HECUBA.
* * * *
PERSONS REPRESENTED.
GHOST OF POLYDORE.
HECUBA.
CHORUS OF FEMALE CAPTIVES.
POLYXENA.
ULYSSES.
TALTHYBIUS.
FEMALE ATTENDANT.
AGAMEMNON.
POLYMESTOR AND HIS CHILDREN.
The Scene lies before the Grecian tents, on the coast of the Thracian
Chersonese.
* * * * *
THE ARGUMENT.
* * * *
After the capture of Troy, the Greeks put into the Chersonese over against
Troas, But Achilles, having appeared by night, demanded one of the
daughters of Priam to be slain. The Greeks therefore, in honor to their
hero, tore Polyxena from Hecuba, and offered her up in sacrifice.
Polymestor moreover, the king of the Thracians, murdered Polydore, a son of
Priam's. Now Polymestor had received him from the hands of Priam as a
charge to take care of, together with some money. But when the city was
taken, wishing to seize upon his wealth, he determined to dispatch him, and
disregarded the ill-fated friendship that subsisted between them; but his
body being cast out into the sea, the wave threw him up on the shore before
the tents of the captive women. Hecuba, on seeing the corse, recognized it;
and having imparted her design to Agamemnon, sent for Polymestor to come to
her with his sons, concealing what had happened, under pretense that she
might discover to him some treasures hidden in Ilium. But on his arrival
she slew his sons, and put out his eyes; but pleading her cause before the
Greeks, she gained it over her accuser (Polymestor). For it was decided
that she did not begin the cruelty, but only avenged herself on him who did
begin it.
* * * * *
HECUBA.
* * * *
GHOST OF POLYDORE.
I am present, having left the secret dwellings of the dead and the gates of
darkness, where Pluto has his abode apart from the other Gods, Polydore the
son of Hecuba the daughter of Cisseus,[1] and Priam my sire, who when the
danger of falling by the spear of Greece was threatening the city of the
Phrygians, in fear, privately sent me from the Trojan land to the house of
Polymestor, his Thracian friend, who cultivates the most fruitful soil of
the Chersonese, ruling a warlike people with his spear.[2] But my father
sends privately with me a large quantity of gold, in order that, if at any
time the walls of Troy should fall, there might not be a lack of sustenance
for his surviving children. But I was the youngest of the sons of Priam; on
which account also he sent me privately from the land, for I was able
neither to bear arms nor the spear with my youthful arm. As long then
indeed as the landmarks of the country remained erect, and the towers of
Troy were unshaken, and Hector my brother prevailed with his spear, I
miserable increased vigorously as some young branch, by the nurture I
received at the hands of the Thracian, my father's friend. But after that
both Troy and the life of Hector were put an end to, and my father's
mansions razed to the ground, and himself falls at the altar built by the
God, slain by the blood-polluted son of Achilles, the friend of my father
slays me, wretched man, for the sake of my gold, and having slain me threw
me into the surf of the sea, that he might possess the gold himself in his
palace. But I am exposed on the shore, at another time on the ocean's
surge, borne about by many ebbings and flowings of the waves, unwept,
unburied; but at present I am hastening on my dear mother's account, having
left my body, borne aloft this day already the third,[3] for so long has my
wretched mother been present in this territory of the Chersonese from Troy.
But all the Grecians, holding their ships at anchor, are sitting quiet on
the shores of this land of Thrace. For Achilles the son of Peleus,
appearing above his tomb, stayed all the army of the Grecians as they were
directing homeward their sea dipped oars; and asks to receive my sister
Polyxena as a dear victim, and a tribute of honor to his tomb. And this he
will obtain, nor will he be without this gift from his friends; and fate
this day leads forth my sister to death. But my mother will see the two
corses of her two children, both mine and the unhappy virgin's; for I shall
appear on a breaker before the feet of a female slave, that I wretched may
obtain sepulture; for I have successfully entreated those who have power
beneath to find a tomb, and to fall into my mother's hands. As much then as
I wish to have shall be mine; but I will withdraw myself out of the way of
the aged Hecuba, for she is advancing her step beyond the tent of
Agamemnon, dreading my phantom. Alas! O my mother, who, from kingly
palaces, hast beheld the day of slavery, how unfortunate art thou now, in
the degree that thou wert once fortunate! but some one of the Gods
counterpoising your state, destroys you on account of your ancient
prosperity.
HECUBA. CHORUS.
HEC. Lead onward, ye Trojan dames, the old woman before the tent; lead
onward, raising up one now your fellow-slave, but once your queen; take me,
bear me, conduct me, support my body, holding my aged hand; and I, leaning
on the bending staff of my hand,[4] will hasten to put forward the slow
motion of my joints. O lightning of Jove! O thou gloomy night! why, I pray,
am I thus disquieted in the night with terrors, with phantoms? O thou
venerable Earth, the mother of black-winged dreams, I renounce the nightly
vision, which regarding my son who is preserved in Thrace, and regarding
Polyxena my dear daughter, in my dreams have I beheld, a fearful sight, I
have learned, I have understood. Gods of this land, preserve my son, who,
my only son, and, [as it were,] the anchor of my house, inhabits the snowy
Thrace under the protection of his father's friend. Some strange event will
take place, some strain will come mournful to the mournful. Never did my
mind so incessantly shudder and tremble. Where, I pray, ye Trojan dames,
can I behold the divine spirit of Helenus, or Cassandra, that they may
interpret my dreams? For I beheld a dappled hind torn by the blood-stained
fang of the wolf, forcibly dragged from my bosom, a miserable sight. And
dreadful this vision also; the spectre of Achilles came above the summit of
his tomb, and demanded as a tribute of honor one of the wretched Trojan
women. From my daughter then, from my daughter avert this fate, ye Gods, I
implore you.
CHOR. Hecuba, with haste to thee I flew, leaving the tents of our lords,
where I was allotted and ordained a slave, driven from the city of Troy,
led captive of the Greeks by the point of the spear, not to alleviate aught
of your sufferings, but bringing a heavy weight of tidings, and to thee, O
lady, a herald of woe. For it is said that it has been decreed in the full
council of the Greeks to make thy daughter a sacrifice to Achilles: for you
know how that having ascended o'er his tomb, he appeared in his golden arms
and restrained the fleet ships, as they were setting their sails with their
halliards, exclaiming in these words; "Where speed ye, Grecians, leaving my
tomb unhonored!" Then the waves of great contention clashed together, and a
divided opinion went forth through the army of the Greeks; to some it
appeared advisable to give a victim to his tomb, and to others it appeared
not. But Agamemnon was studious to advance your good, cherishing the love
of the infuriated prophetess. But the two sons of Theseus, scions of
Athens, were the proposers of different arguments, but in this one opinion
they coincided, to crown the tomb of Achilles with fresh blood; and
declared they would never prefer the bed of Cassandra before the spear of
Achilles. And the strength of the arguments urged on either side was in a
manner equal, till that subtle adviser, that babbling knave,[5] honeyed in
speech, pleasing to the populace, that son of Laertes, persuades the army,
not to reject the suit of the noblest of all the Greeks on account of a
captive victim, and not to put it in the power of any of the dead standing
near Proserpine to say that the Grecians departed from the plains of Troy
ungrateful to the heroes who died for the state of Greece. And Ulysses will
come only not now, to tear your child from your bosom, and to take her from
your aged arms. But go to the temples, speed to the altars, sit a suppliant
at the knees of Agamemnon, invoke the Gods, both those of heaven, and those
under the earth; for either thy prayers will prevent thy being deprived of
thy wretched daughter, or thou must behold the virgin falling before the
tomb, dyed in blood gushing forth in a dark stream from her neck adorned
with gold.[6]
HEC. Alas! wretched me! what shall I exclaim? what shriek shall I utter?
what lamentation? miserable through miserable age, and slavery not to be
endured, insupportable. Alas! who is there to defend me? what offspring,
what city! The old man is gone. My children are gone. Whither shall I turn
me? and whither shall I go? Where is any god or deity to succor me? O
Trojan dames, bearers of evil tidings, bearers of woe, you have destroyed
me utterly, you have destroyed me. Life in the light is no more desirable!
O wretched foot, lead, lead an aged woman to this tent! O child, daughter
of the most afflicted mother, come forth, come forth from the tent, hear
thy mother's voice, that thou mayest know what a report I hear that
concerns thy life.
