O king, not to you alone did these evils come, along with many others you have lost a precious wife.
§836τὸ κατὰ γᾶς θέλω, τὸ κατὰ γᾶς κνέφας §837μετοικεῖν σκότῳ θανὼν ὁ τλάμων, §838τῆς σῆς στερηθεὶς φιλτάτης ὁμιλίας· §839ἀπώλεσας γὰρ μᾶλλον ἢ κατέφθισο.
The darkness beneath the earth, the darkness beneath the earth I desire to dwell in, dying in darkness, wretched me, deprived of your most beloved companionship; for you have destroyed me rather than perished yourself.
§840τίνος κλύω;
From whom shall I hear?
πόθεν θανάσιμος τύχα, §841γύναι, σὰν ἔβα, τάλαινα, καρδίαν;
Whence did the deadly fortune, O wife, wretched one, come upon your heart?
Will someone tell what was done, or does the royal palace shelter a useless crowd of my servants in vain?
Alas, woe is me for you, wretched me, what a grief of the house I have seen, intolerable and unspeakable.
ἀλλ’ ἀπωλόμην· §847ἔρημος οἶκος, καὶ τέκν’ ὀρφανεύεται.
But I am undone; the house is desolate, and the children are orphaned.
§848ἔλιπες οὓς ἔτεκες, ἔλιπες, ὦ φίλα §849γυναικῶν ἀρίστα θ’ ὁπόσας ὁρᾷ §850φέγγος ἀελίου §851τε καὶ νυκτὸς ἀστερωπὸν σέλας.
You have left, you have left those you bore, O dear and best of women, as many as are beheld by the light of the sun and the starry gleam of night.
§852ἰὼ τάλας· ὦ τάλας·
Alas, wretched, O wretched me!
ὅσον κακὸν ἔχει δόμος.
What a great evil the house holds.
With tears my eyelids are drenched, poured forth because of your fortune; and the calamity to follow upon this I have long been shuddering at.
§856ἔα ἔα·
Ah, ah!
Why indeed is this tablet hanging from her dear hand?
θέλει τι σημῆναι νέον;
Does it wish to signify something new?
But did she write commands to me concerning her bed and children, the wretched woman, making a request?
Be of good courage, wretched one; for the bed of Theseus and home there is no woman who shall enter.
And indeed the impressions of the gold-beaten signet-ring of her who is no more fawn upon me.
Come, let me unroll the envelopes of the seals and see what this tablet wishes to say to me.
§866— φεῦ φεῦ·
— Alas, alas!
τόδ’ αὖ νεοχμὸν ἐκδοχαῖς §867ἐπιφέρει θεὸς κακόν.
This new evil in succession the god brings upon us.
ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν §868ἀβίοτος βίου τύχα πρὸς τὸ κρανθέν· εἴη τυχεῖν.
For me indeed, the fortune of life is unlivable in view of what has been accomplished; may it be mine to die.
— For I speak of the house of my masters as destroyed, alas, alas, being no more.
§871— ὦ δαῖμον, εἴ πως ἔστι, μὴ σφήλῃς δόμους, §872αἰτουμένης δὲ κλῦθί μου· πρὸς γάρ τινος §873οἰωνὸν ὥστε μάντις εἰσορῶ κακοῦ.
— O divinity, if in any way it is possible, do not trip up the house, but hear me as I pray; for from some source, like a prophet, I see an omen of evil.
§874οἴμοι·
Alas!
τόδ’ οἷον ἄλλο πρὸς κακῷ κακόν, §875οὐ τλητὸν οὐδὲ λεκτόν.
What a further evil this is upon evil, intolerable and unspeakable!
ὦ τάλας ἐγώ.
O wretched me.
§876τί χρῆμα;
What is the matter?
λέξον, εἴ τί μοι λόγου μέτα.
Speak, if it is shared with me in speech.
§877βοᾷ βοᾷ δέλτος ἄλαστα.
The tablet cries out, cries out unutterable things.
πᾷ φύγω §878βάρος κακῶν;
Whither shall I flee the weight of evils?
For I am utterly destroyed and gone, such, such a song I have seen speaking in writing, wretched me.
§881αἰαῖ, κακῶν ἀρχηγὸν ἐκφαίνεις λόγον.
Alas, you reveal a word that is the leader of evils.
