Ion
By Euripides


Translated by Robert Potter

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Dramatis Personae

MERCURY
ION
CREUSA, daughter of Erechtheus
XUTHUS, husband of CREUSA
TUTOR
ATTENDANT
PRIESTESS OF APOLLO
MINERVA
CHORUS OF HANDMAIDENS OF CREUSA

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Before the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The sun is about to rise. MERCURY
enters.

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MERCURY Atlas, that on his brazen shoulders rolls 
Yon heaven, the ancient mansion of the gods, 
Was by a goddess sire to Maia; she 
To supreme Jove bore me, and call'd me Hermes; 
Attendant on the king, his high behests 
I execute. To Delphi am I come, 
This land where Phoebus from his central throne 
Utters to mortals his high strain, declaring 
The present and the future; this is the cause; 
Greece hath a city of distinguish'd glory, 
Which from the goddess of the golden lance 
Received its name; Erechtheus was its king; 
His daughter, call'd Creusa, to the embrace 
Of nuptial love Apollo strain'd perforce, 
Where northward points the rock beneath the heights 
Crown'd with the Athenian citadel of Pallas, 
Call'd Macrai by the lords of Attica. 
Her growing burden, to her sire unknown 
(Such was the pleasure of the god,) she bore, 
Till in her secret chamber to a son 
The rolling months gave birth: to the same cave, 
Where by the enamour'd god she was compress'd, 
Creusa bore the infant: there for death 
Exposed him in a well-compacted ark 
Of circular form, observant of the customs 
Drawn from her great progenitors, and chief 
From Erichthonius, who from the Attic earth 
Deriv'd his origin: to him as guards 
Minerva gave two dragons, and in charge 
Consign'd him to the daughters of Aglauros: 
This rite to the Erechthidae hence remains, 
Mid serpents wreathed in ductile gold to nurse 
Their children. What of ornament she had 
She hung around her son, and left him thus 
To perish. But to me his earnest prayer 
Phoebus applied, "To the high-lineaged sons 
Of glorious Athens go, my brother; well 
Thou know'st the city of Pallas; from the cave 
Deep in the hollow rock a new-born babe, 
Laid as he is, and all his vestments with him; 
Bring to thy brother to my shrine, and place 
At the entrance of my temple; of the rest 
(For, know, the child is mine) I will take care." 
To gratify my brother thence I bore 
The osier-woven ark, and placed the boy 
Here at the temple's base, the wreathed lid 
Uncovering, that the infant might be seen. 
It chanced, as the orient sun the steep of heav'n 
Ascended, to the god's oracular seat 
The priestess entering, on the infant cast 
Her eye, and marvelled, deeming that some nymph 
Of Delphi at the fane had dared to lay 
The secret burden of her womb: this thought 
Prompts her to move it from the shrine: but soon 
To pity she resign'd the harsh intent; 
The impulse of the god secretly acting 
In favour of the child, that in his temple 
It might abide; her gentle hand then took it, 
And gave it nurture; yet conceived she not 
That Phoebus was the sire, nor who the mother 
Knew aught, nor of his parents could the child 
Give information. All his youthful years 
Sportive he wandered round the shrine, and there 
Was fed: but when his firmer age advanced 
To manhood, o'er the treasures of the god 
The Delphians placed him, to his faithful care 
Consigning all; and in this royal dome 
His hallow'd life he to this hour hath pass'd. 
Meantime Creusa, mother of the child, 
To Xuthus was espoused, the occasion this:- 
On Athens from Euboean Chalcis roll'd 
The waves of war; be join'd their martial toil, 
And with his spear repell'd the foe; for this 
To the proud honour of Creusa's bed 
Advanc'd; no native, in Achaea sprung 
From Aeolus, the son of Jove. Long time 
Unbless'd with children, to the oracular shrine 
Of Phoebus are they come, through fond desire 
Of progeny: to this the god hath brought 
The fortune of his son, nor, as was deem'd, 
Forgets him; but to Xuthus, when he stands 
This sacred seat consulting, will he give 
That son, declared his offspring; that the child, 
When to Creusa's house brought back, by her 
May be agnized; the bridal rites of Phoebus 
Kept secret, that the youth may claim the state 
Due to his birth, through all the states of Greece 
Named Ion, founder of the colonies 
On the Asiatic coast. The laurell'd cave 
Now will I visit, there to learn what fortune 
Is to the boy appointed, for I see 
This son of Phoebus issuing forth to adorn 
The gates before the shrine with laurel boughs. 
First of the gods I hail him by the name 
Of Ion, which his fortune soon will give him.  (MERCURY vanishes.
ION and the attendants of the temple enter.)  

ION  (chanting) Now flames this radiant chariot of the sun

High o'er the earth, at whose ethereal fire 
The stars into the sacred night retreat: 
O'er the Parnassian cliffs the ascending wheels 
To mortals roll the beams of day; the wreaths 
Of incense-breathing myrrh mount to the roof 
Of Phoebus' fane; the Delphic priestess now 
Assumes her seat, and from the hallow'd tripod 
Pronounces to the Greeks the oracular strains 
Which the god dictates. Haste, ye Delphic train, 
Haste to Castalia's silver-streaming fount; 
Bathed in its chaste dews to the temple go; 
There from your guarded mouths no sound be heard 
But of good omen, that to those who crave 
Admission to the oracle, your voice 
May with auspicious words expound the answers. 
My task, which from my early infancy 
Hath been my charge, shall be with laurel boughs 
And sacred wreaths to cleanse the vestibule 
Of Phoebus, on the pavement moistening dews 
To rain, and with my bow to chase the birds 
Which would defile the hallow'd ornaments. 
A mother's fondness, and a father's care 
I never knew: the temple of the god 
Claims then my service, for it nurtured me.  (The attendants leave.
ION busies himself before the temple as he continues to sing., strophe)

Haste, thou verdant new-sprung bough, 
Haste, thy early office know; 
Branch of beauteous laurel come, 
Sweep Apollo's sacred dome, 
Cropp'd this temple's base beneath, 
Where the immortal gardens breathe, 
And eternal dews that round 
Water the delicious ground, 
Bathe the myrtle's tresses fair. 
Lightly thus, with constant care, 
The pavement of the god I sweep, 
When over the Parnassian steep 
Flames the bright sun's mounting ray; 
This my task each rising day. 
Son of Latona, Paean, Paean, hail! 
Never, O never may thy honours fail! 

(antistrophe)

Grateful is my task, who wait 
Serving, Phoebus, at thy gate; 
Honouring thus thy hallow'd shrine, 
Honour for the task is mine. 
Labouring with unwilling hands, 
Me no mortal man commands: 
But, immortal gods, to you 
All my pleasing toil is due. 
Phoebus is to me a sire; 
Grateful thoughts my soul inspire; 
Nurtured by thy bounty here, 
Thee, Apollo, I revere; 
As a father's I repeat. 
Son of Latona, Paean, Paean, hail! 
Never, O never may thy honours fail! 

Now from this labour with the laurel bough 
I cease; and sprinkling from the golden vase 
The chaste drops which Castalia's fountain rolls, 
Bedew the pavement. Never may I quit 
This office to the god; or, if I quit it, 
Be it, good Fortune, at thy favouring call! 
But see, the early birds have left their nests, 
And this way from Parnassus wing their flight. 
Come not, I charge you, near the battlements, 
Nor near the golden dome. Herald of Jove, 
Strong though thy beak beyond the feather'd kind, 
My bow shall reach thee. Towards the altar, see, 
A swan comes sailing: elsewhere wilt thou move 
Thy scarlet-tinctured foot? or from my bow 
The lyre of Phoebus to thy notes attuned 
Will not protect thee; farther stretch thy wings; 
Go, wanton, skim along the Delian lake, 
Or wilt thou steep thy melody in blood. 
Look, what strange bird comes onwards; wouldst thou fix 
Beneath the battlements thy straw-built nest? 
My singing bow shall drive thee hence; begone, 
Or to the banks of Alpheus, gulfy stream, 
Or to the Isthmian grove; there hatch thy young; 
Mar not these pendent ornaments, nor soil 
The temple of the god: I would not kill you: 
'Twere pity, for to mortal man you bear 
The message of the gods; yet my due task 
Must be perform'd, and never will I cease 
My service to the god who nurtured me.  (The CHORUS enters. The following
lines between ION and the CHORUS are chanted responsively as they
gaze admiringly at the decorations on the temple.)  

CHORUS The stately column, and the gorgeous dome 
Raised to the gods, are not the boast alone 
Of our magnificent Athens; nor the statues 
That grace her streets; this temple of the god, 
Son of Latona, beauteous to behold, 
Beams the resplendent light of both her children. 

ION Turn thine eyes this way; look, the son of Jove 
Lops with his golden scimitar the heads 
Of the Lernean Hydra: view it well. 

CHORUS I see him. 

ION And this other standing nigh, 
Who snatches from the fire the blazing brand. 

CHORUS What is his name? the subject, on the web 
Design'd, these hands have wrought in ductile gold. 

ION The shield-supporting Iolaus, who bears 
The toils in common with the son of Jove. 
View now this hero; on his winged steed 
The triple-bodied monster's dreadful force 
He conquers through the flames his jaws emit. 

CHORUS I view it all attentively. 

ION Observe 
The battle of the giants, on the walls 
Sculptured in stone. 

CHORUS Let us note this, my friends. 

ION See where against Enceladus she shakes 
Her gorgon shield. 

CHORUS I see my goddess, Pallas. 

ION Mark the tempestuous thunder's flaming bolt 
Launch'd by the hand of Jove. 

CHORUS The furious Mimas 
Here blazes in the volley'd fires: and there 
Another earth-born monster falls beneath 
The wand of Bacchus wreathed with ivy round, 
No martial spear. But, as 'tis thine to tend 
This temple, let me ask thee, is it lawful, 
Leaving our sandals, its interior parts 
To visit? 

ION Strangers, this is not permitted. 

CHORUS Yet may we make inquiries of thee? 

ION Speak; 
What wouldst thou know? 

CHORUS Whether this temple's site 
Be the earth's centre? 

