Contents — 27 sections
Part 1
1ELECTRA: There is nothing so terrible to describe, or suffering, or heaven-sent affliction, that human nature may not have to bear the burden of it. The blessed Tantalus—and I am not now taunting him with his misfortunes—
5Tantalus, the reputed son of Zeus, flies in the air, quailing at the rock which looms above his head; paying this penalty, they say, for the shameful weakness he displayed in failing to keep a bridle on his lips, when admitted by gods, though he was a man,
10to share the honors of their feasts like one of them.
11He begot Pelops, the father of Atreus, for whom the goddess, when she had carded her wool, spun a web of strife—to make war with his own brother Thyestes. But why need I retrace that hideous tale?
15Well, Atreus slew Thyestes’ children and feasted him on them. Atreus, now; I pass over intermediate events; from Atreus and Aerope of Crete were born the famous Agamemnon, if he really was famous, and Menelaus. Now Menelaus married Helen,
20the gods’ abhorrence; while lord Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, notorious in Hellas; and we three daughters were born: Chrysothemis, Iphigenia, and myself, Electra; also a son Orestes; all from that one accursed mother,
25who slew her husband, after snaring him in an inextricable robe. Her reason a maiden’s lips may not declare, and so I leave it unclear for the world to guess at. What need for me to charge Phoebus with wrong-doing? Though he persuaded Orestes
30to slay his own mother, a deed that few approved. Still it was his obedience to the god that made him kill her; I had a share in the murder, in so far as a woman could,
34After this my poor Orestes, wasting away in a cruel disease,
35lies fallen on his couch, and it is his mother’s blood that drives him round and round in frenzied fits; I am ashamed to name the goddesses, whose terrors are chasing him—the Eumenides. It is now the sixth day
40since the body of his murdered mother was committed to the cleansing fire; since then no food has gone down his throat, nor has he washed his skin; but wrapped in his cloak he weeps in his lucid moments, whenever the fever leaves him;
45at other times he bounds headlong from his couch, as a colt when it is loosed from the yoke. This city of Argos has decreed that no man give us shelter in home or hearth, or speak to matricides like us; and this is the fateful day on which the Argives will take a vote,
50whether we are both to die by stoning. There is, it is true, one hope of escape from death: Menelaus has landed from Troy; his fleet now crowds the haven of Nauplia where he has come to anchor on the shore, returned at last from Troy
55after ceaseless wanderings; but Helen, that so-called lady of sorrows, he has sent on to our palace, waiting for the night, lest any of those parents whose sons died at Troy might see her if she went by day, and set to stoning her.
60Within she sits, weeping for her sister and the calamities of her family, and yet she has still some solace in her woe; for Hermione, the child she left at home when she sailed for Troy, the maid whom Menelaus brought from Sparta
65and entrusted to my mother’s keeping, is still a cause of joy to her and a reason to forget her sorrows.
67I am watching each approach, until I see Menelaus arriving; for unless we find some safety from him, we have only a feeble anchor to ride on otherwise.
70A helpless thing, an unlucky house!
71HELEN: Daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, unhappy Electra, a maiden for so long, how is it with you and your brother, this ill-starred Orestes who slew his mother?
75For referring the sin as I do to Phoebus, I incur no pollution by addressing you; and yet I am truly sorry for the death of my sister Clytemnestra, whom I never saw after I was driven by heaven-sent frenzy to sail as I did to Ilium;
80but now that I am parted from her, I bewail our misfortunes.
81ELECTRA: Helen, why should I speak of that which your own eyes can see?
83Beside his wretched corpse I sit, sleepless—for corpse he is, so faint his breath—
85not that I reproach him with his sufferings; but you are highly blessed and your husband too.
88HELEN: How long has he lain in this way on the couch?
89ELECTRA: Ever since he spilt his mother’s blood.
90HELEN: Unhappy wretch! unhappy mother! what a death she died.
91ELECTRA: Unhappy enough to succumb to his misery.
92HELEN: By the gods, would you hear me a moment, maiden?
93ELECTRA: Yes, with such leisure as this watching over a brother leaves.
94HELEN: Will you go for me to my sister’s tomb?
95ELECTRA: Would you have me seek my mother’s tomb? Why?
96HELEN: To carry an offering of hair and a libation from me.
97ELECTRA: Isn’t it right for you to go to the tomb of one you love?
98HELEN: No, for I am ashamed to show myself in Argos.
99ELECTRA: A late repentance surely for one who left her home so shamefully then.
100HELEN: You have told the truth, but your telling is not kind to me.
101ELECTRA: What is this supposed shame before the eyes of Mycenae that possesses you?
102HELEN: I am afraid of the fathers of those who lie dead at Ilium.
103ELECTRA: Good cause for fear; your name is on every tongue in Argos.
104HELEN: Then free me of my fear and grant me this favor.
Part 2
105ELECTRA: I could not bear to look upon my mother’s grave.
106HELEN: And yet it would be shame indeed for servants to bear these offerings.
107ELECTRA: Then why not send your daughter Hermione?
108HELEN: It is not good for maidens to go into a crowd.
109ELECTRA: And yet she would be repaying her dead foster-mother’s care.
110HELEN: You have told the truth and have convinced me, maiden. Calling. Hermione, my child, come out, before the palace. Take these libations and these tresses of mine in your hands, and go pour round Clytemnestra’s tomb
115a mingled cup of honey, milk, and frothing wine; then stand upon the heaped-up grave, and say this: Helen, your sister, sends you these libations as her gift, fearing herself to approach your tomb from terror of the Argive mob and bid her harbor kindly thoughts
120towards me and you and my husband; towards these two wretched sufferers, too, whom the gods have destroyed. And promise that I will pay in full whatever funeral gifts are due from me to a sister. Now go, my child, and hurry;
125and soon as you have made the libations at the tomb, think of your return. Exit Helen.
126ELECTRA: O human nature, how great an evil you are in men! and what salvation, too, to those who have a goodly heritage there.
128Did you see how she cut off her hair only at the ends, to preserve its beauty? She is the same woman as of old.
130May the gods hate you! for you have proved the ruin of me and my brother and all Hellas.
132Alas! here are my friends once more, coming to unite their plaintive dirge with mine; they will soon put an end to my brother’s peaceful sleep, and cause my tears to flow
135when I see him in frenzy.
140CHORUS: Hush, hush! let your footsteps fall lightly! not a sound!
142ELECTRA: Go further from his couch, further, I beseech you!
143CHORUS: There, I obey.
145ELECTRA: Ah, ah! Speak like the breath of a slender reed-pipe, my dear, I pray.
147CHORUS: See, how soft and low I drop my voice.
148bELECTRA: Yes, do so; approach now, softly, softly!
150Give me an account of why you have come here. For at last he has lain down, and sleeps.
153CHORUS: How is he? You give us an account, my dear; what has happened, what misfortune?
155ELECTRA: He is still breathing, but his moans grow feeble.
156CHORUS: What are you saying? turning to Orestes. Unhappy Orestes!
158ELECTRA: You will kill him, if you disturb him from the sweet sleep he now enjoys.
160CHORUS: Poor sufferer, for his hateful deeds, inspired by a god!
162ELECTRA: Ah, misery! Injustice it was, after all, from an unjust mouth, when Loxias on the tripod of Themis
165decreed my mother’s most unnatural murder.
166CHORUS: Do you see? He stirs beneath his robe!
Part 3
167ELECTRA: Alas! Your noisy chatter has roused him from his sleep.
169CHORUS: No, I think he is asleep.
170ELECTRA: Leave us, go away from the house! circle back again! cease this noise!
173CHORUS: He is asleep.
173bELECTRA: You are right. O Lady Night,
175giver of sleep to hard-working mortals, come from Erebus, come, wing your way to the palace of Agamemnon.
180For with misery and woe we are lost, we are gone.
181There! To the Chorus. that noise again! Do be still and keep the sound of your voice
185away from his couch; let him enjoy his sleep in peace, my dear!
187CHORUS: Tell me, what end of troubles awaits him.
188ELECTRA: Death, death; what else? For he has no desire for food.
190CHORUS: Then his destiny is already clear.
191ELECTRA: Phoebus offered us up for sacrifice, when he ordered the pitiable, unnatural murder of our mother, who killed our father.
194CHORUS: It was just.
194bELECTRA: But it was not well done.
195You killed and were killed, my mother! and you have slain a father and your own children;
200for we are dead or as good as dead. You are in your grave, and the greater part of my life is spent in weeping and wailing,
205and tears at night; unmarried, childless, I drag out forever a joyless existence.
208CHORUS LEADER: Electra, you are nearby; see whether your brother has not died without your knowing it;
210for I do not like his utter prostration.
211ORESTES: Sweet charm of sleep, savior in sickness, how sweetly you came to me, how needed! Revered forgetfulness of troubles, how wise a goddess you are, and invoked by every suffering soul!
215Addressing Electra. Where have I come from? How am I here? For I have lost all previous recollection and remember nothing.
217ELECTRA: My dearest, how glad I was to see you fall asleep! Do you want me take you in my arms and lift your body?
219ORESTES: Take, oh! take me in your arms, and from this sufferer’s mouth
220and eyes wipe off the flakes of foam.
221ELECTRA: There! The service is sweet, and I do not refuse to tend a brother’s limbs with a sister’s hand.
223ORESTES: Prop me up, your side to mine; brush the matted hair from my face, for I see dimly.
225ELECTRA: Ah, poor head, how dirty your hair! How savage you look, remaining so long unwashed!
227ORESTES: Put me once more upon the couch; whenever the madness leaves me, I am unnerved and weak.
229ELECTRA: As she lays him down. There! His couch is welcome to the sick man,
230a painful possession, but a necessary one.
Part 4
231ORESTES: Set me upright once again, turn my body round; it is their helplessness that makes the sick so hard to please.
233ELECTRA: Will you set your feet upon the ground and take a step at last? Change is always pleasant.
235ORESTES: Oh, yes; for that has a semblance of health; and the semblance is preferable, though it is far from the truth.
237ELECTRA: Hear me now, my brother, while the Furies permit you to use your senses.
239ORESTES: You have news to tell; if it is good, you do me a kindness;
240but if it tends to my hurt, I have suffered enough.
241ELECTRA: Menelaus, your father’s brother, has come; his ships are moored in Nauplia.
243ORESTES: What did you say? Has he come to be a light in our troubles, a man of our own family, who owes gratitude to our father?
245ELECTRA: He has come, and is bringing Helen from the walls of Troy—accept this as proof of what I say.
247ORESTES: If he had returned alone in safety, he would be more enviable; but if he is bringing his wife, he has come with great mischief.
249ELECTRA: Tyndareus begot a race of daughters notorious for blame,
250infamous throughout Hellas.
251ORESTES: Then you be different from that evil brood, for you can be; and not only in words, but also in heart.
253ELECTRA: Ah! brother, your eye is growing wild, and in a moment you are turning mad again, when you were just now sane.
255ORESTES: Mother, I implore you! Do not shake at me those maidens with their bloodshot eyes and snaky hair. Here they are, close by, to leap on me!
258ELECTRA: Lie still, poor sufferer, on your couch; your eye sees nothing, you only imagine that you recognize them.
260ORESTES: O Phoebus! they will kill me, the hounds of hell, death’s priestesses with glaring eyes, the dreadful goddesses.
262ELECTRA: I will not let you go; but with arms twined round you, I will prevent your piteous leaping.
264ORESTES: Let me go! you are one of my Furies,
265and are gripping me by the waist to hurl me into Tartarus!
266ELECTRA: Alas for me! What aid can I find, when we have Heaven’s forces set against us?
268ORESTES: Give me my horn-tipped bow, Apollo’s gift, with which he told me to ward off the goddesses,
270if ever they sought to scare me with wild transports of madness.
271A mortal hand will wound one of them, unless she departs from my sight. Don’t you hear me? Don’t you see the feathered arrows springing out from my far-shooting bow? What!
275Do you linger still? Mount the sky on your wings, and blame those oracles of Phoebus.
276bAh! why am I raving, gasping? Where, oh! where have I leapt, from my couch? Once more the storm is past, I see a calm.
280Sister, why do you weep, your head wrapped in your robe? I am ashamed that I should make you a partner in my sufferings and distress a maiden like you through my sickness. Do not waste away over my troubles; for though you consented to it, yet I was the one that spilled
285our mother’s blood. I blame Loxias, for urging me on to do a deed most unholy, encouraging me with words but not in deed. I believe that, if I had asked my father to his face whether I must slay my mother,
290he would have strongly entreated me, by this beard, never to plunge a sword into her throat, since he would not regain his life, and I, poor wretch, would accomplish such evil!
294And now, my sister, unveil your face
295and cease to weep, despite our misery. Whenever you see me give way to despair, it is for you to calm and soothe the terrors and distorted fancies of my brain. Whenever sorrow comes to you, I must be at your side and give you comforting advice;
300for to help our friends like this is noble.
301Go in the house now, my poor sister; lie down and close your sleepless eyes; take food and bathe your body. For if you leave me or fall sick from nursing me,
305I am lost. You are my only ally; I am deserted by all the rest, as you see.
307ELECTRA: I will not leave you; with you I will choose to live and die; for it is the same: if you die, what shall I, a woman, do? How shall I escape alone,
310with no brother, or father, or friends? Still, if you think it right, I must do your bidding. But lie down upon your couch, and do not pay too great heed to the terrors and alarm that scare you from your rest; lie still upon your pallet. For even if you are not sick, but only think you are,
315this brings weariness and perplexity to mortals. Exit Electra.
Part 5
316CHORUS: Ah! ah! you goddesses swiftly careering on your wings, whose lot it is to hold a revel, not with Bacchic rites,
320in tears and groans; you black-skinned avenging spirits, that dart along the spacious air, exacting a penalty for blood, a penalty for murder, I beg you, I beg you!
325Allow the son of Agamemnon to forget his wild whirling frenzy.
327Alas for the toils which you, poor wretch, strove after to your ruin, when you heard the voice from the tripod, proclaimed by Phoebus,
330at his sanctuary, where the hollows are called the navel of the earth.
332CHORUS: O Zeus! What pity, what deadly struggle is here,
335hurrying you on, the wretch on whom some avenging fiend is heaping tears upon tears, bringing to the house your mother’s blood, which drives you raving mad?
340Great prosperity is not secure among mortals. I lament, I lament! But some divine power, shaking it to and fro like the sail of a swift ship, plunges it deep in the waves of grievous affliction, violent and deadly as the waves of the sea.
345For what other family must I still revere, rather than the one from a divine marriage, from Tantalus.
348CHORUS LEADER: And see, a king draws near, lord Menelaus; from his magnificence it is plain to see
350that he belongs to the blood of the Tantalids.
352All hail! you that set out with a thousand ships to Asia’s land; good fortune is your friend,
355for you have accomplished, with divine aid, all that you prayed for.
356MENELAUS: O my home, some joy I feel to see you again on my return from Troy, but I also grieve at the sight; for never have I seen another house more closely encircled by dire affliction.
360For I learned Agamemnon’s fate and the death he died at his wife’s hands, as I was trying to put in at Malea; when the sailors’ prophet, the truthful god Glaucus, Nereus’ seer, brought the news to me from the waves;
365he stationed himself in full view and told me this: Menelaus, your brother lies dead, plunged in a fatal bath, the last his wife will ever give him. My sailors and I wept greatly at his words. When I arrived at Nauplia,
370my wife already on the point of starting here, I was expecting to give a fond embrace to Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, and his mother, thinking that they were doing well, when I heard from a sailor the unholy murder of Tyndareus’ child.
375And now tell me, young ladies, where to find the son of Agamemnon, who dared such evil. For he was a baby in Clytemnestra’s arms when I left my home to go to Troy, so that I would not recognize him if I saw him.
380ORESTES: Menelaus, I am Orestes, whom you are asking about. I will of my own accord inform you of my sufferings. But as my first portion, I clasp your knees as a suppliant, giving you prayers from the mouth of one without the suppliant’s bough; save me, for you have come at the crisis of my troubles.
385MENELAUS: O gods, what do I see? What living corpse greets my sight?
386ORESTES: You are right; I am dead through misery, though I still gaze upon the light.
387MENELAUS: How savage the look your unkempt hair gives you, poor wretch!
388ORESTES: It is not my looks, but my deeds that torture me.
389MENELAUS: Your tearless eyes glare dreadfully!
390ORESTES: My body is gone, though my name has not deserted me.
391MENELAUS: Unsightly apparition, so different from what I expected!
392ORESTES: Here I am, the murderer of my wretched mother.
393MENELAUS: I have heard, spare your words; evils should be seldom spoken.
394ORESTES: I will be sparing; but the deity is lavish of woe in my case.
395MENELAUS: What ails you? what is your deadly sickness?
396ORESTES: My conscience; I know that I am guilty of a dreadful crime.
397MENELAUS: What do you mean? Wisdom is shown in clarity, not in obscurity.
398ORESTES: Grief especially has ruined me—
399MENELAUS: Yes, she is a dreadful goddess, yet are there cures for her.
Part 6
400ORESTES: And fits of madness, the vengeance of a mother’s blood.
401MENELAUS: When did your madness begin? Which day was it?
402ORESTES: On the day I was heaping the mound over my poor mother’s grave.
403MENELAUS: When you were in the house, or watching by the pyre?
404ORESTES: As I was waiting by night to gather up her bones.
405MENELAUS: Was any one else there, to help you rise?
406ORESTES: Pylades who shared with me the bloody deed, my mother’s murder.
407MENELAUS: You are sick from phantom shapes; what sort?
408ORESTES: I seemed to see three maidens, black as night.
409MENELAUS: I know whom you mean, but I do not want to name them.
410ORESTES: Yes, for they are revered; you were well-informed, to avoid naming them.
411MENELAUS: Are these the ones that drive you to frenzy, with the curse of kindred blood?
412ORESTES: Oh! the torment I endure from their pursuit!
413MENELAUS: It is not strange, if those who have done dreadful things should suffer them.
414ORESTES: But I have a way to recover from these troubles.
415MENELAUS: Do not speak of death; that is not wise.
416ORESTES: It is Phoebus, who commanded me to kill my mother.
417MENELAUS: Showing a strange ignorance of what is fair and right.
418ORESTES: We are slaves to the gods, whatever those gods are.
419MENELAUS: And does Loxias not help your affliction?
Part 7
420ORESTES: He will in time; this is the nature of gods.
421MENELAUS: How long is it since your mother breathed her last?
422ORESTES: This is the sixth day; her funeral pyre is still warm.
423MENELAUS: How soon the goddesses arrived to avenge your mother’s blood!
424ORESTES: I am not clever, but I am by nature a true friend to my friends.
425MENELAUS: Does your father give you any help at all, for your avenging him?
426ORESTES: Not yet; I call delay the equal of inaction.
427MENELAUS: How do you stand in the city after that deed of yours?
428ORESTES: I am so hated that no one will speak to me.
429MENELAUS: Have your hands not even been cleaned of blood, according to custom?
430ORESTES: No, for wherever I go, the door is shut against me.
431MENELAUS: Which citizens are driving you from the land?
432ORESTES: Oeax, who refers to my father his reason for hating Troy.
433MENELAUS: I understand; he is avenging on you the blood of Palamedes.
434ORESTES: That was nothing to do with me; yet I am destroyed for three reasons.
435MENELAUS: Who else? Some of the friends of Aegisthus, I suppose?
436ORESTES: They insult me, and the city listens to them now.
437MENELAUS: Will the city allow you to keep the scepter of Agamemnon?
438ORESTES: How, seeing that they will not allow me to remain alive?
439MENELAUS: What is their method? Can you tell me plainly?
Part 8
440ORESTES: A vote will be taken against us today.
441MENELAUS: To leave the city? Or to die, or not to die?
442ORESTES: Death by stoning at the hands of the citizens.
443MENELAUS: Then why not cross the border and try to escape?
444ORESTES: Because we are encircled by men fully armed.
445MENELAUS: Private foes or Argive troops?
446ORESTES: All the citizens, so that I may die; it is shortly told.
447MENELAUS: Poor wretch! you have arrived at the extremity of woe.
448ORESTES: In you I have hopes of escape from my troubles. But since you have come with good fortune,
450share with your friends, who are wretched, your prosperity; do not hold aside that goodness for yourself alone; but partake of troubles in your turn, and so pay back my father’s kindness to those who have a claim on you. For such friends as desert us in adversity
455are friends in name but not in deed.
456CHORUS LEADER: And here is Tyndareus, the Spartan, struggling with aged step, clad in black robes, with his hair cut short in mourning for his daughter.
459ORESTES: Menelaus, I am ruined. See, Tyndareus
460approaches us, the man of all others I most shrink from facing, because of the deed I have done. For he nursed me when I was small, and lavished on me many a fond caress, carrying me about in his arms as the son of Agamemnon; and so did Leda;
465for they both honored me no less than the Dioscuri.
466Ah me! my wretched heart and soul, it was a sorry return I made them! What darkness can I find for my face? What cloud can I spread before me in my efforts to escape the old man’s eye?
470TYNDAREUS: Where, where may I see Menelaus, my daughter’s husband? For as I was pouring libations on Clytemnestra’s grave I heard that he had come to Nauplia with his wife, safe home again after many years. Lead me to him; for I want to approach him
475and clasp his hand, as a friend whom at last I see again.
476MENELAUS: Hail, old man, rival of Zeus for a bride!
477TYNDAREUS: All hail to you, Menelaus, my kinsman!
478Catching sight of Orestes. Ah! What an evil it is to be ignorant of the future! There is that matricide before the house, a viper darting venomous flashes from his eyes, whom I loathe.
480Menelaus, are you speaking to that godless wretch?
482MENELAUS: And why not? He is the son of one whom I loved.
483TYNDAREUS: This is his son, this creature here?
484MENELAUS: Yes, his son; if he is in misfortune, he ought to be honored.
485TYNDAREUS: You have been so long among barbarians that you have become one of them.
486MENELAUS: Always to honor one’s kin is a custom in Hellas.
487TYNDAREUS: And another custom is to yield a willing deference to the laws.
Part 9
488MENELAUS: The wise hold that everything which depends on necessity is a slave.
489TYNDAREUS: Keep that wisdom for yourself; I will not have it.
490MENELAUS: Yes, for you are angry, and also old age is not wise.
491TYNDAREUS: What does a dispute about foolishness have to do with him? If right and wrong are clear to all, who was ever more senseless than this man, because he never weighed the justice of the case,
495nor appealed to the universal law of Hellas? For instance, when Agamemnon breathed his last a most foul deed, which I will never defend,
500he should have brought a charge against his mother and inflicted a holy penalty for bloodshed, banishing her from his house; thus he would have gained moderation instead of calamity, keeping strictly to the law and showing his piety as well. As it is, he has come into the same fate as his mother.
505for though he had just cause for thinking her a wicked woman, he has become more wicked by murdering her.
507I will ask you, Menelaus, just one question. If a man’s wedded wife should kill him, and his son in turn will kill his mother in revenge;
510next the avenger’s son to expiate this murder will commit another: where will the chain of horrors end?
512Our forefathers settled these matters the right way. They forbade any one with blood upon his hands to appear in their sight or cross their path;
515but they purified him by exile, they did not kill him in revenge. Otherwise someone, by taking the pollution last upon his hands, is always going to be liable to have his own blood shed.
518Now I hate wicked women, especially my daughter who killed her husband;
520Helen, too, your own wife, I will never commend, nor would I even speak to her; and I do not envy you a voyage to Troy for a worthless woman. But the law I will defend with all my might, to put an end to this brutal spirit of murder,
525which is always the ruin of countries and cities alike. Turning to Orestes Wretch! Had you no heart when your mother was baring her breast in her appeal to you? I, who did not see that awful deed, weep unhappy tears from my old eyes.
530One thing at least agrees with what I say: you are hated by the gods, and you pay atonement for your mother by your fits of madness and terror. Why do I need to hear from other witnesses what I can see for myself? Therefore, Menelaus, take heed;
535do not oppose the gods in your wish to help this man; but leave him to be stoned to death by the citizens, or do not set foot on Spartan land. My daughter is dead, and rightly; but it should not have been his hand that slew her.
540In all except my daughters I have been a happy man; there I am not blessed.
542CHORUS LEADER: He is enviable, who is fortunate in his children, and does not bring hazardous notoriety on himself.
544ORESTES: Old man, I am afraid to speak before you,
545in a matter where I am sure to grieve you to the heart. I am unholy because I killed my mother, I know it, yet holy on another count, because I avenged my father. Only let your years, which frighten me from speaking, set no barrier in the path of my words,
550and I will go forward; but now I fear your gray hairs.
551What ought I to have done? Set one thing against another. My father begot me; your daughter gave me birth, being the field that received the seed from another; for without a father no child would ever be born.
555So I reasoned that I ought to stand by the author of my being rather than the woman who undertook to rear me. Now your daughter—I am ashamed to call her mother—came to a man’s bed in a private and unchaste wedding; I speak against myself when I speak
560badly of her, yet I will speak. Aegisthus was her secret husband in the home; I killed him, and I sacrificed my mother, an unholy crime, no doubt, but done to avenge my father.
564Now, as regards the matters for which I deserve to be stoned as you threatened,
565hear the service I am conferring on all Hellas. For if women become so bold as to murder their husbands, taking refuge in their children, with the mother’s breast to catch the pity, they would think nothing of destroying their husbands
570on any charge whatsoever. But I, by a horrible crime, as you boast it to be, have put an end to this custom. I hated my mother and killed her justly. She was false to her husband when he was gone from his home to fight for all Hellas at the head of its armies,
575and she did not keep his bed undefiled; and when her sin had found her out, she did not impose punishment on herself, but, to avoid paying the penalty to her husband, punished my father by death. By the gods! it is not a good time for me to mention the gods,
580when defending the charge of murder; but if I consented by my silence to my mother’s conduct, what would the murdered man have done to me? Would he not now in hatred be tormenting me with the Furies? Or does my mother have goddesses as allies, but he does not, in his deeper wrong?
585You, yes! you, old man, have been my ruin by begetting a wicked daughter; for it was owing to her audacious deed that I lost my father and became my mother’s murderer.
588You see, Telemachus did not kill the wife of Odysseus, because she did not marry husband upon husband,
590but the marriage-bed remained untainted in her home.
591And you see Apollo, who makes the navel of the earth his home, dispensing to mortals unerring prophecies, whom we obey in all he says; I killed my mother in obedience to him.
595Find him guilty of the crime, slay him; his was the sin, not mine. What ought I to have done? or is the god not competent to expiate the pollution when I refer it to him? Where then should anyone flee, if he will not rescue me from death after giving his commands?
600Do not say that the deed was done badly, but unfortunately for the ones who did it.
602A blessed life those mortals lead who make wise marriages; but those for whom it does not fall out well are unfortunate in their public and private concerns.
605CHORUS LEADER: Women by nature always meddle in the doings of men, with unfortunate results.
607TYNDAREUS: Since you are so bold and suppress nothing, but answer me back in such a way as to vex my heart, you will lead me to go to greater lengths in procuring your execution;
610and I shall regard this as a fine addition to my labors in coming here to adorn my daughter’s grave. Yes, I will go to the chosen band of Argives and set the city, willing or not, on you and your sister, to pay the penalty of stoning.
615She deserves to die even more than you, for it was she who embittered you against your mother, always carrying tales to your ear to increase your hate the more, announcing dreams from Agamemnon, and Aegisthus’ bed,
620may the gods in Hades loathe it! for even here on earth it was bitter; till she set the house ablaze with fires never kindled by Hephaestus.
622Menelaus, I tell you this, and I will do it, too: if you then consider my hatred or our marriage connection of any account, do not ward off this man’s doom in defiance of the gods,
625but leave him to be stoned to death by the citizens, or do not set foot on Spartan land. Remember you have been told all this, and do not choose the ungodly as friends, pushing aside the more righteous. Servants, lead me from this house. Exit Tyndareus.
630ORESTES: Go, so that the remainder of my speech may come to this man without interruption, free from your old age.
632Menelaus, why are you pacing round and round in thought, going back and forth, in a dilemma?
634MENELAUS: Let me alone! When I think it over,
635I am perplexed to know where to turn in these events.
636ORESTES: Do not come to a final decision now, but after first hearing what I have to say, then make up your mind.
638MENELAUS: Good advice! Speak. There are times when silence would be better than speech, and the reverse also.
640ORESTES: I will speak now. A long statement has advantages over a short one and is more intelligible to listen to. Give me nothing of your own, Menelaus, but repay what you received from my father. As Menelaus makes a deprecating gesture. I am not speaking of possessions; if you save my life,
645you will save my dearest possession.
646I have done wrong; I ought to have a little wrong-doing from you to requite that evil, for my father Agamemnon also did wrong in gathering the Hellenes and going to Ilium, not that he had sinned himself,
650but he was trying to find a cure for the sin and wrong-doing of your wife. So this is one thing you are bound to pay me back. For he really gave his life, as friends should, toiling hard in battle with you, so that you might have your wife again.
655Pay back to me the same thing you got there. For one day exert yourself, on my behalf standing up in my defense, not ten full years.
658As for what Aulis took, the sacrifice of my sister, I let you have that; do not kill Hermione.
660For in my present plight, you must have an advantage over me and I must pardon it. But give to my miserable father my life and the life of my sister, a maiden so long; for by my death I shall leave my father’s house without an heir.
665You will say it is impossible. That’s the point; friends are bound to help friends in trouble. But when fortune gives of its best, what need of friends? For the god’s help is enough of itself when he is willing to give it.
669All Hellas believes that you love your wife,
670and I am not saying this to flatter or wheedle you; by her I implore you.
671As Menelaus turns away. Ah me, my misery! to what have I come! Well? (preparing to make a final appeal) I must suffer, for I am making this appeal on behalf of my whole family. O my uncle, my father’s own brother! Imagine that the dead man in his grave
675is listening, that his spirit is hovering over you and saying what I say, this much for tears and groans and misfortunes. I have spoken and I have begged for my safety, hunting what all seek, not myself alone.
680CHORUS LEADER: I, too, though I am only a woman, beseech you to help those who need it; for you have the power.
682MENELAUS: Orestes, you are a man for whom I have a deep regard, and I want to take part in your troubles; it is a duty, too, to help relatives bear their ills,
685by dying or killing enemies, if god gives the power to do so. I wish I had that power granted me by the gods. For I have come quite destitute of allies, after my long weary wanderings,
690with the small strength of my surviving friends. We should never get the better of Pelasgian Argos by fighting; if we should prevail by soothing speeches, we will come to some hope there. For how can you win a great cause by small
696For when the people fall into a vigorous fury, they are as hard to quench as a raging fire; but if you gently slacken your hold and yield a little to their tension, cautiously watching your opportunity,
700they may possibly calm down; if their gusts abate, you may obtain whatever you want from them easily. They have pity, and a hot temper too, an invaluable quality if you watch it closely. So for you I will go and try to persuade Tyndareus
705and the city to moderation. A ship also dips if its sheet is hauled too taut, but rights itself again if it is let go.
708The god hates excessive eagerness, and the citizens do also; I must save you, I don’t deny it,
710by cleverness, not by violence against those who are stronger. I could not do it by strength, as you perhaps imagine; for it is not easy to triumph single-handed over the troubles that beset you. I would never have tried to bring the Argive land over to softness;
715but it is necessary. Exit Menelaus.
717ORESTES: O you that have no use, except to lead an army in a woman’s cause! O worst of men in your friends’ defense,
720do you turn your back on me and flee, the deeds of Agamemnon lost and gone?
721After all, father, you had no friends in adversity. Alas! I am betrayed; no longer do I have any hope of finding a refuge where I may escape the death-sentence of Argos; for this man was my haven of safety.
725But I see Pylades, the best of friends, coming at a run from Phocis—a pleasant sight! A man who can be trusted in troubles is a better sight than a calm to sailors.
729PYLADES: I have come through the city quickly, as I should,
730having heard and myself clearly seen the citizens assembling, against you and your sister, to kill you at once. What is happening? How is it with you? How are you doing, my best of comrades, friends and kin? For you are all these to me.
734ORESTES: I am ruined, to make plain to you my troubles in brief.
735PYLADES: You must destroy me also; for friends have all in common.
736ORESTES: Menelaus is the worst of men to me and my sister.
Part 10
737PYLADES: It is natural for the husband of an evil woman to become evil.
738ORESTES: He no more repaid me by coming here, than if he had never come.
739PYLADES: Oh, has he really arrived in this land?
740ORESTES: He took a long time, but he was very soon detected as evil to his friends.
741PYLADES: And did he bring his wife, the worst of women, with him on his ship?
742ORESTES: It was not he who brought her here, but she who brought him.
743PYLADES: Where is she, the one woman who proved the ruin of so many Achaeans?
744ORESTES: In my house; if, that is, I ought to call it mine.
745PYLADES: And what did you say to your father’s brother?
746ORESTES: Not to see me and my sister killed by the citizens.
747PYLADES: By the gods! What did he say to that? I would like know this.
748ORESTES: He was cautious, the usual policy of ignoble friends.
749PYLADES: What excuse did he advance? When I have learned that, I know everything.
750ORESTES: There was a new arrival, the father who begot those noble daughters.
751PYLADES: You mean Tyndareus; he was angry with you, perhaps, for his daughter’s sake?
752ORESTES: You understand. And Menelaus preferred the family relationship with him to that with my father.
753PYLADES: He did not have the courage to share your troubles, when he was here?
754ORESTES: No, for he was not born a warrior, though strong among women!
755PYLADES: Your case is desperate, it seems, and you must die.
756ORESTES: The citizens must give their vote about us on the murder.
Part 11
757PYLADES: And what is that to decide? Tell me, for I am alarmed.
758ORESTES: Our life or death; a brief speech on a large subject.
759PYLADES: Leave the palace with your sister now and try to escape.
760ORESTES: Don’t you see? We are being watched by guards on every side.
761PYLADES: I saw that the streets of the city were secured with armed men.
762ORESTES: We are as closely beleaguered as a city by its foes.
763PYLADES: Ask me now of my state; for I too am ruined.
764ORESTES: By whom? This would be a further trouble to add to mine.
765PYLADES: Strophius, my father, in a fit of anger, has banished me from his house.
766ORESTES: Bringing against you a private charge, or one in which the citizens share?
767PYLADES: He says it is an unholy crime to have helped you slay your mother.
768ORESTES: Alas! It seems my troubles will cause you grief as well.
769PYLADES: I am not like Menelaus in character; this must be endured.
770ORESTES: Are you not afraid that Argos will desire your death as well as mine?
771PYLADES: I am not theirs to punish; I belong to Phocis.
772ORESTES: A terrible thing is the mob, whenever it has villains to lead it.
773PYLADES: But with honest leaders its counsels are always honest.
774ORESTES: Very well; we must consult together.
774bPYLADES: About what necessity?
775ORESTES: Suppose I go and tell the citizens—
Part 12
775bPYLADES: That your action was just?
776ORESTES: In avenging my father?
776bPYLADES: I am afraid they would be glad to catch you.
777ORESTES: Well, am I to crouch in fear and die without a word?
777bPYLADES: That is cowardly.
778ORESTES: How then should I act?
778bPYLADES: Suppose you stay here, what means of safety do you have?
779ORESTES: I have none.
779bPYLADES: And if you go, is there any hope of escaping your troubles?
780ORESTES: There might be, possibly.
780bPYLADES: Then that is better than staying.
781ORESTES: Then I will go.
781bPYLADES: At least you die in this way, you will die more honorably.
782ORESTES: You are right; in this way I escape cowardice.
782bPYLADES: Better than by staying.
783ORESTES: After all, my action was just.
783bPYLADES: Pray that this may be the only view they take.
784ORESTES: Some one or two might pity me—
784bPYLADES: Yes, your noble birth is a great point.
785ORESTES: Resenting my father’s death.
Part 13
785bPYLADES: That is all quite clear.
786ORESTES: I must go, for to die ignobly is a coward’s part.
786bPYLADES: Well said.
787ORESTES: Shall we tell my sister?
787bPYLADES: God forbid!
788ORESTES: True, there might be tears.
788bPYLADES: That would be a grave omen.
789ORESTES: Yes, silence is clearly better.
789bPYLADES: And you will gain time.
790ORESTES: There is only one obstacle in my way.
790bPYLADES: What fresh objection now?
791ORESTES: I am afraid the goddesses will prevent me by madness.
791bPYLADES: But I will take care of you.
792ORESTES: It is annoying to have to touch a sick man.
792bPYLADES: Not to me, when it is you.
793ORESTES: Beware of becoming a partner in my madness.
793bPYLADES: Let that pass.
794ORESTES: You will not hesitate?
794bPYLADES: No, for hesitation is a grave mischief among friends.
795ORESTES: On then, pilot of my course!
Part 14
795bPYLADES: A service I am glad to render.
796ORESTES: And guide me to my father’s tomb.
796bPYLADES: For what purpose?
797ORESTES: That I may appeal to him to save me.
797bPYLADES: Yes, that is the proper way.
798ORESTES: May I not see my mother’s grave!
798bPYLADES: No; she was an enemy. But hasten, so that the vote of Argos may not catch you first,
800supporting those limbs, slow from sickness, on mine; for I will carry you through the town, thinking little of the mob and unashamed. For how shall I prove my friendship, if not by helping you in sore distress?
804ORESTES: Ah! the old saying again, get friends, not relations only.
805For a man who fuses into your ways, though he is an outsider, is better for a man to possess as a friend than a whole host of relations. Exeunt Orestes and Pylades.
807CHORUS: The great prosperity and the prowess, proudly boasted throughout Hellas and by the streams of Simois,
810went back again from good fortune for the Atreidae long ago, from an old misfortune to their house, when strife came to the sons of Tantalus over a golden ram, to end in most pitiable banqueting and
815the slaughter of high-born children; and this is why murder exchanges for murder, through blood, and does not leave the two Atreidae.
819CHORUS: What seemed good was not good,
820to cut a mother’s flesh with ruthless hand and show the sword stained black with blood to the sun’s bright beams; to commit a noble crime is an impious, subtle, malignant madness!
825The wretched daughter of Tyndareus in terror of death screamed to him: My son, this is unholy, your bold attempt upon your mother’s life; do not, while honoring your father,
830fasten on yourself an eternity of shame.
831CHORUS: What affliction on earth surpasses this? What calls for keener grief or pity, than to shed with your hand a mother’s blood? Oh! what a dreadful crime he committed,
835and now is raving mad, a prey to the Furies, whirling blood with racing eyes, the son of Agamemnon! O the wretch! when
840he saw a mother’s bosom over her robe of golden weave, and yet he made her his victim, in recompense for his father’s sufferings.
844ELECTRA: Women, has my poor Orestes left the house,
845mastered by the heaven-sent madness?
846CHORUS LEADER: Not at all; he has gone to the Argive people to stand the appointed trial for his life, in which he and you must live or die.
849ELECTRA: Oh! Why did he do it? Who persuaded him?
850CHORUS LEADER: Pylades; but this messenger will no doubt soon tell us what happened to your brother there.
852MESSENGER: Wretched, unhappy daughter of the general Agamemnon, my lady Electra, hear the sad tidings I bring you.
855ELECTRA: Alas! we are ruined; your words show it; you have clearly come with tidings of woe.
857MESSENGER: The Pelasgians have decided by vote that you, poor lady, and your brother are to die this day.
859ELECTRA: Alas! my expectations are realized; I have long feared this,
860and have been wasting away in mourning for what was sure to happen. But what was the trial, what was said by the Argives, to condemn us and ratify our death? Tell me, old friend; must I die by stoning or the sword?
865For I share my brother’s misfortunes.
866MESSENGER: I had just come from the country and was entering the gates, needing to learn what was decided about you and Orestes, for I was always well disposed to your father when he was alive, and it was your house that reared me,
870poor indeed, yet loyal in the service of friends. I saw a crowd going and taking their seats on the height, where they say Danaus first gathered his people for a meeting, making amends to Aegyptus. So, when I saw the throng, I asked a citizen:
875What news in Argos? Tidings of the enemy haven’t ruffled the city of Danaus, have they? But he said: Don’t you see Orestes there, on his way to he tried for his life? I saw an unexpected sight, which I wish I had not seen,
880Pylades and your brother approaching together, the one with his head down, weakened by sickness; the other sharing his friend’s sorrow like a brother, tending his illness with constant care.
884Now when the Argives were fully gathered,
885a herald rose and said: Who wishes to give his opinion whether Orestes should be slain or not for the murder of his mother? Then up stood Talthybius, who helped your father sack the Phrygians. He spoke out of both sides of his mouth, a mere tool of those in power as he always is,
890expressing high admiration for your father, but not praising your brother, urging his crooked sentiments in specious words, that it would establish laws as to parents that are not good; and all the while he was darting lively glances at the friends of Aegisthus.
895Such is that tribe; heralds always trip across to the lucky side; the one who has power in the city or a post in the government is their friend.
898After him lord Diomedes made a speech; he said they should not kill you and your brother,
900but keep clear of guilt by punishing you with exile. Some roared out that his words were good, but others disapproved.
902Next stood up a fellow, who cannot close his lips; one whose impudence is his strength; an Argive, but not of Argos, forced on us;
905confident in bluster and ignorant free speech, and plausible enough to involve them in some mischief sooner or later;
910He was for stoning you and Orestes to death,
915but it was Tyndareus who kept suggesting arguments of this kind to him as he urged the death of both of you.
917Another then stood up and said the opposite; he was not handsome in appearance, but a brave man, rarely coming in contact with the town or the circle in the market-place;
920a farmer—and they are the only ones who preserve our land—but clever, and eager to grapple with the arguments, his character without a blemish, his walk in life beyond reproach. He said that they should crown Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, for showing his willingness to avenge a father
925by the murder of a wicked and godless woman who would prevent men from taking up arms and going on foreign service, if those who remain behind, corrupt and seduce wives left at home to keep house.
930To the better sort, at least, his word carried conviction.
931No one spoke after him. Then your brother came forward and said: You dwellers in the land of Inachus! I helped you no less than my father
935when I slew my mother; for if the murder of men by women is to be sanctioned, then the sooner you die, the better, or you must become the slaves of women; and that will be doing the very reverse of what you should. As it is, she who betrayed my father’s bed
940has died, but if you take my life, the law becomes relaxed, and the sooner each one of you dies, the better; for it will never be daring at any rate that they will lack. Yet, for all he seemed to speak well, he did not persuade the assembly; but that villain who spoke in favor of slaying you and your brother
945gained his point by appealing to the mob.
946Poor Orestes scarcely persuaded them not to kill him by stoning, promising to die by his own hand, with you, on this day. Pylades, in tears, is now bringing him from the conclave;
950and his friends bear him company, with wailing and lamentation; so he comes, a bitter sight and piteous vision. Make ready the sword or prepare the noose for your neck, for you must leave the light; your noble birth
955availed you nothing, nor did Phoebus from his seat on the tripod at Delphi; he was your undoing. Exit Messenger.
Part 15
960ELECTRA: O Pelasgia, I take up the dirge, doing bloody outrage on my cheeks with white nail, and beating on my head; these are the portion of Persephone, fair young goddess of the nether world.
965Let the Cyclopian land break forth into wailing for the sorrows of our house, laying the steel upon the head to crop it close. This is the piteous, piteous strain that goes up for those who are about to die,
970once the battle-leaders of Hellas.
971ELECTRA: It has gone, it has gone, and is lost, all the race of Pelops, and the glory that crowned their happy home once; the envy of heaven seized them and that cruel
975murdering vote among the citizens.
976Oh, oh! you tribes of short-lived men, full of tears, full of suffering, see how fate runs counter to your hopes! All receive in turn their different
980troubles in length of time; and the whole of mortal life is uncertain.
982ELECTRA: Oh! to reach that rock which hangs suspended midway between earth and heaven, that fragment from Olympus, which swings on chains of gold, so that I may utter my lament
985to Tantalus, my forefather, who begot the ancestors of my house. They saw infatuate ruin, the chase of winged steeds, when Pelops in four-horse chariot
990drove over the sea, hurling the body of murdered Myrtilus into the ocean swell, after his race near Geraestus’ strand, foam-flecked from the tossing sea.
995From this came a woeful curse upon my house, brought to birth among the sheep by the son of Maia, when there appeared a baleful, baleful portent of a lamb with golden fleece,
1000for Atreus, breeder of horses; from which Strife changed the course of the sun’s winged chariot, fitting the westward path of the sky towards the single horse of Dawn;
1005and Zeus diverted the career of the seven Pleiads into a new track and exchanged . . . death for death: both the banquet to which Thyestes gave his name, and the treacherous love of Cretan Aerope,
1010in her treacherous marriage; but the crowning woe has come on me and on my father by the bitter constraints of our house.
1013CHORUS LEADER: Look, here comes your brother, condemned to die, and with him Pylades, most loyal of friends,
1015true as a brother, guiding his feeble steps, his yoke-fellow, pacing carefully.
1018ELECTRA: Alas! I weep to see you stand before the tomb, my brother, face to face with the funeral pyre.
1020Alas, again! as I take my last look at you, my senses leave me.
1022ORESTES: Be silent! an end to womanish lamenting! resign yourself to your fate. It is piteous, but nevertheless
1025ELECTRA: How can I be silent, when we poor sufferers are no longer to gaze upon the sun-god’s light?
1027ORESTES: Oh! spare me that death! Enough that this unhappy wretch is already slain by Argives; let our present sufferings be.
1029ELECTRA: Alas for your unhappy youth, Orestes, and for your fated
1030untimely death! When you should have lived, you are going to die.
1031ORESTES: By the gods, do not unman me, bringing me to tears by the recollection of my sorrows.
1033ELECTRA: We are about to die; it is not possible for me not to grieve over our troubles; it is a piteous thing for all men to lose life, that is so sweet.
1035ORESTES: This is the day appointed for us; we must fit the dangling noose about our necks or whet the sword for use.
1037ELECTRA: You be the one to kill me, brother, so that no Argive may insult Agamemnon’s son by my death.
1039ORESTES: Enough that I have a mother’s blood upon me; I will not kill you,
1040but die by your own hand, however you wish.
1041ELECTRA: Agreed; I will not be behind you in using the sword; only I long to throw my arms about your neck.
1043ORESTES: Enjoy that empty satisfaction, if embraces have any joy for those who have come so near to death.
1045ELECTRA: My dearest, you who have a name that sounds most loved and sweet to your sister, partner in one soul with her!
1047ORESTES: Oh, you will melt my heart! I want to give you back a fond embrace. And why should such a wretch as I still feel any shame? Embracing Electra Heart to heart, my sister! how sweet to me this close embrace!
1050In place of children and the marriage bed .
1052ELECTRA: Ah! If only the same sword, if it is right, could kill us both, and one coffin of cedar-wood receive us!
1054ORESTES: That would be very sweet; but surely you see
1055we are too destitute of friends to be allowed one tomb between us.
Part 16
1056ELECTRA: Did that coward Menelaus, that traitor to my father, not even speak for you, or make an effort to save your life?
1058ORESTES: He did not even show himself, but, with his hopes centered on the throne, he was careful not to attempt the rescue of his friends.
1060But let us see how we may die a noble death, one most worthy of Agamemnon. I, for my part, will let the city see my noble spirit when I plunge the sword to my heart, and you in turn must imitate my daring.
1065Pylades, be the arbitrator of our slaughter and, when we both are dead, lay out our bodies decently; carry them to our father’s grave and bury us there with him. Farewell, now; I am leaving for the deed, as you see.
1069PYLADES: Stop! there is first one point I have to blame you for,
1070if you thought I would care to live when you are dead.
1071ORESTES: But why are you called on to die with me?
1072PYLADES: Do you ask? What is life to me without your companionship?
1073ORESTES: You did not kill your mother, as I did to my sorrow.
1074PYLADES: At least I helped you; and so I ought to suffer the same penalty.
1075ORESTES: Surrender to your father, do not die with me. You still have a city, while I no longer have, and your father’s home, and a great refuge of wealth. You have failed to marry my poor sister, whom I betrothed to you from a deep regard for your companionship;
1080but find another bride and rear a family; for the marriage-tie which bound us is no more. Farewell, be happy, my beloved friend; we cannot, but you may; for we, the dead, are robbed of happiness.
1085PYLADES: How far you are from grasping what I mean! May the fruitful earth, the radiant sky refuse to hold my blood, if ever I turn traitor and desert you when I have freed myself. For I shared in the murder, which I will not deny,
1090and also schemed the whole plot, for which you are now paying the penalty; and so I ought to die together with you and her. For I consider her, whom you betrothed to me, as my wife. Whatever shall I say, when I reach Delphi, the citadel of Phocis,
1095if I was your friend before your misfortunes, but ceased to be your friend, when you were unfortunate? That must not be; no, this concerns me, too. But since we are to die, let us take counsel together that Menelaus may share our misfortune.
1100ORESTES: Best of friends! if only I could see this before I die.
1101PYLADES: Listen to me, and delay the stroke of the sword.
1102ORESTES: I will, if I may take vengeance on my enemy.
1103PYLADES: Hush now! I have small confidence in women.
1104ORESTES: Have no fear of these; for they are our friends who are here.
1105PYLADES: Let us kill Helen, a bitter grief to Menelaus.
1106ORESTES: How? I am ready, if there is any chance of success.
1107PYLADES: With our swords; she is hiding in your house.
1108ORESTES: Indeed she is; and already she is putting her seal on everything.
1109PYLADES: No longer, after she is married to Hades.
1110ORESTES: But how? She has her barbarian attendants.
Part 17
1111PYLADES: Barbarians indeed! I am not the man to fear any Phrygian.
1112ORESTES: They are only fit to look after mirrors and perfumes!
1113PYLADES: Has she brought Trojan luxury with her here?
1114ORESTES: So much so, that Hellas is too small for her to live in.
1115PYLADES: The race of slaves is nothing to those who are free.
1116ORESTES: Well, if I can do this deed, I do not shrink from dying twice over.
1117PYLADES: No, nor I either, if it is you I am avenging.
1118ORESTES: Explain the matter, and continue describing your plan.
1119PYLADES: We will enter the house on the pretence of going to our death.
1120ORESTES: So far I follow you, but not beyond.
1121PYLADES: We will lament our sufferings to her.
1122ORESTES: So that she will shed tears, although her heart is glad.
1123PYLADES: And our condition will be like hers.
1124ORESTES: How shall we proceed next in our contest?
1125PYLADES: We shall have swords concealed in our cloaks.
1126ORESTES: Will we dispose of her attendants first?
1127PYLADES: We will shut them up in different parts of the house.
1128ORESTES: And whoever refuses to be quiet, we must kill.
1129PYLADES: And then the deed itself shows us where we must exert ourselves.
1130ORETES: To kill Helen; I understand that watchword.
Part 18
1131PYLADES: You have it; now hear how sound my scheme is. If we drew the sword upon a woman of greater chastity, the murder would be infamous; but, as it is, she will be punished for the sake of all Hellas,
1135whose fathers she slew, whose children she destroyed, and made widows out of brides. There will be shouts of joy, and they will kindle the altars of the gods, invoking on our heads many blessings, because we shed a wicked woman’s blood.
1140After killing her, you will not be called the matricide, but, resigning that title, you will succeed to a better, and be called the slayer of Helen the murderess. It can never, never be right that Menelaus should prosper, and your father, your sister and you should die,
1145and your mother—but I pass that by, for it is not seemly to mention it—and for him to possess your home, though it was by Agamemnon’s prowess that he recovered his bride. May I die, if we do not draw our swords upon her! But if we do not accomplish Helen’s death,
1150we will set fire to the house and die. For we will not fail to achieve one distinction, an honorable death or an honorable escape.
1153CHORUS LEADER: The daughter of Tyndareus, who has brought shame on her sex, has justly earned the hatred of every woman.
1155ORESTES: Ah! there is nothing better than a trusty friend, neither wealth nor monarchy; a crowd of people is of no account in exchange for a noble friend. You were the one who devised the vengeance against Aegisthus, and stood by me in danger,
1160and now again you are offering me a means to punish my foes and do not stand aside—but I will cease praising you, for there is something wearisome even in being praised to excess. Now since in any case I must breathe my last, I want to do something to my enemies before my death,
1165so that I may requite with ruin those who betrayed me, and so that those who made me suffer may grieve. Yes! I am the son of Agamemnon, who was considered worthy to rule Hellas, no tyrant but yet god-like in power; I will not disgrace him
1170by submitting to die like a slave; my last breath shall be free and I will take vengeance on Menelaus. For if we could secure one object, we would be lucky, if a means of safety should unexpectedly come our way from somewhere, and we should be the slayers, not the slain; this is what I pray for.
1175This wish of mine is a pleasant dream to cheer the heart, without cost, by means of the mouth’s winged words.
1177ELECTRA: I think I have it, brother, a means of safety for you, and for him and thirdly for myself.
1179ORESTES: You mean divine providence. But why do I say that?
1180Since I know the natural shrewdness of your heart.
1181ELECTRA: Listen to me now; and you (to Pylades) pay attention also.
1182ORESTES: Speak; the prospect of good news holds a certain pleasure.
1183ELECTRA: You know Helen’s daughter? Of course you do.
1184ORESTES: I know her, Hermione, whom my mother reared.
1185ELECTRA: She has gone to Clytemnestra’s tomb.
1186ORESTES: To do what? What hope are you hinting at?
1187ELECTRA: She was going to pour a libation over the tomb of our mother.
1188ORESTES: Well, how does what you have said lead to our safety?
1189ELECTRA: Seize her as a hostage on her way back.
1190ORESTES: What good can your suggested remedy do us three friends?
1191ELECTRA: If, after Helen’s slaughter, Menelaus tries to do anything to you or to Pylades and me—for this bond of friendship is wholly one—say that you will kill Hermione; you must draw your sword and hold it to the maiden’s throat.
1195If Menelaus, when he sees Helen fallen in her blood, tries to save you to insure the girl’s life, allow him to take his daughter to his arms; but if he makes no effort to curb the angry outburst and leaves you to die, then cut the maiden’s throat.
