---
title: "The Trojan Women · Τρῳάδες"
author: "Euripides"
translator: "Edward P. Coleridge"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 2 of 2
url: https://scriptura.si/works/euripides-trojan-women/2/
cite: "Euripides, tr. Edward P. Coleridge, The Trojan Women · Τρῳάδες, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/euripides-trojan-women/2/"
---

# The Trojan Women · Τρῳάδες

*Euripides, tr. Edward P. Coleridge*

The women of Troy wait to be shared out among the victors.

> Greek: ed. Gilbert Murray, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0006.tlg011, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Edward P. Coleridge, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0006.tlg011.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 2. Lines 673–1332

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/euripides-trojan-women/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/euripides-trojan-women/2/#p-N

[¶0] O my dear Hector, in you I found a husband amply dowered with wisdom, noble birth and fortune, a brave man and a mighty;

> Greek: σὲ δʼ, ὦ φίλʼ Ἕκτορ, εἶχον ἄνδρʼ ἀρκοῦντά μοι
ξυνέσει γένει πλούτῳ τε κἀνδρείᾳ μέγαν·

[¶1] while you took from my father’s house a spotless bride, yourself the first to make this maiden wife. But now death has claimed you, and I am soon to sail to Hellas, a captive doomed to wear the yoke of slavery. Has not then the dead Polyxena,
for whom you wail, less evil to bear than I? I have not so much as hope, the last resource of every human heart, nor do I beguile myself with dreams of future bliss, the very thought of which is sweet.

> Greek: ἀκήρατον δέ μʼ ἐκ πατρὸς λαβὼν δόμων
πρῶτος τὸ παρθένειον ἐζεύξω λέχος.
καὶ νῦν ὄλωλας μὲν σύ, ναυσθλοῦμαι δʼ ἐγὼ
πρὸς Ἑλλάδʼ αἰχμάλωτος ἐς δοῦλον ζυγόν.
ἆρʼ οὐκ ἐλάσσω τῶν ἐμῶν ἔχειν κακῶν
Πολυξένης ὄλεθρος, ἣν καταστένεις;
ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ὃ πᾶσι λείπεται βροτοῖς
ξύνεστιν ἐλπίς, οὐδὲ κλέπτομαι φρένας
πράξειν τι κεδνόν· ἡδὺ δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ δοκεῖν.

[¶2] Chorus Leader:
You are in the same plight as I; your lamentations
for yourself remind me of my own sad case.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐς ταὐτὸν ἥκεις συμφορᾶς· θρηνοῦσα δὲ
τὸ σὸν διδάσκεις μʼ ἔνθα πημάτων κυρῶ.

[¶3] Hecuba:
I never yet have set foot on a ship’s deck, though I have seen such things in pictures and know of them from hearsay. Now sailors, if there comes a storm of moderate force, are all eagerness to save themselves by toil;
one stands at the tiller, another sets himself to work the sheets, a third meanwhile is baling out the ship; but if tempestuous waves arise to overwhelm them, they yield to fortune and commit themselves to the driving billows. Even so I, by reason of my countless troubles,
am speechless and forbear to say a word; for this surge of misery from the gods is too strong for me. Cease, my darling child, to speak of Hector’s fate; no tears of yours can save him; honor your present master,
offering your sweet nature as the bait to win him. If you do this, you will cheer your friends as well as yourself and you shalt rear my Hector’s child to lend stout aid to Ilium, that so your children in the aftertime
may build her up again, and our city yet be established. But our talk must take a different turn; who is this Achaean servant I see coming here again, sent to tell us of some new design?

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
αὐτὴ μὲν οὔπω ναὸς εἰσέβην σκάφος,
γραφῇ δʼ ἰδοῦσα καὶ κλύουσʼ ἐπίσταμαι.
ναύταις γὰρ ἢν μὲν μέτριος ᾖ χειμὼν φέρειν,
προθυμίαν ἔχουσι σωθῆναι πόνων,
ὁ μὲν παρʼ οἴαχʼ, ὁ δʼ ἐπὶ λαίφεσιν βεβώς,
ὁ δʼ ἄντλον εἴργων ναός· ἢν δʼ ὑπερβάλῃ
πολὺς ταραχθεὶς πόντος, ἐνδόντες τύχῃ
παρεῖσαν αὑτοὺς κυμάτων δρομήμασιν.
οὕτω δὲ κἀγὼ πόλλʼ ἔχουσα πήματα
ἄφθογγός εἰμι καὶ παρεῖσʼ ἐῶ στόμα·
νικᾷ γὰρ οὑκ θεῶν με δύστηνος κλύδων.
ἀλλʼ, ὦ φίλη παῖ, τὰς μὲν Ἕκτορος τύχας
ἔασον· οὐ μὴ δάκρυά νιν σώσῃ τὰ σά·
τίμα δὲ τὸν παρόντα δεσπότην σέθεν,
φίλον διδοῦσα δέλεαρ ἀνδρὶ σῶν τρόπων.
κἂν δρᾷς τάδʼ, ἐς τὸ κοινὸν εὐφρανεῖς φίλους
καὶ παῖδα τόνδε παιδὸς ἐκθρέψειας ἂν
Τροίᾳ μέγιστον ὠφέλημʼ, ἵνʼ — εἴ ποτε —
ἐκ σοῦ γενόμενοι παῖδες Ἴλιον πάλιν
κατοικίσειαν, καὶ πόλις γένοιτʼ ἔτι.
ἀλλʼ ἐκ λόγου γὰρ ἄλλος ἐκβαίνει λόγος,
τίνʼ αὖ δέδορκα τόνδʼ Ἀχαιϊκὸν λάτριν
στείχοντα καινῶν ἄγγελον βουλευμάτων;

[¶4] Talthybius:
You that once were the wife of Hector, bravest of the Phrygians,
do not hate me, for I am not a willing messenger. The Danaids and sons of Pelops both command—

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
Φρυγῶν ἀρίστου πρίν ποθʼ Ἕκτορος δάμαρ,
μή με στυγήσῃς· οὐχ ἑκὼν γὰρ ἀγγελῶ.
Δαναῶν δὲ κοινὰ Πελοπιδῶν τʼ ἀγγέλματα …

[¶5] Andromache:
What is it? your prelude bodes evil news.

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
τί δʼ ἔστιν; ὥς μοι φροιμίων ἄρχῃ κακῶν.

[¶6] Talthybius:
It is decreed your son is—how can I tell my news?

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
ἔδοξε τόνδε παῖδα … πῶς εἴπω λόγον;

[¶7] Andromache:
Surely not to have a different master from me?

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
μῶν οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν δεσπότην ἡμῖν ἔχειν;

[¶8] Talthybius:
None of all Achaea’s chiefs shall ever lord it over him.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
οὐδεὶς Ἀχαιῶν τοῦδε δεσπόσει ποτέ.

[¶9] Andromache:
Is it their will to leave him here, a remnant of Phrygia’s race?

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδʼ αὐτοῦ λείψανον Φρυγῶν λιπεῖν;

[¶10] Talthybius:
I know no words to break the sorrow lightly to you.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως σοι ῥᾳδίως εἴπω κακά.

[¶11] Andromache:
I thank you for your consideration, unless indeed you have good news to tell.

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
ἐπῄνεσʼ αἰδῶ, πλὴν ἐὰν λέγῃς καλά.

[¶12] Talthybius:
They mean to slay your son; there is my hateful message to you.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
κτενοῦσι σὸν παῖδʼ, ὡς πύθῃ κακὸν μέγα.

[¶13] Andromache:
Oh me! this is worse tidings than my forced marriage.

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
οἴμοι, γάμων τόδʼ ὡς κλύω μεῖζον κακόν.

[¶14] Talthybius:
So spoke Odysseus to the assembled Hellenes, and his word prevails.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
νικᾷ δʼ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἐν Πανέλλησιν λέγων …

[¶15] Andromache:
Oh, once again alas! there is no measure in the woes I bear.

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
αἰαῖ μάλʼ· οὐ γὰρ μέτρια πάσχομεν κακά.

[¶16] Talthybius:
He said they should not rear so brave a father’s son.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
λέξας ἀρίστου παῖδα μὴ τρέφειν πατρὸς …

[¶17] Andromache:
May such counsels prevail about children of his!

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
τοιαῦτα νικήσειε τῶν αὑτοῦ πέρι.

[¶18] Talthybius:
He must be thrown from Troy’s battlements. Let it be so, and you will show more wisdom; do not cling to him, but bear your sorrows with heroic heart, nor in your weakness think that you are strong. For nowhere do you have any help; consider this you must;

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
ῥῖψαι δὲ πύργων δεῖν σφε Τρωικῶν ἄπο.
ἀλλʼ ὣς γενέσθω, καὶ σοφωτέρα φανῇ·
μήτʼ ἀντέχου τοῦδʼ, εὐγενῶς δʼ ἄλγει κακοῖς,
μήτε σθένουσα μηδὲν ἰσχύειν δόκει.
ἔχεις γὰρ ἀλκὴν οὐδαμῇ. σκοπεῖν δὲ χρή·

[¶19] your husband and your city are no more, so you are in our power, and I alone am match enough for one woman; therefore I would not see you bent on strife, or any course to bring you shame or hate, nor would I hear you rashly curse the Achaeans.

> Greek: πόλις τʼ ὄλωλε καὶ πόσις, κρατῇ δὲ σύ,
ἡμεῖς δὲ πρὸς γυναῖκα μάρνασθαι μίαν
οἷοί τε. τούτων οὕνεκʼ οὐ μάχης ἐρᾶν
οὐδʼ αἰσχρὸν οὐδὲν οὐδʼ ἐπίφθονόν σε δρᾶν,
οὐδʼ αὖ σʼ Ἀχαιοῖς βούλομαι ῥίπτειν ἀράς.

[¶20] For if you say anything to anger the army, this child will find no burial nor pity either. But if you hold your peace and with composure take your fate, you will not leave his corpse unburied, and you yourself will find more favor with the Achaeans.

> Greek: εἰ γάρ τι λέξεις ὧν χολώσεται στρατός,
οὔτʼ ἂν ταφείη παῖς ὅδʼ οὔτʼ οἴκτου τύχοι.
σιγῶσα δʼ εὖ τε τὰς τύχας κεκτημένη
τὸν τοῦδε νεκρὸν οὐκ ἄθαπτον ἂν λίποις
αὐτή τʼ Ἀχαιῶν πρευμενεστέρων τύχοις.

[¶21] Andromache:
My dearest! my own sweet child and priceless treasure! your death the foe demands, and you must leave your wretched mother. That which saves the lives of others, proves your destruction—your father’s nobility; to you your father’s valiancy has proved no gift.

