Poseidon:From the depths of salt Aegean floods I, Poseidon, have come, where choirs of Nereids dance in a graceful maze; for since the day that Phoebus and I with exact measurementset towers of stone about this land of Troy and ringed it round, never from my heart has passed away a kindly feeling for my Phrygian town, which now is smouldering and overthrown, a prey to Argive might. For, from his home beneath Parnassus,Phocian Epeus, aided by the craft of Pallas, framed a horse to bear within its womb an armed army, and sent it within the battlements, a deadly statue;[from which in days to come men shall tell of the Wooden Horse, with its hidden load of warriors.]
Ποσειδῶν:Ἥκω λιπὼν Αἴγαιον ἁλμυρὸν βάθοςπόντου Ποσειδῶν, ἔνθα Νηρῄδων χοροὶκάλλιστον ἴχνος ἐξελίσσουσιν ποδός.ἐξ οὗ γὰρ ἀμφὶ τήνδε Τρωικὴν χθόναΦοῖβός τε κἀγὼ λαΐνους πύργους πέριξὀρθοῖσιν ἔθεμεν κανόσιν, οὔποτʼ ἐκ φρενῶνεὔνοιʼ ἀπέστη τῶν ἐμῶν Φρυγῶν πόλει·ἣ νῦν καπνοῦται καὶ πρὸς Ἀργείου δορὸςὄλωλε πορθηθεῖσʼ· ὁ γὰρ ΠαρνάσιοςΦωκεὺς Ἐπειός, μηχαναῖσι Παλλάδοςἐγκύμονʼ ἵππον τευχέων ξυναρμόσας,πύργων ἔπεμψεν ἐντὸς ὀλέθριον βρέτας·[ὅθεν πρὸς ἀνδρῶν ὑστέρων κεκλήσεται][Δούρειος Ἵππος, κρυπτὸν ἀμπισχὼν δόρυ.]
Groves stand forsaken and temples of the gods run down with blood, and at the altar’s very base, before the god who watched his home, Priam lies dead. While to Achaean ships great store of gold and Phrygian spoils are being conveyed,and they who came against this town, those sons of Hellas, only wait a favoring breeze to follow in their wake, that after ten long years they may with joy behold their wives and children. Vanquished by Hera, Argive goddess, and by Athena, who helped to ruin Phrygia,I am leaving Ilium, that famous town, and my altars; for when dreary desolation seizes on a town, the worship of the gods decays and tends to lose respect. Scamander’s banks re-echo long and loud the screams of captive maids, as they by lot receive their masters.
ἔρημα δʼ ἄλση καὶ θεῶν ἀνάκτοραφόνῳ καταρρεῖ· πρὸς δὲ κρηπίδων βάθροιςπέπτωκε Πρίαμος Ζηνὸς ἑρκείου θανών.πολὺς δὲ χρυσὸς Φρύγιά τε σκυλεύματαπρὸς ναῦς Ἀχαιῶν πέμπεται· μένουσι δὲπρύμνηθεν οὖρον, ὡς δεκασπόρῳ χρόνῳἀλόχους τε καὶ τέκνʼ εἰσίδωσιν ἄσμενοι,οἳ τήνδʼ ἐπεστράτευσαν Ἕλληνες πόλιν.ἐγὼ δέ — νικῶμαι γὰρ Ἀργείας θεοῦἭρας Ἀθάνας θʼ, αἳ συνεξεῖλον Φρύγας —λείπω τὸ κλεινὸν Ἴλιον βωμούς τʼ ἐμούς·ἐρημία γὰρ πόλιν ὅταν λάβῃ κακή,νοσεῖ τὰ τῶν θεῶν οὐδὲ τιμᾶσθαι θέλει.πολλοῖς δὲ κωκυτοῖσιν αἰχμαλωτίδωνβοᾷ Σκάμανδρος δεσπότας κληρουμένων.
Arcadia takes some, and some the people of Thessaly; others are assigned to Theseus’ sons, the Athenian chiefs. And such of the Trojan women as are not portioned out are in these tents, set apart for the leaders of the army; and with them Spartan Helen,daughter of Tyndareus, justly counted among the captives. And if you would see that queen of misery, Hecuba, you can; for there she lies before the gates, weeping many tears for many sorrows; at Achilles’ tomb,without her knowledge, her daughter Polyxena has died most piteously; Priam is gone, and her children too; Cassandra, whom the lord Apollo left to be a virgin, frenzied maid, has been forced by Agamemnon, in contempt of the god’s ordinance and of piety, to a dishonored wedlock.
καὶ τὰς μὲν Ἀρκάς, τὰς δὲ Θεσσαλὸς λεὼςεἴληχʼ Ἀθηναίων τε Θησεῖδαι πρόμοι.ὅσαι δʼ ἄκληροι Τρῳάδων, ὑπὸ στέγαιςταῖσδʼ εἰσί, τοῖς πρώτοισιν ἐξῃρημέναιστρατοῦ, σὺν αὐταῖς δʼ ἡ Λάκαινα ΤυνδαρὶςἙλένη, νομισθεῖσʼ αἰχμάλωτος ἐνδίκως.τὴν δʼ ἀθλίαν τήνδʼ εἴ τις εἰσορᾶν θέλει,πάρεστιν, Ἑκάβην κειμένην πυλῶν πάρος,δάκρυα χέουσαν πολλὰ καὶ πολλῶν ὕπερ·ᾗ παῖς μὲν ἀμφὶ μνῆμʼ Ἀχιλλείου τάφουλάθρα τέθνηκε τλημόνως Πολυξένη·φροῦδος δὲ Πρίαμος καὶ τέκνʼ· ἣν δὲ παρθένονμεθῆκʼ Ἀπόλλων δρομάδα Κασάνδραν ἄναξ,τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τε παραλιπὼν τό τʼ εὐσεβὲςγαμεῖ βιαίως σκότιον Ἀγαμέμνων λέχος.
Farewell, O city once prosperous! farewell, you ramparts of polished stone! if Pallas, daughter of Zeus, had not decreed your ruin, you would be standing firmly still.
ἀλλʼ, ὦ ποτʼ εὐτυχοῦσα, χαῖρέ μοι, πόλιςξεστόν τε πύργωμʼ· εἴ σε μὴ διώλεσενΠαλλὰς Διὸς παῖς, ἦσθʼ ἂν ἐν βάθροις ἔτι.
Athena:May I address the mighty god whom the gods revere and who to my own father is very near in blood,laying aside our former enmity?
Ἀθήνα:ἔξεστι τὸν γένει μὲν ἄγχιστον πατρὸςμέγαν τε δαίμονʼ ἐν θεοῖς τε τίμιον,λύσασαν ἔχθραν τὴν πάρος, προσεννέπειν;
Poseidon:You may; for over the soul the ties of kin exert no feeble spell, great queen Athena.
Ποσειδῶν:ἔξεστιν· αἱ γὰρ συγγενεῖς ὁμιλίαι,ἄνασσʼ Ἀθάνα, φίλτρον οὐ σμικρὸν φρενῶν.
Athena:For your forgiving mood my thanks! I have messages to impart affecting both yourself and me, lord.
Ἀθήνα:ἐπῄνεσʼ ὀργὰς ἠπίους· φέρω δὲ σοὶκοινοὺς ἐμαυτῇ τʼ ἐς μέσον λόγους, ἄναξ.
Poseidon:Do you bring fresh tidings from some god, from Zeus, or from some lesser power?
Ποσειδῶν:μῶν ἐκ θεῶν του καινὸν ἀγγελεῖς ἔπος,ἢ Ζηνὸς ἢ καὶ δαιμόνων τινὸς πάρα;
Athena:From none of these; but on behalf of Troy, whose soil we tread, I have come to seek your mighty aid, to make it one with mine.
Ἀθήνα:οὔκ, ἀλλὰ Τροίας οὕνεκʼ, ἔνθα βαίνομεν,πρὸς σὴν ἀφῖγμαι δύναμιν, ὡς κοινὴν λάβω.
Poseidon:What! have you laid your former hate asideto take compassion on the town now that it is burnt to ashes?
Ποσειδῶν:ἦ πού νιν, ἔχθραν τὴν πρὶν ἐκβαλοῦσα, νῦνἐς οἶκτον ἦλθες πυρὶ κατῃθαλωμένης;
Athena:First go back to the former point; will you make common cause with me in the scheme I purpose?
Ἀθήνα:ἐκεῖσε πρῶτʼ ἄνελθε· κοινώσῃ λόγουςκαὶ συνθελήσεις ἃν ἐγὼ πρᾶξαι θέλω;
Poseidon:Yes, surely; but I want to learn your wishes, whether you have come to help Achaeans or Phrygians.
Ποσειδῶν:μάλιστʼ· ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ τὸ σὸν θέλω μαθεῖν·πότερον Ἀχαιῶν ἦλθες οὕνεκʼ ἢ Φρυγῶν;
Athena:I wish to give my former foes, the Trojans, joy, and on the Achaean army impose a bitter return.
Ἀθήνα:τοὺς μὲν πρὶν ἐχθροὺς Τρῶας εὐφρᾶναι θέλω,στρατῷ δʼ Ἀχαιῶν νόστον ἐμβαλεῖν πικρόν.
Poseidon:Why do you leap thus from mood to mood? Your love and hate both go too far, on whomever centred.
Ποσειδῶν:τί δʼ ὧδε πηδᾷς ἄλλοτʼ εἰς ἄλλους τρόπουςμισεῖς τε λίαν καὶ φιλεῖς ὃν ἂν τύχῃς;
Athena:Do you not know the insult done to me and to the shrine I love?
Ἀθήνα:οὐκ οἶσθʼ ὑβρισθεῖσάν με καὶ ναοὺς ἐμούς;
Poseidon:I do: when Aias dragged away Cassandra by force.
Ποσειδῶν:οἶδʼ, ἡνίκʼ Αἴας εἷλκε Κασάνδραν βίᾳ.
Athena:Yes, and the Achaeans did nothing, said nothing to him.
Ἀθήνα:κοὐδέν γʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἔπαθεν οὐδʼ ἤκουσʼ ὕπο.
Poseidon:And yet it was by your mighty aid they sacked Ilium.
Ποσειδῶν:καὶ μὴν ἔπερσάν γʼ Ἴλιον τῷ σῷ σθένει.
Athena:For which cause I would join with you to do them harm.
Ἀθήνα:τοιγάρ σφε σὺν σοὶ βούλομαι δρᾶσαι κακῶς.
Poseidon:My powers are ready at your will. What is your intent?
