EURIPIDES
HERAKLES
[HERCULES FURENS](1)
Translated by Ian Johnston
Vancouver Island University
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Canada
2022
This translation, first published on the internet in 2022 and revised in minor ways since, is in the public domain (released January 2024) and thus may be downloaded and distributed, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge. It may also be freely edited and adapted to suit the particular needs of the person using it.
This document is available in RTF and PDF formats at the following sites: Herakles (RTF) and Herakles (PDF)
Introductory Note
In numbering the lines in the following English text, the translator has normally included a short indented line with the short line immediately above it, so that two or three partial lines count as a single line in the reckoning. The line numbers in square brackets refer to the Greek text; line numbers without brackets refer to the English text.
Herakles was first performed in Athens c. 416 BC.
Dramatis Personae
AMPHITRYON: mortal father of
Herakles, an old man.
MEGARA: wife of Herakles.
CHORUS: citizens of Thebes.(2)
LYCUS: new ruler of Thebes.
HERAKLES: son of Zeus.
IRIS: divine messenger of the gods.
LYSSA: goddess of madness.
MESSENGER: servant in Herakles's home.
THESEUS: ruler of Athens.
SONS OF HERAKLES AND MEGARA: three young boys.
ATTENDANTS, SOLDIERS.
[Outside the home of Herakles in Thebes.
Amphitryon, Megara, and the three young sons of Herakles sit beside an altar to
Zeus, where they have sought protection against Lycus, the new tyrant-ruler of
Thebes. Behind the altar is the front door of Herakles's house or palace.]
AMPHITRYON
What mortal does not know about the
man
who shared his wife with Zeus?
People call him
Amphitryon from Argos. He was born
some time ago to Alcaeus, the son
of Perseus.(3) Amphitryon was father
to Herakles, who lived right here
in Thebes,
where from the dragon’s teeth that
Cadmus sowed
arose a harvest crop of earth-born
giants.
War god Ares spared a few of them,
and their children’s children now
live in Thebes,
10
city of Cadmus.(4) From them sprang
Creon,
son of Menoeceus and king of
Thebes.
He fathered Megara. Some years ago
all the citizens of Cadmus’ city
[10]
escorted her, singing wedding
songs,
while flute music played, as
splendid Herakles
led her to my home. Later Herakles
moved away from Thebes, where I was
settled,
leaving Megara and her relations.
He was eager to live in Argolis,
20
a walled city built by the
Cyclopes.(5)
I had run away from there, an exile,
because I had murdered
Electryon.(6)
So Herakles, to ease my punishment
and keen to have a home in his own
land,
offered Eurystheus a rich reward,
if he would permit me to return:
he said that he would civilize the
land
[20]
by getting rid of all the savage
monsters.
Hera may have goaded him to do
this,
30
or perhaps his fate had turned
against him.(7)
The work he had to do was onerous,
but he has finished all his tasks
but one.
To complete the final labour, he
went through
the mouth of Taenarus down to
Hades,
to drag that triple-bodied
hound back
up
into the light.(8) He has not yet
returned.
Now, the Cadmeans tell an ancient
tale
about a man called Lycus, the
husband
of Dirce. He was master of this
city
40
with its seven towers, before
Zethus
and Amphion, both sons of Zeus, who
rode
on milk-white horses, became kings
of Thebes.
[30]
His son, who has the same name as
his father,
was not from Thebes—he was a
foreigner
from Euboea. He murdered Creon,
and after the killing ruled the
country,
for he had attacked the city at a
time
when it was suffering from civil
strife.
So our family relationship to Creon
50
will probably be very bad for us.
For now my son is in some dark
corner
of the world below, the new king,
Lycus,
wishes to destroy Herakles’s
children,
his wife, and me (as if my feeble
age
would still make me a man), so one
blood feud
[40]
can be extinguished by another one,
and these young boys will not grow
into men
who could seek vengeance for the
slaughter
of their mother’s family. So my son
60
left me in this house to rear his
children
and look after things, while he
makes his way
into the pitch-black darkness of
the earth.
I am sitting here at the altar of
Zeus
the Saviour with my son’s wife,
Megara,
to help prevent the sons of
Herakles
from being murdered. My heroic son
had this altar built to commemorate
his splendid triumph over the
Minyae.
[50]
We guard our seats here very
carefully,
70
for we are in need of
everything—food,
drink, and clothing—and we lie down
to sleep
on the bare cold earth. Our home is
sealed shut,
so we stay here in order to be
safe.
As for our friends, some of them, I
notice,
are uncertain, and others who are
loyal
find it impossible to offer us
any further help. This is what men
mean
by being unfortunate. I hope that
no one
who feels even the least good will
to me
80
ever has to test this unerring
proof
of friendship.
MEGARA
Old friend, who once led the army
[60]
of the Thebans to splendid victory
by destroying the city of the
Taphians,
the ways gods deal with men are
never certain.
Look at me. Good fortune never
ignored
my father, and he was once
considered
an important man, because he was so
rich
and ruled the city. But most people
crave
wealth and power and like to throw
long spears
90
at those who are successful. My
father
had children, too. He gave me to
your son,
uniting me in a splendid marriage
with Herakles. And now all that has
gone—
it has flown away—and you and I,
old man,
[70]
are going to die, and these
children, too,
the sons of Herakles, whom I keep
safe
underneath my wings, like a bird
holding
her chicks close to her. The boys
question me,
one after the other, “Mother, tell
us,
100
where has our father gone? What is
he doing?
When will he be back?” They keep on
asking
about their father—they are
bewildered
as children often are. I change the
subject
or make up stories. But I am
astonished
whenever the doors creak, how they
jump up,
all eager to embrace their father’s
knees.
So now, old friend, what hope do we
still have?
What route to safety are you
preparing?
[80]
For that I look to you. We cannot
move
110
in secret beyond the borders of
this land,
there are too many people watching
us
at the exit points, and we no
longer
have any hope of safety in our
friends.
Whatever you are planning, let me
know,
in case they are preparing for our
deaths.
AMPHITRYON
My daughter, it is not a trivial
or simple matter to provide advice
on things like this, not without
hard work.
Since we lack power to do anything,
120
we should just delay.
MEGARA
Do you want more grief?
[90]
Or are you still that much in love
with life?
AMPHITRYON
I rejoice in life, and I cherish
hope.
MEGARA
So do I, old friend. But you should
not hope
for something we have no right to
expect.
AMPHITRYON
The remedy for what is troubling us
lies in delays.
MEGARA
But I find the time they take
is painful—like a lingering bite.
AMPHITRYON
My daughter, there may be a useful
way
for you and me to escape the
hardships
130
we are facing now. My son, your
husband,
may still come back. So keep calm.
Wipe the tears
flowing from your children’s eyes.
Soothe their spirits
with words—make up stories to
divert them,
even though such deceit is to be
pitied.
[100]
For even human sufferings grow
weary,
and storm winds do not retain their
force
forever, nor are successful people
always prosperous to the very end.
All things change from one thing to
another.
140
The finest men are those who always
keep
their hopes alive, and giving up
all hope
signifies the man who is a coward.
[Enter the Chorus.]
CHORUS
I have come here, to this
high-roofed house
and old man’s resting place,
propped up this way
by my staff, chanting a mournful
song,
[110]
like some old grey bird. I am just
a voice,
a dream vision of the night, a
phantom,
trembling with old age, but prepared
to help.
Ah, lads, you boys without a
father,
150
and you, old man and you, you poor
mother,
grieving for your man down in Hades’
halls.
Do not let your heavy feet, arms,
and legs
give up, like a young horse under
the yoke
[120]
who slackens on a stony hill
dragging
a heavy burden in a four-wheeled wagon.
Whoever feels his footsteps growing
weak
should hold someone else’s hand or
clothing.
Let each old man help out another
one,
like when we were young and under
arms,
160
battle comrades toiling with new
spears,
so many years ago—we were no
disgrace
to our glorious native land!
Look at these boys!
See how their father’s spirit is
flashing
[130]
in their eyes. His unhappy fortunes
have not left these children
unaffected,
but they retain his graceful
manliness.
O Hellas, if you lose citizens like
these
think of the kind of allies you
will miss.
CHORUS
But I see Lycus, king of Thebes,
approaching—
170
he is coming past the house.
[Enter Lycus with attendants.]
LYCUS
I would like to ask a question, if
I may,
[140]
to Herakles’s father and his wife.
Indeed, as your lord and master, I
have
a right to ask you what I wish to
know.
How much do you desire to prolong
your lives?
What hope or what assistance can
you see
that will rescue you from death? Do
you believe
the father of these children, who
now lies
in Hades, will return? You
exaggerate
180
your grief at having to die in a
manner
that is unworthy of you, a man who
spread vain boasts throughout all
Hellas that Zeus
shared your marriage bed and was
your partner
in producing children, and you who
say
you are wife to the very best of
men.
But has your husband ever
accomplished
something notable? What if he did
kill
the hydra in a marsh or that
monstrous lion
of Nemea? He caught it in a snare,
190
although he claims he seized it
with his arms
and strangled it. Are these stories
the weapons
your are going to use to fight
against me?
Is this the reason Herakles’s
children
ought not to die? He has a
reputation
as a courageous man in his
struggles
with wild beasts, but these mean
very little—
for all other things he has no
heart at all.
He never strapped a shield on his
left arm
or approached a band of hostile
spearmen.
200
[160]
No. He fights with a bow, a
coward’s weapon,
always ready to run away. The
bow
is no proof of manliness or
courage—
not like the man who stands and
holds his ground
and dares to face the flying
spears, whose wounds
can lacerate his flesh. What I am
doing,
old man, is not insolence but
caution.
For I am quite aware that I killed
Creon,
this woman’s father, and occupy his
throne.
So I have no desire to see these
boys
210
grow into men and then take their
revenge
on me for the crimes I have
committed.
AMPHITRYON
Let Zeus defend his interest in his
son.
[170]
For my part, Herakles, it’s up to
me
to show in what I say this man’s
ignorance
about you. For I will not allow
myself
to listen to any man defaming you.
First then, to call Herakles a
coward
is, in my view, a shameful use of
words,
an expression he never should have
uttered.
220
With the gods as witnesses, I must
refute
that allegation for you. I appeal
to Zeus’s thunder and the chariot
Herakles was in when his winged
arrows
struck those earth-born Giants in
the ribs,
and with the gods he could then
celebrate
[180]
a splendid victory.(9) Or go to
Pholoe,
you despicable king, and ask that
race
of insolent four-legged Centaurs
who they would judge the bravest
man of all.
