Scaife ATLAS

CTS Library / Alcestis

Alcestis (850-903)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg002.perseus-eng2:850-903
Refs {'start': {'reference': '850', 'human_reference': 'Line 850'}, 'end': {'reference': '903', 'human_reference': 'Line 903'}}
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But should I fail to find my prey and he come not to the clotted blood, I will go to the sunless home of those beneath the earth, to Persephone and her king, and make to them my prayer, sure that I shall bring Alcestis up again, to place her in the hands of him, my host,
who welcomed me to his house nor drove me thence, though fortune smote him hard, but this his noble spirit strove to hide out of regard for me. What host more kind than him in Thessaly? or in
in the homes of Hellas? Wherefore shall he never say
his generous deeds were lavished on a worthless wretch. [Exeunt HERACLES and Servant.
861
Admetus
Ah me! I loathe this entering in, and loathe to see my widowed home. Woe, woe is me! Whither shall I go? Where stand? what say? or what suppress? Would God that I were dead!
Surely in an evil hour my mother gave me birth. The dead I envy, and would fain be as they, and long to dwell within their courts. No joy to me to see the light, no joy to tread the earth;
such a hostage death hath reft me of and handed o’er to Hades.
872
Chorus
Move forward, go within the shelter of thy house.
Admetus
Woe is me!
Chorus
Thy sufferings claim these cries of woe.
Admetus
Ah me!
Chorus
Through anguish hast thou gone, full well I know.
Admetus
Alas! alas!
Chorus
Thou wilt not help the dead one whit.
Admetus
O misery!
Chorus
Nevermore to see thy dear wife face to face is grief indeed.
878
Admetus
Thy words have probed the sore place in my heart. What greater grief can come to man
than the loss of a faithful wife? Would I had never married or shared with her my home! I envy those ’mongst men who have nor wife nor child. Theirs is but one life; to grieve for that is no excessive burden;
but to see children fall ill and bridal beds emptied by death’s ravages is too much to bear, when one might go through life without wife or child.
889
Chorus
A fate we cannot cope with is come upon us.
Admetus
Woe is me!
Chorus
But thou to sorrow settest no limit.
Admetus
Ah! ah!
Chorus
’Tis hard to bear, but still—
Admetus
Woe is me!
Chorus
Thou art not the first to lose—
Admetus
O! woe is me!
Chorus
A wife; misfortune takes a different shape for every man she plagues.
895
Admetus
O the weary sorrow! O the grief for dear ones dead and gone! Why didst thou hinder me from plung-ing into the gaping grave, there to lay me down and die with her, my peerless bride?
Then would Hades for that one have gotten these two faithful souls at once, crossing the nether lake together.
903
Chorus
I had a kinsman once, within whose home died

Tokens

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to 1 w 16
find 1 w 20
my 1 w 22
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an 10 w 641
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mother 1 w 657
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me 12 w 663
birth 1 w 668
The 2 w 672
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I 7 w 677
envy 1 w 681
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be 2 w 696
as 2 w 698
they 1 w 702
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long 1 w 710
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their 1 w 728
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me 13 w 744
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the 14 w 752
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no 4 w 760
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a 46 w 784
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the 16 w 858
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thy 1 w 870
house 2 w 875
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me 16 w 890
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claim 1 w 915
these 1 w 920
cries 1 w 925
of 7 w 927
woe 2 w 930
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Ah 2 w 940
me 18 w 942
Chorus 3 w 949
Through 1 w 956
anguish 1 w 963
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full 1 w 980
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I 8 w 985
know 1 w 989
Admetus 4 w 997
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Chorus 4 w 1013
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a 72 w 1202
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wife 2 w 1214
Would 2 w 1220
I 9 w 1221
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home 4 w 1257
I 10 w 1259
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wife 3 w 1292
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no 9 w 1339
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us 16 w 1513
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Woe 3 w 1524
is 17 w 1526
me 27 w 1528
Chorus 7 w 1535
But 2 w 1538
thou 4 w 1542
to 22 w 1544
sorrow 1 w 1550
settest 1 w 1557
no 11 w 1559
limit 1 w 1564
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Ah 3 w 1574
ah 1 w 1577
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still 1 w 1607
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Woe 4 w 1618
is 19 w 1620
me 30 w 1622
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art 4 w 1636
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O 2 w 1662
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me 32 w 1670
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A 18 w 1678
wife 5 w 1682
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takes 1 w 1698
a 93 w 1699
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shape 1 w 1713
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the 22 w 1746
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and 13 w 1785
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me 34 w 1810
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the 24 w 1830
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grave 1 w 1841
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me 35 w 1854
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die 1 w 1864
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her 9 w 1871
my 8 w 1874
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would 2 w 1897
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for 9 w 1905
that 4 w 1909
one 8 w 1912
have 3 w 1916
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these 2 w 1927
two 1 w 1930
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at 17 w 1945
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crossing 1 w 1958
the 27 w 1961
nether 1 w 1967
lake 1 w 1971
together 1 w 1979
Chorus 11 w 1986
I 11 w 1987
had 2 w 1990
a 112 w 1991
kinsman 1 w 1998
once 2 w 2002
within 3 w 2009
whose 1 w 2014
home 5 w 2018
died 1 w 2022