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Chorus
O Telamon, King of
Salamis
, the feeding-ground of bees,
who have your home in a seagirt isle that lies near the holy hills where first Athena made the grey olive branch to appear, a crown for heavenly heads and a glory to happy
Athens
, you came, you came in knightly brotherhood
800
O Telamon, King of
Salamis
, the feeding-ground of bees,
who have your home in a seagirt isle that lies near the holy hills where first Athena made the grey olive branch to appear, a crown for heavenly heads and a glory to happy
Athens
, you came, you came in knightly brotherhood
800
Chorus
When he led the chosen flower of
Hellas
, vexed
for the steeds,
1
and at the fair stream of Simois he stayed his sea-borne ship and fastened cables to the stern, and forth from the ship he took the bow his hand could deftly shoot, to be the doom of Laomedon; and with the ruddy breath of fire
810
he wasted the masonry squared by Phoebus’ line and chisel, and sacked the land of
Troy
; so twice in two attacks has the blood-stained spear destroyed Dardania’s walls.
815
When he led the chosen flower of
Hellas
, vexed
for the steeds,
1
and at the fair stream of Simois he stayed his sea-borne ship and fastened cables to the stern, and forth from the ship he took the bow his hand could deftly shoot, to be the doom of Laomedon; and with the ruddy breath of fire
810
he wasted the masonry squared by Phoebus’ line and chisel, and sacked the land of
Troy
; so twice in two attacks has the blood-stained spear destroyed Dardania’s walls.
815
Chorus
In vain, it seems, you Phrygian boy
2
pacing with dainty step among your golden chalices, do you fill high the cup of Zeus, a lovely service;
820
the land of your birth is being consumed by fire. The shore re-echoes to our cries; and, as a bird bewails its young,
825
so we bewail our husbands or our children, or our old mothers. The dew-fed springs where you bathed, the course where you trained,
830
are now no more; but you beside the throne of Zeus are sitting with a calm, sweet smile upon your fair young face, while the spear of
Hellas
has destroyed the land of Priam.
835
In vain, it seems, you Phrygian boy
2
pacing with dainty step among your golden chalices, do you fill high the cup of Zeus, a lovely service;
820
the land of your birth is being consumed by fire. The shore re-echoes to our cries; and, as a bird bewails its young,
825
so we bewail our husbands or our children, or our old mothers. The dew-fed springs where you bathed, the course where you trained,
830
are now no more; but you beside the throne of Zeus are sitting with a calm, sweet smile upon your fair young face, while the spear of
Hellas
has destroyed the land of Priam.
835
Chorus
Ah! Love, Love, who once sought these Dardanian halls, deep-seated in the hearts of heavenly gods, how high you made
Troy
to tower in those days,
840
allying her with deities! But I will cease to urge reproaches against Zeus; for white-winged dawn, whose light is dear to man,
845
turned a baleful eye upon our land and watched the ruin of our citadel, though she had within her bridal bower a husband to give her children,
3
from this land,
850
whom once a chariot of gold spangled stars caught up and carried there, great source of hope to his native country ; but all the love the gods once had for
Troy
is passed away.
855
Ah! Love, Love, who once sought these Dardanian halls, deep-seated in the hearts of heavenly gods, how high you made
Troy
to tower in those days,
840
allying her with deities! But I will cease to urge reproaches against Zeus; for white-winged dawn, whose light is dear to man,
845
turned a baleful eye upon our land and watched the ruin of our citadel, though she had within her bridal bower a husband to give her children,
3
from this land,
850
whom once a chariot of gold spangled stars caught up and carried there, great source of hope to his native country ; but all the love the gods once had for
Troy
is passed away.
855
The Trojan Women. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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