Aeschylus Seven Against Thebes 17

Anna Swanwick (Translator)

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LEADER OF 2ND HALF CHORUS
For lo! with slanting plumes
A surge of warriors round our city wall,
On blasts of Ares riding, hoarsely booms.

Seven Against Thebes. Aeschylus. Anna Swanwick (Translator). London. 1886.

Sponsored by University of Leipzig.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition Experimental

Seven Against Thebes (OCR draft) (English) (Seven Against Thebes. Anna Swanwick, 1886.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (7)
Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 1-107 focus
Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.) — 1-107 focus
Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας (OCR draft) Experimental (Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 1 focus
Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας (OCR draft) Experimental (Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 1 focus
ΕΠΤΑ ΕΠΙ θΗΒΑΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΕΠΤΑ ΕΠΙ θΗΒΑΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 1 focus
Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας (OCR draft) Experimental (Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ θήβας. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 1 focus
Κάδμου πολῖται, χρὴ λέγειν τὰ καίρια
1
ὅστις φυλάσσει πρᾶγος ἐν πρύμνῃ πόλεως
οἴακα νωμῶν, βλέφαρα μὴ κοιμῶν ὕπνῳ.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὖ πράξαιμεν, αἰτία θεοῦ·
εἰ δ᾽ αὖθ', ὃ μὴ γένοιτο, συμφορὰ τύχοι,
5
Ἐτεοκλέης ἂν εἷς πολὺς κατὰ πτόλιν
ὑμνοῖθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀστῶν φροιμίοις πολυρρόθοις
οἰμώγμασίν θ᾽, ὧν Ζεὺς ἀλεξητήριος
ἐπώνυμος γένοιτο Καδμείων πόλει.
ὑμᾶς δὲ χρὴ νῦν, καὶ τὸν ἐλλείποντ᾽ ἔτι
10
ἥβης ἀκμαίας καὶ τὸν ἔξηβον χρόνῳ,
βλαστημὸν ἀλδαίνοντα σώματος πολύν,
Aeschyli Septem contra Thebas (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Septem contra Thebas. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 1 focus
Translations (8)
Seven Against Thebes Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 1-105 focus
The Seven against Thebes. (OCR draft) Experimental (The Seven against Thebes.. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 1 focus
Citizens of Cadmus! it is fitting that he should speak things seasonable, who has the care of affairs on the poop of a state, managing the helm, not lulling his eyelids in slumber. For if we succeed, the gods are the cause; but if, on the other hand, (which heaven forbid,) mischance should befall, Eteocles alone would be much bruited through the city by the townsmen in strains clamorous and in wailings, of which may Jove prove rightly called the Averter to the city of the Cadmaeans
. And now it behoves you—both him who still falls short of youth in its prime, and him who in point of age has passed his youth, nurturing the ample vigour of his frame and each that is in his prime
, as is best fitting— to succour the city, and the altars of your country's gods, so that their honours may never be obliterated; your children too, and your motherland, most beloved nurse; for she, taking fully on herself the whole trouble of your rearing, nurtured you when infants crawling on her kindly soil, for her trusty shield-bearing citizens, that ye might be [trusty]
for this service. And, for the present indeed, up to this day, the deity inclines in our favour; since to us now all this time beleaguered the war for the most part, by divine allotment, turns out well. But now, as saith the seer, the feeder
of birds, revolving in ear and thoughts, without the use of fire, the oracular birds with unerring art,—he, lord of such divining powers, declares that the main Achaean assault is this night proclaimed
, and [that the Achaeans] attempt the city.
But haste ye all, both to the battlements and the gates of the tower-works; On! in full panoply throng the breastworks, and take your stations on the platforms of the towers, and, making stand at the outlets of the gates, be of good heart, nor be over-dismayed at the rabble of the aliens; God will give a happy issue. Moreover, I have also despatched scouts and observers of the army, who will not, I feel assured, loiter on their way; and when I have had intelligence from these, I shall, in no point, be surprised by stratagem.
LES SEPT CONTRE THÈBES (OCR draft) Experimental (LES SEPT CONTRE THÈBES. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 1 focus
Peuple de Cadmos, il doit dire ce que l'heure exige, le chef qui, tout à sa besogne, au gouvernail de la cité, tient la barre en main, sans laisser dormir ses paupières. Car, en cas de succès, aux dieux tout le mérite !
