aeschylus - Conscious Evolution TV

First I would tell thee of mine own fortuneshow,
after enduring many labours to the end, I have
won deathless glory, as thou beholdest. And for thee,
be sure, the destiny is ordained that through these
thy sufferings thou shouldest glorify thy life.
Thou shalt go with yon man to the Trojan city,
where, first, thou shalt be healed of thy sore malady;
then, chosen out as foremost in prowess of the host,
with my bow shalt thou slay Paris, the author of
these ills; thou shalt sack Troy; the prize of valour
shall be given to thee by our warriors; and thou
shalt carry the spoils to thy home, for the joy of
Poeas thy sire, even to thine own Oetaean heights.
And whatsoever spoils thou receivest from that host,
thence take a thank-offering for my bow unto my
pyre.
(And these my counsels are for thee also, son of
Achilles; for thou canst not subdue the Trojan realm
without his help, nor he without thine: ye are as
lions twain that roam together; each of you guards
the other's life.)
For the healing of thy sickness, I will send Asclepius
to Troy; since it is doomed to fall a second time
before mine arrows. But of this be mindful, when
ye lay waste the land-that ye show reverence towards
the gods. All things else are ofless account in
the sight of our father Zeus; for piety dies not
PHILOCTETES
195
with men; in their life and in their death, it is immortal.
Ph. Ah, thou whose accents I had yearned to hear,
thou whose form is seen after many days, I will not
disobey thy words!
Ne. I, too, consent.
He. Tarry not long, then, ere ye act; for occasion
urges, and the fair wind yonder at the stern. Exit.
Ph. Come, then, let me greet this land. as I depart.
Farewell, thou chamber that hast shared my
wa tches, farewell, ye nymphs of stream and meadow,
and thou, deep voice of the sea-lashed cape-where.
in the cavern's inmost recess. my head was often
wetted by the south-wind's blasts, and where oft
the Hermaean mount sent an echo to my mournful
cries. in the tempest of my sorrow I
But now, 0 ye springs. and thou Lycian fount, I
am leaving you-leaving you at last-I, who had
never attained to such a hope I
Farewell, thou sea-girt Lemnos; and speed me
with fair course, for my contentment, to that haven
whither I am borne by mighty fate. and by the
counsel of friends, and by the all-subduing god who
hath brought these things to fulfilment.
Ch. Now let us all set forth together. when we
have made our prayer to the Nymphs of the sea, that
they come to us for the prospering of our return.