Euripides The Suppliant Maidens 426

Theseus

(to a herald.) Forasmuch as with this thy art thou hast ever served the stat£ and me by carrying my proclamations far and wide, so now cross Asopus and the waters of Ismenus, and declare this message to the haughty king of the Cadmeans:

Theseus, thy neighbour, one who well may win the boon he craves, begs as a favour thy permission to bury the dead, winning to thyself thereby the love of all the Erechthidae. And if they will acquiesce, come back again, but if they hearken not, thy second message runneth thus,

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they may expect my warrior host; for at the sacred fount of Callichorus my army camps in readiness and is being reviewed. Moreover, the city gladly of its own accord undertook this enterprise, when it perceived my wish.

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Ha! who comes hither to interrupt my speech? A Theban herald, so it seems, though I am not sure thereof. Stay; haply he may save thee thy trouble. For by his coming he meets my purpose half-way.

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Herald

Who is the despot of this land? To whom must I announce

the message of Creon, who rules o’er the land of Cadmus, since Eteocles was slain by the hand of his brother Polynices, at the sevenfold gates of Thebes ?

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Theseus

Sir stranger, thou hast made a false beginning to thy speech, in seeking here a despot. For this city is not ruled

by one man, but is free. The people rule in succession year by year, allowing no preference to wealth, but the poor man shares equally with the rich.

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Herald

Thou givest me here an advantage, as it might be in a game of draughts ¹ ;

for the city, whence I come, is ruled by one man only, not by the mob; none there puffs up the citizens with specious words, and for his own advantage twists them this way or that,—one moment dear to them and lavish of his favours,

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the next a bane to all; and yet by fresh calumnies of others he hides his former failures and escapes punishment. Besides, how shall the people, if it cannot form true judgments, be able rightly to direct the state? Nay, ’tis time, not haste, that affords a better

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understanding. A poor hind, granted he be not all unschooled, would still be unable from his toil to give his mind to politics. Verily ² the better sort count it no healthy sign when the worthless man obtains a reputation

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by beguiling with words the populace, though aforetime he was naught.

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Theseus

This herald is a clever fellow, a dabbler in the art of talk. But since thou hast thus entered the lists with me, listen awhile, for ’twas thou didst challenge a discussion. Naught is more hostile to a city than a despot;

where he is, there are in the first place no laws common to all, but one man is tyrant, in whose keeping and in his alone the law resides, and in that case equality is at an end. But when the laws are written down, rich and poor alike have equal justice,

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and ³ it is open to the weaker to use the same language to the prosperous when he is reviled by him, and the weaker prevails over the stronger if he have justice on his side. Freedom’s mark is also seen in this: Who ⁴ hath wholesome counsel to declare unto the state?

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And he who chooses to do so gains renown, while he, who hath no wish, remains silent. What greater equality can there be in a city?

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Again, where the people are absolute rulers of the land, they rejoice in having a reserve of youthful citizens, while a king counts ⁵ this a hostile element,

and strives to slay the leading men, all such as he deems discreet, for he feareth for his power. How then can a city remain stable, where one cuts short all ⁶ enterprise and mows down the young like meadow-flowers in spring-time?

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What boots it to acquire wealth and livelihood for children, merely ⁷ to add to the tyrant’s substance by one’s toil? Why train up virgin daughters virtuously in our homes to gratify a tyrant’s whim, whenso he will, and cause tears to those who rear them? May my life end

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if ever my children are to be wedded by violence! This bolt I launch in answer to thy words. Now say, why art thou come? what needest thou of this land? Had not thy city sent thee, to thy cost hadst thou come with thy outrageous utterances; for it is the herald’s duty

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to tell the message he is bidden and hie him back in haste. Henceforth forth let Creon send to my city some other messenger less talkative than thee.

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Chorus

Look you! how insolent the villains are, when Fortune is kind to them, just as if it would be well with them for ever.

Herald

Now will I speak. On these disputed points hold thou this view, but I the contrary.

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So I and all the people of Cadmus forbid thee to admit Adrastus to this land, but if he is here,

drive him forth in disregard of the holy suppliant ⁸ bough he bears, ere sinks yon blazing sun, and attempt not violently to take up the dead, seeing thou hast naught to do with the city of Argos . And if thou wilt hearken to me, thou shalt bring thy barque of state into port unharmed by the billows; but if not, fierce shall the surge of battle be,

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that we and our allies shall raise. Take good thought, nor, angered at my words, because forsooth thou rulest thy city with freedom, return a vaunting answer from ⁹ thy feebler means. Hope is man’s curse; many a state hath it involved

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in strife, by leading them into excessive rage. For whenso the city has to vote on the question of war, no man ever takes his own death into account, but shifts this misfortune on to his neighbour; but if death had been before their eyes when they were giving their votes,

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Hellas would ne’er have rushed to her doom in mad desire for battle. And yet each man amongst us knows which of the two to prefer, the good or ill, and how much better peace is for mankind than war,—peace, the Muses’ chiefest friend,

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the foe of sorrow, whose joy is in glad throngs of children, and its delight in prosperity. These are the blessings we cast away and wickedly embark on war, man enslaving his weaker brother, and cities following suit.

