ODES FROM 
 
 THE GREEK DRAMATISTS 
 
 \ 
 
 A. W. POLLARD
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 JlMf^S^ H . 

 
 ODES FROM THE GREEK DRAMATISTS.
 
 1/ 
 
 ODES FROM THE GREEK 
 DRAMATISTS 
 
 TRANSLATED INTO LYRIC METRES 
 BY ENGLISH POETS AND SCHOLARS 
 EDITED BY ALFRED W. POLLARD 
 
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 DAVID STOTT, 370, OXFORD STREET, \V, 
 
 MDCCCXC.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HENDERSON AND SPALDING, PRINTERS, 
 
 3 & 5, MARVLEBONE LANE, W. 
 
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 . * 
 
 76. 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface 
 
 
 
 vii 
 
 Introduction 
 
 
 xi 
 
 .(ESCHYLUS 
 
 ... 
 
 I 
 
 Prometheus Vinctus .. 
 
 398—434 .. 
 
 Mrs. Brouming 
 
 
 887—906 .. 
 
 Mrs. Browning 
 
 Septem c. Thebas .. 
 
 720—791 .. 
 
 Prof. Campbell 
 
 
 848—860 .. 
 
 A. E. Housman 
 
 Persag 
 
 . 65-138 .. 
 
 Miss Szvanwick 
 
 Supplices 
 
 85 — lOI .. 
 
 Prof. Campbell 
 
 Agamemnon ... 
 
 ■ 105—257 •• 
 
 . Dean Milman 
 
 
 160 — 183 .. 
 
 Ernest Myers 
 
 
 355—474 •• 
 
 . E. D. A. .Mors head y 
 
 
 681—781 .. 
 
 . Prof. Campbell 
 
 
 717—735 •■ 
 
 . 11 '. E. Gladstone 
 
 Choephorse 
 
 20 — 83 
 
 Joseph Anstice 
 
 Eumenides 
 
 • 307—396 •• 
 
 . Dean Milman 
 
 Sophocles 
 
 
 65 
 
 Ajax 
 
 • 596—645 . 
 
 . W. M. Praed 
 
 
 693—718 .. 
 
 . Prof. Campbell 
 
 CEdipus Tyrannus .. 
 
 • 151— 215 •■ 
 
 . A. IV. Verrall 
 
 
 863 — 910 .. 
 
 . E. D. A. Morshcad 
 
 CEdipus Coloneu.s 
 
 . 668—719 .. 
 
 . Joseph An slice 
 
 
 1211— -1248 .. 
 
 . A. E. Housman 
 
 Antigone 
 
 • 332—375 • 
 
 . Sir Geo. Young, Bart. 
 
 
 583-625 . 
 
 . E. D. A. Mors head 
 
 
 781—800 . 
 
 . Sir Geo. Young, Bart. 
 
 
 1115— 1154 . 
 
 . Prof Campbell. 
 
 ^i1li\''> 
 
 487GG;
 
 VI 
 
 Table of Contents. 
 
 Euripides 
 
 Medea... 
 
 Hippolytus 
 
 Alcestis 
 
 Helena 
 Hercules Furens 
 
 Bacchae 
 
 Hecuba 
 
 Iphigenia in Aulide ... 
 Cyclops 41—54 
 
 627 — 662 
 525—564 
 
 435—45 + 
 567—605 
 962 — 1005 
 
 1451— 1511 
 348—441 
 
 637—672 
 370—431 
 862 — 911 
 
 444—483 
 
 905—952 
 
 1036 — 1097 
 
 68—81 
 
 511-520 
 
 PAGE 
 
 99 
 
 George Soutar 
 Madame Darmestetcr 
 John Hookham Frere 
 Judge Webb 
 A. E. Housman 
 A. W. Verrall 
 Robert Browning 
 Robert Browning 
 Dean Milman 
 Deau Milman 
 C. Kegan Paul 
 Sir J. T. Coleridge 
 Joseph Anstice 
 Percy Bysshe Shelley 
 Percy Bysshe Shelley 
 
 ISTOPHANES 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 147 
 
 Nubes ... 
 
 275- 
 
 -290 
 
 298—313 • 
 
 . Oscar Wilde 
 
 Aves . . . 
 
 211- 
 
 -222 
 
 227 — 262 . 
 685 — 722 . 
 
 Prof. Kennedy 
 . A. C. Swinburne 
 
 
 737- 
 
 -752 
 
 769—783 . 
 
 . John Hookham Frere 
 
 Ranse ... 
 
 324- 
 
 -336 
 
 340—352 . 
 
 . John Hookham Frere
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 To the average school-boy the Chorus of a Greek Tragedy 
 is an object of mingled hatred and derision — of derision, 
 because at any call for action the attitude of the Chorus 
 is generally characterized by helpless indecision — of 
 hatred, because it was its wont to sing particularly hard 
 Greek. Of the two feelings the hatred arising from the 
 increased labour of "preparation" is probably the stronger, 
 and in some cases it survives so long, that I have heard 
 one of the most successful headmasters of modern times 
 spitefully describe the great ode at the beginning of the 
 Agamemnon^ as " that chorus of Red Indians." Yet, all 
 difficulties of text or interpretation notwithstanding, it 
 may well be that the choral odes from which the Greek 
 drama took its rise may prove in the end one of its most 
 enduring claims to our admiration. The loss of the 
 greater and, as we may conjecture, the better, part of the 
 works of Pindar has raised these choral odes from the 
 Greek dramatists to a position of greatly increased interest 
 and importance, and there is a whole realm of Greek 
 thought and of Greek religion to which they are our only 
 guide. TO print a collection of these odes apart from 
 their contexts may at first sight seem a literary offence, 
 but I would plead that the contexts are likely to be well 
 known to most of my readers, and that in case this little
 
 viii Preface. 
 
 volume should fall into any less learned hands I have in 
 my "Notes" endeavoured briefly to indicate the relation 
 of each chorus to the drama in which it occurs. To the 
 objection that "nobody ever has translated a Greek 
 chorus and nobody ever will," an answer is more difficult. 
 Probably, those of my kind helpers who have approached 
 most nearly to success would be the readiest to confess 
 their failure ; but there are failures and failures, and where 
 entire success, as in the great choruses of /Eschylus, is 
 manifestly impossible, to have failed splendidly establishes 
 a claim to gratitude, which only ignorance or hyper- 
 criticism will refuse to allow. 
 
 It will be observed that all the versions quoted in this 
 volume have been made since the beginning of the present 
 century. I have thus been able to avoid too violent 
 diversities of style, while in my short Introduction and 
 Bibliography I have endeavoured briefly to sketch the 
 history of English verse translations of the Greek 
 dramatists from the sixteenth century to our own time. 
 1 have only further to note, that after much consideration 
 I have thought it better to adopt a uniform Greek text, 
 that of the last Oxford edition of Dindorf's Poetce Scenici, 
 throughout my selection. Variations from this text in the 
 editions used by translators I have endeavoured to record 
 in my Notes. 
 
 The list of the obligations I have incurred in editing 
 this little volume is a long one. I owe my best thanks to 
 Prof. Campbell, Mr. A. E. Housman, Mr. Morshead, 
 Mr. Ernest Myers, Mr. C. Kegan Paul, Mr. George 
 Soutar, and Mr. A. W. Verrall for translations previously 
 unpublished or specially made for this collection ; to
 
 Preface. ix 
 
 Prof. Campbell, Madame Darmesteter, Mr. Gladstone, 
 Mr. Morshead, Miss Swanwick, Mr. Swinburne, Mr. 
 Verrall, Judge Webb, Mr. Oscar Wilde, and Sir George 
 Young for permission to quote translations already pub- 
 lished ; to the representatives of John Hookham Frere, 
 Prof. Kennedy, and Thomas Love Peacock for similar 
 courtesies ; to Mr. John Murray for leave to use the 
 translations of Dean Milman, and to Messrs. Bentley & 
 Son, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., Macmillan & Co., 
 Pickering and Chatto, Ward and Lock, and the Cambridge 
 Greek Play Committee for their cordial liberality. Mr. 
 Browning's pennission to use his translations from the 
 Hercules Furens and that of Mrs. Browning from the 
 Prometheus Vinctus I mention separately, because of the 
 peculiarly kind letter (written from Venice only a few 
 days before his last illness) by which it was accompanied. 
 In closing the list of my obligations I wish also to 
 acknowledge my great debt to Mr. F. W. W^aldock for 
 his unwearied pains in revising the Greek proofs, a task 
 made unusually laborious both by the extreme delicacy of 
 the type and the difficulty of ranging the English versions 
 conveniently with their originals. 
 
 ALFRED W. POLL.\RD.

 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the Catalogue of the EngHsh Books pubHshed before 
 1640, of which copies exist in the British Museum, there 
 is no entry of any kind under the heading yEschylus ; 
 Sophocles is represented only by Watson's translation of 
 the Antigone into Latin verse {London^ 1581, 4to) ; 
 Euripides, by three editions of the Ph(xnissce as " trans- 
 lated and digested into Acte," under the name oijocasta, 
 by George Gascoigne and F. Kinwelmershe ; Aristophanes 
 only by a Greek text of the Knights, published by 
 J. Barnes at Oxford in 1593. The study of Greek made 
 slow progress in England after the first enthusiasm 
 begot by the Oxford Reformers had spent itself, but the 
 dramatists fared even especially badly in comparison with 
 other authors. Thus of Homer before 1640 there had 
 appeared not only Chapman's renowned translation, of 
 which successive instalments were issued between 1 598 
 and 1616, but a Greek text printed by Bishop in 1591, a 
 Clavis Homerica, and versions of the Batrachomyotnachia 
 by Fowldes, and of ten books of the Iliad translated by 
 Hall from the French. Of Herodotus, as Mr. Lang has 
 lately reminded us, Barnaby Rich Englished the first and 
 second books in i 584. Thucydides had been translated 
 through the French as early as 1550, and the version by 
 the philosopher Hobbes appeared in 1629. The Cyro-
 
 xii Introduction. 
 
 f>cvdia and the CEconomicus of Xcnophon also existed in 
 numerous fonns, and the Anabasis found a transhitor in 
 J. Bingham in 1623. The Hst could easily be extended, 
 but is perhaps already long enough to prove our point 
 that in the i6th Century the dramatists were among the 
 least favoured of the Greek classics. With professed 
 scholars, amid whom we must reckon some learned and 
 royal ladies, they certainly found a home. In his Apolo- 
 gie for Poetrie Sir Philip Sidney quotes from the Ajax 
 and the Medea, and we know that the works of Sophocles 
 and Euripides formed part of the library of Mary, Queen 
 of Scots. In Ascham's Scolemaster these two authors 
 are frequently referred to. In his judgment — 
 
 " In Tragedies (the goodliest Argument of All, 
 and for the use, either of a learned preacher or a 
 ' civill gentleman, more profitable than Homer, Pindar, 
 
 Virgin and Horace, yea, comparable in myne opinion, 
 with the doctrine of Aristotle, Plato, and Xenophon), 
 the Grecians, Sophocles and Euripides, far over- 
 match our Seneca in Latin, namely in oiKovojuia et 
 decnro, although Senecaes elocution and verse be 
 verie commendable for his tyme." 
 
 In another place Ascham reckons all the four Greek 
 dramatists of whom we possess works as among the 
 authors " of w hich, I thank God, even my poor studie 
 lacketh not one." We may conjecture, however, without 
 serious injustice, that he was somewhat less familiar with 
 yEschylus than with Sophocles and Euripides, whom he 
 quotes and praises much more freely. The unfortunate 
 lacuna by which in the editio princeps of ^schylus 
 (Venice, 1518) no less than 1268 verses were omitted
 
 Introduction. xiii 
 
 from the Aga?nemnon, must have seriously damaged the 
 poet's fame, and even if Ascham possessed the 1552 
 edition, the first in which the mistake was rectified, the 
 labours of some generations of commentators were needed 
 before the splendour of the greatest Greek poet could 
 be fully appreciated. It may be mentioned that one play 
 of Aristophanes, and perhaps only one, the Pint us, in 
 which he turns his back on the Old Comedy, was certainly 
 popular in the i6th century. John Dome, the Oxford 
 bookseller, sold nearly a dozen copies of it, mostly how- 
 ever in Latin, in the course of a single year. Of the other 
 plays we hear little or nothing till the edition of the 
 Eqidtes by Barnes in 1593. 
 
 The Jocasta of Gascoigne and Kinwelmershe has some 
 claim on our attention, not only as the first English 
 imitation of a Greek tragedy, but also for its intrinsic 
 merits, which are not inconsiderable. The play was 
 composed in 1566, and of its five acts Gascoigne was 
 responsible for the second, third, and last, and his 
 collaborator for the first and fourth. Their treatment of 
 their original was exceedingly free, and in the choruses 
 they borrow little more than a general idea. Chaucer's 
 seven-line stanza was their favourite metre, and in the 
 following variation on the theme w noAujuoxOoq "ApHg 
 {PhcsnisscE, 783, etc.), Gascoigne uses it with fine effect. 
 
 O fierce and furious God, whose harmfull harte, 
 
 Rejoyceth most to shed the giltlesse blood, 
 
 Whose headie wil doth all the world subvert. 
 
 And doth envie the pleasant mery moode, 
 
 Of our estate that erst in quiet stoode, 
 
 Why doest thou thus our harmeless towne annoye 
 
 Which mighlie Bacchus governed in joye ?
 
 xiv Jnffodudion. 
 
 Father of warre and death, that dost remove 
 With wrath full wrecke from wofull mothers' breast, 
 The trustie pledges of their tender love. 
 So graunt the Gods, that for our finall rest, 
 Dame Venus' pleasant lookes may please thee best, 
 Wherby when thou shalt all amazed stand. 
 The sword may fall out of thy trembling hand. 
 
 And thou maist prove some other way full well 
 The bloudie prowesse of thy mightie speare, 
 Wherwith thou raisest from the depth of hell, 
 The wrathful) sprites of all the furies there, 
 Who when they wake, do wander every where, 
 And never rest to range aboute the coastes, 
 T' enriche that pit with spoile of damned ghostes. 
 
 And when thou hast our fieldes forsaken thus. 
 Let cruell discorde beare thee companie. 
 Engirt with snakes and serpents venemous, 
 Even she that can with red vermilion dye 
 The gladsome greene that florished pleasantly, 
 And make the greedie grounde a drinking cup, 
 To sup the bloud of murdered bodyes up. 
 
 Yet thou returne, O joye and pleasant peace. 
 From whence thou didst against our will departe, 
 Ne let thy worthie minde from travell cease, 
 To chase disdaine out of the poysoned harte. 
 That raised warre to all our paynes and smarte, 
 Even from the brest of Oedipus his sonne, 
 Whose swelling pride hath all this jarre begonne. 
 
 And thou, great God, that doth all things decree. 
 And sitst on highe above the starrie skies. 
 Thou chiefest cause of causes all that bee. 
 Regard not his offence but heare our cries, 
 And speedily redresse our miseries ; 
 For what can we poore wofull wretches doe 
 But crave thy aide, and onely cleave thereto ?
 
 Introduction. xv 
 
 There is some good poetry in this, especially in the 
 fourth stanza, but very little of Euripides. Yet, had the 
 drama in England followed the course which Sir Phihp 
 Sidney unwisely desired for it, Gascoigne's yocasta might 
 well claim to be reckoned as a landmark in its history. 
 Happily, however, for England, the hot blood that ran in 
 the veins of the Elizabethan poets refused to be regulated 
 by the frigidity of Seneca, or even by the more human 
 example of Euripides, and the Jocasta remained without 
 an imitator. Putting aside minute points, such as 
 possible reminiscences of Aristophanes in Ben Jonson, 
 it may be said broadly that the English drama, in the 
 age when it attained its most splendid development, was 
 not only uninfluenced by, but superbly unconscious of, its 
 Greek predecessor. Lovers of English literature have, 
 on the whole, no cause to regret this unconsciousness ; 
 nor, in any case, is this the place to consider how far it 
 might have been possible for classical models to have 
 steadied without deadening the tumultuous life which 
 in our English dramatists, so quickly wore itself to 
 decay. 
 
 One thing only, from the special point of view of this 
 volume, we may surely regret — that no one of the greater 
 Elizabethans ever deigned to translate a lyric passage 
 from his Attic forerunners. The translation would very 
 possibly have been inaccurate ; so are Shelley's. But, as 
 with Shelley, so with the Elizabethan lyrists, in even the 
 second-best of their verse there is a magic and a charm 
 which we look for in vain in numberless poe's not 
 undeservedly called great, and which is rarely found in 
 translations, even at their best. For a play of /Eschylus
 
 xvi Introdttdion. 
 
 translated by Marlowe, for a play of Sophocles translated 
 by Shakespeare, for a play of Euripides translated by 
 Webster, it is idle to speculate what we could afford to 
 surrender in exchange ; but we may well hurl our curse 
 at the slothfulness of the En<jlish scholars who left 
 Shakespeare to search for his classical themes in North's 
 Plutarch, and would not provide the greatest of all 
 adapters with a prose version of a Greek dramatist from 
 which to steal. 
 
 The century which followed the composition o'i Jocasta 
 thus contains few facts of any importance for the histoi-y 
 of the Greek drama in England. In 1649 such similarity 
 as could be traced between the execution of Charles I. 
 and the murder of Agamfemnon induced Christopher 
 Wase to publish at the Hague a very poor verse transla- 
 tion of the Electra, which he dedicated to the Princess 
 Elizabeth. In 165 1 appeared T. Randolph's prose 
 comedy, Hey for Honesty ! Down with Knavery ! 
 founded on the Phttiis of Aristophanes, and eight 
 years later a more formal translation was made by 
 a certain H. B. Besides these works, we need only 
 note, in passing, the affection of Milton for Euripides, 
 his hesitation between tragic and epic models for his 
 Paradise Lost, and his adoption of the form of Greek 
 tragedy for his Samson Agonistes (1671). But in 1663 
 Thomas Stanley published, in London, his notable edition 
 of^schylus, with a Latin translation and commentary; 
 and two years later there appeared, at Cambridge, the 
 first instalment of a Greek and Latin edition of Sophocles. 
 Of Euripides, whose popularity in England had begun so 
 much earlier than that of ^Eschylus, a complete edition
 
 Ifitroduction. xvii 
 
 was delayed until 1694 {J. Hayes : Cantabrigice), and the 
 Aristophanes published in 1695 only contained two plays, 
 the Plutus and the Clouds. But we may reckon that by 
 the end of the seventeenth century the study of the 
 Greek dramatist had engaged the serious attention of 
 English scholars, and begin to look for its results in more 
 popular forms. 
 
 As we have seen, the yocasta of Gascoigne bore only 
 a distant resemblance to the Phccnisscc, its nominal 
 original and Wase's Electra is beneath contempt. 
 The first important verse translations from the Greek 
 tragedians must thus be assigned to the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century. The honour of publishing them 
 belongs to Bernard Lintott, who appears to have planned 
 an elaborate series of monthly volumes, the progress of 
 which was prematurely stopped, probably from ^\•ant of 
 sufficient support. The first volume of the series was an 
 anonymous version (by Lewis Theobald) of the Ajax of 
 Sophocles ; and in justice to Lintott's memory I quote 
 some sentences of Wis address, "The Publisher to the 
 Reader," as a record of his good intentions : — 
 
 " The Reputation of the Ancient Greek Tragedy is so univer- 
 sally known, that there can be no occasion for an apology to 
 usher in a Translation of 'em. I will only beg leave, therefore, 
 to acquaint you with my present Design in the prosecution of 
 that Attempt and the manner in which 1 intend to execute it. 
 
 "I have by me the Tragedies of .'lischylus, Sophocles, and 
 Euripides, Translated into English blank Verse ; they are all, 
 as I have been assur'd by several Gentlemen of allow'd Judg- 
 ment in these Matters, very exactly done from the Greek ; the 
 sense of the several Authors is everywhere very faithfully given ; 
 and vvhere-ever the regard which was necessary to be had to our 
 own Language would allow of it, the Translation is so near the
 
 xviii Introduction, 
 
 Original, as to be of use to the Learners of the Greelc Language, 
 by the assistance it may give them in the construction of these 
 Authors ; and wherever the Translators have tieen obliged to 
 take more than ordinary Liberty in departing from the words 
 of the Text, Care is taken at the same time to give the literal 
 interpretation of the Greek in the Notes. Tho' this Transla- 
 tion (as it is but a Translation, and by its nature consequently 
 confin'd and cramp'd in the L^iction) may not come u]:) to that 
 Beauty of Language and Expression which is to be found in 
 some of the best of our Original English Tragedies; yet it is 
 hop'd that nothing will be found in the Stile, that is either 
 Cold, Mean, or absolutely below this kind of Writing . . . 
 
 ' ' I have given the publick the Ajax of Sophocles as a speci- 
 men of my Undertaking. If they think fit to encourage it, I 
 intend to give 'em one every Month, till I have gone thro' all 
 the Greek Tragedies. 
 
 " I had forgot to observe, that when the Works of any one 
 Author (as .Eschylus) are compleated, there will be an Account 
 of his Life, and a proper Critical Preface prefix'd before 'em." 
 
 The anonymous version of the Ajax (17 14), to which 
 Lintott prefixed this modest address, was followed by the 
 Electra (17 14) and the CEdipus Tyratinus (17 15), to both 
 of which Theobald put his name, dedicating the former 
 to Addison and the latter to the Earl of Rockingham. 
 Who were the other members of Lintott's band of trans- 
 lators we have no means of knowing, for the series 
 never went beyond the third volume. It is possible 
 that Theobald contemplated executing the whole series 
 himself, as in 17 15, when Lintott was presumably tired of 
 the speculation, prose versions of the Clouds and the 
 Plutus of Aristophanes were published for Theobald by 
 Jonas Brown. The following chorus from the CEdipus 
 Rex shows the translator at his best, and I therefore give 
 it as a specimen of his powers : —
 
 Introduction. xix 
 
 O may it ever be my Fate 
 
 Justly those sacred Truths to rate ; 
 
 And those blest Laws that have their Rise 
 
 From Wisdom lodg'd above the Skies, 
 
 Those which the Olympian King alone 
 
 Dictates from his eternal Throne, 
 
 (Unlike to those weak mortals frame), 
 
 Live unabolish'd, still the same ! 
 Sprung from the God, replete with heav'nly Fire, 
 They baffle Time, and keep their Strength entire. 
 
 The Tyrant and illegal Man 
 
 From Pride and rash Contempt began ; 
 
 Pride and Contempt that left him high 
 
 O'er Mountains of Impiety ; 
 
 Till plac'd aloft he dazzled grows. 
 
 And in his Fear his Hold foregoes. 
 
 O ! may the City's Cares succeed, 
 
 Nor envying Fates their search mislead. 
 With ardent humble Prayr's the Gods 111 move ; 
 The Gods shall still my kind Protectors prove 1 
 
 But whoe'er in Word or Deed 
 
 Does from the sacred Laws recede, 
 
 No divine Resentments fearing, 
 
 Nor the hallow'd Shrines revering. 
 
 If licentious Ease beguile him, 
 
 If dishonest Gai/is defile him, 
 If he pursue corrupting Pleasure, 
 Or grasps at unpermitted Treasure, 
 
 Some rigid Doom his (iuilt o'ertake ! 
 
 Else who hereafter will controul 
 
 The Sallies of his impious Soul? 
 
 If no avenging Judgments shake 
 
 The triumphs of the dissolute, 
 
 'Tis time th' instructive Choirs be mute. 
 
 Let mistaking zeal no more 
 
 The Truths of Oracles adore ; 
 
 No more to th' Lycian Temples pressing, 
 
 Or th" Olympian God addressing
 
 XX Litroduction. 
 
 If Apollo do not right him 
 
 On the impious doubts, that slight him : 
 Put thou Eternal Jove ! that bearest 
 Rule Universal ; if thou hearest 
 
 The dire Neglect, avenge thy Son. 
 
 For all th' Oracl'ous Truths of old, 
 
 That were to wretched Laius told. 
 
 Have lost their credit and Renown. 
 
 Apollo's Honours sink apace, 
 
 All the Deity gives place. 
 
 Though Lintott's projected series came to an untimely 
 end, the study of the Greek dramatists continued to 
 make its way during the first half of the eighteenth 
 century. It may rather, however, be said to have shared 
 in the increased attention devoted to Greek poetry in 
 general, as witnessed by the success of Pope's Homer 
 and by the versions of Sappho and Anacreon by Ambrose 
 Philipps, than to have itself specially advanced in public 
 favour. The Hecuba of Euripides formed the ground- 
 work of a tragedy published by Richard West in 1726, 
 and another version was made by T. Morell in 1749, a 
 year which also saw the publication of a rendering of the 
 ipliigaicia in Taitris as part of Gilbert West's edition of 
 Pindar. In 1758 a renewed attempt was made to 
 present the complete works of a Greek dramatist in an 
 adequate English translation, and this time with better 
 success. The translator was Thomas Francklin, Professor 
 of Greek in the University of Cambridge ; and the two 
 handsome ciuarto volumes of his version of Sophocles 
 were dedicated, by special permission, to the Prince of 
 Wales, and subscribed for by so many noblemen, states- 
 men, and classical scholars, that their names fill twenty
 
 Introduction. xxi 
 
 columns. Francklin has lately been acclaimed as the 
 best of the eighteenth century translators from the 
 dramatists — no very high distinction — and he is perhaps 
 a little less purely declamatory than Potter ; but the 
 following version of a chorus from the Trachinice does 
 not impress me as the work of a great artist, though I 
 think it is at least a fair specimen of the translator's 
 powers : — 
 
 On thee we call, great god of day 
 To whom the night, with all her starry train, 
 
 Yields her solitary reign, 
 To send us some propitious ray : 
 Say thou, whose all-beholding eye 
 Doth nature's every part descry. 
 What dang'rous ocean, or what laud unknown 
 From Deianira keeps Alcniena's valiant son. 
 
 For she nor joy nor comfort knows. 
 But weeps her absent lord, and vainly tries 
 To close her ever-streaming eyes. 
 
 Or sooth her sorrows to repose : 
 Like the sad bird of night, alone 
 She makes her solitary moan ; 
 And still, as on her widow'd bed recHn'd 
 She lyes, unnumber'd fears perplex her anxious mind. 
 
 Ev'n as the troubled billows roar, 
 When angry Boreas rules th' inclement skies 
 And waves on waves tumultuous rise 
 
 To lash the Cretan shore : 
 Thus sorrows still on sorrows prest, 
 Fill the great Alcides' breast ; 
 Unfading yet shall his fair virtues bloom, 
 And some protecting god preserve him from the lonib.
 
 XX ii Introduction. 
 
 Wherefore, to better thoughts inclin'd, 
 Let us with hope's fair prospect fill thy breast, 
 Calm thy anxious thoughts to rest, 
 
 And ease thy troubled mind : 
 No bliss on man, unmix'd with woe, 
 Doth Jove, great lord of all, bestow ; 
 But good with ill and pleasure still with pain. 
 Like heaven's revolving signs, alternate reign. 
 
 Not always do the shades of night remain. 
 
 Nor ever with hard fate is man oppressed ; 
 The wealth that leaves us may return again, 
 Sorrow and joy successive fill the breast. 
 Fearless then of every ill. 
 Let cheerful hope support thee still ; 
 Remember, queen, there is a pow'r above ; 
 And when did the great Father, careful Jove, 
 Forget his children dear, and kind paternal love? 
 
 Francklin's translation appears to have been regarded 
 as a success ; and a new edition was published in 1766, 
 with the addition of a dissertation on Greek tragedy by 
 the translator. In the year of its first publication (1759) 
 interest in the Greek theatre had also been fanned by an 
 English version of Pfere Brumoy's Thiatre des Grecs, in 
 which Mrs. Lennox was assisted by several English 
 scholars, amongst others, by Dr. Johnson. In 1774, 
 Michael Wodhull (now, perhaps, best known as a col- 
 lector of books and an employer of the most famous of 
 English binders, Roger Payne) issued proposals for a 
 translation of Euripides, but his leisurely methods of 
 work caused him to be anticipated by Robert Potter, 
 Vicar of Lowestoft, among whose defects that of lack 
 of industry can assuredly not be reckoned. To Potter 
 belongs the unique distinction of having rendered into
 
 Introduction. xxiii 
 
 English verse the whole of the tragedies of /Eschykis, 
 Sophocles, and Euripides, which have come down to us 
 intact. His version of /Eschylus appeared in i777-7^i 
 and reached a second edition the following year. In 
 1 78 1 he published the first volume of his Euripides, and 
 the second in 1783. But here he had no longer the field 
 to himself, for in 1780 had appeared an anonymous trans- 
 lation (by J. Bannister) of four tragedies of Euripides, 
 and in 1782 VVodhull, awakened from his sleep, produced, 
 ifi four quarto volumes, a version, not only of the nineteen 
 tragedies still extanf, but of the Fragments as well. 
 Under these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that 
 none of the rival translations attained, during the century 
 in which it was issued, the honours of a second edition. 
 Potter's friends, however, urged him to continue his 
 task ; and, undaunted by the comparative failure of his 
 Euripides, or by the high reputation of the existing 
 version by Francklin, he set to work on the tragedies of 
 Sophocles ; and in 1788 this last fruit of his classical 
 labours was issued from the press. 
 
 Of Potter's merits as a translator, more particularly as 
 a translator of choral odes, it is not easy to speak quite 
 fairly. Some tenderness is due to a man of so much 
 industry and enthusiasm, and, when viewed in con- 
 nection with the poetry of the time, his work will appear 
 something more than creditable. When Dr. Johnson 
 published his depreciatory estimate of Gray, Potter 
 became the poet's apologist ; and his choral translations 
 are not without traces of Gray's influence. Here is a 
 bit from the Septein contra T/iedas, whidi seems to me 
 a fair example of his work : —
 
 xxiv Introduction. 
 
 Woe, woe, intolerable woe ! 
 
 Fierce from their camps the hosts advance. 
 
 Before their march with thund'ring tread 
 Proud o'er the plain their fiery coursers prance. 
 
 And hither bend their footsteps dread : 
 
 Yon cloud of dust that chokes the air, 
 
 A true tho' tongueless messenger, 
 
 Marks plain the progress of the foe. 
 
 And now the horrid clash of arms, 
 That, like the torrent, whose impetuous tide 
 
 Roars down the mountain's craggy side, 
 
 Shook the wide fields with fierce alarms, 
 
 With nearer terrors strikes our souls, 
 
 And thro' our chaste recesses rolls : 
 Hear, all ye pow'rs of Heav'n, propitious hear, 
 And check the furies of this threat'ning war ! 
 
 This is fair declamatory verse ; and, both in his choruses 
 and his decasyllabics (as, for instance, in the speech of 
 Haemon to Creon in the Antigone) it is in declamation 
 that Potter shows to the best advantage. But, though in 
 his comparative lyrical incapacity he belongs to the poets 
 of an older school, his work has some claims to attention 
 in relation to the great outburst of poetry which marked 
 the opening years of the nineteenth century. It is surely 
 noteworthy that the decade which heralded the poetical 
 return to Nature in the first works of Burns, Cowper, 
 and Crabbe, was the same in which the complete works 
 of the Greek tragedians were for the first time made 
 accessible to English readers. There is the less reason 
 to suppose the coincidence to have been purely acci- 
 dental when we look forward to the years in which 
 Wordsworth, Scott, Byron, and Coleridge were writing 
 their best. Potter died in 1804, at a great age, having 
 seen only one of his translations attain a second edition.
 
 Introduction. xxv 
 
 But in 1808 all his three versions were reprinted, and 
 new editions of his yEschylus were published in 1809 
 and 1 8 19, and of his Euripides in 1814. In 1809 also 
 re-issues were demanded, both of Francklin's Sophocles 
 and of Wodhull's Euripides. The poets of the beginning 
 of the century were too busy with great original work to 
 give themselves seriously to the labour of translation ; 
 and Potter, Wodhull, and Francklin were allowed to 
 retain the field. But, under the influence of Porson, 
 English scholarship had at last fully awakened to the 
 splendour of the Greek drama, and the number of texts 
 and critical editions published between 1800 and 1830 
 affords the greatest possible contrast to our previous 
 apathy. 
 
 The revival of the practice of translation began with 
 Mitchell's Aristophanes (1820-22). Boyd's version of the 
 A gamemnon followed in 1823 ; and three other transla- 
 tions of this play were published before the close of 1832 
 — the most noticeable that by John Symmons, the others 
 by J. S. Harford and Thomas Medwin, the friend of 
 Shelley. In 1824 a new version of Sophocles was 
 published by the Rev. Thomas Dale, of Corpus Christi 
 College, Cambridge. This has never been reprinted, but 
 has certainly more poetic merit than either Francklin's 
 or Potter's. The following chorus from the CEdipus 
 Coloneus is far too free a paraphrase to deserve 
 enthusiastic praise, but in rhythm and feeling affords 
 an agreeable change to the turgid rhetoric of earlier 
 versions : —
 
 xxvi Introduction. 
 
 If to thee, eternal (Jueen, 
 Empress of the worlds unseen ; 
 Mighty Pluto, if to thee, 
 Hells terrific Deity, 
 Lips of mortal mould may dare 
 Breathe the solemn suppliant prayer. 
 Grant the stranger swift release, 
 Bid the mourner part in peace, 
 Guide him where in silence deep 
 All that once were mortal sleep. 
 Since relentless Fate hath shed 
 Sorrows o'er thy guiltless head. 
 In thy pangs let mercy stay thee, 
 In the grave let rest repay thee. 
 
 Powers of Night ! Infernal Maids ! 
 Monster-guardian of the shades ! 
 Who, as antique legends tell, 
 Keep'st the brazen porch of Hell, 
 And with ceaseless yell dost rave 
 Fearful from thy gloomy cave ; 
 Thou, whose mighty bulk of yore 
 Earth to sable Tartarus bore ; 
 Veil thy terrors, quell thine anger. 
 Gently meet the passing stranger. 
 Sinking now with welcome speed 
 To the dwellings of the dead. 
 Thou, the ward of Hell who keepest ! 
 I'hou, the guard who never sleepest ! 
 
 The merits and defects of this translation are closely 
 similar to those which mark the work of Joseph Anstice, 
 one of the earliest translators, whom I have laid under 
 contribution for the present volume. Anstice's versions 
 are almost always full of music and grace, though they 
 lack power, and too frequently descend to mere para- 
 phrase. The publication of his volume of choruses, save 
 
 '\
 
 Introduction. xxvii 
 
 in its single authorship and the absence of the Greek 
 text, so closely similar in plan to my own, may fully bring 
 to a close this brief survey of the most noteworthy 
 translations from the Greek dramatists, down to the 
 period from which my selection begins. 
 
 ALFRED W. POLLARD.
 
 I
 
 /tSCHYLUS.
 
 ^schyliis. 
 
 PROMETHEUS VINCTUS. 
 398—434. 
 
 arevco ce tc(q ouAoMevaq OTp. 
 
 Tuxaq, rTpojuH9eG, 
 baKpuaiaraKTOv 6' an' oaacov 
 paoivobv Aeipojueva peoQ napeiav 
 voTioiQ erefta nafatq* 
 a)U€fapTa fctp Td5e Zeu^ 
 i5ioiQ vojliok; Kparuvcov 
 unepHtpavov 0eoT(; toiq 
 fnupog 'ev, beiKvuaiv alxjuav. < v 
 
 npcnaaa &' h5h OTOvoev ttvr, 
 
 AeAaKe X'^po'i 
 
 f-iefaAoaxHjuova t" opxai- 
 
 onpenfi * * arevouai tuv gov 
 
 SuvojuaiMOvcov re Ti.uav, 
 
 onoaoi t' enoiKov dfvu*; 
 
 'Aolac; £5oq vejuovrai, 
 
 juefaAosTovoiai ooic; hk- 
 
 inaci aufKojuvouai evHToi* 
 
 KoAxiboc Te fOQ tvoiKOi arp. 
 
 napOevoi, judx'^'i aTpearoi, 
 Koi ZkuBhq ojuiAog, 01 j-aq 
 eoXOTOv Tonov ajucpi Maioo- 
 Tiv exouai Aijuvav, 
 
 ' Apagiai; t' dpeiov av9oq, dvr. 
 
 uH/iKpHjuvov 6' 01 noAiojua 
 KauKaaou neAac vejiovrai, 
 bdiOQ OTparbq, ciSunpwpoi- 
 Gi ppejLicov €V aixM«it.
 
 PROMETHEUS VINCTUS. 
 
 398—434. 
 
 I MOAN thy fate, I moan for thee, 
 
 Prometheus ! From my eyes too tender, 
 Drop after drop incessantly \ 
 
 The tears of my heart's pity render 
 My cheeks wet from their fountains free ; 
 Because that Zeus, the stern and cold, 
 Whose law is taken from his breast, 
 Uplifts his sceptre manifest 
 Over the gods of old. 
 
 All the land is moaning 
 With a murmured plaint to-day ; 
 
 All the mortal nations 
 
 Having habitations 
 In the holy Asia 
 
 Are a dirge entoning 
 For thine honour and thy brothers', 
 Once majestic beyond others 
 
 In the old belief, — 
 Now are groaning in the groaning 
 ~ Of thy deep-voiced grief. 
 
 Mourn the maids inhabitant 
 
 Of the Colchian land. 
 Who with white, calm bosoms stand 
 
 In the battle's roar : 
 Mourn the Scythian tribes that haunt 
 The verge of earth, Mseotis' shore. 
 
 Yea ! Arabia's battle-crown 
 And dwellers in the beetling town 
 Mount Caucasus sublimely nears, — 
 An iron squadron, thundering down 
 With the sharp-prowed spears.
 
 i 
 
 yEschy/us. 
 
 jLiovov tn npooBev aA\ov ev novoiq 
 
 6aiiivT c(KUMavTo5feToi<; 
 
 TiTuva AuMciiQ ebi66.uav Gccv 
 
 'AtAov, eg al'ev umpoxov aSevoq 
 
 Kparaibv foc; oupctviov re noAov 
 
 voJTOiq 6x<iv axeva^ei. 
 
 Pou 6'e ncvTioc kAuIcov 
 
 SuMniTvcov, GTtvei PuSbc, 
 
 Ke\aiv( Q "Ai'boc b' uno^pejuei MuxoQ r^C) 
 
 nufui 9' OfvopuTcov norajuwv 
 
 CJTtVOUaiV OAfOQ oiKTpcv. 
 
 PROMETHEUS VINCTUS. 
 887—906. 
 
 H 30(pb(; H G096(; qq jjp. 
 
 nptoToq ev fvojju? t66' e^dcrrase Kal f\cba- 
 
 oa 5ieMu6o/\6fHaev, 
 
 (be TO KHbeuaai koS' eau- 
 
 Tov apiSTeuei jnoKpo)- / 
 
 Kol jUHTe Ta)V nAou- . ^^4.*) 
 
 TCp OiaBpUTTTOiUeVCOV .V**'*^' yy^ ; 
 
 , ^^/<">' MHTe Twv revva Mefc^'JVOMevcov <"^ , „ 
 
 ovTO xepvHTOv cpaaxeGsai fdjiwy. itr^'^\
 
 u^schylus. 5 
 
 But one other before have I seen to remain 
 
 liy invincible pain 
 Bound and vanquished, — one Titan ! 'twas Atlas, who 
 
 bears 
 In a curse from the gods, by that strength of his own 
 
 Which he evermore wears, 
 The weight of the heaven on his shoulder alone, 
 
 While he sighs up the stars ; 
 And the tides of the ocean wail bursting their bars,— 
 
 Murmurs still the profound, 
 And black Hades roars up through the chasm of the 
 
 ground, 
 And the fountains of pure-running rivers moan low 
 
 In a pathos of woe. 
 
 Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
 PROMETHEUS VINXTUS. 
 887—906. 
 
 Oh, wise was he, oh, wise was he 
 Who first within his spirit knew, 
 And with his tongue declared it true, 
 That love comes best that comes unto 
 
 The equal of degree ! 
 And that the poor and that the low 
 Should seek no love from those above 
 Whose souls are fluttered with the flow 
 Of airs about their golden height, 
 Or proud because they see a-row 
 Ancestral crowns of light.
 
 6 yEschylus. 
 
 UHnore MHnore ,u', oo ovr. 
 
 noTviui Moipai Aexecov Aibc euvd- 
 Teipav i6oia0€ neAouaav *' ' s ^^ 
 i\.Ji'/iy ef^' ^^ t\»h'e TiAaGeiHv fajuera 
 Tivi Ta)v e£ oupuvoG. 
 Tap3a> rap aorep- 
 
 fctvopa napGeviav /.4»v .^ 
 
 « eiaopws' 'IoOq jaffa 6aTTT0,uevav A>»*^«^*^ 
 
 busnXdvoK; "HpoQ aXaxeiaiQ novcov. 
 
 .V ^ a J^'^'' 
 
 ejLloi &' OTl ,U€V o.LioVoQ 6 fOLlOC 
 
 (<(po3o(;, ou hkhia, isuik Kpeia-" 
 Govcov Gecov epcoQ dcpu- i^^*-"' 
 KTOV o^jua TTpoabpaKOt jue. 
 diTO.NeuoQ hbe r' o noXejuOQ, cmopa 
 TTopiMOQ- ou6* exoo TtQ t(v fevoijauv. 
 
 TOV AlOQ fdp OL/X opoo 
 MHTiv una (pufoiM' dv. 
 
 X<?^
 
 ^sckylus. 
 
 Oh, never, never may ye, Fates, 
 Behold me with your awful eyes, 
 Lift mine too fondly up the skies 
 
 Where Zeus upon the purple waits ! 
 Nor let me step too near — too near 
 
 To any suitor, bright from heaven : 
 Because I see, because I fear 
 
 This loveless maiden vexed and laden 
 
 By this fell curse of Here, driven 
 On wanderings dread and drear. 
 
 Nay, grant an equal troth instead 
 
 Of nuptial love, to bind me by ! 
 It will not hurt, I shall not dread 
 
 To meet it in reply. 
 But let not love from those above 
 Revert and fix me, as I said, 
 
 With that inevitable Eye ! 
 I have no sword to fight that fight, 
 I have no strength to tread that path, 
 I know not if my nature hath 
 The power to bear, I cannot see 
 Whither from Zeus's infinite 
 I have the power to flee. 
 
 Elizabeth Barrett Brou^ning.
 
 in 
 
 8 y£sc/i}'lus. 
 
 i 
 
 SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. 
 
 720 — 791. 
 
 necppiKa tov cbXeaioiKOV GTp. u' 
 
 eebv, 01) Geoiq ojuoiav, 
 navaAHSfi, KOKOiuavTiv 
 rarpbt; euKTOtav ' Epivuv 
 TeAeaai toq nepiSuiuouc 
 Q, ft ''^' '^^ KaTctpa^ Oi5in66a [iAaij;i9p6vo(;. 
 nuiboAercop 6' epic; a6' oTpuvet. 
 
 Hevoc; be KAnpouq enivoajua ovt. a' 
 
 XaAuPoq SkuSwv cinoiKOt;, 
 
 KTeuvtov xpHMOTobairaq 
 
 niKpbq, (bjuocppcov ol5apoq, 
 
 X96va vaieiv 5ianHAa^, 
 
 onoGov Kai (p9ijuevoiGiv Korexeiv, 
 
 TiLv jucfo^^v ne5ia)v ajuoipouc;. 
 
 eneibav auxoKTOvcoq orp. p' 
 
 auTobdiKTOi edvcoGi, 
 
 KQi xQovia Kovig nm 
 
 MeAajunafeq mMa <poiviov, 
 
 TIC uv KoSapjuouc; nopoi, 
 
 Tii; ctv 096 AouGeiev; cL 
 
 novoi 56mwv veoi naAai- 
 
 oioi GujuMifek KUKoTi;.
 
 ^schylus. 9 
 
 SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. 
 720—791. 
 
 I AM shuddering with sad fear 
 Of the ruin hovering near, — 
 Lest the power of godless might 
 Alien from the lords of light, 
 Seer infallible of ill, 
 Dark Erinnys, should fulfil 
 CEdipus' infatuate vows 
 'Gainst the children of his house. 
 Still she holds her destined path, 
 Prompted by a father's wrath. 
 Now this child-destroying strife 
 Lends her purpose instant life. 
 
 Ruthless Iron sways the lot 
 That shall portion them the plot 
 Each shall hold. A stranger he 
 From the Scythian colony 
 Once that passed the Pontic deep 
 To Chalybia's country steep. 
 Stern divider, judge severe ! 
 What possession find they here ? 
 What their heritage ? So much 
 As the dead man's corpse may touch, 
 So much either shall obtain ; 
 Nothing more of all yon plain. 
 
 When fratricidal death 
 
 Hath stopped their raging breath, 
 And Earth's dust drunk deep draughts of sinful gore, 
 
 What charm may purge the guilt 
 
 Of blood so foully spilt 1 
 Whose hand shall bathe them .'' — O unhappy store 
 Of fresh woes for this house, blent with the woes before!
 
 I o ALschylus. 
 
 Tr((\airevH r^p ^€^'J^ t^vr. p . 
 
 nappaoiav wKi'moivov 
 
 uicbva 6' ec xpiTOV ]uevei" 
 
 'Ano/Ucovoq euxe Auioq 
 
 pia, rp'tQ einovTOQ tv 
 
 )LieaoM9«^oi(; TTuSikoiq 
 
 XpHOTHpioK; GvcioKOVTa rev- 
 
 voQ cixep GCibseiv ttoAiv. 
 
 KpaxHeelc 5' eK (piAwv agouAiaic crp. r' . 
 
 tfeivuTO )uev juopov auTO), 
 
 narpoKrovov Olbinobav, 
 
 oare mh npoQ ufvcxv 
 
 GneipOQ apoupav, 'W erpoKpH, 
 
 plsuv aiMOToeaaav 
 
 exAa. napuvoia Guvcife 
 
 vuM9iou(; 9pevcjaAei(;* 
 
 KOKcov 5' wanep GaAoGaa kuu' Z\y^\- uvx. r'. 
 
 xb (Liev nlxvov, aAAo 5' aeipei 
 
 xpixaAov, o Koi nepl npu- 
 
 luvav noAeooQ KOxAd^ei. s//"-*' 
 
 juexaSi) 5' dAKCt 6i' oAifou 
 
 xeivei nupfoq tv eupei. 
 
 beboiKQ 5e guv PaaiAeuGi 
 
 MH noAiQ baMOGGH. 
 
 xeAeiai rop naAaicpdxcov dpav Gxp. 6'. 
 
 Papeiai KoxaAAafai, 
 
 xd 5' oAod neA6)U€v' ou nopfpxexai. 
 
 nponpujuva 6' eK^oAdv <pepei , 
 
 avoptov oAcpnGxav a>^'^' J 
 
 oA(3o(; dfov naxuvGeiQ. m» "^ * 
 
 '
 
 j^schylus. 1 1 
 
 I mean that ancient crime 
 
 Rued by all after-time — 
 Three generations now have borne the weight — 
 
 Since, braving Phoebus' word, 
 
 Thrice froni the tripod heard, 
 How 'twas the constant will of sovran Fate, 
 That dying without seed he should preserve the state, 
 
 Laius by love o'ercome 
 
 Begat his own sure doom, 
 Sad CEdipus, the slayer of his sire, 
 
 Who ploughed the fields where erst 
 
 His infant bones were nurst, 
 And sowed a crop that bloomed in murderous ire. 
 Infatuate bride and groom, so drawn by mad desire ! 
 
 Evils are like a surge, 
 
 Where billows billows urge ; — 
 Each peers three-crested o'er the wave that's gone. 
 
 Thundering abaft the helm 
 
 And threatening to o'erwhelm 
 The frail defence that braves that waste alone. 
 I fear lest with her kings Thebes may be now o'erthrown. 
 
 When dawns the fate-appointed Day, 
 The aged curse is hard to allay. 
 Once here. Destruction rides not past. 
 Till those are fallen beneath the blast. 
 Whose toil-earned wealth, too highly heaped, 
 Brings ruin ; — and the man hath reaped 
 But sacrifice of all at last.
 
 1 2 ^schylus. 
 
 Tiv' avopoov fap toj6v6' €9auuaaav qvt. 6' 
 
 6eol Koi tuvearioi 
 
 iToXeoc; 6 no\u3oT6(; t' citov pportov, 
 
 oaov tot' Oi6inouv tiov, 
 
 Tov apna£av6pav 
 
 KHp' ucpeAovTO xojpaQ; 
 
 enei 6' apTitppcov OTp. e', 
 
 cfeveTO M€\eoq a8Aia)V 
 
 fd)U(jL)v, tn* aAfei SuacpopiLv 
 
 Moivojueva Kpa5ia 
 
 &i5uMa kok' €TeA€3ev 
 
 TTaTp096va) )(epl tcLv 
 
 KpeiaaoTtKvoiv ojuMaTwv enAufxOH. 
 
 T€Kvoiaiv 6' upag ovt. e'. 
 
 ecpHKEv eniKOTOuq Tpocpai;, 
 
 aiai, TTiKpofAcbaaouc apag, 
 
 Koi 096 ai5apov6M<p 
 
 6ta xepi ttotc Aaxeiv 
 
 KTHUKTa- vuv 5e Tpeco 
 
 jUH TeAeaH Koju'^iTTOUQ 'EpivOg.
 
 yEschylus. 1 3 
 
 Who more admired of gods and men 
 Than Oidipus was honoured then 
 By all who shared the city's hearth, 
 Drawing rich life from Theban earth, 
 When he had freed the land from fear 
 Of the Sphinx monster seated near, 
 Dire minister of death and dearth ? 
 
 But when he came to know 
 
 The measure of his woe, 
 That wretched wedlock with dire anguish fraught, 
 
 Unequal to sustain 
 
 The stress of that sore pain, 
 A twofold evil his rash spirit wrought. 
 First, with the hand that smote his sire he reft 
 Himself of sight, his only comfoit left : — 
 
 Then, with his children wroth, 
 
 He fiercely launched on both 
 A biting curse for their unfilial ways, — 
 
 How with steel-furnished hand 
 
 They should divide his land 
 And heritage in lapse of after days. 
 Even now the fear works strongly in my soul. 
 The Erinnys of that curse runs close upon her goal. 
 
 Lewis Campbell.
 
 14 ^£schylus. 
 
 t,*."" 
 
 SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. 
 
 848—860. 
 
 Tab* auToSHAa, npouTrroc; affeAou AofOQ' en(;)&. 
 
 bmAai juepijuvai, bibuMovopa 
 
 koik' auT0(p6va, 6i/noipa 
 
 TeAeia rabe nd0H. xi (pw ; 
 
 Ti 6' a\Ao r' H novoi novoov, 
 
 6c)ncov e9tOTioi ; 
 
 uAAa focov, to q)L\ai, kot' oupov 
 
 epeaaer' a^cpl Kpari nojunijuov xepoiv 
 
 niTuAov, o(; aiev 61' 'Axfepovx' ajuei^eTai ^ 
 
 TUV UOTOVOV, (HeXfifKpOKOV , 
 
 vauGToAov Gecopiba, Sf^^'' 
 £•'»-' ' " xav acrriPH 'noAAwvi, xav avciAiov, 
 
 navboKOV ei(; oipavfi xe xepsov.
 
 yEschylus. I 
 
 
 
 SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. 
 848—860. 
 
 Now do our eyes behold 
 
 The tidings which were told : 
 Twin fallen kings, twin perished hopes to mourn, 
 
 The slayer, the slain, 
 The entangled doom forlorn 
 
 And ruinous end of twain. 
 Say, is not sorrow, is not sorrow's sum 
 On home and hearthstone come ? 
 
 O waft with sighs the sail from shore, 
 O smite the bosom, cadencing the oar 
 That rows beyond the rueful stream for aye 
 To the far strand, 
 
 The ship of souls, the dark, 
 
 The unreturning bark 
 Whereon light never falls nor foot of Day, 
 Ev'n to the bourne of all, to the unbeholden land. 
 
 A. E. HOUSMAN.
 
 i6 ALschylus. 
 
 PERS^. 
 65-138. 
 
 ■frf^'i"' nenepoKev juev 6 TrepGeTiToAic h5h orp. a' 
 
 paaiAeioq CTpoTOQ (.\c, avTinopov feiTOva x^pov, 
 
 Aivo5eG)U(p Gxebia nopBjubv ajueivoQ 
 
 ' AGa/uavTibo^ "EAAoq, 
 yy-ftf/ i>'^''"*TToAuj-o)U90v o6iaMa 
 
 ^ufbv ujucpiPaAcibv auxevi novTOU. 
 
 noAudvbpou h' 'Aoiaq Goupioq apxcov cvt. d 
 
 eni naaav y^bva rroijuavopiov 6€iov tAauvei 
 
 biXoSev, ne^ovojuoK tK Te eaAuoaag, 
 
 oXupoiGi nenoiecog 
 
 GTucpeAoiq £(peTaig, xp"- 
 
 oofovou feveuQ iaoSeoQ cptoQ. 
 
 KuavoGv b' ojujuoGi Aeuatjcov cpovlou 5epfjLia fpoKOVToq, orp. 3' 
 TToAuxeip KOI ttoAuvoCthc;, Supiov 6' cipjua bicoKcov, 
 endfei 5oupiKAuToig avbpdoi TOtobajuvov "ApH. 
 
 boKijuoq V ouTiQ unoGTOtg juefdAo) peujuari (pwrcov ovt. P'. 
 oXupoTq epKCGiv eipfetv djuaxov kOjuo OaAdoGOc;* 
 anpoGoiGTOQ fup 6 TTepGcJov Gxparoi; dAKicppwv re AacQ. 
 
 9n f^""' ^ boAoMHTiv b* andrav GeoG ng avHp Gvarbc uAttei ; jueacpb. 
 xiq 6 Kpainvco TTobi nHbH^aroc; euneroGc; dvuaacov; 
 fcpLNocppcov fdp napaacuvei Pporbv 
 ToGev ouK eoTiv iinep evarbv dAuSavnra cpufeiv.
 
 ALschylus. 1 7 
 
 •^ PERS^. 
 65-138. 
 
 Already hath the royal host, 
 Spoiler of cities, gained the adverse coast ; 
 O'er cordage-fastened raft the channel they 
 
 Of Athamantid Helle passed, 
 
 What time their many-bolted way 
 On the sea's neck, for servile yoke, they cast. 
 
 Thus the fierce king who holds command 
 O'er populous Asia, drives through all the land 
 In twofold armament his flock divine, 
 
 Land troops and those who stem the brine ; 
 
 Strong in his stalwart captains, he 
 Of gold-born race the god-like progeny. 
 
 From eyes like deadly dragon's, flashing a lurid gleam, 
 With men and galleys countless, he drives his Syrian car, 
 'Gainst spear-famed warriors leading his arrow-puissant 
 war. 
 
 And none of valour proven against the mighty stream 
 May stand a living bulwark, and that fierce billow stem ; 
 For Persia's host resistless is, and her stout-hearted men. 
 
 But ah ! what mortal baffle may 
 
 A god's deep-plotted snare,— 
 Who may o'erleap with foot so light ? 
 
 At6 at first, with semblance fair, 
 Into her toils allures her prey, 
 
 Whence no mere mortal wight 
 May break away.
 
 i8 ^schylus. 
 
 ScoSeV fOp KOTO juoip* ^ cip. f 
 
 j^^-./.^.; cKpuTHtjev TO TTaAai- ,-r^«»'^'^S 2- V^y *>v-' 
 
 6v, eneaKHvj/e be TTepj«iq ^y**^' ' f 
 
 TToAejuouQ nupfotalKTOuc; 
 bieneiv InrrioxapMac; 
 l,iil{JU^ 't-*^' Te K,\6vouq, 
 
 noXecjbv t' avaordcjeiQ. 
 
 tMoQov 6' eupunopoi- - ju. avr. f. 
 
 o GaAdaaac noAioi- i rr'^''*- *'>♦■'»*' 
 vojuevac; nveu^an Ad3pa> ;4t^»**^ 
 
 eOOpdv TTOVTIOV U\jOQ, 
 
 niauvoi AerrroboMOtQ neis- 
 
 Moai Aa- 
 
 onopoig Te juiHj(avaT(;. 
 
 Taurd jmou jneAafxiTcov crrp. 6'. 
 
 <ppHV djuuaaeTai (popco, 
 ^ 6d, TTepGiKoO aTpaTeOjuaroq 
 
 To06e, MH noAic; rnQn- 
 Tcu Ktv«v5pov jaef' dsTu Soua[5oQ" 
 
 KOI TO Kiaaicov tt6Aic5m' civt. 6 . 
 
 -v dvTibounov doeTOi, 
 
 6d, tout' cnoc fuvaiKonAH- 
 Bhc; ojuiAoc; dnucov v*«''*^ 
 Puaaivoi^ 5 ev nenAoiq neoH AoKiq. ■»■•♦' 
 
 TToq fcip 'iTmHAaTaq OTp. e. 
 
 KOI nebo3Ti(5H^ Aecbq 
 g ^.AA*"^^ CMHVog (OQ eKAeAoi- 
 
 nev )Lie\i5adv cuv opxdjufp OTpoToO, 
 Tov dju9i^euKT0v eSajueivac; 
 ajLi90T€paq uAiov 
 npwva Koivbv aiag.
 
 ^schylus. 19 
 
 In olden time by Heaven's decree 
 Fixed was the Persians' destiny ; — 
 Tower-battering war was theirs by Fate, 
 The turmoil when steed-mounted foes 
 In shock of battle fiercely close, 
 And cities to make desolate. 
 
 Now have they learned firni gaze to cast 
 On the vext sea, what time the blast 
 Makes hoary its broad-furrowed plain ; 
 Confide they now in naval craft, 
 Cables fine-wove, device to waft 
 Armies across the main. 
 
 Hence, swartly robed, my heart by fear 
 Is tortured, lest ere long the state — 
 Woe for the Persian army ! — hear 
 That Susa's mighty fort is desolate. 
 
 And Kissia's stronghold shall reply 
 
 Beat unto beat on doleful breast. 
 
 While crowds of women raise the cry, 
 
 Woe ! woe ! and rend their flaxen-tissued vest. 
 
 For all the troops that draw the rein. 
 And all who tread the dusty plain. 
 Like swarming bees, with him who led 
 Their martial host, abroad have sped, 
 The bridge-joined headlands crossing o'er, 
 Washed by the sea, that links each adverse shore. 
 
 B 2
 
 20 ySschylns. 
 
 AeKTpa 6' av5pd)v noBcp avT. e 
 
 niiunAarai boKpujuaaiv 
 
 TTepGibeq 6' OKponev- 
 
 GeiQ eKaara nuGw 9iAavopi 
 
 Tov aixMoevTa GoOpov euvu- 
 
 THpa nponeiuvi/ajueva 
 
 Aeinerai inovu^ut. 
 
 SUPPLICES. 
 
 85—101. 
 
 fei GeiH Aibq eu navoAHGcoq' GTp. 5' 
 
 AiOQ T.uepoc; ouk euGHparoQ eruxGH. 
 navTQ TO I 9AefeGei 
 . Kav OKOTci) MeAcxiva tuv Tuxa 
 
 /tt^r'^r jueponeoat Auoiq. 
 
 . i ■' ,./-TTiTTTei 5 aamaAec ou5 ti 
 ''/'>"*»*3'^' '' KOpu(pu Ziioq ei KpavGH np 
 
 tm vwTcp, avT. 
 
 npofjua TeAeiov. 
 - , 5auAoi j"ap npaniocov 
 y,,cK bucjKioi re reivouaiv nopoi, 
 
 KOTibeTv ucppuaroi. 
 
 lanrei V eAnlbcov GTp. e' 
 
 uq;' u^(;l^upfa)v navcoAeiq ppOTOuq, 
 piav 5' ouTiv' lEonAisei, 
 tTOv clnoivov baijuovicov fijuevov uvco cppovHjua nux; 
 auToGev t£enpa£ev ejunat, ebpdvcov ecp' ufvwv.
 
 ^schylus. 2 1 
 
 And yearning love with many a tear 
 The couch bedeweth, lone and drear ; 
 The wives of Persia, steeped in woe, 
 Lament, of their dear lords bereft ; 
 For her fierce spouse against the foe 
 Each sent spear-armed, and mourns unmated left. 
 
 Anna Swanwick. 
 
 >*- SUPPLICES. 
 
 85 — lOI. 
 
 Let highest in mind be most in might. 
 The choice of Zeus what charm may bind? 
 
 His thought, 'mid Fate's mysterious night, 
 A growing blaze against the wind 
 
 Prevails : — whate'er the nations say, 
 His purpose holds its darkling way. 
 
 What thing his nod hath ratified 
 Stands fast, and moves with firm, sure tread, 
 
 Nor sways, nor swerves, nor starts aside. 
 A mazy thicket, hard to thread, 
 
 A labyrinth undiscovered still, 
 The far-drawn windings of his will. 
 
 Down from proud towers of hope 
 He throws infatuate men ; 
 
 Nor needs, to reach his boundless scope. 
 The undistressful pain 
 
 Of Godlike effort. On his holy seat 
 He thinks, and all is done, even as him seems most meet. 
 
 Lewis Campbell.
 
 \ 
 
 22 yEsc/iy/us. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 105-257. 
 
 KupioQ eim Opoeiv o6iov KpccToc aioiov avbpoov orp. 
 
 tKTeAeoov. en j-ap GeoGev Karanvelei 
 neiBd) jiioAnuv, 
 taAKC oujU9UToq aicov, 
 oncoq 'Axoiojv &i9povov Kparog, 'EMaboQ Fipac 
 £u)U9pova TDj-av, 
 
 nejunei £uv bopi kqI \ep\ TTpoiKTopi 
 eoupioq bpviQ TeuKpib' tn' aiav, 
 oioovcov paaiAeuQ paoiAeOai veoov, 6 KcAaivbc, 
 6 t' e£6niv upffiq, 
 
 (pavevreg iKxap jueAaeptov, x^POC ex bopindArou, 
 m<)unpeTTTOi(; ev ebpaiai, 
 
 pooKOuevoi Aofivav epiKujuovo (pepjuari j-kwav, 
 PAapevra AoiaBlwv bpojucov. 
 aiAivov a'l'Aivov etne, to 6' eu vikotco. 
 
 Kebvbq be GTpaTOjiiavTiq l&wv 5uo Anjuaai niarouq qvt. a' 
 
 'Arpetbac juaxiMOuc, ehan Aofobairug 
 
 nojUTTOuc t' opxoc 
 
 OUTCJ h' eine Tepos<J<^v* 
 
 Xpovcp )uev afp€i TTpiajuou noAtv ube KeAeuSog, 
 
 navra be nupj"ojv 
 
 KTHVH npooSe TCI bH)HlOnAH0H 
 
 Muip' oAonuEei irpcq to Piaiov. 
 
 oiov MH Tiq ofa eeoSev Kve9uaH npoTunev otoju- 
 
 lov )uefa Tpoiac 
 
 GTpaTOjSev, oI'kco fop eni99ovoq "ApTejuK ofva, 
 
 nravoiaiv kuoi narpbq, 
 
 ouTUTOKov npb Aoxou MOfcpav TrrctKa GuoMevoiar 
 
 OTurei be betnvov oiexwv. 
 
 a'l'Aivov aiAivov eine, to b' eu vikcitco. 
 
 i 
 
 i
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 105—257. 
 
 Power is upon me now, to sing the awful sign 
 
 That crossed the warrior monarchs on their road ; 
 Heaven breathes within the 'suasive song divine, 
 
 And strength through my rapt soul is pour'd abroad. 
 
 The birds I sing, whose fateful flight 
 
 Sent forth the twin-throned Argive might, 
 And all the youth of Greece, a gallant crew, 
 
 With spear in each avenging hand, 
 
 Against the guilty Trojan land. 
 Even at the threshold of the palace, flew 
 
 The king of birds o'er either king, 
 
 One black, and one with snow-white wing, 
 Right-ward, on the hand that grasps the spear, 
 Down through the glittering courts they sieer, 
 
 Swooping the hare's prolific brood, 
 
 No more to crop its grassy food. 
 Ring out the dolorous hymn, yet triumph still the good ! 
 
 But the wise seer, in his prophetic view — 
 
 When he the twin-soul'd sons of Atreus saw, 
 At once the feasters on the hares he knew, [awe : — 
 
 Those leaders of the host, then broke his words of 
 " In time old Priam's city wall 
 
 Before that conquering host shall fall, 
 
 And all within her towers lie waste ; 
 
 Her teeming wealth of man and beast 
 
 Shall Fate in her dire violence destroy ; 
 
 May ne'er heaven's envy, like a cloud. 
 
 So darken o'er that army proud. 
 The fine-forged curb of Troy ! 
 
 For Artemis, with jealous ire, 
 
 Beholds the winged hounds of her great sire 
 
 Swooping the innocent leverets' scarce-born brood. 
 
 And loathes the eagles' feast of blood. 
 Ring out the dolorous hymn, yet triumph still the good!
 
 24 ^schylus. 
 
 Toaov nep eucppoiv d koAo jueotob, 
 
 bpoGoiaiv deTTTOiQ jLiaAepwv Aeovrcov, 
 
 ndvTOOv t' aj povoMoov (piAojudoTOi^ 
 
 eHpoJv ogpiKoiAoiai, repTTvct 
 
 TOuTOJV aiTei £uiu3o\a Kpavai, 
 
 beSici ]uev, KaTOtMOjucpa 6e (pasMara arpouGcov. 
 
 iHiov 6e KoAeco TTcudva, 
 
 MH TivaQ uvTinvoouQ AavaoiQ xpoviat; exevfibaq 
 
 unAoiat; Teu£H, 
 
 arreuSojueva Suaiav erepav, dvojuov tiv", dbaiTOv, 
 
 veiKea>v reKjova GU)a9UT0v, 
 
 ou &eiciHvopa. juiMvei fdp (pogepd naAivoproq 
 
 oIkovojuoq boAia, Mvdjuwv juhviq TCKvonoivoQ. 
 
 T0id5e KdAxoQ tuv juefdAoiq dfaOoiQ dneKy\af£e 
 
 MOpGiju' dn' opviScov 66icov oiKOiq PctsiAeioic; • 
 
 TOt(; 6' ojudtpoovov 
 
 ai'Aivov aiXivov elne, to 6' eu vikotco. 
 
 Zeuq, 0C5TIQ nor' eortv, ei t66' au- orp. p' 
 
 TO) <piAov KeKAHjuevcp, 
 
 TOUTO viv npooevvenco. 
 
 ouK exco nposeiKuaai, 
 
 ndvx' eniaTa9|H(jb,uevoq, 
 
 nAHv AioQ, el TO /idTuv ctnb (ppovTi6oc dxQoc 
 
 XpH 3aAeiv exHTUMcoQ. 
 
 ou5' ocjtk; ndpoiSev hv juerac, avT. p' 
 
 TToyjudxcp Gpdaei Ppuoov, 
 0L>6ev av Aeiat npiv (Lv, 
 6q \> eneiT' ecpu, Tpia- 
 
 KTHpOQ Ol'xeTOl TUXtOV. 
 
 Zhvo 6e tk; Trpo9p6vo)(; entviKia KAd^oJv 
 reuteiai cppevcLv to ttuv 
 
 \
 
 ^schylus. 25 
 
 " Such is that beauteous Goddess' love 
 To the strong lion's callow brood. 
 And all that the green meadows wont to rove, 
 
 From the full udder quaff the liquid food. 
 O Goddess ! though thy wrath reprove 
 Those savage birds, yet turn those awful signs to good !" 
 But, lo Paean ! now I cry ; 
 May ne'er her injured deity 
 With adverse fleet-imprisoning blast 
 The unpropitious sky o'ercast ; 
 
 Hastening that other sacrifice — 
 That darker sacrifice, unblest 
 By music or by jocund feast : 
 
 Whence sad domestic strife shall rise, 
 And, dreadless of her lord, fierce woman's hate ; 
 Whose child-avenging wrath in sullen state 
 Broods, wily housewife, in her chamber's gloom, 
 
 Over that unforgotten doom." 
 Such were the words that Calchas clanged abroad. 
 When crossed those ominous birds the onward road 
 Of that twice royal brotherhood : 
 A mingled doom 
 Of glory and of gloom. 
 Ring out the dolorous hymn, yet triumph still the good ! 
 
 Whoe'er thou art, Great Power above. 
 If that dread name thou best approve, 
 All duly weighed I cannot find, 
 Unburthening my o'erloaded mind, 
 A inightier name than that of mightiest Jove. 
 
 He, that so great of old 
 Branched out in strength invincible and bold, 
 
 Is nothing now. Who after came, 
 
 Before the victor sank to shame : 
 Most wise is he who sings the all-conquering might of 
 Jove —
 
 2 6 ^schylus. 
 
 Tov (ppoveTv ppoTouQ 66a)- otp. f 
 
 oavTQ, TOV nu6ei juaSog 
 
 Gevra Kupiwc; exeiv. 
 
 OTci^ei 6' ev 9' linvco npb KOpbiag 
 
 juvHainHjucov novoc kul nap' a- 
 
 Kovjaq H\e€ 0CL)9poveiv. 
 
 baijuovcov &e nou X"P^*^> 
 
 Piaicog aeAjua oejuvov Hjuevcov. 
 
 1 
 
 KOI ToO' Hfejuwv 6 npea- gvt. r 
 
 PuQ vewv 'AxaiiKoov, 
 
 udvTiv oiJTiva vefcov, 
 
 cMnaioic; Tuxaiai oujunvecov, 
 
 eur' anAoia Kevaffei jiapu- 
 
 vovt' 'AxaiiKOQ Aewg, 
 
 XaAKi&OQ nepav excov 
 
 noAippoxOoiQ ev AuAiboQ Tonoig. 
 
 nvoal 6* anb Zxpujuovoq uoAouaai OTp. 6'. 
 
 KOKoaxoAoi, yHGTibeg, buoopjuoi 
 
 3pOTa)v aAai, vecov re kqI neiajuaroov a9eibeic, 
 
 naAijujLiHKH xpovov xieeiciai 
 
 Tpipcp, KOTeEaivov uv9oq 'Apfeioov. 
 
 enei be kgI niKpou - 
 
 XeijuaTOQ uAAo MHXOp '] 
 
 3pi9uTepov TTpojuoiaiv jl 
 
 judvTn; CKAartev, np09epwv "Apreniv, coare xQova 3d- 
 
 KTpoiQ eniKpououvTug ' Arpelbug bdKpu juh Karaaxeiv.
 
 y^schylus. 27 
 
 Jove, that great God 
 Who taught to mortals wisdom's road ; 
 
 By whose eternal rule 
 Adversity is grave instruction's school. 
 
 In the calm hour of sleep 
 Conscience, the sad remembrancer, will creep 
 To the inmost heart, and there enforce 
 On the reluctant spirit the wisdom of remorse. 
 
 Mighty the grace of those dread deities, 
 Throned on their judgment bench, high in the empyrean 
 skies ! 
 
 Nor then did the elder chief, in sooth, 
 
 Of all the Achean youth, 
 Dare brand with blame the holy seer ; 
 When adverse fortune 'gan to veer, 
 Emprisoning that becalmed host 
 
 On Chalcis' coast. 
 Where the heavy refluent billows roar 
 'Gainst Aulis' rock-bound shore. 
 
 And long and long from wintry Strymon blew 
 The weary, hungry, anchor-straining blasts, 
 
 The winds that wandering seamen dearly rue. 
 
 Nor spared the cables worn, and groaning masts ; 
 
 And, lingering on in indolent delay, 
 
 Slow wasted all the strength of Greece away. 
 
 But when the shrill-voiced prophet 'gan proclaim 
 That remedy more dismal and more dread 
 Than the drear weather blackening overhead ; 
 
 And spoke in Artemis' most awful name, 
 
 The sons of Atreus, 'mid their armed peers. 
 Their sceptres dashed to earth, and each broke out in 
 tears.
 
 28 Aischylus. 
 
 fivaS 6' 6 npeG3u(; tot' eine cpcovcov avr. 6'. 
 
 Papeta ju'ev Knp to mh niSeoeai, 
 Papeia 6*, el tekvov 6ai8co, 66mwv afa\jua, 1 
 
 Miaivojv napGevoGcpdfoiai J 
 
 peiepoiq naTpwouq x^pc"^ PcojuoG neAoQ. I 
 
 Tl Tcbvb' {iveU KOKWV J 
 
 nto(; AmovauQ feva>)uai, 
 £uiUju«X^"*^ OMopTobv ; 
 
 nauaavejuou fap Quoiaq nopOeviou 9' mMOToq op- 
 pa nepiopfcoQ eniGujueiv eejui*;. eu fop eiH. 
 
 tnei 6' ovdfKaq ebu Aena6vov OTp. 
 
 <ppev6q nvecov 6uaaef3H Tponaiav 
 
 avofvov, aviepov, ToSev 
 
 TO navTOTOAjLiov (ppoveiv jueTefvco. 
 
 PpoTOUQ epaouvei j-ap aiaxpojUHTig 
 
 ToAaiva napoKona 
 
 npcoTonHjucjov. ctAq 6' oCv 
 
 GuTHp j-evea9ai SufaTpbg fuvaiKorroivcov noAejUtov upcofov 
 
 Kol npoTeAeia vaoov 
 
 AiToq 6e Kal KAhbovaq TTOTpcoo'jq avT. e' 
 
 nap' ou&ev alwva napQeveiov t' 
 
 eSevTO (piAojuaxoi Ppapftq, 
 
 9pdaev 6' dosoic nuTHp jugt' euxav, 
 
 biKav xiMoipOQ linepGe pcojuou 
 
 nenAoiai nepineTH, 
 
 navTi 6u)LU|j TrpovojnH 
 
 Ao^eiv uep5Hv, OTojitaTc c; tc KoAAinpcppou 9uAaKdv KaTaox^iv, 
 
 (pGoffOv upatov oi'kok;,
 
 yEsckylus. 29 
 
 And thus the elder king began to say : 
 " Dire doom ! to disobey the Gods' command ! 
 More dire, my child, mine house's pride, to slay, 
 
 Dabbling in virgin blood a father's hands. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! which way to fly ? 
 
 As base deserter quit the host, 
 
 The pride and strength of our great league all lost ? 
 Should I the storm-appeasing rite deny, 
 Will not their wrathfuUest wrath rage up and swell — 
 Exact the virgin's blood?— oh, would 'twere o'er and 
 well ! " 
 
 So 'neath Necessity's stern yoke he passed. 
 
 And his lost soul, with impious impulse veering, 
 Surrendered to the accurst unholy blast. 
 
 Warped to the dire extreme of human daring. 
 The frenzy of affliction still 
 Maddens, dire counsellor, man's soul to ill. 
 So he endured to be the priest 
 In that child-slaughtering rite unblest. 
 The first-fruit offering of that host 
 In fatal war for a bad woman lost. 
 The prayers, the mute appeal to her hard sire, 
 
 Her youth, her virgin beauty. 
 Nought heeded they, the chiefs for war on fire. 
 
 So to the ministers of that dire duty 
 (First having prayed) the father gave the sign, 
 Like some soft kid, to lift her to the shrine. 
 
 There lay she prone. 
 Her graceful garments round her thrown ; 
 But first her beauteous mouth around 
 Their violent bonds they wound. 
 Lest her dread curse the fated house should smite 
 With their rude inarticulate might.
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 30 ^schylus. 
 
 I 
 
 tPia )(a\ivcov 6' avaubco juevei orp. ^ . *: 
 
 KpoKou Pa9a(; eg ne6ov xeouoa 
 
 IpaAA' CKoaTOv euTHpoov an' ojuMOToq 3e^ei 91X0IKTCP, 
 
 Tipenouad 0' coq ev fpacpcuq, npoaevveneiv 
 
 eeAoua", enel ttoXAokk; 
 
 narpoQ kqt' dvfepoovaq eurpane^ouQ 
 
 eMeAv|;ev. ofva b' UTaupcoTOQ au6a noTpoq 
 
 (pi\ou TpiToanovbov eunoTMov t' 
 
 aid)va (piAcoQ erijua. 
 
 TO 6' evQev out' ei5ov out' evvenw ovt. ^ . 
 
 rexvai 6e KdAxavTog ouk OKpavTOi. 
 
 biKa be toTq Mev na9ouaiv juaOeiv enipperrei rb Me-V\ov. 
 
 TO 6e npoKAueiv, enei fevoiT' dv hAusk;, npoxoipeToj- 
 
 loov be TO) npoaTeveiv. 
 
 Topbv fdp Htei Guvopepov aufoic. 
 
 neXoiTO 6' ouv Tuni TOUTOiaiv eunpa£i(;, ojq 
 
 GeAei t65' dfxiaTOv 'Aniac. 
 
 faiac; juovocppoupov ipKOQ.
 
 jEschylus. 31 
 
 But she her saffron robe to earth let fall : 
 
 The shaft of pity from her eye 
 Transpierced that awful priesthood — one and all 
 
 Lovely as in a picture stood she by 
 As she would speak. Thus at her father's feasts 
 The virgin, 'mid the revelling guests, 
 Was wont with her chaste voice to supplicate 
 For her dear father an auspicious fate. 
 
 I saw no more ! to speak more is not mine ; 
 Not unfulfilled was Chalcas' lore divine. 
 Eternal justice still will bring 
 Wisdom out of suffering. 
 So to the fond desire farewell, 
 The inevitable future to foretell ; 
 
 'Tis but our woe to antedate ; 
 Joint knit with joint, expands the full-formed fate. 
 
 Yet at the end of these dark days 
 May prospering weal return at length ; 
 
 Thus in his spirit prays 
 He of the Apian land the sole remaining strength. 
 
 Dean Milman.
 
 32 yEscIiylus. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 160—183. 
 
 Zeuq, oGTiQ nor' eoriv, ei t66' au- crp. p' 
 
 TO) (piAov KeKAHjuevo), 
 
 TOUTO viv TTpoacvvenco. ^ 
 
 ouK evo) npoceiKaacu, - .r-m*^ 
 
 navT eniGTaBjuwiuevog, .-^ 
 
 nAHV AioQ, ei to narav otto (ppovTiOOQ uxOoq 
 
 XpH puAeiv eTHTUMcoQ. 
 
 066' OGTiQ nopoi6ev hv juefaq, avr. 3'. 
 
 TTOWiudxw epciaei [Ipucov, 
 
 ou6'ev av Ae£ai npiv wv, 
 
 OQ 6' eneiT* t9u, rpia- 
 
 KTHpoQ ol'xeTai Tuxcov. 
 
 Zhvo 6e Tig npocppovcoc; eniviKia kAoscov 
 
 reuteTOi <ppeva>v to nuv 
 
 Tov (ppoveiv ppOTOuq 65aj- crp. f 
 
 oavTo, jm ndeei moSoq 
 
 eevTQ KupiMQ exeiv. 
 
