(Chorus A) Does anyone hear either a groan, or the beating of hands in the house, or a lamentation as if all is over?
(Chorus B) No, indeed, none of the servants is stationed at the gates.
If only you would appear, O Paean, as a calmer of the wave of disaster!
§93—οὔ τἂν φθιμένης γ’ ἐσιώπων.
(Chorus B) Surely they would not be silent if she were dead.
§94—νέκυς ἤδη.
(Chorus A) She is already a corpse.
§94a—οὐ δὴ φροῦδός γ’ ἐξ οἴκων.
(Chorus B) But she has certainly not been carried out of the house.
§95—πόθεν;
(Chorus A) How so?
οὐκ αὐχῶ.
I do not think so.
τί σε θαρσύνει;
What gives you confidence?
(Chorus B) How could Admetus have performed the burial of his dear wife in such a deserted way?
(Chorus A) And yet, before the gates I do not see the lustral water from the spring as is customary at the gates of the dead.
§101—χαίτα τ’ οὔτις ἐπὶ προθύροις το- §102μαῖος, ἃ δὴ νεκύων πέν- §103θει πίτνει· οὐ νεολαία §104δουπεῖ χεὶρ γυναικῶν.
Nor is there any shorn hair in the vestibule, which usually falls in mourning for the dead; the young hand of women does not make a sound.
§105—καὶ μὴν τόδε κύριον ἦμαρ. . .
(Chorus B) And yet, this is the appointed day...
§106—τί τόδ’ αὐδᾷς;
(Chorus A) What is this you say?
§107—ᾧ χρή σφε μολεῖν κατὰ γαίας.
(Chorus B) On which she must go beneath the earth.
§108—ἔθιγες ψυχᾶς, ἔθιγες δὲ φρενῶν.
(Chorus A) You have touched my soul, you have touched my heart.
(Chorus B) When the good are destroyed, he who has been considered noble from the beginning must mourn.
§112—ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ναυκληρίαν §113ἔσθ’ ὅποι τις αἴας §114στείλας, ἢ Λυκίαν §115εἴτ’ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνύδρους §116Ἀμμωνιάδας, §117δυστάνου παραλύσαι §118ψυχάν· μόρος γὰρ ἀπότομος §119πλάθει·
(Chorus) But there is nowhere on earth where one could send a voyage, neither to Lycia nor to the waterless shrines of Ammon, to release the soul of the unhappy woman; for steep death approaches.
I do not know to which of the sheep-sacrificing priests at the altars of the gods I should go.
§122—μόνος δ’ ἄν, εἰ φῶς τόδ’ ἦν §123ὄμμασιν δεδορκὼς §124Φοίβου παῖς, προλιποῦσ’ §125ἦλθεν ἕδρας σκοτίους §126Ἅιδα τε πύλας·
Only if the son of Phoebus were still looking upon this light with his eyes, she would have left the dark habitations and the gates of Hades and come back.
For he used to raise up the dead, before the Zeus-sent bolt of thunderous fire destroyed him.
§132—πάντα γὰρ ἤδη τετέλεσται βασιλεῦσι, §133πάντων δὲ θεῶν ἐπὶ βωμοῖς §134αἱμόρραντοι θυσίαι πλήρεις· §135οὐδ’ ἔστι κακῶν ἄκος οὐδέν.
For everything has already been performed by the rulers, and on the altars of all the gods blood-dripping sacrifices are full; and there is no cure for these evils.
§136ἀλλ’ ἥδ’ ὀπαδῶν ἐκ δόμων τις ἔρχεται
But look, some female attendant comes out of the house, weeping.
§137δακρυρροοῦσα, τίνα τύχην ἀκούσομαι;
What fortune shall I hear?
To mourn indeed, if anything happens to one's masters, is pardonable.
εἰ δ’ ἔτ’ ἐστὶν ἔμψυχος γυνὴ §140εἴτ’ οὖν ὄλωλεν εἰδέναι βουλοίμεθ’ ἄν.
But whether the woman is still alive or has perished, we would like to know.
§141καὶ ζῶσαν εἰπεῖν καὶ θανοῦσαν ἔστι σοι.
(Servant) You may speak of her as both living and dead.
§142καὶ πῶς ἂν αὑτὸς κατθάνοι τε καὶ βλέποι;
(Chorus) And how could the same person both die and look upon the light?
§143ἤδη προνωπής ἐστι καὶ ψυχορραγεῖ.
(Servant) She is already drooping and gasping out her life.
§144ὦ τλῆμον, οἵας οἷος ὢν ἁμαρτάνεις.
(Chorus) O unhappy man, being what a husband, what a wife you are losing!
§145οὔπω τόδ’ οἶδε δεσπότης, πρὶν ἂν πάθῃ.
(Servant) The master does not yet know this, until he suffers it.
