Euripides, Rhesus, ed. Gilbert Murray, 488

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Ῥῆσος

μόνος μάχεσθαι πολεμίοις, Ἕκτορ, θέλω.

εἰ δʼ αἰσχρὸν ἡγῇ μὴ συνεμπρῆσαι νεῶν

πρύμνας, πονήσας τὸν πάρος πολὺν χρόνον,
490

τάξον μʼ Ἀχιλλέως καὶ στρατοῦ κατὰ στόμα.

Ἕκτωρ

οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ θοῦρον ἐντάξαι δόρυ.

Ῥῆσος

καὶ μὴν λόγος γʼ ἦν ὡς ἔπλευσʼ ἐπʼ Ἴλιον.

Ἕκτωρ

ἔπλευσε καὶ πάρεστιν· ἀλλὰ μηνίων

στρατηλάταισιν οὐ συναίρεται δόρυ.
495

Ῥῆσος

τίς δὴ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄλλος εὐδοξεῖ στρατοῦ;

Ἕκτωρ

Αἴας ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδὲν ἡσσᾶσθαι δοκεῖ

χὡ Τυδέως παῖς· ἔστι δʼ αἱμυλώτατον

κρότημʼ Ὀδυσσεύς, λῆμά τʼ ἀρκούντως θρασὺς

καὶ πλεῖστα χώραν τήνδʼ ἀνὴρ καθυβρίσας·
500

ὃς εἰς Ἀθάνας σηκὸν ἔννυχος μολὼν

κλέψας ἄγαλμα ναῦς ἐπʼ Ἀργείων φέρει.

ἤδη δʼ ἀγύρτης πτωχικὴν ἔχων στολὴν

ἐσῆλθε πύργους, πολλὰ δʼ Ἀργείοις κακὰ

ἠρᾶτο, πεμφθεὶς Ἰλίου κατάσκοπος·
505

κτανὼν δὲ φρουροὺς καὶ παραστάτας πυλῶν

ἐξῆλθεν· αἰεὶ δʼ ἐν λόχοις εὑρίσκεται

Θυμβραῖον ἀμφὶ βωμὸν ἄστεως πέλας

θάσσων· κακῷ δὲ μερμέρῳ παλαίομεν.

Ῥῆσος

οὐδεὶς ἀνὴρ εὔψυχος ἀξιοῖ λάθρᾳ
510

κτεῖναι τὸν ἐχθρόν, ἀλλʼ ἰὼν κατὰ στόμα.

τοῦτον δʼ ὃν ἵζειν φὴς σὺ κλωπικὰς ἕδρας

καὶ μηχανᾶσθαι, ζῶντα συλλαβὼν ἐγὼ

πυλῶν ἐπʼ ἐξόδοισιν ἀμπείρας ῥάχιν

στήσω πετεινοῖς γυψὶ θοινατήριον.
515

λῃστὴν γὰρ ὄντα καὶ θεῶν ἀνάκτορα

συλῶντα δεῖ νιν τῷδε κατθανεῖν μόρῳ.

Ἕκτωρ

νῦν μὲν καταυλίσθητε· καὶ γὰρ εὐφρόνη.

δείξω δʼ ἐγώ σοι χῶρον, ἔνθα χρὴ στρατὸν

τὸν σὸν νυχεῦσαι τοῦ τεταγμένου δίχα.
520

ξύνθημα δʼ ἡμῖν Φοῖβος, ἤν τι καὶ δέῃ·

μέμνησʼ ἀκούσας, Θρῃκί τʼ ἄγγειλον στρατῷ.

ὑμᾶς δὲ βάντας χρὴ προταινὶ τάξεων

φρουρεῖν ἐγερτὶ καὶ νεῶν κατάσκοπον

δέχθαι Δόλωνα· καὶ γάρ, εἴπερ ἐστὶ σῶς,
525

ἤδη πελάζει στρατοπέδοισι Τρωικοῖς.

Rhesus. Euripides. ed. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ῥῆσος (Greek) (Euripides. Euripidis Fabulae, Vol. III. Murray, Gilbert, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913. (Reprinted 1920-1978))

Translations (3)

Rhesus Perseus (Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 488 focus

Rhesus

Alone I will face the foe, Hector. But if you are ashamed, after all your previous toil,

to have no share in firing their ships’ prows, place me face to face with Achilles and his army.
490

Hector

Against that man you cannot range your eager spear.

