Cadmus of Tyre came to this land, and at his feet a four-footed,untamed heifer threw itself down, fulfilling an oracle, where the god’s prophecy told him to make his home in the plains rich with wheat,and where the lovely waters of Dirce pour over the fields, the green and deep-seeded fields; here Bromius’ mother gave birthfrom her union with Zeus; Bromius, round whom the ivy twined its wreaths while he was still a baby, covering him and blessing him in the shades of its green foliage,a Bacchic dance for the maids and wives inspired in Thebes.

ChorusThere was Ares’ murderous dragon, a savage guard,watching with wandering eye the watery rivers and fresh streams. Cadmus destroyed it with a jagged stone, when he came there to draw lustral water; smiting the deadly headwith a blow of his beast-slaying arm; and by the counsel of PalIas, the motherless goddess, he cast the teeth upon the deep fields to fall to the earth,from which the earth brought forth a sight fully-armed, above the surface of the soil; but grim slaughter once again united them to the earth they loved, bedewing with blood the ground that hadshown them to the sunlit breath of heaven.

ChorusAnd you, Epaphus, born from Io, our first mother, and child of Zeus: you I summon in foreign cry,oh! in foreign prayers: come, come to this land; your descendants settled here; and the goddesses of twofold name, Persephone and the kindlygoddess Demeter the queen of all, Earth the nurse of all, won it for themselves; send to the help of this land those torch-bearing goddesses; for to gods all things are easy.

Eteoclesto an attendant Go, bring Creon, son of Menoeceus, the brother of Jocasta my mother; tell him I want to consult with him on matters public and private, before we set out to battle and the arrangement of the army.But he is here, saving you the trouble; I see him on his way to my house.CreonI have been everywhere, lord Eteocles, in my desire to see you, and have gone all round the gates and sentinels of Thebes hunting for you.EteoclesAnd I wanted to see you, Creon; for I found the terms of peace far from satisfactory, when I came to confer with Polyneices.CreonI hear that he has wider aims than Thebes, relying on his alliance with Adrastus and his army. But we must leave this dependent on the gods;I have come to tell you our chief obstacle.EteoclesWhat is that? I do not understand what you say.CreonSomeone has come who was captured from the Argives.EteoclesWhat news does he bring from there?CreonHe says the Argive army intend at once to wind about the city of Thebes and its towers, with their army.EteoclesIn that case the city of Cadmus must lead out its army.CreonWhere? Are you so young that your eyes do not see what they should?EteoclesAcross those trenches, to fight at once.CreonOur forces are small, while theirs are plentiful.EteoclesI know well they are brave in argument.CreonArgos has some weight among the Hellenes.EteoclesNever fear! I will soon fill the plain with their dead.