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663-820

Third

ἐπεισόδιον

. Deianeira confides to the Chorus her fear that a danger may lurk in the gift which she has just sent to Heracles. Hyllus enters (734). He describes the sufferings of his father, who is being carried home; and ends by invoking curses upon his mother. She goes silently into the house.

περαιτέρω , absol., implying

περαιτέρω τοῦ δέοντος

( Plat. Gorg. 484C ).

Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως : the form of address implies earnest sympathy with the terror which they perceive in her: cp. the

παῖ Μενοικέως

of the Chorus in Ant.1098.

ἀθυμῶ δ’, εἰ φανήσομαι : cp. 176 n.: Eur. Andr.61

φόβῳ μέν, εἴ τις δεσποτῶν αἰσθήσεται.— ἀπ’ ἐλπίδος καλῆς

, as the outcome of it: cp. Soph. Ant. 695

κάκιστ’ ἀπ’ ἔργων εὐκλεεστάτων φθίνει

. (Not, ‘contrary to it.’)

οὐ δή in a question, as Ph.900 : more often,

οὐ δή που

( O. T.1472 , Ant.381 ), or

οὐ δή ποτε

( Tr.876 , El.1108 ).— τι is acc. of respect, and the gen. depends on it: ‘Surely thou art not anxious as to aught belonging to, concerning thy gift?’ This is simpler than to take the gen. as depending on ἐλπίδος , and τι as adv.: ‘Not, perchance, (the hope concerning) thy gift?’—For the plur. δωρημάτων , cp. 494 : for the dat.

Ἡρακλεῖ

, depending on the verbal notion, Plat. Euthyph. 15A

τὰ παρ’ ἡμῶν δῶρα τοῖς θεοῖς

: and Soph. O. C.1026 n.

ὥστε μήποτ’ ἂν παραινέσαι , i.e.,

ὥστε οὔποτ’ ἂν παραινέσαιμι

. The words προθυμίαν … ἔργου form a single notion, the sense being the same as if ἄδηλον were

ἀδήλου

. Cp. Ant.794 n.

ἄδηλον

here means, ‘untried by previous test’: cp. her own words in 590 f. So in Thuc.5. 103

ἀφανεῖς ἐλπίδες

(as opp. to

φανεραί

) are those which rest on no solid ground. Cp. id. 1. 78

ἐν ἀδήλῳ κινδυνεύεται

.—For λαβεῖν , ‘conceive,’ cp. Soph. Ph.1078

φρόνησιν...λάβοι

: Soph. Ai.345

αἰδῶ...λάβοι

εἰ διδακτόν : cp. 64 .

οἷον, ἢν φράσω

κ.τ.λ.

The choice here seems to lie between two courses.

(1) To retain ὑμῖν , but with a comma after it, and to supply from it

ὑμᾶς

as subject to μαθεῖν : ‘such that, if I tell it to you, ye will learn an unexpected marvel.’ Cp. Plut. 349

ποῖός τις

( sc.

χρησμός

) ;—

οἷος

... |

ἢν μὲν κατορθώσωμεν, εὖ πράττειν ἀεί

: where the subject to the inf. is

ἡμᾶς

, supplied from the preceding verb.

(2) To read ὑμᾶς (subject to

μαθεῖν

) instead of ὑμῖν , which may well have arisen from φράσω . This course is recommended by the lucid construction, and by the better rhythm. Cp. O. T.1295 f.

θέαμα δ’ εἰσόψει τάχα

τοιοῦτον οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντ’ ἐποικτίσαι

Others, taking μαθεῖν with θαῦμ’ ἀνέλπιστον only, suppose an ellipse of

ἔσται

(or an equiv. word): ‘Such that, if I tell it, (it will be) an unexpected marvel for you to hear.’ But such an ellipse is extremely harsh. Wunder's ἂν φράσαι (with

ἐμέ

understood as subject) is possible, but loses the emphasis prepared by

ἢν φράσω

, and gives an unpleasing rhythm.

τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον . The word

ἐνδυτήρ

(found only here) expresses that the

πέπλος

was not for ordinary use, but was one which Heracles was to assume for the solemn rite. Thus it is equivalent to ‘stately,’ or ‘festal.’ Cp. Eur. Tro. 258

ἐνδυτῶν στεφέων ἱεροὺς στολμούς

, ‘the sacred apparel of wreaths with which thou hast been invested’ (because they mark Cassandra's prophetic character).—The

χιτών

belonged to the class of

ἐνδύματα

, garments ‘put on’ (and not merely wrapped round the body); while the Homeric

πέπλος

must be classed with

ἐπιβλήματα

(cp. Il.5. 734 ff.). But we cannot well regard

ἐνδυτήρ

here as a qualifying epithet, meaning that this

πέπλος

was of the

χιτών

class ( cp. 602 n.).

ἀργὴς … πόκος : I follow Wunder and Lobeck in thus amending ἀργῆτ’ … πόκῳ . The latter reading, if sound, presents a dilemma. (1) ἀργῆτ’ =

ἀργῆτι

. But it is now generally recognised that the epic license of eliding datival

was foreign to Attic Tragedy: the supposed examples all admit of easy remedy: see O. C., Appendix on v. 1436. (2) ἀργῆτα , agreeing with

πέπλον

: ‘white, glistering.’ This is possible; for, though τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον precedes, a second epithet might follow: cp. n. on O. T.1199. But the effect of such an epithet, added at the end of the clause, would here be very weak. And if

ἀργῆτα

is taken as the proleptic predicate (‘anointed so as to make it shine,’ Wecklein), this does not suit the sense. On the other hand, the connection of

ἀργής

with

πόκος

is confirmed by Aesch. Eum.45

ἀργῆτα μαλλόν

Blaydes suggests

ἀργῆς οἰὸς εὐέρου πόκῳ

: but the usage of

ἀργός

precludes this. A change of ἀργὴς … πόκος into ἀργῆτ’ (meant for

ἀργῆτι

)... πόκῳ would easily have been induced by the preceding ᾧ .— εὐέρου , the Attic form, acc. to the schol. on Ar. Av.121 (where metre requires

εὔερον

πρὸς οὐδενὸς (neut.) τῶν ἔνδον , by nothing in the house (such as fire, or a corrosive substance). The conj. τῶν ἐκτός is ingenious, but seems unnecessary.— φθίνει , instead of

φθίνον

: see n. on O. T.1134.

ψῇ is not elsewhere intrans. ( cp. 698 ), and hence has been suspected here: but cp. 128 , n. on

ἐπὶ...κυκλοῦσιν.— κατ’ ἄκρας σπιλάδος

, down from the top of a flat stone, or slab, in the

αὐλή

of the house. Schol.:

ὡς οὖν ἐπὶ λίθου θεμένη αὐτὸ τοῦτό φησι

. On coming into the court-yard from the room in which she had secretly anointed the robe, she had carelessly thrown the tuft of wool down upon this stone.

Such is the only sense which the words will bear. They are perhaps corrupt. Sophocles has the dat. plur.

σπιλάδεσσι

, in the ordinary sense, ‘sea-rocks,’ in fr. 341; but the sense of the sing. here is peculiar. And vv. 695—698 would naturally suggest that she had thrown the tuft at once on the ground, rather than on a stone from which it afterwards crumbled down.

Possibly the true reading is κατ’ ἄκρας σπόδιον , ‘utterly pulverised,’ and σπιλάδος arose, when the letters after σπ had been partly effaced, through the wish to find a subst. which could agree with

ἄκρας

. Cp.

συιδ. κατ’ ἄκρας· δἰ ὅλου, παντελῶς

: and Soph. O. C.1242.

ἐκτενῶ : Ai.1040

μὴ τεῖνε μακράν

: Aesch. Eum.201

τοσοῦτο μῆκος ἔκτεινον λόγουν

γὰρ , prefatory.

ὧν , for

οὒς

, by attract. to the subsequent θεσμῶν : cp. Dem. or. 20 § 87

ὧν ἔργῳ πεποίηκεν ἕκαστος..., τούτων ἐκ λόγου κρίσις γίγνεται.

ὁ θὴρ Κένταυρος , as in 1162 :

θήρ

may here be rendered by an adj., but is strictly a subst., the general term in apposition with the special.

πονῶν πλευρὰν : Hense quotes Ennius Ann.601 tum laterali' dolor, certissimu' nuntiu' mortis.

πικρᾷ , cp. Ai.1024

πικροῦ

| ...

κνώδοντος

: Il.5. 278

πικρὸς ὀϊστός.— γλωχῖνι

. This sense of

γλωχίν

(which means ‘the end of a strap’ in Il.24. 274 ) does not occur elsewhere in poetry of the classical age, but is attested by Il.5. 393

ὀϊστῷ τριγλώχινι

( cp. 11 . 507), a three-barbed arrow: which shows that the schol. here is right in identifying

γλωχίν

with the Homeric

ὄγκος

( uncus), ‘barb’ of an arrow ( Il.4. 151 ).

προὐδιδάξατο , ‘had taught me beforehand’: distinguish the other sense of this compound, ‘to teach gradually’ ( Ai.163 , Ph.1015 ). The midd. voice here suits the fact of the Centaur's hidden design. In Plut. 687,

ὁ γὰρ ἱερεὺς αὐτοῦ με προὐδιδάξατο

, the verb might be causal (‘had me instructed beforehand’). Sometimes, however, the midd.

διδάσκομαι

hardly differs from

διδάσκω

, unless by emphasising the te cher's effort (cp. Pind. O.8. 59 : Nub. 783).

θεσμῶν οὐδέν . The regular plur. was

θεσμοί

, though in fr. 90 we find

οὐ γάρ τι θεσμὰ τοῖσιν ἀστίταις πρέπει

. Cp. Ph.24

τἀπίλοιπα τῶν λόγων

(n.).— ἐσῳζόμην , remembered: Plat. Rep. 455B

ἂ ἔμαθε, σῴζεται

: cp. Soph. O. T.318 n.

χαλκῆς … δέλτου . This image is peculiarly forcible in connection with θεσμῶν ,—the word which expresses her religious reverence for the Centaur's precepts. Laws, rituals, oracles, etc., were often engraved upon bronze tables. An example is afforded by the ‘Eugubinae Tabulae’ preserved at Gubbio, which concern sacred rites. Diod. Sic. 12. 26 (referring to the Lawsof the XII. Tables)

εἰς δώδεκα χαλκοῦς πίνακας χαράξαντες οἱ ὕπατοι

. Plut. Alex.17

δέλτον...χαλκῆν, τύπους ἔχουσαν ἀρχαίων γραμμάτων

(an oracle): where, for

τύπους

(graven characters), cp. Pollux 8. 128

δέλτοις χαλκαῖς ἦσαν πάλαι ἐντετυπωμένοι οἱ νόμοι οἱ περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ τῶν πατρίων

. Cic. Phil. 1. § 26

Quod ita erit gestum, id lex erit? et in aes incidi iubebitis...?

καίμοι

κ.τ.λ.

Those who agree with Wunder in rejecting this verse hold that σῴζειν depends on προὐδιδάξατο (681), and urge that κἄδρων τοιαῦτα in 688 condemns τοιαῦτ’ ἔδρων here. The question must be considered in the light of the whole context. She begins by saying that the Centaur's dying precepts remained in her memory as if graven on bronze (680—683). That passage is much more impressive if a full stop follows 683. She then says, ‘Now these were his precepts,’— verse 684 marking her anxiety to explain that she had simply obeyed him to the letter. The reiteration,

κἄδρων τοιαῦτα

, in 688, is unnecessary; but, in her actual state of mind, it is full of dramatic truth. The scholiast read this verse.

ἄπυρον

κ.τ.λ.

: cp. 606 f.—For ἄθικτον with gen., cp. 23 n.

ἕως νιν . The solecism in the MSS.,

ἕως ἂν

, is like their

πρὶν ἂν θάνοι

in 2 f., and

ἡνίκ’ ἃν...ἀπείη

in 164 f.

που : neither Nessus (575) nor she herself had ever thought of the charm being used on any one except Heracles. But, as she shrank from naming Eurystheus (35), so, at this moment, she shrinks from naming the man whom she loves.

ἔχρισα μὲν corresponds with κἄθηκα in 691, not with εἴσω δ’ in 693. Cp. Ai.1

ἀεὶ μέν

,...3

καὶ νῦν

: Thuc.2. 65 § 12

δέκα μὲν ἔτη ἀντεῖχον...καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἐνέδοσαν

. So

μέν...τε

, below Thuc., 1012. — κατ’ οἶκον , in the house (and not outside the gates): ἐν δόμοις , in the

γυναικωνῖτις

, and not in the open

αὐλή

. For this limited sense of

δόμοι

, cp. Hom. Od.6. 303

ἀλλ’ ὁπότ’ ἄν σε δόμοι κεκύθωσι καὶ αὐλή

κτησίου , ‘belonging to the household,’— i.e., to a flock kept near the house, to supply food, and victims for sacrifice.

Ζεὺς Κτήσιος

was more especially the tutelar god of household property; hence domestic slaves stand

κτησίου βωμοῦ πέλας

( Aesch. Ag. 1038 ). The epithet here does not, however, directly allude to him, as if meaning, ‘devoted to the

Κτήσιος

.’

ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου : cp. O. C.677

ἀνήνεμον

... |

χειμώνων

(n.).

ζυγάστρῳ : for the dat., cp. 564 . Xen. Cyr.7. 3. 1 uses

ζύγαστρα

of boxes in which treasure is packed up for removal. The word meant simply, ‘something fitted together,’ ‘compacted’ (

ζυγ‐

κοίλῳ : the addition of this adj. is sometimes, esp. in poetry, merely picturesque: cp. O. C.1593 , Ai.1165 : Eur. Ion 19

κοίλης...ἀντίπηγος

: Her.4. 2

ἀγγήϊα κοῖλα.— ὥσπερ εἴδετε

. They saw the

ζύγαστρον

, but not the act of placing the robe in it: this (as

ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου

shows) had been done in the house.

εἴσω δ’ ἀποστείχουσα , returning into the house (632). The words

ὥσπερ εἴδετε

indicate the previous dialogue in front of it (531—632).

φάτιν is boldly used here, but appears sound. The harshness is modified by the context: i.e., the antithesis between uttering and comprehending has led the poet to strengthen ἄφραστον by a noun specially suited to it, as he strengthens ἀξύμβλητον by the addition of ἀνθρώπῳ μαθεῖν . In El.1466 , on the other hand,

δέδορκα φάσμα

... |

πεπτωκός

(the corpse), the subst. is accommodated to the verb.—For ἀξύμβλητον cp. Aelian Nat. An. 6. 60

τῶν ἀτεκμάρτων τε καὶ ἀσυμβλήτων

. Eur. Med.675

σοφώτερ’ ἢ κατ’ ἄνδρα συμβαλεῖν ἔπη

κάταγμα properly meant the ball of wool on the distaff, from which the thread is drawn down (

κατάγεται

, deducitur) by the spinner. ( Polit. 282 E: Soph.226B. ) Here it is merely a synonym for

μαλλός

(690). In Ar. Lys.583 ff.

κάταγμα

is the thread itself.

προὔχριον , before putting it into the casket (692). Lucian Alex.21

σιάλῳ τὴν σφραγῖδα προχρίσας.— φλόγα

comes first, since heat is the main point; then, to avoid ambiguity, ἀκτῖν’ ἐς ἡλιῶτιν is added. Seneca Herc. Oet. 725 translates these words: medios in ignes solis et claram facem.

Wunder rashly rejects the verse. Dobree's objection to it seems to have been the repeated ἐς . His words are merely: ‘Suspectus ob constructionem; nisi legas

φλόγα ἀκτῖνος ἡλιῶτιν

’: II. Adv.38. But the prep. is often thus repeated when a second noun stands in apposition with the first, serving to explain it: e.g., Lysias or. 6 § 14

καὶ ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ, ἐν τῷ σεμνοτάτῳ...δικαστηρίῳ

: Laches 183 C

ἐκ τούτων οἱ ὀνομαστοὶ γίγνονται, ἐκ τῶν ἐπιτηδευσάντων ἕκαστα

: Prot.358 B

αἱ ἐπὶ τούτου πράξεις ἅπασαι, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀλύπως ζῆν

ῥεῖ is equiv. to

ψῇ

in 678. The wool shrivels away; and presently there is nothing to be seen but a powder, like saw-dust, on the ground. For

ῥεῖν

, cp. O. C.259 n.

κατέψηκται : the perf. of instant result: cp. Ph.76

ὄλωλα

(n.). Seneca Herc. Oet. 736

Dumque ipsa miror, causa mirandi perit.

μορφῇ , dat. of respect: μάλιστ’ εἰκαστὸν , lit., ‘most nearly comparable’; but, instead of a simple dat.,

ἐκβρώμασι

, we have a clause with ὥστε (=

ὡς

), as if ( e.g. )

οὕτως ἔχον

had preceded.

πρίονος ἐκβρώματ’ =

πρίσματα

(or

παραπρίσματα

): Schneidewin cp. Nicander Ther.52

καὶ ἡ πρίονεσσι τομαίη

κέδρος, πουλυόδουσι καταψηχθεῖσα γενείοις.— ἐν τομῇ ξύλου

ὅτε ξύλον τέμνεται

: for the form of the phrase, cp. Ant.24 n.

προπετές , where it was thrown down: schol.

ἐρριμμένον

( cp. 695 )

καὶ προπεσὸν χαμαί.— ὅθεν

, by attract. to

ἐκ γῆς

, instead of

ὅπου

: cp. Thuc.1. 89 § 3

διεκομίζοντο εὐθὺς ὅθεν

ἐντεῦθεν ὅποι

)

ὑπεξέθεντο παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας

. In Soph. O. C.1226 the doubtful

κεῖθεν

is not similar.— προὔκειτ’, ἀναζέουσι : past tense combined with historic pres. ( Soph. Ant.254 n.).— θρομβώδεις ἀφροί , foam, thickened into clots (

θρόμβοι, τρέφω

): hence the plur., which Seneca imitates, Herc. Oet. 737 Quin ipsa tellus spumeos motus agit.

