The Learning Curve/The Learning Curve (Weird Science, 1996).iso/literature/drama/euripides/hecuba

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                              420 BC

                              HECUBA

                            by Euripides

                   translated by E. P. Coleridge

                      CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

     THE GHOST OF POLYDORUS, son of HECUBA and Priam, King of Troy
     HECUBA, wife of Priam
     CHORUS OF CAPTIVE TROJAN WOMEN
     POLYXENA, daughter of HECUBA and Priam
     ODYSSEUS
     TALTHYBIUS, herald of AGAMEMNON
     MAID OF HECUBA
     AGAMEMNON
     POLYMESTOR, King of the Thracian Chersonese
     Children Of POLYMESTOR, Attendants, and guards


   HECUBA
     HECUBA


             (SCENE:-Before AGAMEMNON'S tent in the Greek
             camp upon the shore of the Thracian Chersonese.
                    The GHOST OF POLYDORUS appears.)

     GHOST
       Lo! I AM come from out the charnel-house and gates of gloom, where
   Hades dwells apart from gods, I Polydorus, a son of Hecuba the
   daughter of Cisseus and of Priam. Now my father, when Phrygia's
   capital was threatened with destruction by the spear of Hellas, took
   alarm and conveyed me secretly from the land of Troy unto Polymestor's
   house, his friend in Thrace, who sows these fruitful plains of
   Chersonese, curbing by his might a nation delighting in horses. And
   with me my father sent great store of gold by stealth, that, if ever
   Ilium's walls should fall, his children that survived might not want
   for means to live. I was the youngest of Priam's sons; and this it was
   that caused my stealthy removal from the land; for my childish arm
   availed not to carry weapons or to wield the spear. So long then as
   the bulwarks of our land stood firm, and Troy's battlements abode
   unshaken, and my brother Hector prospered in his warring, I, poor
   child, grew up and flourished, like some vigorous shoot, at the
   court of the Thracian, my father's friend. But when Troy fell and
   Hector lost his life and my father's hearth was rooted up, and himself
   fell butchered at the god-built altar by the hands of Achilles'
   murderous son; then did my father's friend slay me his helpless
   guest for the sake of the gold, and thereafter cast me into the
   swell of the sea, to keep the gold for himself in his house. And there
   I lie one time upon the strand, another in the salt sea's surge,
   drifting ever up and down upon the billows, unwept, unburied; but
   now am I hovering o'er the head of my dear mother Hecuba, a
   disembodied spirit, keeping my airy station these three days, ever
   since my poor mother came from Troy to linger here in Chersonese.
   Meantime all the Achaeans sit idly here in their ships at the shores
   of Thrace; for the son of Peleus, even Achilles, appeared above his
   tomb and stayed the whole host of Hellas, as they were making straight
   for home across the sea, demanding to have my sister Polyxena
   offered at his tomb, and to receive his guerdon. And he will obtain
   this prize, nor will they that are his friends refuse the gift; and on
   this very day is fate leading my sister to her doom. So will my mother
   see two children dead at once, me and that ill-fated maid. For I, to
   win a grave, ah me! will appear amid the rippling waves before her
   bond-maid's feet. Yes! I have won this boon from the powers below,
   that I should find tomb and fall into my mother's hands; so shall I
   get my heart's desire; wherefore I will go and waylay aged Hecuba, for
   yonder she passeth on her way from the shelter of Agamemnon's tent,
   terrified at my spectre. Woe is thee! ah, mother mine! from a palace
   dragged to face a life of slavery! how sad thy lot, as sad as once
   'twas blest! Some god is now destroying thee, setting this in the
   balance to outweigh thy former bliss.

              (The GHOST vanishes. HECUBA enters from the tent
       of AGAMEMNON, supported by her attendants, captive Trojan women.)

     HECUBA (chanting)
       Guide these aged steps, my servants, forth before the house;
   support your fellow-slave, your queen of yore, ye maids of Troy.
   Take hold upon my aged hand, support me, guide me, lift me up; and I
   will lean upon your bended arm as on a staff and quicken my halting
   footsteps onwards. O dazzling light of Zeus! O gloom of night! why
   am I thus scared by fearful visions of the night? O earth, dread
   queen, mother of dreams that flit on sable wings! I am seeking to
   avert the vision of the night, the sight of horror which I saw so
   clearly in my dreams touching my son, who is safe in Thrace, and
   Polyxena my daughter dear. Ye gods of this land! preserve my son,
   the last and only anchor of my house, now settled in Thrace, the
   land of snow, safe in the keeping of his father's friend. Some fresh
   disaster is in store, a new strain of sorrow will be added to our woe.
   Such ceaseless thrills of terror never wrung my heart before. Oh!
   where, ye Trojan maidens, can I find inspired Helenus or Cassandra,
   that they may read me my dream? For I saw a dappled hind mangled by
   a wolf's bloody fangs, torn from my knees by force in piteous wise.
   And this too filled me with affright; o'er the summit of his tomb
   appeared Achilles' phantom, and for his guerdon he would have one of
   the luckless maids of Troy. Wherefore, I implore you, powers divine,
   avert this horror from my daughter, from my child.

               (The CHORUS OF CAPTIVE TROJAN WOMEN enters.)

     CHORUS (singing)
       Hecuba, I have hastened away to thee, leaving my master's tent,
   where the lot assigned me as his appointed slave, in the day that
   was driven from the city of Ilium, hunted by Achaeans thence at the
   point of the spear; no alleviation bring I for thy sufferings; nay
   have laden myself with heavy news, and am a herald of sorrow to
   thee, lady. 'Tis said the Achaeans have determined in full assembly to
   offer thy daughter in sacrifice to Achilles; for thou knowest how
   one day he appeared standing on his tomb in golden harness, and stayed
   the sea-borne barques, though they had their sails already hoisted,
   with this pealing cry, "Whither away so fast, ye Danai, leaving my
   tomb without its prize?" Thereon arose a violent dispute with stormy
   altercation, and opinion was divided in the warrior host of Hellas,
   some being in favour of offering the sacrifice at the tomb, others
   dissenting. There was Agamemnon, all eagerness in thy interest,
   because of his love for the frenzied prophetess; but the two sons of
   Theseus, scions of Athens, though supporting different proposals,
   yet agreed on the same decision, which was to crown Achilles' tomb
   with fresh-spilt blood; for they said they never would set Cassandra's
   love before Achilles' valour. Now the zeal of the rival disputants was
   almost equal, until that shifty, smooth-mouthed varlet, the son of
   Laertes, whose tongue is ever at the service of the mob, persuaded the
   army not to put aside the best of all the Danai for want of a
   bond-maid's sacrifice, nor have it said by any of the dead that
   stand beside Persephone, "The Danai have left the plains of Troy
   without one thought of gratitude for their brethren who died for
   Hellas." Odysseus will be here in an instant, to drag the tender
   maiden from thy breast and tear her from thy aged arms. To the
   temples, to the altars with thee! at Agamemnon's knees throw thyself
   as a suppliant! Invoke alike the gods in heaven and those beneath
   the earth. For either shall thy prayers avail to spare thee the loss
   of thy unhappy child, or thou must live to see thy daughter fall
   before the tomb, her crimson blood spurting in deep dark jets from her
   neck with gold encircled.

                (THE following lines between HECUBA and
                   POLYXENA are chanted responsively.)

     HECUBA
       Woe, woe is me! What words, or cries, or lamentations can I utter?
   Ah me! for the sorrows of my closing years! for slavery too cruel to
   brook or bear! Woe, woe is me! What champion have I? Sons, and
   city-where are they? Aged Priam is no more; no more my children now.
   Which way am I to go, or this or that? Whither shall I turn my
   steps? Where is any god or power divine to succour me? Ah, Trojan
   maids! bringers of evil tidings! messengers of woe! ye have made an
   end, an utter end of me; life on earth has no more charm for me. Ah!
   luckless steps, lead on, guide your aged mistress to yon tent.
   (calling) My child, come forth; come forth, thou daughter of the queen
   of sorrows; listen to thy mother's voice, my child, that thou mayst
   know the hideous rumour I now hear about thy life.

