142 EURIPIDES. [L. 350-417 my chiefest pride in life. Then was I nursed on fair fond hopes to be a bride for kings, the centre of keen jealousy amongst suitors, to see whose home I would make my own ; and o'er each dame of Ida I was queen ; ah me ! a maiden marked amid her fellows,^ equal to a goddess, save for death alone, but now a slave ! That name first makes me long for death, so strange it sounds ; and then maybe my lot might give me to some savage master, one that would buy me for money, — me the sister of Hector and many another chief, ^ — who would make me knead him bread within his halls, or sweep his house or set me working at the loom, leading a life of misery ; while some slave, bought I know not whence, will taint my maiden charms, once deemed worthy of royalty. No, never ! Here I close my eyes upon the light, free as yet, and dedicate myself to Hades. Lead me hence, Odysseus, and do thy worst, for I see naught within my reach to make me hope or expect with any confidence that I am ever again to be happy. Mother mine ! seek not to hinder me by word or deed, but join in my wish for death ere I meet with shameful treatment undeserved. For whoso is not used to taste of sorrow's cup, though he bears it, yet it galls him when he puts his neck within the yoke; far happier would he be dead than alive, for life of honour reft is toil and trouble.' Cho. a wondrous mark, most clearly stamped, doth noble birth imprint on men, and the name goeth still further where it is deserved.* Hec. a noble speech, my daughter ! but there is sorrow linked with its noble sentiments. ' irapOtvoig, some copies insert r'. ' Herwerden reads irpofjuov. The line is perhaps spurious. ' Nauck brackets line 378 as suspicious.
- i.e., to have the name of nobly-born is something ; but where a man
is noble in nature too, and so worthy of the name, his nobility is no I content with the mere title but shows itself in action.
