Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1898) v3.djvu/367

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IPHIGENEIA AT AULIS.
339

Now, if one ask thee wherefore thou wilt slay her,
Speak, what wilt say?—or must I speak for thee?—
That Helen's lord may win her? Glorious this,
To pay a wanton's price in children's lives!
So shall we buy things loathed with things most loved. 1170
Come, if thou go to war, and leave me here
At home, and through long absence tarry there,
With what heart, think'st thou, shall I keep thine halls,
When vacant of her I behold each chair,
Vacant each maiden-bower, and sit me down 1175
In loneliness of tears, and mourn her ever—
"O child, he which begat thee murdered thee
Himself, none other, by none other hand,
Leaving unto this house such vengeance-debt!"[1]—
Seeing there needeth but faint pretext now 1180
Whereon both I and thy seed left to thee
Shall hail thee with such greeting as is meet.
Nay, by the Gods, constrain not me to turn
Traitress to thee; nor such be thou to me.
Lo now—
Thy daughter slain, what prayer wilt thou pray then, 1185
Implore what blessing, o'er thy murdered child?
An ill home-coming, since in shame thou goest?
Were't just that I pray any good for thee?
O surely must we deem the Gods be fools,
If we wish blessings upon murderers! 1190
Wilt thou return to Argos, clasp thy babes?

  1. ↑ It would seem that either something has here been interpolated, or something lost. Paley suggests, to connect the sense, and to make 1182 plainer,
    "Leaving such recompense due unto thee,
    How wilt thou dare to seek again thine house?"
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.