Parodos
[Episode]
Daughter of Leda, in addition to my first letter, I am sending you word —.
115
Old man
Say on and make it plain, that what my tongue utters may accord with what you have written.
Agamemnon
Not to despatch your daughter to
Euboea’s deep-gulfed wing, to the waveless bay of Aulis, for after all we will celebrate our child’s wedding at another time.
120
Old man
And how will Achilles, cheated of his bride,
curb the fury of his indignation against you and your wife? Here also is a danger.Paley follows Musgrave in assigning these words to Agamemnon, assuming that the king passes over the servant’s last remark and adds a new cause of alarm, viz., the fraud that is being practiced on Achilles. Make clear what you are saying.
125
Agamemnon
It is his name, not himself that Achilles is lending, knowing nothing of the marriage or of my scheming
or my professed readiness to betroth my daughter to him for a husband’s embrace.Lines 124-32 are rejected by some editors. Hennig supposes them to be the work of the younger Euripides.
130
Old man
A dreadful venture yours, king Agamemnon, you that, by promise of your daughter’s hand to the son of the goddess,
were bringing the maid here to be sacrificed for the Danaids.
135
Agamemnon
Ah me! I am utterly distraught; alas! bewilderment comes over me. Away! hurry your steps,
yielding nothing to old age.
140
Old man
I will make haste, king.
140
Agamemnon
Do not sit down by woodland fountains; scorn the witcheries of sleep.
Old man
Hush!The old man cuts short Agamemnon’s warnings, as being an un-called-for reflection on his own loyalty.
Agamemnon
And when you pass any place where roads diverge,
cast your eyes all round, taking heed that no mule-wagon eacape you, passing by on rolling wheels, bearing my child to the ships of the Danaids.
145
Agamemnon
Start then from the bolted gates,Paley retains the MSS. κλήθρων δ᾽ ἐξόρμα, omitting νιν with Monk in 1. 150; Wecklein, reading ἐξορμώσαις to agree with πομπαῖς retains νιν. Hermann transposes the verse after 1. 152, and so Nauck edits.
and if you meet the escort, start them back again, and drive at full speed to the abodes of the Cyclopes.
150
Old man
But tell me, how shall my message find credit with your wife or child?
Agamemnon
Preserve the seal which you bear on this tablet. Away! Already the dawn is growing grey, lighting the lamp of day and the fire of the sun’s four steeds;
155
help me in my trouble. Exit Old man.
No mortal is prosperous or happy to the last, for no one was ever born to a painless life. Exit Agamemnon.
160
[Choral 1]
To the sandy beach
Chorus
of sea-coast Aulis I have come after a voyage through the tides of narrow Euripus, leaving Chalcis, my city which feeds the waters
165
of far-famed Arethusa near the sea, so that I might behold the army of the Achaeans and the ships rowed by those godlike heroes; for our husbands tell us
170
that fair-haired Menelaus and high-born Agamemnon are leading them to Troy on a thousand ships in quest of Helen, whom Paris the herdsman
175
carried off from the banks of reedy Eurotas, his gift from Aphrodite, when that queen of Cyprus entered beauty’s contest with Hera and Pallas at the gushing fountain.Dindorf, with whom Paley agrees, regards 11. 171-84 as the work of a later hand, and gives good reasons for his opinion.
180
Through the grove of Artemis, rich with sacrifice, I sped my course, my cheek stained with red from maiden modesty, in my eagerness to see the soldiers’ camp,
185
the tents of the mail-clad Danaids, and their crowd of horses. The whole of the following long passage from l.192-302 is inclosed in brackets by Paley. Dindorf and Hermann condemn the greater part, retaining a few lines here and there.I saw two met together in council; one was Aias, son of Oileus; the other Aias, son of Telamon, crown of glory to the men of Salamis;
190
and I saw Protesilaus and Palamedes, sprung from the son of Poseidon, sitting there amusing themselves with intricate figures at checkers; Diomedes too
195
at his favorite sport of hurling quoits; and Meriones, Ares’ son, a marvel to mankind, stood at his side; likewise I beheld the son of Laertes, who came from his island hills, and with him Nireus,
200
handsomest of the Achaeans.
205
[Choral]
Achilles next, that nimble runner, swift on his feet as the wind, whom Thetis bore and Chiron trained, I saw
Chorus
upon the beach, racing in full armor along the shingle, and straining every nerve to beat a team of four horses,
210
as he sped round the track on foot; and Eumelus, the grandson of Pheres, their driver, was shouting when I saw him, goading on his lovely steeds,
215
with their bits of chased gold-work; the center pair, that bore the yoke, had dappled coats picked out with white, while the tracehorses, on the outside, facing the turning-post in the course,To turn the post without losing ground would require the driver to rein in his near trace-horse and let the outer one come round on a curve, facing the turning-post.
220
were bays with spotted fetlocks. Close beside them Peleus’ son leapt on his way, in all his harness, keeping abreast
225
the rail by the axle-box.
230
[Choral 2]
Next I sought the countless fleet, a wonder to behold, that I might fill my girlish eyes with gazing, a sweetThe reading μείλινον ἁδονάν of the MSS. cannot be right, nor are may of the proposed emendations much more probable; in the absence of anything more intelligible, Markland’s μείλιχον is here adopted. delight.
Chorus
The warlike Myrmidons from Phthia held the right wing with fifty swift cruisers, upon whose sterns, right at the ends, stood Nereid goddesses
235
in golden effigy, the ensign of Achilles’ armament.
240
Near these were moored the Argive ships in equal numbers, over which Mecisteus’
son, whom Talaus his grandfather reared, and Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, were in command; next in order, Theseus’ son was stationed at the head of sixty ships from Attica, having the goddess
245
Pallas set in a winged chariot drawn by steeds with solid hoof, a lucky sight for mariners.
250
[Choral 3]
Then I saw Boeotia’s fleet of fifty sails
Chorus
decked with ensigns; these had Cadmus at the stern holding a golden dragon at the beaks of the vessels, and earth-born Leitus
255
was their admiral. And there were ships from Phocis; and from Locris came the son of Oileus with an equal contingent, leaving famed Thronium’s citadel.
260
And from Mycenae, the Cyclopes’ town, Atreus’ son sent a hundred well-manned galleys, and Adrastoshis brotherPaley reads ἀδελφὸς with Markland for Ἄδραστος of the old copies. was with him in command, as friend with friend,
265
that Hellas might exact vengeance on the one who had fled her home to wed a foreigner. Also I saw upon Gerenian Nestor’s prows from Pylos
270
the ensign of his neighbour Alpheus, four-footed like a bull.
275
[Choral 4]
Moreover there was a squadron of twelve Aenianian sail under King Gouneus; and then near them
Chorus
the lords of Elis, whom all the people named Epeians; and Eurytus was lord of these; Iikewise he led the Taphian warriors with the white oar-blades, the subjects of Meges,
280
son of Phyleus, who had left the isles of the Echinades, where sailors cannot land.
285
Lastly, Aias, reared in Salamis,
was joining his right wing to the leftThis line is corrupt, and perhaps the next also. The attempted version follows Weil. of those near whom he was posed, closing the line with his outermost ships, twelve barques obedient to the helm, as I heard and then
290
saw the crews; the one who brings his barbaric boats to grapple Aias shall obtain no safe return. There I sawThe word ἄιον before εἰδόμαν is probably a gloss on that verb. Some editors adopt Hermann’s οἶον, but there is no certainty in it.
295
the naval armament, but some things I heard at home about the gathered army, of which I still have a recollection.
300