Ajax 485-515, Free Translation (Final Exam)

Henry Hintermeister / Sophocles, Ajax
  • Created on 2018-05-09 00:49:39
  • Modified on 2018-05-09 17:05:54
  • Translated by Henry Hintermeister
  • Aligned by Henry Hintermeister
A liberal translation of Ajax 485-515.
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
δέσποτ’ Αἴας , τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης
οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν μεῖζον ἀνθρώποις κακόν .
ἐγὼ δ’ ἐλευθέρου μὲν ἐξέφυν πατρός ,
εἴπερ τινὸς σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ Φρυγῶν ·
νῦν δ’ εἰμὶ δούλη · θεοῖς γὰρ ὧδ’ ἔδοξέ που
καὶ σῇ μάλιστα χειρί . τοιγαροῦν , ἐπεὶ
τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον , εὖ φρονῶ τὰ σά ,
καί σ’ ἀντιάζω πρός τ’ ἐφεστίου Διὸς
εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς , συνηλλάχθης ἐμοί ,
μή μ’ ἀξιώσῃς βάξιν ἀλγεινὴν λαβεῖν
τῶν σῶν ὑπ’ ἐχθρῶν , χειρίαν ἐφείς τινι .
γὰρ θάνῃς σὺ καὶ τελευτήσας ἀφῇς ,
ταύτῃ νόμιζε κἀμὲ τῇ τόθ’ ἡμέρᾳ
βίᾳ ξυναρπασθεῖσαν Ἀργείων ὕπο
ξὺν παιδὶ τῷ σῷ δουλίαν ἕξειν τροφήν .
καί τις πικρὸν πρόσφθεγμα δεσποτῶν ἐρεῖ
λόγοις ἰάπτων · ἴδετε τὴν ὁμευνέτιν
Αἴαντος , ὃς μέγιστον ἴσχυσεν στρατοῦ ,
οἵας λατρείας ἀνθ’ ὅσου ζήλου τρέφει .
τοιαῦτ’ ἐρεῖ τις · κἀμὲ μὲν δαίμων ἐλᾷ ,
σοὶ δ’ αἰσχρὰ τἄπη ταῦτα καὶ τῷ σῷ γένει .
ἀλλ’ αἴδεσαι μὲν πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἐν λυγρῷ
γήρᾳ προλείπων , αἴδεσαι δὲ μητέρα
πολλῶν ἐτῶν κληροῦχον , σε πολλάκις
θεοῖς ἀρᾶται ζῶντα πρὸς δόμους μολεῖν ·
οἴκτιρε δ’ , ὦναξ , παῖδα τὸν σόν , εἰ νέας
τροφῆς στερηθεὶς σοῦ διοίσεται μόνος
ὑπ’ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων , ὅσον κακὸν
κείνῳ τε κἀμοὶ τοῦθ’ , ὅταν θάνῃς , νεμεῖς .
ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐκέτ’ ἔστιν εἰς τι βλέπω
πλὴν σοῦ .
Oh , Master Ajax , there is no greater evil
For man than unavoidable fate .
I was born of a free father ,
If it can be said that any man in Phrygia is wealthy .
But now I am a slave . I suppose this seemed best to the gods ,
But it was assured by your war-heavy hands when you ravaged my homeland .
But , since I have lain in the marriage bed with you , I think well on you ,
And so I beg you before the hearth of Zeus
And your bed , where you coupled with me ,
Do not think it right that I should receive
The wrathful insults of your enemies , abandoning your slave , the mother of your child , to some other man .
When you die and abandon me , as you draw your final breaths ,
Think on that day about how I will be snatched in the night by the Argives ,
Forced from our home together with your child , to endure a life of servitude and labor .
And some man will call the cutting address of a slave-gang master ,
Wounding me with his words , " See there the whore
of Ajax , who was once the bravest of the army !
What service for such praise does she now yield ! "
Some low man will utter these things . And me , fate will drive me on with lashes ,
But consider the shame these words will bring down on you and your kin , on Telemon .
Have thought for your father , who you will
Abandon in his miserable old age , and have thought for your
Foreign mother of many years , who prays to the gods
Day and night for you to return home alive .
And pity your child , Master , who will be deprived of your early
Nurturing and will grow up forsaken
Beneath the cruel watch of some rough stranger , being beaten because he is your son . Such a life of misery
Will you inflict on he and I if you choose to fall on your sword .
Understand that for me , Ajax , there is no life
Without you .

( 29 ) 13% GRC
( 201 ) 87% GRC - ENG

( 321 ) 84% GRC - ENG
( 63 ) 16% ENG