--That, answers _Death_, were to make laws in favor of the
rich.--_Apollo_ condescends to ask mercy for his friend as a favor; but
favors, _Death_ sneers, are not in keeping with his manners; and taunts
Apollo with his helplessness to resist fate. The taunt rouses Apollo
to a flash of prophecy (which is one of his attributes), giving (as the
Greek stage loved to do) a glimpse into the end of the story.
_Apollo._ Yet, ruthless as thou art, soon wilt thou cease {67}
This contest; such a man to Pherae's house
Comes. . . . . He, in this house
A welcome guest to Admetus, will by force
Take his wife from thee; and no thanks from me
Will be thy due; yet what I now entreat
Then thou wilt yield, and I shall hate thee still.
Apollo moves away and disappears in the distance [_by Left Side-door_],
while Death, hurling defiance after him, waves his fatal sword and
crosses the threshold. {81}
PARODE, OR CHORUS-ENTRY
_Enter the Orchestra [by the Right Archway, as from the neighborhood]
the Chorus: Old Men of Pherae, come to enquire how it is with the Queen
on the morning of this appointed day of her death.
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