Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/195

Rh Just answer then this question that I ask:

If one should seek to slay thee here and now,

Thee, the famed just one, would'st thou stay to ask

If 'twere thy father's hand that aimed the blow,

Or would'st thou straightway parry it? I think,

As thou lov'st life, thou would'st requite thy foe,

And would'st not look so narrowly at right;

Such ills, at any rate, were those I fell on,

The Gods still leading me; nor can I think

My father's soul, if it returned to life,

Would plead against me here. But thou think'st fit,—

Since just thou'rt not, as one who deems it right

To speak of all things, whether fit for speech

Or things which none may utter,—before these

To heap reproach on me. And Theseus' name

It suits thee well to flatter, and to speak

Of Athens, and her goodly polity;

And yet thus praising, thou forgettest this,

That she, if any land reveres the Gods,

In this excels; and yet from her thou dar'st

To steal a suppliant, grey and hoar with age,

And those two maidens hast already taken.

And for these deeds, these Goddess-Powers I call

And supplicate, and weary with my prayers,

To come as helpers and allies, that thou

May'st learn their mettle who this land defend.

Chor. The man, Ο king, speaks nobly, and his woes

Are grievous, and they call us to assist him.

Thes. Enough of words, for they who snatched their prey

Haste on, while we who suffer wrong stand still.

Creon. What orders giv'st thou to a man defenceless?

Thes. That thou should'st lead the way, and I should go

Thy escort, so that if thou hast his girls