The Mesode at "Persae" 93-100 Scott, William C Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1968; 9, 3; ProQuest pg. 259 The Mesode at Persae 93-100 William C. Scott I N 1837 K. O. Muller insisted that the meso de at Persae 93-100was out of place.1 He proposed relocating it as an epode after line 114 because he felt that these lines in their traditional position dis­ rupted the sense of the passage. Many commentators have accepted this new location for the mesode; however opinion is far from unanimous.2 The basic problems are these: 1. In line 93 the particle 8' must be appropriately translated. 2. In line 93 the phrase 80Abf-L7J7W a7TClTCCV o€O'u must be given a meaning which conforms with the events of the play and the attitude of the chorus. 3. In line 101 the word yap must be explained. 4. In line 115 the word TCCVTCC must refer to something in the pre­ vious stanzas. 5. Finally, the meaning of the mesode in relation to the surround­ ing passages must be made clear. Dr Broadhead accepts the transposition and interprets the passage in this way: the chorus expresses its confidence in the might of Persia's army and in the spirit of the Persian nation (65-92). Then the chorus explains how the Persians came to possess such might (93-106, his numbers): they were following a divinely appointed destiny in their successive conquests. In the course of their military development they learned to storm walls and overthrow cities and, in addition, 1 Karl O. Muller, "Scholien zu den in diesem Museum Jahrg. IV Hm s.393ff. von Herrn Dr. Dubner herausgegebnen Versen des Tzetzes tiber die verschiedenen Dichtungs­ gattungen," RhM 5 (1837) 369 n.ll. I wish (0 thank Professor H G. Edinger of the Univer­ sity of British Columbia for his useful comments as I was preparing this paper. S Wilamowitz, Broadhead, Murray, Rose and Smyth transfer the passage, while Paley, Groeneboom and Sidgwick retain it in its traditional location. Even though I disagree with H D. Broadhead on this point, I am much indebted throughout this paper to his excellent text and commentary, The Persaeof Aeschy/us(Cambridge 1960), hereafter cited as BROADHEAD. 2-G.R.B.S. 25'9 260 THE MESODE AT PERSAE 93-100 to navigate on the sea and to have trust in the various devices which they developed for the transportation of their army. He continues: "This account of Persian exploits is succeeded by the forebodings of 107-14 (ooA6f-L7J'T£V 0', leTA.), which are given in general terms, to be followed immediately by their application to the present situation and to the peril of the Persian army."3 This interpretation answers the basic questions. The particle 8' (Broadhead, 107) has an adversative meaning; the chorus turns from its account of the strength of Persia to its forebodings in spite of that power. The yap at line 101 (Broadhead, 93) appropriately introduces a strophe which offers proof of the preceding statements about Persia's strength. The word TaVTa (115) refers to the chorus' thoughts of the trap into which a god may lead the great army. The god is characterized as crafty and deceptive because the Persian army and its commanders are too wise to be led into certain defeat. The god will have to lure them, and this prospect distresses the elders of Persia. The difficulty in this interpretation is the loose connection between the account of Persian military excellence and the forebodings of future defeat because of the seductive enticements of the god. Com­ mentators have attempted to cover the abruptness of this shift by saying (with Dr Broadhead) that the chorus finishes one theme and then it turns to another. Both themes-both the greatness and the worry-concern the Persian army; this would be the continuity of the passage. I do not feel, however, that the relocation of the mesode and the accompanying explanation are consistent with the intention of Aeschylus as revealed in the rest of the play. Of primary importance to this study is the precise understanding of the mesode. Scholars who favor the transposition have interpreted it in two ways. Rose gives the sense of the passage as follows: "Once the transposition is made, all is clear, logical and poetically effective: 'God has given Persia the mission of conquest by land; she has ven­ tured also to attempt conquest by sea; has she been deceived into going too far, and is disaster to be the result?' "4 This interpretation depends on the belief that the Persians have exceeded their authority in constructing a navy; the god formerly encouraged them to build 3 Broadhead p.54. 4 H. J. Rose, A Commentary on the Surviving Plays of Aeschylus (Amsterdam 1957) on lines 107ff. WILLIAM C. SCOTT 261 up only their land forces. Such a view requires some personal addi­ tions to, if not modifications of, the text; I feel that Dr Broadhead has already adequately rejected this reading of the mesode.5 The second interpretation presents the god who humbles the pros­ perous: «great indeed have been the achievements of the Persians but long-continued prosperity and success are liable, sooner or later, to be shattered (on the familiar principle that 1nMn <> fleas Ta tJ7T£p/.xovTa 7TCXVTa KOAOV£,v, Hdt. VII, 10, £)."6 This god, who traps all men, seems an unduly harsh and inscrutable divinity. The Persian elders would be implying that all individual striving, all power and all wisdom is useless. No man could live long in prosperity, not even the king of Persia with his fine army. Their special cause for worry at