Stasimon 3
[Episode]
(To the Nurse.) Ho! thou, go call me Jason hither, for thee I do employ on every mission of trust. No word divulge of all my purpose, as thou art to thy mistress loyal and likewise of my sex.
820
[Choral 1]
Sons of Erechtheus, heroes happy from of yore,
Chorus
children of the blessed gods, fed on wisdom’s glorious food in a holy land ne’er pillaged by its foes, ye who move with sprightly step through a climate ever bright
825
and clear, where, as legend tells, the Muses nine, Pieria’s holy maids, were brought to birth by Harmonia with the golden hair;
830
and poets sing how Cypris drawing water from the streams of fair-flowing Cephissus breathesReading χώρας with Reiske. The passage is corrupt, and possibly some word is lost. o’er the land a gentle breeze
835
of balmy winds, and ever as she crowns her tresses with a garland of sweet rose-buds sends forth the Loves to sit by wisdom’s side,
840
to take a part in every excellence.
845
[Choral 2]
How then shall the city of sacred streams, the land that welcomes those it loves, receive thee, the murderess of thy children,
Chorus
thee whose presence with others is a pollution? Think on the murder of thy children, consider the bloody deed thou takest on thee. Nay, by thy knees we, one and all, implore thee,
850
WhereOf the numerous emendations of this corrupt passage, Nauck’s τέκνυν for τέκνοις is the simplest, if it goes far enough. Verrall suggests that a word has fallen out after the second ἢ and conjectures μένος of τέχναν. This is not less satisfactory than most of the emendations. shall hand or heart find hardihood enough in wreaking such a fearsome deed upon thy sons?
How wilt thou look upon thy babes, and still without a tear retain thy bloody purpose? Thou canst not, when they fall at thy feet for mercy, steel thy heart and dip
860
in their blood thy hand.
865
