Sophocles – The Women of Trachis CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY
Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus, wife of Heracles.
Nurse.
Hyllus, son of Deianeira and Heracles.
Messenger, an old man of Trachis.
Lichas, herald of Heracles.
Old Man.
Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcména.
Chorus, maidens of Trachis, attendants of Deianeira.
Captive women of Oechalia, including Iole. Attendants of Heracles.
Some other names in the text
Achelóüs, a large river in western Greece.
Cádmus, founder of Thebes, where Heracles was born.
Cenaeum, a promontory of Euboea.
Dodóna, an oracle of Zeus in northwestern Greece.
Euboea, a large island opposite Tráchis.
Éurytus, king of Oechalia and father of Iole.
Evénus, a river between Pleuron and Trachis.
Íphitus, son of Eurytus and brother of Iole.
Krónos, father of Zeus.
Lócris, a region south of Malis.
Mális, a region in southern Thessaly.
Néssus, a centaur. Oechália, a city of Euboea.
Oeniadai, a city near the mouth of the Achelóüs.
Oeta, a mountain near Tráchis.
Ómphale, queen of Lydia.
Pléuron, birthplace of Deianeira, near the Achelóüs.
Tráchis, a city in Malis.
[Scene: Trachis in front of the palace of
Heracles and Deianeira.]
[Enter Deianeira and Nurse.]
Deianeira
There is an ancient proverb people tell that none can judge the life of any man for good or bad until that man is dead; but I, for my part, though I am still living, know well that mine is miserable and hard.
Even while I was living with my father
Oeneus in Pleuron I was plagued by fear
of marriage more than any other woman.
My suitor was the river Achelóüs,
10 who took three forms to ask me of my father:
a rambling bull once ‐ then a writhing snake
of gleaming colors ‐ then again a man
with ox‐like face: and from his beardʹs dark shadows stream upon stream of water tumbled down.
Such was my suitor. As I waited there
I prayed my agony might end in death before I ever shared my bed with him.
But later on, to my great joy, the glorious
child of Alcména, son of Zeus, arrived,
20
and joined in combat with the river god, and freed me. How they fought I cannot say,
I do not know: for only he who saw that sight, yet did not tremble, could describe it;
but I sat petrified with terror, lest
my beauty might bring sorrow down upon me.
Then Zeus the warrior‐king brought forth good issue ‐
if it was good . . . for though I am the wife of Heracles I nourish fear on fear in my concern for him, since each night brings
30 a sorrow which the next night steals away.
We have had children, yet he only sees them as migrant farmers see their distant crops: once when they sow and once again at harvest.
Such was his life that he came home but briefly;
then left again to serve his hard taskmaster.
But now that he is free from all his labors, now I am seized by greater dread than ever.
For since the time he slew strong Iphitus, we have been exiled here in Trachis, living
40 in a strange household; and where Heracles has gone, no one can say. I only know the bitter pangs his going left with me.
Surely he has endured some grave misfortune;
for no small time has passed since he departed,
but fifteen months already without tidings.
It must be some misfortune ‐ as the tablets
he left with me forewarned. How often I
have prayed to God they would not bring me grief!
Nurse
Queen Deianeira, many times have I
50 seen you bewailing Heraclesʹ departure and weeping bitter tears of lamentation.
But now, if it is proper that a slave should teach free people, I will speak up for you: since you have such a multitude of children, why not send one of them to seek your husband?
Hyllus should be the first to go, if he
has any care about his fatherʹs welfare.
But here he is, running fast toward the house! If you believe my words were spoken rightly,
60 now is the time to try them on your son.
[Enter Hyllus]
Deianeira
My child, my son, wise sayings sometimes come even from humble people like this woman.
She is a slave, but what she says rings free.
Hyllus
What, mother? Tell me, if it may be told.
Deianeira
That, since your father has been gone so long,
it is disgraceful for you not to seek him.
Hyllus
There is no need, if what I hear is true.
Deianeira
Child, has some rumor told you where he is?
Hyllus
They say he spent the whole long plowing season
70
working in bondage for a Lydian woman.
Deianeira
If he has borne this, nothing will surprise me!
Hyllus
But now, I hear, he has escaped that labor. Deianeira
Where is he living then . . . or is he dead?
Hyllus
They say that he is warring ‐ or soon will ‐ against Euboea, Eurytusʹs city.
Deianeira
Are you aware, my child, that he left with me sure oracles about that very land?
Hyllus
What are they, mother? I know nothing of them.
Deianeira
Either his days will reach their end, or else,
80 when he has done this labor, he will live
all his remaining life in peace and calm.
Child, when his fate is hanging in the balance,
will you not help him? Our own safety lies
in his; for if he dies we perish with him.
Hyllus
I will go, mother; and if I had known these prophecies I would have left much sooner.
My fatherʹs usual fortunes gave no cause to fear for him or be too deeply troubled;
90 but now I understand, and I will not cease till I learn the whole truth in these matters.
Deianeira
Go then, my son! The man who brings good news, however late, will surely be rewarded.
[Hyllus leaves. The Chorus enter.]
[Parodos]
[Strophe A ]
Chorus
Thou whom the night brings forth, when shorn of splendor, and lays to rest again in a burst of fire ‐
tell me, O Sun, I pray thee,
where, oh where is Alcménaʹs son residing?
Thou who searest with flaming bolts of light,
100 is he at sea or safe on the mainland shore?
Tell me, thou crowning eye of all the heaven.
[Antistrophe A]
She who was fought for once by mighty warriors,
Deianeira, is wasting with desire;
and, like the mournful nightingale,
she cannot cease her tearful yearnings ever, but thinks with fear on her husbandʹs distant journey,
110 racked on her widowed couch of torment, only
waiting to see her direst dreams fulfilled.
[Strophe B]
Just as the tireless winds from the south and north
scatter the waves before them on the wide sea:
so does the son of Cadmusʹs life of travail whirl him round and exalt him again, wild as the Cretan sea; yet always some god unerringly
120 holds him back from the house of Hades.
[Antistrophe B]
I will reproach you with respect, but sternly: you must not waste your life away in sorrow
hopelessly. Never has Zeus, the king of all things,
granted to mortals life without pain;
but grief and happiness come
to every man in his turn,
130
like the circling paths of the Bear.
[Epode]
The gleaming splendor of the night will not remain with men, nor yet will grief, nor wealth: all pass away at once, and soon another man encounters joy and sorrow.
My Queen, I ask you ever to remember that this is so; for when has any man
140 known Zeus to be so careless of his children?
Deianeira
Your words show clearly that my suffering
is known to you. Oh, may you never learn
the heartfelt anguish you are innocent of!
