Heracles, By Euripides

HERACLES Fill in thy sketch if any change awaits my life. AMPHITRYON I will explain, if thou art no longer mad as a fiend of hell. HERACLES God help us! what suspicions these dark hints of thine again excite! AMPHITRYON I am still doubtful whether thou art in thy sober senses. HERACLES I never remember being mad. AMPHITRYON Am I to loose my son, old friends, or what? HERACLES Loose and say who bound me; for I feel shame at this. AMPHITRYON Rest content with what thou knowest of thy woes; the rest forego. HERACLES Enough! I have no wish to probe thy silence. AMPHITRYON O Zeus, dost thou behold these deeds proceeding from the throne of Hera? HERACLES What! have I suffered something from her enmity? AMPHITRYON A truce to the goddess! attend to thy own troubles. HERACLES I am undone; what mischance wilt thou unfold? AMPHITRYON See here the corpses of thy children. HERACLES O horror! what hideous sight is here? ah me! AMPHITRYON My son, against thy children hast thou waged unnatural war. HERACLES War! what meanst thou? who killed these? AMPHITRYON Thou and thy bow and some god, whoso he be that is to blame. HERACLES What sayst thou? what have I done? Speak, father, thou messenger of evil. AMPHITRYON Thou wert distraught; 'tis a sad explanation thou art asking. HERACLES Was it I that slew my wife also? AMPHITRYON Thy own unaided arm hath done all this. HERACLES Ah, woe is me! a cloud of sorrow wraps me round.

HERACLES Ah, woe is me! a cloud of sorrow wraps me round. AMPHITRYON The reason this that I lament thy fate. HERACLES Did I dash my house to pieces or incite others thereto? AMPHITRYON Naught know I save this, that thou art utterly undone. HERACLES Where did my frenzy seize me? where did it destroy me? AMPHITRYON In the moment thou wert purifying thyself witb fire at the altar. HERACLES Ah me! why do I spare my own life when I have taken that of my dear children? Shall I not hasten to leap from some sheer rock, or aim the sword against my heart and avenge my children's blood, or burn my body in the fire and so avert from my life the infamy which now awaits me? But hither I see Theseus coming to check my deadly counsels, my kinsman and friend. Now shall I stand revealed, and the dearest of my friends will see the pollution I have incurred by my children's murder. Ah, woe is me! what am I to do? Where can I find release from my sorrows? shall I take wings or plunge beneath the earth? Come, let me veil my head in darkness; for I am ashamed of the evil I have done, and, since for these I have incurred fresh blood-guiltiness, I would fain not harm the innocent. (THESEUS and his retinue enter.) THESEUS I am come, and others with me, young warriors from the land of Athens, encamped by the streams of Asopus, to help thy son, old friend. For a rumour reached the city of the Erechtheidae, that Lycus

friend. For a rumour reached the city of the Erechtheidae, that Lycus had usurped the sceptre of this land and was become your enemy even to battle. Wherefore I came making recompense for the former kindness of Heracles in saving me from the world below, if haply ye have any need of such aid as I or my allies can give, old prince. Ha! what means this heap of dead upon the floor? Surely I have not delayed too long and come too late to check new ills? Who slew these children? whose wife is this I see? Boys do not go to battle; nay, it must be some other strange mischance I here discover. (The following lines between THESEUS and AMPHITRYON are chanted responsively.) AMPHITRYON O king, whose home is that olive-clad hill! THESEUS Why this piteous prelude in addressing me? AMPHITRYON Heaven has afflicted us with grievous suffering. THESEUS Whose be these children, o'er whom thou weepest? AMPHITRYON My own son's children, woe to him! their father and butcher both was he, hardening his heart to the bloody deed. THESEUS Hush good words only! AMPHITRYON I would I could obey! THESEUS What dreadful words! AMPHITRYON Fortune has spread her wings, and we are ruined, ruined. THESEUS What meanest thou? what hath he done? AMPHITRYON Slain them in a wild fit of frenzy with arrows dipped in the venom of the hundred-headed hydra. THESEUS This is Hera's work; but who lies there among the dead, old

