Thoughts on Truth - Philosophy

There were lots of parts dealing with a concept of justice that I did not record.

Alcestis

[Alcestis giving her life for her husband] pg. 9

No need for alarm; justice and sound arguments are my weapons. 39

you must realize that I, too, take pleasure in receiving due respect. 53

Those with the means would pay for the privelege of dying old. 59

She can count on this: death will only add to her renown as the noblest wife by far of all beneath the sun. 150

but now that he has eluded death, he has inherited such anguish as he shall never forget. 198

not everyone feels such regard for a royal master that he stands loyally by him when disaster strikes. Yours is a friendship my master and mistress have known for many a long year. 211

Never shall I say that marriage brings more joy than pain. Past experience is my evidence and the sight of what the king is suffering here; he is about to lose the best of wives and to endure in the years left to him a life that is no life. 239

Do not marry again and give them a stepmother to ill-treat them, your children and mine, someone who will love them less than I and eye them with jealousy. Do not do such a thing, I beg you! A stepmother approaches the children she inherits like an enemy, yes, a viper would show them more affection. A boy, of course, has a tower of strength in his father; but what of you, my child, how will you grow happily from girl to woman? What kind of woman will you find your father's new partner to be? I fear she may spread some scandalous report about you when you are on the verge of womanhood and blight your marriage. 307

Theirs was a love that lived in words, not actions. 339

Time will soften the blow for you; one who is dead is as nothing. 381

you must bear what has happened here. You are not the first or last man on earth to lose a noble wife. . Recognize that we are all death's debtors. 418

Had I but the good fortune to gain such a loving partner in wedlock - seldom in life does this occur - truly, then, would she share my life to the end and bring me only joy. 471

Such is the man's noble spirit; it compels my respect even when it leads him astray. All qualities belong to noble men; I wonder at his wisdom. In my heart abides the trust that all will be well with this god-fearing man. 600

But for all its bitterness this is a stroke of fortune you must bear. 616

A marriage such as this profits a man, or he had better avoid marriage. 628

When it came to the test, you showed your true colors. 640

You are in no position to claim it was my lack of reverence for your years that made you give me up to death; I have always treated you with the utmost respect. And this is the thanks that you have given me in return, you and my mother! 659

How insincere they are, these prayers for death voiced by the elderly, these complaints they make against old age and the tedious passing of the years! If death draws near, not one of them wants to die; old age is suddenly a burden that weighs lightly on their shoulders. 668

[Pheres's reaction to Admetus's insults] pg. 27

It's a long time, I reckon, I'll be spending dead, a long time, and only a short time alive, but all the more precious for that. 693

You love your own life; well, so does every man. You can heap insults on my head, but they will return, multiplied, to vex your ears with their truth! 703

you are advanced in years; check this torrent of abuse against your son. 707

It is one life we have to make due with, not two. 712

Men's rebukes will not concern me when I am dead. 727

Who can blame me for hating this stranger who has intruded on our sorrow? 772

You're too wrapped up in someone else's trouble! Come over here and I'll improve your education. You know how it is with life on this earth? I doubt it, how should you? Just listen to me. Death's a debt all men must pay; there's not a living soul knows for sure if tomorrow's morn will see him alive or dead. As to how fortune's plans will turn out, it's far from clear - no amount of teaching or practice can give you that knowledge. So heed my words and learn from me: be happy, drink, think each day your own as you live it and leave the rest to fortune. Give honor, too, to Cypris, kindest, sweetest of deities to mortal men; she is a gracious goddess. As to everything else, pay it no attention and do as I say, if you think I'm talking sense; I think I am. Let's have no more of this extravagant grief. Come and drink with me! I know just the thing to shake you out of this tense frame of mind, these frowning looks - sinking a good few cups of wine, that'll change your attitude! We're mortal men and ought to think mortal thoughts. Life for all you sour-faced enemies of pleasure, if you want my opinion, is not really life, it's a chapter of sorrows. 778

Otherwise I should never have resented the sight of you making merry. 817

Fortune had dealt him a heavy blow but he refused to turn me away. Out of respect for me and because he has a noble heart he kept me in the dark. What man of Thessaly could have greater regard for guests? Who that lives in Greece? Admetous has a generous soul; he will have no cause to say his kindness met with ingratitude. 855

What greater sorrow can a man endure than the loss of a loving wife? I should never have taken her as my wife, never shared this home with her! How I envy them, those men who have never married, never had children! They have only one life; bearing its sorrows is a burden man can endure. But to have to witness disease striking down one's children, or bridal beds marred by death, is past enduring, when a man can live his whole life childless and unwed. - Fortune has come upon you, fortune the wrestler that none can throw. 879

Endure! You are not the first man to lose. - I cannot bear this! - a wife. Disaster in mortal life has many forms; she crushes now one man now another. 892

But now those wedding songs have given way to cries of sorrow, those bright clothes to mournings dusky garments that usher me inside, to the embrace of my empty bed. - This grief has come upon you suddenly, in the midst of your happiness, when you did not know what sorrow was. Yet you have saved your own life. Your wife has dies but left her love behind. This is not strange, many men have already lost their wives to the strong arms of death. - Friends, I count my wife's fate happier than my own, though it may not seem so. No pain will ever touch her now, nothing tarnish her good name, no more troubles weigh her down. But I, the man who cheated fate, who should not be living, will drag out my days in anguish. This truth has just come home to me. For how will I find the strength to enter this house? And if I should, is there anyone to gladen my heart by our exchange of greetings? There is none. Where shall I turn? The loneliness inside will drive me out, whenever I see our bed with no wife to share it and the chair she used to sit on and, throughout the house, the floor unswept. The children will fall at my knees, weeping for their mother, and the servants sigh for the kind mistress they have lost. So much for what will happen in my house. Outside there will be Thessalian weddings and gatherings full of women to drive me indoors once more. I will not be able to bear the sight of them, my wife's friends, all as young as her. 920

Much learning have I perused, high in the heavens let my thoughts soar, with many a doctrine grappled, but nothing have I found stronger than Necessity. And there is no remedy, either in the Thracian texts that the voice of Orpheus prescribed or among the herbs that Phoebus shredded as antidotes and gave to the sones of Asclepius to cure the many ills of man. - This goddess alone has no altars, no images for men to approach; to sacrifices she is indifferent. 962

the goddess has caught in the grip of those hands from which there is no escape. But be resolute; for never by weeping will you bring the dead up from the world below. Even children of the gods pass away into the darkness of death. She had our love when among us and will not forfeit that love now that she is dead. 988

A man should speak freely to a friend, Admetus; if he nurses any grievances, he shouldn't keep them to himself and say nothing. 1008

How will she keep her virginity if she consorts with young men? It is no easy thing, Heracles, to restrain a young man in his prime. 1051

I fear a double reproach: some Thessalian may charge me with betraying my benefactress in seeking the arms of another young woman, while she who has died (who deserves my devotion) haunts me; I must show the utmost care in what I do. 1057

The dead cannot return to the light. - Then set limits on your grief; endure as a man should. - It is easier to give counsel than to suffer and be strong. - What good would it do you if you were bent on mourning for ever? - I know this for myself, but a kind of passion drives me on. 1075

Time will soften the blow of this grief; now it is still reaching full strength. - Time will do this, if by time you mean death. - Marriage to a new woman will cure you of this longing. 1084

Wherever she is I must honor her. - Admirable! Admirable! But people will think you a fool. - May I die if I ever betray her, dead though she is. 1092

Medea

who seeks to ... princess' bed. pg. 51

What about his... child's mind. pg. 51

When the dice ... pain pg. 52

Old ties ... heart now. pg. 53

But where he ... else here pg. 53

I'm sure of ... love her! pg. 53

It's clear ... injustice? pg. 53

What makes you ... crime. pg. 54

They have ... anger. pg. 54

while the mistress ... her heart. pg. 54

Oh, to die ... life! pg. 54

Why this longing ... your life. pg. 54

The mistress ... rage. pg. 55

I have come out ... child once. pg. 56

Women are ... murderous. pg. 56

And so I ... future. pg. 58

This is not the ... distaste. pg. 58

You had ... plan. pg. 58

though I ... opponents. pg. 58

A woman ... tongue. pg. 58

the loves ... case. pg. 59

yet in ... disaster. pg. 60

Do you imagine ... enemies. pg. 60

What's more ... well, of men's. pg. 61

Vanished is the ... skies. pg. 62

This is only ... reward. pg. 62

But as regards ... now. pg. 62

the malady that ... shamelessness. pg. 62

showing more ... sense. pg. 63

Gone is the ... oaths to me. pg. 63

O Zeus ... once joined. pg. 64

above all I ... he knows. pg. 65

Even you would ... troubles. pg. 65

How much ... dares not do. pg. 65

Pray that ... friend. pg. 66

This was of ... else. pg. 66

give up this ... advantage. pg. 66

But you are ... greater. pg. 67

When passions ... of women. pg. 67

[She assumes a posture of ? him] pg. 69

If mere ... enjoys. pg. 70

Let no one ... in life. pg. 72

But no ... is wasted. pg. 72

But we are ... behavior. pg. 73

A woman ... weeping. pg. 74

If I count ... words. pg. 75

One that is ... heart. pg. 77

This stubborn ... cost me. pg. 77

I am well ... world. pg. 78

And I declare .. .of sons? pg. 79

As for the ... him happy. pg. 82

Oh, how many ... how! pg. 83

But enough of ... audacity. pg. 85

Heraclidae

Sometimes to translate into modern language understandable to the reader such liberties must be taken.

