§835θύρσον γε χειρὶ καὶ νεβροῦ στικτὸν δέρας. §836οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην θῆλυν ἐνδῦναι στολήν. §837ἀλλʼ αἷμα θήσεις συμβαλὼν βάκχαις μάχην. §838ὀρθῶς· μολεῖν χρὴ πρῶτον εἰς κατασκοπήν. §839σοφώτερον γοῦν ἢ κακοῖς θηρᾶν κακά. §840καὶ πῶς διʼ ἄστεως εἶμι Καδμείους λαθών; §841ὁδοὺς ἐρήμους ἴμεν· ἐγὼ δʼ ἡγήσομαι. §842πᾶν κρεῖσσον ὥστε μὴ ʼγγελᾶν βάκχας ἐμοί. §843ἐλθόντʼ ἐς οἴκους ἃν δοκῇ βουλεύσομαι. §844ἔξεστι· πάντῃ τό γʼ ἐμὸν εὐτρεπὲς πάρα. §845στείχοιμʼ ἄν· ἢ γὰρ ὅπλʼ ἔχων πορεύσομαι §846ἢ τοῖσι σοῖσι πείσομαι βουλεύμασιν. §848γυναῖκες, ἁνὴρ ἐς βόλον καθίσταται, §847ἥξει δὲ βάκχας, οὗ θανὼν δώσει δίκην. §849Διόνυσε, νῦν σὸν ἔργον· οὐ γὰρ εἶ πρόσω· §850τεισώμεθʼ αὐτόν.
"A thyrsus in your hand, and a dappled fawnskin." "I could not put on a female dress." "But you will shed blood if you join battle with the Bacchae." "Rightly so; I must first go to spy." "At any rate, that is wiser than hunting evil with evil." "And how shall I go through the city escaping the notice of the Cadmeans?" "We shall go by empty streets; and I will lead the way." "Anything is better than for the Bacchae to mock me." "Going into the palace, I will consider what seems best." "It is allowed; on my part, everything is ready." "I shall go in; for either I shall march with weapons," "or I shall yield to your counsels." "Women, the man is walking into the net," "and he will reach the Bacchae, where he will pay the penalty with his death." "Dionysus, now it is your task; for you are not far away." "Let us punish him.
πρῶτα δʼ ἔκστησον φρενῶν, §851ἐνεὶς ἐλαφρὰν λύσσαν· ὡς φρονῶν μὲν εὖ §852οὐ μὴ θελήσῃ θῆλυν ἐνδῦναι στολήν, §853ἔξω δʼ ἐλαύνων τοῦ φρονεῖν ἐνδύσεται. §854χρῄζω δέ νιν γέλωτα Θηβαίοις ὀφλεῖν §855γυναικόμορφον ἀγόμενον διʼ ἄστεως §856ἐκ τῶν ἀπειλῶν τῶν πρίν, αἷσι δεινὸς ἦν. §857ἀλλʼ εἶμι κόσμον ὅνπερ εἰς Ἅιδου λαβὼν §858ἄπεισι μητρὸς ἐκ χεροῖν κατασφαγείς, §859Πενθεῖ προσάψων· γνώσεται δὲ τὸν Διὸς §860Διόνυσον, ὃς πέφυκεν ἐν τέλει θεός, §861δεινότατος, ἀνθρώποισι δʼ ἠπιώτατος. §862ἆρʼ ἐν παννυχίοις χοροῖς §863θήσω ποτὲ λευκὸν §864πόδʼ ἀναβακχεύουσα, δέραν §865εἰς αἰθέρα δροσερὸν ῥίπτουσʼ, §866ὡς νεβρὸς χλοεραῖς ἐμπαί- §867ζουσα λείμακος ἡδοναῖς, §868ἡνίκʼ ἂν φοβερὰν φύγῃ §869θήραν ἔξω φυλακᾶς §870εὐπλέκτων ὑπὲρ ἀρκύων, §871θωΰσσων δὲ κυναγέτας §872συντείνῃ δράμημα κυνῶν· §873μόχθοις τʼ ὠκυδρόμοις τʼ ἀέλ- §873aλαις θρῴσκει πεδίον §874παραποτάμιον, ἡδομένα §875βροτῶν ἐρημίαις σκιαρο- §876κόμοιό τʼ ἔρνεσιν ὕλας.
First drive him out of his mind," "instilling a light madness; since, if he is in his right mind," "he will certainly not be willing to put on a female dress," "but driven out of his senses he will put it on." "And I desire him to become a laughing-stock to the Thebans," "led through the city in womanly form," "after those former threats with which he was so terrible." "But I go to fit on Pentheus the attire which he will take with him to Hades," "departing after being slaughtered by his mother's hands," "dressed upon him; and he shall know the son of Zeus," "Dionysus, who is in the end a god," "most terrible, yet to mortals most gentle." Shall I ever in the night-long dances place my white foot in Bacchic revel, throwing back my neck into the dewy air, like a fawn playing in the green pleasures of a meadow, when she has fled the fearful hunt, out of the watch over the well-woven nets, while the huntsman, shouting aloud, urges on the running of his hounds; and with panting breath and swift-running gusts she bounds along the plain by the river, rejoicing in the solitudes free from mortals and in the young shoots of the shady-leaved forest.
§877τί τὸ σοφόν;
What is wisdom?
