Chapter VII: Part II: Page (5)

The track is here in some confusion. From the Amazons south of the
Caucasos, Io is to find her way to the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea)
and the Kimmerian Bosporos, which flows into the Sea of Azov, and so
to return to Asia.

Footnote 183:

Here, as in a hundred other instances, a false etymology has become
the parent of a myth. The name Bosporos is probably Asiatic not Greek,
and has an entirely different signification.

Footnote 184:

The lines refer to the story that Zeus loved Thetis the daughter of
Nereus, and followed her to Caucasos, but abstained from marriage with
her because Prometheus warned him that the child born of that union
should overthrow his father. Here the future is used of what was still
contingent only. In the lost play of the Trilogy the myth was possibly
brought to its conclusion and connected with the release of
Prometheus.

Footnote 185:

Heracles, whose genealogy was traced through Alcmena, Perseus, Danae,
Danaos and seven other names, to Epaphos and Io.

Footnote 186:

Probably the Kimmerian Bosporos. The Tanais or Phasis has, however,
been conjectured.

Footnote 187:

The history of the passage in brackets is curious enough to call for a
note. They are not in any extant MS., but they are found in a passage
quoted by Galen (v. p. 454), as from the _Prometheus Bound_, and are
inserted here by Mr. Paley.

Footnote 188:

Kisthene belongs to the geography of legend, lying somewhere on the
shore of the great ocean-river in Lybia or Æthiopia, at the end of the
world, a great mountain in the far West, beyond the Hesperides, the
dwelling-place, as here, of the Gorgons, the daughters of Phorkys.
Those first-named are the Graiæ.

Footnote 189:

Here, like the “wingèd hound” of v. 1043, for the eagles that are the
messengers of Zeus.

Footnote 190:

We are carried back again from the fabled West to the fabled East. The
Arimaspians, with one eye, and the Grypes or Gryphons (the griffins of
mediæval heraldry), quadrupeds with the wings and beaks of eagles,
were placed by most writers (Herod. iv. 13, 27) in the north of
Europe, in or beyond the _terra incognita_ of Skythia. The mention of
the “ford of Pluto” and Æthiopia, however, may possibly imply (if we
identify it, as Mr. Paley does, with the Tartessos of Spain, or
Bœtis—_Guadalquivir_) that Æschylos followed another legend which
placed them in the West. There is possibly a _paronomasia_ between
Pluto, the God of Hades, and Plutos, the ideal God of riches.

Footnote 191:

The name was applied by later writers (Quintus Curtius, iv. 7, 22;
Lucretius, vi. 848) to the fountain in the temple of Jupiter Ammon in
the great Oasis. The “river Æthiops” may be purely imaginary, but it
may also suggest the possibility of some vague knowledge of the Niger,
or more probably of the Nile itself in the upper regions of its
course. The “Bybline hills” carry the name Byblos, which we only read
of as belonging to a town in the Delta, to the Second Cataract.

Footnote 192:

Comp. Sophocles, _Trachin._, v. 1168.

Footnote 193:

The Adriatic or Ionian Gulf.

Footnote 194:

In the _Suppliants_, Zeus is said to have soothed her, and restored
her to her human consciousness by his “divine breathings.” The thought
underlying the legend may be taken either as a distortion of some
primitive tradition, or as one of the “unconscious prophecies” of
heathenism. The deliverer is not to be born after the common manner of
men, and is to have a divine as well as a human parentage.

Footnote 195:

See the argument of the _Suppliants_, who, as the daughters of Danaos,
descended from Epaphos, are here referred to. The passage is
noticeable as showing that the theme of that tragedy was already
present to the poet's thoughts.

Footnote 196:

Argos. So in the _Suppliants_, Pelasgos is the mythical king of the
Apian land who receives them.

Footnote 197:

Hypermnæstra, who spared Lynceus, and by him became the mother of Abas
and a line of Argive kings.

Footnote 198:

Heracles, who came to Caucasos, and with his arrows slew the eagle
that devoured Prometheus.

Footnote 199:

The word is simply an interjection of pain, but one so characteristic
that I have thought it better to reproduce it than to give any English
equivalent.

Footnote 200:

The maxim, “Marry with a woman thine equal,” was ascribed to Pittacos.

Footnote 201:

The Euhemerism of later scholiasts derived the name from a king
Adrastos, who was said to have been the first to build a temple to
Nemesis, and so the power thus worshipped was called after his name. A
better etymology leads us to see in it the idea of the “inevitable”
law of retribution working unseen by men, and independently even of
the arbitrary will of the Gods, and bringing destruction upon the
proud and haughty.

Footnote 202:

Comp. _Agam._ 162-6.

Footnote 203:

Either a mere epithet of intensity, as in our “thrice blest,” or
rising from the supposed fact that every third wave was larger and
more impetuous than the others, like _fluctus decumanus_ of the
Latins, or from the sequence of three great waves which some have
noted as a common phenomenon in storms.

Footnote 204:

Here again we have a strange shadowing forth of the mystery of
Atonement, and what we have learnt to call “vicarious” satisfaction.
In the later legend, Cheiron, suffering from the agony of his wounds,
resigns his immortality, and submits to die in place of the
ever-living death to which Prometheus was doomed.

Footnote 205:

It is noticeable that both Æschylos and Sophocles have left us
tragedies which end in a thunderstorm as an element of effect. But the
contrast between the _Prometheus_ and the _Œdipus at Colonos_ as to
the impression left in the one case of serene reconciliation, and in
the other of violent antagonism, is hardly less striking than the
resemblance in the outward phenomena which are common to the two.

