§541τεθνᾶσιν οἱ θανόντες· ἀλλ’ ἴθ’ ἐς δόμους.
(Admetus) The dead are dead; but go into the house.
§542αἰσχρὸν παρὰ κλαίουσι θοινᾶσθαι ξένους.
It is shameful for guests to feast beside those who weep.
§543χωρὶς ξενῶνές εἰσιν οἷ σ’ ἐσάξομεν.
The guest quarters where we shall lead you are separate.
§544μέθες με, καί σοι μυρίαν ἕξω χάριν.
(Hercules) Let me go, and I will have endless gratitude to you.
§545οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλου σ’ ἀνδρὸς ἑστίαν μολεῖν.
(Admetus) It is not possible for you to go to another man's hearth.
§546ἡγοῦ σὺ τῷδε δωμάτων ἐξωπίους §547ξενῶνας οἴξας, τοῖς τ’ ἐφεστῶσιν φράσον §548σίτων παρεῖναι πλῆθος·
You, lead the way, opening the guest-quarters that are outside the main building for this man, and tell those in charge to provide an abundance of food.
εὖ δὲ κλῄσατε §549θύρας μεσαύλους· οὐ πρέπει θοινωμένους §550κλύειν στεναγμῶν οὐδὲ λυπεῖσθαι ξένους.
And close well the middle doors; it is not fitting for those who feast to hear groanings, nor to be grieved.
§551τί δρᾷς;
(Chorus Leader) What are you doing?
τοιαύτης συμφορᾶς προκειμένης, §552Ἄδμητε, τολμᾷς ξενοδοκεῖν;
With such a calamity before you, Admetus, do you dare to entertain guests?
τί μῶρος εἶ;
Why are you so foolish?
(Admetus) But if I had driven him from my house and city, when he came as a guest, would you have praised me more?
No, indeed, since my misfortune would have been no less, and I would have been more inhospitable.
And in addition to my evils, there would have been this other evil, that my house should be called 'hostile to guests'.
And I myself find him to be the best of hosts, whenever I go to the thirsty land of Argos.
(Chorus Leader) How then did you hide the present fate, when a man who is your friend arrived, as you yourself say?
(Admetus) He would never have wished to enter the house, if he had recognized any of my troubles.
§565καὶ τῷ μέν, οἶμαι, δρῶν τάδ’ οὐ φρονεῖν δοκῶ, §566οὐδ’ αἰνέσει με· τἀμὰ δ’ οὐκ ἐπίσταται §567μέλαθρ’ ἀπωθεῖν οὐδ’ ἀτιμάζειν ξένους.
And to him indeed, I suppose, in doing this I seem not to be wise, nor will he praise me; but my palace does not know how to push away guests, nor to dishonor them.
§568ὦ πολύξεινος καὶ ἐλεύθερος ἀνδρὸς ἀεί ποτ’ οἶκος, §570σέ τοι καὶ ὁ Πύθιος εὐλύρας Ἀπόλλων §571ἠξίωσε ναίειν, §572ἔτλα δὲ σοῖσι μηλονόμας §573ἐν δόμοις γενέσθαι, §575δοχμιᾶν διὰ κλιτύων §576βοσκήμασι σοῖσι συρίζων §577ποιμνίτας ὑμεναίους.
(Chorus) O house of the man, always hospitable and free, you even Pythian Apollo of the beautiful lyre deigned to inhabit, and he dared to become a shepherd in your halls, along the sloping hillsides piping for your flocks shepherd bridal songs.
§578σὺν δ’ ἐποιμαίνοντο χαρᾷ μελέων βαλιαί τε λύγκες, §580ἔβα δὲ λιποῦσ’ Ὄθρυος νάπαν λεόντων §581ἁ δαφοινὸς ἴλα· §582χόρευσε δ’ ἀμφὶ σὰν κιθάραν, §583Φοῖβε, ποικιλόθριξ §585νεβρὸς ὑψικόμων πέραν §586βαίνουσ’ ἐλατᾶν σφυρῷ κούφῳ, §587χαίρουσ’ εὔφρονι μολπᾷ.
And there grazed together in joy at his songs the dappled lynxes, and there came, leaving the glen of Othrys, of lions the tawny herd; and there danced around your lyre, Phoebus, the dappled-skinned fawn, going beyond the high-foliaged firs with light ankle, rejoicing in your gladdening song.
Therefore a most rich in sheep hearth he inhabits by the fair-flowing Lake Boebeis.
