Epeisodion 3
Chorus
And yet in the case of those whose mistakes were unwitting, men’s anger is softened. So it should be for you.
Deianeira
No, such words are not for one who took part in the wrongdoing,
but only for him who has no trouble at his own door.
730
Chorus
It would suit you to refrain from saying anything more, unless you would reveal anything to your own son. For he is here, the one who earlier went to seek his father.
Hyllus
O Mother, how I wish I could choose one of three fates for you!
I wish that you no longer lived, or, if you remained, that someone else called you “Mother”, or that some new and kinder heart had been exchanged for your present one!
735
Deianeira
My son, what have I done to cause your hate?
Hyllus
Listen to me! You have killed
your husband, my father—my father!
740
Deianeira
oh, no! What is this you have blurted out, Hyllus?
Hyllus
Only what cannot but be fulfilled. For who could undo what has happened?
Deianeira
What do you mean, son? From whom did you hear this
that you charge me with a crime so awful?
745
Hyllus
I have seen my father’s overwhelming misfortune with my own eyes. I did not learn of it by hearsay.
Deianeira
Where did you find him? Where were you with him?
Hyllus
If you need to hear, then I must tell all.
After sacking the famous city of Eurytus, he went his way with the trophies and choice spoils of victory. There is a sea-washed headland of Euboea, Cape Cenaeum, where he marked out altars and a sacred grove to the Zeus of his fathers.
750
There I first saw him, to the gratification of my desire. He was about to make a sacrifice rich in offerings when his own herald, Lichas, came to him from home with your gift, the deadly robe, in his hands. This he put on as you prescribed
755
and then began his offering with twelve bulls, free from blemish, the prime of the spoil; but altogether he brought a hundred mixed victims to the altar. At first the miserable wretch prayed with serene soul and rejoiced in his ornate garb.
760
But when the blood-fed flame began to blaze from the holy offerings and from the resinous pine, a sweat broke out on his skin and the tunic clung to his sides close-glued at every joint, as if by a craftsman’s hand; there came
765