                    (POLYXENA enters from the tent.)

     POLYXENA
       O mother, mother mine! why dost thou call so loud? what news is it
   thou hast proclaimed, scaring me, like a cowering bird, from my
   chamber by this alarm?
     HECUBA
       Alas, my daughter!
     POLYXENA
       Why this ominous address? it bodeth sorrow for me.
     HECUBA
       Woe for thy life!
     POLYXENA
       Tell all, hide it no longer. Ah mother! how I dread, ay dread
   the import of thy loud laments.
     HECUBA
       Ah my daughter! a luckless mother's child!
     POLYXENA
       Why dost thou tell me this?
     HECUBA
       The Argives with one consent are eager for thy sacrifice to the
   son of Peleus at his tomb.
     POLYXENA
       Ah! mother mine! how canst thou speak of such a horror? Yet tell
   me all, yes all, O mother dear!
     HECUBA
       'Tis a rumour ill-boding I tell, my child; they bring me word that
   sentence is passed upon thy life by the Argives' vote.
     POLYXENA
       Alas, for thy cruel sufferings! my persecuted mother! woe for
   thy life of grief! What grievous outrage some fiend hath sent on thee,
   hateful, horrible! No more shall I thy daughter share thy bondage,
   hapless youth on hapless age attending. For thou, alas! wilt see thy
   hapless child torn from thy arms, as a calf of the hills is torn
   from its mother, and sent beneath the darkness of the earth with
   severed throat for Hades, where with the dead shall I be laid, ah
   me! For thee I weep with plaintive wail, mother doomed to a life of
   sorrow! for my own life, its ruin and its outrage, never a tear I
   shed; nay, death is become to me a happier lot than life.
     LEADER OF THE CHORUS
       See where Odysseus comes in haste, to announce some fresh
   command to thee, Hecuba.

                 (ODYSSEUS enters, with his attendants.)

     ODYSSEUS
       Lady, methinks thou knowest already the intention of the host, and
   the vote that has been passed; still will I declare it. It is the
   Achaeans' will to sacrifice thy daughter Polyxena at the mound
   heaped o'er Achilles' grave; and they appoint me to take the maid
   and bring her thither, while the son of Achilles is chosen to
   preside o'er the sacrifice and act as priest. Dost know then what to
   do? Be not forcibly torn from her, nor match thy might 'gainst mine;
   recognize the limits of thy strength, and the presence of thy
   troubles. Even in adversity 'tis wise to yield to reason's dictates.
     HECUBA
       Ah me! an awful trial is nigh, it seems, fraught with mourning,
   rich in tears. Yes, I too escaped death where death had been my due,
   and Zeus destroyed me not but is still preserving my life, that I
   may witness in my misery fresh sorrows surpassing all before. Still if
   the bond may ask the free of things that grieve them not nor wrench
   their heart-strings, 'tis well that thou shouldst make an end and
   hearken to my questioning.
     ODYSSEUS
       Granted; put thy questions; that short delay I grudge thee not.
     HECUBA
       Dost remember the day thou camest to spy on Ilium, disguised in
   rags and tatters, while down thy cheek ran drops of blood?
     ODYSSEUS
       Remember it! yes; 'twas no slight impression it made upon my
   heart.
     HECUBA
       Did Helen recognize thee and tell me only?
     ODYSSEUS
       I well remember the awful risk I ran.
     HECUBA
       Didst thou embrace my knees in all humility?
     ODYSSEUS
       Yea, so that my hand grew dead and cold upon thy robe.
     HECUBA
       What saidst thou then, when in my power?
     ODYSSEUS
       Doubtless I found plenty to say, to save my life.
     HECUBA
       Was it I that saved and sent thee forth again?
     ODYSSEUS
       Thou didst, and so I still behold the light of day.
     HECUBA
       Art not thou then playing a sorry part to plot against me thus,
   after the kind treatment thou didst by thy own confession receive from
   me, showing me no gratitude but all the ill thou canst? A thankless
   race! all ye who covet honour from the mob for your oratory. Oh that
   ye were unknown to me ye who harm your friends and think no more of
   it, if ye can but say a word to win the mob. But tell me, what kind of
   cleverness did they think it, when against this child they passed
   their bloody vote? Was it duty led them to slay a human victim at
   the tomb, where sacrifice of oxen more befits? or does Achilles, if
   claiming the lives of those who slew him as his recompense, show his
   justice by marking her out for death? No! she at least ne'er injured
   him. He should have demanded Helen as a victim at his tomb, for she it
   was that proved his ruin, bringing him to Troy; or if some captive
   of surpassing beauty was to be singled out for doom, this pointed
   not to us; for the daughter of Tyndareus was fairer than all
   womankind, and her injury to him was proved no les than ours.
   Against the justice of his plea I pit this argument. Now hear the
   recompense due from thee to me at my request. On thy own confession,
   thou didst fall at my feet and embrace my hand and aged cheek; I in my
   turn now do the same to thee, and claim the favour then bestowed;
   and I implore thee, tear not my child from my arms, nor slay her.
   There be dead enough; she is my only joy, in her I forget my
   sorrows; My one comfort she in place of many a loss, my city and my
   nurse, my staff and journey's guide. 'Tis never right that those in
   power should use it out of season, or when prosperous suppose they
   will be always so. For I like them was prosperous once, but now my
   life is lived, and one day robbed me of all my bliss. Friend, by thy
   beard, have some regard and pity for me; go to Achaea's host, and talk
   them over, saying how hateful a thing it is to slay women whom at
   first ye spared out of pity, after dragging them from the altars.
   For amongst you the self-same law holds good for bond and free alike
   respecting bloodshed; such influence as thine will persuade them
   even though thy words are weak; for the same argument, when proceeding
   from those of no account, has not the same force as when it is uttered
   by men of mark.
     LEADER
       Human nature is not so stony-hearted as to hear thy plaintive tale
   and catalogue of sorrows, without shedding a tear.
     ODYSSEUS
       O Hecuba! be schooled by me, nor in thy passion count him a foe
   who speaketh wisely. Thy life I am prepared to save, for the service I
   received; I say no otherwise. But what I said to all, I will not now
   deny, that after Troy's capture I would give thy daughter to the
   chiefest of our host because he asked a victim. For herein is a source
   of weakness to most states, whene'er a man of brave and generous
   soul receives no greater honour than his inferiors. Now Achilles,
   lady, deserves honour at our hands, since for Hellas he died as
   nobly as a mortal can. Is not this a foul reproach to treat a man as a
   friend in life, but, when he is gone from us, to treat him so no more?
   How now? what will they say, if once more there comes gathering of the
   host and a contest with the foe? "Shall we fight or nurse our lives,
   seeing the dead have no honours?" For myself, indeed, though in life
   my daily store were scant, yet would it be all-sufficient, but as
   touching a tomb I should wish mine to be an object of respect, for
   this gratitude has long to run. Thou speakest of cruel sufferings;
   hear my answer. Amongst us are aged dames and grey old men no less
   miserable than thou, and brides of gallant husbands reft, o'er whom
   this Trojan dust has closed. Endure these sorrows; for us, if we are
   wrong in resolving to honour the brave, we shall bring upon
   ourselves a charge of ignorance; but as for you barbarians, regard not
   your friends as such and pay no homage to your gallant dead, that
   Hellas may prosper and ye may reap the fruits of such policy.
     LEADER
       Alas! how cursed is slavery alway in its nature, forced by the
   might of the stronger to endure unseemly treatment.
     HECUBA
       Daughter, my pleading to avert thy bloody death was wasted idly on
   the air; do thou, if in aught endowed with greater power to move
   than thy mother, make haste to use it, uttering every pleading note
   like the tuneful nightingale, to save thy soul from death. Throw
   thyself at Odysseus' knees to move his pity, and try to move him. Here
   is thy plea: he to hath children, so that he can feel for thy sad
   fate.
     POLYXENA
       Odysseus, I see thee hiding thy right hand beneath thy robe and
   turning away thy face, that I may not touch thy beard. Take heart;
   thou art safe from the suppliant's god in my case, for I will follow
   thee, alike because I must and because it is my wish to die; for
   were I loth, a coward should I show myself, a woman faint of heart.
   Why should I prolong my days? I whose sire was king of all the
   Phrygians?-my chiefest pride in life, Then was I nursed on fair fond
   hopes to be a bride for kings, the centre of keen jealousy amongst
   suitors, to see whose home I would make my own; and o'er each dame
   of Ida I was queen; ah me! a maiden marked amid her fellows, equal
   to a goddess, save for death alone, but now slave! That name first
   makes me long for death, so strange it sounds; and then maybe my lot
   might give me to some savage master, one that would buy me for
   money,-me the sister of Hector and many another chief,-who would
   make me knead him bread within his halls, or sweep his house or set me
   working at the loom, leading a life of misery; while some slave,
   bought I know not whence, will taint my maiden charms, once deemed
   worthy of royalty. No, never! Here I close my eyes upon the light,
   free as yet, and dedicate myself to Hades. Lead me hence, Odysseus,
   and do thy worst, for I see naught within my reach to make me hope
   or expect with any confidence that I am ever again to be happy. Mother
   mine! seek not to hinder me by word or deed, but join in my wish for
   death ere I meet with shameful treatment undeserved. For whoso is
   not used to taste of sorrow's cup, though he bears it, yet it galls
   him when he puts his neck within the yoke; far happier would he be
   dead than alive, for life of honour reft is toil and trouble.
     LEADER
       A wondrous mark, most clearly stamped, doth noble birth imprint on
   men, and the name goeth still further where it is deserved.
     HECUBA
       A noble speech, my daughter! but there is sorrow linked with its
   noble sentiments.
       Odysseus, if ye must pleasure the son of Peleus, and avoid
   reproach, slay not this maid, but lead me to Achilles' pyre and
   torture me unsparingly: 'twas I that bore Paris, whose fatal shaft
   laid low the son of Thetis.
     ODYSSEUS
       'Tis not thy death, old dame, Achilles' wraith hath demanded of
   the Achaeans, but hers.
     HECUBA
       At least then slaughter me with my child; so shall there be a
   double draught of blood for the earth and the dead that claims this
   sacrifice.
     ODYSSEUS
       The maiden's death suffices; no need to add a second to the first;
   would we needed not e'en this!
     HECUBA
       Die with my daughter I must and will.
     ODYSSEUS
       How so? I did not know I had a master.
     HECUBA
       I will cling to her like ivy to an oak.
     ODYSSEUS
       Not if thou wilt hearken to those who are wiser than thyself.
     HECUBA
       Be sure I will never willingly relinquish my child.
     ODYSSEUS
       Well, be equally sure I will never go away and leave her here.
     POLYXENA
       Mother, hearken to me; and thou, son of Laertes, make allowance
   for a parent's natural wrath. My poor mother, fight not with our
   masters. Wilt thou be thrown down, be roughly thrust aside and wound
   thy aged skin, and in unseemly wise be torn from me by youthful
   arms? This wilt thou suffer; do not so, for 'tis not right for thee.
   Nay, dear mother mine give me thy hand beloved, and let me press thy
   cheek to mine; for never, nevermore, but now for the last time shall I
   behold the dazzling sun-god's orb. My last farewells now take! O
   mother, mother mine! beneath the earth I pass.
     HECUBA
       O my daughter, I am still to live and be a slave.
     POLYXENA
       Unwedded I depart, never having tasted the married joys that
   were my due!
     HECUBA
       Thine, my daughter, is a piteous lot, and sad is mine also.
     POLYXENA
       There in Hades' courts shall I be laid apart from thee.
     HECUBA
       Ah me, what shall I do? where shall I end my life?
     POLYXENA
       Daughter of a free-born sire, a slave I am to die.
     HECUBA
       Not one of all my fifty children left!
     POLYXENA
       What message can I take for thee to Hector or thy aged lord?
     HECUBA
       Tell them that of all women I am the most miserable.
     POLYXENA
       Ah! bosom and breasts that fed me with sweet food!
     HECUBA
       Woe is thee, my child, for this untimely fate!
     POLYXENA
       Farewell, my mother! farewell, Cassandra!
     HECUBA
       "Fare well!" others do, but not thy mother, no!
     POLYXENA
       Thou too, my brother Polydorus, who art in Thrace, the home of
   steeds!
     HECUBA
       Aye, if he lives, which much I doubt; so luckless am I every way.
     POLYXENA
       Oh yes, he lives; and, when thou diest, he will close thine eyes.
     HECUBA
       I am dead; sorrow has forestalled death here.
     POLYXENA
       Come veil my head, Odysseus, and take me hence; for now, ere falls
   the fatal blow, my heart is melted by my mother's wailing, and hers no
   less by mine. O light of day! for still may I call thee by thy name,
   though now my share in thee is but the time I take to go 'twixt this
   and the sword at Achilles' tomb.