THE SUPPLIANTS

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

DANAOS
Herald
PELASGOS, _king of_ Argos
_Chorus of the daughters of_ DANAOS

_ARGUMENT.—When Io, after many wanderings, had found refuge in Egypt, and having been touched by Zeus, had given birth to Epaphos, it came to pass that he and his descendants ruled over the region of Canôpos, near one of the seven mouths of Neilos. And in the fifth generation there were two brothers, Danaos and Ægyptos, the sons of Belos, and the former had fifty daughters and the latter fifty sons, and Ægyptos sought the daughters of Danaos in marriage for his sons. And they, looking on the marriage as unholy, and hating those who wooed them, took flight and came to Argos, where Pelasgos then ruled as king, as to the land whence Io, from whom they sprang, had come. And thither the sons of Ægyptos followed them in hot pursuit._

SCENE.—Argos, _the entrance of the gates. Statues of_ ZEUS,

ARTEMIS, _and other Gods, placed against the walls_

_Enter Chorus of the_ Daughters of DANAOS,[206] _in the dress of
Egyptian women, with the boughs of suppliants in their hands,
and fillets of white wool twisted round them, chanting as they
move in procession to take up their position round the thymele_

Zeus, the God of Suppliants, kindly Look on this our band of wanderers, That from banks at mouths of Neilos, Banks of finest sand, departed![207] Yea, we left the region sacred, Grassy plain on Syria's borders,[208] Not for guilt of blood to exile By our country's edict sentenced, But with free choice, loathing wedlock, Fleeing marriage-rites unholy With the children of Ægyptos. 10 And our father Danaos, ruler, Chief of council, chief of squadrons, Playing moves on fortune's draught-board,[209] Chose what seemed the best of evils, Through the salt sea-waves to hasten, Steering to the land of Argos, Whence our race has risen to greatness; Sprung, so boasts it, from the heifer Whom the stinging gadfly harassed, By the touch of Zeus love-breathing:[210] And to what land more propitious Could we come than this before us, 20 Holding in our hand the branches Suppliant, wreathed with white wool fillets? O State! O land! O water gleaming! Ye the high Gods, ye the awful, In the dark the graves still guarding; Thou too with them, Zeus Preserver,[211] Guardian of the just man's dwelling, Welcome with the breath of pity, Pity as from these shores wafted, Us poor women who are suppliants. And that swarm of men that follow, Haughty offspring of Ægyptos, 30 Ere they set their foot among you On this silt-strown shore,[212]—oh, send them Seaward in their ship swift-rowing; There, with whirlwind tempest-driven, There, with lightning and with thunder, There, with blasts that bring the storm-rain, May they in the fierce sea perish, Ere they, cousin-brides possessing, Rest on marriage-beds reluctant, Which the voice of right denies them!

STROPHE I

And now I call on him, the Zeus-sprung steer,[213] 40 Our true protector, far beyond the sea, Child of the heifer-foundress of our line, Who cropped the flowery mead, Born of the breath, and named from touch of Zeus. *And lo! the destined time *Wrought fully with the name, And she brought forth the “Touch-born,” Epaphos.

ANTISTROPHE I

And now invoking him in grassy fields, 50 Where erst his mother strayed, to dwellers here Telling the tale of all her woes of old, I surest pledge shall give; And others, strange beyond all fancy's dream, Shall yet perchance be found; And in due course of time Shall men know clearly all our history.

STROPHE II

And if some augur of the land be near,
Hearing our piteous cry,
Sure he will deem he hears
The voice of Tereus' bride,[214]
Piteous and sad of soul,
The nightingale sore harassed by the kite. 60

ANTISTROPHE II

*For she, driven back from wonted haunts and streams,[215]
Mourns with a strange new plaint
The home that she has lost,
And wails her son's sad doom,
How he at her hand died,
Meeting with evil wrath unmotherly;

STROPHE III

E'en so do I, to wailing all o'er-given, In plaintive music of Ionian mood,[216] *Vex the soft cheek on Neilos' banks that bloomed, And heart that bursts in tears, And pluck the flowers of lamentations loud, Not without fear of friends, 70 *Lest none should care to help This flight of mine from that mist-shrouded shore.

ANTISTROPHE III

But, O ye Gods ancestral! hear my prayer, Look well upon the justice of our cause, Nor grant to youth to gain its full desire Against the laws of right, But with prompt hate of lust, our marriage bless. *Even for those who come As fugitives in war The altar serves as shield that Gods regard.

STROPHE IV

May God good issue give![217] 80
And yet the will of Zeus is hard to scan:
Through all it brightly gleams,
E'en though in darkness and the gloom of chance
For us poor mortals wrapt.

ANTISTROPHE IV

Safe, by no fall tripped up,
The full-wrought deed decreed by brow of Zeus;
For dark with shadows stretch
The pathways of the counsels of his heart,
And difficult to see.

STROPHE V

And from high-towering hopes He hurleth down 90
To utter doom the heir of mortal birth;
Yet sets He in array
No forces violent;
All that Gods work is effortless and calm:
Seated on holiest throne,
Thence, though we know not how,
He works His perfect will.

ANTISTROPHE V

Ah, let him look on frail man's wanton pride,
With which the old stock burgeons out anew,
By love for me constrained,
In counsels ill and rash, 100
And in its frenzied, passionate resolve
Finds goad it cannot shun;
But in deceivèd hopes,
Shall know, too late, its woe.

STROPHE VI

Such bitter griefs, lamenting, I recount,
With cries shrill, tearful, deep,
(Ah woe! ah woe!)
That strike the ear with mourner's woe-fraught cry.
Though yet alive, I wail mine obsequies;
Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff,[218]
I greet (our alien speech
Thou knowest well, O land,) 110
And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate,
On robe of linen and Sidonian veil.

ANTISTROPHE VI

But to the Gods, for all things prospering well,
When death is kept aloof,
Gifts votive come of right.
Ah woe! Ah woe!
Oh, troubles dark, and hard to understand!
Ah, whither will these waters carry me?
Thee, Apian sea-girt bluff, 120
I greet (our alien speech
Thou knowest well, O land,)
And ofttimes fall, with rendings passionate,
On robe of linen and Sidonian veil.

STROPHE VII

The oar indeed and dwelling, timber-wrought, With sails of canvas, 'gainst the salt sea proof Brought me with favouring gales, By stormy wind unvexed; Nor have I cause for murmur. Issues good May He, the all-seeing Father, grant, that I, 130 Great seed of Mother dread, In time may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, My suitor's marriage-bed.

ANTISTROPHE VII

And with a will that meets my will may She, The unstained child of Zeus, on me look down, *Our Artemis, who guards The consecrated walls; And with all strength, though hunted down, uncaught, May She, the Virgin, me a virgin free, 140 Great seed of Mother dread, That I may 'scape, still maiden undefiled, My suitor's marriage-bed.

