Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources

Euripides · Rhesus Ῥῆσος

Euripides, Rhesus 856–881: Exodos: Hector defends himself and blames Odysseus

Ancient Sources / Euripides / Rhesus / 856–881

Hector says that he has long had dealings with allies and has never been accused by them, and that this is the work of Odysseus, whom he fears, and he suspects that Dolon too has been slain. The charioteer says that he does not know this Odysseus. Hector tells his men to carry him to the palace and tend him, and sends word to Priam to bury the dead.

Lines 856–881 · 283 words · click a number to copy its link
856–881
Ἕκτωρ 856χρόνον μὲν ἤδη συμμάχοισι χρώμεθα ὅσονπερ ἐν γῇ τῇδʼ Ἀχαιικὸς λεώς, κοὐδὲν πρὸς αὐτῶν οἶδα πλημμελὲς κλύων· ἐν σοὶ δʼ ἂν ἀρχοίμεσθα. μή μʼ ἔρως ἕλοι 860τοιοῦτος ἵππων ὥστʼ ἀποκτείνειν φίλους. καὶ ταῦτʼ Ὀδυσσεύς· τίς γὰρ ἄλλος ἄν ποτε ἔδρασεν ἢ ʼβούλευσεν Ἀργείων ἀνήρ; δέδοικα δʼ αὐτὸν καί τί μου θράσσει φρένας, μὴ καὶ Δόλωνα συντυχὼν κατακτάνῃ· 865χρόνον γὰρ ἤδη φροῦδος ὢν οὐ φαίνεται. Ἡνίοχος οὐκ οἶδα τοὺς σοὺς οὓς λέγεις Ὀδυσσέας· ἡμεῖς δʼ ὑπʼ ἐχθρῶν οὐδενὸς πεπλήγμεθα. Ἕκτωρ σὺ δʼ οὖν νόμιζε ταῦτʼ, ἐπείπερ σοι δοκεῖ. Ἡνίοχος ὦ γαῖα πατρίς, πῶς ἂν ἐνθάνοιμί σοι; Ἕκτωρ 870μὴ θνῇσχʼ· ἅλις γὰρ τῶν τεθνηκότων ὄχλος. Ἡνίοχος ποῖ δὴ τράπωμαι δεσποτῶν μονούμενος; Ἕκτωρ οἶκός σε κεύθων οὑμὸς ἐξιάσεται. Ἡνίοχος καὶ πῶς με κηδεύσουσιν αὐθεντῶν χέρες; Ἕκτωρ ὅδʼ αὖ τὸν αὐτὸν μῦθον οὐ λήξει λέγων. Ἡνίοχος 875ὄλοιθʼ ὁ δράσας. οὐ γὰρ ἐς σὲ τείνεται γλῶσσʼ, ὡς σὺ κομπεῖς· ἡ Δίκη δʼ ἐπίσταται. Ἕκτωρ λάζυσθʼ· ἄγοντες δʼ αὐτὸν ἐς δόμους ἐμούς, οὕτως ὅπως ἂν μὴ ʼγκαλῇ πορσύνετε· ὑμᾶς δʼ ἰόντας τοῖσιν ἐν τείχει χρεὼν 880Πριάμῳ τε καὶ γέρουσι σημῆναι νεκροὺς θάπτειν κελεύθου λεωφόρου πρὸς ἐκτροπάς.

Hector For a long time now I have had to do with allies, yes, ever since Achaea’s army settled in this land, and never a harsh word have I known them say of me; but with you I am to make a beginning. Never may such longing for horses seize me that I should slay my friends! This is the work of Odysseus; for who of all the Argives but he would have devised or carried out such a deed? I fear him; and my mind is a little troubled lest he should have met and slain Dolon as well; for he has been gone a long time and does not appear.

Charioteer I do not know this Odysseus of whom you speak. It was no enemy’s hand that struck us.

Hector If it pleases you to think that, do so.

Charioteer O land of my fathers, would I might die in you!

Hector Die! No! Enough are those already dead.

Charioteer Where am I to turn, I ask you, bereft of my master?

Hector My house shall shelter you and cure you of your hurt.

Charioteer How shall murderers’ hands care for me?

Hector This fellow will never have done repeating the same story.

Charioteer Curses on the doer of this deed! On you my tongue fixes no charge, as you complain; but Justice is over all.

Hector Take him away; carry him to my palace and tend him carefully, that he may have no fault to find. And you must go to those upon the walls, to Priam and his aged councillors, and tell them to give orders for the burial of the dead at the resting-place along the public road.

People and places in this passage

Passages in other works that tell of the same people and places, oldest and closest first.

  1. Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little Iliad
  2. Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.26.1–9Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (2): captive women, Epeus, Ajax and Neoptolemus
  3. Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.382–438The arms awarded; the death of Ajax; the fall of Troy
  4. Homer, Odyssey 3.102–200Nestor tells of the Achaeans' return
  5. Homer, Iliad 11.284–400Hector's advance; Diomedes is wounded
  6. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.5.1–23The death of Achilles, the Wooden Horse and the fall of Troy

English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913, 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.