Greek Lyric Tragedy in Dramas of Swinburne 3 
the north, when the north wind stole away his daughter Oreithia. 
Now another child must be given to appease the sea. 
The next ode is a lament for Erechtheus’ daughter, Chthonia, 
whose sacrifice® is imagined in this ode. Its burden is grief and 
death. 
When Chthonia says farewell and goes forth to die, the chorus 
extols the maiden’s great love for her country. This leads to a 
hymn to mother earth, for whose sake Chthonia is to die. The 
last choral ode of this play follows the report that Chthonia’s 
sisters in remorse have slain themselves. This song is full of 
fear, foreboding, and horror of war.® At last the chorus appeals 
to the sun. His light appearing through the clouds gives them 
hope. 
In Atalanta in Calydon, the themes of the chorus are not re- 
lated so closely to the plot of the play, but are suggested by the 
situations. The first song, a hymn to Artemis, is on “ The Youth 
of the Year.” This is one of the most beautiful passages in the 
drama and is a part most commonly quoted.” 
When the hounds of spring are on winter’s traces, 
The mother of months in meadow or plain 
Fills the shadows and windy places 
With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain; 
And the brown bright nightingale amorous 
Is half assuaged for Itylus, 
For the foreign ships and foreign faces, 
The tongueless vigil, and all the pain.§ 
Another chorus® is on “ The Life of Man.” This was a theme’? 
familiar to the Greek tragedians, as is also that of the next 
chorus," “Love and Love’s Mates.”!? “The Injustice of the 
5 Cf. ibid., ll. 40-263. 
6 Cf. ibid., Seven against Thebes, 1\. 286-306. 
7 Atalanta in Calydon, p. 249. 
8 Cf. Euripides, Medea, 11. 824-842. 
9 Atalanta in Calydon, p. 258. 
10 Cf. Sophocles, Antigone, ll. 335-388. 
11 Atalanta in Calydon, p. 273. 
12 Cf. Sophocles, Antigone, ll. 781-788. 
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