The Restoration of Alcestis and Reunion — Euripides, Alcestis, lines 1083–1163, Greek & English

1083

γυναικὸς ἐσθλῆς ἤμπλακες· τίς ἀντερεῖ;

Heracles: You have lost a noble wife; who will deny it?

ὥστ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε μηκέθ’ ἥδεσθαι βίῳ.¹

Admetus: So that this man no longer takes pleasure in life.

1085

χρόνος μαλάξει, νῦν δ’ ἔθ’ ἡβάσκει κακόν.

Heracles: Time will soften it, but now the evil is still young.

χρόνον λέγοις ἄν, εἰ χρόνος τὸ κατθανεῖν.²

Admetus: You might speak of “time”, if “time” is to die.

γυνή σε παύσει καὶ νέου γάμου πόθοι.

Heracles: A woman will make you cease, and the desire for a new marriage.

σίγησον· οἷον εἶπας. οὐκ ἂν ᾠόμην.

Admetus: Be silent! What a thing you have said! I would never have thought it.

τί δʼ; οὐ γαμεῖς γάρ, ἀλλὰ χηρεύσῃ λέχος;

Heracles: Why? For will you not marry, but keep your bed widowed?

1090

οὐκ ἔστιν ἥτις τῷδε συγκλιθήσεται.

Admetus: There is no woman who shall lie down with this man.

μῶν τὴν θανοῦσαν ὠφελεῖν τι προσδοκᾷς;

Heracles: Do you expect to benefit the dead woman in some way?

κείνην ὅπουπερ ἔστι τιμᾶσθαι χρεών.

Admetus: She must be honored wherever she is.

αἰνῶ μὲν αἰνῶ· μωρίαν δ’ ὀφλισκάνεις.

Heracles: I praise it, yes, I praise it; but you incur the charge of folly.

ὡς μήποτ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε νυμφίον καλῶν.³

Admetus: Call me then a bridegroom, knowing that you will never call this man so again.

1095

ἐπῄνεσ’ ἀλόχῳ πιστὸς οὕνεκ’ εἶ φίλος.

Heracles: I praise you because you are a faithful friend to your wife.

θάνοιμ’ ἐκείνην καίπερ οὐκ οὖσαν προδούς.

Admetus: May I die if I betray her, even though she is no more!

δέχου νυν εἴσω τήνδε γενναίων δόμων.

Heracles: Receive her then inside your noble house.

μή, πρός σε τοῦ σπείραντος ἄντομαι Διός.

Admetus: Do not, I implore you by Zeus who begot you!

καὶ μὴν ἁμαρτήσῃ γε μὴ δράσας τάδε.

Heracles: And yet, you will surely make a mistake if you do not do this.

1100

καὶ δρῶν γε λύπῃ καρδίαν δηχθήσομαι.

Admetus: And if I do it, my heart will be bitten with grief.

πιθοῦ· τάχ’ ἂν γὰρ ἐς δέον πέσοι χάρις.

Heracles: Obey; for perhaps the favor may turn out to be what is necessary.

φεῦ.

Admetus: Alas!

εἴθ’ ἐξ ἀγῶνος τήνδε μὴ ῎λαβές ποτε.

Would that you had never won her from the contest!

νικῶντι μέντοι καὶ σὺ συννικᾷς ἐμοί.

Heracles: Yet when I conquer, you also conquer with me.

καλῶς ἔλεξας· ἡ γυνὴ δ’ ἀπελθέτω.

Admetus: You have spoken well; but let the woman depart.

1105

ἄπεισιν, εἰ χρή· πρῶτα δ’ εἰ χρεὼν ἄθρει.

Heracles: She will depart, if she must; but first consider whether it is necessary.

χρή, σοῦ γε μὴ μέλλοντος ὀργαίνειν ἐμοί.

Admetus: It is necessary, provided you are not going to be angry with me.

εἰδώς τι κἀγὼ τήνδ’ ἔχω προθυμίαν.

Heracles: Knowing something myself, I too have this eagerness.

νίκα νυν. οὐ μὴν ἁνδάνοντά μοι ποιεῖς.

Admetus: Conquer then! Yet you do not do what is pleasing to me.

ἀλλ’ ἔσθ’ ὅθ’ ἡμᾶς αἰνέσεις· πιθοῦ μόνον.

Heracles: But there will be a time when you will praise me; only obey.

1110

κομίζετʼ, εἰ χρὴ τήνδε δέξασθαι δόμοις.

Admetus: Take her in, if this woman must be received into the house.

