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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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2nd Half-Chorus
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What is this new cry thou utterest?
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1st Half-Chorus
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I fear the issue of the strife, whereto the hosts of Pallas march.
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2nd Half-Chorus
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Dost speak of issues of the sword, or interchange of words?
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1st Half-Chorus
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That last were gain indeed; but if the carnage of battle, fighting, and
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the noise of beaten breasts again be heard in the land, what, alas! will be said of me, who am the cause thereof?
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2nd Half-Chorus
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Yet may fate again bring low the brilliant victor; ’tis this brave thought that twines about my heart.
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1st Half-Chorus
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Thou speak’st of the gods as if they were just.
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2nd Half-Chorus
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For who but they allot whate’er betides?
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1st Half-Chorus
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I see many a contradiction in their dealings with men.
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2nd Half-Chorus
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The former fear hath warped thy judgment. Vengeance calls vengeance forth; slaughter calls for slaughter,
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but the gods give respite from affliction, holding in their own hands each thing’s allotted end.
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Messenger
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Ladies, I bring you tidings of great joy, myself escaped—for I was taken prisoner in the battle
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which cost those chieftains seven their lives near Dirce’s fount—to bear the news of Theseus’ victory. But I will save thee tedious questioning; I was the servant of Capaneus,
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whom Zeus with scorching bolt to ashes burnt.
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Chorus
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Friend of friends, fair thy news of thy own return, nor less the news about Theseus; and if the host of Athens, too, is safe, welcome will all thy message be.
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Messenger
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’Tis safe, and all hath happened as I would it had befallen Adrastus
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and his Argives, whom from Inachus he led, to march against the city of the Cadmeans.
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Chorus
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How did the son of Aegeus and his fellow-warriors raise their trophy to Zeus? Tell us, for thou wert there and canst gladden us who were not.
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Messenger
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Bright shone the sun, one levelled line of light, upon the world, as by Electra’s gate I stood to watch, from a turret with a far outlook. And lo! I saw the host in three divisions, deploying its mail-clad warriors
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on the high ground by the banks of Ismenus; this last I heard;The words ὡς μὲν ἥν λόγος have been suspected, and ὡς ‘ιδεῖν, λόχους suggested. and with them was the king himself, famous son of Aegeus; his own men, natives of old Cecropia, were ranged upon the right; while on the left,
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hard by the fountain of Ares, were the dwellers by the sea, harnessed spearmen they; on either wing were posted cavalry, in equal numbers, and chariots were stationed in the shelter of Amphion’s holy tomb. Meantime, the folk of Cadmus set themselves before the walls,
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placing in the rear the bodies for which they fought. Horse to horse, and car to car stood ranged. Then did the herald of Theseus cry aloud to all: Be still, ye folk! hush, ye ranks of Cadmus,
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hearken! we are come to fetch the bodies of the slain, wishing to bury them in observance of the universal law of Hellas; no wish have we to lengthen out the slaughter.
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Not a word would Creon let his herald answer back, but there he stood in silence under arms. Then did the drivers of the four-horse cars
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begin the fray; on, past each other they drave their chariots, bringing the warriors at their sides up into line. Some fought with swords, some wheeled the horses back to the fray again for those they drove.Reading with Hartung αὖθις αὖ παραιβάταις.
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Now when Phorbas, who captained the cavalry of the Erechthidae, saw the thronging chariots, he and they who had the charge of the Theban horse met hand to hand, and by turns were victors and vanquished. The many horrors happening there I saw, not merely heard about, for I was at the spot
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where the chariots and their riders met and fought, but which to tell of first I know not,—the clouds of dust that mounted to the sky, the warriors tangled in the reins and draggedNauck is of opinion that something has fallen out after line 689. The Greek, as it stands, is certainly open to suspicion. this way and that,
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the streams of crimson gore, when men fell dead, or when, from shattered chariot-seats, they tumble headlong to the ground, and, mid the splinters of their cars, gave up the ghost. But Creon, when he marked our cavalry’s successPaley retains νικῶντα, but Valckenaer’s is a good suggestion, i.e. their army yielding to our cavalry. on one wing,
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caught up a shield and rushed into the fray, ere that despondency should seize his men; but not for that did Theseus recoil in fear; no! snatching up at once his glittering harness he hied him on. And the twain, clashing their shields together as they met in the midst of the assembled host,
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were dealing death and courting it, shouting loudly each to his fellow the battle-cry: Slay, and with thy spear strike home against the sons of Erechtheus. Fierce foes to cope with were the warriors whom the dragon’s teeth to manhood reared; so fierce, they broke
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our left wing, albeit theirs was routed by our right and put to flight, so that the struggle was evenly balanced. Here again our chief deserved all praise, for this success was not the only advantage he gained; no! next he sought that part of his army which was wavering;
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and loud he called to them, that the earth rang again, My sons, if ye cannot restrain the earth-born warriors’ stubborn spear, the cause of Pallas is lost. His word inspired new courage in all the DanaidPaley, Δαναιδῶν. Nauck, Κεκροπιδῶν. As applied to Athenians, the latter title is preferable. Musgrave, Κραναιδῶν. host. Therewith himself did seize a fearsome mace, weapon of Epidaurian warfare,
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and swung it to and fro, and with that club, as with a sickle, he shore off necks and heads and helmets thereupon. Scarce even then they turned them- selves to fly. For joy cried I, and danced
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and clapped my hands; while to the gates they ran. Throughout the town echoed the shrieks of young and old, as they crowded the temples in terror. But Theseus, when he might have come inside the walls, held back his men, for he had not come, said he,
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to sack the town, but to ask for the bodies of the dead.
