And make thy flesh to writhe by cruel wounds.AndromacheBegin thy butchery, stain the altar of the goddess with blood, for she will visit thy iniquity.HermioneBarbarian creature, hardened in impudence, wilt thou brave death itself? Still will I find speedy means to make thee quit this seat of thy free-will; such a bait have I to lure thee with. But I will hide my meaning, which the event itself shall soon declare. Yes, keep thy seat, for I will make thee rise, though molten lead is holding thee there, before Achilles’ son, thy trusted champion, arrive. Exit Hermione.AndromacheMy trusted champion, yes! how strange it is, that, though some god hath devised cures for mortals against the venom of reptiles, no man ever yet hath discovered aught to cure a woman’s venom, which is far worse than viper’s sting or scorching flame; so terrible a curse are we to mankind.

ChorusAh! what sorrows did the son of Zeus and Maia herald, in the day he came to Ida’s glen, guiding that fair young trio of goddesses, all girded for the fray in bitter rivalry about their beauty, to the shepherd’s fold, where dwelt the youthful herdsman all alone by the hearth of his lonely hut.

ChorusSoon as they reached the wooded glen, in gushing mountain springs they bathedνίψαν. So Hermann. αἰγλᾶντα, Musgrave. ἐν ῥοαῖς, Aldus. their dazzling skin, then sought the son of Priam, comparing their rival charms in more than rancorous phrase.Reading ὑπερβολαῖς λόγων δθσφρόνων. Hermann places a stop after Πριαμίδαν, and then reads ὑπερβολαῖς λόγων δ’ εὐφρόνων. But Cypris won the day by her deceitful promises,sweet-sounding words, but fraught with ruthless overthrow to Phrygia’s hapless town and Ilium’s towers.

ChorusWould God his mother had smitten him a cruel death-blowμόρον, Hermann’s correction for Πάριν. on the head before he made his home on Ida’s