THE. Dear children, 'twas your father's spoken will That no man should approach his resting-place, Nor human voice should ever violate The mystery of the tomb wherein he lies. He promised, if I truly kept this word, My land would evermore be free from harm. The power which no man may transgress and live, The oath of Zeus, bore witness to our troth. ANT. His wishes are enough. Then, pray thee, send An escort to convey us to our home, Primeval Thebes, if so we may prevent The death that menaces our brethren there. THE. That will I; and in all that I may do To prosper you and solace him beneath,-- Who even now passes to eternity,-- I must not falter. Come, lament no more. His destiny hath found a perfect end. * * * * * NOTES SOME PROPER NAMES AIDONEUS, Hades or Pluto. ARES, The War-God, a destructive Power. DEO, Demeter. ERINYES, the Furies. HELIOS, The Sun-God. RHEA, the Mother of the Gods. THEBE, the town of Thebes personified. ANTIGONE. 1 P. 6, l. 126. _The serpent._ The dragon, the emblem of Thebes. 2 l. 130. _Idly caparisoned._ Reading [Greek: huperopliais]. 3 P. 7, l. 140. _Self-harnessed helper._ An allusion to the [Greek: seiraphoros], or side trace-horse, in a chariot-race. 4 P. 13, l. 342. _Children of the steed._ Mules are so-called by Homer. 5 P. 30, l. 955. _Dryas' hasty son._ Lycurgus. See Homer, _Iliad_, vi. 6 l. 971. _Phineus' two sons._ Idothea, the second wife of Phineus, persecuted his two sons by Cleopatra, a daughter of Boreas, whom he had repudiated and immured. The Argonauts saw them in the condition here described. 7 P. 34, l. 1120. _The all-gathering bosom wide._ The plain of Eleusis, where mysteries were held in honour of Deo or Demeter. 8 P. 39, l. 1301. Reading [Greek: *oxuthekto ... peri*xiphei]. 9 l. 1303. _The glorious bed of buried Megareus._ Megareus, son of Creon and Eurydice, sacrificed himself for Thebes by falling into a deep cave called the Dragon's Lair. AIAS. 1 P. 48, l. 172. _Her blood-stained temple._ In some of her temples Artemis was worshipped with sacrifices of bulls, and, according to an old tradition, also with human sacrifices. 2 P. 49. l. 190. _The brood of Sisyphus._ Amongst his enemies, Odysseus was reputed to be the offspring of Sisyphus and not of Laertes. 3 P. 59, l. 574. _Named of the shield._ Eurysakes means Broadshield. 4 P. 71, l. 1011. _Who smiles no more._ Compare a fragment of the _Teucer_ of Sophocles (519, Nauck), 'How vain then, O my son, How vain was my delight in thy proud fame, While I supposed thee living! The fell Fury From her dark shroud beguiled me with sweet lies.' KING OEDIPUS. 1 P. 86, l. 36. _That stern songstress._ The Sphinx. See also 'minstrel hound.'