THESEUS. To what brave chiefs Of Argos didst thou give thy Daughters' hands? ADRASTUS. My family in wedlock I with those Of our own nation join'd not. THESEUS. Didst thou yield Those Argive damsels to some foreign bridegrooms? ADRASTUS. To Tydeus; and to Polynices sprung From Theban sires. But how didst thou interpret this response Of the prophetic God? THESEUS. Hence didst thou on them As on ferocious beasts bestow thy Daughters? ADRASTUS. Their combat that of savages I deem'd. THESEUS. Why did they leave their native land? ADRASTUS. Tydeus polluted with his (4) Brother's THESEUS. But why did Oedipus's son forsake The Theban realm? ADRASTUS. Thence fled gore. The curses of his Sire Thence drove him, lest his Brother he should slay. THESEUS. A prudent cause for this spontaneous exile Hast thou assign'd. ADRASTUS. But they who staid at home Oppress'd the absent. THESEUS. Did his Brother rob him Of the inheritance? ADRASTUS. This contest went, and hence am I undone. (4) The Scholiast (commonly called Didymus) on Homer Il. L. xiv. v. 120, says, "Tydeus, born in Ætolia, was the most valiant of Oeneus' sons. While yet a youth, he saw his father driven from his throne << on account of his old age, by the sons of his brother Agrius: upon "which he slew his Cousins, and with them involuntarily his own Brother "Menalippus: flying to Adrastus, king of Argos, he obtained purifica❝tion from him, and married his Daughter Deipule. Brodæus hath "already made these observations." BARNES. THESEUS. Didst thou consult the Seers, and from the altar Behold the flames of sacrifice ascend? ADRASTUS. Alas you urge me on that very point Where most I fail'd, .. THESEUS. Thou led'st thy troops, it seems, Altho' the Gods approv'd not, to the field. ADRASTUS. Yet more, Amphiareus oppos'd our march. THESEUS. Didst thou thus lightly thwart the will of Heaven? ADRASTUS. F I by the clamorous zeal of younger men Was hurried on. THESEUS. Regardless of discretion, Thy courage thou didst follow. ADRATUS. Many a chief Hath such misconduct utterly destroy'd. But O most dauntless of the Grecian race, Thus prostrate on the ground, to clasp your knees Redeem the dead, in pity to my woes, Would from their sons such honors have obtain❜d. 'Tis wisdom in the opulent to look With pity on the sorrows of the poor, For if his own sensations are unlike Those which he speaks of, never can the wretch Give joy to others; there's no ground for this. The land of (5) Pelops, why would you impose CHORUS. I address thee In the same language, to our woes, O Theseus, Extend thy pity. THESEUS. (5) The Peloponesus, I with others erst (6) Reiskius observes that the antient reading of must be cor rupt, Adrastus being King of Argos, and not of Sparta, but has sug gested nothing in its stead; Heath, Markland, and Musgrave, concur in substituting wun sæva or immitis; which removes the objection. Have on this subject held a strong (7) dispute; More bliss than woe experience. For if this Is such, we aim to be more strong than Jove : We in our own opinion are more wise Than the immortal Powers. To me thou seem'st Of reason, to Apollo's mystic voice (7)" This disputation of Theseus is beautiful, though it may seem to |