Humanitext Reader

Euripides · Rhesus §731-819

Lament of Rhesus' Charioteer and Hector's Rebuke

Passage 9 of 11 · Greek

Summary

The wounded charioteer of Rhesus appears, mourning his master's death and suspecting Hector's treachery. The Chorus defends Hector, who then arrives and furiously rebukes the guards for their negligence.

§731ἰὼ ἰώ,
Ah, ah!
§732συμφορὰ βαρεῖα Θρῃκῶν.
A heavy misfortune for the Thracians!
§732bσυμμάχων τις ὁ στένων.
It is one of the allies who groans.
§733ἰὼ ἰώ,
Ah, ah!
§733aδύστηνος ἐγώ· σύ τʼ, ἄναξ Θρῃκῶν, §734ὦ στυγνοτάτην Τροίαν ἐσιδών, §735οἷόν σε βίου τέλος εἷλεν.
Wretched am I, and you too, king of the Thracians, who looked upon most hateful Troy, what an end of life has seized you!
§736τίς εἶ ποτʼ ἀνδρῶν συμμάχων;
Who on earth of the ally men are you?
κατʼ εὐφρόνην §737ἀμβλῶπες αὐγαὶ κοὔ σε γιγνώσκω τορῶς.
In the night my eyes are dim and I do not recognize you clearly.
§738ποῦ τινʼ ἀνάκτων Τρωικῶν εὕρω;
Where shall I find one of the Trojan lords?
§739ποῦ δῆθʼ Ἕκτωρ §740τὸν ὑπασπίδιον κοῖτον ἰαύει;
Where indeed does Hector sleep his shield-sheltered sleep?
§741τίνι σημήνω διόπων στρατιᾶς §742οἷα πεπόνθαμεν, οἷά τις ἡμᾶς §743δράσας ἀφανῆ φροῦδος, φανερὸν §744Θρῃξὶν πένθος τολυπεύσας;
To whom of the leaders of the army shall I signal what things we have suffered, and what things someone, having done to us, has vanished unseen, having spun conspicuous grief for the Thracians?
§745κακὸν κυρεῖν τι Θρῃκίῳ στρατεύματι §746ἔοικεν, οἷα τοῦδε γιγνώσκω κλύων.
Some evil seems to have befallen the Thracian army, to judge by what I hear from this man.
§747ἔρρει στρατιά, πέπτωκεν ἄναξ §748δολίῳ πληγῇ.
The army is ruined, the king has fallen by a treacherous blow.
§749ἆ ἆ ἆ ἆ,
Ah, ah, ah, ah!
§750οἵα μʼ ὀδύνη τείρει φονίου §751τραύματος εἴσω.
What pain wears me out from the murderous wound within!
πῶς ἂν ὀλοίμην;
How I wish I could perish!
§752χρῆν γάρ μʼ ἀκλεῶς Ῥῆσόν τε θανεῖν, §753Τροίᾳ κέλσαντʼ ἐπίκουρον;
For was it fated for me and Rhesus to die ingloriously, having come to Troy as an ally?
§754τάδʼ οὐκ ἐν αἰνιγμοῖσι σημαίνει κακά· §755σαφῶς γὰρ αὐδᾷ συμμάχους ὀλωλότας.
He signals these evils not in riddles; for clearly he speaks of allies destroyed.
§756κακῶς πέπρακται κἀπὶ τοῖς κακοῖσι πρὸς §757αἴσχιστα· καίτοι δὶς τόσον κακὸν τόδε·
Things have gone badly, and on top of these evils, most shamefully; and yet this is twice as great an evil.
§758θανεῖν γὰρ εὐκλεῶς μέν, εἰ θανεῖν χρεών, §759λυπρὸν μὲν οἶμαι τῷ θανόντι — πῶς γὰρ οὔ; — §760τοῖς ζῶσι δʼ ὄγκος καὶ δόμων εὐδοξία.
For to die gloriously, if one must die, is painful, I think, for the one who dies—how could it not be? — but for the living it is pride and glory for their houses.
§761ἡμεῖς δʼ ἀβούλως κἀκλεῶς ὀλώλαμεν.
But we have perished thoughtlessly and ingloriously.
§762ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ηὔνασʼ Ἑκτόρεια χείρ, §763ξύνθημα λέξας, ηὕδομεν πεδοστιβεῖ §764κόπῳ δαμέντες, οὐδʼ ἐφρουρεῖτο στρατὸς §765φυλακαῖσι νυκτέροισιν, οὐδʼ ἐν τάξεσιν §766ἔκειτο τεύχη, πλῆκτρά τʼ οὐκ ἐπὶ ζυγοῖς §767ἵππων καθήρμοσθʼ, ὡς ἄναξ ἐπεύθετο §768κρατοῦντας ὑμᾶς κἀφεδρεύοντας νεῶν §769πρύμναισι· φαύλως δʼ ηὕδομεν πεπτωκότες.
