Alcestis 861–902: Admetus returns from the burial in grief

Euripides, Alcestis 861–902: Exodos: Admetus returns from the burial in grief

Admetus returns from the burial, saying that he loathes to enter his house and wishes that he were dead. The Chorus tells him to go inside and to endure it, and Admetus says that the loss of a wife is the greatest of evils. He asks why he was kept from dying with her.

Admetus

861–871

861ἰώ, στυγναὶ
πρόσοδοι, στυγναὶ δ’ ὄψεις χήρων
μελάθρων. ἰώ μοί μοι. αἶ αἶ.
ποῖ βῶ; ποῖ στῶ; τί λέγω; τί δὲ μή;
πῶς ἂν ὀλοίμαν;
865ἦ βαρυδαίμονα μήτηρ μ’ ἔτεκεν.
ζηλῶ φθιμένους, κείνων ἔραμαι,
κεῖν’ ἐπιθυμῶ δώματα ναίειν.
οὔτε γὰρ αὐγὰς χαίρω προσορῶν
οὔτ’ ἐπὶ γαίας πόδα πεζεύων·
870τοῖον ὅμηρόν μ’ ἀποσυλήσας
Ἅιδῃ Θάνατος παρέδωκεν.

Ah me! I loathe this entering in, and loathe to see my widowed home. Woe, woe is me! Whither shall I go? Where stand? what say? or what suppress? Would God that I were dead! Surely in an evil hour my mother gave me birth. The dead I envy, and would fain be as they, and long to dwell within their courts. No joy to me to see the light, no joy to tread the earth; such a hostage death hath reft me of and handed o’er to Hades.

872–877

Χορός 872—πρόβα, πρόβα· βᾶθι κεῦθος οἴκων. Ἄδμητος αἰαῖ. Χορός —πέπονθας ἄξι’ αἰαγμάτων. Ἄδμητος ἒ ἔ. Χορός —δι’ ὀδύνας ἔβας, σάφ’ οἶδα . . . Ἄδμητος φεῦ φεῦ. Χορός 875—τὰν νέρθε δ’ οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖς. Ἄδμητος ἰώ μοί μοι. Χορός —τὸ μήποτ’ εἰσιδεῖν φιλίας ἀλόχου πρόσωπόν ἄντα λυπρόν.

Chorus Move forward, go within the shelter of thy house.

Admetus Woe is me!

Chorus Thy sufferings claim these cries of woe.

Admetus Ah me!

Chorus Through anguish hast thou gone, full well I know.

Admetus Alas! alas!

Chorus Thou wilt not help the dead one whit.

Admetus O misery!

Chorus Nevermore to see thy dear wife face to face is grief indeed.

Admetus

878–888

878ἔμνησας ὅ μου φρένας ἥλκωσεν·
τί γὰρ ἀνδρὶ κακὸν μεῖζον ἁμαρτεῖν
880πιστῆς ἀλόχου; μή ποτε γήμας
ὤφελον οἰκεῖν μετὰ τῆσδε δόμους.
ζηλῶ δ’ ἀγάμους ἀτέκνους τε βροτῶν·
μία γὰρ ψυχή, τῆς ὑπεραλγεῖν
μέτριον ἄχθος·
885παίδων δὲ νόσους καὶ νυμφιδίους
εὐνὰς θανάτοις κεραϊζομένας
οὐ τλητὸν ὁρᾶν, ἐξὸν ἀτέκνους
ἀγάμους τ’ εἶναι διὰ παντός.

Thy words have probed the sore place in my heart. What greater grief can come to man than the loss of a faithful wife? Would I had never married or shared with her my home! I envy those ’mongst men who have nor wife nor child. Theirs is but one life; to grieve for that is no excessive burden; but to see children fall ill and bridal beds emptied by death’s ravages is too much to bear, when one might go through life without wife or child.

889–894

Χορός 889—τύχα τύχα δυσπάλαιστος ἥκει· Ἄδμητος αἰαῖ. Χορός 890—πέρας δέ γ’ οὐδὲν ἀλγέων τίθης. Ἄδμητος ἒ ἔ. Χορός —βαρέα μὲν φέρειν, ὅμως δὲ . . . Ἄδμητος φεῦ φεῦ. Χορός —τλᾶθʼ· οὐ σὺ πρῶτος ὤλεσας . . . Ἄδμητος ἰώ μοί μοι. Χορός —γυναῖκα· συμφορὰ δ’ ἑτέρους ἑτέρα πιέζει φανεῖσα θνατῶν.

Chorus A fate we cannot cope with is come upon us.

Admetus Woe is me!

Chorus But thou to sorrow settest no limit.

Admetus Ah! ah!

Chorus ’Tis hard to bear, but still—

Admetus Woe is me!

Chorus Thou art not the first to lose—

Admetus O! woe is me!

Chorus A wife; misfortune takes a different shape for every man she plagues.

Admetus

895–902

895ὦ μακρὰ πένθη λῦπαί τε φίλων
τῶν ὑπὸ γαῖαν.
τί μ’ ἐκώλυσας ῥῖψαι τύμβου
τάφρον ἐς κοίλην καὶ μετ’ ἐκείνης
τῆς μέγ’ ἀρίστης κεῖσθαι φθίμενον;
900δύο δ’ ἀντὶ μιᾶς Ἅιδης ψυχὰς
τὰς πιστοτάτας σὺν ἂν ἔσχεν, ὁμοῦ
χθονίαν λίμνην διαβάντε.

O the weary sorrow! O the grief for dear ones dead and gone! Why didst thou hinder me from plunging into the gaping grave, there to lay me down and die with her, my peerless bride? Then would Hades for that one have gotten these two faithful souls at once, crossing the nether lake together.

People and places in this passage

Admetus 33
Hades 101

English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.

Euripides, Alcestis 861–902: Exodos: Admetus returns from the burial in grief

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