Epeisodion 2
Iolaus
My son, why, prithee, art thou returned with that anxious look? Hast thou news of the enemy? Are they coming, are they here, or what thy tidings? For of a surety yon herald will not play us false.
No! sure I am their captain, prosperous heretofore, will come, with thoughts exceeding proud against Athens. But Zeus doth punish overweening pride.
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Demophon
The host of Argos is come, and Eurystheus its king;
my own eyes saw him, for the man who thinks he knows good generalship must see the foe not by messengers alone. As yet, however, he hath not sent his host into the plain, but, camped upon a rocky brow,
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is watching—I only tell thee what I think this means—to see by which road to lead his army hither without fighting, and how to take up a safe position in this land. However, all my plans are by this time carefully laid; the city is under arms, the victims
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stand ready to be slain to every god, whose due this is; my seers have filled the town with sacrifices, to turn the foe to flight and keep our country safe. All those who chant prophetic words have I assembled, and have examined ancient oracles, both public and secret,
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as means to save this city. And though the several answers differ in many points, yet in one is the sentiment of all clearly the same; they bid me sacrifice to Demeter’sPersephone, queen of the dead. daughter some maiden from a noble father sprung.
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Now I, though in your cause I am as zealous as thou seest, yet will not slay my child, nor will I compel any of my subjects to do so against his will; for who of his own will doth harbour such an evil thought as to yield with his own hands the child he loves?
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And now thou mayestHartung unnecessarily reads ἀστῶν ἴδοις. see angry gatherings, where some declare, ’tis right to stand by suppliant strangers, while others charge me with folly; but if I doReading εἰ δὲ δὴ which gives a quite intelligible sense; yet it has been altered by some into ἢν δὲ μὴ. this deed, a civil war is then and there on foot.
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Do thou then look to this and help to find a way to save yourselves and this country without causing me to be slandered by the citizens. For I am no despot like a barbarian monarch; but providedCobet proposed ἤνπερ ἄδικα, i.e. if I do what is unjust, I shall get my deserts. I do what is just, just will my treatment be.
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Chorus
Can it be that heaven forbids this city to help strangers, when it hath the will and longing so to do?
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Iolaus
My children, we are even as those mariners, who have escaped the storm’s relentless rage, and have the land almost within their reach, but after all are driven back from shore by tempests to the deep again.
Even so we, just as we reach the shore in seeming safety, are being thrust back from this land. Ah me! Why, cruel hope, didst thou then cheer my heart, though thou didst not mean to make the boon complete?
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The king may well be pardoned, if he will not slay his subjects’ children; and with my treatment here I am content; if indeed ’tis heaven’s will, I thus should fare, still is my gratitude to thee in no wise lost. Children, I know not what to do for you.
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Whither shall we turn? for what god’s altar have we left uncrowned? to what fenced city have we failed to go? Ruin and surrender are our instant lot, poor children! If I must die, ’tis naught to me, save that thereby I give those foes of mine some cause for joy.
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But you, children, I lament and pity, and that aged mother of your sire, Alcmena. Ah, woe is thee for thy long span of life! and woe is me for all my idle toil! ’Twas after all our destined doom to fall into the hands of our hated foe,
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and die a death of shame and misery. But lend me thine aid, thou knowest how; for all hope of these children’s safety has not yet left me. Give me up instead of them to the Argives, O king; run no risk, but let me save
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the children; to love my life becomes me not; let it pass. MeUsener, followed by Nauck, regards lines 456 to 460 as spurious. will Eurystheus be most glad to take and treat despitefully, as I was Heracles’ companion; for the man is but a boor; wherefore wise men ought to pray to get a wise man for their foe, and not a proud senseless fool;
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for so, even if by fortuneReading with Tyrrwhitt κἀτυχής for καὶ δίκης, which in the Aldine became καὶ τύχης and suggested the emendation. flouted, one would meet with much consideration.
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Chorus
Old man, blameBut Iolaus has praised, not blamed Athens. And so Hartung proposes to read ἐπαινέσης, Usener τήνδε ταῦτ’ ἄιτει. not this city; for though perhaps a gainReading κέρδος. Nauck has ψευδές. to us, yet would it be a foul reproach that we betrayed strangers.
Demophon
A generous scheme is thine, but impossible.
’Tis not in quest of thee yon king comes marching hither; what would Eurystheus gain by the death of one so old? Nay, ’tis these children’s blood he wants. For there is danger to a foe in the youthful scions of a noble race, whose memory dwells upon their father’s wrongs;
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all this Eurystheus must foresee. But if thou hast any scheme besides, that better suits the time, be ready with it, for, since I heard that oracle, I am at a loss and full of fear. [Exit Demophon.
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Macaria
Sirs, impute not boldness to me, because
I venture forth; this shall be my first request, for a woman’s fairest crown is this, to practise silence and discretion, and abide at home in peace. But when I heard thy lamentations, Iolaus, I came forth, albeit I was not appointed to take the lead in my family.
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Still in some sense am I fit to do so, for these my brothers are my chiefest care, and I fain would ask, as touching myself, whether some new trouble, added to the former woes, is gnawing at thy heart.
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Iolaus
My daughter, ’tis nothing new that I should praise thee, as I justly may,
above all the children of Heracles. Our house seemed to be prospering, when back it fell again into a hopeless state; for the king declares the prophets signify that he must order the sacrifice, not of bull or heifer, but of some tender maid
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of noble lineage, if we and this city are to exist. Herein is our perplexity; the king refuses either to sacrifice his own or any other’s child. Nauck condemns lines 494 to 497. Wherefore, though he use not terms express, yet doth he hint,
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that, unless we find some way out of this perplexity, we must seek some other land, for he this country fain would save.
