Epeisodion 1
Iolaus
do I now declare to thee; for I assert, in days gone by, I was with Theseus on the ship, as their father’s squire, when they went to fetch that girdle fraught with death; yea, and from Hades’ murky dungeons did Heracles bring thy father up; as all Hellas doth attest.
215
The following six lines have been condemned by the joint verdict of Paley, Porson, and Dindorf. Wherefore in return they crave this boon of thee, that they be not surrendered up nor torn by force from the altars of thy gods and cast forth from the land. For this were shame on thee, andThis line as it stands has a syllable too many for the metre. Hermann omits τε. Wecklein inserts τῇ and omits κακόν. hurtful likewise in thy state, should suppliants, exiles,
220
kith and kin of thine, be haled away by force. For pity’s sake! cast one glance at them. I do entreat thee, laying my suppliant bough upon thee, by thy hands and beard, slight not the sons of Heracles, now that thou hast them in thy power to help. Show thyself their kinsman and their friend;
225
be to them father, brother, lord; for better each and all of these than to fall beneath the Argives’ hand.
230
Chorus
O king, I pity them, hearing their sad lot Now more than ever do I see noble birth o’ercome by fortune; for these, though sprung from a noble sire,
are suffering what they ne’er deserved.
235
Demophon
Three aspects of the case constrain me, Iolaus, not to spurn the guests thou bringest; first and foremost, there is Zeus, at whose altar thou art seated with these tender children gathered round thee;
next come ties of kin, and the debt I owe to treat them kindly for their father’s sake; and last, mine honour, which before all I must regard; for if I permit this altar to be violently despoiled by stranger hands, men will think
240
the land I inhabit is free no more, and that through fearReading ὄκνῳ. I have surrendered suppliants to Argives, and this comes nigh to make one hang oneself. Would that thou hadst come under a luckier star! yet, as it is, fear not that any man shall tear thee and these children from the altar by force.
245
Get thee (to Copreus) to Argos and tell Eurystheus so; yea and more, if he have any charge against these strangers, he shall have justice; but never shalt thou drag them hence.
250
Copreus
Not even if I have right upon my side and prove my case?
Demophon
How can it be right to drag the suppliant away by force?
Copreus
Well,Reading with Musgrave οὐκοῦν . . . ἀλλ’ οὐ. Jerram reads οὔκουν . . . ἀλλὰ σοὶ giving as the sense of this line and the next—Cop. No disgrace to me: the hurt will be thine. Dem. So it will, if I let thee take them. mine is the disgrace; no harm will come to thee.
255
Demophon
Tis harm to me, if I let them be haled away by thee.
Copreus
Banish them thyself, and then will I take them from elsewhere.
Demophon
Nature made thee a fool, to think thou knowest better than the god.
Copreus
It seems then evildoers are to find a refuge here.
Demophon
A temple of the gods is an asylum open to the world.
260
Copreus
Maybe they will not take this view in Mycensa.
Demophon
What! am I not lord of this domain?
Copreus
So long as thou injure not the Argives, and ifKirchhoff places a comma after ἐκείνους, and changes ἣν into ἄν, but this is not necessary. wise, thou wilt not.
Demophon
Be injured for all I care, provided I sin not against the gods.
Copreus
I would not have thee come to blows with Argos.
265
Demophon
I am of like mind in this; but I will not dismiss these from my protection.
Copreus
For all that, I shall take and drag my own away.
Demophon
Why then perhaps thou wilt find a difficulty in returning to Argos.
Copreus
That shall I soon find out by making the attempt.
Demophon
Touch them and thou shalt rue it, and that without delay.
270
Chorus
I conjure thee, never dare to strike a herald.
Demophon
Strike I will, unless that herald learn discretion.
