A square with a rostrum in the middle. To one side in the foreground the portico of a temple is seen with statues of gods, garlands and an altar. Eve, as Lucia, the wife of Miltiades, commander of the army, enters with Cimon, her son. They approach the temple accompanied by a few servants bearing objects to be presented for sacrifice. There is a shabby-looking crowd standing idle in the square. A sunny morning.
EVE
Come! Look, Cimon! That’s where your father went
the day his speedy warships took to sea
with sails set square against that paltry island
whose uncouth tribes in their audacity
threatened the freedom of this land of ours.
Let’s make our offerings and ask the gods
to look benignly on our country’s cause
and bring your valiant father safely home.
CIMON
But why should father want to sail abroad
and risk his life for these revolting people?
He’s bound to know you’re worried sick at home.
EVE
No, no, my dear! You mustn’t judge your father.
Unfilial acts provoke the wrath of gods.
For it’s the loving wife’s prerogative
to mourn her husband’s daring enterprises.
It would have been improper not to do so:
your father acted as befits a man.
CIMON
Aren’t you afraid that he might lose the battle?
EVE
Your father is a hero - bound to win.
His only foe I may have cause to fear
is that within himself.
CIMON
And what is that?
EVE
That strong persuasive agent in the soul
we call - Ambition. Dormant in the slave,
for lack of scope perhaps reduced to crime,
when nursed by freedom, given free expression
in moderation, it becomes a virtue,
the source of great things, noble, beautiful;
but in excess - it is a parasite,
and freedom or itself must bleed to death.
So, should ambition prove the better of him
and make your father turn against his country,
I’d curse the traitor. Now, let’s pray for him.
They enter the portico. Meanwhile more people gather in the square.
1ST MAN
There’s no excitement, news or anything.
You’d think the army’s got no one to fight.
2ND MAN
The place is dead, not like in days, remember,
when folk had, what d’you call them, propositions
to put before us, and to - ratify them
the sovereign people’s throat was called upon.
I’ve walked and hawked about the ruddy place,
and not a customer to buy my vote.
1ST MAN
A boring life! I’m tired of doing nothing.
3RD MAN
I wouldn’t mind creating some disturbance.
Meanwhile Eve has lit the fire on the altar, washed her hands and prepared the sacrifice to be offered. Her maidservants chant “Praise Aphrodite!” every now and again throughout the ensuing scene. The square by now is filled with people. Two demagogues are fighting for the rostrum.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Give way! This stand is mine. The land’s imperilled
if I don’t speak.
[approving cheer among the crowd]
2ND DEMAGOGUE
You mean the land’s in peril
if you’re allowed to speak? Get off, you hireling!
[laughter and applause among the crowd]
1ST DEMAGOGUE
You’re not a hireling, eh? Not worth the hire!
My countrymen! With painful resolution
I come to raise my voice against a great man,
for so I must, although it breaks my heart:
from his triumphal chariot I must drag him
before your seat of judgement.
2ND DEMAGOGUE
Hear the rascal?
He decks with flowers the sacrificial beast
before he slaughters it.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Take him away!
CROWD
Who wants to listen to that sneering bastard?
[They pull the 2nd Demagogue off the rostrum.]
1ST DEMAGOGUE
It is, I say, with heavy heart I speak,
and yet I must in duty, sovereign people,
defer to you - before your general.
2ND DEMAGOGUE
To this, this famished, mercenary rabble
which hangs about for scraps like hungry dogs
under their masters’ tables? O, you wheedler!
Your preference, not mine: to each his own.
CROWD
Another traitor! Get him! Pull him down!
The crowd treat the 2nd Demagogue roughly while Eve presents a sacrifice of two doves and some incense at the altar.
EVE
O, sacred Aphrodite, breathe benignly
the scent of sacrifice and hear my prayer:
it’s not a crown of laurel I request,
but safe return for him to love and rest.
In the smoke of the sacrifice Eros appears smiling, while the three Graces of Aphrodite surround him, showering him with rose petals. The worshippers stand in silent meditation.
MAIDSERVANTS
O, Goddess, hear her prayer!
EROS
Receive her blessing,
woman of guileless heart.
THE GRACES
And her protection
from her Three Graces too.
MAIDSERVANTS
Praise Aphrodite!
1ST DEMAGOGUE
My countrymen! I charge Miltiades
with treason!
2ND DEMAGOGUE
It’s a lie! A monstrous lie!
Now, listen to me.’ You may be ashamed
and have regrets too late…
CROWD
Pull down the bastard!
Pulled from the rostrum, the 2nd Demagogue is lost among the crowd.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Our flower of young men under his command
had taken Lemnos with a single stroke:
at Paros now he falters… Why? He’s bribed!
3RD MAN
Traitor! Put him to death!
1ST CITIZEN
Give tongue, you dogs,
or get your baggage off my property.
The act of worship concluded, the Deities vanish. Eve is suddenly aware of the noise outside.
EVE
What’s that commotion there? Let’s go and see.
