819
"This Gongylus," continued Cimon, "is well known to have much frequented the Persian captives in their confine ment.
"This Gongylus," continued Cimon, "is well known to have much frequented the Persian captives in their confine ment.
Universal Anthology - v03
dare for once
To apprehend and front thine agon%3
With a just prudence.
Prometheus — . Vainly dost thou chafe
Hermes —
My soul with exhortation, as yonder sea
Goes beating on the rock. Oh, think no more
That I, fear-struck by Zeus to a woman's mind,
Will supplicate him, loathed as he is,
With feminine upliftings of my hands,
To break these chains. Far from me be the thought !
Hermes —
I have indeed, methinks, said much in vain,
For still thy heart beneath my showers of prayers Lies dry and hard — nay, leaps like a young horse Who bites against the new bit in his teeth, — And tugs and struggles against the new-tried rein, Still fiercest in the feeblest thing of all,
Which sophism is ; since absolute will disjoined
From perfect mind is worse than weak. Behold,
Unless my words persuade thee, what a blast
And whirlwind of inevitable woe
Must sweep persuasion through thee ! For at first The Father will split up this jut of rock
With the great thunder and the bolted flame
Long ago
. ESCHYLUS' PROMETHEUS. 309
And hide thy body where a hinge of stone
Shall catch it like an arm ; and when thou hast passed A long black time within, thou shalt come out
To front the sun while Zeus's winged hound,
The strong carnivorous eagle, shall wheel down
To meet thee, self-called to a daily feast,
And set his fierce beak in thee and tear off
The long rags of thy flesh and batten deep
Upon thy dusky liver. Do not look
For any end moreover to this curse
Or ere some god appear, to accept thy pangs
On his own head vicarious, and descend
With unreluctant step the darks of hell
And gloomy abysses around Tartarus.
Then ponder this — this threat is not a growth
Of vain invention ; it is spoken and meant ;
King Zeus's mouth is impotent to lie,
Consummating the utterance by the act ;
So, look to thou take heed, and nevermore
Forget good counsel, to indulge self-will.
Chorus —
Our Hermes suits his reasons to the times
At least think so, since he bids thee drop
Self-will for prudent counsel. Yield to him
When the wise err, their wisdom makes their shama.
Prometheus —
Unto me the foreknower, this mandate of power
He cries, to reveal it.
What's strange in my fate, if suffer from hate
At the hour that feel
Let the locks of the lightning, all bristling and whitening,
Flash, coiling me round,
While the aether goes surging 'neath thunder and scourging
Of wild winds unbound
Let the blast of the firmament whirl from its place
The earth rooted below,
And the brine of the ocean, in rapid emotion,
Be driven in the face
Of the stars up in heaven, as they walk to and fro Let him hurl me anon into Tartarus — on —
To the blackest degree,
With Necessity's vortices strangling me down But he cannot join death to fate meant for me
Hermes —
Why, the words that he speaks and the thoughts that he
thinks
a
I ?
; !
; !
!
!
it
I
I
it,
!
810
^SCHYLUS' PROMETHEUS
Are maniacal ! — add,
If the Fate who hath bound him should loose not the links,
He were utterly mad.
Then depart ye who groan with him, Leaving to moan with him, —
60 in haste ! lest the roar of the thunder anearing
Should blast you to idiocy, living and hearing. Cliorus —
Change thy speech for another, thy thought for a new, If to move me and teach me indeed be thy care !
For thy words swerve so far from the loyal and true That the thunder of Zeus seems more easy to bear.
How ! couldst teach me to venture such vileness ? behold !
I
I recoil from the traitor in hate and disdain,
And I know that the curse of the treason is worse
choose, with this victim, this anguish foretold !
Than the pang of the chain.
Hermes —
Then remember, O nymphs, what I tell you before,
Nor, when pierced by the arrows that Ate- will throw you, Cast blame on your fate and declare evermore
That Zeus thrust you on anguish he did not foreshow you.
Nay, verily, nay ! for ye perish anon
For your deed —by your choice. By no blindness of doubt,
No abruptness of doom, but by madness alone,
In the great net of Ate", whence none cometh out,
Ye are wound and undone. Prometheus —
Aye ! in act now, in word now no more, Earth is rocking in space.
And the thunders crash up with a roar upon roar, And the eddying lightnings flash fire in my face,
And the whirlwinds are whirling the dust round and round, And the blasts of the winds universal leap free
And blow each upon each with a passion of sound, And aether goes mingling in storm with the sea.
Such a curse on my head, in a manifest dread,
From the hand of your Zeus has been hurtled along.
O my mother's fair glory ! O MHa&t, enringing
All eyes with the sweet common light of thy bringing!
Dost see how I suffer this wrong ?
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
By PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY.
(From "Prometheus Unbound. ")
811
[Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet, was born in Sussex, August 4, 1792, and educated at Eton and at University College, Oxford, whence he was expelled for a tract on the "Necessity of Atheism. " His first notable poem, "Queen Mab," was privately printed in 1813. He succeeded to his father's estate in 1816. " Alastor " was completed in 1816 ; " The Revolt of Islam," " Rosalind and Helen," and "Julian and Maddalo," in 1818; "Prometheus Unbound," "The Cenci," "The Coliseum," "Peter Bell the Third," and the "Mask of Anarchy," in 1819; "CEdipus Tyrannus" and the " Witch of Atlas," in 1820 ; "Epipsychidion," "The Defense of Poetry," "Adonais," and "Hellas," in 1822. He was drowned at sea July 8, 1822. ]
Soene — A Bavine of Icy Rocks in the Indian Caucasus. Prometheus is discovered bound to the Precipice. Panthea and Ione are seated at his feet. Time, Night. During the Scene, Morning slowly breaks.
Prometheus —
Monarch of Gods and Daemons, and all Spirits —
But One — who throng those bright and rolling worlds Which thou and I alone of living things
Behold with sleepless eyes ! regard this earth
Made multitudinous with thy slaves, whom thou Requitest for knee worship, prayer, and praise,
And toil, and hecatombs of broken hearts,
With fear and self -contempt and barren hope :
Whilst me who am thy foe, eyeless in hate
Hast thou made reign and triumph, to thy scorn,
O'er mine own misery and thy vain revenge.
Three thousand years of sleep-unsheltered hours,
And moments aye divided by keen pangs
Till they seemed years, torture and solitude,
Scorn and despair — these are mine empire : —
More glorious far than that which thou surveyest Prom thine unenvied throne, O mighty God ! — Almighty, had I deigned to share the shame
Of thine ill tyranny, and hung not here
Nailed to this wall of eagle-baffling mountain,
Black, wintry, dead, unmeasured ; without herb,
Insect, or beast, or shape or sound of life.
Ah me ! alas ! pain, pain, ever, forever !
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
No change, no pause, no hope ! Yet I endure. I ask the Earth, have not the mountains felt ? I ask yon Heaven, the all-beholding Sun,
Has it not seen ? The Sea, in storm or calm, Heaven's ever-changing shadow spread below, Have its deaf waves not heard my agony ?
Ah me ! alas ! pain, pain, ever, forever !
The crawling glaciers pierce me with the spears
Of their moon-freezing crystals ; the bright chains Eat with their burning cold into my bones ;
Heaven's winged hound, polluting from thy lips
His beak in poison not his own, tears up
My heart ; and shapeless sights come wandering by, The ghastly people of the realm of Dream,
Mocking me ; and the Earthquake fiends are charged To wrench the ',ivets from my quivering wounds When the rocks split and close again behind :
While from their loud abysses howling throng
The Genii of the Storm, urging the rage
Of whirlwind, and afflict me with keen hail.
And yet to me welcome is day and night ;
Whether one breaks the hoar frost of the morn,
Or, starry, dim, and slow, the other climbs
The leaden-colored east ; for then they lead
The wingless crawling Hours, one among whom —As some dark priest hales the reluctant victim — Shall drag thee, cruel King, to kiss the blood
From these pale feet, which then might trample thee If they disdained not such a prostrate slave.
I pity thee. What ruin I speak in grief,
Disdain ! Ah no !
Will hunt thee undefended through the wide heaven! How will thy soul, cloven to its depth with terror, Gape like a hell within !
Not exultation ; for I hate no more,
As then ere misery made me wise. The curse
Once breathed on thee I would recall. Ye Mountains, Whose many-voiced Echoes through the mist
Of cataracts flung the thunder of that spell !
Ye icy Springs, stagnant with wrinkling frost,
Which vibrated to hear me, and then crept
Shuddering through India! thou serenest Air,
Through which the Sun walks burning without beams ! And the swift Whirlwinds who on poised wings
Hung mute and moveless o'er yon hushed abyss,
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
•*
As thunder, louder than your own, made rock
The orbed world ! if then my words had power, — Though I am changed so that aught evil wish
Is dead within, although no memory be
Of what is hate, — let them not lose it now !
