Euripides Ion

Euripides Ion. How Musical Worship of Apollo, Abaddon or Apollyon is revealed in the book of Revelation.

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By Euripides Written 414-412 B.C.E Translated by Robert Potter. It is important to understand that both the Old and New Testaments define people tightly bound with the religions of Babylon, Canaan, Egypt and the Greek world. Each nation had names for their own "gods" and traditions but they all tell much story. When people lived right and treated others with justice things went well. However, people who oppress others almost always use forms of religious superstitious to bind people to themselves and support them. The Babylon "gods" created mankind as a "labor-saving" device; but Moses explains that God is Creator and therefore serves His creatures.

Dramatis Personae

MERCURY
ION
CREUSA, daughter of Erechtheus
XUTHUS, husband of CREUSA
TUTOR
ATTENDANT
PRIESTESS OF APOLLO
MINERVA
CHORUS OF HANDMAIDENS OF CREUSA

Scene

Before the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The sun is about to rise. MERCURY enters.

---

MERCURY

Atlas, that on his brazen shoulders rolls
Yon heaven, the ancient mansion of the gods,
Was by a goddess sire to Maia; she
To supreme Jove bore me, and call'd me Hermes;

Attendant on the king, his high behests
I execute. To Delphi am I come,
This land where Phoebus from his central throne
Utters to mortals his high strain, declaring
The present and the future; this is the cause;  

Greece hath a city of distinguish'd glory,
Which from the goddess of the golden lance
Received its name; Erechtheus was its king;
His daughter, call'd Creusa, to the embrace
Of nuptial love Apollo strain'd perforce,
Where northward points the rock beneath the heights
Crown'd with the Athenian citadel of Pallas,
Call'd Macrai by the lords of Attica.
Her growing burden, to her sire unknown
(Such was the pleasure of the god,) she bore,
Till in her secret chamber to a son
The rolling months gave birth: to the same cave,
Where by the enamour'd god she was compress'd,
Creusa bore the infant: there for death
Exposed him in a well-compacted ark
Of circular form, observant of the customs
Drawn from her great progenitors, and chief
From Erichthonius, who from the Attic earth
Deriv'd his origin: to him as guards
Minerva gave two dragons, and in charge
Consign'd him to the daughters of Aglauros:
This rite to the Erechthidae hence remains,
Mid serpents wreathed in ductile gold to nurse
Their children. What of ornament she had
She hung around her son, and left him thus
To perish. But to me his earnest prayer
Phoebus applied, "To the high-lineaged sons
Of glorious Athens go, my brother; well
Thou know'st the city of Pallas; from the cave
Deep in the hollow rock a new-born babe,
Laid as he is, and all his vestments with him;

Bring to thy brother to my shrine, and place
At the entrance of my temple; of the rest
(For, know, the child is mine) I will take care."
To gratify my brother thence I bore
The osier-woven ark, and placed the boy
Here at the temple's base, the wreathed lid
Uncovering, that the infant might be seen.
It chanced, as the orient sun the steep of heav'n
Ascended, to the god's oracular seat
The priestess entering, on the infant cast
Her eye, and marvelled, deeming that some nymph
Of Delphi at the fane had dared to lay
The secret burden of her womb: this thought
Prompts her to move it from the shrine: but soon
To pity she resign'd the harsh intent;
The impulse of the god secretly acting
In favour of the child, that in his temple
It might abide; her gentle hand then took it,
And gave it nurture; yet conceived she not
That Phoebus was the sire, nor who the mother
Knew aught, nor of his parents could the child
Give information. All his youthful years
Sportive he wandered round the shrine, and there
Was fed: but when his firmer age advanced
To manhood, o'er the treasures of the god
The Delphians placed him, to his faithful care
Consigning all; and in this royal dome
His hallow'd life he to this hour hath pass'd.
Meantime Creusa, mother of the child,
To Xuthus was espoused, the occasion this:-
On Athens from Euboean Chalcis roll'd
The waves of war; be join'd their martial toil,
And with his spear repell'd the foe; for this
To the proud honour of Creusa's bed
Advanc'd; no native, in Achaea sprung
From Aeolus, the son of Jove. Long time
Unbless'd with children, to the oracular shrine
Of Phoebus are they come, through fond desire
Of progeny: to this the god hath brought
The fortune of his son, nor, as was deem'd,
Forgets him; but to Xuthus, when he stands
This sacred seat consulting, will he give
That son, declared his offspring; that the child,
When to Creusa's house brought back, by her
May be agnized; the bridal rites of Phoebus
Kept secret, that the youth may claim the state
Due to his birth, through all the states of Greece
Named Ion, founder of the colonies
On the Asiatic coast. The laurell'd cave
Now will I visit, there to learn what fortune
Is to the boy appointed, for I see
This son of Phoebus issuing forth to adorn
The gates before the shrine with laurel boughs.
First of the gods I hail him by the name
Of Ion, which his fortune soon will give him.

MERCURY vanishes. ION and the attendants of the temple enter.

ION chanting

[82] Now flames this radiant chariot of the sun
High o'er the earth, at whose ethereal fire
The stars into the sacred night retreat:

2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. H3627 vessel or weapon, instrument, psaltery 2 Kings 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. H6945 qadesh kaw-dashe' From H6942 ; a (quasi) sacred person, that is, (technically) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry: sodomite, unclean. 2 Kings 23:10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 2 Kings 23:11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. H8612 tôpheth to'-feth The same as H8611 ; Topheth, a place near Jerusalem:Tophet, Topheth.   H8608 tophaph taw-faf' A primitive root; to drum, that is, play (as) on the tambourine: taber, play with timbrels.   H8610 taphas taw-fas' A primitive root; to manipulate, that is, seize; chiefly to capture, wield; specifically to overlay; figuratively to use unwarrantably: catch, handle, (lay, take) hold (on, over), stop, X surely, surprise, take.   Gen 4:21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 2 Kings 23:13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

O'er the Parnassian cliffs the ascending wheels
To mortals roll the beams of day; the wreaths
Of incense-breathing myrrh mount to the roof
Of Phoebus' fane; the Delphic priestess now
Assumes her seat, and from the hallow'd tripod
Pronounces to the Greeks the oracular strains
Which the god dictates. Haste, ye Delphic train,
Haste to Castalia's silver-streaming fount;

The Divine Throne- Chariot, from the Dead Sea Scrolls

The ministers of the Glorious Face in the abode of the gods of knowledge fall down before him, and the cherubim utter blessings.

