Euripides' HERACLEIDAE Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

Euripides Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Euripides in Print

47 pages - You are on Page 8

Demophon: Why should this event have called for cries of pain?

Leader: (turning to Copreus) This fellow caused the uproar by trying
to drag them forcibly from this altar, and he hurled down the old
man, till my tears for pity flowed.

Demophon: Hellenic dress and fashion in his robes doth he no doubt
adopt, but deeds like these betray the barbarian. Thou, sirrah, tell
me straight the country whence thou camest thither.

Copreus: An Argive I; since that thou seek'st to know. Who sent me,
and the object of my coming, will I freely tell. Eurystheus, king
of Mycenae, sends me hither to fetch these back; and I have come,
sir stranger, with just grounds in plenty, alike for speech or action.
An Argive myself, Argives I come to fetch, taking with me these runaways
from my native city, on whom the doom of death was passed by our laws
there; and we have right, since we rule our city independently, to
ratify its sentences. And though they have come as suppliants to the
altars of numerous others, we have taken our stand on these same arguments,
and no one has ventured to bring upon himself evils of his own getting.
But they have come hither, either because they perceived some folly
in thee, or, in their perplexity, staking all on one risky throw to
win or lose; for surely they do not suppose that thou, if so thou
hast thy senses still, and only thou, in all the breadth of Hellas
they have traversed, wilt pity their foolish troubles. Come now, put
argument against argument: what will be thy gain, suppose thou admit
them to thy land, or let us take them hence? From us these benefits
are thine to win: this city can secure as friends Argos, with its
far-reaching arm, and Eurystheus' might complete; whilst if thou lend
an ear to their piteous pleading and grow soft, the matter must result
in trial of arms; for be sure we shall not yield this struggle without
appealing to the sword. What pretext wilt thou urge? Of what domains
art thou robbed that thou shouldst take and wage war with the Tirynthian
Argives? What kind of allies art thou aiding? For whom will they have
fallen whom thou buriest? Surely thou wilt get an evil name from the
citizens, if for the sake of an old man near the grave, a mere shadow
I may say, and for these children, thou wilt plunge into troublous
waters. The best thou canst say is, that thou wilt find in them a
hope, and nothing more; and yet this falls far short of the present
need; for these would be but a poor match for Argives even when fully
armed and in their prime, if haply that raises thy spirits; moreover,
the time 'twixt now and then is long, wherein ye may be blotted out.
Nay, hearken to me; give me naught, but let me take mine own, and
so gain Mycenae; but forbear to act now, as is your Athenian way,
and take the weaker side, when it is in thy power to choose the stronger
as thy friends.

Previous Page / First / Next Page of Heracleidae

Euripides Home Page ||| Elpenor's Free Greek Lessons
Aeschylus ||| Sophocles

Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-Greece/euripides/heracleidae.asp?pg=8