Humanitext Reader

Euripides · Hippolytus §1379-1466

Artemis' Consolation, Reconciliation, and Hippolytus' Death

Passage 16 of 16 · Greek

Summary

Hippolytus, suffering from ancestral guilt and his father's curse, senses the presence of Artemis. She comforts him by affirming his innocence and promising him eternal honors, leading to a final reconciliation between father and son before Hippolytus dies.

§1379μιαιφόνων συγγόνων παλαιῶν §1380προγεννητόρων ἐξορίζεται §1381κακόν, οὐδὲ μέλλει, §1382ἔμολέ τ’ ἐπ’ ἐμὲ τί ποτε τὸν οὐ- §1383δὲν ὄντ’ ἐπαίτιον κακῶν;
From ancient ancestors guilty of murder, the evil is sent beyond their bounds, and without delay, it has come upon me—why indeed upon me, who am in no way guilty of these evils?
§1384ἰώ μοί μοι·
Alas, alas!
§1385— τί φῶ;
What shall I say?
πῶς ἀπαλλάξω βιοτὰν ἐμὰν τάνδ’ ἀναλ- §1386γήτου πάθους;
How shall I free my life from this unfeeling suffering?
εἴθε με κοι- §1387μάσειε τὸν δυσδαίμον’ Ἅι- §1388δου μέλαινα νύκτερός τ’ ἀνάγκα.
Would that the dark and nightly necessity of Hades would lull my wretched self to sleep!
§1389ὦ τλῆμον, οἵᾳ συμφορᾷ συνεζύγης·
O wretched one, to what a disaster you have been yoked!
§1390τὸ δ’ εὐγενές σε τῶν φρενῶν ἀπώλεσεν.
The nobility of your mind has destroyed you.
§1391ἔα·
Ah!
§1391aὦ θεῖον ὀδμῆς πνεῦμα·
O divine breath of fragrance!
καὶ γὰρ ἐν κακοῖς §1392ὢν ᾐσθόμην σου κἀνεκουφίσθην δέμας·
For even though I am in evils, I perceived you and my body was lightened.
§1393ἔστ’ ἐν τόποισι τοισίδ’ Ἄρτεμις θεά.
The goddess Artemis is in these places.
§1394ὦ τλῆμον, ἔστι, σοί γε φιλτάτη θεῶν.
O wretched one, she is, the goddess dearest of all to you.
§1395ὁρᾷς με, δέσποιν’, ὡς ἔχω, τὸν ἄθλιον;
Do you see me, mistress, in my wretched state?
§1396ὁρῶ· κατ’ ὄσσων δ’ οὐ θέμις βαλεῖν δάκρυ.
I see you; but it is not permitted for me to shed a tear from my eyes.
§1397οὐκ ἔστι σοι κυναγὸς οὐδ’ ὑπηρέτης,
You no longer have your huntsman or servant.
§1398οὐ δῆτ’· ἀτάρ μοι προσφιλής γ’ ἀπόλλυσαι.
Indeed not; yet, though dear to me, you perish.
§1399οὐδ’ ἱππονώμας οὐδ’ ἀγαλμάτων φύλαξ.
Nor the driver of horses, nor the guardian of your statues.
§1400Κύπρις γὰρ ἡ πανοῦργος ὧδ’ ἐμήσατο.
For Cypris, the worker of mischief, has devised this.
§1401ὤμοι·
Alas!
φρονῶ δὴ δαίμον’ ἥ μ’ ἀπώλεσεν.
Now indeed I understand the deity who destroyed me.
§1402τιμῆς ἐμέμφθη σωφρονοῦντι δ’ ἤχθετο.
She felt slighted in honor, and was vexed by your temperance.
§1403τρεῖς ὄντας ἡμᾶς ὤλεσ’, ᾔσθημαι, Κύπρις.
I perceive that Cypris has destroyed the three of us.
§1404πατέρα γε καὶ σὲ καὶ τρίτην ξυνάορον.
Your father, you, and his wife, the third.
§1405ᾤμωξα τοίνυν καὶ πατρὸς δυσπραξίας.
I groan, therefore, also for my father's misfortune.
§1406ἐξηπατήθη δαίμονος βουλεύμασιν.
He was deceived by the designs of the deity.
§1407ὦ δυστάλας σὺ τῆσδε συμφορᾶς, πάτερ.
O my father, how wretched you are in this calamity!
§1408ὄλωλα, τέκνον, οὐδέ μοι χάρις βίου.
I am undone, my child, and there is no joy in life for me.
§1409στένω σὲ μᾶλλον ἢ’μὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας.
I grieve for you more than for myself because of my error.
§1410εἰ γὰρ γενοίμην, τέκνον, ἀντὶ σοῦ νεκρός.
Would that I, my child, could become a corpse instead of you!
§1411ὦ δῶρα πατρὸς σοῦ Ποσειδῶνος πικρά.
O bitter gifts of your father Poseidon!
§1412ὡς μήποτ’ ἐλθεῖν ὤφελ’ ἐς τοὐμὸν στόμα.
Would that it had never come to my mouth!
§1413τί δ’;
Why do you say that?
ἔκτανές τἄν μ’, ὡς τότ’ ἦσθ’ ὠργισμένος.
You would have killed me anyway, so angry as you then were.
§1414δόξης γὰρ ἦμεν πρὸς θεῶν ἐσφαλμένοι.
For we were deceived in our judgment by the gods.
§1415φεῦ·
Alas!
§1415aεἴθ’ ἦν ἀραῖον δαίμοσιν βροτῶν γένος.
Would that the race of mortals could curse the gods!
§1416ἔασον· οὐ γὰρ οὐδὲ γῆς ὑπὸ ζόφον §1417θεᾶς ἄτιμοι Κύπριδος ἐκ προθυμίας §1418ὀργαὶ κατασκήψουσιν ἐς τὸ σὸν δέμας §1419σῆς εὐσεβείας κἀγαθῆς φρενὸς χάριν.
Let it be; for not even in the darkness beneath the earth shall the angry wills of the goddess Cypris swoop down upon your body unavenged, because of your piety and your good mind.
§1420ἐγὼ γὰρ αὐτῆς ἄλλον ἐξ ἐμῆς χερὸς §1421ὃς ἂν μάλιστα φίλτατος κυρῇ βροτῶν §1422τόξοις ἀφύκτοις τοῖσδε τιμωρήσομαι.
