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Chorus Leader
See where Odysseus comes in haste, to announce some fresh command to you, Hecuba.
Odysseus enters with his attendants.
See where Odysseus comes in haste, to announce some fresh command to you, Hecuba.
Odysseus
Lady, I think you know already the intention of the army, and the vote that has been passed; still I will declare it.
It is the Achaeans’ will to sacrifice your daughter Polyxena at the mound heaped over Achilles’ grave; and they appoint me to take the maid and bring her there, while the son of Achilles is chosen to preside over the sacrifice and act as priest.
220
Do you know then what to do? Do not be forcibly torn from her, nor match your might against mine; recognize the limits of your strength, and the presence of your troubles. Even in adversity it is wise to yield to reason’s dictates.
225
Lady, I think you know already the intention of the army, and the vote that has been passed; still I will declare it.
It is the Achaeans’ will to sacrifice your daughter Polyxena at the mound heaped over Achilles’ grave; and they appoint me to take the maid and bring her there, while the son of Achilles is chosen to preside over the sacrifice and act as priest.
220
Do you know then what to do? Do not be forcibly torn from her, nor match your might against mine; recognize the limits of your strength, and the presence of your troubles. Even in adversity it is wise to yield to reason’s dictates.
225
Hecuba
Alas! a dreadful trial is near, it seems,
full of mourning, rich in tears. Yes, I too escaped death where death had been my due, and Zeus did not destroy me but is still preserving my life, that I may witness in my misery fresh sorrows surpassing all before. But if the bond may ask the free
230
of things that do not grieve them or wrench their heart-strings, you ought to speak in answer to my questions and I ought to hear what you have to say.
235
Alas! a dreadful trial is near, it seems,
full of mourning, rich in tears. Yes, I too escaped death where death had been my due, and Zeus did not destroy me but is still preserving my life, that I may witness in my misery fresh sorrows surpassing all before. But if the bond may ask the free
230
of things that do not grieve them or wrench their heart-strings, you ought to speak in answer to my questions and I ought to hear what you have to say.
235
Odysseus
Granted; put your questions; I do not grudge you that delay.
Granted; put your questions; I do not grudge you that delay.
Hecuba
Do you know when you came to spy on
Ilium
,
disguised in rags and tatters, while down your cheek ran drops of blood?
240
Do you know when you came to spy on
Ilium
,
disguised in rags and tatters, while down your cheek ran drops of blood?
240
Odysseus
I do; for it was no slight impression it made upon my heart.
I do; for it was no slight impression it made upon my heart.
Hecuba
Did Helen recognize you and tell me only?
Did Helen recognize you and tell me only?
Odysseus
I well remember the great risk I ran.
I well remember the great risk I ran.
Hecuba
Did you embrace my knees in all humility?
245
Did you embrace my knees in all humility?
245
Odysseus
Yes, so that my hand grew dead and cold upon your robe.
Yes, so that my hand grew dead and cold upon your robe.
Hecuba
Was it I that saved and sent you forth again?
Was it I that saved and sent you forth again?
Odysseus
You did, and so I still behold the light of day.
You did, and so I still behold the light of day.
Hecuba
What did you say then, when in my power?
What did you say then, when in my power?
Odysseus
Doubtless I found plenty to say, to save my life.
250
251
Doubtless I found plenty to say, to save my life.
250
Hecuba
Are not you then playing a sorry part to plot against me thus, after the kind treatment you by your own confession received from me, showing me no gratitude but all the ill you can? A thankless race! all you who covet honor from the mob
for your oratory. Oh that you were unknown to me! you who harm your friends and think no more of it, if you can say a word to win the mob. But tell me, what kind of cleverness did they think it, when against this child they passed their bloody vote?
255
Was it duty that led them to slay a human victim at the tomb, where sacrifice of oxen is more fitting? or does Achilles, if claiming the lives of those who slew him as his recompense, show his justice by marking her out for death? No! she at least never injured him.