STROPHE VIII

But if this may not be,
We, of swarth sun-burnt race,
Will with our suppliant branches go to him,
Zeus, sovereign of the dead,[219]
The Lord that welcomes all that come to him,
Dying by twisted noose 150
If we the grace of Gods Olympian miss.
By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst Io virulent,
The Gods' wrath seeks us out,
And I know well the woe
Comes from thy queen who reigns in heaven victorious;
For after stormy wind
The tempest needs must rage.

ANTISTROPHE VIII

And then shall Zeus to words
Unseemly be exposed,
Having the heifer's offspring put to shame, 160
Whom he himself begat,
And now his face averting from our prayers:
Ah, may he hear on high,
Yea, pitying look and hear propitiously!
By thine ire, Zeus, 'gainst Io virulent,
The Gods' wrath seeks us out,
And I know well the woe
Comes from thy queen, who reigns in heaven victorious;
For after stormy wind 170
The tempest needs must rage.

_Danaos._ My children, we need wisdom; lo! ye came With me, your father wise and old and true, As guardian of your voyage. Now ashore, With forethought true I bid you keep my words, As in a tablet-book recording them: I see a dust, an army's voiceless herald, Nor are the axles silent as they turn; And I descry a host that bear the shield, And those that hurl the javelin, marching on With horses and with curvèd battle-cars. Perchance they are the princes of this land, 180 Come on the watch, as having news of us; But whether one in kindly mood, or hot With anger fierce, leads on this great array, It is, my children, best on all accounts To take your stand hard by this hill of Gods Who rule o'er conflicts.[220] Better far than towers Are altars, yea, a shield impenetrable. But with all speed approach the shrine of Zeus, The God of mercy, in your left hand holding The suppliants' boughs wool-wreathed, in solemn guise,[221] And greet our hosts as it is meet for us, 190 Coming as strangers, with all duteous words Kindly and holy, telling them your tale Of this your flight, unstained by guilt of blood; And with your speech, let mood not overbold, Nor vain nor wanton, shine from modest brow And calm, clear eye. And be not prompt to speak, Nor full of words; the race that dwelleth here Of this is very jealous:[222] and be mindful Much to concede; a fugitive thou art, A stranger and in want, and 'tis not meet That those in low estate high words should speak.

_Chor._ My father, to the prudent prudently 200 Thou speakest, and my task shall be to keep Thy goodly precepts. Zeus, our sire, look on us!

_Dan._ Yea, may He look with favourable eye!

_Chor._ I fain would take my seat not far from thee.

[_Chorus moves to the altar not far from_
DANAOS

_Dan._ Delay not then; success go with your plan.

_Chor._ Zeus, pity us with sorrow all but crushed!

_Dan._ If He be willing, all shall turn out well.

_Chor._ . . . . .

_Dan._ Invoke ye now the mighty bird of Zeus.[223]

_Chor._ We call the sun's bright rays to succour us.

_Dan._ Apollo too, the holy, in that He, 210 A God, has tasted exile from high heaven.[224]

_Chor._ Knowing that fate, He well may feel for men.

_Dan._ So may He feel, and look on us benignly!

_Chor._ Whom of the Gods shall I besides invoke?

_Dan._ I see this trident here, a God's great symbol.[225]

_Chor._ Well hath He brought us, well may He receive!

_Dan._ Here too is Hermes,[226] as the Hellenes know him.

_Chor._ To us, as free, let Him good herald prove.

_Dan._ Yea, and the common shrine of all these Gods Adore ye, and in holy precincts sit, Like swarms of doves in fear of kites your kinsmen, 220 Foes of our blood, polluters of our race. How can bird prey on bird and yet be pure? And how can he be pure who seeks in marriage Unwilling bride from father too unwilling? Nay, not in Hades' self, shall he, vain fool, Though dead, 'scape sentence, doing deeds like this; For there, as men relate, a second Zeus[227] Judges men's evil deeds, and to the dead Assigns their last great penalties. Look up, And take your station here, that this your cause May win its way to a victorious end.

_Enter the_ KING _on his chariot, followed by_ Attendants

_King._ Whence comes this crowd, this non-Hellenic band, 230 In robes and raiment of barbaric fashion So gorgeously attired, whom now we speak to? This woman's dress is not of Argive mode, Nor from the climes of Hellas. How ye dared, Without a herald even or protector, Yea, and devoid of guides too, to come hither Thus boldly, is to me most wonderful. And yet these boughs, as is the suppliant's wont, Are set by you before the Gods of conflicts: By this alone will Hellas guess aright. Much more indeed we might have else conjectured, 240 Were there no voice to tell me on the spot.

_Chor._ Not false this speech of thine about our garb; But shall I greet thee as a citizen, Or bearing Hermes' rod, or city ruling?[228]

_King._ Nay, for that matter, answer thou and speak Without alarm. Palæchthon's son am I, Earth-born, the king of this Pelasgic land; And named from me, their king,[229] as well might be, The race Pelasgic reaps our country's fruits; *And all the land through which the Strymon pours 250 Its pure, clear waters to the West I rule; And as the limits of my realm I mark The land of the Perrhæbi, and the climes Near the Pæonians, on the farther side Of Pindos, and the Dodonæan heights;[230] And the sea's waters form its bounds. O'er all Within these coasts I govern; and this plain, The Apian land, itself has gained its name Long since from one who as a healer lived;[231] For Apis, coming from Naupactian land That lies beyond the straits, Apollo's son, Prophet and healer, frees this land of ours 260 From man-destroying monsters, which the soil, Polluted with the guilt of blood of old, By anger of the Gods, brought forth,—fierce plagues, The dragon-brood's dread, unblest company; And Apis, having for this Argive land Duly wrought out his saving surgery, Gained his reward, remembered in our prayers; And thou, this witness having at my hands, May'st tell thy race at once, and further speak; Yet lengthened speech our city loveth not.

_Chor._ Full short and clear our tale. We boast that we Are Argives in descent, the children true 270 Of the fair, fruitful heifer. And all this Will I by what I speak show firm and true.

