For against our fortifications some are advancing with all their men, all in formation. Ah, what will become of me? Others are hurling jagged bouldersat the citizens on all sides. O Gods born of Zeus, by every means rescue our city and people, sprung from Cadmus!

ChorusWhat more fertile plain will you find in place of ours,if you abandon to the enemy this deep-soiled land and the water of Dirce which is the most nourishing of the streams that earth-encircling Poseidon