Alas! A miserable exile has been decreed for us, old man.DionysusWhy then do you delay what must necessarily be?KadmosChild, what a terrible disaster we have all come to—unhappy you, your sisters, and unhappy me. I shall reach a foreign land as an aged immigrant. Still it is foretold that I shall bring into Hellas a motley barbarian army. Leading their spears, I, having the fierce nature of a serpent, will bring my wife Harmonia, daughter of Ares, to the altars and tombs of Hellas. I will neither rest from my troubles in my misery, nor will I sail over the downward flowing Acheron and be at peace.AgaveO father, I will go into exile deprived of you.KadmosWhy do you embrace me with your hands, child, like a swan for its exhausted gray-haired parent?AgaveFor where can I turn, banished from my father-land?KadmosI do not know, child; your father is a poor ally.AgaveFarewell, house, farewell, city of my forefathers. In misfortune I leave you, a fugitive from my chamber.KadmosGo now, child, to the land of Aristaeus . . . AgaveI grieve for you, father.KadmosAnd I for you, child, and I weep for your sisters.AgaveTerribly indeed has lord Dionysus brought this misery to your home.DionysusYes, for I suffered terrible things at your hands, with my name not honored in Thebes.AgaveFarewell, my father.KadmosFarewell, unhappy