Suppliants
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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Aethra
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O Demeter, guardian of this Eleusinian land, and ye servants of the goddess who attend her fane, grant happiness to me and my son Theseus, to the city of Athens and the country of Pittheus,
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wherein my father reared me, Aethra, in a happy home, and gave me in marriage to Aegeus, Pandion’s son, according to the oracle of Loxias. This prayer I make, when I behold these aged dames, who, leaving their homes in Argos,
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now throw themselves with suppliant branches at my knees in their awful trouble; for around the gates of Cadmus have they lost their seven noble sons, whom on a day Adrastus, king of Argos, led thither,
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eager to secure for exiled Polynices, his son-in-law, a share in the heritage of Oedipus; so now their mothers would bury in the grave the dead, whom the spear hath slain, but the victors prevent them and will not allow them to take up the corpses, spurning Heaven’s laws.
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Here lies Adrastus on the ground with streaming eye, sharing with them the burden of their prayer to me, and bemoaning the havoc of the sword and the sorry fate of the warriors whom he led from their homes. And he doth urge me use entreaty, to persuade my son
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to take up the dead and help to bury them, either by winning words or force of arms, laying on my son and on Athens this task alone. Now it chanced, that I had left my house and come to offer sacrifice on behalf of the earth’s crop
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at this shrine, where first the fruitful corn showed its bristling shocks above the soil. And here at the holy altars of the twain goddesses, Demeter and her daughter, I wait, holding these sprays of foliage, a bond that bindeth not, in compassion for
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these childless mothers, hoary with age, and from reverence for the sacred fillets. To call Theseus hither is my herald to the city gone, that he may rid the land of that which grieveth them, or loose these my suppliant bonds,
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with pious observance of the gods’ will; for such as are discreet amongst women should in all cases invoke the aid of men.
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Chorus
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At thy knees I fall, aged dame, and my old lips beseech thee;
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arise, rescue from the slain my children’s bodies, whose limbs, by death relaxed, are left a prey to savage mountain beasts,
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Chorus
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beholding the bitter tears which spring to my eyes
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and my old wrinkled skin torn by my hands; for what can I do else? who never laid out my children dead within my halls, nor now behold their tombs heaped up with earth.
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Theseus
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What is this lamentation that I hear, this beating of the breast, these dirges for the dead, with cries that echo from this shrine? How fluttering fear disquiets me,
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lest haply my mother have gotten some mischance, in quest of whom I come, for she hath been long absent from home. Ha! what now? A strange sight challenges my speech; I see my aged mother sitting at the altar and stranger dames are with her, who in various note
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proclaim their woe; from aged eyes the piteous tear is starting to the ground, their hair is shorn, their robes are not the robes of joy.
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What means it, mother? ’Tis thine to make it plain to me, mine to listen; yea, for I expect some tidings strange.
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Aethra
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My son, these are the mothers of those chieftains seven, who fell around the gates of Cadmus’ town. With suppliant boughs they keep me prisoner, as thou seest, in their midst.
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Theseus
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And who is yonder man, that moaneth piteously in the gateway?
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Aethra
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Adrastus, they inform me, king of Argos.
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Theseus
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Are those his children, those boys who stand round him?
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Aethra
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Not his, but the sons of the fallen slain.
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Theseus
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Why are they come to us, with suppliant hand outstretched?
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Aethra
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I know; but ’tis for them to tell their story, my son.
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Theseus
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To thee, in thy mantle muffled, I address my inquiries; unveil thy head, let lamentation be, and speak; for naught can be achieved save through the utterance of thy tongue.Markland’s emendation περᾷς … ’ιών, is certainly tempting. Hartung adopts it; but Paley and Nauck, whom I have followed, retain the old reading πάρας … ’ιόν.
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Adrastus
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Victorious prince of the Athenian realm, Theseus, to thee and to thy city I, a suppliant, come.
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Theseus
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What seekest thou? What need is thine?
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Adrastus
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Dost know how I did lead an expedition to its ruin?
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Theseus
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Assuredly; thou didst not pass through Hellas, all in silence.
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Adrastus
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There I lost the pick of Argos’ sons.
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Theseus
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These are the results of that unhappy war.
