§1221πολὺν πατρῴας γῆς ἀπεξενωμένοις·
who have been exiled from their fatherland for a long time.
Polymestor: But even now, you do not dare to release it from your hand, but keep it and still guard it in your house.
§1224καὶ μὴν τρέφων μὲν ὥς σε παῖδʼ ἐχρῆν τρέφειν §1225σώσας τε τὸν ἐμόν, εἶχες ἂν καλὸν κλέος· §1226ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς γὰρ ἁγαθοὶ σαφέστατοι §1227φίλοι· τὰ χρηστὰ δʼ αὔθʼ ἕκαστʼ ἔχει φίλους.
Hecuba: And indeed, if you had reared my child as you ought to have, and had saved my son, you would have had glorious fame; for in misfortunes, good friends are most manifest; while prosperity itself always has friends.
And if you were in need of money, and he was prosperous, my son would have been a great treasure to you.
§1230νῦν δʼ οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνον ἄνδρʼ ἔχεις σαυτῷ φίλον, §1231χρυσοῦ τʼ ὄνησις οἴχεται παῖδές τε σοί, §1232αὐτός τε πράσσεις ὧδε.
But now, you neither have him as a friend to yourself, and the benefit of the gold is gone, and so are your children, and you yourself fare thus.
σοὶ δʼ ἐγὼ λέγω, §1233Ἀγάμεμνον, εἰ τῷδʼ ἀρκέσεις, κακὸς φανῇ· §1234οὔτʼ εὐσεβῆ γὰρ οὔτε πιστὸν οἷς ἐχρῆν, §1235οὐχ ὅσιον, οὐ δίκαιον εὖ δράσεις ξένον· §1236αὐτὸν δὲ χαίρειν τοῖς κακοῖς σὲ φήσομεν §1237τοιοῦτον ὄντα δεσπότας δʼ οὐ λοιδορῶ.
And to you I say, Agamemnon, if you assist this man, you will appear wicked; for you will be doing good to a guest-friend who is neither pious, nor faithful to those he ought to be, nor holy, nor just; and we shall say that you yourself delight in the wicked, being such a man; but I do not revile my masters.
Chorus: Alas, how good causes always afford to men occasions for good speeches.
§1240ἀχθεινὰ μέν μοι τἀλλότρια κρίνειν κακά, §1241ὅμως δʼ ἀνάγκη· καὶ γὰρ αἰσχύνην φέρει, §1242πρᾶγμʼ ἐς χέρας λαβόντʼ ἀπώσασθαι τόδε.
Agamemnon: It is heavy for me to judge the evils of others, yet there is a necessity; for it brings shame to push this matter away once taken into one’s hands.
§1243ἐμοὶ δʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς, οὔτʼ ἐμὴν δοκεῖς χάριν §1244οὔτʼ οὖν Ἀχαιῶν ἄνδρʼ ἀποκτεῖναι ξένον, §1245ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔχῃς τὸν χρυσὸν ἐν δόμοισι σοῖς.
To me, so you may know, you seem to have killed your guest neither for my sake nor for that of the Achaeans, but so that you might have the gold in your house.
§1246λέγεις δὲ σαυτῷ πρόσφορʼ ἐν κακοῖσιν ὤν.
You say what is convenient for yourself, now that you are in trouble.
Perhaps among you it is a light thing to kill guests, but to us Greeks, this is a shameful thing.
§1249πῶς οὖν σε κρίνας μὴ ἀδικεῖν φύγω ψόγον;
How then, if I judge you not to be guilty, can I escape blame?
§1250οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην.
I could not.
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τὰ μὴ καλὰ §1251πράσσειν ἐτόλμας, τλῆθι καὶ τὰ μὴ φίλα.
But since you dared to do what is not honorable, endure also what is not pleasant.
Polymestor: Alas, defeated, as it seems, by a woman, a slave, I shall suffer punishment from my inferiors.
§1254οὔκουν δικαίως, εἴπερ εἰργάσω κακά;
Hecuba: Is it not justly so, if indeed you have done evil?
§1255οἴμοι τέκνων τῶνδʼ ὀμμάτων τʼ ἐμῶν, τάλας.
Polymestor: Alas for these children and my eyes, wretched that I am!
§1256ἀλγεῖς·
Hecuba: You suffer?
τί δʼ;
But what of me?
ἦ ʼμὲ παιδὸς οὐκ ἀλγεῖν δοκεῖς;
Do you think I do not grieve for my child?
§1257χαίρεις ὑβρίζουσʼ εἰς ἔμʼ, ὦ πανοῦργε σύ;
Polymestor: You rejoice in insulting me, you wicked woman?
§1258οὐ γάρ με χαίρειν χρή σε τιμωρουμένην;
Hecuba: For should I not rejoice, having avenged myself on you?