 GTUsei &' ev e' Gnvcp npb KOpSiaq 
 
 UVHGinHUWV novot;- kui nap' u- 
 
 KOVTaQ H\0e Gw9poveiv. 
 
 baiuovcov hk nou x<*P"^) 
 
 PialcoQ oeAMO Gejuvbv HMevwv.
 
 yEschylus. 33 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 1 60 — 183. 
 
 Zeus, whosoe'er he be, if this name please his ear, 
 
 By this name I bid him hear : 
 
 Nought but Zeus my soul may guess, 
 
 Seeking far and seeking near, 
 
 Seeking who shall stay the stress 
 
 Of its fond and formless fear. 
 
 For He who long ago was great, 
 
 Filled with daring and with might, 
 
 Now is silent, lost in night : 
 
 And the next that took his state 
 
 Met his supplanter too, and fell, and sank from sight. 
 
 Zeus Victorious hail we then, 
 Zeus that leadeth souls of men — 
 Thus his deep decrees ordain — 
 To Wisdom's goal o'er the drear road of Pain. 
 In sleep there doth before the heart distil 
 A grievous memory of ill. 
 Making the unwise wise against his will. 
 So unto Man, in kind compulsion given. 
 Falls the high grace of Gods from awful thrones of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Ernest Myers.
 
 34 y£s{:hylus. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 355—474. 
 
 CO Zeu PacjiXeu koI vu£ 91X10 
 juefdAcov Koajuojv KTedreipa, 
 ht' enl Tpoiac laipfoiq tpaXeg 
 GTeravbv biKTuov, coq juHre jLiefOV 
 Mht' ouv veapojv nv' unepreAeaoi 
 juera bouAeiac 
 rdfra,uov, OTHQ navoAcoTOU. 
 Aia Toi Eeviov luefav alboujiiai 
 Tov rdSe npaiavr', en' 'A/\e£uv5pa> 
 Teivovra nd\oi t6£ov, oncoq dv 
 juHTC npb Kaipou juhS' unep doTpcov 
 peAoQ H/\i6iov OKHVj/eiev. 
 
 Aioq nAardv exou3iv elneiv, 
 ndpecJTi toCto f' e£i)(ve03ai. 
 enpacev toq eKpavev. ouk ecpa Tiq 
 Seouq PpoTcov dtioOseai jaeAeiv 
 oGOiq u6iKTa)v X^'P'C 
 noToTe' • 6 6' ouK euaePHq. 
 necpovTOi 6* eKfovoug 
 
 aTOAjUHTWV "ApH 
 
 TTveovTcov juei^ov h biKaiwc,
 
 y£schylus. 35 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 355—474. 
 
 Zeus, Lord of Heaven ! and welcome Night 
 Of victory, that hast our might 
 
 With all the glories crowned ! 
 On towers of Ilion, free no more, 
 Hast flung the mighty mesh of war, 
 
 And closely girt them round, 
 Till neither warrior may 'scape, 
 Nor stripling lightly overleap 
 The trammels as they close, and close, 
 Till with the grip of doom our foes 
 
 In slavery's coil are bound ! 
 Zeus, Lord of Hospitality ! 
 In grateful awe I bend to thee — 
 
 'Tis thou hast struck the blow ! 
 
 At Alexander, long ago, 
 
 We marked thee bend thy vengeful bow, 
 But long and warily withhold 
 The eager shaft, which, uncontrolled 
 And loosed too soon or launched too high, 
 Had wandered bloodless thro' the sky ! 
 
 Zeus, the high God ! — whate'er be dim in doubt. 
 
 This can our thought track out — 
 The blow that fells the sinner is of God, 
 
 And as he wills, the rod 
 Of vengeance smiteth sore. One said of old, 
 
 "The Gods hst not to hold 
 A reckoning with him whose feet oppress 
 
 The grace of holiness " — 
 An impious word ! for whensoe'er the sire 
 
 Breathed forth rebellious fire — 
 
 C 2
 
 26 ^schyhis. 
 
 (pAeovTcov bwuciTcav unep9eu 
 unep TO pt\Ti5TOV. eSTCL) 5' aiTH- 
 juavTOV, wore KairapKeiv 
 €U npanlboov Aaxovxa. 
 ou fdp eanv enaA&ig 
 nAouTOu npOQ Kopov avbpl 
 AaKxiaavTi jnefav hiY-ac. 
 pwjuov eig a9dveiav. 
 
 Piarai V u rdXaiva neiecb, «vt. a . 
 
 npo^ouAonaic d9epT0(; OTaq. /" 
 
 OKOC 6e nav judraiov. ouk f.KpucpeH, ' 
 
 npenei be, cptoQ aivoAoMnec, gIvo<.- 
 
 KQKOu 6e x"'*^KOu Tponov 
 
 TpipuJ Te KOI npoG^oAmc 
 
 MeAaMnafHQ neAei 
 
 5iKaicoeei(;, enel 
 
 bicoKei naic ttotovov opviv, 
 
 TToAei npoarpiMM' d9epTOV eveeiq. 
 
 AiTOV b' UKOuei )uev outiq Secov 
 
 Tov b' eniaTpo90v Tcovbe 
 
 9a)T' dbiKOv KoOaipei. 
 
 oIoQ Kui TTcipic €Aeo)v 
 
 eg bojiov TOV 'ATpeibav 
 
 Hoxuve Eeviav Tpdne- 
 
 ^av K/\onaiai fuvaiKOQ. 
 
 AiTTOuaa b' ogtoTgiv oGniGTopaq CTp. P . 
 
 KAovoug Aofxi.uouQ Te koI vaugaTac onAiOMOuq, 
 afouoct t" dvTl9epvov ' lAiw 9eopav, 
 Pe^OKev plM9a bid nuAdv,
 
 ^schylus. 37 
 
 What time his household overflowed the measure 
 
 Of bliss and health and treasure — 
 His children's children read the reckoning plain, 
 
 At last, in tears and pain ! 
 On me let weal that brings no woe be sent, 
 
 And therewithal, content ; 
 Who spurns the shrine of Right, nor wealth nor power 
 
 Shall be to him a tower, 
 To guard him from the gulf : there lies his lot, 
 
 Where all things are forgot ! 
 
 Lust drives him on — lust, desperate and wild. 
 
 Fate's sin-contriving child — 
 And cure is none ; beyond concealment clear, 
 
 Kindles Sin's baleful glare. 
 As an ill coin beneath the wearing touch 
 
 Betrays, by stain and smutch, 
 Its metal false — such is the sinful wight. 
 
 Before, on pinions light, 
 Fair Pleasure flits, and lures him childlike on, 
 
 While home and kin make moan. 
 Beneath the grinding burden of his crime ; 
 
 Till, in the end of time, 
 Cast down of heaven, he pours forth fruitless prayer. 
 
 To Powers that will not hear. 
 
 And such did Paris come 
 
 Unto Atrides' home. 
 And thence, with sin and shame his welcome to repay, 
 
 Ravished the wife away — 
 
 And she, unto her country and her kin 
 
 Leaving the clash of shields and spears and arming ships. 
 
 And bearing unto Troy destruction for a dower, 
 
 And overbold in sin. 
 Went fleetly through the gates, at midnight hour.
 
 38 j^schylus. 
 
 lirAHTa TAfisa" noMa b' earevov 
 Tob' evvenovreg bojuoov np09HTar 
 ici) ICO boJMCt bcoMCi Kai np6)aoi, 
 id) AexoQ Kai aTi[?oi (piAavopec. 
 t napeari Gifcia', cxtimoc, oAolfiopoq, 
 aOiGTOQ a9eju£vcjov ibeiv. 
 TToQco 5' unepnovTiOQ 
 <j)dG)ua 56£ei bojutov avdaoeiv. 
 eujuopcpcav o'e KoAoaaoJv 
 tX6eTai Xf'"?^*^ av5pi. 
 I'MudTCOv 6* ev axHviaiQ 
 €ppei naa* 'Acppobixa. 
 
 f 
 
 6v€ip69avTOi be nevSHjuoveq avr. p' 
 
 ndpeiotv boKol 9epouGoi X'^P'v MOToiav. 
 
 jncirav fdp eur' av €G9/\d Tiq boKoJv opav, 
 
 napaAAdtoGa bid x^P'J^v, 
 
 pe^oKev o^i/ic ou Me9uGTepov 
 
 TTTCpoTq OTTaboiQ unvou KeAeu0oi^. 
 
 xd juev kot' oiKOuq €9' eGriac; uxh 
 
 jdb' eGTi Kai jdvb' unepPaTcbiepa. 
 
 TO nav b' 09' 'EwdboQ al'ac; Guvopjutvoiq 
 
 nevSeia rAHGiKapbioQ 
 
 bojuwv eKOGTou npenei. 
 
 noAAd foGv Giffdvet npbq nnap- 
 ouc uev fdp TiQ enejuii/ev 
 oTbev dvri be 9(0Ta)V 
 
 T€UXH Kai GTTobbg eiQ CKU- 
 
 OTOu bojaoug d9iKverTai. 
 
 I 
 I
 
 -t 
 
 JEschylus, 39 
 
 Oft, from the prophets' Hps, 
 Moaned out the warning and the wail— Ah woe ! 
 Woe for the home, the home ! and for the chieftains, 
 
 Woe for the bride-bed, warm [woe ! 
 
 Yet from the lovely limbs, the impress of the form 
 
 Of her who loved her lord, awhile ago ! 
 And woe for him who stands 
 Shamed, silent, unreproachful, stretching hands 
 
 That find her not, and sees, yet will not see, 
 That she is far away ! 
 And his sad fancy, yearning o'er the sea, 
 
 Shall summon and recall 
 Her wraith, once more to queen it in his hall. 
 
 And sad with many memories. 
 The fair cold beauty of each sculptured face — 
 
 And all to hatefulness is turned their grace, 
 Seen blankly by forlorn and hungering eyes ! 
 
 And when the night is deep. 
 Come visions, sweet and sad, and bearing pain 
 
 Of hopings vain- 
 Void, void and vain, for scarce the sleeping sight 
 
 Has seen its old delight, 
 When thro' the grasps of love that bid it stay 
 
 It vanishes away 
 On silent wings that roam adown the ways of Sleep ! 
 
 Such are the sights, the sorrows fell, 
 About our hearth— and worse, whereof I may not tell. 
 
 But, all the wide town o'er, 
 Each home that sent its master far away 
 
 From Hellas' shore 
 Feels the keen thrill of heart, the pang of loss, to-day ; 
 
 For, truth to say, 
 The touch of bitter death is manifold ! 
 Familiar was each face, and dear as life. 
 
 That went unto the war,
 
 4° 
 
 yEschylus. 
 
 6 XpUGajLlOlPbc &' "ApH^ GCOJUOITCOV 
 
 Koi TaAavToGxog ev ]udxH 6opbg 
 nupcoG'ev t£ ' lAiou 
 (piAoisi nejunei papu 
 VHfjia 6uG&aKpuT0v av- 
 THVopoQ Gno6oG fejui- 
 ^cov AegHToq euBerou. 
 crrevouai h' eu Aefovreq av- 
 6pa Tov juev coq moxhC I'Spif 
 Tov 6' ev (povaig KaAooq neaovr' 
 ciAAoTpiag &ial fuvaiKOQ. 
 Tcibe oifd TIC Pau^ei. 
 cpeovepov 6' On' aAfog epnei 
 npobiKOig 'ArpeiSaiq. 
 01 6' auTOu nepi xeixog 
 Ohkoq ' lAidSoq foc 
 eu,uop90i KOTexouaiv ex- 
 0pu 5' exovTOQ tKpuvev. 
 
 oTp. r 
 
 3apeTa 6' aarciv (pdriQ £bv kotoj' 
 bHjuoKpdvTou 5' updq Tivei xP^oq. 
 juevei 5' oKouaai ti juou 
 jLiepi.uva vuKTHpecpeQ. 
 
 OVT. r '
 
 ALschylus. 41 
 
 But thither, whence a warrior went of old, 
 
 Doth nought return, 
 Only a spear and sword, and ashes in an urn ! 
 
 For Ares, lord of strife. 
 Who doth the swaying scales of battle hold, 
 War's money-changer, giving dust for gold. 
 
 Sends back, to hearts that held them dear, 
 Scant ash of warriors, wept with many a tear, 
 Light to the hand, but heavy to the soul ; 
 
 Yea, fills the light urn full 
 
 With what survived the flame — 
 Death's dusty measure of a hero's frame ! 
 
 " Alas ! " one cries, " and yet alas again ! 
 Our chief is gone, the hero of the spear, 
 
 And has not left his peer ! " 
 "Ah woe I •' another moans — " my spouse is slain. 
 
 The death of honour, rolled in dust and blood, 
 Slain for a woman's sin, a false wife's shame 1" 
 
 Such muttered words of bitter mood 
 Rise against those who went forth to reclaim ; 
 Yea, jealous wrath creeps on, against th' Atrides' name ! 
 
 And others, far beneath the Ilian wall. 
 Sleep their last sleep — the goodly chiefs and tall. 
 
 Couched in the foeman's land, whereon they gave 
 Their breath, and lords of Troy, each in his Trojan 
 
 grave ! 
 
 Therefore, for each and all, the city's breast 
 
 Is heavy with a wrath supprest. 
 
 As deep and deadly as a curse more loud 
 
 Flung by the common crowd : 
 And, brooding deeply, doth my soul await 
 
 Tidings of coming fate. 
 Buried as yet in darkness' womb.
 
 42 yEschylus. 
 
 TWV TTO\UKt6vC0V fOp OUK 
 
 UGKOnoi 0eoi. kcAoi- 
 val 6' 'Epivueq XP^^V 
 TuxHpbv ovT* civeu fciKaq, 
 TraAivTuxei Tpipu piou 
 TiBeia' OMOupov, tv b' at- 
 OTOiQ TeAeGovTOQ oGtic; oAkq* 
 TO 5' unepKcncoq KAueiv eu 
 Papu* Pa-NAerai fup oaaoK; 
 &i60ev KepauvoQ. 
 Kpivco 5' ucpOovov oA3ov. 
 juht' emv nToAinopOHq 
 IXHj oijv auTOC aAoug un' aA- 
 Atov piov KariboiMi. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 681—781. 
 
 Tiq hot' (bvojuosev wb' orp. a 
 
 eQ TO nav eTHTiJMWQ — 
 
 \1H TIC OVTIV' OUX Opo)- 
 
 ^ev npovoiaiGi toG nenpcojuevou 
 
 f Awaaav (V Tuxa vejuwv ; — 
 
 TQv 6opiraju3pov OM^piveiKH 9' 'EAevav; 
 
 eirel npenovTMC 
 
 eAtvauQ, eAavbpOQ, eAtnToAiq, 
 
 eK Ta)v aPponHvcov 
 
 TTpoKaAuMMaTOJV enAeuoe
 
 yEschylus. 43 
 
 For not forgetful is the high Gods' doom, 
 
 Against the sons of carnage: all too long 
 Seems the unjust to prosper and be strong, 
 
 Till the dark Furies come. 
 And smite with stern reversal all his home, 
 
 Down into dim obstruction — he is gone. 
 And help and hope, among the Lost, is none. 
 O'er him who vaunteth an exceeding fame 
 
 Impends a woe condign ; 
 The vengeful bolt upon his eyes doth flame. 
 
 Sped from the hand divine. 
 This bliss be mine, ungrudged of God to feel. 
 
 To tread no city to the dust. 
 
 Nor see my own life thrust 
 Down to a slave's estate beneath another's heel ! 
 
 E. D. A. MORSHEAD. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 681-781. 
 
 Who gave the ill-omened name 
 So fraught with terror for the time to be, 
 
 So true to her career of blame, — 
 War-wooed, war-won, war-wakening Helen6 } 
 Was he some prophet-spirit unknown to fame, 
 With sure presentiment 
 Fore-speaking Time's event ? 
 The name of Helen tells of ships a-flame, 
 
 Of souls to Hades sent, 
 Of countries ravaged, cities overthrown !
 
 44 y^schylus. 
 
 ^ecpupou fifovTOQ aupa, 
 noAuavbpoi re (pepdambeg 
 Kuvofoi Kar' i'xvog, 
 nXarav acpavTov, 
 t KeAauvreg Sijuoevrog 
 OKTCXQ en' ae£i9uA/\oug, 
 hi epiv aljuaToeaoav. 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 ' IaIco 6e khSoq op- avr. a' . 
 
 eobvujuov TeAeaGt9poav 
 
 Mhvk; HAaoev, rpane- 
 
 ?aQ axijuwaiv uarepco XP'^^'P 
 
 KQl £uV€GTi0U AlOq 
 
 npaaaojLieva, to vi)M96tijuov jueAog ck- 
 t 9dTa)g Tiovrog, 
 Cjuevaiov, OQ tot* eneppenev 
 faju[3potaiv ei'beiv. 
 jueTajuavOdvouoa 6' ujuvov 
 TTpidjuou noAig fepaid 
 noAuOpHvov jLiefa nou OTevei, 
 KiKAHOKOuaa TTdpiv 
 
 Tov alvoAeKTpov, ,.: 
 
 najunpoaSH noAuflpHvov ft 
 
 QLCOV' OMcpi TfOAlTOV 
 
 MeAeov oIm' civaTAdaa. 
 
 <
 
 y£scliylus. 45 
 
 From out the delicately curtained bower, 
 
 Borne by the West Wind's earth-born power, 
 In Paris' nimble galley forth she went. 
 
 And when they touched on Simois' shore 
 With cytisus and myrtle overgrown, 
 A many-shielded pack, 
 Following the viewless track 
 Of their swift oar, 
 Came bent on slaughterous feud and fierce arbitrament. 
 
 That bo7id, so rightly styled. 
 Bound Ilion with a chain of endless care, 
 
 Sent by some spirit of anger wild 
 Resolved on ruin, minded to prepare 
 Revenge for hospitality defiled 
 
 On those who sang that day 
 
 The lawless marriage lay. 
 Provoking wrath hard to be reconciled. 
 
 Her new-found brethren gay 
 Thought not if Zeus approved the enforced song. 
 
 Now yonder choir hath conned a different strain, 
 
 And Priam.'s ancient town with pain 
 Groans heavily from forth her ashes grey, 
 
 Calling on Paris the accurst, 
 The guilty cause of unforgiven wrong ; — 
 She, who in wild despair 
 For generations fair 
 
 Herself had nurst, 
 Hath spent an age of years in wailing midst the fray.
 
 46 ALschylus. 
 
 ffcOpevj/ev be Aeovra orp. p' 
 
 alviv 56)ioi(; aj"dAaKTOv 
 
 OUTCOQ aVHp (piAOMOGTOV, 
 
 ev PioTOu nporeAeioiQ 
 Gjuepov, eucpiAonaiba, 
 KOI fepapoig enixaprov. 
 no\ea 6* eax' ev afKoAaiq, 
 veoTpocpou TCKvou biKav, 
 (paibpconoQ tiotI x^'P^i <JC(i- 
 vcov re faarpbc; avafKOK;. 
 
 XpoviGGeig 6' ane6ei£ev ovt. p, 
 
 e6oc; TO np6a9e tokhcov. 
 
 Xapiv Tpocpaq rap ajuei^cov, 
 
 juH,\o(p6voiaiv afoiaiv 
 
 SaiT' UKeAeuoToi; ereuSev 
 
 aijuoTi 6' oiKog e9up0H' 
 
 ojuaxov aAfog oiKeraiq, 
 
 juefa atvoQ noAuKTOVov. 
 
 CK Geoij 6' iepeuq tic; ci- 
 
 Tog boMoiQ npooeOpecpGH. 
 
 nap' aura &' eA6eiv eg ' lAiou nuAiv orp. r 
 
 Aefoi)Li' av cppovHjua )uev vHvejuou foAdvac;, 
 aKaoKaiov 6' dfoAjua nAouTou, 
 fiaASuKov GMMaTcov fJeAog, 
 6Hti9uMOv (EpuiTOQ civeoq.
 
 A, 
 
 ^schylus. 47 
 
 What image fits Troy's fall ? 
 
 A man, I will say, 
 
 Cherished within his hall 
 
 A cub, for play. 
 Just weaned, but hardly, from the lioness. 
 
 The prelude of his life 
 
 Was far from cruel strife ; — 
 The darling of young boys, a thing of sportiveness. 
 
 Even old men felt the charm : 
 
 Oft in the nestling arm 
 'Twas dandled, like to human babyhood ; 
 
 When stroked, he made reply 
 
 With fondly brightening eye : 
 When hunger pressed, he crouched, and fawned for food. 
 
 But as with time he grew 
 
 He showed his stock, 
 
 And with dire outrage slew 
 
 The home-bred flock, — 
 So making vile return for all that care ; — 
 
 Till all the peaceful floor 
 
 With blood was dabbled o'er. 
 The household slaves beheld in mute despair. 
 
 The self-provided feast 
 
 Of that unbidden guest 
 Spread havoc round him wheresoe'er he moved. 
 
 Sent by some God to Earth 
 
 To plague a sinful hearth, 
 A priest of Ate's self that nursling proved. 
 
 Even so, methinks, there came to Troia's town 
 
 A spirit like the calm on windless seas, 
 A face to smite the soul, but ne'er to frown, 
 
 A joy luxurious, crowning wealth with ease. 
 Love there in bloom entranced the passionate mind.
 
 48 ^schyius. 
 
 t napaKAivoua* eneKpavev 
 5e fOMOu niKpac TeXeuraq, 
 buGebpoQ Kol buoojLuAog 
 oujaeva TTpiauibaioiv, 
 no)unu Aioc Eeviou, 
 vuM<p6KAauT0q ' EplVUQ. 
 
 noXaitparoc h' ev PporoTq repwv Aofoq avr. f 
 
 TCTUKTai, uerav TeAejOevra cpwTOC oApov 
 
 TeKVOuaGai )uh5' cinai&a evHOKeiv, 
 
 €K V araeaq Tuxaq fevei 
 
 pxaordveiv oKopeGTOv oUuv. 
 
 b'lxa 6* aWcov uovocppcov el- 
 
 ^l. TO buGoeP'ec fcxp epfov 
 
 Hera ]u"ev nXeiova TiKTei, 
 
 ocperepa 6' e'lKora revva. 
 
 oiKcov b' op' euBubiKWV 
 
 KaWinaiQ ttotjuoc oei. 
 
 <piXei be TiKTeiv uPpiq u'ev naXaia vect- orp. 
 
 ^ouGov ev kokoIq ppOToov uppiv 
 
 TOT*, H tot", cut' aV TO KUplOV )xbK». 
 
 fveapcc <paouc kotov 
 baijuovd Te tov ojuaxov, uiroAeMov, 
 aviepov epdooq jueAai- 
 vaq )ie\depoiaiv OTag, 
 eiboMevav TOKeCoiv.
 
 ^schylus. 49 
 
 But soon she turned and made a bitter end 
 Of nuptial in old Ilion's hour of need — 
 
 By Zeus, who punisheth when guests offend, 
 Sent thither as a bane to Priam's seed. 
 Kinship unblest ! Companionship unkind ! 
 Sad bride of tears ! Fell fury unconfined ! 
 
 Wise lips declared, and 'tis an agfed saw, 
 That man's prosperity maturely grown 
 
 Hath offspring that succeeds by Heaven's high law,- 
 From happy fortune misery full-blown. 
 
 A differing thought of mine shall be confessed : — 
 
 The issue of impious deeds is impious still. 
 With plenteous increase, like to like succeeding ; 
 
 Not so begets its race the righteous will, 
 But the fair life fair fortune aye is breeding. 
 No evil brood disturbs that peaceful nest. 
 The house of the upright evermore is blest. 
 
 The pride of former years engendereth pride 
 
 Youngly insulting o'er calamity, — 
 Or soon or late, what matters ? — When the tide 
 
 Of times brings on the hour of destiny 
 For that fell birth, even then is born the Power, 
 Unblest, resistless, making warriors cower. 
 
 Infatuate Boldness, whose o'ershadowing gl(X)m 
 
 Veils all the house with darkness of the tomb. 
 Such parentage hath bloomed in such fell flower ! 
 
 D
 
 50 y£schybis. 
 
 5iKa 6e \dunei jnev ev SuoKanvoic bcojuaaiv, avT. ?>'. 
 
 Tov 6' evaiaiiLiov liei 3iov. 
 
 TO xpusonaar' €G9/\a auv nivcp xepcov 
 
 naAivrponoiQ ojujuaai /\i- 
 
 noCij', 05ia npoaefJa, toO * * 
 
 buvajLuv ou aegouaa nAou- 
 
 Tou napdaHMOv oivco" 
 
 rtciv 5' em xepjua vcojuu. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 717—735- 
 e9pe\i/€v be AtovTo <rrp. 3' 
 
 oiviv bojuoiQ afdAoKTOv 
 outolx; avHp cpiAo.uaaTov, 
 ev 3ioTou npoTcAeioiQ 
 Gjuepov, euqjiXonaiba, 
 KQi repapoiQ enixapTOV. 
 no/\ea 5' \o\ ev ofKciAaiq, 
 v€OTp6(pou TeKvou biKav, 
 9aibpa)nb<; noxi X^^P*^! ^<^'" 
 vojv re fosTpoQ avdrKOK;. 
 
 XpovisGeiq 6* dne&ei£ev ovt. 3' 
 
 t eSoQ TO npoaee tokhcov. 
 Xdpiv Tpocpac; rdp djueigcov, 
 jjHAocpovoiaiv otfaiaiv 
 bair' uKcAeuGToq ereuSev 
 ai,uc(Ti 6' oiKoq ecpupGH* 
 djuuxov dAfOQ o'lKeraK;, 
 fiera oivoc noAuKTovov. 
 EK 0€oG 5' lepeuQ tic; u- 
 Mio, bojUOK; npoc3eep€96H.
 
 ^schylus. 5 1 
 
 The light of Righteousness in smoky homes 
 Shines unimpaired, honouring the humble lot, 
 
 PVom gilded halls impure, as Earth she roams, 
 She turns her gaze, to bless the pious cot ; 
 
 The power of riches, falsely stampt with praise, 
 
 Wins not her worship by its spurious blaze ; 
 Her judgment ever points to the far goal 
 Whereto she leads all lives with sure control. 
 
 Shaping the hour to suit with distant days. j"^ 
 
 Lewis Campbell. 
 
 / AGAMEMNON. 
 
 717—735- 
 Even so, belike, might one 
 A lion suckling nurse, 
 Like a foster-son. 
 To his home a future curse. 
 In life's beginnings mild. 
 Dear to sire, and kind to child ; 
 Oft folded in his lord's embrace. 
 Like an infant of the race. 
 Sleek and smiling to the hand. 
 He fawned at want's command. 
 
 But in time he showed 
 
 The habit of his blood. 
 
 His debt of nurture he repaid ; 
 
 The lowing herds he tore, 
 
 A fierce unbidden feast he made. 
 
 And the house was foul with gore. 
 
 Huge grief its inmates overshed, 
 
 Huge mischief, slaughter widely spread ! 
 
 A heaven-sent Priest of Woe 
 
 In the Palace did he grow. 
 
 W. E. Gladstone.
 
 5 2 yEschylus. 
 
 CHOEPHORCE. 
 
 20—83. 
 
 IoAtoq €k 66mwv tpciv OTp. a, 
 
 Xoav nponojunoQ oSuxeipi guv KTuncp. 
 
 npenei napH'n; (poivioi<; ajuufjuoi^ 
 
 ovuxoq aAoKi veoTOMW* 
 
 61' aicivoc; 6' iufiuoiai poGKerai Keap. 
 
 /\ivo(p96poi 6' u9aoMaTcov 
 
 /NoKibet e<pAa&ov un* oAj'eGiv, 
 
 npoGTepvoi OToAjuoi 
 
 nenAwv afeAdaroiq 
 
 Eujucpopaig nenAHfMevcav. 
 
 Topbc fop opGoGpiS (po^oQ, avT. a'. 
 
 doMf^iv oveipojuovTK;, e£ unvou kotov 
 
 nvewv, acopovuKTov a)u36aMa 
 
 yuxoeev eAoKe nepi 9630), 
 
 fuvaiKeioiGiv ev bcojuaoiv 3apu(; niTvcov. 
 
 KpiTQi xe Tcovb* oveipdroov 
 
 GeoGev eAoKOv unerfuoi 
 
 jueM9es6ai xouq r^C 
 
 vepGev nepiSuiucog 
 
 Toig KiavoOoi t' efKoreiv. 
 
 ^ 
 
 sx
 
 ^schylus. 53 
 
 CHOEPHORCE. 
 
 20—83. 
 
 Obedient to my Queen's command, 
 With pure libations in my hand, 
 
 The regal halls I leave : 
 The shredded robe, the oft-dealt blow. 
 The bleeding cheek, whose furrows show 
 The handy-work of frantic woe. 
 
 Bear witness how I grieve. 
 
 Tom is the linen vest, 
 
 That veiled my snowy breast ; 
 And smiles around my lips no longer play ; 
 
 My heart, with care opprest, 
 Is fed on agony from day to day. 
 A cry the calm of midnight broke ; 
 From the dark chambers Terror spoke ; 
 Troubler of sleep ! — with ghastly stare, 
 With breath of wrath, and bristling hair, 
 And accent shrill that pierced the ear. 
 Loud raved the dream-inspiring Seer ! 
 Right heavily he sate, I ween, 
 Above the chambers of the Queen. 
 The interpreters, their troth who plight 
 
 To spell the visions of the night, 
 
 From God an answer gave : 
 " Sent forth by murdered man," they said, 
 " That form, to haunt the murderer's bed, 
 Had issued from the grave."
 
 54 y^schylus. 
 
 TOidvbe X^piv axapiTov unorponov kokoiv, arp. g' 
 
 io) faia juaia, 
 
 Mcojueva \y IdiMei 
 
 5ua6€OQ fuvd- <popou- 
 
 juai b' enoq t65' eKPaXeiv. 
 
 Ti fap \UTpov weouvToq atjuaToq neboi ; 
 
 ICO ndvoisuq eaxia, 
 
 i(b KaTaaKa9ai &6mwv. 
 
 dvH\ioi, PpoTOOTUfeiq 
 
 ?)v690i KoAunTOuai boMOug 
 
 beanoTcov eavdroiai. 
 
 cegaq 6' djuaxov, ubdjuarov, anoAejuov to npiv, dvT. 3'- 
 
 bi' OJTcov (ppevoQ Te 
 
 5aMia<; nepaivov, 
 
 vuv 0910x0x01. 9oPei- 
 
 xoi be TiQ. xb b' euxuxeiv 
 
 Tob' ev ppoxoig 9e6(; xe koI Beou nAeov. 
 
 pona 6' eniOKonet biKOQ 
 
 xoxeio xoTq ju'ev ev 9dei, 
 
 xa b* ev juexaixMiw gkoxou 
 
 juevei xpovi^ovx' «xh ppuei- 
 
 xouQ b' OKpoxog exei vut. 
 
 bi' oTjuctx* €Kno0ev9' unb x^ovoq XP090G Gxp. f 
 
 xixoq 96vo(; nenHfev ou biappubav. 
 bioAfHg dxa bia9epei xbv ol'xiov
 
 ^schylus. 5 5 
 
 The impious Queen in vain these offerings sends, 
 To turn aside the ill that boding dream portends. 
 Earth ! her graceless gifts I pour thee ! 
 Earth, my mother ! I adore thee : 
 Yet scarce my tongue thy power may dare 
 To mock with ineffectual prayer : 
 Can aught remove the murderer's guilt ? 
 Can aught atone for life-blood spilt ? 
 Halls, o'erwhelmed in ruin rude ! 
 Hearth, where countless sorrows brood ! 
 Round you, now my Lord is slain, 
 Sunless, hateful shadows reign ; 
 Loyal Faith that once possessed 
 Every listening subject's breast, 
 Faith, whose firmness seemed to mock 
 War and foul sedition's shock, 
 Hath past away ; — the cravens bow 
 Their necks beneath usurpers now. 
 Man to success still court will pay, 
 Still honour Fortune's fickle sway. 
 Exalt her to the blest abodes, 
 A Goddess and above the Gods. 
 But Justice holds her equal scales 
 
 With ever-waking eye ; 
 O'er some her vengeful might prevails, 
 
 When their life's sun is high ; 
 On some her vigorous judgments light, 
 In that dread pause twixt day and night, 
 
 Life's closing twilight hour ; 
 Round some, ere yet they meet their doom, 
 Is shed the silence of the tomb, 
 
 The eternal shadows lower ; 
 But soon as once the genial plain 
 Has drunk the life-blood of the slain, 
 Indelible the spots remain.
 
 56 y^schylus. 
 
 navapKCTOQ vogou. 
 
 oifovTi 5' ouTi vujn9iKa)v eboAicov ovt. f 
 
 OKOQ, nopoi re ndvreQ eK juiac oboO 
 
 PaivovTec; tov xepoMUofi 
 
 <}>6vov KaSaipovTeg ioOaav othv. 
 
 ejuoi h\ ovafKOV fup aM9[nT0Aiv 
 
 eeol npoaHvefKav. eK pop oikcov 
 
 noTpcpcov bouXiov ecfifov moav, 
 
 biKaia Ko't jLiH 6tKaiu, 
 
 npenovj' upxoi*; piou, 
 
 pia (pepo)uev(ov alveoai, niKpbv cppevcov 
 
 OTUfOQ KpOTOUaH. bOKpUCO 5' 1)9' e'lMOTOiV 
 
 MOToioiai beanoTov 
 
 Tuxaic, Kpu9aioi(; ntv6eaiv naxvouM^vH.
 
 jEschylus. 57 
 
 And aye for vengeance call, 
 Till racking pangs of piercing pain 
 
 Upon the guilty fall. 
 What balm for him shall potent prove, 
 Who breaks the ties of wedded love ? 
 And though all streams united gave 
 The treasures of their limpid wave, 
 
 To purify from gore ; 
 The hand, polluted once with blood. 
 Though washed in every silver flood, 
 
 Is foul for evennore ! 
 Hard Fate is mine, since that dark day, 
 Which girt my home with war's array. 
 And bore me from my father's hall, 
 To pine afar, a captive thrall ; 
 Hard Fate ! to yield to Heaven's decree. 
 And what I am not, seem to be ; 
 Dissemble hatred, and control 
 The bitter workings of the soul ; 
 E'en to injustice feign consent ; 
 Detest the wrong, but not prevent : 
 Yet oft I veil my face, to weep 
 For those who unavenged sleep ; 
 Oft for my slaughtered lord I mourn. 
 Chilled by the frost of grief, with secret anguish torn ! 
 
 Joseph Anstice.
 
 58 ^schylus. 
 
 EUMENIDES. 
 
 307—396. 
 
 ofe Vw Koi xop'ov avj/coMev, enel 
 
 MoOaav OTUfepav 
 
 ano9aiveo9ai beboKHKe, 
 
 Aetai re AdxH to kqt * avGpconouq 
 
 tbq enivojjua ordaiq Smq, 
 
 f.u8u6iKai 0' H66jue6' eivai. 
 
 Tov juev KoSapaq x^'P'^'^ npovejuovr' 
 
 ouTiq 09* HMcav jUHViq €<pepnei, 
 
 aaivHg 6' aiwva btoixvei* 
 
 OGTig 6' oAiTcbv ojGiTep (j5' avHp 
 
 Xeipac (poviaq eniKpunrei, 
 
 MopTupec opeal xoioi eavoOoiv 
 
 napofifvojuevai npoKjopeg aiMOToq 
 
 auTo) TeAecog ecpdvHjuev. 
 
 Morep, a y eriKTec, co juarep arp. a . 
 
 Nu£ aAaoiGi kqI 5e6opK6aiv 
 noivdv, kAG6'. 6 AotoOq fdp t- 
 
 VIQ \X GTIJUOV TlGHai, 
 
 t6v6' d9aipouMevoc 
 
 nrcoKa, Marpwov 5- I 
 
 fVlGjUa KUplOV 9UVOU. ' 
 
 enl 6"e to) Te6uiuevq) 
 Tobe jLieAoq, nctpaKOiiu, 
 napa90pd 9pevo6aAH(;, 
 Ciuvoq e£ ' Epivucov, 
 beajuiog 9pevu)v, d96p- 
 luiKTog, auovd Pporoig. 
 
 > 
 <
 
 JEschylus. 59 
 
 / 
 
 EUMENIDES. 
 
 307—396. 
 
 Up and lead the dance of Fate ! 
 Lift the song that mortals hate ! 
 Tell what rights are ours on earth, 
 Over all of human birth. 
 Swift of foot t' avenge are we ! 
 
 He whose hands are clean and pyre, 
 Nought our wrath to dread hath he ; 
 
 Calm his cloudless days endure. 
 
 But the man that seeks to hide, 
 Like him, his gore-bedewed hands. 
 
 Witnesses to them that died, 
 
 The blood avengers at his side. 
 The Furies' troop for ever stands. 
 
 Mother ! that us thy sacred brood did'st bear ! 
 O mother Night ! 
 Us, owned by all — the blind to earthly light. 
 And those that yet behold Heaven's sunshine bright. 
 The Powers of vengeance, hear ! 
 See us dishonoured by Latona's son, 
 Who far hath rent away 
 This our devoted prey. 
 For deed of murder on his mother done. 
 O'er our victim come begin ! 
 Come, the incantation sing. 
 Frantic all and maddening, 
 To the heart a brand of fire. 
 The Furies' hymn, 
 That which chains the senses dim, 
 Tuneless to the gentle lyre. 
 Withering the soul within.
 
 6o y£schylus. 
 
 toOto rap Adxoc biavraia avT. a'. 
 
 Moip' eneKAcoaev ejanebcoQ 
 
 cxeiv, BvaTciv Toiaiv auToupfiai 
 
 EuMneacoaiv Maraioi, 
 
 TOig ojuapTeTv, o<pp' av 
 
 ffiv uneAeH' Savcov 5' 
 
 OUK afav €\eu9epo(;. 
 
 eni 5'e Tto Te6ujueva> 
 
 ToSe MeAoQ, napoKonct, 
 
 napacpopa (ppevobaAHq, 
 
 Cmvoq t£ 'Epivuwv, 
 
 fceojuioq cppevoov, c«p6p- 
 
 MiKTOC, auova ppoioiQ. 
 
 fifvoiuevaiai AcixH crp. 3 • 
 
 rah' ecp' ojuiv eKpdv6H* 
 aeavuTcov 6* dntxeiv 
 Xepaq, ou6e tiq ecri 
 ouvbaiTCop MerciKOivoq. 
 TiaAAeuKcov 6e nenAcov 
 UMOipo^, dKAHpo(; exuxSHV. 
 toiMdroov rdp tlAojiOV 
 uvajpondq, otcv "ApHQ 
 Ti9aob(; (iv tpiAov cAh' 
 fern Tov, o), biojiievai 
 Kparepbv ovS', uuoicoQ 
 MaupouMev C<p' mMOTOQ vtou. 
 
 oneubojaevai 5* ocpeAeiv ovt. 3 . 
 
 Tiva TOsbe Mepijuvaq, 
 Becov 6' ureAeiuv e)aui- 
 01 AiTaiQ tniKpuiveiv,
 
 /Eschylus. 6 1 
 
 Even at our birth the Fates decreed 
 To us the everlasting meed ; 
 Whoe'er untimely blood hath spilt, 
 Loading his soul with murtherous guilt ; 
 
 His restless followers still to be, 
 Even till he refuge take beneath 
 The darksome earth, nor yet in death 
 From our inevitable presence free. 
 O'er our victim come begin ! 
 Come, the incantation sing, 
 Frantic all and maddening, 
 To the heart a brand of fire, 
 The Furies' hymn, 
 That which chains the senses dim, 
 Tuneless to the gentle lyre, 
 Withering the soul within. 
 