_King._ Nay, strangers, what ye tell is past belief For me to hear, that ye from Argos spring; For ye to Libyan women are most like,[232] And nowise to our native maidens here. Such race might Neilos breed, and Kyprian mould, Like yours, is stamped by skilled artificers On women's features; and I hear that those Of India travel upon camels borne, 280 Swift as the horse, yet trained as sumpter-mules, E'en those who as the Æthiops' neighbours dwell. And had ye borne the bow, I should have guessed, Undoubting, ye were of th' Amâzon's tribe, Man-hating, flesh-devouring. Taught by you, I might the better know how this can be, That your descent and birth from Argos come.

_Chor._ They tell of one who bore the temple-keys Of Hera, Io, in this Argive land.

_King._ So was't indeed, and wide the fame prevails: And was it said that Zeus a mortal loved? 290

_Chor._ And that embrace was not from Hera hid.

_King._ What end had then these strifes of sovereign Ones?

_Chor._ The Argive goddess made the maid a heifer.

_King._ Did Zeus that fair-horned heifer still approach?

_Chor._ So say they, fashioned like a wooing steer.

_King._ How acted then the mighty spouse of Zeus?

_Chor._ She o'er the heifer set a guard all-seeing.

_King._ What herdsman strange, all-seeing, speak'st thou of?

_Chor._ Argos, the earth-born, him whom Hermes slew. 300

_King._ What else then wrought she on the ill-starred heifer?

_Chor._ She sent a stinging gadfly to torment her. [Those who near Neilos dwell an _æstros_ call it.]

_King._ Did she then drive her from her country far?

_Chor._ All that thou say'st agrees well with our tale.

_King._ And did she to Canôbos go, and Memphis?

_Chor._ Zeus with his touch, an offspring then begets.

_King._ What Zeus-born calf that heifer claims as mother?

_Chor._ *He from that touch which freed named Epaphos.310

_King._ [_What offspring then did Epaphos beget?_][233]

_Chor._ Libya, that gains her fame from greatest land.

_King._ What other offspring, born of her, dost tell of?

_Chor._ Sire of my sire here, Belos, with two sons.

_King._ Tell me then now the name of yonder sage.

_Chor._ Danaos, whose brother boasts of fifty sons.

_King._ Tell me his name, too, with ungrudging speech.

_Chor._ Ægyptos: knowing now our ancient stock, Take heed thou bid thine Argive suppliants rise.

_King._ Ye seem, indeed, to make your ancient claim To this our country good: but how came ye 320 To leave your father's house? What chance constrained you?

_Chor._ O king of the Pelasgi, manifold Are ills of mortals, and thou could'st not find The self-same form of evil anywhere. Who would have said that this unlooked-for flight Would bring to Argos race once native here, Driving them forth in hate of wedlock's couch?

_King._ What seek'st thou then of these the Gods of conflicts, Holding your wool-wreathed branches newly-plucked?

_Chor._ That I serve not Ægyptos' sons as slave.

_King._ Speak'st thou of some old feud, or breach of right? 330

_Chor._ Nay, who'd find fault with master that one loved?

_King._ Yet thus it is that mortals grow in strength.[234]

_Chor._ True; when men fail, 'tis easy to desert them.

_King._ How then to you may I act reverently?

_Chor._ Yield us not up unto Ægyptos' sons.

_King._ Hard boon thou ask'st, to wage so strange a war.

_Chor._ Nay, Justice champions those who fight with her.

_King._ Yes, if her hand was in it from the first.

_Chor._ Yet reverence thou the state-ship's stern thus wreathed.[235]

_King._ I tremble as I see these seats thus shadowed. 340

STROPHE I

_Chor._ Dread is the wrath of Zeus, the God of suppliants:
Son of Palæchthon, hear;
Hear, O Pelasgic king, with kindly heart.
Behold me suppliant, exile, wanderer,
*Like heifer chased by wolves
Upon the lofty crags,
Where, trusting in her strength,
She lifteth up her voice
And to the shepherd tells her tale of grief.

_King._ I see, o'ershadowed with the new-plucked boughs, *Bent low, a band these Gods of conflict own; And may our dealings with these home-sprung strangers 350 Be without peril, nor let strife arise To this our country for unlooked-for chance And unprovided! This our State wants not.

ANTISTROPHE I

_Chor._ Yea, may that Law that guards the suppliant's right
Free this our flight from harm,
Law, sprung from Zeus, supreme Apportioner,
But thou, [_to the King_,] though old, from me, though younger, learn:
If thou a suppliant pity
Thou ne'er shall penury know,
So long as Gods receive
Within their sacred shrines
Gifts at the hands of worshipper unstained.

_King._ It is not at my hearth ye suppliant sit; But if the State be as a whole defiled, 360 Be it the people's task to work the cure. I cannot pledge my promise to you first Ere I have counselled with my citizens.[236]

STROPHE II

_Chor._ Thou art the State—yea, thou the commonwealth,
Chief lord whom none may judge;
'Tis thine to rule the country's altar-hearth,
With the sole vote of thy prevailing nod;
And thou on throne of state,
Sole-sceptred in thy sway,
Bringest each matter to its destined end;
Shun thou the curse of guilt.

_King._ Upon my foes rest that dread curse of guilt! 370 Yet without harm I cannot succour you, Nor gives it pleasure to reject your prayers. In a sore strait am I; fear fills my soul To take the chance, to do or not to do.

ANTISTROPHE II

_Chor._ Look thou on Him who looks on all from heaven, Guardian of suffering men Who, worn with toil, unto their neighbours come As suppliants, and receive not justice due: For these the wrath of Zeus, Zeus, the true suppliant's God, Abides, by wail of sufferer unappeased. 380

_King._ Yet if Ægyptos' sons have claim on thee By their State's law, asserting that they come As next of kin, who dare oppose their right? Thou must needs plead that by thy laws at home They over thee have no authority.[237]

STROPHE III

_Chor._ Ah! may I ne'er be captive to the might Of males! Where'er the stars Are seen in heaven, I track my way in flight, As refuge from a marriage that I hate. But thou, make Right thy friend, And honour what the Gods count pure and true. 390

_King._ Hard is the judgment: choose not me as judge. But, as I said before, I may not act Without the people, sovereign though I be, Lest the crowd say, should aught fall out amiss, “In honouring strangers, thou the State did'st ruin.”