ION Ay, with garlands hung, 
And gorgons all around. 

CHORUS So fame reports. 

ION If at the gate the honey'd cake be offer'd, 
Would you consult the oracle, advance 
To the altar: till the hallow'd lamb has bled 
In sacrifice, approach not the recess. 

CHORUS I am instructed: what the god appoints 
As laws, we wish not to transgress: without 
Enough of ornament delights our eyes. 

ION Take a full view of all; that is allow'd. 

CHORUS To view the inmost shrine was our lord's order. 

ION Who are you call'd? Attendants on what house? 

CHORUS Our lords inhabit the magnific domes 
Of Pallas.-But she comes, of whom thou askest.  (CREUSA and attendants
enter.)  

ION Lady, whoe'er thou art, that liberal air 
Speaks an exalted mind: there is a grace, 
A dignity in those of noble birth, 
That marks their high rank. Yet I marvel much 
That from thy closed lids the trickling tear 
Water'd thy beauteous cheeks, soon as thine eye 
Beheld this chaste oracular seat of Phoebus. 
What brings this sorrow, lady? All besides, 
Viewing the temple of the god, are struck 
With joy; thy melting eye o'erflows with tears. 

CREUSA Not without reason, stranger, art thou seized 
With wonder at my tears: this sacred dome 
Awakes the sad remembrance of things past. 
I had my mind at home, though present here. 
How wretched is our sex! And, O ye gods, 
What deeds are yours! Where may we hope for right, 
If by the injustice of your power undone? 

ION Why, lady, this inexplicable grief? 

CREUSA It matters not; my mind resumes its firmless: 
I say no more; cease thy concern for me. 

ION But say, who art thou? whence? what country boasts 
Thy birth? and by what name may we address thee? 

CREUSA Creusa is my name, drawn from Erechtheus 
My high-born lineage; Athens gave me birth. 
Illustrious is thy state; thy ancestry 
So noble that I look with reverence on thee. 

CREUSA Happy indeed is this, in nothing farther. 

ION But tell me, is it true what fame has blazon'd? 

CREUSA What wouldst thou ask? Stranger, I wish to know.

ION Sprung the first author of thy line from the earth?

CREUSA Ay, Erichthonius; but my race avails not. 

ION And did Minerva raise him from the earth? 

CREUSA Held in her virgin hands: she bore him not. 

ION And gave him as the picture represents? 

CREUSA Daughters of Cecrops these, charged not to see him.

ION The virgins ope'd the interdicted chest? 

CREUSA And died, distaining with their blood the rock. 

ION But tell me, is this truth, or a vain rumour? 

CREUSA What wouldst thou ask? I am not scant of time. 

ION Thy sisters did Erechtheus sacrifice? 

CREUSA He slew the virgins, victims for their country. 

ION And thou of all thy sisters saved alone? 

CREUSA I was an infant in my mother's arms. 

ION And did the yawning earth swallow thy father? 

CREUSA By Neptune's trident smote; and so he perish'd. 

ION And Macrai call you not the fatal place? 

CREUSA Why dost thou ask? What thoughts hast thou recall'd?,

ION Does Phoebus, do his lightnings honour it? 

CREUSA Honour! Why this? Would I had never seen it! 

ION Why? Dost thou hate the place dear to the god? 

CREUSA No: but for some base deed done in the cave. 

ION But what Athenian, lady, wedded thee? 

CREUSA Of Athens none, but one of foreign birth. 

ION What is his name? Noble he needs must be. 

CREUSA Xuthus, by Aeolus derived from Jove. 

ION How weds a stranger an Athenian born? 

CREUSA Euboea is a state neighbouring on Athens. 

ION A narrow sea flows, I have heard, between. 

CREUSA Joining the Athenian arms, that state he wasted.

ION Confederate in the war, thence wedded thee? 

CREUSA The dowral meed of war, earn'd by his spear. 

ION Comest thou with him to Delphi, or alone? 

CREUSA With him, gone now to the Trophonian shrine. 

ION To view it, or consult the oracle? 

CREUSA Both that and this, anxious for one response. 

ION For the earth's fruits consult you, or for children?

CREUSA Though wedded long, yet childless is our bed. 

ION Hast thou ne'er borne a child, that thou hast none?

CREUSA My state devoid of children Phoebus knows. 

ION Bless'd in all else, luckless in this alone. 

CREUSA But who art thou? Bless'd I pronounce thy mother.

ION Call'd as I am the servant of the god. 

CREUSA Presented by some state, or sold to this? 

ION I know not aught save this, I am the god's. 

CREUSA And in my turn, stranger, I pity thee. 

ION As knowing not my mother, or my lineage. 

CREUSA Hast thou thy dwelling here, or in some house? 

ION The temple is my house, ev'n when I sleep. 

CREUSA A child brought hither, or in riper years? 

ION An infant, as they say, who seem to know. 

CREUSA What Delphian dame sustain'd thee at her breast?

ION I never knew a breast. She nourish'd me. 

CREUSA Who, hapless youth? Diseased, I find disease. 

ION The priestess: as a mother I esteem her. 

CREUSA Who to these manly years gave thee support? 

ION The altars, and the still-succeeding strangers. 

CREUSA Wretched, whoe'er she be, is she that bore thee.

ION I to some woman am perchance a shame. 

CREUSA Are riches thine? Thou art well habited. 

ION Graced with these vestments by the god I serve. 

CREUSA Hast thou made no attempt to trace thy birth? 

ION I have no token, lady, for a proof. 

CREUSA Ah, like thy mother doth another suffer. 

ION Who? tell me: shouldst thou help me, what a joy 

CREUSA One for whose sake I come before my husband. 

ION Say for what end, that I may serve thee, lady. 

CREUSA To ask a secret answer of the god. 

ION Speak it: my service shall procure the rest. 

CREUSA Hear then the tale: but Modesty restrains me. 

ION Ah, let her not; her power avails not here. 

CREUSA My friend then says that to the embrace of Phoebus-

ION A woman and a god! Say not so, stranger. 

CREUSA She bore a son: her father knew it not. 

ION Not so: a mortal's baseness he disdains. 

CREUSA This she affirms; and this, poor wretch, she suffer'd.

ION What follow'd, if she knew the god's embrace? 

CREUSA The child, which hence had birth, she straight exposed.

ION This exposed child, where is he? doth he live? 

CREUSA This no one knows; this wish I to inquire. 

ION If not alive, how probably destroyed? 

CREUSA Torn, she conjectures, by some beast of prey. 

ION What ground hath she on which to build that thought?

CREUSA Returning to the place she found him not. 

ION Observed she drops of blood distain the path? 

CREUSA None, though with anxious heed she search'd around.

ION What time hath pass'd since thus the child was lost?

CREUSA Were he alive, his youth were such as thine. 

ION The god hath done him wrong: the unhappy mother- 

CREUSA Hath not to any child been mother since. 

ION What if in secret Phoebus nurtures him! 

CREUSA Unjust to enjoy alone a common right. 

ION Ah me! this cruel fate accords with mine. 

CREUSA For thee too thy unhappy mother mourns. 

ION Ah, melt me not to griefs I would forget! 

CREUSA I will be silent: but impart thy aid. 

ION Seest thou what most the inquiry will suppress? 

CREUSA And to my wretched friend what is not ill? 

ION How shall the god what he would hide reveal? 

CREUSA As placed on the oracular seat of Greece. 

ION The deed must cause him shame: convict him not. 

CREUSA To the poor sufferer 'tis the cause of grief. 

ION It cannot be; for who shall dare to give 
The oracle? With justice would the god, 
In his own dome affronted, pour on him 
Severest vengeance, who should answer thee. 
Desist then, lady: it becomes us ill, 
In opposition to the god, to make 
Inquiries at his shrine; by sacrifice 
Before their altars, or the flight of birds, 
Should we attempt to force the unwilling gods 
To utter what they wish not, 'twere the excess 
Of rudeness; what with violence we urge 
'Gainst their consent would to no good avail us: 
What their spontaneous grace confers on us, 
That, lady, as a blessing we esteem. 

LEADER OF THE CHORUS How numberless the ills to mortal man,

And various in their form! One single blessing 
By any one through life is scarcely found. 

CREUSA Nor here, nor there, O Phoebus, art thou just 
To her; though absent, yet her words are present. 
Nor didst thou save thy son, whom it became thee 
To save; nor, though a prophet, wilt thou speak 
To the sad mother who inquires of thee; 
That, if he is no more, to him a tomb 
May rise; but, if he lives, that he may bless 
His mother's eyes. But even thus behooves us 
To omit these things, if by the god denied 
To know what most I wish.-But, for I see 
The noble Xuthus this way bend, return'd 
From the Trophonian cave; before my husband 
Resume not, generous stranger, this discourse, 
Lest it might cause me shame that thus I act 
In secret, and perchance lead on to questions 
I would not have explain'd. Our hapless sex 
Oft feel our husbands' rigour: with the bad 
The virtuous they confound, and treat us harshly.  (XUTHUS and his
retinue enter.)  

XUTHUS With reverence to the god my first address 
I pay: Hail, Phoebus! Lady, next to thee: 
Absent so long, have I not caused thee fear? 

CREUSA Not much: as anxious thoughts 'gan rise, thou'rt come.

But, tell me, from Trophonius what reply 
Bearest thou; what means whence offspring may arise? 

XUTHUS Unmeet he held it to anticipate 
The answer of the god: one thing he told me. 
That childless I should not return, nor thou, 
Home from the oracle. 

CREUSA Goddess revered, 
Mother of Phoebus, be our coming hither 
In lucky hour; and our connubial bed 
Be by thy son made happier than before! 

XUTHUS It shall be so. But who is president here? 

ION Without, that charge is mine; within, devolved 
On others, stranger, seated near the tripod; 
The chiefs of Delphi these, chosen by lot. 

XUTHUS 'Tis well: all that I want is then complete. 
Let me now enter: for the oracle 
Is given, I hear, in common to all strangers 
Before the shrine; on such a day, that falls 
Propitious thus, the answer of the god 
Would I receive: meanwhile, these laurel boughs 
Bear round the altars; lady, breathe thy prayers 
To every god, that from Apollo's shrine 
I may bring back the promise of a son.  (XUTHUS, after giving the
laurel boughs to CREUSA, enters the temple.)  

