historians and oiatorSi as by our Tragic Bard in the 278th line of his Ion. But the Scholiast has very properly observed, that tliis event ' was prior to the war of Thebes by no less than four generations. The Athenians are also in this speech called Cecropidae, or the descendants of Cecrops^ although Cecrop» wm thje son and sucjcessor of Erectbeus. 20e THE PH(i;NICIAN DAMSB15. Hence I possess the golden crown thou seest. As a first fruit selected frora the spoils Of foes discomfited. CREON. That crown I deem An omen of success. You know the storm Which threatens us from yonder Argive host. And what a mighty conflict now impends O'er the inhabitants of Thebes. Our King Eteocles, in brazen arms array 'd, To face Mycene's squadrons is gone forth. But hath with me a strict injunction left. To iearn of you what can with most effect By us be done, the city to preserve. TIRESIAS. This mouth, I, on Eteocles* account Still closing, would for ever have suppress*d - Heaven's dread response; biit will to thee unfold it Since 'tis thy wish to hear ; this land, O Creon, Hath been diseased since Laius 'gainst the will Of Heaven became a Father, and begot The wretched Oedipus, his Mother's Hi^sband, Whose eyes, torn out by his own hand, the Gods Wiselj' ordain'd should to all Greece afford A dread example; which, in striving long To cover from the knowledge of the world. His Sons, as if they thought to haveescap'd Heaven's eye, with a presumptuous folly sinn'd : For to their Father yielding no respect, Nor loosing him from prison, they embitter'd The anguish of a miserable man: At once afflicted by disease and shame. Those horrid execrations he pour'd forth Against them both. What have I left undone, Or what unsaid, tho' all my zeal but serv'd To make me hated by tli' unnatural sons Of Oedipus? but by each other's hand. THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. 2oa Them soon shall death o'ertake, O Creon ; heaps On heaps of carnage cover all the plain, Arid Argive weapons mingling with the shafts Of Cadmus' race, thro' the whole Thebnn land Cause bitter plaints. Thou too, O wretched city, Shalt be destroy'd, unless my counsels/nieet With one who will obey them. What were most To be desir'd, were this : that none who spring From Oedipus should here reside, or hold The scepter of this land, for they, impell'd By the malignant Demons, will o'erthrow The City. But since evil thus prevails O'er good, one other method yet remains To save us. But unsafe were it for me Such truths to utter, and, on bitter terms. Must they whom Fate selects, their country lieaL I go, farewelt. (17) I> as a private man Shall suffer, if necessity ordain, With multitudes, the evils which impend : For how can I escape the general doom ? CREON. Here tarry, O my venerable friend. TIKESUS. Detain me not. CREON. Stay ; wherefore would you fly i (17) At the second siege of Thebes, ^hen the city was taken by the Epigoni, or sons of the seven Chiefs slain in tlie war which is the flul^ect of the Tragedy before ns, Tiresias, according to PausaiiiBa, died end* denly, in an extreme old age, on the road, as he was drinking at a finm- tain, after bemg seized and carried away by the victors: his Dang^ter JVfanto, the same Historian adds, was sent by the Argives to Cololtbon, where she married Rhacias a Cretan, by whom she had a son named Mop* sus, who inherited her skfll in Divination. Conon, and Tzetzes, the Greek Conunentator of Lycophron, ascribe to Mopsus a more illostrioui paternal origin, and call ApoUq his Father. Virgil represents Manto as coming to Italy, and having by the river Tiber a Son called Ocnus, the founder of the city of Mantua, so named after his Mother, 204 THE PHOENICIAN l>AMSEi^. TIRESIAS. It is thy Fortune which from thee departs. And not Tiresias. CREON. By what means, inform me, Can Thebes with iu inhabitants be sav'd ? TIRESIAS. Tho' such thy wish at present, thou ere long Wilt change thy purpose. CREON. How can I be loth To save my country i TIRESIAS. Art thou anxious then To hear the truth ? CREON. What ought I to pursue With greater zeal ? - TIRESIAS. Thou instantly shall hear The oracles Heaven sends me to unfold : But first assure me whexe Menseceus is. Who led me hither. CREON. At your side he stands. TIRESIAS. Far hence let hini retire, while I disclose To thee the aweful mandate of the Gods. CREiON. My Son with th' utmost strictness will observe The silence you injoin. TIRESIAS. Is it thy will Haat in bis presence I to thee shoidd speak ? CREON. Of aught that could preserve his native land He with delight would hear. TliE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. £05 TIRESIAS. Then, to the means Which thro' my oracles are pointed out, Yield due attention ; for by acting thus Ye shall preserve this city, where the race Of Cadmus dwell ; thon, in thy country's cause Thy Son Menaeceus art ordain'd to slay : Since thou on me importunately call'st The dread behest of Fortune to unfold. CREON. What say you ? how unwelcome are these words^ 0 aged man ! TIRESIAS. ^ I only.speak of things Just as they are; and add, thou must perform Th' injunction. CREON. How much evil have you utter'd In one short moment ! TIRESIAS. Tho' to thee unwelcome, Yet to thy country fame and health. CREON. Your words 1 hear not, nor your purpose comprehend : The city I abandon to its fate. TIRESIAS. His purpose he retracts, and is no loagrr (18) The man he was. CREON. Depart in peace ; I need not Your oracles. (18) The expression of Awp o5* »x ti* wJJo;, rendered by liie Latin inter- preters, vir iste non amplius idem est, is in my copy of King's edition thus interpreted in a manuscript note of Mr. De Missy's, " ita Gallice.possis ** dicere, cet homme-la n'est plus ini, pro, cet homme-la n'est plus le '' m^me.'* The English language allows the same mode of speaking, and ** -this man is no longer himself* oc<mrs among our ordinary phra'»nRS, ' • * m6 THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS* . TIRESIAS. Hath truth then lost its merit. Because thou art unhappy ? CREON* By those knees, You I implore, and by those hoary locks,. TIRESUS. Why sue to me? the ills 'gainst which thou pr^y'st Are not to be avoided. CREON. Peace ! divulge not In Thebes these tidings. TIRESUS. Dost thou bid me act « Unjustly ? them I never will suppress. CREON. What is your purpose, to destroy my son i TIRESIAS. Let others see to that: 1 only speak As Heaven ordains. CREON. But whence was such a curse On me and on my progeny deriv'd ? TIRESIAS. Well hast thou ask'd this question, and afield For our debate laid open : in yon den, Where erst the guard of Dirce's fountain lay, ^ Tliat earth-born Dragon, must the youth pour forth, !