Rhesus

Why, it was surely said he sailed to Ilium .

Hector

He sailed and he is here; but he is angry

and takes no part with the other chieftains in the battle.
495

Rhesus

Who next to him has won a name in their army?

Hector

Aias and the son of Tydeus are, I take it, in no way his inferiors; there is Odysseus, a wheedling rascal, but bold enough indeed,

and of all men he has wrought most outrage on this country. For he came by night to Athena’s shrine and stole her image and took it to the Argive ships; next he came inside our battlements, clad as a vagrant in a beggar’s garb, and loudly did he curse
500

the Argives, sent as a spy to Ilium ; and then went out again, when he had slain the sentinels and warders at the gate. He is always to be found lurking in ambush about the altar of Thymbrean Apollo near the city. In him we have a troubling pest to wrestle with.
505

Rhesus

No brave man thinks it right to kill his foe in secret, but to meet him face to face. If I can catch this fellow alive, who, as you say, sits in stealthy ambush and plots his mischief, I will impale him at the outlet of the gates
510

and set him up for winged vultures to make their meal upon. This is the death he ought to die, pirate and temple-robber that he is.
515

Hector

To your quarters now, for it is night. For you I will myself point out a spot where your army

can watch this night apart from our array. Our password is Phoebus, if perhaps there should be need of it; hear and remember it, and tell it to the Thracian army. You must advance in front of our ranks and keep a watchful guard, and receive Dolon,
520

who went to spy on the ships, for he, if he is safe, is even now approaching the camp of Troy .
525

Rhesus Perseus (Euripides. The Rhesus of Euripides. Murray, Gilbert, translator. London: George Allen and Company, Ltd., 1913.) — 488 focus

RHESUS.

’Twould please me best to fight these Greeks alone.

Yet, if ’twould irk thine honour not to have thrown

One firebrand on the ships with me, why, then
490

Set us to face Achilles and his men.

HECTOR.

Achilles? Nay, his spear ye cannot meet.

RHESUS.

How so? Fame said he sailed here with the fleet.

HECTOR.

He sailed, and he is here. But some despite

’Gainst the great King now keeps him from the fight.
495

RHESUS.

Who next to him hath honour in their host?

HECTOR.

Next, to my seeming, Ajax hath the most,

Or Diomede.—But Odysseus is a tough

And subtle fox, and brave; aye, brave enough.

No man of them hath harmed us more than he.
500

He climbed here to Athena’s sanctuary¹

One night, and stole her image clean away

To the Argive ships. Yes, and another day,

Guised as a wandering priest, in rags, he came

And walked straight through the Gates, made loud acclaim

Of curses on the Greek, spied out alone

All that he sought in Ilion , and was gone—
505

Gone, and the watch and helpers of the Gate

Dead! And in every ambush they have set

By the old Altar, close to Troy, we know

He sits—a murderous reptile of a foe!

RHESUS.

No brave man seeks so dastardly to harm
510

His battle-foes; he meets them arm to arm.

This Greek of thine, this sitter like a thief

In ambush, I will make of him my chief

Care. I will take him living, drive a straight

Stake through him, and so star him at the Gate
515

To feed your wide-winged vultures. ’Tis the death

Most meet for a lewd thief, who pillageth

God’s sanctuary, or so we hold in Thrace .

HECTOR.
(making no answer)

Seek first some sleep. There still remains a space

Of darkness.—I will show the spot that best

May suit you, somewhat sundered from the rest.
520

Should need arise, the password of the night

Is Phoebus: see your Thracians have it right.

Turning to the Guards before he goes.

Advance beyond your stations, men, at some

Distance, and stay on watch till Dolon come

With word of the Argives’ counsel. If his vow
525

Prosper, he should be nearing us by now.²

Rhesus (OCR draft) Experimental (Rhesus. Robert Potter's English verse translation, first published in 1781–1783; text from the 1808 Oxford printing.)

No corresponding passage available

Euripides Rhesus 488

ed. Gilbert Murray

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Ἕκτωρ

οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ θοῦρον ἐντάξαι δόρυ.

