Trachiniae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng3
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Deianeira
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There is a saying among men, put forth long ago, that you cannot judge a mortal’s life and know whether it is good or bad until he dies. But well I know, even before I have passed away to Hades’ domain, that my life is ill-fortuned and heavy.
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For I, while still dwelling in the house of my father Oeneus at Pleuron, had such fear of marriage as never any woman of Aetolia had. For my suitor was a river-god, Achelous,
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who in three shapes was always asking me from my father—coming now as a bull in visible form, now as a serpent, sheeny and coiled, now ox-faced with human trunk, while from his thick-shaded beard wellheads of fountain-water sprayed.
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In the expectation that such a suitor would get me, I was always praying in my misery that I might die, before I should ever approach that marriage-bed. But at last, to my joy, the glorious son of Zeus and Alcmena came and
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closed with him in combat and delivered me. The manner of their fighting I cannot clearly recount. I know it not, but if there be anyone who watched that sight without trembling, he might give an account of it. But I, as I sat there, was struck with terror,
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lest my beauty should win me sorrow in the end. But Zeus, Arbiter of Contests, accomplished a good ending—if indeed it was good. For since being joined with Heracles as his chosen bride, I nourish one fear after another in my anxiety for him. One night brings distress,
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and the next night, in turn, drives it out. Children, furthermore, were born to us, whom at the time he looked at only as the farmer looks at a distant field, visiting it only once to sow seed and once to reap. Such was the manner of his life, ever sending him
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to and from our home in servitude to some master. But now, when he has risen above those trials—now it is that my fear is keenest. For ever since he slew the mighty Iphitus, we have been dwelling here in Trachis, refugees
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in the home of a foreign host. But where Heracles is, no one knows. I only know that he is gone, and has caused me sharp pain for him. I am almost sure that he has come to some suffering. The interval has not been brief; rather, he is unheard from ten months already,
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plus another five. Yes, there has been some terrible misfortune. That tablet which he left with me before departing suggests it to me. I often pray to the gods that I did not receive it to my misfortune.
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Nurse
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Deianeira, my mistress, many are the times already that I have
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observed you mourning the departure of Heracles with great weeping and lamentation. But now—if it is proper to school the free-born with the doctrines of a slave, and if I am obliged to point out what you should do—how is it that you so abound in sons, yet
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you do not send one of them to seek your husband, especially Hyllus? It would be appropriate to send him, if he cared for his father’s sake that he be deemed to fare well. Here he is now, dashing to the house in timely stride. So if in your eyes I speak in season,
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you can use both my counsel and the man.
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Deianeira
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My child, my son, wise words fall, it seems, from humble lips. For this woman is a slave, but her advice is worthy of the free.
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Hyllus
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What sort of advice, Mother? Tell me, if I may be told.
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Deianeira
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It brings shame, she says, that you have not sought to learn of your father and where he is, when he has been abroad for so long.
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Hyllus
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But I know where, if one can put any trust in rumors.
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Deianeira
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And in what region, my child, do you hear that he has settled?
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Hyllus
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Last year, they say, through all its length,
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he toiled as a slave to a Lydian woman.
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Deianeira
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If he endured even that, then one might believe any and all rumors.
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Hyllus
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Well, he has been released from that service, as I hear.
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Deianeira
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Where, then, is he reported to be now—alive, or dead?
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Hyllus
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He is waging or yet planning a war,
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they say, upon Euboea, the realm of Eurytus.
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Deianeira
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Are you aware, my son, that he has left with me sure oracles concerning that land?
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Hyllus
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What are they, mother? I do not know the oracles you mean.
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Deianeira
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They read that either he shall meet the end of his life,
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or, after taking on this contest, he shall thereafter, at least, enjoy a happy life for its duration. And so, my child, when his fate is thus trembling in the balance, will you not go to assist him? For we are saved,
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if he finds safety, or we perish along with him.
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Hyllus
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I will go, Mother. Had I known the substance of these prophecies, I would have long been at his side. As it was, my father’s usual good fortune did not allow me to fear for him, nor to be overly anxious.
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Now that I have the knowledge, I will spare no pains to learn the whole truth in this matter.
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Deianeira
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Go, then, my son. For prosperity yields advantage even for him who learns of it late. Exeunt Hyllus, on one side, and the Nurse into the house.