CIMON
Mother, some traitor’s been condemned to death.
EVE
[from the top of the stairs leading to the portico]
How much I hate to see the hungry mob
pass judgement on its betters with a vengeance:
another great name dragged into the mire
and scoffed at by the gloating populace,
as if their act could vindicate their baseness.
2ND MAN
My throat is hoarse, Sir, but I think I’ll manage
to raise a shout.
2ND CITIZEN
Here’s something for your throat.
2ND MAN
But what am I to shout
2ND CITIZEN
“Put him to death!”
CROWD
Kill him! Put him to death!
EVE
Who’s the accused?
2ND DEMAGOGUE
[coming up the stairs]
Who else but he who’s head and shoulder high
above this rabble? They won’t stand for that.
EVE
You mean Miltiades? O, mighty gods!
You, Crispos, there! My husband made you a freeman,
and you would want to see him put to death?
CRISPOS
I’m sorry, Lady. It’s his life or mine.
That’s how it lies. I’ve got a wife and children,
and this man’s bought my vote.
EVE
I pity you,
being so debased by fate, you cannot help it,
and your excuse, perhaps, is that you starve.
But what of you, Thersites, you and you?
You live in plenty now, you can relax:
Miltiades has purged the enemy
mobbing your gates? Is this your gratitude?
THERSITES
I must admit, Madam, we do not like this.
What’s to be done? Such is the people’s mood…
No one’s prepared to risk his property
in rash defiance of that raging torrent.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Let me pronounce the judgement of the people!
Lucifer, as a soldier, rushes in with a terrified expression on his face.
LUCIFER
Disastrous news! The foe is at the gates!
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Impossible! Our valiant general
will surely bar its way.
LUCIFER
He is the foe.
For he had word of your conspiracy
outraged with indignation as he was,
and while you spoke he’s come with fire and sword.
2ND DEMAGOGUE
And this is all your doing, renegades!
CROWD
Bash out their brains! Long live Miltiades!
He’ll make us pay for this. Let’s run for it!
We’re done for!
1ST DEMAGOGUE
No, we’re not. He’s at the gates.
Pay homage to him there!
EVE
Immortal gods!
A grievous loss to have him put to death
condemned a traitor, but it grieves me more
to have him prove the charges, though he lives.
1ST MAN
Hey! Get his wife and child! They’ll die together
if city folk should come to harm for this.
EVE
I’ll gladly give my life to help my husband,
but let my country’s anger spare my son.
CIMON
No time to worry about me: come along!
We should be well protected in the shrine.
They escape from their pursuers by retreating into the temple. Immediately, two nymphs drop a garland of roses between them and the mob which promptly withdraws. At the sound of trumpets the crowd runs in terror. The nymphs vanish. Lucifer enters gleefully rubbing his hands. He addresses the audience.
LUCIFER
A timely joke. - This underlines the notion
that intellect can overreach emotion.
[indicating the temple]
I wish the cult of these perennial beauties
weren’t interfering though, left out of sight.
It’s alien to me, this - mystery
which makes propriety out of nakedness,
virtue of sin and bliss of destiny,
what with rose garlands, naive utterances
from lips which one would rather kiss than hear…
O, let my kingdom come, my world to be,
that of perverted shapes and dubious terrors,
I’ll shatter all this trash, this make-believe,
which can incite Man on the point of falling
to rise again and fight the losing battle.
Yet we shall see one day, as see we must,
when face to face that monster Death is met,
will he not spoil and terminate for ever
this tedious dumb-show in silhouette?
Lucifer disappears among the crowd. Adam, as Miltiades, is led in, badly wounded, followed by armed troops, the crowd and the demagogues grovelling before him with gestures of supplication.
CROWD
Long live our leader! Valiant man, have mercy!
ADAM
What have you done? Why should you beg for mercy?
Does the body implore its weaker member?
And where’s my wife to greet me, and my son?
I hope they haven’t come to any harm.
EVE
Miltiades, you come in such a manner
that your own wife can’t welcome your return.
Cimon, your hand! I’m fainting! There’s your father
who can’t leave you an honourable name!
ADAM
I can’t see this. The people beg for mercy;
my wife denounces me; my wounds are bleeding…
EVE
This country bleeds! My heart bleeds even more
to see you come in front of troops in arms.
ADAM
My men here? I’m entitled to an escort.
I’ve come because I’ve been severely wounded
and can’t perform my duties any longer.
I’ve come to give account to them who sent me
and to return the same authority
invested in me by the sovereign people.
My fellow warriors, you are discharged!
You well deserve your rest and homely comforts.
And this, my sword, I dedicate to you,
Pallas Athene, and place it on your altar.
He is led up the stairs into the portico. The soldiers disperse. Eve throws her arms around him.
EVE
Is there a woman happier than I?
Miltiades, you great and noble man!
Look at your son! He’s not unlike you, is he?
He’ll be as tall and handsome.
ADAM
O, my darlings!
CIMON
I knew, didn’t I? Whatever father does,
is excellently done.