260
He should have demanded Helen as a victim at his tomb, for she it was that proved his ruin, bringing him to
Troy
; or if some captive of surpassing beauty was to be singled out for death, this did not point to us; for the daughter of Tyndareus was fairest of all,
265
and her injury to him was proved no less than ours. Against the justice of his plea I pit this argument. Now hear the recompense due from you to me at my request. On your own confession, you fell at my feet and embraced my hand and aged cheek;
270
I in my turn now do the same to you, and claim the favor then bestowed; and I implore you, do not tear my child from my arms or slay her; there are dead enough. In her I take delight and forget my sorrows;
275
she is my comfort in place of many a loss, my city and my nurse, my staff and journey’s guide. It is not right that those in power should use it out of season, or, when prosperous, suppose they will be always so. For I also was prosperous once, but now my life is lived,
280
and one day robbed me of all my bliss. Friend, by your beard, have some regard and pity for me; go to
Achaea
’s army, and talk them over, saying how hateful a thing it is to slay women whom at first you spared out of pity,
285
after dragging them from the altars. For among you the same law holds good for slave and free alike respecting bloodshed; such a reputation as yours will persuade them even though its words are weak; for the same argument, when proceeding from those of no account,
290
has not the same force as when it is uttered by men of mark.
295
Are not you then playing a sorry part to plot against me thus, after the kind treatment you by your own confession received from me, showing me no gratitude but all the ill you can? A thankless race! all you who covet honor from the mob
for your oratory. Oh that you were unknown to me! you who harm your friends and think no more of it, if you can say a word to win the mob. But tell me, what kind of cleverness did they think it, when against this child they passed their bloody vote?
255
Was it duty that led them to slay a human victim at the tomb, where sacrifice of oxen is more fitting? or does Achilles, if claiming the lives of those who slew him as his recompense, show his justice by marking her out for death? No! she at least never injured him.
260
He should have demanded Helen as a victim at his tomb, for she it was that proved his ruin, bringing him to
Troy
; or if some captive of surpassing beauty was to be singled out for death, this did not point to us; for the daughter of Tyndareus was fairest of all,
265
and her injury to him was proved no less than ours. Against the justice of his plea I pit this argument. Now hear the recompense due from you to me at my request. On your own confession, you fell at my feet and embraced my hand and aged cheek;
270
I in my turn now do the same to you, and claim the favor then bestowed; and I implore you, do not tear my child from my arms or slay her; there are dead enough. In her I take delight and forget my sorrows;
275
she is my comfort in place of many a loss, my city and my nurse, my staff and journey’s guide. It is not right that those in power should use it out of season, or, when prosperous, suppose they will be always so. For I also was prosperous once, but now my life is lived,
280
and one day robbed me of all my bliss. Friend, by your beard, have some regard and pity for me; go to
Achaea
’s army, and talk them over, saying how hateful a thing it is to slay women whom at first you spared out of pity,
285
after dragging them from the altars. For among you the same law holds good for slave and free alike respecting bloodshed; such a reputation as yours will persuade them even though its words are weak; for the same argument, when proceeding from those of no account,
290
has not the same force as when it is uttered by men of mark.
295
Chorus Leader
Human nature is not so stony-hearted as to hear your plaintive tale and catalogue of sorrows, without shedding a tear.
299
Human nature is not so stony-hearted as to hear your plaintive tale and catalogue of sorrows, without shedding a tear.
Odysseus
O Hecuba, be schooled by me, and do not in your angry mood
count him a foe who speaks wisely. Your life I am prepared to save, for the service I received; I do not say otherwise. But what I said to all, I will not now deny, that after
Troy
’s capture I would give your daughter to the chief man of our army
300
because he asked a victim. For here is a source of weakness to many states, whenever a man of brave and generous soul receives no greater honor than his inferiors. Now Achilles, lady, deserves honor at our hands,
305
since on behalf of
Hellas
the man died most nobly. Is not this a foul reproach to treat him as a friend in life, but, when he is gone from us, to treat him so no more? Enough! what will they say, if once more there comes a gathering of the army and a contest with the foe?