HECUBA, POLYXENA, CHORUS.
POLYX. O mother, why dost thou call! proclaiming what new affliction hast
thou frighted me from the tent, as some bird from its nest, with this
alarm?
HEC. Alas! my child!
POLYX. Why address me in words of ill omen? This is an evil prelude.
HEC. Alas! for thy life.
POLYX. Speak, conceal it no longer from me. I fear, I fear, my mother; why
I pray dost thou groan?
HEC. O child, child of an unhappy mother!
POLYX. Why sayest thou this?
HEC. My child, the common decree of the Greeks unites to slay thee at the
tomb of the son of Peleus.
POLYX. Alas, my mother! how are you relating unenviable ills? Tell me, tell
me, my mother.
HEC. I declare, my child, the ill-omened report, they bring word that a
decree has passed by the vote of the Greeks regarding thy life.
POLYX. O thou that hast borne affliction! O thou wretched on every side! O
mother unhappy in your life, what most hated and most unutterable calamity
has some destiny again sent against thee! This child is no longer thine; no
longer indeed shall I miserable share slavery with miserable age. For as a
mountain whelp or heifer shalt thou wretched behold me wretched torn from
thine arms, and sent down beneath the darkness of the earth a victim to
Pluto, where I shall lie bound in misery with the dead. But it is for thee
indeed, my afflicted mother, that I lament in these mournful strains, but
for my life, my wrongs, my fate, I mourn not; but death, a better lot, has
befallen me.
CHOR. But see Ulysses advances with hasty step, to declare to thee, Hecuba,
some new determination.
ULYSSES, HECUBA, POLYXENA, CHORUS.
ULYSS. Lady, I imagine that you are acquainted with the decree of the army,
and the vote which has prevailed; nevertheless, I will declare it. It has
been decreed by the Greeks to offer on the lofty mound of Achilles's tomb
thy daughter Polyxena. But they order me to conduct and convey the damsel;
but the son of Achilles is appointed to be the priest, and to preside over
the rites. Do you know then what to do? Be not dragged away by violence,
nor enter into a contest of strength with me, but acknowledge superior
force and the presence of thy ills; it is wise to have proper sentiments
even in adversity.
HEC. Alas! alas! the great trial is at hand, as it seems, of lamentations
full, nor without tears; for I have not died in the state in which I ought
to have died, nor hath Jove destroyed me, but preserves me, that I wretched
may behold other misfortunes greater than [past] misfortunes. But if it be
allowed slaves to put questions to the free, not offensive nor grating to
the feelings, it will be your part to be questioned, and ours who are
asking to attend.
ULYSS. You have permission, ask freely, I grudge not the time.
HEC. Dost thou remember when thou camest a spy on Troy, disfigured by a
vile dress, and from thine eyes drops caused by the fear of death bedewed
thy beard?
ULYSS. I remember well; for it made no slight impression on my heart.
HEC. But Helen knew thee, and told me alone.
ULYSS. I remember the great danger I encountered.
HEC. And didst thou embrace my knees in thy humility?
ULYSS. So that my hand was numbered[7] through fear on thy garments.
HEC. What then didst thou say, being then my slave?
ULYSS. Many arguments that I invented to save me from death.
HEC. Did I preserve thee then, and conduct thee safe from the land?
ULYSS. Yes, so that I now behold the light of the sun.
HEC. Art thou not then convicted of baseness by this conduct, who hast
received benefits from me such as thou acknowledgest thou hast, and doest
us no good in return, but evil, as far as in thee lies? Thankless is your
race, as many of you as court honor from oratory before the populace; be ye
not known to me, who care not to injure your friends, provided you say what
is gratifying to the people. But plotting what dark design have they
determined upon a decree of death against my child? Did fate impel them to
offer human sacrifices at the tomb, where it were rather right to sacrifice
cattle? Or does Achilles, desirous of devoting in his turn to death those
that wrought his death, with a color of justice meditate her destruction?
But she has done him no ill: he should demand Helen as a sacrifice on his
tomb; for she destroyed him, and brought him to Troy. But if some captive
selected from the rest, and excelling in beauty, ought to die, this is not
ours. For the daughter of Tyndarus is most preeminent in beauty, and has
been found to be no less injurious than us. On the score of justice then I
urge this argument; but with respect to what you ought to repay at my
demand, hear: thou hast touched my hand, as thou ownest, and this aged
cheek also, falling at my knees. Thy hand and knees I in return grasp, and
re-demand the favor I granted you then, and beseech you, do not tear my
child from my arms, nor kill her; enough have died already. In her I
rejoice, and forget my misfortunes; she serves as my consolation in the
stead of many things, she is my city, my nurse, my staff, the guide of my
way. It becomes not those who have power to exercise their power in things
wherein they ought not, nor should the fortunate imagine their fortune will
last forever. For I too have had my time of prosperity, but now have I
ceased to be: one day wrenched from me all my happiness. But by thy beard
which I supplicate, reverence me, pity me; go to the Grecian army, and
remind them that it is a shameful thing to slay women whom ye have once
spared, and that too dragging them from the altar. But show mercy. But the
laws of blood among you are laid down alike for the free and the slave. But
your worth will carry with it persuasion, although your arguments be bad;
for the same words from those of little character, have not the same force
as when they proceed from those of high reputation.
CHOR. There is no nature of man so obdurate, which on hearing thy groans,
and thy long plaints of misery, would not let fall the tear.
ULYSS. Hecuba, be advised, nor through passion deem him thine enemy who
gives thee good advice. I indeed am ready to preserve thy person through
the means of which I was fortunate; and I say no other. But what I declared
before all I will not deny, that, Troy being captured, we should give thy
daughter as a victim to the noblest man of the army, who demands her; for
in this many cities fail, when any man who is brave and zealous receives no
more honor than those who are less valiant. But Achilles, O lady, is worthy
of honor from us, a man who died most gloriously in behalf of the Grecian
country. Were not then this disgraceful, if when living we treat him as a
friend, but after he is gone we no longer treat him so? Well! what then
will any one say, if there again should be an assembling of the army, and a
contest with the enemy: "Shall we fight or preserve our lives, seeing that
he who falls lies unhonored?" But for me at least, living from day to day,
although I have but little, that little is sufficient; but I would wish
that my monument should be beheld crowned with honor, for the gratification
is for a long time. But if thou sayest thou sufferest affliction, hear this
in return from me. There are with us aged matrons, and hoary sires, not
less wretched than thou art, and brides bereft of the noblest husbands,
whose ashes this land of Troy conceals. Endure this. But we, if we
injudiciously determine to honor the brave man, shall incur the charge of
folly. But you barbarians neither consider your friends as friends, nor do
you hold up to admiration those who have died honorably; thus shall Greece
be prosperous, but you shall experience fortune corresponding to your
counsels.
CHOR. Alas! alas! how wretched is the state of slavery, and to endure
indignities compelled by superior force! (Note [B].)
HEC. O daughter, my words respecting thy death are vanished in the air, set
forth in vain; but thou, if thou hast greater powers [of persuasion] than
thy mother, use all thy influence, uttering every note as the throat of the
nightingale, that thou mayest not be deprived of life. But fall before the
knees of Ulysses in all the eloquence of grief, and persuade him; thou hast
a pretext, for he also hath children; so that he may be inclined to pity
thy fortune.
POLYX. I see, Ulysses, that thou art hiding thy hand beneath thy robe, and
turnest thy face away, that I may not touch thy beard. Be not afraid; thou
hast avoided my suppliant Jove; for I will follow thee both on account of
fate, and even wishing to die; but if I were not willing, I should appear
base, and too fond of life. For wherefore should I live, whose father was
monarch of all the Trojans; this my dawn of life. Then was I nurtured under
fair hope, a bride for princes, having no small competition for my hand, to
whose palace and hearth I should come. But I, wretched now, was mistress
among the Trojan women, and conspicuous in the train of virgins, equal to
goddesses, death only excepted. But now I am a slave; first of all the very
name, not being familiar, persuades me to love death. Then perhaps I might
meet with masters cruel in disposition, who will buy me for silver, the
sister both of Hector and many other [heroes.] And imposing the task of
making bread in his palace, will compel me, passing the day in misery, both
to sweep the house, and stand at the loom. And some slave somewhere
purchased will defile my bed, before wooed by princes. This never shall be.