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Adrastus
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I went and craved their bodies from Thebes.
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Theseus
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Didst thou rely on heralds, Hermes’ servants, in order to bury them?
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Adrastus
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I did; and even then their slayers said me nay.
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Theseus
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Why, what say they to thy just request?
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Adrastus
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Say! Success makes them forget how to bear their fortune.
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Theseus
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Art come to me then for counsel? or wherefore?
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Adrastus
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With the wish that thou, O Theseus, shouldst recover the sons of the Argives.
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Theseus
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Where is your Argos now? were its vauntings all in vain?
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Adrastus
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Defeat and ruin are our lot. To thee for aid we come.
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Theseus
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this thy own private resolve, or the wish of all the city?
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Adrastus
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The sons of Danaus, one and all, implore thee to bury the dead.
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Theseus
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Why didst lead thy seven armies against Thebes?
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Adrastus
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To confer that favour on the husbands of my daughters twain.
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Theseus
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To which of the Argives didst thou give thy daughters in marriage?
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Adrastus
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I made no match for them with kinsmen of my family.
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Theseus
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What! didst give Argive maids to foreign lords?
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Adrastus
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Yea, to Tydeus, and to Polynices, who was Theban-born.
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Theseus
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What induced thee to select this alliance?
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Adrastus
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Dark riddles of Phoebus stole away my judgment.
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Theseus
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What said Apollo to determine the maidens’ marriage?
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Adrastus
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That I should give my daughters twain to a wild boar and a lion.
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Theseus
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How dost thou explain the message of the god?
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Adrastus
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One night came to my door two exiles.
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Theseus
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The name of each declare; thou art speaking of both together.
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Adrastus
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They fought together, Tydeus with Polynices.
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Theseus
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Didst thou give thy daughters to them as to wild beasts?
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Adrastus
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Yea, for, as they fought, I likened them to those monsters twain.
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Theseus
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Why had they left the borders of their native land and come to thee?
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Adrastus
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Tydeus was exiled for the murder of a kinsman.
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Theseus
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Wherefore had the son of Oedipus left Thebes?
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Adrastus
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By reason of his father’s curse, not to spill his brother’s blood.
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Theseus
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Wise no doubt that voluntary exile.
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Adrastus
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But those who stayed at home were for injuring the absent.
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Theseus
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What! did brother rob brother of his inheritance?
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Adrastus
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To avenge this I set out; hence my ruin.
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Theseus
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Didst consult seers, and gaze into the flame of burnt-offerings?
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Adrastus
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Ah me! thou pressest on the very point, wherein I most did fail.
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Theseus
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It seems thy going was not favoured by heaven.
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Adrastus
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Worse; I went in spite even of Amphiaraus.
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Theseus
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And so heaven lightly turnedReiske conjectures ἀπεστράφης, and omits σ’. its face from thee.
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Adrastus
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I was carried away by the clamour of younger men.
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Theseus
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Thou didst favour courage instead of discretion.
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Adrastus
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Dindorf condemns this line. Paley brackets it as spurious. Nauck assigns it to Theseus, and retains it. True; and many a general owes defeat to that. O king of Athens, bravest of the sons of Hellas, I blush
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to throw myself upon the ground and clasp thy knees, I a grey-haired king, blest in days gone by; yet needs must I yield to my misfortunes. I pray thee save the dead; have pity on my sorrows and on these, the mothers of the slain,
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whom hoary eld finds reft of their sons; yet they endured to journey hither and tread a foreign soil with aged tottering steps, bearing no embassy to Demeter’s mysteries; only seeking burial for their dead, which lot should have been theirs,
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e’en burial by the hands of sons still in their prime.The following two lines are bracketed as spurious by Nauck. And ’tis wise in the rich to see the poor man’s poverty, and in the poor man to turn ambitious eyes toward the rich, that so he may himself indulge a longing for property; and they, whom fortune frowns not on, should gaze on misery’s presentment;
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likewise, who maketh songs should take a pleasure in their making; for if it be not so with him, he will in no wise avail to gladden others, if himself have sorrow in his home; nay, ’tis not even right to expect it. Mayhap thou’lt say, Why pass the land of Pelops o’er,
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and lay this toil on Athens? This am I bound to declare. Sparta is cruel, her customs variable; the other states are small and weak. Thy city alone would be able to undertake this labour;
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for it turns an eye on suffering, and hath in thee a young and gallant king, for want whereof to lead their hosts states ere now have often perished.
