τόδ' εἶσας αὔχημ', ἄναξ Ποσειδάν, ἵπποισιν τὸν ἀκεστῆρα χαλινὸν πρώταισι τοῖσδε κτίσας ἀγυιαῖς.

ὁ δ ̓ εὐήρετμο; ἔκπαγλ ̓ ἁλία χερσὶ παραπτομένα πλάτα θρώσκει, τῶν ἑκατομπόδων

ἦρξεν μέν, ὦ δέσποινα, τοῦ παντὸς κακοῦ
φανεὶς ἀλάστωρ ἢ κακὸς δαίμων ποθέν.
ἀνὴρ γὰρ Ἕλλην ἐξ ̓Αθηναίων στρατοῦ
ἐλθὼν ἔλεξε παιδὶ σῷ Ξέρξη τάδε,
ὡς εἰ μελαίνης νυκτὸς ἕξεται κνέφας,
Ἕλληνες οὐ μενοῖεν, ἀλλὰ σέλμασιν
ναῶν ἐπενθορόντες ἄλλος ἄλλοσε
δρασμῷ κρυφαίῳ βίοτον ἐκσωσοίατο.
ὁ δ ̓ εὐθὺς ὡς ἤκουσεν, οὐ ξυνεὶς δόλον
Ἕλληνος ἀνδρὸς οὐδὲ τὸν θεῶν φθόνον,
πᾶσιν προφωνεῖ τόνδε ναυάρχοις λόγον,
εὖτ ̓ ἂν φλέγων ἀκτῖσιν ἥλιος χθόνα
λήξῃ, κνέφας δὲ τέμενος αἰθέρος λάβῃ,
τάξαι νεῶν μὲν στίφος ἐν στοίχοις τρισὶν
ἔκπλους φυλάσσειν καὶ πόρους ἁλιρρόθους,
ἄλλας δὲ κύκλῳ νῆσον Αἴαντος πέριξ
ὡς εἰ μόρον φευξοίαθ ̓ Ἕλληνες κακόν,

throne, when thou, in these streets first, didst shape the curb to tame the steed. And the well-rowed bark, sped by the rowers' strokes, leaps o'er the main in wondrous wise, hard in the wake of the hundred nimble Nereids.

Tr. by Edward P. Coleridge.

The Battle of Salamis

Salamis (Kolouri)

(From The Persians)

MESSENGER

OME evil god, or an avenging spirit,

SOME

Began the fray. From the Athenian fleet

There came a Greek, and thus thy son bespoke:
"Soon as the gloom of night shall fall, the Greeks
No more will wait, but, rushing to their oars,
Each man will seek his safety where he may
By secret flight." This Xerxes heard, but knew

not

The guile of Greece, nor yet the jealous gods,
And to his captains straightway gave command
That, when the sun withdrew his burning beams,
And darkness filled the temple of the sky,
In triple lines their ships they should dispose,
Each wave-plashed outlet guarding, fencing round

ναυσὶν κρυφαίως δρασμὸν εὑρόντες τινά, πᾶσιν στέρεσθαι κρατὸς ἦν προκείμενον. τοσαῦτ ̓ ἔλεξε κάρθ ̓ ὑπ ̓ εὐθύμου φρενός· οὐ γὰρ τὸ μέλλον ἐκ θεῶν ἠπίστατο.

οἱ δ ̓ οὐκ ἀκόσμως, ἀλλὰ πειθάρχῳ φρενί δεῖπνόν (τ) ἐπορσύνοντο, ναυβάτης τ ̓ ἀνὴρ τροποῦτο κώπην σκαλμὸν ἀμφ' επήρετμον. ἐπεὶ δὲ φέγγος ἡλίου κατέφθιτο καὶ νὺξ ἐπῄει, πᾶς ἀνὴρ κώπης ἄναξ ἐς ναῦν ἐχώρει πᾶς θ ̓ ὅπλων ἐπιστάτης· τάξις δὲ τάξιν παρεκάλει νεώς μακρᾶς· πλέουσι δ ̓ ὡς ἕκαστος ἦν τεταγμένος, καὶ πάννυχοι δὴ διάπλοον καθίστασαν ναῶν ἄνακτες πάντα ναυτικὸν λεών.

