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971-1278

Exodos. Heracles bewails his doom, and gives his last commands to his son.—Anapaests, which mark the entrance of the mournful procession, are succeeded by lyrics

ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

, in the nature of a

κομμός

(1004—1043). Iambic dialogue follows, down to 1258; and anapaests then close the play.

Hyllus, detained by the events within (928), cannot have been far on his way towards the harbour (902) when he met the sufferer. At the side of the litter walks the

πρέσβυς

, whose experience in the symptoms of the malady indicates that he has accompanied Heracles from Cenaeum.

971 f. The traditional text,

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ

, |

πάτερ, οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος

, gives an anapaestic monometer, followed by an anapaestic dimeter in which the third foot lacks a syllable. The first four words,

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ, πάτερ

, are clearly sound. As regards the rest, the choice is between two remedies. (1) To omit the second

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ

, and substitute

ὦ

, as Dindorf does. Verses 971 f. then shrink into one anapaestic dimeter. (2) To supply the defect in 972 by substituting an anapaest, or its equivalent, for the second

σοῦ

. Thus we might write

πάτερ, οἴμοι ἐγώ, <πάτερ, ὢ> μέλεος

. I incline to this second course, because the monometer in 971

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ

seems right as a prelude.

τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι ; the delib. subjunct. is combined with a fut. ind., as in Eur. Ion758

εἴπωμεν ἢ σιγῶμεν ἢ τί δράσομεν

; For

μήσομαι

(devise as a remedy), cp. Aesch. Th. 1057

τί πάθω ; τί δὲ δρῶ ; τί δὲ μήσωμαι

;

ὠμόφρονος does not refer to his general character, but means that he is exasperated by these torments: cp. 1035

ἄχος, ᾧ μ’ ἐχόλωσεν

προπετής , lying prostrate in the litter,—in a deathlike swoon. (It may be doubted whether the word here implies, ‘lying on his face,’ as the schol. explains it.) Others understand, ‘verging on death.’ But, when

προπετής

=‘on the brink of,’

ἐπί

(or

εἴς τι

) is usu. added, as in Eur. Alc.908

πολιὰς ἐπὶ χαίτας

ἤδη προπετής

. Eur. Itseems impossible that, without such help,

προπετής

should express ‘moribund.’ In Eur. Alc.143

ἤδη προνωπής ἐστι καὶ ψυχορραγεῖ

, which Paley compares, the adj.=‘drooping.’

δακὼν , as by biting the lips,—a proverbial phrase: fr. 811

ὀδόντι πρῖε τὸ στόμα

: Od.1. 381

ὀδὰξ ἐν χείλεσι φύντες

: Nub. 1369

τὸν θυμὸν δακών

οὐ μὴ )ξεγερεῖς , a sharp prohibition: Ar. Ran.462

οὐ μὴ διατρίψεις

: cp. n. on Soph. O. C.177.

κάτοχον with dat., as Eur. Hec.1090

Ἄρει κάτοχον γένος

φοιτάδα , coming at intervals:

φοιτᾶν

was said in this sense of intermittent diseases: see n. on Ph.758

ἥκει γὰρ αὕτη διὰ χρόνου, πλάνοις ἴσως

ὡς ἐξεπλήσθη

. Not merely

μανιώδη

, as the schol. explains it.

ἀλλ’ ἐπί μοι , sc.

ἐστί

. Cp. Ph.806

τἀπὶ σοὶ στένων κακά

(the ills which lie upon thee).

ἄπλετον =

ἄπειρον

, ‘immense’; a word of doubtful origin, sometimes connected with the root of

πλέως

, as meaning (1) ‘which cannot be filled’; or (2) ‘what exceeds measure,’ a sense which Lobeck sought through

πλέθρον

. The word occurs in Attic prose.—If no stop is placed after ἄπλετον , then

βάρος ἄπλετον

becomes an acc. of the ‘inner object’ with ἐμμέμονε : ‘is wild with an infinite weight of woe.’ But ἐπί is then very awkward, whether we assume tmesis, or still join it with μοι .

ὦ Ζεῦ : the hero's utterance begins,—as the play ends,—with his father's name.

τοῖσι =

τίσι

, contracted from the Ionic

τέοισι

( Her.1. 37 ).

πεπονημένος : cp. Aeschin. or. 2 § 36

τὸν δῆμον καταπεπονημένον

(‘exhausted’).

ἀλλήκτοις , the regular form of this epic word:

ἄληκτος

is very rare ( C. I. G. 6303). For the

λλ

, cp. Od.12. 224

ἀπολλήξειαν

οἴμοι <μοι> . The addition of μοι , Brunck's remedy for the metrical defect, is better than Bergk's insertion, after ὀδύναις , of ὧδ’ , which would have a weak effect there.

ἡ δ’ , the personified

νόσος

: cp. 1084 : so Ph.807

ἥδε

, and ib. 758

αὕτη

. Blaydes writes ἅδ’ (Doric), which accords with

γᾶς

and

τλάμων

, but not with

πεπονημένος

ἀλλήκτοις

: the Doricism of tragic anapaests is not always consistent; see Appendix to Ant.110.

βρύκει : so Ph.745

βρύκομαι

ἆρ’ ἐξῄδη

ὅσον κέρδος ἦν σε τιγῇ κεύθειν

; ‘Did I not well know,’ etc., —referring to 974

σίγα, τέκνον, κ.τ.λ.

Cp. Ar. Av.1019

ΜΕ. οἴμοι κακοδαίμων. ΠΕ. οὐκ ἔλεγον ἐγὼ πάλαι ; κεύθειν

is really trans. in sense, ‘to hide (thy grief),’ though the object is not expressed: cp. Soph. Ant.85

κρυφῇ δὲ κεῦθε

(

τοὔργον

). The rare intrans.

κεύθω

=‘to be hidd n’ ( Soph. O. T.968 n.).

ἐξῄδη ς’ is Wecklein's correction of the MS. ἐξῄδης , instead of which we must at least write ἐξῄδησθ’ ( Ant.447 ). Two explanations of

ἐξῄδησθ’

have been given. (1) ‘Did you well know’ (as soon as Heracles began to speak Ant., 983 ),— i.e., ‘have you now learned?’ Such is the schol.'s view:

ἆρα...ὅσον ἦν κέρδος τὸ σιωπᾶν ἔγνως

; He classed the pluperf., then, with those aorists, referring to a moment just past, which we render by a present tense ( Ph.1289

ἀπώμοσ’

, n.). This is possible, but awkward. (2) ‘Did you not well know ( beforehand),— i.e., ‘had not I clearly told you?’ (Paley). The tense has then its usual force; but the words lose their special point,— which is that the result must have shown him the value of the neglected advice.

κεύθειν — σκεδάσαι : for the pres. inf. (of a continued act), combined with the aor. inf. (of a momentary act), cp. Ph.95 Ph., 1397.

κρατὸς βλεφάρων θ’ : the phrase suggests a movement of the head at the moment when the sleeper opens his eyes: cp. Ph.866

κινεῖ γὰρ ἁνὴρ <*> κἀνάγει κάρα

.—Wecklein, omitting <*> takes βλεφάρων ὕπνον as ‘sleep of the eyelids.’

στέρξαιμι : cp. 486 : Ph.538

στέργειν κακά

Κηναία , instead of

Κηναίων

: cp. 818

μητρῷον

(n.).

κρηπὶς , the substructure, basis, of the altar; Eur. H. F.984

ἀμφὶ βωμίαν

ἔπτηξε κρηπῖδ’

, ‘at the altarsteps.’ The word has a picturesque force here, as recalling the moment when the altars were founded by him (237).

ἱερῶν οἵων , gen. of price.— ἐπί μοι , lit., ‘in my case’: Ph.1384

λέγεις δ’ Ἀτρείδαις ὄφελος ἢ )π’ ἐμοὶ τόδε

; Others explain, ‘ against me,’ ‘to my hurt’; but this suits the irony less well.— The MS. ἠνύσω has been altered by many recent edd. to ἤνυσας : but the proper force of the midd., ‘to obtain,’ ‘win’ ( Plut. 196 etc.), seems fitting here, since the sacrificial altars may be said to have earned the recompense given by Zeus. ἤνυσας would be simply, ‘hast effected.’

ὦ Ζεῦ at the end of the sentence: Ph.1139 n

ἔθου με λώβαν =

ἐλωβήσω με

: cp. O. C.223 n.

ἣν , referring back to

κρηπίς

(993); cp. 358 (n.). Wunder needlessly placed ἣν … ὄσσοις immediately after 993.

μή ποτ’ belongs to προσιδεῖν , not to ὤφελον , though the latter might have come between them; cp. Ph.969

μή ποτ’ ὤφελον λιπεῖν

(n.).

ἀκήλητον : schol.

ἀνίατον, ἀκαταπράϋντον.— ἄνθος

ἀκμήν

: cp. Ant.959

τᾶς μανίας δεινὸν

... |

ἀνθηρόν τε μένος

(n.).

καταδερχθῆναι , inf. expressing result, without

ὥστε

: cp. Ant.1076

ληφθῆναι

(n.). Though the malady is his own, he can be said ‘to look upon it,’ in the sense of experiencing it: cp. O. T.832

πρόσθεν ἢ τοιάνδ’ ἰδεῖν

κηλῖδ’ ἐμαυτῷ συμφορᾶς ἀφιγμένην

ἀοιδός =

ἐπῳδός

, one who uses

ἐπῳδαί

, incantations, in healing: see on O. C.1194.

τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης , sc.

ἐστίν

. (There is no art. before

ἀοιδός

, because the insertion of ὃς was an afterthought.) This is a climax; since, when gentle

ἐπῳδαί

failed, the next resort was to drugs or surgery: Ai.581

οὐ πρὸς ἰατροῦ σοφοῦ

θρηνεῖν ἐπῳδὰς πρὸς τομῶντι πήματι. χειροτέχνης ἰατορίας

does not mean definitely, ‘one who uses a skilled hand in healing,’ i.e., a

χειρουργός

, surgeon, as distinguished from a physician; it rather means properly, ‘a practical artist’ (as dist. from an amateur) ‘in healing’; but, at the same time, the

χειρο

in the compound serves to suggest the

τομαί

employed by the surgeon. This is quite Sophoclean. Cp. Thuc.6. 72

ἰδιώτας, ὡς εἰπεῖν, χειροτέχναις ἀνταγωνισαμένους

, ‘having been pitted like amateurs, as one might say, against masters of the art’ (where the dat., and not

χειροτέχνας

, is clearly right).

χωρὶς Ζηνὸς =‘with the exception of Zeus’: not, ‘without the help of Zeus’ (schol.

εἰ μὴ ὁ Ζεὺς βούλοιτο

θαῦμ’ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην : ‘I should look upon him, from afar, as a wonder,’— i.e., ‘I should marvel as soon as he came within my ken.’ He means that he might scan the horizon long enough, in the vain hope of such a prodigy appearing.—Others join πόρρωθεν with θ<*>μα : ‘I should behold him as a wonder from some distant region’: i.e., the place which contains him must be distant indeed. Hermann further supposed a question: ‘am I likely to see such a wonder coming from afar?’—The phrase

τηλόθεν εἰσορῶν

in Ph.454 is not similar: see n. there.

1004-1043

This passage consists of lyrics delivered by actors (

ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

). As the Chorus takes no part in it, it is not technically a

κομμός

, which is a

θρῆνος κοινὸς χοροῦ καὶ ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

The lyric structure is complex, but not obscure. The passage falls into two main parts, separated by the five hexameters in 1018—1022 (

ὦ παῖ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς...νέμει Ζεύς

). I. The first part consists of 1004—1017, in which the first three verses correspond metrically with the last three. II. The second part consists of 1023—1043. (It is equal in length with the first part, though the traditional numbering makes it appear longer.) Here, the first four verses correspond with the last four. Then the central portion of part I. corresponds with the central portion of part II. Thus: (1) 1st strophe, 1004—1006,=1st antistr., 1015—1017. (2) 2nd str., 1007—1009,=2nd antistr., 1027—1030. (3) 3rd str., 1023—1026, =3rd antistr., 1040—1043. The dactyls in 1010—1014, and 1031—1040, could also be regarded as forming a fourth strophe and antistrophe.—For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

ἐᾶτέ μ’, ἐᾶτε … εὐνᾶσθαι . A restoration of this corrupt passage turns chiefly on the following points. (1) The corresponding verses of the antistrophe (1016 f.) may be taken as showing the true metre. (2) L's variant for εὐνᾶσαι in 1005, viz. ὕστατον , may therefore be received. εὐνάσαι (

α^

), from

εὐνάζω

is impossible, since, like

εὐνᾶσαι

(

εὐνάω

), it could only be transitive. (3) In 1006 the MS. δύστανον is clearly wrong; it may have been either a gloss on δύσμορον , or a corruption of ὕστατον . (4) Hermann's reading in 1006, ἐᾶθ’ ὕστατον εὐνᾶσθαι , is strongly confirmed by the metrical correspondence with 1017, μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ ,—a verse of undoubted soundness.

πᾷ … ψαύεις : a remonstrance against being touched at all. Cp. Ph.817

ἀπό μ’ ὀλεῖς, ἢν προσθίγῃς

. Hyllus seeks to place him in a more comfortable position,—as Heracles himself soon requests (1025).—A comparison with the antistrophic verse Ph., 1027 ,

θρῴσκει δ’ αὖ, θρῴσκει δειλαία

, shows the loss of a syllable here. Hermann follows Seidler in repeating πᾷ , which is the simplest and most probable remedy.

ἀνατέτροφας , from

ἀνατρέπω

: schol.

ὅ τι ἂν ἡσυχάσῃ τοῦ κακοῦ τουτου

πάλιν κινήσας ἀνέτρεψας

. Cp. Hist. An. 8. 24 (p. 605 a 11)

κἂν ᾖ καθαρὰ

(

τὰ ὕδατα

ἀνατρέπουσιν αὐτὰ οἱ ἵπποι ταῖς ὁπλαῖς

, ‘trouble’ them. For the perf., cp. Andoc. or. 1 § 131

ἀλιτήριον αὑτῷ ἔτρεφεν, ὃς ἀνατέτροφεν ἐκείνου τὸν πλοῦτον

(‘overthrown’). Aeschin. or. 1 § 190

πόλεις ἀνατετροφότας

: or. 3 § 158

τὴν πόλιν ἄρδην ἀνατετροφότα

. In Soph. O. C.186

τέτροφεν

is from

τρέφω

: but the classical use of that perf. is ordinarily confined to the intrans. sense ( Hom. Od.23. 237

τέτροφεν ἅλμη

ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ , anything that has closed the eyes, i.e., any part of the pain that has been lulled to rest. This is simpler than to supply

νόσον

with

ἀνατέτροφας

, and to take

ὅ τι

as acc. of respect (‘in so far as...’). Cp. Vesp. 92

ἢν δ’ οὖν καταμύσῃ κἂν ἄχνην

ἥδ’ : cp. 987 n.

πόθεν ἔστ’ , ‘whence are ye?’ Of what stock? Can ye be indeed of Hellenic race, and yet so heartlessly ungrateful? Cp. Od.17. 373

πόθεν γένος εὔχεται εἶναι

;—Hermann explains πόθεν ἐστέ as=‘whence do ye appear to aid me?’ ( unde mihi auxilio adestis?):—a complaint that they do not appear. He compares Od.2. 267

σχεδόθεν δέ οἱ ἦλθεν Ἀθήνη

: but might better have cited Il.16. 800

σχεδόθεν δέ οἱ ἦεν ὄλεθρος

. The version is tenable in itself, but is not well suited to the context. Heracles is addressing the men who are actually around him,—the Greeks (some of them his own mercenaries) who have brought him from Euboea. Cp. the very similar passage in Ph.1203 ff.:

ἀλλ’, ὦ ξένοι, ἕν γέ μοι εὖχος ὀρέξατε....ξίφος, εἴ ποθεν

, |

ἢ γένυν, ἢ βελέων τι, προπέμψατε

. He is not making a merely rhetorical appeal to the absent,—‘ all those who had been benefited by him,’ as the schol. says. In that case, he would not say,

πάντων Ἑλλάνων ἀδικώτατοι ἄνδρες

: he had toiled for all Hellenes.

οὓς refers to

Ἑλλάνων

, not to

ἄνδρες

. If the acc. be right, καθαίρων here=‘ridding of pests.’ In this sense, the verb is properly said of places (1061

γαῖαν καθαίρων

): but the bolder use here seems possible, and is not excluded by

ἐν πόντῳ

, since the thought is of the gain to seafarers. <*> I hesitate, then, to receive the tempting οἷς (‘for whose good’).

ἐν πόντῳ : cp. Eur. H. F.222 ff., where Amphitryon denounces the ingratitude of Greece towards Heracles:—

οὐδ’ Ἑλλάδ’ ᾔνες’, οὐδ’ ἀνέξομαί

ποτε

σιγῶν, κακίστην λαμβάνων ἐς παῖδ’ ἐμόν

, |

ἣν χρῆν νεοσσοῖς τοῖσδε πῦρ, λόγχας, ὅπλα

φέρουσαν ἐλθεῖν, ποντίων καθαρμάτων

χέρσου τ’ ἀμοιβάς

, ‘as a reward for purging sea and land.’ Cp. ib. 400: ‘he went into the uttermost parts of the deep, making peace for the oars of men.’ Pind. N.1. 63 (of Heracles)

ὅσσους μὲν ἐν χέρσῳ κτανών

, |

ὅσσους δὲ πόντῳ θῆρας ἀϊδροσίκας

κατά τε

after

πολλὰ μὲν

: cp. Ant.1162

σώσας μὲν

... |

λαβών τε

(n.).

δρία , from the same rt as

δρῦς, δρυμός, δένδρον, δόρυ

(Curt. Etym. § 275): the only sing. found is (

τὸ

)

δρίος.— ὠλεκόμαν

, impf. of

ὀλέκω

( Ant.1285 ), expresses the wearing effect of continual labours: cp. Ph.252

διωλλύμην

: ib. 686

ὤλλυθ’

καὶ νῦν … οὐκ ἐπιτρέψει ; ‘and now will no one turn fire or sword upon me,’— i.e., ‘come to my rescue’ with it? The repetition of οὐκ with the verb gives a passionate emphasis: see n. on Ant.6 (

οὐκ ὄπωπ’

, after

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ’ ἀλγεινὸν

etc.).—The reading ἀποτρέψει has better authority (cr. n.), but seems untenable. It has been explained as, (1) ‘not- avert,’ =‘apply’: (2) ‘ divert (from other uses),’ ‘turn wholly against me.’

τῷδε =

ἐμοί

: cp. 305 n.

πῦρ : thus Philoctetes prays to die even by fire ( Ph.800 ).

ἔγχος =

ξίφος

: cp. 1032 , Ai.95 etc.

1016 f. The MS. reading,

ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίου

, is explained as, ‘to sever the head from life,’— i.e., to destroy life by striking the head from the body. This extraordinary phrase is surely not Greek. It has been supported by a corrupt verse of Eur. , Helen. 302,

σμικρὸν

(

σμικρὸς

Badham)

δ’ ὁ καιρὸς ἄρτ’ ἀπαλλάξαι βίου

: where Keil reads

ἄρθῤ

, Nauck

κρᾶτ’

, and Hermann

σάρκ’

. But, whatever be read there,

ἀπαλλάξαι βίου

is widely different from

ἀπαράξαι βίου

. I hold, with Paley, that Wakefield's βίᾳ ought to be substituted for

βίου

, which might easily have arisen from τοῦ στυγεροῦ .—Cp. Il.14. 497

ἀπήραξεν δὲ χαμᾶζε

αὐτῇ σὺν πήληκι κάρη

τοὔργον τόδε , the task of lifting the sufferer (who is lying

προπετής

, 976) into a position of greater ease (1025

πρόσλαβε κουφίσας

μεῖζον is proleptic with ἀνήκει , ‘has risen, so as to be greater’: cp. Dem. or. 2 § 8

ἤρθη μέγας

. The usu. constr. of

ἀνήκειν

, as=‘to reach’ a certain standard, <*>s with

εἰς

, as if here we had

εἰς μεῖζόν τι

ἢ κατ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν , with

μεῖζον

: O.C. 598

μεῖζον ἢ κατ’ ἄνθρωπον

(n.).

σοὶ γὰρ ἑτοίμα , sc.

ῥώμα

, ‘for strength is at thy command,’ ἐς πλέον ἢ δἰ ἐμοῦ σῴζειν , ‘in too large a measure for the saving of him by my means,’ i.e. ‘so largely, that you have no need to save him by my means.’

The MSS. give σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα | ἔμπλεον ἢ δἰ ἐμοῦ σῴζειν . The correction of

ἔμπλεον

(‘full’) to

ἐς πλέον

is due to Meineke, and is confirmed by the following ἢ with the inf.: cp. O. T.1293

μεῖζον ἢ φέρειν

: Eur. Hec.1107

κρείσσον’ ἢ φέρειν κακά

The MS. words, σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα , are unquestionably corrupt. This is shown by two things: (1) ὄμμα is incongruous with the context; strength, not keenness of sight, is in question; and, even if it were suitable, it could not be reconciled with any probable emendation of the following words. (2) τε is unmeaning and impossible. I believe that I have found the solution by the slight change of σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα into σοὶ γὰρ ἑτοίμα . The corruption began by οίμα passing into ὄμμα . How easy this would have been, may be judged from Il.21. 252 ,

αἰετοῦ οἴματ’ ἔχων

, where Philetas read

ὄμματ’

, as in Il.8. 349 ,

Γοργοῦς ὄμματ’ ἔχων

, Aristarchus read

οἴματ’

In the Appendix are given the proposed explanations of the vulgate, and various conjectures.

λαθίπονον δ’ ὀδυνᾶν : cp. El.1002

ἄλυπος ἄτης

: I. T. 450

δουλείας

... | ...

παυσίπονος

. The adj., found only here and in Ai.711 , recalls the epic

λα^θικηδής

. It is proleptic predicate with ἐξανύσαι , ‘to effect that his life shall forget,’ etc. The reference of βίοτον to Heracles would be clearer if we could read ἔστι οἱ (not

ἔστιν οἱ

, cp. 650 ): but μοι is confirmed by ἔνδοθεν , ‘from my own resources’ ( cp. 730

οἴκοι

n.).

θύραθεν , by the help of others: cp. Eur. H. F.713

ὡς θύραθεν εἰκάσαι

( i.e. without personal knowledge).—The MS. ὀδύναν … βιότου is tenable, but less probable, and much less forcible.

τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς , i.e., so grievous a doom. Not, ‘such healing is of Zeus alone.’

τᾷδε : he indicates the place at which Hyllus is to take hold of him.— τᾷδέ με … πρόσλαβε κουφίσας , literally, ‘lend a helping hand in raising me thus’: the pron. depends on the partic. only. For this sense of the verb, cp. Legg. p. 897 D

καὶ ἐμὲ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως ὑμῖν... δίκαιον προσλαμβάνειν

, ‘it is right that I, too, should help you with the answer.’ πρόσλαβέ με could not mean literally, ‘lay hold on me,’ which would be

προσλαβοῦ μου

(cp. Ar. Lys.202 , etc.). κουφίσας denotes the act in which, when done, the help will consist. For this quasi-proleptic use of the aor. partic., cp. Plat. Gorg. 516B

τόδε τοίνυν μοι χάρισαι ἀποκρινάμενος

ἰὼ δαῖμον : the movement causes a new access of pain. Cp. Ph.1186

αἰαῖ, αἰαῖ

, |

δαίμων δαίμων

. O. T.1311

ἰὼ δαῖμον

θρῴσκει denotes the shooting spasms: cp. 1083

διῇξε

: Ph.743

διέρχεται

, |

διέρχεται.— δειλαία

: the

αι

is long here, though sometimes short ( Ant.1310 n.).

ἀποτίβατος =

ἀπρόσβατος

: cp. 1214

ποτιψαύων

(n.). The personified

νόσος

is ‘unapproachable’ in the sense that no healer can successfully cope with it. Cp. 1093

ἄπλατον...κἀπροσήγορον

Παλλάς . Athena was always a guardian goddess to her half-brother, Heracles; of whom she says in Il.8. 363 ff.,

τειρόμενον σώεσκον ὑπ’ Εὐρυσθῆος ἀέθλων·

ἦ τοι ὁ μὲν κλαίεσκε πρὸς οὐρανόν, αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ Ζεὺς

τῷ ἐπαλεξήσουσαν ἀπ’ οὐρανόθεν προΐαλλεν

. She was constantly represented in Greek art as present with Heracles during his labours, or as honouring and comforting him in seasons of repose. Sometimes she gives him a flower or a wreath; sometimes a refreshing draught. And, after the close of his mortal toils, it is Athena Nikè who escorts him to Olympus. (Cp. n. on Ph.728. ) The art-literature of the subject will be found in Roscher, Lex., p. 2215. Attic black-figure vases often illustrate this relationship,—one which was the more welcome to Athenians because Heracles was essentially a Dorian hero.

φύτοῤ , Dindorf's correction of

φύσαντ’

, gives an incomparably better verse than Fröhlich's τὸν φύσαντ’ οἴκτιῤ . It is very improbable that οἴκτιῤ would have been corrupted into the aor. partic.; but a rare word, such as φύτοῤ , would easily have become φύσαντ’ . Dindorf is clearly right in holding that the

φύτωρ

would be short, though metrical convenience might sometimes cause it to be lengthened in such compounds as

ἀμπελοφύτορα

( Anth. 6. 44), which could not otherwise come into a hexameter. He might have added that the verse,

ἀθάνατοι δὲ Πτέρωτα, διὰ πτεροφύτορ’ ἀνάγκην

, is prefaced by Plato with the remark that it is

οὐ σφόδρα τι ἔμμετρον

,— a comment which, as W. H. Thompson observes, may apply to the

υ—

no less than to the

δε^

( Phaedr. p. 252 C ). Hesychius has

φύτορες· γεννήτορες

. For the spelling

οἰκτίρας

, cp. 464 n.

ἀνεπίφθονον : schol.

ἀνεμέσητον, ἐφ ῳ οὐδείς σε μέμψεται ὡς πατροκτόνον

ἐμᾶς ὑπὸ κλῇδος : ‘ under the collar-bone’ must denote a stab in the upper region of the breast: it cannot mean decapitation. For

ὑπό

with gen., in a local sense, cp. Ant.65 n.

ἐχόλωσεν , an epic word ( Il.18. 111 ), here partly suggested by the thought of the venom working in his veins. Cp. 1142

ἐκμῆναι

. The v.l. ἐχόλησεν (schol.) was intended to mean, ‘has used the hydra's gall against me’: but the Attic sense of

χολᾶν

was ‘to be

μελάγχολος

.’

αὔτως : for the smooth breathing, see n. on O.T. 931.

γλυκὺς ; cp. O.C. 106

ἴτ’, ὦ γλυκεῖαι παῖδες ἀρχαίου Σκότου

(n.).

αὐθαίμων : nom. for voc., like

ὦ τλάμων

( O.C. 185). This adj., found only here,=

ὅμαιμος, ὁμαίμων

( O. C.330 n.),

αὐθόμαιμος

( ib. 335), as denoting the fraternal tie. But

αὔθαιμος

, as used in O.C. 1078, is merely ‘kinsman.’—It is as the son of Zeus that he invokes Hades.

ὠκυπέτᾳ , an epic epith. for a horse ( Il.8. 42 ), or a bird ( Op 210).

‐ φθίσας

(

ι^

); 709 n.

οἵαις , not οἵας , is clearly right here.

ἐλαύνειν

can take a cogn. acc. denoting the course on which one is driven, as Nub. 29

πολλοὺς τὸν πατέρ’ ἐλαύνεις δρόμους

: but when it means ‘to vex’ or ‘harass,’ the troubles inflicted are expressed by the instrum. dat., as in the examples cited by Dindorf: Ai.275

λύπῃ...ἐλήλαται

: Eur. Andr.31

καχοῖς ἐλαύνομαι

: Eur. Ion1620

ἐλαύνεται συμφοραῖς

ὦ πολλὰ δὴ

κ.τ.λ.

This speech, down to v. 1102, is translated by Cicero in Tusc.2. 8 , where the fact that the poets recognise pain as an evil is illustrated by the laments of Philoctetes, Heracles and Prometheus.

Cicero's version is essentially that of an orator; the true test for it would be declamation. But even a reader can feel its sonorous vigour, and its Roman gravity; Cicero succeeds as Lord Derby succeeded in much of the Iliad. The rendering of the Greek is very free, sometimes inadequate, but always manly, and highly terse; indeed, the 57 lines of the original become 45; in one place, eleven verses (1079—1089) are reduced to four (vv. 30—33).

θερμὰ :

θερμός

was said (1) of a hot or rash temperament ( Ant.88 ): (2) of a rash deed, as in Plut 415

ὦ θερμὸν ἔργον κἀνόσιον καὶ παράνομον

τολμῶντε δρᾶν

. Here

θερμὰ

is not ‘rash,’ but expresses intense conflict with deadly peril; as we speak of ‘a hot fight.’

κοὐ λόγῳ κακὰ fitly follows θερμά , the word which recalls the moment of dire stress. His trials had been fiery, and grievous, not in report or name alone. No

λόγος

could express to others what the

ἔργα

had been to the doer. In El.761 ff. a similar antithesis is implied:

τοιαῦτά σοι ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ

ἀλγεινά, τοῖς δ’ ἰδοῦσιν, οἵπερ εἴδομεν

, |

μέγιστα πάντων ὧν ὄπωπ’ ἐγὼ κακῶν

: grievous enough to hear; but far worse to see. For οὐ λόγῳ , cp. Ai.813

κοὐ λόγῳ δείξω μόνον

: El.1453

κἀπέδειξεν οὐ λόγῳ μόνον

. Thuc.6. 18

ἀμύνεσθαι οὐ λόγῳ ἀλλ’ ἔργῳ μᾶλλον

The MS. reading, καὶ λόγῳ κακὰ , is certainly wrong, for two reasons. (1) When the required sense is, ‘grievous to tell,’

κακά

becomes, for Greek poetical idiom, too weak; we need such a word as

δεινά

ἀλγεινά

. This objection does not apply to a phrase of ironical form, such as

οὐ λόγῳ κακά

. (2) Idiom would require

καὶ λέγειν

rather than

καὶ λόγῳ

. Cicero, no doubt, read

καὶ λόγῳ

(‘ O multa dictu gravia, perpessu aspera’); but that proves nothing. In Ant.4

οὔτ’ ἄτης ἄτερ

was the only reading known to Didymus ( c. 30 B.C.).

χερσὶ refers to deeds of prowess: νώτοισι to feats of sheer strength, as when he took the place of Atlas, or carried the Erymanthian boar to Mycenae.—Cicero's version, Quae corpore exanclavi atque animo pertuli, has caused the inference that his text contained an equivalent for animo. Wecklein suggests that he read στέρνοισι ( cp. 1090 ), but misunderstood it. Perhaps, however, Cicero felt his rhetorical antithesis to be warranted by the idea of mental anguish implied in μοχθήσας .

κοὔπω :

καί

here=‘and nevertheless’; cp. Ant.332 n.

ἄκοιτις ἡ Διὸς (for the place of the art., cp. 732 ), since the

ἀργαλέος χόλος Ἥρης

( Il.18. 119 ) was the prime source of all his troubles. Hera caused Eurystheus to be born at Argos a little before the birth of Heracles at Thebes ( Il.19. 114 ff.), and afterwards gave the hero into his power. But she also persecuted Heracles directly, as when she sent the serpents to his cradle ( Pind. N.1. 40 ), or drove him by storms to Cos ( Il.14. 253 ff.).

προὔθηκεν , of setting a task: Ant.216 n.

Εὐρυσθεὺς is not elsewhere named in the play: cp. 35 .

οἷον τόδ’ ...

ἀμφίβλ. καθῆψεν

οἷον τόδ’ ἀμφίβληστρόν ἐστιν, ὃ καθῆψεν

: cp. 184 .

δολῶπις , ‘with deceitful face,’ smiling on him while plotting evil.

Ἐρινύων … ἀμφίβληστρον : cp. Ai.1034

ἆρ’ οὐκ Ἐρινὺς τοῦτ’ ἐχάλκευσεν ξίφος

; The epithet ὑφαντὸν marks that the ‘net’ is the robe: just as, in Aesch. Ag.1580 ,

ὑφαντοῖς ἐν πέπλοις Ἐρινύων

, it marks that a real robe is meant. (So an eagle is

πτηνὸς κύων

, Aesch. P. V.1022. ) A net would properly be described as

πλεκτόν

rather than

ὑφαντόν

(cp. Pollux 7. 139

δικτυοπλόκος

προσμαχθὲν , ‘plastered’ to his sides: cp. 768

ἀρτίκολλος.— ἐσχάτας … σάρκας

, i.e., not only on the surface of the body, but to the inmost parts. Cicero renders the phrase by viscera.

πλεύμονός τ’ ἀρτηρίας : ‘the suspenders of the lungs,’ i.e., the bronchial tubes which convey air to the lungs. For the sing.

πλεύμων

in a collective sense cp. Plat. Tim.p. 84 D

ὁ τῶν πνευμάτων τῷ σώματι ταμίας πλεύμων

. As to the word

ἀρτηρία

, see Appendix.

ῥοφεῖ , ‘drains,’ ‘empties’ (of air): his breath is arrested by the spasms: cp. 778

σπαραγμὸς...πλευμόνων ἀνθήψατο

. Though the grammatical subject is

ἀμφίβληστρον

, the agent is properly the venom itself; ξυνοικοῦν , since this interruption of the breath is frequent. For this use of

ῥοφεῖν

, cp. Ar. Ach.278

ῥοφήσει τρύβλιον

(empty it). Cicero well renders, Urgensque graviter pulmonum haurit spiritus.

χλωρὸν , fresh, vigorous; cp. Theocr. 14. 70

ποιεῖν τι δεῖ, ἇς

ἔως

)

γόνυ χλωρόν

(‘youthful’).—Not ‘discoloured’ ( decolorem sanguinem, Cic. ).

ἀφράστῳ , ‘indescribable,’ unutterably dreadful; not, ‘inexplicable,’ i.e., of unknown origin.

χειρωθεὶς : cp. 279 n.

