Stasimon 1
[Choral 1]
Son of Palaechthon, lord of the Pelasgians, hear me with a benign heart.
Behold me, your suppliant, a fugitive, running around like a heifer chased by wolves upon precipitous crags, where, confident in his help, she lows to tell the herdsman of her distress.
350
a company of assembled gods assenting beneath the shade of fresh-plucked boughs. Nevertheless may this affair of claimants to the friendship of our city bring no mischief in its wake! And let no feud come upon the state from causes unforeseen and unforestalled; for the state has no need of such trouble.
355
may Justice, daughter of Zeus the Apportioner, Justice who protects the suppliant, look upon our flight that it bring no mischief in its wake. But you, aged in experience, learn from one of younger birth. If you show mercy to a suppliant ... from a man of holiness.
360
King
It is not my own house at whose hearth you sit. If the state is stained by pollution in its commonalty, in common let the people strive to work out the cure. For myself, I will pledge no promise before I have communicated these events to all the citizens.
365
[Choral 2]
You are the state, you are the people. Being subject to no judge, you rule the altar, your country’s hearth by your will’s sole ordinance; and, enthroned in sole sovereignty,
370
Chorus
you determine every issue. Beware pollution!
375
King
Pollution on my enemies! But without harm I do not know how to help you. And yet again, it is not well advised to slight these supplications. I am perplexed, and fear possesses my soul
whether to act, or not to act and take what fortune sends.
380
Chorus
Look to him who looks down from above, to him, the guardian of mortals sore-distressed, who appeal to their neighbors, yet do not obtain the justice that is their right.
The wrath of Zeus, the suppliant’s god, remains, and will not be softened by a sufferer’s complaints.
385
King
If the sons of Aegyptus have authority over you by the law of your country claiming that they are nearest of kin, who would wish to contest it?
You must plead in accordance with the laws of the land you have fled, that they have no authority over you.
390
[Choral 3]
Never, oh never, may I fall subject to the power and authority of these men. I am determined to flee to escape this marriage that offends my soul, piloting my course by the stars.
Chorus
Take Justice as your ally, and render judgment for the cause deemed righteous by the gods.
395
King
The judgment is not easy—do not make me the judge. I have declared already that, though I am ruler, I will not do this thing without the consent of my people, lest hereafter,
if any evil befall, the people should say, You honored aliens and brought ruin upon your own land.
400
Chorus
Kindred to both in blood, Zeus surveys both sides alike in this dispute with an impartial scale, apportioning, as is due, to the wicked their wrongdoing and to the godly their works of righteousness.