> Greek: Ἀνδρομάχη:
ὦ φίλτατʼ, ὦ περισσὰ τιμηθεὶς τέκνον,
θανῇ πρὸς ἐχθρῶν μητέρʼ ἀθλίαν λιπών,
ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς δέ σʼ εὐγένειʼ ἀποκτενεῖ,
ἣ τοῖσιν ἄλλοις γίγνεται σωτηρία,
τὸ δʼ ἐσθλὸν οὐκ ἐς καιρὸν ἦλθε σοὶ πατρός.

[¶22] O my unlucky bed and marriage, that brought me once to Hector’s home, hoping to be the mother of a son that should rule over Asia’s fruitful fields instead of serving as a victim to the Danaids! Do you weep, my child? do you know your hapless fate?

> Greek: ὦ λέκτρα τἀμὰ δυστυχῆ τε καὶ γάμοι,
οἷς ἦλθον ἐς μέλαθρον Ἕκτορός ποτε,
οὐ σφάγιον υἱὸν Δαναΐδαις τέξουσʼ ἐμόν,
ἀλλʼ ὡς τύραννον Ἀσιάδος πολυσπόρου.
ὦ παῖ, δακρύεις· αἰσθάνῃ κακῶν σέθεν;

[¶23] Why clutch me with your hands and to my garment cling, nestling like a tender chick beneath my wing? Hector will not rise from the earth and come gripping his famous spear to bring you salvation; no kinsman of your father appears, nor might of Phrygian hosts;

> Greek: τί μου δέδραξαι χερσὶ κἀντέχῃ πέπλων,
νεοσσὸς ὡσεὶ πτέρυγας ἐσπίτνων ἐμάς;
οὐκ εἶσιν Ἕκτωρ κλεινὸν ἁρπάσας δόρυ
γῆς ἐξανελθὼν σοὶ φέρων σωτηρίαν,
οὐ συγγένεια πατρός, οὐκ ἰσχὺς Φρυγῶν·

[¶24] one dreadful headlong leap from the dizzy height and you will dash out your life with none to pity you! Oh to clasp your tender limbs, a mother’s fondest joy! Oh to breathe your fragrant breath! In vain it seems these breasts did suckle you, wrapped in your swaddling-clothes;
all for nothing I used to toil and wear myself away! Kiss your mother now for the last time, nestle to her that bore you, twine your arms about my neck and join your lips to mine! O you Hellenes, cunning to devise new forms of cruelty,
why slay this child who never wronged any? You daughter of Tyndareus, you are no child of Zeus, but I say you were born of many a father, first of some evil demon, next of Envy, then of Murder and of Death, and every horror that the earth breeds.

> Greek: λυγρὸν δὲ πήδημʼ ἐς τράχηλον ὑψόθεν
πεσὼν ἀνοίκτως, πνεῦμʼ ἀπορρήξεις σέθεν.
ὦ νέον ὑπαγκάλισμα μητρὶ φίλτατον,
ὦ χρωτὸς ἡδὺ πνεῦμα· διὰ κενῆς ἄρα
ἐν σπαργάνοις σε μαστὸς ἐξέθρεψʼ ὅδε,
μάτην δʼ ἐμόχθουν καὶ κατεξάνθην πόνοις.
νῦν — οὔποτʼ αὖθις — μητέρʼ ἀσπάζου σέθεν,
πρόσπιτνε τὴν τεκοῦσαν, ἀμφὶ δʼ ὠλένας
ἕλισσʼ ἐμοῖς νώτοισι καὶ στόμʼ ἅρμοσον.
ὦ βάρβαρʼ ἐξευρόντες Ἕλληνες κακά,
τί τόνδε παῖδα κτείνετʼ οὐδὲν αἴτιον;
ὦ Τυνδάρειον ἔρνος, οὔποτʼ εἶ Διός,
πολλῶν δὲ πατέρων φημί σʼ ἐκπεφυκέναι,
Ἀλάστορος μὲν πρῶτον, εἶτα δὲ Φθόνου,
Φόνου τε Θανάτου θʼ ὅσα τε γῆ τρέφει κακά.

[¶25] That Zeus was never father of yours I boldly do assert, bane as you have been to many a Hellene and barbarian too. Destruction catch you! Those fair eyes of yours have brought a shameful ruin on the fields of glorious Troy. Take the child and bear him hence, hurl him down if you wish,
then feast upon his flesh! It is the gods’ will we perish, and I cannot ward the deadly stroke from my child. Hide me and my misery; cast me into the ship’s hold; for it is to a fair wedding I am going, now that I have lost my child!

> Greek: οὐ γάρ ποτʼ αὐχῶ Ζῆνά γʼ ἐκφῦσαί σʼ ἐγώ,
πολλοῖσι κῆρα βαρβάροις Ἕλλησί τε.
ὄλοιο· καλλίστων γὰρ ὀμμάτων ἄπο
αἰσχρῶς τὰ κλεινὰ πεδίʼ ἀπώλεσας Φρυγῶν.
⟨ἀλλʼ⟩ ἄγετε φέρετε ῥίπτετʼ, εἰ ῥίπτειν δοκεῖ·
δαίνυσθε τοῦδε σάρκας. ἔκ τε γὰρ θεῶν
διολλύμεσθα, παιδί τʼ οὐ δυναίμεθʼ ἂν
θάνατον ἀρῆξαι. κρύπτετʼ ἄθλιον δέμας
καὶ ῥίπτετʼ ἐς ναῦς· ἐπὶ καλὸν γὰρ ἔρχομαι
ὑμέναιον, ἀπολέσασα τοὐμαυτῆς τέκνον.

[¶26] Chorus Leader:
Unhappy Troy! you have lost countless men for the sake of one woman and her hateful bed.

> Greek: Χορός:
τάλαινα Τροία, μυρίους ἀπώλεσας
μιᾶς γυναικὸς καὶ λέχους στυγνοῦ χάριν.

[¶27] Talthybius:
Come, child, leave fond embracing of your woeful mother, and mount the high coronal of your ancestral towers,
there to draw your parting breath, as is ordained. Take him away. His should the duty be to do such herald’s work, whose heart knows no pity and who loves ruthlessness more than my soul does. Exeunt Andromache and Talthybius with Astyanax.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
ἄγε παῖ, φίλιον πρόσπτυγμα μεθεὶς
μητρὸς μογερᾶς, βαῖνε πατρῴων
πύργων ἐπʼ ἄκρας στεφάνας, ὅθι σοι
πνεῦμα μεθεῖναι ψῆφος ἐκράνθη.
λαμβάνετʼ αὐτόν. τὰ δὲ τοιάδε χρὴ
κηρυκεύειν, ὅστις ἄνοικτος
καὶ ἀναιδείᾳ τῆς ἡμετέρας
γνώμης μᾶλλον φίλος ἐστίν.

[¶28] Hecuba:
O child, son of my hapless boy, an unjust fate robs me and your mother of your life. How is it with me? What can I do for you, luckless one? For you I strike upon my head and beat my breast, my only gift;

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ παιδὸς μογεροῦ,
συλώμεθα σὴν ψυχὴν ἀδίκως
μήτηρ κἀγώ. τί πάθω; τί σʼ ἐγώ,
δύσμορε, δράσω; τάδε σοι δίδομεν
πλήγματα κρατὸς στέρνων τε κόπους·

[¶29] for that is in my power. Woe for my city! woe for you! What sorrow do we not have? What is wanting now to our utter and immediate ruin?

> Greek: τῶνδε γὰρ ἄρχομεν. οἲ ʼγὼ πόλεως,
οἴμοι δὲ σέθεν· τί γὰρ οὐκ ἔχομεν;
τίνος ἐνδέομεν μὴ οὐ πανσυδίᾳ
χωρεῖν ὀλέθρου διὰ παντός;

[¶30] Chorus:
O Telamon, King of Salamis, the feeding-ground of bees,
who have your home in a seagirt isle that lies near the holy hills where first Athena made the grey olive branch to appear, a crown for heavenly heads and a glory to happy Athens, you came, you came in knightly brotherhood
with that great archer, Alcmena’s son, to sack our city Ilium, in days gone by, [on your advent from Hellas];

> Greek: Χορός:
μελισσοτρόφου Σαλαμῖνος ὦ βασιλεῦ Τελαμών,
νάσου περικύμονος οἰκήσας ἕδραν
τᾶς ἐπικεκλιμένας ὄχθοις ἱεροῖς, ἵνʼ ἐλαίας
πρῶτον ἔδειξε κλάδον γλαυκᾶς Ἀθάνα,
οὐράνιον στέφανον λιπαραῖσί ⟨τε⟩ κόσμον Ἀθήναις,
ἔβας ἔβας τῷ τοξοφόρῳ συναρι-
στεύων ἅμʼ Ἀλκμήνας γόνῳ
Ἴλιον Ἴλιον ἐκπέρσων πόλιν
ἁμετέραν τὸ πάροιθεν [ὅτʼ ἔβας ἀφʼ Ἑλλάδος]·

[¶31] Chorus:
When he led the chosen flower of Hellas, vexed
for the steeds, and at the fair stream of Simois he stayed his sea-borne ship and fastened cables to the stern, and forth from the ship he took the bow his hand could deftly shoot, to be the doom of Laomedon; and with the ruddy breath of fire
he wasted the masonry squared by Phoebus’ line and chisel, and sacked the land of Troy; so twice in two attacks has the blood-stained spear destroyed Dardania’s walls.

> Greek: Χορός:
ὅθʼ Ἑλλάδος ἄγαγε πρῶτον ἄνθος ἀτυζόμενος
πώλων, Σιμόεντι δʼ ἐπʼ εὐρείτᾳ πλάταν
ἔσχασε ποντοπόρον καὶ ναύδετʼ ἀνήψατο πρυμνᾶν
καὶ χερὸς εὐστοχίαν ἐξεῖλε ναῶν,
Λαομέδοντι φόνον· κανόνων δὲ τυκίσματα Φοίβου
… πυρὸς φοίνικι πνοᾷ καθελὼν
Τροίας ἐπόρθησε χθόνα.
δὶς δὲ δυοῖν πιτύλοιν τείχη περὶ
Δαρδανίας [φοινία] κατέλυσεν [αἰχμά.]

[¶32] Chorus:
In vain, it seems, you Phrygian boy pacing with dainty step among your golden chalices, do you fill high the cup of Zeus, a lovely service;

> Greek: Χορός:
μάταν ἄρʼ, ὦ χρυσέαις ἐν οἰνοχόαις ἁβρὰ βαίνων,
Λαομεδόντιε παῖ,
Ζηνὸς ἔχεις κυλίκων πλήρωμα, καλλίσταν λατρείαν·

[¶33] the land of your birth is being consumed by fire. The shore re-echoes to our cries; and, as a bird bewails its young,
so we bewail our husbands or our children, or our old mothers. The dew-fed springs where you bathed, the course where you trained,
are now no more; but you beside the throne of Zeus are sitting with a calm, sweet smile upon your fair young face, while the spear of Hellas has destroyed the land of Priam.

