Epeisodion 1
King
if your voice were not here to inform me.
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Chorus
You have not spoken falsely about our clothing. But, for my part, how am I to address you? As commoner, as spokesman, bearer of the sacred wand,Apparently a periphrasis for herald; but the Greek text is uncertain.or as ruler of the realm?
King
As for that, answer and speak to me with confidence.
For I am Pelasgus, offspring of Palaechthon, whom the earth brought forth, and lord of this land; and after me, their king, is rightly named the race of the Pelasgi, who harvest the land. Of all the region through which the pure
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Strymon flows, on the side toward the setting sun, I am the lord. There lies within the limits of my rule the land of the Perrhaebi, the parts beyond Pindus close to the Paeonians, and the mountain ridge of Dodona; the edge of the watery sea borders my kingdom. I rule up to these boundaries.
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The ground where we stand is Apian land itself, and has borne that name since antiquity in honor of a healer. For Apis, seer and healer, the son of Apollo, came from Naupactus on the farther shore and purified this land of monsters deadly to man, which Earth,
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defiled by the pollution of bloody deeds of old, caused to spring up—plagues charged with wrath, an ominous colony of swarming serpents. Of these plagues Apis worked the cure by sorcery and spells to the content of the Argive land,
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and for reward thereafter earned for himself remembrance in prayers.
Now that you have my testimony, declare your lineage and speak further—yet our people do not take pleasure in long discourse.
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Chorus
Our tale is brief and clear. Argives
we claim to be by birth, offspring of a cow blest in its children. And the truth of this I shall confirm in full.
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King
Foreign maidens, your tale is beyond my belief—how your race can be from Argos. For you are more similar to the
women of Libya and in no way similar to those native to our land. The Nile, too, might foster such a stock, and like yours is the Cyprian impress stamped upon female images by male craftsmen. And of such aspect, I have heard, are nomad women, who
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ride on camels for steeds, having padded saddles, and dwell in a land neighboring the Aethiopians. And had you been armed with the bow, certainly I would have guessed you to be the unwed, flesh-devouring Amazons. But inform me, and I will better comprehend
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how it is that you trace your race and lineage from Argos.
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Chorus
Is there a report that once in this land of Argos Io was ward of Hera’s house?
King
Certainly she was; the tradition prevails far and wide.
Chorus
And is there some story, too, that Zeus was joined in love with a mortal?
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King
This entanglement was not secret from Hera.
Chorus
What then was the result of this royal strife?
King
The goddess of Argos transformed the woman into a cow.
Chorus
And while she was a horned cow, did not Zeus approach her?
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King
So they say, making his form that of a bull lusting for a mate.
Chorus
What answer then did Zeus’ stubborn consort give?
King
She placed the all-seeing one to stand watch over the cow.
Chorus
What manner of all-seeing herdsman with a single duty do you mean?
King
Argus, a son of Earth, whom Hermes slew.
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Chorus
What else did she contrive against the unfortunate cow?
King
A sting, torment of cattle, constantly driving her on.
Chorus
They call it a gadfly, those who dwell by the Nile.
King
Well then, it drove her by a long course out of the land.