1200And I think if he puts in a mighty appearance at first, he will calm down in time; for he is not bold or brave by nature. That is my line of defense for our safety. My speech is over.
1204ORESTES: O you that have the spirit of a man,
1205though your body shows you to be a woman, how far more worthy you are to live than to die! Pylades, you will lose such a woman to your sorrow, or if you live, you will have a blessed marriage.
1209PYLADES: Then may it be so, and may she come to the city of Phocis
1210with all the honors of a happy wedding.
1211ORESTES: How soon will Hermione return to the palace? All the rest was very well said, if we succeed in catching this impious father’s cub.
1214ELECTRA: Well, I expect she is near the house already,
1215for the length of time agrees exactly.
Part 19
1216ORESTES: Good; you, Electra, my sister, stay before the palace and await the maiden’s approach; keep watch in case any one, whether an ally or my father’s brother, forestalls us by his entry before the murder is complete;
1220and then make a signal to the house, either by beating on a panel of the door or calling to us within.
1222Let us enter now and arm ourselves with swords for the final struggle,
1225O father, in your home of gloomy night, your son Orestes calls you to come to the rescue of the destitute. It is on your account I am wrongfully suffering, and it is by your brother that I have been betrayed for doing right; it is his wife I wish to take
1230and kill; you be our accomplice for this deed.
1231ELECTRA: Oh father, come! if within the ground you hear the cry of your children, who are dying for your sake.
1233PYLADES: O kinsman of my father, Agamemnon, hear my prayers also; save your children.
1235ORESTES: I killed my mother—
1235bELECTRA: I held the sword—
1236PYLADES: I . . . set them free from fear—
1237ORESTES: To aid you, father.
1237bELECTRA: Nor did I betray you.
1238PYLADES: Will you not hear these reproaches and rescue your children?
1239ORESTES: With tears I pour you a libation.
1239bELECTRA: And I with laments.
1240PYLADES: Cease, and let us set about our business. If prayers really do pierce the ground, he hears. O Zeus, god of my fathers, and holy Justice, give success to him and me and her; for there is one struggle for three friends, and one penalty,
1245for all to live or—pay death’s account. Exeunt Orestes and Pylades.
1246ELECTRA: My dear friends of Mycenae, of foremost rank in Argos, the home of the Pelasgians.
1248CHORUS: What are you saying to us, mistress?
1250For this honored name is still left for you in the Danaid town.
1251ELECTRA: Station yourselves, some here along the high road, others there on some other path, to watch the house.
1253CHORUS: But why do you call me to this service? Tell me, my dear.
1255ELECTRA: I am afraid that some one, who is stationed at the house for slaughter, may find trouble upon trouble.
1258FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: Let us make haste and go on; I will keep careful watch upon this road towards the east.
1260SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: And I on this one, that leads westward.
1261ELECTRA: Throw a glance sideways.
Part 20
1262CHORUS: Here and there, then we are looking back again,
1265as you tell us.
1266ELECTRA: Cast your eyes around, let them see everything, through your tresses.
1268FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: Who is that on the road? Who is this
1270country-man wandering round your house?
1271ELECTRA: Ah! friends, we are ruined; he will at once reveal to our enemies the armed ambush.
1273SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: (Reconnoitring. Calm your fears; the road is not occupied, as you think, my dear.
1275ELECTRA: (Turning to the other watchers.) Well? Is your side still secure? Give me a good report, if the space before the court-yard is deserted.
1278FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: All goes well here; look to your own watch, for no Danaid is approaching us.
1280SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: Your report agrees with mine; there is no noise here either.
1281ELECTRA: Well then, I will listen in the gateway.
1284CHORUS: (Calling through the door.) You within the house, why are you delaying to spill your victim’s blood,
1285now that all is quiet?
1286ELECTRA: They do not hear; alas for my troubles! Can it be that her beauty has blunted their swords?
1288Soon some Argive in full armor, hurrying
1290to her rescue, will attack the palace.
1291Keep a better look-out; it is not a contest of sitting still; turn about, some here, some there.
1295CHORUS: I am looking everywhere in turn along the road.
1296HELEN: Oh, Pelasgian Argos! I am being foully murdered.
1297CHORUS: Did you hear? The men have put their hand to the slaughter.
1298It is Helen screaming, at a guess.
1299ELECTRA: O eternal might of Zeus, of Zeus, only come to help my friends!
1301HELEN: Menelaus, I am dying, but you do not help me, though you are near.
1302ELECTRA: Slay her, kill her, destroy her! Stab with your twin double-edged swords
1305the woman who left her father, left her husband, and killed so many of the men of Hellas, slain beside the river-bank, where tears rained down, by the iron darts
1310all round the eddies of Scamander.
1311CHORUS LEADER: Hush! hush! I caught the sound of a foot-fall on the road near the house.
1313ELECTRA: My dearest friends, it is Hermione advancing into the middle of the bloodshed; let our clamor cease.
1315For she comes headlong into the meshes of the net. The prey will be good, if it is caught. Take up your places again with looks composed and faces not betraying what has happened; I too will have a gloomy look,
1320as if I knew nothing of what has been done. Addressing Hermione as she approaches. Ah! maiden, have you come from wreathing Clytemnestra’s grave and pouring libations to the dead?
1323HERMIONE: Yes, I have returned after securing her favor; but I was filled with some alarm about a cry I heard from the palace
1325as I was still at a distance.
Part 21
1326ELECTRA: But why? Our present lot gives cause for groans.
1327HERMIONE: Oh, don’t say so! What is your news?
1328ELECTRA: Argos has sentenced Orestes and me to death.
1329HERMIONE: Oh no! not my own relatives!
1330ELECTRA: It is decreed; we have put on the yoke of necessity.
1331HERMIONE: Was this the reason of the cry within?
1332ELECTRA: Yes, a suppliant cried out as he fell at Helen’s knees—
1333HERMIONE: Who is he? I know nothing more, if you do not tell me.
1334ELECTRA: Unhappy Orestes, entreating mercy for himself and me.
1335HERMIONE: The house then has good reason to shout.
1336ELECTRA: What else would make someone entreat more earnestly? But come and throw yourself before your mother in her prosperity, join your friends’ supplication that Menelaus may not see us die.
1340O you that were nursed in my mother’s arms, have pity on us and relieve our pain. Come here to the struggle, and I myself will be your guide; for you alone have power over our safety.
1344HERMIONE: See, I am hastening to the house;
1345as far it as rests with me, regard yourselves as safe. Exit Hermione .
1345bELECTRA: Now, friends in the house with swords, seize the prey!
1347HERMIONE: Oh no! Who are these I see?
1347bORESTES: (within.) Silence! You are here for our safety, not yours.
1349ELECTRA: Hold her, hold her! Point a sword at her throat,
1350then wait in silence, that Menelaus may learn that he has found men, not Phrygian cowards, and he has been treated as cowards deserve.
1353CHORUS: Oh, oh, friends! raise a din, a din and shouting before the house, that the murder when done
1355may not inspire the Argives with wild alarm, to make them bring aid to the palace, before I see for certain that Helen’s corpse lies bloody in the house, or hear the news from one of her attendants;
1360for I know a part of the tragedy, of the rest I am not sure. In justice, retribution from the gods has come to Helen; for she filled all Hellas with tears, through that accursed, accursed Paris of Ida,
1365who drew Hellas to Troy.
1369PHRYGIAN: (expressing the most abject terror.) I have escaped from death by Argive sword,
1370in my Asian slippers, by clambering over the cedar-beams that roof the porch and the Doric triglyphs, away, away! O Earth, Earth! in barbaric flight!
1375Alas! You foreign women, where can I escape, flying through the clear sky or over the sea, which bull-headed Ocean rolls about as he circles the world in his embrace?
1380CHORUS LEADER: What is it, Helen’s slave, creature from Ida?
1381PHRYGIAN: Ilium, Ilium, oh me! city of Phrygia, and Ida’s holy hill with fruitful soil, how I mourn for your destruction
1385with barbarian cry; destroyed through her beauty, born from a bird, swan-feathered, Leda’s cub, hellish Helen! to be a curse to Apollo’s tower of polished stone. Ah! Alas!
1390woe to Dardania, its wailing, wailing, for the horsemanship of Ganymede, bedfellow of Zeus.
Part 22
1393CHORUS LEADER: Tell us clearly each event within the house.
1395PHRYGIAN: Ah, for Linus! Ah, for Linus! That is what barbarians say, alas, in their eastern tongue as a prelude to death, whenever royal blood is spilled upon the ground by deadly iron blades.
1400To tell you everything in turn, they came into the house, two twin lions of Hellas; one was called the general’s son; the other was the son of Strophius, a crafty plotter, like Odysseus, treacherous in silence,
1405but true to his friends, bold for the fight, clever in war and a deadly serpent. Curse him for his quiet plotting, the villain!
1409In they came to the throne of the wife of Paris the archer,
1410faces wet with tears, and took their seats in all humility, one on this side, one on that, each with weapons. They threw, they threw their suppliant arms round the knees
1415of Helen. Her Phrygian servants sprang up frantic, frantic; they called to each other in terror that there was treachery.
1420To some there seemed no cause, but others thought that the viper who killed his mother was entangling the daughter of Tyndareus in the snare of his plot.
1425CHORUS LEADER: And where were you? fled long before in terror?
1426PHRYGIAN: It happened that I, in Phrygian style, Phrygian, was wafting the breeze, the breeze by the curls of Helen, Helen, with a round feathered fan, before her face,
1430in barbarian style; and she was twisting flax on her distaff with her fingers, and letting her yarn fall on the floor, for she wanted to sew with her flax purple cloth
1435as adornment for the tomb from the Trojan spoils, a gift to Clytemnestra.
1437Orestes said to the Spartan girl: Daughter of Zeus, get up from your chair
1440and come here to the old hearth of Pelops, our ancestor, to hear something I have to say. He led her, led her, and she followed,
1445no prophet of the future. But his accomplice, the Phocian villain, was off on other business: Out of my way! Well, Phrygians always were cowards. So he shut them up in different parts of the house, some in the stables, others in the halls,
1450one here, one there, disposing of them at a distance from their mistress.
1452CHORUS LEADER: What happened next?
1453PHRYGIAN: Mother of Ida, great, great mother!
1455Oh! the murderous scenes and lawless wickedness that I saw, I saw, in the palace! They drew forth swords from hiding under their purple-bordered cloaks, each darting his eye a different way, lest anyone should be near. Like boar of the hills,
1460they stood opposite the woman and said: You will die, you will die; your cowardly husband is killing you, because he betrayed his brother’s son to death in Argos.
1465She screamed, oh, oh! she screamed, and brought down her white arm upon her breast and beat her poor head; then turned her golden-sandalled steps in flight, in flight; but Orestes got before her in his Mycenean boots and clutched his fingers in her hair,
1470and, bending back her neck on to her left shoulder, was on the point of driving the black sword into her throat.
1473CHORUS LEADER: Where were you Phrygians in the house to help her?
1474PHRYGIAN: With a loud cry from the house we battered down with bars the doors and doorposts where we had been,
1475and ran to her assistance from every direction, one with stones, another with javelins, a third with a drawn sword; but Pylades came to meet us, undaunted, like
1480Hector of Troy or Ajax triple-plumed, as I saw him, saw him, in Priam’s gateway; and we met at sword’s point. But then it was very clear how the Phrygians were,
1485how much less we were in battle strength to the Hellene might. There was one man gone in flight, another slain, another wounded, yet another pleading to stave off death; but we escaped under cover of the darkness; while some were falling, some were about to fall, and others were lying dead.
1490And just as her unhappy mother sank to the ground to die, the luckless Hermione came in. Those two, like Bacchantes when they drop the thyrsus for a mountain cub, rushed and seized her; then turned again to the daughter of Zeus to slay her; but she had vanished from the room,
1495passing right through the house, O Zeus and Earth and light and night! whether by magic spells or wizards’ arts or heavenly theft.
1499What happened afterwards I do not know; for I stole out of the palace, a runaway.
1500So Menelaus endured his painful, painful suffering to recover his wife Helen from Troy to no purpose.
1503CHORUS LEADER: And look, here is a strange sight succeeding others; for I see Orestes sword in hand before the palace,
1505advancing with excited steps.
1506ORESTES: Where is the one who fled from the palace to escape my sword?
1507PHRYGIAN: Before you I prostrate myself, lord, and supplicate you in my foreign way.
1508ORESTES: We are not in Ilium, but the land of Argos.
1509PHRYGIAN: Everywhere, the wise find life sweeter than death.
1510ORESTES: I suppose that shouting of yours was not for Menelaus to come to the rescue?
1511PHRYGIAN: Oh no! it was to help you I called out, for you are more deserving.
1512ORESTES: Did the daughter of Tyndareus die justly, then?
1513PHRYGIAN: Most justly, even if she had three throats to die with.
1514ORESTES: Your cowardice makes you glib; this is not what you really think.
1515PHRYGIAN: Why, surely she deserved it, the one who destroyed Hellas and the Phrygians too?
1516ORESTES: Swear you are not saying this to humor me, or I will kill you.
Part 23
1517PHRYGIAN: I swear by my life, an oath I would keep!
1518ORESTES: Did every Phrygian in Troy show the same terror of steel as you do?
1519PHRYGIAN: Take your sword away! Held so near it flashes a dreadful gleam of blood.
1520ORESTES: Are you afraid of being turned to a stone, as if you had seen a Gorgon?
1521PHRYGIAN: To a stone, no! but to a corpse; I don’t know this Gorgon’s head.
1522ORESTES: A slave, and yet you fear death, which will release you from trouble?
1523PHRYGIAN: Slave or free, every one is glad to gaze upon the light.
1524ORESTES: Well said! Your shrewdness saves you; go inside.
1525PHRYGIAN: You will not kill me after all?
1525bORESTES: You are spared.
1525cPHRYGIAN: How well you said that!
1526ORESTES: Now it’s time to change my plans.
1526bPHRYGIAN: You didn’t say that well!
1527ORESTES: You fool! Do you think I could endure to make your throat bloody? You weren’t born a woman, nor do you belong among men. The reason I left the palace was to stop your shouting;
1530for Argos is quickly roused, once it hears a cry to the rescue. As for Menelaus, I am not afraid of measuring swords with him; let him come, proud of the golden ringlets on his shoulders; for if, to avenge the slaying of Helen, he gathers the Argives and leads them against the palace, refusing to attempt the rescue of me,
1535my sister, and Pylades, my fellow conspirator, he will have two corpses to behold, his daughter’s as well as his wife’s. Exeunt Orestes and The Phrygian Slave.
1537CHORUS: Ah, fortune! Again and yet again the house comes to a fearful contest, for the race of Atreus.
1539What are we to do? Carry tidings to the town?
1540Or hold our peace? It is safer, friends.
1541Look, look at that sudden rush of smoke to the sky in front of the palace, telling its tale!
1543They are kindling torches to fire the halls of Tantalus; nor do they hold back from murder.
1545A god determines the end where he wishes, for mortals.
1546Great is the power; by avenging fiends, this house has fallen, fallen, through blood, by reason of the hurling Myrtilus from the chariot.
1549CHORUS LEADER: But look! I see Menelaus approaching the palace
1550in haste; no doubt he has heard what is happening here. Descendants of Atreus within, make haste and secure the doors with bars. A man in luck is a dangerous adversary for luckless wretches like you, Orestes.
1554MENELAUS: I have come at the report of strange and violent deeds perpetrated
1555by a pair of lions, men I do not call them. What I heard was that my wife was not dead, but had vanished out of sight, an idle rumor which someone fooled by his own fear brought me. But that is a plot
1560of the matricide’s—ridiculous!
1561Open the doors! I tell my servants to force the gates, so that I may rescue my child at any rate from the hands of those blood-stained men and recover my poor wretched wife,
1565while the ones who destroyed her must die at my hands.
1567ORESTES: You there! Keep your hands off those bolts; I mean you, Menelaus, towering in your audacity! Or I will tear off the ancient parapet, the work of masons,
1570and shatter your skull with this coping-stone. The doors are bolted and barred, which will prevent your eagerness to bring aid and keep you from entering.
1573MENELAUS: Oh! What is this? I see a blaze of torches and men standing at bay on the top of the house,
1575with a sword guarding my daughter’s throat.
1576ORESTES: Would you question me or hear me speak?
Part 24
1577MENELAUS: Neither; but I suppose I must hear you.
1578ORESTES: I intend to kill your daughter, if you want to know.
1579MENELAUS: After slaying Helen, you will add murder to murder?
1580ORESTES: Would I had accomplished that, instead of being duped by the gods!
1581MENELAUS: Do you deny having slain her, and say this out of wanton insult?
1582ORESTES: Yes, I do deny it, to my sorrow. If only I had—
1583MENELAUS: Done what? You frighten me!
1584ORESTES: Hurled the pollution of Hellas to Hades!
1585MENELAUS: Give back my wife’s dead body, so that I may bury her.
1586ORESTES: Ask the gods for her; but I will kill your daughter.
1587MENELAUS: This matricide is adding murder to murder.
1588ORESTES: This champion of his father, betrayed by you to death.
1589MENELAUS: Are you not content with the present stain of your mother’s blood?
1590ORESTES: I would not grow tired if I had these wicked women to slay for ever.
1591MENELAUS: Are you too, Pylades, a partner in this bloody work?
1592ORESTES: His silence says he is; let it suffice for me to say it.
1593MENELAUS: You’ll say it to your cost, unless you fly away!
1594ORESTES: We will not try to escape; we will set fire to the palace.
1595MENELAUS: What! will you destroy the home of your ancestors?
1596ORESTES: Yes, so that you don’t have it, and I will offer this girl in sacrifice on the fire.
Part 25
1597MENELAUS: Kill her; and if you do, I will punish you for it.
1598ORESTES: All right, then.
1598bMENELAUS: No, no! Don’t do it!
1599ORESTES: Silence! Your sufferings are just; endure them.
1600MENELAUS: Well, is it just that you should live?
1600bORESTES: And rule a kingdom, yes.
1601MENELAUS: A kingdom, where?
1601bORESTES: Here in Pelasgian Argos.
1602MENELAUS: You are so well qualified to handle holy water!
1602bORESTES: And why not?
1603MENELAUS: And to slay victims before battle!
1603bORESTES: Well, are you?
1604MENELAUS: Yes, my hands are clean.
1604bORESTES: But not your heart.
1605MENELAUS: Who would speak to you?
1605bORESTES: The one who loves his father.
1606MENELAUS: And the one who honors his mother?
1606bORESTES: He was born fortunate.
1607MENELAUS: Not like you!
1607bORESTES: No, for I do not delight in these wicked women.
Part 26
1608MENELAUS: Remove that sword from my daughter!
1608bORESTES: You are a liar.
1609MENELAUS: Will you kill my daughter?
1609bORESTES: Now you are not a liar!
1610MENELAUS: Ah me! what shall I do?
1610bORESTES: Go to the Argives and persuade them—
1611MENELAUS: Persuade them what?
1611bORESTES: Not to kill us; entreat the city.
1612MENELAUS: Or you will slay my child?
1612bORESTES: That is correct.
1613MENELAUS: O wretched Helen—
1613bORESTES: Am I not wretched?
1614MENELAUS: I brought you back from Troy to be a victim—
1614bORESTES: If only she had been!
1615MENELAUS: After innumerable troubles.
1615bORESTES: Except where I was concerned.
1616MENELAUS: I have suffered dreadfully!
1616bORESTES: Yes, for you would not help me then.
1617MENELAUS: You have me there.
1617bORESTES: Your own cowardice has you. Calling from the roof to Electra Fire the palace from beneath, Electra; and, Pylades, my most trusty friend,
1620kindle the parapet of these walls. The palace is seen to be ablaze.
Part 27
1621MENELAUS: O Danaid earth! Dwellers in Argos, city of horses, put on your armor and come to help! For this fellow is forcing his life from your whole city, though he has caused pollution by shedding his mother’s blood.
1625APOLLO: Appearing in the clouds. Menelaus, calm your anger that has been whetted; I am Phoebus, the son of Leto, drawing near to call you by name. And you also, Orestes, who are keeping guard on the girl, sword in hand, so that you may hear what I have come to say. Helen, whom all your eagerness
1630failed to destroy, when you were seeking to anger Menelaus, I saved her and snatched her from beneath your sword at the bidding of father Zeus,
1635for she, his child, must be immortal, and take her seat with Castor and Polydeuces in the enfolding air, a savior to mariners. Choose another bride and take her to your home; for the gods by that one’s loveliness
1640joined Troy and Hellas in battle, causing death so that they might draw off from the earth the outrage of unstinting numbers of mortals.
1643So much for Helen; as for you, Orestes, you must cross the broders of this land
1645and dwell for one whole year on Parrhasian soil, which from your flight shall be called the land of Orestes by Azanians and Arcadians. And when you return from there to the city of Athens, undergo your trial by the Avenging Three for your mother’s murder;
1650the gods will be arbitrators of your trial, and will take a most righteous vote on you at the hill of Ares, where you are to win your case. And it is destined, Orestes, that you will marry Hermione, at whose neck you are holding your sword;
1655Neoptolemus shall never marry her, though he thinks he will; for he is fated to die by a Delphian sword, when he claims satisfaction of me for the death of his father Achilles. Give your sister in marriage to Pylades, to whom you formerly promised her; the life awaiting him is one of happiness.
1660Menelaus, leave Orestes to rule Argos; go and reign over the Spartan land, keeping it as the dowry of a wife who till this day never ceased causing you innumerable troubles. I will set matters straight between Orestes and the citizens,
1665for I forced him to murder his mother.
1666ORESTES: Hail, prophetic Loxias, for your oracles! You were not a lying prophet after all, but a true seer; and yet I was afraid that it was some fiend I had listened to, when I seemed to hear your voice;
1670but all is ending well, and I obey your word. There! I release Hermione from slaughter and agree to make her my wife whenever her father gives her.
1673MENELAUS: All hail, Helen, daughter of Zeus! I wish you joy of your home in heaven’s happy courts.
1675To you, Orestes, I betroth my daughter, as Phoebus said; being noble yourself, may you have benefit from a noble wife, and may I also, in giving her to you.
1678APOLLO: Go now each one to the place appointed by me; reconcile your quarrels.
1679bMENELAUS: I must obey.
1680ORESTES: And so must I; I make a truce with my fate, Menelaus, and with your oracles, Loxias.
1682APOLLO: Go your ways, and honor Peace, fairest of goddesses; I will bring Helen to the halls of Zeus,
1685when I have come to the sky, bright with stars. There, enthroned beside Hera and Hebe, the bride of Heracles, she will be honored by men with libations as a goddess for ever; along with those Zeus-born sons of Tyndareus,
1690she will be a guardian of the sea, for the good of sailors.
1691CHORUS: Greatly revered Victory, may you occupy my life, and never cease to crown me!
Contents — 27 sections
Part 1
1ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδʼ εἰπεῖν ἔπος οὐδὲ πάθος οὐδὲ ξυμφορὰ θεήλατος, ἧς οὐκ ἂν ἄραιτʼ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπου φύσις. ὁ γὰρ μακάριος — κοὐκ ὀνειδίζω τύχας — Διὸς πεφυκώς, ὡς λέγουσι, Τάνταλος
6κορυφῆς ὑπερτέλλοντα δειμαίνων πέτρον ἀέρι ποτᾶται· καὶ τίνει ταύτην δίκην, ὡς μὲν λέγουσιν, ὅτι θεοῖς ἄνθρωπος ὢν κοινῆς τραπέζης ἀξίωμʼ ἔχων ἴσον, ἀκόλαστον ἔσχε γλῶσσαν, αἰσχίστην νόσον.
11οὗτος φυτεύει Πέλοπα, τοῦ δʼ Ἀτρεὺς ἔφυ, ᾧ στέμματα ξήνασʼ ἐπέκλωσεν θεὰ ἔριν, Θυέστῃ πόλεμον ὄντι συγγόνῳ θέσθαι. τί τἄρρητʼ ἀναμετρήσασθαί με δεῖ; ἔδαισε δʼ οὖν νιν τέκνʼ ἀποκτείνας Ἀτρεύς.
16Ἀτρέως δέ· τὰς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ σιγῶ τύχας· ὁ κλεινός, εἰ δὴ κλεινός, Ἀγαμέμνων ἔφυ Μενέλεώς τε Κρήσσης μητρὸς Ἀερόπης ἄπο. γαμεῖ δʼ ὃ μὲν δὴ τὴν θεοῖς στυγουμένην Μενέλαος Ἑλένην, ὃ δὲ Κλυταιμήστρας λέχος
21ἐπίσημον εἰς Ἕλληνας Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ· ᾧ παρθένοι μὲν τρεῖς ἔφυμεν ἐκ μιᾶς, Χρυσόθεμις Ἰφιγένειά τʼ Ἠλέκτρα τʼ ἐγώ, ἄρσην δʼ Ὀρέστης, μητρὸς ἀνοσιωτάτης, ἣ πόσιν ἀπείρῳ περιβαλοῦσʼ ὑφάσματι
26ἔκτεινεν· ὧν δʼ ἕκατι, παρθένῳ λέγειν οὐ καλόν· ἐῶ τοῦτʼ ἀσαφὲς ἐν κοινῷ σκοπεῖν. Φοίβου δʼ ἀδικίαν μὲν τί δεῖ κατηγορεῖν; πείθει δʼ Ὀρέστην μητέρʼ ἥ σφʼ ἐγείνατο κτεῖναι, πρὸς οὐχ ἅπαντας εὔκλειαν φέρον.
31ὅμως δʼ ἀπέκτεινʼ οὐκ ἀπειθήσας θεῷ· κἀγὼ μετέσχον, οἷα δὴ γυνή, φόνου. ἐντεῦθεν ἀγρίᾳ συντακεὶς νόσῳ τλήμων Ὀρέστης ὅδε πεσὼν ἐν δεμνίοις κεῖται, τὸ μητρὸς δʼ αἷμά νιν τροχηλατεῖ
37μανίαισιν· ὀνομάζειν γὰρ αἰδοῦμαι θεὰς εὐμενίδας, αἳ τόνδʼ ἐξαμιλλῶνται φόβῳ. ἕκτον δὲ δὴ τόδʼ ἦμαρ ἐξ ὅτου σφαγαῖς θανοῦσα μήτηρ πυρὶ καθήγνισται δέμας, ὧν οὔτε σῖτα διὰ δέρης ἐδέξατο,
42οὐ λούτρʼ ἔδωκε χρωτί· χλανιδίων δʼ ἔσω κρυφθείς, ὅταν μὲν σῶμα κουφισθῇ νόσου, ἔμφρων δακρύει, ποτὲ δὲ δεμνίων ἄπο πηδᾷ δρομαῖος, πῶλος ὣς ὑπὸ ζυγοῦ. ἔδοξε δʼ Ἄργει τῷδε μήθʼ ἡμᾶς στέγαις,
47μὴ πυρὶ δέχεσθαι, μήτε προσφωνεῖν τινα μητροκτονοῦντας· κυρία δʼ ἥδʼ ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ διοίσει ψῆφον Ἀργείων πόλις, εἰ χρὴ θανεῖν νὼ λευσίμῳ πετρώματι. ἐλπίδα δὲ δή τινʼ ἔχομεν ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν·
53ἥκει γὰρ ἐς γῆν Μενέλεως Τροίας ἄπο, λιμένα δὲ Ναυπλίειον ἐκπληρῶν πλάτῃ ἀκταῖσιν ὁρμεῖ, δαρὸν ἐκ Τροίας χρόνον ἄλαισι πλαγχθείς· τὴν δὲ δὴ πολύστονον Ἑλένην, φυλάξας νύκτα, μή τις εἰσιδὼν
58μεθʼ ἡμέραν στείχουσαν, ὧν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ παῖδες τεθνᾶσιν, ἐς πέτρων ἔλθῃ βολάς, προύπεμψεν ἐς δῶμʼ ἡμέτερον· ἔστιν δʼ ἔσω κλαίουσʼ ἀδελφὴν συμφοράν τε δωμάτων. ἔχει δὲ δή τινʼ ἀλγέων παραψυχήν·
63ἣν γὰρ κατʼ οἴκους ἔλιφʼ, ὅτʼ ἐς Τροίαν ἔπλει, παρθένον ἐμῇ τε μητρὶ παρέδωκεν τρέφειν Μενέλαος ἀγαγὼν Ἑρμιόνην Σπάρτης ἄπο, ταύτῃ γέγηθε κἀπιλήθεται κακῶν. βλέπω δὲ πᾶσαν εἰς ὁδόν, πότʼ ὄψομαι
68Μενέλαον ἥκονθʼ· ὡς τά γʼ ἄλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀσθενοῦς ῥώμης ὀχούμεθʼ, ἤν τι μὴ κείνου πάρα σωθῶμεν. ἄπορον χρῆμα δυστυχῶν δόμος.
71ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὦ παῖ Κλυταιμήστρας τε καὶ Ἀγαμέμνονος, παρθένε μακρὸν δὴ μῆκος Ἠλέκτρα χρόνου, πῶς, ὦ τάλαινα, σύ τε κασίγνητός τε σὸς τλήμων Ὀρέστης μητρὸς ὅδε φονεὺς ἔχει; προσφθέγμασιν γὰρ οὐ μιαίνομαι σέθεν,
76ἐς Φοῖβον ἀναφέρουσα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. καίτοι στένω γε τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας μόρον, ἐμῆς ἀδελφῆς, ἥν, ἐπεὶ πρὸς Ἴλιον ἔπλευσʼ ὅπως ἔπλευσα θεομανεῖ πότμῳ, οὐκ εἶδον, ἀπολειφθεῖσα δʼ αἰάζω τύχας.
81ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένη, τί σοι λέγοιμʼ ἂν ἅ γε παροῦσʼ ὁρᾷς;
83ἐγὼ μὲν ἄυπνος πάρεδρος ἀθλίῳ νεκρῷ
84— νεκρὸς γὰρ οὗτος οὕνεκα σμικρᾶς πνοῆς —
85θάσσω· τὰ τούτου δʼ οὐκ ὀνειδίζω κακά.
86σὺ δʼ εἶ μακαρία μακάριός θʼ ὁ σὸς πόσις.
88ἙΛΈΝΗ: πόσον χρόνον δʼ ἐν δεμνίοις πέπτωχʼ ὅδε;
89ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐξ οὗπερ αἷμα γενέθλιον κατήνυσεν.
90ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὢ μέλεος· ἡ τεκοῦσά θʼ, ὡς διώλετο.
91ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὕτως ἔχει τάδʼ, ὥστʼ ἀπείρηκεν κακοῖς.
92ἙΛΈΝΗ: πρὸς θεῶν, πίθοιʼ ἂν δῆτά μοί τι, παρθένε;
93ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὡς ἄσχολός γε συγγόνου προσεδρίᾳ.
94ἙΛΈΝΗ: βούλῃ τάφον μοι πρὸς κασιγνήτης μολεῖν;
95ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μητρὸς κελεύεις τῆς ἐμῆς; τίνος χάριν;
96ἙΛΈΝΗ: κόμης ἀπαρχὰς καὶ χοὰς φέρουσʼ ἐμάς.
97ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σοὶ δʼ οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν πρὸς φίλων στείχειν τάφον;
98ἙΛΈΝΗ: δεῖξαι γὰρ Ἀργείοισι σῶμʼ αἰσχύνομαι.
99ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὀψέ γε φρονεῖς εὖ, τότε λιποῦσʼ αἰσχρῶς δόμους.
100ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας, οὐ φίλως δʼ ἐμοὶ λέγεις.
101ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αἰδὼς δὲ δὴ τίς σʼ ἐς Μυκηναίους ἔχει;
102ἙΛΈΝΗ: δέδοικα πατέρας τῶν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ νεκρῶν.
103ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: δεινὸν γάρ· Ἄργει τʼ ἀναβοᾷ διὰ στόμα.
104ἙΛΈΝΗ: σύ νυν χάριν μοι τὸν φόβον λύσασα δός.
Part 2
105ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην μητρὸς ἐσβλέψαι τάφον.
106ἙΛΈΝΗ: αἰσχρόν γε μέντοι προσπόλους φέρειν τάδε.
107ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δʼ οὐχὶ θυγατρὸς Ἑρμιόνης πέμπεις δέμας;
108ἙΛΈΝΗ: ἐς ὄχλον ἕρπειν παρθένοισιν οὐ καλόν.
109ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ μὴν τίνοι γʼ ἂν τῇ τεθνηκυίᾳ τροφάς.
110ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας, πείθομαί τέ σοι, κόρη. ὦ τέκνον, ἔξελθʼ, Ἑρμιόνη, δόμων πάρος καὶ λαβὲ χοὰς τάσδʼ ἐν χεροῖν κόμας τʼ ἐμάς· ἐλθοῦσα δʼ ἀμφὶ τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον μελίκρατʼ ἄφες γάλακτος οἰνωπόν τʼ ἄχνην,
116καὶ στᾶσʼ ἐπʼ ἄκρου χώματος λέξον τάδε· Ἑλένη σʼ ἀδελφὴ ταῖσδε δωρεῖται χοαῖς, φόβῳ προσελθεῖν μνῆμα σόν, ταρβοῦσά τε Ἀργεῖον ὄχλον. πρευμενῆ δʼ ἄνωγέ νιν ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ καὶ πόσει γνώμην ἔχειν
121τοῖν τʼ ἀθλίοιν τοῖνδʼ, οὓς ἀπώλεσεν θεός. ἃ δʼ εἰς ἀδελφὴν καιρὸς ἐκπονεῖν ἐμέ, ἅπανθʼ ὑπισχνοῦ νερτέρων δωρήματα. ἴθʼ, ὦ τέκνον μοι, σπεῦδε καὶ χοὰς τάφῳ δοῦσʼ ὡς τάχιστα τῆς πάλιν μέμνησʼ ὁδοῦ.
126ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φύσις, ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ὡς μέγʼ εἶ κακόν, σωτήριόν τε τοῖς καλῶς κεκτημένοις. εἴδετε παρʼ ἄκρας ὡς ἀπέθρισεν τρίχας, σῴζουσα κάλλος; ἔστι δʼ ἡ πάλαι γυνή. θεοί σε μισήσειαν, ὥς μʼ ἀπώλεσας
131καὶ τόνδε πᾶσάν θʼ Ἑλλάδα. ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγώ· αἵδʼ αὖ πάρεισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς θρηνήμασι φίλαι ξυνῳδοί· τάχα μεταστήσουσʼ ὕπνου τόνδʼ ἡσυχάζοντʼ, ὄμμα δʼ ἐκτήξουσʼ ἐμὸν δακρύοις, ἀδελφὸν ὅταν ὁρῶ μεμηνότα.
140ΧΟΡΌΣ: σῖγα σῖγα, λεπτὸν ἴχνος ἀρβύλης
141τίθετε, μὴ κτυπεῖτʼ.
142ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἀποπρὸ βᾶτʼ ἐκεῖσʼ, ἀποπρό μοι κοίτας.
143ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἰδού, πείθομαι.
145ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἆ ἆ σύριγγος ὅπως πνοὰ
146λεπτοῦ δόνακος, ὦ φίλα, φώνει μοι.
147ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἴδʼ, ἀτρεμαῖον ὡς ὑπόροφον φέρω
148βοάν.
148bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ναί, οὕτως·
149κάταγε κάταγε, πρόσιθʼ ἀτρέμας, ἀτρέμας ἴθι·
150λόγον ἀπόδος ἐφʼ ὅ τι χρέος ἐμόλετέ ποτε.
151χρόνια γὰρ πεσὼν ὅδʼ εὐνάζεται.
153ΧΟΡΌΣ: πῶς ἔχει; λόγου μετάδος, ὦ φίλα·
154τίνα τύχαν εἴπω; τίνα δὲ συμφοράν;
155ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔτι μὲν ἐμπνέει, βραχὺ δʼ ἀναστένει.
156ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί φῄς; ὦ τάλας.
158ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὀλεῖς, εἰ βλέφαρα κινήσεις
159ὕπνου γλυκυτάταν φερομένῳ χάριν.
160ΧΟΡΌΣ: μέλεος ἐχθίστων θεόθεν ἐργμάτων,
161τάλας.
162ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φεῦ μόχθων.
163ἄδικος ἄδικα τότʼ ἄρʼ ἔλακεν ἔλακεν, ἀπό-
164φονον ὅτʼ ἐπὶ τρίποδι Θέμιδος ἄρʼ ἐδίκασε
165φόνον ὁ Λοξίας ἐμᾶς ματέρος.
166ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὁρᾷς; ἐν πέπλοισι κινεῖ δέμας.
Part 3
167ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σὺ γάρ νιν, ὦ τάλαινα,
168θωΰξασʼ ἔβαλες ἐξ ὕπνου.
169ΧΟΡΌΣ: εὕδειν μὲν οὖν ἔδοξα.
170ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἀπʼ οἴκων
171πάλιν ἀνὰ πόδα σὸν εἱλίξεις
172μεθεμένα κτύπου;
173ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὑπνώσσει.
173bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: λέγεις εὖ.
174πότνια, πότνια νύξ,
175ὑπνοδότειρα τῶν πολυπόνων βροτῶν,
178ἐρεβόθεν ἴθι, μόλε μόλε κατάπτερος
179τὸν Ἀγαμεμνόνιον ἐπὶ δόμον.
180ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀλγέων ὑπό τε συμφορᾶς
181διοιχόμεθʼ, οἰχόμεθα. κτύπον ἠγάγετʼ· οὐχὶ σῖγα
182σῖγα φυλασσομένα στόματος
185ἄνα κέλαδον ἀπὸ λέχεος ἥ-
186συχον ὕπνου χάριν παρέξεις, φίλα;
187ΧΟΡΌΣ: θρόει τίς κακῶν τελευτὰ μένει.
188ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανεῖν θανεῖν, τί δʼ ἄλλο;
189οὐδὲ γὰρ πόθον ἔχει βορᾶς.
190ΧΟΡΌΣ: πρόδηλος ἆρʼ ὁ πότμος.
191ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐξέθυσʼ ὁ Φοῖβος ἡμᾶς
192μέλεον ἀπόφονον αἷμα δοὺς
193πατροφόνου ματρός.
194ΧΟΡΌΣ: δίκᾳ μέν.
194bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καλῶς δʼ οὔ.
195ἔκανες ἔθανες, ὦ
196τεκομένα με μᾶτερ, ἀπὸ δʼ ὤλεσας
197πατέρα τέκνα τε τάδε σέθεν ἀφʼ αἵματος·
200ὀλόμεθʼ ἰσονέκυες, ὀλόμεθα.
201σύ τε γὰρ ἐν νεκροῖς, τό τʼ ἐμὸν οἴχεται
204βίου τὸ πλέον μέρος ἐν στοναχαῖσί τε καὶ γόοισι
205δάκρυσί τʼ ἐννυχίοις, ἄγαμος
206ἄτεκνος ἅτε βίοτον ἁ
207μέλεος ἐς τὸν αἰὲν ἕλκω χρόνον.
208ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὅρα παροῦσα, παρθένʼ Ἠλέκτρα, πέλας,
209μὴ κατθανών σε σύγγονος λέληθʼ ὅδε·
210οὐ γάρ μʼ ἀρέσκει τῷ λίαν παρειμένῳ.
211ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ φίλον ὕπνου θέλγητρον, ἐπίκουρον νόσου,
212ὡς ἡδύ μοι προσῆλθες — ἐν δέοντί γε.
213ὦ πότνια Λήθη τῶν κακῶν, ὡς εἶ σοφὴ
214καὶ τοῖσι δυστυχοῦσιν εὐκταία θεός.
215πόθεν ποτʼ ἦλθον δεῦρο; πῶς δʼ ἀφικόμην;
216ἀμνημονῶ γάρ, τῶν πρὶν ἀπολειφθεὶς φρενῶν.
217ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλταθʼ, ὥς μʼ ηὔφρανας εἰς ὕπνον πεσών.
218βούλῃ θίγω σου κἀνακουφίσω δέμας;
219ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λαβοῦ λαβοῦ δῆτʼ, ἐκ δʼ ὄμορξον ἀθλίου
220στόματος ἀφρώδη πέλανον ὀμμάτων τʼ ἐμῶν.
221ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἰδού· τὸ δούλευμʼ ἡδύ, κοὐκ ἀναίνομαι
222ἀδέλφʼ ἀδελφῇ χειρὶ θεραπεύειν μέλη.
223ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὑπόβαλε πλευροῖς πλευρά, καὐχμώδη κόμην
224ἄφελε προσώπου· λεπτὰ γὰρ λεύσσω κόραις.
225ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ βοστρύχων πινῶδες ἄθλιον κάρα,
226ὡς ἠγρίωσαι διὰ μακρᾶς ἀλουσίας.
227ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κλῖνόν μʼ ἐς εὐνὴν αὖθις· ὅταν ἀνῇ νόσος
228μανίας, ἄναρθρός εἰμι κἀσθενῶ μέλη.
229ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἰδού. φίλον τοι τῷ νοσοῦντι δέμνιον,
230ἀνιαρὸν ὂν τὸ κτῆμʼ, ἀναγκαῖον δʼ ὅμως.
Part 4
231ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: αὖθίς μʼ ἐς ὀρθὸν στῆσον, ἀνακύκλει δέμας·
232δυσάρεστον οἱ νοσοῦντες ἀπορίας ὕπο.
233ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἦ κἀπὶ γαίας ἁρμόσαι πόδας θέλεις,
234χρόνιον ἴχνος θείς; μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ.
235ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μάλιστα· δόξαν γὰρ τόδʼ ὑγιείας ἔχει.
236κρεῖσσον δὲ τὸ δοκεῖν, κἂν ἀληθείας ἀπῇ.
237ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄκουε δὴ νῦν, ὦ κασίγνητον κάρα,
238ἕως ἐῶσιν εὖ φρονεῖν Ἐρινύες.
239ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέξεις τι καινόν· κεἰ μὲν εὖ, χάριν φέρεις·
240εἰ δʼ ἐς βλάβην τινʼ, ἅλις ἔχω τὸ δυστυχεῖν.
241ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Μενέλαος ἥκει, σοῦ κασίγνητος πατρός,
242ἐν Ναυπλίᾳ δὲ σέλμαθʼ ὥρμισται νεῶν.
243ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς εἶπας; ἥκει φῶς ἐμοῖς καὶ σοῖς κακοῖς
244ἀνὴρ ὁμογενὴς καὶ χάριτας ἔχων πατρός;
245ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἥκει — τὸ πιστὸν τόδε λόγων ἐμῶν δέχου —
246Ἑλένην ἀγόμενος Τρωικῶν ἐκ τειχέων.
247ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ μόνος ἐσώθη, μᾶλλον ἂν ζηλωτὸς ἦν·
248εἰ δʼ ἄλοχον ἄγεται, κακὸν ἔχων ἥκει μέγα.
249ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐπίσημον ἔτεκε Τυνδάρεως ἐς τὸν ψόγον
250γένος θυγατέρων δυσκλεές τʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα.
251ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σύ νυν διάφερε τῶν κακῶν· ἔξεστι γάρ·
252καὶ μὴ μόνον λέγʼ, ἀλλὰ καὶ φρόνει τάδε.
253ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι, κασίγνητʼ, ὄμμα σὸν ταράσσεται,
254ταχὺς δὲ μετέθου λύσσαν, ἄρτι σωφρονῶν.
255ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ μῆτερ, ἱκετεύω σε, μὴ ʼπίσειέ μοι
256τὰς αἱματωποὺς καὶ δρακοντώδεις κόρας.
257αὗται γὰρ αὗται πλησίον θρῴσκουσί μου.
258ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μένʼ, ὦ ταλαίπωρʼ, ἀτρέμα σοῖς ἐν δεμνίοις·
259ὁρᾷς γὰρ οὐδὲν ὧν δοκεῖς σάφʼ εἰδέναι.
260ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ Φοῖβʼ, ἀποκτενοῦσί μʼ αἱ κυνώπιδες
261γοργῶπες, ἐνέρων ἱέρεαι, δειναὶ θεαί.
262ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὔτοι μεθήσω· χεῖρα δʼ ἐμπλέξασʼ ἐμὴν
263σχήσω σε πηδᾶν δυστυχῆ πηδήματα.
264ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέθες· μίʼ οὖσα τῶν ἐμῶν Ἐρινύων
265μέσον μʼ ὀχμάζεις, ὡς βάλῃς ἐς Τάρταρον.
266ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἲ ʼγὼ τάλαινα, τίνʼ ἐπικουρίαν λάβω,
267ἐπεὶ τὸ θεῖον δυσμενὲς κεκτήμεθα;
268ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δὸς τόξα μοι κερουλκά, δῶρα Λοξίου, οἷς μʼ εἶπʼ Ἀπόλλων ἐξαμύνασθαι θεάς, εἴ μʼ ἐκφοβοῖεν μανιάσιν λυσσήμασιν. βεβλήσεταί τις θεῶν βροτησίᾳ χερί, εἰ μὴ ʼξαμείψει χωρὶς ὀμμάτων ἐμῶν.
273οὐκ εἰσακούετʼ; οὐχ ὁρᾶθʼ ἑκηβόλων τόξων πτερωτὰς γλυφίδας ἐξορμωμένας; ἆ ἆ· τί δῆτα μέλλετʼ; ἐξακρίζετʼ αἰθέρα πτεροῖς· τὰ Φοίβου δʼ αἰτιᾶσθε θέσφατα.
276bἔα· τί χρῆμʼ ἀλύω, πνεῦμʼ ἀνεὶς ἐκ πλευμόνων; ποῖ ποῖ ποθʼ ἡλάμεσθα δεμνίων ἄπο; ἐκ κυμάτων γὰρ αὖθις αὖ γαλήνʼ ὁρῶ. σύγγονε, τί κλαίεις κρᾶτα θεῖσʼ ἔσω πέπλων;
281αἰσχύνομαί σε, μεταδιδοὺς πόνων ἐμῶν ὄχλον τε παρέχων παρθένῳ νόσοις ἐμαῖς. μὴ τῶν ἐμῶν ἕκατι συντήκου κακῶν· σὺ μὲν γὰρ ἐπένευσας τάδʼ, εἴργασται δʼ ἐμοὶ μητρῷον αἷμα· Λοξίᾳ δὲ μέμφομαι,
286ὅστις μʼ ἐπάρας ἔργον ἀνοσιώτατον, τοῖς μὲν λόγοις ηὔφρανε, τοῖς δʼ ἔργοισιν οὔ. οἶμαι δὲ πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν, εἰ κατʼ ὄμματα ἐξιστόρουν νιν, μητέρʼ εἰ κτεῖναι χρεών, πολλὰς γενείου τοῦδʼ ἂν ἐκτεῖναι λιτὰς
291μήποτε τεκούσης ἐς σφαγὰς ὦσαι ξίφος, εἰ μήτʼ ἐκεῖνος ἀναλαβεῖν ἔμελλε φῶς, ἐγώ θʼ ὁ τλήμων τοιάδʼ ἐκπλήσειν κακά. καὶ νῦν ἀνακάλυπτʼ, ὦ κασιγνήτη, κάρα, ἐκ δακρύων τʼ ἄπελθε, κεἰ μάλʼ ἀθλίως
296ἔχομεν. ὅταν δὲ τἄμʼ ἀθυμήσαντʼ ἴδῃς, σύ μου τὸ δεινὸν καὶ διαφθαρὲν φρενῶν ἴσχναινε παραμυθοῦ θʼ· ὅταν δὲ σὺ στένῃς, ἡμᾶς παρόντας χρή σε νουθετεῖν φίλα· ἐπικουρίαι γὰρ αἵδε τοῖς φίλοις καλαί.
301ἀλλʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, βᾶσα δωμάτων ἔσω ὕπνῳ τʼ ἄυπνον βλέφαρον ἐκταθεῖσα δός, σίτων τʼ ὄρεξαι λουτρά τʼ ἐπιβαλοῦ χροΐ. εἰ γὰρ προλείψεις ἢ προσεδρείᾳ νόσον κτήσῃ τινʼ, οἰχόμεσθα· σὲ γὰρ ἔχω μόνην
306ἐπίκουρον, ἄλλων, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἔρημος ὤν.
307ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἔστι· σὺν σοὶ καὶ θανεῖν αἱρήσομαι
308καὶ ζῆν· ἔχει γὰρ ταὐτόν· ἢν σὺ κατθάνῃς,
309γυνὴ τί δράσω; πῶς μόνη σωθήσομαι,
310ἀνάδελφος ἀπάτωρ ἄφιλος; εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκεῖ,
311δρᾶν χρὴ τάδʼ. ἀλλὰ κλῖνον εἰς εὐνὴν δέμας,
312καὶ μὴ τὸ ταρβοῦν κἀκφοβοῦν σʼ ἐκ δεμνίων
313ἄγαν ἀποδέχου, μένε δʼ ἐπὶ στρωτοῦ λέχους.
314κἂν μὴ νοσῇς γάρ, ἀλλὰ δοξάζῃς νοσεῖν,
315κάματος βροτοῖσιν ἀπορία τε γίγνεται.
Part 5
316ΧΟΡΌΣ: αἰαῖ, δρομάδες ὦ πτεροφόροι ποτνιάδες θεαί, ἀβάκχευτον αἳ θίασον ἐλάχετʼ ἐν δάκρυσι καὶ γόοις,
321μελάγχρωτες εὐμενίδες, αἵτε τὸν ταναὸν αἰθέρʼ ἀμπάλλεσθʼ, αἵματος τινύμεναι δίκαν, τινύμεναι φόνον, καθικετεύομαι καθικετεύομαι, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος
326γόνον ἐάσατʼ ἐκλαθέσθαι λύσσας μανιάδος φοιταλέου. φεῦ μόχθων, οἵων, ὦ τάλας, ὀρεχθεὶς ἔρρεις, τρίποδος ἄπο φάτιν, ἃν ὁ Φοῖβος ἔλακε, δε- ξάμενος ἀνὰ δάπεδον,
331ἵνα μεσόμφαλοι λέγονται μυχοί.
332ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἰὼ Ζεῦ, τίς ἔλεος, τίς ὅδʼ ἀγὼν φόνιος ἔρχεται, θοάζων σε τὸν μέλεον, ᾧ δάκρυα δάκρυσι συμβάλλει
337πορεύων τις ἐς δόμον ἀλαστόρων ματέρος αἷμα σᾶς, ὅ σʼ ἀναβακχεύει; ὁ μέγας ὄλβος οὐ μόνιμος ἐν βροτοῖς· κατολοφύρομαι κατολοφύρομαι. ἀνὰ δὲ λαῖφος ὥς
342τις ἀκάτου θοᾶς τινάξας δαίμων κατέκλυσεν δεινῶν πόνων ὡς πόντου λάβροις ὀλεθρίοισιν ἐν κύμασιν. τίνα γὰρ ἔτι πάρος οἶκον ἕτερον ἢ τὸν ἀπὸ θεογόνων γάμων,
347τὸν ἀπὸ Ταντάλου, σέβεσθαί με χρή;
348ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν βασιλεὺς ὅδε δὴ στείχει,
349Μενέλαος ἄναξ, πολλῇ ἁβροσύνῃ
350δῆλος ὁρᾶσθαι
351τῶν Τανταλιδῶν ἐξ αἵματος ὤν.
352ὦ χιλιόναυν στρατὸν ὁρμήσας
353ἐς γῆν Ἀσίαν,
354χαῖρʼ, εὐτυχίᾳ δʼ αὐτὸς ὁμιλεῖς,
355θεόθεν πράξας ἅπερ ηὔχου.
356ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ δῶμα, τῇ μέν σʼ ἡδέως προσδέρκομαι Τροίαθεν ἐλθών, τῇ δʼ ἰδὼν καταστένω· κύκλῳ γὰρ εἱλιχθεῖσαν ἀθλίως κακοῖς οὐπώποτʼ ἄλλην μᾶλλον εἶδον ἑστίαν. Ἀγαμέμνονος μὲν γὰρ τύχας ἠπιστάμην
361καὶ θάνατον, οἵῳ πρὸς δάμαρτος ὤλετο, Μαλέᾳ προσίσχων πρῷραν· ἐκ δὲ κυμάτων ὁ ναυτίλοισι μάντις ἐξήγγειλέ μοι Νηρέως προφήτης Γλαῦκος, ἀψευδὴς θεός, ὅς μοι τόδʼ εἶπεν ἐμφανῶς κατασταθείς·
366Μενέλαε, κεῖται σὸς κασίγνητος θανών, λουτροῖσιν ἀλόχου περιπεσὼν πανυστάτοις. δακρύων δʼ ἔπλησεν ἐμέ τε καὶ ναύτας ἐμοὺς πολλῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ Ναυπλίας ψαύω χθονός, ἤδη δάμαρτος ἐνθάδʼ ἐξορμωμένης,
371δοκῶν Ὀρέστην παῖδα τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος φίλαισι χερσὶ περιβαλεῖν καὶ μητέρα, ὡς εὐτυχοῦντας, ἔκλυον ἁλιτύπων τινὸς τῆς Τυνδαρείας παιδὸς ἀνόσιον φόνον. καὶ νῦν ὅπου ʼστὶν εἴπατʼ, ὦ νεάνιδες,
376Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖς, ὃς τὰ δείνʼ ἔτλη κακά. βρέφος γὰρ ἦν τότʼ ἐν Κλυταιμήστρας χεροῖν, ὅτʼ ἐξέλειπον μέλαθρον ἐς Τροίαν ἰών, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν γνωρίσαιμʼ ἂν εἰσιδών.
380ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅδʼ εἴμʼ Ὀρέστης, Μενέλεως, ὃν ἱστορεῖς.
381ἑκὼν ἐγώ σοι τἀμὰ μηνύσω κακά.
382τῶν σῶν δὲ γονάτων πρωτόλεια θιγγάνω
383ἱκέτης, ἀφύλλου στόματος ἐξάπτων λιτάς·
384σῷσόν μʼ· ἀφῖξαι δʼ αὐτὸς ἐς καιρὸν κακῶν.
385ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ θεοί, τί λεύσσω; τίνα δέδορκα νερτέρων;
386ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ γʼ εἶπας· οὐ γὰρ ζῶ κακοῖς, φάος δʼ ὁρῶ.
387ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὡς ἠγρίωσαι πλόκαμον αὐχμηρόν, τάλας.
388ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐχ ἡ πρόσοψίς μʼ, ἀλλὰ τἄργʼ αἰκίζεται.
389ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: δεινὸν δὲ λεύσσεις ὀμμάτων ξηραῖς κόραις.
390ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὸ σῶμα φροῦδον· τὸ δʼ ὄνομʼ οὐ λέλοιπέ μοι.
391ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ παρὰ λόγον μοι σὴ φανεῖσʼ ἀμορφία.
392ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅδʼ εἰμὶ μητρὸς τῆς ταλαιπώρου φονεύς.
393ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἤκουσα, φείδου δʼ· ὀλιγάκις λέγειν κακά.
394ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φειδόμεθʼ· ὁ δαίμων δʼ ἐς ἐμὲ πλούσιος κακῶν.
395ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί χρῆμα πάσχεις; τίς σʼ ἀπόλλυσιν νόσος;
396ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἡ σύνεσις, ὅτι σύνοιδα δείνʼ εἰργασμένος.
397ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πῶς φῄς; σοφόν τοι τὸ σαφές, οὐ τὸ μὴ σαφές.
398ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λύπη μάλιστά γʼ ἡ διαφθείρουσά με —
399ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ θεός, ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἰάσιμος.
Part 6
400ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μανίαι τε, μητρὸς αἵματος τιμωρίαι.
401ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἤρξω δὲ λύσσης πότε; τίς ἡμέρα τότʼ ἦν;
402ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν ᾗ τάλαιναν μητέρʼ ἐξώγκουν τάφῳ.
403ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πότερα κατʼ οἴκους ἢ προσεδρεύων πυρᾷ;
404ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: νυκτὸς φυλάσσων ὀστέων ἀναίρεσιν.
405ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: παρῆν τις ἄλλος, ὃς σὸν ὤρθευεν δέμας;
406ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Πυλάδης, ὁ συνδρῶν αἷμα καὶ μητρὸς φόνον.
407ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἐκ φασμάτων δὲ τάδε νοσεῖς· ποίων ὕπο;
408ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔδοξʼ ἰδεῖν τρεῖς νυκτὶ προσφερεῖς κόρας.
409ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οἶδʼ ἃς ἔλεξας, ὀνομάσαι δʼ οὐ βούλομαι.
410ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σεμναὶ γάρ· εὐπαίδευτα δʼ ἀπετρέπου λέγειν.
411ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: αὗταί σε βακχεύουσι συγγενῆ φόνον;
412ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἴμοι διωγμῶν, οἷς ἐλαύνομαι τάλας.
413ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐ δεινὰ πάσχειν δεινὰ τοὺς εἰργασμένους.
414ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀναφορὰ τῆς συμφορᾶς.
415ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: μὴ θάνατον εἴπῃς· τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ οὐ σοφόν.
416ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Φοῖβος, κελεύσας μητρὸς ἐκπρᾶξαι φόνον.
417ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀμαθέστερός γʼ ὢν τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τῆς δίκης.
418ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δουλεύομεν θεοῖς, ὅ τι ποτʼ εἰσὶν οἱ θεοί.
419ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κᾆτʼ οὐκ ἀμύνει Λοξίας τοῖς σοῖς κακοῖς;
Part 7
420ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέλλει· τὸ θεῖον δʼ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον φύσει.
421ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πόσον χρόνον δὲ μητρὸς οἴχονται πνοαί;
422ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἕκτον τόδʼ ἦμαρ· ἔτι πυρὰ θερμὴ τάφου.
423ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὡς ταχὺ μετῆλθόν σʼ αἷμα μητέρος θεαί.
424ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ σοφός, ἀληθὴς δʼ ἐς φίλους ἔφυν φίλος.
425ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πατρὸς δὲ δή τι σʼ ὠφελεῖ τιμωρία;
426ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὔπω· τὸ μέλλον δʼ ἴσον ἀπραξίᾳ λέγω.
427ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ πῶς ἔχεις δράσας τάδε;
428ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μισούμεθʼ οὕτως ὥστε μὴ προσεννέπειν.
429ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐδʼ ἥγνισαι σὸν αἷμα κατὰ νόμον χεροῖν;
430ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐκκλῄομαι γὰρ δωμάτων ὅποι μόλω.
431ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίνες πολιτῶν ἐξαμιλλῶνταί σε γῆς;
432ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Οἴαξ, τὸ Τροίας μῖσος ἀναφέρων πατρί.
433ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: συνῆκα· Παλαμήδους σε τιμωρεῖ φόνου.
434ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗ γʼ οὐ μετῆν μοι· διὰ τριῶν δʼ ἀπόλλυμαι.
435ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίς δʼ ἄλλος; ἦ που τῶν ἀπʼ Αἰγίσθου φίλων;
436ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτοί μʼ ὑβρίζουσʼ, ὧν πόλις τὰ νῦν κλύει.
437ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἀγαμέμνονος δὲ σκῆπτρʼ ἐᾷ σʼ ἔχειν πόλις;
438ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς, οἵτινες ζῆν οὐκ ἐῶσʼ ἡμᾶς ἔτι;
439ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί δρῶντες ὅ τι καὶ σαφὲς ἔχεις εἰπεῖν ἐμοί;
Part 8
440ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψῆφος καθʼ ἡμῶν οἴσεται τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ.
441ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: φεύγειν πόλιν τήνδʼ; ἢ θανεῖν ἢ μὴ θανεῖν;
442ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θανεῖν ὑπʼ ἀστῶν λευσίμῳ πετρώματι.
443ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κᾆτʼ οὐχὶ φεύγεις γῆς ὑπερβαλὼν ὅρους;
444ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κύκλῳ γὰρ εἱλισσόμεθα παγχάλκοις ὅπλοις.
445ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἰδίᾳ πρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἢ πρὸς Ἀργείας χερός;
446ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πάντων πρὸς ἀστῶν, ὡς θάνω· βραχὺς λόγος.
447ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ μέλεος, ἥκεις συμφορᾶς ἐς τοὔσχατον.
448ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐς σὲ ἐλπὶς ἡμὴ καταφυγὰς ἔχει κακῶν.
449ἀλλʼ ἀθλίως πράσσουσιν εὐτυχὴς μολὼν
450μετάδος φίλοισι σοῖσι σῆς εὐπραξίας,
451καὶ μὴ μόνος τὸ χρηστὸν ἀπολαβὼν ἔχε,
452ἀλλʼ ἀντιλάζου καὶ πόνων ἐν τῷ μέρει,
453χάριτας πατρῴας ἐκτίνων ἐς οὕς σε δεῖ.
454ὄνομα γάρ, ἔργον δʼ οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ φίλοι
455οἱ μὴ ʼπὶ ταῖσι συμφοραῖς ὄντες φίλοι.
456ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν γέροντι δεῦρʼ ἁμιλλᾶται ποδὶ
457ὁ Σπαρτιάτης Τυνδάρεως, μελάμπεπλος
458κουρᾷ τε θυγατρὸς πενθίμῳ κεκαρμένος.
459ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀπωλόμην, Μενέλαε· Τυνδάρεως ὅδε στείχει πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὗ μάλιστʼ αἰδώς μʼ ἔχει ἐς ὄμματʼ ἐλθεῖν τοῖσιν ἐξειργασμένοις. καὶ γάρ μʼ ἔθρεψε σμικρὸν ὄντα, πολλὰ δὲ φιλήματʼ ἐξέπλησε, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος
464παῖδʼ ἀγκάλαισι περιφέρων, Λήδα θʼ ἅμα, τιμῶντέ μʼ οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ Διοσκόρω· οἷς, ὦ τάλαινα καρδία ψυχή τʼ ἐμή, ἀπέδωκʼ ἀμοιβὰς οὐ καλάς. τίνα σκότον λάβω προσώπῳ; ποῖον ἐπίπροσθεν νέφος
469θῶμαι, γέροντος ὀμμάτων φεύγων κόρας;
470ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ποῦ ποῦ θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ἴδω πόσιν,
471Μενέλαον; ἐπὶ γὰρ τῷ Κλυταιμήστρας τάφῳ
472χοὰς χεόμενος ἔκλυον ὡς ἐς Ναυπλίαν
473ἥκοι σὺν ἀλόχῳ πολυετὴς σεσῳσμένος.
474ἄγετέ με· πρὸς γὰρ δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ θέλω
475στὰς ἀσπάσασθαι, χρόνιος εἰσιδὼν φίλον.
476ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ πρέσβυ, χαῖρε, Ζηνὸς ὁμόλεκτρον κάρα.
477ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ὦ χαῖρε καὶ σύ, Μενέλεως, κήδευμʼ ἐμόν.
478ἔα· τὸ μέλλον ὡς κακὸν τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι.
479ὁ μητροφόντης ὅδε πρὸ δωμάτων δράκων
480στίλβει νοσώδεις ἀστραπάς, στύγημʼ ἐμόν.
481Μενέλαε, προσφθέγγῃ νιν, ἀνόσιον κάρα;
482ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί γάρ; φίλου μοι πατρός ἐστιν ἔκγονος.
483ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: κείνου γὰρ ὅδε πέφυκε, τοιοῦτος γεγώς;
484ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πέφυκεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχεῖ, τιμητέος.
485ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: βεβαρβάρωσαι, χρόνιος ὢν ἐν βαρβάροις.
486ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἑλληνικόν τοι τὸν ὁμόθεν τιμᾶν ἀεί.
487ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: καὶ τῶν νόμων γε μὴ πρότερον εἶναι θέλειν.
Part 9
488ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πᾶν τοὐξ ἀνάγκης δοῦλόν ἐστʼ ἐν τοῖς σοφοῖς.
489ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: κέκτησό νυν σὺ τοῦτʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ κτήσομαι.
490ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὀργὴ γὰρ ἅμα σου καὶ τὸ γῆρας οὐ σοφόν.
491ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: πρὸς τόνδʼ ἀγὼν τίς ἀσοφίας ἥκει πέρι; εἰ τὰ καλὰ πᾶσι φανερὰ καὶ τὰ μὴ καλά, τούτου τίς ἀνδρῶν ἐγένετʼ ἀσυνετώτερος, ὅστις τὸ μὲν δίκαιον οὐκ ἐσκέψατο οὐδʼ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμον;
496ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐξέπνευσεν Ἀγαμέμνων βίον πληγεὶς θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπὲρ κάρα, αἴσχιστον ἔργον — οὐ γὰρ αἰνέσω ποτέ — χρῆν αὐτὸν ἐπιθεῖναι μὲν αἵματος δίκην, ὁσίαν διώκοντʼ, ἐκβαλεῖν τε δωμάτων
502μητέρα· τὸ σῶφρόν τʼ ἔλαβεν ἀντὶ συμφορᾶς καὶ τοῦ νόμου τʼ ἂν εἴχετʼ εὐσεβής τʼ ἂν ἦν. νῦν δʼ ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν δαίμονʼ ἦλθε μητέρι. κακὴν γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐνδίκως ἡγούμενος, αὐτὸς κακίων μητέρʼ ἐγένετο κτανών.
507ἐρήσομαι δέ, Μενέλεως, τοσόνδε σε· εἰ τόνδʼ ἀποκτείνειεν ὁμόλεκτρος γυνή, χὡ τοῦδε παῖς αὖ μητέρʼ ἀνταποκτενεῖ, κἄπειθʼ ὁ κείνου γενόμενος φόνῳ φόνον λύσει, πέρας δὴ ποῖ κακῶν προβήσεται;
512καλῶς ἔθεντο ταῦτα πατέρες οἱ πάλαι· ἐς ὀμμάτων μὲν ὄψιν οὐκ εἴων περᾶν οὐδʼ εἰς ἀπάντημʼ, ὅστις αἷμʼ ἔχων κυροῖ, φυγαῖσι δʼ ὁσιοῦν, ἀνταποκτείνειν δὲ μή. αἰεὶ γὰρ εἷς ἔμελλʼ ἐνέξεσθαι φόνῳ,
517τὸ λοίσθιον μίασμα λαμβάνων χεροῖν. ἐγὼ δὲ μισῶ μὲν γυναῖκας ἀνοσίους, πρώτην δὲ θυγατέρʼ, ἣ πόσιν κατέκτανεν· Ἑλένην τε, τὴν σὴν ἄλοχον, οὔποτʼ αἰνέσω οὐδʼ ἂν προσείποιμʼ· οὐδὲ σὲ ζηλῶ, κακῆς
522γυναικὸς ἐλθόνθʼ οὕνεκʼ ἐς Τροίας πέδον. ἀμυνῶ δʼ, ὅσονπερ δυνατός εἰμι, τῷ νόμῳ, τὸ θηριῶδες τοῦτο καὶ μιαιφόνον παύων, ὃ καὶ γῆν καὶ πόλεις ὄλλυσʼ ἀεί. ἐπεὶ τίνʼ εἶχες, ὦ τάλας, ψυχὴν τότε,
527ὅτʼ ἐξέβαλλε μαστὸν ἱκετεύουσά σε μήτηρ; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἰδὼν τἀκεῖ κακά, δακρύοις γέροντʼ ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκτήκω τάλας. ἓν δʼ οὖν λόγοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ὁμορροθεῖ· μισῇ γε πρὸς θεῶν καὶ τίνεις μητρὸς δίκας,
532μανίαις ἀλαίνων καὶ φόβοις. τί μαρτύρων ἄλλων ἀκούειν δεῖ μʼ, ἅ γʼ εἰσορᾶν πάρα; ὡς οὖν ἂν εἰδῇς, Μενέλεως, τοῖσιν θεοῖς μὴ πρᾶσσʼ ἐναντίʼ, ὠφελεῖν τοῦτον θέλων, ἔα δʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καταφονευθῆναι πέτροις,
537ἢ μὴ ʼπίβαινε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός. θυγάτηρ δʼ ἐμὴ θανοῦσʼ ἔπραξεν ἔνδικα· ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ πρὸς τοῦτʼ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτὴν θανεῖν. ἐγὼ δὲ τἄλλα μακάριος πέφυκʼ ἀνήρ, πλὴν ἐς θυγατέρας· τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ εὐδαιμονῶ.
542ΧΟΡΌΣ: ζηλωτὸς ὅστις εὐτύχησεν ἐς τέκνα
543καὶ μὴ ʼπισήμους συμφορὰς ἐκτήσατο.
544ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ γέρον, ἐγώ τοι πρὸς σὲ δειμαίνω λέγειν, ὅπου σὲ μέλλω σήν τε λυπήσειν φρένα. ἐγᾦδʼ, ἀνόσιός εἰμι μητέρα κτανών, ὅσιος δέ γʼ ἕτερον ὄνομα, τιμωρῶν πατρί. ἀπελθέτω δὴ τοῖς λόγοισιν ἐκποδὼν
549τὸ γῆρας ἡμῖν τὸ σόν, ὅ μʼ ἐκπλήσσει λόγου, καὶ καθʼ ὁδὸν εἶμι· νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα. τί χρῆν με δρᾶσαι; δύο γὰρ ἀντίθες δυοῖν· πατὴρ μὲν ἐφύτευσέν με, σὴ δʼ ἔτικτε παῖς, τὸ σπέρμʼ ἄρουρα παραλαβοῦσʼ ἄλλου πάρα·
554ἄνευ δὲ πατρὸς τέκνον οὐκ εἴη ποτʼ ἄν. ἐλογισάμην οὖν τῷ γένους ἀρχηγέτῃ μᾶλλόν με φῦναι τῆς ὑποστάσης τροφάς. ἡ σὴ δὲ θυγάτηρ — μητέρʼ αἰδοῦμαι λέγειν — ἰδίοισιν ὑμεναίοισι κοὐχὶ σώφροσιν
559ἐς ἀνδρὸς ᾔει λέκτρʼ· ἐμαυτόν, ἢν λέγω κακῶς ἐκείνην, ἐξερῶ· λέξω δʼ ὅμως. Αἴγισθος ἦν ὁ κρυπτὸς ἐν δόμοις πόσις. τοῦτον κατέκτεινʼ, ἐπὶ δʼ ἔθυσα μητέρα, ἀνόσια μὲν δρῶν, ἀλλὰ τιμωρῶν πατρί.
564ἐφʼ οἷς δʼ ἀπειλεῖς ὡς πετρωθῆναί με χρή, ἄκουσον ὡς ἅπασαν Ἑλλάδʼ ὠφελῶ. εἰ γὰρ γυναῖκες ἐς τόδʼ ἥξουσιν θράσους, ἄνδρας φονεύειν, καταφυγὰς ποιούμεναι ἐς τέκνα, μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι,
569παρʼ οὐδὲν αὐταῖς ἦν ἂν ὀλλύναι πόσεις ἐπίκλημʼ ἐχούσαις ὅ τι τύχοι. δράσας δʼ ἐγὼ δείνʼ, ὡς σὺ κομπεῖς, τόνδʼ ἔπαυσα τὸν νόμον. μισῶν δὲ μητέρʼ ἐνδίκως ἀπώλεσα, ἥτις μεθʼ ὅπλων ἄνδρʼ ἀπόντʼ ἐκ δωμάτων
574πάσης ὑπὲρ γῆς Ἑλλάδος στρατηλάτην προύδωκε κοὐκ ἔσῳσʼ ἀκήρατον λέχος· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἁμαρτοῦσʼ ᾔσθετʼ, οὐχ αὑτῇ δίκην ἐπέθηκεν, ἀλλʼ, ὡς μὴ δίκην δοίη πόσει, ἐζημίωσε πατέρα κἀπέκτεινʼ ἐμόν.
579πρὸς θεῶν — ἐν οὐ καλῷ μὲν ἐμνήσθην θεῶν, φόνον δικάζων· εἰ δὲ δὴ τὰ μητέρος σιγῶν ἐπῄνουν, τί μʼ ἂν ἔδρασʼ ὁ κατθανών; οὐκ ἄν με μισῶν ἀνεχόρευʼ Ἐρινύσιν; ἢ μητρὶ μὲν πάρεισι σύμμαχοι θεαί,
584τῷ δʼ οὐ πάρεισι, μᾶλλον ἠδικημένῳ; σύ τοι φυτεύσας θυγατέρʼ, ὦ γέρον, κακὴν ἀπώλεσάς με· διὰ τὸ γὰρ κείνης θράσος πατρὸς στερηθεὶς ἐγενόμην μητροκτόνος. ὁρᾷς, Ὀδυσσέως ἄλοχον οὐ κατέκτανε
589Τηλέμαχος· οὐ γὰρ ἐπεγάμει πόσει πόσιν, μένει δʼ ἐν οἴκοις ὑγιὲς εὐνατήριον. ὁρᾷς δʼ Ἀπόλλωνʼ, ὃς μεσομφάλους ἕδρας ναίων βροτοῖσι στόμα νέμει σαφέστατον, ᾧ πειθόμεσθα πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἂν κεῖνος λέγῃ·
594τούτῳ πιθόμενος τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἔκτανον. ἐκεῖνον ἡγεῖσθʼ ἀνόσιον καὶ κτείνετε· ἐκεῖνος ἥμαρτʼ, οὐκ ἐγώ. τί χρῆν με δρᾶν; ἢ οὐκ ἀξιόχρεως ὁ θεὸς ἀναφέροντί μοι μίασμα λῦσαι; ποῖ τις οὖν ἔτʼ ἂν φύγοι,
599εἰ μὴ ὁ κελεύσας ῥύσεταί με μὴ θανεῖν; ἀλλʼ ὡς μὲν οὐκ εὖ μὴ λέγʼ εἴργασται τάδε, ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς δράσασιν οὐκ εὐδαιμόνως. γάμοι δʼ ὅσοις μὲν εὖ καθεστᾶσιν βροτῶν, μακάριος αἰών· οἷς δὲ μὴ πίπτουσιν εὖ,
604τά τʼ ἔνδον εἰσὶ τά τε θύραζε δυστυχεῖς.
605ΧΟΡΌΣ: αἰεὶ γυναῖκες ἐμποδὼν ταῖς συμφοραῖς
606ἔφυσαν ἀνδρῶν πρὸς τὸ δυστυχέστερον.
607ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ἐπεὶ θρασύνῃ κοὐχ ὑποστέλλῃ λόγῳ, οὕτω δʼ ἀμείβῃ μʼ ὥστε μʼ ἀλγῆσαι φρένα, μᾶλλόν μʼ ἀνάξεις ἐπὶ σὸν ἐξελθεῖν φόνον· καλὸν πάρεργον δʼ αὐτὸ θήσομαι πόνων ὧν εἵνεκʼ ἦλθον θυγατρὶ κοσμήσων τάφον.
612μολὼν γὰρ εἰς ἔκκλητον Ἀργείων ὄχλον ἑκοῦσαν οὐχ ἑκοῦσαν ἐπισείσω πόλιν σοὶ σῇ τʼ ἀδελφῇ, λεύσιμον δοῦναι δίκην. μᾶλλον δʼ ἐκείνη σοῦ θανεῖν ἐστʼ ἀξία, ἣ τῇ τεκούσῃ σʼ ἠγρίωσʼ, ἐς οὖς ἀεὶ
617πέμπουσα μύθους ἐπὶ τὸ δυσμενέστερον, ὀνείρατʼ ἀγγέλλουσα τὰ Ἀγαμέμνονος, καὶ τοῦθʼ — ὃ μισήσειαν — Αἰγίσθου λέχος — οἱ νέρτεροι θεοί· καὶ γὰρ ἐνθάδʼ ἦν πικρόν· ἕως ὑφῆψε δῶμʼ ἀνηφαίστῳ πυρί.
622Μενέλαε, σοὶ δὲ τάδε λέγω δράσω τε πρός· εἰ τοὐμὸν ἔχθος ἐναριθμῇ κῆδός τʼ ἐμόν, μὴ τῷδʼ ἀμύνειν φόνον ἐναντίον θεοῖς· ἔα δʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καταφονευθῆναι πέτροις, ἢ μὴ ʼπίβαινε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός.
627τοσαῦτʼ ἀκούσας ἴσθι, μηδὲ δυσσεβεῖς ἕλῃ, παρώσας εὐσεβεστέρους φίλους· ἡμᾶς δʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων ἄγετε τῶνδε, πρόσπολοι.
630ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: στεῖχʼ, ὡς ἀθορύβως οὑπιὼν ἡμῖν λόγος
631πρὸς τόνδʼ ἵκηται, γῆρας ἀποφυγὼν τὸ σόν.
632Μενέλαε, ποῖ σὸν πόδʼ ἐπὶ συννοίᾳ κυκλεῖς,
633διπλῆς μερίμνης διπτύχους ἰὼν ὁδούς;
634ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔασον· ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τι συννοούμενος
635ὅποι τράπωμαι τῆς τύχης ἀμηχανῶ.
636ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μή νυν πέραινε τὴν δόκησιν, ἀλλʼ ἐμοὺς
637λόγους ἀκούσας πρόσθε, βουλεύου τότε.
638ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: λέγʼ· εὖ γὰρ εἶπας· ἔστι δʼ οὗ σιγὴ λόγου
639κρείσσων γένοιτʼ ἄν. ἔστι δʼ οὗ σιγῆς λόγος.
640ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέγοιμʼ ἂν ἤδη. τὰ μακρὰ τῶν σμικρῶν λόγων ἐπίπροσθέν ἐστι καὶ σαφῆ μᾶλλον κλύειν. ἐμοὶ σὺ τῶν σῶν, Μενέλεως, μηδὲν δίδου, ἃ δʼ ἔλαβες ἀπόδος πατρὸς ἐμοῦ λαβὼν πάρα. — οὐ χρήματʼ εἶπον· χρήματʼ, ἢν ψυχὴν ἐμὴν
645σῴσῃς, ἅπερ μοι φίλτατʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ἐμῶν. — ἀδικῶ· λαβεῖν χρή μʼ ἀντὶ τοῦδε τοῦ κακοῦ ἄδικόν τι παρὰ σοῦ· καὶ γὰρ Ἀγαμέμνων πατὴρ ἀδίκως ἀθροίσας Ἑλλάδʼ ἦλθʼ ὑπʼ Ἴλιον, οὐκ ἐξαμαρτὼν αὐτός, ἀλλʼ ἁμαρτίαν
650τῆς σῆς γυναικὸς ἀδικίαν τʼ ἰώμενος. ἓν μὲν τόδʼ ἡμῖν ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς δοῦναί σε χρή. ἀπέδοτο δʼ, ὡς χρὴ τοῖς φίλοισι τοὺς φίλους, τὸ σῶμʼ ἀληθῶς, σοὶ παρʼ ἀσπίδʼ ἐκπονῶν, ὅπως σὺ τὴν σὴν ἀπολάβοις ξυνάορον.
655ἀπότεισον οὖν μοι ταὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖ λαβών, μίαν πονήσας ἡμέραν, ἡμῶν ὕπερ σωτήριος στάς, μὴ δέκʼ ἐκπλήσας ἔτη. ἃ δʼ Αὐλὶς ἔλαβε σφάγιʼ ἐμῆς ὁμοσπόρου, ἐῶ σʼ ἔχειν ταῦθʼ· Ἑρμιόνην μὴ κτεῖνε σύ.
660δεῖ γὰρ σʼ ἐμοῦ πράσσοντος ὡς πράσσω τὰ νῦν πλέον φέρεσθαι, κἀμὲ συγγνώμην ἔχειν. ψυχὴν δʼ ἐμὴν δὸς τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ πατρὶ κἀμῆς ἀδελφῆς, παρθένου μακρὸν χρόνον· θανὼν γὰρ οἶκον ὀρφανὸν λείψω πατρός.
665ἐρεῖς· ἀδύνατον. αὐτὸ τοῦτο· τοὺς φίλους ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς χρὴ τοῖς φίλοισιν ὠφελεῖν· ὅταν δʼ ὁ δαίμων εὖ διδῷ, τί δεῖ φίλων; ἀρκεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ὠφελεῖν θέλων. φιλεῖν δάμαρτα πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν δοκεῖς·
670κοὐχ ὑποτρέχων σε τοῦτο θωπείᾳ λέγω· ταύτης ἱκνοῦμαί σʼ — ὦ μέλεος ἐμῶν κακῶν, ἐς οἷον ἥκω. τί δέ; ταλαιπωρεῖν με δεῖ· ὑπὲρ γὰρ οἴκου παντὸς ἱκετεύω τάδε. ὦ πατρὸς ὅμαιμε θεῖε, τὸν κατὰ χθονὸς
675θανόντʼ ἀκούειν τάδε δόκει, ποτωμένην ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ σοῦ, καὶ λέγειν ἃ ἐγὼ λέγω, ταὔτʼ ἔς τε δάκρυα καὶ γόους καὶ συμφοράς. εἴρηκα κἀπῄτηκα τὴν σωτηρίαν, θηρῶν ὃ πάντες κοὐκ ἐγὼ ζητῶ μόνος.
680ΧΟΡΌΣ: κἀγώ σʼ ἱκνοῦμαι καὶ γυνή περ οὖσʼ ὅμως
681τοῖς δεομένοισιν ὠφελεῖν· οἷός τε δʼ εἶ.
682ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ὀρέστʼ, ἐγώ τοι σὸν καταιδοῦμαι κάρα καὶ ξυμπονῆσαι σοῖς κακοῖσι βούλομαι· καὶ χρὴ γὰρ οὕτω τῶν ὁμαιμόνων κακὰ ξυνεκκομίζειν, δύναμιν ἢν διδῷ θεός, θνῄσκοντα καὶ κτείνοντα τοὺς ἐναντίους·
687τὸ δʼ αὖ δύνασθαι πρὸς θεῶν χρῄζω τυχεῖν. ἥκω γὰρ ἀνδρῶν συμμάχων κενὸν δόρυ ἔχων, πόνοισι μυρίοις ἀλώμενος, σμικρᾷ σὺν ἀλκῇ τῶν λελειμμένων φίλων. μάχῃ μὲν οὖν ἂν οὐχ ὑπερβαλοίμεθα
692Πελασγὸν Ἄργος· εἰ δὲ μαλθακοῖς λόγοις δυναίμεθʼ, ἐνταῦθʼ ἐλπίδος προσήκομεν. σμικροῖσι μὲν γὰρ μεγάλα πῶς ἕλοι τις ἄν; ὅταν γὰρ ἡβᾷ δῆμος εἰς ὀργὴν πεσών, ὅμοιον ὥστε πῦρ κατασβέσαι λάβρον·
698εἰ δʼ ἡσύχως τις αὑτὸν ἐντείνοντι μὲν χαλῶν ὑπείκοι καιρὸν εὐλαβούμενος, ἴσως ἂν ἐκπνεύσειεν· ἢν δʼ ἀνῇ πνοάς, τύχοις ἂν αὐτοῦ ῥᾳδίως ὅσον θέλεις. ἔνεστι δʼ οἶκτος, ἔνι δὲ καὶ θυμὸς μέγας,
703καραδοκοῦντι κτῆμα τιμιώτατον. ἐλθὼν δὲ Τυνδάρεών τέ σοι πειράσομαι πόλιν τε πεῖσαι τῷ λίαν χρῆσθαι καλῶς. καὶ ναῦς γὰρ ἐνταθεῖσα πρὸς βίαν ποδὶ ἔβαψεν, ἔστη δʼ αὖθις, ἢν χαλᾷ πόδα.
708μισεῖ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὰς ἄγαν προθυμίας, μισοῦσι δʼ ἀστοί· δεῖ δέ μʼ — οὐκ ἄλλως λέγω — σῴζειν σε σοφίᾳ, μὴ βίᾳ τῶν κρεισσόνων. ἀλκῇ δέ σʼ οὐκ ἄν, ᾗ σὺ δοξάζεις ἴσως, σῴσαιμʼ ἄν· οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴδιον λόγχῃ μιᾷ
713στῆσαι τροπαῖα τῶν κακῶν ἅ σοι πάρα. οὐ γάρ ποτʼ Ἄργους γαῖαν ἐς τὸ μαλθακὸν προσηγόμεσθα· νῦν δʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει.
717ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ πλὴν γυναικὸς οὕνεκα στρατηλατεῖν τἄλλʼ οὐδέν, ὦ κάκιστε τιμωρεῖν φίλοις, φεύγεις ἀποστραφείς με, τὰ δʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος φροῦδʼ; ἄφιλος ἦσθʼ ἄρʼ, ὦ πάτερ, πράσσων κακῶς. οἴμοι, προδέδομαι, κοὐκέτʼ εἰσὶν ἐλπίδες,
723ὅποι τραπόμενος θάνατον Ἀργείων φύγω· οὗτος γὰρ ἦν μοι καταφυγὴ σωτηρίας. ἀλλʼ εἰσορῶ γὰρ τόνδε φίλτατον βροτῶν Πυλάδην δρόμῳ στείχοντα Φωκέων ἄπο, ἡδεῖαν ὄψιν· πιστὸς ἐν κακοῖς ἀνὴρ
728κρείσσων γαλήνης ναυτίλοισιν εἰσορᾶν.
729ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: θᾶσσον ᾗ με χρῆν προβαίνων ἱκόμην διʼ ἄστεως,
730σύλλογον πόλεως ἀκούσας, τὸν δʼ ἰδὼν αὐτὸς σαφῶς,
731ἐπὶ σὲ σύγγονόν τε τὴν σήν, ὡς κτενοῦντας αὐτίκα.
732τί τάδε; πῶς ἔχεις; τί πράσσεις, φίλταθʼ ἡλίκων ἐμοὶ
733καὶ φίλων καὶ συγγενείας; πάντα γὰρ τάδʼ εἶ σύ μοι.
734ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἰχόμεσθʼ, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ σοι τἀμὰ δηλώσω κακά.
735ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: συγκατασκάπτοις ἂν ἡμᾶς· κοινὰ γὰρ τὰ τῶν φίλων.
736ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Μενέλεως κάκιστος ἐς ἐμὲ καὶ κασιγνήτην ἐμήν.
Part 10
737ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἰκότως, κακῆς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα γίγνεσθαι κακόν.
738ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐλθὼν ἔμοιγε ταὐτὸν ἀπέδωκεν μολών.
739ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἦ γάρ ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τήνδʼ ἀφιγμένος χθόνα;
740ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: χρόνιος· ἀλλʼ ὅμως τάχιστα κακὸς ἐφωράθη φίλοις.
741ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: καὶ δάμαρτα τὴν κακίστην ναυστολῶν ἐλήλυθεν;
742ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνη κεῖνον ἐνθάδʼ ἤγαγεν.
743ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ποῦ ʼστιν ἣ πλείστους Ἀχαιῶν ὤλεσεν γυνὴ μία;
744ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν δόμοις ἐμοῖσιν, εἰ δὴ τούσδʼ ἐμοὺς καλεῖν χρεών.
745ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σὺ δὲ τίνας λόγους ἔλεξας σοῦ κασιγνήτῳ πατρός;
746ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μή μʼ ἰδεῖν θανόνθʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καὶ κασιγνήτην ἐμήν.
747ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πρὸς θεῶν, τί πρὸς τάδʼ εἶπε; τόδε γὰρ εἰδέναι θέλω.
748ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐλαβεῖθʼ, ὃ τοῖς φίλοισι δρῶσιν οἱ κακοὶ φίλοι.
749ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σκῆψιν ἐς ποίαν προβαίνων; τοῦτο πάντʼ ἔχω μαθών.
750ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτος ἦλθʼ, ὁ τὰς ἀρίστας θυγατέρας σπείρας πατήρ.
751ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Τυνδάρεων λέγεις· ἴσως σοι θυγατέρος θυμούμενος;
752ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: αἰσθάνῃ. τὸ τοῦδε κῆδος μᾶλλον εἵλετʼ ἢ πατρός.
753ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κοὐκ ἐτόλμησεν πόνων σῶν ἀντιλάζυσθαι παρών;
754ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ γὰρ αἰχμητὴς πέφυκεν, ἐν γυναιξὶ δʼ ἄλκιμος.
755ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐν κακοῖς ἄρʼ εἶ μεγίστοις· καί σʼ ἀναγκαῖον θανεῖν;
756ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψῆφον ἀμφʼ ἡμῶν πολίτας ἐπὶ φόνῳ θέσθαι χρεών.
Part 11
757ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἣ κρινεῖ τί χρῆμα; λέξον· διὰ φόβου γὰρ ἔρχομαι.
758ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἢ θανεῖν ἢ ζῆν· ὁ μῦθος οὐ μακρὸς μακρῶν πέρι.
759ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: φεῦγέ νυν λιπὼν μέλαθρα σὺν κασιγνήτῃ σέθεν.
760ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐχ ὁρᾷς; φυλασσόμεσθα φρουρίοισι πανταχῇ.
761ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἶδον ἄστεως ἀγυιὰς τεύχεσιν πεφραγμένας.
762ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὡσπερεὶ πόλις πρὸς ἐχθρῶν σῶμα πυργηρούμεθα.
763ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κἀμὲ νῦν ἐροῦ τί πάσχω· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οἴχομαι.
764ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πρὸς τίνος; τοῦτʼ ἂν προσείη τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς κακόν.
765ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Στρόφιος ἤλασέν μʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων φυγάδα θυμωθεὶς πατήρ.
766ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἴδιον ἢ κοινὸν πολίταις ἐπιφέρων ἔγκλημά τι;
767ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὅτι συνηράμην φόνον σοι μητρός, ἀνόσιον λέγων.
768ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ τάλας, ἔοικε καὶ σὲ τἀμὰ λυπήσειν κακά.
769ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐχὶ Μενέλεω τρόποισι χρώμεθʼ· οἰστέον τάδε.
770ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ φοβῇ μή σʼ Ἄργος ὥσπερ κἄμʼ ἀποκτεῖναι θέλῃ;
771ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐ προσήκομεν κολάζειν τοῖσδε, Φωκέων δὲ γῇ.
772ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δεινὸν οἱ πολλοί, κακούργους ὅταν ἔχωσι προστάτας.
773ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ὅταν χρηστοὺς λάβωσι, χρηστὰ βουλεύουσʼ ἀεί.
774ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἶἑν. ἐς κοινὸν λέγειν χρή.
774bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τίνος ἀναγκαίου πέρι;
775ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ λέγοιμʼ ἀστοῖσιν ἐλθὼν —
Part 12
775bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὡς ἔδρασας ἔνδικα;
776ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πατρὶ τιμωρῶν ἐμαυτοῦ;
776bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μὴ λάβωσί σʼ ἄσμενοι.
777ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ὑποπτήξας σιωπῇ κατθάνω;
777bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: δειλὸν τόδε.
778ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς ἂν οὖν δρῴην;
778bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔχεις τινʼ, ἢν μένῃς, σωτηρίαν;
779ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἔχω.
779bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μολόντι δʼ ἐλπίς ἐστι σωθῆναι κακῶν;
780ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ τύχοι, γένοιτʼ ἄν.
780bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκοῦν τοῦτο κρεῖσσον ἢ μένειν.
781ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλὰ δῆτʼ ἔλθω.
781bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: θανὼν γοῦν ὧδε κάλλιον θανῇ.
783ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ λέγεις· φεύγω τὸ δειλὸν τῇδε.
783bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μᾶλλον ἢ μένων.
782ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμά γʼ ἔνδικόν μοι.
782bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τῷ Δοκεῖν εὔχου μόνον.
784ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καί τις ἄν γέ μʼ οἰκτίσειε [...]
784bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μέγα γὰρ ἡ εὐγένειά σου.
785ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θάνατον ἀσχάλλων πατρῷον.
Part 13
785bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πάντα ταῦτʼ ἐν ὄμμασιν.
786ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἰτέον, ὡς ἄνανδρον ἀκλεῶς κατθανεῖν.
786bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: αἰνῶ τάδε.
787ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἦ λέγωμεν οὖν ἀδελφῇ ταῦτʼ ἐμῇ;
787bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μὴ πρὸς θεῶν.
788ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δάκρυα γοῦν γένοιτʼ ἄν.
788bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκοῦν οὗτος οἰωνὸς μέγας.
789ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δηλαδὴ σιγᾶν ἄμεινον.
789bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τῷ χρόνῳ δὲ κερδανεῖς.
790ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κεῖνό μοι μόνον πρόσαντες.
790bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τί τόδε καινὸν αὖ λέγεις;
791ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ θεαί μʼ οἴστρῳ κατάσχωσι.
791bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλὰ κηδεύσω σʼ ἐγώ.
792ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δυσχερὲς ψαύειν νοσοῦντος ἀνδρός.
792bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκ ἔμοιγε σοῦ.
793ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐλαβοῦ λύσσης μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐμῆς.
793bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τόδʼ οὖν ἴτω.
794ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἄρʼ ὀκνήσεις;
794bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὄκνος γὰρ τοῖς φίλοις κακὸν μέγα.
795ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἕρπε νυν οἴαξ ποδός μοι.
Part 14
795bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: φίλα γʼ ἔχων κηδεύματα.
796ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καί με πρὸς τύμβον πόρευσον πατρός.
796bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὡς τί δὴ τόδε;
797ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥς νιν ἱκετεύσω με σῶσαι.
797bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τό γε δίκαιον ὧδʼ ἔχει.
798ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μητέρος δὲ μηδʼ ἴδοιμι μνῆμα.
798bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πολεμία γὰρ ἦν.
799ἀλλʼ ἔπειγʼ, ὡς μή σε πρόσθε ψῆφος Ἀργείων ἕλῃ,
800περιβαλὼν πλευροῖς ἐμοῖσι πλευρὰ νωχελῆ νόσῳ·
801ὡς ἐγὼ διʼ ἄστεώς σε, σμικρὰ φροντίζων ὄχλου,
802οὐδὲν αἰσχυνθεὶς ὀχήσω. ποῦ γὰρ ὢν δείξω φίλος,
803εἴ σε μὴ ʼν δειναῖσιν ὄντα συμφοραῖς ἐπαρκέσω;
804ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνο, κτᾶσθʼ ἑταίρους, μὴ τὸ συγγενὲς μόνον·
805ὡς ἀνὴρ ὅστις τρόποισι συντακῇ, θυραῖος ὢν
806μυρίων κρείσσων ὁμαίμων ἀνδρὶ κεκτῆσθαι φίλος.
807ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὁ μέγας ὄλβος ἅ τʼ ἀρετὰ μέγα φρονοῦσʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα καὶ παρὰ Σιμουντίοις ὀχετοῖς πάλιν ἀνῆλθʼ ἐξ εὐτυχίας Ἀτρείδαις πάλαι παλαιᾶς ἀπὸ συμφορᾶς δόμων,
812ὁπότε χρυσείας ἔρις ἀρνὸς ἤλυθε Τανταλίδαις, οἰκτρότατα θοινάματα καὶ σφάγια γενναίων τεκέων· ὅθεν φόνῳ φόνος ἐξαμεί-
817βων διʼ αἵματος οὐ προλεί- πει δισσοῖσιν Ἀτρείδαις.
819ΧΟΡΌΣ: τὸ καλὸν οὐ καλόν, τοκέων πυριγενεῖ τεμεῖν παλάμᾳ χρόα μελάνδετον δὲ φόνῳ ξίφος ἐς αὐγὰς ἀελίοιο δεῖξαι· τὸ δʼ εὖ κακουργεῖν ἀσέβεια ποικίλα
824κακοφρόνων τʼ ἀνδρῶν παράνοια. θανάτου γὰρ ἀμφὶ φόβῳ Τυνδαρὶς ἰάχησε τάλαι- να· Τέκνον, οὐ τολμᾷς ὅσια κτείνων σὰν ματέρα· μὴ πατρῴ-
829αν τιμῶν χάριν ἐξανά- ψῃ δύσκλειαν ἐς αἰεί.
831ΧΟΡΌΣ: τίς νόσος ἢ τίνα δάκρυα καὶ τίς ἔλεος μείζων κατὰ γᾶν ἢ ματροκτόνον αἷμα χειρὶ θέσθαι; οἷον ἔργον τελέσας βεβάκχευται μανίαις,
836Εὐμενίσι θήραμα, φόνον δρομάσι δινεύων βλεφάροις, Ἀγαμεμνόνιος παῖς. ὦ μέλεος, ματρὸς ὅτε χρυσεοπηνήτων φαρέων
841μαστὸν ὑπερτέλλοντʼ ἐσιδὼν σφάγιον ἔθετο ματέρα, πατρῴ- ων παθέων ἀμοιβάν.
844ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: γυναῖκες, ἦ που τῶνδʼ ἀφώρμηται δόμων
845τλήμων Ὀρέστης θεομανεῖ λύσσῃ δαμείς;
846ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἥκιστα· πρὸς δʼ Ἀργεῖον οἴχεται λεών,
847ψυχῆς ἀγῶνα τὸν προκείμενον πέρι
848δώσων, ἐν ᾧ ζῆν ἢ θανεῖν ὑμᾶς χρεών.
849ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι· τί χρῆμʼ ἔδρασε; τίς δʼ ἔπεισέ νιν;
850ΧΟΡΌΣ: Πυλάδης· ἔοικε δʼ οὐ μακρὰν ὅδʼ ἄγγελος
851λέξειν τὰ κεῖθεν σοῦ κασιγνήτου πέρι.
852ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ὦ τλῆμον, ὦ δύστηνε τοῦ στρατηλάτου
853Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, πότνιʼ Ἠλέκτρα, λόγους
854ἄκουσον οὕς σοι δυστυχεῖς ἥκω φέρων.
855ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αἰαῖ, διοιχόμεσθα· δῆλος εἶ λόγῳ.
856κακῶν γὰρ ἥκεις, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἄγγελος.
857ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ψήφῳ Πελασγῶν σὸν κασίγνητον θανεῖν
858καὶ σέ, ὦ τάλαινʼ, ἔδοξε τῇδʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
859ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι· προσῆλθεν ἐλπίς, ἣν φοβουμένη
860πάλαι τὸ μέλλον ἐξετηκόμην γόοις.
861ἀτὰρ τίς ἁγών, τίνες ἐν Ἀργείοις λόγοι
862καθεῖλον ἡμᾶς κἀπεκύρωσαν θανεῖν;
863λέγʼ, ὦ γεραιέ· πότερα λευσίμῳ χερὶ
864ἢ διὰ σιδήρου πνεῦμʼ ἀπορρῆξαί με δεῖ,
865κοινὰς ἀδελφῷ συμφορὰς κεκτημένην;
866ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ἐτύγχανον μὲν ἀγρόθεν πυλῶν ἔσω βαίνων, πυθέσθαι δεόμενος τά τʼ ἀμφὶ σοῦ τά τʼ ἀμφʼ Ὀρέστου· σῷ γὰρ εὔνοιαν πατρὶ ἀεί ποτʼ εἶχον, καί μʼ ἔφερβε σὸς δόμος πένητα μέν, χρῆσθαι δὲ γενναῖον φίλοις.
871ὁρῶ δʼ ὄχλον στείχοντα καὶ θάσσοντʼ ἄκραν, οὗ φασι πρῶτον Δαναὸν Αἰγύπτῳ δίκας διδόντʼ ἀθροῖσαι λαὸν ἐς κοινὰς ἕδρας. ἀστῶν δὲ δή τινʼ ἠρόμην ἄθροισμʼ ἰδών· Τί καινὸν Ἄργει; μῶν τι πολεμίων πάρα
876ἄγγελμʼ ἀνεπτέρωκε Δαναϊδῶν πόλιν; ὃ δʼ εἶπʼ· Ὀρέστην κεῖνον οὐχ ὁρᾷς πέλας στείχοντʼ, ἀγῶνα θανάσιμον δραμούμενον; ὁρῶ δʼ ἄελπτον φάσμʼ, ὃ μήποτʼ ὤφελον, Πυλάδην τε καὶ σὸν σύγγονον στείχονθʼ ὁμοῦ,
881τὸν μὲν κατηφῆ καὶ παρειμένον νόσῳ, τὸν δʼ ὥστʼ ἀδελφὸν ἴσα φίλῳ λυπούμενον, νόσημα κηδεύοντα παιδαγωγίᾳ. ἐπεὶ δὲ πλήρης ἐγένετʼ Ἀργείων ὄχλος, κῆρυξ ἀναστὰς εἶπε· Τίς χρῄζει λέγειν,
886πότερον Ὀρέστην κατθανεῖν ἢ μὴ χρεών, μητροκτονοῦντα; κἀπὶ τῷδʼ ἀνίσταται Ταλθύβιος, ὃς σῷ πατρὶ συνεπόρθει Φρύγας. ἔλεξε δʼ, ὑπὸ τοῖς δυναμένοισιν ὢν ἀεί, διχόμυθα, πατέρα μὲν σὸν ἐκπαγλούμενος,
891σὸν δʼ οὐκ ἐπαινῶν σύγγονον, καλοὺς κακοὺς λόγους ἑλίσσων, ὅτι καθισταίη νόμους ἐς τοὺς τεκόντας οὐ καλούς· τὸ δʼ ὄμμʼ ἀεὶ φαιδρωπὸν ἐδίδου τοῖσιν Αἰγίσθου φίλοις. τὸ γὰρ γένος τοιοῦτον· ἐπὶ τὸν εὐτυχῆ
896πηδῶσʼ ἀεὶ κήρυκες· ὅδε δʼ αὐτοῖς φίλος, ὃς ἂν δύνηται πόλεος ἔν τʼ ἀρχαῖσιν ᾖ. ἐπὶ τῷδε δʼ ἠγόρευε Διομήδης ἄναξ. οὗτος κτανεῖν μὲν οὔτε σὲ οὔτε σύγγονον εἴα, φυγῇ δὲ ζημιοῦντας εὐσεβεῖν.
901ἐπερρόθησαν δʼ οἳ μὲν ὡς καλῶς λέγοι, οἳ δʼ οὐκ ἐπῄνουν. κἀπὶ τῷδʼ ἀνίσταται ἀνήρ τις ἀθυρόγλωσσος, ἰσχύων θράσει, Ἀργεῖος οὐκ Ἀργεῖος, ἠναγκασμένος, θορύβῳ τε πίσυνος κἀμαθεῖ παρρησίᾳ,
906πιθανὸς ἔτʼ αὐτοὺς περιβαλεῖν κακῷ τινι· ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην καὶ σὲ ἀποκτεῖναι πέτροις βάλλοντας· ὑπὸ δʼ ἔτεινε Τυνδάρεως λόγους τῷ σφὼ κατακτείνοντι τοιούτους λέγειν. ἄλλος δʼ ἀναστὰς ἔλεγε τῷδʼ ἐναντία,
918μορφῇ μὲν οὐκ εὐωπός, ἀνδρεῖος δʼ ἀνήρ, ὀλιγάκις ἄστυ κἀγορᾶς χραίνων κύκλον, αὐτουργός — οἵπερ καὶ μόνοι σῴζουσι γῆν — ξυνετὸς δέ, χωρεῖν ὁμόσε τοῖς λόγοις θέλων, ἀκέραιος, ἀνεπίπληκτον ἠσκηκὼς βίον·
923ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην παῖδα τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος στεφανοῦν, ὃς ἠθέλησε τιμωρεῖν πατρί, κακὴν γυναῖκα κἄθεον κατακτανών, ἣ κεῖνʼ ἀφῄρει, μήθʼ ὁπλίζεσθαι χέρα μήτε στρατεύειν ἐκλιπόντα δώματα,
928εἰ τἄνδον οἰκουρήμαθʼ οἱ λελειμμένοι φθείρουσιν, ἀνδρῶν εὔνιδας λωβώμενοι. καὶ τοῖς γε χρηστοῖς εὖ λέγειν ἐφαίνετο. κοὐδεὶς ἔτʼ εἶπε. σὸς δʼ ἐπῆλθε σύγγονος, ἔλεξε δʼ· ὦ γῆν Ἰνάχου κεκτημένοι,
934ὑμῖν ἀμύνων οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ πατρὶ ἔκτεινα μητέρʼ. εἰ γὰρ ἀρσένων φόνος ἔσται γυναιξὶν ὅσιος, οὐ φθάνοιτʼ ἔτʼ ἂν θνῄσκοντες, ἢ γυναιξὶ δουλεύειν χρεών· τοὐναντίον δὲ δράσετʼ ἢ δρᾶσαι χρεών.
939νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἡ προδοῦσα λέκτρʼ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς τέθνηκεν· εἰ δὲ δὴ κατακτενεῖτʼ ἐμέ, ὁ νόμος ἀνεῖται, κοὐ φθάνοι θνῄσκων τις ἄν· ὡς τῆς γε τόλμης οὐ σπάνις γενήσεται. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔπειθʼ ὅμιλον, εὖ δοκῶν λέγειν.
944νικᾷ δʼ ἐκεῖνος ὁ κακὸς ἐν πλήθει λέγων, ὃς ἠγόρευσε σύγγονον σέ τε κτανεῖν. μόλις δʼ ἔπεισε μὴ πετρουμένους θανεῖν τλήμων Ὀρέστης· αὐτόχειρι δὲ σφαγῇ ὑπέσχετʼ ἐν τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ λείψειν βίον
949σὺν σοί. πορεύει δʼ αὐτὸν ἐκκλήτων ἄπο Πυλάδης δακρύων· σὺν δʼ ὁμαρτοῦσιν φίλοι κλαίοντες, οἰκτίροντες· ἔρχεται δέ σοι πικρὸν θέαμα καὶ πρόσοψις ἀθλία. ἀλλʼ εὐτρέπιζε φάσγανʼ ἢ βρόχον δέρῃ·
954ὡς δεῖ λιπεῖν σε φέγγος· ἡ εὐγένεια δὲ οὐδέν σʼ ἐπωφέλησεν, οὐδʼ ὁ Πύθιος τρίποδα καθίζων Φοῖβος, ἀλλʼ ἀπώλεσεν.
Part 15
957ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὦ δυστάλαινα παρθένʼ, ὡς ξυνηρεφὲς
958πρόσωπον εἰς γῆν σὸν βαλοῦσʼ ἄφθογγος εἶ,
959ὡς εἰς στεναγμοὺς καὶ γόους δραμουμένη.
960ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: κατάρχομαι στεναγμόν, ὦ Πελασγία, τιθεῖσα λευκὸν ὄνυχα διὰ παρηίδων, αἱματηρὸν ἄταν, κτύπον τε κρατός, ὃν ἔλαχʼ ἁ κατὰ χθονὸς νερτέρων Περσέφασσα καλλίπαις θεά.
965ἰαχείτω δὲ γᾶ Κυκλωπία, σίδαρον ἐπὶ κάρα τιθεῖσα κούριμον, πήματʼ οἴκων. ἔλεος ἔλεος ὅδʼ ἔρχεται τῶν θανουμένων ὕπερ,
970στρατηλατᾶν Ἑλλάδος ποτʼ ὄντων.
971ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: βέβακε γὰρ βέβακεν, οἴχεται τέκνων πρόπασα γέννα Πέλοπος ὅ τʼ ἐπὶ μακαρίοις ζῆλος ὤν ποτʼ οἴκοις· φθόνος νιν εἷλε θεόθεν, ἅ τε δυσμενὴς φοινία ψῆφος ἐν πολίταις.
976ἰὼ ἰώ, πανδάκρυτʼ ἐφαμέρων ἔθνη πολύπονα, λεύσσεθʼ, ὡς παρʼ ἐλπίδας μοῖρα βαίνει. ἕτερα δʼ ἕτερος ἀμείβεται πήματʼ ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ·
981βροτῶν δʼ ὁ πᾶς ἀστάθμητος αἰών.
982ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μόλοιμι τὰν οὐρανοῦ μέσον χθονός τε τεταμέναν αἰωρήμασι πέτραν, ἁλύσεσιν χρυσέαισι φερομέναν δίναισι, βῶλον ἐξ Ὀλύμπου,
984ἵνʼ ἐν θρήνοισιν ἀναβοάσω γέροντι πατρὶ Ταντάλῳ ὃς ἔτεκεν ἔτεκε γενέτορας ἐμέθεν δόμων, οἳ κατεῖδον ἄτας, ποτανὸν μὲν δίωγμα πώλων
989τεθριπποβάμονι στόλῳ Πέλοψ ὅτε πελάγεσι διεδίφρευσε, Μυρτίλου φόνον δικὼν ἐς οἶδμα πόντου, λευκοκύμοσιν πρὸς Γεραιστίαις
994ποντίων σάλων ᾐόσιν ἁρματεύσας. ὅθεν δόμοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἦλθʼ ἀρὰ πολύστονος, λόχευμα ποιμνίοισι Μαιάδος τόκου,
998τὸ χρυσόμαλλον ἀρνὸς ὁπότʼ ἐγένετο τέρας ὀλοὸν ὀλοὸν Ἀτρέος ἱπποβώτα· ὅθεν Ἔρις τό τε πτερωτὸν ἁλίου μετέβαλεν ἅρμα,
1003τὰν πρὸς ἑσπέραν κέλευθον οὐρανοῦ προσαρμόσα- σα μονόπωλον ἐς Ἀῶ, ἑπταπόρου τε δράμημα Πελειάδος εἰς ὁδὸν ἄλλαν Ζεὺς μεταβάλλει,
1007τῶνδέ τʼ ἀμείβει [...] θανάτους θανά- των τά τʼ ἐπώνυμα δεῖπνα Θυέστου λέκτρα τε Κρήσσας Ἀερόπας δολί- ας δολίοισι γάμοις· τὰ πανύστατα δʼ εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ γενέταν ἐμὸν ἤλυθε
1012δόμων πολυπόνοις ἀνάγκαις.
1013ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν ὅδε σὸς σύγγονος ἕρπει
1014ψήφῳ θανάτου κατακυρωθείς,
1014aὅ τε πιστότατος πάντων Πυλάδης,
1015ἰσάδελφος ἀνήρ, ἰθύνων
1016νοσερὸν κῶλον ,
1017ποδὶ κηδοσύνῳ παράσειρος.
1018ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἲ ἐγώ· πρὸ τύμβου γάρ σʼ ὁρῶσʼ ἀναστένω,
1019ἀδελφέ, καὶ πάροιθε νερτέρου πυρᾶς.
1020οἲ ἐγὼ μάλʼ αὖθις· ὥς σʼ ἰδοῦσʼ ἐν ὄμμασιν
1021πανυστάτην πρόσοψιν ἐξέστην φρενῶν.
1022ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ σῖγʼ ἀφεῖσα τοὺς γυναικείους γόους
1023στέρξεις τὰ κρανθέντʼ; οἰκτρὰ μὲν τάδʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅμως
1024.
1025ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ πῶς σιωπῶ; φέγγος εἰσορᾶν θεοῦ
1026τόδʼ οὐκέθʼ ἡμῖν τοῖς ταλαιπώροις μέτα.
1027ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σὺ μή μʼ ἀπόκτεινʼ· ἅλις ὑπʼ Ἀργείας χερὸς
1028τέθνηχʼ ὁ τλήμων· τὰ δὲ παρόντʼ ἔα κακά.
1029ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ μέλεος ἥβης σῆς, Ὀρέστα, καὶ πότμου
1030θανάτου τʼ ἀώρου. ζῆν ἐχρῆν σʼ, ὅτʼ οὐκέτʼ εἶ.
1031ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ πρὸς θεῶν μοι περιβάλῃς ἀνανδρίαν,
1032ἐς δάκρυα πορθμεύουσʼ ὑπομνήσει κακῶν.
1033ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανούμεθʼ· οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ στένειν κακά.
1034πᾶσιν γὰρ οἰκτρὸν ἡ φίλη ψυχὴ βροτοῖς.
1035ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τόδʼ ἦμαρ ἡμῖν κύριον· δεῖ δʼ ἢ βρόχους
1036ἅπτειν κρεμαστοὺς ἢ ξίφος θήγειν χερί.
1037ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σύ νύν μʼ, ἀδελφέ, μή τις Ἀργείων κτάνῃ
1038ὕβρισμα θέμενος τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος γόνον.
1039ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἅλις τὸ μητρὸς αἷμʼ ἔχω· σὲ δʼ οὐ κτενῶ,
1040ἀλλʼ αὐτόχειρι θνῇσχʼ ὅτῳ βούλῃ τρόπῳ.
1041ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔσται τάδʼ· οὐδὲν σοῦ ξίφους λελείψομαι.
1042ἀλλʼ ἀμφιθεῖναι σῇ δέρῃ θέλω χέρας.
1043ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τέρπου κενὴν ὄνησιν, εἰ τερπνὸν τόδε
1044θανάτου πέλας βεβῶσι, περιβαλεῖν χέρας.
1045ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλτατʼ, ὦ ποθεινὸν ἥδιστόν τʼ ἔχων
1046τῆς σῆς ἀδελφῆς ὄνομα καὶ ψυχὴν μίαν.
1047ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔκ τοί με τήξεις· καί σʼ ἀμείψασθαι θέλω
1048φιλότητι χειρῶν. τί γὰρ ἔτʼ αἰδοῦμαι τάλας;
1049ὦ στέρνʼ ἀδελφῆς, ὦ φίλον πρόσπτυγμʼ ἐμόν,
1050τάδʼ ἀντὶ παίδων καὶ γαμηλίου λέχους —
1051.
1052ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φεῦ·
1052aπῶς ἂν ξίφος νὼ ταὐτόν, εἰ θέμις, κτάνοι
1053καὶ μνῆμα δέξαιθʼ ἕν, κέδρου τεχνάσματα;
Part 16
1054ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἥδιστʼ ἂν εἴη ταῦθʼ· ὁρᾷς δὲ δὴ φίλων
1055ὡς ἐσπανίσμεθʼ, ὥστε κοινωνεῖν τάφου.
1056ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐδʼ εἶφʼ ὑπὲρ σοῦ, μὴ θανεῖν σπουδὴν ἔχων,
1057Μενέλαος ὁ κακός, ὁ προδότης τοὐμοῦ πατρός;
1058ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐδʼ ὄμμʼ ἔδειξεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σκήπτροις ἔχων τὴν ἐλπίδʼ, εὐλαβεῖτο μὴ σῴζειν φίλους. ἀλλʼ εἶʼ ὅπως γενναῖα καὶ Ἀγαμέμνονος δράσαντε κατθανούμεθʼ ἀξιώτατα. κἀγὼ μὲν εὐγένειαν ἀποδείξω πόλει,
1063παίσας πρὸς ἧπαρ φασγάνῳ· σὲ δʼ αὖ χρεὼν ὅμοια πράσσειν τοῖς ἐμοῖς τολμήμασιν. Πυλάδη, σὺ δʼ ἡμῖν τοῦ φόνου γενοῦ βραβεύς, καὶ κατθανόντοιν εὖ περίστειλον δέμας θάψον τε κοινῇ πρὸς πατρὸς τύμβον φέρων.
1068καὶ χαῖρʼ· ἐπʼ ἔργον δʼ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, πορεύομαι.
1069ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐπίσχες. ἓν μὲν πρῶτά σοι μομφὴν ἔχω,
1070εἰ ζῆν με χρῄζειν σοῦ θανόντος ἤλπισας.
1071ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί γὰρ προσήκει κατθανεῖν σʼ ἐμοῦ μέτα;
1072ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἤρου; τί δὲ ζῆν σῆς ἑταιρίας ἄτερ;
1073ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἔκτανες σὴν μητέρʼ, ὡς ἐγὼ τάλας.
1074ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σὺν σοί γε κοινῇ· ταὐτὰ καὶ πάσχειν με δεῖ.
1075ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀπόδος τὸ σῶμα πατρί, μὴ σύνθνῃσκέ μοι. σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔστι πόλις, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκ ἔστι δή, καὶ δῶμα πατρὸς καὶ μέγας πλούτου λιμήν. γάμων δὲ τῆς μὲν δυσπότμου τῆσδʼ ἐσφάλης, ἥν σοι κατηγγύησʼ ἑταιρίαν σέβων·
1080σὺ δʼ ἄλλο λέκτρον παιδοποίησαι λαβών, κῆδος δὲ τοὐμὸν καὶ σὸν οὐκέτʼ ἔστι δή. ἀλλʼ, ὦ ποθεινὸν ὄμμʼ ὁμιλίας ἐμῆς, χαῖρʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἔστι τοῦτο, σοί γε μήν· οἱ γὰρ θανόντες χαρμάτων τητώμεθα.
1085ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἦ πολὺ λέλειψαι τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων. μήθʼ αἷμά μου δέξαιτο κάρπιμον πέδον, μὴ λαμπρὸς αἰθήρ, εἴ σʼ ἐγὼ προδούς ποτε ἐλευθερώσας τοὐμὸν ἀπολίποιμι σέ. καὶ συγκατέκτανον γάρ, οὐκ ἀρνήσομαι,
1090καὶ πάντʼ ἐβούλευσʼ ὧν σὺ νῦν τίνεις δίκας· καὶ ξυνθανεῖν οὖν δεῖ με σοὶ καὶ τῇδʼ ὁμοῦ. ἐμὴν γὰρ αὐτήν, ἧς γε λέχος ἐπῄνεσα, κρίνω δάμαρτα· τί γὰρ ἐρῶ κἀγώ ποτε γῆν Δελφίδʼ ἐλθὼν Φωκέων ἀκρόπτολιν,
1095ὃς πρὶν μὲν ὑμᾶς δυστυχεῖν φίλος παρῆ, νῦν δʼ οὐκέτʼ εἰμὶ δυστυχοῦντί σοι φίλος; οὐκ ἔστιν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν κἀμοὶ μέλει· ἐπεὶ δὲ κατθανούμεθʼ, ἐς κοινοὺς λόγους ἔλθωμεν, ὡς ἂν Μενέλεως συνδυστυχῇ.
1100ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ φίλτατʼ, εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο κατθάνοιμʼ ἰδών.
1101ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πιθοῦ νυν, ἄμμεινόν τε φασγάνου τομάς.
1102ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μενῶ, τὸν ἐχθρὸν εἴ τι τιμωρήσομαι.
1103ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σίγα νυν· ὡς γυναιξὶ πιστεύω βραχύ.
1104ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μηδὲν τρέσῃς τάσδʼ· ὡς πάρεισʼ ἡμῖν φίλαι.
1105ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενέλεῳ λύπην πικράν.
1106ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς; τὸ γὰρ ἕτοιμον ἔστιν, εἴ γʼ ἔσται καλῶς.
1107ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σφάξαντες. ἐν δόμοις δὲ κρύπτεται σέθεν.
1108ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μάλιστα· καὶ δὴ πάντʼ ἀποσφραγίζεται.
1109ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐκέθʼ, Ἅιδην νυμφίον κεκτημένη.
Part 17
1110ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ πῶς; ἔχει γὰρ βαρβάρους ὀπάονας.
1111ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τίνας; Φρυγῶν γὰρ οὐδένʼ ἂν τρέσαιμʼ ἐγώ.
1112ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἵους ἐνόπτρων καὶ μύρων ἐπιστάτας.
1113ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τρυφὰς γὰρ ἥκει δεῦρʼ ἔχουσα Τρωικάς;
1114ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥσθʼ Ἑλλὰς αὐτῇ σμικρὸν οἰκητήριον.
1115ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐδὲν τὸ δοῦλον πρὸς τὸ μὴ δοῦλον γένος.
1116ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ μὴν τόδʼ ἔρξας δὶς θανεῖν οὐχ ἅζομαι.
1117ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐγὼ μήν, σοί γε τιμωρούμενος.
1118ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὸ πρᾶγμα δήλου καὶ πέραινʼ, ὅπως λέγεις.
1119ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔσιμεν ἐς οἴκους δῆθεν ὡς θανούμενοι.
1120ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔχω τοσοῦτον, τἀπίλοιπα δʼ οὐκ ἔχω.
1121ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: γόους πρὸς αὐτὴν θησόμεσθʼ ἃ πάσχομεν.
1122ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥστʼ ἐκδακρῦσαί γʼ ἔνδοθεν κεχαρμένην.
1123ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: καὶ νῷν παρέσται ταῦθʼ ἅπερ κείνῃ τότε.
1124ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔπειτʼ ἀγῶνα πῶς ἀγωνιούμεθα;
1125ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κρύπτʼ ἐν πέπλοισι τοισίδʼ ἕξομεν ξίφη.
1126ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πρόσθεν δʼ ὀπαδῶν τίς ὄλεθρος γενήσεται;
1127ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐκκλῄσομεν σφᾶς ἄλλον ἄλλοσε στέγης.
1128ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ τόν γε μὴ σιγῶντʼ ἀποκτείνειν χρεών.
1129ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἶτʼ αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὔργον οἷ τείνειν χρεών.
Part 18
1130ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Ἑλένην φονεύειν· μανθάνω τὸ σύμβολον.
1131ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔγνως· ἄκουσον δʼ ὡς καλῶς βουλεύομαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐς γυναῖκα σωφρονεστέραν ξίφος μεθεῖμεν, δυσκλεὴς ἂν ἦν φόνος· νῦν δʼ ὑπὲρ ἁπάσης Ἑλλάδος δώσει δίκην, ὧν πατέρας ἔκτεινʼ, ὧν δʼ ἀπώλεσεν τέκνα,
1136νύμφας τʼ ἔθηκεν ὀρφανὰς ξυναόρων. ὀλολυγμὸς ἔσται, πῦρ τʼ ἀνάψουσιν θεοῖς, σοὶ πολλὰ κἀμοὶ κέδνʼ ἀρώμενοι τυχεῖν, κακῆς γυναικὸς οὕνεχʼ αἷμʼ ἐπράξαμεν. ὁ μητροφόντης δʼ οὐ καλῇ ταύτην κτανών,
1141ἀλλʼ ἀπολιπὼν τοῦτʼ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον πεσῇ, Ἑλένης λεγόμενος τῆς πολυκτόνου φονεύς. οὐ δεῖ ποτʼ, οὐ δεῖ, Μενέλεων μὲν εὐτυχεῖν, τὸν σὸν δὲ πατέρα καὶ σὲ κἀδελφὴν θανεῖν, μητέρα τε — ἐῶ τοῦτʼ· οὐ γὰρ εὐπρεπὲς λέγειν —
1146δόμους δʼ ἔχειν σοὺς διʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος δόρυ λαβόντα νύμφην· μὴ γὰρ οὖν ζῴην ἔτι, ἢν μὴ ʼπʼ ἐκείνῃ φάσγανον σπασώμεθα. ἢν δʼ οὖν τὸν Ἑλένης μὴ κατάσχωμεν φόνον, πρήσαντες οἴκους τούσδε κατθανούμεθα.
1151ἑνὸς γὰρ οὐ σφαλέντες ἕξομεν κλέος, καλῶς θανόντες ἢ καλῶς σεσῳσμένοι.
1153ΧΟΡΌΣ: πάσαις γυναιξὶν ἀξία στυγεῖν ἔφυ
1154ἡ Τυνδαρὶς παῖς, ἣ κατῄσχυνεν γένος.
1155ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φεῦ· οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν κρεῖσσον ἢ φίλος σαφής, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐ τυραννίς· ἀλόγιστον δέ τι τὸ πλῆθος ἀντάλλαγμα γενναίου φίλου. σὺ γὰρ τά τʼ εἰς Αἴγισθον ἐξηῦρες κακὰ
1159aκαὶ πλησίον παρῆσθα κινδύνων ἐμοί, νῦν τʼ αὖ δίδως μοι πολεμίων τιμωρίαν κοὐκ ἐκποδὼν εἶ — παύσομαί σʼ αἰνῶν, ἐπεὶ βάρος τι κἀν τῷδʼ ἐστίν, αἰνεῖσθαι λίαν. ἐγὼ δὲ πάντως ἐκπνέων ψυχὴν ἐμὴν
1164δράσας τι χρῄζω τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐχθροὺς θανεῖν, ἵνʼ ἀνταναλώσω μὲν οἵ με προύδοσαν, στένωσι δʼ οἵπερ κἄμʼ ἔθηκαν ἄθλιον. Ἀγαμέμνονός τοι παῖς πέφυχʼ, ὃς Ἑλλάδος ἦρξʼ ἀξιωθείς, οὐ τύραννος, ἀλλʼ ὅμως
1169ῥώμην θεοῦ τινʼ ἔσχε· ὃν οὐ καταισχυνῶ δοῦλον παρασχὼν θάνατον, ἀλλʼ ἐλευθέρως ψυχὴν ἀφήσω, Μενέλεων δὲ τείσομαι. ἑνὸς γὰρ εἰ λαβοίμεθʼ, εὐτυχοῖμεν ἄν, εἴ ποθεν ἄελπτος παραπέσοι σωτηρία
1174κτανοῦσι μὴ θανοῦσιν· εὔχομαι τάδε. ὃ βούλομαι γάρ, ἡδὺ καὶ διὰ στόμα πτηνοῖσι μύθοις ἀδαπάνως τέρψαι φρένα.
1177ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐγώ, κασίγνητʼ, αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἔχειν δοκῶ,
1178σωτηρίαν σοὶ τῷδέ τʼ ἐκ τρίτων τʼ ἐμοί.
1179ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θεοῦ λέγεις πρόνοιαν. ἀλλὰ ποῦ τόδε;
1180ἐπεὶ τὸ συνετόν γʼ οἶδα σῇ ψυχῇ παρόν.
1181ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄκουε δή νυν· καὶ σὺ δεῦρο νοῦν ἔχε.
1182ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέγʼ· ὡς τὸ μέλλειν ἀγάθʼ ἔχει τινʼ ἡδονήν.
1183ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένης κάτοισθα θυγατέρʼ; εἰδότʼ ἠρόμην.
1184ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἶδʼ, ἣν ἔθρεψεν Ἑρμιόνην μήτηρ ἐμή.
1185ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αὕτη βέβηκε πρὸς Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον.
1186ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί χρῆμα δράσουσʼ; ὑποτίθης τίνʼ ἐλπίδα;
1187ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: χοὰς κατασπείσουσʼ ὑπὲρ μητρὸς τάφῳ.
1188ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ δὴ τί μοι τοῦτʼ εἶπας ἐς σωτηρίαν;
1189ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ξυλλάβεθʼ ὅμηρον τήνδʼ, ὅταν στείχῃ πάλιν.
1190ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τίνος τόδʼ εἶπας φάρμακον τρισσοῖς φίλοις;
1191ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένης θανούσης, ἤν τι Μενέλεώς σε δρᾷ ἢ τόνδε κἀμέ — πᾶν γὰρ ἓν φίλον τόδε — λέγʼ ὡς φονεύσεις Ἑρμιόνην· ξίφος δὲ χρὴ δέρῃ πρὸς αὐτῇ παρθένου σπάσαντʼ ἔχειν. κἂν μέν σε σῴζῃ μὴ θανεῖν χρῄζων κόρην
1196Ἑλένης Μενέλεως πτῶμʼ ἰδὼν ἐν αἵματι, μέθες πεπᾶσθαι πατρὶ παρθένου δέμας· ἢν δʼ ὀξυθύμου μὴ κρατῶν φρονήματος κτείνῃ σε, καὶ σὺ σφάζε παρθένου δέρην. καί νιν δοκῶ, τὸ πρῶτον ἢν πολὺς παρῇ,
1201χρόνῳ μαλάξειν σπλάγχνον· οὔτε γὰρ θρασὺς οὔτʼ ἄλκιμος πέφυκε. τήνδʼ ἡμῖν ἔχω σωτηρίας ἔπαλξιν. εἴρηται λόγος.
1204ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη,
1205τὸ σῶμα δʼ ἐν γυναιξὶ θηλείαις πρέπον,
1206ὡς ἀξία ζῆν μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν ἔφυς.
1207Πυλάδη, τοιαύτης ἆρʼ ἁμαρτήσῃ τάλας
1208γυναικὸς ἢ ζῶν μακάριον κτήσῃ λέχος.
1209ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ γένοιτο, Φωκέων δʼ ἔλθοι πόλιν
1210καλοῖσιν ὑμεναίοισιν ἀξιουμένη.
1211ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἥξει δʼ ἐς οἴκους Ἑρμιόνη τίνος χρόνου;
1212ὡς τἄλλα γʼ εἶπας, εἴπερ εὐτυχήσομεν,
1213κάλλισθʼ, ἑλόντες σκύμνον ἀνοσίου πατρός.
Part 19
1214ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ δὴ πέλας νιν δωμάτων εἶναι δοκῶ·
1215τοῦ γὰρ χρόνου τὸ μῆκος αὐτὸ συντρέχει.
1216ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καλῶς· σὺ μέν νυν, σύγγονʼ Ἠλέκτρα, δόμων πάρος μένουσα παρθένου δέχου πόδα, φύλασσε δʼ ἤν τις, πρὶν τελευτηθῇ φόνος, ἢ ξύμμαχός τις ἢ κασίγνητος πατρός, ἐλθὼν ἐς οἴκους φθῇ, γέγωνέ τʼ ἐς δόμους,
1221ἢ σανίδα παίσασʼ ἢ λόγους πέμψασʼ ἔσω· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἔσω στείχοντες ἐπὶ τὸν ἔσχατον ἀγῶνʼ ὁπλιζώμεσθα φασγάνῳ χέρας, ὦ δῶμα ναίων νυκτὸς ὀρφναίας πάτερ, καλεῖ σʼ Ὀρέστης παῖς σὸς ἐπίκουρον μολεῖν
1227τοῖς δεομένοισι. διὰ σὲ γὰρ πάσχω τάλας ἀδίκως· προδέδομαι δʼ ὑπὸ κασιγνήτου σέθεν, δίκαια πράξας· οὗ θέλω δάμαρθʼ ἑλὼν κτεῖναι· σὺ δʼ ἡμῖν τοῦδε συλλήπτωρ γενοῦ.
1231ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ πάτερ, ἱκοῦ δῆτʼ, εἰ κλύεις ἔσω χθονὸς
1232τέκνων καλούντων, οἳ σέθεν θνῄσκουσʼ ὕπερ.
1233ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὦ συγγένεια πατρὸς ἐμοῦ, κἀμὰς λιτάς,
1234Ἀγάμεμνον, εἰσάκουσον· ἔκσῳσον τέκνα.
1235ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔκτεινα μητέρα —
1235bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἡψάμην δʼ ἐγὼ ξίφους —
1236ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπεβούλευσα κἀπέλυσʼ ὄκνου —
1237ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σοί, πάτερ, ἀρήγων.
1237bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐδʼ ἐγὼ προύδωκά σε.
1238ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὔκουν ὀνείδη τάδε κλύων ῥύσῃ τέκνα;
1239ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δακρύοις κατασπένδω σε.
1239bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐγὼ δʼ οἴκτοισί γε.
1240ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: παύσασθε, καὶ πρὸς ἔργον ἐξορμώμεθα.
1241εἴπερ γὰρ εἴσω γῆς ἀκοντίζουσʼ ἀραί,
1242κλύει. σὺ δʼ, ὦ Ζεῦ πρόγονε καὶ Δίκης σέβας,
1243δότʼ εὐτυχῆσαι τῷδʼ ἐμοί τε τῇδέ τε·
1244τρισσοῖς φίλοις γὰρ εἷς ἀγών, δίκη μία,
1245ἢ ζῆν ἅπασιν ἢ — θανεῖν ὀφείλεται.
1246ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Μυκηνίδες ὦ φίλαι,
1247τὰ πρῶτα κατὰ Πελασγὸν ἕδος Ἀργείων.
1248ΧΟΡΌΣ: τίνα θροεῖς αὐδάν, πότνια; παραμένει
1250γὰρ ἔτι σοι τόδʼ ἐν Δαναϊδῶν πόλει.
1251ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: στῆθʼ αἳ μὲν ὑμῶν τόνδʼ ἁμαξήρη τρίβον,
1252αἳ δʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἄλλον οἶμον ἐς φρουρὰν δόμων.
1253ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί δέ με τόδε χρέος ἀπύεις;
1254ἔνεπέ μοι, φίλα.
1255ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φόβος ἔχει με μή τις ἐπὶ δώμασι
1256σταθεὶς ἐπὶ φοίνιον αἷμα
1257πήματα πήμασιν ἐξεύρῃ.
1258ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: χωρεῖτʼ, ἐπειγώμεσθʼ· ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν τρίβον
1259τόνδʼ ἐκφυλάξω, τὸν πρὸς ἡλίου βολάς.
1260ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Β: καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ τόνδʼ, ὃς πρὸς ἑσπέραν φέρει.
Part 20
1261ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: δόχμιά νυν κόρας διάφερʼ ὀμμάτων.
1262ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἐκεῖθεν ἐνθάδʼ, εἶτα παλινσκοπιὰν
1265ἔχομεν, ὡς θροεῖς.
1266ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἑλίσσετέ νυν βλέφαρα,
1267κόραισι δίδοτε πάντα διὰ βοστρύχων.
1268ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ὅδε τις ἐν τρίβῳ . τίς ὅδʼ ἄρʼ ἀμ-
1270φὶ μέλαθρον πολεῖ σὸν ἀγρότας ἀνήρ;
1271ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἀπωλόμεσθʼ ἄρʼ, ὦ φίλαι· κεκρυμμένους
1272θῆρας ξιφήρεις αὐτίκʼ ἐχθροῖσιν φανεῖ.
1273ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ἄφοβος ἔχε· κενός, ὦ φίλα,
1274στίβος ὃν οὐ δοκεῖς.
1275ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δέ; τὸ σὸν βέβαιον ἔτι μοι μένει;
1276δὸς ἀγγελίαν ἀγαθάν τινʼ,
1277εἰ τάδʼ ἔρημα τὰ πρόσθʼ αὐλᾶς.
1278ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Β: καλῶς τά γʼ ἐνθένδʼ. ἀλλὰ τἀπὶ σοῦ σκόπει·
1279ὡς οὔτις ἡμῖν Δαναϊδῶν πελάζεται.
1280ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ἐς ταὐτὸν ἥκεις· καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τῇδʼ ὄχλος.
1281ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φέρε νυν ἐν πύλαισιν ἀκοὰν βάλω.
1284ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί μέλλεθʼ οἱ κατʼ οἶκον ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ
1285σφάγια φοινίσσειν;
1286ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ εἰσακούουσʼ· ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγὼ κακῶν.
1287ἆρʼ ἐς τὸ κάλλος ἐκκεκώφηται ξίφη;
1288τάχα τις Ἀργείων ἔνοπλος ὁρμήσας
1290ποδὶ βοηδρόμῳ μέλαθρα προσμείξει.
1291σκέψασθέ νυν ἄμεινον· οὐχ ἕδρας ἀγών·
1292ἀλλʼ αἳ μὲν ἐνθάδʼ, αἳ δʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἑλίσσετε.
1295ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἀμείβω κέλευθον σκοποῦσα πάντῃ.
1296ἙΛΈΝΗ: ἰὼ Πελασγὸν Ἄργος, ὄλλυμαι κακῶς.
1297ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἠκούσαθʼ; ἅνδρες χεῖρʼ ἔχουσιν ἐν φόνῳ.
1298— Ἑλένης τὸ κώκυμʼ ἐστίν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι.
1299ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ Διός, ὦ Διὸς ἀέναον κράτος,
1300ἔλθʼ ἐπίκουρος ἐμοῖς φίλοισι πάντως.
1301ἙΛΈΝΗ: Μενέλαε, θνῄσκω· σὺ δὲ παρών μʼ οὐκ ὠφελεῖς.
1302ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φονεύετε, καίνετε,
1303ὄλλυτε, δίπτυχα δίστομα φάσγανα
1304ἐκ χερὸς ἱέμενοι
1305τὰν λιποπάτορα λιπόγαμον, ἃ
1306πλείστους ἔκανεν Ἑλλάνων
1307δορὶ παρὰ ποταμὸν ὀλομένους,
1308ὅθι δάκρυα δάκρυσιν ἔπεσεν
1309σιδαρέοισι βέλεσιν ἀμ-
1310φὶ τὰς Σκαμάνδρου δίνας.
1311ΧΟΡΌΣ: σιγᾶτε σιγᾶτʼ· ᾐσθόμην κτύπου τινὸς
1312κέλευθον ἐσπεσόντος ἀμφὶ δώματα.
1313ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλταται γυναῖκες, ἐς μέσον φόνον ἥδʼ Ἑρμιόνη πάρεστι· παύσωμεν βοήν. στείχει γὰρ ἐσπεσοῦσα δικτύων βρόχους. καλὸν τὸ θήραμʼ, ἢν ἁλῷ, γενήσεται. πάλιν κατάστηθʼ ἡσύχῳ μὲν ὄμματι,
1318χρόᾳ δʼ ἀδήλῳ τῶν δεδραμένων πέρι· κἀγὼ σκυθρωποὺς ὀμμάτων ἕξω κόρας, ὡς δῆθεν οὐκ εἰδυῖα τἀξειργασμένα. ὦ παρθένʼ, ἥκεις τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον στέψασα καὶ σπείσασα νερτέροις χοάς;
Part 21
1323ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἥκω, λαβοῦσα πρευμένειαν. ἀλλά μοι
1324φόβος τις εἰσελήλυθʼ, ἥντινʼ ἐν δόμοις
1325τηλουρὸς οὖσα δωμάτων κλύω βοήν.
1326ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δʼ; ἄξιʼ ἡμῖν τυγχάνει στεναγμάτων.
1327ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: εὔφημος ἴσθι· τί δὲ νεώτερον λέγεις;
1328ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανεῖν Ὀρέστην κἄμʼ ἔδοξε τῇδε γῇ.
1329ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: μὴ δῆτʼ, ἐμοῦ γε συγγενεῖς πεφυκότας.
1330ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄραρʼ· ἀνάγκης δʼ ἐς ζυγὸν καθέσταμεν.
1331ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἦ τοῦδʼ ἕκατι καὶ βοὴ κατὰ στέγας;
1332ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἱκέτης γὰρ Ἑλένης γόνασι προσπεσὼν βοᾷ —
1333ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: τίς; οὐδὲν οἶδα μᾶλλον, ἢν σὺ μὴ λέγῃς.
1334ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τλήμων Ὀρέστης· μὴ θανεῖν, ἐμοῦ θʼ ὕπερ.
1335ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἐπʼ ἀξίοισί τἄρʼ ἀνευφημεῖ δόμος.
1336ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: περὶ τοῦ γὰρ ἄλλου μᾶλλον ἂν φθέγξαιτό τις;
1337ἀλλʼ ἐλθὲ καὶ μετάσχες ἱκεσίας φίλοις,
1338σῇ μητρὶ προσπεσοῦσα τῇ μέγʼ ὀλβίᾳ,
1339Μενέλαον ἡμᾶς μὴ θανόντας εἰσιδεῖν.
1340ἀλλʼ, ὦ τραφεῖσα μητρὸς ἐν χεροῖν ἐμῆς,
1341οἴκτιρον ἡμᾶς κἀπικούφισον κακῶν.
1342ἴθʼ εἰς ἀγῶνα δεῦρʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ ἡγήσομαι·
1343σωτηρίας γὰρ τέρμʼ ἔχεις ἡμῖν μόνη.
1344ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἰδού, διώκω τὸν ἐμὸν ἐς δόμους πόδα.
1345σώθηθʼ ὅσον γε τοὐπʼ ἐμέ.
1345bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ κατὰ στέγας
1346φίλοι ξιφήρεις, οὐχὶ συλλήψεσθʼ ἄγραν;
1347ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: οἲ ἐγώ· τίνας τούσδʼ εἰσορῶ;
1347bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σιγᾶν χρεών·
1348ἡμῖν γὰρ ἥκεις, οὐχὶ σοί, σωτηρία.
1349ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔχεσθʼ ἔχεσθε· φάσγανον δὲ πρὸς δέρῃ
1350βάλλοντες ἡσυχάζεθʼ, ὡς εἰδῇ τόδε
1351Μενέλαος, οὕνεκʼ ἄνδρας, οὐ Φρύγας κακούς,
1352εὑρὼν ἔπραξεν οἷα χρὴ πράσσειν κακούς.
1353ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἰὼ ἰὼ φίλαι, κτύπον ἐγείρετε, κτύπον καὶ βοὰν πρὸ μελάθρων, ὅπως ὁ πραχθεὶς φόνος μὴ δεινὸν Ἀργείοισιν ἐμβάλῃ φόβον, βοηδρομῆσαι πρὸς δόμους τυραννικούς,
1357πρὶν ἐτύμως ἴδω τὸν Ἑλένας φόνον καθαιμακτὸν ἐν δόμοις κείμενον, ἢ καὶ λόγον του προσπόλων πυθώμεθα· τὰ μὲν γὰρ οἶδα συμφορᾶς, τὰ δʼ οὐ σαφῶς. — διὰ δίκας ἔβα θεῶν
1362νέμεσις ἐς Ἑλέναν. δακρύοισι γὰρ Ἑλλάδʼ ἅπασαν ἔπλησε, διὰ τὸν ὀλόμενον ὀλόμενον Ἰδαῖον Πάριν, ὃς ἄγαγʼ Ἑλλάδʼ εἰς Ἴλιον.
1369ΦΡΎΞ: Ἀργέϊον ξίφος ἐκ θανάτου πέφευγα βαρβάροις ἐν εὐμάρι- σιν, κεδρωτὰ παστάδων ὑπὲρ τέραμνα Δωρικάς τε τριγλύφους, φροῦδα φροῦδα, γᾶ γᾶ,
1374βαρβάροισι δρασμοῖς. αἰαῖ· πᾷ φύγω, ξέναι, πολιὸν αἰθέρʼ ἀμ- πτάμενος ἢ πόντον, Ὠκεανὸς ὃν ταυρόκρανος ἀγκάλαις
1379ἑλίσσων κυκλοῖ χθόνα;
1380ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί δʼ ἔστιν, Ἑλένης πρόσπολʼ. Ἰδαῖον κάρα;
Part 22
1381ΦΡΎΞ: Ἴλιον Ἴλιον, ὤμοι μοι, Φρύγιον ἄστυ καὶ καλλίβωλον Ἴ- δας ὄρος ἱερόν, ὥς σʼ ὀλόμενον στένω βαρβάρῳ βοᾷ διʼ ὀρνιθόγονον ὄμμα κυκνοπτέρου καλλοσύνας, Λήδας
1387σκύμνου, δυσελένας δυσελένας, ξεστῶν περγάμων Ἀπολλωνίων ἐρινύν· ὀττοτοῖ· ἰαλέμων ἰαλέμων
1391Δαρδανία τλᾶμον Γανυμήδεος ἱπποσύνᾳ, Διὸς εὐνέτα.
1393ΧΟΡΌΣ: σαφῶς λέγʼ ἡμῖν αὔθʼ ἕκαστα τἀν δόμοις.
1395ΦΡΎΞ: αἴλινον αἴλινον ἀρχὰν θανάτου βάρβαροι λέγουσιν, αἰαῖ, Ἀσιάδι φωνᾷ, βασιλέων ὅταν αἷμα χυθῇ κατὰ γᾶν ξίφεσιν σιδαρέοισιν Ἅιδα.
1400ἦλθον ἐς δόμους, ἵνʼ αὔθʼ ἕ- καστά σοι λέγω, λέοντες Ἕλλανες δύο διδύμω· τῷ μὲν ὁ στρατηλάτας πατὴρ ἐκλῄζεθʼ, ὃ δὲ παῖς Στροφίου, κακόμητις ἀνήρ,
1404οἷος Ὀδυσσεύς, σιγᾷ δόλιος, πιστὸς δὲ φίλοις, θρασὺς εἰς ἀλκάν, ξυνετὸς πολέμου, φόνιός τε δράκων. ἔρροι τᾶς ἡσύχου προνοίας κακοῦργος ὤν.
1409οἳ δὲ πρὸς θρόνους ἔσω μολόντες ἇς ἔγημʼ ὁ τοξότας Πάρις γυναικός, ὄμμα δακρύοις πεφυρμένοι, ταπεινοὶ ἕζονθʼ, ὃ μὲν τὸ κεῖθεν, ὃ δὲ
1413τὸ κεῖθεν, ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν πεφραγμένοι. περὶ δὲ γόνυ χέρας ἱκεσίους ἔβαλον ἔβαλον Ἑλένας ἄμφω. ἀνὰ δὲ δρομάδες ἔθορον ἔθορον ἀμφίπολοι Φρύγες·
1418προσεῖπε δʼ ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐν φόβῳ πεσών, μή τις εἴη δόλος. κἀδόκει τοῖς μὲν οὔ, τοῖς δʼ ἐς ἀρκυστάταν μηχανὰν ἐμπλέκειν
1423παῖδα τὰν Τυνδαρίδʼ ὁ μητροφόντας δράκων.
1425ΧΟΡΌΣ: σὺ δʼ ἦσθα ποῦ τότʼ; ἢ πάλαι φεύγεις φόβῳ,
1426ΦΡΎΞ: Φρυγίοις ἔτυχον Φρυγίοισι νόμοις παρὰ βόστρυχον αὔραν αὔραν Ἑλένας Ἑλένας εὐπαγεῖ κύκλῳ πτερίνῳ πρὸ παρηίδος ἀίσσων βαρβάροις νόμοισιν.
1431ἃ δὲ λίνον ἠλακάτᾳ δακτύλοις ἕλισσεν, νῆμα δʼ ἵετο πέδῳ, σκύλων Φρυγίων ἐπὶ τύμβον ἀγάλ- ματα συστολίσαι χρῄζουσα λίνῳ,
1436φάρεα πορφύρεα, δῶρα Κλυταιμήστρᾳ. προσεῖπεν δʼ Ὀρέστας Λάκαιναν κόραν· ὦ Διὸς παῖ, θὲς ἴχνος πέδῳ δεῦρʼ ἀποστᾶσα κλισμοῦ,
1441Πέλοπος ἐπὶ προπάτορος ἕδραν παλαιᾶς ἑστίας, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς λόγους ἐμούς. — ἄγει δʼ ἄγει νιν· ἃ δʼ ἐφείπετʼ, οὐ πρόμαντις ὧν ἔμελλεν·
1446ὁ δὲ συνεργὸς ἄλλʼ ἔπρασσʼ ἰὼν κακὸς Φωκεύς· οὐκ ἐκποδὼν ἴτʼ; ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ κακοὶ Φρύγες. ἔκλῃσε δʼ ἄλλον ἄλλοσʼ ἐν στέγαισι· τοὺς μὲν ἐν σταθμοῖ-
1449aσιν ἱππικοῖσι, τοὺς δʼ ἐν ἐξ- έδραισι, τοὺς δʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἐκεῖθεν διαρμόσας ἀποπρὸ δεσποίνας.
1452ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί τοὐπὶ τῷδε συμφορᾶς ἐγίγνετο;
1453ΦΡΎΞ: Ἰδαία μᾶτερ μᾶτερ ὀβρίμα ὀβρίμα, αἰαὶ φονίων παθέων ἀνόμων τε κακῶν ἅπερ ἔδρακον ἔδρακον ἐν δόμοις τυράννων.
1457ἀμφιπορφυρέων πέπλων ὑπὸ σκότου ξίφη σπάσα- ντες ἄλλος ἄλλοσʼ ἐν χεροῖν δίνασεν ὄμμα, μή τις παρὼν τύχοι. ὡς κάπροι δʼ ὀρέστεροι γυ-
1460ναικὸς ἀντίοι σταθέντες ἐννέπουσι· Κατθανῇ κατθανῇ, κακός σʼ ἀποκτείνει πόσις, κασιγνήτου προδοὺς
1464ἐν Ἄργει θανεῖν γόνον. ἃ δʼ ἀνίαχεν ἴ- αχεν· Ὤμοι μοι. λευκὸν δʼ ἐμβαλοῦσα πῆχυν στέρνοις κτύπησε κρᾶτα μέλεον πλαγᾷ·
1468φυγᾷ δὲ ποδὶ τὸ χρυσεοσάνδαλον ἴχνος ἔφερεν ἔφερεν· ἐς κόμας δὲ δακτύλους δικὼν Ὀρέστας, Μυκηνίδʼ ἀρβύλαν προβάς, ὤμοις ἀριστεροῖσιν ἀνακλάσας δέρην,
1472παίειν λαιμῶν ἔμελ- λεν εἴσω μέλαν ξίφος.
1473ΧΟΡΌΣ: ποῦ δʼ ἦτʼ ἀμύνειν οἱ κατὰ στέγας Φρύγες;
1474ΦΡΎΞ: ἰαχᾷ δόμων θύρετρα καὶ σταθμοὺς μοχλοῖσιν ἐκβαλόντες, ἔνθʼ ἐμίμνομεν, βοηδρομοῦμεν ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν στέγης, ὃ μὲν πέτρους, ὃ δʼ ἀγκύλας,
1477ὃ δὲ ξίφος πρόκωπον ἐν χεροῖν ἔχων. ἔναντα δʼ ἦλθε Πυλάδης ἀλίαστος, οἷος οἷος Ἕκ- τωρ ὁ Φρύγιος ἢ τρικόρυθος Αἴας, ὃν εἶδον εἶδον ἐν πύλαις
1482Πριαμίσι· φασγάνων δʼ ἀκμὰς συνήψαμεν. δὴ τότε διαπρεπεῖς τότʼ ἐγένοντο Φρύγες, ὅσον Ἄρεως ἀλκὰν ἥσσονες Ἑλλάδος ἐγενόμεθʼ αἰχμᾶς,
1486ὃ μὲν οἰχόμενος φυγάς, ὃ δὲ νέκυς ὤν, ὃ δὲ τραῦμα φέρων, ὃ δὲ λισσόμενος, θανάτου προβολάν· ὑπὸ σκότον δʼ ἐφεύγομεν· νεκροὶ δʼ ἔπιπτον, οἳ δʼ ἔμελλον, οἳ δʼ ἔκειντʼ.
1490ἔμολε δʼ ἁ τάλαινʼ Ἑρμιόνα δόμους ἐπὶ φόνῳ χαμαιπετεῖ ματρός, ἅ νιν ἔτεκεν τλάμων. ἄθυρσοι δʼ οἷά νιν δραμόντε Βάκχαι
1492aσκύμνον ἐν χεροῖν ὀρείαν ξυνήρπασαν· πάλιν δὲ τὰν Διὸς κόραν ἐπὶ σφαγὰν ἔτεινον· ἃ δʼ ἐκ θαλάμων ἐγένετο διαπρὸ δωμάτων
1496ἄφαντος, ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ γᾶ καὶ φῶς καὶ νύξ, ἤτοι φαρμάκοισιν ἢ μάγων τέχναις ἢ θεῶν κλοπαῖς. τὰ δʼ ὕστερʼ οὐκέτʼ οἶδα· δρα-
1499aπέτην γὰρ ἐξέκλεπτον ἐκ δόμων πόδα. πολύπονα δὲ πολύπονα πάθεα Μενέλεως ἀνασχόμενος ἀνόνητον ἀ- πὸ Τροίας ἔλαβε τὸν Ἑλένας γάμον.
1503ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν ἀμείβει καινὸν ἐκ καινῶν τόδε·
1504ξιφηφόρον γὰρ εἰσορῶ πρὸ δωμάτων
1505βαίνοντʼ Ὀρέστην ἐπτοημένῳ ποδί.
1506ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ποῦ ʼστιν οὗτος ὃς πέφευγεν ἐκ δόμων τοὐμὸν ξίφος;
1507ΦΡΎΞ: προσκυνῶ σʼ, ἄναξ, νόμοισι βαρβάροισι προσπίτνων.
1508ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἐν Ἰλίῳ τάδʼ ἐστίν, ἀλλʼ ἐν Ἀργείᾳ χθονί.
1509ΦΡΎΞ: πανταχοῦ ζῆν ἡδὺ μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν τοῖς σώφροσιν.
1510ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὔτι που κραυγὴν ἔθηκας Μενέλεῳ βοηδρομεῖν;
1511ΦΡΎΞ: σοὶ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγʼ ἀμύνειν· ἀξιώτερος γὰρ εἶ.
1512ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐνδίκως ἡ Τυνδάρειος ἆρα παῖς διώλετο;
1513ΦΡΎΞ: ἐνδικώτατʼ, εἴ γε λαιμοὺς εἶχε τριπτύχους θανεῖν.
1514ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δειλίᾳ γλώσσῃ χαρίζῃ, τἄνδον οὐχ οὕτω φρονῶν.
1515ΦΡΎΞ: οὐ γάρ, ἥτις Ἑλλάδʼ αὐτοῖς Φρυξὶ διελυμήνατο;
Part 23
1516ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὄμοσον — εἰ δὲ μή, κτενῶ σε — μὴ λέγειν ἐμὴν χάριν.
1517ΦΡΎΞ: τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν κατώμοσʼ, ἣν ἂν εὐορκοῖμʼ ἐγώ.
1518ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὧδε κἀν Τροίᾳ σίδηρος πᾶσι Φρυξὶν ἦν φόβος;
1519ΦΡΎΞ: ἄπεχε φάσγανον· πέλας γὰρ δεινὸν ἀνταυγεῖ φόνον.
1520ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ πέτρος γένῃ δέδοικας ὥστε Γοργόνʼ εἰσιδών;
1521ΦΡΎΞ: μὴ μὲν οὖν νεκρός· τὸ Γοργοῦς δʼ οὐ κάτοιδʼ ἐγὼ κάρα.
1522ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δοῦλος ὢν φοβῇ τὸν Ἅιδην, ὅς σʼ ἀπαλλάξει κακῶν;
1523ΦΡΎΞ: πᾶς ἀνήρ, κἂν δοῦλος ᾖ τις, ἥδεται τὸ φῶς ὁρῶν.
1524ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ λέγεις· σῴζει σε σύνεσις. ἀλλὰ βαῖνʼ ἔσω δόμων.
1525ΦΡΎΞ: οὐκ ἄρα κτενεῖς με;
1525bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀφεῖσαι.
1525cΦΡΎΞ: καλὸν ἔπος λέγεις τόδε.
1526ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλὰ μεταβουλευσόμεσθα.
1526bΦΡΎΞ: τοῦτο δʼ οὐ καλῶς λέγεις.
1527ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μῶρος, εἰ δοκεῖς με τλῆναι σὴν καθαιμάξαι δέρην· οὔτε γὰρ γυνὴ πέφυκας — οὔτʼ ἐν ἀνδράσιν σύ γʼ εἶ. τοῦ δὲ μὴ στῆσαί σε κραυγὴν οὕνεκʼ ἐξῆλθον δόμων· ὀξὺ γὰρ βοῆς ἀκοῦσαν Ἄργος ἐξεγείρεται. Μενέλεων δʼ οὐ τάρβος ἡμῖν ἀναλαβεῖν ἔσω ξίφους·
1532ἀλλʼ ἴτω ξανθοῖς ἐπʼ ὤμων βοστρύχοις γαυρούμενος· εἰ γὰρ Ἀργείους ἐπάξει τοῖσδε δώμασιν λαβών, τὸν Ἑλένης φόνον διώκων, κἀμὲ μὴ σῴζειν θέλει σύγγονόν τʼ ἐμὴν Πυλάδην τε τὸν τάδε ξυνδρῶντά μοι, παρθένον τε καὶ δάμαρτα δύο νεκρὼ κατόψεται.
1537ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἰὼ ἰὼ τύχα, ἕτερον εἰς ἀγῶνʼ, ἕτερον αὖ δόμος φοβερὸν ἀμφὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας πίτνει. — τί δρῶμεν; ἀγγέλλωμεν ἐς πόλιν τάδε; ἢ σῖγʼ ἔχωμεν; ἀσφαλέστερον, φίλαι.
1541— ἴδε πρὸ δωμάτων ἴδε προκηρύσσει θοάζων ὅδʼ αἰθέρος ἄνω καπνός. — ἅπτουσι πεύκας, ὡς πυρώσοντες δόμους τοὺς Τανταλείους, οὐδʼ ἀφίστανται φόνου. — τέλος ἔχει δαίμων βροτοῖς,
1545bτέλος ὅπᾳ θέλῃ. — μεγάλα δέ τις ἁ δύναμις διʼ ἀλαστόρων ἔπεσʼ ἔπεσε μέλαθρα τάδε διʼ αἱμάτων διὰ τὸ Μυρτίλου πέσημʼ ἐκ δίφρου.
1549ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τόνδε λεύσσω Μενέλεων δόμων πέλας
1550ὀξύπουν, ᾐσθημένον που τὴν τύχην ἣ νῦν πάρα.
1551οὐκέτʼ ἂν φθάνοιτε κλῇθρα συμπεραίνοντες μοχλοῖς,
1552ὦ κατὰ στέγας Ἀτρεῖδαι. δεινὸν εὐτυχῶν ἀνὴρ
1553πρὸς κακῶς πράσσοντας, ὡς σὺ νῦν, Ὀρέστα, δυστυχεῖς.
1554ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἥκω κλύων τὰ δεινὰ καὶ δραστήρια δισσοῖν λεόντοιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄνδρʼ αὐτὼ καλῶ. ἤκουσα γὰρ δὴ τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον ὡς οὐ τέθνηκεν, ἀλλʼ ἄφαντος οἴχεται — κενὴν ἀκούσας βάξιν, ἣν φόβῳ σφαλεὶς
1559ἤγγειλέ μοί τις. ἀλλὰ τοῦ μητροκτόνου τεχνάσματʼ ἐστὶ ταῦτα καὶ πολὺς γέλως. ἀνοιγέτω τις δῶμα· προσπόλοις λέγω ὠθεῖν πύλας τάσδʼ, ὡς ἂν ἀλλὰ παῖδʼ ἐμὴν ῥυσώμεθʼ ἀνδρῶν ἐκ χερῶν μιαιφόνων,
1564καὶ τὴν τάλαιναν ἀθλίαν δάμαρτʼ ἐμὴν λάβωμεν, ᾗ δεῖ ξυνθανεῖν ἐμῇ χερὶ τοὺς διολέσαντας τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον.
1567ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτος σύ, κλῄθρων τῶνδε μὴ ψαύσῃς χερί·
1568Μενέλαον εἶπον, ὃς πεπύργωσαι θράσει·
1569ἢ τῷδε θριγκῷ κρᾶτα συνθραύσω σέθεν,
1570ῥήξας παλαιὰ γεῖσα, τεκτόνων πόνον.
1571μοχλοῖς δʼ ἄραρε κλῇθρα, σῆς βοηδρόμου
1572σπουδῆς ἅ σʼ εἴρξει, μὴ δόμων ἔσω περᾶν.
1573ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔα, τί χρῆμα; λαμπάδων ὁρῶ σέλας,
1574δόμων δʼ ἐπʼ ἄκρων τούσδε πυργηρουμένους,
1575ξίφος δʼ ἐμῆς θυγατρὸς ἐπίφρουρον δέρῃ.
Part 24
1576ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πότερον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις;
1577ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐδέτερʼ· ἀνάγκη δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, σου κλύειν.
1578ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέλλω κτενεῖν σου θυγατέρʼ, εἰ βούλῃ μαθεῖν.
1579ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἑλένην φονεύσας ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσεις φόνον;
1580ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ κατέσχον μὴ θεῶν κλεφθεὶς ὕπο.
1581ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀρνῇ κατακτὰς κἀφʼ ὕβρει λέγεις τάδε;
1582ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λυπράν γε τὴν ἄρνησιν· εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον —
1583ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί χρῆμα δρᾶσαι; παρακαλεῖς γὰρ ἐς φόβον.
1584ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὴν Ἑλλάδος μιάστορʼ εἰς Ἅιδου βαλεῖν.
1585ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀπόδος δάμαρτος νέκυν, ὅπως χώσω τάφῳ.
1586ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θεοὺς ἀπαίτει. παῖδα δὲ κτενῶ σέθεν.
1587ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὁ μητροφόντης ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσει φόνον;
1588ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὁ πατρὸς ἀμύντωρ, ὃν σὺ προύδωκας θανεῖν.
1589ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐκ ἤρκεσέν σοι τὸ παρὸν αἷμα μητέρος;
1590ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἂν κάμοιμι τὰς κακὰς κτείνων ἀεί.
1591ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ καὶ σύ, Πυλάδη, τοῦδε κοινωνεῖς φόνου;
1592ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φησὶν σιωπῶν· ἀρκέσω δʼ ἐγὼ λέγων.
1593ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀλλʼ οὔτι χαίρων, ἤν γε μὴ φύγῃς πτεροῖς.
1594ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ φευξόμεσθα· πυρὶ δʼ ἀνάψομεν δόμους.
1595ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ γὰρ πατρῷον δῶμα πορθήσεις τόδε;
Part 25
1596ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὡς μή γʼ ἔχῃς σύ, τήνδʼ ἐπισφάξας πυρί.
1597ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κτεῖνʼ· ὡς κτανών γε τῶνδέ μοι δώσεις δίκην.
1598ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔσται τάδε.
1598bΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἆ ἆ, μηδαμῶς δράσῃς τάδε.
1599ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σίγα νυν, ἀνέχου δʼ ἐνδίκως πράσσων κακῶς.
1600ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ γὰρ δίκαιον ζῆν σε;
1600bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ κρατεῖν γε γῆς.
1601ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ποίας;
1601bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν Ἄργει τῷδε τῷ Πελασγικῷ.
1602ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: εὖ γοῦν θίγοις ἂν χερνίβων —
1602bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί δὴ γὰρ οὔ;
1603ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: καὶ σφάγια πρὸ δορὸς καταβάλοις.
1603bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σὺ δʼ ἂν καλῶς;
1604ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἁγνὸς γάρ εἰμι χεῖρας.
1604bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐ τὰς φρένας.
1605ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίς δʼ ἂν προσείποι σέ;
1605bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅστις ἐστὶ φιλοπάτωρ.
1606ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὅστις δὲ τιμᾷ μητέρα;
1606bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐδαίμων ἔφυ.
1607ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὔκουν σύ γε.
Part 26
1607bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ γὰρ ἁνδάνουσιν αἱ κακαί.
1608ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἄπαιρε θυγατρὸς φάσγανον.
1608bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψευδὴς ἔφυς.
1609ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀλλὰ κτενεῖς μου θυγατέρα;
1609bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ ψευδὴς ἔτʼ εἶ.