πίονος ποτοῦ γλ. ὀπώρας ἀπὸ Β. ἀμπέλου : the rich juice of the blue fruit (obtained) from the vine: i.e., the

γλεῦκος

, or ‘must,’ newly pressed from the ripe grapes; which foams when poured on the ground, since it has not yet passed through the stage of fermentation. Schol.:

μάλιστα δὲ ὁ νέος οἶνος, θερμὸς ὤν, εἰ πέσοι χαμαί, ἀφρίζει

. The simile is suggested chiefly by the foam, but partly also by the purple tinge which the poison gives to the blood.

χυθέντος should not be taken with Β. ἀπ’ ἀμπέλου , since the grapes have already been gathered.

For ὀπώρας as=‘fruit,’ cp. fr. 234. 7

πᾶσα τέμνεται βλαστουμένη

καλῶς ὀπώρα, κἀνακίρναται ποτόν

.—For Βακχίας , ib. 2

Βάκχειος βότρυς

: Geo. 2. 5 tibi pampineo gravidus autumno | Floret ager, spumat plenis vindemia labris. For πίονος cp. Tibull. 1. 1. 10 pleno pinguia musta lacu.

ποῖ γνώμης πέσω : she knows not to what counsels she can have recourse: i.e., she can think of no remedy. Cp. O. C.170

ποῖ τις φροντίδος ἔλθῃ

; (n.).

ὁρῶ δέ μ’ … ἐξειργασμένην . The constr. with the acc. can be used whenever the speaker looks at his own case from without. But the examples are of two kinds. (1) Most often there is a contrast of persons; El.65 : Andoc. or. 1 § 30

φημὶ δεῖν ἐκείνους μὲν ἀπολέσθαι..., ἐμὲ δὲ σῴζεσθαι

. (2) Sometimes, as here, there is no such contrast, and the effect is merely to give a certain objectivity: Soph. El.470

πικρὰν

δοκῶ με πεῖραν τήνδε τολμήσεὶν ἔτι

: so Soph. Ai. 606 f.: Plat. Rep. 400B

οἶμαι δέ με ἀκηκοέναι

. This is esp. fitting when the speaker is in an evil plight, and means that he can see himself as others see him: so Xen. An.5. 6 § 20

νῦν μὲν ὁρῶμεν ἡμᾶς ἀπόρους ὄντας κ.τ.λ.

πόθεν , ‘from what motive?’: ἀντὶ τοῦ , ‘in gratitude for what?’

ἂν … παρέσχ’ : (if he had shown kindness,— as he did not), why would he have done so?

ἧς … ὕπερ , on account of whom,=

ἧς ἕνεκα

, or

δἰ ἥν

: cp. Ant.932

βραδυτῆτος ὕπερ

ἀποφθίσαι :

φθίσω

and

ἔφθισα

have

ι—

in epic poetry, but

ι^

in Attic: cp. 1043 : O. T.202 : Ai.1027.

ἀρκεῖ , ‘ anails’: not, ‘ suffices.’ In the latter sense,

ἀρκεῖ

is usu. impers., but in the former, personal, as it is here ( sc.

ἡ μάθησις

ἄρνυμαι : Ant.903 : Ph.838.

εἴ τι μὴ : 586 n.

ψευσθήσομαι γνώμης : Ai.1382

καί μ’ ἔψευσας ἐλπίδος πολύ

ἄτρακτον : cp. Ph.290 n.—

θεὸν Χείρωνα . Cheiron, as the son of the god Cronus by the nymph Philyra, was of a different origin from the other Centaurs, the descendants of Ixion and Nephelè. So Pindar distinguishes him as

Κρονίδαν

Κένταυρον

( N. 3. 47),

οὐρανίδα γόνον εὐρυμέδοντα Κρόνου

( P. 3. 4): and Apollonius Rhodius as

ἄλλα μὲν ἵππῳ

, |

ἄλλα θεῷ ἀτάλαντον

(2. 1240). He was still more separated from the rest of the Centaur tribe by his just and gentle character ( Il.11. 832

δικαιότατος Κενταύρων

). Hence Greek art, after the in vention of the hippo-centaur (564 n.), continued to portray Cheiron under the more humane type of the andro-centaur. This is his form on Greek vases, down at least to 400 B.C. Later art neglected this distinction. (See Colvin S. in Journ. Hellen. Stud., vol. 1. pp. 133— 137.)

πημήναντα . Other Centaurs, routed by Heracles in Arcadia, fled to Cheiron near Cape Malea; and the hero, in shooting at them, accidentally wounded his friend. Cheiron could not be healed; and, being a god, could not die. At last Zeus allowed him to exchange fates, the immortal for the mortal, with Prometheus; and so he found rest ( Apollod.2. 5. 4 ).

Ovid varies the story. Heracles visited Cheiron on Mount Pelion; a poisoned arrow chanced to fall from the hero's quiver on the left foot of the Centaur.

Virus edax superabat opem...Nona dies aderat, cum tu, iustissime Chiron, | Bis septem stellis corpore cinctus eras.

( Fast. 5. 387—414.)

χὧνπερ seems a certain correction of χὥσπερ . The latter has been explained thus:—(1) ‘Even as it may touch, (so surely) does it destroy.’ This is possible, but somewhat forced; certainly less probable than

χὧνπερ

. (2) ‘ If only it touch them.’ This view—that

ὥσπερ <*>ν

= dummodo—rests on passages in which

ὡς

should be corrected to

ἕως

( O. C.1361 , Ph.1330 , Ai.1117 ).—Few will defend

χὥσπερ

as=

καὶ ὅσπερ

(‘whoever touches the arrow’); or accept, with Wunder,

χὥσαπερ

ἐκ … σφαγῶν τοῦδε διελθὼν , having passed out from the wounds of Nessus.

ἰὸς αἵματος , a poison consisting (or contained) in blood, because the poison from the arrow had become mixed with the blood; and it was in the form of blood (572

ἀμφίθρεπτον α<*>μα

) that the poison had been applied. For the ‘defining’ gen., cp. El.682

πρόσχημ’ ἀγῶνος

πρόσχ. ἀγωνιστικόν

τόνδε , Heracles.

τοῦδε—ὅδε—τόνδε

: this repetition of the pron., in different relations, has been thought strange. Yet cp. O. T.948

καὶ νῦν ὅδε

πρὸς τῆς τύχης ὄλωλεν, οὐδὲ τοῦδ’ ὕπο

: where

ὅδε

is Polybus, and

τοῦδ’

, Oedipus. She reasons from past to present:—‘ the same poison, coming from this source, will kill this man.’ The reiterated pronoun really marks the stress of the inductive argument.

Others take ἐκ … τοῦδε as=‘from this arrow’: then

σφαγῶν

must go either with

διελθών

, ‘having come through (from) the wounds’; or with

αἵματος

, ‘poison contained in the blood of the wounds.’ But the point is that the poison, though it comes to Heracles from the wound of Nessus, and not (as to its former victims) directly from the arrow, is still the same. And, since ὅδε expresses this, τοῦδ’ , if it referred to the arrow, would be superfluous.

δόξῃ γοῦν ἐμῇ : cp. Phaed.68B

οὐκ ἄσμενος εἶσιν αὐτόσε ; οἴεσθαί γε χρή

. For

γοῦν

, cp. n. on Ant.45

τὸν γοῦν ἐμόν

σφαλήσεται : cp. 297 ,

σφαλῇ. — ταὐτῇ σὺν ὁρμῇ

, lit., ‘borne along by the same impetus.’ The

ὁρμή

, impetus, is that of the fate which brings Heracles low: she means, ‘at the same moment I, too, shall be swept out of life.’ Cp. Xen. Ages.2. 29

ἐνόμιζε γὰρ τῇ αὐτῇ ὁρμῇ τῷ μὲν Αἰγυπτίῳ χάριν ἀποδώσειν..., τοὺς δ’ ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ Ἕλληνας πάλιν ἐλευθερώσειν, τῷ δὲ Πέρσῃ δίκην ἐπιθήσειν

: i.e., ‘by the same effort.’ The phrase was perhaps a familiar one, to which the poet has here given a new turn.

For σὺν , cp. Theocr. 25. 251

τηλοῦ δὲ μιῇ πήδησε σὺν ὁρμῇ

(‘at one bound’: though

μιᾷ ὁρμῇ

usu.=‘by a common impulse,’ Xen. An.3. 2. 9 ).

προτιμᾷ with inf.; cp. Her.3. 21

προτιμῶν πολλοῦ ἐμοὶ ξεῖνος γενέσθαι. — μὴ

(‘generic’) with κακὴ , rather than with the inf.: cp. 725 : fr. 154. 2

ἔχοιμ’ ἀν αὐτὸ μὴ κακῶς ἀπεικάσαι

. The adj. is not here a mere synonym for

δυσγενής

(as in O. T.1063 ), but rather blends the ideas of birth and character. For the sentiment, cp. El.989

ζῆν αἰσχρὸν αἰσχρῶς τοῖς καλῶς πεφυκόσιν

: Ai.479.

ἔργα δείν’ : the ‘deeds’ are the dire results which Deianeira has so frankly presaged (718

πῶς οὐκ ὀλεῖ καὶ τόνδε

;). Hence

δεινά

is not too strong.

ἐλπίδ’ has properly a neutral sense ( cp. 125 n.): ‘we must not decide our foreboding before the issue,’— i.e., assume that the worst will certainly happen: hence we may more freely render, ‘doom our hope.’

τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς β. : for the generic

μή

, cp. Ant.494

τῶν μηδὲν ὀρθῶς ἐν σκότῳ τεχνωμένων.— ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θρ. τι προξενεῖ

, a foreboding which so much as lends courage. The measures which she has taken do not allow her to think of a good result as even possible. For προξενεῖ cp. O. T.1483 n.

ἀμφὶ with dat., ‘in the case of,’ Ph.1354 n.

μὴ )ξ ἑκουσίας : cp. 395 : Ph.467

μὴ )ξ ἀπόπτου

. The adverbial phrase would properly precede

σφαλεῖσι

: but cp. Ant.659 n.

πέπειρα (related to

πέπων

πίειρα

πίων

) is attested by the grammarians, but extant only in Anacreon fr. 87. Hippocrates Acut.390 has

πέπειρος νόσος

, and Ar. Eccl. 896

ἐν ταῖς πεπείροις

(Rav.

πεπείραις

).—For the sentiment, cp. fr. 599

ἄκων δ’ ἁμαρτὼν οὔτις ἀνθρώπων κακός

τοιαῦτα δ’ :

δέ

introduces an objection, as in O. T.379 (n.).

οἴκοι , fig.: cp. Eur. Tro.647

τὸν δὲ νοῦν διδάσκαλον

οἴκοθεν ἔχουσα χρηστόν

. So Lat. domi ( Plaut. Miles 194 , with Tyrrell's note). In Her.7. 152

τὰ οἰκήια κακά

(‘the troubles that they have at home’) is similarly figurative.

ἂν ἁρμόζοι : cp. Dem. or. 18 § 42

λόγους οὓς...ἁρμόσει λέγειν.

τὸν πλείω λόγον : the further discourse which might be expected: cp. n. on O. C.36

τὰ πλείον’ ἱστορεῖν.— εἰ μή τι

: the schol. seems right in taking

τι

as object to λέξεις , rather than as an adv. (‘perchance,’ 712).

μαστὴρ πατρὸς : cp. O. C.455

ἐμοῦ

μαστῆρα

. The Chorus may be supposed to know of this mission through having heard the last words of the

πρόλογος

as they were entering (95).

ἂν … εἱλόμην : cp. Ph.1239

ἂν...ἐβουλόμην

(n.).

σε is subject to each of the three infinitives which follow. It is placed as if the speaker mentally supplied a word such as

παθεῖν

. But ἓν is really an accus. in apposition with the whole sentence, σε ἢ μηκέτ’ εἶναι , etc. The peculiar order has been due to the metrical difficulty of inserting σε anywhere in vv. 735—737.

ἐκ τριῶν ἓν . Photius and Suidas quote the proverb,

τῶν τριῶν κακῶν ἕν

, illustrating it from Polyzelus (a poet of the later Old Comedy),

τριῶν κακῶν ἕν γ’ οὖν ἑλέσθ’ αὐτῷ τι πᾶσ’ ἀνάγκη

, and Menander,

ἓν γάρ τι τούτων τῶν τριῶν ἔχοι κακῶν

. Cp. schol. Pind. O.1. 97

τρία λέγεται κοινῶς καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον συνεργοῦντα, ξίφος, ἀγχόνη, κρημνός· Σοφοκλῆς

(fr. 822)<*>

λύσω γάρ, εἰ καὶ τῶν τριῶν ἓν οἴσομαι

. A like prov. was

τρία Θηραμένους

, alluding to three alternative penalties proposed by him.

κεκλῆσθαι : cp. 149 : El.366

πάντων ἀρίστου παῖδα κεκλῆσθαι.— ἀμείψασθαι

, get in exchange: Aesch. Theb. 304

ποῖον δ’ ἀμείψεσθε γαίας πέδον

τᾶσδ’ ἄρειον ; ποθεν

is wholly vague: the schol.'s

ἐκ θεοῦ τινος

is too definite.

τί δ’ ἔστιν … πρός γ’ ἐμοῦ στυγού‐ μενον ; ‘What is there, on my part, that excites hatred?’ The phrase is peculiar (since the words could mean, ‘what is hated by me?’); but, in speaking, the sense would be made clear by a very slight pause after the words πρός γ’ ἐμοῦ , which are naturally emphatic (cp. O. T.516 ).

τὸν δ’ ἐμὸν : for this use of

δέ

to mark a second relationship, see on O. C.1275

ὦ σπέρματ’ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδ’, ἐμαὶ δ’ ὁμαίμονες

. Two modes of expression are blended here, since either δέ , or λέγω , should properly be absent: but the redundancy suits the speaker's vehemence. —For λέγω , cp. 9 .

ἐξήνεγκας here denotes a startling utterance (like

ποῖόν σε ἔπος φύγεν ἕρκος ὀδόντων

;).

ἐκφέρω

, with ref. to speech, usu. = ‘to disclose’ a secret ( Her.3. 71 ).

δν οὐχ ο<*>όν τε

κ.τ.λ.

This

λόγος

is one which must needs ‘be fulfilled,’ — i.e., ‘befound to correspond with a fact,’ ‘prove true,’—since the thing has already happened. Cp. Il.1. 388

ἠπείλησεν μῦθον, ὃ δὴ τετελεσμένος ἐστίν

.—Most edd. read μὴ οὐ , instead of the MS. μὴ , here: but see 90 n.

τὸ … φανθὲν , that which has come before men's eyes,—come to pass: cp. Ai.647 (

χρόνος

)

φύει τ’ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται

: Ant.457

κοὐδεὶς οἶδεν ἐξ ὅτου )φάνη

. The word is fitting at a moment when his mind is full of the terrible sight which he has just seen (746 f.). For τὸ γὰρ at the end of the v., cp. 92 .

τίς ἂν δύναιτ’ ἂν : cp. 21 .

ἀγένητον , ‘not brought to pass’ (st.

γεν‐, γίγνομαι

): cp. Horace's infectum ( C. 3. 29. 47). But

ἀγέννητος

(

γεννα‐

)=‘not begotten’ (61). Agathon fr. 5 ( ap. Eth. N. 6. 2)

μόνου γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεὸς στερίσκεται

, |

ἀγένητα ποιεῖν ἅσσ’ ἂν ᾖ πεπραγμένα

. Pind. O.2. 17

τῶν δὲ πεπραγμένων

| ...

ἀποίητον οὐδ’ ἂν

χρόνος ὁ πάντων πατὴρ δύναιτο θέμεν ἔργων τέλος

. Simonides fr. 69

τὸ γὰρ γεγενημένον οὐκέτ’ ἄρεκτον ἔσται

. Theognis 583

ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν προβέβηκεν ἀμήχανόν ἐστι γενέσθαι

ἀργά

. H. N. 2. 7 Deus nullum habet in praeterita ius praeterquam oblivionis.

744 f. For ἀνθρώπων added to the interrog.

τίς

, cp. El.238 El., 930.

ἄζηλον : cp. 284 .—Nauck rejects v. 745, because Deianeira ought to have one verse only ( cp. 738 , 741, 748). But it is unsafe to assume such a rigorous ‘symmetry’: and the larger utterance is natural here.

ἐν ὄμμασιν : 241 n.

κατὰ γλῶσσαν , ‘as a matter of report,’ i.e.

παρ’ ἄλλων

. (The similar phrase

ἀπὸ γλώσσης

usu. means ‘orally,’ i.e., not in writing: Her.1. 123 , Thuc.7. 10. ) Cp. I. T. 901

τάδ’ εἶδον αὐτή, κοὐ κλύουσ’ ἀπαγγελῶ

ἐμπελάζεις … καὶ παρίστασαι , i.e., find him, and then stand near to him in his sufferings. The vivid historic pres. suits the tension of mind with which the question is asked: cp. O. T.113

συμπίπτει

, and ib. 1025

δίδως

.—These are Deianeira's last words on the scene.

εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε . Hyllus abhors her, as the murderess of his father; there is no touch of pity in his mood. His words mean that the recital will be painful to him, and also that he shrinks from speaking to her at such length. ( Cp. 815 f.) According to Greek usage, it was not

ὅσιον

for the relatives of a slain person to hold any avoidable intercourse with the slayer. (Cp. Lys. or. 12 § 24 : Isae. or. 9 § 20 .) This feeling appears in 815 f.

ὅθ’ εἷρπε : f. For the absence of a prefatory

γάρ

, cp. 555 , 900 .

ἐπεί

is more usual than

ὅτε

in opening such a

ῥῆσις

. The schol.'s remark here,

καινοπρεπὴς ἡ φράσις

, may refer partly to that, and partly to the abruptness of

εἷρπε

τροπαῖα , the arms taken from the enemy (cp. Ant.143 n.),

σκῦλα

: ἀκροθίνια , the booty,

λεία

.—This accent for the subst.

τροπαῖον

is attested by the grammarians, and preserved by L in 1102: though, acc. to rule, the subst. would be

τρόπαιον

, and the adj.

