§255ἀρεῖτε καὶ τοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀνόσιον κάρα §256καθαιματώσεθʼ, ὅστις οὐ Καδμεῖος ὢν §257ἄρχει κάκιστος τῶν νέων ἔπηλυς ὤν;
Will you not raise your scepters and blooded the impious head of this man, who, not being a Cadmean, rules most basely over the youth, being an intruder?
§258ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐμοῦ γε δεσπόσεις χαίρων ποτέ.
But you shall never rule over me to your joy.
Nor shall you possess the many things I have acquired by laboring with my hand.
ἀπέρρων δʼ ἔνθεν ἦλθες ἐνθάδε, §261ὕβριζʼ.
Go back to where you came from, and play the tyrant there.
ἐμοῦ γὰρ ζῶντος οὐ κτενεῖς ποτε §262τοὺς Ἡρακλείους παῖδας.
For while I live, you shall never kill the children of Heracles.
οὐ τοσόνδε γῆς §263ἔνερθʼ ἐκεῖνος κρύπτεται λιπὼν τέκνα.
He is not hidden so deep beneath the earth as to have abandoned his children.
Since you have utterly destroyed this land, while he, who benefited it, does not obtain his due reward.
And then, do I busy myself with many things, by doing good to my dead friends, when friends are most in need?
O right hand, how you long to take up the spear, but in your weakness you have lost that desire.
For otherwise I would have stopped you from calling me a slave, and we would have dwelt in this Thebes with fair fame.
In which you now rejoice; for a city does not think well when it is sick with faction and evil counsels.
§274οὐ γάρ ποτʼ ἂν σὲ δεσπότην ἐκτήσατο.
Otherwise, it would never have acquired you as its master.
Elders, I praise you; for it is right for friends to hold just anger for the sake of their friends.
But do not suffer any harm on our account by venting your anger at our masters.
τῆς δʼ ἐμῆς, Ἀμφιτρύων, §279γνώμης ἄκουσον, ἤν τί σοι δοκῶ λέγειν.
And you, Amphitryon, listen to my thought, if I seem to you to speak to the purpose.
I love my children; for how could I not love those whom I brought forth and labored for?
And I hold death to be a terrible thing; but I deem that mortal foolish who strives against necessity.
§284ἡμᾶς δʼ, ἐπειδὴ δεῖ θανεῖν, θνῄσκειν χρεὼν §285μὴ πυρὶ καταξανθέντας, ἐχθροῖσιν γέλων §286διδόντας, οὑμοὶ τοῦ θανεῖν μεῖζον κακόν.
Since we must die, we ought to die not shriveled by fire, offering laughter to our enemies, which is to me a greater evil than death itself.
§287ὀφείλομεν γὰρ πολλὰ δώμασιν καλά· §288σὲ μὲν δόκησις ἔλαβεν εὐκλεὴς δορός, §289ὥστʼ οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν δειλίας θανεῖν σʼ ὕπο·
For we owe many noble things to our house; you have received a glorious reputation in battle, so that it is not endurable for you to die under a charge of cowardice.
§290οὑμὸς δʼ ἀμαρτύρητος εὐκλεὴς πόσις, §291ὡς τούσδε παῖδας οὐκ ἂν ἐκσῶσαι θέλοι §292δόξαν κακὴν λαβόντας· οἱ γὰρ εὐγενεῖς §293κάμνουσι τοῖς αἰσχροῖσι τῶν τέκνων ὕπερ, §294ἐμοί τε μίμημʼ ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἀπωστέον.
And my husband, whose glory needs no witness, would not wish to save these children if they must take a bad reputation; for the well-born suffer on account of their children’s disgrace, and I must not reject the imitation of my husband.
Consider your hope as I reckon it: do you think your son will come from under the earth?
§297καὶ τίς θανόντων ἦλθεν ἐξ Ἅιδου πάλιν;
And who of the dead has ever returned from Hades?
§298ἀλλʼ ὡς λόγοισι τόνδε μαλθάξαιμεν ἄν;
Or that we might soften this man with words?
§299ἥκιστα· φεύγειν σκαιὸν ἄνδρʼ ἐχθρὸν χρεών, §300σοφοῖσι δʼ εἴκειν καὶ τεθραμμένοις καλῶς· §301ῥᾷον γὰρ αἰδοῦς ὑπολαβὼν φίλʼ ἂν τέμοις.
Not at all; one must flee a foolish and hostile man, but yield to the wise and well-bred, for you might more easily cut friendly terms with them, eliciting respect.
