Send forth, the guardian lord
Of the wide streets of Thebes.
Stroph. II.
Above all cities Thou,
With her, thy mother whom the thunder slew,
Dost look on it with love;
And now, since all the city bendeth low
Beneath the sullen plague,1140
Come Thou with cleansing tread
O'er the Parnassian slopes,
Or o'er the moaning straits.[1]
Antistroph. II.
Ο Thou, who lead'st the band,
The choral band of stars still breathing fire,[2]
Lord of the hymns of night,
The child of highest Zeus; appear, Ο king,1150
With Thyian maidens wild,
Who all night long in dance,
With frenzied chorus sing
Thy praise, their lord, Iacchos.
Enter Messenger.
Mess. Ye men of Cadmos and Amphion's house,[3]
I know no life of mortal man which I
Would either praise or blame. 'Tis Fortune's chance
That raiseth up, and Fortune bringeth low,
The man who lives in good or evil plight;
- ↑ The "moaning straits" of the Euripos, if the God is thought of as coming from Nysa, the "slopes," if he comes from Parnassos.
- ↑ The imagery of the Bacchic thiasos, with its torch-bearers moving in rhythmic order, is transferred to the heavens, and the stars themselves are thought of as a choral band led by the Lord of life and joy.
- ↑ In the myths of the foundation of Thebes Amphion was said to have built its walls by the mere power of his minstrelsy, the stones moving, as he played, each into its appointed place.
