The House of Atreus by Aeschylus
page 43 of 217 (19%)
page 43 of 217 (19%)
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[_Enter Agamemnon in a chariot, accompanied by Cassandra. He speaks without descending._ AGAMEMNON First, as is meet, a king's All-hail be said To Argos, and the gods that guard the land-- Gods who with me availed to speed us home, With me availed to wring from Priam's town The due of justice. In the court of heaven The gods in conclave sat and judged the cause, Not from a pleader's tongue, and at the close, Unanimous into the urn of doom This sentence gave, _On Ilion and her men, Death:_ and where hope drew nigh to pardon's urn No hand there was to cast a vote therein. And still the smoke of fallen Ilion Rises in sight of all men, and the flame Of Ate's hecatomb is living yet, And where the towers in dusty ashes sink, Rise the rich fumes of pomp and wealth consumed. For this must all men pay unto the gods The meed of mindful hearts and gratitude: For by our hands the meshes of revenge Closed on the prey, and for one woman's sake Troy trodden by the Argive monster lies-- The foal, the shielded band that leapt the wall, What time with autumn sank the Pleiades. Yea, o'er the fencing wall a lion sprang |
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