§302ἤδη δʼ ἐσῆλθέ μʼ εἰ παραιτησαίμεθα §303φυγὰς τέκνων τῶνδʼ· ἀλλὰ καὶ τόδʼ ἄθλιον, §304πενίᾳ σὺν οἰκτρᾷ περιβαλεῖν σωτηρίαν· §305ὡς τὰ ξένων πρόσωπα φεύγουσιν φίλοις §306ἓν ἦμαρ ἡδὺ βλέμμʼ ἔχειν φασὶν μόνον.
And indeed it has occurred to me if we might beg for exile for these children; but even this is wretched, to wrap safety in pitiful poverty; for they say that the faces of strangers have a sweet look for fleeing friends for only one day.
§307τόλμα μεθʼ ἡμῶν θάνατον, ὃς μένει σʼ ὅμως.
Dare death with us, which awaits you anyway.
§308προκαλούμεθʼ εὐγένειαν, ὦ γέρον, σέθεν· §309τὰς τῶν θεῶν γὰρ ὅστις ἐκμοχθεῖ τύχας, §310πρόθυμός ἐστιν, ἡ προθυμία δʼ ἄφρων· §311ὃ χρὴ γὰρ οὐδεὶς μὴ χρεὼν θήσει ποτέ.
We appeal to your noble birth, old man; for whoever struggles against the fortunes sent by the gods is eager, but his eagerness is foolish; for no one will ever render that which is fated into that which is not fated.
§312εἰ μὲν σθενόντων τῶν ἐμῶν βραχιόνων §313ἦν τίς σʼ ὑβρίζων, ῥᾳδίως ἐπαύσατʼ ἄν· §314νῦν δʼ οὐδέν ἐσμεν.
If my arms were strong and someone insulted you, he would easily have stopped; but now we are nothing.
σὸν δὲ τοὐντεῦθεν σκοπεῖν §315ὅπως διώσῃ τὰς τύχας, Ἀμφιτρύων.
And from now on, it is your part to consider how you will ward off these fortunes, Amphitryon.
§316οὔτοι τὸ δειλὸν οὐδὲ τοῦ βίου πόθος §317θανεῖν ἐρύκει μʼ, ἀλλὰ παιδὶ βούλομαι §318σῷσαι τέκνʼ· ἄλλως δʼ ἀδυνάτων ἔοικʼ ἐρᾶν.
It is not indeed cowardice nor desire for life that holds me back from death, but I wish to save the children for my son; but I seem to love impossible things in vain.
Behold, here is this neck ready for the sword to pierce, to slaughter, or to cast down from a rock.
§321μίαν δὲ νῷν δὸς χάριν, ἄναξ, ἱκνούμεθα· §322κτεῖνόν με καὶ τήνδʼ ἀθλίαν παίδων πάρος, §323ὡς μὴ τέκνʼ εἰσίδωμεν, ἀνόσιον θέαν, §324ψυχορραγοῦντα καὶ καλοῦντα μητέρα §325πατρός τε πατέρα.
Grant us one favor, O king, we beseech you: kill me and this wretched woman before the children, so that we may not behold our children gasping out their lives and calling on their mother and their father’s father, an impious sight.
τἄλλα δʼ, εἰ πρόθυμος εἶ, §326πρᾶσσʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἀλκὴν ἔχομεν ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν.
Do the rest, if you are eager; for we have no strength to avoid death.
§327κἀγώ σʼ ἱκνοῦμαι χάριτι προσθεῖναι χάριν, §328ἡμῖν ἵνʼ ἀμφοῖν εἷς ὑπουργήσῃς διπλᾶ· §329κόσμον πάρες μοι παισὶ προσθεῖναι νεκρῶν, §330δόμους ἀνοίξας — νῦν γὰρ ἐκκεκλῄμεθα — §331ὡς ἀλλὰ ταῦτά γʼ ἀπολάχωσʼ οἴκων πατρός.
And I beseech you to add favor to favor, so that you may perform a double service for both of us as one: permit me to place the adornment of the dead upon the children, opening the house — for now we are locked out — so that at least they may obtain this much from their father’s house.
§332ἔσται τάδʼ· οἴγειν κλῇθρα προσπόλοις λέγω.
This shall be so; I tell the servants to open the bolts.
§333κοσμεῖσθʼ ἔσω μολόντες· οὐ φθονῶ πέπλων.
Go inside and adorn yourselves; I do not grudge you the robes.