aeschylus - Conscious Evolution TV

182:-255 AJAX
Never of thine own heart, son of Tel amon, wouldst
thou have gone so far astray as to fall upon the flocks.
Yea, when the gods send madness, it must come; but
may Zeus and Phoebus avert the evil rumour of the
Greeks!
And if the great chiefs charge thee falsely in the
furtive rumours which they spread, or sons of the
wicked line of Sisyphus, forbear, 0 my king, forbear
to win me an evil name, by still keeping thy
face thus hidden in the tent by the sea.
Nay, up from thy seat, wheresoever thou art
brooding in this pause of many days from battle,
making the flame of mischief blaze up to heaven!
But the insolence of thy foes goes abroad without
fear in the breezy glells, while all men mock with
taunts most grievous; and my sorrow passes not
away.
no more; like a sou them gale, fierce in its first onset,
his rage abates; and now, in his right mind, he hath
new pain. To look on self-wrought woes, when no
other hath had a hand therein-this lays sharp pangs
to the soul.
Ch. Nay, if his frenzy hath ceased, I have good
hope that all may yet be well: the trouble is of less
account when once 'tis past.
Te. And which, were the choice given thee,
wouldst thou choose-to pain thy friends, and have
delights thyself, or to share the grief of friends who
grieve?
Ch. The twofold sorrow, lady, is the greater ill.
Te. Then are we losers now, although the plague
is past.
Ch. What is thy meaning? I know not how thou
meanest.
Te. Yon man, while frenzied, found his own joy
Enter TECMESSA. in the dire fantasies that held him, though his pres-
Tecmessa.MarinersofAjax,oftheracethatsprings ence was grievous to us who were sane; but now,
from the Erechtheidae, sons of the soil-mourning since he hath had pause and respite from the plague,
is our portion who care for the house of Telamon he is utterly afflicted with sore grief, and we likeafar.
Ajax, our dread lord of rugged might, now lies wise, no less than before. Have we not here two sorstricken
with a storm that darkens the soul. rows, instead of one?
Ch. And what is the heavy change from the for- Ch. Yea verily: and I fear lest the stroke of a god
tune of yesterday which this night hath brought hath fallen. How else, if his spirit is no lighter, now
forth? Daughter of the Phrygian Teleutas, speak: that the malady is overpast, than when it vexed him?
for to thee, his spear-won bride, bold Ajax hath Te. Thus stands the matter, be well assured.
borne a constant love; therefore mightest thou hint Ch. And in what wise did the plague first swoop
the answer with knowledfe.. upon him? Declare to us, who share thy pain, how
Te. Oh, how shall I tel a tale too dire for words? it befell.
Terrible as death is the hap which thou must hear. Te. Thou shalt hear all that chanced, as one who
Seized with madness in the night, our glorious Ajax hath part therein. At dead of night, when the evenhath
been utterly undone. For token, thou mayest ing lamps no longer burned, he seized a two-edged
see within his dwelling the butchered victims wel- sword, and was fain to go forth on an aimless path.
tering in their blood, sacrifices of no hand but his. Then I chid him, and said; "What dost thou, Ajax?
Ch. What tidings of the fiery warrior hast thou why wouldst thou make this sally unsummonedtold,
not to be borne, nor yet escaped-tidings which not called by messenger; not warned by trumpet?
the mighty Danai noise abroad, which their strong Nay, at present the whole army sleeps."
rumour spreads! Woe is me, I dread the doom to But he answered me in curt phrase and trite: "Wocome:
shamed before all eyes, the man will die, if man, silence graces women." And I, thus taught,
his frenzied hand hath slain with dark sword the desisted; but he rushed forth alone. What happened
herds and the horse-guiding herdsmen. abroad, I cannot tell: but he came in with his cap-
Te. Alas! 'twas thence, then-from those pastures tives bound together-bulls, shepherd dogs, and
-that he came to me with his captive flock! Of fleecy prisoners. Some he beheaded; of some, he cut
part, he cut the throats on the floor within; some, the back-bent throat, or cleft the chine; others, in
hewing their sides, he rent asunder. Then he caught their bonds, he tormented as though they were men,
up two white-footed rams; he sheared off the head with onslaughts on the cattle.
of one, and the tongue-tip, and flung them away; At last, he darted forward through the door, and
the other he bound upright to a pillar, and seized a began ranting to some creature of his brain-now
heavy thong of horse-gear, and flogged with shrill, against the Atreidae, now about Odysseus-with
doubled lash, while he uttered revilings which a god, many a mocking vaunt of all the despite that he
and no mortal, had taught. had wreaked on them in his raid. Anon, he rushed
Ch. The time hath come for each of us to veil his back once more into the house; and then, by slow,
head and betake him to stealthy speed of foot, or to painful steps, regained his reason.
sit on the bench at the quick oar, and give her way And as his gaze ranged over the room full of his
to the sea-faring ship. Such angry threats are hurled wild work, he struck his head, and uttered a great
against us by the brother-kings, the sons of Atreus: cry: he fell down, a wreck amid the wrecks of the
I fear to share a bitter death by stoning, smitten at slaughtered sheep, and there he sat, with clenched
this man's side, who is swayed by a fate to which nails tightly clutching his hair. At first, and for a
none may draw nigh. long while, he sat dumb: then he threatened me
Te. It sways him no longer: the lightnings flash with those dreadful threats, if I declared not all the
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