§982οὐ μὴ κακισθεὶς εἰς ἀνανδρίαν πεσῇ.
Do not grow cowardly and fall into unmanliness.
§983ἀλλʼ ἦ τὸν αὐτὸν τῇδʼ ὑποστήσω δόλον;
But shall I indeed set the same snare for her?
§984ᾧ καὶ πόσιν καθεῖλες, Αἴγισθον κτανών.
The very one by which you also brought down her husband, slaying Aegisthus.
§985ἔσειμι· δεινοῦ δʼ ἄρχομαι προβλήματος §986καὶ δεινὰ δράσω γε — εἰ θεοῖς δοκεῖ τάδε, §987ἔστω· πικρὸν δὲ χἡδὺ τἀγώνισμά μοι.
I will go in; and I begin a terrible enterprise, and terrible things indeed I will do—if this is well-pleasing to the gods, let it be; but the contest is both bitter and sweet to me.
§988aβασίλεια γύναι χθονὸς Ἀργείας, §989παῖ Τυνδάρεω, §990καὶ τοῖν ἀγαθοῖν ξύγγονε κούροιν §991Διός, οἳ φλογερὰν αἰθέρʼ ἐν ἄστροις §992ναίουσι, βροτῶν ἐν ἁλὸς ῥοθίοις §993τιμὰς σωτῆρας ἔχοντες·
Royal lady of the Argive land, daughter of Tyndareus, and sister of the two noble sons of Zeus, who dwell in the fiery ether among the stars, possessing saving honors for mortals amid the surging of the sea.
Hail; I revere you equal even to the blessed ones, because of your wealth and great happiness.
χαῖρʼ, ὦ βασίλεια.
Hail, O Queen.
Alight from the carriage, Trojans, and take hold of my hand, so that I may place my foot outside of this chariot.
§1000σκύλοισι μὲν γὰρ θεῶν κεκόσμηνται δόμοι §1001Φρυγίοις, ἐγὼ δὲ τάσδε, Τρῳάδος χθονὸς §1002ἐξαίρετʼ, ἀντὶ παιδὸς ἣν ἀπώλεσα §1003σμικρὸν γέρας, καλὸν δὲ κέκτημαι δόμοις.
For while the temples of the gods are adorned with Phrygian spoils, I possess these women, chosen from the Trojan land, in place of the child whom I lost, a small reward, but a beautiful one for my house.
§1004οὔκουν ἐγώ — δούλη γὰρ ἐκβεβλημένη §1005δόμων πατρῴων δυστυχεῖς οἰκῶ δόμους — §1006μῆτερ, λάβωμαι μακαρίας τῆς σῆς χερός;
Shall I not then—since I am a slave cast out from my ancestral home, inhabiting a miserable house— take hold, mother, of your blessed hand?
§1007δοῦλαι πάρεισιν αἵδε, μὴ σύ μοι πόνει.
These slaves are here; do not trouble yourself for me.
§1008τί δʼ;
What?
αἰχμάλωτόν τοί μʼ ἀπῴκισας δόμων, §1009ᾑρημένων δὲ δωμάτων ᾑρήμεθα, §1010ὡς αἵδε, πατρὸς ὀρφαναὶ λελειμμέναι.
Indeed, you exiled me as a captive from my home, and we were captured when our house was captured, just like these women, left orphaned of a father.
Such indeed were the counsels your father planned against those of his loved ones whom he least ought to have.
I will speak; and yet, when a bad reputation possesses a woman, there is a certain bitterness on her tongue.
§1015ὡς μὲν παρʼ ἡμῖν, οὐ καλῶς· τὸ πρᾶγμα δὲ §1016μαθόντας, ἢν μὲν ἀξίως μισεῖν ἔχῃ, §1017στυγεῖν δίκαιον· εἰ δὲ μή, τί δεῖ στυγεῖν;
In our view, this is not well; but having learned the truth, if she has reason to be deservedly hated, it is right to detest her; but if not, why must one detest her?
Tyndareus gave us to your father, not so that I should die, nor the children I might bear.
§1020κεῖνος δὲ παῖδα τὴν ἐμὴν Ἀχιλλέως §1021λέκτροισι πείσας ᾤχετʼ ἐκ δόμων ἄγων §1022πρυμνοῦχον Αὖλιν, ἔνθʼ ὑπερτείνας πυρᾶς §1023λευκὴν διήμησʼ Ἰφιγόνης παρηΐδα.
