ACT II

_Megara:_ O mighty ruler of Olympus' heights, 205 Thou judge of all the world, now set at length A limit to my cares, and make an end Of my disasters. No untroubled day Doth dawn for me; but one misfortune's end Marks but the starting-point of future woes. Fresh foes are ready for my Hercules Straightway on his return; ere he can reach 210 His happy home, another warfare bids That he set forth again. No time for rest Is given, save while he waits a fresh command. 'Twas ever thus: from earliest infancy Unfriendly Juno follows on his track. Was e'en his cradle free from her assaults? He conquered monsters ere he learned to know 215 What monsters were. Two crested serpents huge Against him reared their heads; the dauntless child Crawled forth to meet them, and, with placid gaze Intently fixed upon their fiery eyes, With fearless look he raised their close-coiled folds, 220 And crushed their swollen necks with tender hand. And thus he practiced for the hydra's death. He caught the nimble stag of Maenalus, Its beauteous head adorned with horns of gold. The lion, terror of Nemean woods, Groaned out his life beneath the mighty arms 225 Of Hercules. Why should I call to mind The stables dire of that Bistonian herd, And the king as food to his own horses given? The rough Maenalian boar, which, from his lair On Erymanthus' thickly wooded heights, Filled all the groves of Arcady with dread? Or that fell Cretan bull whose terror filled 230 A hundred towns? Among his herds remote, The three-formed shepherd by Tartessus' shore Was slain, and from the farthest west his herds Were driven as booty. Now Cithaeron feeds The cattle once to Ocean known. Again, When bidden to penetrate the sultry zone 235 Of summer's burning sun, those scorchéd realms Which midday parches with its piercing rays, He clove the ponderous mountain barriers, And made a pathway for the rushing sea. He next assailed the rich Hesperides, And bore therefrom the watchful dragon's spoil 240 Of golden fruit. Then Lerna's savage beast, An evil creature constantly renewed, Did he not overcome by fire at last, And teach it how to die? Did he not seek Within the clouds the dire Stymphalian birds, Whose spreading wings were wont to obscure the day? He was not conquered by the maiden queen 245 Who ruled the Amazons and ever kept Her couch in virgin state. Nor did his hands, Courageous to attempt all glorious deeds, Disdain to cleanse the vile Augean stalls. But what avail these toils? For he alone Cannot enjoy the world he saved. And now The world perceives the giver of its peace 250 Is absent from its sight. Now prosperous crime Is called by virtue's name; good men obey The guilty, might is counted right, and fear O'ershadows law. Before my eyes I saw The sons who dared defend their father's throne Fall dead beneath the tyrant's murderous hand; 255 I saw King Creon's self by death o'ercome, The latest son of Cadmus' noble line; And with his head the royal diadem Was reft away. Who now could weep enough For Thebes? Proud land and mother of the gods, What master fears she now, she, from whose fields 260 And fertile bosom sprang that band of youth With swords all ready drawn; whose mighty walls Amphion, son of Jove, once built, its stones Compelling by the magic of his lyre; Down to whose citadel not once alone The father of the gods from heaven came? This royal city which the immortals oft Has entertained, which has divinities 265 Produced, and (heaven forgive the boastful word) Perchance will yet produce, is now oppressed Beneath a shameful yoke. O royal race Of Cadmus, noble state Amphion ruled, Low hast thou fallen indeed! Dost thou obey A low-born exile, driven from his land 270 And yet oppressing ours? And now, alas, He, who on land and sea doth punish crime, Who breaks all cruel rule with righteous hand, Far off obeys another, and himself Endures those ills from which he others saved; And Lycus rules the Thebes of Hercules! But not for long; he soon will come again, 275 And punish all the wrongs; he suddenly Will to the upper world emerge; a way He'll find--or make. Oh, come unharmed, I pray; As victor come at last unto thy home Which now in ruins lies. O husband, come, With thy strong hand break through the shades of hell. 280 And if no way is open, if the road Is closely barred, then rend the earth and come; And all that lies in keep of dismal night Bring forth with thee. As once, through riven hills A passage seeking for a headlong stream, Thou stood'st, and, with thy strength gigantic cleft, 285 The vale of Tempe opened wide; as then, Impelled by might of thy resistless breast, The mountains fell away from either side, And through the broken masses poured the stream Of Thessaly along a channel new: So now to parents, children, native land, A passage burst. And bring away with thee 290 The shapes of death, and all that greedy time Through countless rounds of years has hidden away; Those nations who have drunk forgetfulness, Drive out before thee, fearful of the light. The spoils are all unworthy of thy fame, If thou shouldst bring from hades only that 295 Which was commanded. But too bold my words, And thoughtless of my present lot I speak. Oh, when will come at last that day for me When I shall clasp my husband once again, And weep no more his long-delayed return, His long forgetfulness of me? To thee, O ruler of the gods, a hundred bulls Shall bleed; to thee, thou goddess of the fruits, 300 Thy secret rites I'll pay: for thee shall blaze Upon Eleusin's shrine the sacred torch In celebration of thy mysteries. Then shall I think my brothers' lives restored, My father once again upon his throne. 305 But if some power more potent than thine own Holds thee in durance, we shall come to thee. Return in safety and protect us all, Or drag us down with thee. This wilt thou do; No god will e'er our broken fortunes mend.