 Such at our birth our lot was given, 
 
 Ne'er to approach the immortal Gods of heaven, 
 
 Nor ever at the joyous feast 
 
 Was deity of light our guest. 
 Nor share nor portion e'er had we 
 In the white robes of their festivity. 
 
 We the task of ruin chose, 
 
 T' o'erthrow the palaces of those 
 
 Who in the bloody civil strife 
 
 Stain their hands with kindred life. 
 
 Him our restless feet pursue j 
 In his triumphant hour. 
 
 And while the reeking blood is new, 
 We crush him in his power. 
 
 We thus the weight of care remove 
 
 From the great avenging Jove. 
 Thus men of blood our imprecations free 
 From judgment of each other deity ;
 
 62 ^schylus. 
 
 Mh6* el<; afKpisiv eAGeiv. 
 Zeuq fap aiMaToararec 
 aSioMioov e9voq Tobe Ae^xaQ 
 ac unHStcoaoTO. 
 fjnuAa fop ouv uAojueva 
 ofKaBev Papuneafi 
 KaTa9epco no5oq aKjuav, 
 C9aAepa ravubpojuoiq 
 KtoAa, buacpopov arav.f 
 
 t66£ai t' av5pa)v koi hciA' un' alGepi Geuvai CTp. f'. 
 
 TOKOjuevai Kara fov mivuGouglv otijuoi 
 
 OMeTepaiQ £96601^ jueAaveijuoaiv opxHOjuoiq t' eni906voiq 
 noboQ.t 
 
 TiiTTTcov 6' ouK oT6ev t66' un' a9povi Aujua. avr. f. 
 
 Toiov tnt Kve9a(; C(v6pl juiJaoq nenoTorai, 
 Kal 6vo9€pdv tiv' a^ALv koto ^cojuarog aubarai noAuOTOvoc 
 9dTi(;. 
 
 Uevei rc'P* eujUHxavoi CTp. 6'. 
 
 6e Kol TeAeioi, kokcLv 
 
 re juvHuoveq aenval, 
 
 Koi 5uanapHfopoi PpoToiq, 
 
 OTiu' uTiera biojuevai 
 
 AdyH 9ea)v bixoaTaTOuvr' 
 
 avaXicp Auna, 6uao5onalm(\a 
 
 5epKOMevoiai koI feuaojuMdroK; omwc;. 
 
 TIQ ouv 70(5' OUX C(s€TUl OVT. 6'. 
 
 re Koi 6e6oiKev 3poTu)v, 
 
 t^ou kAucjjv eejjuov 
 
 Tov luoipoKpavTOV eK Qecov 
 
 f)o6evTa reAeov ; cm 6fc MOi 
 
 I"p.poq naAaiov, ou6* 
 
 ciTiyioQ KUpto, Koinep unb x^ova 
 
 ToEiv exoucja koi 6uoc(Aiov Kvt9a(;.
 
 yEsc/iylus. 63 
 
 For highest Jove this hateful race 
 Forbids to stand before his awful face. 
 The pride of all of human birth, 
 All glorious in the eye of day, 
 Dishonoured slowly melts away. 
 Trod down and trampled to the earth, 
 Whene'er our dark-stoled troop advances. 
 Whene'er our feet lead on the dismal dances. 
 
 For leaping down from high, I place 
 My stern foot's ponderous weight, 
 
 Supplanting him in his triumphant race, 
 And hurling him down headlong — awful fate ! 
 He whom the darkness of his guilt o'erclouds 
 In sin's blind dulness still the doom defies, 
 Till through the gloom his fated house that shrouds, 
 Wail feebly forth the many-voiced cries. 
 
 For light our footsteps are, 
 And perfect is our might, 
 Awful remembrancers of guilt and crime. 
 
 Implacable to mortal prayer, 
 Far from the gods, unhonoured, and heaven's light, 
 
 We hold our voiceless dwellings dread, 
 All unapproached by living or by dead. 
 
 What mortal feels not awe, 
 Nor trembles at our name, 
 Hearing our fate-appointed power sublime, 
 
 Fixed by the eternal law ? 
 For old our office, and our fame. 
 
 Might never yet of its due honours fail, 
 Though 'neath the earth our realm in unsunn'd regions 
 pale. 
 
 Dean Milman.
 
 ,1 
 
 1
 
 SOPHOCLES. 
 
 E
 
 66 Sophocles. 
 
 AJAX. 
 
 596-645. 
 
 w K\eiva SaAajuig, gu juev nou otp. a'. 
 
 vaieiQ dAinAoKTog, eu5ai]uwv, 
 
 TTciaiv nepicpavToq aet- 
 
 ef(b 5* 6 TAdjUcov naAaibq dcp' ou Xpo^OQ 
 
 *l6aia jLiiMvco Aeijuwvi' anoiva, mhvwv 
 
 ovHpiejuoQ alev euvooMct 
 
 }(p6vq) Tpu)(6iuevo(;, 
 
 KOKCtv £,\ni6' excov 
 
 en jue ttot* avuaeiv 
 
 Tov anoTponov diCHAov "AiSav. 
 
 Kcd juoi 6u39epdneuToq Aiaq avT. a'. 
 
 SuveoTiv e9e5pog, ojjuoi juoi, 
 
 Geia juavia EuvauAoq- 
 
 ov eieneMH"^ np'iv 6h ttote Goupico 
 
 KparoOvT* ev 'Aper vOv 6' au <ppev6c oioPwrac 
 
 <pL\oi(; )Xi^o. nevGoq HupHxai. 
 
 Tct nplv 6' epfu xepoiv 
 
 jnefioTOc; dperag 
 
 a9iAa nap* d9lAoic 
 
 enea* eneae jue^eoic *ATpei6ai(;. 
 
 H nou naAaiu juev €VTpo(po(; aMepO) OTp. 3' 
 
 AeuKO) 5e fHpa judrHp viv orav voaouvra 
 
 (ppevojuopcoq aKOuoH, 
 
 aL\ivov aiAivov 
 
 oub' oiKTpfic roov opviBog aH^ouq 
 
 Hoei buojuopoQ, oAA' 6uut6vou(; ju'ev (L6d(; 
 
 epHVHGei, xeponAHKTOi 6* 
 
 €v arepvoioi neGoCvrai 
 
 boCnoi KQi noAifiq OMUfMa X''^'''^"^*
 
 Sophocles. 67 
 
 ^ AJAX. 
 596—645. 
 
 Fair Salamis, the billow's roar 
 
 Wanders around thee yet ; 
 And sailors gaze upon thy shore 
 
 Firm in the Ocean set. 
 Thy son is in a foreign clime 
 
 Where Ida feeds her countless flocks, 
 
 Far from thy dear remembered rocks, 
 Worn by the waste of time, — 
 Comfortless, nameless, hopeless, — save 
 In the dark prospect of the yawning grave. 
 
 And Ajax, in his deep distress 
 
 Allied to our disgrace. 
 Hath cherished in his loneliness 
 
 The bosom friend's embrace. 
 Frenzy hath seized thy dearest son. 
 
 Who from thy shores in glory came 
 The first in valour and in fame ; 
 The deeds that he hath done 
 Seem hostile all to hostile eyes ; 
 The sons of Atreus see them and despise. 
 
 Woe to the mother, in her close of day, 
 Woe to her desolate heart, and temples gray. 
 
 When she shall hear 
 Her loved one's story whispered in her ear ! 
 
 " Woe, woe ! " will be the cry, — 
 No quiet murmur like the tremulous wail 
 Of the lone bird, the querulous nightingale, — 
 
 But shrieks that fly 
 Piercing, and wild, and loud, shall mourn the tale ; 
 And she will beat her breast, and rend her hair. 
 Scattering the silver locks that Time hath left her there. 
 
 E 2
 
 68 Sophocles, 
 
 Kpeiaacov nap' "Aiba KeueoDV 6 voatbv udrav, avT. P . 
 
 OQ EK narpqjaq hkcov j-eveuQ apiarog 
 
 TTO\un6v(jov 'Axaitov, 
 
 ouK en GuvTpo90i(; 
 
 oproiq eiuneooc;, ctAA' eKToq 6Ml^el. 
 
 a> tXSiliov nctrep, oTav ae ]uevei nu9eo6ai 
 
 nai&bq 6ua90pov arav, 
 
 (iv ounco TiQ eepenrcv '/tCm/^ 
 
 aicbv AioKibuv arepee ToG5e. ■*"* "^ 
 
 AJAX. 
 
 693—718. 
 
 e9pi£* epcoTi, Trepixapk ^' avenroMav. orp. 
 
 ico Iw TTav TTuv, 
 
 CO TTav TTav aAinXafKTe, KuMaviaq xiovoKTunou 
 y\t' neTpaioQ anb 6eipd5oQ (pdvHS', d) 
 Getbv xoponoi' avaS, bncog moi 
 Nuoia Kvwoi' opxHMar' auTobafl 
 £uvcjv Idvi'HC. 
 
 vuv rap eMoi neAei xopeuoai. 
 
 'iKapiwv 6' unep neAofecov juoAoov avu£ 'AnoAAwv 
 6 AotAioq eufvcooTOC 
 £]uoi SuveiH 5iu navToc eucppwv. 
 
 I 

 
 Sophocles. 69 
 
 Oh ! when the pride of Graecia's noblest race 
 Wanders, as now, in darkness and disgrace, 
 
 When Reason's day 
 Sets rayless— joyless — quenched in cold decay, 
 
 Better to die, and sleep 
 The never-waking sleep, than linger on, 
 And dare to live, when the soul's life is gone : 
 
 But thou shalt weep, 
 Thou wretched father, for thy dearest son, 
 Thy best beloved, by inward Furies torn. 
 The deepest, bitterest curse, thine ancient house hath 
 borne ! 
 
 WiNTHROP MaCKWORTH PRAED. 
 
 A J AX. 
 
 693—718. 
 
 A SHUDDER of love thrills through me. Joy ! I soar ! 
 
 O Pan, wild Pan ! \They da/tce.] 
 
 Come from Cyllene hoar — 
 Come from the snow-drift, the rock-ridge, the glen ! 
 
 Leaving the mountain bare 
 
 Fleet through the salt sea-air. 
 Mover of dances to Gods and to men. 
 Whirl me in Cnossian ways — thrid me the Nysian maze ! 
 Come, while the joy of the dance is my care ! 
 
 Thou too, Apollo, come, 
 
 Bright from thy Delian home, 
 Bringer of day. 
 
 Fly o'er the southward main 
 
 Here in our hearts to reign, 
 Loved to repose there and kindly to stay.
 
 yo Sophocles. 
 
 eAuaev olvcv axoq an' ojumotcov 'ApH*:. ovt. 
 
 iob iu). vOv au, 
 
 vCv, (i ZeO, ncipa \euKbv eudyepov neXacai <pdo(; 
 
 Gofiv cuKudAcov vecov, or' Aiaq 
 
 AaSinovoQ noAiv, GecJov 6' au 
 
 ndv9uTa eeoMi' eEhivua* euvojui? 
 
 aepcov luefiara. 
 
 ndv9' 6 jueraq xpo^oq )uapaivei, 
 
 K0u5ev dvauboTov cpaTioaua' uv, eure r' e^^ deAirrcDv 
 
 Ai'ag jueTavefvwoeH 
 
 BuwoO T* "ATp€i5ai(; juerd\CL)v re veiKecov. 
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 
 151-215. 
 
 d) Aibq dfeuenec; (pan, orp. u'. 
 
 Tig nore rdc; noAuxpujou 
 
 TTuGojvoc; dfAadq egaq 
 
 0H3aq; eKTeTaiuai cpo^e- 
 
 pdv (ppeva, belyari nd/Ucov, 
 
 ime Au\ie TTaiav, 
 
 dM9l Gol dsojuevoq, ti juoi h veov, 
 
 H nepireXAojuevaiq copaiq nd\iv 
 
 e£ovu3eic XP^o*^- ^'^^ l^o') '^ XP"''^" \ 
 
 a(; TeKvov ' E\ni6o(;, djugpore 4>djna.
 
 Sophocles. 7 1 
 
 Horror is past. Our eyes have rest from pain. 
 
 O Lord of Heaven ! {They diwce.] 
 
 Now blithesome day again 
 Purely may smile on our swift-sailing fleet, 
 
 Since, all his woe forgot, 
 
 Aias now faileth not 
 Aught that of prayer and Heaven-worship is meet. 
 Time bringeth mighty aid — nought but in time doth fade : 
 Nothing shall move me as strange to my thought. 
 
 Aias, our lord, hath now 
 
 Cleared his wrath-burdened brow 
 Long our despair. 
 
 Ceased from his angry feud 
 
 And with mild heart renewed 
 Peace and goodwill to the high-sceptred pair. 
 
 Lewis Campbell. 
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 
 /^ — 151 — 215. 
 
 Lord of the Pythian treasure, 
 
 What meaneth the word thou hast spoken ? 
 The strange and wondrous word. 
 
 Which Thebes hath heard. 
 Oh ! it hath shaken our hearts to a faltering measure ! 
 A token, O Paian, a token ! 
 What is thy boon to us ? 
 Shall it come soon to us. 
 Shall it be long e'er the circle bend 
 Full round to the fatal end ? 
 Answer us, daughter of Hope, 
 
 Voice born Immortal of golden Hope!
 
 7 2 Sophocles. 
 
 TTpcoTa ae KeK\6juevoq, Gufa- avT. a. 
 
 Ttp Aioq, omPpot' 'Aectva, 
 
 faidtoxov t' a5eA9eav 
 
 "Apxeuiv, a KUKAoevr' ofo- 
 
 priQ Gpovov euKAea Gdoaei, 
 
 KQi 4>orgov eKagoAov, lo) 
 
 rpiaaoi dAeSijuopoi TipocpdvHTe moi, 
 
 el' nore koI nporepaq araq unep- 
 
 opvu)U€va<; noAei Hvuaar' eKTont- 
 
 av (pAofa nHjuoTog, eAGexe koI vuv. 
 
 CO nonoi, avapiGMa fctp cpepco OTp. p'. 
 
 nHMOTa' voaei be juoi nponaq 
 
 GToAoc, 01)6' evi (ppovTiboq efxoc 
 
 (p TIC oAeEeTOi. outc j-dp cKfova 
 
 KAuTog x^o^oQ auEerai oure tokoioiv 
 
 iHiajv KojuoTcov dve- 
 
 Xouai fuvaiKEQ- 
 
 aAAov 6' uv oAAcp npooi- 
 
 boic anep evJirrepov opviv 
 
 Kpeisaov djuaiMaKerou nupbq opjuevov 
 
 OKTav npb(; eonepou GeoO • 
 
 (Lv noAiq dvdpiGjuoc oAAurai* dvT. 3'. 
 
 VHAea 6e feveGAa npb<; ne6q> 
 
 6avuTa96pa Ketrai avoiKTcaq* 
 
 ev 5' dAoxoi noAiuL t' eni juoTepeg 
 
 aKTCtv napd pooMiov ciAAoGev dA/\ai 
 
 Aufpcov ndvcov "iKTHpeq e- 
 
 niGTevdxouGiv. 
 
 naidv te Adjunei gtovo- 
 
 eaad re ffipuq ojuauAoc 
 
 (Lv unep, (u xpuoea Gufajep Aibq, 
 
 eu(ina nejUH'Ov uAkuv*
 
 Sophocles. 73 
 
 First therefore thou be entreated, 
 
 Divine unapproachable maiden, 
 And Artemis with thee, our aid to be, 
 In the mid mart of our city majestical seated, 
 And Phoebus the archer death-laden ! 
 By your affinity 
 Helpfullest trinity, 
 Help us. And as in the time gone by 
 Ye have bowed to our plaintive cry. 
 Bowed to our misery sore : 
 
 So come to us now as ye came before. 
 
 Ah me ! it is a world, a world of woe. 
 Plague upon the height and plague below ! 
 
 And they mow us with murderous glaive, 
 
 And never a shield to save ! 
 Never a fruit of the earth comes to the birth, 
 
 And in vain, in vain 
 Is the cry and the labour of mothers, and all for a fruit- 
 Away, away, [less pain. 
 Ghost upon ghost they are wafted away : 
 
 One with another they die, 
 
 Swifter than flame do they fly 
 
 From life, from light, from day. 
 
 Ah me ! it is a world, a world of dead. 
 Feverous and foul, with corpses spread : 
 
 And they lie as they He, unbefriended. 
 Where are the mothers, and where are the wives? 
 
 They are fled, fled for their lives, 
 
 To the altars to pray, 
 
 There to lie, to sigh, 
 And to pray, and to pray unattended, 
 
 With choir and cry 
 Lamentation and litany blended. 
 And only, O Maiden, by thee may our marred estate be 
 mended.
 
 74 Sophocles. 
 
 'Aped xe xbv juaAepbv, og orp. f 
 
 vOv ci)(aAKoq doniSoov 
 
 q)\erei Me nepi^OHTog avrid^cov, 
 
 na\isauTOv 5p6juH)ua vwTioai ndTpa<; 
 tarroupov, eix' eg jnefav 
 
 edAajuov ' AjLi9iTpixa(; 
 
 eiix' eq rbv anoEevov opuov 
 
 0pHKiov KAubcova* 
 fxeAei fap e'i ri vb£ acpfi, 
 
 xoOx' en' fijuap epxerai* 
 
 rbv, CO xav nupcpopoov 
 
 aaxpanfiv KpdxH vejucov, 
 
 <s> ZeO ndxep, unb oto 9Giaov Kepauvc|). 
 
 avac, ra xe (jo. xpu- avx. f 
 
 ooaxpocpcov dn' dfKuAuv 
 PeAea eeAoiy' uv dboMax' evbaxeiaBai 
 tdpwfd npoaxaxOevxa, xdq xe nup96pou(; 
 'AprejuiboQ ai'fAac;, £uv alg 
 AuKi' opea bidaoer 
 xbv xpU'JOMixpav xe kikAhgkco, 
 xaob* encbvujuov fdq, 
 olvd)iTa BdKxov euiov, 
 A\atvd6a)v ojuogtoAov, 
 neAao9Hvai cpAtfovx' 
 drAacini * * * 
 neuKQ 'ni xbv dnoxiuov ev 9eoTc Geov.
 
 Sophocles. 75 
 
 The fiend of plague, whose sworclless hand 
 Burns like battle through the land, 
 With wild tempestuous wailing all about him,— 
 O cross his track and turn him back 
 O meet him, thou, and rout him ! 
 
 Let him sink again 
 
 Deep in the deepest main ! 
 Let him mingle in horrible motion 
 
 With the wildest ocean ! 
 (For still what scapes the cruel night, 
 Cruel day destroys it quite.) 
 
 But oh ! with thunder-stroke 
 Let our enemy and thine be broke, — 
 O Zeus !— 
 Father !— let him know thy wrath, thy wrath divine ! 
 
 O God of light, from lightsome bow 
 
 Cast abroad thy fiery snow, 
 Like morsels cast thine arrowy, fiery snow ! 
 
 And thou, O mountain maiden pure, 
 
 His sister, stand our champion sure, 
 Stand and strow 
 
 Arrows, as fire, below ! 
 Thou too— thou art Theban — O Bacchus, 
 Thou— art thou not Theban ? — O Bacchus, 
 
 In rosy bloom, elate and strong, 
 
 Lead thy madding train along. 
 Until thy fiery chase 
 
 Hunt the demon from the place 
 Afar, afar ! 
 O follow, follow him far, afar ! 
 
 A. W. Vekraix.
 
 7 6 Sophocles. 
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 
 863—910. 
 
 ei uoi EuveiH (pepovri OTp. a . 
 
 jioipa Tov euoenrov ofveiav \6rcov 
 
 epfcav re ndvTcov, cLv vojuoi npoKeivrai 
 
 uHfinobeQ, oupaviav 
 
 hi aiBepa TeKvwOevTec, tov "OXuMnog 
 
 naTHp Movoq, ou6e viv 
 
 evarct <puGiq avtpcov 
 
 eriKTev, ou&'e iuhv note \c<ea KaTOKOuidaei- 
 
 Mefac ev toutok; eebg, ou6e fHpdaKei. 
 
 uppig (puTeuei Tupavvov ovt. a. 
 
 u3piq, ei noUwv unepnAHGefi Marav, 
 
 a MH 'niKaipa jUHb'e auM9epovTa, 
 
 nKpoTOTOv €i5ava[5aa' 
 
 * • anoTOiuov ojpouaev eli; dvdfK.av, 
 
 ev9' ou no5i xpHOiMcp 
 
 Xpfirai. TO Ka\a)Q 6' cx^v 
 
 noAei ndXaiGjia juHTiore Auaai eeov a'lTOUMai. 
 
 eebv ou Ah£oj noxe npoaidTav ioxcov. 
 
 ei 6e TIC uneponTa xep^iv orp. P 
 
 H \6rc}) TTOpeueTai, 
 AiKoc d963HToq, ou5e 
 5ai)Li6vcov ebn oegcov, 
 
 KOKO VIV €\01T0 JlOipa, 
 
 buonoTMOU x«P'v X'"^'^^*^) 
 
 ei MH TO Ktpbog Kepbavei biKOiwc 
 
 KQi Ttov aaenrciov epterai, 
 
 \\ Twv ueiKTCOv eEexai MOTa^oiv. 
 
 TIC eTi noT* ev ToTob' dvnp GumoG Pe\H 
 
 euSeTOi vuxac ajuiiveiv;
 
 SopJwcles. 11 
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 863 — 910. 
 
 Mine be it, mine to hold, 
 With destiny to aid, the stainless sanctity 
 
 In words and actions manifold, 
 Whereof the laws do live and move on high, 
 
 Set in eternal spheres. 
 Born in the bright expanse of upper sky, 
 Birth of the high God, not of mortal years, 
 
 Nor unto dull oblivion a prey : 
 Strong, ageless deity is theirs, and waneth not away. 
 
 The child of earthly pride 
 Is tyranny, when once man's life doth teem 
 With wealth too great to profit or beseem. 
 
 Up, by a path untried, 
 Up to the crowning peak of bliss 
 She climbs, then headlong down the sheer abyss 
 
 Helpless she sinks to the unfooted void ! 
 Yet unto God I pray that he may ne'er annul 
 Man's strife that man's estate be honoured to the full. 
 God is my help ; to him my faith clings undestroyed. 
 
 But if a man, in deed or word, 
 
 Walks o'er-informed with pride and might, 
 
 By fear of justice undeterred, 
 
 Scorning the seats of deity, 
 
 111 doom, to that man drawing nigh, 
 
 His ill-starred arrogance requite ! 
 
 Unless toward his proper gain ., 
 
 With uncorrupted hand he strain. 
 
 Unless he loathe all filthiness — 
 If with lewd hands he touch the grace of holiness I 
 Henceforth, if such things be, no mortal evermore 
 
 Can from his life repel 
 The darts of heaven and boast that foiled they fell :
 
 7 8 Sophocles. 
 
 ei fop at T0iaI6e npocEeiQ rijuiai, 
 Ti 6ei \xs. xopeOeiv; 
 
 oiiK en Tov gQiktov eiui avr. 3' 
 
 fdc en" 6iU9aA6v oePoov, 
 
 o06* eg xbv 'A^aioi vabv, 
 
 cube -rhs 'OAujuniav, 
 
 ei jUH Tube xeipobeiKxa 
 
 naaiv apubaei Pporoiq. 
 
 oAA', (Jo KpaTuvojv, e'inep op9' aKOueiQ, 
 
 Zeu ndvT' avdaaoov, jlih Ad9oi 
 
 ce idv re gov deuvarov cu'ev dpxdv. 
 
 (p9ivovTa fdp * * » Aatou 
 
 940907' etaipouaiv h6h, 
 
 KOubajLioG TijucuQ 'AnuAAcov eMcpavHf 
 
 Eppei be TO 9eta. 
 
 CEDIPUS COLONEUS. 
 
 668—719. 
 
 euiTTTTOu, £eve, raobe x<^poq orp. a' 
 
 Tkou rd Kpdnara fdg enauAa, 
 
 TOV dpfHTd KoAcovbv, ev9* 
 
 d Aifeia juivuperai 
 
 GanUouoa MaAiar' oHbajv 
 
 XAoopaiq unb f3dcGai(;, 
 
 TOV oivcina vcmouou kigoov 
 
 \
 
 Sophocles. 79 
 
 If he who walks such ways 
 Deserve man's honour and his praise, 
 Wherefore with holy dance should I the Gods adore ? 
 
 Never again from Delphi's central hearth, 
 
 The sacred spot inviolate of earth, 
 Will I seek Phoebus' grace, 
 Nor unto Abae nor Olympia go, 
 Unless these presages come forth, 
 Clear, to the issue joined, for all to see and show. 
 
 But unto thee we pray, 
 Zeus, lord and king ! if so men call on thee aright — • 
 
 Deathless thou art, eternal, full of sway — 
 
 Let not transgression 'scape thy sight ! 
 Wrecks of a bygone day, 
 The ancient oracles of Laius' line 
 
 Are cast contemned away ! 
 No more is glorified Apollo's shrine ; 
 
 Death falls on things divine. 
 
 E. D. A. MORSHEAD. 
 
 K 
 
 CEDIPUS COLONEUS. 
 
 668—719. 
 
 Stranger, thou art standing now 
 On Colonos' sparry brow ; 
 All the haunts of Attic ground, 
 Where the matchless coursers bound. 
 Boast not, through their realms of bliss, 
 Other spot as fair as this. 
 Frequent down this greenwood dale. 
 Mourns the warbling nightingale, 
 Nestling mid the thickest screen 
 Of the ivy's darksome green ;
 
 8o Sophocles. 
 
 Kol TQv aparov Geou 
 
 (pu\Aa5a juupioKopnov ovhAiov 
 
 avHveMov xe ndvrwv 
 
 Xeijuojvcov IV ' 6 goKxicbrac 
 
 ael AiovuooQ ejaPuTeuei ^tiy 
 
 eeaiq d,u9inoAojv TiGHvaiq. '"'^ 
 
 edWei V oupaviaq iin* uxvag dvr. a' 
 
 o Ka/\Ai|3oTpuq kqt' Hjuap del 
 
 vdpKiaooc;, MefdAaiv 9eaTv 
 
 dpxaiov aTe<pdv(oju' , 5 re 
 
 Xpuaaurnq KpoKog- ou6' dijnvoi 
 
 KpHvai mvuSouaiv 
 
 KH9iaoO vojiidbcq peeGpcov, 
 
 uA\' aiev en* h.uciti 
 
 coKUTOKOQ ne5icov eniviaoexai 
 
 UKHpUTCp £uV 6,Ll3pCp 
 
 orepvouxou xQovog- ou5e Mououv 
 Xopoi viv dneoTufHaav, ou6' d 
 XpuodvioQ 'Acppobira. 
 
 ecrriv 6* otov efco foq 'Aaiag ouk enoKOuco, cxp. p' 
 
 ou6' ev Ta juefdAa 
 
 Awpibi vdacp TTeAonog 
 
 nconoTe pAaarov 
 
 (pureuju' dxeipHTov auronoiov,
 
 Sophocles. 8 1 
 
 Or where, each empurpled shoot 
 Drooping- with its myriad fruit, 
 Curled in many a mazy twine, 
 Blooms the never-trodden vine, 
 By the God's protecting power 
 Safe from sun and stonii and shower. 
 Bacchus here, the summer long, 
 Revels with the Goddess throng, 
 Nymphs who erst, on Nyssa's wild. 
 Reared to man the rosy child. 
 
 Here Narcissus, day by day. 
 Buds, in clustering beauty gay, 
 Sipping aye, at morn and even, 
 All the nectar dews of heaven. 
 Wont amid your locks to shine, 
 Ceres fair, and Proserpine. 
 Here the golden Crocus gleams, 
 Murmur here unfailing streams, 
 Sleep the bubbling fountains never, 
 Feeding pure Cephisus river, 
 Whose prolific waters daily 
 Bid the pastures blossom gaily, 
 With the showers of spring-tide blending, 
 On the lap of earth descending. 
 Here the Nine, to notes of pleasure. 
 Love to tread their choral measure, 
 Venus, o'er those flow'rets gliding, 
 Oft her rein of gold is guiding. 
 
 Now a brighter boast than all 
 Shall my grateful song recall ; 
 Yon proud shrub, that will not smile, 
 Pelops, on thy Doric isle. 
 Nor on Asiatic soil, 
 But unsown, unsought by toil, 
 Self-engendered, year by year, 
 
 F •
 
 I 
 
 82 Sophocles. 
 
 efxeojv 96pHjna batcov, 
 6 Totbe 6d\\ei Meri^ra X'»^P?> 
 fAauKag nai6oTp6<pou 9uAAov tXaiaq' 
 TO juev Tig ou9' dpoQ oiixe fApa 
 GHjuaivcov ctAicoGei x^pi nep- 
 OOQ- 6 j"dp alev opoav kuk/\oq 
 Aeuaaei viv Mopiou AioQ 
 Xct fAauKajnig 'Aedva. 
 
 uAAov 5' aivov fcxto MarponoAei Tu6e KpdnSTOv, civt. 3 
 
 bcLpOV TOU )U€fdAOU 
 
 baijuovog, eineiv, x^ovoc; au- 
 XHua juefiGTov, 
 
 euinnov, eunwAov, eu6dAac3GOv. 
 w nai Kpovou, ou fctp viv ec 
 t65' elGOQ auxH,u' , dva£ TTocei&av, 
 TmroiGiv Tov oKeGTHpa yp.\whv 
 npobxaiGi raiGoe KriaoQ GruiaiQ. 
 d 6* euHpeTjuog eKnafA' dAia 
 XepGi napanrojueva nAdra 
 OpcoGKei, Toov eKOTOjunobcov 
 
 NHpHOCOV dKOAOUeOQ.
 
 Sophocles. 83 
 
 Springs to life a native here. 
 
 Tree the trembling foeman shuns, 
 
 Garland for Athena's sons, 
 
 May the olive long be ours, 
 
 None may break its sacred bowers, 
 
 None its boughs of silvery grey 
 
 Young or old may bear away : 
 
 Morian Jove, with look of love, 
 
 Ever guards it from above. 
 
 Blue-eyed Pallas watch unsleeping 
 
 O'er her favourite tree is keeping. 
 Swell the song of praise again ; 
 
 Other boons demand my strain, 
 
 Other blessings we inherit, 
 
 Granted by the mighty Spirit ; 
 
 On the sea and on the shore. 
 
 Ours the bridle and the oar. 
 
 Son of Saturn old ! whose sway 
 
 Stormy winds and waves obey. 
 
 Thine be honour's well-earned meed. 
 Tamer of the champing steed : 
 First he wore on Attic plain 
 Bit of steel and curbing- rein. 
 Oft too o'er the waters blue, 
 Athens, strain thy labouring crew ; 
 Practised hands the bark are plying. 
 Oars are bending, spray is flying. 
 Sunny waves beneath them glancing, 
 Sportive Nereids round them dancing. 
 With their hundred feet in motion. 
 Twinkling mid the foam of ocean. 
 
 'O 
 
 J. Anstice.
 
 I 
 
 84 Sophocles. 
 
 CEDIPUS COLONEUS. 
 
 1211 — 1248. 
 
 ocjTic; ToG nAeovoQ jnepouc cxp. 
 
 XpH^ei ToG juerpiou napeig 
 
 ^coeiv, GKaioauvav (puAciaaoLiv 
 
 ev ejuol KaidbHAoc tarai. 
 
 enei noAAa jLitv ai juoKpai 
 
 oj-iepai KareeevTo 5h 
 
 Aunac; effuxepw, to rep- 
 
 novTo 5' oi)K av i'6oiq onou, 
 
 OTOv tk; €(; nAeov ireGH 
 
 ToG eeAovTOQ" 6 5' eiriKoupoQ laoTeAeoToq, 
 
 'AiboQ ore Molp' avuinevatoQ 
 
 ciAupoQ cixopoQ uvanecpHve, 
 
 edvoTog eg TeAeuTOv. 
 
 MH 9uvai Tov anavTO vt- avT. 
 
 Ku Aofov TO 5', enei 9avH, 
 
 pfivai Keleev o9ev nep HKei 
 
 noAu beuiepov cog rdxioTa. 
 
 cbg eur' av to veov napfl 
 
 K0U9a(; dcppoauvaq 9epov, 
 
 Tic; nAcJtfxeH noAujuox6oQ e- 
 
 £co, Tig ou KajLiotTcov fcvi ; 
 
 96VO1, aTdGeic, epiq, jimxai, 
 
 KOI 9e6vo(;" TO Te KaTdjue;inTOv eniAeAofxe 
 
 nuiLiaTov OKpoTeg dnpoaoMiAov 
 
 fHpac; d9iAov, iva nponuvTo 
 
 KOKO KQKciv tUVOlKEl.
 
 Sophocles. 85 
 
 / 
 
 CEDIPUS COLONEUS, 
 1211 — 1248. 
 
 What man is he that yearneth 
 
 For length unmeasured of days ? 
 Folly mine eye discerneth 
 
 Encompassing all his ways. 
 For years over-running the measure 
 
 Shall change thee in evil wise : 
 Grief draweth nigh thee ; and pleasure, 
 
 Behold, it is hid from thine eyes. 
 
 This to their wage have they 
 
 Which overlive their day. 
 And He that looseth from labour 
 
 Doth one with other befriend, 
 
 Whom bride nor bridesmen attend, 
 Song, nor sound of the tabor, 
 
 Death, that maketh an end. 
 
 Thy portion esteem I highest, 
 
 Who wast not ever begot ; 
 Thine next, being born who diest 
 
 And straightway again art not. > 
 
 With follies light as the feather 
 
 Doth Youth to man befall ; 
 Then evils gather together, 
 
 There wants not one of them all — 
 
 Wrath, envy, discord, strife, 
 
 The sword that seeketh life. 
 And sealing the sum of trouble 
 
 Doth tottering Age draw nigh, 
 
 Whom friends and kinsfolk fly, 
 Age, upon whom redouble 
 
 All sorrows under the sky.
 
 86 . Sophocles. 
 
 ev to rXdiucov o5', ouk cfcb juovoq, encob. 
 
 ndvTo8ev gopeioQ ax; tiq 
 
 uKTCi KujuoTonAHS )(6ijuepia KyNovetrai, 
 
 (OQ Kui Tovbe KaroiKpaQ 
 
 beival KujuoToafeic; 
 
 oToi KAoveouaiv aei EuvoiJaai, 
 
 ai juev an' aeAiou buajudv, 
 
 ai 6' ovaxeMovToq, 
 
 fti &' ava jLieaaav oktTv', 
 
 oi (De vuxiav ano pirrdv. 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 332—375- 
 
 noAAa to 5eiva Kou&ev av- orp. a' 
 
 Bpcunou beivorepov neAeu 
 toOto KOI noAioG ntpav 
 
 noVTOU X^'i^Ep'V VOTCp 
 
 Xcopei, nepi3puxioiaiv 
 
 nepd)V un' oibjuaoiv, 
 
 ©eoav re rdv unepraTciv, Pav 
 
 n99iTov, aKctjudrav dnoTpuerai, 
 
 i\Ao)Ufcva)v dporpcov £T0(; eiQ eroQ, 
 
 imreiw fevei noAeCov.
 
 Sophocles. 87 
 
 This man, as me, even so, 
 Have the evil days overtaken ; 
 And like as a cape sea-shaken 
 With tempest at earth's last verges 
 And shock of all winds that blow, 
 His head the seas of woe, 
 The thunders of awful surges 
 Ruining overflow ; 
 Blown from the fall of even, 
 
 Blown from the dayspring forth, 
 Blown from the noon in heaven. 
 
 Blown from night and the North. 
 
 A. E. HOUSMAN. 
 
 / 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 332—375- 
 
 Much is there passing strange ; 
 
 Nothing surpassing mankind. 
 He it is loves to range 
 Over the ocean hoar. 
 Thorough the surges' roar, 
 
 South winds raging behind; 
 
 Earth, too, wears he away. 
 The mother of Gods on high 
 
 Tireless, free from decay ; 
 
 With team he furrows the ground, 
 
 And the ploughs go round and round, 
 As year by year goes by.
 
 88 Sophocles. 
 
 KOU90v6cov re cpuAov op- cjvt. a 
 
 vieoov OM^iPaAcbv ofei, 
 
 Kol GHpcbv arplcov e9vH, 
 
 novTou t' eivaXiav (puGiv 
 
 cneipaiai SiktuokAcootok;, 
 
 nepi9pa5H(; avHp* 
 
 Kparei be uHxovaiq afpauAou 
 
 GHpbc opeaoipdra, Aaaiauxeva 0" 
 
 Innov aeSerai c<]U9iAo(pov ^ufbv 
 
 oupeiov t' aKjLiHTa laOpov. 
 
 Kot (pGefua Kol avejuoev G^p. P . 
 
 9p6vH)ua KGi oGTUvououc opfoc ebi- 
 
 &d£aTO KOI buoouAcov 
 
 ndfcov unaiepeia koI 6ua- 
 
 oyPpa 9€ureiv 3eAH • 
 
 nctvTonopoQ dnopoq en* ou6ev epxerai 
 
 TO lueAAov "Alba jiovov 
 
 9eO£iv O'JK endSerai • 
 
 voGcov 5' djUHxdvcov 9urdc £uMne9paaTai. 
 
 0096V Ti TO juHxavoev ovt. 3 
 
 Texvaq ump eAnlb' \\i>iv noTe u'ev kqkov, 
 
 oAAot' en' eGBAov epnei, 
 
 vououq TTOpaipwv x^ovbc 0e- 
 
 (iv t' evopKOV biKav 
 
 UH'inoAic dnoAiq, otco to juh kqAov 
 
 EuveGTi, ToAjua*; X"P^^- 
 
 >iht' eiuol napeoTioc 
 
 j-evoiTO mht' 'iaov 9pova)v 6c Tab' epbei.
 
 Sophocles. 89 
 
 The bird-tribes, light of mind, 
 The races of beasts of prey, 
 
 And sea-fish after their kind, 
 
 Man, abounding in wiles, 
 
 Entangles in his toils 
 And carries captive away. 
 
 The roamers over the hill, 
 The field-inhabiting deer. 
 
 By craft he conquers, at will ; 
 
 He bends beneath his yoke 
 
 The neck of the steed unbroke, 
 And pride of the upland steer. 
 
 He has gotten him speech, and fancy breeze-betost, 
 
 And for the state instinct of order meet ; 
 He has found him shelter from the chilling frost 
 
 Of a clear sky, and from the arrowy sleet ; 
 Illimitable in cunning, cunning-less 
 
 He meets no change of fortune that can come ; 
 He has found escape from pain and helplessness ; 
 
 Only he knows no refuge from the tomb. 
 
 Now bends he to the good, now to the ill, 
 
 With craft of art, subtle past reach of sight ; 
 Wresting his country's laws to his own will, 
 
 Spurning the sanctions of celestial right ; 
 High in the city, he is made city-less, 
 
 Whoso is corrupt, for his impiety; 
 He that will work the works of wickedness, 
 
 Let him not house, let him not hold, with me. 
 
 Sir George Young.
 
 9° Sophocles. 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 583-625. 
 
 euSaluoveq oTai KaKcjv afeuoToq aiobv. orp. 
 
 oIq fap av GeiGSft 6e69ev boMoq, araq 
 
 oubev cMeinei, feveSg eni nAfieog epnov 
 
 ojuoiov (jjare TiovTiaig 
 
 oTbua SuGnvooiq otov 
 
 ©pHsaaiGiv epepoq ucpaXov embpoMH nvoaiq, 
 
 KuAlvbei guaacSev KeAaivav 
 
 etva Kol Eiuadvejuov, 
 
 OTOvcp PpeMOUGi fe' avTinAHfeg uktoi. 
 
 cipxaia TO AagSoKibfiv oTkcov opcLjaai cjvt. a'. 
 
