Scathless, unvisited by penance-throe.
But for the issue, let lord Loxias,
Mighty, who rules these seats, himself provide; 60
For prophet-leech, and portent-seer is he,
Who can for others purify their homes.
[Exit Pythoness.
[The interior of the sanctuary is disclosed, and exhibits the following group. Apollo appears standing beside Orestes, who is seated on the Omphalos.[1] The Furies are reclined on seats, fast asleep. Hermes in the background.]
Apollo.
I'll ne'er betray thee: to the end thy guard,
Beside thee standing, or when far aloof;
Nor will be gracious to thy enemies.
And captured now this maddened crew thou seest.
By sleep the loathsome virgins are o'erpowered,
Hoary primeval progeny,—with whom
Nor god, nor man, nor beast, will e'er consort. 70
For Evil's sake brought forth, in evil gloom
Of subterranean Tartaros they dwell,
Abhorred of men and of Olympian gods.
But hie thee hence, nor o'er relax thy speed,
For as thou tread'st the wand'rer-trampled earth.
They'll track thee o'er the ample continent,
O'er the wide ocean and the citied isles;
- ↑ On the hearth [of the Delphian temple] burnt a perpetual fire, and near it was the omphalos, or navel-stone, which was supposed to mark the middle point of the earth—Smith's Classical Geography.
