Euripides The Suppliant Maidens 494

ed. Gilbert Murray

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σὺ δʼ ἄνδρας ἐχθροὺς καὶ θανόντας ὠφελεῖς,
θάπτων κομίζων θʼ ὕβρις οὓς ἀπώλεσεν;
495
οὔ τἄρʼ ἔτʼ ὀρθῶς Καπανέως κεραύνιον
δέμας καπνοῦται, κλιμάκων ὀρθοστάτας
ὃς προσβαλὼν πύλῃσιν ὤμοσεν πόλιν
πέρσειν θεοῦ θέλοντος ἤν τε μὴ θέλῃ;
οὐδʼ ἥρπασεν χάρυβδις οἰωνοσκόπον,
500
τέθριππον ἅρμα περιβαλοῦσα χάσματι,
ἄλλοι τε κεῖνται πρὸς πύλαις λοχαγέται
πέτροις καταξανθέντες ὀστέων ῥαφάς;
ἤ νυν φρονεῖν ἄμεινον ἐξαύχει Διός,
ἢ θεοὺς δικαίως τοὺς κακοὺς ἀπολλύναι.
505
φιλεῖν μὲν οὖν χρὴ τοὺς σοφοὺς πρῶτον τέκνα,
ἔπειτα τοκέας πατρίδα θʼ, ἣν αὔξειν χρεὼν
καὶ μὴ κατᾶξαι. σφαλερὸν ἡγεμὼν θρασύς·
νεώς τε ναύτης ἥσυχος, καιρῷ σοφός.
καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐμοὶ τἀνδρεῖον, ἡ προμηθία.
510

The Suppliant Maidens. Euripides. ed. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἱκέτιδες (Greek) (Euripides. Euripidis Fabulae, Vol. II. Murray, Gilbert, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913. (Reprinted 1921-1962))

Translations (3)
The Suppliants Perseus (Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906.) — 494 focus
Now thou art helping our foes even after death,
trying to rescue and bury those whom their own acts of insolence haye ruined. Verily then it would seem Capaneus was unjustly blasted by the thunderbolt and charred upon the ladder he had raised against our gates, swearing he would sack our town, whether the god would or no;
495
nor should the yawning earth have snatched away the seer, 1 opening wide her mouth to take his chariot and its horses in, nor should the other chieftains be stretched at our gates, their skeletons to atoms crushed ’neath boulders. Either boast thy wit transcendeth that of Zeus,
500
or else allow that gods are right to slay the ungodly. The wise should love their children first, next their parents and country, whose fortunes it behoves them to increase rather than break down. Rashness in a leader, as in a pilot, causeth shipwreck; who knoweth when to be quiet is a wise man.
505
Yea and this too is bravery, even forethought.
510
The Supplicants (OCR draft) Experimental (The Supplicants. Robert Potter's English verse translation, first published in 1781–1783; text from the 1808 Oxford printing.)

No corresponding passage available

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1852; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (Euripides. Deutsch in den Versmaßen der Urschrift. Volume 3, Heidelberg: C. F. Winter, 1852. Harvard OCR compared with an independent BSB copy. Native Donner verse citations, Murray reference cards, explicitly located notes and page facsimiles. Unresolved OCR, verse divisions, unlocated notes and printed errata are documented in the source review.) — 494 focus
Du willst gefallnen Götterfeinden Hülfe leihn, 1
485
Bestatten und beschicken, die ihr Troz verdarb.
Nicht also Necht war's, daß der Leib des Kapaneus
Vom Bliz umgluht aus hochgestellter Leiter dampft,
Der auf zum Thore klimmend, auszutilgen schwur
Die Veste, woll' es eine Gottheit oder nicht:
490
Nicht, daß Charybdis' offner Schlund den Seher dort 2
Verschlang, in Abgrund ihm Gespann und Wagen riß.
Und andre Feldherrn liegen noch vor Kadmos' Stadt,
Nachdem die Felsen ihr Gebein zerschmetterten.
Nun glaube, wenn du weiser nicht als seus dich ruhmst,
495
Gerecht verderbe Göttermacht den Frevlersinn.
Vor Allem sei der Weise Kind und Eltern hold,
Sei hold dem Vaterlande, das er heben muß
Und nicht verderben! Kühner Feldherr bringt Gefahr
Und kühner Schiffer; wer zu rechter Zeit verzieht,
500
Ist klug. Die Vorsicht nenn' ich wahre Tapferkeit.