Ion
Euripides
Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906.
- To him whilst yet a babe did Pallas give—
- Ha! what? thou hast something yet to add?
- Two drops of Gorgon’s blood.
- What power could they exert on the nature of a human creature?
- The one with death is fraught, the other cures disease.
- What held them when she tied them to the child’s body?
- With links of gold she fastened them; this to my sire did Erichthonius give.
- And at his death it came to thee?
- Yea, and here at my wrist I wear it.
- How works the spell of this double gift of Pallas?
- Each drop of gore which trickled from the hollow vein—
- What purpose does it serve? what virtue does it carry?
- Wards off disease, and nourishes man’s life.
- What doth that second drop effect, of which thou madest mention?
- It kills, for it is venom from the Gorgon’s snakes.
- Dost thou carry this charm mixed in one phial, or separate?
- Separate; for good is no companion for evil.
- Daughter dear, thou art fully armed with all thou needest.
- By this must the boy die, and thou must do the deadly deed.
- How and where? thine it is to speak, and mine to dare and do.