I will quit this light from mine eyes free, offering my body to Pluto. Lead
on then, Ulysses, conduct me to death; for I see neither confidence of
hope, nor of expectation, present to me that I can ever enjoy good fortune.
But do thou, my mother, in no wise hinder me by your words or by your
actions; but assent to my death before I meet with indignities unsuited to
my rank. For one who has not been accustomed to taste misfortunes bears
indeed, but grieves, to put his neck under the yoke. But he would be far
more blessed in death than in life; for to live otherwise than honorably is
a great burden.
CHOR. It is a great and distinguishing feature among men to be born of
generous parents, and the name of nobility of birth among the illustrious,
proceeds from great to greater still.
HEC. You have spoken honorably, my daughter, but in that honorable dwells
grief. But if the son of Peleus must be gratified, and you must escape
blame, Ulysses, kill not her; but leading me to the pyre of Achilles,
strike me, spare me not; I brought forth Paris, who destroyed the son of
Thetis, having pierced him with his arrows.
ULYSS. The phantom of Achilles did not demand that thou, O aged lady, but
that thy daughter here should die.
HEC. Do thou then at least slay me with my daughter, and there will be
twice the libation of blood for the earth, and the dead who makes this
request.
ULYSS. Thy daughter's death suffices; one must not be heaped on another;
would that we required not even this one.
HEC. There is a strong necessity for me to die with my daughter.
ULYSS. How so? for I am not aware of any master that I have.
HEC. As the ivy the oak, so will I clasp her.
ULYSS. Not so; if you will take the advice of your superiors in knowledge.
HEC. Never will I willingly quit my child here.
ULYSS. Nor will I leave this place without the virgin.
POLYX. Mother, be persuaded; and thou, son of Laertes, be gentle to a
parent with reason moved to anger. But thou, O wretched mother, contend not
with conquerors. Dost thou wish to fall on the earth and to wound thy aged
flesh dragged by violence, and to suffer the indignity of being torn by a
youthful arm? which things you will suffer. Do not, I pray thee, for it is
not seemly. But, my dear mother, give me thy beloved hand, and grant me to
join cheek to cheek; since never hereafter, but now for the last time shall
I behold the rays of the sun and his bright orb. Receive my last address, O
mother! O thou that bearedst me, I am going below.
HEC. And I, O daughter, shall be a slave in the light of day.
POLYX. Without the bridegroom, without the bridal song, which I ought to
have obtained.
HEC. Mournful thou, my child; but I am a wretched woman.
POLYX. There shall I lie in darkness far from thee.
HEC. Alas me, what shall I do? where end my life?
POLYX. I shall die a slave, born of a free father.
HEC. But I bereft indeed of fifty children.
POLYX. What message shall I bear to Hector, and to thy aged husband?
HEC. Tell them that I am most miserable of all women.
POLYX. O ye breasts that tenderly nursed me.
HEC. O daughter of an untimely and unhappy fate.
POLYX. Farewell, O mother, farewell Cassandra too.
HEC. Others farewell, but this is not for thy mother.
POLYX. Farewell, my brother Polydore, among the warlike Thracians.
HEC. If he lives at least: but I doubt, so unfortunate am I in every thing.
POLTX. He lives, and shall close thy dying eye.
HEC. I am dead, before my death, beneath my ills.
POLYX. Lead me, Ulysses, having covered my face with a veil, since, before
I am sacrificed indeed, I am melted in heart at my mother's plaints, her
also I melt by my lamentations. O light, for yet it is allowed me to
express thy name, but I have no share in thee, except during the time that
I am going between the sword and the pyre of Achilles.
HEC. Ah me! I faint; and my limbs fail me.--O daughter, touch thy mother,
stretch forth thy hand--give it me--leave me not childless--I am lost, my
friends. Would that I might see the Spartan Helen, the sister of the twin
sons of Jove, thus, for through her bright eyes that most vile woman
destroyed the happy Troy.
CHOR. Gale, gale of the sea,[8] which waftest the swift barks bounding
through the waves through the surge of the ocean, whither wilt thou bear me
hapless? To whose mansion shall I come, a purchased slave? Or to the port
of the Doric or Phthian shore, where they report that Apidanus, the most
beautiful father of floods, enriches the plains? or wilt thou bear me
hapless urged by the maritime oar, passing a life of misery in my
prison-house, to that island[9] where both the first-born palm tree and the
laurel shot forth their hallowed branches to their beloved Latona, emblem
of the divine parturition? And with the Delian nymphs shall I celebrate in
song the golden chaplet and bow of Diana? Or, in the Athenian city, shall I
upon the saffron robe harness the steeds to the car of Minerva splendid in
her chariot, representing them in embroidery upon the splendid looms of
brilliant threads, or the race of Titans, which Jove the son of Saturn
sends to eternal rest with his flaming lightning? Alas, my children! Alas,
my ancestors, and my paternal land, which is overthrown, buried in smoke,
captured by the Argive sword! but I indeed am[10] a slave in a foreign
country, having left Asia the slave of Europe, having changed my bridal
chamber for the grave.
TALTHYBIUS, HECUBA, CHORUS.
TAL. Tell me, ye Trojan dames, where can I find Hecuba, late the queen of
Troy?
CHOR. Not far from thee, O Talthybius, she is lying stretched on the
ground, muffled in her robes.
TAL. O Jupiter, what shall I say? Shall I say that thou beholdest mortals?
or that they have to no end or purpose entertained false notions, who
suppose the existence of a race of Deities, and that fortune has the
sovereign control over men? Was not this the queen of the opulent
Phrygians? was not this the wife of the all-blest Priam? And now all her
city is overthrown by the spear, but she a captive, aged, childless, lies
on the ground defiling her ill-fated head with the dust. Alas! alas! I too
am old, but rather may death be my portion before I am involved in any such
debasing fortune; stand up, oh unhappy, raise thy side, and lift up thy
hoary head.
HEC. Let me alone: who art thou that sufferest not my body to rest? why
dost thou, whoever thou art, disturb me from my sadness?
TAL. I am here, Talthybius, the herald of the Greeks, Agamemnon having sent
me for thee, O lady.
HEC. Hast thou come then, thou dearest of men, it having been decreed by
the Greeks to slay me too upon the tomb? Thou wouldest bring dear news
indeed. Then haste we, let us speed with all our might: lead on, old man.
TAL. I am here and come to thee, O lady, that thou mayest entomb thy dead
daughter. Both the two sons of Atreus and the Grecian host send me.
HEC. Alas! what wilt thou say? Art thou not come for me as doomed to death,
but to bring this cruel message? Thou art dead, my child, torn from thy
mother; and I am childless as far as regards thee; oh! wretch that I am.
But how did ye slay her? was it with becoming reverence? Or did ye proceed
in your butchery as with an enemy, O old man? Tell me, though you will
relate no pleasing tale.
TAL. Twice, O lady, thou desirest me to indulge in tears through pity for
thy daughter; for both now while relating the mournful circumstance shall I
bedew this eye, as did I then at the tomb when she perished. The whole host
of the Grecian army was present before the tomb, at the sacrifice of thy
daughter. But the son of Achilles taking Polyxena by the hand, placed her
on the summit of the mound; but I stood near him: and there followed a
chosen band of illustrious youths in readiness to restrain with their hands
thy daughter's struggles; then the son of Achilles took a full-crowned
goblet of entire gold, and poured forth libations to his deceased father;
and makes signal to me to proclaim silence through all the Grecian host.
And I standing forth in the midst, thus spoke: "Be silent, O ye Greeks, let
all the people remain silent; silence, be still:" and I made the people
perfectly still. But he said, "O son of Peleus, O my father, accept these
libations which have the power of soothing, and which speed the dead on
their way; and come, that thou mayest drink the pure purple blood of this
virgin, which both the army and myself offer unto thee; but be propitious
to us, and grant us to weigh anchor, and to loose the cables of our ships,
and to return each to his country, having met with a prosperous return from
Troy." Thus much he said, and all the army joined in the prayer. Then
taking by the hilt his sword decked with gold, he drew it from its
scabbard, and made signs to the chosen youths of the Greeks to hold the
virgin. But she, when she perceived it,[11] uttered this speech: "O
Argives, ye that destroyed my city, I die willingly; let none touch my
body; for I will offer my neck to the sword with a good heart. But, by the
Gods, let me go free while ye kill me, that I may die free, for to be
classed as a slave among the dead, when a queen, is what I am ashamed of."
