§489τοῦ τῆσδʼ ἔρωτος εἰς ἅπανθʼ ἥσσων ἔφυ.
of his love for this girl, he has proved to be completely vanquished.
§490ἀλλʼ ὧδε καὶ φρονοῦμεν ὥστε ταῦτα δρᾶν, §491κοὔτοι νόσον γʼ ἐπακτὸν ἐξαρούμεθα, §492θεοῖσι δυσμαχοῦντες.
Deianeira: But we also intend to act in this very way, and indeed we shall not take upon ourselves an imported disease by fighting against the gods.
ἀλλʼ εἴσω στέγης §493χωρῶμεν, ὡς λόγων τʼ ἐπιστολὰς φέρῃς, §494ἅ τʼ ἀντὶ δώρων δῶρα χρὴ προσαρμόσαι, §495καὶ ταῦτʼ ἄγῃς·
But let us go inside the house, so that you may carry the letters of my messages, and also, because we must prepare suitable gifts in return for his gifts, so that you may take these as well.
κενὸν γὰρ οὐ δίκαιά σε §496χωρεῖν προσελθόνθʼ ὧδε σὺν πολλῷ στόλῳ.
For it is not right that you, having arrived here with so great an escort, should depart empty-handed.
§497μέγα τι σθένος ἁ Κύπρις ἐκφέρεται νίκας ἀεί.
Chorus: Cypris always carries away a great force of victory.
§498καὶ τὰ μὲν θεῶν §500παρέβαν, καὶ ὅπως Κρονίδαν ἀπάτασεν οὐ λέγω, §501οὐδὲ τὸν ἔννυχον Ἅιδαν §502ἢ Ποσειδάωνα τινάκτορα γαίας·
And indeed, the matters of the gods I pass over, and I do not speak of how she deceived the son of Cronus, nor of night-veiled Hades, nor of Poseidon, the shaker of the earth.
§503ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τάνδʼ ἄρʼ ἄκοιτιν §504τίνες ἀμφίγυοι κατέβαν πρὸ γάμων, §505τίνες πάμπληκτα παγκόνιτά τʼ ἐξῆλθον ἄεθλʼ ἀγώνων;
But to win this bride, what strong-limbed rivals entered the contest before the marriage, and what multi-striking and dust-filled struggles of contests did they undergo?
§507ὁ μὲν ἦν ποταμοῦ σθένος, ὑψίκερω τετραόρου §508φάσμα ταύρου, §510Ἀχελῷος ἀπʼ Οἰνιαδᾶν, ὁ δὲ Βακχίας ἀπὸ §511ἦλθε παλίντονα Θήβας §512τόξα καὶ λόγχας ῥόπαλόν τε τινάσσων, §513παῖς Διός·
One was the mighty power of a river, appearing in the form of a high-horned, four-legged bull, Achelous from the Oeniadae; and the other came from Bacchus-loving Thebes, shaking his backward-bent bow and spears and his club, the son of Zeus.
οἳ τότʼ ἀολλεῖς §514ἴσαν ἐς μέσον ἱέμενοι λεχέων· §515μόνα δʼ εὔλεκτρος ἐν μέσῳ Κύπρις ῥαβδονόμει ξυνοῦσα.
They then, in a throng, went to the center, desiring her bed; and Cypris, the goddess of beautiful beds, sat in the middle alone, acting as the sole umpire with them.
§517τότʼ ἦν χερός, ἦν δὲ τόξων πάταγος, §518ταυρείων τʼ ἀνάμιγδα κεράτων· §520ἦν δʼ ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες, §521ἦν δὲ μετώπων ὀλόεντα §522πλήγματα, καὶ στόνος ἀμφοῖν.
Then there was the clash of fists, and the crash of bows, and the mixed din of bull horns; and there were grappling holds, and deadly blows of foreheads, and the groaning of both.
But the lovely, delicate girl sat by the far-visible hill, waiting for her own husband.
§526ἀγὼν δὲ μαργᾷ μὲν οἷα φράζω· §527τὸ δʼ ἀμφινείκητον ὄμμα νύμφας §528ἐλεινὸν ἀμμένει· §529κἀπὸ ματρὸς ἄφαρ βέβακεν, §530ὥστε πόρτις ἐρήμα.
The contest rages as I speak of it; but the bride's eye, the object of their strife, waits in a pitiful state; and suddenly she is gone from her mother, like a lonely calf.
§531ἦμος, φίλαι, κατʼ οἶκον ὁ ξένος θροεῖ §532ταῖς αἰχμαλώτοις παισὶν ὡς ἐπʼ ἐξόδῳ, §533τῆμος θυραῖος ἦλθον ὡς ὑμᾶς λάθρᾳ, §534τὰ μὲν φράσουσα χερσὶν ἁτεχνησάμην, §535τὰ δʼ οἷα πάσχω συγκατοικτιουμένη.
Deianeira: While, my friends, the stranger inside the house is speaking to the captive girls as if on the point of departure, I have come out to you secretly, partly to tell you what I have devised with my hands, and partly to gain your shared pity for what I suffer.
§536κόρην γάρ, οἶμαι δʼ οὐκέτʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐζευγμένην, §537παρεισδέδεγμαι φόρτον ὥστε ναυτίλος, §538λωβητὸν ἐμπόλημα τῆς ἐμῆς φρενός.
For I have received a girl—no longer a girl, I think, but a wedded woman— into my house, like a sailor taking on cargo, a damaging merchandise for my peace of mind.
