_Chor._ Yea, may that Law that guards the suppliant's right
Free this our flight from harm,
Law, sprung from Zeus, supreme Apportioner,
But thou, [_to the King_,] though old, from me, though younger, learn:
If thou a suppliant pity
Thou ne'er shall penury know,
So long as Gods receive
Within their sacred shrines
Gifts at the hands of worshipper unstained.
_King._ It is not at my hearth ye suppliant sit;
But if the State be as a whole defiled, 360
Be it the people's task to work the cure.
I cannot pledge my promise to you first
Ere I have counselled with my citizens.[236]