What was that curse ? for ye all heard me speak.
*****
Phantasm of Jupiter —
" Fiend, I defy thee ! with a calm fixed mind.
All that thou canst inflict I bid thee do ; Foul Tyrant both of Gods and Humankind,
One only being shalt thou not subdue ! Rain then thy plagues upon me here,
Ghastly disease and frenzying fear ; And let alternate frost and fire
Eat into me, and be thine ire
Lightning, and cutting hail, and legioned forms Of Furies driving by upon the wounding storms.
u Aye, do thy worst ! Thou art omnipotent. O'er all things but thyself I gave thee power,
And my own will. Be thy swift mischiefs sent To blast mankind from yon etherial tower.
Let thy malignant spirit move In darkness over those I love. On me and mine I imprecate The utmost torture of thy hate ;
And thus devote to sleepless agony
This undeclining head while thou must reign on high.
" But thou, who art the God and Lord ! O thou Who fillest with thy soul this world of woe, To whom all things of earth and heaven do bow
In fear and worship, all-prevailing foe ! I curse thee ! Let a sufferer's curse Clasp thee, his torturer, like remorse ! Till thine infinity shall be
A robe of envenomed agony ;
And thine omnipotence a crown of pain,
To cling like burning gold round thy dissolving brain !
" Heap on thy soul, by virtue of this curse,
I11 deeds, — then be thou damned, beholding good :
Both infinite as is the universe,
And thou, and thy self-torturing solitude I
814
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
An awful image of calm Power Though now thou sittest, let the hour Come when thou must appear to be That which thou art internally :
And, after many a false and fruitless crime,
Scorn track thy lagging fall through boundless space
and time ! " Prometheus —
Were these my words, O Parent ?
The Earth — They were thine.
Prometheus —
It doth repent me : words are quick and vain : Grief for a while is blind, and so was mine.
I wish no living thing to suffer pain.
The Earth —
Misery, oh misery to me,
That Jove at length should vanquish thee !
Wail, howl aloud, Land and Sea, —
The Earth's rent heart shall answer ye !
Howl, Spirits of the living and the dead !
Your refuge, your defense, lies fallen and vanquished !
First Echo —
Lies fallen and vanquished ?
Second Eclio —
lone — Fallen and vanquished !
Fear not : 'tis but some passing spasm, — The Titan is unvanquished still. —
But see where through the azure chasm Of yon forked and snowy hill,
Trampling the slant winds on high With golden-sandaled feet that glow
Under plumes of purple dye Like rose-ensanguined ivory,
A Shape comes now,
Stretching on high from his right hand
*******
A serpent-cinctured wand.
Panthea —
'Tis Jove's world-wandering herald, Mercury.
Mercury — Awful Sufferer ! To thee unwilling, most unwillingly,
I
To execute a doom of new revenge.
come, by the Great Father's will driven down,
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
Alas ! I pity thee, and hate myself
That I can do no more. Aye from thy sight Returning, for a season heaven seems hell,
So thy worn form pursues me night and day Smiling reproach. Wise art thou, firm, and good, But vainly wouldst stand forth alone in strife Against the Omnipotent ; as yon clear lamps
That measure and divide the weary years,
From which there is no refuge, long have taught, And long must teach. Even now thy torturer arms With the strange might of unimagined pains
The powers who scheme slow agonies in hell ;
And my commission is to lead them here,
Or what more subtle, foul, or savage fiends People the abyss, and leave them to their task. Be it not so ! There is a secret known
To thee, and to none else of living things,
Which may transfer the scepter of wide heaven, The fear of which perplexes the Supreme ; — Clothe it in words, and bid it clasp his throne
In intercession; bend thy soul in prayer,
And, like a suppliant in some gorgeous fane,
Let the will kneel within thy haughty heart : For benefits and meek submission tame
The fiercest and the mightiest.
Prometheus — Evil minds Change good to their own nature. I gave all He has ; and in return he chains me here, Years, ages, night and day ; whether the sun Split my parched skin, or in the moony night The crystal-winged snow cling round my hair ; Whilst my beloved race is trampled down
By his thought-executing ministers.
Such is the tyrant's recompense. 'Tis just :
He who is evil can receive no good ;
And for a world bestowed or a friend lost
He can feel hate, fear, shame ; not gratitude.
He but requites me for his own misdeed. Kindness to such is keen reproach, which breaks With bitter stings the light sleep of Revenge. Submission thou dost know I cannot try ;
For what submission but that fatal word,
The death seal of mankind's captivity,
Like the Sicilian's hair-suspended sword
Which trembles o'er his crown, would he accept,
316
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
Or could I yield ? Which yet I will not yield. Let others flatter Crime where it sits throned In brief omnipotence ! Secure are they :
For Justice, when triumphant, will weep down Pity, not punishment, on her own wrongs,
Too much avenged by those who err. I wait, Enduring thus, the retributive hour
Which since we spake is even nearer now.
But hark, the Hell-hounds clamor. Fear delay ! Behold ! heaven lowers under thy father's frown !
Mercury —
Oh that we might be spared !
And thou to suffer ! Once more answer me : Thou knowest not the period of Jove's power ?
Prometheus —
I know but this, that it must come.
Mercury — Alas ! Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain ?
I to inflict,
Prometheus —
They last while Jove must reign ; nor more nor less Do I desire or fear.
Mercury — Yet pause, and plunge Into eternity, where recorded time —
Even all that we imagine, age on age — Seems but a point, and the reluctant mind Flags wearily in its unending flight,
Till it sink, dizzy, blind, lost, shelterless. Perchance it has not numbered the slow years Which thou must spend in torture, unreprieved ?
Prometheus —
Perchance no thought can count them. Yet they pass.
Mercury —
If thou mightst dwell among the Gods the while Lapped in voluptuous joy ?
Prometheus — I would not This bleak ravine, these unrepentant pains.
Pity the self-despising slaves of Heaven,
Not me, within whose mind sits peace serene,
As light in the sun, throned. How vain is talk ! Call up the fiends.
Mercury — I wonder at, yet pity thee.
Alas ! Prometheus —
quit
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
THE CONSPIRACY OP PAUSANIAS. By am EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON.
(From " Pausanias the Spartan. ")
317
[Edward George Earle Lytton-Bulwer, later Lord Lttton, English novelist, playwright, and poet, was born in Norfolk in 1803. He graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge ; became a member of Parliament for many years, colonial secretary 1858-1859 ; was editor of the New Monthly Magazine 1831- 1833 ; elected lord rector of Glasgow University 1856 ; died January 18, 1873. His novels include (among many others): "Pelham," " Paul Clifford," "Eu gene Aram," "The Last Days of Pompeii," "Rienzi," "Ernest Maltravers," "Alice, or the Mysteries," "Zanoni," "The Caxtons," "My Novel," "Ken- elm Chillingly," "The Coming Race," and the unfinished "Pausanias the Spar tan"; his plays, the permanent favorites "Richelieu," "Money," and "The Lady of Lyons" ; his poems, the satirical "New Timon," and translations of Schiller's ballads. ]
I.
In a large hall, with a marble fountain in the middle of the Greek Captains awaited the coming of Pausanias. A low and muttered conversation was carried on among them, in small knots and groups, amidst which the voice of Uliades was heard the loudest. Suddenly the hum was hushed, for footsteps were heard without. The thick curtains that at one extreme screened the doorway were drawn aside, and, attended by three of the Spartan knights, among whom was Lysander, and by two sooth sayers, who were seldom absent, in war or warlike council, from the side of the Royal Heracleid, Pausanias slowly entered the hall.
So majestic, grave, and self-collected were the bearing and aspect of the Spartan General, that the hereditary awe inspired by his race was once more awakened, and the angry crowd saluted him, silent and half abashed. Although the strong pas sions and the daring arrogance of Pausanias did not allow him the exercise of that enduring, systematic, unsleeping hypocrisy, which in relations with the foreigner often characterized his countrymen, and which from its outward dignity and profound craft exalted the vice into genius yet, trained from earliest childhood in the arts that hide design, that control the counte nance, and convey in the fewest words the most ambiguous meanings, the Spartan General could, for brief period, or for
critical purpose, command all the wiles for which the Greek was nationally famous, and in which Thucydides believed that of all Greeks the Spartan was the most skillful adept. And
a
a
;
it,
318 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAU8ANIA8.
now, as, uniting the courtesy of the host with the dignity of the chief, he returned the salute of the officers, and smiled his gracious welcome, the unwonted affability of his manner took the discontented by surprise, and half propitiated the most in dignant in his favor.
