Bacchae
Euripides
Euripides. The Tragedies of Euripides. Vol. I. Buckley, Theodore Alois, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1850.
- whirling Maenads, leaving Lydias, giver of wealth to mortals, the father who they say fertilizes the land of beautiful horses with
- fairest streams.
- within Io! Hear my voice, hear it, Io Bacchae, Io Bacchae!
- Who is here, who? From what quarter did the voice of the Joyful one summon me?
- Io! Io! I say again; it is I, the child of Zeus and Semele.
- Io! Io! Master, master! Come now to our company, Bromius.
- Shake the world’s plain, lady Earthquake!
- Oh! Oh! Soon the palace of Pentheus will be shaken in ruin. [*](The following lines are probably delivered by individual chorus members.) —Dionysus is in the halls.
- Revere him. —We revere him! —Did you see these stone lintels on the pillars falling apart? Bromius cries out in victory indoors.
- Light the fiery lamp of lightning!
- Burn, burn Pentheus’ home!
- Oh! Oh! Do you not see the the fire, do you not perceive, about the sacred tomb of Semele, the flame that Zeus’ thunderbolt left?
- Cast on the ground your trembling bodies, Maenads, cast them down, for our lord, Zeus’ son, is coming against this palace, turning everything upside down.
- Barbarian women, have you fallen on the ground
- so stricken with fear? You have, so it seems, felt Bacchus shaking the house of Pentheus. But get up and take courage, putting a stop to your trembling.
- Oh greatest light for us in our joyful revelry, how happy I am to see you—I who was alone and desolate before.
- Did you despair when I was sent to fall into Pentheus’ dark dungeon?
- How not? Who was my guardian, if you met with misfortune? But how were you freed, having met with an impious man?
- By myself I saved myself easily, without trouble.
- Did he not tie your hands in binding knots?