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Now thou art helping our foes even after death,

trying to rescue and bury those whom their own acts of insolence haye ruined. Verily then it would seem Capaneus was unjustly blasted by the thunderbolt and charred upon the ladder he had raised against our gates, swearing he would sack our town, whether the god would or no;

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nor should the yawning earth have snatched away the seer, ¹⁰ opening wide her mouth to take his chariot and its horses in, nor should the other chieftains be stretched at our gates, their skeletons to atoms crushed ’neath boulders. Either boast thy wit transcendeth that of Zeus,

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or else allow that gods are right to slay the ungodly. The wise should love their children first, next their parents and country, whose fortunes it behoves them to increase rather than break down. Rashness in a leader, as in a pilot, causeth shipwreck; who knoweth when to be quiet is a wise man.

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Yea and this too is bravery, even forethought.

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Chorus

The punishment Zeus hath inflicted was surely enough; there was no need to heap this wanton insult on us.

Adrastus

Abandoned wretch!

Theseus

Peace, Adrastus! say no more; set not thy words before mine,

for ’tis not to thee this fellow is come with his message, but to me, and I must answer him. Thy first assertion will I answer first: I am not aware that Creon is my lord and master, or that his power outweigheth mine, that so he should compel

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Athens to act on this wise; nay! for then would the tide of time have to flow backward, if we are to be ordered about, as he thinks. ’Tis not I who choose this war, seeing that I did not even join these warriors to go unto the land of Cadmus; but still I claim to bury the fallen dead, not injuring any state

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nor yet introducing murderous strife, but preserving the law of all Hellas . What is not well in this? If ye suffered aught from the Argives—lo! they are dead; ye took a splendid vengeance on your foes

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and covered them with shame, and now your right is at an end. Let ¹¹ the dead now be buried in the earth, and each element return ¹² to the place from whence it came to the body, the breath to the air, the body to the ground; for in no wise did we get it

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for our own, but to live our life in, and after that its mother earth must take it back again. Dost think ’tis Argos thou art injuring in refusing burial to the dead? Nay! all Hellas shares herein, if a man rob the dead of their due

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and keep them from the tomb; for, if this law be enacted, it will strike dismay into the stoutest hearts. And art thou come to cast dire threats at me, while thy own folk are afraid of giving burial to the dead? What is your fear? Think you they will undermine your land

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in their graves, or that they will beget children in the womb of earth, from whom shall rise an avenger? A silly waste of words, in truth it was, to show your fear of paltry groundless terrors.

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Go, triflers, learn the lesson of human misery;

our life is made up of struggles; some men there be that find their fortune soon, others have to wait, while some at once are blest. Fortune lives a dainty life; to her the wretched pays his court and homage to win her smile; her likewise doth the prosperous man extol, for fear the favouring gale

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may leave him. These lessons should we take to heart, to bear with moderation, free from wrath, our wrongs, and do naught to hurt a whole city. What then? Let us, who will the pious deed perform, bury the corpses of the slain.

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Else is the issue clear; I will go and bury them by force. For never shall it be proclaimed through Hellas that heaven’s ancient law was set at naught, when it devolved on me and the city of Pandion.

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Chorus

Be of good cheer; for if thou preserve the light of justice,

thou shalt escape many a charge that men might urge.

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Herald

Wilt thou that I sum up in brief all thou wouldst say?

Theseus

Say what thou wilt; for thou art not silent as it is.

Herald

Thou shalt never take the sons of Argos from our land.

Theseus

Hear, then, my answer too to that, if so thou wilt.

Herald

I will hear thee; not that I wish it, but I must give thee thy turn.

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Theseus

I will bury the dead, when from Asopus’ land I have removed them.

Herald

First must thou adventure somewhat in the front of war.

Theseus

Many an enterprise and of a different kind have I ere this endured.

Herald

Wert thou then begotten of thy sire to cope with every foe?

Theseus

Ay, with all wanton villains; virtue I punish not.

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Herald

To meddle is aye thy wont and thy city’s too.

Theseus

Hence her enterprise on many a held hath won her frequent success.

Herald

Come then, that the warriors of the dragon-crop may catch thee in our city.

Theseus

What furious warrior-host could spring from dragon’s seed?

Herald

Thou shalt learn that to thy cost. As yet thou art young and rash.

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Theseus

Thy boastful speech stirs not my heart at all to rage. Yet get thee gone from my land, taking with thee the idle words thou broughtest; for we are making no advance. [Exit Herald.]

’Tis time for all to start,

each stout footman, and whoso mounts the car; ’tis time the bit, dripping with foam, should urge the charger on toward the land of Cadmus. For I will march in person to the seven gates thereof

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with the sharp sword in my hand, and be myself my herald. But thee, Adrastus, I bid stay, nor blend with mine thy fortunes, for I will take my own good star to lead my host, a chieftain famed in famous deeds of arms. One thing alone I need, the favour of all gods that reverence right, for the presence of these things

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insures victory. For their valour availeth men naught, unless they have the god’s goodwill. [Exit Theseus.

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