PERSONS:
| Laodice, a Queen of the Seleucid House in Asia. |
| Danaë, Mysta, Rhodogune, Barsine, and other Waiting-Women. |
| Three Women-Musicians. |
| Sophron, Seleucid Governor of Ephesus. |
In Smyrna. B.C. 246.
LAODICE AND DANAË
Behind the curtain a woman sings to the accompaniment of a harp and a bell.
I WILL sing of the women who have borne rule,
The severe, the swift, the beautiful;
I will praise their loftiness of mind
That made them too wise to be true or kind;
I will sing of their calm injustice loved
For the pride it fed and the power it proved.
The curtain rises.