230
They will say my son, the man you
claim
is just a charlatan.(10) And if you
asked
Dirphys in Euboea, your native
land,
it would not sing your praises. Why
should it?
Your have never done a single noble
deed
to which your country could bear
witness.
Then you denigrate that clever
instrument,
the archer’s bow and arrows. But
come now,
listen to me and and learn
something useful.
A hoplite heavily armed becomes
enslaved 240
[190]
to his own weapons, and if those in the
ranks
are not brave enough, he himself is
killed,
thanks to the cowardice of his
companions.(11)
If he breaks his spear, he cannot
protect
his body from a lethal wound, for
he has
only one way he can defend himself.
A man who holds a bow whose aim is
true
only has one weapon, but it is the
best.
By shooting countless arrows at
other men
he protects his body and does not
die.
250
He keeps his distance and holds the
enemy
in check. They stay on watch, but
his arrows
are invisible and inflict harsh
wounds.
He remains hidden from his enemies
[200]
but constantly on guard—and this
tactic
is by far the wisest course in
battle,
to hurt the enemy and protect
yourself,
without relying on chance. These
arguments
of mine are the opposite of your
own
concerning the matter we were
discussing.
260
Now, why do you wish to kill these
children?
What have they done to you? I will
concede
that in one way you are acting
prudently—
being yourself a coward, you are
afraid
of a noble man’s descendants. That
fear
is hard on us, if your craven
nature
[210]
means we have to die. We are your
betters
and would have made you suffer, if
Zeus
had been more righteous in his
heart to us.
But if you wish to hold onto the
sceptre
270
of this land, then let us leave as
exiles,
and do not act with violence, or
else
you yourself will have to suffer
violence,
when gods change the winds of your
good fortune.
Now, land of Cadmus, I turn to you,
as well,
with words of condemnation and
abuse.
Is this the way you defend Herakles
and his children, the man who all
alone
moved to fight those Minyans in
battle
[220]
and gave a glimpse of freedom to the Thebans
?(12) 280
I will not praise Hellas, nor will
I ever
remain silent about her wretched
conduct
towards my son. She should have
marched to Thebes
to help these young boys out,
bringing with them
fire and spearmen and warrior
armour,
to pay him back for all his weary
labours
in ridding the land and sea of
monsters.
But, my child, neither the Theban
city
nor Hellas is now offering any
help.
You look to me, but I’m a feeble
friend,
290
nothing now but a chattering
tongue.
The muscle I once used to have is
gone,
[230]
my limbs tremble with old age, and
my strength
has disappeared. If I were young
again
and my body still retained its
power,
I would have grabbed my spear and
sprinkled blood
on Lycus’s blond locks. I could
watch him flee
beyond the realm of Atlas, in
terror
of my spear.
CHORUS
Though often slow to start,
the best men have good reasons to
speak out.
300
LYCUS
Use whatever lofty language you
desire
when you talk about me. I will
respond
to your fine words with unwelcome
actions.
[Turning to his attendants]
You there, go to Helicon, and you
others
[240]
to the forest on Parnassus. Once
there,
tell the woodsmen to cut down logs
of oak.
Then bring the timber back into the
city.
Pile it around this altar, front
and back,
set it alight, and burn them all
alive,
so they can understand this
fact—the dead
310
no longer rule this land. I am now
its king.
[Turning his attention to the Chorus.]
And you old men, who oppose my
judgment,
you will be moaning not only for
these sons
of Herakles but also for new
troubles
in your home. And then you will
remember
[250]
that I am king and you are merely
slaves.
CHORUS [spoken by different individuals]
You offspring of the earth, once
sowed by Ares,
after he had hacked out all the
teeth
in the dragon’s ravenous jaws, why
not
raise the staff you have in your
right hand
320
and hit this heathen fellow on the
head
and make him bleed? He is not from
Thebes—
and that’s a great disgrace, a
foreigner
ruling younger men. But you will
never get
much joy from being my lord and
master.
Nor will you ever take what my
hands earned
after much hard work. You should go
back
[260]
to where you came from. Maltreat
people there.
As long as I’m alive, you will
never kill
the sons of Herakles. And he is not
hiding
330
so far beneath the earth that he’s
abandoned
his own sons.
Since you now possess this land
which you have ruined, Herakles,
our helper,
has not received the recognition he
deserves.
Should I work hard to assist
my friends
once they die, when friends are
needed most?
O right hand, how you yearn to grip
a spear,
but your lack of strength saps my
desire,
or else I would have stopped you
calling me a slave
[270]
and would have made a splendid
governor
340
of Thebes, a post you now enjoy. A
city
sick with civil strife and evil
counsel
does not think properly. If it did,
it would never take you as its
master.
MEGARA
Old friends, I commend you, for it is
right
that friends should feel a
justified resentment
on behalf of those they love, but
do not
provoke the tyrant by arguing our
cause
in case he makes you suffer. Now,
Amphitryon,
listen to what I think—you may find
something
350
in what I have to say. I love my
children.
How can I not love the ones I bore
[280]
and for whose sake I have worked so
hard?
I consider death a horrifying
thing,
but men who fight against necessity
are, in my view, foolish. Since we
must die,
let us not be eaten away by fire,
while our enemies laugh at us—to me
that is a dishonour far worse than
death.
In many things, we must act with
honour—
360
that is a debt we owe our families.
You are a splendid warrior—you have
your reputation—so for you to die
a coward’s death is just not
feasible.
My famous husband needs no
witnesses
[290]
to prove that he would never wish
to save
these children if it meant that
they would then
be labeled cowards. For the nobly
born
suffer from the shaming of their
children.
And I must not refuse to emulate
370
my husband’s actions. Now think
about
this—
I have considered what you are
hoping for.
Do you think your son will come
home to Thebes
from the world below? Who has ever
returned
from the dead and made it back from
Hades?
Or could you mollify this man Lycus
with soothing words? Surely not.
One should run
from stupid enemies and yield to
those
who are well bred and wise, for
with such men,
[300]
if you behave with proper modesty,
380
you can easily draw up a friendly
truce.
I have already pondered the idea
that if we were prepared to plead
our case,
he might send the children into
exile.
But what a wretched life—save them
from death
and then leave them in abject
poverty.
There is a saying that the face of
hosts
looks with pleasure at their exiled
friends
for just one single day. So have
the grace
to die with us, since whatever
happens,
390
death is waiting for you. I
challenge you,
old man, by your nobility of birth,
for whoever struggles against a
fate
set by the gods is a passionate
man,
[310]
but his passion is insane, for no
one
can ever interfere with what must
be.
CHORUS
If my arms had any strength and a
man
insulted you, I would have no
trouble
stopping him. But now I have no
power.
And so from now on you, Amphitryon,
400
must look for ways to evade
misfortune.
AMPHITRYON
It is not cowardice or love of life
that hinders me from dying. I
prefer
to save the children of my son. It
seems
I am in love with the impossible.
[Turning his attention to Lycus.]
Look! Here is my neck ready for
your sword—
stab me, kill me, or hurl me from
the rocks.
[320]
I’m begging you, my lord, to grant
both of us
one favour—kill me and this poor
mother
before you slay the children, so
that we
410
are spared that horrific sight, as
the boys
gasp out their final breath, while
calling for
their mother and their father’s
father.
As for all the rest, do whatever
you wish.
We have no way to save ourselves
from death.
MEGARA
I am also begging you to grant us
one more favour, so that you will
make
the two of us doubly indebted to
you.
Allow me to change my children’s
clothing
and dress them appropriately for
death,
420
by opening the house—at the moment
[330]
we are locked out—so that the three
of them
at least get something from their
father’s home.
LYCUS
That I will allow. I’ll tell my
servants
to unbolt the doors. Go inside and
dress.
I will not begrudge you your fine
garments,
but as soon as you have decked your
bodies,
I will be back to ship you off to
Hades.
[Exit Lycus with his attendants.]
MEGARA
Children, follow the unhappy
footsteps
of your mother into your father’s
house. 430
Other people now own his
possessions,
but we still have his name.
[Megara and the children enter the front doors of
the house.]
AMPHITRYON
O Zeus,
sharing my marriage bed with you
now seems
quite futile, and futile, too, was
calling you
[340]
a partner in the fathering of my
son.
For you are less a friend than you
appeared.
You are a powerful god, and yet I,
a mortal, am more virtuous than
you—
for I did not forsake the sons of
Herakles.
You were able to sneak into my bed 440
and have sex with the wife of
someone else,
without the man’s consent, yet you
cannot
come to the aid of friends and family.
Either you are a truly stupid god,
or else you are by nature quite unjust.
[Amphitryon exits into the house.]
CHORUS
After a song of joyous prosperity,
Phoebus is singing his own lament
for beautiful Linus, who is dead,
[350]
strumming the strings of his lyre
with a golden plectron. But I
wish
450
to chant my praise for the man
who has gone down to darkness
beneath the earth—a child of Zeus,
I call him, or of Amphitryon—
a crowning celebration of his
labours,
for the excellence of his noble
toil
is a glorious tribute to the dead.
First, in Zeus’s sacred grove
he killed the lion and wore
[360]
the tawny skin along his back
460
with his fair head thrust in the
gap
of the fearful gaping jaws.(13)
Once his lethal flying arrows
killed
the ferocious race of mountain
centaurs.
The lovely eddies of Peneus’s
stream
know him well and those far fields
that lie unharvested, the farms
on Pelion and the near-by caves
[370]
of Homole, the place from where
the centaurs rode, with torches
470
in their hands, to conquer Thessaly.
Then he killed the dappled deer
whose horns were made of gold,
the dreadful scourge of rustic
farmers,
and tribute to the goddess
Artemis.(14)
He rode out in a four-horse
chariot,
[380]
and with an iron bit he tamed
Diomedes’ horses, who ate
in their stables stained with
blood,
their gory jaws devouring with joy
480
the flesh of human beings, to sate
voracious man-eating appetites.(15)
Then he moved across the banks
of the silvery Hebrus stream,
still working for the tyrant of
Mycenae.(16)
And on a headland near mount
Pelion,
close to Anaurus’ flowing stream,
[390]
he slaughtered Cycnus with his
arrows,
a savage man dwelling in Amphanae,
who murdered all his guests.
490
He came to the singing maidens
and their orchard in the distant
west,
and once he had killed the dragon
there,
whose giant crimson coils twisted
around the tree and guarded it,
then from the leaves of gold
and apple-bearing boughs
he plucked the golden fruit.(17)
He moved to the Adriatic sea
[400]
and calmed the waves for mortal men
500
who row their ships across the
waves.
