sent into my swaddling clothes the bedfellow of Zeus, so that we might perish.
And when I acquired the youthful covering of flesh, what need is there to speak of the labors I endured?
§1271ποίους ποτʼ ἢ λέοντας ἢ τρισωμάτους §1272Τυφῶνας ἢ Γίγαντας ἢ τετρασκελῆ §1273κενταυροπληθῆ πόλεμον οὐκ ἐξήνυσα;
What lions, or three-bodied Typhons, or Giants, or the four-legged Centaur-teeming war did I not accomplish?
§1274τήν τʼ ἀμφίκρανον καὶ παλιμβλαστῆ κύνα §1275ὕδραν φονεύσας μυρίων τʼ ἄλλων πόνων §1276διῆλθον ἀγέλας κἀς νεκροὺς ἀφικόμην, §1277Ἅιδου πυλωρὸν κύνα τρίκρανον ἐς φάος §1278ὅπως πορεύσαιμʼ ἐντολαῖς Εὐρυσθέως.
And having slain the many-headed and regrowing hound, the Hydra, and having gone through herds of ten thousand other labors, and I arrived among the dead, to bring the three-headed dog, gatekeeper of Hades, into the light by the orders of Eurystheus.
And I, wretched, endured this last labor, having slain my children, to crown my house with evils.
§1281ἥκω δʼ ἀνάγκης ἐς τόδʼ· οὔτʼ ἐμαῖς φίλαις §1282Θήβαις ἐνοικεῖν ὅσιον· ἢν δὲ καὶ μένω, §1283ἐς ποῖον ἱερὸν ἢ πανήγυριν φίλων §1284εἶμʼ;
And I have come to this point of necessity: neither is it holy for me to dwell in my beloved Thebes; and even if I remain, to what temple or festive gathering of friends shall I go?
οὐ γὰρ ἄτας εὐπροσηγόρους ἔχω.
For I have misfortunes that are not to be addressed.
§1285ἀλλʼ Ἄργος ἔλθω;
But shall I go to Argos?
πῶς, ἐπεὶ φεύγω πάτραν;
How, since I flee my fatherland?
§1286φέρʼ ἀλλʼ ἐς ἄλλην δή τινʼ ὁρμήσω πόλιν;
Come then, shall I hasten to some other city?
§1287κἄπειθʼ ὑποβλεπώμεθʼ ὡς ἐγνωσμένοι, §1288γλώσσης πικροῖς κέντροισι κλῃδουχούμενοι· §1289Οὐχ οὗτος ὁ Διός, ὃς τέκνʼ ἔκτεινέν ποτε §1290δάμαρτά τʼ;
And then I will be looked at askance as one recognized, barred by the bitter stings of their tongues: "Is this not the son of Zeus, who once killed his children and wife?
οὐ γῆς τῆσδʼ ἀποφθαρήσεται; §1291κεκλημένῳ δὲ φωτὶ μακαρίῳ ποτὲ §1292αἱ μεταβολαὶ λυπηρόν· ᾧ δʼ ἀεὶ κακῶς §1293ἔστʼ, οὐδὲν ἀλγεῖ συγγενῶς δύστηνος ὤν.
Will he not be gone from this land?" And to a man who was once called blessed, changes are painful; but for him who is always in a bad state, he grieves not at all, being wretched by nature.
§1294ἐς τοῦτο δʼ ἥξειν συμφορᾶς οἶμαί ποτε· §1295φωνὴν γὰρ ἥσει χθὼν ἀπεννέπουσά με §1296μὴ θιγγάνειν γῆς καὶ θάλασσα μὴ περᾶν §1297πηγαί τε ποταμῶν, καὶ τὸν ἁρματήλατον §1298Ἰξίονʼ ἐν δεσμοῖσιν ἐκμιμήσομαι.
And I think I will some day reach this point of misfortune: for the earth will utter a voice, forbidding me to touch the land, and the sea to cross, and the springs of rivers, and I shall imitate Ixion in bonds on his wheel.
And this is best, that none of the Greeks see me, among whom we were once prosperous and happy.
§1301τί δῆτά με ζῆν δεῖ;
Why indeed must I live?
