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430 BC

THE TRACHINIAE
by Sophocles

transalated by R. C. Jebb
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

DEIANEIRA
NURSE

HYLLUS, son of HERACLES and DEIANEIRA
MESSENGER

LICHAS, the herald of HERACLES
HERACLES

AN OLD MAN
CHORUS OF TRACHINIAN MAIDENS

THE TRACHINIAE
(SCENE:- At Trachis, before the house of HERACLES.

Enter DEIANEIRA from the house, accompanied by the NURSE.)
DEIANEIRA

THERE is a saying among men, put forth of old, that thou canst not
rightly judge whether a mortal's lot is good or evil, ere he die.

But I, even before I have passed to the world of death, know well that
my life is sorrowful and bitter; I, who in the house of my father

Oeneus, while yet I dwelt at Pleuron, had such fear of bridals as
never vexed any maiden of Aetolia. For my wooer was a river-god,

Achelous, who in three shapes was ever asking me from my sire,- coming
now as a bull in bodily form, now as serpent with sheeny coils, now

with trunk of man and front of ox, while from a shaggy beard the
streams of fountain-water flowed abroad. With the fear of such a

suitor before mine eyes, I was always praying in my wretchedness
that I might die, or ever I should come near to such a bed.

But at last, to my joy, came the glorious son of Zeus and Alcmena;
who dosed with him in combat, and delivered me. How the fight was

waged, I cannot clearly tell, I know not; if there be any one who
watched that sight without terror, such might speak: I, as I sat

there, was distraught with dread, lest beauty should bring me sorrow
at the last. But finally the Zeus of battles ordained well,- if well

indeed it be: for since I have been joined to Heracles as his chosen
bride, fear after fear hath haunted me on his account; one night

brings a trouble, and the next night, in turn, drives it out. And then
children were born to us; whom he has seen only as the husbandman sees

his distant field, which he visits at seedtime, and once again at
harvest. Such was the life that kept him journeying to and fro, in the

service of a certain master.
But now, when he hath risen above those trials,- now it is that my

anguish is sorest. Ever since he slew the valiant Iphitus, we have
been dwelling here in Trachis, exiles from our home, and the guests of

stranger; but where he is, no one knows; I only know that he is
gone, and hath pierced my heart with cruel pangs for him. I am

almost sure that some evil hath befallen him; it is no short space
that hath passed, but ten long months, and then five more,- and

still no message from him. Yes, there has been some dread
mischance;- witness that tablet which he left with me ere he went

forth: oft do I pray to the gods that I may not have received it for
my sorrow.

NURSE
Deianeira, my mistress, many a time have I marked thy bitter tears

and lamentations, as thou bewailedst the going forth of Heracles;
but now,- if it be meet to school the free-born with the counsels of a

slave, and if I must say what behoves thee,- why, when thou art so
rich in sons, dost thou send no one of them to seek thy lord;- Hyllus,

before all, who might well go on that errand, if he cared that there
should be tidings of his father's welfare? Lo! there he comes,

speeding towards the house with timely step; if, then, thou deemest
that I speak in season, thou canst use at once my counsel, and the

man.
(HYLLUS comes in from the side.)

DEIANEIRA
My child, my son, wise words may fall, it seems, from humble lips;

this woman is a slave, but hath spoken in the spirit of the free.
HYLLUS

How, mother? Tell me, if it may be told.
DEIANEIRA

It brings thee shame, she saith, that, when thy father hath been
so long a stranger, thou hast not sought to learn where he is.

HYLLUS
Nay, I know,- if rumour can be trusted.

DEIANEIRA
And in what region, my child, doth rumour place him?

HYLLUS
Last year, they say, through all the months, he toiled as

bondman to Lydian woman.
DEIANEIRA

If he bore that, then no tidings can surprise.
HYLLUS

Well, he has been delivered from that, as I hear.
DEIANEIRA

Where, then, is he reported to be now,- alive or dead?
HYLLUS

He is waging or planning a war, they say, upon Euboea, the realm
of Eurytus.

DEIANEIRA
Knowest thou, my son, that he hath left with me sure oracles

touching that land?
HYLLUS

What are they, mother? I know not whereof thou speakest.
DEIANEIRA

That either he shall meet his death, or, having achieved this
task, shall have rest thenceforth, for all his days to come.

So, my child, when his fate is thus trembling in the scale, wilt
thou not go to succour him? For we are saved, if he find safety, or we

perish with him.
HYLLUS

Ay, I will go, my mother; and, had I known the import of these
prophecies, I had been there long since; but, as it was, my father's

wonted fortune suffered me not to feel fear for him, or to be
anxious overmuch. Now that I have the knowledge, I will spare no pains

to learn the whole truth in this matter.
DEIANEIRA

Go, then, my son; be the seeker ne'er so late, he is rewarded if
he learn tidings of joy.