aetiological myth pg. 187 note 7

For many years ... this lesson. pg. 97

demanding that we ... land. pg. 97

It's also a ... course. pg. 100

Then it is ... pointless. pg. 100

Come, weigh ... crushed in war. pg. 101

No one ... to say. pg. 102

[In a lot of these argumentative speeches there is a shame or a praise that is given intended to manipulate one to live up to it.]

Death will ... compliments. pg. 103

Third ... Argives. pg. 104

It seems your ... dwelling. pg. 104

One man ... fight. pg. 105

It is time ... common blood.

First I will ... battle-cry. pg. 106

That king has ... no bounds. pg. 107

So we, thinking ... favors? pg. 108

pg. 109 [I wanted to note that in a lot of these tragedies a parent or nurse will weep when those they reared lives are threatened and they say their efforts were all for nothing. It seems to me that this is similar to those native American conceptions of the past finding its use in causal events of the future.]

I have no need ... us harm. pg. 109

Young men of ... afraid. pg. 109

For what will I ... honorable men? pg. 110

Through not loving ... good name. pg. 111

[Macaria's sacrifice]

Please be ... well. pg. 112

pg. 184 note 22

if there is any ... suffering? pg. 112

nor does the same ... heaven's will. pg. 113

It is through ... won. pg. 113

All this while ... back. pg. 114

wanting to help ... should. pg. 115

This is a shameful ... me! pg. 116

Your spirit ... again. pg. 116

this is all ... sustain me. pg. 116

Wealth has in ... all things. pg. 117

The Athenian ... nurture. pg. 119

proclaims to all ... single day. pg 120

There is nothing ... grasp. pg. 121

never must you ... wicked men. pg. 121

Many a time ... another. pg. 121

May I ... ambition. pg. 121

To see an ... pleasure. pg. 122

Once rid of ... offspring? pg. 124

Hippolytus

For even the race of gods has this trait: they enjoy being honored by men. 8

now the wretched woman, groaning and reduced to madness by love's cruel jabs, is dying without speaking a word. 39

I fashioned it from flowers in a virgin meadow where no shepard dares to let his flock graze and the ploughshare has not yet come. It is a pure meadow and the bee passes over it in the spring. Reverence tends it with river water for all who have gained self-discipline in everything they do - no mortal man their tutor but nature alone its flowers are for them to gather, while the wicked are prohibited. 72

if I advised you well, would you listen? - Of course, I'd be a fool not to. - Well, you know the general rule among mankind? - No, I don't. Just what's this question about? - I mean the way that pride and unfriendliness to others is not tolerated. - Quite right too, show me anyone who likes proud people. - Is it an attractive quality, being good at talking to people? - Very much so, it costs little effort and can bring benefits as well. 89

Likes and dislikes will differ in men. 108

If someone in the heat of youth says foolish things about you, pretend not to hear them. 118

A miserable, wearying helplessness too often accompanies the irritable constitution of women before the pains of labor, making our wits go astray. 161

How horrible life is with its sickness and troubles. I just don't know what to do with you, I really don't. Here is sunlight, look! Here's fresh air and brightness; you can lie on your sickbed outdoors now. 'I want to go outside!' is all we heard from you then, but in no time it will be, 'Take me to my bedroom at once!' You're up one minute, down the next; nothing pleases you. You're never happy with what's in front of you; you're more interested in what you lack. I'd rather be a patient than a nurse; the one's a simple matter, the other means worry and sore hands. It's nothing but pain, this life of ours; we're born to suffer and there is no end to it. If anything more precious than life does exist, it's wrapped in darkness, hidden behind clouds. We're fools in love - it's plain enough - clinging to this glitter here on earth because we don't know any other life and haven't seen what lies below. It's stories sweep us along, silly stories. 177

You'll find your illness easier to bear if you stay calm and show a noble spirit. Everyone on earth suffers - it's the way life is. 205

to die aware of nothing is best. 249

A long life has taught me a great deal. We mortals should limit any love we feel for each other; it shouldn't pierce us through and through. The hearts affections shouldn't weigh us down; we should find them easy to cast off or to tighten. It's a heavy load when one heart suffers pain for two, as I share this woman's torment. A life of strict, unswerving conduct more often leads to failure, they say, than to happiness, and is no friend to health. Excess, then, wins no praise from me. 'Know when to stop' - that's my life's rule, and the wise will say I'm right. 251

What does it mean when they say people are...in love? - Oh, joy, my dear, so sweet and yet so bitter, too. 347

For good and faithful wives have sinful desires - it's not their own wish but still they have them. 357

I have given thought to human lives that end in ruin. And my view is that it's not the way they think that makes them go wrong, for they are intelligent enough in most cases. No, this is how we should look at it: we know what is right and understand it, but we don't put it into practice, some out of laziness, others by letting some other pleasure come first, and life has many pleasures - long hours of conversation, and time to do nothing (precious moments that can lead us astray) and a sense of shame. This takes two forms, one beneficial, the other a burden on families. If we had no doubts about each case, there would not be two of them with the same name. 376

I said nothing ... their backs. pg. 147 and 148

For a man becomes a slave, however bold he is in spirit, on the day he learns the crimes his mother or father has committed. It's this and this alone, they say, that helps you win life's race: having a just and honest mind. The wicked are exposed, sooner or later, when Time reflects them in his mirror. 424

Ah, what a fine thing it is to have self-discipline in all circumstances! How true that the fruit it bears in this life is a good reputation! 432

It's funny how often our second thoughts are wiser. There's nothing out of the ordinary in what's happened to you; it can all be explained: it's the goddess's anger that has landed on your head. You're in love; what's so strange about that? So is half the world. 436

She's more than the body can bear, the Cyprian, when she comes in full flood - gentle enough in coming after anyone who yields to her but any she finds above himself and arrogant she takes and gives him a shocking time, believe me. 442

pg. 188 note 23

Then there are all those with books written in times past, who spend their lives in reading.

they are content, I think, to accept their fate ...to please the ear.

Vile it may be but better for you than your lofty morals. Better to do the deed and stay alive than bask in your good name and die. - Oh no, I beg you - your words are clever but vile - stop there! Desire has tilled my heart as well as any field, and if you argue so well for what is wrong, I shall be consumed in what I am trying to shun. 500

Eros, you will distil your drops of longing on the eyes of lovers and fill with sweet joy the hearts of those you set out to conquer, never, I pray, show yourself in anger to me or come beyond due measure! For neither shaft of fire nor beam of the stars is stronger than Aphrodite's dart shot from the hands of Eros. 527

if Eros, monarch of men, who holds the keys to Aphrodite's chambers of desire, fails to receive our worship , the god who devastates mortals when he comes and hurls them through every misfortune. 539

betrayed by a friend. - In telling of my troubles she has destroyed me; she tried to cure my sickness and acted lovingly but fatally...I know one thing only: I must die at once; there is no other cure for this anguish I feel. 593

don't ruin me, please! - How can I, if, as you say, you have said nothing wrong? - Those words were not for all ears, my boy, certainly not! - Fine words are all the finer said in public. 607

Find it in ... err. pg. 153

why did you allow .... outside world. pg. 153

Never will I ... forever. pg. 154

What means ... deserts. pg. 154

Did I not tell ... honor. pg. 154

Damn you ... means. pg. 154

your sense of ... straight. pg. 154

Now, had I ... some self control. pg. 155

Not a word ... wicked. pg. 155

Aren't there ... like that. pg. 157

What you dared ... hand. pg. 158

No woman ... bed. pg. 159

Give up ... family. pg. 160

That's no help ... friend. pg. 160

Oh, how ... be deceived. pg. 160

Andromache

Andromache was a woman to be envied in those early days, but now she knows misery such as no other woman on earth. 6

