Part 9

APOLLO This too I answer; mark a soothfast word, Not the true parent is the woman’s womb That bears the child; she doth but nurse the seed New-sown: the male is parent; she for him, As stranger for a stranger, hoards the germ Of life; unless the god its promise blight. And proof hereof before you will I set. Birth may from fathers, without mothers, be: See at your side a witness of the same, Athena, daughter of Olympian Zeus, Never within the darkness of the womb Fostered nor fashioned, but a bud more bright Than any goddess in her breast might bear. And I, O Pallas, howsoe’er I may, Henceforth will glorify thy town, thy clan, And for this end have sent my suppliant here Unto thy shrine; that he from this time forth Be loyal unto thee for evermore, O goddess-queen, and thou unto thy side Mayst win and hold him faithful, and his line, And that for aye this pledge and troth remain To children’s children of Athenian seed.

ATHENA Enough is said; I bid the judges now With pure intent deliver just award.

CHORUS We too have shot our every shaft of speech, And now abide to hear the doom of law.

ATHENA (_to Apollo and Orestes_) Say, how ordaining shall I ’scape your blame?

APOLLO I spake, ye heard; enough. O stranger men, Heed well your oath as ye decide the cause.

ATHENA O men of Athens, ye who first do judge The law of bloodshed, hear me now ordain. Here to all time for Aegeus’ Attic host Shall stand this council-court of judges sworn, Here the tribunal, set on Ares’ Hill Where camped of old the tented Amazons, What time in hate of Theseus they assailed Athens, and set against her citadel A counterwork of new sky-pointing towers, And there to Ares held their sacrifice, Where now the rock hath name, even Ares’ Hill. And hence shall Reverence and her kinsman Fear Pass to each free man’s heart, by day and night Enjoining, _Thou shalt do no unjust thing_, So long as law stands as it stood of old Unmarred by civic change. Look you, the spring Is pure; but foul it once with influx vile And muddy clay, and none can drink thereof. Therefore, O citizens, I bid ye bow In awe to this command, _Let no man live Uncurbed by law nor curbed by tyranny;_ Nor banish ye the monarchy of Awe Beyond the walls; untouched by fear divine, No man doth justice in the world of men. Therefore in purity and holy dread Stand and revere; so shall ye have and hold A saving bulwark of the state and land, Such as no man hath ever elsewhere known, Nor in far Scythia, nor in Pelops’ realm. Thus I ordain it now, a council-court Pure and unsullied by the lust of gain, Sacred and swift to vengeance, wakeful ever To champion men who sleep, the country’s guard. Thus have I spoken, thus to mine own clan Commended it for ever. Ye who judge, Arise, take each his vote, mete out the right, Your oath revering. Lo, my word is said.

[_The twelve judges come forward, one by one, to the urns of decision; the first votes; as each of the others follows, the Chorus and Apollo speak alternately._

CHORUS I rede ye well, beware! nor put to shame, In aught, this grievous company of hell.

APOLLO I too would warn you, fear mine oracles— From Zeus they are,—nor make them void of fruit.

CHORUS Presumptuous is thy claim, blood-guilt to judge, And false henceforth thine oracles shall be.

APOLLO Failed then the counsels of my sire, when turned Ixion, first of slayers, to his side?

CHORUS These are but words; but I, if justice fail me, Will haunt this land in grim and deadly deed.

APOLLO Scorn of the younger and the elder gods Art thou: ’tis I that shall prevail anon.

CHORUS Thus didst thou too of old in Pheres’ halls, O’erreaching Fate to make a mortal deathless.

APOLLO Was it not well, my worshipper to aid, Then most of all when hardest was the need?

CHORUS I say thou didst annul the lots of life, Cheating with wine the deities of eld.

APOLLO I say thou shalt anon, thy pleadings foiled, Spit venom vainly on thine enemies.

CHORUS Since this young god o’errides mine ancient right, I tarry but to claim your law, not knowing If wrath of mine shall blast your state or spare

ATHENA Mine is the right to add the final vote, And I award it to Orestes’ cause. For me no mother bore within her womb, And, save for wedlock evermore eschewed, I vouch myself the champion of the man, Not of the woman, yea, with all my soul,— In heart, as birth, a father’s child alone. Thus will I not too heinously regard A woman’s death who did her husband slay, The guardian of her home; and if the votes Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail. Ye of the judges who are named thereto, Swiftly shake forth the lots from either urn.

[_Two judges come forward, one to each urn._

ORESTES O bright Apollo, what shall be the end?