1610ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οἴμοι, τί δράσω;
1610bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πεῖθʼ ἐς Ἀργείους μολὼν —
1611ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πειθὼ τίνα;
1611bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἡμᾶς μὴ θανεῖν· αἰτοῦ πόλιν.
1612ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἢ παῖδά μου φονεύσετε;
1612bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὧδʼ ἔχει τάδε.
1613ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλένη —
1613bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τἀμὰ δʼ οὐχὶ τλήμονα;
1614ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: σὲ σφάγιον ἐκόμισʼ ἐκ Φρυγῶν —
1614bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ τόδʼ ἦν.
1615ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πόνους πονήσας μυρίους.
1615bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πλήν γʼ εἰς ἐμέ.
1616ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πέπονθα δεινά.
1616bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τότε γὰρ ἦσθʼ ἀνωφελής.
1617ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔχεις με.
Part 27
1617bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σαυτὸν σύ γʼ ἔλαβες κακὸς γεγώς.
1618ἀλλʼ εἶʼ, ὕφαπτε δώματʼ, Ἠλέκτρα, τάδε·
1619σύ τʼ, ὦ φίλων μοι τῶν ἐμῶν σαφέστατε,
1620Πυλάδη, κάταιθε γεῖσα τειχέων τάδε.
1621ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ γαῖα Δαναῶν ἱππίου τʼ Ἄργους κτίται,
1622οὐκ εἶʼ ἐνόπλῳ ποδὶ βοηδρομήσετε;
1623πᾶσαν γὰρ ὑμῶν ὅδε βιάζεται πόλιν
1624ζῆν, αἷμα μητρὸς μυσαρὸν ἐξειργασμένος.
1625ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: Μενέλαε, παῦσαι λῆμʼ ἔχων τεθηγμένον· Φοῖβός σʼ ὁ Λητοῦς παῖς ὅδʼ ἐγγὺς ὢν καλῶ· σύ θʼ ὃς ξιφήρης τῇδʼ ἐφεδρεύεις κόρῃ, Ὀρέσθʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς οὓς φέρων ἥκω λόγους. Ἑλένην μὲν ἣν σὺ διολέσαι πρόθυμος ὢν
1630ἥμαρτες, ὀργὴν Μενέλεῳ ποιούμενος, ἐγώ νιν ἐξέσῳσα κἀπὸ φασγάνου τοῦ σοῦ κελευσθεὶς ἥρπασʼ ἐκ Διὸς πατρός. Ζηνὸς γὰρ οὖσαν ζῆν νιν ἄφθιτον χρεών, Κάστορί τε Πολυδεύκει τʼ ἐν αἰθέρος πτυχαῖς
1637σύνθακος ἔσται, ναυτίλοις σωτήριος. ἄλλην δὲ νύμφην ἐς δόμους κτῆσαι λαβών, ἐπεὶ θεοὶ τῷ τῆσδε καλλιστεύματι Ἕλληνας εἰς ἓν καὶ Φρύγας συνήγαγον, θανάτους τʼ ἔθηκαν, ὡς ἀπαντλοῖεν χθονὸς
1642ὕβρισμα θνητῶν ἀφθόνου πληρώματος. τὰ μὲν καθʼ Ἑλένην ὧδʼ ἔχει· σὲ δʼ αὖ χρεών, Ὀρέστα, γαίας τῆσδʼ ὑπερβαλόνθʼ ὅρους Παρράσιον οἰκεῖν δάπεδον ἐνιαυτοῦ κύκλον. κεκλήσεται δὲ σῆς φυγῆς ἐπώνυμον
1647Ἀζᾶσιν Ἀρκάσιν τʼ Ὀρέστειον καλεῖν. ἐνθένδε δʼ ἐλθὼν τὴν Ἀθηναίων πόλιν δίκην ὑπόσχες αἵματος μητροκτόνου Εὐμενίσι τρισσαῖς· θεοὶ δέ σοι δίκης βραβῆς πάγοισιν ἐν Ἀρείοισιν εὐσεβεστάτην
1652ψῆφον διοίσουσʼ, ἔνθα νικῆσαί σε χρή. ἐφʼ ἧς δʼ ἔχεις, Ὀρέστα, φάσγανον δέρῃ, γῆμαι πέπρωταί σʼ Ἑρμιόνην· ὃς δʼ οἴεται Νεοπτόλεμος γαμεῖν νιν, οὐ γαμεῖ ποτε. θανεῖν γὰρ αὐτῷ μοῖρα Δελφικῷ ξίφει,
1657δίκας Ἀχιλλέως πατρὸς ἐξαιτοῦντά με. Πυλάδῃ δʼ ἀδελφῆς λέκτρον, ὥς ποτʼ ᾔνεσας, δός· ὁ δʼ ἐπιών νιν βίοτος εὐδαίμων μένει. Ἄργους δʼ Ὀρέστην, Μενέλεως, ἔα κρατεῖν, ἐλθὼν δʼ ἄνασσε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός,
1662φερνὰς ἔχων δάμαρτος, ἥ σε μυρίοις πόνοις διδοῦσα δεῦρʼ ἀεὶ διήνυσεν. τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ τῷδʼ ἐγὼ θήσω καλῶς, ὅς νιν φονεῦσαι μητέρʼ ἐξηνάγκασα.
1666ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ Λοξία μαντεῖε, σῶν θεσπισμάτων.
1667οὐ ψευδόμαντις ἦσθʼ ἄρʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐτήτυμος.
1668καίτοι μʼ ἐσῄει δεῖμα, μή τινος κλύων
1669ἀλαστόρων δόξαιμι σὴν κλύειν ὄπα.
1670ἀλλʼ εὖ τελεῖται, πείσομαι δὲ σοῖς λόγοις.
1671ἰδού, μεθίημʼ Ἑρμιόνην ἀπὸ σφαγῆς,
1672καὶ λέκτρʼ ἐπῄνεσʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἂν διδῷ πατήρ.
1673ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ Ζηνὸς Ἑλένη χαῖρε παῖ· ζηλῶ δέ σε
1674θεῶν κατοικήσασαν ὄλβιον δόμον.
1675Ὀρέστα, σοὶ δὲ παῖδʼ ἐγὼ κατεγγυῶ,
1676Φοίβου λέγοντος· εὐγενὴς δʼ ἀπʼ εὐγενοῦς
1677γήμας ὄναιο καὶ σὺ χὡ διδοὺς ἐγώ.
1678ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: χωρεῖτέ νυν ἕκαστος οἷ προστάσσομεν,
1679νείκας τε διαλύεσθε.
1679bΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πείθεσθαι χρεών.
1680ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κἀγὼ τοιοῦτος· σπένδομαι δὲ συμφοραῖς,
1681Μενέλαε, καὶ σοῖς, Λοξία, θεσπίσμασιν.
1682ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: ἴτε νυν καθʼ ὁδόν, τὴν καλλίστην
1683θεῶν Εἰρήνην τιμῶντες· ἐγὼ δʼ
1684Ἑλένην Δίοις μελάθροις πελάσω,
1685λαμπρῶν ἄστρων πόλον ἐξανύσας,
1686ἔνθα παρʼ Ἥρᾳ τῇ θʼ Ἡρακλέους
1687Ἥβῃ πάρεδρος θεὸς ἀνθρώποις
1688ἔσται σπονδαῖς ἔντιμος ἀεί,
1689σὺν Τυνδαρίδαις, τοῖς Διὸς υἱοῖς,
1690ναύταις μεδέουσα θαλάσσης.
1691ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὦ μέγα σεμνὴ Νίκη, τὸν ἐμὸν
1692βίοτον κατέχοις
1693καὶ μὴ λήγοις στεφανοῦσα.
Part 1
1ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδʼ εἰπεῖν ἔπος οὐδὲ πάθος οὐδὲ ξυμφορὰ θεήλατος, ἧς οὐκ ἂν ἄραιτʼ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπου φύσις. ὁ γὰρ μακάριος — κοὐκ ὀνειδίζω τύχας — Διὸς πεφυκώς, ὡς λέγουσι, Τάνταλος
6κορυφῆς ὑπερτέλλοντα δειμαίνων πέτρον ἀέρι ποτᾶται· καὶ τίνει ταύτην δίκην, ὡς μὲν λέγουσιν, ὅτι θεοῖς ἄνθρωπος ὢν κοινῆς τραπέζης ἀξίωμʼ ἔχων ἴσον, ἀκόλαστον ἔσχε γλῶσσαν, αἰσχίστην νόσον.
11οὗτος φυτεύει Πέλοπα, τοῦ δʼ Ἀτρεὺς ἔφυ, ᾧ στέμματα ξήνασʼ ἐπέκλωσεν θεὰ ἔριν, Θυέστῃ πόλεμον ὄντι συγγόνῳ θέσθαι. τί τἄρρητʼ ἀναμετρήσασθαί με δεῖ; ἔδαισε δʼ οὖν νιν τέκνʼ ἀποκτείνας Ἀτρεύς.
16Ἀτρέως δέ· τὰς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ σιγῶ τύχας· ὁ κλεινός, εἰ δὴ κλεινός, Ἀγαμέμνων ἔφυ Μενέλεώς τε Κρήσσης μητρὸς Ἀερόπης ἄπο. γαμεῖ δʼ ὃ μὲν δὴ τὴν θεοῖς στυγουμένην Μενέλαος Ἑλένην, ὃ δὲ Κλυταιμήστρας λέχος
21ἐπίσημον εἰς Ἕλληνας Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ· ᾧ παρθένοι μὲν τρεῖς ἔφυμεν ἐκ μιᾶς, Χρυσόθεμις Ἰφιγένειά τʼ Ἠλέκτρα τʼ ἐγώ, ἄρσην δʼ Ὀρέστης, μητρὸς ἀνοσιωτάτης, ἣ πόσιν ἀπείρῳ περιβαλοῦσʼ ὑφάσματι
26ἔκτεινεν· ὧν δʼ ἕκατι, παρθένῳ λέγειν οὐ καλόν· ἐῶ τοῦτʼ ἀσαφὲς ἐν κοινῷ σκοπεῖν. Φοίβου δʼ ἀδικίαν μὲν τί δεῖ κατηγορεῖν; πείθει δʼ Ὀρέστην μητέρʼ ἥ σφʼ ἐγείνατο κτεῖναι, πρὸς οὐχ ἅπαντας εὔκλειαν φέρον.
31ὅμως δʼ ἀπέκτεινʼ οὐκ ἀπειθήσας θεῷ· κἀγὼ μετέσχον, οἷα δὴ γυνή, φόνου. ἐντεῦθεν ἀγρίᾳ συντακεὶς νόσῳ τλήμων Ὀρέστης ὅδε πεσὼν ἐν δεμνίοις κεῖται, τὸ μητρὸς δʼ αἷμά νιν τροχηλατεῖ
37μανίαισιν· ὀνομάζειν γὰρ αἰδοῦμαι θεὰς εὐμενίδας, αἳ τόνδʼ ἐξαμιλλῶνται φόβῳ. ἕκτον δὲ δὴ τόδʼ ἦμαρ ἐξ ὅτου σφαγαῖς θανοῦσα μήτηρ πυρὶ καθήγνισται δέμας, ὧν οὔτε σῖτα διὰ δέρης ἐδέξατο,
42οὐ λούτρʼ ἔδωκε χρωτί· χλανιδίων δʼ ἔσω κρυφθείς, ὅταν μὲν σῶμα κουφισθῇ νόσου, ἔμφρων δακρύει, ποτὲ δὲ δεμνίων ἄπο πηδᾷ δρομαῖος, πῶλος ὣς ὑπὸ ζυγοῦ. ἔδοξε δʼ Ἄργει τῷδε μήθʼ ἡμᾶς στέγαις,
47μὴ πυρὶ δέχεσθαι, μήτε προσφωνεῖν τινα μητροκτονοῦντας· κυρία δʼ ἥδʼ ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ διοίσει ψῆφον Ἀργείων πόλις, εἰ χρὴ θανεῖν νὼ λευσίμῳ πετρώματι. ἐλπίδα δὲ δή τινʼ ἔχομεν ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν·
53ἥκει γὰρ ἐς γῆν Μενέλεως Τροίας ἄπο, λιμένα δὲ Ναυπλίειον ἐκπληρῶν πλάτῃ ἀκταῖσιν ὁρμεῖ, δαρὸν ἐκ Τροίας χρόνον ἄλαισι πλαγχθείς· τὴν δὲ δὴ πολύστονον Ἑλένην, φυλάξας νύκτα, μή τις εἰσιδὼν
58μεθʼ ἡμέραν στείχουσαν, ὧν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ παῖδες τεθνᾶσιν, ἐς πέτρων ἔλθῃ βολάς, προύπεμψεν ἐς δῶμʼ ἡμέτερον· ἔστιν δʼ ἔσω κλαίουσʼ ἀδελφὴν συμφοράν τε δωμάτων. ἔχει δὲ δή τινʼ ἀλγέων παραψυχήν·
63ἣν γὰρ κατʼ οἴκους ἔλιφʼ, ὅτʼ ἐς Τροίαν ἔπλει, παρθένον ἐμῇ τε μητρὶ παρέδωκεν τρέφειν Μενέλαος ἀγαγὼν Ἑρμιόνην Σπάρτης ἄπο, ταύτῃ γέγηθε κἀπιλήθεται κακῶν. βλέπω δὲ πᾶσαν εἰς ὁδόν, πότʼ ὄψομαι
68Μενέλαον ἥκονθʼ· ὡς τά γʼ ἄλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀσθενοῦς ῥώμης ὀχούμεθʼ, ἤν τι μὴ κείνου πάρα σωθῶμεν. ἄπορον χρῆμα δυστυχῶν δόμος.
71ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὦ παῖ Κλυταιμήστρας τε καὶ Ἀγαμέμνονος, παρθένε μακρὸν δὴ μῆκος Ἠλέκτρα χρόνου, πῶς, ὦ τάλαινα, σύ τε κασίγνητός τε σὸς τλήμων Ὀρέστης μητρὸς ὅδε φονεὺς ἔχει; προσφθέγμασιν γὰρ οὐ μιαίνομαι σέθεν,
76ἐς Φοῖβον ἀναφέρουσα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. καίτοι στένω γε τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας μόρον, ἐμῆς ἀδελφῆς, ἥν, ἐπεὶ πρὸς Ἴλιον ἔπλευσʼ ὅπως ἔπλευσα θεομανεῖ πότμῳ, οὐκ εἶδον, ἀπολειφθεῖσα δʼ αἰάζω τύχας.
81ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένη, τί σοι λέγοιμʼ ἂν ἅ γε παροῦσʼ ὁρᾷς;
83ἐγὼ μὲν ἄυπνος πάρεδρος ἀθλίῳ νεκρῷ
84— νεκρὸς γὰρ οὗτος οὕνεκα σμικρᾶς πνοῆς —
85θάσσω· τὰ τούτου δʼ οὐκ ὀνειδίζω κακά.
86σὺ δʼ εἶ μακαρία μακάριός θʼ ὁ σὸς πόσις.
88ἙΛΈΝΗ: πόσον χρόνον δʼ ἐν δεμνίοις πέπτωχʼ ὅδε;
89ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐξ οὗπερ αἷμα γενέθλιον κατήνυσεν.
90ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὢ μέλεος· ἡ τεκοῦσά θʼ, ὡς διώλετο.
91ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὕτως ἔχει τάδʼ, ὥστʼ ἀπείρηκεν κακοῖς.
92ἙΛΈΝΗ: πρὸς θεῶν, πίθοιʼ ἂν δῆτά μοί τι, παρθένε;
93ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὡς ἄσχολός γε συγγόνου προσεδρίᾳ.
94ἙΛΈΝΗ: βούλῃ τάφον μοι πρὸς κασιγνήτης μολεῖν;
95ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μητρὸς κελεύεις τῆς ἐμῆς; τίνος χάριν;
96ἙΛΈΝΗ: κόμης ἀπαρχὰς καὶ χοὰς φέρουσʼ ἐμάς.
97ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σοὶ δʼ οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν πρὸς φίλων στείχειν τάφον;
98ἙΛΈΝΗ: δεῖξαι γὰρ Ἀργείοισι σῶμʼ αἰσχύνομαι.
99ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὀψέ γε φρονεῖς εὖ, τότε λιποῦσʼ αἰσχρῶς δόμους.
100ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας, οὐ φίλως δʼ ἐμοὶ λέγεις.
101ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αἰδὼς δὲ δὴ τίς σʼ ἐς Μυκηναίους ἔχει;
102ἙΛΈΝΗ: δέδοικα πατέρας τῶν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ νεκρῶν.
103ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: δεινὸν γάρ· Ἄργει τʼ ἀναβοᾷ διὰ στόμα.
104ἙΛΈΝΗ: σύ νυν χάριν μοι τὸν φόβον λύσασα δός.
Part 1
1ELECTRA: There is nothing so terrible to describe, or suffering, or heaven-sent affliction, that human nature may not have to bear the burden of it. The blessed Tantalus—and I am not now taunting him with his misfortunes—
5Tantalus, the reputed son of Zeus, flies in the air, quailing at the rock which looms above his head; paying this penalty, they say, for the shameful weakness he displayed in failing to keep a bridle on his lips, when admitted by gods, though he was a man,
10to share the honors of their feasts like one of them.
11He begot Pelops, the father of Atreus, for whom the goddess, when she had carded her wool, spun a web of strife—to make war with his own brother Thyestes. But why need I retrace that hideous tale?
15Well, Atreus slew Thyestes’ children and feasted him on them. Atreus, now; I pass over intermediate events; from Atreus and Aerope of Crete were born the famous Agamemnon, if he really was famous, and Menelaus. Now Menelaus married Helen,
20the gods’ abhorrence; while lord Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, notorious in Hellas; and we three daughters were born: Chrysothemis, Iphigenia, and myself, Electra; also a son Orestes; all from that one accursed mother,
25who slew her husband, after snaring him in an inextricable robe. Her reason a maiden’s lips may not declare, and so I leave it unclear for the world to guess at. What need for me to charge Phoebus with wrong-doing? Though he persuaded Orestes
30to slay his own mother, a deed that few approved. Still it was his obedience to the god that made him kill her; I had a share in the murder, in so far as a woman could,
34After this my poor Orestes, wasting away in a cruel disease,
35lies fallen on his couch, and it is his mother’s blood that drives him round and round in frenzied fits; I am ashamed to name the goddesses, whose terrors are chasing him—the Eumenides. It is now the sixth day
40since the body of his murdered mother was committed to the cleansing fire; since then no food has gone down his throat, nor has he washed his skin; but wrapped in his cloak he weeps in his lucid moments, whenever the fever leaves him;
45at other times he bounds headlong from his couch, as a colt when it is loosed from the yoke. This city of Argos has decreed that no man give us shelter in home or hearth, or speak to matricides like us; and this is the fateful day on which the Argives will take a vote,
50whether we are both to die by stoning. There is, it is true, one hope of escape from death: Menelaus has landed from Troy; his fleet now crowds the haven of Nauplia where he has come to anchor on the shore, returned at last from Troy
55after ceaseless wanderings; but Helen, that so-called lady of sorrows, he has sent on to our palace, waiting for the night, lest any of those parents whose sons died at Troy might see her if she went by day, and set to stoning her.
60Within she sits, weeping for her sister and the calamities of her family, and yet she has still some solace in her woe; for Hermione, the child she left at home when she sailed for Troy, the maid whom Menelaus brought from Sparta
65and entrusted to my mother’s keeping, is still a cause of joy to her and a reason to forget her sorrows.
67I am watching each approach, until I see Menelaus arriving; for unless we find some safety from him, we have only a feeble anchor to ride on otherwise.
70A helpless thing, an unlucky house!
71HELEN: Daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, unhappy Electra, a maiden for so long, how is it with you and your brother, this ill-starred Orestes who slew his mother?
75For referring the sin as I do to Phoebus, I incur no pollution by addressing you; and yet I am truly sorry for the death of my sister Clytemnestra, whom I never saw after I was driven by heaven-sent frenzy to sail as I did to Ilium;
80but now that I am parted from her, I bewail our misfortunes.
81ELECTRA: Helen, why should I speak of that which your own eyes can see?
83Beside his wretched corpse I sit, sleepless—for corpse he is, so faint his breath—
85not that I reproach him with his sufferings; but you are highly blessed and your husband too.
88HELEN: How long has he lain in this way on the couch?
89ELECTRA: Ever since he spilt his mother’s blood.
90HELEN: Unhappy wretch! unhappy mother! what a death she died.
91ELECTRA: Unhappy enough to succumb to his misery.
92HELEN: By the gods, would you hear me a moment, maiden?
93ELECTRA: Yes, with such leisure as this watching over a brother leaves.
94HELEN: Will you go for me to my sister’s tomb?
95ELECTRA: Would you have me seek my mother’s tomb? Why?
96HELEN: To carry an offering of hair and a libation from me.
97ELECTRA: Isn’t it right for you to go to the tomb of one you love?
98HELEN: No, for I am ashamed to show myself in Argos.
99ELECTRA: A late repentance surely for one who left her home so shamefully then.
100HELEN: You have told the truth, but your telling is not kind to me.
101ELECTRA: What is this supposed shame before the eyes of Mycenae that possesses you?
102HELEN: I am afraid of the fathers of those who lie dead at Ilium.
103ELECTRA: Good cause for fear; your name is on every tongue in Argos.
104HELEN: Then free me of my fear and grant me this favor.
Part 2
105ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην μητρὸς ἐσβλέψαι τάφον.
106ἙΛΈΝΗ: αἰσχρόν γε μέντοι προσπόλους φέρειν τάδε.
107ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δʼ οὐχὶ θυγατρὸς Ἑρμιόνης πέμπεις δέμας;
108ἙΛΈΝΗ: ἐς ὄχλον ἕρπειν παρθένοισιν οὐ καλόν.
109ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ μὴν τίνοι γʼ ἂν τῇ τεθνηκυίᾳ τροφάς.
110ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας, πείθομαί τέ σοι, κόρη. ὦ τέκνον, ἔξελθʼ, Ἑρμιόνη, δόμων πάρος καὶ λαβὲ χοὰς τάσδʼ ἐν χεροῖν κόμας τʼ ἐμάς· ἐλθοῦσα δʼ ἀμφὶ τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον μελίκρατʼ ἄφες γάλακτος οἰνωπόν τʼ ἄχνην,
116καὶ στᾶσʼ ἐπʼ ἄκρου χώματος λέξον τάδε· Ἑλένη σʼ ἀδελφὴ ταῖσδε δωρεῖται χοαῖς, φόβῳ προσελθεῖν μνῆμα σόν, ταρβοῦσά τε Ἀργεῖον ὄχλον. πρευμενῆ δʼ ἄνωγέ νιν ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ καὶ πόσει γνώμην ἔχειν
121τοῖν τʼ ἀθλίοιν τοῖνδʼ, οὓς ἀπώλεσεν θεός. ἃ δʼ εἰς ἀδελφὴν καιρὸς ἐκπονεῖν ἐμέ, ἅπανθʼ ὑπισχνοῦ νερτέρων δωρήματα. ἴθʼ, ὦ τέκνον μοι, σπεῦδε καὶ χοὰς τάφῳ δοῦσʼ ὡς τάχιστα τῆς πάλιν μέμνησʼ ὁδοῦ.
126ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φύσις, ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ὡς μέγʼ εἶ κακόν, σωτήριόν τε τοῖς καλῶς κεκτημένοις. εἴδετε παρʼ ἄκρας ὡς ἀπέθρισεν τρίχας, σῴζουσα κάλλος; ἔστι δʼ ἡ πάλαι γυνή. θεοί σε μισήσειαν, ὥς μʼ ἀπώλεσας
131καὶ τόνδε πᾶσάν θʼ Ἑλλάδα. ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγώ· αἵδʼ αὖ πάρεισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς θρηνήμασι φίλαι ξυνῳδοί· τάχα μεταστήσουσʼ ὕπνου τόνδʼ ἡσυχάζοντʼ, ὄμμα δʼ ἐκτήξουσʼ ἐμὸν δακρύοις, ἀδελφὸν ὅταν ὁρῶ μεμηνότα.
140ΧΟΡΌΣ: σῖγα σῖγα, λεπτὸν ἴχνος ἀρβύλης
141τίθετε, μὴ κτυπεῖτʼ.
142ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἀποπρὸ βᾶτʼ ἐκεῖσʼ, ἀποπρό μοι κοίτας.
143ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἰδού, πείθομαι.
145ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἆ ἆ σύριγγος ὅπως πνοὰ
146λεπτοῦ δόνακος, ὦ φίλα, φώνει μοι.
147ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἴδʼ, ἀτρεμαῖον ὡς ὑπόροφον φέρω
148βοάν.
148bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ναί, οὕτως·
149κάταγε κάταγε, πρόσιθʼ ἀτρέμας, ἀτρέμας ἴθι·
150λόγον ἀπόδος ἐφʼ ὅ τι χρέος ἐμόλετέ ποτε.
151χρόνια γὰρ πεσὼν ὅδʼ εὐνάζεται.
153ΧΟΡΌΣ: πῶς ἔχει; λόγου μετάδος, ὦ φίλα·
154τίνα τύχαν εἴπω; τίνα δὲ συμφοράν;
155ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔτι μὲν ἐμπνέει, βραχὺ δʼ ἀναστένει.
156ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί φῄς; ὦ τάλας.
158ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὀλεῖς, εἰ βλέφαρα κινήσεις
159ὕπνου γλυκυτάταν φερομένῳ χάριν.
160ΧΟΡΌΣ: μέλεος ἐχθίστων θεόθεν ἐργμάτων,
161τάλας.
162ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φεῦ μόχθων.
163ἄδικος ἄδικα τότʼ ἄρʼ ἔλακεν ἔλακεν, ἀπό-
164φονον ὅτʼ ἐπὶ τρίποδι Θέμιδος ἄρʼ ἐδίκασε
165φόνον ὁ Λοξίας ἐμᾶς ματέρος.
166ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὁρᾷς; ἐν πέπλοισι κινεῖ δέμας.
Part 2
105ELECTRA: I could not bear to look upon my mother’s grave.
106HELEN: And yet it would be shame indeed for servants to bear these offerings.
107ELECTRA: Then why not send your daughter Hermione?
108HELEN: It is not good for maidens to go into a crowd.
109ELECTRA: And yet she would be repaying her dead foster-mother’s care.
110HELEN: You have told the truth and have convinced me, maiden. Calling. Hermione, my child, come out, before the palace. Take these libations and these tresses of mine in your hands, and go pour round Clytemnestra’s tomb
115a mingled cup of honey, milk, and frothing wine; then stand upon the heaped-up grave, and say this: Helen, your sister, sends you these libations as her gift, fearing herself to approach your tomb from terror of the Argive mob and bid her harbor kindly thoughts
120towards me and you and my husband; towards these two wretched sufferers, too, whom the gods have destroyed. And promise that I will pay in full whatever funeral gifts are due from me to a sister. Now go, my child, and hurry;
125and soon as you have made the libations at the tomb, think of your return. Exit Helen.
126ELECTRA: O human nature, how great an evil you are in men! and what salvation, too, to those who have a goodly heritage there.
128Did you see how she cut off her hair only at the ends, to preserve its beauty? She is the same woman as of old.
130May the gods hate you! for you have proved the ruin of me and my brother and all Hellas.
132Alas! here are my friends once more, coming to unite their plaintive dirge with mine; they will soon put an end to my brother’s peaceful sleep, and cause my tears to flow
135when I see him in frenzy.
140CHORUS: Hush, hush! let your footsteps fall lightly! not a sound!
142ELECTRA: Go further from his couch, further, I beseech you!
143CHORUS: There, I obey.
145ELECTRA: Ah, ah! Speak like the breath of a slender reed-pipe, my dear, I pray.
147CHORUS: See, how soft and low I drop my voice.
148bELECTRA: Yes, do so; approach now, softly, softly!
150Give me an account of why you have come here. For at last he has lain down, and sleeps.
153CHORUS: How is he? You give us an account, my dear; what has happened, what misfortune?
155ELECTRA: He is still breathing, but his moans grow feeble.
156CHORUS: What are you saying? turning to Orestes. Unhappy Orestes!
158ELECTRA: You will kill him, if you disturb him from the sweet sleep he now enjoys.
160CHORUS: Poor sufferer, for his hateful deeds, inspired by a god!
162ELECTRA: Ah, misery! Injustice it was, after all, from an unjust mouth, when Loxias on the tripod of Themis
165decreed my mother’s most unnatural murder.
166CHORUS: Do you see? He stirs beneath his robe!
Part 3
167ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σὺ γάρ νιν, ὦ τάλαινα,
168θωΰξασʼ ἔβαλες ἐξ ὕπνου.
169ΧΟΡΌΣ: εὕδειν μὲν οὖν ἔδοξα.
170ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἀπʼ οἴκων
171πάλιν ἀνὰ πόδα σὸν εἱλίξεις
172μεθεμένα κτύπου;
173ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὑπνώσσει.
173bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: λέγεις εὖ.
174πότνια, πότνια νύξ,
175ὑπνοδότειρα τῶν πολυπόνων βροτῶν,
178ἐρεβόθεν ἴθι, μόλε μόλε κατάπτερος
179τὸν Ἀγαμεμνόνιον ἐπὶ δόμον.
180ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀλγέων ὑπό τε συμφορᾶς
181διοιχόμεθʼ, οἰχόμεθα. κτύπον ἠγάγετʼ· οὐχὶ σῖγα
182σῖγα φυλασσομένα στόματος
185ἄνα κέλαδον ἀπὸ λέχεος ἥ-
186συχον ὕπνου χάριν παρέξεις, φίλα;
187ΧΟΡΌΣ: θρόει τίς κακῶν τελευτὰ μένει.
188ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανεῖν θανεῖν, τί δʼ ἄλλο;
189οὐδὲ γὰρ πόθον ἔχει βορᾶς.
190ΧΟΡΌΣ: πρόδηλος ἆρʼ ὁ πότμος.
191ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐξέθυσʼ ὁ Φοῖβος ἡμᾶς
192μέλεον ἀπόφονον αἷμα δοὺς
193πατροφόνου ματρός.
194ΧΟΡΌΣ: δίκᾳ μέν.
194bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καλῶς δʼ οὔ.
195ἔκανες ἔθανες, ὦ
196τεκομένα με μᾶτερ, ἀπὸ δʼ ὤλεσας
197πατέρα τέκνα τε τάδε σέθεν ἀφʼ αἵματος·
200ὀλόμεθʼ ἰσονέκυες, ὀλόμεθα.
201σύ τε γὰρ ἐν νεκροῖς, τό τʼ ἐμὸν οἴχεται
204βίου τὸ πλέον μέρος ἐν στοναχαῖσί τε καὶ γόοισι
205δάκρυσί τʼ ἐννυχίοις, ἄγαμος
206ἄτεκνος ἅτε βίοτον ἁ
207μέλεος ἐς τὸν αἰὲν ἕλκω χρόνον.
208ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὅρα παροῦσα, παρθένʼ Ἠλέκτρα, πέλας,
209μὴ κατθανών σε σύγγονος λέληθʼ ὅδε·
210οὐ γάρ μʼ ἀρέσκει τῷ λίαν παρειμένῳ.
211ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ φίλον ὕπνου θέλγητρον, ἐπίκουρον νόσου,
212ὡς ἡδύ μοι προσῆλθες — ἐν δέοντί γε.
213ὦ πότνια Λήθη τῶν κακῶν, ὡς εἶ σοφὴ
214καὶ τοῖσι δυστυχοῦσιν εὐκταία θεός.
215πόθεν ποτʼ ἦλθον δεῦρο; πῶς δʼ ἀφικόμην;
216ἀμνημονῶ γάρ, τῶν πρὶν ἀπολειφθεὶς φρενῶν.
217ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλταθʼ, ὥς μʼ ηὔφρανας εἰς ὕπνον πεσών.
218βούλῃ θίγω σου κἀνακουφίσω δέμας;
219ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λαβοῦ λαβοῦ δῆτʼ, ἐκ δʼ ὄμορξον ἀθλίου
220στόματος ἀφρώδη πέλανον ὀμμάτων τʼ ἐμῶν.
221ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἰδού· τὸ δούλευμʼ ἡδύ, κοὐκ ἀναίνομαι
222ἀδέλφʼ ἀδελφῇ χειρὶ θεραπεύειν μέλη.
223ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὑπόβαλε πλευροῖς πλευρά, καὐχμώδη κόμην
224ἄφελε προσώπου· λεπτὰ γὰρ λεύσσω κόραις.
225ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ βοστρύχων πινῶδες ἄθλιον κάρα,
226ὡς ἠγρίωσαι διὰ μακρᾶς ἀλουσίας.
227ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κλῖνόν μʼ ἐς εὐνὴν αὖθις· ὅταν ἀνῇ νόσος
228μανίας, ἄναρθρός εἰμι κἀσθενῶ μέλη.
229ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἰδού. φίλον τοι τῷ νοσοῦντι δέμνιον,
230ἀνιαρὸν ὂν τὸ κτῆμʼ, ἀναγκαῖον δʼ ὅμως.
Part 3
167ELECTRA: Alas! Your noisy chatter has roused him from his sleep.
169CHORUS: No, I think he is asleep.
170ELECTRA: Leave us, go away from the house! circle back again! cease this noise!
173CHORUS: He is asleep.
173bELECTRA: You are right. O Lady Night,
175giver of sleep to hard-working mortals, come from Erebus, come, wing your way to the palace of Agamemnon.
180For with misery and woe we are lost, we are gone.
181There! To the Chorus. that noise again! Do be still and keep the sound of your voice
185away from his couch; let him enjoy his sleep in peace, my dear!
187CHORUS: Tell me, what end of troubles awaits him.
188ELECTRA: Death, death; what else? For he has no desire for food.
190CHORUS: Then his destiny is already clear.
191ELECTRA: Phoebus offered us up for sacrifice, when he ordered the pitiable, unnatural murder of our mother, who killed our father.
194CHORUS: It was just.
194bELECTRA: But it was not well done.
195You killed and were killed, my mother! and you have slain a father and your own children;
200for we are dead or as good as dead. You are in your grave, and the greater part of my life is spent in weeping and wailing,
205and tears at night; unmarried, childless, I drag out forever a joyless existence.
208CHORUS LEADER: Electra, you are nearby; see whether your brother has not died without your knowing it;
210for I do not like his utter prostration.
211ORESTES: Sweet charm of sleep, savior in sickness, how sweetly you came to me, how needed! Revered forgetfulness of troubles, how wise a goddess you are, and invoked by every suffering soul!
215Addressing Electra. Where have I come from? How am I here? For I have lost all previous recollection and remember nothing.
217ELECTRA: My dearest, how glad I was to see you fall asleep! Do you want me take you in my arms and lift your body?
219ORESTES: Take, oh! take me in your arms, and from this sufferer’s mouth
220and eyes wipe off the flakes of foam.
221ELECTRA: There! The service is sweet, and I do not refuse to tend a brother’s limbs with a sister’s hand.
223ORESTES: Prop me up, your side to mine; brush the matted hair from my face, for I see dimly.
225ELECTRA: Ah, poor head, how dirty your hair! How savage you look, remaining so long unwashed!
227ORESTES: Put me once more upon the couch; whenever the madness leaves me, I am unnerved and weak.
229ELECTRA: As she lays him down. There! His couch is welcome to the sick man,
230a painful possession, but a necessary one.
Part 4
231ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: αὖθίς μʼ ἐς ὀρθὸν στῆσον, ἀνακύκλει δέμας·
232δυσάρεστον οἱ νοσοῦντες ἀπορίας ὕπο.
233ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἦ κἀπὶ γαίας ἁρμόσαι πόδας θέλεις,
234χρόνιον ἴχνος θείς; μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ.
235ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μάλιστα· δόξαν γὰρ τόδʼ ὑγιείας ἔχει.
236κρεῖσσον δὲ τὸ δοκεῖν, κἂν ἀληθείας ἀπῇ.
237ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄκουε δὴ νῦν, ὦ κασίγνητον κάρα,
238ἕως ἐῶσιν εὖ φρονεῖν Ἐρινύες.
239ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέξεις τι καινόν· κεἰ μὲν εὖ, χάριν φέρεις·
240εἰ δʼ ἐς βλάβην τινʼ, ἅλις ἔχω τὸ δυστυχεῖν.
241ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Μενέλαος ἥκει, σοῦ κασίγνητος πατρός,
242ἐν Ναυπλίᾳ δὲ σέλμαθʼ ὥρμισται νεῶν.
243ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς εἶπας; ἥκει φῶς ἐμοῖς καὶ σοῖς κακοῖς
244ἀνὴρ ὁμογενὴς καὶ χάριτας ἔχων πατρός;
245ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἥκει — τὸ πιστὸν τόδε λόγων ἐμῶν δέχου —
246Ἑλένην ἀγόμενος Τρωικῶν ἐκ τειχέων.
247ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ μόνος ἐσώθη, μᾶλλον ἂν ζηλωτὸς ἦν·
248εἰ δʼ ἄλοχον ἄγεται, κακὸν ἔχων ἥκει μέγα.
249ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐπίσημον ἔτεκε Τυνδάρεως ἐς τὸν ψόγον
250γένος θυγατέρων δυσκλεές τʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα.
251ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σύ νυν διάφερε τῶν κακῶν· ἔξεστι γάρ·
252καὶ μὴ μόνον λέγʼ, ἀλλὰ καὶ φρόνει τάδε.
253ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι, κασίγνητʼ, ὄμμα σὸν ταράσσεται,
254ταχὺς δὲ μετέθου λύσσαν, ἄρτι σωφρονῶν.
255ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ μῆτερ, ἱκετεύω σε, μὴ ʼπίσειέ μοι
256τὰς αἱματωποὺς καὶ δρακοντώδεις κόρας.
257αὗται γὰρ αὗται πλησίον θρῴσκουσί μου.
258ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μένʼ, ὦ ταλαίπωρʼ, ἀτρέμα σοῖς ἐν δεμνίοις·
259ὁρᾷς γὰρ οὐδὲν ὧν δοκεῖς σάφʼ εἰδέναι.
260ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ Φοῖβʼ, ἀποκτενοῦσί μʼ αἱ κυνώπιδες
261γοργῶπες, ἐνέρων ἱέρεαι, δειναὶ θεαί.
262ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὔτοι μεθήσω· χεῖρα δʼ ἐμπλέξασʼ ἐμὴν
263σχήσω σε πηδᾶν δυστυχῆ πηδήματα.
264ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέθες· μίʼ οὖσα τῶν ἐμῶν Ἐρινύων
265μέσον μʼ ὀχμάζεις, ὡς βάλῃς ἐς Τάρταρον.
266ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἲ ʼγὼ τάλαινα, τίνʼ ἐπικουρίαν λάβω,
267ἐπεὶ τὸ θεῖον δυσμενὲς κεκτήμεθα;
268ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δὸς τόξα μοι κερουλκά, δῶρα Λοξίου, οἷς μʼ εἶπʼ Ἀπόλλων ἐξαμύνασθαι θεάς, εἴ μʼ ἐκφοβοῖεν μανιάσιν λυσσήμασιν. βεβλήσεταί τις θεῶν βροτησίᾳ χερί, εἰ μὴ ʼξαμείψει χωρὶς ὀμμάτων ἐμῶν.
273οὐκ εἰσακούετʼ; οὐχ ὁρᾶθʼ ἑκηβόλων τόξων πτερωτὰς γλυφίδας ἐξορμωμένας; ἆ ἆ· τί δῆτα μέλλετʼ; ἐξακρίζετʼ αἰθέρα πτεροῖς· τὰ Φοίβου δʼ αἰτιᾶσθε θέσφατα.
276bἔα· τί χρῆμʼ ἀλύω, πνεῦμʼ ἀνεὶς ἐκ πλευμόνων; ποῖ ποῖ ποθʼ ἡλάμεσθα δεμνίων ἄπο; ἐκ κυμάτων γὰρ αὖθις αὖ γαλήνʼ ὁρῶ. σύγγονε, τί κλαίεις κρᾶτα θεῖσʼ ἔσω πέπλων;
281αἰσχύνομαί σε, μεταδιδοὺς πόνων ἐμῶν ὄχλον τε παρέχων παρθένῳ νόσοις ἐμαῖς. μὴ τῶν ἐμῶν ἕκατι συντήκου κακῶν· σὺ μὲν γὰρ ἐπένευσας τάδʼ, εἴργασται δʼ ἐμοὶ μητρῷον αἷμα· Λοξίᾳ δὲ μέμφομαι,
286ὅστις μʼ ἐπάρας ἔργον ἀνοσιώτατον, τοῖς μὲν λόγοις ηὔφρανε, τοῖς δʼ ἔργοισιν οὔ. οἶμαι δὲ πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν, εἰ κατʼ ὄμματα ἐξιστόρουν νιν, μητέρʼ εἰ κτεῖναι χρεών, πολλὰς γενείου τοῦδʼ ἂν ἐκτεῖναι λιτὰς
291μήποτε τεκούσης ἐς σφαγὰς ὦσαι ξίφος, εἰ μήτʼ ἐκεῖνος ἀναλαβεῖν ἔμελλε φῶς, ἐγώ θʼ ὁ τλήμων τοιάδʼ ἐκπλήσειν κακά. καὶ νῦν ἀνακάλυπτʼ, ὦ κασιγνήτη, κάρα, ἐκ δακρύων τʼ ἄπελθε, κεἰ μάλʼ ἀθλίως
296ἔχομεν. ὅταν δὲ τἄμʼ ἀθυμήσαντʼ ἴδῃς, σύ μου τὸ δεινὸν καὶ διαφθαρὲν φρενῶν ἴσχναινε παραμυθοῦ θʼ· ὅταν δὲ σὺ στένῃς, ἡμᾶς παρόντας χρή σε νουθετεῖν φίλα· ἐπικουρίαι γὰρ αἵδε τοῖς φίλοις καλαί.
301ἀλλʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, βᾶσα δωμάτων ἔσω ὕπνῳ τʼ ἄυπνον βλέφαρον ἐκταθεῖσα δός, σίτων τʼ ὄρεξαι λουτρά τʼ ἐπιβαλοῦ χροΐ. εἰ γὰρ προλείψεις ἢ προσεδρείᾳ νόσον κτήσῃ τινʼ, οἰχόμεσθα· σὲ γὰρ ἔχω μόνην
306ἐπίκουρον, ἄλλων, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἔρημος ὤν.
307ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ ἔστι· σὺν σοὶ καὶ θανεῖν αἱρήσομαι
308καὶ ζῆν· ἔχει γὰρ ταὐτόν· ἢν σὺ κατθάνῃς,
309γυνὴ τί δράσω; πῶς μόνη σωθήσομαι,
310ἀνάδελφος ἀπάτωρ ἄφιλος; εἰ δὲ σοὶ δοκεῖ,
311δρᾶν χρὴ τάδʼ. ἀλλὰ κλῖνον εἰς εὐνὴν δέμας,
312καὶ μὴ τὸ ταρβοῦν κἀκφοβοῦν σʼ ἐκ δεμνίων
313ἄγαν ἀποδέχου, μένε δʼ ἐπὶ στρωτοῦ λέχους.
314κἂν μὴ νοσῇς γάρ, ἀλλὰ δοξάζῃς νοσεῖν,
315κάματος βροτοῖσιν ἀπορία τε γίγνεται.
Part 4
231ORESTES: Set me upright once again, turn my body round; it is their helplessness that makes the sick so hard to please.
233ELECTRA: Will you set your feet upon the ground and take a step at last? Change is always pleasant.
235ORESTES: Oh, yes; for that has a semblance of health; and the semblance is preferable, though it is far from the truth.
237ELECTRA: Hear me now, my brother, while the Furies permit you to use your senses.
239ORESTES: You have news to tell; if it is good, you do me a kindness;
240but if it tends to my hurt, I have suffered enough.
241ELECTRA: Menelaus, your father’s brother, has come; his ships are moored in Nauplia.
243ORESTES: What did you say? Has he come to be a light in our troubles, a man of our own family, who owes gratitude to our father?
245ELECTRA: He has come, and is bringing Helen from the walls of Troy—accept this as proof of what I say.
247ORESTES: If he had returned alone in safety, he would be more enviable; but if he is bringing his wife, he has come with great mischief.
249ELECTRA: Tyndareus begot a race of daughters notorious for blame,
250infamous throughout Hellas.
251ORESTES: Then you be different from that evil brood, for you can be; and not only in words, but also in heart.
253ELECTRA: Ah! brother, your eye is growing wild, and in a moment you are turning mad again, when you were just now sane.
255ORESTES: Mother, I implore you! Do not shake at me those maidens with their bloodshot eyes and snaky hair. Here they are, close by, to leap on me!
258ELECTRA: Lie still, poor sufferer, on your couch; your eye sees nothing, you only imagine that you recognize them.
260ORESTES: O Phoebus! they will kill me, the hounds of hell, death’s priestesses with glaring eyes, the dreadful goddesses.
262ELECTRA: I will not let you go; but with arms twined round you, I will prevent your piteous leaping.
264ORESTES: Let me go! you are one of my Furies,
265and are gripping me by the waist to hurl me into Tartarus!
266ELECTRA: Alas for me! What aid can I find, when we have Heaven’s forces set against us?
268ORESTES: Give me my horn-tipped bow, Apollo’s gift, with which he told me to ward off the goddesses,
270if ever they sought to scare me with wild transports of madness.
271A mortal hand will wound one of them, unless she departs from my sight. Don’t you hear me? Don’t you see the feathered arrows springing out from my far-shooting bow? What!
275Do you linger still? Mount the sky on your wings, and blame those oracles of Phoebus.
276bAh! why am I raving, gasping? Where, oh! where have I leapt, from my couch? Once more the storm is past, I see a calm.
280Sister, why do you weep, your head wrapped in your robe? I am ashamed that I should make you a partner in my sufferings and distress a maiden like you through my sickness. Do not waste away over my troubles; for though you consented to it, yet I was the one that spilled
285our mother’s blood. I blame Loxias, for urging me on to do a deed most unholy, encouraging me with words but not in deed. I believe that, if I had asked my father to his face whether I must slay my mother,
290he would have strongly entreated me, by this beard, never to plunge a sword into her throat, since he would not regain his life, and I, poor wretch, would accomplish such evil!
294And now, my sister, unveil your face
295and cease to weep, despite our misery. Whenever you see me give way to despair, it is for you to calm and soothe the terrors and distorted fancies of my brain. Whenever sorrow comes to you, I must be at your side and give you comforting advice;
300for to help our friends like this is noble.
301Go in the house now, my poor sister; lie down and close your sleepless eyes; take food and bathe your body. For if you leave me or fall sick from nursing me,
305I am lost. You are my only ally; I am deserted by all the rest, as you see.
307ELECTRA: I will not leave you; with you I will choose to live and die; for it is the same: if you die, what shall I, a woman, do? How shall I escape alone,
310with no brother, or father, or friends? Still, if you think it right, I must do your bidding. But lie down upon your couch, and do not pay too great heed to the terrors and alarm that scare you from your rest; lie still upon your pallet. For even if you are not sick, but only think you are,
315this brings weariness and perplexity to mortals. Exit Electra.
Part 5
316ΧΟΡΌΣ: αἰαῖ, δρομάδες ὦ πτεροφόροι ποτνιάδες θεαί, ἀβάκχευτον αἳ θίασον ἐλάχετʼ ἐν δάκρυσι καὶ γόοις,
321μελάγχρωτες εὐμενίδες, αἵτε τὸν ταναὸν αἰθέρʼ ἀμπάλλεσθʼ, αἵματος τινύμεναι δίκαν, τινύμεναι φόνον, καθικετεύομαι καθικετεύομαι, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος
326γόνον ἐάσατʼ ἐκλαθέσθαι λύσσας μανιάδος φοιταλέου. φεῦ μόχθων, οἵων, ὦ τάλας, ὀρεχθεὶς ἔρρεις, τρίποδος ἄπο φάτιν, ἃν ὁ Φοῖβος ἔλακε, δε- ξάμενος ἀνὰ δάπεδον,
331ἵνα μεσόμφαλοι λέγονται μυχοί.
332ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἰὼ Ζεῦ, τίς ἔλεος, τίς ὅδʼ ἀγὼν φόνιος ἔρχεται, θοάζων σε τὸν μέλεον, ᾧ δάκρυα δάκρυσι συμβάλλει
337πορεύων τις ἐς δόμον ἀλαστόρων ματέρος αἷμα σᾶς, ὅ σʼ ἀναβακχεύει; ὁ μέγας ὄλβος οὐ μόνιμος ἐν βροτοῖς· κατολοφύρομαι κατολοφύρομαι. ἀνὰ δὲ λαῖφος ὥς
342τις ἀκάτου θοᾶς τινάξας δαίμων κατέκλυσεν δεινῶν πόνων ὡς πόντου λάβροις ὀλεθρίοισιν ἐν κύμασιν. τίνα γὰρ ἔτι πάρος οἶκον ἕτερον ἢ τὸν ἀπὸ θεογόνων γάμων,
347τὸν ἀπὸ Ταντάλου, σέβεσθαί με χρή;
348ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν βασιλεὺς ὅδε δὴ στείχει,
349Μενέλαος ἄναξ, πολλῇ ἁβροσύνῃ
350δῆλος ὁρᾶσθαι
351τῶν Τανταλιδῶν ἐξ αἵματος ὤν.
352ὦ χιλιόναυν στρατὸν ὁρμήσας
353ἐς γῆν Ἀσίαν,
354χαῖρʼ, εὐτυχίᾳ δʼ αὐτὸς ὁμιλεῖς,
355θεόθεν πράξας ἅπερ ηὔχου.
356ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ δῶμα, τῇ μέν σʼ ἡδέως προσδέρκομαι Τροίαθεν ἐλθών, τῇ δʼ ἰδὼν καταστένω· κύκλῳ γὰρ εἱλιχθεῖσαν ἀθλίως κακοῖς οὐπώποτʼ ἄλλην μᾶλλον εἶδον ἑστίαν. Ἀγαμέμνονος μὲν γὰρ τύχας ἠπιστάμην
361καὶ θάνατον, οἵῳ πρὸς δάμαρτος ὤλετο, Μαλέᾳ προσίσχων πρῷραν· ἐκ δὲ κυμάτων ὁ ναυτίλοισι μάντις ἐξήγγειλέ μοι Νηρέως προφήτης Γλαῦκος, ἀψευδὴς θεός, ὅς μοι τόδʼ εἶπεν ἐμφανῶς κατασταθείς·
366Μενέλαε, κεῖται σὸς κασίγνητος θανών, λουτροῖσιν ἀλόχου περιπεσὼν πανυστάτοις. δακρύων δʼ ἔπλησεν ἐμέ τε καὶ ναύτας ἐμοὺς πολλῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ Ναυπλίας ψαύω χθονός, ἤδη δάμαρτος ἐνθάδʼ ἐξορμωμένης,
371δοκῶν Ὀρέστην παῖδα τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος φίλαισι χερσὶ περιβαλεῖν καὶ μητέρα, ὡς εὐτυχοῦντας, ἔκλυον ἁλιτύπων τινὸς τῆς Τυνδαρείας παιδὸς ἀνόσιον φόνον. καὶ νῦν ὅπου ʼστὶν εἴπατʼ, ὦ νεάνιδες,
376Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖς, ὃς τὰ δείνʼ ἔτλη κακά. βρέφος γὰρ ἦν τότʼ ἐν Κλυταιμήστρας χεροῖν, ὅτʼ ἐξέλειπον μέλαθρον ἐς Τροίαν ἰών, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν γνωρίσαιμʼ ἂν εἰσιδών.
380ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅδʼ εἴμʼ Ὀρέστης, Μενέλεως, ὃν ἱστορεῖς.
381ἑκὼν ἐγώ σοι τἀμὰ μηνύσω κακά.
382τῶν σῶν δὲ γονάτων πρωτόλεια θιγγάνω
383ἱκέτης, ἀφύλλου στόματος ἐξάπτων λιτάς·
384σῷσόν μʼ· ἀφῖξαι δʼ αὐτὸς ἐς καιρὸν κακῶν.
385ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ θεοί, τί λεύσσω; τίνα δέδορκα νερτέρων;
386ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ γʼ εἶπας· οὐ γὰρ ζῶ κακοῖς, φάος δʼ ὁρῶ.
387ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὡς ἠγρίωσαι πλόκαμον αὐχμηρόν, τάλας.
388ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐχ ἡ πρόσοψίς μʼ, ἀλλὰ τἄργʼ αἰκίζεται.
389ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: δεινὸν δὲ λεύσσεις ὀμμάτων ξηραῖς κόραις.
390ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὸ σῶμα φροῦδον· τὸ δʼ ὄνομʼ οὐ λέλοιπέ μοι.
391ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ παρὰ λόγον μοι σὴ φανεῖσʼ ἀμορφία.
392ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅδʼ εἰμὶ μητρὸς τῆς ταλαιπώρου φονεύς.
393ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἤκουσα, φείδου δʼ· ὀλιγάκις λέγειν κακά.
394ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φειδόμεθʼ· ὁ δαίμων δʼ ἐς ἐμὲ πλούσιος κακῶν.
395ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί χρῆμα πάσχεις; τίς σʼ ἀπόλλυσιν νόσος;
396ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἡ σύνεσις, ὅτι σύνοιδα δείνʼ εἰργασμένος.
397ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πῶς φῄς; σοφόν τοι τὸ σαφές, οὐ τὸ μὴ σαφές.
398ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λύπη μάλιστά γʼ ἡ διαφθείρουσά με —
399ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ θεός, ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἰάσιμος.
Part 5
316CHORUS: Ah! ah! you goddesses swiftly careering on your wings, whose lot it is to hold a revel, not with Bacchic rites,
320in tears and groans; you black-skinned avenging spirits, that dart along the spacious air, exacting a penalty for blood, a penalty for murder, I beg you, I beg you!
325Allow the son of Agamemnon to forget his wild whirling frenzy.
