“And is this all the message, Callias?”
“The voice of Glaucon the Fortunate,” cried many, finding relief in words. “He is a friend to the ambassador. There is a further prophecy.”
The envoy, who had made his theatrical pause too long, continued:—
“Such, men of Athens, was the answer; and we went forth in dire tribulation. Then a certain noble Delphian, Timon by name, bade us take the olive branches and return to the [pg 68]Pythoness, saying, ‘O King Apollo, reverence these boughs of supplication, and deliver a more comfortable answer concerning our dear country. Else we will not leave thy sanctuary, but stay here until we die.’ Whereat the priestess gave us a second answer, gloomy and riddling, yet not so evil as the first.”
Again Callias recited his lines of doom, “that Athena had vainly prayed to Zeus in behalf of her city, and that it was fated the foe should overrun all Attica, yet
“ ‘Safe shall the wooden wall continue for thee and thy children;
Wait not the tramp of the horse, nor the footmen mightily moving
Over the land, but turn your back to the foe, and retire ye.
Yet a day shall arrive when ye shall meet him in battle.
Oh, holy Salamis, thou shalt destroy the offspring of women