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48
Poseidon
From the depths of salt
Aegean
floods I, Poseidon, have come, where choirs of Nereids dance in a graceful maze; for since the day that Phoebus and I with exact measurement
1
set towers of stone about this land of
Troy
and ringed it round, never from my heart has passed away a kindly feeling for my Phrygian town, which now is smouldering and overthrown, a prey to
Argive
might. For, from his home beneath
Parnassus
,
5
Phocian Epeus, aided by the craft of Pallas, framed a horse to bear within its womb an armed army, and sent it within the battlements, a deadly statue;
from which in days to come men shall tell of the Wooden Horse, with its hidden load of warriors.
10
Groves stand forsaken and temples of the gods run down with blood, and at the altar’s very base, before the god who watched his home, Priam lies dead. While to Achaean ships great store of gold and Phrygian spoils are being conveyed,
15
and they who came against this town, those sons of
Hellas
, only wait a favoring breeze to follow in their wake, that after ten long years they may with joy behold their wives and children. Vanquished by Hera,
Argive
goddess, and by Athena, who helped to ruin
Phrygia
,
20
I am leaving
Ilium
, that famous town, and my altars; for when dreary desolation seizes on a town, the worship of the gods decays and tends to lose respect. Scamander’s banks re-echo long and loud the screams of captive maids, as they by lot receive their masters.
25
Arcadia
takes some, and some the people of
Thessaly
; others are assigned to Theseus’ sons, the Athenian chiefs. And such of the Trojan women as are not portioned out are in these tents, set apart for the leaders of the army; and with them Spartan Helen,
30
daughter of Tyndareus, justly counted among the captives. And if you would see that queen of misery, Hecuba, you can; for there she lies before the gates, weeping many tears for many sorrows; at Achilles’ tomb,
35
without her knowledge, her daughter Polyxena has died most piteously; Priam is gone, and her children too; Cassandra, whom the lord Apollo left to be a virgin, frenzied maid, has been forced by Agamemnon, in contempt of the god’s ordinance and of piety, to a dishonored wedlock.
40
Farewell, O city once prosperous! farewell, you ramparts of polished stone! if Pallas, daughter of Zeus, had not decreed your ruin, you would be standing firmly still.
45
48
From the depths of salt
Aegean
floods I, Poseidon, have come, where choirs of Nereids dance in a graceful maze; for since the day that Phoebus and I with exact measurement
1
set towers of stone about this land of
Troy
and ringed it round, never from my heart has passed away a kindly feeling for my Phrygian town, which now is smouldering and overthrown, a prey to
Argive
might. For, from his home beneath
Parnassus
,
5
Phocian Epeus, aided by the craft of Pallas, framed a horse to bear within its womb an armed army, and sent it within the battlements, a deadly statue;
from which in days to come men shall tell of the Wooden Horse, with its hidden load of warriors.
10
Groves stand forsaken and temples of the gods run down with blood, and at the altar’s very base, before the god who watched his home, Priam lies dead. While to Achaean ships great store of gold and Phrygian spoils are being conveyed,
15
and they who came against this town, those sons of
Hellas
, only wait a favoring breeze to follow in their wake, that after ten long years they may with joy behold their wives and children. Vanquished by Hera,
Argive
goddess, and by Athena, who helped to ruin
Phrygia
,
20
I am leaving
Ilium
, that famous town, and my altars; for when dreary desolation seizes on a town, the worship of the gods decays and tends to lose respect. Scamander’s banks re-echo long and loud the screams of captive maids, as they by lot receive their masters.
25
Arcadia
takes some, and some the people of
Thessaly
; others are assigned to Theseus’ sons, the Athenian chiefs. And such of the Trojan women as are not portioned out are in these tents, set apart for the leaders of the army; and with them Spartan Helen,
30
daughter of Tyndareus, justly counted among the captives. And if you would see that queen of misery, Hecuba, you can; for there she lies before the gates, weeping many tears for many sorrows; at Achilles’ tomb,
35
without her knowledge, her daughter Polyxena has died most piteously; Priam is gone, and her children too; Cassandra, whom the lord Apollo left to be a virgin, frenzied maid, has been forced by Agamemnon, in contempt of the god’s ordinance and of piety, to a dishonored wedlock.
40
Farewell, O city once prosperous! farewell, you ramparts of polished stone! if Pallas, daughter of Zeus, had not decreed your ruin, you would be standing firmly still.
45
Athena
May I address the mighty god whom the gods revere and who to my own father is very near in blood,
laying aside our former enmity?
