§81καὶ μὴν ἔπεμψ’ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν οὐχ ἅπαξ μόνον.
And indeed I sent for him, not once only.
§82μῶν οὖν δοκεῖς σου φροντίσαι τιν’ ἀγγέλων;
Do you then suppose that any of the messengers cared for you?
§83πόθεν;
How could they?
θέλεις οὖν ἄγγελος σύ μοι μολεῖν;
Would you then be willing to go as a messenger for me?
§84τί δῆτα φήσω χρόνιος οὖσ’ ἐκ δωμάτων;
What indeed shall I say, being away from the house for so long?
§85πολλὰς ἂν εὕροις μηχανάς· γυνὴ γὰρ εἶ.
You could find many devices; for you are a woman.
§86κίνδυνος· Ἑρμιόνη γὰρ οὐ σμικρὸν φύλαξ.
It is dangerous; for Hermione is no slight guard.
§87ὁρᾷς;
Do you see?
ἀπαυδᾷς ἐν κακοῖς φίλοισι σοῖς.
You shrink from helping your friends in times of evil.
§88οὐ δῆτα· μηδὲν τοῦτ’ ὀνειδίσῃς ἐμοί.
Not so indeed; do not reproach me with this at all.
But I will go, since indeed the life of a slave woman is of no great consequence, even if I should suffer some harm.
§91χώρει νυν· ἡμεῖς δ’, οἷσπερ ἐγκείμεσθ’ ἀεὶ §92θρήνοισι καὶ γόοισι καὶ δακρύμασι, §93πρὸς αἰθέρ’ ἐκτενοῦμεν· ἐμπέφυκε γὰρ §94γυναιξὶ τέρψις τῶν παρεστώτων κακῶν §95ἀνὰ στόμ’ ἀεὶ καὶ διὰ γλώσσης ἔχειν.
Go now; and we, with the lamentations, wailing, and tears in which we are always occupied, will stretch them out to the air; for it is natural for women to find a pleasure in always having their present evils on their lips and running through their tongues.
§96πάρεστι δ’ οὐχ ἓν ἀλλὰ πολλά μοι στένειν, §97πόλιν πατρῴαν τὸν θανόντα θ’ Ἕκτορα §98στερρόν τε τὸν ἐμὸν δαίμον’ ᾧ συνεζύγην §99δούλειον ἦμαρ εἰσπεσοῦσ’ ἀναξίως.
And I have not one but many things to groan for: my ancestral city, my dead husband Hector, and the harsh fate to which I was yoked, having fallen unworthily into the day of slavery.
§100χρὴ δ’ οὔποτ’ εἰπεῖν οὐδέν’ ὄλβιον βροτῶν, §101πρὶν ἂν θανόντος τὴν τελευταίαν ἴδῃς §102ὅπως περάσας ἡμέραν ἥξει κάτω.
And one must never call any mortal happy, until you see his last day when he is dead, how, having passed through it, he will go below.
To steep Ilium Paris brought not a marriage but some ruin of the bridal bed, Helen into his chambers.
§105ἇς ἕνεκ’, ὦ Τροία, δορὶ καὶ πυρὶ δηιάλωτον §106εἷλέ σ’ ὁ χιλιόναυς Ἑλλάδος ὠκὺς Ἄρης §107καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν μελέας πόσιν Ἕκτορα, τὸν περὶ τείχη §108εἵλκυσε διφρεύων παῖς ἁλίας Θέτιδος· §109αὐτὰ δ’ ἐκ θαλάμων ἀγόμαν ἐπὶ θῖνα θαλάσσας, §110δουλοσύναν στυγερὰν ἀμφιβαλοῦσα κάρᾳ.
For whose sake, O Troy, destroyed by spear and fire, the thousand-ship, swift Ares of Greece captured you, and my husband, wretched me, Hector, whom around the walls the son of marine Thetis dragged, driving his chariot; and I myself was led from my chambers to the shore of the sea, having cast hateful slavery around my head.
And many tears ran down my cheeks, when I left both the city and my chambers, and my husband in the dust.
§113ὤμοι ἐγὼ μελέα, τί μ’ ἐχρῆν ἔτι φέγγος ὁρᾶσθαι
Ah me, wretched!
§114Ἑρμιόνας δούλαν;
Why was it necessary for me still to look upon the light, as a slave of Hermione?
ἇς ὕπο τειρομένα §115πρὸς τόδ’ ἄγαλμα θεᾶς ἱκέτις περὶ χεῖρε βαλοῦσα §116τάκομαι ὡς πετρίνα πιδακόεσσα λιβάς.
Oppressed by whom, having cast my arms as a suppliant around this statue of the goddess, I melt away like a spring-fed stream from a rock.
