Chorus
Oh, oh! At them, at them! Strike them, strike them! Who goes there? Look; I mean that man. There are the thieves who in the gloom disturbed this army. Come here, here, everyone! I have them, I have clutched them fast. What is your company? Where did you come from? Who are you?
Odysseus It is not for you to know; for you will die today for your villainy.
Chorus Will you not declare the password, before my sword finds its way to your heart?
Odysseus Halt! Be of good heart.
Chorus Come near. Strike, everyone!
Odysseus What! have you slain Rhesus?
Chorus No, but you, who came to slay us—
Odysseus Stay, every man of you!
Chorus No, no, lay on!
Odysseus Ah! do not slay a friend!
Chorus What is the password, then?
Odysseus Phoebus.
Chorus Right! every man hold back his spear! Do you know where the men have gone?
Odysseus Somewhere here I caught a sight of them.
Chorus Close on their track each man of you! Or should we shout for aid? No, it would be strange conduct to disturb our friends with wild alarms by night.
Chorus
Who was that man who slipped away? Who was he that will loudly boast his daring in escaping me? How shall I catch him now? To whom shall I liken him, the man who came by night with fearless step passing through our ranks and the guard we set? Is he a Thessalian or a dweller in some seacoast town of Locris? Or does he make his living among the islands scattered in the sea? Who was he? Where from? What is his fatherland? What god does he avow as lord of all the rest? Whose work is this? is it the deed of Odysseus? If one may conjecture from his former acts, of course it is. Do you think so really? Why, of course. He is a bold foe for us. What strength? Whom are you praising? Odysseus. Do not praise the crafty weapons that a robber uses.
Chorus
Once before he came into this city, with swimming bleary eyes, clad in rags and tatters, his sword hidden in his cloak. And like some vagrant menial he slunk about begging his living, his head rough and dirty; and he spoke bitterly of the royal house of the Atreidae—as though he were really opposed to those chiefs! Would, oh! would he had perished, as was his due, before he set foot on Phrygia’s soil! Whether it was really Odysseus or not, I am afraid; for Hector will blame us sentinels. What can he allege? He will suspect. What have we done? Why are you afraid? They got past us— Well, who? The ones who came this night to the Phrygian army.
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