τροπαῖος

( Ph.1459 n.).

ἀκτή … ἔστιν , instead of

ἦλθεν εἰς ἀκτήν κ.τ.λ.

: cp. Eur. Hipp.1198

ἐπεὶ δ’ ἔρημον χῶρον εἰσεβάλλομεν

, |

ἀκτή τις ἔστι κ.τ.λ.

(instead of

εἴδομεν ἀκτήν τινα

): I.T. 260

ἐπεὶ τὸν ἐσρέοντα διὰ Συμπληγάδων

βοῦς ὑλοφορβοὺς πόντον εἰσεβάλλομεν

, |

ἦν τις διαρρὼξ κυμάτων πολλῷ σάλῳ

κοιλωπὸς ἀγμός

: ib. 1449

ὅταν δ’ Ἀθήνας τὰς θεοδμήτους μόλῃς

, |

χῶρός τις ἔστιν

. The epic fashion is to begin with a description of the place ( Il.2. 811

ἔστι δέ τις...κολώνη

, Od.3. 293

ἔστι δέ τις πέτρη

)—as above Od., 237. The mixed construction here comes from a wish to make the narrative at once consecutive and graphic.

Κήναιον : 237 n.

πατρῴῳ : 288 n.— βωμοὺς ὁρίζει κ.τ.λ.: 238 n.

τεμενίαν … φυλλάδα =

τέμενος πολύφυλλον

(schol.).— ἄσμενος πόθῳ , glad, through my longing (causal dat.).

πολυθύτους … σφαγὰς : the second part of the compound adj. is akin in sense to the subst.; cp.

χοαῖσι τρισπόνδοισι

( Ant.431 ),

νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν

( ib. 1283).

κῆρυξ ἀπ’ οἴκων … οἰκεῖος : ‘his own’ herald, returning from Trachis, was not one at whose hand he could have expected such a gift. It is needless to give οἰκεῖος a special sense, as ( a) ‘bred up in his household,’ or ( b) ‘sent on a private mission,’ as Paley takes it.

προὐξεφίεσο : for the imperf., cp. O. T.1055

ἐφιέμεσθα

: O. C.1605

ἐφίετο

: so often

ἐκέλευον

. This compound does not occur elsewhere, but is paralleled by

προεξανίσταμαι, προεξαποστέλλω

ταυροκτονεῖ

κ.τ.λ.

The offering consisted of a hundred victims altogether, including bulls, sheep, and goats ( συμμιγῆ βοσκήματα ),—a ‘hecatomb’ in the general sense ( Il.1. 315

ἑκατόμβας

ταύρων ἠδ’ αἰγῶν

). The sacrifice was to begin with the slaughter of twelve oxen, animals specially selected from the spoil. Such a

θυσία δώδεκα ἱερείων

was called

δωδεκῇς

(Eustath. p. 1386. 48, etc.). In Il.6. 93 Helenus directs that an offering of twelve cows shall be promised to Athena.

ἐντελεῖς =

τελείους

, with no physical blemish or taint: Lucian Sacrif. 12

στεφανώσαντες τὸ ζῷον, καὶ πολύ γε πρότερον ἐξετάσαντες εἰ ἐντελὲς εἴη, ἵνα μηδὲ τῶν ἀχρήστων τι κατασφάττωσι, προσάγουσι τῷ βωμῷ

βοῦς is probably masc. here (as in Ai.62 ), though in Homer it is usu. fem., unless the contrary is specified. The word ταυροκτονεῖ is not decisive, since it might express merely the antithesis between oxen and other victims (cp. such phrases as

οἰνοχοεῖν νέκταρ

). Seneca Herc. Oet. 784 Ut stetit ad aras omne votivum pecus, | Totumque tauris gemuit auratis nemus.

προσῆγε , sc.

τῷ βωμῷ

: cp. Pollux 1. 29

τὰ δὲ προσακτέα φύματα, ἱερεῖα ἄρτια ἄτομα ὁλόκληρα ὑγιῆ ἄπηρα

. The imperf. means strictly, ‘ proceeded to bring’ (after donning the robe). The hist. pres.

ταυροκτονεῖ

, too, represents an imperf., not an aor.

ἵλεῳ . While

ἱλαρός

(

ι^

) properly refers to aspect (‘beaming,’ ‘cheerful,’ as opp. to

σκυθρωπός

ἵλεως

denotes a placid or gracious mood of the mind: cp. Ephippus (a poet of the Middle Comedy),

Ἐμπολή

fr. 1

ἐποίησέ θ’ ἱλαρόν, εὐθέως δ’ ἀφεῖλε πᾶν

αὐτοῦ τὸ λυποῦν, κἀπέδειξεν ἵλεων

(where Meineke rashly changes

θ’ ἱλαρόν

θαλερόν

κόσμῳ τε … καὶ στολῇ =

κοσμίᾳ στολῇ

. So in Eur. Med. 1165 Glauce puts on the deadly gifts of Medea,

δώροις ὑπερχαίρουσα.— κατηύχετο

: as Chryses

μεγάλ’ εὔχετο χεῖρας ἀνασχών

, at the sacrifice described in Il.1. 447 —466; and as Nestor

πολλὰ...Ἀθήνῃ

εὔχετ’

on the like occasion in Od.3. 430 —463. Those two passages explain the ritual imagined here (vv. 756—766). (1) Heracles, having put on the robe, brings his victims to the altar. (2) The next act would be to sprinkle the

χέρνιψ

on the sacrificers; who would then take barleymeal (

οὐλοχύται

) in the hands from the basket,

κανοῦν

. (3) Then Heracles offers his prayer to Zeus. (4) The actual immolation follows; the barley-meal is sprinkled on the heads of victims; hair, cut from one or more of them, is thrown on the altar-fire; and they are slain. (5) The

μηρία

( Ant.1011 ), doubly wrapped in fat, are burnt on the altar. This act was in progress, when the agonies of Heracles began.

Several critics alter κατηύχετο to κατήρχετο . The latter, if used in its larger sense, would refer to no. 2 of the stages described above (cp. Od.3. 445

χέρνιβά τ’ οὐλοχύτας τε κατήρχετο

); if in its narrower sense, to no. 4 (cp. Ar. Av.959 , Her.2. 45 ). The larger sense would be best here.

But κατηύχετο is an immeasurably finer reading. Heracles, standing before the altar as he prays with uplifted hands to Zeus, is thrown into stronger relief than if imagined merely in the brief act denoted by

κατήρχετο

. The

ἵλεως φρήν

, too, would be more apparent in the

εὐχή

than in the rite.

σεμνῶν ὀργίων … φλὸξ , ‘the flame of the solemn rites,’ i.e., the flame from the sacrifice on the altar.

ὄργια

could not literally mean

θύματα

(the word by which the schol. explains it); but the sense is the same. In Ant.1013 , too,

ὀργίων

are ‘rites,’ not ‘victims.’ The flame is called

αἱματηρά

, because the burning flesh was so. It is needless to take

ἀπό

with

ὀργίων

πιείρας δρυός : the wood of the pine (

πεύκη

) is resinous (

ῥητινώδης

),—a quality conducive to the bright flame which was prized as an omen ( Ant.1007 n.). The original meaning of

δρῦς

was simply ‘tree’ (schol. Il.11. 86 ; Curt. Etym. § 275). In 1168 and 1195 it means ‘oak.’

ἱδρὼς , showing that the irritant action of the poison has begun.— ἀρτίκολλος, ὥστε τέκτονος , closely glued to his flesh as if by a craftsman: schol.

ὡς ὑπὸ τέκτονος καλῶς συγκεκολλημένος

. The gen. here is not so definitely equivalent to a gen. with

ὑπό

as it is in Ai.807

φωτὸς ἠπατημένη

, or Eur. Or.497

πληγεὶς θυγατρός

. Eur. Itexpresses a similar notion, but in a vaguer form: ‘like something from (the hand of) a

τέκτων

’: ‘like (a work) of his.’ Some supply

κολλήσαντος

: but this seems difficult, and is not warranted by such examples as

ὡς ἐμοῦ μόνης πέλας

( sc.

οὔσης

, Soph. O. C.83 ).

Some have supposed that the

χιτών

is compared to (stone or bronze) drapery on a statue.

τέκτων

could certainly mean a sculptor: Eur. Alc.348

σοφῇ δὲ χειρὶ τεκτόνων τὸ σὸν δέμας

εἰκασθέν

. But: (1) There would be little point in comparing a real robe to an imitation in art. (2) Cp. fr. 430. 4, where Pelops is responding, with his eyes, to the glance of Hippodameia, and the discreet limit which the lover's instinct observes is compared to the line traced by a craftsman's rule;—

ἴσον μετρῶν ὀφθαλμόν, ὥστε τέκτονος

παρὰ στάθμην ἰόντος ὀρθοῦται κανών

. There, then, as here, the simile is from a mechanical process: the

τέκτων

is suggested there by

ἴσον μετρῶν

, as here by

ἀρτίκολλος

ἅπαν κατ’ ἄρθρον : the robe clings so tight as to show the contour of the body: cp. the Homeric phrase,

ἐντυπὰς ἐν χλαίνῃ κεκαλυμμένος

, explained to mean,

ὥστε διὰ τοῦ ἱματίου τοῦ σώματος τὸν τύπον φαίνεσθαι

( Il.24. 163 , with Leaf's n.).

ὀστέων might be joined with ἀντίσπαστος (=

ἀντισπῶν τὰ ὀστᾶ

), but is more simply taken with ἀδαγμός . The latter word means ‘a biting pain’ (rt

δακ

), esp. an ‘itching.’ Photius p. 7 21:

ἀδαγμὸς ὁ ὀδαξησμός, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κνησμός· οὕτω Σοφοκλῆς

. The forms

ὀδάξω

(act. and midd.) and

ἀδαξέω

(do.) seem both to have been in use; the former was perhaps chiefly Ionic.

ἐχίδνης … ὣς : Hyllus does not know what Deianeira had applied to the robe; but, as the venom was that of the hydra, his conjecture comes near the truth.

ἐδαίνυτο : cp. 1088 : Eur. fr. 790

φαγέδαιν’ ἀεί μου σάρκα θοινᾶται ποδός

)βόησε :

βοᾶν τινα

usu.=‘to shout to (or for) one’: Pind. P.6. 36

βόασε παῖδα ὅν

(called his son to his aid): Xen. Cyr.7. 2. 5

Κῦρον ἐβόα

. Here it means, ‘shouted for him, (asking),’=

βοῶν ἠρώτησε.— ἐνέγκοι

: for

ἤνεγκον

and

ἤνεγκα

, cp. Soph. O. C. 522.

μηχαναῖς in a bad sense, as Ai.181.

ἔλεξεν , sc.

ἐνεγκεῖν.— ὥσπερ ἦν ἐσταλμένον

, as it had been sent; i.e., without tampering with it by the way. Cp. 622

τόδ’ ἄγγος ὡς ἔχει δεῖξαι φέρων

. —Not, ‘as had been prescribed’ (

ἐπεσταλμένον

πλευμόνων : cp. 1054 : for the form, 567 n.

ἄρθρον ᾗ λυγίζεται , ‘where the joint is supple,’ i.e., at the ankle (

σφυρόν

), where the ball of the joint (

ἀστράγαλος

) plays in its socket. This mode of definition is Homeric: cp. Il.5. 305

ἔνθα τε μηρὸς

ἰσχίῳ ἐνστρέφεται

(turns in the hip-joint).

ἐκ πόντου , ‘in’ (‘rising from’) the sea; i.e., an isolated rock, not part of a promontory. This is better than to take the words with

ἀμφίκλυστον

, ‘washed on all sides by the sea’:

ἐκ πόντου

would then be too weak.

The name ‘Lichades’ was given to some rocky islets just S. of C. Cenaeum, in the narrow strait dividing it from the promontory of Cnemīdes on the Locrian coast. Strabo 9. p. 426

ἐνταῦθα καὶ αἱ Λιχάδες καλούμεναι τρεῖς νῆσοι πρόκεινται, ἀπὸ Λίχα τοὔνομα ἔχουσαι

. Cp. Aesch. fr. 29, quoted on 237 f. Ovid Met. 9. 226

Nunc quoque in Euboico scopulus brevis emicat alte | Gurgite, et humanae servat vestigia formae; | Quem quasi sensurum nautae calcare verentur, | Appellantque Lichan.

—

Λίχας

perh.=

λίθος

: cp.

ὄρνιχος, ὄρνιθος

(Preller 2. 255 n. 2).

κόμης … μυελὸν ἐκραίνει , he causes the brain to ooze out through his victim's hair,—at the moment when the skull is cloven. Cp. Eur. fr. 388

κάρα τε γάρ σου συγχεῶ κόμαις ὁμοῦ

, |

ῥανῶ δὲ πεδόσ’ ἐγκέφαλον

: id. Eur. Cycl. 402

τὸν δ’ αὖ, τένοντος ἁρπάσας ἄκρου ποδός

, |

παίων πρὸς ὀξὺν στόνυχα πετραίου λίθου

ἐγκέφαλον ἐξέρρανε

(where the verbal resemblance to this passage is remarkable).

μυελὸν :

ἐγκέφαλος

, the proper word for ‘brain,’ is merely an adj. with which

μυελός

is understood. In Plat. Tim. 73C , D the

ἐγκέφαλος

is described as that part of the

μυελός

which is to receive

τὸ θεῖον σπέρμα

διασπαρέντος : the skull, cleft from its centre ( μέσου ), is scattered in fragments. Other views are:—(1) The word means merely ‘cloven,’ and has been substituted for a word like

διαρραγέντος

on account of the following

αἵματος

. This seems impossible. (2)

διαρραγέντος

, or the like (see cr. n.), should be read. But

διασπαρέντος

, rightly understood, suits both nouns. Athenaeus (66 A) quotes vv. 781 f., as cited by Apollodorus ( c. 140 B.C.), without variation from our text. The reading, then, is at least a very old one.

ἀνηυφήμησεν οἰμωγῇ : the verb can bear this sense even without a defining addition: Eur. Or.1335

ἀνευφημεῖ δόμος

(of wailing): Plat. Phaedo60 A

ἀνηυφήμησε

(Xanthippè). The notion is that of a cry which expresses religious awe. Cp. Matthew Arnold, Mycerinus: ‘And one loud cry of grief and of amaze | Broke from his sorrowing people.’

ἰύζων :

ἰύ

, a shrill sound, expressed astonishment or anguish: Aeëtes uses it in his ‘inarticulate’ vexation (

ἴυξεν δ’ ἀφωνήτῳ περ ἔμπας ἄχει

: Pind. P.4. 237 ).

Λοκρῶν τ’ ὄρειοι πρῶνες : the heights of the Cnemis range, on the Locrian coast, just s. of Cape Cenaeum in Euboea. At this point the strait is less than three miles in breadth. The τ’ after Λοκρῶν (cr. n.) seems genuine.— ἄκραι , the cliffs which jut into the sea at or near Cenaeum. This fem. form is usual when, as here, the ref. is to promontories. ἄκρα , the reading of Diogenes Laertius (cr. n.),—meant doubtless as neut. pl.,—would be rather ‘mountain heights.’ The neut.

ἄκρον

is rarely said of a foreland (as in Od.3. 278 ).

Seneca's equivalent for this passage is curious: he describes the hero's cries as re-echoed from Chalcis (50 miles off), from Cape Caphareus (upwards of 100), and from ‘all the Cyclades’! ( Herc. Oet. 803 ff.)

ἀπεῖπε … ῥίπτων : the cause of weariness is regularly expressed by a pres. part.: Ar. Lys.778

μή νυν ἀπείπωμεν ταλαιπωρούμεναι

: Plat. Legg. 769 E

οὐκ ἄν ποτε λέγων ἀπείποι

δυσπάρευνον : for the adj., compounded with a subst. akin in sense to λέκτρον , cp. O. T.518

βίου ... μακραίωνος

, and above O. T., 756 n.

ἐνδατούμενος : cp. O. T.205 n.

τὸν Οἰνέως γάμον : the gen. is most simply explained by the fact that

γάμος

implies alliance: cp. Soph. Ph.77

κῆδος Ἀδράστου λαβών

. Others understand, ‘the marriage granted to him by Oeneus,’ so that the constr, would be as with

δῶρον

προσέδρου ,

περικεχυμένης

: the cloud hung around him.

λιγνύος , the smoky flame from the resinous

πεύκη

(766),—just as in Ant.1126

στέροψ λιγνύς

refers to pine-torches.

διάστροφον , with the frenzy of pain: cp. Eur. H. F.932

ἐν στροφαῖσιν ὀμμάτων ἐφθαρμένος.— στρατῷ

: though the crowd must have been partly composed of warriors (259),

στρατός

has here the general sense of

λεώς

(783): cp. Soph. Ant.8 n.: Soph. El. 749.

συνθανεῖν : cp. Aesch. Suppl.1006

ἅδιστος γάρ τοι θάνατος

συνθνῄσκειν θνῄσκουσι φίλοις

ἔξω , as the context shows, means ‘out of Euboea’: for ἆρον , cp. Ai.545

αἶρ’ αὐτόν, αἶρε δεῦρο.— μάλιστα μέν

: cp. Ant.327 n. His thought is: ‘Take me at once to the wilds of Mount Oeta, and leave me to perish alone; or, if you shrink from that, at least take me out of the island.’

The reasons for preferring Wakefield's με θὲς to the MS. μέθες turn on these points. (1) The act.

μεθιέναι

, when said of persons, usu.=‘allow to escape’ ( O. C.906

ἄτρωτον οὐ μεθῆκ’ ἄν

: Ai.372

μεθῆκα τοὺς ἀλάστορας

): or ‘leave’ to some course; as Ant.653

μέθες

τὴν παῖδ’ ἐν Ἅιδου τήνδε νυμφεύειν τινί

. But this use of the verb has no place here. The sense is not, ‘allow me to escape’ to some solitude. (2) As said of things,

μεθιέναι

can mean, ‘to let go,’ ‘release from one's grasp’; El.448

ταῦτα μὲν μέθες

: ib. 1205

μέθες τόδ’ ἄγγος

. Hermann, who retains μέθες , renders it by ‘ depone.’ But that is too gentle a word:

μέθες

here would differ from

κατάθες

as ‘ drop’ from ‘lay down.’ Cp. 1254

ἐς πυράν με θῇς

ὅπου … μή τις ὄψεται : cp. O. T.1410

ἔξω μέ που

καλύψατ’, ἢ φονεύσατ’, ἢ θαλάσσιον

ἐκρίψατ’, ἔνθα μήποτ’ εἰσόψεσθ’ ἔτι

(n.).

