Supplices

Aeschylus

Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.

  1. Our oars, indeed, and our timbered ship, bound with yellow rope[*](Undergirding ropes (ὑποζώματα) to brace a ship’s sides. Cp. l. 441.)
  2. to withstand the sea, sped me on by help of favoring winds, unharmed by all tempests; nor have I reason for complaint. But may the all-seeing Father
  3. establish a kindly issue in due time—
Chorus
  1. That the mighty race of our honorable mother escape the embrace of man (ah me), unwedded, unvanquished.
Chorus
  1. And may Zeus’ pure daughter, she who holds securely the sacred wall, willingly, meeting my will, look upon me; and, grieved at our pursuit, come with all her might, a virgin to a virgin’s aid,
  2. to deliver me—
Chorus
  1. That the mighty race of our honorable mother may escape the embrace of man (ah me), unwedded, unvanquished.
Chorus
  1. Yet, if she will not, we, a dark,
  2. sun-burned race, with suppliant boughs will invoke the underworld Zeus, Zeus the great host
  3. of the dead; for if the gods of Olympus hear us not, we will hang ourselves.
Chorus
  1. Ah Zeus! On account of the poisonous hate of Io vengeance from the gods pursues us.[*](The assets of public debtors and exiles were ascertained and secured at Athens by officers called μαστῆρες.)I know
  2. your consort’s sky-conquering spite; for a stormy sea follows a harsh wind.
Chorus
  1. And Zeus shall then be liable to the charge of injustice
  2. that he hates the child of the heifer, the child whom he himself begat long ago, his very own, and now he holds his face averted from our prayers.
  3. May he from above hear our call!
Chorus
  1. Ah Zeus! On account of the poisonous hate of Io vengeance from the gods pursues us. I know
  2. your consort’s sky-conquering spite; for a stormy sea follows a harsh wind.
Danaus
  1. My children, you must be prudent. A prudent captain of your voyage was your reliable old father here with whom you came. And now that I have considered with foresight what may befall us here on land, I charge you, record my injunctions on the tablets of your minds and guard them.
  2. I see dust, the voiceless herald of an army; the axle-driven wheels are not silent in their sockets. I behold a throng, armed with shields and holding spears, with steeds and curved chariots. Perhaps they are the princes of the land
  3. come to look on us, informed by messengers. But whether a harmless man or one driven by savage wrath rouses this expedition, it is better, damsels, in any case, to seat yourselves at that mound sacred to the assembled gods. [*](ἀγών has here the force of ἀγορά, place of assembly. Cp. l. 222.)