Hecuba Woe! oh woe! Son of Cronos, prince of Phrygia, father of our race, do you behold our sufferings now, unworthy of the stock of Dardanus?
Chorus He sees them, but our mighty city is a city no more, and Troy’s day is done.
Hecuba Woe! oh woe! Ilium is ablaze; the homes of Pergamos and its towering walls are now one sheet of flame.
Chorus As the smoke soars on wings to heaven, so sinks our city to the ground before the spear. With furious haste both fire and enemy spear devour each house.
Hecuba Oh, earth, nourisher of my children!
Chorus Ah, ah!
Hecuba Hearken, my children, hear your mother’s voice.
Chorus You are calling on the dead with voice of lamentation.
Hecuba Yes, as I stretch my aged limbs upon the ground, and beat upon the earth with both my hands.
Chorus I follow you and kneel, invoking from the nether world my hapless husband.
Hecuba I am being dragged and hurried away—
Chorus The sorrow, the sorrow of that cry!
Hecuba To dwell beneath a master’s roof!
Chorus From my own country!
Hecuba Woe is me! O Priam, Priam, slain, unburied, left without a friend, nothing do you know of my cruel fate.
Chorus No, for over his eyes black death has drawn his pall, a pure man slain by the impure.
Hecuba Woe for the temples of the gods and for our dear city!
Chorus Ah, ah!
Hecuba Murderous flame and enemy spear are now your lot.
Chorus Soon will you tumble to your own loved soil, and be forgotten.
Hecuba And the dust, mounting to heaven on wings like smoke, will rob me of the sight of my home.
Chorus The name of my country wiII pass into obscurity; all is scattered far and wide, and hapless Troy has ceased to be.
Hecuba Did you know, did you hear?
Chorus Yes, it was the crash of the citadel.
Hecuba The shock, the shock—
Chorus Will overwhelm our city utterly.
Hecuba O woe is me! trembling, quaking limbs, support my footsteps! away! to face the day that begins your slavery.
Chorus Woe for our unhappy town! And yet let us advance to the Achaean fleet.
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