He came to the domain of Atlas
and, stretching up his arms,
held up the central part of heaven,
and on his manly shoulders bore
the starry palaces of the gods.(18)
Then he sailed through stormy
waters
of the Euxine sea against the
mounted force
of Amazons living around Maeotis,
a lake which many rivers feed.
510
[410]
He had gathered a group of friends
from Hellas to steal from the
warlike queen,
Hippolyta, her gold-flecked warrior
belt.
Hellas completed the dangerous
task,
capturing the glorious garment
of the barbarian queen and now
in the city of Mycenae it is
secure.(19)
Then he burned to ashes the hydra,
a murderous many-headed watchdog,
[420]
in Lyrna, and smeared its poison
520
on the arrows with which he killed
the triple-bodied shepherd Geryon
a monster who lived in Erytheia.(20)
And in many other glorious tests
you were successful. Now you have
sailed
to tearful Hades, your final
labour,
where you are finishing your life
of toil
and will not come back again. Now
your house
is bereft of friends, and Charon’s
boat
awaits your sons on that godless,
unjust path
530
out of this life, with no hope of
return.(21)
Your house is looking to you for
help,
although you are not here in
Thebes.
If I were young again with all my
strength,
and brandishing my spear in battle,
with my young Theban comrades by my
side,
I would have stood with courage by
your sons.
But now my blessed youth lies in
the past.
[440]
[Amphitryon, Megara, and the children enter from
the front door of the palace.]
CHORUS LEADER
But I see the children of Herakles,
who was in earlier days so
powerful,
540
all dressed up in clothing of the
dead,
with his loving wife is leading her
sons
as if tied up together. There’s the
old father
of Herakles. This is too much for
me—
I cannot stop the tears from
welling up
in both my ancient eyes. [450]
MEGARA
Here we are.
What priest or butcher will now put
to death
these unhappy children and end my
life?
The sacrificial victims are
prepared
to be escorted down to Hades’ home.
550
O my children, what an strange group we
are
being led away to die—old man,
young boys,
and mother, all together. What a
sad fate
for me and for my sons. This is the
last time
my eyes will see them. I gave birth
to you
and raised you so that our enemies
could mock, humiliate, and murder
you.
Alas! How much all the things I
hoped for [460]
have disappeared, the expectations
raised
from what your father promised.
[Megara now speaks to each of her sons in
turn]
Your dead father
560
wanted you to have command of Argos
and live in the home of Eurystheus,
with power over rich fruit-bearing
lands
in Thessaly. He would have liked to
throw
that lion’s skin over your head,
the one
he used himself to protect his
body.
[Turning to the second son]
And you were to be king of Thebes,
a city
famous for its chariots, and to
receive
as your inheritance your mother’s
land—
you begged your father to do that
for you.
570
And as a joke he put in your right
hand
[470]
that cunningly carved club he used
to use
as his defence.
[Turning to the third son.]
And to you he promised
to give Oechalia, which he ravaged
with his arrows years ago.
[Speaking to all the children]
Your father
wanted to ennoble his three
children
with three lands to rule—he was
planning
great things for when you reached
maturity.
Meanwhile, I was choosing brides
for you,
striving to forge family connections
580
with Athens, Thebes, and Sparta, so
that you
might have a prosperous life with
your ship
securely anchored by cables at the
stern.
All that has disappeared. Your
fortunes [480]
have changed and are giving you as
brides
the goddesses of death instead. My
tears
will be your wedding bath. When I
think of that
I feel so miserable. Your
grandfather
considers Hades father of the
brides
and is taking on the duties of a
father—
590
he will celebrate the marriage
feast.
Alas, which one of you will be the
first
I hold against my breast? Which one
the last?
Which one shall I kiss or hold
close to me?
I wish that, like the bees with
humming wings,
I could collect all my sighs
together,
blend them into one, and shed them
in a tear.
O my dearest Herakles, if the voice [490]
of any mortal being can be heard
in Hades, I am calling out to you—
600
your father and your sons are going
to die,
and I, too, will perish. Once,
thanks to you,
people thought me very fortunate.
Come and help us. Show yourself to
me,
even if you are a shade or just a
dream.
That will be enough, for these
murderers
of your children are all craven
fools.
AMPHITRYON
Lady, prepare the rites for the
world below.
O Zeus, I hold up my arms to heaven
and call on you—if you are
intending
610
to help these children, then
protect them now,
for soon all help from you will be
in vain. [500]
And yet we have prayed to you so
often.
The work I do is useless. It
seems
that nothing can prevent their
deaths.
[Amphitryon turns his attention to the Chorus.]
Old friends,
the business of this life does not
last long,
so you should pass through it as
pleasantly
as possible, with no suffering or
grief
from morning until night. Time does
not care
about keeping hopes alive. He stays
busy
620
with his own concerns, then flies
away.
Look at me—someone who was admired
by all men for notable
achievements—
yet fortune has taken that away
in a single day, just like a
feather [510]
that floats off in the breeze. I do
not know
any man whose great wealth and
reputation
are secure. Farewell, comrades. You
have seen
your dear companion for the final
time.
[Megara sees Herakles approaching.]
MEGARA
Ah! Old friend, am I really looking at
630
my husband? What can I say?
AMPHITRYON
I do not know,
my daughter. I am lost for words.
MEGARA
This is the man who we were told
was underneath the earth, unless it
is
a dream we are witnessing in
daylight.
What am I saying? I feel so
anxious.
What kind of vision am I looking
at?
Old man, this is none other than
your son!
Come here, children, cling to your
father’s robe. [520]
Go quickly—and don’t let go—for
this man
640
will protect you just as well as
Zeus.
[Enter Herakles. The children run over to him and
clutch his clothing.]
HERAKLES
Greetings to my home, to my gates
and hearth!
How glad I am to see you once
again,
now that I have come up into the
light.
Just a moment! What is going on
here?
I see my sons standing outside the
doors
dressed in robes of death, with
garlands wrapped
around their heads, and in that
crowd of men,
my wife and father weeping. What is
wrong?
I’ll move up closer to them and
find out.
[Herakles moves over to Megara and Amphitryon.]
Lady,
650
what new disaster has fallen on our
house? [530]
MEGARA
O you dearest of all men . . .
AMPHITRYON
O ray of light
shining for your father . . .!
MEGARA
You have come back
safe and sound, in time to save
your family.
HERAKLES
What are you talking about? Father,
What difficulties have I come home
to?
MEGARA
We are going to be killed. Forgive
me,
old friend, if I preempt your right
to be the first to tell him about
this.
Females are perhaps more sensitive
than men,
660
and he was about to slay my
children.
and I, too, was about to face my
deathl.
HERAKLES
By Apollo, what an introduction
to your story!
MEGARA
My brothers are dead
and my old father.
HERAKLES
How did that happen?
[540]
Who did it? Whose spear struck him
down?
MEGARA
It was Lycus, the new king of
Thebes,
who killed him.
HERAKLES
Was everybody fighting?
Was Thebes infected with
sedition?
MEGARA
Yes, with civil war. Now he holds
power
670
in seven-gated Thebes.
HERAKLES
Why are you
and my old father so terrified?
MEGARA
Lycus was going to kill your father
and the children and me, as well.
HERAKLES
What are you saying?
Why was he afraid of my orphan
boys?
MEGARA
He worried they might one day seek
revenge
for Creon’s death.
HERAKLES
Why are the children wearing
these clothes, as if they are
preparing
for the world below?
MEGARA
We have put on these robes
to dress for our own deaths.
HERAKLES
Were you being forced
680
to dress for your own deaths?
That’s horrible!
[550]
MEGARA
Our friends have disappeared, and
we were told
that you had died.
HERAKLES
Where did the idea
that I was dead come from?
MEGARA
There were heralds
from Eurystheus--they announced it.
HERAKLES
Why did you abandon my hearth and
home?
MEGARA
We were forced to. Your father was
dragged
out of his bed.
HERAKLES
Did Lycus not feel shame
dishonouring an old man like that?
MEGARA
Lycus and goddess Shame live far
apart.
690
HERAKLES
Did I have no friends, when I was
far away?
MEGARA
What man in misfortune has any
friends?
HERAKLES
Have they forgotten how much I went
through
in those battles with the Minyans? [560]
MEGARA
To repeat what I just told you,
misfortune
has no friends.
HERAKLES
These reminders of the world
below, 700
take them off your heads. Look up at the
daylight.
Instead of the darkness of the
underworld,
let your eyes linger on the
friendly sky.
But now my hands have work to do in
Thebes.
First, I will go and totally
demolish
this new tyrant’s home. Then I will
hack off
the ungodly villain’s head and hurl
him
to the dogs to rip apart. If I find
any Theban who has acted badly
after all the good things I did for
him,
I will smash him with my
all-conquering club. [570]
With my feathered arrows I will
destroy them
and fill Ismenus full of bloody
corpses,
and Dirce’s crystal streams will run blood
red. 710
Who should I protect more than my
wife,
my children, and my father?
Farewell then
to all my labours! That toil was
futile.
I should have been protecting my
own sons
and been prepared to die to keep
them safe,
since they were all about to suffer
death
because of their own father. Will
we say
it is a noble act to fight the
hydra
and that lion for king Eurystheus, [580]
if I do not fight hard to save my
sons
720
from being killed? I will no longer
have
that splendid name I had in earlier
days—
“Herakles the Glorious Conqueror.”
CHORUS
It is right for parents to help
their children,
their aged fathers, and their
marriage partners.
AMPHITRYON
My son, it is in your nature to
love
your family and hate your enemies.
But do not act too rashly.
HERAKLES
Father,
how am I being more hasty than I
should?
AMPHITRYON
King Lycus has many allies—poor men
730
who talk about the riches they
possess.
They created discord in the city
[590]
and destroyed the state, because
they wished
to rob their neighbours, for the
wealth they had
in their own homes had disappeared,
squandered
by their idleness. Someone must
have seen you
entering the city. If anybody did,
you must take care you do not unite
them
and get murdered when you least
expect it.
HERAKLES
I do not care if the whole city saw
me.
740
But I glimpsed a bird in an
inauspicious place
and knew my family was in
trouble.(22)
So I stole into the city secretly.
AMPHITRYON
Good. Now go inside and greet the
goddess
of the hearth and home. Let your
father’s house [600]
observe your face. The king will
soon arrive
in person to haul away your
children
and your wife. Then he will have
them murdered.
He will also slaughter me. If you
stay here
things will turn out well—and you
will be safe.
750
That should work to your advantage,
too.
