§1164ἀλλʼ ὡς δύνασαι, Τεῦκρε, ταχύνας §1165σπεῦσον κοίλην κάπετόν τινʼ ἰδεῖν §1166τῷδʼ, ἔνθα βροτοῖς τὸν ἀείμνηστον §1167τάφον εὐρώεντα καθέξει.
Leader: But as you can, Teucer, make haste and speed to look for some hollow grave for this man, where for mortals he will hold his ever-remembered, damp-mouldering tomb.
§1168καὶ μὴν ἐς αὐτὸν καιρὸν οἵδε πλησίοι §1169πάρεισιν ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε παῖς τε καὶ γυνή, §1170τάφον περιστελοῦντε δυστήνου νεκροῦ.
And look, just at the right moment, these ones close by are present, this man's child and wife, to arrange the grave of the unhappy corpse.
Teucer: O child, come here, and standing near, touch your father as a suppliant, the one who begot you.
§1173θάκει δὲ προστρόπαιος ἐν χεροῖν ἔχων §1174κόμας ἐμὰς καὶ τῆσδε καὶ σαυτοῦ τρίτου, §1175ἱκτήριον θησαυρόν.
And sit as a suppliant, holding in your hands my hair, and hers, and your own as the third, a suppliant treasure.
εἰ δέ τις στρατοῦ §1176βίᾳ σʼ ἀποσπάσειε τοῦδε τοῦ νεκροῦ, §1177κακὸς κακῶς ἄθαπτος ἐκπέσοι χθονός, §1178γένους ἅπαντος ῥίζαν ἐξημημένος, §1179αὔτως ὅπωσπερ τόνδʼ ἐγὼ τέμνω πλόκον.
And if anyone of the army should drag you by force from this corpse, may he, evil as he is, be cast out from the land without burial in an evil way, mowed down from the root of his whole race, even as I cut this lock of hair.
Take it, child, and guard it, and let no one move you, but fall upon him and hold on.
§1182ὑμεῖς τε μὴ γυναῖκες ἀντʼ ἀνδρῶν πέλας §1183παρέστατʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀρήγετʼ, ἔστʼ ἐγὼ μόλω §1184τάφου μεληθεὶς τῷδε, κἂν μηδεὶς ἐᾷ.
And you, women, do not stand near like women instead of men, but help, until I come back, having cared for a grave for this man, even if no one allows it.
§1185τίς ἄρα νέατος ἐς πότε λή- §1186ξει πολυπλάγκτων ἐτέων ἀριθμός, §1187τὰν ἄπαυστον αἰὲν ἐμοὶ δορυσσοή- §1188των μόχθων ἄταν ἐπάγων §1190τάνδʼ ἀνʼ εὐρυεδῆ Τροίαν, §1191δύστανον ὄνειδος Ἑλλάνων;
Chorus: What then will be the last, and when will end the number of wandering years, always bringing to me the ceaseless doom of spear-brandishing troubles through wide-spaced Troy, a miserable disgrace to the Greeks?
§1192ὄφελε πρότερον αἰθέρα δῦ- §1193ναι μέγαν ἢ τὸν πολύκοινον Ἅιδαν §1195κεῖνος ἁνήρ, ὃς στυγερῶν ἔδειξεν ὅ- §1196πλων Ἕλλασιν κοινὸν Ἄρη.
Would that that man had first entered the great sky or all-welcoming Hades, who showed to the Greeks the common war of hateful weapons.
§1197ὦ πόνοι πρόγονοι πόνων.
O troubles, ancestors of troubles!
§1198κεῖνος γὰρ ἔπερσεν ἀνθρώπους.
For he destroyed mankind.
§1199ἐκεῖνος οὔτε στεφάνων §1200οὔτε βαθειᾶν κυλίκων §1201νεῖμεν ἐμοὶ τέρψιν ὁμιλεῖν, §1202οὔτε γλυκὺν αὐλῶν ὄτοβον §1203δύσμορος οὔτʼ ἐννυχίαν §1204τέρψιν ἰαύειν· §1205ἐρώτων δʼ §1206ἐρώτων ἀπέπαυσεν, ὤ- §1207μοι.
He did not grant me the pleasure of wreaths, nor of deep cups to share in company, nor the sweet noise of flutes, nor, wretched man, the nightly pleasure of sleeping; and from loves, from loves he has cut me off, alas.
κεῖμαι δʼ ἀμέριμνος οὕ- §1208τως, ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις §1209τεγγόμενος κόμας, λυγρᾶς §1210μνήματα Τροίας.
And I lie thus uncared for, always drenched with thick dews upon my hair, the memorials of mournful Troy.
§1211καὶ πρὶν μὲν αἰὲν νυχίου §1212δείματος ἦν μοι προβολὰ §1213καὶ βελέων θούριος Αἴας· §1214νῦν δʼ οὗτος ἀνεῖται στυγερῷ §1215δαίμονι.
And before, indeed, against nightly terror and weapons, my shield was always impetuous Ajax; but now he is surrendered to a hateful god.
τίς μοι, τίς ἔτʼ οὖν §1216τέρψις ἐπέσται;
What joy, what joy then will yet be mine?
