for from their aged eyes they pour a pitiful tear to the ground, and there are shorn hair and garments not for a festival.
§98τί ταῦτα, μῆτερ;
Theseus: What is this, mother?
σὸν τὸ μηνύειν ἐμοί, §99ἡμῶν δʼ ἀκούειν· προσδοκῶ τι γὰρ νέον.
It is your part to declare to me, and mine to listen; for I expect some new thing.
§100ὦ παῖ, γυναῖκες αἵδε μητέρες τέκνων §101τῶν κατθανόντων ἀμφὶ Καδμείας πύλας §102ἑπτὰ στρατηγῶν· ἱκεσίοις δὲ σὺν κλάδοις §103φρουροῦσί μʼ, ὡς δέδορκας, ἐν κύκλῳ, τέκνον.
Aethra: My child, these women are the mothers of the children who died around the Cadmean gates, of the seven generals; and with suppliant boughs they guard me in a circle, as you see, child.
§104τίς δʼ ὁ στενάζων οἰκτρὸν ἐν πύλαις ὅδε;
Theseus: And who is this who groans pitifully at the gates?
§105Ἄδραστος, ὡς λέγουσιν, Ἀργείων ἄναξ.
Aethra: Adrastus, as they say, the king of the Argives.
§106οἱ δʼ ἀμφὶ τόνδε παῖδες;
Theseus: And the children around him?
ἦ τούτων τέκνα;
Are they the children of these women?
§107οὔκ, ἀλλὰ νεκρῶν τῶν ὀλωλότων κόροι.
Aethra: No, but the sons of the dead who perished.
§108τί γὰρ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἦλθον ἱκεσίᾳ χερί;
Theseus: But why have they come to us with suppliant hand?
§109οἶδʼ· ἀλλὰ τῶνδε μῦθος οὑντεῦθεν, τέκνον.
Aethra: I know; but from this point, the story is theirs, my child.
§110σὲ τὸν κατήρη χλανιδίοις ἀνιστορῶ.
Theseus: You who are veiled in your garments, I ask you.
Speak, uncovering your head, and let go of your lamentation; for nothing goes forward unless it passes through the tongue.
Adrastus: O victorious lord of the land of the Athenians, Theseus, I come as a suppliant to you and to your city.
§115τί χρῆμα θηρῶν καὶ τίνος χρείαν ἔχων;
Theseus: What do you hunt for, and of what do you have need?
§116οἶσθʼ ἣν στρατείαν ἐστράτευσʼ ὀλεθρίαν.
Adrastus: You know the ruinous expedition I led.
§117οὐ γάρ τι σιγῇ διεπέρασας Ἑλλάδα.
Theseus: For you did not cross Greece in silence.
§118ἐνταῦθʼ ἀπώλεσʼ ἄνδρας Ἀργείων ἄκρους.
Adrastus: There I lost the foremost men of the Argives.
§119τοιαῦθʼ ὁ τλήμων πόλεμος ἐξεργάζεται.
Theseus: Such are the deeds wretched war works out.
§120τούτους θανόντας ἦλθον ἐξαιτῶν πόλιν.
Adrastus: I went to ask the city for these dead men.
§121κήρυξιν Ἑρμοῦ πίσυνος, ὡς θάψῃς νεκρούς;
Theseus: Relying on the heralds of Hermes, so that you might bury the dead?
§122κἄπειτά γʼ οἱ κτανόντες οὐκ ἐῶσί με.
Adrastus: And yet, those who slew them do not allow me.
§123τί γὰρ λέγουσιν, ὅσια χρῄζοντος σέθεν;
Theseus: What do they say, when you are asking for what is holy?
§124τί δʼ;
Adrastus: What indeed?
εὐτυχοῦντες οὐκ ἐπίστανται φέρειν.
Being prosperous, they do not know how to bear it.
§125ξύμβουλον οὖν μʼ ἐπῆλθες;
Theseus: Did you come to me as an adviser then?