CHORUS O Night, dark mother mine, dost mark these things?

OSESTES Now shall my doom be life, or strangling cords.

CHORUS And mine, lost honour or a wider sway.

APOLLO O stranger judges, sum aright the count Of votes cast forth, and, parting them, take heed Ye err not in decision. The default Of one vote only bringeth ruin deep, One, cast aright, doth stablish house and home.

ATHENA Behold, this man is free from guilt of blood, For half the votes condemn him, half set free!

ORESTES O Pallas, light and safety of my home, Thou, thou hast given me back to dwell once more In that my fatherland, amerced of which I wandered; now shall Grecian lips say this, _The man is Argive once again, and dwells Again within his father’s wealthy hall, By Pallas saved, by Loxias, and by Him, The great third saviour, Zeus omnipotent—_ Who thus in pity for my father’s fate Doth pluck me from my doom, beholding these, Confederates of my mother. Lo, I pass To mine own home, but proffering this vow Unto thy land and people: _Nevermore, Thro’ all the manifold years of Time to be, Shall any chieftain of mine Argive land Bear hitherward his spears for fight arrayed._ For we, though lapped in earth we then shall lie, By thwart adversities will work our will On them who shall transgress this oath of mine, Paths of despair and journeyings ill-starred For them ordaining, till their task they rue. But if this oath be rightly kept, to them Will we the dead be full of grace, the while With loyal league they honour Pallas’ town. And now farewell, thou and thy city’s folk— Firm be thine arm’s grasp, closing with thy foes, And, strong to save, bring victory to thy spear.

[_Exit Orestes, with Apollo._

CHORUS Woe on you, younger gods! the ancient right Ye have o’erridden, rent it from my hands.

I am dishonoured of you, thrust to scorn! But heavily my wrath Shall on this land fling forth the drops that blast and burn Venom of vengeance, that shall work such scathe As I have suffered; where that dew shall fall, Shall leafless blight arise, Wasting Earth’s offspring,—Justice, hear my call!— And thorough all the land in deadly wise Shall scatter venom, to exude again In pestilence on men. What cry avails me now, what deed of blood, Unto this land what dark despite? Alack, alack, forlorn Are we, a bitter injury have borne! Alack, O sisters, O dishonoured brood Of mother Night!

ATHENA Nay, bow ye to my words, chafe not nor moan: Ye are not worsted nor disgraced; behold, With balanced vote the cause had issue fair, Nor in the end did aught dishonour thee. But thus the will of Zeus shone clearly forth, And his own prophet-god avouched the same, _Orestes slew: his slaying is atoned_. Therefore I pray you, not upon this land Shoot forth the dart of vengeance; be appeased, Nor blast the land with blight, nor loose thereon Drops of eternal venom, direful darts Wasting and marring nature’s seed of growth.

For I, the queen of Athens’ sacred right, Do pledge to you a holy sanctuary Deep in the heart of this my land, made just By your indwelling presence, while ye sit Hard by your sacred shrines that gleam with oil Of sacrifice, and by this folk adored.

CHORUS Woe on you, younger gods! the ancient right Ye have o’erridden, rent it from my hands.

I am dishonoured of you, thrust to scorn! But heavily my wrath Shall on his land fling forth the drops that blast and burn. Venom of vengeance, that shall work such scathe As I have suffered; where that dew shall fall, Shall leafless blight arise, Wasting Earth’s offspring,—Justice, hear my call!— And thorough all the land in deadly wise Shall scatter venom, to exude again In pestilence of men. What cry avails me now, what deed of blood, Unto this land what dark despite? Alack, alack, forlorn Are we, a bitter injury have borne! Alack, O sisters, O dishonoured brood Of mother Night!

ATHENA Dishonoured are ye not; turn not, I pray. As goddesses your swelling wrath on men, Nor make the friendly earth despiteful to them. I too have Zeus for champion—’tis enough— I only of all goddesses do know. To ope the chamber where his thunderbolts Lie stored and sealed; but here is no such need. Nay, be appeased, nor cast upon the ground The malice of thy tongue, to blast the world; Calm thou thy bitter wrath’s black inward surge, For high shall be thine honour, set beside me For ever in this land, whose fertile lap Shall pour its teeming firstfruits unto you, Gifts for fair childbirth and for wedlock’s crown: Thus honoured, praise my spoken pledge for aye.

CHORUS I, I dishonoured in this earth to dwell,— Ancient of days and wisdom! I breathe forth Poison and breath of frenzied ire. O Earth, Woe, woe, for thee, for me! From side to side what pains be these that thrill? Hearken, O mother Night, my wrath, mine agony! Whom from mine ancient rights the gods have thrust, And brought me to the dust— Woe, woe is me!—with craft invincible.