But the people murmured assent, and king Agamemnon ordered the young men to
quit the virgin; [but they, soon as they heard the last words of him who
had the seat of chief authority among them, let go their hold,] and she, on
hearing this speech of her lords, took her robe, and rent it, beginning
from the top of her shoulder down to her waist: and showed her breasts and
bosom beauteous, as a statue's, and bending her knee on the ground, spoke
words the most piteous ever heard, "Lo! strike, if this bosom thou
desirest, O youth; or wouldest thou rather under the neck, here is this
throat prepared." But he at once resolved and unresolved through pity of
the virgin, cuts with the sword the passage of her breath; and fountains of
blood burst forth. But she, e'en in death, showed much care to fall
decently, and to veil from the eyes of men what ought to be concealed. But
after that she breathed forth her spirit under the fatal blow, not one of
the Greeks exercised the same offices; but some scattered leaves from their
hands on the dead; some heap the funeral pile, bringing whole trunks of
pines: but he that would not bring, heard rebukes of this sort from him
that was thus employed: "Standest thou idle, thou man of most mean spirit?
Hast in thy hand no robe, no ornament for the maiden? Hast thou naught to
give to her so exceeding brave in heart and most noble in soul?" These
things I tell thee of the death of thy daughter, but I behold thee at once
the most happy, at once the most unhappy of all women in thine offspring.
CHOR. Dreadful calamities have risen fierce against the house of Priam;
such the hard fate of the Gods.
HEC. O daughter! which of my ills I shall first attend to, amidst such a
multitude, I know not: for if I touch on any, another does not suffer me;
and thence again some fresh grief draws me aside, succeeding miseries upon
miseries. And now I can not obliterate from my mind thy sufferings, so as
not to bewail them: but excess of grief hast thou taken away, having been
reported to me as noble. Is it then no paradox, if land indeed naturally
bad, when blest with a favorable season from heaven, bears well the ear;
but good land, robbed of the advantages it ought to have, brings forth bad
fruit: but ever among men, the bad by nature is nothing else but bad; the
good always good, nor under misfortune does he degenerate from his nature,
but is the same good man? Is it, that the parents cause this difference, or
the education? The being brought up nobly hath indeed in it the knowledge
and principles of goodness; but if one is acquainted well with this, he
knows what is vicious, having already learned it by the rule of virtue. And
this indeed has my mind been ejaculating in vain. But do thou go, and
signify these things to the Greeks, that no one be suffered to touch my
daughter, but bid them keep off the multitude. In so vast an army the
rabble are riotous, and the sailors' uncontrolled insolence is fiercer than
fire; and he is evil, who does not evil. But do thou, my old attendant,
taking an urn, fill it with sea water, and bring it hither, that I may wash
my girl in her last bath, the bride no bride now, and the virgin no longer
a virgin, wash her, and lay her out; according to her merits--whence can I?
This I can not; but as I can, I will, for what can I do! And collecting
ornaments from among the captured women, who dwell beside me in these
tents, if any one, unobserved by our new lords, has by her any stolen
memorial of her home. O state of my house, O mansions once happy! O Priam,
of vast wealth possessed, and supremely blest in thine offspring, and I
too, this aged woman, the mother of such children! How have we come to
nothing, bereft of our former grandeur! And yet still forsooth we are
elated, one of us in his gorgeous palaces; another, when honored among his
citizens. These are nothing. In vain the counsels of the mind, and the
tongue's boast. He is most blest, to whom from day to day no evil happens.
CHORUS.
Against me was it fated that calamity, against me was it fated that woe
should spring, when Paris first hewed the pine in Ida's forest, preparing
to cut his way over the ocean surge to the bed of Helen, the fairest that
the sun's golden beams shine upon. For toils, and fate more stern than
toils, close us round: and from the folly of one came a public calamity
fatal to the land of Simois, and woes springing from other woes: and when
the dispute was decided, which the shepherd decided between the three
daughters of the blessed Gods on Ida's top, for war, and slaughter, and the
desolation of my palaces. And many a Spartan virgin at her home on the
banks of the fair-flowing Eurotas sighs while bathed in tears: and many an
aged matron strikes her hand against her hoary head, for her children who
have perished, and tears her cheek making her nails all blood-stained with
her wounds.
FEMALE ATTENDANT, CHORUS, HECUBA.
ATT. O attendants, where, I pray, is the all-wretched Hecuba, who surpasses
the whole race of man and woman kind in calamities? no one shall wrest from
her the crown.
CHOR. But what dost thou want, O wretch, in thy words of ill omen? for thy
messages of woe never rest.
ATT. I bring this grief to Hecuba; but in calamity 'tis no easy thing for
men to speak words of good import.
CHOR. And see, she is coming out of the house, and appears in the right
time for thy words.
ATT. O all-wretched mistress, and yet still more wretched than I can
express in words, thou art undone, and no longer beholdest the light,
childless, husbandless, cityless, entirely destroyed.
HEC. Thou has said nothing new, but hast reproached me who already know it:
but why dost thou bring this corse of my Polyxena, whose sepulture was
reported to me as in a state of active progress through the labors of all
the Grecians?
ATT. She nothing knows, but, woe's me! laments Polyxena, nor does she
apprehend her new misfortunes.
HEC. O wretched me! dost bring hither the body of the frantic and inspired
Cassandra?
ATT. She whom thou mentionedst, lives; but thou dost not weep for him who
is dead; but behold this corse cast naked [on the shore,] and look if it
will appear to thee a wonder, and what thou little expectest.
HEC. Alas me! I do indeed see my son Polydore a corse, whom (I fondly
hoped) the man of Thrace was preserving in his palace. Now am I lost
indeed, I no longer exist. Oh my child, my child! Alas! I begin the Bacchic
strain, having lately learned my woes from my evil genius.
ATT. Thou knowest then the calamity of thy son, O most unfortunate.
HEC. I see incredible evils, still fresh, still fresh: and my immeasurable
woes follow one upon the other. No longer will a day without a tear,
without a groan, have part with me.
CHOR. Dreadful, oh! dreadful are the miseries that we endure!
HEC. O child, child of a wretched mother, by what fate art thou dead, by
what hap liest thou here? by the hand of what man?
ATT. I know not: on the wave-washed shore I found him.
HEC. Cast up from the sea, or fallen by the blood-stained spear? (Note
[C].)
ATT. The ocean's billow cast him up from the deep on the smooth sand.
HEC. Woe is me! Now understand I the dream, the vision of mine eyes; the
black-winged phantom has not flitted by me in vain, which I saw concerning
thee, my child, as being no longer in the light of day.
CHOR. But who slew him? canst thou, O skilled in dreams, declare him?
HEC. My friend, my friend, who curbs the steed in Thrace, where his aged
father placed him for concealment.
CHOR. Ah me! what wilt thou say? Was it to possess his gold that he slew
him!
HEC. Unutterable deeds, unworthy of a name, surpassing miracles,
unhallowed, insufferable! Where are the laws of hospitality? O most accurst
of men, how didst thou mar that skin, how sever with the cruel sword the
poor limbs of this boy, nor didst feel pity?
CHOR. O hapless woman, how has the deity made thee by far the most wretched
of mortals, whoever he be that presses heavy on thee! But, my friends, let
us henceforward be silent, for I see our lord Agamemnon advancing.
AGAMEMNON, CHORUS, HECUBA.
AGA. Why, Hecuba, delayest thou to come, and bury thy girl in her tomb,
agreeably to what Talthybius told me, that no one of the Argives should be
suffered to touch thy daughter. For our part we leave her alone, and touch
her not; but thou art slow, whereat I am astonished. I am come therefore to
fetch thee, for every thing there has been well and duly performed, if
aught of well there be in this. Ah! what corse is this I see before the
tent? some Trojan's too? for that it is no Grecian's, the robes that vest
his limbs inform me.
HEC. (aside) Thou ill-starr'd wretch! myself I mean, when I say "thou." O
Hecuba, what shall I do? Shall I fall at the knees of Agamemnon here, or
bear my ills in silence?