ANTISTROPHE III

_Chor._ Zeus, the great God of kindred, in these things Watches o'er both of us, Holding an equal scale, and fitly giving To the base evil, to the righteous blessing. Why, when these things are set In even balance, fear'st thou to do right? 400

_King._ Deep thought we need that brings deliverance, That, like a diver, mine eye too may plunge Clear-seeing to the depths, not wine-bedrenched, That these things may be harmless to the State, And to ourselves may issue favourably: That neither may the strife make you its prey, Nor that we give you up, who thus are set Near holy seat of Gods, and so bring in To dwell with us the Avenger terrible, God that destroyeth, who not e'en in Hades 410 Gives freedom to the dead. Say, think ye not That there is need of counsel strong to save?

STROPHE I

_Chor._ Take heed to it, and be Friend to the stranger wholly faithful found; Desert not thou the poor, Driven from afar by godless violence.

ANTISTROPHE I

See me not dragged away,
O thou that rul'st the land! from seat of Gods:
Know thou men's wanton pride, 420
And guard thyself against the wrath of Zeus.

STROPHE II

Endure not thou to see thy suppliant,
Despite of law, torn off,
As horses by their frontlets, from the forms
Of sculptured deities,
Nor yet the outrage of their wanton hands,
Seizing these broidered robes.

ANTISTROPHE II

For know thou well, whichever course thou take,
Thy sons and all thy house
*Must pay in war the debt that Justice claims,
Proportionate in kind. 430
Lay well to heart these edicts, wise and true,
Given by great Zeus himself.

_King._ Well then have I thought o'er it. To this point Our ship's course drives. Fierce war we needs must risk Either with these (_pointing to the Gods_) or those. Set fast and firm Is this as is the ship tight wedged in stocks; And without trouble there's no issue out. For wealth indeed, were our homes spoiled of that, There might come other, thanks to Zeus the Giver, More than the loss, and filling up the freight; 440 And if the tongue should aim its adverse darts, Baleful and over-stimulant of wrath, There might be words those words to heal and soothe. But how to blot the guilt of kindred blood, This needs a great atonement—many victims Falling to many Gods—to heal the woe. *I take my part, and turn aside from strife; And I far rather would be ignorant Than wise, forecasting evil. May the end, Against my judgment, show itself as good!

_Chor._ Hear, then, the last of all our pleas for pity.

_King._ I hear; speak on. It shall not 'scape my heed. 450

_Chor._ Girdles I have, and zones that bind my robes.

_King._ Such things are fitting for a woman's state.

_Chor._ With these then, know, as good and rare device....

_King._ Nay, speak. What word is this thou'lt utter now?

_Chor._ Unless thou giv'st our band thy plighted word....

_King._ What wilt thou do with this device of girdles?

_Chor._ With tablets new these sculptures we'll adorn.

_King._ Thou speak'st a riddle. Make thy meaning plain.

_Chor._ Upon these Gods we'll hang ourselves at once.

_King._ I hear a word which pierces to the heart. 460

_Chor._ Thou see'st our meaning. Eyes full clear I've given.

_King._ Lo then! in many ways sore troubles come. A host of evils rushes like a flood; A sea of woe none traverse, fathomless, This have I entered; haven there is none. For if I fail to do this work for you, Thou tellest of defilement unsurpassed;[238] And if for thee against Ægyptos' sons, Thy kindred, I before my city's walls In conflict stand, how can there fail to be A bitter loss, to stain the earth with blood 470 Of man for woman's sake? And yet I needs Must fear the wrath of Zeus, the suppliant's God; That dread is mightiest with the sons of men. Thou, then, O aged father of these maidens! Taking forthwith these branches in thine arms, Lay them on other altars of the Gods Our country worships, that the citizens May all behold this token of thy coming, And about me let no rash speech be dropped; For 'tis a people prompt to blame their rulers. And then perchance some one beholding them, 480 And pitying, may wax wrathful 'gainst the outrage Of that male troop, and with more kindly will The people look on you; for evermore Men all wish well unto the weaker side.

_Dan._ This boon is counted by us of great price, To find a patron proved so merciful. And thou, send with us guides to lead us on, And tell us how before their shrines to find The altars of the Gods that guard the State, *And holy places columned round about; And safety for us, as the town we traverse. Not of like fashion is our features' stamp; 490 For Neilos rears not race like Inachos.[239] Take heed lest rashness lead to bloodshed here; Ere now, unknowing, men have slain their friends.

_King_ (_to Attendants_). Go then, my men; full well the stranger speaks; And lead him where the city's altars stand, The seats of Gods; and see ye talk not much To passers-by as ye this traveller lead, A suppliant at the altar-hearth of Gods.

[_Exeunt_ DANAOS _and Attendants_

_Chor._ Thou speak'st to him; and may he go as bidden! But what shall I do? What hope giv'st thou me?

_King._ Leave here those boughs, the token of your grief. 500

_Chor._ Lo! here I leave them at thy beck and word.

_King._ Now turn thy steps towards this open lawn.

_Chor._ What shelter gives a lawn unconsecrate?[240]

_King._ We will not yield thee up to birds of prey.

_Chor._ Nay, but to foes far worse than fiercest dragons.

_King._ Good words should come from those who good have heard.

_Chor._ No wonder they wax hot whom fear enthrals.

_King._ But dread is still for rulers all unmeet.

_Chor._ Do thou then cheer our soul by words and deeds.

_King._ Nay, no long time thy sire will leave thee lorn; 510 And I, all people of the land convening, Will the great mass persuade to kindly words; And I will teach thy father what to say. Wherefore remain and ask our country's Gods, With suppliant prayers, to grant thy soul's desire, And I will go in furtherance of thy wish: Sweet Suasion follow us, and Fortune good! [_Exit_

STROPHE I

_Chor._ O King of kings! and blest
Above all blessed ones,
And Power most mighty of the mightiest!
O Zeus, of high estate! 520
Hear thou and grant our prayer!
Drive thou far off the wantonness of men,
The pride thou hatest sore,
And in the pool of darkling purple hue
Plunge thou the woe that comes in swarthy barque.