But do not stir up trouble in the
city,
my son, until you have things well
in hand.
HERAKLES
I will do that. What you advise is
good.
I will go in the house. After
coming back
from the sunless depths of the
world below
and queen Persephone, I will not
fail
to speak first to the gods beneath
my roof.(23)
AMPHITRYON
My son, did you really go down to
Hades?
[610]
HERAKLES
Yes. And I carried that
three-headed monster
760
Cerberus back up into the daylight.
AMPHITRYON
Did you beat him in a fight, or get
him
from the goddess?
HERAKLES
It was in a fight.
I had a chance to see the secret
rites
of the initiated.(24)
AMPHITRYON
And is that beast
in Eurystheus’s home?
HERAKLES
It is being held
in the grove of Demeter in Hermione.
AMPHITRYON
Does Eurystheus know you have
returned
to the upper world?
HERAKLES
No. I came here first
to find out what was going on.
AMPHITRYON
How is it
770
you remained so long in the world
below?
HERAKLES
I spent some time
trying to get
Theseus
out of Hades.(25)
AMPHITRYON
Where is he? Has he gone home, [620]
back to his own land?
HERAKLES
He has gone to Athens,
happy to have escaped the
underworld.
But come, my boys, accompany your
father
into the house. I suppose you are
happier
going in than you were when you
came out.
You must have courage, and stop
those tears
streaming from your eyes. You too,
my lady,
780
pull yourself together, stop your
trembling.
Let go of my clothes. I do not have
wings,
and I am not about to run away
from those I love. Ah, they will
not let go
but hang on to my clothing even
more.
Were you all walking on a razor’s
edge?
[630]
I will take them by the hand and
lead them,
pulling them behind me, like a big
ship
towing little boats. I will not
neglect
the care of my own children. All
people
790
are in this respect the same—they
love
their children, whether they are
better off
or paupers. Money creates
differences
among them—some have it, some do
not.
But every human being loves his
children.
[Herakles, Amphitryon, Megara, and the children
exit into the house, leaving the Chorus alone on stage]
CHORUS
I always loved the years when I was
young,
but old age now hangs heavy on my
head,
a burden weightier than Aetna’s
peak.
[640]
Its darkness on my eyes conceals
the light.
I would never never trade my
youthful years
800
for all the wealth of Asia’s kings
or houses
stuffed with gold. For rich and
poor alike,
the most glorious years are when
we’re young.
I hate old age, a mournful, deadly
time.
I wish it would sink down beneath
the waves [650]
and never move into the homes and
cities
of mortal men or else be carried
off,
drifting away in the wind on wings.
If gods were intelligent and wise
in how they dealt with human
beings,
810
they would have given men a second
youth,
a visible mark for those who have
displayed
[660]
their human excellence. After they
were dead,
they would once more come back into
the light
and run a second course. The meanly
born
would only have one life. If this
were done,
we could all distinguish the good
people
from the bad, just as sailors
recognize
the number of the stars among the
clouds.
But now there is no useful boundary
820
set by the gods between the good
and bad,
[670]
and as the years roll by, the only
thing
that grows in power is human
wealth.
I will not stop from blending into
one
that sweetest of all combinations—
the Graces and the Muses.(26) I hope
I never have to live without the Muses
and will always be with those who
wear
garlands of honour and of great
success.
The ancient singer still celebrates
830
his memories, and so I will still
sing
of gloriously triumphant Herakles,
[680]
as long as Bromius, giver of wine,
is close to me, while
seven-stringed lutes
and Libyan flutes are still playing
on.
I will not stop singing the Muses’
praise,
for they are the ones who get me
dancing.
The women of Delos sing their
joyful song,
as they circle around the temple
gates,
in honour of Leto’s glorious son,
840
the beautiful dancer.(27) So my old
lips
[690]
will cry out at your palace doors
my songs of joy, like a dying swan,
for my subject is worthy of my
praise—
a son of Zeus whose noble birth
is far surpassed by his glorious
deeds.
His labours have given mortal men
a tranquil life, for he has removed
so many monstrous and ferocious
beasts.
[700]
[Enter Amphitryon from the house and Lycus and
some attendants from the street.]
LYCUS
It is time you finally left your
house,
850
Amphitryon. You have already taken
far too long dressing yourself in
robes
and ornaments of the dead. But come
now,
tell Herakles’s wife and children
to come here,
outside the house, and die in the
manner
you yourselves, of your own free
will, proposed.
AMPHITRYON
My lord, you harass me in my
misfortune
and pile insults on me over my dead
son.
Though you rule in Thebes, you
should moderate
your eagerness to have us killed.
But still,
860
since you state my death is a
necessity,
[710]
I must comply. We all must carry
out
whatever you think best.
LYCUS
Where is Megara?
Where are the children of Alcmene’s
son?(28)
AMPHITRYON [peering inside the doors of the house]
It seems to me, as far as I can
see,
looking through this doorway, that
she . . .
LYCUS [interrupting]
What do you think? Do you know for
sure?
AMPHITRYON
. . . is sitting as a suppliant on
the steps
of Hestia’s altar . . .
LYCUS [interrupting]
Imploring them in vain to save her
life!
870
AMPHITRYON
And making futile cries to her dead
husband.
LYCUS
He is not here, and he will never
come.
AMPHITRYON
No.
Not unless some god wakes him from
the dead.
LYCUS
Go to her, and bring her to the
palace.
[720]
AMPHITRYON
If I do that, I would be helping
you
commit her murder.
LYCUS
If you have misgivings,
I am not afraid to bring the mother
out,
together with her sons. Servants,
follow me,
so that we may happily bring this
matter
to its conclusion and then rest.
[Lycus and his retinue go into the house.]
AMPHITRYON
Go then.
880
Go and meet your fate. Someone else
will probably take care of all the
rest.
Since you acted badly, you can
expect
to meet with bad things in return.
[Amphitryon addresses the Chorus]
Old friends,
it is good that he is going inside.
He will get entangled in the meshes
of a net of swords, while he is
planning
the slaughter of his neighbours,
the monster!
[730]
I will go in to watch him collapse
and die,
for the killing of one’s enemy
brings joy,
890
when he is paying the price for his
misdeeds.
[Amphitryon goes in the house.]
CHORUS
Evil has reversed its course—the
man
who was once a mighty leader has
turned
his life away from Hades. Ah,
justice
and the recurring river of the
gods!
Finally you have reached a place
where death
[740]
will pay the penalty for the
insolence
you have shown towards your
betters.
My joy has made me weep. He has
come back!
My heart never expected this to
happen—
900
the lord and master of this land!
CHORUS LEADER
Come, old friends, we should look
inside the house,
to see if Herakles has fulfilled
our
hopes.
LYCUS [from within]
Help me! Help!
[750]
CHORUS LEADER
How I love to hear the start
of that singing inside the
house—his death
is not far off. Our lord and master
cries
the prelude to his death.
LYCUS [from within]
O land of Thebes
I am being killed! Treason!
CHORUS [speaking individually]
You are a killer and must pay the
price.
Be brave and face your retribution
now—
910
punishment for the evil you have
done.
Who was it that, although he was a
mortal,
foolishly abused the sacred
heavenly gods
by stupidly proclaiming they had no
power?
Old friends, that godless man is
now no more.
[760]
The house is silent. We should turn
to dancing.
My friends have been successful, as
I hoped.
Dancing, dances, and more
festivities
will now take over Thebes, our
sacred city.
A change from tears, a change in
fortune
920
gives birth to brand new songs. Our
recent king
has gone, our earlier king now
rules.
He left safe harbour down in
Acheron,
[770]
and now our hopes have been
fulfilled
beyond our wildest dreams.
The gods, the gods take care of the
unjust
and lend their ears to those who
honour them.
Good luck and gold can seduce men’s
hearts
and bring on after them an unjust
power.
For no man ever has sufficient
courage
930
to think how time can change his
fortune.
And so, neglecting laws for
lawlessness,
he shatters the black chariot of
success.
[780]
O Ismenus, bedeck yourself with
garlands!
You cobbled streets, begin the
choral dance
in seven-gated Thebes. Come Dirce,
loveliest of waters, you, too, you
nymphs
of Asopus, come from your father’s
stream,
and lend your voices to our song in
praise
of the splendid victory of
Herakles!
940
O tree-covered Pythian rock and home
[790]
of the Helicon Muses, you will come
to my city of Thebes with shouts of
joy,
to my walls, where that race of men
sown with the dragon’s teeth sprang
up,
a warrior band with shields of
brass,
passing our land to children’s
children,
a shining sacred light to Thebes.
O that marriage bed that two men
shared,
one mortal, the other Zeus himself,
950
who came to have sex with the
married bride,
[800]
Alcmene, grand-daughter of great
Perseus.
O Zeus, the story of your marriage
then
has in the past convinced me it is
true,
beyond all doubt, and time has
shown
the brilliant powers of Herakles,
who left the halls of Pluto
underground
and returned through caverns in the
earth below.
For me you are a more righteous
king
than that low-born lord, who will
now reveal,
960
in this struggle of sword-bearing
warriors,
whether justice is still pleasing
to the gods.
[Lyssa, goddess of madness, and Iris, the
messenger of the gods, appear on the roof of the palace.]
CHORUS
My friends, look! Has a sense of
fear and panic
overcome us all? What kind of
spirits
am I looking at up there—above the
house?
Run! Run! Hurry up! Get out of
here!
O lord Apollo, protect us from all
harm!
[820]
IRIS
Take heart, old men! This person
you see here
is Lyssa, daughter of Night. I am
Iris,
handmaid of the gods. We have not
come
970
to harm your city. No. We come to
fight
the house of just one man, the one
they call
a son of Zeus delivered by Alcmene.
Until he had completed all the
tasks
set by Eurystheus, his destiny
protected him, and his father Zeus
would not permit either Hera or
myself
to injure him. But now that he has
finished
[830]
all those onerous tasks, Hera
wishes him
to stain his hands once again with
blood
980
by killing his own children. And I
agree.
Come then, unmarried daughter of black Night,
harden your implacable heart. Drive
madness
into this man, disturb his mind,
until
he murders his own children, make
his feet
move uncontrollably, and goad him
on.
Unfurl the sails of slaughter so
that he,
after leading them across the
Acheron,
that beautiful group of children
round him
slain by his own hand, may
understand
990
just how much Hera is enraged at
him,
[840]
andl earn my anger, too. If
Herakles
escapes this punishment, the gods
will count
for nothing, and mortals will be
strong.