CREUSA It shall, it shall be so. Should Phoebus now 
At least be willing to redress the fault 
Of former times, he would not through the whole 
Be friendly to us: yet will I accept 
What he vouchsafes us, for he is a god.  (CREUSA departs to the shrines
in the outer precinct of the temple.)  

ION Why does this stranger always thus revile 
With obscure speech the god? Is it through love 
Of her, for whom she asks? or to conceal 
Some secret of importance? But to me 
What is the daughter of Erechtheus? Naught 
Concerns it me. Then let me to my task, 
And sprinkle from the golden vase the dew. 
Yet must I blame the god, if thus perforce 
He mounts the bed of virgins, and by stealth 
Becomes a father, leaving then his children 
To die, regardless of them. Do not thou 
Act thus; but, as thy power is great, respect 
The virtues; for whoe'er, of mortal men, 
Dares impious deeds, him the gods punish: how 
Is it then just that you, who gave the laws 
To mortals, should yourselves transgress those laws?, 
If (though it is not thus, yet will I urge 
The subject,)-if to mortals you shall pay 
The penalty of forced embraces, thou, 
Neptune, and Jove, that reigns supreme in heaven, 
Will leave your temples treasureless by paying 
The mulcts of your injustice: for unjust 
You are, your pleasures to grave temperance 
Preferring: and to men these deeds no more 
Can it be just to charge as crimes, these deeds 
If from the gods they imitate: on those 
Who gave the ill examples falls the charge.  (ION goes out.)

CHORUS  (singing, strophe)

Thee prompt to yield thy lenient aid, 
And sooth a mother's pain: 
And thee, my Pallas, martial maid, 
I call: O, hear the strain! 
Thou, whom the Titan from the head of Jove, 
Prometheus, drew, bright Victory, come, 
Descending from thy golden throne above; 
Haste, goddess, to the Pythian dome, 
Where Phoebus, from his central shrine, 
Gives the oracle divine, 
By the raving maid repeated, 
On the hallow'd tripod seated: 
O haste thee, goddess, and with thee 
The daughter of Latona bring; 
A virgin thou, a virgin she, 
Sisters to the Delphian king; 
Him, virgins, let your vows implore, 
That now his pure oracular power 
Will to Erechtheus' ancient line declare 
The blessing of a long-expected heir! 

(antistrophe)

To mortal man this promised grace 
Sublimest pleasure brings, 
When round the father's hearth a race 
In blooming lustre springs. 
The wealth, the honours, from their high-drawn line 
From sire to son transmitted down, 
Shall with fresh glory through their offspring shine, 
And brighten with increased renown: 
A guard, when ills begin to lower, 
Dear in fortune's happier hour; 
For their country's safety waking, 
Firm in fight the strong spear shaking; 
More than proud wealth's exhaustless store, 
More than a monarch's bride to reign, 
The dear delight, to virtue's lore 
Careful the infant mind to train. 
Doth any praise the childless state? 
The joyless, loveless life I hate; 
No; my desires to moderate wealth I bound, 
But let me see my children smile around. 

(epode)

Ye rustic seats, Pan's dear delight; 
Ye caves of Macrai's rocky height, 
Where oft the social virgins meet, 
And weave the dance with nimble feet; 
Descendants from Aglauros they 
In the third line, with festive play, 
Minerva's hallow'd fane before 
The verdant plain light-tripping o'er, 
When thy pipe's quick-varying sound 
Rings, O Pan, these caves around; 
Where, by Apollo's love betray'd, 
Her child some hapless mother laid, 
Exposed to each night-prowling beast, 
Or to the ravenous birds a feast; 
For never have I heard it told, 
Nor wrought it in historic gold, 
That happiness attends the race, 
When gods with mortals mix the embrace.  (ION re-enters.)

ION Ye female train, that place yourselves around 
This incense-breathing temple's base, your lord 
Awaiting, hath he left the sacred tripod 
And oracle, or stays he in the shrine, 
Making inquiries of his childless state? 

LEADER OF THE CHORUS Yet in the temple, stranger, he remains.

ION But he comes forth; the sounding doors announce 
His near approach; behold, our lord is here.  (XUTHUS enters from
the temple. He rushes to greet ION.)  

XUTHUS Health to my son! This first address is proper. 

ION I have my health: be in thy senses thou, 
And both are well. 

XUTHUS O let me kiss thy hand, 
And throw mine arms around thee. 

ION Art thou, stranger, 
Well in thy wits? or hath the god's displeasure 
Bereft thee of thy reason? 

XUTHUS Reason bids, 
That which is dearest being found, to wish 
A fond embrace. 

ION Off, touch me not; thy hands 
Will mar the garlands of the god. 

XUTHUS My touch 
Asserts no pledge: my own, and that most dear, 
I find. 

ION Wilt thou not keep thee distant, ere 
Thou hast my arrow in thy heart? 

XUTHUS Why fly me, 
When thou shouldst own what is most fond of thee? 

ION I am not fond of curing wayward strangers, 
And madmen. 

XUTHUS Kill me, raise my funeral pyre; 
But, if thou kill me, thou wilt kill thy father. 

ION My father thou! how so? it makes me laugh 
To hear thee. 

XUTHUS This my words may soon explain. 

ION What wilt thou say to me? 

XUTHUS I am thy father, 
And thou my son. 

ION Who declares this? 

XUTHUS The god, 
That nurtured thee, though mine. 

ION Thou to thyself 
Art witness. 

XUTHUS By the oracle inform'd. 

ION Misled by some dark answer. 

XUTHUS Well I heard it. 

ION What were the words of Phoebus? 

XUTHUS That who first 
Should meet me- 

ION How?-what meeting? 

XUTHUS As I pass'd. 
Forth from the temple. 

ION What the event to him? 

XUTHUS He is my son. 

ION Born so, or by some other 
Presented? 

XUTHUS Though a present, born my son. 

ION And didst thou first meet me? 

XUTHUS None else, my son. 

ION This fortune whence? 

XUTHUS At that we marvel both. 

ION Who is my mother? 

XUTHUS That I cannot say. 

ION Did not the god inform thee? 

XUTHUS Through my joy, 
For this I ask'd not. 

ION Haply from the earth 
I sprung, my mother. 

XUTHUS No, the earth no sons 
Produces. 

ION How then am I thine? 

XUTHUS I know not. 
To Phoebus I appeal. 

ION Be this discourse 
Chang'd to some other. 

XUTHUS This delights me most. 

ION Hast thou e'er mounted an unlawful bed? 

XUTHUS In foolishness of youth. 

ION Was that before 
Thy marriage with the daughter of Erechtheus? 

XUTHUS Since never. 

ION Owe I then my birth to that? 

XUTHUS The time agrees. 

ION How came I hither then? 

XUTHUS I can form no conjecture. 

ION Was I brought 
From some far distant part? 

XUTHUS That fills my mind 
With doubtful musing. 

ION Didst thou e'er before 
Visit the Pythian rock? 

XUTHUS Once, at the feast 
Of Bacchus. 

ION By some public host received? 

XUTHUS Who with the Delphian damsels- 

ION To the orgies 
Led thee, or how? 

XUTHUS And with the Maenades 
Of Bacchus- 

ION In the temperate hour, or warm 
With wine? 

XUTHUS Amid the revels of the god. 

ION From thence I date my birth. 

XUTHUS And fate, my son, 
Hath found thee. 

ION How then came I to the temple? 

XUTHUS Perchance exposed. 

ION The state of servitude 
Have I escaped. 

XUTHUS Thy father now, my son, 
Receive. 

ION Indecent were it in the god 
Not to confide. 

XUTHUS Thy thoughts are just. 

ION What else 
Would we? 

XUTHUS Thou seest what thou oughtst to see. 

ION Am I the son then of the son of Jove? 

XUTHUS Such is thy fortune. 

ION Those that gave me birth 
Do I embrace? 

XUTHUS Obedient to the god. 

ION My father, hail! 

XUTHUS That dear name I accept 
With joy. 

ION This present day- 

XUTHUS Hath made me happy. 

ION O my dear mother, when shall I behold 
Thy face? Whoe'er thou art, more wish I now 
To see thee than before; but thou perchance 
Art dead, and nothing our desires avail. 

LEADER We in the blessing of our house rejoice. 
Yet wish we that our mistress too were happy 
In children, and the lineage of Erechtheus. 

XUTHUS Well hath the god accomplish'd this, my son, 
Discovering thee, well hath he joined thee to me; 
And thou hast found the most endearing ties, 
To which, before this hour, thou wast a stranger. 
And the warm wish, which thou hast well conceived, 
Is likewise mine, that thou mayst find thy mother; 
I from what woman thou derivest thy birth. 
This, left to time, may haply be discover'd. 
Now quit this hallow'd earth, the god no more 
Attending, and to mine accord thy mind, 
To visit Athens, where thy father's sceptre, 
No mean one, waits thee, and abundant wealth: 
Nor, though thou grieve one parent yet unknown, 
Shalt thou be censured as ignobly born, 
Or poor: no, thou art noble, and thy state 
Adorn'd with rich possessions. Thou art silent. 
Why is thine eye thus fixed upon the ground? 
Why on thy brow that cloud? The smile of joy 
Vanish'd, thou strikest thy father's heart with fear. 

