§402καλῶς ὀλέσθαι, μὴ καλῶς δὲ δυσκλεές.
To die nobly is good, but to die ignobly is a disgrace.
§403ὧν οὕνεκʼ οὐ χρή, μῆτερ, οἰκτίρειν σε γῆν, §404οὐ τἀμὰ λέκτρα· τοὺς γὰρ ἐχθίστους ἐμοὶ §405καὶ σοὶ γάμοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς διαφθερῶ.
Therefore, mother, you need not pity our land, nor my marriage bed; for those who are most hateful to me I shall destroy by means of my marriage.
How pleasantly you laugh at your own misfortunes, and sing things which you will likely not show to be clear.
§408εἰ μή σʼ Ἀπόλλων ἐξεβάκχευεν φρένας, §409οὔ τἂν ἀμισθὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς στρατηλάτας §410τοιαῖσδε φήμαις ἐξέπεμπες ἂν χθονός.
If Apollo had not driven your wits mad, you would not, without price, be sending my generals out of this land with such prophetic words.
But those who are held in high esteem and deemed wise by reputation were, after all, no better than those who are nothing.
§413ὁ γὰρ μέγιστος τῶν Πανελλήνων ἄναξ, §414Ἀτρέως φίλος παῖς, τῆσδʼ ἔρωτʼ ἐξαίρετον §415μαινάδος ὑπέστη· καὶ πένης μέν εἰμʼ ἐγώ, §416ἀτὰρ λέχος γε τῆσδʼ ἂν οὐκ ἐκτησάμην.
For the greatest lord of all the Hellenes, the beloved son of Atreus, submitted to a singular love for this madwoman; and though I am a poor man, I would certainly not have acquired her bed.
§417καὶ σοὶ μέν — οὐ γὰρ ἀρτίας ἔχεις φρένας — §418Ἀργεῖʼ ὀνείδη καὶ Φρυγῶν ἐπαινέσεις §419ἀνέμοις φέρεσθαι παραδίδωμʼ· ἕπου δέ μοι §420πρὸς ναῦς, καλὸν νύμφευμα τῷ στρατηλάτῃ.
And to you—for you do not have sound wits— Argive insults and Phrygian praises I give to the winds to carry away; follow me now to the ships, a fine bride for the general.
§421σὺ δʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἄν σε Λαρτίου χρῄζῃ τόκος §422ἄγειν, ἕπεσθαι· σώφρονος δʼ ἔσῃ λάτρις §423γυναικός, ὥς φασʼ οἱ μολόντες Ἴλιον.
And you, whenever the son of Laertes wishes to lead you away, follow him; and you will be the servant of a prudent woman, as those who came to Ilium say.
§424ἦ δεινὸς ὁ λάτρις.
How terrible is the servant!
τί ποτʼ ἔχουσι τοὔνομα §425κήρυκες, ἓν ἀπέχθημα πάγκοινον βροτοῖς, §426οἱ περὶ τυράννους καὶ πόλεις ὑπηρέται;
Why do messengers have that name, a single common object of hatred to mortals, these lackeys around tyrants and cities?
Do you say that my mother will come to the halls of Odysseus?
But where are the words of Apollo, which, interpreted to me, say that she will die here?
τἄλλα δʼ οὐκ ὀνειδιῶ.
The other things I will not reproach.
§431δύστηνος, οὐκ οἶδʼ οἷά νιν μένει παθεῖν· §432ὡς χρυσὸς αὐτῷ τἀμὰ καὶ Φρυγῶν κακὰ §433δόξει ποτʼ εἶναι.
Wretched man, he knows not what sufferings await him to endure; for my evils and those of the Phrygians will one day seem to him like gold.
δέκα γὰρ ἐκπλήσας ἔτη §434πρὸς τοῖσιν ἐνθάδʼ, ἵξεται μόνος πάτραν §435οὗ δὴ στενὸν δίαυλον ᾤκισται πέτρας §436δεινὴ Χάρυβδις, ὠμοβρώς τʼ ὀρειβάτης §437Κύκλωψ, Λιγυστίς θʼ ἡ συῶν μορφώτρια §438Κίρκη, θαλάσσης θʼ ἁλμυρᾶς ναυάγια, §439λωτοῦ τʼ ἔρωτες, Ἡλίου θʼ ἁγναὶ βόες, §440αἳ σάρκα φωνήεσσαν ἥσουσίν ποτε, §441πικρὰν Ὀδυσσεῖ γῆρυν.
For having completed ten years in addition to those here, he will reach his fatherland alone, where, in the narrow channel of the rocks, has her home terrible Charybdis, and the raw-flesh-eating mountain-roaming Cyclops, and Ligurian Circe, the transformer of pigs, and shipwreck on the salty sea, and the lust for the lotus, and the sacred cattle of the Sun, which will one day utter a speaking flesh, a bitter voice to Odysseus.
