Aeschylus

“ Yea, a prey to the dogs and the birds of the mount will I give me to be,—
From wailing and curse and pollution it is death, only death, sets me free:
Let death come upon me before to the ravisher's bed I am thrust;
What champion, what saviour but death can I find, or what refuge from lust?
I will utter my shriek of entreaty, a prayer that shrills up to the sky,
That calleth the gods to compassion, a tuneful, a pitiful cry,
That is loud to invoke the releaser. O father, look down on the fight;
Look down in thy wrath on the wronger, with eyes that are eager for right. ”

“ High thanks, my children, unto Argos con,
And to this folk, as to Olympian gods,
Give offerings meet of sacrifice and wine;
For saviours are they in good sooth to you.
From me they heard, and bitter was their wrath,
How those your kinsmen strove to work you wrong,
And how of us were thwarted: then to me
This company of spearmen did they grant,
That honoured I might walk, nor unaware
Die by some secret thrust and on this land
Bring down the curse of death, that dieth not.
Such boons they gave me: it behoves me pay
A deeper reverence from a soul sincere. ”

“ Each altar of your city's gods that stands
Before the fane, each dedicated shrine;
And that in safety through the city's ways
I may pass onwards: all unlike to yours
The outward semblance that I wear—the race
That Nilus rears is all dissimilar
To that of Inachus. Keep watch and ward
Lest heedlessness bring death: full oft, I ween,
Friend hath slain friend, not knowing whom he slew.
The King of Argos
Go at his side, attendants,—he saith well. ”

“ My bark goes forth upon a sea of troubles
Unfathomed, ill to traverse, harbourless.
For if my deed shall match not your demand,
Dire, beyond shot of speech, shall be the bane
Your death's pollution leaves unto this land.
Yet if against your kin, Aegyptus' race,
Before our gates I front the doom of war,
Will not the city's loss be sore? Shall men
For women's sake incarnadine the ground?
But yet the wrath of Zeus, the suppliants' lord,
I needs must fear: most awful unto man
The terror of his anger. ”

“ With men or gods a mighty strife we strive
Perforce, and either hap in grief concludes.
For, if a house be sacked, new wealth for old
Not hard it is to win—if Zeus the lord
Of treasure favour—more than quits the loss,
Enough to pile the store of wealth full high;
Or if a tongue shoot forth untimely speech,
Bitter and strong to goad a man to wrath,
Soft words there be to soothe that wrath away:
But what device shall make the war of kin
Bloodless? that woe, the blood of many beasts,
And victims manifold to many gods,
Alone can cure. ”

“ Artemis, maiden most pure, look on us with grace and with pity—
Save us from forced embraces: such love hath no crown but a pain.
Semi-Chorus
Yet not in scorn we chant, but in honour of Aphrodite;
She truly and Hera alone have power with Zeus and control.
Holy the deeds of her rite, her craft is secret and mighty,
And high is her honour on earth, and subtle her sway of the soul. ”

“ The good ship swings at anchor—all is well.
Longest of all, the task to come aland
Where haven there is none, when sunset fades
In night. To pilot wise, the adage saith,
Night is a day of wakefulness and pain.
Therefore no force of weaponed men, as yet,
Scatheless can come ashore, before the bark
Lie at her anchorage securely moored.
Bethink thee therefore, nor in panic leave
The shrine of gods whose succour thou hast won.
I go for aid—men shall not blame me long,
Old, but with youth at heart and on my tongue. ”

“ Chorus
⁠Arouse we now to chant our prayer
⁠For fair return of service fair
⁠And Argos' kindly will.
⁠Zeus, lord of guestright, look upon
⁠The grace our stranger lips have won.
⁠In right and truth, as they begun,
⁠Guide them, with favouring hand, until
⁠Thou dost their blameless wish fulfil!
⁠Now may the Zeus-born gods on high
⁠Hear us pour forth
⁠A votive prayer for Argos' clan!—
⁠Never may this Pelasgian earth,
⁠Amid the fire-wrack, shrill the dismal cry
⁠On Ares, ravening lord of fight,
⁠Who in an alien harvest mows down man! ”

“ And come he peaceful or in ravening wrath
Spurred on his path, 'twere best, in any case,
Damsels, to cling unto this altar-mound
Made sacred to their gods of festival,—
A shrine is stronger than a tower to save,
A shield that none may cleave. Step swift thereto,
And in your left hands hold with reverence
The white-crowned wands of suppliance, the sign
Beloved of Zeus, compassion's lord, and speak
To those that question you, words meek and low
And piteous, as beseems your stranger state,
Clearly avowing of this flight of yours
The bloodless cause ”