ἢ τίνος χάριν;
Or for what reason?
§126κομίσαι σε, Θησεῦ, παῖδας Ἀργείων θέλων.
Adrastus: Wishing you, Theseus, to recover the children of the Argives.
§127τὸ δʼ Ἄργος ἡμῖν ποῦ ʼστιν;
Theseus: But where is Argos for us?
ἢ κόμποι μάτην;
Or were your boasts in vain?
§128σφαλέντες οἰχόμεσθα.
Adrastus: We are ruined by our failure.
πρὸς σὲ δʼ ἥκομεν.
And we come to you.
§129ἰδίᾳ δοκῆσάν σοι τόδʼ ἢ πάσῃ πόλει;
Theseus: Did this seem good to you privately, or to the whole city?
§130πάντες σʼ ἱκνοῦνται Δαναΐδαι θάψαι νεκρούς.
Adrastus: All the Danaids entreat you to bury the dead.
§131ἐκ τοῦ δʼ ἐλαύνεις ἑπτὰ πρὸς Θήβας λόχους;
Theseus: But why did you lead seven cohorts against Thebes?
§132δισσοῖσι γαμβροῖς τήνδε πορσύνων χάριν.
Adrastus: To secure this favor for my two sons-in-law.
§133τῷ δʼ ἐξέδωκας παῖδας Ἀργείων σέθεν;
Theseus: To whom did you give your daughters of Argos?
§134οὐκ ἐγγενῆ συνῆψα κηδείαν δόμοις.
Adrastus: I did not contract a marriage within my own kin for my house.
§135ἀλλὰ ξένοις ἔδωκας Ἀργείας κόρας;
Theseus: But did you give Argive maidens to foreigners?
§136Τυδεῖ γε Πολυνείκει τε τῷ Θηβαιγενεῖ.
Adrastus: Yes, to Tydeus and to Polynices, the Theban-born.
§137τίνʼ εἰς ἔρωτα τῆσδε κηδείας μολών;
Theseus: What desire for this marriage alliance led you?
§138Φοίβου μʼ ὑπῆλθε δυστόπαστʼ αἰνίγματα.
Adrastus: Phoebus' hard-to-divine riddles stole upon me.
§139τί δʼ εἶπʼ Ἀπόλλων παρθένοις κραίνων γάμον;
Theseus: What did Apollo say, ordaining the marriage of the maidens?
§140κάπρῳ με δοῦναι καὶ λέοντι παῖδʼ ἐμώ.
Adrastus: That I should give my two daughters to a wild boar and a lion.
§141σὺ δʼ ἐξελίσσεις πῶς θεοῦ θεσπίσματα;
Theseus: And how did you unfold the god's prophecies?
Adrastus: Two exiles came by night to my gates— Theseus: Who and who?
εἰπέ· δύο γὰρ ἐξαυδᾷς ἅμα.
Tell me; for you speak of two at once.
§144Τυδεὺς μάχην ξυνῆψε Πολυνείκης θʼ ἅμα.
Adrastus: Tydeus and Polynices joined in battle together.
§145ἦ τοῖσδʼ ἔδωκας θηρσὶν ὣς κόρας σέθεν;
Theseus: Did you then give your daughters to them, as if to those beasts?
§146μάχην γε δισσοῖν κνωδάλοιν ἀπεικάσας.
Adrastus: Yes, comparing their battle to two wild beasts.
§147ἦλθον δὲ δὴ πῶς πατρίδος ἐκλιπόνθʼ ὅρους;
Theseus: And how did they come, having left the borders of their fatherlands?
§148Τυδεὺς μὲν αἷμα συγγενὲς φεύγων χθονός.
Adrastus: Tydeus, fleeing the shedding of kindred blood from his land.
§149ὁ δʼ Οἰδίπου τί, τίνι τρόπῳ Θήβας λιπών;
Theseus: And the son of Oedipus, why, and in what manner did he leave Thebes?
