When he speaks craftily, do thou receive130
The things that profit in each word he drops:
Now to the ship I go, and trust to thee;
And Hermes, God of Guile, who sends us on,
And Victory, e'en Athena Polias,[1]
Who saves me ever, lead us on to win. [Exit.
Chorus advances.
Stroph. I.
Chor. What, what is meet, my prince,
For me, a stranger in a land that 's strange,
To utter or conceal,
With one so prone to look suspiciously?
Tell me, I pray; his art
All other art and counsel still excels,
Whose hands the sceptre wield
That Zeus assigns from heaven to them that rule;140
And thou, my son, hast gained
This glory of the old ancestral past;
Tell me, then, tell, I pray,
What service 'tis our work to do for thee.
Neop. Now, it may be, thou dost wish
To see the place where he lies
Far off. Take courage, and look;
But when he appears who went forth,
Wayfarer dread from this home,
Then come thou at my beck,
And strive to render thy help
As each present need may demand.
Antistroph. I.
Chor. Thou tellest, Ο my king,150
- ↑ The form of the invocation connected itself with the sanctuaries of Athens. Besides the temple built to her as Athena Polias, there was a statue of her in the Acropolis in the character of Victory.