And as they rise up , there is a divine small voice and loud praise ; there is a divine small voice as they fold their wings.

The cherubim bless the image of the Throne-Chariot above the firmament, and they praise the majesty of the fiery firmament beneath the seat of his glory.

And between the turning wheels,

angels of holiness come and go, as it were a fiery vision of most holy spirits; and about them flow seeming rivulets of fire,

like gleaming bronze, a radiance of many gorgeous colors, of marvelous pigments magnificiently mingled.

The Spirits of the Living God move perpetually with the glory of the wonderful Chariot. The small voice of blessing accompanies the tumult as they depart, and on the path of their return they worship the Holy One, Ascending they rise marvelously ; settling, they stay still. The sound of joyful praise is silenced and there is a small voice of blessing in all the camp of God.

Bathed in its chaste dews to the temple go;
There from your guarded mouths no sound be heard
But of good omen, that to those who crave
Admission to the oracle, your voice
May with auspicious words expound the answers.
My task, which from my early infancy
Hath been my charge, shall be with laurel boughs
And sacred wreaths to cleanse the vestibule
Of Phoebus, on the pavement moistening dews
To rain, and with my bow to chase the birds
Which would defile the hallow'd ornaments.
A mother's fondness, and a father's care
I never knew: the temple of the god
Claims then my service, for it nurtured me.

The attendants leave. ION busies himself before the temple as he continues to sing.

strophe

Haste, thou verdant new-sprung bough,
Haste, thy early office know;
Branch of beauteous laurel come,
Sweep Apollo's sacred dome,
Cropp'd this temple's base beneath,
Where the immortal gardens breathe,
And eternal dews that round
Water the delicious ground,
Bathe the myrtle's tresses fair.
Lightly thus, with constant care,
The pavement of the god I sweep,
When over the Parnassian steep
Flames the bright sun's mounting ray;
This my task each rising day.
Son of Latona, Paean, Paean, hail!
Never, O never may thy honours fail!

antistrophe

Grateful is my task, who wait
Serving, Phoebus, at thy gate;
Honouring thus thy hallow'd shrine,
Honour for the task is mine.
Labouring with unwilling hands,
Me no mortal man commands:

But, immortal gods, to you
All my pleasing toil is due.
Phoebus is to me a sire;
Grateful thoughts my soul inspire;
Nurtured by thy bounty here,
Thee, Apollo, I revere;

As a father's I repeat.
Son of Latona, Paean, Paean, hail!
Never, O never may thy honours fail!
Now from this labour with the laurel bough
I cease; and sprinkling from the golden vase
The chaste drops which Castalia's fountain rolls,
Bedew the pavement. Never may I quit
This office to the god; or, if I quit it,
Be it, good Fortune, at thy favouring call!

But see, the early birds have left their nests,
And this way from Parnassus wing their flight.
Come not, I charge you, near the battlements,
Nor near the golden dome. Herald of Jove,
Strong though thy beak beyond the feather'd kind,
My bow shall reach thee. Towards the altar, see,
A swan comes sailing: elsewhere wilt thou move
Thy scarlet-tinctured foot? or from my bow
[160] The lyre of Phoebus to thy notes attuned [sunoidos]

