§219μήποτ᾽ ἐμὸν κατ᾽ αἰῶνα λίποι θεῶν §220ἅδε πανάγυρις, μηδ᾽ ἐπίδοιμι τάνδ᾽ §221ἀστυδρομουμέναν πόλιν καὶ στράτευμ᾽ §222ἁπτόμενον πυρὶ δαΐῳ.
[Chorus] May this assembly of gods never leave during my lifetime, and may I never look upon this city overrun, and the host set on fire with hostile flame.
§223μή μοι θεοὺς καλοῦσα βουλεύου κακῶς: §224πειθαρχία γάρ ἐστι τῆς εὐπραξίας §225μήτηρ, γονῆς σωτῆρος: ὧδ᾽ ἔχει λόγος.
[Eteocles] Do not consult badly while calling upon the gods; for obedience is the mother of success, savior of offspring; so says the saying.
§226ἔστι: θεοῦ δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἰσχὺς καθυπερτέρα: §227πολλάκι δ᾽ ἐν κακοῖσι τὸν ἀμάχανον §228κἀκ χαλεπᾶς δύας ὕπερθ᾽ ὀμμάτων §229κρημναμενᾶν νεφελᾶν ὀρθοῖ.
[Chorus] True; yet the power of god is still higher; and often in troubles he raises up the helpless one even from harsh distress, above the clouds hanging over his eyes.
§230ἀνδρῶν τάδ᾽ ἐστί, σφάγια καὶ χρηστήρια §231θεοῖσιν ἕρδειν, πολεμίων πειρωμένων: §232σὸν δ᾽ αὖ τὸ σιγᾶν καὶ μένειν εἴσω δόμων.
[Eteocles] It belongs to men to offer sacrifices and consult the oracle to the gods when the enemies are testing us; but your duty, on the other hand, is to be silent and remain inside the house.
[Chorus] Through the gods we inhabit an unconquered city, and the tower wards off the multitude of enemies.
§235τίς τάδε νέμεσις στυγεῖ;
What nemesis hates these things?
§236οὔτοι φθονῶ σοι δαιμόνων τιμᾶν γένος: §237ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πολίτας μὴ κακοσπλάγχνους τιθῇς, §238εὔκηλος ἴσθι μηδ᾽ ἄγαν ὑπερφοβοῦ.
[Eteocles] I do not grudge indeed your honoring the race of divinities; but so that you do not make the citizens faint-hearted, be at peace and do not fear excessively.
§239ποτίφατον κλύουσα πάταγον ἀνάμιγα §240ταρβοσύνῳ φόβῳ τάνδ᾽ ἐς ἀκρόπτολιν, §241τίμιον ἕδος, ἱκόμαν.
[Chorus] Hearing the mingled clash, I came in trembling fear to this acropolis, a seat of honor.
[Eteocles] Do not then, if you hear of dying or wounded men, eagerly seize upon them with wailings.
§244τούτῳ γὰρ Ἄρης βόσκεται, φόνῳ βροτῶν.
For with this Ares feeds, the slaughter of mortals.
§245καὶ μὴν ἀκούω γ᾽ ἱππικῶν φρυαγμάτων.
[Chorus] Indeed, I hear the snortings of horses.
§246μή νυν ἀκούουσ᾽ ἐμφανῶς ἄκου᾽ ἄγαν.
[Eteocles] Then, hearing them, do not hear too clearly.
§247στένει πόλισμα γῆθεν, ὡς κυκλουμένων.
[Chorus] The town groans from the ground, as they encircle us.
§248οὐκοῦν ἔμ᾽ ἀρκεῖ τῶνδε βουλεύειν πέρι.
[Eteocles] Well then, it is enough for me to take counsel concerning these things.
§249δέδοικ᾽, ἀραγμὸς δ᾽ ἐν πύλαις ὀφέλλεται.
[Chorus] I am afraid, and the crashing at the gates increases.
§250οὐ σῖγα μηδὲν τῶνδ᾽ ἐρεῖς κατὰ πτόλιν;
[Eteocles] Will you not keep silent and say nothing of this in the city?