ἀρότοις δὲ γυᾶν §591καὶ πεδίων δαπέδοις ὅρον ἀμφὶ μὲν §592ἀελίου κνεφαίαν §593ἱππόστασιν αἰθέρα τὰν Μολοσσῶν τίθεται, §595πόντιον δ’ Αἰγαίων’ ἐπ’ ἀκτὰν §596ἀλίμενον Πηλίου κρατύνει.
And of his arable lands and the plains, as a boundary, on one hand, where the sun has its dark stalling place, the air of the Molossians he makes, and on the other, to the marine Aegean coast harborless of Pelion he rules.
§597καὶ νῦν δόμον ἀμπετάσας §598δέξατο ξεῖνον νοτερῷ βλεφάρῳ, §599τᾶς φίλας κλαίων ἀλόχου νέκυν ἐν §600δώμασιν ἀρτιθανῆ· τὸ γὰρ εὐγενὲς §601ἐκφέρεται πρὸς αἰδῶ.
And now, opening wide his house, he has received the guest with wet eyelid, weeping for the corpse of his dear wife in the halls; for nobility is carried towards reverence.
§602ἐν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖσι δὲ πάντ’ ἔνεστιν σοφίας.
In the noble, all wisdom is present.
I am filled with wonder; and in my soul sits the confidence that the god-fearing man will fare well.
§606ἀνδρῶν Φεραίων εὐμενὴς παρουσία, §607νέκυν μὲν ἤδη πάντ’ ἔχοντα πρόσπολοι §608φέρουσιν ἄρδην πρὸς τάφον τε καὶ πυράν·
(Admetus) O kindly presence of Pheraean men, already the servants are carrying the corpse, having all its proper things, aloft towards the tomb and the pyre.
And you, as is customary, greet the deceased as she goes forth on her last journey.
§611καὶ μὴν ὁρῶ σὸν πατέρα γηραιῷ ποδὶ §612στείχοντʼ, ὀπαδούς τ’ ἐν χεροῖν δάμαρτι σῇ §613κόσμον φέροντας, νερτέρων ἀγάλματα.
(Chorus Leader) And indeed I see your father with aged foot approaching, and attendants carrying in their hands adornments, offerings for those below.
§614ἥκω κακοῖσι σοῖσι συγκάμνων, τέκνον· §615ἐσθλῆς γάρ, οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ, καὶ σώφρονος §616γυναικὸς ἡμάρτηκας.
(Pheres) I have come grieving with you in your evils, child; for, no one will deny, a noble and chaste wife you have lost.
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν §617φέρειν ἀνάγκη καίπερ ὄντα δύσφορα.
But these things indeed it is necessary to bear, though being hard to bear.
τὸ ταύτης σῶμα τιμᾶσθαι χρεών, §620ἥτις γε τῆς σῆς προύθανε ψυχῆς, τέκνον, §621καί μ’ οὐκ ἄπαιδ’ ἔθηκεν οὐδ’ εἴασε σοῦ §622στερέντα γήρᾳ πενθίμῳ καταφθίνειν, §623πάσαις δ’ ἔθηκεν εὐκλεέστερον βίον §624γυναιξίν, ἔργον τλᾶσα γενναῖον τόδε.
Her body must be honored, she who indeed died in place of your life, child, and did not make me childless, nor allowed me deprived of you to waste away in a mourning old age, and she made for all women their life more glorious, having dared this noble deed.
§625ὦ τόνδε μὲν σώσασʼ, ἀναστήσασα δὲ §626ἡμᾶς πίτνοντας, χαῖρε, κἀν Ἅιδου δόμοις §627εὖ σοι γένοιτο.
O you who saved this man, and raised up us who were falling, farewell, and in the house of Hades may it be well with you.
φημὶ τοιούτους γάμους §628λύειν βροτοῖσιν, ἢ γαμεῖν οὐκ ἄξιον.
I say that such marriages are profitable for mortals, or else it is not worth marrying.
(Admetus) Neither did you come to this tomb called by me, nor do I count your presence among friends.
And she shall never put on your adornments; for she will be buried not being in any need of your things.
§633τότε ξυναλγεῖν χρῆν σ’ ὅτ’ ὠλλύμην ἐγώ.
You ought to have grieved with me then, when I was perishing.
But you, standing out of the way and letting another die, being old while she was young; will you now bewail this corpse?
§636οὐκ ἦσθ’ ἄρ’ ὀρθῶς τοῦδε σώματος πατήρ;
Were you not then, in truth, the father of this body?
Nor did she who claims to have given birth to me and is called my mother, give birth to me?
δουλίου δ’ ἀφ’ αἵματος §639μαστῷ γυναικὸς σῆς ὑπεβλήθην λάθρᾳ;
But from a slave's blood was I secretly put under your wife's breast?