You will note that the HARP - MUSIC connection is based on the fact that APOLLO tuned his LYRE to his BOW. The Greek word "psallo" translated "melody" has no connection to MUSIC. There is NO musical concept or name of instrument in the Bible which does not point to Lucifer, warriors, prostitutes or Sodomites. The temple musicians were Levitical Warriors under the king and commanders of the army and NOT the priests. The word means to PLUCK and has its FUNDAMENTAL meaning in connection with Apollo's (Phoebus') harp. Apollo ran around with both his bow and lyre. He might kill you or serenade you with his harp and the shoot a LOVE ARROW into you. The second meaning of PSALLO points directly to BLOOD and POLUTION. See Below. Only in a remote sense did people speak of SHOOTING OUT HYMNS. That is why Paul ABSOLUTELY demanded that both the singing AND melody be IN THE HEART. Rather than a musical concept, in Col 3:16 Paul uses the word GRACE: both melody and grace were qualities of the word SPEAK which is what Paul commanded. hode pros thumelas allos eressei kuknos. ouk allai phoinikophaê poda kinêseis; ouden s' ha phorminx ha Phoibou Phorm-inx, ingos, hê, A. lyre, freq. in Hom., esp. as the instrument of Apollo, phormingos perikalleos hên ech' Apollôn Il.1.603 , cf. 24.63, Od.17.270, Hes.Sc.203; of Achilles, phrena terpomenon phormingi ligeiêi kalêi daidaleêi Il.9.186 ; with seven strings (after Terpander's time), heptaktupos, heptaglôssos, Pi.P.2.71, N.5.24; antipsallôn elephantodeton ph. Ar.Av.219 (anap.). 2. ph. achordos, metaph. for a bow, Arist.Rh.1413a1. Atuned: Summolpos , on,= sunôidos, E.Ion165 (lyr.), dub. in Ath.Mitt.24.93 (Tire, Asia Minor). Sunôidos (also suna^oidos E.HF787 (lyr.)), on, ( [ôidê] ) A. singing or sounding in unison with, echoing or responsive to, ornis . . achesi s. E. Ph.1518 (lyr.); thrênêmasi philai xunôidoi Id.Or.133 , cf. Hel.174 (lyr.). 2. abs., in harmony, accordant, logos Pl.Phd.92c ; êchos D.H.Comp.22 ; rhêma APl.4.226 (Alc.); ô xunôidoi ktupoi cj. in E. Supp.73 (lyr.). II. metaph., according with, in harmony with, c. dat., Hdt.5.92.g, E.Med.1008, etc.; emoi phronôn xunôida Ar.Av. 635 (lyr.); logoi s. tois ergois Arist.EN1172b5 , cf. 1098b30; s. eisin hoi asteres tois apoteles masi PMich. in Class.Phil.22.16; hokosa peperei xunôida pepper and cognate substances, Aret.CA1.10: c. gen., tên homoeideian s. tou tonou A.D.Adv.165.23 : abs., isôs xunôidos tôi chronôi genêsetai Call.Com.2 (a) D. Neuro-lalos [a^], on, A. with sounding strings, chordê AP9.410 (Tull. Sab.). Astêr , ho, gen. eros: dat. pl.   A. astrasi Il.22.28 ,317 (Aristarch.; astrasi Sch.Ven., Choerob.):--star (v. astron), aster' opôrinôi Il. 5.5 ; oulios a. 11.62 ; Seirios a. Hes.Op.417 ; a. Arktouros the chief star in the constellation, ib.565, etc.; shooting star or meteor, Il.4.75; hoi diatrechontes a. Ar.Pax838 ; aittontas hôsper asteras Pl.R. 621b , cf. Arist.Mete.341a33, Plu.Agis11. 2. flame, light, fire, E.Hel.1131 (lyr.). 3. astêr petrinos meteoric stone, Placit.2.13.9. II. metaph. of illustrious persons, etc., phanerôtaton aster' Athênas E.Hipp.1122 (lyr.); Mousaôn astera kai Charitôn AP7.1.8 (Alc. Mess.)   Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.   Mousaôn astera kai Charitôn   Cara or Grace was a prostitute goddess: the Muses were the prostitute "musicians" and other "liberal arts" operatives working for pagan religions. They are the "musicians" in Revelation 18:22 and John connects them to the Harlot Religion and calls them sorcerers. "Prophesiers" were singers and musicians.   Plato Protagoras [347c] But if he does not mind, let us talk no more of poems and verses, but consider the points on which I questioned you at first, Protagoras, and on which I should be glad to reach, with your help, a conclusion. For it seems to me that arguing about poetry is comparable to the wine-parties of common market-folk. These people, owing to their inability to carry on a familiar conversation over their wine by means of their own voices and discussions--   James A. Towle, Commentary on Plato: Protagoras   Sumposiois: this custom is followed in Xen. Symp. 2. 1 erchetai tis autois epi kômon (revel) Surakosios anthrôpos, echôn te aulêtrida agathên kai orchêstrida (dancing-girl) tôn ta thaumata dunamenôn poiein kai paida panu ge hôraion kai panu kalôs kitharizonta kai orchoumenon. These show their skill during the whole banquet. Plato, however, has the same view as the one here, when he says Symp. 176 e eisêgoumai tên men arti eiselthousan aulêtrida chairein ean, aulousan heautêi, ê an boulêtai tais gunaixi tais endon, hêmas de dia logôn allêlois suneinai to têmeron   [347d] such is their lack of education--put a premium on flute-girls by hiring the extraneous voice of the flute at a high price, and carry on their intercourse by means of its utterance. But where the party consists of thorough gentlemen who have had a proper education, you will see neither flute-girls nor dancing-girls nor harp-girls, but only the company contenting themselves with their own conversation, and none of these fooleries and frolics--each speaking and listening decently in his turn,   suneimi: To be joined with, Intercourse is II. to have intercourse with a person, live with hêdonê, desires after pleasure, pleasant lusts, voluptuosus,   Charis   2. esp. in erotic sense, of favours granted (v. charizomai 1.3 ), alochou charin idein Il.11.243 , cf. A.Ag.1206: more freq. in pl., X.Hier.1.34, 7.6, etc.; biai d' epraxas charitas ê peisas korên; Trag.Adesp.402; in full, charites aphrodisiôn erôtôn Pi.Fr.128 , cf. Pl.Phdr.254a, al.   And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke 10:18   Astrape (g796) as-trap-ay'; from 797; lightning; by anal. glare: - lightning, bright shining.   Rev 9:1 AND the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.   Aster (g792) as-tare'; prob. from the base of 4766; a star (as strown over the sky), lit. or fig.: - star.   Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.   And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22   Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.   Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.   Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlastingchains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.   2Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;   Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.   John 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.   Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (even the New Testament parallels Isaiah 14:12 and confirms that the KJV is correct.) Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.   The Soncino interprets the phrases as follows.   12: day-star [Or, 'Lucifer' (light-bearer). The morning-star (son of the morning) under the name of Istar was worshipped by the Babylonians, and Nebuchadnezzar's days of power and glory are well represented by their comparison with the shining star.] Arbarbanel points out that this star, namely Venus, is the heavenly prince of Babylon.   165 summolpos toxôn rhusait' an. parage pterugas: limnas epiba tas Dêliados: haimaxeis, ei mê peisêi, tas kalliphthongous ôidas.   Haimassô --make bloody, stain with blood   Kalli-phthongos , on, A. beautiful-sounding, ôidai E.Ion169 (lyr.); histoi Id.IT222 (lyr.).   Euripides Iphigenia From the beginning my fate was unhappy, from that first night of my mather's marriage; [205] from the beginning the Fates attendant on my birth directed a hard upbringing for me, wooed by Hellenes, the first-born child in the home, [210] whom the unhappy daughter of Leda, by my father's fault, bore as a victim and a sacrifice not joyful, she brought me up as an offering. In the horse-drawn chariot, [215] they set me as a bride on the sands of Aulis, oh woe, a wretched bride for the son of the Nereid, alas! But now, as a stranger I live in an unfertile home on this sea that is hostile to strangers,   [220] without marriage, or children, or city, or friends, not raising hymns to Hera at Argos, nor embroidering with my shuttle, in the singing loom, the likeness of Athenian Pallas and the Titans; but   220 agamos ateknos apolis aphilos, ou tan Argei melpous' Hêran oud' histois en kalliphthongois kerkidi Pallados Atthidos eikô <kai> Titanôn poikillous', all'   225 haimorranton dusphorminga [225] . . . a bloody fate, not to be hymned by the lyre, of strangers who wail a piteous cry and weep piteous tears. And now I forget these things, [230] and lament my brother, killed in Argos, whom I left at the breast, still a baby, still an infant, still a young child in his mother's arms and at her breast, [235] the holder of the scepter in Argos, Orestes.

