Humanitext Reader

Euripides · Fragments §82-124

Moral Reflections and the Lament of Bound Andromeda

Passage 3 of 35 · Greek

Summary

Following moral and gnomic fragments on parent-child relations, slavery, and the injustice of wealth, the scene depicts the agonizing lament of Andromeda, bound to a rock as prey for a sea-monster, and the dramatic arrival of Perseus flying to her rescue.

§82τὰ τῶν τεκόντων ὡς μετέρχεται θεὸς μιάσματα
How god pursues the pollutions of the parents!
§83εἰ τοῦ τεκόντος οὐδὲν ἐντρέπῃ πατρός
If you pay no respect to the father who begot you.
§84ἢ τί πλέον εἶναι παῖδας ἀνθρώποις, πάτερ, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς δεινοῖσιν ὠφελήσομεν;
Or what is the advantage for men to have children, father, if we do not help them in times of dread?
§85μέτεστι τοῖς δούλοισι δεσποτῶν νόσου.
Slaves share in the disease of their masters.
§86ὅστις δὲ δούλῳ φωτὶ πιστεύει βροτῶν, πολλὴν παρ’ ἡμῖν μωρίαν ὀφλισκάνει.
And whoever of mortals trusts a slave, incurs a charge of great folly among us.
§87γυναῖκες, ὁρμήθητε μηδ’ ἀθυμία σχέθῃ τις ὑμᾶς· ταῦτα γὰρ σκεθρῶς ὁρᾶν ἡμᾶς ἀνάγκη τοὺς νομίζοντας τέχνην
Women, set forth, and let no despondency hold any of you back; for it is necessary for us, who deem this a skill, to look into these things accurately.
§88πολὺς δ’ ἀνεῖρπε κισσὸς εὐφυὴς κλάδος, ἀηδόνων μουσεῖον
And much ivy was creeping up, a well-grown branch, a shrine of nightingales.
§89οὐ γάρ ποτ’ εἴων Σθένελον εἰς τὸν εὐτυχῆ χωροῦντα τοῖχον τῆς δίκης ἀποστερεῖν.
For I never allowed Sthenelus, stepping toward the fortunate side, to rob justice.
§90πόθεν δὲ πεύκης πανὸν ἐξηῦρες λαβεῖν;
But from where did you find a pine torch to take?
§91ἀτρέκεια δ’ ἄριστον ἀνδρὸς ἐν πόλει δικαίου πέλει.
And accuracy is the best quality of a just man in the city.
§92ἴστω τ’ ἄφρων ὢν ὅστις ἄνθρωπος γεγὼς δῆμον κολούει χρήμασιν γαυρούμενος.
And let him know he is foolish, whoever, being a man, harms the people, prideful of his wealth.
§93ἀεὶ δ’ ἀρέσκειν τοῖς κρατοῦσι· ταῦτα γὰρ δούλοις ἄριστα· κἀφ’ ὅτῳ τεταγμένος εἴη τις, ἁνδάνοντα δεσπόταις ποεῖν.
And always to please those who rule; for these things are best for slaves; and in whatever position one may be stationed, to do things pleasing to the masters.
§94τῶν γὰρ δυναστῶν πλεῖστος ἐν πόλει λόγος.
For of the powerful there is the greatest account in the city.
§95ἀλλ’ οὐδὲν ηὑγένεια πρὸς τὰ χρήματα· τὸν γὰρ κάκιστον πλοῦτος εἰς πρώτους ἄγει.
But noble birth is nothing compared to wealth; for wealth leads even the worst man to the foremost.
§96σκαιόν τι χρῆμα πλοῦτος ἥ τ’ ἀπειρία.
Wealth and inexperience are a clumsy thing.
§97ἀλλ’ οὐ γὰρ ὀρθῶς ταῦτα, γενναίως 〈δ’〉 ἴσως ἔπραξας· αἰνεῖσθαι δὲ δυστυχῶν ἐγὼ μισῶ· λόγος γὰρ τοὔργον οὐ νικᾷ ποτε.
But you did not do these things rightly, though perhaps noble-mindedly; and I hate being praised while being unfortunate; for a word never conquers a deed.
§98ἀλλ’ εὖ φέρειν χρὴ συμφορὰς τὸν εὐγενῆ.
But the noble-born must bear misfortunes well.
§99τὸν εὐτυχοῦντα χρῆν σοφὸν πεφυκέναι.
The fortunate man ought to have been wise.
§100θάρσει, τάχ’ ἂν γένοιτο· πολλά τοι θεὸς κἀκ τῶν ἀέλπτων εὔπορ’ ἀνθρώποις τελεῖ.
Take heart, it might happen soon; for indeed, god accomplishes many easy paths for men even out of hopeless things.
§101ἀλλ’ ἡμέρα τοι πολλὰ καὶ μέλαινα νὺξ τίκτει βροτοῖσιν.
But indeed day and black night bring forth many things for mortals.
§102σοφώτεροι γὰρ συμφορὰς τὰς τῶν πέλας πάντες διαθρεῖν ἢ τύχας τὰς οἴκοθεν.
For all are wiser to observe closely the misfortunes of their neighbors than the fortunes of their own home.
§103δεινόν τι τέκνων φίλτρον ἐνῆκεν θεὸς ἀνθρώποις.
God infused into men a terrible love-charm for children.
§104ἀμολγὸν νύκτα §105ὁρῶ μὲν ἀνδρῶν τόνδε γυμνάδα στόλον στείχοντα θεωρὸν ἐκ τρόχων πεπαυμένον.
night's darkness I see this light-clad band of men marching as a sacred delegation, having ceased from their running.
§106. . . γέμουσαν κύματος θεοσπόρου
...full of the god-sown wave.
§107πλήσας δὲ νηδὺν οὐδ’ ὄναρ κατ’ εὐφρόνην φίλοις ἔδειξεν αὑτόν.
And having filled his belly, not even in a dream during the kindly night did he show himself to his friends.
