The Phoenician Women

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. O kinsman of Agenor’s race, my royal masters who sent me here!
  2. I fall to my knees before you, lord, honoring the custom of my home.
  3. At last you have come to your native land. Hail to you! all hail! Lady, come from the house, open wide the gates! Do you hear, you who gave birth to this man? Why do you delay to leave the sheltered hall
  4. and hold your son in your embrace?
Jocasta
  1. Maidens, I hear your Phoenician voice, and my old feet drag their tottering steps. O my son,
  2. at last after countless days I see your face; throw your arms about your mother’s breast, stretch out to me your cheeks and the dark, curly locks of your hair, overshadowing my neck.