§519πρώτην δὲ θυγατέρʼ, ἣ πόσιν κατέκτανεν· §520Ἑλένην τε, τὴν σὴν ἄλοχον, οὔποτʼ αἰνέσω §521οὐδʼ ἂν προσείποιμʼ· οὐδὲ σὲ ζηλῶ, κακῆς §522γυναικὸς ἐλθόνθʼ οὕνεκʼ ἐς Τροίας πέδον.
and first my daughter, who killed her husband; and Helen, your wife, I will never praise, nor would I speak to her; nor do I envy you, who for the sake of an evil woman went to the plain of Troy.
§523ἀμυνῶ δʼ, ὅσονπερ δυνατός εἰμι, τῷ νόμῳ, §524τὸ θηριῶδες τοῦτο καὶ μιαιφόνον §525παύων, ὃ καὶ γῆν καὶ πόλεις ὄλλυσʼ ἀεί.
But I will defend the law, as far as I am able, stopping this beastly and murderous thing, which always destroys both land and cities.
For what kind of soul did you have then, O wretched one, when your mother exposed her breast, entreating you, she who bore you?
ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἰδὼν τἀκεῖ κακά, §529δακρύοις γέροντʼ ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκτήκω τάλας.
I indeed, though not seeing the evils there, melt my aged eye with tears, wretched as I am.
§530ἓν δʼ οὖν λόγοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ὁμορροθεῖ· §531μισῇ γε πρὸς θεῶν καὶ τίνεις μητρὸς δίκας, §532μανίαις ἀλαίνων καὶ φόβοις.
At any rate, one thing agrees with my words: you are indeed hated by the gods and are paying the penalty for your mother, wandering in madness and fears.
τί μαρτύρων §533ἄλλων ἀκούειν δεῖ μʼ, ἅ γʼ εἰσορᾶν πάρα;
Why is there need for me to hear other witnesses, when it is possible to see these things?
§534ὡς οὖν ἂν εἰδῇς, Μενέλεως, τοῖσιν θεοῖς §535μὴ πρᾶσσʼ ἐναντίʼ, ὠφελεῖν τοῦτον θέλων, §536ἔα δʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καταφονευθῆναι πέτροις, §537ἢ μὴ ʼπίβαινε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός.
So that you may know, Menelaus, do not act contrary to the gods, wishing to help this man, but suffer him to be put to death by the citizens with stones, or do not set foot on Spartan land.
My daughter, having died, received her just deserts; but it was not fitting for her to die by this man's hand.
In other respects I am by nature a blessed man, except regarding my daughters; in this I am not happy.
τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ εὐδαιμονῶ. §542ζηλωτὸς ὅστις εὐτύχησεν ἐς τέκνα §543καὶ μὴ ʼπισήμους συμφορὰς ἐκτήσατο.
Enviable is the man who is fortunate in his children and has not acquired conspicuous misfortunes.
O elder, I indeed dread to speak to you, since I am about to pain both you and your mind.
I know that I am unholy, having killed my mother, but holy in another respect, avenging my father.
§548ἀπελθέτω δὴ τοῖς λόγοισιν ἐκποδὼν §549τὸ γῆρας ἡμῖν τὸ σόν, ὅ μʼ ἐκπλήσσει λόγου, §550καὶ καθʼ ὁδὸν εἶμι· νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα.
Let your old age go out of the way of my words, which terrifies me from speaking, and I will proceed on my way; but now I fear your gray hair.
§551τί χρῆν με δρᾶσαι;
What was it necessary for me to do?
δύο γὰρ ἀντίθες δυοῖν· §552πατὴρ μὲν ἐφύτευσέν με, σὴ δʼ ἔτικτε παῖς, §553τὸ σπέρμʼ ἄρουρα παραλαβοῦσʼ ἄλλου πάρα· §554ἄνευ δὲ πατρὸς τέκνον οὐκ εἴη ποτʼ ἄν.
For set two things against two: my father begot me, and your daughter gave birth to me, like a field receiving the seed from another; but without a father a child would never exist.
I reasoned therefore that I belonged more to the author of my race than to her who undertook my nurture.
§557ἡ σὴ δὲ θυγάτηρ — μητέρʼ αἰδοῦμαι λέγειν — §558ἰδίοισιν ὑμεναίοισι κοὐχὶ σώφροσιν §559ἐς ἀνδρὸς ᾔει λέκτρʼ· ἐμαυτόν, ἢν λέγω §560κακῶς ἐκείνην, ἐξερῶ· λέξω δʼ ὅμως.