ION Far other things appear when nigh, than seen 
At distance. I indeed embrace my fortune, 
In thee my father found. But hear what now 
Wakes sad reflections. Proud of their high race 
Are your Athenians, natives of the land, 
Not drawn from foreign lineage: I to them 
Shall come unwelcome, in two points defective, 
My father not a native, and myself 
Of spurious birth: loaded with this reproach, 
If destitute of power, I shall be held 
Abject and worthless: should I rush among 
The highest order of the state, and wish 
To appear important, inferior ranks 
Will hate me; aught above them gives disgust. 
The good, the wise, men form'd to serve the state, 
Are silent, nor at public honours aim 
Too hastily: by such, were I not quiet 
In such a bustling state, I should be deem'd 
Ridiculous, and proverb'd for a fool. 
Should I attain the dignity of those, 
Whose approved worth hath raised them to the height 
Of public honours, by such suffrage more 
Should I be watch'd; for they that hold in states 
Rule and pre-eminence, bear hostile minds 
To all that vie with them. And should I come 
To a strange house a stranger, to a woman 
Childless herself, who that misfortune shared 
Before with thee, now sees it her sole lot, 
And feels it bitterly, would she not hate me, 
And that with justice? When I stand before them. 
With what an eye would she, who hath no child, 
Look on thy child? In tenderness to her, 
Thy wife, thou must forsake me, or embroil 
Thy house in discord, if thou favour me. 
What murderous means, what poisonous drugs for men 
Have women with inventive rage prepared! 
Besides, I have much pity for thy wife, 
Now growing old without a child, that grief 
Unmerited, the last of her high race, 
The exterior face indeed of royalty, 
So causelessly commended, bath its brightness; 
Within, all gloom: for what sweet peace of mind, 
What happiness is his, whose years are pass'd 
In comfortless suspicion, and the dread 
Of violence? Be mine the humble blessings 
Of private life, rather than be a king, 
From the flagitious forced to choose my friends, 
And hate the virtuous through the fear of death. 
Gold, thou mayst tell me, hath o'er things like these 
A sovereign power, and riches give delight: 
I have no pleasure in this noisy pomp, 
Nor, while I guard my riches, in the toil: 
Be mine a modest mean that knows not care. 
And now, my father, hear the happy state 
I here enjoy'd; and first, to mortal man 
That dearest blessing, leisure, and no bustle 
To cause disturbance: me no ruffian force 
Shoved from the way: it is not to be borne, 
When every insolent and worthless wretch 
Makes you give place. The worship of the god 
Employ'd my life, or (no unpleasing task) 
Service to men well pleased: the parting guest 
I bade farewell-welcomed the new-arrived. 
Thus something always new made every hour 
Glide sweetly on; and to the human mind 
That dearest wish, though some regard it not, 
To be, what duty and my nature made me, 
Just to the god: revolving this, my father, 
I wish not for thy Athens to exchange 
This state; permit me to myself to live; 
Dear to the mind pleasures that arise 
From humble life, as those which greatness brings. 

LEADER Well hast thou said, if those whom my soul holds

Most dear shall in thy words find happiness. 

XUTHUS No more of this discourse; learn to be happy. 
It is my will that thou begin it here, 
Where first I found thee, son: a general feast 
Will I provide, and make a sacrifice, 
Which at thy birth I made not: at my table 
Will I receive thee as a welcome guest, 
And cheer thee with the banquet, then conduct the 
To Athens with me as a visitant, 
Not as my son: for, mid my happiness, 
I would not grieve my wife, who hath no child. 

ION But I will watch the occasions time may bring, 
And so present thee, and obtain her leave 
That thou mayst hold the sceptre which I bear. 
Ion I name thee, as befits thy fortune, 
As first thou met'st me from the hallow'd shrine 
As I came forth; assemble then thy friends, 
Invite them all to share the joyful feast, 
Since thou art soon to leave the Delphic state. 
And you, ye females, keep, I charge you, keep 
This secret; she that tells my wife shall die. 

ION Let us then go; yet one thing to my fortune 
Is wanting: if I find not her that bore me, 
Life hath no joy. Might I indulge a wish, 
It were to find her an Athenian dame, 
That from my mother I might dare to assume 
Some confidence; for he whose fortune leads him 
To a free state proud of their unmix'd race, 
Though call'd a citizen, must close his lips 
With servile awe, for freedom is not his.  (XUTHUS and ION go out.)

CHORUS  (singing, strophe)

Yes, sisters, yes, the streaming eye, 
The swelling heart I see, the bursting sigh, 
When thus rejoicing in his son 
Our queen her royal lord shall find, 
And give to grief her anguish'd mind, 
Afflicted, childless, and alone. 
What means this voice divine, 
Son of Latona, fate-declaring power? 
Whence is this youth, so fondly graced, 
That to ripe manhood, from his infant hour, 
Hath in thy hallow'd courts been plac'd 
And nurtured at thy shrine? 
Thy dark reply delights not me; 
Lurking beneath close fraud I see: 
Where will this end? I fear, I fear- 
'Tis strange, and strange events must hence ensue: 
But grateful sounds it to his ear, 
The youth, that in another's state 
(Who sees not that my words are true?) 
Enjoys the fraud, and triumphs in his fate. 

(antistrophe)

Say, sisters, say, with duteous zeal 
Shall we this secret to our queen reveal? 
She, to her royal lord resign'd, 
With equal hope, with equal care, 
Form'd her his joys, his griefs to share, 
And gave him an her willing mind. 
But joys are his alone; 
While she, poor mourner, with a weight of woes, 
To hoary age advancing, bends; 
He the bright smile of prosperous fortune knows. 
Ev'n thus, unhonour'd by his friends, 
Plac'd on another's throne, 
Mischance and ruin on him wait, 
Who fails to guard its happy state. 
Him may mischance and ruin seize, 
Who round my lov'd queen spreads his wily trains. 
No god may his oblation please, 
No favouring flame to him ascend! 
To her my faith, my zeal remains, 
Known to her ancient royal house a friend. 

(epode)

Now the father and the new-found son 
The festive table haste to spread, 
Where to the skies Parnassus lifts his head, 
And deep beneath the hanging stone 
Forms in its rudely-rifted side 
A cavern wild and wide; 
Where Bacchus, shaking high his midnight flames, 
In many a light fantastic round 
Dances o'er the craggy ground, 
And revels with his frantic dames. 
Ne'er to my city let him come, 
This youth: no, rather let him die, 
And sink into an early tomb! 
With an indignant eye 
Athens would view the stranger's pride 
Within her gates triumphant ride: 
Enough for her the honour'd race that springs 
From old Erechtheus and her line of kings.  (CREUSA and her aged TUTOR
enter.)  

CREUSA Thou venerable man, whose guiding voice 
My father, while he lived, revered, advance 
Up to the oracular seat thy aged steps; 
That, if the royal Phoebus should pronounce 
Promise of offspring, thou with me mayst share 
The joy; for pleasing is it when with friends 
Good fortune we receive; if aught of ill 
(Avert it, Heaven!) befalls, a friend's kind eye 
Beams comfort; thee, as once thou didst revere 
My father, though thy queen, I now revere. 

TUTOR In thee, my child, the nobleness of manners 
Which graced thy royal ancestors yet lives; 
Thou never wilt disgrace thy high-born lineage. 
Lead me, then, lead me to the shrine, support me: 
High is the oracular seat, and steep the ascent; 
Be thou assistant to the foot of age. 

CREUSA Follow; be heedful where thou set thy steps. 

TUTOR I am: my foot is slow, my heart hath wings. 

CREUSA Fix thy staff firm on this loose-rolling ground.

TUTOR That hath no eyes; and dim indeed my sight. 

CREUSA Well hast thou said; on cheerful then, and faint not.

TUTOR I have the will, but o'er constraint no power. 

CREUSA Ye females, on my richly-broider'd works 
Faithful attendants, say, respecting children, 
For which we came, what fortune hath my lord 
Borne hence? if good, declare it: you shall find 
That to no thankless masters you give joy. 

LEADER OF THE CHORUS O fortune! 

CREUSA To thy speech this is a proem 
Not tuned to happiness. 

LEADER Unhappy fortune! 
But why distress me for the oracle 
Given to our lords? Be that as fate requires 
In things which threaten death, what shall we do? 

CREUSA What means this strain of woe? Whence are these fears?

LEADER What! shall we speak, or bury this in silence? 

CREUSA Speak, though thy words bring wretchedness to me.

LEADER It shall be spoken, were I twice to die. 
To thee, my queen, it is not given to clasp 
In thy fond arms a child, or at thy breast 
To hold it. 

TUTOR O my child, would I were dead! 

CREUSA Yes, this is wretchedness indeed, a grief 
That makes life joyless. 

TUTOR This is ruin to us. 

CREUSA Unhappy me! this is a piercing grief, 
That rends my heart with anguish. 

TUTOR Groan not yet. 

CREUSA Yet is the affliction present. 

TUTOR Till we learn- 

CREUSA To me what tidings? 

TUTOR If a common fate 
Await our lord, partaker of thy griefs, 
Or thou alone art thus unfortunate. 

LEADER To him, old man, the god hath given a son, 
And happiness is his unknown to her. 

CREUSA To ill this adds the deepest ill, a grief 
For me to mourn. 

TUTOR Born of some other woman 
Is this child yet to come, or did the god 
Declare one now in being? 

LEADER One advanced 
To manhood's prime he gave him: I was present. 

CREUSA What hast thou said? Thy words denounce to me 
Sorrows past speech, past utterance. 

TUTOR And to me. 

CREUSA How was this oracle accomplish'd? Tell me 
With clearest circumstance: who is this youth? 

LEADER Him as a son Apollo gave, whom first, 
Departing from the god, thy lord should meet. 

CREUSA O my unhappy fate! I then am left 
Childless to pass my life, childless, alone, 
Amid my lonely house! Who was declared? 
Whom did the husband of this wretch first meet? 
How meet him? Where behold him? Tell me all. 

LEADER Dost thou, my honoured mistress, call to mind 
The youth that swept the temple? This is he. 

CREUSA O, through the liquid air that I could fly, 
Far from the land of Greece, ev'n to the stars 
Fix'd in the western sky! Ah me, what grief, 
What piercing grief is mine I 

TUTOR Say, by what name 
Did he address his son, if thou hast heard it? 
Or does it rest in silence, yet unknown? 

LEADER Ion, for that he first advanced to meet him. 

TUTOR And of what mother? 

LEADER That I could not learn: 
Abrupt was his departure (to inform thee 
Of all I know, old man) to sacrifice, 
With hospitable rites, a birthday feast; 
And in the hallow'd cave, from her apart, 
With his new son to share the common banquet. 

