Hecuba, Orestes, and The Phoenician Women

A wonder then came pity entered into us.
instead of: pity came upon us original: "eleos." The scribe is clarifying the poetic phrasing with a more standard grammatical structure.
But you, use me obey me in my counsels.
instead of: obey me
See how slavery is by nature an evil thing.
behold what sort of thing slavery is
It dares what it must not, being conquered by force.
it is forced to do what it does not wish

Hecuba

O daughter, I know not toward what kind of your griefs I should look.
O daughter, I know not toward which of your evils I shall look
The former things are gone, having vanished around you.
the former things having disappeared
A greater grief awaits you than that which you already have.
but a greater grief awaits you
For again there are sufferings like a great many tossings.
for again there are sufferings like a commotion original: "klonismos." This refers to the violent shaking of a storm or an earthquake, a metaphor for life's instability.
They bring another destruction to your life.
they bring another destruction to your life

marginalia?

And you have a certain pretext to be persuaded.
and you have a certain pretext for being persuaded
And in this way may I find more varied things.
and in this certain way I find more complex things

Hecuba

I see your right hand, I see you, O Odysseus under your cloak.
I see you, O Odysseus, and your right hand Hecuba notices Odysseus is hiding his hand and face. In Greek custom, a supplicant must touch the knees or beard of the person they are petitioning; by hiding his hand, Odysseus is physically preventing Hecuba from starting the ritual.
Hiding your hand and turning your face away.
so as not to see me
Turning away. Lest I touch touch your beard.
turning away. Lest I touch your beard
Take heart. You have escaped my "Zeus of Supplicants."
do not fear. For you have escaped my supplication original: "Hikesios Zeus." Hecuba acknowledges that because Odysseus has blocked the ritual, he is no longer under the religious obligation to protect her as a supplicant.
Since I shall follow you for the sake of necessity.
since I will follow you because of necessity
What need is there to live? original: "tharein" in text, but the gloss "thanein" suggests the scribe read "to die." But if you do not wish me [to die].
for I wish to die. But if you do not wish me to
I shall appear base and a lover of life in my suffering.
I shall appear base and a lover of life
For why must I live? My father was a king.
for why must I live? To me, my father was a king
Of all the Phrygians The Greeks referred to the Trojans as Phrygians. in my former life.
of all the Phrygians. This was the first part of my life