           (ODYSSEUS and his attendants lead POLYXENA away.)

     HECUBA
       Woe is me! I faint; my limbs sink under me. O my daughter, embrace
   thy mother, stretch out thy hand, give it me again; leave me not
   childless! Ah, friends! 'tis my death-blow. Oh! to see that Spartan
   woman, Helen, sister of the sons of Zeus, in such a plight; for her
   bright eyes have caused the shameful fall of Troy's once prosperous
   town.
                                  (HECUBA sinks fainting to the ground.)
     CHORUS (singing)

                                                               strophe 1

       O breeze from out the deep arising, that waftest swift galleys,
   ocean's coursers, across the surging main! whither wilt thou bear me
   the child of sorrow? To whose house shall I be brought, to be his
   slave and chattel? to some haven in the Dorian land, or in Phthia,
   where men say Apidanus, father of fairest streams, makes fat and
   rich the tilth?

                                                           antistrophe 1

       or to an island home, sent on a voyage of misery by oars that
   sweep the brine, leading a wretched existence in halls where the
   first-created palm and the bay-tree put forth their sacred shoots
   for dear Latona, memorial fair of her divine travail? and there with
   the maids of Delos shall I hymn the golden snood and bow of Artemis
   their goddess?

                                                               strophe 2

       Or in the city of Pallas, the home of Athena of the beauteous
   chariot, shall I upon her saffron robe yoke horses to the car,
   embroidering them on my web in brilliant varied shades, or the race of
   Titans, whom Zeus the son of Cronos lays to their unending sleep
   with bolt of flashing flame?

                                                           antistrophe 2

       Woe is me for my children! woe for my ancestors, and my country
   which is falling in smouldering ruin 'mid the smoke, sacked by the
   Argive spear! while I upon a foreign shore am called a slave
   for-sooth, leaving Asia, Europe's handmaid, and receiving in its place
   deadly marriage-bower.

                  (The herald, TALTHYBIUS, enters.)