Si au contraire — ce qu'au Ciel ne plaise ! — un malheur arrive, « Étéocle ! » — un seul nom dans des milliers de bouches sera célébré par des hymnes grondants et des lamentations, dont Zeus Préservateur, pour mériter son nom, puisse-t-il préserver la cité cadméenne ! Et vous
aussi, vous devez tous à cette heure, ceux qui attendent encore la pleine force de la jeunesse comme ceux qu'elle a fuis avec l'âge, gonflant du moins vos muscles pour en doubler la vigueur, chacun enfin se donnant au rôle qui convient à ses forces, porter secours à la cité, aux autels
des dieux du pays afin que leur culte ne soit pas à jamais effacé — à vos fils, et à la Terre maternelle, la plus tendre des nourrices, qui, à l'heure où, enfants, vous vous traîniez sur son sol bienveillant, a pris toute la charge de votre nourriture et fait de vous les loyaux citoyens armés du
bouclier qu'elle attend en ce besoin. — Sans doute, jusqu'ici le Ciel penche pour nous : depuis de longs jours que Thèbes est assiégée, la guerre, grâce aux dieux, nous a le plus souvent donné l'avantage. Mais voici qu'aujourd'hui parle le devin, pâtre des oiseaux, qui, sans recourir aux
The Seven Chiefs against Thebes (OCR draft) Experimental (The Seven Chiefs against Thebes. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 1 focus
YE citizens of Cadmus a
, it behoves
1
The man that guides the helm of state b
, to speak
What the sad times require; nor suffer sleep
To weigh his eyelids down.
For if success
5
Attends our toils, to the good Gods we bow c
,
The authors of the blessing: Should misfortune,
Avert it Heav'n! befall, Eteocles
Shall hear his name alone wide thro' the city
Insulted by each tongue, that vents its spleen
10
In mutinous reproach, or loud laments:
From which may Jove, the guardian of our state,
Defend the sons of Cadmus!
But this hour
Calls on you all, whether your flow'ry spring
15
Yet wants the prime of manhood, or your age
Puts forth its firmest strength, t' exert your pow'rs,
Well it becomes you, to defend the city,
The altars of the Gods presiding here,
(Ah, never may their honours be effac'd!)
20
Your children, and this land, your common parent,
And dearest nurse, who on her soft'ring soil
Upheld with bounteous care your infant steps,
And train'd you to this service, that your hands
In her defence might lift the faithful shield.
25
E'en to this day indeed the Gods incline
To favour us; and tho' so long immur'd
Within our rampires, each bold work of war
Hath prosper'd in our hands.
But now the seer,
30
That listens to the flight of birds d
, and thence
Forms in his præscient mind the sure presage,
Guiltless of fire, from their oracular wings
Draws his deep skill, and warns us that the pow'rs
Of Greece, combin'd against us, in the night
35
Advancing, meditate the dark assault.
Haste all then to the walls, haste to the bulwarks
With all your arms, fill ev'ry tow'r, secure
Each pass, stand firm at ev'ry gate, be bold,
Nor fear th' assailing numbers: Heav'n is with us.
40
Meanwhile on ev'ry quarter have I sent
T' observe their forces, and descry their march:
By these, not charg'd, I trust, in vain to watch,
Inform'd I guard against the wiles of war.
Eschilo, I Sette a Tebe: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, I Sette a Tebe: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 1 focus
ETEOCLE
1
ARALDO
CORO DI FANCIULLE TEBANE
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
5
BANDITORE
POPOLO
Aeschylus, Septem ad Thebas: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Septem ad Thebas: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 1 focus
Cadmi ciues, quæ opportuna sunt,
1
opus est dicere.
Quicunq; negotioru curam habet,
in puppi ciuitatis
Habens clauum, palpebras ne det
5
somno.
Si bene nobiscum agitur, cauſa dijs tribuenda eſt:
Si uerò uiciſsim (quod ne contingat) calamitas acci-derit,
Etheocles unus multus per ciuitatem
Conuicijs afficiatur proæmijs tumultuoſis,
10
Et fletibus: quibus Iupiter defensor,
Nominatus sit Thebanorum urbi.
Vos uerò oportet nunc, et eum qui adhuc
Impubes est, et eu qui tépore exceſsit ex pubertate,
Florens ac creſcens, multum corporis
15
Vigorem habere quemq;, ut decet,
Vrbemq; iuuare deorum patriorum
Abaris, nunquam honores delere:
Filiosq; & matrem chariſsimam, terram altricem.
Quæ enim uenietes iuuenes in propitium campum,
20
Omnia admittens labore diſciplinæ,
Aluit incolas ſcutatos
Fideles ut sitis in hoc opere.
Et nunc in hoc die bene uertat Deus:
Nam hoc tempore turrium cuſtolibus,
25
Fœliciter plerumq; bellum ex dijs ſuccedit.
Nunc uerò ut uates ait auium pastor,
In auribus conſiderans mentibus sine igne,
Fatidicas aues uera arte:
Ipſe talium uaticinationum dominus
30
Dicit, maximam incurſionem Grecanicam
Noctu deliberare, & inſidiari urbi.
Sed ad propugnacula, portas turrium
Festinate omnes, cum armis:
Implete thoraces, in tabulatis
35
Turrium state, in exitibus portarum