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Chorus
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You, to whom Night gives birth when she is vanquished and despoiled of her starry crown,
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and whom, as you blaze, she lays to rest, I pray you, O Sun, Sun, tell me, where is Alcmena’s son, where dwells her child? O Shining god with your bright flash,
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is he on the straits of the sea, or does he lean upon the twin continents? Speak, you who surpass all in sight!
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Chorus
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For with longing heart, as I hear, Deianeira, the battle-prize, now,
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like some mournful bird, never rests her eyes’ longing that they might be without tears, but nourishing a well-remembered fear for her husband’s travels she is constantly afflicted
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by her anxious, widowed marriage-bed and in her misery anticipates misfortune.
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Chorus
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Starry night does not remain constant with men, nor does tribulation, nor wealth; in a moment it is gone from us, and to another in his turn come both
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gladness and bereavement. So I urge even you, our Queen, to keep these matters firmly in your outlook. You must, for who has
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known Zeus to be so without care for his children?
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Deianeira
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You have heard of my trouble, I would guess, and that has brought you here. But the anguish which consumes my heart—may you never come to know it through your own experience!—to that now you are total strangers. Yes, a young life grows in those sheltered regions
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of its own, and the Sun-god’s heat disturbs it not, nor rain, nor any wind. Rather it takes up a toilless existence amidst pleasure, until such time as she is called “wife” instead of “maiden”, and takes her portion of anxious thoughts in the night,
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fearing for husband or for children. At that point a woman could understand the burden of my misfortunes by recalling her own experience. As a matter of fact, I have had many a trouble to weep for, but I am going to speak of one that none of the previous could equal.
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When lord Heracles was setting out from home on his last journey, he left in the house an ancient tablet, inscribed with signs which he had never before brought himself to explain to me when going out on one of his many labors.
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He had always departed as if to conquer, not to die. But now, as if he were a doomed man, he told me what I should take for my marriage portion, and what share of their father’s land he wished divided for his children. And he fixed the time for the division, saying that, when he had been gone
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from our land for a year and three months, he was fated either to die at that time, or by escaping the end of the period to live thereafter an untroubled life. That, he explained, was the fate ordained by the gods
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to be the end of the labors of Heracles just as, he said, the ancient oak at Dodona had once told him through the mouths of the two Peleiades. And it is in the present time that the truth of these prophecies is coming to pass, so that they must be fulfilled.
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As a result I leap up from sweet sleep in fear, dear maidens, terrified at the possibility that I must remain widowed of the noblest man of all.
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Chorus
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Hush—no more ill-omened words! I see a man approaching who is crowned with garlands as if for joyous news.
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Messenger
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Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first messenger to free you from fear. Know that Alcmena’s son lives and triumphs, and from battle brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land.
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Deianeira
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What news is this, old man, that you give me?
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Messenger
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That your much-admired husband will soon come to your house, revealed in his victorious might.
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Deianeira
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From what citizen or what stranger did you learn these tidings?
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Messenger
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In the meadow, the summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is proclaiming it to many. From him I heard it,
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and dashed away so that, in all honesty, having been the first to report this news, I might profit in some way by you and win your favor.
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Deianeira
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And why is he not here, if he is so successful?
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Messenger
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He does not, my lady, enjoy ease of movement. The entire Malian populace
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stands about him in a circle and questions him, and he cannot move forward. Each person is bent on learning according to his desire, and will not release the man until he has heard his pleasure. Thus against his wishes, but in keeping with theirs, he is with them. Yet you will soon see him face to face.
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Deianeira
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O Zeus, ruler of the sacred uncut meadow of Oeta, at last, though after much delay, you have given us joy! Uplift your voices, you women within the house and you beyond our gates, since now we enjoy the brightness of this message, which has risen on us beyond my hope!
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Chorus
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Let the brides of tomorrow raise a joyous cry for the house with shouts of triumph at the hearth. Among them let the yell of the men go up in unison for Apollo of the bright quiver, our defender! And at the same time,
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maidens, lift up a paean, cry aloud to his sister, Ortygian Artemis, huntress of deer, goddess with torch in each hand,
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and to the nymphs her neighbors! I am uplifted, I will not spurn the flute—O you master of my heart! Behold, his ivy stirs me! Euoe!
