Chapter XI: Part 11

ANTISTROPHE II.
Woe's me! by the wild waves driven,
By the mute sea-monsters riven,[n19]
The untainted ocean's creatures
Battening on their traceless features!
Heirless homes are lorn and lonely,
Childless parents weep and wail,
Old men weep; with weeping only
They receive the woeful tale.

STROPHE III.
Ah me! even now while we are mourning
Some rebel hearts belike are spurning
The Persian rule; some serf refuses
The gold due to his master's uses.
And some are slow with reverence low
To kiss the ground and adore,
For the power that long was fresh and strong
Is found no more.

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ANTISTROPHE III.
The tongues of men, free from wise reining,
Will now break forth with loud complaining;
Unmuzzled now, unyoked, the rabble
Will blaze abroad licentious babble.
For the blood-drenched soil of the sea-swept isle
Its prey restoreth never.
And the thing that hath been henceforth shall be seen
No more for ever.

[_Enter_ ATOSSA.

ATOSSA. Good friends, whoso hath knowledge of mishap, Knows this, that men, when swelling ills surge o'er them, Brood o'er the harm till all things catch the hue Of apprehension; but, when Fortune's stream Runs smooth, the same, with confidence elate, Hope the boon god will blow fair breezes ever. Thus to my soul all things are full of fear, The adverse gods from all sides strike my eye, And in my ear, with ominous-ringing peal, Fate prophesies. Such terror scares my wits. No royal car to-day, no queenly pomp Is mine; the broidered stole would ill become My present mission, bringing as thou see'st, These simple offerings to appease the Shades; From the chaste cow, this white and healthful milk, This clearest juice, by the flower-working bee Distilled, this pure wave from the virgin spring, This draught of joyaunce from the unmingled grape, Of a wild mother born; this fragrant fruit Of the pale green olive, ever leafy-fair,[n20] And these wreathed flowers, of all-producing Earth Fair children. But, my dear lov'd friends, I pray you, With pious supplication, now invoke, The god Darius[n21] while on the earth I pour These pure libations to the honour'd dead.

CHORUS.
O queen, much-revered of the Persian nation,
To the chambers below pour thou the libation,
While we shall uplift the holy hymn,
That the gods who reign in the regions dim,
May graciously hear when we pray.
O holy powers that darkly sway
In the subterranean night,
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O Earth, and Hermes, and thou who art king
Of the Shades that float on bodiless wing,
Send, O send him back to the light!
For, if remedy be to our burden of woes,
He surely knows.

CHORAL HYMN.
STROPHE I.
And dost thou hear me, blessed Shade, imploring
Thy aid divine, and freely pouring
Of plaintive grief
The various flow?
I will cry out, till Persia's godlike chief
Shall hear below.

ANTISTROPHE I.
O Earth, and ye that rule the shadowy homes,
Send from your sunless domes
The mighty god
Of Susan birth,
Than whom no greater yet was pressed by the sod
Of Persian earth.

STROPHE II.
O dear-loved man! dear tomb! and dearer dust
That in thee lies!
O Aïdóneus, thy charge release,[n22]
O stern Aïdóneus, and, in peace,
Let king Darius rise!

ANTISTROPHE II.
He was a king no myriads vast he lost
In wars inglorious.
Persia, a counsellor was he,
A counsellor of god to thee,
He with his hosts victorious.

STROPHE III.
Come, dread lord![n23] Appear! Appear!
O'er the sepulchre's topmost tier;
The disc of thy regal tiara showing,[n24]
With thy sandals saffron-glowing,
Come, good father Darius, come!

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ANTISTROPHE III.
Fresh and unstaunched woes to hear,
Lord of a mighty lord appear!
For the clouds of Stygian night o'ercome us,
And all our youth are perished from us,
Come, good father Darius, come!

EPODE.
O woe! and woe! and yet again
Woe, and misery, and pain!
Why should'st thou die, and leave the land
Thou master of the mighty hand?
Why should thy son with foolish venture
Shake thy sure Empire to its centre?[n25]
And why must we deplore
The countless triremes on the sea-swept shore
Triremes no more?[n26]

[_The Shade of_ DARIUS _rises from the Tomb._

DARIUS. O faithfullest of my faithful friends, compeers Of my fair youth, elders of Persia, say With what sore labour labours now the state? Pierced is the Earth, and rent with sounds of woe! And I my spouse beholding near the tomb Am troubled, and her offerings I receive Propitious. Ye with her this cry have raised Of shrill lament to bring the dead from Hades, No easy climb; the gods beneath the ground Are readier to receive than to dismiss;[f31] But I was lord above them. I am come To meet your questioning. Ask, while yet the time Chides not my stay. What ill weighs Persia down?

STROPHE
CHORUS.
I cannot speak before thee;
I tremble to behold thee;
The ancient awe subdues me.

DARIUS. Not to hold a long discourse, but swift to grant a short reply, I have left the homes of Hades, by your waitings deeply moved. What thou hast to ask me, therefore ask, and throw all fear aside.

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ANTISTROPHE.
CHORUS.
I tremble to obey thee.
Such sorrows to unfold thee,
My powerless lips refuse me.

DARIUS. Since the ancient reverence holds thee, and enchains thy mind, to thee I will speak, the aged partner of my bed, my high-born spouse. Cease thy weepings and thy waitings; tell me what mischance hath hapt. 'Tis most human that mischances come to mortal man, not few Woes by seas, not few by land, if the Fates prolong his span.

ATOSSA. O all men in bliss surpassing while thine eyes beheld the day, Of all Persians envied, living like a god on earth, no less Happy wert thou in thy dying, ere thou didst behold the depth Of this present woe, Darius. Thou, in short phrase shalt hear all. Persia's strength is gone: the army lost: all ruined. I have said.

DARIUS. How? Did pestilence smite the city, or did foul sedition rise?

ATOSSA. Neither. Near far Athens routed was the Persian host.

DARIUS. Who marched? Which of my children marched the host to Athens?

ATOSSA. Thy impetuous son Xerxes. Xerxes of her children drained wide Asia's plains.

DARIUS. On foot, Or with triremes did he risk this foolish venture?

ATOSSA. With two fronts, One by sea, by land the other.

DARIUS.
But so vast an army how?

ATOSSA. With rare bonds of wood and iron, Helle's streaming frith they crossed.

