The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 5 i 



Trust wholly his word, when the thronging nations 

 Bowed at the throne where he sang fate's doom." 



This theme is peculiarly in harmony with the plot of the play 

 which turns on Apollo's oracle being proved right in the end, and 

 Iphigenia's dream wrong. The choral ode vv. 1234 ff. celebrates 

 the institution of that oracle, and the abolition of the ancient 

 dream-6racles. The ode closes with a glorification of " Apollo's 

 clear prophetic song " in contrast with " the divination of dark- 

 ness " at Delphi : 



IT. 1251-58: 



eKaves, & €>oI/3e, fxav- 



reiuv d' eire/Sas f aj^ewj", k. t. X. 



" Thou, Phcebus, didst slay him, didst take for thine 

 The oracle's lordship, the right divine, 

 And still on the tripod of gold are keeping 



Thy session, dispensing to us, to the race 

 Of men, revelation of heaven's design, 

 From thy throne of truth, from the secret shrine, 

 By the streams through Castaly's cleft up-sweeping. 



Where the heart of the world is thy dwelling-place." 



II. The Troades 



The " Troades " is a vivid picture of the miseries endured by 

 noble Trojan dames — Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra — imme- 

 diately after the capture of Troy. Measured by the usage of the 

 stage the piece is not a perfect play, but it is full of tragic scenes, 

 — less a drama than a pathetic spectacle. The concluding scene, 

 where the captive women, allotted as slaves to different masters, 

 leave Troy in flames behind them, and are led towards the ships, 

 is truly grand. Euripides produced the " Troades " when the 

 great fleet of the Athenians was getting ready to sail for the con- 

 quering of Sicily (415), as though he were foreboding this fatal 

 expedition that brought Athens to her doom. Murray, therefore, 

 calls the " Troades " " the work rather of a prophet than a mere 

 artist," and we may add : the work of a prophet whose words are 

 life and truth in our days as well as in the days of Euripides. 

 Never can a great tragedy seem more real to us, than the " Tro- 



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