Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1894) v1.djvu/161

Enter Aphroditê.

Mighty on earth, and named by many a name
Am I, the Goddess Kypris, as in heaven.
And of all dwellers 'twixt the Pontic Sea
And Atlas' bourn, which look on the sun's light,
I honour them which reverence my power, 5
But bring the proud hearts that defy me low.
For even to the Gods this appertains,
That in the homage of mankind they joy.
And I will give swift proof of these my words.
For Theseus' son, born of the Amazon, 10
Hippolytus, pure-hearted Pittheus' ward,
Sole mid the folk of this Trœzenian land
Sayeth that vilest of the Gods am I;
Rejects the couch; of marriage will he none;
But Phœbus' sister Artemis, Zeus' child, 15
Honours, of all Gods chiefest holding her:
And through the greenwood in the Maid's train still
With swift hounds sweeps the wild beasts from the earth,
Linked with companionship for men too high.
Yet this I grudge not: what is this to me? 20
But that his wrong to me will I avenge