AGA. Why dost lament turning thy back upon me, and sayest not what has
happened? Who is this?
HEC. (aside) But should he, thinking me a slave, an enemy, spurn me from
his knees, I should be adding to my present sufferings.
AGA. No prophet I, so as to trace, unless by hearing, the path of thy
counsels.
HEC. (aside) Am I not rather then putting an evil construction on this
man's thoughts, whereas he has no evil intention toward me?
AGA. If thou art willing that I should nothing of this affair, thou art of
a mind with me, for neither do I wish to hear.
HEC. (aside) I can not without him take vengeance for my children. Why do
I thus hesitate? I must be bold, whether I succeed, or fail. Agamemnon, by
these knees, and by thy beard I implore thee, and by thy blessed hand--
AGA. What thy request? Is it to pass thy life in freedom? for this is easy
for thee to obtain.
HEC. Not this indeed; but so that I avenge myself on the bad, I am willing
to pass my whole life in slavery.
AGA. And for what assistance dost thou call on me?
HEC. In none of those things which thou imaginest, O king. Seest thou this
corse, o'er which I drop the tear?
AGA. I see it; thy meaning however I can not learn from this.
HEC. Him did I once bring forth, him bore I in my bosom.
AGA. Is this indeed one of thy children, O unhappy woman?
HEC. It is, but not of the sons of Priam who fell under the walls of Troy.
AGA. Didst thou then bear any other besides those, O lady?
HEC. In vain, as it appears, this whom you see.
AGA. But where did he chance to be, when the city fell?
HEC. His father sent him out of the country, dreading his death.
AGA. Whither, having removed him alone of his children then alive?
HEC. To this country, where he was found a corse.
AGA. To him who is king over this state, to Polymestor?
HEC. Hither was he sent, the guardian of gold, which proved most
destructive to him.
AGA. By whose hand then he is dead, and having met with what fate?
HEC. By whom else should he? The Thracian host slew him.
AGA. O wretch! was he so inflamed with the desire of obtaining the gold?
HEC. Even so, after he had heard of Troy's disasters.
AGA. And where didst thou find him, or who brought the body?
HEC. She, meeting with it on the sea-shore.
AGA. In quest of it, or occupied in some other employment?
HEC. She was going to bring from the sea wherewith to bathe Polyxena.
AGA. This friend then, as it seems, murdered him, and after that cast him
out.
HEC. To toss upon the waves thus gashing his body.
AGA. O thou unhappy from thy unmeasured ills!
HEC. I perish, no woe is left, O Agamemnon.
AGA. Alas! alas! What woman was ever so unfortunate?
HEC. There is none, except you reckon Misfortune herself. But for what
cause I fall at thy knees, now hear: if I appear to you to suffer these
ills justly, I would be reconciled to them; but if otherwise, be thou my
avenger on this man, this most impious of false friends; who revering
neither the Gods beneath[12] the earth, nor the Gods above, hath done this
most unholy deed, having often partaken of the same table with me, [and in
the list of hospitality the first of my friends; and having met with
whatever was due,[13] and having received a full consideration for his
services,[14]] slew him, and deigned not to give him a tomb, which he
might have given, although he purposed to slay him, but cast him forth at
the mercy of the waves. We indeed are slaves, and perhaps weak; but the
Gods are strong, and strong the law, which governs them; for by the law we
judge that there are Gods, and we live having justice and injustice
strictly defined; which if when referred to thee it be disregarded, and
they shall suffer no punishment who slay their guests, or dare to pollute
the hallowed statutes of the Gods, there is nothing equitable in the
dealings of men. Beholding these things then in a base and proper light,
reverence me; pity me, and, as the artist stands aside to view a picture,
do thou view my living portrait, and see what woes I am enduring. Once was
I a queen, but now I am thy slave; once was I blest in my children, but now
aged, and at the same time childless, cityless, destitute, the most
miserable of mortals. Alas me wretched! whither withdrawest from me thy
foot? It seems[15] I shall make no impression, wretch that I am. Why then
do we mortals toil after all other sciences, as a matter of duty, and dive
into them, but least of all strive to learn thoroughly Persuasion, the sole
mistress o'er the minds of men, giving a price for her knowledge, that at
some time we may have it in our power at once to persuade and obtain what
we wish?--How then can any one hereafter hope that he shall be fortunate?
So many children that I had, and now not one is left to me. But I am
perishing a captive in base servitude, and yet see the smoke there leaping
aloft from the city. And however this part of my argument may perchance be
vain, the bringing forward love; still nevertheless it shall be urged. My
daughter is wont to sleep by thy side, that prophetess, whom the Trojans
call Cassandra. Where wilt thou show that thy nights were nights of love, O
king, or will my daughter receive any recompense for her most fond
embraces, and I through her? [For from the secret shade, and from night's
joys, the greatest delight is wont to spring to mortals.] Now then attend.
Thou seest this corse? Him assisting, thou wilt assist one joined to thee
in affinity. One thing my speech wants yet. I would fain I had a voice in
my arms, and hands, and in my hair, and in my footsteps, or by the skill of
Dædalus, or some God, that each at once might hold thy knees, weeping, and
imploring in all the strains of eloquence. O my lord. O greatest light of
the Greeks, be persuaded; lend thy hand to avenge this aged woman, although
she is of no consequence, yet avenge her. For it belongs to a good man to
minister justice, and always and in every case to punish the bad.
CHOR. It is strange, how every thing happens to mortals, and laws determine
even the fates, making the greatest enemies friends, and enemies of those
who before were on good terms.
AGA. I, O Hecuba, have pity both on thee and thy son, thy misfortunes, and
thy suppliant touch, and I am willing in regard both to the Gods and to
justice, that this impious host should give thee full revenge, provided a
way could be found, that both you might be gratified, and I might in the
eyes of the army not seem to meditate this destruction against the king of
Thrace for Cassandra's sake. For there is a point in which apprehension
hath reached me. This man the army deems a friend, the dead an enemy; but
if he is dear to thee, this is a private feeling and does not affect the
army. Wherefore consider, that thou hast me willing to labor with thee, and
ready to assist thee, but backward, should I be murmured against among the
Greeks.
HEC. Alas! no mortal is there who is free. For either he is the slave of
money or of fortune; or the populace of the city or the dictates of the law
constrain him to adopt manners not accordant with his natural inclinations.
But since thou fearest, and payest too much regard to the multitude, I will
liberate thee from this fear. For consent with me, if I meditate vengeance
against the murderer of this youth, but do not act with me. But should any
tumult or offer of assistance arise from out of the Greeks, when the
Thracian feels the punishment he shall feel, suppress it, not appearing to
do it for my sake: but of the rest be confident: I will dispose all things
well.
AGA. How then? What wilt thou do? Wilt thou grasp the sword in thine aged
hand, and strike the barbarian? or with poison wilt thou work, or with what
assistance? What hand will conspire with thee? whence wilt thou procure
friends?
HEC. These tents inclose a host of Trojan dames.
AGA. Meanest thou the captives, the booty of the Greeks?
HEC. With these will I avenge me of my murderer.
AGA. And how shall the victory over men be to women?
HEC. Numbers are powerful, with stratagem invincible.
AGA. Powerful, I grant; I mistrust however the race of women.
HEC. And why? Did not women slay the sons of Ægyptus,[16] and utterly
extirpated the race of men from Lemnos?[17] But thus let it be. Give up
this discussion. But grant this woman to pass in safety through the army.
And do thou go to the Thracian host and tell him, "Hecuba, once queen of
Troy, sends for you on business of no less importance to yourself than to
her, and your sons likewise, since it is of consequence that your children
also should hear her words."--And do thou, O Agamemnon, as yet forbear to
raise the tomb over the newly-sacrificed Polyxena, that these two, the
brother and the sister, the divided care of their mother, may, when reduced
to ashes by one and the same flame, be interred side by side.
AGA. Thus shall it be. And yet, if the army could sail, I should not have
it in my power to grant thy request: but now, for the deity breathes not
prosperous gales, we must wait, watching for a calm voyage. But may things
turn out well some way or other: for this is a general principle among all,
both individuals in private and states, That the wicked man should feel
vengeance, but the good man enjoy prosperity.
CHORUS.
