Phaedra: Death cannot fail the heart that's bent on death.
Theseus: Confess what sin must be atoned by death.
Phaedra: My life. 880
Theseus: ⁠Will not my tears avail with thee?
Phaedra: That death is best which one's own friends lament.
Theseus: She still persists in silence. By the lash
And chains shall her old nurse be forced to tell
What she will not declare. Put her in chains.
Now let the lash lay bare her hidden thoughts.
Phaedra: Hold, stay thy hand, for I myself will speak. 885
Theseus: Why dost thou turn thy grieving face away,
And hide the quickly rising shower of tears
Behind thy robe?
Phaedra: ⁠Thee, thee do I invoke,
O father of the gods, and thee, O Sun,
Thou shining glory of the heavenly dome,
On whom as founder doth our house depend, 890
I call ye both to witness that I strove
Against his prayers, though sorely tried. To threats
Of death my spirit did not yield; but force
O'ercame my body. This the shameful stain
Upon my honor which my blood must cleanse.
Theseus: Come, tell, who hath defiled our honor so?
Phaedra: Whom thou wouldst least expect. 895
Theseus: ⁠But who is he?
I wait to hear his name.
Phaedra: ⁠This sword shall tell,
Which in his terror at our loud laments,
The adulterer left, fearing the citizens.
Theseus: Ah me! What villainy do I behold?
What monstrous deed is this? The royal sword,
Its ivory hilt with tiny signs engraved,
Shines out, the glory of the Athenian race. 900
But he—where has he gone?
Phaedra: ⁠These slaves have seen
How, borne on speeding feet, he fled away.
Theseus: Oh, holy piety! O thou who reign'st
In heaven, and thou who rulest in the seas,