§108γυνὴ γυναικὶ σύμμαχος πέφυκέ πως.
A woman is somehow naturally an ally to a woman.
§109οὐ μὴν σύ γ’ ἡμᾶς τοὺς τεκόντας ᾐδέσω.
Yet you certainly did not respect us, your parents.
§110ἐγὼ δ’, ὃ μὲν μέγιστον, ἄρξομαι λέγειν ἐκ τοῦδε πρῶτον· πατρὶ πείθεσθαι χρεὼν παῖδας νομίζειν τ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτ’ εἶναι δίκην.
And I, what is greatest, shall begin to speak first from this: children must obey their father and consider this very thing to be justice.
§111τί δῆτα μοχθεῖν δεῖ γυναικεῖον γένος φρουροῦντας;
Why then is it necessary to toil guarding the female race?
αἱ γὰρ εὖ τεθραμμέναι πλέον σφάλλουσιν οἴκους τῶν παρημελημένων.
For those well-reared ruin households more than those who have been neglected.
§112ὁ χρόνος ἅπαντα τοῖσιν ὕστερον φράσει, λάλος ἐστὶν οὗτος, οὐκ ἐρωτῶσιν λέγει.
Time will tell everything to those who come after; it is talkative, and speaks even to those who do not ask.
§113ὁδῆσαι §114ΑΝΔΡ. Ὦ νὺξ ἱερά, ὡς μακρὸν ἵππευμα διώκεις ἀστεροειδέα νῶτα διφρεύουσ’ αἰθέρος ἱερᾶς τοῦ σεμνοτάτου δι’ Ὀλύμπου.
to travel <Andromeda> O sacred night, what a long chariot-course you pursue, driving your chariot over the star-spangled back of the sacred ether through most solemn Olympus!
§115τί ποτ’ Ἀνδρομέδα περίαλλα κακῶν μέρος ἐξέλαχον, θανάτου τλήμων μέλλουσα τυχεῖν;
Why ever did I, Andromeda, receive a portion of evils far beyond others, wretched as I am, destined to meet death?
§116ποῖαι λιβάδες, ποία σειρήν
What streams, what Siren (will assist my lament)?
§117φίλαι παρθένοι, φίλαι μοι §118προσαυδῶ σὲ τὰν ἐν ἄντροις, ἀπόπαυσον, ἔασον Ἀ- χοῖ με σὺν φίλαισιν γόου κόρον λαβεῖν.
Dear maidens, dear to me I address you who dwell in the caves: make it cease, Echo, allow me with my dear friends to take our fill of lamentation.
§119συνάλγησον, ὡς ὁ κάμνων δακρύων μεταδοὺς ἔχει κουφότητα μόχθων.
Grieve with me, since the sufferer, sharing his tears, finds a lightening of his toil.
§120ἄνοικτος ὃς τεκὼν σὲ τὴν πολυπονωτάτην βροτῶν μεθῆκεν Ἅιδᾳ πάτρας ὑπερθανεῖν.
Merciless is he who, having begotten you, the most suffering of mortals, sent you to Hades to die for your fatherland.
§121ἐκθεῖναι κήτει φορβάν §122Ar. Thesm. 1029―1041: ὁρᾶς;
to expose as food for the sea-monster Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 1029–1041: Do you see?
οὐ χοροῖσιν οὐδ’ ὑφ’ ἡλίκων νεανίδων . . . . ἕστηκx’ ἔχουσ’, ἀλλ ἐν πυκνοῖςx δεσμοῖσιν ἐμπεπλεγμένη κήτει βορὰ. . . πρόκειμαι.
I stand not in choruses nor surrounded by young maidens of my own age, but entangled in dense bonds I am set forth as food for the sea-monster.
γαμηλίῳ μὲν οὐ ξὺν παιῶνι, δεσμίῳ δέ, γοᾶσθέ μ’, ὦ γυναῖκες, ὡς μέλεα μὲν πέπονθα μέλεος, ὦ τάλας ἐγὼ τάλας, ἀπὸ δὲ συγγόνων τάλαν’ ἄνομα πάθεα φῶτά τε λιτομένα, πολυδάκρυτον Ἀίδα γόον φλέγουσαν et mox v.
Not with a wedding paean, but a binding one, lament me, O women, since I, miserable, have suffered miserable things, O wretched me, wretched, suffering lawless sufferings from my kinsmen and entreating the man, kindling the tearful lamentation of Hades.
1047―1055: ἰὼ μοίρας ἄτεγκτε δαίμων· ὦ κατάρατος ἐγώ· τίς ἐμὸν οὐκ ἐπόψεται πάθος ἀμέγαρτον ἐπὶ κακῶν παρουσίᾳ;
And soon, verses 1047–1055: Alas, relentless deity of fate; O cursed me; who will not look upon my unenviable suffering in the presence of evils?
εἴθε με πυρφόρος ἀστεροπητὴς τὸν βάρβαρον ἐξολέσειεν.
Would that the fire-bearing lightning-bolt would utterly destroy me, the barbarian.
οὐ γὰρ ἔτ’ ἀθανάταν φλόγα λεύσσειν ἐστὶν ἐμοὶ φίλον, ὡς ἐκρεμάσθην λαιμότμητ’ ἄχη, δαιμονῶν αἰόλαν νέκυσιν ἐπὶ πορείαν.
For it is no longer pleasing to me to behold the immortal flame, since I have been suspended in throat-cutting griefs, demonic, on a rapid passage to the dead.
§123Περσεὺς πρὸς Ἄργος ναυστολῶν τὸ Γοργόνος κάρα κομίζων
Perseus sailing toward Argos, carrying the Gorgon's head.
§124ὦ θεοί, τίν’ εἰς γῆν βαρβάρων ἀφίγμεθα ταχεῖ πεδίλῳ;
O gods, to what land of barbarians have we arrived with swift sandal?
διὰ μέσου γὰρ αἰθέρος τέμνων κέλευθον πόδα τίθημ’ ὑπόπτερον.
For cutting a path through the middle of the ether I set down my winged foot.