Now at first ... his daugter. pg. 8

You'll think of a hundred schemes; you're a woman. 85

You disown your friends in trouble. 87

I will go; after all, a slave woman's life is a small matter if any harm should come to me. 89

It is natural in women to take pleasure in the woes that beset them, recounting them constantly over and over. 93

Never should a mortal be called happy until he has died and you have seen how he has passed through his final day before making the journey below. 99

Realize your circumstances, consider the hopelessness of the position you are in. 127

How does it befit you in your distress to disfigure your features with weeping because your masters use constraint against you? You will succumb to might; why pursue the struggle when you have no strength? 130

but fear makes us stay silent (though truly your plight fills me with pity), fear that the daughter of Zeus' child may learn that I wish you well. 142

You foreigners are all the same, of course: fathers sleep with daughters, sons with mothers, sisters with brothers, closest relatives commit murder against each other, and all is sanctioned by custom. We want none of your practices here. It is wrong for two women to be under the control of one man; if a man wants to avoid strife in his home, he is happy to look no further than one woman in one bed. - A woman's heart is a jealous thing and always bitterly opposed to rivals in a husband's love. - Ah, what a curse is youth to mankind, youth and the injustice that can accompany it! My fear is that my status as a slave may deny me the right of reply to you for all the justice of my case, while, if I win, it will cost me dear. Those with influence in the world resent being worsted in argument by inferiors. 172

No drugs of ... copy them. pg. 13

How strange it is that a god has given men antidotes to dangerous reptiles, but when it comes to something worse than vipers or fire, a woman, no one has yet discovered a remedy. 269

reputation, how many thousands of men owe it to you that their lives are inflated to great heights though they are worthless? 318

[Andromache's argument] pg. 17

It is not right to punish trivial offenses too harshly, and, if we women are a dangerous plague, that is no reason for men to copy our ways. 351

Between those who are genuinely friends no private ownership exists; their goods are shared. 374

If, while waiting for him to appear, I fail to order my affairs as well as I can, then I am feeble and have no eye to the future. 376

Everyone regards his children as his very life, that's clear enough. If any man despises children, having none of his own, he may be spared some grief but his happiness is rooted in sorrow. - Your words have touched my heart; it is only human to feel pity at misfortune, even when it is a stranger's. 416

Do not derive any pleasure from my present misery; it may come to you also. 461

Never will I approve of mortals having two bed-fellows, or of sons by different mothers, a source of quarrelling and bitter recrimination in the home. I would have my husband be content with one marriage-bed, unshared by another woman. - In cities also two rulers are harder to bear than one; this adds one burden to another and created dissension among the people. So, too, when two poets have crafted a poem together, the Muses love to put them at loggerheads. - When sailors are swept along by rushing winds, in the matter of steering, two points of view, or a whole body of experts, are no match for one man of average ability excercising his independent judgment. In palaces and in cities, when men want to find the right solution, it is one man who acheives what is needed. 467

It is pure folly to leave an enemy's son to be an enemy when one has the chance to kill him and rid the house of fear. 520

How can you enjoy a good reputation, at least in the eyes of real men? 590

the mother's faults come out in their daughters. Let me give you a piece of advice, all you fellows who would be husbands: choose the daughter of a good mother. 621

when Troy lay at your feet (I will go back to your great moment), you failed to kill the woman you had won back; one glimpse of her breasts and you cast aside your sword, conquered by the Cyprian, letting her kiss you and fawning on the faithless bitch! 628

Poor soil often yields a better crop than rich, let me tell you, and many a bastard is a better man than a true-born son. Why don't you take your daughter back to your own home? Better for men to choose marriage-relations and friends from the poor and honest than from the wealthy and unprincipled. You are beneath contempt! - The tongue can set men at each other's throats, all from a trivial beginning. People who are wise take good care not to fall out with friends. 635

It is experience that teaches men all things. 682

Oh, how misguided the custom is in Greece! When an army sets up a trophy of victory over the enemy, it isn't the hard working troops who get the credit for the achievement, oh no, it is the general who wins the reputation, though he was only one man wielding his spear among countless others, and he gains more esteem for contributing no more than a single soldier. Just like you and your brother - you sit back puffed up with pride at the success of Troy and your role as generals there, though other men's sweat and toil filled your sails. 694

A barren heifer herself, she will not tolerate others giving birth, having no children of her own. But if misfortune has struck her in the matter of children, must we impose childlessness on ourselves? 711

Old men do not know how to control themselves; their quickness of temper makes them hard to manage. - You rush into insults with too much eagerness. 728

there is a certain city not far from Sparta which was formerly our friend but is now behaving like an enemy. 733

I want no cowardly talk such as this! How like a woman! 755

It is better not to have a victory that sullies reputation than to overthrow justice by force and win hatred. Such gain brings men delight at first but in time it withers in their hands and voices of reproach beset their house. This is the way of life I approve, this the one I wish to make my own, to yield no power in my home or my city that transgresses justice. 779

new friends arriving on the scene are more persuasive than familiar ones. 816

it is my arrogant heart that torments me. To think I should have been shameless enough to attempt this deed. 836

Why trouble yourself over this? Disasters are sent from the gods and, sooner or later, afflict all men. 851

Ah, that's no healthy state of affairs, when one man has two women. - Precisely; and my reaction to this was to protect my own interests. - Did you act as women usually do and hatch some plot against your rival? 907

[The progression of the argument to action] pg. 32

I was crushed ... a lot of harm. pg. 32

He was no... pg. 33

It is a wonderful thing, the tie of blood, and, when trouble comes, nothing is better than the help of one of your own relatives. 985

[Andromache's argument]

Hecabe

After a royal palace you have come to see the day of slavery and all your happiness of former days now finds an equal measure of sorrow. 54

On either side there were heated words and passions were even in the balance until that crafty talker, Laertes's son, that glib flatterer of the mob, began to use persuasion on the army: "Do not reject the noblest Greek of all to spare a slave-girl's throat. Let it not be said by one of the dead as he stands before Persephone that Greeks failed to honor Greeks, that when we left Troy's plains we gave no thought to those who died for Greece." 129

you have destroyed me, destroyed me with the terrible news, the terrible suffering you have brought! 165

You know what you must do: spare us the need to take her from you by force; do not try to match my strength, but realize the limits of your own and the hopelessness of your position; in times of trouble, wisdom lies in thinking what you ought to think. 224

Why, then, did you say you were my slave at that time? - I thought up no end of excuses to save my life. 249

Then are you not shown to be a villain by these schemes, receiving from me the treatment you admit you did, but instead of returning my kindness, doing me as much harm as you can? It is a thankless generation you belong to, all you who long to enjoy the perogatives of public-speaking! I pray I may have nothing to do with you, men who harm your friends without a second thought if it helps you make a point that flatters the mob! 253

Those who have power should not exercise it unjustly or suppose in their prosperity that Fortune will always be their friend. I, too, was prosperous once but am so no longer; a single day robbed me of all my wealth, my happiness. 281

Your standing will win them over, even if your eloquence fails you; the same plea voiced by men of no repute and men of position does not carry the same force. 292

do not let your anger make you regard as an enemy one who gives good counsel. 299

This is where most cities go wrong, when a man of quality with a patriot's heart receives no more credit than wastrels. 306

what do you suppose shall be said if there is a further call to arms for our men and the enemy has to be reckoned with again? Are we likely to take the field or shall we value our lives more highly, seeing that the dead receive no honor? For myself, while I live, I should be wholly content if I had just a little from day to day; but I would wish my tomb to be seen honored; that is a tribute that lasts generations. 313

Resign yourself to this; if our custom of honoring brave men is misguided, men will call us fools. You foreigners continue to regard your friends as enemies and to show no respect for men who die nobly; Greece will then reap the benefit and you may get what your ungrateful hearts deserve. - Ah, how debasing a thing slavery always is, submitting to what is wrong and giving way to force! 326

(you have a point to argue, he too has children). 339

I will go with you; necessity requires it and I want to die. If I did not have this wish, I should be thought a woman of no spirit, clinging to life. 344

share my wish that I should die before I suffer the indignity of a shameful fate. When someone has never tasted sorrow's bitter cup, he may bear the yoke but its weight gales his neck. He would be happier dying than remaining alive; life without honor is a heavy burden to endure. 373

be kind to a mother's natural feelings of anger, while you, poor woman, must not oppose him; he has the upper hand. Do you want to fall to the ground, to have your old body dragged, jostled by force. 403