" I need not ask you, O Greeks," said he, " why ye have sought me. Ye have learned the escape of Ariamanes and Datis — a strange and unaccountable mischance. "
The captains looked round at each other in silence, till at last every eye rested upon Cimon, whose illustrious birth, as well as his known respect for Sparta, combined with his equally well-known dislike of her chief, seemed to mark him, despite his youth, as the fittest person to be speaker for the rest. Cimon, who understood the mute appeal, and whose courage never failed his ambition, raised his head, and, after a moment's hesitation, replied to the Spartan : —
" Pausanias, you guess rightly the cause which leads us to your presence. These prisoners were our noblest ; their cap ture the reward of our common valor; they were generals, moreover, of high skill and repute. They had become experi enced in our Grecian warfare, even by their defeats. Those two men, should Xerxes again invade Greece, are worth more to his service than half the nations whose myriads crossed the Hellespont. But this is not all. The arms of the Barbarians we can encounter undismayed. It is treason at home which can alone appall us. "
There was a low murmur among the Ionians at these words. Pausanias, with well-dissembled surprise on his countenance, turned his eyes from Cimon to the murmurers, and from them again to Cimon, and repeated, —
" Such is the question that we would put to thee, Pausanias, —to thee, whose eyes, as leader of our armies, are doubtless vigilant daily and nightly over the interests of Greece. "
"Treason ! son of Miltiades ; and from whom? "
" I am not blind," returned Pausanias, appearing unconscious of the irony ; " but I am not Argus. If thou hast discovered aught that is hidden from me, speak boldly. "
" Thou hast made Gongylus the Eretrian governor of Byzan tium ; for what great services we know not. But he has lived much in Persia. "
" For that reason, on this the frontier of her domains, he is better enabled to penetrate her designs and counteract her ambition. "
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
819
"This Gongylus," continued Cimon, "is well known to have much frequented the Persian captives in their confine ment. "
" In order to learn from them what may yet be the strength of the king. In this he had my commands. "
"I question it not. But, Pausanias," continued Cimon, raising his voice, and with energy, " had he also thy commands to leave thy galley last night, and to return to the citadel ? "
"He had. What then? " —
"And on his return the Persians disappear
chance, truly. But that is not all. Last night, before he returned to the citadel, Gongylus was perceived, alone, in a retired spot on the outskirts of the city. "
" Alone ? " echoed Pausanias.
" Alone. If he had companions, they were not discerned. This spot was out of the path he should have taken. By this spot, on the soft soil, are the marks of hoofs, and in the thicket close by were found these witnesses ; " and Cimon drew from his vest a handful of the pearls only worn by the Eastern captives.
a singular
" There is something in this," said Xanthippus, " which re quires at least examination. May it please you, Pausanias, to summon Gongylus hither ? "
A momentary shade passed over the brow of the conspira tor, but the eyes of the Greeks were on him, and to refuse were as dangerous as to comply. He turned to one of his Spartans, and "ordered him to summon the Eretrian.
You have spoken well, Xanthippus. This matter must be sifted. "
With that, motioning the captains to the seats that were ranged round the walls and before a long table, he cast himself into a large chair at the head of the table, and waited in silent anxiety the entrance of the Eretrian. His whole trust now was in the craft and penetration of his friend. If the courage or the cunning of Gongylus failed him — if but a word be trayed him — Pausanias was lost. He was girt by men who hated him ; and he read in the dark, fierce eyes of the Ionians — whose pride he had so often galled, whose revenge he had so carelessly provoked — the certainty of ruin. One hand hidden within the folds of his robe convulsively clinched the flesh, in the stern agony of his suspense. His calm and composed face nevertheless exhibited to the captains no trace of fear.
320 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
The draperies were again drawn aside, and Gongylus slowly entered.
Habituated to peril of every kind from his earliest youth, the Eretrian was quick to detect its presence. The sight of the silent Greeks, formally seated round the hall, and watching his steps and countenance with eyes whose jealous and vindic tive meaning it required no OSdipus to read ; the grave and half-averted brow of Pausanias ; and the angry excitement that had prevailed amidst the host at the news of the escape of the Persians — all sufficed to apprise him of the nature of the council to which he had been summoned.
Supporting himself on his staff, and dragging his limbs tardily along, he had leisure to examine, though with apparent indifference, the whole group ; and when, with a calm saluta tion, he arrested his steps at the foot of the table immediately facing Pausanias, he darted one glance at the Spartan, so fear less, so bright, so cheering, that Pausanias breathed hard, as if a load were thrown from his breast, and, turning easily toward Cimon, said, —
"Behold your witness. Which of us shall be questioner, and which judge ? "
" That matters but little," returned Cimon. " Before this audience justice must force its way. "
" It rests with you, Pausanias," said Xanthippus, " to acquaint the Governor of Byzantium with the suspicions he has excited. " " Gongylus," said Pausanias, " the captive Barbarians, Aria-
manes and Datis, were placed by me especially under thy vigi lance and guard. Thou knowest that, while (for humanity becomes the victor) I ordered thee to vex them by no undue restraints, I nevertheless commanded thee to consider thy life itself answerable for their durance. They have escaped. The captains of Greece demand of thee, as I demanded — by what means — by what connivance ? Speak the truth, and deem that in falsehood, as well as in treachery, detection is easy and death certain. "
The tone of Pausanias, and his severe look, pleased and reassured all the Greeks, except the wiser Cimon, who, though his suspicions were a little shaken, continued to fix his eyes rather on Pausanias than on the Eretrian.
" Pausanias," replied Gongylus, drawing up his lean frame, as with the dignity of conscious innocence, "that suspicion could fall upon me, I find it difficult to suppose. Raised by
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
321
thy favor to the command of Byzantium, what have I to gain by treason or neglect ? These Persians — I knew them well. I had known them in Susa — known them when I served Darius, being then an exile from Eretria. Ye know, my countrymen, that when Darius invaded Greece I left his court and armies, and sought my native land, to fall or to conquer in its cause. Well, then, I knew these Barbarians. I sought them frequently ; partly, it may be, to return to them in their adversity the courtesies shown me in mine. Ye are Greeks : ye will not condemn me for humanity and gratitude. Partly with another motive. I knew that Ariamanes had the greatest influence over Xerxes. I knew that the great king would at
any cost seek to regain the liberty of his friend. I urged upon Ariamanes the wisdom of a peace with the Greeks even on their own terms. I told him that when Xerxes sent to offer the ransom, conditions of peace would avail more than sacks of gold. He listened and approved. Did I wrong in this, Pausanias ? No ; for thou, whose deep sagacity has made thee condescend even to appear half Persian, because thou art all Greek — thou thyself didst sanction my efforts on behalf of Greece. "
Pausanias looked with a silent triumph round the conclave, and Xanthippus nodded approval.
" In order to conciliate them, and with too great confidence in their faith, I relaxed by degrees the rigor of their confine ment ; that was a fault, I own it. Their apartments commu nicated with a court in which I suffered them to walk at will. But I placed there two sentinels in whom I deemed I could repose all trust — not my own countrymen — not Eretrians —
. not thy Spartans or Laconians, Pausanias. No ;
if ever the jealousy (a laudable jealousy) of the Greeks should demand an account of my faith and vigilance, my witnesses should be the countrymen of those who have ever the most suspected me. Those sentinels were, the one a Samian, the other a Plataean. These men have betrayed me and Greece. Last night, on returning hither from the vessel, I visited the Persians. They were about to retire to rest, and I quit them soon, suspecting nothing. This morning they had fled, and with them their abettors, the sentinels. I hastened, first, to send soldiers in search of them ; and, secondly, to inform Pau sanias in his galley. If I have erred, I submit me to your
punishment. Punish my error, but acquit my honesty. " VOL. III. —21
I deemed that
322 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
" And what," said Cimon, abruptly, " led thee far from thy path, between the Heracleid's galley and the citadel, to the fields near the temple of Aphrodite, between the citadel and the bay ? Thy color changes. Mark him, Greeks. Quick ; thine answer. "
The countenance of Gongylus had indeed lost its color and hardihood. The loud tone of Cimon — the effect his confusion produced on the Greeks, some of whom, the Ionians, less self- possessed and dignified than the rest, half rose, with fierce gestures and muttered exclamations — served still more to embarrass and intimidate him. He cast a hasty look on Pausa- nias, who averted his eyes. There was a pause. The Spartan gave himself up for lost ; but how much more was his fear in creased when Gongylus, casting an imploring gaze upon the Greeks, said, hesitatingly, — "
and as he
" Eretrian," said Pausanias, striking his clinched hand on the table, " I know not what tale trembles on thy lips ; but, be it what it may, give it voice, I command thee. "
" Question me no further. I dare not speak ; spoke he pointed to Pausanias.
" It was the dread of thy resentment, Pausanias," said Cimon, coldly, "that withheld his confession. Vouchsafe to reassure him. "
" Thou thyself, thou wert the cause that led me toward the temple of Aphrodite," said Gongylus, in a low voice.