εἰ δ’ οἶκτον ἴσχεις , if thou hast no heart to do that. It would be easy, but it is needless, to read εἰ δ’ οἶκτος ἴσχει ς’.

ἀλλά , ‘at least’: 201 n.— αὐτοῦ ‘just here’ ( O. C.78

ἐνθάδ’ αὐτοῦ

θάνω : the prohibitive subj. is rare in the 1st pers.; but cp. O. C.174 (n.): Eur. Tro.172 (

μὴ

)

ἀλγυνθῶ

τοσαῦτ’ , implying brevity.

ἐπισκήψαντος , sc.

αὐτοῦ

: cp. Ph.1033

πλεύ‐

σαντος

( sc.

ἐμοῦ

): Xen. An.4. 8. 5

οἱ δ’ εἶπον, ἐρωτήσαντος, ὅτι κ.τ.λ.— ἐν μέσῳ σκάφει

, recumbent in the middle of the vessel.

σφε is prob. governed by ἐκέλσαμεν as well as by θέντες . The acc. after

κέλλω

usu. denotes either the ship or the place; but cp. Ph.236

τίς ς’, ὦ τέκνον, προσέσχε κ.τ.λ.

(n.).—The boat would be rowed from Cape Cenaeum to the harbour near Thermopylae (633 n.), a distance of about eighteen miles; thence Heracles would be carried some six miles to Trachis. The shortest sea-passage would be across to the Locrian coast (788 n.); but the longer land-journey would be more trying for the sufferer.

ἢ ζῶντ’ … ἢ τεθνηκότ’ : a way of saying, ‘I cannot tell whether his life will last so long.’ The change to

ζῶντ’ ἔτ’ ὄψεσθ’

would weaken the verse.— Cp. 235 .

βουλεύσας’ : not only in poetry (as Ant.267 ), but in prose also,

βουλεύειν

is said of ‘planning’ (as dist. from ‘executing’) a crime ( Dem. or. 19 § 21 ); and

βούλευσις

was a legal term in this sense. The

βουλή

was really that of Nessus (844 f.).

δρῶς’ , not

δράσασα

, since his torments continue. The dat.

πατρὶ ἐμῷ

can be taken with

δρῶσ’

, no less than with

βουλεύσασ’

. For the construction

δρῶ ταῦτά σοι

(instead of

σε

), cp. O. T.1373 n.

ποίνιμος , of avenging deities, as Ai.843.

Δίκη is associated with

Ἐρινύς

, since the latter especially punishes sins against kinsfolk: cp. Aesch. Ag. 1432

μὰ τὴν τέλειον τῆς ἐμῆς παιδὸς Δίκην

, |

Ἄτην τ’, Ἐρινύν θ’, αἷσι τόνδ’ ἔσφαξ’ ἐγώ.— ὧν … τείσαιτ’

: for the causal gen., cp. Soph. O. C.229

ὧν προπάθῃ τὸ τίνειν

: Her.4. 118

τείσασθαι τῆς πρόσθε δουλοσύνης βουλόμεμος

. For the spelling, cp. O.T. 810 n.

ἐπεύχομαι : he deliberately gives his wish (

τείσαιτ’

) the solemn form of an imprecation.

εἰ θέμις … θέμις δ’ : cp. Ph.1035 : fr. 856

εἴ μοι θέμις· θέμις δὲ τἀληθῆ λέγειν

: Eur. H. F.141

εἰ χρή μ’, ἐρωτῶ· χρὴ δ’, ἐπεί γε δεσπότης κ.τ.λ.

προὔβαλες , hast cast from thee, spurned: schol.

ἐπεὶ σὺ πρότερα

[read

προτέρα

]

τὴν θέμιν ἀπέρριψας καὶ παρεῖδες

. Cp. Ai.830

ῥιφθῶ κυσὶν πρόβλητος

. Aesch. Eum. 215

Κύπρις δ’ ἄτιμος τῷδ’ ἀπέρριπται λόγῳ

. Tac. Ann. 1. 42

cives, quibus tam senatus proiecta auctoritas.

μοι , ethic dat. (=‘I have seen thee’ do so): cp. O. C.81

ἦ βέβηκεν ἡμὶν ὁ ξένος

;

Others understand: (1) ‘you have thrown this very justice as a shield (

πρόβλημα

) over my action’ (Paley); i.e., ‘have made it right for me to do so.’ (2) ‘You have given me the right to do so’ (lit., ‘placed’ that right ‘at my disposal’).—Wunder, changing θέμιν to ἔριν , explains, ‘you have challenged me to this strife.’

σῖγ’ : cp. Eurydicè's silent exit, Ant.1244 : and for the sentiment, cp. fr. 842

αἰδὼς γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν ο<*>δὲν ὠφελεῖ·

ἡ γὰρ σιωπὴ τῷ λαλοῦντι σύμμαχος

815 f. The place of ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμῶν in the sentence is due to the implied thought, ‘So long as I see her no more, she may go where she will.’ The poet cares not that the gen. might seem to depend on οὖρος : for like cases, cp. Ant.944 (

Δανάας

), Ph.598 (

τίνος δ’

αὐτῇ is not emphatic (‘of her own accord’), any more than

αὐτὸν

in 262.

καλός seems a true correction of

καλῶς

, and was probably read by the schol. (cr. n.). Cp. Od.11. 640

κάλλιμος οὖρος

. The adv. would have a weak effect at the end of the v., and would belong to

ἑρπούσῃ

rather than to

γένοιτ’

.—Cp. Aesch. Th.690

ἴτω κατ’ οὖρον, κῦμα Κωκυτοῦ λαχόν

, |

Φοίβῳ στυγηθὲν πᾶν τὸ Λαΐου γένος

γὰρ justifies his unfilial language.

ὄγκον , ‘importance’ ( O. C.1162 n.), ‘pomp’ ( Ai.129

μηδ’ ὄγκον ἄρῃ μηδέν’

): here, the ‘dignity’ belonging to the name of mother. The adj. agrees with

ὄγκον

, since

ὄγκ. ὀνόματος

=‘namedignity’: cp. Aesch. Eum.325

ματρῷον ἅγνισμα...φόνου.— ἄλλως

, ‘vainly’ ( Soph. Ph.947 n.), i.e., when she is a mother in name only.

τρέφειν , ‘keep,’ continue to enjoy.

μηδὲν , generic, helping the causal force of ἥτις . Cp. El.1194

μήτηρ καλεῖται, μητρὶ δ’ οὐδὲν ἐξισοῖ

ἀλλ’ ἑρπ. χαίρουσα : cp. Eur. Phoen.921

χαίρων ἴθ)· οὐ γὰρ σῶν με δεῖ μαντευμάτων.— ἣν

at the end of the verse: cp. Soph. O. T. 298 , Soph. O. C.14 , Soph. El.873.

τήνδ’ :

τὴν δ’

would be too emphatic: cp. 23 n.

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)) — 663 focus

γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω

πεπραγμέν' ᾖ μοι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

ΧΟ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως;
665

ΔΗ.

οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ἀθυμῶ δ᾽, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα

κακὸν μέγ᾽ ἐκπράξασ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

ΧΟ.

οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν ῾Ηρακλεῖ δωρημάτων ;

ΔΗ.

μάλιστά γ'· ὥστε μήποτ᾽ ἂν προθυμίαν

ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ τῶι παραινέσαι λαβεῖν.
670

ΧΟ.

δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

ΔΗ.

τοιοῦτον ἐκβέβηκεν, οἷον, ἢν ἂν φράσω,

γυναῖκες, ὑμῖν θαῦμ᾽ ἀνέλπιστον μαθεῖν λαβεῖν μαθεῖν.

ᾧ γὰρ τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον ἀρτίως

ἔχριον, ἀργῆτ᾽ οἰὸς οιὸς εὐείρῳ πόκῳ πόην,
675

τοῦτ᾽ ἠφάνισται, διάβορον διάβορον πρὸς οὐδενὸς

τῶν ἔνδον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐδεστὸν ἐξ αὑτοῦ αὐτοῦ ἁυτοῦ φθίνει

καὶ ψῇ κατ᾿ ἄκρας σπιλάδος. ὡς δ᾽ εἰδῇς ἅπαν,

ἢ τοῦτ᾽ ἐπράχθη, μείζον' ἐκτενῶ λόγον.

ἐγὼ γὰρ ὧν ὁ θήρ με Κένταυρος, πονῶν
680

πλευρὰν πικρᾷ γλωχίνι, προὐδιδάξατο,

παρῆκα θεσμῶν οὐδέν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐσωζόμην,

χαλκῆς ὅπως δύσνιπτον ἐκ δέλτου γραφήν.

καί μοι τάδ᾽ ἦν πρόρρητα, καὶ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἔδρων·

τὸ φάρμακον τοῦτ᾽ ἄπυρον ἀκτῖνός τ᾽ om. τ' ἀεὶ
685

θερμῆς θέρμησ ἄθικτον ἐν μυχοῖς σώζειν ἐμέ,

ἕως ἂν ἀρτίχριστον ἁρμόσαιμί που.

κἄδρων τοιαῦτα. νῦν δ᾽, ὅτ᾽ ἦν ἐργαστέον,

ἔχρισα μὲν κατ᾿ οἶκον ἐν δόμοις κρυφῇ

μαλλῷ, σπάσασα κτησίου βοτοῦ λάχνην,
690

κ ἄθηκα κάθηκα κἄθηκα συμπτύξασ᾽ ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου

κοίλῳ ζυγάστρῳ δῶρον, ὥσπερ εἴδετε εἴδεται εἴδετε.

εἴσω δ᾽ ἀποστείχουσα δέρκομαι φάτιν

ἄφραστον, ἀξύμβλητον ἀνθρώπῳ μαθεῖν.

τὸ γὰρ κάταγμα τυγχάνω ῥίψασά πως
695

τῆς οἰός, ᾧ προὔχριον προὔχρειον προὔχριον, ἐς μέσην φλόγα,

ἀκτῖν ἐς ἡλιῶτιν· ὡς δ᾽ ἐθάλπετο,

ῥεῖ πᾶν ἄδηλον καὶ κατέψηκται κατέψικται κατέψηκται χθονί,

μορφῇ μάλιστ' εἰκαστὸν ὥστε πρίονος

ἐκβρώματ᾽ ἂν βλέψειας ἐκβλέψειασ ἂν βλέψειας ἐν τομῇ ξύλου.
700

τοιόνδε κεῖται προπετές. ἐκ δὲ γῆς, ὅθεν

προὔκειτ᾽, ἀναζέουσι θρομβώδεις ἀφροί,

γλαυκῆς ὀπώρας ὥστε πίονος ποτοῦ

χυθέντος εἰς γῆν Βακχίας βακχείας ἀπ᾿ ἀμπέλου.

ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἔχω τάλαινα ποῖ γνώμης πέσω·
705

ὁρῶ δέ μ᾽ ἔργον δεινὸν ἐξειργασμένην.

πόθεν γὰρ ἄν μ ἄν ποτ᾿ ἀντὶ τοῦ θνήσκων ὁ θὴρ

ἐμοὶ παρέσχ᾽ εὔνοιαν, ἧς ἔθνησχ᾽ ὕπερ;

οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸν βαλόντ᾽ ἀποφθίσαι

χρήζων ἔθελγέ μ ἔθελγεν· ὧν ἐγὼ μεθύστερον μεθ' ὕστερον μεθύστερον,
710

ὅτ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἀρκεῖ, τὴν μάθησιν ἄρνυμαι.

μόνη γὰρ αὐτόν, εἴ τι μὴ ψευσθήσομαι ψευσθήσομαι

γνώμης, ἐγὼ δύστηνος ἐξαποφθερῶ·

τὸν γὰρ βαλόντ᾽ ἄτρακτον οἶδα καὶ θεὸν

Χείρωνα πημήναντα, χώσπερ χ' ὥσπερ χώσα περ ἂν χώσπερ ἂν θίγῃ
715

φθείρει τὰ πάντα κνώδαλ᾽· ἐκ δὲ τοῦδ᾽ ὅδε

σφαγῶν διελθὼν ἰὸς αἵματος μέλας

πῶς οὐκ ὀλεῖ καὶ τόνδε; δόξῃ γοῦν ἐμῇ δοξηιγοῦν καὶ. δόξει.. ἐμοὶ δόξῃ .. ἐμῇ.

καίτοι δέδοκται, κεῖνος εἰ σφαλήσεται,

ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ ὁρμῆι ὀργῇ ὁρμῇ κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν ἅμα.
720

ζῆν γὰρ κακῶς κλύουσαν οὐκ ἀνασχετόν,

ἥτις προτιμᾷ μὴ κακὴ πεφυκέναι.

ΧΟ.

ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείν δεῖν δείν' ἀναγκαίως ἔχει,

τὴν δ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

ΔΗ.

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν
725

οὐδ᾽ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

ΧΟ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ἐξ ἑκουσίας

ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

ΔΗ.

τοιαῦτα δ᾽ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ

κοινωνός, ἀλλ᾽ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστ᾽ ἐστιν ἐστ' *οἴκοι οἴκοις βαρύ.
730

ΧΟ.

σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον χρόνον λόγον,

εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς σ'αυτῆσ· ἐπεὶ

πάρεστι, μαστὴρ om. πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

ΥΛΛΟΣ.

ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τριῶν σ᾽ ἓν εἰλόμην,

ἢ μηκέτ᾽ εἶναι ζῶσαν, ἢ σεσωσμένην
735

ἄλλου ἄλλου κεκλῆσθαι μητέρ' μητέρα σ' μητέρ', ἢ λῴους φρένας

τῶν νῦν παρουσῶν τῶνδ᾽ ἀμείψασθαί ποθεν.

ΔΗ.

τί δ᾽ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γ'᾽ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον ;

ΥΛ.

τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δ᾽ ἐμὸν λέγω

πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδ᾽ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
740

ΔΗ.

οἴμοι, τίν ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον ;

ΥΛ.

ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ

φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτ' ἂν om. ἀγένητον ἀγέννητον ποιεῖν ποεῖν ποιεῖν?

ΔΗ.

πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν

ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής φῇς?
745

ΥΛ.

αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν

πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ καὶ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

ΔΗ.

ποῦ δ᾽ ἐμπελάζεις ει from ηι ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

ΥΛ.

εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε, πάντα δὴ φωνεῖν χρεών.

ὅθ᾽ εἶρπε κλεινὴν Εὐρύτου πέρσας πόλιν,
750

νίκης ἄγων τροπαῖα τρόπαια κἀκροθίνια,

ἀκτή τις ἀμφίκλυστος Εὐβοίας ἄκρον

Κήναιόν κηναϊόν κήναιών ἐστιν, ἔνθα πατρῴῳ Διὶ

βωμοὺς ὁρίζει τεμενίαν τε φυλλάδα·

οὗ νιν τὰ πρῶτ᾽ ἐσεῖδον ἄσμενος πόθῳ.
755

μέλλοντι δ᾽ αὐτῷ πολυθύτους πολυθέτους τεύχειν σφαγὰς

κῆρυξ κήρυξ ἀπ᾿ οἴκων ἵκετ᾽ ἥκετ' ἵκετ' οἰκεῖος οἰκοῖος οἰκεῖος Λίχας,

τὸ σὸν φέρων δώρημα, θανάσιμον πέπλον·

ὃν κεῖνος ἐνδύς, ὡς σὺ προὐξεφίεσο προὐξεφείεσο προὐξεφίεσο,

ταυροκτονεῖ μὲν δώδεκ᾽ ἐντελεῖς ἔχων
760

λείας ἀπαρχὴν ἀπαρχ(θ?)ὴν ἀπαρχὴν βοῦς· ἀτὰρ τὰ πάνθ᾽ ὁμοῦ

ἑκατὸν προσῆγε συμμιγῆ βοσκήματα.

καὶ πρῶτα μὲν δείλαιος ἵλεῳ φρενί

κόσμῳ τε χαίρων καὶ στολῇ κατηύχετο·

ὅπως δὲ σεμνῶν ὀργίων ἐδαίετο
765

φλὸξ αἱματηρὰ κἀπὸ πιείρας δρυός,

ἱδρὼς ἀνῄει ἱδρῶσ ἀν ἤει ἱδρὼς ἀνήει ἀνείη ἀνήει ἀνίει χρωτί, καὶ προσπτύσσετο προσπτύσσεται

πλευραῖσιν ἀρτίκολλος, ὥστε τέκτονος,

χιτὼν ἅπαν κατ᾿ ἄρθρον· ἦλθε δ᾽ ὀστέων

ἀδαγμὸς ὀδαγμός ἀντίσπαστος· εἶτα φοινίας φοινίαις φοινίας
770

ἐχθρᾶς ἐχίδνης ἰὸς ὡς ὥς ἐδαίνυτο.

ἐνταῦθα δὴ βόησε τὸν δυσδαίμονα

Λίχαν, τὸν οὐδὲν αἴτιον τοῦ σοῦ κακοῦ,

ποίαις ἐνέγκοι ἐνέγκαι ἀττικόν ἐνέγκοις τόνδε μηχαναῖς πέπλον·

ὁ δ᾽ οὐδὲν εἰδὼς δύσμορος τὸ σὸν μόνης
775

δώρημ᾽ ἔλεξεν, ὥσπερ ἦν ἐσταλμένον.

κἀκεῖνος ὡς ἤκουσε ἥκουσεν καὶ διώδυνος

σπαραγμὸς αὐτοῦ πνευμόνων πλευμόνων ἀνθήψατο,

μάρψας ποδός νιν, ἄρθρον ᾗ λυγίζεται,

ῥιπτεῖ πρὸς ἀμφίκλυστον ἐκ πόντου πέτραν·
780

κόμης δὲ λευκὸν μυελὸν ἐκραίνει, μέσου

κρατὸς διασπαρέντος αἵματός θ᾽ ὁμοῦ.