ATHENA Older art thou than I, and I will bear With this thy fury. Know, although thou be More wise in ancient wisdom, yet have I From Zeus no scanted measure of the same, Wherefore take heed unto this prophecy— If to another land of alien men Ye go, too late shall ye feel longing deep For mine. The rolling tides of time bring round A day of brighter glory for this town; And thou, enshrined in honour by the halls Where dwelt Erechtheus, shalt a worship win From men and from the train of womankind, Greater than any tribe elsewhere shall pay. Cast thou not therefore on this soil of mine Whetstones that sharpen souls to bloodshedding. The burning goads of youthful hearts, made hot With frenzy of the spirit, not of wine. Nor pluck as ’twere the heart from cocks that strive, To set it in the breasts of citizens Of mine, a war-god’s spirit, keen for fight, Made stern against their country and their kin. The man who grievously doth lust for fame, War, full, immitigable, let him wage Against the stranger; but of kindred birds I hold the challenge hateful. Such the boon I proffer thee—within this land of lands, Most loved of gods, with me to show and share Fair mercy, gratitude and grace as fair.

CHORUS I, I dishonoured in this earth to dwell,— Ancient of days and wisdom! I breathe forth Poison and breath of frenzied ire. O Earth, Woe, woe for thee, for me! From side to side what pains be these that thrill? Hearken, O mother Night, my wrath, mine agony! Whom from mine ancient rights the gods have thrust, And brought me to the dust— Woe, woe is me!—with craft invincible.

ATHENA I will not weary of soft words to thee, That never mayst thou say, _Behold me spurned, An elder by a younger deity, And from this land rejected and forlorn, Unhonoured by the men who dwell therein_. But, if Persuasion’s grace be sacred to thee, Soft in the soothing accents of my tongue, Tarry, I pray thee; yet, if go thou wilt, Not rightfully wilt thou on this my town Sway down the scale that beareth wrath and teen Or wasting plague upon this folk. ’Tis thine, If so thou wilt, inheritress to be Of this my land, its utmost grace to win.

CHORUS O queen, what refuge dost thou promise me?

ATHENA Refuge untouched by bale: take thou my boon.

CHORUS What, if I take it, shall mine honour be?

ATHENA No house shall prosper without grace of thine.

CHORUS Canst thou achieve and grant such power to me?

ATHENA Yea, for my hand shall bless thy worshippers.

CHORUS And wilt thou pledge me this for time eterne?

ATHENA Yea: none can bid me pledge beyond my power.

CHORUS Lo, I desist from wrath, appeased by thee.

ATHENA Then in the land’s heart shalt thou win thee friends.

CHORUS What chant dost bid me raise, to greet the land?

ATHENA Such as aspires towards a victory Unrued by any: chants from breast of earth, From wave, from sky; and let the wild winds’ breath Pass with soft sunlight o’er the lap of land,— Strong wax the fruits of earth, fair teem the kine, Unfailing, for my town’s prosperity, And constant be the growth of mortal seed. But more and more root out the impious, For as a gardener fosters what he sows, So foster I this race, whom righteousness Doth fend from sorrow. Such the proffered boon. But I, if wars must be, and their loud clash And carnage, for my town, will ne’er endure That aught but victory shall crown her fame.

CHORUS Lo, I accept it; at her very side Doth Pallas bid me dwell: I will not wrong the city of her pride, Which even Almighty Zeus and Ares hold Heaven’s earthly citadel, Loved home of Grecian gods, the young, the old, The sanctuary divine, The shield of every shrine! For Athens I say forth a gracious prophecy,— The glory of the sunlight and the skies Shall bid from earth arise Warm wavelets of new life and glad prosperity.

ATHENA Behold, with gracious heart well pleased I for my citizens do grant Fulfilment of this covenant: And here, their wrath at length appeased, These mighty deities shall stay, For theirs it is by right to sway The lot that rules our mortal day, And he who hath not inly felt Their stern decree, ere long on him, Not knowing why and whence, the grim Life-crushing blow is dealt. The father’s sin upon the child Descends, and sin is silent death, And leads him on the downward path, By stealth beguiled, Unto the Furies: though his state On earth were high, and loud his boast, Victim of silent ire and hate He dwells among the Lost.

