ΘΡΗΝΩΙΔΙΑ
ΘΡΗΝΩΙΔΙΑ
(Eur. Hec., 444-483)
Song sung by captive women of Troy on the sea beach at Aulia, while the Achæans were there storm-bound through the wrath of dishonoured Achilles, and waiting for a fair wind to bring them home.
ΣΤΡΟΦΗ
O fair wind blowing from the sea!
Who through the dark and mist dost guide
The ships that on the billows ride,
Unto what land, ah, misery!
Shall I be borne, across what stormy wave,
Or to whose house a purchased slave?
O sea-wind blowing fair and fast
Is it unto the Dorian strand,
Or to those far and fable shores,
Where great Apidanus outpours
His streams upon the fertile land,
Or shall I tread the Phthian sand,
Borne by the swift breath of the blast?
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