§535εἰ πρόσθεν ἥρπασʼ ἃ σὲ λέγειν πρὸς τόνδʼ ἐχρῆν· §536τὸ θῆλυ γάρ πως μᾶλλον οἰκτρὸν ἀρσένων, §537καὶ τἄμʼ ἔθνῃσκε τέκνʼ, ἀπωλλύμην δʼ ἐγώ.
Forgive me if I have anticipated what you ought to have said to him; for the female is somehow more pitiable than the male, and my children were dying, and I was perishing.
§538Ἄπολλον, οἵοις φροιμίοις ἄρχῃ λόγου.
Apollo! With what kind of prelude do you begin your speech?
§539τεθνᾶσʼ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατὴρ οὑμὸς γέρων.
My brothers are dead, and my aged father.
§540πῶς φῄς;
What do you say?
τί δράσας ἢ δορὸς ποίου τυχών;
By doing what, or meeting with what kind of spear?
§541Λύκος σφʼ ὁ καινὸς γῆς ἄναξ διώλεσεν.
Lycus, the new ruler of the land, destroyed them.
§542ὅπλοις ἀπαντῶν ἢ νοσησάσης χθονός;
Opposing them with arms, or because the land was sick?
§543στάσει· τὸ Κάδμου δʼ ἑπτάπυλον ἔχει κράτος.
By sedition; and he holds the power of Cadmus' seven-gated city.
§544τί δῆτα πρὸς σὲ καὶ γέροντʼ ἦλθεν φόβος;
Why then did fear come upon you and the old man?
§545κτείνειν ἔμελλε πατέρα κἀμὲ καὶ τέκνα.
He intended to kill my father, and me, and the children.
§546τί φῄς;
What do you say?
τί ταρβῶν ὀρφάνευμʼ ἐμῶν τέκνων;
Fearing what from the orphanhood of my children?
§547μή ποτε Κρέοντος θάνατον ἐκτεισαίατο.
Lest they should some day avenge the death of Creon.
§548κόσμος δὲ παίδων τίς ὅδε νερτέροις πρέπων;
And what is this adornment of the children, fitting for the dead?
§549θανάτου τάδʼ ἤδη περιβόλαιʼ ἀνήμμεθα.
We have already put on these coverings of death.
§550καὶ πρὸς βίαν ἐθνῄσκετʼ;
And were you being put to death by force?
ὦ τλήμων ἐγώ.
O wretched me!
§551φίλων γʼ ἔρημοι· σὲ δὲ θανόντʼ ἠκούομεν.
Desolate of friends; and we heard that you were dead.
§552πόθεν δʼ ἐς ὑμᾶς ἥδʼ ἐσῆλθʼ ἀθυμία;
But from where did this despair enter into you?
§553Εὐρυσθέως κήρυκες ἤγγελλον τάδε.
Eurystheus' heralds were announcing this.
§554τί δʼ ἐξελείπετʼ οἶκον ἑστίαν τʼ ἐμήν;
And why did you leave my house and hearth?
§555βίᾳ, πατὴρ μὲν ἐκπεσὼν στρωτοῦ λέχους
By force; my father was cast out from his bed...
§556κοὐκ ἔσχεν αἰδῶ τὸν γέροντʼ ἀτιμάσαι;
And had he no shame to dishonor the old man?
§557αἰδώς γʼ ἀποικεῖ τῆσδε τῆς θεοῦ πρόσω.
Shame indeed dwells far away from this god.
§558οὕτω δʼ ἀπόντες ἐσπανίζομεν φίλων;
And were we so lacking in friends during our absence?
§559φίλοι γάρ εἰσιν ἀνδρὶ δυστυχεῖ τίνες;
For what friends are there for an unfortunate man?
§560μάχας δὲ Μινυῶν ἃς ἔτλην ἀπέπτυσαν;
And did they spit upon the battles of the Minyans which I endured?
§561ἄφιλον, ἵνʼ αὖθίς σοι λέγω, τὸ δυστυχές.
Friendless, let me say to you again, is misfortune.
§562οὐ ῥίψεθʼ Ἅιδου τάσδε περιβολὰς κόμης §563καὶ φῶς ἀναβλέψεσθε, τοῦ κάτω σκότου §564φίλας ἀμοιβὰς ὄμμασιν δεδορκότες;
Throw away these coverings of Hades from your hair, and look up to the light, having seen with your eyes sweet changes instead of the darkness below.
§565ἐγὼ δέ — νῦν γὰρ τῆς ἐμῆς ἔργον χερός — §566πρῶτον μὲν εἶμι καὶ κατασκάψω δόμους §567καινῶν τυράννων, κρᾶτα δʼ ἀνόσιον τεμὼν §568ῥίψω κυνῶν ἕλκημα· Καδμείων δʼ ὅσους §569κακοὺς ἐφηῦρον εὖ παθόντας ἐξ ἐμοῦ, §570τῷ καλλινίκῳ τῷδʼ ὅπλῳ χειρώσομαι·
And I—for now is the work of my hand— first indeed I will go and raze the houses of the new tyrants, and cutting off his unholy head I will throw it for dogs to drag; and of the Cadmeans, as many as I found to be base after receiving benefits from me, I will subdue with this victorious weapon.