_Amphitr.:_ O ally of my house, with wifely faith Preserving for the great-souled Hercules 310 His couch and children, be of better mind. Take heart again, for surely he will come, Increased in fame by this, as is his wont By other tasks.

_Megara:_ What wretched men desire They readily believe.

_Amphitryon:_ Nay, what they fear They think can never be escaped or borne. 315 For fear is prone to see the darker side.

_Megara:_ Submerged, deep buried, crushed beneath the world, What chance has he to reach the upper realms?

_Amphitr.:_ The same he had, when, through the arid plain, And sands that billowed like the stormy sea, 320 Those twice receding, twice returning gulfs, He made his way; when on the dangerous shoals Of Syrtes he was wrecked, he left his ship A helpless hulk and crossed the sea on foot.

_Megara:_ Unjust is fortune, rarely does she spare 325 The bravest souls. No one with safety long Can brave so frequent perils; he who oft Has shunned misfortune meets at last his fate. But see, with threatening looks fierce Lycus comes, His hateful soul in hateful bearing shown, 330 And bears the stolen scepter in his hand.

[_Enter_ Lycus.]

_Lycus:_ The rich domain of this proud town of Thebes, With all the fertile soil which Phocis bounds Within its winding borders, all the land Ismenus waters; all Cithaeron sees 335 From his high top; the narrow Isthmus, too, Two seas asunder cleaving: all I own, Not by prerogative of long descent, A worthless heir. No noble ancestors, Nor family adorned with lofty names Have I; but splendid valor. He who boasts 340 His noble ancestry exalts a thing Which is not his to boast. But power usurped Is held with anxious hands; the sword alone Can guard it. All thou hold'st against the will Of citizens the sword must hold for thee. No kingdom built upon a foreign soil 345 Is safe for long. One thing alone I see Which can our power establish--Megara, By ties of royal marriage bound to me. From her illustrious line my humble blood Shall a richer hue derive. Nor do I think That she will scorn me and refuse my suit. But should she with a blind and stubborn soul 350 Refuse my proffered hand, my mind is fixed To give to utter ruin all the house Of Hercules. Will such a deed arouse A storm of scandal and the people's hate? The art of ruling chiefly lies in this: The power to bear the people's hate unmoved. Let me make trial then. Occasion smiles, For she herself, in mourning vestments clad, 355 Stands by the altars of her guardian gods, While near at hand Alcides' father waits.

_Megara_ [_seeing_ Lycus, _aside_]: What new outrage does yonder wretch prepare, The pestilent destroyer of our race?