> Greek: ἁ δέ σε γειναμένα πυρὶ δαίεται·
ἠιόνες δʼ ἅλιαι
ἴακχον οἰωνὸς οἷ-
ον τεκέων ὕπερ βοᾷ,
ᾇ μὲν εὐνάτορας, ᾇ δὲ παῖδας,
ᾇ δὲ ματέρας γεραιάς.
τὰ δὲ σὰ δροσόεντα λουτρὰ
γυμνασίων τε δρόμοι
βεβᾶσι, σὺ δὲ πρόσωπα νεα-
ρὰ χάρισι παρὰ Διὸς θρόνοις
καλλιγάλανα τρέφεις· Πριάμοιο δὲ γαῖαν
Ἑλλὰς ὤλεσʼ αἰχμά.

[¶34] Chorus:
Ah! Love, Love, who once sought these Dardanian halls, deep-seated in the hearts of heavenly gods, how high you made Troy to tower in those days,
allying her with deities! But I will cease to urge reproaches against Zeus; for white-winged dawn, whose light is dear to man,
turned a baleful eye upon our land and watched the ruin of our citadel, though she had within her bridal bower a husband to give her children, from this land,
whom once a chariot of gold spangled stars caught up and carried there, great source of hope to his native country; but all the love the gods once had for Troy is passed away.

> Greek: Χορός:
Ἔρως Ἔρως, ὃς τὰ Δαρδάνεια μέλαθρά ποτʼ ἦλθες
οὐρανίδαισι μέλων,
ὡς τότε μὲν μεγάλως Τροίαν ἐπύργωσας, θεοῖσι
κῆδος ἀναψάμενος. τὸ μὲν οὖν Διὸς
οὐκέτʼ ὄνειδος ἐρῶ·
τὸ τᾶς δὲ λευκοπτέρου
φίλιον Ἁμέρας βροτοῖς
φέγγος ὀλοὸν εἶδε γαῖαν,
εἶδε περγάμων ὄλεθρον,
τεκνοποιὸν ἔχουσα τᾶσδε
γᾶς πόσιν ἐν θαλάμοις,
ὃν ἀστέρων τέθριππος ἔλα-
βε χρύσεος ὄχος ἀναρπάσας,
ἐλπίδα γᾷ πατρίᾳ μεγάλαν· τὰ θεῶν δὲ
φίλτρα φροῦδα Τροίᾳ.

[¶35] Menelaus:
Hail! you radiant flare of the sun, by whose fair light I now shall capture her that was my wife, Helen; for I am that Menelaus, who has toiled so hard, I and Achaea’s army. I came to Troy, not so much as men suppose
for, the sake of a woman, but to punish the man who from my house stole my wife, traitor to my hospitality. But he, by the gods’ will, has paid the penalty, ruined, and his country too, by the spear of Hellas. And I have come to bear that wretched woman away—wife I have no mind
to call her, though she once was mine—for now she is one among the other Trojan women who share these tents as captives. For they, the very men who who toiled to take her with the spear, have granted to me to slay her,
or, if I will, to spare and carry back with me to Argos. Now my purpose is not to put her to death in Troy, but to carry her to Hellas in my sea-borne ship, and then surrender her to death, a recompense to all whose friends were slain in Ilium.

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
ὦ καλλιφεγγὲς ἡλίου σέλας τόδε,
ἐν ᾧ δάμαρτα τὴν ἐμὴν χειρώσομαι
Ἑλένην· ὁ γὰρ δὴ πολλὰ μοχθήσας ἐγὼ
Μενέλαός εἰμι καὶ στράτευμʼ Ἀχαιϊκόν.
ἦλθον δὲ Τροίαν οὐχ ὅσον δοκοῦσί με
γυναικὸς οὕνεκʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἄνδρʼ ὃς ἐξ ἐμῶν
δόμων δάμαρτα ξεναπάτης ἐλῄσατο.
κεῖνος μὲν οὖν δέδωκε σὺν θεοῖς δίκην
αὐτός τε καὶ γῆ δορὶ πεσοῦσʼ Ἑλληνικῷ.
ἥκω δὲ τὴν τάλαιναν — οὐ γὰρ ἡδέως
ὄνομα δάμαρτος ἥ ποτʼ ἦν ἐμὴ λέγω —
ἄξων· δόμοις γὰρ τοῖσδʼ ἐν αἰχμαλωτικοῖς
κατηρίθμηται Τρῳάδων ἄλλων μέτα.
οἵπερ γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐξεμόχθησαν δορί,
κτανεῖν ἐμοί νιν ἔδοσαν, εἴτε μὴ κτανὼν
θέλοιμʼ ἄγεσθαι πάλιν ἐς Ἀργείαν χθόνα.
ἐμοὶ δʼ ἔδοξε τὸν μὲν ἐν Τροίᾳ μόρον
Ἑλένης ἐᾶσαι, ναυπόρῳ δʼ ἄγειν πλάτῃ
Ἑλληνίδʼ ἐς γῆν κᾆτʼ ἐκεῖ δοῦναι κτανεῖν,
ποινὰς ὅσοις τεθνᾶσʼ ἐν Ἰλίῳ φίλοι.

[¶36] Ho! my servants, enter the tent, and drag her out to me by her hair foul with murder; and when a favoring breeze shall blow, to Hellas will we convey her.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ εἶα χωρεῖτʼ ἐς δόμους, ὀπάονες,
κομίζετʼ αὐτὴν τῆς μιαιφονωτάτης
κόμης ἐπισπάσαντες· οὔριοι δʼ ὅταν
πνοαὶ μόλωσι, πέμψομέν νιν Ἑλλάδα.

[¶37] Hecuba:
O you that do support the earth and rest thereupon,
whoever you are, a riddle past our knowledge! Zeus, owhether you are natural necessity, or man’s intellect, to you I pray; for, though you tread over a noiseless path, all your dealings with mankind are guided by justice.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὦ γῆς ὄχημα κἀπὶ γῆς ἔχων ἕδραν,
ὅστις ποτʼ εἶ σύ, δυστόπαστος εἰδέναι,
Ζεύς, εἴτʼ ἀνάγκη φύσεος εἴτε νοῦς βροτῶν,
προσηυξάμην σε· πάντα γὰρ διʼ ἀψόφου
βαίνων κελεύθου κατὰ δίκην τὰ θνήτʼ ἄγεις.

[¶38] Menelaus:
What is this? Strange the prayer you offer to the gods!

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
τί δʼ ἔστιν; εὐχὰς ὡς ἐκαίνισας θεῶν.

[¶39] Hecuba:
I thank you, Menelaus, if you will slay that wife of yours. Yet shun the sight of her, lest she strike you with longing. For she ensnares the eyes of men, overthrows their towns, and burns their houses, so potent are her witcheries! Well I know her; so do you and those her victims too.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
αἰνῶ σε, Μενέλαʼ, εἰ κτενεῖς δάμαρτα σήν.
ὁρᾶν δὲ τήνδε φεῦγε, μή σʼ ἕλῃ πόθῳ.
αἱρεῖ γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματʼ, ἐξαιρεῖ πόλεις,
πίμπρησιν οἴκους· ὧδʼ ἔχει κηλήματα.
ἐγώ νιν οἶδα, καὶ σύ, χοἱ πεπονθότες.

[¶40] Helen:
Menelaus! this prelude well may fill me with alarm; for I am taken with violence by your servants’ hands and brought before these tents. Still, though I am sure you hate me, yet I want to inquire
what you and Hellas have decided about my life.

> Greek: Ἑλένη:
Μενέλαε, φροίμιον μὲν ἄξιον φόβου
τόδʼ ἐστίν· ἐν γὰρ χερσὶ προσπόλων σέθεν
βίᾳ πρὸ τῶνδε δωμάτων ἐκπέμπομαι.
ἀτὰρ σχεδὸν μὲν οἶδά σοι μισουμένη,
ὅμως δʼ ἐρέσθαι βούλομαι· γνῶμαι τίνες
Ἕλλησι καὶ σοὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς πέρι;

[¶41] Menelaus:
To judge your case required no great exactness; the army with one consent, that army whom you wronged, handed you over to me to die.

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
οὐκ εἰς ἀκριβὲς ἦλθες, ἀλλʼ ἅπας στρατὸς
κτανεῖν ἐμοί σʼ ἔδωκεν, ὅνπερ ἠδίκεις.

[¶42] Helen:
May I answer this decision, proving that my death, if I am to die, will be unjust?

> Greek: Ἑλένη:
ἔξεστιν οὖν πρὸς ταῦτʼ ἀμείψασθαι λόγῳ,
ὡς οὐ δικαίως, ἢν θάνω, θανούμεθα;

[¶43] Menelaus:
I came not to argue, but to slay you.

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
οὐκ ἐς λόγους ἐλήλυθʼ, ἀλλά σε κτενῶν.

[¶44] Hecuba:
Hear her, Menelaus; let her not die for want of that, and let me answer her again, for you know nothing of her villainies in Troy; and the whole case, if summed up,
will insure her death against all chance of an escape.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἄκουσον αὐτῆς, μὴ θάνῃ τοῦδʼ ἐνδεής,
Μενέλαε, καὶ δὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους λόγους
ἡμῖν κατʼ αὐτῆς· τῶν γὰρ ἐν Τροίᾳ κακῶν
οὐδὲν κάτοισθα. συντεθεὶς δʼ ὁ πᾶς λόγος
κτενεῖ νιν οὕτως ὥστε μηδαμοῦ φυγεῖν.

[¶45] Menelaus:
This gift needs leisure; still, if she wishes to speak, she may. Yet I will grant her this because of your words, that she may hear them, and not for her own sake.

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
σχολῆς τὸ δῶρον· εἰ δὲ βούλεται λέγειν,
ἔξεστι. τῶν σῶν δʼ οὕνεχʼ — ὡς μάθῃ — λόγων
δώσω τόδʼ αὐτῇ· τῆσδε δʼ οὐ δώσω χάριν.

[¶46] Helen:
Perhaps you will not answer me, from counting me a foe,
whether my words seem good or ill. Yet I will put my charges and yours over against each other, and then reply to the accusations I suppose you will advance against me. First, then, that woman was the author of these troubles
by giving birth to Paris; next, old Priam ruined Troy and me, because he did not slay his child Alexander, baleful semblance of a fire-brand, long ago. Hear what followed. This man was to judge the claims of three rival goddesses;

> Greek: Ἑλένη:
ἴσως με, κἂν εὖ κἂν κακῶς δόξω λέγειν,
οὐκ ἀνταμείψῃ πολεμίαν ἡγούμενος.
ἐγὼ δʼ, ἅ σʼ οἶμαι διὰ λόγων ἰόντʼ ἐμοῦ
κατηγορήσειν, ἀντιθεῖσʼ ἀμείψομαι
τοῖς σοῖσι τἀμὰ καὶ τὰ σʼ αἰτιάματα.
πρῶτον μὲν ἀρχὰς ἔτεκεν ἥδε τῶν κακῶν,
Πάριν τεκοῦσα· δεύτερον δʼ ἀπώλεσε
Τροίαν τε κἄμʼ ὁ πρέσβυς οὐ κτανὼν βρέφος,
δαλοῦ πικρὸν μίμημʼ, Ἀλέξανδρόν ποτε.
ἐνθένδε τἀπίλοιπʼ ἄκουσον ὡς ἔχει.
ἔκρινε τρισσὸν ζεῦγος ὅδε τριῶν θεῶν·

[¶47] so Pallas offered him command of all the Phrygians, and the destruction of Hellas; Hera promised he should spread his dominion over Asia, and the utmost bounds of Europe, if he would decide for her; but Cypris spoke in rapture of my loveliness,
and promised him this gift, if she should have the preference over those two for beauty. Now mark the inference I deduce from this; Cypris won the day over the goddesses, and thus far has my marriage proved of benefit to Hellas, that you are not subject to barbarian rule, neither vanquished in the strife, nor yet by tyrants crushed.

