§226ἀλλὰ μὴν εὔνους γ᾽ ὁ πρῶτος τῶνδ᾽ ἐνυπνίων κριτὴς §227παιδὶ καὶ δόμοις ἐμοῖσι τήνδ᾽ ἐκύρωσας φάτιν.
[Atossa] But indeed, as the first interpreter of these dreams, with a well-meaning mind towards my child and my house, you have confirmed this word.
§228ἐκτελοῖτο δὴ τὰ χρηστά: ταῦτα δ᾽, ὡς ἐφίεσαι, §229πάντα θήσομεν θεοῖσι τοῖς τ᾽ ἔνερθε γῆς φίλοις, §230εὖτ᾽ ἂν εἰς οἴκους μόλωμεν.
May the good things indeed be fulfilled; and all these things, as you instruct, we will perform for the gods and those dear ones beneath the earth, when we go into the palace.
κεῖνο δ᾽ ἐκμαθεῖν θέλω, §231ὦ φίλοι, ποῦ τὰς Ἀθήνας φασὶν ἱδρῦσθαι χθονός.
But that I wish to learn, O friends: where on earth do they say Athens is situated?
§232τῆλε πρὸς δυσμαῖς ἄνακτος Ἡλίου φθινασμάτων.
[Chorus] Far off, towards the west, at the settings of the lord Sun.
§233ἀλλὰ μὴν ἵμειρ᾽ ἐμὸς παῖς τήνδε θηρᾶσαι πόλιν;
[Atossa] But did my son indeed desire to hunt down this city?
§234πᾶσα γὰρ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν Ἑλλὰς βασιλέως ὑπήκοος.
[Chorus] Yes, for then all Hellas would become subject to the King.
§235ὧδέ τις πάρεστιν αὐτοῖς ἀνδροπλήθεια στρατοῦ;
[Atossa] Is there such a multitude of men in their army?
§236καὶ στρατὸς τοιοῦτος, ἔρξας πολλὰ δὴ Μήδους κακά.
[Chorus] Indeed, and such an army as has wrought many evils to the Medes.
§237καὶ τί πρὸς τούτοισιν ἄλλο;
[Atossa] And what else besides this?
πλοῦτος ἐξαρκὴς δόμοις;
Have they sufficient wealth in their houses?
§238ἀργύρου πηγή τις αὐτοῖς ἐστι, θησαυρὸς χθονός.
[Chorus] They have a certain spring of silver, a treasure of the earth.
§239πότερα γὰρ τοξουλκὸς αἰχμὴ διὰ χερῶν αὐτοῖς πρέπει;
[Atossa] Is it the bow-stretching shaft that is prominent in their hands?
§240οὐδαμῶς: ἔγχη σταδαῖα καὶ φεράσπιδες σαγαί.
[Chorus] Not at all: close-fighting spears and shield-bearing armor.
§241τίς δὲ ποιμάνωρ ἔπεστι κἀπιδεσπόζει στρατῷ;
[Atossa] And who is the shepherd who is over them and lords it over the army?
§242οὔτινος δοῦλοι κέκληνται φωτὸς οὐδ᾽ ὑπήκοοι.
[Chorus] They are called the slaves or subjects of no man.
§243πῶς ἂν οὖν μένοιεν ἄνδρας πολεμίους ἐπήλυδας;
[Atossa] How then could they withstand invading enemy men?
§244ὥστε Δαρείου πολύν τε καὶ καλὸν φθεῖραι στρατόν.
[Chorus] So as to destroy Darius's great and noble army.
§245δεινά τοι λέγεις κιόντων τοῖς τεκοῦσι φροντίσαι.
[Atossa] Terrible things indeed you say for the parents of those who are gone to ponder.
§246ἀλλ᾽ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν τάχ᾽ εἴσει πάντα ναμερτῆ λόγον.
[Chorus] But in my opinion you will soon know the whole true story.
§247τοῦδε γὰρ δράμημα φωτὸς Περσικὸν πρέπει μαθεῖν, §248καὶ φέρει σαφές τι πρᾶγος ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακὸν κλύειν.
For the running of this man is clearly Persian to learn, and he brings a clear report, good or bad to hear.
§249ὦ γῆς ἁπάσης Ἀσιάδος πολίσματα,
[Messenger] O cities of all the Asian land!
§250ὦ Περσὶς αἶα καὶ μέγας πλούτου λιμήν,
O Persian land and great haven of wealth!
How in a single blow has great prosperity been destroyed, and the flower of the Persians is fallen and gone.
§253ὤμοι, κακὸν μὲν πρῶτον ἀγγέλλειν κακά:
Ah me!
It is a bad thing to be the first to report evils; yet it is necessary to unfold the whole disaster, O Persians: for the whole army of the barbarians has perished.
