1. Aeschylus, Persians, 10-11, 118, 12-16, 166, 17-19, 2, 20-24, 248-249, 25, 250-259, 26, 260-269, 27, 270-279, 28, 280-289, 29, 290-299, 3, 30, 300-309, 31, 310-319, 32, 320-329, 33, 330-339, 34, 340-348, 35, 350-359, 36, 360-369, 37, 370-379, 38, 380-389, 39, 390-399, 4, 40, 400-409, 41, 410-419, 42, 420-429, 43, 430-439, 44, 440-449, 45, 450-459, 46, 460-469, 47, 470-479, 48, 480-489, 49, 490-499, 5, 50, 500-509, 51, 510-514, 52-59, 6, 60-66, 7, 730, 8-9, 1 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1. Τάδε μὲν Περσῶν τῶν οἰχομένων | 1. Here we are, the faithful Council of the Persians, who have gone to the land of placeName key= |
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2. Herodotus, Histories, 7.141.3, 8.75 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 7.141.3. quote type="oracle" l met="dact"Vainly does Pallas strive to appease great Zeus of Olympus; /l lWords of entreaty are vain, and so too cunning counsels of wisdom. /l lNevertheless I will speak to you again of strength adamantine. /l lAll will be taken and lost that the sacred border of Cecrops /l lHolds in keeping today, and the dales divine of Cithaeron; /l lYet a wood-built wall will by Zeus all-seeing be granted /l lTo the Trito-born, a stronghold for you and your children. /l /quote 8.75. When the Peloponnesians were outvoting him, Themistocles secretly left the assembly, and sent a man by boat to the Median fleet after ordering him what to say. His name was Sicinnus, and he was Themistocles' servant and his sons' attendant. Later Themistocles enrolled him as a Thespian, when the Thespians were adopting citizens, and made him wealthy with money. ,He now came by boat and said to the generals of the barbarians, “The Athenian general has sent me without the knowledge of the other Hellenes. He is on the king's side and prefers that your affairs prevail, not the Hellenes'. I am to tell you that the Hellenes are terrified and plan flight, and you can now perform the finest deed of all if you do not allow them to escape. ,They do not all have the same intent, and they will no longer oppose you. Instead you will see them fighting against themselves, those who are on your side against those who are not.” After indicating this to them he departed. |
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3. Sophocles, Oedipus The King, 56-57, 55 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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4. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 7.77.3, 7.77.7 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 7.77.3. I have, therefore, still a strong hope for the future, and our misfortunes do not terrify me as much as they might. Indeed we may hope that they will be lightened: our enemies have had good fortune enough; and if any of the gods was offended at our expedition, we have been already amply punished. 7.77.7. To sum up, be convinced, soldiers, that you must be brave, as there is no place near for your cowardice to take refuge in, and that if you now escape from the enemy, you may all see again what your hearts desire, while those of you who are Athenians will raise up again the great power of the state, fallen though it be. Men make the city and not walls or ships without men in them.’ |
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5. Vergil, Aeneis, 1.9, 1.12-1.16, 1.46, 1.299, 1.340, 1.443, 2.1-2.12, 2.15, 2.57-2.198, 2.226-2.227, 2.424-2.430, 2.615-2.616 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.9. to safe abode in Latium ; whence arose 1.12. O Muse, the causes tell! What sacrilege 1.13. or vengeful sorrow, moved the heavenly Queen 1.14. to thrust on dangers dark and endless toil 1.15. a man whose largest honor in men's eyes 1.46. and fierce Achilles; so she thrust them far 1.299. After these things were past, exalted Jove 1.340. behold our navy vilely wrecked, because 1.443. if haply ye have noted, as ye came 2.1. A general silence fell; and all gave ear 2.2. while, from his lofty station at the feast 2.3. Father Aeneas with these words began :— 2.4. A grief unspeakable thy gracious word 2.5. o sovereign lady, bids my heart live o'er: 2.6. how Asia 's glory and afflicted throne 2.7. the Greek flung down; which woeful scene I saw 2.8. and bore great part in each event I tell. 2.9. But O! in telling, what Dolopian churl 2.10. or Myrmidon, or gory follower 2.11. of grim Ulysses could the tears restrain? 