Ποσειδῶν:ἕτοιμʼ ἃ βούλῃ τἀπʼ ἐμοῦ. δράσεις δὲ τί;
Athena:I will impose on them a return that is no return.
Ἀθήνα:δύσνοστον αὐτοῖς νόστον ἐμβαλεῖν θέλω.
Poseidon:While they stay on shore, or as they cross the salt sea?
Ποσειδῶν:ἐν γῇ μενόντων ἢ καθʼ ἁλμυρὰν ἅλα;
Athena:When they have set sail from Ilium for their homes. On them will Zeus also send his rain and fearful hail,and inky tempests from the sky; and he promises to grant me his thunder-bolts to hurl on the Achaeans and fire their ships. And you, for your part, make the Aegean strait to roar with mighty billows and whirlpools, and fill Euboea’s hollow bay with corpses,that Achaeans may learn henceforth to reverence my temples and regard all other deities.
Ἀθήνα:ὅταν πρὸς οἴκους ναυστολῶσʼ ἀπʼ Ἰλίου.καὶ Ζεὺς μὲν ὄμβρον καὶ χάλαζαν ἄσπετονπέμψει, δνοφώδη τʼ αἰθέρος φυσήματα·ἐμοὶ δὲ δώσειν φησὶ πῦρ κεραύνιον,βάλλειν Ἀχαιοὺς ναῦς τε πιμπράναι πυρί.σὺ δʼ αὖ, τὸ σόν, παράσχες Αἴγαιον πόροντρικυμίαις βρέμοντα καὶ δίναις ἁλός,πλῆσον δὲ νεκρῶν κοῖλον Εὐβοίας μυχόν,ὡς ἂν τὸ λοιπὸν τἄμʼ ἀνάκτορʼ εὐσεβεῖνεἰδῶσʼ Ἀχαιοί, θεούς τε τοὺς ἄλλους σέβειν.
Poseidon:So shall it be, for this favor needs only a few words. I will vex the broad Aegean sea; and the beach of Myconos and the reefs round Delos,Scyros and Lemnos too, and the cliffs of Caphareus shall be strewn with many a corpse. You go to Olympus, and taking from your father’s hand his lightning bolts, keep careful watch against the hour when Argos’ army lets slip its cables.
Ποσειδῶν:ἔσται τάδʼ· ἡ χάρις γὰρ οὐ μακρῶν λόγωνδεῖται· ταράξω πέλαγος Αἰγαίας ἁλός.ἀκταὶ δὲ Μυκόνου Δήλιοί τε χοιράδεςΣκῦρός τε Λῆμνός θʼ αἱ Καφήρειοί τʼ ἄκραιπολλῶν θανόντων σώμαθʼ ἕξουσιν νεκρῶν.ἀλλʼ ἕρπʼ Ὄλυμπον καὶ κεραυνίους βολὰςλαβοῦσα πατρὸς ἐκ χερῶν καραδόκει,ὅταν στράτευμʼ Ἀργεῖον ἐξιῇ κάλως.
A fool is he who sacks the towns of men, with shrines and tombs, the dead man’s hallowed home, for at the last he makes a desert round himself and dies.
μῶρος δὲ θνητῶν ὅστις ἐκπορθεῖ πόλεις,ναούς τε τύμβους θʼ, ἱερὰ τῶν κεκμηκότων,ἐρημίᾳ δοὺς αὐτὸς ὤλεθʼ ὕστερον.
Hecuba:Lift your head, unhappy one, from the ground; raise up your neck; this is Troy no more,no longer am I queen in Ilium. Though fortune change, endure your lot; sail with the stream, and follow fortune’s tack, do not steer your ship of life against the tide, since chance must guide your course.
Ἑκάβη:ἄνα, δύσδαιμον, πεδόθεν κεφαλή·ἐπάειρε δέρην· οὐκέτι Τροίατάδε καὶ βασιλῆς ἐσμεν Τροίας.μεταβαλλομένου δαίμονος ἀνέχου.πλεῖ κατὰ πορθμόν, πλεῖ κατὰ δαίμονα,μηδὲ προσίστω πρῷραν βιότουπρὸς κῦμα πλέουσα τύχαισιν.
Ah me! ah me! What else but tears is now my hapless lot, whose country, children, husband, all are lost? Ah! the high-blown pride of ancestors, humbled! how brought to nothing after all!
αἰαῖ αἰαῖ.τί γὰρ οὐ πάρα μοι μελέᾳ στενάχειν,ᾗ πατρὶς ἔρρει καὶ τέκνα καὶ πόσις;ὦ πολὺς ὄγκος συστελλόμενοςπρογόνων, ὡς οὐδὲν ἄρʼ ἦσθα.
What woe must I suppress, or what declare? [What plaintive dirge shall I awake?] Ah, woe is me! the anguish I suffer lying here stretched upon this hard pallet!
τί με χρὴ σιγᾶν; τί δὲ μὴ σιγᾶν;[τί δὲ θρηνῆσαι;]δύστηνος ἐγὼ τῆς βαρυδαίμονοςἄρθρων κλίσεως, ὡς διάκειμαι,νῶτʼ ἐν στερροῖς λέκτροισι ταθεῖσʼ.
O my head, my temples, my side! How I long to turn over, and lie now on this, now on that, to rest my back and spine, while ceaselessly my tearful wail ascends.
οἴμοι κεφαλῆς, οἴμοι κροτάφωνπλευρῶν θʼ, ὥς μοι πόθος εἱλίξαικαὶ διαδοῦναι νῶτον ἄκανθάν τʼεἰς ἀμφοτέρους τοίχους, μελέωνἐπὶ τοὺς αἰεὶ δακρύων ἐλέγους.
For even this is music to the wretched, to chant their cheerless dirge of sorrow.
μοῦσα δὲ χαὕτη τοῖς δυστήνοιςἄτας κελαδεῖν ἀχορεύτους.
Hecuba:You swift-prowed ships, rowed to sacred Ilium over the deep dark sea,past the fair havens of Hellas, to the flute’s ill-omened music and the dulcet voice of pipes,to the bays of Troy, alas! where you tied your hawsers, twisted handiwork from Egypt, in quest of that hateful wife of Menelaus, who brought disgrace on Castor, and on Eurotas foul reproach; who murderedPriam, the father of fifty children; the cause why I, the unhappy Hecuba, have wrecked my life upon this disastrous strand. Oh that I should sit here, over against the tent of Agamemnon!
Ἑκάβη:πρῷραι ναῶν, ὠκείαιςἼλιον ἱερὰν αἳ κώπαιςδιʼ ἅλα πορφυροειδέα καὶλιμένας Ἑλλάδος εὐόρμουςαὐλῶν παιᾶνι στυγνῷσυρίγγων τʼ εὐφθόγγων φωνᾷβαίνουσαι πλεκτὰν Αἰγύπτουπαιδείαν ἐξηρτήσασθʼ,αἰαῖ, Τροίας ἐν κόλποιςτὰν Μενελάου μετανισόμεναιστυγνὰν ἄλοχον, Κάστορι λώβαντῷ τʼ Εὐρώτᾳ δυσκλείαν,ἃ σφάζει μὲντὸν πεντήκοντʼ ἀροτῆρα τέκνωνΠρίαμον, ἐμέ τε μελέαν Ἑκάβανἐς τάνδʼ ἐξώκειλʼ ἄταν.ὤμοι, θάκους οἵους θάσσω,σκηναῖς ἐφέδρους Ἀγαμεμνονίαις.
As a slave I am led away from my home, an old woman, while from my head the hair is piteously shorn for grief. Ah! unhappy wives of those armored sons of Troy! Ah! poor maidens, luckless brides,come weep, for Ilium is now a smouldering ruin; and I, like some mother-bird that over her fledgelings screams, will begin the strain; not the same as thatI once sang to the gods, as I leaned on Priam’s staff and beat with my foot in Phrygian time to lead the dance!
δούλα δʼ ἄγομαιγραῦς ἐξ οἴκων πενθήρηκρᾶτʼ ἐκπορθηθεῖσʼ οἰκτρῶς.ἀλλʼ ὦ τῶν χαλκεγχέων Τρώωνἄλοχοι μέλεαι,καὶ κοῦραι ⟨κοῦραι⟩ δύσνυμφοι,τύφεται Ἴλιον, αἰάζωμεν.μάτηρ δʼ ὡσεί τις πτανοῖςὄρνισιν, ὅπως ἐξάρξω ʼγὼκλαγγάν, μολπάν, οὐ τὰν αὐτὰνοἵαν ποτὲ δὴσκήπτρῳ Πριάμου διερειδομέναποδὸς ἀρχεχόρου πληγαῖς Φρυγίουςεὐκόμποις ἐξῆρχον θεούς.
First Semi-Chorus:O Hecuba! why these cries, these piercing shrieks? What do your words mean? For I heard your piteous wailecho through the building, and a pang of terror shoots through each captive Trojan’s breast, as within these walls they mourn their slavish lot.
Ἡμιχόριον Α:Ἑκάβη, τί θροεῖς; τί δὲ θωΰσσεις;ποῖ λόγος ἥκει; διὰ γὰρ μελάθρωνἄιον οἴκτους οὓς οἰκτίζῃ.διὰ δὲ στέρνων φόβος ἄισσενΤρῳάσιν, αἳ τῶνδʼ οἴκων εἴσωδουλείαν αἰάζουσιν.
Hecuba:My child, even now at the ships of the Argives—
Ἑκάβη:ὦ τέκνʼ, Ἀργείων πρὸς ναῦς ἤδη …
First Semi-Chorus:The rower’s hand is busy?
Ἡμιχόριον Α:κινεῖται κωπήρης χείρ;
Ah, woe is me! what is their intent? Will they really carry me away from my country in their fleet?
οἲ ἐγώ, τί θέλουσʼ, ἦ πού μʼ ἤδηναυσθλώσουσιν πατρίας ἐκ γᾶς;
Hecuba:I do not know, though I guess our doom.
Ἑκάβη:οὐκ οἶδʼ, εἰκάζω δʼ ἄταν.
First Semi-Chorus:O misery!
Ἡμιχόριον Α:ἰὼ ἰώ.
woe to us Trojan women, soon to hear of our troubles: “Come out of the house, the Argives are preparing to return”.
μέλεαι μόχθων ἐπακουσόμεναιΤρῳάδες, ἔξω κομίζεσθʼ οἴκων·στέλλουσʼ Ἀργεῖοι νόστον.