οὐκ ἂν μεθείην τὴν γυναῖκα προσπόλοις.

Heracles: I would not surrender the woman to servants.

σὺ δ’ αὐτὸς αὐτὴν εἴσαγʼ, εἰ βούλῃ, δόμους.

You yourself lead her in, if you wish, into the house.

ἐς σὰς μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε θήσομαι χέρας.

Heracles: Rather, I at least will place her into your hands.

οὐκ ἂν θίγοιμι· δῶμα δ’ εἰσελθεῖν πάρα.

Admetus: I would not touch her; but she is free to enter the house.

1115

τῇ σῇ πέποιθα χειρὶ δεξιᾷ μόνῃ.

Heracles: I trust in your right hand alone.

ἄναξ, βιάζῃ μ’ οὐ θέλοντα δρᾶν τάδε.

Admetus: Lord, you force me to do this against my will.

τόλμα προτεῖναι χεῖρα καὶ θιγεῖν ξένης.

Heracles: Dare to stretch forth your hand and touch the stranger.

καὶ δὴ προτείνω, Γοργόν’ ὡς καρατομῶν.⁴

Admetus: Indeed I stretch it forth, as if cutting off the Gorgon’s head.

ἔχεις;

Heracles: Do you have her?

ἔχω; ναί.

Admetus: Do I have her? Yes.

σῷζέ νυν, καὶ τὸν Διὸς

Heracles: Keep her safe then, and you will say one day that the son of Zeus

1120

φήσεις ποτ’ εἶναι παῖδα γενναῖον ξένον.

is a noble guest.

βλέψον πρὸς αὐτήν, εἴ τι σῇ δοκεῖ πρέπειν

Look at her, if she seems to resemble your wife in any way;

γυναικί· λύπης δ’ εὐτυχῶν μεθίστασο.

and, being fortunate, cease from your grief.

ὦ θεοί, τί λέξω—θαῦμ’ ἀνέλπιστον τόδε—

Admetus: O gods, what shall I say? This is an unhoped-for wonder!

γυναῖκα λεύσσων τήνδʼ; —ἐμὴν ἐτητύμως;

Am I truly beholding my wife?

1125

ἢ κέρτομός με θεοῦ τις ἐκπλήσσει χαρά;

Or does some mocking joy from a god strike me with bewilderment?

οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ τήνδ’ ὁρᾷς δάμαρτα σήν.

Heracles: No, but you see here your own wife.

ὅρα γε μή τι φάσμα νερτέρων τόδ’ ᾖ.

Admetus: See to it that this is not some phantom of the dead.

οὐ ψυχαγωγὸν τόνδ’ ἐποιήσω ξένον.

Heracles: You did not make a necromancer of this guest.

ἀλλ’ ἣν ἔθαπτον εἰσορῶ δάμαρτ’ ἐμήν;

Admetus: But do I behold my wife whom I was burying?

1130

σάφ’ ἴσθʼ. ἀπιστεῖν δ’ οὔ σε θαυμάζω τύχην.

Heracles: Know it for certain; and I do not wonder that you distrust your fortune.

θίγω, προσείπω ζῶσαν ὡς δάμαρτ’ ἐμήν;

Admetus: May I touch her, may I address her as my living wife?

πρόσειπʼ. ἔχεις γὰρ πᾶν ὅσονπερ ἤθελες.

Heracles: Address her; for you have all that you wished for.

ὦ φιλτάτης γυναικὸς ὄμμα καὶ δέμας,

Admetus: O eye and body of my dearest wife!

ἔχω σ’ ἀέλπτως, οὔποτ’ ὄψεσθαι δοκῶν.

I hold you beyond hope, when I thought I would never see you again.

1135

ἔχεις· φθόνος δὲ μὴ γένοιτό τις θεῶν.

Heracles: You have her; and may no envy of the gods arise.

ὦ τοῦ μεγίστου Ζηνὸς εὐγενὲς τέκνον,

Admetus: O noble child of greatest Zeus,

εὐδαιμονοίης, καί σ’ ὁ φιτύσας πατὴρ

may you be happy, and may the father who begot you

σῴζοι· σὺ γὰρ δὴ τἄμ’ ἀνώρθωσας μόνος.

keep you safe! For you alone have restored my fortunes.

πῶς τήνδ’ ἔπεμψας νέρθεν ἐς φάος τόδε;

How did you send her from below into this light?

1140

μάχην συνάψας δαιμόνων τῷ κυρίῳ.

