The Persians.
219
Chorus. Antistrophe II.
Woe for their end forlorn!
The bodies, thou dost say, of dear ones lost,
Full oft immersed, in death are tost,
By floating robes upborne.[1]
Messenger.
Nothing our bows availed; but all our host 280
Perished, by shock o'ercome of naval prows.
Chorus. Strophe III.
Shriek out a bitter wail
For those in death laid low;
How have the gods in all things wrought us bale![2]
Woe for the perished army! woe!
Messenger.
O, Salamis, most hateful name to hear!
Athens, alas! remembering thee I groan.
Chorus. Antistrophe III.
O Athens, name of dread
To foes! For we recall
- ↑ πλαγκτοῖς ἐν διπλάκεσσιν. These words have given rise to a variety of interpretations. They have been supposed to refer to the ebbing and flowing surface of the tide; to the two opposite shores of the strait; to the twofold surface of land and sea; to fragments of wrecked ships, &c. The word δίπλαξ is however known in Homer as a double cloak (cloak with cape), and in the context most probably refers to the floating mantles of the slain.
- ↑ πάντᾳ. So Hermann for παντα, and he also adds θεοι, to complete both sense and metre, from a gloss in one MS.—Paley.
