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.

  1. at the bidding of Argos. Zeus is on my side, I am not afraid; Zeus hath a favour unto me, as is my due; never by me[*](Dindorf’s emendation is followed in this corrupt passage; ἥσσονες παρ’ ἐμοὶ θεοὶ φανοῦνται.) shall gods be thought weaker than mortal men.
Chorus
  1. O dread goddess,[*](Pallas.) thine the soil whereon we stand, thine this city, for thou art its mother, queen, and saviour; wherefore turn some other way the impious king, who leadeth a host
  2. from Argos with brandished lance against this land; for, such my worth, I little merit exile from my home.
Chorus
  1. For thy worship[*](The festival of the Panathenaea is alluded to.) is aye performed with many a sacrifice, and never art thou forgotten as each month draweth to its close,
  2. when young voices sing and dancers’ music is heard abroad, while on our wind-swept hill goes up the cry of joy to the beat of maidens’ feet by night.
Servant (of Hyllus)
  1. Mistress, the message that I bring is very short
  2. for thee to hear and fair for me, who stand before thee, to announce. O’er our foes we are victorious, and trophies are being set up, with panoplies upon them, taken from thy enemies.
Alcmena
  1. Best of friends! this day hath wrought[*](Keiske, διήνυσεν for the unusual διήλασεν.) thy liberty by reason of these tidings.
  2. But there still remains one anxious thought thou dost not free me from;—a thought of fear;—are those, whose lives I cherish, spared to me?
Servant (of Hyllus)
  1. They are, and high their fame through all the army spreads.
Alcmena
  1. The old man Iolaus,—is he yet alive?
Servant (of Hyllus)
  1. Aye, that he is, a hero whom the gods delight to honour.
Alcmena
  1. How so? Did he perform some deed of prowess?
Servant (of Hyllus)
  1. He hath passed from age to youth once more.
Alcmena
  1. Thy tale is passing strange; but first I would that thou shouldst tell me, how our friends won the day.
Servant (of Hyllus)
  1. One speech of mine puts it all clearly before thee.
  2. When we had deployed our troops and marshalled them face to face with one another, Hyllus dismounted from his four-horsed chariot and stood midway betwixt the hosts. Then cried he, Captain, who art come from Argos,
  3. why cannot we leave this land alone? No hurt wilt thou do Mycenae, if of one man thou rob her; come! meet me in single combat, and, if thou slay me, take the children of Heracles away with
    thee,
  4. but, if thou fall, leave me to possess my ancestral honours and my home. The host cried yes! saying the scheme he offered was a fair one, both to rid them of their trouble and satisfy their valour. But that other, feeling no shame before those who heard the challenge or at his own cowardice, quailed, general though he was,
  5. to come within reach of the stubborn spear, showing himself an abject coward; yet with such a spirit he came to enslave the children of Heracles. Then did Hyllus withdraw to his own ranks again, and the prophets seeing that no reconciliation would be effected by single combat,
  6. began the sacrifice without delay and forthwith let flow from a human[*](If βροτείων is correct, it would seem to refer to Macaria. Paley offers the ingenious suggestion βοτειων, i.e., throats of beasts but the word has no authority. Better is Helbig’s βοείων.) throat auspicious streams of blood. And some were mounting chariots, while others couched beneath the shelter of their shields, and the king of the Athenians,