τί κέρδος ἕξομεν §1302βίον γʼ ἀχρεῖον ἀνόσιον κεκτημένοι;
What profit shall I have in possessing a useless, unholy life?
Let the glorious wife of Zeus dance, striking her foot in her sandal against the floor of Olympian Zeus.
§1305ἔπραξε γὰρ βούλησιν ἣν ἐβούλετο, §1306ἄνδρʼ Ἑλλάδος τὸν πρῶτον αὐτοῖσιν βάθροις §1307ἄνω κάτω στρέψασα.
For she has accomplished the wish she wished, turning the first man of Greece upside down, foundations and all.
— τοιαύτῃ θεῷ §1308τίς ἂν προσεύχοιθʼ;
To such a goddess who would pray?
ἣ γυναικὸς οὕνεκα §1309λέκτρων φθονοῦσα Ζηνὶ τοὺς εὐεργέτας §1310Ἑλλάδος ἀπώλεσʼ οὐδὲν ὄντας αἰτίους.
Who, for the sake of a woman's bed, envying Zeus, destroyed the benefactors of Greece, who were not at all to blame.
This contest is of no other of the gods than the wife of Zeus; well do you perceive this.
§1313aπαραινέσαιμʼ ἂν μᾶλλον ἢ πάσχειν κακῶς.
I would advise you rather than have you suffer ill.
No mortal is untouched by fortunes, nor is any of the gods, if indeed the stories of the poets are not false.
Did they not join in beds with one another, of which there is no law?
οὐ δεσμοῖσι διὰ τυραννίδας §1318πατέρας ἐκηλίδωσαν;
Did they not stain their fathers with bonds for the sake of tyranny?
ἀλλʼ οἰκοῦσʼ ὅμως §1319Ὄλυμπον ἠνέσχοντό θʼ ἡμαρτηκότες.
Yet they dwell in Olympus nevertheless, and endure having erred.
And yet, what will you say if you, being mortal, bear fortunes excessively, while the gods do not?
Therefore leave Thebes for the sake of the law, and follow us to the city of Pallas.
There, having purified your hands of pollution, I will give you dwellings and a share of my possessions.
§1326ἃ δʼ ἐκ πολιτῶν δῶρʼ ἔχω σώσας κόρους §1327δὶς ἑπτά, ταῦρον Κνώσιον κατακτανών, §1328σοὶ ταῦτα δώσω.
And the gifts I have from the citizens for having saved the twice-seven youths, having slain the Knossian bull, I will give these to you.
πανταχοῦ δέ μοι χθονὸς §1329τεμένη δέδασται· ταῦτʼ ἐπωνομασμένα §1330σέθεν τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκ βροτῶν κεκλήσεται §1331ζῶντος· θανόντα δʼ, εὖτʼ ἂν εἰς Ἅιδου μόλῃς, §1332θυσίαισι λαΐνοισί τʼ ἐξογκώμασι §1333τίμιον ἀνάξει πᾶσʼ Ἀθηναίων πόλις.
And everywhere in the land estates have been allotted to me; these, named after you, shall henceforth be called by mortals after you while you live; and when you die and go to Hades, the whole city of the Athenians will raise you up in honor with sacrifices and stone monuments.
For it is a beautiful crown for the citizens to win good fame from the Greeks by helping a noble man.
And I will give you this return for my rescue; for now you are in need of friends.
But when the gods show honor, there is no need of friends; for God is enough to help, when he wills.
§1340οἴμοι·
Alas!
πάρεργα μὲν τάδʼ ἔστʼ ἐμῶν κακῶν,
These are secondary to my evils.
§1341ἐγὼ δὲ τοὺς θεοὺς οὔτε λέκτρʼ ἃ μὴ θέμις §1342στέργειν νομίζω, δεσμά τʼ ἐξάπτειν χεροῖν §1343οὔτʼ ἠξίωσα πώποτʼ οὔτε πείσομαι, §1344οὐδʼ ἄλλον ἄλλου δεσπότην πεφυκέναι.
For my part, I neither believe that the gods love unlawful beds, or have I ever thought it worthy to bind hands with chains, nor will I ever be persuaded of it, nor that one is born master of another.
For God, if he is truly God, needs nothing.
ἀοιδῶν οἵδε δύστηνοι λόγοι.
These are the wretched tales of the poets.