THESEUS This is Hera's work; but who lies there among the dead, old man? AMPHITRYON My son, my own enduring son, that marched with gods to Phlegra's plain, there to battle with giants and slay them, warrior that he was. THESEUS Ah, woe for him! whose fortune was e'er so curst as his? AMPHITRYON Never wilt thou find another that hath borne a larger share of suffering or been more fatally deceived. THESEUS Why doth he veil his head, poor wretch, in his robe? AMPHITRYON He is ashamed to meet thine eye; his kinsman's kind intent and his children's blood make him abashed. THESEUS But I come to sympathize; uncover him. AMPHITRYON My son, remove that mantle from thine eyes, throw it from thee, show thy fare unto the sun; a counterpoise to weeping is battling for the mastery. In suppliant wise I entreat thee, as I grasp thy beard, thy knees, thy hands, and let fall the tear from my old eyes. O my child! restrain thy savage lion-like temper, for thou art rushing forth on an unholy course of bloodshed, eager to join woe to woe. THESEUS Ho! To thee I call who art huddled there in thy misery, show to they friends thy face; for no darkness is black enough to hide thy sad mischance. Why dost thou wave thy hand at me, signifying murder? is it that I may not be polluted by speaking with thee? If I share thy misfortune, what is that to me? For if I too had luck in days gone by, must refer it to the time when thou didst bring me safe from

gone by, must refer it to the time when thou didst bring me safe from the dead to the light of life. I hate a friend whose gratitude grows old; one who ready to enjoy his friends' prosperity but unwilling to sail in the same ship with them when their fortune lours. Arise, unveil thy head, poor wretch! and look on me. The gallant soul endures without a word such blows as heaven deals. HERACLES O Theseus, didst thou witness this struggle with my children? THESEUS I heard of it, and now I see the horrors thou meanest. HERACLES Why then hast thou unveiled my head to the sun? THESEUS Why have I? Thou, a man, canst not pollute what is of God. HERACLES Fly, luckless wretch, from my unholy taint. THESEUS The avenging fiend goes not forth from friend to friend. HERACLES For this I thank thee; I do not regret the service I did thee. THESEUS While I, for kindness then received, now show my pity for thee. HERACLES Ah yes! I am piteous, a murderer of my sons. THESEUS I weep for thee in thy changed fortunes. HERACLES Didst ever find another more afflicted? THESEUS Thy misfortunes reach from earth to heaven. HERACLES Therefore am I resolved on death. THESEUS Dost thou suppose the gods attend to these thy threats? HERACLES Remorseless hath heaven been to me; so I will prove the like to it. THESEUS Hush! lest thy presumption add to thy sufferings. HERACLES My barque is freighted full with sorrow; there is no room

HERACLES My barque is freighted full with sorrow; there is no room to stow aught further. THESEUS What wilt thou do? whither is thy fury drifting thee? HERACLES I will die and return to that world below whence I have just come. THESEUS Such language is fit for any common fellow. HERACLES Ah! thine is the advice of one outside sorrow's pale. THESEUS Are these indeed the words of Heracles, the much-enduring? HERACLES Though never so much as this. Endurance must have a limit. THESEUS Is this man's benefactor, his chiefest friend? HERACLES Man brings no help to me; no! Hera has her way. THESEUS Never will Hellas suffer thee to die through sheer perversity. HERACLES Hear me a moment, that I may enter the lists with words in answer to thy admonitions; and I will unfold to thee why life now as well as formerly has been unbearable to me. First I am the son of a man who incurred the guilt of blood, before he married my mother Alcmena, by slaying her aged sire. Now when the foundation is badly laid at birth, needs must the race be cursed with woe; and Zeus, whoever this Zeus may be, begot me as a butt for Hera's hate; yet be not thou vexed thereat, old man; for thee rather than Zeus do I regard as my father. Then whilst I was yet being suckled, that bride of Zeus did foist into my cradle fearsome snakes to compass my death. After I was grown to man's estate, of all the toils I then endured what need