Manentes, confidite: neq;
hostium
Timete admodum multitudinem, bene uertat Deus.
Speculatores ego, & exploratores exercitus
40
Miſi, quibus persuasi ne frustra iter aggrederentur,
Vt illos audiens non capiar dolo.
English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1908) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.) — 1 focus
Clansmen of Cadmus, at the signal given
1
By time and season must the ruler speak
Who sets the course and steers the ship of State
With hand upon the tiller, and with eye
Watchful against the treachery of sleep.
5
For if all go aright, thank Heaven, men say,
But if adversely—which may God forefend!—
One name on many lips, from street to street,
Would bear the bruit and rumour of the time,
Down with Eteocles!—a clamorous curse,
10
A dirge of ruin. May averting Zeus
Make good his title here, in Cadmus' hold!
You it beseems now—boys unripened yet
To lusty manhood, men gone past the prime
And increase of the full begetting seed,
15
And those whom youth and manhood well combined
Array for action—all to rise in aid
Of city, shrines, and altars of all powers
Who guard our land; that ne'er, to end of time,
Be blotted out the sacred service due
20
To our sweet mother-land and to her brood.
For she it was who to their guest-right called
Your waxing youth, was patient of the toil,
And cherished you on the land's gracious lap,
Alike to plant the hearth and bear the shield
25
In loyal service, for an hour like this.
Mark now! until to-day, luck rules our scale;
For we, though long beleaguered, in the main
Have with our sallies struck the foemen hard.
But now the seer, the feeder of the birds,
30
(Whose art unerring and prophetic skill
Of ear and mind divines their utterance
Without the lore of fire interpreted)
Foretelleth, by the mastery of his art,
That now an onset of Achaea's host
35
Is by a council of the night designed
To fall in double strength upon our walls.
Up and away, then, to the battlements,
The gates, the bulwarks! don your panoplies,
Array you at the breast-work, take your stand
40
On floorings of the towers, and with good heart
Stand firm for sudden sallies at the gates,
Nor hold too heinous a respect for hordes
Sent on you from afar: some god will guard!
I too, for shrewd espial of their camp,
45
Have sent forth scouts, and confidence is mine
They will not fail nor tremble at their task,
And, with their news, I fear no foeman's guile.
[ Enter A Spy.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1854; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylos. Deutsch in den Versmaßen der Urschrift. Stuttgart: Hoffmann, 1854. Native Donner line citations, Smyth card correspondence, selected textual readings and metrical facsimiles. Remaining OCR differences and unattributed reading notes are documented in the linked review inventory.) — 1 focus
Ihr Kadmosbürger, reden muß das Treffende, 1
1
Wer, wach für seines Volkes Wohl, das Ruder lenkt
Am Bord des Staates, nie das Aug' in Schlaf gewiegt.
Denn sind wir glücklich, wissen wir's den Göttern Dank;
Doch wenn ein Leid uns träfe, - mög' es nie gescheh'n! -
5
Dann würde durch die ganze Stadt Eteokles nur
Vielfach von alles Volkes weithinſchallendem
Wehklageruf gefeiert: Zeus der Schüßende,
Treu seinem Namen, wende dies von Kadmos' Stadt!
Auf, Bürger alle, wer zu voller Manneskraft
10
Noch nicht gereift ist oder wer bereits ergraut,
Pflegt eures Leibes, stählet ihn zu frischer That,
Voll regen Eifers alle, wie's die Pflicht gebeut,
Die Stadt zu schirmen und der Landesgötter Herd,
Daß ihrer Ehren Sterne niemals untergeh'n,
15
Auch Söhn' und Mutter Erde, die uns hold gepflegt!
Denn als ihr, klein noch, spieltet auf dem weichen Grund,
Hat sie der Kindespflege Last all' über sich
Genommen, hat zu schildbewehrten Bürgern euch
Erzogen, daß ihr rüstig wärt zu solchem Dienst.
20
Bis diesen Tag nun neigte sich ein Gott zu uns.
Denn sind wir auch belagert schon die lange Zeit,
Gewährten gute Götter uns doch meist den Sieg.
Doch, wie der Seher heute sprach, der Vögel Wart,
Der, ohne Flammenzeichen, nur mit Geist und Ohr
25
Der Vögel Schicksalsfluge lauscht voll weiser Kunst, -
Er, solcher Sprüche Meister, that uns heute kund,
Das Heer Achäa's habe sich zahlreich zu Nacht
Gesammelt, und bedrohe Kadmos' Stadt mit Sturm.
Drum auf die Mauerzinnen, an die Thorbastei'n
30
Eilt alle, stürmt in voller Rüstung all' hinaus,
Besekt die Brustwehr, stellet auf die Platten euch
Der Thurmeshöhen, an den Thorausgängen harrt
Getrostes Muthes, zaget nicht in banger Angst
Vor diesem Fremdlingsschwarme: wohl vollbringt's ein Gott!
35
Kundschafter sandt' ich, Späher in das Heer hinaus,
Und die verfehlen sicher nicht des Weges Ziel.
Wenn sie mir Kunde bringen, fängt mich keine List.
(Das bewaffnete Volk entfernt sich nach der Stadtseite. Nachher tritt ein Bote ein von der Seite der Fremde.)

