Euripides' HERACLES Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

Euripides Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Euripides in Print

63 pages - You are on Page 9

Leader: Have not the brave amongst mankind a fair opening for speech,
albeit slow to begin?

Lycus: Say what thou wilt of me in thy exalted phrase, but I by deeds
will make thee rue those words. (Calling to his servants) Ho! bid
wood-cutters go, some to Helicon, others to the glens of Parnassus,
and cut me logs of oak, and when they are brought to the town, pile
up a stack of wood all round the altar on either side thereof, and
set fire to it and burn them all alive, that they may learn that the
dead no longer rules this land, but that for the present I am king.
(angrily to the Chorus) As for you, old men, since ye thwart my
views, not for the children of Heracles alone shall ye lament but
likewise for every blow that strikes his house, and ye shall ne'er
forget ye are slaves and I your prince.

Leader: Ye sons of Earth, whom Ares on a day did sow, when from the
dragon's ravening jaw he had torn the teeth, up with your staves,
whereon ye lean your hands, and dash out this miscreant's brains!
a fellow who, without even being a Theban, but a foreigner, lords
it shamefully o'er the younger folk; but my master shalt thou never
be to thy joy, nor shalt thou reap the harvest of all my toil; begone
with my curse upon thee! carry thy insolence back to the place whence
it came. For never whilst I live, shalt thou slay these sons of Heracles;
not so deep beneath the earth hath their father disappeared from his
children's ken. Thou art in possession of this land which thou hast
ruined, while he its benefactor has missed his just reward; and yet
do I take too much upon myself because I help those I love after their
death, when most they need a friend? Ah! right hand, how fain wouldst
thou wield the spear, but thy weakness is a death-blow to thy fond
desire; for then had I stopped thee calling me slave, and I would
have governed Thebes, wherein thou art now exulting, with credit;
for city sick with dissension and evil counsels thinketh not aright;
otherwise it would never have accepted thee as its master.

Previous Page / First / Next Page of Heracles

Euripides Home Page ||| Elpenor's Free Greek Lessons
Aeschylus ||| Sophocles

Reference address : https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/euripides/heracles.asp?pg=9