§78τὰ ποῖα, μῆτερ;
What kind, mother?
τὸν λόγον γὰρ ἀγνοῶ.
For I am ignorant of the story.
§79ὡς ἢ τελευτὴν τοῦ βίου μέλλει τελεῖν §80ἢ τοῦτον ἄρας ἆθλον εἰς τό γʼ ὕστερον §81τὸν λοιπὸν ἤδη βίοτον εὐαίωνʼ ἔχειν.
That either he is about to reach the end of his life, or, having achieved this labor, for the future to have his remaining life in happiness.
§82ἐν οὖν ῥοπῇ, τοιᾷδε κειμένῳ, τέκνον, §83οὐκ εἶ ξυνέρξων, ἡνίκʼ ἢ σεσώσμεθα §85κείνου βίον σώσαντος, ἢ οἰχόμεσθʼ ἅμα;
Therefore, when he lies in such a balance, my child, will you not go to help, when either we are saved by his saving his life, or we perish together?
§86ἀλλʼ εἶμι, μῆτερ· εἰ δὲ θεσφάτων ἐγὼ §87βάξιν κατῄδη τῶνδε, κἂν πάλαι παρῆ· §88νῦν δʼ ὁ ξυνήθης πότμος οὐκ εἴα πατρὸς §89ἡμᾶς προταρβεῖν οὐδὲ δειμαίνειν ἄγαν.
But I will go, mother; and if I had known the utterance of these oracles, I would have been present long ago; but now, our father's usual fortune did not allow us to fear beforehand or to be too anxious.
But now that I understand, I will leave nothing undone so as not to learn the whole truth about these matters.
Go now, my child; for even for one who is late, to fare well, when he learns of it, brings gain.
§94ὃν αἰόλα νὺξ ἐναριζομένα §95τίκτει κατευνάζει τε, φλογιζόμενον §96Ἅλιον Ἅλιον αἰτῶ §97τοῦτο καρῦξαι, τὸν Ἀλκμήνας πόθι μοι πόθι παῖς §98ναίει ποτʼ, ὦ λαμπρᾷ στεροπᾷ φλεγέθων, §100ἢ ποντίας αὐλῶνος ἢ δισσαῖσιν ἀπείροις κλιθείς, §101εἴπʼ, ὦ κρατιστεύων κατʼ ὄμμα.
Whom shimmering night, as she is despoiled, brings forth and lays to rest, the blazing Sun, the Sun I entreat to herald this: where, where for me the son of Alcmene dwells, O you who flash with radiant lightning, whether resting in the sea-straits or on the two continents, tell me, O supreme in sight!
§103ποθουμένᾳ γὰρ φρενὶ πυνθάνομαι §104τὰν ἀμφινεικῆ Δηιάνειραν ἀεί, §105οἷά τινʼ ἄθλιον ὄρνιν, §106οὔποτʼ εὐνάζειν ἀδακρύτων βλεφάρων πόθον, ἀλλʼ §107εὔμναστον ἀνδρὸς δεῖμα τρέφουσαν ὁδοῦ §110ἐνθυμίοις εὐναῖς ἀνανδρώτοισι τρύχεσθαι, κακὰν §111δύστανον ἐλπίζουσαν αἶσαν.
For with a longing heart I hear that Deianeira, the object of much contest, always, like some wretched bird, never lulls the longing of her tearless eyes, but nursing a mindful fear for her husband's journey, wastes away on her anxious, husbandless bed, expecting an evil, unhappy fate.
§112πολλὰ γὰρ ὥστʼ ἀκάμαντος ἢ νότου ἢ βορέα τις §113κύματʼ ἂν εὐρέϊ πόντῳ βάντʼ ἐπιόντα τʼ ἴδοι, §114οὕτῶ δὲ τὸν Καδμογενῆ στρέφει, τὸ δʼ αὔξει, §115βιότου πολύπονον ὥσπερ πέλαγος
For as one might see many waves driven by the tireless South wind or the North wind going and coming upon the wide sea, so a sea of life, full of trouble like a Cretan sea, tosses the Cadmus-born hero, now driving him back, now exalting him.
But some god always keeps him from the house of Hades, free from error.
§122ὧν ἐπιμεμφομένα σʼ αἰδοῖα μέν, ἀντία δʼ οἴσω.
Blaming you for these things, I will bring words of respect, yet of opposition.
§125φαμὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἀποτρύειν ἐλπίδα τὰν ἀγαθὰν §126χρῆναί σʼ· ἀνάλγητα γὰρ οὐδʼ ὁ πάντα κραίνων βασιλεὺς ἐπέβαλε θνατοῖς Κρονίδας· §127ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ πᾶσι κυκλοῦσιν, οἷον §130ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι.