DARIUS. Wood and iron! Could these fetter billowy Bosphorus in his flow?

ATOSSA. So it was. Some god had lent him wit to plan his own perdition.

DARIUS. Alas! a mighty god full surely robbed him of his sober mind.

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ATOSSA. And the fruit of his great folly we behold in matchless woes.

DARIUS. I have heard your wailings: tell me more exact the dismal chance.

ATOSSA. First the whole sea host being ruined brought like ruin on the foot.

DARIUS. By the hostile spear of Hellas they have perished one and all?

ATOSSA. Ay. The citadel of Susa, emptied of her children, moans.

DARIUS. Alas! the faithful army!

ATOSSA.
All the flower of Bactria's youth are slain.

DARIUS. Woe, my hapless son! What myriads of our faithful friends he ruined!

ATOSSA. Xerxes, stripped of all his glory, with a straggling few they say--

DARIUS. What of him? Speak! Speak! I pray thee; is there safety, is there hope?

ATOSSA. Fainly comes, with life scarce rescued, to the bridge that links the lands.

DARIUS. And has crossed to Asia?

ATOSSA.
Even so, most surely, ran the news.

DARIUS. Ah! on wings how swift the issue of the ancient doom hath sped! Thee, my son, great Jove hath smitten. Long-drawn years I hoped would roll, Ere fulfilment of the dread prophetic burden should be known. But when man to run is eager, swift is the god to add a spur.[n27] Opened flows a fount of sorrow to ourselves and to our friends. This my son knew not: he acted with green youth's presumptuous daring, Weening Helle's sacred current, Bosphorus' flood divine to bind Like a slave with hammered fetters, damming its unconquered tide, Forcing passage against Nature for a host unwisely great. Being mortal with immortals, with Poseidon's power he dared To contend fool-hardy. Did not strong distemper hold the soul {323} Of my hapless son? The riches stored by me with mickle care Now, I fear, will be the booty of the swiftest-seizing hand.

ATOSSA. Converse with the sons of folly taught thy eager son to err,[n28] Thou wert great they said, and mighty, winning riches with thy spear, He, unmanly, chamber-fighting, adding nothing to thy store. With these taunts the ears assailing of thy warlike son, bad men Planned at length the march to Hellas--planned his ruin and our woe.

DARIUS. And, doing this, my son hath done a deed Whose heavy memory shall not die. For never Fell such mischance on Susa's halls, since when Jove gave his honor that one sceptre sways Sheep-pasturing Asia. First the Mede was King Of the vast host of people.[n29] Him his son Succeeded, ending well things well begun; For wisdom still was rudder to his valour. Cyrus, the third from him, a prosperous man, Brought peace to all his friends. The Lydian people, The Phrygians, the Ionians, he subdued: With him no god was wroth; for he was wise. The fourth was Cyrus' son: he was a leader Of mighty hosts. Him, the fifth, Mardus followed, A blot to Persia, and the ancestral throne; Whom in the palace slew Artaphrenes, Sworn, with a chosen band of faithful friends, To give him secret riddance. Maraphis next, And seventh Artaphrenes: myself Then won the lot I coveted. I marched My hosts to many wars, but never brought Mishap like this on Susa. My son, Xerxes, Being young hath young conceits; and takes no note Of my advisement. Ye, who were my friends, And fellows in the government, can witness, We suffered loss, but we preserved the state.

CHORUS. Liege lord Darius, to what issue tend Thy words? With greedy ears we wait to hear How Persia henceforth may her strength repair.

DARIUS. Learn from your loss, and never march your armies Again to Hellas, were they twice as strong. Not man alone, the land fights for the foe.

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CHORUS. How mean'st thou this? how fights the land for them?

DARIUS. Our mighty multitudes their barren coast Kills by sheer famine.

CHORUS.
But with a moderate host?

DARIUS. A moderate host remains; but, of that few, Few shall see Persian land.

CHORUS. How? Shall the army Not all from Europe cross by Helle's frith?

DARIUS. Few out of many; if the prophecies, That are in part fulfilled by what we see, (And the gods lie not) speak the future true. It is an empty hope that bids him leave A select force behind him: they remain, Where with fat streams Asopus feeds the plain, Themselves to feed it fatter: in Bœotia Much woe awaits them justly, the fair price Of their own godless pride, that did not fear When first they entered Greece, to rob the altars Of the eternal gods, to fire their temples, Uproot the old foundations of their shrines, And from their basements in commingled wreck Dash down the images. Much harm they worked, And much shall suffer. From no shallow bed Their woes shall flow, but like a spring gush forth, Still fresh enforced. With such gore-streaming death The Dorian spear shall daub Plataea's soil; And the piled dead to generations three Speak this mute wisdom to the thoughtful eye-- PROUD THOUGHTS WERE NEVER MADE FOR MORTAL MAN; A haughty spirit[f32] blossoming bears a crop Of woe, and reaps a harvest of despair. Look on these things, pride's just avengement; think On Athens and on Hellas; fear to slight The present bounty of the gods, lest they Rob you of much, while greed still gapes for more. Jove is chastiser of high-vaunting thoughts, And heavily falls his judgment on the proud; Therefore, my foolish son, when he shall come, With friendly warnings teach, that he may cease From rash imaginings that offend the gods. And thou, his aged mother, go within, {325} And bring a seemly robe with thee, to meet Thy son withal: for thou shalt see him soon, His broidered vestments torn in many a shred, Griefs blazonry. Thou only with kind words Canst soothe his sorrow, deaf to all beside. But now I go hence to the gloom below. Ye aged friends, farewell. Though ills surround, Yet give your souls to joyaunce, while ye may, For riches profit nothing to the dead.

[_The Shade of_ DARIUS _descends._

CHORUS. O many woes, both present and to come, On the barbaric race I weep to hear!

ATOSSA. O god, how many sorrows hast thou sent To weigh me down: but this doth gnaw my heart, That I should live to see my kingly son Come in griefs tattered weeds to Susa's halls; But I will go and bring a seemly robe To meet him, if I may. I will not leave My dear-loved son unsolaced in his woe. [_Exit into the palace._

CHORAL HYMN.
STROPHE I.
O glorious and great was the Persian land!
To the cities of Susa that owned his command
How blest was the day!
Defeat came not nigh us when good old Darius
With invincible, godlike, victorious hand
Held fortunate sway.

