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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.