Andromache
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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she suffered duringHermann’s emendation ὅτ᾽ for οὓς. those ten long years her sons went wandering, spear in hand, around the walls of Troy; brides had never been left desolate, nor hoary fathers childless.
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Chorus
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Again, when strong winds are drifting mariners,
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the divided counsel of the wise is not conducive to steering, and their collective wisdom has less weight than the inferior intelligence of the single man who has sole authority;Such is Paley’s interpretation of this very difficult piece of Greek. He reads διδύμα γνώμα (nom.) with a colon after the latter word; and ὃ δυωασις, the correction of Hermann for ἁ. for this is the essence of power alike in house and state, whene’er men care to find the proper moment.
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Chorus
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This Spartan, the daughter of the great chief Menelaus, proves this; for she hath kindled hot fury against a rival, and is bent on slaying the hapless Trojan maid
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and her child to further her bitter quarrel. Tis a murder gods and laws and kindness all forbid. Ah! lady, retribution for this deed will visit thee yet.
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Hermione
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Why should I cover it?
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My crimes against my lord are manifest and clear, they cannot be hidden.
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Nurse
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Art so grieved at having devised thy rival’s death?
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Hermione
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Indeed I am; I deeply mourn my fatal deeds of daring; alas! I am now accursed in all men’s eyes!
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Nurse
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Thy husband will pardon thee this error.
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Chorus
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The son of Atreus is no more, slain by the hand of his wife, and she herself hath paid the debt of blood by death,
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and from her children’s hands received her doom. The god’s own bidding from his oracle was levelled against her, in the day that Agamemnon’s son set forth from Argos and visited his shrine;
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so he slewReading Hermann’s emendation κτάνεν for MSS κτεάνων. her, aye, spilt his own mother’s blood. O Phoebus, O thou power divine, how can I believe the story?
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Chorus
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Anon wherever Hellenes gather, was heard the voice of lamentation, mothers weeping o’er their children’s fate,
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as they left their homes to mate with strangers. Ah! thou art not the only one, nor thy dear ones either, on whom the cloud of grief hath fallen. Hellas had to bear the visitation, and thence the scourge crossed to Phrygia’s
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fruitful fields, raining the bloody drops the; death-god loves.Reading Hermann’s τὸν Ἅιδα φόνον.
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Chorus
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Woe! woe! alas! With due observance of funeral rites will I begin the mourning for my dead master.
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Peleus
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Alack and well-a-day! I take up the tearful dirge, ah me! old and wretched as I am.
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Chorus
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’Tis Heaven’s decree; God willed this heavy stroke.
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Peleus
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O darling child,
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thou hast left me all alone in my halls,Nauck reads δόμον ἔλιπες ἔρημον. old and childless by thy loss.
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Chorus
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Thou shouldst have died, old sire, before thy children.
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Peleus
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Shall I not tear my hair,
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and smite upon my head with grievous blows? O city! of both my childrenAchilles his son, and Neoptolemus his grandson. hath Phoebus robbed me.
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Chorus
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What evils thou hast suffered, what sorrows thou hast seen, thou poor old man!
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what shall be thy life hereafter?
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Peleus
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Childless, desolate, with no limit to my grief, I must drain the cup of woe, until I die.
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Chorus
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’Twas all in vain the gods wished thee joy on thy wedding day.The gods had attended the marriage of Peleus and Thetis.
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Peleus
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All my hopes have flown away,
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fallen short of my high boasts.
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Chorus
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A lonely dweller in a lonely home art thou.
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Peleus
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I have no city any longer;οὐκέτ᾽ ἐστί μοι πόλις (Hermann). there! on the ground my sceptre do I cast; and thou, daughter of Nereus, neath thy dim grotto,
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shalt see me grovelling in the dust,γᾷ πίτνοντα μ᾽ ὄψει (Hermann). a ruined king.
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Molossus
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Come, father! succour those thou lovest.
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Molossus
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Spare, O spare my life, kind master!
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Peleus
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I am a thing of naught; death is come upon me. My voice is choked, my limbs droop beneath me.