RHE. Thou brave descendant of a noble sire,
Lord of this realm, O Hector, I accost thee
After a tedious absence, and rejoice
In thy success, for to the turrets reared
By Greece, thou now lay’st siege, and I am come
With thee those hostile bulwarks to o’erthrow,
And burn their fleet.
HEC. Son of the tuneful Muse,
And Thracian Strymon’s stream, I ever love
To speak the truth, for I am not a man
Versed in duplicity; long, long ago,
Should you have come to succour Troy, nor suffered,
Far as on you depended, by our foes
This city to be ta’en. You cannot say
That uninvited by your friends you came not,
Because you marked not our distress. What heralds,
What embassies to you did Phrygia send,
Beseeching you, the city to protect,
What sumptuous presents did she not bestow?
But you, our kinsman, who derive your birth
From a barbarian stem, to Greece betrayed
Us, a barbarian nation, though from ruling
Over a petty state, by this right arm
I raised you to the wide-extended throne,
When round Pangæum and Pæonia’s realm
Rushing upon the hardiest Thracian troops
I broke their ranks of battle, and subdued
The people to your empire: but you spurn
My benefits, nor come with speed to succour
Your friends in their distress. Though they who spring not
From the same ancestors, observed our summons;
Of whom full many in yon field of death
Have tombs heaped o’er them, a most glorious proof
Of faith unshaken; others under arms
Their chariots mount, and steadfastly endure
The wintry blasts, the parching flames of heaven,
Nor on a gay convivial couch reclined
Like you, O Rhesus, drain the frequent bowl.
That you may know I yet can stand alone,
Such conduct I resent; this to your face
I speak.
RHE. I also am the same: my language
Is plain and honest; I am not a man
Of mean duplicity. My soul was tortured
With greater anguish far than thou couldst feel,
Because I was not present in this land;
But Scythia’s tribes who near our confines dwell
Made war against me just as I to Troy
Was journeying; I had reached the Euxine shore
To sail with Thracia’s host, the Scythian blood
There stained our spears, and my brave troops expired
’Midst intermingled slaughter: this event
Hindered my reaching Troy, and aiding thee
In battle. Having conquered them, and taken
For hostages their children, them I bound
To pay me annual tribute; with my fleet
Then crossed the Hellespont, and marched on foot
Through various realms, nor, as thou proudly say’st,
Drained the intoxicating bowl, nor slept
Beneath a gilded roof, but to such blasts
As cover with thick ice the Thracian wave,
Or through Pæonia howl, was I exposed
Wrapped in this mantle many a sleepless night.
But I, though late, am in due season come:
For this is the tenth year since thou hast waged
An ineffectual war, day after day
By thee is idly lavished, while the die
Of battle ’twixt the Argive host and thine
Spins doubtful ere it fall. But it for me
Will be sufficient that the sun once mount
The heavens, while I their bulwarks storm, invade
Their fleet, and slay the Greeks. To my own home
I the next day from Ilion will return,
Thy toils soon ending: let no Trojan bear
A shield: for with this spear will I subdue
The boasters, though ’twas late ere I arrived.
CHOR. My soul this language doth approve,
Such friends as thou art sent by Jove,
But humbly I that god beseech,
To pardon thy presumptuous speech.
The navy launched from Argos’ strand,
Though freighted with a daring band,
Neither in former times, nor now
Contained a chief more brave than thou.
How shall Achilles’ self withstand,
Or Ajax meet, thy vengeful hand?
O may the morn with orient ray
Exhibit that auspicious day,
When thou the victor’s prize shalt gain
And dye with crimson gore the plain.
RHE. Soon with exploits like these will I atone
For my long absence: but, with due submission
To Nemesis, I speak; when from the foe
We have delivered this beleaguered city
And seized their spoils for offerings to the gods;
With thee to Argos will I go, invade,
And ravage with victorious arms, all Greece,
To teach them in their turn what ’tis to suffer.
HEC. Could I escape from the impending stroke,
And with that safety which we erst enjoyed
These walls inhabit, I to Heaven should pay
Full many a grateful vow: but as for Argos,
As for the Grecian states, to lay them waste
By arms were far less easy than you speak of.
RHE. Is it not said the bravest chiefs of Greece
Came hither?
HEC. Them I hold not in contempt,
But long have kept at bay.
RHE. When these are slain,
We therefore each obstruction have removed.
HEC. Forbear to think of distant prospects now,
While our immediate interests lie neglected.
RHE. Art thou so tame as to endure such wrongs
Without retorting them?
HEC. While I maintain
What I possess, my empire is sufficient.
But freely take your choice, or in the left
Or the right wing, or centre of our host
Display your shield, and range your troops around.
RHE. I singly will encounter all our foes,
O Hector; but if thou esteem it base
Not to assist me when I burn their fleet,
Because thou hast already toiled so long,
Oppose me to Achilles in the front
Of battle.
HEC. We at him no spear must aim.
RHE. Yet was I told he sailed for Troy.
HEC. He sailed,
And still is here, but angry with the chiefs,
Refuses to assist them.
RHE. In the camp
Of Greece, say who is second in renown?
HEC. Ajax, I deem, and Tydeus’ son are equal
To any; but most fluent in his speech,
And with sufficient fortitude inspired,
Is that Ulysses, from whom Troy hath suffered
Insults the most atrocious; for by night,
Entering Minerva’s fane, he stole her image,
And bore it to the Grecian fleet: disguised
In tattered vest, that vile impostor next
Entered the gates, and cursed the Argive host,
Sent as a spy to Ilion; having slain
The sentinels, he through the gates escaped,
And in some fraudful scheme is ever found:
At the Thymbræan temple is he stationed
Hard by our ramparts, we in him contend
With a most grievous pest.
RHE. The valiant man
Is never mean enough to slay his foes
By stealth, he loves to meet them face to face;
But, as for him, the recreant chief thou nam’st,
Who lurking with a thievish purpose frames
These dark contrivances, as through the gates
I sally forth to combat, I will seize him;
Driven through his back, my spear shall leave the miscreant
Food for the vultures, for the impious robber
Who spoils the temples of the gods deserves
No better fate.
HEC. Now choose, for it is night,
The spot for an encampment: I will show you
A separate quarter where your troops must sleep.
But mark me well, Apollo is the watchword;
In case of an emergency, announce
This signal to the Thracian host.
[_Exit_ RHESUS.
Extend
The watch beyond the lines, and there receive
Dolon our spy, who sallied forth t’ explore
The navy of our foes; if he be safe
He, by this time, the trenches must approach.
[_Exit_ HECTOR.