ANTISTROPHE I.
Sure-fenced were his cities with law, and no fear
The Persian knew when his armies were near;
They came from the fight,
Not weary and worn, and of glory shorn,
But trophied with spoils, and with costliest gear
All proudly bedight.

STROPHE II.
What cities of splendour
To him did surrender,
Though he crossed not the border that Halys prescribes
To the Median tribes!
From Susa far
Thrace feared his war,
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And the islanded cities of Strymon the river
Cowered at the clang of his sounding quiver.

ANTISTROPHE II.
And cities of power,
Girt with wall and with tower,
Far inland away from the frith and the bay,
Rejoiced in his sway;
The proud roofs that gleam
O'er Helle's broad stream,
That fringe Propontis' bosomed shores,
And where the mouth of hoarse Pontus roars.

STROPHE III.
And the sea-swept isles that like sentinels stand
Breasting the ports of the Asian land,
Lesbos and Chios, with bright wine glowing,
And Samos, where groves of green olive are growing,
Myconos, Paros, and Naxos together,
Studding the main like brother with brother,
And Andros that neighbourly lies in the sea,
Tenos to thee.

ANTISTROPHE III.
And Lemnos that looks with a doubtful face
Half to Asia, half to Thrace,
And where Daedalean Icarus fell,
And Rhodes and Cnidos of him can tell,
And the cities of Cyprus great and small,
Paphos and Soli obeyed his call,
And the mother whose name the daughter borrows,
That caused our sorrows.[f33]

EPODE.
And the towns of the Greeks, well peopled and wealthy,
He swayed with counsels wise and healthy;
And the mustered strength of the East stood by us,
A harnessed array,
Many-mingled were they,
Made one at the call of the mighty Darius.
But now the tide hath turned indeed,
The gods have worked our woe,
By the spear, and the glaive,
And the fierce-lashing wave
Low lies the might of the Mede!

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[_Enter_ XERXES.

XERXES. Ah wretched me! even so, even so; Suddenly, suddenly came the blow, And strong was the rod of the merciless god That struck the Persian low! Ah me! Ah me! My knees beneath me shake, to see These seniors reverend and grey, Gathered to meet me on such a day. O would that I had been fated to die With the brave where destiny found them, When they stained with gore the stranger's shore, And the darkness of death came round them!

CHORUS. O king of the goodly army, for thee We weep, and the princes that went with thee, Of Persian nobles the glory and crown, Whom a god with his scythe mowed down! For the halls of Hades, dark and wide, Xerxes hath plenished with Persia's pride, And the land laments her sons. Hundreds have trodden the path of gloom, Thousands of Asia's choicest bloom; Tens of thousands, that wielded the bow, Are gone to the chambers of death below. Ah me! ah me! these strong-limbed men, Where be they now that were lusty then? All Asia mourns, O King, with thee, And bends the feeble knee.

[_Here commences, with mournful Oriental music, and with violent
gesticulations, a great National Wail over the misfortunes of the
Persian people._

STROPHE I. XERXES. I am the man! I am the man! The father of shame! the fount of disgrace! Weep me! weep me! once a king, Now to my country an evil thing, A curse to my race!

CHORUS.
To meet thy returning,
A voice of deep mourning,
A tune evil-aboding,
A cry spirit-goading,
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Of a Maryandine wailer,[n30]
Thou shalt hear, thou shalt hear,
O King, with many a tear!

ANTISTROPHE I. XERXES. Lift ye, lift ye, the piercing cry! Tune ye, tune ye, the doleful lay! For the ancient god of the Persian race, That bless'd our fathers, hath turned his face From Xerxes away!

CHORUS.
A cry spirit-piercing,
The dark tale rehearsing,
Of ocean red-heaving,
The slaughtered receiving,
The cry of a city that wails for her children
Thou shalt hear, thou shalt hear,
O King, with many a tear!

STROPHE II.
XERXES.
Ares was strong on the side of the foe,
The Ionian foe!
Bristling with ships he worked our woe.
His scythe did mow,
The sea, the land,
And laid us low
On the dismal strand.

LEADER OF CHORUS.[n31]
Lift, O lift, the earnest cry!
Ask, and he will make reply.

CHORUS.
Where is all thy troop of friends,
That marched with thee away, away?
Where is the might of Pharandaces,
Susas and Pelagon, where be they?
Where is Datamas, where Agdabatus,
Psammis, and Susiscánes, say?
All that marched from Ecbatana's halls,
Where be they? where be they?

ANTISTROPHE II.
XERXES.
From a Tyrian ship they leapt on shore,
To leap no more.
On the shore of Salamis drenched in gore,
The stony shore,
They made their bed,
To rise no more,
The dead! the dead!

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LEADER OF CHORUS.
Lift, O lift the earnest cry,
Ask, and he will make reply!

CHORUS.
Ah! say, where is Pharnúchus, where?
Cariomardus, where is he?
Where the chief Seualces, where
Aelæus of noble degree?
Memphis, Tharybis, and Masistris,
Hystæchmas, and Artembares, say?
All the brave that journeyed to Hellas,
Where be they? where be they?

STROPHE III.
XERXES.
Ah me! ah me!
They looked on Ogygian Athens,[f34] and straight
With one fell swoop down came the Fate,
And we left them there with gasp and groan,
On the shore of the stranger strewn.

CHORUS.
Didst thou leave him there to lie,
Batanóchus' son, thy faithful eye?[f35]
Him didst thou leave on Salamis' shores
Who counted thy thousands by tens and by scores
The strong Oebáres and Parthus, were they
Left to be lashed by the hostile spray?
The Persian princes--woe! woe! woe!
Hast thou left to the flood and the foe?

ANTISTROPHE III.
XERXES.
Ah me! ah me!
Balefully, balefully with sharp sorrow,
Thou dost pierce my inmost marrow;
My heart, my heart cries out to hear thee
Name the lost friends I loved so dearly!

CHORUS.
One other name compels my grief,
Xanthus, of Mardian men the chief;
Ancháres the warlike, and lords of the steed
Diaexis, Arsáces that ride with speed?
Lythimnas, Kygdabatas, where be they,
And Tolmos eager for the fray?
Not, I wis, where they wont to be,
Behind the tented car with thee.

STROPHE IV. XERXES. They are gone, the generals, gone for ever!