ἅπας δ᾽ ἀνευφήμησεν ἄνευ φωνῆσ ἐν ἀνευφώνησεν ἀνεφώνησεν οἰμωγῇ λεώς,

τοῦ μὲν νοσοῦντος, τοῦ δὲ διαπεπραγμένου·

κοὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα τἀνδρὸς ἀντίον μολεῖν.
785

ἐσπᾶτο γὰρ πέδονδε καὶ μετάρσιος,

βοῶν, ἰύζων· ἀμφὶ δ᾽ ἐκτύπουν πέτραι,

Λοκρῶν ὄρειοι πρῶνες Εὐβοίας τ᾽ ἄκραι.

ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀπεῖπε, πολλὰ μὲν τάλας χθονὶ

ῥίπτων ἑαυτόν, πολλὰ δ᾽ οἰμωγῇ βοῶν,
790

τὸ δυσπάρευνον λέκτρον ἐνδατούμενος

σοῦ τῆς ταλαίνης, καὶ τὸν Οἰνέως γάμον

οἷον κατακτήσαιτο λυμαντὴν βίου,

τότ᾽ ἐκ προσέδρου λιγνύος διάστροφον

ὀφθαλμὸν ἄρας ἄρασ εἶδέ μ᾽ ἐν πολλῷ στρατῷ
795

δακρυρροοῦντα, καί με προσβλέψας καλεῖ κάλει καλεῖ,

ὦ παῖ, πρόσελθε, μὴ φύγῃς φύγης τοὐμὸν κακόν,

μηδ' εἴ σε χρὴ θανόντι συνθανεῖν ἐμοί·

ἀλλ᾽ ἆρον αἶρον ἔξω, καὶ μάλιστα μὲν μέθες

ἐνταῦθ᾽ ὅπου με μή τις ὄψεται βροτῶν·
800

εἰ δ᾽ οἶκτον ἴσχεις, ἀλλά μ᾽ ἔκ γε τῆσδε γῆς

πόρθμευσον ὡς τάχιστα, μηδ᾽ αὐτοῦ θάνω θάνω.

τοσαῦτ᾽ ἐπισκήψαντος, ἐν ἐν μέσῳ σκάφει

θέντες σφε πρὸς γῆν τήνδ᾽ ἐκέλσαμεν μόλις

βρυχώμενον σπασμοῖσι σπασμοῖσι·, καί νιν αὐτίκα
805

ἢ ζῶντ᾽ ἐσόψεσθ', ἢ τεθνηκότ᾽ ἀρτίως.

τοιαῦτα, μῆτερ, πατρὶ βουλεύσασ᾽ ἐμῷ

καὶ δρῶσ᾽ ἐλήφθης, ὧν σε ποίνιμος Δίκη

τίσαιτ᾿ Ερινύς τ· εἰ θέμις δ᾽, ἐπεύχομαι·

θέμις δ᾽, ἐπεί μοι τὴν θέμιν σὺ προὔβαλες προύλαβεσ προὔβαλες,
810

πάντων ἄριστον ἄνδρα τῶν ἐπὶ χθονὶ

κτείνασ᾽, ὁποῖον ἄλλον οὐκ ὄψει ποτέ.

ΧΟ.

τί σῖγ᾽ ἀφέρπεις ἐφέρπεις? οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ὁθούνεκα

ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

ΥΛ.

ἐᾶτ᾿ ἀφέρπειν. οὗρος ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμῶν
815

αὐτῇ γένοιτ᾽ ἄπωθεν ἑρπούσῃ καλός καλῶς καλός.

ὄγκον γὰρ ἄλλως ὀνόματος τί δεῖ τρέφειν

μητρῷον, ἥτις μηδὲν ὡς τεκοῦσα δρᾷ ;

ἀλλ᾽ ἑρπέτω χαίρουσα· τὴν δὲ τέρψιν ἣν

τὠμῷ δίδωσι πατρί, τήνδ᾽ αὐτὴ λάβοι.
820

ΧΟ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 663-820 focus

Δηιάνειρα

γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω

πεπραγμένʼ ᾖ μοι πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως;
665

Δηιάνειρα

οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀθυμῶ δʼ, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα

κακὸν μέγʼ ἐκπράξασʼ ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

Χορός

οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν Ἡρακλεῖ δωρημάτων;

Δηιάνειρα

μάλιστά γʼ, ὥστε μήποτʼ ἂν προθυμίαν

ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ παραινέσαι λαβεῖν.
670

Χορός

δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

672

Δηιάνειρα

τοιοῦτον ἐκβέβηκεν οἷον, ἢν φράσω,

γυναῖκες, ὑμᾶς θαῦμʼ ἀνέλπιστον μαθεῖν.

ᾧ γὰρ τὸν ἐνδυτῆρα πέπλον ἀρτίως

ἔχριον, ἀργὴς οἰὸς εὐέρου πόκος,
675

τοῦτʼ ἠφάνισται διάβορον πρὸς οὐδενὸς

τῶν ἔνδον, ἀλλʼ ἐδεστὸν ἐξ αὑτοῦ φθίνει,

καὶ ψῇ κατʼ ἄκρας σπιλάδος· ὡς δʼ εἰδῇς ἅπαν,

ᾗ τοῦτʼ ἐπράχθη, μείζονʼ ἐκτενῶ λόγον.

ἐγὼ γὰρ ὧν ὁ θήρ με Κένταυρος, πονῶν
680

πλευρὰν πικρᾷ γλωχῖνι, προυδιδάξατο

παρῆκα θεσμῶν οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἐσῳζόμην

χαλκῆς ὅπως δύσνιπτον ἐκ δέλτου γραφήν.

καί μοι τάδʼ ἦν πρόρρητα καὶ τοιαῦτʼ ἔδρων·

τὸ φάρμακον τοῦτʼ ἄπυρον ἀκτῖνός τʼ ἀεὶ
685

θερμῆς ἄθικτον ἐν μυχοῖς σῴζειν ἐμέ,

ἕως νιν ἀρτίχριστον ἁρμόσαιμί που.

κἄδρων τοιαῦτα. νῦν δʼ, ὅτʼ ἦν ἐργαστέον,

ἔχρισα μὲν κατʼ οἶκον ἐν δόμοις κρυφῇ

μαλλῷ, σπάσασα κτησίου βοτοῦ λάχνην,
690

κἄθηκα συμπτύξασʼ ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου

κοίλῳ ζυγάστρῳ δῶρον, ὥσπερ εἴδετε.

εἴσω δʼ ἀποστείχουσα δέρκομαι φάτιν

ἄφραστον, ἀξύμβλητον ἀνθρώπῳ μαθεῖν.

τὸ γὰρ κάταγμα τυγχάνω ῥίψασά πως
695

τῆς οἰός, ᾧ προύχριον, ἐς μέσην φλόγα,

ἀκτῖνʼ ἐς ἡλιῶτιν· ὡς δʼ ἐθάλπετο,

ῥεῖ πᾶν ἄδηλον καὶ κατέψηκται χθονί,

μορφῇ μάλιστʼ εἰκαστὸν ὥστε πρίονος

ἐκβρώματʼ ἂν βλέψειας ἐν τομῇ ξύλου.
700

τοιόνδε κεῖται προπετές· ἐκ δὲ γῆς, ὅθεν

προύκειτʼ, ἀναζέουσι θρομβώδεις ἀφροί,

γλαυκῆς ὀπώρας ὥστε πίονος ποτοῦ

χυθέντος εἰς γῆν Βακχίας ἀπʼ ἀμπέλου.

705

Δηιάνειρα

ὥστʼ οὐκ ἔχω τάλαινα ποῖ γνώμης πέσω·
705

ὁρῶ δέ μʼ ἔργον δεινὸν ἐξειργασμένην.

πόθεν γὰρ ἄν ποτʼ, ἀντὶ τοῦ θνῄσκων ὁ θὴρ

ἐμοὶ παρέσχʼ εὔνοιαν, ἧς ἔθνῃσχʼ ὕπερ;

οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸν βαλόντʼ ἀποφθίσαι

χρῄζων ἔθελγέ μʼ· ὧν ἐγὼ μεθύστερον,
710

ὅτʼ οὐκέτʼ ἀρκεῖ, τὴν μάθησιν ἄρνυμαι.

μόνη γὰρ αὐτόν, εἴ τι μὴ ψευσθήσομαι

γνώμης, ἐγὼ δύστηνος ἐξαποφθερῶ·

τὸν γὰρ βαλόντʼ ἄτρακτον οἶδα καὶ θεὸν

Χείρωνα πημήναντα, χὦνπερ ἂν θίγῃ,
715

φθείρει τὰ πάντα κνώδαλʼ· ἐκ δὲ τοῦδʼ ὅδε

σφαγῶν διελθὼν ἰὸς αἵματος μέλας

πῶς οὐκ ὀλεῖ καὶ τόνδε; δόξῃ γοῦν ἐμῇ.

καίτοι δέδοκται, κεῖνος εἰ σφαλήσεται,

ταύτῃ σὺν ὁρμῇ κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν ἅμα·
720

ζῆν γὰρ κακῶς κλύουσαν οὐκ ἀνασχετόν,

ἥτις προτιμᾷ μὴ κακὴ πεφυκέναι.

723

Χορός

ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείνʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει,

τὴν δʼ ἐλπίδʼ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

Δηιάνειρα

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν
725

οὐδʼ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ʼξ ἑκουσίας

ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

Δηιάνειρα

τοιαῦτα δʼ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ

κοινωνός, ἀλλʼ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστʼ οἴκοι βαρύ.
730

Χορός

σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον,

εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς· ἐπεὶ

πάρεστι, μαστὴρ πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

Ὕλλος

ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τριῶν σʼ ἓν εἱλόμην,

ἢ μηκέτʼ εἶναι ζῶσαν, ἢ σεσωσμένην
735

ἄλλου κεκλῆσθαι μητέρʼ, ἢ λῴους φρένας

τῶν νῦν παρουσῶν τῶνδʼ ἀμείψασθαί ποθεν.

Δηιάνειρα

τί δʼ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον;

Ὕλλος

τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δʼ ἐμὸν λέγω

πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
740

Δηιάνειρα

οἴμοι, τινʼ ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον;

Ὕλλος

ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ οὐ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ

φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτʼ ἂν ἀγένητον ποεῖν;

Δηιάνειρα

πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρʼ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν

ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής;
745

Ὕλλος

αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν

πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

Δηιάνειρα

ποῦ δʼ ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

749

Ὕλλος

εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε, πάντα δὴ φωνεῖν χρεών.

ὅθʼ εἷρπε κλεινὴν Εὐρύτου πέρσας πόλιν,
750

νίκης ἄγων τροπαῖα κἀκροθίνια,

ἀκτή τις ἀμφίκλυστος Εὐβοίας ἄκρον

Κήναιόν ἐστιν, ἔνθα πατρῴῳ Διὶ

βωμοὺς ὁρίζει τεμενίαν τε φυλλάδα·

οὗ νιν τὰ πρῶτʼ ἐσεῖδον ἄσμενος πόθῳ.
755

μέλλοντι δʼ αὐτῷ πολυθύτους τεύχειν σφαγὰς

κῆρυξ ἀπʼ οἴκων ἵκετʼ οἰκεῖος Λίχας,

τὸ σὸν φέρων δώρημα, θανάσιμον πέπλον·

ὃν κεῖνος ἐνδύς, ὡς σὺ προυξεφίεσο,

ταυροκτονεῖ μὲν δώδεκʼ ἐντελεῖς ἔχων
760

λείας ἀπαρχὴν βοῦς· ἀτὰρ τὰ πάνθʼ ὁμοῦ

ἑκατὸν προσῆγε συμμιγῆ βοσκήματα.

καὶ πρῶτα μὲν δείλαιος ἵλεῳ φρενί,

κόσμῳ τε χαίρων καὶ στολῇ, κατηύχετο·

ὅπως δὲ σεμνῶν ὀργίων ἐδαίετο
765

φλὸξ αἱματηρὰ κἀπὸ πιείρας δρυός,

ἱδρὼς ἀνῄει χρωτί, καὶ προσπτύσσεται

πλευραῖσιν ἀρτίκολλος, ὥστε τέκτονος,

χιτὼν ἅπαν κατʼ ἄρθρον· ἦλθε δʼ ὀστέων

ἀδαγμὸς ἀντίσπαστος· εἶτα φοινίας
770

ἐχθρᾶς ἐχίδνης ἰὸς ὣς ἐδαίνυτο.

ἐνταῦθα δὴ ʼβόησε τὸν δυσδαίμονα

Λίχαν, τὸν οὐδὲν αἴτιον τοῦ σοῦ κακοῦ,

ποίαις ἐνέγκοι τόνδε μηχαναῖς πέπλον·

ὁ δʼ οὐδὲν εἰδὼς δύσμορος τὸ σὸν μόνης
775

δώρημʼ ἔλεξεν, ὥσπερ ἦν ἐσταλμένον.

κἀκεῖνος ὡς ἤκουσε καὶ διώδυνος

σπαραγμὸς αὐτοῦ πλευμόνων ἀνθήψατο,

μάρψας ποδός νιν, ἄρθρον ᾗ λυγίζεται,

ῥιπτεῖ πρὸς ἀμφίκλυστον ἐκ πόντου πέτραν·
780

κόμης δὲ λευκὸν μυελὸν ἐκραίνει, μέσου

κρατὸς διασπαρέντος αἵματός θʼ ὁμοῦ.

783

Ὕλλος

ἅπας δʼ ἀνηυφήμησεν οἰμωγῇ λεώς,

τοῦ μὲν νοσοῦντος, τοῦ δὲ διαπεπραγμένου·

κοὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα τἀνδρὸς ἀντίον μολεῖν.
785

ἐσπᾶτο γὰρ πέδονδε καὶ μετάρσιος,

βοῶν, ἰύζων· ἀμφὶ δʼ ἐκτύπουν πέτραι,

Λοκρῶν τʼ ὄρειοι πρῶνες Εὐβοίας τʼ ἄκραι.

ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀπεῖπε, πολλὰ μὲν τάλας χθονὶ

ῥίπτων ἑαυτόν, πολλὰ δʼ οἰμωγῇ βοῶν,
790

τὸ δυσπάρευνον λέκτρον ἐνδατούμενος

σοῦ τῆς ταλαίνης, καὶ τὸν Οἰνέως γάμον

οἷον κατακτήσαιτο λυμαντὴν βίου,

τότʼ ἐκ προσέδρου λιγνύος διάστροφον

ὀφθαλμὸν ἄρας εἶδέ μʼ ἐν πολλῷ στρατῷ
795

δακρυρροοῦντα, καί με προσβλέψας καλεῖ·

ὦ παῖ, πρόσελθε, μὴ φύγῃς τοὐμὸν κακόν,

μηδʼ εἴ σε χρὴ θανόντι συνθανεῖν ἐμοί·

ἀλλʼ ἆρον ἔξω, καὶ μάλιστα μέν με θὲς

ἐνταῦθʼ ὅπου με μή τις ὄψεται βροτῶν·
800

εἰ δʼ οἶκτον ἴσχεις, ἀλλά μʼ ἔκ γε τῆσδε γῆς

πόρθμευσον ὡς τάχιστα, μηδʼ αὐτοῦ θάνω.

τοσαῦτʼ ἐπισκήψαντος, ἐν μέσῳ σκάφει

θέντες σφε πρὸς γῆν τήνδʼ ἐκέλσαμεν μόλις

βρυχώμενον σπασμοῖσι· καί νιν αὐτίκα
805

ἢ ζῶντʼ ἐσόψεσθʼ ἢ τεθνηκότʼ ἀρτίως.

τοιαῦτα, μῆτερ, πατρὶ βουλεύσασʼ ἐμῷ

καὶ δρῶσʼ ἐλήφθης, ὧν σε ποίνιμος Δίκη

τίσαιτʼ Ἐρινύς τʼ. εἰ θέμις δʼ, ἐπεύχομαι·

θέμις δʼ, ἐπεί μοι τὴν θέμιν σὺ προύβαλες,
810

πάντων ἄριστον ἄνδρα τῶν ἐπὶ χθονὶ

κτείνασʼ, ὁποῖον ἄλλον οὐκ ὄψει ποτέ.

813

Χορός

τί σῖγʼ ἀφέρπεις; οὐ κάτοισθʼ ὁθούνεκα

ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

Ὕλλος

ἐᾶτʼ ἀφέρπειν· οὖρος ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμῶν
815

αὐτῇ γένοιτʼ ἄπωθεν ἑρπούσῃ καλός.

ὄγκον γὰρ ἄλλως ὀνόματος τί δεῖ τρέφειν

μητρῷον, ἥτις μηδὲν ὡς τεκοῦσα δρᾷ;

ἀλλʼ ἑρπέτω χαίρουσα· τὴν δὲ τέρψιν ἣν

τὠμῷ δίδωσι πατρί, τήνδʼ αὐτὴ λάβοι.
820

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 663 focus

O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far

I have ventured in my action of to-day!

CH

What ails thee, Dêanira, Oeneus’ child?
665

DÊ

I know not, but am haunted by a dread,

Lest quickly I be found to have performed

A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed.

CH

Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles?

DÊ

Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond

Is eagerness, where actions are obscure.
670

CH

Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear.

DÊ

A thing is come to pass, which should I tell,

Will strike you with strange wonder when you learn.

For, O my friends, the stuff wherewith I dressed

That robe, a flock of soft and milkwhite wool,

Is shrivelled out of sight, not gnawn by tooth

Of any creature here, but, self-consumed,

Frittered and wasting on the courtyard-stones.

To let you know the circumstance at full,

I will speak on. Of all the Centaur-Thing,

When labouring in his side with the fell point

O’ the shaft, enjoined me, I had nothing lost,

But his vaticination in my heart

Remained indelible, as though engraved

With pen of iron upon brass. ’Twas thus:—

I was to keep this unguent closely hid

In dark recesses, where no heat of fire

Or warming ray might reach it, till with fresh

Anointing I addressed it to an end.

