As the song ends DOLON reappears, in the
disguise of a wolf. The Guards gather
round him, bidding him godspeed as he
crawls off in the dark towards the Greek
camp. Meantime from the direction of
Mount Ida has entered a SHEPHERD who
goes to HECTOR'S door and calls. The
Guards seeing him return to their places.
SHEPHERD.
Ho, Master!
Enter HECTOR from tent.
I would it ofttimes were my luck to share
As goodly news with thee as now I bear.
HECTOR.
What dulness hangs about these shepherds! Block,1
Com'st thou to us with tidings of thy flock
Here in the field in arms? Who wants thee here?
Thou know'st my house; thou know'st my father's.
There
Tell all about thy lucky lambs.-Now go.
SHEPHERD.
Dull wits, we shepherds! Aye, 'twas alway so.
Yet still, there is some good news to be told.
HECTOR.
A truce there to thy gossip of the fold!
Our dealings are of war, of sword and spear.
He turns to go.
SHEPHERD.
Aye; so were mine. That is what brought me here.
HECTOR'S manner changes.
A chief comes yonder, leading a great band
Of spears, with help to thee and all the land.
HECTOR.
From whence? How do his name and lineage run?
SHEPHERD.
He comes from Thrace, the River Strymon's son.
HECTOR.
Rhesus! Not Rhesus, here on Trojan soil?
SHEPHERD.
Thou hast guessed. That eases me of half my toil.
HECTOR.
What makes he there towards Ida? All astray
Thus from the plain and the broad waggon-way!
This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
Table of Contents:
1 P. 16, 1. 267. Hector is as bluff and hasty here as he is impulsively obstinate in 1. 319 ff., p. 19, impulsively frank to Rhesus in 1. 393 ff., p. 23, and splendidly courteous under the gibes of the wounded charioteer, 1. 856 ff., p. 47. A fine stage character, if not a very subtle study.
The Rhesus of Euripides. Translated into English rhyming verse with explanatory notes by Gilbert Murray, LL.D., D.Litt, F.B.A., Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford. Euripides. Gilbert Murray. New York. Oxford University Press. 1913.
This text has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.