Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/317

Rh That rule is insecure. Atreus: But purity, Faith, piety, are private virtues all; With kings, their will is law. Attendant: Oh, count it wrong To harm thy brother, though he basest be. Atreus: Whatever may not lawfully be done To brothers, may with perfect right be done To him. What is there left me now unstained By crime of his? Where has he failed to sin? My wife has he debauched, my kingdom stolen, The ancient emblem of our dynasty By fraud obtained, and all our royal house By that same fraud in dire confusion plunged. There is a flock within our royal stalls, Rich fleeced and nobly bred, and with the flock A ram, their leader, wondrous, magical; For from his body thickly hangs a fleece Of fine-spun gold, with which the new-crowned kings Of Pelops' line are wont t' adorn their scepters. Who owns the ram is king, for with his fate The fortunes of our noble house are linked. This sacred ram in safety feeds apart Within a mead whose fateful bounds are fenced By stony walls, and kept with gate of stone. Him, greatly daring, did my brother steal, Perfidious, with my wife in secret league Of crime. And this has been the fountain spring Of all my woes; throughout my kingdom's length Have I a trembling exile wandered long, And found no place of safety from his snares; My wife has he defiled, my subjects' faith And loyalty destroyed, my house o'erthrown, All ties of kinship broken, and nothing left Of which I may be sure save only this— My brother's enmity. Why do I stand In stupid inactivity? At length Bestir thyself, and gird thy courage up. Think thou on Pelops and on Tantalus;