O thou, my country of Troy, no longer shall thou be called the city of the
invincible, such a cloud of Grecians envelops thee, with the spear, with
the spear having destroyed thee. And thou hast been shorn of thy crown of
turrets, and thou hast been discolored by the dismal blackness of smoke;
hapless city, no longer shall I tread my steps in thee.
In the midnight hour I perished, when after the feast sweet sleep is
scattered over the eyes. And my husband, from the song and cheerful
sacrifice retired, was sleeping peacefully in my bed, his spear on its peg,
no more dreaming to behold the naval host of the Greeks treading the
streets of Troy. But I was binding my braided hair with fillets fastened on
the top of mine head, looking into the round polished surface of the golden
mirror, that I might get into my bed prepared for me. On a sudden a
tumultuous cry penetrated the city; and this shout of exhortation was heard
in the streets of Troy, "When indeed, ye sons of Grecians, when, if not
now, will ye return to your homes having overthrown the proud citadel of
Ilium!" And having left my dear bed, in a single robe, like a Spartan
virgin, flying for aid to the venerable shrine of Diana, I hapless fled in
vain. And I am dragged, after having seen my husband slain, to the ocean
waves; and casting a distant look back upon my city, after the vessel had
begun her way in her return to Greece, and divided me from the land of
Troy, I wretched fainted through anguish. And consigning to curses Helen,
the sister of the Twin Brothers, and the Idean shepherd, the ruthless
Paris, since his marriage, no marriage, but some Fury's hate hath utterly
destroyed me far from my native land, and hath driven me from my home. Whom
may the ocean refuse ever to bear back again; and may she never reach again
her paternal home.
POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS.
POLY. O Priam, thou dearest of men, and thou most dear Hecuba, at thy sight
I weep for thee, and thy city, and thy daughter who has lately died. Alas!
there is nothing secure, neither glory, nor when one is faring well is
there a certainty that he will not fare ill. But the Gods mingle these
things promiscuously to and fro, making all confusion, so that we through
ignorance may worship them. But wherefore should I utter these plaints,
which in no way tend to free thee from thy former calamities. But thou, if
thou hast aught to blame for my absence, forbear; for I chanced to be afar
off in the middle of my Thracian territories, when thou camest hither; but
soon as I returned, as I was already setting out from my house, this maid
of thine met me for the self-same purpose, and delivered thy message, which
when I had heard, I came.
HEC. O Polymestor, I am ashamed to look thee in the face, sunk as I am in
such miseries; for before one who has seen me in prosperity, shame
overwhelms me, being in the state in which I now am, nor can I look upon
thee with unmoved eyes. But impute not this to any enmity I bear thee; but
there are other causes, and in some degree this law; "that women ought not
to gaze at men."
POLY. And 'tis indeed no wonder; but what need hast thou of me? for what
purpose didst thou send for me to come from home?
HEC. I am desirous of communicating a private affair of my own to thee and
thy children; but order thy attendants to retire from these tents.
POLY. Depart, for here to be alone is safe. Friendly thou art, this Grecian
army too is friendly toward me, but it is for thee to signify, in what
manner I, who am in good circumstances, ought to succor my friends in
distress; since, on my part, I am ready.
HEC. First then tell me of my son Polydore, whom thou retainest, receiving
him from mine, and from his father's hand, if he live; but the rest I shall
inquire of thee afterward.
POLY. He lives, and in good health; as far as regards him indeed thou art
happy.
HEC. O my best friend, how well thou speakest, and how worthily of thyself!
POLY. What dost thou wish then to inquire of me in the next place?
HEC. Whether he remembers at all me, his mother?
POLY. Yes: and he even sought to come to thee by stealth.
HEC. And is the gold safe, which he brought with him from Troy?
POLY. It is safe, at least it is guarded in my house.
HEC. Preserve it therefore, nor covet the goods of others.
POLY. Certainly not. May I enjoy what is mine own, O lady.
HEC. Knowest thou then, what I wish to say to thee and thy children?
POLY. I do not: this shalt thou signify by thy speech.
HEC. Be my son loved by thee, as thou art now loved of me.
POLY. What is it, that I and my sons must know?
HEC. The ancient buried treasures of the family of Priam.
POLY. Is it this thou wishest me to inform thy son of?
HEC. Yes, certainly; through thee at least, for thou art a pious man.
POLY. What necessity then is there for the presence of these children?
HEC. 'Tis better in case of thy death, that these should know.
POLY. Well hast thou thus said, and 'tis the wiser plan.
HEC. Thou knowest then where the temple of Minerva in Troy is--
POLY. Is the gold there! but what is the mark?
HEC. A black rock rising above the earth.
POLY. Hast any thing further to tell me of what is there?
HEC. No, but I wish thee to take care of some treasures, with which I came
out of the city.
POLY. Where are they then? Hast thou them hidden beneath thy robes?
HEC. Amidst a heap of spoils they are preserved in this tent.
POLY. But where? These are the naval encampments of the Grecians.
HEC. The habitations of the captive women are private.
POLY. And is all secure within, and untenanted by men?
HEC. Not one of the Greeks is within, but we women only. But come into the
tent, for the Greeks are desirous of loosing the sheets of their vessels
homeward from Troy; so that, having done every thing that thou oughtest,
thou mayest go with thy children to that place where thou hast given my son
to dwell.
CHOR. Not yet hast thou suffered, but peradventure thou wilt suffer
vengeance; as a man falling headlong into the gulf where no harbor is,
shalt thou be hurled from thy dear heart, having lost thy life;[18] for
where the rites of hospitality coincide[19] with justice, and with the
Gods, on the villain who dares to violate these destructive, destructive
indeed impends the evil. But thy hopes will deceive thee, which thou
entertainedst from this journey, which has brought thee, thou wretched man,
to the deadly mansions of Pluto; but thou shalt quit thy life by no
warrior's hand.
POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, SEMICHORUS.
POLY. Oh me! I wretch am deprived of the sight of mine eyes.
SEMI. Heard ye the shriek of the man of Thrace, my friends?
POLY. Oh me; there again--Oh my children, thy miserable butchery!
SEMI. My friends, some strange ills have been perpetrated within the tents.
POLY. But for all your nimble feet, ye never can escape me, for by my blows
will I burst open the recesses of these tents.
SEMI. Behold, he uses violently the weapon of his heavy hand. Will ye that
we fall on; since the instant calls on us to be present with assistance to
Hecuba and the Trojan dames?
HEC. Dash on, spare nothing, break down the gates, for thou never shalt
replace the clear sight in those pupils, nor shalt thou behold alive those
children which I have slain.
SEMI. What! hast thou vanquished the Thracian? and hast thou got the
mastery over this host, my mistress? and hast thou done such deeds, as thou
sayest?
HEC. Thou wilt see him quickly before the house, blind, with blind
wandering steps approaching, and the bodies of his two children, whom I
have slain with these most valiant Trojan women; but he has felt my
vengeance; but he is coming as thou seest from the tent. But I will retire
out of his way, and make good my retreat from the boiling rage of this most
desperate Thracian.
POLY. Alas me! whither can I go? where stand? whither shall I direct my
way, advancing my steps like the four-footed mountain beast on my hands and
on my feet in pursuit? What new path shall I take in this direction or in
that, desirous of seizing these murderous Trojan dames, who have utterly
destroyed me; O ye impious, impious Phrygian daughters! Ah the accursed, in
what corner do they shrink from me in flight? Would that thou, O sun,
could'st heal, could'st heal these bleeding lids of my eyes, and remove
this gloomy-darkness. Ah, hush, hush! I hear the carefully-concealed step
of these women. Whither shall I direct my course in order that I may glut
myself on the flesh and bones of these, making the wild beasts' banquet,
inflicting vengeance on them, in return for the injuries done me. Wretch
that I am! Whither, whither am I borne, having left my children deserted,
for these fiends of hell to tear piecemeal, a mangled, bleeding, savage
prey to dogs, and a thing to cast out on the mountains? Where shall I
stand? Whither turn? Whither go, as a ship setting her yellow canvas sails
with her sea-washed palsers, rushing to this lair of death, the protector
of my children?
CHOR. O miserable man, what intolerable evils have been perpetrated by
thee! but on thee having done base deeds the God hath sent dreadful
punishment, whoever he be that presses heavy on thee.