So I had done. And now this was to do,

Within my chamber covertly I spread

The ointment with piece of wool, a tuft

Pulled from a home-bred sheep; and, as ye saw,

I folded up my gift and packed it close
675

In hollow casket from the glaring sun.
675

But, entering in, a fact encounters me
675

Past human wit to fathom with surmise.
675

For, as it happened, I had tossed aside
675

The bit of wool I worked with, carelessly,
675

Into the open daylight, ’mid the blaze
675

Of Helios’ beam. And, as it kindled warm,

It fell away to nothing, crumbled small,

Like dust in severing wood by sawyers strewn.

So, on the point of vanishing, it lay.

But, from the place where it had lain, brake forth

A frothy scum in clots of seething foam,

Like the rich draught in purple vintage poured

From Bacchus’ vine upon the thirsty ground.

And I, unhappy, know not toward what thought

To turn me, but I see mine act is dire.

For wherefore should the Centaur, for what end,

Show kindness to the cause for whom he died?

That cannot be. But seeking to destroy

His slayer, he cajoled me. This I learn

Too late, by sad experience, for no good.

And, if I err not now, my hapless fate

Is all alone to be his murderess.

For, well I know, the shaft that made the wound

Gave pain to Cheiron, who was more than man;

And wheresoe’er it falls, it ravageth

All the wild creatures of the world. And now

This gory venom blackly spreading bane

From Nessus’ angry wound, must it not cause

The death of Heracles? I think it must.

Yet my resolve is firm, if aught harm him,

My death shall follow in the self-same hour.

She cannot bear to live in evil fame,

Who cares to have a nature pure from ill.

CH

Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear.

But Hope is not condemned before the event.

DÊ

In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope
725

Remains to minister a cheerful mind.

CH

Yet to have erred unwittingly abates

The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case.

DÊ

So speaks not he who hath a share of sin,

But who is clear of all offence at home.
730

CH

’Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught

To impart to thine own son: for he is here,

Who went erewhile to find his father forth.

HYLLUS
HYLLUS (re-entering).

O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true:

Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert

No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind
735

Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now!
735

DÊ

My son! what canst thou so mislike in me?

HYL

I tell thee thou this day hast been the death

Of him that was thy husband and my sire.
740

DÊ

What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child!

HYL

A word that must be verified. For who

Can make the accomplished fact as things undone?

DÊ

Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told

That I have wrought a deed so full of woe?
745

HYL

’Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes

My father’s heavy state:—no hearsay word.

DÊ

And where didst thou come near him and stand by?

HYL

Art thou to hear it? On, then, with my tale!

When after sacking Eurytus’ great city

He marched in triumph with first-fruits of war,—

There is a headland, last of long Euboea,

Surf-beat Cenaeum,—where to his father Zeus

He dedicates high altars and a grove.

There first I saw him, gladdened from desire.

And when he now addressed him to the work

Of various sacrifice, the herald Lichas

Arrived from home, bearing thy fatal gift,

The deadly robe: wherewith invested straight,

As thou hadst given charge, he sacrificed

The firstlings of the spoil, twelve bulls entire,

Each after each. But the full count he brought

Was a clear hundred of all kinds of head.

Then the all-hapless one commenced his prayer

In solemn gladness for the bright array.

But presently, when from the holy things,

And from the richness of the oak-tree core,

There issued flame mingled with blood, a sweat

Rose on his flesh, and close to every limb

Clung, like stone-drapery from the craftsman’s hand,

The garment, glued unto his side. Then came

The tearing pangs within his bones, and then

The poison feasted like the venomed tooth

Of murderous basilisk.—When this began,

He shouted on poor Lichas, none to blame

For thy sole crime, ‘What guile is here, thou knave?

What was thy fraud in fetching me this robe?’

He, all-unknowing, in an evil hour

Declared his message, that the gift was thine.

Whereat the hero, while the shooting spasm

Had fastened on the lungs, seized him by the foot

Where the ankle turns i’ the socket, and, with a thought,

Hurl’d on a surf-vex’d reef that showed i’ the sea:

And rained the grey pulp from the hair, the brain

Being scattered with the blood. Then the great throng

Saddened their festival with piteous wail

For one in death and one in agony.

And none had courage to approach my sire,—

Convulsed upon the ground, then tossed i’ the air

With horrid yells and crying, till the cliffs

Echoed round, the mountain-promontories

Of Locris, and Euboea’s rugged shore.

Wearied at length with flinging on the earth,

And shrieking oft with lamentable cry,

Cursing the fatal marriage with thyself

The all-wretched, and the bond to Oeneus’ house,

That prize that was the poisoner of his peace,

He lifted a wild glance above the smoke

That hung around, and ’midst the crowd of men

Saw me in tears, and looked on me and said,

‘O son, come near; fly not from my distress,

Though thou shouldst be consumèd in my death,

But lift and bear me forth; and, if thou mayest,

Set me where no one of mankind shall see me.

But if thy heart withhold thee, yet convey me

Out of this land as quickly as ye may.

Let me not die where I am now.’ We then,

Thus urgently commanded, laid him down

Within our bark, and hardly to this shore

Rowed him convulsed and roaring.—Presently,

He will appear, alive or lately dead.

Such, mother, is the crime thou hast devised

And done against our sire, wherefore let Right

And Vengeance punish thee!—May I pray so?

I may: for thou absolv’st me by thy deed,

Thou that hast slain the noblest of the Earth,

Thy spouse, whose like thou ne’er wilt see again.

CH

Why steal’st thou forth in silence? Know’st thou not

Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood
815

Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye!

Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name

Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly?

Let her begone for me: and may she find

Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire!
820

CHORUS
CHORUS .

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 663 focus

Ihr Frauen, ach, wie bangt mir, daß ich über Maß

Hinausgeschweist in Allem, was ich eben that!

Der Chor.

Was ist es, Deneus' Tochter, Deianeira? Sprich!

Deianeira.

Ich weiß nicht, aber fürchte, bald erweist es sich:
655

In schöner Hoffnung schuf ich mir ein großes Leid.

Der Chor.

Doch wohl mit deiner Gabe nicht an Herakles?

Deianeira.

Das eben: Keinem rath' ich mehr, vertrauensvoll

Ein Werk zu wagen, dessen Frucht im Dunkel ruht.

Der Chor.

So sage, kannst du's sagen, was dir Furcht erweckt.
660

Deianeira.

Ein Wunder ist geschehen, das, erzähl' ich es,

Wohl eurem Ohr unglaublich klingen wird, o Frau'n.

Des wolligen Lammes Silbervließ, mit dem ich erst

Das Kleid bestrichen, welches ihn umhüllen soll,

Das ist verschwunden, nicht verzehrt von irgendwas
665

Im Hause; durch sich selber aufgezehrt, entschwand's,

Und stob hinweg vom Steine. Daß du ganz erkennst,¹

Wie dieses zugegangen, hol' ich weiter aus.

Was jenes Ungeheuer, als der bittre Pfeil

Ihm schmerzlich wühlt' im Busen, mir bedeutete,
670

Der Worte keins vergaß ich, nein, bewahrte sie,

Wie Schrift auf eh'rner Tafel, die niemals erlischt.

Mir war geboten, (und ich that nach diesem Wort,)

Den Liebeszauber tief im Haus zu bergen, stets

Vom Feuer fern, vom heißen Lichtstrahl unberührt,
675

Bis daß ich eben salbend ihn verwendete.

Und also that ich. Aber als die Stunde kam,

Bestrich ich heimlich im Gemach daheim mit Flaum,

Den ich vom Lamm der eignen Wollenheerde nahm,

Und legte wohlgefaltet, fern vom Sonnenstrahl,
680

In's hohle Kästchen das Gewand, wie ihr's geseh'n.

Doch wiederkommend seh' ich, was die Sprache nicht

Zu schildern weiß, was keines Menschen Geist erklärt.

Ich warf des Lammes Flocke so von ungefähr,

Als ich das Kleid bestrichen, auf den Boden hin²
685

In Sonnenstrahlen. Als sie warm geworden hier,

Zerfloß sie ganz unkennbar und zerstob im Strahl,

Gestaltet so wie Spähne, die du wohl erblickst,

Nachdem der Säge scharfer Zahn das Holz durchfeilt.

So lag sie da zerfallen. Doch vom Boden, wo
690

Sie lag, da zischte Blasenschaum dicksprudelnd auf,

Wie wenn von Bacchos' Rebenstock der fette Trank³

Des blauen Herbstes auf den Grund geschüttet wird.

Nun weiß ich nicht, ich Arme, was ich denken soll;

Denn Grauenvolles, seh' ich, ist durch mich gescheh'n.
695

Warum, wofür denn sollte sterbend auch das Thier

Wohlwollen mir erweisen, die ihm Tod gebracht?

Nein, nein! Vertilgen wollt' es seinen Mörder nur,

Und mich betrog es: allzuspät gewinn' ich jezt

Davon die Kunde, wo sie nicht mehr frommen kann.
700

Denn ich allein ja, wenn ein Wahn mich nicht berückt,

Ich werd' allein ihn tödten, ich Unselige.

Ich weiß, dem Gotte Cheiron auch schlug dies Geschoß⁴

Die Todeswunde, jedes Wild, das dieser Pfeil

Berührte, findet seinen Tod: wie sollte nun
705

Das schwarze Blutgift, das in Nessos' Wunde trof,

Nicht auch Herakles tödten? Sicher, dünkt es mir.

Doch fest bin ich entschlossen: trifft den Gatten Tod,

Sterb' ich zugleich getroffen durch denselben Schlag.

Denn niedern Rufs zu leben, trägt die Freie nicht,
710

Die groß es achtet, nicht von niedrer Art zu sein.

Der Chor.

Wohl unvermeidlich wohnt die Furcht bei schwerer That;

Doch richt' Erwartung vor der That Erfolge nicht.

Deianeira.

Es wohnt in ungerechten Unternehmungen

Auch nicht Erwartung, die Vertrau'n und Muth gewährt.
715

Der Chor.

Wohl aber straft den ohne Vorsaz Fehlenden

Gelindes Zürnen; also ziemt es dir von ihm.

Deianeira.

Nicht also sagt wohl Einer, den die Noth bedrängt;

So sprechen die nur, welche Nichts daheim betrübt.

Der Chor.

Dir ziemte wohl zu hemmen jedes weitre Wort,
720

Wenn du dem eignen Sohne Nichts verrathen willst;

Der jüngst den Vater suchen ging, er ist zurück.

Hyllos. Die Vorigen.

Hyllos.

Mutter, Eines wünscht' ich wohl aus Dreien mir:

O daß du todt wärst, oder daß ein Anderer

Dich Mutter nennte, oder daß dir bessern Sinn
725

Eingäb' ein Gott, als diesen, der dich jezt beseelt!

Deianeira.

Was that ich, Sohn, das solches Hasses würdig war?

Hyllos.

So wisse, deinen Gatten, der mein Vater hieß,

Ihu hast du hingemordet heut an diesem Tag.

Deianeira.

Weh! Welches Wort kam über deine Lippen, Sohn?
730

Hyllos.

Das nimmer ungeschehen wird; denn wer vermag

Das ungescheh'n zu machen, was vollendet ist?

Deianeira.

Wie sagst du? Welchem Menschen sprichst du's nach, o Kind,

Ich hätte solch unselig grause That verübt?

Hyllos.

Ich sah's mit eignen Augen an, das schwere Leid
735

Des Vaters, nicht aus fremdem Munde hört' ich es.

Deianeira.

Wo kamst du deinem Vater nah' und warst um ihn?

Hylos.

Ziemt dir's zu wissen, Alles denn sei dir gesagt.⁵

Als er, zerstörend Eurytos' ruhmvolle Stadt,

Mit Siegstrophä'n und stolzer Beute weiter 30g;
740

Jezt auf Euböa's meerumspültem Vorgebirg

(Kenäon heißt es) heiligt er dem Vater Zeus

Altäre samt des Haines dichtbelaubtem Raum,

Wo ich zuerst ihn wiedersah, sehnsüchtig froh.

Und als er eben rüsten will der Opfer viel,
745

Trifft unser Herold Lichas ein von unserm Haus,

Und bringt dem Vater dein Geschenk, das Todeskleid.

Mit diesem, so wie du's befahlst, umhüllt er sich,

Und schlachtet zwölf erles'ne Farren ohne Fehl,

Den schönsten Schmuck der Beute; doch im Ganzen führt
750

Er hundert Opferthiere dar aus allem Vieh.

Anfänglich heitern Sinnes, war der Arme wohl

Des Schmucks, des Festgewandes froh und betete:

Doch als die Flamme blutigroth vom hehren Mahl

Und aus der Fichte fettem Stamm aufloderte,
755

Trof heller Schweiß ihm durch die Haut, und fest umschlang

Das Kleid ihm alle Glieder, wie von Künstlerhand

Den Seiten angelöthet; sein Gebein durchdrang

Die wilde Zuckung folternd; dann, wie mörderisch

Feindsel'ger Schlangen grimmes Gift, verzehrt' es ihn.
760

Da rief er tobend nach dem Unglückseligen,

Dem Lichas, der nicht schuldig war an deiner That,

Mit welchen argen Künsten er dies Kleid gebracht.

Der weiß um Nichts, der Arme, sagt, von dir allein

Sei diese Gabe, wie er sie von dir empfing.
765

Und jener, als er solches hört und wilder Schmerz

Ihm durch das Eingeweide wühlt in reger Qual,

Faßt ihn am Beine, wo das Fußgelenke schließt,

Und schleudert ihn zum meerumspülten Felsen hin.

Und aus dem Haupthaar sprüzte weißes Hirn, ihm barst
770

Der Schädel mitten, und zugleich raun dichtes Blut.

Doch lauten Ruf des Jammers hob das ganze Volk,

Als hier der Eine raste, todt der Andre lag,

Und Keiner wagte wider ihn heranzugehn.

Denn nun zur Erde stürzt er, raffte dann sich auf,
775

Laut schreiend, heulend; Fels an Fels erdröhnte rings,

Der Lokrer Waldgebirge samt Euböa's Höh'n.

Doch als der Arme sich erschöpft, indem er oft

Umher sich warf am Boden, oft aufjammernd schrie,

Und Schmach gerufen über dein unseliges
780

Ehlager, arme Mutter, wie sein Leben ihm

Der Bund mit Deneus' edlem Haus verwüstete;

Da hob aus Qualm und Dampfe, der ihn rings umwogt,

Der Held des Auges wirren Blick, sah weinend mich

Dasteh'n im Volksgewühle, blickt mich an und ruft:
785

O komm heran, Sohn, fliehe nicht vor meinem Leid,

Auch wenn du sterben müßtest mit mir Sterbenden!

Nein, hebe mich von hinnen, birg am liebsten mich

In Deden, wo kein Menschenauge mich erspäht!

Ja, fühlst du Mitleid, führe mich aus diesem Land
790

Im schnellsten Schiffe, daß ich hier nicht sterben muß!

Nachdem er das geboten, hob ich ihn sofort

In einen Nachen; doch er stöhnt' in Zuckungen,

Wir konnten kaum hier landen, und ihr werdet gleich

Ihn schauen lebend oder kaum verblichen erst.
795

Dies, Mutter, dies ersannest, also thatest du

An meinem Vater: strafe dich Erinnys denn,

Die Nache Dike's! Ist es recht, ersleh' ich das;

Recht aber ist es, weil du kühn verhöhnt das Recht,

Und ihn, der Männer besten, der auf Erden war,
800

Gemordet, wie wohl keinen mehr dein Aug' erblickt!

(Deianeira geht ab.)

Der Chor.

Was gehst du schweigend? Weißt du nicht, indem du schweigst,

Bekennst du dem dich schuldig, der dich schuldig fand?

Hylos.

laßt sie geh'n! Ein frischer Fahrwind trage sie

Aus meinen Augen fern' hinweg, die Fliehende !
805

Was soll sie grundlos mit des Mutternamens Glanz

Sich brüsten, wenn sie keine Pflicht der Mutter übt?

Nein, mag sie geh'n in Freuden, und die Wonne, die

Sie meinem Vater gönnte, werd' ihr selbst zu Theil!

(ab in das Haus.) (allein.) Erste Strophe.

Der Chor.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 663 focus

Chorus.

Deianika. Alas ! my friends, I fear I've gone too far.

Chorus

Great queen, in what ?
665

Deianira

I know not what, but dread

Something to come ; lest where I had most hope

Of happiness, I meet with bitterest woe.

Chorus

Meanst thou thy gift to Hercules ?

Deianira

I do.

Nor would I henceforth counsel those I loved

To do a dark and desperate deed like this,
670

Uncertain of th' event.
670

Chorus

How was it ? Speak,

If thou canst teU us.

Deianira

Oh ! 'twas wonderful !

For you shall hear it. Know then, the white wool

Wherein 1 wrapped th' anointed vest, untouched

By any hand, dropped self -consumed away,

And down the stone, e'en like a liquid, flowed

Dissolving — but 'tis fit I tell you all —

Whate'er the wounded centaur did enjoin me

Mindful to practise, sacred as the laws

On brazen tablets graved, I have performed :

Far from the fire, and from the sun's warm beams

He bade me keep the charm ; from every eye

In secret hid, till time should call on me

To anoint and use it. This was done : and now,

The fleece m secret plucked, the charm prepared,

Long from the sun within a chest concealed ;

At length I brought it forth, and sent the gift
675

To my Alcides, when behold a wonder,
675

Most strange for tongue to tell, or heart of man
675

E'en to conceive ! Perchance the wool I cast
675

Into the sunshine ; soon as it grew warm
675

It fell to dust, consuming all away

In most strange manner, then from th' earth uprose

In frothy bubbles, e'en as from the grape

In yellow autumn jBlows the purple wine.

I know not what to thinly ; but much I fear

I've done a horrid deed. For, why, my friends,

Why should the dying savage wish to serve

His murderer ? That could never be. Oh no !