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CHORUS. Lost, and to be heard of never!

XERXES.
Woe worth the day!

CHORUS.
Ye gods! on a public place of woe
Ye set us high;
And Até on the sorrowful show
Doth feast her eye.

ANTISTROPHE IV. XERXES. We are stricken, beyond redemption stricken!

CHORUS. Stricken of Heaven! with vengeance stricken!

XERXES. And sore dismay!

CHORUS.
On an evil day we joined the fray,
With the brave Greek name;
From Ionian ships a sheer eclipse
On Persia came.

STROPHE V. XERXES. With such an army, struck so dire a blow!

CHORUS. So great a power, the Persian power, laid low!

XERXES. These rags, the rest of all my state, behold!

CHORUS. Ay! we behold.

XERXES. This arrow-case thou see'st, this quiver alone--

CHORUS. What say'st thou? this alone?

XERXES. This arrow-case my all.

CHORUS. From store how great, remnant how small!

XERXES. With no friends near, abandoned sheer.

CHORUS. The Ionian people shrinks not from the spear.

ANTISTROPHE V. XERXES. They face it well. I saw the deadly fight.

CHORUS. The sea-encounter saw'st thou, and the flight?

XERXES. Ay! and beholding it I tore my stole.

CHORUS. O dole! O dole!

XERXES. More dolorous than dole! and worse than worst!

CHORUS. O doubly, trebly curst!

XERXES. To us annoy, to Athens joy!

CHORUS. Our sinews lamed, our vigour maimed!

XERXES. Unministered and unattended!

CHORUS. Alas! thy friends on Salamis were stranded!

STROPHE VI.
XERXES.
Weep, and while the salt tears flow,
To the palace let us go!

CHORUS.
We weep, and, while the salt tears flow,
To the palace with thee go.

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XERXES. Ring the peal both loud and shrill!

CHORUS. An ill addition is ill to ill.

XERXES. Swell the echo!--high and higher Lift the wail to my desire!

CHORUS. With echoing sorrow, high and higher, We lift the wail to thy desire.

XERXES. Heavy came the blow, and stunning.

CHORUS. From my eyes the tears are running.

ANTISTROPHE VI. XERXES. Lift thine arms and sink them low, Oaring with the oars of woe![n32]

CHORUS. Our arms we lift, dark woes deploring, With the oars of sorrow oaring.

XERXES. Ring the peal both loud and shrill!

CHORUS. Grief to grief, and ill to ill.

XERXES. With shrill melody, high and higher, Lift the wail to my desire!

CHORUS. With thrilling melody, high and higher, We lift the wail to thy desire.

XERXES. Mingle, mingle sigh with sigh!

CHORUS. Wail for wail, and cry for cry.

STROPHE VII. XERXES. Beat your breasts; let sorrow surge, Like a Mysian wailer's dirge!

CHORUS. Even as a dirge; a Mysian dirge.

XERXES. From thy chin the honor tear, Pluck thy beard of snowy hair![f36]

CHORUS. We tear, we tear, the snowy hair.

XERXES. Lift again the thrilling strain!

CHORUS. Again, again, ascends the strain.

ANTISTROPHE VII. XERXES. From thy breast the white robe tear, Make thy wounded bosom bare!

CHORUS. The purfled linen, lo! I tear.

XERXES. Pluck the honor from thy head, Weep in baldness for the dead!

CHORUS. I pluck my locks, and weep the dead.

XERXES. Weep, weep! till thine eyes be dim!

CHORUS. With streaming woe, they swim, they swim

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EPODE. XERXES. Ring the peal both loud and shrill!

CHORUS. Grief to grief, and ill to ill!

XERXES. Go to the palace: go in sadness!

CHORUS. I tread the ground sure not with gladness.

XERXES. Let sorrow echo through the city!

CHORUS. From street to street the wailing ditty.

XERXES. Sons of Susa, with delicate feet,[n33] Gently, gently tread the street!

CHORUS. Gently we tread the grief-sown soil.

XERXES. The ships, the ships by Ajax isle, The triremes worked our ruin sheer.

CHORUS. Go. Thy convoy be a tear. [_Exeunt._

[The End]

NOTES TO THE PLAYS

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NOTES TO THE AGAMEMNON

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Note 1 (p. 43). "High on the Atridan's battlements."

DUNBAR, SEWELL, and CONNINGTON plead strongly for translating ἄγκαθεν here as in Eumen. v. 80, thus--

"As I lie propped on my arm
Upon the Atridan housetop, like a dog."

But this idea has always appeared to be more like the curious conceit of an ingenious philologist, than the natural conception of a great poet. Supposing the original reading to have been ἀνέκαθεν, the mere accidental lengthening of the leg of the ν by a hurried transcriber, would give the word the appearance of γ to a careless scrutinizer; and that this blunder was actually made the metre proves in Eumen. 361, in which passage, whatever SEW. may ingeniously force into it, the meaning _from above_ is that which is most in harmony with the context. Besides, in such matters, I am conservative enough to have a certain respect for tradition.

Note 2 (p. 43). "The masculine-minded who is sovereign here."

"ἀνδρόβουλον seems to be used here ambiguously, and to be the first hint of lurking mischief. The gradual development of the coming evil from these casual hints is one of the chief dramatic beauties of the Agamemnon."--SEW.

Note 3 (p. 43). ". . . and lift high-voiced The jubilant shout."

I have strongly rendered the strong term, ἐπορθιάζειν, which would necessarily suggest to the Greek the high-keyed notes of the νόμος ὄρθιος mentioned by Herod I. 22, as sung by Arion to the sailors. I think, however, it is going beyond the mark to say, with SYMMONS, "With loud acclaim, and Orthian minstrelsy," retaining the word ὄρθιος which is only suggested, not expressed in the text, and printing it with a capital letter, as if it were a sort of music as distinct as the Mysian and Maryandine wailing, mentioned in the Persians. Thus, ὀρθίον κωκυμάτων φωνή, Soph. Antigone, 1206, means nothing but the voice of shrill wails, or, as DONALDSON well translates the whole passage,

"The voice of lamentation treble-toned,
Peals from the porch of that unhallowed cell."

Note 4 (p. 43). "Thrice six falls to me."