Like you, the young plant grows in sheltered regions
all by itself, and no fierce summer heat
nor any storm nor any wind prevents it from living peacefully a life of pleasure till she who was a girl becomes a woman and learns her share of troubles in the night,
150 fearful for her loved husband and her children.
By looking on her own plight, such a one might understand the cares which burden me. I have wept often for my many sorrows, but now one greater than before assails me; for when lord Heracles set forth from home
upon his latest undertaking, he
left tablets here behind, inscribed with words
which he had never deigned to tell me of
in all the previous labors he endured ‐
160 so great was his belief that he would triumph.
But this time, like a dying man, he told me
what my inheritance would be, and how
the children should divide their fatherʹs land.
He set a time, and said that when a year
and three months had gone by since his departure,
then it was fated either that he die,
or else, if he survived, that he should live
his life thereafter free of grief and pain.
This was the fate he said the gods had destined
170
to end the many toils of Heracles:
this was the prophecy the ancient oak tree
spoke through Dodonaʹs two divining doves.
And now the moment when the oracle
ordained these things to happen has arrived;
and I have started forth from my sweet slumber trembling with fear, my friends, to think that I
might live without this noblest of all men.
Chorus
Be silent now: I see a man approaching whose crown of laurel signifies good tidings.
[Enter an old man of Trachis, acting as a Messenger]
Messenger
180
Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first
to free you from your fears; for I can tell you
Alcménaʹs son is living and has triumphed to bring home to our gods the spoils of battle.
Deianeira
What is it you are telling me, old man?
Messenger
That soon the husband whom you long for will
come home victorious in all his might.
Deianeira
What citizen ‐ or stranger ‐ told you this?
Messenger
Lichas the herald spoke these things to many
in a summer pasture land; and when I heard him
190 I sprang away to be the first to tell you ‐ and, hopefully, to profit by your favor.
Deianeira
If he has brought good tidings, then where is he?
Messenger
Lady, he has but little room to move.
The Malian people have surrounded him to ask him questions, and will not let him go.
All are intent on learning what they hope for,
and will not set him free until they do.
And so, against his will, he is detained
by theirs; but soon you shall behold him here.
Deianeira
200
O Zeus who rulest the unshorn plains of Oeta,
after long years thou grantest us great joy!
Raise up your voices, women, in the house
and in the outer court. Come, let us reap
the unenvisioned light this message brings us.
[Dance‐Song]
Chorus
Girls who are brides to be, come, sing in triumph
with shouts, wild shouts of joy for our hearth and home; and let the voices of men be one
with ours in prayer to the archer‐god
Apollo, our defender! Then,
210
maidens, raise the paean aloft
and cry to his sister
Ortygian Artemis, wielder of torches, slayer of deer,
and the nymphs of the neighboring hills.
I am raised on high, I will not reject the cry of the flute: thou tyrant of mind and soul!
Behold me: the ivy ‐
euoi! ‐
220
goads me to frenzy and whirls me
round in the strife of Bacchus!
Io io Paean!
My lady, behold,
behold, you may clearly see these things
are taking place before you.
Deianeira
I see, dear friends; my watchful eyes have not
failed to discern this group which is approaching.
All hail the herald, who has now returned
at long last . . . if it is good news you bring.
[Enter the herald Lichas, followed by a group of captive women; among them,Iole]
Lichas
Gladly do we arrive and gladly hear you,
230 lady, so fitly welcome us. The man who prospers merits fair words in return.
Deianeira
Dearest of men, first tell me what I most desire to know: is Heracles alive?
Lichas
When I last saw him he was in full strength, alive and flourishing and free from illness.
Deianeira
Where? In his homeland or some far‐off country?
Lichas
Making his offering to Cenaean Zeus with fruitful tribute on Euboeaʹs shore.
Deianeira
To pay a vow or fill some oracle?
Lichas
240
A vow made when he captured and despoiled the country of these women whom you see. Deianeira
Who are they, tell me, and who were their parents?
I pity them ‐ unless their plight deceives me.
Lichas
When Heracles sacked Eurytusʹs city he chose them as the godsʹ prize, and his own.
Deianeira
Then was it for this city he was gone till time was meaningless and days lost number?
Lichas
No. Most of that time he was held in Lydia
as he himself declares, not free, but sold
250
to servitude. (This word must not offend you,
lady: Zeus was the author of the deed.)
He says he spent a year of thraldom there slaving for the barbarian Omphale.
So deeply was he injured by this shame, he placed himself on oath, and swore to vanquish
the perpetrator of his suffering
and force him, with his wife and child, to slavery.
His word was kept. When he had purged himself he raised a foreign army and advanced
260 on Eurytusʹs city, for he said that man alone had brought this grief upon him.
He claimed that when he first came to his house
as an old comrade, Eurytus assailed him
with many words born of an evil mind,
and told him that despite those mighty arrows his own sons could surpass him with the bow; yes, taunted him that he had sunk to being a free manʹs slave; and then, when drunk with wine,
he cast him out. This maddened Heracles,
270
and once, when he saw Iphitus approaching
the hill of Tiryns in search of his lost horses,
looking at one thing, thinking of another,
Heracles threw him from the towering peak.
But then Olympian Zeus, the universal father of all, in anger at this deed, did not hold back from selling him to bondage, because he dared to kill this single man by guile. If his revenge had been but open,
Zeus would have pardoned what he did in justice:
280
like us, the gods hate reckless violence.
So all those men, who spoke with evil tongues,
are gone to Hades, and their city is
enslaved. These women whom you see, once happy, have found a life which none will envy now, and come to you. This was your husbandʹs bidding,
and I, his faithful servant, have performed it.
Be certain he himself will come, when he
has made pure offering to his father Zeus
for his great conquest. Surely this will be,
290 of all good tidings you have heard, the sweetest.
Chorus
My Queen, abundant happiness is yours!
Part is before you, and the rest is promised.
Deianeira
How should I not rejoice with all my heart when I have learned about my lordʹs good fortune?
My pleasure and his happiness are one.
Yet one who looks afar may even fear
for him who prospers, lest he fall thereafter.
And as for me, my friends, a strange compassion
came over me when I saw these poor women
300
orphaned and homeless in a foreign land.
They too were once the daughters of free men, perhaps; but now they lead a life of slavery.
O Zeus, god of reverses, may I never behold thee thus advance against my offspring ‐ or, if thou dost, let me not live to see it!
Such is my fear on looking at these women.
Unhappy girl, come tell me who you are: unmarried, or a mother? Your appearance seems innocent of all these things, and noble.
310
Lichas, whose daughter is this stranger here?