Hecuba:Oh! please do not bid thewild Cassandra leave her chamber, the frantic prophetess, for Argives to insult, nor to my griefs add yet another. Woe to you, ill-fated Troy, Troy, your sun is set; and woe to your unhappy children, living and dead alike,who are leaving you behind!
Ἑκάβη:αἶ, αἶ.μή νύν μοι τὰνἐκβακχεύουσαν Κασάνδραν,αἰσχύναν Ἀργείοισιν,πέμψητʼ ἔξω,μαινάδʼ, ἐπʼ ἄλγει δʼ ἀλγυνθῶ.ἰώ.Τροία Τροία δύστανʼ, ἔρρεις,δύστανοι δʼ οἵ σʼ ἐκλείποντεςκαὶ ζῶντες καὶ δμαθέντες.
Second Semi-Chorus:With trembling step, alas! I leave this tent of Agamemnon to learn of you, my royal mistress, whether the Argives have resolved to take my wretched life, orwhether the sailors at the prow are making ready to ply their oars.
Ἡμιχόριον Β:οἴμοι. τρομερὰ σκηνὰς ἔλιποντάσδʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἐπακουσομένα,βασίλεια, σέθεν· μή με κτείνεινδόξʼ Ἀργείων κεῖται μελέαν;ἢ κατὰ πρύμνας ἤδη ναῦταιστέλλονται κινεῖν κώπας;
Hecuba:My child, your wakeful heart!
Ἑκάβη:ὦ τέκνον, ὀρθρεύου σὰν ψυχάν.
Second Semi-Chorus:I have come, stricken with terror. Has a herald from the Danaids already arrived?
Ἡμιχόριον Β:ἐκπληχθεῖσʼ ἦλθον φρίκᾳ.ἤδη τις ἔβα Δαναῶν κῆρυξ;
To whom am I, poor captive, given as a slave?
τῷ πρόσκειμαι δούλα τλάμων;
Hecuba:You are not far from being allotted now.
Ἑκάβη:ἐγγύς που κεῖσαι κλήρου.
Second Semi-Chorus:Alas! What man of Argos or Phthia will bear me in sorrow far from Troy, to his home, or to some island fastness?
Ἡμιχόριον Β:ἰὼ ἰώ.τίς μʼ Ἀργείων ἢ Φθιωτᾶνἢ νησαίαν μʼ ἄξει χώρανδύστανον πόρσω Τροίας;
Hecuba:Ah! ah! Whose slave shall I become in my old age? in what land? a poor old drone, the wretched copy of a corpse, alas! set to keep the gateor tend their children, I who once held royal rank in Troy.
Ἑκάβη:φεῦ φεῦ.τῷ δʼ ἁ τλάμωνποῦ πᾷ γαίας δουλεύσω γραῦς,ὡς κηφήν, ἁ δειλαία,νεκροῦ μορφά,νεκύων ἀμενηνὸν ἄγαλμα,αἰαῖτὰν παρὰ προθύροις φυλακὰν κατέχουσʼἢ παίδων θρέπτειρʼ, ἃ Τροίαςἀρχαγοὺς εἶχον τιμάς;
Chorus:Alas, alas! What piteous dirge will you devise to mourn the outrage done you? No more through Ida’s loomsshall I ply the shuttle to and fro. I look my last on my children’s bodies, my last; I shall endure surpassing misery, it may be as the unwilling bride of some Hellene (perish the night and fortune that brings me to this!);it may be as a wretched slave from Peirene’s sacred fount I shall draw their store of water. Oh! may it be ours to come to Theseus’ famous realm, a land of joy.
Χορός:αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, ποίοις δʼ οἴκτοιςτὰν σὰν λύμαν ἐξαιάζεις;οὐκ Ἰδαίοις ἱστοῖς κερκίδαδινεύουσʼ ἐξαλλάξω.νέατον τεκέων σώματα λεύσσω,νέατον …μόχθους ἕξω κρείσσους,ἢ λέκτροις πλαθεῖσʼ Ἑλλάνων …ʽἑ̓́ρροι νὺξ αὕτα καὶ δαίμων.ʼἢ Πειρήνας ὑδρευσομέναπρόσπολος οἰκτρὰ σεμνῶν ὑδάτων.τὰν κλεινὰν εἴθʼ ἔλθοιμενΘησέως εὐδαίμονα χώραν.
Never, never let me see Eurotas’ swirling tide, hateful home of Helen, there to meet and be the slave of Menelaus, whose hand laid Troy waste!
μὴ γὰρ δὴ δίναν γʼ Εὐρώτα,τὰν ἐχθίσταν θεράπναν Ἑλένας,ἔνθʼ ἀντάσω Μενέλᾳ δούλα,τῷ τᾶς Τροίας πορθητᾷ.
Chorus:That holy land by Peneus fed,nestling in all its beauty at Olympus’ foot, is said, so have I heard, to be a very granary of wealth and teeming fruitfulness; next to the sacred soil of Theseus, I could wish to reach that land.
Χορός:τὰν Πηνειοῦ σεμνὰν χώραν,κρηπῖδʼ Οὐλύμπου καλλίσταν,ὄλβῳ βρίθειν φάμαν ἤκουσʼεὐθαλεῖ τʼ εὐκαρπείᾳ·τάδε δεύτερά μοι μετὰ τὰν ἱερὰνΘησέως ζαθέαν ἐλθεῖν χώραν.
They tell me too Hephaestus’ home, beneath the shadow of Aetna, fronting Phoenicia, the mother of Sicilian hills, is famous for the crowns it gives to valor. Or may I find a home on that shore which lies very nearIonia’s sea, a land watered by Crathis, lovely stream, that dyes the hair an auburn tint, feeding with its holy waves and making glad the home of heroes.
καὶ τὰν Αἰτναίαν ἩφαίστουΦοινίκας ἀντήρη χώραν,Σικελῶν ὀρέων ματέρʼ, ἀκούωκαρύσσεσθαι στεφάνοις ἀρετᾶς.τάν τʼ ἀγχιστεύουσαν γᾶνἸονίῳ ναύται πόντῳ,ἃν ὑγραίνει καλλιστεύωνὁ ξανθὰν χαίταν πυρσαίνωνΚρᾶθις ζαθέαις πηγαῖσι τρέφωνεὔανδρόν τʼ ὀλβίζων γᾶν.
Chorus Leader:But see! a herald from the army of Danaids, with a store of fresh proclamations, comes hastening here. What is his errand? What does he say? For we are indeed slaves now to Dorian lords.
Χορός:καὶ μὴν Δαναῶν ὅδʼ ἀπὸ στρατιᾶςκῆρυξ, νεοχμῶν μύθων ταμίας,στείχει ταχύπουν ἴχνος ἐξανύων.τί φέρει; τί λέγει; δοῦλαι γὰρ δὴΔωρίδος ἐσμὲν χθονὸς ἤδη.
Talthybius:Hecuba, you know me from my many journeys to and fro as herald between the Achaean army and Troy; I was no stranger to you, lady, even before: I, Talthybius, now sent with a fresh message.In the following lines, Talthybius makes spoken responses to Hecuba’s sung questions.
Ταλθύβιος:Ἑκάβη, πυκνὰς γὰρ οἶσθά μʼ ἐς Τροίαν ὁδοὺςἐλθόντα κήρυκʼ ἐξ Ἀχαιικοῦ στρατοῦ,ἐγνωσμένος δὲ καὶ πάροιθέ σοι, γύναι,Ταλθύβιος ἥκω καινὸν ἀγγελῶν λόγον.
Hecuba:Ah, kind friends, it has come! what I so long have dreaded.
Ἑκάβη:⟨αἰαῖ,⟩ τόδετόδε, φίλαι Τρῳάδες, ὃ φόβος ἦν πάλαι.
Talthybius:The lot has decided your fates already, if that was what you feared.
Ταλθύβιος:ἤδη κεκλήρωσθʼ, εἰ τόδʼ ἦν ὑμῖν φόβος.
Hecuba:Ah me! What city did you say, Thessalian, Phthian, or Cadmean?
Ἑκάβη:αἰαῖ, τίνʼ ἢΘεσσαλίας πόλιν ἢΦθιάδος εἶπας ἢ Καδμείας χθονός;
Talthybius:Each warrior took his prize in turn; you were not all at once assigned.
Ταλθύβιος:κατʼ ἄνδρʼ ἑκάστη κοὐχ ὁμοῦ λελόγχατε.
Hecuba:To whom has the lot assigned us severally? Which of us Trojan womendoes a happy fortune await?
Ἑκάβη:τίνʼ ἄρα τίς ἔλαχε; τίνα πότμος εὐτυχὴςἸλιάδων μένει;
Talthybius:I know, but ask your questions separately, not all at once.
Ταλθύβιος:οἶδʼ· ἀλλʼ ἕκαστα πυνθάνου, μὴ πάνθʼ ὁμοῦ.
Hecuba:Then tell me, whose prize is my daughter, hapless Cassandra?
Ἑκάβη:τοὐμὸν τίς ἆρʼἔλαχε τέκος, ἔνεπε, τλάμονα Κασάνδραν;
Talthybius:King Agamemnon has chosen her out for himself.
Ταλθύβιος:ἐξαίρετόν νιν ἔλαβεν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ.
Hecuba:To be the slave-girl of his Spartan wife? Ah me!
Ἑκάβη:ἦ τᾷ Λακεδαιμονίᾳ νύμφᾳδούλαν; ἰώ μοί μοι.
Talthybius:No, to share with him his stealthy love.
Ταλθύβιος:οὔκ, ἀλλὰ λέκτρων σκότια νυμφευτήρια.
Hecuba:What! Phoebus’ virgin-priestess, to whom the god with golden locks granted the gift of maidenhood?
Ἑκάβη:ἦ τὰν τοῦ Φοίβου παρθένον, ᾇ γέρας ὁχρυσοκόμας ἔδωκʼ ἄλεκτρον ζόαν;
Talthybius:The dart of love has pierced his heart, love for the frenzied maid.
Ταλθύβιος:ἔρως ἐτόξευσʼ αὐτὸν ἐνθέου κόρης.
Hecuba:Daughter, cast from you the sacred keys, and from your body tear the holy wreaths that drape you in their folds.
Ἑκάβη:ῥῖπτε, τέκνον, ζαθέους κλῇ-δας καὶ ἀπὸ χροὸς ἐνδυ-τῶν στεφέων ἱεροὺς στολμούς.
Talthybius:Why! is it not an honor that she should win our monarch’s love?
Ταλθύβιος:οὐ γὰρ μέγʼ αὐτῇ βασιλικῶν λέκτρων τυχεῖν;
Hecuba:What have you done to her whom recently you took from me, my child?