50
May I address the mighty god whom the gods revere and who to my own father is very near in blood,
laying aside our former enmity?
50
Poseidon
You may; for over the soul the ties of kin exert no feeble spell, great queen Athena.
You may; for over the soul the ties of kin exert no feeble spell, great queen Athena.
Athena
For your forgiving mood my thanks! I have messages to impart affecting both yourself and me, lord.
For your forgiving mood my thanks! I have messages to impart affecting both yourself and me, lord.
Poseidon
Do you bring fresh tidings from some god, from Zeus, or from some lesser power?
55
Do you bring fresh tidings from some god, from Zeus, or from some lesser power?
55
Athena
From none of these; but on behalf of
Troy
, whose soil we tread, I have come to seek your mighty aid, to make it one with mine.
From none of these; but on behalf of
Troy
, whose soil we tread, I have come to seek your mighty aid, to make it one with mine.
Poseidon
What! have you laid your former hate aside
to take compassion on the town now that it is burnt to ashes?
60
What! have you laid your former hate aside
to take compassion on the town now that it is burnt to ashes?
60
Athena
First go back to the former point; will you make common cause with me in the scheme I purpose?
First go back to the former point; will you make common cause with me in the scheme I purpose?
Poseidon
Yes, surely; but I want to learn your wishes, whether you have come to help Achaeans or Phrygians.
Yes, surely; but I want to learn your wishes, whether you have come to help Achaeans or Phrygians.
Athena
I wish to give my former foes, the Trojans, joy, and on the Achaean army impose a bitter return.
65
I wish to give my former foes, the Trojans, joy, and on the Achaean army impose a bitter return.
65
Poseidon
Why do you leap thus from mood to mood? Your love and hate both go too far, on whomever centred.
Why do you leap thus from mood to mood? Your love and hate both go too far, on whomever centred.
Athena
Do you not know the insult done to me and to the shrine I love?
Do you not know the insult done to me and to the shrine I love?
Poseidon
I do: when Aias dragged away Cassandra by force.
70
I do: when Aias dragged away Cassandra by force.
70
Athena
Yes, and the Achaeans did nothing, said nothing to him.
Yes, and the Achaeans did nothing, said nothing to him.
Poseidon
And yet it was by your mighty aid they sacked
Ilium
.
And yet it was by your mighty aid they sacked
Ilium
.
Athena
For which cause I would join with you to do them harm.
For which cause I would join with you to do them harm.
Poseidon
My powers are ready at your will. What is your intent?
My powers are ready at your will. What is your intent?
Athena
I will impose on them a return that is no return.
75
I will impose on them a return that is no return.
75
Poseidon
While they stay on shore, or as they cross the salt sea?
While they stay on shore, or as they cross the salt sea?
Athena
When they have set sail from
Ilium
for their homes. On them will Zeus also send his rain and fearful hail,
and inky tempests from the sky; and he promises to grant me his thunder-bolts to hurl on the Achaeans and fire their ships. And you, for your part, make the
Aegean
strait to roar with mighty billows and whirlpools, and fill
Euboea
’s hollow bay with corpses,
80
that Achaeans may learn henceforth to reverence my temples and regard all other deities.
85
When they have set sail from
Ilium
for their homes. On them will Zeus also send his rain and fearful hail,
and inky tempests from the sky; and he promises to grant me his thunder-bolts to hurl on the Achaeans and fire their ships. And you, for your part, make the
Aegean
strait to roar with mighty billows and whirlpools, and fill
Euboea
’s hollow bay with corpses,
80
that Achaeans may learn henceforth to reverence my temples and regard all other deities.
85
Poseidon
Scyros and
Lemnos
too, and the cliffs of Caphareus shall be strewn with many a corpse. You go to
Olympus
, and taking from your father’s hand his lightning bolts, keep careful watch against the hour when
Argos
’ army lets slip its cables.
90
A fool is he who sacks the towns of men, with shrines and tombs, the dead man’s hallowed home, for at the last he makes a desert round himself and dies.
95
Scyros and
Lemnos
too, and the cliffs of Caphareus shall be strewn with many a corpse. You go to
Olympus
, and taking from your father’s hand his lightning bolts, keep careful watch against the hour when
Argos
’ army lets slip its cables.
90
A fool is he who sacks the towns of men, with shrines and tombs, the dead man’s hallowed home, for at the last he makes a desert round himself and dies.
95
The Trojan Women. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.