Main Body
Act Five
FIRST SCENE.
HIPPOLYTE, ARICIE, ISMÈNE.
ARICIA.
- What! can you be silent in this extreme peril?
- Do you leave a father who loves you in error?
- Cruel, if of my tears, contemptuous of power,
- You easily agree not to see me again,
- Go; separate yourself from sad Aricia;
- But at least when you leave, secure your life.
- Defend your honor from a shameful reproach,
- And force your father to revoke his vows:
- There is still time. Why, by what whim,
- Are you leaving the field open to your accuser?
- Clear up Theseus.
HIPPOLYTE.
- Hey! what did I not say?
- Did I have to uncover the shame of his bed?
- Should I, by telling him too sincere a story,
- Cover a father’s forehead with an unworthy blush?
- You alone have unraveled this odious mystery.
- My heart to pour out has only you and the gods.
- I couldn’t hide from you, judge if I love you,
- Everything I wanted to hide from myself.
- But think under what seal I revealed it to you:
- Forget, if it is possible, that I spoke to you,
- Mrs ; and that never a mouth so pure
- Do not open to tell this horrible adventure.
- On the equity of the gods we dare to confide;
- They have too much interest in justifying me:
- And Phèdre, sooner or later for his crime punished,
- Cannot avoid its just ignominy.
- This is the only respect I demand from you.
- I allow all the rest to my wrath:
- Get out of slavery where you are reduced;
- Dare to follow me, dare to accompany my flight;
- Tear yourself away from a deadly and profaned place,
- Where virtue breathes a poisoned air;
- Take advantage, to hide your early retirement,
- From the confusion that my disgrace throws at it.
- I can assure you of the means:
- Up to now you have only my guards;
- Mighty defenders will take our quarrel;
- Argos reaches out to us, and Sparta calls us:
- To our mutual friends let us bring our just cries;
- Let us not suffer that Phèdre, assembling our debris,
- From the father’s throne drives us both away,
- And promise his son my remains and yours.
- The opportunity is beautiful, it must be embraced …
- What fear is holding you back? you seem to be swinging?
- Your only interest inspires me this daring:
- When I’m all on fire, where does this ice cream come from?
- In the footsteps of an outcast do you fear to walk?
ARICIA.
- Alas! how dear such an exile, my lord!
- In what raptures, to your fate bound,
- From the rest of mortals I would live forgotten!
- But not being united by such a sweet bond,
- May I with honor steal with you?
- I know that, without hurting the most severe honor,
- I can free myself from the hands of your father:
- It is not to tear me away from my parents’ womb;
- And those who flee their tyrants are allowed to escape.
- But you love me, lord; and my alarmed glory …
HIPPOLYTE.
- No, no, I care too much for your fame.
- A nobler purpose brings me before you:
- Flee your enemies, and follow your husband.
- Free in our misfortunes, since heaven orders it,
- The gift of our faith does not depend on anyone.
- The hymen is not always surrounded by torches.
- At the gates of Trézène, and among these tombs,
- Of the princes of my race ancient burials,
- Is a formidable sacred temple to perjurers.
- This is where mortals dare not swear in vain:
- The perfidious receives there a sudden punishment;
- And fearing to find inevitable death there,
- Lying has no more formidable brake.
- There, if you believe me, with an eternal love
- We will go and confirm the solemn oath;
- We will take as witness the god who is revered there:
- We will both pray to him to be our father.
- Of the most sacred gods I will attest to the name,
- And the chaste Diana, and the august Juno,
- And finally all the gods, witnesses of my tenderness,
- Will guarantee the faith of my holy promises.
ARICIA.
- The king is coming: flee, prince and leave quickly.
- To hide my departure, I stay for a while.
- Come on; and leave me some faithful guide,
- Which leads my timid approach towards you.
SCENE II.
THESEUS, ARICIA, ISMENE.
THESEUS.
- Gods ! enlighten my confusion, and deign in my eyes
- Show the truth that I am looking for in these places!
ARICIA.
- Think of everything, dear Ismene, and be ready to flee.
SCENE III.
THESEUS, ARICIE.
THESEUS.
- You change color, and seem forbidden,
- Madame: what was Hippolyte doing in this place?
ARICIA.
- Lord, he was saying an eternal farewell to me.
THESEUS.
- Your eyes have been able to tame this rebellious courage;
- And his first sighs are your happy work.
ARICIA.
- Lord, I cannot deny you the truth:
- He has not inherited your unjust hatred;
- He didn’t treat me like a criminal.
THESEUS.
- I hear: he swore eternal love to you.
- Do not be sure about this inconstant heart;
- Because to others than you he swore as much.
ARICIA.
- Him, lord?
THESEUS.
- You had to make it less fickle:
- How did you suffer this horrible sharing?
ARICIA.
- And how do you suffer that horrible speeches
- From such a good life dare to blacken the course?
- Do you have so little knowledge of his heart?
- Do you see crime and innocence so badly?
- Must there be only an odious cloud in your eyes
- Steals his virtue, which shines in all eyes?
- Ah! it is too much to deliver him to treacherous tongues.
