O land of Cadmus, and all you people of Thebes!
[1390]
cut off your hair, and mourn with me; go to my children's burial, and with one dirge lament us all, the dead and me; for on all of us has Hera inflicted the same cruel blow of destruction.
Theseus
Rise, unhappy man! you have had your fill of tears.
Heracles
[1395]
I cannot rise; my limbs are rooted here.
Theseus
Yes, even the strong are overthrown by misfortunes.
Heracles
Ah! Would I could become a stone upon this spot, oblivious of trouble.
Theseus
Peace! give your hand to a friend and helper.
Heracles
No, let me not wipe off the blood upon your robe.
Theseus
[1400]
Wipe it off and spare not; I will not refuse you.
Heracles
Bereft of my own sons, I find you as a son to me.
Theseus
Throw your arm about my neck; I will be your guide.
Heracles
A pair of friends indeed, but one a man of sorrows. Ah! aged father, this is the kind of man to make a friend.
Amphitryon
[1405]
Blessed in her sons, the country that gave him birth!
Heracles
Theseus, turn me back again to see my children.
Theseus
What for? Do you think to find a drug in this to soothe your soul?
Heracles
I long to do so, and would embrace my father.
Amphitryon
Here am I, my son; your wish is no less dear to me.
Theseus
[1410]
Have you so short a memory for your troubles?
Heracles
All that I endured before was easier to bear than this.
Theseus
If anyone sees you play the woman, they will scoff.
Heracles
Have I by living grown so abject in your sight? It was not so once, I think.
Theseus
Yes, too much so; in your sickness you are not the glorious Heracles.
Heracles
[1415]
What about you? What kind of hero were you when in trouble in the world below?
Theseus
I was worse than anyone as far as courage went.
Heracles
How then can you say of me, that I am abased by my troubles?
Theseus
Forward!
Heracles
Farewell, my aged father!
Amphitryon
Farewell to you, my son!
Heracles
Bury my children as I said.
Amphitryon
But who will bury me, my son?
Heracles
[1420]
I will.
Amphitryon
When wil you come?
Heracles
After you have buried my children.
Amphitryon
How?
Heracles
I will fetch you from Thebes to Athens. But carry my children within, a grievous burden to the earth. And I, after ruining my house by deeds of shame, will follow as a little boat in the wake of Theseus, totally destroyed.
[1425]
Whoever prefers wealth or might to the possession of good friends, thinks wrongly.Theseus and his attendants lead Heracles away.
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Table of Contents:
Euripides. The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Heracles, translated by E. P. Coleridge. New York. Random House. 1938.
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