Nor didst thou save thy son,whom it became thee To save;nor,though a prophet,wilt thou speak To the sad mother who inquires of thee;That,if he is no more,to him a tomb May rise;but,if he lives,that he may bless His mother's eyes.But even thus behooves us To omit these things,if by the god denied To know what most I wish.-But,for I see The noble Xuthus this way bend,return'd From the Trophonian cave;before my husband Resume not,generous stranger,this discourse,Lest it might cause me shame that thus I act In secret,and perchance lead on to questions I would not have explain'd.Our hapless sex Oft feel our husbands'rigour:with the bad The virtuous they confound,and treat us harshly.
(XUTHUS and his retinue enter.)
XUTHUS
With reverence to the god my first address I pay:Hail,Phoebus!Lady,next to thee:
Absent so long,have I not caused thee fear?
CREUSA
Not much:as anxious thoughts 'gan rise,thou'rt come.
But,tell me,from Trophonius what reply Bearest thou;what means whence offspring may arise?
XUTHUS
Unmeet he held it to anticipate The answer of the god:one thing he told me.
That childless I should not return,nor thou,Home from the oracle.
CREUSA
Goddess revered,Mother of Phoebus,be our coming hither In lucky hour;and our connubial bed Be by thy son made happier than before!
XUTHUS
It shall be so.But who is president here?
ION
Without,that charge is mine;within,devolved On others,stranger,seated near the tripod;The chiefs of Delphi these,chosen by lot.
XUTHUS
'Tis well:all that I want is then complete.
Let me now enter:for the oracle Is given,I hear,in common to all strangers Before the shrine;on such a day,that falls Propitious thus,the answer of the god Would I receive:meanwhile,these laurel boughs Bear round the altars;lady,breathe thy prayers To every god,that from Apollo's shrine I may bring back the promise of a son.
(XUTHUS,after giving the laurel boughs to CREUSA,enters the temple.)CREUSA
It shall,it shall be so.Should Phoebus now At least be willing to redress the fault Of former times,he would not through the whole Be friendly to us:yet will I accept What he vouchsafes us,for he is a god.
(CREUSA departs to the shrines in the outer precinct of the temple.)ION
Why does this stranger always thus revile With obscure speech the god?Is it through love Of her,for whom she asks?or to conceal Some secret of importance?But to me What is the daughter of Erechtheus?Naught Concerns it me.Then let me to my task,And sprinkle from the golden vase the dew.
Yet must I blame the god,if thus perforce He mounts the bed of virgins,and by stealth Becomes a father,leaving then his children To die,regardless of them.Do not thou Act thus;but,as thy power is great,respect The virtues;for whoe'er,of mortal men,Dares impious deeds,him the gods punish:how Is it then just that you,who gave the laws To mortals,should yourselves transgress those laws?If (though it is not thus,yet will I urge The subject),-if to mortals you shall pay The penalty of forced embraces,thou,Neptune,and Jove,that reigns supreme in heaven,Will leave your temples treasureless by paying The mulcts of your injustice:for unjust You are,your pleasures to grave temperance Preferring:and to men these deeds no more Can it be just to charge as crimes,these deeds If from the gods they imitate:on those Who gave the ill examples falls the charge.
(ION goes out.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe Thee prompt to yield thy lenient aid,And sooth a mother's pain:
And thee,my Pallas,martial maid,I call:O,hear the strain!
Thou,whom the Titan from the head of Jove,Prometheus,drew,bright Victory,come,Descending from thy golden throne above;Haste,goddess,to the Pythian dome,Where Phoebus,from his central shrine,Gives the oracle divine,By the raving maid repeated,On the hallow'd tripod seated:
O haste thee,goddess,and with thee The daughter of Latona bring;A virgin thou,a virgin she,Sisters to the Delphian king;Him,virgins,let your vows implore,That now his pure oracular power Will to Erechtheus'ancient line declare The blessing of a long-expected heir!
antistrophe To mortal man this promised grace Sublimest pleasure brings,When round the father's hearth a race In blooming lustre springs.
The wealth,the honours,from their high-drawn line From sire to son transmitted down,Shall with fresh glory through their offspring shine,And brighten with increased renown:
A guard,when ills begin to lower,Dear in fortune's happier hour;For their country's safety waking,Firm in fight the strong spear shaking;More than proud wealth's exhaustless store,More than a monarch's bride to reign,The dear delight,to virtue's lore Careful the infant mind to train.
Doth any praise the childless state?
The joyless,loveless life I hate;
No;my desires to moderate wealth I bound,But let me see my children smile around.
epode Ye rustic seats,Pan's dear delight;Ye caves of Macrai's rocky height,Where oft the social virgins meet,And weave the dance with nimble feet;Descendants from Aglauros they In the third line,with festive play,Minerva's hallow'd fane before The verdant plain light-tripping o'er,When thy pipe's quick-varying sound Rings,O Pan,these caves around;Where,by Apollo's love betray'd,Her child some hapless mother laid,Exposed to each night-prowling beast,Or to the ravenous birds a feast;For never have I heard it told,Nor wrought it in historic gold,That happiness attends the race,When gods with mortals mix the embrace.
(ION re-enters.)
ION
Ye female train,that place yourselves around This incense-breathing temple's base,your lord Awaiting,hath he left the sacred tripod And oracle,or stays he in the shrine,Making inquiries of his childless state?
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Yet in the temple,stranger,he remains.
ION
But he comes forth;the sounding doors announce His near approach;behold,our lord is here.
(XUTHUS enters from the temple.He rushes to greet ION.)XUTHUS