_Lycus:_ O thou, who bear'st a name illustrious 360 From royal stock, with patient ear awhile Receive my words. If everlasting hate The hearts of men should feel, if fury dire, Once in the heart conceived, should never cease; If prosperous men must ever fight to rule, And those who fail obey because they must: Then never-ending wars would nothing leave, 365 And all the fields would be a barren waste; Homes would be burned, and 'neath their ashes deep All nations of the earth would be o'erwhelmed. The victor's profit is in peace restored, But for the vanquished 'tis their direful need. Come, share my throne; let us unite our wills. 370 And, as my pledge of faith, receive my hand. But why dost thou in scornful silence wait?

_Megara:_ And dost thou think that I would touch the hand That is besprinkled with my father's gore, And my two brothers' blood? Oh, sooner far Shall day's last beams go out in eastern skies, And dawn break in the west; sooner shall peace 375 Be made 'twixt snow and flame, and Scylla join Sicilia's shores with those of Italy; And sooner shall Euripus' rushing waves Lap peacefully upon Euboea's shores. My father and my brothers hast thou slain, My kingdom ruined, home and native land. What still is left? One thing remains to me, 380 That's dearer than my father, brother, home, And kingdom: 'tis my deadly hate of thee. That I must share this with the land at large Is grief to me. For in their cause for hate How small a share have I? Thou, swollen with pride, Rule on, and let thy soul exalt itself; But know that evermore the avenging god Pursues the proud of heart. Well do I know 385 The history of Thebes. Why need I tell Of matrons who have dared and suffered wrong? Why name the double crime, the mingled names Of husband, father, son, the opposing camps Of brothers? Why describe the funeral pyres? The haughty mother, child of Tantalus, 390 Still sits in stony grief; the mourning rock On Phrygian Sipylus still drips with tears. Nay, Cadmus' self, in form of serpent, still Flees through Illyria's realm with crested head, And leaves behind his dragging body's trail. Such fates admonish thee. Rule as thou wilt: 395 But may the accustomed doom of Thebes be thine.

_Lycus:_ Come then, have done with this wild talk of thine, And learn from Hercules to obey the will Of kings. Although by right of victory I wield this scepter, though I reign supreme 400 Without the fear of laws which arms annul, Still will I briefly speak in my defense. And did thy father fall in bloody war? Thy brothers too? But arms no limit know, Cannot be checked with ease, nor can the sword, Once drawn, restrain its wrath. War will have blood. 405 But (you will say), he fought to save his state, While I was prompted by the lust of power. Still we should look, not at the cause of war, But at its outcome. Now let memory Of all the former wrongs pass from thy heart. When the victor lays aside his arms, 'tis meet The vanquished should abandon hatred too. 410 I ask thee not upon thy bended knees To acknowledge me as king; for it is well That thou shouldst meet thy ruin dauntlessly. Lo, thou art worthy of a royal mate: Be then my wife and not my enemy.

_Megara:_ Cold horror creeps throughout my lifeless limbs. What shameful proposition do I hear? 415 I did not shrink when loud alarms of war Rang round our city's walls; and all my woes I've bravely borne. But marriage--and with him! Now do I think myself indeed a slave. Load down my tender frame with heavy chains; Be lingering death by long starvation sought; 420 Still shall no power o'ercome my wifely faith. I shall be thine, Alcides, to the death.

_Lycus:_ Such spirits does a buried husband give?

_Megara:_ He went below that he might reach the heavens.

_Lycus:_ The boundless weight of earth oppresses him.

_Megara:_ No weight of earth can overwhelm the man 425 Who bore the heavens up.

_Lycus:_ Thou shalt be forced.

_Megara:_ He can be forced who knows not how to die.

_Lycus:_ Tell me what gift I could bestow more rich Than royal wedlock?

_Megara:_ Grant thy death, or mine.

_Lycus:_ Then die, thou fool.

_Megara:_ 'Tis thus I'll meet my lord.

_Lycus:_ Is that slave more to thee, than I, a king? 430

_Megara:_ How many kings has that slave given to death!

_Lycus:_ Why does he serve a king, and bear the yoke?

_Megara:_ Remove hard tasks, and where would valor be?

