§329οὔτ’ οὖν σὲ Τροίας οὔτε σοῦ Τροίαν ἔτι.
Therefore I do not deem you worthy of Troy, nor Troy of you anymore.
§333Μενέλαε, φέρε δὴ διαπεράνωμεν λόγους·
Menelaus, come now, let us go through our arguments.
I am dead as far as your daughter is concerned, and she has destroyed me; she would no longer escape the pollution of murder.
And before the many, you too will contest this murder; for your complicity in the deed will compel you.
But if indeed I should escape death, will you kill my child?
κᾆτα πῶς πατὴρ §340τέκνου θανόντος ῥᾳδίως ἀνέξεται;
And then, how will his father easily endure it when his child is dead?
§341οὐχ ὧδ’ ἄνανδρον αὐτὸν ἡ Τροία καλεῖ· §342ἀλλ’ εἶσιν οἷ χρή—Πηλέως γὰρ ἄξια §343πατρός τ’ Ἀχιλλέως ἔργα δρῶν φανήσεται— §344ὤσει δὲ σὴν παῖδ’ ἐκ δόμων·
Troy does not call him so unmanly; but he will go where he must—for he will be seen performing deeds worthy of Peleus and his father Achilles— and he will thrust your daughter out of his house.
σὺ δ’ ἐκδιδοὺς §345ἄλλῳ τί λέξεις;
And when you give her in marriage to another, what will you say?
πότερον ὡς κακὸν πόσιν §346φεύγει τὸ ταύτης σῶφρον;
That her chastity fled from a bad husband?
ἀλλὰ πεύσεται.
But the truth will be known.
§347γαμεῖ δὲ τίς νιν;
And who will marry her?
ἤ σφ’ ἄνανδρον ἐν δόμοις §348χήραν καθέξεις πολιόν;
Or will you keep her without a husband in your house, a gray-haired widow?
ὦ τλήμων ἀνήρ, §349κακῶν τοσούτων οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἐπιρροάς;
O wretched man, do you not see the influx of so many evils?
How many marriages for your wronged daughter would you wish to find, rather than have her suffer what I am describing?
§352οὐ χρὴ’πὶ μικροῖς μεγάλα πορσύνειν κακὰ §353οὐδ’, εἰ γυναῖκές ἐσμεν ἀτηρὸν κακόν, §354ἄνδρας γυναιξὶν ἐξομοιοῦσθαι φύσιν.
One ought not to prepare great evils for small matters, nor, even if we women are a baneful evil, should men assimilate their nature to women.
§355ἡμεῖς γὰρ εἰ σὴν παῖδα φαρμακεύομεν §356καὶ νηδὺν ἐξαμβλοῦμεν, ὡς αὐτὴ λέγει, §357ἑκόντες οὐκ ἄκοντες, οὐδὲ βώμιοι §358πίτνοντες, αὐτοὶ τὴν δίκην ὑφέξομεν §359ἐν σοῖσι γαμβροῖς, οἷσιν οὐκ ἐλάσσονα §360βλάβην ὀφείλω προστιθεῖσ’ ἀπαιδίαν.
For if we are poisoning your daughter and causing her womb to abort, as she herself says, willingly and not unwillingly, and not by falling before altars, we ourselves will undergo trial before your son-in-law, to whom I owe no less a damage by inflicting childlessness upon him.
§361ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν τοιοίδε· τῆς δὲ σῆς φρενὸς— §362ἕν σου δέδοικα· διὰ γυναικείαν ἔριν §363καὶ τὴν τάλαιναν ὤλεσας Φρυγῶν πόλιν.
We, then, are of this character; but as for your mind— there is one thing I fear in you: because of a woman's quarrel, you also destroyed the wretched city of the Phrygians.
You have spoken too much as a woman to men, and your mind's self-control has shot its bolt too far.
Woman, these things are small and, as you say, unworthy of my sovereign power and of Greece.