2.12. 'T is evening; lo! the dews of night begin 2.57. thus hailed the people: “O unhappy men! 2.58. What madness this? Who deems our foemen fled? 2.59. Think ye the gifts of Greece can lack for guile? 2.60. Have ye not known Ulysses? The Achaean 2.61. hides, caged in yonder beams; or this is reared 2.62. for engin'ry on our proud battlements 2.63. to spy upon our roof-tops, or descend 2.64. in ruin on the city. 'T is a snare. 2.65. Trust not this horse, O Troy, whate'er it bode! 2.66. I fear the Greeks, though gift on gift they bear.” 2.67. So saying, he whirled with ponderous javelin 2.68. a sturdy stroke straight at the rounded side 2.69. of the great, jointed beast. A tremor struck 2.70. its towering form, and through the cavernous womb 2.71. rolled loud, reverberate rumbling, deep and long. 2.72. If heaven's decree, if our own wills, that hour 2.73. had not been fixed on woe, his spear had brought 2.74. a bloody slaughter on our ambushed foe 2.75. and Troy were standing on the earth this day! 2.77. But, lo! with hands fast bound behind, a youth 2.78. by clamorous Dardan shepherds haled along 2.79. was brought before our king,—to this sole end 2.80. a self-surrendered captive, that he might 2.81. although a nameless stranger, cunningly 2.82. deliver to the Greek the gates of Troy . 2.83. His firm-set mind flinched not from either goal,— 2.84. uccess in crime, or on swift death to fall. 2.85. The thronging Trojan youth made haste his way 2.86. from every side, all eager to see close 2.87. their captive's face, and clout with emulous scorn. 2.88. Hear now what Greek deception is, and learn 2.89. from one dark wickedness the whole. For he 2.90. a mark for every eye, defenceless, dazed 2.91. tood staring at our Phrygian hosts, and cried: 2.92. “Woe worth the day! What ocean or what shore 2.93. will have me now? What desperate path remains 2.94. for miserable me? Now have I lost 2.95. all foothold with the Greeks, and o'er my head 2.96. Troy 's furious sons call bloody vengeance down.” 2.97. Such groans and anguish turned all rage away 2.98. and stayed our lifted hands. We bade him tell 2.99. his birth, his errand, and from whence might be 2.100. uch hope of mercy for a foe in chains. 2.102. “O King! I will confess, whate'er befall 2.103. the whole unvarnished truth. I will not hide 2.104. my Grecian birth. Yea, thus will I begin. 2.105. For Fortune has brought wretched Sinon low; 2.106. but never shall her cruelty impair 2.107. his honor and his truth. Perchance the name 2.108. of Palamedes, Belus' glorious son 2.109. has come by rumor to your listening ears; 2.110. whom by false witness and conspiracy 2.111. because his counsel was not for this war 2.112. the Greeks condemned, though guiltless, to his death 2.113. and now make much lament for him they slew. 2.114. I, his companion, of his kith and kin 2.115. ent hither by my humble sire's command 2.116. followed his arms and fortunes from my youth. 2.117. Long as his throne endured, and while he throve 2.118. in conclave with his kingly peers, we twain 2.119. ome name and lustre bore; but afterward 2.120. because that cheat Ulysses envied him 2.121. (Ye know the deed), he from this world withdrew 2.122. and I in gloom and tribulation sore 2.123. lived miserably on, lamenting loud 2.124. my lost friend's blameless fall. A fool was I 2.125. that kept not these lips closed; but I had vowed 2.126. that if a conqueror home to Greece I came 2.127. I would avenge. Such words moved wrath, and were 2.128. the first shock of my ruin; from that hour 2.129. Ulysses whispered slander and alarm; 2.130. breathed doubt and malice into all men's ears 2.131. and darkly plotted how to strike his blow. 2.132. Nor rest had he, till Calchas, as his tool,- 2.133. but why unfold this useless, cruel story? 