That is, the highest throw in the dice. "The dice (_tessera_, κύβοι), in games of chance among the ancients, were numbered on all the six sides, like the dice now in use; and three were used in playing. Hence arose the proverb, ἤ τρὶς ἓξ ἤ τρεῖς κύβοι, _either three sixes or three aces_, all or none."--Dr. SMITH's Antiq. Dict. _voce_ TESSERA.

Note 5 (p. 43). "Is laid a seal."

Literally, _a huge ox hath gone_, an expression supposed to be derived from the figure of an ox, as the symbol of wealth, expressed on an old coin; in {336} which case, to put the ox on a man's tongue, would be equivalent to tipping it with silver, that is to say, giving money with injunction of secrecy. After the expression became proverbial, it might be used generally to express secrecy without any idea of bribery, which, as CON. remarks, is quite foreign to this place, and therefore FRANZ is wrong to translate "_mir verschliesst ein golden Schloss den Mund_." I follow here, however, HUMBOLDT and SYM. in not introducing the ox into the text, as it is apt to appear ludicrous; and, besides, the origin of the expression seems only conjectural.

Note 6 (p. 44). "Sceptred kings by Jove's high grace."

Διόθεν. "ἐκ δε Διός βασιλῆες," says the theogony. Homer also considers the kingly office as having a divine sanction, and Agamemnon on Earth represents Jupiter in Heaven.--ILIAD I. 279; II. 197. And there can be no doubt that the highest authority in a commonwealth, whether regal or democratic, has a divine sanction, so long as it is exercised within its own bounds, and according to the laws of natural justice.

Note 7 (p. 44). "O'er the lone paths fitful-wheeling."

I have endeavoured to combine both the meanings of ἐκπατιόις which have any poetical value; that of SYM. _lonely_, and that of KLAUSEN, _wandering_, and therefore excessive, which CON. well gives "_with a wandering grief_." The same beautiful image is used by Shelley in his Adonais.

Note 8 (p. 44). ". . . The late-chastising Fury."

That the divine vengeance for evil deeds comes not immediately, but slowly, at a predestined season, is a doctrine as true in Christian theology as it is familiar to the Heathen dramatists. Therefore, Tiresias, in the Antigone, prophesies to Creon that "the avenging spirits of Hades and of Heaven, storing up mischief for a future day (ὑστεροφθόροι), would punish him for his crimes. But when the sword of Olympian justice is once drawn, then the execution of the divine judgment comes swiftly and by a short way, and no mortal can stay it." As the same Sophocles says--

συντέμνουσι γὰρ
θεῶν ποδώκεις τὸυς κακὸφρονας βλάβαι.
ANTIG. V. 1104.

Note 9 (p. 44). ". . . Jove, the high protector Of the hospitable laws."

As he is the supreme ruler of the physical, so Jove has a providential supervision of the moral world, and in this capacity is the special punisher of those who sin (where human laws are weak to reach), by treachery or ingratitude, as was the case with Paris. This function of the Hellenic Supreme Deity is often piously recognized by Homer, as in Odys. XIV. 283--

"But he feared the wrath of Jove, lord of the hospitable board,
Jove who looks from Heaven in anger on the evil deeds of men."

Note 10 (p. 44). "The powers whose altars know no fire."

ἀπύρων ἱερῶν, "fireless holy things." By "tireless" is here meant, so far as I can see, not to be propitiated by fire, persons to whom all sacrificial appeals are vain. Whether the Fates or the Furies are meant there are no means of ascertaining; for both agree with the tone of feeling, {337} and with the context; and as they are, in fact, fundamentally the same, as powers that always act in unison (Eumen. 165 and 949), the reader need not much care. It is possible, however, that the whole passage may bear the translation of "powers wroth for tireless altars," _i.e._ neglected sacrifices.--So HUMB. and FR. Nor are we bound to explain what sacrifices, or by whom neglected; for omission of religious rites, known or unknown, was a cause, always at hand, with the ancients, to explain any outpouring of divine wrath. BUCKLEY, following BAMBERGER and DINDORF, considers that the sacrifice of Iphigenia is alluded to; which is also probable enough. No commentary can make clear what the poet has purposely left dark.

Note. 11 (p. 45). "The oil that knows no malice."

We see in this passage the religious significancy, as it were, of the oil used in their sacred rites by the ancients; and we may further remark, with SEW., that "the oil used in religious rites was of great value. Compare the directions given in the Scriptures for making that which was used in the service of the Tabernacle," and, generally--see Leviticus c. ii. for a description of the various kinds of sacred cakes made of fine flour and oil used in the sacrificial offerings of the Jews.

Note 12 (p. 45). "I'll voice the strain."

I have carefully read all that has been written on this difficult passage, and conclude that it is better to rest contented with the natural reference of ἀιὼν to the old age of the singer, indicated by ἐτι, and the previous tone of the Anapests, than to venture with FR., HUM., and LINWOOD, on a reference which I cannot but think is more far-fetched. The line ἀλκὰν σύμφυτος ἀιων is corrupt, and no rigid rendering of it ought to be attempted. BUCKLEY in a note almost disclaims his own version.

Note 13 (p. 46). "The diverse-minded kings."

δυό λήμασι δισσούς. Surely this expression is too distinct and prominent to be slurred over lightly, as CON. seems inclined to do. I follow my own feeling of a passage so strongly marked by a peculiar phraseology, and LINWOOD. It will be observed that, in the Iliad, while Agamemnon behaves in a high and haughty style to Achilles, Menelaus conducts himself everywhere, and especially in the case of Antilochus (xxiii. 612), with mildness and moderation, so as justly to allow himself the boast,

"ὠς ἐμὸς ὀύποτε θυμὸς ῦπερφιάλος κὰι ἀπηνής."

Note 14 (p. 46). "Winged hounds."

"This is one of those extravagances of expression in which the wild fancy of Æschylus often indulged, and for which he is rallied by Aristophanes."--HARFORD. I cannot allow this to pass without remark. No expression could be more appropriate to picture that singular combination of the celerity of the bird nature, with the ferocity of the quadruped, which is described here, and in the Prometheus, in the speech of Mercury. Besides, in the present case the prophetic style would well excuse the boldness of the phrase, were any excuse required. HARFORD has put the tame expression, "Eagles," into his text; but Shelley in his "Prometheus Unbound," had not the least hesitation to adopt the Greek phrase.