Ἑκάβη:τί δʼ ὃ νεοχμὸν ἀπʼ ἐμέθεν ἐλάβετε τέκος, ποῦ μοι;
Talthybius:Do you mean Polyxena, or whom do you inquire about?
Ταλθύβιος:Πολυξένην ἔλεξας, ἢ τίνʼ ἱστορεῖς;
Hecuba:Yes, that one; to whom has the lot assigned her?
Ἑκάβη:ταύταν· τῷ πάλος ἔζευξεν;
Talthybius:To minister at Achilles’ tomb has been appointed her.
Ταλθύβιος:τύμβῳ τέτακται προσπολεῖν Ἀχιλλέως.
Hecuba:Woe is me! I the mother of a dead man’s slave! What custom, what ordinance is this among Hellenes, friend?
Ἑκάβη:ὤμοι ἐγώ· τάφῳ πρόσπολον ἐτεκόμαν.ἀτὰρ τίς ὅδʼ ἢ νόμος ἢ τίθέσμιον, ὦ φίλος, Ἑλλάνων;
Talthybius:Count your daughter happy; it is well with her.
Ταλθύβιος:εὐδαιμόνιζε παῖδα σήν· ἔχει καλῶς.
Hecuba:What wild words are these? Please tell me, is she still alive?
Ἑκάβη:τί τόδʼ ἔλακες; ἆρά μοι ἀέλιον λεύσσει;
Talthybius:Her fate is one that sets her free from trouble.
Ταλθύβιος:ἔχει πότμος νιν, ὥστʼ ἀπηλλάχθαι πόνων.
Hecuba:And what of the wife of Hector skilled in arms, sad Andromache? declare her fate.
Ἑκάβη:τί δʼ ἁ τοῦ χαλκεομήστορος Ἕκτορος δάμαρ,Ἀνδρομάχα τάλαινα, τίνʼ ἔχει τύχαν;
Talthybius:She too was a chosen prize; Achilles’ son took her.
Ταλθύβιος:καὶ τήνδʼ Ἀχιλλέως ἔλαβε παῖς ἐξαίρετον.
Hecuba:As for mewhose hair is white with age, who need to hold a staff to be to me a third foot, whose servant am I to be?
Ἑκάβη:ἐγὼ δὲ τῷπρόσπολος ἁ τριτοβάμονος χερὶδευομένα βάκτρου γεραιῷ κάρᾳ;
Talthybius:Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has taken you to be his slave.
Ταλθύβιος:Ἰθάκης Ὀδυσσεὺς ἔλαχʼ ἄναξ δούλην σʼ ἔχειν.
Hecuba:Oh, oh! Now smite the close-shorn head!tear your cheeks with your nails! Ah me! I have fallen as a slave to a treacherous foe I hate, a monster of lawlessness,one that by his double tongue has turned against us all that once was friendly in his camp, changing this for that and that for this again. Oh weep for me, you Trojan women! Lost and ill-fated!Ah woe! a victim to a most unhappy lot!
Ἑκάβη:ἒ ἔ.ἄρασσε κρᾶτα κούριμον,ἕλκʼ ὀνύχεσσι δίπτυχον παρειάν.ἰώ μοί μοι.μυσαρῷ δολίῳ λέλογχα φωτὶ δουλεύειν,πολεμίῳ δίκας, παρανόμῳ δάκει,ὃς πάντα τἀκεῖθεν ἐνθάδ⟨ε στρέφει, τὰ δʼ⟩ἀντίπαλʼ αὖθις ἐκεῖσε διπτύχῳ γλώσσᾳφίλα τὰ πρότερʼ ἄφιλα τιθέμενος πάντων.γοᾶσθʼ, ὦ Τρῳάδες, με.βέβακα δύσποτμος. [οἴχομαι] ἁτάλαινα, δυστυχεστάτῳπροσέπεσον κλήρῳ.
Chorus Leader:Your fate, royal mistress, now you know; but for me, what Helene or Achaean is master of my destiny?
Χορός:τὸ μὲν σὸν οἶσθα, πότνια, τὰς δʼ ἐμὰς τύχαςτίς ἆρʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἢ τίς Ἑλλήνων ἔχει;
Talthybius:Go, servants, and bring Cassandra forth to me hereat once, that I may place her in our captain’s hands, and then conduct to the rest of the chiefs the captives each has had assigned. Ha! what is the blaze of torches there within? What are they doing? Are they firing the chambers,because they must leave this land and be carried away to Argos? Are they setting themselves aflame in their longing for death? Truly the free bear their troubles in cases like this with a stiff neck. Open up! lest their deed, which suits them wellbut finds small favor with the Achaeans, bring blame on me.
Ταλθύβιος:ἴτʼ, ἐκκομίζειν δεῦρο Κασάνδραν χρεὼνὅσον τάχιστα, δμῶες, ὡς στρατηλάτῃἐς χεῖρα δούς νιν, εἶτα τὰς εἰληγμέναςκαὶ τοῖσιν ἄλλοις αἰχμαλωτίδων ἄγω.ἔα· τί πεύκης ἔνδον αἴθεται σέλας;πιμπρᾶσιν — ἢ τί δρῶσι — Τρῳάδες μυχούς,ὡς ἐξάγεσθαι τῆσδε μέλλουσαι χθονὸςπρὸς Ἄργος, αὑτῶν τʼ ἐκπυροῦσι σώματαθανεῖν θέλουσαι; κάρτα τοι τοὐλεύθερονἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις δυσλόφως φέρει κακά.ἄνοιγʼ ἄνοιγε, μὴ τὸ ταῖσδε πρόσφορονἐχθρὸν δʼ Ἀχαιοῖς εἰς ἔμʼ αἰτίαν βάλῃ.
Hecuba:It is not that they are setting anything ablaze, but my child Cassandra, frenzied maid, comes rushing wildly here.
Ἑκάβη:οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐ πιμπρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ παῖς ἐμὴμαινὰς θοάζει δεῦρο Κασάνδρα δρόμῳ.
Cassandra:Bring the light, uplift and show its flame! I am doing the god’s service, see! see! making his shrine to glow with tapers bright.
Κασάνδρα:Ἄνεχε· πάρεχε.φῶς φέρʼ, ὤ· σέβω· φλέγω — ἰδού, ἰδού —λαμπάσι τόδʼ ἱερόν.
O Hymen, lord of marriage! blessed is the bridegroom; blessed am I also, soon to wed a princely lord in Argos. Hail Hymen, lord of marriage!
ὦ Ὑμέναιʼ ἄναξ·μακάριος ὁ γαμέτας·μακαρία δʼ ἐγὼ βασιλικοῖς λέκτροιςκατʼ Ἄργος ἁ γαμουμένα.Ὑμήν, ὦ Ὑμέναιʼ ἄναξ.
Since you, my mother, are busied with tears and lamentations in your mourning for my father’s death and for our country dear, I at my own nuptialsam making this torch to blaze and show its light, giving to you, O Hymen, giving, O Hecate, a light, at the maiden’s wedding, as the custom is.
ἐπεὶ σύ, μᾶτερ, ἐπὶ δάκρυσι καὶγόοισι τὸν θανόντα πατέρα πατρίδα τεφίλαν καταστένουσʼ ἔχεις,ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπὶ γάμοις ἐμοῖςἀναφλέγω πυρὸς φῶςἐς αὐγάν, ἐς αἴγλαν,διδοῦσʼ, ὦ Ὑμέναιε, σοί,διδοῦσʼ, ὦ Ἑκάτα, φάος,παρθένων ἐπὶ λέκτροιςᾇ νόμος ἔχει.
Nimbly lift the foot; lead the dance on high, with cries of joy, as if to greet my father’s happy fate. The dance is sacred. Come, Phoebus, now, for it is in your templeamong your bay-trees that I minister. Hail Hymen, god of marriage! Hymen, hail! Dance, mother, and laugh! link your steps with me, and circle in the delightful measure, now here, now there.
πάλλε πόδα.αἰθέριον ἄναγε χορόν· εὐἅν, εὐοἵ·ὡς ἐπὶ πατρὸς ἐμοῦμακαριωτάταιςτύχαις· ὁ χορὸς ὅσιος.ἄγε σύ, Φοῖβε, νῦν· κατὰ σὸν ἐν δάφναιςἀνάκτορον θυηπολῶ,Ὑμήν, ὦ Ὑμέναιʼ, Ὑμήν.χόρευε, μᾶτερ, ἀναγέλασον·ἕλισσε τᾷδʼ ἐκεῖσε μετʼ ἐμέθεν ποδῶνφέρουσα φιλτάταν βάσιν.
Salute the bride on her wedding-day with hymns and cries of joy. Come, you maids of Phrygia in fair raiment, sing my marriagewith the husband fate ordains that I should wed.
βοάσαθʼ Ὑμέναιον, ὤ,μακαρίαις ἀοιδαῖςἰαχαῖς τε νύμφαν.ἴτʼ, ὦ καλλίπεπλοι Φρυγῶνκόραι, μέλπετʼ ἐμῶν γάμωντὸν πεπρωμένον εὐνᾷπόσιν ἐμέθεν.
Chorus Leader:Hold the frantic maiden, royal mistress, lest with nimble foot she rush to the Argive army.
Χορός:βασίλεια, βακχεύουσαν οὐ λήψῃ κόρην,μὴ κοῦφον αἴρῃ βῆμʼ ἐς Ἀργείων στρατόν;
Hecuba:You god of fire, it is yours to light the bridal torch for men, but piteous is the flame you kindle here,beyond my blackest expectation. Ah, my child! how little did I ever dream that such would be your marriage, a captive, and of Argos too! Give up the torch to me; you do not bear its blaze aright in your wild frantic course, nor have your afflictions left you in your sober senses,but still you are as frantic as before. Take in those torches, Trojan friends, and for her wedding madrigals weep your tears instead.
Ἑκάβη:Ἥφαιστε, δᾳδουχεῖς μὲν ἐν γάμοις βροτῶν,ἀτὰρ λυγράν γε τήνδʼ ἀναιθύσσεις φλόγαἔξω τε μεγάλων ἐλπίδων.οἴμοι, τέκνον,ὡς οὐχ ὑπʼ αἰχμῆς ⟨σʼ⟩ οὐδʼ ὑπʼ Ἀργείου δορὸςγάμους γαμεῖσθαι τούσδʼ ἐδόξαζόν ποτε.παράδος ἐμοὶ φῶς· οὐ γὰρ ὀρθὰ πυρφορεῖςμαινὰς θοάζουσʼ, οὐδέ σʼ αἱ τύχαι, τέκνον,ἐσωφρονήκασʼ, ἀλλʼ ἔτʼ ἐν ταὐτῷ μένεις.ἐσφέρετε πεύκας, δάκρυά τʼ ἀνταλλάξατετοῖς τῆσδε μέλεσι, Τρῳάδες, γαμηλίοις.