αἰαῖ,
Alas!
[Messenger] Yes, since all those things over there have been utterly destroyed; and I myself beyond expectation behold the light of return.
[Chorus] Truly too long-lived this life of ours has appeared to us aged ones, to hear of this unexpected calamity.
[Messenger] And indeed, being present myself and not hearing the words of others, O Persians, I can tell what evils were brought about.
§268ὀτοτοτοῖ, μάταν
[Chorus] Otototoi!
In vain did the many weapons of all kinds go from this Asian land to the hostile land of Hellas.
[Messenger] Full of corpses miserably destroyed are the shores of Salamis and all the neighboring place.
§274ὀτοτοτοῖ, φίλων
[Chorus] Otototoi!
Of our friends, the sea-tossed, much-dyed bodies dead, you say are carried †drifted in double-folding cloaks†.
[Messenger] For the bows availed nothing, and the whole army perished, subdued by the rams of the ships.
§280ἴυζ᾽ ἄποτμον Πέρσαις §281δυσαιανῆ βοὰν §282δᾴος, ὡς πάντα παγκάκως §283ἤνυσαν, αἰαῖ, στρατοῦ φθαρέντος.
[Chorus] Shriek a luckless and mournful cry for the foe, since all things in utter misery they have finished, alas, now that the army is destroyed.
§284ὦ πλεῖστον ἔχθος ὄνομα Σαλαμῖνος κλύειν:
[Messenger] O name of Salamis, most hateful to hear!
§285φεῦ, τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ὡς στένω μεμνημένος.
Alas, how I groan when I remember Athens!
§286στυγναί γ᾽ Ἀθᾶναι δᾴοις:
[Chorus] Hateful indeed is Athens to her foes!
Indeed, we may well remember how many of the Persian women in vain they made childless and widowed.
§290σιγῶ πάλαι δύστηνος ἐκπεπληγμένη §291κακοῖς: ὑπερβάλλει γὰρ ἥδε συμφορά, §292τὸ μήτε λέξαι μήτ᾽ ἐρωτῆσαι πάθη.
[Atossa] I have been silent long, miserable, struck dumb by evils; for this calamity is overwhelming, so that one can neither speak nor ask of the sufferings.
Yet it is necessary for mortals to bear sufferings when the gods give them.
§295λέξον καταστάς, κεἰ στένεις κακοῖς ὅμως, §296τίς οὐ τέθνηκε, τίνα δὲ καὶ πενθήσομεν §297τῶν ἀρχελείων, ὅστ᾽ ἐπὶ σκηπτουχίᾳ §298ταχθεὶς ἄνανδρον τάξιν ἠρήμου θανών.
Unfolding the whole disaster, speak, composing yourself, even though you groan at the evils; who is not dead, and whom of the leaders are we to mourn, who, appointed to a staff of command, by his death left his leaderless post empty?
§299Ξέρξης μὲν αὐτὸς ζῇ τε καὶ βλέπει φάος.
[Messenger] Xerxes himself lives and beholds the light.
[Atossa] To my house indeed you have spoken of a great light, and a bright day out of a dark night.
[Messenger] But Artembares, commander of ten thousand horse, is being beaten against the rugged shores of the Sileniae.
And Dadakes the chiliarch, struck by a spear, leaped with a light bound from his ship.
And Tenagon, the finest of the true-born Bactrians, haunts the sea-beaten island of Ajax.
§308Λίλαιος, Ἀρσάμης τε κἀργήστης τρίτος, §309οἵδ᾽ ἀμφὶ νῆσον τὴν πελειοθρέμμονα §310δινούμενοι κύρισσον ἰσχυρὰν χθόνα:
Lilaeus, and Arsames, and third, Argestes, these around the island that breeds doves drifting, kept striking the hard shore.
§311πηγαῖς τε Νείλου γειτονῶν Αἰγυπτίου §312Ἀρκτεύς, Ἀδεύης, καὶ Φερεσσάκης τρίτος, §313Φαρνοῦχος, οἵδε ναὸς ἐκ μιᾶς πέσον.
And Arcteus, who lived near the sources of Egyptian Nile, Adeues, and third, Pheressaces, and Pharnuchus, these fell from a single ship.
§314Χρυσεὺς Μάταλλος μυριόνταρχος θανών, §315ἵππου μελαίνης ἡγεμὼν τρισμυρίας, §316πυρσὴν ζαπληθῆ δάσκιον γενειάδα §317ἔτεγγ᾽, ἀμείβων χρῶτα πορφυρᾷ βαφῇ.
And golden Matallus, commander of ten thousand, dying, leader of thirty thousand black horse, stained his thick shaggy red beard, changing his color with a purple dye.
And Magus the Arabian, and Artabes the Bactrian, settler in a rugged land, there perished.