“ With guile they pursue me, with counsel malign,
⁠And unholy their soul;
And as ravens they seize me, unheeding the shrine!
Danaus
Fair will befall us, children, in this chance,
If thus in wrath they wrong the gods and you.
Chorus
⁠Alas, nor tridents nor the sanctity
⁠Of shrines will drive them, O my sire, from us!
Unholy and daring and cursed is their ire,
⁠Nor own they control
Of the gods, but like jackals they glut their desire!
Danaus
Ay, but Come wolf, flee jackal, saith the saw ”

“ Of loathly wedlock, would on Argos' shore
Set forth a race of kindred lineage?
The King of Argos
What crave ye of these gods of festival,
Holding up newly-plucked white-tufted boughs?
Chorus
Ne'er to be slaves unto Aegyptus' race.
The King of Argos
Doth your own hate, or doth the law forbid?
Chorus
Not as our lords, but as unloved, we chide them.
The King of Argos
'Tis from such wedlock that advancement comes.
Chorus
How easy is it, from the weak to turn! ”

“ The King of Argos
Hard is the cause—make me not judge thereof.
Already I have vowed it, to do nought
Save after counsel with my people ta'en,
King though I be; that ne'er in after time,
If ill fate chance, my people then may say—
In aid of strangers thou the state hast slain.
Chorus
Zeus, lord of kinship, rules at will
⁠The swaying balance, and surveys
Evil and good; to men of ill
⁠Gives evil, and to good men praise. ”

“ The while she guards the yet unripened growth.
On the fair richness of a maiden's bloom
Each passer looks, o'ercome with strong desire,
With eyes that waft the wistful dart of love.
Then be not such our hap, whose livelong toil
Did make our pinnace plough the mighty main:
Nor bring we shame upon ourselves, and joy
Unto my foes. Behold, a twofold home—
One of the king's and one the people's gift—
Unbought, 'tis yours to hold,—a gracious boon.
Go—but remember ye your sire's behest,
And hold your life less dear than chastity.
Chorus
The gods above grant that all else be well. ”

“ Ere counsel with the commonwealth be held.
Chorus
Nay, but the source of sway, the city's self, art thou,
⁠A power unjudged! thine, only thine,
⁠To rule the right of hearth and shrine!
Before thy throne and sceptre all men bow!
Thou, in all causes lord, beware the curse divine!
The King of Argos
May that curse fall upon mine enemies! ”

“ The spirit of a day that never dies.
ARGUMENT
Io, the daughter of Inachus, King of Argos, was beloved of Zeus. But Hera was jealous of that love, and by her ill will was Io given over to frenzy, and her body took the semblance of a heifer: and Argus, a many-eyed herdsman, was set by Hera to watch Io whithersoever she strayed. Yet, in despite of Argus, did Zeus draw nigh unto her in the shape of a bull. And by the will of Zeus and the craft of Hermes was Argus slain. ”

“ I sped across the waves, from Egypt's land of cloud. [1]
⁠Gods of the ancient cradle of my race,
⁠Hear me, just gods! With righteous grace
⁠On me, on me look down!
⁠Grant not to youth its heart's unchaste desire,
⁠But, swiftly spurning lust's unholy fire,
⁠Bless only love and willing wedlock's crown!
⁠The war-worn fliers from the battle's wrack
⁠Find refuge at the hallowed altar-side,
⁠The sanctuary divine,—
⁠Ye gods! such refuge unto me provide—
⁠Such sanctuary be mine! ”

“ Spoken by me your father, add this word,
That, tried by time, our unknown company
Be held for honest: over-swift are tongues
To slander strangers, over-light is speech
To bring pollution on a stranger's name. ”

“ Abiding in his wrath, the suppliants' lord
Doth smite, unmoved by cries, unbent by prayerful word.
The King of Argos
But if Aegyptus' children grasp you here,
Claiming, their country's right, to hold you theirs
As next of kin, who dares to counter this?
Plead ye your country's laws, if plead ye may,
That upon you they lay no lawful hand.
Chorus
Let me not fall, O nevermore,
⁠A prey into the young men's hand ”

“ Then Io was driven over far lands and seas by her madness, and came at length to the land of Egypt. There was she restored to herself by a touch of the hand of Zeus, and bare a child called Epaphus. And from Epaphus sprang Libya, and from Libya, Belus; and from Belus, Aegyptus and Danaus. And the sons of Aegyptus willed to take the daughters of Danaus in marriage. But the maidens held such wedlock in horror, and fled with their father over the sea to Argos; and the king and citizens of Argos gave them shelter and protection from their pursuers.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Danaus. ”