Hyllus: Nessus the Centaur persuaded her of old to inflame thy desire
with such a charm.
Heracles: Alas, alas, miserable that I am! Woe is me, I am lost,-
undone, undone! No more for me the light of day! Alas, now I see in
what a plight stand! Go, my son,- for thy father's end hath come,-
summon, I pray thee, all thy brethren; summon, too, the hapless Alcmena,
in vain the bride of Zeus,- that ye may learn from my dying lips what
oracles know.
Hyllus: Nay, thy mother is not here; as it chances, she hath her abode
at Tiryns by the sea. Some of thy children she hath taken to live
with her there, and others, thou wilt find, are dwelling in Thebe's
town. But we who are with thee, my father, will render all service
that is needed, at thy bidding.
Heracles: Hear, then, thy task: now is the time to show what stuff
is in thee, who art called my son.
It was foreshown to me by my Sire of old that I should perish by no
creature that had the breath of life, but by one that had passed to
dwell with Hades. So I have been slain by this savage Centaur, the
living by the dead, even as the divine will had been foretold.
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