And now we two remain under one blanket, as objects of a single embrace.
Such is the reward that Heracles, who was called our faithful and noble protector, has sent to his home in return for his long absence.
§543ἐγὼ δὲ θυμοῦσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι §544νοσοῦντι κείνῳ πολλὰ τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ· §545τὸ δʼ αὖ ξυνοικεῖν τῇδʼ ὁμοῦ τίς ἂν γυνὴ §546δύναιτο, κοινωνοῦσα τῶν αὐτῶν γάμων;
Yet I do not know how to be angry with him when he is sick so deeply with this disease; but on the other hand, what wife could live together with this girl in the house, sharing the very same marriage?
§547ὁρῶ γὰρ ἥβην τὴν μὲν ἕρπουσαν πρόσω, §548τὴν δὲ φθίνουσαν· ὧν ἀφαρπάζειν φιλεῖ §549ὀφθαλμὸς ἄνθος, τῶν δʼ ὑπεκτρέπει πόδα.
For I see youth on the one hand advancing forward, and on the other hand fading; from the former, a man's eye loves to pluck the flower of beauty, but from the latter he turns his foot away.
Therefore, I fear lest Heracles should be called my husband indeed in name, but be the husband of the younger woman in fact.
§552ἀλλʼ οὐ γάρ, ὥσπερ εἶπον, ὀργαίνειν καλὸν §553γυναῖκα νοῦν ἔχουσαν· ᾗ δʼ ἔχω, φίλαι, §554λυτήριον λώφημα, τῇδʼ ὑμῖν φράσω.
But, as I said, it is not seemly for a woman who has sense to be angry; and how I have, my friends, a soothing remedy for my pain, I will tell you.
§555ἦν μοι παλαιὸν δῶρον ἀρχαίου ποτὲ §556θηρός, λέβητι χαλκέῳ κεκρυμμένον, §557ὃ παῖς ἔτʼ οὖσα τοῦ δασυστέρνου παρὰ §558Νέσσου φθίνοντος ἐκ φονῶν ἀνειλόμην, §559ὃς τὸν βαθύρρουν ποταμὸν Εὔηνον βροτοὺς §560μισθοῦ ʼπόρευε χερσίν, οὔτε πομπίμοις §561κώπαις ἐρέσσων οὔτε λαίφεσιν νεώς.
I had an ancient gift from an old monster long ago, hidden in a bronze vessel, which I, while still a child, took from the dying Nessus, from his mortal wounds—the shaggy-breasted centaur who used to carry mortals across the deep-flowing river Evenus for a fee in his hands, neither rowing with guiding oars nor with the sails of a ship.
§562ὃς κἀμέ, τὸν πατρῷον ἡνίκα στόλον §563ξὺν Ἡρακλεῖ τὸ πρῶτον εὖνις ἑσπόμην, §564φέρων ἐπʼ ὤμοις, ἡνίκʼ ἦ μέσῳ πόρῳ, §565ψαύει ματαίαις χερσίν·
He indeed, when I was following Heracles as his bride for the first time, leaving my father's house, was carrying me on his shoulders; and when he was in the middle of the river, he touched me with wanton hands.
ἐκ δʼ ἤυσʼ ἐγώ, §566χὠ Ζηνὸς εὐθὺς παῖς ἐπιστρέψας χεροῖν §567ἧκεν κομήτην ἰόν· ἐς δὲ πλεύμονας §568στέρνων διερροίζησεν.
And I cried out, and immediately the son of Zeus turned around, and with his hands shot a feathered arrow; and into his lungs, through his breast, it hissed.
ἐκθνῄσκων δʼ ὁ θὴρ §569τοσοῦτον εἶπε· παῖ γέροντος Οἰνέως, §570τοσόνδʼ ὀνήσει τῶν ἐμῶν, ἐὰν πίθῃ, §571πορθμῶν, ὁθούνεχʼ ὑστάτην σʼ ἔπεμψʼ ἐγώ·
The dying monster spoke these words: 'Daughter of old Oeneus, you shall have this much profit from my ferry service, if you obey me, since you are the last person I have ferried.
§572ἐὰν γὰρ ἀμφίθρεπτον αἷμα τῶν ἐμῶν §573σφαγῶν ἐνέγκῃ χερσίν, ᾗ μελαγχόλους §574ἔβαψεν ἰοὺς θρέμμα Λερναίας ὕδρας, §575ἔσται φρενός σοι τοῦτο κηλητήριον §576τῆς Ἡρακλείας, ὥστε μήτινʼ εἰσιδὼν §577στέρξει γυναῖκα κεῖνος ἀντὶ σοῦ πλέον. §578τοῦτʼ ἐννοήσασʼ, ὦ φίλαι, δόμοις γὰρ ἦν §579κείνου θανόντος ἐγκεκλῃμένον καλῶς, §580χιτῶνα τόνδʼ ἔβαψα, προσβαλοῦσʼ ὅσα §581ζῶν κεῖνος εἶπε· καὶ πεπείρανται τάδε.
For if you gather with your hands the clotted blood from my wounds, where the Hydra of Lerna, child of the monster, dipped the arrows in dark bile, this will be a charm for you over the mind of Heracles, so that he, looking at no other woman, will cherish her more than you.' Remembering this, my friends—for after his death it was kept safely locked up in the house— I have dyed this robe, adding all those things which he told me while living; and these preparations have been completed.