     TALTHYBIUS
       Where can I find Hecuba, who once was queen of Ilium, ye Trojan
   maidens?
     LEADER OF THE CHORUS
       There she lies near thee, Talthybius, stretched full length upon
   the ground, wrapt in her robe.
     TALTHYBIUS
       Great Zeus! what can I say? that thine eye is over man? or that we
   hold this false opinion all to no purpose, thinking there is any
   race of gods, when it is chance that rules the mortal sphere? Was
   not this the queen of wealthy Phrygia, the wife of Priam highly blest?
   And now her city is utterly o'erthrown by the foe, and she, a slave in
   her old age, her children dead, lies stretched upon the ground,
   soiling her hair, poor lady in the dust. Well, well; old as I am,
   may death be my lot before I am caught in any foul mischance. Arise,
   poor queen! lift up thyself and raise that hoary head.
     HECUBA (stirring)
       Ah! who art thou that wilt not let my body rest? why disturb me in
   my anguish, whosoe'er thou art?
     TALTHYBIUS
       'Tis I, Talthybius, who am here, the minister of the Danai;
   Agamemnon has sent me for thee, lady.
     HECUBA (rising)
       Good friend, art come because the Achaeans are resolved to slay me
   to at the grave? How welcome would thy tidings be! Let us hasten and
   lose no time; prithee, lead the way, old sir.
     TALTHYBIUS
       I am come to fetch thee to bury thy daughter's corpse, lady; and
   those that send me are the two sons of Atreus and the Achaean host.
     HECUBA
       Ah! what wilt thou say? Art thou not come, as I had thought, to
   fetch me to my doom, but to announce ill news? Lost, lost, my child!
   snatched from thy mother's arms! and I am childless now, at least as
   touches thee; ah, woe is me!
       How did ye end her life? was any mercy shown? or did ye deal
   ruthlessly with her as though your victim were a foe, old man?
   Speak, though thy words must be pain to me.
     TALTHYBIUS
       Lady, thou art bent on making mine a double meed of tears in
   pity for thy child; for now too as I tell the sad tale a tear will wet
   my eye, as it did at the tomb when she was dying.
       All Achaea's host was gathered there in full array before the tomb
   to see thy daughter offered; and the son of Achilles took Polyxena
   by the hand and set her on the top of the mound, while I stood near;
   and a chosen band of young Achaeans followed to hold thy child and
   prevent her struggling. Then did Achilles' son take in his hands a
   brimming cup of gold and poured an offering to his dead sire, making a
   sign to me to proclaim silence throughout the Achaean host. So I stood
   at his side and in their midst proclaimed, "Silence, ye Achaeans!
   hushed be the people all! peace! be still! "Therewith I hushed the
   host. Then spake he, "Son of Peleus, father mine, accept the
   offering I pour thee to appease thy spirit, strong to raise the
   dead; and come to drink the black blood of a virgin pure, which I
   and the host are offering thee; oh! be propitious to us; grant that we
   may loose our prows and the cables of our ships, and, meeting with
   prosperous voyage from Ilium, all to our country come." So he; and all
   the army echoed his prayer. Then seizing his golden sword by the
   hilt he drew it from its scabbard, signing the while to the picked
   young Argive warriors to hold the maid. But she, when she was ware
   thereof, uttered her voice and said: "O Argives, who have sacked my
   city! of my free will I die; let none lay hand on me; for bravely will
   I yield my neck. Leave me free, I do beseech; so slay me, that death
   may find me free; for to be called a slave amongst the dead fills my
   royal heart with shame." Thereat the people shouted their applause,
   and king Agamemnon bade the young men loose the maid. So they set
   her free, as soon as they heard this last command from him whose might
   was over all. And she, hearing her captors' words took her robe and
   tore it open from the shoulder to the waist, displaying a breast and
   bosom fair as a statue's; then sinking on her knee, one word she spake
   more piteous than all the rest, "Young prince, if 'tis my breast
   thou'dst strike, lo! here it is, strike home! or if at my neck thy
   sword thou'lt aim, behold! that neck is bared."
       Then he, half glad, half sorry in his pity for the maid, cleft
   with the steel the channels of her breath, and streams of blood gushed
   forth; but she, e'en in death's agony, took good heed to fall with
   maiden grace, hiding from gaze of man what modest maiden must. Soon as
   she had breathed her last through the fatal gash, each Argive set
   his hand to different tasks, some strewing leaves o'er the corpse in
   handfuls, others bringing pine-logs and heaping up a pyre; and he, who
   brought nothing, would hear from him who did such taunts as these,
   "Stand'st thou still, ignoble wretch, with never a robe or ornament to
   bring for the maiden? Wilt thou give naught to her that showed such
   peerless bravery and spirit?"
       Such is the tale I tell about thy daughter's death, and I regard
   thee as blest beyond all mothers in thy noble child, yet crossed in
   fortune more than all.
     LEADER
       Upon the race of Priam and my city some fearful curse hath
   burst; 'tis sent by God, and we must bear it.
     HECUBA
       O my daughter! 'mid this crowd of sorrows I know not where to turn
   my gaze; for if I set myself to one, another will not give me pause;
   while from this again a fresh grief summons me, finding a successor to
   sorrow's throne. No longer now can I efface from my mind the memory of
   thy sufferings sufficiently to stay my tears; yet hath the story of
   thy noble death taken from the keenness of my grief. Is it not then
   strange that poor land, when blessed by heaven with a lucky year,
   yields a good crop, while that which is good, if robbed of needful
   care, bears but little increase; yet 'mongst men the knave is never
   other than a knave, the good man aught but good, never changing for
   the worse because of misfortune, but ever the same? Is then the
   difference due to birth or bringing up? Good training doubtless
   gives lessons in good conduct, and if a man have mastered this, he
   knows what is base by the standard of good. Random shafts of my soul's
   shooting these, I know.
       (To TALTHYBIUS) Go thou and proclaim to the Argives that they
   touch not my daughter's body but keep the crowd away. For when
   countless host is gathered, the mob knows no restraint, and the
   unruliness of sailors exceeds that of fire, all abstinence from evil
   being counted evil.
                                                  (TALTHYBIUS goes out.)
       (Addressing a servant) My aged handmaid, take a pitcher and dip it
   in the salt sea and bring hither thereof, that I for the last time may
   wash my child, a virgin wife, a widowed maid, and lay her out,-as
   she deserves, ah! whence can I? impossible! but as best I can; and
   what will that be? I will collect adornment from the captives, my
   companions in these tents, if haply any of them escaping her
   master's eye have some secret store from her old home.
                                                     (The MAID departs.)
       O towering halls, O home so happy once, O Priam, rich in store
   of fairest wealth, most blest of sires, and I no less, the grey-haired
   mother of thy race, how are we brought to naught, stripped of our
   former pride! And spite of all we vaunt ourselves, one on the riches
   of his house, another be, cause he has an honoured name amongst his
   fellow-citizens! But these things are naught; in vain are all our
   thoughtful schemes, in vain our vaunting words. He is happiest who
   meets no sorrow in his daily walk.
                                               (HECUBA enters the tent.)
     CHORUS (singing)

                                                                 strophe

    Woe and tribulation were made my lot in life, soon as ever Paris
   felled his beams of pine in Ida's woods, to sail across the heaving
   main in quest of Helen's hand, fairest bride on whom the sun-god turns
   his golden eye.

                                                             antistrophe

       For here beginneth trouble's cycle, and, worse than that,
   relentless fate; and from one man's folly came a universal curse,
   bringing death to the land of Simois, with trouble from an alien
   shore. The strife the shepherd decided on Ida 'twixt three daughters
   of the blessed gods,

                                                                   epode

       brought as its result war and bloodshed and the ruin of my home;
   and many a Spartan maiden too is weeping bitter tears in her halls
   on the banks of fair Eurotas, and many a mother whose sons are
   slain, is smiting her hoary head and tearing her cheeks, making her
   nails red in the furrowed gash.