Who is her father, and what mother bore her?
Tell me. I pitied her most when I saw her,
for she alone knows how to feel her hardship.
Lichas
How should I know? Why do you question me?
It seems she was not born of humble parents.
Deianeira
Perhaps from kings. Did Eurytus have children?
Lichas
I do not know. My inquiries were brief.
Deianeira
Did you not learn her name from her companions?
Lichas
No. I have carried out my task in silence.
Deianeira
320
Tell me yourself, unhappy girl. Not knowing
who you are is a great misfortune for me. Lichas
If she behaves the way she has till now she will not move her tongue; for she has spoken not once in all this time of anything.
She labors with the weight of her misfortune; and ever since she left her wind‐swept country she has wept bitter streams of tears. Her fate, surely, is hard for her, and claims our pardon.
Deianeira
Then let her be, and let her go inside
330
if she so wishes, for I would not add more suffering to what she now possesses: that is enough already. Let us enter the palace. You may hasten where you will, and I will try to put my house in order.
[Lichas and the captive women start toward the palace.
Deianeira turns to follow.]
Messenger
Stay here a moment first, and I will tell you, apart from these whom you are taking in, things which you ought to know but have not heard; for I know everything there is to tell.
Deianeira
What do you want? Why have you stopped me here? Messenger
Wait, hear me. What I told you of before
340 you learned with profit, and so will you now.
Deianeira
Then shall I call the others back again, or will you speak to me and to my maidens?
Messenger
To you and them, yes; let the others be.
Deianeira
Now they have gone, and you may tell your story.
Messenger
Nothing this man has said to you just now was spoken truly! Either this was false or what he said before had no truth in it.
Deianeira
What are you saying? Tell me all you know,
350
for I am ignorant of what you mean.
Messenger
Why, I heard this man say ‐ and there were many witnesses there ‐ that for the girlʹs sake only did Heracles slay Eurytus and conquer
Oechaliaʹs high towers. Love alone, of all the gods, enticed him into battle, and not his irksome toil for Omphale
in Lydia, or Iphitusʹs death.
When Lichas tells his tale, he leaves out Love.
Heracles could not make her father give
360
his daughter to him for his concubine, and so, with some small pretext as his cause, he fought against her native city, where this Eurytus, he said, sat on the throne, and killed the king her father, and destroyed her country. Now he comes home bringing her, as you see, lady ‐ and not without purpose, nor as his slave. Do not think that will happen, not when a man is burning with desire!
I thought it best to tell you everything
370 which I, my Queen, had learned of from this man.
For many other men of Trachis heard him, as I did, speaking in the public place:
they will bear witness. If my words are bitter,
then I am sorry. But I speak the truth.
Deianeira
Oh wretched that I am, where do I stand?
What secret grief awaits me in my house
now, in my misery? Was this girl really without a name, as Lichas swore to me?
Messenger
No, she is glorious in name and birth.
380
Eurytus was her father; and her name,
Iole. This was she whose birth the herald told nothing of, because he had not asked!
Chorus
May the false man who fashions evil secrets perish before all other wicked men!
Deianeira
What must I do my friends? These words which I have heard have frightened me out of my senses.
Chorus
Go question Lichas, for he may reply
truthfully if you press him to make answer.
Deianeira
Yes, I will go; your words are spoken wisely.
Messenger
390
What shall I do? Remain here or depart?
Deianeira
Stay ‐ for without my calling him the man is coming from the house of his own will.
[Lichas returns from the palace.]
Lichas
Madam, what shall I say to Heracles?
Tell me; for I am going, as you see.
Deianeira
How quickly you are leaving, when your visit has been so short, and we have talked so little.
Lichas
If you have questions for me, I will stay.
Deianeira
Will what you tell me be the honest truth?
Lichas
Yes, by great Zeus, in anything I know of.
Deianeira
400
Who is the woman you have brought here with you?
Lichas
She is Euboean; I know nothing more.
Messenger
Look here: to whom do you think you are speaking?
Lichas
And who are you to question me like that?
Messenger
Answer me, if you understand my meaning. Lichas
To royal Deianeira, if my eyes
do not deceive me ‐ Oeneusʹs daughter,
Heraclesʹ wife, and, furthermore, my queen.
Messenger
That is the very word I wished to hear.
You say she is your queen?
Lichas
And rightly so.
Messenger
410
Well then, what punishment will you be willing
to undergo if you are proved dishonest?
Lichas
What do you mean, ʺdishonestʺ? Are these riddles?
Messenger
No, it is you instead whose words are riddles.
Lichas
Farewell. I was a fool to listen to you.
Messenger
Stay here until you answer one brief question.
Lichas
Speak if you wish ‐ and you will not be silent!
Messenger
That captive whom you brought here to the palace ‐ you know her, surely?
Lichas
Yes. Why do you ask?
Messenger
Did you not say that she, whom you cannot
420 now name, was Eurytusʹ child Iole?
Lichas
To whom did I say that? Where is the man who will bear witness that you heard it from me?
Messenger
Many good citizens of Trachis heard you proclaim it in our public meeting place.
Lichas
Yes;
they say so, but it is a different thing to state oneʹs fancy and to speak correctly.
Messenger
Fancy! Did you not swear that you were bringing
this girl to be the wife of Heracles?
Lichas
To be his wife? In Godʹs name, my dear mistress,
430
tell me, I pray you, who this stranger is.
Messenger One who was there when you said that desire destroyed the city ‐ not the Lydian woman
Omphale, but his passion for this girl.
Lichas
Madam, let this man be dismissed. To prate with such a madman suits not my discretion.
Deianeira
Do not, by Zeus I pray, whose lightning flashes on Oetaʹs highest woodlands, hide the truth!
You are not speaking to an evil woman, nor one who does not know that men were not
440 born to enjoy the same delights forever.
Whoever stands opposed to Love, with fists
clenched like a boxer, does not understand him;
for he rules over gods as he desires,
and over me. Why not another like me?
So if I blamed my husband for the passion
which has afflicted him, I would be mad ‐
or this girl either, who has shared with him
what is no shame for them, no wrong to me.
I could not do that. But if he has taught you
450 to lie, then you have learned a wicked lesson; and if you have taught yourself these ways, then you will seem most evil when desiring good.
Tell me the truth! It is a foul disgrace for a free man to be known as a liar.
And do not think you will escape detection,
for many heard you speaking, and will tell me.
If you have fears, dismiss them, for to me the greatest pain is not to learn the truth.
What harm in knowing? Has not Heracles
460 taken more brides than any other man?