At these words there went forth a general deep-breathed murmur. With one accord every Greek rose to his feet. The Spartan attendants in the rear of Pausanias drew closer to his person ; but there was nothing in their faces — yet more dark and vindictive than those of the other Greeks — that promised protection. Pausanias alone remained seated and unmoved. His imminent danger gave him back all his valor, all his pride, all his passionate and profound disdain. With unbleached cheek, with haughty eyes, he met the gaze of the assembly ; and then waving his hand as if that gesture sufficed to restrain and awe them, he said, —
" In the name of all Greece, whose chief I yet am, whose pro tector I have once been, I command ye to resume your seats, and listen to the Eretrian. Spartans, fall back. Governor of Byzantium, pursue your tale. "
" Yes, Pausanias," resumed Gongylus, " you alone were the
cause that drew me from my rest. I would fain be silent,
but
"
THE CONSPIRACY OP PAUSANIAS. 823
" Say on ! " cried Pausanias, fiercely, and measuring the space between himself and Gongylus, in doubt whether the Eretrian's head were within reach of his scimeter ; so at least Gongylus interpreted that freezing look of despair and venge ance, and he drew back some paces. "I place myself, O Greeks, under your protection ; it is dangerous to reveal the errors of the great. Know that, as Governor of Byzantium, many things ye wot not of reach my ears. Hence, I guard against dangers while ye sleep. Learn, then, that Pausanias is not without the weakness of his ancestor, Alcides ; he loves a maiden — a Byzantine — Cleonice, the daughter of Diagoras. "
This unexpected announcement, made in so grave a tone, provoked a smile among the gay Ionians ; but an exclamation of jealous anger broke from Antagoras, and a blush, partly of wounded pride, partly of warlike shame, crimsoned the swarthy cheek of Pausanias. Cimon, who was by no means free from the joyous infirmities of youth, relaxed his severe brow, and said after a short pause, —
"Is it, then, among the grave duties of the Governor of Byzantium to watch over the fair Cleonice, or to aid the suit of her illustrious lover ? "
" Not so," answered Gongylus ; " but the life of the Grecian General is dear, at least, to the grateful Governor of Byzantium. Greeks, ye know that among you Pausanias has many foes. Returning last night from his presence, and passing through the thicket, I overheard voices at hand. " I caught the name of Pausanias. ' The Spartan,' said one voice, ' nightly visits the house of Diagoras. He goes usually alone. From the height near the temple we can watch well, for the night is clear ; if he goes alone, we can intercept his way on his return. ' 'To the height ! ' cried the other. I thought to distinguish the voices, but the trees hid the speakers. I followed the footsteps toward the temple, for it behooved me to learn who thus menaced the chief of Greece. But ye know that the wood reaches even to the sacred building, and. the steps gained the temple before I could recognize the men. I concealed myself, as I thought, to watch ; but it seems that I was perceived, for he who saw me, and now accuses, was doubtless one of the assassins. Happy I, if the sight of a witness scared him from the crime. Either fearing detection, or aware that their intent that night was frustrated — for Pausanias, visiting Cleonice earlier than his wont, had already resought his galley — the men retreated as
324 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
they came, unseen, not unheard. I caught their receding steps through the brushwood. Greeks, I have said. Who is my accuser? in him behold the would-be murderer of Pausa- nias ! "
" Liar ! " cried an indignant and loud voice among the captains, and Antagoras stood forth from the circle.
" It is I who saw thee. Darest thou accuse Antagoras of Chios? "
"What at that hour brought Antagoras of Chios to the Temple of Aphrodite ? " retorted Gongylus.
The eyes of the Greeks turned toward the young captain, and there was confusion on his face. But, recovering himself quickly, the Chian answered : " Why should I blush to own it ? Aphrodite is no dishonorable deity to the men of the Ionian Isles. I sought the temple at that hour, as is our wont, to make my offering and record my prayer. "
" Certainly," said Cimon. " We must own that Aphrodite is powerful at Byzantium. Who can acquit Pausanias and blame Antagoras ? "
" Pardon me — one question," said Gongylus. " Is not the female heart which Antagoras would beseech the goddess to soften toward him that of the Cleonice of whom we spoke ? See, he denies it not. Greeks, the Chians are warm lovers, and warm lovers are revengeful rivals. "
This artful speech had its instantaneous effect among the younger and more unthinking loiterers. Those who at once would have disbelieved the imputed guilt of Antagoras upon motives merely political, inclined to a suggestion that ascribed it to the jealousy of a lover. And his character, ardent and fiery, rendered the suspicion yet more plausible. Meanwhile the minds of the audience had been craftily drawn from the grave and main object of the meeting — the flight of the Per sians —and a lighter and livelier curiosity had supplanted the eager and dark resentment which had hitherto animated the circle. Pausanias, with the subtle genius that belonged to him, hastened to seize advantage of the momentary diversion in his favor, and before the Chian could recover from his con sternation, both at the charge and the evident effect it had produced upon a part of the assembly, the Spartan stretched his hand, and spake.
" Greeks, Pausanias listens to no tale of danger to himself. Willingly he believes that Gongylus either misinterpreted the
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS. 325
intent of some jealous and heated threats, or that the words he overheard were not uttered by Antagoras. Possible is it, too, that others may have sought the temple with less gentle desires than our Chian ally. Let this pass. Unworthy such matters of the councils of bearded men ; too much reference has been made to those follies which our idleness has given birth to. Let no fair Briseis renew strife among chiefs and soldiers. Excuse not thyself, Antagoras ; we dismiss all charge against thee. On the other hand, Gongylus will doubtless seem to you to have accounted for his appearance near the precincts of the temple. And it is but a coincidence, natural enough, that the Persian prisoners should have chosen, later in the night, the same spot for the steeds to await them. The thickness of the wood round the temple, and the direction of the place toward the east, points out the neighborhood as the very one in which the fugitives would appoint the horses. Waste no further time, but provide at once for the pursuit. To you, Cimon, be this case confided. Already have I dispatched fifty light-armed men on fleet Thessalian steeds. You, Cimon, increase the number of the pursuers. The prisoners may be yet recaptured. Doth aught else remain worthy of our ears ? If so, speak ; if not, depart. "
" Pausanias," said Antagoras, firmly, " let Gongylus retract, or not, his charge against me, I retain mine against Gongylus. Wholly false is it that in word or deed I plotted violence against thee, though of much — not as Cleonice's lover, but as Grecian captain — I have good reason to complain. Wholly false is it that I had a comrade. I was alone. And coming out from the temple, where I had hung my chaplet, I perceived Gongylus clearly under the starlit skies. He stood in listening attitude close by the sacred myrtle grove. I hastened toward him, but methinks he saw me not ; he turned slowly, penetrated the wood, and vanished. I gained the spot on the soft sward which the dropping boughs make ever humid. I saw the print of hoofs. Within the thicket I found the pearls that Cimon has displayed to you. Clear, then, is it that this man lies — clear that the Persians must have fled already — although Gon gylus declares that on his return to the citadel he visited them in their prison. Explain this, Eretrian ! "
" He who would speak false witness," answered Gongylus, with a firmness equal to the Chian's, " can find pearls at what soever hour he pleases. Greeks, this man presses me to renew
326 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
the charge which Pausanias generously sought to stifle. I have said. And I, Governor of Byzantium, call on the council of the Grecian Leaders to maintain my authority, and protect their own Chief. "
Then arose a vexed and perturbed murmur, most of the Ionians siding with Antagoras, such of the allies as yet clung to the Dorian ascendency grouping round Gongylus.
The persistence of Antagoras had made the dilemma of no slight embarrassment to Pausanias. Something lofty in his original nature urged him to shrink from supporting Gongylus in an accusation which he believed untrue. On the other hand, he could not abandon his accomplice in an effort, as dangerous as it was crafty, to conceal their common guilt.
" Son of Miltiades," he said, after a brief pause, in which his dexterous resolution was formed, " I invoke your aid to ap pease a contest in which I foresee no result but that of schism among ourselves. Antagoras has no witness to support his tale, Gongylus none to support his own. Who shall decide between conflicting testimonies which rest but on the lips of accuser and accused ? Hereafter, if the matter be deemed suf ficiently grave, let us refer the decision to the oracle that never errs. Time and chance meanwhile may favor us in clearing up the darkness we cannot now penetrate. For you, Governor of Byzantium, it behooves me to say that the escape of prisoners intrusted to your charge justifies vigilance, if not suspicion. We shall consult at our leisure whether or not that course suf fices to remove you from the government of Byzantium. Her alds, advance ; our council is dissolved. "
With these words Pausanias rose, and the majesty of his bearing, with the unwonted temper and conciliation of his language, so came in aid of his high office, that no man ven tured a dissentient murmur.
The conclave broke up, and not till its members had gained the outer air did any signs of suspicion or dissatisfaction evince themselves ; but then, gathering in groups, the Ionians with especial jealousy discussed what had passed, and with their native shrewdness ascribed the moderation of Pausanias to his desire to screen Gongylus and avoid further inquisition into the flight of the prisoners.