TUTOR Lady, we by thy husband are betrayed, 
For I with thee am grieved, with contrived fraud 
Insulted, from thy father's house cast forth. 
I speak not this in hatred to thy lord, 
But that I love thee more: a stranger he 
Came to the city and thy royal house, 
And wedded thee, all thy inheritance 
Receiving, by some other woman now 
Discover'd to have children privately: 
How privately I'll tell thee: when he saw 
Thou hadst no child, it pleased him not to bear 
A fate like thine; but by some favourite slave, 
His paramour by stealth, he hath a son. 
Him to some Delphian gave he, distant far, 
To educate; who to this sacred house 
Consign'd, as secret here, received his nurture. 
He knowing this, and that his son advanced 
To manhood, urged thee to attend him hither, 
Pleading thy childless state. Nor hath the god 
Deceived thee: he deceived thee, and long since 
Contrived this wily plan to rear his son, 
That, if convicted, he might charge the god, 
Himself excusing: should the fraud succeed, 
He would observe the times when he might safely 
Consign to him the empire of thy land. 
And this new name was at his leisure form'd, 
Ion, for that he came by chance to meet him. 
I hate those ill-designing men, that form 
Plans of injustice, and then gild them over 
With artificial ornament: to me 
Far dearer is the honest simple friend, 
Than one whose quicker wit is train'd to ill. 
And to complete this fraud, thou shalt be urged 
To take into thy house, to lord it there, 
This low-born youth, this offspring of a slave. 
Though ill, it had been open, had he pleaded 
Thy want of children, and, thy leave obtain'd, 
Brought to thy house a son that could have boasted 
His mother noble; or, if that displeased thee, 
He might have sought a wife from Aeolus. 
Behooves thee then to act a woman's part, 
Or grasp the sword, or drug the poison'd bowl, 
Or plan some deep design to kill thy husband, 
And this his son, before thou find thy death 
From them: if thou delay, thy life is lost: 
For when beneath one roof two foes are met, 
The one must perish. I with ready zeal 
Will aid thee in this work, and kill the youth, 
Entering the grot where he prepares the feast; 
Indifferent in my choice, so that I pay 
What to my lords I owe, to live or die. 
If there is aught that causes slaves to blush, 
It is the name; in all else than the free 
The slave is nothing worse, if he be virtuous. 
I too, my honour'd queen, with cheerful mind 
Will share thy fate, or die, or live with honour. 

CREUSA  (chanting) How, o my soul, shall I be silent, how

Disclose this secret? Can I bid farewell 
To modesty? What else restrains my tongue? 
To how severe a trial am I brought! 
Hath not my husband wrong'd me? Of my house 
I am deprived, deprived of children; hope 
Is vanish'd, which my heart could not resign, 
With many an honest wish this furtive bed 
Concealing, this lamented bed concealing. 
But by the star-bespangled throne of Jove, 
And by the goddess high above my rocks 
Enshrined, by the moist banks that bend around 
The hallow'd lake by Triton form'd, no longer 
Will I conceal this bed, but ease my breast, 
The oppressive load discharged. Mine eyes drop tears, 
My soul is rent, to wretchedness ensnared 
By men, by gods, whom I will now disclose, 
Unkind betrayers of the beds they forced. 
O thou, that wakest on thy seven-string'd lyre 
Sweet notes, that from the rustic lifeless horn 
Enchant the ear with heavenly melody, 
Son of Latona, thee before this light 
Will I reprove. Thou camest to me, with gold 
Thy locks all glittering, as the vermeil flowers 
I gather'd in my vest to deck my bosom 
With the spring's glowing hues; in my white hand 
Thy hand enlocking, to the cavern'd rock 
Thou led'st me; naught avail'd my cries, that call'd 
My mother; on thou led'st me, wanton god, 
Immodestly, to Venus paying homage. 
A son I bare thee, O my wretched fate! 
Him (for I fear'd my mother) in thy cave 
I placed, where I unhappy was undone 
By thy unhappy love. Woe, woe is me! 
And now my son and thine, ill-fated babe, 
Is rent by ravenous vultures; thou, meanwhile, 
Art to thy lyre attuning strains of joy. 
Set of Latona, thee I call aloud 
Who from thy golden seat, thy central throne, 
Utterest thine oracle: my voice shall reach 
Thine ear: ungrateful lover, to my husband, 
No grace requiting, thou hast given a son 
To bless his house; my son and thine, unown'd, 
Perish'd a prey to birds; the robes that wrapp'd 
The infant's limbs, his mother's work, lost with him. 
Delos abhors thee, and the laurel boughs 
With the soft foliage of the palm o'erhung, 
Grasping whose round trunk with her hands divine, 
Latona thee, her hallow'd offspring, bore. 

LEADER Ah, what a mighty treasury of ills 
Is open'd here, a copious source of tears! 

TUTOR Never, my daughter, can I sate my eyes 
With looking on thy face: astonishment 
Bears me beyond my senses. I had stemm'd 
One tide of evils, when another flood 
High-surging overwhelm'd me from the words 
Which thou hast utter'd, from the present ills 
To an ill train of other woes transferr'd. 
What say'st thou? Of what charge dost thou implead 
The god? What son hast thou brought forth? Where placed him

A feast for vultures? Tell me all again. 

CREUSA Though I must blush, old man, yet I will speak. 

TUTOR I mourn with generous grief at a friend's woes. 

CREUSA Hear then: the northward-pointing cave thou knowest,

And the Cecropian rocks, which we call Macrai. 

TUTOR Where stands a shrine to Pan, and altars nigh. 

CREUSA There in a dreadful conflict I engaged. 

TUTOR What! my tears rise ready to meet thy words. 

CREUSA By Phoebus drawn reluctant to his bed. 

TUTOR Was this, my daughter, such as I suppose? 

CREUSA I know not: but if truth, I will confess it. 

TUTOR Didst thou in silence mourn this secret ill? 

CREUSA This was the grief I now disclose to thee. 

TUTOR This love of Phoebus how didst thou conceal? 

CREUSA I bore a son. Hear me, old man, with patience. 

TUTOR Where? who assisted? or wast thou alone? 

CREUSA Alone, in the same cave where compress'd. 

TUTOR Where is thy son, that childless now no more 

CREUSA Dead, good old man, to beasts of prey exposed. 

TUTOR Dead! and the ungrateful Phoebus gives no aid? 

CREUSA None: in the house of Pluto a young guest. 

TUTOR Whose hands exposed him? Surely not thine own. 

CREUSA Mine, in the shades of night, wrapp'd in his vests.

TUTOR Hadst thou none with thee conscious to this deed?

CREUSA My misery, and the secret place alone. 

TUTOR How durst thou in a cavern leave thy son? 

CREUSA How? uttering many sad and plaintive words. 

TUTOR Ah, cruel was thy deed, the god more cruel. 

CREUSA Hadst thou but seen him stretch his little hands!

TUTOR Seeking the breast, or reaching to thine arms? 

CREUSA To this, deprived of which he suffer'd wrong. 

TUTOR And what induced thee to expose thy child? 

CREUSA Hope that the god's kind care would save his son.

TUTOR How are the glories of thy house destroy'd! 

CREUSA Why, thine head cover'd, dost thou pour these tears?

TUTOR To see thee and thy father thus unhappy. 

CREUSA This is the state of man: nothing stands firm. 

TUTOR No longer then, my child, let grief oppress us. 

CREUSA What should I do? In misery all is doubt. 

TUTOR First on the god that wrong'd thee be avenged. 

CREUSA How shall a mortal 'gainst a god prevail? 

TUTOR Set this revered oracular shrine on fire. 

CREUSA I fear: ev'n now I have enough of ills. 

TUTOR Attempt what may be done then; kill thy husband. 

CREUSA The nuptial bed I reverence, and his goodness. 

TUTOR This son then, which is now brought forth against thee.

CREUSA How? Could that be, how warmly should I wish it.

TUTOR Thy train hath swords: instruct them to the deed.

CREUSA I go with speed: but where shall it be done? 

TUTOR In the hallow'd tent, where now he feasts his friends.

CREUSA An open murder, and with coward slaves! 

TUTOR If mine displease, propose thou some design. 

CREUSA I have it, close and easy to achieve. 

TUTOR In both my faithful services are thine. 

CREUSA Hear then: not strange to thee the giants' war. 

TUTOR When they in Phlegra fought against the gods. 

CREUSA There the earth brought forth the Gorgon, horrid monster.

TUTOR In succour of her sons to annoy the gods? 

CREUSA Ev'n so: her Pallas slew, daughter of Jove. 

TUTOR What fierce and dreadful form did she then wear? 

CREUSA Her breastplate arm'd with vipers wreathed around.

TUTOR A well-known story; often have I heard it. 

CREUSA Her spoils before her breast Minerva wore. 

TUTOR The aegis; so they call the vest of Pallas. 

CREUSA So named, when in the war she join'd the gods. 

TUTOR But how can this, my child, annoy thy foes? 

CREUSA Thou canst not but remember Erichthonius. 

TUTOR Whom first of thy high race the earth brought forth.

CREUSA To him while yet an infant Pallas gave- 

TUTOR What? Thy slow preface raises expectation. 

CREUSA Two drops of blood that from the Gorgon fell. 

TUTOR And on the human frame what power have these? 

CREUSA The one works death, the other heals disease. 

TUTOR In what around the infant's body hung? 

CREUSA Enclosed in gold: he gave them to my father. 

TUTOR At his decease then they devolved to thee? 

CREUSA Ay, and I wear it as a bracelet; look. 

TUTOR Their double qualities how temper'd, say. 

CREUSA This drop, which from her hollow vein distill'd,-

TUTOR To what effect applied? What is its power? 

CREUSA Medicinal, of sovereign use to life. 

TUTOR The other drop, what faculties hath that? 

CREUSA It kills, the poison of the Gorgon dragons. 

TUTOR And dost thou bear this gore blended in one? 

CREUSA No, separate; for with ill good mixes not. 

TUTOR O my dear child, thou hast whate'er we want. 

CREUSA With this the boy shall die, and thou shalt kill him.