Will not protect thee; farther stretch thy wings;
Go, wanton, skim along the Delian lake,
Or wilt thou steep thy melody in blood.

P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneid

She said, and from her quiver chose with speed
The winged shaft, predestin'd for the deed;
Then to the stubborn yew her strength applied,
Till the far distant horns approach'd on either side.
The bowstring touch'd her breast, so strong she drew;
Whizzing in air the fatal arrow flew.

At once the twanging bow and sounding dart
The traitor heard, and felt the point within his heart.
Him, beating with his heels in pangs of death,
His flying friends to foreign fields bequeath.

The conqu'ring damsel, with expanded wings,
The welcome message to her mistress brings.

Look, what strange bird comes onwards; wouldst thou fix
Beneath the battlements thy straw-built nest?
My singing bow shall drive thee hence; begone,
Or to the banks of Alpheus, gulfy stream,
Or to the Isthmian grove; there hatch thy young;

The "oft copied" second definition of PSALLO is: carpenter's red line, which is twitched and then suddenly let go, so as to leave a mark, id=Anth. However, there is a specific word for CHALK LINE and the RED is often identified with blood and NEVER with "music." Miltoô 1 2 [miltos] to paint red:--Pass. to paint oneself red or be painted red, Hdt.; schoinion memiltômenon the rope covered with red chalk with which they swept loiterers out of the Agora to the Pnyx Miltophurês 1 [phurô] daubed with red, Anth. Phurô I. to mix something dry with something wet, mostly with a sense of mixing so as to soil or defile, dakrusin heimat' ephuron they wetted, sullied their garments with tears, Il.; also c. gen., cheilea phursô haimatos Od.:--Pass., dakrusi pephurmenê id=Il.; haimati oikos ephurthê Aesch.   2. of dry things, konei phurousa kara Eur.; gaiai pephursesthai koman to be doomed to have one's hair defiled with earth, Pind.   II. metaph. to mingle together, confuse, ephuron eikê panta they mixed all things up together, did all at random, Aesch., etc.:--Pass. to be mixed up, ek pephurmenou kai thêriôdous from a confused and savage state, Eur.   2. in Pass. also to mix with others, have dealings with him, Plat.   Latin: Con-fundo B. Meton 2. Esp., with the idea of confounding, disarranging, to confound, confuse, jumble together, bring into disorder   b. Trop., of intellectual confusion, to disturb, disconcert, confound, perplex  Clamor: I. A loud call, a shout, cry; of men and (poet.) of animals (very freq. in all periods and species of composition) B. In partic., a friendly call, acclamation, applause: <>   Haima A. blood, Il. 1.303, etc.; phonos haimatos 16.162 ; psuchês akraton haima S.El.786 : in pl., streams of blood, A.Ag.1293, S.Ant. 121, E.El.1172, Alc.496.   Aeschylus, Agamemnon   CHOROS. For Puthian oracles, thy speech, and hard too.   KASSANDRA Papai: what fire this! and it comes upon me! Ototoi, Lukeion Apollon, ah me -- me! She, the two-footed lioness that sleeps with The wolf, in absence of the generous lion, Kills me the unhappy one: and as a poison Brewing, to put my price too in the anger,   Pharmakon Charm, Sorcery Epôidê , Ion. and poet. epa^oidê , hê, A. song sung to or over: hence, enchantment, spell   She vows, against her mate this weapon whetting To pay him back the bringing me, with slaughter. Why keep I then these things to make me laughed at, Both wands and, round my neck, oracular fillets? Thee, at least, ere my own fate will I ruin:   Go, to perdition falling! Boons exchange we -- Some other Até in my stead make wealthy! See there -- himself, Apollon stripping from me The oracular garment! having looked upon me -- Even in these adornments, laughed by friends at, As good as foes, i' the balance weighed: and vainly -- For, called crazed stroller, -- as I had been gipsy, Beggar, unhappy, starved to death, -- I bore it. And now the Prophet -- prophet me undoing, Has led away to these so deadly fortunes! Instead of my sire's altar, waits the hack-block She struck with first warm bloody sacrificing!   Yet nowise unavenged of gods will death be: For there shall come another, our avenger, The mother-slaying scion, father's doomsman: Fugitive, wanderer, from this land an exile, Back shall he come, -- for friends, copestone these curses!   For there is sworn a great oath from the gods that Him shall bring hither his fallen sire's prostration. Why make I then, like an indweller, moaning? Since at the first I foresaw Ilion's city Suffering as it has suffered: and who took it, Thus by the judgment of the gods are faring. I go, will suffer, will submit to dying!   But, Haides' gates -- these same I call, I speak to, And pray that on an opportune blow chancing, Without a struggle, -- blood the calm death bringing In easy outflow, -- I this eye may close up!   Thêriôdês [eidos] I. full of wild beasts, infested by them, Lat. belluosus, of countries, Hdt.   Beluo-sus (bell- ), a, um, adj. [id.] , abounding in beasts or monsters: Oceanus, _ast; Hor. C. 4, 14, 47; so Avien. Ora Marit. 204.   II. of men, beast-like, wild, savage, brutal, Lat. bellui_nus, Eur., Plat., etc.:-- to th. the animal nature, Eur.   Mito-omai , Med.,   A. ply the woof in weaving, AP6.285 (Nicarch.): metaph., phthongon mitôsasthai let one's voice sound like a string, ib.7.195 (Mel.); also, of Fate, Moira houtô emitôsato IG12(9).1240.15 (Aedepsus).   Surig-matôdês , es,   A. like the sound of a pipe, whistling, êchos Cass.Pr.82   170 ea ea: tis hod' ornithôn kainos proseba; môn hupo thrinkous eunaias karphuras thêsôn teknois; psalmoi s' eirxousin toxôn. ou peisêi; chôrôn dinais   Psalmoi is twitching sound.   Erixousin shall bar or drive, to bar one's way   Toxon = bow Toxon III. metaph., toxa hêliou its rays, E.HF 1090; ampelinois toxois damentes, of the effects of wine, Pi.Fr.218; toxon merimnês Trag.Adesp.354; kottabos . . hon skopon es latagôn toxa kathistametha for shooting of liquor from the cup, Critias 2.2. <>

Mar not these pendent ornaments, nor soil
The temple of the god: I would not kill you:
'Twere pity, for to mortal man you bear
The message of the gods; yet my due task
Must be perform'd, and never will I cease
My service to the god who nurtured me.

