 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Livia Drusilla 1st century AD marble Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Herodotus 2nd century AD marble Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Alexander the Great AD 150-175 marble Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Goddess 2nd century AD marble Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
-Museumslandschaft-Hessen-Kassel.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Youth AD 140-160 marble Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Silenus 2nd century AD marble Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
-early-1st-century-AD-marble-Mus%C3%A9e-d'Art-Classique-de-Mougins.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Augustus early 1st century AD marble (colossal statue fragment, excavated in Gaul) Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Diadumenos AD 120-130 marble Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel |
-Museumslandschaft-Hessen-Kassel.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Doryphoros AD 100-120 marble Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Venus AD 160-180 marble Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Julius Caesar 60-30 BC marble Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden |
-AD-110-marble-Antikensammlung-Staatliche-Museen-zu-Berlin.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Warrior AD 110 marble (frieze fragment) Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
-1st-century-AD-marble-(copy-of-Greek-portrait-head-3rd-century-BC)-Ny-Carlsberg-Glyptotek-Copenhagen.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Pyrrhus, King of Epirus 1st century AD marble (copy of 3rd century BC portrait head) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen |
-Antikensammlung-Staatliche-Museen-zu-Berlin.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Pericles AD 50 marble (in archaic style) Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
-AD-175-200-marble-Mus%C3%A9e-d'Art-Classique-de-Mougins.jpg) |
| Ancient Roman Culture Clodius Albinus AD 175-200 marble (colossal statue fragment) Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins |
 |
| Ancient Roman Culture Germanicus AD 20 marble Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen |
Pelasgus: I see this company, shaded by fresh-plucked boughs, supplicating in the name of these Assembled Gods. May the business of these citizen-strangers not prove ruinous, and may this event, never expected or planned for, not bring strife to the community: the city doesn't need that!
Chorus: May the Right that protects suppliants, servant of Zeus Klarios,
indeed see that our flight does not prove ruinous!
But, old and wise as you are, learn from one later born:
if you respect one who turns to you for succour, you will not
ever have a life of want:
the gods are disposed to accept the offerings
of a man pure of stain.
Pelasgus: You are not sitting at the hearth of my house. If the city as a whole is threatened with pollution, it must be the concern of the people as a whole to work out a cure, I cannot make a binding promise beforehand, but only after making this matter known to the whole citizen body.
Chorus: You are the city, I tell you, you are the people!
A head of state, not subject to judgement,
you control the altar, the hearth of the city,
by your vote and nod alone;
with your sceptre alone, on your throne, you determine
every matter. Guard against pollution!
Pelasgus: As for pollution, may it befall my enemies! But I cannot aid you without causing harm; yet it is also not wise to disregard these prayers. I am at a loss – fear grips my mind – whether to act, or not to act and take my chances.
Chorus: Look out for him who looks down from above,
the guardian of toil-worn mortals
who sit to supplicate others
and do not get the justice that custom dictates.
The wrath of Zeus god of suppliants is enduring
and not to be placated by the laments of its victim.
Pelasgus: If the sons of Aegyptus have power over you by the law of your state, saying they are your nearest kin,* who would be willing to oppose that claim? You must plead your case, you see, under the laws of your home country to show that they have no authority over you.
Chorus: May I never in any way become subject
to the power of males! To avoid
a hateful marriage, I am prepared to flee
right up to the stars! Choose Justice as your ally,
make the judgement that the gods approve.
– Aeschylus, from Suppliants (ca. 470-460 BC), translated by Alan H. Sommerstein (2008)
*i.e. if it is the case that under Egyptian law a man is entitled as of right to demand a woman in marriage if he is her nearest kinsman. By evading an answer to this point, the Danaids virtually admit that this is indeed the legal position.