Oh Zeus, what am I to say? Do you watch over men or are we fools, blind fools to believe this, and is it chance that oversees all men's endeavors? 489

some offering for this girl whose courage is so extraordinary, whose heart is so noble. 579

I am beset by woes on every side; I do not know which to face first. If I turn my attention to one, another will not leave me alone, while a third grief, inheriting sorrow from sorrow, calls me away from there in turn. So now, too, I would not be able to wipe from my mind the suffering that you endured and I must mourn. But this news of your noble bearing has curbed the desire to grieve more than I should. Is it not strange that poor soil, if the gods send favorable weather, is successful in producing its crop, and good soil, if it fails to get the right conditions, yields a bad crop, whereas in the case of men the bad man is never anything but a villain, and the good man never anything but good, not changing his nature when disaster strikes but remaining true to himself always? 585

know that in a great army the rank and file cannot be governed, while indiscipline in seamen burns stronger than a fire, and the 'bad' man is the one who holds back from bad deeds. 605

O splendid house, you halls so prosperous once, o Priam, so blessed in wealth, so truly blessed in offspring, and myself, this aged mother of children, how total is our ruin, stripped of our former pride! And then do we allow ourself to swell with pride, one of us in his wealthy home, another in the honorable name he enjoys in his city? But these things amount to nothing; they are idle flights of fancy, the boasts of a foolish tongue. The truly happy man is the man who lives through each day without suffering any harm. 620

when disaster strikes it is not easy for men to curb their tongues. 664

why do I hesitate any longer? I must show courage now, whether luck favors me or not. 750

Law it is that dictates our belief in the gods, our life and ability to distinguish wrong from right. If it comes before you for judgment and suffers ill-treatment, if punishment does not follow for those who kill guests or dare to carry off the holy treasures of the gods, then there is nothing secure in this world. So give such behavior the contempt it deserves. 799

Why is it we mortals devote ourselves with all due care to seeking out and mastering all other branches of learning, but, when it comes to the art of persuasion, we show no such zeal? Though this art alone presides over mankind, we spend not a jot more energy on learning it thoroughly; and yet, by paying fees to acheive this end, a man eventually would have the ability to convince others on any point he wished and to get his way into the bargain! Why then should anyone be confident of his own success? 814

[Hecabe using what Agammenon has already done with Cassandra as a point of persuasion] pg. 70

It is strange how everything falls out in life and the laws of necessity determine things, creating friendship where hatred once flourished and making enemies of those who were once allies. 845

[Agamemnon considering how the Greeks would view it] pg. 70

In all the world there is no person who is free; either he is the slave of money or circumstance, or else the majority of his fellow-citizens or a code of laws prevents him from acting as his better judgment dictates. Since you are afraid and this makes you pay too much attention to the mob. 863

Numbers can be formidable and, combined with guile, irrestible. 384

All men are agreed on this, both individuals and communities: bad men should meet a bad end and good men prosper. 902

There is nothing in which a man can place his trust, not his good name, not the expectation that success will crown his present good fortune. The gods reduce all this to mayhem, confounding past and future, to make us hold them in awe because we are ignorant of what is to come. But what point is there in lamentations? They do not help us to outdistance disaster. 954

do not fall under the spell of your neighbor's wealth. 996

[Electra's deception and trick] pg. 74

It is forgivable, when a man suffers disaster past endurance, that he rid himself of life's misery. 1106

Spare us your insolence and do not make your own troubles an excuse for such sweeping condemnation of all womankind. - Agamemnon, speech should never be allowed to carry more weight among men than actions. Honest deeds should have the support of honest words, but, if a man's actions are criminal, his arguments in turn should be unsound, and never should he be able to make a good case out of what is wrong. There are, of course, subtle wits who have mastered such skills but their subtelty cannot last for ever and they come to a sorry end; no one yet has escaped the net. 1183

if you had kept my son in safety and were raising him as your duty prescribed, you would enjoy a splendid reputation. It is in times of trouble that good men are the surest friends; prosperity by its nature has friends in every case. If you were in need of money and Polydorus enjoyed good fortune, you would have in that son of mine a treasure to reckon with; but, as it is, you have forfeited that man's goodwill. 1222

I you offer your help to this man, you will show yourself a man of no principle; you will be extending friendship to one who has no respect for the gods, no feelings of loyalty to those who have a right to it, to a man without piety, who tramples on the obligations of guest-friendship. We shall say that you yourself take pleasure in the company of wicked men because you are like them yourself. But you are my master and I must keep a civil tongue. 1233

how true it is that an admirable cause always gives scope for an admirable speech! 1238

it would bring disgrace on me if I took responsibility for this business only to disown it. 1242

Finding yourself in serious difficulty you say what suits your case. Perhaps, as you say, it is no great matter among Thracians to murder a guest under their roof; to us Greeks this is disgraceful conduct. How then am I to avoid censure if I find you not guilty? Impossible! Since you could bring yourself to commit a wicked act, you must bring yourself to endure its unwelcome consequences. 1246

Suppliant Women

Women who have sense should always act through men. 40

it brings honor to the living when they pay tribute to the dead. 75

nothing is ever achieved without using your tongue. 111

The flower of Argos's soldiers perished under my leadership. - Such is the work of war's cruelty. 117

And what did they have to say, when your request is what piety dictates? - You may well ask; good fortune is theirs but they don't know how to respond to success. 124

His father's curse was the cause; he was afraid of becoming his brother's killer. - That was prudent of him, to leave his city voluntarily. 150

It was as adjudicator in this matter that I came; I then met with disaster. 154

You found it so easy to ignore the gods' wishes? - My troops were young; their clamoring for action made me hasty, too. - You pursued the course of bravery rather than judgement. 158

Wisdom will prompt a prosperous man to look at a poor one and a poor man to keep an envious eye on the wealthy, to fuel his own desire for success; so those unscathed by bad fortune will be wise to have regard for the sufferings of others. A poet should compose any songs he creates out of joy; if he does not have this feeling, but is crushed by some personal disaster, he cannot bring joy to others either, having no claim to do so. 175

Sparta is ruthless and given to duplicity, while the other cities are small and lack strength. Your city alone would be able to shoulder this task; it has regard for the misery of others, and in you it has a fine, young leader; a lack of this, the need for a commander, has brought many a city to ruin. 185

It has been ... have no alternative (pg. 99 - pg. 101)

A beast has a cave where it can find refuge, a slave the altars of the gods, and one city in distress gains the protection of another, as a bird will fly in fear from the storm; for in human life there is no such thing as perpetual happiness. 266

Their sufferings should not cause you grief. 292

women too have much wisdom to offer. 294

That's a shameful thing to say, keeping good words hidden from those you love. - Then I will not stay silent; I will not have cause to blame myself later for holding my tongue like a coward now. Men say it does no good for women to make fine speeches but I won't let this deter me; I won't be cowed into abandoning what I know to be the right course. 295

if there were no obligation to help the wronged at whatever risk to oneself, you would hear not a word from me. But this is not so and you must realize how much honor this action will bring you. 303

Men of violence are refusing the dead the burial and funeral rites that are their due. I do not shrink from urging you to make these men recognize their duty by means of Athenian steel. You must check those who are confounding the established laws of all Greece. For it is this, due observance of the laws, that keeps cities free from civil strife. - It will be said - yes, it will! - that courage failed you, that, when you might have gained for Athens a glorious crown, fear made you stand back, that you embraced the task of tackling a wild boar - no great challenge - but when it came to facing helmets and spearpoints, to seeing a battle through to the end, you were shown up as a coward. As you are mine, do not act like this, my son. Do you see how, when men mock your country for lack of judgment, it turns a fierce eye upon them? It is in risking danger that it shows its greatness. Cities that hold back from action and practice secrecy are so cautious that they won't even divulge the direction they're looking in. 307

it goes against my nature to turn my back on danger. By performing many noble acts I have given Greeks proof that it is my habit to be a constant thorn in the side of the wicked. I cannot then disown this task. What will my enemies say of me when you, my own mother, who have most cause to fear for me, are the first to urge me to undertake it? I will do it, I will go and reclaim their dead, by persuasion, if I can. If this fails, the issue will be settled, whenever the point is reached, by force of arms and heaven's blessing. I also wish to have every Athenian's approval for this and so I shall, if it is my wish; but the whole citizen body will more readily support me if I give them power of decision. For I conferred on them sole rule when I gave this city liberty with equality of franchise. I will take Adrastus with me as proof of what I say to them, and go befor ethe asembly of my townsmen. When they give their agreement to this, I will muster a select force of Athen's fighting men and return here. Then I will remain in armed readiness while I send word to Creon to give up the bodies of the dead. 336