§146ἐλπὶς μὲν οὐκέτ’ ἐστὶ σῴζεσθαι βίον;
(Chorus) Is there then no longer any hope of saving her life?
§147πεπρωμένη γὰρ ἡμέρα βιάζεται.
(Servant) For the fated day constrains her.
§148οὔκουν ἐπ’ αὐτῇ πράσσεται τὰ πρόσφορα;
(Chorus) Are not the appropriate things being done for her?
§149κόσμος γ’ ἕτοιμος, ᾧ σφε συνθάψει πόσις.
(Servant) The adornment is ready, in which her husband will bury her.
(Chorus) Let her know then that she will die glorious, and by far the best woman under the sun.
§152πῶς δ’ οὐκ ἀρίστη;
(Servant) And how not the best?
τίς δ’ ἐναντιώσεται;
Who will dispute it?
πῶς δ’ ἂν μᾶλλον ἐνδείξαιτό τις §155πόσιν προτιμῶσ’ ἢ θέλουσ’ ὑπερθανεῖν;
How could anyone show more that she honors her husband than by being willing to die for him?
Indeed, all the city knows this; but what she did in the house you will wonder to hear.
§158ἐπεὶ γὰρ ᾔσθεθ’ ἡμέραν τὴν κυρίαν §159ἥκουσαν, ὕδασι ποταμίοις λευκὸν χρόα §160ἐλούσατʼ, ἐκ δ’ ἑλοῦσα κεδρίνων δόμων §161ἐσθῆτα κόσμον τ’ εὐπρεπῶς ἠσκήσατο,
For when she realized that the appointed day had come, she washed her white skin with river water, and taking from her cedar chambers clothing and ornaments, she adorned herself becomingly.
§162καὶ στᾶσα πρόσθεν Ἑστίας κατηύξατο· §163Δέσποινʼ, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔρχομαι κατὰ χθονός, §164πανύστατόν σε προσπίτνουσ’ αἰτήσομαι, §165τέκν’ ὀρφανεῦσαι τἀμά· καὶ τῷ μὲν φίλην §166σύζευξον ἄλοχον, τῇ δὲ γενναῖον πόσιν.
And standing before Hestia, she prayed: "O Mistress, since I am going beneath the earth, falling before you for the very last time, I will ask you to protect my orphan children; and to the boy join a dear wife, and to the girl a noble husband.
§167μηδ’ ὥσπερ αὐτῶν ἡ τεκοῦσ’ ἀπόλλυμαι §168θανεῖν ἀώρους παῖδας, ἀλλ’ εὐδαίμονας §169ἐν γῇ πατρῴᾳ τερπνὸν ἐκπλῆσαι βίον. §170πάντας δὲ βωμούς, οἳ κατ’ Ἀδμήτου δόμους, §171προσῆλθε κἀξέστεψε καὶ προσηύξατο, §172πτόρθων ἀποσχίζουσα μυρσίνης φόβην, §173ἄκλαυτος ἀστένακτος, οὐδὲ τοὐπιὸν §174κακὸν μεθίστη χρωτὸς εὐειδῆ φύσιν.
And do not let them die untimely like me, who bore them, but happily fulfill a pleasant life in their ancestral land." And to all the altars which are in the house of Admetus, she went and crowned them and prayed, breaking off sprigs of myrtle foliage, without a tear, without a groan, nor did the impending evil alter the beautiful nature of her skin.
§175κἄπειτα θάλαμον ἐσπεσοῦσα καὶ λέχος, §176ἐνταῦθα δὴ ʼδάκρυσε καὶ λέγει τάδε· §177Ὦ λέκτρον, ἔνθα παρθένει’ ἔλυσ’ ἐγὼ §178κορεύματ’ ἐκ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρός, οὗ θνῄσκω πέρι, §179χαῖρʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἐχθαίρω σʼ· ἀπώλεσας δ’ ἐμὲ §180μόνην· προδοῦναι γάρ σ’ ὀκνοῦσα καὶ πόσιν §181θνῄσκω.
And then, rushing into her bridal chamber and bed, there indeed she wept and said these words: "O bed, where I loosed my virgin maidenhood to this husband, for whom I die, farewell; for I do not hate you; but you have destroyed me alone; for fearing to betray you and my husband I die.
σὲ δ’ ἄλλη τις γυνὴ κεκτήσεται, §182σώφρων μὲν οὐκ ἂν μᾶλλον, εὐτυχὴς δ’ ἴσως. §183κυνεῖ δὲ προσπίτνουσα, πᾶν δὲ δέμνιον §184ὀφθαλμοτέγκτῳ δεύεται πλημμυρίδι.
And some other woman will possess you, not more virtuous indeed, but perhaps more fortunate." And falling upon it she kissed it, and all the bed was wet with a flood of tears from her eyes.