§1165καὶ νῦν ἀφεῖται πάντα.
And now all is lost.
τὰς γὰρ ἡδονὰς §1166ὅταν προδῶσιν ἄνδρες, οὐ τίθημʼ ἐγὼ §1167ζῆν τοῦτον, ἀλλʼ ἔμψυχον ἡγοῦμαι νεκρόν.
For when men give up their pleasures, I do not consider such a one to be alive, but look upon him as a living corpse.
§1168πλούτει τε γὰρ κατʼ οἶκον, εἰ βούλει, μέγα §1169καὶ ζῆ τύραννον σχῆμʼ ἔχων· ἐὰν δʼ ἀπῇ §1170τούτων τὸ χαίρειν, τἄλλʼ ἐγὼ καπνοῦ σκιᾶς §1171οὐκ ἂν πριαίμην ἀνδρὶ πρὸς τὴν ἡδονήν.
For be rich in your house, if you will, to a great degree, and live holding the state of a tyrant; but if from these pleasure is absent, all the rest I would not buy for a man, in exchange for pleasure, even for the shadow of smoke.
§1172τί δʼ αὖ τόδʼ ἄχθος βασιλέων ἥκεις φέρων;
What is this new burden of the kings that you have come bringing?
§1173τεθνᾶσιν. οἱ δὲ ζῶντες αἴτιοι θανεῖν.
They are dead; and those who live are the causes of their dying.
§1174καὶ τίς φονεύει;
And who is the killer?
τίς δʼ ὁ κείμενος;
And who is the one lying dead?
λέγε.
Tell me.
§1175Αἵμων ὄλωλεν· αὐτόχειρ δʼ αἱμάσσεται.
Haemon has perished; and he is stained with blood by his own hand.
§1176πότερα πατρῴας ἢ πρὸς οἰκείας χερός;
By his father's hand, or by that of his own household?
§1177αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, πατρὶ μηνίσας φόνου.
He by his own hand, having been enraged at his father for the murder.
§1178ὦ μάντι, τοὔπος ὡς ἄρʼ ὀρθὸν ἤνυσας.
O prophet, how indeed you have made your word come true!
§1179ὡς ὧδʼ ἐχόντων τἄλλα βουλεύειν πάρα.
Since these things are so, it is permitted to take counsel for the rest.
And indeed I see the wretched Eurydice near, the wife of Creon.
ἐκ δὲ δωμάτων §1182ἤτοι κλύουσα παιδὸς ἢ τύχῃ πάρα.
And from the house, either having heard of her son or by chance, she is present.
§1183ὦ πάντες ἀστοί, τῶν λόγων ἐπῃσθόμην §1184πρὸς ἔξοδον στείχουσα, Παλλάδος θεᾶς §1185ὅπως ἱκοίμην εὐγμάτων προσήγορος.
O all you citizens, I perceived your words as I was going forth toward the exit, so that I might go to the goddess Pallas as an addresser of prayers.
§1186καὶ τυγχάνω τε κλῇθρʼ ἀνασπαστοῦ πύλης §1187χαλῶσα, καί με φθόγγος οἰκείου κακοῦ §1188βάλλει διʼ ὤτων· ὑπτία δὲ κλίνομαι §1189δείσασα πρὸς δμωαῖσι κἀποπλήσσομαι.
And I happened to be loosening the bolts of the gate which is drawn back, and the sound of an domestic evil strikes through my ears; and I fall backward in terror among my handmaids and lose my senses.
But whatever the report was, tell it again; for not being unacquainted with evils, I shall listen.
I, dear mistress, will speak, being present myself, and I will omit no word of the truth.
For why should I soften for you things in regard to which hereafter we shall appear as liars?
ὀρθὸν ἁλήθειʼ ἀεί.
The truth is always right.
§1196ἐγὼ δὲ σῷ ποδαγὸς ἑσπόμην πόσει §1197πεδίον ἐπʼ ἄκρον, ἔνθʼ ἔκειτο νηλεὲς §1198κυνοσπάρακτον σῶμα Πολυνείκους ἔτι· §1199καὶ τὸν μέν, αἰτήσαντες ἐνοδίαν θεὸν §1200Πλούτωνά τʼ ὀργὰς εὐμενεῖς κατασχεθεῖν §1201λούσαντες ἁγνὸν λουτρόν, ἐν νεοσπάσιν §1202θαλλοῖς ὃ δὴ 'λέλειπτο συγκατῄθομεν, §1203καὶ τύμβον ὀρθόκρανον οἰκείας χθονὸς §1204χώσαντες αὖθις πρὸς λιθόστρωτον κόρης §1205νυμφεῖον Ἅιδου κοῖλον εἰσεβαίνομεν.
And I followed your husband as a guide to the edge of the plain, where still lay unpitied the dog-torn body of Polynices; and him indeed, having prayed to the goddess of the road and to Pluto to restrain their anger in goodwill, having washed with a holy washing, with newly-plucked branches we burned what indeed remained of him, and having heaped up a high-headed mound of his native soil, we turned again to enter the stone-paved chamber of the maiden, the hollow bridal chamber of Hades.
§1206φωνῆς δʼ ἄπωθεν ὀρθίων κωκυμάτων §1207κλύει τις ἀκτέριστον ἀμφὶ παστάδα, §1208καὶ δεσπότῃ Κρέοντι σημαίνει μολών.
