CHORUS: Great treasure halls hath Zeus in heaven,
From whence to man strange dooms be given,
Past hope or fear.
And the end men looked for cometh not,
And a path is there where no man thought:
So hath it fallen here.

[ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: πολλῶν ταμίας Ζεὺς ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ,
πολλὰ δ᾽ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί:
καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ᾽ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη,
τῶν δ᾽ ἀδοκήτων πόρον ηὗρε θεός.
τοιόνδ᾽ ἀπέβη τόδε πρᾶγμα.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1415ff (431 BC) [tr. Murray (1906)]
    (Source)

Euripides ended a number of his dramas with slight variations of this final chorus (some scholars believe that these endings were added in some cases after his death). See here for more discussion about this "standard" choral coda.

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

Thron'd on Olympus, with his sovereign nod,
Jove unexpectedlyi performs the schemes
Divine foreknowledge plann'd; our firmest hopes
Oft fail us: but the God still finds the means
Of compassing what man could ne'er have look'd for;
And thus doth this important business end.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Jove in the high heav'n dispenses various fates:
And now the gods show'r blessings, which our hopes
Dared not aspire to, now control the ills
We deem'd inevitable: thus the god
To these hat giv'n an end we never thought;
Such is the dreadful fortune of this day.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

Zeus in Olympus parts out many lots,
And the gods work to many undreamed of ends,
And that we looked for is never fulfilled,
And to things not looked for the gods make a way:
Even so hath this issue been.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

Many a fate doth Zeus dispense, high on his Olympian throne; oft do the gods bring things to pass beyond man's expectation; that, which we thought would be, is not fulfilled, while for the unlooked-for god finds out a way; and such hath been the issue of this matter.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Jove is the dispenser of various fates in heaven, and the Gods perform many things contrary to our expectations, and those things which we looked for are not accomplished; but the God hath brought to pass things unthought of. In such manner hath this affair ended.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

All dooms be of Zeus in Olympus; 'tis his to reveal them.
Manifold things unhoped-for the Gods to accomplishment bring.
And the things that we looked for, the Gods deign not to fulfil them;
And the paths undiscerned of our eyes, the Gods unseal them.
So fell this marvellous thing.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

Zeus in Olympus is the overseer
Of many doings. Many things the gods
Achieve beyond our judgment. What we thought
Is not confirmed and what we thought not god
Contrives. And so it happens in this story.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

Many are the Fates which Zeus in Olympus dispenses;
Many matters the gods bring to surprising ends.
The things we thought would happen do not happen;
The unexpected God makes possible;
And such is the conclusion of this story.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

Zeus, Olympus’ steward, controls many things,
And many things, too, beyond expectation the gods accomplish.
The expected does not turn out;
For the unexpected God finds a way.
Such is the end of this business.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Zeus on Olympus has many things in his treasure-house, and many are the things the gods accomplish against our expectation. What men expect is not brought to pass, but a god finds a way to achieve the unexpected. Such is the outcome of this story.
[tr. Kovacs (Perseus)]

Zeus on Olympus has many things in his treasure-house, and many are the things the gods accomplish against our expectation. What men look for is not brought to pass, but a god finds a way to achieve the unexpected. Such is the outcome of this story.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

Many are the things Zeus on Olympus has in his keeping and many things do the gods accomplish beyond men's hopes. What men expect does not happen; for the unexpected, heaven finds a way. And so it has turned out here today.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Our Olympian Zeus is most wise!
The deeds of the gods appear in many forms ...
And gods often perform deeds even beyond our hopes.
Our wishes might not be granted but the gods will find ways of achieving what we never thought achievable.
Such was the path of our story.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

Of many things Zeus in Olympus is keeper,
many are the things the gods bring about against all reason,
and what is looked for does not happen after all,
yet a god finds a way for the unexpected.
That is how this story has ended.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]
<
Zeus on Olympus,
dispenses many things.
Gods often contradict
our fondest expectations.
What we anticipate
does not come to pass.
What we don’t expect
some god finds a way
to make it happen.
So with this story.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

Zeus on Olympus ordains many things,
and gods achieve much that surprises us.
What we thought would happen didn't,
and the god found a way for unimaginable deeds;
That's how the story ends.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

Many are the fates that Zeus dispenses in Olympus, and the gods bring many things to pass unexpectedly. What is expected does not come to telos, and a god finds a way for the unexpected. So too has this affair turned out.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]


 
Added on 25-Aug-26 | Last updated 25-Aug-26
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