Æschylos Tragedies and Fragments. Aeschylus

her libations graciously received;

      But ye wail loud near this my sepulchre,

      And shouting shrill with cries that raise the dead,

      Ye call me with your plaints. No easy task

      Is it to come, for this cause above all,

      That the great Gods who reign below are apter

      To seize men than release: yet natheless I,

      Being great in power among them, now am come.

      Be quick then, that none blame me as too late;50

      What new dire evils on the Persians weigh?

      Chor. I fear to look on thee,

      Fear before thee to speak,

      With all the awe of thee I felt of old.

      Dar. But since I came by thy complaints persuaded,

      From below rising, spin no lengthened tale;

      But shortly, clearly speak, and tell thy story,

      And leave awhile thine awe and fear of me.

      Chor. I dread thy wish to grant,

      I dread to say thee nay,51

      Saying things that it is hard for friends to speak.

      Dar. Nay, then, since that old dread of thine prevents thee,

      Do thou [to Atossa], the ancient partner of my bed,

      My noble queen, from these thy plaints and moanings

      Cease, and say something clearly. Human sorrows

      May well on mortals fall; for many evils,

      Some on the sea, and some on dry land also,

      Happen to men if life be far prolongèd.

      Atoss. O thou, who in the fate of fair good fortune

      Excelled'st all men, who, while yet thou sawest

      The sun's bright rays, did'st lead a life all blessed,

      Admired, yea, worshipped as a God by Persians,

      Now, too, I count thee blest in that thou died'st

      Before thou saw'st the depth of these our evils.

      For now, Dareios, thou shalt hear a story

      Full, yet in briefest moment. Utter ruin,

      To sum up all, is come upon the Persians.

      Dar. How so? Hath plague or discord seized my country?

      Atoss. Not so, but all the host is lost near Athens.

      Dar. What son of mine led that host hither, tell me?52

      Atoss. Xerxes o'er-hasty, emptying all the mainland.

      Dar. Made he this mad attempt by land or water?

      Atoss. By both; two lines there were of two great armies.

      Dar. How did so great a host effect its passage?

      Atoss. He bridged the straits of Helle, and found transit.

      Dar. Did he prevail to close the mighty Bosporos?

      Atoss. So was it; yet some God, it may be, helped him.

      Dar. Alas! some great God came and stole his wisdom.

      Atoss. Yea, the end shows what evil he accomplished.

      Dar. And how have they fared, that ye thus bewail them?

      Atoss. The naval host, o'ercome, wrecked all the land-force.

      Dar. What! Is the whole host by the spear laid prostrate?

      Atoss. For this doth Susa's city mourn her losses.

      Dar. Alas, for that brave force and mighty army!

      Atoss. The Bactrians all are lost, not old men merely.

      Dar. Poor fool! how he hath lost his host's fresh vigour!

      Atoss. Xerxes, they say, alone, with but few others…

      Dar. What is his end, and where? Is there no safety?

      Atoss. Was glad to gain the bridge that joins two mainlands.

      Dar. And has he reached this mainland? Is that certain?

      Atoss. Yea, the report holds good. Here is no discord.53

      Dar. Ah me! Full swift the oracles' fulfilment!

      And on my son hath Zeus their end directed.

      I hoped the Gods would work them out more slowly;

      But when man hastens, God too with him worketh.

      And now for all my friends a fount of evils

      Seems to be found. And this my son, not knowing,

      In youth's rash mood, hath wrought; for he did purpose

      To curb the sacred Hellespont with fetters,

      As though it were his slave, and sought to alter

      The stream of God, the Bosporos, full-flowing,

      And his well-hammered chains around it casting,

      Prevailed to make his mighty host a highway;

      And though a mortal, thought, with no good counsel,

      To master all the Gods, yea, e'en Poseidon.

      Nay, was not my poor son oppressed with madness?

      And much I fear lest all my heaped-up treasure

      Become the spoil and prey of the first comer.

      Atoss. Such things the o'er-hasty Xerxes learns from others,

      By intercourse with men of evil counsel;54

      Who say that thou great wealth for thy son gained'st

      By thy spear's might, while he with coward spirit

      Does his spear-work indoors, and nothing addeth

      Unto his father's glory. Such reproaches

      Hearing full oft from men of evil counsel,

      He planned this expedition against Hellas.

      Dar. Thus then a deed portentous hath been wrought,

      Ever to be remembered, such as ne'er

      Falling on Susa made it desolate,

      Since Zeus our king ordained this dignity,

      That one man should be lord of Asia's plains.

      Where feed her thousand flocks, and hold the rod

      Of sovran guidance: for the Median first55

      Ruled o'er the host, and then his son in turn

      Finished the work, for reason steered his soul;

      And Kyros came as third, full richly blest,

      And ruled, and gained great peace for all his friends;

      And he won o'er the Lydians and the Phrygians,

      And conquered all the wide Ionian land;56

      For

50

The words point to the widespread belief that when the souls of the dead were permitted to return to the earth, it was with strict limitations as to the time of their leave of absence.

51

Perhaps – “I dread to speak the truth.”

52

According to Herodotos (vii. 225) two brothers of Xerxes fell at Thermopylæ.

53

As Herodotos (viii. 117) tells the story, the bridge had been broken by the tempest before Xerxes reached it.

54

Probably Mardonios and Onomacritos the Athenian soothsayer are referred to, who, according to Herodotos (vii. 6, viii. 99) were the chief instigators of the expedition.

55

Astyages, the father-in-law of Kyaxares and grandfather of Kyros. In this case Æschylos must be supposed to accept Xenophon's statement that Kyaxares succeeded to Astyages. Possibly, however, the Median may be Kyaxares I., the father of Astyages, and so the succession here would harmonise with that of Herodotos. The whole succession must be looked on as embodying the loose, floating notions of the Athenians as to the history of their great enemy, rather than as the result of inquiry.

56

Stress is laid on the violence to which the Asiatic Ionians had succumbed, and their resistance to which distinguished them from the Lydians or Phrygians, whose submission had been voluntary.