_Lycus:_ To conquer monsters call'st thou valor then?

_Megara:_ 'Tis valor to subdue what all men fear. 435

_Lycus:_ The shades of hades hold that boaster fast.

_Megara:_ No easy way leads from the earth to heaven.

_Lycus:_ Who is his father, that he hopes for heaven?

_Amphitr.:_ Unhappy wife of mighty Hercules, Be silent now, for 'tis my part to tell 440 Alcides' parentage. After his deeds, So many and so great; after the world, From rising unto setting of the sun, Has been subdued, so many monsters tamed; After the giants' impious blood was spilled In Phlegra's vale, and gods were reinforced, 445 What need we yet to prove his parentage? Do we make false pretense of Jupiter? Then Juno's hate believe.

_Lycus:_ Why blaspheme Jove? The race of mortals cannot mate with gods.

_Amphitr.:_ Such is the origin of many gods.

_Lycus:_ But were they slaves before their heaven was gained? 450

_Amphitr.:_ The Delian at Pherae kept the flocks.

_Lycus:_ But he did not in exile roam the world.

_Amphitr.:_ His mother bore him in a roaming land, Herself a fugitive.

_Lycus:_ Did Phoebus fear Wild beasts and monsters?

_Amphitr.:_ Yes, in dragon's blood 455 His earliest shafts were stained.

_Lycus:_ Thou knowest not What heavy ills the young Alcides bore.

_Amphitr.:_ But Bacchus by a thunderbolt was ripped From out his mother's womb; and yet he stood In after time beside the Thunderer, His sire. Nay, Jove himself, who rules the stars And drives the clouds, did he not lie concealed, 460 In helpless infancy in Ida's cave? A heavy price must so high lineage pay, And suffering is the birthright of a god.

_Lycus:_ Whoe'er is wretched, thou wouldst mortal know.

_Amphitr.:_ Whoe'er is brave, thou wouldst not wretched call.

_Lycus:_ But is he brave, from whose broad shoulders fell 465 The lion's skin and club, that they might be A maiden's plaything? Who himself shone bright In Tyrian vestments? Should we call him brave, Whose bristling locks were wet with fragrant nard, Whose famous hands in woman's wise essayed To play the tambour; on whose frowning brow 470 The Phrygian turban shamelessly was worn?

_Amphitr.:_ But youthful Bacchus did not blush to wear His locks in flowing ringlets, in his hand The thyrsus light to brandish, as he walked With steps unsteady, clad in trailing robes Bright with barbaric gold. 'Tis virtue's right 475 In foolishness to ease the strain of toil.

_Lycus:_ 'Twas for this cause the house of Eurytus Was overthrown, and troops of maidens slain Like helpless sheep! No Juno ordered this, Nor yet Eurystheus: these his works alone. 480

_Amphitr.:_ Thou know'st not all his deeds: it was his work That Eryx fell, by his own gauntlets slain; That in his death Antaeus, too, was joined; That those foul altars, dripping with the blood Of hapless strangers, drank the blood at last Of murderous Busiris. 'Twas his work That Cycnus, proof against the sword, was slain, 485 Though still unwounded; by his hand alone The threefold Geryon fell. And thou shalt be As one of these, though they ne'er basely sinned Against the rites of marriage.

_Lycus:_ What to Jove Is lawful, is my kingly right as well. A wife thou gav'st to him; so for thy king Shalt thou a mate provide. Now Megara 490 From thine example shall the lesson learn, Not new, that wives may yield to better men, When husbands give consent. But if, self-willed, She still refuse to take me for her lord, I'll force her will to bear me noble seed.

_Megara:_ Ye shades of Creon, and ye household gods 495 Of Labdacus, ye impious nuptial fires Of Oedipus, your wonted fortune give To this our union! O ye savage wives Of king Aegyptus' sons, be present now, With blood-stained hands. Your count is incomplete. I gladly will that impious number fill. 500

_Lycus:_ Since thou dost stubbornly refuse my suit, And striv'st to fright the king, now shalt thou feel The strength of royal power. Cling as thou mayst To altar horns: no god shall save thee now From me; not though the earth itself be rent, And Hercules victorious come again Unto the upper world. 505 [_To slaves._] Heap high the logs, And let the sacred temple blazing fall Upon its suppliants. Now let the wife And all her brood upon the funeral pyre Be burned to ashes in the kindling flames.