POLY. Alas! alas! O Thracian nation, brandishing the spear, warlike,
bestriding the steed, nation ruled by Mars; O ye Greeks, sons of Atreus; I
raise the cry, the cry, the cry; Come, come, hasten, I entreat you by the
Gods. Does any hear, or will no one assist me? Why do ye delay? The women
have destroyed me, the captive women. Horrible, horrible treatment have I
suffered. Alas me for my ruin! Whither can I turn? Whither can I go? Shall
I soar through the ethereal skies to the lofty mansions where Orion or
Sirius dart from their eyes the flaming rays of fire: or shall I hapless
rush to the gloomy shore of Pluto?
CHOR. It is pardonable, when any one suffers greater misfortunes than he
can bear, for him to be desirous to quit a miserable life.
AGAMEMNON, POLYMESTOR, HECUBA, CHORUS.
AGA. I came having heard the clamor: for Echo, the mountain's daughter, did
not sound in gentle strains through the army, causing a disturbance. But
did we not know that the Phrygian towers are fallen beneath the Grecian
spear, this tumult might have caused no little terror.
POLY. O my dearest friend (for I know thee, Agamemnon, having heard thy
voice), seest thou what I am suffering?
AGA. Ah! wretched Polymestor, who hath destroyed thee? who made thine eyes
sightless, having drowned their orbs in blood? And who hath slain these thy
children? Sure, whoe'er it was, felt the greatest rage against thee and thy
sons.
POLY. Hecuba with the female captives hath destroyed me--nay, not destroyed
me, but more than destroyed me.
AGA. What sayest thou? Hast thou done this deed, as he affirms? Hast thou,
Hecuba, dared this inconceivable act of boldness?
POLY. Ah me! what wilt thou say? Is she any where near me? Show me, tell me
where she is, that I may seize her in my hands, and tear piecemeal and
mangle her body.
AGA. What ho! what are you doing?
POLY. By the Gods I entreat thee, suffer me to lay my raging hand upon her.
AGA. Forbear. And having banished this barbarous deed from thy thoughts,
speak; that having heard both thee and her in your respective turns, I may
decide justly, in return for what thou art suffering these ills.
POLY. I will speak then. There was a certain youth, the youngest of Priam's
children, by name Polydore, the son of Hecuba; him his father Priam sent to
me from Troy to bring up in my palace, already presaging[20] the capture of
Troy. Him I put to death. But for what cause I put him to death, with what
policy and prudent forethought, now hear. I feared, lest the boy being left
an enemy to thee, should collect the scattered remnants of Troy, and again
people the city. And lest the Greeks, having discovered that one of the
sons of Priam was alive, should again direct an expedition against the
Phrygian land, and after that should harass and lay waste the plains of
Thrace; and it might fare ill with the neighbors of the Trojans, under
which misfortune, O king, we are now laboring. But Hecuba, when she had
discovered her son's death, by such treachery as this lured me hither, as
about to tell me of treasure belonging to Priam's family concealed in Troy,
and introduces me alone with my sons into the tent, that no one else might
know it. And I sat, having reclined on the centre of the couch; but many
Trojan damsels, some from the left hand, and others from the right, sat
round me, as by an intimate friend, holding in their hands the Edonian
looms, and praised these robes, looking at them in the light; but others,
beholding with admiration my Thracian spear, deprived me of my double
ornament. But as many as were mothers caressed my children in their arms in
seeming admiration, that they might be farther removed from their father,
successively handing them from one to another: and then, amidst their kind
blandishments, what think you? in an instant, snatching from somewhere
beneath their garments their daggers, they stab my children. But they
having seized me in an hostile manner held my hands and feet; and if,
wishing to succor my children, I raised my head, they held me by the hair:
but if I attempted to move my hands, I wretched could effect nothing
through the host of women. But at last, cruelty and worse than cruelty,
they perpetrated dreadful things; for having taken their clasps they pierce
and gore the wretched pupils of my eyes, then vanish in flight through the
tent. But I, having leaped out, like some exasperated beast, pursue the
blood-stained wretches, searching every wall, as the hunter, casting down,
rending. This have I suffered, while studious to advance thy interest,
Agamemnon, and having killed thine enemy. But that I may not extend my
speech to a greater length, if any one of those of ancient times hath
reviled women, or if any one doth now, or shall hereafter revile them, I
will comprise the whole when I say, that such a race neither doth the sea
nor the earth produce, but he who is always with them knows it best.
CHOR. Be not at all insolent, nor, in thy calamities, thus comprehending
the female sex, abuse them all. For of us there are many, some indeed are
envied for their virtues, but some are by nature in the catalogue of bad
things.
HEC. Agamemnon, it never were fitting among men that the tongue should have
greater force than actions. But if a man has acted well, well should he
speak; if on the other hand basely, his words likewise should be unsound,
and never ought he to be capable of speaking unjust things well. Perhaps
indeed they who have brought these things to a pitch of accuracy are
accounted wise, but they can not endure wise unto the end, but perish
vilely, nor has any one yet escaped this. And this in my prelude is what I
have to say to thee. Now am I going to direct my discourse to this man, and
I will answer his arguments. Thou, that assertest, that in order to rid the
Greeks of their redoubled toil, and for Agamemnon's sake that thou didst
slay my son? But, in the first place, monstrous villain, never can the race
of barbarians be friendly to the Grecians, never can this take place. But
what favor wert thou so eagerly currying? wert thou about to contract an
alliance, or was it that thou wert of kindred birth, or what pretext hadst
thou? or were they about to ravage the crops of thy country, having sailed
thither again? Whom, thinkest thou, wilt thou persuade of these things? The
gold, if thou wert willing to speak truth, the gold destroyed my son, and
thy base gains. For come, tell me this; how when Troy was prosperous, and a
tower yet girt around the city, and Priam lived, and the spear of Hector
was in its glory, why didst thou not then, if thou wert willing to lay him
under this obligation, bringing up my child, and retaining him in thy
palace, why didst thou not then slay him, or go and take him alive to the
Greeks? But when we were no longer in the light of prosperity, and the city
by its smoke showed that it was in the power of the enemy, thou slewest thy
guest who had come to thy hearth. Now hear besides how thou wilt appear
vile: thou oughtest, if thou wert the friend of the Greeks, to have given
the gold, which thou confessedst thou hast, not thine, but his,
distributing to those who were in need, and had long been strangers to
their native land. But thou, even now, hast not courage to part with it
from thy hand, but having it, thou still art keeping it close in thine
house. And yet, in bringing up my child, as it was thy duty to bring him
up, and in preserving him, thou hadst had fair honor. For in adversity
friends are most clearly proved good. But good circumstances have in every
case their friends. But if thou wert in want of money, and he in a
flourishing condition, my son had been to thee a vast treasure; but now,
thou neither hast him for thy friend, and the benefit from the gold is
gone, and thy sons are gone, and thou art--as thou art. But to thee,
Agamemnon, I say; if thou aidest this man, thou wilt appear to be doing
wrong. For thou wilt be conferring a benefit on a host, who is neither
pious, nor faithful to those to whom he ought, not holy, not just. But we
shall say that thou delightest in the bad, if thus thou actest: but I speak
no offense to my lords.
CHOR. Ah! Ah! How do good deeds ever supply to men the source of good
words!
AGA. Thankless my office to decide on others' grievances; but still I must,
for it brings disgrace on a man, having taken a thing in hand, to give it
up. But to me, be assured, thou neither appearest for my sake, nor for the
sake of the Grecians, to have killed this man thy guest, but that thou
mightest possess the gold in thy palace. But thou talkest of thy advantage,
when thou art in calamities.[21] Perhaps with you it is a slight thing to
kill your guests; but with us Grecians this thing is abhorred. How then, in
giving my decision that thou hast not injured, can I escape blame? I can
not; but as thou hast dared to do things dishonorable, endure now things
unpleasant.
POLY. Alas me! worsted, as it seems, by a woman who is a slave, I shall
submit to the vengeance of my inferiors.
AGA. Will it not then be justly, seeing thou hast acted wrong?
POLY. Alas me! wretched on account of these children and on account of my
eyes.
HEC. Thou sufferest? but what do I? Thinkest thou I suffer not for my
child?
POLY. Thou rejoicest in insulting me, O thou malicious woman.
HEC. For ought not I to rejoice on having avenged myself on thee?
POLY. But thou wilt not soon, when the liquid wave--
HEC. Shall bear me, dost thou mean, to the confines of the Grecian land?
