§438πῶς, οἵτινες ζῆν οὐκ ἐῶσʼ ἡμᾶς ἔτι;
How, since they do not even allow us to live anymore?
§439τί δρῶντες ὅ τι καὶ σαφὲς ἔχεις εἰπεῖν ἐμοί;
By doing what? What can you say clearly to me?
§440ψῆφος καθʼ ἡμῶν οἴσεται τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ.
A vote will be cast against us today.
§441φεύγειν πόλιν τήνδʼ;
To flee this city?
ἢ θανεῖν ἢ μὴ θανεῖν;
Or to die or not to die?
§442θανεῖν ὑπʼ ἀστῶν λευσίμῳ πετρώματι.
To die by the citizens by stoning.
§443κᾆτʼ οὐχὶ φεύγεις γῆς ὑπερβαλὼν ὅρους;
Then why do you not flee, crossing the borders of the land?
§444κύκλῳ γὰρ εἱλισσόμεθα παγχάλκοις ὅπλοις.
For we are surrounded in a circle by bronze weapons.
§445ἰδίᾳ πρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἢ πρὸς Ἀργείας χερός;
Privately by enemies, or by the Argive hand?
§446πάντων πρὸς ἀστῶν, ὡς θάνω· βραχὺς λόγος.
By all the citizens, so that I may die; a brief word.
§447ὦ μέλεος, ἥκεις συμφορᾶς ἐς τοὔσχατον.
O wretched one, you have come to the extreme of misfortune.
§448ἐς σὲ ἐλπὶς ἡμὴ καταφυγὰς ἔχει κακῶν.
In you my hope has a refuge from evils.
§449ἀλλʼ ἀθλίως πράσσουσιν εὐτυχὴς μολὼν §450μετάδος φίλοισι σοῖσι σῆς εὐπραξίας, §451καὶ μὴ μόνος τὸ χρηστὸν ἀπολαβὼν ἔχε, §452ἀλλʼ ἀντιλάζου καὶ πόνων ἐν τῷ μέρει, §453χάριτας πατρῴας ἐκτίνων ἐς οὕς σε δεῖ.
But, having come fortunate to those faring wretchedly, share your prosperity with your friends, and do not hold the good fortune having received it alone, but take your turn of the troubles in part, paying back the father's favors to those to whom you ought.
For friends have only a name, but not the deed, who are not friends in misfortunes.
§456καὶ μὴν γέροντι δεῦρʼ ἁμιλλᾶται ποδὶ §457ὁ Σπαρτιάτης Τυνδάρεως, μελάμπεπλος §458κουρᾷ τε θυγατρὸς πενθίμῳ κεκαρμένος.
And indeed, with aged foot, Spartan Tyndareus hastens hither, in black garments and shorn with the mournful haircut of his daughter.
§459ἀπωλόμην, Μενέλαε· Τυνδάρεως ὅδε §460στείχει πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὗ μάλιστʼ αἰδώς μʼ ἔχει §461ἐς ὄμματʼ ἐλθεῖν τοῖσιν ἐξειργασμένοις.
I am ruined, Menelaus; Tyndareus here is walking toward us, of whom most of all shame holds me back from meeting his eyes with the deeds I have done.
§462καὶ γάρ μʼ ἔθρεψε σμικρὸν ὄντα, πολλὰ δὲ §463φιλήματʼ ἐξέπλησε, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος §464παῖδʼ ἀγκάλαισι περιφέρων, Λήδα θʼ ἅμα, §465τιμῶντέ μʼ οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ Διοσκόρω· §466οἷς, ὦ τάλαινα καρδία ψυχή τʼ ἐμή, §467ἀπέδωκʼ ἀμοιβὰς οὐ καλάς.
For he reared me when I was small, and filled me with many kisses, carrying around the child of Agamemnon in his arms, and Leda together with him, honoring me no less than the Dioscuri; to whom, O wretched heart and soul of mine, I returned no beautiful returns.
τίνα σκότον §468λάβω προσώπῳ;
What darkness shall I take for my face?
ποῖον ἐπίπροσθεν νέφος §469θῶμαι, γέροντος ὀμμάτων φεύγων κόρας;
What kind of cloud shall I place before me, fleeing the pupils of the old man's eyes?
Where, where shall I see the husband of my daughter, Menelaus?
ἐπὶ γὰρ τῷ Κλυταιμήστρας τάφῳ §472χοὰς χεόμενος ἔκλυον ὡς ἐς Ναυπλίαν §473ἥκοι σὺν ἀλόχῳ πολυετὴς σεσῳσμένος.
For while pouring libations on Clytemnestra's grave, I heard that he has arrived at Nauplia, saved after many years with his wife.
Lead me; for I wish to stand by his right hand and greet him, seeing a friend after a long time.
§476ὦ πρέσβυ, χαῖρε, Ζηνὸς ὁμόλεκτρον κάρα.
O elder, hail, sharing-bed with Zeus head.