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Such the general men should choose, one who shows his bravery in danger, yet hates the pride of those that in their hour of fortune lose the bliss they might have enjoyed,
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through seeking to scale the ladder’s topmost step.
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Chorus
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Now do I believe in the gods after seeing this unexpected day, and I feel my woes are lighter now that these have paid their penalty.
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Adrastus
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O Zeus, why do men assert the wisdom of the wretched
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human race? On thee we all depend, and all we do is only what thou listest. We thought our Argos irresistible, ourselves a young and lusty host, and so when Eteocles was for making terms,
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in spite of his fair offer we would not accept them, and so we perished. Then in their turn those foolish folk of Cadmus, to fortune raised, like some beggar with his newly-gotten wealth, waxed wanton, and, waxing so, were ruined in their turn. Ye foolish sons of men! who strain your bow like men who shoot
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beyond their mark, and only by suffering many evils as ye deserve, though deaf to friends, yet yield to circumstances; ye cities likewise, though ye might by parley end your mischief, yet ye choose the sword instead of reason to settle all disputes.
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But wherefore these reflections? This I fain would learn, the way thou didst escape; and after that I will ask thee of the rest.
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Messenger
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During the uproar which prevailed in the city owing to the battle, I passed the gates, just as the host had entered them.
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Adrastus
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Are ye bringing the bodies, for the which the strife arose?
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Messenger
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Ay, each of the seven chiefs who led their famous hosts.
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Adrastus
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What sayest thou? the rest who fell—say, where are they?
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Messenger
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They have found burial in the dells of Cithseron.
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Adrastus
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On this or that side of the mount? And who did bury them?
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Messenger
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Theseus buried them ’neath the shadow of Eleutherae’s cliff.
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Adrastus
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Where didst thou leave the dead he hath not buried?
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Messenger
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Not far away; earnest haste makes every goal look close.
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Adrastus
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No doubt in sorrow slaves would gather them from the carnage.
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Messenger
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Slaves! not one of them was set to do this toil.
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Messenger
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Thou wouldst say so, hadst thou been there to see his loving tendance of the dead.
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Adrastus
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Did he himself wash the bloody wounds of the hapless youths?
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Messenger
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Ay, and strewed their biers and wrapped them in their shrouds.
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Adrastus
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An awful burdenReading οὖν for ἧν (Elmsley.) this, involving some disgrace.
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Messenger
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Why, what disgrace to men are their fellows’ sorrows?
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Adrastus
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Ah me! how much rather had I died with them!
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Messenger
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’Tis vain to weep and move to tears these women.
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Adrastus
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Methinks ’tis they who give the lesson. EnoughElmsley reads ἀλλ’ εἶμ’, ἐπάρω for MS. ἀλλ’ εἶεν, αἴρω. Some correction of the kind does seem necessary, for the dead bodies are not noticed as arriving till later. of that! My hands I lift at meeting of the dead, and pour forth a tearful dirge to Hades, calling on my friends,
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whose loss I mourn in wretched solitude; for this one thing, when once ’tis spent, man cannot recover, the breath of life, though he knoweth ways to get his wealth again.
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Chorus
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Joy is here and sorrow too,—
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for the state fair fame, and for our captains double meed of honour. Bitter for me it is to see the limbs of my dead sons, and yet a welcome sight withal, because I shall behold the unexpected day
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after sorrow’s cup was full.
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Chorus
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Would that Father Time had kept me unwed from my youth up e’en till now when I am old! What need had I of children?
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Methinks I should not have suffered excessively, had I never borne the marriage-yoke; but now I have my sorrow full in view, the loss of children dear.
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Chorus
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Lo! I see the bodies
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of the fallen youths. Woe is me! would I could join these children in their death and descend to Hades with them!
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Adrastus
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Behold this sea of troubles!The print edition reads: Ah! hapless mothers, behold this sea of troubles! The lines have been modified to more closely match the Greek.
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Ah! hapless mothers.
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Chorus
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Our nails have ploughed our cheeks in furrows, and o’er our heads have we strewn ashes.
