Hecuba
Choose a text
id="mobileReaderAuthor" class="mobile-reader-author" href="/authors/euripides" aria-label="More works by Euripides">
—
⋯
Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
411
child of the mountain-rock, has sent her voice loud-ringing through the army, causing a tumult. If we had not known that Troy’s towers were levelled by the might of Hellas, this uproar would have caused no slight panic.
412
412
Polymestor
412
Best of friends! for by your voice I know you,
413
Agamemnon; do you see my piteous state?
414
414
Agamemnon
414
What! hapless Polymestor, who has stricken you? who has blinded your eyes, staining the pupils with blood? who has slain these children? whoever he was, fierce must have been his wrath against you and your children.
415
415
Polymestor
415
Hecuba, helped by the captive women, has destroyed me—not destroyed, far worse than that.
416
416
Agamemnon
416
What do you say? Was it you that did this deed, as he says? You, Hecuba, that have ventured on this inconceivable daring?
417
417
Polymestor
417
Ha! what is that? is she somewhere near?
418
Show me, tell me where, that I may grip her in my hands and rend her limb from limb, bespattering her with gore.
419
419
Agamemnon
419
You creature, what are you about?
420
420
Agamemnon
420
Hold! banish that savage spirit from your heart
421
and plead your cause, so that after hearing you and her in turn I may fairly decide what reason there is for your present sufferings.
422
422
Polymestor
422
I will tell my tale. There was a son of Priam, Polydorus, the youngest, a child by Hecuba, whom his father Priam sent to me from Troy to bring up in my halls,
423
suspecting no doubt the fall of Troy. I killed him; but hear my reason for killing him, how cleverly and wisely I had thought it out. My fear was that if that child were left to be your enemy, he would repeople Troy and settle it afresh;
424
and the Achaeans, knowing that a son of Priam survived, might bring another expedition against the Phrygian land, and then harry and lay waste these plains of Thrace, for the neighbours of Troy to experience the very troubles we were lately suffering, O king.
425
Now Hecuba, having discovered the death of her son, brought me here on the following pretext, saying she would tell me of hidden treasure stored up in Ilium by the race of Priam; and she led me apart with my children into the tent, that no other might hear her news.
426
So I sat down on a couch in their midst to rest; for there were many of the Trojan maidens seated there, some on my right hand, some on my left, as if beside a friend; and they were praising the weaving of our Edonian handiwork, looking at this robe as they held it up to the light;
427
while others examined my Thracian spear and so stripped me of two-fold protection. And those that were young mothers were dandling my children in their arms, with loud admiration, as they passed them on from hand to hand to remove them far from their father;
428
and then after their smooth speeches—would you believe it?—in an instant snatching daggers from somewhere in their dress they stab my children; while others, like foes, seized me hand and foot;
429
and if I tried to raise my head, anxious to help my children, they would clutch me by the hair; while if I stirred my hands, I could do nothing, poor wretch! for the numbers of the women. At last they did a fearful deed, worse than what had gone before; for they took their brooches
430
and stabbed the hapless pupils of my eyes, making them gush with blood, and then fled through the chambers; up I sprang like a wild beast in pursuit of the shameless murderesses, searching along each wall with hunter’s care,
431
dealing buffets, spreading ruin. This then is what I have suffered because of my zeal for you, Agamemnon, for slaying an enemy of yours. But to spare you a lengthy speech, if any of the men of former times have spoken ill of women, if any does so now, or shall do so hereafter,
432
I will say all this in one short sentence; for neither land or sea produces such a race, as whoever has had to do with them knows.
433
433
Chorus Leader
433
Curb your bold tongue, and do not, because of your own woes, thus embrace the whole race of women in one reproach.
434
For though some of us, and those a numerous class, deserve to be disliked, there are others among us who rank naturally among the good.
435
435
Hecuba
435
Never ought words to have outweighed deeds in this world, Agamemnon. No! if a man’s deeds were good, so should his words have been;
436
if, on the other hand, evil, his words should have been unsound, instead of its being possible at times to speak injustice well. There are, it is true, clever persons, who have made a science of this, but their cleverness cannot last for ever; a miserable end awaits them; no one ever yet escaped.
437
This part of my prelude belongs to you. Now will I turn to this fellow, and will give you your answer, you who say it was to save Achaea double toil and for Agamemnon’s sake that you killed my son. No, villain, in the first place
438
the barbarian race would never be friends with Hellas, nor could it be. Again, what interest did you have to further by your zeal? was it to form some marriage, or on the score of kinship, or what reason? or was it likely that they would sail here again and destroy
439
your country’s crops? Whom do you expect to persuade into believing that? If you would only speak the truth, it was the gold that slew my son, and your greedy spirit. Now tell me this: why, when Troy was victorious, when her ramparts still stood round her,
440
when Priam was alive, and Hector’s warring prospered, why did you not then, if you were really minded to do Agamemnon a service, slay the child, for you had him in your palace beneath your care, or bring him with you alive to the Argives? But when the enemy took us from the light
441
and our city made a signal by its smoke, you murdered the guest who had come to your hearth.
442
Furthermore, to prove your villainy, hear this; if you were really a friend to those Achaeans, you should have brought the gold, which you say you are keeping not for yourself but for this man,
443
and given it to them, for they were in need and had endured a long exile from their native land. But not even now can you bring yourself to part with it, but persist in keeping it in your palace. Again, had you kept my son safe and sound, as your duty was,
444
a fair renown would have been your reward, for it is in trouble’s hour that the good most clearly show their friendship; though prosperity by itself in every case finds friends. If you were in need of money and he were prosperous, that son of mine would have been as a mighty treasure for you to draw upon;
445
but now you have him no longer to be your friend, and the benefit of the gold is gone from you, your children too, and you yourself are in this sorry plight. I say to you, Agamemnon, if you help this man, you will show your worthlessness; for you will be serving a guest-friend neither pious nor to be trusted where he should be,
446
not devout, not just; while I shall say you delight in evil-doers, being such a one yourself; but I do not abuse my masters.