But that man, having persuaded my child that she would marry Achilles, went off leading her from the house to harbor-holding Aulis, where, stretching her over a pyre, he cut through the white cheek of Iphigenia.
§1024κεἰ μὲν πόλεως ἅλωσιν ἐξιώμενος, §1025ἢ δῶμʼ ὀνήσων τἄλλα τʼ ἐκσῴζων τέκνα, §1026ἔκτεινε πολλῶν μίαν ὕπερ, συγγνώστʼ ἂν ἦν· §1027νῦν δʼ οὕνεχʼ Ἑλένη μάργος ἦν ὅ τʼ αὖ λαβὼν §1028ἄλοχον κολάζειν προδότιν οὐκ ἠπίστατο, §1029τούτων ἕκατι παῖδʼ ἐμὴν διώλεσεν.
And if, to cure the capture of the city, or to benefit his house and save his other children, he had slain one for the sake of many, it would have been pardonable; but now, because Helen was wanton and the man who had taken her did not know how to punish a treacherous wife, for these reasons he destroyed my child.
Therefore, although I was wronged in these things, I would not have grown wild, nor would I have slain my husband.
§1032ἀλλʼ ἦλθʼ ἔχων μοι μαινάδʼ ἔνθεον κόρην §1033λέκτροις τʼ ἐπεισέφρηκε, καὶ νύμφα δύο §1034ἐν τοῖσιν αὐτοῖς δώμασιν κατείχομεν.
But he came back holding a mad, god-inspired maiden, and introduced her to our bed; and so we kept two brides within the same house.
§1035μῶρον μὲν οὖν γυναῖκες, οὐκ ἄλλως λέγω· §1036ὅταν δʼ, ὑπόντος τοῦδʼ, ἁμαρτάνῃ πόσις §1037τἄνδον παρώσας λέκτρα, μιμεῖσθαι θέλει §1038γυνὴ τὸν ἄνδρα χἅτερον κτᾶσθαι φίλον.
Women, then, are foolish, I do not deny it; but when, this being the case, a husband errs by thrusting aside the bed at home, a wife wishes to imitate her husband and acquire another friend.
And then the blame shines brightly upon us, but the husbands, who are responsible for this, are not spoken of badly.
§1041εἰ δʼ ἐκ δόμων ἥρπαστο Μενέλεως λάθρᾳ, §1042κτανεῖν μʼ Ὀρέστην χρῆν, κασιγνήτης πόσιν §1043Μενέλαον ὡς σώσαιμι;
If Menelaus had been snatched from home in secret, ought I to have killed Orestes, so that I might save Menelaus, my sister's husband?
σὸς δὲ πῶς πατὴρ §1044ἠνέσχετʼ ἂν ταῦτʼ;
And how would your father have tolerated this?
εἶτα τὸν μὲν οὐ θανεῖν §1045κτείνοντα χρῆν τἄμʼ, ἐμὲ δὲ πρὸς κείνου παθεῖν;
Then, was it right for him not to die when he killed my child, but for me to suffer from him?
I killed him; I turned onto the path that was passable towards those who were hostile to him.
φίλων γὰρ ἂν §1048τίς ἂν πατρὸς σοῦ φόνον ἐκοινώνησέ μοι;
For of our friends, who would have shared with me the murder of your father?
Speak, if you wish, and oppose me with frankness, showing how your father died unjustly.
§1051δίκαιʼ ἔλεξας· ἡ δίκη δʼ αἰσχρῶς ἔχει.
You have spoken justly; but your justice is shameful.
§1052γυναῖκα γὰρ χρὴ πάντα συγχωρεῖν πόσει, §1053ἥτις φρενήρης· ᾗ δὲ μὴ δοκεῖ τάδε, §1054οὐδʼ εἰς ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐμῶν ἥκει λόγων.
For a wife who is sensible ought to yield in all things to her husband; but to whoever this does not seem right, she does not even enter into the number of my arguments.
Remember, mother, those last words you spoke, giving me frankness of speech to you.
§1057καὶ νῦν γέ φημι κοὐκ ἀπαρνοῦμαι, τέκνον.
Indeed I say so even now, and I do not deny it, my child.
§1058ἆρα κλύουσα, μῆτερ, εἶτʼ ἔρξεις κακῶς;
Will you then, mother, having heard me, treat me badly?
§1059οὐκ ἔστι, τῇ σῇ δʼ ἡδὺ προσθήσω φρενί.
No indeed, but I will bring pleasure to your mind.
I shall speak; and this is the beginning of my prologue: Would that you, who bore me, had a better mind.