Ῥῆσος

καὶ μὴν λόγος γʼ ἦν ὡς ἔπλευσʼ ἐπʼ Ἴλιον.

Ἕκτωρ

ἔπλευσε καὶ πάρεστιν· ἀλλὰ μηνίων

στρατηλάταισιν οὐ συναίρεται δόρυ.
495

Ῥῆσος

τίς δὴ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄλλος εὐδοξεῖ στρατοῦ;

Current edition Perseus

Rhesus

Alone I will face the foe, Hector. But if you are ashamed, after all your previous toil,

to have no share in firing their ships’ prows, place me face to face with Achilles and his army.
490

Hector

Against that man you cannot range your eager spear.

Rhesus

Why, it was surely said he sailed to Ilium .

Hector

He sailed and he is here; but he is angry

and takes no part with the other chieftains in the battle.
495

Rhesus

Who next to him has won a name in their army?

RHESUS.

’Twould please me best to fight these Greeks alone.

Yet, if ’twould irk thine honour not to have thrown

One firebrand on the ships with me, why, then
490

Set us to face Achilles and his men.

HECTOR.

Achilles? Nay, his spear ye cannot meet.

RHESUS.

How so? Fame said he sailed here with the fleet.

HECTOR.

He sailed, and he is here. But some despite

’Gainst the great King now keeps him from the fight.
495

RHESUS.

Who next to him hath honour in their host?

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Ἕκτωρ οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ θοῦρον ἐντάξαι δόρυ.

Ῥῆσος καὶ μὴν λόγος γʼ ἦν ὡς ἔπλευσʼ ἐπʼ Ἴλιον.

Ἕκτωρ ἔπλευσε καὶ πάρεστιν· ἀλλὰ μηνίων στρατηλάταισιν οὐ συναίρεται δόρυ. 495

Ῥῆσος τίς δὴ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄλλος εὐδοξεῖ στρατοῦ;

Current edition Perseus

Rhesus Alone I will face the foe, Hector. But if you are ashamed, after all your previous toil, to have no share in firing their ships’ prows, place me face to face with Achilles and his army. 490

Hector Against that man you cannot range your eager spear.

Rhesus Why, it was surely said he sailed to Ilium .

Hector He sailed and he is here; but he is angry and takes no part with the other chieftains in the battle. 495

Rhesus Who next to him has won a name in their army?

RHESUS. ’Twould please me best to fight these Greeks alone. Yet, if ’twould irk thine honour not to have thrown One firebrand on the ships with me, why, then 490 Set us to face Achilles and his men.

HECTOR. Achilles? Nay, his spear ye cannot meet.

RHESUS. How so? Fame said he sailed here with the fleet.

HECTOR. He sailed, and he is here. But some despite ’Gainst the great King now keeps him from the fight. 495

RHESUS. Who next to him hath honour in their host?

Stable identifiers

Ἕκτωρ

οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ θοῦρον ἐντάξαι δόρυ.

Ῥῆσος

καὶ μὴν λόγος γʼ ἦν ὡς ἔπλευσʼ ἐπʼ Ἴλιον.

Ἕκτωρ

ἔπλευσε καὶ πάρεστιν· ἀλλὰ μηνίων

στρατηλάταισιν οὐ συναίρεται δόρυ.
495

Ῥῆσος

τίς δὴ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄλλος εὐδοξεῖ στρατοῦ;

Rhesus

Alone I will face the foe, Hector. But if you are ashamed, after all your previous toil,

to have no share in firing their ships’ prows, place me face to face with Achilles and his army.
490

Hector

Against that man you cannot range your eager spear.

Rhesus

Why, it was surely said he sailed to Ilium .

Hector

He sailed and he is here; but he is angry

and takes no part with the other chieftains in the battle.
495

Rhesus

Who next to him has won a name in their army?

RHESUS.

’Twould please me best to fight these Greeks alone.

Yet, if ’twould irk thine honour not to have thrown

One firebrand on the ships with me, why, then
490

Set us to face Achilles and his men.

HECTOR.

Achilles? Nay, his spear ye cannot meet.

RHESUS.

How so? Fame said he sailed here with the fleet.

HECTOR.

He sailed, and he is here. But some despite

’Gainst the great King now keeps him from the fight.
495

RHESUS.

Who next to him hath honour in their host?