To apprehend and front thine agon%3
With a just prudence.
Prometheus — . Vainly dost thou chafe
Hermes —
My soul with exhortation, as yonder sea
Goes beating on the rock. Oh, think no more
That I, fear-struck by Zeus to a woman's mind,
Will supplicate him, loathed as he is,
With feminine upliftings of my hands,
To break these chains. Far from me be the thought !
Hermes —
I have indeed, methinks, said much in vain,
For still thy heart beneath my showers of prayers Lies dry and hard — nay, leaps like a young horse Who bites against the new bit in his teeth, — And tugs and struggles against the new-tried rein, Still fiercest in the feeblest thing of all,
Which sophism is ; since absolute will disjoined
From perfect mind is worse than weak. Behold,
Unless my words persuade thee, what a blast
And whirlwind of inevitable woe
Must sweep persuasion through thee ! For at first The Father will split up this jut of rock
With the great thunder and the bolted flame
Long ago
. ESCHYLUS' PROMETHEUS. 309
And hide thy body where a hinge of stone
Shall catch it like an arm ; and when thou hast passed A long black time within, thou shalt come out
To front the sun while Zeus's winged hound,
The strong carnivorous eagle, shall wheel down
To meet thee, self-called to a daily feast,
And set his fierce beak in thee and tear off
The long rags of thy flesh and batten deep
Upon thy dusky liver. Do not look
For any end moreover to this curse
Or ere some god appear, to accept thy pangs
On his own head vicarious, and descend
With unreluctant step the darks of hell
And gloomy abysses around Tartarus.
Then ponder this — this threat is not a growth
Of vain invention ; it is spoken and meant ;
King Zeus's mouth is impotent to lie,
Consummating the utterance by the act ;
So, look to thou take heed, and nevermore
Forget good counsel, to indulge self-will.
Chorus —
Our Hermes suits his reasons to the times
At least think so, since he bids thee drop
Self-will for prudent counsel. Yield to him
When the wise err, their wisdom makes their shama.
Prometheus —
Unto me the foreknower, this mandate of power
He cries, to reveal it.
What's strange in my fate, if suffer from hate
At the hour that feel
Let the locks of the lightning, all bristling and whitening,
Flash, coiling me round,
While the aether goes surging 'neath thunder and scourging
Of wild winds unbound
Let the blast of the firmament whirl from its place
The earth rooted below,
And the brine of the ocean, in rapid emotion,
Be driven in the face
Of the stars up in heaven, as they walk to and fro Let him hurl me anon into Tartarus — on —
To the blackest degree,
With Necessity's vortices strangling me down But he cannot join death to fate meant for me
Hermes —
Why, the words that he speaks and the thoughts that he
thinks
a
I ?
; !
; !
!
!
it
I
I
it,
!
810
^SCHYLUS' PROMETHEUS
Are maniacal ! — add,
If the Fate who hath bound him should loose not the links,
He were utterly mad.
Then depart ye who groan with him, Leaving to moan with him, —
60 in haste ! lest the roar of the thunder anearing
Should blast you to idiocy, living and hearing. Cliorus —
Change thy speech for another, thy thought for a new, If to move me and teach me indeed be thy care !
For thy words swerve so far from the loyal and true That the thunder of Zeus seems more easy to bear.
How ! couldst teach me to venture such vileness ? behold !
I
I recoil from the traitor in hate and disdain,
And I know that the curse of the treason is worse
choose, with this victim, this anguish foretold !
Than the pang of the chain.
Hermes —
Then remember, O nymphs, what I tell you before,
Nor, when pierced by the arrows that Ate- will throw you, Cast blame on your fate and declare evermore
That Zeus thrust you on anguish he did not foreshow you.
Nay, verily, nay ! for ye perish anon
For your deed —by your choice. By no blindness of doubt,
No abruptness of doom, but by madness alone,
In the great net of Ate", whence none cometh out,
Ye are wound and undone. Prometheus —
Aye ! in act now, in word now no more, Earth is rocking in space.
And the thunders crash up with a roar upon roar, And the eddying lightnings flash fire in my face,
And the whirlwinds are whirling the dust round and round, And the blasts of the winds universal leap free
And blow each upon each with a passion of sound, And aether goes mingling in storm with the sea.
Such a curse on my head, in a manifest dread,
From the hand of your Zeus has been hurtled along.
O my mother's fair glory ! O MHa&t, enringing
All eyes with the sweet common light of thy bringing!
Dost see how I suffer this wrong ?
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
By PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY.
(From "Prometheus Unbound. ")
811
[Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet, was born in Sussex, August 4, 1792, and educated at Eton and at University College, Oxford, whence he was expelled for a tract on the "Necessity of Atheism. " His first notable poem, "Queen Mab," was privately printed in 1813. He succeeded to his father's estate in 1816. " Alastor " was completed in 1816 ; " The Revolt of Islam," " Rosalind and Helen," and "Julian and Maddalo," in 1818; "Prometheus Unbound," "The Cenci," "The Coliseum," "Peter Bell the Third," and the "Mask of Anarchy," in 1819; "CEdipus Tyrannus" and the " Witch of Atlas," in 1820 ; "Epipsychidion," "The Defense of Poetry," "Adonais," and "Hellas," in 1822. He was drowned at sea July 8, 1822. ]
Soene — A Bavine of Icy Rocks in the Indian Caucasus. Prometheus is discovered bound to the Precipice. Panthea and Ione are seated at his feet. Time, Night. During the Scene, Morning slowly breaks.
Prometheus —
Monarch of Gods and Daemons, and all Spirits —
But One — who throng those bright and rolling worlds Which thou and I alone of living things
Behold with sleepless eyes ! regard this earth
Made multitudinous with thy slaves, whom thou Requitest for knee worship, prayer, and praise,
And toil, and hecatombs of broken hearts,
With fear and self -contempt and barren hope :
Whilst me who am thy foe, eyeless in hate
Hast thou made reign and triumph, to thy scorn,
O'er mine own misery and thy vain revenge.
Three thousand years of sleep-unsheltered hours,
And moments aye divided by keen pangs
Till they seemed years, torture and solitude,
Scorn and despair — these are mine empire : —
More glorious far than that which thou surveyest Prom thine unenvied throne, O mighty God ! — Almighty, had I deigned to share the shame
Of thine ill tyranny, and hung not here
Nailed to this wall of eagle-baffling mountain,
Black, wintry, dead, unmeasured ; without herb,
Insect, or beast, or shape or sound of life.
Ah me ! alas ! pain, pain, ever, forever !
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
No change, no pause, no hope ! Yet I endure. I ask the Earth, have not the mountains felt ? I ask yon Heaven, the all-beholding Sun,
Has it not seen ? The Sea, in storm or calm, Heaven's ever-changing shadow spread below, Have its deaf waves not heard my agony ?
Ah me ! alas ! pain, pain, ever, forever !
The crawling glaciers pierce me with the spears
Of their moon-freezing crystals ; the bright chains Eat with their burning cold into my bones ;
Heaven's winged hound, polluting from thy lips
His beak in poison not his own, tears up
My heart ; and shapeless sights come wandering by, The ghastly people of the realm of Dream,
Mocking me ; and the Earthquake fiends are charged To wrench the ',ivets from my quivering wounds When the rocks split and close again behind :
While from their loud abysses howling throng
The Genii of the Storm, urging the rage
Of whirlwind, and afflict me with keen hail.
And yet to me welcome is day and night ;
Whether one breaks the hoar frost of the morn,
Or, starry, dim, and slow, the other climbs
The leaden-colored east ; for then they lead
The wingless crawling Hours, one among whom —As some dark priest hales the reluctant victim — Shall drag thee, cruel King, to kiss the blood
From these pale feet, which then might trample thee If they disdained not such a prostrate slave.
I pity thee. What ruin I speak in grief,
Disdain ! Ah no !
Will hunt thee undefended through the wide heaven! How will thy soul, cloven to its depth with terror, Gape like a hell within !
Not exultation ; for I hate no more,
As then ere misery made me wise. The curse
Once breathed on thee I would recall. Ye Mountains, Whose many-voiced Echoes through the mist
Of cataracts flung the thunder of that spell !
Ye icy Springs, stagnant with wrinkling frost,
Which vibrated to hear me, and then crept
Shuddering through India! thou serenest Air,
Through which the Sun walks burning without beams ! And the swift Whirlwinds who on poised wings
Hung mute and moveless o'er yon hushed abyss,
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
•*
As thunder, louder than your own, made rock
The orbed world ! if then my words had power, — Though I am changed so that aught evil wish
Is dead within, although no memory be
Of what is hate, — let them not lose it now !
What was that curse ? for ye all heard me speak.
*****
Phantasm of Jupiter —
" Fiend, I defy thee ! with a calm fixed mind.