> Greek: καὶ Παλλάδος μὲν ἦν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δόσις
Φρυξὶ στρατηγοῦνθʼ Ἑλλάδʼ ἐξανιστάναι,
Ἥρα δʼ ὑπέσχετʼ Ἀσιάδʼ Εὐρώπης θʼ ὅρους
τυραννίδʼ ἕξειν, εἴ σφε κρίνειεν Πάρις·
Κύπρις δὲ τοὐμὸν εἶδος ἐκπαγλουμένη
δώσειν ὑπέσχετʼ, εἰ θεὰς ὑπερδράμοι
κάλλει. τὸν ἔνθεν δʼ ὡς ἔχει σκέψαι λόγον·
νικᾷ Κύπρις θεάς, καὶ τοσόνδʼ οὑμοὶ γάμοι
ὤνησαν Ἑλλάδʼ· οὐ κρατεῖσθʼ ἐκ βαρβάρων,
οὔτʼ ἐς δόρυ σταθέντες, οὐ τυραννίδι.

[¶48] What Hellas gained, was ruin to me, sold for my beauty, and now I am reproached for that which should have set a crown upon my head. But you will say I am silent on the real matter at hand, how it was I started forth and left your house by stealth.

> Greek: ἃ δʼ εὐτύχησεν Ἑλλάς, ὠλόμην ἐγὼ
εὐμορφίᾳ πραθεῖσα, κὠνειδίζομαι
ἐξ ὧν ἐχρῆν με στέφανον ἐπὶ κάρᾳ λαβεῖν.
οὔπω με φήσεις αὐτὰ τἀν ποσὶν λέγειν,
ὅπως ἀφώρμησʼ ἐκ δόμων τῶν σῶν λάθρα.

[¶49] With no small goddess at his side he came, my evil genius, call him Alexander or Paris, as you will; and you, villain, left him behind in your house, and sailed away from Sparta to the land of Crete.

> Greek: ἦλθʼ οὐχὶ μικρὰν θεὸν ἔχων αὑτοῦ μέτα
ὁ τῆσδʼ ἀλάστωρ, εἴτʼ Ἀλέξανδρον θέλεις
ὀνόματι προσφωνεῖν νιν εἴτε καὶ Πάριν·
ὅν, ὦ κάκιστε, σοῖσιν ἐν δόμοις λιπὼν
Σπάρτης ἀπῆρας νηὶ Κρησίαν χθόνα.

[¶50] Enough of this! For all that followed I must question myself, not you; what thought led me to follow the stranger from your house, traitress to my country and my home? Punish the goddess, show yourself more mighty even than Zeus, who, though he lords it over the other gods,
is her slave; therefore I may well be pardoned. Still, from this you might draw a specious argument against me; when Paris died, and earth concealed his corpse, I should have left his house and sought the Argive fleet, since my marriage was no longer in the hands of gods.

> Greek: εἶἑν.
οὐ σέ, ἀλλʼ ἐμαυτὴν τοὐπὶ τῷδʼ ἐρήσομαι·
τί δὴ φρονοῦσά γʼ ἐκ δόμων ἅμʼ ἑσπόμην
ξένῳ, προδοῦσα πατρίδα καὶ δόμους ἐμούς;
τὴν θεὸν κόλαζε καὶ Διὸς κρείσσων γενοῦ,
ὃς τῶν μὲν ἄλλων δαιμόνων ἔχει κράτος,
κείνης δὲ δοῦλός ἐστι· συγγνώμη δʼ ἐμοί.
ἔνθεν δʼ ἔχοις ἂν εἰς ἔμʼ εὐπρεπῆ λόγον·
ἐπεὶ θανὼν γῆς ἦλθʼ Ἀλέξανδρος μυχούς,
χρῆν μʼ, ἡνίκʼ οὐκ ἦν θεοπόνητά μου λέχη,
λιποῦσαν οἴκους ναῦς ἐπʼ Ἀργείων μολεῖν.

[¶51] That was what I was eager to do; and the warders on the towers and watchmen on the walls can bear me witness, for often they found me seeking to let myself down stealthily by cords from the battlements [but there was that new husband, Deiphobus, that carried me off ]
[by force to be his wife against the will of Troy]. How then, my lord, could I be justly put to death... by you, with any show of right, seeing that he wedded me against my will, and those my other natural gifts have served a bitter slavery, instead of leading on to triumph? If it is your will indeed
to master gods, that very wish displays your folly.

> Greek: ἔσπευδον αὐτὸ τοῦτο· μάρτυρες δέ μοι
πύργων πυλωροὶ κἀπὸ τειχέων σκοποί,
οἳ πολλάκις μʼ ἐφηῦρον ἐξ ἐπάλξεων
πλεκταῖσιν ἐς γῆν σῶμα κλέπτουσαν τόδε.
[βίᾳ δʼ ὁ καινός μʼ οὗτος ἁρπάσας πόσις]
[Δηίφοβος ἄλοχον εἶχεν ἀκόντων Φρυγῶν.]
πῶς οὖν ἔτʼ ἂν θνῄσκοιμʼ ἂν ἐνδίκως, πόσι,
…
πρὸς σοῦ δικαίως, ἣν ὁ μὲν βίᾳ γαμεῖ,
τὰ δʼ οἴκοθεν κεῖνʼ ἀντὶ νικητηρίων
πικρῶς ἐδούλευσʼ; εἰ δὲ τῶν θεῶν κρατεῖν
βούλῃ, τὸ χρῄζειν ἀμαθές ἐστί σου τόδε.

[¶52] Chorus Leader:
O my royal mistress, defend your children’s and your country’s cause, bringing to nothing her persuasive arguments, for she pleads well in spite of all her villainy; this is monstrous!

> Greek: Χορός:
βασίλειʼ, ἄμυνον σοῖς τέκνοισι καὶ πάτρᾳ
πειθὼ διαφθείρουσα τῆσδʼ, ἐπεὶ λέγει
καλῶς κακοῦργος οὖσα· δεινὸν οὖν τόδε.

[¶53] Hecuba:
First I will take up the cause of those goddesses,
and prove how she perverts the truth. For I can never believe that Hera or the maiden Pallas would have been guilty of such folly, the one to sell her Argos to barbarians, or that Pallas ever would make her Athens subject to the Phrygians,
coming as they did in mere wanton sport to Ida to contest the palm of beauty. For why should goddess Hera set her heart so much on such a prize? Was it to win a nobler lord than Zeus? or was Athena hunting down among the gods a husband,
she who in her dislike of marriage won from her father the gift of remaining unwed? Do not seek to impute folly to the goddesses, in the attempt to adorn your own sin; never will you persuade the wise. Next you have said—what well may make men jeer—that Cypris came with my son to the house of Menelaus.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ταῖς θεαῖσι πρῶτα σύμμαχος γενήσομαι
καὶ τήνδε δείξω μὴ λέγουσαν ἔνδικα.
ἐγὼ γὰρ Ἥραν παρθένον τε Παλλάδα
οὐκ ἐς τοσοῦτον ἀμαθίας ἐλθεῖν δοκῶ,
ὥσθʼ ἣ μὲν Ἄργος βαρβάροις ἀπημπόλα,
Παλλὰς δʼ Ἀθήνας Φρυξὶ δουλεύειν ποτέ,
εἰ παιδιαῖσι καὶ χλιδῇ μορφῆς πέρι
ἦλθον πρὸς Ἴδην. τοῦ γὰρ οὕνεκʼ ἂν θεὰ
Ἥρα τοσοῦτον ἔσχʼ ἔρωτα καλλονῆς;
πότερον ἀμείνονʼ ὡς λάβῃ Διὸς πόσιν;
ἢ γάμον Ἀθηνᾶ θεῶν τίνος θηρωμένη —
ἣ παρθενείαν πατρὸς ἐξῃτήσατο,
φεύγουσα λέκτρα; μὴ ἀμαθεῖς ποίει θεὰς
τὸ σὸν κακὸν κοσμοῦσα, μὴ οὐ πείσῃς σοφούς.
Κύπριν δʼ ἔλεξας — ταῦτα γὰρ γέλως πολύς —
ἐλθεῖν ἐμῷ ξὺν παιδὶ Μενέλεω δόμους.

[¶54] Could she not have stayed quietly in heaven and brought you and Amyclae as well to Ilium?

> Greek: οὐκ ἂν μένουσʼ ἂν ἥσυχός σʼ ἐν οὐρανῷ
αὐταῖς Ἀμύκλαις ἤγαγεν πρὸς Ἴλιον;

[¶55] No! my son was exceedingly handsome, and when you saw him your mind straight became your Aphrodite; for every folly that men commit, they lay upon this goddess,
and rightly does her name begin the word for “senselessness”; so when you caught sight of him in gorgeous foreign clothes, ablaze with gold, your senses utterly forsook you. Yes, for in Argos you had moved in simple state, but, once free of Sparta,
it was your hope to deluge by your lavish outlay Phrygia’s town, that flowed with gold; nor was the palace of Menelaus rich enough for your luxury to riot in.

> Greek: ἦν οὑμὸς υἱὸς κάλλος ἐκπρεπέστατος,
ὁ σὸς δʼ ἰδών νιν νοῦς ἐποιήθη Κύπρις·
τὰ μῶρα γὰρ πάντʼ ἐστὶν Ἀφροδίτη βροτοῖς,
καὶ τοὔνομʼ ὀρθῶς ἀφροσύνης ἄρχει θεᾶς.
ὃν εἰσιδοῦσα βαρβάροις ἐσθήμασι
χρυσῷ τε λαμπρὸν ἐξεμαργώθης φρένας.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ Ἄργει μίκρʼ ἔχουσʼ ἀνεστρέφου,
Σπάρτης δʼ ἀπαλλαχθεῖσα τὴν Φρυγῶν πόλιν
χρυσῷ ῥέουσαν ἤλπισας κατακλύσειν
δαπάναισιν· οὐδʼ ἦν ἱκανά σοι τὰ Μενέλεω
μέλαθρα ταῖς σαῖς ἐγκαθυβρίζειν τρυφαῖς.

