O thou, whose death thy friends
Bewail with many tears, 670
*Why thus, O Lord of lords,
*In double error of wild frenzy born,
Have all our triremes good
Been lost to this our land,
Ships that are ships no more, yea, ships no more?
_The_ Ghost _of_ DAREIOS _appears on the summit of the
mound_
_Dar._ O faithful of the Faithful, ye who were
Companions of my youth, ye Persian elders,
What troubles is't my country toils beneath?
The whole plain groans, cut up and furrowed o'er,[49]
And I, beholding now my queen beloved
Standing hard by my sepulchre, feared much, 680
And her libations graciously received;
But ye wail loud near this my sepulchre,
And shouting shrill with cries that raise the dead,
Ye call me with your plaints. No easy task
Is it to come, for this cause above all,
That the great Gods who reign below are apter
To seize men than release: yet natheless I,
Being great in power among them, now am come.
Be quick then, that none blame me as too late;[50]
What new dire evils on the Persians weigh?
_Chor._ I fear to look on thee, 690
Fear before thee to speak,
With all the awe of thee I felt of old.
_Dar._ But since I came by thy complaints persuaded,
From below rising, spin no lengthened tale;
But shortly, clearly speak, and tell thy story,
And leave awhile thine awe and fear of me.
_Chor._ I dread thy wish to grant,
*I dread to say thee nay,[51]
Saying things that it is hard for friends to speak.
_Dar._ Nay, then, since that old dread of thine prevents thee,
Do thou [_to_ ATOSSA], the ancient partner of my bed,700
My noble queen, from these thy plaints and moanings
Cease, and say something clearly. Human sorrows
May well on mortals fall; for many evils,
Some on the sea, and some on dry land also,
Happen to men if life be far prolongèd.
_Atoss._ O thou, who in the fate of fair good fortune
Excelled'st all men, who, while yet thou sawest
The sun's bright rays, did'st lead a life all blessed,
Admired, yea, worshipped as a God by Persians,
Now, too, I count thee blest in that thou died'st
Before thou saw'st the depth of these our evils.
For now, Dareios, thou shalt hear a story
Full, yet in briefest moment. Utter ruin,
To sum up all, is come upon the Persians. 710
_Dar._ How so? Hath plague or discord seized my country?
_Atoss._ Not so, but all the host is lost near Athens.
_Dar._ What son of mine led that host hither, tell me?[52]
_Atoss._ Xerxes o'er-hasty, emptying all the mainland.
_Dar._ Made he this mad attempt by land or water?
_Atoss._ By both; two lines there were of two great armies.
_Dar._ How did so great a host effect its passage?
_Atoss._ He bridged the straits of Helle, and found transit.
_Dar._ Did he prevail to close the mighty Bosporos?
_Atoss._ So was it; yet some God, it may be, helped him. 720
_Dar._ Alas! some great God came and stole his wisdom.
_Atoss._ Yea, the end shows what evil he accomplished.
_Dar._ And how have they fared, that ye thus bewail them?
_Atoss._ The naval host, o'ercome, wrecked all the land-force.
_Dar._ What! Is the whole host by the spear laid prostrate?
_Atoss._ For this doth Susa's city mourn her losses.
_Dar._ Alas, for that brave force and mighty army!
_Atoss._ The Bactrians all are lost, not old men merely.
_Dar._ Poor fool! how he hath lost his host's fresh vigour!
_Atoss._ Xerxes, they say, alone, with but few others.... 730
_Dar._ What is his end, and where? Is there no safety?
_Atoss._ Was glad to gain the bridge that joins two mainlands.
_Dar._ And has he reached this mainland? Is that certain?
_Atoss._ Yea, the report holds good. Here is no discord.[53]
_Dar._ Ah me! Full swift the oracles' fulfilment!
And on my son hath Zeus their end directed.
I hoped the Gods would work them out more slowly;
But when man hastens, God too with him worketh.
And now for all my friends a fount of evils
Seems to be found. And this my son, not knowing, 740
In youth's rash mood, hath wrought; for he did purpose
To curb the sacred Hellespont with fetters,
As though it were his slave, and sought to alter
The stream of God, the Bosporos, full-flowing,
And his well-hammered chains around it casting,
Prevailed to make his mighty host a highway;
And though a mortal, thought, with no good counsel,
To master all the Gods, yea, e'en Poseidon.
Nay, was not my poor son oppressed with madness?
And much I fear lest all my heaped-up treasure
Become the spoil and prey of the first comer.
