_King._ Nay, for that matter, answer thou and speak Without alarm. Palæchthon's son am I, Earth-born, the king of this Pelasgic land; And named from me, their king,[229] as well might be, The race Pelasgic reaps our country's fruits; *And all the land through which the Strymon pours 250 Its pure, clear waters to the West I rule; And as the limits of my realm I mark The land of the Perrhæbi, and the climes Near the Pæonians, on the farther side Of Pindos, and the Dodonæan heights;[230] And the sea's waters form its bounds. O'er all Within these coasts I govern; and this plain, The Apian land, itself has gained its name Long since from one who as a healer lived;[231] For Apis, coming from Naupactian land That lies beyond the straits, Apollo's son, Prophet and healer, frees this land of ours 260 From man-destroying monsters, which the soil, Polluted with the guilt of blood of old, By anger of the Gods, brought forth,—fierce plagues, The dragon-brood's dread, unblest company; And Apis, having for this Argive land Duly wrought out his saving surgery, Gained his reward, remembered in our prayers; And thou, this witness having at my hands, May'st tell thy race at once, and further speak; Yet lengthened speech our city loveth not. _Chor._ Full short and clear our tale. We boast that we Are Argives in descent, the children true 270 Of the fair, fruitful heifer. And all this Will I by what I speak show firm and true. _King._ Nay, strangers, what ye tell is past belief For me to hear, that ye from Argos spring; For ye to Libyan women are most like,[232] And nowise to our native maidens here. Such race might Neilos breed, and Kyprian mould, Like yours, is stamped by skilled artificers On women's features; and I hear that those Of India travel upon camels borne, 280 Swift as the horse, yet trained as sumpter-mules, E'en those who as the Æthiops' neighbours dwell. And had ye borne the bow, I should have guessed, Undoubting, ye were of th' Amâzon's tribe, Man-hating, flesh-devouring. Taught by you, I might the better know how this can be, That your descent and birth from Argos come. _Chor._ They tell of one who bore the temple-keys Of Hera, Io, in this Argive land. _King._ So was't indeed, and wide the fame prevails: And was it said that Zeus a mortal loved? 290 _Chor._ And that embrace was not from Hera hid. _King._ What end had then these strifes of sovereign Ones? _Chor._ The Argive goddess made the maid a heifer. _King._ Did Zeus that fair-horned heifer still approach? _Chor._ So say they, fashioned like a wooing steer. _King._ How acted then the mighty spouse of Zeus? _Chor._ She o'er the heifer set a guard all-seeing. _King._ What herdsman strange, all-seeing, speak'st thou of? _Chor._ Argos, the earth-born, him whom Hermes slew. 300