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Quickly it wheels me round in Bacchus’s race! Oh, oh, Paean! Look, dear lady! All is taking shape, plain to see, before your gaze.
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Deianeira
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I see it, dear maidens; the sight has not escaped my watchful eyes. I see that procession. I bid the herald joyous welcome after his long absence!—if indeed you bring anything that gives joy.
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Lichas
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We are happy in our return, and happy in your greeting,
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lady, in accordance with the deed achieved. For when a man has fair fortune, it is his right to win good welcome.
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Deianeira
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Most welcome man, tell me first what first I would know—shall I receive Heracles alive?
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Lichas
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I certainly left him alive and well,
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in vigorous health, unburdened by disease.
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Deianeira
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Where, tell me—in his ancestral land, or on barbarian soil?
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Lichas
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There is a headland of Euboea, where to Cenaean Zeus he marks out altars and fruitful ground in tribute.
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Deianeira
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In payment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle?
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Lichas
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For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and plunder the country of these women whom you see before you.
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Deianeira
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And these—who are they, by the gods, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their misfortune deceives me.
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Lichas
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These are captives whom he
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selected as choice spoils for himself and for the gods when he sacked the city of Eurytus.
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Deianeira
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Was it in fact the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days?
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Lichas
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No. The greater part of the time he was detained in Lydia, no free man, as he declares,
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but sold into servitude. No offense should be taken at my tale, lady, when the deed is found to be Zeus’ work. He passed a whole year, as he himself says, a bought slave to the barbarian Omphale. And so stung was he by the shame of it,
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that he bound himself by a solemn oath, swearing one day to enslave with wife and child the man who had brought that suffering upon him. And not in vain did he speak the oath; but, when he had been purified, he gathered a mercenary army and went against the city
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of Eurytus. For, Heracles asserted, that man alone of mortals had a share in causing his suffering. For when Heracles, a guest-friend of long standing, came to his house and hearth, Eurytus roared against him with insults of ruinous intent,
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saying that, although Heracles had inevitable shafts in his hands, he fell short of his own sons in the contest of the bow. Next he shouted that Heracles was a freeman’s slave, a broken hulk, and then at a banquet, when his guest was full of wine, he tossed him from his home. Furious at this treatment,
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when afterward Iphitus came to the hill of Tiryns on the track of horses that had strayed, Heracles seized a moment when the man’s eyes were one place and his thoughts another, and hurled him from a towering summit. But in anger at that deed, the king,
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the father of all, Olympian Zeus, sent him away to be sold, and did not tolerate that this once, he killed a man by guile. Had he achieved his vengeance openly, Zeus would surely have pardoned him the righteous triumph.
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For the gods do not love criminal behavior either. So those men, who gloried in bitter speech, are themselves residents of Hades, all of them, and their city is enslaved. And the women whom you see, fallen from happiness to misery,
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are sent here to you. For that was your husband’s command, which I, his faithful servant, perform. As for the man himself, know that he will come, once he has made pure sacrifice to Zeus of his fathers for the sacking of the city. After all the good news
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that has been told, this, indeed, is the sweetest word to hear.
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Chorus
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Now, O Queen, your joy is plainly revealed; part is with you, and of the rest you have foreknowledge.
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Deianeira
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Yes, how would I not rejoice with dutiful spirit, when I hear of my husband’s successful venture?
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My rejoicing is bound to keep pace with his success. And yet a prudent mind can see room for fear, lest he who prospers should one day stumble. For a strange pity came over me, friends, at the sight of these ill-fated exiles,
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homeless and fatherless in a foreign land. Though they were once the daughters perhaps of freeborn men, they now live the life of slaves. O Zeus, god who turns the tide of battle, may I never see you stalking against a child of my line on any occasion;
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no, if you do some such thing, let it not be while I am still alive! So great is my fear, as I look upon these girls.
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To Iole.
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Unfortunate girl, who are you? Are you without a man, or are you a mother? To judge by your appearance, you are untried in those roles, but someone of noble birth.
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Lichas, whose daughter is this stranger? Who is her mother, who the father who begot her? Speak; I pity her more than all the rest, when I look at her, inasmuch as she alone knows self-control.
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Lichas
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Why would I know? Why would you ask me? Perhaps
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she is the offspring of not the lowest family in that land.
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Deianeira
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Can she be of the ruling family? Was she a child of Eurytus?