ANTISTROPHE I

Look on the women's cause;
Recall the ancient tale,
Of one whom Thou did'st love in time of old,
The mother of our race:
Remember it, O Thou
Who did'st on Io lay thy mystic touch.
We boast that we are come
Of consecrated land the habitants, 530
And from this land by lineage high descended.

STROPHE II

Now to the ancient track,
Our mother's, I have passed,
The flowery meadow-land where she was watched,—
The pastures of the herd,
Whence Io, by the stinging gadfly driven,
Flees, of her sense bereft,
Passing through many tribes of mortal men;
And then by Fate's decree
Crossing the billowy straits,
On either side she leaves a continent.[241] 540

ANTISTROPHE II

Now through the Asian land
She hastens o'er and o'er,
Right through the Phrygian fields where feed the flocks;
And passes Teuthras' fort,
Owned by the Mysians,[242] and the Lydian plains;
And o'er Kilikian hills,
And those of far Pamphylia rushing on,
By ever-flowing streams,
On to the deep, rich lands,
And Aphrodite's home in wheat o'erflowing.[243]

STROPHE III

And so she cometh, as that herdsman winged 550 Pierces with sharpest sting, To holy plain all forms of life sustaining, Fields that are fed from snows,[244] Which Typhon's monstrous strength has traversed,[245] And unto Neilos' streams, By sickly taint untouched,[246] Still maddened with her toil of ignominy, By torturing stings driven on, great Hera's frenzied slave.

ANTISTROPHE III

And those who then the lands inhabited,
Quivered with pallid fear, 560
That filled their soul at that unwonted marvel,
Seeing that monstrous shape,
The human joined with brute,
Half heifer, and half form of woman fair:[247]
And sore amazed were they.
Who was it then that soothed
Poor Io, wandering in her sore affright,
Driven on, and ever on, by gadfly's maddening sting?

STROPHE IV

Zeus, Lord of endless time
[Was seen All-working then;]
He, even He, for by his sovereign might
That works no ill, was she from evil freed; 570
And by his breath divine
She findeth rest, and weeps in floods of tears
Her sorrowing shame away;
And with new burden big,
Not falsely 'Zeus-born' named,
She bare a son that grew in faultless growth,

ANTISTROPHE IV

Prosperous through long, long years;
And so the whole land shouts with one accord,
“Lo, a race sprung from him, the Lord of life,
In very deed, Zeus-born! 580
Who else had checked the plagues that Hera sent?”
This is the work of Zeus:
And speaking of our race
That sprang from Epaphos
As such, thou would'st not fail to hit the mark.

STROPHE V

Which of the Gods could I with right invoke As doing juster deeds? He is our Father, author of our life, The King whose right hand worketh all his will, Our line's great author, in his counsels deep Recording things of old, Directing all his plans, the great work-master, Zeus.

ANTISTROPHE V

For not as subject hastening at the beck Of strength above his own,[248] Reigns He subordinate to mightier powers; 590 Nor does He pay his homage from below, While One sits throned in majesty above;[249] Act is for him as speech, To hasten what his teeming mind resolves.

_Re-enter_ DANAOS

_Dan._ Be of good cheer, my children. All goes well With those who dwell here, and the people's voice Hath passed decrees full, firm, irrevocable.

_Chor._ Hail, aged sire, that tell'st me right good news! But say with what intent the vote hath passed, And on which side the people's hands prevail.

_Dan._ The Argives have decreed without division, So that my aged mind grew young again; 600 For in full congress, with their right hands raised Rustled the air as they decreed their vote That we should sojourn in their land as free, Free from arrest, and with asylum rights; And that no native here nor foreigner Should lead us off; and, should he venture force, That every citizen who gave not help Dishonoured should be driven to exile forth. Such counsel giving, the Pelasgian King 610 Gained their consent, proclaiming that great wrath Of Zeus the God of suppliants ne'er would let The city wax in fatness,—warning them That double guilt[250] upon the State would come, Touching at once both guests and citizens, The food and sustenance of sore disease That none could heal. And then the Argive host, Hearing these things, decreed by show of hands, Not waiting for the herald's proclamation, So it should be. They heard, indeed, the crowd Of those Pelasgi, all the winning speech, The well-turned phrases cunning to persuade; But it was Zeus that brought the end to pass.

_Chor._ Come then, come, let us speak for Argives
Prayers that are good for good deeds done; 620
Zeus, who o'er all strangers watches,
May He regard with his praise and favour
The praise that comes from the lips of strangers,
*And guide in all to a faultless issue.

STROPHE I

_Half-Chor. A._ Now, now, at last, ye Gods of Zeus begotten,[251] Hear, as I pour my prayers upon their race, That ne'er may this Pelasgic city raise From out its flames the joyless cry of War, War, that in other fields Reapeth his human crop: For they have mercy shown, And passed their kind decree, 630 Pitying this piteous flock, the suppliants of great Zeus.

ANTISTROPHE I

They did not take their stand with men 'gainst women
Casting dishonour on their plea for help,
*But looked to Him who sees and works from heaven,
*Full hard to war with. Yea, what house could bear
To see Him on its roof
Casting pollution there?[252]
Sore vexing there he sits.
Yes, they their kin revere,
Suppliants of holiest Zeus; 640
Therefore with altars pure shall they the Gods delight.

STROPHE II

Therefore from faces by our boughs o'ershadowed[253]
Let prayers ascend in emulous eagerness:
Ne'er may dark pestilence
This State of men bereave;
May no fierce party strife
Pollute these plains with native carcases;
And may the bloom of youth
Be with them still uncropt;
And ne'er may Aphrodite's paramour, 650
Ares the scourge of men,
Mow down their blossoms fair!