[¶56] Enough of this! My son carried you off by force, so you say; what Spartan saw this? what cry for help
did you ever raise, though Castor was still alive, a vigorous youth, and his brother also, not yet among the stars? Then when you had come to Troy, and the Argives were on your track, and the mortal combat had begun, whenever tidings came to you of
Menelaus’ prowess, you would praise him, to grieve my son, because he had so powerful a rival in his love; but if the Trojans prospered, Menelaus was nothing to you. Your eye was fixed on Fortune, and by such practice you were careful to follow in her steps, careless of virtue’s cause.

> Greek: εἶἑν· βίᾳ γὰρ παῖδα φῄς ⟨σʼ⟩ ἄγειν ἐμόν·
τίς Σπαρτιατῶν ᾔσθετʼ; ἢ ποίαν βοὴν
ἀνωλόλυξας — Κάστορος νεανίου
τοῦ συζύγου τʼ ἔτʼ ὄντος, οὐ κατʼ ἄστρα πω;
ἐπεὶ δὲ Τροίαν ἦλθες Ἀργεῖοί τέ σου
κατʼ ἴχνος, ἦν δὲ δοριπετὴς ἀγωνία,
εἰ μὲν τὰ τοῦδε κρείσσονʼ ἀγγέλλοιτό σοι,
Μενέλαον ᾔνεις, παῖς ὅπως λυποῖτʼ ἐμὸς
ἔχων ἔρωτος ἀνταγωνιστὴν μέγαν·
εἰ δʼ εὐτυχοῖεν Τρῶες, οὐδὲν ἦν ὅδε.
ἐς τὴν τύχην δʼ ὁρῶσα τοῦτʼ ἤσκεις, ὅπως
ἕποιʼ ἅμʼ αὐτῇ, τῇ ἀρετῇ δʼ οὐκ ἤθελες.

[¶57] And then you assert that you tried to let yourself down from the towers by stealth with twisted cords, as if unwilling to stay? Where were you ever found fastening the noose about your neck, or whetting the knife, as a noble wife would have done in regret for her former husband?

> Greek: κἄπειτα πλεκταῖς σῶμα σὸν κλέπτειν λέγεις
πύργων καθιεῖσʼ, ὡς μένουσʼ ἀκουσίως;
ποῦ δῆτʼ ἐλήφθης ἢ βρόχους ἀρτωμένη
ἢ φάσγανον θήγουσʼ, ἃ γενναία γυνὴ
δράσειεν ἂν ποθοῦσα τὸν πάρος πόσιν;

[¶58] And yet often I advised you saying, “Get away, daughter; my sons will take other brides, and I will belp you to steal away, and convey you to the Achaean fleet; oh, end the strife between us and Hellas!” But this was bitter to you.

> Greek: καίτοι σʼ ἐνουθέτουν γε πολλὰ πολλάκις·
Ὦ θύγατερ, ἔξελθʼ· οἱ δʼ ἐμοὶ παῖδες γάμους
ἄλλους γαμοῦσι, σὲ δʼ ἐπὶ ναῦς Ἀχαιϊκὰς
πέμψω συνεκκλέψασα· καὶ παῦσον μάχης
Ἕλληνας ἡμᾶς τε. ἀλλὰ σοὶ τόδʼ ἦν πικρόν.

[¶59] For you were wantoning in Alexander’s house, wishing to have obeisance done you by barbarians. Yes, it was a proud time for you; and now after all this you have adorned yourself, and come forth and have dared to appear under the same sky as your husband, revolting wretch!

> Greek: ἐν τοῖς Ἀλεξάνδρου γὰρ ὕβριζες δόμοις
καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι βαρβάρων ὕπʼ ἤθελες·
μεγάλα γὰρ ἦν σοι. — κἀπὶ τοῖσδε σὸν δέμας
ἐξῆλθες ἀσκήσασα κἄβλεψας πόσει
τὸν αὐτὸν αἰθέρʼ, ὦ κατάπτυστον κάρα·

[¶60] Better if you had come in tattered raiment, cowering humbly in terror, with hair cut short, and if your feeling for your past sins were one of shame rather than effrontery. Menelaus, hear the conclusion of my argument;
crown Hellas by slaying her as she deserves, and establish this law for all other women: death to every one who betrays her husband.

> Greek: ἣν χρῆν ταπεινὴν ἐν πέπλων ἐρειπίοις,
φρίκῃ τρέμουσαν, κρᾶτʼ ἀπεσκυθισμένην
ἐλθεῖν, τὸ σῶφρον τῆς ἀναιδείας πλέον
ἔχουσαν ἐπὶ τοῖς πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις.
Μενέλαʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς οἷ τελευτήσω λόγον,
στεφάνωσον Ἑλλάδʼ ἀξίως τήνδε κτανὼν
σαυτοῦ, νόμον δὲ τόνδε ταῖς ἄλλαισι θὲς
γυναιξί, θνῄσκειν ἥτις ἂν προδῷ πόσιν.

[¶61] Chorus Leader:
Avenge yourself, Menelaus, on your wife, as is worthy of your home and ancestors,
clear yourself from the reproach of effeminacy at the lips of Hellas, and let your foes see your spirit.

> Greek: Χορός:
Μενέλαε, προγόνων τʼ ἀξίως δόμων τε σῶν
τεῖσαι δάμαρτα κἀφελοῦ, πρὸς Ἑλλάδος,
ψόγον τὸ θῆλύ τʼ, εὐγενὴς ἐχθροῖς φανείς.

[¶62] Menelaus:
Your thoughts coincide with mine, that she, without constraint, left my palace, and sought a stranger’s bed, and now Cypris is introduced for mere bluster. Away to those who shall stone you,
and by your speedy death requite the weary toils of the Achaeans, so that you may learn not to bring shame on me!

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
ἐμοὶ σὺ συμπέπτωκας ἐς ταὐτὸν λόγου,
ἑκουσίως τήνδʼ ἐκ δόμων ἐλθεῖν ἐμῶν
ξένας ἐς εὐνάς· χἡ Κύπρις κόμπου χάριν
λόγοις ἐνεῖται. — βαῖνε λευστήρων πέλας
πόνους τʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἀπόδος ἐν μικρῷ μακροὺς
θανοῦσʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς μὴ καταισχύνειν ἐμέ.

[¶63] Helen:
Oh, by your knees, I implore you, do not impute that heaven-sent affliction to me, or slay me; forgive me!

> Greek: Ἑλένη:
μή, πρός σε γονάτων, τὴν νόσον τὴν τῶν θεῶν
προσθεὶς ἐμοὶ κτάνῃς με, συγγίγνωσκε δέ.

[¶64] Hecuba:
Do not betray your allies, whose death this woman caused;

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
μηδʼ οὓς ἀπέκτεινʼ ἥδε συμμάχους προδῷς·

[¶65] on their behalf, and for my children’s sake, I entreat you.

> Greek: ἐγὼ πρὸ κείνων καὶ τέκνων σε λίσσομαι.

[¶66] Menelaus:
Peace, revered lady; to her I pay no heed. I bid my servants take her away, aboard the ship, in which she is to sail.

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
παῦσαι, γεραιά· τῆσδε δʼ οὐκ ἐφρόντισα.
λέγω δὲ προσπόλοισι πρὸς πρύμνας νεῶν
τήνδʼ ἐκκομίζειν, ἔνθα ναυστολήσεται.

[¶67] Hecuba:
Oh never let her set foot within the same ship as you.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
μή νυν νεὼς σοὶ ταὐτὸν ἐσβήτω σκάφος.

[¶68] Menelaus:
Why is that? is she heavier than before?

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
τί δʼ ἔστι; μεῖζον βρῖθος ἢ πάροιθʼ ἔχει;

[¶69] Hecuba:
The one who loves once, must love always.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐραστὴς ὅστις οὐκ ἀεὶ φιλεῖ.

[¶70] Menelaus:
Why, that depends how those we love are minded. But your wish shall be granted; she shall not set foot upon the same ship with me; for your advice is surely sound;

> Greek: Μενέλαος:
ὅπως ἂν ἐκβῇ τῶν ἐρωμένων ὁ νοῦς.
ἔσται δʼ ἃ βούλῃ· ναῦν γὰρ οὐκ ἐσβήσεται
ἐς ἥνπερ ἡμεῖς· καὶ γὰρ οὐ κακῶς λέγεις·

[¶71] and when she comes to Argos she shall die a shameful death as is her due, and impress the need of chastity on all women. No easy task; yet shall her fate strike their foolish hearts with terror, even though they are more lost to shame than she. Exit Menelaus, dragging Helen with him.

> Greek: ἐλθοῦσα δʼ Ἄργος ὥσπερ ἀξία κακῶς
κακὴ θανεῖται καὶ γυναιξὶ σωφρονεῖν
πάσαισι θήσει. ῥᾴδιον μὲν οὐ τόδε·
ὅμως δʼ ὁ τῆσδʼ ὄλεθρος ἐς φόβον βαλεῖ
τὸ μῶρον αὐτῶν, κἂν ἔτʼ ὦσʼ ἐχθίονες.

[¶72] Chorus:
So then you have delivered into Achaea’s hand, O Zeus, your shrine in Ilium and your fragrant altar, the offerings of burnt sacrifice with smoke of myrrh to heaven uprising,
and holy Pergamos, and glens of Ida tangled with the ivy’s growth, where rills of melting snow pour down their flood, a holy sun-lit land that bounds the world
and takes the god’s first rays!

> Greek: Χορός:
οὕτω δὴ τὸν ἐν Ἰλίῳ
ναὸν καὶ θυόεντα βω-
μὸν προύδωκας Ἀχαιοῖς,
ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ πελάνων φλόγα
σμύρνης αἰθερίας τε κα-
πνὸν καὶ Πέργαμον ἱερὰν
Ἰδαῖά τʼ Ἰδαῖα κισσοφόρα νάπη
χιόνι κατάρυτα ποταμίᾳ
τέρμονα πρωτόβολόν θʼ ἁλίῳ,
τὰν καταλαμπομέναν ζαθέαν θεράπναν.

[¶73] Chorus:
Gone are your sacrifices! gone the dancer’s cheerful shout! gone the vigils of the gods as night closed in! your images of carven gold are now no more;
and Phrygia’s holy festivals, twelve times a year, at each full moon, are ended now. It is this, it is this that fills me with anxious thought whether you, lord, seated on the sky, your heavenly throne, care at all that my city is destroyed,
a prey to the furious fiery blast.

> Greek: Χορός:
φροῦδαί σοι θυσίαι χορῶν τʼ
εὔφημοι κέλαδοι κατʼ ὄρ-
φναν τε παννυχίδες θεῶν,
χρυσέων τε ξοάνων τύποι
Φρυγῶν τε ζάθεοι σελᾶ-
ναι συνδώδεκα πλήθει.
μέλει μέλει μοι τάδʼ εἰ φρονεῖς, ἄναξ,
οὐράνιον ἕδρανον ἐπιβεβὼς
αἰθέρα τε πτόλεως ὀλομένας,
ἃν πυρὸς αἰθομένα κατέλυσεν ὁρμά.