LYSSA
I was born into a noble family,
mother Night and the blood of
Ouranos.(29)
I do not use the powers I possess
if I am angry or annoyed with
friends,
nor am I fond of visiting the homes
of those I like. So before I
witness
1000
goddess Hera making a mistake—
and you, too, if you will pay
attention
to what I have to say—I wish to
offer
some advice. This man Herakles, the
one
whose home you are asking me to
enter,
is not unknown in heaven and on
earth,
[850]
After taming the pathless
wilderness
and the raging sea, using his own
strength
he restored the honours of the
gods,
when they were being attacked by
godless men.(30)
1010
So I would advise you not to wish
on him
such a huge disaster.
IRIS
There is no need
for your advice on what Hera and I
may well be scheming.
LYSSA
I am guiding your steps
towards a more desirable pathway
than the evil one you seek.
IRIS
The wife of Zeus
did not send you here to act with
prudence.
LYSSA
I call on sun god Helios to witness
that I am doing this against my
will.
But if I truly am being forced to
help
1020
you and Hera—and with all speed,
like a pack
[860]
of noisy hounds following the
hunter—
then I will go. Neither the angry
sea
with its howling waves nor an
earthquake
nor an agonizing blast of lightning
will be like the frantic assault I
launch
into Herakles’s chest. I will smash
his roof apart and then move
through the house.
First, I kill the sons. The man who
slays them
will not know that he is
slaughtering
1030
children he begot, not until I lift
my fit of madness. Just look at
him!
This is how it starts—with his head
tossing,
the fierce distorted pupils in his
eyes
rolling back and forth, in complete
silence.
He is breathing faster, like a
fierce bull
about to charge. He bellows,
calling out
[870]
to the goddesses of death in
Tartarus.(31)
Soon I will have you dancing—I will play
music of terror on my flute. So
Iris,
1040
you can be on your noble way,
soaring
up to Olympus, while I, in secret,
will slither into Herakles’s palace.
CHORUS
Alas, alas! We must all lament
the son of Zeus, the flower of our
city.
Unhappy Hellas, you will thrust him
out,
the one who did you so much good,
and demolish him as he is dancing
to the flutes in Lyssa’s frantic
madness.
The Gorgon child of Night is
climbing
1050
[880]
up into her chariot, queen of
grief,
with a hundred heads of serpents
hissing
in her hair, madness gleaming in
her eyes,
and, as if outraged, is goading her
team on.
She quickly changes his good
fortune—
soon his children will breathe no
more,
all slaughtered by their father’s
hand.
AMPHITRYON [from within the palace]
Alas! It’s horrible!
CHORUS
O Zeus, mad and unjust Vengeance,
who eats raw meat, will soon
overwhelm
1060
with misery your childless child.
[890]
AMPHITRYON [from within]
Alas for this house!
CHORUS
The dance begins without a
kettledrum,
no joyful waving of the Bacchic
wand.(32)
AMPHITRYON [from within]
Alas for this home!
CHORUS
Libations now will be of blood
and not with Dionysian wine.
AMPHITRYON [from within]
You children, run! Hurry!
CHORUS
That is death--death music of the
flute.
Now the hunter is chasing the
children.
1070
Lyssa will never leave her frenzied
dance
inside this house until her wishes
are fulfilled.
AMPHITRYON [from within]
Alas, the monstrous evil . . .
[900]
CHORUS
Alas, I mourn for the ancient
father
and the mother, too, who bore his
sons,
and all in vain. Look! Look! A
storm wind
shakes the house! The roof is
falling in!
HERAKLES [from within]
O Pallas, child of Zeus, what are
you doing
to this home? You are sending the
havoc
of Tartarus against my house, as you
did
1080
with Enceladus years ago.(33)
[A messenger enters from
inside Herakles's palace.]
MESSENGER
You there, you white-haired old
men!
CHORUS LEADER
Why that loud shout?
Are you addressing me?
[910]
MESSENGER
Inside the house there . . .
it’s horrific!
CHORUS
I don’t need another prophet
to tell me that.
MESSENGER
The children are dead.
CHORUS
Alas!
MESSENGER
You must weep. What has happened here
calls for a lament.
CHORUS
A dreadful slaughter!
Their parent’s savage hands!
MESSENGER
What we have suffered
is beyond what any man can tell.
CHORUS
How did it happen—this disaster
1090
with the children, the disaster
brought about by their own father.
Tell me how this catastrophe sent
from the gods attacked this home
and brought
[920]
such ruinous fate upon the
children.
MESSENGER
After Herakles had slaughtered
Lycus,
master of this land, and thrown the
body
out of the house, sacrificial
offerings
were placed before the altar of
great Zeus,
to purify the home. His lovely boys
1100
stood in a cluster with Amphitryon,
his father, and Megara. The basket
was by now being passed around the
altar,
and we were all observing holy
silence.
Herakles was about to bring the
torch
in his right hand and dip it in the
basin.
He stood there in silence. As he
waited,
[930]
the three children looked up at
their father.
He was not himself. He was in
distress—
eyes rolling, eyeballs bloodshot,
and spit
1110
oozing down his bearded chin. Then
he spoke
with a maniacal laugh: “Why,
father,
should I offer purifying fire now,
before I have murdered Eurystheus?
This way I will have to cleanse the
palace
twice over, when my hands can do
the work
a single time--and do it properly.
Once I bring the head of Eurystheus
here,
I will cleanse my hands for these
dead bodies,
[940]
the ones already killed. Pour out
the water.
1120
Drop the baskets. Who will fetch my
bow?
And a weapon for my hand? I will
march
to Mycenae! I need to carry
crowbars,
and iron picks, so I can shatter
once again
those foundations built by the
Cyclopes
with mason’s tools and Phoenician
plumb-lines.”
Then he went out. There was no
chariot there,
though he claimed there was. He
tried to climb up,
with his fist clenched, as if he
held a whip,
but in reality there was nothing
there.
1130
His servants were of two minds—they
found him
[950]
ridiculous, but were afraid, as
well.
One of them, looking at another,
asked,
”Is our master just having fun with
us,
or has he gone insane?” But
Herakles
was pacing up and down inside the
house.
Rushing to the middle of the men’s
apartments,
he said that he had reached the
town of Nisus,
although he was still walking in
his home.
Then he lay down on the floor, just
as he was,
1140
prepared to have a feast. After a
while,
he said he was travelling to the
flat lands
in the wooded valleys of the
Isthmus.(34)
Then he stripped the clothing from
his body
and, quite naked, began to wrestle
someone
who was not there, and just like a
herald,
[960]
he proclaimed himself the glorious
victor,
but he had no audience. Next he
thought
he was in Mycenae, roaring dire
threats
at Eurystheus. His father grabbed
hold
1150
of Herakles’s powerful arm and
said,
”My son, what is the matter with
you?
Why these strange goings on? Surely
the blood
of those whom you just killed has
not made you
lose you mind?” But Herakles,
assuming
it was the father of Eurystheus
attempting in a craven supplication
to touch his hand, pushed
Amphitryon away
and got his bow and arrows ready,
prepared
to shoot his children—he brlirvrf
they were
1160
[970]
the sons of Eurystheus. The young
boys,
panic stricken, ran in terror here
and there—
one to his poor mother’s robes,
another
to the shadow of a pillar, and the
third
crouched down beneath the altar,
like a bird.
Their mother screamed, “You are
their father—
what are you doing? Killing your
own sons?”
The old man and the servants kept
on shouting.
Herakles was moving round the
pillar,
in murderous circles, chasing his
son.
1170
When they came face to face, he
killed the boy
with an arrow through his heart.
The lad fell
on his back, spraying the stone
pillars
with his blood, as he choked his
life away.
[980]
Herakles cried out in triumph and
boasted,
“One of Eurystheus’s chicks lies
dead,
here at my feet, payment for the
hatred
his father showed.” Then he turned
his bow
against another son, who had
crouched down
by the altar’s foundation stone,
thinking
1180
he might not be observed. Before he
shot,
his poor son sprang up and threw
himself
at his father’s knees and, raising
his hand
towards his father’s beard and
neck, cried out,
“Listen, dear father, and do not
kill me!
I am your child, your son! You are
not slaying
a son of Eurystheus!” But Herakles,
rolled his savage Gorgon eyes, and,
since the boy
[990]
was standing too close for him to
let loose
a lethal arrow, he hit him on the
head.
1190
Just as a blacksmith pounds the
red-hot iron,
so Herakles used his wooden club to
strike
his fair-haired son and pulverize
his skull.
Having killed his second son, he
moved on
to add a third corpse to the other
two.
Before he could, the desperate
mother
picked up the child, ran inside the
house,
and barred the door. So Herakles,
as if
he was at walls built by the
Cyclopes,
dug out the doors with levers,
knocked down
1200
the doorposts, and with a single
arrow
[1000]
killed his wife and son. Then he
races off
to murder his old father,
Amphitryon.
But a phantom came—to those who
watched
it looked like Pallas in a plumed
helmet,
waving a spear. She threw a rock at
him
and hit Herakles in the chest. That
blow
halted his frenzied blood-lust and
put him
into a deep sleep. He fell to the
ground,
hitting his back on a pillar which
had fallen
1210
and broken in two when the roof
collapsed.
At that point we stopped trying to
flee,
[1010]
and, with the old man’s help, we
tied him up,
lashing him to the pillar with
cords and knots,
so that when he wakes up, he will
commit
no more atrocities. The poor man is
asleep.
After the slaughter of his wife and
children,
that sleep of his will not be truly
blessed.
I know no man more miserable
than he.
[Exit the Messenger.]
CHORUS
The murders committed by the
daughters
1220
of Danaus on the rock of Argolis
was once the most famous and
amazing
in all of Hellas, but this business
here
with Herakles, the unhappy son of
Zeus,
has overtaken and surpassed those
killings
[1020]
from many years ago.(35)
I will mention
that murder carried out by Procne,
a mother who had a single child.
She sacrificed him to the Muses.(36)
But you were father of three boys,
1230
you wretched man, and in your
madness
you assisted fate and killed them
all.
Alas! What groans, tears, songs for
the dead,
or dance of death do I now use to
grieve?
Look! The locked gates of the
high-roofed palace
[1030]
are being pulled open.
[The front doors of the palace open slowly,
revealing the corpses of Megara and the three children. Herakles is still
sleeping and tied with ropes to the pillar.]
Alas! Look at that.
Those poor children just lying
there
in front of their unhappy father,
who, after slaughtering them, has
fallen
into a fearful sleep.
The ropes
1240
and all those knots around his body
are supporting Herakles and keeping
him
lashed to the stone pillar from his
home.
