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Apollo
Halls of Admetus, wherein I steeled my heart to be content with a servant’s board, god though I was. Zeus was to blame; he slew my son Asclepius, piercing his bosom with a thunderbolt;
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whereat I was enraged and smote his Cyclopes, forgers of the heavenly fire; so my sire in recompense for this forced me to become a slave in a mortal’s home. Then came I to this land and kept a stranger’s flocks, and to this day have been the saviour of this house.
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For in Pheres’ son I found a man as holy as myself, and him I saved from death by cheating Destiny, for they promised me, those goddesses of fate, that Admetus should escape the impending doom, if he found a substitute for the powers below.
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So he went through all his list of friends, made trial of each, his father and the aged mother that bare him,
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but none he found save his wife alone that was willing to die for him and forego the light of life; she now within the house is upheld in his arms,
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gasping out her life; for to-day is she doomed to die and pass from life to death. But I, for fear pollution overtake me in the house, am leaving the shelter of this roof I love so well, for already I see Death hard by,
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the priest of souls departed, who is on his way to lead her to the halls of Hades; true to time he comes, watching this day that calls her to her doom.
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Halls of Admetus, wherein I steeled my heart to be content with a servant’s board, god though I was. Zeus was to blame; he slew my son Asclepius, piercing his bosom with a thunderbolt;
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whereat I was enraged and smote his Cyclopes, forgers of the heavenly fire; so my sire in recompense for this forced me to become a slave in a mortal’s home. Then came I to this land and kept a stranger’s flocks, and to this day have been the saviour of this house.
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For in Pheres’ son I found a man as holy as myself, and him I saved from death by cheating Destiny, for they promised me, those goddesses of fate, that Admetus should escape the impending doom, if he found a substitute for the powers below.
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So he went through all his list of friends, made trial of each, his father and the aged mother that bare him,
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but none he found save his wife alone that was willing to die for him and forego the light of life; she now within the house is upheld in his arms,
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gasping out her life; for to-day is she doomed to die and pass from life to death. But I, for fear pollution overtake me in the house, am leaving the shelter of this roof I love so well, for already I see Death hard by,
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the priest of souls departed, who is on his way to lead her to the halls of Hades; true to time he comes, watching this day that calls her to her doom.
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Death
Ha! What dost thou at this house? why is it thou art ranging here,
Phoebus? Once again thou wrongest me, circumscribing and limiting the honours of the nether world. Wert thou not content to hinder the death of Admetus, by thy knavish cunning baulking Destiny? but now again
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hast thou armed thee with thy bow and art keeping guard o’er her, this daughter of Pelias, who undertook, of her free will, to die for her lord and set him free.
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Ha! What dost thou at this house? why is it thou art ranging here,
Phoebus? Once again thou wrongest me, circumscribing and limiting the honours of the nether world. Wert thou not content to hinder the death of Admetus, by thy knavish cunning baulking Destiny? but now again
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hast thou armed thee with thy bow and art keeping guard o’er her, this daughter of Pelias, who undertook, of her free will, to die for her lord and set him free.
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Apollo
Never fear; I have, be sure, justice and fair pleas to urge.
Never fear; I have, be sure, justice and fair pleas to urge.
Death
What has that bow to do, if thou hast justice on thy side?
What has that bow to do, if thou hast justice on thy side?
Apollo
’Tis my habit ever to carry it.
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’Tis my habit ever to carry it.
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Death
Ay, and to help this house more than is right.
Ay, and to help this house more than is right.
Apollo
The reason is, I cannot bear a friend’s distress.
The reason is, I cannot bear a friend’s distress.
Death
Wilt rob me of this second corpse likewise?
Wilt rob me of this second corpse likewise?
Apollo
Come! I did not take the other from thee by violence.
Come! I did not take the other from thee by violence.
Death
Then how is it he lives above the earth and not beneath?
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Then how is it he lives above the earth and not beneath?
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Apollo
He gave his wife instead, her whom now thou art come to fetch.
He gave his wife instead, her whom now thou art come to fetch.
Death
Yea, and I will bear her hence to the nether world.
Yea, and I will bear her hence to the nether world.
Apollo
Take her and go, for I do not suppose I can persuade thee.
Take her and go, for I do not suppose I can persuade thee.
Death
To slay my rightful victim? Why, that is my appointed task.
To slay my rightful victim? Why, that is my appointed task.
Apollo
Nay, but to lay thy deadly hand on those who soon would die.
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Nay, but to lay thy deadly hand on those who soon would die.
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Death
I see thy drift, thy eager plea.
I see thy drift, thy eager plea.
Apollo
Is it then possible that Alcestis should attain old age?
Is it then possible that Alcestis should attain old age?
Death
It is not possible; I too, methinks, find a pleasure in my rights.
It is not possible; I too, methinks, find a pleasure in my rights.
Apollo
Thou canst not anyhow take more than one life.
Thou canst not anyhow take more than one life.
Death
When young lives die I reap a higher honour.
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When young lives die I reap a higher honour.
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Apollo
Should she die old, a sumptuous funeral will she have.
Should she die old, a sumptuous funeral will she have.
Death
Phoebus, the law thou layest down is all in favour of the rich.
Phoebus, the law thou layest down is all in favour of the rich.
Apollo
What mean’st thou? art so wise, and I never knew it?
What mean’st thou? art so wise, and I never knew it?
Death
Those who have wealth would buy the chance of their dying old.
Those who have wealth would buy the chance of their dying old.
Apollo
It seems then thou wilt not grant me this favour.
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It seems then thou wilt not grant me this favour.
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Death
Not I; my customs well thou knowest.
Not I; my customs well thou knowest.
Apollo
That I do, customs men detest and gods abhor.
That I do, customs men detest and gods abhor.
Death
Thou canst not realise every lawless wish.
Thou canst not realise every lawless wish.
Apollo
Mark me, thou shalt have a check for all thy excessive fierceness;
such a hero shall there come to Pheres’ halls, by Eurystheus sent to fetch a team of steeds from the wintry world of Thrace; he, a guest awhile in these halls of Admetus, will wrest this woman from thee by sheer force.
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So wilt thou get no thanks from me but yet wilt do this all the same, and earn my hatred too.
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Mark me, thou shalt have a check for all thy excessive fierceness;
such a hero shall there come to Pheres’ halls, by Eurystheus sent to fetch a team of steeds from the wintry world of Thrace; he, a guest awhile in these halls of Admetus, will wrest this woman from thee by sheer force.
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So wilt thou get no thanks from me but yet wilt do this all the same, and earn my hatred too.
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Death
Thou wilt not gain thy purpose any the more for all thy many words; that woman shall to Hades’ halls go down, I tell thee.
Lo! I am going for her, that with the sword I may begin my rites, for he whose hair this sword doth hallow is sacred to the gods below.
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Thou wilt not gain thy purpose any the more for all thy many words; that woman shall to Hades’ halls go down, I tell thee.
Lo! I am going for her, that with the sword I may begin my rites, for he whose hair this sword doth hallow is sacred to the gods below.
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Alcestis. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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