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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,
430
and
1
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
2
hath wholesome counsel to declare unto the state?
435
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?
440
Again, where the people are absolute rulers of the land, they rejoice in having a reserve of youthful citizens, while a king counts
3
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
4
enterprise and mows down the young like meadow-flowers in spring-time?
445
What boots it to acquire wealth and livelihood for children, merely
5
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
450
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
455
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.
460
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,
430
and
1
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
2
hath wholesome counsel to declare unto the state?
435
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?
440
Again, where the people are absolute rulers of the land, they rejoice in having a reserve of youthful citizens, while a king counts
3
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
4
enterprise and mows down the young like meadow-flowers in spring-time?
445
What boots it to acquire wealth and livelihood for children, merely
5
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
450
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
455
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.
460
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.
Look you! how insolent the villains are, when Fortune is kind to them, just as if it would be well with them for ever.
The Suppliant Maidens. Euripides. E. P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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