§571τοὺς δὲ πτερωτοῖς διαφορῶν τοξεύμασι §572νεκρῶν ἅπαντʼ Ἰσμηνὸν ἐμπλήσω φόνου, §573Δίρκης τε νᾶμα λευκὸν αἱμαχθήσεται.
And others, scattering them with winged arrows, I will fill all the Ismenus with the slaughter of the dead, and the clear stream of Dirce shall be stained with blood.
For whom ought I to defend rather than my wife and children and aged father?
χαιρόντων πόνοι· §576μάτην γὰρ αὐτοὺς τῶνδε μᾶλλον ἤνυσα.
Farewell to my labors; for in vain did I accomplish them more for others than for these.
And I must, on behalf of these, if indeed they on behalf of their father, die defending them.
ἢ τί φήσομεν καλὸν §579ὕδρᾳ μὲν ἐλθεῖν ἐς μάχην λέοντί τε §580Εὐρυσθέως πομπαῖσι, τῶν δʼ ἐμῶν τέκνων §581οὐκ ἐκπονήσω θάνατον;
Or what fine thing shall we say it is to go into battle with a hydra and a lion at the biddings of Eurystheus, if of my own children I do not exhaust myself to ward off death?
οὐκ ἄρʼ Ἡρακλῆς §582ὁ καλλίνικος ὡς πάροιθε λέξομαι.
No longer then shall I be called Heracles the victorious as before.
It is right for children to help those who begot them, and their aged father, and the partner of their marriage.
It is like you, my son, to be a friend to your friends, and to hate your enemies; but do not hasten too much.
§587τί δʼ ἐστὶ τῶνδε θᾶσσον ἢ χρεών, πάτερ;
What is more urgent than these things, father?
§588πολλοὺς πένητας, ὀλβίους δὲ τῷ λόγῳ §589δοκοῦντας εἶναι συμμάχους ἄναξ ἔχει, §590οἳ στάσιν ἔθηκαν καὶ διώλεσαν πόλιν §591ἐφʼ ἁρπαγαῖσι τῶν πέλας, τὰ δʼ ἐν δόμοις §592δαπάναισι φροῦδα διαφυγόνθʼ ὑπʼ ἀργίας.
The king has many allies who are poor, but in repute are thought to be wealthy, who set up sedition and destroyed the city for the plunder of their neighbors, while the things in their own houses are gone, squandered by their laziness.
You were seen entering the city; and since you were seen, beware lest you fall contrary to your expectation, having gathered your enemies together.
§595μέλει μὲν οὐδὲν εἴ με πᾶσʼ εἶδεν πόλις· §596ὄρνιν δʼ ἰδών τινʼ οὐκ ἐν αἰσίοις ἕδραις, §597ἔγνων πόνον τινʼ ἐς δόμους πεπτωκότα· §598ὥστʼ ἐκ προνοίας κρύφιος εἰσῆλθον χθόνα.
I care nothing even if the whole city saw me; but having seen a certain bird in an unfavorable seat, I knew that some trouble had fallen upon my house; so that, with forethought, I entered the land secretly.
Well done; go in now and greet your hearth, and let your father's house see your face.
§601ἥξει γὰρ αὐτὸς σὴν δάμαρτα καὶ τέκνα §602ἕλξων φονεύσων κἄμʼ ἐπισφάξων ἄναξ· §603μένοντι δʼ αὐτοῦ πάντα σοι γενήσεται §604τῇ τʼ ἀσφαλείᾳ κερδανεῖς·
For the king himself will come to drag and murder your wife and children, and to slaughter me too; but if you remain here, everything will turn out as you wish, and you will gain in safety.
πόλιν δὲ σὴν §605μὴ πρὶν ταράξῃς πρὶν τόδʼ εὖ θέσθαι, τέκνον.
And do not disturb your city before you settle this matter well.
§606δράσω τάδʼ· εὖ γὰρ εἶπας·
I will do this; for you have spoken well.
εἶμʼ ἔσω δόμων.
I will go inside the house.
§607χρόνῳ δʼ ἀνελθὼν ἐξ ἀνηλίων μυχῶν §608Ἅιδου Κόρης τʼ ἔνερθεν, οὐκ ἀτιμάσω §609θεοὺς προσειπεῖν πρῶτα τοὺς κατὰ στέγας.
And having returned in time from the sunless depths of Hades and from beneath Kore, I will not neglect to greet first the gods within the house.
§610ἦλθες γὰρ ὄντως δώματʼ εἰς Ἅιδου, τέκνον;
For did you indeed go to the house of Hades, my child?
§611καὶ θῆρά γʼ ἐς φῶς τὸν τρίκρανον ἤγαγον.
Yes, and I brought the three-headed beast into the light.