Greek Lyric Tragedy in Dramas of Swinburne 19 
her this because she first had wounded the beast. From this 
point the plot moves rapidly to the end. Althaea after wrestling 
against the gods yields to the curse that is upon Meleager. She 
forebodes the fate of her son when promising fit burial for her 
brothers.® 
But ye now, sons of Thestius, make good cheer, 
For ye shall have such wood to funeral fire 
As no king hath; and flame that once burnt down 
Oil shall not quicken or breath relume or wine 
Refresh again; much costlier than fine gold, 
And more than many lives of wandering men. 
The spectators see the final working out of the curse when the 
dying Meleager is brought home by his father. It is clear then 
that Althaea had taken the brand that measured her son’s life 
and had made of it a funeral fire for her brothers. 
In much the same way the plot of Erechtheus is developed. 
In a prayer to earth Erechtheus tells how Poseidon is angry at 
Athens because he had been beaten in a contest with Athena for 
its possession. The god had hurled the force of his waves 
against Athens from the sea, and from the land besieged it with 
the forces of his Thracian son Eumolpus. An oracle has told 
Erechtheus that the anger of the god can be appeased only by 
the sacrifice of one of his daughters. This situation is developed 
through scenes where this news is broken first to the queen and 
next to Chthonia, Erechtheus’ daughter. The maiden offers her- 
self as a sacrifice to save her city. The account of her death, 
and of the final struggle between the Athenian and Thracian 
forces is described by messengers. The Athenians have been 
victorious, but Erechtheus has been slain by a thunder-bolt. The 
Athenians, however, have not been deserted by the gods. Athena, 
like the deus ex machina of Euripides,®® appears and consoles the 
forlorn queen and her people by promising great glory to her city. 
The limits of this paper will not allow discussion of the 
68 [bid., p. 304. 
69 Cf. Euripides’ Electra, ll. 1238-1356. 
359 
