Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1896) v2.djvu/168

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EURIPIDES.

So I, thy friend and Athens' saviour aye,
A sojourner shall lie beneath your soil,
But to these and their children sternest foe
What time they march with war-hosts hitherward, 1305
Traitors to this your kindness:—such the guests
Ye championed! Wherefore then, if this I knew,
Came I, and feared not the God's oracles?
Hera, methought, than these was mightier far,
And would not so forsake me. Shed not ye 1040
Drink-offerings nor blood upon my tomb.
For evil home-return will I give these
For this. Of me shall ye have double gain,—
My death shall be your blessing and their curse.


Alkmena.

Why linger then—if so ye must achieve 1045
Your city's safety and your children's weal,—
To slay this man, who hear this prophecy?
Himself the path of perfect safety points.
Your foe he is, yet is his death your gain.
Hence with him, thralls. When ye have slain him, then 1050
To dogs ye ought to cast him![1] Hope not thou
To live, and drive me again from fatherland.

[Exeunt guards with Eurystheus.

Chorus.

I also consent. On, henchman-train,
March on with the doomed. No blood-guilt stain,
Proceeding of us, on our kings shall remain. 1055

[Exeunt omnes.

  1. ↑ This is inconsistent with 1023—4. Various explanations have been suggested. Might Euripides have written πόλει—"to Athens must ye yield him"?
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