was grown to man's estate, of all the toils I then endured what need to tell? of all the lions, Typhons triple-bodied, and giants that I slew; or of the battle I won against the hosts of four-legged Centaurs? or how when I had killed the hydra, that monster with a ring of heads with power to grow again, I passed through countless other toils besides and came unto the dead to fetch to the light at the bidding of Eurystheus the three-headed hound, hell's porter. Last, ah, woe is me have I perpetrated this bloody deed to crown the sorrows of my house with my children's murder. To this sore strait am I come; no longer may I dwell in Thebes, the city that I love; for suppose I stay, to what temple or gathering of friends shall I repair? For mine is no curse that invites address. Shall I to Argos? how can I, when I am an exile from my country? Well, is there a single other city I can fly to? And if there were, am I to be looked at askance as a marked man, branded by cruel stabbing tongues, "Is not this the son of Zeus that once murdered wife and children? Plague take him from the land!" Now to one who was erst called happy, such changes are a grievous thing; though he who is always unfortunate feels no such pain, for sorrow is his birthright. This, methinks, is the piteous pass I shall one day come to; for earth will cry out forbidding me to touch her, the sea and the river-springs will refuse me a crossing, and I shall

the sea and the river-springs will refuse me a crossing, and I shall become like Ixion who revolves in chains upon that wheel. Wherefore this is best, that henceforth I be seen by none of the Hellenes, amongst whom in happier days I lived in bliss. What right have I to live? what profit can I have in the possession of a useless, impious life? So let that noble wife of Zeus break forth in dancing, beating with buskined foot on heaven's bright floor; for now hath she worked her heart's desire in utterly confounding the chiefest of Hellas' sons. Who would pray to such a goddess? Her jealousy of Zeus for his love of a woman hath destroyed the benefactors of Hellas, guiltless though they were. LEADER OF THE CHORUS This is the work of none other of the gods than the wife of Zeus; thou art right in that surmise. THESEUS I cannot counsel you to die rather than to go on suffering. There is not a man alive that hath wholly 'scaped misfortune's taint, nor any god either, if what poets sing is true. Have they not intermarried in ways that law forbids? Have they not thrown fathers into ignominious chains to gain the sovereign power? Still they inhabit Olympus and brave the issue of their crimes. And yet what shalt thou say in thy defence, if thou, child of man, dost kick against the pricks of fate, while they do not? Nay, then, leave Thebes in compliance with the law, and come with me to the city of Pallas. There, when I have purified

law, and come with me to the city of Pallas. There, when I have purified thee of thy pollution, will I give thee temples and the half of all I have. Yea, I will give thee all those presents I received from the citizens for saving their children, seven sons and daughters seven, on the day I slew the bull of Crete; for I have plots of land assigned me throughout the country; these shall henceforth be called after thee by men, whilst thou livest; and at thy death, when thou art gone to Hades' halls, the city of Athens shall unite in exalting thy honour with sacrifices and a monument of stone. For 'tis a noble crown for citizens to win from Hellas, even a reputation fair, by helping a man of worth. This is the return that I will make thee for saving me, for now art thou in need of friends. But when heaven delights to honour a man, he has no need of friends; for the god's aid, when he chooses to give it, is enough. HERACLES Alas! this is quite beside the question of my troubles. For my part, I do not believe that the gods indulge in unholy unions; and as for putting fetters on parents' hands, I have never thought that worthy of belief, nor will I now be so persuaded, nor again that one god is naturally lord and master of another. For the deity, if he be really such, has no wants; these are miserable fictions of the poets. But I, for all my piteous plight, reflected whether I should