For I, with my own hand, against another who happens to be dearest of mortals to her, will take vengeance with these inescapable arrows.
§1423σοὶ δ’, ὦ ταλαίπωρ’, ἀντὶ τῶνδε τῶν κακῶν §1424τιμὰς μεγίστας ἐν πόλει Τροζηνίᾳ §1425δώσω· κόραι γὰρ ἄζυγες γάμων πάρος §1426κόμας κεροῦνταί σοι, δι’ αἰῶνος μακροῦ §1427πένθη μέγιστα δακρύων καρπουμένῳ.
And to you, o suffering one, in return for these evils, I will give the greatest honors in the city of Troezen; for unwed girls, before their marriage, shall shear their hair for you, and through long ages you shall reap the harvest of their deep grief and tears.
§1428ἀεὶ δὲ μουσοποιὸς ἐς σὲ παρθένων §1429ἔσται μέριμνα, κοὐκ ἀνώνυμος πεσὼν §1430ἔρως ὁ Φαίδρας ἐς σὲ σιγηθήσεται.
And always the song-making care of maidens shall be directed toward you, and the love of Phaedra for you shall not fall into oblivion and be silenced.
§1431σὺ δ’, ὦ γεραιοῦ τέκνον Αἰγέως, λαβὲ §1432σὸν παῖδ’ ἐν ἀγκάλαισι καὶ προσέλκυσαι· §1433ἄκων γὰρ ὤλεσάς νιν· ἀνθρώποισι δὲ §1434θεῶν διδόντων εἰκὸς ἐξαμαρτάνειν.
And you, o child of aged Aegeus, take your son in your arms and draw him near; for you destroyed him unwillingly, and it is natural for men to err when the gods provide it.
§1435καὶ σοὶ παραινῶ πατέρα μὴ στυγεῖν σέθεν, §1436Ἱππόλυτ’· ἔχεις γὰρ μοῖραν ᾗ διεφθάρης.
And to you I counsel not to hate your father, Hippolytus; for you have the fate by which you were destroyed.
§1437καὶ χαῖρ’· ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐ θέμις φθιτοὺς ὁρᾶν §1438οὐδ’ ὄμμα χραίνειν θανασίμοισιν ἐκπνοαῖς· §1439ὁρῶ δέ σ’ ἤδη τοῦδε πλησίον κακοῦ.
And farewell; for it is not permitted for me to look upon the dead, nor to defile my sight with the gasps of the dying; and I see that you are already close to this evil.
§1440χαίρουσα καὶ σὺ στεῖχε, παρθέν’ ὀλβία· §1441μακρὰν δὲ λείπεις ῥᾳδίως ὁμιλίαν.
Farewell as you depart, blessed maiden; how easily you leave our long companionship!
§1442λύω δὲ νεῖκος πατρὶ χρῃζούσης σέθεν· §1443καὶ γὰρ πάροιθε σοῖς ἐπειθόμην λόγοις.
But I dissolve the strife with my father, since you wish it; for indeed in the past I used to obey your words.
§1444αἰαῖ, κατ’ ὄσσων κιγχάνει μ’ ἤδη σκότος·
Alas, darkness already overtakes my eyes!
§1445λαβοῦ, πάτερ, μου καὶ κατόρθωσον δέμας.
Take hold of me, father, and straighten my body.
§1446οἴμοι, τέκνον, τί δρᾷς με τὸν δυσδαίμονα;
Alas, my child, what are you doing to me, wretched as I am?
§1447ὄλωλα καὶ δὴ νερτέρων ὁρῶ πύλας.
I am undone, and indeed I see the gates of the dead.
§1448ἦ τὴν ἐμὴν ἄναγνον ἐκλιπὼν χέρα;
Will you leave my hand polluted with guilt?
§1449οὐ δῆτ’, ἐπεί σε τοῦδ’ ἐλευθερῶ φόνου.
Indeed not, since I free you from this murder.
§1450τί φῄς;
What do you say?
ἀφίης αἵματός μ’ ἐλεύθερον;
Do you release me free of blood-guilt?
§1451τὴν τοξόδαμνον Ἄρτεμιν μαρτύρομαι.
I call to witness Artemis, the tamer of beasts with her bow.
§1452ὦ φίλταθ’, ὡς γενναῖος ἐκφαίνῃ πατρί.
O dearest one, how noble you appear to your father!
§1455τοιῶνδε παίδων γνησίων εὔχου τυχεῖν.
Pray to have such legitimate children.
§1454οἴμοι φρενὸς σῆς εὐσεβοῦς τε κἀγαθῆς.
Alas for your pious and good mind!
§1453ὦ χαῖρε καὶ σύ, χαῖρε πολλά μοι, πάτερ.
And farewell to you too, farewell many times, my father!
§1456μή νυν προδῷς με, τέκνον, ἀλλὰ καρτέρει.
Do not betray me now, my child, but hold out.
§1457κεκαρτέρηται τἄμ’· ὄλωλα γάρ, πάτερ.
My holding out is finished; for I have perished, father.
§1458κρύψον δέ μου πρόσωπον ὡς τάχος πέπλοις.
Cover my face with robes as quickly as possible.
§1459ὦ κλείν’ Ἀθῆναι Παλλάδος θ’ ὁρίσματα, §1460οἵου στερήσεσθ’ ἀνδρός.
O famous Athens and boundaries of Pallas, of what a man you will be deprived!
ὦ τλήμων ἐγώ·
O wretched me!
§1461ὡς πολλά, Κύπρι, σῶν κακῶν μεμνήσομαι.
How much, Cypris, of your evils I shall remember!
§1462κοινὸν τόδ’ ἄχος πᾶσι πολίταις §1463ἦλθεν ἀέλπτως.
This common grief to all citizens has come unexpectedly.
§1464πολλῶν δακρύων ἔσται πίτυλος· §1465τῶν γὰρ μεγάλων ἀξιοπενθεῖς §1466φῆμαι μᾶλλον κατέχουσιν.
There will be a pouring of many tears; for lamentable stories of the great hold a greater sway.