\ His blood for a libation to the Ground, And expiate by his death the antient hate To Cadmus borne by Mars, who thus avenges The progeny of Earth the Dragon slain : This done, the God of Battles will become Your champion ; and when Earth shall, in the stead Of her lost fruit the Dragon, have receiv'd The fruit of that heroie race who sprung From its own teeth, and human blood for blood. THE PHOENICIAN DAMSEtS. «07 Propitious shall ye find the teeming soil. Which erst, instead of wheat, produced a crop Of radiant helms. Die then some victim must Who from the Jaws of that slain Dragon sprung : But thou alone in Thebes remain^st who thence Deriv'st thy birth unmix'd, both by thy Sire And by the female line, thence too descend Thy generous sons: but Hasmon must not bleed. Because he is espoused, nor in a state Of pure celibacy doth still remain. For he possesses an affianc'd bride, Altho' he be a stranger to her bed. But, for the city, if diis tender youth Shall as a chosen victim be devoted. He by his death will save his native land, Will cause Adrastus and his Argive host With anguish to return, before their eyes Placing grim death, and add renown to Thebes. From these two fortunes make thy choice of. one. Whether thy sou or city thou wilt save. Thou hast heard all I had to say in answer To thy enquiries. Daughter lead me home. Unwise is be who practises ^he art Of divination ; for if he ar^nounce Evils to come, he is abhorr'd by those Who hear him ; but, thro' pity, if he utter Untruths that please, he sins against the Gods. Phoebus alone, who cannot fear the hate Of man, his own responses should pronounce. lExit TIKESIAS. CHORDS. What means this silence ? wherefore hasi thou cWd Thy mouth, O Creon? but I too am smitten With equal terror. CREOK. How can a reply / . 208 TBI! PHOENICIAN DAMSEIS. Be made co such proposal ? what I mean To say, is evident. To such a pitch Of woe may I ne^cr come, as to resign My son to bleed for Thebes ! In all mankind The love they bear their children is as strong As that of life ; nor is there* any Father Who for a victim will yield uj> his Son. May no man praise me on such terms as slaying. Those I begot ! I stand prepared to die. For I am ripe in years, and woul^ for Thebes Make due atonement -with my streaming gore. But, O my son, ere the whole city 'know. Regardless of that frantic Prophet^ voice, • - Fly from this land, fly with your utmost sj^ed ; He will proclaim the oracle to those Who wield the sceptre, or lead forth oui^ troops ' • To battle, visiting each Chieftain station'd- At the seven gates: if hjiply we with him' Can be beforehand, youmay yet be sav'd; But if you loiter, Iwe are both undone, And you must die. MENiECEUS. : But whither, to ^hatcity. What hospitable stranger -speed my flight? - CREON. As far as possible from these domains* > MENJECEUS. • c ■: • You ought to name a plaCe for my retreat, - - And I must execute what you coipmand. CREON. Passing thro' Delphi— ' - .. - - MENjfeCEUS. •'''* • V'! • ■ i"''V Whither^ O m^ Sire, Must I proceed s" , .. 7 : . ; .. GREON; To the .Molian land. THE PHCENICIAN l>il^BfSE]!s. eoo HESJECEVS. But whither thence shall I direct mjr course? CREON. Next to Tbesprotia. MENiECEUS. (19) Where Dodona rears Her hallowed grove. CREON. Full vrell you oompreheod My meaning. ^ MENJECEUS. There what safeguard shall I find i CREON. Its tutelary God your steps will guide. MENACEUS. But how shall I with treasures be supplied ? CREON. To you will I convey abundant gold. MENiECEUS. Discreetly have you spoken, O my Sire. CREON. Now leave me. BfENJECEUS. To your Sister I would go I mean Jocasta^ who first nurtured me In infancy, when of my Mother reft An orphan I became; one fond adieu (19) .Stchyliis, inhis PrometlieiB, speaks in 1^ maniier of ibe onqjk and fane of Thesprotkun Jove at Dodona ; tiioogh it most be confcind Dodona it not in Thesprotiay bat as Strabo expresses it, im ^tomfithiCf ^ bordering onThesprotiay* being situated in Molossia, another iOMriet of Epims. In Enstatfains and Stephanas ByianHnns^ we meet vdOiteea different conjectnies In regard to tiie derivation of ih» name DodOB% which they say owes its origin either to a Daughter of Japiter and Ea- topa, or one of the Nymphs the Dtos^tem of Oceanos, or, lastfy, te a X lyver in E^pornSy called DodoB. VOL. I. p 210 * Ttt^ PIi(£NICm>i O^M^M To her I fain would bid, and of (20) my life Then take due cajpe« But go, or you wiU frusitra^e All I can do to save you. {Exit CREoif . 'With what art, 0 Virgins, have I sooth'd my Father's fears. By specious words (my promise to accomplish) Deceiving him who sends me hence, to rob The City of those fortunes which await her, And brand me with a coward^s liateful name. In an old man, such Weakness claims excuse; But I should sin beyond all hopes of pardon. If I betrayed the land which.gave rae birlh. - * 1 go, to save this city; be assiir'd. Such are tfie tarn>s on which I yield up life,.. . : ;a Content to perish in my country's cause. If they whom H«avei^' oracular response . ,- Leaves at full liberty, by np decrees Of the resistlesai Destinies ipipell'd. Maintain their ground in battle, nothing loth To bleed, the champions of their native landji Before yon turrets ; base were it in pie, If proving faithless to my Sire, my Brother, And country, Hke d dastard, I'shdpld speed My flight from these domains} wheree'ier I live. Shame would o'ertake me. rrom the st»!ifry pole May Jove forefend, and Mars, in human gore Exulting, who the sceptre of this realm Brat gav^ to Kings, Earth's progeny, the seed Of that slain Dragon's teeth. But I wiljigOj, •„, . ■.. lAscead the topmost pinnacles, and pieioiDg' -^ My breast, where they o'erhang the Dr«^oA's efave^t * THre very spot the Seer described, redeem' .X^0> The readiuf 4if am^m^^, immA 9i vn^^ m adepted jb Jdor* edition, and mentioned by Dr. Musgrave m Ms OMb^ ai Mi|f%ipf«ntd by no less authority than th^ of ^ightmanuscripti. . THE PHCENICIAN jyASOMS.: 2i\ My country from its fb^s. I h«ve pronottnc'd Th' irrevocable word. But, by my deatb> On Thebes no sordid present to bestow, I haste^ and from these mischiefs will set free The groaning land. Would dvery man exert To their full stretch his talents to promote The public interest ; every state exposed To fewer ills^ hereafter might he blesU {Exit ICBNJECEUS. CHORUS. s ODE. I. O winged Fiend^ who from' the Earth ' And an infernal Viper drew^'dt thy birth,- Thou cam'st/ thbtf <$am'sty to beair away> Amidst incessani groans^ thy prey, And harrass Cadmus' face, Thy frantic pinions did resound. Thy fangs impreas'd the ghastly wouiid^ Thou rnthlese^ monster with a tirgin's face : What youths from Dirce's fount were borne aloof, While thou didst utter thy discordant song. The Furies haunted every roof. And o'er these walls sat Slaughter brooding long. Sure from some God whose breast no mercy kuew, - Their source impure these horrors drew. From house to bouse, th6 cries Of matrons did resound, And wailing maidens rent the skies With freqnent shrieks loud as the tbunder't burst. Oft as the Sphybx accurst, Some youlh, whoni in the Theban streets she founds Bore high in air ; all gas;'d in wild affiight, Till she vanished from their sight 11. At length the Pythian God'a command Brought Oediipu» to this iU4fa^4 land; p 2 tl2 THE PBCENICIAN DAMSELS. Eadi heart did then with transport glow, Tho' now his name renew their woe : By angry Heaven heguil'd. When he th' csDigma had explain'd. His Mother for a Bride he gain'd ; With incest hence the oity was defil'd. Fresh murders soon his curses will inspire. Urging his Sons to an unnatural strife. We that heroic youth admire Who in his country^s cause resigns his life. He, the' his Father Creon wail his fate. With triumph in the. fell debate. Will crown these sevenfold towers. Of Heaven I ask no more Than thaf such childrm may be ours : Thy aid, O Pallas, in th' adventurous deed Caus'd Cadmus to succjbed, And slay the Dragon, whose envenom'd gore . Was sprinkled on these rocks; by Heaven's cpiAmand Hence some pest still haunts the land. MESSENGER, CHORUS. MESSENGER. Who at the portals of the regal dome Is statioo'd i open, bring Jocasta forth From her apartment. Ho ! advance at length, . And listen to my voice, illustrious Wife Of Oedipus. No longer grieve, nor shed. The piteous tear. JOCASTA, MESSENGER, CHORUS. JOCASTA. Come yon, my friend, *to bring Sad tidings of Eteocles the slain, Beside whose