From folding thee unto my mother-breast.
Unbind thy brow, and from thy warlike head
Thy helm remove and let me see thy face.
Why dost thou turn away, and fix thine eyes
With timid gaze upon thy brother's band?
I'll throw my arms about thee for a shield,475
That through my body only may the sword
Find passage to thy blood. Why hesitate?
Can it be that thou dost fear thy mother's pledge?
Polynices: I fear; for nature's laws no longer hold.