Cre. Creusa is my name, the daughter of Erechtheus I; my native land is Athens.
Ion. A glorious city thine, lady, a noble line of ancestry! with what reverence I behold thee!
Cre. Thus far, no further goes my luck, good sir.
Ion. Pray, is the current legend true
Cre. What is thy question? I fain would learn.
Ion. Was thy father's grandsire really sprung from Earth?
Cre. Yes, Erichthonius was; but my high birth avails me not.
Ion. Is it true Athena reared him from the ground?
Cre. Aye, and into maidens' hands, though not his mother's
Ion. Consigned him, did she? as 'tis wont to be set forth in painting.
Cre. Yes, to the daughters of Cecrops, to keep him safe unseen.
Ion. I have heard the maidens opened the ark wherein the goddess laid him.
Cre. And so they died, dabbling with their blood the rocky cliff.
Ion. Even so. But what of this next story? Is it true or groundless?
Cre. What is thy question? Ask on, I have no calls upon my leisure.
Ion. Did thy sire Erechtheus offer thy sisters as a sacrifice?
Cre. For his country's sake he did endure to slay the maids as victims.
Ion. And how didst thou, alone of all thy sisters, escape?
Cre. I was still a tender babe in my mother's arms.
Ion. Did the earth really open its mouth and swallow thy father?
Cre. The sea-god smote and slew him with his trident.