shield you ever stood to guard The warrior from the javelins of the foe ? With what important message are you charg'd ? Is my Son dead, or lives he ? tell me all? - THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. «13 MESSENGER. ^^ He lives^ that fear be baiiish'd. JOCASTA. Are oar walls By their seven towers secur'd ? MESSENOEIL Tbcfy still remain Unshaken^ and the city is not sacked* JOCASTA. Have they withstood the perilous assault From th' Argive combatants? MESSJBNGER. The fate of battle Is just decided : the intrepid race Of Cadmus o'er Mycene's host prevaU'd, JOCASTA. Yet one thing more; I by th' immortal Powers Conjure you> tell me whether you know aught Qf Polynices, for I wish to learn If he yet live, MESSENGER. At present both thy Sons Are living. JOCASTA, Bliss attend you : but inform me How ye ti»e troops of Argos from the gates^ Beleaguered in the turrets, could repell? That to my home with speed I may r^turn^ The blind and aged Oedipus to sooth With the glad tidings that this city's saved. MESSENQEtt. Since Creon's Son, who for his country died. Mounting the topmost pinnacles, transpierc'd His bosom with the falchion, and became - The generous Saviour of his native land:- Eteocles distributed seven cohorts At the seven gates, and to each band assigned €14 THE SHfiEmCIAlSr IXAMSEIS. Its leader; bj their v^gilAPee to check The Airious onset of the Argive ho^t; He stationed a reserve of horse to succour The horse* and infantry with bucklers arm'd Behind the infantry, that where the walls Were with the greatest violence assail'd Fresh strength ^ight be at hand. As on our turrets We stood exaltedi and o'erlook'd the p]ain> The Argive host we saw, with silver shields Conspicuous, from Teupaessu^' mount descend : Over their trenches in their rapid march Soon vaulting, to the city they drew near. While P»anS| mingled with the trumpet's sound. At the same instant thro' their ranks were heard^ And on the Thebs^n walls. Hip squadron, first. By their rais'd targets skreen'd, which cast around A horrid sbf^le, tp the Neitiaq gate Parthenopssii^ led* the daring Son Of Atalanta; on his central shifld^ His Mother's trophy, the -SEtolian boar Pierc'd by that huntress with unerring shaft. The chief displajVI* Amphiareus the Seer March'd to the gates of Prastus, on bis car Conveying victims, nq iinseenily pride In his arpiorial beariogs was expre^s'd, But on his modest buckler ther^ ^ppe^r'd A vacant (21) §eld. At the Ogyginn portals (21) From the psage adopted by tlie Heroes of Homer, and^the most antient times, of recording on their shields either the|r own exploits, or those of their ane^Ktors, modem armorial bearngs are dedoced 1^ GmDIai and pther writers who have treated the subject of Hen^ldry. Amphia* reus wearing his shield entirely plain, is accounted for in the same maimer by ^chylus, from whom this narrative of the messenger is in a great measure imitated, for his generous soul , Wishes to be, not to appear the best. Potter. Helenor is introduced in Virgil with a shield entirely destitute of oma* pent on a different account, as being the spurious aoii of a Lydian ktng THE PHCBNICIAN DAMSSDft. m The fierce Hippomedon maintain'd his stancl. By this atchievment was his orbed targe Distinguished ; Argus with unnumbered eyes^ A part of whicb^ awakening fresh from sleep, Op'd with the rising stars, meantime the rest He with the setting constellations clos'd ; As more distinctly when the chief was slain Might be discerned. But Tydeus next his post Before the Homolaean gate maintained. With a huge lion's bristly hide his shield Was cover'd^ in his better hand a torch He, like Prometheus of the Titans' race, Brandish'd to fire the city. - To the gate From Dirce's fountain nam'd, his marshalled troops Thy son the furious Polynices led ; The rapid mares of Potnia, (the device Portray'd upon his target) seem'd to leap With panic terrors smitten, and grown frantic. An crowded in a circle to the rim. Equal in courage to the Ood of War, Next with his cohort to Electra's gale Rush'd Capaneus, the ensign wrought in steel Upon his buckler, was an earth-born Qiant, Whose shoulders carried a whole city torn With levers from its basis, to denotjs The menaced fate of Thebes. Adrastus* self by Lycimnia, a slave, i|nd consequently having |io rij^t ^vhatever to any such distinctioD. Ense levk nudo, pann&qnc ingloriiis albft« '* Sligbt vrtn bis 9mm, a sword and silver slueldi « No mariu of honour charged its empty field." Dbvi»bii. HisMotiwravaittnghenelfof thtfiivoiirof her royal Fwamivr, Mted contrary to the hnvt in sending her son to the war, ^ A privilege whidi none bnt freemen share.* ■ for so Dryden paraphrases vetitis armis, bat did not encourage him to usurp a dbtinction appropriated to those who eitiier inherited armorisl bearings from their ancestors, or had entitled tfiemseives by their own valour to assume them. «16 TH^ PHCBNJCIAN DAMSELS. At the («2^seventh gate appear'd ; on his left arm The Hydra with an hundred snakes begirt, Which fiird the convex surface of his shield^ That badge of Argive pride, the warrior bore ; From Thebes, surrounded by iu lofty walls. The serpents opening their voracious jaws Conveyed the Sons of Cadmus. Each device I could observe securely, as I pass'd Betwixt the leaders of the adverse hosts, Distinguished by the pledge of truce. At first We at a distance fought with bows and shafts. And slings and stones ; but when our troops obtained An easy conquest in this missile war, Tydeusi and Pulyoices thy brave Son, Both cried at the same instant, *^ O ye race '' Of Danaus, ere our squadrons are dispers'd " By weapons from yon lofty turrets hurl'd, '^ Why on the portals scruple ye to make One resolute assault with all our strength. The light-arm'd troops, our horse, and brazen cars ?*' Soon as they heard their leader's cheering voice, None loiter'd, but full many a valiant Argive Was thro' the brain transpierc-d, while froni the walls Dke skilful divers, our expiring friends Oft threw themselves; the thirsty ground with streams Of gore they drench'd. Fierce Atalanta's Son, iNot Argos, but Arcadia gave him birth, (31) The attack of Uie s^y^th gate in JEschylos ftU to the lot of Po- lynices: the seyen chiefi are hn Euripides the sane, bat differenUy dis- tributed; we here meet with the Neitian, Praetian, Homolcean, and Electran gate, but not the Ogygyan, or tiiat of Kpivi (rendered in the La- tin Yerskm Crenseam) named fhmi the fountain Durce, but in theur stead we ftid in .^schyhis that of Boieaa or the Northern gate, and that of Minerva Onca, ^^ ^ithet to that Goddess, of which Jackson has given the foflowing definition in his Chronological Antiquities^ << Onca is a ** Phoemcian and Arabian word, and signifies great or poweiful. So Mi* << nerva was the oyxo, the great aqd powerful Goddess, both of Thebes H^ Athens.** THB PHCBNICIAN DAH^SBI^. 