Euripides The Suppliant Maidens 618

Messenger

Ladies, I bring you tidings of great joy, myself escaped—for I was taken prisoner in the battle

which cost those chieftains seven their lives near Dirce’s fount—to bear the news of Theseus’ victory. But I will save thee tedious questioning; I was the servant of Capaneus,

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whom Zeus with scorching bolt to ashes burnt.

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Chorus

Friend of friends, fair thy news of thy own return, nor less the news about Theseus; and if the host of Athens , too, is safe, welcome will all thy message be.

Messenger

’Tis safe, and all hath happened as I would it had befallen Adrastus

and his Argives, whom from Inachus he led, to march against the city of the Cadmeans.

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Chorus

How did the son of Aegeus and his fellow-warriors raise their trophy to Zeus? Tell us, for thou wert there and canst gladden us who were not.

Messenger

Bright shone the sun, one levelled line of light, upon the world, as by Electra’s gate I stood to watch, from a turret with a far outlook. And lo! I saw the host in three divisions, deploying its mail-clad warriors

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on the high ground by the banks of Ismenus; this last I heard; ¹ and with them was the king himself, famous son of Aegeus; his own men, natives of old Cecropia, were ranged upon the right; while on the left,

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hard by the fountain of Ares, were the dwellers by the sea, harnessed spearmen they; on either wing were posted cavalry, in equal numbers, and chariots were stationed in the shelter of Amphion’s holy tomb. Meantime, the folk of Cadmus set themselves before the walls,

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placing in the rear the bodies for which they fought. Horse to horse, and car to car stood ranged. Then did the herald of Theseus cry aloud to all: Be still, ye folk! hush, ye ranks of Cadmus,

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hearken! we are come to fetch the bodies of the slain, wishing to bury them in observance of the universal law of Hellas ; no wish have we to lengthen out the slaughter.

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Not a word would Creon let his herald answer back, but there he stood in silence under arms. Then did the drivers of the four-horse cars

begin the fray; on, past each other they drave their chariots, bringing the warriors at their sides up into line. Some fought with swords, some wheeled the horses back to the fray again for those they drove. ²

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Now when Phorbas, who captained the cavalry of the Erechthidae, saw the thronging chariots, he and they who had the charge of the Theban horse met hand to hand, and by turns were victors and vanquished. The many horrors happening there I saw, not merely heard about, for I was at the spot

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where the chariots and their riders met and fought, but which to tell of first I know not,—the clouds of dust that mounted to the sky, the warriors tangled in the reins and dragged ³ this way and that,

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the streams of crimson gore, when men fell dead, or when, from shattered chariot-seats, they tumble headlong to the ground, and, mid the splinters of their cars, gave up the ghost. But Creon, when he marked our cavalry’s success ⁴ on one wing,

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caught up a shield and rushed into the fray, ere that despondency should seize his men; but not for that did Theseus recoil in fear; no! snatching up at once his glittering harness he hied him on. And the twain, clashing their shields together as they met in the midst of the assembled host,

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were dealing death and courting it, shouting loudly each to his fellow the battle-cry: Slay, and with thy spear strike home against the sons of Erechtheus. Fierce foes to cope with were the warriors whom the dragon’s teeth to manhood reared; so fierce, they broke

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our left wing, albeit theirs was routed by our right and put to flight, so that the struggle was evenly balanced. Here again our chief deserved all praise, for this success was not the only advantage he gained; no! next he sought that part of his army which was wavering;

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and loud he called to them, that the earth rang again, My sons, if ye cannot restrain the earth-born warriors’ stubborn spear, the cause of Pallas is lost. His word inspired new courage in all the Danaid ⁵ host. Therewith himself did seize a fearsome mace, weapon of Epidaurian warfare,

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and swung it to and fro, and with that club, as with a sickle, he shore off necks and heads and helmets thereupon. Scarce even then they turned them- selves to fly. For joy cried I, and danced

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and clapped my hands; while to the gates they ran. Throughout the town echoed the shrieks of young and old, as they crowded the temples in terror. But Theseus, when he might have come inside the walls, held back his men, for he had not come, said he,

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to sack the town, but to ask for the bodies of the dead.

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Such the general men should choose, one who shows his bravery in danger, yet hates the pride of those that in their hour of fortune lose the bliss they might have enjoyed,

through seeking to scale the ladder’s topmost step.

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Chorus

Now do I believe in the gods after seeing this unexpected day, and I feel my woes are lighter now that these have paid their penalty.

Adrastus

O Zeus, why do men assert the wisdom of the wretched

human race? On thee we all depend, and all we do is only what thou listest. We thought our Argos irresistible, ourselves a young and lusty host, and so when Eteocles was for making terms,

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in spite of his fair offer we would not accept them, and so we perished. Then in their turn those foolish folk of Cadmus, to fortune raised, like some beggar with his newly-gotten wealth, waxed wanton, and, waxing so, were ruined in their turn. Ye foolish sons of men! who strain your bow like men who shoot

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beyond their mark, and only by suffering many evils as ye deserve, though deaf to friends, yet yield to circumstances; ye cities likewise, though ye might by parley end your mischief, yet ye choose the sword instead of reason to settle all disputes.

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But wherefore these reflections? This I fain would learn, the way thou didst escape; and after that I will ask thee of the rest.

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Messenger

During the uproar which prevailed in the city owing to the battle, I passed the gates, just as the host had entered them.

Adrastus

Are ye bringing the bodies, for the which the strife arose?

Messenger

Ay, each of the seven chiefs who led their famous hosts.

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Adrastus

What sayest thou? the rest who fell—say, where are they?

Messenger

They have found burial in the dells of Cithseron.

Adrastus

On this or that side of the mount? And who did bury them?

Messenger

Theseus buried them ’neath the shadow of Eleutherae’s cliff.

Adrastus

Where didst thou leave the dead he hath not buried?

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Messenger

Not far away; earnest haste makes every goal look close.

Adrastus

No doubt in sorrow slaves would gather them from the carnage.

Messenger

Slaves! not one of them was set to do this toil.

Adrastus

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Messenger

Thou wouldst say so, hadst thou been there to see his loving tendance of the dead.

Adrastus

Did he himself wash the bloody wounds of the hapless youths?

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Messenger

Ay, and strewed their biers and wrapped them in their shrouds.

Adrastus

An awful burden ⁷ this, involving some disgrace.

Messenger

Why, what disgrace to men are their fellows’ sorrows?

Adrastus

Ah me! how much rather had I died with them!

Messenger

’Tis vain to weep and move to tears these women.

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Adrastus

Methinks ’tis they who give the lesson. Enough ⁸ of that! My hands I lift at meeting of the dead, and pour forth a tearful dirge to Hades, calling on my friends,

whose loss I mourn in wretched solitude; for this one thing, when once ’tis spent, man cannot recover, the breath of life, though he knoweth ways to get his wealth again.

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