(She begins to chant.)

'Twas no bride Paris took with him to the towers of Ilium, but



curse to his bed when he brought Helen to her bower. For her sake,

Troy, did eager warriors, sailing from Hellas in a thousand ships,



capture and make thee a prey to fire and sword; and the son of

sea-born Thetis mounted on his chariot dragged my husband Hector round



the walls, ah woe is me! while I was hurried from my chamber to the

beach, with slavery's hateful pall upon me. And many tear I shed as



I left my city, my bridal bower, and my husband in the dust. Woe,

woe is me! why should I prolong my life, to serve Hermione? Her



cruelty it is that drives me hither to the image of the goddess to

throw my suppliant arms about it, melting to tears as doth a spring



that gushes from the rock.

(The CHORUS OF PHTHIAN WOMEN enters.)



CHORUS (singing)

strophe 1



Lady, thus keeping thy weary station without pause upon the

floor of Thetis' shrine, Phthian though I am, to thee a daughter of



Asia I come, to see if I can devise some remedy for these perplexing

troubles, which have involved thee and Hermione in fell discord,



because to thy sorrow thou sharest with her the love of Achilles' son.

antistrophe 1



Recognize thy position, weigh the present evil into the which thou

art come. Thou art a Trojan captive; thy rival is thy mistress, a



true-born daughter of Sparta. Leave then this home of sacrifice, the

shrine of our sea-goddess. How can it avail thee to waste thy



comeliness and disfigure it by weeping by reason of a mistress's harsh

usage? Might will prevail against thee; why vainly toil in thy



feebleness?

strophe 2



Come, quit the bright sanctuary of the Nereid divine. Recognize

that thou art in bondage on a foreign soil, in a strange city, where



thou seest none of all thy friends, luckless lady, cast on evil days.

antistrophe 2



Yea, I did pity thee most truly, Trojan dame, when thou camest

to this house; but from fear of my mistress I hold my peace, albeit



I sympathize with thee, lest she, whom Zeus's daughter bore,

discover my good will toward thee.



(HERMIONE enters, in complete royal regalia.)

HERMIONE



With a crown of golden workmanship upon my head and about my

body this embroidered robe am I come hither; no presents these I



wear from the palace of Achilles or Peleus, but gifts my father

Menelaus gave me together with a sumptuous dower from Sparta in



Laconia, to insure me freedom of speech. Such is my answer to you

(to the CHORUS); but as for thee, slave and captive, thou wouldst fain



oust me and secure this palace for thyself, and thanks to thy

enchantment I am hated by my husband; thou it is that hast made my



womb barren and cheated my hopes; for Asia's daughters have clever

heads for such villainy; yet will I check thee therefrom, nor shall



this temple of the Nereid avail thee aught, no! neither its altar or

shrine, but thou shalt die. But if or god or man should haply wish



to save thee, thou must atone for thy proud thoughts of happier days

now past by humbling thyself and crouching prostrate at my knees, by



sweeping out my halls, and by learning, as thou sprinklest water

from a golden ewer, where thou now art. Here is no Hector, no Priam



with his gold, but a city of Hellas. Yet thou, miserable woman, hast

gone so far in wantonness that thou canst lay thee down with the son



of the very man that slew thy husband, and bear children to the

murderer. Such is all the race of barbarians; father and daughter,



mother and son, sister and brother mate together; the nearest and

dearest stain their path with each other's blood, and no law restrains



such horrors. Bring not these crimes amongst us, for here we count

it shame that one man should have the control of two wives, and men



are content to turn to one lawful love, that is, all who care to

live an honourable life.



LEADER OF THE CHORUS

Women are by nature somewhat jealous, and do ever show the keenest



hate to rivals in their love.

