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Xuthus
Cease such idle talk, and learn to be happy; for on that spot where I discovered thee, my son, will I begin the rites, since I have chanced on the general banquet, open to all comers, and I will offer thy birth sacrifice which aforetime I left undone. And now will I bring thee to the banquet as my guest and rejoice thy heart,
650
and take thee to the Athenian land as a visitor forsooth, not as my own son. For I will not grieve my wife in her childless sorrow by my good fortune. But in time will I seize a happy moment
655
and prevail on her to let thee wield my sceptre o’er the realm. Thy name shall be Ion, in accordance with what happened, for that thou wert the first to cross my path as I came forth from Apollo’s sanctuary. Go, gather every friend thou hast, and with them make merry o’er the flesh of sacrifice,
660
on the eve of thy departure from the town of
Delphi
. On you, ye handmaids, silence I enjoin, for, if ye say one word to my wife, death awaits you.
665
[Exit Xuthus.
Cease such idle talk, and learn to be happy; for on that spot where I discovered thee, my son, will I begin the rites, since I have chanced on the general banquet, open to all comers, and I will offer thy birth sacrifice which aforetime I left undone. And now will I bring thee to the banquet as my guest and rejoice thy heart,
650
and take thee to the Athenian land as a visitor forsooth, not as my own son. For I will not grieve my wife in her childless sorrow by my good fortune. But in time will I seize a happy moment
655
and prevail on her to let thee wield my sceptre o’er the realm. Thy name shall be Ion, in accordance with what happened, for that thou wert the first to cross my path as I came forth from Apollo’s sanctuary. Go, gather every friend thou hast, and with them make merry o’er the flesh of sacrifice,
660
on the eve of thy departure from the town of
Delphi
. On you, ye handmaids, silence I enjoin, for, if ye say one word to my wife, death awaits you.
665
Ion
Well, I will go; one thing my fortune lacks, for if I find not her that gave me birth, life is no life to me, my father;
and, if I may make the prayer, Oh may that mother be a daughter of
Athens
! that from-her I may inherit freedom of speech. For if a stranger settle in a city free from aliens, e’en though in name he be a citizen,
670
yet doth he find him-setf tongue-tied and debarred from open utterance.
675
[Exit Ion.
Well, I will go; one thing my fortune lacks, for if I find not her that gave me birth, life is no life to me, my father;
and, if I may make the prayer, Oh may that mother be a daughter of
Athens
! that from-her I may inherit freedom of speech. For if a stranger settle in a city free from aliens, e’en though in name he be a citizen,
670
yet doth he find him-setf tongue-tied and debarred from open utterance.
675
Ion. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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