[¶74] Chorus:
Ah! my loved husband, you are a wandering spectre;
unwashed, unburied lies your corpse, while over the sea the ship sped by wings will carry me to Argos, land of steeds, where stand Cyclopian walls of stone reaching to heaven. There in the gate the children gather,
and weep their piteous lamentation; they cry, they cry: Mother, alas! torn from your sight, the Achaeans bear me away from you to their dark ship
to row me over the deep to sacred Salamis or to the hill on the Isthmus, that overlooks two seas, the seat that holds the gates of Pelops.

> Greek: Χορός:
ὦ φίλος ὦ πόσι μοι,
σὺ μὲν φθίμενος ἀλαίνεις
ἄθαπτος ἄνυδρος, ἐμὲ δὲ πόντιον σκάφος
ἀίσσον πτεροῖσι πορεύσει
ἱππόβοτον Ἄργος, ἵνα τείχεα
λάινα Κυκλώπιʼ οὐράνια νέμονται.
τέκνων δὲ πλῆθος ἐν πύλαις
δάκρυσι κατᾴορα στένει·
βοᾷ βοᾷ·
Μᾶτερ, ὤμοι, μόναν δή μʼ Ἀχαιοὶ κομί-
ζουσι σέθεν ἀπʼ ὀμμάτων
κυανέαν ἐπὶ ναῦν
εἰναλίαισι πλάταις
ἢ Σαλαμῖνʼ ἱερὰν
ἢ δίπορον κορυφὰν
Ἴσθμιον, ἔνθα πύλας
Πέλοπος ἔχουσιν ἕδραι.

[¶75] Chorus:
Oh may the sacred blazing thunderbolt of the Aegean, hurled in might, smite the ship of Menelaus full in the middle, on its way in mid-sea,
since he is carrying me away in bitter sorrow from the shores of Ilium to be a slave in Hellas, while the daughter of Zeus still keeps her golden mirrors, delight of maidens’ hearts.

> Greek: Χορός:
εἴθʼ ἀκάτου Μενέλα
μέσον πέλαγος ἰούσας,
δίπαλτον ἱερὸν ἀνὰ μέσον πλατᾶν πέσοι
Αἰγαίου κεραυνοφαὲς πῦρ,
Ἰλιόθεν ὅτε με πολύδακρυν
Ἑλλάδι λάτρευμα γᾶθεν ἐξορίζει,
χρύσεα δʼ ἔνοπτρα, παρθένων
χάριτας, ἔχουσα τυγχάνει
Διὸς κόρα·

[¶76] Never may he reach his home in Laconia or his father’s hearth and home, nor come to the town of Pitane or the temple of the goddess with the gates of bronze, having taken as his captive the one whose marriage brought disgrace on Hellas through its length and breadth and woful anguish
on the streams of Simois!
Enter Talthybius and attendants, bearing the corpse of Astyanax on Hector’s shield.

> Greek: μηδὲ γαῖάν ποτʼ ἔλθοι Λάκαιναν πατρῷ-
όν τε θάλαμον ἑστίας,
μηδὲ πόλιν Πιτάνας
χαλκόπυλόν τε θεάν,
δύσγαμον αἶσχος ἑλὼν
Ἑλλάδι τᾷ μεγάλᾳ
καὶ Σιμοεντιάσιν
μέλεα πάθεα ῥοῇσιν.

[¶77] Chorus Leader:
All me! ah me! new troubles fall on my country, to take the place of those that still are fresh! Behold,
you hapless wives of Troy, the corpse of Astyanax, whom the Danaids have cruelly slain by hurling him from the battlements.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἰὼ ἰώ,
καίνʼ ἐκ καινῶν μεταβάλλουσαι
χθονὶ συντυχίαι. λεύσσετε Τρώων
τόνδʼ Ἀστυάνακτʼ ἄλοχοι μέλεαι
νεκρόν, ὃν πύργων δίσκημα πικρὸν
Δαναοὶ κτείναντες ἔχουσιν.

[¶78] Talthybius:
Hecuba, one ship alone delays its plashing oars,
and it is soon to sail to the shores of Phthia freighted with the remnant of the spoils of Achilles’ son; for Neoptolemus is already out at sea, having heard that new calamities have befallen Peleus, for Acastus, son of Pelias, has banished him from the realm. Therefore he is gone, too quick to indulge in any delay,
and with him goes Andromache, who drew many tears from me when she set out from the land, wailing her country and crying her farewell to Hector’s tomb. And she begged her master leave to bury this poor dead child of Hector
who breathed his last when hurled from the turrets; entreating too that he would not carry this shield, the terror of the Achaeans—this shield with plates of brass with which his father would gird himself—to the home of Peleus or to the same bridal bower where she, Andromache,
the mother of this corpse, would be wed, a bitter sight to her, but let her bury the child in it instead of in a coffin of cedar or a tomb of stone, and to your hands commit the corpse that you may deck it with robes and garlands as best you can with your present means;

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
Ἑκάβη, νεὼς μὲν πίτυλος εἷς λελειμμένος
λάφυρα τἀπίλοιπʼ Ἀχιλλείου τόκου
μέλλει πρὸς ἀκτὰς ναυστολεῖν Φθιώτιδας·
αὐτὸς δʼ ἀνῆκται Νεοπτόλεμος, καινάς τινας
Πηλέως ἀκούσας συμφοράς, ὥς νιν χθονὸς
Ἄκαστος ἐκβέβληκεν, ὁ Πελίου γόνος.
οὗ θᾶσσον οὕνεκʼ, ἢ χάριν μονῆς ἔχων,
φροῦδος, μετʼ αὐτοῦ δʼ Ἀνδρομάχη, πολλῶν ἐμοὶ
δακρύων ἀγωγός, ἡνίκʼ ἐξώρμα χθονός,
πάτραν τʼ ἀναστένουσα καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορος
τύμβον προσεννέπουσα. καί σφʼ ᾐτήσατο
θάψαι νεκρὸν τόνδʼ, ὃς πεσὼν ἐκ τειχέων
ψυχὴν ἀφῆκεν Ἕκτορος τοῦ σοῦ γόνος·
φόβον τʼ Ἀχαιῶν, χαλκόνωτον ἀσπίδα
τήνδʼ, ἣν πατὴρ τοῦδʼ ἀμφὶ πλεύρʼ ἐβάλλετο,
μή νυν πορεῦσαι Πηλέως ἐφʼ ἑστίαν,
μηδʼ ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν θάλαμον, οὗ νυμφεύσεται
μήτηρ νεκροῦ τοῦδʼ Ἀνδρομάχη, λύπας ὁρᾶν,
ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ κέδρου περιβόλων τε λαΐνων
ἐν τῇδε θάψαι παῖδα· σὰς δʼ ἐς ὠλένας
δοῦναι, πέπλοισιν ὡς περιστείλῃς νεκρὸν
στεφάνοις θʼ, ὅση σοι δύναμις, ὡς ἔχει τὰ σά·

[¶79] for she is far away and her master’s haste prevented her from burying the child herself. So we, when you have decked the corpse, will heap the earth above and set upon it a spear; but do you with your best speed perform your allotted task;

> Greek: ἐπεὶ βέβηκε, καὶ τὸ δεσπότου τάχος
ἀφείλετʼ αὐτὴν παῖδα μὴ δοῦναι τάφῳ.
ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, ὅταν σὺ κοσμήσῃς νέκυν,
γῆν τῷδʼ ἐπαμπισχόντες ἀροῦμεν δόρυ·
σὺ δʼ ὡς τάχιστα πρᾶσσε τἀπεσταλμένα.

[¶80] one toil however I have already spared you, for I crossed Scamander’s stream and bathed the corpse and cleansed its wounds. But now I will go to dig a grave for hiin, that our united efforts
shortening our task may speed our ship towards home. Exit Talthybius.

> Greek: ἑνὸς μὲν οὖν μόχθου σʼ ἀπαλλάξας ἔχω·
Σκαμανδρίους γὰρ τάσδε διαπερῶν ῥοὰς
ἔλουσα νεκρὸν κἀπένιψα τραύματα.
ἀλλʼ εἶμʼ ὀρυκτὸν τῷδʼ ἀναρρήξων τάφον,
ὡς σύντομʼ ἡμῖν τἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τε κἀπὸ σοῦ
ἐς ἓν ξυνελθόντʼ οἴκαδʼ ὁρμήσῃ πλάτην.

[¶81] Hecuba:
Place the shield upon the ground, Hector’s shield so deftly rounded, a piteous sight, a bitter grief for me to see. O you Achaeans, more reason have you to boast of your prowess than your wisdom. Why have you in terror of this child
been guilty of a murder never matched before? Did you fear that some day he would rear again the fallen walls of Troy? It seems then you were nothing after all, when, though Hector’s fortunes in the war were prosperous and he had ten thousand other arms to back him, we still were daily overmatched; and yet, now that our city is taken and every Phrygian slain,
you fear a tender child like this! I do not commend the fear of one who fears but never yet has reasoned out the cause.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
θέσθʼ ἀμφίτορνον ἀσπίδʼ Ἕκτορος πέδῳ,
λυπρὸν θέαμα κοὐ φίλον λεύσσειν ἐμοί.
ὦ μείζονʼ ὄγκον δορὸς ἔχοντες ἢ φρενῶν,
τί τόνδʼ, Ἀχαιοί, παῖδα δείσαντες φόνον
καινὸν διειργάσασθε; μὴ Τροίαν ποτὲ
πεσοῦσαν ὀρθώσειεν; οὐδὲν ἦτʼ ἄρα,
ὅθʼ Ἕκτορος μὲν εὐτυχοῦντος ἐς δόρυ
διωλλύμεσθα μυρίας τʼ ἄλλης χερός,
πόλεως δʼ ἁλούσης καὶ Φρυγῶν ἐφθαρμένων
βρέφος τοσόνδʼ ἐδείσατʼ· οὐκ αἰνῶ φόβον,
ὅστις φοβεῖται μὴ διεξελθὼν λόγῳ.
ὦ φίλταθʼ, ὥς σοι θάνατος ἦλθε δυστυχής.

[¶82] Ah! my beloved, yours is a piteous death indeed! If you had died for your city, when you had tasted of the sweets of manhood, of marriage, and of godlike power over others,
then were you blessed, if anything here is blessed. But now after one glimpse, one dream of them, you know them no more, my child, and have no joy of them, though heir to all. Ah, poor child! how sadly have your own father’s walls, those towers that Loxias reared, shorn from your head
the locks your mother fondled, and so often caressed, from which through fractured bones the face of murder grins—briefly to dismiss my shocking theme. O hands, how sweet the likeness you retain of his father, and yet you lie Iimp in your sockets before me!