_Amphitr.:_ This boon Alcides' father asks of thee, Which fits me well, that I be first to die. 510

_Lycus:_ Who bids all men meet punishment with death Knows not the ruler's art. Seek varied pains; Forbid the wretch to die, the happy slay. Now, while the pyre is growing for the flames, I'll pay my vows unto the ocean's god. 515

[_Exit._]

_Amphitr.:_ O god of gods, O ruler of the skies, Whose hurtling bolts make mortals quake with fear, Check thou the impious hand of this dire king. Why do I vainly importune the gods? Where'er thou art, hear thou and answer, son. 520 But why this sudden rocking of the shrine? Why groans the earth? Far in her lowest hold A crashing deep resounds. Our prayer is heard! It is, it is the step of Hercules!

* * * * *

_Chorus:_ O Fortune, envious of the brave, Unjustly are thy prizes given! 525 Behold Eurystheus reigns at ease, While our Alcmena's noble son, With hands which could the heavens uplift, Must endless wars with monsters wage; Must sever the hydra's teeming necks, And from the cheated sisters bear 530 The apples, when the dragon huge, The guardian of the golden fruit, Had given to sleep his watchful eyes. To the wandering homes of Scythia, Where tribes in their ancestral seats As strangers dwell, he made his way. He trod the frozen ocean's crust, 535 A still sea hemmed by silent shores; There no waves beat on the rigid plains, And where but now full swelling sails Had sped their barks, a path is worn By the long-haired Sarmatae. There the waters change with the changing year, 540 Now ships, now horses bearing up. From the queen who rules o'er virgin tribes, With golden girdles on their loins, He took her body's noble spoil, Her shield and her snowy bosom's guard. 545 On bended knee she acknowledged him victor. With what hope, driven to the depths of hell, Bold to tread irretraceable ways, Didst thou behold the dusky realms Of Proserpine of Sicily? There Notus and Favonius lash 550 No seas to rage with swelling floods; There do no frightened vessels find Help from the twin Tyndaridae. Those waters lie in stagnant pools And black; and when, with greedy teeth, 555 Pale Death bears off uncounted tribes Unto the shades, one oarsman grim Bears all across their gloomy depths. Oh, that the laws of cruel Styx Thou mightst annul, and the distaff break, Relentless, of the fates. And lo, 560 Thou canst avail, for he who rules O'er many nations once with thee His deadly hands in battle joined, When thou didst wage 'gainst Nestor's land A mighty war. A three-pronged spear He bore; but soon, by but a wound O'ercome, he fled. He feared to die, 565 Though lord of death. Burst with thy hands The bonds of fate. To those sad souls In hell let in the light of day, And to the upper world reveal An easy path. Once, by his songs And suppliant prayers, did Orpheus bend The stubborn lords of hell, when he 570 His lost Eurydice would seek. That art which drew the forest trees, Which held the birds and rocks enthralled, Which stopped the river's headlong race, And tamed the hearts of savage beasts, Soothed with its strains ne'er heard before 575 Those darksome realms, and clear and fine Resounded through that silent land. Eurydice the Thracian dames Bewailed; Eurydice, the gods, Who ne'er had wept before; and they Who with forbidding, awful brows, In judgment sit and hear the crimes 580 Long since committed, unconfessed, They sat and wept Eurydice, Until the lord of death exclaimed: "We grant thy prayer. Away to earth; But on this sole condition go: Do thou behind thy husband fare; And look thou not upon thy wife, 585 Until the light of day thou see, And Spartan Taenarus appear." Love hates delay, nor suffers it: He hasted to behold his wife-- And she again was lost to him. So, then, the fortress that could yield to song, 590 Be sure that fortress shall to strength belong.