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Deianeira
[225] I see it, dear maidens; the sight has not escaped my watchful eyes. I see that procession. I bid the herald joyous welcome after his long absence!—if indeed you bring anything that gives joy. Enter Lichas, followed by captive maidens.
Lichas
We are happy in our return, and happy in your greeting, [230] lady, in accordance with the deed achieved. For when a man has fair fortune, it is his right to win good welcome. Deianeira
Most welcome man, tell me first what first I would know—shall I receive Heracles alive? Lichas
I certainly left him alive and well, [235] in vigorous health, unburdened by disease. Deianeira
Where, tell me—in his ancestral land, or on barbarian soil? Lichas
There is a headland of Euboea, where to Cenaean Zeus he marks out altars and fruitful ground in tribute. Deianeira
In payment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle? Lichas
[240] For a vow, made when he was seeking to conquer and plunder the country of these women whom you see before you. Deianeira
And these—who are they, by the gods, and whose daughters? They deserve pity, unless their misfortune deceives me. Lichas
These are captives whom he [245] selected as choice spoils for himself and for the gods when he sacked the city of Eurytus. Deianeira
Was it in fact the war against that city which kept him away so long, beyond all forecast, past all count of days?
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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