Cassandra:O mother, crown my head with victor’s wreaths; rejoice in my royal match; lead meand if you find me unwilling at all, thrust me there by force; for if Loxias is indeed a prophet, Agamemnon, that famous king of the Achaeans, will find in me a bride more vexatious than Helen. For I will slay him and lay waste his hometo avenge my father’s and my brothers’ death. But let that go; I will not tell of that axe which shall sever my neck and the necks of others, or of the conflict ending in a mother’s death, which my marriage shall cause, nor of the overthrow of Atreus’ house.
Κασάνδρα:μῆτερ, πύκαζε κρᾶτʼ ἐμὸν νικηφόρον,καὶ χαῖρε τοῖς ἐμοῖσι βασιλικοῖς γάμοις·καὶ πέμπε, κἂν μὴ τἀμά σοι πρόθυμά γʼ ᾖ,ὤθει βιαίως· εἰ γὰρ ἔστι Λοξίας,Ἑλένης γαμεῖ με δυσχερέστερον γάμονὁ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν κλεινὸς Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ.κτενῶ γὰρ αὐτόν, κἀντιπορθήσω δόμουςποινὰς ἀδελφῶν καὶ πατρὸς λαβοῦσʼ ἐμοῦ …ἀλλʼ ἄττʼ ἐάσω· πέλεκυν οὐχ ὑμνήσομεν,ὃς ἐς τράχηλον τὸν ἐμὸν εἶσι χἁτέρων·μητροκτόνους τʼ ἀγῶνας, οὓς οὑμοὶ γάμοιθήσουσιν, οἴκων τʼ Ἀτρέως ἀνάστασιν.
But I, for all my frenzy, will so far rise above my frantic fit, that I will prove this city happier far than those Achaeans, who for the sake of one woman and one passion have lost a countless army in hunting Helen.
πόλιν δὲ δείξω τήνδε μακαριωτέρανἢ τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἔνθεος μέν, ἀλλʼ ὅμωςτοσόνδε γʼ ἔξω στήσομαι βακχευμάτων·οἳ διὰ μίαν γυναῖκα καὶ μίαν Κύπριν,θηρῶντες Ἑλένην, μυρίους ἀπώλεσαν.
Their captain too, whom men call wise, has lost for what he hated most what most he prized, yielding to his brother for a woman’s sake—and she was willing and not taken by force—the joy he had of his own children in his home. For from the day that they landed upon Scamander’s strand, their doom began,not for loss of stolen frontier nor yet for fatherland with high towers; whomever Ares took, those never saw their children again, nor were they shrouded for the tomb by hand of wife, but in a foreign land they lie. At home the case was still the same;
ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς ὁ σοφὸς ἐχθίστων ὕπερτὰ φίλτατʼ ὤλεσʼ, ἡδονὰς τὰς οἴκοθεντέκνων ἀδελφῷ δοὺς γυναικὸς οὕνεκα,καὶ ταῦθʼ ἑκούσης κοὐ βίᾳ λελῃσμένης.ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπʼ ἀκτὰς ἤλυθον Σκαμανδρίους,ἔθνῃσκον, οὐ γῆς ὅριʼ ἀποστερούμενοιοὐδʼ ὑψίπυργον πατρίδʼ· οὓς δʼ Ἄρης ἕλοι,οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, οὐ δάμαρτος ἐν χεροῖνπέπλοις συνεστάλησαν, ἐν ξένῃ δὲ γῇκεῖνται. τὰ δʼ οἴκοι τοῖσδʼ ὅμοιʼ ἐγίγνετο·
wives were dying widows, parents were left childless in their homes, having reared their sons for others, and none is left to make libations of blood upon the ground before their tombs. Truly to such praise as this their army can make an ample claim. It is better to pass by their shame in silence, nor may mine be the Museto tell that evil tale.
χῆραί τʼ ἔθνῃσκον, οἳ δʼ ἄπαιδες ἐν δόμοιςἄλλοις τέκνʼ ἐκθρέψαντες· οὐδὲ πρὸς τάφοιςἔσθʼ ὅστις αὐτῶν αἷμα γῇ δωρήσεται.ἦ τοῦδʼ ἐπαίνου τὸ στράτευμʼ ἐπάξιον. —σιγᾶν ἄμεινον τᾀσχρά, μηδὲ μοῦσά μοιγένοιτʼ ἀοιδὸς ἥτις ὑμνήσει κακά.
But the Trojans were dying, first for their fatherland, fairest fame to win; whomever the sword took, all these found friends to bear their bodies home and were laid to rest in the embrace of their native land,their funeral rites all duly paid by duteous hands. And all such Phrygians as escaped the warrior’s death lived always day by day with wife and children by them, joys the Achaeans had left behind. As for Hector and his griefs, hear how the case stands;
Τρῶες δὲ πρῶτον μέν, τὸ κάλλιστον κλέος,ὑπὲρ πάτρας ἔθνῃσκον· οὓς δʼ ἕλοι δόρυ,νεκροί γʼ ἐς οἴκους φερόμενοι φίλων ὕποἐν γῇ πατρῴᾳ περιβολὰς εἶχον χθονός,χερσὶν περισταλέντες ὧν ἐχρῆν ὕπο·ὅσοι δὲ μὴ θάνοιεν ἐν μάχῃ Φρυγῶν,ἀεὶ κατʼ ἦμαρ σὺν δάμαρτι καὶ τέκνοιςᾤκουν, Ἀχαιοῖς ὧν ἀπῆσαν ἡδοναί.τὰ δʼ Ἕκτορός σοι λύπρʼ ἄκουσον ὡς ἔχει·
he is dead and gone, but still his fame remains as bravest of the brave, and this was a result of the Achaeans’ coming; for had they remained at home, his worth would have gone unnoticed. And Paris married the daughter of Zeus, whereas, had he never done so, the alliance he made in his family would have been forgotten.
δόξας ἀνὴρ ἄριστος οἴχεται θανών,καὶ τοῦτʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἵξις ἐξεργάζεται·εἰ δʼ ἦσαν οἴκοι, χρηστὸς ὢν ἐλάνθανεν.Πάρις δʼ ἔγημε τὴν Διός· γήμας δὲ μή,σιγώμενον τὸ κῆδος εἶχεν ἐν δόμοις.
Whoever is wise should fly from making war; but if he come to this, a noble death will crown his city with glory, a coward’s end with shame. Therefore, mother, you should not pity your country or my bed, for this my marriagewill destroy those whom you and I most hate.
φεύγειν μὲν οὖν χρὴ πόλεμον ὅστις εὖ φρονεῖ·εἰ δʼ ἐς τόδʼ ἔλθοι, στέφανος οὐκ αἰσχρὸς πόλεικαλῶς ὀλέσθαι, μὴ καλῶς δὲ δυσκλεές.ὧν οὕνεκʼ οὐ χρή, μῆτερ, οἰκτίρειν σε γῆν,οὐ τἀμὰ λέκτρα· τοὺς γὰρ ἐχθίστους ἐμοὶκαὶ σοὶ γάμοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς διαφθερῶ.
Chorus Leader:How sweetly at your own sad lot you smile, chanting a strain, which, in spite of you, may prove you wrong!
Χορός:ὡς ἡδέως κακοῖσιν οἰκείοις γελᾷς,μέλπεις θʼ ἃ μέλπουσʼ οὐ σαφῆ δείξεις ἴσως.
Talthybius:Had not Apollo turned your wits to maenad revelry, you would not for nothing have sent my chiefswith such ominous predictions forth on their way. But, after all, these lofty minds, reputed wise, are nothing better than those that are held as nothing. For that mighty king of all Hellas, dear son of Atreus, has yielded to a passionfor this mad maiden of all others; though I am poor enough, yet would I never have chosen such a wife as this. As for you, since your senses are not whole, I give your taunts against Argos and your praise of Troy to the winds to carry away. Follow me nowto the ships to grace the wedding of our chief. And you too follow, whenever the son of Laertes demands your presence, for you will serve a mistress most discreet, as all declare who came to Ilium.
Ταλθύβιος:εἰ μή σʼ Ἀπόλλων ἐξεβάκχευεν φρένας,οὔ τἂν ἀμισθὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς στρατηλάταςτοιαῖσδε φήμαις ἐξέπεμπες ἂν χθονός.ἀτὰρ τὰ σεμνὰ καὶ δοκήμασιν σοφὰοὐδέν τι κρείσσω τῶν τὸ μηδὲν ἦν ἄρα.ὁ γὰρ μέγιστος τῶν Πανελλήνων ἄναξ,Ἀτρέως φίλος παῖς, τῆσδʼ ἔρωτʼ ἐξαίρετονμαινάδος ὑπέστη· καὶ πένης μέν εἰμʼ ἐγώ,ἀτὰρ λέχος γε τῆσδʼ ἂν οὐκ ἐκτησάμην.καὶ σοὶ μέν — οὐ γὰρ ἀρτίας ἔχεις φρένας —Ἀργεῖʼ ὀνείδη καὶ Φρυγῶν ἐπαινέσειςἀνέμοις φέρεσθαι παραδίδωμʼ· ἕπου δέ μοιπρὸς ναῦς, καλὸν νύμφευμα τῷ στρατηλάτῃ.σὺ δʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἄν σε Λαρτίου χρῄζῃ τόκοςἄγειν, ἕπεσθαι· σώφρονος δʼ ἔσῃ λάτριςγυναικός, ὥς φασʼ οἱ μολόντες Ἴλιον.
Cassandra:A clever fellow, this servant! Why is it heralds holdthe name they do? All men unite in hating with one common hate the attendants of kings or governments. You say my mother shall come to the halls of Odysseus? Where then are Apollo’s words, so clear to me in their interpretation, which declarethat she shall die here? What else remains, I will not taunt her with. Unhappy Odysseus, he does not know the sufferings that await him; or how these ills I and my Phrygians endure shall one day seem to him precious as gold. For beyond the ten long years spent at Troy he shall drag out other ten and then come to his country all alone...where dreadful Charybdis lurks in a narrow channel between the rocks; past Cyclops the savage shepherd, and Ligurian Circe who turns men to swine; shipwrecked often upon the salt sea-wave; longing to eat the lotus, and the sacred cattle of the sun,whose flesh shall utter in the days to come a human voice, bitter to Odysseus. In brief, he shall descend alive to Hades, and, though he shall escape the waters’ flood, yet shall he find a thousand troubles in his country when he arrives.