     MAID
   (entering excitedly, attended by bearers bringing in a covered corpse)

       Oh! where, ladies, is Hecuba, our queen of sorrow, who far
   surpasses all in tribulation, men and women both alike? None shall
   wrest the crown from her.
     LEADER OF THE CHORUS
       What now, thou wretched bird of boding note? Thy evil tidings
   never seem to rest.
     MAID
       'Tis to Hecuba I bring my bitter news; no easy task is it for
   mortal lips to speak smooth words in sorrow's hour.
     LEADER
       Lo! she is coming even now from the shelter of the tent
   appearing just in time to hear thee speak.
                                         (HECUBA comes out of the tent.)
     MAID
       Alas for thee! most hapless queen, ruined beyond all words of mine
   to tell; robbed of the light of life; of children, husband, city reft;
   hopelessly undone!
     HECUBA
       This is no news but insult; I have heard it all before. But why
   art thou come, bringing hither to me the corpse of Polyxena, on
   whose burial Achaea's host was reported to be busily engaged?
     MAID (aside)
       She little knows what I have to tell, but mourns Polyxena, not
   grasping her new sorrows.
     HECUBA
       Ah! woe is me! thou art not surely bringing hither mad
   Cassandra, the prophetic maid?
     MAID
       She lives, of whom thou speakest; but the dead thou dost not
   weep is here. (Uncovering the corpse) Mark well the body now laid
   bare; is not this a sight to fill thee with wonder, and upset thy
   hopes?
     HECUBA
       Ah me! 'tis the corpse of my son Polydorus I behold, whom he of
   Thrace was keeping safe for me in his halls. Alas! this is the end
   of all; my life is o'er.
       (Chanting) O my son, my son, alas for thee! a frantic strain I now
   begin; thy fate I learnt, a moment gone, from some foul fiend.
     MAID
       What! so thou knewest thy son's fate, poor lady.
     HECUBA (chanting)
       I cannot, cannot credit this fresh sight I see. Woe succeeds to
   woe; time will never cease henceforth to bring me groans and tears.
     LEADER
       Alas poor lady, our sufferings are cruel indeed.
     HECUBA (chanting)
       O my son, child of a luckless mother, what was the manner of thy
   death? what lays thee dead at my feet? Who did the deed?
     MAID
       I know not. On the sea-shore I found him.
     HECUBA (chanting)
       Cast up on the smooth sand, or thrown there after the murderous
   blow?
     MAID
       The waves had washed him ashore.
     HECUBA (chanting)
       Alas! alas! I read aright the vision I saw in my sleep, nor did
   the phantom dusky-winged escape my ken, even the vision I saw
   concerning my son, who is now no more within the bright sunshine.
     LEADER
       Who slew him then? Can thy dream-lore tell us that?
     HECUBA (chanting)
       'Twas my own, own friend, the knight of Thrace, with whom his aged
   sire had placed the boy in hiding.
     LEADER
       O horror! what wilt thou say? did he slay him to get the gold?
     HECUBA (chanting)
       O awful crime! O deed without a name! beggaring wonder! impious!
   intolerable! Where are now the laws 'twixt guest and host? Accursed
   monster! how hast thou mangled his flesh, slashing the poor child's
   limbs with ruthless sword, lost to all sense of pity!
     LEADER
       Alas for thee! how some deity, whose hand is heavy on thee, hath
   sent thee troubles beyond all other mortals! But yonder I see our lord
   and master Agamemnon coming; so let us be still henceforth, my
   friends.
                                                     (AGAMEMNON enters.)
     AGAMEMNON
       Hecuba, why art thou delaying to come and bury thy daughter? for
   it was for this that Talthybius brought me thy message begging that
   none of the Argives should touch thy child. And so I granted this, and
   none is touching her, but this long delay of thine fills me with
   wonder. Wherefore am I come to send thee hence; for our part there
   is well performed; if herein there be any place for "well."
                                                     (He sees the body.)

       Ha! what man is this I see near the tents, some Trojan's corpse?
   'tis not an Argive's body; that the garments it is clad in tell me.
     HECUBA (aside)
       Unhappy one! in naming thee I name myself; O Hecuba, what shall
   do? throw myself here at Agamemnon's knees, or bear my sorrows in
   silence?
     AGAMEMNON
       Why dost thou turn thy back towards me and weep, refusing to
   say, what has happened, or who this is?
     HECUBA (aside)
       But should he count me as a slave and foe and spurn me from his
   knees, I should but add to my anguish.
     AGAMEMNON
       I am no prophet born; wherefore, if I be not told, I cannot
   learn the current of thy thoughts.
     HECUBA (aside)
       Can it be that in estimating this man's feelings I make him out
   too ill-disposed, when he is not really so?
     AGAMEMNON
       If thy wish really is that I should remain in ignorance, we are of
   one mind; for I have no wish myself to listen.
     HECUBA (aside)
       Without his aid I shall not be able to avenge my children. Why
   do still ponder the matter? I must do and dare whether I win or
   lose. (Turning to AGAMEMNON) O Agamemnon! by thy knees, by thy beard
   and conquering hand I implore thee.
     AGAMEMNON
       What is thy desire? to be set free? that is easily done.
     HECUBA
       Not that; give me vengeance on the wicked, and evermore am I
   willing to lead a life of slavery.
     AGAMEMNON
       Well, but why dost thou call me to thy aid?
     HECUBA
       'Tis a matter thou little reckest of, O king. Dost see this
   corpse, for whom my tears now flow?
     AGAMEMNON
       I do; but what is to follow, I cannot guess.
     HECUBA
       He was my child in days gone by; I bore him in my womb.
     AGAMEMNON
       Which of thy sons is he, poor sufferer?
     HECUBA
       Not one of Priam's race who fell 'neath Ilium's walls.
     AGAMEMNON
       Hadst thou any son besides those, lady?
     HECUBA
       Yes, him thou seest here, of whom, methinks, I have small gain.
     AGAMEMNON
       Where then was he, when his city was being destroyed?
     HECUBA
       His father, fearful of his death, conveyed him out of Troy.
     AGAMEMNON
       Where did he place him apart from all the sons he then had?
     HECUBA
       Here in this very land, where his corpse was found.
     AGAMEMNON
       With Polymestor, the king of this country?
     HECUBA
       Hither was he sent in charge of gold, most bitter trust!
     AGAMEMNON
       By whom was he slain? what death o'ertook him?
     HECUBA
       By whom but by this man? His Thracian host slew him.
     AGAMEMNON
       The wretch! could he have been so eager for the treasure?
     HECUBA
       Even so; soon as ever he heard of the Phrygians' disaster.
     AGAMEMNON
       Where didst find him? or did some one bring his corpse?
     HECUBA
       This maid, who chanced upon it on the sea-shore.
     AGAMEMNON
       Was she seeking it, or bent on other tasks?
     HECUBA
       She had gone to fetch water from the sea to wash Polyxena.
     AGAMEMNON
       It seems then his host slew him and cast his body out to sea.
     HECUBA
       Aye, for the waves to toss, after mangling him thus.
     AGAMEMNON
       Woe is thee for thy measureless troubles!
     HECUBA
       I am ruined; no evil now is left, O Agamemnon.
     AGAMEMNON
       Look you! what woman was ever born to such misfortune?
     HECUBA
       There is none, unless thou wouldst name misfortune herself. But
   hear my reason for throwing myself at thy knees. If my treatment seems
   to thee deserved, I will be content; but, if otherwise, help me to
   punish this most godless host, that hath wrought a deed most damned,
   fearless alike of gods in heaven or hell; who, though full oft he
   had shared my board and been counted first of all my guest-friends and
   after meeting with every kindness he could claim and receiving my
   consideration, slew my son, and bent though he was on murder,
   deigned not to bury him but cast his body forth to sea.
       I may be a slave and weak as well, but the gods are strong, and
   custom too which prevails o'er them, for by custom it is that we
   believe in them and set up bounds of right and wrong for our lives.
   Now if this principle, when referred to thee, is to be set at
   naught, and they are to escape punishment who murder guests or dare to
   plunder the temples of gods, then is all fairness in things human at
   an end. Deem this then a disgrace and show regard for me, have pity on
   me, and, like an artist standing back from his picture, look on me and
   closely scan my piteous state. I was once queen, but now I am thy
   slave; a happy mother once, but now childless and old alike, reft of
   city, utterly forlorn, the most wretched woman living. Ah! woe is
   me! whither wouldst thou withdraw thy steps from me? (as AGAMEMNON
   is turning away) My efforts then will be in vain, ah me! ah me! Why,
   oh! why do we mortals toil, as needs we must, and seek out all other
   sciences, but persuasion, the only real mistress of mankind, we take
   no furthur pains to master completely by offering to pay for the
   knowledge, so that any man might upon occasion convince his fellows as
   he pleased and gain his point as well? How shall anyone hereafter hope
   for prosperity? All those my sons are gone from me, and I, their
   mother, am led away into captivity to suffer shame, while yonder I see
   the smoke leaping up o'er my city. Further-though perhaps this were
   idly urged, to plead thy love, still will I put the case:-at thy
   side lies my daughter, Cassandra, the maid inspired, as the
   Phrygians call her. How then, king, wilt thou acknowledge those nights
   of rapture, or what return shall she my daughter or I her mother
   have for all the love she has lavished on her lord? For from
   darkness and the endearments of the night mortals reap by far their
   keenest joys. Hearken then; dost see this corpse? By doing him a
   service thou wilt do it to a kinsman of thy bride's. One thing only
   have I yet to urge. Oh! would I had a voice in arms, in hands, in hair
   and feet, placed there by the arts of Daedalus or some god, that all
   together they might with tears embrace thy knees, bringing a
   thousand pleas to bear on thee! O my lord and master, most glorious
   light of Hellas, listen, stretch forth a helping hand to this aged
   woman, for all she is a thing of naught; still do so. For 'tis ever
   a good man's duty to succour the right, and to punish evil-doers
   wherever found.
     LEADER
       'Tis strange how each extreme doth meet in human life! Custom
   determines even our natural ties, making the most bitter foes friends,
   and regarding as foes those who formerly were friends.
     AGAMEMNON
       Hecuba, I feel compassion for thee and thy son and thy
   ill-fortune, as well as for thy suppliant gesture, and I would
   gladly see yon impious host pay thee this forfeit for the sake of
   heaven and justice, could I but find some way to help thee without
   appearing to the army to have plotted the death of the Thracian king
   for Cassandra's sake. For on one point I am assailed by perplexity;
   the army count this man their friend, the dead their foe; that he is
   dear to thee is a matter apart, wherein the army has no share. Reflect
   on this; for though thou find'st me ready to share thy toil and
   quick to lend my aid, yet the risk of being reproached by the Achaeans
   makes me hesitate.
     HECUBA
       Ah! there is not in the world a single man free; for he is
   either a slave to money or to fortune, or else the people in their
   thousands or the fear of public prosecution prevents him from
   following the dictates of his heart.
       But since thou art afraid, deferring too much to the rabble, I
   will rid thee of that fear. Thus; be privy to my plot if I devise
   mischief against this murderer, but refrain from any share in it.
   And if there break out among the Achaeans any uproar or attempt at
   rescue, when the Thracian is suffering his doom, check it, though
   without seeming to do so for my sake. For what remains, take heart;
   I will arrange everything well.
     AGAMEMNON
       How? what wilt thou do? wilt take a sword in thy old hand and slay
   the barbarian, or hast thou drugs or what to help thee? Who will
   take thy part? whence wilt thou procure friends?
     HECUBA
       Sheltered beneath these tents is a host of Trojan women.
     AGAMEMNON
       Dost mean the captives, the booty of the Hellenes?
     HECUBA
       With their help will I punish my murderous foe.
     AGAMEMNON
       How are women to master men?
     HECUBA
       Numbers are a fearful thing, and joined to craft a desperate foe.
     AGAMEMNON
       True; still I have a mean opinion of the female race.
     HECUBA
       What? did not women slay the sons of Aegyptus, and utterly clear
   Lemnos of men? But let it be even thus; put an end to our
   conference, and send this woman for me safely through the host. And do
   thou (To servant) draw near my Thracian friend and say, "Hecuba,
   once queen of Ilium, summons thee, on thy own business no less than
   hers, thy children too, for they also must hear what she has to
   say." (The servant goes out.) Defer awhile, Agamemnon, the burial of
   Polyxena lately slain, that brother and sister may be laid on the same
   pyre and buried side by side, a double cause of sorrow to their
   mother.
     AGAMEMNON
       So shall it be; yet had the host been able to sail, I could not
   have granted thee this boon; but, as it is, since the god sends
   forth no favouring breeze, we needs must abide, seeing, as we do, that
   sailing cannot be. Good luck to thee! for this is the interest alike
   of citizen and state, that the wrong-doer be punished and the good man
   prosper.