κοὐ … οὔθ’ . It is unnecessary to change οὔθ’ to οὐδ’ . The sequence

οὐ...οὔτε

is foreign to Attic prose; and an Attic poet would presumably have avoided it where

οὐ

was followed by only one negative clause: e.g., in O. C.702

οὐ νεαρὸς οὐδὲ γήρᾳ

, etc.,

οὔτε

is improbable. In Theognis 125

οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰδείης ἀνδρὸς νόον οὐδὲ γυναικός

, where the MSS. have

οὔτε, οὐδὲ

stands in Aristotle's quotation of the verse ( Eth. Eud. 7. 2). But when, as here, several clauses with

οὔτε

οὐ

, an Attic poet might imitate the frequent Homeric usage: e.g., Od.4. 566

οὐ νιφετὸς οὔτ’ ἂρ χειμὼν πολὺς οὔτε ποτ’ ὄμβρος

. So ib. 9. 136 f.

οὐ

is followed by two clauses with

οὔτε

, and in Il.6. 450 f. by three.

λόγχη πεδιάς , the spear of the warrior on a battle-field; as when Heracles fought with Laomedon of Troy, with the Amazons, or with Augeas king of Elis ( Apollod.2. 7. 2 ).

στρατὸς Γιγάντων : after sacking Troy, and ravaging Cos, Heracles went to Phlegra (sometimes identified with Pallenè, the westernmost headland of the Chalcidic peninsula), and helped the gods to vanquish their Earth-born foes. In Pind. N.1. 67 Teiresias predicts what Heracles shall achieve,

ὅταν θεοὶ ἐν πεδίῳ Φλέγρας Γιγάντεσσιν μάχαν

ἀντιάζωσιν

. In the Gigantomachia on the pediment of the Megarian Treasury at Olympia, Heracles fought at the right hand of Zeus (cp. Ausgrabungen, vol. IV. pl. 20 b). Early Attic vase-paintings of this subject associate him with Zeus and Athena (Roscher, Lex., p. 2211).

θήρειος βία seems to be a general phrase, including both the Centaurs (

θηρῶν

, 1096) and the wild beasts (1092 ff.). Cicero understood it of the former only, non biformato impetu | Centaurus.

ἄγλωσσος profits by the suggestion of

γῆ

in the adjective Ἑλλὰς ( Ph.256

Ἑλλάδος γῆς

). The

βάρβαρος

has no ‘language’ properly so called: to the ear of the Hellene, he merely twitters like a bird (n. on Ant.1002 ). Cp. Pind. I.6. 24

οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω βάρβαρος οὔτε παλίγγλωσσος πόλις

, ‘barbarous or strange of speech.’

οὔθ’ ὅσην : the division of mankind into Greeks and barbarians is exhaustive; but the range of earth traversed by Heracles extended beyond the dwellings of men ( cp. 1100

ἐπ’ ἐσχάτοις τόποις

). It seems unnecessary, then, to regard this third clause as merely a rhetorical summary of the other two.

γαῖαν : antecedent attracted into relative clause: O. C.907 n.

θῆλυς for

θηλεῖα

, as in the Homeric

θῆλυς ἐέρση

( Od.5. 467 ): O. C.751 n.—Nauck's correction of οὖσα into φῦσα is indispensable, if ἀνδρὸς be retained; the alternative would be to read ἀνὴρ , which is less probable. For the cogn. acc., cp. Ai.760

ἀνθρώπου φύσιν

βλαστών.— μόνη … δὴ

: Ant.58 n.

καθεῖλε , brought low, destroyed, as in Ai.517 (of death).

φασγάνου δίχα : the warrior laments that he has not fallen in combat; cp. Aesch. Eum.627 (of Agamemnon's death)

καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς γυναικός, οὔ τι θουρίοις

τόξοις ἑκηβόλοισιν ὥστ’ Ἀμαζόνος

γενοῦ , show thyself: γεγώς and ἐτήτυμος cohere, making an equiv. for

γνήσιος

: hence there is no awkwardness in having two forms from

γίγνομαι

. Cp. 1158 : Ai.556

δεῖ σ’ ὅπως πατρὸς

δειξεις ἐν ἐχθροῖς οἷος ἐξ οἵου )τράφης.— τὸ μητρὸς ὄνομα

: she is such in name only (817).

πρεσβεύσῃς , prefer in honour: Eur. Hipp.5

τοὺς μὲν σέβοντας τἀμὰ πρεσβεύω κράτη.— πλέον

is, in strictness, redundant; cp. Legg. 887 B

προτιμᾶν βραχυλογίαν μᾶλλον ἢ μῆκος

εἰδῶ , which Nauck changes to ἴδω , is in accord with usage (cp. e.g., 678, O. C.889

ὅπως εἰδῶ

: Ph.238

ὡς εἰδῶ

εἰ τοὐμὸν κ.τ.λ. The constr. is,

εἰ μᾶλλον ἀλγεῖς, ὁρῶν τοὐμὸν λωβητον εἶδος, ἢ

(

τὸ

)

κείνης

(

λωβητὸν εἶδος

)

ἐν δίκῃ κακούμενον

. For the omission of

τὸ

before

κείνης

, cp. 929

τὸ κεῖσε δεῦρό τ’

(n.).— κακούμενον as in Ph.228 , O. C.261.

Cicero represents this passage by a single verse, Iam cernam , mene an illam potiorem putes. Hence Nauck rejects v. 1069. But the inference is most unsafe, as another instance will show. The passage beginning with

ἰδού

(1079) and ending with

ἐξώρμηκεν

(1089) shrinks, in Cicero's version, to three lines and a half, viz., Videte cuncti: tuque, caelestum sator, | Iace, obsecro, in me vim coruscam fulminis! | Nunc , nunc dolorum anxiferi torquent vertices: | Nunc serpit ardor. Thus Cicero wholly ignores vv. 1085 ff.: he ignores vv. 1080—1084 also, except in so far as their general sense is blended with his version of 1088 f.,

δαίνυται...ἐξώρμηκεν

. Yet the Greek text there is clearly sound.

ἴθ’ , expressing entreaty, is similarly combined with τόλμησον in Ph.480 f.:

ἴθ’, ἡμέρας τοι μόχθος οὐχ ὅλης μιᾶς

, |

τόλμησον, κ.τ.λ.— πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρόν

: cp. O. T.1296

οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντ’ ἐποικτίσαι

. Cicero: Miserere! Gentes nostras flebunt miserias.

ὥστε παρθένος : the schol. compares Il.16. 7 , where Patroclus weeps

ἠΰτε κούρη

νηπίη.— βέβρυχα

might seem strange in such a comparison; yet cp. 904 , where

βρυχᾶτο

is said of Deianeira. The fitness of the word is more evident in 805, as in O. T.1265 , and Ai.322 ,

ταῦρος ὡς βρυχώμενος

. For the perf., cp.

μέμυκα

(

μυκάομαι

μέμηκα

(

μηκάομαι

ἀστένακτος : as Ajax was

ἀψόφητος ὀξέων κωκυμάτων

( Ai.321 ).

εἱπόμην , not

εἵπετο

, though τόνδ’ ἄνδρα precedes: cp. O. C.6 n. The imperf., which was read here by a scholiast of the Ajax (cr. n.), is certainly preferable to ἑσπόμην , though the aor. would also be right, if he was viewing the past as a whole. If

ἑσπόμην

were read, αἰὲν would go with

ἀστένακτος

: though

ἀεί

is not necessarily incompatible with an aor. ( Ph.1140 n.).

εἱπόμην κακοῖς : cp. Eur. Phoen.408

πῶς δ’ ἦλθες Ἄργος

;... |

οὐκ οἶδ)· ὁ δαίμων μ’ ἐκάλεσεν πρὸς τὴν τύχην

. So

ἀκολουθεῖν τῷ λόγῳ

( Plat. Phaedo107 B),

τοῖς πράγμασιν

( Dem. or. 4 § 39 ), i.e., to follow their lead.

ἐκ τοιούτου : cp. 284 n.

καὶ νῦν … στῆθι … σκέψαι δ’ . The first clause is introduced by

καί

, the second by

δέ

(instead of

τε

), as in Ant.432

χἡμεῖς ἰδόντες ἱέμεσθα, σὺν δέ νιν

θηρώμεθ’ εὐθύς

. The effect of

δέ

is to throw the second clause into relief by a slight rhetorical antithesis (as if

μέν

had followed

στῆθι

). This expressive δ’ should not be changed to θ’ .

δείξω γὰρ : the ictus on

γάρ

does not spoil the rhythm, because the chief stress falls on the verb: cp. O. C.1540

χῶρον δ’, ἐπείγει γάρ με τοὐκ θεοῦ παρόν

. Below, in 1247, the case of

οὖν

is similar.

ἐκ καλυμμάτων =

ἐκκεκαλυμμένον

, since ἐκ here=

ἔξω

, ‘outside of’: cp. Od.15. 272

οὕτω τοι καὶ ἐγὼν ἐκ πατρίδος

( sc.

εἰμί

), ‘I am an exile.’ The sense is different in Aesch. Ag.1178 ,

ἐκ καλυμμάτων

| ...

δεδορκώς

, where

ἐκ

=‘forth from.’

ἰδού : cp. 821

ἴδ’

(n.).

1081 It is best to retain αἰαῖ, ὦ τάλας, αἰαῖ , L's reading. Hermann and others, taking

αἰαῖ ὦ τάλας

as a dochmiac, read

ἐέ

ἒ ἔ

instead of the second

αἰαῖ

, placing it in a line by itself. Dindo<*>f formerly read

αἰαῖ τάλας

(deleting

ὦ

and the second

αἰαῖ

), as an iambic dipodia: but his latest text gives

αἰαῖ, ἆ τάλας

(as a dochmiac). Nauck requires bacchii, and suggests

ἰώ μοι, τάλας, φεῦ

. Wilam. ( Hermes XVIII. 246) says—(1)

αἰαῖ, ὦ τάλας

, dochmius: (2)

αἰαῖ

, interjection: (3)

ὦναξ ...παῖσον

, ‘acatalectic anapaestic trimeter.’ A brief interjection of this kind could take almost any metrical form; and, in the absence of a lyric context, the metre here cannot be defined with certainty. Cp. El.1160 —2.

ἔθαλψεν is trans.,

με

being understood, as after

ἔμπρησον

in Ph.801 (n.).

ἄτης : cp. 1104 .

ὅδ’ αὖ should be taken with ἔθαλψεν , because (1)

ὅδ’

fitly stands in the first clause, and (2)

διῇξε

thus gains force by its abruptness: cp. 1088 f. If a point were placed after

ἀρτίως, ὅδ’

would still be better than

ὁ δ’. — διῇξε

, a word used by medical writers, as Wakefield pointed out; e.g., Hippocr. Morb.1. 5

ὑφ’ ἑωυτῶν ὀδύναι διαΐσσουσιν ἄλλοτε ἄλλῄ τοῦ σώματος.— ἀγύμναστον

: cp. Eur. fr. 683

μῶν κρυμὸς αὐτῆς πλευρὰ γυμνάζει χολῆς ;— διαβόρος

: distinguish

διάβορον

(pass.) in 676. Cp. Soph. Ph.7

νόσῳ ...διαβόρῳ

(n.).

δέξαι μ’ : cp. Ph.819

ὦ γαῖα, δέξαι θανάσιμόν μ’ ὅπως ἔχω

.—Dindorf is probably right in regarding these two lines as anapaestic dimeters, each short of a foot (

βραχυκατάληκτοι

): cp. El.1160 ff. Hermann, writing Ἅιδη instead of Ἀΐδη , made them iambic verses with spondees in the second place (

ἰσχιορρωγικοί

ἔνσεισον suggests the force with which the brandished bolt leaves the Thunderer's hand; ἐγκατάσκηψον , its descent upon the victim's head.

δαίνυται : cp. 771 .

ἤνθηκεν : cp. 1000

ἄνθος

(n.): Ph.258

ἡ δ’ ἐμὴ νόσος

ἀεὶ τέθηλε

(n.). For this rare perf., cp. Thuc.2. 49

ἐξηνθηκός

ὦ χέρες : cp. Ph.1004

ὦ χεῖρες

: ib. 1354

ὦ...κύκλοι

(n.).

ὦ νῶτα καὶ στέρν’ . Quoting from memory (with

ὦ στέρν’

instead of these words), the rhetorician Apsines ( c. 240 A.D.) cites this passage ( Spengel Rhet. 1.400 ) as an instance of pathetic apostrophe,—subjoining it to another example from Sophocles, viz. Soph. O. T.1391. Dindorf notes this (ed. 1860).

ὑμεῖς δὲ κεῖνοι : for

δέ

cp. O. T.1097 (n.). This reading is not better than ὑμεῖς ἐκεῖνοι , but has better authority, because the

δε

in L (cr. n.) was not likely to have been interpolated.

καθέσταθ’ , not merely ‘are,’ but ‘have come to be.’ For

καθεστάναι

in this sense, see on Ant.435. The form of expression is due to the emphasis on ὑμεῖς : ‘ yours is the plight to which those arms have come.’ It is a compressed way of saying,

τοιοῦτοι ὑμεῖς καθέστατε, ἐκεῖνοι δὴ

(

ὄντες

) etc. For

ἐκεῖνος

referring to the past, cp. O. C.1195

σὺ δ’ εἰς ἐκεῖνα, μὴ τὰ νῦν, ἀποσκόπει

: for its juxtaposition with

ὑμεῖς

, ib. 138

ὅδ’ ἐκεῖνος ἐγώ

Νεμέας , a valley in Argolis, about three miles S.W. of Cleonae, four and a half S. E. of Phlius, and eleven N. of Argos. The lion is described by Hesiod ( Th.331 ) as

κοιρανέων Τρητοῖο Νεμείης ἠδ’ Ἀπέσαντος

, Treton and Apesas being mountains which partly enclose the valley. It was in

Τρητόν

(‘the caverned’) that the monster had his den. Pindar calls Nemea the

χόρτοι λέοντος

( Ol. 13. 44); also

Διὸς ἄλσος

( N. 2. 9), from its temple of Zeus, in a cypress-grove.

ἀλάστορα ( O. C.788 n.), as Hesiod calls him

πῆμ’ ἀνθρώποις

( Th.329 ).— ἄπλατον =

ἀπέλαστον

, unapproachable: cp. Pind. P.12. 9

ἀπλάτοις ὀφίων κεφαλαῖς.— ἀπροσήγορον

, lit., ‘not affable,’— boldly applied to the intractable beast with which men can establish no relations. The word has here much the sense of

ἀπρόσοιστον

: cp. Soph. O. C.1277

τὸ δυσπρόσοιστον κἀπροσήγορον στόμα

. Vergil's description of the Cyclops has been quoted ( Aen.3. 621 ), Nec visu facilis nec dictu affabilis ulli; but Polyphemus could speak.

βίᾳ κατειργάσασθε : Heracles throttled the lion, which was invulnerable: Eur. H. F. 153

ὃν ἐν βρόχοις ἑλὼν

βραχίονός φησ’ ἀγχόναισιν ἐξελεῖν

. This was the first of his labours; and thus he won the lion-skin ( Pind. I.5. 47 ).

Λερναίαν θ’ ὕδραν : see 574 n. Eur. H. F.419

τάν τε μυριόκρανον

, |

πολύφονον κύνα Λέρνας

, |

ὕδραν ἐξεπύρωσεν

, |

βέλεσί τ’ ἀμφέβαλ’ ἰόν

. This

ἆθλος

—usually made the second—is closely connected with the first; it is wrought in Argolis; and it completes his equipment by giving him the poison for his arrows. In both these labours, as in others, he is the

ἀλεξίκακος

1095 f. The next two exploits are also linked. Sentby Eurystheus in quest of the

κάπρος

( θῆρα 1097) that haunted Mount Erymanthus in north Arcadia, Heracles passed over Pholoè, a wild upland district on the borders of Elis. Here he was entertained by the Centaur Pholos, and routed the other Centaurs who flocked to demand a share of his host's wine.

διφυᾶ : Diodorus (4. 69) applies this word to the Centaurs. Cp. Pind. P.2. 47 : Ixion and Nephelè begat a son Centaurus;

ὃς

ἵπποισι Μαγνητίδεσσιν ἐμίγνυτ’ ἐν Παλίου

σφυροῖς· ἐκ δ’ ἐγένοντο στρατὸς

θαυμαστός, ἀμφοτέροις

ὁμοῖοι τοκεῦσι, τὰ ματρόθεν μὲν κάτω, τὰ δ’ ὕπερθε πατρός.— ἄμικτον

, with whom it is impossible to hold humane intercourse; Eur. Cycl.429

ἄμικτον ἄνδρα

: cp.

ἀμιξία

( Thuc.1. 3 ).

ἱπποβάμονα , usu., ‘mounted on horses,’ and so some take it here as=‘mounted on horses' legs’; but it is more simply explained as ‘ moving like horses.’

θηρῶν : cp. 556 .

ὑβριστήν, ἄνομον : intemperance and violence were essential attributes of the Centaurs (excepting Cheiron): cp. 565 . Eur. H. F.181

τετρασκελές θ’ ὕβρισμα, Κενταύρων γένος

Ἅιδου τρίκρανον σκύλακ’ : a three-headed Cerberus seems to have been the usual type in early Ionian art; while on Attic black-figure vases of the middle and later style he is two-headed: see Roscher, Lex.p. 2205. Hesiod, the first poet who names Cerberus ( Th.311 ), gives him fifty heads.

Ἐχίδνης θρέμμα , as in Hes. Th.310 : but in Soph. O. C.1574 he is the offspring of Tartarus and Earth. In Il.8. 366 ff. Athena saves Heracles when Eurystheus sends him

ἐξ ἐρέβευς ἄξοντα κύνα στυγεροῦ Ἀΐδαο

: cp. Od.11. 623. —Pluto said that Heracles might take Cerberus, if he could do so without using any weapon. The hero succeeded, and having shown his living prize to the terrified Eurystheus, restored it to the nether world. ( Apollod.2. 5. 12 § 8.)

χρυσέων : in tragic dialogue

χρύσεος

usu. suffers synizesis, but there are several exceptions, such as fr. 313: fr. 439: Eur. Ion1175.

The golden apples, brought from the garden of the gods, originally meant the winning of immortality. Hence this

ἆθλος

properly comes after the Cerberus, though the latter is sometimes made the last ( Eur. H. F.427 ).

δράκοντα μήλων φύλακ’ . The garden was in the far west, where Atlas supports the sky, beyond the stream of the Oceanus ( Hes. Th.215 ). When Zeus espoused Hera there, a wondrous apple-tree (

μηλέα

) sprang up. This tree was committed to the care of maidens called Hesperides, daughters of Night ( Hes. Th.211 ), sweet singers; and it was guarded by a terrible dragon, coiled round the stem ( Eur. H. F.397 , Paus.6. 19. 8 ). Heracles slew this dragon with poisoned arrows (Apoll. Rh. 4.1396 ff., where the monster is named

Λάδων

ἐπ’ ἐσχάτοις τόποις : for

ἐπί

, cp. 356 . So Hesiod Th.518

πείρασιν ἐν γαίης

. Eur. Hipp.742

Ἑσπερίδων δ’ ἐπὶ μηλόσπορον ἀκτὰν ἀνύσαιμι τᾶν ἀοιδῶν

, |

ἵν’ ὁ ποντομέδων πορφυρέας λίμνας

ναύταις οὐκέθ’ ὁδὸν νέμει

. The garden was sometimes placed among the Hyperboreans as by Apollod.2. 5. 11 , and prob. by Aeschylus in the

Προμηθεὺς Λυόμενος

, Strabo 4 , p. 183: sometimes in Libya, or in Spain.

μόχθων , a general word, including both the tasks done for Eurystheus (the

ἆθλοι

proper),—such as the five just enumerated,—and other enterprises, such as the warfare against Laomedon and the Giants (1058). In the temple of Athena

χαλκίοικος

at Sparta Pausanias saw

πολλὰ μὲν τῶν ἄθλων Ἡρακλέους, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ὦν ἐθελοντὴς κατώρθωσε

(3. 17. 2). As to the cycle of the ‘twelve labours,’ and its probable origin, see Introduction, § 2.

ἐγευσάμην : schol.

ἐπειράθην

. Cp. Ant.1005

ἐμπύρων ἐγευόμην

(n). Eur. H. F.1353

καὶ γὰρ πόνων δὴ μυρίων ἐγευσάμην

χερῶν , valour (488); for the gen., cp. Andoc. or. 1 § 147

τροπαῖα τῶν πολεμίων...ἀπέδειξαν

. Cicero well renders, Nec quisquam e nostris spolia cepit laudibus.

ἄναρθρος , like

ἐκνενε<*> μένος

, since his whole frame has been unhinged and unnerved; so Eur. Or.227

ὅταν

μ’ ἀνῇ νό<*>ος

μανίας, ἄναρθρός εἰμι κἀσθενῶ μέλη.— κατερρακωμένος

: cp. Aesch. P. V.1023 (the eagle rending the flesh of Prometheus)

διαρταμήσει σώματος μέγα ῥάκος

: Lycophron 1113

καὶ πᾶν λακίζουσ’ ἐν φοναῖς ψυχρὸν δέμας.— τυφλῆς

, caeca, unseen: fr. 533

τὸ δ’ ἐς αὔριον ἀεὶ

τυφλὸν ἕρπει

. Cp. Eur. Med.1200 (the fatal robe consuming Glaucè's flesh)

σάρκες δ’ ἀπ’ ὀστέων ὥστε πεύκινον δάκρυ

γναθμοῖς ἀδήλοις φαρμάκων ἀπέρρεον

ἀρίστης , since Alcmena, daughter of Electryon and Anaxo, belonged on both sides to the Perseidae, and so traced her descent from Zeus himself.

ὠνομασμένος : it is not necessary to supply

γόνος

from 1106: cp. fr. 84

καταρκεῖ τοῦδε κεκλῆσθαι πατρός.— αὐδηθεὶς

: cp. 736 : Ph.240

αὐδῶμαι δὲ παῖς

Ἀχιλλέως

τὸ μηδὲν ὦ : cp. Ai.1275

ἤδη τὸ μηδὲν ὄντας

: Ant.234 n.

κἂν μηδὲν ἕρπω : the adv. is emphatic; cp. 773 : El.1014

σθένουσα μηδέν

. Powerless as he is to seek her out; he is still able to execute his vengeance if she be brought to him.

χειρώσομαι : 279 n.

κἀκ τῶνδε : Eur. Med.458

ὅμως δὲ κἀκ τῶνδ’ οὐκ ἀπειρηκὼς φίλοις

ἥκω

: also

ὡς ἐκ τῶνδε

( Soph. Ai.537 , etc.).

ἵν’ ἐκδιδαχθῇ<01> ἀγγέλλειν , with grim irony: see on O. C.1377.

κακούς γε is far better than Cobet's

κακούργους

, which, indeed, would mar the point. The γε is very expressive: it means, ‘when guilt is to be chastised, I am strong even in weakness,—even unto death.’

θανὼν , since he thinks of his life as already closed: cp. 1137

κτείνασα

ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλλάς : cp. Eur. H. F.877

μέλεος Ἑλλάς, ἂ τὸν εὐεργέταν

ἀποβαλεῖς

: and ib. 135.

σφαλήσεται , not

σφαλήσει

, since

ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλλάς

is rather an exclamation than an address. σφαλεῖσ’ ἔσει would be an easy correction (cp. O. C.816

λυπηθεὶς ἔσει

), but is needless. —The poet may have preferred this verb to the more natural

στερήσεται

as more forcibly expressing a disaster ( cp. 297 , 719). Elsewhere the genitive after

σφάλλομαι

always denotes, not a person. but a thing (

δόξης, τύχης, χρημάτων

, etc.).

παρέσχες followed by παρασχὼν is somewhat inelegant, but it should not too hastily be pronounced spurious: cp. 967 (

βάσιν

, after

βάσις

): Ph.1219

στείχων

followed in the next v. by

στείχοντα

(n.).

νοσῶν ὅμως : cp. O. C.666 n.

δίκαια : 409.

δός μοι σεαυτόν , give thyself to me, i.e., listen to what I would say, μὴ τοσοῦτον δύσοργος (

ὢν

) ὡς δάκνει θυμῷ , without being wrathful in the degree to which thou art (now) stung by passion; i.e., in a less wrathful mood than that to which thy present anger excites thee.

δύσοργος

agrees with the subject to

δός

, rather than with

σεαυτόν

, since

δός μοι σεαυτόν

( Ph.84 n.) is equivalent to

πιθοῦ μοι. θυμῷ

is best taken with

δάκνει

only, though it might go with

δύσοργος

also. For

δάκνει

, cp. 254 . —Prof. Campbell, reading the subjunct. δάκνῃ , construes

ὡς μὴ τοσοῦτον δάκνῃ κ.τ.λ.

, ‘that you may not be so exceedingly vexed with rage, being grievously distempered.’ But

ὡς

should then precede

μή

With the conjecture τοιοῦτον (masc.), the sense would be, ‘not in the mood to which thou art stung by anger.’ This would be simpler, but is unnecessary.

οὐ γὰρ ἂν γνοίης : the suppressed protasis is

εἰ μὴ <*>ης

: cp. O.C. 98 n.

ἐν οἷς χαίρειν προθυμεῖ , in what a situation, under what circumstances, you desire a triumph,—the intended victim being already dead: cp. Ai.971

ἐν κενοῖς. ἐν οἷς

is used as in 1122: for

οἷς

, instead of

ὅτοις

, in the indirect question, cp. O. C.1171 n. There is no class. example of

χαίρειν ἔν τινι

as=‘to rejoice in a thing,’ the regular constr. being

χαίρειν τινί

ἐπί τινι

: in El.1343

οὖν

, not

ἐν

, is right: and in Aesch. Eum.996 ,

χαίρετ’ ἐν αἰσιμίαισι πλούτου, ἐν

=‘amidst.’

τρυφᾶν ἔν τινι

occurs, but is not exactly similar.

κἀν ὅτοις ἀλγεῖς μάτην , and under what circumstances you are bitter without cause,— i.e., against one who is really innocent.

ποικίλλεις , of riddling speech, as in 412

τί ποτε ποικίλας ἔχεις

; He does not understand the allusions in

χαίρειν

and

ἀλγεῖς.— πάλαι

expresses impatience: cp. Ph.589 n.

τῆς μητρὸς ... φράσων κ.τ.λ.: cp. n. on 928: Ph.439

ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι

, | ...

τί νῦν κυρεῖ.— νῦν ἐστιν

: some edd. give νῦν ἔστιν : but the verb is here merely the copula, not substantive (‘exists’).

οἷς θ’ ἥμαρτεν :

ἐν

is carried on from the first

οἷς

to the second, as in 423 to

πολλοῖσιν

from

ποίοις ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν

καὶ παρεμνήσω :

καί

gives an indignant emphasis to the verb,—‘hast thou indeed...?’ cp. Ant.726 (n.)

οἱ τηλικοίδε καὶ διδαξόμεσθα δὴ

φρονεῖν

... ; It could also mean, ‘even,’ ‘so much as’; but this would be hardly so forcible. —For γὰρ in an angry question, cp. O. C.863.

παρεμνήσω , of incidental mention; Her.7. 96

τῶν ἐγώ, οὐ γὰρ ἀναγκαίῃ ἐξέργομαι ἐς ἱστορίης λόγον, οὐ παραμέμνημαι

πατροφόντου , fem., as the poets use

σωτήρ

( O. T.81 n.),

φονεύς

( I. T. 586),

χιλιοναύτης

( ib. 141),

Ἕλλην

( Heracl.130 ), etc. The word ought to mean, ‘slayer of her own father’; but here its reference is decided by the subject of the principal verb, as in Od.1. 299 (

ἔκτανε πατροφονῆα

). Cp. El.558

πατέρα φὴς κτεῖναι

(‘ my father’). A still bolder use occurs in Eur. Or.193 , where the sense of

πατροφόνου ματρός

is relative to

ἡμᾶς

in 191, while the subject of the principal verb is

ὁ Φοῖβος

ὡς κλύειν ἐμέ , the last person who ought to hear it. The emphasis on the pron. is, however, very slight; cp. 1220 : O. T.1045

ὥστ’ ἰδεῖν έμέ

: Ph.299 (n.).

ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως , sc.

ἐκείνη

. This suits the context better than to make

ἔχει

impersonal (‘the case stands thus’).

οὐ δῆτα (

σιγᾶν πρέπει

), τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτ ., by reason of them, in view of them: for the caus. dat., cp. Thuc.3. 98

τοῖς πεπραγμένοις φοβούμενος τοὺς Ἀθηναίους

ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ ἐρεῖς (

ὄτι σιγαν πρέπει

) τοῖς γ’ ἐφ’ ἡμέραν , by reason of this day's deeds. Heracles has said, bitterly, ‘Silence is indeed unfitting, in view of her crimes.’ Hyllus replies, ‘It is so also in view of her deeds to-day,— as you will admit, when you know all.’ His father must learn that she has died, and that she was innocent.

ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ , rejecting an alternative, as in Ai.877 , El.913. (Cp.

ἀλλὰ μὲν δή

in 627.)

τοῖς … ἐφ’ ἡμέραν =

τοῖς σήμερον πεπραγμένοις

. The sense of

ἐφ’ ἡμέραν

is usu. ‘ for the day,’ as in Her.1. 32

τοῦ ἐπ’ ἡμέρην ἔχοντος

: Soph. El.429

τῆς ἐφ’ ἡμέραν βορᾶς

. Here the phrase is perhaps tinged with a sad irony,—‘this day's portion of evil.’ Cp. O.C. 1079, where

κατ’ ἆμαρ

=‘to-day,’ though ib. 682

κατ’ ἦμαρ

means, as usual, ‘daily.’

κακὸς , by defending her; he is a true son of Heracles (1064 ff.) only i<*> he abhors his mother.

λέγω : cp. Ph.591 , Ant.245.

ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής : the same phrase occurs in Ai.898 : cp. Ant.1283 (

τέθνηκε

...)

ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν

ἐθέσπισας , as having announced what no human wit could have foreseen, —since Deianeira, as Heracles supposes, is happy and triumphant. So Theseus says to Oedipus ( O. C.1516 ),

πολλὰ γάρ σε θεσπίζονθ’ ὁρῶ

κοὐ ψευδόφημα.— τέρας

implies incredulity.

διὰ κακῶν , ‘in ill omened words,’ not because she has died, but because his vengeance has been baffled (1133). Schol. :

ἄπιστον γὰρ διὰ δυσφήμων ὥσπερ ἐμαντεύσω

οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου : i.e., by no one coming, from without, into the place where she was: hence, ‘by no external hand.’ Hyllus knew that she had been alone in the

θάλαμος

when she did the deed (927—931). We need not suppose, then, that

ἔκτοπος

means merely

ἄλλος

(which it could not do); nor, again, that it means ‘foreign to Trachis.’ These two explanations, which miss the mark on each side, have been fused in L's gloss,

ὑπὸ ἄλλου ξένου

1133 The emphasis on ἐξ ἐμῆς χερός excuses the form of expression, (

τέθνηκε

) πρὶν θανεῖν . Cp. Ai.110 , where the stress on

νῶτα φοινιχθεὶς

similarly excuses

θάνῃ

(after

θανεῖν

in 106).

δεινοῦ , ironical, as in Ai.1127

δεινόν γ’ εἶπας

: Ph.1225.

κατῆρξας : cp. Plat. Prot. 351E

κατάρχεις τοῦ λόγου. —ᾗ

: cp. 553 f.

ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμ’ , ‘this is the sum of the matter.’ For this use of τὸ χρῆμα , as meaning ‘the state of the case,’ like

τὸ πρᾶγμα

in Ph.789 , cp. Vesp. 799

ὅρα τὸ χρῆμα· τὰ λόγἰ ὡς περαίνεται

. The phrase is best taken as a nom., with

τόδε ἐστίν

understood: cp. O. T.1234 f.: Eur. fr. 255

ἁπλοῦς ὁ μῦθος, μὴ λέγ’ εὖ

. Eur. Itmight, however, be an acc. in appos. with the sentence.

μωμένη : cp. O. C.836 n.

κτείνασα : cp. 1111

θανὼν

: Ai.1126

δίκαια γὰρ τόνδ’ εὐτυχεῖν κτείναντά με

;

γὰρ justifies

χρηστὰ μωμένη. — στέργημα

occurs only here. Its formation from

στέργ‐ω

is anomalous, since the word ought to be

στέργμα

: but the same may be said of

στέργηθρον

(instead of

στέρκτρον

): and

θέλγητρον

was in use along with

θέλκτρον

. [Lidd. and Scott cite

θέλγημα

from Suidas s.v.

βουκ<*>λήσας

: but Bernhardy (ed. 1853, vol. I. p. 1017) reads

θέλγητρον

there, without noting a variant.] The objection to

στέργημα

from the form is not, then, decisive. As to sense,

στέργηθρον

, like

φίλτρον

, is ‘an instrument for producing love’; while

στέργημα

, like

φίλημα

, ought to denote an effect. But here, again, we must allow for the freedom of poetical diction. The analogy of

κήλημα

, ‘a spell’ ( Eur. Tro.893 ), by the side of

κήληθρον

(Bek ker Anecd. p. 46. 25), is not a strict one, since

κήλημα

is properly, ‘an effect of charming’; still, such an analogy may have influenced a poet who found

στέργημα

more convenient than

στέργηθρον

. Hyllus presently refers to this charm as

τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ

(1142): which rather suggests that a word in the sing. number was used here also. Cp. 575

κηλητήριον

: 685

φάρμακον

. (In 584 f. the plurals

φίλτροις, θέλκτροισι

describe the class of remedy: they do not directly denote the unguent.) For these reasons I refrain from changing στέργημα , with Nauck, to στέργηθρα .

σέθεν , objective gen. with

στέργημα

δοκοῦσα , imperf. partic. ( Ant.166 n.), =

ὅτε ἐδόκει

. The position of the clause,

ὡς προσεῖδε τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους

, which would properly precede

ἀπήμπλακε

, is made possible by the strong emphasis on

στέργημα...δοκοῦσα προσβαλεῖν

: ‘It was a love-charm that she thought to apply (though she failed), when she saw,’ etc. The leading idea of the sentence is here expressed by the participial clause (592 n.).

τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους : cp. 843

νέων...γάμων

, and 460 (n. on

ἔγημε

). ‘The new union (=the new paramour) in the house there,’—a way of indicating Iolè, whom he abhors (1233), without naming her. Cp. the euphemistic

τῆς...κατ’ οἴκους

in O. T.1447. —The new turn given to the thoughts of Heracles by vv. 1141 f. averts them wholly from Deianeira; and he speaks no word of pardon.

καὶ gives a scornful tone to the question: cp. O. C.263 n.

τοσοῦτος , so potent: Plat. Symp. 177C

τοσοῦτος θεός

ἐκμῆναι : cp. Ar. Eccl.965

Κύπρι, τί μ’ ἐκμαίνεις ἐπὶ ταύτῃ

;

ἰοὺ ἰοὺ , as in O. T.1071 (Iocasta) O. T., 1182 (Oedipus).

δύστηνος : for the nom., cp. 986 .

οἴχομαι . From the beginning of his torments, Heracles has felt that they could end only in death ( cp. 802 : 1001: 1111). Why, then, should he now speak as if he realised his state for the first time? The answer seems to be that, though the ultimate prospect is unchanged, his doom acquires a new terror in the light of its supernatural source. Hitherto he has believed himself the victim of human malice: it might leave no hope, but still it fixed no term. Now he knows that he is in the grip of

ἀνάγκη

: his moments are numbered. Henceforth he thinks only of the end.

φέγγος οὐκέτ’ ἔστι μοι : cp. Theocr. 1. 102

ἤδη γὰρ φράσδῃ πάνθ’ ἅλιον ἄμμι δεδυκεῖν.— ξυμφορᾶς ἵν’ ἕσταμεν

: cp. 375 n.: O. T.1442

ἵν’ ἕσταμεν

χρείας.— ἴθ’, ὡ τέκνον

: for the pause, and the absence of caesura, cp. 27 n.

κάλει … κάλει δὲ : cp. Ant.806 n.

ὁμαιμόνων , brethren ( O. C.330 n.): Hyllus was the eldest of the family (56).

Ἀλκμήνην : 1105 n.

μάτην , since Zeus had been cruel to her son. Cp. Eur. H. F.339 (quoted by Wakefield), where her mortal husband, Amphitryon, says, with the same meaning,

ὦ Ζεῦ, μάτην ἄρ’ ὁμόγαμόν σ’ ἐκτησάμην

τελευταίαν … φήμην … θεσφάτων , my last (dying) utterance of them. Cp. O. T.723

φῆμαι μαντικαί

: ib. 86

τοῦ θεοῦ φήμην φέρων. ἐμοῦ

with πύθησθε : cp. O. T.333

οὐ γὰρ ἂν πύθοιό μου

. The schol. wrongly took

ἐμοῦ

with

τελ. φήμην

, as=

τὴν περὶ τῆς τελευτῆς μου φήμην

The oracles can be only the two which are told to Hyllus (1159—1171). If there had been others, they also must have been confided to him, as representing the absent kinsfolk. Heracles wishes to gather his family around him at a solemn farewell,—to convince them, by the

θέσφατα

, that he is in the hand of Zeus,—and, with that sanction, to lay his last commands upon them all.

ἀλλ’ … ἀλλ’ : cp. Ph.524 n.

οὔτε is followed by δὲ (1153), as in Aesch. Suppl. 223 ff., Xen. An.6. 3. 16 (=6. 1. 16 of some edd.), Plat. Rep. 389A , etc. Cp. 143 n.

ἐπακτίᾳ Τίρυνθι : .

συμβέβηκεν , impers., it has come to pass: the subject to ἔχειν (

αὐτήν

) can easily be supplied, and the whole phrase =

τυγχάνει ἕδραν ἔχουσα

. — For ὥστε , cp. Arist. Pol.2. 2. 5

καὶ συμβαίνει δὴ τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον ὥστε πάντας ἄρχειν

.— Not, ‘she has come to terms (with Eurystheus), so that she should dwell,’ etc.

Sophocles glances here at parts of the story which do not come within the scope of the play. Alcmena, daughter of Electryon king of Mycenae, had been betrothed to her first cousin, Amphitryon, son of Alcaeus king of Tiryns. Amphitryon accidentally killed his uncle, Electryon, and then fled from Tiryns to Thebes with his betrothed. At Thebes Alcmena bore Heracles to Zeus. Heracles afterwards went to Argolis and served Eurystheus,—with the hope that his toils would purchase a return to Tiryns for the exiled Amphitryon and Alcmena ( Eur. H. F.19 ). When these toils were over, Heracles dwelt in freedom at Tiryns with his family, including Alcmena,—Amphitryon being dead ( Diod.4. 33 ). He afterwards slew Iphitus, and then sought a refuge for his household at Trachis (39). But, in the course of the fifteen months since he departed for Lydia, Alcmena had returned to Tiryns, (Eurystheus having no cause to fear the aged widow,)—and had taken some of her grandchildren with her, in order to lighten the burden on the hospitality of Ceÿx.— ξυλλαβοῦς’ , here simply=

λαβοῦσα μεθ’ ἑαυτῆς

: cp. O. T.971 n.

τὸ Θήβης ἄστυ . Thebes, the birthplace of Heracles (116), and his early home (510), was a place where some of his children might well find friends. Sophocles has perhaps taken a hint here from his elder contemporary, the logographer Pherecydes, who related that, after the death of Eurystheus, Thebes became the home of the Heracleidae; fr. 39 (Müller Frag. Hist. 1. p. 82)

Ὕλλος δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Ἡρακλεῖδαι καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀποθανόντος Εὐρυσθέως κατοικίζονται πάλιν ἐν Θήβαις.— ἂν … μάθοις

: sc.

εἰ πύθοιο

: since he has been so long abroad.

ὅσοι πάρεσμεν . The plural includes those who had accompanied Heracles from Euboea: cp. 1194

ξὺν οἷς χρῄζεις φίλων

. We are not obliged to suppose that any son besides Hyllus was at home; though verses 54 f. implied that. Nauck rejects v. 1156 because (1) Hyllus could not say

ὅσοι

, and (2) Heracles has not yet asked him to do anything.

ἐξυπηρετήσομεν : cp. O. T.217 n.

σὺ δ’ οὖν ἄκουε : there is no emphasis on

σύ

(as if it referred to the absence of the others): rather the sense is, ‘Well, then (since you are ready to help), hear the task.’ For this use of

δ’ οὖν

, cp. O. T.669 n.

τοὔργον =

ὅ τι δραστέον ἐστιν

: cp. Ph.26

τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις.— ἐξήκεις

, you have reached a point, a situation: cp. O. T.1515

ἅλις ἵν’ ἐξήκεις δακρύων

: ib. 1158

εἰς τόδ’ ἥξεις. — ἐμὸς

without

παῖς

: cp. 1205 : Ai.547

εἴπερ δικαίως ἔστ’ ἐμὸς τὰ πατρόθεν

. The stress falls on the participial clause (592 n.).

γὰρ is merely prefatory.

πρόφαντον ἐκ πατρὸς : this oracle, given by Zeus at an unspecified time, and place, is not mentioned elsewhere in the play. Nor is it noticed by any other writer. Sophocles may, however, have found it in some earlier treatment of the fable.

τῶν ἐμπνεόντων , Erfurdt's correction of πρὸς τῶν πνεόντων , is the most probable.

ἐμπνεῖν

as=

ζῆν

( Ph.883 ) is frequent, while

πνεῖν

has that sense only in the Homeric

πνείει τε καὶ ἕρπει

( Il.17. 447 , Od.18. 131 ). ὕπο might, no doubt, have arisen from

πο

[

τέ

], but is presumably genuine: it closes a verse in 1077, O. T.949 , Ph.334 Ph., 583 , El.553 : and it is associated with

θνῄσκω

in O. T.1246 , Ph.334 , El.444. The combination of

πρός

with

ὑπό

cannot be defended as=‘to be slain by no one on the part of (

πρός

) the living.’ Paley, quoting Eur. Or.407

ἐκ φασμάτων δὲ τάδε νοσεῖς ποίων ὕπο

; describes

φαντασμάτων

as Nauck's conjecture; but that word stands in most of the more recent MSS., and in Porson's text.

ἀλλ’ ὅστις : for the ellipse of the antecedent (

ἐκείνου

), cp. Ai.1050

δοκοῦντ’ ἐμοί, δοκοῦντα δ’ ὃς κραίνει στρατοῦ

. Eur. Ion560

ἦ θίγω δῆθ’ οἵ μ’ ἔφυσαν ;— Ἅιδου … οἰκήτωρ

: 282.

ὅστις … πέλοι : if we suppose that Nessus was alive when Zeus spoke, then this is oblique for

ὅστις ἂν πέλῃ

, as O. T.714 (in a prophecy)

ὅστις γένοιτ’

for

ὅστις ἂν γένηται

. But if Nessus was then dead, it is oblique for

ὅστις πέλει

θὴρ (556) is in appos. with Κένταυρος .

ζῶντά μ’ ἔκτεινεν θανών : as the dead Hector brought death on Ajax ( Ai.1027 ). For other examples of this favourite antithesis, cp. O. T.1453 n.: Ant.871 n.: Ai.901 : El.808.

τούτοισι

κ.τ.λ.

The μαντεῖα καινὰ denote the oracle given at Dodona twelve years before this time, saying that at the end of the twelfth year Heracles should have rest. This is the oracle to which allusion was made in 44, 164 ff., 824 ff. The other and earlier oracle (1159 ff.) had predicted the agency: this Dodonaean oracle, ‘recent’ in a relative sense, predicted the time. The two oracles ‘agree,’ because each verifies the other. The thing has come to pass by the right agency at the right time.

συμβαίνοντ’ ἴσα , ‘coming out in agreement with them,’—yielding the same result,—viz., that this is the predicted end. For

συμβαίνειν

, cp. 173 n. The idea is emphatically repeated in τοῖς πάλαι ξυνήγορα , ‘pleading on the side of the older oracle,’—upholding its truth. Cp. 814

ξυνηγορεῖς

ἃ τῶν ὀρείων

κ.τ.λ.

The Σελλῶν ἄλσος is the sacred precinct at Dodona, including the temple of Zeus, with its temenos; its limits have been traced by Carapanos ( Dodone, pp. 16— 23): see Appendix, note on this passage, § 2.

The name

Σελλοί

, or

Ἑλλοί

(akin to

Ἕλλην, Ἑλλάς

), denoted a prehistoric tribe, dwelling at and around Dodona: see Appendix, § 4. The priests of Zeus, furnished by this tribe, are said to have been called

τόμουροι

, from Mount Tomāros ( Orphic Argon. 268

Τομαρίας ἔκλυε φηγός

), which towers above Dodona on W.S.W. In early times these priests were the direct interpreters of the oracle; hence the

Σελλοί

are called

ὑποφῆται

in Il.16. 235. Afterwards, when the cult of Dionè was associated with that of Zeus, the office of interpretation was transferred to the priestesses called Peleiades (172: Strabo 7. 329 ). Here, as in 171 f., the poet says that the oak gave the oracle; but he does not here mention the expositors. He mentions the

Σελλοί

only to define the

ἄλσος

ὀρείων refers to the site of Dodona in a valley, more than 1600 feet above sea-level, surrounded by hills. See Appendix, § 1.

χαμαικοιτῶν , a trait of barbarism, surviving as a mark of sanctity. According to Philostratus ( Imag. 2. 33), the Selli were ‘men of a rude life’ (

αὐτοσχέδιοί τινες

), who held that their austerities were pleasing to Zeus. Cp. Il.16. 235

ἀνιπτόποδες χαμαιεῦναι

: Eur. fr. 355

ἐν ἀστρώτῳ πέδῳ

εὕδουσι, πηγαῖς δ’ οὐχ ὑγραίνουσιν πόδας

. Callimachus Del.284 calls them

Πελασγοὶ...γηλεχέες

εἰσεγραψάμην , i.e., wrote for his own use in the

δέλτος

(157). Cp. Her.8. 135 , where Greeks accompany the Carian Mŷs on his visit to the oracle of Apollo at Ptôon,

ὡς ἀπογραψομένους τὰ θεσπιεῖν ἔμελλε

: then Mŷs snatches the

δέλτος

from them, and makes an abstract for himself (

συγγραψάμενον

). Ar. Av.982 (

χρησμὸς

)

ὃν ἐγὼ παρὰ τἀπόλλωνος ἐξεγραψάμην

. At Dodona, in later times at least, the inquirer gave his question in writing to the Peleiades, and received a written answer: many of the leaden plates thus used have been found (Carapanos, pp. 68—83): Appendix, § 6.

χρόνῳ τῷ ζῶντι : the past can be described as dead ( Ai.141

τῆς νῦν φθιμένης νυκτός

); the future, as unborn ( O. C.618

χρόνος τεκνοῦται...ἡμέρας

); the present is here called

ζῶν

, not merely in the sense of

παρών

, but with the thought that this is the moment for the oracle to become operative.

ἐφεστώτων , ‘imposed’ as a doom: cp. Il.12. 326

κῆρες ἐφεστᾶσιν θανάτοιο.— τελεῖσθαι

, fut., with pass. sense, as in Od.23. 284 , etc.

τὸ δ’ refers to

λύσιν τελεῖσθαι

: ‘but that (the promised release) was, it seems, only my death.’ Cp. Plat. Rep. 357A

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν...ὤμην λόγου ἀπηλλάχθαι· τὸ δ’ ἦν ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικε, προοίμιον.— θανεῖν

: for the simple aor. inf., though the ref. is to the future, cp. Soph. Ph.503

παθεῖν

(n.).

συμβαίνει , are coming true: cp. 173 n.

ἐπιμεῖναι … ὀξῦναι , to wait on, (so as) to sharpen. (In Thuc.3. 26 ,

ἐπιμένοντες...πεύσεσθαι

, the fut. inf. stands as after

προσδοκῶντες

: it does not, like

ὀξῦναι

here, express the result.) Cp. Soph. Ai.584

γλῶσσά σου τεθηγμένη

. For the aor. inf. of

ἐπιμένω

, cp. Hom. Od.11. 350

τλήτω

... | ...

ἐπιμεῖναι ἐς αὔριον

. The delay is viewed as a whole, not as a process.— Others, less well, make

στόμα

the subject to

ὀξῦναι

: ‘Do not wait for my words to goad thee.’

αὐτὸν , of thine own accord.

εἰκαθόντα : as to these forms, see O.T. 651 n.

ἐξευρόντα is illustrated by the words

αὐτὸν εἰκαθόντα

. He is not to wait until this law has been brought home to his mind by a rebuke. He is to ‘find it out’ in the light of his own reason.

εὑρίσκειν

often expresses the result of reflection. O. T.441

<*>αῦτ’ ὀνείδιζ’ οἷς ἔμ’ εὑρήσεις μέγαν

( i.e., when you look deeper). Her.7. 194

λογιζόμενος ὁ Δαρεῖος εὖρέ οἱ πλέω ἀγαθὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων πεποιημένα

: id. 1. 125

φροντίζων δὲ εὕρισκέ τε

( v. l.

εὑρίσκεται

)

ταῦτα καιριώτατα εἶναι, καὶ ἐποίεε δὴ ταῦτα

Cp. Eur. fr. 219

τρεῖς εἰσιν ἀρεταὶ τὰς χρεών σ’ ἀσκεῖν, τέκνον

, |

θεούς τε τιμᾶν τούς τε θρέψαντας γονεῖς

νόμους τε κοινοὺς Ἑλλάδος

ἀλλ’, ὦ πάτερ :

ἀλλὰ

here prefaces assent, as Ph.48 Ph., 524.

ταρβῶ μὲν κ.τ.λ. The sense is: ‘I am alarmed, indeed, at the issue to which you have brought me,—a choice between disobedience, and a blind promise; but I will obey.’ λόγου στάσιν τοιάνδε , ‘such a situation in our converse’: ἐπελθών , ‘having advanced,’ i.e., having been drawn on to it, by the progress of the dialogue. It may be noted that the sing. λόγου suits this sense of

στάσις

: if the meaning had been, ‘ strife of words’ (the

στάσις γλώσσης

of O.T. 634), we should have expected rather the plur.

λόγων

, as in Soph. Ph.1460

εἰς ἔριν λόγων

. For this general sense of

στάσις

, status, cp. Phaedr. p. 253 D

ὁ...ἐν τῇ καλλίονι στάσει ὤν

Throughout the dialogue (1114—1156), Hyllus has been gentle and respectful. If, then,

στάσιν

means ‘strife,’

ἐπελθών

must mean merely, ‘having advanced up to it,’ i.e., ‘come to the verge of it.’ But the clause with

μέν

, opposed to

πε<*>σομαι δέ

, ought to express something which tells against obedience (as the fear of a blind promise does); not something which tells in favour of it, as the fear of strife would do. The same objection applies to conjecturing

ἐπελθεῖν

(‘I am afraid of being drawn into such a strife’).

ἔμβαλλε : see on Ph.813

ἔμβαλλε χειρὸς πίστιν

ὡς πρός τί :

ὡς

=‘in your intention’: cp. O. T.1174

ὡς πρὸς τί χρείας;

Ph. 58

πλεῖς δ’ ὡς πρὸς οἶκον.

ἐπιστρέφεις : the primary notion is that of turning some constraining force upon a person,—bringing it to bear on him: so, ‘press,’ ‘urge,’ upon him: schol.

ἐπάγεις μοι

. It is a stronger equiv. for

ἐπισκήπτεις

.—Not, ‘regard’ (Musgrave): this would be

πίστεως ἐπιστρέφει

(midd.).

οὐ θᾶσσον

κ.τ.λ.

: Ai.75

οὐ σῖγ’ ἀνέξει μηδὲ δειλίαν ἀρεῖ

; O.T. 637

οὐκ εἶ σύ τ’ οἴκους σύ τε, Κρέον, κατὰ στέγας

, |

καὶ μὴ τὸ μηδὲν ἄλγος εἰς μέγ’ οἴσετε

; Eur. Bacch.343

οὐ μὴ προσοίσεις χεῖρα, βακχεύσεις δ’ ἰών

, |

μηδ’ ἐξομόρξει μωρίαν τὴν σὴν ἐμοί

; ib. 792

οὐ μὴ φρενώσεις μ’, ἀλλὰ δέσμιος φυγὼν

σώσει τόδ’

; For

οὐ μὴ

with fut. ind., cp. 978 .

οἴσεις , sc.

χεῖρα δεξιὰν

: but the choice of the verb may have been influenced by

πίστιν

ὄμνυ … κάρα : so

ὀμνύναι θεούς, Στυγὸς ὕδωρ

( Il.14. 271 ),

πέδον

( Eur. Med.746 ), etc.

ἐξειρήσεται ; This is clearly the right punctuation; for Hyllus is most anxious to know what will be asked of him. Heracles evades the question by replying,

τὸ λεχθὲν ἔργον

,— i.e. ,

ὃ ἂν λεχθῇ

: just as in Ai.528 ,

ἐὰν μόνον τὸ ταχθὲν εὖ τολμᾷ τελεῖν

, the partic.=

ὃ ἂν ταχθῇ

.—With a full stop at

ἐξειρήσεται

, the sense would be merely, ‘and this promise shall be given.’

ἐπώμοτον (427) here =

ὅρκιον

(schol.),

τὸν ὅρκου ἐγγυητήν

( Suid. s. v.). Cp. Soph. Ph.1324

Ζῆνα δ’ ὅρκιον καλῶ

(n.).

ἐκτὸς ἔλθοις , sc.

τοῦ ὅρκου

; cp. Plat. Symp. 183B

ἐκβάντι τὸν ὅρκον.— πημονὰς εὔχου λαβεῖν

: the usual sanction of a solemn oath; cp. Lys. or. 12 § 10

ὤμοσεν ἐξώλειαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς παισὶν ἐπαρώμενος, λαβὼν τὸ τάλαντόν με σώσειν

οὐ μὴ λάβω : for the pause cp. 1146 .

τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς … πάγον ; cp. Ph.489

τὰ Χαλκώδοντος Εὐβοίας σταθμά

. The change of ὕψιστον to ὑψίστου is a plausible one. Pausanias mentions statues of

Ζεὺς Ὕψιστος

at Corinth ( 2. 2. 8 ), Olympia ( 5. 15. 5 ), and Thebes ( 9. 8. 5 ); the title occurs, too, in an Attic inscr. ( C. I. G. 497—506 ), and was frequent in poetry. I prefer, however, to keep the reading of the MSS., because, here, we seem to need an epithet for

πάγον

rather than for the god. Cp. 436

τοῦ κατ’ ἄκρον Οἰταῖον νάπος

Διὸς καταστράπτοντος

The place traditionally known as the ‘Pyre’ was probably somewhere near ‘the proper summit of Oeta’ (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. II. pp. 19 f.), now Mount Patriótiko, about eight miles W.N.W. of Trachis. A Pyra is marked in Kiepert's Atlas von Hellas (ed. 1872, map 5), where the greatest height of Oeta is given as 2152 mètres, or about 7055 ft. It is mentioned by Theophr. Hist. Plant. 9. 10. 2 (

τῆς Οἵτης ἀμφὶ τὴν Πυράν

): cp. Liv.36. 30 , and Soph. Ph.1432.

θυτήρ (613), slightly emphasised by γε , implies that he is familiar with the place.

σταθεὶς : cp. 608 .

ἐνταῦθα properly refers to

ἐμβαλεῖν

(1197), but, since the inf. is so long delayed, is more conveniently taken with ἐξάραντα , in the sense of

ἐνταυθοῖ

: cp. El.380

ἐνταῦθα πέμψειν

. For the sense of

ἐξάραντα

, cp. 799

ἆρον ἔξω

καὶ can be prefixed to

ξὺν οἷς, κ.τ.λ.

, since αὐτόχειρα implies

ταῖς σεαυτοῦ χερσί

The pyre is to be built with (1) oak, sacred to Zeus (1168); and (2) the wild olive, which Heracles himself had brought to Greece: Paus.5. 7. 7

κομισθῆναι δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ὑπερβορέων γῆς τὸν κότινόν φασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἐς Ἕλληνας

. Pindar, in treating that legend, uses the generic word,

ἐλαία

, O. 3. 13. Pliny H. N. 16. 89

Olympiae oleaster, ex quo primus Hercules coronatus est:

where he also mentions that, near Heracleia in Pontus, were

quercus duae ab Hercule satae.

κείραντα , like Il.24. 450

δοῦρ’ ἐλάτης κέρσαντες

. In Attic prose,

κείρειν

, ‘to shear,’ is said only of cutting off hair, or devastating land. The prose word here would be

κόψαντα.— ἐκτεμόνθ’

, cutting it from the stump, close to the ground: Il.12. 148

ἄγνυτον ὕλην

, |

πρυμνὴν ἐκτάμνοντες

(‘at the root’). In Lys. or. 7 § 19

ἐξέτεμνον τὰ πρέμνα

refers to cutting the roots of an olive out of the ground.— ἄγριον ἔλαιον : the

κότινος

was also called

ἄγριος ἔλαιος

( Pind. fr. 21),

ἀγριέλαιος

, or

ἀγριελαία

. The epithet ἄρσενα expresses its sturdy vigour. Acc. to Theophrastus ( Hist. Plant. 4. 13) the

κότινος

lives longer than the

ἐλαία

. Ovid says,

Ure mares oleas

( Fast.4. 741) .

πολλὸν =

πολύν

, as Ant.86

πολλὸν

πολύ

: the only instance of this Ionic form in tragedy.— σῶμα τοὐμὸν is repeated, the sentence having become so long: cp.

νιν

in 289, after

ἐκεῖνον

πευκίνης : cp. 766

πιείρας δρυός

(n.).

πρῆσαι , made emphatic by place and pause: cp. Ant.72

θάψω.— γόου … δάκρυ

, the tear that belongs to, accompanies, lamentation; as

δάκρυα

and

γόοι

are so often associated ( Eur. Or.320 , I. T. 860, etc.). (Not, ‘a mournful tear,’ as opp. to

δάκρυ χαρᾶς

εἰσίτω , abs., ‘come in,’ ‘find a place’ there: cp. Phaedr. p. 270 A

τὸ γὰρ ὑψηλόνουν τοῦτο...ἔοικεν ἐντεῦθέν ποθεν εἰσιέν<*>

. We ought not to supply

σε

, as if the sense were, ‘come into thy thoughts’ ( Phaedop. 58 E

οὔτε...με...ἔλεος εἰσῄει

The ordinary

ἐκφορά

was attended by wailing; but these obsequies, like those of the priests in Legg. 947 B, were to be

χωρὶς θρήνων καὶ ὀδυρμῶν

. Cp. Manoah's words in Samson Agonistes (1708), ‘Come, come; no time for lamentation now.’

ἀστένακτος : cp: 1074 .— εἴπερ εἶ κ.τ.λ.: cp. 1158 .

μενῶ σ’ ἐγὼ κ.τ.λ., ‘I will await thee with my curse’; i.e., ‘my curse will be in store for thee,’ attending on thee thenceforth. (Not merely, ‘I will await thee in the nether world,’ to punish thee when thou comest <*>hither.) Cp. 1240

θεῶν ἀρὰ

μενεῖ σ’

. So Ant.1075

λοχῶσιν...Ἐρινύες.— ἀραῖος

, here, ‘ bringing a curse’: cp. I. T. 778

ῆ σοῖς ἀραία δώμασιν γενήσομαι

. (But in O.T. 1291, ‘under a curse’).

εἰσαεὶ , because the power of the Erinyes over a mortal did not end with his life: it was their part,

ὁμαρτεῖν, ὄφρ’ ἂν

γᾶν ὑπέλθῃ· θανὼν δ’ οὐκ ἄγαν ἐλεύθερος

. ( Aesch. Eum.340. )

βαρύς , as in O. T.546

δυσμενῆ τε καὶ βαρύν

1203 The hiatus τί εἶπας is supported by the MSS. here, but appears as uncongenial to the poet's style as in Ph.917 ,

οἴμοι, τί εἶπας

; Here, as there, τί μ’ εἶπας seems inadmissible. It could mean only, ‘What hast thou said of me?’ —and we can hardly justify this as meaning, ‘hast thou said that, if I refuse, I shall be no true son?’ The alternative is to insert δ’ : cp. O.C. 332

τέκνον, τί δ’ ἦλθες

; See Append. on Ph.100.

ὁποῖα δραστἔ ἐστίν , sc.

εἶπον

. The reply passes over

εἴργασαι

, and refers to

εἶπας

: cp. 423 , where

πολλοῖσιν ἀστῶν

answers the earlier of two queries.

εἰ δὲ μή , sc.

δράσεις.— γεν<*>ῦ

, ‘become’, as if by adoption (

εἰσποίησις

) into another family. Cp. Lys. or. 13 § 91

τόν τε γόνῳ πατέρα...τόν τε ποιητὸν πατέρα

. So Oedipus to Polyneices, O.C. 1383

σὺ δ’ ἔρρ’ ἀπόπτυστός τε κἀπάτωρ ἐμοῦ

οἷά μ’ ἐκκαλεῖ , ‘what dost thou call upon me to do.’ For the double acc., cp. Euthyphr. 5 A

αὐτὰ ταῦτα προκαλεῖσθαι αὐτόν

παλαμναῖον is not weak after φονέα , because, as used in poetry, it often implies the defilement (

ἄγος

) of blood-guiltiness,—meaning, ‘accursed wretch,’ rather than merely ‘slayer.’ Cp. Aesch. Eum.448

ἄφθογγον εἶναι τὸν παλαμναῖον νόμος, κ.τ.λ.

Hence, like

μιάστωρ

, it can denote also the avenger of guilt ( I. T. 1218). Photius had this in view when he explained

παλαμναῖος

φονεὺς ἢ μιαρός

. Properly the word means merely ‘a man of violent hand’: cp. Ph.1206

παλάμαν

, n.

οὐ δῆτ’ ἔγωγ’, ἀλλ’ : the same formula as in O. T.1161 , Ph.735.

ὧν ἔχω (

κακῶν

) παιώνιον refers more especially to bodily sufferings; while ἰατῆρα τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν is rather, ‘physician of my woes’ generally. After

ὧν ἔχω, τῶν ἐμῶν

is awkward; but it is partly excused (1) by the slight pause which might follow

παιώνιον

, and (2) by the emphasis on

ἰατῆρα

. It might, indeed, be suggested that

κακῶν

belongs to

τῶν ἐμῶν

only, while

ὧν ἔχω

should be taken separately, ‘what I suffer’: this, however, is less natural. Hermann's emendation, ὡς ἔχω (‘considering my state’), is possible, but slightly weak.

φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο : cp. O.T. 980

σὺ δ’ εἰς τὰ μητρὸς μὴ φοβοῦ νυμφεύματα

φθόνησις is found only here. Cp. Plat Phaedo61 D

ἃ...τυγχάνω ἀκηκοώς, φθόνος οὐδεὶς λέγειν

. Ion530 D

οὐ φθονήσεις μοι ἐπιδεῖξαι

πλήρωμα (nom.), sc.

γενήσεται

: —cp. Eur. Hec.574

οἱ δὲ πληροῦσιν πυράν

, |

κορμοὺς φέροντες πευκίνους

. Though

πλήρωσις

would have been more natural,

πλήρωμα

, expressing the result, is equally correct here.

1214 (

πληρώσω

), ὅσον γε (

πληρώσαιμ’

) ἂν μὴ ποτιψ .: cp. O. T.347

εἰργάσθαι θ’, ὅσον

μὴ χερσὶ καίνων

( sc.

εἶχες εἰργάσθαι

). Hyllus will help to hew the wood, but not to build the pyre. The pyre was kindled by Philoctetes, or, acc. to another version, by Poeas ( Ph.802 n.).— ποτιψαύων : tragic lyrics admit

ποτί

(fr. 225), and its compounds (1030

ἀποτίβατος

: Aesch. Theb.94

ποτιπέσω

, etc.). But tragic dialogue presents no other example, except Aesch. Eum. 79

ποτὶ πτόλιν

κοὐ καμεῖ , 2nd pers. sing. midd., thou shalt have no difficulty, τοὐμὸν μέρος , on my part (acc. of respect: cp. Ant.1062

τὸ σὸν μέρος

, n.).—Most editors take

καμεῖ

as 3rd pers. sing. act.: ‘and my part of the work shall not flag.’ But

καμοῦμαι

is the regular fut.: indeed, the only trace of the act. form is in Hesych.,

καμῶ· ἐργάσομαι

ἀρκέσει καὶ ταῦτα , even this: so Ph.339

οἶμαι μὲν ἀρκεῖν σοί γε καὶ τὰ ς’, ὦ τάλας

, |

ἀλγήμαθ’.— πρόσνειμαι

: the midd. is noteworthy, as we should have expected

πρόσνειμον

: cp., however, Ar. Av.563

προσνείμασθαι δὲ πρεπόντως

τοῖσι θεοῖσιν τῶν ὀρνίθων ὂς ἂν ἁρμόττῃ καθ’ ἕκαστον

,—where, as here, the act. might have been expected. The accentuation προσνεῖμαι (cr. n.) represents a wish to read the aor. inf. act. as an imperative.

βραχεῖαν , small ( O.C. 586 n.): μακροῖς , large ( Ai.130 , etc.).

διδούς , sc.

αὐτά

: cp. O. C.475

νεοπόκῳ μαλλῷ λαβών

(n.).

Εὐρυτείαν : cp. O. T.267

τῷ Λαβδακείῳ παιδί

(n.).

παρθένον , an unmarried woman: cp. 1225 .

ἐπεικάζειν has here much better authority than

ἀπεικάζειν

: cp. 141 n.— ὥς γ’ , as a correction of ὥστ’ , is preferable to ὡς , not only as accounting for

τ’

, but because ἐμέ is added: cp. Eur. Alc.801

ὥς γ’ ἐμοὶ χρῆσθαι κριτῇ

: Plut. 736

ὥς γ’ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν

ἐπισκήπτω with double acc., like

κελεύω τινά τι

: so I.T. 701

πρὸς δεξιᾶς δε τῆσδ’ ἐπισκήπτω τάδε

πατρῴων ὁρκίων , the oath imposed on thee by thy father.

προσθοῦ , associate with thyself: cp. O. C.404 n.

δάμαρτα . This passage concerning Iolè and Hyllus (1216—1251) was rendered indispensable by the plot, if the poet was to avoid a contradiction which must otherwise have perplexed the spectators.

Iolè figured in legend as the wife of Hyllus. Their son,

Κλεοδαῖος

(called

Κλεοδάτης

by Theopompus, fr. 30), was mentioned by Hesiod (schol. Ap. Rh. 1. 824 ), and was recorded in the pedigree of the Spartan kings, being the grandfather of Aristodemus ( Her.6. 52 Her., 8. 131 ). Hyllus and Iolè had also a daughter,

Εὐαίχμη

, known in Messenian story ( Paus.4. 2. 1 ).

But, in this play, Iolè is the paramour of Heracles, and indirectly the cause of his death. How, then, could Hyllus wed her? His own words (1233—1237) express what a Greek would feel. It was necessary, then, that the marriage should be imposed upon him by his dying father's inexorable command.

Cp. Apollodorus 2. 7. 7 § 13

ἐντειλάμενος Ὕλλῳ...τὴν Ἰόλην ἀνδρωθέντα γῆμαι

: as if Hyllus were younger than Sophocles here imagines him. Ovid, Met.9. 278 , of Iolè:

Herculis illam | Imperiis thalamoque animoque receperat Hyllus.

Acc. to Pherecydes, it was for Hyllus, not for himself, that Heracles had first asked the hand of Iolè (schol. on v. 354).

ἀλλος … ἀντὶ σοῦ : cp. Ai.444

οὐκ ἄν τις αὔτ’ ἔμαρψεν ἄλλος ἀντ’ ἐμοῦ.— ὁμοῦ

, prep. with dat., in the sense of ‘near’ ( O.T. 1007), a specially Attic use ( Ph.1218 Append.).

λάβῃ , in this command, is clearly right: the mere wish,

λάβοι

, would be unsuitable. Cp. 331 n.

ἀλλ’ αὐτός ,

κ.τ.λ.

: this third clause reiterates the sense of the first,

προσθοῦ δάμαρτα

: cp. 433 n.

τοῦτο … λέχος =

τοῦτο κῆδος

, cogn. acc. to κήδευσον (‘contract this marriage’): cp. Arist. Pol.5. 7. 10

κηδεύειν ὅτῳ θέλωσιν

.— Not, ‘cherish this bride,’ as in Eur. Med.888

κηδεύουσαν

is said of Medea ‘tending’ Iason's new wife.