§477ὦ χαῖρε καὶ σύ, Μενέλεως, κήδευμʼ ἐμόν.
O hail to you too, Menelaus, my relation.
§478ἔα·
Ah!
τὸ μέλλον ὡς κακὸν τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι.
How bad it is not to know the future.
This mother-killing serpent here before the house shines sickly lightnings, my abomination.
§481Μενέλαε, προσφθέγγῃ νιν, ἀνόσιον κάρα;
Menelaus, do you speak to him, an unholy head?
§482τί γάρ; φίλου μοι πατρός ἐστιν ἔκγονος.
Why yes; he is the offspring of my dear father.
§483κείνου γὰρ ὅδε πέφυκε, τοιοῦτος γεγώς;
Did he spring from that man, having become such a person?
§484πέφυκεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχεῖ, τιμητέος.
He did; but if he is unfortunate, he must be honored.
§485βεβαρβάρωσαι, χρόνιος ὢν ἐν βαρβάροις.
You have been barbarized, being among barbarians for a long time.
§486Ἑλληνικόν τοι τὸν ὁμόθεν τιμᾶν ἀεί.
It is indeed Greek to always honor one's kin.
§487καὶ τῶν νόμων γε μὴ πρότερον εἶναι θέλειν.
And also not to wish to be superior to the laws.
§488πᾶν τοὐξ ἀνάγκης δοῦλόν ἐστʼ ἐν τοῖς σοφοῖς.
Everything from necessity is a slave among the wise.
§489κέκτησό νυν σὺ τοῦτʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ κτήσομαι.
Keep that then for yourself, but I shall not possess it.
§490ὀργὴ γὰρ ἅμα σου καὶ τὸ γῆρας οὐ σοφόν.
For your anger together with your old age is not wise.
§491πρὸς τόνδʼ ἀγὼν τίς ἀσοφίας ἥκει πέρι;
With respect to this man, what dispute has come about concerning foolishness?
§492εἰ τὰ καλὰ πᾶσι φανερὰ καὶ τὰ μὴ καλά, §493τούτου τίς ἀνδρῶν ἐγένετʼ ἀσυνετώτερος, §494ὅστις τὸ μὲν δίκαιον οὐκ ἐσκέψατο §495οὐδʼ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμον;
If beautiful things and those not beautiful are clear to all, who of men has been more senseless than this man, who did not consider justice nor went to the common law of the Greeks?
§496ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐξέπνευσεν Ἀγαμέμνων βίον §497πληγεὶς θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπὲρ κάρα, §499αἴσχιστον ἔργον — οὐ γὰρ αἰνέσω ποτέ — §500χρῆν αὐτὸν ἐπιθεῖναι μὲν αἵματος δίκην, §501ὁσίαν διώκοντʼ, ἐκβαλεῖν τε δωμάτων §502μητέρα· τὸ σῶφρόν τʼ ἔλαβεν ἀντὶ συμφορᾶς §503καὶ τοῦ νόμου τʼ ἂν εἴχετʼ εὐσεβής τʼ ἂν ἦν.
For when Agamemnon breathed out his life, struck over the head by my daughter— a most shameful deed, for I will never praise it— he ought to have instituted a holy prosecution for blood and expelled his mother from the house; and he would have obtained moderation instead of misfortune, and would have held to the law, and would have been pious.
§504νῦν δʼ ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν δαίμονʼ ἦλθε μητέρι.
But now he has come to the same fate as his mother.
For justly considering her evil, he himself became worse by killing his mother.
§507ἐρήσομαι δέ, Μενέλεως, τοσόνδε σε· §508εἰ τόνδʼ ἀποκτείνειεν ὁμόλεκτρος γυνή, §509χὡ τοῦδε παῖς αὖ μητέρʼ ἀνταποκτενεῖ, §510κἄπειθʼ ὁ κείνου γενόμενος φόνῳ φόνον §511λύσει, πέρας δὴ ποῖ κακῶν προβήσεται;
And I will ask you this much, Menelaus: if a wife should kill this man, and his child in turn should kill the mother, and then the one born after him should dissolve murder with murder, where indeed will the limit of evils go?
§512καλῶς ἔθεντο ταῦτα πατέρες οἱ πάλαι· §513ἐς ὀμμάτων μὲν ὄψιν οὐκ εἴων περᾶν §514οὐδʼ εἰς ἀπάντημʼ, ὅστις αἷμʼ ἔχων κυροῖ, §515φυγαῖσι δʼ ὁσιοῦν, ἀνταποκτείνειν δὲ μή.
The fathers of old established these things well: they did not allow anyone who happens to have blood on him to come into the sight of their eyes or to meet them, but to purify them with exile, and not to kill in return.
For always one would be liable to murder, taking the last pollution into his hands.
§518ἐγὼ δὲ μισῶ μὲν γυναῖκας ἀνοσίους,
For my part, I hate unholy women,