ἢ τί τὸ κάλλιον §878παρὰ θεῶν γέρας ἐν βροτοῖς §879ἢ χεῖρʼ ὑπὲρ κορυφᾶς §880τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρείσσω κατέχειν;
Or what is a more beautiful gift from the gods among mortals than to hold a hand more powerful over the head of one's enemies?
§881ὅ τι καλὸν φίλον ἀεί.
What is beautiful is ever dear.
Slowly is it set in motion, but yet trustworthy is the divine strength.
ἀπευθύνει δὲ βροτῶν §885τούς τʼ ἀγνωμοσύναν τιμῶν- §886τας καὶ μὴ τὰ θεῶν αὔξον- §887τας σὺν μαινομένᾳ δόξᾳ.
And it chastises those of mortals who honor ruthlessness and do not exalt the things of the gods, in their mad delusion.
They hide in various ways the long foot of time and hunt down the unholy.
For it is never right to think or practice beyond the laws.
§893κούφα γὰρ δαπάνα νομί- §893aζειν ἰσχὺν τόδʼ ἔχειν, §894ὅ τι ποτʼ ἄρα τὸ δαιμόνιον, §895τό τʼ ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ νόμιμον §896ἀεὶ φύσει τε πεφυκός.
For it is a light expense to believe that this has power: whatever the divine may be, and that what has been established in long time is ever-enduring and rooted in nature.
§897τί τὸ σοφόν;
What is wisdom?
ἢ τί τὸ κάλλιον §898παρὰ θεῶν γέρας ἐν βροτοῖς §899ἢ χεῖρʼ ὑπὲρ κορυφᾶς §900τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρείσσω κατέχειν;
Or what is a more beautiful gift from the gods among mortals than to hold a hand more powerful over the head of one's enemies?
§901ὅ τι καλὸν φίλον ἀεί.
What is beautiful is ever dear.
Happy is he who from the sea escapes the storm, and reaches harbor.
ἑτέρᾳ δʼ ἕτερος ἕτερον §906ὄλβῳ καὶ δυνάμει παρῆλθεν.
In one way or another, one man surpasses another in wealth and power.
§907μυρίαι δʼ ἔτι μυρίοις §908εἰσὶν ἐλπίδες· αἳ μὲν §908aτελευτῶσιν ἐν ὄλβῳ §909βροτοῖς, αἳ δʼ ἀπέβησαν·
And countless are still the hopes for countless men; some end in wealth for mortals, while others vanish.
But he whose life day by day is happy, him I count blessed.
§912σὲ τὸν πρόθυμον ὄνθʼ ἃ μὴ χρεὼν ὁρᾶν §913σπεύδοντά τʼ ἀσπούδαστα, Πενθέα λέγω, §914ἔξιθι πάροιθε δωμάτων, ὄφθητί μοι, §915σκευὴν γυναικὸς μαινάδος βάκχης ἔχων, §916μητρός τε τῆς σῆς καὶ λόχου κατάσκοπος· §917πρέπεις δὲ Κάδμου θυγατέρων μορφὴν μιᾷ. §918καὶ μὴν ὁρᾶν μοι δύο μὲν ἡλίους δοκῶ, §919δισσὰς δὲ Θήβας καὶ πόλισμʼ ἑπτάστομον· §920καὶ ταῦρος ἡμῖν πρόσθεν ἡγεῖσθαι δοκεῖς §921καὶ σῷ κέρατα κρατὶ προσπεφυκέναι.
"You who are eager to see what you should not," "and hastening what should not be hastened, Pentheus, I mean you," "come out before the palace, show yourself to me," "wearing the attire of a woman, a maenad, a Bacchic reveler," "a spy upon your mother and her band." "Indeed, you resemble in form one of the daughters of Cadmus." "And indeed I seem to see two suns," "and a double Thebes, and the seven-gated city twofold." "And you seem to lead us as a bull," "and horns seem to have grown upon your head." "Were you ever a beast?
§922ἀλλʼ ἦ ποτʼ ἦσθα θήρ; τεταύρωσαι γὰρ οὖν. §923ὁ θεὸς ὁμαρτεῖ, πρόσθεν ὢν οὐκ εὐμενής, §924ἔνσπονδος ἡμῖν·
For indeed you have been turned into a bull." "The god accompanies us, who was not favorable before," "but is now at peace with us.
νῦν δʼ ὁρᾷς ἃ χρή σʼ ὁρᾶν. §925τί φαίνομαι δῆτʼ;
Now you see what you ought to see." "How do I look then?
οὐχὶ τὴν Ἰνοῦς στάσιν §926ἢ τὴν Ἀγαύης ἑστάναι, μητρός γʼ ἐμῆς; §927αὐτὰς ἐκείνας εἰσορᾶν δοκῶ σʼ ὁρῶν. §928ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἕδρας σοι πλόκαμος ἐξέστηχʼ ὅδε, §929οὐχ ὡς ἐγώ νιν ὑπὸ μίτρᾳ καθήρμοσα. §930ἔνδον προσείων αὐτὸν ἀνασείων τʼ ἐγὼ
Do I not stand like Ino," "or like Agave, my own mother?" "Looking at you, I seem to see those very women." "But this lock of hair has fallen out of its place," "not as I arranged it under the headband." "Inside, shaking it back and forth as I moved,"