310
Shall we fight or nurse our lives, seeing the dead have no honors? For myself, indeed, when alive, if my daily store were scant, yet it would be all-sufficient, but my tomb I should wish
315
to be an object of respect, for this gratitude has long to run. You speak of cruel sufferings; hear my answer. Among us are grey old women and men no less miserable than you, and brides bereft of gallant husbands,
320
over whom this Trojan dust has closed. Endure these sorrows; for us, if we are wrong in resolving to honor the brave, we shall bring upon ourselves a charge of ignorance; but as for you barbarians, do not regard your friends as such and pay no homage to your gallant dead,
325
so that
Hellas
may prosper and you may reap the fruits of such policy.
330
O Hecuba, be schooled by me, and do not in your angry mood
count him a foe who speaks wisely. Your life I am prepared to save, for the service I received; I do not say otherwise. But what I said to all, I will not now deny, that after
Troy
’s capture I would give your daughter to the chief man of our army
300
because he asked a victim. For here is a source of weakness to many states, whenever a man of brave and generous soul receives no greater honor than his inferiors. Now Achilles, lady, deserves honor at our hands,
305
since on behalf of
Hellas
the man died most nobly. Is not this a foul reproach to treat him as a friend in life, but, when he is gone from us, to treat him so no more? Enough! what will they say, if once more there comes a gathering of the army and a contest with the foe?
310
Shall we fight or nurse our lives, seeing the dead have no honors? For myself, indeed, when alive, if my daily store were scant, yet it would be all-sufficient, but my tomb I should wish
315
to be an object of respect, for this gratitude has long to run. You speak of cruel sufferings; hear my answer. Among us are grey old women and men no less miserable than you, and brides bereft of gallant husbands,
320
over whom this Trojan dust has closed. Endure these sorrows; for us, if we are wrong in resolving to honor the brave, we shall bring upon ourselves a charge of ignorance; but as for you barbarians, do not regard your friends as such and pay no homage to your gallant dead,
325
so that
Hellas
may prosper and you may reap the fruits of such policy.
330
Chorus Leader
Alas! how cursed is slavery always in its nature, forced by the might of the stronger to endure unseemly treatment.
Alas! how cursed is slavery always in its nature, forced by the might of the stronger to endure unseemly treatment.
Hecuba
Daughter, my pleading to avert your bloody death
was wasted idly, hurled forth on the air; but you, if endowed with greater power than your mother, make haste to utter every pleading note like the tuneful nightingale, to save your soul from death. Throw yourself pitiably at Odysseus’ knees,
335
and try to move him—here is your plea: he too has children—to feel pity for your sad fate.
340
342
Daughter, my pleading to avert your bloody death
was wasted idly, hurled forth on the air; but you, if endowed with greater power than your mother, make haste to utter every pleading note like the tuneful nightingale, to save your soul from death. Throw yourself pitiably at Odysseus’ knees,
335
and try to move him—here is your plea: he too has children—to feel pity for your sad fate.
340
Polyxena
Odysseus, I see you hiding your right hand beneath your robe and turning away your face, so that I may not touch your beard.
Take heart; you are safe from the suppliant’s god in my case, for I will follow you, both because I must and because it is my wish to die; for if I were unwilling, a coward would I show myself, a woman faint of heart. Why should I prolong my days? I whose father was lord
345
of all the Phrygians, my chiefest pride in life. Then I was nursed on fair hopes to be a bride for kings, the center of keen jealousy among suitors, to see whose home I would make my own; and over each lady of Ida I was queen;
350
ah me! admired among maidens, equal to a goddess, save for death alone, but now I am a slave! That name first makes me long for death, so strange it sounds; and then perhaps my lot might give me
355
to some savage master, one that would buy me for money—me the sister of Hector and many others—who would make me knead him bread within his halls, or sweep his house or set me working at the loom, leading a life of misery;
360
while some slave, bought I know not where, will taint my bed, once deemed worthy of royalty. No, never! Here I close my eyes upon the light, free as yet, and dedicate myself to Hades. Lead me away, Odysseus, and do your worst,
365
for I see nothing within my reach to make me hope or expect with any confidence that I am ever again to be happy. Mother, do not seek to hinder me by word or deed, but join in my wish for death before I meet with shameful treatment undeserved.
370
For whoever is not used to taste of sorrows, though he bears it, yet it galls him when he puts his neck within the yoke; far happier would he be dead than alive, for life bereft of honor is toil and trouble.
