Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/153

Rh With steps unsteady, clad in trailing robes Bright with barbaric gold. 'Tis virtue's right In foolishness to ease the strain of toil. Lycus: 'Twas for this cause the house of Eurytus Was overthrown, and troops of maidens slain Like helpless sheep! No Juno ordered this, Nor yet Eurystheus: these his works alone. Amphitr.: Thou know'st not all his deeds: it was his work That Eryx fell, by his own gauntlets slain; That in his death Antaeus, too, was joined; That those foul altars, dripping with the blood Of hapless strangers, drank the blood at last Of murderous Busiris. 'Twas his work That Cycnus, proof against the sword, was slain, Though still unwounded; by his hand alone The threefold Geryon fell. And thou shalt be As one of these, though they ne'er basely sinned Against the rites of marriage. Lycus: What to Jove Is lawful, is my kingly right as well. A wife thou gav'st to him; so for thy king Shalt thou a mate provide. Now Megara From thine example shall the lesson learn, Not new, that wives may yield to better men, When husbands give consent. But if, self-willed, She still refuse to take me for her lord, I'll force her will to bear me noble seed. Megara: Ye shades of Creon, and ye household gods Of Labdacus, ye impious nuptial fires Of Oedipus, your wonted fortune give To this our union! O ye savage wives Of king Aegyptus' sons, be present now, With blood-stained hands. Your count is incomplete. I gladly will that impious number fill. Lycus: Since thou dost stubbornly refuse my suit, And striv'st to fright the king, now shalt thou feel The strength of royal power. Cling as thou mayst To altar horns: no god shall save thee now From me; not though the earth itself be rent,