And yet none of them ever was reproached by me, or slandered. She will not be either, not even if she melts with passion, for
I pitied her most when I first beheld her
because her beauty has destroyed her life,
and she, against her will, has sacked and ravaged
her native country. But let all this be
cast to the winds: to you I say, deceive anyone else, but do not lie to me!
Chorus
470
She counsels well: obey her. You will never have cause to blame her, and will win our thanks.
Lichas
Dear mistress, since I see that you are human, thinking as men should think, and are not proud,
I will no longer hide the truth from you: everything is as this man has declared.
A dreadful craving for the girl came over
Heracles; and for her sake he destroyed and sacked Oechalia, her fatherʹs city.
He, in all fairness to him, never told me
480 to hide these facts from you, never denied them; but I myself, my Queen, in fear that I might grieve your heart by telling you such things, erred ‐ if indeed you count it as an error.
Now, since you understand at last the truth,
for your sake and for his as well, I pray you to treat this woman kindly, and to stand firmly upon the word which you have spoken.
For he whose hand was mighty in all else is vanquished by his passion for this woman.
Deianeira
490
Believe me, that is my sincere intent.
I do not wish to add to my affliction by vain war with the gods. Come, let us enter the palace, where you may receive your message ‐ and, since a gift should always be repaid, take one from me. You ought not to return
with nothing, when you brought so large a train.
[Deianeira and Lichas enter the palace.]
[Stasimon]
[Strophe]
Chorus
Great is the power of Aphroditeʹs triumph!
I will not mention
500 the gods, nor how she deceived the son of Kronos, nor Hades the lord of night, no, nor Poseidon, shaker of earth.
But when this woman was wedded, what mighty‐limbed men came to claim her in marriage?
Who were they who entered the hard‐hitting, dust‐clouded conflict of battle?
[Antistrophe]
One was a violent river in a bullʹs form, four‐leggèd, high‐horned
510
Achelóüs from Oeniadae; the other came from
Bacchian Thebes, and his bow was bent and he wielded the spear and cudgel ‐
Zeusʹs son; and they came together
in battle, desiring to win her in wedlock,
while Aphrodite the blesser of marriage sat in the middle and judged them.
[Epode]
Then was the clash of fists and arrows
mingled with the clatter of bullʹs horns;
520 intricate grapplings were joined;
there were deadly blows of the forehead,
and groaning was heard from both.
But she, in tender beauty,
on a far‐seen hilltop,
sat and waited for her husband
even as the battle raged.
The bride these men had fought for
piteously remained; and then she left her mother
530 like a lost and helpless calf.
[Deianeira returns from the palace.]
Deianeira Friends, while our visitor inside the palace is bidding farewell to the captive maidens,
I have come forth to you in secret, partly
to tell you what I have contrived, but also
to win your sympathy for what I suffer.
I have received this maiden ‐ no, not maiden ‐
this mistress, as a sailor welcomes freightage: a burden which my heart finds hard to bear.
For now he will have two of us to clasp
540 under one blanket; this is the reward
Heracles, whom we call the good and faithful, has given me for waiting all this time!
I cannot find it in me to be angry,
often as this disease has come upon him; but then, to live together with her, sharing my marriage‐bed ‐ what woman could endure it?
I see her youthful beauty blooming; mine is vanishing: his eye will love to pluck those blossoms, but will turn away from me.
550
I fear that Heracles will soon be called
my husband, but this younger womanʹs man.
Yet anger, as I said, is wrong for women
of understanding. Let me tell you, friends, the solacing release that I have found.
I have long had a present, which a beast
once gave me, hidden in an urn of bronze.
While still a child I took it from the blood
of shaggy‐breasted Nessus as he died ‐
Nessus, a centaur who would carry men
560
for pay across the deep Evenus river,
using no oars or sails to help convey them.
So, when my father sent me forth to follow
Heracles, as his bride, this monster bore me
upon his back and, when we reached midstream,
touched me with lusting hands: I screamed aloud:
then Zeusʹs son immediately turned round
and shot a feathered arrow whizzing through
his breast into his lungs. As he lay dying
the beast said, ʺDaughter of old Oeneus, listen
570
to me, and you will profit from this voyage,
for I will never carry any other.
Take in your hands the clotted blood around
my wound, in which the monstrous beast of Lerna,
Hydra, once dipped his arrows of black gall;
and this will be a love‐charm for the heart
of Heracles, so that he will not ever love anyone he looks on more than you.ʺ
I thought of this just now, my friends, for since he died I have concealed it in my house;
580 and I have dipped this tunic in it, as he said when living. Yes, I have performed it.
Oh, may I never come to know the meaning of wickedness or women who are wicked; but if I am able to excel this girl by using magic charms on Heracles, the means are ready. Do you think my actions are rash? For if you do, I will not try them.
Chorus
If there is any promise of success,
why then, I think that you have counseled wisely.
Deianeira
590
The only promise is that it seems best ‐
and yet, I cannot know until I try.
Chorus
Knowledge must come through action. You will never
be sure unless you put it to the test.
Deianeira
Ah, we will soon know, for I see the herald leaving the house. He will be going shortly. Please keep my secret! Even shameful deeds, when done in darkness, never bring disgrace.
[Lichas returns from the palace.]
Lichas
Tell me what I must do now, child of Oeneus, for I have been delayed here far too long.
Deianeira
600
Lichas, while you were speaking with the maidens
inside, I have been making ready for you a long robe to take back to Heracles ‐
a gift for him which my own hands have woven.
Give it to him and tell him to allow
no other man to put it on before him.
He must not let the sunlight or the fire
beside the altar or the hearth shine on it
until he stands forth visible to all,
610
showing it to the gods while bulls are slaughtered.
This was my vow: that if I ever saw
or heard that he was coming, I would dress him
properly in this robe, and so present
a new man sacrificing in new garments. Take him the seal stamped on this signet ring
as token ‐ he will quickly recognize it.
Now go. Remember, first of all, the law that messengers must not exceed their calling; and then conduct yourself in such a way
that you may win my thanks as well as his.
Lichas
620
As I am true to Hermes, god of heralds, and to my sacred craft, I will not fail to take this casket to him, as it is, adding your message to attest your gift.
Deianeira
Then you may leave us now, for you have seen how matters stand with me here in the palace.
Lichas
I have, and I shall say that all is well.
Deianeira
You know the greeting that I gave the stranger ‐ you saw that I have welcomed her in friendship?
Lichas
Yes; and my heart was deeply struck with pleasure.
Deianeira
630
Then what else can you tell him? For I fear it is too soon to speak of my desire,
until I know if he desires me also.
[Deianeira enters the palace. Lichas leaves.]