πιθοῦ , not

πείθου

: it is a peremptory summons: cp. 470 n.

πιστεύσαντ’ =

πιθόμενον

, as in 1251. These are perhaps the only clear examples of

πιστεύω

as=‘to obey,’ though

ἀπιστεῖν

as=

ἀπειθεῖν

was frequent.

ἐμοὶ , not μοι , because the pron., though it has no strong emphasis, implies, ‘to me, your father.’ A son's obedience should be complete.— σμικροῖς , dat. of respect: cp. Ph.342

πρᾶγμ’, ὅτῳ σ’ ἐνύβρισαν

: Eur. fr. 1051

χρήμασιν λελείμμεθα.— συγχεῖ

, obliterates, as if it had been traced in sand: cp. Soph. O. C.609 n.

τὸ μὲν νοσοῦντι

κ.τ.λ.

Cp. 543 ff.

θυμοῦσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι

νοσοῦντι κείνῳ

... |

τὸ δ’ αὖ ξυνοικεῖν τῇδ’ ὁμοῦ τίς ἂν γυνὴ

δύναιτο... ;— ὧδε … φρονοῦντα

, in a state of mind so deplorable as is argued by the bare suggestion of such a marriage. This is not an ‘aside’; but the speaker's amazement precludes a direct reply.

ὡς ἐργασείων : cp. O.T. 625

ὡς οὐχ ὑπείξων οὐδὲ πιστεύσων λέγεις

; For the desiderative verb, see Ph.1001 n.

τίς γάρ ποθ’ , the indignant exordium, is immediately followed by the relative clause concerning Iolè, ἥ having a causal force,—as we might say, ‘What! when she...’ etc. Cp. n. on O. C.263

κἄμοιγε ποῦ ταῦτ’ ἐστίν ; οἵτινες βάθρων κ.τ.λ.

Then, instead of

ταύτην

τήνδε

, as antecedent to ἥ , the speaker bitterly says, ταῦτ’ , ‘all this,’—the horrors which, for him, are embodied in Iolè. Cp. O. T.1492

ἀλλ’ ἡνίκ’ ἂν δὴ πρὸς γάμων ἥκητ ἀκμάς

, |

τίς οὗτος ἔσται, τίς παραρρίψει, τέκνα

, |

τοιαῦτ’ ὀνείδη λαμβάνων

; It would miserably enfeeble the passage to alter ταῦτ’ .

The ethic dat. μοι implies, ‘as I have seen.’

θανεῖν , without

τοῦ

: cp. Ant.1173

αἴτιοι θανεῖν

(n.): μόνη μεταίτιος means that she alone shared the blame with Heracles ( cp. 260 n.).

σοὶ δ’ is more probable than σοί τ’ here, where the antithesis is marked.

ὡς ἔχεις ἔχειν : Dem. or. 3 § 8

ἐχόντων ὡς ἔχουσι Θηβαίων

: Soph. O. C.273

ἱκόμην ἵν’ ἱκόμην

: O.T. 13<*> n.

ὅστις μὴ … νοσοῖ : the optat., on a<*> count of

ἕλοιτ’ ἄν

: the relative clause is equiv. in sense to a protasis,

εἰ μὴ νοσοῖ

: see on O. C.560. For the form

νοσοῖ

(instead of

νοσοίη

), Ph.895 n.

ἀλαστόρων : O. C.788 n. Such a marriage would imply that some

ἄτη

had deranged his mind ( Ant.622 ).

τοῖσιν ἐχθίστοισι : cp. O. T.366

τοῖς φιλτάτοις

(Iocasta): El.594

ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι

(Aegisthus).

ὁμοῦ added to

συνναίειν

, as in 545 to

ξυνοικεῖν

ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ νεμεῖν , instead of

οὐ νεμεῖ

. The verb which ought to have been principal is attracted into the relative clause. Cp. Her.4. 5

ὡς δὲ Σκύθαι λέγουσι, νεώτατον ἁπάντων ἐθνέων εἶναι

(instead of

ἐστὶ

)

τὸ σφέτερον

. Id. 6. 137

ὡς δὲ αὐτοὶ Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, δικαίως ἐξελάσαι

(instead of

ἐξήλασαν

). Sophist. 263 D

παντάπασιν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡ τοιαύτη σύνθεσις...γίγνεσθαι

(instead of

γίγνεται

)

λόγος ψευδής

. Phileb.20 D

τόδε γε μήν, ὡς οἶμαι, περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀναγκαιότατον εἶναι

(instead of

ἐστὶ

)

λέγειν

[for

εἶναι

can hardly depend on the word

ἀνάγκη

higher up]. I. T. 52

καθεῖναι

(instead of

καθῆκε

) after

ὡς ἔδοξε

. But Aesch. Pers.188

τούτω στάσιν τιν’, ὡς ἐγὼ )δόκουν ὁρᾶν

, |

τεύχειν

, is more complex, as the fusion is between (1)

ἐδόκουν

(3 rd plur. )

τεύχειν

, and (2)

ἔτευχον, ὡς ἐγὼ ἐδόκουν ὁρᾶν

. In Latin, too, this natural laxity occurs: Offic. 1. 7 § 22 ut placet Stoicis, quae in terris gignantur ad usum hominum omnia creari (instead of creantur).

Paley would get rid of the irregularity by making ὡς exclamatory (‘how!’): but this is impossible. The text is clearly sound, though it has been much suspected (cr. n.).

νεμεῖν … μοῖραν :

μοῖρα

is the share of respect due to a person: cp. Plat. Crat. 398C

μεγάλην μοῖραν καὶ τιμὴν ἔχει

: and Soph. O. C.277 Append. For

νεμεῖν

, cp. 57

νέμοι...ὤραν

θεῶν ἀρὰ (like

θεῶν Ἐρινυες

, Ant.1075 ), —the vengeance sent by the gods, in answer to the father's imprecation (1202). In this objective sense, the Curse is itself the agent of retribution: cp. O. T.418

δεινόπους ἀρά

: Aesch. Theb.70

Ἀρά τ’, Ἐρινὺς πατρὸς ἡ μεγασθενής

: and the Eumenides call themselves

Ἀραί

( Aesch. Eum.417 ). Sometimes, again, the

Ἀρά

is distinguished from the power which it calls into action: Soph. El.111

πότνἰ Ἀρά

, |

σεμναί τε θεῶν παῖδες Ἐρινύες

. A transition from the latter idea to the former may be seen in Soph. O. C.1375 f., where Oed. summons his own imprecations to be his

ξυμμάχους

ὡς ἔοικας (instead of

ὡς ἔοικεν

), as in El.516 : so Helen. 497

ὡς εἴξασιν.— φράσεις

, wilt ‘show,’ ‘make it clear’ (by acts, or words, or both). After such words—Hyllus means—some violent outburst of madness may be expected.

φράζειν

, ‘to declare,’ does not necessarily imply speech: Her.4. 113

φωνῆσαι μὲν οὐκ εἶχε, οὐ γὰρ συνίεσαν ἀλλήλων, τῇ δὲ χειρὶ ἔφραζε

. Aesch. Ag. 1061

σὺ δ’ ἀντὶ φωνῆς φράζε καρβάνῳ χερί

. There is a shade of mournful irony in

φράσεις

(‘make it plain enough’), which is lost in the conjecture φανεῖς .—For the double

‐εις

, cp. Soph. Ant.682

ὧν λέγεις δοκεῖς πέρι

ἀπ’ εὐνασθέντος … κακοῦ , lit., ‘from a lulled plague,’ i.e., from the repose allowed to me by its subsidence. This is simpler than to understand, ‘after the plague had been lulled,’ when

ἀπὸ

would be used like

ἐκ

(Theocr. 15. 106

ἀθανάταν ἀπὸ θνατᾶς

).—The v. l. ἀπευνασθέντος would be rather a gen. absolute.

ἀπευνάζειν

does not occur.

ἐς πολλὰ , ‘with regard to’ them: cp. n. on 1211.

κλύειν : i.e., as to the marriage. The question as to the pyre has been settled (1215).

δυσσεβεῖν . He regards Iolè as virtually the destroyer of both his parents (1233): it is not

εὐσεβές

for him to marry her. Heracles replies that the supreme duty is to do a father's pleasure ( cp. 1177 ).

πράσσειν … πανδίκως , to do these things ‘with full justification,’ i.e., as a duty imposed by a father's solemn command.—Others explain, ‘command me absolutely’: but

πανδίκως

could not mean

παντελῶς

: .—For the place of οὖν in the verse, cp. O. C.1205 , Ph.121.

ἔγωγε , ‘that I do’; cp. Ai.104 Ai., 1347 Ai., 1365.

ποήσω . He will marry Iolè. But he will call the gods to witness that it is his father's doing, and not an act of his own choice.

τὸ σὸν θεοῖσι δεικνὺς ἔργον : the

ἔργον

is not, strictly, the marriage itself, but the act of Heracles in prescribing it. Hence the words, ‘showing thy deed to the gods,’ mean properly, ‘pleading, before the gods, the constraint which you have put upon me’: not, ‘protesting that my act in marrying Iolè is really your act.’ Accordingly we have

δεικνὺς τὸ σὸν ἔ<*>ον

, not

δεικνὺς τὸ ἔργον σὸν

(

ὄν

). The text has been suspected (cr. n.) only because it has not been fully understood.

καλῶς τελευτᾷς , after threatening disobedience (1230 ff.).

κἀπὶ τοῖσδε : i.e., crown the promise with the deed. Cp. Ai.813

κοὐ λόγῳ δείξω μόνον·

τάχος γὰρ ἔργου καὶ ποδῶν ἅμ’ ἕψεται.— ταχεῖαν

, adverbial: cp. O. T.617 f.

πρὶν ἐμπεσεῖν κ.τ.λ.: his fear is not so much of the pain, or of increased difficulty for his bearers, but rather of the illomened cries which would be wrung from him on the brink of death. .

σπαραγμὸν (778)

οἶστρον : a similar combination occurs in Aesch. fr. 163

ἐκ ποδῶν δ’ ἄνω

ὑπέρχεται σπαραγμὸς εἰς ἄκρον κάρα

, |

κέντημα λύσσης, σκορπίου βέλος λέγω

ἄγ’ is said to all the bystanders, rather than to Hyllus alone: cp. 821

ἴδ’

, n.

ἐγκονεῖτ’ : cp. Ai.811

χωρῶμεν, ἐγκονῶμεν

: ib. 988

ἴθ’ ἐγκόνει, σύγκαμνε

. The derivation of the verb is uncertain: the only part of it used by Homer is

ἐγκονέουσαι.— αἴρεσθε

: this literal sense of the midd.

αἴρομαι

is much rarer than the figurative; see, however, El.54 , Il.20. 247 , Eur. Cycl.473.

αὕτη , instead of

τοῦτο

: cp. O. C.88

ταύτην ἔλεξε παῦλαν

(n.). He does not mean, ‘this is the rest promised by the oracle’ (1170): but merely,—‘this is the true release for me.’

τελευτὴ … ὑστάτη , like

ἔσχατον τέρμα

( Eur. Andr.1081 ), extremus finis ( G. 4. 116). He has no presentiment of immortality.

ἀλλ’ : cp. 1179 n.

οὐδὲν εἴργει like

οὐδὲν κωλύει

. Cp. 344 .

τελειοῦσθαι : cp. O. C.1089

τελειῶσαι

: but El.1510

τελεωθέν

. Both forms were current in Attic prose.

ἐπεὶ κελεύεις : he again disclaims responsibility: cp. 1247 .

1259-1263

As Hyllus spoke the last two verses, he gave a sign to the bearers (964) to come forward and resume their places beside the litter. These five anapaestic lines are spoken by Heracles while that order is being obeyed. Then the words of Hyllus,

αἴρετ’, ὀπαδοί

(1264), mark that the procession is about to move.

ἄγε νυν . Either

νυν

would be fitting here, but the former is better: it refers to the consent of Hyllus. The scholiast read

νυν

(

ἄγε οὖν

πρὶν ἀνακινῆσαι τήνδε νόσον , ‘before thou hast aroused this plague,’ i.e., ‘allowed it to arise,’—by delay. The attacks recur at intervals; and he wishes to reach the pyre speedily (1253). The meaning is not that vehement laments might bring on the pain.

Other views are:—(1)

ἀνακινῆσαι

is intrans., ‘be roused.’ But this use is unexampled, and cannot safely be inferred from the intrans.

ὑποκινεῖν

( Her.5. 106 , etc.), or

παρακινεῖν

as=

παρακόπτειν, παραπαίειν

, delirare. (2) The subject to the inf. is

νόσον

, and the object is

σε

understood. But

ἀνακινῆσαι

clearly refers to rousing the pain, not to troubling the mind: cp. 974

μὴ κινήσῃς...ὀδύναν

: 979

κἀκκινήσεις...νόσον

ὦ ψυχὴ σκληρά : this phrase has a bad sense in Ai.1361 ; just as the epithet

κρατερόφρων

, given to Heracles in Il.14. 324 , is applied in Hes. Op.147 to the

χάλκειον γένος

.—Cp. Hom. Od.20. 18

τέτλαθι δὴ κραδίη

: Aristophanes parodies such passages, Ach.483 ff.

πρόβαινε νῦν, ὦ θυμέ...ἄγε νυν, ὦ τάλαινα καρδία

: as Voltaire said of like apostrophes in Corneille, ‘nous ne sommes plus dans un temps où l'on parle à son bras et à son âme.’

χάλυβος λιθοκόλλητον στόμιον . This has been explained:—(1) ‘A curb of steel, set with sharp stones’—to make it more severe. (2) ‘A curb of steel, ornamented with costly stones.’ (3) ‘A steel clamp for binding stones together.’ See Appendix.

I take the words in a way different from any of these.

χάλυβος στόμιον

, the ‘curb of steel,’ is, as all agree, the strong selfrestraint which is to keep the lips closed. Then

λιθοκόλλητον

introduces a new image. The lips, thus firmly closed, are set as stone to stone in masonry. Thus the whole phrase means ‘A curb of steel, to keep the lips set as stone to stone.’ The use of

λιθοκόλλητον

to describe the effect of the ‘curb’ has been assisted by the suggestion, in

στόμιον

, of

στόμα

ἀνάπαυε βοήν . Pythagoras said that a dying man,—like one who is putting out to sea,—should avoid words of ill omen: —

κατὰ τὸν ὕστατον καιρὸν παρήγγελλε μὴ βλασφημεῖν, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς ἀναγωγαῖσοἰωνίζεσθαι μετ’ εὐφημίας

(Iamblich. Pyth. § 257).

ὡς with τελέους’ (fut. part.), marking the intention ( cp. 160 ): ἐπίχαρτον , predicative: (‘as being about to do a compulsory deed with a feeling of joy.’) The end has been imposed by fate; but it brings victory over pain.

1264-1278

The unanimous tradition assigned verses 1264—1274 to Hyllus. Verses 1275—1278 were given by some to the Chorus, and by others to Hyllus. From the indication in L at v. 1275 (

χορὸς γράφεται ὕλλος

), and from the schol. there (

χορός· τινὲς ὕλλος

), it may be conjectured that the attribution of 1275—1278 to the Chorus was the prevalent one. This was only natural, as the Chorus usually closes the play. A majority of modern editors, however, give vv. 1264—1278 wholly to Hyllus; and they seem right.—See Appendix.

ὀπαδοί , ‘attendants,’ ‘followers,’—the men who have come with him from Euboea (964). In Ant.1108 Creon addresses his servants as

ὀπάονες. — μεγάλην μὲν ἐμοὶ κ.τ.λ.

: the meaning is, ‘Pardon me for helping my father to destroy himself; and note that the real cruelty here is that of Zeus, who allows his son to perish thus.’

συγγνωμοσύνην (=

συγγνώμην

) a word found only here; cp. Ant.151

θέσθαι

λησμοσύναν.— εἰδότες θεῶν μεγ. ἀγνωμοσύνην ἔργων κ.τ.λ.

, ‘recognising the great harshness of the gods in the deeds,’ etc.: for the double gen., cp. Andoc. or. 3 § 33

τὴν ... ἀσφάλειαν ἡμῶν τῆς ἐπαναφορᾶς

. For

ἀγνωμοσύνη

, prop. ‘want of considerateness,’ cp. Dem. or. 18 § 252

πανταχόθεν μὲν ἄν τις ἴδοι τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν βασκανίαν

(‘unfairness and malevolence’): ib. 207

τῇ τῆς τύχης ἀγνωμοσύνῃ

, its ‘cruelty.’ The likesounding words end two successive verses, as

παρῄνεσα

and

συνῄνεσα

in Soph. Ph.121 f.

For Nauck's reading of this passage, see Appendix.

κλῃζόμενοι is more than

καλούμενοι

: it implies invocation and praise: cp. 659 .

ἐφορῶσι , i.e., look calmly down upon them; just as in El. 825

ταῦτ’ ἐφορῶντες | κρύπτουσιν ἕκηλοι

: cp. Aesch. Ag. 1270 (Cassandra complains of Apollo)

ἐποπτεύσας

... | ...

καταγελωμένην

1270-1274

τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντ’

κ.τ.λ.

: Hyllus means:—‘No one, indeed, commands a view (

ἐφορᾷ

) of the future (and so it is possible that Zeus may yet make some amend); but, as to the present situation, it is miserable for us, shameful for Zeus ( ἐκείνοις ), and supremely cruel for the victim.’

The words

τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντ’ οὐδεὶς ἐφορᾷ

unconsciously foreshadow the apotheosis of Heracles. This is the only hint of it in the play.

χαλεπώτατα δ’ οὖν . Here

δ’ οὖν

marks the return to the foremost subject of his thoughts. ‘Be the pity or the shame what it may, there can be no doubt who suffers most.’ Cp. Ant. 688 n.

1275-1278

These four verses are addressed by Hyllus to the leader of the Chorus, and give the signal for moving from the orchestra. With παρθέν’ , compare

ὦ παρθένοι

in 211 . The Chorus has been silent since 1113 ; and it seems dramatically right that its silence should be maintained in this last scene. The young maidens of Trachis may well leave the son of Heracles, at this solemn moment, to sum up the lesson of his father's fate.

If the verses are given to the leader of the Chorus, then

παρθέν’

will be taken in a collective sense, as referring to the other choreutae; cp. 821

ὦ παῖδες

. Prof. Campbell understands a reference to the maidens of the household (205) ; but this seems less natural. In either case, the singular number would be unusual.

Another view is that

παρθέν’

means Iolè. But she is not present: and, even if she could be thus summoned forth, her presence would be unfitting.

ἐπ’ οἴκων (see cr. n.) is clearly right.

ἐπὶ

is often thus used with the gen., of position: Plat. Charm. 163 B

ἐπ’ οἰκήματος καθημένῳ

: Thuc. 4. 118

μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς αὑτῶν

.—The Vulg.

ἀπ’ οἴκων

has been explained in three ways, each of which appears untenable:—(1) ‘Do not stay behind,—leaving the house,’ i.e., ‘leave it.’ (2) ‘Do not fail from the house,’— i.e., ‘stay there.’ (3) With

παρθέν’

: ‘O maiden from the house, do not stay behind.’

θανάτους , Deianeira's violent death (for the plur., cp. O. T. 497 n.). The bold use of μεγάλους is softened by the poetical plur., which brings out the notion of a ‘great’ or ‘awful’ calamity.

μέγας

is often nearly equivalent to

δεινός

, as in

μέγα τι παθεῖν

(Xen. An. 5. 8. 17) , etc.

πήματα … καινοπαθῆ , the strange and terrible sufferings of Heracles. This adjdoes not occur elsewhere: but Aesch. Theb. 363 has

καινοπήμων

as=‘new to woe.’ (For the bad sense of

καινός

, cp. 867 , 873 .) The second part of the compound is akin in sense to

πῆμα

: —The v. l. καινοπαγῆ was a prosaic conjecture, suggested by such words as

νεοπαγής

With Ζεύς the schol. supplies

ἔπραξεν

: but it seems truer to supply

ἐστίν

. ‘There is nothing in all this that is not Zeus’: i.e., he is manifested in each and all of these events.

Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1932.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (English) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 972 focus

Ωμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ,

*ὦ om. πάτερ, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ ἐγώ σου μέλεος.

τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.

ΠΡΕΣΒΥΣ.

σίγα, τέκνον, μὴ κινήσῃς
970

ἀγρίαν ὀδύνην πατρὸς ὠμόφρονος.

ἐῇ γὰρ προπετής. ἀλλ᾽ ἴσχε δακὼν

στόμα σόν.

ΥΛ.

πῶς φής, γέρον γέρων γέρον; ἡ ζῇ;

ΠΡ.

οὐ μὴ *᾿ξεγερεῖς μἠξεγείρεισ μὴ ξεγείρησ τὸν ὕπνῳ κάτοχον

κἀκκινήσεις κἀναστήσεις κἀκκινήσης κἀναστήσησ
975

φοιτάδα δεινὴν

νόσον, ὦ τέκνον.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἐπί μοι μελέῳ

βάρος ἄπλετον ἐμμέμονε φρήν.

ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ.

Ω Ζεῦ,
980

ποῖ γᾶς γᾶς γῆς ἥκω; παρὰ τοῖσι βροτῶν

κεῖμαι πεπονημένος ἀλλήκτοις

ὀδύναις ; οἴμοι ἐγὼ τλάμων·

ἡ δ᾽ ἦδ᾽ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει, φεῦ.

ΠΡ.

ἆρ᾽ ἐξῄδης ἐξήδης, ὅσον ἦν κέρδος
985

σιγῇ κεύθειν, καὶ μὴ σκεδάσai

τῷδ᾽ ἀπὸ κρατὸς

βλεφάρων θ᾽ ὕπνον ;

ΥΛ.

οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν

στέρξαιμι κακὸν τόδε λεύσσων.
990

ΗΡ.

Ὦ Κηναία κρηπὶς βωμῶν,

ἱερῶν οἵαν *οἵων ἐπί μοι οἵαν ἀνθ᾽ οἴων θυμάτων ἐπί μοι

ἠνύσω· ὦ Ζεῦ ἠνύσωζεῦ, ἠνύσω, ὦ Ζεῦ,

οἵαν μ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔθου λώβαν, οἵαν·

ἣν μήποτ᾽ ἐγὼ προσιδεῖν ὁ τάλας
995

ὤφελον ὄσσοις, τόδ᾽ ἀκήλητον

μανίας ἄνθος καταδερχθῆναι.

τίς γὰρ ἀοιδός, τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης

ἰατορίας, ὃς τήνδ᾽ ἄτην

χωρὶς Ζηνὸς κατακηλήσει;
1000

θαῦμ᾽ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην ἰδοίμ᾽ ἄν ἰδοίμην.

ἐ ἔ,

ἐᾶτέ μ᾽, ἐᾶτέ με δύσμορον ὕστατον εὐνάσαι·

ἐᾶθ᾽ *ὕστατον εὐνάσαι ἐᾶτέ με δύστανον εὐνᾶσαι om. ἐᾶτέ με τὸν δύστανον.

πᾶ πᾶι μου ψαύεις; ποῖ κλίνεις ;

ἀπολεῖς ἀπολεῖς ἀπολεῖς μ', ἀπολεῖς.

ἀντέτροφας ἀντέστροφας ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ.

ἥπταί μου, τοτοτοῖ τὸ τὸ τοῦ τοτοτοῖ τοῦτό τοι ὅττο τοῖ, ἥδ᾽ αὖθ᾽ ἕρπει, πόθεν ἔστ᾽, ὦ

πάντων ῾Ελλάνων ἀδικώτατοι ἀνέρες, οὓς δὴ
1010

πολλὰ μὲν ἐν πόντῳ ἐνιπόντωι ἐν πόντῳ, κατά τε δρία πάντα καθαίρων,

ὠλεκόμαν ὁ τάλας, καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῷδε νοσοῦντι

οὐ πῦρ, οὐκ ἔγχος τις ὀνήσιμον οὐκ ἀποτρέψει;

है है,

οὐδ᾽ ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίου θέλει
1015

μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ.

ΠΡ.

Ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός, τοὔργον τόδε μεῖζον ἀνήκει ἀνείκει ἀνείκει ἀνήκει

ἢ κατ᾿ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν· σὺ δὲ σύλλαβε. σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα

ἔμπλεον ἢ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζειν.

ΥΛ.

ψαύω μὲν ἔγωγε,
1020

λαθίπονον δ᾽ ὀδυνᾶν ὀδύναν οὔτ᾽ ἔνδοθεν οὔτε θύραθεν θύρας᾽ ἐν θύραζ᾽ ἔν θύραζεν

ἔστι ἔστι εστί εστι μοι ἐξανύσαι *βίοτον βιότου· τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς.

ΗΡ.

Ὦ παῖ ὦ παὶ παῖ παῖ παι, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ;

τᾷδέ με τᾷδέ με πρόσλαβε κουφίσας.

ἐ ἔ, ἰὼ δαῖμον ἐ ἐ ἰὼ ἰὼ δαῖμον.
1025

θρώσκει δ᾽ αὖ, θρώσκει δειλαία

διολοῦσ᾽ ἡμᾶς

ἀποτίβατος ἀγρία νόσος.

ἰὼ ἰὼ Παλλάς, τόδε μ' αὖ λωβᾶται.

ἰὼ παῖ, φύσαντ᾽ τὸν φύσαντ' οἰκτείρας, ἀνεπίφθονον εἴρυσον ἔγχος,
1030

παῖσον ἐμᾶς ἡμᾶσ ἐμᾶς ὑπὸ κλῇδος κληίδος κληϊδος κλῇδος· ἀκοῦ δ᾽ ἄχος, ᾧ ἀκου.. ὅ(μ) μ᾽ ἐχόλωσεν ἐχόλησεν ἐχόλωσε

σὰ σαὶ σὰ μάτηρ ἄθεος, τὰν ἂν ὧδ᾽ ἐπίδοιμι πεσοῦσαν

αὕτως, ὧδ᾽ αὕτως, ὥς μ᾽ ὤλεσεν·

ὦ γλυκὺς "Αιδας, ὦ Διὸς αὐθαίμων, ὦ διὸσ αὐθαίμων ὦ γλυκὺσ ἀΐδας

εὔνασον εὔνασόν μ' εὔνασόν μ' εὔνασον ὠκυπέτᾳ μόρῳ
1035

τὸν μέλεον φθίσας.

ΧΟ.

κλύουσ᾽ ἔφριξα τάσδε συμφοράς τάσδε συμφορᾶς τάσδε συμφοράς, φίλαι,

ἄνακτος, οἵας οἷος ὢν ἐλαύνεται.

ΗΡ.

ὦ πολλὰ δὴ καὶ θερμὰ *κοὐ καὶ λόγῳ κακὰ

καὶ χερσὶ χεϊρὶ καὶ νώτοισι μοχθήσας ἐγώ·
1040

κοὔπω τοιοῦτον οὔτ᾽ ἄκοιτις ἡ Διὸς

προὔθηκεν οὔθ᾽ ὁ στυγνὸς Εὐρυσθεὺς ἐμοὶ

οἷον τόδ᾽ ἡ δολῶπις Οἰνέως κόρη

καθῆψεν ὤμοις ἐμοῖ ἐμοῖσ τοῖς ἐμοῖς Ἐρινύων Ἐριννύων

ὑφαντὸν ἀμφίβληστρον, ᾧ διόλλυμαι διώλλυμαι διόλλυμαι.
1045

πλευραῖσι γὰρ προσμαχθὲν ἐκ μὲν ἐσχάτας

βέβρωκε σάρκας, πνεύμονός πλευμονοσ πλεύμονας τ᾽ ἀρτηρίας

ῥοφεῖ ξυνοικοῦν· ἐκ δὲ χλωρὸν αἷμά μου

πέπωκεν πέπτωκεν ἤδη, καὶ διέφθαρμαι δέμας

τὸ πᾶν, ἀφράστῳ τῇδε χειρωθεὶς πέδῃ.
1050

κοὐ ταῦτα λόγχη πεδιάς, οὔθ᾽ ὁ γηγενὴs

στρατὸς Γιγάντων Γηγαντων, οὔτε θήρειος βία θήριος βίαι θήρειος βία,

οὔθ᾽ ῾Ελλάς, οὔτ᾽ ἄγλωσσος, οὔθ᾽ ὅσην ἐγὼ

γαῖαν καθαίρων ἱκόμην, ἔδρασέ πω·

γυνὴ δέ, θήλυς οὖσα κοὐκ κ from α ἀνδρὸς φύσιν,
1055

μόνη με δὴ καθεῖλε φασγάνου δίχα.

ὦ παῖ, γενοῦ μοι παῖς ἐτήτυμος γεγώς,

καὶ μὴ τὸ μητρὸς ὄνομα πρεσβεύσῃς πλέον.

δός μοι χεροῖν σαῖν αὐτὸς ἐξ οἴκου λαβὼν

ἐς χεῖρα τὴν τεκοῦσαν, ὡς εἰδῶ εἴδω εἰδῶ σάφα
1060

εἰ τοὐμὸν ἀλγεῖς μᾶλλον ἢ κείνης ὁρῶν

λωβητὸν εἶδος ἐν δίκῃ κακούμενον.

ἴθ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, τόλμησον· οἴκτειρόν τέ με

πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρόν, ὅστις ὥστις ὥστε ὥστε παρθένος

βέβρυχα κλαίων· καὶ τόδ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἶς ποτε
1065

τόνδ' ἄνδρα φαίη φέρη πρόσθ᾿ ἰδεῖν δεδρακότα,

ἀλλ᾽ ἀστένακτος αἰὲν ἑσπόμην κακοῖς.

νῦν δ᾽ ἐκ τοιούτου θήλυς εὕρημαι τάλας.

καὶ νῦν προσελθὼν στῆθι πλησίον πατρός,

σκέψαι δ᾽ ὁποίας ταῦτα συμφορᾶς ὕπο
1070

πέπονθα· δείξω γὰρ τάδ᾽ ἐκ καλυμμάτων.

ἰδού, θεᾶσθε πάντες ἄθλιον δέμας,

ὁρᾶτε τὸν δύστηνον δύστανον δύστηνον, ὡς οἰκτρῶς ἔχω.

αἰαῖ, ὦ τάλας, ἔ ἔ, αἱ αἱ ὦ τάλας αἰαἰ αἱ αἱ ὦ τάλας αἱ αἱ αἱ αἱ ὦ τάλας ἔ ἔ

ἔθαλψεν ἄτης σπασμὸς ἀρτίως ὅδ᾽ αὖ ὁ δ᾽ αὖ,
1075

διῇξε πλευρῶν, οὐδ᾽ ἀγύμναστόν μ᾽ ἐᾶν

ἔοικεν ἡ τάλαινα διαβόρος νόσος.

ὧναξ ᾿Αΐδη, δέξαι μ' με,

ὦ Διὸς ἀκτίς, παῖσον.

ἔνσεισον, ὦναξ ὤναξ, ἐγκατάσκηψον βέλος,
1080

πάτερ, κεραυνοῦ. δαίνυται γὰρ αὖ πάλιν,

ἤνθηκεν, ἐξώρμηκεν.

ὦ χέρες χέρες,

ὦ νῶτα καὶ στέρν, ὦ φίλοι βραχίονες,

ὑμεῖς ἐκεῖνοι ὑμεῖσ δὲ κεῖνοι ὑμεῖς ἐκεῖνοι δὴ καθέσταθ' κατεστάθ᾽ καθέσταθ', οἵ ποτε
1085

Νεμέας ἔνοικον, βουκόλων ἀλάστορα,

λέοντ᾽, ἄπλατον θρέμμα κἀπροσήγορον,

βίᾳ κατειργάσασθε κατειγάσασθε, Λερναίαν θ᾽ ὕδραν,

διφυῆ τ᾽ ἄμικτον ἱπποβάμονα στρατὸν

θηρῶν, ὑβριστήν, ἄνομον, *ὑπέροχον ὑπείροχον βίαν,
1090

Ερυμάνθιόν τε θῆρα, τόν θ᾽ ὑπὸ χθονὸς

"Αιδου τρίκρανον σκύλακ᾽, ἀπρόσμαχον τέρας,

δεινῆς Ἐχίδνης θρέμμα, τόν τε χρυσέων

δράκοντα μήλων φύλακ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτοις τόποις.

ἄλλων τε μόχθων μυρίων ἐγευσάμην,
1095

κοὐδεὶς τροπαῖ᾽ τρόπαι' ἔστησε τῶν ἐμῶν χερῶν.

νῦν δ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἄναρθρος καὶ κατερρακωμένος

τυφλῆς ὑπ᾿ ἄτης ἐκπεπόρθημαι τάλας,

ὁ τῆς ἀρίστης μητρὸς ὠνομασμένος,

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ὁ τοῦ κατ᾿ ἄστρα Ζηνὸς αὐδηθεὶς αὐθηδὴσ αὐδηθεὶς γόνος.

ἀλλ᾽ εὖ γέ τοι τόδ᾽ ἴστε, κἂν τὸ μηδὲν ὦ

κἂν μηδὲν ἕρπω, τήν γε δράσασαν τάδε

χειρώσομαι κἀκ τῶνδε. προσμόλοι μόνον,

ἵν᾽ ἐκδιδαχθῇ πᾶσιν ἀγγέλλειν ὅτι
1110

καὶ ζῶν κακούς γε καὶ θανὼν ἐτισάμην.

ΧΟ.

ὦ τλῆμον ῾Ελλάς, πένθος οἷον εἰσορῶ

ἕξουσαν, ἀνδρὸς τοῦδέ γ' εἰ τοῦδ' εἴγε σφαλήσεται.

ΥΛ.

ἐπεὶ παρέσχες ἀντιφωνῆσαι, πάτερ,

σιγὴν παρασχὼν κλῦθί μου, νοσῶν ὅμως.
1115

αἰτήσομαι γάρ σ᾽ ὧν δίκαια τυγχάνειν. αἰτήσομαι γάρ σ᾽ ὧν δίκαια τυγχάνειν. εἰπὼν ὁ χρήζεισ

δός μοι σεαυτόν, μὴ τοσοῦτον ὡς δάκνῃ

θυμῷ δύσοργος, οὐ γὰρ ἂν γνοίης ἐν οἷς

χαίρειν προθυμεῖ κάν ὅτοις ἀλγεῖς μάτην.

