Rhesus

Euripides

Euripides. The Rhesus of Euripides. Translated into English rhyming verse with explanatory notes by Gilbert Murray. Murray, Gilbert, translator. London: George Allen and Company, Ltd., 1913.

  1. O Zeus above, who checked my conquering way,
  2. Who baulked the hungry lion of his prey
  3. Or ever I could sweep my country clear
  4. Of these despoilers, dost thou hate my spear?
  5. Had but the sun’s bright arrows failed me not,
  6. I ne’er had rested till the ships were hot
  7. With fire, and through the tents upon the plain
  8. This bloody hand had passed and passed again!
  9. Myself, I longed to try the battle-cast
  10. By night, and use God’s vantage to the last,
  11. But sage and prophet, learned in the way
  12. Of seercraft, bade me wait for dawn of day,
  13. And then—leave no Greek living in the land.
  14. They wait not, they, for what my prophets planned
  15. So sagely. In the dark a runaway
  16. Beats a pursuer.
  17. Through our whole array
  18. Send runners! Bid them shake off sleep and wait
  19. Ready with shield and spear. ’Tis not too late
  20. To catch them as they climb on board, and slash