_Atoss._ Such things the o'er-hasty Xerxes learns from others,750
By intercourse with men of evil counsel;[54]
Who say that thou great wealth for thy son gained'st
By thy spear's might, while he with coward spirit
Does his spear-work indoors, and nothing addeth
Unto his father's glory. Such reproaches
Hearing full oft from men of evil counsel,
He planned this expedition against Hellas.
_Dar._ Thus then a deed portentous hath been wrought,
Ever to be remembered, such as ne'er
Falling on Susa made it desolate,
Since Zeus our king ordained this dignity,
That one man should be lord of Asia's plains.
Where feed her thousand flocks, and hold the rod 760
Of sovran guidance: for the Median first[55]
Ruled o'er the host, and then his son in turn
Finished the work, for reason steered his soul;
And Kyros came as third, full richly blest,
And ruled, and gained great peace for all his friends;
And he won o'er the Lydians and the Phrygians,
And conquered all the wide Ionian land;[56]
For such his wisdom, he provoked not God.
And Kyros' son came fourth, and ruled the host;
And Mardos fifth held sway, his country's shame,[57] 770
Shame to the ancient throne; and him with guile
Artaphrenes[58] the brave smote down, close leagued
With men, his friends, to whom the work was given.
[Sixth, Maraphis and seventh Artaphrenes,]
And I obtained this post that I desired,
And with a mighty host great victories won.
Yet no such evil brought I on the state;
But my son Xerxes, young, thinks like a youth,
And all my solemn charge remembers not;
For know this well, my old companions true, 780
That none of us who swayed the realm of old,
Did e'er appear as working ills like these.
_Chor._ What then, O King Dareios? To what end
Lead'st thou thy speech? And how, in this our plight,
Could we, the Persian people, prosper best?
_Dar._ If ye no more attack the Hellenes' land,
E'en though the Median host outnumbers theirs.
To them the very land is true ally.
_Chor._ What meanest thou? How fights the land for them?
_Dar._ *It slays with famine those vast multitudes.790
_Chor._ We then a host, select, compact, will raise.
_Dar._ Nay, e'en the host which now in Hellas stays[59]
Will ne'er return in peace and safety home.
_Chor._ How say'st thou? Does not all the barbarous host
Cross from Europa o'er the straits of Hellè?
_Dar._ But few of many; if 'tis meet for one
Who looks upon the things already done
To trust the oracles of Gods; for they,
Not these or those, but all, are brought to pass:
If this be so, then, resting on vain hopes,[60] 800
He leaves a chosen portion of his host:
And they abide where, watering all the plain,
Asôpos pours his fertilising stream
Dear to Bœotian land; and there of ills
The topmost crown awaits them, penalty
Of wanton outrage and of godless thoughts;
For they to Hellas coming, held not back
In awe from plundering sculptured forms of Gods[61]
And burning down their temples; and laid low
Are altars, and the shrines of Gods o'erthrown,
E'en from their base. They therefore having wrought
Deeds evil, now are suffering, and will suffer
Evil not less, and not as yet is seen 810
*E'en the bare groundwork of the ills, but still
They grow up to completeness. Such a stream
Of blood and slaughter soon shall flow from them
By Dorian spear upon Platæan ground,[62]
And heaps of corpses shall to children's children,
Though speechless, witness to the eyes of men
That mortal man should not wax overproud;
For wanton pride from blossom grows to fruit,
The full corn in the ear, of utter woe,
And reaps a tear-fraught harvest. Seeing then,
Such recompense of these things, cherish well
The memory of Athens and of Hellas; 820
Let no man in his scorn of present fortune,
And thirst for other, mar his good estate;
Zeus is the avenger of o'er-lofty thoughts,
A terrible controller. Therefore now,
Since voice of God bids him be wise of heart,
Admonish him with counsel true and good
To cease his daring sacrilegious pride;
And thou, O Xerxes' mother, old and dear,
Go to thy home, and taking what apparel
Is fitting, go to meet thy son; for all 830
The costly robes around his limbs are torn
To rags and shreds in grief's wild agony.
But do thou gently soothe his soul with words;
For he to thee alone will deign to hearken;
But I must leave the earth for darkness deep:
And ye, old men, farewell, although in woe,
And give your soul its daily bread of joy;
For to the dead no profit bringeth wealth.
[_Exit, disappearing in the earth._
_Chor._ I shudder as I hear the many woes
Both past and present that on Persians fall. 840
_Atoss._ [O God, how many evils fall on me![63]
And yet this one woe biteth more than all,
Hearing my son's shame in the rags of robes
That clothe his limbs. But I will go and take
A fit adornment from my house, and try
To meet my son. We will not in his troubles
Basely abandon him whom most we love.]