447
447
Chorus Leader
447
Ah! how a good cause always affords men an opening for a good speech.
448
448
Agamemnon
448
To be judge in a stranger’s troubles goes much against my grain, but still I must; yes, for to take this matter in hand and then put it from me is a shameful course. My opinion, that you may know it, is that it was not for the sake of the Achaeans or me that you killed your guest,
449
but to keep that gold in your own house. In your trouble you make a case in your own interests. Perhaps among you it is a light thing to murder guests, but with us in Hellas it is a disgrace. How can I escape reproach if I judge you not guilty?
450
I could not. No, since you endured your horrid crime, endure as well its painful consequence.
451
451
Polymestor
451
Woe is me! worsted by a woman and a slave, I am, it seems, to suffer by unworthy hands.
452
452
Hecuba
452
Is it not just for your atrocious crime?
453
453
Polymestor
453
Ah, my children! ah, my blinded eyes! woe is me!
454
454
Hecuba
454
You grieve; but what of me? Do you think I do not grieve for my son?
455
455
Polymestor
455
You wicked wretch! Is your delight in mocking me?
456
456
Hecuba
456
Yes, for I am avenged on you; have I not cause for delight?
457
457
Polymestor
457
It will soon cease, when ocean’s flood—
458
458
Hecuba
458
Shall convey me to the shores of Hellas?
459
459
Polymestor
459
No, but will close over you when you fall from the masthead.
460
460
Hecuba
460
Who will force me to take the leap?
461
461
Polymestor
461
Of your own accord you will climb the ship’s mast.
462
462
Hecuba
462
With wings upon my back, or by what means?
463
463
Polymestor
463
You will become a dog with bloodshot gaze.
464
464
Hecuba
464
How did you know of my transformation?
465
465
Polymestor
465
Dionysus, our Thracian prophet, told me so.
466
466
Hecuba
466
And did he prophesy to you nothing of your present trouble?
467
467
Polymestor
467
No, for you would never have caught me thus by guile.
468
468
Hecuba
468
Dead or alive shall I complete my life here?
469
469
Polymestor
469
Dead; and to your tomb shall be given a name—;
470
470
Hecuba
470
Recalling my form, or what will you tell me?
471
471
Polymestor
471
The hapless hound’s grave, a mark for mariners.
472
472
Hecuba
472
It is nothing to me, now that you have paid me the penalty.
473
473
Polymestor
473
Further, your daughter Cassandra must die.
474
474
Hecuba
474
I scorn the prophecy! I give it to you to keep for yourself.
475
475
Polymestor
475
The wife of Agamemnon, grim keeper of his palace, shall slay her.
476
476
Hecuba
476
Never may the daughter of Tyndareus do such a frantic deed!
477
477
Polymestor
477
And she shall slay this man as well, lifting high the axe.
478
478
Agamemnon
478
You creature, are you mad? are you so eager to find sorrow?
479
479
Polymestor
479
Kill me, for in Argos there awaits you a murderous bath.
480
480
Agamemnon
480
Ho! servants, drag away him from my sight!
481
481
Polymestor
481
Do my words pain you?
482
482
Polymestor
482
Close it now; for I have spoken.
483
and cast him upon some desert island, since his mouth is full of such exceeding presumption. Go, unhappy Hecuba, and bury your two corpses; and you, Trojan women, must draw near your masters’ tents, for lo! I perceive a breeze
484
just rising to waft us home. May we reach our country well and find all well at home, released from troubles here! Polymestor is dragged away by Agamemnon’s guards.
485
485
Chorus
485
Away to the harbour and the tents, my friends, to prove the toils of
486
slavery! for such is fate’s relentless hest.
153
153
Chorus
153
Or in the city of Pallas, the home of Athena of the lovely chariot, shall I then upon her saffron robe yoke horses,
154
embroidering them on my web in brilliant varied shades, or the race of Titans, put to sleep by Zeus the son of Cronos with bolt of flashing flame?
155
155
Chorus
155
Alas for my children! alas for my ancestors, and my country which is falling in smouldering ruin among the smoke, sacked by the Argive spear, while I upon a foreign
156
shore am called a slave, indeed! leaving Asia, Europe’s handmaid, and receiving in its place a deadly marriage-bower.
328
328
Chorus
328
And I was braiding my tresses beneath a tight-drawn head-band
329
before my golden mirror’s countless rays, so that I might lie down to rest; when through the city rose a din, and a cry went ringing down the streets of Troy: You
330
sons of Hellas, when, oh! when will you sack the citadel of Ilium, and seek your homes?
331
331
Chorus
331
I left my bed, wearing only a tunic, like a Dorian girl,
332
and sought in vain, ah me! to station myself at the holy hearth of Artemis; for, after seeing my husband slain, I was led away over the broad sea; with many a backward look at my city,
333
when the ship began her homeward voyage and parted me from Ilium’s strand; till alas! for very grief I fainted,
1127b
1127b
Polymestor
1127b
By the gods I entreat you, let me vent on her the fury of my arm.
1283b
1283b
Agamemnon
1283b
Stop his mouth!
1284b
1284b
Agamemnon
1284b
Make haste