domains art thou robbed that thou shouldst take and wage war with the Tirynthian Argives? What kind of allies art thou aiding? For[1] whom will they have fallen whom thou buriest? Surely thou wilt get an evil name from the citizens, if for the sake of an old man with one foot in the grave, a mere shadow I may say, and for these children, thou wilt plunge into troublous waters. The best[2] thou canst say is, that thou wilt find in them a hope, and nothing more; and yet this falls far short of the present need; for these would be but a poor match for Argives even when fully armed and in their prime, if haply that raises thy spirits; moreover, the time 'twixt now and then is long, wherein ye may be blotted out. Nay, hearken to me; give me naught, but let me take mine own, and so gain Mycenæ; but forbear to act now, as is your Athenian way, and take the weaker side, when it is in thy power to choose the stronger as thy friends.
Cho. Who can decide a cause or ascertain its merits, till from both sides he clearly learn what they would say?
Iol. O king, in thy land I start with this advantage, the right to hear and speak in turn, and none, ere that, will drive me hence as elsewhere they would. 'Twixt us and him is naught in common, for we no longer have aught to do with Argos since that decree was passed, but we are exiles from our native land; how then can he justly drag us back as subjects of Mycenæ,[3] seeing that they have banished us? For we are strangers. Or do ye claim that every exile from Argos is exiled from the bounds of Hellas? Not
- ↑ Nauck brackets this sentence as spurious.
- ↑ i.e. a hope that they will do the same for you in your hour of need. Jebb suggested (Cf. Jerram) Ἐρῶ τὸ λῷστον· ἐλπιδ᾽ εὑρήσει μόνον "I will put your case in the best light: you will find hope and nothing more." A most tempting elucidation of a very puzzling passage.
- ↑ Mycenæ and Argos are used indiscrimately, in the same way that Euripides elsewhere speaks of Greeks as Argives, Achæans, Hellenes, etc., without distinction.
