The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I | Page 8

pity thy fortune.
POLYX. I see, Ulysses, that thou art hiding thy hand beneath thy robe,
and turnest thy face away, that I may not touch thy beard. Be not afraid;
thou hast avoided my suppliant Jove; for I will follow thee both on
account of fate, and even wishing to die; but if I were not willing, I
should appear base, and too fond of life. For wherefore should I live,
whose father was monarch of all the Trojans; this my dawn of life.
Then was I nurtured under fair hope, a bride for princes, having no
small competition for my hand, to whose palace and hearth I should
come. But I, wretched now, was mistress among the Trojan women,
and conspicuous in the train of virgins, equal to goddesses, death only
excepted. But now I am a slave; first of all the very name, not being
familiar, persuades me to love death. Then perhaps I might meet with

masters cruel in disposition, who will buy me for silver, the sister both
of Hector and many other [heroes.] And imposing the task of making
bread in his palace, will compel me, passing the day in misery, both to
sweep the house, and stand at the loom. And some slave somewhere
purchased will defile my bed, before wooed by princes. This never
shall be. I will quit this light from mine eyes free, offering my body to
Pluto. Lead on then, Ulysses, conduct me to death; for I see neither
confidence of hope, nor of expectation, present to me that I can ever
enjoy good fortune. But do thou, my mother, in no wise hinder me by
your words or by your actions; but assent to my death before I meet
with indignities unsuited to my rank. For one who has not been
accustomed to taste misfortunes bears indeed, but grieves, to put his
neck under the yoke. But he would be far more blessed in death than in
life; for to live otherwise than honorably is a great burden.
CHOR. It is a great and distinguishing feature among men to be born of
generous parents, and the name of nobility of birth among the
illustrious, proceeds from great to greater still.
HEC. You have spoken honorably, my daughter, but in that honorable
dwells grief. But if the son of Peleus must be gratified, and you must
escape blame, Ulysses, kill not her; but leading me to the pyre of
Achilles, strike me, spare me not; I brought forth Paris, who destroyed
the son of Thetis, having pierced him with his arrows.
ULYSS. The phantom of Achilles did not demand that thou, O aged
lady, but that thy daughter here should die.
HEC. Do thou then at least slay me with my daughter, and there will be
twice the libation of blood for the earth, and the dead who makes this
request.
ULYSS. Thy daughter's death suffices; one must not be heaped on
another; would that we required not even this one.
HEC. There is a strong necessity for me to die with my daughter.
ULYSS. How so? for I am not aware of any master that I have.

HEC. As the ivy the oak, so will I clasp her.
ULYSS. Not so; if you will take the advice of your superiors in
knowledge.
HEC. Never will I willingly quit my child here.
ULYSS. Nor will I leave this place without the virgin.
POLYX. Mother, be persuaded; and thou, son of Laertes, be gentle to a
parent with reason moved to anger. But thou, O wretched mother,
contend not with conquerors. Dost thou wish to fall on the earth and to
wound thy aged flesh dragged by violence, and to suffer the indignity
of being torn by a youthful arm? which things you will suffer. Do not, I
pray thee, for it is not seemly. But, my dear mother, give me thy
beloved hand, and grant me to join cheek to cheek; since never
hereafter, but now for the last time shall I behold the rays of the sun
and his bright orb. Receive my last address, O mother! O thou that
bearedst me, I am going below.
HEC. And I, O daughter, shall be a slave in the light of day.
POLYX. Without the bridegroom, without the bridal song, which I
ought to have obtained.
HEC. Mournful thou, my child; but I am a wretched woman.
POLYX. There shall I lie in darkness far from thee.
HEC. Alas me, what shall I do? where end my life?
POLYX. I shall die a slave, born of a free father.
HEC. But I bereft indeed of fifty children.
POLYX. What message shall I bear to Hector, and to thy aged
husband?
HEC. Tell them that I am most miserable of all women.

POLYX. O