(HYLLUS departs as the CHORUS OF TRACHINIAN MAIDENS enters. They
are free-born young women of Trachis who are friends and confidantes

of DEIANEIRA. She remains during their opening choral song.)
CHORUS (singing)

strophe 1
Thou whom Night brings forth at the moment when she is despoiled

of her starry crown, and lays to rest in thy splendour, tell me,
pray thee, O Sun-god, tell me where abides Alcmena's son? Thou

glorious lord of flashing light, say, is he threading the straits of
the sea, or hath he found an abode on either continent? Speak, thou

who seest as none else can see!
antistrophe 1

For Deianeira, as I hear, hath ever an aching heart; she, the
battle-prize of old, is now like some bird lorn of its mate; she can

never lull her yearning, nor stay her tears; haunted by a sleepless
fear for her absent lord, she pines on her anxious, widowed couch,

miserable in her foreboding of mischance.
strophe 2

As one may see billow after billowdriven over the wide deep by
the tireless south-wind or the north, so the trouble of his life,

stormy as the Cretan sea, now whirls back the son of Cadmus, now lifts
him to honour. But some god ever saves him from the house of death,

and suffers him not to fail.
antistrophe 2

Lady, I praise not this thy mood; with all reverence will I speak,
yet in reproof. Thou dost not well, I say, to kill fair hope by

fretting; remember that the son of Cronus himself, the all-disposing
king, hath not appointed a painless lot for mortals. Sorrow and joy

come round to all, as the Bear moves in his circling paths.
epode

Yea, starry night abides not with men, nor tribulation, nor
wealth; in a moment it is gone from us, and another hath his turn of

gladness, and of bereavement. So would I wish thee also, the Queen, to
keep that prospect ever in thy thoughts; for when hath Zeus been found

so careless of his children?
DEIANEIRA

Ye have heard of my trouble, I think, and that hath brought you
here; but the anguish which consumes my heart- ye are strangers to

that; and never may ye learn it by suffering! Yes, the tender plant
grows in those sheltered regions of its own! and the Sun-god's heat

vexes it not, nor rain, nor any wind; but it rejoices in its sweet,
untroubled being, til such time as the maiden is called a wife, and

finds her portion of anxious thoughts in the night, brooding on danger
to husband or to children. Such an one could understand the burden

of my cares; she could judge them by her own.
Well, I have had many a sorrow to weep for ere now; but I am going

to speak of one more grievous than them all.
When Heracles my lord was going from home on his last journey,

he left in the house an ancient tablet, inscribed with tokens which he
had never brought himself to explain to me before, many as were the

ordeals to which he had gone forth. He had always departed as if to
conquer, not to die. But now, as if he were a doomed man, he told me

what portion of his substance I was to take for my dower, and how he
would have his sons share their father's land amongst them. And he

fixed the time; saying that, when a year and three months should
have passed since he had left the country, then he was fated to die;

or, if he should have survived that term, to live thenceforth an
untroubled life.

Such, he said, was the doom ordained by the gods to be
accomplished in the toils of Heracles; as the ancient oak at Dodona

had spoken of yore, by the mouth of the two Peleiades. And this is the
precise moment when the fulfilment of that word becomes due; so that I

start up from sweet slumber, my friends, stricken with terror at the
thought that I must remain widowed of the noblest among men.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Hush- no more ill-omened words; I see a man approaching, who wears

a wreath, as if for joyoustidings.
(A MESSENGER enters.)

MESSENGER
Queen Deianeira, I shall be the first of messengers to free thee

from fear. Know that Alcmena's son lives and triumphs, and from battle
brings the first-fruits to the gods of this land.

DEIANEIRA
What news is this, old man, that thou hast told me?

MESSENGER
That thy lord, admired of all, will soon come to thy house,

restored to thee in his victorious might.
DEIANEIRA

What citizen or stranger hath told thee this?
MESSENGER

In the meadow, summer haunt of oxen, Lichas the herald is
proclaiming it to many: from him I heard it, and flew hither, that I

might be the first to give thee these tidings, and so might reap
some guerdon from thee, and win thy grace.

DEIANEIRA
And why is he not here, if he brings good news?

MESSENGER
His task, lady, is no easy one; all the Malian folk have

thronged around him with questions, and he cannot move forward: each
and all are bent on learning what they desire, and will not release

him until they are satisfied. Thus their eagerness detains him against
his will; but thou shalt presently see him face to face.



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