> Greek: εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἔθανες πρὸ πόλεως, ἥβης τυχὼν
γάμων τε καὶ τῆς ἰσοθέου τυραννίδος,
μακάριος ἦσθʼ ἄν, εἴ τι τῶνδε μακάριον·
νῦν δʼ αὔτʼ ἰδὼν μὲν γνούς τε σῇ ψυχῇ, τέκνον,
οὐκ οἶσθʼ, ἐχρήσω δʼ οὐδὲν ἐν δόμοις ἔχων.
δύστηνε, κρατὸς ὥς σʼ ἔκειρεν ἀθλίως
τείχη πατρῷα, Λοξίου πυργώματα,
ὃν πόλλʼ ἐκήπευσʼ ἡ τεκοῦσα βόστρυχον
φιλήμασίν τʼ ἔδωκεν, ἔνθεν ἐκγελᾷ
ὀστέων ῥαγέντων φόνος, ἵνʼ αἰσχρὰ μὴ λέγω.
ὦ χεῖρες, ὡς εἰκοὺς μὲν ἡδείας πατρὸς
κέκτησθʼ, ἐν ἄρθροις δʼ ἔκλυτοι πρόκεισθέ μοι.

[¶83] Dear mouth, so often full of words of pride, death has closed you, and you have not kept the promise you made, when nestling in my robe, “Ah, mother, many a lock of my hair I will cut off for you, and to your tomb will lead my troops of friends, taking a fond farewell of you.”

> Greek: ὦ πολλὰ κόμπους ἐκβαλὸν φίλον στόμα,
ὄλωλας, ἐψεύσω μʼ, ὅτʼ ἐσπίπτων πέπλους,
Ὦ μῆτερ, ηὔδας, ἦ πολύν σοι βοστρύχων
πλόκαμον κεροῦμαι, πρὸς τάφον θʼ ὁμηλίκων
κώμους ἀπάξω, φίλα διδοὺς προσφθέγματα.

[¶84] But now I am not to be buried by you, but you, the younger one, a wretched corpse, are buried by me, on whom old age has come with loss of home and children. Ah me, those kisses numberless, the nurture that I gave to you, those sleepless nights—they all are lost! What shall the bard inscribe upon your tomb about you?

> Greek: σὺ δʼ οὐκ ἔμʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ σὲ τὸν νεώτερον,
γραῦς ἄπολις ἄτεκνος, ἄθλιον θάπτω νεκρόν.
οἴμοι, τὰ πόλλʼ ἀσπάσμαθʼ αἵ τʼ ἐμαὶ τροφαὶ
ὕπνοι τʼ ἐκεῖνοι φροῦδά μοι. τί καί ποτε
γράψειεν ἄν σε μουσοποιὸς ἐν τάφῳ;

[¶85] Argives once for fear of him slew this child? Foul shame should that inscription be to Hellas. O child, though you have no part in all your father’s wealth, yet shall you have his brazen shield in which to find a tomb. Ah! shield that kept safe the comely arm of Hector,
now have you lost your valiant keeper! How fair upon your handle lies his imprint, and on the rim that circles around are marks of sweat, that trickled often from Hector’s brow as he pressed it against his beard in battle’s stress.

> Greek: Τὸν παῖδα τόνδʼ ἔκτειναν Ἀργεῖοί ποτε
δείσαντες; — αἰσχρὸν τοὐπίγραμμά γʼ Ἑλλάδι.
ἀλλʼ οὖν πατρῴων οὐ λαχὼν ἕξεις ὅμως
ἐν ᾗ ταφήσῃ χαλκόνωτον ἰτέαν.
ὦ καλλίπηχυν Ἕκτορος βραχίονα
σῴζουσʼ, ἄριστον φύλακʼ ἀπώλεσας σέθεν.
ὡς ἡδὺς ἐν πόρπακι σῷ κεῖται τύπος
ἴτυός τʼ ἐν εὐτόρνοισι περιδρόμοις ἱδρώς,
ὃν ἐκ μετώπου πολλάκις πόνους ἔχων
ἔσταζεν Ἕκτωρ προστιθεὶς γενειάδι.

[¶86] Come, bring forth, from such store as you have, adornment for the hapless dead, for fortune gives no chance now for lovely offerings; yet of such as I possess, you shall receive these gifts. He is a foolish mortal who thinks his luck secure and so rejoices; for fortune, like a madman in her moods,
springs towards this man, then towards that; and no one ever experiences the same unchanging luck.

> Greek: φέρετε, κομίζετʼ ἀθλίῳ κόσμον νεκρῷ
ἐκ τῶν παρόντων· οὐ γὰρ ἐς κάλλος τύχας
δαίμων δίδωσιν· ὧν δʼ ἔχω, λήψῃ τάδε.
θνητῶν δὲ μῶρος ὅστις εὖ πράσσειν δοκῶν
βέβαια χαίρει· τοῖς τρόποις γὰρ αἱ τύχαι,
ἔμπληκτος ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλοσε
πηδῶσι, κοὐδεὶς αὐτὸς εὐτυχεῖ ποτε.

[¶87] Chorus Leader:
Look! all is ready and they are bringing at your bidding from the spoils of Troy adornment to put upon the dead.

> Greek: Χορός:
καὶ μὴν πρόχειρον αἵδε σοι σκυλευμάτων
Φρυγίων φέρουσι κόσμον ἐξάπτειν νεκρῷ.

[¶88] Hecuba:
Ah! my child, it is not as victor over your comrades
with horse or bow—customs Troy esteems, without pursuing them to excess—that Hector’s mother decks you now with ornaments from the store that once was yours, though now Helen, whom the gods abhor, has bereft you of your own, yes, and robbed you
of your life and caused your house to perish root and branch.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὦ τέκνον, οὐχ ἵπποισι νικήσαντά σε
οὐδʼ ἥλικας τόξοισιν, οὓς Φρύγες νόμους
τιμῶσιν, οὐκ ἐς πλησμονὰς θηρωμένη,
μήτηρ πατρός σοι προστίθησʼ ἀγάλματα
τῶν σῶν ποτʼ ὄντων· νῦν δέ σʼ ἡ θεοστυγὴς
ἀφείλεθʼ Ἑλένη, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ψυχὴν σέθεν
ἔκτεινε καὶ πάντʼ οἶκον ἐξαπώλεσεν.

[¶89] Chorus:
Woe! thrice woe! my heart is touched, and you the cause, my mighty prince in days now passed!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἒ ἔ, φρενῶν
ἔθιγες ἔθιγες· ὦ μέγας ἐμοί ποτʼ ἂν
ἀνάκτωρ πόλεως.

[¶90] Hecuba:
About your body now I swathe this Phrygian robe of honor, which should have clad you on your marriage-day,
wedded to the noblest of Asia’s daughters. You too, dear shield of Hector, victorious parent of countless triumphs past, accept your crown, for though you share the dead child’s tomb, death cannot touch you; for you merit honors far beyond those arms
that the crafty villain Odysseus won.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἃ δʼ ἐν γάμοισι χρῆν σε προσθέσθαι χροῒ
Ἀσιατίδων γήμαντα τὴν ὑπερτάτην,
Φρύγια πέπλων ἀγάλματʼ ἐξάπτω χροός.
σύ τʼ, ὦ ποτʼ οὖσα καλλίνικε, μυρίων
μῆτερ τροπαίων, Ἕκτορος φίλον σάκος,
στεφανοῦ· θανῇ γὰρ οὐ θανοῦσα σὺν νεκρῷ·
ἐπεὶ σὲ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τοῦ σοφοῦ
κακοῦ τʼ Ὀδυσσέως ἄξιον τιμᾶν ὅπλα.

[¶91] Chorus:
Alas! alas! you, O child, shall earth take to her breast, a cause for bitter weeping. Mourn, you mother!

> Greek: Χορός:
αἰαῖ αἰαῖ· πικρὸν ὄδυρμα …
γαῖά σʼ ὦ τέκνον δέξεται.
στέναζε, μᾶτερ,

[¶92] Hecuba:
Alas!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
αἰαῖ.

[¶93] Chorus:
Wail for the dead.

> Greek: Χορός:
νεκρῶν ἴακχον.

[¶94] Hecuba:
Woe is me!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
οἴμοι [μοι].

[¶95] Chorus:
Woe indeed for your unending sorrow!

> Greek: Χορός:
οἴμοι δῆτα σῶν ἀλάστων κακῶν.

[¶96] Hecuba:
Your wounds in part I will bind up with bandages, a wretched healer in name alone, without reality; but for the rest your father must look to that among the dead.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
τελαμῶσιν ἕλκη τὰ μὲν ἐγώ σʼ ἰάσομαι,
τλήμων ἰατρός, ὄνομʼ ἔχουσα, τἄργα δʼ οὔ·
τὰ δʼ ἐν νεκροῖσι φροντιεῖ πατὴρ σέθεν.

[¶97] Chorus:
Smite, oh smite upon your head with frequent blow of hand. Woe is me!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἄρασσʼ ἄρασσε κρᾶτα
πιτύλους διδοῦσα χειρός,
ἰώ μοί μοι.

[¶98] Hecuba:
My kind, good friends—

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὦ φίλταται γυναῖκες …

[¶99] Chorus:
Speak out, Hecuba, the word that was on your lips.

> Greek: Χορός:
Ἑκάβη, σὰς ἔνεπε· τίνα θροεῖς αὐδάν;

[¶100] Hecuba:
It seems the only things that heaven concerns itself about are my troubles and Troy hateful in their eyes above all other cities. In vain did we sacrifice to them. But if the god had not caught us in his grip and plunged us headlong beneath the earth, we should have been unheard of, and not ever sung in Muses’ songs,
furnishing to bards of after-days a subject for their minstrelsy. Go, bury now in his poor tomb the dead, wreathed all duly as befits a corpse. And yet I think it makes little difference to the dead, if they get a gorgeous funeral;

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
οὐκ ἦν ἄρʼ ἐν θεοῖσι πλὴν οὑμοὶ πόνοι
Τροία τε πόλεων ἔκκριτον μισουμένη,
μάτην δʼ ἐβουθυτοῦμεν. εἰ δὲ μὴ θεὸς
ἔστρεψε τἄνω περιβαλὼν κάτω χθονός,
ἀφανεῖς ἂν ὄντες οὐκ ἂν ὑμνήθημεν ἂν
μούσαις ἀοιδὰς δόντες ὑστέρων βροτῶν.
χωρεῖτε, θάπτετʼ ἀθλίῳ τύμβῳ νεκρόν·
ἔχει γὰρ οἷα δεῖ γε νερτέρων στέφη.
δοκῶ δὲ τοῖς θανοῦσι διαφέρειν βραχύ,
εἰ πλουσίων τις τεύξεται κτερισμάτων·

[¶101] but this is a cause of idle pride to the living. The corpse is carried off to burial.

> Greek: κενὸν δὲ γαύρωμʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ζώντων τόδε.