175

tais Alpheiou paidourgei, a
ê napos Isthmion,
hôs anathêmata mê blaptêtai

The CHORUS enters. The following lines between ION and the CHORUS are chanted responsively as they gaze admiringly at the decorations on the temple.

CHORUS

The stately column, and the gorgeous dome
Raised to the gods, are not the boast alone
Of our magnificent Athens; nor the statues
That grace her streets; this temple of the god,
Son of Latona, beauteous to behold,
Beams the resplendent light of both her children.

ION

Turn thine eyes this way; look, the son of Jove
Lops with his golden scimitar the heads
Of the Lernean Hydra: view it well.

CHORUS

I see him.

ION

And this other standing nigh,
Who snatches from the fire the blazing brand.

CHORUS

What is his name? the subject, on the web
Design'd, these hands have wrought in ductile gold.

ION

The shield-supporting Iolaus, who bears
The toils in common with the son of Jove.
View now this hero; on his winged steed
The triple-bodied monster's dreadful force
He conquers through the flames his jaws emit.

CHORUS

I view it all attentively.

ION

Observe
The battle of the giants, on the walls
Sculptured in stone.

CHORUS

Let us note this, my friends.

ION

See where against Enceladus she shakes
Her gorgon shield.

CHORUS

I see my goddess, Pallas.

ION

Mark the tempestuous thunder's flaming bolt
Launch'd by the hand of Jove.

CHORUS

The furious Mimas
Here blazes in the volley'd fires: and there
Another earth-born monster falls beneath
The wand of Bacchus wreathed with ivy round,
No martial spear. But, as 'tis thine to tend
This temple, let me ask thee, is it lawful,
Leaving our sandals, its interior parts
To visit?

ION

Strangers, this is not permitted.

CHORUS

Yet may we make inquiries of thee?

ION

Speak;

What wouldst thou know?

CHORUS

Whether this temple's site
Be the earth's centre?

ION

Ay, with garlands hung,
And gorgons all around.

CHORUS

So fame reports.

ION

If at the gate the honey'd cake be offer'd,
Would you consult the oracle, advance
To the altar: till the hallow'd lamb has bled
In sacrifice, approach not the recess.

CHORUS

I am instructed: what the god appoints
As laws, we wish not to transgress: without
Enough of ornament delights our eyes.

ION

Take a full view of all; that is allow'd.

CHORUS

To view the inmost shrine was our lord's order.

ION

Who are you call'd? Attendants on what house?

CHORUS

Our lords inhabit the magnific domes
Of Pallas.-But she comes, of whom thou askest.

CREUSA and attendants enter.

ION

Lady, whoe'er thou art, that liberal air
Speaks an exalted mind: there is a grace,
A dignity in those of noble birth,
That marks their high rank. Yet I marvel much
That from thy closed lids the trickling tear
Water'd thy beauteous cheeks, soon as thine eye
Beheld this chaste oracular seat of Phoebus.
What brings this sorrow, lady? All besides,
Viewing the temple of the god, are struck
With joy; thy melting eye o'erflows with tears.

CREUSA

Not without reason, stranger, art thou seized
With wonder at my tears: this sacred dome
Awakes the sad remembrance of things past.
I had my mind at home, though present here.
How wretched is our sex! And, O ye gods,
What deeds are yours! Where may we hope for right,
If by the injustice of your power undone?

ION

Why, lady, this inexplicable grief?

CREUSA

It matters not; my mind resumes its firmless:
I say no more; cease thy concern for me.

ION

But say, who art thou? whence? what country boasts
Thy birth? and by what name may we address thee?

CREUSA

Creusa is my name, drawn from Erechtheus
My high-born lineage; Athens gave me birth.
Illustrious is thy state; thy ancestry
So noble that I look with reverence on thee.

CREUSA

Happy indeed is this, in nothing farther.

ION

But tell me, is it true what fame has blazon'd?

CREUSA

What wouldst thou ask? Stranger, I wish to know.

ION

Sprung the first author of thy line from the earth?

CREUSA

Ay, Erichthonius; but my race avails not.

ION

And did Minerva raise him from the earth?

CREUSA

Held in her virgin hands: she bore him not.

ION

And gave him as the picture represents?

CREUSA

Daughters of Cecrops these, charged not to see him.

ION

The virgins ope'd the interdicted chest?

CREUSA

And died, distaining with their blood the rock.

ION

But tell me, is this truth, or a vain rumour?

CREUSA

What wouldst thou ask? I am not scant of time.

ION

Thy sisters did Erechtheus sacrifice?

CREUSA

He slew the virgins, victims for their country.

ION

And thou of all thy sisters saved alone?

CREUSA

I was an infant in my mother's arms.

ION

And did the yawning earth swallow thy father?

CREUSA

By Neptune's trident smote; and so he perish'd.

ION

And Macrai call you not the fatal place?

CREUSA

Why dost thou ask? What thoughts hast thou recall'd?,

ION

Does Phoebus, do his lightnings honour it?

CREUSA

Honour! Why this? Would I had never seen it!

ION

Why? Dost thou hate the place dear to the god?

CREUSA

No: but for some base deed done in the cave.

ION

But what Athenian, lady, wedded thee?