[Stasimon]
[Strophe A]
Chorus
O you who dwell by the warm‐flowing streams
between the rocks and the harbor
near Oetaʹs mountain, and you of the innermost reach of Malisʹs gulf, by the shore of the golden‐arrowed goddess, there where the Greeks hold famous council near Thermopylaeʹs gateway;
[Antistrophe A]
640
for you the sound of the sweet‐voiced flute will soon arise, and not with a cry of grating agony, but with the lyrical tones of sacred song!
For the child of Alcména, Zeusʹs son,
is speeding his way toward home, and bringing
trophies of might and valor.
[Strophe B]
He was gone far away from our city
at sea, while we waited for him
twelve long months, and heard nothing.
650
Meanwhile his loving wife
with an enduring heart tearfully wasted away; but now the furious god of war has freed her from her time of sorrow.
[Antistrophe B]
May he come, may he come! May his vessel, his many‐oared ship, not tarry until he has reached our city, leaving the island altar where he is sacrificing.
660
May he arrive full of longing, all fused in one with his specious garb, his robe smeared over with persuasion.
[Deianeira returns from the palace.]
Deianeira
My friends, I am afraid that I have gone too far in everything I have just done.
Chorus
What is it, Deianeira, child of Oeneus?
Deianeira
I am not certain, yet I deeply fear my hopes of good have brought about great harm.
Chorus
Does it concern your gift to Heracles?
Deianeira
It does. Oh, never recommend that any
670
be hasty when his action is uncertain!
Chorus
Tell me your worries, if they may be told.
Deianeira
So strange a thing has happened, friends, that if
I tell you, you will marvel at my words.
The tuft of white wool from a fleecy sheep
with which I smeared that stately robe just now,
has vanished ‐ not consumed by anything within the house; no, self‐devoured it crumbled down from the stone it lay on. I will tell you more fully how this wonder came to pass. 680
None of the precepts which the savage Centaur
spoke when the bitter arrow pierced his side
did I forget, but held them in my mind
like words indelibly inscribed in bronze.
I did exactly as he told me to,
and kept the ointment in a hidden place
far from the warmth of sunlight or of fire until the time should come to smear it on.
I did just so. And then, when I was ready,
I spread it secretly inside the palace
690
with wool which I had plucked from our own sheep, and folded up the gift, and placed it in
a hollow, sunless casket, as you saw.
But when I went back in, I saw a sight
beyond the power of speech or understanding.
By chance I had thrown the piece of wool with which
I smeared the robe into the blazing heat where sunlight fell; and as it warmed, it melted away to nothing, crumbling into earth exactly like the little particles
700 of sawdust which we see when trees are leveled.
It lies there still. And from the place it fell a curdled clot of bubbling foam seethed up,
like the rich juice squeezed from the purple fruit
of Bacchusʹ vine, when poured upon the ground.
And so I know not what to think. I see
only that I have done a dreadful deed.
Why ‐ for what reason ‐ should the beast whose death
I caused have shown me kindness as he died?
It cannot be! No, wishing to destroy
710
his slayer, he deceived me. I have learned
too late, when learning can avail no longer!
For I alone ‐ unless my mind deceives me ‐
I, to my grief, will bring about his ruin.
That very arrow, I am certain, wounded
Cheiron, a god; and it destroys whatever creature it touches. The dark blood which flowed from Nessusʹ wound contained that poison. Oh,
how can it not kill Heracles? It must!
And yet I am resolved, if he should fall,
720
to perish with him in the selfsame onslaught.
One who takes pride in being good by nature
will not endure a life marred by dishonor.
Chorus
We must shun dreadful deeds; and yet must never condemn our hopes until those deeds occur.
Deianeira
In plans unwisely made there is no place
for hope, which might lend courage even now.
Chorus
Menʹs wrath is softened toward those who have erred unwittingly; and so it is with you.
Deianeira.
One who has known misfortune would not utter
730
such words, but only one who feels no sorrow.
Chorus
It would be best if you were silent now
except in speaking to your son; for he
who left to seek his father has returned.
[Enter Hyllus]
Hyllus
Mother, I wish one of three things would happen:
either that you were dead; or, if you live, that you were not my mother; or that you would change the heart you now have for a better!
Deianeira
What have I done, my child, to cause your hatred? Hyllus
You need not doubt that on this very day
740
you have destroyed your husband and my father.
Deianeira
My son, what word is this which you have spoken?
Hyllus
One which shall be confirmed; for who can render unborn what has already seen the light?
Deianeira
What are you saying, child? What man has told you
that I am guilty of so foul a deed?
Hyllus
I saw my fatherʹs grievous fall myself, with my own eyes, not heard it from some other.
Deianeira
Where did you come upon him and stand by him?
Hyllus
If you must know, then I shall tell you all.
750
After he plundered Eurytusʹs city he carried off the choicest spoils of battle; and, by a wave‐washed headland of Euboea,
Cenaeum, he was dedicating altars and woodland precincts to his father Zeus when I, with joyous longing, first beheld him.
He was about to make great sacrifice
when his own herald Lichas came from home
bearing your gift to him, the robe of death.
He put it on as you had told him to,
760
and held and slaughtered twelve unblemished bulls,
the finest of the spoil; for he had brought a hundred varied oxen to the altar.
At first ‐ oh wretched man! ‐ he prayed in calm of mind, rejoicing in his lovely garment;
but when the gory flame began to blaze
up from the offerings on the sappy pine,
sweat covered all his body, and the robe clung to his sides as if glued by a craftsman
to every joint; and from his very bones
770
shot up spasmodic, stinging pangs: the poison,
like some detested, bloody snakeʹs, devoured him.
Then he cried out aloud for ill‐starred Lichas,
who was in no way guilty of your crime,
to ask what treachery made him bring the robe;
but he, unlucky man! knew not, and answered
he had but brought the gift which you had given.
When Heracles heard this a penetrating convulsive spasm clutched his lungs, and he
seized Lichas where the ankle joins the foot
780 and dashed him on a rock swept by the sea so that the white brain seeped among his hairs,
and all his shattered skull was bloodied over.
At this the people raised a mournful cry that one was maddened and the other slain; and no one dared to go near Heracles.
For he was dragged to earth and drawn toward heaven
screaming and wailing: all around, the cliffs
and capes of Locris and Euboea thundered.
After his anguished tossing on the ground
790
and frequent cries of lamentation tired him ‐
cursing the ill‐matched marriage he had made
with you at Oeneusʹ wedding ceremony,
where he had mated with his lifeʹs destruction ‐
then, through the circling shroud of smoke, he raised
his rolling eyes, and saw me in the crowd
sobbing, and fixed his gaze upon me, crying:
ʺOh child, come to me, do not flee my torment
even if you must die along with me.
