Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes
Why art thou eager, my son? let not Atè, full of wrath, raging with the spear, hurry thee away—but banish the first impulse of [evil] passion.

Ch.

Et. Since the deity with all power urges on the matter, let the whole race of Laius, abhorred by Phœbus, having received for its portion the wave of Cocytus, drift down with the wind.

Et.

Ch. So fierce a biting lust for unlawful blood hurries thee on to perpetrate the shedding of a man's blood, of which the fruit is bitter.151

Ch.

Et. Ay, for the hateful curse of my dear father, consummated, sits hard beside me with dry tearless eyes, telling me that profit comes before my after doom.152

Et.

Ch. But do not accelerate it; thou wilt not be called dastardly if thou honorably preservest thy life—and Erinnys,153 80with her murky tempest, enters not the dwelling where the gods receive a sacrifice from the hands [of the inmates].

Ch.

80

Et. By the gods, indeed, we have now for some time been in a manner neglected, and the pleasure which arises from our destruction is welcomed by them; why should we any longer fawn154 upon our deadly doom?

Et.

Ch. Do so now, while it is in thy power; since the demon, that may alter with a distant shifting of his temper, will perchance come with a gentler air; but now he still rages.

Ch.

Et. Ay, for the curses of Œdipus have raged beyond all bounds; and too true were my visions of phantoms seen in my slumbers, dividers of my father's wealth.155

Et.

Ch. Yield thee to women, albeit that thou lovest them not.

Ch.

Et. Say ye then what one may allow you; but it must not be at length.


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