AJ. Too much thou vexest me; knowest thou not that I no longer am the Gods' debtor for aught of service? TEC. Good words be thine. AJ. Speak to those that hear. TEC. And wilt thou not be persuaded? TEC. In Heaven's name, be softened. AJ. Methinks thou hast but a fool's wisdom, if thou purposest but now to school my temper. : CHO. Illustrious Salamis, thou somewhere, 'rocked by ocean, mart situate in happiness, ever conspicuous to all while I, unhappy from time of old, am tarrying in Ida's meadowy pastures of the sheep, of no account, continually worn away by regular and unvaried time; having a sorry hope that still I shall one day reach the abhorred and gloomy Pluto. And now the cureless Ajax is upon me, "a fresh assailant, alas ! A similar expression is found in Virgil: "Nos juvenem exanimum et nil jam cœlestibus ullis Yet it would perhaps be going too far to say that Ajax meant nothing contemptuous to the Gods. 1 This epithet, though perfectly suitable to Delos, appears rather misplaced here; and Lobeck suggests, that as Eschylus has applied the term Jaλarrónλxтs to Salamis, it is probable Sophocles wrote ἁλίπλακτος. m The word valw is used in this sense by Homer, Il. II. 626. ""EQdgos is, in the Frogs of Aristophanes, applied to Sophocles alas co-mate of a heaven-sent phrenzy; whom once, in former time, thou sentest forth a conqueror in furious war; but now on the contrary, his senses all astray, he has proved a deep affliction to his friends. But the former deeds of his hands, deeds of noblest valour, fell, aye, fell, thankless to the thankless; the unwise Atridæ. Surely, somewhere a mother nursed in the lap of ancient days and hoar old age, when she shall have heard that he is diseased as with the sickness of the soul, hapless shall utter a dirge,—a dirge, no plaint of the nightingale, that piteous bird, but shrill-toned shrieks, will she wail forth; while blows, struck by her own hand, shall fall on her breasts, and rendings of her hoary hair. For better were he hiding in the grave, than hopelessly distempered; who coming of his father's race the bravest of the hard-toiling Greeks, is no longer constant to his natural temper, but is wandering without it. Ah, wretched sire, what an insupportable calamity of thy child awaits thee to learn! such as no age of the Eacidæ hath ever yet fostered, at least save this man! AJ. Time, the long, the countless, brings to light all that is unseen, and when disclosed conceals, nor is himself, and the Oxford translator has this note: "The psdgos (tertianus) was a combatant, who waited the decision of some trial of prowess in the games, with intent to offer himself as opponent to the conqueror." p. 169. • Literally, "feeding apart from his senses." P There is great beauty in the suppression of the name throughout this passage: it may in some measure be thought to resemble the veil of Timanthes. terrible oath and the For I, too, that lately aught hopeless; no, both the hardened spirit are his prize. was so firm in my dread purpose, like steel, the icebrook's temper, by this my wife here have been womaned in my speech and I pity her [too much] to leave her a widow, and my child fatherless, amid foes. But I will go to the baths and meadows along the shore, that having cleansed off my pollutions I may escape the weighty anger of the Goddess. And as I go, wherever I shall light on an untrodden spot, there will I hide this my sword, of weapons the most hateful, burying it in earth, there where none shall ever see it; but O may night and Hades guard it below. For from the hour wherein I took to my hand this, a present from Hector my deadliest foe, never to this day have I got aught acceptable from the Greeks. No, true is the popular adage; "The gifts of enemies are no gifts, nor profitable." Henceforth therefore will we know how to submit to the Gods, and learn to respect the sons of Atreus. They are our rulers, threfore we must give way. Why not? for all that is terrible and all that is mightiest gives way to office. There is a passage very similar to this, which it may not be useless to quote, whether as an argument to support Shakespeare's claim to the play whence it comes, by the evident marks of his style which it bears, or to prove an old assertion, that in him is contained the finest study of the English language : "The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order." TROILUS AND Cressida. r First, snow-paced winters give place to fruitful summer, and the orb of murky night retires for the day with his white steeds to kindle his light, and the blast of the dreadful winds hath lulled the roaring main, nay, all-o'erpowering sleep looses where he hath bound, nor always holds us captive. And how shall we not know moderation? Since, for my part, I am even now aware that our enemy is so far to be hated by us, as though he may yet again be our friend; and to my friend I will be willing thus far by aiding to be of service, as if he were not always to remain so. For to them any among men the haven of fellowship is faithless but in all this it will be well. Do thou, wo→ man, having retired within, pray to the Gods continually to accomplish what my heart desires: and do ye, my clansmen, do me this honour alike with her. And signify to Teucer, should he return, to look well to me, and at the same time be a friend to you. For I go thither, whither go I must; but do ye what I tell you, and soon, perhaps, you may learn that I, though now unfortunate, have found deliverance. CHO. With love I thrill, and overjoyed I soar aloft. O Pan, O Pan, thou ocean-wanderer, show thyself See Milton, Book VII. and Thomson's Ode to the Seasons. This is the sentiment to which Cicero alludes, de Amicitia, c. 16: "Negabat ullam vocem inimiciorem amicitiæ potuisse reperiri, quam ejus, qui dixisset, ita amare oportere, ut si aliquando esset osurus: nec vero se adduci posse, ut hoc, quemadmodum putaretur, a Biante esse dictum crederet, qui sapiens habitus esset unus e septem : sed impuri cujusdam, aut ambitiosi, aut omnia ad suam potentiam revocantis, esse sententiam." D from the craggy ridge of snow-beaten 'Cyllene, thou princely founder of heaven's choir, that companying with me thou mayest essay the self-taught Gnossian and Nysæan dances: for now it is my care to lead the chorus. And mayest thou, Apollo, Delian king, coming over the "Icarian sea, accord me thy distinguished presence, for ever kind. For Mars hath dispelled the heavy affliction from his eyes. Io! Io! now, now again, O Jove, is the white propitious light of day with us, that we may approach the swift vessels that speed on the brine: since Ajax is again forgetful of his troubles, and has again performed the most sacred ordinances of the Gods, with strictest observance worshipping. Time, the mighty, withers all away. Nor would I pronounce aught impossible, at least when Ajax has repented of his hopeless wrath and dire feuds with the Atridæ. MESSENGER. *My friends, I would first tell you; Teucer is just + Cyllene is a mountain in Arcadia, the birth-place of Mercury, who shared with Pan the right of patronage there. Gnossus was a town of Crete, celebrated for its being the birth-place of Ariadne. There were several cities of the name of Nysa, of which the most renowned was in India, said to be the place where Bacchus was educated, and whence he derived his name Dionysus. "The name "Icarian" was given to that part of the Egean sea which encircles Mycone and Gyaros, the supposed scene of Icarus' fall. Musgrave conjectures, that in allusion to the well-known custom of heralds among the ancients, we should read φίλον τό πρῶτον ; Lo |