Euripides' HERACLES Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

Euripides Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Euripides in Print

63 pages - You are on Page 32

Iris: Courage, old men! she, whom you see, is Madness, daughter of
Night, and I am Iris, the handmaid of the gods. We have not come to
do your city any hurt, but against the house of one man only is our
warfare, even against him whom they call the son of Zeus and Alcmena.
For until he had finished all his grievous toils, Destiny was preserving
him, nor would father Zeus ever suffer me or Hera to harm him. But
now that he hath accomplished the labours of Eurystheus, Hera is minded
to brand him with the guilt of shedding kindred blood by slaying his
own children, and I am one with her. Come then, maid unwed, child
of murky Night, harden thy heart relentlessly, send forth frenzy upon
him, confound his mind even to the slaying of his children, drive
him, goad him wildly on his mad career, shake out the sails of death,
that when he has sent o'er Acheron's ferry that fair group of children
by his own murderous hand, he may learn to know how fiercely against
him the wrath of Hera burns and may also experience mine; otherwise,
if he escape punishment, the gods will become as naught, while man's
power will grow.

Madness: Of noble parents was I born, the daughter of Night, sprung
from the blood of Uranus; and these prerogatives I hold, not to use
them in anger against friends, nor have I any joy in visiting the
homes of men; and fain would I counsel Hera, before I see her err,
and thee too, if ye will hearken to my words. This man, against whose
house thou art sending me, has made himself a name alike in heaven
and earth; for, after taming pathless wilds and raging sea, he by
his single might raised up again the honours of the gods when sinking
before man's impiety; wherefore I counsel thee, do not wish him dire
mishaps.

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