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The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I. by Euripides

E >> Euripides >> The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I.




CHOR. O hapless woman, how has the deity made thee by far the most wretched
of mortals, whoever he be that presses heavy on thee! But, my friends, let
us henceforward be silent, for I see our lord Agamemnon advancing.

AGAMEMNON, CHORUS, HECUBA.

AGA. Why, Hecuba, delayest thou to come, and bury thy girl in her tomb,
agreeably to what Talthybius told me, that no one of the Argives should be
suffered to touch thy daughter. For our part we leave her alone, and touch
her not; but thou art slow, whereat I am astonished. I am come therefore to
fetch thee, for every thing there has been well and duly performed, if
aught of well there be in this. Ah! what corse is this I see before the
tent? some Trojan's too? for that it is no Grecian's, the robes that vest
his limbs inform me.

HEC. (_aside_) Thou ill-starr'd wretch! myself I mean, when I say "thou." O
Hecuba, what shall I do? Shall I fall at the knees of Agamemnon here, or
bear my ills in silence?

AGA. Why dost lament turning thy back upon me, and sayest not what has
happened? Who is this?

HEC. (_aside_) But should he, thinking me a slave, an enemy, spurn me from
his knees, I should be adding to my present sufferings.

AGA. No prophet I, so as to trace, unless by hearing, the path of thy
counsels.

HEC. (_aside_) Am I not rather then putting an evil construction on this
man's thoughts, whereas he has no evil intention toward me?

AGA. If thou art willing that I should nothing of this affair, thou art of
a mind with me, for neither do I wish to hear.

HEC. (_aside_) I can not without him take vengeance for my children. Why do
I thus hesitate? I must be bold, whether I succeed, or fail. Agamemnon, by
these knees, and by thy beard I implore thee, and by thy blessed hand--

AGA. What thy request? Is it to pass thy life in freedom? for this is easy
for thee to obtain.

HEC. Not this indeed; but so that I avenge myself on the bad, I am willing
to pass my whole life in slavery.

AGA. And for what assistance dost thou call on me?

HEC. In none of those things which thou imaginest, O king. Seest thou this
corse, o'er which I drop the tear?

AGA. I see it; thy meaning however I can not learn from this.

HEC. Him did I once bring forth, him bore I in my bosom.

AGA. Is this indeed one of thy children, O unhappy woman?

HEC. It is, but not of the sons of Priam who fell under the walls of Troy.

AGA. Didst thou then bear any other besides those, O lady?

HEC. In vain, as it appears, this whom you see.

AGA. But where did he chance to be, when the city fell?

HEC. His father sent him out of the country, dreading his death.

AGA. Whither, having removed him alone of his children then alive?

HEC. To this country, where he was found a corse.

AGA. To him who is king over this state, to Polymestor?

HEC. Hither was he sent, the guardian of gold, which proved most
destructive to him.

AGA. By whose hand then he is dead, and having met with what fate?

HEC. By whom else should he? The Thracian host slew him.

AGA. O wretch! was he so inflamed with the desire of obtaining the gold?

HEC. Even so, after he had heard of Troy's disasters.

AGA. And where didst thou find him, or who brought the body?

HEC. She, meeting with it on the sea-shore.

AGA. In quest of it, or occupied in some other employment?

HEC. She was going to bring from the sea wherewith to bathe Polyxena.

AGA. This friend then, as it seems, murdered him, and after that cast him
out.

HEC. To toss upon the waves thus gashing his body.

AGA. O thou unhappy from thy unmeasured ills!

HEC. I perish, no woe is left, O Agamemnon.

AGA. Alas! alas! What woman was ever so unfortunate?