An enterprise that is pious and brings peril is a noble source of joy in a city's memory and wins undying gratitude. 372

You've made a bad move there and given me the chance to win the game. The city I represent is ruled by a single man, not by a mob. There is no one who makes the citizens swell with vanity by speech-making, twisting them now this way, now that, purely to line his own pockets, charming at first, the favorite of all, but in time a source of harm, who invents fresh accusations to conceal his former errors and gives justice the slip. Another thing: the people are not capable of plain, honest speech themselves; how then could they give good guidance to a city? Measured deliberation provides a better understanding than hasty judgment. Your commmon farmer, poor as he is, may be no fool, but his labor in the fields would prevent him from concentrating on politics. What really poisons life for the better class of persons is when a man of no principles rises from obscurity to a position of great importance through using his tongue to control the people. 409

No enemy ... men's tongues (pg. 106-109)

and so by great endeavors she wins great prosperity. 576

suffering will bring that lesson home to you. For the moment you are still a young man. - You will not stir me to anger with your boasts. 580

I see that the gods assign many different fates to mortal men. - This shows your earlier fear has broken your spirit. But justice invites justice, bloodshed bloodshed; the gods, who have in their keeping the end of all things, confer on mortals a reprive from their woes. 611

so he advanced, sheild in hand, to ensure his allies did not lose heart. But there was no question of Theseus's cause being undermined by hesitation; at once he seized his glittering weapons and rushed to the spot. 693

This is the kind of general one should choose, a man of courage in the hour of danger. Such a man despises an arrogant city, one that seeks in prosperity to climb to the topmost rung of success, and so forfeits the happiness it might have enjoyed. 727

O Zeus, why is it men say that wretched mortals have the power of thought? It is you on whom we depend, you who govern our actions according to your wishes at any time. We had in Argos a city we thought none could resist, given the number of our citizenry and the strength of our fighting men. So when Eteocles offered terms of peace, making a fair proposal, we refused to accept and then paid the price with our lives. Eteocles in turn, whom fortune smiled on then, like a poor man newly enriched, grew arrogant, and in a short time Cadmus's foolish people paid for their arrogance with their own ruin. Oh, the stupidity of man! You shoot your arrows beyond the target and, when, as you deserve, troubles crowd around your heads, it is only events that can teach you a lesson, not friends' advice. And you cities who have it in your power to end your sufferings by debate, you reach a conclusion by bloodshed, not parley. 733

What shame can men incure from one another's suffering? 768

Oh, the pain of it, my state of loneliness. This is the one thing we mortals can never recover once spent, a man's life; when he loses his wealth, it is not past remedy. - There is happiness for some but sorrow for others. 774

What need had we of children? What awful experience did we imagine would overtake us, if we never were joined in marriage? But now the misery we see is beyond all doubt, robbed as we are of our beloved sons. 789

how can a man who is in a battle, with volleys of spears flying before his eyes, give a reliable account of where courage has been shown? I could neither ask a question like this nor put any trust in those who presume to answer it. A man facing the enemy head on could barely see his own immediate danger. 849

pg. 118-bottom of 119

O wretched mankind, why do you equip yourselves with spears and spill each other's blood? Make an end of this! Cease your struggles and live at peace in your cities as tolerant neighbors. Life is such a brief moment; we should pass through it as easily as we can, avoiding pain. 949

It makes death a thing of happiness when a loved one's passing away is shared by one's own, should heaven so ordain it. 1002

Isn't it right for your own father to know? - You would be a poor judge of my intention. 1051

In our homes if any errors are made we can have second thoughts and rectify them, but not so in our lives. If we could be young again and subsequently old again, we would put matters right in our second lives. When I saw other men becoming fathers, I began to desire offspring of my own, and this longing was wasting me away. But if I had reached this state and learned from experience what it is like for a father to lose his child, never would I have plummed such depths of misery as this! 1081

When old age comes, a father's greatest joy is his daughter. Sons have bolder spirits, less loving when it comes to showing affection. 1100

pg. 126 [Athena's orders to Theseus to obviate future attacks by Argos on Athens]

Electra

But Aegisthus kept her in the palace and would not let any bridegroom come into contact with her; he was afraid she might bear a child to some prince who would exact revenge for Agamemnon. But even this measure left him a prey to fear: she might bear a child secretly to some man of noble birth. He therefore determined to kill her. 22

nobility is undermined by poverty. 38

If any man calls me a fool for taking a young maid into my home and not laying a finger on her, I'd have him know he is measuring self-control by his own flawed standards, and is himself the fool he calls me. 49

It is no small comfort in life, when troubles come, to find someone to cure them as I have found you. 69

When a man comes home from working his land, it warms his heart to find all in good order under his roof. 75

No shirker could scrape a living by praying to the gods all day; it's effort that's needed. 79

give vent to your tears - there is some pleasure in that. 122

women give their hearts to their lovers, my friend, not to their children. 264

No man without finer feeling can know what it is to pity; intellect is needed for this. And men of intelligence have cause to regret their capacity for such awareness. 294

Oh, how true it is: there is no sure way of testing a man's true worth, for human nature has no rhyme or reason to it. Before now I have seen a man of no merit whose father was noble, yes, and goodness flourishing in the children of low-born parents; I have seen hunger in the soul of a wealthy man and greatness of mind in one of slender means. Take this man: his importance is small in the eyes of Argos's citizens, he has no great family name to make him swell with pride and yet, for all his humble origins, he has shown himself no stranger to nobility. O you misguided men, filled with silly imaginings, put a stop to your folly and judge a man's nobility by the company he keeps and how he behaves to others! 366

Money for one's daily food comes to little; every man whose belly is filled gets his fair share, whether he's rich or poor. 429

They're nobly born all right, but this may prove false: nobility is rarely a guarantee of worth. pg. 151

otherwise we must stop believing in the gods, if injustice is to triumph over justice. 584

When you find yourself in trouble, you have no friends. It's a god-send, believe me, when a man shares good and bad alike. Now (for as far as your friends are concerned, your ruin is complete and you have left them no hope), listen to me and learn the facts: winning back your ancestral home and city depends entirely on your own effort, and on luck. 605

Might I count on their support, if I were successful? - Yes, this is the way slaves are; it works in your favor. 632

Why did my mother not accompany her husband when he set out? - Fear of criticism from the townsfolk made her stay behind. - I understand, she knows the people look at her askance. - That sort of thing; a sinful woman invites hatred. 642

Wait! You must learn the truth of your situation. 758

[Aegisthus inviting dangerous unknown guests] pg. 159

I am ashamed to insult the dead in case I become a target for someone's critical dialogue. - There is not a single person who would blame you. - My fellow-citizens are hard to please and quick to approportion blame. 902

But anyone who seduces a man's wife and then is compelled to marry her should know he is to be pitied if he thinks she will always be true to him once she has been false to her former husband. 920

You destroyed me; you orphaned me, and this man too, robbing us of the father we loved, though we had done you no wrong. 913

When a man has married a woman of noble birth, above his station, it is not he but she who becomes the center of interest. This is what took you in completely though you did not realize it: you claimed to be important because wealth made you powerful. But wealth makes a poor long-term companion. It is not wealth but character on which a man should rely. This is what never deserts him and will always shoulder misfortune, while wealth knows nothing of justice and keeps company with fools; wealth is like a flower whose bloom is quickly shed, and it vanishes from a house like a bird on the wing. 935

You took liberties with them, confident of the fact that you lived in the palace of a king and enjoyed good looks. Oh, I never want a husband like that, with features like a girl's; give me a man who looks the part! His children have hearts that are wedded to the war god, but good looks serve only to adorn the dance. 945

Time has laid you bare and you have met your deserts! Let no criminal, then, think he has outstripped Justice if he has run the first lap well, until he reaches the finishing line and has ended life's race. 951

When a woman gains notoriety, there is bitterness in what is said about her. This, in my view, is excusable; but if, once the facts are known, her conduct deserves to be condemned, then it is right to treat her with contempt; however, if this is not the case, such an attitude is indefensible. 1013

wronged though I was, I would not have lost control or killed my husband. But home he came with a crazy women in tow, a visionary, installing her as his concubine, and tried to keep two brides together under the same roof! Oh, we women are too often ruled by our hearts, I don't deny it; and, prompted by this, when a husband strays, spurning his wife's bed, the woman wants to imitate her husband and to find love elsewhere. And then it's we who find ourselves openly critized, while no blame attaches to those who are responsible, our husbands. 1030

When a woman whose husband is away from home takes trouble to make herself beautiful, then mark her down as a strumpet. She has no need to show a pretty face out of doors unless she is looking for what she should not be. 1071

When Helen, your sister, had behaved in such a way, you could have won great renown; bad deeds attract people's attention and provide a standard of comparison for judging the good. 1083

It has always been your nature to love your father. This is a fact of life: some children are devoted to their fathers, others in turn give greater love to their mothers. 1101

I let my anger against my husband drive me too far! - These sighs come too late, when you have no remedy. 1110

That is the way he is; and you too have shown stubborness. - Yes, for I feel pain. 1118

No one wants poor people as friends. 1130

There is pity in my heart for the many sufferings of mortals. 1330

The mortal who can fare well and not fall victim to some mischance knows happiness. 1355

Let no one then consent to do wrong or to share his voyage with those who commit perjury. 1352

Trojan Women

Epeius of Phocis?

