Stasimon 2
[Choral 1]
O you who dwell by the warm springs near ships’ haven and rocky cliff, and you who live by
Chorus
the crags of Oeta! And you dwellers by the land-locked waters of the Malian gulf, and the headland sacred to the virgin-goddess of the golden shuttle, where are the famed councils of the Greeks at the gates!
635
Soon the glorious voice of the flute will go up for you again, sounding no bothersome, strident notes, but divine music worthy of the lyre! For the son whom Alcmena bore to Zeus
640
is hurrying homeward, with spoils won by supreme valor.
645
[Choral 2]
We thought him lost utterly to our land, a wanderer over sea, while we waited through twelve long months and knew nothing.
Chorus
She, his loving wife, miserable, was ever pining in her miserable heart, always weeping. But now Ares, stung to rage, has freed her days from their toil.
650
May he come, may he come! Let him not halt the many-oared ship that carries him before he has reached this town, leaving the island altar where he is reported to be sacrificing!
655
May he come from there full of desire, steeped in love on the pretext of the robe by Persuasion’s all-powerful ointment!
660