Stasimon 1
CHOROS.
The stroke of Zeus — they have it, as men say!
This, at least, from the source track forth we may!
As he ordained, so has he done.
The gods think fit to care
370
As those by whom the good and fair
Of things denied their touch
Is trampled! but he was profane.
That they do care, has been made plain
375
To offspring of the over-bold,
Outbreathing Ares greater than is just —
Houses that spill with more than they can hold,
More than is best for man. Be man’s what must
Keep harm off, so that in himself he find
380
Sufficiency — the well-endowed of mind!
For there’s no bulwark in man’s wealth to him
Who, through a surfeit, kicks — into the dim
And disappearing — Right’s great altar.
It urges him, the sad persuasiveness,
385
Até’s insufferable child that schemes
Treason beforehand: and all cure is vain.
It is not hidden: out it glares again,
A light dread-lamping-mischief, just as gleams
The badness of the bronze;
390
Through rubbing, puttings to the touch,
Black-clotted is he, judged at once.
He seeks — the boy — a flying bird to clutch,