When kinsfolk meet, it is no small comfort to the heart. - I thank you for your graciousness. 50

[Athena's and Hera's hatred of all of Troy because of one man, and Athena's change of anger to punish the Greek's] pg. 185

This is Troy no more; no more are we the royal house of Troy. Fortune is changing course and you must endure it. Set your course by the wind, sail as fate directs. Do not steer your ship of life head-on against the waves, sailing as you do at the whim of chance. 99

Even this is music to those in misery - to chant the joyless dirge of their doom. 119

The lot has condemned me to serve a foul, treacherous master, an enemy of Justice, a lawless beast, who with his lying tongue twists everything from one side to the other and then back again, causing hatred where once there was love. 282

Are they setting fire to their own bodies out of some desire to die? There is no doubt in such cases that freedom chafes at the yoke of adversity. 301

Your circumstances have not brought you to your senses, my child, and still you remain unchanged. 348

[Looking at the advantages the defeated Trojans have over the victorious Greeks] pg. 192-193

Had not Apollo afflicted you with madness, you would pay heavily for seeing the commanders off from this land with such offensive language. But it's true, after all, those men of importance and wisdom in the worlds eyes are no better than those judged to be nonentities. Take Atreus's well-loved son, most mighty king of all the Greeks, who fell under this determined creatures spell and chose her for his bed. Now I'm just a poor man but never would I have taken a fancy to someone like her. As for these words of yours, praising the Trojans and criticizing the Greeks, I'll let the winds blow them away, seeing as you're not right in the head. 408

Why is it heralds have an honorable name, when they are the one thing that every human being detests, these lackeys of kings and states? 425

services unwanted are never welcome. 466

I wish therefore first of all to sing of my blessings; thus I will cause my hearers to pity my sufferings the more. 470

Fortune has her favorites but not one should be called happy - do not think it - this side of the grave. 509

Yet the dead man forgets his anguish. - When misfortune strikes people, what pleasure they derive from tears, from lamentations and dirges, and music with sorrow in its strains. 606

I see the work of the gods, how they exalt to the skies things of no importance and bring to ruin what seems worthy of respect. 611

Noble birth descends to slavery; what a monstrous change! - A terrible thing is necessity. 613

Her death was as it was. But what of me, still living on? Her death was a kinder fate. - My child, death and life are not at all the same; the one is nothingness, the other offers hope. - To be dead, I say, is tantamount to never having been born. Death is to be prefered to a life of pain, for one who feels no danger can feel no pain. But when a man falls from fortune's height to misery, his mind dwells constantly on the loss of his former happiness. Your daughter is as dead as if she had never seen the light of day; she knows nothing of the misery that was hers. But I aimed at a glorious name and, though I won this in generous measure, good fortune eluded my arrow. All the accomplishments that bring credit to a woman I strove to put into practice in the house of Hector. In the first instance, in the matter where a woman gets a bad reputation (whether she attracts criticism or not), namely, not remaining indoors, I suppressed my longing and stayed in the house. And inside the home I would not tolerate the idle gossip of women but was content to have in my own mind a teacher I could trust. I kept a quiet tongue in my husband's presence and let no clouds pass over my face. I knew in which matters I should be superior to my husband and when it was right for me to let him prevail. And it was because my reputation for this reached the ears of the Greek army that my doom was sealed. For once I was a captive, Achilles's son wished to take me as his wife. I shall be a slave in a murderer's house. Now if I dismiss any thought of my beloved Hector and open my heart to my new husband, it will seem that I have betrayed the dead. But if, alternatively, I turn away from him in loathing, I will earn the hatred of my own master. And yet they say a single night thaws a woman's distaste for a man's bed. But I feel only contempt for the woman who casts off her former husband for a new affair and gives her love to another man. Why, not even the farm-horse, separated from his yoke-fellow and stablemate, pulls without remorse. But animals are devoid of speech and, lacking the use of reason, are by nature our inferiors. 630

Not even hope have I, something that is left to all mortals, nor do I delude myself that Fortune will show me any kindness, though even fancies like this bring me comfort. - We are in the same desparate situation, you and I; in lamenting your sad fate you teach me the extent of my own woes. 680

If sailors find themselves in a storm not too severe to endure, they work with a will to get clear of the danger, one man standing at the tiller, a second by the sails, another bailing out the bilge-water. But if the sea runs high and the storm proves too strong, they submit to circumstance and resign themselves to the rushing waves. So it is with me: the number of my woes makes me dumb; I resign the power of speech, overwhelmed by the waves of misery the gods have caused. 686

You must not dwell on what happened to Hector; your tears will not bring him back. 697

Your concern is appreciated but not if it means holding back bad news from me. 717

telling them not to let the son of such a hero grow to manhood. - If only his eloquence would condemn his own children to death. 723

Accept that this must be so and all will recognize your good sense. Do not hold on to him. Submit to the pain of your suffering as befits your rank and do not pretend to strength when you are so weak. Nowhere is there anyone for you to turn to. You must consider your situation: your city and your husband are no more; you are at the mercy of others, and we are capable of doing battle with a single woman. Because of this you must curb your desire to resist and avoid doing anything that would bring shame or ill will upon you. 725

O you who give the earth support and by it supported, whoever you are, power beyond our knowledge, Zeus, be you stern law of nature or intelligence in man, to you I make my prayers; for you direct in the way of justice all mortal affairs, moving with noiseless tread. - What's this? You have a novel way of praying to the gods! - I approve of your decision to kill your wife, Menelaus. But do not look at her, or she will fill you with longing and make you her prisoner. She ensnares men's eyes, captures cities, sets homes on fire; she possesses such enchantment. 882

Perhaps you will refuse to meet my points, whether you think them well made or not, since you look on me as an enemy. 914

You may want to be stronger than the gods, but, if you do, it is a foolish wish. - Majesty, destroy this woman's persuasive words and protect your children, protect your homeland, for she speaks with fair words from a foul heart; not that inspires fear. 964

Crown Greece as your good name requires by killing this woman and establish this law for the rest of womankind: the penalty for betraying one's husband is death. - Menelaus, punish your wife as your forefathers and house would approve. Show yourself noble in your enemies' eyes and prevent your fellow Greeks from charging you with unmanliness. 1029

Away with her, take her off to the ship that will carry her over the sea! - Do not let her board the same ship as you! - Why ever not? Does she weigh more than she used to? - There is no lover who does not love forever. - That depends on how the lovers view matters. But I will do as you wish: she will board a different ship than mine; for there is actually sense in what you say. And once she gets to Argos she will meet a foul end as befits so foul a creature and make all women curb their lustful instincts. This is no easy task, but just the same her execution will strike fear into their wanton hearts, even if their shamelessness exceeds hers. 1048

Foolish the man who delights in his good fortune, supposing that it will never leave him. For it is Fortune's way to jump now in one direction, now in another, like a man who cannot choose whom to support; and no one owes his happiness to himself alone. 1202

I imagine it makes little difference to the dead whether they receive rich gifts for the grave; this is just empty ostentation on the part of the living. 1248

O Troy, once you held pride of place among the peoples of Asia, but soon you will be stripped of your famous name. They are putting you to the torch and leading us away now from your land to be slaves. O you gods! Yet why do I invoke the gods? Even before this they were deaf to our appeals. 1275