Notes

  1. §82τὰ τῶν τεκόντων ὡς μετέρχεται θεὸς μιάσματα — This is a complex hyperbaton where the main clause introduced by the exclamatory adverb ὡς, i.e., ὡς μετέρχεται θεός, is inserted between the noun phrase τὰ μιάσματα and its genitive modifier τῶν τεκόντων. The basic structural meaning is: ὡς θεὸς μετέρχεται τὰ μιάσματα τῶν τεκόντων.
  2. §84τί πλέον εἶναι παῖδας ἀνθρώποις — An infinitive construction with the interrogative pronoun τί, where the accusative παῖδας functions as the subject of εἶναι. It is interpreted as an infinitive of exclamation/rhetorical question or an accusative with infinitive dependent on an implied verb of saying or thinking.
  3. §114ὡς μακρὸν ἵππευμα διώκεις — The noun ἵππευμα (horseway, chariot-course) functions as a cognate accusative to the verb διώκεις (pursue, drive rapidly), dramatically expressing the way Night drives her chariot across the heavens.
  4. §122ὡς μέλεα μὲν πέπονθα μέλεος — Here, ὡs functions as a causal conjunction ('since, because') modifying the preceding imperative γοᾶσθέ με ('lament me'). The juxtaposition of the accusative neuter plural μέλεα ('miserable things') and the nominative masculine singular μέλεος ('miserable', referring here to the speaker) is a polyptoton used to intensify the tragic tone.

Cite this passage

Euripides, Fragments §82-124. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg020.humanitext-grc1:82-124

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