375
Odysseus, I see you hiding your right hand beneath your robe and turning away your face, so that I may not touch your beard.
Take heart; you are safe from the suppliant’s god in my case, for I will follow you, both because I must and because it is my wish to die; for if I were unwilling, a coward would I show myself, a woman faint of heart. Why should I prolong my days? I whose father was lord
345
of all the Phrygians, my chiefest pride in life. Then I was nursed on fair hopes to be a bride for kings, the center of keen jealousy among suitors, to see whose home I would make my own; and over each lady of Ida I was queen;
350
ah me! admired among maidens, equal to a goddess, save for death alone, but now I am a slave! That name first makes me long for death, so strange it sounds; and then perhaps my lot might give me
355
to some savage master, one that would buy me for money—me the sister of Hector and many others—who would make me knead him bread within his halls, or sweep his house or set me working at the loom, leading a life of misery;
360
while some slave, bought I know not where, will taint my bed, once deemed worthy of royalty. No, never! Here I close my eyes upon the light, free as yet, and dedicate myself to Hades. Lead me away, Odysseus, and do your worst,
365
for I see nothing within my reach to make me hope or expect with any confidence that I am ever again to be happy. Mother, do not seek to hinder me by word or deed, but join in my wish for death before I meet with shameful treatment undeserved.
370
For whoever is not used to taste of sorrows, though he bears it, yet it galls him when he puts his neck within the yoke; far happier would he be dead than alive, for life bereft of honor is toil and trouble.
375
Chorus Leader
A wondrous mark, most clearly stamped, does noble birth
imprint on men, and the name goes still further where it is deserved.
380
382
A wondrous mark, most clearly stamped, does noble birth
imprint on men, and the name goes still further where it is deserved.
380
Hecuba
A noble speech, my daughter! but there is sorrow linked with its noble sentiments. Odysseus, if you must please the son of Peleus, and avoid reproach,
do not slay this maid, but lead me to Achilles’ pyre and torture me unsparingly; it was I that bore
Paris
, whose fatal shaft laid low the son of Thetis.
385
A noble speech, my daughter! but there is sorrow linked with its noble sentiments. Odysseus, if you must please the son of Peleus, and avoid reproach,
do not slay this maid, but lead me to Achilles’ pyre and torture me unsparingly; it was I that bore
Paris
, whose fatal shaft laid low the son of Thetis.
385
Odysseus
It is not your death, my lady, that Achilles’ ghost
has demanded of the Achaeans, but hers.
390
It is not your death, my lady, that Achilles’ ghost
has demanded of the Achaeans, but hers.
390
Hecuba
At least then slaughter me with my child; so shall there be a double drink of blood for the earth and the dead that claims this sacrifice.
At least then slaughter me with my child; so shall there be a double drink of blood for the earth and the dead that claims this sacrifice.
Odysseus
The maiden’s death suffices; no need to add
a second to the first; would we did not need even this!
395
The maiden’s death suffices; no need to add
a second to the first; would we did not need even this!
395
Hecuba
Die with my daughter I must and will.
Die with my daughter I must and will.
Odysseus
How so? I did not know I had a master.
How so? I did not know I had a master.
Hecuba
I will cling to her like ivy to an oak.
I will cling to her like ivy to an oak.
Odysseus
Not if you will listen to those who are wiser than you.
Not if you will listen to those who are wiser than you.
Hecuba
Be sure I will never willingly relinquish my child.
400
Be sure I will never willingly relinquish my child.
400
Odysseus
Well, be equally sure I will never go away and leave her here.
402
Well, be equally sure I will never go away and leave her here.
Polyxena
Mother, listen to me; and you, son of
Laertes
, make allowance for a parent’s natural wrath. My poor mother, do not fight with our masters.
Will you be thrown to the ground, be roughly thrust aside and wound your aged skin, and in unseemly fashion be torn from me by youthful arms? This you will suffer; but do not, for it is not right for you. No, my dear mother! give me your beloved hand,
405
and let me press your cheek to mine; for never again, but now for the last time, shall I behold the dazzling sun-god’s orb. Take my last farewells now. O mother, my mother! I pass beneath the earth.