Take me away and put me in a place
800 where no one living may set eyes upon me; or if you shrink from that at least convey me
elsewhere, so that I may not perish here.ʺ
We carried out his words and placed him in
our ship, and, with a struggle, brought him here
bellowing in his agony. Soon you
will see him ‐ living, or but lately dead.
These are the plots and deeds against my father
which you stand guilty of. May vengeful Justice
and Furies pay you, if my prayer be sanctioned!
810
It shall! for you have spurned all sanctity
by killing him who was the best of men
on earth ‐ whose equal you will never see!
[Deianeira silently turns and enters the palace.]
Chorus
Why do you leave in silence? You must know that silence pleads the cause of your accuser.
Hyllus
Let her depart. And may some fair wind sweep her far from the place where I must look upon her!
Why should a motherʹs name bring dignity to her, whose deeds are nothing like a motherʹs? Good riddance to her! May she find such pleasures
820
as she herself has given to my father.
[Hyllus goes into the palace.
[Stasimon]
[Strophe A]
Chorus
Maidens, behold how suddenly the word
spoken of old by the oracle
has now descended upon us!
It said that after the dozenth plowing season had filled its quota of months the son of Zeus would
bring his toils to an end. That prophecy
comes firmly home: for how can a man whose eyes
830 are shadowed in death be a slave to toils thereafter?
[Antistrophe A]
For if the guileful doom wrought by the Centaur goads his sides and a cloud of blood surrounds him,
and poison clings to him, poison whose father was Death and whose nurse was a gleaming serpent, then how shall he ever behold another sunrise?
Gripped in the monstrous hydraʹs dreadful grasp, he feels the vengeful torments, the stinging pangs,
840 the seething, treacherous lash of black‐haired Nessus.
[Strophe B]
Our wretched mistress could not foretell this pain.
She only saw what grief was coming upon her from Heraclesʹ new marriage; she acted; and now, because she has heeded the words of a stranger in fatal converse, surely she groans in anguish; surely soft droplets moisten her cheeks with numerous tears.
850
And the fate which is coming foreshadows a fall, mighty, and born of deception.
[Antistrophe B]
And now a torrent of tears has broken forth; disease has assaulted Heracles, to our sorrow ‐ a plague more dire than his foes had ever inflicted upon him in combat. O dark steel point of the battle spear,
swiftly thou carriedst the bride
down from Oechaliaʹs heights
by virtue of warlike prowess.
860
But the Goddess of Love has been present among us,
working these deeds in silence.
[The Nurse screams inside the palace.]
Was it my fancy or did I indeed
hear someone wailing in the house just now?
What can it be?
Someone whose scream is clearly full of anguish, boding some new disaster for this palace.
Take notice with what strange, darkened aspect this old woman
870 comes from the house: she means to tell us something.
[Enter Nurse]
Nurse My children, great indeed were the misfortunes
the gift to Heracles has brought upon us.
Chorus
Old woman, tell us what new thing has happened.
Nurse
Queen Deianeira has departed now upon her final journey, without stirring.
Chorus
You do not mean that she has died?
Nurse
I do.
Chorus
Poor woman, is she dead?
Nurse
Twice I have told you.
[Commos]
Chorus
Oh, poor lost mistress! Tell me now the manner of her death.
Nurse
The deed was cruel.
Chorus
880
Come tell me, woman, how she met her fate. Nurse
She brought her own life to an end.
Chorus
What passion or what madness led her to wield the evil blade? How could she plan this death after the other death which she had caused?
Nurse
With a stroke of the mournful steel.
Chorus
Ah, foolish woman! did you see it then?
Nurse
I saw it, yes; for I was standing near.
Chorus
890
What happened? Come now, speak.
Nurse
By her own hand she wrought the deed.
Chorus
What are you saying?
Nurse
Only what is true.
Chorus
This new bride, Iole, has brought to being her first‐born child ‐
a Fury wreaking vIolence on our house! Nurse
Too true! If you had been nearby and seen her death, your pity would be greater still.
Chorus
And did a womanʹs hand dare do this deed?
Nurse
Most horribly, as I will tell you now.
900
After she went, alone, into the palace and saw her son strewing a hollow litter
outside, with which to go and meet his father,
she hid herself, lest anyone should see her,
and, falling near the altars, moaned aloud
that they were empty now; and wept whenever
she touched the objects she had known so well.
Then, as she roamed at random through the house, if she but saw one of her own attendants, she looked at him in misery, and sobbed,
910 calling upon the fate which now was hers and on her childless state forever after.
But then she ceased, and suddenly I saw her rush to the room which Heracles had slept in.
There I concealed myself and watched her actions in secret, and beheld the woman spreading coverlets on the couch of Heracles.
When she had finished this, she leapt upon them and sat there in the middle of the bed, where, bursting into streams of molten tears,
920 she called upon her couch and bridal chamber, crying, ʺFarewell forever! In the future you will not hold me as a bride again.ʺ
She spoke no more, but with a vehement motion
she loosed her tunic, where the golden brooch
was fastened, just above her breast; and then uncovered all her left side and her arm.
I ran away as fast as I had strength and told her son of what she had contrived;
but by the time we reached her room again
930
we saw her with a two‐edged sword stuck through her,
piercing her side and cleaving to her heart.
Her son screamed when he saw her, for he knew that he had driven her to this in anger, learning too late from servants that her deed
was done in ignorance, at the Centaurʹs bidding.
And then the wretched boy showed no restraint
in sobbing and lamenting for her death,
caressing her with kisses; he fell down and lay there by her side, and groaned that he
940 had falsely charged her with a wicked crime.
He wept that he must be deprived of both
her and his father, orphaned for his life.
Thus have these things occurred. And so, whoever
counts on the morrow or the days beyond,
thinks foolishly. Tomorrow will not come until the present day is safe behind us.
[Stasimon]
[Strophe A]
Chorus
Which woe shall I first lament?
Which misery is the greater?
Alas, it is hard to discern.
[Antistrophe A]
950
One we have seen in our home; we dread the approach of the other.
What we have and await are the same.
[Strophe B] Would that a favoring breeze
might come to my house with power to waft me far from these regions, lest
I die from terror as soon as I see
Zeusʹs glorious son.
For they say he is coming home
960
racked by unshakable pain ‐
a wonder not to be spoken!
[Antistrophe B]
Behold! the grief I bewailed like a clear‐toned nightingale, nears us.
These men who approach us are strangers.