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Note 15 (p. 47). "The fair goddess."

ἁ καλὰ, "the beauteous one,"--SEW. An epithet which CON. was surely wrong to omit, for it is characteristic. To this MÜLLER has called attention in his _Prolegomena zu einer wissensch; Mythologie_ (p. 75; edit. 1825) noting the expressions of Sappho, ἀρίστη καὶ καλλίστη, _the best and the fairest_, as applied to Artemis, according to the testimony of Pausanias, I. 29. The prominence given by Æschylus here to that function of Artemis, by which, as the goddess of beauty, she is protectress of the wild beasts of the forest, is quite Homeric; as we may see from these three lines of the Odyssey:--

"Even as Artemis, dart-rejoicing, o'er the mountains walks sublime,
O'er the lofty ridge of Taygetus, o'er the Erymanthian steep,
And with gladsome heart beholds the wild boar and the nimble stag."
VI. 102.

According to the elemental origin of mythology, this superintendence naturally arose from the fact, that Artemis was the Moon, and that the wild beasts go abroad to seek for prey in the night time.

Note 16 (p. 47). "I pray thee, Pæan, may she never send."

In the original Ιήἴον παιᾶνα, a well-known epithet of Apollo, as in the opening chorus of the Œdipus Tyrannos, Ιήϊέ Δάλιε παιάν, containing an invocation of the Delphic god, quoted by PEILE. From the practice of frequently invoking the name of the gods in the public hymns, as in the modern Litanies, the name of the divine person passed over to the song that voiced his praises--(Iliad I. 473)--and thence became the appellation--as in the modern word pæan--for a hymn generally--(Proclus Chrestom. Gaisford. Hephaest., p. 419)--or at least a hymn of jubilee, sadness and sorrow of every kind being naturally abhorrent from the worship of the beneficent sun god (p. 72, above).

Note 17 (p. 47). "Stern-purposed waits the child-avenging wrath."

This passage is obscure in the original, and, no doubt, purposely so, as became the prophetic style. I do not, therefore, think we are bound, with SYM., to give the

Child-avenging wrath

a special and distinctly pronounced reference to Clytemnestra, displeased with Agamemnon for allowing the sacrifice of Iphigenia--

"Homeward returning see her go,
And sit alone in sullen woe;
While child-avenging anger waits
Guileful and horrid at the palace gates."

Though I have no doubt she is alluded to among other Furies that haunt the house of Atreus; and the poet very wisely supplies here a motive. So WELL., and LIN.; and my version, though free, I hope does nothing more than express this idea of a retributive wrath brooding through long years over a doomed family, and ever and anon, when apparently laid, breaking out with new manifestations--an idea, however, so expressed in the present passage that, as Dr. Peile says, "No translation can adequately set it forth."

Note 18 (p. 47). "Jove, or what other name."

After the above sublime introduction follows the Invocation of Jove, as the supreme over-ruling Deity, who alone, by his infinite power and wisdom, is able to lead the believing worshipper through the intricacies of a seemingly {339} perplexed Providence. The passage is one of the finest in ancient poetry, and deserves to be specially considered by theological students. The reader will note carefully the reverential awe with which the Chorus names the god invoked--a feeling quite akin to that anxiety which takes possession of inexperienced people when they are called on to address written or spoken words to persons of high rank. Many instances of this kind are quoted from the ancients by VICTORIUS, in STANLEY's notes, by SYM., and by PEILE. The most familiar instance to which I can refer the general reader is in the second chapter of Livy's first book:--

"Situs est Æneas, quemcumque eum dici jus fasque est, super Numicium
flumen. Jovem indigetem appellant."

If in so obvious a matter a profound mythologist like Welcker--(Tril., p. 104)--should have found in this language of deepest reverence signs of free-thinking and irony, we have only another instance of the tyrannous power of a favourite idea to draw facts from their natural cohesion, that they may circle round the nucleus of an artificial crystallization. Sewell has also taken up the same idea with regard to the scepticism of this passage; and in him, no less, must we attribute this notion to the influence of a general theory with regard to the religious opinions of Æschylus, rather than to any criticism which the present passage could possibly warrant.

Note 19 (p. 47). "With all-defiant valour brimming o'er."

A very literal rendering of the short, but significant, original παμμαχῳ θρὰσει βρύων, on which SYM. remarks that "it presents the magnificent and, to us, incongruous image of a giant all-steeled for battle, and bearing his boldness like a tree bearing its blossoms." But there is no reason that I know for confining βρύω here to its special use in Iliad XVII. 56 (Βρύει ἂυθ(ε)ι λευκῳ) and other such passages. It rather suggests generally, as SEW. says, "ideas of violence, exuberance, and uproar," like βρυάζων in Suppl. 856. He has accordingly given

"With all-defying spirit, like a boiling torrent roaring,"

from which I have borrowed one word, with a slight alteration, but consider myself safer in not tying down the general word βρύων, to the special case of a _torrent_ any more than of a _tree_. The recent Germans--"_Im Gefühle stolzer Kraft_" (FR.), and "_allbewährteu Trotzes hehr_"--are miserably tame after Humboldt's admirable "_strotzend kampfbegierig frech._" As to the meaning of the passage, the three celestial dynasties of Uranus, Saturn, and Jove are plainly indicated, though who first threw this light on a passage certainly obscure, I cannot say. So far as I can see, it was SCHUTZ. The Scholiast (A in BUTLER) talks of the Titans and Typhon, which is, at all events, on the right scent. Neither ABRESCH nor STAN. seem to have understood the passage; and POTTER, disdaining to take a hint from the old Scholiast, generalises away about humanity.

Note 20 (p. 48). "Our hearts with gracious force."

The βιαίως certainly refers to the χάρις, and not to the ημένων, with the diluted sense of _pollenter_ given it by WELL.; and in this view I have no objection, with BLOMFIELD and CON., to read βίαιος. I am not, however, so sure as CON. that the common reading is wrong. βιαίως may be an abrupt imperfectly enunciated expression (and there are not a few such in Æschylus) for _exercising_ or _using compulsion_. Poets are not always the most accurate of grammarians.

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Note 21 (p. 48). "In Aulis tides hoarse refluent."

