And from the streams of Cocytus, with the ferry oar of the underworld (if only I could send you back).
§460σὺ γὰρ ὤ, μόνα, ὦ φίλα γυναικῶν, §461σὺ τὸν αὑτᾶς §462ἔτλας πόσιν ἀντὶ σᾶς ἀμεῖψαι §462aψυχᾶς ἐξ Ἅιδα.
For you alone, o dear among women, you dared to exchange your husband for your own life from Hades.
κούφα σοι §463χθὼν ἐπάνωθε πέσοι, γύναι.
May the earth fall lightly upon you, o wife.
But if your husband should choose any new bed, indeed he would be greatly hated by me and by your children.
§466ματέρος οὐ θελούσας §467πρὸ παιδὸς χθονὶ κρύψαι §468δέμας, οὐδὲ πατρὸς γεραιοῦ, §469ὃν ἔτεκον δʼ, οὐκ ἔτλαν ῥύεσθαι, §470σχετλίω, πολιὰν ἔχοντε χαίταν.
Since his mother was not willing to hide her body in the earth for her child, nor his aged father; whom they begot, they dared not rescue, though having white hair, wretched ones!
But you in your young youth have gone, dying for your husband, from the light.
§472τοιαύτας εἴη μοι κῦρσαι §473συνδυάδος φιλίας· τοῦτο γὰρ §474ἐν βιότῳ σπάνιον μέρος· ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἔμοιγ’ ἄλυπος §475δι’ αἰῶνος ἂν ξυνείη.
May it be my lot to meet such a loving companion; for this is a rare portion in life; indeed she would dwell with me without grief through life.
(Hercules) Strangers, inhabitants of this Pheraean land, do I find Admetus in the palace?
§478ἔστ’ ἐν δόμοισι παῖς Φέρητος, Ἡράκλεις.
(Chorus Leader) The son of Pheres is in the palace, Hercules.
But tell us, what need sends you to the land of Thessalians, to approach this Pheraean city?
§481Τιρυνθίῳ πράσσω τιν’ Εὐρυσθεῖ πόνον.
(Hercules) I am performing a labor for Eurystheus of Tiryns.
§482καὶ ποῖ πορεύῃ;
(Chorus Leader) And where are you journeying?
τῷ προσέζευξαι πλάνῳ;
To what wandering are you yoked?
§483Θρῃκὸς τέτρωρον ἅρμα Διομήδους μέτα.
(Hercules) For the four-horse chariot of Diomedes of Thrace.
§484πῶς οὖν δυνήσῃ;
(Chorus Leader) How then will you be able?
μῶν ἄπειρος εἶ ξένου;
Are you indeed inexperienced with the host?
§485ἄπειρος· οὔπω Βιστόνων ἦλθον χθόνα.
(Hercules) Inexperienced; I have not yet gone to the land of the Bistones.
§486οὐκ ἔστιν ἵππων δεσπόσαι σ’ ἄνευ μάχης.
(Chorus Leader) It is not possible to master the horses without a fight.
§487ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀπειπεῖν μὴν πόνους οἷόν τ’ ἐμοί.
(Hercules) But neither indeed is it possible for me to refuse the labors.
§488κτανὼν ἄρ’ ἥξεις ἢ θανὼν αὐτοῦ μενεῖς.
(Chorus Leader) Then you will return having slain him, or you will remain there dead.
§489οὐ τόνδ’ ἀγῶνα πρῶτον ἂν δράμοιμ’ ἐγώ.
(Hercules) This would not be the first contest I have run.
§490τί δ’ ἂν κρατήσας δεσπότην πλέον λάβοις;
(Chorus Leader) And what more would you gain by conquering the master?
§491πώλους ἀπάξω κοιράνῳ Τιρυνθίῳ.
(Hercules) I shall lead the horses away to the ruler of Tiryns.
§492οὐκ εὐμαρὲς χαλινὸν ἐμβαλεῖν γνάθοις.
(Chorus Leader) It is not easy to put a bit in their jaws.
§493εἰ μή γε πῦρ πνέουσι μυκτήρων ἄπο.
(Hercules) Unless indeed they breathe fire from their nostrils.
§494ἀλλ’ ἄνδρας ἀρταμοῦσι λαιψηραῖς γνάθοις.
(Chorus Leader) But they tear men with swift jaws.
§495θηρῶν ὀρείων χόρτον, οὐχ ἵππων, λέγεις.
(Hercules) You speak of food for mountain beasts, not of horses.
§496φάτνας ἴδοις ἂν αἵμασιν πεφυρμένας.
(Chorus Leader) You might see the mangers defiled with blood.
§497τίνος δ’ ὁ θρέψας παῖς πατρὸς κομπάζεται;
(Hercules) And of what father does the one who bred them boast to be the son?
§498Ἄρεος, ζαχρύσου Θρῃκίας πέλτης ἄναξ.
(Chorus Leader) Of Ares, lord of the golden Thracian shield.
§499καὶ τόνδε τοὐμοῦ δαίμονος πόνον λέγεις· §500σκληρὸς γὰρ αἰεὶ καὶ πρὸς αἶπος ἔρχεται· §501εἰ χρή με παισὶν οἷς Ἄρης ἐγείνατο §502μάχην συνάψαι, πρῶτα μὲν Λυκάονι, §503αὖθις δὲ Κύκνῳ, τόνδε δ’ ἔρχομαι τρίτον §504ἀγῶνα πώλοις δεσπότῃ τε συμβαλῶν.
