Euripides, The Suppliants
E. P. Coleridge, Ed.

Adrastus
rising
Victorious prince of the Athenian realm, Theseus, I have come a suppliant to you and to your city.

Theseus
[115] What do you hunt? What need is yours?

Adrastus
Do you know how I led an expedition to its ruin?

Theseus
Yes, you did not pass through Hellas in silence.

Adrastus
There I lost the pick of Argos' sons.

Theseus
These are the results of that unhappy war.

Adrastus
[120] I went and demanded their bodies from Thebes.

Theseus
Did you rely on heralds, Hermes' servants, in order to bury them?

Adrastus
1 did; and even then their slayers did not let me.

Theseus
Why, what did they say to your just request?

Adrastus
Say! Success makes them forget how to bear their fortune.

Theseus
[125] Have you come to me then for counsel? or why?

Adrastus
With the wish that you, Theseus, should recover the sons of the Argives.

Theseus
Where is your Argos now? Were its boasts all in vain?

Adrastus
We failed and are ruined. We have come to you.

Theseus
Is this your own private resolve, or the wish of all the city?

Adrastus
[130] The sons of Danaus, one and all, implore you to bury the dead.

Theseus
Why did you lead your seven armies against Thebes?

Adrastus
To confer that favor on the husbands of my two daughters.

Theseus
To which of the Argives did you give your daughters in marriage?

Adrastus
I made no match for them with kinsmen of my family.

Theseus
[135] What! did you give Argive maids to foreigners?

Adrastus
Yes, to Tydeus, and to Polyneices, who was Theban-born.

Theseus
What induced you to select this alliance?

Adrastus
Dark riddles of Phoebus stole away my judgment.

Theseus
What did Apollo say to determine the maidens' marriage?

Adrastus
[140] That I should give my two daughters to a wild boar and a lion.

Theseus
How do you explain the message of the god?

Adrastus
One night two exiles came to my door—

Theseus
The name of each declare; you are speaking of both together.

Adrastus
They fought together, Tydeus with Polyneices.

Theseus
[145] Did you give your daughters to them as to wild beasts?

Adrastus
Yes, for, as they fought, I likened them to those two monsters.

Theseus
Why had they left the borders of their native land and come to you?

Adrastus
Tydeus was exiled for the murder of a kinsman.

Theseus
Why had the son of Oedipus left Thebes?

Adrastus
[150] By reason of his father's curse, not to spill his brother's blood.

Theseus
That voluntary exile you have spoken of was no doubt wise.

Adrastus
But those who stayed at home were for injuring the absent.

Theseus
What! did brother rob brother of his.inheritance?

Adrastus
To avenge this I set out; hence my ruin.

Theseus
[155] Did you consult seers, and gaze into the flame of burnt-offerings?

Adrastus
Ah me! you press on the very point where I failed most.

Theseus
It seems your going was not favored by heaven.

Adrastus
Worse; I went in spite even of Amphiaraus.

Theseus
And so heaven lightly turned its face from you?

Adrastus
[160] I was carried away by the clamor of younger men.

Theseus
You favored courage instead of discretion.