And these afflicted Matrons? for your safety
I fear not, while with justice you go forth
To battle. Though I now on Cadmus' Sons
Behold auspicious Fortune smile, I trust
They will ere long experience the reverse
Of her unstable die: for she o'erturn
All that is great and glorious.
Well didst thou plead Adrastus' cause and mine:
Hence twofold joy I feel.
O Mother, the severe reproofs which flow'd
From my indignant tongue, and I my thoughts
Of those pernicious counsels whence arose
His ruin, have express'd. Yet I perceive
What you suggest, that ill would it become
The character I have maintain'd, to fly
From danger. After many glorious deeds
Atchiev'd, among the Greeks, I chose this office,
An exemplary punishment t' inflict
On all the wicked. Therefore from no toils
Can I shrink back, for what would those who hate me
Have to allege, when you who gave me birth,
And tremble for my safety, are the first
Who bid me enter on the bold emprise?
I on this errand go, and will redeem
The dead by words persuasive, or if words
Are ineffectual, with protended spear,
And in an instant, if the envious Gods
Refuse not their assistance. But I wish
That the whole city may a sanction give:
They to my pleasure their assent would yield;
But to the scheme, if I propose it first
To be debated, I shall find the people
More favourable: for them I made supreme,
And on this city, with an equal right
For all to vote, its freedom have bestow'd.
Taking Adrastus with me for a proof
- Of my assertions, midst the crowd I'll go,
And when I have persuaded them, collecting
A chosen squadron of Athenian youths,
Hither return, and halting under arms,
To Creon send a message to request
The bodies of the slain. But from my Mother,
Ye aged Dames, those holy boughs remove,
That I may take her by that much-lov'd hand,
And to the royal dome of Ægeus lead.
Vile is that Son, who to his parents yields
No grateful services, for, from his children,
He who such glorious tribute pays, receives
Whate'er through filial duty he bestow'd.
O Argos, fam'd for steeds, my native plain,
Sure thou, with all Pelasgia's wide domain,
Hast heard the King's benevolent design,
And wilt in grateful strains revere the Powers Divine.
I. 2.
May Theseus put an end to all my woes,
Rescuing those bloody corses from our foes
Still objects of maternal love; his aid
Shall by th' Inachian realm's attachment be repaid.
II. 1.
To pious deeds belongs a mighty name,
And cities sav'd procure eternal fame.
Will he do this; with us in friendship join,
And to the peaceful tomb our slaughter'd Sons consign?
II. 2.
Minerva's town, support a Mother's cause,
Thou from pollution canst preserve the laws
Which man holds sacred, thou rever'st the right, Sett'st the afflicted free, and quell'st outrageous might.
THESEUS, ADRASTUS, CHORUS.
THESEUS TO A HERALD.
Thou, always practising this art, has serv'd
Thy city, and to various regions borne
My embassies: when therefore thou hast cross'd
Asopus, and Ismenos' stream, address
The Theban Monarch in these courteous words;
"Theseus, who dwells in an adjacent realm,
"And hath a right such favour to receive,
"Requests you as a friend t' inter the dead,
"And gain the love of all Erectheus' race."
To this petition if they yield assent,
Come back again in peace: if they refuse,
Thy second message shall be this; "My band
"Of chosen youths in glittering mail array'd
"They must expect: for at the sacred fount
"Callichore, e'en now the assembled host
"Halts under arms, prepar'd for instant fight.”
For in this arduous enterprise, with zeal
The city of its own accord engag'd,
When they perceiv'd my wish. But who intrudes
E'en while I yet am speaking? he appears
To be a Theban Herald, though I doubt it.
Stay; for thy errand he may surpersede,
And by his coming obviate my designs.
THEBAN HERALD, THESEUS, ADRASTUS, CHORUS.
Who is the sovereign ruler of this land? To whom must I unfold the message sent By Creon who presides o'er the domains.
Of Cadmus, since before Thebes' seven-fold gates
Slain by his Brother Polynices' hand
Thy speech, O stranger, hast thou op'd by asking
For a King here; for Athens, this free city,
By no one man is govern'd, but the people
Rule in succession year by year; to wealth
No preference is allow'd, but the poor man
An equal share of empire doth possess.
By yielding up this point, to me you grant
Advantage such as equals the first throw
At dice; the city whence I came is rul'd
By one man only, not by multitudes:
No crafty orator with specious words
For his own interest turns the wavering minds
Of its inhabitants, this moment dear
To all around, and lavish of his favours,
The next a public bane, yet he conceals
By some fresh calumny his errors past,
And scapes the stroke of justice. How can they
Who no sound judgements form, the people, guide
A city well? for Time instead of Haste
Affords the best instructions. But the man
Who tills the ground, by poverty deprest,
If to that poverty he add the want
Of due experience, through the manual toils
He is engag'd in, to the public good
Can ne'er look up. Those too of noble birth
Are much disgusted when the worthless hold
Posts of the highest rank, and he who erst
Was nothing, with his tongue beguiles the crowd,
This witty Herald to his message adds
The flowers of eloquence. But on this strife Since thou hast enter'd, hear me; for 'twas thou
That gav'st the challenge to debate: no curse
(11) Is greater to a city than a King.
For first wheree'er no laws exist which bind
The whole community, and one man rules,
Upon his arbitrary will alone
Depend the laws, and all thy rights are lost.
But under written laws the poor and rich
An equal justice find; and if reproach'd,
They of low station may with equal scorn
Answer the taunting arrogance of wealth;
And an inferior, if his cause be just,]
Conquers the powerful. This too is a mark
Of freedom, where the man who can propose
Some wholesome counsel for the public weal,
Is by the herald called upon to speak.
Then he who with a generous zeal accepts
Such offer, gains renown; but he who likes not
His thoughts to utter, still continues mute.
How can a city be administer'd
With more equality? wheree'er the people
Are sovereigns of the land, a rising race
Of heroes gives them joy; but these a King
Esteems his foes; the brave, with those who bear
The character of wise, he slays, still trembling
For his ill-gotten power. How can that city
On a firm basis stand, where valiant youths,
Like the green sheaf cut from the vernal mead,
Are in their bloom mown down? why then acquire
Large fortunes for our children, to augment
The treasures of a king? or why train up
Our virgin Daughters with an anxious care,
Merely to gratify, the loose desires
(11) "The word rugavos here evidently means a King, for he is called "Bartheus, v. 444; and the dispute is about Monarchy, or the power of 66 one man compared with a Democracy: though in some places the "Poet may seem to confound Royalty with Tyranny; in order, I appre "hend, to place it in a more invidious light," MARKLAND.
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