Euripides' HECUBA Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

Euripides Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Euripides in Print

54 pages - You are on Page 45

Polymestor: (chanting) Woe is me! whither can I go, where halt, or
whither turn? shall crawl upon my hands like a wild four-footed beast
on their track? Which path shall I take first, this or that, eager
as I am to clutch those Trojan murderesses that have destroyed me?
Out upon ye, cursed daughters of Phrygia! to what corner have ye fled
cowering before me? O sun-god, would thou couldst heal my bleeding
orbs, ridding me of my blindness!

Ha! hush! I catch their stealthy footsteps here. Where can I dart
on them and gorge me on their flesh and bones, making for myself wild
beasts' meal, exacting vengeance in requital of their outrage on me?
Ah, woe is me! whither am I rushing, leaving my babes unguarded for
hell-hounds to mangle, to be murdered and ruthlessly cast forth upon
the hills, a feast of blood for dogs? Where shall I stay or turn my
steps? where rest? like a ship that lies anchored at sea, so gathering
close my linen robe I rush to that chamber of death, to guard my babes.

Leader: Woe is thee! what grievous outrage hath been wreaked on thee!
fearful penalty for thy foul deed hath the deity imposed, whoe'er
he is whose hand is heavy upon thee.

Polymestor: (chanting) Woe is me! Ho! my Thracian spearmen, clad
in mail, a race of knights whom Ares doth inspire! Ho! Achaeans! sons
of Atreus ho! to you I loudly call; come hither, in God's name come!
Doth any hearken, or will no man help me? Why do ye delay? Women,
captive women have destroyed me. A fearful fate is mine; ah me my
hideous outrage! Whither can I turn or go? Shall I take wings and
soar aloft to the mansions of the sky, where Orion and Sirius dart
from their eyes a flash as of fire, or shall I, in my misery, plunge
to Hades' murky flood?

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