Stasimon 3
[Episode]
Come, let us invoke blessings upon the Argives in return for blessings. And may Zeus, god of strangers, behold the offerings of gratitude voiced by a stranger’s lips, that they may in true fulfilment reach their perfect goal.
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[Choral 1]
Divinely-born gods! Hear now as I pour forth libations for blessings upon our kindred. Never may the wanton lord of war,
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Chorus
insatiate of battle-cry, Ares, who reaps a human harvest in alien fields, destroy this Pelasgian land by fire; for they had compassion for us,
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and cast a vote in our favor, respecting our pitiable flock, suppliants in the name of Zeus.
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Nor did they cast their votes for the side of the males,
disregarding the women’s cause, since they honored the avenging eye of Zeus, against which there is no battling, and what house would have it
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defiling its roof?By a sudden shift of metaphor, the eye of Zeus is likened to a foul bird whose pollution of the roof is an evil omen to the inmates of the house.For he sits heavily upon it. They take reverent heed of their kin, petitioners of holy Zeus; therefore with pure
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altars shall they please the gods.
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[Choral 2]
Therefore let there fly forth from our overshadowedOvershadowed by the suppliant branches, which, though now laid on the altar (l. 507), are still in imagination held before the faces of the maidens.lips a prayer of gratitude. Never may pestilence
Chorus
empty this city of its men nor strife stain the soil of the land with the blood of slain inhabitants. But may the flower of its youth be unplucked, and may Ares,
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the partner of Aphrodite’s bed, he who makes havoc of men, not shear off their bloom.
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And may the altars, where the elders gather, blaze in honor of venerable men.
Thus may their state be regulated well, if they hold in awe mighty Zeus, and, most of all, Zeus the warden of the guest, who by venerable enactment guides destiny straight.
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We pray that other guardians be always renewed, and that Artemis-HecateArtemis and Hecate were identified in Attic cult as early as the fifth century B.C. Cp. Corp. Inscr. Att. 1.208. The epithet ἑκάτη far-darter, archer was, it seems, not applied as a common adjective to Artemis.watch over the childbirth of their women.
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[Choral 3]
And let no murderous havoc come upon
Chorus
the realm to ravage it, by arming Ares—foe to the dance and lute, parent of tears—and the shout of civil strife.
680
And may the joyless swarm of diseases settle far from the heads of the inhabitants, and to all the young people may LyceusThe epithet Lyceus, often applied to Apollo, was commonly connected with the belief that he was the destroyer and protector of wolves (λύκοι). As a destructive power he is invoked to ward off enemies (Aesch. Seven 145); as an averter of evil he protects herds, flocks, and the young. According to Pausanias (Paus. 2.19.3) Danaus established a sanctuary in honor of Lyceus at Argos, where, in later times, the most famous of all Apollo’s temples was consecrated to him under the title of Wolf-god.be graciously disposed.
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May Zeus cause the earth to bring forth its tribute of fruit
by the produce of every season; may their grazing cattle in the fields have abundant increase, and may they obtain all things from the heavenly powers.
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May minstrels sing hymns of praise at the altars; and from pure lips let there proceed the phorminx-loving chant.
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[Choral 4]
May the people who control the state guard its privileges free from fear—
Chorus
a prudent government counselling wisely for the public prosperity. And should they have recourse to arms may they inflict no loss, but grant just rights of covenant to the stranger within their gates.
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And may they worship forever the gods who possess the land
with native honors of laurel bough held aloft, and oxen slain, even as their fathers did before their time. Since reverence for parents stands written third among the statutes of Justice, to whom honor supreme is due.
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