And when you have placed the adornment upon your bodies, I will return to you to give you to the nether world.
§336ὦ τέκνʼ, ὁμαρτεῖτʼ ἀθλίῳ μητρὸς ποδὶ §337πατρῷον ἐς μέλαθρον, οὗ τῆς οὐσίας §338ἄλλοι κρατοῦσι, τὸ δʼ ὄνομʼ ἔσθʼ ἡμῶν ἔτι.
O children, follow your mother’s wretched foot to your father’s halls, where of our substance others have mastery, though the name is still ours.
§339ὦ Ζεῦ, μάτην ἄρʼ ὁμόγαμόν σʼ ἐκτησάμην, §340μάτην δὲ παιδὸς κοινεῶνʼ ἐκλῄζομεν· §341σὺ δʼ ἦσθʼ ἄρʼ ἥσσων ἢ ʼδόκεις εἶναι φίλος.
O Zeus, in vain then did I have you as a partner in my marriage, and in vain did we call you the joint parent of our child; you were after all a less helpful friend than you seemed to be.
Mortal though I am, I surpass you, a great god, in virtue; for I have not betrayed the children of Heracles.
§344σὺ δʼ ἐς μὲν εὐνὰς κρύφιος ἠπίστω μολεῖν, §345τἀλλότρια λέκτρα δόντος οὐδενὸς λαβών, §346σῴζειν δὲ τοὺς σοὺς οὐκ ἐπίστασαι φίλους.
But you knew well how to come secretly to my bed, taking another’s wife when no one gave her to you, but how to save your own loved ones you do not know.
§347ἀμαθής τις εἶ θεός, ἢ δίκαιος οὐκ ἔφυς.
You are some ignorant god, or by nature unjust.
§348—αἲ Λίνον μὲν ἐπʼ εὐτυχεῖ §349μολπᾷ Φοῖβος ἰαχεῖ §350τὸν κάλλει φθιτόν, κιθάραν §351ἐλαύνων πλήκτρῳ χρυσέῳ· §351aἐγὼ δὲ τὸν γᾶς ἐνέρων τʼ §352ἐς ὄρφναν μολόντα, παῖδʼ §353εἴτε Διός νιν εἴπω, §354εἴτʼ Ἀμφιτρύωνος ἶνιν, §355ὑμνῆσαι στεφάνωμα μό- §356χθων διʼ εὐλογίας θέλω.
—Ah, Phoebus wails for Linus with a song of happy ending, striking his lyre with golden plectrum for him who died in beauty; (included in above) But I, for him who has gone to the darkness of the earth and the nether world, the son— whether I should call him Zeus’s son or the offspring of Amphitryon— wish to praise through eulogy the crown of his labors.
For the virtues of noble exploits are a glory to the dead.
§359—πρῶτον μὲν Διὸς ἄλσος §360ἠρήμωσε λέοντος, §361πυρσῷ δʼ ἀμφεκαλύφθη §362ξανθὸν κρᾶτʼ ἐπινωτίσας §363δεινῷ χάσματι θηρός·
—First, he cleared the grove of Zeus of the lion, and covered his tawny head by placing over his back the terrible gaping jaws of the beast.
§364—τάν τʼ ὀρεινόμον ἀγρίων §365Κενταύρων ποτὲ γένναν §366ἔστρωσεν τόξοις φονίοις, §367ἐναίρων πτανοῖς βέλεσιν.
—And the mountain-dwelling race of savage Centaurs he once laid low with his deadly bow, slaying them with winged arrows.
§368ξύνοιδε Πηνειὸς ὁ καλ- §369λιδίνας μακραί τʼ ἄρου- §369aραι πεδίων ἄκαρποι §370καὶ Πηλιάδες θεράπναι §371σύγχορτοί τʼ Ὀμόλας ἔναυ- §372λοι, πεύκαισιν ὅθεν χέρας §373πληροῦντες χθόνα Θεσσαλῶν §374ἱππείαις ἐδάμαζον·
The fair-flowing Peneus knows it well, and the long, barren fields of the plains, and the Pelian dwellings, and the neighboring glens of Homole, whence they used to fill their hands with pines and subdue the land of the Thessalians with their cavalry forces.
§375—τάν τε χρυσοκάρανον §376δόρκαν ποικιλόνωτον §377συλήτειραν ἀγρωστᾶν §378κτείνας, θηροφόνον θεὰν §379Οἰνωᾶτιν ἀγάλλει·
—And the golden-horned dapple-backed hind, the plunderer of husbandmen, he killed, and with it honored the beast-slaying goddess of Oenoe.
§380—τεθρίππων τʼ ἐπέβα §381καὶ ψαλίοις ἐδάμασε πώλους §382Διομήδεος, αἳ φονίαισι φάτναις ἀχάλινʼ ἐθόα- §383ζον κάθαιμα σῖτα γένυσι, §384χαρμοναῖσιν ἀνδροβρῶσι §385δυστράπεζοι· πέραν δʼ §386ἀργυρορρύτων Ἕβρου §387διεπέρασεν ὄχθων, §388Μυκηναίῳ πονῶν τυράννῳ.
—And he mounted the four-horse chariot and subdued with bits the fillies of Diomedes, who in their bloody stalls unbridled rushed to their blood-stained food with their jaws, in their cannibalistic delights, abominable guests; and beyond the silver-flowing banks of Hebrus he crossed over, laboring for the Mycenaean tyrant.