poets. But I, for all my piteous plight, reflected whether I should let myself be branded as a coward for giving up my life. For whoso schooleth not his frail mortal nature to bear fate's buffets as he ought, will never be able to withstand even a man's weapon. I will harden my heart against death and seek thy city, with grateful thanks for all thou offerest me. (He weeps.) Of countless troubles have I tasted, God knows, but never yet did faint at any or shed a single tear; nay, nor ever dreamt that I should come to this, to let the tear-drop fall. But now, it seems, I must be fortune's slave. Well, let it pass; old father mine, thou seest me go forth to exile, and in me beholdest my own children's murderer. Give them burial and lay them out in death with the tribute of a tear, for the law forbids my doing so. Rest their heads upon their mother's bosom and fold them in her arms, sad pledges of our union, whom I, alas! unwittingly did slay. And when thou hast buried these dead, live on here still, in bitternes maybe, but still constrain thy soul to share my sorrows. O children! he who begat you, your own father, hath been your destroyer, and ye have had no profit of my triumphs, all my restless toil to win you a fair name in life, a glorious guerdon from a sire. Thee too, unhappy wife, this hand hath slain, a poor return to make thee for preserving mine honour so safe, for all the weary watch thou long

for preserving mine honour so safe, for all the weary watch thou long hast kept within my house. Alas for you, my wife, my sons! and woe for me, how sad my lot, cut off from wife and child! Ah! these kisses, bitter-sweet! these weapons which 'tis pain to own! I am not sure whether to keep or let them go; dangling at my side they thus will say, "With us didst thou destroy children and wife; we are thy children's slayers, and thou keepest us." Shall I carry them after that? what answer can I make? Yet, am I to strip me of these weapons, the comrades of my glorious career in Hellas, and put myself thereby in the power of my foes, to die a death of shame? No! I must not let them go, but keep them, though it grieve me. In one thing, Theseus, help my misery; come to Argos with me and aid in settling my reward for bringing Cerberus thither; lest, if I go all alone, my sorrow for my sons do me some hurt. O land of Cadmus, and all ye folk of Thebes! cut off your hair, and mourn with me; go to my children's burial, and with united dirge lament alike the dead and me; for on all of us hath Hera inflicted the same cruel blow of destruction. THESEUS Rise, unhappy man! thou hast had thy fill of tears. HERACLES I cannot rise; my limbs are rooted here. THESEUS Yea, even the strong are o'erthrown by misfortunes. HERACLES Ah! would I could grow into a stone upon this spot, oblivious of trouble! THESEUS Peace! give thy hand to a friend and helper.

THESEUS Peace! give thy hand to a friend and helper. HERACLES Nay, let me not wipe off the blood upon thy robe. THESEUS Wipe it off and spare not; I will not say thee nay. HERACLES Reft of my own sons, I find thee as a son to me. THESEUS Throw thy arm about my neck; I will be thy guide. HERACLES A pair of friends in sooth are we, but one a man of sorrows. Ah! aged sire, this is the kind of man to make a friend. AMPHITRYON Blest in her sons, the country that gave him birth! HERACLES O Theseus, turn me back again to see my babes. THESEUS What charm dost think to find in this to soothe thy soul? HERACLES I long to do so, and would fain embrace my sire. AMPHITRYON Here am I, my son; thy wish is no less dear to me. THESEUS Hast thou so short a memory for thy troubles? HERACLES All that I endured of yore was easier to bear than this. THESEUS If men see thee play the woman, they will scoff. HERACLES Have I by living grown so abject in thy sight? 'twas not so once, methinks. THESEUS Aye, too much so; for how dost show thyself the glorious Heracles of yore? HERACLES What about thyself? what kind of hero wert thou when in trouble in the world below? THESEUS I was worse than anyone as far as courage went. HERACLES How then canst thou say of me, that I am abased by my troubles? THESEUS Forward! HERACLES Farewell, my aged sire! AMPHITRYON Farewell to thee, my son! HERACLES Bury my children as I said.

AMPHITRYON But who will bury me, my son? HERACLES I will. AMPHITRYON When wilt thou come? HERACLES After thou hast buried my children. AMPHITRYON How? HERACLES I will fetch thee 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 in the wake of Theseus, totally destroyed. Whoso prefers wealth or might to the possession of good friends, thinketh amiss. (THESEUS and his attendants lead HERACLES away.) CHORUS (chanting) With grief and many a bitter tear we go our way, robbed of all we prized most dearly. THE END