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Chorus
But lo! I see a servant of Hippolytus hasting with troubled looks towards the palace.
But lo! I see a servant of Hippolytus hasting with troubled looks towards the palace.
Messenger
Ladies,
1
where may I find Theseus, king of the country? pray, tell me if
ye know; is he within the palace here?
1155
Ladies,
1
where may I find Theseus, king of the country? pray, tell me if
ye know; is he within the palace here?
1155
Chorus
Lo! himself approaches from the palace.
Lo! himself approaches from the palace.
Messenger
Theseus, I am the bearer of troublous tidings to thee and all citizens who dwell in Athens or the bounds of Troezen.
Theseus, I am the bearer of troublous tidings to thee and all citizens who dwell in Athens or the bounds of Troezen.
Theseus
How now? hath some strange calamity overtaken these two neighbouring cities?
1160
How now? hath some strange calamity overtaken these two neighbouring cities?
1160
Messenger
In one brief word, Hippolytus is dead. ’Tis true one slender thread still links him to the light of life.
In one brief word, Hippolytus is dead. ’Tis true one slender thread still links him to the light of life.
Theseus
Who slew him? Did some husband come to blows with him,
one whose wife, like mine, had suffered brutal violence?
1165
Who slew him? Did some husband come to blows with him,
one whose wife, like mine, had suffered brutal violence?
1165
Messenger
He perished through those steeds that drew his chariot, and through the curses thou didst utter, praying to thy sire, the ocean-king, to slay thy son.
He perished through those steeds that drew his chariot, and through the curses thou didst utter, praying to thy sire, the ocean-king, to slay thy son.
Theseus
Ye gods and king Poseidon, thou hast proved my parentage
by hearkening to my prayer! Say how he perished; how fell the uplifted hand of Justice to smite the villain who dishonoured me?
1170
Ye gods and king Poseidon, thou hast proved my parentage
by hearkening to my prayer! Say how he perished; how fell the uplifted hand of Justice to smite the villain who dishonoured me?
1170
Messenger
Hard by the wave-beat shore were we combing out his horses’ manes,
weeping the while, for one had come to say that Hippolytus was harshly exiled by thee and nevermore would return to set foot in this land. Then came he, telling the same doleful tale to us upon the beach, and with him was a countless throng
1175
of friends who followed after. At length he stayed his lamentation and spake:
Why weakly rave on this wise? My father’s commands must be obeyed. Ho! servants, harness my horses to the chariot; this is no longer now city of mine.
1180
Thereupon each one of us bestirred himself, and, ere a man could say ’twas done, we had the horses standing ready at our master’s side. Then he caught up the reins from the chariot-rail, first fitting his feet
2
exactly in the hollows made for them.
1185
But first with outspread palms he called upon the gods,
O Zeus, now strike me dead, if I have sinned, and let my father learn how he is wronging me, in death at least, if not in life.
1190
Therewith he seized the whip and lashed
each horse in turn; while we, close by his chariot, near the reins, kept up with him along the road that leads direct to Argos and Epidaurus.
1195
Hard by the wave-beat shore were we combing out his horses’ manes,
weeping the while, for one had come to say that Hippolytus was harshly exiled by thee and nevermore would return to set foot in this land. Then came he, telling the same doleful tale to us upon the beach, and with him was a countless throng
1175
of friends who followed after. At length he stayed his lamentation and spake:
Why weakly rave on this wise? My father’s commands must be obeyed. Ho! servants, harness my horses to the chariot; this is no longer now city of mine.
1180
Thereupon each one of us bestirred himself, and, ere a man could say ’twas done, we had the horses standing ready at our master’s side. Then he caught up the reins from the chariot-rail, first fitting his feet
2
exactly in the hollows made for them.
1185
But first with outspread palms he called upon the gods,
O Zeus, now strike me dead, if I have sinned, and let my father learn how he is wronging me, in death at least, if not in life.
1190
Therewith he seized the whip and lashed
each horse in turn; while we, close by his chariot, near the reins, kept up with him along the road that leads direct to Argos and Epidaurus.
1195
Hippolytus. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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