Ion

he gives me ... praise. pg. 105

Enjoy ... view. pg. 107

[justice] pg. 108

[Erechtheus sacrificed his virgin daughters for his country.] pg. 109

even though it ... action! pg. 111

[justice] pg. 113

The world is wide ... happiness. pg. 113

We women ... tears. pg. 113

As you possess ... lessons! pg. 114

For mortals ... means. pg. 115

Did you sleep ... youth. pg. 117

If we trust ... to us. pg. 119

When things are ... good fortune. pg. 119-121

For when a man ... true thoughts. pg. 121

It is a joy ... friend! pg. 123

Ah, how I ... clever. pg. 126

All this means ... sex! pg. 126

[lyre has seven strings] pg. 127

How your prosperous ... dwell on it. pg. 129

good does not mix with bad. pg. 131

they say the ... children. pg. 132

When Fortune ... way. pg. 132

All you ... lustful ways. pg. 133

[justice] pg. 137

I will be giving ... by the gods. pg. 139

I have; ... kills his enemies. pg. 140

How could you ... life away. pg. 146

We are buffetted ... again in joy. pg. 146

Mother, I hope ... bring you. pg. 146

[justice] pg. 149

[Xuthus misinterpreting the Oracle about his son]

Iphigenia among the Taurians

[Artemis taking her and replacing her with a deer for the sacrifice; consecration of sacrificial victim; visions in dreams and interpretations] pg. 54

Hardship brings ... our goal. pg. 56

Fate leaps .. malignity. pg. 58

a scoffer ... prayers. pg. 59

each one of us ... athelets. pg. 60

[compassion and sympathy] pg. 61

before you were always ... savage. pg. 61

I thought I was ... greetings. pg. 62

Leto won ... of evil. pg. 62

For hope is ... measure. pg. 63

[justice] pg. 63

Oh my lady ... prescribes. pg. 64

All the gods ... pathways. pg. 64

Why do you ... nature. pg. 64

Are you two ... brothers. pg. 64

The right name ... kindness? pg. 65

[wicked justice] pg. 67

Gods whom we ... know how. pg. 67

I have formed ... same course. pg. 67

I am the one ... your friends! pg. 68

Necessity ... disobey. pg. 69

No one is ... friend. pg. 69

It brings me ... smiles on you. pg. 70

I shall be ... extreme. pg. 71

No man shows ... his home. pg. 72

it's as well ... you bow. pg. 73

[Orestes not revealing his identity to see how things playout.] pg. 73

[justice] pg. 74

Tears moisten .. to the sky. pg. 75

No father ... heaven's will. pg. 76

fortune will ... the task. pg. 77

When I reached ... mother's murderer. pg. 78

When I draw ... after all. pg. 80

Appeal to ... arouse pity. pg. 81

We are women ... int. pg. 82

It is fine ... confidences. pg. 82

I envy the man ... mortal's. pg. 83

You see how ... women! pg. 89

Helen

But Hera was ... goddesses. pg. 158

[Theonoe means divine in knowledge.]

[Teucer hating the women who looks like Helen] pg. 159

I made a ... like that. pg. 159

It was his own ... a deed. pg. 159

Your lot is ... possible. pg. 163

and the troubles ... beauty. pg. 163

When you set ... one man. pg. 164

When a woman ... I dread. pg. 164

and when you have ... another. pg. 165

do not prophesy ... soon! pg. 165

Accept the ... advantage. pg. 165

O Troy ... telling. pg. 166

But my beauty ... there! pg. 166

When misfortune ... me. pg. 167

When I saw ... to help. pg. 167

Bad luck ... only one. pg. 169

[The old woman's inhospitality and Proteus's son's prejudice against Greeks] pg. 169

There are two ... necessity. pg. 170

I win you ... at Troy. pg. 172

No vision ... cancelled. pg. 174

It was a happy misfortune. pg. 174

Where we two ... shared. pg. 174

Hearding of ... pleasure. pg. 175

how intricate are ... bad name. pg. 177

I may have been ... near you. pg. 177

pay no heed ... divination. pg. 178

My tale would ... return. pg. 178

it is a fool ... your arrival! pg. 180

[justice] pg. 183

[Menelaus's clever plan to involve Proteus to persuade Theonoe] pg. 184

I am true ... preserve it. pg. 185

[justice, afterlife] pg. 185

never will I be ... the gods. pg. 185

No man ever ... to safety. pg. 186

Listen to this ... suggestion. pg. 186

Yes, and these ... deliverance. pg. 187

[Talking to Aphrodite] Why do you ... deny it. pg. 188

As for what is ... you roused. pg. 189

[unblemished sacrifice] pg. 193

Zeus wished to ... in beauty. pg. 195

There's nothing ... scepticism. pg. 202

Oh, to have ... wiles! pg. 202

[justice] pg. 203

A man who has ... master. pg. 203

Go on your way ... here today. pg. 204

Phoenician Women

Yet he gave way to passion and, succumbing to Bacchus's power. 20

needing much subtlety of thought to explain away, might be forgotten. He is alive inside the house but distracted by his fortunes he has hurled most impious curses at his sons. 65

[Eteocles taking the opportunity to seize power]

For, now that confusion has entered Thebes, a crowd of women is advancing on the palace. Women are prone to finding fault, and once they find slight pretexts for talk, they import others in plenty. It gives women some kind of pleasure to say nothing good of each other. 196

All too easily ... I do not. pg. 16

groaning in distress at the curses he levelled at his sons. 331

Offspring ... around me. pg. 18

But enough, grief ever produces fresh grief. 371

The will of heaven must be endured. 382

What is it like ... seem fair. pg. 19

Enjoy good fortune: friends disappear once prosperity goes. - Did your noble birth not raise you to high estate? - Poverty is a curse; nobility did not feed me. - A man's homeland, it seems, is his most precious possession. - You could not even say how precious. 402

Wealth is honored most by men and has the greatest influence in human affairs.' For this have I come here, with countless spears at my back; for a nobleman without wealth counts for nothing. 439

Justice is not the result of haste; measured words acheive most in the eyes of wise men. Curb that fearsome glare and those stormy outbursts. 450

If you look him in the eye, you will speak and hear his words more reasonably. I want to give you both some wise advice: when a man comes to meet a friend with whom he has quarrelled and looks him in the eye, he should consider only the reason for their meeting and forget all earlier grievances. 458

Truth is simple by nature in the telling, and justice needs no cunning gloss of sophistries. It has a right measure of its own; but the argument that is unjust is sick in nature, and so needs the medicine of clever words. 469

He gave his seal of approval to this and his oath in the name of the gods; but not one of his promises has he fulfilled, instead enjoying for himself the kingship and my share in the inheritance. 481

though acting in all respects justly, I am being robbed of my homeland unjustly. 491

If all men agreed on what constituted honor and wisdom, the world would be free of contentious argument. But as it is, nothing is like or equal on earth, except in name; but this naming is not reality. 499

reasoned discussion can acheive all that can be effected by enemy swords. 514

Ignoble actions should not win praise. 527

not everything ... apportioned number. pg. 23

Why do you ... a day. pg. 24

[Jocasta's advice to consider consequences] pg. 24

Subdue ... result. pg. 25

how cowardly ... to life! pg. 25

the general ... courts it. pg. 25

Does your ... you should. pg. 29

their boldness ... words. pg. 29

victory ... precautions. pg. 29

Assign ... no value. pg. 30

[Eteocles criticizing Teiresias's ability but needing him later] pg. 31

Precaution ... dieties. pg. 31

O Ares ... death. pg. 31

What is shameful ... honorable. pg. 32

What did I ... hatred? pg. 33

Has Truth ... fortune? pg. 33

[Father must sacrifice son to save city.] pg. 35

the man ... prophecies. pg. 36

The life ... death. pg. 36

Think of ... I live! pg. 37

If only every ... them! pg. 37

Let the future ... to come. pg. 42

I feel ... now. pg. 44

I was so ... know this. pg. 45

[Eteocles letting down his guard when he thought he had killed Polyneices] pg. 48