καὶ νὺξ ἐχώρει, κοὐ μάλ ̓ Ἑλλήνων στρατὸς κρυφαῖον ἔκπλουν οὐδαμῇ καθίστατο· ἐπεί γε μέντοι λευκόπωλος ἡμέρα πᾶσαν κατέσχε γαῖαν εὐφεγγὴς ἰδεῖν, πρῶτον μὲν ἠχῇ κέλαδος Ἑλλήνων πάρα μολπηδὸν ηὐφήμησεν, ὄρθιον δ ̓ ἅμα ἀντηλάλαξε νησιώτιδος πέτρας ἠχώ· φόβος δὲ πᾶσι βαρβάροις παρῆν γνώμης ἀποσφαλεῖσιν· οὐ γὰρ ὡς φυγῇ παιᾶν ἐφύμνουν σεμνὸν Ἕλληνες τότε, ἀλλ ̓ ἐς μάχην ὁρῶντες εὐψύχω θράσει σάλπιγξ δ ̓ ἀυτῇ πάντ ̓ ἐκεῖν, ἐπέφλεγεν. εὐθὺς δὲ κώπης ῥοθιάδος ξυνεμβολῇ ἔπαισαν ἅλμην βρύχιον ἐκ κελεύματος,

The isle of Ajax surely. Should the Greeks
Deceive this guard, or with their ships escape
In secret flight, each captain with his head
Should pay for his remissness. These commands
With lofty heart, thy son gave forth, nor thought
What harm the gods were weaving. They obeyed.
Each man prepared his supper, and the sailors
Bound the blithe oar to its familiar block.

Then, when the sun his shining glory paled,
And night swooped down, each master of the

oar,

Each marshaller of arms, embarked; and then
Line called on line to take its ordered place.
All night they cruised, and with a moving belt
Prisoned the frith, till day 'gan peep, and still
No stealthy Greek the expected flight essayed.
But when at length the snowy-steeded day
Burst o'er the main, all beautiful to see,
First from the Greeks a tuneful shout uprose,
Well-omened, and, with replication loud,
Leaped the blithe echo from the rocky shore.
Fear seized the Persian host, no longer tricked
By vain opinion; not like wavering flight
Billowed the solemn pæan of the Greeks,
But like the shout of men to battle urging,
With lusty cheer. Then the fierce trumpet's voice
Blazed o'er the main; and on the salt sea flood

θεῶς δὲ πάντες ἦσαν ἐκφανεῖς ἰδεῖν. τὸ δεξιὸν μὲν πρῶτον εὐτάκτως κέρας ἡγεῖτο κόσμῳ, δεύτερον δ ̓ ὁ πᾶς στόλος ἐπεξεχώρει, καὶ παρὴν ὁμοῦ κλύειν πολλὴν βοήν, ' ὦ παῖδες Ἑλλήνων ἴτε, ἐλευθεροῦτε πατρίδ', ἐλευθεροῦτε δὲ παῖδας, γυναῖκας, θεῶν τε πατρῴων ἕδη, θήκας τε προγόνων· νῦν ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀγών. καὶ μὴν παρ ̓ ἡμῶν Περσίδος γλώσσης ῥόθος ὑπηντίαζε, κοὐκέτ ̓ ἦν μέλλειν ἀκμή. εὐθὺς δὲ ναῦς ἐν νηὶ χαλκήρη στόλον ἔπαισεν· ἦρξε δ ̓ ἐμβολῆς Ἑλληνικὴ ναῦς, κἀποθραύει πάντα φοινίσσης νεὼς κόρυμβ', ἐπ' ἄλλην δ ̓ ἄλλος ηὔθυνεν δόρυ. τὰ πρῶτα μέν νυν ῥεῦμα Περσικοῦ στρατοῦ ἀντεῖχεν· ὡς δὲ πλῆθος ἐν στενῷ νεῶν ἤθροιστ ̓, ἀρωγὴ δ ̓ οὔτις ἀλλήλοις παρῆν, αὐτοὶ θ ̓ ὑφ ̓ αὑτῶν ἐμβόλοις χαλκοστόμοις παίοντ ̓, ἔθραυον πάντα κωπήρη στόλον, Ἑλληνικαί τε νῆες οὐκ ἀφρασμόνως κύκλῳ πέριξ ἔθεινον, ὑπτιοῦτο δὲ σκάφη νεῶν, θάλασσα δ ̓ οὐκέτ ̓ ἦν ἰδεῖν, ναυαγίων πλήθουσα καὶ φόνου βροτῶν. ἀκταὶ δὲ νεκρῶν χοιράδες τ ̓ ἐπλήθυον, φυγῇ δ ̓ ἀκόσμῳ πᾶσα ναῦς ἠρέσσετο, ὅσαιπερ ἦσαν βαρβάρου στρατεύματος.