HEC. There is none, except you reckon Misfortune herself. But for what
cause I fall at thy knees, now hear: if I appear to you to suffer these
ills justly, I would be reconciled to them; but if otherwise, be thou my
avenger on this man, this most impious of false friends; who revering
neither the Gods beneath[12] the earth, nor the Gods above, hath done this
most unholy deed, having often partaken of the same table with me, [and in
the list of hospitality the first of my friends; and having met with
whatever was due,[13] and having received a full consideration for his
services,[14]] slew him, and deigned not to give him a tomb, _which he
might have given_, although he purposed to slay him, but cast him forth at
the mercy of the waves. We indeed are slaves, and perhaps weak; but the
Gods are strong, and strong the law, which governs them; for by the law we
judge that there are Gods, and we live having justice and injustice
strictly defined; which if when referred to thee it be disregarded, and
they shall suffer no punishment who slay their guests, or dare to pollute
the hallowed statutes of the Gods, there is nothing equitable in the
dealings of men. Beholding these things then in a base and proper light,
reverence me; pity me, and, as the artist stands aside _to view a picture_,
do thou view my living portrait, and see what woes I am enduring. Once was
I a queen, but now I am thy slave; once was I blest in my children, but now
aged, and at the same time childless, cityless, destitute, the most
miserable of mortals. Alas me wretched! whither withdrawest from me thy
foot? It seems[15] I shall make no impression, wretch that I am. Why then
do we mortals toil after all other sciences, as a matter of duty, and dive
into them, but least of all strive to learn thoroughly Persuasion, the sole
mistress o'er the minds of men, giving a price for her knowledge, that at
some time we may have it in our power at once to persuade and obtain what
we wish?--How then can any one hereafter hope that he shall be fortunate?
So many children that I had, and now not one is left to me. But I am
perishing a captive in base servitude, and yet see the smoke there leaping
aloft from the city. And however this part of my argument may perchance be
vain, the bringing forward love; still nevertheless it shall be urged. My
daughter is wont to sleep by thy side, that prophetess, whom the Trojans
call Cassandra. Where wilt thou show that thy nights were nights of love, O
king, or will my daughter receive any recompense for her most fond
embraces, and I through her? [For from the secret shade, and from night's
joys, the greatest delight is wont to spring to mortals.] Now then attend.
Thou seest this corse? Him assisting, thou wilt assist one joined to thee
in affinity. One thing my speech wants yet. I would fain I had a voice in
my arms, and hands, and in my hair, and in my footsteps, or by the skill of
Daedalus, or some God, that each at once might hold thy knees, weeping, and
imploring in all the strains of eloquence. O my lord. O greatest light of
the Greeks, be persuaded; lend thy hand to avenge this aged woman, although
she is of no consequence, yet avenge her. For it belongs to a good man to
minister justice, and always and in every case to punish the bad.

CHOR. It is strange, how every thing happens to mortals, and laws determine
even the fates, making the greatest enemies friends, and enemies of those
who before were on good terms.

AGA. I, O Hecuba, have pity both on thee and thy son, thy misfortunes, and
thy suppliant touch, and I am willing in regard both to the Gods and to
justice, that this impious host should give thee full revenge, provided a
way could be found, that both you might be gratified, and I might in the
eyes of the army not seem to meditate this destruction against the king of
Thrace for Cassandra's sake. For there is a point in which apprehension
hath reached me. This man the army deems a friend, the dead an enemy; but
if he is dear to thee, this is a private feeling and does not affect the
army. Wherefore consider, that thou hast me willing to labor with thee, and
ready to assist thee, but backward, should I be murmured against among the
Greeks.

HEC. Alas! no mortal is there who is free. For either he is the slave of
money or of fortune; or the populace of the city or the dictates of the law
constrain him to adopt manners not accordant with his natural inclinations.
But since thou fearest, and payest too much regard to the multitude, I will
liberate thee from this fear. For consent with me, if I meditate vengeance
against the murderer of this youth, but do not act with me. But should any
tumult or offer of assistance arise from out of the Greeks, when the
Thracian feels the punishment he shall feel, suppress it, not appearing to
do it for my sake: but of the rest be confident: I will dispose all things
well.

AGA. How then? What wilt thou do? Wilt thou grasp the sword in thine aged
hand, and strike the barbarian? or with poison wilt thou work, or with what
assistance? What hand will conspire with thee? whence wilt thou procure
friends?

HEC. These tents inclose a host of Trojan dames.

AGA. Meanest thou the captives, the booty of the Greeks?

HEC. With these will I avenge me of my murderer.

AGA. And how shall the victory over men be to women?

HEC. Numbers are powerful, with stratagem invincible.

AGA. Powerful, I grant; I mistrust however the race of women.