ANTISTROPHE II

And let the altars tended by the old
*Blaze with the gifts of men with hoary hairs;
So may the State live on
In full prosperity!
Let them great Zeus adore,
The strangers' God, the one Supreme on high,
By venerable law
Ordering the course of fate.
And next we pray that ever more and more
Earth may her tribute bear,
And Artemis as Hecate preside[254]
O'er woman's travail-pangs. 660

STROPHE III

Let no destroying strife come on, invading
This city to lay waste,
Setting in fierce array
War, with its fruit of tears,
Lyreless and danceless all,
And cry of people's wrath;
And may the swarm of plagues,
Loathly and foul to see,
Abide far off from these our citizens,
And that Lykeian king, may He be found
Benignant to our youth![255]

ANTISTROPHE III

And Zeus, may He, by his supreme decree, 670
Make the earth yield her fruits
Through all the seasons round,
And grant a plenteous brood
Of herds that roam the fields!
May Heaven all good gifts pour,
And may the voice of song
Ascend o'er altar shrines,
Unmarred by sounds of ill!
And let the voice that loves with lyre to blend
Go forth from lips of blameless holiness,
In accents of great joy!

STROPHE IV

*And may the rule in which the people share
Keep the State's functions as in perfect peace,
E'en that which sways the crowd,
*Which sways the commonwealth, 680
By counsels wise and good;
And to the strangers and the sojourners
May they grant rights that rest on compacts sure,
Ere War is roused to arms,
So that no trouble come!

ANTISTROPHE IV

And the great Gods who o'er this country watch,
May they adore them in the land They guard,
With rites of sacrifice,
And troops with laurel boughs,
As did our sires of old!
For thus to honour those who gave us life,
This stands as one of three great laws on high,[256]
Written as fixed and firm,
The laws of Right revered.

_Dan._ I praise these seemly prayers, dear children mine. 690 But fear ye not, if I your father speak Words that are new, and all unlooked-for by you; For from this station to the suppliant given I see the ship; too clear to be mistaken The swelling sails, the bulwark's coverings, And prow with eyes that scan the onward way,[257] But too obedient to the steerman's helm, Being, as it is, unfriendly. And the men Who sail in her with swarthy limbs are seen, In raiment white conspicuous. And I see 700 Full clear the other ships that come to help; And this as leader, putting in to shore, Furling its sails, is rowed with equal stroke. 'Tis yours, with mood of calm and steadfast soul, To face the fact, and not to slight the Gods. And I will come with friends and advocates; For herald, it may be, or embassy, May come, and wish to seize and bear you off, Grasping their prey. But nought of this shall be; Fear ye not them. It were well done, however, If we should linger in our help, this succour 710 In no wise to forget. Take courage then; In their own time and at the appointed day, Whoever slights the Gods shall pay for it.

STROPHE I

_Chor._ I fear, my father, since the swift-winged ships Are come, and very short the time that's left. A shuddering anguish makes me sore afraid, Lest small the profit of my wandering flight. I faint, my sire, for fear.

_Dan._ My children, since the Argives' vote is passed, Take courage: they will fight for thee, I know. 720

ANTISTROPHE I

_Chor._ Hateful and wanton are Ægyptos' sons, Insatiable of conflict, and I speak To one who knows them. They in timbered ships, Dark-eyed, have sailed in wrath that hits its mark, With great and swarthy host.

_Dan._ Yet many they shall find whose arms are tanned In the full scorching of the noontide heat.[258]

STROPHE II

_Chor._ Leave me not here alone, I pray thee, father! Alone, a woman is as nought, and war Is not for her. Of over-subtle mind, And subtle counsel in their souls impure, 730 Like ravens, e'en for altars caring not,— Such, such in soul are they.

_Dan._ That would work well indeed for us, my children, Should they be foes to Gods as unto thee.

ANTISTROPHE II

_Chor._ No reverence for these tridents or the shrines Of Gods, my father, will restrain their hands: Full stout of heart, of godless mood unblest, Fed to the full, and petulant as dogs, And for the voice of high Gods caring not,— Such, such in soul are they.

_Dan._ Nay, the tale runs that wolves prevail o'er dogs; 740 And byblos fruit excels not ear of corn.[259]

_Chor._ But since their minds are as the minds of brutes, Restless and vain, we must beware of force.

_Dan._ Not rapid is the getting under weigh Of naval squadron, nor their anchoring, Nor the safe putting into shore with cables. Nor have the shepherds of swift ships quick trust In anchor-fastenings, most of all, as now, When coming to a country havenless; And when the sun has yielded to the night, That night brings travail to a pilot wise, 750 [Though it be calm and all the waves sleep still;] So neither can this army disembark Before the ship is safe in anchorage. And thou beware lest in thy panic fear Thou slight the Gods whom thou hast called to help. The city will not blame your messenger, Old though he be, being young in clear-voiced thought. _Exit_

STROPHE I

_Chor._ Ah, me! thou land of jutting promontory
Which justly all revere,
What lies before us? Where in Apian land
Shall we a refuge find,
If still there be dark hiding anywhere?
Ah! that I were as smoke
That riseth full and black
Nigh to the clouds of Zeus, 760
Or soaring up on high invisible,
Like dust that vanishes,
Pass out of being with no help from wings!

ANTISTROPHE I

*E'en so the ill admits not now of flight;
My heart in dark gloom throbs;
My father's work as watcher brings me low;
I faint for very fear,
And I would fain find noose that bringeth death,
In twisted cordage hung,
Before the man I loathe
Draws near this flesh of mine: 770
Sooner than that may Hades rule o'er me
Sleeping the sleep of death!

STROPHE II

Ah, might I find a place in yon high vault,
Where the rain-clouds are passing into snow,
Or lonely precipice
Whose summit none can see,
Rock where the vulture haunts,
Witness for me of my abysmal fall,
Before the marriage that will pierce my heart
Becomes my dreaded doom!

ANTISTROPHE II

I shrink not from the thought of being the prey 780
Of dogs and birds that haunt the country round;
For death shall make me free
From ills all lamentable:
Yea, let death rather come
Than the worse doom of hated marriage-bed!
What other refuge now remains for me
That marriage to avert?

STROPHE III

Yea, to the Gods raise thou
Cloud-piercing, wailing cry
Of songs and litanies,
Prevailing, working freedom out for me: 790
And thou, O Father, look,
Look down upon the strife,
With glance of wrath against our enemies
From eyes that see the right;
With pity look on us thy suppliants,
O Lord of Earth, O Zeus omnipotent!

