Persians
Aeschylus
Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.
- O cities of all the land of Asia,
- O realm of Persia, and bounteous haven of wealth, at a single stroke all your plenteous prosperity has been shattered, and the flower of the Persians has fallen and perished! Ah, it is a terrible task to be the first to deliver news of disaster. And yet, Persians, I must relate the entirety of the calamity
- —the whole barbarian host is lost.
- Grievous, grievous disaster, strange and cruel. Alas, Persians, weep now that you hear of this calamity.
- Yes, weep, for you hear that the whole army is utterly destroyed; and I myself unexpectedly behold the day of my return.
- The life which has been given to us elders is too long, for we have now heard
- of this unexpected misery.
- Since I myself was present and did not merely hear what happened from the report of others, I can tell you exactly what kind of disaster was wrought.
- Alas, alas! In vain did our vast and variously armed host
- go forth from the land of Asia against the hostile soil of Hellas.
- Full of the bodies of men who perished by a miserable fate are the shores of Salamis and all the neighboring coasts.
- Alas, alas! You say that the bodies of our loved ones,
- battered by the brine and drenched, are tossing, washed back and forth among the reefs.
- Our bows were of no use, and the whole host has perished, overwhelmed when ship charged on ship.
- Raise a doleful and mournful wail for the Persians, the wretched Persians, since they have met with complete and utter ruin. Alas for the destruction of our host!
- O name of Salamis most odious to my ears!
- Alas, how I groan when I recall the memory of Athens!
- Ah, hateful indeed is Athens to her foes. Now must we remember how many Persian women she has deprived of sons and husbands, lost all in vain.
- Long have I kept silent in my misery, struck with dismay at our disaster; for this calamity is so great that it is not possible to say or even to ask about its extent. Nevertheless mortals must endure affliction when it is heaven-sent.