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 Euboea's 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 Eurytus's city

he chose them as the gods' 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 Eurytus's 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 man's 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 husband's 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 lord's 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 girl's sake only

did Heracles slay Eurytus and conquer

Oechalia's high towers. Love alone,

of all the gods, enticed him into battle,

and not his irksome toil for Omphale

in Lydia, or Iphitus's 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 - Oeneus's daughter,

Heracles' 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, "dishonest"? 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 Eurytus' 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 one's 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 God's 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 Oeta's 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 father's 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 Aphrodite's 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 bull's 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 -

Zeus's 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 bull's 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 woman's 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 Zeus's son immediately turned round

and shot a feathered arrow whizzing through

his breast into his lungs. As he lay dying

the beast said, "Daughter 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."

         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 Oeta's mountain, and you

of the innermost reach of Malis's gulf,

by the shore of the golden-arrowed goddess,

there where the Greeks hold famous council

near Thermopylae's 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, Zeus's 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 Bacchus' 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 Nessus' 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

Men's 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 father's 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 Eurytus's 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 snake's, 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

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and frequent cries of lamentation tired him -

cursing the ill-matched marriage he had made

with you at Oeneus' wedding ceremony,

where he had mated with his life's 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:

"Oh 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

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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."

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!

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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 mother's name bring dignity

to her, whose deeds are nothing like a mother's?

Good riddance to her! May she find such pleasures

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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

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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 hydra's dreadful grasp,

he feels the vengeful torments, the stinging pangs,

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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 Heracles' 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.

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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 Oechalia's heights

by virtue of warlike prowess.

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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

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comes from the house: she means to tell us something.

[Enter Nurse]

v