And from afar, someone hears a voice of shrill wailings around the unhallowed chamber, and coming he signals to his master Creon.
§1209τῷ δʼ ἀθλίας ἄσημα περιβαίνει βοῆς §1210ἕρποντι μᾶλλον ἆσσον, οἰμώξας δʼ ἔπος §1211ἵησι δυσθρήνητον· ὦ τάλας ἐγώ,
And around him, as he approaches nearer and nearer, floats the indistinct sound of a wretched cry; and groaning he utters a lamentable word: "O wretched me, am I indeed a prophet?
Am I indeed walking the most unhappy path of all the ways I have gone before?
§1214παιδός με σαίνει φθόγγος. ἀλλὰ πρόσπολοι,
The voice of my son charms me.
§1215ἴτʼ ἆσσον ὠκεῖς καὶ παραστάντες τάφῳ §1216ἀθρήσαθʼ, ἁρμὸν χώματος λιθοσπαδῆ §1217δύντες πρὸς αὐτὸ στόμιον, εἰ τὸν Αἵμονος §1218φθόγγον συνίημʼ ἢ θεοῖσι κλέπτομαι. §1219τάδʼ ἐξ ἀθύμου δεσπότου κελευσμάτων §1220ἠθροῦμεν· ἐν δὲ λοισθίῳ τυμβεύματι §1221τὴν μὲν κρεμαστὴν αὐχένος κατείδομεν, §1222βρόχῳ μιτώδει σινδόνος καθημμένην, §1223τὸν δʼ ἀμφὶ μέσσῃ περιπετῆ προσκείμενον, §1224εὐνῆς ἀποιμώζοντα τῆς κάτω φθορὰν §1225καὶ πατρὸς ἔργα καὶ τὸ δύστηνον λέχος.
But, attendants, go nearer quickly, and standing by the tomb look, entering to the very mouth, where the stone is torn from the mound's gap, whether I recognize the voice of Haemon, or if I am being deceived by the gods." These things, from the commands of our disheartened master, we investigated; and in the back of the tomb we saw her hanging by her neck, fastened with a thread-spun noose of fine linen, and him lying, fallen around her waist, lamenting the ruin of his marriage which is below, and the deeds of his father, and his unhappy bridal bed.
§1226ὁ δʼ ὡς ὁρᾷ σφε, στυγνὸν οἰμώξας ἔσω §1227χωρεῖ πρὸς αὐτὸν κἀνακωκύσας καλεῖ· §1228ὦ τλῆμον, οἷον ἔργον εἴργασαι·
And he, when he sees him, groaning wretchedly goes in toward him, and wailing aloud calls him: "O unhappy child, what a deed have you done!
τίνα §1229νοῦν ἔσχες;
What thought did you have?
ἐν τῷ συμφορᾶς διεφθάρης;
In what misfortune were you destroyed?
§1230ἔξελθε, τέκνον, ἱκέσιός σε λίσσομαι. §1231τὸν δʼ ἀγρίοις ὄσσοισι παπτήνας ὁ παῖς, §1232πτύσας προσώπῳ κοὐδὲν ἀντειπών, ξίφους §1233ἕλκει διπλοῦς κνώδοντας.
Come out, my child, I entreat you as a suppliant." But the boy, having glared at him with wild eyes, and spat in his face and having answered nothing, draws his double-edged sword.
ἐκ δʼ ὁρμωμένου §1234πατρὸς φυγαῖσιν ἤμπλακʼ· εἶθʼ ὁ δύσμορος §1235αὑτῷ χολωθείς, ὥσπερ εἶχʼ, ἐπενταθεὶς §1236ἤρεισε πλευραῖς μέσσον ἔγχος, ἐς δʼ ὑγρὸν §1237ἀγκῶνʼ ἔτʼ ἔμφρων παρθένῳ προσπτύσσεται.
And as his father rushed out in flight, he missed him; then the ill-fated boy, enraged at himself, just as he was, leaning over pressed the middle of the sword into his ribs, and into her moist embrace, while still conscious, he clasps the maiden.
And gasping he throws out a sharp stream of red drops upon her white cheek.
§1240κεῖται δὲ νεκρὸς περὶ νεκρῷ, τὰ νυμφικὰ §1241τέλη λαχὼν δείλαιος εἰν Ἅιδου δόμοις, §1242δείξας ἐν ἀνθρώποισι τὴν ἀβουλίαν §1243ὅσῳ μέγιστον ἀνδρὶ πρόσκειται κακόν.
And he lies, a corpse upon a corpse, having obtained his bridal rites, wretched boy, in the halls of Hades, having shown among men that thoughtlessness is by far the greatest evil that lies upon a man.
§1244τί τοῦτʼ ἂν εἰκάσειας;
What would you conjecture from this?
ἡ γυνὴ πάλιν §1245φρούδη, πρὶν εἰπεῖν ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακὸν λόγον.
The woman has gone back, vanished, before speaking any good or bad word.
§1246καὐτὸς τεθάμβηκʼ· ἐλπίσιν δὲ βόσκομαι §1247ἄχη τέκνου κλύουσαν ἐς πόλιν γόους §1248οὐκ ἀξιώσειν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ στέγης ἔσω §1249δμωαῖς προθήσειν πένθος οἰκεῖον στένειν.
I myself also am amazed; but I feed on hopes that, having heard the sorrows of her child, she will not deign to raise laments before the city, but beneath her roof will set her handmaids to mourn their domestic grief.