Chorus: Did you indeed destroy the Thracian, and do you master your guest, O mistress, and have you done such things as you say?
§1049ὄψῃ νιν αὐτίκʼ ὄντα δωμάτων πάρος §1050τυφλὸν τυφλῷ στείχοντα παραφόρῳ ποδί, §1051παίδων τε δισσῶν σώμαθʼ, οὓς ἔκτεινʼ ἐγὼ §1052σὺν ταῖς ἀρίσταις Τρῳάσιν· δίκην δέ μοι §1053δέδωκε.
Hecuba: You will see him immediately in front of the tents, blind, walking with blind and staggering foot, and the bodies of his two children, whom I killed with the bravest Trojan women; and to me he has paid the penalty.
χωρεῖ δʼ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ὅδʼ ἐκ δόμων.
And he comes, as you see, out of the tents.
But I will go out of the way and stand apart from the Thracian who is boiling with rage and most difficult to fight.
§1056ὤμοι ἐγώ, πᾷ βῶ,
Polymestor: Woe is me!
§1057πᾷ στῶ, πᾷ κέλσω;
Whither shall I go, whither stand, whither find anchorage?
Setting my steps like those of a four-legged wild beast of the mountain, hands and feet upon the track?
ποίαν §1060ἢ ταύταν ἢ τάνδʼ ἐξαλλάξω, τὰς §1061ἀνδροφόνους μάρψαι χρῄζων Ἰλιάδας, §1062αἵ με διώλεσαν;
Which path shall I take, this way or that, desiring to seize the murderous Trojan women, who have destroyed me?
Wretched maidens, wretched women of the Phrygians, O accursed ones, to what corner indeed have they fled and cowered in flight from me?
Would that, O Sun, you could heal my blood-stained blind eyelids, heal them, exchanging them for light.
Ah, ah, Silence; I perceive the stealthy step of these women.
πᾷ πόδʼ ἐπᾴξας §1072σαρκῶν ὀστέων τʼ ἐμπλησθῶ, §1073θοίναν ἀγρίων θηρῶν τιθέμενος, §1074ἀρνύμενος λώβαν §1075λύμας ἀντίποινʼ ἐμᾶς;
Whither, rushing with my foot, shall I gorged with their flesh and bones, making a feast like wild beasts, inflicting vengeance as a recompense for my ruin?
ὦ τάλας.
Oh, wretched man.
§1076ποῖ πᾷ φέρομαι τέκνʼ ἔρημα λιπὼν §1077Βάκχαις Ἅιδου διαμοιρᾶσαι, §1078σφακτά, κυσίν τε φοινίαν δαῖτʼ ἀνή- §1079μερον τʼ οὐρείαν ἐκβολάν;
Whither, whither am I carried, leaving my children deserted, for the Bacchanals of Hades to tear asunder, as slaughtered victims, and a bloody feast for dogs, and a savage mountain outcast?
§1080πᾷ στῶ, πᾷ κάμψω, §1081ναῦς ὅπως ποντίοις πείσμασιν, λινόκροκον §1082φᾶρος στέλλων, ἐπὶ τάνδε συθεὶς §1083τέκνων ἐμῶν φύλαξ ὀλέθριον κοίταν;
Whither shall I stand, whither turn, like a ship with ocean cables, furling my linen-woven sail, rushing upon this ruinous couch of my children to guard it?
Chorus: O wretched man, how unbearable are the evils done to you; but to the one who does shameful things, terrible are the penalties.
Polymestor: Alas! Ho, spear-bearing, armed, well-horsed race of Thrace, possessed by Ares!
§1091ἰὼ Ἀχαιοί.
Ho, Achaeans!
— ἰὼ Ἀτρεῖδαι.
Ho, Atreidae!
— βοὰν βοὰν ἀυτῶ, βοάν.
I cry out, I cry out, I cry out!
§1092ὢ ἴτε· μόλετε πρὸς θεῶν.
Oh, come, approach, by the gods!
§1093κλύει τις ἢ οὐδεὶς ἀρκέσει;
Does anyone hear, or will no one help?
τί μέλλετε;
Why do you delay?
Women have destroyed me, captive women; terrible, terrible things have we suffered.
§1098ὤμοι ἐμᾶς λώβας.
Woe is me for my ruin.
§1099ποῖ τράπωμαι, ποῖ πορευθῶ;
Whither shall I turn, whither go?
§1100ἀμπτάμενος οὐράνιον §1101ὑψιπετὲς ἐς μέλαθρον, §1102Ὠαρίων ἢ Σείριος ἔνθα πυρὸς φλογέας ἀφίη- §1105σιν ὄσσων αὐγάς, ἢ τὸν ἐς Ἀίδα §1106μελάγχρωτα πορθμὸν ᾄξω τάλας;
Flying up to the heavenly, high-flying palace, where Orion or Sirius lets loose the fiery rays of light from his eyes, or shall I rush, wretched man, to the dark-skinned ferry of Hades?