§150ἀραῖς πατρῴαις, μὴ κασίγνητον κτάνοι.
Adrastus: By his father's curses, lest he should slay his brother.
§151σοφήν γʼ ἔλεξας τήνδʼ ἑκούσιον φυγήν.
Theseus: You have spoken of a wise voluntary exile.
§152ἀλλʼ οἱ μένοντες τοὺς ἀπόντας ἠδίκουν.
Adrastus: But those who remained did wrong to those who were absent.
§153οὔ πού σφʼ ἀδελφὸς χρημάτων νοσφίζεται;
Theseus: Surely his brother did not deprive him of his possessions?
§154ταύτῃ δικάζων ἦλθον· εἶτʼ ἀπωλόμην.
Adrastus: I went to judge this matter, and then I was ruined.
§155μάντεις δʼ ἐπῆλθες ἐμπύρων τʼ εἶδες φλόγα;
Theseus: Did you consult seers, and did you look upon the flame of sacrificial fire?
§156οἴμοι;
Adrastus: Alas!
διώκεις μʼ ᾗ μάλιστʼ ἐγὼ ʼσφάλην.
You pursue me where I slipped most of all.
§157οὐκ ἦλθες, ὡς ἔοικεν, εὐνοίᾳ θεῶν.
Theseus: It seems you did not go with the favor of the gods.
§158τὸ δὲ πλέον, ἦλθον Ἀμφιάρεώ γε πρὸς βίαν.
Adrastus: What is more, I went even in spite of Amphiaraus.
§159οὕτω τὸ θεῖον ῥᾳδίως ἀπεστράφης;
Theseus: Did you so easily turn away from the divine?
§160νέων γὰρ ἀνδρῶν θόρυβος ἐξέπλησσέ με.
Adrastus: Yes, for the tumult of young men threw me into panic.
§161εὐψυχίαν ἔσπευσας ἀντʼ εὐβουλίας.
Theseus: You pursued courage instead of good counsel.
§162ὃ δή γε πολλοὺς ὤλεσε στρατηλάτας.
Adrastus: Which indeed has ruined many a general.
§163ἀλλʼ, ὦ καθʼ Ἑλλάδʼ ἀλκιμώτατον κάρα, §164ἄναξ Ἀθηνῶν, ἐν μὲν αἰσχύναις ἔχω §165πίτνων πρὸς οὖδας γόνυ σὸν ἀμπίσχειν χερί, §166πολιὸς ἀνὴρ τύραννος εὐδαίμων πάρος·
But, O most valiant head throughout Greece, lord of Athens, I hold it indeed a shame falling to the ground, to embrace your knee with my hand, I, a grey-haired man, once a prosperous ruler.
§167ὅμως δʼ ἀνάγκη συμφοραῖς εἴκειν ἐμαῖς.
But yet, necessity bids me yield to my misfortunes.
§168σῶσον νεκρούς μοι, τἀμά τʼ οἰκτίρας κακὰ §169καὶ τῶν θανόντων τάσδε μητέρας τέκνων, §170αἷς γῆρας ἥκει πολιὸν εἰς ἀπαιδίαν, §171ἐλθεῖν δʼ ἔτλησαν δεῦρο καὶ ξένον πόδα §172θεῖναι μόλις γεραιὰ κινοῦσαι μέλη, §173πρεσβεύματʼ οὐ Δήμητρος ἐς μυστήρια, §174ἀλλʼ ὡς νεκροὺς θάψωσιν, ἃς αὐτὰς ἐχρῆν §175κείνων ταφείσας χερσὶν ὡραίων τυχεῖν.
Save the dead for me, and pity my evils, and these mothers of the dead children, to whom grey old age has come in childlessness, and they dared to come hither and to set a stranger's foot, setting it down, scarcely moving their aged limbs, as an embassy, not to the mysteries of Demeter, but that they may bury the dead; who themselves ought to have received fitting funeral rites, buried by their hands.