§1057ἐς γάρ τι πρᾶγμα νεοχμὸν ἐσκευάσμεθα.
For we have equipped ourselves for some strange deed.
§1058κἄπειτα τύμβῳ καὶ πυρᾷ φαίνῃ πέλας;
And then do you appear near the tomb and the pyre?
§1059ἐνταῦθα γὰρ δὴ καλλίνικος ἔρχομαι.
Yes, for indeed I come here as a triumphant victor.
§1060νικῶσα νίκην τίνα;
Winning what victory?
μαθεῖν χρῄζω σέθεν.
I wish to learn from you.
§1061πάσας γυναῖκας ἃς δέδορκεν ἥλιος.
Over all women whom the sun beholds.
§1062ἔργοις Ἀθάνας ἢ φρενῶν εὐβουλίᾳ;
In the works of Athena, or in the wisdom of your mind?
§1063ἀρετῇ· πόσει γὰρ συνθανοῦσα κείσομαι.
In virtue; for I shall lie dead together with my husband.
§1064τί φῄς;
What do you say?
τί τοῦτʼ αἴνιγμα σημαίνεις σαθρόν;
What is this ill-omened riddle you signify?
§1065ᾄσσω θανόντος Καπανέως τήνδʼ ἐς πυράν.
I leap into this pyre of the dead Capaneus.
§1066ὦ θύγατερ, οὐ μὴ μῦθον ἐς πολλοὺς ἐρεῖς.
O daughter, do not speak this word to the multitude.
§1067τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ χρῄζω, πάντας Ἀργείους μαθεῖν.
This very thing I wish, for all the Argives to learn.
§1068ἀλλʼ οὐδέ τοί σοι πείσομαι δρώσῃ τάδε.
But indeed I will not permit you to do this.
§1069ὅμοιον· οὐ γὰρ μὴ κίχῃς μʼ ἑλὼν χερί.
It is all one; for you shall never catch me by reaching with your hand.
And indeed my body is let go — not pleasing to you, but to me and to my husband who is burned with me.
§1072ἰώ, γύναι, δεινὸν ἔργον ἐξειργάσω.
Alas, woman, you have wrought a terrible deed.
§1073ἀπωλόμην δύστηνος, Ἀργείων κόραι.
I am undone, wretched that I am, maidens of Argos.
Ah, ah, having suffered these cruel things, you behold, wretched man, the all-daring deed.
§1076οὐκ ἄν τινʼ εὕροιτʼ ἄλλον ἀθλιώτερον.
One could not find another more miserable.
Alas, wretched man; you have shared in the fortune of Oedipus, old man, a portion both you and my suffering city.
§1080οἴμοι·
Alas!
τί δὴ βροτοῖσιν οὐκ ἔστιν τόδε, §1081νέους δὶς εἶναι καὶ γέροντας αὖ πάλιν;
Why indeed is this not possible for mortals, to be young twice and then old once again?
§1082ἀλλʼ ἐν δόμοις μὲν ἤν τι μὴ καλῶς ἔχῃ, §1083γνώμαισιν ὑστέραισιν ἐξορθούμεθα, §1084αἰῶνα δʼ οὐκ ἔξεστιν.
For while in our houses if anything goes not well, we set it right with second thoughts, but for life it is not possible.
If we were young twice and old, and if anyone made a mistake, we would have corrected it by obtaining a double life.
For I, beholding others having children, was a lover of children and was dying with longing for them.
§1089εἰ δʼ ἐς τόδʼ ἦλθον κἀξεπειράθην τέκνων §1090οἷον στέρεσθαι πατέρα γίγνεται τέκνων, §1091οὐκ ἄν ποτʼ ἐς τόδʼ ἦλθον εἰς ὃ νῦν κακόν· §1092ὅστις φυτεύσας καὶ νεανίαν τεκὼν §1093ἄριστον, εἶτα τοῦδε νῦν στερίσκομαι.
But if I had come to this and had experienced of children what it is for a father to be deprived of children, I would never have come to this evil in which I am now; I who, having begotten and reared an excellent youth, am now deprived of him.
§1094εἶἑν· τί δὴ χρὴ τὸν ταλαίπωρόν με δρᾶν;
Well then; what indeed must wretched me do?
§1095στείχειν πρὸς οἴκους;
Go to my home?
κᾆτʼ ἐρημίαν ἴδω §1096πολλῶν μελάθρων, ἀπορίαν τʼ ἐμῷ βίῳ;
And then shall I see the desolation of many rooms, and helplessness for my life?