TUTOR Where? How? 'Tis thine to speak, to dare be mine.

CREUSA At Athens, when he comes beneath my roof. 

TUTOR I like not this; what I proposed displeased. 

CREUSA Dost thou surmise what enters now my thoughts? 

TUTOR Suspicion waits thee, though thou kill him not. 

CREUSA Thou hast judged well: a stepdame's hate is proverb'd.

TUTOR Then kill him here; thou mayst disown the deed. 

CREUSA My mind ev'n now anticipates the pleasure. 

TUTOR Thus shalt thou meet thy husband's wiles with wiles

CREUSA This shalt thou do: this little golden casket 
Take from my hand, Minerva's gift of old; 
To where my husband secretly prepares 
The sacrifice, bear this beneath thy vest. 
That supper ended, when they are to pour 
Libations to the gods, thou mayst infuse 
In the youth's goblet this: but take good heed, 
Let none observe thee; drug his cup alone 
Who thinks to lord it in my house: if once 
It pass his lips, his foot shall never reach 
Illustrious Athens: death awaits him here.  (She gives him the casket.)

TUTOR Go thou then to the hospitable house 
Prepared for thy reception: be it mine, 
Obedient to thy word to do this deed. 
Come then, my aged foot, be once more young 
In act, though not in years, for past recall 
That time is fled: kill him, and bear him forth. 
Well may the prosperous harbour virtuous thought; 
But when thou wouldst avenge thee on thy foes, 
There is no law of weight to hinder thee.  (They both go out.)

CHORUS  (singing, strophe 1)

Daughter of Ceres, Trivia hear, 
Propitious regent of each public way 
Amid the brightness of the day, 
Nor less when night's dark hour engenders fear; 
The fulness of this goblet guide 
To check with death this stripling's pride, 
For whom my queen this fatal draught prepares, 
Tinged with the Gorgon's venom'd gore: 
That seat, which mid Erechtheus' royal heirs 
His pride claims, it shall claim no more: 
Never may one of alien blood disgrace 
The imperial honours of that high-born race! 

(antistrophe 1)

Should not this work of fate succeed, 
Nor the just vengeance of my queen prevail; 
Should this apt time of daring fail, 
And hope, that flatters now, desert the deed; 
Slaughter shall other means afford, 
The strangling cord, the piercing sword; 
For rage from disappointed rage shall flow, 
And try each. various form of death; 
For never shall my queen this torment know; 
Ne'er while she draws this vital breath, 
Brook in her house that foreign lords should shine, 
Clothed with the splendours of her ancient line. 

(strophe 2)

Thou whom the various hymn delights, 
Then thy bright choir of beauteous dames among, 
Dancing the stream's soft brink along, 
Thou seest the guardian of thy mystic rites, 
Thy torch its midnight vigils keep, 
Thine eye meantime disdaining sleep; 
While with thee dances Jove's star-spangled plain. 
And the moon dances up the sky: 
Ye nymphs, that lead to grots your frolic train, 
Beneath the gulfy founts that lie: 
Thou gold-crown'd queen, through night's dark regions fear'd,

And thou, her mother, power revered, 
How should I blush to see this youth unknown! 
This Delphic vagrant, hope to seize the throne. 

(antistrophe 2)

You, who the melting soul to move, 
In loose, dishonest airs the Muse employ 
To celebrate love's wanton joy, 
The joy of unallow'd, unholy love, 
See how our pure and modest law 
Can lavish man's lewd deeds o'erawe! 
Ye shameless bards, revoke each wanton air; 
No more these melting measures frame; 
Bid the chaste muse in Virtue's cause declare, 
And mark man's lawless bed with shame! 
Ungrateful is this Jove-descended lord; 
For, his wife's childless bed abhorr'd, 
Lewdly he courts the embrace of other dames, 
And with a spurious son his pride inflames.  (An ATTENDANT of CREUSA
enters.)  

ATTENDANT Athenian dames, where shall I find our queen,

The daughter of Erechtheus? Seeking her, 
This city have I walked around in vain. 

LEADER OF THE CHORUS And for what cause, my fellow-slave? What means

Thy hasty foot? What tidings dost thou bring? 

ATTENDANT We are discover'd; and the rulers here 
Seek her, that she may die o'erwhelm'd with stones. 

LEADER Ah me! what wouldst thou say? Are our designs 
Of secret ruin to this youth disclosed? 

ATTENDANT They are; and know, the worst of ills await you.

LEADER How were our dark devices brought to light? 

ATTENDANT The god, that justice might receive no stain 
Caused it to triumph o'er defeated wrong. 

LEADER How? as a suppliant, I conjure thee, tell me 
Of this inform'd, if we must die, more freely 
Wish we to die than see the light of heaven. 

ATTENDANT Soon as the husband of Creusa left 
The god's oracular shrine, this new-found son 
He to the feast, and sacrifice prepared 
To the high gods, led with him. Xuthus then 
Went where the hallow'd flame of Bacchus mounts, 
That on each rock's high point the victim's blood 
Might flow, a grateful offering for his son 
Thus recognised, to whom he gave in charge, 
"Stay thou, and with the artist's expert aid 
Erect the sheltering tent: my rites perform'd 
To the kind gods that o'er the genial bed 
Preside, should I be there detain'd too long, 
Spread the rich table to my present friends." 
This said, he led the victims to the rocks. 
Meanwhile with reverent heed the son 'gan rear 
On firm supporters the wide tent, whose sides 
No masonry require, yet framed to exclude 
The mid-day sun's hot beams, or his last rays 
When sinking in the west: the lengthen'd lines 
Equally distant comprehend a square 
Of twice five thousand feet (the skilful thus 
Compute it), space to feast (for so he will'd) 
All Delphi: from the treasures of the god 
He took the sacred tapestry, and around 
Hung the rich shade, on which the admiring eye 
Gazes with fix'd delight: first over head, 
Like a broad pennon spread the extended woof, 
Which from the Amazonian spoils the son 
Of Jove, Alcides, hallow'd to the god; 
In its bright texture interwov'n a sky 
Gathering the stars in its ethereal round, 
While downwards to the western wave the sun 
His steeds declines, and to his station high 
Draws up the radiant flame of Hesperus. 
Meanwhile the Night robed in her sable stole, 
Her unreign'd car advances; on her state 
The stars attend; the Pleiads mounting high, 
And with his glittering sword Orion arm'd; 
Above, Arcturus to the golden pole 
Inclines; full-orb'd the month-dividing moon 
Takes her bright station, and the Hyades 
Marked by the sailor: distant in the rear, 
Aurora ready to relume the day, 
And put the stars to flight. The sides were graced 
With various textures of the historic woof, 
Barbaric arguments; in gallant trim 
Against the fleet of Greece the hostile fleet 
Rides proudly on. Here monstrous forms portray'd 
Human and brutal mix'd: the Thracian steeds 
Are seized, the hinds, and the adventurous chase 
Of savage lions: figured nigh the doors, 
Cecrops, attended by his daughter's, roll'd 
His serpent train: in the ample space within 
He spread the festal table, richly deck'd 
With golden goblets. Now the herald walk'd 
His round, each native that inclined to grace 
The feast inviting: to the crowded tent 
They hasten, crown'd with garlands, and partake 
The exquisite repast. The pleasured sense 
Now satiate, in the midst an old man stood, 
Officious in his ministry, which raised 
Much mirth among the guests; for from the urns 
He fill'd the lavers, and with fragrant myrrh 
Incensed the place; the golden bowls he claim'd 
His charge. When now the jocund pipes 'gan breathe 
Harmonious airs, and the fresh goblet stood 
Ready to walk its round, the old man said, 
"Away with these penurious cups, and bring 
Capacious bowls; so shall you quickly bathe 
Your spirits in delight." With speed were brought 
Goblets of gold and silver: one he took 
Of choicer frame; and, seemingly intent 
To do his young lord honour, the full vase 
Gave to his hands, but in the wine infused 
A drug of poisonous power, which, it is said, 
His queen supplied, that the new son no more 
Might view the light of heav'n; but unobserved 
He mix'd it. As the youth among the rest 
Pour'd the libation, 'mid the attendant slaves 
Words of reproach one utter'd: he, as train'd 
Within the temple and with expert seers, 
Deem'd them of evil omen, and required 
Another goblet to be filled afresh- 
The former a libation to the god, 
He cast upon the ground, instructing all 
To pour, like him, the untasted liquor down. 
Silence ensued: the sacred bowls we fill 
With wines of Byblos; when a troop of doves 
Came fluttering in, for undisturb'd they haunt 
The dome of Phoebus: in the floating wine 
They dipp'd their bills to drink, then raised their heads,

Gurgling it down their beauteous-plumed throats. 
Harmless to all the spilt wine, save to her 
That lighted where the youth had pour'd his bowl: 
She drank, and straight convulsive shiverings seized 
Her beauteous plumes; around in giddy rings 
She whirl'd, and in a strange and mournful note 
Seem'd to lament: amazement seized the guests, 
Seeing the poor bird's pangs: her heart heaved thick, 
And stretching out her scarlet legs, she died. 
Rending his robes, the son of Phoebus given 
Sprung from the table, and aloud exclaim'd,- 
"What wretch design'd to kill me? Speak, old man: 
Officious was thy ministry; the bowl 
I from thy hand received." Then straight he seized 
His aged arm, and to the question held him, 
As in the fact discover'd: he thus caught, 
Reluctant and constrain'd, own'd the bold deed, 
The deadly goblet by Creusa drugg'd. 
Forth from the tent, the guests attending, rush'd 
The youth announced by Phoebus, and amid 
The Pythian regents says,-"O hallow'd land! 
This stranger dame, this daughter of Erechtheus 
Attempts my life by poison." Then decreed 
The Delphian lords (nor did one voice dissent) 
That she should die, my mistress, from the rock 
Cast headlong, as the deed was aim'd against 
A sacred life, and impiously presumed 
This hallow'd place with murder to profane. 
Demanded by the state, she this way bends 
Her wretched steps. Unhappy to this shrine 
She came through fond desire of children; here, 
Together with her hopes, her life is lost. 

