Where died he? In his palace? Name the spot.

CADMUS.

Where erst Acteon by his hounds was torn.

AGAVE.

But wherefore did the helpless youth ascend Citharon's mount?

Ye were frantic; and all Thebes

With Bacchanalian transports was inspir'd.

AGAVE.

Bacchus hath caus'd our ruin, this at length

I comprehend.

CADMUS.

By you was he insulted;

For him ye deem'd no God.

AGAVE.

But where, my Sire,

Are Pentheus' lov'd remains?

CADMUS.

I with much toil

Have trac'd his body out, and hither bring.

AGAVE

Are these limbs join'd anew? but on my Son What portion of my madness did I wreak?

CADMUS.

Like you, he worship'd not the God, who hence
All in one ruin hath involv'd, both you
And him, that he this miserable house
Might overthrow, and me who destitute

(14) Of Sons, alas, my Daughter, see this youth,
Fruit of your womb, dishonourably slain,

And by unholy hands. To him, my house

Look'd up with eyes of hope. Thou, O my Grandson,

The pillar of these mansions, wert rever'd

By the whole city. No man dar'd t' insult me,
Altho' I was grown old, when he beheld

Thy prowess: for from thee would he have found
The punishment he merited. But now
Shall I the mighty Cadmus with disgrace
Be from these walls expell'd, e'en I who sow'd
The Theban race, and reap'd that glorious harvest.
O most belov'd! altho' thou art no more,

(14) "Here Euripides representing the aged Cadmus without male issue, "violates the received tradition of antient History, and even contradicts "his own express authority in the Phonissæ, where he declares that Cad66 mus by his wife Harmonia had a son whose name was Polydorus. And 66 we learn from Diodorus Siculus, that Polydorus son of Cadmus re"turned to the kingdom of Thebes after the expulsion of his Father, "and that his descendents there reigned in succession, Pausanias "likewise mentions this Polydorus as son of Cadmus, and informs us "that he enjoyed the sovereignty of Thebes, after the migration of "Cadmus to the Illyrians and the Encheleans. We have also the con"curring testimony of Apollodorus in support of this son of Cadmus, "Polydorus, as king of Thebes. Mr. JODRELL.

Still to be number'd with my dearest children.
Touching this chin, no more shalt thou accost
Thy Grandsire with a fond embrace, and say;
"Old man, who injures thee? who dares to vex
"Thy sorrowing heart? O speak, that I may crush
"The author of thy wrongs." But now, one fate,
One direful fate, involves both me, and thee,
Thy wretched mother, and her wretched sisters.
If any impious mortal yet contemns

The Powers celestial, let him view the death
Of Pentheus, to convince him there are Gods.

CHORUS.

For thee I grieve, O Cadmus : tho' the fate
Of thy unhappy Grandson was deserv❜d,
Yet 'tis to thee the source of bitter woe.

BACCHUS, CADMUS, AGAVE, CHORUS.

BACCHUS.

O Father, you behold how I am chang'd. You also, and Harmonia child of Mars Whom you a mortal wedded, must assume The form of Serpents: in a chariot drawn (15). By oxen, as Jove's oracles pronounce,

(15) "Instead of οχον δε мохим the manuscripts of Henry Stephens "have oxov de μox, which Barnes approves of, though extremely "harsh. Reiskius supposes the Moschi to be here meant, a barbarous "nation mentioned by Herodotus and Strabo, where we learn that "they inhabited the regions situated on the banks of the Phasis, and consequently at a great distance from Illyria. There is no need of any alteration, for what obstacle is there to Cadmus and Harmonia "being drawn (at least according to the popular opinion) by oxen har"nessed to their chariot? Nonnus in various passages ascribes such ́ a "vehicle to the Moon; nor was the mother of Cleobis and Biton conveyed in any other manner. Morcover, there was an antient rumour, that Cadmus himself, when he fled into Illyria, rode in a car drawn by oxen. The author of the Etymologicum Magnum, "under the word Bo, Buthoe, calls it a city of Illyria, so named from Cadmus' having founded it when he hasted in a chariot drawn by Oxen from Thebes to the Illyrians."" Dr. MUSGRAVE.

1

You and your Consort borne sublime, shall rule
Barbarian tribes, and with unnumber'd troops
Lay many cities waste, but after plundering
Apollo's temple, shall the host return
With evil auspices: yet Mars will save
You and Harmonia, both thenceforth ordain'd
To live amid the islands of the blest.

I, Bacchus, from no human Father sprung,"
But from immortal Jove, to you announce
These fortunes. If ye earlier could have learn'd
That wisdom which your stubboin hearts rejected,
Much bliss had been your portion, while your walls
Contain'd Jove's son, their guardian.

CADMUS.

We implore

Thy mercy; we, O Bacchus, have transgress'd.

BACCHUS.

Too late, my power divine have ye acknowledg'd; For at the season when 'twas most important

Thy doom, alas! old man, is wretched exile.

CADMUS.

My Daughter, in what dreadful woes involv'd Are we, and you, and your beloved Sisters!

I too, an aged sojourner, must go

To those Barbarian tribes; Heaven's oracles
Moreover have ordain'd I shall invade

My bleeding country with a foreign host,
And, chang'd into a Dragon's scaly form,
Harmonia, sprung from Mars, my Consort lead,
Who shall the same ferocious shape assume,
To these polluted altars and the tombs

Of slaughter'd Greeks, when to the field I bring
That unrelenting phalanx. But my woes
Shall never end, nor can I steer my bark
Down to the tranquil shores of Acheron.

AGAVE.

But I, my Father, when of thee bereft, From Thebes myself will banish.

CADMUS.

O my Daughter, Why thus with trembling arms around me cling, As the young swan to its decrepid sire?

AGAVE.

Ah! whither turn, an outcast from my country?

CADMUS.

I know not, O my Daughter: small relief Can your poor Sire afford.

AGAVE.

Farewell, thou palace;

Farewell, my native city, thee I leave

A hapless exile from my bridal chamber.