           (AGAMEMNON departs as HECUBA withdraws into the tent.)

     CHORUS (singing)

                                                               strophe 1

       No more, my native Ilium, shalt thou be counted among the towns
   ne'er sacked; so thick a cloud of Hellene troops is settling all
   around, wasting thee with the spear; shorn art thou of thy coronal
   of towers, and fouled most piteously with filthy soot; no more, ah me!
   shall tread thy streets.

                                                           antistrophe 1

       'Twas in the middle of the night my ruin came, in the hour when
   sleep steals sweetly o'er the eyes after the feast is done. My
   husband, the music o'er, and the sacrifice that sets the dance afoot
   now ended, was lying in our bridal-chamber, his spear hung on a peg;
   with never a thought of the sailor-throng encamped upon the Trojan
   shores;

                                                               strophe 2

       and I was braiding my tresses 'neath a tight-drawn snood before my
   golden mirror's countless rays, that I might lay me down to rest; when
   lo! through the city rose a din, and a cry went ringing down the
   streets of Troy, "Ye sons of Hellas, when, oh! when will ye sack the
   citadel of Ilium, and seek your homes?"

                                                           antistrophe 2

       Up sprang I from my bed, with only a mantle about me, like
   Dorian maid, and sought in vain, ah me! to station myself at the
   holy hearth of Artemis; for, after seeing my husband slain, I was
   hurried away o'er the broad sea; with many a backward look at my city,
   when the ship began her homeward voyage and parted me from Ilium's
   strand; till alas! for very grief I fainted,

                                                                   epode

       cursing Helen the sister of the Dioscuri, and Paris the baleful
   shepherd of Ida; for 'twas their marriage, which was no marriage but a
   curse by some demon sent, that robbed me of my country and drove me
   from my home. Oh! may the sea's salt flood neer carry her home
   again; and may she never set foot in her father's halls!

             (HECUBA comes out of the tent as POLYMESTOR,
                   his children and guards enter.)

     POLYMESTOR
       My dear friend Priam, and thou no less, Hecuba, I weep to see thee
   and thy city thus, and thy daughter lately slain. Alas! there is
   naught to be relied on; fair fame is insecure, nor is there any
   guarantee that weal will not be turned to woe. For the gods confound
   our fortunes, tossing them to and fro, and introduce confusion, that
   our perplexity may make us worship them. But what boots it to bemoan
   these things, when it brings one no nearer to heading the trouble?
   If thou art blaming me at all for my absence, stay a moment; I was
   away in the very heart of Thrace when thou wast brought hither; but on
   my return, just as I was starting from my home for the same purpose,
   thy maid fell in with me, and gave me thy message, which brought me
   here at once.
     HECUBA
       Polymestor, I am holden in such wretched plight that I blush to
   meet thine eye; for my present evil case makes me ashamed to face thee
   who didst see me in happier days, and I cannot look on thee with
   unfaltering gaze. Do not then think it ill-will on my part,
   Polymestor; there is another cause as well, I mean the custom which
   forbids women to meet men's gaze.
     POLYMESTOR
       No wonder, surely. But what need hast thou of me? Why didst send
   for me to come hither from my house?
     HECUBA
       I wish to tell thee and thy children a private matter of my own;
   prithee, bid thy attendants withdraw from the tent.
     POLYMESTOR (to his Attendants)
       Retire; this desert spot is safe enough. (The guards go out; to
   HECUBA) Thou art my friend, and this Achaean host is well-disposed
   to me. But thou must tell me how prosperity is to succour its
   unlucky friends; for ready am I to do so.
     HECUBA
       First tell me of the child Polydorus, whom thou art keeping in thy
   halls, received from me and his father; is he yet alive? The rest will
   I ask thee after that.
     POLYMESTOR
       Yes, thou still hast a share in fortune there.
     HECUBA
       Well said, dear friend! how worthy of thee!
     POLYMESTOR
       What next wouldst learn of me?
     HECUBA
       Hath he any recollection of me his mother?
     POLYMESTOR
       Aye, he was longing to steal away hither to thee.
     HECUBA
       Is the gold safe, which he brought with him from Troy?
     POLYMESTOR
       Safe under lock and key in my halls.
     HECUBA
       There keep it, but covet not thy neighbour's goods.
     POLYMESTOR
       Not I; God grant me luck of what I have, lady!
     HECUBA
       Dost know what I wish to say to thee and thy children?
     POLYMESTOR
       Not yet; thy words maybe will declare it.
     HECUBA
       May it grow as dear to thee as thou now art to me!
     POLYMESTOR
       What is it that I and my children are to learn?
     HECUBA
       There be ancient vaults filled full of gold by Priam's line.
     POLYMESTOR
       Is it this thou wouldst tell thy son?
     HECUBA
       Yes, by thy lips, for thou art a righteous man.
     POLYMESTOR
       What need then of these children's presence?
     HECUBA
       'Tis better they should know it, in case of thy death.
     POLYMESTOR.
       True; 'tis also the wiser way.
     HECUBA
       Well, dost thou know where stands the shrine of Trojan Athena?
     POLYMESTOR
       Is the gold there? what is there to mark it?
     HECUBA
       A black rock rising above the ground.
     POLYMESTOR
       Is there aught else thou wouldst tell me about the place?
     HECUBA
       I wish to keep safe the treasure I brought from Troy.
     POLYMESTOR
       Where can it be? inside thy dress, or hast thou it hidden?
     HECUBA
       'Tis safe amid a heap of spoils within these tents.
     POLYMESTOR
       Where? This is the station built by the Achaeans to surround their
   fleet.
     HECUBA
       The captive women have huts of their own.
     POLYMESTOR
       It is safe to enter? are there no men about?
     HECUBA
       There are no Achaeans within; we are alone. Enter then the tent,
   for the Argives are eager to set sail from Troy for home; and, when
   thou hast accomplished all that is appointed thee, thou shalt return
   with thy children to that bourn where thou hast lodged my son.