For when Hector's hand had laid us to rest, having told us the watchword, we slept, by earth-treading fatigue overcome, nor was the army guarded by night watches, nor in the ranks did weapons lie, and the whips were not fastened on the yokes of the horses, because our king was informed that you were victorious and lying in wait for the ships' sterns; so we slept, carelessly fallen.
§770κἀγὼ μελούσῃ καρδίᾳ λήξας ὕπνου §771πώλοισι χόρτον, προσδοκῶν ἑωθινὴν §772ζεύξειν ἐς ἀλκήν, ἀφθόνῳ μετρῶ χερί.
And I, having ceased from sleep with an anxious heart, to the fillies fodder, expecting the morning yoking for battle, was measuring out with a generous hand.
§773λεύσσω δὲ φῶτε περιπολοῦνθʼ ἡμῶν στρατὸν §774πυκνῆς διʼ ὄρφνης· ὡς δʼ ἐκινήθην ἐγώ, §775ἐπτηξάτην τε κἀνεχωρείτην πάλιν·
And I saw two men prowling about our army through the thick darkness; and when I moved, they crouched and retreated back.
§776ἤπυσα δʼ αὐτοῖς μὴ πελάζεσθαι στρατῷ, §777κλῶπας δοκήσας συμμάχων πλάθειν τινάς.
And I shouted to them not to approach the army, thinking some thieves from the allies were drawing near.
§778οἳ δʼ οὐδέν· οὐ μὴν οὐδʼ ἐγὼ τὰ πλείονα.
But they said nothing; indeed, nor did I say any more.
§779ηὗδον δʼ ἀπελθὼν αὖθις ἐς κοίτην πάλιν.
And going back, I slept again in my bed.
§780καί μοι καθʼ ὕπνον δόξα τις παρίσταται· §781ἵππους γὰρ ἃς ἔθρεψα κἀδιφρηλάτουν §782Ῥήσῳ παρεστώς, εἶδον, ὡς ὄναρ δοκῶν, §783λύκους ἐπεμβεβῶτας ἑδραίαν ῥάχιν· §784θείνοντε δʼ οὐρᾷ πωλικῆς ῥινοῦ τρίχα §785ἤλαυνον, αἳ δʼ ἔρρεγκον ἐξ ἀντηρίδων §786θυμὸν πνέουσαι κἀνεχαίτιζον φόβῳ.
And in my sleep a certain vision presented itself to me; for the horses which I had bred and used to drive, standing beside Rhesus, I saw, in a dream as it seemed, wolves mounted upon their seated backs; and striking with their tails the hair of the fillies' hide, they drove them, and they snorted from their nostrils, breathing out fury and rearing up in fear.
§787ἐγὼ δʼ ἀμύνων θῆρας ἐξεγείρομαι §788πώλοισιν· ἔννυχος γὰρ ἐξώρμα φόβος.
And I, warding off the beasts, awoke for the fillies; for a nightly terror was ruffling them.
§789κλύω δʼ ἐπάρας κρᾶτα μυχθισμὸν νεκρῶν.
And raising my head, I heard the snorting of dying men.
§790θερμὸς δὲ κρουνὸς δεσπότου πάρα σφαγαῖς §791βάλλει με δυσθνῄσκοντος αἵματος νέου.
And a warm stream of fresh blood from the slaughter of my master who was dying hard, strikes me.
§792ὀρθὸς δʼ ἀνᾴσσω χειρὶ σὺν κενῇ δορός.
And I leap up erect, with my hand empty of a spear.
§793καί μʼ ἔγχος αὐγάζοντα καὶ θηρώμενον §794παίει παραστὰς νεῖραν ἐς πλευρὰν ξίφει §795ἀνὴρ ἀκμάζων· φασγάνου γὰρ ᾐσθόμην §796πληγῆς, βαθεῖαν ἄλοκα τραύματος λαβών.
And as I was looking for and seeking a spear, a man in his prime, standing by, strikes me in the lower flank with his sword; a man in his prime; for I felt the blow of the sword, having received a deep furrow of a wound.
§797πίπτω δὲ πρηνής· οἳ δʼ ὄχημα πωλικὸν §798λαβόντες ἵππων ἵεσαν φυγῇ πόδα.
And I fall prone; and they, having taken the chariot and horses, sent their feet in flight.
§798aἆ ἆ.
Ah, ah!
§799ὀδύνη με τείρει, κοὐκέτʼ ὀρθοῦμαι τάλας.
Pain wears me out, and no longer do I stand upright, wretched me.
