Page:The Plays of Euripides Vol. 1- Edward P. Coleridge (1910).djvu/203

Rh. I mark more seeming than reality in thy haste.

. Thou wilt tell a different tale when thou seest me there.

. What shall I see thee do? I wish thee all success, at any rate.

. Thou shalt see me smite some foeman through the shield.

. Perhaps, if ever we get there. I have my fears of that.

. Ah! would to Heaven that thou, mine arm, e'en as I remember thee in thy lusty youth, when with Heracles thou didst sack Sparta, couldst so champion me to-day! how I would put Eurystheus to flight! since he is too craven to wait the onslaught. For prosperity carries with it this error too: a reputation for bravery; for we think the prosperous man a master of all knowledge.

. O earth, and moon that shines by night, and dazzling radiance of the god, that giveth light to man, bear the tidings to me, shout aloud to heaven for joy, and beside our ruler's throne, and in the shrine of grey-eyed Athene. For my fatherland and home will I soon decide the issue of the strife with the gleaming sword, because I have taken suppliants under my protection. 'Tis a fearful thing, that a city prosperous as Mycenæ is, one famed for martial prowess, should harbour wrath against my land; still, my countrymen, it were a shameful thing in us to yield up suppliant strangers at the bidding of Argos. Zeus is on my side, I am not afraid; Zeus hath a favour unto me, as is my due; never by me shall gods be thought weaker than mortal men. O dread goddess, thine the soil whereon we stand, thine this city, for thou art its mother, queen, and saviour; wherefore turn some other way the impious king, who leadeth a host