§117ὦ γύναι, ἃ Θέτιδος δάπεδον καὶ ἀνάκτορα θάσσεις §118δαρὸν οὐδὲ λείπεις, §119Φθιὰς ὅμως ἔμολον ποτὶ σὰν Ἀσιήτιδα γένναν, §120εἴ τί σοι δυναίμαν §121ἄκος τῶν δυσλύτων πόνων τεμεῖν, §122οἳ σὲ καὶ Ἑρμιόναν ἔριδι στυγερᾷ συνέκλῃσαν, §123τλάμον’ ἀμφὶ λέκτρων §124διδύμων ἐπίκοινον ἐοῦσαν §125ἀμφὶ παῖδ’ Ἀχιλλέως.
O woman, who sit on the pavement and temple of Thetis and do not leave it for a long time, yet I, a Phthian woman, have come to your Asian race, if I might be able to cut out some remedy for your hard-to-solve troubles, which have enclosed you and Hermione in a hateful strife, unhappy as you are, being a sharer in double beds concerning the son of Achilles.
§126γνῶθι τύχαν, λόγισαι τὸ παρὸν κακὸν εἰς ὅπερ ἥκεις.
Recognize your fortune, consider the present evil to which you have come.
Do you, being an Iliad maid, contend with your masters, the native-born offspring of Lacedaemon?
Leave the sheep-receiving temple of the marine goddess.
Why is it a fit time for you, in your terror, to waste away your unseemly body under the compulsions of your masters?
§133τὸ κρατοῦν δέ σ’ ἔπεισι.
The dominant power will come upon you.
τί μόχθον §134οὐδὲν οὖσα μοχθεῖς;
Why do you labor a labor of nothing, being nothing?
§135ἀλλ’ ἴθι λεῖπε θεᾶς Νηρηίδος ἀγλαὸν ἕδραν, §136γνῶθι δ’ οὖσ’ ἐπὶ ξένας §137δμωὶς ἐπ’ ἀλλοτρίας §138πόλεος, ἔνθ’ οὐ φίλων τιν’ εἰσορᾷς §139σῶν, ὦ δυστυχεστάτα, §140παντάλαινα νύμφα.
But go, leave the splendid seat of the Nereid goddess, and realize that you are a slave in a foreign land and in a foreign city, where you see none of your friends, O most unfortunate, all-miserable bride.
§141οἰκτροτάτα γὰρ ἔμοιγ’ ἔμολες, γύναι Ἰλιάς, οἴκους §142δεσποτῶν ἐμῶν· φόβῳ δ’ §143ἡσυχίαν ἄγομεν— §144τὸ δὲ σὸν οἴκτῳ φέρουσα τυγχάνω— §145μὴ παῖς τᾶς Διὸς κόρας §146σοί μ’ εὖ φρονοῦσαν εἰδῇ.
For you came as a most pitiable object to me, O Trojan woman, to the houses of my masters; but out of fear we keep quiet— though I happen to feel pity for your lot— lest the child of the daughter of Zeus should know that I am well-disposed to you.
§147κόσμον μὲν ἀμφὶ κρατὶ χρυσέας χλιδῆς §148στολμόν τε χρωτὸς τόνδε ποικίλων πέπλων §149οὐ τῶν Ἀχιλλέως οὐδὲ Πηλέως ἄπο §150δόμων ἀπαρχὰς δεῦρ’ ἔχουσ’ ἀφικόμην, §151ἀλλ’ ἐκ Λακαίνης Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονὸς §152Μενέλαος ἡμῖν ταῦτα δωρεῖται πατὴρ §153πολλοῖς σὺν ἕδνοις, ὥστ’ ἐλευθεροστομεῖν.
The ornament of golden luxury around my head and this attire of varied robes upon my body, I have not come here bringing them as first-fruits from the houses of Achilles or of Peleus; but from the Laconian, Spartan land, Menelaus my father gave these to me along with many wedding gifts, so that I might speak with a free tongue.
§154ὑμᾶς μὲν οὖν τοῖσδ’ ἀνταμείβομαι λόγοις· §155σὺ δ’ οὖσα δούλη καὶ δορίκτητος γυνὴ §156δόμους κατασχεῖν ἐκβαλοῦσ’ ἡμᾶς θέλεις §157τούσδε, στυγοῦμαι δ’ ἀνδρὶ φαρμάκοισι σοῖς, §158νηδὺς δ’ ἀκύμων διὰ σέ μοι διόλλυται· §159δεινὴ γὰρ ἠπειρῶτις εἰς τὰ τοιάδε §160ψυχὴ γυναικῶν· ὧν ἐπισχήσω σ’ ἐγώ, §161κοὐδέν σ’ ὀνήσει δῶμα Νηρῇδος τόδε, §162οὐ βωμὸς οὐδὲ ναός, ἀλλὰ κατθανῇ.
To you then indeed I reply with these words; but you, being a slave and a captive woman, wish to occupy these houses, casting us out, and I am hated by my husband through your drugs, and my womb is ruined, childless because of you; for the soul of Asian women is terrible in such matters; but I will stop you from these things, and nothing will this temple of the Nereid profit you, neither altar nor shrine, but you shall die.