—without that meed of valour whereby he won a great crown of fame? 'Tis not to be endured.
But then shall I go to the stronghold of the Trojans,—attack alone, where all are foes,—and, in doing some good service, lastly die? Nay, thus I might haply gladden the Atreidae. It must not be.470 Some emprise must be sought whereby I may prove to mine aged sire that in heart, at least, his son is not a dastard.
'Tis base for a man to crave the full term of life, who finds no varying in his woes. What joy is there in day following day,—now pushing us forward, now drawing us back, on the verge—of death? I rate that man as nothing worth, who feels the glow of idle hopes. Nay, one of generous strain should nobly live, or forthwith nobly die: thou hast heard all.480
Ch. No man shall say that thou hast spoken a bastard word, Ajax, or one not bred of thy true soul. Yet forbear: dismiss these thoughts, and suffer friends to overrule thy purpose.
Te. Ajax, my lord, the doom given by fate is the hardest of evils among men. I was the daughter of a free-born sire, wealthy and mighty, if any Phrygian was; and now I am a slave: for so the gods ordained, I ween, and chiefly thy strong hand.490 Therefore, since wedlock hath made me thine, I wish thee well; and I do entreat thee, by the Zeus of our hearth, by the marriage that hath made us one, doom me not to the cruel rumour of thy foes,—abandon me not to the hand of a stranger! On what day soever thou die and leave me lonely by thy death, on that same day, be sure, I also shall be seized forcibly by the Greeks, and, with