327Alas for the toils which you, poor wretch, strove after to your ruin, when you heard the voice from the tripod, proclaimed by Phoebus,
330at his sanctuary, where the hollows are called the navel of the earth.
332CHORUS: O Zeus! What pity, what deadly struggle is here,
335hurrying you on, the wretch on whom some avenging fiend is heaping tears upon tears, bringing to the house your mother’s blood, which drives you raving mad?
340Great prosperity is not secure among mortals. I lament, I lament! But some divine power, shaking it to and fro like the sail of a swift ship, plunges it deep in the waves of grievous affliction, violent and deadly as the waves of the sea.
345For what other family must I still revere, rather than the one from a divine marriage, from Tantalus.
348CHORUS LEADER: And see, a king draws near, lord Menelaus; from his magnificence it is plain to see
350that he belongs to the blood of the Tantalids.
352All hail! you that set out with a thousand ships to Asia’s land; good fortune is your friend,
355for you have accomplished, with divine aid, all that you prayed for.
356MENELAUS: O my home, some joy I feel to see you again on my return from Troy, but I also grieve at the sight; for never have I seen another house more closely encircled by dire affliction.
360For I learned Agamemnon’s fate and the death he died at his wife’s hands, as I was trying to put in at Malea; when the sailors’ prophet, the truthful god Glaucus, Nereus’ seer, brought the news to me from the waves;
365he stationed himself in full view and told me this: Menelaus, your brother lies dead, plunged in a fatal bath, the last his wife will ever give him. My sailors and I wept greatly at his words. When I arrived at Nauplia,
370my wife already on the point of starting here, I was expecting to give a fond embrace to Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, and his mother, thinking that they were doing well, when I heard from a sailor the unholy murder of Tyndareus’ child.
375And now tell me, young ladies, where to find the son of Agamemnon, who dared such evil. For he was a baby in Clytemnestra’s arms when I left my home to go to Troy, so that I would not recognize him if I saw him.
380ORESTES: Menelaus, I am Orestes, whom you are asking about. I will of my own accord inform you of my sufferings. But as my first portion, I clasp your knees as a suppliant, giving you prayers from the mouth of one without the suppliant’s bough; save me, for you have come at the crisis of my troubles.
385MENELAUS: O gods, what do I see? What living corpse greets my sight?
386ORESTES: You are right; I am dead through misery, though I still gaze upon the light.
387MENELAUS: How savage the look your unkempt hair gives you, poor wretch!
388ORESTES: It is not my looks, but my deeds that torture me.
389MENELAUS: Your tearless eyes glare dreadfully!
390ORESTES: My body is gone, though my name has not deserted me.
391MENELAUS: Unsightly apparition, so different from what I expected!
392ORESTES: Here I am, the murderer of my wretched mother.
393MENELAUS: I have heard, spare your words; evils should be seldom spoken.
394ORESTES: I will be sparing; but the deity is lavish of woe in my case.
395MENELAUS: What ails you? what is your deadly sickness?
396ORESTES: My conscience; I know that I am guilty of a dreadful crime.
397MENELAUS: What do you mean? Wisdom is shown in clarity, not in obscurity.
398ORESTES: Grief especially has ruined me—
399MENELAUS: Yes, she is a dreadful goddess, yet are there cures for her.
Part 6
400ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μανίαι τε, μητρὸς αἵματος τιμωρίαι.
401ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἤρξω δὲ λύσσης πότε; τίς ἡμέρα τότʼ ἦν;
402ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν ᾗ τάλαιναν μητέρʼ ἐξώγκουν τάφῳ.
403ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πότερα κατʼ οἴκους ἢ προσεδρεύων πυρᾷ;
404ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: νυκτὸς φυλάσσων ὀστέων ἀναίρεσιν.
405ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: παρῆν τις ἄλλος, ὃς σὸν ὤρθευεν δέμας;
406ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Πυλάδης, ὁ συνδρῶν αἷμα καὶ μητρὸς φόνον.
407ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἐκ φασμάτων δὲ τάδε νοσεῖς· ποίων ὕπο;
408ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔδοξʼ ἰδεῖν τρεῖς νυκτὶ προσφερεῖς κόρας.
409ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οἶδʼ ἃς ἔλεξας, ὀνομάσαι δʼ οὐ βούλομαι.
410ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σεμναὶ γάρ· εὐπαίδευτα δʼ ἀπετρέπου λέγειν.
411ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: αὗταί σε βακχεύουσι συγγενῆ φόνον;
412ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἴμοι διωγμῶν, οἷς ἐλαύνομαι τάλας.
413ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐ δεινὰ πάσχειν δεινὰ τοὺς εἰργασμένους.
414ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀναφορὰ τῆς συμφορᾶς.
415ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: μὴ θάνατον εἴπῃς· τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ οὐ σοφόν.
416ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Φοῖβος, κελεύσας μητρὸς ἐκπρᾶξαι φόνον.
417ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀμαθέστερός γʼ ὢν τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τῆς δίκης.
418ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δουλεύομεν θεοῖς, ὅ τι ποτʼ εἰσὶν οἱ θεοί.
419ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κᾆτʼ οὐκ ἀμύνει Λοξίας τοῖς σοῖς κακοῖς;
Part 6
400ORESTES: And fits of madness, the vengeance of a mother’s blood.
401MENELAUS: When did your madness begin? Which day was it?
402ORESTES: On the day I was heaping the mound over my poor mother’s grave.
403MENELAUS: When you were in the house, or watching by the pyre?
404ORESTES: As I was waiting by night to gather up her bones.
405MENELAUS: Was any one else there, to help you rise?
406ORESTES: Pylades who shared with me the bloody deed, my mother’s murder.
407MENELAUS: You are sick from phantom shapes; what sort?
408ORESTES: I seemed to see three maidens, black as night.
409MENELAUS: I know whom you mean, but I do not want to name them.
410ORESTES: Yes, for they are revered; you were well-informed, to avoid naming them.
411MENELAUS: Are these the ones that drive you to frenzy, with the curse of kindred blood?
412ORESTES: Oh! the torment I endure from their pursuit!
413MENELAUS: It is not strange, if those who have done dreadful things should suffer them.
414ORESTES: But I have a way to recover from these troubles.
415MENELAUS: Do not speak of death; that is not wise.
416ORESTES: It is Phoebus, who commanded me to kill my mother.
417MENELAUS: Showing a strange ignorance of what is fair and right.
418ORESTES: We are slaves to the gods, whatever those gods are.
419MENELAUS: And does Loxias not help your affliction?
Part 7
420ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέλλει· τὸ θεῖον δʼ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον φύσει.
421ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πόσον χρόνον δὲ μητρὸς οἴχονται πνοαί;
422ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἕκτον τόδʼ ἦμαρ· ἔτι πυρὰ θερμὴ τάφου.
423ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὡς ταχὺ μετῆλθόν σʼ αἷμα μητέρος θεαί.
424ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ σοφός, ἀληθὴς δʼ ἐς φίλους ἔφυν φίλος.
425ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πατρὸς δὲ δή τι σʼ ὠφελεῖ τιμωρία;
426ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὔπω· τὸ μέλλον δʼ ἴσον ἀπραξίᾳ λέγω.
427ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ πῶς ἔχεις δράσας τάδε;
428ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μισούμεθʼ οὕτως ὥστε μὴ προσεννέπειν.
429ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐδʼ ἥγνισαι σὸν αἷμα κατὰ νόμον χεροῖν;
430ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐκκλῄομαι γὰρ δωμάτων ὅποι μόλω.
431ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίνες πολιτῶν ἐξαμιλλῶνταί σε γῆς;
432ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Οἴαξ, τὸ Τροίας μῖσος ἀναφέρων πατρί.
433ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: συνῆκα· Παλαμήδους σε τιμωρεῖ φόνου.
434ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗ γʼ οὐ μετῆν μοι· διὰ τριῶν δʼ ἀπόλλυμαι.
435ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίς δʼ ἄλλος; ἦ που τῶν ἀπʼ Αἰγίσθου φίλων;
436ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτοί μʼ ὑβρίζουσʼ, ὧν πόλις τὰ νῦν κλύει.
437ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἀγαμέμνονος δὲ σκῆπτρʼ ἐᾷ σʼ ἔχειν πόλις;
438ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς, οἵτινες ζῆν οὐκ ἐῶσʼ ἡμᾶς ἔτι;
439ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί δρῶντες ὅ τι καὶ σαφὲς ἔχεις εἰπεῖν ἐμοί;
Part 7
420ORESTES: He will in time; this is the nature of gods.
421MENELAUS: How long is it since your mother breathed her last?
422ORESTES: This is the sixth day; her funeral pyre is still warm.
423MENELAUS: How soon the goddesses arrived to avenge your mother’s blood!
424ORESTES: I am not clever, but I am by nature a true friend to my friends.
425MENELAUS: Does your father give you any help at all, for your avenging him?
426ORESTES: Not yet; I call delay the equal of inaction.
427MENELAUS: How do you stand in the city after that deed of yours?
428ORESTES: I am so hated that no one will speak to me.
429MENELAUS: Have your hands not even been cleaned of blood, according to custom?
430ORESTES: No, for wherever I go, the door is shut against me.
431MENELAUS: Which citizens are driving you from the land?
432ORESTES: Oeax, who refers to my father his reason for hating Troy.
433MENELAUS: I understand; he is avenging on you the blood of Palamedes.
434ORESTES: That was nothing to do with me; yet I am destroyed for three reasons.
435MENELAUS: Who else? Some of the friends of Aegisthus, I suppose?
436ORESTES: They insult me, and the city listens to them now.
437MENELAUS: Will the city allow you to keep the scepter of Agamemnon?
438ORESTES: How, seeing that they will not allow me to remain alive?
439MENELAUS: What is their method? Can you tell me plainly?
Part 8
440ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψῆφος καθʼ ἡμῶν οἴσεται τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ.
441ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: φεύγειν πόλιν τήνδʼ; ἢ θανεῖν ἢ μὴ θανεῖν;
442ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θανεῖν ὑπʼ ἀστῶν λευσίμῳ πετρώματι.
443ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κᾆτʼ οὐχὶ φεύγεις γῆς ὑπερβαλὼν ὅρους;
444ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κύκλῳ γὰρ εἱλισσόμεθα παγχάλκοις ὅπλοις.
445ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἰδίᾳ πρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἢ πρὸς Ἀργείας χερός;
446ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πάντων πρὸς ἀστῶν, ὡς θάνω· βραχὺς λόγος.
447ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ μέλεος, ἥκεις συμφορᾶς ἐς τοὔσχατον.
448ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐς σὲ ἐλπὶς ἡμὴ καταφυγὰς ἔχει κακῶν.
449ἀλλʼ ἀθλίως πράσσουσιν εὐτυχὴς μολὼν
450μετάδος φίλοισι σοῖσι σῆς εὐπραξίας,
451καὶ μὴ μόνος τὸ χρηστὸν ἀπολαβὼν ἔχε,
452ἀλλʼ ἀντιλάζου καὶ πόνων ἐν τῷ μέρει,
453χάριτας πατρῴας ἐκτίνων ἐς οὕς σε δεῖ.
454ὄνομα γάρ, ἔργον δʼ οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ φίλοι
455οἱ μὴ ʼπὶ ταῖσι συμφοραῖς ὄντες φίλοι.
456ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν γέροντι δεῦρʼ ἁμιλλᾶται ποδὶ
457ὁ Σπαρτιάτης Τυνδάρεως, μελάμπεπλος
458κουρᾷ τε θυγατρὸς πενθίμῳ κεκαρμένος.
459ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀπωλόμην, Μενέλαε· Τυνδάρεως ὅδε στείχει πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὗ μάλιστʼ αἰδώς μʼ ἔχει ἐς ὄμματʼ ἐλθεῖν τοῖσιν ἐξειργασμένοις. καὶ γάρ μʼ ἔθρεψε σμικρὸν ὄντα, πολλὰ δὲ φιλήματʼ ἐξέπλησε, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος
464παῖδʼ ἀγκάλαισι περιφέρων, Λήδα θʼ ἅμα, τιμῶντέ μʼ οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ Διοσκόρω· οἷς, ὦ τάλαινα καρδία ψυχή τʼ ἐμή, ἀπέδωκʼ ἀμοιβὰς οὐ καλάς. τίνα σκότον λάβω προσώπῳ; ποῖον ἐπίπροσθεν νέφος
469θῶμαι, γέροντος ὀμμάτων φεύγων κόρας;
470ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ποῦ ποῦ θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ἴδω πόσιν,
471Μενέλαον; ἐπὶ γὰρ τῷ Κλυταιμήστρας τάφῳ
472χοὰς χεόμενος ἔκλυον ὡς ἐς Ναυπλίαν
473ἥκοι σὺν ἀλόχῳ πολυετὴς σεσῳσμένος.
474ἄγετέ με· πρὸς γὰρ δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ θέλω
475στὰς ἀσπάσασθαι, χρόνιος εἰσιδὼν φίλον.
476ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ πρέσβυ, χαῖρε, Ζηνὸς ὁμόλεκτρον κάρα.
477ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ὦ χαῖρε καὶ σύ, Μενέλεως, κήδευμʼ ἐμόν.
478ἔα· τὸ μέλλον ὡς κακὸν τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι.
479ὁ μητροφόντης ὅδε πρὸ δωμάτων δράκων
480στίλβει νοσώδεις ἀστραπάς, στύγημʼ ἐμόν.
481Μενέλαε, προσφθέγγῃ νιν, ἀνόσιον κάρα;
482ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί γάρ; φίλου μοι πατρός ἐστιν ἔκγονος.
483ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: κείνου γὰρ ὅδε πέφυκε, τοιοῦτος γεγώς;
484ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πέφυκεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχεῖ, τιμητέος.
485ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: βεβαρβάρωσαι, χρόνιος ὢν ἐν βαρβάροις.
486ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἑλληνικόν τοι τὸν ὁμόθεν τιμᾶν ἀεί.
487ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: καὶ τῶν νόμων γε μὴ πρότερον εἶναι θέλειν.
Part 8
440ORESTES: A vote will be taken against us today.
441MENELAUS: To leave the city? Or to die, or not to die?
442ORESTES: Death by stoning at the hands of the citizens.
443MENELAUS: Then why not cross the border and try to escape?
444ORESTES: Because we are encircled by men fully armed.
445MENELAUS: Private foes or Argive troops?
446ORESTES: All the citizens, so that I may die; it is shortly told.
447MENELAUS: Poor wretch! you have arrived at the extremity of woe.
448ORESTES: In you I have hopes of escape from my troubles. But since you have come with good fortune,
450share with your friends, who are wretched, your prosperity; do not hold aside that goodness for yourself alone; but partake of troubles in your turn, and so pay back my father’s kindness to those who have a claim on you. For such friends as desert us in adversity
455are friends in name but not in deed.
456CHORUS LEADER: And here is Tyndareus, the Spartan, struggling with aged step, clad in black robes, with his hair cut short in mourning for his daughter.
459ORESTES: Menelaus, I am ruined. See, Tyndareus
460approaches us, the man of all others I most shrink from facing, because of the deed I have done. For he nursed me when I was small, and lavished on me many a fond caress, carrying me about in his arms as the son of Agamemnon; and so did Leda;
465for they both honored me no less than the Dioscuri.
466Ah me! my wretched heart and soul, it was a sorry return I made them! What darkness can I find for my face? What cloud can I spread before me in my efforts to escape the old man’s eye?
470TYNDAREUS: Where, where may I see Menelaus, my daughter’s husband? For as I was pouring libations on Clytemnestra’s grave I heard that he had come to Nauplia with his wife, safe home again after many years. Lead me to him; for I want to approach him
475and clasp his hand, as a friend whom at last I see again.
476MENELAUS: Hail, old man, rival of Zeus for a bride!
477TYNDAREUS: All hail to you, Menelaus, my kinsman!
478Catching sight of Orestes. Ah! What an evil it is to be ignorant of the future! There is that matricide before the house, a viper darting venomous flashes from his eyes, whom I loathe.
480Menelaus, are you speaking to that godless wretch?
482MENELAUS: And why not? He is the son of one whom I loved.
483TYNDAREUS: This is his son, this creature here?
484MENELAUS: Yes, his son; if he is in misfortune, he ought to be honored.
485TYNDAREUS: You have been so long among barbarians that you have become one of them.
486MENELAUS: Always to honor one’s kin is a custom in Hellas.
487TYNDAREUS: And another custom is to yield a willing deference to the laws.
Part 9
488ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πᾶν τοὐξ ἀνάγκης δοῦλόν ἐστʼ ἐν τοῖς σοφοῖς.
489ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: κέκτησό νυν σὺ τοῦτʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ κτήσομαι.
490ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὀργὴ γὰρ ἅμα σου καὶ τὸ γῆρας οὐ σοφόν.
491ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: πρὸς τόνδʼ ἀγὼν τίς ἀσοφίας ἥκει πέρι; εἰ τὰ καλὰ πᾶσι φανερὰ καὶ τὰ μὴ καλά, τούτου τίς ἀνδρῶν ἐγένετʼ ἀσυνετώτερος, ὅστις τὸ μὲν δίκαιον οὐκ ἐσκέψατο οὐδʼ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμον;
496ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐξέπνευσεν Ἀγαμέμνων βίον πληγεὶς θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπὲρ κάρα, αἴσχιστον ἔργον — οὐ γὰρ αἰνέσω ποτέ — χρῆν αὐτὸν ἐπιθεῖναι μὲν αἵματος δίκην, ὁσίαν διώκοντʼ, ἐκβαλεῖν τε δωμάτων
502μητέρα· τὸ σῶφρόν τʼ ἔλαβεν ἀντὶ συμφορᾶς καὶ τοῦ νόμου τʼ ἂν εἴχετʼ εὐσεβής τʼ ἂν ἦν. νῦν δʼ ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν δαίμονʼ ἦλθε μητέρι. κακὴν γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐνδίκως ἡγούμενος, αὐτὸς κακίων μητέρʼ ἐγένετο κτανών.
507ἐρήσομαι δέ, Μενέλεως, τοσόνδε σε· εἰ τόνδʼ ἀποκτείνειεν ὁμόλεκτρος γυνή, χὡ τοῦδε παῖς αὖ μητέρʼ ἀνταποκτενεῖ, κἄπειθʼ ὁ κείνου γενόμενος φόνῳ φόνον λύσει, πέρας δὴ ποῖ κακῶν προβήσεται;
512καλῶς ἔθεντο ταῦτα πατέρες οἱ πάλαι· ἐς ὀμμάτων μὲν ὄψιν οὐκ εἴων περᾶν οὐδʼ εἰς ἀπάντημʼ, ὅστις αἷμʼ ἔχων κυροῖ, φυγαῖσι δʼ ὁσιοῦν, ἀνταποκτείνειν δὲ μή. αἰεὶ γὰρ εἷς ἔμελλʼ ἐνέξεσθαι φόνῳ,
517τὸ λοίσθιον μίασμα λαμβάνων χεροῖν. ἐγὼ δὲ μισῶ μὲν γυναῖκας ἀνοσίους, πρώτην δὲ θυγατέρʼ, ἣ πόσιν κατέκτανεν· Ἑλένην τε, τὴν σὴν ἄλοχον, οὔποτʼ αἰνέσω οὐδʼ ἂν προσείποιμʼ· οὐδὲ σὲ ζηλῶ, κακῆς
522γυναικὸς ἐλθόνθʼ οὕνεκʼ ἐς Τροίας πέδον. ἀμυνῶ δʼ, ὅσονπερ δυνατός εἰμι, τῷ νόμῳ, τὸ θηριῶδες τοῦτο καὶ μιαιφόνον παύων, ὃ καὶ γῆν καὶ πόλεις ὄλλυσʼ ἀεί. ἐπεὶ τίνʼ εἶχες, ὦ τάλας, ψυχὴν τότε,
527ὅτʼ ἐξέβαλλε μαστὸν ἱκετεύουσά σε μήτηρ; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἰδὼν τἀκεῖ κακά, δακρύοις γέροντʼ ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκτήκω τάλας. ἓν δʼ οὖν λόγοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ὁμορροθεῖ· μισῇ γε πρὸς θεῶν καὶ τίνεις μητρὸς δίκας,
532μανίαις ἀλαίνων καὶ φόβοις. τί μαρτύρων ἄλλων ἀκούειν δεῖ μʼ, ἅ γʼ εἰσορᾶν πάρα; ὡς οὖν ἂν εἰδῇς, Μενέλεως, τοῖσιν θεοῖς μὴ πρᾶσσʼ ἐναντίʼ, ὠφελεῖν τοῦτον θέλων, ἔα δʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καταφονευθῆναι πέτροις,
537ἢ μὴ ʼπίβαινε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός. θυγάτηρ δʼ ἐμὴ θανοῦσʼ ἔπραξεν ἔνδικα· ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ πρὸς τοῦτʼ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτὴν θανεῖν. ἐγὼ δὲ τἄλλα μακάριος πέφυκʼ ἀνήρ, πλὴν ἐς θυγατέρας· τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ εὐδαιμονῶ.
542ΧΟΡΌΣ: ζηλωτὸς ὅστις εὐτύχησεν ἐς τέκνα
543καὶ μὴ ʼπισήμους συμφορὰς ἐκτήσατο.
544ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ γέρον, ἐγώ τοι πρὸς σὲ δειμαίνω λέγειν, ὅπου σὲ μέλλω σήν τε λυπήσειν φρένα. ἐγᾦδʼ, ἀνόσιός εἰμι μητέρα κτανών, ὅσιος δέ γʼ ἕτερον ὄνομα, τιμωρῶν πατρί. ἀπελθέτω δὴ τοῖς λόγοισιν ἐκποδὼν
549τὸ γῆρας ἡμῖν τὸ σόν, ὅ μʼ ἐκπλήσσει λόγου, καὶ καθʼ ὁδὸν εἶμι· νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα. τί χρῆν με δρᾶσαι; δύο γὰρ ἀντίθες δυοῖν· πατὴρ μὲν ἐφύτευσέν με, σὴ δʼ ἔτικτε παῖς, τὸ σπέρμʼ ἄρουρα παραλαβοῦσʼ ἄλλου πάρα·
554ἄνευ δὲ πατρὸς τέκνον οὐκ εἴη ποτʼ ἄν. ἐλογισάμην οὖν τῷ γένους ἀρχηγέτῃ μᾶλλόν με φῦναι τῆς ὑποστάσης τροφάς. ἡ σὴ δὲ θυγάτηρ — μητέρʼ αἰδοῦμαι λέγειν — ἰδίοισιν ὑμεναίοισι κοὐχὶ σώφροσιν
559ἐς ἀνδρὸς ᾔει λέκτρʼ· ἐμαυτόν, ἢν λέγω κακῶς ἐκείνην, ἐξερῶ· λέξω δʼ ὅμως. Αἴγισθος ἦν ὁ κρυπτὸς ἐν δόμοις πόσις. τοῦτον κατέκτεινʼ, ἐπὶ δʼ ἔθυσα μητέρα, ἀνόσια μὲν δρῶν, ἀλλὰ τιμωρῶν πατρί.
564ἐφʼ οἷς δʼ ἀπειλεῖς ὡς πετρωθῆναί με χρή, ἄκουσον ὡς ἅπασαν Ἑλλάδʼ ὠφελῶ. εἰ γὰρ γυναῖκες ἐς τόδʼ ἥξουσιν θράσους, ἄνδρας φονεύειν, καταφυγὰς ποιούμεναι ἐς τέκνα, μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι,
569παρʼ οὐδὲν αὐταῖς ἦν ἂν ὀλλύναι πόσεις ἐπίκλημʼ ἐχούσαις ὅ τι τύχοι. δράσας δʼ ἐγὼ δείνʼ, ὡς σὺ κομπεῖς, τόνδʼ ἔπαυσα τὸν νόμον. μισῶν δὲ μητέρʼ ἐνδίκως ἀπώλεσα, ἥτις μεθʼ ὅπλων ἄνδρʼ ἀπόντʼ ἐκ δωμάτων
574πάσης ὑπὲρ γῆς Ἑλλάδος στρατηλάτην προύδωκε κοὐκ ἔσῳσʼ ἀκήρατον λέχος· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἁμαρτοῦσʼ ᾔσθετʼ, οὐχ αὑτῇ δίκην ἐπέθηκεν, ἀλλʼ, ὡς μὴ δίκην δοίη πόσει, ἐζημίωσε πατέρα κἀπέκτεινʼ ἐμόν.
579πρὸς θεῶν — ἐν οὐ καλῷ μὲν ἐμνήσθην θεῶν, φόνον δικάζων· εἰ δὲ δὴ τὰ μητέρος σιγῶν ἐπῄνουν, τί μʼ ἂν ἔδρασʼ ὁ κατθανών; οὐκ ἄν με μισῶν ἀνεχόρευʼ Ἐρινύσιν; ἢ μητρὶ μὲν πάρεισι σύμμαχοι θεαί,
584τῷ δʼ οὐ πάρεισι, μᾶλλον ἠδικημένῳ; σύ τοι φυτεύσας θυγατέρʼ, ὦ γέρον, κακὴν ἀπώλεσάς με· διὰ τὸ γὰρ κείνης θράσος πατρὸς στερηθεὶς ἐγενόμην μητροκτόνος. ὁρᾷς, Ὀδυσσέως ἄλοχον οὐ κατέκτανε
589Τηλέμαχος· οὐ γὰρ ἐπεγάμει πόσει πόσιν, μένει δʼ ἐν οἴκοις ὑγιὲς εὐνατήριον. ὁρᾷς δʼ Ἀπόλλωνʼ, ὃς μεσομφάλους ἕδρας ναίων βροτοῖσι στόμα νέμει σαφέστατον, ᾧ πειθόμεσθα πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἂν κεῖνος λέγῃ·
594τούτῳ πιθόμενος τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἔκτανον. ἐκεῖνον ἡγεῖσθʼ ἀνόσιον καὶ κτείνετε· ἐκεῖνος ἥμαρτʼ, οὐκ ἐγώ. τί χρῆν με δρᾶν; ἢ οὐκ ἀξιόχρεως ὁ θεὸς ἀναφέροντί μοι μίασμα λῦσαι; ποῖ τις οὖν ἔτʼ ἂν φύγοι,
599εἰ μὴ ὁ κελεύσας ῥύσεταί με μὴ θανεῖν; ἀλλʼ ὡς μὲν οὐκ εὖ μὴ λέγʼ εἴργασται τάδε, ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς δράσασιν οὐκ εὐδαιμόνως. γάμοι δʼ ὅσοις μὲν εὖ καθεστᾶσιν βροτῶν, μακάριος αἰών· οἷς δὲ μὴ πίπτουσιν εὖ,
604τά τʼ ἔνδον εἰσὶ τά τε θύραζε δυστυχεῖς.
605ΧΟΡΌΣ: αἰεὶ γυναῖκες ἐμποδὼν ταῖς συμφοραῖς
606ἔφυσαν ἀνδρῶν πρὸς τὸ δυστυχέστερον.
607ΤΥΝΔΆΡΕΩΣ: ἐπεὶ θρασύνῃ κοὐχ ὑποστέλλῃ λόγῳ, οὕτω δʼ ἀμείβῃ μʼ ὥστε μʼ ἀλγῆσαι φρένα, μᾶλλόν μʼ ἀνάξεις ἐπὶ σὸν ἐξελθεῖν φόνον· καλὸν πάρεργον δʼ αὐτὸ θήσομαι πόνων ὧν εἵνεκʼ ἦλθον θυγατρὶ κοσμήσων τάφον.
612μολὼν γὰρ εἰς ἔκκλητον Ἀργείων ὄχλον ἑκοῦσαν οὐχ ἑκοῦσαν ἐπισείσω πόλιν σοὶ σῇ τʼ ἀδελφῇ, λεύσιμον δοῦναι δίκην. μᾶλλον δʼ ἐκείνη σοῦ θανεῖν ἐστʼ ἀξία, ἣ τῇ τεκούσῃ σʼ ἠγρίωσʼ, ἐς οὖς ἀεὶ
617πέμπουσα μύθους ἐπὶ τὸ δυσμενέστερον, ὀνείρατʼ ἀγγέλλουσα τὰ Ἀγαμέμνονος, καὶ τοῦθʼ — ὃ μισήσειαν — Αἰγίσθου λέχος — οἱ νέρτεροι θεοί· καὶ γὰρ ἐνθάδʼ ἦν πικρόν· ἕως ὑφῆψε δῶμʼ ἀνηφαίστῳ πυρί.
622Μενέλαε, σοὶ δὲ τάδε λέγω δράσω τε πρός· εἰ τοὐμὸν ἔχθος ἐναριθμῇ κῆδός τʼ ἐμόν, μὴ τῷδʼ ἀμύνειν φόνον ἐναντίον θεοῖς· ἔα δʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καταφονευθῆναι πέτροις, ἢ μὴ ʼπίβαινε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός.
627τοσαῦτʼ ἀκούσας ἴσθι, μηδὲ δυσσεβεῖς ἕλῃ, παρώσας εὐσεβεστέρους φίλους· ἡμᾶς δʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων ἄγετε τῶνδε, πρόσπολοι.
630ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: στεῖχʼ, ὡς ἀθορύβως οὑπιὼν ἡμῖν λόγος
631πρὸς τόνδʼ ἵκηται, γῆρας ἀποφυγὼν τὸ σόν.
632Μενέλαε, ποῖ σὸν πόδʼ ἐπὶ συννοίᾳ κυκλεῖς,
633διπλῆς μερίμνης διπτύχους ἰὼν ὁδούς;
634ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔασον· ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τι συννοούμενος
635ὅποι τράπωμαι τῆς τύχης ἀμηχανῶ.
636ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μή νυν πέραινε τὴν δόκησιν, ἀλλʼ ἐμοὺς
637λόγους ἀκούσας πρόσθε, βουλεύου τότε.
638ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: λέγʼ· εὖ γὰρ εἶπας· ἔστι δʼ οὗ σιγὴ λόγου
639κρείσσων γένοιτʼ ἄν. ἔστι δʼ οὗ σιγῆς λόγος.
640ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέγοιμʼ ἂν ἤδη. τὰ μακρὰ τῶν σμικρῶν λόγων ἐπίπροσθέν ἐστι καὶ σαφῆ μᾶλλον κλύειν. ἐμοὶ σὺ τῶν σῶν, Μενέλεως, μηδὲν δίδου, ἃ δʼ ἔλαβες ἀπόδος πατρὸς ἐμοῦ λαβὼν πάρα. — οὐ χρήματʼ εἶπον· χρήματʼ, ἢν ψυχὴν ἐμὴν
645σῴσῃς, ἅπερ μοι φίλτατʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ἐμῶν. — ἀδικῶ· λαβεῖν χρή μʼ ἀντὶ τοῦδε τοῦ κακοῦ ἄδικόν τι παρὰ σοῦ· καὶ γὰρ Ἀγαμέμνων πατὴρ ἀδίκως ἀθροίσας Ἑλλάδʼ ἦλθʼ ὑπʼ Ἴλιον, οὐκ ἐξαμαρτὼν αὐτός, ἀλλʼ ἁμαρτίαν
650τῆς σῆς γυναικὸς ἀδικίαν τʼ ἰώμενος. ἓν μὲν τόδʼ ἡμῖν ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς δοῦναί σε χρή. ἀπέδοτο δʼ, ὡς χρὴ τοῖς φίλοισι τοὺς φίλους, τὸ σῶμʼ ἀληθῶς, σοὶ παρʼ ἀσπίδʼ ἐκπονῶν, ὅπως σὺ τὴν σὴν ἀπολάβοις ξυνάορον.
655ἀπότεισον οὖν μοι ταὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖ λαβών, μίαν πονήσας ἡμέραν, ἡμῶν ὕπερ σωτήριος στάς, μὴ δέκʼ ἐκπλήσας ἔτη. ἃ δʼ Αὐλὶς ἔλαβε σφάγιʼ ἐμῆς ὁμοσπόρου, ἐῶ σʼ ἔχειν ταῦθʼ· Ἑρμιόνην μὴ κτεῖνε σύ.
660δεῖ γὰρ σʼ ἐμοῦ πράσσοντος ὡς πράσσω τὰ νῦν πλέον φέρεσθαι, κἀμὲ συγγνώμην ἔχειν. ψυχὴν δʼ ἐμὴν δὸς τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ πατρὶ κἀμῆς ἀδελφῆς, παρθένου μακρὸν χρόνον· θανὼν γὰρ οἶκον ὀρφανὸν λείψω πατρός.
665ἐρεῖς· ἀδύνατον. αὐτὸ τοῦτο· τοὺς φίλους ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς χρὴ τοῖς φίλοισιν ὠφελεῖν· ὅταν δʼ ὁ δαίμων εὖ διδῷ, τί δεῖ φίλων; ἀρκεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ὠφελεῖν θέλων. φιλεῖν δάμαρτα πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν δοκεῖς·
670κοὐχ ὑποτρέχων σε τοῦτο θωπείᾳ λέγω· ταύτης ἱκνοῦμαί σʼ — ὦ μέλεος ἐμῶν κακῶν, ἐς οἷον ἥκω. τί δέ; ταλαιπωρεῖν με δεῖ· ὑπὲρ γὰρ οἴκου παντὸς ἱκετεύω τάδε. ὦ πατρὸς ὅμαιμε θεῖε, τὸν κατὰ χθονὸς
675θανόντʼ ἀκούειν τάδε δόκει, ποτωμένην ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ σοῦ, καὶ λέγειν ἃ ἐγὼ λέγω, ταὔτʼ ἔς τε δάκρυα καὶ γόους καὶ συμφοράς. εἴρηκα κἀπῄτηκα τὴν σωτηρίαν, θηρῶν ὃ πάντες κοὐκ ἐγὼ ζητῶ μόνος.
680ΧΟΡΌΣ: κἀγώ σʼ ἱκνοῦμαι καὶ γυνή περ οὖσʼ ὅμως
681τοῖς δεομένοισιν ὠφελεῖν· οἷός τε δʼ εἶ.
682ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ὀρέστʼ, ἐγώ τοι σὸν καταιδοῦμαι κάρα καὶ ξυμπονῆσαι σοῖς κακοῖσι βούλομαι· καὶ χρὴ γὰρ οὕτω τῶν ὁμαιμόνων κακὰ ξυνεκκομίζειν, δύναμιν ἢν διδῷ θεός, θνῄσκοντα καὶ κτείνοντα τοὺς ἐναντίους·
687τὸ δʼ αὖ δύνασθαι πρὸς θεῶν χρῄζω τυχεῖν. ἥκω γὰρ ἀνδρῶν συμμάχων κενὸν δόρυ ἔχων, πόνοισι μυρίοις ἀλώμενος, σμικρᾷ σὺν ἀλκῇ τῶν λελειμμένων φίλων. μάχῃ μὲν οὖν ἂν οὐχ ὑπερβαλοίμεθα
692Πελασγὸν Ἄργος· εἰ δὲ μαλθακοῖς λόγοις δυναίμεθʼ, ἐνταῦθʼ ἐλπίδος προσήκομεν. σμικροῖσι μὲν γὰρ μεγάλα πῶς ἕλοι τις ἄν; ὅταν γὰρ ἡβᾷ δῆμος εἰς ὀργὴν πεσών, ὅμοιον ὥστε πῦρ κατασβέσαι λάβρον·
698εἰ δʼ ἡσύχως τις αὑτὸν ἐντείνοντι μὲν χαλῶν ὑπείκοι καιρὸν εὐλαβούμενος, ἴσως ἂν ἐκπνεύσειεν· ἢν δʼ ἀνῇ πνοάς, τύχοις ἂν αὐτοῦ ῥᾳδίως ὅσον θέλεις. ἔνεστι δʼ οἶκτος, ἔνι δὲ καὶ θυμὸς μέγας,
703καραδοκοῦντι κτῆμα τιμιώτατον. ἐλθὼν δὲ Τυνδάρεών τέ σοι πειράσομαι πόλιν τε πεῖσαι τῷ λίαν χρῆσθαι καλῶς. καὶ ναῦς γὰρ ἐνταθεῖσα πρὸς βίαν ποδὶ ἔβαψεν, ἔστη δʼ αὖθις, ἢν χαλᾷ πόδα.
708μισεῖ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὰς ἄγαν προθυμίας, μισοῦσι δʼ ἀστοί· δεῖ δέ μʼ — οὐκ ἄλλως λέγω — σῴζειν σε σοφίᾳ, μὴ βίᾳ τῶν κρεισσόνων. ἀλκῇ δέ σʼ οὐκ ἄν, ᾗ σὺ δοξάζεις ἴσως, σῴσαιμʼ ἄν· οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴδιον λόγχῃ μιᾷ
713στῆσαι τροπαῖα τῶν κακῶν ἅ σοι πάρα. οὐ γάρ ποτʼ Ἄργους γαῖαν ἐς τὸ μαλθακὸν προσηγόμεσθα· νῦν δʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει.
717ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ πλὴν γυναικὸς οὕνεκα στρατηλατεῖν τἄλλʼ οὐδέν, ὦ κάκιστε τιμωρεῖν φίλοις, φεύγεις ἀποστραφείς με, τὰ δʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος φροῦδʼ; ἄφιλος ἦσθʼ ἄρʼ, ὦ πάτερ, πράσσων κακῶς. οἴμοι, προδέδομαι, κοὐκέτʼ εἰσὶν ἐλπίδες,
723ὅποι τραπόμενος θάνατον Ἀργείων φύγω· οὗτος γὰρ ἦν μοι καταφυγὴ σωτηρίας. ἀλλʼ εἰσορῶ γὰρ τόνδε φίλτατον βροτῶν Πυλάδην δρόμῳ στείχοντα Φωκέων ἄπο, ἡδεῖαν ὄψιν· πιστὸς ἐν κακοῖς ἀνὴρ
728κρείσσων γαλήνης ναυτίλοισιν εἰσορᾶν.
729ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: θᾶσσον ᾗ με χρῆν προβαίνων ἱκόμην διʼ ἄστεως,
730σύλλογον πόλεως ἀκούσας, τὸν δʼ ἰδὼν αὐτὸς σαφῶς,
731ἐπὶ σὲ σύγγονόν τε τὴν σήν, ὡς κτενοῦντας αὐτίκα.
732τί τάδε; πῶς ἔχεις; τί πράσσεις, φίλταθʼ ἡλίκων ἐμοὶ
733καὶ φίλων καὶ συγγενείας; πάντα γὰρ τάδʼ εἶ σύ μοι.
734ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἰχόμεσθʼ, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ σοι τἀμὰ δηλώσω κακά.
735ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: συγκατασκάπτοις ἂν ἡμᾶς· κοινὰ γὰρ τὰ τῶν φίλων.
736ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Μενέλεως κάκιστος ἐς ἐμὲ καὶ κασιγνήτην ἐμήν.
Part 9
488MENELAUS: The wise hold that everything which depends on necessity is a slave.
489TYNDAREUS: Keep that wisdom for yourself; I will not have it.
490MENELAUS: Yes, for you are angry, and also old age is not wise.
491TYNDAREUS: What does a dispute about foolishness have to do with him? If right and wrong are clear to all, who was ever more senseless than this man, because he never weighed the justice of the case,
495nor appealed to the universal law of Hellas? For instance, when Agamemnon breathed his last a most foul deed, which I will never defend,
500he should have brought a charge against his mother and inflicted a holy penalty for bloodshed, banishing her from his house; thus he would have gained moderation instead of calamity, keeping strictly to the law and showing his piety as well. As it is, he has come into the same fate as his mother.
505for though he had just cause for thinking her a wicked woman, he has become more wicked by murdering her.
507I will ask you, Menelaus, just one question. If a man’s wedded wife should kill him, and his son in turn will kill his mother in revenge;
510next the avenger’s son to expiate this murder will commit another: where will the chain of horrors end?
512Our forefathers settled these matters the right way. They forbade any one with blood upon his hands to appear in their sight or cross their path;
515but they purified him by exile, they did not kill him in revenge. Otherwise someone, by taking the pollution last upon his hands, is always going to be liable to have his own blood shed.
518Now I hate wicked women, especially my daughter who killed her husband;
520Helen, too, your own wife, I will never commend, nor would I even speak to her; and I do not envy you a voyage to Troy for a worthless woman. But the law I will defend with all my might, to put an end to this brutal spirit of murder,
525which is always the ruin of countries and cities alike. Turning to Orestes Wretch! Had you no heart when your mother was baring her breast in her appeal to you? I, who did not see that awful deed, weep unhappy tears from my old eyes.
530One thing at least agrees with what I say: you are hated by the gods, and you pay atonement for your mother by your fits of madness and terror. Why do I need to hear from other witnesses what I can see for myself? Therefore, Menelaus, take heed;
535do not oppose the gods in your wish to help this man; but leave him to be stoned to death by the citizens, or do not set foot on Spartan land. My daughter is dead, and rightly; but it should not have been his hand that slew her.
540In all except my daughters I have been a happy man; there I am not blessed.
542CHORUS LEADER: He is enviable, who is fortunate in his children, and does not bring hazardous notoriety on himself.
544ORESTES: Old man, I am afraid to speak before you,
545in a matter where I am sure to grieve you to the heart. I am unholy because I killed my mother, I know it, yet holy on another count, because I avenged my father. Only let your years, which frighten me from speaking, set no barrier in the path of my words,
550and I will go forward; but now I fear your gray hairs.
551What ought I to have done? Set one thing against another. My father begot me; your daughter gave me birth, being the field that received the seed from another; for without a father no child would ever be born.
555So I reasoned that I ought to stand by the author of my being rather than the woman who undertook to rear me. Now your daughter—I am ashamed to call her mother—came to a man’s bed in a private and unchaste wedding; I speak against myself when I speak
560badly of her, yet I will speak. Aegisthus was her secret husband in the home; I killed him, and I sacrificed my mother, an unholy crime, no doubt, but done to avenge my father.
564Now, as regards the matters for which I deserve to be stoned as you threatened,
565hear the service I am conferring on all Hellas. For if women become so bold as to murder their husbands, taking refuge in their children, with the mother’s breast to catch the pity, they would think nothing of destroying their husbands
570on any charge whatsoever. But I, by a horrible crime, as you boast it to be, have put an end to this custom. I hated my mother and killed her justly. She was false to her husband when he was gone from his home to fight for all Hellas at the head of its armies,
575and she did not keep his bed undefiled; and when her sin had found her out, she did not impose punishment on herself, but, to avoid paying the penalty to her husband, punished my father by death. By the gods! it is not a good time for me to mention the gods,
580when defending the charge of murder; but if I consented by my silence to my mother’s conduct, what would the murdered man have done to me? Would he not now in hatred be tormenting me with the Furies? Or does my mother have goddesses as allies, but he does not, in his deeper wrong?
585You, yes! you, old man, have been my ruin by begetting a wicked daughter; for it was owing to her audacious deed that I lost my father and became my mother’s murderer.
588You see, Telemachus did not kill the wife of Odysseus, because she did not marry husband upon husband,
590but the marriage-bed remained untainted in her home.
591And you see Apollo, who makes the navel of the earth his home, dispensing to mortals unerring prophecies, whom we obey in all he says; I killed my mother in obedience to him.
595Find him guilty of the crime, slay him; his was the sin, not mine. What ought I to have done? or is the god not competent to expiate the pollution when I refer it to him? Where then should anyone flee, if he will not rescue me from death after giving his commands?
600Do not say that the deed was done badly, but unfortunately for the ones who did it.
602A blessed life those mortals lead who make wise marriages; but those for whom it does not fall out well are unfortunate in their public and private concerns.
605CHORUS LEADER: Women by nature always meddle in the doings of men, with unfortunate results.
607TYNDAREUS: Since you are so bold and suppress nothing, but answer me back in such a way as to vex my heart, you will lead me to go to greater lengths in procuring your execution;
610and I shall regard this as a fine addition to my labors in coming here to adorn my daughter’s grave. Yes, I will go to the chosen band of Argives and set the city, willing or not, on you and your sister, to pay the penalty of stoning.
615She deserves to die even more than you, for it was she who embittered you against your mother, always carrying tales to your ear to increase your hate the more, announcing dreams from Agamemnon, and Aegisthus’ bed,
620may the gods in Hades loathe it! for even here on earth it was bitter; till she set the house ablaze with fires never kindled by Hephaestus.
622Menelaus, I tell you this, and I will do it, too: if you then consider my hatred or our marriage connection of any account, do not ward off this man’s doom in defiance of the gods,
625but leave him to be stoned to death by the citizens, or do not set foot on Spartan land. Remember you have been told all this, and do not choose the ungodly as friends, pushing aside the more righteous. Servants, lead me from this house. Exit Tyndareus.
630ORESTES: Go, so that the remainder of my speech may come to this man without interruption, free from your old age.
632Menelaus, why are you pacing round and round in thought, going back and forth, in a dilemma?
634MENELAUS: Let me alone! When I think it over,
635I am perplexed to know where to turn in these events.
636ORESTES: Do not come to a final decision now, but after first hearing what I have to say, then make up your mind.
638MENELAUS: Good advice! Speak. There are times when silence would be better than speech, and the reverse also.
640ORESTES: I will speak now. A long statement has advantages over a short one and is more intelligible to listen to. Give me nothing of your own, Menelaus, but repay what you received from my father. As Menelaus makes a deprecating gesture. I am not speaking of possessions; if you save my life,
645you will save my dearest possession.
646I have done wrong; I ought to have a little wrong-doing from you to requite that evil, for my father Agamemnon also did wrong in gathering the Hellenes and going to Ilium, not that he had sinned himself,
650but he was trying to find a cure for the sin and wrong-doing of your wife. So this is one thing you are bound to pay me back. For he really gave his life, as friends should, toiling hard in battle with you, so that you might have your wife again.
655Pay back to me the same thing you got there. For one day exert yourself, on my behalf standing up in my defense, not ten full years.
658As for what Aulis took, the sacrifice of my sister, I let you have that; do not kill Hermione.
660For in my present plight, you must have an advantage over me and I must pardon it. But give to my miserable father my life and the life of my sister, a maiden so long; for by my death I shall leave my father’s house without an heir.
665You will say it is impossible. That’s the point; friends are bound to help friends in trouble. But when fortune gives of its best, what need of friends? For the god’s help is enough of itself when he is willing to give it.
669All Hellas believes that you love your wife,
670and I am not saying this to flatter or wheedle you; by her I implore you.
671As Menelaus turns away. Ah me, my misery! to what have I come! Well? (preparing to make a final appeal) I must suffer, for I am making this appeal on behalf of my whole family. O my uncle, my father’s own brother! Imagine that the dead man in his grave
675is listening, that his spirit is hovering over you and saying what I say, this much for tears and groans and misfortunes. I have spoken and I have begged for my safety, hunting what all seek, not myself alone.
680CHORUS LEADER: I, too, though I am only a woman, beseech you to help those who need it; for you have the power.
682MENELAUS: Orestes, you are a man for whom I have a deep regard, and I want to take part in your troubles; it is a duty, too, to help relatives bear their ills,
685by dying or killing enemies, if god gives the power to do so. I wish I had that power granted me by the gods. For I have come quite destitute of allies, after my long weary wanderings,
690with the small strength of my surviving friends. We should never get the better of Pelasgian Argos by fighting; if we should prevail by soothing speeches, we will come to some hope there. For how can you win a great cause by small
696For when the people fall into a vigorous fury, they are as hard to quench as a raging fire; but if you gently slacken your hold and yield a little to their tension, cautiously watching your opportunity,
700they may possibly calm down; if their gusts abate, you may obtain whatever you want from them easily. They have pity, and a hot temper too, an invaluable quality if you watch it closely. So for you I will go and try to persuade Tyndareus
705and the city to moderation. A ship also dips if its sheet is hauled too taut, but rights itself again if it is let go.
708The god hates excessive eagerness, and the citizens do also; I must save you, I don’t deny it,
710by cleverness, not by violence against those who are stronger. I could not do it by strength, as you perhaps imagine; for it is not easy to triumph single-handed over the troubles that beset you. I would never have tried to bring the Argive land over to softness;
715but it is necessary. Exit Menelaus.
717ORESTES: O you that have no use, except to lead an army in a woman’s cause! O worst of men in your friends’ defense,
720do you turn your back on me and flee, the deeds of Agamemnon lost and gone?
721After all, father, you had no friends in adversity. Alas! I am betrayed; no longer do I have any hope of finding a refuge where I may escape the death-sentence of Argos; for this man was my haven of safety.
725But I see Pylades, the best of friends, coming at a run from Phocis—a pleasant sight! A man who can be trusted in troubles is a better sight than a calm to sailors.
729PYLADES: I have come through the city quickly, as I should,
730having heard and myself clearly seen the citizens assembling, against you and your sister, to kill you at once. What is happening? How is it with you? How are you doing, my best of comrades, friends and kin? For you are all these to me.
734ORESTES: I am ruined, to make plain to you my troubles in brief.
735PYLADES: You must destroy me also; for friends have all in common.
736ORESTES: Menelaus is the worst of men to me and my sister.
Part 10
737ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἰκότως, κακῆς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα γίγνεσθαι κακόν.
738ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐλθὼν ἔμοιγε ταὐτὸν ἀπέδωκεν μολών.
739ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἦ γάρ ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τήνδʼ ἀφιγμένος χθόνα;
740ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: χρόνιος· ἀλλʼ ὅμως τάχιστα κακὸς ἐφωράθη φίλοις.
741ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: καὶ δάμαρτα τὴν κακίστην ναυστολῶν ἐλήλυθεν;
742ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνη κεῖνον ἐνθάδʼ ἤγαγεν.
743ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ποῦ ʼστιν ἣ πλείστους Ἀχαιῶν ὤλεσεν γυνὴ μία;
744ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν δόμοις ἐμοῖσιν, εἰ δὴ τούσδʼ ἐμοὺς καλεῖν χρεών.
745ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σὺ δὲ τίνας λόγους ἔλεξας σοῦ κασιγνήτῳ πατρός;
746ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μή μʼ ἰδεῖν θανόνθʼ ὑπʼ ἀστῶν καὶ κασιγνήτην ἐμήν.
747ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πρὸς θεῶν, τί πρὸς τάδʼ εἶπε; τόδε γὰρ εἰδέναι θέλω.
748ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐλαβεῖθʼ, ὃ τοῖς φίλοισι δρῶσιν οἱ κακοὶ φίλοι.
749ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σκῆψιν ἐς ποίαν προβαίνων; τοῦτο πάντʼ ἔχω μαθών.
750ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτος ἦλθʼ, ὁ τὰς ἀρίστας θυγατέρας σπείρας πατήρ.
751ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Τυνδάρεων λέγεις· ἴσως σοι θυγατέρος θυμούμενος;
752ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: αἰσθάνῃ. τὸ τοῦδε κῆδος μᾶλλον εἵλετʼ ἢ πατρός.
753ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κοὐκ ἐτόλμησεν πόνων σῶν ἀντιλάζυσθαι παρών;
754ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ γὰρ αἰχμητὴς πέφυκεν, ἐν γυναιξὶ δʼ ἄλκιμος.
755ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐν κακοῖς ἄρʼ εἶ μεγίστοις· καί σʼ ἀναγκαῖον θανεῖν;
756ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψῆφον ἀμφʼ ἡμῶν πολίτας ἐπὶ φόνῳ θέσθαι χρεών.
Part 10
737PYLADES: It is natural for the husband of an evil woman to become evil.
738ORESTES: He no more repaid me by coming here, than if he had never come.
739PYLADES: Oh, has he really arrived in this land?
740ORESTES: He took a long time, but he was very soon detected as evil to his friends.
741PYLADES: And did he bring his wife, the worst of women, with him on his ship?
742ORESTES: It was not he who brought her here, but she who brought him.
743PYLADES: Where is she, the one woman who proved the ruin of so many Achaeans?
744ORESTES: In my house; if, that is, I ought to call it mine.
745PYLADES: And what did you say to your father’s brother?
746ORESTES: Not to see me and my sister killed by the citizens.
747PYLADES: By the gods! What did he say to that? I would like know this.
748ORESTES: He was cautious, the usual policy of ignoble friends.
749PYLADES: What excuse did he advance? When I have learned that, I know everything.
750ORESTES: There was a new arrival, the father who begot those noble daughters.
751PYLADES: You mean Tyndareus; he was angry with you, perhaps, for his daughter’s sake?
752ORESTES: You understand. And Menelaus preferred the family relationship with him to that with my father.
753PYLADES: He did not have the courage to share your troubles, when he was here?
754ORESTES: No, for he was not born a warrior, though strong among women!
755PYLADES: Your case is desperate, it seems, and you must die.
756ORESTES: The citizens must give their vote about us on the murder.
Part 11
757ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἣ κρινεῖ τί χρῆμα; λέξον· διὰ φόβου γὰρ ἔρχομαι.
758ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἢ θανεῖν ἢ ζῆν· ὁ μῦθος οὐ μακρὸς μακρῶν πέρι.
759ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: φεῦγέ νυν λιπὼν μέλαθρα σὺν κασιγνήτῃ σέθεν.
760ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐχ ὁρᾷς; φυλασσόμεσθα φρουρίοισι πανταχῇ.
761ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἶδον ἄστεως ἀγυιὰς τεύχεσιν πεφραγμένας.
762ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὡσπερεὶ πόλις πρὸς ἐχθρῶν σῶμα πυργηρούμεθα.
763ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κἀμὲ νῦν ἐροῦ τί πάσχω· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οἴχομαι.
764ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πρὸς τίνος; τοῦτʼ ἂν προσείη τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς κακόν.
765ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Στρόφιος ἤλασέν μʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων φυγάδα θυμωθεὶς πατήρ.
766ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἴδιον ἢ κοινὸν πολίταις ἐπιφέρων ἔγκλημά τι;
767ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὅτι συνηράμην φόνον σοι μητρός, ἀνόσιον λέγων.
768ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ τάλας, ἔοικε καὶ σὲ τἀμὰ λυπήσειν κακά.
769ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐχὶ Μενέλεω τρόποισι χρώμεθʼ· οἰστέον τάδε.
770ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ φοβῇ μή σʼ Ἄργος ὥσπερ κἄμʼ ἀποκτεῖναι θέλῃ;
771ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐ προσήκομεν κολάζειν τοῖσδε, Φωκέων δὲ γῇ.
772ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δεινὸν οἱ πολλοί, κακούργους ὅταν ἔχωσι προστάτας.
773ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ὅταν χρηστοὺς λάβωσι, χρηστὰ βουλεύουσʼ ἀεί.
774ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἶἑν. ἐς κοινὸν λέγειν χρή.
774bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τίνος ἀναγκαίου πέρι;
775ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ λέγοιμʼ ἀστοῖσιν ἐλθὼν —
Part 11
757PYLADES: And what is that to decide? Tell me, for I am alarmed.
758ORESTES: Our life or death; a brief speech on a large subject.
759PYLADES: Leave the palace with your sister now and try to escape.
760ORESTES: Don’t you see? We are being watched by guards on every side.
761PYLADES: I saw that the streets of the city were secured with armed men.
762ORESTES: We are as closely beleaguered as a city by its foes.
763PYLADES: Ask me now of my state; for I too am ruined.
764ORESTES: By whom? This would be a further trouble to add to mine.
765PYLADES: Strophius, my father, in a fit of anger, has banished me from his house.
766ORESTES: Bringing against you a private charge, or one in which the citizens share?
767PYLADES: He says it is an unholy crime to have helped you slay your mother.
768ORESTES: Alas! It seems my troubles will cause you grief as well.
769PYLADES: I am not like Menelaus in character; this must be endured.
770ORESTES: Are you not afraid that Argos will desire your death as well as mine?
771PYLADES: I am not theirs to punish; I belong to Phocis.
772ORESTES: A terrible thing is the mob, whenever it has villains to lead it.
773PYLADES: But with honest leaders its counsels are always honest.
774ORESTES: Very well; we must consult together.
774bPYLADES: About what necessity?
775ORESTES: Suppose I go and tell the citizens—
Part 12
775bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὡς ἔδρασας ἔνδικα;
776ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πατρὶ τιμωρῶν ἐμαυτοῦ;
776bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μὴ λάβωσί σʼ ἄσμενοι.
777ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ ὑποπτήξας σιωπῇ κατθάνω;
777bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: δειλὸν τόδε.
778ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς ἂν οὖν δρῴην;
778bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔχεις τινʼ, ἢν μένῃς, σωτηρίαν;
779ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἔχω.
779bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μολόντι δʼ ἐλπίς ἐστι σωθῆναι κακῶν;
780ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ τύχοι, γένοιτʼ ἄν.
780bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκοῦν τοῦτο κρεῖσσον ἢ μένειν.
781ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλὰ δῆτʼ ἔλθω.
781bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: θανὼν γοῦν ὧδε κάλλιον θανῇ.
783ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ λέγεις· φεύγω τὸ δειλὸν τῇδε.
783bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μᾶλλον ἢ μένων.
782ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμά γʼ ἔνδικόν μοι.
782bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τῷ Δοκεῖν εὔχου μόνον.
784ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καί τις ἄν γέ μʼ οἰκτίσειε [...]
784bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μέγα γὰρ ἡ εὐγένειά σου.
785ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θάνατον ἀσχάλλων πατρῷον.
Part 12
775bPYLADES: That your action was just?
776ORESTES: In avenging my father?
776bPYLADES: I am afraid they would be glad to catch you.
777ORESTES: Well, am I to crouch in fear and die without a word?
777bPYLADES: That is cowardly.
778ORESTES: How then should I act?
778bPYLADES: Suppose you stay here, what means of safety do you have?
779ORESTES: I have none.
779bPYLADES: And if you go, is there any hope of escaping your troubles?
780ORESTES: There might be, possibly.
780bPYLADES: Then that is better than staying.
781ORESTES: Then I will go.
781bPYLADES: At least you die in this way, you will die more honorably.
782ORESTES: You are right; in this way I escape cowardice.
782bPYLADES: Better than by staying.
783ORESTES: After all, my action was just.
783bPYLADES: Pray that this may be the only view they take.
784ORESTES: Some one or two might pity me—
784bPYLADES: Yes, your noble birth is a great point.
785ORESTES: Resenting my father’s death.
Part 13
785bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πάντα ταῦτʼ ἐν ὄμμασιν.
786ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἰτέον, ὡς ἄνανδρον ἀκλεῶς κατθανεῖν.
786bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: αἰνῶ τάδε.
787ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἦ λέγωμεν οὖν ἀδελφῇ ταῦτʼ ἐμῇ;
787bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: μὴ πρὸς θεῶν.
788ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δάκρυα γοῦν γένοιτʼ ἄν.
788bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκοῦν οὗτος οἰωνὸς μέγας.
789ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δηλαδὴ σιγᾶν ἄμεινον.
789bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τῷ χρόνῳ δὲ κερδανεῖς.
790ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κεῖνό μοι μόνον πρόσαντες.
790bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τί τόδε καινὸν αὖ λέγεις;
791ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ θεαί μʼ οἴστρῳ κατάσχωσι.
791bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλὰ κηδεύσω σʼ ἐγώ.
792ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δυσχερὲς ψαύειν νοσοῦντος ἀνδρός.
792bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐκ ἔμοιγε σοῦ.
793ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐλαβοῦ λύσσης μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐμῆς.
793bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τόδʼ οὖν ἴτω.
794ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἄρʼ ὀκνήσεις;
794bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὄκνος γὰρ τοῖς φίλοις κακὸν μέγα.
795ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἕρπε νυν οἴαξ ποδός μοι.
Part 13
785bPYLADES: That is all quite clear.
786ORESTES: I must go, for to die ignobly is a coward’s part.
786bPYLADES: Well said.
787ORESTES: Shall we tell my sister?
787bPYLADES: God forbid!
788ORESTES: True, there might be tears.
788bPYLADES: That would be a grave omen.
789ORESTES: Yes, silence is clearly better.
789bPYLADES: And you will gain time.
790ORESTES: There is only one obstacle in my way.
790bPYLADES: What fresh objection now?
791ORESTES: I am afraid the goddesses will prevent me by madness.
791bPYLADES: But I will take care of you.
792ORESTES: It is annoying to have to touch a sick man.
792bPYLADES: Not to me, when it is you.
793ORESTES: Beware of becoming a partner in my madness.
793bPYLADES: Let that pass.
794ORESTES: You will not hesitate?
794bPYLADES: No, for hesitation is a grave mischief among friends.
795ORESTES: On then, pilot of my course!
Part 14
795bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: φίλα γʼ ἔχων κηδεύματα.
796ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καί με πρὸς τύμβον πόρευσον πατρός.
796bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὡς τί δὴ τόδε;
797ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥς νιν ἱκετεύσω με σῶσαι.
797bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τό γε δίκαιον ὧδʼ ἔχει.
798ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μητέρος δὲ μηδʼ ἴδοιμι μνῆμα.
798bΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πολεμία γὰρ ἦν.
799ἀλλʼ ἔπειγʼ, ὡς μή σε πρόσθε ψῆφος Ἀργείων ἕλῃ,
800περιβαλὼν πλευροῖς ἐμοῖσι πλευρὰ νωχελῆ νόσῳ·
801ὡς ἐγὼ διʼ ἄστεώς σε, σμικρὰ φροντίζων ὄχλου,
802οὐδὲν αἰσχυνθεὶς ὀχήσω. ποῦ γὰρ ὢν δείξω φίλος,
803εἴ σε μὴ ʼν δειναῖσιν ὄντα συμφοραῖς ἐπαρκέσω;
804ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνο, κτᾶσθʼ ἑταίρους, μὴ τὸ συγγενὲς μόνον·
805ὡς ἀνὴρ ὅστις τρόποισι συντακῇ, θυραῖος ὢν
806μυρίων κρείσσων ὁμαίμων ἀνδρὶ κεκτῆσθαι φίλος.
807ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὁ μέγας ὄλβος ἅ τʼ ἀρετὰ μέγα φρονοῦσʼ ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα καὶ παρὰ Σιμουντίοις ὀχετοῖς πάλιν ἀνῆλθʼ ἐξ εὐτυχίας Ἀτρείδαις πάλαι παλαιᾶς ἀπὸ συμφορᾶς δόμων,
812ὁπότε χρυσείας ἔρις ἀρνὸς ἤλυθε Τανταλίδαις, οἰκτρότατα θοινάματα καὶ σφάγια γενναίων τεκέων· ὅθεν φόνῳ φόνος ἐξαμεί-
817βων διʼ αἵματος οὐ προλεί- πει δισσοῖσιν Ἀτρείδαις.
819ΧΟΡΌΣ: τὸ καλὸν οὐ καλόν, τοκέων πυριγενεῖ τεμεῖν παλάμᾳ χρόα μελάνδετον δὲ φόνῳ ξίφος ἐς αὐγὰς ἀελίοιο δεῖξαι· τὸ δʼ εὖ κακουργεῖν ἀσέβεια ποικίλα
824κακοφρόνων τʼ ἀνδρῶν παράνοια. θανάτου γὰρ ἀμφὶ φόβῳ Τυνδαρὶς ἰάχησε τάλαι- να· Τέκνον, οὐ τολμᾷς ὅσια κτείνων σὰν ματέρα· μὴ πατρῴ-
829αν τιμῶν χάριν ἐξανά- ψῃ δύσκλειαν ἐς αἰεί.
831ΧΟΡΌΣ: τίς νόσος ἢ τίνα δάκρυα καὶ τίς ἔλεος μείζων κατὰ γᾶν ἢ ματροκτόνον αἷμα χειρὶ θέσθαι; οἷον ἔργον τελέσας βεβάκχευται μανίαις,
836Εὐμενίσι θήραμα, φόνον δρομάσι δινεύων βλεφάροις, Ἀγαμεμνόνιος παῖς. ὦ μέλεος, ματρὸς ὅτε χρυσεοπηνήτων φαρέων
841μαστὸν ὑπερτέλλοντʼ ἐσιδὼν σφάγιον ἔθετο ματέρα, πατρῴ- ων παθέων ἀμοιβάν.
844ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: γυναῖκες, ἦ που τῶνδʼ ἀφώρμηται δόμων
845τλήμων Ὀρέστης θεομανεῖ λύσσῃ δαμείς;
846ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἥκιστα· πρὸς δʼ Ἀργεῖον οἴχεται λεών,
847ψυχῆς ἀγῶνα τὸν προκείμενον πέρι
848δώσων, ἐν ᾧ ζῆν ἢ θανεῖν ὑμᾶς χρεών.
849ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι· τί χρῆμʼ ἔδρασε; τίς δʼ ἔπεισέ νιν;
850ΧΟΡΌΣ: Πυλάδης· ἔοικε δʼ οὐ μακρὰν ὅδʼ ἄγγελος
851λέξειν τὰ κεῖθεν σοῦ κασιγνήτου πέρι.
852ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ὦ τλῆμον, ὦ δύστηνε τοῦ στρατηλάτου
853Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, πότνιʼ Ἠλέκτρα, λόγους
854ἄκουσον οὕς σοι δυστυχεῖς ἥκω φέρων.
855ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αἰαῖ, διοιχόμεσθα· δῆλος εἶ λόγῳ.
856κακῶν γὰρ ἥκεις, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἄγγελος.
857ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ψήφῳ Πελασγῶν σὸν κασίγνητον θανεῖν
858καὶ σέ, ὦ τάλαινʼ, ἔδοξε τῇδʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.
859ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἴμοι· προσῆλθεν ἐλπίς, ἣν φοβουμένη
860πάλαι τὸ μέλλον ἐξετηκόμην γόοις.
861ἀτὰρ τίς ἁγών, τίνες ἐν Ἀργείοις λόγοι
862καθεῖλον ἡμᾶς κἀπεκύρωσαν θανεῖν;
863λέγʼ, ὦ γεραιέ· πότερα λευσίμῳ χερὶ
864ἢ διὰ σιδήρου πνεῦμʼ ἀπορρῆξαί με δεῖ,
865κοινὰς ἀδελφῷ συμφορὰς κεκτημένην;
866ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ: ἐτύγχανον μὲν ἀγρόθεν πυλῶν ἔσω βαίνων, πυθέσθαι δεόμενος τά τʼ ἀμφὶ σοῦ τά τʼ ἀμφʼ Ὀρέστου· σῷ γὰρ εὔνοιαν πατρὶ ἀεί ποτʼ εἶχον, καί μʼ ἔφερβε σὸς δόμος πένητα μέν, χρῆσθαι δὲ γενναῖον φίλοις.
871ὁρῶ δʼ ὄχλον στείχοντα καὶ θάσσοντʼ ἄκραν, οὗ φασι πρῶτον Δαναὸν Αἰγύπτῳ δίκας διδόντʼ ἀθροῖσαι λαὸν ἐς κοινὰς ἕδρας. ἀστῶν δὲ δή τινʼ ἠρόμην ἄθροισμʼ ἰδών· Τί καινὸν Ἄργει; μῶν τι πολεμίων πάρα
876ἄγγελμʼ ἀνεπτέρωκε Δαναϊδῶν πόλιν; ὃ δʼ εἶπʼ· Ὀρέστην κεῖνον οὐχ ὁρᾷς πέλας στείχοντʼ, ἀγῶνα θανάσιμον δραμούμενον; ὁρῶ δʼ ἄελπτον φάσμʼ, ὃ μήποτʼ ὤφελον, Πυλάδην τε καὶ σὸν σύγγονον στείχονθʼ ὁμοῦ,
881τὸν μὲν κατηφῆ καὶ παρειμένον νόσῳ, τὸν δʼ ὥστʼ ἀδελφὸν ἴσα φίλῳ λυπούμενον, νόσημα κηδεύοντα παιδαγωγίᾳ. ἐπεὶ δὲ πλήρης ἐγένετʼ Ἀργείων ὄχλος, κῆρυξ ἀναστὰς εἶπε· Τίς χρῄζει λέγειν,
886πότερον Ὀρέστην κατθανεῖν ἢ μὴ χρεών, μητροκτονοῦντα; κἀπὶ τῷδʼ ἀνίσταται Ταλθύβιος, ὃς σῷ πατρὶ συνεπόρθει Φρύγας. ἔλεξε δʼ, ὑπὸ τοῖς δυναμένοισιν ὢν ἀεί, διχόμυθα, πατέρα μὲν σὸν ἐκπαγλούμενος,
891σὸν δʼ οὐκ ἐπαινῶν σύγγονον, καλοὺς κακοὺς λόγους ἑλίσσων, ὅτι καθισταίη νόμους ἐς τοὺς τεκόντας οὐ καλούς· τὸ δʼ ὄμμʼ ἀεὶ φαιδρωπὸν ἐδίδου τοῖσιν Αἰγίσθου φίλοις. τὸ γὰρ γένος τοιοῦτον· ἐπὶ τὸν εὐτυχῆ
896πηδῶσʼ ἀεὶ κήρυκες· ὅδε δʼ αὐτοῖς φίλος, ὃς ἂν δύνηται πόλεος ἔν τʼ ἀρχαῖσιν ᾖ. ἐπὶ τῷδε δʼ ἠγόρευε Διομήδης ἄναξ. οὗτος κτανεῖν μὲν οὔτε σὲ οὔτε σύγγονον εἴα, φυγῇ δὲ ζημιοῦντας εὐσεβεῖν.
901ἐπερρόθησαν δʼ οἳ μὲν ὡς καλῶς λέγοι, οἳ δʼ οὐκ ἐπῄνουν. κἀπὶ τῷδʼ ἀνίσταται ἀνήρ τις ἀθυρόγλωσσος, ἰσχύων θράσει, Ἀργεῖος οὐκ Ἀργεῖος, ἠναγκασμένος, θορύβῳ τε πίσυνος κἀμαθεῖ παρρησίᾳ,
906πιθανὸς ἔτʼ αὐτοὺς περιβαλεῖν κακῷ τινι· ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην καὶ σὲ ἀποκτεῖναι πέτροις βάλλοντας· ὑπὸ δʼ ἔτεινε Τυνδάρεως λόγους τῷ σφὼ κατακτείνοντι τοιούτους λέγειν. ἄλλος δʼ ἀναστὰς ἔλεγε τῷδʼ ἐναντία,
918μορφῇ μὲν οὐκ εὐωπός, ἀνδρεῖος δʼ ἀνήρ, ὀλιγάκις ἄστυ κἀγορᾶς χραίνων κύκλον, αὐτουργός — οἵπερ καὶ μόνοι σῴζουσι γῆν — ξυνετὸς δέ, χωρεῖν ὁμόσε τοῖς λόγοις θέλων, ἀκέραιος, ἀνεπίπληκτον ἠσκηκὼς βίον·
923ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην παῖδα τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος στεφανοῦν, ὃς ἠθέλησε τιμωρεῖν πατρί, κακὴν γυναῖκα κἄθεον κατακτανών, ἣ κεῖνʼ ἀφῄρει, μήθʼ ὁπλίζεσθαι χέρα μήτε στρατεύειν ἐκλιπόντα δώματα,
928εἰ τἄνδον οἰκουρήμαθʼ οἱ λελειμμένοι φθείρουσιν, ἀνδρῶν εὔνιδας λωβώμενοι. καὶ τοῖς γε χρηστοῖς εὖ λέγειν ἐφαίνετο. κοὐδεὶς ἔτʼ εἶπε. σὸς δʼ ἐπῆλθε σύγγονος, ἔλεξε δʼ· ὦ γῆν Ἰνάχου κεκτημένοι,
934ὑμῖν ἀμύνων οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ πατρὶ ἔκτεινα μητέρʼ. εἰ γὰρ ἀρσένων φόνος ἔσται γυναιξὶν ὅσιος, οὐ φθάνοιτʼ ἔτʼ ἂν θνῄσκοντες, ἢ γυναιξὶ δουλεύειν χρεών· τοὐναντίον δὲ δράσετʼ ἢ δρᾶσαι χρεών.
939νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἡ προδοῦσα λέκτρʼ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς τέθνηκεν· εἰ δὲ δὴ κατακτενεῖτʼ ἐμέ, ὁ νόμος ἀνεῖται, κοὐ φθάνοι θνῄσκων τις ἄν· ὡς τῆς γε τόλμης οὐ σπάνις γενήσεται. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔπειθʼ ὅμιλον, εὖ δοκῶν λέγειν.
944νικᾷ δʼ ἐκεῖνος ὁ κακὸς ἐν πλήθει λέγων, ὃς ἠγόρευσε σύγγονον σέ τε κτανεῖν. μόλις δʼ ἔπεισε μὴ πετρουμένους θανεῖν τλήμων Ὀρέστης· αὐτόχειρι δὲ σφαγῇ ὑπέσχετʼ ἐν τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ λείψειν βίον
949σὺν σοί. πορεύει δʼ αὐτὸν ἐκκλήτων ἄπο Πυλάδης δακρύων· σὺν δʼ ὁμαρτοῦσιν φίλοι κλαίοντες, οἰκτίροντες· ἔρχεται δέ σοι πικρὸν θέαμα καὶ πρόσοψις ἀθλία. ἀλλʼ εὐτρέπιζε φάσγανʼ ἢ βρόχον δέρῃ·
954ὡς δεῖ λιπεῖν σε φέγγος· ἡ εὐγένεια δὲ οὐδέν σʼ ἐπωφέλησεν, οὐδʼ ὁ Πύθιος τρίποδα καθίζων Φοῖβος, ἀλλʼ ἀπώλεσεν.
Part 14
795bPYLADES: A service I am glad to render.
796ORESTES: And guide me to my father’s tomb.
796bPYLADES: For what purpose?
797ORESTES: That I may appeal to him to save me.
797bPYLADES: Yes, that is the proper way.
798ORESTES: May I not see my mother’s grave!
798bPYLADES: No; she was an enemy. But hasten, so that the vote of Argos may not catch you first,
800supporting those limbs, slow from sickness, on mine; for I will carry you through the town, thinking little of the mob and unashamed. For how shall I prove my friendship, if not by helping you in sore distress?
804ORESTES: Ah! the old saying again, get friends, not relations only.
805For a man who fuses into your ways, though he is an outsider, is better for a man to possess as a friend than a whole host of relations. Exeunt Orestes and Pylades.
807CHORUS: The great prosperity and the prowess, proudly boasted throughout Hellas and by the streams of Simois,
810went back again from good fortune for the Atreidae long ago, from an old misfortune to their house, when strife came to the sons of Tantalus over a golden ram, to end in most pitiable banqueting and
815the slaughter of high-born children; and this is why murder exchanges for murder, through blood, and does not leave the two Atreidae.
819CHORUS: What seemed good was not good,
820to cut a mother’s flesh with ruthless hand and show the sword stained black with blood to the sun’s bright beams; to commit a noble crime is an impious, subtle, malignant madness!
825The wretched daughter of Tyndareus in terror of death screamed to him: My son, this is unholy, your bold attempt upon your mother’s life; do not, while honoring your father,
830fasten on yourself an eternity of shame.
831CHORUS: What affliction on earth surpasses this? What calls for keener grief or pity, than to shed with your hand a mother’s blood? Oh! what a dreadful crime he committed,
835and now is raving mad, a prey to the Furies, whirling blood with racing eyes, the son of Agamemnon! O the wretch! when
840he saw a mother’s bosom over her robe of golden weave, and yet he made her his victim, in recompense for his father’s sufferings.
844ELECTRA: Women, has my poor Orestes left the house,
845mastered by the heaven-sent madness?
846CHORUS LEADER: Not at all; he has gone to the Argive people to stand the appointed trial for his life, in which he and you must live or die.
849ELECTRA: Oh! Why did he do it? Who persuaded him?
850CHORUS LEADER: Pylades; but this messenger will no doubt soon tell us what happened to your brother there.
852MESSENGER: Wretched, unhappy daughter of the general Agamemnon, my lady Electra, hear the sad tidings I bring you.
855ELECTRA: Alas! we are ruined; your words show it; you have clearly come with tidings of woe.
857MESSENGER: The Pelasgians have decided by vote that you, poor lady, and your brother are to die this day.
859ELECTRA: Alas! my expectations are realized; I have long feared this,
860and have been wasting away in mourning for what was sure to happen. But what was the trial, what was said by the Argives, to condemn us and ratify our death? Tell me, old friend; must I die by stoning or the sword?
865For I share my brother’s misfortunes.
866MESSENGER: I had just come from the country and was entering the gates, needing to learn what was decided about you and Orestes, for I was always well disposed to your father when he was alive, and it was your house that reared me,
870poor indeed, yet loyal in the service of friends. I saw a crowd going and taking their seats on the height, where they say Danaus first gathered his people for a meeting, making amends to Aegyptus. So, when I saw the throng, I asked a citizen:
875What news in Argos? Tidings of the enemy haven’t ruffled the city of Danaus, have they? But he said: Don’t you see Orestes there, on his way to he tried for his life? I saw an unexpected sight, which I wish I had not seen,
880Pylades and your brother approaching together, the one with his head down, weakened by sickness; the other sharing his friend’s sorrow like a brother, tending his illness with constant care.
884Now when the Argives were fully gathered,
885a herald rose and said: Who wishes to give his opinion whether Orestes should be slain or not for the murder of his mother? Then up stood Talthybius, who helped your father sack the Phrygians. He spoke out of both sides of his mouth, a mere tool of those in power as he always is,
890expressing high admiration for your father, but not praising your brother, urging his crooked sentiments in specious words, that it would establish laws as to parents that are not good; and all the while he was darting lively glances at the friends of Aegisthus.
895Such is that tribe; heralds always trip across to the lucky side; the one who has power in the city or a post in the government is their friend.
898After him lord Diomedes made a speech; he said they should not kill you and your brother,
900but keep clear of guilt by punishing you with exile. Some roared out that his words were good, but others disapproved.
902Next stood up a fellow, who cannot close his lips; one whose impudence is his strength; an Argive, but not of Argos, forced on us;
905confident in bluster and ignorant free speech, and plausible enough to involve them in some mischief sooner or later;
910He was for stoning you and Orestes to death,
915but it was Tyndareus who kept suggesting arguments of this kind to him as he urged the death of both of you.
917Another then stood up and said the opposite; he was not handsome in appearance, but a brave man, rarely coming in contact with the town or the circle in the market-place;
920a farmer—and they are the only ones who preserve our land—but clever, and eager to grapple with the arguments, his character without a blemish, his walk in life beyond reproach. He said that they should crown Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, for showing his willingness to avenge a father
925by the murder of a wicked and godless woman who would prevent men from taking up arms and going on foreign service, if those who remain behind, corrupt and seduce wives left at home to keep house.
930To the better sort, at least, his word carried conviction.
931No one spoke after him. Then your brother came forward and said: You dwellers in the land of Inachus! I helped you no less than my father
935when I slew my mother; for if the murder of men by women is to be sanctioned, then the sooner you die, the better, or you must become the slaves of women; and that will be doing the very reverse of what you should. As it is, she who betrayed my father’s bed
940has died, but if you take my life, the law becomes relaxed, and the sooner each one of you dies, the better; for it will never be daring at any rate that they will lack. Yet, for all he seemed to speak well, he did not persuade the assembly; but that villain who spoke in favor of slaying you and your brother
945gained his point by appealing to the mob.
946Poor Orestes scarcely persuaded them not to kill him by stoning, promising to die by his own hand, with you, on this day. Pylades, in tears, is now bringing him from the conclave;
950and his friends bear him company, with wailing and lamentation; so he comes, a bitter sight and piteous vision. Make ready the sword or prepare the noose for your neck, for you must leave the light; your noble birth
955availed you nothing, nor did Phoebus from his seat on the tripod at Delphi; he was your undoing. Exit Messenger.
Part 15
957ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὦ δυστάλαινα παρθένʼ, ὡς ξυνηρεφὲς
958πρόσωπον εἰς γῆν σὸν βαλοῦσʼ ἄφθογγος εἶ,
959ὡς εἰς στεναγμοὺς καὶ γόους δραμουμένη.
960ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: κατάρχομαι στεναγμόν, ὦ Πελασγία, τιθεῖσα λευκὸν ὄνυχα διὰ παρηίδων, αἱματηρὸν ἄταν, κτύπον τε κρατός, ὃν ἔλαχʼ ἁ κατὰ χθονὸς νερτέρων Περσέφασσα καλλίπαις θεά.
965ἰαχείτω δὲ γᾶ Κυκλωπία, σίδαρον ἐπὶ κάρα τιθεῖσα κούριμον, πήματʼ οἴκων. ἔλεος ἔλεος ὅδʼ ἔρχεται τῶν θανουμένων ὕπερ,
970στρατηλατᾶν Ἑλλάδος ποτʼ ὄντων.
971ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: βέβακε γὰρ βέβακεν, οἴχεται τέκνων πρόπασα γέννα Πέλοπος ὅ τʼ ἐπὶ μακαρίοις ζῆλος ὤν ποτʼ οἴκοις· φθόνος νιν εἷλε θεόθεν, ἅ τε δυσμενὴς φοινία ψῆφος ἐν πολίταις.
976ἰὼ ἰώ, πανδάκρυτʼ ἐφαμέρων ἔθνη πολύπονα, λεύσσεθʼ, ὡς παρʼ ἐλπίδας μοῖρα βαίνει. ἕτερα δʼ ἕτερος ἀμείβεται πήματʼ ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ·
981βροτῶν δʼ ὁ πᾶς ἀστάθμητος αἰών.
982ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: μόλοιμι τὰν οὐρανοῦ μέσον χθονός τε τεταμέναν αἰωρήμασι πέτραν, ἁλύσεσιν χρυσέαισι φερομέναν δίναισι, βῶλον ἐξ Ὀλύμπου,
984ἵνʼ ἐν θρήνοισιν ἀναβοάσω γέροντι πατρὶ Ταντάλῳ ὃς ἔτεκεν ἔτεκε γενέτορας ἐμέθεν δόμων, οἳ κατεῖδον ἄτας, ποτανὸν μὲν δίωγμα πώλων
989τεθριπποβάμονι στόλῳ Πέλοψ ὅτε πελάγεσι διεδίφρευσε, Μυρτίλου φόνον δικὼν ἐς οἶδμα πόντου, λευκοκύμοσιν πρὸς Γεραιστίαις
994ποντίων σάλων ᾐόσιν ἁρματεύσας. ὅθεν δόμοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἦλθʼ ἀρὰ πολύστονος, λόχευμα ποιμνίοισι Μαιάδος τόκου,
998τὸ χρυσόμαλλον ἀρνὸς ὁπότʼ ἐγένετο τέρας ὀλοὸν ὀλοὸν Ἀτρέος ἱπποβώτα· ὅθεν Ἔρις τό τε πτερωτὸν ἁλίου μετέβαλεν ἅρμα,
1003τὰν πρὸς ἑσπέραν κέλευθον οὐρανοῦ προσαρμόσα- σα μονόπωλον ἐς Ἀῶ, ἑπταπόρου τε δράμημα Πελειάδος εἰς ὁδὸν ἄλλαν Ζεὺς μεταβάλλει,
1007τῶνδέ τʼ ἀμείβει [...] θανάτους θανά- των τά τʼ ἐπώνυμα δεῖπνα Θυέστου λέκτρα τε Κρήσσας Ἀερόπας δολί- ας δολίοισι γάμοις· τὰ πανύστατα δʼ εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ γενέταν ἐμὸν ἤλυθε
1012δόμων πολυπόνοις ἀνάγκαις.
1013ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν ὅδε σὸς σύγγονος ἕρπει
1014ψήφῳ θανάτου κατακυρωθείς,
1014aὅ τε πιστότατος πάντων Πυλάδης,
1015ἰσάδελφος ἀνήρ, ἰθύνων
1016νοσερὸν κῶλον ,
1017ποδὶ κηδοσύνῳ παράσειρος.
1018ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οἲ ἐγώ· πρὸ τύμβου γάρ σʼ ὁρῶσʼ ἀναστένω,
1019ἀδελφέ, καὶ πάροιθε νερτέρου πυρᾶς.
1020οἲ ἐγὼ μάλʼ αὖθις· ὥς σʼ ἰδοῦσʼ ἐν ὄμμασιν
1021πανυστάτην πρόσοψιν ἐξέστην φρενῶν.
1022ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ σῖγʼ ἀφεῖσα τοὺς γυναικείους γόους
1023στέρξεις τὰ κρανθέντʼ; οἰκτρὰ μὲν τάδʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅμως
1024.
1025ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ πῶς σιωπῶ; φέγγος εἰσορᾶν θεοῦ
1026τόδʼ οὐκέθʼ ἡμῖν τοῖς ταλαιπώροις μέτα.
1027ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σὺ μή μʼ ἀπόκτεινʼ· ἅλις ὑπʼ Ἀργείας χερὸς
1028τέθνηχʼ ὁ τλήμων· τὰ δὲ παρόντʼ ἔα κακά.
1029ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ μέλεος ἥβης σῆς, Ὀρέστα, καὶ πότμου
1030θανάτου τʼ ἀώρου. ζῆν ἐχρῆν σʼ, ὅτʼ οὐκέτʼ εἶ.
1031ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ πρὸς θεῶν μοι περιβάλῃς ἀνανδρίαν,
1032ἐς δάκρυα πορθμεύουσʼ ὑπομνήσει κακῶν.
1033ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανούμεθʼ· οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ στένειν κακά.
1034πᾶσιν γὰρ οἰκτρὸν ἡ φίλη ψυχὴ βροτοῖς.
1035ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τόδʼ ἦμαρ ἡμῖν κύριον· δεῖ δʼ ἢ βρόχους
1036ἅπτειν κρεμαστοὺς ἢ ξίφος θήγειν χερί.
1037ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σύ νύν μʼ, ἀδελφέ, μή τις Ἀργείων κτάνῃ
1038ὕβρισμα θέμενος τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος γόνον.
1039ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἅλις τὸ μητρὸς αἷμʼ ἔχω· σὲ δʼ οὐ κτενῶ,
1040ἀλλʼ αὐτόχειρι θνῇσχʼ ὅτῳ βούλῃ τρόπῳ.
1041ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔσται τάδʼ· οὐδὲν σοῦ ξίφους λελείψομαι.
1042ἀλλʼ ἀμφιθεῖναι σῇ δέρῃ θέλω χέρας.
1043ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τέρπου κενὴν ὄνησιν, εἰ τερπνὸν τόδε
1044θανάτου πέλας βεβῶσι, περιβαλεῖν χέρας.
1045ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλτατʼ, ὦ ποθεινὸν ἥδιστόν τʼ ἔχων
1046τῆς σῆς ἀδελφῆς ὄνομα καὶ ψυχὴν μίαν.
1047ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔκ τοί με τήξεις· καί σʼ ἀμείψασθαι θέλω
1048φιλότητι χειρῶν. τί γὰρ ἔτʼ αἰδοῦμαι τάλας;
1049ὦ στέρνʼ ἀδελφῆς, ὦ φίλον πρόσπτυγμʼ ἐμόν,
1050τάδʼ ἀντὶ παίδων καὶ γαμηλίου λέχους —
1051.
1052ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φεῦ·
1052aπῶς ἂν ξίφος νὼ ταὐτόν, εἰ θέμις, κτάνοι
1053καὶ μνῆμα δέξαιθʼ ἕν, κέδρου τεχνάσματα;
Part 15
960ELECTRA: O Pelasgia, I take up the dirge, doing bloody outrage on my cheeks with white nail, and beating on my head; these are the portion of Persephone, fair young goddess of the nether world.
965Let the Cyclopian land break forth into wailing for the sorrows of our house, laying the steel upon the head to crop it close. This is the piteous, piteous strain that goes up for those who are about to die,
970once the battle-leaders of Hellas.
971ELECTRA: It has gone, it has gone, and is lost, all the race of Pelops, and the glory that crowned their happy home once; the envy of heaven seized them and that cruel
975murdering vote among the citizens.
976Oh, oh! you tribes of short-lived men, full of tears, full of suffering, see how fate runs counter to your hopes! All receive in turn their different
980troubles in length of time; and the whole of mortal life is uncertain.
982ELECTRA: Oh! to reach that rock which hangs suspended midway between earth and heaven, that fragment from Olympus, which swings on chains of gold, so that I may utter my lament
985to Tantalus, my forefather, who begot the ancestors of my house. They saw infatuate ruin, the chase of winged steeds, when Pelops in four-horse chariot
990drove over the sea, hurling the body of murdered Myrtilus into the ocean swell, after his race near Geraestus’ strand, foam-flecked from the tossing sea.
995From this came a woeful curse upon my house, brought to birth among the sheep by the son of Maia, when there appeared a baleful, baleful portent of a lamb with golden fleece,
1000for Atreus, breeder of horses; from which Strife changed the course of the sun’s winged chariot, fitting the westward path of the sky towards the single horse of Dawn;
1005and Zeus diverted the career of the seven Pleiads into a new track and exchanged . . . death for death: both the banquet to which Thyestes gave his name, and the treacherous love of Cretan Aerope,
1010in her treacherous marriage; but the crowning woe has come on me and on my father by the bitter constraints of our house.
1013CHORUS LEADER: Look, here comes your brother, condemned to die, and with him Pylades, most loyal of friends,
1015true as a brother, guiding his feeble steps, his yoke-fellow, pacing carefully.
1018ELECTRA: Alas! I weep to see you stand before the tomb, my brother, face to face with the funeral pyre.
1020Alas, again! as I take my last look at you, my senses leave me.
1022ORESTES: Be silent! an end to womanish lamenting! resign yourself to your fate. It is piteous, but nevertheless
1025ELECTRA: How can I be silent, when we poor sufferers are no longer to gaze upon the sun-god’s light?
1027ORESTES: Oh! spare me that death! Enough that this unhappy wretch is already slain by Argives; let our present sufferings be.
1029ELECTRA: Alas for your unhappy youth, Orestes, and for your fated
1030untimely death! When you should have lived, you are going to die.
1031ORESTES: By the gods, do not unman me, bringing me to tears by the recollection of my sorrows.
1033ELECTRA: We are about to die; it is not possible for me not to grieve over our troubles; it is a piteous thing for all men to lose life, that is so sweet.
1035ORESTES: This is the day appointed for us; we must fit the dangling noose about our necks or whet the sword for use.
1037ELECTRA: You be the one to kill me, brother, so that no Argive may insult Agamemnon’s son by my death.
1039ORESTES: Enough that I have a mother’s blood upon me; I will not kill you,
1040but die by your own hand, however you wish.
1041ELECTRA: Agreed; I will not be behind you in using the sword; only I long to throw my arms about your neck.
1043ORESTES: Enjoy that empty satisfaction, if embraces have any joy for those who have come so near to death.
1045ELECTRA: My dearest, you who have a name that sounds most loved and sweet to your sister, partner in one soul with her!
1047ORESTES: Oh, you will melt my heart! I want to give you back a fond embrace. And why should such a wretch as I still feel any shame? Embracing Electra Heart to heart, my sister! how sweet to me this close embrace!
1050In place of children and the marriage bed .
1052ELECTRA: Ah! If only the same sword, if it is right, could kill us both, and one coffin of cedar-wood receive us!
1054ORESTES: That would be very sweet; but surely you see
1055we are too destitute of friends to be allowed one tomb between us.
Part 16
1054ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἥδιστʼ ἂν εἴη ταῦθʼ· ὁρᾷς δὲ δὴ φίλων
1055ὡς ἐσπανίσμεθʼ, ὥστε κοινωνεῖν τάφου.
1056ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐδʼ εἶφʼ ὑπὲρ σοῦ, μὴ θανεῖν σπουδὴν ἔχων,
1057Μενέλαος ὁ κακός, ὁ προδότης τοὐμοῦ πατρός;
1058ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐδʼ ὄμμʼ ἔδειξεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σκήπτροις ἔχων τὴν ἐλπίδʼ, εὐλαβεῖτο μὴ σῴζειν φίλους. ἀλλʼ εἶʼ ὅπως γενναῖα καὶ Ἀγαμέμνονος δράσαντε κατθανούμεθʼ ἀξιώτατα. κἀγὼ μὲν εὐγένειαν ἀποδείξω πόλει,
1063παίσας πρὸς ἧπαρ φασγάνῳ· σὲ δʼ αὖ χρεὼν ὅμοια πράσσειν τοῖς ἐμοῖς τολμήμασιν. Πυλάδη, σὺ δʼ ἡμῖν τοῦ φόνου γενοῦ βραβεύς, καὶ κατθανόντοιν εὖ περίστειλον δέμας θάψον τε κοινῇ πρὸς πατρὸς τύμβον φέρων.
1068καὶ χαῖρʼ· ἐπʼ ἔργον δʼ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, πορεύομαι.
1069ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐπίσχες. ἓν μὲν πρῶτά σοι μομφὴν ἔχω,
1070εἰ ζῆν με χρῄζειν σοῦ θανόντος ἤλπισας.
1071ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί γὰρ προσήκει κατθανεῖν σʼ ἐμοῦ μέτα;
1072ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἤρου; τί δὲ ζῆν σῆς ἑταιρίας ἄτερ;
1073ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἔκτανες σὴν μητέρʼ, ὡς ἐγὼ τάλας.
1074ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σὺν σοί γε κοινῇ· ταὐτὰ καὶ πάσχειν με δεῖ.
1075ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀπόδος τὸ σῶμα πατρί, μὴ σύνθνῃσκέ μοι. σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔστι πόλις, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκ ἔστι δή, καὶ δῶμα πατρὸς καὶ μέγας πλούτου λιμήν. γάμων δὲ τῆς μὲν δυσπότμου τῆσδʼ ἐσφάλης, ἥν σοι κατηγγύησʼ ἑταιρίαν σέβων·
1080σὺ δʼ ἄλλο λέκτρον παιδοποίησαι λαβών, κῆδος δὲ τοὐμὸν καὶ σὸν οὐκέτʼ ἔστι δή. ἀλλʼ, ὦ ποθεινὸν ὄμμʼ ὁμιλίας ἐμῆς, χαῖρʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἔστι τοῦτο, σοί γε μήν· οἱ γὰρ θανόντες χαρμάτων τητώμεθα.
1085ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἦ πολὺ λέλειψαι τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων. μήθʼ αἷμά μου δέξαιτο κάρπιμον πέδον, μὴ λαμπρὸς αἰθήρ, εἴ σʼ ἐγὼ προδούς ποτε ἐλευθερώσας τοὐμὸν ἀπολίποιμι σέ. καὶ συγκατέκτανον γάρ, οὐκ ἀρνήσομαι,
1090καὶ πάντʼ ἐβούλευσʼ ὧν σὺ νῦν τίνεις δίκας· καὶ ξυνθανεῖν οὖν δεῖ με σοὶ καὶ τῇδʼ ὁμοῦ. ἐμὴν γὰρ αὐτήν, ἧς γε λέχος ἐπῄνεσα, κρίνω δάμαρτα· τί γὰρ ἐρῶ κἀγώ ποτε γῆν Δελφίδʼ ἐλθὼν Φωκέων ἀκρόπτολιν,
1095ὃς πρὶν μὲν ὑμᾶς δυστυχεῖν φίλος παρῆ, νῦν δʼ οὐκέτʼ εἰμὶ δυστυχοῦντί σοι φίλος; οὐκ ἔστιν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν κἀμοὶ μέλει· ἐπεὶ δὲ κατθανούμεθʼ, ἐς κοινοὺς λόγους ἔλθωμεν, ὡς ἂν Μενέλεως συνδυστυχῇ.
1100ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ φίλτατʼ, εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο κατθάνοιμʼ ἰδών.
1101ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: πιθοῦ νυν, ἄμμεινόν τε φασγάνου τομάς.
1102ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μενῶ, τὸν ἐχθρὸν εἴ τι τιμωρήσομαι.
1103ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σίγα νυν· ὡς γυναιξὶ πιστεύω βραχύ.
1104ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μηδὲν τρέσῃς τάσδʼ· ὡς πάρεισʼ ἡμῖν φίλαι.
1105ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενέλεῳ λύπην πικράν.
1106ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πῶς; τὸ γὰρ ἕτοιμον ἔστιν, εἴ γʼ ἔσται καλῶς.
1107ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: σφάξαντες. ἐν δόμοις δὲ κρύπτεται σέθεν.
1108ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μάλιστα· καὶ δὴ πάντʼ ἀποσφραγίζεται.
1109ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐκέθʼ, Ἅιδην νυμφίον κεκτημένη.
Part 16
1056ELECTRA: Did that coward Menelaus, that traitor to my father, not even speak for you, or make an effort to save your life?
1058ORESTES: He did not even show himself, but, with his hopes centered on the throne, he was careful not to attempt the rescue of his friends.
1060But let us see how we may die a noble death, one most worthy of Agamemnon. I, for my part, will let the city see my noble spirit when I plunge the sword to my heart, and you in turn must imitate my daring.
1065Pylades, be the arbitrator of our slaughter and, when we both are dead, lay out our bodies decently; carry them to our father’s grave and bury us there with him. Farewell, now; I am leaving for the deed, as you see.
1069PYLADES: Stop! there is first one point I have to blame you for,
1070if you thought I would care to live when you are dead.
1071ORESTES: But why are you called on to die with me?
1072PYLADES: Do you ask? What is life to me without your companionship?
1073ORESTES: You did not kill your mother, as I did to my sorrow.
1074PYLADES: At least I helped you; and so I ought to suffer the same penalty.
1075ORESTES: Surrender to your father, do not die with me. You still have a city, while I no longer have, and your father’s home, and a great refuge of wealth. You have failed to marry my poor sister, whom I betrothed to you from a deep regard for your companionship;
1080but find another bride and rear a family; for the marriage-tie which bound us is no more. Farewell, be happy, my beloved friend; we cannot, but you may; for we, the dead, are robbed of happiness.
1085PYLADES: How far you are from grasping what I mean! May the fruitful earth, the radiant sky refuse to hold my blood, if ever I turn traitor and desert you when I have freed myself. For I shared in the murder, which I will not deny,
1090and also schemed the whole plot, for which you are now paying the penalty; and so I ought to die together with you and her. For I consider her, whom you betrothed to me, as my wife. Whatever shall I say, when I reach Delphi, the citadel of Phocis,
1095if I was your friend before your misfortunes, but ceased to be your friend, when you were unfortunate? That must not be; no, this concerns me, too. But since we are to die, let us take counsel together that Menelaus may share our misfortune.
1100ORESTES: Best of friends! if only I could see this before I die.
1101PYLADES: Listen to me, and delay the stroke of the sword.
1102ORESTES: I will, if I may take vengeance on my enemy.
1103PYLADES: Hush now! I have small confidence in women.
1104ORESTES: Have no fear of these; for they are our friends who are here.
1105PYLADES: Let us kill Helen, a bitter grief to Menelaus.
1106ORESTES: How? I am ready, if there is any chance of success.
1107PYLADES: With our swords; she is hiding in your house.
1108ORESTES: Indeed she is; and already she is putting her seal on everything.
1109PYLADES: No longer, after she is married to Hades.
1110ORESTES: But how? She has her barbarian attendants.
Part 17
1110ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ πῶς; ἔχει γὰρ βαρβάρους ὀπάονας.
1111ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τίνας; Φρυγῶν γὰρ οὐδένʼ ἂν τρέσαιμʼ ἐγώ.
1112ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἵους ἐνόπτρων καὶ μύρων ἐπιστάτας.
1113ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: τρυφὰς γὰρ ἥκει δεῦρʼ ἔχουσα Τρωικάς;
1114ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥσθʼ Ἑλλὰς αὐτῇ σμικρὸν οἰκητήριον.
1115ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὐδὲν τὸ δοῦλον πρὸς τὸ μὴ δοῦλον γένος.
1116ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ μὴν τόδʼ ἔρξας δὶς θανεῖν οὐχ ἅζομαι.
1117ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐγὼ μήν, σοί γε τιμωρούμενος.
1118ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὸ πρᾶγμα δήλου καὶ πέραινʼ, ὅπως λέγεις.
1119ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔσιμεν ἐς οἴκους δῆθεν ὡς θανούμενοι.
1120ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔχω τοσοῦτον, τἀπίλοιπα δʼ οὐκ ἔχω.
1121ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: γόους πρὸς αὐτὴν θησόμεσθʼ ἃ πάσχομεν.
1122ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὥστʼ ἐκδακρῦσαί γʼ ἔνδοθεν κεχαρμένην.
1123ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: καὶ νῷν παρέσται ταῦθʼ ἅπερ κείνῃ τότε.
1124ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔπειτʼ ἀγῶνα πῶς ἀγωνιούμεθα;
1125ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: κρύπτʼ ἐν πέπλοισι τοισίδʼ ἕξομεν ξίφη.
1126ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πρόσθεν δʼ ὀπαδῶν τίς ὄλεθρος γενήσεται;
1127ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐκκλῄσομεν σφᾶς ἄλλον ἄλλοσε στέγης.
1128ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ τόν γε μὴ σιγῶντʼ ἀποκτείνειν χρεών.
1129ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἶτʼ αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὔργον οἷ τείνειν χρεών.
Part 17
1111PYLADES: Barbarians indeed! I am not the man to fear any Phrygian.
1112ORESTES: They are only fit to look after mirrors and perfumes!
1113PYLADES: Has she brought Trojan luxury with her here?
1114ORESTES: So much so, that Hellas is too small for her to live in.
1115PYLADES: The race of slaves is nothing to those who are free.
1116ORESTES: Well, if I can do this deed, I do not shrink from dying twice over.
1117PYLADES: No, nor I either, if it is you I am avenging.
1118ORESTES: Explain the matter, and continue describing your plan.
1119PYLADES: We will enter the house on the pretence of going to our death.
1120ORESTES: So far I follow you, but not beyond.
1121PYLADES: We will lament our sufferings to her.
1122ORESTES: So that she will shed tears, although her heart is glad.
1123PYLADES: And our condition will be like hers.
1124ORESTES: How shall we proceed next in our contest?
1125PYLADES: We shall have swords concealed in our cloaks.
1126ORESTES: Will we dispose of her attendants first?
1127PYLADES: We will shut them up in different parts of the house.
1128ORESTES: And whoever refuses to be quiet, we must kill.
1129PYLADES: And then the deed itself shows us where we must exert ourselves.
1130ORETES: To kill Helen; I understand that watchword.
Part 18
1130ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: Ἑλένην φονεύειν· μανθάνω τὸ σύμβολον.
1131ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἔγνως· ἄκουσον δʼ ὡς καλῶς βουλεύομαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐς γυναῖκα σωφρονεστέραν ξίφος μεθεῖμεν, δυσκλεὴς ἂν ἦν φόνος· νῦν δʼ ὑπὲρ ἁπάσης Ἑλλάδος δώσει δίκην, ὧν πατέρας ἔκτεινʼ, ὧν δʼ ἀπώλεσεν τέκνα,
1136νύμφας τʼ ἔθηκεν ὀρφανὰς ξυναόρων. ὀλολυγμὸς ἔσται, πῦρ τʼ ἀνάψουσιν θεοῖς, σοὶ πολλὰ κἀμοὶ κέδνʼ ἀρώμενοι τυχεῖν, κακῆς γυναικὸς οὕνεχʼ αἷμʼ ἐπράξαμεν. ὁ μητροφόντης δʼ οὐ καλῇ ταύτην κτανών,
1141ἀλλʼ ἀπολιπὼν τοῦτʼ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον πεσῇ, Ἑλένης λεγόμενος τῆς πολυκτόνου φονεύς. οὐ δεῖ ποτʼ, οὐ δεῖ, Μενέλεων μὲν εὐτυχεῖν, τὸν σὸν δὲ πατέρα καὶ σὲ κἀδελφὴν θανεῖν, μητέρα τε — ἐῶ τοῦτʼ· οὐ γὰρ εὐπρεπὲς λέγειν —
1146δόμους δʼ ἔχειν σοὺς διʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος δόρυ λαβόντα νύμφην· μὴ γὰρ οὖν ζῴην ἔτι, ἢν μὴ ʼπʼ ἐκείνῃ φάσγανον σπασώμεθα. ἢν δʼ οὖν τὸν Ἑλένης μὴ κατάσχωμεν φόνον, πρήσαντες οἴκους τούσδε κατθανούμεθα.
1151ἑνὸς γὰρ οὐ σφαλέντες ἕξομεν κλέος, καλῶς θανόντες ἢ καλῶς σεσῳσμένοι.
1153ΧΟΡΌΣ: πάσαις γυναιξὶν ἀξία στυγεῖν ἔφυ
1154ἡ Τυνδαρὶς παῖς, ἣ κατῄσχυνεν γένος.
1155ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φεῦ· οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν κρεῖσσον ἢ φίλος σαφής, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐ τυραννίς· ἀλόγιστον δέ τι τὸ πλῆθος ἀντάλλαγμα γενναίου φίλου. σὺ γὰρ τά τʼ εἰς Αἴγισθον ἐξηῦρες κακὰ
1159aκαὶ πλησίον παρῆσθα κινδύνων ἐμοί, νῦν τʼ αὖ δίδως μοι πολεμίων τιμωρίαν κοὐκ ἐκποδὼν εἶ — παύσομαί σʼ αἰνῶν, ἐπεὶ βάρος τι κἀν τῷδʼ ἐστίν, αἰνεῖσθαι λίαν. ἐγὼ δὲ πάντως ἐκπνέων ψυχὴν ἐμὴν
1164δράσας τι χρῄζω τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐχθροὺς θανεῖν, ἵνʼ ἀνταναλώσω μὲν οἵ με προύδοσαν, στένωσι δʼ οἵπερ κἄμʼ ἔθηκαν ἄθλιον. Ἀγαμέμνονός τοι παῖς πέφυχʼ, ὃς Ἑλλάδος ἦρξʼ ἀξιωθείς, οὐ τύραννος, ἀλλʼ ὅμως
1169ῥώμην θεοῦ τινʼ ἔσχε· ὃν οὐ καταισχυνῶ δοῦλον παρασχὼν θάνατον, ἀλλʼ ἐλευθέρως ψυχὴν ἀφήσω, Μενέλεων δὲ τείσομαι. ἑνὸς γὰρ εἰ λαβοίμεθʼ, εὐτυχοῖμεν ἄν, εἴ ποθεν ἄελπτος παραπέσοι σωτηρία
1174κτανοῦσι μὴ θανοῦσιν· εὔχομαι τάδε. ὃ βούλομαι γάρ, ἡδὺ καὶ διὰ στόμα πτηνοῖσι μύθοις ἀδαπάνως τέρψαι φρένα.
1177ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐγώ, κασίγνητʼ, αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἔχειν δοκῶ,
1178σωτηρίαν σοὶ τῷδέ τʼ ἐκ τρίτων τʼ ἐμοί.
1179ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θεοῦ λέγεις πρόνοιαν. ἀλλὰ ποῦ τόδε;
1180ἐπεὶ τὸ συνετόν γʼ οἶδα σῇ ψυχῇ παρόν.
1181ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄκουε δή νυν· καὶ σὺ δεῦρο νοῦν ἔχε.
1182ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λέγʼ· ὡς τὸ μέλλειν ἀγάθʼ ἔχει τινʼ ἡδονήν.
1183ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένης κάτοισθα θυγατέρʼ; εἰδότʼ ἠρόμην.
1184ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οἶδʼ, ἣν ἔθρεψεν Ἑρμιόνην μήτηρ ἐμή.
1185ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: αὕτη βέβηκε πρὸς Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον.
1186ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί χρῆμα δράσουσʼ; ὑποτίθης τίνʼ ἐλπίδα;
1187ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: χοὰς κατασπείσουσʼ ὑπὲρ μητρὸς τάφῳ.
1188ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ δὴ τί μοι τοῦτʼ εἶπας ἐς σωτηρίαν;
1189ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ξυλλάβεθʼ ὅμηρον τήνδʼ, ὅταν στείχῃ πάλιν.
