fils, i. e., the still unnamed Astyanax

161. Seneca, Troas, 530-534 and 551-552, has the same thought but with whoUy differing expression.

163, 164. Cp. 842 and Iliade xv., xvi., but note that Hector did net pursue the Greeks into the sea, as hère implied.

166-168. craignez govems both a noun and a clause, a construction now disapproved but used several times in other plays by Racine. The allusion in 167, 168 is to the familiar fable of the countryman who warmed a viper in his bosom.

172. That is, He will learn by betraying you how to war with them. Pyrrhus in his answer shows an ironical confidence.

175. That is, basing my opinion on the dignity and repute of their envoy.