(translated from the original Greek)
1
The sea-king divine at this time was off with the remote
Ethiopians, the sun-burnt men of world''s perimeter, a split peoples
-one tribe where the sun plunges below, the other where it rises-
He went for the festival, a hundred-count of bulls and rams offered.
There was he slouched godlike in leisure partaking,
but the other gods in the great hall of Zeus were gathered,
on Olympus, and for them the father of gods and men began
the conversation. It was about lordly Aegisthus, the one slain
by the son of the high king Agamemnon, famous Orestes.
Him did Zeus remember, and addressed these words to the immortals:
"For goodness sakes; mortal men now find it suitable to blame us,
the gods themselves; from us, they say, misfortunes come,
all the while its their own misdeeds bringing about
such painful things beyond measure: taking a man''s wedded wife for
his mistress, then taking his very life on top of that,
when the troops returned. A high miscalculation, of which
he was aware he was capable. We even had sent him perceptive Hermes,
the Aegriphont, to warn him: don''t do it; don''t touch another man''s wife
or you''ll end up murdering for her the moment he returns.
Then will the blood-price be exacted at the hands of the son Orestes,
as that young man will surely be coming to see his home again."
So Hermes laid it out for him, but Aegisthus was not mindful,
trusting not the truthfulness of his sight.
|
