Aeschylus.
"Be thou my light and saviour where I pray
In this my fatherland returned, restored."
Euripides.
Our noble Aeschylus repeats himself.
Dionysus.
How so?
Euripides.
Observe his phrasing, and you'll see.
First to this land "returned" and then "restored";
'Returned' is just the same thing as 'restored.'
Dionysus.
Why, yes! It's just as if you asked your neighbour,
'Lend me a pail, or, if not that, a bucket.'
Aeschylus.
Oh, too much talking has bemuzzed your brain!
The words are not the same; the line is perfect.
Dionysus.
Now, is it really? Tell me how you mean.
Aeschylus.
Returning home is the act of any person
Who has a home; he comes back, nothing more;
An exile both returns and is restored!
Dionysus.
True, by Apollo! (To Euripides) What do you say to that?