CREUSA

Of Athens none, but one of foreign birth.

ION

What is his name? Noble he needs must be.

CREUSA

Xuthus, by Aeolus derived from Jove.

ION

How weds a stranger an Athenian born?

CREUSA

Euboea is a state neighbouring on Athens.

ION

A narrow sea flows, I have heard, between.

CREUSA

Joining the Athenian arms, that state he wasted.

ION

Confederate in the war, thence wedded thee?

CREUSA

The dowral meed of war, earn'd by his spear.

ION

Comest thou with him to Delphi, or alone?

CREUSA

With him, gone now to the Trophonian shrine.

ION

To view it, or consult the oracle?

CREUSA

Both that and this, anxious for one response.

ION

For the earth's fruits consult you, or for children?

CREUSA

Though wedded long, yet childless is our bed.

ION

Hast thou ne'er borne a child, that thou hast none?

CREUSA

My state devoid of children Phoebus knows.

ION

Bless'd in all else, luckless in this alone.

CREUSA

But who art thou? Bless'd I pronounce thy mother.

ION

Call'd as I am the servant of the god.

CREUSA

Presented by some state, or sold to this?

ION

I know not aught save this, I am the god's.

CREUSA

And in my turn, stranger, I pity thee.

ION

As knowing not my mother, or my lineage.

CREUSA

Hast thou thy dwelling here, or in some house?

ION

The temple is my house, ev'n when I sleep.

CREUSA

A child brought hither, or in riper years?

ION

An infant, as they say, who seem to know.

CREUSA

What Delphian dame sustain'd thee at her breast?

ION

I never knew a breast. She nourish'd me.

CREUSA

Who, hapless youth? Diseased, I find disease.

ION

The priestess: as a mother I esteem her.

CREUSA

Who to these manly years gave thee support?

ION

The altars, and the still-succeeding strangers.

CREUSA

Wretched, whoe'er she be, is she that bore thee.

ION

I to some woman am perchance a shame.

CREUSA

Are riches thine? Thou art well habited.

ION

Graced with these vestments by the god I serve.

CREUSA

Hast thou made no attempt to trace thy birth?

ION

I have no token, lady, for a proof.

CREUSA

Ah, like thy mother doth another suffer.

ION

Who? tell me: shouldst thou help me, what a joy

CREUSA

One for whose sake I come before my husband.

ION

Say for what end, that I may serve thee, lady.

CREUSA

To ask a secret answer of the god.

ION

Speak it: my service shall procure the rest.

CREUSA

Hear then the tale: but Modesty restrains me.

ION

Ah, let her not; her power avails not here.

CREUSA

My friend then says that to the embrace of Phoebus-

ION

A woman and a god! Say not so, stranger.

CREUSA

She bore a son: her father knew it not.

ION

Not so: a mortal's baseness he disdains.

CREUSA

This she affirms; and this, poor wretch, she suffer'd.

ION

What follow'd, if she knew the god's embrace?

CREUSA

The child, which hence had birth, she straight exposed.

ION

This exposed child, where is he? doth he live?

CREUSA

This no one knows; this wish I to inquire.

ION

If not alive, how probably destroyed?

CREUSA

Torn, she conjectures, by some beast of prey.

ION

What ground hath she on which to build that thought?

CREUSA

Returning to the place she found him not.

ION

Observed she drops of blood distain the path?

CREUSA

None, though with anxious heed she search'd around.

ION

What time hath pass'd since thus the child was lost?

CREUSA

Were he alive, his youth were such as thine.

ION

The god hath done him wrong: the unhappy mother-

CREUSA

Hath not to any child been mother since.

ION

What if in secret Phoebus nurtures him!

CREUSA

Unjust to enjoy alone a common right.

ION

Ah me! this cruel fate accords with mine.

CREUSA

For thee too thy unhappy mother mourns.

ION

Ah, melt me not to griefs I would forget!

CREUSA

I will be silent: but impart thy aid.

ION

Seest thou what most the inquiry will suppress?

CREUSA

And to my wretched friend what is not ill?

ION

How shall the god what he would hide reveal?

CREUSA

As placed on the oracular seat of Greece.

ION

The deed must cause him shame: convict him not.

CREUSA

To the poor sufferer 'tis the cause of grief.

ION

It cannot be; for who shall dare to give
The oracle? With justice would the god,
In his own dome affronted, pour on him
Severest vengeance, who should answer thee.
Desist then, lady: it becomes us ill,
In opposition to the god, to make
Inquiries at his shrine; by sacrifice
Before their altars, or the flight of birds,
Should we attempt to force the unwilling gods
To utter what they wish not, 'twere the excess
Of rudeness; what with violence we urge
'Gainst their consent would to no good avail us:
What their spontaneous grace confers on us,
That, lady, as a blessing we esteem.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

How numberless the ills to mortal man,
And various in their form! One single blessing
By any one through life is scarcely found.

CREUSA

Nor here, nor there, O Phoebus, art thou just
To her; though absent, yet her words are present.
Nor didst thou save thy son, whom it became thee
To save; nor, though a prophet, wilt thou speak
To the sad mother who inquires of thee;
That, if he is no more, to him a tomb
May rise; but, if he lives, that he may bless
His mother's eyes. But even thus behooves us
To omit these things, if by the god denied
To know what most I wish.-But, for I see
The noble Xuthus this way bend, return'd
From the Trophonian cave; before my husband
Resume not, generous stranger, this discourse,
Lest it might cause me shame that thus I act
In secret, and perchance lead on to questions
I would not have explain'd. Our hapless sex
Oft feel our husbands' rigour: with the bad
The virtuous they confound, and treat us harshly.

XUTHUS and his retinue enter.

XUTHUS

With reverence to the god my first address
I pay: Hail, Phoebus! Lady, next to thee:
Absent so long, have I not caused thee fear?

Xu thus

First may the god rejoice when he has the first-fruits of my addresses, and then you, lady. You weren't afraid at my long absence, were you?

