things he should say. Now stay here and beseech the
gods of the land with prayers to grant what you desire, while I go to advance
your cause. May persuasion and efficacious fortune attend me!
[ Exit with attendants. ]
CHORUS
[524] Lord of
lords, most blessed among the blessed, power most perfect among the perfect, O
blessed Zeus, hear! And from your offspring ward off in utter abhorrence the
lust of men, and into the purple sea cast their black-benched madness!
[531] Look benignly
upon the women’s cause, look upon our race ancient in story, and recall the happy
tale of our ancestress, the woman of your love. Show that you remember all, you
who laid your hand upon Io. It is from Zeus that we claim descent, and it is
from this, our homeland, that we went forth.
[538] I have come here
to the prints of ancient feet, my mother’s, even to the region where she was
watched while she browsed among the flowers — into that pasture, from which Io,
tormented by the gad-fly’s sting, fled in frenzy, traversing many tribes of
men, and according to fate, cut in two the surging strait, marking off the land
upon the farther shore.
[547] And through the
land of Asia she gallops, straight through sheep-pasturing Phrygia, and she
passes the city of Teuthras among the Mysians, and the hollow vales of Lydia,
across the mountains of the Cilicians and the Pamphylians, speeding over
ever-flowing rivers and earth deep and rich, and the land of Aphrodite that
teems with wheat.
[556] Harassed by the
sting of the winged herdsman she gains at last the fertile groves sacred to
Zeus, that snow-fed pasture assailed by Typho’s fury, and the water of the Nile
that no disease may touch — maddened by her ignominious toils and frenzied with
the pain of Hera’s torturing goad.
[565] And mortals, who
in those days dwelled in the land, shook with pallid terror at the terrible
sight as they beheld a being fearsome, half-human, part cow and part of woman;
and they were astonished at the monstrous thing. And then, at last, who was it
who calmed the far-wandering, the wretched, the sting-tormented Io?
[574] Zeus, it was,
through endless time, the lord, . . . and by the unharming might of his hand,
and by his divine breath, she gained rest, and let fall the sorrowing shame of
tears. And, taking Zeus as her support, according to a true story, she bore a
blameless son —
[582] Tthroughout long
ages blessed. All the earth cries aloud, “This is in very truth the offspring
of life-giving Zeus; for who else could have endured the suffering plotted by
Hera?” Call this the work of Zeus and this his race sprung from Epaphus and you
will hit the truth.
[590] Which of the
gods has accomplished deeds which, with good reason, warrant more justly my
appeal to him? Father himself and lord, he planted us with his own hand; he is
the mighty fashioner of our race, ancient in wisdom, who devises everything,
whose breath makes all things prosper, Zeus himself.
[595] He does not sit
upon his throne by mandate of another and hold his dominion beneath a mightier.
No one sits above him whose power he holds in awe. He speaks, and it is done — he
hastens to execute whatever his counselling mind conceives.
[ Re-enter
Danaus. ]
DANAUS
[600] Be of good
cheer, my children, all goes well on the part of the citizens. Decrees,
carrying full authority, have been passed.
CHORUS
[602] Hail, our
envoy, harbinger of tidings most welcome, But tell us — to what end has the
decision been carried, and to what course does the majority of the people’s
votes incline?
DANAUS
[605] Action was
taken by the Argives, not by any doubtful vote but in such a way as to make my
aged heart renew its youth. For the air bristled with right hands held aloft
as, in full vote, they ratified this resolution into law: “That we are settlers
in this land, and are free, subject to no seizure, and secure from robbery of
man; that no one, native or alien, lead us captive; but, if they turn
gods of the land with prayers to grant what you desire, while I go to advance
your cause. May persuasion and efficacious fortune attend me!
[ Exit with attendants. ]
CHORUS
[524] Lord of
lords, most blessed among the blessed, power most perfect among the perfect, O
blessed Zeus, hear! And from your offspring ward off in utter abhorrence the
lust of men, and into the purple sea cast their black-benched madness!
[531] Look benignly
upon the women’s cause, look upon our race ancient in story, and recall the happy
tale of our ancestress, the woman of your love. Show that you remember all, you
who laid your hand upon Io. It is from Zeus that we claim descent, and it is
from this, our homeland, that we went forth.
[538] I have come here
to the prints of ancient feet, my mother’s, even to the region where she was
watched while she browsed among the flowers — into that pasture, from which Io,
tormented by the gad-fly’s sting, fled in frenzy, traversing many tribes of
men, and according to fate, cut in two the surging strait, marking off the land
upon the farther shore.
[547] And through the
land of Asia she gallops, straight through sheep-pasturing Phrygia, and she
passes the city of Teuthras among the Mysians, and the hollow vales of Lydia,
across the mountains of the Cilicians and the Pamphylians, speeding over
ever-flowing rivers and earth deep and rich, and the land of Aphrodite that
teems with wheat.
[556] Harassed by the
sting of the winged herdsman she gains at last the fertile groves sacred to
Zeus, that snow-fed pasture assailed by Typho’s fury, and the water of the Nile
that no disease may touch — maddened by her ignominious toils and frenzied with
the pain of Hera’s torturing goad.
[565] And mortals, who
in those days dwelled in the land, shook with pallid terror at the terrible
sight as they beheld a being fearsome, half-human, part cow and part of woman;
and they were astonished at the monstrous thing. And then, at last, who was it
who calmed the far-wandering, the wretched, the sting-tormented Io?
[574] Zeus, it was,
through endless time, the lord, . . . and by the unharming might of his hand,
and by his divine breath, she gained rest, and let fall the sorrowing shame of
tears. And, taking Zeus as her support, according to a true story, she bore a
blameless son —
[582] Tthroughout long
ages blessed. All the earth cries aloud, “This is in very truth the offspring
of life-giving Zeus; for who else could have endured the suffering plotted by
Hera?” Call this the work of Zeus and this his race sprung from Epaphus and you
will hit the truth.
[590] Which of the
gods has accomplished deeds which, with good reason, warrant more justly my
appeal to him? Father himself and lord, he planted us with his own hand; he is
the mighty fashioner of our race, ancient in wisdom, who devises everything,
whose breath makes all things prosper, Zeus himself.
[595] He does not sit
upon his throne by mandate of another and hold his dominion beneath a mightier.
No one sits above him whose power he holds in awe. He speaks, and it is done — he
hastens to execute whatever his counselling mind conceives.
[ Re-enter
Danaus. ]
DANAUS
[600] Be of good
cheer, my children, all goes well on the part of the citizens. Decrees,
carrying full authority, have been passed.
CHORUS
[602] Hail, our
envoy, harbinger of tidings most welcome, But tell us — to what end has the
decision been carried, and to what course does the majority of the people’s
votes incline?
DANAUS
[605] Action was
taken by the Argives, not by any doubtful vote but in such a way as to make my
aged heart renew its youth. For the air bristled with right hands held aloft
as, in full vote, they ratified this resolution into law: “That we are settlers
in this land, and are free, subject to no seizure, and secure from robbery of
man; that no one, native or alien, lead us captive; but, if they turn
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