Alcestis

Euripides

Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906.

  1. slay me not already slain. For in her I seem once more to see my wife; and my heart is darkly troubled, and the fountains of my eyes are loosed. Ah, woe is me! Now do I taste the bitterness of this my grief.
Chorus
  1. Indeed I cannot call thy fortune blest, yet heaven’s gift must thou endure, whoe’er the god that comes to bring it.
Heracles
  1. Would I had the power to bring thy wife up to the light from the halls of death, and confer this kindness on thee!
Admetus
  1. Right well I know thou wouldst. But what of that? The dead can never come to life again.
Heracles
  1. Do not exceed the mark, but bear thy grief with moderation.