Bacchae
Euripides
Euripides. The Tragedies of Euripides. Vol. I. Buckley, Theodore Alois, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1850.
- Ah! What do I see? What is this that I carry in my hands?
- Look at it and learn more clearly.
- I see the greatest grief, wretched that I am.
- Does it seem to you to be like a lion?
- No, but I, wretched, hold the head of Pentheus.
- Yes, much lamented before you recognized him.
- Who killed him? How did he come into my hands?
- Miserable truth, how inopportunely you arrive!
- Tell me. My heart leaps at what is to come.
- You and your sisters killed him.
- Where did he die? Was it here at home, or in what place?
- Where formerly dogs divided Actaeon among themselves.
- And why did this ill-fated man go to Kithairon?
- He went to mock the god and your revelry.
- But in what way did we go there?
- You were mad, and the whole city was frantic with Bacchus.
- Dionysus destroyed us—now I understand.
- Being insulted with insolence, for you did not consider him a god.
- And where is the body of my dearest child, father?
- I have traced it with difficulty and brought it back.