§251ὦ ξυντέλεια, μὴ προδῷς πυργώματα.
[Chorus] O assembly of gods, do not betray our battlements.
§252οὐκ ἐς φθόρον σιγῶσ᾽ ἀνασχήσει τάδε;
[Eteocles] Go to perdition! Will you not keep silent and endure this?
§253θεοὶ πολῖται, μή με δουλείας τυχεῖν.
[Chorus] O citizen gods, may I not meet with slavery.
§254αὐτὴ σὺ δουλοῖς καὶ σὲ καὶ πᾶσαν πόλιν.
[Eteocles] You yourself are enslaving both yourself and the whole city.
§255ὦ παγκρατὲς Ζεῦ, τρέψον εἰς ἐχθροὺς βέλος.
[Chorus] O all-powerful Zeus, turn your bolt upon the enemies.
§256ὦ Ζεῦ, γυναικῶν οἷον ὤπασας γένος.
[Eteocles] O Zeus, what a race of women you have given us.
§257μοχθηρόν, ὥσπερ ἄνδρας ὧν ἁλῷ πόλις.
[Chorus] A wretched one, just like the men whose city is captured.
§258παλινστομεῖς αὖ θιγγάνουσ᾽ ἀγαλμάτων;
[Eteocles] Do you speak with ill omen again while touching the statues?
§259ἀψυχίᾳ γὰρ γλῶσσαν ἁρπάζει φόβος.
[Chorus] For through faint-heartedness fear seizes the tongue.
§260αἰτουμένῳ μοι κοῦφον εἰ δοίης τέλος.
[Eteocles] If you would grant me a light end to my request when I ask.
§261λέγοις ἂν ὡς τάχιστα, καὶ τάχ᾽ εἴσομαι.
[Chorus] Speak as quickly as possible, and I shall soon know.
§262σίγησον, ὦ τάλαινα, μὴ φίλους φόβει.
[Eteocles] Be silent, unhappy woman, do not frighten your friends.
§263σιγῶ: σὺν ἄλλοις πείσομαι τὸ μόρσιμον.
[Chorus] I am silent; with others I will suffer what is fated.
§264τοῦτ᾽ ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνων τοὔπος αἱροῦμαι σέθεν.
[Eteocles] I choose this word of yours instead of those.
And in addition to this, staying away from the statues, pray for the better, that the gods be our allies.
§267κἀμῶν ἀκούσασ᾽ εὐγμάτων, ἔπειτα σὺ §268ὀλολυγμὸν ἱρὸν εὐμενῆ παιώνισον, §269Ἑλληνικὸν νόμισμα θυστάδος βοῆς, §270θάρσος φίλοις, λύουσα πολέμιον φόβον.
And having heard my prayers, then do you raise the holy, well-disposed ritual shout of the maiden, the Greek custom of sacrificial cry, a courage to friends, dissolving hostile fear.
§271ἐγὼ δὲ χώρας τοῖς πολισσούχοις θεοῖς, §272πεδιονόμοις τε κἀγορᾶς ἐπισκόποις, §273Δίρκης τε πηγαῖς, ὕδατί τ᾽ Ἰσμηνοῦ λέγω, §274εὖ ξυντυχόντων καὶ πόλεως σεσωσμένης, §275†[μήλοισιν αἱμάσσοντας ἑστίας θεῶν, §276ταυροκτονοῦντας θεοῖσιν, ὧδ᾽ ἐπεύχομαι §277θήσειν τροπαῖα, πολεμίων δ᾽ ἐσθήματα,] §278λάφυρα δᾴων δουρίπηχθ᾽ ἁγνοῖς δόμοις, §279στέψω πρὸ ναῶν, πολεμίων [δ᾽] ἐσθήματα. †
And I speak to the city-protecting gods of this land, both those who guard the plains and those who watch the marketplace, and the springs of Dirce, and the water of Ismenus, that if things turn out well and the city is saved, staining the hearths of the gods with sheep and sacrificing bulls to the gods, I thus vow to set up trophies, and the garments of the enemy, spoils of the foes pierced by spears in the holy temples, I will hang before the shrines, the garments of the enemies.
