CHORUS: Goodbye! Good luck! If you can, be lucky, steer clear of disaster. That’s happiness for mortals.
[ΧΟΡΟΣ: χαίρετε: χαίρειν δ᾽ ὅστις δύναται
καὶ ξυντυχίᾳ μή τινι κάμνει
θνητῶν, εὐδαίμονα πράσσει.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 1357ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)
Closing lines.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Farewell. And sure the man
To whom this wish is granted, he who feels
No pressure of calamity, is blest.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Farewell! Any mortal who is able to fare well, and is not worn down by any misfortune, achieves happiness.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Farewell; but whosoever of mortals is able to fare well, and bends not under some misfortune, fares happily.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Farewell! Ah, whosoe'er may know this blessing,
To fare well, never crushed 'neath ills oppressing,
Alone of mortals tastes abiding bliss.
[tr. Way (1896)]Farewell, farewell! -- But he who can so fare,
And stumbleth not on mischief anywhere,
Blessèd on earth is he!
[tr. Murray (1905)]Farewell! truly that mortal's is a happy lot, who can thus fare, unafflicted bv any woe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]Good bye. Blessed is the human who can live happily without the weight of suffering.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]Farewell. Any mortal who can indeed live well
without being ground down by misfortune,
that man will find his happiness.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]