All that thou canst inflict I bid thee do ; Foul Tyrant both of Gods and Humankind,
One only being shalt thou not subdue ! Rain then thy plagues upon me here,
Ghastly disease and frenzying fear ; And let alternate frost and fire
Eat into me, and be thine ire
Lightning, and cutting hail, and legioned forms Of Furies driving by upon the wounding storms.
u Aye, do thy worst ! Thou art omnipotent. O'er all things but thyself I gave thee power,
And my own will. Be thy swift mischiefs sent To blast mankind from yon etherial tower.
Let thy malignant spirit move In darkness over those I love. On me and mine I imprecate The utmost torture of thy hate ;
And thus devote to sleepless agony
This undeclining head while thou must reign on high.
" But thou, who art the God and Lord ! O thou Who fillest with thy soul this world of woe, To whom all things of earth and heaven do bow
In fear and worship, all-prevailing foe ! I curse thee ! Let a sufferer's curse Clasp thee, his torturer, like remorse ! Till thine infinity shall be
A robe of envenomed agony ;
And thine omnipotence a crown of pain,
To cling like burning gold round thy dissolving brain !
" Heap on thy soul, by virtue of this curse,
I11 deeds, — then be thou damned, beholding good :
Both infinite as is the universe,
And thou, and thy self-torturing solitude I
814
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
An awful image of calm Power Though now thou sittest, let the hour Come when thou must appear to be That which thou art internally :
And, after many a false and fruitless crime,
Scorn track thy lagging fall through boundless space
and time ! " Prometheus —
Were these my words, O Parent ?
The Earth — They were thine.
Prometheus —
It doth repent me : words are quick and vain : Grief for a while is blind, and so was mine.
I wish no living thing to suffer pain.
The Earth —
Misery, oh misery to me,
That Jove at length should vanquish thee !
Wail, howl aloud, Land and Sea, —
The Earth's rent heart shall answer ye !
Howl, Spirits of the living and the dead !
Your refuge, your defense, lies fallen and vanquished !
First Echo —
Lies fallen and vanquished ?
Second Eclio —
lone — Fallen and vanquished !
Fear not : 'tis but some passing spasm, — The Titan is unvanquished still. —
But see where through the azure chasm Of yon forked and snowy hill,
Trampling the slant winds on high With golden-sandaled feet that glow
Under plumes of purple dye Like rose-ensanguined ivory,
A Shape comes now,
Stretching on high from his right hand
*******
A serpent-cinctured wand.
Panthea —
'Tis Jove's world-wandering herald, Mercury.
Mercury — Awful Sufferer ! To thee unwilling, most unwillingly,
I
To execute a doom of new revenge.
come, by the Great Father's will driven down,
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
Alas ! I pity thee, and hate myself
That I can do no more. Aye from thy sight Returning, for a season heaven seems hell,
So thy worn form pursues me night and day Smiling reproach. Wise art thou, firm, and good, But vainly wouldst stand forth alone in strife Against the Omnipotent ; as yon clear lamps
That measure and divide the weary years,
From which there is no refuge, long have taught, And long must teach. Even now thy torturer arms With the strange might of unimagined pains
The powers who scheme slow agonies in hell ;
And my commission is to lead them here,
Or what more subtle, foul, or savage fiends People the abyss, and leave them to their task. Be it not so ! There is a secret known
To thee, and to none else of living things,
Which may transfer the scepter of wide heaven, The fear of which perplexes the Supreme ; — Clothe it in words, and bid it clasp his throne
In intercession; bend thy soul in prayer,
And, like a suppliant in some gorgeous fane,
Let the will kneel within thy haughty heart : For benefits and meek submission tame
The fiercest and the mightiest.
Prometheus — Evil minds Change good to their own nature. I gave all He has ; and in return he chains me here, Years, ages, night and day ; whether the sun Split my parched skin, or in the moony night The crystal-winged snow cling round my hair ; Whilst my beloved race is trampled down
By his thought-executing ministers.
Such is the tyrant's recompense. 'Tis just :
He who is evil can receive no good ;
And for a world bestowed or a friend lost
He can feel hate, fear, shame ; not gratitude.
He but requites me for his own misdeed. Kindness to such is keen reproach, which breaks With bitter stings the light sleep of Revenge. Submission thou dost know I cannot try ;
For what submission but that fatal word,
The death seal of mankind's captivity,
Like the Sicilian's hair-suspended sword
Which trembles o'er his crown, would he accept,
316
THE DEFIANCE OF PROMETHEUS.
Or could I yield ? Which yet I will not yield. Let others flatter Crime where it sits throned In brief omnipotence ! Secure are they :
For Justice, when triumphant, will weep down Pity, not punishment, on her own wrongs,
Too much avenged by those who err. I wait, Enduring thus, the retributive hour
Which since we spake is even nearer now.
But hark, the Hell-hounds clamor. Fear delay ! Behold ! heaven lowers under thy father's frown !
Mercury —
Oh that we might be spared !
And thou to suffer ! Once more answer me : Thou knowest not the period of Jove's power ?
Prometheus —
I know but this, that it must come.
Mercury — Alas ! Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain ?
I to inflict,
Prometheus —
They last while Jove must reign ; nor more nor less Do I desire or fear.
Mercury — Yet pause, and plunge Into eternity, where recorded time —
Even all that we imagine, age on age — Seems but a point, and the reluctant mind Flags wearily in its unending flight,
Till it sink, dizzy, blind, lost, shelterless. Perchance it has not numbered the slow years Which thou must spend in torture, unreprieved ?
Prometheus —
Perchance no thought can count them. Yet they pass.
Mercury —
If thou mightst dwell among the Gods the while Lapped in voluptuous joy ?
Prometheus — I would not This bleak ravine, these unrepentant pains.
Pity the self-despising slaves of Heaven,
Not me, within whose mind sits peace serene,
As light in the sun, throned. How vain is talk ! Call up the fiends.
Mercury — I wonder at, yet pity thee.
Alas ! Prometheus —
quit
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
THE CONSPIRACY OP PAUSANIAS. By am EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON.
(From " Pausanias the Spartan. ")
317
[Edward George Earle Lytton-Bulwer, later Lord Lttton, English novelist, playwright, and poet, was born in Norfolk in 1803. He graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge ; became a member of Parliament for many years, colonial secretary 1858-1859 ; was editor of the New Monthly Magazine 1831- 1833 ; elected lord rector of Glasgow University 1856 ; died January 18, 1873. His novels include (among many others): "Pelham," " Paul Clifford," "Eu gene Aram," "The Last Days of Pompeii," "Rienzi," "Ernest Maltravers," "Alice, or the Mysteries," "Zanoni," "The Caxtons," "My Novel," "Ken- elm Chillingly," "The Coming Race," and the unfinished "Pausanias the Spar tan"; his plays, the permanent favorites "Richelieu," "Money," and "The Lady of Lyons" ; his poems, the satirical "New Timon," and translations of Schiller's ballads. ]
I.
In a large hall, with a marble fountain in the middle of the Greek Captains awaited the coming of Pausanias. A low and muttered conversation was carried on among them, in small knots and groups, amidst which the voice of Uliades was heard the loudest. Suddenly the hum was hushed, for footsteps were heard without. The thick curtains that at one extreme screened the doorway were drawn aside, and, attended by three of the Spartan knights, among whom was Lysander, and by two sooth sayers, who were seldom absent, in war or warlike council, from the side of the Royal Heracleid, Pausanias slowly entered the hall.
So majestic, grave, and self-collected were the bearing and aspect of the Spartan General, that the hereditary awe inspired by his race was once more awakened, and the angry crowd saluted him, silent and half abashed. Although the strong pas sions and the daring arrogance of Pausanias did not allow him the exercise of that enduring, systematic, unsleeping hypocrisy, which in relations with the foreigner often characterized his countrymen, and which from its outward dignity and profound craft exalted the vice into genius yet, trained from earliest childhood in the arts that hide design, that control the counte nance, and convey in the fewest words the most ambiguous meanings, the Spartan General could, for brief period, or for
critical purpose, command all the wiles for which the Greek was nationally famous, and in which Thucydides believed that of all Greeks the Spartan was the most skillful adept. And
a
a
;
it,
318 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAU8ANIA8.
now, as, uniting the courtesy of the host with the dignity of the chief, he returned the salute of the officers, and smiled his gracious welcome, the unwonted affability of his manner took the discontented by surprise, and half propitiated the most in dignant in his favor.