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Chorus
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I too, Theseus, urge the same plea to thee; have pity on my hard fate.
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Theseus
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Full οft have I argued out this subject with others. For there are who say, there is more bad than good in human nature, to the which I hold a contrary view, that1 good o’er bad predominates in man,
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for if it were not so, we should not exist. He hath my praise, whoe’er of gods brought us to live by rule from chaos and from brutishness, first by implanting reason, and next by giving us a tongue to declare our thoughts, so as to2 know the meaning of what is said,
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bestowing fruitful crops, and drops of rain from heaven to make them grow, wherewith to nourish earth’s fruits and to water her lap; and more than this, protection from the wintry storm, and means to ward from us the sun-god’s scorching heat; the art of sailing o’er the sea, so that we might exchange
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with one another whatso our countries lack. And where sight fails us and our knowledge is not sure, the seer foretells by gazing on the flame, by reading signs in folds of entrails, or by divination from the flight of birds. Are we not then too proud, when heaven hath made such preparation for our life,
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not to be content therewith? But our presumption seeks to lord it over heaven, and in the pride of our hearts we think we are wiser than the gods.
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Methinks thou art even of this number, a son of folly,
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seeing that thou, though obedient to Apollo’s oracle in giving thy daughters to strangers, as if gods really existed, yet hast hurt thy house by mingling the stream of its pure line with muddy waters; no! never should the wise man have joined the stock of just and unjust in one,
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but should have gotten prosperous friends for his family. For the deity, confusing their destinies, doth oft destroy by the sinner’s fate him who never sinned nor committed injustice. Thou didst lead all Argos forth to battle,
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though seers proclaimed the will of heaven, and then in scorn of them and in violent disregard of the gods hast ruined thy city, led away by younger men, such as court distinction, and add war to war unrighteously destroying their fellow-citizens; one aspires to lead an army;
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another fain would seize the reins of power and work his wanton will; a third is bent on gain, careless of any mischief the people thereby suffer. For there are three ranks of citizens; the rich, a useless set, that ever crave for more;
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the poor and destitute, fearful folk, that cherish envy more than is right, and shoot out grievous stings against the men who have aught, beguiled as they are by the eloquence of vicious leaders; while the class that is midmost of the three preserveth cities,
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observing such order as the state ordains. Shall I then become thy ally? What fair pretext should I urge before my countrymen? Depart in peace! For whyReading with Hermann ἡμῶν τί δεῖ; for MS. ’ημᾶς λίαν.Paley’s text here follows Matthiae’s emendation ἴθ’ εἰ γάρ μὴ for MS. ἴθι δὴ· μὴ γὰρ. shouldst thou, having been ill-advised thyself, seek to drag our fortune down?
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Chorus
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He erred; but with the young men rests this error, while he may well be pardoned.
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Adrastus
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I did not choose thee, king, to judge my affliction, butDobree rejects this line. Nauck, Matthiae, and Hartung omit it also. came to thee to cure it; no! nor if in aught my fortunes prove me wrong,
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came I to thee to punish or correct them, but to seek thy help. But if thou wilt not, I must be content with thy decision; for how can I help it? Come, aged dames, away! Yet leave behind you here the woven leaves of pale green foliage,
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calling to witness heaven and earth, Demeter, that fire-bearing goddess, and the sun-god’s light, that our prayers to heaven availed us naught.
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What art thou doing? wilt thou betray these suppliant symbols, and banish from thy land these aged women without the boon they should obtain? Do not so; e’en the wild beast finds a refuge in the rock, the slave in the altars of the gods, and a state when tempest-tossed cowers to its neighbour’s shelter;
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for naught in this life of man is blest unto its end.
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Chorus
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Rise, hapless one, from the sacred floor of Persephone; rise, clasp him by the knees and implore him, O recover the bodies of our dead sons, the children that I lost—ah, woe is me!—beneath the walls of Cadmus’ town.