ΗΡ.

εἰπὼν ὁ χρήζεις λῆξον· ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν
1120

οὐδὲν ξυνίημ᾽ ξυνείημ᾽ ξυνίημ᾽ ὧν σὺ ποικίλλεις πάλαι.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΥΛ.

τῆς μητρὸς ἥκω τῆς ἐμῆς φράσων, ἐν οἷς

νῦν ἐστιν οἷς θ' ἥμαρτεν οὐχ ἑκουσία.

ΗΡ.

ὦ παγκάκιστε, καὶ παρεμνήσω γὰρ αὖ

τῆς πατροφόντου μητρός, ὡς κλύειν ἐμέ ;
1125

ΥΛ.

ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως, ὥστε μὴ σιγᾶν πρέπειν.

ΗΡ.

οὐ δῆτα τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τοῖς γ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐρεῖς.

ΗΡ.

λέγ', εὐλαβοῦ δὲ μὴ φανῇς κακὸς γεγώς.

ΥΛ.

λέγω. τέθνηκεν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής.
1130

ΗΡ.

πρὸς τοῦ; τέρας τοι διὰ κακῶν ἐθέσπισας.

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΥΛ.

αὐτὴ αὐτῆς αὑτῆς πρὸς αὐτῆς, οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου.

ΗΡ.

οἴμοι· πρὶν ὡς χρῆν σφ᾽ ἐξ ἐμῆς θανεῖν χερός;

ΥΛ.

κἂν σοῦ κἄνσου στραφείη στραφοίη θυμός, εἰ τὸ πᾶν μάθοις.

ΗΡ.

δεινοῦ λόγου κατῆρξας κατήρξασ· εἰπὲ δ᾽ ᾗ νοεῖς.
1135

ΥΛ.

ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμ', ἥμαρτε χρημ᾽ ἥμαρτε, χρηστὰ μωμένη μνωμένη.

ΗΡ.

χρήστ᾽ χρῆστ᾽ χρήστ', ὦ κάκιστε, πατέρα σὸν κτείνασα δρᾷ ;

ΥΛ.

στέργημα γὰρ δοκοῦσα προσβαλεῖν σέθεν,

ἀπήμπλαχ᾽ ἀπήμπλακ᾿ ἀπήμπλαχ᾿, ὡς προσεῖδε τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους.

ΗΡ.

καὶ τίς τοσοῦτος φαρμακεὺς Τραχινίων ;
1140

ΥΛ,

Νέσσος νέσοσ νέσσος πάλαι Κένταυρος ἐξέπεισέ νιν

τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ τὸν σὸν ἐκμῆναι πόθον.

ΗΡ.

ἰοὺ ἰοὺ δύστηνος, οἴχομαι τάλας.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ὄλωλ᾽ ὄλωλα, φέγγος οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι μοι.

οἴμοι, φρονῶ δὴ ξυμφορᾶς ἵν᾿ ἕσταμεν ἑστάμεν ἕσταμεν.
1145

ἴθ᾽, ὦ τέκνον· πατὴρ γὰρ οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι σοι·

κάλει τὸ πᾶν μοι σπέρμα σῶν ὁμαιμόνων,

κάλει δὲ τὴν τάλαιναν ᾿Αλκμήνην, Διὸς

μάτην ἄκοιτιν, ὡς τελευταίαν ἐμοῦ

φήμην πύθησθε θεσφάτων ὅσ᾽ ὅσσ᾽ ὅσ' οἰδ᾽ ἐγώ.
1150

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε μήτηρ ἐνθάδ', ἀλλ᾽ ἐπακτίᾳ

Τίρυνθι συμβέβηκεν ὥστ᾽ ἔχειν ἕδραν·

παίδων δὲ τοὺς μὲν ξυλλαβοῦσ᾽ αὐτὴ τρέφει,

τοὺς δ᾽ ἂν τὸ Θήβης ἄστυ ναίοντας μάθοις·

ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ὅσοι πάρεσμεν, εἴ τι χρή, πάτερ,
1155

πράσσειν πράττειν, κλύοντες ἐξυπηρετήσομεν.

ΗΡ.

σὺ δ᾽ οὖν ἄκουε τοὔργον· ἐξήκεις δ' ἵνα

φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ.

ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν πρόφαντον πρόσφατον πρόφαντον ἐκ πατρὸς πάλαι,

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

†πρὸς τῶν πνεόντων μηδενὸς θανεῖν ὕπο,
1160

ἀλλ᾽ ὅστις" Αιδου φθίμενος οἰκήτωρ πέλοι πέλεὶ πέλει.

ὅδ᾽ οὖν ὁ θὴρ Κένταυρος, ὡς τὸ θεῖον ἦν

πρόφαντον, οὕτω ζῶντά μ᾽ ἔκτεινεν θανών.

φανῶ δ᾽ ἐγὼ τούτοισι συμβαίνοντ᾽ ἴσα

μαντεῖα καινά, τοῖς πάλαι ξυνήγορα,
1165

ἃ τῶν ὀρείων καὶ χαμαικοιτῶν ἐγὼ

Σελλῶν ἐσελθὼν εἰσελθὼν ἐσελθὼν ἄλσος εἰσεγραψάμην

πρὸς τῆς πατρώας καὶ πολυγλώσσου δρυός,

ἥ μοι χρόνῳ τῷ ζῶντι καὶ παρόντι νῦν

ἔφασκε μόχθων τῶν ἐφεστώτων ἐμοὶ
1170

λύσιν τελεῖσθαι· κἀδόκουν πράξειν καλῶς.

τὸ δ᾽ τόδ τὸδ᾽ ἦν ἄρ᾽ οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν θανεῖν ἐμέ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

τοῖς γὰρ om. θανοῦσι μόχθος οὐ προσγίγνεται προσγίνεται.

ταῦτ᾽ οὖν ἐπειδὴ λαμπρὰ συμβαίνει, τέκνον,

δεῖ σ᾽ αὖ γενέσθαι τῷδε τἀνδρὶ τῶιδέ τ᾽ ἀνδρὶ τῷδε τἀνδρὶ σύμμαχον,
1175

καὶ μὴ ἐπιμεῖναι μὴ πειμῆναι μὴ ἐπιμεῖναι μὴ πιμεῖναι τοὐμὸν ὀξῦναι ὀξύναι ὀξῦναι στόμα,

ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸν εἰκαθόντα εἰ κάθοντα εἰκαθόντα συμπράσσειν, νόμον

κάλλιστον ἐξευρόντα, πειθάρχεῖν πατρί.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ πάτερ, ταρβῶ μὲν εἰς λόγου στάσιν

τοιάνδ᾽ ἐπελθών, πείσομαι δ᾽ ἅ σοι δοκεῖ.
1180

ΗΡ.

ἔμβαλλε ἔμβαλε ἔμβαλλε χεῖρα δεξιὰν πρώτιστά μοι.

ΥΛ.

ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ᾽ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις ;

ΗΡ.

οὐ θᾶσσον οἴσεις μηδ᾽ ἀπιστήσεις ἀπιστήσησ προστήσηισ ἀπιστήσεις ἐμοί;

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΥΛ.

ἰδοὺ προτείνω, κοὐδὲν ἀντειρήσεται.

ΗΡ.

ὄμνυ ὄμνυμι Διός νυν τοῦ με φύσαντος κάρα.
1185

ΥΛ.

ἢ μὴν τί δράσειν; καὶ τόδ᾽ ἐξειρήσεται;

ΗΡ.

ἢ μὴν ἐμοὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ἔργον ἐκτελεῖν.

ΥΛ.

ὄμνυμ᾽ ἔγωγε, Ζῆν ἔχων ἐπώμοτον.

ΗΡ.

εἰ δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ἔλθοις, πημονὰς εὔχου λαβεῖν.

ΥΛ.

οὐ μὴ λάβω· δράσω γάρ. εὔχομαι δ᾽ ὅμως.
1190

ΗΡ.

οἶσθ᾽ οὖν τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς ὕψιστον πάγον ;

ΥΛ.

οἶδ᾽, ὡς θυτήρ γε πολλὰ δὴ σταθεὶς ἄνω.

ΗΡ.

ἐνταῦθά νυν ἐνταῦθα νῦν χρὴ τοὐμὸν ἐξάραντά σε ἐξαιρέντά σε ἐξάραντά σε

σῶμ᾿ αὐτόχειρα, καὶ ξὺν οἷς χρήζεις φίλων,

πολλὴν μὲν ὕλην τῆς βαθυρρίζου δρυὸς
1195

κείραντα, πολλὸν δ᾽ ἄρσεν᾽ ἐκτεμόνθ᾽ ὁμοῦ

ἄγριον ἔλαιον ἐλαιὸν ἔλαιον, σῶμα τοὐμὸν ἐμβαλεῖν,

καὶ πευκίνης λαβόντα λαμπάδος σέλας

πρῆσαι. γόου δὲ μηδὲν εἰσίτω δάκρυ·

ἀλλ᾽ ἀστένακτος κἀδάκρυτος, εἴπερ εἶπερ εἴπερ εἶ
1200

τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός, ἔρξον· εἰ δὲ μή, μενῶ σ᾽ ἐγὼ

καὶ νέρθεν ὢν ἀραῖος εἰσαεὶ βαρύς.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΥΛ.

οἰμοι, πάτερ, τί εἶπας τίν' εἶπας; οἷά μ' εἴργασαι.

ΗΡ.

ὁποῖα δραστέ᾽ ἐστίν· εἰ δὲ μή, πατρὸς

ἄλλου γενοῦ του τοῦ του μηδ᾽ ἐμὸς κληθῇς ἔτι.
1205

ΥΛ.

οἴμοι μάλ᾽ αὖθις, οἷά μ' ἐκκαλεῖ, πάτερ,

φονέα γενέσθαι καὶ παλαμναῖον σέθεν.

ΗΡ.

οὐ δῆτ᾽ ἔγωγ', ἀλλ᾽ ὧν ἔχω παιώνιον

καὶ μοῦνον ἰατῆρα τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν.

ΥΛ.

καὶ πῶς ὑπαίθων ὑπαῖθων ὑπαίθων σῶμ᾽ ἂν ἰῴμην τὸ σόν;
1210

ΗΡ.

ἀλλ᾽ om. εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο, τἄλλα γ᾽ μ' γ' ἔργασαι.

ΥΛ.

φορᾶς γέ τοι φθόνησις οὐ γενήσεται.

ΗΡ.

ἢ καὶ πυρᾶς πλήρωμα τῆς εἰρημένης ;

ΥΛ.

ὅσον γ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς μὴ ποτιψαύων χεροῖν·

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα πράξω κοὐ καμεῖ καμηῖ κἀμῇ τοὐμὸν μέρος.
1215

ΗΡ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἀρκέσει καὶ ταῦτα· πρόσνειμαι προνεῖμαι πρόνεῖμαι πρόσνειμαι δέ μοι

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

χάριν βραχεῖαν πρὸς μακροῖς ἄλλοις διδούς.

ΥΛ.

εἰ καὶ μακρὰ μακρὰν κάρτ᾽ κρατ᾿ κάρτ᾿ ἐστίν, ἐργασθήσεται.

ΗΡ.

τὴν Εὐρυτείαν οἶσθα δῆτα παρθένον παρνον παρθένον ;

ΥΛ.

Ιόλην ἔλεξας, ὥς *γ᾽ ὥστ' ἐπεικάζειν ἐμέ.
1220

ΗΡ.

ἔγνως. τοσοῦτον δή σ᾽ ἐπισκήπτω, τέκνον·

ταύτην, ἐμοῦ θανόντος, εἴπερ εὐσεβεῖν

βούλει, πατρῴων ὁρκίων μεμνημένος,

προσθοῦ πρόσθου δάμαρτα, μηδ᾽ ἀπιστήσῃς πατρί·

μηδ᾽ ἄλλος ἀνδρῶν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐμοῖ ἐμοῖσ πλευροῖς ὁμοῦ
1225

κλιθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἀντὶ σοῦ λάβοι ποτέ·

ἀλλ᾽ αὐτός, ὦ παῖ, τοῦτο κήδευσον λέχος.

πείθου· τὸ γάρ τοι μεγάλα πιστεύσαντ᾿ ἐμοὶ

σμικροῖς ἀπιστεῖν τὴν πάρος συγχεῖ χάριν.

ΥΛ.

οἴμοι. τὸ μὲν νοσοῦντι θυμοῦσθαι κακόν,
1230

τὸ τῶι τὸ δ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ὁρᾶν φρονοῦντα τίς ποτ᾽ ἂν φέροι;

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΗΡ.

ὡς ἐργασείων οὐδὲν οὐδὲν οὐδὲν οὐδὲν ὧν λέγω θροεῖς.

ΥΛ.

τίς γάρ ποθ᾽, ἥ μοι μητρὶ μὲν θανεῖν μόνη

μεταίτιος σοί τ᾽ αὖθις ὡς ἔχεις ἔχειν,

τίς ταῦτ᾽ ἄν, ὅστις μὴ ἐξ ἀλαστόρων νοσοῖ,
1235

ἕλοιτο; κρεῖσσον κἀμέ γ', ὦ πάτερ, θανεῖν

ἢ τοῖσιν ἐχθίστοισι ἐχθίστοισιν ἐχθίστοισι συνναίειν συναίειν συνναίειν ὁμοῦ.

ΗΡ.

ἀνὴρ ανὴρ ἀνὴρ ὅδ᾽ ὡς ἔοικεν οὐ νέμειν ἐμοὶ

φθίνοντι μοῖραν· ἀλλά τοι θεῶν ἀρὰ

μενεῖ σ᾽ ἀπιστήσαντα ἀπιστήσαντι ἀπιστήσαντα τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις.
1240

ΥΛ.

οἴμοι ὤμοι οἴμοι, τάχ᾽, ὡς ὥσ ἔοικας, ὡς νοσεῖς φράσεις.

ΗΡ.

σὺ γάρ μ᾽ ἀπ᾿ εὐνασθέντος ἀπευνασθέντος ἐκκινεῖς κακοῦ.

ΥΛ.

δείλαιος, ὡς ἐς πολλὰ τἀπορεῖν ἔχω.

ΗΡ.

οὐ γὰρ δικαιοῖς τοῦ φυτεύσαντος κλύειν κλύειν.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἐκδιδαχθῶ δῆτα δυσσεβεῖν, πάτερ;
1245

ΗΡ.

οὐ δυσσέβεια δυσέβεια δυσσέβεια, τοὐμὸν εἰ τέρψεις κέαρ.

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΥΛ.

πράσσειν ἄνωγας οὖν με πανδίκως τάδε;

ΗΡ.

ἔγωγε· τούτων μάρτυρας καλῶ θεούς.

ΥΛ.

τοιγὰρ ποιήσω, κοὐκ ἀπώσομαι, τὸ σὸν

θεοῖσι δεικνὺς δεικνὺς ἔργον. οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε
1250

κακὸς φανείην σοί γε πιστεύσας, πάτερ.

ΗΡ.

καλῶς τελευτᾷς, κἀπὶ τοῖσδε τὴν χάριν

ταχεῖαν, ὦ παῖ, πρόσθες· ὡς πρὶν ἐμπεσεῖν

σπαραγμὸν ἤ τιν οἶστρον, ἐς πυράν με θῇς μεθεὶσ με θῇς.

ἄγ᾿ ἐγκονεῖτ᾽, αἴρεσθε, παῦλά τοι κακῶν
1255

αὕτη, τελευτὴ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς τελευτῆι τοῦδέ τ᾽ ἀνδρὸσ τελευτὴ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ὑστάτη.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν εἰργει σοὶ τελειοῦσθαι τελειοῦσσθαι τάδε,

ἐπεὶ κελεύεις κἀξαναγκάζεις, πάτερ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΗΡ.

ἄγε νυν νῦν, πρὶν τήνδ᾽ ἀνακινῆσαι

νόσον, ὦ ψυχὴ σκληρά, χάλυβος
1260

λιθοκόλλητον στόμιον παρέχουσ',

ἀνάπαυε βοήν, ὡς ἐπίχαρτον

* τελέουσ᾽ τελέως ἀεκούσιον ἔργον.

ΥΛ.

αἴρετ', ὀπαδοί, μεγάλην μὲν ἐμοὶ

τούτων θέμενοι συγγνωμοσύνην συγγνωμοσύνην,
1265

μεγάλην δὲ θεῶν τε θεῶν ἀγνωμοσύνην

εἰδότες ἔργων τῶν πρασσομένων,

οἱ φύσαντες καὶ κλῃζόμενοι

πατέρες τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐφορῶσι πάθη.

τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἐφορᾷ,
1270

τὰ δὲ νῦν ἑστῶτ᾽ οἰκτρὰ μὲν ἡμῖν,

αἰσχρὰ δ᾽ ἐκείνοις,

χαλεπώτατα δ' οὖν ἀνδρῶν πάντων ἁπάντων θανάτους

τῷ τήνδ᾽ ἄτην ὑπέχοντι.

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΧΟ. λείπου ΧΟ. ἢΥΛΛ. λείπου μηδὲ σύ, παρθέν', ἀπ᾿ οἴκων,
1275

μεγάλους μὲν ἰδοῦσα ἰδοῦσα ἰδοῦσα νέους θανάτους,

πολλὰ δὲ πήματα καὶ καινοπαθῆ καὶ καινοπαγῆ καινοπαθῆ καινοπαθῆ,

κοὐδὲν τούτων ὅ τι μὴ Ζεύς.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 972-1003 focus

Ὕλλος

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ,

πάτερ, οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος.

τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.

Πρέσβυς

σίγα, τέκνον, μὴ κινήσῃς
975

ἀγρίαν ὀδύνην πατρὸς ὠμόφρονος·

ζῇ γὰρ προπετής· ἀλλʼ ἴσχε δακὼν στόμα σόν.

Ὕλλος

πῶς φής, γέρον; ἦ ζῇ;

Πρέσβυς

οὐ μὴ ʼξεγερεῖς τὸν ὕπνῳ κάτοχον

κἀκκινήσεις κἀναστήσεις

φοιτάδα δεινὴν νόσον, ὦ τέκνον.
980

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ ἐπί μοι μελέῳ

βάρος ἄπλετον· ἐμμέμονεν φρήν.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ Ζεῦ,

ποῖ γᾶς ἥκω; παρὰ τοῖσι βροτῶν

κεῖμαι πεπονημένος ἀλλήκτοις
985

ὀδύναις; οἴμοι μοι ἐγὼ τλάμων·

ἡ δʼ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει. φεῦ.

Πρέσβυς

ἆρʼ ἐξῄδη σʼ ὅσον ἦν κέρδος

σιγῇ κεύθειν καὶ μὴ σκεδάσαι

τῷδʼ ἀπὸ κρατὸς βλεφάρων θʼ ὕπνον;
990

Ὕλλος

οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν

στέρξαιμι κακὸν τόδε λεύσσων.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ Κηναία κρηπὶς βωμῶν,

ἱερῶν οἵαν οἵων ἐπί μοι

μελέῳ χάριν ἠνύσω· ὦ Ζεῦ.
995

οἵαν μʼ ἄρʼ ἔθου λώβαν, οἵαν·

ἣν μή ποτʼ ἐγὼ προσιδεῖν ὁ τάλας

ὤφελον ὄσσοις, τόδʼ ἀκήλητον

μανίας ἄνθος καταδερχθῆναι.

τίς γὰρ ἀοιδός, τίς ὁ χειροτέχνης
1000

ἰατορίας, ὃς τήνδʼ ἄτην

χωρὶς Ζηνὸς κατακηλήσει;

θαῦμʼ ἂν πόρρωθεν ἰδοίμην.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἒ ἔ,

ἐᾶτέ μʼ, ἐᾶτέ με δύσμορον ὕστατον,
1005

ἐᾶθʼ ὕστατον εὐνᾶσθαι.

Ἡρακλῆς

πᾷ πᾷ μου ψαύεις; ποῖ κλίνεις;

ἀπολεῖς μʼ, ἀπολεῖς.

ἀνατέτροφας ὅ τι καὶ μύσῃ.

ἧπταί μου, τοτοτοῖ, ἥδʼ αὖθʼ ἕρπει. πόθεν ἔστʼ, ὦ
1010

πάντων Ἑλλάνων ἀδικώτατοι ἀνέρες, οὓς δὴ

πολλὰ μὲν ἐν πόντῳ κατά τε δρία πάντα καθαίρων

ὠλεκόμαν ὁ τάλας, καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῷδε νοσοῦντι

οὐ πῦρ, οὐκ ἔγχος τις ὀνήσιμον οὐκ ἐπιτρέψει;

Ἡρακλῆς

ἒ ἔ,
1015

οὐδʼ ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίᾳ θέλει

μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ.

1017

Πρέσβυς

ὦ παῖ τοῦδʼ ἀνδρός, τοὔργον τόδε μεῖζον ἀνήκει

ἢ κατʼ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν· σὺ δὲ σύλλαβε. σοὶ γὰρ ἑτοίμα

ἐς πλέον ἢ διʼ ἐμοῦ σῴζειν.

Ὕλλος

ψαύω μὲν ἔγωγε,
1020

λαθίπονον δʼ ὀδυνᾶν οὔτʼ ἔνδοθεν οὔτε θύραθεν

ἔστι μοι ἐξανύσαι βίοτον· τοιαῦτα νέμει Ζεύς.

1024

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ παῖ, ποῦ ποτʼ εἶ; τᾷδέ με τᾷδέ με

πρόσλαβε κουφίσας. ἒ ἔ, ἰὼ δαῖμον.
1025

Ἡρακλῆς

θρῴσκει δʼ αὖ, θρῴσκει δειλαία

διολοῦσʼ ἡμᾶς

ἀποτίβατος ἀγρία νόσος.
1030

ὦ Παλλὰς Παλλάς, τόδε μʼ αὖ λωβᾶται. ἰὼ παῖ,

τὸν φύτορʼ οἰκτίρας, ἀνεπίφθονον εἴρυσον ἔγχος,

παῖσον ἐμᾶς ὑπὸ κλῇδος· ἀκοῦ δʼ ἄχος, ᾧ μʼ ἐχόλωσεν
1035

σὰ μάτηρ ἄθεος, τὰν ὧδʼ ἐπίδοιμι πεσοῦσαν

αὔτως, ὧδʼ αὔτως ὥς μʼ ὤλεσεν. ὦ γλυκὺς Ἅιδας,
1040

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ Διὸς αὐθαίμων, εὔνασον εὔνασον μʼ

ὠκυπέτᾳ μόρῳ τὸν μέλεον φθίσας.

Χορός

κλύουσʼ ἔφριξα τάσδε συμφοράς, φίλαι,

ἄνακτος, οἵαις οἷος ὢν ἐλαύνεται.
1045

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ πολλὰ δὴ καὶ θερμὰ κοὐ λόγῳ κακὰ

καὶ χερσὶ καὶ νώτοισι μοχθήσας ἐγώ·

κοὔπω τοιοῦτον οὔτʼ ἄκοιτις ἡ Διὸς

προύθηκεν οὔθʼ ὁ στυγνὸς Εὐρυσθεὺς ἐμοί,

οἷον τόδʼ ἡ δολῶπις Οἰνέως κόρη
1050

καθῆψεν ὤμοις τοῖς ἐμοῖς Ἐρινύων

ὑφαντὸν ἀμφίβληστρον, ᾧ διόλλυμαι.

πλευραῖσι γὰρ προσμαχθὲν ἐκ μὲν ἐσχάτας

βέβρωκε σάρκας, πλεύμονός τʼ ἀρτηρίας

ῥοφεῖ ξυνοικοῦν, ἐκ δὲ χλωρὸν αἷμά μου
1055

πέπωκεν ἤδη, καὶ διέφθαρμαι δέμας

τὸ πᾶν, ἀφράστῳ τῇδε χειρωθεὶς πέδῃ.

κοὐ ταῦτα λόγχη πεδιάς, οὔθʼ ὁ γηγενὴς

στρατὸς Γιγάντων οὔτε θήρειος βία,

οὔθʼ Ἑλλὰς οὔτʼ ἄγλωσσος οὔθʼ ὅσην ἐγὼ
1060

γαῖαν καθαίρων ἱκόμην, ἔδρασέ πω·

γυνὴ δέ, θῆλυς φῦσα κοὐκ ἀνδρὸς φύσιν,

μόνη με δὴ καθεῖλε φασγάνου δίχα.

ὦ παῖ, γενοῦ μοι παῖς ἐτήτυμος γεγώς,

καὶ μὴ τὸ μητρὸς ὄνομα πρεσβεύσῃς πλέον.
1065

δός μοι χεροῖν σαῖν αὐτὸς ἐξ οἴκου λαβὼν

ἐς χεῖρα τὴν τεκοῦσαν, ὡς εἰδῶ σάφα

εἰ τοὐμὸν ἀλγεῖς μᾶλλον ἢ κείνης ὁρῶν

λωβητὸν εἶδος ἐν δίκῃ κακούμενον.

ἴθʼ, ὦ τέκνον, τόλμησον· οἴκτιρόν τέ με
1070

πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρόν, ὅστις ὥστε παρθένος

βέβρυχα κλαίων, καὶ τόδʼ οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς ποτε

τόνδʼ ἄνδρα φαίη πρόσθʼ ἰδεῖν δεδρακότα,

ἀλλʼ ἀστένακτος αἰὲν εἱπόμην κακοῖς.

νῦν δʼ ἐκ τοιούτου θῆλυς ηὕρημαι τάλας.
1075

1076

Ἡρακλῆς

καὶ νῦν προσελθὼν στῆθι πλησίον πατρός,

σκέψαι θʼ ὁποίας ταῦτα συμφορᾶς ὕπο

πέπονθα· δείξω γὰρ τάδʼ ἐκ καλυμμάτων.

ἰδού, θεᾶσθε πάντες ἄθλιον δέμας,

ὁρᾶτε τὸν δύστηνον, ὡς οἰκτρῶς ἔχω.
1080

αἰαῖ, ἆ τάλας,

ἔθαλψεν ἄτης σπασμὸς ἀρτίως ὅδʼ αὖ,

διῇξε πλευρῶν, οὐδʼ ἀγύμναστόν μʼ ἐᾶν

ἔοικεν ἡ τάλαινα διάβορος νόσος.

ὦναξ Ἀίδη, δέξαι μʼ,
1085

ὦ Διὸς ἀκτίς, παῖσον,

ἔνσεισον, ὦναξ, ἐγκατάσκηψον βέλος,

πάτερ, κεραυνοῦ· δαίνυται γὰρ αὖ πάλιν,

ἤνθηκεν, ἐξωρμήκεν. ὦ χέρες χέρες,

ὦ νῶτα καὶ στέρνʼ, ὦ φίλοι βραχίονες,
1090

ὑμεῖς δὲ κεῖνοι δὴ καθέσταθʼ, οἵ ποτε

Νεμέας ἔνοικον, βουκόλων ἀλάστορα

λέοντʼ, ἄπλατον θρέμμα κἀπροσήγορον,

βίᾳ κατειργάσασθε, Λερναίαν θʼ ὕδραν,

διφυῆ τʼ ἄμικτον ἱπποβάμονα στρατὸν
1095

θηρῶν, ὑβριστὴν ἄνομον, ὑπέροχον βίαν,

Ἐρυμάνθιόν τε θῆρα, τόν θʼ ὑπὸ χθονὸς

Ἅιδου τρίκρανον σκύλακʼ, ἀπρόσμαχον τέρας,

δεινῆς Ἐχίδνης θρέμμα, τόν τε χρυσέων

δράκοντα μήλων φύλακʼ ἐπʼ ἐσχάτοις τόποις.
1100

ἄλλων τε μόχθων μυρίων ἐγευσάμην,

κοὐδεὶς τροπαῖʼ ἔστησε τῶν ἐμῶν χερῶν.

νῦν δʼ ὧδʼ ἄναρθρος καὶ κατερρακωμένος

τυφλῆς ὑπʼ ἄτης ἐκπεπόρθημαι τάλας,

ὁ τῆς ἀρίστης μητρὸς ὠνομασμένος,
1105

ὁ τοῦ κατʼ ἄστρα Ζηνὸς αὐδηθεὶς γόνος.

ἀλλʼ εὖ γέ τοι τόδʼ ἴστε, κἂν τὸ μηδὲν ὦ

κἂν μηδὲν ἕρπω, τήν γε δράσασαν τάδε

χειρώσομαι κἀκ τῶνδε· προσμόλοι μόνον,

ἵνʼ ἐκδιδαχθῇ πᾶσιν ἀγγέλλειν ὅτι
1110

καὶ ζῶν κακούς γε καὶ θανὼν ἐτισάμην.

1112

Χορός

ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλλάς, πένθος οἷον εἰσορῶ

ἕξουσαν, ἀνδρὸς τοῦδέ γʼ εἰ σφαλήσεται.

Ὕλλος

ἐπεὶ παρέσχες ἀντιφωνῆσαι, πάτερ,

σιγὴν παρασχὼν κλῦθί μου, νοσῶν ὅμως·
1115

αἰτήσομαι γάρ σʼ ὧν δίκαια τυγχάνειν.

δός μοι σεαυτόν, μὴ τοσοῦτον ὡς δάκνει

θυμῷ δύσοργος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν γνοίης ἐν οἷς

χαίρειν προθυμεῖ κἀν ὅτοις ἀλγεῖς μάτην.

Ἡρακλῆς

εἰπὼν ὃ χρῄζεις λῆξον· ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν
1120

οὐδὲν ξυνίημʼ ὧν σὺ ποικίλλεις πάλαι.

Ὕλλος

τῆς μητρὸς ἥκω τῆς ἐμῆς φράσων ἐν οἷς

νῦν ἐστιν ὥς θʼ ἥμαρτεν οὐχ ἑκουσία.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ παγκάκιστε, καὶ παρεμνήσω γὰρ αὖ

τῆς πατροφόντου μητρός, ὡς κλύειν ἐμέ;
1125

Ὕλλος

ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως ὥστε μὴ σιγᾶν πρέπειν.

Ἡρακλῆς

οὐ δῆτα τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις.

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τοῖς γʼ ἐφʼ ἡμέραν ἐρεῖς.

Ἡρακλῆς

λέγʼ, εὐλαβοῦ δὲ μὴ φανῇς κακὸς γεγώς.

Ὕλλος

λέγω· τέθνηκεν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής.
1130

Ἡρακλῆς

πρὸς τοῦ; τέρας τοι διὰ κακῶν ἐθέσπισας.

Ὕλλος

αὐτὴ πρὸς αὑτῆς, οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου.

Ἡρακλῆς

οἴμοι· πρὶν ὡς χρῆν σφʼ ἐξ ἐμῆς θανεῖν χερός;

Ὕλλος

κἂν σοῦ στραφείη θυμός, εἰ τὸ πᾶν μάθοις.

Ἡρακλῆς

δεινοῦ λόγου κατῆρξας· εἰπὲ δʼ ᾗ νοεῖς.
1135

Ὕλλος

ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμʼ, ἥμαρτε χρηστὰ μωμένη.

Ἡρακλῆς

χρήστʼ, ὦ κάκιστε, πατέρα σὸν κτείνασα δρᾷ;

Ὕλλος

στέργημα γὰρ δοκοῦσα προσβαλεῖν σέθεν

ἀπήμπλαχʼ, ὡς προσεῖδε τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους.

Ἡρακλῆς

καὶ τίς τοσοῦτος φαρμακεὺς Τραχινίων;
1140

Ὕλλος

Νέσσος πάλαι Κένταυρος ἐξέπεισέ νιν

τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ τὸν σὸν ἐκμῆναι πόθον.

1143

Ἡρακλῆς

ἰοὺ ἰοὺ δύστηνος, οἴχομαι τάλας·

ὄλωλʼ ὄλωλα, φέγγος οὐκέτʼ ἔστι μοι.

οἴμοι, φρονῶ δὴ ξυμφορᾶς ἵνʼ ἕσταμεν.
1145

ἴθʼ, ὦ τέκνον, πατὴρ γὰρ οὐκέτʼ ἔστι σοι·

κάλει τὸ πᾶν μοι σπέρμα σῶν ὁμαιμόνων,

κάλει δὲ τὴν τάλαιναν Ἀλκμήνην, Διὸς

μάτην ἄκοιτιν, ὡς τελευταίαν ἐμοῦ

φήμην πύθησθε θεσφάτων ὅσʼ οἶδʼ ἐγώ.
1150

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ οὔτε μήτηρ ἐνθάδʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐπακτίᾳ

Τίρυνθι συμβέβηκεν ὥστʼ ἔχειν ἕδραν.

παίδων δὲ τοὺς μὲν ξυλλαβοῦσʼ αὐτὴ τρέφει,

τοὺς δʼ ἂν τὸ Θήβης ἄστυ ναίοντας μάθοις·

ἡμεῖς δʼ ὅσοι πάρεσμεν, εἴ τι χρή, πάτερ,
1155

πράσσειν, κλύοντες ἐξυπηρετήσομεν.

1157

Ἡρακλῆς

σὺ δʼ οὖν ἄκουε τοὔργον· ἐξήκεις δʼ ἵνα

φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ.

ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν πρόφαντον ἐκ πατρὸς πάλαι,

τῶν ἐμπνεόντων μηδενὸς θανεῖν ὕπο,
1160

ἀλλʼ ὅστις Ἅιδου φθίμενος οἰκήτωρ πέλοι.

ὅδʼ οὖν ὁ θὴρ Κένταυρος, ὡς τὸ θεῖον ἦν

πρόφαντον, οὕτω ζῶντά μʼ ἔκτεινεν θανών.

φανῶ δʼ ἐγὼ τούτοισι συμβαίνοντʼ ἴσα

μαντεῖα καινά, τοῖς πάλαι ξυνήγορα,
1165

ἃ τῶν ὀρείων καὶ χαμαικοιτῶν ἐγὼ

Σελλῶν ἐσελθὼν ἄλσος εἰσεγραψάμην

πρὸς τῆς πατρῴας καὶ πολυγλώσσου δρυός,

ἥ μοι χρόνῳ τῷ ζῶντι καὶ παρόντι νῦν

ἔφασκε μόχθων τῶν ἐφεστώτων ἐμοὶ
1170

λύσιν τελεῖσθαι· κἀδόκουν πράξειν καλῶς.