" I need not ask you, O Greeks," said he, " why ye have sought me. Ye have learned the escape of Ariamanes and Datis — a strange and unaccountable mischance. "
The captains looked round at each other in silence, till at last every eye rested upon Cimon, whose illustrious birth, as well as his known respect for Sparta, combined with his equally well-known dislike of her chief, seemed to mark him, despite his youth, as the fittest person to be speaker for the rest. Cimon, who understood the mute appeal, and whose courage never failed his ambition, raised his head, and, after a moment's hesitation, replied to the Spartan : —
" Pausanias, you guess rightly the cause which leads us to your presence. These prisoners were our noblest ; their cap ture the reward of our common valor; they were generals, moreover, of high skill and repute. They had become experi enced in our Grecian warfare, even by their defeats. Those two men, should Xerxes again invade Greece, are worth more to his service than half the nations whose myriads crossed the Hellespont. But this is not all. The arms of the Barbarians we can encounter undismayed. It is treason at home which can alone appall us. "
There was a low murmur among the Ionians at these words. Pausanias, with well-dissembled surprise on his countenance, turned his eyes from Cimon to the murmurers, and from them again to Cimon, and repeated, —
" Such is the question that we would put to thee, Pausanias, —to thee, whose eyes, as leader of our armies, are doubtless vigilant daily and nightly over the interests of Greece. "
"Treason ! son of Miltiades ; and from whom? "
" I am not blind," returned Pausanias, appearing unconscious of the irony ; " but I am not Argus. If thou hast discovered aught that is hidden from me, speak boldly. "
" Thou hast made Gongylus the Eretrian governor of Byzan tium ; for what great services we know not. But he has lived much in Persia. "
" For that reason, on this the frontier of her domains, he is better enabled to penetrate her designs and counteract her ambition. "
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"This Gongylus," continued Cimon, "is well known to have much frequented the Persian captives in their confine ment. "
" In order to learn from them what may yet be the strength of the king. In this he had my commands. "
"I question it not. But, Pausanias," continued Cimon, raising his voice, and with energy, " had he also thy commands to leave thy galley last night, and to return to the citadel ? "
"He had. What then? " —
"And on his return the Persians disappear
chance, truly. But that is not all. Last night, before he returned to the citadel, Gongylus was perceived, alone, in a retired spot on the outskirts of the city. "
" Alone ? " echoed Pausanias.
" Alone. If he had companions, they were not discerned. This spot was out of the path he should have taken. By this spot, on the soft soil, are the marks of hoofs, and in the thicket close by were found these witnesses ; " and Cimon drew from his vest a handful of the pearls only worn by the Eastern captives.
a singular
" There is something in this," said Xanthippus, " which re quires at least examination. May it please you, Pausanias, to summon Gongylus hither ? "
A momentary shade passed over the brow of the conspira tor, but the eyes of the Greeks were on him, and to refuse were as dangerous as to comply. He turned to one of his Spartans, and "ordered him to summon the Eretrian.
You have spoken well, Xanthippus. This matter must be sifted. "
With that, motioning the captains to the seats that were ranged round the walls and before a long table, he cast himself into a large chair at the head of the table, and waited in silent anxiety the entrance of the Eretrian. His whole trust now was in the craft and penetration of his friend. If the courage or the cunning of Gongylus failed him — if but a word be trayed him — Pausanias was lost. He was girt by men who hated him ; and he read in the dark, fierce eyes of the Ionians — whose pride he had so often galled, whose revenge he had so carelessly provoked — the certainty of ruin. One hand hidden within the folds of his robe convulsively clinched the flesh, in the stern agony of his suspense. His calm and composed face nevertheless exhibited to the captains no trace of fear.
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The draperies were again drawn aside, and Gongylus slowly entered.
Habituated to peril of every kind from his earliest youth, the Eretrian was quick to detect its presence. The sight of the silent Greeks, formally seated round the hall, and watching his steps and countenance with eyes whose jealous and vindic tive meaning it required no OSdipus to read ; the grave and half-averted brow of Pausanias ; and the angry excitement that had prevailed amidst the host at the news of the escape of the Persians — all sufficed to apprise him of the nature of the council to which he had been summoned.
Supporting himself on his staff, and dragging his limbs tardily along, he had leisure to examine, though with apparent indifference, the whole group ; and when, with a calm saluta tion, he arrested his steps at the foot of the table immediately facing Pausanias, he darted one glance at the Spartan, so fear less, so bright, so cheering, that Pausanias breathed hard, as if a load were thrown from his breast, and, turning easily toward Cimon, said, —
"Behold your witness. Which of us shall be questioner, and which judge ? "
" That matters but little," returned Cimon. " Before this audience justice must force its way. "
" It rests with you, Pausanias," said Xanthippus, " to acquaint the Governor of Byzantium with the suspicions he has excited. " " Gongylus," said Pausanias, " the captive Barbarians, Aria-
manes and Datis, were placed by me especially under thy vigi lance and guard. Thou knowest that, while (for humanity becomes the victor) I ordered thee to vex them by no undue restraints, I nevertheless commanded thee to consider thy life itself answerable for their durance. They have escaped. The captains of Greece demand of thee, as I demanded — by what means — by what connivance ? Speak the truth, and deem that in falsehood, as well as in treachery, detection is easy and death certain. "
The tone of Pausanias, and his severe look, pleased and reassured all the Greeks, except the wiser Cimon, who, though his suspicions were a little shaken, continued to fix his eyes rather on Pausanias than on the Eretrian.
" Pausanias," replied Gongylus, drawing up his lean frame, as with the dignity of conscious innocence, "that suspicion could fall upon me, I find it difficult to suppose. Raised by
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321
thy favor to the command of Byzantium, what have I to gain by treason or neglect ? These Persians — I knew them well. I had known them in Susa — known them when I served Darius, being then an exile from Eretria. Ye know, my countrymen, that when Darius invaded Greece I left his court and armies, and sought my native land, to fall or to conquer in its cause. Well, then, I knew these Barbarians. I sought them frequently ; partly, it may be, to return to them in their adversity the courtesies shown me in mine. Ye are Greeks : ye will not condemn me for humanity and gratitude. Partly with another motive. I knew that Ariamanes had the greatest influence over Xerxes. I knew that the great king would at
any cost seek to regain the liberty of his friend. I urged upon Ariamanes the wisdom of a peace with the Greeks even on their own terms. I told him that when Xerxes sent to offer the ransom, conditions of peace would avail more than sacks of gold. He listened and approved. Did I wrong in this, Pausanias ? No ; for thou, whose deep sagacity has made thee condescend even to appear half Persian, because thou art all Greek — thou thyself didst sanction my efforts on behalf of Greece. "
Pausanias looked with a silent triumph round the conclave, and Xanthippus nodded approval.
" In order to conciliate them, and with too great confidence in their faith, I relaxed by degrees the rigor of their confine ment ; that was a fault, I own it. Their apartments commu nicated with a court in which I suffered them to walk at will. But I placed there two sentinels in whom I deemed I could repose all trust — not my own countrymen — not Eretrians —
. not thy Spartans or Laconians, Pausanias. No ;
if ever the jealousy (a laudable jealousy) of the Greeks should demand an account of my faith and vigilance, my witnesses should be the countrymen of those who have ever the most suspected me. Those sentinels were, the one a Samian, the other a Plataean. These men have betrayed me and Greece. Last night, on returning hither from the vessel, I visited the Persians. They were about to retire to rest, and I quit them soon, suspecting nothing. This morning they had fled, and with them their abettors, the sentinels. I hastened, first, to send soldiers in search of them ; and, secondly, to inform Pau sanias in his galley. If I have erred, I submit me to your
punishment. Punish my error, but acquit my honesty. " VOL. III. —21
I deemed that
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" And what," said Cimon, abruptly, " led thee far from thy path, between the Heracleid's galley and the citadel, to the fields near the temple of Aphrodite, between the citadel and the bay ? Thy color changes. Mark him, Greeks. Quick ; thine answer. "
The countenance of Gongylus had indeed lost its color and hardihood. The loud tone of Cimon — the effect his confusion produced on the Greeks, some of whom, the Ionians, less self- possessed and dignified than the rest, half rose, with fierce gestures and muttered exclamations — served still more to embarrass and intimidate him. He cast a hasty look on Pausa- nias, who averted his eyes. There was a pause. The Spartan gave himself up for lost ; but how much more was his fear in creased when Gongylus, casting an imploring gaze upon the Greeks, said, hesitatingly, — "
and as he
" Eretrian," said Pausanias, striking his clinched hand on the table, " I know not what tale trembles on thy lips ; but, be it what it may, give it voice, I command thee. "
" Question me no further. I dare not speak ; spoke he pointed to Pausanias.
" It was the dread of thy resentment, Pausanias," said Cimon, coldly, "that withheld his confession. Vouchsafe to reassure him. "
" Thou thyself, thou wert the cause that led me toward the temple of Aphrodite," said Gongylus, in a low voice.