HEC. And why? Did not women slay the sons of AEgyptus,[16] and utterly
extirpated the race of men from Lemnos?[17] But thus let it be. Give up
this discussion. But grant this woman to pass in safety through the army.
And do thou go to the Thracian host and tell him, "Hecuba, once queen of
Troy, sends for you on business of no less importance to yourself than to
her, and your sons likewise, since it is of consequence that your children
also should hear her words."--And do thou, O Agamemnon, as yet forbear to
raise the tomb over the newly-sacrificed Polyxena, that these two, the
brother and the sister, the divided care of their mother, may, when reduced
to ashes by one and the same flame, be interred side by side.

AGA. Thus shall it be. And yet, if the army could sail, I should not have
it in my power to grant thy request: but now, for the deity breathes not
prosperous gales, we must wait, watching for a calm voyage. But may things
turn out well some way or other: for this is a general principle among all,
both individuals in private and states, That the wicked man should feel
vengeance, but the good man enjoy prosperity.

CHORUS.

O thou, my country of Troy, no longer shall thou be called the city of the
invincible, such a cloud of Grecians envelops thee, with the spear, with
the spear having destroyed thee. And thou hast been shorn of thy crown of
turrets, and thou hast been discolored by the dismal blackness of smoke;
hapless city, no longer shall I tread my steps in thee.

In the midnight hour I perished, when after the feast sweet sleep is
scattered over the eyes. And my husband, from the song and cheerful
sacrifice retired, was sleeping peacefully in my bed, his spear on its peg,
no more dreaming to behold the naval host of the Greeks treading the
streets of Troy. But I was binding my braided hair with fillets fastened on
the top of mine head, looking into the round polished surface of the golden
mirror, that I might get into my bed prepared for me. On a sudden a
tumultuous cry penetrated the city; and this shout of exhortation was heard
in the streets of Troy, "When indeed, ye sons of Grecians, when, _if not
now_, will ye return to your homes having overthrown the proud citadel of
Ilium!" And having left my dear bed, in a single robe, like a Spartan
virgin, flying for aid to the venerable shrine of Diana, I hapless fled in
vain. And I am dragged, after having seen my husband slain, to the ocean
waves; and casting a distant look back upon my city, after the vessel had
begun her way in her return to Greece, and divided me from the land of
Troy, I wretched fainted through anguish. And consigning to curses Helen,
the sister of the Twin Brothers, and the Idean shepherd, the ruthless
Paris, since his marriage, no marriage, but some Fury's hate hath utterly
destroyed me far from my native land, and hath driven me from my home. Whom
may the ocean refuse ever to bear back again; and may she never reach again
her paternal home.

POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS.

POLY. O Priam, thou dearest of men, and thou most dear Hecuba, at thy sight
I weep for thee, and thy city, and thy daughter who has lately died. Alas!
there is nothing secure, neither glory, nor when one is faring well is
there a certainty that he will not fare ill. But the Gods mingle these
things promiscuously to and fro, making all confusion, so that we through
ignorance may worship them. But wherefore should I utter these plaints,
which in no way tend to free thee from thy former calamities. But thou, if
thou hast aught to blame for my absence, forbear; for I chanced to be afar
off in the middle of my Thracian territories, when thou camest hither; but
soon as I returned, as I was already setting out from my house, this maid
of thine met me for the self-same purpose, and delivered thy message, which
when I had heard, I came.

HEC. O Polymestor, I am ashamed to look thee in the face, sunk as I am in
such miseries; for before one who has seen me in prosperity, shame
overwhelms me, being in the state in which I now am, nor can I look upon
thee with unmoved eyes. But impute not this to any enmity I bear thee; but
there are other causes, and in some degree this law; "that women ought not
to gaze at men."

POLY. And 'tis indeed no wonder; but what need hast thou of me? for what
purpose didst thou send for me to come from home?

HEC. I am desirous of communicating a private affair of my own to thee and
thy children; but order thy attendants to retire from these tents.

POLY. Depart, for here to be alone is safe. Friendly thou art, this Grecian
army too is friendly toward me, but it is for thee to signify, in what
manner I, who am in good circumstances, ought to succor my friends in
distress; since, on my part, I am ready.

