Euripides' RHESUS Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

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44 pages - You are on Page 18

Chorus: May Nemesis, daughter of Zeus, check the word that may offend;
for lo! I will utter all that my soul fain would say. Thou art come,
O son of the river god, art come, thrice welcome in thy advent, to
the halls of Phrygia; late in time thy Pierian mother and Strymon
thy sire, that stream with bridges fair, are sending thee to us-Strymon
who begat thee his strong young son, that day his swirling waters
found a refuge in the tuneful Muse's virgin bosom. Thou art my Zeus,
my god of light, as thou comest driving thy dappled steeds. Now, O
Phrygia, O my country, now mayst thou by God's grace address thy saviour
Zeus! Shall old Troy once more at last spend the live-long day in
drinking toasts and singing love's praise, while the wildering wine-cup
sends a friendly challenge round, as o'er the sea for Sparta bound,
the sons of Atreus quit the Ilian strand? Ah! best of friends, with
thy strong arm and spear mayst thou this service do me, then safe
return. Come, appear, brandish that shield of gold full in Achilles'
face; raise it aslant along the chariot's branching rail, urging on
thy steeds the while, and shaking thy lance with double point. For
none after facing thee will ever join the dance on the lawns of Argive
Hera; no, but he shall die by Thracians slain, and this land shall
bear the burden of his corpse and be glad. (Enter Rhesus.) Hail,
all bail O mighty prince! fair the scion thou hast bred, O Thrace,
a ruler in his every look. Mark his stalwart frame cased in golden
corslet! Hark to the ringing bells that peal so proudly from his targehandle
hung. A god, O Troy, a god, a very Ares, a scion of Strymon's stream
and of the tuneful Muse, breathes courage into thee. (Re-enter Hector.)

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