As stranger for a stranger, rears the germ,
Unless the god should blight it in the bud.
Sure warrant of my word I will adduce;—
Without a mother may a father be;
Witness this daughter of Olympian Zeus,
Not nurtured in the darkness of the womb,
Yet such a scion goddess never bare.
In will, in action, Pallas, be it mine
Thy city and thy people to exalt.
This man I sent, a suppliant to thy shrine,
That faithful he might be for evermore. 640
That, goddess! thou for allies mightest win
Him and his after-race, and that these pacts
Might last eternal, blessed by men unborn.
Athena.
I do command you, as your judgment leads,
Just verdict give,—of pleadings now enough.
Chorus.
By us in sooth our shafts have all been shot,
The issue of the cause I wait to hear.
Athena.
How may I rule the cause, unblamed by you?
Chorus.
Ye heard what ye have heard;—now in your hearts,
Your oaths revering, strangers, give your votes. 650
Athena.
Hear ye my statute, men of Attica,—