217 Rush'd like a whirlwind to the gates, and call'd i^'or flaming brands and axes to destroy : But PericlimenuSy who from the God Of Ocean sprung^ soon quell'd bis frantic rage, Torn from the battlement, a stone, whose mass Hr^d fiU'd a cbaiiot, on bis head he threw. The stripling^B auburn hair and crashing skull It sever'd, and those rosy cheeks defil'd With gushing blood ; to the maternal arms Of her who twangs the unerring bow, the nymph Of Maenalon, he never shall return. But when thy Son Eteocles surveyed Our triumphs at this gate, the rest with speed He visited ; I foilow'd, and beheld Tydeus attended by a phalanx arm'd With bucklers, hurling their ^tolian spears Into the loftiest towers, with such success, / That they constrain'd our fugitives to quit Their station on the ramparts ? but thy Son Rallied them like a hunter, and collected Each warrior to resume his post ; their fears Dispeird, we hasted to another gate. But in what terms shall I describe the madness Of Capaneus i he with a ladder came And boasted that not e'en the lightning lannch'd By Jove's own hand, should hinder him from scaling . The towers^ to sack the city. Thus he spoke; And midst a storm of stones, from step to step Ascending, still sufficient shelter found Beneath the huge circumference of his shield ; . But a» he reach'd the summit of the wall Jove smote him with a thunderbolt, earth gave A sound so loud that all were seiz'd with terror; As from a sling, his scatter'd limbs were thrown, His blasted tresses mounted to the skies. On earth his blood was sprinkled, but his hands And feet were^ like Ixion on the wheel. (^18 THE imCBNICrAN BAffif6£]»; Whirl'd with incessant motion^ till at length Down to the ground he fell a smouldering corse. Soon as Adrastus saw Jove warr'd against hin^ He with his Argive host in swift retreat Again the trenches cross'd : but when our troops Mark'd the auspicious sign vou^hsaf M bj Jove^ They from the gates rushed forth with brazen cars^ With cavalry in ponderous arms arrays. And midst the Argive squadrons hurl'd their spears : Each ill concurr'd to overwhelm the foe. Death rag'd ambngst them, from their chariots thrown They perish'd, wheels flew off, 'gainst axle crash'd Axle, and corses were on corses heap'd. The Theban turrets we this day have sav'd- From rqin, but to the immortal powers. And them alone, belongs it to decide Whether auspicious Fortune on this land Shall so^ile hereafter. CHORUS. In th' embattled field Tis glorious to prevail : but were the Gods More favorably dispos'd, I should enjoy A greater share of bliss. JOCASTA. The Gods and Fortune Have amply done their part ; for both my Sons Are living, and the city hath escap'd : . Unhappy Creon only seems to reap The bitter fruits of my accursed nuptials • With Oedipus, for he hath lost his son. And such event, tho' fortunate for Thebes, To him is grievous. In your tide proceed- Say on ; what farther have my sons r^olv'd ? MESSENGER. The sequel wave ; for all with thee thus far Goes prosperously. * TBe^HCENICIAN OAMSBLS. , 219 t JOCASTA. These words but serre to raise Suspicion : nothing must be left imtold^ MB8S£NG£R, What would'st thou more than that thy cons are safe I JOGA8TA. But whether my good fortnne will prove lasting I wish to know. MfiSSENOER, Release me : for thy Son Is left without his shield-bearer. JOGA8TA, Some ill In mystic darkness wrapt you strive to hide. MESSENGER, I to these welcome tidings cannot add Such as would make thee wretched. JOCA8TA. No way left. Unless you thro' the air could wing your flighty Have you to scape me. MESSENGER. After this glad message Why wilt thou not allow me to depart, Rather than speak of grievous ills i thy Sons Are both resolv'd on a most impious deed. Apart from either army to engage In single combat, to the Argive troops And the assembled citizens of Thebes Have they address'd such language as neVr ought To reach their ears. Eteocles began. Above the field high on a tower he stood. Commanding silence 6rst to be proclaimed Thro* all the host, and cried ; " O peerless Chiefs '^ Of the Achaian land, who, to invade ** This city, from the realms of Danaus come, '* And ye who spring from Civdmus, in the cause 420 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSEIS: '* Of Polynices, barter not your lives, " Nor yet on my behalf; I hom such dangers '' To save you, with my Brother will engage *^ In single combat, and if him I slay " Here in this palace shall I resign alone, ** But I to him the city will yield up " If I am vanquished : from the bloody strife *^ Desisting, ye ^o Argos (^3) shall return *' Nor perish in a foreign land : enough *' Of Thebans too on this ensanguin'd plain " Lie breathless corses/* With these words his speech The dauntless Chief concluded. From the ranks, Thy offspring, Polynices, then advanced And the proposal prais'd, while, with a shout. The Argive and the Theban hosts, who deem'd Such combat just, their public sanction gave. Then was the truce agreed on ; twixt both hosts The generals met, and by a solemn oath Engag'd themselves the compact to fulfill. In brazen panoply, without delay The sons of aged Oedipus were cjad. His friends, the noblest Theban youths, equipped The ruler of this land, the Argive chiefs Arm'd his antagonist, both stood conspicuous In glittering mail, their looks betray'd no change. And at each other's breast with frantic rage j They long'd to hurl the spear: meantime their friends Pass'd by, and with these words their courage rous'd ; On thee, O Polynices, it depends To rear an image of triumphant Jove, And add fresh glories to the Argive state/' But to Eteocles they cried ; '* Thou fight'st The battles of tby native land, obtain €€ U (23) '' Euripides has here a view to Homer; -*— m It ntsaOun A^yv cr *^ aaa&iifn. II. ill. v. 74 \ and from the same part of Homer's poem, wber^ ^ Paris cbanenges Meneiaus to single combat^ he hath hither lU^e^'ise *^ traiMfilBiited other images.* Vakkbnae^*' THE PHCENICUN- DiUISELSi 22 1 '^ A conquest, and tbe sceptre will be thine."* Exhorting them to combat thus they spoke. Meanwhile the aeers the fleecy victims slew. Drew forth the reeking entrails, and observ'd Whether the flames by unpropitious damps Were check'd, or mounted in a spiral blaze. The twofold signs of victory or defeat. But if thou canst do aught by sage advice Or magic incantation, go, dissuade Thy Sons from this accursed strife ; the danger Is imminent, and horror must attend On such a conflict : with abundant tears Wilt thou bewail their fate, if thou thb day Of both thy sons art reft, JOCAl^TA. Come forth, my Daughter, Antigone, thy fortunes now are such As will not suffer thee to lead the dance Amid thy virgin train, thou, with thy mother. Must hasten to prevent two valiant youths. Thy Brothers, rushing upon instant death, Else will they perish by each other's hand. ANTIGONE, JOCAOTA, CHORUS. AKTIGpN]^ • ^ Before these gates, my .Mother, with what sounds Of recent horror coip'st thovi to alarm Thy friends. J0CA3TA. Ere now, my Daughter, both thy Brothers Have lost their lives. ANTIGpNE. What sfty!st thou ? JOCASTA. Thev went forth • • • Resolved on single combat. ... im, THB PH(£NICIAK SASfSE&S; ANTMKmE. Wretched im! What more hait thou, O Motbtr, to relate? JOCA8TA. Nought that can give thee joy^ bat follow me^ ANTIGONB. Say whither mast I go> and leave behind My virgin comrades? J6€AS7A. Tothebost^ AHTIGOKE. I blttob To mingle with the crowd. JOCASTA. These bashful fears Are such as in thy present situation Become thee not. ANTI60N£. How can my help avail? JOCASTA. Thou haply may'st appease this impious strife Betwixt thy Brothers. ANTIGONE. Mother, by what means ? . JOCASTA. By falling prostrate «t th^li* ftoees with me. ANtlGONE. Lead on betwixt the van of either host. This crisis will admit of no delay. JOCASTA. Haite, O my Daughter, haste, for if my Sons I haply can prevent ere they begin Th' accurst encounter, I shall yet behold The blessed sun; (24)'but if I find them slain (24) The Une ify V vi^pi^^, otf^ofAuBa, KMftmt, which stands io most editioas as the last hut one of this spe^ is omitted l^y Ototins, Yidke- THEPHCENICTAN DAMSEES. fiSS I With them will I partake cme eommon grave* . {.Exeunt jocasta and antigove. CHORUS, O