Heracleidae
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.
- Alcmena, fain I would advise thee somewhat; let this man go, for ’tis the city’s will.
- Suppose he die, and yet I obey the city?
- That would be best of all; but how can this be?
- I will teach thee easily. I will slay him and then give up his corpse to those of his friends, who come for it, for, as regards his body, I will not disobey[*](ἀπιστήσω is suspected by Nauck, and certainly it is difficult to extract any satisfactory meaning from it. Liddell and Scott, citing this passage, alone say will not hesitate to commit it to the ground—a doubtful usage.) the state;
- but by his death shall he pay me the penalty.
- Slay me, I do not ask thee for mercy; yet since this city let me go and shrunk from slaying me, I will reward it with an old oracle of Loxias, which in time will benefit them more than doth appear.
- Bury my body after death in its destined grave in front of the shrine of the virgin goddess[*](Pallas.) at Pallene. And I will be thy friend and guardian of thy city for ever, where I lie buried in a foreign soil, but a bitter foe to these children’s descendants,
- whensoe’er[*](Referring to invasions by the Peloponnesians, descendants of the Heracleidae.) with gathered host they come against this land, traitors to your kindness now; such are the strangers ye have championed. Why then came I hither, if I knew all this, instead of regarding the god’s oracle? Because I thought, that Hera was mightier far than any oracle,
- and would not betray me. Waste no drink-offering on my tomb, nor spill the victim’s blood; for I will requite them for my treatment here with a journey they shall rue; and ye shall have double gain from me, for I will help you and harm them by my death.
- Why, why delay to kill this man, after hearing this, since this is needed to secure the safety of your city and your children? Himself points out the safest road. Though the man is now our foe, yet after death is he our gain.
- Away with him, ye servants, and cast him[*](A strange breach of her promise just before—perhaps here, as in other parts of this play, some confusion is due to the very probable theory of Hermann that our text is incomplete—e.g. no account of Macaria’s death-scene is extant; this could hardly have been omitted by such a lover of pathos as Euripides.) to the dogs when ye have slain him. Think not thou shalt live to cast me forth from my native land again.
- I agree. Lead on, servants. Our[*](We have had nothing to do with it. The responsibility rests with Alcmena.) conduct shall bring no stain of guilt upon our rulers.