The harbour of Aulis, opposite Euboea the district still called _Ulike_--(Wordsworth's Athens and Attica, c. I.). In narrow passages of the sea, as at Corryvreckan, on the west coast of Scotland, there are apt to be strong eddies and currents; and this is specially noted of the channel between Aulis and Chalcis, by Livy (XXVIII. 6. _haud facile alia infestior classi statio est_) and other passages adduced by BUT. in PEILE.

Note 22 (p. 49). "Is the gods' right. So be it."

I am unable to see how the translation of this passage, given by SYM. agrees with the context and with the spirit of Agamemnon's conduct, and the view of it taken by the poet. SYM. says--

"They're not her parents; they may call aloud
For the dire rite to smoothe the stormy flood
All fierce and thirsty for a virgin's blood."

And DROYSEN, though more literally, says the same thing--"_Dass sie das windstillende Sühnopfer, das jungfraüliche Blut heischen und schreien, ist es denn recht? Nein, sieg das Gute!_" and Fr. also takes θέμις out of Agamemnon's mouth, and gives it to the Greeks. "_Finden sie recht. Zum Heil sey's!_" Perhaps the reason for preferring this version with the Germans lies in giving too great a force and prominence to the μετέγνω in the following strophe. But this may refer only to the change of a father's instinctive feelings (expressed by silence only in this ode) to the open resolution of making common cause with the diviner and the chieftain.

Note 23 (p. 49). ". . . Unblissful blew the gale That turned the father's heart."

These words include both the τροπαίαν and the μετέγνω of the original. I join βρότους or βρότοις with the following clause, the sense being the same according to either reading. The verb θρασύνει, according to CON.'s very just reasoning, seems grammatically to require βρότους, though FR. says, with a reference to Bernhardy, that βρότοις may be defended. SYM. has given a translation altogether different; though he admits that the sense given in my version, and in all the modern versions, is the most obvious one. His objection to connecting βρότους with the following sentence I do not understand.

Note 24 (p. 49). ". . . consecrate His ships for Troy."

προτέλεια ναῶν, _First fruits_, literally, as SEW. has it, will scarcely do here; "first piation of the wind-bound fleet" of SYM. is very good. HUMB., DROY., and FR. all use _Weihe_ in different combinations; a word which seems to suit the present passage very well, and I have accordingly adopted the corresponding English term.

Note 25 (p. 49). "Where prone and spent she lies."

παντὶ θυμῷ προνωπῆ, literally "_prone with her whole soul;_" "_body and soul,_" as CON. has it. The words are so arranged that it is impossible to determine to what παντὶ θυμῳ refers, whether to the general action λαβεῖν, or to the special position προνωπῆ. Sewell's remark that "there is far more intensity of thought in applying παντὶ θυμῷ to λαβεῖν," may be turned the other way. The phrase certainly must give additional intensity to whichever {341} word it is joined with. The act itself is sufficiently cruel, without adding any needless traits of ferocity.

Note 26 (p. 49). ". . . her saffron robe Sweeping the ground."

κρόκου βαφὰς εις πέδον χέουσα; "dropping her saffron veil," says SYM.; perhaps rightly, but I see no ground for certainty. The application of κρόκου βαφὰς to the drops of blood seems a modern idea, which has proceeded from some critic who had not poetry enough to understand the application of χέουσα to anything but a liquid. Except in peculiar circumstances, the word κρόκος, as CON. justly observes (see note 73 below), cannot be applied to the blood; and, in the present passage, it is plain the final work of the knife is left purposely undescribed.

Note 27 (p. 49). "The virgin strain they heard."

I cannot sufficiently express my astonishment that HUMB., DROY., and FR., as if it were a point of Germanism, have all conspired to wrench the ἐτίμα out of its natural connection in this beautiful passage, and to apply the whole concluding clause to the self-devotion of Iphigenia at the altar, rather than to her dutiful obedience at the festal scene just described. The fine poetical feeling of SYM. protested against this piece of tastelessness. "These commentators," says he, "seem to have been ignorant of the poet's intention, who raises interest, pity, and honor to the height, by presenting Iphigenia at the altar, and unveiling herself preparatory to her barbarous execution, on which point of the picture he dwells, contrasting her present situation with her former happiness, her cheerfulness, her songs, and the festivities in her father's house." It is strange that the Germans do not see that ἔυποτμον ἀιῶνα is the most unfortunate of all terms to apply to the condition of Agamemnon, as a sacrificer; while it is most pertinent to his previous fortunes, before his evil destiny began to be revealed in the sacrifice of his beloved daughter.

Note 28 (p. 50). ". . . What boots To forecast woe, which, on no wavering wing."

It is both mortifying and consoling to think that all the learning which has been expended on this corrupt passage from Δίκα down to ἀυγαῖς, brings out nothing more than what already lies in the old Scholiast. As to the details of the text, I wish I could say, with the same confidence as CON., that WELL. and HER.'s σύνορθρον ἀυγαῖς is a bit more certain than FR.'s σύναρθρον ἀταις, which, however, I am inclined to prefer, from its agreeing better with the general sombre hue of the ode.

Note 29 (p. 50). "Ever swift Though wingless, Fame."

ἄπτερος is an epithet by negation after a fashion not at all uncommon in the Greek drama; the meaning being, _though fame is not a bird, and has no wings, yet it flies as fast as if it had_. The idea that ἄπτερος is the same as πτερωτὸς I agree with CON. is the mere expedient of despair. I have not the slightest doubt that Rumour is called a _wingless messenger_, just as Dust is called a _voiceless_ messenger in the Seven against Thebes. SYM. is too subtle in explaining ἄπτερος after the analogy of the beautiful simile in Virgil, Æneid V. 215, _so swift as not to appear to move its wings_.

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Note 30 (p. 51). ". . . He from Ida shot the spark."

The geographical mountain points in the following famous descriptive passages are as follows: (1) Mount Ida, near Troy; (2) the Island of Lemnos, in the Ægean, half-way between Asia and Europe, due West; (3) Mount Athos, the South point of the most Easterly of the three peninsulas that form the South part of Macedonia; (4) a station somewhere betwixt Athos and Bœotia, which the poet has characterised only by the name of the Watchman Macistus; (5) the Messapian Mount, West of Anthedon in the North of Bœotia; (6) Mount Cithæron, in the South of Bœotia; (7) Mount Aegiplanctus, between Megara and Corinth; (8) Mount Arachne, in Argolis, between Tiryns and Epidaurus, not far from Argos.