τὸ δʼ ἦν ἄρʼ οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν θανεῖν ἐμέ.

τοῖς γὰρ θανοῦσι μόχθος οὐ προσγίγνεται.

ταῦτʼ οὖν ἐπειδὴ λαμπρὰ συμβαίνει, τέκνον,

δεῖ σʼ αὖ γενέσθαι τῷδε τἀνδρὶ σύμμαχον
1175

καὶ μὴ ʼπιμεῖναι τοὐμὸν ὀξῦναι στόμα,

ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν εἰκαθόντα συμπράσσειν, νόμον

κάλλιστον ἐξευρόντα, πειθαρχεῖν πατρί.

1179

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ, ὦ πάτερ, ταρβῶ μὲν εἰς λόγου στάσιν

τοιάνδʼ ἐπελθών, πείσομαι δʼ ἅ σοι δοκεῖ.
1180

Ἡρακλῆς

ἔμβαλλε χεῖρα δεξιὰν πρώτιστά μοι·

Ὕλλος

ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδʼ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις;

Ἡρακλῆς

οὐ θᾶσσον οἴσεις μηδʼ ἀπιστήσεις ἐμοί;

Ὕλλος

ἰδοὺ προτείνω, κοὐδὲν ἀντειρήσεται.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὄμνυ Διός νυν τοῦ με φύσαντος κάρα,
1185

Ὕλλος

ἦ μὴν τί δράσειν; καὶ τόδʼ ἐξειρήσεται;

Ἡρακλῆς

ἦ μὴν ἐμοὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ἔργον ἐκτελεῖν.

Ὕλλος

ὄμνυμʼ ἔγωγε, Ζῆνʼ ἔχων ἐπώμοτον.

Ἡρακλῆς

εἰ δʼ ἐκτὸς ἔλθοις, πημονὰς εὔχου λαβεῖν.

Ὕλλος

οὐ μὴ λάβω· δράσω γάρ· εὔχομαι δʼ ὅμως·
1190

Ἡρακλῆς

οἶσθʼ οὖν τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς ὕψιστον πάγον;

Ὕλλος

οἶδʼ, ὡς θυτήρ γε πολλὰ δὴ σταθεὶς ἄνω.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἐνταῦθά νυν χρὴ τοὐμὸν ἐξάραντά σε

σῶμʼ αὐτόχειρα καὶ ξὺν οἷς χρῄζεις φίλων.

πολλὴν μὲν ὕλην τῆς βαθυρρίζου δρυὸς
1195

κείραντα, πολλὸν δʼ ἄρσενʼ ἐκτεμόνθʼ ὁμοῦ

ἄγριον ἔλαιον, σῶμα τοὐμὸν ἐμβαλεῖν,

καὶ πευκίνης λαβόντα λαμπάδος σέλας

πρῆσαι. γόου δὲ μηδὲν εἰσίτω δάκρυ,

ἀλλʼ ἀστένακτος κἀδάκρυτος, εἴπερ εἶ
1200

τοῦδʼ ἀνδρός, ἔρξον· εἰ δὲ μή, μενῶ σʼ ἐγὼ

καὶ νέρθεν ὢν ἀραῖος εἰσαεὶ βαρύς.

1203

Ὕλλος

οἴμοι, πάτερ, τί δʼ εἶπας; οἷά μʼ εἴργασαι.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὁποῖα δραστέʼ ἐστίν· εἰ δὲ μή, πατρὸς

ἄλλου γενοῦ του μηδʼ ἐμὸς κληθῇς ἔτι.
1205

Ὕλλος

οἴμοι μάλʼ αὖθις, οἷά μʼ ἐκκαλεῖ, πάτερ,

φονέα γενέσθαι καὶ παλαμναῖον σέθεν.

Ἡρακλῆς

οὐ δῆτʼ ἔγωγʼ, ἀλλʼ ὧν ἔχω παιώνιον

καὶ μοῦνον ἰατῆρα τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν.

Ὕλλος

καὶ πῶς ὑπαίθων σῶμʼ ἂν ἰῴμην τὸ σόν;
1210

Ἡρακλῆς

ἀλλʼ εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο, τἄλλα γʼ ἔργασαι.

Ὕλλος

φορᾶς γέ τοι φθόνησις οὐ γενήσεται.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἦ καὶ πυρᾶς πλήρωμα τῆς εἰρημένης;

Ὕλλος

ὅσον γʼ ἂν αὐτὸς μὴ ποτιψαύων χεροῖν·

τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πράξω κοὐ καμεῖ τοὐμὸν μέρος.
1215

Ἡρακλῆς

ἀλλʼ ἀρκέσει καὶ ταῦτα· πρόσνειμαι δέ μοι

χάριν βραχεῖαν πρὸς μακροῖς ἄλλοις διδούς.

Ὕλλος

εἰ καὶ μακρὰ κάρτʼ ἐστίν, ἐργασθήσεται.

Ἡρακλῆς

τὴν Εὐρυτείαν οἶσθα δῆτα παρθένον;

Ὕλλος

Ἰόλην ἔλεξας, ὥς γʼ ἐπεικάζειν ἐμέ.
1220

1221

Ἡρακλῆς

ἔγνως. τοσοῦτον δή σʼ ἐπισκήπτω, τέκνον·

ταύτην ἐμοῦ θανόντος, εἴπερ εὐσεβεῖν

βούλει, πατρῴων ὁρκίων μεμνημένος,

προσθοῦ δάμαρτα, μηδʼ ἀπιστήσῃς πατρί·

μηδʼ ἄλλος ἀνδρῶν τοῖς ἐμοῖς πλευροῖς ὁμοῦ
1225

κλιθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἀντὶ σοῦ λάβῃ ποτέ,

ἀλλʼ αὐτός, ὦ παῖ, τοῦτο κήδευσον λέχος.

πείθου· τὸ γάρ τοι μεγάλα πιστεύσαντʼ ἐμοὶ

σμικροῖς ἀπιστεῖν τὴν πάρος συγχεῖ χάριν.

1230

Ὕλλος

οἴμοι· τὸ μὲν νοσοῦντι θυμοῦσθαι κακόν,
1230

τὸ δʼ ὧδʼ ὁρᾶν φρονοῦντα τίς ποτʼ ἂν φέροι;

Ἡρακλῆς

ὡς ἐργασείων οὐδὲν ὧν λέγω θροεῖς.

Ὕλλος

τίς γάρ ποθʼ, ἥ μοι μητρὶ μὲν θανεῖν μόνη

μεταίτιος σοί τʼ αὖθις ὡς ἔχεις ἔχειν,

τίς ταῦτʼ ἄν, ὅστις μὴ ʼξ ἀλαστόρων νοσοῖ,
1235

ἕλοιτο; κρεῖσσον κἀμέ γʼ, ὦ πάτερ, θανεῖν

ἢ τοῖσιν ἐχθίστοισι συνναίειν ὁμοῦ.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἁνὴρ ὅδʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ νεμεῖν ἐμοὶ

φθίνοντι μοῖραν· ἀλλά τοι θεῶν ἀρὰ

μενεῖ σʼ ἀπιστήσαντα τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις.
1240

Ὕλλος

ὤμοι, τάχʼ, ὡς ἔοικας, ὡς νοσεῖς φράσεις.

Ἡρακλῆς

σὺ γάρ μʼ ἀπʼ εὐνασθέντος ἐκκινεῖς κακοῦ.

Ὕλλος

δείλαιος, ὡς ἐς πολλὰ τἀπορεῖν ἔχω.

Ἡρακλῆς

οὐ γὰρ δικαιοῖς τοῦ φυτεύσαντος κλύειν.

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ ἐκδιδαχθῶ δῆτα δυσσεβεῖν, πάτερ;
1245

Ἡρακλῆς

οὐ δυσσέβεια, τοὐμὸν εἰ τέρψεις κέαρ.

Ὕλλος

πράσσειν ἄνωγας οὖν με πανδίκως τάδε;

Ἡρακλῆς

ἔγωγε· τούτων μάρτυρας καλῶ θεούς.

Ὕλλος

τοιγὰρ ποήσω κοὐκ ἀπώσομαι, τὸ σὸν

θεοῖσι δεικνὺς ἔργον· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε
1250

κακὸς φανείην σοί γε πιστεύσας, πάτερ.

Ἡρακλῆς

καλῶς τελευτᾷς, κἀπὶ τοῖσδε τὴν χάριν

ταχεῖαν, ὦ παῖ, πρόσθες, ὡς πρὶν ἐμπεσεῖν

σπαραγμὸν ἤ τινʼ οἶστρον, ἐς πυράν με θῇς.

ἄγʼ ἐγκονεῖτʼ, αἴρεσθε· παῦλά τοι κακῶν
1255

αὕτη, τελευτὴ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ὑστάτη.

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν εἴργει σοὶ τελειοῦσθαι τάδε,

ἐπεὶ κελεύεις κἀξαναγκάζεις, πάτερ.

1259

Ἡρακλῆς

ἄγε νυν, πρὶν τήνδʼ ἀνακινῆσαι

νόσον, ὦ ψυχὴ σκληρά, χάλυβος
1260

λιθοκόλλητον στόμιον παρέχουσʼ,

ἀνάπαυε βοήν, ὡς ἐπίχαρτον

τελέουσʼ ἀεκούσιον ἔργον.

Ὕλλος

αἴρετʼ, ὀπαδοί, μεγάλην μὲν ἐμοὶ

τούτων θέμενοι συγγνωμοσύνην,
1265

μεγάλην δὲ θεῶν ἀγνωμοσύνην

εἰδότες ἔργων τῶν πρασσομένων,

οἳ φύσαντες καὶ κλῃζόμενοι

πατέρες τοιαῦτʼ ἐφορῶσι πάθη.

τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντʼ οὐδεὶς ἐφορᾷ,
1270

τὰ δὲ νῦν ἑστῶτʼ οἰκτρὰ μὲν ἡμῖν,

αἰσχρὰ δʼ ἐκείνοις,

χαλεπώτατα δʼ οὖν ἀνδρῶν πάντων

τῷ τήνδʼ ἄτην ὑπέχοντι.

λείπου μηδὲ σύ, παρθένʼ, ἀπʼ οἴκων,
1275

μεγάλους μὲν ἰδοῦσα νέους θανάτους,

πολλὰ δὲ πήματα καὶ καινοπαθῆ,

κοὐδὲν τούτων ὅ τι μὴ Ζεύς.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1044 focus

Horror hath caught me as I hear this, woe,

Racking our mighty one with mightier pain.

HER

Many hot toils and hard beyond report,
980

With sturdy thews and sinews I have borne,
980

But no such labour hath the Thunderer’s wife
980

Or sour Eurystheus ever given, as this,
980

Which Oeneus’ daughter of the treacherous eye

Hath fastened on my back, this amply-woven

Net of the Furies, that is breaking me.

For, glued unto my side, it hath devoured

My flesh to the bone, and lodging in the lungs

It drains the vital channels, and hath drunk

The fresh life-blood, and ruins all my frame,

Foiled in the tangle of a viewless bond.

Yet me nor War-host, nor Earth’s giant brood,

Nor Centaur’s monstrous violence could subdue,

Nor Hellas, nor the Stranger, nor all lands

Where I have gone, cleansing the world from harms.

But a soft woman without manhood’s strain

Alone and weaponless hath conquered me.

Son, let me know thee mine true-born, nor rate
985

Thy mother’s claim beyond thy sire’s, but bring
985

Thyself from out the chambers to my hand
985

Her body that hath borne thee, that my heart
985

May be assured, if lesser than my pain

It will distress thee to behold her limbs

With righteous torment agonized and torn.

Nay, shrink not, son, but pity me, whom all

May pity—me, who, like a tender girl,

Am heard to weep aloud! This none could say

He knew in me of old; for, murmuring not,

I went with evil fortune, silent still.

Now, such a foe hath found the woman in me!

Ay, but come near; stand by me, and behold

What cause I have for crying. Look but here!

Here is the mystery unveiled. O see!

Ye people, gaze on this poor quivering flesh,

Look with compassion on my misery!

Ah me!

Ah! ah! Again!

Even now the hot convulsion of disease

Shoots through my side, and will not let me rest

From this fierce exercise of wearing woe.

Take me, O King of Night!

O sudden thunderstroke.

Smite me! O sire, transfix me with the dart

Of thy swift lightning! Yet again that fang

Is tearing; it hath blossomed forth anew,

It soars up to the height!

O breast and back,

O shrivelling arms and hands, ye are the same

That crushed the dweller of the Némean wild,

The lion unapproachable and rude,

The oxherd’s plague, and Hydra of the lake

Of Lerna, and the twi-form prancing throng

Of Centaurs,—insolent, unsociable,

Lawless, ungovernable:—the tuskèd pest
1025

Of Erymanthine glades; then underground
1025

Pluto’s three-headed cur—a perilous fear,
1025

Born from the monster-worm; and, on the verge

Of Earth, the dragon, guarding fruits of gold.

These toils and others countless I have tried,

And none hath triumphed o’er me. But to-day,

Jointless and riven to tatters, I am wrecked

Thus utterly by imperceptible woe;

I, proudly named Alcmena’s child, and His

Who reigns in highest heaven, the King supreme!

Ay, but even yet, I tell ye, even from here,

Where I am nothingness and cannot move,

She who hath done this deed shall feel my power.

Let her come near, that, mastered by my might,

She may have this to tell the world, that, dying,

As living, I gave punishment to wrong.

CH

O Hellas, how I grieve for thy distress!

How thou wilt mourn in losing him we see!

HYL

My father, since thy silence gives me leave,

Still hear me patiently, though in thy pain!

For my request is just. Lend me thy mind

Less wrathfully distempered than ’tis now;

Else thou canst never know, where thou art keen

With vain resentment and with vain desire

HER

Speak what thou wilt and cease, for I in pain

Catch not the sense of thy mysterious talk

HYL

I come to tell thee of my mother’s case,

And her involuntary unconscious fault.

HER

Base villain! hast thou breathed thy mother’s name,

Thy father’s murderess, in my hearing too!

HYL

Her state requires not silence, but full speech.

HER

Her faults in former time might well be told.

HYL

So might her fault to day, couldst thou but know.
1130

HER

Speak, but beware base words disgrace thee not.

HYL

List! She is dead even now with new-given wound.

HER

By whom? Thy words flash wonder through my woe.

HYL

Her own hand slaughtered her, no foreign stroke.

HER

Wretch! to have reft this office from my hands.
1135

HYL

Even your rash spirit were softened, if you knew.

HER

This bodes some knavery. But declare thy thought!

HYL

She erred with good intent. The whole is said.

HER

Good, O thou villain, to destroy thy sire!
1140

HYL

When she perceived that marriage in her home,

She erred, supposing to enchain thy love.

HER

Hath Trachis a magician of such might?

HYL

Long since the Centaur Nessus moved her mind

To work this charm for heightening thy desire.

HER

O horror, thou art here! I am no more.

My day is darkened, boy! Undone, undone!

I see our plight too plainly. woe is me!

Come, O my son! —thou hast no more a father,—

Call to me all the brethren of thy blood,

And poor Alcmena, wedded all in vain

Unto the Highest, that ye may hear me tell

With my last breath what prophecies I know.

HYL

Thy mother is not here, but by the shore

Of Tiryns hath obtained a dwelling-place;

And of thy sons, some she hath with her there,

And some inhabit Thebè’s citadel.
1180

But we who are with thee, sire, if there be aught
1180

That may by us be done, will hear, and do.
1180

HER

Then hearken thou unto this task, and show

If worthily thou art reputed mine.

Now is time to prove thee. My great father

Forewarned me long ago that I should die

By none who lived and breathed, but from the will

Of one now dwelling in the house of death.

And so this Centaur, as the voice Divine

Then prophesied, in death hath slain me living.

And in agreement with that ancient word

I now interpret newer oracles

Which I wrote down on going within the grove

Of the hill-roving and earth-couching Selli,—

Dictated to me by the mystic tongue

Innumerous, of my Father’s sacred tree;

Declaring that my ever instant toils

Should in the time that new hath being and life

End and release me. And I look’d for joy.

But the true meaning plainly was my death.—

No labour is appointed for the dead.—

Then, since all argues one event, my son,

Once more thou must befriend me, and not wait

For my voice goading thee, but of thyself

Submit and second my resolve, and know

Filial obedience for thy noblest rule.

HYL

I will obey thee, father, though my heart

Sinks heavily in approaching such a theme.

HER

Before aught else, lay thy right hand in mine.

HYL

Why so intent on this assurance, sire?

HER

Give it at once and be not froward, boy.
1185

HYL

There is my hand: I will gainsay thee nought.

HER

Swear by the head of him who gave me life.

HYL

Tell me the oath, and I will utter it.

HER

Swear thou wilt do the thing I bid thee do.

HYL

I swear, and make Zeus witness of my troth.
1190

HER

But if you swerve, pray that the curse may come.

HYL

It will not come for swerving:—but I pray.

HER

Now, dost thou know on Oeta’s topmost height

The crag of Zeus?

HYL

I know it, and full oft

Have stood there sacrificing.

HER

Then even there,

With thine own hand uplifting this my body,

Taking what friends thou wilt, and having lopped

Much wood from the deep-rooted oak and rough

Wild olive, lay me on the gathered pile,

And burn all with the touch of pine-wood flame.
1205

Let not a tear of mourning dim thine eye;
1205

But silent, with dry gaze, if thou art mine,
1205

Perform it. Else my curse awaits thee still
1205

To weigh thee down when I am lost in night.
1205

HYL

How cruel, O my father, is thy tongue!

HER

’Tis peremptory. Else, if thou refuse,

Be called another’s and be no more mine.

HYL

Alas that thou shouldst challenge me to this,
1210

To be thy murderer, guilty of thy blood!
1210

HER

Not I, in sooth: but healer of my pain,

And sole preserver from a life of woe.

HYL

How can it heal to burn thee on the pyre?

HER

If this act frighten thee, perform the rest.

HYL

Mine arms shall not refuse to carry thee.

HER

And wilt thou gather the appointed wood?

HYL

So my hand fire it not. In all but this,

Not scanting labour, I will do my part.

HER

Enough. ’Tis well. And having thus much given

Add one small kindness to a list so full.

HYL

How great soe’er it were, it should be done.
1220

HER

The maid of Eurytus thou knowest, I ween.

HYL

Of Iolè thou speak’st, or I mistake.

HER

Of her. This then is all I urge, my son.

When I am dead, if thou wouldst show thy duty,

Think of thine oath to me, and, on my word,

Make her thy wife: nor let another man

Take her, but only thou; since she hath lain

So near this heart. Obey me, O my boy!

And be thyself the maker of this bond.

To spurn at trifles after great things given,

Were to confound the meed already won.

HYL

Oh, anger is not right, when men are ill!

But who could bear to see thee in this mind?

HER

You murmur, as you meant to disobey.

HYL

How can I do it, when my mother’s death

And thy sad state sprang solely from this girl?

Who, not possessed with furies, could choose this?

Far better, father, for me too to die,

Than to live still with my worst enemy.

HER

This youth withdraws his reverence in my death.

But, if thou yield’st not to thy father’s best,

The curse from Heaven shall dog thy footsteps still.

HYL

Ah! thou wilt tell me that thy pain is come.

HER

Yea, for thou wak’st the torment that had slept.

HYL

Ay me! how cross and doubtful is my way!
1245

HER

Because you will reject your father’s word.

HYL

Must I be taught impiety from thee?

HER

It is not impious to content my heart.

HYL

Then you require this with an absolute will?

HER

And bid Heaven witness to my strong command.

HYL

Then I will do it, for the act is thine.

I will not cast it off. Obeying thee,

My sire, the Gods will ne’er reprove my deed.

HER

Thou endest fairly. Now, then, O my son,

Add the performance swiftly, that, before

Some spasm or furious onset of my pain
1260

Have seized me, ye may place me on the pyre.

Come, loiter not, but lift me. Now my end

Is near, the last cessation of my woe.

HYL

Since thy command is urgent, O my sire!

We tarry not, but bear thee to the pyre.

Stubborn heart, ere yet again

Wakes the fierce rebound of pain,
1265

While the evil holds aloof,
1265

Thou, with bit of diamond proof,

Curb thy cry, with forcèd will

Seeming to do gladly still!

Lift him, men, and hate not me

For the evil deeds ye see,

Since the Heavens’ relentless sway

Recks not of the righteous way.

He who gave life and doth claim

From his seed a Father’s name

Can behold this hour of blame.

Though the future none can tell,
1270

Yet the present is not well:
1270

Sore for him who bears the blow,

Sad for us who feel his woe,

Shameful to the Gods, we trow.

Maidens from the palace-hall,

Come ye forth, too, at our call!

Mighty deaths beyond belief,

Many an unknown form of grief,

Ye have seen to-day; and nought

But the power of Zeus hath wrought.

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 972 focus

Weh, Vater, um dich!
955

Unseliger ich! Weh, weh

Hyllos.

mir um dich!

Was beginn' ich? Was sinn' ich? weh mir!

Der Greis.

Halt' ein, mein Sohn! Nicht rege mir auf

In dem grimmigen Mann den verzehrenden Schmerz!

Er schlummert und lebt; drum hemme den Laut!
960

Hylos.

Wie sagtest du, Alter? Er lebt noch?

Der Greis.

Nicht weck' ihn auf, den Schlummer umfängt!

Nicht reize mir, Kind, nicht rege mir auf

Das gewaltige, wild umschweifende Weh!

Doch es lastet auf mir
965

Hyllos.

Mit unendlicher Schwere die Trauer.

Ach, Zeus!

(erwachend)

Herakles.

Wo kam ich hin? Bei welchem Geschlecht

Der Geborenen lieg' ich, gefoltert von nie,

Nie rastender Qual? Ich Leidender, weh!
970

Schon faßt sie mich wieder, die Arge!

(zu Hyllos)

Der Greis.

Nun siehest du wohl, wie gerathen es war,

Dich stumm zu verbergen und nicht von dem Haupt,

Von der Wimper ihm nicht zu verscheuchen den Schlaf?

Ich vermag mich nicht,
975

Hylos.

Dies Leid anschauend, zu fassen.

Herakles.

Ihr Altäre des Zeus auf Kenäons Höh'n,

Welch traurigen Dank, ach! habt ihr an mir

Für die herrlichen Opfer gewonnen!

Welch bittere Schmach, Zeus, legst du mir auf!
980

Daß nie solch Grau'n mein Auge geseh'n,

Ha, nimmer geseh'n wahnsinniger Wuth

Unvertilgbar wuchernde Blüte!

Wer spräche den Spruch, wo wäre der Arzt

Mit der fertigen Hand, der ohne des Zeus
985

Allmacht dies Unheil zaubert' in Schlaf?

Nie werd' ich das Wunder erblicken!

(er wird aufgehoben.)

Ah! Ah!

Lasset mich, lasset mich ruhen, den Leidenden!

Sa, ruh'n laßt mich zum leztenmal!
990

Wie rührst du mich an? Wo legst du mich hin?

Tod bringst du mir, Tod!

Das entschlafene Leiden erweckst du.

Wieder erfaßt es mich, ach! Schon kommt's! Von wannen in Hellas

Seid ihr Undankbarsten im Volk hellenischer Männer,
995

Die ich gerettet im Meer, und reinigend alle Gehölze,

Mich mühselig verzehrt? Und jezt will Keiner erbarmend

Nah'n mit Feuer und Lanze, die gräßliche Qual zu ver-

(Ah! Ah!)

kürzen,

Nah'n, um das Haupt mir vom Rumpfe zu trennen, und
1000

Mich befrein von des Lebens Leid?

Der Greis.

Sohn des gewaltigen Manns, dies Werk zu bestehen, gebricht es

Mir an rüstiger Kraft: du fass' ihn! Schärfer erspäht auch

Hülfe dein Aug' als ich es vermag.

Hylos.

Schon halt' ich den Vater;

Doch die verzehrenden Qualen, ich kann sie weder mit eigner
1005

Kraft noch Anderer Hülfe bewältigen. Solches verhängt Zeus.

Wo, Sohn, bist du, wo?

Herakles.

Fasse mich, fasse mich hier, und erleichtre mich!

weh, Götter, weh!

(Sie sezen ihn auf.)

Schon wieder auf mich stürmt her, stürmt her
1010

In vertilgender Wuth

Der unnahbare grauenvolle Schmerz.

Wieder, o göttliche Pallas, verzehrt mich's! Fühle mit deinem

Vater Erbarmen, o Sohn, zeuch aus den untadlichen Mordstahl,

Stoße mir ihn in die Brust, und heile den Schmerz, den die Mutter
1015

Frevelnd im Zorn mir entflammt! Ha, säh' ich sie niedergeschmettert

Also hier, wie mich sie vernichtete! Lieblicher Hades,

Wiege mich, Bruder des Zeus,

Wiege mich ein in den Schlaf, und vertilge mich

Armen in raschem Tod!
1020

Der Chor.

Mit Schaudern hör' ich, welche Qual, o Freundinnen,

Den König (welchen Helden, ach!) grimmvoll bestürmt.

Herakles.

Ha, vieles Leid und heißes, schon im Worte schwer,

Rang ich mit Arm und Nacken muthig duldend aus!

Und dennoch hat Zeus' Gattin niemals solche Qual
1025

Mir aufgebürdet noch Eurystheus' bittrer Haß,¹

Wie nun des Deneus Tochter, die voll arger List

Um meine Schultern dieses Nez mir schlingend warf,

Das ihr Erinnen woben, mir zu sichrem Tod.

Denn festgeschmiegt an meine Seiten, zehrt es mir
1030

Das lezte Fleisch ab, schlürst die Lungen aus und dringt

In ihre tiefsten Adern ein; schon trank es mir

Das frische Blut weg; ganz dahin, vernichtet schwand

Mein Leib, in diese Fesseln unsichtbar verstrickt.

Kein Kampf im Felde, noch der erdentstiegenen
1035

Giganten Heerzug, noch der Ungeheuer Wuth,

Kein Mann in Hellas, kein Barbar, kein andres Land,

Zu dem ich säubernd wallte, hat mir das gethan.

Ein Weib, ein schwaches Wesen, nicht von Mannesart,

Hat jezt allein mich ohne Schwert hinweggerafft.
1040

Mein Sohn, beweise du dich als mein ächter Sohn,

Und laß der Mutter Namen dir nicht theurer sein!

Mit deinen Händen schleppe sie vom Hause, gib

In meine Hand die Mutter, daß ich sehen mag,

Ob mehr dich jammre mein Geschick, als ihre Schmach,
1045

Ihr Bild zu schauen, das mit Recht geschändet wird.

Auf, wage muthig und erbarm', o Sohn, dich mein,

Der Vielen weckt Erbarmen, der, dem Mädchen gleich,

Ausschluchzt in Thränen. Nimmer kann ein Sterblicher

Behaupten, daß er also je mich thun gesehn :
1050

Nein, ohne Seufzen trug ich stets mein Mißgeschick.

Ein solcher Held einst, steh' ich nun als weibisch da.

Sezt tritt heran an deines Vaters Seite, Kind,

Und sich, von welchem Schicksal ich so bittres Leid

Erdulde; denn ich zeig' es ohne Hülle dir.
1055
(er enthüllt sich.)

Schaut her, betrachtet alle mein unselig Bild,

Seht an mich Armen, wie bejammernswerth ich bin!

Ach, ach! Wehe mir!

O, o!

Des Schmerzes Zucken, eben glüht es wieder auf,
1060

Durchtobt die Seiten; ungemartert läßt sie mich

Nicht mehr, so scheint's, die zehrend grauenvolle Qual.

O Fürst Hades, nimm mich auf!

Strahl des Zeus, erschlage mich!

Schwing' her, o König, schleudre dein Geschoß herab,
1065

Den Bliz, o Vater! Wieder wühlt es ungestüm,

In vollen Gluten tobt es! Händ', ihr Hände, weh,

O Brust, o Rücken! Ihr geliebten Arme hier,

Seid ihr dieselben, die des Hirtenvolkes Grau'n

Vormals, den Löwen, der gehaust bei Nemea,
1070

Die Brut, unnahbar, ungesellig wilder Art,

Mit starker Kraft vertilgten, Lerna's Hyder auch,

Der Ungehener Zwitterheer von Mann und Roß,

Das stolze, zuchtvergess'ne, frech gewaltige,

Und Erymanthos' Eber, auch der Schattenwelt
1075

Dreiköpfigen Hund, den unbezwingbar'n Kerberos,

Echidne's Sohn, der grausen, auch den Drachen, der

Die goldnen Aepfel hütet' an der Erde Saum?

Und andrer Mühen kostet' ich noch tausende,

Und Keiner trug von meinem Arm den Sieg davon.
1080

Nun starren, wie zerrissen, Haut und Glieder mir,

Ein ungeseh'nes Wehe zehrt mich Armen aus,

Mich, der ein Sohn der besten Mutter heißt, ein Sohn

Des Zeus genannt wird, welcher bei den Sternen thront.

Doch sollt ihr dieses wissen: bin ich auch ein Nichts,
1085

Und trägt mein Fuß mich nimmer, dennoch will ich sie,

Die das gethan, bezwingen. Ja, sie komme nur,

Auf daß sie lerne, Jedermann es kundzuthun,

Die Bösen straf' ich lebend und im Tode noch!

Der Chor.

Unselig Hellas! Welche Trauer seh' ich dein
1090

Noch warten, wenn dir dieser Held entrissen wird!

Hyllos.

Mein Vater, nun du Gegenrede mir vergönnst,

So höre, wenn auch leidend, mich mit Schweigen an.

Nur was ich billig fordern darf, erbitt' ich mir.

Gib mir dich hin und höre, nicht so sehr ergrimmt,
1095

Als deine Qual dich stachelt; sonst erkennst du nicht,²

Wonach dich grundlos lüstet, was grundlos dich schmerzt.

Herakles.

Sprich, was du willst, dann schweige; denn in meinem Leid

Versteh' ich längst von Allem, was du schwazest, Nichts.

Hyllos.

Von meiner Mutter komm' ich dir zu sagen, wie's
1100

Ihr geht, und was sie willenlos verschuldete.

Herakles.

Du ganz Verworfner! Nennst du gar die Mutter noch,

Die Mörderin des Vaters, daß ich's hören muß?

Hyllos.

Sie traf ein Schicksal, daß zu schweigen nicht geziemt.

Herakles.

Wohl ziemt es nicht zu schweigen nach so schwerer Schuld.
1105

Hyllos.

Du redest anders, wenn du hörst, was heut geschah.

Herakles.

Sprich; aber siehe, daß du nicht mit Schmach bestehst.

Hyllos.

Wohl: eben starb sie, liegt entseelt durch blut'gen Mord.

Herakles.

Von wem? Ein Unheilswunder offenbarst du mir!

Hylos.

Sie starb von eignen Händen, nicht durch fremde Hand.
1110

Herakles.

Weh mir! Bevor sie nach Gebühr mein Arm erschlug?

Hyllos.

Vernimmst du Alles, wendet sich dein Groll vielleicht.

Herakles.

Seltsam beginnt die Rede; sprich, wie meinst du das!

Vernimm es kurz: das Gute wollend, fehlte sie.

Den Vater mordend, that sie gut, o Bösewicht?
1115

Hyllos.

Sie wähnte dich zu ketten durch ein Liebesnez,

Die junge Braut erblickend, und verfehlt ihr Ziel.

Herakles.

Und wer zu Trachis war der große Zauberer?

Hyllos.

Das Ungeheuer Nessos einst bethörte sie,

Durch solchen Bann zu fachen deine Liebesglut.
1120

Herakles.

Weh, weh, ich Unglücksel'ger! Nun bin ich dahin!

Ich bin verloren, mir erlosch des Lebens Licht!

Ach, ach! Ich weiß nun, welches Loos mich heimgesucht.

Geh, trauter Sohn, (denn keinen Vater hast du mehr,)

Geh, rufe deine Brüder all' und Schwestern mir,
1125

Auch rufe mir Alkmenen, die vergeblich, ach!³

Dem Zeus vermählt war, daß ich euch den Götterspruch

Von meinem Ende, den ich weiß, verkündige.

Hylos.

Doch hier verweilt die Mutter nicht; sie zog hinweg,

Um dort zu wohnen, nach der Meeresstadt Tirynth.
1130

Ein Theil der Kinder nahm sie mit und zieht sie groß;

Die andern sind in Kadmos' alter Stadt daheim.

Wir, die wir hier sind, wollen, was du, Vater, uns

Gebietest, dir gehorchen und zu Dienste sein.

Herakles.

So höre du denn Alles. Dir erschien die Zeit,
1135

Zu zeigen, welch' ein Mann du bist, ob würdig mein.

Mir war vorlängst von meinem Vater offenbart,

Durch keinen stürb' ich, der im Licht der Sonne lebt,

Mich morde nur ein Todter, der im Hades wohnt.

Nun hat das Unthier Nessos, (wie des Gottes Spruch
1140

Kundthat,) der Todte, mich vertilgt, den Lebenden.

Doch ich verkünd' euch jüngre Göttersprüche noch,

Die gleich den ältern lauten, sie bestätigend,

Die dort im Haine, wo der Sell' auf Bergen wohnt⁴

Und auf der Erde lagert, ich mir niederschrieb,
1145

Wie's aus des Vaters stimmenreicher Eiche scholl.

Der Baum verhieß mir, alle Noth, die mich bedrängt,

Ein Ziel gewinnen werde sie zu dieser Frist,

Die jezt erschienen; und ich hoffte Wonn' und Glück.

Doch war damit nichts Andres als mein Tod gemeint;
1150

Denn, die der Tod hinraffte, rührt kein Leiden mehr.

Nun, da sich alles dieses klar erfüllt, o Kind,

So werde du des Vaters treuer Kampfgenoß,

Und harre nicht, bis meine Stimme zürnend mahnt;

Nein, gib mir nach, hilf willig, und erwähle dir
1155

Die schönste Tugend: sei dem Vater unterthan!

Hylos.

Mir bangt, o Vater, daß du mir mit solchem Wort

Entgegentratest; doch befolg' ich dein Gebot.

Herakles.

So reiche mir vor Allem deine Rechte dar.

Hylos.

Wozu begehrst du solch ein Unterpfand von mir?
1160

Herakles.