CREUSA

Not much: as anxious thoughts 'gan rise, thou'rt come.
But, tell me, from Trophonius what reply
Bearest thou; what means whence offspring may arise?

Creusa

No; you have come upon my anxiety. But [405] tell me, what oracle do you bring from Trophonius about the begetting of children?

XUTHUS

Unmeet he held it to anticipate
The answer of the god: one thing he told me.
That childless I should not return, nor thou,
Home from the oracle.

Xuthus

He did not think it right to anticipate the answer of the god; but he said one thing, that neither you nor I would go home from the oracle childless.

CREUSA

Goddess revered,
Mother of Phoebus, be our coming hither
In lucky hour; and our connubial bed
Be by thy son made happier than before!

Creusa

[410] O revered lady, mother of Phoebus, may we have come here auspiciously, and may our former engagements with your son fall out better!

XUTHUS

It shall be so. But who is president here?

Xuthus

It shall be so. But who is the interpreter of the god?

ION

Without, that charge is mine; within, devolved
On others, stranger, seated near the tripod;
The chiefs of Delphi these, chosen by lot.

Ion

I am, outside; within, it belongs to others [415] seated near the tripod, stranger, the best men of Delphi, chosen by lot

XUTHUS

'Tis well: all that I want is then complete.
Let me now enter: for the oracle
Is given, I hear, in common to all strangers
Before the shrine; on such a day, that falls
Propitious thus, the answer of the god
Would I receive: meanwhile, these laurel boughs
Bear round the altars; lady, breathe thy prayers
To every god, that from Apollo's shrine
I may bring back the promise of a son.

Xuthus

Good; I have everything I need. I will go inside; for, as I hear, the victim has been sacrificed for foreigners [420] in common before the shrine; I want, on this day--for it is propitious--to receive the answer of the god. But you, lady, take these laurel twigs around the altars and pray to the gods for me to bring from Apollo's temple oracles that give hope of children. Xuthus, after giving the laurel boughs to Creusa, enters the temple.

XUTHUS, after giving the laurel boughs to CREUSA, enters the temple.

CREUSA

It shall, it shall be so. Should Phoebus now
At least be willing to redress the fault
Of former times, he would not through the whole
Be friendly to us: yet will I accept
What he vouchsafes us, for he is a god.

CREUSA departs to the shrines in the outer precinct of the temple.

Creusa

[425] It shall be so, it shall. If Phoebus is even now willing to redress his earlier wrong, he would not be wholly dear to me, yet I will accept what he foretells for us, as he is a god. Creusa departs to the shrines in the outer precinct of the temple.

ION

Why does this stranger always thus revile
With obscure speech the god? Is it through love
Of her, for whom she asks? or to conceal
Some secret of importance? But to me
What is the daughter of Erechtheus? Naught
Concerns it me. Then let me to my task,
And sprinkle from the golden vase the dew.
Yet must I blame the god, if thus perforce
He mounts the bed of virgins, and by stealth
Becomes a father, leaving then his children
To die, regardless of them. Do not thou
Act thus; but, as thy power is great, respect
The virtues; for whoe'er, of mortal men,
Dares impious deeds, him the gods punish: how
Is it then just that you, who gave the laws
To mortals, should yourselves transgress those laws?,
If (though it is not thus, yet will I urge
The subject,)-if to mortals you shall pay
The penalty of forced embraces, thou,
Neptune, and Jove, that reigns supreme in heaven,
Will leave your temples treasureless by paying
The mulcts of your injustice: for unjust
You are, your pleasures to grave temperance
Preferring: and to men these deeds no more
Can it be just to charge as crimes, these deeds
If from the gods they imitate: on those
Who gave the ill examples falls the charge.

Ion

Why is the stranger always making abusive riddles, [430] in obscure words, against the god? Is it because she loves the one for whom she is consulting the oracle, or is she being silent about something that she must conceal? But what is the daughter of Erechtheus to me? It is not my concern. I will go [435] and pour water from golden pitchers into the sacred vessels. But I must give Apollo some advice; what is he about? Does he betray virgins by forced rape? Does he secretly breed children and leave them to die? Do not do so; but, since you have power, [440] seek after virtue. For if any mortal is bad, the gods punish him. How then is it just for you to write laws for mortals, and yourselves incur a charge of lawlessness? If--for it is not so, but I will handle the subject-- [445] you pay the penalty to mortals for rape, you and Poseidon, and Zeus, who rules heaven, you will empty your temples paying for your crimes. For you do wrong to go eagerly after your pleasures without thinking. No longer is it right [450] to speak badly of men, if we imitate what the gods think good, but rather of the ones who taught us these things. Ion goes out.

ION goes out.

CHORUS singing

strophe

Thee prompt to yield thy lenient aid,
And sooth a mother's pain:
And thee, my Pallas, martial maid,
I call: O, hear the strain!
Thou, whom the Titan from the head of Jove,
Prometheus, drew, bright Victory, come,
Descending from thy golden throne above;
Haste, goddess, to the Pythian dome,
Where Phoebus, from his central shrine,
Gives the oracle divine,
By the raving maid repeated,
On the hallow'd tripod seated:

O haste thee, goddess, and with thee
The daughter of Latona bring;
A virgin thou, a virgin she,
Sisters to the Delphian king;
Him, virgins, let your vows implore,
That now his pure oracular power
Will to Erechtheus' ancient line declare
The blessing of a long-expected heir!

antistrophe

To mortal man this promised grace
Sublimest pleasure brings,
When round the father's hearth a race
In blooming lustre springs.
The wealth, the honours, from their high-drawn line
From sire to son transmitted down,
Shall with fresh glory through their offspring shine,
And brighten with increased renown:
A guard, when ills begin to lower,
Dear in fortune's happier hour;
For their country's safety waking,
Firm in fight the strong spear shaking;
More than proud wealth's exhaustless store,
More than a monarch's bride to reign,
The dear delight, to virtue's lore
Careful the infant mind to train.
Doth any praise the childless state?
The joyless, loveless life I hate;
No; my desires to moderate wealth I bound,
But let me see my children smile around.