[¶102] Chorus Leader:
Alas! for your unhappy mother, who over your corpse has closed the high hopes of her life! Born of a noble stock, counted most happy in your lot,
ah! what a tragic death is yours! Ha! who are those I see on yonder pinnacles darting to and fro with flaming torches in their hands? Some new calamity wiII soon alight on Troy.
Soldiers are seen on the battlements of Troy, torch in hand.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἰὼ ἰώ·
μελέα μήτηρ, ἣ τὰς μεγάλας
ἐλπίδας ἐν σοὶ κατέκναψε βίου.
μέγα δʼ ὀλβισθεὶς ὡς ἐκ πατέρων
ἀγαθῶν ἐγένου,
δεινῷ θανάτῳ διόλωλας.
ἔα ἔα·
τίνας Ἰλιάσιν ταῖσδʼ ἐν κορυφαῖς
λεύσσω φλογέας δαλοῖσι χέρας
διερέσσοντας; μέλλει Τροίᾳ
καινόν τι κακὸν προσέσεσθαι.

[¶103] Talthybius:
You captains whose allotted task it is to fire this town of Priam, to you I speak. No longer keep the fire-brand idle in your hands, but launch the flame, that when we have destroyed the city of Ilium we may set forth in gladness on our homeward voyage from Troy.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
αὐδῶ λοχαγοῖς, οἳ τέταχθʼ ἐμπιμπράναι
Πριάμου τόδʼ ἄστυ, μηκέτʼ ἀργοῦσαν φλόγα
ἐν χειρὶ σῴζειν, ἀλλὰ πῦρ ἐνιέναι,
ὡς ἂν κατασκάψαντες Ἰλίου πόλιν
στελλώμεθʼ οἴκαδʼ ἄσμενοι Τροίας ἄπο.

[¶104] And you, you sons of Troy, to let my orders take at once a double form—start for the Achaean ships for your departure from the land, as soon as the leaders of the army blow loud and clear upon the trumpet. And you, unhappy grey-haired lady,
follow; for here come servants from Odysseus to fetch you, for to him you are assigned by lot to be a slave far from your country.

> Greek: ὑμεῖς δʼ, ἵνʼ αὑτὸς λόγος ἔχῃ μορφὰς δύο,
χωρεῖτε, Τρώων παῖδες, ὀρθίαν ὅταν
σάλπιγγος ἠχὼ δῶσιν ἀρχηγοὶ στρατοῦ,
πρὸς ναῦς Ἀχαιῶν, ὡς ἀποστέλλησθε γῆς.
σύ τʼ, ὦ γεραιὰ δυστυχεστάτη γύναι,
ἕπου. μεθήκουσίν σʼ Ὀδυσσέως πάρα
οἵδʼ, ᾧ σε δούλην κλῆρος ἐκπέμπει πάτρας.

[¶105] Hecuba:
Ah, woe is me! This surely is the last, the utmost limit, of all my sorrows; I go forth from my land; my city is ablaze with flame.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
οἲ ʼγὼ τάλαινα· τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λοίσθιον
καὶ τέρμα πάντων τῶν ἐμῶν ἤδη κακῶν·
ἔξειμι πατρίδος, πόλις ὑφάπτεται πυρί.

[¶106] Yet, you aged foot, make one painful struggle to haste, that I may say a farewell to this wretched town. O Troy, that before had such a grand career among barbarian towns, soon will you be bereft of that splendid name. They are burning you, and leading us even now from our land
to slavery. O gods! Yet why do I call on the gods? They did not hearken ever before to our call. Come, let us rush into the flames, for to die with my country in its blazing ruin would be a noble death for me.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ, ὦ γεραιὲ πούς, ἐπίσπευσον μόλις,
ὡς ἀσπάσωμαι τὴν ταλαίπωρον πόλιν.
ὦ μεγάλα δή ποτʼ ἀμπνέουσʼ ἐν βαρβάροις
Τροία, τὸ κλεινὸν ὄνομʼ ἀφαιρήσῃ τάχα.
πιμπρᾶσί σʼ, ἡμᾶς δʼ ἐξάγουσʼ ἤδη χθονὸς
δούλας· ἰὼ θεοί. καὶ τί τοὺς θεοὺς καλῶ;
καὶ πρὶν γὰρ οὐκ ἤκουσαν ἀνακαλούμενοι.
φέρʼ ἐς πυρὰν δράμωμεν· ὡς κάλλιστά μοι
σὺν τῇδε πατρίδι κατθανεῖν πυρουμένῃ.

[¶107] Talthybius:
Your sorrows drive you frantic, poor lady.

> Greek: Ταλθύβιος:
ἐνθουσιᾷς, δύστηνε, τοῖς σαυτῆς κακοῖς.

[¶108] Go, lead her away, make no delay, for you must deliver her into the hand of Odysseus, conveying to him his prize.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ ἄγετε, μὴ φείδεσθʼ· Ὀδυσσέως δὲ χρὴ
ἐς χεῖρα δοῦναι τήνδε καὶ πέμπειν γέρας.

[¶109] Hecuba:
Woe! oh woe! Son of Cronos, prince of Phrygia, father of our race,
do you behold our sufferings now, unworthy of the stock of Dardanus?

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὀττοτοτοτοτοῖ.
Κρόνιε, πρύτανι Φρύγιε, γενέτα
πάτερ, ἀνάξια τᾶς Δαρδάνου
γονᾶς τάδʼ οἷα πάσχομεν δέδορκας;

[¶110] Chorus:
He sees them, but our mighty city is a city no more, and Troy’s day is done.

> Greek: Χορός:
δέδορκεν, ἁ δὲ μεγαλόπολις
ἄπολις ὄλωλεν οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἔστι Τροία.

[¶111] Hecuba:
Woe! oh woe!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὀττοτοτοτοτοῖ.

[¶112] Ilium is ablaze; the homes of Pergamos and its towering walls are now one sheet of flame.

> Greek: λέλαμπεν Ἴλιος, Περ-
γάμων τε πυρὶ καταίθεται τέραμνα
καὶ πόλις ἄκρα τε τειχέων.

[¶113] Chorus:
As the smoke soars on wings to heaven, so sinks our city to the ground before the spear.

> Greek: Χορός:
πτέρυγι δὲ καπνὸς ὥς τις οὐ-
ρανίᾳ πεσοῦσα δορὶ καταφθίνει γᾶ.

[¶114] With furious haste both fire and enemy spear devour each house.

> Greek: μαλερὰ μέλαθρα πυρὶ κατάδρομα
δαΐῳ τε λόγχᾳ.

[¶115] Hecuba:
Oh, earth, nourisher of my children!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἰὼ γᾶ τρόφιμε τῶν ἐμῶν τέκνων.

[¶116] Chorus:
Ah, ah!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἓ ἕ.

[¶117] Hecuba:
Hearken, my children, hear your mother’s voice.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ὦ τέκνα, κλύετε, μάθετε ματρὸς αὐδάν.

[¶118] Chorus:
You are calling on the dead with voice of lamentation.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἰαλέμῳ τοὺς θανόντας ἀπύεις.

[¶119] Hecuba:
Yes, as I stretch my aged limbs upon the ground, and beat upon the earth with both my hands.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
γεραιά γʼ ἐς πέδον τιθεῖσα μέλεα καὶ
χερσὶ γαῖαν κτυποῦσα δισσαῖς.

[¶120] Chorus:
I follow you and kneel, invoking from the nether world my hapless husband.

> Greek: Χορός:
διάδοχά σοι γόνυ τίθημι γαίᾳ
τοὺς ἐμοὺς καλοῦσα νέρθεν
ἀθλίους ἀκοίτας.

[¶121] Hecuba:
I am being dragged and hurried away—

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἀγόμεθα φερόμεθʼ …

[¶122] Chorus:
The sorrow, the sorrow of that cry!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἄλγος ἄλγος βοᾷς.

[¶123] Hecuba:
To dwell beneath a master’s roof!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
δούλειον ὑπὸ μέλαθρον.

[¶124] Chorus:
From my own country!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐκ πάτρας γʼ ἐμᾶς.

[¶125] Hecuba:
Woe is me! O Priam, Priam, slain, unburied, left without a friend, nothing do you know of my cruel fate.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἰώ.
Πρίαμε Πρίαμε, σὺ μὲν ὀλόμενος
ἄταφος ἄφιλος
ἄτας ἐμᾶς ἄιστος εἶ.

[¶126] Chorus:
No, for over his eyes black death has drawn his pall, a pure man slain by the impure.

> Greek: Χορός:
μέλας γὰρ ὄσσε κατεκάλυψε
θάνατος ὅσιος ἀνοσίαις σφαγαῖσιν.

[¶127] Hecuba:
Woe for the temples of the gods and for our dear city!

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἰὼ θεῶν μέλαθρα καὶ πόλις φίλα,

[¶128] Chorus:
Ah, ah!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἓ ἕ.

[¶129] Hecuba:
Murderous flame and enemy spear are now your lot.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
τὰν φόνιον ἔχετε φλόγα δορός τε λόγχαν.

[¶130] Chorus:
Soon will you tumble to your own loved soil, and be forgotten.

> Greek: Χορός:
τάχʼ ἐς φίλαν γᾶν πεσεῖσθʼ ἀνώνυμοι.

[¶131] Hecuba:
And the dust, mounting to heaven on wings like smoke, will rob me of the sight of my home.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
κόνις δʼ ἴσα καπνῷ πτέρυγι πρὸς αἰθέρα
ᾆστον οἴκων ἐμῶν με θήσει.

[¶132] Chorus:
The name of my country wiII pass into obscurity; all is scattered far and wide, and hapless Troy has ceased to be.

> Greek: Χορός:
ὄνομα δὲ γᾶς ἀφανὲς εἶσιν· ἄλλᾳ δʼ
ἄλλο φροῦδον, οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἔστιν
ἁ τάλαινα Τροία.

[¶133] Hecuba:
Did you know, did you hear?

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἐμάθετʼ, ἐκλύετε;

[¶134] Chorus:
Yes, it was the crash of the citadel.

> Greek: Χορός:
Περγάμων ⟨γε⟩ κτύπον.

[¶135] Hecuba:
The shock, the shock—

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἔνοσις ἅπασαν ἔνοσις …

[¶136] Chorus:
Will overwhelm our city utterly.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐπικλύσει πόλιν.

[¶137] Hecuba:
O woe is me! trembling, quaking limbs, support my footsteps! away! to face
the day that begins your slavery.

> Greek: Ἑκάβη:
ἰώ·
τρομερὰ μέλεα, φέρετʼ ἐμὸν ἴχνος·
ἴτʼ ἐπί, τάλανα,
δούλειον ἁμέραν βίου.

[¶138] Chorus:
Woe for our unhappy town! And yet let us advance to the Achaean fleet.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἰὼ τάλαινα πόλις· ὅμως δὲ
πρόφερε πόδα σὸν ἐπὶ πλάτας Ἀχαιῶν.