But your daughter—I am ashamed to call her mother— went to a man's bed in private and not moderate weddings; if I speak ill of her, I shall speak ill of myself, yet I will speak nonetheless.
§561Αἴγισθος ἦν ὁ κρυπτὸς ἐν δόμοις πόσις.
Aegisthus was her secret husband in the house.
Him I killed, and over him I sacrificed my mother, doing unholy things indeed, but avenging my father.
And as for your threats that I must be stoned, hear how I benefit all Greece.
§566εἰ γὰρ γυναῖκες ἐς τόδʼ ἥξουσιν θράσους, §567ἄνδρας φονεύειν, καταφυγὰς ποιούμεναι §568ἐς τέκνα, μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι, §569παρʼ οὐδὲν αὐταῖς ἦν ἂν ὀλλύναι πόσεις §570ἐπίκλημʼ ἐχούσαις ὅ τι τύχοι.
For if women come to this point of boldness, to murder husbands, making refuges in their children, hunting for pity with their breasts, it would be of no account to them to destroy their husbands, having whatever accusation might happen.
δράσας δʼ ἐγὼ §571δείνʼ, ὡς σὺ κομπεῖς, τόνδʼ ἔπαυσα τὸν νόμον.
But I, having done dreadful things, as you boast, stopped this custom.
§572μισῶν δὲ μητέρʼ ἐνδίκως ἀπώλεσα, §573ἥτις μεθʼ ὅπλων ἄνδρʼ ἀπόντʼ ἐκ δωμάτων §574πάσης ὑπὲρ γῆς Ἑλλάδος στρατηλάτην §575προύδωκε κοὐκ ἔσῳσʼ ἀκήρατον λέχος·
And justly hating my mother, I destroyed her, who betrayed her husband absent from home with weapons, the general for the whole land of Greece, and did not keep her bed pure.
§576ἐπεὶ δʼ ἁμαρτοῦσʼ ᾔσθετʼ, οὐχ αὑτῇ δίκην §577ἐπέθηκεν, ἀλλʼ, ὡς μὴ δίκην δοίη πόσει, §578ἐζημίωσε πατέρα κἀπέκτεινʼ ἐμόν.
And when she realized she had sinned, she did not impose punishment on herself, but so that she might not pay the penalty to her husband, she penalized and killed my father.
§579πρὸς θεῶν — ἐν οὐ καλῷ μὲν ἐμνήσθην θεῶν, §580φόνον δικάζων· εἰ δὲ δὴ τὰ μητέρος §581σιγῶν ἐπῄνουν, τί μʼ ἂν ἔδρασʼ ὁ κατθανών;
By the gods—it is not in a good place that I have mentioned the gods, pleading a case of murder—but if indeed I had praised my mother's deeds by keeping silent, what would the dead man have done to me?
§582οὐκ ἄν με μισῶν ἀνεχόρευʼ Ἐρινύσιν;
Would he not, hating me, have stirred up the Furies against me?
Or do the champion goddesses stand by the mother, but do they not stand by him, who was more wronged?
§585σύ τοι φυτεύσας θυγατέρʼ, ὦ γέρον, κακὴν §586ἀπώλεσάς με· διὰ τὸ γὰρ κείνης θράσος §587πατρὸς στερηθεὶς ἐγενόμην μητροκτόνος.
You indeed, having begotten an evil daughter, O elder, destroyed me; for because of her boldness, deprived of my father, I became a matricide.
§588ὁρᾷς, Ὀδυσσέως ἄλοχον οὐ κατέκτανε §589Τηλέμαχος· οὐ γὰρ ἐπεγάμει πόσει πόσιν, §590μένει δʼ ἐν οἴκοις ὑγιὲς εὐνατήριον.
You see, Telemachus did not kill the wife of Odysseus; for she did not marry husband upon husband, but a healthy marriage-bed remains in the house.
§591ὁρᾷς δʼ Ἀπόλλωνʼ, ὃς μεσομφάλους ἕδρας §592ναίων βροτοῖσι στόμα νέμει σαφέστατον, §593ᾧ πειθόμεσθα πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἂν κεῖνος λέγῃ· §594τούτῳ πιθόμενος τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἔκτανον.
And you see Apollo, who inhabiting the seat at the center of the earth dispenses most clear speech to mortals, whom we obey in all things that he says; obeying him, I killed her who bore me.
Hold him unholy and kill him; he sinned, not I.
τί χρῆν με δρᾶν;
What was it necessary for me to do?
§597ἢ οὐκ ἀξιόχρεως ὁ θεὸς ἀναφέροντί μοι
Or is the god not sufficient when I refer the guilt to him?