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Macaria
Are these indeed the terms on which our safety depends?
Iolaus
Yea, on these; if, that is, we are successful otherwise.
Macaria
No longer then cower before the hated Argive spear; for I, of my own free will, or ever they bid me, am ready to die and offer myself as a victim. For what excuse have we, if, while this city deems it right to incur a great danger on our behalf,
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we, though we might save ourselves, fly from death, by foisting our trouble on others? No! indeed, ’twere surely most ridiculous to sit and mourn as suppliants of the gods, and show ourselves but cowards, children as we are of that illustrious sire.
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Where among the brave is such conduct seen? Better, I suppose, this city should be taken and I (which Heaven forefend!) fall into the hands of the enemy, and then, for all I am my noble father’s child, meet an awful doom, and face the Death-god none the less.
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Shall I wander as an exile from this land? Shall I not feel shame then, when someone says, as say they will, Why are ye come hither with suppliant boughs, loving your lives too well? Begone from our land! for we will not succour cowards.
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Nay, if these be slain and I alone be saved, I have no hope in any wise of being happy, though many ere now have in this hope betrayed their friends. For who will care to wed a lonely maid or make me mother of his children?
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’Tis better I should die than meet such treatment, Paley brackets these two lines as spurious, and Nauck suspects their genuineness. little as I merit it. This were fitter treatment for some other, one that is not born to fame as I am. Conduct me to the scene of death, Paley encloses this line in brackets. Nauck says it is either spurious or corrupt. Certainly it offends against tragic usage by containing a cretic foot as the fifth. crown me with garlands, and begin the rites, if so it please you;
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then be victorious o’er the foe, for here I offer my life freely and without constraint, and for my brothers and myself I undertake to die. Also regarded by Paley as spurious. For I, by loving not my life too well, have found a treasure very fair, a glorious means to leave it.
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Chorus
Ah, what shall I say on hearing the maid’s brave words, she that is ready to die for her brothers? Who can speak more noble words or do more noble deeds henceforth for ever?
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Iolaus
Daughter, thou art his own true child, no other man’s but Heracles’,
that godlike soul; proud am I of thy words, though I sorrow for thy lot. Yet will I propose a fairer method: ’tis right to summon hither all the sisters of this maiden,
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and then let her, on whom the lot shall fall, die for her family; for that thou shouldst die without the lot is not just.
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Macaria
My death shall no chance lot decide; there is no graciousness in that; peace! old friend. But if ye accept and will avail you
of my readiness, freely do I offer my life for these, and without constraint.
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Iolaus
Ah, this is even nobler than thy former word; that was matchless, but thou dost now surpass
thy bravery and noble speech. I cannot bid, will not forbid thy dying, Omy daughter! forNauck condemns this line. by thy death thou dost thy brothers serve.
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Macaria
A cautious bidding thine! Fear not to take a stain of guilt from me; only let me die as one whose death is free.
Follow me, old friend, for in thy arms I fain would die; stand by and veil my body with my robe, for I will go even to the dreadful doom of sacrifice, seeing whose daughter I avow myself.
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Iolaus
I cannot stand by and see thee bleed.
Macaria
At least do thou beg me this boon of the king, that I may breathe out my life in women’s arms instead of men’s.
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Demophon
It shall be so, unhappy maid; for this were shame to me to refuse thee honour due, for many reasons: because thou hast a soul so brave; because
’tis right; and thou hast shown more courage than any of thy sex my eyes have ever seen. Now, if thou hast aught to say to these children or thy aged guide, ohReading δὴ, with Elmsley, for μοι.! say the last thou hast to say—then go.
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Macaria
Farewell, old friend, farewell! and prithee teach
these children to be like thyself, wise at every point; let them strive no further, for that will suffice them. And seek to save them from death, even as thou art anxious to do; thy children are we, thy care it was that nurtured us. Thou seest how I yield my bridal
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bloom to die for them. For you, my brothers gathered here, may you be happy! and may every blessing be yours, for the which my blood shall pay the price!Badham proposed σφαλήσεται, certainly an easier reading. Honour this old friend, and her that is within the house,
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Alcmena, the aged mother of my sire, and these strangers too. And if ever heaven for you devise release from trouble and a return to your home, remember the burial due to her that saved you, a funeral fairNauck, μάλιστα for κάλλιστα. as I deserve; for I have not failed,
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but stood by you, and died to save my race. This shall be my pearl of price instead of children, and for the maiden life I leave, if there be really aught beyond the grave—God grant there may not be! For if, e’en there, we who are to die shall find a life of care,
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I know not whither one shall turn; for death is held a sovereign cure for every ill.
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Iolaus
Maiden of heroic soul, transcending all thy race, be sure the fame that thou shalt win from us, in life, in death, shall leave the rest of women far behind;
farewell to thee! I dare not say harsh words of her to whom thou art devoted, the goddess-daughter of Demeter. [Exit Macaria.] Children, I am undone, grief unnerves my limbs; take hold and support me to a seat hard by, when ye have drawn my mantle o’er my face, my sons.
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For I am grieved at what hath happened, and yet, were it not fulfilled, we could not live; thus were the mischief worse, though this is grief enough.
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