Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/365

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Of wedlock, I shall not permit. On me
The blame of all will come; for he who sin 290
Forbids not when he can, commits the sin.
Pyrrhus: ⁠Shall no reward Achilles' shade obtain?
Agamemnon: Yea, truly; all the Greeks shall sing his praise,
And unknown lands shall hear his mighty name.
But if his shade demand a sacrifice 295
Of out-poured blood, go take our richest flocks,
And shed their blood upon thy father's tomb;
But let no mother's tears pollute the rite.
What barbarous custom this, that living man
Should to the dead be slain in sacrifice?
Then spare thy father's name the hate and scorn
Which by such cruel worship it must gain. 300
Pyrrhus: ⁠Thou, swoll'n with pride so long as happy fate
Uplifts thy soul, but weak and spent with fear
When fortune frowns; O hateful king of kings,
Is now thy heart once more with sudden love
Of this new maid inflamed? Shalt thou alone
So often bear away my father's spoils? 305
By this right hand he shall receive his own.
And if thou dost refuse, and keep the maid,
A greater victim will I slay, and one
More worthy Pyrrhus' gift; for all too long
From royal slaughter hath my hand been free,
And Priam asks an equal sacrifice. 310
Agamemnon: Far be it from my wish to dim the praise
That thou dost claim for this most glorious deed—
Old Priam slain by thy barbaric sword,
Thy father's suppliant.
Pyrrhus: ⁠I know full well
My father's suppliants—and well I know
His enemies. Yet royal Priam came,
And made his plea before my father's face; 315
Put thou, o'ercome with fear, not brave enough
Thyself to make request, within thy tent
Didst trembling hide, and thy desires consign
To braver men, that they might plead for thee.
Agamemnon: Put, of a truth, no fear thy father felt;