Polymestor: But not for long, whenever the watery spray of the sea— Hecuba: Shall it carry me to the borders of the Greek land?
§1261κρύψῃ μὲν οὖν πεσοῦσαν ἐκ καρχησίων.
Polymestor: It shall hide you when you fall from the masthead.
§1262πρὸς τοῦ βιαίων τυγχάνουσαν ἁλμάτων;
Hecuba: By whom forced to make such violent leaps?
§1263αὐτὴ πρὸς ἱστὸν ναὸς ἀμβήσῃ ποδί.
Polymestor: You yourself shall climb the ship’s mast with your feet.
§1264ὑποπτέροις νώτοισιν ἢ ποίῳ τρόπῳ;
Hecuba: With winged shoulders, or in what manner?
§1265κύων γενήσῃ πύρσʼ ἔχουσα δέργματα.
Polymestor: You shall become a dog with fiery eyes.
§1266πῶς δʼ οἶσθα μορφῆς τῆς ἐμῆς μετάστασιν;
Hecuba: And how do you know of this transformation of my shape?
§1267ὁ Θρῃξὶ μάντις εἶπε Διόνυσος τάδε.
Polymestor: Dionysus, the prophet of the Thracians, told me these things.
§1268σοὶ δʼ οὐκ ἔχρησεν οὐδὲν ὧν ἔχεις κακῶν;
Hecuba: And did he reveal to you none of the evils you now suffer?
§1269οὐ γάρ ποτʼ ἂν σύ μʼ εἷλες ὧδε σὺν δόλῳ.
Polymestor: Otherwise, you would never have trapped me thus by deceit.
§1270θανοῦσα δʼ ἢ ζῶσʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἐκπλήσω βίον;
Hecuba: And shall I end my life there, dead or alive?
Polymestor: Dead; and your tomb shall be called by a name— Hecuba: Speaking of my transformation, or what will you say?
§1273κυνὸς ταλαίνης σῆμα, ναυτίλοις τέκμαρ.
Polymestor: The monument of the wretched dog, a landmark for sailors.
§1274οὐδὲν μέλει μοι σοῦ γέ μοι δόντος δίκην.
Hecuba: It matters nothing to me, since indeed you have suffered justice at my hands.
§1275καὶ σήν γʼ ἀνάγκη παῖδα Κασάνδραν θανεῖν.
Polymestor: And indeed your daughter Cassandra must also die.
§1276ἀπέπτυσʼ·
Hecuba: I spit upon it!
αὐτῷ ταῦτα σοὶ δίδωμʼ ἔχειν.
I give these words to you to keep for yourself.
§1277κτενεῖ νιν ἡ τοῦδʼ ἄλοχος, οἰκουρὸς πικρά.
Polymestor: The wife of this man, a bitter guardian of his home, shall slay her.
§1278μήπω μανείη Τυνδαρὶς τοσόνδε παῖς.
Hecuba: May the daughter of Tyndareus never be so mad.
§1279καὐτόν γε τοῦτον, πέλεκυν ἐξάρασʼ ἄνω.
Polymestor: And she shall kill this man himself, lifting the axe on high.
§1280οὗτος σύ, μαίνῃ καὶ κακῶν ἐρᾷς τυχεῖν;
Agamemnon: You there, are you mad, and do you desire to meet with evils?
§1281κτεῖνʼ, ὡς ἐν Ἄργει φόνια λουτρά σʼ ἀμμένει.
Polymestor: Kill me! For in Argos a bloody bath awaits you.
§1282οὐχ ἕλξετʼ αὐτόν, δμῶες, ἐκποδὼν βίᾳ;
Agamemnon: Will you not drag him away by force, slaves, out of our sight?
§1283ἀλγεῖς ἀκούων;
Polymestor: Does it pain you to hear it?
§1283bοὐκ ἐφέξετε στόμα;
Agamemnon: Will you not stop his mouth?
§1284ἐγκλῄετʼ·
Shut him up!
εἴρηται γάρ.
For he has said enough.
With all speed, cast him out somewhere on a desert island, since he speaks so exceedingly boldly.
§1287Ἑκάβη, σὺ δʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, διπτύχους νεκροὺς §1288στείχουσα θάπτε· δεσποτῶν δʼ ὑμᾶς χρεὼν §1289σκηναῖς πελάζειν, Τρῳάδες· καὶ γὰρ πνοὰς §1290πρὸς οἶκον ἤδη τάσδε πομπίμους ὁρῶ.
Hecuba, and you, wretched woman, go and bury the two corpses; and you Trojan women must approach the tents of your masters; for indeed I see these winds now blowing to send us home.
May we sail well to our fatherland, and may we see things in our houses faring well, released from these labors.