above the summit of the tomb, the phantom of Achilles; and he demanded as a gift of honor one of the much-toiling Trojan women.
From my child, from my child, therefore, this fate ward off, oh gods, I beseech you!
§98Ἑκάβη, σπουδῇ πρός σʼ ἐλιάσθην §99τὰς δεσποσύνους σκηνὰς προλιποῦσʼ, §100ἵνʼ ἐκληρώθην §101δούλη, πόλεως ἀπελαυνομένη §102τῆς Ἰλιάδος, λόγχης αἰχμῇ §103δοριθήρατος πρὸς Ἀχαιῶν, §104οὐδὲν παθέων ἀποκουφίζουσʼ, §105ἀλλʼ ἀγγελίας βάρος ἀραμένη §106μέγα σοί τε, γύναι, κῆρυξ ἀχέων.
Hecuba, in haste I have fled to you, leaving the tents of our masters, where I was allotted as a slave, driven away from the city of Ilium, by the point of the spear, captured in war by the Achaeans; not to lighten any of your sufferings, but lifting a heavy burden of news, and to be to you, lady, a herald of sorrows.
§107ἐν γὰρ Ἀχαιῶν πλήρει ξυνόδῳ §108λέγεται δόξαι σὴν παῖδʼ Ἀχιλεῖ §109σφάγιον θέσθαι· τύμβου δʼ ἐπιβὰς §110οἶσθʼ ὅτε χρυσέοις ἐφάνη σὺν ὅπλοις, §111τὰς ποντοπόρους δʼ ἔσχε σχεδίας §112λαίφη προτόνοις ἐπερειδομένας, §113τάδε θωΰσσων· §114Ποῖ δή, Δαναοί, τὸν ἐμὸν τύμβον §115στέλλεσθʼ ἀγέραστον ἀφέντες; §116πολλῆς δʼ ἔριδος συνέπαισε κλύδων, §117δόξα δʼ ἐχώρει δίχʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλήνων §118στρατὸν αἰχμητήν, τοῖς μὲν διδόναι §119τύμβῳ σφάγιον, τοῖς δʼ οὐχὶ δοκοῦν.
For in the full assembly of the Achaeans, it is said that it was resolved to offer your daughter as a sacrifice to Achilles; and mounting his tomb, you know when he appeared in his golden armor, and held back the ocean-faring ships, their sails resting against the stays, crying out these words: "Whither indeed, Danaans, leaving my tomb without its honor, do you set your course?" And a wave of great strife clashed together, and opinion went two ways through the spear-armed army of the Hellenes, some being in favor of giving the sacrifice to the tomb, and others not.
And the one who was eager for your good, holding up the bed of the prophetic, frenzied priestess, was Agamemnon.
§123τὼ Θησείδα δʼ, ὄζω Ἀθηνῶν, §124δισσῶν μύθων ῥήτορες ἦσαν· §125γνώμῃ δὲ μιᾷ συνεχωρείτην, §126τὸν Ἀχίλλειον τύμβον στεφανοῦν §127αἵματι χλωρῷ, τὰ δὲ Κασάνδρας §128λέκτρʼ οὐκ ἐφάτην τῆς Ἀχιλείας §129πρόσθεν θήσειν ποτὲ λόγχης.
And the two sons of Theseus, branches of Athens, were speakers of double arguments; yet they agreed in one opinion, to crown the tomb of Achilles with fresh blood, and they said they would never place the bed of Cassandra before the spear of Achilles.
§130σπουδαὶ δὲ λόγων κατατεινομένων §131ἦσαν ἴσαι πως, πρὶν ὁ ποικιλόφρων §132κόπις ἡδυλόγος δημοχαριστὴς §133Λαερτιάδης πείθει στρατιὰν §134μὴ τὸν ἄριστον Δαναῶν πάντων §135δούλων σφαγίων εἵνεκʼ ἀπωθεῖν, §136μηδέ τινʼ εἰπεῖν παρὰ Φερσεφόνῃ §137στάντα φθιμένων §138ὡς ἀχάριστοι Δαναοὶ Δαναοῖς §139τοῖς οἰχομένοις ὑπὲρ Ἑλλήνων §140Τροίας πεδίων ἀπέβησαν.