this time would be the opportunity for destruction-wartime and its attendant dangers. Accordingly, they sing that the possibility of willful destruction by Zeus (Taiha) tears their black-clad minds in fear (115f).7 This is not a very inspiring piece of dogma; in fact, it is totally alien to sentiments sung by this chorus in the first part of the play (1-248). It is legitimate to focus on the beginning of the playas a unit because after the messenger announces the defeat of the Greeks, there is no opportunity for free speculation on the possible courses of action which Zeus might take. After line 249 the elders need only accom­ modate Zeus' action within their theology. It is undeniable that this chorus does have a sense of foreboding about the army. In their opening words the elders state that they have come because their hearts prophesy evil (lOf). They are worried because of the risk involved in warfare. At 244 they admit that there is good reason to think that the Greeks could defeat Xerxes; the de- s Broadhead p.54. 6 Broadhead p.58. 7 Broadhead (on line 114) feels difficulty with a theology as stiff and unrelenting as this. He explains that the chorus is making a distinction between a state of mind in which delusion may enter and the consequences of the delusion. A man could escape infatuation, but not unscathed. He attacks the weakness of the repeated words {1po-r6v ..• 8vCt-r6v (98-100) as objectionable and emends the text, which is notoriously unclear in this passage. His arguments do not seem sufficient to me. The plain meaning of the two opening ques­ tions (93-96) and the OUK £UTLY (100) is that no mortal can escape the snares of god. Later in this paper I will attempt to show that 8vCt-ros •.• {3po-rov ... 8vCt-rov are intentionally repeated; see infra n.IO. The religion in this passage is as rigid as I have indicated provided that commentators have understood the general religiOUS sentiments correctly; I feel. however. that there is another interpretation of these lines which is more suited to the play. 262 THE MESODE AT PERSAE 93-100 feat at Marathon still lives in memory. At 59ff the Persian elders admit that the relatives of the men who are gone tremble at the lengthening time. In these passages there are only two reasons offered for the anxiety of the chorus: the risk implicit in warfare and the lack of information. Notice that there is no certainty in their minds that disaster has occurred or even that disaster must occur during this campaign. In fact, destruction of the army by a god is so distant from the elders' minds that when Atossa tells them her gloomy dream, they quickly put her fears to rest. She first reveals her concern in words similar to the mesode (161-64): "Care tears at my heart; I will tell you my thoughts, my friends, which bring me fears, lest great wealth trip prosperity-which Darius collected with a god's aid­ in its own dust." In the terms of the mesode she fears that some god, by enticing Darius to extreme prosperity, is working toward Persia's downfall. This would seem exactly the thought to rouse the chorus to mournful worry if they indeed had such serious religious fore­ bodings about the fate of the army a few lines before. Then the queen relates her dream about the two women whom Xerxes tried to yoke to his chariot. This dream is reinforced by the sight of the eagle pursued by the hawk. Such omens should convince a chorus, which already suspected disaster, that their worst suspicions were about to be fulfilled. Not in the least; they lightly wish these signs away with advice to the queen to pray to avert the omens-if omens they be. This is not a chorus which is morose and moody because it antici­ pates the destruction of the army; the elders have little interest in omens prophesying such a defeat. Rather this is a chorus which has only the customary anxieties afflicting any man when a member of his family has gone to war. They are supremely confident that the war has been well-planned and that the power of Persia is fully capable of winning an impressive victory; the fears of Atossa seem the mere agitation and anxiety of a weak woman. Symptomatic of their attitude is their greeting to the queen as she enters (157-58): You are the wife of the god of the Persians; You are also the mother of a god; Unless the ancient diVinity has now deserted the army. They expect the army to return home in victory. The guardian divin- WILLIAM C. SCOTT 263 ity of the Persians built the army and has always aided it before; they see no reason to assume that his protection has been withdrawn. In view of their continued attitude of unclouded optimism it does not seem that the elders are plagued with forebodings which are as serious as commentators who favor the relocation of the mesode claim. Their characterization is more consistent when the mesode is left in its traditional position: Antistrophe f3: The chorus expresses its confidence in the power of the Persian army. Mesode: They state that there is no mortal who can escape the hand of god. God's method is to lead that mortal into a situation where his destruction is accomplished. The situation may look appealing to him, but in fact the shrewd man could see that there is disaster ahead. Strophe 'Y: Now the chorus explains the general moralizing which it has just proclaimed: "For it is a fate from god that has ruled over us from ancient times and has commanded the Persians" to learn the arts of war. The repetition of the word