How do they bring him? They move, sorrowing as for a friend, slowly, with noiseless tread.
Ah ah! he is carried in silence!
What must we think? Is he dead
970 or is he only sleeping?
[Enter Hyllus and an Old Man, followed by Heracles, borne upon a litter.]
Hyllus
Ah ah, I mourn, father, I mourn for your misery!
How can I hope to assist you? Ah ah!
Old Man
Be silent, my son, and do not arouse the savage pain of your frenzied father.
He lives though fallen; so bite your lip in silence.
Hyllus
Old man, is he living still?
Old Man
You must not waken him out of his slumber
by stirring up and reviving
980
the terrible, pulsing disease, O my child.
Hyllus
But a burdensome weight
lies on me: my mind is in turmoil.
Heracles
O Zeus!
What land have I come to? What men are these
who stand around me while ceaseless pains
torment me? Ah ah! Oh, wretch that I am! The putrid disease devours me. Oh!
Old Man
Did I not tell you it would be better by far to remain in silence, and not
990
to scatter abroad
the sleep from his brain and eyes?
Hyllus
I cannot
be still when I see him suffer.
Heracles
O Cenaean rock where I built my altars,
how harshly you favor the sacrifice
I made in my wretchedness ‐ O Zeus!
How great is the outrage you lay upon me!
I would that my eyes had never beheld you ‐ ah, woe is me! ‐ for now I must glimpse the inexorable flower of madness.
1000
Oh where is the sorcerer, where is the healer ‐ save only Zeus ‐ who has power enough to soothe the destruction upon me?
If any should come, I would marvel
[Strophe A] Oh oh!
Let me now, let me now finish my anguish,
let me sleep for the last time!
[Strophe B]
Why do you touch me? Where will you move me?
You are killing me, killing me!
You have wakened the pain that was quiet.
1010
Now it has seized me ‐ ah ah! ‐ it is coming upon me: where are you,
Greeks, most ungrateful of men, for whom so long I have labored, toiling far on the sea and deep in the forest to cleanse you of many plagues ‐ oh oh, I perish! ‐ and now, in my illness, will you not bring me fire or a spear, and turn them upon me?
[Antistrophe A]
Oh oh!
Is no one willing to strike off my head
from my loathsome body? Ah ah!
Old Man.
O child of Heracles, this task I am facing surpasses
the strength of my hands; come now, you must help me, for you have the power, far more than I have, to bring him relief. Hyllus
1020
My hands are upon him,
yet they cannot avail, in themselves, or with othersʹ assistance,
to bring relief to his anguished life: so Zeus has ordained it.
[Strophe C]
Heracles
O my child, where are you?
Come and take me now;
lift me up, thus, thus.
Oh, oh, my cruel fate!
[Antistrophe B]
It is leaping upon me, fearfully leaping!
This savage, incurable
1030 sickness will be my destruction.
Pallas, ah Pallas, it strikes me again! O child, I beseech you, pity your father: draw forth your blameless sword from its scabbard: strike off my head and end the distress which your impious mother
gave me, to drive me insane. I only pray that she perish
soon in the very way she has caused my ruin. Sweet Hades,
[Antistrophe C]
1040
brother of Zeus himself,
put me to sleep, to sleep,
ending my wretched life
with swift‐wingèd death.
Chorus
My friends, I shudder when I hear how great a suffering afflicts so great a prince.
Heracles
Many fierce toils, hard not in name alone, my hands and shoulders have endured before;
but never did the wife of Zeus or hateful
Eurystheus lay so great a burden on me
1050
as this one which the false‐faced child of Oeneus
has fastened on my back ‐ a binding net
woven by furies, in which I am dying.
Glued to my sides, it eats my flesh away
deep down within, and dwells inside my lungs
choking my breath: already it has drunk
my fresh warm blood and wasted my whole body,
binding me with unutterable chains. And yet, no spearman on the battlefield,
no earth‐born troop of Giants, no wild beast,
1060 nor Greece, nor any foreign land which I purged in my wanderings, could do this to me!
A woman ‐ weak, not masculine by nature ‐
alone, without a sword, has vanquished me!
O child, now show you are my true‐born son: do not revere your mother more than me!
Go in the house and bring her here outside and place her in my hands, so I may know if you will grieve more at my tortured body or hers, when I have wrought my just revenge.
1070
Go, child, be bold! And pity me, for I am pitiful indeed as I lie sobbing and moaning like a virgin! No one living has ever seen me act like this before; for I have never groaned at my misfortunes till now, when I have proved myself a woman.
Come now, approach and stand beside your father;
behold how I have suffered from my hardships.
For I will lift this covering and show you.
There, look! You all may see my mangled frame
1080 and know how poor and pitiful I am.
Ah ah! the pain! ah ah!
Once more I feel the burning pangs convulse me, piercing my side; I must again contend with this unmerciful, devouring illness.
Prince Hades, take me; come, lightning, strike me!
O Zeus, my father, hurl the thunderbolt
down on me! Yet again the plague consumes me,
blazing in fury. O my hands, my hands,
1090
my back, my chest, and O my own dear arms,
you are the same as in the past, when you
vanquished and slew the Lion of Nemea,
the scourge of herdsmen, creature none approached or spoke to, and brought low Lernaean Hydra;
you checked the savage tribe of beasts, half horse, half man, the lawless, mighty, violent Centaurs, subdued the Erymanthian Boar, and tamed
Hadesʹ invincible three‐headed Dog, the Serpentʹs child, and killed the Dragon guarding
1100 the golden apples at the ends of earth.
Countless have been the labors I endured, and none has ever triumphed over me. But now, my limbs disjointed, torn to shreds,
I lie here vanquished by an unseen ruin ‐
I whom they say a noble mother bore,
I who am called the son of starry Zeus.
And yet, be sure of this: though I am nothing, and cannot move a step, yet I will punish her who has done this deed. Let her but come:
1110 she will discover and proclaim that I in death, as in my life, destroyed the wicked.
Chorus
O wretched Greece, what sorrow I foresee coming upon you if you lose this man.
Hyllus
Since you are silent, father, I will answer: listen to what I say, sick though you are.
I will request no more than justice bids, so hear me freely: do not yield to passion
goaded by wrath, or you will never learn
how empty is the vengeful joy you seek.
Heracles
1120
Say what you mean, no more; for in my illness
I cannot understand your riddling words.
Hyllus I only mean to tell you how my mother fares now, and how unwillingly she sinned.
Heracles
O villain! do you dare to name the woman who has destroyed your father in my presence?
Hyllus
The circumstance will not permit my silence.
Heracles
Nor will the dreadful deed she has committed!