But to cut it short, he will go alive to Hades, and having escaped the water of the lake, he will find countless evils in his home when he arrives.
§444ἀλλὰ γὰρ τί τοὺς Ὀδυσσέως ἐξακοντίζω πόνους;
But indeed, why do I shoot forth the labors of Odysseus?
§445στεῖχʼ ὅπως τάχιστʼ· ἐς Ἅιδου νυμφίῳ γημώμεθα.
Go as quickly as possible, so that we may be married to the bridegroom in Hades.
O evil man, you will be evilly buried by night, not by day, you who think you are doing something noble, leader of the Danaids.
§448κἀμέ τοι νεκρὸν φάραγγες γυμνάδʼ ἐκβεβλημένην §449ὕδατι χειμάρρῳ ῥέουσαι, νυμφίου πέλας τάφου, §450θηρσὶ δώσουσιν δάσασθαι, τὴν Ἀπόλλωνος λάτριν.
And as for me, my naked corpse cast out into the ravines where wintry torrents flow, near my bridegroom's tomb, will be given to beasts to tear apart—I, the servant of Apollo.
O crowns of the god dearest to me, mystic ornaments, farewell!
ἐκλέλοιφʼ ἑορτάς, αἷς πάροιθʼ ἠγαλλόμην.
I leave the festivals in which I once rejoiced.
§453ἴτʼ ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ χρωτὸς σπαραγμοῖς, ὡς ἔτʼ οὖσʼ ἁγνὴ χρόα §454δῶ θοαῖς αὔραις φέρεσθαί σοι τάδʼ, ὦ μαντεῖʼ ἄναξ.
Go from my skin by tearing, so that while my flesh is still pure I may give these to the swift breezes to carry to you, O prophetic King.
§455ποῦ σκάφος τὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ;
Where is the general's ship?
ποῖ ποτʼ ἐμβαίνειν με χρή;
Where must I embark?
You cannot be too quick in watching for the breeze with your sails, since you are to lead me out of this land as one of the three Furies.
§458χαῖρέ μοι, μῆτερ· δακρύσῃς μηδέν·
Farewell, my mother; weep not at all.
ὦ φίλη πατρίς, §459οἵ τε γῆς ἔνερθʼ ἀδελφοὶ χὡ τεκὼν ἡμᾶς πατήρ, §460οὐ μακρὰν δέξεσθέ μʼ· ἥξω δʼ ἐς νεκροὺς νικηφόρος §461καὶ δόμους πέρσασʼ Ἀτρειδῶν, ὧν ἀπωλόμεσθʼ ὕπο.
O beloved fatherland, and my brothers beneath the earth, and the father who begot us, not long will you wait to receive me; I shall come to the dead victorious, having destroyed the house of the Atridae, by whom we were destroyed.
Guardians of aged Hecuba, do you not see your mistress, how she falls stretched out speechless?
§464οὐκ ἀντιλήψεσθʼ;
Will you not help her up?
ἦ μεθήσετʼ, ὦ κακαί, §465γραῖαν πεσοῦσαν;
Will you let her lie, you worthless women, the old woman fallen?
αἴρετʼ εἰς ὀρθὸν δέμας.
Raise her body upright.
§466ἐᾶτέ μʼ — οὔτοι φίλα τὰ μὴ φίλʼ, ὦ κόραι — §467κεῖσθαι πεσοῦσαν· πτωμάτων γὰρ ἄξια §468πάσχω τε καὶ πέπονθα κἄτι πείσομαι.
Let me be—indeed, unkind is kindness unwanted, O maidens— to lie fallen; for things worthy of my falls I suffer, and have suffered, and shall yet suffer.
§469ὦ θεοί κακοὺς μὲν ἀνακαλῶ τοὺς συμμάχους,
O gods!
I call upon worthless allies, yet it has some proper form to call upon the gods, whenever one of us meets with unfortunate luck.
First, then, it is pleasing to me to sing of my good fortunes; for I shall cast greater pity upon my misfortunes.
§474ἦμεν τύραννοι κἀς τύραννʼ ἐγημάμην, §475κἀνταῦθʼ ἀριστεύοντʼ ἐγεινάμην τέκνα, §476οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως, ἀλλʼ ὑπερτάτους Φρυγῶν· §477οὓς Τρῳὰς οὐδʼ Ἑλληνὶς οὐδὲ βάρβαρος §478γυνὴ τεκοῦσα κομπάσειεν ἄν ποτε.
We were rulers, and I was married to a ruler, and there I begot outstanding children, not merely as a number, but the topmost of the Phrygians; whom no Trojan, nor Hellenic, nor barbarian woman could ever boast to have begotten.
§479κἀκεῖνά τʼ εἶδον δορὶ πεσόνθʼ Ἑλληνικῷ
And those I saw falling by the Hellenic spear,