EUMENIDES
A monologue from the
play by Aeschylus
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Dramas of Aeschylus. Trans. Anna Swanwick. London:
George Bell and Sons, 1907. |
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- ATHENA: Not slighted are ye, powers august! through
rage
- Curse not with hopeless blight the abode of man.
- I too on Zeus rely; why speak of that?
- And sole among the gods I know the key
- That opes the halls where sealèd thunder sleeps.
- But such we need not. Be appeased by me,
- Nor scatter o'er the land, from froward tongue,
- The harmful seed that turneth all to bane.
- Of bitter rage lull ye the murky wave;
- Be venerated here and dwell with me.
- Sharing the first fruits of this ample realm,
- For children offered, and for nuptial rite,
- This word of mine thou wilt for ever praise.
- I'll bear thine anger, for mine elder thou,
- And wiser art, in that regard, than I.
- Yet me, with wisdom, Zeus not meanly dowers.
- But if now ye seek some alien soil,
- Will of this land enamour'd be; of this
- You I forewarn; for onward-flowing time
- Shall these my lieges raise to loftier fame;
- And thou, in venerable seat enshrined
- Hard by Erectheus' temple, shalt receive
- Honours from men and trains of women, such
- As thou from other mortals ne'er may'st win.
- But cast ye not abroad on these my realms,
- To waste their building strength, whetstones of blood,
- Evoking frantic rage not born of wine;
- Nor, as out-plucking hearts of fighting cocks,
- Plant ye among my townsmen civil strife,
- Reckless of kindred blood; let foreign war
- Rage without stint, affording ample scope
- For him who burns with glory's mighty rage.
- No war of home-bred cocks, I ween, is that!
- Such terms I proffer, thine it is to choose;
- Blessing and blest, with blessèd rites revered,
- To share this country dear unto the gods.
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MONOLOGUES BY AESCHYLUS |
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