HEC. First then tell me of my son Polydore, whom thou retainest, receiving
him from mine, and from his father's hand, if he live; but the rest I shall
inquire of thee afterward.

POLY. He lives, and in good health; as far as regards him indeed thou art
happy.

HEC. O my best friend, how well thou speakest, and how worthily of thyself!

POLY. What dost thou wish then to inquire of me in the next place?

HEC. Whether he remembers at all me, his mother?

POLY. Yes: and he even sought to come to thee by stealth.

HEC. And is the gold safe, which he brought with him from Troy?

POLY. It is safe, at least it is guarded in my house.

HEC. Preserve it therefore, nor covet the goods of others.

POLY. Certainly not. May I enjoy what is mine own, O lady.

HEC. Knowest thou then, what I wish to say to thee and thy children?

POLY. I do not: this shalt thou signify by thy speech.

HEC. Be my son loved by thee, as thou art now loved of me.

POLY. What is it, that I and my sons must know?

HEC. The ancient buried treasures of the family of Priam.

POLY. Is it this thou wishest me to inform thy son of?

HEC. Yes, certainly; through thee at least, for thou art a pious man.

POLY. What necessity then is there for the presence of these children?

HEC. 'Tis better in case of thy death, that these should know.

POLY. Well hast thou thus said, and 'tis the wiser plan.

HEC. Thou knowest then where the temple of Minerva in Troy is--

POLY. Is the gold there! but what is the mark?

HEC. A black rock rising above the earth.

POLY. Hast any thing further to tell me of what is there?

HEC. No, but I wish thee to take care of some treasures, with which I came
out of the city.

POLY. Where are they then? Hast thou them hidden beneath thy robes?

HEC. Amidst a heap of spoils they are preserved in this tent.

POLY. But where? These are the naval encampments of the Grecians.

HEC. The habitations of the captive women are private.

POLY. And is all secure within, and untenanted by men?

HEC. Not one of the Greeks is within, but we women only. But come into the
tent, for the Greeks are desirous of loosing the sheets of their vessels
homeward from Troy; so that, having done every thing that thou oughtest,
thou mayest go with thy children to that place where thou hast given my son
to dwell.

CHOR. Not yet hast thou suffered, but peradventure thou wilt suffer
vengeance; as a man falling headlong into the gulf where no harbor is,
shalt thou be hurled from thy dear heart, having lost thy life;[18] for
where the rites of hospitality coincide[19] with justice, and with the
Gods, _on the villain who dares to violate these_ destructive, destructive
indeed impends the evil. But thy hopes will deceive thee, which thou
entertainedst from this journey, which has brought thee, thou wretched man,
to the deadly mansions of Pluto; but thou shalt quit thy life by no
warrior's hand.

POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, SEMICHORUS.

POLY. Oh me! I wretch am deprived of the sight of mine eyes.

SEMI. Heard ye the shriek of the man of Thrace, my friends?

POLY. Oh me; there again--Oh my children, thy miserable butchery!

SEMI. My friends, some strange ills have been perpetrated within the tents.

POLY. But for all your nimble feet, ye never can escape me, for by my blows
will I burst open the recesses of these tents.

SEMI. Behold, he uses violently the weapon of his heavy hand. Will ye that
we fall on; since the instant calls on us to be present with assistance to
Hecuba and the Trojan dames?

HEC. Dash on, spare nothing, break down the gates, for thou never shalt
replace the clear sight in those pupils, nor shalt thou behold alive those
children which I have slain.

SEMI. What! hast thou vanquished the Thracian? and hast thou got the
mastery over this host, my mistress? and hast thou done such deeds, as thou
sayest?

HEC. Thou wilt see him quickly before the house, blind, with blind
wandering steps approaching, and the bodies of his two children, whom I
have slain with these most valiant Trojan women; but he has felt my
vengeance; but he is coming as thou seest from the tent. But I will retire
out of his way, and make good my retreat from the boiling rage of this most
desperate Thracian.