CHORUS To my blessing now give ear.— Scorching blight nor singèd air Never blast thine olives fair! Drouth, that wasteth bud and plant, Keep to thine own place. Avaunt, Famine fell, and come not hither Stealthily to waste and wither! Let the land, in season due, Twice her waxing fruits renew; Teem the kine in double measure; Rich in new god-given treasure; Here let men the powers adore For sudden gifts unhoped before!

ATHENA O hearken, warders of the wall That guards mine Athens, what a dower Is unto her ordained and given! For mighty is the Furies’ power, And deep-revered in courts of heaven And realms of hell; and clear to all They weave thy doom, mortality! And some in joy and peace shall sing; But unto other some they bring Sad life and tear-dimmed eye.

CHORUS And far away I ban thee and remove, Untimely death of youths too soon brought low! And to each maid, O gods, when time is come for love, Grant ye a warrior’s heart, a wedded life to know. Ye too, O Fates, children of mother Night, Whose children too are we, O goddesses Of just award, of all by sacred right Queens who in time and in eternity Do rule, a present power for righteousness, Honoured beyond all Gods, hear ye and grant my cry!

ATHENA And I too, I with joy am fain, Hearing your voice this gift ordain Unto my land. High thanks be thine, Persuasion, who with eyes divine Into my tongue didst look thy strength, To bend and to appease at length Those who would not be comforted. Zeus, king of parley, doth prevail, And ye and I will strive nor fail, That good may stand in evil’s stead, And lasting bliss for bale.

CHORUS And nevermore these walls within Shall echo fierce sedition’s din Unslaked with blood and crime; The thirsty dust shall nevermore Suck up the darkly streaming gore Of civic broils, shed out in wrath And vengeance, crying death for death! But man with man and state with state Shall vow _The pledge of common hate And common friendship, that for man Hath oft made blessing out of ban, Be ours unto all time_.

ATHENA Skill they, or not, the path to find Of favouring speech and presage kind? Yea, even from these, who, grim and stern, Glared anger upon you of old, O citizens, ye now shall earn A recompense right manifold. Deck them aright, extol them high, Be loyal to their loyalty, And ye shall make your town and land Sure, propped on Justice’ saving hand, And Fame’s eternity.

CHORUS Hail ye, all hail! and yet again, all hail O Athens, happy in a weal secured! O ye who sit by Zeus’ right hand, nor fail Of wisdom set among you and assured, Loved of the well-loved Goddess-Maid! the King Of gods doth reverence you, beneath her guarding wing.

ATHENA All hail unto each honoured guest! Whom to the chambers of your rest ’Tis mine to lead, and to provide The hallowed torch, the guard and guide. Pass down, the while these altars glow With sacred fire, to earth below And your appointed shrine. There dwelling, from the land restrain The force of fate, the breath of bane, But waft on us the gift and gain Of Victory divine! And ye, the men of Cranaos’ seed, I bid you now with reverence lead These alien Powers that thus are made Athenian evermore. To you Fair be their will henceforth, to do Whate’er may bless and aid!

CHORUS Hail to you all! hail yet again, All who love Athens, Gods and men, Adoring her as Pallas’ home! And while ye reverence what ye grant— My sacred shrine and hidden haunt— Blameless and blissful be your doom!

ATHENA Once more I praise the promise of your vows, And now I bid the golden torches’ glow Pass down before you to the hidden depth Of earth, by mine own sacred servants borne, Mv loyal guards of statue and of shrine. Come forth, O flower of Theseus’ Attic land, O glorious band of children and of wives, And ye, O train of matrons crowned with eld! Deck you with festal robes of scarlet dye In honour of this day: O gleaming torch, Lead onward, that these gracious powers of earth Henceforth be seen to bless the life of men.

[_Athena leads the procession downwards into the Cave of the Furies, under Areopagus: as they go, the escort of women and children chant aloud._

CHANT With loyalty we lead you; proudly go, Night’s childless children, to your home below! (_O citizens, awhile from words forbear!_) To darkness’ deep primeval lair, Far in Earth’s bosom, downward fare, Adored with prayer and sacrifice. (_O citizens, forbear your cries!_) Pass hitherward, ye powers of Dread, With all your former wrath allayed, Into the heart of this loved land; With joy unto your temple wend, The while upon your steps attend The flames that fed upon the brand— (_Now, now ring out your chant, your joy’s acclaim!_) Behind them, as they downward fare, Let holy hands libations bear, And torches’ sacred flame. All-seeing Zeus and Fate come down To battle fair for Pallas’ town! _Ring out your chant, ring out your joy’s acclaim!_

[_Exeunt omnes._