He only meant by flattery to destroy

Me, his destroyer. Truth is come too late,

And I alone have slain my dear Alcides ;

I know that by his arrows Chiron fell,

I know whate'er they touched they still were fatal,

That very poison mingled with the blood

Of dying Nessus, will not that too kill

My Hercules? It must : but if he dies,

My resolution is to perish with him ;

Those, who their honour and their virtue prize,

Can never live with infamy and shame.

Chorus

'Tis fit we tremble at a deed of horror ;

But 'tis not fitting, ere we know th' event,

To give up hope, and yield us to despair.

Deianira

There is no hope where evil counsel 's ta'en.

Chorus

But when we err from ignorance alone,

Small is the crime and slight tjie punishment ;

Such is thy fault.

Deianira

The guiltless may talk thus,

Who know no ill ; not those who are unhappy.
730

Chorus

No more ; unless thou meanst thy son should

hear thee,

Who now returns in search of thy Alcides ;

Behold him here.

Hyllus
Scene IT.

Deianira, Chorus.

Hyllus

Oh ! would that thou wert dead !

Would I were not thy son ! or, being so,

Would I could change thy wicked heart !
740

Deianira

My son,

What means this passion?

Hyllus

Thou hast slain thy husband ;

This very day my father hast thou slain.

Deianira

Alas I luy eliild, wliat sayst tlioii

And therefore must be ; who can e'er undo

The deed tliat's done ?

Deianira
\V1lMt W

But who could say I did it \

Hyllus

1 saw it with these eyes ; 1 heaid it all

From his own lips.

Deianira

Where didst thou see him tlien ?

Tell me, oh ! quickly tell me.

Hyllus

' If I must,

Observe me well : when Hercules, returned

From conquest, had laid waste the noble city

i Ee to Euboea came, where o'er the sea,

Which beats on every side, Oenseum's top

Hangs dreadful, thither to paternal Jove

His new raised altars in the leafy wood

He came to visit : there did my glad eyes

Behold Alcides first. As he prepared

The frequent victim, from the palace came

Lichas thy messenger, and wath him brought

The fatal gift : wrapped in the deadly garment

Without a blemish, firstlings of the spoil,

He slew ; together next a hundred fell.

The mingled fiock. Pleased with his gaudy vest,

And happy in it, he awhile remained,

Offering with joy his grateful sacrifice ;

But, lo ! when from the holy victim rose

The bloody flame, and from the pitchy wood

Exhaled its moisture, sudden a cold sweat

Bedewed his limbs, and to his body stuck

As by the hand of some artificer

Close joined to every part, the fatal vest ;

Convulsion racked his bones, and through his veins,

Like the fell serpent's deadly venom, raged ;

Then questioned he the wretched guiltless Lichas

By what detested arts he had procured

The poisoned garb ; he, ignorant of all,

Could only say it was the gift he brought

From Deianira. When Alcides heard it.

Tortured with pain, he took him by the foot,

And hurled him headlong on a pointed rock

That o'er the ocean hung; his brains dashed forth

With mingled blood flowed through his clotted hair

In horrid streams ; the multitude with shrieks

Lamented loud the fury of Alcides,

And Lichas' hapless fate ; none durst oppose

His raging frenzy ; prostrate on the earth

Kow would he lay and groan ; and now uprising

"Would bellow forth his griefs ; the mountain-tops

Of Locris, and Euboea's rocks returned

His dreadful cries ; then on the ground outstretched,

In bitterest wrath he cursed the nuptial bed

Of QEneus, and his execrations poured

On thee his worst of foes : at length his eyes,

Distorted forth from the surrounding smoke,

He cast on me, who midst attending crowds

Wept his sad fate ; " Approach," he cried, " my son,

Do not forsake thy father ; rather come

And share his fate than leave me here, oh ! haste.

And take me hence ; bear me where never eye

Of mortal shall behold me. O my child,

Let me not perish here." Thus spake my father,

And I obeyed : distracted with his pains

A vessel brings him to this place, and soon

Living or dead you will behold him here.

This have thy horrid machinations done

For thy Alcides : Oh ! may justice doom thee

To righteous punishment, if it be lawful

For me to call down vengeance on a mother.

As sure it is on one who hath disclaimed

All piety like thee ; the earth sustains not

A better man than him whom thou has murdered,

Nor shalt thou e'er behold his like again.

Chorus
(_)f Kurytus, with fair triumphal spoils (For such was thy command) twelve oxen then \Exit Deianira.

Whence this abrupt departure? Knowst thou

Let her be gone ; and may some prosperous
815

gale
815

Waft her far off, that these abhorring eyes
815

May never see her more ! What boots the name
815

Of raothei', when no longer she i:)erforms
815

A moihor's duty ? Let lier go in peace,
815

And for her kindness to my father soon
815

May she enjoy the blessing she bestowed !
815

True was the oracle divine,

Long since delivered from Dodona's shrine,

Which said, Alcides' woes should last

Till twelve revolving years were past;

Then should his labours end in sw^eet repose

Behold, my friends, 'tis come to pass,

'Tis all fultilled ; for who, alas !

In peaceful death, or toil or slavery knows ?

If deep within his tortured veins

The centaur's cruel poison reigns.

That from the Hydra's baleful breath

Destructive flowed, replete with death,

On him another sun shall never rise ;

The venom runs through every part.

And, lo ! to Nessus' direful art

Alcides falls a helpless sacrifice.

Poor Deianira long deplored

Her waning charms, and ever faithless lord ;

At length by evil counsel swayed

Her passion's dictates she obeyed,

Resolved Alcides' doubtful truth to prove ;

But now, alas ! laments his fate

In ceaseless woe, and finds too late

A dying husband, and a foreign love.

. Another death must soon succeed,

Another victim soon shall bleed,

Fatal, Alcides, was the dart

That pierced the rival monarch's heart,

And brought lole from her native land ;

From Yenus did our sorrows flow.

The secret spring of all our woe,

For nought was done but by her dread command.

Or I'm deceived, or I did hear loud shrieks
820

Within the palace ; 'twas the voice of one
820

In anguish ; doubtless some calamity
820

Hath fallen upon us now. What can it be 1
820

But see, yon matnon, with contracted brow
820

And unaccustomed sadness, comes to tell
820

The dreadful news.
820

Nurse
Strophe i. Antistroplie i. Strojyhe 2. Antistrophe 2. [^Exeunt, ACT v. Scene I. \A noise within the Palace.^ Scene II.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 663 focus

I fear, my female friends, that I have done

More than became me in my late attempt.

Chorus

Daughter of royal Eneus, what hath chanced ?
665

Deianira

I know not; but misgivings sink my mind,

Lest it should soon appear that I have done,

Impell'd by honest hope, some mighty ill.

Chorus

Thy presents to thy lord, cause they this fear?

Deianira

So strongly, that I never will advise

A promptness to a deed of dark event.
670

Chorus

If we may know, inform us whence thy fear.

Deianira

A thing, my friends, hath happen'd far beyond

All thought, and big with wonder. You shall hear.

The soft wool sever'd from the snow-white fleece,

With which I lately ting'd the robe, at once

Wasted and, touch'd by none within the house,

Shrunk self-corroded into dust, and lay

A loose heap on the surface of the stone.

That thou may'st know each circumstance, distinct

Shall my relation be, and giv'n at large.

Whate'er the dying Centaur, 'midst the pangs

Of the keen arrow in his side infix'd,

Gave me in charge, I treasured in my heart,

As characters indelibly engraved

On brazen tablets: his instructions these,

And I obey'd them; from the blazing hearth,

And by the warm beams of the sun untouch'd,

Close-cover'd still to keep this potent charm

Fresh, till occasion should require its use.

I did so: and when now my thought resolved

To put its virtue to the proof, retired

In secret, wool from my domestic stores

I for the purpose took, and tinged the vest;
675

Then folded it, and laid it, as you saw,
675

In a close chest by the sun's beams untouch'd.
675

Again returning I beheld a sight
675

No language can express, nor could the thought
675

Of man conceive; the wool, wherewith I tinged
675

The vest, I chanced to throw where the sun's rays

Beam'd in full force; as it grew warm, it shrunk

And wasted on the ground, like the light dust

Which falls beneath the saw, like this it lay:

But soon the swelling mass in froth arose,

Fermenting like the grape's rich juice, that drops

Pour'd in grey autumn on the earth. My mind Ho

Is troubled, and perplex'd with fears: I see

That I have done some dreadful deed; for whence

This kindness by the dying Centaur shown,

Or why to me, through whom the savage died?

It is not so; but, wishing to destroy

The author of his wound, he filed his tongue

To sooth my ear with glozing courtesy.

This I too late perceive, for now to know

Avails not: I alone, ah wretched me!

(If with false fears my soul is not deceived)

Have wrought his ruin: well I know the shaft

That gave the wound; e'en Chiron the divine

Fell by its fatal point; to every beast

Its touch is death; and the black poison, mix'd

With the vile Centaur's blood, shall now destroy

My lord too. Such my fears. But should he die,

Fix'd is the purpose of my soul, with him

I too will die: for who could bear to live

With infamy, that has a sense of shame,

And a base nature holds in high disdain?

Chorus

Horror at dreadful deeds must seize the soul;

But ere th' event hope should not be renounced.

Deianira

But in designs, which honour does not own,
725

There is no hope that harbours confidence.

Chorus

To those who err in judgment, not in will,

Anger is gentle: Lady, such be thine.

Deianira

The stranger to affliction thus may speak;

But not the wretch who shares the dreadful ill.
730

Chorus

The time now calls for silence; on this theme

Unless thou wou'dst hold converse with thy son,

Who went to seek his father; he is here.

Hyllus
HYLLUS, DEIANIRA, CHORUS.

My mother, oh that thou wert now no more;

Or, if alive, that to some other son

Thou wert a mother; or to holier thoughts
735

The present temper of thy mind were changed.
735

Deianira

What have I done that merits this rebuke?

Hyllus

Know then the dire event: this fatal day

Thy husband and my father thou hast slain.

DEIA: Ah wretched me ! What hast thou said, my son?
740

Hyllus

What cannot be recall'd: the deed once done,

Where is the pow'r can render it not done?

Deianira

What may this mean, my son? By whom inform'd

Say'st thou that I have done this hateful deed?
745

Hyllus

I saw my father's suff'rings, with these eyes

I saw them, nor by others was inform'd.

Deianira

Where didst thou see him? where attend him? say.

Hyllus

If thou wou'dst know it, I must tell thee all.

The far-famed town of Eurytus destroy'd,

The trophies of his conquest, and the spoils

He to Cenæum brought, a rocky point

High-rising on the Eubean shore, and wash'd

On each side by the sea; his altars there,

And the green foliage of a grove, he raised

To Jove his father; there my longing eyes

With joy first saw him: but as he prepared

The various victims, hence his servant came,

The herald Lichas, and thy present brought,

The fatal vest: with this, for such thy charge,

He robed himself, and slew twelve beauteous bulls

Selected from the play; but to the god

An hundred various victims he had brought.

At first th' unhappy hero, with a mind

Cheerful and joying in his gorgeous robe,

Offer'd his vows; but when the bloody flame

Blazed from the hallow'd sacrifice, and heat

Glow'd from the unctuous firs, close to his sides

And to each limb, as by some artist fix'd,

The robe abhered; and through his bones shot fierce

Convulsive pains; then as the poisonous gore

Of the detested Hydra rankled deep,

He ask'd th' unhappy Lichas, for thy crime

In nothing blamable, by whose base arts

He brought this robe: unconscious what he brought

Th' ill-fated herald said, from thee alone

It was a present to his charge assign'd,

And brought as he received it. At these words,

Rack'd as he was with agonizing pains,

He seized him by the foot above the part

Where the joint bends, and dash'd him 'gainst the rock

Projecting o'er the waves that wash its sides;

A mingled mass of hair, and brains, and blood

Flow'd from his shatter'd head; th' assembled crouds

Lament the hero's sufferings, and the fate

Of Lichas; but of all the train not one

Had courage to approach him: to the ground

One while he bent convulsed; anon erect

He cried aloud; the promontories round,

The rocks of Locris, and Eubœa's heights

Resounded with his cries: but now grown faint,

And oft with anguish writhing on the earth,

With many a groan he cursed thy nuptial bed,

Inhuman as thou art, to his repose

So fatal; cursed thy father's bridal rites,

Whence to his life this pest. Then through the mist,

That darken'd o'er him, his distorted eyes

He rais'd, and saw me 'midst the numerous croud,

Weeping his fate; he look'd on me, and cried

My son, come to me; do not fly my ills,

Though with thy dying father thou shou'dst die;

But bear me hence, and see thou lay me where

No mortal may behold me: if thy soul

Is sensible of pity, from this land

Remove me; haste, that here I may not die.

Thus as he urged, we placed him in a bark,

And brought him to this shore, no easy task,

Roaring aloud through anguish; him thou soon

Or living wilt behold, or lately dead.

This 'gainst my father have thy arts devised,

This hast thou done, my mother; and this deed

May rigorous justice on thy head repay,

And the avenging Fury, if my pray'rs

Be righteous: they are righteous: thou hast cast

All that is righteous from thee, and hast slain

The best, the noblest man the earth could boast:

His equal never more shalt thou behold.

Chorus

Without reply why dost thou haste away?

Nay, let her go; and may a favouring gale
815

Swell as she goes, and waft her from my sight.
815

Why should I cherish with a son's fond pride

The name of mother? Nothing hath she done

That shows a mother's part: let her then go,

And take this farewell with her, May she find

Such joys as to my father she hath given.
820

Chorus
STRO. 1.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 663-820 focus

Enter Deianeira from the house.

Deianeira

Friends, how I fear that I may have gone too far in all that I was doing just now!

Chorus

What has happened, Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus?
665

Deianeira

I do not know, but I despair that I will soon be found to have done a great wrong, when my hope was for good.

Chorus

Surely it is nothing that bears on your gift to Heracles?

Deianeira

Yes, it is! So much so that I would never recommend to anybody

that he be eager for action in obscurity.
670

Chorus

Tell us the cause of your fear, if it may be told.

672

Deianeira

A thing has happened, my friends, such that, if I declare it, it will be a strange marvel for you to hear. The implement with which I was just now anointing the festal robe,

a white tuft of fleecy sheep’s wool, has disappeared, eaten away by no animal in the courtyard, but self-devoured and self-destroyed it crumbled down over a stone slab. But I must tell the story at greater length, so that you may know exactly how this thing was accomplished.

675

I neglected no part of the precepts which the savage Centaur gave me when he was hurting from the bitter barb in his side; they were in my memory, like the graven words which no hand may wash from a tablet of bronze. Now this was his order to me, and I obeyed it:
680

to keep this potion hidden in inmost recesses always away from fire and untouched by the sun’s warm ray, until I should apply it, newly spread, where I wished. So I had done. And just now, when the moment for action had come, I performed the anointing secretly in the rooms of the house
685

with a tuft of soft wool which I had plucked from a sheep of our home-flock; then I folded up my gift, and laid it, unvisited by sunlight, within its hollow chest, as you saw. But as I am going back into the house, I see a thing inexplicable by words and beyond the knowledge of the human mind to understand.
690

For somehow I happened to have thrown the ball of wool, with which I had been anointing the robe, into the full blaze of the sun’s rays. As it grew warm, it ran all into confusion, and quickly crumbled to powder on the ground, like nothing in appearance so much as
695

the morsels left by a saw’s teeth when wood is cut. It lies just so, fallen. And from the earth, where it lay exposed, clotted foam seethes up, like the rich juice of the blue fruit from the vine of Bacchus when it is poured on the ground.
700

705

And so I am distraught, and I do not know to which side my thoughts should fall. I only see that I have brought a terrible deed to completion. For why or in thanks for what should the monster in his death-throes have shown good will to me, because of whom he was dying? Impossible! No, he was
705

enchanting me in order to destroy the man who had shot him. And now too late I gain the knowledge of this, when it can no longer help. Yes, I alone—unless my outlook prove mistaken—I, miserable one, shall completely destroy him! For I know that the arrow which made the wound harmed
710

even the god Cheiron, and that it kills all varieties of beasts that it touches. Since it is this same black venom in the blood that has passed out through the wound of Nessus, must it not kill Heracles also? To my mind, at least, it must. Nevertheless, I am resolved that, if he is to be brought down,
715

at the same time I too will die along with him in the selfsame fall. No woman could bear to live with a reputation for evil, if she cares above all that her nature is not evil.
720

723

Chorus

Fear is necessary when terrible deeds are done, but one should not judge one’s expectations before the outcome is known.

Deianeira

There is no room for expectation when one’s plans are bad, at least the kind of expectation which lends confidence.
725

Chorus

And yet in the case of those whose mistakes were unwitting, men’s anger is softened. So it should be for you.

Deianeira

No, such words are not for one who took part in the wrongdoing,

but only for him who has no trouble at his own door.
730

Chorus

It would suit you to refrain from saying anything more, unless you would reveal anything to your own son. For he is here, the one who earlier went to seek his father.

Hyllus

O Mother, how I wish I could choose one of three fates for you!

I wish that you no longer lived, or, if you remained, that someone else called you “Mother”, or that some new and kinder heart had been exchanged for your present one!
735

Deianeira

My son, what have I done to cause your hate?

Hyllus

Listen to me! You have killed

your husband, my father—my father!
740

Deianeira

oh, no! What is this you have blurted out, Hyllus?

Hyllus

Only what cannot but be fulfilled. For who could undo what has happened?

Deianeira

What do you mean, son? From whom did you hear this

that you charge me with a crime so awful?
745

Hyllus

I have seen my father’s overwhelming misfortune with my own eyes. I did not learn of it by hearsay.

Deianeira

Where did you find him? Where were you with him?

749

Hyllus

If you need to hear, then I must tell all.