§389—ἄν τε Πηλιάδʼ ἀκτὰν §390Ἀναύρου παρὰ πηγὰς §391Κύκνον ξεινοδαΐκταν §392τόξοις ὤλεσεν, Ἀμφαναί- §393ας οἰκήτορʼ ἄμεικτον·
—And on the Pelian shore, near the streams of Anaurus, Cycnus, the slayer of guests, he destroyed with his bow, the unsociable dweller of Amphanae.
§394—ὑμνῳδούς τε κόρας §395ἤλυθεν ἑσπέριον ἐς αὐλάν, §396χρυσέων πετάλων ἄπο μηλοφόρον χερὶ καρπὸν ἀμέρ- §397ξων, δράκοντα πυρσόνωτον, §398ὅς σφʼ ἄπλατον ἀμφελικτὸς §399ἕλικʼ ἐφρούρει, κτανών·
—And he came to the western court of the singing maidens, (included in above) to pluck with his hand the apple-bearing fruit from the golden leaves, after killing the fiery-backed dragon, which, coiled around, guarded them, a monster hard to approach.
And he entered the recesses of the sea, making calm waters for the oars of mortals.
§403—οὐρανοῦ θʼ ὑπὸ μέσσαν §404ἐλαύνει χέρας ἕδραν, §405Ἄτλαντος δόμον ἐλθών, §406ἀστρωπούς τε κατέσχεν οἴ- §407κους εὐανορίᾳ θεῶν·
—And he put his hands under the middle seat of heaven, (included in above) going to the house of Atlas, and held up the starry homes of the gods by his manly courage.
§408—τὸν ἱππευτάν τʼ Ἀμαζό- §409νων στρατὸν Μαιῶτιν ἀμφὶ §410πολυπόταμον ἔβα διʼ Ἄ- §410aξεινον οἶδμα λίμνας, §411τίνʼ οὐκ ἀφʼ Ἑλλανίας §412ἄγορον ἁλίσας φίλων, §413κόρας Ἀρείας πέπλων §414χρυσεόστολον φάρος, §415ζωστῆρος ὀλεθρίους ἄγρας.
—And he went to the equestrian army of the Amazons, around the many-rivered Maeotis, crossing the inhospitable swell of the Euxine sea, what assembly of friends did he not gather from the land of Greece to seek the gold-adorned robe from the garments of the daughter of Ares, the deadly spoils of the girdle.
And Greece received the famous spoils of the barbarian maiden, and they are preserved in Mycenae.
§419—τάν τε μυριόκρανον §420πολύφονον κύνα Λέρνας §421ὕδραν ἐξεπύρωσεν, §422βέλεσί τʼ ἀμφέβαλʼ ἰόν, §423τὸν τρισώματον οἷσιν ἔ- §424κτα βοτῆρʼ Ἐρυθείας.
—And the ten-thousand-headed, murderous hound of Lerna, the hydra, he destroyed with fire, and smeared its venom on his arrows, with which he killed the three-bodied herdsman of Erytheia.
§425—δρόμων τʼ ἄλλων ἀγάλματʼ §426εὐτυχῆ διῆλθε· τόν τε §427πολυδάκρυον ἔπλευσʼ ἐς Ἅι- §427aδαν, πόνων τελευτάν, §428ἵνʼ ἐκπεραίνει τάλας §429βίοτον, οὐδʼ ἔβα πάλιν.
—And he went through the glorious success of other courses; and he sailed to the tearful Hades, (included in above) the end of his labors, where he, wretched, is ending his life, and has not returned.
§430στέγαι δʼ ἔρημοι φίλων, §431τὰν δʼ ἀνόστιμον τέκνων §432Χάρωνος ἐπιμένει πλάτα §433βίου κέλευθον ἄθεον ἄδι- §434κον· ἐς δὲ σὰς χέρας βλέπει §435δώματʼ οὐ παρόντος.
And the home is empty of friends, and Charon’s returnless oar awaits the returnless path of the children’s life, a godless and unjust journey; And the house looks to your hands, you being absent.
§436—εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ σθένος ἥβων §437δόρυ τʼ ἔπαλλον ἐν αἰχμᾷ, §438Καδμείων τε σύνηβοι, §439τέκεσιν ἂν προπαρέσταν §440ἀλκᾷ· νῦν δʼ ἀπολείπομαι §441τᾶς εὐδαίμονος ἥβας.
—And if I had the strength of youth, and brandished my spear in battle, and my contemporaries among the Cadmeans, I would have stood before the children with strength; but now I am left behind by my happy youth.
§442—ἀλλʼ ἐσορῶ γὰρ τούσδε φθιμένων §443ἔνδυτʼ ἔχοντας, τοὺς τοῦ μεγάλου §444δή ποτε παῖδας τὸ πρὶν Ἡρακλέους, §445ἄλοχόν τε φίλην ὑπὸ σειραίοις §446ποσὶν ἕλκουσαν τέκνα, καὶ γεραιὸν §447πατέρʼ Ἡρακλέους.
—But indeed I see these coming, having the garments of the dead, the children of the once-great Heracles, and his dear wife dragging her children under her trailing feet, and the aged father of Heracles.
Wretched am I, how I cannot restrain the old fountains of tears from my eyes anymore.
Well then: who is the priest, who is the slaughterer of these ill-fated ones, ready to lead these victims to Hades?
§454ὦ τέκνʼ, ἀγόμεθα ζεῦγος οὐ καλὸν νεκρῶν,
O children, we are led as no fair yoke of the dead,