At these words there went forth a general deep-breathed murmur. With one accord every Greek rose to his feet. The Spartan attendants in the rear of Pausanias drew closer to his person ; but there was nothing in their faces — yet more dark and vindictive than those of the other Greeks — that promised protection. Pausanias alone remained seated and unmoved. His imminent danger gave him back all his valor, all his pride, all his passionate and profound disdain. With unbleached cheek, with haughty eyes, he met the gaze of the assembly ; and then waving his hand as if that gesture sufficed to restrain and awe them, he said, —
" In the name of all Greece, whose chief I yet am, whose pro tector I have once been, I command ye to resume your seats, and listen to the Eretrian. Spartans, fall back. Governor of Byzantium, pursue your tale. "
" Yes, Pausanias," resumed Gongylus, " you alone were the
cause that drew me from my rest. I would fain be silent,
but
"
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" Say on ! " cried Pausanias, fiercely, and measuring the space between himself and Gongylus, in doubt whether the Eretrian's head were within reach of his scimeter ; so at least Gongylus interpreted that freezing look of despair and venge ance, and he drew back some paces. "I place myself, O Greeks, under your protection ; it is dangerous to reveal the errors of the great. Know that, as Governor of Byzantium, many things ye wot not of reach my ears. Hence, I guard against dangers while ye sleep. Learn, then, that Pausanias is not without the weakness of his ancestor, Alcides ; he loves a maiden — a Byzantine — Cleonice, the daughter of Diagoras. "
This unexpected announcement, made in so grave a tone, provoked a smile among the gay Ionians ; but an exclamation of jealous anger broke from Antagoras, and a blush, partly of wounded pride, partly of warlike shame, crimsoned the swarthy cheek of Pausanias. Cimon, who was by no means free from the joyous infirmities of youth, relaxed his severe brow, and said after a short pause, —
"Is it, then, among the grave duties of the Governor of Byzantium to watch over the fair Cleonice, or to aid the suit of her illustrious lover ? "
" Not so," answered Gongylus ; " but the life of the Grecian General is dear, at least, to the grateful Governor of Byzantium. Greeks, ye know that among you Pausanias has many foes. Returning last night from his presence, and passing through the thicket, I overheard voices at hand. " I caught the name of Pausanias. ' The Spartan,' said one voice, ' nightly visits the house of Diagoras. He goes usually alone. From the height near the temple we can watch well, for the night is clear ; if he goes alone, we can intercept his way on his return. ' 'To the height ! ' cried the other. I thought to distinguish the voices, but the trees hid the speakers. I followed the footsteps toward the temple, for it behooved me to learn who thus menaced the chief of Greece. But ye know that the wood reaches even to the sacred building, and. the steps gained the temple before I could recognize the men. I concealed myself, as I thought, to watch ; but it seems that I was perceived, for he who saw me, and now accuses, was doubtless one of the assassins. Happy I, if the sight of a witness scared him from the crime. Either fearing detection, or aware that their intent that night was frustrated — for Pausanias, visiting Cleonice earlier than his wont, had already resought his galley — the men retreated as
324 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
they came, unseen, not unheard. I caught their receding steps through the brushwood. Greeks, I have said. Who is my accuser? in him behold the would-be murderer of Pausa- nias ! "
" Liar ! " cried an indignant and loud voice among the captains, and Antagoras stood forth from the circle.
" It is I who saw thee. Darest thou accuse Antagoras of Chios? "
"What at that hour brought Antagoras of Chios to the Temple of Aphrodite ? " retorted Gongylus.
The eyes of the Greeks turned toward the young captain, and there was confusion on his face. But, recovering himself quickly, the Chian answered : " Why should I blush to own it ? Aphrodite is no dishonorable deity to the men of the Ionian Isles. I sought the temple at that hour, as is our wont, to make my offering and record my prayer. "
" Certainly," said Cimon. " We must own that Aphrodite is powerful at Byzantium. Who can acquit Pausanias and blame Antagoras ? "
" Pardon me — one question," said Gongylus. " Is not the female heart which Antagoras would beseech the goddess to soften toward him that of the Cleonice of whom we spoke ? See, he denies it not. Greeks, the Chians are warm lovers, and warm lovers are revengeful rivals. "
This artful speech had its instantaneous effect among the younger and more unthinking loiterers. Those who at once would have disbelieved the imputed guilt of Antagoras upon motives merely political, inclined to a suggestion that ascribed it to the jealousy of a lover. And his character, ardent and fiery, rendered the suspicion yet more plausible. Meanwhile the minds of the audience had been craftily drawn from the grave and main object of the meeting — the flight of the Per sians —and a lighter and livelier curiosity had supplanted the eager and dark resentment which had hitherto animated the circle. Pausanias, with the subtle genius that belonged to him, hastened to seize advantage of the momentary diversion in his favor, and before the Chian could recover from his con sternation, both at the charge and the evident effect it had produced upon a part of the assembly, the Spartan stretched his hand, and spake.
" Greeks, Pausanias listens to no tale of danger to himself. Willingly he believes that Gongylus either misinterpreted the
THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS. 325
intent of some jealous and heated threats, or that the words he overheard were not uttered by Antagoras. Possible is it, too, that others may have sought the temple with less gentle desires than our Chian ally. Let this pass. Unworthy such matters of the councils of bearded men ; too much reference has been made to those follies which our idleness has given birth to. Let no fair Briseis renew strife among chiefs and soldiers. Excuse not thyself, Antagoras ; we dismiss all charge against thee. On the other hand, Gongylus will doubtless seem to you to have accounted for his appearance near the precincts of the temple. And it is but a coincidence, natural enough, that the Persian prisoners should have chosen, later in the night, the same spot for the steeds to await them. The thickness of the wood round the temple, and the direction of the place toward the east, points out the neighborhood as the very one in which the fugitives would appoint the horses. Waste no further time, but provide at once for the pursuit. To you, Cimon, be this case confided. Already have I dispatched fifty light-armed men on fleet Thessalian steeds. You, Cimon, increase the number of the pursuers. The prisoners may be yet recaptured. Doth aught else remain worthy of our ears ? If so, speak ; if not, depart. "
" Pausanias," said Antagoras, firmly, " let Gongylus retract, or not, his charge against me, I retain mine against Gongylus. Wholly false is it that in word or deed I plotted violence against thee, though of much — not as Cleonice's lover, but as Grecian captain — I have good reason to complain. Wholly false is it that I had a comrade. I was alone. And coming out from the temple, where I had hung my chaplet, I perceived Gongylus clearly under the starlit skies. He stood in listening attitude close by the sacred myrtle grove. I hastened toward him, but methinks he saw me not ; he turned slowly, penetrated the wood, and vanished. I gained the spot on the soft sward which the dropping boughs make ever humid. I saw the print of hoofs. Within the thicket I found the pearls that Cimon has displayed to you. Clear, then, is it that this man lies — clear that the Persians must have fled already — although Gon gylus declares that on his return to the citadel he visited them in their prison. Explain this, Eretrian ! "
" He who would speak false witness," answered Gongylus, with a firmness equal to the Chian's, " can find pearls at what soever hour he pleases. Greeks, this man presses me to renew
326 THE CONSPIRACY OF PAUSANIAS.
the charge which Pausanias generously sought to stifle. I have said. And I, Governor of Byzantium, call on the council of the Grecian Leaders to maintain my authority, and protect their own Chief. "
Then arose a vexed and perturbed murmur, most of the Ionians siding with Antagoras, such of the allies as yet clung to the Dorian ascendency grouping round Gongylus.
The persistence of Antagoras had made the dilemma of no slight embarrassment to Pausanias. Something lofty in his original nature urged him to shrink from supporting Gongylus in an accusation which he believed untrue. On the other hand, he could not abandon his accomplice in an effort, as dangerous as it was crafty, to conceal their common guilt.
" Son of Miltiades," he said, after a brief pause, in which his dexterous resolution was formed, " I invoke your aid to ap pease a contest in which I foresee no result but that of schism among ourselves. Antagoras has no witness to support his tale, Gongylus none to support his own. Who shall decide between conflicting testimonies which rest but on the lips of accuser and accused ? Hereafter, if the matter be deemed suf ficiently grave, let us refer the decision to the oracle that never errs. Time and chance meanwhile may favor us in clearing up the darkness we cannot now penetrate. For you, Governor of Byzantium, it behooves me to say that the escape of prisoners intrusted to your charge justifies vigilance, if not suspicion. We shall consult at our leisure whether or not that course suf fices to remove you from the government of Byzantium. Her alds, advance ; our council is dissolved. "
With these words Pausanias rose, and the majesty of his bearing, with the unwonted temper and conciliation of his language, so came in aid of his high office, that no man ven tured a dissentient murmur.
The conclave broke up, and not till its members had gained the outer air did any signs of suspicion or dissatisfaction evince themselves ; but then, gathering in groups, the Ionians with especial jealousy discussed what had passed, and with their native shrewdness ascribed the moderation of Pausanias to his desire to screen Gongylus and avoid further inquisition into the flight of the prisoners.