§280τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐπεύχου μὴ φιλοστόνως θεοῖς, §281μηδ᾽ ἐν ματαίοις κἀγρίοις ποιφύγμασιν: §282οὐ γάρ τι μᾶλλον μὴ φύγῃς τὸ μόρσιμον.
Make such vows to the gods, not with groaning, nor with vain and wild snortings; for you will not escape what is fated any the more.
§283ἐγὼ δέ γ᾽ ἄνδρας ἓξ ἐμοὶ σὺν ἑβδόμῳ §284ἀντηρέτας ἐχθροῖσι τὸν μέγαν τρόπον §285εἰς ἑπτατειχεῖς ἐξόδους τάξω μολών, §286πρὶν ἀγγέλους σπερχνούς τε καὶ ταχυρρόθους §287λόγους ἱκέσθαι καὶ φλέγειν χρείας ὕπο.
And I indeed, going, will post six men with myself as seventh, to confront the enemies in the grand manner at the seven gate-outlets, before urgent messengers and fast-running words arrive and inflame us by necessity.
§288μέλει, φόβῳ δ᾽ οὐχ ὑπνώσσει κέαρ: §289γείτονες δὲ καρδίας §290μέριμναι ζωπυροῦσι τάρβος §291τὸν ἀμφιτειχῆ λεών, §292δράκοντας ὥς τις τέκνων §293ὑπερδέδοικεν λεχαίων δυσευνάτορας §294πάντρομος πελειάς.
[Chorus] It is a care, and through fear my heart does not sleep; and the anxieties near my heart kindle my dread of the host surrounding the walls, just as an all-trembling dove fears snakes, the evil bed-mates, for her nestlings in the nest.
For some indeed are marching against the towers in full force, in a vast crowd.
τί γένωμαι;
What will become of me?
And others are hurling jagged stones at the citizens beset from both sides.
By every means, O Zeus-born gods, rescue the city and the host of Cadmean race.
§304ποῖον δ᾽ ἀμείψεσθε γαίας πέδον §305τᾶσδ᾽ ἄρειον, ἐχθροῖς §306ἀφέντες τὰν βαθύχθον᾽ αἶαν, §307ὕδωρ τε Διρκαῖον, εὐ- §308τραφέστατον πωμάτων §309ὅσων ἵησιν Ποσει- §310δᾶν ὁ γαιάοχος §311Τηθύος τε παῖδες.
And what better plain of earth will you take in exchange, if you abandon to the enemies this fertile land and the water of Dirce, the most nourishing of all drinks that Poseidon the earth-holder and the children of Tethys send forth?
§312πρὸς τάδ᾽, ὦ πολιοῦχοι §313θεοί, τοῖσι μὲν ἔξω §314πύργων ἀνδρολέτειραν §315κῆρα, ῥίψοπλον ἄταν, §316ἐμβαλόντες ἄροισθε §317κῦδος τοῖσδε πολίταις.
In response to this, O city-protecting gods, by casting among those outside the walls a man-destroying doom and a weapon-dropping ruin, win glory for these citizens.
And be saviors of the city and stand on your well-established seats, answering our shrill-wailing prayers.
§321οἰκτρὸν γὰρ πόλιν ὧδ᾽ ὠγυγίαν §322Ἀίδᾳ προϊάψαι, δορὸς ἄγραν, §323δουλίαν ψαφαρᾷ σποδῷ §324ὑπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς Ἀχαιοῦ θεόθεν §325περθομέναν ἀτίμως, §326τὰς δὲ κεχειρωμένας ἄγεσθαι, §327ἒ ἔ, νέας τε καὶ παλαιὰς §328ἱππηδὸν πλοκάμων, περιρ-
For it is piteous to send so ancient a city to Hades, a prey of the spear, enslaved in crumbling ashes, shamefully destroyed by an Achaean man by the god's decree, and for the captured women to be led away, ah, ah, young and old, like horses by their hair, with their garments torn...