D E. . I. Ah, what boding horror throws Chilling damps into my breast^ How is this whole frame opprest By sympathetic pity for the woes Of her who to those valiant youths gave birth : But which of her lov'd Children twain His sword with kindred gore shall stain, CAvert it, righteous Jove, and thoti> O genial Earth !) And in the strife a Brother slay. The stroke descending thro' bis clovenf shield? To whom the sad last tribute shall I pay A breathless corse stretcht weltering on the field ? Woe to thee, thou Theban ground ! Those twin lions firM with rage Couch their lances to engage. And stand prepar'd to aim the deadly wound. In evil hour the thought of single fight Enter'd their souTs. While many a tear Shuddering witK excess of fear For them I vainly shed, their dirge will I recite Tho' in a harsh Barbaric, strain ; Their destin'd^ portion slaughter is at bandj Ere Phoebus sinks into the western main Their forfeit lives the Furies shall demand. naer. Dr. Musgrave, aaniBmnck, on Hie authority, as ap|>ear9 from their notes, of more than one antisDt iBunocr^t. In another part of thislVt- gedy, ver. 983. ed. Barnes, Creon closes his advice to Menaeceus to es- cape with all speed from Thebes with these very words, which, as Val- kenaer observes, there come in with great propriety, but are here foreign to the context^ attd fattve every appearance of being iaterpolated. a24 THE PHCENICIAN JOAMSELS. But I uiy warbled lamentations ceaie. For with a brow by clouds of grief o'ercast, Creon, approaching these abodes^ I view. CREON, CHORUS. CREON. Ah me ! shall I bewail my {private woes Or those of Thebes surrounded by such clouds As Acheron exhaks! My valiant Son Died for his country, an illustrious name Obtaining, but to me a source of grief. That self-devoted victim's mangled corse ■ I, from yon rock, the Dragon's curst abode^ , Wretch that I am, have in these hands just biH'ne: With lamentations my whole house resounds. I a forlorn old man, my aged sister Jocasta, come to; fetch, that she may lave. And on the decent bier stretch forth the corse Of my departed Son. For it behoves The living, by bestowing on the dead. Funereal honors, to adore the God Who rules in hell beneath. CHORUS. From these abodes^ O Creon, is your Sister just gone forth. And on her Mother's footsteps did iattend The nymph Antigone. CREON^ Inform me, whither. And to what scene of recent woe? CHORUS. She heard Her Sons by single combat were re^oly'd Their contest for this palace to decide. CREON. .*' What say'st thou ? I came hither but to grace With due sepulchral rites my breathless Sou, • ..^ THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. 2i5 Nor of these fresh disasters thought to hear. CHORUS. 'Tis a long time, O Creoii, since your Sister Went hence; ere now I deem the fatal strife Betwixt the sons of Oedipus is ended. CREON. Ah me ! an evil omen I behold In that deep gloom which overcasts the eyes And visage of yon messenger ; he comes. No doubt, the whole transaction to relate. MESSENGER, CREON, CHORUS. ^ MESSENGER. Wretch that I am ! wBat language can I find ? CREON. We are undone; for with a luckless prelude Thj' speech begins. MESSENGER. I yet again exclaim, Ah, wretched me ! most grievous are the tidiftgs I bring. CEEON. Of any farther ills than those Which have already happen'd, would'st thou speak ? MESSENGER. > Your Sister's Sons, O Creon, are no more. CREON. Great are the woes, alas ! which thou relat'sl. To me, and to this city. MESSENGER. . ' Hast thou heard, O house of Oedipus, how both his Sons Partook one common fate ? CHORUS. These very walls. Were they endued with s^nse, would shed a tear. VOL. 1, 9 «' «26 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSEW. CREON. Oh, what a load of misery ! wretched me MES3ENGER. Did you but know of your fresh ills— CREON* Could Fate. Have any ills more grievous in reserve ? MESSENGER. With her two Sons your wretched Sister's dead. CHORUS. In concert wake> my friends^ the plaintive strain^ And smite your heads with those uplifted bands. CREON. Hapless Jocasta, what a close of life And wedlock, thro' th* acnigma of the Sphinx, Hast thou experiencM ! but how both her Sons' Were slain in that dire contest, thro* the curses Pronounced by Oedipus their injur'd Sire, Inform me* MESSENGER. How Thebes triumphed o*er th* assailants. And her beleaguered turrets sav*d, you know ; Nor are the walls so distant, but from thence Ere now those great events you must have heard. Soon as in brazen panoply the Sons Of aged Oedipus were clad, they stood In the mid way twixt either host, (25) Kings both, Of mighty hosts both Chieftains, to decide This strife in single combat* Then his eyes Towards Argos turning, Polynices pray*d; " O Juno, aweful Queen, for I became '' Thy votary, since the daughter of Adrastus '^ I wedded, and in hi9 dominions found '* An habitation ; grant that I may slay ^%S) By reading with Dr. Mu^pinre in las note on this verse Tufum^ in the stead of ^g<^^?yw> we avoid tlie tautology which has induced VirilT- lueaaer tolal^ to proscribe it : KIpgpvppofSSalfMw. THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS; c!27 '' My Brother, and with kindred gore distaio '' In the dire conflict this victorious arm. " For an unseemly wreath, nor to be gain*d '' Unless I take away the life of him " Who springs from the same parents, I to thee " My vows address ;" — tears burst forth in a stream Equal to the calamity they wail'd, From multitudes who on each other gaz'd. Eteocles, then turning to the fane Of Pallas Goddess of the golden shield, Exclaimed ; *' O Daughter of imperial Jove, " Grant me with vigorous arm a conquering spear '^ To hurl against my Brother's breast, and smite '* The Man who comes to lay my country waste " But when Etruria*s trumpet with shrill voice Had, like the kindled torch, a signal given. The Combat to begin, with dreadful rage Against each other rushing, like two boars Whetting their ruthless tusks, they fought till foam O'erspread their cheeks; with pointed spears they made A furious onset ; but each warrior stoop'd Behind his brazen target, and the weapon Was aim'd in vain ; whene'er above the rim Of his huge buckler, either Chief beheld The face of his antagonist, he strove To pierce it with his spear; but thro' the holes Bor*d in the center of their shields, they both With caution look'd, nor could inflict a wound By the protended javelin. A cold sweat Thro* terror for the safety of their friends, From every pore of those who viewed the fight. Far more than from the combatants, arose. But stumbling on a stone beneath his i^et, Eteocles had chanc'd to leave one leg Unguarded by his shield ; then onward rushed Fierce Polynices with his lifted spear. And marking where he at the part expo^'d q2 228 THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. Most surely might direct the stroke, his ankle Pierc'd with an Argive weapon, while the race Of Danaus gave an universal shout. But iu this struggle, when the Chief who first Was wounded, saw the shoulder of his foe Laid bare ; he into Polynices* breast. His utmost force exerting, thrust his spear. Again the citizens of Thebes rejoic'd ; But at the point his weapon broke : disarm'd Backwards he sunk, and on one knee sustained The weight of his whole body ; from the ground Meantime the fragment of a massive rock Uprearing, he at Polynices threw. And smote his shiverM javelin. Of their spears Now both depriv*d, on equal terms they fought With their drawn falchions hand to hand, the din Of war resounded from their crashing