Suppliant Maidens (274-285)

Our tale is brief and clear. Argives

we claim to be by birth, offspring of a cow blest in its children. And the truth of this I shall confirm in full.

Foreign maidens, your tale is beyond my belief—how your race can be from Argos. For you are more similar to the

women of Libya and in no way similar to those native to our land. The Nile, too, might foster such a stock, and like yours is the Cyprian impress stamped upon female images by male craftsmen. And of such aspect, I have heard, are nomad women, who

ride on camels for steeds, having padded saddles, and dwell in a land neighboring the Aethiopians. And had you been armed with the bow, certainly I would have guessed you to be the unwed, flesh-devouring Amazons. But inform me, and I will better comprehend