epode

Ye rustic seats, Pan's dear delight;
Ye caves of Macrai's rocky height,
Where oft the social virgins meet,
And weave the dance with nimble feet;
Descendants from Aglauros they
In the third line, with festive play,
Minerva's hallow'd fane before
The verdant plain light-tripping o'er,

O seats of Pan and rocks that lie near the hollows of Makrai, [495] where the three daughters of Aglauros dance over the green courses before the temples of Pallas, to the quavering wail of pipes, of songs, [500] when you play the pipes in your sunless caves, O Pan, where an unhappy maiden bore a child to Phoebus and exposed it as a feast for birds [505] and a bloody banquet for wild beasts, the outrage of the bitter rape; neither at the loom nor in speeches have I heard that the children born to mortals from gods claim a report of good fortune. Robert Potter

When thy pipe's quick-varying sound
Rings, O Pan, these caves around;
Where, by Apollo's love betray'd,
Her child some hapless mother laid,
Exposed to each night-prowling beast,
Or to the ravenous birds a feast;
For never have I heard it told,
Nor wrought it in historic gold,
That happiness attends the race,
When gods with mortals mix the embrace.

ION re-enters.

ION

Ye female train, that place yourselves around
This incense-breathing temple's base, your lord
Awaiting, hath he left the sacred tripod
And oracle, or stays he in the shrine,
Making inquiries of his childless state?

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

Yet in the temple, stranger, he remains.

ION

But he comes forth; the sounding doors announce
His near approach; behold, our lord is here.

XUTHUS enters from the temple. He rushes to greet ION.

XUTHUS

Health to my son! This first address is proper.

ION

I have my health: be in thy senses thou,
And both are well.

XUTHUS

O let me kiss thy hand,
And throw mine arms around thee.

ION

Art thou, stranger,
Well in thy wits? or hath the god's displeasure
Bereft thee of thy reason?

XUTHUS

Reason bids,
That which is dearest being found, to wish
A fond embrace.

ION

Off, touch me not; thy hands
Will mar the garlands of the god.

XUTHUS

My touch
Asserts no pledge: my own, and that most dear,
I find.

ION

Wilt thou not keep thee distant, ere
Thou hast my arrow in thy heart?

XUTHUS

Why fly me,
When thou shouldst own what is most fond of thee?

ION

I am not fond of curing wayward strangers,
And madmen.

XUTHUS

Kill me, raise my funeral pyre;
But, if thou kill me, thou wilt kill thy father.

ION

My father thou! how so? it makes me laugh
To hear thee.

XUTHUS

This my words may soon explain.

ION

What wilt thou say to me?

XUTHUS

I am thy father,
And thou my son.

ION

Who declares this?

XUTHUS

The god,
That nurtured thee, though mine.

ION

Thou to thyself

Art witness.

XUTHUS

By the oracle inform'd.

ION

Misled by some dark answer.

XUTHUS

Well I heard it.

ION

What were the words of Phoebus?

XUTHUS

That who first
Should meet me-

ION

How?-what meeting?

XUTHUS

As I pass'd.
Forth from the temple.

ION

What the event to him?

XUTHUS

He is my son.

ION

Born so, or by some other
Presented?

XUTHUS

Though a present, born my son.

ION

And didst thou first meet me?

XUTHUS

None else, my son.

ION

This fortune whence?

XUTHUS

At that we marvel both.

ION

Who is my mother?

XUTHUS

That I cannot say.

ION

Did not the god inform thee?

XUTHUS

Through my joy,
For this I ask'd not.

ION

Haply from the earth
I sprung, my mother.

XUTHUS

No, the earth no sons
Produces.

ION

How then am I thine?

XUTHUS

I know not.
To Phoebus I appeal.

ION

Be this discourse
Chang'd to some other.

XUTHUS

This delights me most.

ION

Hast thou e'er mounted an unlawful bed?

XUTHUS

In foolishness of youth.

ION

Was that before
Thy marriage with the daughter of Erechtheus?

XUTHUS

Since never.

ION

Owe I then my birth to that?

XUTHUS

The time agrees.

ION

How came I hither then?

XUTHUS

I can form no conjecture.

ION

Was I brought
From some far distant part?

XUTHUS

That fills my mind
With doubtful musing.

ION

Didst thou e'er before
Visit the Pythian rock?

XUTHUS

Once, at the feast
Of Bacchus.

ION

By some public host received?

XUTHUS

Who with the Delphian damsels-

ION

To the orgies
Led thee, or how?

XUTHUS

And with the Maenades
Of Bacchus-

ION

In the temperate hour, or warm

With wine?

XUTHUS

Amid the revels of the god.

ION

From thence I date my birth.

XUTHUS

And fate, my son,
Hath found thee.

ION

How then came I to the temple?

XUTHUS

Perchance exposed.

ION

The state of servitude
Have I escaped.

XUTHUS

Thy father now, my son,

Receive.

ION

Indecent were it in the god
Not to confide.

XUTHUS

Thy thoughts are just.

ION

What else
Would we?

XUTHUS

Thou seest what thou oughtst to see.

ION

Am I the son then of the son of Jove?

XUTHUS

Such is thy fortune.

ION

Those that gave me birth
Do I embrace?

XUTHUS

Obedient to the god.

ION

My father, hail!

XUTHUS

That dear name I accept
With joy.

ION

This present day-

XUTHUS

Hath made me happy.

ION

O my dear mother, when shall I behold
Thy face? Whoe'er thou art, more wish I now
To see thee than before; but thou perchance
Art dead, and nothing our desires avail.

LEADER

We in the blessing of our house rejoice.
Yet wish we that our mistress too were happy
In children, and the lineage of Erechtheus.

XUTHUS

Well hath the god accomplish'd this, my son,
Discovering thee, well hath he joined thee to me;
And thou hast found the most endearing ties,
To which, before this hour, thou wast a stranger.
And the warm wish, which thou hast well conceived,
Is likewise mine, that thou mayst find thy mother;
I from what woman thou derivest thy birth.
This, left to time, may haply be