Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/392

294 So tied and harnessed to an evil fate,

And thinking that it touches me as well;

For this I see, that we, all we that live,

Are but vain phantoms, shadows fleeting fast.

Athena. Do thou, then, seeing this, refrain thy tongue

From any lofty speech against the Gods,

Nor boast thyself, though thou excel in strength

Or weight of stored-up wealth. All human things

A day lays low, a day lifts up again;

But still the Gods love those of ordered soul,

And hate the evil.

Chor. I am full glad, Ο son of Telamon,

Whose island home is sea-girt Salamis,

When all is well with thee;

But when the stroke of Zeus, or evil speech

Of all the Danai comes on thee full fierce,

Then have I great dismay,

And, like a fluttering dove, look on in fear;

For lo! this night just o'er,

Great clamours vex our souls,

Sprung from the evil bruit

That thou, upon the plain where all our steeds

Leap wildly to and fro,

Rushing, hast slain the Danai's spoil of flocks,

All that was left them, taken by the spear,