FROM THE

CHORIC POETRY

OF THE

GREEK DRAMATIC WRITERS.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE,

BY

J. ANSTICE, B. A.

PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE AT KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON,
AND LATE STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.

LONDON:

B. FELLOWES, LUDGATE STREET.

1832.

LONDON:

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD-STREET-HILL.

B

ARGUMENT.

THE capture of Troy having been announced by beacons to Clytemnestra at Argos, she commands offerings to be made on the altars of all the Gods. The Chorus, consisting of Argive old men, still ignorant of the cause of these offerings, describe the departure of the Grecian armament, and affirm the inevitable certainty of Divine Retribution : they lament their own unfitness for war; inquire the meaning of the sacrificial fires which are kindled; detail the ominous appearance of two Eagles to the Atridæ, and the interpretation of it given by Calchas, who predicted the ultimate success of the expedition; but warned the chieftains that they would be exposed to the wrath of Diana. They address Jove, and reflect on the necessity of moral discipline; relate the detention of the Fleet at Aulis, and the consequent sacrifice of Iphigenia by Agamemnon; and conclude by expressing their determination to leave to Heaven the direction of the event.

NINE weary years are more than spent,
Since royal Menelaus went,

On fatal suit with Priam bent,
And Agamemnon's armament

Joined to redress his wrong;
Atridæ both, and each a King
From Jove his throne inheriting,
A thousand proud ships mustering,
They led the martial throng:
Screaming havoc from afar,
Eager flew the chiefs to war.

So, when bereaved the vultures ply
Their oary wings athwart the sky,

(1) The different nautical systems of the ancients and moderns have caused a difference in their expressions, when a body passing through the air is compared to a vessel cleaving the water. Among the ancients, the motion of the wings of a bird is illustrated in general by that of oars; while modern poets generally liken it to that of sails. Thus Spenser, Faery Queene, I. xi. 10.

"His flagging wings when forth he did display,

Were like two sails."

B 2

And