But know well, whatever a man happens to have need of, this is for each greater than taking Troy.
And I, for my daughter—for I judge this a great thing, to be deprived of her marriage bed—stand as an ally.
For other things a woman might suffer as secondary, but in failing of a husband, she fails of life itself.
§374δούλων δ’ ἐκεῖνον τῶν ἐμῶν ἄρχειν χρεὼν §375καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου τοὺς ἐμούς, ἡμᾶς τε πρός· §376φίλων γὰρ οὐδὲν ἴδιον, οἵτινες φίλοι §377ὀρθῶς πεφύκασ’, ἀλλὰ κοινὰ χρήματα.
And it is proper for him to rule over my slaves and my people over his, and ourselves besides; for friends have nothing of their own, those who are friends in the true sense, but all possessions are common.
And waiting for those who are absent, if I do not set my affairs in the best possible order, I am base and not wise.
§380ἀλλ’ ἐξανίστω τῶνδ’ ἀνακτόρων θεᾶς· §381ὡς, ἢν θάνῃς σύ, παῖς ὅδ’ ἐκφεύγει μόρον, §382σοῦ δ’ οὐ θελούσης κατθανεῖν, τόνδε κτενῶ.
But rise up and leave this temple of the goddess; since, if you die, this child escapes death, but if you are unwilling to die, I will kill him.
§383δυοῖν δ’ ἀνάγκη θατέρῳ λιπεῖν βίον.
And of the two, one must leave life.
Alas, what a bitter lottery and choice of life you set before me!
καὶ λαχοῦσά γ’ ἀθλία §386καὶ μὴ λαχοῦσα δυστυχὴς καθίσταμαι.
Even if I win, I am wretched, and if I do not win, I am still unfortunate.
O you who act grandly for a small cause, be persuaded.
τί καίνεις μ’;
Why do you kill me?
ἀντὶ τοῦ;
For what?
ποίαν πόλιν §389προύδωκα;
What city did I betray?
τίνα σῶν ἔκτανον παίδων ἐγώ;
Which of your children did I kill?
§390ποῖον δ’ ἔπρησα δῶμ’;
What house did I burn?
ἐκοιμήθην βίᾳ §391σὺν δεσπόταισι·
I slept by force with my master.
κᾆτ’ ἔμ’, οὐ κεῖνον κτενεῖς,
And then will you kill me, and not him, who is the cause of these things?
Instead, leaving the beginning, do you direct yourself against the end, which comes after?
§394οἴμοι κακῶν τῶνδ’, ὦ τάλαιν’ ἐμὴ πατρίς,
Alas for these evils!
§395ὡς δεινὰ πάσχω.
O my wretched fatherland, how terrible are the things I suffer!
τί δέ με καὶ τεκεῖν ἐχρῆν §396ἄχθος τ’ ἐπ’ ἄχθει τῷδε προσθέσθαι διπλοῦν;
Why indeed did my mother have to bear me, to add a double burden of grief to this burden?
§399ἥτις σφαγὰς μὲν Ἕκτορος τροχηλάτους §400κατεῖδον οἰκτρῶς τ’ Ἴλιον πυρούμενον, §401αὐτὴ δὲ δούλη ναῦς ἐπ’ Ἀργείων ἔβην §402κόμης ἐπισπασθεῖσ’· ἐπεὶ δ’ ἀφικόμην §403Φθίαν, φονεῦσιν Ἕκτορος νυμφεύομαι.
I who beheld Hector's slaughter dragged by the chariot and saw Ilium pitiably consumed by fire, and myself went as a slave upon the ships of the Argives, dragged by my hair; and when I arrived at Phthia, I was wedded to the murderers of Hector.
§404τί δῆτ’ ἐμοὶ ζῆν ἡδύ;
Why then is life sweet to me?
πρὸς τί χρὴ βλέπειν;
Toward what should I look?
§405πρὸς τὰς παρούσας ἢ παρελθούσας τύχας;
Toward my present or my past fortunes?