Classic Greek Drama_ 10 Plays by Euripides in a Single File [NOOK Book] - Euripides [180]
IPH. O dearest one, thou hast assisted thy friends to the utmost in thy power.
CLY. Can I, by doing any thing in Argos, do thee a pleasure?
IPH. Hate not my father, yes, thy husband.
CLY. He needs shall go through terrible trials on thy account.
IPH. Unwillingly he hath undone me on behalf of the land of Greece.
CLY. But ungenerously, by craft, and not in a manner worthy of Atreus.
IPH. Who will come and lead me, before I am torn away by the hair?[94]
CLY. I will go with thee.
IPH. Not you indeed, thou sayest not well.
CLY. Ay [but I will,] clinging to thy garments.
IPH. Be persuaded by me, mother. Remain, for this is more fitting both for me and thee. But let some one of these my father's followers conduct me to the meadow of Diana, where I may be sacrificed.
CLY. O child, thou art going.
IPH. Ay, and I shall ne'er return.
CLY. Leaving thy mother--
IPH. As thou seest, though, not worthily.
CLY. Hold! Do not leave me.
IPH. I do not suffer thee to shed tears. But, ye maidens, raise aloft the paean for my sad hap, [celebrate] Diana, the daughter of Jove,[95] and let the joyful strain go forth to the Greeks. And let some one make ready the baskets, and let flame burn with the purifying cakes, and let my father serve the altar with his right hand, seeing I am going to bestow upon the Greeks safety that produces victory.[96]
Conduct me, the conqueror of the cities of Troy and of the Phrygians. Surround[97] me with crowns, bring them hither. Here is my hair to crown. And [bear hither] the lustral fountains.[98] Encircle [with dances] around the temple and the altar, Diana, queen Diana, the blessed, since by my blood and offering I will wash out her oracles, if it needs must be so. O revered, revered mother, thus + indeed + will we [now] afford thee our tears, for it is not fitting during the sacred rites. O damsels, join in singing Diana, who dwells opposite Chalcis, where the warlike ships have been eager [to set out,] being detained in the narrow harbors of Aulis here through my name.[99] Alas! O my mother-land of Pelasgia, and my Mycenian handmaids.
CHOR. Dost thou call upon the city of Perseus, the work of the Cyclopean hands?
IPH. Thou hast nurtured me for a glory to Greece, and I will not refuse to die.
CHOR. For renown will not fail thee.
IPH. Alas! alas! lamp-bearing day, and thou too, beam of Jove, another, another life and state shall we dwell in. Farewell for me, beloved light!
CHOR. Alas! alas! Behold[100] the destroyer of the cities of Troy and of the Phrygians, wending her way, decked as to her head with garlands and with lustral streams, to the altar of the sanguinary Goddess, about to stream with drops of gore, being stricken on her fair neck. Fair dewy streams, and lustral waters from ancestral sources[101] await thee, and the host of the Greeks eager to reach Troy. But let us celebrate Diana, the daughter of Jove, queen of the Gods, as upon a prosperous occasion. O hallowed one, that rejoicest in human sacrifices, send the army of the Greeks into the land of the Phrygians, and the territory of deceitful Troy, and grant that by Grecian spears Agamemnon may place a most glorious crown upon his head, a glory ever to be remembered.
[_Enter a_ MESSENGER.[102]]
MESS. O daughter of Tyndarus, Clytaemnestra, come without the house, that thou mayest hear my words.
CLY. Hearing thy voice, I wretched came hither, terrified and astounded with fear, lest thou shouldst be come, bearing some new calamity to me in addition to the present one.
MESS. Concerning thy daughter, then, I wish to tell thee marvelous and fearful things.
CLY. Then delay not, but speak as quickly as possible.
MESS. But, my dear mistress, thou shalt learn every thing clearly, and I will speak from the very commencement, unless my memory, in something failing, deceive my tongue. For when we came to the inclosure and flowery meads of Diana, the daughter of Jove, where there was an assembly of the army of the Greeks, leading thy daughter, the host of the