Κασάνδρα:ἦ δεινὸς ὁ λάτρις. τί ποτʼ ἔχουσι τοὔνομακήρυκες, ἓν ἀπέχθημα πάγκοινον βροτοῖς,οἱ περὶ τυράννους καὶ πόλεις ὑπηρέται;σὺ τὴν ἐμὴν φῂς μητέρʼ εἰς Ὀδυσσέωςἥξειν μέλαθρα; ποῦ δʼ Ἀπόλλωνος λόγοι,οἵ φασιν αὐτὴν εἰς ἔμʼ ἡρμηνευμένοιαὐτοῦ θανεῖσθαι; … τἄλλα δʼ οὐκ ὀνειδιῶ.δύστηνος, οὐκ οἶδʼ οἷά νιν μένει παθεῖν·ὡς χρυσὸς αὐτῷ τἀμὰ καὶ Φρυγῶν κακὰδόξει ποτʼ εἶναι. δέκα γὰρ ἐκπλήσας ἔτηπρὸς τοῖσιν ἐνθάδʼ, ἵξεται μόνος πάτραν…οὗ δὴ στενὸν δίαυλον ᾤκισται πέτραςδεινὴ Χάρυβδις, ὠμοβρώς τʼ ὀρειβάτηςΚύκλωψ, Λιγυστίς θʼ ἡ συῶν μορφώτριαΚίρκη, θαλάσσης θʼ ἁλμυρᾶς ναυάγια,λωτοῦ τʼ ἔρωτες, Ἡλίου θʼ ἁγναὶ βόες,αἳ σάρκα φωνήεσσαν ἥσουσίν ποτε,πικρὰν Ὀδυσσεῖ γῆρυν. ὡς δὲ συντέμω,ζῶν εἶσʼ ἐς Ἅιδου κἀκφυγὼν λίμνης ὕδωρκάκʼ ἐν δόμοισι μυρίʼ εὑρήσει μολών.
Cassandra:Enough! why do I recount the troubles of Odysseus?
Κασάνδρα:ἀλλὰ γὰρ τί τοὺς Ὀδυσσέως ἐξακοντίζω πόνους;
Lead on at once, that I may wed my husband for his home in Hades’ halls. Base you are, and basely shall you be buried, in the dead of night when day is done, you captain of that army of Danaids, who think so proudly of your fortune! Yes, and the rocky chasm with its flood of wintry waters shall give my corpse cast forth in nakedness to wild beasts to make their meal upon,near my husband’s tomb, I, Apollo’s servant. O garlands of that god most dear to me! farewell, you mystic symbols! I here resign your feasts, my joy in days gone by. Go, I tear you from my body, that, while yet mine honor is intact, I may give them to the rushing winds to waft to you, my prince of prophecy!
στεῖχʼ ὅπως τάχιστʼ· ἐς Ἅιδου νυμφίῳ γημώμεθα.ἦ κακὸς κακῶς ταφήσῃ νυκτός, οὐκ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ,ὦ δοκῶν σεμνόν τι πράσσειν, Δαναϊδῶν ἀρχηγέτα.κἀμέ τοι νεκρὸν φάραγγες γυμνάδʼ ἐκβεβλημένηνὕδατι χειμάρρῳ ῥέουσαι, νυμφίου πέλας τάφου,θηρσὶ δώσουσιν δάσασθαι, τὴν Ἀπόλλωνος λάτριν.ὦ στέφη τοῦ φιλτάτου μοι θεῶν, ἀγάλματʼ εὔια,χαίρετʼ· ἐκλέλοιφʼ ἑορτάς, αἷς πάροιθʼ ἠγαλλόμην.ἴτʼ ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ χρωτὸς σπαραγμοῖς, ὡς ἔτʼ οὖσʼ ἁγνὴ χρόαδῶ θοαῖς αὔραις φέρεσθαί σοι τάδʼ, ὦ μαντεῖʼ ἄναξ.
Where is that general’s ship? Where must I go to take my place there? Lose no further time in watching for a favoring breeze to fill your sails, doomed as you are to carry from this land one of the three avenging spirits. Fare you well, mother! dry your tears. O dear country! my brothers below the earth and my own father,it will not be long before you shall welcome me; victory shall crown my advent among the dead, when I have overthrown the home of our destroyers, the house of the sons of Atreus.
ποῦ σκάφος τὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ; ποῖ ποτʼ ἐμβαίνειν με χρή;οὐκέτʼ ἂν φθάνοις ἂν αὔραν ἱστίοις καραδοκῶν,ὡς μίαν τριῶν Ἐρινὺν τῆσδέ μʼ ἐξάξων χθονός.χαῖρέ μοι, μῆτερ· δακρύσῃς μηδέν· ὦ φίλη πατρίς,οἵ τε γῆς ἔνερθʼ ἀδελφοὶ χὡ τεκὼν ἡμᾶς πατήρ,οὐ μακρὰν δέξεσθέ μʼ· ἥξω δʼ ἐς νεκροὺς νικηφόροςκαὶ δόμους πέρσασʼ Ἀτρειδῶν, ὧν ἀπωλόμεσθʼ ὕπο.
Chorus Leader:You guardians of the grey-haired Hecuba, see how your mistress is sinking speechless to the ground! Take hold of her! will you let her fall,you worthless slaves? lift up again, from where it lies, her withered body.
Χορός:Ἑκάβης γεραιᾶς φύλακες, οὐ δεδόρκατεδέσποιναν ὡς ἄναυδος ἐκτάδην πίτνει;οὐκ ἀντιλήψεσθʼ; ἦ μεθήσετʼ, ὦ κακαί,γραῖαν πεσοῦσαν; αἴρετʼ εἰς ὀρθὸν δέμας.
Hecuba:Leave me, my maidens—unwelcome service does not grow welcome—lying where I fell; my sufferings now, my troubles past, afflictions yet to come, all claim this lowly posture. Gods of heaven! small help I find in calling such allies,yet is there something in the form of invoking heaven, whenever we fall on evil days. First I will sing of my former blessings; so shall I inspire the greater pity for my present woes. Born to royal estate and wedded to a royal lord,I was the mother of a race of gallant sons; no mere ciphers they, but Phrygia’s chiefest pride, children such as no Trojan or Hellenic or barbarian mother ever had to boast. All these have I seen slain by the spear of Hellas,and at their tombs have I shorn off my hair; with these my eyes I saw their father, Priam, butchered on his own hearth, and my city captured, nor did others bring this bitter news to me. The maidens I brought upto see chosen for some marriage high, for strangers have I reared them, and seen them snatched away. Nevermore can I hope to be seen by them, nor shall my eyes behold them ever in the days to come. And last, to crown my misery,I shall be brought to Hellas, a slave in my old age. And there the tasks that least befit the evening of my life will they impose on me, Hector’s mother, to watch their gates and keep the keys, or bake their bread, and on the ground instead of my royal bedlay down my shrunken limbs, with tattered rags about my wasted frame, a shameful garb for those who once were prosperous. Ah, woe is me! and this is what I bear and am to bear for one woman’s marriage!
Ἑκάβη:ἐᾶτέ μʼ — οὔτοι φίλα τὰ μὴ φίλʼ, ὦ κόραι —κεῖσθαι πεσοῦσαν· πτωμάτων γὰρ ἄξιαπάσχω τε καὶ πέπονθα κἄτι πείσομαι.ὦ θεοί … κακοὺς μὲν ἀνακαλῶ τοὺς συμμάχους,ὅμως δʼ ἔχει τι σχῆμα κικλήσκειν θεούς,ὅταν τις ἡμῶν δυστυχῆ λάβῃ τύχην.πρῶτον μὲν οὖν μοι τἀγάθʼ ἐξᾷσαι φίλον·τοῖς γὰρ κακοῖσι πλείονʼ οἶκτον ἐμβαλῶ.ἦμεν τύραννοι κἀς τύραννʼ ἐγημάμην,κἀνταῦθʼ ἀριστεύοντʼ ἐγεινάμην τέκνα,οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως, ἀλλʼ ὑπερτάτους Φρυγῶν·οὓς Τρῳὰς οὐδʼ Ἑλληνὶς οὐδὲ βάρβαροςγυνὴ τεκοῦσα κομπάσειεν ἄν ποτε.κἀκεῖνά τʼ εἶδον δορὶ πεσόνθʼ Ἑλληνικῷτρίχας τʼ ἐτμήθην τάσδε πρὸς τύμβοις νεκρῶν,καὶ τὸν φυτουργὸν Πρίαμον οὐκ ἄλλων πάρακλύουσʼ ἔκλαυσα, τοῖσδε δʼ εἶδον ὄμμασιναὐτὴ κατασφαγέντʼ ἐφʼ ἑρκείῳ πυρᾷ,πόλιν θʼ ἁλοῦσαν. ἃς δʼ ἔθρεψα παρθένουςἐς ἀξίωμα νυμφίων ἐξαίρετον,ἄλλοισι θρέψασʼ ἐκ χερῶν ἀφῃρέθην.κοὔτʼ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐλπὶς ὡς ὀφθήσομαι,αὐτή τʼ ἐκείνας οὐκέτʼ ὄψομαί ποτε.τὸ λοίσθιον δέ, θριγκὸς ἀθλίων κακῶν,δούλη γυνὴ γραῦς Ἑλλάδʼ εἰσαφίξομαι.ἃ δʼ ἐστὶ γήρᾳ τῷδʼ ἀσυμφορώτατα,τούτοις με προσθήσουσιν, ἢ θυρῶν λάτρινκλῇδας φυλάσσειν, τὴν τεκοῦσαν Ἕκτορα,ἢ σιτοποιεῖν, κἀν πέδῳ κοίτας ἔχεινῥυσοῖσι νώτοις, βασιλικῶν ἐκ δεμνίων,τρυχηρὰ περὶ τρυχηρὸν εἱμένην χρόαπέπλων λακίσματʼ, ἀδόκιμʼ ὀλβίοις ἔχειν.οἲ ʼγὼ τάλαινα, διὰ γάμον μιᾶς ἕναγυναικὸς οἵων ἔτυχον ὧν τε τεύξομαι.
O my daughter, O Cassandra! whom gods have summoned to their frenzied train, how cruel the lot that ends your virgin days! And you, Polyxena! my child of sorrow, where, oh! where are you? None of all the many sons and daughters I have born comes to aid a wretched mother.