(Hercules) And you speak of this labor of my destiny; for it is always hard and goes against the steep; if I must join battle with the children whom Ares begot, first indeed with Lycaon, and again with Cycnus, and now I go to join this third contest with the horses and their master.
But there is no one who will ever see the offspring of Alcmene trembling before an enemy's hand.
(Chorus Leader) And indeed here is the ruler of this land himself, Admetus, coming out of the palace.
§509χαῖρʼ, ὦ Διὸς παῖ Περσέως τ’ ἀφ’ αἵματος.
(Admetus) Greetings, o son of Zeus and of the blood of Perseus.
§510Ἄδμητε, καὶ σὺ χαῖρε, Θεσσαλῶν ἄναξ.
(Hercules) Admetus, greetings to you too, ruler of Thessalians.
§511θέλοιμ’ ἄν· εὔνουν δ’ ὄντα σ’ ἐξεπίσταμαι.
(Admetus) I would wish so; and I know well that you are well-disposed.
§512τί χρῆμα κουρᾷ τῇδε πενθίμῳ πρέπεις;
(Hercules) Why indeed do you appear with this mourning hair-cut?
§513θάπτειν τιν’ ἐν τῇδ’ ἡμέρᾳ μέλλω νεκρόν.
(Admetus) I am about to bury a certain corpse today.
§514ἀπ’ οὖν τέκνων σῶν πημονὴν εἴργοι θεός.
(Hercules) May the god then ward off calamity from your children.
§515ζῶσιν κατ’ οἴκους παῖδες οὓς ἔφυσ’ ἐγώ.
(Admetus) The children whom I begot are living in the house.
§516πατήρ γε μὴν ὡραῖος, εἴπερ οἴχεται.
(Hercules) Surely your father is of ripe age, if indeed he is gone.
§517κἀκεῖνος ἔστι χἡ τεκοῦσά μʼ, Ἡράκλεις.
(Admetus) Both he is and she who bore me, Hercules.
§518οὐ μὴν γυνή γ’ ὄλωλεν Ἄλκηστις σέθεν;
(Hercules) Surely your wife Alcestis has not perished?
§519διπλοῦς ἐπ’ αὐτῇ μῦθος ἔστι μοι λέγειν.
(Admetus) I have a double story to tell about her.
§520πότερα θανούσης εἶπας ἢ ζώσης ἔτι;
(Hercules) Did you mean that she is dead or still living?
§521ἔστιν τε κοὐκέτ’ ἔστιν, ἀλγύνει δ’ ἐμέ.
(Admetus) She is and she is no more, and it grieves me.
§522οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον οἶδʼ· ἄσημα γὰρ λέγεις.
(Hercules) I know no more; for you speak obscurely.
§523οὐκ οἶσθα μοίρας ἧς τυχεῖν αὐτὴν χρεών;
(Admetus) Do you not know the fate which she must meet?
§524οἶδʼ, ἀντὶ σοῦ γε κατθανεῖν ὑφειμένην.
(Hercules) I know, that she undertook to die in your stead.
§525πῶς οὖν ἔτ’ ἔστιν, εἴπερ ᾔνεσεν τάδε;
(Admetus) How then is she still, if indeed she consented to this?
§526ἆ, μὴ πρόκλαι’ ἄκοιτιν, ἐς τότ’ ἀμβαλοῦ.
(Admetus) Ah, do not mourn your wife beforehand, defer it until then.
§527τέθνηχ’ ὁ μέλλων, κοὐκέτ’ ἔσθ’ ὁ κατθανών.
(Admetus) One who is about to die is dead, and the dead one is no more.
§528χωρὶς τό τ’ εἶναι καὶ τὸ μὴ νομίζεται.
(Hercules) Being and not being are considered separate things.
§529σὺ τῇδε κρίνεις, Ἡράκλεις, κείνῃ δ’ ἐγώ.
(Admetus) You judge in this way, Hercules, and I in that.
§530τί δῆτα κλαίεις;
(Hercules) Why indeed do you weep?
τίς φίλων ὁ κατθανών;
Who of your friends is dead?
§531γυνή· γυναικὸς ἀρτίως μεμνήμεθα.
(Admetus) A woman; we were just now speaking of a woman.
§532ὀθνεῖος ἢ σοὶ συγγενὴς γεγῶσά τις;
(Hercules) A stranger, or one born akin to you?
§533ὀθνεῖος, ἄλλως δ’ ἦν ἀναγκαία δόμοις.
(Admetus) A stranger, but otherwise she was necessary to the house.
§534πῶς οὖν ἐν οἴκοις σοῖσιν ὤλεσεν βίον;
(Hercules) How then did she lose her life in your house?
§535πατρὸς θανόντος ἐνθάδ’ ὠρφανεύετο.
(Admetus) Her father having died, she was brought up as an orphan here.
§536φεῦ.
(Hercules) Alas.
§536aεἴθ’ ηὕρομέν σʼ, Ἄδμητε, μὴ λυπούμενον.
(Hercules) I wish we had found you, Admetus, not grieving.
§537ὡς δὴ τί δράσων τόνδ’ ὑπορράπτεις λόγον;
(Admetus) Wishing to do what indeed do you weave this speech?
§538ξένων πρὸς ἄλλων ἑστίαν πορεύσομαι.
(Hercules) I shall go to the hearth of other hosts.
§539οὐκ ἔστιν, ὦναξ· μὴ τοσόνδ’ ἔλθοι κακόν.
(Admetus) It cannot be, o king; may such an evil not happen.
§540λυπουμένοις ὀχληρός, εἰ μόλοι, ξένος.
(Hercules) A guest is troublesome to those who grieve, if he should come.