Euripides, Alcestis 357-62 = Orph. 980 Bernabé

How to quote this translation

M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 
εἰ δ’ ’Ορφέως μοι γλῶσσα καὶ μέλος παρῆν,
ὥστ’ ἢ ὥστ’ ἢ Reiske: ὡς τὴν M κόρην Δήμητρος ἢ κείνης πόσιν
ὕμνοισι κηλήσαντά σ’ ἐξ Ἅιδου λαβεῖν,
κατῆλθον ἄν, καί μ’ οὔθ’ ὁ Πλούτωνος κύων 360
οὔθ’ οὑπὶ κώπηι ψυχοπομπὸς ἂν Χάρων
ἔσχ’ ἄν ἔσχ’ ἄν Lenting: ἔσχον M, πρὶν ἐς φῶς σὸν καταστῆσαι βίον.

But if I had had the voice and music of Orpheus, so that, by bewitching the daughter of Demeter or her husband by my songs, I could lead you out of Hades, I would have descended, and neither the hound of Pluto, nor Charon at his oar, the transporter of souls, would have stopped me from bringing your life back to the light.


Relevant guides Orpheus