410
Mother, listen to me; and you, son of
Laertes
, make allowance for a parent’s natural wrath. My poor mother, do not fight with our masters.
Will you be thrown to the ground, be roughly thrust aside and wound your aged skin, and in unseemly fashion be torn from me by youthful arms? This you will suffer; but do not, for it is not right for you. No, my dear mother! give me your beloved hand,
405
and let me press your cheek to mine; for never again, but now for the last time, shall I behold the dazzling sun-god’s orb. Take my last farewells now. O mother, my mother! I pass beneath the earth.
410
Hecuba
O my daughter, I am still to live and be a slave.
415
O my daughter, I am still to live and be a slave.
415
Polyxena
Unwedded I depart, never having tasted the married joys that were my due!
Unwedded I depart, never having tasted the married joys that were my due!
Hecuba
Yours, my daughter, is a piteous lot, and sad is mine also.
Yours, my daughter, is a piteous lot, and sad is mine also.
Polyxena
There in Hades’ courts shall I lie apart from you.
There in Hades’ courts shall I lie apart from you.
Hecuba
Ah me, what shall I do? where shall I end my life?
Ah me, what shall I do? where shall I end my life?
Polyxena
Daughter of a free-born father, a slave I am to die.
420
Daughter of a free-born father, a slave I am to die.
420
Hecuba
Not one of all my fifty children left!
Not one of all my fifty children left!
Polyxena
What message can I take for you to Hector or your aged lord?
What message can I take for you to Hector or your aged lord?
Hecuba
Tell them that of all women I am the most miserable.
Tell them that of all women I am the most miserable.
Polyxena
Ah! breasts and paps that fed me with sweet food!
Ah! breasts and paps that fed me with sweet food!
Hecuba
Oh, my daughter—your wretched, untimely fate!
425
Oh, my daughter—your wretched, untimely fate!
425
Polyxena
Farewell, my mother! farewell, Cassandra!
Farewell, my mother! farewell, Cassandra!
Hecuba
Fare well! others do, but not your mother, no!
Fare well! others do, but not your mother, no!
Polyxena
You too, my brother Polydorus, in
Thrace
, the home of steeds!
You too, my brother Polydorus, in
Thrace
, the home of steeds!
Hecuba
Yes, if he lives, which I doubt; so luckless am I in every way.
Yes, if he lives, which I doubt; so luckless am I in every way.
Polyxena
He lives; and, when you die, he will close your eyes.
430
He lives; and, when you die, he will close your eyes.
430
Hecuba
I am dead; sorrow has forestalled death here.
I am dead; sorrow has forestalled death here.
Polyxena
Come veil my head, Odysseus, and take me away; for now, before the fatal blow, my heart is melted by my mother’s wailing, and hers by mine.
O light of day! for still I may call you by your name, though now my share in you is only the time I take to go between Achilles’ tomb and the sword.
Odysseus and his attendants lead Polyxena away.
435
Come veil my head, Odysseus, and take me away; for now, before the fatal blow, my heart is melted by my mother’s wailing, and hers by mine.
O light of day! for still I may call you by your name, though now my share in you is only the time I take to go between Achilles’ tomb and the sword.
Odysseus and his attendants lead Polyxena away.
435
Hecuba
Alas! I faint; my limbs sink under me. O my daughter, embrace your mother, stretch out your hand,
give it to me; do not leave me childless! Ah, friends! it is my death-blow. Oh! to see that Spartan woman, Helen, sister of the sons of Zeus, in such a plight; for her bright eyes have caused the shameful fall of
Troy
’s once prosperous town.
Hecuba sinks fainting to the ground.
440
Alas! I faint; my limbs sink under me. O my daughter, embrace your mother, stretch out your hand,
give it to me; do not leave me childless! Ah, friends! it is my death-blow. Oh! to see that Spartan woman, Helen, sister of the sons of Zeus, in such a plight; for her bright eyes have caused the shameful fall of
Troy
’s once prosperous town.
Hecuba sinks fainting to the ground.
440
Hecuba. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1891.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.