ANTISTROPHE III

For lo! Ægyptos' house,
In pride intolerable,
O'er-masculine in mood,
Pursuing me in many a winding course,
Poor wandering fugitive,
With loud and wild desires,
Seek in their frenzied violence to seize: 800
But thine is evermore
The force that turns the balance of the scale:
What comes to mortal men apart from Thee?

Ah! ah! ah! ah! *Here on the land behold the ravisher Who comes on us by sea! *Ah, may'st thou perish, ravisher, ere thou Hast stopped or landed here! *I utter cry of wailing loud and long, *I see them work the prelude of their crimes, Their crimes of violence. Ah! ah! Ah me! 810 Haste in your flight for help! The mighty ones are waxing fat and proud, By sea and land alike intolerable. Be thou, O King, our bulwark and defence!

_Enter_ Herald _of the sons of_ ÆGYPTOS, _advancing to
the daughters of_ DANAOS

_Her._ Haste, haste with all your speed unto the barque.

_Chor._ Tearing of hair, yea, tearing now will come,
And print of nails in flesh,
And smiting off of heads,
With murderous stream of blood.

_Her._ Haste, haste ye, to that barque that yonder lies, 820 Ye wretches, curse on you.

STROPHE I

_Chor._ Would thou had'st met thy death
Where the salt waves wildly surge,
Thou with thy lordly pride,
In nail-compacted ship:
*Lo! they will smite thee, weltering in thy blood,
*And drive thee to thy barque.

_Her._ I bid you cease perforce, the cravings wild Of mind to madness given. Ho there! what ho! I say; 830 Give up those seats, and hasten to the ship: I reverence not what this State honoureth.

ANTISTROPHE I

_Chor._ Ah, I may ne'er again
Behold the stream where graze the goodly kine,
Nourished and fed by which[260]
The blood of cattle waxes strong and full!
*As with a native's right,
*And one of old descent,
I keep, old man, my seat, my seat, I say.

_Her._ Nay, in a ship, a ship them shalt soon go, 840
With or without thy will,
By force, I say, by force:
Come, come, provoke not evils terrible,
Falling by these my hands.

STROPHE II

_Chor._ Ah me! ah me!
Would thou may'st perish with no hand to help,
Crossing the sea's wide plain,
In wanderings far and wide,
Where Sarpedonian sand-bank[261] spreads its length,
Driven by the sweeping blasts!

_Her._ Sob thou, and howl, and call upon the Gods: 850 Thou shalt not 'scape that barque from Ægypt come, Though thou should'st pour a bitterer strain of grief.

ANTISTROPHE II

_Chor._ Woe! woe! Ah woe! ah woe, For this foul wrong! Thou utterest fearful things; *Thou art too bold and insolent of speech. *May mighty Nile that reared thee turn away Thy wanton pride and lust That we behold it not!

_Her._ I bid you go to yon ship double-prowed,[262] With all your speed. Let no one lag behind; But little shall my grasp your ringlets spare. 860

[_Seizes on the leader of the Suppliants_

STROPHE III

_Chor._ Ah me! my father, ah! The help of holiest statues turns to woe; He leads me to the sea, With motion spider-like, Or like a dream, a dark and dismal dream, Ah woe! ah woe! ah woe! O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine! Avert that cry of fear, O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth!

_Her._ Nay, I fear not the Gods they worship here; They did not rear nor lead me up to age. 870

ANTISTROPHE III

_Chor._ Near me he rages now,
· · · · ·
That biped snake,
And like a viper bites me by the foot.
Oh, woe is me! woe! woe!
O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine!
Avert that cry of fear,
O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth!

_Her._ If some one yield not, and to yon ship go, The hand that tears her tunic will not pity.

STROPHE IV

_Chor._ Ho! rulers of the State! 880
Ye princes! I am seized.

_Her._ It seems, since ye are slow to hear my words, That I shall have to drag you by the hair.

ANTISTROPHE IV

_Chor._ We are undone, undone! We suffer, prince, unlooked-for outrages,

_Her._ Full many princes, heirs of great Ægyptos, Ye soon shall see. Take courage; ye shall have No cause to speak of anarchy as there.

_Enter_ KING _followed by his_ Bodyguard

_King._ Ho there! What dost thou? and with what intent Dost thou so outrage this Pelasgic land? Dost think thou comest to a town of women? 890 Too haughty thou, a stranger 'gainst Hellenes, And, sinning much, hast nothing done aright.

_Her._ What sin against the right have I then done?

_King._ First, thou know'st not how stranger-guest should act.

_Her._ How so? When I, but finding what I lost....

_King._ Whom among us dost thou then patrons call?

_Her._ Hermes the Searcher, chiefest patron mine.[263]

_King._ Thou, Gods invoking, honourest not the Gods.

_Her._ The Gods of Neilos are the Gods I worship.

_King._ Ours then are nought, if I thy meaning catch. 900

_Her._ These girls I'll lead, if no one rescues them.

_King._ Lay hand on them, and soon thou'lt pay the cost.

_Her._ I hear a word in no wise hospitable.

_King._ Who rob the Gods I welcome not as guests.

_Her._ I then will tell Ægyptos' children this.

_King._ This threat is all unheeded in my mind.

_Her._ But that I, knowing all, may speak it plain, (For it is meet a herald should declare Each matter clearly,) what am I to say? By whom have I been robbed of that fair band Of women whom I claim as kindred? Nay, 910 But it is Ares that shall try this cause, And not with witnesses, nor money down, Settling the matter, but there first must fall Full many a soldier, and of many a life The rending in convulsive agony.

_King._ Why should I tell my name? In time thou'lt know it, Thou and thy fellow-travellers. But these maidens, With their consent and free choice of their wills, Thou may'st lead off, if godly speech persuade them: But this decree our city's men have made With one consent, that we to force yield not This company of women. Here the nail 920 Is driven tight home to keep its place full firm;[264] These things are written not on tablets only, [Nor signed and sealed in folds of byblos-rolls;] Thou hear'st them clearly from a tongue that speaks With full, free speech. Away, away, I say: And with all speed from out my presence haste.