Andromache

Euripides

Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. II. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1891.

  1. Begin thy butchery, stain the altar of the goddess with blood, for she will visit thy iniquity.
Hermione
  1. Barbarian creature, hardened in impudence, wilt thou brave death itself? Still will I find speedy means to make thee quit this seat of thy free-will; such a bait have I to lure thee with. But I will hide my meaning,
  2. which the event itself shall soon declare. Yes, keep thy seat, for I will make thee rise, though molten lead is holding thee there, before Achilles’ son, thy trusted champion, arrive. Exit Hermione.
Andromache
  1. My trusted champion, yes! how strange it is, that, though some god hath devised cures for mortals against the venom of reptiles, no man ever yet hath discovered aught to cure a woman’s venom, which is far worse than viper’s sting or scorching flame; so terrible a curse are we to mankind.
Chorus
  1. Ah! what sorrows did the son of Zeus and Maia herald,
  2. in the day he came to Ida’s glen, guiding that fair young trio of goddesses, all girded for the fray in bitter rivalry about their beauty,
  3. to the shepherd’s fold, where dwelt the youthful herdsman all alone by the hearth of his lonely hut.
Chorus
  1. Soon as they reached the wooded glen, in gushing mountain
  2. springs they bathed[*](νίψαν. So Hermann. αἰγλᾶντα, Musgrave. ἐν ῥοαῖς, Aldus.) their dazzling skin, then sought the son of Priam, comparing their rival charms in more than rancorous phrase.[*](Reading ὑπερβολαῖς λόγων δθσφρόνων. Hermann places a stop after Πριαμίδαν, and then reads ὑπερβολαῖς λόγων δ’ εὐφρόνων.) But Cypris won the day by her deceitful promises,
  3. sweet-sounding words, but fraught with ruthless overthrow to Phrygia’s hapless town and Ilium’s towers.
Chorus
  1. Would God his mother had smitten him a cruel death-blow[*](μόρον, Hermann’s correction for Πάριν.) on the head before he made his home on Ida’s
  2. slopes, in the hour Cassandra, standing by the holy bay-tree, cried out, Slay him, for he will bring most grievous bane on Priam’s town. To every prince she went, to every elder sued
  3. for the babe’s destruction.
Chorus
  1. Ah! had they listened,
    Ilium’s daughters ne’er had felt the yoke of slavery, and[*](σύ τ᾽ ἂν. So Pflugk for οὔτε σὺ.) thou, lady, hadst been established in the royal palace[*](i.e. as queen in Troy after Priam’s death.); and Hellas had been freed of all the anguish
  2. she suffered during[*](Hermann’s emendation ὅτ᾽ for οὓς.) those ten long years her sons went wandering, spear in hand, around the walls of Troy; brides had never been left desolate, nor hoary fathers childless.
Menelaus
  1. Behold I bring thy son with me, whom thou didst steal away to a neighbour’s house
  2. without my daughter’s knowledge. Thou wert so sure this image of the goddess would protect thee and those who hid him, but thou hast not proved clever enough for Menelaus. And so if thou refuse to leave thy station here,