Seven Against Thebes

Aeschylus

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

  1. The earth’s varied fruits, fallen to the ground, give pain, a bitter sight for the maid-servants.
  2. In jumbled confusion the abundant gifts of earth are carried away by reckless looting waves. Young women, enslaved, suffer a new evil: a bed of misery, prize of the conquering enemy’s spear, as though of a prospering husband—
  3. they can expect the coming of the nightly rite, which gives aid to tears and anguish![*](In this highly condensed passage, contrasted with the note of the misery of an enforced union is an undertone of the happiness of a marriage of love. ἀνδρός is at once man and husband, τέλος rite and consummation, ἐλπίς expectation of sorrow and joy.)
The Scout is seen approaching from one side; Eteocles from the other.
LEADER OF THE FIRST HALF-CHORUS
  1. The scout, I believe,