Notes

  1. 1379μιαιφόνων συγγόνων παλαιῶν προγεννητόρων — Genitive noun phrase. It can be interpreted as an ablative genitive of origin/source modifying the verb `ἐξορίζεται` (to step beyond boundaries, to be sent abroad), or as a possessive genitive modifying `κακόν`. It highlights how the curse originating from ancestral blood-guilt extends down to the descendants.
  2. 1412ὡς μήποτ’ ἐλθεῖν ὤφελ’ — A construction expressing an unattainable wish in the past, consisting of `ὤφελ[ε]` (aorist of `ὀφείλω`) followed by the infinitive `ἐλθεῖν`. Accompanied by the negative particle `μή`, it expresses deep regret: "would that it had never come to my mouth" (though it actually did).
  3. 1421ὃς ἂν μάλιστα φίλτατος κυρῇ — A relative clause expressing present general condition, consisting of the relative pronoun `ὅς` with `ἄν` and the subjunctive `κυρῇ` (from `κυρέω`, "to turn out to be"). It modifies the antecedent `ἄλλον`, which serves as the object of the main verb `τιμωρήσομαι`. Artemis predicts that she will take revenge on Cypris by killing her dearest mortal (alluding to Adonis).

Cite this passage

Euripides, Hippolytus §1379-1466. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg005.humanitext-grc2:1379-1466

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