Heracles: By joining battle with the lord of the spirits.

ποῦ τόνδε Θανάτῳ φῂς ἀγῶνα συμβαλεῖν;

Admetus: Where do you say you fought this contest with Death?

τύμβον παρ’ αὐτὸν ἐκ λόχου μάρψας χεροῖν.

Heracles: By the tomb itself, grabbing him with my hands from ambush.

τί γάρ ποθ’ ἥδ’ ἄναυδος ἕστηκεν γυνή;

Admetus: But why on earth does this woman stand speechless?

οὔπω θέμις σοι τῆσδε προσφωνημάτων

Heracles: It is not yet permitted for you to hear her voice,

1145

κλύειν,⁵ πρὶν ἂν θεοῖσι τοῖσι νερτέροις

until she is purified to the gods below

ἀφαγνίσηται καὶ τρίτον μόλῃ φάος.

and the third light comes.

ἀλλ’ εἴσαγ’ εἴσω τήνδε· καὶ δίκαιος ὢν

But lead her inside; and being righteous in the future, Admetus,

τὸ λοιπόν, Ἄδμητʼ, εὐσέβει περὶ ξένους.

show piety toward guests.

καὶ χαῖρʼ· ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν προκείμενον πόνον

And farewell; I will go and perform the labor set before me

1150

Σθενέλου τυράννῳ παιδὶ πορσυνῶ μολών.

for the ruling son of Sthenelus.

μεῖνον παρ’ ἡμῖν καὶ ξυνέστιος γενοῦ.

Admetus: Stay with us and share our hearth.

αὖθις τόδ’ ἔσται, νῦν δ’ ἐπείγεσθαί με δεῖ.

Heracles: That shall be another time, but now I must hasten.

ἀλλ’ εὐτυχοίης, νόστιμον δ’ ἔλθοις δόμον.

Admetus: Well, may you prosper, and may you return safely to your home.

ἀστοῖς δὲ πάσῃ τ’ ἐννέπω τετραρχίᾳ,

And to the citizens and all the tetrarchy I command

1155

χοροὺς ἐπ’ ἐσθλαῖς συμφοραῖσιν ἱστάναι

to set up dances for these good fortunes,

βωμούς τε κνισᾶν βουθύτοισι προστροπαῖς.

and to make the altars steam with ox-sacrificing prayers.

νῦν γὰρ μεθηρμόσμεσθα βελτίω βίον

For now we have changed our way of life to a better one

τοῦ πρόσθεν· οὐ γὰρ εὐτυχῶν ἀρνήσομαι.

than before; for I will not deny that I am fortunate.

πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων,

Chorus: Many are the forms of the divine,

1160

πολλὰ δ’ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί·

and many things the gods accomplish unexpectedly.

καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ’ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη,

What was expected was not fulfilled,

τῶν δ’ ἀδοκήτων πόρον ηὗρε θεός.

and for the unexpected a god found a way.

τοιόνδ’ ἀπέβη τόδε πρᾶγμα.

Such was the outcome of this matter.

Syntax notes5 items

1084ὥστ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε μηκέθ’ ἥδεσθαι βίῳ.
The conjunction ὥστε introduces a clause of result. The phrase ἄνδρα τόνδε ("this man") is a common tragic idiom where a speaker refers to themselves in the third person.
1086χρόνον λέγοις ἄν, εἰ χρόνος τὸ κατθανεῖν.
The phrase λέγοις ἄν (optative with ἄν) expresses a potential or polite assertion. The infinitive τὸ κατθανεῖν ("to die") functions as the subject noun phrase of the conditional εἰ clause.
1094ὡς μήποτ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε νυμφίον καλῶν.
The combination of ὡς with the participle καλῶν expresses a subjective conviction or expectation regarding the future. The phrase ἄνδρα τόνδε once again refers to Admetus himself.
1118καὶ δὴ προτείνω, Γοργόν’ ὡς καρατομῶν.
The particle combination καὶ δὴ is used in drama to signal immediate compliance with an order. The phrase ὡς + participle καρατομῶν expresses a comparison ("as if decapitating the Gorgon," implying looking away to avoid danger).
1144οὔπω θέμις σοι τῆσδε προσφωνημάτων κλύειν
The impersonal expression οὔπω θέμις [ἐστί] ("it is not yet permitted") is followed by the infinitive κλύειν. The dative σοι functions as the person affected, while the genitives τῆσδε and προσφωνημάτων depend on the verb of hearing (κλύειν).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:1083-1163