- Cease: repent of your homicidal vows;
- Fear, lord, fear the harsh sky
- Don’t hate yourself enough to make your wishes come true.
- Often in his anger he receives our victims:
- His gifts are often the penalty for our crimes.
THESEUS.
- No, you want to cover up his attack in vain;
- Your love blinds you in favor of the ungrateful.
- But I believe certain, irreproachable witnesses:
- I saw, I saw real tears flow.
ARICIA.
- Beware, Lord: your invincible hands
- Have monsters without number freed humans;
- But all is not destroyed, and you let it live
- A … Your son, lord, forbids me to continue.
- Knowing the respect he wants to keep you,
- I would grieve him too much if I dared to finish.
- I imitate her modesty, and flee your presence
- So as not to be forced to break the silence.
SCENE IV.
THESEUS.
- So what is his thought, and what hides a speech
- Started so many times, always interrupted?
- Do they want to dazzle me with a vain feint?
- Do they both agree to embarrass me?
- But myself, despite my severe severity,
- What plaintive voice cries from the bottom of my heart?
- A secret pity that grieves and astonishes me.
- A second time, let’s question Oenone:
- I want the whole crime to be better clarified.
- Guards, let Oenone go out and come here alone.
SCENE V.
THESEUS, PANOPE.
PANOPE.
- I ignore the project that the queen is meditating,
- Lord; but I fear all of the transport which agitates it.
- A deadly despair on her face is painted;
- The pallor of death is already on her complexion.
- Already from his presence with shame driven away,
- In the deep sea, Oenone launched herself.
- We do not know where this furious design started from;
- And the waves forever delighted her in our eyes.
THESEUS.
- What do I hear?
PANOPE.
- His death did not calm the queen;
- Trouble seems to be growing in his uncertain soul.
- Sometimes, to flatter her secret pains,
- She takes her children and bathes them in tears;
- And suddenly, renouncing maternal love,
- Her hand in horror pushes them away from her;
- She takes her unresolved steps at random;
- His stray eye no longer recognizes us;
- She has written three times; and changing of mind,
- Three times she broke her started letter.
- Deign to see her, my lord; deign to help her.
THESEUS.
- O heaven! Oenone is dead, and Phèdre wants to die!
- Call my son back, come and defend himself;
- Let him come talk to me, I’m ready to hear him.
(alone.)
- Do not rush your fatal benefits,
- Neptune; I prefer never to be heard.
- I may have believed too little faithful witnesses,
- And too soon I raised my cruel hands to you.
- Ah! with what despair my wishes would be followed!
SCENE VI.
THESEUS, THERAMEN.
THESEUS.
- Theramenes, is that you? What have you done with my son?
- I entrusted it to you from the earliest age.
- But where do the tears that I see you shed come from?
- What is my son doing?
THERAMENE.
- O late and superfluous care!
- Useless tenderness! Hippolyte is no more.
THESEUS.
- Gods !
THERAMENE.
- I have seen the most lovable mortals perish,
- And I dare say again, Lord, the least culpable.
THESEUS.
- My son is no more! What! when I hold out my arms to him,
- The impatient gods hastened his demise!
- What stroke delighted me, what sudden lightning?
THERAMENE.
- We had barely left the gates of Trézène,
- He was in his chariot; his distressed guards
- Imitated his silence, around him ranged;
- He followed the road to Mycenae with all thought;
- His hand on the horses let the reins float;
- His superb couriers that we once saw
- Full of such noble ardor to obey his voice,
- With gloomy eyes now, and lowered head,
- Seemed to conform to his sad thought.
- A terrible cry from the bottom of the waves,
- Airs at this moment disturbed the rest;
- And from the bosom of the earth a formidable voice
- Responds with a moan to this dreadful cry.
- To the bottom of our hearts our blood is frozen;
- Attentive couriers the horsehair bristled.
- However on the back of the liquid plain,
- A damp mountain rises with great boils;
- The wave approaches, breaks, and vomits in our eyes,
- Among waves of foam, a furious monster.
- His broad forehead is armed with threatening horns;
- His whole body is covered with yellowing scales,
- Indomitable bull, fiery dragon,
- Its rump curves in tortuous folds;
- Its long roars shake the shore.
- The sky with horror sees this wild monster;
- The earth is moved by it, the air is infected with it;
- The flood which brought it recoils in terror.
- Everything leaks; and without arming yourself with unnecessary courage,
- In the neighboring temple everyone is looking for an asylum.
- Hippolyte alone, worthy son of a hero,
- Stop his steeds, grab his javelins,
- Push to the monster, and with a sting thrown with a sure hand,
- He gives him a large wound in the side.
- With rage and pain the leaping monster
- Comes at the feet of the horses, howling,
- Rolls up, and presents them with a flaming mouth
- Who covers them with fire, blood and smoke.
- Fear takes them away; and, deaf at this time,
- They no longer know the brake or the voice;
- In powerless efforts their master consumes himself;
- They redden the bit with bloody foam.
- They say that we have even seen, in this dreadful disorder,
- A god who stings pressed their powdery flanks.
- Across the rocks fear precipitates them;
- The axle cries and breaks: the intrepid Hippolyte
- Sees his entire smashed tank shattered;
- In the reins himself he falls embarrassed.