Commentary

Critical apparatus to Seven Against Thebes (OCR draft) (Latin and Greek critical apparatus to Gottfried Hermann's 1852 edition of Seven Against Thebes.) focus

110. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg004-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-170

σὺ δ' ἀλλ᾽, ὦ Ζεῦ, Ζεῦ, πάτερ παντελές: Libri
ἀλλ᾽ ὦ ζεῦ πάτερ παντελές
. Sed quum haec stropha accurate sibi respondentem habeat antistropham, in qua duo sunt dochmii,
σύ τ' Αρης, φεῦ φεῦ, Κάδμου ἐπώνυμον
, non dubitavi quin addito
où d'
et geminato
Zev
scribendum esset
σὺ δ᾽ ἀλλ᾽, ὦ Ζεῦ, Ζεῦ, πάτερ παντελές
.
110

Commentary (N. Wecklein, 1902; German; OCR draft) (Seven Against Thebes, explanatory commentary pp. 15–100. Single-witness OCR; source readings and all reference placements require scan review.) focus

78-164. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg004-wecklein1902-com-ger1-59

1
2
Parodos, welche die Schrecken einer belagerten und dem Sturm entgegensehenden Stadt mit solcher Kraft und sinnlicher Lebendigkeit des Ausdrucks vor die Augen führt, daß wir das kriegerische Treiben vor den Mauern ebenso vor uns sehen, wie im Agamemnon die Kassandraszene uns zu Zuschauern der Vorgänge im Hause macht. Zu der Kraft des Ausdrucks kam bei der Auf- führung noch die Veranschaulichung durch die σχήματα ὀρχήσεως, wie bei Athen. I S. 22 A berichtet wird, ὅτι Τελέστης ὁ Αἰσχύλου ὀρχηστής οὕτως ἦν τεχνίτης ὥστε ἐν τῷ ὀρχεῖσθαι τοὺς Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας φανερὰ ποιῆσαι τὰ πράγματα δι ὀρχήσεως. Von diesem Telestes heist es dort weiter: πολλὰ ἐξεύρηκε σχήματα, ἄκρως ταῖς χερσὶ τὰ λεγόμενα δεικνύς. Auf diese χειρο- νομία weist z. Β. ὅδε 80 hin. Das Ganze zerfällt in 4 Teile: im ersten (78-106) kommen die zwölf Choreuten einzeln zum Vortrag, wie sie der Reihe nach entweder einzeln oder, was wahrscheinlicher ist, in drei Gruppen zu je 4 Personen auf- treten ( σποράδην wie Eum. 244 1.). Der Chor besteht ja aus Jungfrauen, Bürgerstöchtern, welche in ihrer Angst zu den Altären der Götter flüchten, also vorher noch nicht versammelt sind. Im zweiten Teile (107—134) singen, wie die drei gleichen Verse 112, 116, 119 = 126, 130, 133 erkennen lassen, die drei στοίχοι nacheinander die Strophe und ebenso die Antistrophe. Den dritten Teil (135–151) tragen die beiden Halbchöre vor, nur in die Weherufe brechen alle zusammen aus. Den letzten Teil (152-165), ein Gebet, spricht der Gesamtchor. Die Wahl von Jungfrauen er- klärt der Schol. gut: εὐπτόητον ἡ τῶν παρθένων ἡλικία, μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς πολιορκίαν.

107-134. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg004-wecklein1902-com-ger1-80

3
4
zweiter Teil, dessen drei Abschnitte durch den Schluß- rhythmus ge- kennzeichnet werden. In der Strophe werden die Götter in ihrer Gesamt- heit und Zeus, in der Antistrophe die besonderen Schutzgottheiten des Landes, Athena, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollon und Artemis angerufen.

110. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg004-wecklein1902-com-ger1-84

5
6
κῦμα ἀνδρῶν wie κῦμα φω- τῶν 1069. δοχμολόφων: Schol. τῶν ἐπινευόντων τοὺς λόφους. ἐν γὰρ τῇ κινήσει συμβαίνει πλαγιά ζεσθαι τοὺς λόφους, nach Hom. Π 216 ψαῦον δ' ἱππόκομοι κόρυθες λαμπροῖσι φάλοισιν νευόντων. Im Hinblick auf λευκολόφας Phoen. 119, γοργολόφας Aristoph. Ach. 567 hat Brunck hier δοχμολοφᾶν ge- schrieben.