         (HECUBA leads POLYMESTOR and his children into the tent.)

     CHORUS (chanting)
       Not yet hast thou paid the penalty, but maybe thou yet wilt;
   like one who slips and falls into the surge with no haven near, so
   shalt thou lose thy own life for the life thou hast taken. For where
   the rights of justice and the law of heaven are one, there is ruin
   fraught with death and doom. Thy hopes of this journey shall cheat
   thee, for it hath led thee, unhappy wretch! to the halls of death; and
   to no warrior's hand shalt thou resign thy life.
     POLYMESTOR (within the tent)
       O horror! I am blinded of the light of my eyes, ah me!
     LEADER OF THE CHORUS
       Heard ye, friends, that Thracian's cry of woe?
     POLYMESTOR (within)
       O horror! horror! my children! O the cruel blow.
     LEADER
       Friends, new ills are brought to pass in yonder tent.
     POLYMESTOR (within)
       Nay, ye shall never escape for all your hurried flight; for with
   my fist will I burst open the inmost recesses of this hall.
     LEADER
       Hark! how he launches ponderous blows! Shall we force an entry?
   The crisis calls on us to aid Hecuba and the Trojan women.

             (HECUBA enters, calling back into the tent.)

     HECUBA
       Strike on, spare not, burst the doors! thou shalt ne'er replace
   bright vision in thy eyes nor ever see thy children, whom I have
   slain, alive again.
     LEADER
       What! hast thou foiled the Thracian, and is the stranger in thy
   power, mistress mine? is all thy threat now brought to pass?
     HECUBA
       A moment, and thou shalt see him before the tent, his eyes put
   out, with random step advancing as a blind man must; yea, and the
   bodies of his two children whom I with my brave daughters of Troy
   did slay; he hath paid me his forfeit; look where he cometh from the
   tent. I will withdraw out of his path and stand aloof from the hot
   fury of this Thracian, my deadly foe.

         (POLYMESTOR rushes out. Blood is streaming from his eyes.)

     POLYMESTOR (chanting)
       Woe is me! whither can I go, where halt, or whither turn? shall
   crawl upon my hands like a wild four-footed beast on their track?
   Which path shall I take first, this or that, eager as I am to clutch
   those Trojan murderesses that have destroyed me? Out upon ye, cursed
   daughters of Phrygia! to what corner have ye fled cowering before
   me? O sun-god, would thou couldst heal my bleeding orbs, ridding me of
   my blindness!
       Ha! hush! I catch their stealthy footsteps here. Where can I
   dart on them and gorge me on their flesh and bones, making for
   myself wild beasts' meal, exacting vengeance in requital of their
   outrage on me? Ah, woe is me! whither am I rushing, leaving my babes
   unguarded for hell-hounds to mangle, to be murdered and ruthlessly
   cast forth upon the hills, a feast of blood for dogs? Where shall I
   stay or turn my steps? where rest? like a ship that lies anchored at
   sea, so gathering close my linen robe I rush to that chamber of death,
   to guard my babes.
     LEADER
       Woe is thee! what grievous outrage hath been wreaked on thee!
   fearful penalty for thy foul deed hath the deity imposed, whoe'er he
   is whose hand is heavy upon thee.
     POLYMESTOR (chanting)
       Woe is me! Ho! my Thracian spearmen, clad in mail, a race of
   knights whom Ares doth inspire! Ho! Achaeans! sons of Atreus ho! to
   you I loudly call; come hither, in God's name come! Doth any
   hearken, or will no man help me? Why do ye delay? Women, captive women
   have destroyed me. A fearful fate is mine; ah me my hideous outrage!
   Whither can I turn or go? Shall I take wings and soar aloft to the
   mansions of the sky, where Orion and Sirius dart from their eyes a
   flash as of fire, or shall I, in my misery, plunge to Hades' murky
   flood?
     LEADER
       'Tis a venial sin, when a man, suffering from evils too heavy to
   bear, rids himself of a wretched existence.

                     (AGAMEMNON and his retinue enter.)