ὦ τέκνον, ὦ σύμβακχε Κασάνδρα θεοῖς,οἵαις ἔλυσας συμφοραῖς ἅγνευμα σόν.σύ τʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, ποῦ ποτʼ εἶ, Πολυξένη;ὡς οὔτε μʼ ἄρσην οὔτε θήλεια σπορὰπολλῶν γενομένων τὴν τάλαιναν ὠφελεῖ.
Why then raise me up? What hope is left us? Guide me, who before trod so daintily the streets of Troy, but now am a slave, to a bed upon the ground, near some rocky ridge, that from there I may cast myself down and perish, after I have wasted my body with weeping.Of all the prosperous crowd, count none a happy man before he die.
τί δῆτά μʼ ὀρθοῦτʼ; ἐλπίδων ποίων ὕπο;ἄγετε τὸν ἁβρὸν δήποτʼ ἐν Τροίᾳ πόδα,νῦν δʼ ὄντα δοῦλον, στιβάδα πρὸς χαμαιπετῆπέτρινά τε κρήδεμνʼ, ὡς πεσοῦσʼ ἀποφθαρῶδακρύοις καταξανθεῖσα. τῶν δʼ εὐδαιμόνωνμηδένα νομίζετʼ εὐτυχεῖν, πρὶν ἂν θάνῃ.
Chorus:Sing me, Muse, a tale of Troy, a funeral dirge in strains unheard as yet, with tears;
Χορός:ἀμφί μοι Ἴλιον, ὦΜοῦσα, καινῶν ὕμνωνἄεισον ἐν δακρύοις ᾠδὰν ἐπικήδειον·
for now I will uplift for Troy a piteous chant, telling how I met my doom and fell a wretched captive to the Argives by reason of a four-footed beast that moved on wheels, when Achaea’s sons left at our.gates that horse,loud rumbling to the sky, with its trappings of gold and its freight of warriors; and our people cried out as they stood upon the rocky citadel, “Up now, you whose toil is over,”“and drag this sacred image to the shrine of the Zeus-born maiden, goddess of our Ilium!” Forth from his house came every youth and every grey-head too; and with songs of joythey took the fatal snare within.Chorus:Then hastened all the race of Phrygia to the gates, to make the goddess a present of an Argive band ambushed in the polished mountain-pine,Dardania’s ruin, a welcome gift to be to her, the virgin queen of deathless steeds; and with nooses of cord they dragged it, as it had been a ship’s dark hull, to the stone-builttemple of the goddess Pallas, and set it on that floor so soon to drink our country’s blood. But, as they labored and made merry, came on the pitchy night; loud the Libyan flute was sounding,and Phrygian songs awoke, while maidens beat the ground with airy foot, uplifting their glad song; and in the halls a blaze of torchlight shed its flickering shadowson sleeping eyes.
νῦν γὰρ μέλος ἐς Τροίαν ἰαχήσω,τετραβάμονος ὡς ὑπʼ ἀπήναςἈργείων ὀλόμαν τάλαινα δοριάλωτος,ὅτʼ ἔλιπον ἵππον οὐράνιαβρέμοντα χρυσεοφάλαρον ἔνο-πλον ἐν πύλαις Ἀχαιοί·ἀνὰ δʼ ἐβόασεν λεὼςΤρῳάδος ἀπὸ πέτρας σταθείς·Ἴτʼ, ὦ πεπαυμένοι πόνων,τόδʼ ἱερὸν ἀνάγετε ξόανονἸλιάδι Διογενεῖ κόρᾳ.τίς οὐκ ἔβα νεανίδων,τίς οὐ γεραιὸς ἐκ δόμων;κεχαρμένοι δʼ ἀοιδαῖςδόλιον ἔσχον ἄταν.Χορός:πᾶσα δὲ γέννα Φρυγῶνπρὸς πύλας ὡρμάθη,πεύκᾳ ἐν οὐρεΐᾳ ξεστὸν λόχον Ἀργείωνκαὶ Δαρδανίας ἄταν θέᾳ δώσων,χάριν ἄζυγος ἀμβροτοπώλου·κλωστοῦ δʼ ἀμφιβόλοις λίνοιο ναὸς ὡσεὶσκάφος κελαινόν, εἰς ἕδραναλάινα δάπεδά τε φόνια πατρί-δι Παλλάδος θέσαν θεᾶς.ἐπὶ δὲ πόνῳ καὶ χαρᾷνύχιον ἐπεὶ κνέφας παρῆν,Λίβυς τε λωτὸς ἐκτύπειΦρύγιά τε μέλεα, παρθένοι δʼἀέριον ἀνὰ κρότον ποδῶνβοὰν ἔμελπον εὔφρονʼ, ἐνδόμοις δὲ παμφαὲς σέλαςπυρὸς μέλαιναν αἴγλαν⟨ἄκος⟩ ἔδωκεν ὕπνῳ.
Chorus:In that hour around the house I was singing as I danced to that maiden of the hills, the child of Zeus;when there rang along the town a cry of death which filled the homes of Troy, and babies in terror clung about their mothers’ skirts,as forth from their ambush came the warrior-band, the handiwork of maiden Pallas. Soon the altars ran with Phrygian blood, and desolation reigned over every bed where young men lay beheaded,a glorious crown for Hellas won, for her, the nurse of youth, but for our Phrygian fatherland a bitter grief.
Χορός:ἐγὼ δὲ τὰν ὀρεστέραντότʼ ἀμφὶ μέλαθρα παρθένονΔιὸς κόραν ἐμελπόμανχοροῖσι· φοινία δʼ ἀνὰπτόλιν βοὰ κατεῖχε Περ-γάμων ἕδρας· βρέφη δὲ φίλι-α περὶ πέπλους ἔβαλλε μα-τρὶ χεῖρας ἐπτοημένας·λόχου δʼ ἐξέβαινʼ Ἄρης,κόρας ἔργα Παλλάδος.σφαγαὶ δʼ ἀμφιβώμιοιΦρυγῶν, ἔν τε δεμνίοιςκαράτομος ἐρημίανεανίδων στέφανον ἔφερενἙλλάδι κουροτρόφον,Φρυγῶν πατρίδι πένθη.
Chorus Leader:Hecuba, do you see Andromache advancing here on a foreign chariot?
Χορός:Ἑκάβη, λεύσσεις τήνδʼ Ἀνδρομάχηνξενικοῖς ἐπʼ ὄχοις πορθμευομένην;
and with her, clasped to her throbbing breast, is her dear Astyanax, Hector’s child. Where are you being carried, unhappy wife, mounted on that chariot, side by side with Hector’s brazen arms and Phrygian spoils of war,with which Achilles’ son will deck the shrines of Phthia on his return from Troy?
παρὰ δʼ εἰρεσίᾳ μαστῶν ἕπεταιφίλος Ἀστυάναξ, Ἕκτορος ἶνις.ποῖ ποτʼ ἀπήνης νώτοισι φέρῃ,δύστανε γύναι, πάρεδρος χαλκέοιςἝκτορος ὅπλοις σκύλοις τε Φρυγῶνδοριθηράτοις,οἷσιν Ἀχιλλέως παῖς Φθιώταςστέψει ναοὺς ἀπὸ Τροίας;
Andromache:My Achaean masters are leading me away.
Ἀνδρομάχη:Ἀχαιοὶ δεσπόται μʼ ἄγουσιν.
Hecuba:Ah me!
Ἑκάβη:οἴμοι.
Andromache:Why do you in note of woe utter the dirge that is mine?
Ἀνδρομάχη:τί παιᾶνʼ ἐμὸν στενάζεις;
Andromache:For these sorrows—
Ἀνδρομάχη:τῶνδʼ ἀλγέων —
Hecuba:O Zeus—
Ἑκάβη:ὦ Ζεῦ —
Andromache:And for this calamity.
Ἀνδρομάχη:καὶ συμφορᾶς.
Hecuba:O my children!
Ἑκάβη:τέκεα,
Andromache:Our day is past.
Ἀνδρομάχη:πρίν ποτʼ ἦμεν.
Hecuba:Joy is gone, Troy is gone.
Ἑκάβη:βέβακʼ ὄλβος, βέβακε Τροία
Andromache:Unhappy!
Ἀνδρομάχη:τλάμων.
Hecuba:For my gallant sons
Ἑκάβη:ἐμῶν τʼ εὐγένεια παίδων.
Andromache:Alas!
Ἀνδρομάχη:φεῦ φεῦ.
Hecuba:Alas indeed, for my
Ἑκάβη:φεῦ δῆτʼ ἐμῶν
Andromache:Misery!
Ἀνδρομάχη:κακῶν.
Hecuba:Piteous the fate
Ἑκάβη:οἰκτρὰ τύχα
Andromache:Of our city,
Ἀνδρομάχη:πόλεος,
Hecuba:Smouldering in the smoke.
Ἑκάβη:ἃ καπνοῦται.
Andromache:Come to me, my husband, come to me!
Ἀνδρομάχη:μόλοις, ὦ πόσις, μοι —
Hecuba:Ah, hapless wife! you call on my son who lies in the tomb.
Ἑκάβη:βοᾷς τὸν παρʼ Ἅιδᾳπαῖδʼ ἐμόν, ὦ μελέα.
Andromache:Your wife’s defender!
Ἀνδρομάχη:σᾶς δάμαρτος ἄλκαρ.
Hecuba:Oh, you, who before made the Achaeans grieve, eldest of the sons I bore to Priam, take me to your rest in Hades’ halls!
Ἑκάβη:σύ τʼ, ὦ λῦμʼ Ἀχαιῶν,τέκνων δέσποθʼ ἁμῶν,πρεσβυγενὲς Πρίαμε,κοίμισαί μʼ ἐς Ἅιδου.
Andromache:These great griefs—
Ἀνδρομάχη:οἵδε πόθοι μεγάλοι …
Hecuba:Unhappy one, bitter these woes to bear.
Ἑκάβη:σχετλία, τάδε πάσχομεν ἄλγη.
Andromache:Our city ruined—
Ἀνδρομάχη:οἰχομένας πόλεως …
Hecuba:And sorrow to sorrow added.
Ἑκάβη:ἐπὶ δʼ ἄλγεσιν ἄλγεα κεῖται.
Andromache:Through the will of angry heaven, since the day that son of yours escaped death, he that for a hated bride brought destruction on the Trojan citadel. There lie the gory corpses of the slain by the shrine of Pallas for vultures to carry off;and Troy has come to slavery’s yoke.
