THE HERACLEIDAE [3]
thy father and their father would be the sons of first cousins. Thus then art thou to them related, O Demophon, but thy just debt to them beyond the ties of kinship do I now declare to thee; for I assert, in days gone by, I was with Theseus on the ship, as their father's squire, when they went to fetch that girdle fraught with death; yea, and from Hades' murky dungeons did Heracles bring thy father up; as all Hellas doth attest. Wherefore in return they crave this boon of thee, that they be not surrendered up nor torn by force from the altars of thy gods and cast forth from the land. For this were shame on thee, and hurtful likewise in thy state, should suppliants, exiles, kith and kin of thine, be haled away by force. In pity cast one glance at them. I do entreat thee, laying my suppliant bough upon thee, by thy hands and beard, slight not the sons of Heracles, now that thou hast them in thy power to help. Show thyself their kinsman and their friend; be to them father, brother, lord; for better each and all of these than to fall beneath the Argives' hand. LEADER O king, I pity them, hearing their sad lot. Now more than ever do see noble birth o'ercome by fortune; for these, though sprung from noble sire, are suffering what they ne'er deserved. DEMOPHON Three aspects of the circumstance constrain me, Iolaus, not to spurn the guests thou bringest; first and foremost, there is Zeus, at whose altar thou art seated with these tender children gathered round thee; next come ties of kin, and the debt I owe to treat them kindly for their father's sake; and last, mine honour, which before all I must regard; for if I permit this altar to be violently despoiled by stranger hands, men will think the land I inhabit is free no more, and that through fear I have surrendered suppliants to Argives, and this comes nigh to make one hang oneself. Would that thou hadst come under a luckier star! yet, as it is, fear not that any man shall tear thee and these children from the altar by force. (to COPREUS) Get thee to Argos and tell Eurystheus so; yea and more, if he have any charge against these strangers, he shall have justice; but never shalt thou drag them hence. COPREUS Not even if I have right upon my side and prove my case? DEMOPHON How can it be right to drag the suppliant away by force? COPREUS Well, mine is the disgrace; no harm will come to thee. DEMOPHON 'Tis harm to me, if I let them be haled away by thee. COPREUS Banish them thyself, and then will I take them from elsewhere. DEMOPHON Nature made thee a fool, to think thou knowest better than the god. COPREUS It seems then evildoers are to find a refuge here. DEMOPHON A temple of the gods is an asylum open to the world. COPREUS Maybe they will not take this view in Mycenae. DEMOPHON What! am I not lord of this domain? COPREUS So long as thou injure not the Argives, and if wise, thou wilt not. DEMOPHON Be injured for all I care, provided I sin not against the gods. COPREUS I would not have thee come to blows with Argos. DEMOPHON I am of like mind in this; but I will not dismiss these from my protection. COPREUS For all that, I shall take and drag my own away. DEMOPHON Why then perhaps thou wilt find a difficulty in returning to Argos. COPREUS That shall I soon find out by making the attempt. DEMOPHON Touch them and thou shalt rue it, and that without delay. LEADER I conjure thee, never dare to strike a herald. DEMOPHON Strike I will, unless that herald learn discretion. LEADER Depart; and thou, O king, touch him not. COPREUS I go; for 'tis feeble fighting with a single arm. But I will come again, bringing hither a host of Argive troops, spearmen clad in bronze; for countless warriors are awaiting my return, and king Eurystheus in person at their head; anxiously he waits the issue here on the borders of Alcathous' realm. And when he hears thy haughty answer, he will burst upon thee, and thy citizens, on this land and all that grows therein; for