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Furious at this treatment, [270] when afterward Iphitus came to the hill of Tiryns on the track of horses that had strayed, Heracles seized a moment when the man's eyes were one place and his thoughts another, and hurled him from a towering summit. But in anger at that deed, the king, [275] the father of all, Olympian Zeus, sent him away to be sold, and did not tolerate that this once, he killed a man by guile. Had he achieved his vengeance openly, Zeus would surely have pardoned him the righteous triumph. [280] For the gods do not love criminal behavior either.

So those men, who gloried in bitter speech, are themselves residents of Hades, all of them, and their city is enslaved. And the women whom you see, fallen from happiness to misery, [285] are sent here to you. For that was your husband's command, which I, his faithful servant, perform. As for the man himself, know that he will come, once he has made pure sacrifice to Zeus of his fathers for the sacking of the city. After all the good news [290] that has been told, this, indeed, is the sweetest word to hear.

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load focus Notes (Sir Richard C. Jebb, 1902)
load focus English (Robert Torrance)
load focus Greek (Francis Storr, 1913)
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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references to this page (2):
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Antigone, 1204
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Ajax, 1359
  • Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
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