 TTHjuara (pGirciv em nHMaoi niirrovT' , 
 
 ou6' anaAXuGoei feveav fevog, c<\.\' epeinei 
 
 eecov Tig, 01)6' €xei Auoiv. 
 
 vGv fap eGxoTaQ unep 
 
 pi^aq 6 TeTOTO cpaog tv OlbiTTOU bojuoiq, 
 
 Kax' au viv (poivia Secov tcov 
 
 veprepoov ajuci Konlq, 
 
 Aofou t' avoia koi cppevcov ' Epivuq. 
 
 Teav, Zeu, 5uvaGiv riq uv5pd)v orp. 3 
 
 tneppaola kotogxh ; 
 t Tctv ol9* unvoq aipei Ttoe' u navTorHpoQ 
 OUT* aKonoi Gewv viv 
 (UHveq, arHp(p 6e XP^^V buvdoTaq 
 KQTExeiq ' 0\ujjnou 
 lnapMopoeoGav aipNav. 
 
 t 
 
 ! 1
 
 Sophocles. 91 
 
 ^ ANTIGONE. 
 
 583—625. 
 
 High is their happiness Avhose life stands clear 
 
 From touch or taste of ill. 
 For them whose roof-tree rocks beneath the wrath divine, 
 
 No respite is from fear ; 
 But curse on curse comes crowding on them still — 
 Birth after birth, their generations pine. 
 
 As when, beneath the North Wind's stormy scourge 
 Of bitter blasts that blow from Thracian land, 
 Over the deep-sea darkness drives the surge, 
 From the dim gulf it stirs the dark and storm-vext sand. 
 And wave-worn headland and confronting shore 
 Reverberate the roar ; 
 
 So see I woe on woe, ordained of old — 
 
 Woes of the living race, on woes of old time rolled, 
 
 For all the line of Labdacus ! 
 
 No generation's blight 
 Can sate the curse nor give back light 
 Where some dark power impends, with ruin fraught ! 
 
 Awhile, light seemed to grow 
 O'er thy last root, O house of Qldipus ! 
 But the fell sickle of the gods below- 
 Wild words and frenzy of the mind distraught — 
 
 Hews all away to nought. 
 
 Zeus ! by no sin of man the overbold 
 
 Is thine high rule controlled : 
 Not minished is thy strength sublime 
 By sleep, that preys on all, or tireless months of time ! 
 
 Ageless in power, thy living royalty 
 Dwells in Olympian sheen, in gleaming halls of sky!
 
 92 Sophocles. 
 
 TO t' eneira Kal to jueWov 
 KOI TO nplv enapKecei 
 t vojLioq ob' [ou6ev epnwv] ^ 
 
 evaTOJV PioTcp ndjimoAK; [eKTog oTaq]. 
 
 a fctp 6h no\un\aj-KTOC eXnlc; ovt. 3 . 
 
 noAAoiQ )uev ovaaig avbpciv, 
 
 noWoic 6' anoTa KOu<pov6cov epcoTOJV 
 
 eiboTi V ou5€v epnei, 
 
 npiv nupl Gepjuo) noba tiq npoaauGH. 
 
 00910 rap eK tou 
 
 KAeivbv enoQ necpavTOi, 
 
 to kokov 6oKeiv hot' eG9\6v 
 
 Ta)5' ejLiMev otw 9pevac 
 
 eebc afei npbc otuv 
 
 TTpdaoei 6' oMfoGTov xpbvov Utoc aTaq. 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 781—800. 
 
 'EpooQ aviKOTe mox*^^i ''^P" ^ ' 
 
 "Epwg, 6q ev kthjuooi ninTeig, 
 
 OQ ev juaAaKoTc napeiaig 
 
 veaviboc evvuxeueiq, 
 
 (poiTUQ b' unepnovTioc ev t' ofpovoMOiQ auAaig- 
 
 KQi a' out' aOavoTcov <pLi£i]U0C ou5ei<; 
 
 oOe* djuepioov en' avOpconcov, 6 5' excov MeMHvev. 
 
 ah Kal biKoicov abiKOUQ avi. a . 
 
 (ppevag napaontic eni Ad)3a* 
 Gu Kol Tobe veiKOQ dv&pwv 
 EuvaiMOV exeig TapdEag" 
 
 viKct 6* 'evapfHq p\e9dp(ov Tjuepoq eu\eKTpou ,| 
 
 tvuiu9aq, twv )uerd\cov oux'i ndpebpog 
 eeGjuwv, djuax'^'^ rap eMnui^ei Sebc; ' A9po5iTa. 
 
 ;
 
 Sophocles. 93 
 
 This law of days long past 
 For the next hour and for all time stands fast — 
 Who gaineth bliss or wealth too great, 
 For him lurks evil fate. 
 
 Restless beguiling hope 
 For many men holds gladness in its scope, 
 But foils, for many, all they craved and sought 
 
 In giddy pride of thought : 
 Man knows not fate's approach, but onward fares. 
 Till on the scorching fire his foot treads unawares. 
 
 Wisely one spake this immemorial word — 
 The man whom God utito ill doom doth lead, 
 Sees and is blind, deems right the wrongful deed : 
 And brief his date is, and his doom assured. 
 
 E. D. A. MORSHEAD. 
 
 / ANTIGONE, 
 781—800. 
 
 O LOVE, thou art victor in fight : thou mak'st all things 
 
 afraid ; 
 Thou couchest thee softly at night on the cheeks of a maid ; 
 Thou passest the bounds of the sea, and the folds of the 
 
 fields ; 
 To thee the immortal, to thee the ephemeral yields ; 
 Thou maddenest them that possess thee ; thou tumest 
 
 astray 
 The souls of the just, to oppress them, out of the way ; 
 Thou hast kindled amongst us pride, and the quarrel of kin ; 
 Thou art lord, by the eyes of a bride, and the love-light 
 
 therein; 
 Thou sittest assessor with Right ; her kingdom is thine. 
 Who sports with invincible might, Aphrodita divine. 
 
 Sir George Young.
 
 94 Sophocles. 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 1115— 1154. 
 
 noAucovujue, KobMetaq NujU<pat ara\Ma, arp. a'. 
 
 Kai AioQ papu3pejueTa 
 
 fevoQ, kAutuv cq aM9£nei(; 
 
 'IraAiav, juebeig 6e 
 
 naf KOivotg ' EAeuaiviaq 
 
 AHOuq ev KoAnoig, BuKxeu, BaK^av 
 
 6 MOTponoAiv 0H3av 
 
 vaicTcov nap' ufpcov 
 
 'lajuHvoG peiOpcov, ctfpiou t* 
 
 eni anopa bpuKOvroq* 
 
 oe 6' un'ep ^1X69010 nerpaq OTepoy onwne avr. a'. 
 
 Aifvuq, ev9a KoopuKiai 
 
 Nu)Li9ai GTixouai BuK^iSeg, .{I 
 
 KaoToAiag re vajna- 
 
 Kai ae Nuaaicov opeoov 
 
 KiaOHpeic; 6x6ai x^wpa t' aKTO 
 
 TioAuc3T«9uAo(; nejunei 
 
 aPpoTtov enecov 
 
 euosovToov 0H3atag 
 
 eniGKonouvr' oj-uicIk;' 
 
 xav €KnarAa rijuoq orp. 3 . 
 
 unep naaav noAecov 
 
 narpi auv Kepauvia* 
 
 Km vuv, (bq 3ic(iaq txerat 
 
 TTcivbaMoq ajuct noAiq enl vogou, 
 
 juoAeTv KoGapaicp nobl TTup- 
 
 vaaiuv un'ep kAituv, 
 
 H OTOvtjevTa nopGjuov.
 
 i^ 
 
 Sophocles. 95 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 1115— 1154. 
 
 O God of many a name ! 
 
 Filling the heart of that Cadmeian bride 
 
 With deep delicious pride, 
 
 Offspring of him who wields the withering flame ! 
 
 Thou for Italia's good 
 
 Dost care, and 'midst the all-gathering bosom wide 
 
 Of Deo dost preside : 
 
 Thou, Bacchus, by Ismenus' winding waters 
 
 'Mongst Theb^'s frenzied daughters, 
 
 Keep'st haunt, commanding the fierce dragon's brood. 
 
 Thee o'er the forked hill 
 
 The pitchy flame beholds, where Bacchai rove, 
 
 Nymphs of Corycian grove. 
 
 Hard by the flowing of Castalia's rill. 
 
 To visit Theban ways. 
 
 By bloomy wine-cliffs flushing tender bright 
 
 'Neath far Nyseian height 
 
 Thou movest o'er the ivy-mantled mound, 
 
 While myriad voices sound 
 
 Loud strains of "Evoe!" to thy deathless praise. 
 
 For Theb^ thou dost still uphold, 
 
 First of cities manifold, 
 
 Thou and the nymph whom lightning made 
 
 Mother of thy radiant head. 
 
 Come then with healing for the violent woe 
 
 That o'er our peopled land doth largely flow, 
 
 Passing the high Parnassian steep 
 
 Or moaning narrows of the deep !
 
 96 
 
 Sophocles. 
 
 io) nCp nveovTcov 
 XOpdf' aoTpcov, vuxicov 
 cpSefjuciTCOv eTTiGKone, 
 nal Zhvoc; feveSAov, np09dvHB' 
 CO Naiiaig oaiq ajua nepmoAoiQ 
 Guiaiaiv, ai ce juaivojuevai 
 ndvvuxoi xopeuouGi, 
 Tov Tajuiav "Iqkxov. 
 
 avT. 3'.
 
 Sophocles. 97 
 
 Come, leader of the starry quire, 
 Quick-panting with their breath of fire ! 
 Lord of high voices of the night, 
 Child born to him who dwells in light. 
 Appear with tliose who, joying in their madness, 
 Honour the sole dispenser of their gladness, 
 Thyiads of the yEgean main 
 Night-long tripping in thy train. 
 
 Lewis Campbell. 
 
 G
 
 $ 
 
 it. 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 il
 
 /■ 
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 G 2
 
 1 oo Euripides. 
 
 MEDEA. 
 
 627 — 662. 
 
 epcoTeq unep (i'ev fifav cxp. d 
 
 eASovreq oi/k euboSiav 
 
 ouo' aperuv nape&ojKav 
 
 avtpdjiv ei 6' oAiq eA9oi 
 
 KiinpiQ, ouK uAAa SeoQ euxopic outgo. 
 
 lUHnoT*, 0) beanoiv', en' euol 
 
 Xpuaecov toccov e^eiHC 
 
 ijatpco xpi'3<J'5' acpuKTOv olcrrov. 
 
 creproi be mg 0CL>9p05uva, ovt. u' 
 
 5cupHjua KctWicrrov SeaJv 
 
 )uh6£ nor' aM9iA6rou(; 6p- 
 
 fctq QKopesTd re vcikh 
 
 euMOv (KnAHEaa' erepoK; enl AeKxpoiq 
 
 npo53d\oi Seiva Kunpiq, a- 
 
 TTTO\euouq 6' euvdc; oeSUoua" 
 
 6£u9pajv Kpivoi AexH fuvaiKciv. 
 
 w narplc, cS 6a)Md t* ejubv, crp. 3 • 
 
 \iM 6ht' anoAiq fevoijuav 
 
 Tov djuaxavioQ exousa 
 
 buanepaTOv aiwv' 
 
 olKipoTciTcov dxewv. 
 
 6avuTco Oavdrci) ndpoq bajieiHv 
 
 aiLiepav Tdv6' eSavuaaaa" jio- 
 
 X9cov 6* OUK U/UoQ unep6ev h 
 
 fuQ narpiag OTepeaSai. 

 
 Euripides. i o i 
 
 )^ MEDEA. 
 
 627 — 662. 
 
 Love, when she entereth in 
 To the heart of a man in her might, 
 Granteth him never to win 
 The meed of his glory aright ; 
 But should she come in degree, 
 There is none so gracious as she ; 
 Never, O queen, against me 
 Launch from thy golden bow 
 The arrow, nor erring nor slow, 
 Dipped in the deep of desire. 
 
 Me may modesty shield, 
 
 Of the gifts of the gods the flower ; 
 
 Ne'er may the dread Kypris yield 
 
 To me for my doleful dower 
 
 Wranglings of wrath, and the fire 
 
 Of a strife that the years cannot tire. 
 
 Ne'er may my mind she inspire 
 
 With a love that must not be mine, 
 
 Still be she wise to incline 
 
 To the unions of virtue and peace. 
 
 O land of my birth and my home, 
 Ne'er be it mine, is my prayer, 
 Houseless and helpless to roam, 
 Leading a life of despair 
 And a sorrowful lot alway ; 
 Rather, O death, for thy prey 
 Take me, and darken the day 
 Of my life in the light of the sun. 
 Hardship of earth is there none 
 Like to the loss of our land.
 
 N 
 
 1 02 Euripides. 
 
 €i5oMev, ouK e£ eitpcov avr. 3 
 
 MuGcov €XO)uev 9pdaaoear 
 
 oe rop ou noXic, ou cpiAcov Tig 
 
 wKTioev naBoGaav 
 
 beivoTOTOv noGecov. 
 
 axapiciTOC oAoiB" oto) ndpeori 
 
 jiH 91A0UC; Tijufiv, KaSapav uvoi- 
 
 EovTa Ky\H6a cppevcov ejuoi 
 
 jaev (pL\og ounor' torai. 
 
 HIPPOLYTUS. 
 525-564. 
 "Epcoc "Epooq, u kut' ojujuotcov GTp. a' 
 
 ordseic noGov, eisdfcov pNuKeiav 
 ifux" xi^'Piv ouQ enijTpoTeuaH, 
 MH Moi noie auv kcko) (paveinq, 
 MH&' appuGjuoq eAeoiq. 
 oure fap nupbq out' 
 ucrrpcov umpTepov PeAoc; 
 
 OIOV TO TUQ 'AippOolTOQ 
 
 Thgiv €k xepwv 
 'Epcaq, 6 AioQ naiq. 
 
 aWcoQ aWcoq napct t' 'AAcpeco dvT. a' 
 
 4>oi3ou t' tn'i TTuGioiQ Tcpejuvoiq 
 pouTov (povov ' E-\AuQ ai' ue£er 
 'EpcoTQ 6e, Tov Tupavvov dvfepwv, 
 Tov TUQ 'A9po6iTa{; 
 (piATOTcov GuXdjuoov 
 kAh5ouxov, ou oepisojuev, 
 nepGovTa Kol 6ia ndooQ 
 iovTa ouM9opaq 
 GvoTOiq, OTOv eAGH.
 
 Euripides. 103 
 
 This do I know of a truth, 
 Not from report is the tale 
 That I ponder ; pity nor ruth 
 For thy burden of bale 
 From city or friend hast thou 
 To solace thy suffering now ; 
 Perish the ingrate, I trow, 
 Who never at friendship's behest 
 Flings back the bars of his breast, 
 Friend is he none for me. 
 
 G. SOUTAR. 
 
 •^ HIPPOLYTUS. 
 
 525—564. 
 O Love ! O Love ! from the eyes of thee 
 
 Droppeth desire, and into the soul 
 That thou conquerest leadest thou sweetness and charm ; 
 Come not to me bringing sorrow or harm, 
 And come not in dole. 
 Nor with measureless passion o'ennaster thou me ! 
 For neither the lightning fire 
 Nor the bolts of the stars are dire 
 As the dart hurled forth from the hand of Love, 
 The Son of God above. 
 
 For vainly, vainly, and all in vain 
 Pile we to Phoebus the Pythian shrines ; 
 Vainly by Alpheus heap victims on high ; 
 Vain indeed are the prayers we cry. 
 If no prayer divines 
 That Love is the tyrant and master of men. 
 Through every fate he errs. 
 The keeper of bride-chambers. 
 Nor alike unto all, nor one only way, 
 He comes to spoil and slay.
 
 1 04 Euripides. 
 
 Tav pcv OIxaAia OTp. 3'. 
 
 nd)Aov, otsuro AeKTpcov, 
 
 avavbpov to npiv koI avu)U90v, oIkcov 
 
 ^eii£ao' an' eipeaia, 6pojud6a 
 
 Tov "A'iboQ coare pOKxav, 
 
 GUV mjuari, guv Konvo) 
 
 (povioiQ e' ujLievaioiaiv 
 
 'AAKjUHvaq tokco Kunpic; eEebcoKev 
 
 o) TAoMtov ujuevalcov. 
 
 (L OApaq lepov cvt. p*. 
 
 TeixoQ, w GTOjua AipKoq, 
 
 Guveinoix' av a KuTTpi{; oTov epnei. 
 
 3povTa fOp aM9inupco roKciba 
 
 TOV Aioj-ovoio BoK^ou 
 
 vuju(peuGaiuevav noxjuco 
 
 (povicp KGTeKOiMoae. 
 
 5eiva fap to navr' eninvei, MeXiaoa 6' 
 
 oTa Ti^ nenoTOTai. 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 
 435—454- ,.^ 
 
 d) TTeAiou Gufarep, 
 
 Xaipouoa MOt eiv 'At6a boMOiai 
 
 TOV avdAiov oTkov oiKETeuoig. 
 
 lOTCo 6' 'AtboQ 6 jueAaj-xaiTag 
 
 Gebq, oc t' eni Kcona 
 
 nHbaAicp xe j-epojv 
 
 veKpono.uTioq T^ei, 
 
 noAu 6h ttoAu 6h fuvoiK* aplorav 
 
 Aijuvav ' AxEpovTiov nopeii- 
 
 Gac; eAoTa SiKconco. 
 
 .1* 
 

 
 Euripides. 105 
 
 Think on that GEchalian riven 
 Away from her home and her country, and driven, 
 
 A maiden unwedded, across the seas, 
 Rushing on Hades in fury, and mad with her wrongs ; 
 
 For Cypris gave his bride to Herakles 
 With blood, with smoke, with flame, with murderous 
 marriage songs. 
 
 O Theban Wall ! O mouth of Dirce ! 
 Tell with me how without haste, without mercy, 
 Into the soul doth Cypris creep ; 
 Witness of Semele wed in a death-bringing hour 
 With fire, with thunder, sent to her last sleep, 
 And of Love, more restless than bees, inspiring all with 
 his power. 
 
 A. Mary F. Robinson. 
 
 {Madame Darmestefer. ) 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 
 435—454. 
 
 Fare thee well, good and fair, Pelias's noble heir. 
 Thy course is done ; 
 Good and gracious things betide thee. 
 In the dark mansion that must hide thee 
 From yon fair sun. 
 The Sovereign of the Realm, and he that at the Helm 
 Steers in the murky stream his dusky wherry, 
 (Wafting the feeble sprites that flit below,) 
 Shall hear and know. 
 That never did a nobler spirit pass 
 The Infernal Ferry.
 
 io6 Euripides. 
 
 no\,\a ae juouaonoXoi 
 MeA^|;ouai Ka9' enTOTOvov t* opeiav 
 XeAuv ev t' a\upoig KAeovreq ujuvoiq, 
 SnapTct KUKAaq aviKO Kapveiou nepiviaaerai oopa 
 jUHvog aeipojuevag 
 nuvvuxou oeAdvag, 
 /Xinapaioi t' ev 6\3ioiq 'AedvoK;. 
 ^ Toiav eAinec Oavouaa jiioA- 
 
 TTCiv jueAewv aoiboig. 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 567 — 605. 
 w no-\i)£eivo(; koI eAeuGepoc; avbpbt; aei nor' oikoq, 
 oe TOi Kui 6 TTuGiog euAupag 'AnoAAcav 
 Hcicose vaieiv, 
 exAa &€ aoiai juhAovojuoc 
 €v 66moic r^veaSai, 
 boxiiiav biu kAitucov 
 PoaKHMasi Goiai oupisojv 
 noijuviTac; ujuievaioug. 
 
 O'jv &' enoiiualvovTO X^^P^ ueAecov paAiai re AufKcq civt. 
 
 l3a 5e Ainoua' "OBpuoq vdirav Aeovroov 
 
 a 6a90ivbc lAa* 
 
 XOpeuae 6' c(M9i oav KiSupav, 
 
 4>or3e, noiKtA69pi£ 
 
 ve3p6(; uii/ikojucjov nepav 
 
 3aivou5' eAardv G9up(|) KOU91P, 
 
 Xaipoucs' eu9povi jnoAnu.
 
 Euripides. 107 
 
 Firm and fond, far, far beyond 
 The best of woman-kind that have been ever ; 
 Whilst here on earth above, 
 Thy constant worth and love, 
 Shall form the theme of emulous endeavour, 
 Wherever minstrels sing— or where they strike the string ; 
 Whether in Sparta's ancient state austere, 
 When the revolving year 
 Brings round the high Karneian festival, 
 And the moon's awful and full orbed ball 
 
 Fills and illumines all : 
 Or where proud Athens hails the festive day. 
 With pomp and art and prosperous display. 
 
 John Hookham Frere. 
 
 V V ALCESTIS. 
 
 567—605. 
 Hail ! House of the open door. 
 
 Hail ! home of the chieftain free ! 
 The Lord of the Lyre himself of yore 
 
 Deign'd to inhabit thee. 
 In thy halls, disguised in his shepherd's weeds, 
 He endured for a while to stay. 
 
 Through the upland rocks, 
 
 To the feeding flocks, 
 Piping the pastoral lay. 
 
 And the spotted Lynx was tame 
 
 With the joy of the mighty spell ; 
 And, a tawny troop, the Lions came 
 
 From the leafy Othrys dell ; 
 And from where the tall pines waved their locks, 
 Still as the lute would play, 
 
 Light tripp'd the Fawn 
 
 O'er the level lawn, 
 Entranced by the genial lay.
 
 io8 Euripides. 
 
 TOifop noXuMHXoTdrav orp. 
 
 eaxlav oiKeT napa KaAAivaov 
 
 Boi3[av Aijuvav aporoig oe j"uuv 
 
 KOI ne5icov barreboiq opov 0^91 jaev ae\iou Kvecpalav 
 
 IrmoaTaoiv ai9epa rav MoAoaaciv TiSerai, 
 
 novTiov 6' Aifaicov' €tt' oKTctv 
 
 a\[juevov TThAIou Kpaiuvei. 
 
 KQi vGv &6juov auneTasac avT. 
 
 6e£eT0 Eeivov voxepto 3A€9c<p6), 
 
 Toq (piAag kAcxicjOv c<a6);ou vekuv cv 
 
 boJMaaiv upneavH" to fap eiipevec £K9epETai npbq al6a). 
 
 ev toTq afoGoiGi 6e ndvr' eveanv 009ia(;. 
 
 npoq 5* ejua vux? Odpsoq hgtoi 
 
 GeooepH 9(i)Ta Ke6va npuceiv. 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 962 — 1005. 
 
 Cfcb KQI h\XX MOUGOq OTp. 
 
 Koi MerapoiOQ hEq, koI 
 
 nAeiGTCOV a\j/djuevoc Aofcov •> 
 
 Kpetaaov ou6'ev avofKoq 
 
 Hupov, oi)6e Ti 9cipMaKOV 
 
 GpHGoaK; ev oaviaiv, tuq 
 
 'Op9eia KarerpciH'Gv 
 
 fflpuq, ou6' oaa ^'oiPoq'Ag- 
 
 KAHnid6ai(; ebcoKG 
 
 9dpMCiKa noAunovoiq 
 
 CtVTlTeMcbv PpOTOlGlV,
 
 Euripides. 109 
 
 The house where the Lord Admetus bides 
 
 Is blest for the Pythian's sake — 
 Fast by the shores that skirt the tides 
 
 Of the pleasant Boebian Lake. 
 His fallows and fields the Molossians bound 
 To the stall of the Steeds of Day, — 
 
 And to airy sweep 
 
 Of ^gean steep 
 All Pelion owns his sway. 
 
 He will welcome the stranger with moisten'd lid 
 
 Though his hall he hath open'd wide ; 
 Wailing the dead in his chamber hid, 
 
 The love that hath lately died. 
 For the noble-born is on high thoughts bent, 
 And the good are the truly wise ; 
 
 And deep in my breast 
 
 Doth the firm faith rest, 
 That his hopes from the dust will rise. 
 
 T. E. Webb. 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 962 — 1005. 
 In heaven-high musings and many, 
 
 Far-seeking and deep debate. 
 Of strong things find I not any 
 
 That is as the strength of Fate. 
 Help nor healing is told 
 In soothsayings uttered of old, 
 In the Thracian runes, the verses 
 
 Engraven of Orpheus' pen ; 
 No balm of virtue to save 
 Apollo aforetime gave. 
 Who stayeth with tender mercies 
 
 The plagues of the children of men.
 
 1 1 o Euripides. 
 
 luovac; 6* out' tm pcojuoui; hsy. 
 
 eAeeiv oure pperac OeoQ 
 
 eariv, ou G9aficov KAuei. 
 
 MH iuoi, noTvia, ^eiswv 
 
 fcAOoiQ H TO np'tv ev pico. 
 
 KQi rap ZeuQ 6 tl veugh, 
 
 ouv ooi toGto TeXeuTo. 
 
 Kal Tov £V Xa\u3oiQ 6aju«- 
 
 ^eiQ ou pia oibapov, 
 
 cube TiQ anoTOMOu 
 
 AHjuaTOQ eoTiv al5a>(;. 
 
 Koi g' ev acpuKTOiGi ^epcov crp. 
 
 elXe 6€a beGjaoiQ" 
 
 ToVm 5' • ou fop avdSeK; hot' evepQev 
 
 K,\aio3v touq cpeijuevoug avo). 
 
 KOI Becov OKOTioi 9eivouai 
 
 naibeq ev eavoTco. 
 
 cpLSa ]uev 6t' hv )ue9' H.utuv, 
 
 9iAa 6' tTi K«i eavouGa- 
 
 j-evvaioTaTov be naoav 
 
 eseutco kXigIok; ukoitiv. 
 
 HH&'e veKpwv WQ cpOtMevcov avT. 
 
 )(a)Ma vojui^eaeoi 
 
 TujuPoQ ofic aAoxou, 9eoiGi 6* omouoq 
 
 tim«g6(jl), o'i.'^iac, ejunopwv. 
 
 Kai Tig 5oxM>av KeAeuSuv 
 
 e^Paivcov Tob' epei' 
 
 auTa noTe npouGov' ovbpoq, 
 
 vOv 6" eGTi juuKQipa baijuwv, 
 
 XnTp', w noTvi', eu t\ boiHc;. 
 
 TOKu viv TTpooepoOai (pajaai.
 
 Euripides. 1 1 1 
 
 She hath not her habitation 
 
 In temples that hands have wrought ; 
 Him that bringeth oblation, 
 
 Behold, she heedeth him naught. 
 Be thou not wroth with us more, 
 O mistress, than heretofore ; 
 For what God willeth soever, 
 
 That thou bringest to be ; 
 Thou breakest in sunder the brand 
 Far forged in the Iron Land ; 
 Thine heart is cruel, and never 
 
 Came pity anigh unto thee. 
 
 Thee too, O King, hath she taken 
 
 And bound in her tenfold chain ; 
 
 Yet faint not, neither complain : 
 The dead thou wilt not awaken 
 
 For all thy weeping again. 
 They perish, whom gods begot ; 
 The night releaseth them not. 
 Beloved was she that died 
 And dear shall ever abide. 
 For this was the queen among women, Admetus, that 
 lay by thy side. 
 
 Not as the multitude lowly 
 
 Asleep in their sepulchres, 
 
 Not as their grave be hers. 
 But like as the gods held holy, 
 
 The worship of wayfarers. 
 
 Yea, all that travel the way 
 
 Far off shall see it and say, 
 
 Zc7, erst for her lord she died. 
 
 To-day she sitteth enskied ; 
 
 Hail, lady, be gracious to uszcard; that alway her honour 
 
 abide. 
 
 A. E. HOUSMAN.
 
 112 Euripides. 
 
 HELENA. 
 
 1451—1511- 
 
 4>oiviGoa Sibcjviac; w crp. 
 
 Toxeia Kobna, po9ioioi juoTHp, 
 
 eipeola 91X0, 
 
 Xopaf'e Tciv KaWixopojv 
 
 beAcpivcov, orav aupaiQ 
 
 neAofoq vHveMOv h, 
 
 fAauKU 6e TTovtou SufUTHp 
 
 faXdveia Tab' einH- 
 
 Kara m'ev larta nerdaaT' aupaiq 
 
 Aeinovreg eivoAiaiq, 
 
 AdPere 6' eL\aTivac nAdra^, 
 
 Icb vaOrai, lo) vaOrai, 
 
 neiunovTeQ euAijutvouc; 
 
 TTepoeiwv oI'kcov 'EAevav en' oktoic. 
 
 H nou Kopaq av iroraMOu c'ivt. 
 
 nap' otSjua AeuKimrtbaq, h npb vaoO 
 
 TTaAAdboQ av Adpoig 
 
 Xpovcp £uveA9ouaa x^poiC 
 
 H Kcojuoic; 'YoKivBou 
 
 vuxiav euq)poGuvav 
 
 (ov tEauiAAHGdjuevog 
 
 Tpoxo) repuovi biGKOU 
 
 €Kave <l>oT3oq, o9ev AaKOiva y^ 
 
 PoL)9uTOv djuepav 
 
 6 AioQ eine Gepeiv fovoc), 
 
 Mooxov 9', av AineTHv oiKOiq 
 
 [9dAAouGov ev 9aAdiuoiQ], 
 
 aq ounoo neuKoi npb fduoiv eAaiu^'uv. 
 
 1
 
 Euripides. 1 1 3 
 
 HELENA. 
 
 1451—1511- 
 
 Fair be thy speed, Sidonian ship ! 
 Thine oars, familiar to the oarsman's grip, 
 Fall fast, and make the surges bound. 
 And lead along the dolphin train. 
 
 While all around 
 The winds forego to vex the main. 
 
 And the mariners hear 
 The sea-king's daughter calling clear, 
 " Now, sails to the breeze, fling out, fling out, 
 Now pull, strong arms, to the cheering shout ; 
 Speed royal Helen, away and away. 
 To Argos home, to the royal bay." 
 
 What sacred hour, what festal tide 
 Shall bring fair Helen to Eurotas' side ? 
 
 Say, shall the Spartan maidens dance 
 
 Before Leucippis then ? Or meet 
 That day perchance 
 
 At Pallas' gate ? Or shall they greet 
 Thee, lost so long, 
 
 With lost Hyacinthus' nightly song. 
 How Phoebus slew him with quoit far-flown, 
 And yearly the maidens with mourning atone ? 
 There is one of them, Helen, one fair of the fair, 
 Who will not be wife till her mother be there ! 
 
 H
 
 114 Euripides. * 
 
 \ 
 
 h\ aepoQ €iQe noravoi orp. 1 
 
 fevoiMee' oOi c3TO\a5e<; 1 
 
 olcovoi AlpueQ J 
 
 cM^pov xeiMEpiov Ainouaai 
 
 viaaovToi npeo3uTaTa 
 
 Gupiffi neiBojuevai 
 
 TToi^evoc, OQ fippoxa nebia Kopno96pa re fSc 
 
 eniireTOMevoc; ioKxei. 
 
 10 rrravai boAixaux^^^*^) 
 
 ouvvoMOi ve(pecov 6p6)nou, 
 
 Pare TTAeidbaQ unb meook; 
 
 'Qpicovd t' evvuxiov, 
 
 KapL'Sar' djreAiav, 
 
 EupoiTOv ecpeso^evai, 
 
 MeveAecoQ on Aap6dvou 
 
 TToAiv eAcov boMov H£ei. 
 
 (ucAoiTe no9' Tnniov apjuoi ovt. 
 
 h\ alBepOQ ie)Lievoi 
 
 naT6ec Tuv5api5ai, 
 
 Aaiunpwv otr' daTpoov un' aeAAoioi 
 
 vaier' oupdvioi, 
 
 ocoTHpeg Tug ' EAevoQ 
 
 fAauKOV un'ep oI6ju« Kuavoxpod xe Kujudroov 
 
 pc'iSia noAid GaAdoaaq, 
 
 vauxai^ euoeig dvejuwv 
 
 nfjunovTeq AioOev nvodq* 
 
 buGKAeiav 6' drto ouffovou 
 
 gdAere Pappdpcov Aexewv, 
 
 dv 'Ibuicov epibcov 
 
 noivaeeia' tKTHoaTO, rdv 
 
 oiiK eAeoOod nox' ' lAiou 
 
 ^t^oipeioug €m nupfoi'c;.
 
 Euripides. 1 1 5 
 
 O for wings to fly 
 Where the flocks of fowl together 
 
 Quit the Afric sky, 
 Late their refuge from the wintry weather ! 
 All the way with solemn sound 
 Rings the leader's clarion cry 
 O'er dewless deserts and glad harvest-ground. 
 We would bid them, as they go, 
 Neck by neck against the cloud 
 Racing nigditly neath the stars. 
 When Eurotas rolls below. 
 Light and leave a message loud, 
 How princely Menelaus, proud 
 With conquest, cometh from the Dardan wars. 
 
 Come, eternal Pair, 
 Come, Twin Brethren, from your heaven ascended ; 
 
 Down the steep of air 
 Drive, by many a starry glance attended ! 
 
 Mid the waters white and blue, 
 
 Mid the rolling waves be there, 
 And brotherly bring safe your sister through. 
 
 Airs from heaven, serene and pure, 
 
 Breathe upon her ; bless and speed ; 
 
 Breathe away her cruel shame ! 
 
 Never her did Paris lure. 
 
 Never won her (as they rede) 
 
 Of Aphrodit5 for his meed. 
 Nor thither led, where never yet she came ! 
 
 A. W. Verrall. 
 
 H 2
 
 it6 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 
 HERCULES FURENS. 
 
 348—441. 
 
 aiAivov jLi'ev en' euruxei 
 
 (uoAna 4>oTpo(; lUKxei, 
 
 TOv KaAA[96offov KiSapav 
 
 eXauvoDv nAHKipcp xpuoecj)* 
 
 cfcb 6ie TOV n<<i evepcov t' eq 6p9vuv 
 
 juoAovTO, ncuo' eiVe AioQ viv einco 
 
 eiT* ' AjLlCpiTpUCOVOQ IviV, 
 
 lujuvHoai, orecpdvojjua jiio- 
 X0WV, 61' euAofiag 6tAco. 
 j-evvaiwv 6' aperui novojv 
 TOiQ QavouGiv ofuAMa. 
 TTpuJTOv jutv Ailq uAaoq 
 HpHMwae AeovToq, 
 nupoou 5' aju(peKaAu<p9H 
 £ov9bv Kpar' tnivooji-juq 
 5eiva) x^OMCtn BHpuQ- 
 
 OTp, 
 
 Tuv T opeivojuov OfplOOV 
 KevTGUpwv noTe fevvuv 
 €Tpcoaev ToEoiQ cpovioic, 
 evalpojv niavoic; peAeaiv. 
 £iJvoi5e rTHveibg 6 KoAAi5iva(; 
 MOKpcxi t' upoupoi nebicov uKapnoi 
 KQi TTHAiciSeQ eepdnvcd 
 aufXopToi e' 'OjLu'jAnQ evau- 
 Aoi, neuKoioiv oSev x^P^C 
 nAHpouvreq y^mo. OeasaAcov 
 iTTTTeiai(; eboMa^ov 
 
 avT.
 
 Euripides. 1 1 7 
 
 HERCULES FUREx\S. , 
 
 348— 44 r. I 
 
 Even a dirge can Phoibos suit ! 
 
 In song to music jubilant I 
 
 For all its sorrow : making shoot 
 
 His golden plectron o'er the lute, J 
 
 Melodious ministrant. 
 
 And I, too, am of mind to raise, 
 
 Despite the imminence of doom, i 
 
 A song of joy, outpour my praise , j 
 
 To him — what is it rumour says ? — 
 
 Whether — now buried in the ghostly gloom 
 
 Below ground, — he was child of Zeus indeed, ] 
 
 Or mere Amphitruon's mortal seed — 
 
 To him I weave the wreath of son^r, his labours meed. 
 
 For, IS my hero perished m the feat ? 
 
 The virtues of brave toils, in death complete, j 
 
 These save the dead in song — their glory-garland meet I I 
 
 First, then, he made the wood 
 
 Of Zeus a solitude, 
 
 Slaymg its lion-tenant : and he spread 
 
 The tawniness behind : his vellow head i 
 
 Enmuffled by the brute's, backed by that grin of dread. I 
 
 The mountain-roving savage Kentaur-race ' '■. 
 
 He strewed with deadly bow about their place. 
 
 Slaying with winged shafts : Peneios knew, 
 
 Beauteously-eddying, and the long tracts too 
 
 Of pasture trampled fruitless, and as well I 
 
 Those desolated haunts Mount Pelion under, 
 
 And, grassy up to Homol^, each dell 
 
 Whence, having filled their hands with pine-tree plunder, I 
 
 Horse-like was wont to prance from, and subdue j 
 
 The land of Thessaly, that bestial crew.
 
 1 1 8 Euripides. 
 
 Tciv re xpuGOKopavov 
 
 SopKO nOlKlAOVCOTOV, 
 
 cu\HTeipav afpooarav 
 KTeiva<;, eHpo96vov Seuv 
 OivujuTiv cifuAAer 
 
 TeBptnncov t' £ne3a orp. 
 
 kqI \}/a\ioiq ebajuaaae ncoAoug 
 
 AiOjUHSeoq, oi cpoviaiai (pdrvaiq axaAiv' eSoasOv 
 
 Kd9aiua gIto fevusi, xap- 
 
 Movalsiv av6po3pcoai buarpdne^oi* 
 
 Tiepcov 6* apfupoppuTov "E3pov 
 
 cicnpaoae juoxQov, 
 
 MuKHvaiqj novciv Tupdwco, 
 
 Tciv re TTHAidb' uktov 
 
 'Avaupou napa nHruq* 
 
 KuKvov re 6evo6aiKTav 
 
 TotoiQ ojAesev, 'An(pavol- 
 
 OQ o'lKHTOp' OMIKTOV 
 
 ujuvoibouq re KOpaq avT. 
 
 HAuGev ecjncpiav tq auAdv, 
 
 Xpuseov nerdAcov cino MHAo96pcov x^pi KOpnov djuepScov, 
 
 EipdKovra nupaovcoTOv, oq 09' 
 
 anAoTov d,u9eAiKTb(; eAik' €9poupei, 
 
 KTavojv novTiaQ 6' dAoq juuxouc 
 
 eioePaive, evaroic 
 
 faAaveioQ Ti0ei(; epeTMoTf 
 
 oupavoG 0' Onb ^eaaav 
 
 eAauvei x^pctq e5pav, 
 
 'AjAavToq bojuov eAewv 
 
 aarpcbnouq re Kareaxev 01- 
 
 Kou't euavopia eewv 

 
 Euripides. 119 
 
 The golden-headed spot-back'd stag he slew, 
 
 That robber of the rustics : glorihed 
 
 Therewith the goddess who in hunter's pride 
 
 Slaughters the game along Oinoe's side. 
 
 And, yoked abreast, he brought the chariot-breed 
 
 To pace submissive to the bit, each steed 
 
 That in the bloody cribs of Diomede 
 
 Champed, and, unbridled, hurried down that gore 
 
 For grain, exultant the dread feast before — 
 
 Of man's flesh : hideous feeders they of yore ! 
 