POLY. Alas me! whither can I go? where stand? whither shall I direct my
way, advancing my steps like the four-footed mountain beast on my hands and
on my feet in pursuit? What new path shall I take in this direction or in
that, desirous of seizing these murderous Trojan dames, who have utterly
destroyed me; O ye impious, impious Phrygian daughters! Ah the accursed, in
what corner do they shrink from me in flight? Would that thou, O sun,
could'st heal, could'st heal these bleeding lids of my eyes, and remove
this gloomy-darkness. Ah, hush, hush! I hear the carefully-concealed step
of these women. Whither shall I direct my course in order that I may glut
myself on the flesh and bones of these, making the wild beasts' banquet,
inflicting vengeance on them, in return for the injuries done me. Wretch
that I am! Whither, whither am I borne, having left my children deserted,
for these fiends of hell to tear piecemeal, a mangled, bleeding, savage
prey to dogs, and a thing to cast out on the mountains? Where shall I
stand? Whither turn? Whither go, as a ship setting her yellow canvas sails
with her sea-washed palsers, rushing to this lair of death, the protector
of my children?

CHOR. O miserable man, what intolerable evils have been perpetrated by
thee! but on thee having done base deeds the God hath sent dreadful
punishment, whoever he be that presses heavy on thee.

POLY. Alas! alas! O Thracian nation, brandishing the spear, warlike,
bestriding the steed, nation ruled by Mars; O ye Greeks, sons of Atreus; I
raise the cry, the cry, the cry; Come, come, hasten, I entreat you by the
Gods. Does any hear, or will no one assist me? Why do ye delay? The women
have destroyed me, the captive women. Horrible, horrible treatment have I
suffered. Alas me for my ruin! Whither can I turn? Whither can I go? Shall
I soar through the ethereal skies to the lofty mansions where Orion or
Sirius dart from their eyes the flaming rays of fire: or shall I hapless
rush to the gloomy shore of Pluto?

CHOR. It is pardonable, when any one suffers greater misfortunes than he
can bear, for him to be desirous to quit a miserable life.

AGAMEMNON, POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS.

AGA. I came having heard the clamor: for Echo, the mountain's daughter, did
not sound in gentle strains through the army, causing a disturbance. But
did we not know that the Phrygian towers are fallen beneath the Grecian
spear, this tumult might have caused no little terror.

POLY. O my dearest friend (for I know thee, Agamemnon, having heard thy
voice), seest thou what I am suffering?

AGA. Ah! wretched Polymestor, who hath destroyed thee? who made thine eyes
sightless, having drowned their orbs in blood? And who hath slain these thy
children? Sure, whoe'er it was, felt the greatest rage against thee and thy
sons.

POLY. Hecuba with the female captives hath destroyed me--nay, not destroyed
me, but more than destroyed me.

AGA. What sayest thou? Hast thou done this deed, as he affirms? Hast thou,
Hecuba, dared this inconceivable act of boldness?

POLY. Ah me! what wilt thou say? Is she any where near me? Show me, tell me
where she is, that I may seize her in my hands, and tear piecemeal and
mangle her body.

AGA. What ho! what are you doing?

POLY. By the Gods I entreat thee, suffer me to lay my raging hand upon her.

AGA. Forbear. And having banished this barbarous deed from thy thoughts,
speak; that having heard both thee and her in your respective turns, I may
decide justly, in return for what thou art suffering these ills.