§1217γενοίμαν §1218ἴνʼ ὑλᾶεν ἔπεστι πόν- §1219του πρόβλημʼ ἁλίκλυστον, ἄ- §1220κραν ὑπὸ πλάκα Σουνίου, §1221τὰς ἱερὰς ὅπως προσεί- §1222ποιμεν Ἀθάνας.
Would that I might be where the wooded jut of the sea washed by the waves lies, under the flat cliff of Sunium, so that we might greet holy Athens.
§1223καὶ μὴν ἰδὼν ἔσπευσα τὸν στρατηλάτην §1224Ἀγαμέμνονʼ ἡμῖν δεῦρο τόνδʼ ὁρμώμενον· §1225δῆλος δέ μοὐστὶ σκαιὸν ἐκλύσων στόμα.
Leader: Indeed, seeing him, I made haste, for I saw Agamemnon the commander of the host rushing here toward us; and he is clear to me that he will let loose his crooked mouth.
Agamemnon: Is it you indeed who they report to me have dared to gape with such terrible words against us with impunity?
§1228σέ τοι, τὸν ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωτίδος λέγω· §1229ἦ που τραφεὶς ἂν μητρὸς εὐγενοῦς ἄπο §1230ὑψήλʼ ἐκόμπεις κἀπʼ ἄκρων ὡδοιπόρεις, §1231ὅτʼ οὐδὲν ὢν τοῦ μηδὲν ἀντέστης ὕπερ, §1232κοὔτε στρατηγοὺς οὔτε ναυάρχους μολεῖν §1233ἡμᾶς Ἀχαιῶν οὔτε σοῦ διωμόσω, §1234ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἄρχων, ὡς σὺ φής, Αἴας ἔπλει.
You indeed, I mean, the son of the captive woman; surely if you had been reared from a noble mother you would have boasted loftily and walked on tip-toe, since being nothing you stood up for one who is nothing, and swore that we came neither as generals nor as naval commanders of the Achaeans, nor of you, but Ajax, as you say, sailed as his own master.
§1235ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἀκούειν μεγάλα πρὸς δούλων κακά;
Are these not great evils to hear from slaves?
Of what kind of man have you shrieked so proudly, where did he go or where did he stand where I did not?
§1238οὐκ ἆρʼ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄνδρες εἰσὶ πλὴν ὅδε;
Are there then no men for the Achaeans except this one?
§1239πικροὺς ἔοιγμεν τῶν Ἀχιλλείων ὅπλων §1240ἀγῶνας Ἀργείοισι κηρῦξαι τότε, §1241εἰ πανταχοῦ φανούμεθʼ ἐκ Τεύκρου κακοί, §1242κοὐκ ἀρκέσει ποθʼ ὑμὶν οὐδʼ ἡσσημένοις §1243εἴκειν ἃ τοῖς πολλοῖσιν ἤρεσκεν κριταῖς, §1244ἀλλʼ αἰὲν ἡμᾶς ἢ κακοῖς βαλεῖτέ που §1245ἢ σὺν δόλῳ κεντήσεθʼ οἱ λελειμμένοι.
We seem to have proclaimed those contests for the arms of Achilles to the Argives to our bitter cost at that time, if everywhere we shall be shown to be villains by Teucer, and it will never suffice for you, even when defeated, to yield to what pleased the majority of the judges, but you will always either pelt us with abuse or stab us with treachery, you who were left behind.
§1246ἐκ τῶνδε μέντοι τῶν τρόπων οὐκ ἄν ποτε §1247κατάστασις γένοιτʼ ἂν οὐδενὸς νόμου, §1248εἰ τοὺς δίκῃ νικῶντας ἐξωθήσομεν §1249καὶ τοὺς ὄπισθεν ἐς τὸ πρόσθεν ἄξομεν.
Indeed, from such ways as these no establishment of any law could ever come, if we are to push aside those who win by justice and bring those who are behind to the front.
§1250ἀλλʼ εἰρκτέον τάδʼ ἐστίν· οὐ γὰρ οἱ πλατεῖς §1251οὐδʼ εὐρύνωτοι φῶτες ἀσφαλέστατοι, §1252ἀλλʼ οἱ φρονοῦντες εὖ κρατοῦσι πανταχοῦ.
But these things must be checked; for it is not the broad or broad-backed men who are most secure, but those who think well prevail everywhere.
And the ox, great of flank, is nevertheless by a small whip kept straight on the path.
§1255καὶ σοὶ προσέρπον τοῦτʼ ἐγὼ τὸ φάρμακον §1256ὁρῶ τάχʼ, εἰ μὴ νοῦν κατακτήσῃ τινά· §1257ὃς ἀνδρὸς οὐκέτʼ ὄντος, ἀλλʼ ἤδη σκιᾶς, §1258θαρσῶν ὑβρίζεις κἀξελευθεροστομεῖς.
And on you also I see this remedy approaching quickly, unless you acquire some sense; who, when the man is no longer, but is already a shadow, insolently boast and speak with too free a tongue.
§1259οὐ σωφρονήσεις;
Will you not be sober?