Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1898) v3.djvu/322

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EURIPIDES.

Then, when thou and all the host of Hellas unto Aulis came, 350
Nought wast thou, at Heaven's visitation utterly dismayed,
When the wafting breezes failed thee, when the sons of Danaus bade
Send the ships disbanded thence, nor toil at Aulis all in vain.
O thy rueful face, thy wildered eye, lest thou on Priam's plain,
Thou, the captain of a thousand galleys, ne'er shouldst pour thy spears! 355
"What shall I do?" didst thou ask me; "What device, and whence, appears,
That of lordship I be not bereft, nor lose my fair renown?"
Then, when Kalchas on the altar bade thee lay thy child's life down
Unto Artemis,—the Danaïds so should sail,—with gladness filled
Blithely promisedst to slay thy daughter; yea, didst send free-willed— 360
Not constrained, thou canst not say it—to thy queen, that hitherward
She should send thy child, as who should take Achilles for her lord:—
Lo, the selfsame sky o'erhead which heard thee then record thy vow!—[1]
Now thou turn'st about, art found recasting that thy message now,
Saying thou wilt ne'er be slayer of thy child! So is it still— 365

  1. ↑ Adopting Paley's arrangement of lines.
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