POLY. --shall cover thee, having fallen from the shrouds.
HEC. From whom meeting with this violent leap?
POLY. Thyself shalt climb with thy feet up the ship's mast.
HEC. Having wings on my back, or in what way?
POLY. Thou shalt become a dog with a fiery aspect.
HEC. But how dost thou know of this my metamorphose?
POLY. Dionysius the Thracian prophet told it me.
HEC. But did he not declare to thee any of the evils which thou sufferest?
POLY. No: for, if he had, thou never wouldst thus treacherously have
taken me.
HEC. [22]Thence shall I conclude my life in death, or still live on?
POLY. Thou shalt die. But the name of thy tomb shall be--
HEC. Dost thou speak of it as in any way correspondent to my shape?
POLY. [23]The tomb of the wretched dog, a mark to mariners.
HEC. I heed it not, since thou at least hast felt my vengeance.
POLY. And it is fated too for thy daughter Cassandra to die.
HEC. I renounce these prophecies; I give them for thyself to bear.
POLY. Him shall his wife slay, a cruel guardian of his house.
HEC. Never yet may the daughter of Tyndarus have arrived at such madness.
POLY. Even this man himself, having lifted up the axe.
AGA. What ho! thou art mad, and art desirous of obtaining greater ills.
POLY. Kill me, for the murderous bath at Argos awaits thee.
AGA. Will ye not, slaves, forcibly drag him from my presence?
POLY. Thou art galled at what thou hearest.
AGA. Will ye not stop his mouth?
POLY. Stop it: for the word is spoken.
AGA. Will ye not as quick as possible cast him out on some desert island,
since he is thus, and past endurance insolent? But do thou, wretched
Hecuba, go and bury thy two dead: and you, O Trojan dames, must approach
your masters' tents, for I perceive that the gales are favorable for
wafting us to our homes. And may we sail in safety to our native country,
and behold our household and families in prosperity, having found rest from
these toils.
CHOR. Come, my friends, to the harbor, and the tents, to undergo the tasks
imposed by our masters. For necessity is relentless.
* * * * *
NOTES ON HECUBA
* * * *
[1] Homer makes Dymas, not Cisseus, the father of Hecuba. Virgil however
follows Euripides, the rest of the Latin poets Virgil.
[2] In the martial time of antiquity the spear was reverenced as something
divine, and signified the chief command in arms, it was also the insigne of
the highest civil authority: in this sense Euripides in other places uses
the word δορυ. See Hippol. 988.
[3] τριταιος properly signifies triduanus; here it is used for τριτος,
the cardinal number for the ordinal. So also Hippol. 275.
Πως δ' ου, τριταιαν γ' ουσ' ασιτος ‛ημεραν:
[4] Most interpreters render this, leaning on the crooked staff with my
hand. Nor has Beck altered it in his Latin version, though he transcribed
Musgrave's note. "σκολιω, σκιμπωνι (for which Porson directs σκιπωνι,)
Scipiones in universum recti sunt, non curvi. Loquitur igitur non de vero
scipione, sed metaphorice de brachio, quod ancillis innitens, scipionis
usum præstabat; quodque, ob cubiti flexuram, σκολιον σκιμπωμα vocat."
[5] that babbling knave.] Tzetzes on Lycophron, line 763. κοπις, ‛ο
‛ρητωρ, και εμπειρος, ‛ο ‛υπο πολλων πραγματων κεκομμενος. In the Index to
Lycophron κοπις is translated scurra.
[6] Among the ancients it was the custom for virgins to have a great
quantity of golden ornaments about them, to which Homer alludes, Il. Β.
872.
‛Ος και χρυσον εχων πολεμον δ' ιεν ηϋτε κουρη. PORSON.
[7] This is the only sense that can be made of ενθανειν, and this sense
seems strained: Brunck proposes εντακηναι for ενθανειν γε. See Note [A].
[8] λιμνη is used for the sea in Troades 444; as also in Iliad Ν. 21, and
Odyssey Γ. 1. and in many other passages of Homer.
[9] The construction is η πορευσεις με ενθα νασων; for εις εκεινην των
νασων, ενθα.
[10] κεκλημαι for ειμι, not an unusual signification. Hippol. 2, θεα
κεκλημαι Κυπρις.
[11] When she perceived it, εφρασθη, συνηκεν, εγνω, ενοησεν. Hesych.
[12] The Gods beneath he despised, by casting him out without a tomb; the
Gods above, as the guardians of the rites of hospitality.
[13] Whatever was due, either on the score of friendship, or as an
equivalent for his care and protection.
[14] Musgrave proposes to read προμισθιαν for προμηθιαν: the version above
is in accordance with the scholiast and the paraphrast.
[15] See note on Medea 338.
[16] The story of the daughters of Danaus is well known.
[17] Of this there are two accounts given in the Scholia. The one is, that
the women of Lemnos being punished by Venus with an ill savor, and
therefore neglected by their husbands, conspired against them and slew
them. The other is found in Herodotus, Erato, chap. 138. see also Æsch.
Choephoræ, line 627, ed. Schutz.
[18] Polymestor was guilty of two crimes, αδικιας and ασεβειας, for he had
both violated the laws of men, and profaned the deity of Jupiter
Hospitalis. Whence Agamemnon, v. 840, hints that he is to suffer on both
accounts.
και βουλομαι θεων θ' ‛ουνεκ ανοσιον ξενον,
και του δικαιον, τηνδε σοι δουναι δικην.
The Chorus therefore says, Ubi contingit eundem et Justitiæ et Diis esse
addictum, exitiale semper malum esse; or, as the learned Hemsterheuyse has
more fully and more elegantly expressed, it, Ubi, id est, in quo, vel
in quem cadit et concurrit, ut ob crimen commissum simul et humanæ
justitiæ et Deorum vindictæ sit obnoxius, ac velut oppignoratus; illi
certissimum exitium imminet. This sense the words give, if for ου, we read
‛ου, i.e. in the sense of ‛οπου. MUSGRAVE. Correct Dindorf's text to ‛ου.
[19] συμπεσεειν in unum coire, coincidere. In this sense it is used also,
Herod. Euterpe, chap. 49.
[20] The verbal adjective in τος is almost universally used in a passive
sense; ‛υποπτος, however, in this place is an exception to the rule, as are
also, καλυπτης, Soph. Antig. 1011, μεμπτος, Trachin. 446.
[21] Perhaps the preferable way is to make κακοισιν agree with ανθρωποις
understood; that the sense may be, You are a bad man to talk of your
advantage as a plea for having acted thus.
[22] Θανουσα δ' η ζωσ' ενθαδ' εκπλησω βιον; a similar expression occurs in
the Anthologia.
σιγων παρερχου τον ταλαιπωρον βιον,
αυτος σιωπηι τον χρονον μιμουμενος,
λαθων δε και βιωσον. ει δε μη, θανων.
[23] The place of her burial was called Cynosema, a promontory of the
Thracian Chersonese. It was here that the Athenians gained a naval victory
over the Peloponnesians and Syracusans, in the twenty-first year of the
Peloponnesian war. Thucydides, book viii.
* * * *
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
* * * *
[A] Vs. 246, ενθανειν γε. "Pravam esse scripturam dici Brunckius et Corayus
viderunt; quorum ille legere voluit ‛ωστ' εντακηναι, hic vero ‛ωστ'
εμβαλειν. Sed neuter rem acu tetigit. Euripides scripsit: ‛ωστ' εν γε
φυναι, uti patet ex Hom. Il. Ζ. 253, εν τ' αρα ‛οι φυ χειρι, Od. Π. 21,
παντα κυσεν περιφυς, Theocrit. Id. xiii. 47, ται δ' εν χερι πασαι εφυσαν,
et, quod rem conficit, ex Euripidis ipsius Ion. 891, λευκοις δ' εμφυσας
καρποις χειρων." G. BURGES, apud Revue de Philologie, vol. i. No. 5. p.
457.
[B] We must, I think, read τολμαιν.
[C] Dindorf disposes these lines differently, but I prefer Porson's
arrangement, as follows:
ΕΚ. εκβλητον, η πες. φ. δορος;
ΘΕΡ. εν ψαμαθωι λευραι
ποντου νιν, κ.τ.λ.
* * * * * *