Supplices
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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Chorus
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But Justice protects her champions.
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King
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True, if she had a share in the matter from the beginning.
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Chorus
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Show reverence for the ship of state thus crowned.The gods, whose statues have been wreathed with the suppliants’ branches, are regarded as the pilots who direct the ship of state. Possibly there is also a reference to the custom of crowning a vessel’s stern with flowers.
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King
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I shrink as I gaze upon these shaded shrines.
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Chorus
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Yet heavy is the wrath of Zeus, god of the suppliant.
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Son of Palaechthon, lord of the Pelasgians, hear me with a benign heart.
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Behold me, your suppliant, a fugitive, running around like a heifer chased by wolves upon precipitous crags, where, confident in his help, she lows to tell the herdsman of her distress.
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King
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I see
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a company of assembled gods assenting beneath the shade of fresh-plucked boughs. Nevertheless may this affair of claimants to the friendship of our city bring no mischief in its wake! And let no feud come upon the state from causes unforeseen and unforestalled; for the state has no need of such trouble.
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Chorus
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Indeed,
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may Justice, daughter of Zeus the Apportioner, Justice who protects the suppliant, look upon our flight that it bring no mischief in its wake. But you, aged in experience, learn from one of younger birth. If you show mercy to a suppliant ... from a man of holiness.
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King
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It is not my own house at whose hearth you sit. If the state is stained by pollution in its commonalty, in common let the people strive to work out the cure. For myself, I will pledge no promise before I have communicated these events to all the citizens.
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King
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I have considered them; and I am driven to this cruel predicament. I must take upon myself a mighty war against one side or the other.
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There is no escape, it is as firmly fixed as a ship’s hull drawn tight by windlasses. There is no result without grievous hurt. Now when goods are plundered from a homestead,
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other goods may come by grace of Zeus, guardian of household wealth; as a tongue that has shot arrows beside the mark, one speech may be the healer of another. But to avoid the shedding of kindred blood,
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surely there is need of sacrifice and that many a victim fall to many a god as a deliverance from impending harm. For truly, it is to my undoing that I have come into this quarrel; and yet I prefer to be unskilled rather than practised in the lore of foretelling ill. But may my judgment belie itself and all go well!
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Chorus
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Hear now the end of my appeals for compassion.
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King
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I hear; say on. It shall not escape me.
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Chorus
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I have breast-bands and girdles to gather up my robes.
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King
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Such things are proper, no doubt, for women.
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Chorus
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In these then, be sure, I have a beautiful instrument—
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King
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Tell me what speech you plan to utter.
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Chorus
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If you will not give some pledge to this group—
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King
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What will the contrivance of the sashes do for you?
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Chorus
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To adorn these images with tablets of strange sort.
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King
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Your words are riddling; come, explain in simple speech.
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Chorus
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To hang ourselves from the statues of these gods.
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King
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I detect a threat that is a lash upon my heart.
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Chorus
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You have grasped my intention, for I have cleared your vision.
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King
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And on many sides there are difficulties hard to wrestle with; for, like a flood, a multitude of ills bursts on me.
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It is a sea of ruin, fathomless and impassable, which I am launched upon, and nowhere is there a haven from distress. For should I not pay the debt due to you, the pollution you name is beyond all range of speech; yet if
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I take my stand before the walls and try the issue of battle with the sons of Aegyptus, your kinsmen, how will the cost not mount to a cruel price—men’s blood to stain the ground for women’s sake? And yet the wrath of Zeus who guards the suppliant compels my reverence; for supreme among mortals is the fear of him.
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Aged father of these maidens, take these boughs straightway in your arms and place them upon other altars of the country’s gods, that all the natives may see the sign that you have come in suppliance. And let no random word fall against
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me; for the people could complain against authority. It may well be that some, stirred to compassion at the sight, will hate the wantonness of the troop of males, and that the people will be more friendly towards you; for all men are well disposed to the weaker cause.
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Danaus
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We consider it worth much to have gained a champion who is compassionate. Yet send escorts and guides of the country’s people with me so we may find where the gods who protect your city have their altars at the temple porches and their . . . seats,
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and that we may go safely through the town. My shape is unlike yours, for Nile and Inachus rear a different race. Beware lest boldness give birth to fear; for through ignorance men have slain those they love.