- Excuse my pain: this cruel image
- An eternal source of tears will be for me.
- I saw, lord, I saw your unhappy son
- Dragged by the horses his hand fed.
- He wants to call them back, and his voice frightens them;
- They run: her whole body is soon a wound.
- With our painful cries the plain resounds.
- Their impetuous ardor finally slows down:
- They stop not far from these ancient tombs
- Where kings are his ancestors cold relics.
- I run there with a sigh, and his guard follows me:
- With his generous blood the trace leads us;
- The rocks are stained with it; the dripping brambles
- Bears the bloody remains of his hair.
- I arrive, I call him; and holding out my hand,
- He opens a dying eye that he suddenly closes:
- “The sky,” he said, “is taking an innocent life from me.
- “Take care of sad Aricia after my death.
- “Dear friend, if my father one day disillusioned
- “Pity the misfortune of a falsely accused son,
- “To appease my blood and my plaintive shadow,
- “Tell him how gently he treats his captive;
- “May he give him back …” At that word, this expired hero
- Left in my arms only a disfigured body:
- Sad object where gods triumphs over wrath,
- And that even his father’s eye would ignore.
THESEUS.
- O my son! dear hope that I delighted myself!
- Inexorable gods, who have served me too much!
- What mortal regrets my life is reserved for!
THERAMENE.
- The shy Aricie then arrived:
- She was coming, lord, fleeing your wrath,
- In the face of the gods to accept him as a husband.
- She approaches; she sees the red and smoking grass;
- She sees (what an object for a lover’s eyes!)
- Hippolyte stretched out, without form and without color …
- She wants to doubt her misfortune for a while;
- And, no longer knowing this hero she adores,
- She sees Hippolyte, and asks again.
- But too sure in the end that he’s in front of her eyes,
- With a sad look she accuses the gods;
- And cold, moaning, and almost lifeless,
- At her lover’s feet she falls swooning.
- Ismene is near her; Ismene, all in tears,
- Calls her back to life, or rather to pain.
- And I, I came, hating the light,
- Tell you of a hero the last will,
- And discharge me, lord, of the unfortunate job
- Whose dying heart rested on me.
- But I see his deadly enemy coming.
SCENE VII.
THESEUS, PHAEDRUS, THERAMENES, PANOPE, GUARDS.
THESEUS.
- Well ! you triumph, and my son is lifeless!
- Ah! that I have reason to fear, and that a cruel suspicion,
- The excusing in my heart, alarms me with reason!
- But, madame, he is dead, take your victim;
- Enjoy its loss, unjust or legitimate:
- I agree that my eyes are still being abused.
- I believe him to be a criminal, since you are accusing him.
- His death to my tears offers enough material
- Without going to look for hateful lights,
- Who, unable to return it to my just pain,
- Maybe would only increase my unhappiness.
- Leave me, far from you, and far from this shore,
- From my torn son flee the bloody image.
- Confused, persecuted by a deadly memory,
- From the whole universe I would like to banish myself.
- Everything seems to speak out against my injustice;
- The shine of my very name increases my torment:
- Less known to mortals, I would hide better.
- I hate even the cares with which the gods honor me;
- And I’m going to mourn their murderous favors,
- Without tiring them of useless prayers.
- Whatever they do for me, their fatal kindness
- Cannot pay me for what they have taken from me.
PHAEDRA.
- No, Theseus, we must break an unjust silence;
- Your son must restore his innocence:
- He was not guilty.
THESEUS.
- Ah! unfortunate father!
- And it is on your faith that I condemned him!
- Cruel! do you think you’re sorry enough …
PHAEDRA.
- Times are dear to me; listen to me, Theseus
- It is I who on this son, chaste and respectful,
- Dare to take a profane, incestuous eye.
- Heaven put a fatal flame in my bosom:
- The detestable Oenone led all the rest.
- She feared that Hippolytus, informed of my fury,
- Did not discover a fire which horrified him:
- The perfidious, abusing my extreme weakness,
- Has hastened in your eyes to accuse him himself.
- She punished herself, and fleeing my wrath,
- Searched the waves for too sweet a torment.
- Iron would have already decided my destiny;
- But I let the suspected virtue moan:
- I wanted, in front of you exposing my remorse,
- By a slower path descend to the dead.
- I took, I ran through my hot veins
- A poison that Medea brought to Athens.
- Already to my heart the venom has reached
- Into this dying heart throws an unknown cold;
- Already I can only see through a cloud
- And heaven and the bridegroom whom my presence insults;
- And death in my eyes stealing the clarity,
- Brings back to the day that they defiled all its purity.
PANOPE.
- It expires, lord!
THESEUS.
- Of such a black action
- What cannot with it expire the memory!
- Come, my mistake, alas! too bright,
- To mingle our tears with the blood of my unhappy son!
- Let us go of this dear son to embrace what remains,
- Atone for the fury of a wish I hate:
- Let us give him the honors he has too deserved;
- And, to better appease his angry spirits,
- That, despite the plots of an unjust family,
- Her lover today takes the place of a girl for me!