CHORUS
His old father, like a bird
lamenting
the birth pains from her
featherless brood,
is rushing here with shuffling,
painful steps.
[1040]
Here he comes.
[Enter Amphitryon from the palace.]
AMPHITRYON
Quietly, quietly,
you old citizens of Thebes. Can you
not
let him continue sleeping, unaware
of the dreadful killings he has
done?
1250
CHORUS LEADER
I mourn for you with my tears, old
friend,
and for the children and that
splendid man.
AMPHITRYON
Move further off, and do not make a
noise.
Do not shout or wake him from his
peaceful sleep.
[1050]
CHORUS
Alas! All this blood . . .
AMPHITRYON
Be quiet!
You’ll be the death of me!
CHORUS
. . . that he has shed
is rising up . . .
AMPHITRYON
Old friends, can you not whisper
your lament? If not, he may wake
up,
throw off his restraints, destroy
the city
and his father, and tear apart his
home.
1260
CHORUS
I cannot do that—it is not
possible!
AMPHITRYON
Be quiet! I will check his
breathing.
Come, let me listen!
[1060]
CHORUS
Is he sleeping?
AMPHITRYON
Yes, he is having a dreadful
sleepless sleep,
after using his quivering bowstring
and arrows to kill his wife and
sons.
CHORUS
Now is the time to mourn.
AMPHITRYON
I am mourning!
CHORUS
The death of those children . . .
AMPHITRYON
Alas!
CHORUS
I lament for your son, too.
AMPHITRYON
Aaaiiiii.
CHORUS
My old friend . . .
AMPHITRYON
Hush! Silence!
1270
He is turning over. . . . He is
stirring . . .
and waking up. I should conceal
myself
[1070]
somewhere in the ruins of this
roof.
CHORUS
Do not worry. Darkness is still
holding down
the eyelids of your son.
AMPHITRYON
Look, given my misery
I have no fear of departing from
the light,
but if he were to kill me, his own
father,
he would be heaping evil onto evil,
adding parent’s blood to the
Furies’ curse.(37)
CHORUS
It would be better for you if you
had died
1280
when you set off seeking your
revenge
for the murdered brothers of your
wife
and sacked the island city of the
Taphians.
[1080]
AMPHITRYON
You must leave, old friends. Get
away from here—
from the front part of the palace.
Herakles
is waking up—you must escape his
fury,
or he will quickly pile one more
killing
on the others, or he might set off
on a frenzied rampage through the
city.
CHORUS
O Zeus, why do you detest your son
so much?
1290
Why hurl him into this sea of evil?
Why so much savage brutality?
HERAKLES [waking up]
Ah, I am breathing, and my eyes can
see
what they should be seeing—the sky,
the earth,
[1090]
the rays of sunlight . . . but my
mind is reeling,
plunged into terrible confusion. My
breath
is feverish and quick and issues
from my lungs
in spasms.
[Herakles looks around him.]
What is this? What am I doing
lying here with my youthful chest
and arms
tied down with rope, like a ship at
anchor,
1300
beside a broken pillar, with
corpses
next to where I sit? My bow and
arrows,
lie scattered on the floor, trusty
weapons
I carried into battle on my arm.
They took care of me, I took care
of them. [1100]
Surely I have not come back again
to Hades—
a second trip for Eurystheus? To
Hades?
From where? But I do not see
Sisyphus
or his rock, or Pluto, or the
sceptre
of Demeter’s daughter,
Persephone.(38) 1310
I am totally confused. Where am I?
Why am I so helpless? Hey, you
there,
are any of my friends around—close
by
or far away—who can cure my
ignorance?
For I lack any clear idea of things
that used to be familiar.
AMPHITRYON
Old friends,
should I get closer and risk being
killed?
CHORUS
All right. I’ll go with you. I will
not leave,
[1110]
if you get into trouble.
HERAKLES
Why weep, father?
Why hide your eyes, and keep your
distance
1320
from your beloved son?
AMPHITRYON
O my child!
You are still my son, in spite of
the evil
you have done.
HERAKLES
What have I done that is so bad
it has made you weep?
AMPHITRYON
What you have done
would make any of the gods weep with
sorrow,
if he learned about it.
HERAKLES
You have made
a grand statement, without
mentioning
what happened.
AMPHITRYON
You can see it for yourself,
if by now you have regained your
senses.
HERAKLES
If in my life I am being accused
1330
of something new, then tell me.
AMPHITRYON
I will tell you, if you no longer
are
a frenzied maniac from hell.
HERAKLES
Ah ha!
Your dark words are arousing my
suspicions.
[1120]
AMPHITRYON
And I still wish to see whether
your mind
is steady and working as it should.
HERAKLES
I have no memory of being mad.
AMPHITRYON
Friends, do you think I should
untie my son?
What should I do?
HERAKLES
You should untie me.
And tell me who bound me up. I feel
ashamed.
1340
AMPHITRYON
You know enough concerning your
misfortune.
Let the rest all go.
HERAKLES
No. If I stay silent,
is that enough to find out what I wish
to know?
AMPHITRYON
O Zeus, are you witnessing these
things
that have their origin at Hera’s
throne?
HERAKLES
Has Hera’s hostility caused my
suffering?
AMPHITRYON
Let the goddess go! You need to
confront
your own misfortunes.
HERAKLES
I am done for.
You are going to talk of some
calamity.
[1130]
AMPHITRYON
Look. These are the bodies of your
children.
1350
HERAKLES
This is horrific . . . what am I
looking at?
Aaaiii! An appalling sight!
AMPHITRYON
My son, you launched
a one-sided war against your
children.
HERAKLES
What are you talking about? What
war?
Who killed these boys?
AMPHITRYON
You did—
you, your bow, and some god are
responsible.
HERAKLES
What are you telling me? What did I
do?
You are a bringer of disastrous
news!
AMPHITRYON
You were in a mad fit. Now you want
me
to tell you something horrible.
1360
HERAKLES
And did I also slaughter my own
wife?
AMPHITRYON
All this killing was done by your
own hand.
You had no help.
HERAKLES
Alas! I am now caged in
[1140]
by a cloud of grief.
AMPHITRYON
That is the reason
I lament your fate.
HERAKLES
In my mad frenzy,
did I destroy my home?
AMPHITRYON
All I know is this—
you are completely ruined.
HERAKLES
This madness—
where was I when it came over me?
Where did it demolish me?
AMPHITRYON
At the altar—
you were purifying your hands with
fire.
1370
HERAKLES
Alas! Why do I not just end my
life,
when I am the killer of my own dear
sons?
Should I not go and leap from some
tall cliff,
or plunge my sword into my heart
and avenge
my children’s blood, or else throw
my body,
[1150]
which was driven insane, into the
fire,
and thus avoid living with the
infamy
which now awaits me?
[Herakles sees Theseus and his attendants
approaching.]
But now,
to interrupt these thoughts of
death, I see
king Theseus approaching—my kinsman
1380
and my friend. I shall be seen for
what I am.
My dearest friend will see I am
unclean,
polluted by the murder of my sons.
This is dreadful. What am I going
to do?
Where can I find freedom from this
evil?
Shall I grow wings or plunge into
the earth?
Come, I will conceal my head in
darkness.
What I have done makes me so
ashamed.
[1160]
For these blood killings I am now
defiled,
and I do not wish to harm the
innocent.
1390
[Enter Theseus and his armed attendants.]
THESEUS
I have come, old friend, and others
with me,
young fighting lads from the land
of Athens,
now waiting by the river Asopus,
bringing allied spears to assist
your son.
For in the city of the Erechtheidae
a rumour spread that Lycus had
usurped
the royal sceptre in the land of
Thebes
and was now fighting or waging war
against you.(39) So I came here, to
pay back
Herakles for the way he rescued me
1400
from the underworld—that is, old
man,
if you need help from my allies and
me.
[1170]
[Theseus notices the dead bodies of the children
and Megara.]
What’s this? Why is there a pile of
corpses
on the floor? Surely I did not
leave home
and arrive too late to stop a new
disaster?
Who killed these children? Whose
wife is this?
Young boys do not fight battles
with their spears.
No, I have stumbled on some fresh
atrocity.
AMPHITRYON
O king living on that hill where
olives grow!
THESEUS
Why greet me with such a melancholy
tone?
1410
AMPHITRYON
The gods have made us suffer a
catastrophe.
[1180]
THESEUS
You are weeping for these murdered
children.
Whose are they?
AMPHITRYON
They
are my own son’s children,
the poor man. He was their father
and he butchered them--after
steeling his heart
to carry out the bloody slaughter.
THESEUS
You should speak of this more
gently.
AMPHITRYON
I wish I could do what you are
asking.
THESEUS
You have spoken of appalling
things.
AMPHITRYON
We are done for, ruined.
THESEUS
What do you mean?
1420
What has Herakles done?
AMPHITRYON
He was caught up in a fit of
madness
and used arrows dipped in lethal
venom
from the hundred=headed hydra.
[1190]
THESEUS
Hera
had her hand in this. But who is
that,
old friend, sitting among the
corpses?
AMPHITRYON
That is my son, my much-enduring
son,
who marched with the gods to
Phlegra plain,
a warrior, whose weapons did battle
with
and killed the giants.
THESEUS
Ah, yes. What man was ever born
1430
with such an ill-starred fate?
AMPHITRYON
You will not find
another mortal man who has suffered
more
and wandered further.
THESEUS
Why is the poor man
using his clothes to hide his head?
AMPHITRYON
From shame.
He does not want your eyes to look
at him
covered with blood from his
slaughtered sons,
[1200]
especially you, a friend and
relative.
THESEUS
But I have come to sympathize with
him.
Uncover his head.
AMPHITRYON
My son, uncover your eyes.
Push your clothes aside. Let sun
see your face.
1440
As someone who is wrestling with
grief
and trying to stem my tears, I beg
you,
as a suppliant, reaching for your
beard,
your knee, and arm, and prostrate
before you,
shedding an old man’s tear—O my
child,
[1210]
curb that wild lion’s spirit in
your chest,
which leads you down a bloody,
godless path,
eager to stack one evil on another.
THESEUS [moving closer to Herakles]
All right. I am talking to you in
there,
hunched up in misery. Show us your
face.
1450
We are friends, and there is no
darkness
black enough to conceal your
wretched mood.
Why are you waving your hand at me?
Are you telling me that this is
murder
and that I should not talk at all
to you
in case I get polluted? I do not
care
[122o]
if I fall into misfortune with you—
with you I once enjoyed good
fortune,
and I must mention that. It was the
time
you rescued me from the land of the
dead
1460
and brought me back into the light
of day.
