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The bloodless cause and on your utteranceįrom downcast eyes, from brows of pure control,

To those that question you, words meek and lowĪnd piteous, as beseems your stranger state, The white-crowned wands of suppliance, the signīeloved of Zeus, compassion's lord, and speak Step swift thereto,Īnd in your left hands hold with reverence Spurred on his path, 'twere best, in any case,Ī shrine is stronger than a tower to save,Ī shield that none may cleave. To look on us, of whom they yet have heardĪnd come he peaceful or in ravening wrath Ye come, your trusty sire and steersman old:Īnd that same caution hold I here on land,Īnd bid you hoard my words, inscribing themĪnd hark, within their griding sockets ringĪxles of hurrying wheels! I see approach,īorne in curved cars, by speeding horses drawn,Ī speared and shielded band. The searching poisonous hate, that lo vexed andĪfter the CHORUS has finished its song and dance, DANAUS comesĭANAUS Children, be wary-wary he with whom Zeus, listen from on high!-to thee our prayers arise. The ox-horned maiden's race shall be undone,Ĭhildren of Epaphus, his own begotten son. If now he turn his face averted from our cries! The searching, poisonous hate, that Io vexed andĪ storm, a storm her breath, whereby we yet are driven! Spurned by Olympian gods, unto the gods below! Yea, by our own hands strangled, we will go, Who welcomes all the dead from all the lands: To Zeus who rules below, with hospitable hands Who from the lustful onslaught fled secure, Thy willing suppliant-thine, thine it is , Grant that henceforth unstained as heretoforeĪnd thou, O maiden-goddess chaste and pure. May He, the Father, with all-seeing eyes, Sped me, unharmed of storms, along the breeze's The wafting oar, the bark with woven sail, O whither drift the waves? and who shall loose the pain? Vowed rites, with eager haste, we to the gods will Thou kennest yet, O land, this faltered foreignĪh, but if fortune smile, if death be driven away, My sorrow's words, my shrill and tearful cries!Īnd from my living lips my own sad dirges flow! Lo! how the youthful stock of Belus' lineĪnd, cheated, learns too late the prey has 'scaped their hold! God from His holy seat, in calm of unarmed power,īrings forth the deed, at its appointed hour! Tireless and effortless, works forth its will Smitten by him, from towering hopes degraded, Whate'er be shaped and fixed within Zeus' rulingĭark as a solemn grove, with sombre leafage shaded, Yea, though the counsel fall, undone it shall not lie, Though the deep will of Zeus be hard to track,Ī beacon in the dark, 'mid clouds of chance The war-worn fliers from the battle's wrack Grant not to youth its heart's unchaste desire,īut, swiftly spurning lust's unholy fire,īless only love and willing wedlock's crown! I sped across the waves, from Egypt's land of cloud. Yea, from the clutching hands, the wanton crowd, Wastes my soft cheek, once ripe with Nilus' suns, Like her I wail and wail, in soft lonian tones, Maddened by lustful wrong, the deed by Tereus planned! Wails wild and sad for haunts beloved erewhile. She, from her happy home and fair streams scared away, Whom the hawk harries yet, the mourning nightingale. Of her, the piteous spouse of Tereus, lord of guile. Shall deem he hears the voice, the plaintive tale That man, when through his ears shall thrill our tearful One skilled to read from bird-notes augury, Hearing the doubtful tale of the dim past made plain.Įach man the truth of what I tell shall see. That I am child of hers and all shall understand, Signs will I show to those who rule the land Was in her by a breath of Zeus conceived īy fate fulfilled, unto the light he came -īorn from the touch of Zeus, the child receivedĪnd here, recounting all her toil and pain, Who, as amid the flowers the grazing creature ranged, Mine ancestress, who far on Egypt's shore Thrust back their swift-rowed bark again,Īnd there, 'mid storm and lightning's shine, The CHORUS is singing.ĬHORUS Zeus! Lord and guard of suppliant handsįrom where, through drifting shifting sands,

Their costumes have an oriental richness about them not characteristic of the strictly Greek. As the play opens, DANAUS, and his fifty daughters, the maidens who compose the CHORUS, enter. Several statues of the gods can be seen, as well as a large altar. A sacred precinct near the shore in Argos.