§1097ἢ πρὸς μέλαθρα τοῦδε Καπανέως μόλω;
Or shall I go to the palace of this Capaneus?
§1098ἥδιστα πρίν γε δῆθʼ, ὅτʼ ἦν παῖς ἥδε μοι.
Most pleasant before indeed, when this child of mine was alive.
§1099ἀλλʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔστιν, ἥ γʼ ἐμὴν γενειάδα §1100προσήγετʼ αἰεὶ στόματι καὶ κάρα τόδε §1101κατεῖχε χειρί· πατρὶ δʼ οὐδὲν ἥδιον §1102γέροντι θυγατρός· ἀρσένων δὲ μείζονες §1103ψυχαί, γλυκεῖαι δʼ ἧσσον ἐς θωπεύματα.
But she is no longer, she who always used to draw my beard to her mouth and hold this head with her hand; and to an old father nothing is sweeter than a daughter; for the minds of males are greater, but less sweet for caresses.
§1104οὐχ ὡς τάχιστα δῆτά μʼ ἄξετʼ ἐς δόμους;
Will you not indeed take me to the house as quickly as possible?
And give me to darkness; where, melting away my old body by starvation, I shall destroy it.
§1107τί μʼ ὠφελήσει παιδὸς ὀστέων θιγεῖν;
What will it profit me to touch the bones of my child?
§1108ὦ δυσπάλαιστον γῆρας, ὡς μισῶ σʼ ἔχων, §1109μισῶ δʼ ὅσοι χρῄζουσιν ἐκτείνειν βίον, §1110βρωτοῖσι καὶ ποτοῖσι καὶ μαγεύμασι §1111παρεκτρέποντες ὀχετὸν ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν· §1112οὓς χρῆν, ἐπειδὰν μηδὲν ὠφελῶσι γῆν, §1113θανόντας ἔρρειν κἀκποδὼν εἶναι νέοις.
O hard-to-wrestle-with old age, how I hate you possessing you, and I hate those who desire to prolong their life, by food and drink and magic spells turning aside the channel so as not to die; whom it behoved, when they benefit the earth in nothing, to die and perish and be out of the way of the young.
Alas, alas; indeed these bones of our perished children are brought.
λάβετʼ, ἀμφίπολοι, §1116γραίας ἀμενοῦς — οὐ γὰρ ἔνεστιν §1117ῥώμη παίδων ὑπὸ πένθους — §1118πολλοῦ τε χρόνου ζώσης μέτρα δὴ §1119καταλειβομένης τʼ ἄλγεσι πολλοῖς.
Support, handmaidens, the weak old woman — for there is no strength in her because of grief for her children — who has lived for a measure of long time and is wasted away by many pains.
For what greater suffering could you still find for mortals than to look upon dead children?
§1123— φέρω φέρω, §1124τάλαινα μᾶτερ, ἐκ πυρὸς πατρὸς μέλη, §1125βάρος μὲν οὐκ ἀβριθὲς ἀλγέων ὕπερ, §1126ἐν δʼ ὀλίγῳ τἀμὰ πάντα συνθείς.
I bear, I bear, wretched mother, the limbs of my father from the fire, a burden not light because of my griefs, though I have gathered all that was mine into a small space.
Alas, alas, whither do you bring tears to the dear mother of the perished?
And a small quantity of ashes instead of bodies once glorious in Mycenae?
§1132— ἄπαις, ἄπαις·
Childless, childless!
§1132aἐγὼ δʼ ἔρημος ἀθλίου πατρὸς τάλας §1133ἔρημον οἶκον ὀρφανεύσομαι λαβών, §1134οὐ πατρὸς ἐν χερσὶ τοῦ τεκόντος.
And I, wretched, bereft of my miserable father, shall live as an orphan in a desolate house, not in the hands of the father who begot me.
§1136ποῦ λοχευμάτων χάρις;
Where the grace of childbearing?
And the mother's rearing, and the sleepless watch of her eyes, and the loving kisses of their faces?
§1139— βεβᾶσιν, οὐκέτʼ εἰσίν· οἴμοι πάτερ·
They are gone, they are no more; alas, father!
§1140βεβᾶσιν.
They are gone.
The ether holds them already, melted by fire into ashes; and flying they have completed their journey to Hades.
§1143— πάτερ, μῶν σῶν κλύεις τέκνων γόους;
Father, do you perchance hear the laments of your children?
Shall I ever, holding a shield, stand against the foe to avenge your death — would that it might happen! — leading children?
§1146— ἔτʼ ἂν θεοῦ θέλοντος ἔλθοι δίκα
Yet if God wills, justice may still come.