This deadly evil, hard to pass through, I will no longer keep within the gates of my mouth; O city!
Hippolytus has dared to touch my bed by force, dishonoring the solemn eye of Zeus.
§887ἀλλ’, ὦ πάτερ Πόσειδον, ἃς ἐμοί ποτε §888ἀρὰς ὑπέσχου τρεῖς, μιᾷ κατέργασαι §889τούτων ἐμὸν παῖδ’, ἡμέραν δὲ μὴ φύγοι §890τήνδ’, εἴπερ ἡμῖν ὤπασας σαφεῖς ἀράς.
But, O father Poseidon, the three curses you once promised me, with one of these destroy my son, and let him not escape this day, if indeed you granted me sure curses.
O king, pray back these things to the gods again; for you will know hereafter that you erred.
ἐμοὶ πιθοῦ.
Obey me.
§893οὐκ ἔστι· καὶ πρός γ’ ἐξελῶ σφε τῆσδε γῆς, §894δυοῖν δὲ μοίραιν θατέρᾳ πεπλήξεται· §895ἢ γὰρ Ποσειδῶν αὐτὸν εἰς Ἅιδου δόμους §896θανόντα πέμψει τὰς ἐμὰς ἀρὰς σέβων, §897ἢ τῆσδε χώρας ἐκπεσὼν ἀλώμενος §898ξένην ἐπ’ αἶαν λυπρὸν ἀντλήσει βίον.
It cannot be; and moreover I will drive him from this land, and he shall be struck by one of two fates: for either Poseidon will send him dead to the halls of Hades, honoring my curses, or else, cast out of this country, wandering upon a foreign land, he will drain a miserable life.
§899καὶ μὴν ὅδ’ αὐτὸς παῖς σὸς ἐς καιρὸν πάρα, §900Ἱππόλυτος· ὀργῆς δ’ ἐξανεὶς κακῆς, ἄναξ §901Θησεῦ, τὸ λῷστον σοῖσι βούλευσαι δόμοις.
And indeed here is your son himself present in good time, Hippolytus; letting go of your evil anger, king Theseus, deliberate what is best for your house.
§902κραυγῆς ἀκούσας σῆς ἀφικόμην, πάτερ, §903σπουδῇ· τὸ μέντοι πρᾶγμ’ ἐφ’ ᾧτινι στένεις §904οὐκ οἶδα, βουλοίμην δ’ ἂν ἐκ σέθεν κλύειν.
Hearing your cry I have come, father, in haste; however, the matter over which you groan I do not know, and I would wish to hear from you.
§905ἔα, τί χρῆμα;
Ah! What is the matter?
σὴν δάμαρθ’ ὁρῶ, πάτερ, §906νεκρόν· μεγίστου θαύματος τόδ’ ἄξιον·
I see your wife, father, a corpse; this is worthy of the greatest wonder.
Whom just now I left, who this light was not yet looking upon for a long time.
§909τί χρῆμα πάσχει;
What has happened to her?
τῷ τρόπῳ διόλλυται;
In what way did she perish?
§910πάτερ, πυθέσθαι βούλομαι σέθεν πάρα.
Father, I wish to learn from you.
§911σιγᾷς· σιωπῆς δ’ οὐδὲν ἔργον ἐν κακοῖς· §912ἡ γὰρ ποθοῦσα πάντα καρδία κλύειν §913κἀν τοῖς κακοῖσι λίχνος οὖσ’ ἁλίσκεται.
You are silent; but silence is of no use in evils; for the heart that longs to hear everything even in evils is caught being greedy.
Indeed, it is not right to hide your misfortunes, father, from friends and those who are even more than friends.
§916ὦ πόλλ’ ἁμαρτάνοντες ἄνθρωποι μάτην, §917τί δὴ τέχνας μὲν μυρίας διδάσκετε §918καὶ πάντα μηχανᾶσθε κἀξευρίσκετε, §919ἓν δ’ οὐκ ἐπίστασθ’ οὐδ’ ἐθηράσασθέ πω, §920φρονεῖν διδάσκειν οἷσιν οὐκ ἔνεστι νοῦς;
O humans who err in vain in many things, why indeed do you teach myriad arts, and devise and discover everything, yet one thing you do not know nor have ever hunted out, to teach those to be wise who have no understanding?