CHORUS  (singing) None, there is none, from death no flight,

To me no refuge; our dark deed 
Betray'd, betray'd to open light; 
The festive bowl, with sprightly wine that flow'd 
Mix'd with the Gorgon's viperous blood, 
An offering to the dead decreed, 
All is betray'd to light: and I, 
Cast headlong from the rock, must die. 
What flight shall save me from this death, 
Borne on swift pinions through the air, 
Sunk to the darksome cave beneath, 
Or mounted on the rapid car? 
Or shall the flying bark unfurl its sails? 
Alas, my queen, no flight avails, 
Save when some god's auspicious power 
Shall snatch us from the dangerous hour. 
Unhappy queen, what pangs shall rend thy heart! 
Shall we, who plann'd the deathful deed, 
Be caught within the toils we spread, 
While justice claims severe her chast'ning part?  (CREUSA rushes in.)

CREUSA I am pursued, ye faithful females, doom'd 
To death: the Pythian council hath decreed it: 
My life is forfeited. 

LEADER OF THE CHORUS Unhappy lady, 
We know the dreadful ills that close thee round. 

CREUSA Ah, whither shall I fly? From instant death 
Scarce hath my foot sped hither, from my foes 
By stealth escaping. 

LEADER Whither wouldst thou fly, 
But to this altar? 

CREUSA What will that avail me? 

LEADER To kill a suppliant there the law forbids. 

CREUSA But by the law I perish. 

LEADER If their hands 
Had seized thee. 

CREUSA Dreadful contest, with drawn swords 
They hastily advance. 

LEADER Now take thy seat 
At the altar: shouldst thou die ev'n there, thy blood 
Will call the vengeance of the god on those 
That spilt it: but our fortune we must bear.  (She takes refuge at
the altar as ION, guards, and Delphians enter.)  

ION Bull-visaged sire Cephisus, what a viper 
Hast thou produced? a dragon from her eyes 
Glaring pernicious flame. Each daring deed 
Is hers: less venomous the Gorgon's blood, 
With which she purposed to have poison'd me. 
Seize her, that the Parnassian rocks may tease 
Those nice-adjusted ringlets of her hair, 
As down the craggy precipice she bounds. 
Here my good genius saved me, e'er I came 
To Athens, there beneath my stepdame's wiles 
To fall; amid my friends thy fell intents 
Have I unravell'd, what a pest to me, 
Thy hate how deadly: had thy toils inclosed me 
In thine own house, thou wouldst at once have sent me 
With complete ruin to the shades below. 
But nor the altar nor Apollo's shrine 
Shall save thee. Pity, might her voice be heard, 
Would rather plead for me and for my mother, 
She absent, yet the name remains with me. 
Behold that sorceress; with what art she wove 
Wile after wile; the altar of the god 
Impress'd her not with awe, as if secure. 
No vengeance waited her unhallow'd deeds. 

CREUSA I charge thee, kill me not, in my own right, 
And in the god's, whose suppliant here I stand. 

ION What right hast thou to plead Apollo's name? 

CREUSA My person hallow'd to the god I offer. 

ION Yet wouldst thou poison one that is the god's. 

CREUSA Thou wast no more Apollo's, but thy father's. 

ION I have been, of a father's wealth I speak. 

CREUSA And now I am: thou hast that claim no more. 

ION But thou art impious: pious were my deeds. 

CREUSA As hostile to my house, I would have kill'd thee.

ION Did I against thy country march in arms? 

CREUSA And more; thou wouldst have fired Erechtheus' house.

ION What torch, what brands, what flames had I prepared?

CREUSA There wouldst thou fix, seizing my right by force.

ION The land which he possess'd, my father gave me. 

CREUSA What claim hath there the race of Aeolus? 

ION He was its guardian, not with words but arms. 

CREUSA Its soldier then; an inmate, not its lord. 

ION Wouldst thou, through fear of what might happen, kill me?

CREUSA Lest death should be my portion, if not thine. 

ION Childless thou enviest that my father found me. 

CREUSA And wilt thou make a childless house thy spoil? 

ION Devolves my father then no share to me? 

CREUSA His shield, his spear; be those thine heritage. 

ION Come from the altar, quit that hallow'd seat. 

CREUSA Instruct thy mother, whosoe'er she be. 

ION Shalt thou unpunish'd meditate my death? 

CREUSA Within this shrine if thou wilt murder me. 

ION What pleasure mid these sacred wreaths to die? 

CREUSA We shall grieve one, by whom we have been grieved.

ION Strange, that the god should give these laws to men,

Bearing no stamp of honour, nor design'd 
With provident thought: it is not meet to place 
The unrighteous at his altars; worthier far 
To be chased thence; nor decent that the vile 
Should with their touch pollute the gods: the good, 
Oppress'd with wrongs, should at those hallow'd seats 
Seek refuge: ill beseems it that the unjust 
And just alike should seek protection there.  (As ION and his followers
are about to tear CREUSA from the altar, the PRIESTESS of Apollo enters
from the temple.)  

PRIESTESS Forbear, my son, leaving the oracular seat, 
I pass this pale, the priestess of the god, 
The guardian of the tripod's ancient law, 
Call'd to this charge from all the Delphian dames. 

ION Hail, my loved mother, dear, though not my parent. 

PRIESTESS Yet let me have the name, 'tis grateful to me.

ION Hast thou yet heard their wily trains to kill me? 

PRIESTESS I have; but void of mercy thou dost wrong. 

ION Should I not ruin those that sought my life? 

PRIESTESS Stepdames to former sons are always hostile. 

ION And I to stepdames ill intreated thus. 

PRIESTESS Be not, this shrine now leaving for thy country.

ION How, then, by thy monition should I act? 

PRIESTESS Go with good omens, pure to Athens go. 

ION All must be pure that kill their enemies. 

PRIESTESS So do not thou: attentive mark my words. 

ION Speak: from good will whate'er thou say'st must flow.

PRIESTESS Seest thou the vase I hold beneath mine arm? 

ION I see an ancient ark entwined with wreaths. 

PRIESTESS In this long since an infant I received thee.

ION What say'st thou? New is thy discourse and strange.

PRIESTESS In silence have I kept them: now I show them.

ION And why conceal'd, as long since thou received'st me?

PRIESTESS The god would have thee in his shrine a servant.

ION Is that no more his will? How shall I know it? 

PRIESTESS Thy father shown, he sends thee from this land.

ION Hast thou preserved these things by charge, or how?

PRIESTESS It was the god that so disposed my thought. 

ION With what design? Speak, finish thy discourse. 

PRIESTESS Ev'n to this hour to keep what then I found. 

ION What gain imports this to me, or what loss? 

PRIESTESS There didst thou lie wrapp'd in thy infant vests.

ION Thou hast produced whence I may find my mother. 

PRIESTESS Since now the god so wills, but not before. 

ION This is a day of bless'd discoveries. 

PRIESTESS Now take them: o'er all Asia, and the bounds 
Of Europe hold thy progress: thou shalt know 
These tokens. To do pleasure to the god, 
I nurtured thee, my son; now to thy hand 
Restore what was his will I should receive 
Unbidden, and preserve: for what intent 
It was his will, I have not power to say. 
That I had these, or where they were conceal'd, 
No mortal knew. And now farewell: the love 
I bear thee equals what a parent feels. 
Let thy inquiries where they ought begin; 
First, if some Delphian virgin gave thee birth, 
And in this shrine exposed thee; next, if one 
Of Greece. From me, and from the god, who feels 
An interest in thy fortune, thou hast all.  (She goes into the temple
after giving ION the ark.)  

ION Ah me! the moist tear trickles from mine eye, 
When I reflect that she who gave me birth, 
By stealth espoused, may with like secrecy 
Have sold me, to my infant lips her breast 
Denied: but in the temple of the god 
Without a name, a servile life I led. 
All from the god was gracious, but from fortune 
Harsh; for the time when in a mother's arms 
I in her fondness should have known some joy 
Of life, from that sweet care was I estranged, 
A mother's nurture: nor less wretched she, 
Thus forced to lose the pleasure in her son. 
But I will take this vase, and to the god 
Bear it, a hallow'd offering; that from thence 
I may find nothing which I would not find. 
Should she, that gave me being, chance to be 
A slave, to find her were a greater ill, 
Than to rest silent in this ignorance. 
O Phoebus, in thy temple hang I this. 
What am I doing? War I not against 
The pleasure of the god, who saved for me 
These pledges of my mother? I must dare, 
And open these: my fate cannot be shunn'd.  (He opens the ark.)  Ye
sacred garlands, what have you so long 
Conceal'd: ye bands, that keep these precious relics? 
Behold the cover of this circular vase; 
Its freshness knows no change, as if a god 
So will'd; this osier-woven ark yet keeps 
Its soundness undecay'd; yet many a year, 
Since it contain'd this treasured charge, has pass'd. 

CREUSA What an unhoped-for sight do I behold! 

ION I thought thou long hadst known to keep thee silent.

CREUSA Silence is mine no more; instruct not me; 
For I behold the ark, wherein of old 
I laid thee, O my son, an infant babe; 
And in the caves of Cecrops, with the rocks 
Of Macrai roof'd, exposed thee: I will quit 
This altar, though I run on certain death. 

ION Seize her; for by the impulse of the god 
She leaves the sculptured altar: bind her bands. 

CREUSA Instantly kill me, so that I embrace 
This vase, and thee, and these thy conceal'd pledges. 

ION Is not this strange? I take thee at thy word. 

CREUSA Not strange: a friend thou by thy friends art found.

ION Thy friend! Yet wouldst thou kill me secretly. 

CREUSA My son: if that to parents is most dear. 

ION Forbear thy wiles; I shall refute them well. 

CREUSA Might I but to come to what I wish, my son! 

ION Is this vase empty, or contains it aught? 

CREUSA Thy infant vests, in which I once exposed thee. 

ION And wilt thou name them to me, ere thou see them? 

CREUSA If I recount them not, be death my meed. 

ION Speak then: thy confidence hath something strange. 

CREUSA A tissue, look, which when a child I wrought. 

ION What is it? Various are the works of virgins. 