EVE
Don’t make me blush.
It is his loving wife who should have known it.
ADAM
[to Cimon]
Here, take my sword! Present it at the altar.
CIMON
[ceremonially laying the sword on the altar]
Goddess, Pallas Athene, guard this sword
until the time I come to take it up!
EVE
Now let your mother solemnize this act
and burn some incense. Hail, Pallas Athene!
While Eve makes an offering of incense, the 1st Demagogue occupies the rostrum.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
I’ve told you, haven’t I? He is a traitor.
I’m sure Darius bribed him. All those wounds
are just for show. He doesn’t want to fight.
CROWN
Put him to death!
ADAM
What’s all this noise about?
EVE
A baleful noise, Miltiades. I’m frightened.
The populace believes that you’re a traitor.
ADAM
A traitor? I - who won at Marathon?
This is absurd!
EVE
Absurd it is, indeed,
but it’s a foul and wicked world you find here.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Come on! You’ll get him now!
The mob presses towards the portico. Lucifer is among them.
EVE
Miltiades! Don’t go outside! It’s safer in the shrine.
Alas, that you’ve disbanded all your men.
Why didn’t you set on fire this den of thieves?
This mob deserves nothing but whips and chains.
They sense it that you’re born to be their master,
that you’re above them all, all put together,
so they must kill you lest they kiss your feet.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Hear that? Hear what the traitor’s wife is saying?
Listen!
EVE
It is the wife’s prerogative
to stand up for her husband, though he’s guilty,
then how much more I owe to one that’s blameless,
wrongly accused by scoundrels such as you.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
How can the sovereign people tolerate
this insolence?
1ST MAN
Suppose she could be right.
1ST CITIZEN
You dare speak up for these? You must be guilty.
Now, raise a shout, you scum, or starve to death!
CROWD
Kill him! Put him to death!
ADAM
Dear, let me go!
Look to the boy: don’t let him see me die.
The lightning is about to strike the crag;
you must avoid its aim. I’ve done with life.
No point in struggling, in sustaining freedom,
and watching it turned into mockery.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
What are you waiting for?
CROWD
Put him to death!
ADAM
I still can’t bring myself to curse the people,
for they are what they are - a mob by nature,
and destitution’s marked them out to serve,
to be the bloody instrument of terror
that’s managed by a few conspirators.
I curse my madness - to have ever thought
that masses could appreciate their freedom.
LUCIFER
[to the audience]
This pithy epitaph shall complement
the script on many a leader’s monument.
ADAM
I will not seek the shelter of this shrine.
You, help me down!
He puts Eve gently into the hands of her maidservants and has himself led down the steps.
Do as you like. I’m ready.
2ND DEMAGOGUE
No, don’t give in! Speak up! Defend yourself!
ADAM
No! No! These very wounds would gape with pain
if I should speak in my defence.
2ND DEMAGOGUE
You must!
This rabble kissed the dust before your feet…
ADAM
They did - and that no speech can abrogate:
the people won’t forgive the shame of it.
LUCIFER
Well, have you sobered up?
ADAM
I have, indeed.
LUCIFER
And don’t you think you were a nobler master
to this riff-raff than they have been to you?
ADAM
Perhaps. But - it’s confounded either way:
try this or that, you can’t escape your fate.
No use trying to fight it. What’s the point?
Enough’s enough. Why should a man aspire
to strive towards some goal beyond his reach?
But let him be sufficient to himself
and let him glut his fleeting Life with pleasure -
and stagger drunk towards his dismal Hades.
Lead on to that experience, Lucifer!
So I can laugh at other people’s virtues,
or agonies, and revel in delights.
And you, woman, I seem to recollect now,
you built a cooling shelter in the wasteland;
if you bring up my son esteeming virtue
desirable, acting the worthy matron,
you’ll be a fool, the laughing stock of whores
with painted faces and their lewd attire
waiting outside the brothel for the guest…
Enjoy yourself! Have fun! Confound all virtues!
Now, to the place of death to make amends
for no base deeds that I could be accused of,
but guilty of entertaining noble thoughts.
An executioner’s block is placed at the foot of the stairs, Lucifer standing by with an axe. Adam leans over the block.
1ST DEMAGOGUE
Long live the state! Perform the execution!
LUCIFER
[in a whisper]
A fine leave-taking this, my valiant Sir?
Well, doesn’t it make you cold about the neck
to face the eerie blast of phantom death?
EVE
You couldn’t have heard my prayers, Pallas Athene.
The Spirit of Death, in the shape of a youth with a mild, compassionate expression, appears from the temple and approaches Adam with a wreath and a torch turned upside down.
ADAM
The Goddess heard you, Lucia. Farewell!
A sense of comfort wells up in my heart.
LUCIFER
Curse these unseasonable fantasies -
intruding on my moments of delight!
EVE
May you be cursed, you soulless, common rout,
who violently wrecked my happiness,
its tender flower compounded with the dust.
Your freedom never was so dear to you,
as painful to me - to this bitter end.