I detest a friend whose gratitude
grows old—
someone eager to enjoy his friend’s
success,
but unwilling to share the same
ship with him
when his friend’s fortune changes
for the worse.
So stand up. Uncover your wretched
head.
And look at me. Among human beings,
the nobly born accept calamities
sent by the gods and do not disown
them.
[Herakles uncovers his head and stands up.]
HERAKLES
Theseus, did you see how my sons
struggled?
1470
THESEUS
I heard about that, and now I can
see
[1230]
the atrocity you mean.
HERAKLES
Why then
have you exposed my head to
sunlight?
THESEUS
Why not? You are a mortal human
being—
you cannot contaminate what is
divine.
HERAKLES
You should run away, you poor man,
from me
and the stain of my pollution.
THESEUS
There is no avenging spirit which
goes
from one friend to another.
HERAKLES
Yes, that is true.
And I am not ashamed I helped you
out.
1480
THESEUS
Because you were so kind to me back
then,
I feel compassion for you now.
HERAKLES
A pitiful wretch,
that is what I am—the killer of my
sons.
THESEUS
I weep for you and for your change
in fortune.
HERAKLES
Have you ever found any other man
bearing greater hardships?
THESEUS
Your misfortunes
[1240]`
reach from earth right up to
heaven.
HERAKLES
That is why
I am making preparations for my
death.
THESEUS
Do you think divine beings really
care
about the threatening words you
utter? 1490
HERAKLES
The gods have been remorseless to
me,
so I will be the same with them.
THESEUS
Hold you tongue—
in case they make your suffering
more painful
for speaking out with such
presumption.
HERAKLES
I am so full of troubles there is
room
for nothing more.
THESEUS
So what will you do?
Where are your emotions taking you?
HERAKLES
To die and go beneath the earth,
the place
where I just came from.
THESEUS
Now you are talking
like any common ordinary man.
1500
HERAKLES
You offer me advice, but you are
one
who is not suffering misfortune.
THESEUS
Is this the much-enduring Herakles
[1250]
speaking to me?
HERAKLES
But not this much!
There must be limits to what one
has to bear.
THESEUS
Is this the benefactor and great
friend to man?
HERAKLES
Mortals are no help to me. Hera has
won.
THESEUS
Greece would not let you die so
stupidly.
HERAKLES
You should listen now to what I
have to say
in contesting your advice. I will
show you
1510
how my life, now and in the past,
has been
intolerable for me. First, my
father,
before he married my mother,
Alcmene,
murdered her old father—and thus
acquired
the stain of blood pollution, and
any race
[1260]
with a poorly laid foundation must
produce
descendants who are cursed by the
same stain.(40)
Now Zeus, whoever Zeus may be,
fathered me
as an enemy to Hera.
[Turning to address Amphitryon.]
Old
friend,
do not be upset, for I consider
you,
1520
not Zeus, my father.
[Herakles turns back to Theseus.]
While I was still an infant
being suckled, Zeus’s wife tried to
kill me
by dropping some dreadful venomous
snakes
inside my cradle. Once I had
matured
into my prime of youth, I had to
bear
[1270]
all sorts of hardships. But what is
the point
of mentioning them now—all those
lions,
and triple=bodied Typhons, or
Giants,
or that war against four-legged
Centaurs?
Did I not prevail against them all?
I killed
1530
the hydra, that monster with many heads,
each one of which could grow in
place again,
and then completed countless other
tasks.
Carrying out what Eurystheus
ordered,
I reached the land of the dead to
bring back
into the sunlight the three-headed
hound
that guards the gates of Hades. And
lastly,
to my sorrow, I undertook this
labour—
to complete the misery in my home
[1280]
by murdering my sons. Necessity
1540
has brought me to this point. I
cannot live
in my beloved Thebes. For piety
makes that impossible. If I did
stay,
to what temple or gathering of
friends
could I still go? The curse I bear
makes me
a pariah. Should I go to Argos?
How can I do that, when I am exiled
from my native land? So come on,
tell me,
is there some other place that I
can run to?
Once people know that I am
Herakles,
1550
they will scowl at me and keep me
constrained
with bitter piercing tongues, “Is
not this man
the son of Zeus who once killed all
his children
and his wife? Should he not be
forced to leave
[1290]
our city?” To someone who was once
called blessed,
such changes are distressing. To a
person
who has always had bad luck, these
issues
cause no pain, for he was born to
suffer.
I think that one day I will reach a
point
where the earth will call out,
forbidding me
1560
to touch her, and the seas and
river springs
will not let me across. I shall end
up
just like another Ixion, in chains
on a revolving wheel.(41) It would
be best
if I was never seen by any Greeks,
with whom in better days I have
been happy.
[1300]
Why then should I live? What profit
is there
in having a useless and unholy
life?
So let that celebrated wife of Zeus
dance,
her shoes striking the floor of
Zeus’s palace.
1570
She has achieved her goal, to
overturn
the finest man in Greece and leave
him stripped
to his foundations. Who would offer
prayers
to such a goddess? Zeus loved a
woman,
and, because of that, Hera’s
jealousy
has crushed a man who was quite
innocent,
[1310]
and who has benefited Greece.
CHORUS
This whole matter
is not the work of any other god
but Hera, Zeus’s wife. You were
correct
in that assumption.
THESEUS
[To give advice to others
1580
is easier than suffering
misfortune.](42)
No mortal man remains completely free
of misfortune’s stain—nor does any
god,
if what poets sing is not mere
fiction.
Have they not made love with one
another
in ways no laws permit? Have they
not
bound their fathers up in chains to
gain control?(43)
And yet they still inhabit mount
Olympus
and exalt what they did wrong. As
for you,
a mortal human being, what will you
say
1590
[1320]
if you find your fate too difficult
to bear
while the gods do not? Get away
from Thebes,
as the law requires, and then
follow me
to Athens, Athena’s city. Once
there,
I will cleanse your hands of all
pollution,
and give you homes, a share in what
I own,
and all the gifts I got from
citizens
for saving fourteen children, when
I killed
that bull in Knossos.(44) Throughout
my country
I have lands officially assigned to
me.
1600
From now on, these will be named
after you,
[1330]
for as long as you still live. When
you die
and move to Hades’ home, all of
Athens,
the entire city, will celebrate
your worth
with sacrifices and a monument
made of stone. All of Hellas will
award
my citizens the magnificent crown
of a noble reputation, for they
helped
a good and noble man. I am doing
this
as a favour to you, to pay you back
1610
for saving me. For now you need a
friend.
When a god holds a man in honour
he has no need of friends—the god’s
help,
when he decides to act, is quite
enough.
HERAKLES
Well, all such matters dealing with
the gods
[1340]
do not have much bearing on my
ordeals.
As far as I’m concerned, I do not
believe
the gods make love in ways that are
not right,
and I have never thought that
chaining up
the hands of other gods was
plausible,
1620
so you will not persuade me of that
now.
Nor do I believe that one god is
born
lord and master of another. A god,
if he is, in fact, truly a deity,
stands in need of nothing. Such
stories
are wretched tales made up by our
poets.
However, though I am plagued with
troubles,
I have considered whether quitting
life
would label me a coward. For any
man
who cannot hold out against ill
fortune
1630
will not be capable of standing up
[1350]
against an enemy’s arrow. So I
will persevere with living. I will
go
to your city, with grateful thanks
to you
for your countless gifts. I have
had a taste
of a thousand different tasks. Not
once
have I refused or ever had my eyes
shed a single tear. And I did not
think
I would ever come to this—tears
flowing
from my eyes. But if nowadays it
seems
1640
I must be slave to fortune, so be
it.
[Herakles turns his attention to Amphitryon.]
Old friend, you see me leaving
here an exile,
and you see in me the one who
murdered
my own sons. Give them a proper
burial.
Lay out their bodies. Honour
them with tears—
[1360]
the law does not allow me to
perform that rite.
Lean them on their mother’s breast
and place them
in her folded arms, a melancholy
group,
which I, alas, destroyed against my
will.
When you have hidden the bodies in
the earth,
1650
stay in the city, though that may
be hard.
Steel your heart to help me bear my
suffering.
O my sons, the man who gave you
your lives,
your father, has destroyed you. No
benefits
will come to you from what I have
achieved
with my own strength, the brutal
toil to win
a glorious name for you, a splendid
gift
[1370]
a father leaves his sons. And you,
as well,
my sad wife, whom I killed, a poor
reward
for your steadfast loyalty in
honouring
1660
our marriage bed and your long,
tiring care
inside our home. Alas, for my wife
and sons,
alas for me, how dreadful were
those acts
that left me without my wife and
children!
[Herakles kisses the bodies of Megara and the
children.]
O those kisses you enjoyed, so
bitter now!
How bitter, too, to still have
these weapons.
I am not sure whether I should keep
them
or just let them go. If they are
hanging
at my side, they will say, “With us
you killed
[1380]
your children and your wife. When
you hold us,
1670
you are clasping your children’s
murderers.”
If I am still carrying them on my
arm,
what answer do I give? But should I
remove
these weapons with which I have
achieved
such splendid things in Greece,
leaving myself
at the mercy of my enemies, and die
a shameful death? No. I will not
let them go.
I will keep them, although that
makes me sad.
But Theseus, I need your help with
something—
that wretched hell hound Cerberus. Come with me
1680
to Argos, help me to collect the
payment
for bringing that beast back. If I
go alone,
I may come to grief thinking of my
sons.
O land of Cadmus, and all you
citizens
of Thebes, cut off your hair,
grieve together.
Go to my children’s burial site and
sing
a lament for the departed and for
me.
All of us have been utterly
demolished
by one vicious, murderous blow from
Hera.
THESEUS
Get up, you poor man. You have wept
enough.
1690
HERAKLES
I cannot stand up. My knees are
aching.
THESEUS
Misfortune weakens even the
powerful.
HERAKLES
How I wish I could turn into a
stone,
with no memory of evil.
THESEUS
Stop that.
Give your hand to a friend who
wants to help.
HERAKLES
I do not wish to stain your clothes
with blood.
THESEUS
Do not worry. Let it stain my
clothes.
[1400]
I am not ashamed.
HERAKLES
I have lost my sons,
but in you I have found a son.
THESEUS
Lift your arm
around my neck. I’ll show you the
way.
1700
HERAKLES
A pair of friends, one of them
unlucky.
[To Amphitryon]
Ah, old friend, this is the kind of
man
one ought to make a friend.