2.134. Why make delay? Ye count all sons of Greece 2.135. arrayed as one; and to have heard thus far 2.136. uffices you. Take now your ripe revenge! 2.137. Ulysses smiles and Atreus' royal sons 2.139. We ply him then with passionate appeal 2.140. and question all his cause: of guilt so dire 2.141. or such Greek guile we harbored not the thought. 2.142. So on he prates, with well-feigned grief and fear 2.143. and from his Iying heart thus told his tale: 2.144. “Full oft the Greeks had fain achieved their flight 2.145. and raised the Trojan siege, and sailed away 2.146. war-wearied quite. O, would it had been so! 2.147. Full oft the wintry tumult of the seas 2.148. did wall them round, and many a swollen storm 2.149. their embarcation stayed. But chiefly when 2.150. all fitly built of beams of maple fair 2.151. this horse stood forth,— what thunders filled the skies! 2.152. With anxious fears we sent Eurypylus 2.153. to ask Apollo's word; and from the shrine 2.154. he brings the sorrowful commandment home: 2.155. ‘By flowing blood and by a virgin slain 2.156. the wild winds were appeased, when first ye came 2.157. ye sons of Greece, to Ilium 's distant shore. 2.158. Through blood ye must return. Let some Greek life 2.159. your expiation be.’ The popular ear 2.160. the saying caught, all spirits were dimmed o'er; 2.161. cold doubt and horror through each bosom ran 2.162. asking what fate would do, and on what wretch 2.163. Apollo's choice would fall. Ulysses, then 2.164. amid the people's tumult and acclaim 2.165. thrust Calchas forth, some prophecy to tell 2.166. to all the throng: he asked him o'er and o'er 2.167. what Heaven desired. Already not a few 2.168. foretold the murderous plot, and silently 2.169. watched the dark doom upon my life impend. 2.170. Twice five long days the seer his lips did seal 2.171. and hid himself, refusing to bring forth 2.172. His word of guile, and name what wretch should die. 2.173. At last, reluctant, and all loudly urged 2.174. By false Ulysses, he fulfils their plot 2.175. and, lifting up his voice oracular 2.176. points out myself the victim to be slain. 2.177. Nor did one voice oppose. The mortal stroke 2.178. horribly hanging o'er each coward head 2.179. was changed to one man's ruin, and their hearts 2.180. endured it well. Soon rose th' accursed morn; 2.181. the bloody ritual was ready; salt 2.182. was sprinkled on the sacred loaf; my brows 2.183. were bound with fillets for the offering. 2.184. But I escaped that death—yes! I deny not! 2.185. I cast my fetters off, and darkling lay 2.186. concealed all night in lake-side sedge and mire 2.187. awaiting their departure, if perchance 2.188. they should in truth set sail. But nevermore 2.189. hall my dear, native country greet these eyes. 2.190. No more my father or my tender babes 2.191. hall I behold. Nay, haply their own lives 2.192. are forfeit, when my foemen take revenge 2.193. for my escape, and slay those helpless ones 2.194. in expiation of my guilty deed. 2.195. O, by yon powers in heaven which witness truth 2.196. by aught in this dark world remaining now 2.197. of spotless human faith and innocence 2.198. I do implore thee look with pitying eye 2.226. The Greeks' one hope, since first they opened war 2.227. was Pallas, grace and power. But from the day 2.424. Shrill trumpets rang; Ioud shouting voices roared; 2.425. wildly I armed me (when the battle calls 2.426. how dimly reason shines!); I burned to join 2.427. the rally of my peers, and to the heights 2.428. defensive gather. Frenzy and vast rage 2.429. eized on my soul. I only sought what way 2.615. reared skyward from the roof-top, giving view 2.616. of Troy 's wide walls and full reconnaissance |
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