shields. Then haply to Eteocles occurred A stratagem in Thessaly devis'd. Which thro' bis frequent commerce with that land He had adopted ; from the stubborn fight^ As if disabled, seeming to retire. His left leg he drew back, but with his shield Guarded his flank, on his right foot sprung forward^ Plungy in the navel of the foe his sword. And pierc'd the spinal joint, his sides; thro' pain Now writhing, Polynices fell, with drops Of gore the earth distaining. But his brother. As if he in the combat had obtained Decisive victory, casting on the ground His falchion, tore the glittering spoils, away. Fixing his thoughts on those alone, and blind To his own safety; hence was he deceived: For still with a small portion of the breath Of life endued, fallen Polynices, grasping His sword e'en in the.agonies of death. The liver of Etepclcf transpierc'd. THE PH<ENICIAN DAMSELS. £^ With furious teeth they rend the crimson soil. And prostrate by each other's side have left The conquest dubious. €REON. Mudi, alas! thy woes Do I bewail, for by the strictest ties With thee, O Oedipus, am I connected : An'angry God^ too plainly it appears. Thy imprecations hath fulfilPd. MESSENGER. What woes ' Succeeffid these, now hear. As both her Sons. Expiring lay, with an impetuous step. Attended by Antigone, rush'd forth The wretched mother : pierc*d with deadly wounds Beholding them; *' My children," she exclaim'd " Too late to your assistance am I come." Embracing each by turns, she then bewail'd The toil with which she at her breast in vain Had nurtur'd them. She ended with a groan. In which their sister join*d ; " O ye who cherish'd '* A drooping mother^s age, my nuptial rites, " Dear Brothers, ere the hymeneal morn *' Have ye deserted.'* From his inmost breast Eteocles with difficulty breath'd ; His mother's voice however reach'd his ear. And stretching forth his clammy hand, no wotds Had he to utter, but his swimming eyes Shed tears expressive of his filial love. But Polynices, whose lungs still performed Their functions, gazing on his aged Mother * And Sister, cried ^ " O Mother, we are lost> I pity thee, my Sister too I pity, • • . And my slain Brother,' for altho' that friend ' ** Became a foe^, this heart still holds him d^'ar. ' ! *' But bury me, O thou who. gav'st fne Vj.rth^.i '/ And my lov'd Sister^ iu^Mj OAti}m kuidv; > • :. .v 230 TfHE PHCEMCIAN DAMSELS. *' Your mediatioDi to appease the city *' Uniting, that of my paternal soil '' Enough for a poor grave I may obtain, " Tho' I have lost the empire. Close these eyes '* With thy maternal hand/' (her hand he plac'd Over his eye-lids) *^ and farewell: the shades '' Of night already compass me around." Their miserable souls they both breath'd forth At the same instant. When their mother saw This fresh calamity, no longer able The weight of her afflictions to sustain. She from the corses of her Sons snatch'd up Si (26) A sword> and an atrocious deed performed ; For thro' her neck the painted steel she drove, And lies in de^th twi^t those she held most dear. E'en now embracing both. A strife of words Broke forth in the two armies ; we maintain'd The triumph to our King belonged ; but they To his antagonist. Amid the chiefs ; A vehement contention rose ; some urg'd That Polynices' spear first galve the wouqd; Others, that since both combatants were slain The victory still was dubious. From the lin^s Of battle now Antigone retir'd ; They rush'd to arms ; but with auspicious forethojug^t The progeny of Cadmus had nolthrowa ^ . ; r Their shields aside: we in an instant ma4^ .. A A fierce assault, invading by surprizje j The host of Argps yet unsheath'd in mail; . , Not one withstood the shock, they p'^ die §eld f In a tumultuous flight were scatter'd wid^ : . , \r. (S6) Hpm€r and Sophocles concor in representing Jocdi^t^ au having put an end to her life by hanging herself; bift Euripides -has jUificiously assigned tQ ^a^te mnch more suitable both to her IMgHrwltfiiM ttie dignity of ttt^ Tragic Muse, and has herein been followed by i^tfNtins.iD his Epic poem the Thebaid, as weU as by Seneca and CorneUle i^ thfir Tragedies foondied on tiie histdry of Oedipus, and ^ gredt' VaH^ty of other dramatic wtatei9iilH>lw¥etr«atedtlwiiM9eet.- ■['•■ '-^"f' THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. £S1 Gore streamed from many a corse of those who fell Beneath our spears. No sooner had we gain'd A victory in tne combat, than some rear'd The statue of imperial Jove^ adorn'd With trophies ; others^ stripping off the shields Of the slain Argives^ lodg'd within the walls Our plunder: with Antigone, the rest Bring hither the remains of the deceas'd. That o'er them every friend may shed a tear. For to the city hath this conflict proved In part the most auspicious, but in part The source of grievous ills. CHORUS. By fame alone No longer are the miseries which this house Have visited, made public ; at the gates Are the three corses to be seen, of those Who, by one common death, have in the shades Of everlasting night their portion found. ANTIGONE, CREON, CHORUS- ANTIGONE. The wavy ringlets o'er my tender cheeks I cease to spread, regardless of the blush Which tinges with a crimson hue the face Of virgins. Onward am I borne with speed Like the distracted A^snades, not busied In Bacchus' rites, but Pluto's, from my hair Rending the golden cawl, and casting off The saffron robe; o'er the funereal pomp *» - (Ah me !) presiding. Well hast thou deserv*d Thy name, O Polynices, (wretched Thebes !) For thine was not a vulgar strife, but murder Retaliated by murder hath destroy'd The house of Oedipus; the source whepce streato'd Fraternal gore was parricide. But whom 252 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. Shall I invoke to lead the tuneful dirge. Or in what plaints, taught by the Tragic Muse, Solicit yonder vaulted roofs to join With me in tears, while hither I conduct Three kindred corses smear'd with gore, to add Fresh triumphs to that Fury who mark'd out For total ruin the devoted house Of thee, O Oedipus, whose luckless skill That intricate aenigma did unfold. And slay the Sphinx who chanted it ? My Sire ! What Grecian, wh^t Barbarian^ or what Chief In antient days illustrious, who that sprung From human race, hath e*er endur'd such ills As thou hast done, such public griefs endur'd f Seated upon the topmost spray of oak Of branching pine, the bird, who just lost Its mother, (27) wakes a sympathetic song Of plaints and anguish : thus o'er the deceas'd Lamenting, I in solitude shall waste The remnant of my life midst gushing tears. O'er whom shall I first cast the tresses rent From these disfigured brows, upon the breasts Of her who with maternal love sustain'd My childhood, or my Brothers* ghastly wounds? Ho! Oedipus, Qome forth from thy abode, ' Blind as thoq art, my aged Sire, display Thy wretchedness; Othou who, having veil'd With thickest darkness those extinguished eyes. Beneath yon roof a tedious life prolong'st : Hear'st thou my voice, O thou who thro' the hall Oft mov'st at random, and as oft reliev'st Thy wearied feet on the unwelcome couch ? (1^7) The reading of the Aldns, Basil, and Heidelberg editiom, lUktju without ^ny punctuation following, which I have adppted, has been re> vived by CarmeUi and Reiskius. THE PHCENICIAN DAMSEES. S3.3 OEDIPUS, ANTIGONE, CREON, CHORUS. OEDIPUS. Why, O my Daughter, hast thou callM me forth, A wretch, who by this faithful staff supply The want of siglit, to the loath'd glare of day. From a dark chamber, where I to my bed Have been confin'd ; thro' those incessant