Du willst damit noch säumen, folgst mir nicht sogleich?

Hyllos.

Hier hast du meine Rechte, sich, unweigerlich.

Herakles.

Bei'm Haupte meines Vaters Zeus beschwöre nun

Hylos.

Wie soll ich schwören? Sagst du mir dies nicht zugleich?

Herakles.

Das Werk mir auszurichten, das mein Wort gebeut.
1165

Hyllos.

Wohlan, ich schwör' es; höre Zeus auf meinen Eid!

Herakles.

Und schwürst du Meineid, rufe Fluch auf dich herab.

Hyllos.

Mich trifft er nicht; doch - lüg' ich, sei dies Haupt verflucht!

Herakles.

Du kennst des Oeta höchste Höh'n, den Siz des Zeus?

Hyllos.

Wohl; oft ja stand ich droben schon als Opferer.
1170

Herakles.

Auf diese Höhen trage jezt mit eigner Hand

Und auserles'ner Freunde Schaar des Vaters Leib;

Hier hauet viele Stämme tiefgewurzelter

Waldeichen, schneidet aus zugleich viel starkes Holz

Vom wilden Delbaum, und darauf legt meinen Leib;
1175

Sofort der sicht'nen Fackel Glut ergreift und dann

Verbrennt ihn; nicht des Grames Zähre darf ihm nah'n:

Nein, ohne Seufzer, ohne Thränen richt' es aus,

Bist du des Vaters ächter Sohn; sonst harr' ich dein

Auch noch in Hades' Hause stets mit schwerem Fluch.
1180

Hyllos.

Was sagtest du, mein Vater? Weh! Was thust du mir?

Herakles.

Was ausgeführt muß werden; oder heiße du

Sohn eines andern Vaters, nicht der meine mehr!

Hyllos.

Und aber weh mir! Was, o Vater forderst du?

Dein Mörder soll ich, soll an dir ein Frevler sein?
1185

Herakles.

Nicht also! Nein, in meinem Leide sollst du mir

Der Arzt, allein mir Retter sein aus meiner Dual.

Hyllos.

Wie kann ich dir denn Retter sein, verbrenn' ich dich?

Herakles.

Nun, macht dir dieses bange, thu das Andre nur.

Hyllos.

Dich dort hinauf zu tragen, das verweigr' ich nicht.
1190

Herakles.

Auch nicht, den Scheiterhausen mir emporzubau'n?

Hyllos.

Wo nicht mit eignen Händen ich ihn fassen muß.

Das Andre thu' ich, und ermüden soll mich's nicht.

Herakles.

Genügen wird auch dieses; doch zur großen Gunst

Erweise mir noch einen kleinen Liebesdienst.
1195

Hylos.

Und wär' es auch der größte, gern gewähr' ich ihn.

Herakles.

Du kennst die Jungfrau, kennst das Kind des Eurytos?

Hyllos.

Von Jole sprichst du, wie ich wohl vermuthen darf?

Herakles.

Sie meint' ich. Eines leg' ich nun dir auf, o Kind!

Nach meinem Tode, wenn du fromm zu sein gedenkst,
1200

Und treu dem Eide, welchen du dem Vater schwurst,

Nimm sie zum Weibe, sei gehorsam meinem Wort!

Kein andrer Mann auf Erden nehm' an deiner Statt

Jemals die Jungfrau, die an meiner Seite lag;

Nein, nimm sie selbst als deine Gattin auf, o Sohn!
1205

Gehorche! Wahrlich, wenn du Großes mir gewährst

Und Kleines weigerst, dann zerrinnt der erste Dank.

Weh mir!

Hyllos.

Den Kranken reizen, dünkt mir schlimm; doch bei Vernunft⁵

Zu thun nach seinem Willen, wer ertrüge das?
1210

Herakles.

Nichts, was ich sage, willst du thun, erklärst du mir?

Hyllos.

Wer möchte sie, die meiner Mutter Tod allein,

Die ganz allein verschuldet, daß dich solches traf,

Wer solch ein Weib sich wählen, wenn kein böser Geist

Ihn quält? Vater, besser ist auch mir der Tod,
1215

Als daß ich lebe, zugesellt dem schlimmsten Feind.

Herakles.

Der Knabe will mir, scheint es, auch im Tode nicht

Mein Recht gewähren. Aber, traun, der Götter Fluch

Wird deiner warten, trozest du des Vaters Wort.

Hyllos.

Bald zeigst du, scheint es, (wehe mir!) wie krank du bist.
1220

Herakles.

Du weckst ja selbst mein Leiden, das entschlummert_war.

Hyllos.

Weh! Zweifel, vielfach, treiben mich rathlos umher!

Herakles.

Weil, auf den Vater hören, dir unwürdig scheint.

Hyllos.

So soll ich üben, Vater, was ein Frevel ist?

Herakles.

Kein Frevel ist es, wenn du mir das Herz erfreust.
1225

Hylos.

Du heißest alles Ernstes denn mich also thun?

Herakles.

Gewiß! Zu Zeugen rus' ich deß die Götter an.

Hyllos.

Wohlan, so thu' ich's, weigr' es nicht: als deines mag

Dies Werk den Göttern gelten! Denn ich werde nie

Als schlecht erscheinen, Vater, folgt' ich deinem Wort.
1230

Herakles.

Ganz schön geendigt! Füge nun in Eile noch

Die Gunst hinzu, Kind: auf die Scheiter lege mich,

Bevor die Zuckung oder Wuth mich neu befällt!

Wohlan, erhebt euch, zögert nicht! Traun, dieses löst

Allein von meinem Leide mich, des Todes Ziel.
1235

Hyllos.

Doch nichts verhindert, daß wir thun nach deinem Wunsch,

Da du's gebeutst, o Vater, und uns nöthigest.

Herakles.

Auf, eh du die Krankheit wieder erweckst,⁶

Leg' an, mein fest ausharrendes Herz,

Dir den eisernen Zaum, der Steine vereint,
1240

Und verhalte den Schrei, um mit freudigem Sinn⁷

Das gefürchtete Werk zu vollenden!

Hyllos.

Nun hebt ihn, Gefährten, und was ich zu thun

Mich bereite, vergebt mir nachsichtvoll:

Wohl haben in dem, was eben geschieht,
1245

Ganz nachsichtlos sich die Götter gezeigt,

Sie, die ihn erzeugt, die, Väter genannt,

Solch herbes Geschick voll Gleichmuth sehn.

In das Künftige dringt kein sterblicher Blick;

Was nun sich begibt, bringt Jammer auf uns,
1250

Bringt Schmach auf sie,

Und vor Allen wie schwer umfängt es den Mann,

Der dieses Unsägliche duldet!

(Herakles wird weggetragen.)

Der Chor.

Auch ihr, Jungfrau'n, bleibt nicht an dem Haus,

Wo den neuen gewaltigen Tod ihr geseh'n,
1255

Vielfältiges Weh, unerhörtes Geschick!

Und dies war alles des Zeus Werk!

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 972 focus

Alas ! my father; whither shall I go ?

Wretch that 1 am. Oh ! where shall I betake me ?

What will become of thy afflicted son ?

Attendant

Speak softly, youth, do not awake his pains ;
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Refrain thy grief, for yet Alcides lives,

Though verging to the tomb ; be calm.

Hyllus

What sayst thou ?

Doth he yet live ?

Attendant

He doth ; disturb not thus

His^slumbers, nor provoke the dire disease.

Hyllus

Alas ! I cannot bear to see him thus.

Hercules

\aiDakes\. O Jove ! where am I, and with
980

whom ? What land

Contains the wretched Hercules, oppressed

With never-ending woes ? Ah me ! again

The deadly poison racks me.

Attendant

\to Hyllus], Seest thou not
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'Twere better far to have remained in silence,

And not awaked him.

Hyllus

'Twas impossible

Unmoved to look on such calamity ;

I could not do it.
990

Hercules

O Censean rocks !

Where smoke the sacred altars, is it thus,

O Jove ! thou dost reward my piety?

What dreadful punishment is this thy hand

Hath laid on me, who never could deserve

Such bitter wrath ? What incantations now,

Old Man

What power of medicine can assuage my pain^

Unless great Jove assisted? Health to me

Without him were a miracle indeed.

Let me, oh ! let me rest ; refuse me not

A little slumber ; why will ye torment me ?

Why bend me forward ? Oh ! 'tis worse than death ;

Had you not waked me, I had been at peace.

Again it rages with redoubled force ;

Where are you now, ye thankless Grecians, where.

Whom I have toiled to serve on the rough main,

And through the pathless wood? Where are you now

To help a dying wretch ? Will no kind hand

Stretch forth the friendly sword, or in the flame

Consume me? None, alas ! will cut me off

From hated life.

It is beyond my strength ; thy quicker sight

May be more useful.

Hyllus

My poor aid is ready ;
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But wheresoe'er I am, 'tis not in me
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To expel the subtle poison that destroys him ;

Such is the will of Jove.

Hercules

My son, my son !

Where art thou? Bear me up, assist me. Oh !

Again it comes, th' unconqnerable ill,

Draw forth thy sword, my son ; strike, strike thy father,
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And heal the wound thy impious mother made.
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Oh ! could I see her like myself destroyed,

I should be happy ! Brother of great Jove,

Sweet Pluto, hear me 1 Oh ! with speedy death

Lay me to rest, and bury all my woes.

Chorus

The anguish of th' unhappy man, my friends,

Is terrible ; I tremble but to hear him.

Hercules

What hath this body suffered? Oh ! the toils,

The labours I endured, the pangs I felt,

Unutterable woes ! but never aught

So dreadful as this sore calamity.

Oppressed Alcides ! Not the wife of Jove,

Nor vile Enrystliens, could torment me thus,

As, CEneus, thy deceitful daughter hath.

Oh ! 1 am tangled in a cruel net,

Woven by the Fui-ies : it devours my flesh.

Dries up my veins, and drinks the vital blood ;

My body 's withered, and I cannot Ijreak

Th' indissoluble chain. Nor hostile spear.

Nor earth-born giants, nor the savage herd,

The wild Barbarian, or the Grecian host,

Not all the nations I have journeyed o'er

Could do a deed like this. At last I fall,

Like a poor coward, by a woman's hand,

Unarmed and unassisted. O my son !

Now prove thyself the ofi'spring of Alcides ;

Nor let thy reverence of a mother's name

Surpass thy duty to an injured father.

Go, bring her hither, give her to my wrath,

That 1 may see whom thou wilt most lament

When thou beholdst my vengeance fall on her.

Fear not, my son, but go. Have pity on me,

Pity thy father : all must pity me.

Whilst they behold, e'en as the tender maid,

Alcides weep, who never wept before.

I bore my sorrows all without a groan.

But now thou seest I am a very woman.

Come near, my child. Oh ! think what I endure.

For I will show thee. Look on this poor body —

Let all behold it : what a sight is here !

O me ! again the cruel poison tears

My entrails, nor affords a moment's ease.

Oh ! take me, Pluto, to thy gloomy reign ;

Father of lightning, mighty Jove, send down

Thy bolt, and strike me now ! Again it racks,

It tortures me ! O hands ! that once had strength,

And you, my sinewy arms, was it by you

The terrible Nemsean lion fell.

The dreadful hydra, and the lawless race

Of centaurs ? Did this withered hand subdue

The Erymanthian boar — wide-wasting plague !

^nd from the shades of Orcus drag to light

The triple-hen ded monster ? By this arm

Did the fierce guardian of the golden fruit

In Libya's deserts fall ? Unnumbered toils

Have I endured of old, and never yet

Did mortal bear a trophy from Alcides.

But nerveless now this arm— see, from the bone

Darts the loose flesh. I waste beneath the power

Of this dark pestilence. O Hercules !

Why boast thy mother sprung of nobler race,

And vainly call thyself the son of Jove?

But, mark me well : this creeping shadow still,

Poor as it is, shall yet revenge itself

On her who did the execrable deed.

Would she were here to feel my wrath, to know

And teach mankind that Hercules, though dead,

As whilst he lived, can scourge the guilty still !

Chorus

Unhappy Greece ! How wilt thou mourn the

Of such a man? [loss

Hyllus

Permit me but to speak.

Distempered as thou art, my father, hear me ;
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Nought shall I ask unfit for thee to grant ;

Be calm and listen to me ; yet thou knowst not

How groundless thy complaints, and what new joy

Awaits thee still.

Hercules

Be brief then, and inform me ;
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My pains afflict me so I cannot guess
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Thy subtle purpose.

Hyllus

'Twas to speak of her.

My mother ; 'twas to tell thee of her state

And how unweeting she offended thee.

Hercules

Thou worst of children ! Wouldst thou then

defend

The murderer of thy father? Dar'st thou thus
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Recall the sad remembrance of her crime?
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Hyllus

It must not be concealed ; I know too well

I can no longer hide it.

Hercules

What ! Her guilt ?

'Tis known already.

Hyllus

Thou It not always think so.

Hercules

Speak then, but take good heed thou sho\y

thyself

Worthy thy father.

Hyllus

Know then, she is dead.
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Hercules

Oh ! dreadful, murdered ? By what hand ?

Hyllus

Her own.

Hercules

Would she had fallen by mine !

Hyllus

Alas ! my father,

Didst thou know all, thy anger would be changed

To pity for her.

Hercules

That were strange indeed ;
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Why dost thou think so ?
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Hyllus

She did mean thee well,

But erred unknowing.

Hercules

Meant she well to slay

Thy father?

Hyllus

Thy new marriage was the cause :

She had prepared a philtre for thy love,

And knew not 'twas a poison.

Hercules

But say, who
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Could give her this?
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Hyl The savage centaur Nessus,
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Who did persuade her it would restore thy love
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Given to another wife.
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Hercules

Undone, Alcides !

I die, my child ; there is no life for me.

vVlas ! I see it now ; I see my woes ;

Hyllus

away, thy father is no more ;

Begone, and call thy brothers, call Alcmena,

The wife, alas ! in vain, the wife of Jove ;

Go, bring them here, that wdth my latest breath

I may declare my fate long since foretold
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By oracles divine.

Hyllus

Alcmena 's gone

To Tyrinth. With her many of thy sons

Remain. Some dwell at Thebes, the rest are here,
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And wait with me to hear and to obey thee.
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Hercules

Then listen to me, for the time is come

When thou must prove thy.self indeed my son.

Know, Jove, my heavenly sire, long since foretold

I was not born to perish by the hand

Of living man, but from some habitant

Of Pluto's dark abode should meet my fate.

The centaur Nessus — so was it fulfilled —

Though dead destroyed me. But I'll tell thee more,

New oracles confirmed the old, for know

When to the Selli's sacred grove I came —

The wandering priests who o'er the mountains roam,

And rest their wearied limbs on the cold ground —

An ancient oak prophetic did declare

That if I lived to this decisive hour,

Here all my labours, all my toils should end.

I thought it told me I should live in peace.

Alas ! it only meant that I must die.

For death will put an end to every care.

Since thus it is, my son, thou too must join

To ease Alcides. Let me not reproach thee,

But yield thy willing aid, nor e'er forget

The best of laws, obedience to a father.

Hyllus

Thy words affright me ; but declare thy

purpose —

Behold me ready to perform thy orders

Whate'er they be.

Hercules

First give me then thy hand.

Hyllus

But why this pledge, and wherefore ansious

thus

Dost thou require it?

Hercules

Wilt thou give it me
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Or dost refuse?
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Hyllus

There, take it ; I obey.

Hercules

First swear then by the head of Jove my bire.

Hyllus

I will ; but what ?

Hercules

Swear that thou wilt perform

All I enjoin thee.

Hyllus

Bear me witness, Jove !
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I swear.
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Hercules

And imprecate the wrath divine

If thou performst it not.

Hyllus

I shall not fail ;

But if I do, may vengeance swift o'ertake me !

Hercules

Tliou knowst the top of QEta's sacred hill.

Hyllus

I know it well, and many a sacrifice

Have oftered there.

Heu. Tliat is the destined place,

Where thou, assisted by thy chosen friends,

My son, must bear the body of Alcides ;

There shalt thou cut thee many a leafy branch

From the wild olive and deep-rooted oak,

Then cast me on it, take thy torch, and light

My funeral pile ; without one tear or groan

Unmanly do it, if thou art my son ;

For if thou failst, remember, after death

A father's curses will sit heavy on thee.

Hyllus

Alas ! my father, what hast thou commanded?

What hast thou bade me do?

Hercules

What must be done.

Or thou art not the son of Hercules.

Hyllus

a dreadful deed ! And must I then become
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A parricide, and murder thee ?
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Hercules

Oh, no !

My kind physician, balm of all my woes.

Hyllus

Myself to cast thee in the flames ! Is that

An office fit for me ?

Hercules

If that alone

Seem dreadful to thee, yet perform the rest.

Hyllus

I'll bear thee thither.

Hercules

Wilt thou raise the pile ?

Hyllus

I will do anything but be myself

Thy executioner.

He;r. 'Tis well, my son ;

But one thing more, and I am satisfied ;

'Tis but a little.

Hyllus

Be it e'er so gi'eat,

I shall obey.

Hercules

Thou knowst the virgin daughter

Of Eurytus.

Hyllus

lole?
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Hercules

Her, my son ;

Eemember, 'tis a father's last command,

And thou hast sworn obedience. That lole

I do bequeath thee ; take her to thy arms

When I am dead, and let her be thy wife :

It is not fitting she who lay by th' side
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Of Hercules to any but the son
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Of Hercules should e'er descend ; to thee

Alone I yield her. Speak not, but obey me ;

After thy kind compliance, to refuse

So slight a favour were to cancel all.

Hyllus

\ciside\. Alas ! distempered as he is, to chide
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him
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Were most unkind ; and yet, what madness this !

Hercules

Thou wilt not do it then?

Hyllus

What ! marry her

Who slew my mother ! her, who hath brought thee

To this sad state ! It were an act of frenzy :
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Death be my portion rather than to live

With those I hate.

Hercules

\tuming to the Chorus]. He will not pay me

then

The duty which he owes a dying father !

But if thou dost not, curses from the gods

Await thee.
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Hyllus

Oh ! thou rav'st ; it is the rage

Of thy distemper makes thee talk so wildly.

Hercules

Thou hast awakened all my woes ; again

They torture now.

Hyllus

Alas ! what doubts arise,

What fears perplex me !

Hercules

Meanst thou to dispute

A father's will ?

Hyllus

Must I then learn of thee
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To do a wicked deed ?
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Hercules

It is not wicked

If I request it of thee.

Hyllus

Is it just?

Hercules

It is ; the gods are witnesses 'tis just.

Hyllus

Then by those gods I swear I will perform

What thou commandst : I never can be deemed
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Or base, or impious, for obeying thee.

Hercules

'Tis well, my son ; one added kindness more,

And I am satisfied : before the racks

Of dire convulsion, and the pangs of madness

Again attack me, throw me on the pile.

Haste then, and bear me to it, there at last
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I shall have peace and rest from all my sorrows

Hyllus

Since 'tis thy will, my fatlier, we Rubmit.

Hercules

Now, ere the dreadful malady return,

Be firm, my soul, e'en as the hardened steel;

Suspend thy ciies, and meet the fatal blow

With joy and pleasure ; bear me hence, my fnends,
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For you have shown yourselves my friends indeed,
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And prove the base ingratitude of those

From whom I sprang, the cruel gods, who saw

Unmoved the woes of their unhappy son.

'Tis not in mortal to foresee his fate ;

Mine is to them disgraceful, and to me

Most terrible — to me of all mankind

The most distressed, the poor, the lost Alcides.

Chorus

lole, come not forth, unhappy virgin,

Already hast thou seen enough of woe,

And yet fresh sorrows wait thee ; but remember,

All is decreed, and all the work of Jove.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 972 focus

What anguish, O my father, rends my heart

To see thee thus! What can I do? Ah me,

Unhappy me, what grief is mine!

Attendant

My son
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Be silent, lest thou rouse his cruel pangs,

And torture him to madness; thus reposed

He lives; forbear then, and restrain thy cries.

Hyllus

Say'st thou he lives, old man?

Attendant

His sense thus lock'd

In sleep, thou wilt not rouse him, wilt not move,

Or stir the fury of his fierce disease...

Hyllus

His sufferings so immense distract my soul.

Hercules

Ah, to what region am I come? O Jove,

Attendant

'Mongst whom of mortals am I laid, thus rack'd

With never-ceasing pains? Ah wretched me,

How fierce the gnawings of this fell disease!

Happier had been thy silence: from his eyes
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Thy clamours have dispell'd pain-soothing sleep.
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HYLI.. How could I at a sight like this refrain?
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Hercules

Ye hallow'd altars, whose firm base is fix'd

On high Cenæum, what a recompense

For all my victims to unhappy me

Attendant

Have you repaid? O Jove, with what fierce pains

Hast thou afflicted me? This dire disease,

Whose unextinguish'd rage to madness fires

My bursting veins, oh that I had not known!

What potent charm, what skill medicinal

Can mitigate, without the pow'r of Jove,

These agonizing pangs? Oh might I see

This miracle, though distant! Let me lie,

Ah, let me lie reposed. Why dost thou touch,

Why dost thou raise me up? Each touch is death.

Thou hast awaken'd pangs that were at rest.

Again my tortures are inflamed, again

They rush upon me. Ah, where are you now,

Ye most unjust of all the Grecian race?

With many toils th' infested seas I clear'd,

And all the ruffian-haunted woods; yet now

I miserably perish; not a man

Will bring or fire or sword to put an end

To my afflictions; not a man will come

Willing to rend from me this hated life.

O thou his son, this task requires a strength

Greater than mine; assist him thou, thine eye

Quicker than mine sees what may give him aid.

Hyllus

I touch him, but to mitigate his pains
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Exceeds my pow'r, and all the healing art

Avails not: that must be the work of Jove.

Hercules

My son, my son, where art thou? In thy arms

Raise me, support me. O my cruel fate!

This fierce, immedicable, wasting pest

Attacks, again attacks me; wretched me!

O Pallas, it consumes me. O my son,

In pity to thy father draw thy sword,
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And plunge it deep into my throat; the deed
1025

Will not be impious; heal these torturing pangs

Inflicted by thy mother's wicked hands:

Oh might I see her fall'n, thus fall'n, as me

Her arts have sunk! Thou monarch of the dead,

Brother of Jove, give me a speedy death,

And lay, oh lay a tortured wretch at rest!

Chorus

My friends, chill horror shakes me as I hear

The miseries, which th' illustrious hero bears.

Hercules

What fiery and unutterable pains

With rankling venom pierce my hands, my back

Such not the wife of Jove to me assign'd,

Nor stern Eurystheus, as this treacherous dame,

Daughter of Eneus, whose entangling net,

The texture of the furies, burns my limbs,

And works me death; close to my sides it sticks,

Eats through my skin, and rioting beneath

My vitals drains; already hath it drank

The fresh streams of my blood, and all my flesh

Is wasted, by these gnawing bands consumed.

This not the spear on the ensanguined plain

Uplifted, nor the terrible array

Of earth-born giants, nor the furious force

Of savage beasts roused from their horrid dens,

Nor Grecian, nor Barbarian, nor the rage

Of ruffian bands from which I purged the earth,

Effected; but a single woman, form'd

By nature weak, a woman to the ground

Without a sword hath brought me. But, my son,

Now prove thyself my son, nor more revere

A mother's name; but bring her from the house,

And give her to my hands, that I may know

If more my wretched state afflicts thy heart

Than hers, when thou shalt see her ruin'd form

Defaced by my just vengeance. Go, my son,

Dare this; have pity on me; many feel

The touch of pity for me, as I weep

Like a sick girl lamenting: till this hour

No man can say that e'er his eyes beheld

Such weakness in me; but without a groan

Toils and afflictions always I sustain'd:'.

But now my firmness sinks, and I am found

Amidst my ills a woman. But, my son,

Come to me, nearer stand, come all, observe

From what a malady these torturing pains

I suffer; look, I throw my vests aside,

Behold this wretched body; what a sight

To move your pity! Ah, this burning spasm

Rends me afresh, it plerces through my sides,

No rest this cruel, gnawing best pest allows

Receive me, O thou monarch of the dead!

Strike me, ye bolts of Jove; O king supreme,

Roll thy red thunders, hurl them on this head,

My father! for it riots now again,

Gains strength, grows fiercer. O my hands, my hands,

My back, my breast, my arms! Are these the nerves

In which I gloried once, whose matchless strength

Quell'd the Nemæan lion which the blood

Of slaughter'd herds distain'd, whose savage rage

None dared approach? Are these the nerves, whose might

Crush'd the Lernæan Hydra, and subdued

The host of monsters to the horse's strength

Joining the human form, a lawless band,

To outrage train'd, exulting in brute force?

The Boar of Erymanthus; the grim Dog

Of hell, three-headed monster, by no arms

To be attack'd, from dire Echidna sprung;

The Dragon, guardian of the golden fruit

On earth's remotest verge? These glorious toils,

Theseus

and a thousand more have I achieved ;

But never mortal o'er my glory raised

A trophy: nevertheless now this hardy frame

Is shatter'd, and beneath this blind, disease

I waste away; my mother's virtuous name

Avails me not, nor through the starry skies:

That I am call'd the son of thundering Jove.

Yet know you this, though I am nothing now,

A weak exhausted nothing, yet e'en thus

I will inflict just vengeance on her head

Who brought me to this state; that she may learn,

And publish to the world, that it is mine //

In life or death to punish impious deeds.

Chorus

Unhappy Greece, what sorrows will be thine, T

Of his illustrious virtues if bereaved?

Hyllus

With leave obtain'd since I may speak to thee,

Hear me with patient silence, though in pain;..

For I shall ask what justice wills thou grant.
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Give me thyself, with passion less inflameds

For thus thou canst not know that thy warm wish

Obtain'd would yield thee aught of solid joy,

Or that thy rage without a causes is roused.

Hercules

Speak what thou wou'dst, but briefly; 'midst these pains
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I comprehend not hints abstruse and dark.

Hyllus

Much of my mother, of her present state,

And her unweeting error I would speak.

Hercules

O thou most base! And canst thou to my ears

The murderer of thy father name again?
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Hyllus

Such is her state, that silence in her cause

Would ill become me.

Hercules

1. All her former faults

Might well admit thy plea.

Hyllus

So wilt thou judge

Of this day's error.

Hercules

Speak, but take good heed

No baseness stain thy nature.

Hyllus

She is dead,
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Recently slain.
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Hercules

By whom? Through ills announced

Portentous are thy words.

Hyllus

Against her life

Her own bold hand she arm'd.

Hercules

Oh that from mine

She had received her meed!

Hyllus

The whole truth known,

Soon would thine anger die away.

Hercules

Thy words
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To something dreadful are a proem: say
1135

Why such thy thought.
1135

Hyllus

Unweetingly she err'd,

Her whole intent was good..

Hercules

Art thou so base?

Murdering thy father well did she intend?

Hyllus

When thy new bride within thy house she saw,

Weening by charms to win thy love, she err'd.、

Hercules

Whom in these arts so skill'd doth Trachin boast?
1140

Hyllus

The Centaur Nessus with his dying breath

Beguiled her with such charm t' inflame thy love.

Hercules

Then I am lost indeed; unhappy fate!

I perish, ah, I perish! Now no more

Beams the son's golden light for me; I know

My miserable state. But go, my son,

(Thou hast no more a father) hither bring

Thy brothers, bring them all; and with thee lead

The sorrowing Alcmena, wife of Jove

In vain; that from my lips you yet may hear

The last of Oracles to me announced.

Hyllus

Thy mother is not here, but on the banks

Of Tiryns hath her dwelling; of thy sons

Some there she trains, and some at Thebes reside :

We, who are near, if aught thou would'st require,

Hearing thy mandates will perform the charge.

Hercules

Then hear thou me; for now thou art arrived

At such an age as to the world may show

The virtues of the man, and of my son.

To me long since my awful sire declared

That by no living mortal I should die,

But by the dead, in the dark realms below

By one that hath his mansion: this is he,

The Centaur Nessus, by the voice divine

Foretold; though long since dead, me of my life

He hath bereaved. Attend, while yet I speak

Of oracles late utter'd, which accord

With those of former times: When I had reach'd

The forest of the Selli, (an hard race

That o'er the mountains roam at large, and rest

Couch'd on the ground) these from the vocal oak

Of Jove I wrote; and thus its voice announced,

That when the hours should bring this time to life,

All my impending toils should find an end.

I fondly thought of life and happy days,

Whilst it denoted nothing but my death;

For the dead rest secure from toils. These truths

Are clear, my son; behoves thee then to aid

Thy father, nor provoke my harsh rebukes;

Act of thine own accord, and this great law,

Obedience to a father's will, observe.

Hyllus

I tremble at the words thy mournful state

Declaring; but thy will shall be obey'd.
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Hercules

First give me thy right hand.

Hyllus

This pledge of faith

Why thus demanded ?

Hercules

Wilt thou give it strait, Cl

And not oppose my will?

Nothing shall be refus'd.

Of Jove my father swear.

I stretch it, see;

Now by the head

Hyllus

To do what deed?

Speak, and receive my faith.

Hercules

What I command.
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Hyllus

Swear to perform

I swear; be witness, Jove.!-

Hercules

If thou art false, call vengeance on thy head.

Hyllus

I fear not vengeance, I will do the deed;

Yet be the awful imprecation made...

Hercules

Know'st thou the highest point of Cta's mount

Hyllus

Sacred to Jove?
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I know it well, for oft
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‘The victim have I offer’d on that mount,
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Hercules

Thither this body it behoves thee now

With thine own hands to bear, and with such friends

As thou shalt need; there raise an ample pile,

Much from the deeply-rooted oak, and much

From the wild olive hewn; and on it place

This body; waving then the blazing torch,

Set it on fire; and let no mark of grief

Attend the deed; but, if thou art my son,

Do it without a groan, without a tear;

Else shall my curse amidst the realms beneath

Await thee, and hang heavy on thy heart.

Hyllus

Ah me, my father, what hast thou enjoin'd!

Hercules

What must be done: if not, some other deem

Thy father, and be call'd my son no more.

Hyllus

To what a deed wou'dst thou excite thy son,

To kill my father with a murderer's hand!

Hercules

Not so: thy lenient hand I only ask

To heal the anguish of my dreadful ills.
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Hyllus

How by these flames thy body can I heal?

Hercules

If thy soul shrink from this, perform the rest.

Hyllus

These arms shall bear thee, faithful to the task.
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Hercules

And wilt thou raise, as charged, the ample pile?

Hyllus

So that my hands are guiltless of its flames,

And of thy death, thy charge I will obey.

Hercules

With this I will be satisfied: yet more

One grace, a small one, to the greater add.

Hyllus

Great though it be, it shall not be refused.

Hercules

The virgin daughter of Œchalia's king

Hyllus

Thou knowest?

Iole, if just my thought.

Hercules

Most just. This charge I give thee, Her, my son,

When I am dead (since thou hast shown a will

Prompt to be pious) mindful of thine oath

Espouse; and let no man, thy self except,

Her, for my bed design'd, presume to touch;

But give her thy fond love, my son; indulge/.

Thy father's wish this slight request refused,

Things of high import granted lose their grace.1

Hyllus

Anger, in pity of his pains, subsides;
1220

But such a wayward fancy who can bear
1220

Hercules

Thou wilt not then with my request complyed sai

Hyllus

Her, of my mother's death that was alone
1230

The guilty cause, that brought thee to this state,
1230

Her, by the vengeful furies if not urged; li
1230

Who would receive? No; rather let me die, ......

Than dwell with those whom most my soul abhors.

Hercules

This youth, it seems, a dying father's charge

Reveres not, but a curse shall from the gods

Await thy disobedience to my will.

Hyllus

Ah, to thy body not confined, I fear, olti al

Thy reason soon this malady will reachdis

Hercules

And thou the cause, for thou again dost rouse

My sleeping pains, band

Hyllus

Unhappy me, what doubts

Distract my soul!

Hercules

Thy soul averse disdains

A father's mandates.

Hyllus

Shall I then be taught

To do an impious deed?

Hercules

If it delights

My heart, not impious is the deed.

Hyllus

Thy son
1245

Dost thou with justice to this deed impel?
1245

Hercules

I call the gods to witness, it is just.

Hyllus

Then I will do it, nor oppose thy will,

Appealing to the gods that in good truth

This is thy work: nor shall I e'er be deem'd

be impious; Hercules calls the gods to witness that it would not be a deed of

impiety, but of justice; on which Hyllus immediately consents.

Impious, a father's charge whilst I obey.

Hercules

Thou hast concluded well: and now, my son,

To all thy former add one speedy grace;

Ere fierce convulsions seize me, or the whirl

Of madness, lay me on the pyre. Come then,

This toil refuse not, raise me, bear me hence;

This is my rest from ills, this my last end.

Hyllus

Nothing restrains us from this act, thus urged

By thy command, my father, thus compell'd.

Hercules

Now my firm soul, ere this disease return

To torture me, with steel, with adamant

Close up my lips, let not a cry break forth,

For this unpleasing work now gives me joy.

Hyllus

You, who attend, take up your lord: my part

In this sad business justly claims excuse.

But in this horrible event the gods,

Mortal man

Who gave him being, and are fathers call'd,

Yet unconcern'd such sufferings can behold,

Show that their minds are ruthless.

Sees not the future: we the present feel,

Mournful to us, disgraceful to the gods,

But most severe to him who bears these ills.

Chorus

Virgin, go hence: thou hast beheld the deaths

Of the illustrious, and their recent woes;

Dreadful events, but all ordain'd by Jove.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 971-1000 focus

Enter from one side an Old Man, with attendants, bearing Heracles upon a litter, and Hyllus from the house.

Hyllus

O my father! O my misery! What is to become of me? What is my best plan? Ah!

Old Man
Whispering.

Hush, young man! Do not rouse

the cruel pain that infuriates your father! He lives, though on the very edge. Bite your tongue and hold it!
975

Hyllus

What do you say, old man—is he alive?

Old Man

You must not awake the slumberer! You must not rouse and revive

his fierce, recurrent infection, my son!
980

Hyllus

But the immense weight of this misery crushes me. My heart craves release!

Heracles

O Zeus, in what land am I? Among what people

do I lie, tortured with unending agonies? O me, what pain! Oh, that accursed pest gnaws me once more!
985

Old Man

Did I not know how much better it was that you should keep silent, instead of scattering

sleep from his brain and eyes?
990

Hyllus

No, I know no way to be patient when I witness this misery.

