Ion

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. Why dost thou shun me, now that thou findest in me thy nearest and dearest?
Ion
  1. I am not fond of schooling boors and crazy strangers.
Xuthus
  1. Kill me, burn me, if thou wilt; for, if thou dost, thou wilt be thy father’s murderer.
Ion
  1. Thou my father, indeed i Oh! is not news like this enough to make me laugh?
Xuthus
  1. Not so; my tale, as it proceeds, will prove to thee what I assert.
Ion
  1. Pray, what hast thou to tell me?
Xuthus
  1. That I am thy own father, and thou my very child.
Ion
  1. Who says so?
Xuthus
  1. Loxias, who gave thee nurture, though thou wert my son.
Ion
  1. Thou art thy own witness.
Xuthus
  1. Nay, I have learnt the answer of the god.
Ion
  1. Thou art mistaken in the dark riddle thou hast heard.
Xuthus
  1. It seems then I do not hear aright.
Ion
  1. What said Phoebus?
Xuthus
  1. That the man who met me—
Ion
  1. When and where?
Xuthus
  1. As I came forth from the god’s temple—
Ion
  1. Well! what should happen to him?
Xuthus
  1. Should be my own true son.
Ion
  1. Thy own true son, or a gift from others?