 All as he crossed the Hebros' silver-flow 
 
 Accomplished he such labour, toiling so 
 
 For Mukenaian tyrant : ay, and more — 
 
 He crossed the Melian shore 
 
 And, by the sources of Amauros, shot 
 
 To death that strangers' pest 
 
 Kuknos, who dwelt in Amphanaia : not 
 
 Of fame for good to guest ! 
 
 And next to the melodious maids he came, 
 Inside the Hesperian court-yard : hand must aim 
 At plucking gold fruit from the appled leaves. 
 Now he had killed the dragon, backed like flame, 
 Who guards the unapproachable : he weaves 
 Himself all round, one spire about the same. 
 And into those sea-troughs of ocean dived 
 The hero, and for mortals calm contrived, 
 Whatever oars should follow in his wake. 
 And under heaven's mid-seat his hands thrust he, 
 At home with Atlas : and, for valours sake, 
 Held the' gods up their star-faced mansionry.
 
 1 20 Euripides. 
 
 t'ov inneurav t' 'Ajua^ovcov orparbv orp. 
 
 McawTiv ay (pi noAunoraMOv 
 
 ega 61' EuEeivov oloya Aijuvag, 
 
 tIv' oiiK 09* ' EAAaviaq 
 
 nropov aAiaac (piAcov, 
 
 Kopaq 'Apeiaq nenAcov 
 
 Xpuae6aTO,\ov 9apo(;, 
 
 scoaTHpoq oAeGpiouq cirpac. 
 
 TO KAeiva 5' 'EAAaq e/\a3e PapPdpou Kopac 
 
 Adcpupa, Kui (3(jo?€t' ev Mukhvoiq. 
 
 TCiv re MupiOKpavov 
 
 noAutpovov Kuva Aepvaq 
 
 iJbpav eSenupcooev 
 
 3tAeai t' aM9e3a\Ae, 
 
 Tov Tpiacbjuarov olaiv t- 
 
 KTO pOTHp* ' EpuGelac;. 
 
 bpojucov T* oAAcav ofdAMaT* euTuxfi c;vt. 
 
 &iHA9e- TOV re noAuboiKpuov 
 
 enAeus' eg "Ai6av, novcov reAeuxav, 
 
 "iv* eKnepaivei TCiAaq 
 
 gioTOv ou6' epa ndAiv. 
 
 aTJfai 5' epHjuoi 9iAa>v, 
 
 TOV b' aVOGTlJUOV TeKVCOV 
 
 XdpcovoQ enijuevei nAdxa 
 
 3ioL) KeAeuOov a9eov, d5iK0v eq &e cjuq 
 
 Xepaq ^Aenet bcbjuar' ou napovToq. 
 
 ei 6' efo) oGevoq hPojv 
 
 bopu t' enaAAov ev aixjua, 
 
 Kabiueicov re GuvHgoi, 
 
 TtKeoiv av napearav 
 
 uAkq- vCv 5' dnoAeinojuai 
 
 Tcic; eubaijiovoQ H^ac;.
 
 Euripides. 121 
 
 Also, the rider-host of Amazons 
 
 About Maiotis many-streamed, he went 
 
 To conquer through the billowy Euxin once. 
 
 Having collected what an armament 
 
 Of friends from Hellas, all on conquest bent 
 
 Of that gold-garnished cloak, dread girdle-chase ! 
 
 So Hellas gained the girl's barbarian grace 
 
 And at Mukenai saves the trophy still — 
 
 Go wonder there, who will ! 
 
 And the ten thousand-headed hound 
 
 Of many a murder, the Lernaian snake 
 
 He burned out, head by head, and cast around 
 
 His darts a poison thence, — darts soon to slake 
 
 Their rage in that three-bodied herdsman's gore 
 
 Of Erutheia. Many a running more 
 
 He made for triumph and felicity, 
 
 And, last of toils, to Haides, never dry 
 
 Of tears, he sailed : and there he, luckless, ends 
 
 His life completely, nor returns again. 
 
 The house and home are desolate of friends. 
 
 And where the children's life-path leads them, plain 
 
 I see, — no step retraceable, no god 
 
 Availing, and no law to help the lost ! 
 
 The oar of Charon marks their period. 
 
 Waits to end all. Thy hands, these roofs accost ! — 
 
 To thee, though absent, look their uttermost ! 
 
 But if in youth and strength I flourished still, 
 
 Still shook the spear in fight, did power match will 
 
 In these Kadmeian co-mates of my age, 
 
 They would, — and I, — when warfare was to wage. 
 
 Stand by these children ; but I am bereft 
 
 Of youth now, lone of that good genius left ! 
 
 Robert Browning.
 
 j 
 
 122 Euripides. 
 
 HERCULES FURENS. 
 
 637—672. 
 
 d veuTOQ Moi 9[Aov axeog be to fflpui; ael orp, 
 
 3apuTepov AiVvaq OKoneAcov 
 
 enl Kparl Keirai, 
 
 pAecpdpoJV GKOTGivov 
 
 9doq eniKa\u\|/av. 
 
 jiH Moi UHT* 'AaidriboQ 
 
 Tupavvi5o(, oA^oQ eiH, 
 
 \XH xpuoou bcojuara nAhipH 
 
 tSc h^oq dvTiAa3erv, 
 
 a KQAAiara juev ev oAgci), 
 
 KaAAiara 6' tv nevia. 
 
 TO 6'e Aufpov cpoviov Te ffi- 
 
 pag niGo)' KUTCi Kujudrcov 6' 
 
 eppoi, juH^e noT* a)9eAev 
 
 evoTciv 6a))iaTa koI noAeig 
 
 tASeiv, ctAAu kot' aiOep' u- 
 
 e'l Trrepotai <popeia9co. 
 
 ei 6e Seoic; hv £uve3ig kqI 00910 kqt' av6pac, ovr. 
 
 cibuMOv GV H^av e9epov, 
 
 9avep6v xapoKTHp* 
 
 GpeTog, oooiaiv 
 
 Mera, kqI 6av6vTeq 
 
 eic; aufog nuAiv dAiou 
 
 biaaoug av egav biauAouq, 
 
 a buofeveia 6' anAav uv 
 
 eixe ^oaq f3i0Tov, 
 
 Koi Twb* HV Touq Te kokouq av 
 
 fvobvai KOI Toug dfaSoug, 
 
 laov ot' ev ve9eAaiaiv u- 
 
 OTpojv vauTuiq dpiSMog neAei. ^
 
 Euripides. 1 2 
 
 HERCULES FURENS. 
 
 637—672. 
 
 Youth is a pleasant burthen to me ; 
 
 But age on my head, more heavily 
 
 Than the crags of Aitna, weighs and weighs, 
 
 And darkening cloaks the lids and intercepts the rays. 
 
 Never be mine the preference 
 
 Of an Asian empire's wealth, nor yet 
 
 Of a house all gold, to youth, to youth 
 
 That's beauty, whatever the gods dispense ! 
 
 Whether in wealth we joy, or fret 
 
 Paupers,— of all God's gifts most beautiful, in truth ! 
 
 But miserable murderous age I hate ! 
 Let it go to wreck, the waves adown, 
 Nor ever by rights plague tower or town 
 Where mortals bide, but still elate 
 With wings, on ether, precipitate, 
 Wander them round — nor wait ! 
 
 But if the gods, to man's degree, 
 
 Had wit and wisdom, they would bring 
 
 Mankind a twofold youth, to be 
 
 Their virtue's sign-mark, all should see. 
 
 In those with whom life's winter thus grew spring. 
 
 For when they died, into the sun once more 
 
 Would they have traversed twice life's race-course o'er ; 
 
 While ignobility had simply run 
 
 Existence through, nor second life begun. 
 
 And so might we discern both bad and good 
 
 As surely as the starry multitude 
 
 Is numbered by the sailors, one and one. 
 
 o
 
 124 Euripides. 
 
 vCv 6" OL)&eiQ opoQ eK Secov 
 XpHOToiQ ou5e KOKoic; oacpHi;, 
 uXA' elAiaaoiuevog tk; al- 
 tiov n\ouTov juovov auEei. 
 
 BACCH^. 
 
 370—431. 
 
 ' Oaia, noTva Gewv, arp. 
 
 'Oola 6' , u KOTO rov 
 
 Xpuatav nrtpufa 9epei(;, 
 
 Tu6e TTevBecoQ ateiq, 
 
 ctteiQ oux ooiav 
 
 ugpiv eg Tov BpojLuov, 
 
 Tuv Se.utAac; tov nopct KO/WiaTecpavoK 
 
 eu<ppoauvaiq baiuova npco- 
 
 Tov noKOpcov ; oc; Tab' exei, 
 
 Qiaaeueiv xe xopoi*^! 
 
 Mcrd t' auAoO fe\dc3ai 
 
 dnonauaui re juepi,uva(;, 
 
 onoTciv [JorpuoQ eXSH 
 
 fdvoQ €v 5oiTt Secov, 
 
 KiGao9c'.potq 6' ev 9aAiaiq 
 
 uv6puai KpoTHp unvov uju9ipdAAH. 
 
 dxaAivcov GTOiudxcov ovt. 
 
 avoiLiou t' d(ppoouvaq 
 
 TO TtAoQ buOTuxio" 
 
 6 5e Tuq Hauxiac 
 
 ploTOQ Kal TO (ppoveiv 
 
 doHAeuTGV Te jiievei 
 
 K((i ouvexei bcjjiiaTa' nopaco fop ojucoQ 
 
 cii9epa vaiovTeq opoj- 
 
 Giv TO ppOToJv oupavibai. 
 
 I
 
 Euripides. 125 
 
 But now the gods by no apparent line 
 
 Limit the worthy and the base define ; 
 
 Only, a certain period rounds, and so 
 
 Brings man more wealth — but youthful vigour, no ! 
 
 Robert Browning. 
 
 BACCH^. 
 
 370—431. , 
 
 Holy Goddess ! Goddess old ! 
 Holy ! thou the crown of gold 
 In the nether realm that wearest, 
 Pentheus' awful speech thou hearest, 
 Hearest his insulting tone 
 'Gainst Semele's immortal son, 
 Bromius, of Gods the first and best. 
 At every gay and flower-crowned feast, 
 His the dance's jocund strife, 
 And the laughter with the fife, 
 Every care and grief to lull. 
 When the sparkling wine-cup full 
 Crowns the gods' banquet, or lets fall 
 Sweet sleep on the eyes of men at mortal festival. 
 
 Of tongue unbridled without awe, 
 Of madness spurning holy law, 
 Sorrow is the Jove-doomed close ; 
 But the life of calm repose 
 And modest reverence holds her state 
 Unbroken by disturbing fate ; 
 And knits whole houses in the tie 
 Of sweet domestic harmony.
 
 ' 
 
 126 Euripides. 
 
 TO ao(pbv 6' ou oocpia, 
 
 TO Te JUH Svara cppoveiv. 
 
 ^paxuQ aicbv eni toutco 
 
 6e TiQ av juefctAa biooKcov 
 
 ^h napcvT* oux'i cpepoi. 
 
 jLiaivojuevcov oTbe Tpoiroi 
 
 Kai KaKoPouAcov nap' ejaoife (pwToov. 
 
 "iKoljuav noil KiJnpov, OTp. 
 
 vaaov Tag 'A9po5iTaq, 
 IV* oi e€\Ei9pove(; vejuov- 
 Toi evaroioiv "Epcorec;, 
 
 TTcicpOV 9", civ CKaTOGTOMOl 
 
 3ap3apou noTa,uoG pool 
 Kopnisouaiv avo.uppoi. 
 onou KaWiGteuoMeva 
 TTiepia juouaeio^ e6pa, 
 • oejuva kAituq ' OAujunou, 
 
 eKciG' cife ye, Bpojuie Bpojuie, 
 npof5aK)(Hie omwov • 
 cKei xopiTEQ, eKei 6'e noGog* 
 eKei 6e pOKxaioi SejaiQ opfiaseiv. 
 
 6 baiMcov 6 Aioc; iraTg qvt. 
 
 Xoipei pev eaAkuGiv, 
 
 (piAei 5' oA^oboTeipov Ei- 
 
 pHvav, KOupOTp690v eeav, 
 
 laav 6' \i\ re tov oABiov 
 
 Tov Te xeipova 5d)K' exeiv 
 
 oivou Tcpv|;iv aAunov 
 
 juioeT 6' CO JUH TouTO jueAet, 
 
 KOTO cpc'ioq vuKToc; Te cpiAar, 
 
 euaicova 5ia?HV 
 
 \
 
 Euripides. 1 2 7 
 
 Beyond the range of mortal eyes 
 'Tis not wisdom to be wise, 
 , Life is brief, the present clasp. 
 Nor after some bright future grasp, 
 Such were the wisdom, as I ween 
 Only of frantic and ill-counselled men. 
 
 O, would to Cyprus I might roam. 
 
 Soft Aphrodite's isle, 
 Where the young Loves have their perennial home, 
 
 That soothe men's hearts with tender guile : 
 Or to that wondrous shore, where ever 
 The hundred-mouthed barbaric river 
 Makes teem with wealth the showerless land ! 
 O lead me ! lead me, till I stand, 
 Bromius ! sweet Bromius ! where high swelling 
 Soars the Pierian Muses' dwelling — 
 Olympus' summit hoar and high — 
 Thou revel-loving Deity ! 
 
 For there are all the Graces, 
 And sweet Desire is there, 
 And to those hallov.ed places. 
 To lawful rites the Bacchanals repair. 
 
 The Deity, the son of Jove, 
 
 The banquet is his joy, 
 Peace, the wealth-giver, doth he love. 
 
 That nurse of many a noble boy. 
 Not the rich man's sole possessing ; 
 To the poor the painless blessing 
 Gives he of the wine-cup bright. 
 Him he hates, who day and night. 
 Gentle night and gladsome day, 
 Cares not thus to wile away.
 
 128 Euripides. 
 
 009av V antxeiv Trpcmiba cppeva xe 
 neptsawv napa 9wt(I)v. 
 TO n\H6o(; o ti to cpauAoTepov 
 ivojuioe xpHToi Te, TOOe toi Aefom av. 
 
 BACCH/E. 
 
 862—911. 
 
 ap' £V navvuxioic Xopo'<; °T" 
 
 eAoo) note AeuKov 
 
 neb* avapoKxeuouGO bepav 
 
 eiq alOepa bposepbv 
 plnxoua', coQ V63pb(; x^oepat(; 
 eMnaUouaa Aei^oKOQ hbovaiQ 
 hvik' av 9opepbv cpufH 
 eHpaju' eEco (pu-VaKcic 
 eunAeKTCov unep apKuwv, 
 eojuaawv te Kuvaferaq 
 ouvTeivH bpojuHjua Kuvtov, • 
 UOxOoic t' d)Kubp6)U0iQ t' aeA- 
 Aaiq epcjboKH nebiov 
 napanoTdj-iiov, HboMeva 
 PpoTOJv epHMiaiQ, 
 OKiapoKojJou t' tv epveaiv uXqq. 
 
 Tl to 009 bv H tI to KO/UlOV 
 
 napa Secov ftpag ev PpoTOiQ 
 H xeip* '^n^P K0pu9a(; 
 T<i)v exflptov KpeijGw KOTexeiv ; 
 6 Ti KQAbv 9iAov aei.
 
 Euripides. 129 
 
 Be thou wisely unsevere ! 
 Shun the stern and the austere ! 
 Follow the multitude, 
 Their usage still pursue ; 
 
 Their homely wisdom rude 
 (Such is my sentence) is both right and true. 
 
 Dean Milman. 
 
 c? 
 
 ■/- 
 
 BACCHyf:. 
 862—911. 
 
 O WHEN, through the long night 
 
 With fleet foot glancing white, 
 Shall I go dancing in my revelry, 
 
 My neck cast back, and bare 
 
 Unto the dewy air. 
 Like sportive fawn in the green meadow's glee ? 
 
 Lo, in her fear she springs 
 
 Over th' encircling rings. 
 Over the well-woven nets far off and fast ; 
 
 While swift along her track 
 
 The huntsman cheers his pack. 
 With panting toil, and fiery storm-wind haste. 
 Where down the river-bank spreads the wide meadow, 
 
 Rejoices she in the untrod solitude ; 
 Couches at length beneath the silent shadow 
 
 Of the old hospitable wood. 
 
 What is wisest, what is f;iirest. 
 Of God's boons to man the rarest ? 
 With the conscious conquering hand 
 Above the foeman's head to stand. 
 What is fairest still is dearest.
 
 1 30 Euripides. 
 
 opjuarai ju6\ig, a\\' ojuax; avT. 
 
 niOTOv TO fe Oeiov 
 
 cSevoQ- aneueeuvei 5e ppOTciv 
 
 Toug t' ufvcojLioauvav 
 
 TllUCOVTaC Kol JUH TCt Gcwv 
 
 au£ovTaq ovy Maivojueva 56Ea. 
 Kpunreuouai 5'e hoikLXcoq 
 bapov xpovou noba kqI 
 GHpwaiv Tov aoeiTTOv. ou 
 fap KpeTasov nore tcov vojumv 
 fifvwGKeiv xpH KQi jue^eTuv. 
 KOiKpa rap bandva vojui- 
 ^eiv ia)(uv Tob' cxeiv, 
 o Ti ttot' apa to baijuoviov, 
 TO t' ev Xpo^V MOKpo) 
 vojuiMOV aei 9uaei tc TTe9UK6Q. 
 
 Tl TO 0096V H Tl TO KCtAAlGV 
 
 napa Sewv fepaq ev ppoToiq 
 H X^'P' "Jnep Kopu9a(; 
 TCOV exGpciv Kpeiaaco KOTexeiv ; 
 o Tl kqAov 9i\ov aei. 
 
 eubaiucov n'ev oq €k SaXoasaq 
 e9ure Kujua, Aiyeva 6' eKixev 
 euboiucov 6' 6q unepSe uoxOwv 
 ereveQ' • CTepa 6' cTepoQ eTepov 
 6.\3cp KOI buvajuiei napfiAGev. 
 Mupiui h\ MuptoiGiv 
 er' eia' eXnibec;" ai ju'ev 
 xeXeuTcooiv ev oAgcp 
 ppOTOtc, al 6' anePnaav 
 TO 6e kgt' Hjuap otw pioTOQ 
 eubaiMcov, MCiKapisa).
 
 Euripides. 131 
 
 Slow come, but come at length, 
 
 In their majestic strength, 
 Faithful and true, the avenging deities : 
 
 And chastening human folly, 
 
 And the mad pride unholy, 
 Of those who to the Gods bow not their knees. 
 
 For hidden still and mute 
 
 As glides their printless foot, * 
 
 The impious on their winding path they hound. \ 
 
 For it is ill to know, 
 
 And it is ill to do, 
 Beyond the law's inexorable bound. 
 'Tis but light cost in his own power sublime 
 
 To array the Godhead, whosoe'er he be ; 
 And Law is old, even as the oldest time, 
 
 Nature's own unrepealed decree. 
 
 What is wisest, what is fairest, 
 Of God's boons to man the rarest ? 
 With the conscious conquering hand 
 Above the foeman's head to stand. 
 What is fairest still is rarest. 
 
 Wlio hath 'scaped the turbulent sea 
 And reached the haven, happy he ! 
 Happy he whose toils are o'er, 
 In the race of wealth and power ! 
 This one here and that one there 
 Passes by, and everywhere 
 Still expectant thousands over 
 Thousand hopes are seen to hover, 
 Some to mortals end in bliss ; 
 
 Some have already fled away : 
 Happiness alone is his 
 
 That happy is to-day. 
 
 Dean Milman.
 
 I 
 
 132 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 444—483- 
 aupa, novTiag aijpa, 
 fire TTOVTonopouc KOjuiseiC 
 6oac OKaTouq en' ot&Mo AiMvaq, 
 not jLie TOV jueAeav nopeuaeig ; 
 TO) 6ouA6glivoq npoQ oIkov 
 KTHBeia' a9i£ojuai ; 
 H Acapi6oQ opjiiov aiaq, 
 H 4>0id5og, evGa koAAi- 
 GTWv uboTcov narepa 
 (padv 'Ani6av6v fuaq Amalveiv ; 
 
 GTp. (» 
 
 I 
 
 H voGcov, oAmpei 
 
 Kcjjna nejunojuevav tuAoivov, 
 
 oiKTpav giOTov exouGav o'lKoiq, 
 
 ev9a npcoTofovoQ re cpoiviS 
 
 6d(pva 6' iepouq aveaxe 
 
 nxopGouq Aaroi (plAa 
 
 (bbivoq OfaAjua blaq ; 
 
 ohv AhAioioiv re Koupaiq 
 
 'ApreiLiibog re Beaq 
 
 XpuGeav cijunuKa roSa t' euAof hgco ; 
 
 avT. a 
 
 H TTaAAoSog ev noAei 
 Taq KC(AAt6i9pou 'ASa- 
 valaQ ev KpoKeco nenAco 
 ^euSojuoi ctpjuaTi noaAouq, cv 
 baibaAraioi ttoikiAAoug* 
 dveoKpoKoiGi nHvatq, 
 H TiTavoav feveav, 
 Tav Zeuq ((M9inupq3 
 KOiMi^ei 9AorMCp Kpovibag; 
 
 OTp. P'
 
 Euripides. 133 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 444—483. 
 
 Breeze, breeze of the sea, 
 
 Who the wave-passers bearest home 
 
 Swift and unwearied o'er the billows' foam, 
 Ah ! whither lead'st thou me 
 
 Grief-worn ? whose house must have 
 
 This thing — a captured slave ? 
 
 Or shall I reach a harbour strand 
 
 Dorian or Phthian, where they tell 
 Apidanos o'erstreams the land, 
 
 Father of fairest founts that well ? 
 
 Or else some island shore, 
 
 Urged, wretched, on my way with brine-splashed oar, 
 
 To lead a life of weary sorrow there, 
 Where the first palm bare fruit. 
 Where the bay raised each sacred shoot 
 
 To form a bower, 
 
 Leto's protection in her trial hour ? 
 
 Or shall I, like Delian maiden, 
 
 Sing of Artemis divine, 
 Golden filleted, bow-laden ? ^ 
 
 Or at Pallas' sacred shrine 
 The steeds to her fair chariot yoke 
 To bear her, clad in saffron cloke. 
 
 And braid the silken garments thin 
 
 With saffron flow'rets woven in ? 
 
 Or shall I sing the Titan brood, 
 
 Whom Zeus, great Kronos' son, 
 
 Poured twice-forged fire upon, 
 And did to lasting sleep by that fell bolt and rude ?
 
 134 Euripides. 
 
 WMOl TCKeCOV €MCl)V, avT. 3' 
 
 WMOi TTOTepoov, xQovoQ 6*, 
 a Kanvo) Kaxepeinexai 
 TU90ueva, bopiAHTrrog 
 npog 'Apreicov efco 6* ev Sei- 
 vct x^ovl 6h KeKAHjuai 
 5ouAa, AmoOa' 'Aaiav 
 Eupconoq Sepdnvav, 
 a\\d£aa' "AiOa eoAdjuouq. 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 905—952. 
 
 ou Mev, CO Traxpiq ' lAidq, orp. a' 
 
 Tcov dnopSHTCov noAiQ ouketi AtEer 
 
 Toiov ' EAAdvtov ve(po(; 0^91 oe Kpuirrei 
 
 bopi 6h 6opi mpaav. 
 
 dnb 6e aTe9dvav KeKapaai 
 
 nupfcov, KOTci 6* alOdAou 
 
 KHAlb' o'lKXpOTOlTaV KexpcoGOi, 
 
 TciAaiv*, ouKETi 0' ejupctTeuoco. 
 
 MeaovuKTioq wAAujuav, gvt. a'. 
 
 Hjjoq eK beiTTvcov unvoq inbix; en' oosoiq 
 
 Kibvarai, juoAndv 6* ono koI xoponoicov 
 
 euaifiv KOTanauaaq 
 
 noaiQ £v 9aAdjuoiq eKeiTO, 
 
 SuTrbv 5' em naaodAco, 
 
 vauTOv 0UKe9' opcLv o.uiAov 
 
 Tpoiav 'lAid6" cM^ePioTa.
 
 Euripides. 135 
 
 Ah sorrow for the young, 
 For those whose life was long, 
 
 For all the land, 
 A heap of smoking ruin, 
 Spear-pierced to her undoing 
 
 By Argive hand ! 
 
 And I shall be a slave 
 
 Within a country not my own. 
 
 Leaving the land that Europe has o'erthrown, 
 'Scaping the chambers of the grave. 
 
 C. Kegan Paul. 
 
 ^^ HECUBA. 
 
 905-952. 
 
 Thou, then, O natal Troy ! no more 
 The city of the unsack'd shalt be, 
 So thick from dark Achaia's shore 
 The cloud of war hath covered thee. 
 
 Ah ! not again I tread thy plain — 
 The spear — the spear hath rent thy pride. 
 The flame hath scarr'd thee deep and wide ; 
 
 Thy coronal of towers is shorn. 
 And thou most piteous art— most naked and forlorn ! 
 
 I perish'd at the noon of night ! 
 When sleep had seal'd each weary eye ; 
 
 When the dance was o'er, and harps no more 
 Rang out in choral minstrelsy. 
 In the dear bower of delight 
 My husband slept in joy ; 
 
 His shield and spear suspended near. 
 Secure he slept : that sailor band 
 Full sure he deem'd no more should stand 
 Beneath the walls of Troy.
 
 1 
 
 136 Euripides. 
 
 efcu be n\6Ka|U0v avaeJeJOK OTp. 3 
 
 MiTpaiGiv eppuemsoiuav 
 
 Xpuaecov evonrpcov 
 
 AeuGOOUo* aTepjuovag eiq aufaq, 
 
 eni6eMvioc WQ necoiM' \c, euvuv. 
 
 ava 5"e KeAabog ejuoAe noAiv 
 
 KeAeuajua 6' hv kqt' Sgtu Tpoiac t65" • cL 
 
 naibeq 'EAAdvcov, noxe 6h nore tciv 
 
 ' lAid5a GKonidv 
 
 nepGavreg Hter' oikouc; 
 
 AexH be (piAia ^ovonenAoc; ovt. 3 
 
 AinouGa, Awpic cog KOpa, 
 
 Gejuvav TipoGUoua' 
 
 ouK hvug' "ApTejUiv a tAcxmcov 
 
 ufOMOi be eavovT* Iboua' aKoirav 
 
 Tov ejuov uAiov eni ntAafoq, 
 
 noAiv t' dnoGKonouG', enei voGTiyov 
 
 vauQ eKivHoev noba Koi m' dno fag 
 
 wpioev 'lAidboQ* 
 
 TciAaiv', anetnov uAfer 
 
 Tav ToTv AioGKopoiv ' E\evav Koiaiv, ' I- encpb. 
 
 baiov Te pouiav alvonapiv Kardpa 
 
 Sibouo', enei )ue fdc; 
 
 CK naxpiaq unwAeGev 
 
 etwKiotv t' oikcjov fdjuog, ou fUMOC, dAA' 
 
 ciAdGroptc TiQ oUt'C" 
 
 av MHTe neAofoq cxAiov dnardfoi TidAiv, 
 
 juHTe narptpov Tkoit' cq oikov. ; 
 
 ; 
 
 I 
 
 J
 
 Euripides. 1^7 
 
 And I too, by the taper's light, 
 
 Which in the golden mirror's haze 
 
 Flash'd its interminable rays, 
 Bound up the tresses of my hair, 
 That I Love's peaceful sleep might share. 
 
 I slept ; but, hark ! that war-shout dread. 
 Which rolling through the city spread ; 
 And this the cry, — " When, Sons of Greece, 
 When shall the lingering leaguer cease ? 
 When will ye spoil Troy's watch-tower high, 
 And home return ? " — I heard the cry, 
 And, starting from the genial bed, 
 Veiled, as a Doric maid, I fled, 
 And knelt, Diana, at thy holy fane, 
 A trembling suppliant — all in vain. 
 
 They led me to the sounding shore — 
 Heavens ! as I passed the crowded way 
 My bleeding lord before me lay — 
 
 I saw — I saw— and wept no more, 
 
 Till, as the homeward breezes bore 
 
 The bark returning o'er the sea. 
 
 My gaze, oh, I lion, turn'd on thee ! 
 
 Then, frantic, to the midnight air, 
 I cursed aloud the adulterous pair : 
 ' They plunged me deep in exile's woe ; 
 They laid my country low : 
 
 Their love— no love ! but some dark spell. 
 
 In vengeance breath'd, by spirit fell. 
 Rise, hoary sea, in awful tide. 
 And whelm that vessel's guilty pride ; 
 Nor e'er, in high Mycenae's hall, 
 Let Helen boast in peace of mighty Ilion's fall." 
 
 J. T. Coleridge.
 
 I 
 
 138 Euripides. 
 
 IPHIGENEIA IN AULIDE. 
 
 1036— 1097. 
 
 TIC ap* uuevaioQ h\h AcotoG Al3uo<; OTp. 
 
 Merd re <piAox6pou Kiedpag 
 
 Guplrfcov e' uno KoAaMoea- 
 
 Gav earaoev Iokxciv, 
 
 ot' dvd TThMov ai Ka/WirrAoKaMOi 
 
 TTiept6eq ev bairi Geoov 
 
 Xpuaeoadv6a\ov I'xvog 
 
 ev fa KpououGoi 
 
 TTHAewq ec; r«MOv hAGov, 
 
 ueAMboic; Oeriv dxHjuaai t6v t' AlaKibav 
 
 KevTOupcov ctv' opoq KAeouaai 
 
 TTHAuiba Ka9' uAav. 
 
 6 6e Aapbavibac;, Aibq 
 
 AeKTpcov TpL)9H)na cpiAov, 
 
 XpuGeoiGiv acpuGGe Aoipdv 
 
 ev KpaTHpoov fudAoig, 
 
 6 <}>pufio(; FavuMHSHQ. 
 
 TTOpa 5e AeuK09aH 
 
 \|'d,ua9ov elAioGOuevai 
 
 kukAiq nevTHKOvra KOpai 
 
 NHpecog fdjuoug exopeuouv. 
 
 dva 6' eAdraiGi orecpavcbSei re y^oq. avT. 
 
 GiaooQ enoAev InTToBoTac; 
 
 KevTOupcov eni baira rdv 
 
 Gecov KpaTHpd re BaKXOu. 
 
 nefa 6* dveKAafov, co NnpHi Kopa, 
 
 naiSec OeaaaAai, Mefa 9a)C
 
 Euripides. 139 
 
 IPHIGENEIA IN AULIDE. 
 
 1036 — 1097. 
 
 Merrily rose the bridal strain, 
 With the pipe of reed, and the wild harp ringing, 
 With the Libyan flute, and the dancers' train. 
 And the bright-haired Muses singing. 
 
 On the turf elastic treading, 
 Up Pelion's steep with an airy bound 
 Their golden sandals they struck on the ground. 
 While the mighty Gods were feasting round, 
 As they sped to Peleus' wedding. 
 They left Pieria's fountain, 
 
 On the leaf-crowned hill they stood, 
 They breathed their softest, sweetest lays 
 In the bride's and bridegroom's praise. 
 Re-echoed the Centaurs' mountain, 
 Re-echoed Pelion's wood. 
 
 The golden goblets crowned the Page, 
 
 The Thunderer's darling boy, 
 In childhood's rosy age 
 
 Snatched from the plains of Troy. 
 Where on the silvery sand 
 
 The noon-tide sun was glancing, 
 The fifty Nereids, hand in hand, 
 Were in giddy circles dancing. 
 
 The Centaurs' tramp rang up the hill. 
 
 To feast with the Gods they trooped in haste. 
 
 And at the board, by Bacchus graced. 
 The purpling bowl to fill. 
 
 Grassy wreath and larch's bough 
 
 Twined around each shaggy brow.
 
 1 40 Euripides. 
 
 ^dvTiQ 6 4>Oi3o(; 6 Mouafiv t' 
 
 eibclx; fevvdaeiq, 
 
 Xeipcov eEovojUHvev, 
 
 6q Htei xQova Aorxnpeoi cuv Mupjuibovcov 
 
 aaniaraig TTpidjuoio KAetvav 
 
 foTav cKnupcbawv, 
 
 nepi acojuari xpuoecov 
 
 onAcov 'H9aiGTon6va)v 
 
 KeKOpuBjuevoQ evbux' eK Geac; 
 
 jiarpog bcopHuaT' excov 
 
 0eTi6o(;, a viv exiKTe 
 
 MOKcipiov. TOT^ bai- 
 
 juoveg tSq eundrpiboc; 
 
 fdM<Ji>v NHpfiboQ t' e9eGav 
 
 npciiTag TThAeax; 9' ujuevaiouQ. 
 
 < 
 
 c'e 6' em Kopa GTevouat KaMiKojuav 
 
 nAoKojuov 'ApfeToi, [f' dAiav] 
 
 (jJGTe TTerpaicov an' uvrpcov 
 
 eAOoGaav [opecov] juooxov OKHpaTOv, ^1 
 
 gporeiov al/idaaovTec Aaijuov / 
 
 ou Gupirri Tpacpeloav, ou6' 
 
 ev poipbHGeai ^oukoAcov, 
 
 napd 5e (UHTepi vum90k6mov 
 
 ' lvaxi5oi(; fdjuov. 
 
 noO TO Tag albouQ h to Tag 
 
 dpeTdq buvoGiv \yf.\ 
 
 oSeveiv ti npoaunov ; 
 
 onoTe TO jLiev oGenTOv exei 
 
 buvajLUv, d 6" dpexd KaToni- 
 
 G9ev GvoTOig djueAeiToi, 
 
 dvouia be vojucov KpoTeT, 
 
 KOI JUH KOIVOQ dfcbv PpOTOlC, 
 
 jiiH Tig eeciv (pGovog eA9H.
 
 Euripides. 141 
 
 Daughter of Nereus, loud to thee 
 
 Chaunted the maids of Thessaly. 
 
 Their song was of a child unborn, 
 
 Whose light should beam like summer moin, 
 
 Whose praise by the Delian seer was sung, 
 
 And hymned by Chiron's tuneful tongue. 
 
 "Thetis, mark thy warrior son, 
 Girt with many a Myrmidon, 
 Armed with spear and flaming brand, 
 Wasting Priam's ancient land. 
 He shall ne'er to foeman quail ; 
 He shall case his limbs in mail. 
 Casque, and greaves, and breast-plate's fold, 
 All by Vulcan wrought of gold, 
 Moulded in the forge of heaven, 
 By his goddess-mother given. 
 His shall be a hero's name. 
 Godlike might, and deathless fame." 
 
 Thus the Gods propitious smiled 
 On Peleus and the ocean child ; 
 Lady ! not such nuptial wreath 
 
 Shall Argives bid thee wear. 
 But with the flowers of death 
 
 Entwine thy clustering hair. 
 
 J. Anstice.
 
 142 JLuripides. 
 
 CYCLOPS. 
 
 41—54. 68—81. 
 
 na 6h juoi fevvaicov ju'ev narepcov, orp. 
 
 j-evvaia>v 6' eK xoKOibcov, 
 
 TTci 5h juoi visaei GKoneAoug; 
 
 oii Tab' unHvejuoq aupa 
 
 KOI noiHpa Porava, 
 
 bivaev e' u6ojp noTajuwv. 
 
 cv niarpaiq Keirai neAoQ av- 
 
 Tpcov, ou Goi fB'\ax<^"' TCKecov. 
 
 \};utt' , ou Tab' oOv ou xabe veyei, 
 
 ou5' au kAituv bpooepdv ; 
 
 (joh, pivco TieTpov TOxa oou, 
 
 unof' oj unof* w Kepdara 
 
 ^hAoPotq GTaoicopov * 
 
 KuKAoonoQ dfpopoTa. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 'Iqkxov "Iukxov (I)6av 
 
 jieAnco npbg rdv 'Acppobirav, » 
 
 Gv GHpeucjov neTOjLiav 
 
 BoKxaiQ GUV AeuKonoGiv. 
 
 o) cplAoc CO 9iAe BotKxie, 
 
 Tioi oionoAeiQ 
 
 £uv0av xoiTOV ceicov ; 
 
 efo) 5' 6 ab(; npoanoAoq 
 
 eHTeuo) KuKAoani 
 
 TO) jUOvobepKTa, 
 
 £iouAoQ dAcuvtov ouv rube 
 
 Tpdfou X'^^iva ineAeci 
 
 OOQ X'^P'^ (piAiuc;. ti
 
 Euripides. 143 
 
 y- 
 
 CYCLOPS. 
 41—54. 68—81. 
 
 Where has he of race divine 
 
 Wandered in the winding rocks ? 
 Here the air is cahn and fine 
 
 For the father of the flocks ; — 
 Here the grass is soft and sweet, 
 And the river-eddies meet 
 In the trough beside the cave, 
 Bright as in their fountain wave. — 
 Neither here, nor on the dew 
 
 Of the lawny uplands feeding ? 
 Oh, you come ! — a stone at you 
 
 Will I throw to mend your breeding ; — 
 Get along, you horned thing, 
 Wild, seditious, rambling ! 
 
 An lacchic melody 
 
 To the golden Aphrodite 
 Will I lift, as erst did I 
 
 Seeking her and her dehght 
 With the Maenads, whose white feet 
 To the music glance and fleet. 
 Bacchus, O beloved, where 
 Shaking wide thy yellov/ hair, 
 Wanderest thou alone, afar .'' 
 
 To the one-eyed Cyclops we, 
 Who by right thy servants arc, 
 
 Minister in misery. 
 In these wretched goat-skins clad, 
 
 Far from thy delights and thee. 
 
 P. B. Shelley.
 
 1 44 Euripides. 
 
 CYCLOPS. 
 
 511 — 520. 
 
 KoVov OMjuciGiv bebopKcoQ 
 KoAov cKnepa /ueAdepcov. 
 * * cpiXei tk; hjuoq. 
 Auxva 6' Hju,uev* ajuMtvei acv 
 Xpo' , Of' (L Tepciva vujucpa 
 bpooepcov eaoo9ev avTpcov. 
 OTecpdvcjov 6' 01) jula XP^'" 
 nepi GOV Kpara idx' eSoMiAHGEU
 
 CYCLOPS. 
 
 ,1 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 MS 
 
 511 — 520. 
 
 One with eyes the fairest 
 Cometh from his d\vellin<T, 
 
 Some one loves thee, rarest, 
 Bright beyond my telHng. 
 
 In thy grace thou shinest 
 
 Like some nymph divinest. 
 
 In her caverns dev/y :— 
 
 All delights pursue thee, 
 
 Soon pied flowers, sweet-breathing, 
 
 Shall thy head be wreathing. 
 
 P. B. Shelley.
 
 I
 
 ARISTOPHANES. 
 
 K 2
 
 148 Aristophaties. \ 
 
 NUBES. 
 