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King
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Come, men, the stranger speaks well. Be his guides to the altars of the city and to the sanctuaries of the gods. Do not speak at length with whomever you meet on the way while you are bringing this seafarer to be a suppliant at the hearths of the gods. Exit Danaus with attendants
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Chorus
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You told him, and let him go as directed.
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But what of me? What am I to do? Where do you assign security to me?
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King
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Leave your boughs here, tokens of your distress.
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Chorus
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Behold, I leave them at your signal and command.
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King
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Go now along this level space about the sanctuary.With the mound, crowded with the images of the gods and their common altar (l. 222), the maidens here contrast a level space, adjacent to the sanctuary yet accessible to all. Some ἄλση were open to the public (βέβηλα), while others formed part of the sacred precinct proper. The poets, according to Strabo 9.412, used the word ἄλσος to denote all sanctuaries, even if they were not planted with trees.
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Chorus
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But it is not holy ground. How can it keep me safe?
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King
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Be assured, we will not surrender you to winged creatures’ ravishment.
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Chorus
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But what about those whom we dread worse than evil serpents?
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King
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Speak with good omen, as I have spoken auspiciously to you.
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Chorus
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No wonder I am fretful through alarm of mind.
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King
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Excessive fear is always uncontrolled.
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Chorus
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Cheer my heart by deeds as well as words.
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King
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Your father will not leave you here alone for long. I am going now to call together the people of the land, that I may make the masses friendly; and I will instruct your father in what things he should say.
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Now stay here and beseech the gods of the land with prayers to grant what you desire, while I go to advance your cause. May persuasion and efficacious fortune attend me! Exit with attendants
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Chorus
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Lord of lords,
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most blessed among the blessed, power most perfect among the perfect, O blessed Zeus, hear! And from your offspring ward off in utter abhorrence the lust of men, and into the purple sea cast
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their black-benched madness!
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Chorus
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Look benignly upon the women’s cause, look upon our race ancient in story, and recall the happy tale of our ancestress, the woman of your love.
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Show that you remember all, you who laid your hand upon Io. It is from Zeus that we claim descent, and it is from this, our homeland, that we went forth.
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Danaus
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Be of good cheer, my children, all goes well on the part of the citizens. Decrees, carrying full authority, have been passed.
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Chorus
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Hail, our envoy, harbinger of tidings most welcome, But tell us—to what end has the decision been carried, and to what course does the majority of the people’s votes incline?
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Danaus
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Action was taken by the Argives, not by any doubtful vote but in such a way as to make my aged heart renew its youth. For the air bristled with right hands held aloft as, in full vote, they ratified this resolution into law: That we are settlers in this land, and are free, subject to no seizure, and secure from robbery of man; that no one, native or alien, lead us captive; but, if they turn to violence, any landholder who refuses to rescue us, should both forfeit his rights and suffer public banishment.
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Such was the persuasive speech that the king of the Pelasgians delivered on our behalf, uttering the solemn warning that never in the future should the city feed the great wrath of Zeus, protector of the suppliant; and declaring that, should a twofold defilement—from strangers and from natives at once—arise before the city,
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it would become fodder for distress past all relief. Hearing these words, the Argive people, waiting for no proclamation of crier, voted by uplifted hand that this should be so. It was the Pelasgian people, won readily to assent, who heard the subtle windings of his speech; but it was Zeus who brought the end to pass.
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Chorus
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Come, let us invoke blessings upon the Argives in return for blessings. And may Zeus, god of strangers, behold the offerings of gratitude voiced by a stranger’s lips, that they may in true fulfilment reach their perfect goal.
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Chorus
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Divinely-born gods! Hear now as I pour forth libations for blessings upon our kindred. Never may the wanton lord of war,
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insatiate of battle-cry, Ares, who reaps a human harvest in alien fields, destroy this Pelasgian land by fire; for they had compassion for us,
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and cast a vote in our favor, respecting our pitiable flock, suppliants in the name of Zeus.
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Chorus
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Nor did they cast their votes for the side of the males,
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disregarding the women’s cause, since they honored the avenging eye of Zeus, against which there is no battling, and what house would have it
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defiling its roof?By a sudden shift of metaphor, the eye of Zeus is likened to a foul bird whose pollution of the roof is an evil omen to the inmates of the house.For he sits heavily upon it. They take reverent heed of their kin, petitioners of holy Zeus; therefore with pure
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altars shall they please the gods.