Ἀνδρομάχη:δυσφροσύναισι θεῶν, ὅτε σὸς γόνος ἔκφυγεν Ἅιδαν,ὃς λεχέων στυγερῶν χάριν ὤλεσεπέργαμα Τροίας· αἱματόεντα δὲθεᾷ παρὰ Παλλάδι σώματα νεκρῶνγυψὶ φέρειν τέταται· ζυγὰ δʼ ἤνυσεδούλια Τροίᾳ.
Hecuba:O my country, O unhappy land—
Ἑκάβη:ὦ πατρίς, ὦ μελέα …
Andromache:I weep for you now left behind.
Ἀνδρομάχη:καταλειπομέναν σε δακρύω,
Hecuba:Now do you behold your piteous end.
Ἑκάβη:νῦν τέλος οἰκτρὸν ὁρᾷς.
Andromache:And you, my house, where I gave birth.
Ἀνδρομάχη:καὶ ἐμὸν δόμον ἔνθʼ ἐλοχεύθην.
Hecuba:O my children! bereft of her city as your mother is, she now is losing you. Oh, what mourning and what sorrow!...oh, what endless streams of tears in our houses! The dead alone forget their griefs [and never shed a tear].
Ἑκάβη:ὦ τέκνʼ, ἐρημόπολις μάτηρ ἀπολείπεται ὑμῶν,οἷος ἰάλεμος, οἷά τε πένθη…δάκρυά τʼ ἐκ δακρύων καταλείβεταιἁμετέροισι δόμοις· ὁ θανὼν δʼ ἐπι-λάθεται ἀλγέων [ἀδάκρυτος].
Chorus Leader:What sweet relief to sufferers it is to weep, to mourn, lament, and chant the dirge that tells of grief!
Χορός:ὡς ἡδὺ δάκρυα τοῖς κακῶς πεπραγόσιθρήνων τʼ ὀδυρμοὶ μοῦσά θʼ ἣ λύπας ἔχει.
Andromache:Do you see this, mother of that man, Hector, who once laid low in battle many a son of Argos?
Ἀνδρομάχη:ὦ μῆτερ ἀνδρός, ὅς ποτʼ Ἀργείων δορὶπλείστους διώλεσʼ, Ἕκτορος, τάδʼ εἰσορᾷς;
Hecuba:I see that it is heaven’s way to exalt what men accounted nothing, and ruin what they most esteemed.
Ἑκάβη:ὁρῶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν, ὡς τὰ μὲν πυργοῦσʼ ἄνωτὸ μηδὲν ὄντα, τὰ δὲ δοκοῦντʼ ἀπώλεσαν.
Andromache:Hence with my child as booty am I borne; the nobleare brought to slavery—a bitter change.
Ἀνδρομάχη:ἀγόμεθα λεία σὺν τέκνῳ· τὸ δʼ εὐγενὲςἐς δοῦλον ἥκει, μεταβολὰς τοσάσδʼ ἔχον.
Hecuba:This is necessity’s grim law; it was just now that Cassandra was torn with brutal violence from my arms.
Ἑκάβη:τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης δεινόν· ἄρτι κἀπʼ ἐμοῦβέβηκʼ ἀποσπασθεῖσα Κασάνδρα βίᾳ.
Andromache:Alas, alas! it seems a second Aias has appeared to wrong your daughter; but there are other ills for you.
Ἀνδρομάχη:φεῦ φεῦ·ἄλλος τις Αἴας, ὡς ἔοικε, δεύτεροςπαιδὸς πέφηνε σῆς. νοσεῖς δὲ χἅτερα.
Hecuba:Yes, beyond all count or measure are my sorrows; evil vies with evil in the struggle to be first.
Ἑκάβη:ὧν γʼ οὔτε μέτρον οὔτʼ ἀριθμός ἐστί μοι·κακῷ κακὸν γὰρ εἰς ἅμιλλαν ἔρχεται.
Andromache:Your daughter Polyxena is dead, slain at Achilles’ tomb, an offering to his lifeless corpse.
Ἀνδρομάχη:τέθνηκέ σοι παῖς πρὸς τάφῳ Πολυξένησφαγεῖσʼ Ἀχιλλέως, δῶρον ἀψύχῳ νεκρῷ.
Hecuba:O woe is me! This is that riddle Talthybiuslong ago told me, a truth obscurely uttered.
Ἑκάβη:οἲ ʼγὼ τάλαινα. τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνʼ ὅ μοι πάλαιΤαλθύβιος αἴνιγμʼ οὐ σαφῶς εἶπεν σαφές.
Andromache:I saw her myself; so I alighted from the chariot, and covered her corpse with a mantle, and struck upon my breast.
Ἀνδρομάχη:εἶδόν νιν αὐτή, κἀποβᾶσα τῶνδʼ ὄχωνἔκρυψα πέπλοις κἀπεκοψάμην νεκρόν.
Hecuba:Alas! my child, for your unhallowed sacrifice! and yet again, alas! for your shameful death!
Ἑκάβη:αἰαῖ, τέκνον, σῶν ἀνοσίων προσφαγμάτων·αἰαῖ μάλʼ αὖθις, ὡς κακῶς διόλλυσαι.
Andromache:Her death was even as it was, and yet that death of hers was after all a happier fate than my life.
Ἀνδρομάχη:ὄλωλεν ὡς ὄλωλεν· ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἐμοῦζώσης γʼ ὄλωλεν εὐτυχεστέρῳ πότμῳ.
Hecuba:Death and life are not the same, my child; the one is annihilation, the other keeps a place for hope.
Ἑκάβη:οὐ ταὐτόν, ὦ παῖ, τῷ βλέπειν τὸ κατθανεῖν·τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὐδέν, τῷ δʼ ἔνεισιν ἐλπίδες.
Andromache:Hear, O mother of children! give ear to what I urge so well,that I may cheer my drooping spirit. It is all one, I say, never to have been born and to be dead, and better far is death than life with misery. For the dead feel no sorrow any more and know no grief; but he who has known prosperity and has fallen on evil daysfeels his spirit straying from the scene of former joys. Now that child of yours is dead as though she never had seen the light, and little she knows of her calamity; whereas I, who aimed at a fair repute, though I won a higher lot than most, yet missed my luck in life.
Ἀνδρομάχη:ὦ μῆτερ, ὦ τεκοῦσα, κάλλιστον λόγονἄκουσον, ὥς σοι τέρψιν ἐμβαλῶ φρενί.τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι τῷ θανεῖν ἴσον λέγω,τοῦ ζῆν δὲ λυπρῶς κρεῖσσόν ἐστι κατθανεῖν.ἀλγεῖ γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν κακῶν ᾐσθημένος·ὁ δʼ εὐτυχήσας ἐς τὸ δυστυχὲς πεσὼνψυχὴν ἀλᾶται τῆς πάροιθʼ εὐπραξίας.κείνη δʼ, ὁμοίως ὥσπερ οὐκ ἰδοῦσα φῶς,τέθνηκε κοὐδὲν οἶδε τῶν αὑτῆς κακῶν.ἐγὼ δὲ τοξεύσασα τῆς εὐδοξίαςλαχοῦσα πλεῖον τῆς τύχης ἡμάρτανον.
For all that stamps the wife a woman chaste, I strove to do in Hector’s home. In the first place, whether there is a slur upon a woman, or whether there is not, the very fact of her not staying at home brings in its train an evil name;therefore I gave up any longing to do so, and stayed within my house; nor would I admit indoors the clever gossip women love, but conscious of a heart that told an honest tale I was content. And ever would I keep a silent tongue and modest eye before my husband;and well I knew where I might rule him, and where it was best to yield.
ἃ γὰρ γυναιξὶ σώφρονʼ ἔσθʼ ηὑρημένα,ταῦτʼ ἐξεμόχθουν Ἕκτορος κατὰ στέγας.πρῶτον μέν, ἔνθα — κἂν προσῇ κἂν μὴ προσῇψόγος γυναιξίν — αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἐφέλκεταικακῶς ἀκούειν, ἥτις οὐκ ἔνδον μένει,τούτου παρεῖσα πόθον ἔμιμνον ἐν δόμοις·ἔσω τε μελάθρων κομψὰ θηλειῶν ἔπηοὐκ εἰσεφρούμην, τὸν δὲ νοῦν διδάσκαλονοἴκοθεν ἔχουσα χρηστὸν ἐξήρκουν ἐμοί.γλώσσης τε σιγὴν ὄμμα θʼ ἥσυχον πόσειπαρεῖχον· ᾔδη δʼ ἁμὲ χρῆν νικᾶν πόσιν,κείνῳ τε νίκην ὧν ἐχρῆν παριέναι.
Report of this has reached the Achaean army, and proved my ruin; for when I was taken captive, Achilles’ son would have meas his wife, and I must serve in the house of murderers. And if I set aside my love for Hector, and open my heart to this new lord, I shall appear a traitress to the dead, while, if I hate him, I shall incur my master’s displeasure.
καὶ τῶνδε κληδὼν ἐς στράτευμʼ Ἀχαιϊκὸνἐλθοῦσʼ ἀπώλεσέν μʼ· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ᾑρέθην,Ἀχιλλέως με παῖς ἐβουλήθη λαβεῖνδάμαρτα· δουλεύσω δʼ ἐν αὐθεντῶν δόμοις.κεἰ μὲν παρώσασʼ Ἕκτορος φίλον κάραπρὸς τὸν παρόντα πόσιν ἀναπτύξω φρένα,κακὴ φανοῦμαι τῷ θανόντι· τόνδε δʼ αὖστυγοῦσʼ ἐμαυτῆς δεσπόταις μισήσομαι.
And yet they say a single night removes a woman’s dislike for her husband; I despise the woman who, when she has lost her former husband, transfers her love by marrying another. Not even the horse, if parted from her stablemate,will cheerfully draw the yoke; and animals have neither speech nor sense to help them, and are by nature man’s inferiors.
καίτοι λέγουσιν ὡς μίʼ εὐφρόνη χαλᾷτὸ δυσμενὲς γυναικὸς εἰς ἀνδρὸς λέχος·ἀπέπτυσʼ αὐτήν, ἥτις ἄνδρα τὸν πάροςκαινοῖσι λέκτροις ἀποβαλοῦσʼ ἄλλον φιλεῖ.ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ πῶλος ἥτις ἂν διαζυγῇτῆς συντραφείσης, ῥᾳδίως ἕλξει ζυγόν.καίτοι τὸ θηριῶδες ἄφθογγόν τʼ ἔφυξυνέσει τʼ ἄχρηστον τῇ φύσει τε λείπεται.