ANDROMACHE



Ah! well-a-day! Youth is a bane to mortals, in every case, that

is, where a man embraces injustice in his early days. Now I am



afraid that my being a slave will prevent thee listening to me in

spite of many a just plea, or if I win my case, I fear I may be



damaged on this very ground, for the high and mighty cannot brook

refuting arguments from their inferiors; still I will not be convicted

• goddess [´gɔdis] n.女神 (初中英语单词)


• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)


• costly [´kɔstli] a.昂贵的；费用大的 (初中英语单词)


• unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)


• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)


• protection [prə´tekʃən] n.警戒；护照；通行证 (初中英语单词)


• barren [´bærən] a.贫瘠的；不生育的 (初中英语单词)


• mistress [´mistris] n.女主人；情妇；女能手 (初中英语单词)


• whereas [weər´æz] conj.鉴于；因此；而 (初中英语单词)


• convince [kən´vins] vt.使确信；使认识错误 (初中英语单词)


• terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)


• absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)


• hesitate [´heziteit] vi.犹豫，踌躇 (初中英语单词)


• companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)


• misery [´mizəri] n.痛苦；悲惨；穷困 (初中英语单词)


• absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)


• invent [in´vent] vt.发明；捏造 (初中英语单词)


• careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)


• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)


• mourning [´mɔ:niŋ] n.悲伤；治丧；戴孝 (初中英语单词)


• descend [di´send] v.下来，下降 (初中英语单词)


• hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)


• chorus [´kɔ:rəs] n.合唱；齐声 v.合唱 (初中英语单词)


• captive [´kæptiv] n.俘虏；捕获物 (初中英语单词)


• prevail [pri´veil] vi.胜(过)；流行；普遍 (初中英语单词)


• divine [di´vain] a.神圣的 v.预言 (初中英语单词)


• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)


• miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)


• honourable [´ɔnərəbəl] a.荣誉的；正直的 (初中英语单词)


• jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)


• throng [θrɔŋ] n.群众 v.拥挤；群集 (高中英语单词)


• shrine [ʃrain] n.神龛；神殿；圣地 (高中英语单词)


• symbol [´simbəl] n.符号；象征 (高中英语单词)


• secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)


• offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)


• madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)


• goodwill [,gud´wil] n.友好，亲善；信誉 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• tidings [´taidiŋz] n.消息，音信 (高中英语单词)


• eagerness [´i:gənis] n.渴望；热忱 (高中英语单词)


• befall [bi´fɔ:l] v.降临；发表(于) (高中英语单词)


• chariot [´tʃæriət] n.古时双轮战车 (高中英语单词)


• hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)


• chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)


• prolong [prə´lɔŋ] vt.延长；拉长；拖延 (高中英语单词)


• devise [di´vaiz] vt.设计，发明 (高中英语单词)


• remedy [´remidi] n.药品 vt.医治；减轻 (高中英语单词)


• vainly [´veinli] ad.虚荣地；自负地 (高中英语单词)


• insure [in´ʃuə] vt.给…保险 (高中英语单词)


• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)


• injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)


• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)


• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)


• towering [´tauəriŋ] a.高耸的；强烈的 (英语四级单词)


• wedded [´wedid] a.(已)结婚的；献身的 (英语四级单词)


• cruelly [´kruəli] ad.残酷地；极，非常 (英语四级单词)


• almighty [ɔ:l´maiti] a.万能的；全能的 (英语四级单词)


• recompense [´rekəmpens] n.&vt.回报；补偿 (英语四级单词)


• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)


• bondage [´bɔndidʒ] n.奴役；束缚 (英语四级单词)


• hateful [´heitfəl] a.可恨的，可憎的 (英语四级单词)


• bridal [´braidl] a.&n.婚礼(的) (英语四级单词)


• sanctuary [´sæŋktʃuəri] n.圣殿；寺院；避难所 (英语四级单词)


• workmanship [´wə:kmənʃip] n.手艺；工艺品；作品 (英语四级单词)


• prostrate [´prɔstreit, prɔ´streit] a.俯伏的 vt.弄倒 (英语四级单词)


• lawful [´lɔ:fəl] a.合法的，守法的 (英语四级单词)


• distasteful [dis´teistful] a.讨厌的；乏味的 (英语六级单词)


• weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)


• disfigure [dis´figə] vt.损毁(外貌)；使丑陋 (英语六级单词)


• sumptuous [´sʌmptʃuəs] a.奢侈的；豪华的 (英语六级单词)