And the eagerness of the arguments stretched out was somehow equal, until the wily-minded, sweet-talking, crowd-pleasing son of Laertes persuaded the army not to reject the best of all the Danaans for the sake of slave victims, nor to let anyone, standing beside Persephone, say among the dead that the Danaans departed from the plains of Troy ungrateful to the Danaans who perished on behalf of the Hellenes.
And Odysseus will come, almost immediately, to drag the filly from your breasts and to tear her from your aged hand.
§144ἀλλʼ ἴθι ναούς, ἴθι πρὸς βωμούς, §145ἵζʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἱκέτις γονάτων, §146κήρυσσε θεοὺς τούς τʼ οὐρανίδας §147τούς θʼ ὑπὸ γαῖαν.
But go to the temples, go to the altars, sit as a suppliant at Agamemnon's knees, and invoke the gods, both those in heaven and those beneath the earth.
§148ἢ γάρ σε λιταὶ διακωλύσουσʼ §149ὀρφανὸν εἶναι παιδὸς μελέας, §150ἢ δεῖ σʼ ἐπιδεῖν τύμβου προπετῆ §151φοινισσομένην αἵματι παρθένον §152ἐκ χρυσοφόρου §153δειρῆς νασμῷ μελαναυγεῖ.
For either your prayers will prevent you from being bereaved of your wretched child, or you must look upon the maiden falling before the tomb, stained with blood from her gold-clad neck in a dark-shining stream.
§154οἲ ἐγὼ μελέα, τί ποτʼ ἀπύσω;
Ah me, wretched that I am, what shall I cry aloud?
What kind of sound, what kind of lamentation, wretched in my wretched old age, for a slavery that is unbearable, insupportable?
οἴμοι.
Alas!
§159τίς ἀμύνει μοι;
Who will defend me?
ποία γέννα, §160ποία δὲ πόλις;
What family, what city is there?
φροῦδος πρέσβυς, §161φροῦδοι παῖδες.
Gone is my husband, gone are my children.
ποῖ δʼ ἥσω;
Whither shall I turn?
ποῦ τις θεῶν §164ἢ δαιμόνων ἐπαρωγός;
Where is any god or spirit to help me?
Oh bringers of evil, Trojan women, oh bringers of evil and of pain, you have destroyed, utterly destroyed me!
οὐκέτι μοι βίος §168ἀγαστὸς ἐν φάει.
No longer is life desirable to me in the light.
Oh wretched foot of mine, lead me, lead the aged woman to this tent.
Oh child, oh daughter of the most wretched mother—come forth, come forth from the house—hear your mother's voice!
§177ἰώ·
Alas!
§177aμᾶτερ μᾶτερ τί βοᾷς;
Mother, mother, why do you cry aloud?
What new thing have you proclaimed from the house, that like a bird you have fluttered me out in this terror?
§180οἴμοι τέκνον.
Alas, my child!
§181τί με δυσφημεῖς;
Why do you speak such ill-omened words?
φροίμιά μοι κακά.
This is an evil prelude for me.
§182αἰαῖ σᾶς ψυχᾶς.
Ah, for your life!
§183ἐξαύδα· μὴ κρύψῃς δαρόν.
Speak out; do not keep it hidden long.
I fear, I fear, mother, why indeed you groan so.
My child, my child, born of a wretched mother, what is this indeed that I shall announce?
To slaughter you, the common decree of the Argives tends toward the tomb, for the son of Peleus.
μάνυσόν μοι, §193μάνυσον, μᾶτερ.
Reveal to me, reveal to me, mother!
I speak, my child, of ill-omened rumors; the decrees of the Argives announce by their vote concerning your life, to my sorrow.
Oh you who have suffered terrible things, oh all-enduring one, oh mother of a wretched life!
What sort, what sort of outrage, again for you, most hateful and unspeakable, has some god aroused?
No longer for you will this child, no longer indeed, in your wretched old age, wretchedly serve as a fellow slave.