POLY. I will speak then. There was a certain youth, the youngest of Priam's
children, by name Polydore, the son of Hecuba; him his father Priam sent to
me from Troy to bring up in my palace, already presaging[20] the capture of
Troy. Him I put to death. But for what cause I put him to death, with what
policy and prudent forethought, now hear. I feared, lest the boy being left
an enemy to thee, should collect the scattered remnants of Troy, and again
people the city. And lest the Greeks, having discovered that one of the
sons of Priam was alive, should again direct an expedition against the
Phrygian land, and after that should harass and lay waste the plains of
Thrace; and it might fare ill with the neighbors of the Trojans, under
which misfortune, O king, we are now laboring. But Hecuba, when she had
discovered her son's death, by such treachery as this lured me hither, as
about to tell me of treasure belonging to Priam's family concealed in Troy,
and introduces me alone with my sons into the tent, that no one else might
know it. And I sat, having reclined on the centre of the couch; but many
Trojan damsels, some from the left hand, and others from the right, sat
round me, as by an intimate friend, holding in their hands the Edonian
looms, and praised these robes, looking at them in the light; but others,
beholding with admiration my Thracian spear, deprived me of my double
ornament. But as many as were mothers caressed my children in their arms in
seeming admiration, that they might be farther removed from their father,
successively handing them from one to another: and then, amidst their kind
blandishments, what think you? in an instant, snatching from somewhere
beneath their garments their daggers, they stab my children. But they
having seized me in an hostile manner held my hands and feet; and if,
wishing to succor my children, I raised my head, they held me by the hair:
but if I attempted to move my hands, I wretched could effect nothing
through the host of women. But at last, cruelty and worse than cruelty,
they perpetrated dreadful things; for having taken their clasps they pierce
and gore the wretched pupils of my eyes, then vanish in flight through the
tent. But I, having leaped out, like some exasperated beast, pursue the
blood-stained wretches, searching every wall, as the hunter, casting down,
rending. This have I suffered, while studious to advance thy interest,
Agamemnon, and having killed thine enemy. But that I may not extend my
speech to a greater length, if any one of those of ancient times hath
reviled women, or if any one doth now, or shall hereafter revile them, I
will comprise the whole when I say, that such a race neither doth the sea
nor the earth produce, but he who is always with them knows it best.

CHOR. Be not at all insolent, nor, in thy calamities, thus comprehending
the female sex, abuse them all. For of us there are many, some indeed are
envied _for their virtues_, but some are by nature in the catalogue of bad
things.

HEC. Agamemnon, it never were fitting among men that the tongue should have
greater force than actions. But if a man has acted well, well should he
speak; if on the other hand basely, his words likewise should be unsound,
and never ought he to be capable of speaking unjust things well. Perhaps
indeed they who have brought these things to a pitch of accuracy are
accounted wise, but they can not endure wise unto the end, but perish
vilely, nor has any one yet escaped this. And this in my prelude is what I
have to say to thee. Now am I going to direct my discourse to this man, and
I will answer his arguments. Thou, that assertest, that in order to rid the
Greeks of their redoubled toil, and for Agamemnon's sake that thou didst
slay my son? But, in the first place, monstrous villain, never can the race
of barbarians be friendly to the Grecians, never can this take place. But
what favor wert thou so eagerly currying? wert thou about to contract an
alliance, or was it that thou wert of kindred birth, or what pretext hadst
thou? or were they about to ravage the crops of thy country, having sailed
thither again? Whom, thinkest thou, wilt thou persuade of these things? The
gold, if thou wert willing to speak truth, the gold destroyed my son, and
thy base gains. For come, tell me this; how when Troy was prosperous, and a
tower yet girt around the city, and Priam lived, and the spear of Hector
was in its glory, why didst thou not then, if thou wert willing to lay him
under this obligation, bringing up my child, and retaining him in thy
palace, why didst thou not then slay him, or go and take him alive to the
Greeks? But when we were no longer in the light of prosperity, and the city
by its smoke showed that it was in the power of the enemy, thou slewest thy
guest who had come to thy hearth. Now hear besides how thou wilt appear
vile: thou oughtest, if thou wert the friend of the Greeks, to have given
the gold, which thou confessedst thou hast, not thine, but his,
distributing to those who were in need, and had long been strangers to
their native land. But thou, even now, hast not courage to part with it
from thy hand, but having it, thou still art keeping it close in thine
house. And yet, in bringing up my child, as it was thy duty to bring him
up, and in preserving him, thou hadst had fair honor. For in adversity
friends are most clearly proved good. But good circumstances have in every
case their friends. But if thou wert in want of money, and he in a
flourishing condition, my son had been to thee a vast treasure; but now,
thou neither hast him for thy friend, and the benefit from the gold is
gone, and thy sons are gone, and thou art--as thou art. But to thee,
Agamemnon, I say; if thou aidest this man, thou wilt appear to be doing
wrong. For thou wilt be conferring a benefit on a host, who is neither
pious, nor faithful to those to whom he ought, not holy, not just. But we
shall say that thou delightest in the bad, if thus thou actest: but I speak
no offense to my lords.

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