Note 31 (p. 51). ". . . the forward strength Of the far-travelling lamp strode gallantly."

I have not had the courage with SYM. to reject the πρὸς ἡδονὴν and supply a verb. The phrase is not colloquial, as he says, but occurs, as WELL. points out, in Prom. 492. MEDWYN has "crossing the breast of ocean with a speed plumed by its joy." That there is some blunder in the passage the want of a verb seems to indicate, but, with our present means, it appears wise to let it alone; not, like FR., from a mere conjecture, to introduce ἰχθῦς for ἰσχύς, and translate--

"Und fern hin dass der Wanderflamme heller Schein,
In lust die Fische auf des Meeres Rücken trieb."

Are we never to see an end of these extremely ingenious, but very useless conjectures?

Note 32 (p. 51). "Weaving the chain unbroken."

μη κατιζεσθαι--HEATH. The true reading not to be discovered.

Note 33 (p. 51). ". . . a mighty beard of flame."

The Hindoos in their description of the primeval male who, with a thousand heads and a thousand faces, issued from the mundane egg, use the same image--"the hairs of his body are trees and plants, of his head the clouds, _of his beard, lightning_, and his nails are rocks."--Colonel VANS KENNEDY, Ch. VIII. Our translators generally (except SEW. and CON.) have eschewed transplanting this image literally into English; and even the Germans have stumbled, FR. giving Feuersaüle most unhappily. DROY., when he says "Schweife," gives the true idea, but I am not afraid to let the original stand.

Note 34 (p. 51). ". . . the headlands that look down On the Saronic gulf."

I see no proof that πρῶν ever means anything but a promontory, and so cannot follow CON. in reading κάτοπτρον.

Note 35 (p. 51). "Each from the other fired with happy news," etc.

An allusion to the famous λαμπαδηφορία, or torch race, practised by the Greeks at the Parthenon and other festivals. In this race a burning torch was passed from hand to hand, so that, notwithstanding the extreme celerity of the movement, the flame might not go out. See the article by LIDDELL in the _Dict. Antiq._ where difficulties in the detail are explained.

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Note 36 (p. 52). "To their hearts' content."

The reading of WELL. and the MS. ὡς δυσδαίμονες will never do, though MED. certainly has shown genius by striking out of it

"Soundly as mariners when the danger's past
They sleep."

The connection decidedly requires ῶς (ε)υδαιμονες, neither more nor less than "to their hearts' content," as I have rendered it. But one would almost be reconciled to the sad state of the text of Æschylus, if every difficulty were cleared with such a masterly bound as MED. here displays. The Germans, FR. and DR., incapable, or not liking such capers, adhere to the simple (ε)υδαίμονες. HUMB., according to his general practice, follows the captainship of Hermann, and gives "Götterngleich (ὡς δε δαίμονες)."

Note 37 (p. 52). ". . . Happy if the native gods They reverence."

This sober fear of the evil consequences of excess in the hour of triumph, so characteristic a trait of ancient poetry, and purposely introduced here by Clytemnestra to serve her own purpose, finds an apt illustration in the conduct of Camillus at the siege of Veii, as reported by Livy (V. 21)--

"Ad prædam miles permissu dictatoris discurrit. Quæ quum ante oculos
ejus aliquantum spe atque opinione major majorisque pretii rerum
ferretur, dicitur, manus ad cœlum tollens precatus esse, ut si cui
deorum hominumque nimia sua fortuna populique Romani videretur, ut
eam invidiam lenire quam minimo suo privato incommodo, publicoque
populo Romano liceret."

Note 38 (p. 52). "Having turned the goal."

The reader is aware that in the ancient racecourse there was a _meta_, or goal, at each end of the course, round which the racers turned round (_metaque fervidis evitata rotis_.--Hor. Carm. I. 1; and Æneid V. 129).

Note 39 (p. 52). "If they have sinned."

ἀμπλακητος. In defence of this reading, which, with WELL., I prefer, CON. has a very excellent note, to which I refer the critical reader. FR., following AHRENS (as he often does), makes a bold transposition of the lines, but the sense remains pretty much the same. As to the guilt incurred by the Greeks, spoken of here and in the previous lines, the poet has put it, as some palliation of her own contemplated deed, into the mouth of Clytemnestra, but in perfect conformity also with the Homeric theology, which supposes that suffering must always imply guilt. Thus in the Odyss. III. 130-135, old Nestor explains to Telemachus:--

"But when Priam's high-perched city by the Greeks was captured, then
In their swift ships homeward sailing, they were scattered by a god;
To the Greeks great Jove had purposed in his heart a black return,
For not all had understanding, and not all observant lived
Of Justice."

Note 40 (p. 53). "The gods are blind."

I cannot here forbear recalling to the reader's recollection a similar passage in Milton:--

"Just are the ways of God
And justifiable to men;
Unless there be who think not God at all.
If any be, they walk obscure:
For of such doctrine never was there school,
But the heart of the fool,
And no man therein doctor but himself."
--SAMSON AGONISTES.

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Note 41 (p. 53). "Self-will fell Até's daughter."

I have here paraphrased a little the two lines--

βιᾶται δ᾽ἁ τάλαινα πειθὼ
προβουλόπαις ἄφερτος Ἄτας--

in which two evil powers are personified--_Ate_, destruction, and _Peitho_, persuasion, which here must be understood of that evil self-persuasion, by which, in the pride of self-will and vain confidence, a man justifies his worst deeds to himself, and is driven recklessly on to destruction. The case of Napoleon, in his Russian expedition, is in point. What follows shows that Paris is meant. As to the strange, truly Æschylean compound, προβουλόπαις, CON. says well, that the simple πρόβουλος means "one who joins in a preliminary vote," and, of course, the compound is, as LIN. has it, a "forecounselling child."

Note 42 (p. 54). "Even as a boy in wanton sport."

There is a great upheaping of incongruous images in this passage for which, perhaps, the poet may be blamed; as the one prevents the other from coming with a vivid and distinct impression on the mind. This image of the boy chasing the butterfly is, however, the one which places the inconsiderate love of Paris and Helen most distinctly before us; and it comes, therefore, with peculiar propriety, preceded by the more general and vague images, and immediately before the mention of the offender.

Note 43 (p. 54). "The prophets of the house loud wailing."