Chorus.
Queen of this land, know surely, thou needest not to utter,
Or word or deed twice over, whate'er thy power commands;
For we to counsel summoned, devoted are to thee.
Atossa.
Ever have nightly visions manifold[1]
Beset me, since, intent on ravaging
Ionia's soil, my son led forth his power. 180
But never saw I dream so manifest
As that of yesternight;—I'll tell it thee;—
Me thought two women came before my sight,
Richly apparelled, this in Persian robes
Was habited, and that in Dorian garb;
In height above their sex pre-eminent,
Faultless in beauty, sisters of one race.
As Fatherland the one by lot had gained
Hellas, the other the Barbaric land.
Between these twain, for so methought I saw, 190
Some feud arose, which learning, straight my son
Strove to appease and soothe; he to his car
Yoked them, and placed the collar on their necks.
Proudly the one exulted in this gear,
And kept her mouth submissive to the reins;
Restive the other was; she with her hands
- ↑ The narrative of Atossa recalls the premonitory dream which, according to Herodotus, was sent by the gods to Xerxes and Artabanus prior to their expedition against Greece.
