Hecuba.
My daughter, nobly said: yet anguish cleaves
Unto that "nobly." But if Peleus' son
Must gain this grace, and ye must flee reproach,
Odysseus, slay not her in any wise;385
But me, lead me unto Achilles' pyre:
Stab me, spare not: 'twas I gave Paris birth
Who with his shafts smote Peleus' son and slew.
Odysseus.
Not thee, grey mother, did Achilles' ghost
Require the Achaian men to slay, but her.390
Hecuba.
Yet ye—at least me with my daughter slay:
Then twice so deep a draught of blood shall sink
To earth and to the dead who claimeth this.
Odysseus.
Thy daughter's death sufficeth: death on death
Must not be heaped. Would God we owed not this!395
Hecuba.
I must—I must die where my daughter dies!
Odysseus.
Must?—I knew not that I had found a master!
Hecuba.
As ivy clings to oak will I clasp her.
Odysseus.
Not if thou heed a wiser than thyself.
