View:
By Scene
Enter Lichas.
Lichas
My lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Instruct me, for, as you see, I am going.
My lady, what message shall I bear to Heracles? Instruct me, for, as you see, I am going.
Deianeira
How quickly you rush away, when your arrival had been so tardy—before we have even resumed our talk.
395
How quickly you rush away, when your arrival had been so tardy—before we have even resumed our talk.
395
Lichas
Well, if there is anything you must ask, I am at your service.
Well, if there is anything you must ask, I am at your service.
Deianeira
Will you indeed give me the honest truth?
Will you indeed give me the honest truth?
Lichas
Yes, be great Zeus my witness—in anything that I know.
Yes, be great Zeus my witness—in anything that I know.
Deianeira
Who is the woman, then, whom you escorted here?
400
Who is the woman, then, whom you escorted here?
400
Lichas
She is Euboean. But whose offspring, I cannot say.
She is Euboean. But whose offspring, I cannot say.
Messenger
You there, look at me. To whom do you think you speak?
You there, look at me. To whom do you think you speak?
Lichas
And you, to what end have you asked me such a question?
And you, to what end have you asked me such a question?
Messenger
Dare to answer my question, if you are sensible.
Dare to answer my question, if you are sensible.
Lichas
I speak to the royal Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles and, unless my eyes deceive me, my mistress.
405
I speak to the royal Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles and, unless my eyes deceive me, my mistress.
405
Messenger
The very word that I wished to hear from you—you admit that she is your mistress?
The very word that I wished to hear from you—you admit that she is your mistress?
Lichas
Yes, it is only right to do so.
Yes, it is only right to do so.
Messenger
Well, then, what penalty would you think it right to pay, if you should be found to be behaving wrongly towards her?
410
Well, then, what penalty would you think it right to pay, if you should be found to be behaving wrongly towards her?
410
Lichas
Wrongly? What fiction have you created?
Wrongly? What fiction have you created?
Messenger
None. Rather it is you, to be sure, who do this.
None. Rather it is you, to be sure, who do this.
Lichas
I am leaving—I was foolish to listen to you so long.
I am leaving—I was foolish to listen to you so long.
Messenger
No, not until you have answered a small question.
415
No, not until you have answered a small question.
415
Lichas
Speak, if you require something. You are not the silent type.
Speak, if you require something. You are not the silent type.
Messenger
That captive, whom you escorted into the house, you know whom I mean?
That captive, whom you escorted into the house, you know whom I mean?
Lichas
Yes. But why do you ask?
Yes. But why do you ask?
Messenger
Did you not avow that she, on whom you look as if in ignorance,
was Iole, the seed of Eurytus, your captive?
420
Did you not avow that she, on whom you look as if in ignorance,
was Iole, the seed of Eurytus, your captive?
420
Lichas
To whom on earth did I say it? Who and where is the man who heard me say it and will be your witness?
To whom on earth did I say it? Who and where is the man who heard me say it and will be your witness?
Messenger
To many of our own citizens you said it. In the public gathering of Trachinians a great crowd heard this much, at least, from you.
To many of our own citizens you said it. In the public gathering of Trachinians a great crowd heard this much, at least, from you.
Lichas
Sure,
they said they heard. But it does not amount to the same thing to tell one’s fancy and to give an accurate report.
425
Sure,
they said they heard. But it does not amount to the same thing to tell one’s fancy and to give an accurate report.
425
Messenger
What do you mean, fancy! Did you not speak on your oath when you said that you were bringing her as a bride for Heracles?
What do you mean, fancy! Did you not speak on your oath when you said that you were bringing her as a bride for Heracles?
Lichas
I? Bringing a bride? In the name of the gods, dear
mistress, tell me who on earth this stranger is?
430
I? Bringing a bride? In the name of the gods, dear
mistress, tell me who on earth this stranger is?
430
Messenger
I am a man who heard from your own lips that the conquest of the whole city was due to desire for this girl and that the Lydian woman did not destroy it, but the passion which arose for the girl.
I am a man who heard from your own lips that the conquest of the whole city was due to desire for this girl and that the Lydian woman did not destroy it, but the passion which arose for the girl.
Lichas
Lady, send this creature away.
To babble with the insane is not the mark of a sensible man.
435
Lady, send this creature away.
To babble with the insane is not the mark of a sensible man.
435
Trachiniae. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1892.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.