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Adrastus
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Ah me! ah me! Oh that earth’s floor would swallow me,
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or the whirlwind snatch me away, or Zeus’s flaming bolt descend upon my head!
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Chorus
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Bitter the marriages thou didst witness, bitter the oracle of Phoebus!
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The curse of Oedipus, fraught with sorrow, after desolatingFor the unintelligible ἔλημας of the MS. Hermann conjectured ἔρημα σ’ which is here followed. his house, is come on thee.
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Theseus
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There is some corruption in the three following lines. Nauck’s εἴασα for the words ἐς τὰ σά γε makes it possible to extract meaning, but further emendation is needed. Nauck would omit the word στρατῷ in l. 838 and the whole of l. 839, except the word γόους. I meant to question thee when thou wert venting thy lamentations to the host, but I will let it pass; yet, though I dropped the matter then
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and left it alone, I now do ask Adrastus, Of what lineage sprang those youths, to shine so bright in chivalry? Tell it to our younger citizens of thy fuller wisdom, for thou art skilled to know. Myself beheld their daring deeds, too high for words to tell,
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whereby they thought to capture Thebes. One question will I spare thee, lest I provoke thy laughter; the foe that each of them encountered in the fray, the spear from which each received his death-wound. These be idle tales alike for those who hear
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or him who speaks, that any man amid the fray, when clouds of darts are hurtling before his eyes, should declare for certain who each champion is. I could not ask such questions, nor yet believe those who dare assert the like;
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for when a man is face to face with the foe, he scarce can see even that which ’tis his bounden duty to observe.
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Adrastus
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Hearken then. For in giving this task to me thou findest a willing eulogist of friends, whose praise I would declare in all truth and sincerity.
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Dost see yon corpse by Zeus’s bolt transfixed? That is Capaneus; though he had ample wealth, yet was he the last to boast of his prosperity; nor would he ever vaunt himself above a poorer neighbour, but shunned the man whose sumptuous board had puffed him up too high
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and made him scorn mere competence, for he held that virtue lies not in greedy gluttony, but that moderate means suffice. True friend was he, alike to present or to absent friends the same; of such the number is not great. His was a guileless character,
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a courteous address, that left no promise unperformed either towards his own household or his fellow-citizens. The next I name is Eteocles; a master he of other kinds of excellence; young, nor richly dowered with store, yet high in honour in the Argive land.
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And though his friends oft offered gifts of gold, he would not have it in his house, to make his character its slave by taking wealth’s yoke upon him. Not his city, but those that sinned against her did he hate, for a city is no wise to be blamed
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if it get an evil name by reason of an evil governor.
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Such another was Hippomedon, third of all this band; from his very boyhood he refrained from turning towards the allurements of the Muses, to lead a life of ease; his home was in the fields, and gladly would he school his nature to hardships
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with a view to manliness, aye hasting to the chase, rejoicing in his steeds or straining of his bow, because he would make himself of use unto his state. Next behold the huntress Atalanta’s son, Parthenopaeus, a youth of peerless beauty;
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from Arcady he came even to the streams of Inachus, and in Argos spent his boyhood. There, when he grew to man’s estate, first, as is the duty of strangers settled in another land, he showed no pique or jealousy against the state, became no quibbler, chiefest source of annoyance
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citizen or stranger can give, but took his stand amid the host, and fought for Argos as he were her own son, glad at heart whenso the city prospered, deeply grieved if e’er reverses came; manyDindorf regards this line as an interpolation. a lover though he had midst men and maids,
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yet was he careful to avoid offence.
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Of Tydeus next the lofty praise I will express in brief; no brilliant spokesman he, but a clever craftsman in the art of war, with many a shrewdValckenaer σοφός for MS. σοφά. Porson condemns the line. device; inferior in judgment to his brother Meleager,
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yet through his warrior skill lending his name to equal praise, for he had found in arms a perfect science; his was an ambitious nature, a spirit rich in store of deeds, with words less fully dowered. From this account then wonder not,
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Theseus, that they dared to die before the towers; for noble nurture carries honour with it, and every man, when once he hath practised virtue, scorns the name of villain. Courage may be learnt, for even a babe doth learn
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to speak and hear things it cannot comprehend; and whatso’er a childReading παῖς with Valckenaer. hath learnt, this it is his wont to treasure up till he is old. So train up your children in a virtuous way.
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Chorus
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Alas! my son, to sorrow I bare thee and carried thee within my womb,
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enduring the pangs of travail; but now Hades takes the fruit of all my hapless toil, and I that; had a son am left, ah me! with none to nurse my age.
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Theseus
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As for the noble son of Oecleus, him, while yet he lived, the gods snatched hence to the bowels of the earth, and. his chariot too, manifestly blessing him; while I myself may truthfully tell the praises of the son of Oedipus, that is, Polynices,