tears, My woes extort, grown (28) grey before my time. And wasted by. affliction, till I seem As unsubstantial as the ambient air, A spectre rising from the realms beneath. Or winged dream ? ANTIGONE. Prepare thyself to hear The inauspicious tidings I relate :. Thy Sons, thy Consort too, the faithful staff Of thy blind footsteps and their constant guide. No longer view the Sun. Alas, my Sire ! OEDIPUS. Ah me ! the woes I suffer call forth groans And shrieks abundant : but inform me how These three, O Daughter, left the realms of light. ANTIGONE. Not to reproach thee, or insult thy woes. My Father, but in sadness do I speak ; Thy evil Genius, laden with the sword With blazing torches and with impious war, Rush'd on thy Sons. OEDIPUS. Ah me ! ANTIGONE. ^ Why groan'st thou thus? OEDIPUS. For my dear Sons. (28) The comma, I apprehend, ought to be placed after sro>^, in- stead of after iaytoyoi^. In Dr. Musgravc's edition, a punctuation t& sub- jdiied to each of those words ^ \trhich seeais needless. S34 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. ANTIGONE. Twould aggravate thy griefs. If tliou with eye-sight wert again endued. The chariot of the Sun, and these remains Of the deceas'd, to view. OEDIPUS. How both my Sons Have lost their hves, is evident : but say. To what my Consort owes her piteous fate? ANTIGONE. Her tears were seen by all ; her breasts she bar'd A suppliant to her Sons, whom, near the gate Electra, in the mead she found where springs The lotus ; like two lions for a den With spears had they been fighting : from their wounds. Now stiff and cold, scarce ooz^d the clotted gore. Which Mars for a libation had be&tow'd On iiithless Pluto: snatching from the dead A brazen sword, she plung'd it in her breast : Slain by the luckless (29) weapon of her Sons, - Close to her Sons thus fell she. On this day The God who wrought such horrors, O my Sirc^ Hath pour'd forth his collected stores of wrath On this devoted house, CHORUS. This day hath proved A source of many evils to the house Of Oedipus { may more auspicious fates On the remainder of his lifePattend ! CREON. Your lamentations cease, for it is time To mention the interment of the dead.— (2^) The Aldus reading of Ax«, pne dolore, and that of Cant^ms Brf^ty prope^ which is adopted by Barnes, King, and others, ben^both iat from satisfactory ; Dr. Miisgrave conjectures A9yx.»», telo, and is aU l«wed by Brunck to have discovered the meaning, though not the wprd^ vluehj^ from the mannscripts having E^w, he infers to have been Zx^ ' THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. 23. But to my words, O Oedipus, attend; Eteocles thy Son hath to these hands Consign'd the sceptre of the Theban realm, On Haemon, at his nuptials with thy Daughter Antigone, to be bestow'd in dower : I for this cause no longer can allow thee Here to reside : for in the clearest terms Tiresias hath pronounc'd, that while thou dwell'st In these domains, Thebes never can be blest. Therefore depart. —• Nor thro' a wanton pride. Nor any hate I bear thee, do I hold Such language, but because I justly dread Thy evil Genius will destroy this land. OEDIPUS, How wretched from the moment of my birth Me hast thou made, O Fate, if ever man Knew misery : ere I from my mother's womb Was to the light brought forth, Apollo warn'd The royal Laius with prophetic voice. That I, his future child, who 'gainst the will Of Heaven had been begotten, should become The murderer of my Father. Wretched me! But soon as I was born, he who begot Sought to destroy me, for in me a foe He deem*d would view the sun : but 'twas ordain'd That I should slay bin). While I yet was loth To quit the breast, he sent me for a prey To savage beasts; I scap'd : but would to Heaven Cithaeron had, for saving me, been plung'd Into the fathomless and yawning gulph Of Tartarus ! Fortune gave me for a servant To Polybus. But having slain my Sire, Wretch that I am, my hapless Mother's bed Ascending, thence did I at once beget Both Sons and Brothers: them have I destroy'd By showering down on my devoted race •2S6 THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS. The curses I inherited from (SO) Laius. Yet was not I by nature made so void Of understanding, as to form a plot 'Gainst my own eye-sight, or my children's lives^ Unless some God had interfer'd. — No ifiore.— What shall I do ? ah me ! what faithful guide. My feet thro' blindness tottering, will attend f Jocasta the deceas'd ? while yet she iiv'd, I know she would. — Or mv two noble Sons? They are no more. — Have not I youth still left Sufficient to find means to gain me food i But where shall I procure it? or why thus, O Creon, do you utterly destroy me? For you will take away my poor remains Of life, if you expell me from this land. Yet will not I, by twining round your knees These arms, put on the semblance of a dastard: For the renown I gain*d in days of yore, Tho' miserable, I never will belie. CREON. Thou with a manly spirit hast refus'd To clasp my knees ; but in the Theban realm No longer can I suffer thee to dwell. Of the deceas'd, the one into the palace Must be convey'd : but as for him who came With (31) foreign troops to lay bis country wastfe, (30) IVf eaning Uie imprecations against Lains the father of Oedipw, uttered by Pelops, froin whom Laius had treacherously stolen his son Chrysippus. See the first note to this Tragedy. (Si) Kmg, in bis notes, objects to the expression o^xii;, and proposes to substitute ozrXoi; in its stead, but without altering either the text or version. In my copy of his edition, I meet with the following manv- script note of the late Mr. I>e Missy, " AXXaj, vocat oi fellor Argiros, a ** Thebanis nimhiim diversos, extraneos, oWwpi/)^^, ax^f n eifettrf." 'Ae reader will meet with a defence of oTOsm^ in p: 546, of Valkekiael^s edHioii of this Tragedy, which appears to me too/nil aoct ^taJja^ffyicUiity ,t9 fefcife any doubt of the vulgar, being the authentic, reaiUng, especially as Df. Musgrave, who has in his notes given thte prefereiiceto idng^s conjee- THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. £37 The corse of Polynices, cast it forth Unburied from the confines of this land. This edict, by a herald, to all Thebes Will I announce ; whoe'er shall be detected Adorning with a garland his remains. Or o'er them scattering earth, shall be with death Requited : for unwept and uninterr'd He for a prey to vultares must be left. No longer, O Antigone, lament O'er these three breathless corses, but with speed To your apartment go, and there remain Amidst your virgin comrades till to-morrow. When Haemon's bed awaits you. ANTIGONE. O my Sire, Into what hopeless misery art thou plung'd ! For thee far more than for the dead I moan ; Thou hast not aught to make thy weight of woe Less grievous ; the afflictions thou endur'st Are universal. But, O thou new King, Of thee I ask, why dost thou treat my Father With scorn, why banish him from Thebes, why frame Harsh laws against a wretched corse i CREON. Such counsels Were by Eteocles, not me, devis'd. ANTIGONE. • Devoid of sense are they ; thou too art frantic. Who these decrees obey'st. CREON. Is it not just To execute th' injunctions we receive? ANTIGONE. No, not if they are base and ill-advis'd. tare, and imerted ^ annis msteid of << aliik^ in his Latin version, has SM>t, in support of su6h innOTtition, cited the anthority of a sii^ amaO' Bcrqpt ; nor has Brnocki ^MiQ «dtaib «i^ft( iiita^l^ 258 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS CREON. What mean you ? can it be unjust to cast His body to the dogs? ANTIGONE. A lawless vengeance Is this which ye exact. CREON. Because he wag*d An impious war against his native city. ANTIGONE. Hath not he yielded up his life to fate ? CREON. He shall be punishM also in the loss Of sepulture. ANTIGONE. Wherein, if he requir'd His portion of the realm, did he transgress i CREON. Know then he shall remain without a grave. ANTIGONE. I will inter him, tho' the state forbid. CREON. You shall be buried with him* ANTIGONE. For two friends TTwere glorious in their death to be united. CREO^. Seize and convey her home. ANTIGONE. I will not loose ^ My hold, nor shall ye tear me from his body. CHEON. O virgin, the decrees of fate ar^ such As thwart your wayward views. ANTIGONE. It.isdeeffie^. No insults shall fee, flftafite^OMLdo^-.., ''•". f THE PHCENiaAN DAMSELS. 