Epeisodion 1
Hecuba
Fare well! others do, but not your mother, no!
Polyxena
You too, my brother Polydorus, in Thrace, the home of steeds!
Hecuba
Yes, if he lives, which I doubt; so luckless am I in every way.
Polyxena
He lives; and, when you die, he will close your eyes.
430
Hecuba
I am dead; sorrow has forestalled death here.
Polyxena
Come veil my head, Odysseus, and take me away; for now, before the fatal blow, my heart is melted by my mother’s wailing, and hers by mine.
O light of day! for still I may call you by your name, though now my share in you is only the time I take to go between Achilles’ tomb and the sword. Odysseus and his attendants lead Polyxena away.
435
Hecuba
Alas! I faint; my limbs sink under me. O my daughter, embrace your mother, stretch out your hand,
give it to me; do not leave me childless! Ah, friends! it is my death-blow. Oh! to see that Spartan woman, Helen, sister of the sons of Zeus, in such a plight; for her bright eyes have caused the shameful fall of Troy’s once prosperous town. Hecuba sinks fainting to the ground.
440