     AGAMEMNON
       Hearing a cry I am come hither; for Echo, child of the
   mountain-rock, hath sent her voice loud-ringing through the host,
   causing a tumult. Had I not known that Troy's towers were levelled
   by the might of Hellas, this uproar had caused no slight terror.
     POLYMESTOR
       Best of friends! for by thy voice I know thee, Agamemnon, dost see
   my piteous state?
     AGAMEMNON
       What! hapless Polymestor, who hath stricken thee? who hath reft
   thine eves of sight, staining the pupils with blood? who hath slain
   these children? whoe'er he was, fierce must have been his wrath
   against thee and thy children.
     POLYMESTOR
       Hecuba, helped by the captive women, hath destroyed me; no! not
   destroyed, far worse than that.
     AGAMEMNON (addressing HECUBA)
       What hast thou to say? Was it thou that didst this deed, as he
   avers? thou, Hecuba, that hast ventured on this inconceivable daring?
     POLYMESTOR
       Ha! what is that? is she somewhere near? show me, tell me where,
   that I may grip her in my hands and rend her limb from limb,
   bespattering her with gore.
     AGAMEMNON
       Ho! madman, what wouldst thou?
     POLYMESTOR
       By heaven I entreat thee, let me vent on her the fury of my arm.
     AGAMEMNON
       Hold! banish that savage spirit from thy heart and plead thy
   cause, that after hearing thee and her in turn I may fairly decide
   what reason there is for thy present sufferings.
     POLYMESTOR
       I will tell my tale. There was a son of Priam, Polydorus, the
   youngest, a child by Hecuba, whom his father Priam sent to me from
   Troy to bring up in my halls, suspecting no doubt the fall of Troy.
   Him I slew; but hear my reason for so doing, to show how cleverly
   and wisely I had planned. My fear was that if that child were left
   to be thy enemy, he would re-people Troy and settle it afresh; and the
   Achaeans, knowing that a son of Priam survived, might bring another
   expedition against the Phrygian land and harry and lay waste these
   plains of Thrace hereafter, for the neighbours of Troy to experience
   the very troubles we were lately suffering, O king. Now Hecuba, having
   discovered the death of her son, brought me hither on this pretext,
   saying she would tell me of hidden treasure stored up in Ilium by
   the race of Priam; and she led me apart with my children into the
   tent, that none but I might hear her news. So I sat me down on a couch
   in their midst to rest; for there were many of the Trojan maidens
   seated there, some on my right hand, some on my left, as it had been
   beside a friend; and they were praising the weaving of our Thracian
   handiwork, looking at this robe as they held it up to the light;
   meantime others examined my Thracian spear and so stripped me of the
   protection of both. And those that were young mothers were dandling my
   children in their arms, with loud admiration, as they passed them on
   from hand to hand to remove them far from their father; and then after
   their smooth speeches (wouldst thou believe it?) in an instant
   snatching daggers from some secret place in their dress they stab my
   children; whilst others, like foes, seized me hand and foot; and if
   I tried to raise my head, anxious to help my babes, they would
   clutch me by the hair; while if I stirred my hands, I could do
   nothing, poor wretch! for the numbers of the women. At last they
   wrought a fearful deed, worse than what had gone before; for they took
   their brooches and stabbed the pupils of my hapless eyes, making
   them gush with blood, and then fled through the chambers; up I
   sprang like a wild beast in pursuit of the shameless murderesses,
   searching along each wall with hunter's care, dealing buffets,
   spreading ruin. This then is what I have suffered because of my zeal
   for thee, O Agamemnon, for slaying an enemy of thine. But to spare
   thee a lengthy speech; if any of the men of former times have spoken
   ill of women, if any doth so now, or shall do so hereafter, all this
   in one short sentence will say; for neither land or sea produces a
   race so pestilent, as whosoever hath had to do with them knows full
   well.
     LEADER
       Curb thy bold tongue, and do not, because of thy own woes, thus
   embrace the whole race of women in one reproach; for though some of
   us, and those a numerous class, deserve to be disliked, there are
   others amongst us who rank naturally amongst the good.
     HECUBA
       Never ought words to have outweighed deeds in this world,
   Agamemnon. No! if a man's deeds had been good, so should his words
   have been; if, on the other hand, evil, his words should have betrayed
   their unsoundness, instead of its being possible at times to give a
   fair complexion to injustice. There are, 'tis true, clever persons,
   who have made a science of this, but their cleverness cannot last
   for ever; a miserable end awaits them; none ever yet escaped. This
   is a warning I give thee at the outset. Now will I turn to this
   fellow, and will give thee thy answer, thou who sayest it was to
   save Achaea double toil and for Agamemnon's sake that thou didst
   slay my son. Nay, villain, in the first place how could the
   barbarian race ever be friends with Hellas? Impossible, ever. Again,
   what interest hadst thou to further by thy zeal? was it to form some
   marriage, or on the score of kin, or, prithee, why? or was it likely
   that they would sail hither again and destroy thy country's crops?
   Whom dost thou expect to persuade into believing that? Wouldst thou
   but speak the truth, it was the gold that slew my son, and thy
   greedy spirit. Now tell me this; why, when Troy was victorious, when
   her ramparts still stood round her, when Priam was alive, and Hector's
   warring prospered, why didst thou not, if thou wert really minded to
   do Agamemnon a service, then slay the child, for thou hadst him in thy
   palace 'neath thy care, or bring him with thee alive to the Argives?
   Instead of this, when our sun was set and the smoke of our city showed
   it was in the enemy's power, thou didst murder the guest who had
   come to thy hearth. Furthermore, to prove thy villainly, hear this; if
   thou wert really a friend to those Achaeans, thou shouldst have
   brought the gold, which thou sayst thou art keeping not for thyself
   but for Agamemnon, and given it to them, for they were in need and had
   endured a long exile from their native land. Whereas not even now
   canst thou bring thyself to part with it, but persistest in keeping it
   in thy palace. Again, hadst thou kept my son safe and sound, as thy
   duty was, a fair renown would have been thy reward, for it is in
   trouble's hour that the good most clearly show their friendship;
   though prosperity of itself in every case finds friends. Wert thou
   in need of money and he prosperous, that son of mine would have been
   as a mighty treasure for thee to draw upon; but now thou hast him no
   longer to be thy friend, and the benefit of the gold is gone from
   thee, thy children too are dead, and thyself art in this sorry plight.
       To thee, Agamemnon, I say, if thou help this man, thou wilt show
   thy worthlessness; for thou wilt be serving one devoid of honour or
   piety, a stranger to the claims of good faith, a wicked host; while
   I shall say thou delightest in evil-doers, being such an one
   thyself; but I rail not at my masters.
     LEADER
       Look you! how a good cause ever affords men an opening for a
   good speech.
     AGAMEMNON
       To be judge in a stranger's troubles goes much against my grain,
   but still I must; yea, for to take this matter in hand and then put it
   from me is a shameful course. My opinion, that thou mayst know it,
   is that it was not for the sake of the Achaeans or me that thou
   didst slay thy guest, but to keep that gold in thy own house. In thy
   trouble thou makest a case in thy own interests. Maybe amongst you
   'tis a light thing to murder guests, but with us in Hellas 'tis a
   disgrace. How can I escape reproach if I judge the not guilty? I
   cannot do it. Nay, since thou didst dare thy horrid crime, endure as
   well its painful consequence.
     POLYMESTOR
       Woe is me! worsted by a woman and a slave, I am, it seems, to
   suffer by unworthy hands.
     HECUBA
       Is it not just for thy atrocious crime?
     POLYMESTOR
       Ah, my children! ah, my blinded eyes! woe is me!
     HECUBA
       Dost thou grieve? what of me? thinkst thou I grieve not for my
   son?
     POLYMESTOR
       Thou wicked wretch! thy delight is in mocking me.
     HECUBA
       I am avenged on thee; have I not cause for joy?
     POLYMESTOR
       The joy will soon cease, in the day when ocean's flood-
     HECUBA
       Shall convey me to the shores of Hellas?
     POLYMESTOR
       Nay, but close o'er thee when thou fallest from the masthead.
     HECUBA
       Who will force me to take the leap?
     POLYMESTOR
       Of thy own accord wilt thou climb the ship's mast.
     HECUBA
       With wings upon my back, or by what means?
     POLYMESTOR
       Thou wilt become a dog with bloodshot eyes.
     HECUBA
       How knowest thou of my transformation?
     POLYMESTOR
       Dionysus, our Thracian prophet, told me so.
     HECUBA
       And did he tell thee nothing of thy present trouble?
     POLYMESTOR
       No; else hadst thou never caught me thus by guile.
     HECUBA
       Shall I die or live, and so complete my life on earth?
     POLYMESTOR
       Die shalt thou; and to thy tomb shall be given a name-
     HECUBA
       Recalling my form, or what wilt thou tell me?
     POLYMESTOR
       "The hapless hound's grave," a mark for mariners."
     HECUBA
       'Tis naught to me, now that thou hast paid me forfeit.
     POLYMESTOR
       Further, thy daughter Cassandra must die.
     HECUBA
       I scorn the prophecy! I give it to thee to keep for thyself.
     POLYMESTOR
       Her shall the wife of Agamemnon, grim keeper of his palace, slay.
     HECUBA
       Never may the daughter of Tyndareus do such a frantic deed!
     POLYMESTOR
       And she shall slay this king as well, lifting high the axe.
     AGAMEMNON
       Ha! sirrah, art thou mad? art so eager to find sorrow?
     POLYMESTOR
       Kill me, for in Argos there awaits thee a murderous bath.
     AGAMEMNON
       Ho! servants, hale him from my sight
     POLYMESTOR
       Ha! my words gall thee?
     AGAMEMNON
       Stop his mouth!
     POLYMESTOR
       Close it now; for I have spoken.
     AGAMEMNON
       Haste and cast him upon some desert island, since his mouth is
   full of such exceeding presumption. Go thou, unhappy Hecuba, and
   bury thy two corpses; and you, Trojan women, to your masters' tents
   repair, for lo! I perceive a breeze just rising to waft us home. God
   grant we reach our country and find all well at home, released from
   troubles here!

             (POLYMESTOR is dragged away by AGAMEMNON'S guards.)

     CHORUS (chanting)
       Away to the harbour and the tents, my friends, to prove the
   toils of slavery! for such is fate's relentless hest.


                                      -THE END-