 275—290. 298—313. 
 
 atvaoi iNe(p£Aai, arp. j 
 
 apScojuev (pavepal Spooepav cpuaiv euofHTOv, | 
 
 noTpcQ an' 'QKeavoG popuaxeoc 
 
 uvj/hAcov opecov Kopu9a(; eni 
 
 6ev5poK6iuouq, Tva 
 
 THAecpaveiq OKoniaq ucpopcojueGa, 
 
 Kopnouq t' apboiiievav iepav xQova, 
 
 KQi noTojuwv soQetov KeAabinjiiccTa, 
 
 Kal novTOv KeAd6ovro PapuPpOjUov 
 
 ojijua rap aleepoi; OKdjuaTOv oeAafeiToi 
 
 napjiopeaK; ev aufaiQ. 
 
 ciAA* dnoaeiadinevai ve9oq ojuppiov 
 
 dSavuTOc; IbfOQ eniboojueea 
 
 THAeoKoncp ommciti fcxiuv. 
 
 nap9tvoi ojiippotpopoi, avr. 
 
 eAQcojuev Ainapdv x^ova TTaAAd6o(;, euavbpov fSv 
 
 KeKponoq oyoMevat noAuHparov 
 
 ou ok'^o.i^ appHTOov leptov, Iva 
 
 )hugtoo6ko(; bojiioc; 
 
 tv TeAeiaiQ afiaiQ dvaSeiKvuToi, 
 
 oupavioiQ Te Geoig &o)pH,u«Ta, 
 
 vooi e' uv|;epe9erQ kqi dfdAnaTa, 
 
 Kal TTpOOOboi JUOKOptOV leptOTOTai, 
 
 euaTt9uvoi re OecLv Suaiai eoAlai re, 
 navTobanaii; ev wpaic,
 
 Aristophanes. 1 49 
 
 NUBES. 
 
 275—290. 29S— 313. 
 
 Cloud-maidens that float on for ever, 
 Dew-sprinkled, fleet bodies, and fair, 
 Let us rise from our Sire's loud river, 
 Great Ocean, and soar through the air 
 To the peaks of the pine-covered mountains where the 
 pines hang as tresses of hair. 
 Let us seek the watchtowers undaunted, 
 
 Where the well-watered cornfields abound, 
 And through murmurs of rivers nymph-haunted 
 The songs of the sea-waves resound ; 
 And the sun in the sky never wearies of spreading his 
 radiance around. \ 
 
 Let us cast off the haze 
 
 Of the mists from our band, 
 Till with far-seeing gaze 
 We may look on the land. 
 
 Cloud-maidens that bring the rain-shower, 
 
 To the Pallas-loved land let us wing, 
 To the land of stout heroes and Power, 
 
 Where Kekrops was hero and king, 
 Where honour and silence is given 
 
 To the mysteries that none may declare, 
 Where are gifts to the high gods in heaven 
 
 When the house of the gods is laid bare, 
 Where are lofty roofed temples, and statues well 
 carven and fair ; 
 
 Where are feasts to the happy immortals 
 When the sacred procession draws near. 
 
 Where garlands make bright the bright portals 
 At all seasons and months in the year ;
 
 150 Aristophanes. 
 
 Hpi t' fnepxo)uevcp Bpojuia x^piQ) 
 euK€Aa5wv re xopoJv epeels.uara, 
 kdI MoOaa papijppojuoc auAwv. 
 
 AVES. 
 211 — 222. 227—262. 
 ofe auvvojue juoi, naOoai yev unvou, 
 AGgov 5e vojuouq lepoov ujuvcov, 
 oGc 6ia Geiou GTOjuaroc; BpHveiq, 
 Tov ejubv KOt GOV noAuboKpuv "Ituv 
 t eAeAi^ojitfVH Siepoiq jueAeciv 
 fevuoQ £ou0H<;- 
 
 KoBapct X^P^^ ^'^ (pu/WoKouou 
 jaiAaKoq Hxcb npbq Aioq tbpaQ, 
 iv' 6 xpiJOOKOjuoQ <t>oi3oq okoucov. 
 TOiQ goTq eAefOiq avTi\j'a;\\cov 
 eAecpavTOuerov (popjLurfCi! 6£<Ji)V 
 
 lOTHGl XOpOUQ* 
 
 h\ix 6* a9c<vc<T(jov gtomotcov X'^P^^ 
 
 £u)U(pojvoq 6)nou 
 
 Beia juoKopoov oAoAufH. 
 
 (auAel.) 
 
 tnononononononononoTTOi, 
 
 id) icJa, iTOi) Itoj Itoj itoj 
 
 iTco Tie (JLJoe Ta)v cjuciv ouonrcpcov 
 
 oGOi t' euGnopoug ofpoiKoov fuaq 
 
 V€]uea6€, 9uAa juupia KpiOorpofwv 
 
 onepjuoAofcov re fevH 
 
 TQxu neiojueva, juaASaKHV Uvia rfipuv
 
 Aristophanes. 151 
 
 And when spring days are here, 
 Then we tread to the wine-god a measure, 
 
 In Bacchanal dance and in pleasure, 
 
 'Mid the contests of sweet singing choirs, 
 
 And the crash of loud lyres. 
 ^ , , „ Oscar Wilde. 
 
 Oxford, 1874. 
 
 ^ AVES. 
 211 — 222. 227 — 262. 
 Cease, my mate, from slumber now ; 
 Let the sacred hymn-notes flow. 
 Wailing with thy voice divine 
 Long-wept Itys, mine and thine. 
 So, when thy brown beak is thrilling 
 With that holy music-trilling. 
 Through the woodbine's leafy bound 
 Swells the pure melodious sound 
 To the throne of Zeus : and there 
 Phoebus of the golden hair, 
 Hearing, to thine elegies 
 With awaken'd chords replies 
 Of his ivory-clasped lyre. 
 Stirring all the Olympian quire ; 
 Till from each immortal tongue 
 Of that blessed heavenly throng 
 Peals the full harmonious song. 
 
 ■e>* 
 
 Epopopopopopopopopopoi ! 
 
 Holloa! holloa ! What ho ! what ho ! 
 
 Hither haste, my plume-partakers ; 
 
 Come many, come any 
 
 That pasture on the farmer's well-sown acres, 
 
 Tribes countless that on barley feed, 
 
 And clans that gather out the seed ;
 
 152 Aristophanes. 
 
 00a t' ev uAoKi eajua 
 
 PcoAov ajucpiTiTTupisee' coSe Aeirrbv 
 
 Abojueva (pcovS* 
 
 Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib tio" 
 
 00a 0' ujutov KGTa KHnou(; em kioaofl 
 
 K,\d6eai vojubv e)(€i, 
 
 TQ Te kot' opea, Tci Te KOTivoTpofa, Tot Te Kojaapocpafa, 
 
 GvusaTe neTOjueva npoQ tjiav ooibdv 
 
 TplOTb TpiOTb TOTOPpiS* 
 
 01 6' eAeioQ nap' auAwvaq cSuoTojuouq 
 
 tjunibag KunTe©*, 00a t' eubpooouQ ffig TonouQ 
 
 exeTe AeijutJivd t* epoevTO MapaOtovoC) 
 
 cpviq Te irreponoiKiAoi; 
 
 aTTafOQ OTTafuc. 
 
 cjv t' em novTiov oibjua GaAdoaHc; 
 
 90Aa juct' oAKuoveaai noTOTOi, 
 
 beup' iVe neuaojuevoi to vecoTepa, 
 
 ndvTO fop evPd'be cpuA' depotsOjuev 
 
 oicovcov Tovaoteipoov. 
 
 HKei fdp TIC bpiMUC npeaPuq, 
 
 KUlvbq fVcbjUHV, 
 
 Kcuvoov epfcov t* efxetpHTHO 
 dA,\' it' eg AofOUQ anavTO, 
 6eupo beOpo beupo beCpo. 
 
 TOpOTOpOTOpCTOpOTlS. 
 KIKKQ^aU KlKKOpaG. 
 TOpOTOpOTOpOTOpoAlAlAi£. 
 
 i
 
 Aristophanes. 153 
 
 Come, alert upon the wing, 
 
 Dulcet music uttering : 
 
 Ye that o'er the furrowed sod 
 
 Twitter upon every clod, 
 
 Making all the air rejoice 
 
 With your soft and slender voice : 
 
 Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio. 
 
 Ye that feast on garden fruits, 
 
 Nestling midst the ivy shoots : 
 
 Ye that all the mountains throng, 
 
 Olive-croppers, arbute-loppers, 
 
 Haste and fly to greet my song. 
 
 Trioto, trioto, totobrix ! 
 
 Ye that o'er the marshy flats 
 
 Swallow down the shrill-mouthed gnats ; 
 
 Ye that haunt the deep-devv'd ground 
 
 Marathon's sweet meads around, 
 
 Ouzel, and thou of the speckled wing, 
 
 Hazelhen, hazelhen, speed while I sing. 
 
 Come many, come any 
 
 With the halcyon brood that sweep 
 
 Surges of the watery deep. 
 
 Come and list to novel words, 
 
 Which to hear, from far and near 
 
 We gather all the tribes of neck-extending birds. 
 
 Here is arrived a sharp old man 
 
 Of revolutionary mind. 
 
 To revolutionary deeds inclined : 
 
 Come all, and listen to his plan. 
 
 Hither, hither, hither, hither, 
 
 Torotorotorotorotix. 
 
 Kikkabau, kikkabau, 
 
 Torotorotorotorolililix. 
 
 Benjamin Hall Kennedy.
 
 154 Aristophanes. 
 
 AVES. 
 
 685 — 722. 
 
 "Afe 5h cpuaiv av&peq ajuaupopioi, cpuAAcov fevea npoaouoioi, 
 oAirobpaveeq, nAcfjjuaTa nHAoG, GKioei6ea 9OA' ajuevHva, 
 anTHveq €9Hjueptoi raAaol ppoToi, avepeq eiKeAoveipoi, 
 npoaXETe Tov voOv toTq aGavotTOic hjluv, toTq aiev eouai, 
 TOiQ aleepioiQ, TOiaiv afHpcpc, xoiq acpBira )UH6oM€voiaiv. 
 Iv' OKOuaavTeg navra nap' HiUuJv opBux; nepi Ta)v (ueTecbpcov, 
 (puaiv oiwvoJv feveaiv re Gecov norajuojv x' ' EpePou(; re 
 
 XaouQ re 
 ei&oreq opScoq nap' ejuou TTpobiKcp KAdeiv emHre to Aoinov. 
 XaoQ Hv Kal Nu£"Epei36c re )x^\kim npcorov Kal Tdprapoq 
 
 eupuQ- 
 fH 6' 01)6' OHp OL16* oupavbg Hv'Epe^oug 6* ev dneipoai 
 
 KoAnoK; 
 TiKTei npcoTiGTOv unHvejuiov Nu£ h jueAavonxepoq wbv, 
 cE ou nepiTeAAo,uevaiq wpaic; ePAaarev "EpcoQ 6 noGeivbq, 
 GTiAPcov vcoTOv iTTepufoiv xpuooiv, eiKWQ aveiuwKesi bivaiQ. 
 ouTOQ 6e Xdei nrepoevn mretQ vuxtco Kara Tdpiapov eupuv 
 tveorreuaev fevoq Hjuerepov, kgi npcorov dvHfafev eq 9a)(;.
 
 Aristophanes . 155 
 
 y K 
 
 AVES. 
 
 685—722. 
 
 Come on then, ye dwellers by nature in darkness, and 
 
 like to the leaves' generations 
 That are little of might, that are moulded of mire, un- 
 
 enduring and shadowlike nations, 
 Poor plumeless ephemerals, comfordess mortals, as visions 
 
 of creatures fast fleeing, 
 Lift up your mind unto us that are deathless, and dateless 
 
 the date of our being : 
 Us, children of heaven, us, ageless for aye, us, all of 
 
 whose thoughts are eternal ; 
 That ye may from henceforth, having heard of us all 
 
 things aright as to matters supernal. 
 Of the being of birds and beginning of gods, and of 
 
 streams, and the dark beyond reaching, 
 Truthfully knowing aright, in my name bid Prodicus pack 
 
 with his preaching. 
 
 It was Chaos and Night at the first, and the blackness of 
 
 darkness, and hell's broad border. 
 Earth was not, nor air, neither heaven ; when in depths 
 
 of the womb of the dark without order 
 First thing first-born of the black-plumed Night was a 
 
 wind-egg hatched in her bosom. 
 Whence timely with seasons revolving again sweet Love 
 
 burst out as a blossom, 
 Gold wings glittering forth of his back, like whirlwinds 
 
 gustily turning. 
 He, after his wedlock with Chaos, whose wings are of 
 
 darkness, in hell broad-burning. 
 For his nestlings begat him the race of us first and 
 
 upraised us to light new-lighted.
 
 156 A ristophanes. 
 
 nporepov V ouk hv fevog aGavotToov, nplv 'Epcoc 6uve]ui£ev 
 
 anavTO • 
 SujUjUifvujuevcov 6' erepoov erepoig fever' oupavbg wKeavoQ xe 
 KOI fH ndvTcov re 6ea)v ]uaKupa)v fevog ciipBiTov. tooe juev 
 
 eojuev 
 noAu npeoguTaroi ndvTcov MctKOpcov. HjueiQ &* WQ \o\xvt 
 
 "EpCOTOQ 
 
 no/V\oT(; 6h\ov neTOjueoSd xe fdp Koi TOioiv epcoai Guvesnev 
 no/\/\ouQ 6e KoAoug anojucojuoKOTag naibag npog repjuaaiv 
 
 copaq 
 bia THV iGxuv TKV HMerepav SiejUHpioav civbpec epaaral, 
 6 M'ev opiufa bouq, 6 6e nopcpupicov' , 6 be x^v', 6 6"e TTepaiKov 
 
 opviv. 
 TTOtvTa be SvhtoTq eaxiv cicp' H.uoav tcov 6pvi0cov "xh jueriara. 
 TTpcbra ]u'ev ojpac cpalvojuev H,ueiQ fipog, x^'^'J^^'^'^i oncopag* 
 cneipeiv /uev, oxav fepavog Kpcb^ouo' eg thv AiguHv jneTOXcapH, 
 Ko'i nH5d,\iov Tore vauK\Hpa) cppd^ei KpejuciaavTi KoGeubeiv, 
 eira 5' 'OpeaxH x^aivav ucpaiveiv, Tva jlih pifoav anocrjH. 
 'iKTivog 6' au juerd Taura 9avelq eiepav wpav dnocpaivei, 
 hvIko neKTeiv wpa TTpo3dT03v noKOv Hpivov elra xe^i&'Ji^v, 
 ore xpH X^^'vccv nco\etv h6h kqI Ahbdpiov n npiaaeai. 
 eoMev 6' Cijuiv "Ajjjuoov, Ae,\(poi, AwbcovH, 4>oipo(; 'AnoWcov.
 
 Aristophafies. 157 
 
 And before this was not the race of the gods, until all 
 
 things by Love were united ; 
 And of kind united with kind in communion of nature the 
 
 sky and the sea are 
 Brought forth, and the earth, and the race of the gods 
 
 everlasting and blest. So that we are 
 P'ar away the most ancient of all things blest. And that 
 
 we are of Love's generation 
 There are manifest manifold signs. We have wings, and 
 
 with us have the Loves habitation ; 
 And manifold fair young folk that forswore love once, ere 
 
 the bloom of them ended, 
 Have the men that pursued and desired them subdued, 
 
 by the help of us only befriended, 
 With such baits as a quail, a flamingo, a goose, or a 
 
 cock's comb staring and splendid. 
 
 All best good things that befall men come from us birds, 
 
 as is plain to all reason : 
 For first we proclaim and make known to them spring, 
 
 and the winter and autumn in season ; 
 Bid sow, when the crane starts clanging for Afric, in 
 
 shrill-voiced emigrant number. 
 And calls to the pilot to hang up his rudder again for the 
 
 season, and slumber ; 
 And then weave a cloak for Prestes the thief, lest he 
 
 strip men of theirs if it freezes. 
 And again thereafter the kite reappearing announces a 
 
 change in the breezes. 
 And that here is the season for shearing your sheep of 
 
 their spring wool. Then does the swallow 
 Give }'ou notice to sell your greatcoat, and provide some- 
 thing light for the heat that's to follow. 
 Thus are we as Ammon or Delphi unto you, Dodona, nay, 
 
 Phoebus Apollo,
 
 158 Aristophanes. 
 
 eAeovreq fop TTpcoTov en' opviQ, outco npoq anavra rpeneoGe, 
 npog T* €Mnopiav koI npbg Piotou kthgiv koi npbg fajucv 
 
 av&poQ* 
 opviv Te vojui^ere nave* osanep nepi juavrelag liOKpiver 
 <pH,UH f UIUIV OpVlQ €GTi, TTTapjuov t' opviGo KoAeiTe, 
 EujugoAov opviv, <pcovHV opviv, Gepanovr' opviv, ovov opviv. 
 op' ou 9avepd)g Hjueig ujuiv eoju'ev MCtvreioQ 'AnoAAwv; 
 
 AVES. 
 
 737—71^- 769-783- 
 MoGoa \oxMaia, arp. 
 
 Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib TlOTlf£, 
 
 noiKiAH, jue9' fiq efco 
 
 vdnaiGi Kai K0pu9ar(; 'ev opeiaiQ, 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTl^t, 
 
 Uojj.evoq jueAiaq tnl cpuAAoKoiutou, 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTij-£, 
 
 5i' 'ejufig fevuoc SouShi; jueAecov 
 TTavi vojLiouQ iepouc ava9aivco 
 oejuvd Te MHTpi xopeujuoT* bpeia, 
 
 TOTOTOTOTOIOTOTOTOTlfi;, 
 
 ev0ev tbonepei jueAirra 
 
 <t>piivixoq OjuPpoaioov MtAecov anepboKeTO KOpnbv, aei 96- 
 
 pcov fAuKeiav (p5dv. 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTij-£.
 
 Aristophanes. 159 
 
 For, as first ye come all to get auguries of birds, even 
 
 such is in all things your carriage, 
 Be the matter a matter of trade, or of earning your bread, 
 
 or of any one's marriage ; 
 And all things ye lay to the charge of a bird that belong 
 
 to discerning prediction : 
 Winged fame is a bird, as you reckon : you sneeze, and 
 
 the sign's as a bird for conviction : 
 All tokens are "birds" with you — sounds too, and lackeys, 
 
 and donkeys. Then must it not follow 
 That we are to you all as the manifold godhead that 
 
 speaks in prophetic Apollo ? 
 
 A. C. Swinburne. 
 
 y AVES. 
 
 737—752. 769—783. 
 
 Muse, that in the deep recesses 
 
 Of the forest's dreary shade, 
 Vocal with our wild addresses ; 
 
 Or in the lonely lowly glade, 
 Attending near, art pleased to hear 
 
 Our humble bill tuneful and shrill. 
 
 When, to the name of omnipotent Pan, 
 
 Our notes we raise, or sing in praise, 
 Of mighty Cybele, from whom we began ; 
 
 Mother of Nature, and every creature, 
 Winged or unwinged, of birds or man. 
 
 Aid and attend, and chant with me 
 The music of Phrynichus, open and plain. 
 
 The first that attempted a loftier strain. 
 Ever busy like the bee, with the sweets of harmony.
 
 i6o Aristophanes. 
 
 Toidf)e, KUKvoi, avT. 
 
 Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib Tib TlOllfS, 
 GUMMlffl pOHV ojiioG 
 
 TTTepoTq KpeKovTeg laxov 'AnoAAco, 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTlfE, 
 
 cxScp e<pe^6Mevoi nap' "Eppov noTajubv, 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTlfS, 
 
 £iia 6* ai9epiov ve9oq inAGe ^oa* 
 TrrfiSe be noiKiAa <puAd Te SHpcov, 
 KuiuaTd t' Xa'^^Qz vHveuoQ ai0pH, 
 
 TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTif £ * 
 
 nag 5' eneKTunHo' "OAujunoQ" 
 
 elAe 6e edjupog dvaKiag- 'OAujuniubeq 6e )ueAo<; XdpiTeq 
 
 MoO- 
 oai t' encoAoAuHav. 
 
 Tib Tib Tib TlOTif£. 
 
 RAN^. 
 
 324—336. 340—352. 
 
 'loKx', CO noAuTiMHT* £V e&paiq eved6e vaicov, OTp. 
 
 "loKx", w 'loKxe, 
 
 eAOe t6v6* dvd Aeijuwva xope>^acov, 
 
 ooiouc EQ eiaacoTOQ, 
 
 noAuKopnov jaev Tivdaacov 
 
 nepi Kpari oo) PpuovTU
 
 Aristophanes . 1 6 1 
 
 Thus the swans in chorus follow, 
 
 On the mighty Thracian stream, 
 
 Hymning their eternal theme, 
 Praise to Bacchus and Apollo : 
 
 The welkin rings, with sounding wings, 
 
 With songs and cries and melodies : 
 
 Up to the thunderous yEther ascending : 
 
 Whilst all that breathe on earth beneath, 
 The beasts of the wood, the plain and the flood, 
 In panic amazement are crouching and bending 
 
 With the awful qualm of a sudden calm, 
 Ocean and air in silence blending. 
 The ridge of Olympus is sounding on high, 
 Appalling with wonder the lords of the sky, 
 
 And the Muses and Graces, 
 
 Enthroned in their places, 
 Join in the solemn symphony. 
 
 John Hookham Frere. 
 
 RAN^. 
 
 324—336. 340—352. 
 
 Mighty Bacchus ! Holy Power! 
 Hither at the wonted hour 
 Come away, 
 Come away, 
 With the wanton holiday, 
 Where the revel uproar leads 
 To the mystic holy meads. 
 Where the frolic votaries fly. 
 With a tipsy shout and cry ;
 
 l62 
 
 Aristophanes. 
 
 OTe(pavov juupTcov Gpaaei 5' efKaraKpoucov 
 
 no5i Tov oKoXaoTOv 
 
 <pi\onaifMOVu timov, 
 
 XapiTwv nAeToTOv \-^wrM^ Mepo(;, arvuv, iepuv 
 
 tfeipe (p\oreac \a,undba(; ev xepol tivciSjwv, 
 
 "laKx", oJ "loKxe, 
 
 vuKTepou TeAeTHc; cpcoatpopoQ aoTHp. 
 
 <j)\or'i 9en'eTUi be Aeiiuojv 
 
 fovu ndAAerai fepovrcov 
 
 cmoaeiovrai be Aunaq 
 
 XpoviouQ T* Itcov naXaicLv eviaurouq, 
 
 lepoQ Cno Tiuuc;. 
 
 Gu be \a,unubi <pefrwv 
 
 npopcibHV etar' tn' avGHpov e\eiov bi'inebov 
 
 Xoponoiov, MOKOp, H^av. 
 
 OVT.
 
 Aristophanes. 163 
 
 Flourishing the Thyrsus high, 
 Flinging forth, alert and airy, 
 To the sacred old vagary, 
 The tumultuous dance and song, 
 Sacred from the vulgar throng ; 
 Mystic orgies that are known 
 To the votaries alone — 
 To the mystic chorus solely — 
 Secret— unreveal'd — and holv. 
 
 Raise the fiery torches high ! 
 Bacchus is approaching' nigh. 
 Like the planet of the morn, 
 Breaking with the hoary dawn 
 
 On the dark solemnity — 
 There they flash upon the sight ; 
 All the plain is blazing bright, 
 Flush'd and overflown with light. 
 Age has cast his years away. 
 And the cares of many a day. 
 Sporting to the lively lay — 
 Mighty Bacchus ! march and lead 
 (Torch in hand toward the mead) 
 Thy devoted humble chorus, 
 Mighty Bacchus, — move before us I 
 
 John Hookham Frere. 
 
 \. 2

 
 NOTES.
 
 I
 
 PROMETHEUS. 
 
 398—434. 
 
 The chorus of Ocean Nymphs laments the cruel punishment of 
 Prometheus for his rebellion against Zeus. In the last line of 
 strophe i. Mrs. Browning adopted the reading evbeiKvuaiv for 
 ev, feeiKvuaiv. 
 
 528-559- 
 
 In default of any more adequate rendering of this chorus, 
 Byron's paraphrase, written Dec. 1st, 1804, at Harrow, deserves 
 (juotation. Awed by Prometheus' punishment the Ocean 
 nymphs express their submission to Zeus, and contrast his 
 victim's present tortures with a happier scene. 
 
 Great Jove, to whose almighty throne 
 
 Both gods and mortals homage pay, 
 
 Ne'er may my soul thy power disown. 
 
 Thy dread behests ne'er disobey. 
 Oft shall the sacred victim fall 
 In sea-girt Ocean's mossy hall ; 
 My voice shall raise no impious strain 
 'Ciainst him who rules the sky and azure main. 
 
 How different now thy joyless fate, 
 
 Since first Hesione thy bride. 
 When placed aloft in godlike state, 
 
 The blushing beauty by thy side, 
 Thou sat'st, while reverend Ocean smiled, 
 And mirthful strains the hours beguiled ; 
 The Nymphs and Tritons danced around, 
 Nor yet thy doo.u was fix'd, nor Jove relentless frown'd.
 
 1 68 Notes. 
 
 887—906. 
 
 lo, the victim of the love of Zeus and the jealousy of Here, 
 has come upon the stage, and told the story of her sufferings. 
 The Ocean Nymphs utter the eminently Greek prayer for an 
 equal marriage. Compare the proverb attributed to Pittacus, 
 THV Kara aaurov cAa, with its implied meaning "Choose one of 
 your own rank." 
 
 SEPTEM CONTRA THEBAS. 
 
 720 — 791. 
 
 Adrastus and Polyneices and the five other confederate chiefs 
 have arrived against the walls of Thebes to do battle with 
 Eteocles, the brother of Polyneices. The chorus of Theban 
 maidens recites the history of the house, the marriage of Laius 
 and Jocasta, the exposure of their child CEdipus, his return to 
 Thebes and deliverance of the city from the Sphinx, his 
 unwittingly incestuous marriage with his mother, the discovery 
 that he was the slayer of his father, his blindness and exile, and 
 the curse he launched against his sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, 
 for their cruelty to him. 
 
 848—860. 
 
 Eteocles and Polyneices have slain each other in single combat. 
 The Theban maidens lament them. 
 
 PERS/E. 
 
 65-138. 
 
 The Persu' formed part of a trilogy with which .Eschylus 
 gained the prize in 472 B.C., only eight years after the Persian 
 invasion and before peace had been concluded. In this chorus 
 the Persian Elders from magnifying the splendour of the 
 enormous army of Xerxes pass gradually to a strain of fore-
 
 Notes. 169 
 
 boding. In her translation Miss Swanwick adopted the text of 
 Paley, which for the third hne of the mesode reads : 
 
 9iA6(ppcov fup noTiaaivouaa to npcoiov irap 'fei PpoTOV 
 eic (ipKuaq "Axa. 
 
 Minor differences are \'3'jtTm. for aacTai in the fourth anti- 
 strophe, and aPponevGeiQ for OKponeveeiQ in the fifth. 
 
 SUPPLICES. 
 
 85—101. 
 
 Danaiis and /Egyptus were twin sons of Behis. The fifty 
 sons of /Egyptus desired the fifty daughters of Danaiis ia 
 marriage, but the Danaides fled from them to Argos where they 
 became Suppliants for the protection of Pelasgus, its king. The 
 fragment here given from their opening chorus is expressive of 
 their trust in Zeus. In the first line Professor Campbell reads 
 €i9' eiH for el eeiH, and in the last but one anovov 6aijU0viav 
 instead of anoivov baiMovicov. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 105—257. 
 
 In this great chorus the Argive elders sing the sacrifice of 
 Iphigeneia, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. 
 Agamemnon had violated the sanctity of a grove of Artemis by 
 killing in it a stag, and the goddess in her wrath caused a calm 
 by which the Greek expedition against Troy was kept weather- 
 bound at Aulis. At the instigation of the seer Calchas, 
 Agamemnon, to appease the goddess, consented to sacrifice 
 Iphigeneia, but at the moment of the sacrifice Artemis put a 
 hart in her place and carried Iphigeneia herself to Tauris, there 
 to act as her priestess. The chorus, alike from its beauty, its 
 occasional obscurity, and its length, demands more from its 
 translators than almost any other in Greek tragedy. Dean 
 Milman's version is more evenly sustained throughout than any 
 of its competitors with which I am acquainted. But the open-
 
 lyo 
 
 Notes. 
 
 ing strophe and antistrophe are certainly better rendered by 
 Coninglon in the following vigorous lines : 
 
 I am the man ! I must be up and telling 
 
 The signs which met the chieftains on their way. 
 I am the man — within me yet is swelling, 
 
 From heaven itself, the promptings of the lay, 
 The genial strength proportioned to my day — 
 
 How the chiefs of Greece in their twin-throned power, 
 
 The united crown of Acha^a's flower, 
 
 There sends with spear and avenging hand 
 
 The imperial bird to the Trojan land, 
 
 The king of the fowls to the kings of the fleet— 
 
 One eagle black, one white on the back — 
 Appearing near on the hand of the spear 
 In the high-pitched pride of their stately seat : — 
 They twain were devouring a hare and her brood. 
 In the last of her courses borne down and subdued : 
 Sing sorrow ! sing sorrow ! but triumph the good ! 
 
 Now as the wise host-prophet stood surveying 
 The two bold sons of Atreus, warriors true, 
 The fell devourers of the hare, portraying 
 Those missioned chieftains, all at once he knew, 
 And thus told out the signs that cros-ed his view : 
 " This journey of ours shall at length come down 
 In spoiler- wise upon Priam's town, 
 And the wealth of the people, the bulwark's store, 
 Shall Fate in her fury devour before. 
 Let but no grudge from the gods above 
 Cast envious might on the curb so bright, 
 For the queen of the chase abhors the race, 
 The winged hounds of her father Jove : — 
 For they ate a tame creature all quick with its brood : 
 The eagles she hates, and their banquet of blood : 
 Sing sorrow ! sing sorrow ! but triumph the good 1" 
 
 In the fourth line of the first strophe Uean Milman apparently 
 adopted the reading aKmv.
 
 Notes. 171 
 
 160—183. 
 
 A fragment of this fragment first appeared in Mr. Myers' 
 admirable essay on ^'Eschylus in Hellenica. The translator 
 kindly completed the passage for the present volume. 
 
 355-474. 
 
 The Argive Elders here sing of the punishment of Troy for its 
 protection of Alexander (better known to us as Paris), after he 
 had outraged the laws of hospitality by seducing Helen, the 
 wife of his host Menelaus. The story of Helen's flight leads the 
 chorus to sing her husband's sorrow, and from this they pass on 
 to bewail the havoc caused by the long war. 
 
 In the celebrated crux in the second strophe, Mr. Morshead 
 prefers the reading : 
 
 TidpeGTi Gif', oTijuoc a\\' a/\oi5opo(;, 
 aniOTOQ acpeijutvav ibcov. 
 
 AGAMEMNON. 
 
 681— 7S1. 
 
 The chorus here contrasts the joy and gaiety of Helen's arrival 
 at Troy with the misery which her advent brought upon the city. 
 The meaning of the first strophe rests on a play on Helen's 
 name, which Prof. Campbell has wisely indicated instead of 
 attempting to reproduce by a similar, but somewhat clumsy pun 
 in English. " Hell of vessels, hell of heroes, hell of states," is 
 Conington's rendering, while Dean Milman's 
 
 " Helen call'd, the fated to destroy 
 Ships and men and mighty Troy," 
 
 preserves all the awkwardness of a pun with none of its point. 
 
 Prof. Campbell's variants in this chorus are rather numerous. 
 They include KeAodvTcjov for KeAaaviei, in strophe i., and 
 TiovTa (with suppression of comma after npuaGO)ueva) for 
 TiovTOQ in the antistrophe ; AtovToc; Iviv for AtovTu oiviv
 
 172 Notes. 
 
 in strophe ii. ; and nopOKXivao* for napaKAivouo* in strophe iii. 
 In the third line of strophe iv. (pdoc tokou is adopted instead of 
 veapa (pdoug kotov, and the metre of the antistrophe is brought 
 into harmony with this by reading : 
 
 naAivrponoiQ 
 
 CMMaoi Ainoua', oaia npoaeouTO. 
 
 717—735- 
 
 The fragment here reprinted with Mr. Gladstone's permission 
 appeared in the volume of translations issued conjointly with 
 Lord Lyttelton in 1861, and reprinted in 1863. Its date of 
 composition is given as 1836. 
 
 In the antistrophe Mr. Gladstone reads : 
 
 eSoq TO npoQ TOKecov X"P'V 
 fdp TpO(peOaiv ajueipcov. 
 
 CHOEPHORCE. 
 20—83. 
 
 Clytemnestra has slain Agamemnon, and at the opening of 
 this next act of the trilogy the chorus of captive Trojan women 
 are sent by her to bear offerings to her victim's grave. 
 
 This translation is extracted from a volume (for drawing my 
 attention to which I am greatly indebted to Mr. E. D. A. 
 Morshead) entitled, " Selections from the Choric Poetry of the 
 Greek Dramatic Writers, translated into English Verse, by 
 J. Anstice, B.A." {London, 1832, 8vo). According to the 
 Dictionary of National Biography, Mr. Joseph Anstice was born 
 in 1808, and educated at Westminster anil Christ Church, Oxford, 
 where he wrote a prize poem on "Richard Coeur de Lion " and a 
 prize essay upon " The Influence of the Roman Conquests upon 
 Literature and the Arts in Rome." In 1831, when only 23, he 
 was appointed Professor of Classical Literature at King's College, 
 London, a post which four years later he was obliged by ill
 
 Notes. 173 
 
 health to resign. His death on Feb. 29th, 1S36, at Torquay, 
 cut short a career of singular promise. Of his translations I 
 have already said something in my brief Introduction. The 
 three specimens included in this volume will suffice to prove 
 that, if sometimes lacking in conciseness and strength, they are 
 characterized by a gracefulness and ease rarely found in translated 
 work. 
 
 EUMENIDES. 
 
 307—396. 
 
 The murder of Agamemnon has been avenged, in accordance 
 with the doom of the house, by his son, Orestes. The matricide 
 is pursued by the avenging Furies, the Eumenides, who in this 
 chorus sing of their appointed dues and functions. In his 
 translation Dean Milman followed a text of the play, reading 
 eni TOVCOQ for eni tov, w, in the second strophe, and reversing 
 the order of the last five lines of antistrophe ii. and strophe iii. 
 His version, here reprinted by permission of Mr. Murray, 
 appeared in the same volume which contains the Agamemnon 
 and Bacchas. 
 
 AJAX. 
 
 596-645. 
 
 Ajax, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, being worsted by 
 Ulysses in the contention for the arms of Achilles, fell into a 
 frenzy in which he slaughtered the sheep and oxen of the Greek 
 host in the belief that they were his human enemies. The chorus 
 of Salaminian sailors here imagine the misery that this ill news 
 will cause when told in their island home. 
 
 693—718. 
 
 Ajax, awakened from his frenzy, recognizes that his mad acts 
 have made life impossible, and goes forth to fall on his sword. 
 But the Salaminian sailors mistake his object, and believing that 
 all is well, and that they will soon sail homewards, sing and 
 dance in an outburst of joy.
 
 174 Notes. 
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 
 151—215- 
 
 Laius, king of I'hebes, was forewarned by an oracle that he 
 should perish by the hand of his own son. To avert the fate, 
 when Qidipus was born, his father caused him to be exposed on 
 Mount Cithaeron. The child was saved by a shepherd, and 
 arrived at manhood without knowing his parentage. In a road- 
 side quarrel he slew his father, Laius, and then proceeded to 
 Thebes, where he delivered the city from the Sphinx, and 
 obtained as his reward the kingdom and the hand of Jocasta, 
 the widow of Laius, his own mother. In anger at this incestuous 
 marriage and parricide the gods visited Thebes with a plague, 
 and in this chorus the Theban Elders pray to heaven for mercy 
 and relief from their woes. 
 
 Mr. Verrall writes with reference to his rendering, "As an 
 excuse for the metrical liberties which have been made in this 
 translation, it should perhaps be said, that it was not made 
 independently, but to suit the music composed by Prof. Stanford 
 for the original Greek, when the play was performed at 
 Cambridge." The text adopted by the Greek Play Committee 
 reads enoupov and jeXeiv for anoupov and TcAei in strophe iii., 
 and npoGTuOevTO for npooraxSevTa in the antistrophe. 
 
 863 — 910. 
 
 Tiresias, the blind seer, has denounced Oedipus as the slayer 
 of Laius. The king remembers the stranger whom he slew at 
 the cross-roads, but there are some discrepancies in details, and 
 in this pause of mingled hope and fear the Theban Elders sing 
 this ode in praise of an innocent and humble life. In the second 
 antistrophe they remember the ancient oracle as to the fate of 
 Laius, and express their belief in it. V 
 
 a:DIPUS COLONEUS. 
 
 668—719. 
 
 Cast out from Thebes in accordance with his own decree, 
 blinded l)y his own hands, Q£dii:)us, attended only by his faithful
 
 Notes. 175 
 
 daughter, Antigone, has come to Colonus, a suburb of Athens, 
 there to find rest in death. He asks where he is, and the chorus 
 of Eklers of Colonus in telling him sing the praises of their 
 village and of Attica. A legend tells us that at the end of his 
 life, when nearly ninety, Sophocles established his sanity and 
 capability of disposing of his own property, by reading to his 
 judges this magnificent ode, then recently written. The play 
 itself was not exhibited till 401 B.C., five years after the poet's 
 death. 
 
 1211 — 1248. 
 
 His son, Polyneices, and his brother-in-law, Creon, torment 
 the closing hours of the life of CEdipus. Theseus, prince of 
 Athens, assures him of protection, and the chorus in sympathy 
 sing of Death as the deliverer from all ills. The ode is perhaps 
 the most beautiful in all Greek tragedy, and becomes the more 
 impressive when we remember the great age which Sophocles 
 had attained when he wrote it. In the works of Thomas Love 
 Peacock there is a choral ode written in reminiscence of this, 
 and he tells us that at one time Shelley was " always repealing " 
 to himself the lines : 
 
 Man's happiest lot is not to he : 
 And when we tread life's thorny steep, 
 Most blest are they, who, earliest free, 
 Descend to death's eternal sleep, 
 
 though they lack the simplicity of the original. 
 
 In line 2 of strophe i. , Mr. Housman reads naptKq for 
 Dindorf's napeiQ, and in line 10, beovTog for 0eAovTO(;. In the 
 antistrophe he reverses the positions of (povoi and (pSovoQ, and 
 in the epode writes b' evvuxiuv for 6e vuxiav. 
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 332—375- 
 The curse of CEdipus has fallen. His cruel sons, Eteocles and 
 Polyneices have fought and slain each other, and now their uncle, 
 Creon, is king, and has proclaimed that the body of Polyneices,
 
 176 Notes. 
 
 as the aggressor, is to be left unburied. A messenger announces 
 to Creon that his command has been disobeyed, and in this 
 chorus the Theban Elders sing the wonders of man in society, 
 and the necessity of obedience to law. A Hne translation of this 
 Ode was made by Thomas Davidson, the Scottish Probationer, 
 
 583-625. 
 
 It is his sister, Antigone, who has buried Polyneices. She is 
 denounced to Creon, and condemned l)y him to death. The 
 Theban Elders sing the woes of the house of Qidipus, and the 
 divine anger by which it is pursued. 
 
 In the third and fourth lines of the second strophe, Mr, 
 
 Morshead reads : 
 
 6 navx' afpeucov 
 
 cure Gecov UKjuaroq, 
 
 and in the fifth oj-HpcoQ for af Hpco. The last two lines of the 
 same strophe he would print : 
 
 v6juo(; 65' • oC6ev epnei 
 
 evarwv pioTcp nojunoXu f' Iktoq arac. 
 
 For his rendering of this chorus I wish to express my particular 
 obligations to Mr. Morshead, who, on my expressing my disap- 
 pointment at finding no version in existence which I quite liked, 
 very kindly made this translation, almost on the spur of the 
 moment, and placed it at my disposal. 
 
 781—800. 
 
 Hcemon, Creon's son, is Antigone's lover, and upbraids his 
 father for his cruel tyranny. Creon threatens to slay her before 
 his eyes, and Hcemon rushes from his presence. The chorus 
 then sings this short ode to Love. 
 
