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Contents: Episode 1Choral 1Episode 2Choral 2Episode 3Choral 3Episode 4Choral 4Episode 5 |
Euripides, Ion (ed. Robert Potter)
Ion
Editions and translations: Greek (ed. Gilbert Murray) | English (ed. Robert Potter)
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Ion
But I will cease from labor [145] with the laurel branch and I wil hurl from golden vases Gaia's fountain, which Castalia's eddies pour out, casting out the moist drops, [150] since I am chaste. May I never cease to serve Phoebus in this manner; or, if I do, may it be with good fortune. Ah, ah! Already the birds of Parnassus have left their nests, [155] and come here. I forbid you to approach the walls and the golden house. I will reach you with my bow, herald of Zeus, though you conquer [160] with your beak the strength of all other birds. Here comes another, a swan, to the rim of the temple. Move your crimson foot elsewhere! Phoebus' lyre, that sings with you, [165] would not protect you from my bow. Alter your wings' course; go to the Delian lake; if you do not obey, you will steep your lovely melody in blood. [170] Ah, ah! what is this new bird that approaches; you will not place under the cornice a straw-built nest for your children, will you? My singing bow will keep you off. Will you not obey? [175] Go away and bring up your offspring by the eddies of Alpheus, or go to the Isthmian grove, so that the offerings, and the temple of Phoebus, are not harmed. . . . and yet I am ashamed to kill you, [180] for to mortals you bear the messages of the gods; but I will be subject to Phoebus in my appointed tasks, and I will never cease my service to those who nourish me.
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This text is based on the following book(s): Euripides. The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. OCLC: 42737896
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