Chorus
Ah, unhappy Greece, what mourning do I foresee for her, if she is cheated of this man!
Hyllus
Father, since your pause permits an answer,
[1115]
hear me, diseased though you are; I will ask you for no more than is my due. Give yourself to me in a mood not as harsh as that to which your heart is now stung. Otherwise you cannot learn in what circumstances you wrongly wish to triumph and wrongly show resentment.
Heracles
[1120]
Stop when you have said what it is you desire. In this pain of mine I understand none of your many riddles.
Hyllus
I come to tell you of my mother—her present circumstances and how she erred unknowingly.
Heracles
You corrupt thing! Have you indeed mentioned her name again,
[1125]
the name, “Mother, Murderess of Father,” in my hearing?
Hyllus
Yes, for her condition is such that my silence shames me.
Heracles
No, it does not shame you, when you consider her past crimes.
Hyllus
You will not say so, at least in view of her deeds today.
Heracles
Speak—but take care that you not be found corrupt.
Hyllus
[1130]
I will speak. She is just now dead, a new murder.
Heracles
By whose hand? Your sinister words give a prophecy of wonder!
Hyllus
She did it by her own hand, and no other's.
Heracles
Ah, no! Before she died by mine as she deserved!
Hyllus
Even your rage would be deflected, if you would learn the whole of it.
Heracles
[1135]
Your tale begins strangely, but tell me what you mean.
Hyllus
The sum is this: she did wrong, but with a good intent.
Heracles
Did she do a good deed, corrupt traitor, when she killed your father?
Hyllus
No, her plan was to apply a love-charm for your heart, when she saw your new marriage inside the house, but she missed her aim.
Heracles
[1140]
And what Trachinian is so potent a charmer?
Hyllus
Nessus the Centaur persuaded her long ago to inflame your desire with such a potion.
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Sophocles. The Trachiniae of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1892.
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