aeschylus - Conscious Evolution TV

960-101 I AESCHYLUS 1011-1053
An. Weep the wrong I
Is. Wail the woe!
An. Make grief thy song I
Is. Let thy tears flow!
An. and Is. Misery I Ah, misery I
An. Oh, maddened breast!
Is. Oh, moaning heart!
An. Wept with all tears thou art!
Is. And thou oEall unhappy things unhappiest!
An. Slain bv thine own thou liest dead I
Is. Yea, and this hand its own blood shed!
An. So is a tale of grief twice told I
Is. A double horror to behold I
An. Two woes in dreadful neigh bourhood I
Is. They lie together mingled in their blood I
Ch. 0 Fate! How heavy is thy hand!
How grievous are the gifts that thou dost bring I
Great shade of CEdipus who banned
His own offspring-
Offended ghost-Erinys black as hell,
Surely thou art of might unconquerable I
An. and Is. Misery! ah, misery!
An. Sorrow's gifts are ill to see I
Is. These back from exile thou didst bring to mel
An. He fought and slew; yet home is far awayl
Is. He won the cause, but perished in the fray I
An. III he sped-for he is fled!
Is. And this poor soul is numbered with the
dead!
An. Bad brotherhood was this I
Is. Yea, and they had but little bliss!
An. One sorrow! One death-song!
Is. Bewept with tears that weep a threefold
wrong!
Ch. 0 Fate! How heavy is thy hand!
How grievous are the gifts that thou dost
bring!
Great shade of CEdipus who banned
His own offspring-
Offended ghost- Erinys black as hell,
Surely thou art of might unconquerable!
An. Now thou know'st thou didst transgress I
Is. Now thou own'st thy wickedness!
An. Back returned with murderous stride!
Is. Fugitive and fratricide!
An. Oh, the woeful victory!
Is. Oh, the sorry sight to see I
An. Wail the grief!
Is. Weep the wrong I
An. To home and country both belong I
Is. Mine the woe!
An. This long anguish ends even sol
Is. Wretchedest of mortal kind I
An. and Is. Sinning with a frenzied mind!
An. Where to lay them-in what grave?
Is. Where most honour they may have!
An. and Is. Yea, these children of his woe
Shall be their father's bedfellow I
Ellter a HERALD.
Hera/d. Hold! Let me first discharge a duty. I
Am come with mandate from the Governors
Appointed by the people of this realm
Cadmean. Their high will and pleasure is
That, forasmuch as good Eteocles
Was loyally affected to this land,
Ye do inter him in its tender soil;
Thereby acknowledging he gave his life
For love of her and hatred of her foes;
And, being perfect and without reproach
God-ward and to the temples of his fathers,
Died, as became his youth, in guiltlessness.
Touching the said deceased Eteocles
So much I am commanded to convey.
But for his brother-Polyneices-ye
Are to cast forth un buried his remains
For dogs to gnaw; as a conspirator
Against the integrity of Cadmus' realm,
Who would have turned this kingdom upside down,
Had not a God from heaven braced yonder arm.
Outlawed in death is he, with the same ban
Wherewith the Gods attached him, when he led
An army hither to possess the land.
Therefore it seemeth good that birds of the air
Shall give him burial; and, in dishonour,
He shall have all the honour he hath earned­
No following of slaves to build his tomb;
No keening note of ceremonial woe;
His own kin shall deny him obsequies.
This touching him is formally resolved
By the good lords that govern Cadmus Town.
An. Tell your good lords that I will bury him
If none will help me. If it be dangerous
To bury mine own brother, I am ready!
Shame have I none for this rebellion!
A mighty yearning draws me; that great bond
Which binds us, sprung from the same parent's
loins,
And makes us joint-heirs of their misery.
Therefore, my soul, make thou his griefs thine own,
Though he can neither hear nor answer thee,
And be a sister to the slumbering dead!
This body never hollow-bellied wolf
Shall tear and rend I So let no man "resolve it"l
For I will scoop for him a shallow grave,
Ay, with these woman's hands! I'll fold my robe
And carry him in my lap, and cover him!
Let no "good lords" "resolve it" otherwise I
Courage! For what I will I'll find a wayl
He. 'Tis my most strict command that thou
forbear!
Flout not authority!
An. And it is mine
That thou refine not on thy herald's office.
He. Let me say this: a people long oppressed
When they win free, turn savage.
An. Let them be
As savage as you please-he shall have his grave.
He. And wilt thou pay the honours of the grave
To one whom the supreme authority
Holdeth accurst?
An. Alas! The Gods, methinks,
Have meted out to him his meed of honour.