Stasimon 3
[Episode]
His battle-foes; he meets them arm to arm.
RHESUS.
This Greek of thine, this sitter like a thief
In ambush, I will make of him my chief
Care. I will take him living, drive a straight
Stake through him, and so star him at the Gate
515
To feed your wide-winged vultures. ’Tis the death
Most meet for a lewd thief, who pillageth
God’s sanctuary, or so we hold in Thrace.
HECTOR.
Seek first some sleep. There still remains a space
Of darkness.—I will show the spot that best
May suit you, somewhat sundered from the rest.
520
Should need arise, the password of the night
Is Phoebus: see your Thracians have it right.
Advance beyond your stations, men, at some
Distance, and stay on watch till Dolon come
With word of the Argives’ counsel. If his vow
525
Prosper, he should be nearing us by now.P. 28, l. 528. Rhesus shows the simple courage of a barbarian in his contempt for the ruses of Odysseus, the brutality of a barbarian in the methods of punishment he proposes. Such proposals would disgust a Greek; it looks as if they displeased Hector. In any case his abruptness here, and his careful indication of the place where the Thracians are to sleep, far from the rest of the camp, have some dramatic value for the sequel.
[Choral]
Say, whose is the watch? Who exchanges
CHORUS.
With us? The first planets to rise
Are setting; the Pleiades seven
Move low on the margin of heaven,
530
And the Eagle is risen and ranges
The mid-vault of the skies.
ANOTHER.
No sleeping yet! Up from your couches
And watch on, the sluggards ye are!
The moon-maiden’s lamp is yet burning.
THIRD GUARD.
Oh, the morning is near us, the morning!
535
Even now his fore-runner approaches,
DIVERS GUARDS.
Who drew the first night-watch?
