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The ghost of Darius rises from his tomb

Ghost of Darius
O most faithful of the faithful, comrades of my youth, aged Persians, what is it that is troubling the state? The earth groans and is furrowed by the stamp of men. As I behold my wife by my tomb, [685] I feel alarm, and I accept her libations in kindly mood; while you, standing near my tomb, make lament, and with shrill cries that summon the spirits of the dead, invoke me piteously. Not easy is the path out of the tomb, for this reason above all, that the gods beneath the earth [690] are readier to seize than to release. Nevertheless, since I have obtained dominion among them, I have come. But make haste, so that I may not incur blame regarding the time of my sojourn. What is this unexpected ill that weighs the Persians down?

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  • Commentary references to this page (1):
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, 463-512
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