Heracles

O Cenaean rock, foundation of my altars, what cruel reward

you have earned me for those fair offerings, O Zeus! Ah, in what ruin you have deposited me, in what ruin! Would that I had never looked on you to my sorrow with my eyes, never come face to face with this blooming madness, which no spell can soothe!
995

Where is the enchanter, where the practiced healer, save Zeus alone, who will charm this catastrophe away? I would be amazed if I saw him from even a great distance!
1000

Heracles

Ah!

Leave me! Leave me in my misfortune! Leave me to sleep my last. Where, where do you touch me? Where do you lay me? You will kill me, you will kill me! If there was any pain that slumbered, you have aroused it!

1005

It has seized me,—oh, the pest comes again!—What is your homeland, you men most ungrateful of all the Greeks? I wore out my wretched days in ridding the Greeks of pests both on the deep and throughout every forest. And now, when I am afflicted, will no man turn merciful fire or sword on me?
1010

Oh! Oh! Will no one come and strike the head from this accursed body with one fierce stroke? Ah, me!
1015

1017

Old Man

You are the man’s son, and this task exceeds my strength. Help him, for the strength to save him is at your command,

more than mine.

Hyllus

My hands reach out to him, but no resource in myself or from another can help me make his life forget its agonies. So strong is the destiny appointed by Zeus!

1024

Heracles

O my son, where are you?

Raise me, take hold of me here, here! Oh, oh, my god! Again, again the cruel pest leaps, leaps up to rend me, the
1025

wild, uncombatable plague! O Pallas, Pallas, it tortures me again! oh, please, my son, pity your sire! Draw a sword—you will not be blamed for it—strike me beneath my collarbone.
1030

Heal this pain with which your godless mother has enraged me! So may I see her fall to ruin, exactly, just exactly, as she has destroyed me!
1035

Sweet Hades, brother of Zeus, give me sleep, give me sleep. Kill me in my misery by a swift-flying doom!
1040

Chorus

I shudder, friends, to hear these sorrows

which our King suffers. What a man is here, and what misfortunes lash at him!
1045

Heracles

Ah, many and hot and cruel not in name alone have been the labors of these hands, the burdens hoisted upon these shoulders! And yet no toil ever laid on me by the bedfellow of Zeus or by the hateful Eurystheus was as harsh

as this thing which the daughter of Oeneus, fair and false, has fastened upon my back, this woven net of the Erinyes in which I perish! Plastered to my sides, it has eaten away my inmost flesh and sucks the channels of my lungs,
1050

making my body its home. Already it has drunk away my fresh lifeblood, and my whole body is wasted, conquered by these indescribable bonds. Not spearmen on the battlefield, nor the Giants’ earth-born army, nor the might of savage beasts,
1055

not Hellas , nor the land of the barbarian, nor any land which I came to purify has ever done this to me. No, a woman, a weak woman, born not to the strength of man, all alone has brought me down without a stroke of the sword!
Son, show yourself my trueborn son,
1060

and do not honor your mother’s name above your father’s. Bring out the woman that bore you, and give her with your own hands into my hand, that I may know for certain which sight grieves you more—my tortured frame, or hers, when she suffers her just punishment!
1065

Go, my son, be bold! Show your pity for me, whom many might think deserving of pity—pity me moaning and weeping like a girl! No one could say that he had ever seen this man do that before. No, always without complaint I used to pursue my troubles.
1070

But now in my misery I have been found a woman, instead of the man I used to be.
1075

1076

Come close, stand near your father and do examine the magnitude of the misfortune by which I suffer; for I will uncover my suffering. Look! See all of you this miserable body;

see how wretched, how pitiable I am!
Ah, misery! The ruinous spasm flames again; it shoots through my sides—I must wrestle once more with that cruel, devouring plague!

1080

King Hades, receive me! Strike me, O fire of Zeus! Hurl down your thunderbolt, ruler, dash it, Father, upon my head! Again the pest consumes me, it has blazed up, it has leapt to fury! O hands, my hands,
1085

O shoulders and chest and trusty arms, you are indeed those noted arms which once subdued with your might the dweller in Nemea , the scourge of herdsmen, the lion, a creature that no man might approach or confront; you tamed the Lernaean Hydra,
1090

and that monstrous army of beasts with double form, hostile, going on hoofed feet, violent, lawless, of surpassing violence; you tamed the beast in Erymanthia, and underground the three-headed whelp of Hades, a resistless terror, offspring of the fierce Echidna; you tamed the dragon
1095

that guarded the golden fruit in the farthest places of the earth. These toils and thousands more have I tasted, and no man has ever erected a trophy of victory over my hands. But now, with joints unhinged and with flesh torn to shreds, I have become the miserable spoil of an unseen destroyer,
1100

—I, who am called the son of noblest mother, I, who am reputed the seed of Zeus, lord of the starry sky.
But you may be sure of one thing: though I am nothing, though I cannot move a step, yet she who has done this deed shall feel my heavy hand even so. Let her but come to me
1105

so that she may learn to proclaim this message to all the world, that in my death, as in my life, I punished the guilty!
1110

1112

Chorus

Ah, unhappy Greece , what mourning do I foresee for her, if she is cheated of this man!

Hyllus

Father, since your pause permits an answer,

hear me, diseased though you are; I will ask you for no more than is my due. Give yourself to me in a mood not as harsh as that to which your heart is now stung. Otherwise you cannot learn in what circumstances you wrongly wish to triumph and wrongly show resentment.
1115

Heracles

Stop when you have said what it is you desire. In this pain of mine I understand none of your many riddles.
1120

Hyllus

I come to tell you of my mother—her present circumstances and how she erred unknowingly.

Heracles

You corrupt thing! Have you indeed mentioned her name again,

the name, “Mother, Murderess of Father,” in my hearing?
1125

Hyllus

Yes, for her condition is such that my silence shames me.

Heracles

No, it does not shame you, when you consider her past crimes.

Hyllus

You will not say so, at least in view of her deeds today.

Heracles

Speak—but take care that you not be found corrupt.

Hyllus

I will speak. She is just now dead, a new murder.
1130

Heracles

By whose hand? Your sinister words give a prophecy of wonder!

Hyllus

She did it by her own hand, and no other’s.

Heracles

Ah, no! Before she died by mine as she deserved!

Hyllus

Even your rage would be deflected, if you would learn the whole of it.

Heracles

Your tale begins strangely, but tell me what you mean.
1135

Hyllus

The sum is this: she did wrong, but with a good intent.

Heracles

Did she do a good deed, corrupt traitor, when she killed your father?

Hyllus

No, her plan was to apply a love-charm for your heart, when she saw your new marriage inside the house, but she missed her aim.

Heracles

And what Trachinian is so potent a charmer?
1140

Hyllus

Nessus the Centaur persuaded her long ago to inflame your desire with such a potion.

1143

Heracles

Ah! Ah, misery! I am lost, ruined, ruined! The light of day exists for me no more!

Ah, now I understand the depth of my misfortune! Go, my son! Your father is no more. Summon for me all the crop of your brothers. Summon, too, poor Alcmena, in vain the bedfellow of Zeus, so that
1145

you may hear my final words tell what oracles I know.
1150

Hyllus

I cannot. Your mother is not here. It happens that she keeps her home at Tiryns by the sea. Some of your children she has taken to raise with her there, and others, you will find, are dwelling in Thebes .

But we who are with you, Father, will render at your command all service that is needed.
1155

1157

Heracles

Hear, then, your task. You have come to where you will reveal what sort of man you are, who are called my son.
It was foreshown to me by my father far in the past that I would

perish by no creature that had the breath of life, but by one already dead, a dweller with Hades. So this savage Centaur in death has killed me alive, just as the divine will had been foretold. And I will show you how
1160

later oracles tally with the first and testify to the old prophecy. I wrote them down for myself from the mouth of my father’s oak of many tongues in the grove of the Selli, who dwell on the hills and sleep on the ground. The tree said that, at the time which lives and now is,
1165

my release from the toils laid upon me would be accomplished. And I expected prosperous days, but the meaning, it seems, was only that I would die. For toil comes no more to the dead. Since, then, my son, those words are clearly finding their fulfillment,
1170

you, on your part, must fight on my behalf. You must not delay, and so sharpen my tongue, but give your consent to work with me, like one who has discovered that best of laws, the law of obedience to your father.
1175

1179

Hyllus

Yes, Father—though in coming to this point in our talk

I begin to have some fear—I will obey you in all your decrees.
1180

Heracles

First of all, put your right hand in mine.

Hyllus

With what purpose in mind do you so strongly urge this pledge on me?

Heracles

Give your hand at once—do not disobey me!

Hyllus

Here, I hold it out to you. Nothing will be denied you.

Heracles

Now, swear by the head of Zeus my begetter!
1185

Hyllus

To do what deed? May this also be revealed?

Heracles

To perform for me the task that I shall impose.

Hyllus

I swear it with Zeus for witness of the oath.

Heracles

And pray that, if you break this oath, you may suffer.

Hyllus

I shall not suffer, since I will keep it. Yet so I pray.
1190

Heracles

Good, then do you know the summit of Oeta, Zeus’s sacred mountain?

Hyllus

I know it. I have often stood on that height to sacrifice.

Heracles

Then, you must carry my body there after raising it up in your own hands, aided by as many of our friends as you require;

and when you have cut many a branch from the deep-rooted oak and chopped down many a sturdy wild-olive, you must lay my body on them and with a flaming pine-torch burn it.
And let no tear of mourning show itself there.
1195

No, do this without laments or tears, if you are indeed my son. But if you fail to do this, even from the world below my curse and my wrath shall await you for ever.
1200

1203

Hyllus

Ah, Father, what have you said? What you have done to me!

Heracles

I have spoken that which you must perform. If you refuse,

then get yourself some other father, and be called my son no longer!
1205

Hyllus

Ah, me! What deeds you call on me to do, Father—that I should become your murderer, polluted with your blood!

Heracles

Not so, in truth, but healer of my sufferings, sole physician of my pain!

Hyllus

And how, by inflaming your body, shall I heal it?
1210

Heracles

If your fear keeps you from this one task, at least perform the rest.

Hyllus

The service of carrying you will not be refused.

Heracles

And the heaping of the pyre which I have ordered?

Hyllus

Yes, except that I will not touch fire to it with my own hands.

All else will I do, and you will have no hindrance on my part.
1215

Heracles

Well, that much will be enough—yet add one small favor to your large benefits.

Hyllus

Even if it is tremendously large, it will be done.

Heracles

Do you know, then, the maiden, daughter of Eurytus?

Hyllus

You mean Iole, I would guess.
1220

1221

Heracles

You know her. Just this is the command that I impose upon you, my son: when I am dead, if you wish to show your piety by remembrance of your oath to your father, make this woman your wife and do not disobey your father.

Let no other but you take her who has lain close at my side. You, my son, make that marriage-bond your own. Obey; for although you were obedient in great affairs, your disobedience in small ones cancels the gratitude already won.
1225

1230

Hyllus

Ah, me, it is wrong to be angry with a sick man, but who could bear to see him have thoughts like these?
1230

Heracles

Your words show no willingness to do as I say.

Hyllus

Who on earth would, when she alone is to blame for my mother’s death, and for your present condition besides?

Who would choose to do so, unless he were infected by avenging fiends? It would be better, Father, that I also die, rather than live united with those whom I most detest!
1235

Heracles

The man will render no due respect, it seems, to my dying prayer. No, be sure that the curse of the gods

will await you for disobeying my commands.
1240

Hyllus

Ah, you will soon show, it seems, how diseased you are!

Heracles

Yes, for you stir me from my slumbering plague.

Hyllus

I am miserable! I have no way out of so many dilemmas!

Heracles

Yes, since you think it wrong to obey your begetter.

Hyllus

But must I then learn to be unholy, Father?
1245

Heracles

It is not unholy, if you gladden my heart.

Hyllus

Do you, then, command me to do this as a clear duty?

Heracles

I do, and I call on the gods to bear me witness!

Hyllus

Then I will do it, and not refuse,

—calling upon the gods to witness your deed. I can never be condemned for obeying you, Father.
1250

Heracles

Your words make a fair ending, and to them, my son, quickly add the gracious deed itself, so that you may place me on the pyre before any pain returns to tear or sting me.

Come, make haste and lift me! This, in truth, is rest from troubles, this is the end, the last end, of Heracles!
1255

Hyllus

Nothing hinders the fulfillment of your wish, since your commandment strongly compels me, Father.

1259

Heracles

Come, then, before you awaken this

plague, O my hardened soul, give me a bit of steel to bind my lips like stone to stone! Stop any cry, since the task you accomplish, though by constraint, gives cause for joy.
1260

Hyllus

Lift him, attendants!

Grant me ample forgiveness for this, but also recall the great cruelty of the gods in the deeds that are being done. They beget children and are hailed as fathers, and yet they can let such sufferings pass before their eyes.

1265

No man foresees the future; the present is full of mourning for us, and of shame for the powers above, and indeed of hardship beyond compare for him who endures this disaster.
1270
To the Leader of the Chorus.

And you, maiden, do not be left at the house. You have seen immense, shocking death, with sorrows great in number and strange. And in all of them there is nothing that is not Zeus.
1275

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Ωμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ, *ὦ om. πάτερ, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ ἐγώ σου μέλεος. τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.

ΠΡΕΣΒΥΣ. σίγα, τέκνον, μὴ κινήσῃς 970 ἀγρίαν ὀδύνην πατρὸς ὠμόφρονος. ἐῇ γὰρ προπετής. ἀλλ᾽ ἴσχε δακὼν στόμα σόν.

ΥΛ. πῶς φής, γέρον γέρων γέρον; ἡ ζῇ;

ΠΡ. οὐ μὴ *᾿ξεγερεῖς μἠξεγείρεισ μὴ ξεγείρησ τὸν ὕπνῳ κάτοχον

κἀκκινήσεις κἀναστήσεις κἀκκινήσης κἀναστήσησ 975 φοιτάδα δεινὴν νόσον, ὦ τέκνον.

ΥΛ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπί μοι μελέῳ βάρος ἄπλετον ἐμμέμονε φρήν.

ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ. Ω Ζεῦ, 980 ποῖ γᾶς γᾶς γῆς ἥκω; παρὰ τοῖσι βροτῶν κεῖμαι πεπονημένος ἀλλήκτοις ὀδύναις ; οἴμοι ἐγὼ τλάμων· ἡ δ᾽ ἦδ᾽ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει, φεῦ.

ΠΡ. ἆρ᾽ ἐξῄδης ἐξήδης, ὅσον ἦν κέρδος 985 σιγῇ κεύθειν, καὶ μὴ σκεδάσai τῷδ᾽ ἀπὸ κρατὸς βλεφάρων θ᾽ ὕπνον ;

ΥΛ. οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν στέρξαιμι κακὸν τόδε λεύσσων. 990

ΗΡ. Ὦ Κηναία κρηπὶς βωμῶν,

ἐ ἔ,

ΠΡ.

Ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός, τοὔργον τόδε μεῖζον ἀνήκει ἀνείκει ἀνείκει ἀνήκει ἢ κατ᾿ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν· σὺ δὲ σύλλαβε. σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα ἔμπλεον ἢ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζειν.

ΗΡ.

ΧΟ.

κλύουσ᾽ ἔφριξα τάσδε συμφοράς τάσδε συμφορᾶς τάσδε συμφοράς, φίλαι, ἄνακτος, οἵας οἷος ὢν ἐλαύνεται.

ΗΡ. ὦ πολλὰ δὴ καὶ θερμὰ *κοὐ καὶ λόγῳ κακὰ

νῦν δ᾽ ἐκ τοιούτου θήλυς εὕρημαι τάλας.

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΧΟ.

ὦ τλῆμον ῾Ελλάς, πένθος οἷον εἰσορῶ ἕξουσαν, ἀνδρὸς τοῦδέ γ' εἰ τοῦδ' εἴγε σφαλήσεται.

ΗΡ. εἰπὼν ὁ χρήζεις λῆξον· ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν 1120 οὐδὲν ξυνίημ᾽ ξυνείημ᾽ ξυνίημ᾽ ὧν σὺ ποικίλλεις πάλαι.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΥΛ. τῆς μητρὸς ἥκω τῆς ἐμῆς φράσων, ἐν οἷς νῦν ἐστιν οἷς θ' ἥμαρτεν οὐχ ἑκουσία.

ΗΡ. ὦ παγκάκιστε, καὶ παρεμνήσω γὰρ αὖ τῆς πατροφόντου μητρός, ὡς κλύειν ἐμέ ; 1125

ΥΛ. ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως, ὥστε μὴ σιγᾶν πρέπειν.

ΗΡ. οὐ δῆτα τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις.

ΥΛ. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τοῖς γ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐρεῖς.

ΗΡ. λέγ', εὐλαβοῦ δὲ μὴ φανῇς κακὸς γεγώς.

ΥΛ. λέγω. τέθνηκεν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής. 1130

ΗΡ. πρὸς τοῦ; τέρας τοι διὰ κακῶν ἐθέσπισας.

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΥΛ. αὐτὴ αὐτῆς αὑτῆς πρὸς αὐτῆς, οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου.

ΗΡ. οἴμοι· πρὶν ὡς χρῆν σφ᾽ ἐξ ἐμῆς θανεῖν χερός;

ΥΛ. κἂν σοῦ κἄνσου στραφείη στραφοίη θυμός, εἰ τὸ πᾶν μάθοις.

ΗΡ. δεινοῦ λόγου κατῆρξας κατήρξασ· εἰπὲ δ᾽ ᾗ νοεῖς. 1135

ΥΛ. ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμ', ἥμαρτε χρημ᾽ ἥμαρτε, χρηστὰ μωμένη μνωμένη.

ΗΡ. χρήστ᾽ χρῆστ᾽ χρήστ', ὦ κάκιστε, πατέρα σὸν κτείνασα δρᾷ ;

ΥΛ. στέργημα γὰρ δοκοῦσα προσβαλεῖν σέθεν, ἀπήμπλαχ᾽ ἀπήμπλακ᾿ ἀπήμπλαχ᾿, ὡς προσεῖδε τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους.

ΗΡ. καὶ τίς τοσοῦτος φαρμακεὺς Τραχινίων ; 1140

ΥΛ, Νέσσος νέσοσ νέσσος πάλαι Κένταυρος ἐξέπεισέ νιν τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ τὸν σὸν ἐκμῆναι πόθον.

ΗΡ.

ἰοὺ ἰοὺ δύστηνος, οἴχομαι τάλας.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΗΡ.

σὺ δ᾽ οὖν ἄκουε τοὔργον· ἐξήκεις δ' ἵνα φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ. ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν πρόφαντον πρόσφατον πρόφαντον ἐκ πατρὸς πάλαι,

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ πάτερ, ταρβῶ μὲν εἰς λόγου στάσιν τοιάνδ᾽ ἐπελθών, πείσομαι δ᾽ ἅ σοι δοκεῖ. 1180

ΗΡ. ἔμβαλλε ἔμβαλε ἔμβαλλε χεῖρα δεξιὰν πρώτιστά μοι.

ΥΛ. ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ᾽ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις ;

ΗΡ. οὐ θᾶσσον οἴσεις μηδ᾽ ἀπιστήσεις ἀπιστήσησ προστήσηισ ἀπιστήσεις ἐμοί;

ΤΡΑΧΙΝΙΑΙ.

ΥΛ. ἰδοὺ προτείνω, κοὐδὲν ἀντειρήσεται.

ΗΡ. ὄμνυ ὄμνυμι Διός νυν τοῦ με φύσαντος κάρα. 1185

ΥΛ. ἢ μὴν τί δράσειν; καὶ τόδ᾽ ἐξειρήσεται;

ΗΡ. ἢ μὴν ἐμοὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ἔργον ἐκτελεῖν.

ΥΛ. ὄμνυμ᾽ ἔγωγε, Ζῆν ἔχων ἐπώμοτον.

ΗΡ. εἰ δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ἔλθοις, πημονὰς εὔχου λαβεῖν.

ΥΛ. οὐ μὴ λάβω· δράσω γάρ. εὔχομαι δ᾽ ὅμως. 1190

ΗΡ. οἶσθ᾽ οὖν τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς ὕψιστον πάγον ;

ΥΛ. οἶδ᾽, ὡς θυτήρ γε πολλὰ δὴ σταθεὶς ἄνω.

ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

ΥΛ.

οἰμοι, πάτερ, τί εἶπας τίν' εἶπας; οἷά μ' εἴργασαι.

ΗΡ. ὁποῖα δραστέ᾽ ἐστίν· εἰ δὲ μή, πατρὸς ἄλλου γενοῦ του τοῦ του μηδ᾽ ἐμὸς κληθῇς ἔτι. 1205

ΥΛ. οἴμοι μάλ᾽ αὖθις, οἷά μ' ἐκκαλεῖ, πάτερ, φονέα γενέσθαι καὶ παλαμναῖον σέθεν.

ΗΡ. οὐ δῆτ᾽ ἔγωγ', ἀλλ᾽ ὧν ἔχω παιώνιον καὶ μοῦνον ἰατῆρα τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν.

ΥΛ. καὶ πῶς ὑπαίθων ὑπαῖθων ὑπαίθων σῶμ᾽ ἂν ἰῴμην τὸ σόν; 1210

ΗΡ. ἀλλ᾽ om. εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο, τἄλλα γ᾽ μ' γ' ἔργασαι.

Ωμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ,

*ὦ om. πάτερ, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ ἐγώ σου μέλεος.

τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.

ΠΡΕΣΒΥΣ.

σίγα, τέκνον, μὴ κινήσῃς
970

ἀγρίαν ὀδύνην πατρὸς ὠμόφρονος.

ἐῇ γὰρ προπετής. ἀλλ᾽ ἴσχε δακὼν

στόμα σόν.

ΥΛ.

πῶς φής, γέρον γέρων γέρον; ἡ ζῇ;

ΠΡ.

οὐ μὴ *᾿ξεγερεῖς μἠξεγείρεισ μὴ ξεγείρησ τὸν ὕπνῳ κάτοχον

κἀκκινήσεις κἀναστήσεις κἀκκινήσης κἀναστήσησ
975

φοιτάδα δεινὴν

νόσον, ὦ τέκνον.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἐπί μοι μελέῳ

βάρος ἄπλετον ἐμμέμονε φρήν.

ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ.

Ω Ζεῦ,
980

ποῖ γᾶς γᾶς γῆς ἥκω; παρὰ τοῖσι βροτῶν

κεῖμαι πεπονημένος ἀλλήκτοις

ὀδύναις ; οἴμοι ἐγὼ τλάμων·

ἡ δ᾽ ἦδ᾽ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει, φεῦ.

ΠΡ.

ἆρ᾽ ἐξῄδης ἐξήδης, ὅσον ἦν κέρδος
985

σιγῇ κεύθειν, καὶ μὴ σκεδάσai

τῷδ᾽ ἀπὸ κρατὸς

βλεφάρων θ᾽ ὕπνον ;

ΥΛ.

οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν

στέρξαιμι κακὸν τόδε λεύσσων.
990

ΗΡ.

Ὦ Κηναία κρηπὶς βωμῶν,

Ὦ παῖ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός, τοὔργον τόδε μεῖζον ἀνήκει ἀνείκει ἀνείκει ἀνήκει

ἢ κατ᾿ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν· σὺ δὲ σύλλαβε. σοί τε γὰρ ὄμμα

ἔμπλεον ἢ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ σώζειν.

κλύουσ᾽ ἔφριξα τάσδε συμφοράς τάσδε συμφορᾶς τάσδε συμφοράς, φίλαι,

ἄνακτος, οἵας οἷος ὢν ἐλαύνεται.

ΗΡ.

ὦ πολλὰ δὴ καὶ θερμὰ *κοὐ καὶ λόγῳ κακὰ

ὦ τλῆμον ῾Ελλάς, πένθος οἷον εἰσορῶ

ἕξουσαν, ἀνδρὸς τοῦδέ γ' εἰ τοῦδ' εἴγε σφαλήσεται.

ΗΡ.

εἰπὼν ὁ χρήζεις λῆξον· ὡς ἐγὼ νοσῶν
1120

οὐδὲν ξυνίημ᾽ ξυνείημ᾽ ξυνίημ᾽ ὧν σὺ ποικίλλεις πάλαι.

ΥΛ.

τῆς μητρὸς ἥκω τῆς ἐμῆς φράσων, ἐν οἷς

νῦν ἐστιν οἷς θ' ἥμαρτεν οὐχ ἑκουσία.

ΗΡ.

ὦ παγκάκιστε, καὶ παρεμνήσω γὰρ αὖ

τῆς πατροφόντου μητρός, ὡς κλύειν ἐμέ ;
1125

ΥΛ.

ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως, ὥστε μὴ σιγᾶν πρέπειν.

ΗΡ.

οὐ δῆτα τοῖς γε πρόσθεν ἡμαρτημένοις.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τοῖς γ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐρεῖς.

ΗΡ.

λέγ', εὐλαβοῦ δὲ μὴ φανῇς κακὸς γεγώς.

ΥΛ.

λέγω. τέθνηκεν ἀρτίως νεοσφαγής.
1130

ΗΡ.

πρὸς τοῦ; τέρας τοι διὰ κακῶν ἐθέσπισας.

ΥΛ.

αὐτὴ αὐτῆς αὑτῆς πρὸς αὐτῆς, οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου.

ΗΡ.

οἴμοι· πρὶν ὡς χρῆν σφ᾽ ἐξ ἐμῆς θανεῖν χερός;

ΥΛ.

κἂν σοῦ κἄνσου στραφείη στραφοίη θυμός, εἰ τὸ πᾶν μάθοις.

ΗΡ.

δεινοῦ λόγου κατῆρξας κατήρξασ· εἰπὲ δ᾽ ᾗ νοεῖς.
1135

ΥΛ.

ἅπαν τὸ χρῆμ', ἥμαρτε χρημ᾽ ἥμαρτε, χρηστὰ μωμένη μνωμένη.

ΗΡ.

χρήστ᾽ χρῆστ᾽ χρήστ', ὦ κάκιστε, πατέρα σὸν κτείνασα δρᾷ ;

ΥΛ.

στέργημα γὰρ δοκοῦσα προσβαλεῖν σέθεν,

ἀπήμπλαχ᾽ ἀπήμπλακ᾿ ἀπήμπλαχ᾿, ὡς προσεῖδε τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους.

ΗΡ.

καὶ τίς τοσοῦτος φαρμακεὺς Τραχινίων ;
1140

ΥΛ,

Νέσσος νέσοσ νέσσος πάλαι Κένταυρος ἐξέπεισέ νιν

τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ τὸν σὸν ἐκμῆναι πόθον.

σὺ δ᾽ οὖν ἄκουε τοὔργον· ἐξήκεις δ' ἵνα

φανεῖς ὁποῖος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐμὸς καλεῖ.

ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν πρόφαντον πρόσφατον πρόφαντον ἐκ πατρὸς πάλαι,

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ πάτερ, ταρβῶ μὲν εἰς λόγου στάσιν

τοιάνδ᾽ ἐπελθών, πείσομαι δ᾽ ἅ σοι δοκεῖ.
1180

ΗΡ.

ἔμβαλλε ἔμβαλε ἔμβαλλε χεῖρα δεξιὰν πρώτιστά μοι.

ΥΛ.

ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ᾽ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις ;

ΗΡ.

οὐ θᾶσσον οἴσεις μηδ᾽ ἀπιστήσεις ἀπιστήσησ προστήσηισ ἀπιστήσεις ἐμοί;

ΥΛ.

ἰδοὺ προτείνω, κοὐδὲν ἀντειρήσεται.

ΗΡ.

ὄμνυ ὄμνυμι Διός νυν τοῦ με φύσαντος κάρα.
1185

ΥΛ.

ἢ μὴν τί δράσειν; καὶ τόδ᾽ ἐξειρήσεται;

ΗΡ.

ἢ μὴν ἐμοὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ἔργον ἐκτελεῖν.

ΥΛ.

ὄμνυμ᾽ ἔγωγε, Ζῆν ἔχων ἐπώμοτον.

ΗΡ.

εἰ δ᾽ ἐκτὸς ἔλθοις, πημονὰς εὔχου λαβεῖν.

ΥΛ.

οὐ μὴ λάβω· δράσω γάρ. εὔχομαι δ᾽ ὅμως.
1190

ΗΡ.

οἶσθ᾽ οὖν τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς ὕψιστον πάγον ;

ΥΛ.

οἶδ᾽, ὡς θυτήρ γε πολλὰ δὴ σταθεὶς ἄνω.

ΗΡ.

ὁποῖα δραστέ᾽ ἐστίν· εἰ δὲ μή, πατρὸς

ἄλλου γενοῦ του τοῦ του μηδ᾽ ἐμὸς κληθῇς ἔτι.
1205

ΥΛ.

οἴμοι μάλ᾽ αὖθις, οἷά μ' ἐκκαλεῖ, πάτερ,

φονέα γενέσθαι καὶ παλαμναῖον σέθεν.

ΗΡ.

οὐ δῆτ᾽ ἔγωγ', ἀλλ᾽ ὧν ἔχω παιώνιον

καὶ μοῦνον ἰατῆρα τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν.

ΥΛ.

καὶ πῶς ὑπαίθων ὑπαῖθων ὑπαίθων σῶμ᾽ ἂν ἰῴμην τὸ σόν;
1210

ΗΡ.

ἀλλ᾽ om. εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο, τἄλλα γ᾽ μ' γ' ἔργασαι.

ΥΛ.

φορᾶς γέ τοι φθόνησις οὐ γενήσεται.

ΗΡ.

ἢ καὶ πυρᾶς πλήρωμα τῆς εἰρημένης ;

ΥΛ.

ὅσον γ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς μὴ ποτιψαύων χεροῖν·

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα πράξω κοὐ καμεῖ καμηῖ κἀμῇ τοὐμὸν μέρος.
1215

ΗΡ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἀρκέσει καὶ ταῦτα· πρόσνειμαι προνεῖμαι πρόνεῖμαι πρόσνειμαι δέ μοι

ΥΛ.

εἰ καὶ μακρὰ μακρὰν κάρτ᾽ κρατ᾿ κάρτ᾿ ἐστίν, ἐργασθήσεται.

ΗΡ.

τὴν Εὐρυτείαν οἶσθα δῆτα παρθένον παρνον παρθένον ;

ΥΛ.

Ιόλην ἔλεξας, ὥς *γ᾽ ὥστ' ἐπεικάζειν ἐμέ.
1220

οἴμοι. τὸ μὲν νοσοῦντι θυμοῦσθαι κακόν,
1230

τὸ τῶι τὸ δ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ὁρᾶν φρονοῦντα τίς ποτ᾽ ἂν φέροι;

ΗΡ.

ὡς ἐργασείων οὐδὲν οὐδὲν οὐδὲν οὐδὲν ὧν λέγω θροεῖς.

ΥΛ.

οἴμοι ὤμοι οἴμοι, τάχ᾽, ὡς ὥσ ἔοικας, ὡς νοσεῖς φράσεις.

ΗΡ.

σὺ γάρ μ᾽ ἀπ᾿ εὐνασθέντος ἀπευνασθέντος ἐκκινεῖς κακοῦ.

ΥΛ.

δείλαιος, ὡς ἐς πολλὰ τἀπορεῖν ἔχω.

ΗΡ.

οὐ γὰρ δικαιοῖς τοῦ φυτεύσαντος κλύειν κλύειν.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἐκδιδαχθῶ δῆτα δυσσεβεῖν, πάτερ;
1245

ΗΡ.

οὐ δυσσέβεια δυσέβεια δυσσέβεια, τοὐμὸν εἰ τέρψεις κέαρ.

ΥΛ.

πράσσειν ἄνωγας οὖν με πανδίκως τάδε;

ΗΡ.

ἔγωγε· τούτων μάρτυρας καλῶ θεούς.

ΥΛ.

τοιγὰρ ποιήσω, κοὐκ ἀπώσομαι, τὸ σὸν

θεοῖσι δεικνὺς δεικνὺς ἔργον. οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε
1250

κακὸς φανείην σοί γε πιστεύσας, πάτερ.

ΥΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν εἰργει σοὶ τελειοῦσθαι τελειοῦσσθαι τάδε,

ἐπεὶ κελεύεις κἀξαναγκάζεις, πάτερ.

Ὕλλος

οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ,

πάτερ, οἴμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος.

τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι.

Πρέσβυς

σίγα, τέκνον, μὴ κινήσῃς
975

ἀγρίαν ὀδύνην πατρὸς ὠμόφρονος·

ζῇ γὰρ προπετής· ἀλλʼ ἴσχε δακὼν στόμα σόν.

Ὕλλος

πῶς φής, γέρον; ἦ ζῇ;

Πρέσβυς

οὐ μὴ ʼξεγερεῖς τὸν ὕπνῳ κάτοχον

κἀκκινήσεις κἀναστήσεις

φοιτάδα δεινὴν νόσον, ὦ τέκνον.
980

Ὕλλος

ἀλλʼ ἐπί μοι μελέῳ

βάρος ἄπλετον· ἐμμέμονεν φρήν.

Ἡρακλῆς

ὦ Ζεῦ,

ποῖ γᾶς ἥκω; παρὰ τοῖσι βροτῶν

κεῖμαι πεπονημένος ἀλλήκτοις
985

ὀδύναις; οἴμοι μοι ἐγὼ τλάμων·

ἡ δʼ αὖ μιαρὰ βρύκει. φεῦ.

Πρέσβυς

ἆρʼ ἐξῄδη σʼ ὅσον ἦν κέρδος

σιγῇ κεύθειν καὶ μὴ σκεδάσαι

τῷδʼ ἀπὸ κρατὸς βλεφάρων θʼ ὕπνον;
990

Ὕλλος

οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν

στέρξαιμι κακὸν τόδε λεύσσων.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἒ ἔ,

ἐᾶτέ μʼ, ἐᾶτέ με δύσμορον ὕστατον,
1005

ἐᾶθʼ ὕστατον εὐνᾶσθαι.

Ἡρακλῆς

ἒ ἔ,
1015

οὐδʼ ἀπαράξαι κρᾶτα βίᾳ θέλει

μολὼν τοῦ στυγεροῦ; φεῦ φεῦ.