AMPHITRYON
May the land
that gave him birth be blessed with
children!
HERAKLES
Theseus,
turn me around again, so I can see
my sons.
THESEUS
Why? Is this some kind of soothing
potion?
HERAKLES
I wish it were. I want to hug my
father.
AMPHITRYON
Here I am, my son. I would like
that, too.
THESEUS
Do you no longer have any memories
[1410]
of all your labours?
HERAKLES
All those hardships I endured
1710
brought me less grief than this.
THESEUS
If people see you
acting like a woman, they will not
be pleased.
HERAKLES
Do you think that I, by choosing to
live,
have now become an ordinary man?
That was not the case before, it
seems.
THESEUS
Yes, very much so. You have a
sickness
and are not the glorious Herakles.
HERAKLES
What kind of man were you down
there
when you were in trouble?
THESEUS
I had less courage
than any other man.
HERAKLES
How then can you claim
1720
that my misfortunes have demeaned
me.
THESEUS
Let us set off.
HERAKLES [to Amphitryon]
Farewell, old friend.
AMPHITRYON
Farewell to you, my son.
HERAKLES
Bury my children as I have
described.
AMPHITRYON
But who will bury me, my son?
HERAKLES
I will.
[1420]
AMPHITRYON
When will you come?
HERAKLES
Once you have buried my sons.
AMPHITRYON
How?
HERAKLES
I will have you brought from Thebes to Athens.
But carry the children inside the house—
they are a grievous burden on the
earth.
After shattering my home with
shameful acts,
I, now ruined, will follow Theseus
1730
like some useless, burdensome
appendage.
Whoever wishes to have power and
wealth
rather than good friends, is not
thinking right.
[Exit Theseus, Herakles, and attendants.]
CHORUS
With pity and many tears, we go
away,
lamenting the loss of our greatest
friend.
[Exit the Chorus.]
ENDNOTES
(1) Euripides’ Herakles is also sometimes called Hercules Furens. If you use the latter title, be careful, because it is also the name of a play by the Roman Seneca. [Back to Text]
(2) Speeches assigned to the Chorus may be spoken or chanted by the entire Chorus or by individual members or partial groups of the Chorus or by a Chorus Leader, as a director of a production of the play will determine. [Back to Text]
(3) Perseus, son of Zeus and the mortal woman Danaë, was an important traditional hero of Greek mythology, famous for slaying monsters (e.g., Medusa). [Back to Text]
(4) Cadmus,
from Asia Minor, founded Thebes in Greece. To create the city he had to kill a
dragon and sow its teeth like seeds. When he did that, armed warrior arose out
of the earth where the seeds had been. The earth-born warriors fought and killed
each other, until the gods stopped the fighting. The warriors thus became, along
with Cadmus, the first citizens of Thebes. [Back
to Text]
(5) The Cyclopes were one-eyed
monsters who worked for Zeus, making his thunderbolts. [Back
to Text]
(6) Amphitryon, Electryon’s nephew,
accidentally killed him when he threw his club at some cattle but missed and hit
Electryon. Sthenelus, Electryon’s brother then seized the throne of Mycenae,
charged Amphitryon with murder, and sent him into exile. [Back
to Text]
(7) Eurystheus was the son of
Sthenelus, king of Mycenae. He set the twelve tasks that Herakles had to
perform. Euripides departs from tradition here in stating that Herakles’s
motivation was to help our his human father Amphitryon. In the traditional
stories of Herakles, Hera, Zeus's wife, was a constant enemy of Herakles, because he was
a bastard son of Zeus. [Back to Text]
(8) Taenarus in the southern
Peloponnese was a traditional entrance to the underworld. The triple-bodied dog
was Cerberus who guarded the entrance to Hades. [Back
to Text]
(9) The
Giants were immense monsters created by Ouranos and Gaia (Sky and Earth). They
sought to wrest divine control from Zeus. Herakles was brought up to mount
Olympus to assist the Olympian gods, and he did so, by killing a number of
Giants with his arrows. [Back to Text]
(10) On mount Pholoe, Herakles was attacked by a
group of Centaurs driven mad by the smell of wine. He killed many of them with
his arrows. A centaur was a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a human
being and the body and legs of a horse. [Back
to Text]
(11) A hoplite was a well=armed infantryman, who
usually fought alongside other hoplites. His weapons were typically a spear and
a shield, (and sometimes a sword). Richer hoplites were sometimes equipped with
body armour and a helmet. [Back to Text]
(12) Hercules had assisted Creon, king of Thebes, by
defeating the Minyans, who had been collecting tribute from Thebes. Creon then
offered Herakles his daughter Megara in marriage. The Minyans were a race of
proto-Greek-speakers who settled in parts of Greece. [Back
to Text]
(13) For his first labour, Herakles had to kill a
lion whose skin was invulnerable. Herakles tried using his arrows, but they
could not pierce the animal’s skin. So Herakles strangled the lion with his bare
hands. [Back to Text]
(14) For the third
labour, Eurystheus ordered Herakles to bring him the sacred deer of Ceryneia, a
creature with golden horns. Herakles wounded the animal and carried it back
alive to Eurystheus’s palace, a distance of about fifty miles. [Back
to Text]
(15) For his eighth labour, Herakles had
to capture the man-eating horses of Diomedes. Herakles killed Diomedes and
brought the horses back to Eurystheus, who let them go. [Back
to Text]
(16) tyrant of Mycenae was Eurystheus, who set
the labours Herakles was to perform. [Back
to Text]
(17) For his eleventh labour, Herakles had to bring
back to Eurystheus some golden apples of the Hesperides (nymphs of the west,
daughters of Atlas), which were in an orchard guarded by a large dragon. [Back
to Text]
(18) When Herakles was on his quest to find the
golden apples of the Hesperides, he met Atlas, who tricked Herakles into holding
up the heavens to separate them from earth. Herakles then tricked Atlas in turn
in order to transfer the burden of holding up the sky back to Atlas. [Back
to Text]
(19) In his ninth labour for Eurystheus, Herakles
had to bring back the girdle or warrior belt of Hippolyta, the queen of the
Amazons (a society of female warriors, whose fighting skills matched those of
men). The Euxine sea is now called the Black sea. [Back
to Text]
(20) Killing the Lernaean hyrda was Herakles’s second
labour. The hydra was a many-headed monster. If someone chopped off one of the
heads, two new heads grew in its place. Herakles solved that problem by chopping
off a head and burning the place where the new heads were supposed to grow. For
his tenth labour Herakles had to bring the cattle of Geryon (a triple-bodied
monster) back to Eurystheus. Herakles killed Geryon with arrows poisoned with
the blood of the hydra and, after going through a number of great difficulties
led the cattle back. [Back to Text]
(21) Charon was the boatman who rowed dead people across
the river Styx into Hades. [Back to Text]
(22) In Greek literature, the flight and position of birds
are often good or bad omens. [Back to Text]
(23)
Persephone is the wife of Hades (a brother of Zeus and Poseidon), king of the underworld. [Back
to Text]
(24) Before entering Hades, Herakles (as a precaution) took
part in a sacred religious rite known as the Eleusinian Mysteries, based on the
myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Those initiated in these mysteries
were believed to find happiness in the underworld. [Back
to Text]
(25) Theseus, a legendary Athenian hero, went down to Hades with his comrade Pirithous to kidnap Persephone, the wife of Hades. Hades knew they were coming and trapped both of them. Theseus was rescued by Herakles. [Back to Text]
(26) The Graces were goddesses of grace, charm, and beauty. There were three of them;
Charis, Aglaea, and Thalia. The Muses were the goddesses of artistic and
scientific achievement. There were nine of them: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio
(history), Euterpe (music), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Melpomene
(tragedy), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (lyric poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred
poetry), Urania (astronomy), They were all daughters of Mnemosyne (goddess of
memory). [Back to Text]
(27) Leto's son is the god Apollo. [Back
to Text]
(28) Alcmene was the mother of Herakles. [Back
to Text]
(29) Ouranos (meaning Sky) was one of the primal gods, along with Gaia (Earth). Night (Nyx) the personification of Night, was also a primordial god, born from Chaos. [Back to Text]
(30) There appears to be a small gap in the manuscript here. [Back to Text]
(31) Tartarus is the lowest part of Hades. [Back to Text]
(32) The Bacchic wand is called the thyrsus. It is the stalk of a plant, used in the frantic dances of the worshippers of Bacchus, where it can sometimes acquire magical powers. [Back to Text]
(33) Pallas is another name for Athena. Enceladus was one of the Giants who attacked the Olympian gods in an effort to take over mount Olympus. He was particularly hostile to Athena. [Back to Text]
(34) The Isthmus is the narrow piece of land joining mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. [Back to Text]
(35) The Daughters of Danaus were a group of fifty women who were compelled to marry their first cousins. On the wedding night all the daughters but one, acting on the order of their father, murdered their husbands. For this murder the daughters were punished in Hades. [Back to Text]
(36) Procne killed her son Itys, cooked him, and fed him to his father, Tereus, for dinner. She did this in revenge for Tereus raping and imprisoning her sister Philomena. [Back to Text]
(37) The Furies were the goddesses of blood revenge, especially with the family. [Back to Text]
(38) Sisyphus was a man eternally punished in Hades by having to roll a large rock up a hill. Every time he got the rock close to the top, it would roll down to the bottom, and Sisyphus would have to start again. Demeter was a goddess whose daughter Persephone married Hades, king of the underworld. [Back to Text]
(39) The city of the Erechtheidae (literally “the sons of Erechtheus”) is Athens. [Back to Text]
(40) Alcmene's father was Electryon, who was killed accidentally by Amphitryon. See line 22 and the accompanying footnote. [Back to Text]
(41) Ixion was eternally punished by Zeus (for trying to rape Zeus’s wife, Hera) by being bound to a fiery rotating wheel in Hades. [Back to Text]
(42) The Greek for this sentence is unclear (some of it is evidently missing). I have borrowed the suggested translation for these lines from R. Potter’s translation (adapted by Mary Ebbott and Casey Dué). https://www.uh.edu/~cldue/texts/herakles.html [Back to Text]
(43) Zeus fought his father Cronos and chained him up deep in Tartarus in order to gain control of heaven. [Back to Text]
(44) King Minos of Crete demanded a tribute from Athens every nine years of seven young men and seven young women. These children he fed to the Minotaur, a creature that was part man and part bull, which Minos kept in a labyrinth. Theseus was chosen as one of these tribute Athenians. With the help of Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, he entered the labyrinth, killed the Minotaur, and left Knossos, taking Ariadne with him. [Back to Text]