My friend became my enemy. pg. 49

[The truce ended in attack because the victor couldn't be decided.] pg. 49

[Oedipus's anger at Cithaeron for saving him] pg. 52

is it not ... malice. pg. 53

the same day ... ruin. pg. 55

Because I have ... pitied. pg. 57

Enough of ... sorrows. pg. 57

I am mortal ... heaven. pg. 57

Orestes

There is no ... his head. pg. 69

he did not ... tongue. pg. 69

O oblivion ... distress. pg. 74

When a man ... to him. pg. 75

Helplessness ... please. pg. 75

Change ... the truth. pg. 75

Then do not ... words! pg. 76

When you see ... friends. pg. 77

Whether a man ... afflict him. pg. 77

Great happiness ... the sea. pg. 78

What sickness ... against her. pg. 79

Terrible ... action. pg. 80

A man ... in action. pg. 81

Friends ... deed. pg. 82

Everything ... eyes. pg. 83

This question ... in turn. pg. 83

As far ... cities. pg. 83

Enviable ... to see. pg. 83

If women ... practice. pg. 85

It is always ... fortunes. pg. 86

Do not ... understood. pg. 86

He sold ... spouse. pg. 87

You must have ... forgiveness. pg. 87

it is when ... given. pg. 87

my claim ... alone. pg. 87

In battle ... you please. pg. 88

For the gods ... citizens. pg. 88

A man you ... sailor. pg. 89

friends share ... fortunes. pg. 89

It is no ... bad. pg. 89

He was circumspect ... friends. pg. 89

The people are ... counsel. pg. 91

[weighing options and going with the possible outcome] pg. 91

Shrinking is ... friend. pg. 92

Where shall I ... blood relatives. pg. 92

heralds ... cultivate. pg. 94

suborned ... office. pg. 95

Because of ... afterwards. pg. 95

Force ... supply. pg. 96

The envy ... calculation. pg. 96

Hush this ... endure. pg. 97

causing ... woes. pg. 98

Keep your ... women. pg. 100

Ah, there ... wretched. pg. 101

Men of sense ... death. pg. 110

You curry ... feelings. pg. 111

What should ... friends. pg. 112

A prosperous ... is low. pg. 112

I hate ... wicked. pg. 114

[Interesting, gods caused Trojan war to cut down the human population] pg. 115

Iphigenia at Aulis

I envy you ... god's will. pg. 177

The young men ... round him. pg. 178

No mortal ... sorrow. pg. 181

A clever ... you wanting. pg. 184

What an ... name. pg. 185

The sky ... the job. pg. 185

I now wish ... a good turn. pg. 186

Take them ... enough. pg. 186

I will not ... affairs well. pg. 186

I have no ... friends. pg. 187

I want to ... harming me. pg. 187

Necessity is ... state. pg. 188

Strife ... ambition. pg. 190

The whole ... ambition. pg. 190

He is a ... plague. pg. 190

Blessed are those ... city greater. pg. 191

The powerful ... fortune. pg. 192

I envy ... shared it. pg. 195

I make clever ... at all. pg. 198

It is natural ... marriage. pg. 200

My anger rises ... nature free. pg. 203

[interesting cultural concepts between 930 and 970 about names]

Who is he ... nothing. pg. 204

Ah, how ... problems. pg. 205

[interesting belief on omens at 987]

Do not bring ... slander. pg. 205

arguments overthrow fears. pg. 206

I shall be on ... by force. pg. 206

If the ... ourselves? pg. 207

Where can the ... at bay? pg. 207

It's a rare ... enough. pg. 210

We use what ... loathe. pg. 210

I would have ... my power. pg. 211

Even infants ... suffering. pg. 212

the greatest ... death. pg. 212

Many and varied ... discover. pg. 214

I am ashamed ... be saved. pg. 214

Were your ... marriage. pg. 215

a mob is ... thing. pg. 215

This anger ... my mind. pg. 216

One man ... women. pg. 216

[Utilitarian ethical argument] pg. 216

You have given ... requires. pg. 217

allow me to ... power. pg. 217

My misery ... a coward! pg. 218

[Iphigenia is to be sacrificed but is replaced at the last moment with an animal, and she is taken to live with the gods. Even though the end of this play is a later addition, this part of the story goes back to the epic the Cypria.]

Bacchae

[Semele's sisters and their claims] pg. 128

in my pleasure ... old. pg. 132

We do not ... of wits. pg. 132

You want to ... sacrifice. pg. 134

When a clever ... intelligence. pg. 134

Men enjoy ... suffering. pg. 134

For when ... Dionysus. pg. 135

Don't be too ... honor. pg. 135

Live with us ... Artemis. pg. 136

a fool speaks ... words. pg. 137

the end of ... together. pg. 137

To be clever ... left them. pg. 137

Peace ... accept. pg. 138

[Bacchus freeing believers from prison] pg. 138

[Lots of similarities with Chrisitanity] pg. 139-147

You are not ... fool himself. pg. 139

I will receive ... wise man. pg. 144

Please say ... manner. pg. 145

the vine which ... the king. pg. 147

Already ... fear. pg. 147

But you will ... means. pg. 150

[Dionysus's trick] pg. 150

Or what heaven ... cherished. pg. 151

Slow to advance ... nature. pg. 151

Happy ... blessed. pg. 151

This man ... know the gods! pg. 154

O house ... I am! pg. 155

Gods should ... temper. pg. 164

Many are ... today. pg. 165

Heracles

means to quench ... blood. pg. 9

As for friends ... test of friends. pg. 9

how veiled ... her wings. pg. 9

They are so ... his absence. pg. 10

Daughter ... a coward. pg. 10

If any man's ... the fray. pg. 11

His reputation ... revenge. pg. 12

True skill ... views. pg. 13

your attitude ... warrior. pg. 13

[justice] pg. 13

Commit no ... against you. pg. 13

Greece, too ... thank old age. pg. 13

A good man ... to him. pg. 14

[justice; honor] pg. 15

Civil strife ... a ruler. pg. 15

it is right ... friends. pg. 15

But in my ... fool. pg. 15

If these ... dishonor. pg. 15

You must ... reasoning. pg. 15

You should ... with him. pg. 15

As they say ... change it. pg. 16

[justice] pg. 17

valorous ... dead. pg. 17

[justice] pg. 18

life is no ... of none. pg. 20

we women ... was I. pg. 21

what friends ... end of friendship. pg. 22

[right] pg. 23

do not act ... unexpected grief. pg. 23

In all respects ... loves children. pg. 24

I would not desire ... I hate. pg. 24

[If the gods... - justice] pg. 25

As it is ... his wealth. pg. 25

[seven] pg. 25

What pleasure ... misdeeds. pg. 26

[justice] pg. 27

Gold and good ... dark chariot. pg. 27

Otherwise ... supreme. pg. 29

I'm trying to .. path. pg. 29

[the god Madness] pg. 29

Swiftly ... success. pg. 30

[justice] pg. 30

I am not afraid ... miserable. pg. 35

curb that lion's ... another! pg. 39

It does not ... arise. pg. 39

A noble heart ... recoil. pg. 40

The curse I ... greetings! pg. 41

If you were going ... gods do not? pg. 42

It will be a ... hold to life. pg. 43

even the strong ... fate. pg. 44

If any man ... fool. pg. 45

Rhesus

Probably not by Euripides

You bring ... clarity. pg. 234

You have said ... plainly. pg. 235

But the enemy .... runaways. pg. 235

Hector, you make ... flight. pg. 236

This was your ... future. pg. 236

It will bring ... and take counsel. pg. 237

A commander's ... anchored fleet. pg. 237

A reward set ... rendered. pg. 238

[justice] pg. 238

Gold I have ... sufficient. pg. 239

Well-bred ... plough. pg. 239

a man must labor ... of dice. pg. 239

[justice] pg. 240

From a clever ... cleverness. pg. 240

there is ever ... pg. 241

[counting board?] pg. 242

By night it's ... enemy troops. pg. 242

No lack of ... your city. pg. 243

Look to the ... board. pg. 243

it is invidious ... ally. pg. 243

and handed them ... in most thoughts. pg. 245

[Rhesus having a good excuse for what Hector accused him of]

I wish to march ... to the gods. pg. 246

In looking to ... remain here. pg. 247

Hector is bold ... indeed. pg. 249

You are experienced ... benefit. pg. 251

It would be ... night. pg. 253

[The Thracians letting their guard down because they believed the Trojan guards would do their jobs] pg. 255

either by ... straw. pg. 256

[Justice] pg. 258

Take him ... slanders. pg. 258

[Hector being accused of the murder of Rhesus]

O what sorrows ... bury them! pg. 260

Cyclops

tasting ... after all! pg. 215

Once I had ... running jump. pg. 216

One look at ... in my bed! pg. 216

inside the cave ... of old. pg. 217

[Silenus's attempt to avoid the Cyclop's anger by lying, and the acceptance of the lies by the Cyclops pg. 218]

Some new ... fare. pg. 218

[Silenus's son claiming that Silenus was lying] pg. 219

many a man ... punishment. pg. 220

Wealth, my ... harborless heart. pg. 220

If you have ... worthless. pg. 222

Now, no talking ... own skin! pg. 225

Who is Bacchus ... no equal. pg. 226

Shouldn't I ... drink is wise. pg. 226

Just stop ... lot to drink. pg. 228

who scuppered us ... to throw. pg. 231