|198 {Phaedra:} Lift my body, keep my head up. |199 The fastenings [sun-desma] of my dear [phila] limbs [melea] have come apart [le-lū-tai]. |200 Hold on to my shapely arms, attendants. |201 My hair all done up on top of my head is a heavy load to bear. |202 Take out my hair pinnings, let the curls of my hair cascade over my shoulders. … |208 I only wish I could, from a dewy spring, |209 scoop up a drink of pure water, |210 and, lying down beneath the poplars in a grassy |211 meadow [leimōn], I could find relief. … |215 Take me to the mountains—I will go to the woods, |216 to the pine trees, where the beast-killing |217 hounds track their prey, |218 getting closer and closer to the dappled deer. |219 I swear by the gods, I have a passionate desire [erâsthai] to give a hunter’s shout to the hounds, |220 and, with my blond hair and all, to throw |221 a Thessalian javelin, holding the barbed |222 dart in my hand.
|223 {Nurse:} Why on earth, my child, are you sick at heart about these things? |224 Why is the hunt your concern [meletē]? |225 And why do you feel a passionate desire [erâsthai] for streams flowing from craggy heights |226 when nearby, next to these towers, there is a moist |227 hillside with a fountain? You could get your drink from here.
|228 {Phaedra:} My lady Artemis! You who preside over the lagoon by the sea! |229 You are where the place is for exercising, and it thunders with horses’ hooves! |230 Oh, if only I could be there, on your grounds, |231 masterfully driving Venetian horses!
|232 {Nurse:} Why in your madness have you hurled out of your mouth this wording here? |233 One moment you were going up the mountain to hunt |234 —you were getting all set, in your longing [pothos], to do that, and then, the next moment, you were heading for the beach |235 sheltered from the splashing waves, in your passionate desire [erâsthai] for the horses. |236 These things are worth a lot of consultation with seers: |237 which one of the gods is steering you off-course |238 and deflects your thinking [phrenes], child?
Hour 20 Text K from Gregory Nagy The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours
|198 {Φα.} αἴρετέ μου δέμας, ὀρθοῦτε κάρα· |199 λέλυμαι μελέων σύνδεσμα φίλων. |200 λάβετ’ εὐπήχεις χεῖρας, πρόπολοι. |201 βαρύ μοι κεφαλῆς ἐπίκρανον ἔχειν· |202 ἄφελ’, ἀμπέτασον βόστρυχον ὤμοις. … |208 πῶς ἂν δροσερᾶς ἀπὸ κρηνῖδος |209 καθαρῶν ὑδάτων πῶμ’ ἀρυσαίμαν, |210 ὑπό τ’ αἰγείροις ἔν τε κομήτῃ |211 λειμῶνι κλιθεῖσ’ ἀναπαυσαίμαν; … |215 πέμπετέ μ’ εἰς ὄρος· εἶμι πρὸς ὕλαν |216 καὶ παρὰ πεύκας, ἵνα θηροφόνοι |217 στείβουσι κύνες |218 βαλιαῖς ἐλάφοις ἐγχριμπτόμεναι. |219 πρὸς θεῶν· ἔραμαι κυσὶ θωύξαι |220 καὶ παρὰ χαίταν ξανθὰν ῥῖψαι |221 Θεσσαλὸν ὅρπακ’, ἐπίλογχον ἔχουσ’ |222 ἐν χειρὶ βέλος. |223 {Τρ.} τί ποτ’, ὦ τέκνον, τάδε κηραίνεις; |224 τί κυνηγεσίων καὶ σοὶ μελέτη; |225 τί δὲ κρηναίων νασμῶν ἔρασαι; |226 πάρα γὰρ δροσερὰ πύργοις συνεχὴς |227 κλειτύς, ὅθεν σοι πῶμα γένοιτ’ ἄν. |228 {Φα.} δέσποιν’ ἁλίας Ἄρτεμι Λίμνας |229 καὶ γυμνασίων τῶν ἱπποκρότων, |230 εἴθε γενοίμαν ἐν σοῖς δαπέδοις |231 πώλους Ἐνετὰς δαμαλιζομένα. |232 {Τρ.} τί τόδ’ αὖ παράφρων ἔρριψας ἔπος; |233 νῦν δὴ μὲν ὄρος βᾶσ’ ἐπὶ θήρας |234 πόθον ἐστέλλου, νῦν δ’ αὖ ψαμάθοις |235 ἐπ’ ἀκυμάντοις πώλων ἔρασαι. |236 τάδε μαντείας ἄξια πολλῆς, |237 ὅστις σε θεῶν ἀνασειράζει |238 καὶ παρακόπτει φρένας, ὦ παῖ.
Euripides Hippolytus 198–202, 208–211, 215–238
Ways to read
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Further reading
On the website Classical Inquiries: an in-progress supplement to Gregory Nagy’s H24H, you can read the post God-Hero Antagonism in the Hippolytus of Euripides
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