ye know; is he within the palace here?ChorusLo! himself approaches from the palace.MessengerTheseus, I am the bearer of troublous tidings to thee and all citizens who dwell in Athens or the bounds of Troezen.TheseusHow now? hath some strange calamity overtaken these two neighbouring cities?MessengerIn one brief word, Hippolytus is dead. ’Tis true one slender thread still links him to the light of life.TheseusWho slew him? Did some husband come to blows with him, one whose wife, like mine, had suffered brutal violence?MessengerHe perished through those steeds that drew his chariot, and through the curses thou didst utter, praying to thy sire, the ocean-king, to slay thy son.TheseusYe gods and king Poseidon, thou hast proved my parentage by hearkening to my prayer! Say how he perished; how fell the uplifted hand of Justice to smite the villain who dishonoured me?