239 CREON. Over ibis corse let none presume to stx^w The nK)isten'd dust« ANTIGONE. Thee, Creon, I implore By my lov'd Mother, by Jocasta's shade. CREON. In vain are your entreaties : such request I cannot grant. ANTIGONE. But suffer me to lave The body — CREON. I this interdict must add To those which thro' the city are proclaim'd. ANTIGONE. And close with bandages his gaping wounds. CREON. To his remains no honours shall you pay. ANTIGONE. Yet, O my dearest Brother, on thy lips This kiss will I imprint. CREON. Nor by these plaints Make your espousals wretched. antigon£ Dar'st thou think That I will ever live to wed thy Son ? CREON. You by necessity's superior force Will be constrain'd. For how can you escape The nuptial bond ? ANTIGONE. I on that night will act Like one of Danaus' Daughters. CREON. Marked ye not 240 THE PHOENICIAN DAMSELS, How boldly, with what arrogance she spoke? ANTIGONE. Bear witness, O my dagger, to the oath. CREON. "Why from this wedlock wish you to be freed ? ANTIGONE. My miserable Father in his flight I will attend. CREON. A generous soul is yours, Abundant folly too. ANTIGONE. I am resolved To share his death; of that too be assured. CREON. Go, leave this realm ; you shall not slay my Son. [Exit CRBOK. OEDIPUS. The (32) for thy zeal, my Daughter, I applaud. ANTIGONE. How can I wed, while you my Father roam A solitary exile i OEDIPUS. To enjoy (32) On this scene, as it stands in the version of Gascoigne and Kin- welmersh, I have met with the following remark in the Rev. Mr. War- ton's History of English Poetry, which I here take the liberty of citing, as applicable not only to the dialogue before us, but also to a considei4>' ble portion of the writings of Eiuipides ; " The whole dialogue in |be *' original is carried on in single lines. Such, however, is the pregnant ^ simplicity of the Greek language; that it would have been impossible ** to have rendered line for line in English.'* Vol. III. p. 377. By tin- possibley I understand, not to be effected without either mutilatiiig the sense, or making the English version so harsh and obscure, as to be scarcely intelligible without referring to the original. Neither Sibilet, who published a French translation of the Iphigenia in Aulis, about the middle of the sixteenth century, nor Carmelli, by whom the works of Eor^ides were about thirty years ago rendered into Italian poetry, have laid themielTes under any such restriction of giving line for line. THfi t^HQENIClAN DAMSELS. £41 Thy better fortunes, stay thou here : my woes I will endure with patience. ANTIGONE. Who, my Sire, Shall minister to you deprived of sight ? OEDIPUS. I, in whatever £eld the Fates ordain That I shall fall, must lie. ANTIGONE. Where's Oedipus, And that fam'd riddle i OEDIPUS. Lost, for ever lost : My prosperous fortunes from one single day. And from one day my ruin I derive. ANTIGONE. May not I also be allow'd to take A part in your afflictions ? OEDIPUS. Twere unseemly For thee, my Daughter, from this ladd to roam With thy blind Father. ANTIGONE. To a virtuous maid Not base, my Sire, but noble. OEDIPUS. Lea^ me on,. That I may touch thy Mother. • ANTIGONE. Here she lies : Clasp that dear object in your aged arms. OEDIPUS. O Mother, O my miserable Wife I ANTIGONE. A piteous spectacle, o'crwheUn'd at once By every ill. VOL. I. B 242 THE PHCENICUN DAMSEL9. OEDIPUS* But Where's Eteocles* And Polynices' corse ? ANTIGONE. Stretch t on the ground Close to each other. OEDIPUS. A blind Father's hand Place on the visage of each hapless youth. ANTIGONE. Lo here they are : stretch forth your hand^ and touc^i Your breathless Sons. OEDIPUS. Remains of those I lov'd> The wretched offspring of a wretched Sire. ANTIGONE. Thy name> O Polynices, shall thy Sister For ever hold most dear. OEDIPUS. Now, O my Daughter, The oracle of Phoebus is fulfill'd. ANTIGONE. What oracle ? speak you of any woes We have not yet experienc'd i OEDIPUS. That in Athens An exile I shall die. ANTIGONE. Where? in the realm Of Attica, what turret shall receive you ? OEDIPUS. (33) Coloneus' fane, where Neptune's altars rise. (33) The word KoXwwf, or Ko^wn, is made use of by Hoih^ and other nvriten to signify a hill. Henfy Stephens, in his Greek Thesaoms, adds, tibat there was a fiunous place in the Athenian territories known b^ that name, which was sacred to Neptune, and palled imrio;, on account of t||l|t .1 » THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS. 243 But haste, and minister with duteous zeal To thy blind Father, since to share my flight Was thy most earnest wish. ANTIGONE. My aged Sire, Into a wretched banishment go forth : O give me that dear hand, for I will guide Your tottering steps, as prosperous gales assist The voyage of the bark. OEDIPTS, Lo, I advance: Do thou conduct me, O my hapless Daughter. ANTIGONE. I am indeed of all the Theban maids The most unhappy* OEDIPUS. My decrepid feet Where shall I place ? O Daughter, with a staff Furnish this hand. ANTIGONE. Come hither, O my Sire. Here rest your feet : for, like an empty dream. Your strength is but mere semblance. God being considered as Uie inventor of horsemanship. Thocydidei hmop tions Pisander's holding a council at Coloneus, and spedu of its cBstance from Athens as ten stadia, or about a mile and quarter. Sophocles says, Oedipus died and was buried there -, that in fab hist moments he solemidy forbad any one to approach his grave. But it appears from Homer, that the body of tliat unfortunate King was, after his death, deposited at Thebes vdth funereal honours, it being said of Mecisteus, father to En. ryalus, one of the combatants at the games with which Achflles cde- brated the memory of Patrochis, ihathewetdto Thebes, oadirasvicfo- rious at the tomb qf Oedipus, The account given by Pansamas (who ob- jects to that of Sophocles as not according with Homer) that tiie tomb of Oedipus was witlun the boundary of the Athenian Areopagus, and that, upon making a diligent enquiry, he discovered that his bones were re- moved thither from Thebes, is equally irrecondleable to both those wri- ters ; to Sophocles, in representing Oedipus as dying at lliebes ; and to Homer, in assertui]^ that he was removed into ^e province of Attica fat interment. R 2 %44 THE PHCENICIAN DAMSELS, OEDIPUS.* Grievous exile; A weak old man, he from hia native land Drives fortli. My sufferings are alas ! most dreadfuL ANTIGONE. What is there in the sufferings you complain of Peculiarly distressful? ' doth (34) not Justice Behold the sinner, and with penal strictness Each foolish action of mankind repay f OEDIFUS. Still am I he whom the victorious Muse Exalted to the skies> when I explain'd The dark aenigma hy that Fiend propos*d. ANTIGONE. Why speak of the renown which you obtained