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Danaus
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I commend these sensible prayers, dear children; but do not be troubled yourselves when you hear the unexpected and startling tidings your father has to tell. From my post of look-out here on the sanctuary of suppliants I see that ship; for it is well-marked and does not escape me:
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the trimming of its sail, its side-guards, and the prow that with its eyes scans its onward course, obeying—all too well for those to whom it is unfriendly—the guiding rudder at the stern. The men on board are plainly seen, their black
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limbs showing from their white attire. The rest of the ships and all the assisting fleet stand clear in view: but the leading ship herself has furled her sail and draws near the shore with full sweep of sounding oars. Yet
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you must face the matter calmly and with self-control, and not be unmindful of these gods. For my part, I will secure allies and advocates to urge our cause, and return. Perhaps some herald or envoys may come, eager to seize you as a prize and drag you away, but nothing will happen: do not fear them.
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Yet in the event that we should be slow in bringing aid, it would be better not to forget for a moment the means of help you have here at hand. Courage! In good time, assuredly, and on the day ordained, he who dishonors the gods will suffer punishment.
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Chorus
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Father, I am afraid. With what swift wings the ships
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approach! There is not much time left.
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Chorus
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I am possessed by dreadful fear if truly my long flight has been of no profit. Father, I am consumed with fright.
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Danaus
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Since the vote of the Argives was final,
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be of good cheer, my children; they will fight in your defence, I know this well.
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Chorus
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Abominable is the lustful race of Aegyptus and insatiate of battle; and you know that all too well.
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In ships, stout-timbered and dark-prowed, they have sailed here,
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attended by a mighty black host, and in their wrath overtaken us.
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Danaus
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But they will find here a force with arms well-seasoned by the noonday heat.
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Chorus
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Do not leave me forlorn, I implore you, father. A woman abandoned to herself is nothing. There is no Ares in her.
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Danaus
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Yet there is a saying that wolves are stronger than dogs; the papyrus-fruit does not conquer the wheat-ear.Distinctive foods mark national differences—the Egyptians are no match for the Argives. Theophrastus, in hisHistory of Plants 4.8, reports that the inhabitants of Egypt chew papyrus, raw, boiled, or roasted.
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Chorus
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Since they have the tempers of lewd and impious beasts, we must guard against them quickly.
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Danaus
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A fleet in getting under way is not so speedy,
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nor yet in anchoring, when the securing cables must be brought ashore; and even at anchorage shepherds of ships do not feel immediately secure, above all if they have arrived on a harborless coast when the sun is sinking into night.
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In a cautious pilot night is likely to beget anxiety. Then, too, the disembarking of an army cannot be effected with success before a ship has gained confidence in her moorings. But, for all your terror, remember not to neglect the gods. I will return when I have secured aid. The city will find no fault with a messenger,
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old in years, but with youth in his heart and on his tongue. Exit
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Chorus
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O land of hills, land of our righteous veneration, what is to be our lot? To what region in the Apian land are we to flee, if anywhere there be some dark hiding-place? Ah that I might become black smoke
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that draws near to the clouds of Zeus; or, soaring aloft without wings, vanish out of sight like viewless dust and dissolve into nothingness!
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Chorus
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The evil is no longer escapable;
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my heart is darkened and trembling; the look-out my father held has brought me ruin. I am undone with terror. Rather would I meet my doom in a noose
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than suffer the embraces of a man I loathe. Death before that, with Hades for my lord and master!
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The herald of the Egyptians is seen at a distance, with armed followers.
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Ho! Ha! Here on the land is the pirate from the ship! Before that, pirate, may you perish . . .
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I see in this the prelude of suffering wrought by violence. Oh! Oh! Fly for protection! Savagery beyond bearing by its insolence on sea and land alike.
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Lord of the land, protect us!
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Herald
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Away with you, away to the ship, as fast as your feet can carry you! If you won’t, your hair shall be torn out; you’ll be pricked with goads, and off will come your heads
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with abundant letting of gory blood. Away with you, away—and curses on you!—to the ships.