CREUSA A slight, unfinish'd essay of the loom. 

ION What figure wrought? Thou shalt not take me thus. 

CREUSA A Gorgon central in the warp enwoven- 

ION What fortune haunts me, O supreme of gods! 

CREUSA And like an aegis edged with serpents round. 

ION Such is the woof, and such the vest I find. 

CREUSA Thou old embroidery of my virgin bands! 

ION Is there aught else besides this happy proof? 

CREUSA Two dragons, an old work, their jaws of gold. 

ION The gift of Pallas, who thus nurtures children? 

CREUSA Emblems of Erichthonius of old times. 

ION Why? for what use? Explain these works of gold. 

CREUSA For ornaments to grace the infant's neck. 

ION See, here they are; the third I wish to know. 

CREUSA A branch of olive then I wreathed around thee, 
Pluck'd from that tree which from Minerva's rock 
First sprung; if it be there, it still retains 
Its verdure: for the foliage of that olive, 
Fresh in immortal beauty, never fades. 

ION O my dear mother! I with joy behold thee. 
With transport 'gainst thy cheek my cheek recline.  (They embrace.)

CREUSA My son, my son, far dearer to thy mother 
Than yon bright orb  (the god will pardon me)  , 
Do I then hold thee in my arms, thus found 
Beyond my hopes, when in the realms below, 
I thought thy habitation 'mong the dead? 

ION O my dear mother, in thy arms I seem 
As one that had been dead to life return'd. 

CREUSA Ye wide-expanded rays of heavenly light, 
What notes, what high-raised strains shall tell my joy? 
This pleasure whence, this unexpected transport? 

ION There was no blessing farther from my thoughts 
Than this, my mother, to be found thy son. 

CREUSA I tremble yet. 

ION And hast thou yet a fear, 
Holding me, not to hold me? 

CREUSA Such fond hopes 
Long time have I renounced. Thou hallow'd matron, 
From whom didst thou receive my infant child? 
What bless'd hand brought him to Apollo's shrine? 

ION It was the god's appointment: may our life 
To come be happy, as the past was wretched. 

CREUSA Not without tears, my son, wast thou brought forth;

Nor without anguish did my hands resign thee. 
Now breathing on thy cheek I feel a joy 
Transporting me with heartfelt ecstasies. 

ION The words expressive of thy joys speak mine. 

CREUSA Childless no more, no more alone, my house 
Now shines with festive joy; my realms now own 
A lord; Erechtheus blooms again; no more 
His high-traced lineage sees night darkening round, 
But glories in the sun's refulgent beams. 

ION Now let my father, since he's present here, 
Be partner of the joy which I have given you. 

CREUSA What says my son? 

ION Such, such as I am proved. 

CREUSA What mean thy words? Far other is thy birth. 

ION Ah me! thy virgin bed produced me base. 

CREUSA Nor bridal torch, my son, nor bridal dance 
Had graced my nuptial rites, when thou wast born. 

ION Then I'm a wretch, a base-born wretch: say whence. 

CREUSA Be witness, thou by whom the Gorgon died,- 

ION What means this adjuration? 

CREUSA Who hast fix'd 
High o'er my cave thy seat amid the rocks 
With olive clothed. 

ION Abstruse thy words, and dark. 

CREUSA Where on the cliffs the nightingale attunes 
Her songs, Apollo- 

ION Why Apollo named? 

CREUSA Led me in secret to his bed. 

ION Speak on; 
Thy words import some glorious fortune to me. 

CREUSA Thee in the tenth revolving month, my son, 
A secret pang to Phoebus did I bear. 

ION Thy words, if true, are grateful to my soul. 

CREUSA These swathing bands, thy mother's virgin work, 
Wove by my flying shuttle, round thy body 
I roll'd; but from thy lips my breast withheld, 
A mother's nouriture, nor bathed thy bands 
In cleansing lavers; but to death exposed thee, 
Laid in the dreary cave, to birds of prey 
A feast, rent piecemeal by their ravenous beaks. 

ION Cruel, my mother, was thy deed. 

CREUSA By fear 
Constrain'd, my son, I cast thy life away; 
Unwillingly I left thee there to die. 

ION And from my hands unholy were thy death. 

CREUSA Dreadful was then my fortune, dreadful here, 
Whirl'd by the eddying blast from misery there 
To misery here, and back again to joy: 
Her boisterous winds are changed; may she remain 
In this repose: enough of ills are past: 
After the storm soft breathes a favouring gale. 

LEADER From this example, mid the greatest ills 
Never let mortal man abandon hope. 

ION O thou, that hast to thousands wrought a change 
Of state ere this, involving them in ills, 
And raising them to happiness again; 
Fortune, to what a point have I been carried, 
Ready to kill my mother, horrid thought! 
But in the sun's bright course each day affords 
Instruction. Thee, my mother, have I found, 
In that discovery bless'd; nor hath my birth 
Aught I can blame: yet one thing would I say 
To thee alone:-walk this way: to thine ear 
In secret would I whisper this, and throw 
The veil of darkness o'er each circumstance. 
Take heed, my mother, lest thy maiden fault 
Seeks in these secret nuptials to conceal 
Its fault, then charges on the god the deed; 
And, fearing my reproach, to Phoebus gives 
A son, to Phoebus whom thou didst not bear. 

CREUSA By her, who 'gainst the giants in her car 
Fought by the side of Jove, victorious Pallas, 
No one of mortal race is father to thee, 
But he who brought thee up, the royal Phoebus. 

ION Why give his son then to another father? 
Why say that I was born the son of Xuthus? 

CREUSA Not born the son of Xuthus; but he gives thee, 
Born from himself as friend to friend may give 
His son, and heir adopted to his house. 

ION True is the god, his tripod else were vain. 
Not without cause then is my mind perplex'd. 

CREUSA Hear what my thoughts suggest: to work thee good

Apollo placed thee in a noble house. 
Acknowledged his, the rich inheritance 
Could not be thine, nor could a father's name; 
For I conceal'd my nuptials, and had plann'd 
To kill thee secretly: for this the god 
In kindness gives thee to another father. 

ION My mind is prompt to entertain such thoughts; 
But, entering at his shrine will I inquire 
If from a mortal father I am sprung, 
Or from Apollo.-Ha! what may this be? 
What god above the hallow'd dome unveils 
His radiant face that shines another sun? 
Haste, let us fly: the presence of the gods 
'Tis not for mortals to behold, and live.  (MINERVA appears from above.)

MINERVA Fly not; in me no enemy you fly; 
At Athens friendly to you, and no less 
Here. From that land I come, so named from me, 
By Phoebus sent with speed: unmeet he deems it 
To show himself before you, lest with blame 
The past be mention'd; this he gave in charge, 
To tell thee that she bore thee, and to him, 
Phoebus thy father; he to whom he gave thee, 
Not as to the author of thy being gives thee, 
But to the inheritance of a noble house. 
This declaration made, lest thou shouldst die, 
Kill'd by thy mother's wily trains, or she 
By thee, these means to save you he devised. 
These things in silence long conceal'd, at Athens 
The royal Phoebus would have made it known 
That thou art sprung from her, thy father he: 
But to discharge my office, and unfold 
The oracle of the god, for which you yoked 
Your chariots, hear: Creusa, take thy son, 
Go to the land of Cecrops: let him mount 
The royal throne; for, from Erechtheus sprung, 
That honour is his due, the sovereignty 
Over my country: through the states of Greece 
Wide his renown shall spread; for from his root 
Four sons shall spring, that to the land, the tribes, 
The dwellers on my rock, shall give their names. 
Geleon the first, Hopletes, Argades, 
And from my aegis named Aegicores: 
Their sons in fate's appointed time shall fix 
Their seats along the coast, or in the isles 
Girt by the Aegean sea, and to my land 
Give strength; extending thence the opposite plains 
Of either continent shall make their own, 
Europe and Asia, and shall boast their name 
Ionians, from the honour'd Ion call'd. 
To thee by Xuthus shall a son be born, 
Dorus, from whom the Dorian state shall rise 
To high renown; in the Pelopian land, 
Another near the Rhian cliffs, along 
The sea-wash'd coast, his potent monarchy 
Shall stretch, Achaeus; and his subject realms 
Shall glory in their chief's illustrious name. 
Well hath Apollo quitted him in all: 
First, without pain he caused thee bear a son. 
That from thy friends thou mightst conceal his birth; 
After the birth, soon as his infant limbs 
Thy hands had clothed, to Mercury he gave 
The charge to take the babe, and in his arms 
Convey him hither; here with tenderness 
He nurtured him, nor suffer'd him to perish. 
Guard now the secret that he is thy son, 
That his opinion Xuthus may enjoy 
Delighted: thou too hast thy blessings, lady. 
And now, farewell: from this relief from ills 
A prosperous fortune I to both announce. 

ION O Pallas, daughter of all-powerful Jove! 
Not with distrust shall we receive thy words: 
I am convinced that Phoebus is my father, 
My mother she, not unassured before. 

CREUSA Hear me too, now: Phoebus I praise, before 
Unpraised; my son he now restores, of whom 
Till now I deem'd him heedless. Now these gates 
Are beauteous to mine eyes; his oracles 
Now grateful to my soul, unpleasant late. 
With rapture on these sounding rings my hands 
Now hang; with rapture I address the gates. 

MINERVA This I approve, thy former wayward thoughts 
Resign'd, with honour that thou name the god. 
Slow are the gifts of Heaven, but found at length 
Not void of power. 

CREUSA My son, let us now go 
To Athens. 

MINERVA Go; myself will follow you. 

CREUSA A noble guard, and friendly to the state. 

MINERVA But seat him high on thy paternal throne. 

CREUSA A rich possession, and I glory in him.  (MINERVA disappears.)

CHORUS  (singing) Son of Latona and all-powerful Jove, 
Apollo, hail! Though fortune's blackest storms 
Rage on his house, the man whose pious soul 
Reveres the gods, assumes a confidence, 
And justly: for the good at length obtain 
The meed of virtue; but the unholy wretch 
(Such is his nature) never can be happy. 

THE END