 In the last line but one, Sir G. Young reads with the MSS. 
 Twv Mefo'^^v ndpebpoQ ev apxaic; eeOMwv. 
 
 1115— 1154. 
 
 The blind old seer, Tiresias, tlie same who had declared to 
 CEdipus his doom, has warned Creon of the fate to which his 
 
 1
 
 Notes. 17 7 
 
 cruelty is hastening him. Creon in terror orders the immediate 
 release of Antigone from the rocky cell in which he has immured 
 her, and the chorus breaks forth into this joyous prayer to 
 Bacchus, the tutelary deity of Thebes. To the spectators, who 
 knew the legend, their rejoicing must have sounded almost 
 ironical, for Hasmon and Antigone have already done themselves 
 to death. 
 
 MEDEA. 
 
 627 — 662. 
 
 Medea in her love for Jason not only saved his life, but aban- 
 doned her home at Colchis to follow him. He is now abandon- 
 ing her for a Corinthian bride. The chorus of Corinthian women 
 sings the danger of an overmastering love. In the first antistrophe 
 Mr. Soutar (to whom I must apologize for omitting to place 
 asterisks in the text) reads oieroi for crepfoi, in the second 
 strophe oiKxpoiaTov for oiKipOTCiToov, in the antistrophe juOeov 
 for Mu9cov. 
 
 HIPPOLVTUS. 
 
 525—564. 
 
 Angered at the refusal of Hippolytus to yield her reverence, 
 Aphrodite has smitten his step-mother, Phsedra, with an unholy 
 passion for him, against which she struggles in vain. The theme 
 of this chorus, sung by Troizenian women, is closely similar to 
 the one just quoted from the Medea. A translation by Thomas 
 Love Peacock, not more beautiful than Madame Darmesteter's, 
 but offering an interesting contrast of styles, will be found in the 
 Appendix to Euripides. 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 
 435-454- 
 Admetus in return for his hospitality to Apollo obtained from 
 the Fates permission, at the time of his natural death, to sub- 
 stitute for himself his father, mother, or wife, if any one of 
 
 M
 
 178 Notes. 
 
 these would consent to take his place. His wife, Alcestis, dies 
 to save her husband, and the chorus of Pheroeans thus bids her 
 farewell. The translation is taken from the 1872 edition of 
 the works of J. II. Frere, in which it appears as a fragment. 
 
 567—605. 
 
 At the moment of the death of Alcestis, Hercules comes to 
 visit his friend Admetus. Fearing that if his guest were 
 informed of his sorrow he would turn elsewhere, Admetus 
 conceals his wife's death. The chorus praises his hospitable 
 spirit, and call to mind the sojourn, in the house, of the god 
 Apollo. The spirited version here quoted, first appeared in 
 the pages of Kottahos, the magazine of Trinity College, Dublin, 
 under the editorship of Prof. R. Y. Tyrrell. 
 
 962—1005. 
 
 When Hercules has learnt the truth as to his friend's sorrow, 
 gratitude to Admetus sends him to struggle with Death, and 
 wrest Alcestis from his grasp. While he is secretly gone on 
 this errand Admetus laments for his wife, and the chorus sings 
 this strain of consolation. 
 
 HELENA. 
 
 1451— 1511. 
 
 According to the story adopted in this play, the Helen of the 
 Trojan War was merely a wraith, the true Helen being all the 
 time in Egypt, where she is discovered by Menelaus. The 
 subject of this chorus is their return to Peloponnesus and to 
 Sparta. 
 
 HERCULES FURENS. 
 
 348—441. 
 
 The last of the twelve laljours of Hercules was his descent into 
 the Lower World to fetch thence Cerberus and rescue his friend 
 Theseus. While he was absent on this mission rumour reported
 
 Notes. 179 
 
 his failure, and Lycus, King of Thebes, determined to destroy 
 all his race, lest at any time they should avenge the murder of 
 Creon. The chorus of Theban elders here celebrates the former 
 exploits of Hercules, and laments the fate of his children and of 
 his father Amphitryon, all of whom Lycus has condemned 10 
 death. 
 
 637—672. 
 
 Hercules has returned in safety in time to save his kinsfolk 
 and punish Lycus. The chorus lament their old age, which 
 has rendered them powerless when their help is needed. I 
 quote in the Appendix to Euripides Peacock's version of this 
 chorus, and may refer also to a spirited echo of it published in 
 the St. Andrews University Magazine, No. XL, by Mr. G. 
 Soutar. 
 
 BACCH.E. 
 
 370—431. 
 
 During the absence of Pentheus, King of Thebes, from his 
 kingdom, the mystic worship of Bacchus has been introduced 
 among his subjects. On his return he denounces it, and the 
 chorus of Asiatic Bacchse, by whom the worship of the god is 
 being spread, here appeals to the goddess of Sanctity. Peutheus 
 was subsequently driven mad by Bacchus, joined himself in 
 woman's attire to the Bacchre, and was torn to pieces by them. 
 
 862 — 911. 
 
 The song of the Bacchse, whom Pentheus is about to join, as 
 they proceed to the revels in which he is to meet his death. \\\ 
 the antistrophe they foreshadow his fate. 
 
 HECUBA. 
 
 444—483. 
 
 Troy has fallen, and Hecuba, its queen, and her daughter, 
 Polyxena, are prisoners in the Greek camp. Polyxena had 
 
 M 2
 
 i8o Notes. 
 
 been beloved by Achilles, and, according to one legend, his love 
 for her caused his doom. She is now to be sacrificed to his 
 shade, and this chorus is sung by the captive Trojan women, as 
 she goes to her death. The women, however, are occupied with 
 their own woes, and their song has nothing to do with 
 Polyxena. 
 
 905—952. 
 
 Fresh woes have fallen on Hecuba. The body of her son, 
 Polydorus, murdered by his guardian, Polymestor, has been 
 ■washed ashore, and she is now about to avenge the murder. 
 But the chorus are still mindful only of their own fate, and sing 
 this dirge over the fall of Troy. The first version here quoted 
 is taken from a footnote to the Table Talk of S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 IPHIGENEIA IN AULIDE. 
 
 1036— 1097. 
 
 The subject of the Iphigetieia in Aulis is told in the closing 
 strophes of the first chorus of the Agamemnon. The chorus 
 here contrasts her fate with the gay scene at the marriage of 
 Peleus and Thetis. The relevance of their song is greatly 
 diminished in the spirited version of Mr. Anstice, by his un- 
 fortunate compression of the last eighteen lines into six. 
 
 CYLOPS. 
 
 41—54. 68—81. 
 
 These stanzas form the strophe and epode of the chorus of 
 Satyrs in quest of their leader, Silenus. The antistrophe Shelley 
 omitted from his translation. 
 
 511—520. 
 
 A fragment from the song with which the chorus flatters the 
 drunken Cyclops.
 
 Notes. i8i 
 
 NUBES. 
 
 275—290. 298—313. 
 
 The opening chorus of the Cloud-Maidens, as they float on 
 the stage at the call of Socrates, whom Aristophanes represents 
 as star-gazing from a basket swung in mid air. 
 
 AVES. 
 
 211 — 222. 227 — 262. 
 
 The call of the Hoopoe, bidding all the birds to a general 
 assembly, does not come properly within the scope of this 
 volume. But its lyric beauty and the pleasure of quoting the 
 English version of Dr. Kennedy made its inclusion imperative. 
 The translations by Frere and by Madame Darmesteter are 
 both also noteworthy. In lines 212 — 215, Dr. Kennedy inserted 
 a colon after" Ituv, and read eAeAi^ojuevHg 5* iepoiQ, with no stop 
 after £ou9h(;. 
 
 6S5 — 722. 
 
 The chorus of Birds give their theory of creation. Mr. 
 Swinburne's magnificent version first appeared in the columns of 
 the AthettcBurn. 
 
 737—752. 769—783. 
 "We see here a comic imitation of the tragic choruses of 
 Phrynichus, a poet older than ^"Eschylus, of whom Aristophanes 
 always speaks with respect, as an improver of music and 
 poetry." — Frere's Twte. 
 
 RAN.E. 
 
 324—336. 340—352. 
 A chorus of the Initiated in honour of Bacchus.
 
 APPENDIX TO EURIPIDES. 
 
 Permission to use Peacock's translations was not obtained till 
 after the greater part of this volume was in type. I add them, 
 therefore, in an Appendix, and join with them the less diffuse of 
 Campbell's two versions from the Medea.
 
 MEDEA. 
 1251 — 1270. 
 
 Hallowed earth, with indignation 
 Mark, oh mark, the murderous deed ! 
 
 Radiant eye of wide creation, 
 Watch the damned parricide ! 
 
 Yet, ere Colchis' rugged daughter 
 
 Perpetrate the dire design, 
 And consign to kindred slaughter 
 
 Children of thy golden line, 
 
 Shall the hand, with murder gory, 
 Cause immortal blood to flow ! 
 
 Sun of heaven, arrayed in glory, 
 Rise — forbid — avert the blow ! 
 
 In the vales of placid gladness 
 Let no rueful maniac range ; 
 
 Chase afar the Fiend of Madness, 
 Wrest the dagger from Revenge ! 
 
 Say, hast thou, with kind protection 
 Reared thy smiling race in vain ; 
 
 Fostering Nature's fond affection. 
 Tender cares, and pleasing pain.
 
 1 86 Appendix to Euripides. 
 
 Hast thou on the troubled ocean 
 Braved the tempest loud and strong, 
 
 Where the waves in wild commotion 
 Roar Cyanean rocks among ? 
 
 Didst thou roam the paths of danger, 
 
 Hymenean joys to prove ? 
 Spare, O sanguinary stranger, 
 
 Pledges of thy sacred love ! 
 
 Shall not Heaven, with indignation. 
 Watch thee o'er the barbarous deed ? 
 
 Shalt thou cleanse with expiation, 
 Monstrous, murderous parricide ? 
 
 Thomas Campbell.
 
 Appendix to Euripides. 187 
 
 HIPPOLYTUS. 
 
 525—564. 
 
 O LOVE ! O love ! whose shafts of fire 
 
 Invade the soul with sweet surprise, 
 Through the soft dews of young desire 
 Trembling in beauty's arure eyes ! 
 Condemn not me the pangs to share 
 Thy too impassioned votaries bear, 
 That on the mind their stamp impress, 
 Indelible and measureless : 
 For not the sun's descending dart, 
 Nor yet the lightning brand of Jove, 
 Falls like the shaft that strikes the heart, 
 Thrown by the mightier hand of love. 
 
 Oh ! vainly, where, by Letrian plains, 
 
 Tow'rd Dian's dome Alpheus bends, 
 And from Apollo's Pythian fanes, 
 
 The steam of hecatombs ascends ; 
 While not to love our altars blaze ; 
 To love, whose tyrant power arrays 
 Against mankind each form of woe 
 That hopeless anguish bleeds to know : 
 To love who keeps the golden key, 
 
 That, when more favoured lips implore. 
 Unlocks the sacred mystery 
 
 Of youthful beauty's bridal door. 
 
 Alas ! round love's despotic power. 
 
 Their brands what forms of terror wave ! 
 
 The CUchalian maid in evil hour, 
 Venus to greet Alcides gave.
 
 1 88 Appendix to Euripides. 
 
 As yet in passion's lore unread, 
 
 Unconscious of connubial ties, 
 She saw around her bridal bed 
 
 Her native city's flames arise. 
 All-hapless maid ! mid kindred gore 
 
 Whose nuptial torch the Furies bore ! 
 To him consigned, an ill-starred bride, 
 
 By whom her sire and brethren died. 
 
 O towers of Thebes ! O sacred flow 
 
 Of mystic Dirce's fountain tides ! 
 Say in what shapes of fear and woe 
 
 Love through his victim's bosom glides ? 
 She, who to heaven's imperial sire 
 
 The care-dispelling Bacchus bore, 
 'Mid thunder and celestial fire 
 
 Embraced, and slept, to wake no more. 
 Too powerful love, inspiring still 
 
 The dangerous risk, the frantic will, 
 Bears like the bee's mellitluous wing, 
 
 A transient sweet, a lasting sting. 
 
 Thomas Love Peacock.
 
 Appendix to Euripides. 189 
 
 ALCESTIS. 
 
 962 — 1005. 
 
 My steps have pressed the flowers, 
 
 That to the Muses' bowers 
 
 The eternal dews of Hehcon have given : 
 
 And trod the mountain height, 
 
 Where Science, young and bright, 
 
 Scans with poetic gaze the midnight-heaven ; 
 
 Yet have I found no power to vie 
 
 With thine, severe Necessity ! 
 
 No counteracting spell sublime, 
 
 By Orpheus breathed in elder time, 
 
 The tablets of initiate Thrace contain : 
 
 No drug imbued with strength divine, 
 
 To sons of ^sculapian line 
 
 By pitying Phoebus taught, to. soothe the stings of pain. 
 
 Thee, goddess, thee alone 
 
 None seek with suppliant moan : 
 
 No votive wreaths thine iron altars dress ; 
 
 Immutably severe. 
 
 The song thou dost not hear. 
 
 That speaks the plaint of mortal wretchedness. 
 
 Oh, may I ne'er more keenly feel 
 
 Thy power, that breaks the strength of steel, 
 
 With whose dread course concordant still 
 
 Jove executes his sovereign will : 
 
 Vain were his might, unseconded by thee. 
 
 Regret or shame thou canst not know ; 
 
 Nor pity for terrestrial woe 
 
 Can check thy onward course, or change thy stern decree.
 
 igo Appendix to Euripides. 
 
 And thou in patience bear thy doom, 
 
 Beneath her heaviest bonds opprest : 
 
 Tears cannot burst the marble tomb, 
 
 Where e'en the sons of gods must rest. 
 
 In Ufe, in death, most loved, most blest. 
 
 Was she for whom our fruitless tears are shed ; 
 
 And round her cold sepulchral bed, 
 
 Unlike the tombs of the promiscuous dead, 
 
 Wreaths of eternal fame shall spread. 
 
 By matchless virtue merited. 
 
 There oft the traveller from his path shall turn, 
 
 And muse beneath the lonely cypress shade. 
 
 That waves, in silent gloom, where her remains are laid. 
 
 Thomas Love Peacock.
 
 Appendix to Euripides. 191 
 
 HERCULES FURENS. 
 637—672. 
 
 To me the hours of youth of youth are dear, 
 
 In transient hght that flow : 
 
 But age is heavy, cold and drear, 
 
 As winter's rocks of snow. 
 
 Already on my brows I feel 
 
 His grasp of ice and fangs of steel. 
 
 Dimming the visual radiance pale, 
 
 That soon eternal night shall veil. 
 
 Oh ! not for all the gold that flings. 
 
 Through domes of Oriental kings, 
 
 Its mingled splendour, falsely bright, 
 
 Would I resign youth's lovelier light. 
 
 For whether wealth its path illume. 
 
 Or toil and poverty depress, 
 
 The days of youth are days of bloom 
 
 And health and hope and loveliness. 
 
 Oh ! were the ruthless demon, Age, 
 
 Involved by Jove's tempestuous rage, 
 
 And fast and far to ruin driven, 
 
 Beyond the flaming bounds of heaven, 
 
 Or whelmed where arctic winter broods 
 
 O'er Ocean's frozen solitudes, 
 
 So never more to haunt again 
 
 The cities and the homes of men, — 
 
 Yet, were the gods the friends of worth, 
 
 Of justice and of truth, 
 
 The virtuous and the wise on earth 
 
 Should find a second youth. 
 
 Then would true glory shine unfurled, 
 
 A light to guide and guard the world.
 
 192 Appendix to Euripides. 
 
 If, not in vain with time at strife, 
 The good twice ran the race of hfe, 
 While vice, to one brief course confined, 
 Should wake no more to curse mankind. 
 Experience then might rightly trace 
 The lines that part the good and base, 
 As sailors read the stars of night. 
 Where shoreless billows murmuring roll, 
 And guide by their unerring light 
 The vessel to its distant goal. 
 But, since no signs from Jove declare 
 That earthly virtue claims his care ; 
 Since folly, vice and falsehood prove 
 As many marks of heavenly love ; 
 The life of man in darkness flies ; 
 The thirst of truth and wisdom dies ; 
 And love and beauty bow the knee 
 To gold's supreme divinity. 
 
 Thomas Love Peacock.
 
 A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TRANSLATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GREEK DRAMATISTS INTO ENGLISH VERSE 
 
 N
 
 1
 
 ^ESCHYLUS. 
 
 The Tragedies of zEichj'lus ; translated by Roliert Potter. 
 Norwich, 1777. 4". 
 
 The date in the dedication of the ^^ Notes " is July 1 1, 1778. 
 
 A second edition, "corrected,''' 'iVas published in London in 
 1779, 8", and other editions folloiued in 1808, 1809, 1819, and 
 1833- 
 
 The Lyrical Dramas of .-Eschylus from the Greek ; translated 
 into English verse by J. S. Blackie. 
 London, 1 850. 8". 
 
 The Tragedies of .^Eschylos. A new translation, with a bio- 
 graphical essay, and an appendix of rhymed choral odes by E. 
 11. Plumptre. 2 vols. 
 London, 1868. 8". 
 
 A " second edition, revised'' was published in 1873. 
 
 The Dramas of zEschylus ; translated by A. Swanwick ; with 
 illustrations from Flaxman's designs. 
 London, 1873. fol. 
 
 A third edition was published in 1 88 1 (8") as part of Bohn's 
 Classical Library. 
 
 The Agamemnon, Choephori, and Eumenides of .^Eschylus ; 
 translated into English verse by Anna Swanwick. 
 London, 1865. 8'\ 
 
 An instalment of the complete edition published in 1873. 
 
 The Orestea of ^schylus ; translated into English verse by 
 C. N. Dalton, B.A. 
 London, 1868. 8". 
 
 The House of Atreus : being the Agamemnon, Libation- 
 Bearers, and Furies of ^schylus ; translated into English verse 
 by E. D. A. Morshead. 
 London, 1881. 8"^. 
 
 A second edition was published in 1S89. 
 
 N 2
 
 196 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 The Agamemnon of ^schylus ; translated by Hugh Stuart 
 Boyd. 
 London, 1823. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of iEschylus ; translated by John Symmons. 
 London, 1824. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of .^schylus ; translated from the Greek ; 
 illustrated by a dissertation on Grecian tragedy, &c., by J. S. 
 Harford. 
 London, 1S31. 8". 
 
 Agamemnon : a tragedy from the Greek of yEschylus ; trans- 
 lated into English verse by Thomas Medwin. 
 London, 1832. 8». 
 
 The Prometheus and Agamemnon ; translated from the Greek. 
 Part of The Death of Demosthenes, and other poems ; by George 
 Croker Fox. 
 London, 1839. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of ^schylus ; translated literally and rhyth- 
 mically by V\". Sewell ; with a preface and notes. 
 London, 1846. 12". 
 
 The Agamemnon ; the Greek text with a translation into 
 English verse, and notes critical and explanatory ; by John 
 Conington, B.A. 
 London, 1848. 8". 
 
 Agamemnon the King ; a tragedy, from the Greek of Jischy- 
 lus, by William Blew. 
 London, 1855. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of .^schylus and the Bacchanals of Euri- 
 pides ; with passages from the lyric and later poets of Greece, 
 translated by Henry Hart Milman. 
 London, Edinburgh [printed], 1865. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of .'Eschylus ; revised and translated by J. 
 F. Davies. Gr. and Eng. 
 London, Utrecht l^iu\\.^A\,\%bZ. 8".
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 197 
 
 Agamemnon ; a tragedy, taken from ^schylus. [By PMward 
 Fitzgerald. ] 
 London, 1S76. 4". 
 
 The Agamemnon of ^schylus ; translated into English verse 
 by E. D. A. Morshead. 
 London, 1877. 8". 
 
 An instalment of the " House of Atreiis," published in 1881. 
 
 The Agamemnon of .^schylus ; transcribed by Robert 
 Browning. 
 London, 1877. 8". 
 
 The Agamemnon of ^^schylus ; with a metrical translation 
 and notes critical and illustrative, by B. H. Kennedy. Gr. and 
 Eng. 
 Cambridge, 1878. 8". 
 
 A second edition 7vas published at Cambridge in 1882. 
 
 Agamemnon ; translated from /Eschylus by the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. • 
 
 London, 1879. 8''. 
 
 Scenes from the Agamemnon ; translated into English verse 
 by Lewis Campbell, M.A. ; selected and arranged for the modern 
 stage by F. Jenkin. 
 Edinburgh, 1880. 8». 
 
 An iftstalment of a complete translation of Eschylus now in 
 course of publication. 
 
 .(Eschylus' Eumenides ; the Greek text, with English notes 
 critical and explanatory ; an English verse translation ; and an 
 introduction, containing an analysis of the dissertations of C. O. 
 Mliller ; by Bernard Drake. Gr. and Eng. 
 Cambridge, 1853. 8". 
 
 The Eumenides of /Eschylus ; translated into English verse 
 by the Rev. G. C. Swayne. 
 Edinburgh and London, 1855. 8". 
 
 The Eumenides of .Eschylus ; a critical edition, with metrical 
 English translation, by J. F. Davies. 
 Dublin, 18S5. 8".
 
 198 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 The Eumenides of ^schylus, as arranged for performance at 
 Cambridge ; the text in Greek and English ; the translation by 
 A. W. Verrall ; the incidental music by C. V. Stanford. 
 2 parts. 
 Cambridge, 1885, 8". 
 
 The Persians ; a popular version from the Greek of .Eschylus, 
 by John Staunton ; with photogiaphs of Ilaxman's designs. 
 Warwick, 1873. 4"- 
 
 The Persians of ^schylus ; translated into English verse by 
 the Rev. William Gurney, M.A. 
 Cambridge, 1873. 8". 
 
 Prometheus Bound ; a tragedy from the Greek, by T. Medwin. 
 Sienna, 1827. 8". 
 
 Another edition was published at London in 1832. 
 
 Prometheus Bound ; translated from the Greek of /Esch} lus ; 
 and miscellaneous poems by the translator, author of an " Essay 
 on Mind" (Elizabeth B. Barrett, afterwards Mrs. Browning). 
 London, 1833. 12". 
 
 The Prometheus of /Eschylus and the Electra of Sophocles 
 translated ; with notes intended to illustrate the typical character 
 of the former ; also a few original poems ; by George Croker 
 Fox. , 
 London, 1835. 8". 
 
 This translation of the Prometheus 7uas reprinted with the 
 author's '■''Death of Demosthenes''^ in 1839. 
 
 The Prometheus Chained ; translated into English verse by 
 G. C. Swayne. 
 Oxford [Bristol], 1846. 8". 
 
 Prometheus Chained ; translated into English verse by Charles 
 Cavendish Clifford. 
 Oxford, 1852. 8». 
 
 The Prometheus Bound of /Eschylus ; literally translated in- 
 to English verse by Augusta Webster ; edited by Thomas 
 Webster, M.A. 
 London and Cambridge, 1866. 8".
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 199 
 
 The Prometheus Bound of ^^ischyhis ; translated in the origi- 
 nal metres by C. B. Cayley, B.A. 
 London, 1867. 8". 
 
 Prometheus Vinctus ; translated from the Greek of .^schylus 
 into English verse by Ernest Lang. 
 London, 1870. 8". 
 
 Prometheus Bound (from the Greek of ^schylus), and 
 original poems, by John Dunning Cooper, London, [1890] 8*. 
 
 The Septem Contra Thebas, the most popular of the extant 
 tragedies of ^-Eschylus, rendered into English verse by the Rev. 
 William Gurney, M.A. 
 Cambridge, 1878. 8". 
 
 The Suppliant Maidens of .-Eschylus ; translated into English 
 verse by E. D. Anderson Morshead, M.A. 
 London, 1883. 8". 
 
 SOPHOCLES. 
 
 The Tragedies of Sophocles, from the Greek ; by the Rev 
 Thomas Francklin. 2 vols. 
 London, 1 757-8. 4°. 
 
 Another edition appeared in 1766, with the addition of a dis- 
 sertation on Greek tragedy by the translator. This 7aas reprinted 
 in 1809, but in 1832 the edition of ij^f) was reprinted in l6^ In 
 1886 Professor Alorley published Francklin' s translation in the 
 " Universal Library." Selections from Francklin' s version were 
 also included in vol. 50 of Sanfords Works of the British Poets, 
 and in 1806 an acting edition of his QLdipus Tyrannus was 
 printed at Reading on the occasion of the performance of the play 
 at Reading School. 
 
 The Tragedies of Sophocles ; translated [by R. Potter]. 
 London, 1788. 4". 
 
 A new edition, with the author's }iame, was published in 
 1808. 8". 
 
 The Tragedies of Sophocles ; translated into English verse by 
 the Rev. Thomas Dale. 2 vols, 
 London, 1824. 8'\
 
 200 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 The Tragedies of Sophocles ; a new translation, with a bio- 
 graphical essay by E. H. Plumptre, M.A. 2 vols. 
 London, 1865. 8". 
 
 A ^'' second edition, revised," was published in 1867. 
 
 Sophocles. The seven plays in English verse, by Lewis 
 Campbell, LL.D. 
 London, 1883. 8". 
 
 As s/wicn below, six of the seven' plays here collected had 
 previously been published in three volumes between 1873 and 1876. 
 
 Sophocles ; translated into English verse by Robert Whitelaw. 
 London, 1883. 8". 
 
 The Dramas of Sophocles ; rendered in English verse, dra- 
 matic and lyric, by Sir George Young. 
 Cambridge, 18S8. 8". 
 
 Three Plays of Sophocles — Antigone; Electra ; Deianira, or 
 the Death of Hercules ; translated into English verse by Lewis 
 Campbell. 
 Edinburgh, 1873. 8". 
 
 The King Oidipus and Philoctetes of Sophocles ; translated 
 into English verse by Lewis Campbell. 
 Edinburgli, 1874. 8". 
 
 The Downfall and Death of King Qildipus. A drama in two 
 parts. Chiefly taken from the CEdipus Tyrannus and Coloneus 
 of Sophocles. [By Edward Fitzgerald.] 
 London, 1880. 4". 
 
 Ajax of Sophocles ; translated from the Greek, with notes. 
 [By L. Theobald.] 
 London, 17 14. 12". 
 
 Sophocles' Ajax. The Death and Burial of Aias. A tragedy ; 
 translated into English verse by Lewis Campbell. 
 Edinburgh ayid London, 1876. 8". 
 
 An Imitative Version of Sophocles' Tragedy, Antigone ; with 
 its melodramatic dialogue and choruses, as written and adapted 
 to the music of Dr. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, by W. Bar- 
 tholomew. 
 London, 1845. S". 
 
 Another edition zuas published in the same year.
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 20 1 
 
 So90K/\eouq ' AvTirovH. The Antigone of Sophocles in Greek 
 and English ; with an introduction and notes ; by J. W. 
 Donaldson. 
 London, 1848. S^. 
 
 The Eiectra of Sophocles ; presented to her highnesse the 
 Lady Elizabeth ; with an epilogue shewing the parallel in two 
 points, the Return and the Restauration ; by C. W. [Christopher 
 Wase.] 2 parts. 
 The Hague, 1649. 8". 
 
 Eiectra, a tragedy : translated from Sophocles, with notes, by 
 Mr. Theobald. 
 London, 1 714. 12". 
 
 The Eiectra of Sophocles [translated by W. Drennan] ; Belfast, 
 1817. 8«. 
 
 Sophocles. Eiectra ; translated by G. C. Fox. See .-EsCHY- 
 LUS. The Prometheus of ^^ischylus, &=(r. 1835. 8". 
 
 An abridged English version of Sophocles' CEdipus at Colonos ; 
 •written and adapted by William Bartholomew to the music of 
 F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. 
 London, 1848. 8". 
 
 CEdipus, King of Thebes ; a tragedy [in five acts] ; translated 
 from Sophocles, with notes, by Mr. Theobald. 
 London, 1715. 12". 
 
 [A free translation of the Qidipus Tyrannus ; by T. IMaurice.] 
 London, ITJ^. 4'^. 
 
 Pari of the aitthor's " Poems and Misceltaneoits Pieces. ^^ The 
 translation was again published in 18 13 in a volume entitled 
 " Westminster Abbey, and other poems, ^^ and again in 1822. 
 
 CEdipus, King of Thebes ; translated by Sir Francis Hastings 
 Doyle. 
 London, 1 849. 16". 
 
 Qidipus the King ; translated from the Greek of Sophocles 
 into English verse by E. D. A. Morshead. 
 London, 1SS5. 8".
 
 202 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 CEdipus the King. The dialogue metrically rendered by E. 
 Conybeare . . . with the songs of the chorus as written for the 
 music of Dr. Stanford by A. W. Verrall. 
 London, 1887. 8». 
 
 The Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, as performed at Cam- 
 bridge, Nov. 22-26, 1887 : with a translation in prose by R. C. 
 Jebb, and a translation of the songs of the chorus ... by A. 
 W. Verrall. 
 Cambridge, 1887. 8". ^ — 
 
 The G^dipus Tyrannus of Sophocles ; rendered in English 
 verse, dramatic and lyric, by Sir George Young. 
 Cambridge, 1887. 8". 
 
 An instalment of the complete edition published in 1888. 
 
 EURIPIDES. 
 
 The Nineteen Tragedies and Fragments of Euripides ; trans- 
 lated l)y M. Wodhull. 4 vols. 
 London, 1782. 8". 
 
 A iit'-iu edition in three volumes was published in 1809 ; the 
 Hippolytus and Iphigencia alone were published in Dublin in 
 1786. 12". 
 
 The Tragedies of Euripides, translated [by R. Potter]. 2 vols. 
 J. Dodsley : London, 1781-83. 4". 
 
 Editions in two volumes ^oere published in 1808 and 1 8 14, and 
 oJie in three in 1832. The A Ices t is and the Hecuba were pub- 
 lished separately at Reading in 1809 and 1827, in connection 
 with performances at Reading School, Selections from Patterns 
 translation were also printed in San ford's " Works of the British 
 Poets." 
 
 Select Tragedies of Euripides ; translated from the original 
 Greek [by J. Bannister]. 
 London, 1780. 8». 
 
 The Phanissae, Lphigeneia in Aulis, Troades and Orestes.
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 203 
 
 Translations from Euripides; by J. Cartwright, A.M. 
 London, [1868]. 8». 
 
 Medea, Jphigeneia in Aiilis, Iphigeneia in Taiiris. 
 
 The Medea, Alcestis, and Hippolytus of Euripides ; translated 
 into blank verse, with the choruses in lyric and other metres, 
 by the Rev. Henry Williams. 
 London, 187 1. 8". 
 
 The Bacchanals and other plays by Euripides : the Bacchanals 
 translated by Henry Hart Milman ; the other plays translated 
 by M. Wodhull, with an introduction by Henry Morley. 
 London, \'i&'i. 8". Part of Morley'' s Universal Library. 
 
 The Alcestis ; translated into English verse, according to the 
 text of Monk, by the Rev. James Banks. 
 London, 1849. 8". 
 
 The Alcestis of Euripides ; translated into English verse by 
 W. Fielding Nevins, B.A. 
 London, 1870. 8". 
 
 Balaustion's Adventure ; including a transcript from Euripides 
 {i.e., a translation of the Alcestis]. By Robert Browning. 
 London, 1871. 8". 
 
 The Alcestis of Euripides ; translated from the Greek into 
 English, now for the first time in its original metres, with pre- 
 face, explanatory notes, and stage directions, suggesting how it 
 might have been performed [by H. B. L.]. 
 London, 1884. 8". 
 
 The Bacchanals of Euripides ; translated into English by 
 Mons. Glouton. 
 Brighton, 1845. 8". 
 
 The Bacchanals of Euripides ; translated by Henry Hart 
 Milman. 
 
 See .^SCHYLUS. Agamemnon, &^<r. 1865. 8". 
 
 The Bacchae of Euripides ; translated into English verse ; with 
 a preface by James E. Thoruld Rogers. 
 Oxford, 1872. 8".
 
 204 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 The Cyclops : a satyric drama ; translated into English verse 
 by P. B. Shelley. Performed in the original Greek at Magdalen 
 College School, Oxford, April 28 and 29, 1S82. 
 Oxford, 1882. 8". 
 
 Hecuba ; a tragedy [in five acts, and in verse, translated, with 
 alterations, by Richard West]. 
 London, 1726. 4". 
 
 Hecuba ; translated from the Greek of Euripides ; with anno- 
 tations, chiefly relating to antiquity [in five acts and in verse ; 
 the dedication signed : T. M. — i.e., T. Morrell]. 
 London, 1749. 8". 
 
 Another edition was published in the same year. 
 
 The Trojan Queen's Revenge. [Hecuba, in English verse, by 
 A. H. Beesley.] 
 London, 1875. 8". 
 
 Aristophanes' Apology, including a transcript from Euripides 
 \i.e., from the Hercules Furens], ^'c. ; by Robert Browning. 
 London, 1875. 8**. 
 
 The Crowned Hippolylus of Euripides, together with a selec- 
 tion from the pastoral and lyric poets of Greece ; translated into 
 English verse by Maurice Purcell Fitzgerald. 
 London, 1867. S". 
 
 The Crowned Hippolytus ; translated from Euripides, with 
 new poems, by A. Mary F. Robinson. 
 London, 1881. 8». 
 
 The Ion of Euripides, now first translated into English ; with 
 \ preface and notes by H. B. L. 
 London, 18S9. 8". 
 
 Iphigeneia in Tauris ; a tragedy [in five acts ; translated by 
 G. West]. 
 London, 1749. 8". 
 
 L'art of an edition of the Odes of Pindar. 
 
 The Medea of Euripides ; translated by John R. Lee, M.A. 
 London, 1807. 8".
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 205 
 
 The Medea of Euripides ; literally translated into English 
 verse by Augusta Webster. 
 London, 1S68. 8". 
 
 Jocasta : a Tragedie {i.e., the Phoenissse] ; written in Greke 
 by Euripides ; translated and digested into Acte by G. Gascoygne 
 and F. Kinwelmershe. 
 
 Part of Gascoygne\ Hundredth Sundrie Flowres bounde up in 
 one small Poesie. 
 London I1S72], [i57S]> ^<^- 
 
 ARISTOPHANES. 
 
 The Comedies of Aristophanes, translated into familiar b'ank 
 verse, with notes, preliminary ol^servations on each play, cr-c. , 
 by C. A. Wheelwright. To which is added a dissertation on 
 the old Greek comedy, from the German of Wachsmuth. 
 2 vols. 
 Oxford, 1837. 8". 
 
 The Comedies of Aristophanes ; translated by T. Mitchell. 
 Vols. I, 2. 
 London, 1820-22. 8". 
 
 Contains only the Acharnians, Knights, Clouds, and Wasps. 
 
 The Comedies of Aristophanes ; translated into corresponding 
 English metres by Benjamin Dann Walsh. Vol. i. 
 London, 1837. 8". 
 
 Contains only the Acharnians, the Knights, and the Clouds. 
 
 Eight Comedies of Aristophanes ; translated into rhymed 
 metres by Leonard Hampson Rudd. 
 London, 1867. 8». 
 
 Reprinted, with the Greek, for the performance of the Achar- 
 nians, by Undergraduates of the University of Pennsylvania, in 
 the Academy of Music, in L'hiladelphia, Alay 14 and 15, 1886. 
 Philadelphia, 1S86. 4".
 
 2o6 A Bibliography of Translations of the 
 
 Aristophanes. A metrical version of the Acharnians, the 
 Knights, and the Birds ; in the last of which a vein of peculiar 
 humour and character is for the first time detected and developed ; 
 [by the Right Hon. John Hookham Frere]. 3 parts. 
 London, 1840. 4". 
 
 Printed at Malta in 1839. 
 
 These three plays, together imth Freris version of the Frogs 
 and a fragment of the Peace were reprinted in the collected 
 editions of his xporks in 1872 a7id 1874. //; 1886 Prof. 
 Morley isstted the three plays as a volume of his " Universal 
 Library.^'' In 18S3 Frere' s version of the Birds luas 
 separately reprinted at Cambridge {together with Mr. Swin- 
 btirne's translation of the Parabasis], iJi connection with the per- 
 formance at the TIteatre Royal, 
 
 The Acharnians of Aristophanes ; translated into English verse 
 by Charles James Billson, B.A. 
 
 London, 18S2. 8". 
 
 The Acharnians of Aristophanes ; translated into English 
 verse by R. Y. Tyrrell. 
 Dublin, 1883. 8». 
 
 The Birds of Aristophanes ; translated by the Rev. Henry 
 Francis Cary. With notes. 
 London, 1824. 8". 
 
 The Birds of Aristophanes, in one act. Being an humble 
 attempt to adapt the said "Birds" to this climate, by giving 
 them new names, new feathers, new songs, and new tales ; by 
 J. R. Blanche. 
 London, 1 846. 12", 
 
 The Birds of Aristophanes ; translated into English verse, 
 with introduction, notes, and appendices, by B. H. Kennedy. 
 London, 1874. 8". 
 
 See next entry. 
 
 The Birds of Aristophanes. The Greek text, as performed 
 by members of the University at the Theatre Royal, Cambridge,
 
 Greek Dramatists into English Verse. 207 
 
 November, 1883 ; with the English version of B. H, Kennedy, 
 [With a preface by C. W. — i.e., C. Waldstein.] 
 London, 1883. 8". 
 
 The EcclesiazusDe ; or, Female Parliament ; translated by the 
 Rev. Rowland Smith. 
 Oxford, 1833. 8«. 
 
 The Revolt of the Women ; a free translation of the Lysistrata 
 (acted at Athens, B.C. 411) ; by Benjamin Bickley Rogers. 
 London [1878]. 8''. 
 
 The Clouds of Aristophanes ; [translated by R. Cumberland]. 
 [Lottdoji], 1797. 8". 
 
 'ApiaT09dvouc ElpHVH. The Peace of Aristophanes, acted at 
 Athens at the Great Dionysia, B.C. 421. The Greek text revised ; 
 with a translation into corresponding metres and original notes ; 
 by Benjamin Bickley Rogers. 
 London, [1867]. 4". 
 
 TT\ouTO(p9a\)uia TT\ouTOfauia : a pleasant comedie [in five 
 acts, in prose and verse], entituled, Hey for Honesty, Down 
 with Knavery ; translated out of Aristophanes his Plutus ; by 
 T. Randolph ; augmented by F. J. 
 London, 165 1. 4". 
 
 Reform ; a farce modernised from Aristophanes, and published 
 with annotations by S. Foote, Ja [i.e., F. Wranghani. A 
 satire on Tom Paine.] Gr. and Eng. 
 London, 1792. 8". 
 
 From the Pint us. 
 
 Plutus, or the God of Riches ; a comedy of Aristophanes ; by 
 Edmund F. J. Carrington, Esq., B.A. , O.xon, 
 London, 1825. 8". 
 
 The Plutus of Aristophanes ; translated into English verse by 
 C. P. Gerard. 
 London, 1847. 8*-
 
 2o8 A Bibliography of Translations. 
 
 The Frogs ; a comedy ; translated from the Greek of Aris- 
 tophanes, by C. Dunster, A.M. 
 Oxford, \\%^ol\ \\ 
 
 The Frogs of Aristophanes ; translated by Charles Cavendish 
 Clifford, B.C.L. 
 Oxford, 1848. 8». 
 
 The Wasps ; the Greek text revised, with a translation into 
 corresponding metres and original notes, by Benjamin Bickley 
 Rogers, M.A. 
 London, 1875. 4".
 
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