For I say that you ought not to wear away your good hope; for the all-ruling king, the son of Cronus, has not imposed a painless lot on mortals; but pain and joy come round to all, like the turning paths of the Bear.
§131μένει γὰρ οὔτʼ αἰόλα §132νὺξ βροτοῖσιν οὔτε κῆρες §133οὔτε πλοῦτος, ἀλλʼ ἄφαρ §134βέβακε, τῷ δʼ ἐπέρχεται §135χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι.
For neither shimmering night, nor fates, nor wealth remains with mortals, but suddenly it is gone, and to another comes joy and deprivation.
§136ἃ καὶ σὲ τὰν ἄνασσαν ἐλπίσιν λέγω §137τάδʼ αἰὲν ἴσχειν· ἐπεὶ τίς ὧδε §140τέκνοισι Ζῆνʼ ἄβουλον εἶδεν;
Which things I bid you, the queen, in your hopes always to hold; for who has ever seen Zeus so unmindful of his children?
§141πεπυσμένη μέν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι, πάρει §142πάθημα τοὐμόν· ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ θυμοφθορῶ, §143μήτʼ ἐκμάθοις παθοῦσα νῦν τʼ ἄπειρος εἶ.
You have come, as one may guess, because you have heard of my suffering; but how I consume my heart, may you never learn by suffering, and now you are inexperienced.
§144τὸ γὰρ νεάζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται §145χώροισιν αὑτοῦ, καί νιν οὐ θάλπος θεοῦ §146οὐδʼ ὄμβρος οὐδὲ πνευμάτων οὐδὲν κλονεῖ, §147ἀλλʼ ἡδοναῖς ἄμοχθον ἐξαίρει βίον §148ἐς τοῦθʼ ἕως τις ἀντὶ παρθένου γυνὴ §149κληθῇ λάβῃ τʼ ἐν νυκτὶ φροντίδων μέρος, §150ἤτοι πρὸς ἀνδρὸς ἢ τέκνων φοβουμένη.
For youth nurtures itself in its own places, and neither the heat of the god nor rain nor any of the winds disturbs it, but it exalts a life free from labor in pleasures, until one is called a wife instead of a maiden, and receives her share of worries in the night, fearing either for her husband or for her children.
Then indeed one might see, by looking at one's own state, by what evils I am weighed down.
Indeed, I have wept for many sufferings; but one, such as never before, I will tell at once.
§155ὁδὸν γὰρ ἦμος τὴν τελευταίαν ἄναξ §156ὡρμᾶτʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων Ἡρακλῆς, τότʼ ἐν δόμοις §157λείπει παλαιὰν δέλτον ἐγγεγραμμένην §158ξυνθήμαθʼ, ἁμοὶ πρόσθεν οὐκ ἔτλη ποτέ, §159πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐξιών, οὔπω φράσαι, §160ἀλλʼ ὥς τι δράσων εἷρπε κοὐ θανούμενος.
For when the lord Heracles was setting out from home on his last journey, then in the house he left an ancient tablet, inscribed with tokens, which he had never before dared to explain to me, though going out to many contests; but he used to go as one who was to achieve something, not to die.
§161νῦν δʼ ὡς ἔτʼ οὐκ ὢν εἶπε μὲν λέχους ὅ τι §162χρείη μʼ ἑλέσθαι κτῆσιν εἶπε δʼ ἣν τέκνοις §163μοῖραν πατρῴας γῆς διαιρετὸν νέμοι, §164χρόνον προτάξας ὡς τρίμηνον ἡνίκα §165χώρας ἀπείη κἀνιαύσιον βεβώς, §166τότʼ ἢ θανεῖν χρείη σφε τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ §167ἢ τοῦθʼ ὑπεκδραμόντα τοῦ χρόνου τέλος §168τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη ζῆν ἀλυπήτῳ βίῳ.
But now, as if he were already no more, he told me what of my marriage-possessions I must take, and what divided share of ancestral land he would assign to his children, setting a time beforehand, that when for three months he should be absent from the land, having been gone a year, then either he must die at this time, or, having escaped this end of the time, live the remaining life hereafter in a painless existence.
§169τοιαῦτʼ ἔφραζε πρὸς θεῶν εἱμαρμένα §170τῶν Ἡρακλείων ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι πόνων, §171ὡς τὴν παλαιὰν φηγὸν αὐδῆσαί ποτε §172Δωδῶνι δισσῶν ἐκ Πελειάδων ἔφη.
Such fates, he said, were decreed by the gods to be accomplished for the labors of Heracles, as once the ancient oak at Dodona had spoken through the two doves, he declared.