Stasimon 4
[Episode]
Seize her; she is mad, springing thus from the shelter of the carved altar. Bind her arms.
Creusa
Kill! spare not! for I to thee will cleave,
and to this ark, and all that is within it.
1405
Ion
Is not this monstrous? here am I laid claim to on a specious pretext.
Creusa
Nay, nay, but as a friend art thou by friends now found.
Ion
I a friend of thine! and wouldst thou, then, have slain me privily?
Creusa
Thou art my child, if that is what a parent holds most dear.
Ion
An end to thy web of falsehood! Right well will I convict thee.
1410
Creusa
My child, that is my aim; God grant I reach it!
Ion
Is this ark empty, or hath it aught within?
Creusa
Thy raiment wherein I exposed thee long ago.
Ion
Wilt put a name thereto before thou see it?
Creusa
Unless I describe it, I offer to die.
1415
Ion
Say on; there is something strange in this thy confidence.
Creusa
Behold the robe my childish fingers wove.
Ion
Describe it; maidens weave many a pattern.
Creusa
’Tis not perfect, but a first lesson, as it were, in weaving.
Ion
Describe its form; thou shalt not catch me thus.
1420
Creusa
A Gorgon figures in the centre of the warp.
Ion
Great Zeus! what fate is this that dogs my steps?
