ποῖ κακῶν ἐρημίαν εὕρω → where must I go to escape misfortune, lit. "where may I find absence of evils?" (Euripides,
Herakles 1157)
Θησεὺς ὅδ᾿ ἕρπει συγγενὴς φίλος τ᾿ ἐμός· ὀφθησόμεσθα, καὶ τεκνοκτόνον μύσος ἐς ὄμμαθ᾿ ἥξει φιλτάτῳ ξένων ἐμῶν. οἴμοι, τί δράσω; ποῖ κακῶν ἐρημίαν εὕρω, πτερωτὸς ἢ κατὰ χθονὸς μολών; φέρ᾿, ἀμφὶ κρατὶ περιβάλω <πέπλων> σκότον. αἰσχύνομαι γὰρ τοῖς δεδραμένοις κακοῖς, καὶ τῷδε προστρόπαιον αἷμα προσβαλὼν οὐδὲν κακῶσαι τοὺς ἀναιτίους θέλω.
| arrival of Theseus, my friend and kinsman. He will see me, and the pollution for children murdered will taint the eyes of my dearest friend! Ah, what am I to do? Where must I go to escape misfortune? Soar to high heaven or sink beneath the earth? Come, let me cast about my head the darkness <of my garments>! For I feel shame at the harm I have done, and I do not want to wrong an innocent man by putting on him the stain of bloodshed!
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EURIPIDES, Heracles | Loeb Classical Library