Chorus: It is pardonable, when someone suffers evils too great to bear, to rid oneself of a wretched life.
§1109κραυγῆς ἀκούσας ἦλθον· οὐ γὰρ ἥσυχος §1110πέτρας ὀρείας παῖς λέλακʼ ἀνὰ στρατὸν §1111Ἠχὼ διδοῦσα θόρυβον· εἰ δὲ μὴ Φρυγῶν §1112πύργους πεσόντας ᾖσμεν Ἑλλήνων δορί, §1113φόβον παρέσχεν οὐ μέσως ὅδε κτύπος.
Agamemnon: Hearing the cry I came; for the daughter of the mountain rock, Echo, has not cried out quietly through the army, giving a tumult; and if we did not know that the towers of the Phrygians had fallen by the spear of the Greeks, this noise would have caused no small fear.
§1114ὦ φίλτατʼ·
Polymestor: O dearest friend!
ᾐσθόμην γάρ, Ἀγάμεμνον, σέθεν §1115φωνῆς ἀκούσας· εἰσορᾷς ἃ πάσχομεν;
For I perceived your voice, Agamemnon, hearing it; do you see what we suffer?
§1116ἔα·
Agamemnon: Ah!
§1116aΠολυμῆστορ· ὦ δύστηνε, τίς σʼ ἀπώλεσεν;
Polymestor, wretched man, who has destroyed you?
Who made your eye blind, staining your pupils with blood, and killed these children?
ἦ μέγαν χόλον §1119σοὶ καὶ τέκνοισιν εἶχεν ὅστις ἦν ἄρα.
Indeed, a great anger he had against you and your children, whoever he was.
Polymestor: Hecuba destroyed me along with the captive women—no, not destroyed, but worse.
§1122τί φῄς;
Agamemnon: What do you say?
σὺ τοὔργον εἴργασαι τόδʼ, ὡς λέγει;
Did you do this deed, as he says?
§1123σὺ τόλμαν, Ἑκάβη, τήνδʼ ἔτλης ἀμήχανον;
Did you, Hecuba, dare this impossible boldness?
§1124ὤμοι, τί λέξεις;
Polymestor: Woe is me, what will you say?
ἦ γὰρ ἐγγύς ἐστί που;
Is she indeed near somewhere?
Point her out, tell me where she is, so that seizing her with my hands I may tear her apart and blood-stain her flesh.
§1127οὗτος, τί πάσχεις;
Agamemnon: You there, what is happening to you?
Polymestor: By the gods I beseech you, let me go to launch my raging hand at her.
§1129ἴσχʼ· ἐκβαλὼν δὲ καρδίας τὸ βάρβαρον §1130λέγʼ, ὡς ἀκούσας σοῦ τε τῆσδέ τʼ ἐν μέρει §1131κρίνω δικαίως ἀνθʼ ὅτου πάσχεις τάδε.
Agamemnon: Hold; and casting the barbarian out of your heart, speak, so that having heard both you and her in turn, I may judge justly for what reason you suffer these things.
§1132λέγοιμʼ ἄν.
Polymestor: I would speak.
ἦν τις Πριαμιδῶν νεώτατος, §1133Πολύδωρος, Ἑκάβης παῖς, ὃν ἐκ Τροίας ἐμοὶ §1134πατὴρ δίδωσι Πρίαμος ἐν δόμοις τρέφειν, §1135ὕποπτος ὢν δὴ Τρωικῆς ἁλώσεως.
There was a certain youngest of the Priamidae, Polydorus, Hecuba's son, whom Priam his father from Troy gives to me to bring up in my house, suspecting indeed the capture of Troy.
This boy I killed; and for what reason I killed him, hear, how well and with wise foresight.
§1138ἔδεισα μὴ σοὶ πολέμιος λειφθεὶς ὁ παῖς §1139Τροίαν ἀθροίσῃ καὶ ξυνοικίσῃ πάλιν, §1140γνόντες δʼ Ἀχαιοὶ ζῶντα Πριαμιδῶν τινα §1141Φρυγῶν ἐς αἶαν αὖθις ἄρειαν στόλον, §1142κἄπειτα Θρῄκης πεδία τρίβοιεν τάδε §1143λεηλατοῦντες, γείτοσιν δʼ εἴη κακὸν
I feared lest the boy, being left as an enemy to you, should gather Troy and resettle it again, and the Achaeans, knowing that one of the Priamidae was alive, should again launch an expedition against the land of the Phrygians, and then they would wear out these plains of Thrace by plundering, and there would be evil for the neighbors.