§800καὶ ξυμφορὰν μὲν οἶδʼ ὁρῶν, τρόπῳ δʼ ὅτῳ §801τεθνᾶσιν οἱ θανόντες οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι, §802οὐδʼ ἐξ ὁποίας χειρός.
And indeed I know the disaster, seeing it, but in what way those who died have perished, I cannot tell, nor by whose hand.
εἰκάσαι δέ μοι §803πάρεστι λυπρὰ πρὸς φίλων πεπονθέναι.
But it is open to me to guess that we have suffered grievous things from friends.
§804ἡνίοχε Θρῃκὸς τοῦ κακῶς πεπραγότος, §805μηδὲν δυσοίζου· πολέμιοι ῎δρασαν τάδε. prodelision, accent and breathing left behind
O charioteer of the Thracian who has fared ill, suspect nothing; enemies have done these things.
§806Ἕκτωρ δὲ καὐτὸς συμφορᾶς πεπυσμένος §807χωρεῖ· συναλγεῖ δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, σοῖς κακοῖς.
And Hector himself, having learned of the disaster, is coming; and he grieves, as it seems, at your evils.
§808πῶς, ὦ μέγιστα πήματʼ ἐξειργασμένοι, §809μολόντες ὑμᾶς πολεμίων κατάσκοποι §810λήθουσιν αἰσχρῶς, καὶ κατεσφάγη στρατός, §811κοὔτʼ εἰσιόντας στρατόπεδʼ ἐξαπώσατε §812οὔτʼ ἐξιόντας;
How, O you who have wrought the greatest disasters, did the enemies' scouts, having come, escape your notice shamefully, and the army was slaughtered, and neither did you drive them away when they were entering the camp, nor when they were leaving?
τῶνδε τίς τείσει δίκην §813πλὴν σοῦ;
Who of these shall pay the penalty except you?
σὲ γὰρ δὴ φύλακά φημʼ εἶναι στρατοῦ.
For indeed I say that you are the guard of the army.
§814φροῦδοι δʼ ἄπληκτοι, τῇ Φρυγῶν κακανδρίᾳ §815πόλλʼ ἐγγελῶντες τῷ στρατηλάτῃ τʼ ἐμοί.
And they are gone unstruck, at the Phrygians' cowardice much mocking, and at me, the general.
§816εὖ νυν τόδʼ ἴστε — Ζεὺς ὀμώμοται πατήρ — §817ἤτοι μάραγνά γʼ ἢ καρανιστὴς μόρος §818μένει σε δρῶντα τοιάδʼ, ἢ τὸν Ἕκτορα §819τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι καὶ κακὸν νομίζετε.
Know this well now—Father Zeus has been sworn by— either the scourge or a beheading death awaits you who have done such things, or you must consider Hector to be a nobody and a coward.

Notes

  1. §751πῶς ἂν ὀλοίμην; — The optative with ἄν in a question introduced by πῶς expresses a wish that is felt to be unrealizable or difficult to achieve under the present circumstances ("how I wish I could perish").
  2. §781ἵππους γὰρ ἃς ἔθρεψα... εἶδον — A proleptic construction. Instead of saying "I saw wolves mounted on the horses which I bred," the noun ἵππους is anticipated as the direct object of εἶδον in the accusative, influenced by the relative clause ἃς ἔθρεψα.
  3. §805πολέμιοι ῎δρασαν — Aphaeresis (prodelision) where the initial short vowel (ε-) of ἔδρασαν is elided after the preceding long vowel or diphthong (-οι) of πολέμιοι (πολέμιοι ἔδρασαν becomes πολέμιοι 'δρασαν).
  4. §819τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι — The articular infinitive in the neuter singular with the negative particle μή ("to be nothing"), acting as a nominal expression meaning "a nobody" or "of no account," which functions as the accusative complement of the verb νομίζετε.

Cite this passage

Euripides, Rhesus §731-819. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg019.humanitext-grc2:731-819

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