And be the prophet of his own destruction.
Against his rage the son of Astacus,
That breathes deliberate valour, at that gate
Will I appoint commander; bent on deeds
Of glory, but a votary at the shrine
Of modesty, he scorns the arrogant vaunt
As base, but bids brave actions speak his worth.
The flower of that bold stem, which from the ground
Rose armed, and fell not in the deathful fight,
Is Menalippus; him his parent earth
Claims as her own, and in her natural right
Calls him to guard her from the hostile spear;
But the brave deed the die of war decides."
Then the Chorus follows, with its prayer:—
"Go then, my guardian hero, go;
And may each fav'ring god with bright success
Thy gen'rous valour bless;
For at thy country's dear command
Thou arm'st thy righteous hand,
To pour her vengeance on the foe.
Yet my sad heart must sigh,
When on the blood-empurpled ground,
Gored with many a gaping wound,
I see my dearest friends expiring lie."
At the Electra gates stands Capaneus, the impious, who openly defies both gods and men. He laughs at the thunderbolts of heaven, and will take the city, he says, "whether Zeus will or no." His cognisance is a flaming torch, and his motto, "I will burn the city." Against him is set the fiery Polyphontes; and the Chorus prays that the heaven's lightning which he defies may fall and blast him; as, indeed, it did.