After sacking the famous city of Eurytus, he went his way with the trophies and choice spoils of victory. There is a sea-washed headland of Euboea , Cape Cenaeum, where he marked out altars and a sacred grove to the Zeus of his fathers.
750

There I first saw him, to the gratification of my desire. He was about to make a sacrifice rich in offerings when his own herald, Lichas, came to him from home with your gift, the deadly robe, in his hands. This he put on as you prescribed
755

and then began his offering with twelve bulls, free from blemish, the prime of the spoil; but altogether he brought a hundred mixed victims to the altar. At first the miserable wretch prayed with serene soul and rejoiced in his ornate garb.
760

But when the blood-fed flame began to blaze from the holy offerings and from the resinous pine, a sweat broke out on his skin and the tunic clung to his sides close-glued at every joint, as if by a craftsman’s hand; there came
765

a convulsive, biting pain in his bones; and then the venom, like that of some deadly, cruel viper, began to devour him. At that he shouted for the ill-fated Lichas—who was in no way to blame for your crime—asking by what plots he had brought that robe.
770

But he, unfortunate one, all-unknowing, said that he had brought your gift from you alone, just as it had been sent. When Heracles heard it, just as a piercing spasm clutched his lungs, he caught him by the foot where the ankle bends in the socket
775

and threw him at a surf-beaten rock in the sea, causing the white brain to ooze from his hair, when the crown of his head had been scattered and his blood with it.
780

783

But all the people lifted up a cry of astounded grief when they saw that the one was frenzied, and the other destroyed;

and no one dared to approach the man. For he convulsed down to the ground and up into the air as he shouted and cried out. All around the cliffs resounded, both the steep headlands of Locris and the Euboean capes. But when he was exhausted with repeatedly
785

throwing himself on the ground in his anguish and repeatedly shouting with howls of grief, as he dwelled on his ill-mated marriage with miserable you and his alliance with Oeneus, which, he said, he got for himself as the ruin of his life, then from out of the shrouding altar-smoke
790

he raised his wildly-rolling eyes and saw me weeping among his many troops. He stared at me and called me: “O my son, come to me. Do not fly from my trouble, not even if you have to share my death. Come, lift me up and away and above all put me
795

in a place where no one can see me. But if you have pity, at least carry me in all speed away from this country so that I may not die here.” When he had laid this command on me, we put him onboard ship and brought him just barely to this land,
800

while he moaned in his convulsions. And you shall soon see him, either alive or freshly dead.
Such, Mother, are the designs and deeds against my father of which you have been found guilty. May Punishing Justice and the Erinys punish you for them! Yes, if it be right, that is my prayer.
805

Right it is, for to my eyes you have rejected the right by killing the best and bravest of men in all the world, whose equal you will never see again. Deianeira moves towards the house.
810

813

Chorus
To Deianeira.

Why do you leave without a word? Do you not know that your silence pleads your accuser’s case?

Hyllus

Let her leave. May a fair wind speed her far from my sight! Why should she falsely keep the dignity of the name “Mother,” when she is all unlike a mother in her deeds? No, let her go—farewell to her. May such delight as
815

she gives my father become her own! Exit Deianeira into the house, followed at a distance by Hyllus.
820

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

663-820

Current edition Experimental

γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω πεπραγμέν' ᾖ μοι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

ΧΟ. τί δ᾽ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως; 665

ΔΗ. οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ἀθυμῶ δ᾽, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα κακὸν μέγ᾽ ἐκπράξασ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

ΧΟ. οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν ῾Ηρακλεῖ δωρημάτων ;

ΔΗ. μάλιστά γ'· ὥστε μήποτ᾽ ἂν προθυμίαν ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ τῶι παραινέσαι λαβεῖν. 670

ΧΟ. δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

ΔΗ.

ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἔχω τάλαινα ποῖ γνώμης πέσω· 705

ζῆν γὰρ κακῶς κλύουσαν οὐκ ἀνασχετόν, ἥτις προτιμᾷ μὴ κακὴ πεφυκέναι.

ΧΟ.

ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείν δεῖν δείν' ἀναγκαίως ἔχει, τὴν δ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

ΔΗ. οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν 725 οὐδ᾽ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

ΧΟ. ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ἐξ ἑκουσίας ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

ΔΗ. τοιαῦτα δ᾽ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ κοινωνός, ἀλλ᾽ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστ᾽ ἐστιν ἐστ' *οἴκοι οἴκοις βαρύ. 730

ΧΟ. σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον χρόνον λόγον, εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς σ'αυτῆσ· ἐπεὶ πάρεστι, μαστὴρ om. πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

ΥΛΛΟΣ. ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τριῶν σ᾽ ἓν εἰλόμην, ἢ μηκέτ᾽ εἶναι ζῶσαν, ἢ σεσωσμένην 735

ἄλλου ἄλλου κεκλῆσθαι μητέρ' μητέρα σ' μητέρ', ἢ λῴους φρένας τῶν νῦν παρουσῶν τῶνδ᾽ ἀμείψασθαί ποθεν.

ΔΗ. τί δ᾽ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γ'᾽ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον ;

ΥΛ. τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δ᾽ ἐμὸν λέγω πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδ᾽ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ. 740

ΔΗ. οἴμοι, τίν ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον ;

ΥΛ. ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτ' ἂν om. ἀγένητον ἀγέννητον ποιεῖν ποεῖν ποιεῖν?

ΔΗ. πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής φῇς? 745

ΥΛ. αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ καὶ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

ΔΗ. ποῦ δ᾽ ἐμπελάζεις ει from ηι ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

ΥΛ.

εἰ χρὴ μαθεῖν σε, πάντα δὴ φωνεῖν χρεών.

ΧΟ.

τί σῖγ᾽ ἀφέρπεις ἐφέρπεις? οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ὁθούνεκα ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

ΧΟ.

Δηιάνειρα γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω πεπραγμένʼ ᾖ μοι πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

Χορός τί δʼ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως; 665

Δηιάνειρα οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀθυμῶ δʼ, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα κακὸν μέγʼ ἐκπράξασʼ ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

Χορός οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν Ἡρακλεῖ δωρημάτων;

Δηιάνειρα μάλιστά γʼ, ὥστε μήποτʼ ἂν προθυμίαν ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ παραινέσαι λαβεῖν. 670

Χορός δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

Χορός ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείνʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει, τὴν δʼ ἐλπίδʼ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

Δηιάνειρα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν 725 οὐδʼ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

Χορός ἀλλʼ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ʼξ ἑκουσίας ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

Δηιάνειρα τοιαῦτα δʼ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ κοινωνός, ἀλλʼ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστʼ οἴκοι βαρύ. 730

Χορός σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον, εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς· ἐπεὶ πάρεστι, μαστὴρ πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

Δηιάνειρα τί δʼ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον;

Ὕλλος τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δʼ ἐμὸν λέγω πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ. 740

Δηιάνειρα οἴμοι, τινʼ ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον;

Ὕλλος ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ οὐ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτʼ ἂν ἀγένητον ποεῖν;

Δηιάνειρα πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρʼ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής; 745

Ὕλλος αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

Δηιάνειρα ποῦ δʼ ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

Χορός τί σῖγʼ ἀφέρπεις; οὐ κάτοισθʼ ὁθούνεκα ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far I have ventured in my action of to-day!

CH What ails thee, Dêanira, Oeneus’ child? 665

DÊ I know not, but am haunted by a dread, Lest quickly I be found to have performed A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed.

CH Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles?

DÊ Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond Is eagerness, where actions are obscure. 670

CH Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear.

DÊ

CH

Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear. But Hope is not condemned before the event.

DÊ In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope 725 Remains to minister a cheerful mind.

CH Yet to have erred unwittingly abates The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case.

DÊ So speaks not he who hath a share of sin, But who is clear of all offence at home. 730

CH ’Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught To impart to thine own son: for he is here, Who went erewhile to find his father forth.

HYLLUS HYLLUS (re-entering). O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true: Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind 735 Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now! 735

DÊ My son! what canst thou so mislike in me?

HYL I tell thee thou this day hast been the death Of him that was thy husband and my sire. 740

DÊ What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child!

HYL A word that must be verified. For who Can make the accomplished fact as things undone?

DÊ Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told That I have wrought a deed so full of woe? 745

HYL ’Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes My father’s heavy state:—no hearsay word.

DÊ And where didst thou come near him and stand by?

HYL

CH

Why steal’st thou forth in silence? Know’st thou not

Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood 815 Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye! Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly? Let her begone for me: and may she find Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire! 820

CHORUS CHORUS .

Ihr Frauen, ach, wie bangt mir, daß ich über Maß Hinausgeschweist in Allem, was ich eben that!

Der Chor. Was ist es, Deneus' Tochter, Deianeira? Sprich!

γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω

πεπραγμέν' ᾖ μοι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

ΧΟ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως;
665

ΔΗ.

οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ἀθυμῶ δ᾽, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα

κακὸν μέγ᾽ ἐκπράξασ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

ΧΟ.

οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν ῾Ηρακλεῖ δωρημάτων ;

ΔΗ.

μάλιστά γ'· ὥστε μήποτ᾽ ἂν προθυμίαν

ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ τῶι παραινέσαι λαβεῖν.
670

ΧΟ.

δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἔχω τάλαινα ποῖ γνώμης πέσω·
705

ζῆν γὰρ κακῶς κλύουσαν οὐκ ἀνασχετόν,

ἥτις προτιμᾷ μὴ κακὴ πεφυκέναι.

ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείν δεῖν δείν' ἀναγκαίως ἔχει,

τὴν δ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

ΔΗ.

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν
725

οὐδ᾽ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

ΧΟ.

ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ἐξ ἑκουσίας

ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

ΔΗ.

τοιαῦτα δ᾽ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ

κοινωνός, ἀλλ᾽ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστ᾽ ἐστιν ἐστ' *οἴκοι οἴκοις βαρύ.
730

ΧΟ.

σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον χρόνον λόγον,

εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς σ'αυτῆσ· ἐπεὶ

πάρεστι, μαστὴρ om. πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

ΥΛΛΟΣ.

ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τριῶν σ᾽ ἓν εἰλόμην,

ἢ μηκέτ᾽ εἶναι ζῶσαν, ἢ σεσωσμένην
735

ἄλλου ἄλλου κεκλῆσθαι μητέρ' μητέρα σ' μητέρ', ἢ λῴους φρένας

τῶν νῦν παρουσῶν τῶνδ᾽ ἀμείψασθαί ποθεν.

ΔΗ.

τί δ᾽ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γ'᾽ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον ;

ΥΛ.

τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δ᾽ ἐμὸν λέγω

πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδ᾽ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
740

ΔΗ.

οἴμοι, τίν ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον ;

ΥΛ.

ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ

φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτ' ἂν om. ἀγένητον ἀγέννητον ποιεῖν ποεῖν ποιεῖν?

ΔΗ.

πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν

ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής φῇς?
745

ΥΛ.

αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν

πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ καὶ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

ΔΗ.

ποῦ δ᾽ ἐμπελάζεις ει from ηι ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

τί σῖγ᾽ ἀφέρπεις ἐφέρπεις? οὐ κάτοισθ᾽ ὁθούνεκα

ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

Δηιάνειρα

γυναῖκες, ὡς δέδοικα μὴ περαιτέρω

πεπραγμένʼ ᾖ μοι πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἀρτίως ἔδρων.

Χορός

τί δʼ ἔστι, Δῃάνειρα, τέκνον Οἰνέως;
665

Δηιάνειρα

οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀθυμῶ δʼ, εἰ φανήσομαι τάχα

κακὸν μέγʼ ἐκπράξασʼ ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος καλῆς.

Χορός

οὐ δή τι τῶν σῶν Ἡρακλεῖ δωρημάτων;

Δηιάνειρα

μάλιστά γʼ, ὥστε μήποτʼ ἂν προθυμίαν

ἄδηλον ἔργου τῳ παραινέσαι λαβεῖν.
670

Χορός

δίδαξον, εἰ διδακτόν, ἐξ ὅτου φοβεῖ.

Χορός

ταρβεῖν μὲν ἔργα δείνʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει,

τὴν δʼ ἐλπίδʼ οὐ χρὴ τῆς τύχης κρίνειν πάρος.

Δηιάνειρα

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς μὴ καλοῖς βουλεύμασιν
725

οὐδʼ ἐλπίς, ἥτις καὶ θράσος τι προξενεῖ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ ʼξ ἑκουσίας

ὀργὴ πέπειρα, τῆς σε τυγχάνειν πρέπει.

Δηιάνειρα

τοιαῦτα δʼ ἂν λέξειεν οὐχ ὁ τοῦ κακοῦ

κοινωνός, ἀλλʼ ᾧ μηδέν ἐστʼ οἴκοι βαρύ.
730

Χορός

σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον,

εἰ μή τι λέξεις παιδὶ τῷ σαυτῆς· ἐπεὶ

πάρεστι, μαστὴρ πατρὸς ὃς πρὶν ᾤχετο.

Δηιάνειρα

τί δʼ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ, πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ στυγούμενον;

Ὕλλος

τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σὸν ἴσθι, τὸν δʼ ἐμὸν λέγω

πατέρα, κατακτείνασα τῇδʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
740

Δηιάνειρα

οἴμοι, τινʼ ἐξήνεγκας, ὦ τέκνον, λόγον;

Ὕλλος

ὃν οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ οὐ τελεσθῆναι· τὸ γὰρ

φανθὲν τίς ἂν δύναιτʼ ἂν ἀγένητον ποεῖν;

Δηιάνειρα

πῶς εἶπας, ὦ παῖ; τοῦ παρʼ ἀνθρώπων μαθὼν

ἄζηλον οὕτως ἔργον εἰργάσθαι με φής;
745

Ὕλλος

αὐτὸς βαρεῖαν ξυμφορὰν ἐν ὄμμασιν

πατρὸς δεδορκὼς κοὐ κατὰ γλῶσσαν κλύων.

Δηιάνειρα

ποῦ δʼ ἐμπελάζεις τἀνδρὶ καὶ παρίστασαι;

Χορός

τί σῖγʼ ἀφέρπεις; οὐ κάτοισθʼ ὁθούνεκα

ξυνηγορεῖς σιγῶσα τῷ κατηγόρῳ;

O how I fear, my friends, lest all too far

I have ventured in my action of to-day!

CH

What ails thee, Dêanira, Oeneus’ child?
665

DÊ

I know not, but am haunted by a dread,

Lest quickly I be found to have performed

A mighty mischief, through bright hopes betrayed.

CH

Thou dost not mean thy gift to Heracles?

DÊ

Indeed I do. Now I perceive how fond

Is eagerness, where actions are obscure.
670

CH

Tell, if it may be told, thy cause of fear.

Horrid mischance must needs occasion fear.

But Hope is not condemned before the event.

DÊ

In ill-advised proceeding not even Hope
725

Remains to minister a cheerful mind.

CH

Yet to have erred unwittingly abates

The fire of wrath; and thou art in this case.

DÊ

So speaks not he who hath a share of sin,

But who is clear of all offence at home.
730

CH

’Twere well to say no more, unless thou hast aught

To impart to thine own son: for he is here,

Who went erewhile to find his father forth.

HYLLUS
HYLLUS (re-entering).

O mother, mother! I would to heaven one of three things were true:

Either that thou wert dead, or, living, wert

No mother to me, or hadst gained a mind
735

Furnished with better thoughts than thou hast now!
735

DÊ

My son! what canst thou so mislike in me?

HYL

I tell thee thou this day hast been the death

Of him that was thy husband and my sire.
740

DÊ

What word hath passed thy lips? my child, my child!

HYL

A word that must be verified. For who

Can make the accomplished fact as things undone?

DÊ

Alas, my son! what saidst thou? Who hath told

That I have wrought a deed so full of woe?
745

HYL

’Twas I myself that saw with these mine eyes

My father’s heavy state:—no hearsay word.

DÊ

And where didst thou come near him and stand by?

Let her go off. Would that a sudden flood
815

Might sweep her far and swiftly from mine eye!

Why fondle vainly the fair-sounding name

Of mother, when her acts are all unmotherly?

Let her begone for me: and may she find

Such joy as she hath rendered to my sire!
820

CHORUS
CHORUS .

Ihr Frauen, ach, wie bangt mir, daß ich über Maß

Hinausgeschweist in Allem, was ich eben that!

Der Chor.

Was ist es, Deneus' Tochter, Deianeira? Sprich!

Deianeira.

Ich weiß nicht, aber fürchte, bald erweist es sich:
655

In schöner Hoffnung schuf ich mir ein großes Leid.

Der Chor.

Doch wohl mit deiner Gabe nicht an Herakles?

Deianeira.

Das eben: Keinem rath' ich mehr, vertrauensvoll

Ein Werk zu wagen, dessen Frucht im Dunkel ruht.

Der Chor.

So sage, kannst du's sagen, was dir Furcht erweckt.
660

Wohl unvermeidlich wohnt die Furcht bei schwerer That;

Doch richt' Erwartung vor der That Erfolge nicht.

Deianeira.

Es wohnt in ungerechten Unternehmungen

Auch nicht Erwartung, die Vertrau'n und Muth gewährt.
715

Der Chor.

Wohl aber straft den ohne Vorsaz Fehlenden

Gelindes Zürnen; also ziemt es dir von ihm.

Deianeira.

Nicht also sagt wohl Einer, den die Noth bedrängt;

So sprechen die nur, welche Nichts daheim betrübt.

Der Chor.

Dir ziemte wohl zu hemmen jedes weitre Wort,
720

Wenn du dem eignen Sohne Nichts verrathen willst;

Der jüngst den Vater suchen ging, er ist zurück.

Hyllos. Die Vorigen.

Hyllos.

Mutter, Eines wünscht' ich wohl aus Dreien mir:

O daß du todt wärst, oder daß ein Anderer

Dich Mutter nennte, oder daß dir bessern Sinn
725

Eingäb' ein Gott, als diesen, der dich jezt beseelt!

Deianeira.

Was that ich, Sohn, das solches Hasses würdig war?

Hyllos.

So wisse, deinen Gatten, der mein Vater hieß,

Ihu hast du hingemordet heut an diesem Tag.

Deianeira.

Weh! Welches Wort kam über deine Lippen, Sohn?
730

Hyllos.

Das nimmer ungeschehen wird; denn wer vermag

Das ungescheh'n zu machen, was vollendet ist?

Deianeira.

Wie sagst du? Welchem Menschen sprichst du's nach, o Kind,

Ich hätte solch unselig grause That verübt?