Hyllus
Hear what she did today before you judge her.
Heracles
Then speak ‐ but do not prove yourself a traitor.
Hyllus
1130
Hear me ‐ she has just now died, newly slain.
Heracles
By whom? What marvels your dire words make known!
Hyllus
She died by her own hand, not by anotherʹs.
Heracles
Ah, has she fled her just death at my hands?
Hyllus
Even your wrath would change if you knew all.
Heracles You start off strangely: tell me what you mean.
Hyllus
The truth is this: she erred, yet she meant good.
Heracles
Base villain! was it good to kill your father?
Hyllus
When she beheld your new bride she endeavored
to win you with a love charm, but she erred.
Heracles
1140
What man of Trachis deals in drugs so strong?
Hyllus
The Centaur Nessus long ago convinced her to use this potion to inflame your passion.
Heracles
Oh oh! Wretch that I am! Oh, I am dying!
I perish; I can see the light no longer!
Alas, I understand my plight too well.
Go, child ‐ your father is no longer living ‐ go call your brothers and your sisters here,
and call ill‐starred Alcména, who in vain was Zeusʹs wife, so that you all may learn
1150 the oracles I know before I perish.
Hyllus Your mother is not here, for she has gone to make her home in Tiryns by the sea.
Some of your children went to live with her,
while others, you will find, now dwell in Thebes.
We who remain here, father, will attempt
to help you as we can, and do your bidding.
Heracles
Then hear your task: the time has come for you
to show what breed of man is called my son.
My father prophesied to me of old
1160
that none who breathed would ever take my life,
but one already dead and gone to Hades.
And now this beast, the Centaur, as the god foretold, though dead, has torn my life away.
Now I will tell you of new oracles confirming those delivered long ago.
I wrote them in the forest of the Selli ‐ a mountain tribe that sleeps upon the ground ‐ where Zeusʹs multi‐tongued prophetic oak‐tree told me that in the time which has now come
1170 the many toils that I had long endured would reach an end. I thought I would then prosper ‐ and yet, it only meant that death was waiting. In death there is no toil for anyone.
Child, since these words are clearly coming true,
you must stand by me and support me now,
and not provoke my anger by delaying.
Help me by doing what I say, and learn
the best of laws, which is to serve your father.
Hyllus
Father, I dread the purpose which your words
1180 portend, but I will do as you think best.
Heracles
Then first of all place your right hand in mine.
Hyllus
Why do you urge this needless pledge upon me?
Heracles
Give me your hand, and do not disobey me.
Hyllus
Here: I cannot refuse you anything.
Heracles
Swear by the head of Zeus, who is my father...
Hyllus
To do what? Will you tell me this as well?
Heracles
To carry out the task which I command you.
Hyllus I swear it then ‐ and may Zeus be my witness!
Heracles
Pray, if you break your oath, that you may suffer.
Hyllus
1190
I shall not break my oath; yet I so pray.
Heracles
Now . . . do you know Zeusʹ sacred mountain Oeta?
Hyllus
Yes. I have often sacrificed upon it.
Heracles
That is the place where you must carry me with your own hands, and with what friends you choose.
There hew the wood of deeply‐rooted oaks and slash the trunks of wild male olive trees, placing my body on a pyre made from them; then take a brightly blazing torch of pine
and light the pyre. And do not moan and weep,
1200
for if you are my son you will perform this without a sigh or tear. If not, my curse, even when I am dead, will weigh upon you.
Hyllus
Father, think what your words are doing to me!
Heracles Obey! or else go find another father, and cease to call yourself my son hereafter.
Hyllus
Alas, what are you asking of me, father ‐ to murder you and take your blood upon me?
Heracles
No, but to be the healer of my illness
and sole physician of my agony.
Hyllus
1210
How can I heal you if I burn your body?
Heracles
If you fear that, at least perform the rest.
Hyllus
Yes. I will not refuse to take you there.
Heracles
And will you build the pyre, as I have told you?
Hyllus
Only if I must not lay hands upon it.
Otherwise I will carry out your wishes.
Heracles
Then that is all I ask. Now only add
to these great benefits one little favor.
Hyllus
However great it is, it shall be done. Heracles
You know the daughter of king Eurytus?
Hyllus
1220
Iole? Do I understand your meaning?
Heracles
Yes, child. This is the charge I lay upon you:
if you revere my memory when I
have died, remembering the oath you swore,
make her your wife, and do not scorn my wish.
No other man but you must ever marry
this woman who has lain with me in love;
no, you, my son, must take her for your own.
Consent! To disrespect me in small matters
destroys the greater favors you have done.
Hyllus
1230
Ah me! You are too sick to rouse my anger, but how could any bear to hear such thoughts?
Heracles
Your words show no intent to do my bidding.
Hyllus
How can I? She alone has killed my mother and brought you to the plight you are now in.
Who but a man possessed of vengeful spirits could want this? Father, let me die with you
rather than live with her whose sight I loathe.
Heracles
It seems you are unwilling to respect my dying wish! The curses of the gods
1240 will hound you if you disregard my words.
Hyllus
Oh, you will soon make clear how mad you are!
Heracles
Yes, for you have stirred up my sleeping plague.
Hyllus
Wretch that I am, I know not what to do.
Heracles
Will you not deign to listen to your father?
Hyllus
But need you teach me, father, to be godless?
Heracles
It is not godless to delight my heart.
Hyllus
Do you consider what you ask me just?
Heracles
I do; and call the gods to bear me witness.
Hyllus
Then I will not refuse you ‐ but I pray 1250
the gods may look upon your deed. I cannot
be blamed for doing what you tell me, father.
Heracles
At last you speak well! Now perform this favor
swiftly, my child, and place me on the pyre
before the stinging spasm comes again.
Make haste and lift me. Now I feel release from troubles, for my final end is here.
Hyllus
Nothing prevents fulfillment of these deeds,
since you command it and compel us, father.
Heracles
O my stalwart spirit, before you arouse
1260
this madness again, come, give me a bridle
of steel to fasten my lips like stones;
and hold back your cries, for the deed forced upon you brings joy to my sorrowing heart.
Hyllus
My followers, lift him up now, and grant me your full forgiveness for what I must do.
But mark how the distant insensitive gods have permitted these things to occur.
They bring forth children, they call themselves parents, and yet they can look on this anguish and pain.
1270
There is none who knows what the future may hold;
but the present is hard for us who are here ‐ for the gods it is shameful ‐ and for him who must bear the weight of destruction this fate is cruelest of all.
Maidens, you must not stay by the palace, where you but lately have seen dreadful deaths with many sorrows unheard of before ‐ and none of these things without Zeus.