1190ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τίνος τόδʼ εἶπας φάρμακον τρισσοῖς φίλοις;
1191ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Ἑλένης θανούσης, ἤν τι Μενέλεώς σε δρᾷ ἢ τόνδε κἀμέ — πᾶν γὰρ ἓν φίλον τόδε — λέγʼ ὡς φονεύσεις Ἑρμιόνην· ξίφος δὲ χρὴ δέρῃ πρὸς αὐτῇ παρθένου σπάσαντʼ ἔχειν. κἂν μέν σε σῴζῃ μὴ θανεῖν χρῄζων κόρην
1196Ἑλένης Μενέλεως πτῶμʼ ἰδὼν ἐν αἵματι, μέθες πεπᾶσθαι πατρὶ παρθένου δέμας· ἢν δʼ ὀξυθύμου μὴ κρατῶν φρονήματος κτείνῃ σε, καὶ σὺ σφάζε παρθένου δέρην. καί νιν δοκῶ, τὸ πρῶτον ἢν πολὺς παρῇ,
1201χρόνῳ μαλάξειν σπλάγχνον· οὔτε γὰρ θρασὺς οὔτʼ ἄλκιμος πέφυκε. τήνδʼ ἡμῖν ἔχω σωτηρίας ἔπαλξιν. εἴρηται λόγος.
1204ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη,
1205τὸ σῶμα δʼ ἐν γυναιξὶ θηλείαις πρέπον,
1206ὡς ἀξία ζῆν μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν ἔφυς.
1207Πυλάδη, τοιαύτης ἆρʼ ἁμαρτήσῃ τάλας
1208γυναικὸς ἢ ζῶν μακάριον κτήσῃ λέχος.
1209ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ γένοιτο, Φωκέων δʼ ἔλθοι πόλιν
1210καλοῖσιν ὑμεναίοισιν ἀξιουμένη.
1211ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἥξει δʼ ἐς οἴκους Ἑρμιόνη τίνος χρόνου;
1212ὡς τἄλλα γʼ εἶπας, εἴπερ εὐτυχήσομεν,
1213κάλλισθʼ, ἑλόντες σκύμνον ἀνοσίου πατρός.
Part 18
1131PYLADES: You have it; now hear how sound my scheme is. If we drew the sword upon a woman of greater chastity, the murder would be infamous; but, as it is, she will be punished for the sake of all Hellas,
1135whose fathers she slew, whose children she destroyed, and made widows out of brides. There will be shouts of joy, and they will kindle the altars of the gods, invoking on our heads many blessings, because we shed a wicked woman’s blood.
1140After killing her, you will not be called the matricide, but, resigning that title, you will succeed to a better, and be called the slayer of Helen the murderess. It can never, never be right that Menelaus should prosper, and your father, your sister and you should die,
1145and your mother—but I pass that by, for it is not seemly to mention it—and for him to possess your home, though it was by Agamemnon’s prowess that he recovered his bride. May I die, if we do not draw our swords upon her! But if we do not accomplish Helen’s death,
1150we will set fire to the house and die. For we will not fail to achieve one distinction, an honorable death or an honorable escape.
1153CHORUS LEADER: The daughter of Tyndareus, who has brought shame on her sex, has justly earned the hatred of every woman.
1155ORESTES: Ah! there is nothing better than a trusty friend, neither wealth nor monarchy; a crowd of people is of no account in exchange for a noble friend. You were the one who devised the vengeance against Aegisthus, and stood by me in danger,
1160and now again you are offering me a means to punish my foes and do not stand aside—but I will cease praising you, for there is something wearisome even in being praised to excess. Now since in any case I must breathe my last, I want to do something to my enemies before my death,
1165so that I may requite with ruin those who betrayed me, and so that those who made me suffer may grieve. Yes! I am the son of Agamemnon, who was considered worthy to rule Hellas, no tyrant but yet god-like in power; I will not disgrace him
1170by submitting to die like a slave; my last breath shall be free and I will take vengeance on Menelaus. For if we could secure one object, we would be lucky, if a means of safety should unexpectedly come our way from somewhere, and we should be the slayers, not the slain; this is what I pray for.
1175This wish of mine is a pleasant dream to cheer the heart, without cost, by means of the mouth’s winged words.
1177ELECTRA: I think I have it, brother, a means of safety for you, and for him and thirdly for myself.
1179ORESTES: You mean divine providence. But why do I say that?
1180Since I know the natural shrewdness of your heart.
1181ELECTRA: Listen to me now; and you (to Pylades) pay attention also.
1182ORESTES: Speak; the prospect of good news holds a certain pleasure.
1183ELECTRA: You know Helen’s daughter? Of course you do.
1184ORESTES: I know her, Hermione, whom my mother reared.
1185ELECTRA: She has gone to Clytemnestra’s tomb.
1186ORESTES: To do what? What hope are you hinting at?
1187ELECTRA: She was going to pour a libation over the tomb of our mother.
1188ORESTES: Well, how does what you have said lead to our safety?
1189ELECTRA: Seize her as a hostage on her way back.
1190ORESTES: What good can your suggested remedy do us three friends?
1191ELECTRA: If, after Helen’s slaughter, Menelaus tries to do anything to you or to Pylades and me—for this bond of friendship is wholly one—say that you will kill Hermione; you must draw your sword and hold it to the maiden’s throat.
1195If Menelaus, when he sees Helen fallen in her blood, tries to save you to insure the girl’s life, allow him to take his daughter to his arms; but if he makes no effort to curb the angry outburst and leaves you to die, then cut the maiden’s throat.
1200And I think if he puts in a mighty appearance at first, he will calm down in time; for he is not bold or brave by nature. That is my line of defense for our safety. My speech is over.
1204ORESTES: O you that have the spirit of a man,
1205though your body shows you to be a woman, how far more worthy you are to live than to die! Pylades, you will lose such a woman to your sorrow, or if you live, you will have a blessed marriage.
1209PYLADES: Then may it be so, and may she come to the city of Phocis
1210with all the honors of a happy wedding.
1211ORESTES: How soon will Hermione return to the palace? All the rest was very well said, if we succeed in catching this impious father’s cub.
1214ELECTRA: Well, I expect she is near the house already,
1215for the length of time agrees exactly.
Part 19
1214ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: καὶ δὴ πέλας νιν δωμάτων εἶναι δοκῶ·
1215τοῦ γὰρ χρόνου τὸ μῆκος αὐτὸ συντρέχει.
1216ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καλῶς· σὺ μέν νυν, σύγγονʼ Ἠλέκτρα, δόμων πάρος μένουσα παρθένου δέχου πόδα, φύλασσε δʼ ἤν τις, πρὶν τελευτηθῇ φόνος, ἢ ξύμμαχός τις ἢ κασίγνητος πατρός, ἐλθὼν ἐς οἴκους φθῇ, γέγωνέ τʼ ἐς δόμους,
1221ἢ σανίδα παίσασʼ ἢ λόγους πέμψασʼ ἔσω· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἔσω στείχοντες ἐπὶ τὸν ἔσχατον ἀγῶνʼ ὁπλιζώμεσθα φασγάνῳ χέρας, ὦ δῶμα ναίων νυκτὸς ὀρφναίας πάτερ, καλεῖ σʼ Ὀρέστης παῖς σὸς ἐπίκουρον μολεῖν
1227τοῖς δεομένοισι. διὰ σὲ γὰρ πάσχω τάλας ἀδίκως· προδέδομαι δʼ ὑπὸ κασιγνήτου σέθεν, δίκαια πράξας· οὗ θέλω δάμαρθʼ ἑλὼν κτεῖναι· σὺ δʼ ἡμῖν τοῦδε συλλήπτωρ γενοῦ.
1231ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ πάτερ, ἱκοῦ δῆτʼ, εἰ κλύεις ἔσω χθονὸς
1232τέκνων καλούντων, οἳ σέθεν θνῄσκουσʼ ὕπερ.
1233ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ὦ συγγένεια πατρὸς ἐμοῦ, κἀμὰς λιτάς,
1234Ἀγάμεμνον, εἰσάκουσον· ἔκσῳσον τέκνα.
1235ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔκτεινα μητέρα —
1235bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἡψάμην δʼ ἐγὼ ξίφους —
1236ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπεβούλευσα κἀπέλυσʼ ὄκνου —
1237ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σοί, πάτερ, ἀρήγων.
1237bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐδʼ ἐγὼ προύδωκά σε.
1238ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: οὔκουν ὀνείδη τάδε κλύων ῥύσῃ τέκνα;
1239ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δακρύοις κατασπένδω σε.
1239bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἐγὼ δʼ οἴκτοισί γε.
1240ΠΥΛΆΔΗΣ: παύσασθε, καὶ πρὸς ἔργον ἐξορμώμεθα.
1241εἴπερ γὰρ εἴσω γῆς ἀκοντίζουσʼ ἀραί,
1242κλύει. σὺ δʼ, ὦ Ζεῦ πρόγονε καὶ Δίκης σέβας,
1243δότʼ εὐτυχῆσαι τῷδʼ ἐμοί τε τῇδέ τε·
1244τρισσοῖς φίλοις γὰρ εἷς ἀγών, δίκη μία,
1245ἢ ζῆν ἅπασιν ἢ — θανεῖν ὀφείλεται.
1246ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: Μυκηνίδες ὦ φίλαι,
1247τὰ πρῶτα κατὰ Πελασγὸν ἕδος Ἀργείων.
1248ΧΟΡΌΣ: τίνα θροεῖς αὐδάν, πότνια; παραμένει
1250γὰρ ἔτι σοι τόδʼ ἐν Δαναϊδῶν πόλει.
1251ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: στῆθʼ αἳ μὲν ὑμῶν τόνδʼ ἁμαξήρη τρίβον,
1252αἳ δʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἄλλον οἶμον ἐς φρουρὰν δόμων.
1253ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί δέ με τόδε χρέος ἀπύεις;
1254ἔνεπέ μοι, φίλα.
1255ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φόβος ἔχει με μή τις ἐπὶ δώμασι
1256σταθεὶς ἐπὶ φοίνιον αἷμα
1257πήματα πήμασιν ἐξεύρῃ.
1258ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: χωρεῖτʼ, ἐπειγώμεσθʼ· ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν τρίβον
1259τόνδʼ ἐκφυλάξω, τὸν πρὸς ἡλίου βολάς.
1260ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Β: καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ τόνδʼ, ὃς πρὸς ἑσπέραν φέρει.
Part 19
1216ORESTES: Good; you, Electra, my sister, stay before the palace and await the maiden’s approach; keep watch in case any one, whether an ally or my father’s brother, forestalls us by his entry before the murder is complete;
1220and then make a signal to the house, either by beating on a panel of the door or calling to us within.
1222Let us enter now and arm ourselves with swords for the final struggle,
1225O father, in your home of gloomy night, your son Orestes calls you to come to the rescue of the destitute. It is on your account I am wrongfully suffering, and it is by your brother that I have been betrayed for doing right; it is his wife I wish to take
1230and kill; you be our accomplice for this deed.
1231ELECTRA: Oh father, come! if within the ground you hear the cry of your children, who are dying for your sake.
1233PYLADES: O kinsman of my father, Agamemnon, hear my prayers also; save your children.
1235ORESTES: I killed my mother—
1235bELECTRA: I held the sword—
1236PYLADES: I . . . set them free from fear—
1237ORESTES: To aid you, father.
1237bELECTRA: Nor did I betray you.
1238PYLADES: Will you not hear these reproaches and rescue your children?
1239ORESTES: With tears I pour you a libation.
1239bELECTRA: And I with laments.
1240PYLADES: Cease, and let us set about our business. If prayers really do pierce the ground, he hears. O Zeus, god of my fathers, and holy Justice, give success to him and me and her; for there is one struggle for three friends, and one penalty,
1245for all to live or—pay death’s account. Exeunt Orestes and Pylades.
1246ELECTRA: My dear friends of Mycenae, of foremost rank in Argos, the home of the Pelasgians.
1248CHORUS: What are you saying to us, mistress?
1250For this honored name is still left for you in the Danaid town.
1251ELECTRA: Station yourselves, some here along the high road, others there on some other path, to watch the house.
1253CHORUS: But why do you call me to this service? Tell me, my dear.
1255ELECTRA: I am afraid that some one, who is stationed at the house for slaughter, may find trouble upon trouble.
1258FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: Let us make haste and go on; I will keep careful watch upon this road towards the east.
1260SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: And I on this one, that leads westward.
1261ELECTRA: Throw a glance sideways.
Part 20
1261ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: δόχμιά νυν κόρας διάφερʼ ὀμμάτων.
1262ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἐκεῖθεν ἐνθάδʼ, εἶτα παλινσκοπιὰν
1265ἔχομεν, ὡς θροεῖς.
1266ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἑλίσσετέ νυν βλέφαρα,
1267κόραισι δίδοτε πάντα διὰ βοστρύχων.
1268ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ὅδε τις ἐν τρίβῳ . τίς ὅδʼ ἄρʼ ἀμ-
1270φὶ μέλαθρον πολεῖ σὸν ἀγρότας ἀνήρ;
1271ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἀπωλόμεσθʼ ἄρʼ, ὦ φίλαι· κεκρυμμένους
1272θῆρας ξιφήρεις αὐτίκʼ ἐχθροῖσιν φανεῖ.
1273ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ἄφοβος ἔχε· κενός, ὦ φίλα,
1274στίβος ὃν οὐ δοκεῖς.
1275ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δέ; τὸ σὸν βέβαιον ἔτι μοι μένει;
1276δὸς ἀγγελίαν ἀγαθάν τινʼ,
1277εἰ τάδʼ ἔρημα τὰ πρόσθʼ αὐλᾶς.
1278ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Β: καλῶς τά γʼ ἐνθένδʼ. ἀλλὰ τἀπὶ σοῦ σκόπει·
1279ὡς οὔτις ἡμῖν Δαναϊδῶν πελάζεται.
1280ἩΜΊΧΟΡΟΣ Α: ἐς ταὐτὸν ἥκεις· καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τῇδʼ ὄχλος.
1281ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φέρε νυν ἐν πύλαισιν ἀκοὰν βάλω.
1284ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί μέλλεθʼ οἱ κατʼ οἶκον ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ
1285σφάγια φοινίσσειν;
1286ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: οὐκ εἰσακούουσʼ· ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγὼ κακῶν.
1287ἆρʼ ἐς τὸ κάλλος ἐκκεκώφηται ξίφη;
1288τάχα τις Ἀργείων ἔνοπλος ὁρμήσας
1290ποδὶ βοηδρόμῳ μέλαθρα προσμείξει.
1291σκέψασθέ νυν ἄμεινον· οὐχ ἕδρας ἀγών·
1292ἀλλʼ αἳ μὲν ἐνθάδʼ, αἳ δʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἑλίσσετε.
1295ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἀμείβω κέλευθον σκοποῦσα πάντῃ.
1296ἙΛΈΝΗ: ἰὼ Πελασγὸν Ἄργος, ὄλλυμαι κακῶς.
1297ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἠκούσαθʼ; ἅνδρες χεῖρʼ ἔχουσιν ἐν φόνῳ.
1298— Ἑλένης τὸ κώκυμʼ ἐστίν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι.
1299ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ Διός, ὦ Διὸς ἀέναον κράτος,
1300ἔλθʼ ἐπίκουρος ἐμοῖς φίλοισι πάντως.
1301ἙΛΈΝΗ: Μενέλαε, θνῄσκω· σὺ δὲ παρών μʼ οὐκ ὠφελεῖς.
1302ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: φονεύετε, καίνετε,
1303ὄλλυτε, δίπτυχα δίστομα φάσγανα
1304ἐκ χερὸς ἱέμενοι
1305τὰν λιποπάτορα λιπόγαμον, ἃ
1306πλείστους ἔκανεν Ἑλλάνων
1307δορὶ παρὰ ποταμὸν ὀλομένους,
1308ὅθι δάκρυα δάκρυσιν ἔπεσεν
1309σιδαρέοισι βέλεσιν ἀμ-
1310φὶ τὰς Σκαμάνδρου δίνας.
1311ΧΟΡΌΣ: σιγᾶτε σιγᾶτʼ· ᾐσθόμην κτύπου τινὸς
1312κέλευθον ἐσπεσόντος ἀμφὶ δώματα.
1313ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ φίλταται γυναῖκες, ἐς μέσον φόνον ἥδʼ Ἑρμιόνη πάρεστι· παύσωμεν βοήν. στείχει γὰρ ἐσπεσοῦσα δικτύων βρόχους. καλὸν τὸ θήραμʼ, ἢν ἁλῷ, γενήσεται. πάλιν κατάστηθʼ ἡσύχῳ μὲν ὄμματι,
1318χρόᾳ δʼ ἀδήλῳ τῶν δεδραμένων πέρι· κἀγὼ σκυθρωποὺς ὀμμάτων ἕξω κόρας, ὡς δῆθεν οὐκ εἰδυῖα τἀξειργασμένα. ὦ παρθένʼ, ἥκεις τὸν Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον στέψασα καὶ σπείσασα νερτέροις χοάς;
Part 20
1262CHORUS: Here and there, then we are looking back again,
1265as you tell us.
1266ELECTRA: Cast your eyes around, let them see everything, through your tresses.
1268FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: Who is that on the road? Who is this
1270country-man wandering round your house?
1271ELECTRA: Ah! friends, we are ruined; he will at once reveal to our enemies the armed ambush.
1273SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: (Reconnoitring. Calm your fears; the road is not occupied, as you think, my dear.
1275ELECTRA: (Turning to the other watchers.) Well? Is your side still secure? Give me a good report, if the space before the court-yard is deserted.
1278FIRST SEMI-CHORUS: All goes well here; look to your own watch, for no Danaid is approaching us.
1280SECOND SEMI-CHORUS: Your report agrees with mine; there is no noise here either.
1281ELECTRA: Well then, I will listen in the gateway.
1284CHORUS: (Calling through the door.) You within the house, why are you delaying to spill your victim’s blood,
1285now that all is quiet?
1286ELECTRA: They do not hear; alas for my troubles! Can it be that her beauty has blunted their swords?
1288Soon some Argive in full armor, hurrying
1290to her rescue, will attack the palace.
1291Keep a better look-out; it is not a contest of sitting still; turn about, some here, some there.
1295CHORUS: I am looking everywhere in turn along the road.
1296HELEN: Oh, Pelasgian Argos! I am being foully murdered.
1297CHORUS: Did you hear? The men have put their hand to the slaughter.
1298It is Helen screaming, at a guess.
1299ELECTRA: O eternal might of Zeus, of Zeus, only come to help my friends!
1301HELEN: Menelaus, I am dying, but you do not help me, though you are near.
1302ELECTRA: Slay her, kill her, destroy her! Stab with your twin double-edged swords
1305the woman who left her father, left her husband, and killed so many of the men of Hellas, slain beside the river-bank, where tears rained down, by the iron darts
1310all round the eddies of Scamander.
1311CHORUS LEADER: Hush! hush! I caught the sound of a foot-fall on the road near the house.
1313ELECTRA: My dearest friends, it is Hermione advancing into the middle of the bloodshed; let our clamor cease.
1315For she comes headlong into the meshes of the net. The prey will be good, if it is caught. Take up your places again with looks composed and faces not betraying what has happened; I too will have a gloomy look,
1320as if I knew nothing of what has been done. Addressing Hermione as she approaches. Ah! maiden, have you come from wreathing Clytemnestra’s grave and pouring libations to the dead?
1323HERMIONE: Yes, I have returned after securing her favor; but I was filled with some alarm about a cry I heard from the palace
1325as I was still at a distance.
Part 21
1323ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἥκω, λαβοῦσα πρευμένειαν. ἀλλά μοι
1324φόβος τις εἰσελήλυθʼ, ἥντινʼ ἐν δόμοις
1325τηλουρὸς οὖσα δωμάτων κλύω βοήν.
1326ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τί δʼ; ἄξιʼ ἡμῖν τυγχάνει στεναγμάτων.
1327ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: εὔφημος ἴσθι· τί δὲ νεώτερον λέγεις;
1328ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: θανεῖν Ὀρέστην κἄμʼ ἔδοξε τῇδε γῇ.
1329ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: μὴ δῆτʼ, ἐμοῦ γε συγγενεῖς πεφυκότας.
1330ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἄραρʼ· ἀνάγκης δʼ ἐς ζυγὸν καθέσταμεν.
1331ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἦ τοῦδʼ ἕκατι καὶ βοὴ κατὰ στέγας;
1332ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἱκέτης γὰρ Ἑλένης γόνασι προσπεσὼν βοᾷ —
1333ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: τίς; οὐδὲν οἶδα μᾶλλον, ἢν σὺ μὴ λέγῃς.
1334ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: τλήμων Ὀρέστης· μὴ θανεῖν, ἐμοῦ θʼ ὕπερ.
1335ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἐπʼ ἀξίοισί τἄρʼ ἀνευφημεῖ δόμος.
1336ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: περὶ τοῦ γὰρ ἄλλου μᾶλλον ἂν φθέγξαιτό τις;
1337ἀλλʼ ἐλθὲ καὶ μετάσχες ἱκεσίας φίλοις,
1338σῇ μητρὶ προσπεσοῦσα τῇ μέγʼ ὀλβίᾳ,
1339Μενέλαον ἡμᾶς μὴ θανόντας εἰσιδεῖν.
1340ἀλλʼ, ὦ τραφεῖσα μητρὸς ἐν χεροῖν ἐμῆς,
1341οἴκτιρον ἡμᾶς κἀπικούφισον κακῶν.
1342ἴθʼ εἰς ἀγῶνα δεῦρʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ ἡγήσομαι·
1343σωτηρίας γὰρ τέρμʼ ἔχεις ἡμῖν μόνη.
1344ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: ἰδού, διώκω τὸν ἐμὸν ἐς δόμους πόδα.
1345σώθηθʼ ὅσον γε τοὐπʼ ἐμέ.
1345bἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὦ κατὰ στέγας
1346φίλοι ξιφήρεις, οὐχὶ συλλήψεσθʼ ἄγραν;
1347ἙΡΜΙΌΝΗ: οἲ ἐγώ· τίνας τούσδʼ εἰσορῶ;
1347bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σιγᾶν χρεών·
1348ἡμῖν γὰρ ἥκεις, οὐχὶ σοί, σωτηρία.
1349ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ἔχεσθʼ ἔχεσθε· φάσγανον δὲ πρὸς δέρῃ
1350βάλλοντες ἡσυχάζεθʼ, ὡς εἰδῇ τόδε
1351Μενέλαος, οὕνεκʼ ἄνδρας, οὐ Φρύγας κακούς,
1352εὑρὼν ἔπραξεν οἷα χρὴ πράσσειν κακούς.
1353ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἰὼ ἰὼ φίλαι, κτύπον ἐγείρετε, κτύπον καὶ βοὰν πρὸ μελάθρων, ὅπως ὁ πραχθεὶς φόνος μὴ δεινὸν Ἀργείοισιν ἐμβάλῃ φόβον, βοηδρομῆσαι πρὸς δόμους τυραννικούς,
1357πρὶν ἐτύμως ἴδω τὸν Ἑλένας φόνον καθαιμακτὸν ἐν δόμοις κείμενον, ἢ καὶ λόγον του προσπόλων πυθώμεθα· τὰ μὲν γὰρ οἶδα συμφορᾶς, τὰ δʼ οὐ σαφῶς. — διὰ δίκας ἔβα θεῶν
1362νέμεσις ἐς Ἑλέναν. δακρύοισι γὰρ Ἑλλάδʼ ἅπασαν ἔπλησε, διὰ τὸν ὀλόμενον ὀλόμενον Ἰδαῖον Πάριν, ὃς ἄγαγʼ Ἑλλάδʼ εἰς Ἴλιον.
1369ΦΡΎΞ: Ἀργέϊον ξίφος ἐκ θανάτου πέφευγα βαρβάροις ἐν εὐμάρι- σιν, κεδρωτὰ παστάδων ὑπὲρ τέραμνα Δωρικάς τε τριγλύφους, φροῦδα φροῦδα, γᾶ γᾶ,
1374βαρβάροισι δρασμοῖς. αἰαῖ· πᾷ φύγω, ξέναι, πολιὸν αἰθέρʼ ἀμ- πτάμενος ἢ πόντον, Ὠκεανὸς ὃν ταυρόκρανος ἀγκάλαις
1379ἑλίσσων κυκλοῖ χθόνα;
1380ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί δʼ ἔστιν, Ἑλένης πρόσπολʼ. Ἰδαῖον κάρα;
Part 21
1326ELECTRA: But why? Our present lot gives cause for groans.
1327HERMIONE: Oh, don’t say so! What is your news?
1328ELECTRA: Argos has sentenced Orestes and me to death.
1329HERMIONE: Oh no! not my own relatives!
1330ELECTRA: It is decreed; we have put on the yoke of necessity.
1331HERMIONE: Was this the reason of the cry within?
1332ELECTRA: Yes, a suppliant cried out as he fell at Helen’s knees—
1333HERMIONE: Who is he? I know nothing more, if you do not tell me.
1334ELECTRA: Unhappy Orestes, entreating mercy for himself and me.
1335HERMIONE: The house then has good reason to shout.
1336ELECTRA: What else would make someone entreat more earnestly? But come and throw yourself before your mother in her prosperity, join your friends’ supplication that Menelaus may not see us die.
1340O you that were nursed in my mother’s arms, have pity on us and relieve our pain. Come here to the struggle, and I myself will be your guide; for you alone have power over our safety.
1344HERMIONE: See, I am hastening to the house;
1345as far it as rests with me, regard yourselves as safe. Exit Hermione .
1345bELECTRA: Now, friends in the house with swords, seize the prey!
1347HERMIONE: Oh no! Who are these I see?
1347bORESTES: (within.) Silence! You are here for our safety, not yours.
1349ELECTRA: Hold her, hold her! Point a sword at her throat,
1350then wait in silence, that Menelaus may learn that he has found men, not Phrygian cowards, and he has been treated as cowards deserve.
1353CHORUS: Oh, oh, friends! raise a din, a din and shouting before the house, that the murder when done
1355may not inspire the Argives with wild alarm, to make them bring aid to the palace, before I see for certain that Helen’s corpse lies bloody in the house, or hear the news from one of her attendants;
1360for I know a part of the tragedy, of the rest I am not sure. In justice, retribution from the gods has come to Helen; for she filled all Hellas with tears, through that accursed, accursed Paris of Ida,
1365who drew Hellas to Troy.
1369PHRYGIAN: (expressing the most abject terror.) I have escaped from death by Argive sword,
1370in my Asian slippers, by clambering over the cedar-beams that roof the porch and the Doric triglyphs, away, away! O Earth, Earth! in barbaric flight!
1375Alas! You foreign women, where can I escape, flying through the clear sky or over the sea, which bull-headed Ocean rolls about as he circles the world in his embrace?
1380CHORUS LEADER: What is it, Helen’s slave, creature from Ida?
1381PHRYGIAN: Ilium, Ilium, oh me! city of Phrygia, and Ida’s holy hill with fruitful soil, how I mourn for your destruction
1385with barbarian cry; destroyed through her beauty, born from a bird, swan-feathered, Leda’s cub, hellish Helen! to be a curse to Apollo’s tower of polished stone. Ah! Alas!
1390woe to Dardania, its wailing, wailing, for the horsemanship of Ganymede, bedfellow of Zeus.
Part 22
1381ΦΡΎΞ: Ἴλιον Ἴλιον, ὤμοι μοι, Φρύγιον ἄστυ καὶ καλλίβωλον Ἴ- δας ὄρος ἱερόν, ὥς σʼ ὀλόμενον στένω βαρβάρῳ βοᾷ διʼ ὀρνιθόγονον ὄμμα κυκνοπτέρου καλλοσύνας, Λήδας
1387σκύμνου, δυσελένας δυσελένας, ξεστῶν περγάμων Ἀπολλωνίων ἐρινύν· ὀττοτοῖ· ἰαλέμων ἰαλέμων
1391Δαρδανία τλᾶμον Γανυμήδεος ἱπποσύνᾳ, Διὸς εὐνέτα.
1393ΧΟΡΌΣ: σαφῶς λέγʼ ἡμῖν αὔθʼ ἕκαστα τἀν δόμοις.
1395ΦΡΎΞ: αἴλινον αἴλινον ἀρχὰν θανάτου βάρβαροι λέγουσιν, αἰαῖ, Ἀσιάδι φωνᾷ, βασιλέων ὅταν αἷμα χυθῇ κατὰ γᾶν ξίφεσιν σιδαρέοισιν Ἅιδα.
1400ἦλθον ἐς δόμους, ἵνʼ αὔθʼ ἕ- καστά σοι λέγω, λέοντες Ἕλλανες δύο διδύμω· τῷ μὲν ὁ στρατηλάτας πατὴρ ἐκλῄζεθʼ, ὃ δὲ παῖς Στροφίου, κακόμητις ἀνήρ,
1404οἷος Ὀδυσσεύς, σιγᾷ δόλιος, πιστὸς δὲ φίλοις, θρασὺς εἰς ἀλκάν, ξυνετὸς πολέμου, φόνιός τε δράκων. ἔρροι τᾶς ἡσύχου προνοίας κακοῦργος ὤν.
1409οἳ δὲ πρὸς θρόνους ἔσω μολόντες ἇς ἔγημʼ ὁ τοξότας Πάρις γυναικός, ὄμμα δακρύοις πεφυρμένοι, ταπεινοὶ ἕζονθʼ, ὃ μὲν τὸ κεῖθεν, ὃ δὲ
1413τὸ κεῖθεν, ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν πεφραγμένοι. περὶ δὲ γόνυ χέρας ἱκεσίους ἔβαλον ἔβαλον Ἑλένας ἄμφω. ἀνὰ δὲ δρομάδες ἔθορον ἔθορον ἀμφίπολοι Φρύγες·
1418προσεῖπε δʼ ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐν φόβῳ πεσών, μή τις εἴη δόλος. κἀδόκει τοῖς μὲν οὔ, τοῖς δʼ ἐς ἀρκυστάταν μηχανὰν ἐμπλέκειν
1423παῖδα τὰν Τυνδαρίδʼ ὁ μητροφόντας δράκων.
1425ΧΟΡΌΣ: σὺ δʼ ἦσθα ποῦ τότʼ; ἢ πάλαι φεύγεις φόβῳ,
1426ΦΡΎΞ: Φρυγίοις ἔτυχον Φρυγίοισι νόμοις παρὰ βόστρυχον αὔραν αὔραν Ἑλένας Ἑλένας εὐπαγεῖ κύκλῳ πτερίνῳ πρὸ παρηίδος ἀίσσων βαρβάροις νόμοισιν.
1431ἃ δὲ λίνον ἠλακάτᾳ δακτύλοις ἕλισσεν, νῆμα δʼ ἵετο πέδῳ, σκύλων Φρυγίων ἐπὶ τύμβον ἀγάλ- ματα συστολίσαι χρῄζουσα λίνῳ,
1436φάρεα πορφύρεα, δῶρα Κλυταιμήστρᾳ. προσεῖπεν δʼ Ὀρέστας Λάκαιναν κόραν· ὦ Διὸς παῖ, θὲς ἴχνος πέδῳ δεῦρʼ ἀποστᾶσα κλισμοῦ,
1441Πέλοπος ἐπὶ προπάτορος ἕδραν παλαιᾶς ἑστίας, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς λόγους ἐμούς. — ἄγει δʼ ἄγει νιν· ἃ δʼ ἐφείπετʼ, οὐ πρόμαντις ὧν ἔμελλεν·
1446ὁ δὲ συνεργὸς ἄλλʼ ἔπρασσʼ ἰὼν κακὸς Φωκεύς· οὐκ ἐκποδὼν ἴτʼ; ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ κακοὶ Φρύγες. ἔκλῃσε δʼ ἄλλον ἄλλοσʼ ἐν στέγαισι· τοὺς μὲν ἐν σταθμοῖ-
1449aσιν ἱππικοῖσι, τοὺς δʼ ἐν ἐξ- έδραισι, τοὺς δʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἐκεῖθεν διαρμόσας ἀποπρὸ δεσποίνας.
1452ΧΟΡΌΣ: τί τοὐπὶ τῷδε συμφορᾶς ἐγίγνετο;
1453ΦΡΎΞ: Ἰδαία μᾶτερ μᾶτερ ὀβρίμα ὀβρίμα, αἰαὶ φονίων παθέων ἀνόμων τε κακῶν ἅπερ ἔδρακον ἔδρακον ἐν δόμοις τυράννων.
1457ἀμφιπορφυρέων πέπλων ὑπὸ σκότου ξίφη σπάσα- ντες ἄλλος ἄλλοσʼ ἐν χεροῖν δίνασεν ὄμμα, μή τις παρὼν τύχοι. ὡς κάπροι δʼ ὀρέστεροι γυ-
1460ναικὸς ἀντίοι σταθέντες ἐννέπουσι· Κατθανῇ κατθανῇ, κακός σʼ ἀποκτείνει πόσις, κασιγνήτου προδοὺς
1464ἐν Ἄργει θανεῖν γόνον. ἃ δʼ ἀνίαχεν ἴ- αχεν· Ὤμοι μοι. λευκὸν δʼ ἐμβαλοῦσα πῆχυν στέρνοις κτύπησε κρᾶτα μέλεον πλαγᾷ·
1468φυγᾷ δὲ ποδὶ τὸ χρυσεοσάνδαλον ἴχνος ἔφερεν ἔφερεν· ἐς κόμας δὲ δακτύλους δικὼν Ὀρέστας, Μυκηνίδʼ ἀρβύλαν προβάς, ὤμοις ἀριστεροῖσιν ἀνακλάσας δέρην,
1472παίειν λαιμῶν ἔμελ- λεν εἴσω μέλαν ξίφος.
1473ΧΟΡΌΣ: ποῦ δʼ ἦτʼ ἀμύνειν οἱ κατὰ στέγας Φρύγες;
1474ΦΡΎΞ: ἰαχᾷ δόμων θύρετρα καὶ σταθμοὺς μοχλοῖσιν ἐκβαλόντες, ἔνθʼ ἐμίμνομεν, βοηδρομοῦμεν ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν στέγης, ὃ μὲν πέτρους, ὃ δʼ ἀγκύλας,
1477ὃ δὲ ξίφος πρόκωπον ἐν χεροῖν ἔχων. ἔναντα δʼ ἦλθε Πυλάδης ἀλίαστος, οἷος οἷος Ἕκ- τωρ ὁ Φρύγιος ἢ τρικόρυθος Αἴας, ὃν εἶδον εἶδον ἐν πύλαις
1482Πριαμίσι· φασγάνων δʼ ἀκμὰς συνήψαμεν. δὴ τότε διαπρεπεῖς τότʼ ἐγένοντο Φρύγες, ὅσον Ἄρεως ἀλκὰν ἥσσονες Ἑλλάδος ἐγενόμεθʼ αἰχμᾶς,
1486ὃ μὲν οἰχόμενος φυγάς, ὃ δὲ νέκυς ὤν, ὃ δὲ τραῦμα φέρων, ὃ δὲ λισσόμενος, θανάτου προβολάν· ὑπὸ σκότον δʼ ἐφεύγομεν· νεκροὶ δʼ ἔπιπτον, οἳ δʼ ἔμελλον, οἳ δʼ ἔκειντʼ.
1490ἔμολε δʼ ἁ τάλαινʼ Ἑρμιόνα δόμους ἐπὶ φόνῳ χαμαιπετεῖ ματρός, ἅ νιν ἔτεκεν τλάμων. ἄθυρσοι δʼ οἷά νιν δραμόντε Βάκχαι
1492aσκύμνον ἐν χεροῖν ὀρείαν ξυνήρπασαν· πάλιν δὲ τὰν Διὸς κόραν ἐπὶ σφαγὰν ἔτεινον· ἃ δʼ ἐκ θαλάμων ἐγένετο διαπρὸ δωμάτων
1496ἄφαντος, ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ γᾶ καὶ φῶς καὶ νύξ, ἤτοι φαρμάκοισιν ἢ μάγων τέχναις ἢ θεῶν κλοπαῖς. τὰ δʼ ὕστερʼ οὐκέτʼ οἶδα· δρα-
1499aπέτην γὰρ ἐξέκλεπτον ἐκ δόμων πόδα. πολύπονα δὲ πολύπονα πάθεα Μενέλεως ἀνασχόμενος ἀνόνητον ἀ- πὸ Τροίας ἔλαβε τὸν Ἑλένας γάμον.
1503ΧΟΡΌΣ: καὶ μὴν ἀμείβει καινὸν ἐκ καινῶν τόδε·
1504ξιφηφόρον γὰρ εἰσορῶ πρὸ δωμάτων
1505βαίνοντʼ Ὀρέστην ἐπτοημένῳ ποδί.
1506ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ποῦ ʼστιν οὗτος ὃς πέφευγεν ἐκ δόμων τοὐμὸν ξίφος;
1507ΦΡΎΞ: προσκυνῶ σʼ, ἄναξ, νόμοισι βαρβάροισι προσπίτνων.
1508ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἐν Ἰλίῳ τάδʼ ἐστίν, ἀλλʼ ἐν Ἀργείᾳ χθονί.
1509ΦΡΎΞ: πανταχοῦ ζῆν ἡδὺ μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν τοῖς σώφροσιν.
1510ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὔτι που κραυγὴν ἔθηκας Μενέλεῳ βοηδρομεῖν;
1511ΦΡΎΞ: σοὶ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγʼ ἀμύνειν· ἀξιώτερος γὰρ εἶ.
1512ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐνδίκως ἡ Τυνδάρειος ἆρα παῖς διώλετο;
1513ΦΡΎΞ: ἐνδικώτατʼ, εἴ γε λαιμοὺς εἶχε τριπτύχους θανεῖν.
1514ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δειλίᾳ γλώσσῃ χαρίζῃ, τἄνδον οὐχ οὕτω φρονῶν.
1515ΦΡΎΞ: οὐ γάρ, ἥτις Ἑλλάδʼ αὐτοῖς Φρυξὶ διελυμήνατο;
Part 22
1393CHORUS LEADER: Tell us clearly each event within the house.
1395PHRYGIAN: Ah, for Linus! Ah, for Linus! That is what barbarians say, alas, in their eastern tongue as a prelude to death, whenever royal blood is spilled upon the ground by deadly iron blades.
1400To tell you everything in turn, they came into the house, two twin lions of Hellas; one was called the general’s son; the other was the son of Strophius, a crafty plotter, like Odysseus, treacherous in silence,
1405but true to his friends, bold for the fight, clever in war and a deadly serpent. Curse him for his quiet plotting, the villain!
1409In they came to the throne of the wife of Paris the archer,
1410faces wet with tears, and took their seats in all humility, one on this side, one on that, each with weapons. They threw, they threw their suppliant arms round the knees
1415of Helen. Her Phrygian servants sprang up frantic, frantic; they called to each other in terror that there was treachery.
1420To some there seemed no cause, but others thought that the viper who killed his mother was entangling the daughter of Tyndareus in the snare of his plot.
1425CHORUS LEADER: And where were you? fled long before in terror?
1426PHRYGIAN: It happened that I, in Phrygian style, Phrygian, was wafting the breeze, the breeze by the curls of Helen, Helen, with a round feathered fan, before her face,
1430in barbarian style; and she was twisting flax on her distaff with her fingers, and letting her yarn fall on the floor, for she wanted to sew with her flax purple cloth
1435as adornment for the tomb from the Trojan spoils, a gift to Clytemnestra.
1437Orestes said to the Spartan girl: Daughter of Zeus, get up from your chair
1440and come here to the old hearth of Pelops, our ancestor, to hear something I have to say. He led her, led her, and she followed,
1445no prophet of the future. But his accomplice, the Phocian villain, was off on other business: Out of my way! Well, Phrygians always were cowards. So he shut them up in different parts of the house, some in the stables, others in the halls,
1450one here, one there, disposing of them at a distance from their mistress.
1452CHORUS LEADER: What happened next?
1453PHRYGIAN: Mother of Ida, great, great mother!
1455Oh! the murderous scenes and lawless wickedness that I saw, I saw, in the palace! They drew forth swords from hiding under their purple-bordered cloaks, each darting his eye a different way, lest anyone should be near. Like boar of the hills,
1460they stood opposite the woman and said: You will die, you will die; your cowardly husband is killing you, because he betrayed his brother’s son to death in Argos.
1465She screamed, oh, oh! she screamed, and brought down her white arm upon her breast and beat her poor head; then turned her golden-sandalled steps in flight, in flight; but Orestes got before her in his Mycenean boots and clutched his fingers in her hair,
1470and, bending back her neck on to her left shoulder, was on the point of driving the black sword into her throat.
1473CHORUS LEADER: Where were you Phrygians in the house to help her?
1474PHRYGIAN: With a loud cry from the house we battered down with bars the doors and doorposts where we had been,
1475and ran to her assistance from every direction, one with stones, another with javelins, a third with a drawn sword; but Pylades came to meet us, undaunted, like
1480Hector of Troy or Ajax triple-plumed, as I saw him, saw him, in Priam’s gateway; and we met at sword’s point. But then it was very clear how the Phrygians were,
1485how much less we were in battle strength to the Hellene might. There was one man gone in flight, another slain, another wounded, yet another pleading to stave off death; but we escaped under cover of the darkness; while some were falling, some were about to fall, and others were lying dead.
1490And just as her unhappy mother sank to the ground to die, the luckless Hermione came in. Those two, like Bacchantes when they drop the thyrsus for a mountain cub, rushed and seized her; then turned again to the daughter of Zeus to slay her; but she had vanished from the room,
1495passing right through the house, O Zeus and Earth and light and night! whether by magic spells or wizards’ arts or heavenly theft.
1499What happened afterwards I do not know; for I stole out of the palace, a runaway.
1500So Menelaus endured his painful, painful suffering to recover his wife Helen from Troy to no purpose.
1503CHORUS LEADER: And look, here is a strange sight succeeding others; for I see Orestes sword in hand before the palace,
1505advancing with excited steps.
1506ORESTES: Where is the one who fled from the palace to escape my sword?
1507PHRYGIAN: Before you I prostrate myself, lord, and supplicate you in my foreign way.
1508ORESTES: We are not in Ilium, but the land of Argos.
1509PHRYGIAN: Everywhere, the wise find life sweeter than death.
1510ORESTES: I suppose that shouting of yours was not for Menelaus to come to the rescue?
1511PHRYGIAN: Oh no! it was to help you I called out, for you are more deserving.
1512ORESTES: Did the daughter of Tyndareus die justly, then?
1513PHRYGIAN: Most justly, even if she had three throats to die with.
1514ORESTES: Your cowardice makes you glib; this is not what you really think.
1515PHRYGIAN: Why, surely she deserved it, the one who destroyed Hellas and the Phrygians too?
1516ORESTES: Swear you are not saying this to humor me, or I will kill you.
Part 23
1516ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὄμοσον — εἰ δὲ μή, κτενῶ σε — μὴ λέγειν ἐμὴν χάριν.
1517ΦΡΎΞ: τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν κατώμοσʼ, ἣν ἂν εὐορκοῖμʼ ἐγώ.
1518ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὧδε κἀν Τροίᾳ σίδηρος πᾶσι Φρυξὶν ἦν φόβος;
1519ΦΡΎΞ: ἄπεχε φάσγανον· πέλας γὰρ δεινὸν ἀνταυγεῖ φόνον.
1520ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μὴ πέτρος γένῃ δέδοικας ὥστε Γοργόνʼ εἰσιδών;
1521ΦΡΎΞ: μὴ μὲν οὖν νεκρός· τὸ Γοργοῦς δʼ οὐ κάτοιδʼ ἐγὼ κάρα.
1522ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: δοῦλος ὢν φοβῇ τὸν Ἅιδην, ὅς σʼ ἀπαλλάξει κακῶν;
1523ΦΡΎΞ: πᾶς ἀνήρ, κἂν δοῦλος ᾖ τις, ἥδεται τὸ φῶς ὁρῶν.
1524ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὖ λέγεις· σῴζει σε σύνεσις. ἀλλὰ βαῖνʼ ἔσω δόμων.
1525ΦΡΎΞ: οὐκ ἄρα κτενεῖς με;
1525bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀφεῖσαι.
1525cΦΡΎΞ: καλὸν ἔπος λέγεις τόδε.
1526ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλὰ μεταβουλευσόμεσθα.
1526bΦΡΎΞ: τοῦτο δʼ οὐ καλῶς λέγεις.
1527ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μῶρος, εἰ δοκεῖς με τλῆναι σὴν καθαιμάξαι δέρην· οὔτε γὰρ γυνὴ πέφυκας — οὔτʼ ἐν ἀνδράσιν σύ γʼ εἶ. τοῦ δὲ μὴ στῆσαί σε κραυγὴν οὕνεκʼ ἐξῆλθον δόμων· ὀξὺ γὰρ βοῆς ἀκοῦσαν Ἄργος ἐξεγείρεται. Μενέλεων δʼ οὐ τάρβος ἡμῖν ἀναλαβεῖν ἔσω ξίφους·
1532ἀλλʼ ἴτω ξανθοῖς ἐπʼ ὤμων βοστρύχοις γαυρούμενος· εἰ γὰρ Ἀργείους ἐπάξει τοῖσδε δώμασιν λαβών, τὸν Ἑλένης φόνον διώκων, κἀμὲ μὴ σῴζειν θέλει σύγγονόν τʼ ἐμὴν Πυλάδην τε τὸν τάδε ξυνδρῶντά μοι, παρθένον τε καὶ δάμαρτα δύο νεκρὼ κατόψεται.
1537ΧΟΡΌΣ: — ἰὼ ἰὼ τύχα, ἕτερον εἰς ἀγῶνʼ, ἕτερον αὖ δόμος φοβερὸν ἀμφὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας πίτνει. — τί δρῶμεν; ἀγγέλλωμεν ἐς πόλιν τάδε; ἢ σῖγʼ ἔχωμεν; ἀσφαλέστερον, φίλαι.
1541— ἴδε πρὸ δωμάτων ἴδε προκηρύσσει θοάζων ὅδʼ αἰθέρος ἄνω καπνός. — ἅπτουσι πεύκας, ὡς πυρώσοντες δόμους τοὺς Τανταλείους, οὐδʼ ἀφίστανται φόνου. — τέλος ἔχει δαίμων βροτοῖς,
1545bτέλος ὅπᾳ θέλῃ. — μεγάλα δέ τις ἁ δύναμις διʼ ἀλαστόρων ἔπεσʼ ἔπεσε μέλαθρα τάδε διʼ αἱμάτων διὰ τὸ Μυρτίλου πέσημʼ ἐκ δίφρου.
1549ΧΟΡΌΣ: ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τόνδε λεύσσω Μενέλεων δόμων πέλας
1550ὀξύπουν, ᾐσθημένον που τὴν τύχην ἣ νῦν πάρα.
1551οὐκέτʼ ἂν φθάνοιτε κλῇθρα συμπεραίνοντες μοχλοῖς,
1552ὦ κατὰ στέγας Ἀτρεῖδαι. δεινὸν εὐτυχῶν ἀνὴρ
1553πρὸς κακῶς πράσσοντας, ὡς σὺ νῦν, Ὀρέστα, δυστυχεῖς.
1554ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἥκω κλύων τὰ δεινὰ καὶ δραστήρια δισσοῖν λεόντοιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄνδρʼ αὐτὼ καλῶ. ἤκουσα γὰρ δὴ τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον ὡς οὐ τέθνηκεν, ἀλλʼ ἄφαντος οἴχεται — κενὴν ἀκούσας βάξιν, ἣν φόβῳ σφαλεὶς
1559ἤγγειλέ μοί τις. ἀλλὰ τοῦ μητροκτόνου τεχνάσματʼ ἐστὶ ταῦτα καὶ πολὺς γέλως. ἀνοιγέτω τις δῶμα· προσπόλοις λέγω ὠθεῖν πύλας τάσδʼ, ὡς ἂν ἀλλὰ παῖδʼ ἐμὴν ῥυσώμεθʼ ἀνδρῶν ἐκ χερῶν μιαιφόνων,
1564καὶ τὴν τάλαιναν ἀθλίαν δάμαρτʼ ἐμὴν λάβωμεν, ᾗ δεῖ ξυνθανεῖν ἐμῇ χερὶ τοὺς διολέσαντας τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον.
1567ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὗτος σύ, κλῄθρων τῶνδε μὴ ψαύσῃς χερί·
1568Μενέλαον εἶπον, ὃς πεπύργωσαι θράσει·
1569ἢ τῷδε θριγκῷ κρᾶτα συνθραύσω σέθεν,
1570ῥήξας παλαιὰ γεῖσα, τεκτόνων πόνον.
1571μοχλοῖς δʼ ἄραρε κλῇθρα, σῆς βοηδρόμου
1572σπουδῆς ἅ σʼ εἴρξει, μὴ δόμων ἔσω περᾶν.
1573ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔα, τί χρῆμα; λαμπάδων ὁρῶ σέλας,
1574δόμων δʼ ἐπʼ ἄκρων τούσδε πυργηρουμένους,
1575ξίφος δʼ ἐμῆς θυγατρὸς ἐπίφρουρον δέρῃ.
Part 23
1517PHRYGIAN: I swear by my life, an oath I would keep!
1518ORESTES: Did every Phrygian in Troy show the same terror of steel as you do?
1519PHRYGIAN: Take your sword away! Held so near it flashes a dreadful gleam of blood.
1520ORESTES: Are you afraid of being turned to a stone, as if you had seen a Gorgon?
1521PHRYGIAN: To a stone, no! but to a corpse; I don’t know this Gorgon’s head.
1522ORESTES: A slave, and yet you fear death, which will release you from trouble?
1523PHRYGIAN: Slave or free, every one is glad to gaze upon the light.
1524ORESTES: Well said! Your shrewdness saves you; go inside.
1525PHRYGIAN: You will not kill me after all?
1525bORESTES: You are spared.
1525cPHRYGIAN: How well you said that!
1526ORESTES: Now it’s time to change my plans.
1526bPHRYGIAN: You didn’t say that well!
1527ORESTES: You fool! Do you think I could endure to make your throat bloody? You weren’t born a woman, nor do you belong among men. The reason I left the palace was to stop your shouting;
1530for Argos is quickly roused, once it hears a cry to the rescue. As for Menelaus, I am not afraid of measuring swords with him; let him come, proud of the golden ringlets on his shoulders; for if, to avenge the slaying of Helen, he gathers the Argives and leads them against the palace, refusing to attempt the rescue of me,
1535my sister, and Pylades, my fellow conspirator, he will have two corpses to behold, his daughter’s as well as his wife’s. Exeunt Orestes and The Phrygian Slave.
1537CHORUS: Ah, fortune! Again and yet again the house comes to a fearful contest, for the race of Atreus.
1539What are we to do? Carry tidings to the town?
1540Or hold our peace? It is safer, friends.
1541Look, look at that sudden rush of smoke to the sky in front of the palace, telling its tale!
1543They are kindling torches to fire the halls of Tantalus; nor do they hold back from murder.
1545A god determines the end where he wishes, for mortals.
1546Great is the power; by avenging fiends, this house has fallen, fallen, through blood, by reason of the hurling Myrtilus from the chariot.
1549CHORUS LEADER: But look! I see Menelaus approaching the palace
1550in haste; no doubt he has heard what is happening here. Descendants of Atreus within, make haste and secure the doors with bars. A man in luck is a dangerous adversary for luckless wretches like you, Orestes.
1554MENELAUS: I have come at the report of strange and violent deeds perpetrated
1555by a pair of lions, men I do not call them. What I heard was that my wife was not dead, but had vanished out of sight, an idle rumor which someone fooled by his own fear brought me. But that is a plot
1560of the matricide’s—ridiculous!
1561Open the doors! I tell my servants to force the gates, so that I may rescue my child at any rate from the hands of those blood-stained men and recover my poor wretched wife,
1565while the ones who destroyed her must die at my hands.
1567ORESTES: You there! Keep your hands off those bolts; I mean you, Menelaus, towering in your audacity! Or I will tear off the ancient parapet, the work of masons,
1570and shatter your skull with this coping-stone. The doors are bolted and barred, which will prevent your eagerness to bring aid and keep you from entering.
1573MENELAUS: Oh! What is this? I see a blaze of torches and men standing at bay on the top of the house,
1575with a sword guarding my daughter’s throat.
1576ORESTES: Would you question me or hear me speak?
Part 24
1576ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πότερον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις;
1577ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐδέτερʼ· ἀνάγκη δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, σου κλύειν.
1578ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: μέλλω κτενεῖν σου θυγατέρʼ, εἰ βούλῃ μαθεῖν.
1579ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: Ἑλένην φονεύσας ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσεις φόνον;
1580ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ κατέσχον μὴ θεῶν κλεφθεὶς ὕπο.
1581ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀρνῇ κατακτὰς κἀφʼ ὕβρει λέγεις τάδε;
1582ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: λυπράν γε τὴν ἄρνησιν· εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον —
1583ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τί χρῆμα δρᾶσαι; παρακαλεῖς γὰρ ἐς φόβον.
1584ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τὴν Ἑλλάδος μιάστορʼ εἰς Ἅιδου βαλεῖν.
1585ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀπόδος δάμαρτος νέκυν, ὅπως χώσω τάφῳ.
1586ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: θεοὺς ἀπαίτει. παῖδα δὲ κτενῶ σέθεν.
1587ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὁ μητροφόντης ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσει φόνον;
1588ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὁ πατρὸς ἀμύντωρ, ὃν σὺ προύδωκας θανεῖν.
1589ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὐκ ἤρκεσέν σοι τὸ παρὸν αἷμα μητέρος;
1590ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐκ ἂν κάμοιμι τὰς κακὰς κτείνων ἀεί.
1591ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ καὶ σύ, Πυλάδη, τοῦδε κοινωνεῖς φόνου;
1592ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φησὶν σιωπῶν· ἀρκέσω δʼ ἐγὼ λέγων.
1593ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀλλʼ οὔτι χαίρων, ἤν γε μὴ φύγῃς πτεροῖς.
1594ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ φευξόμεσθα· πυρὶ δʼ ἀνάψομεν δόμους.
1595ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ γὰρ πατρῷον δῶμα πορθήσεις τόδε;
Part 24
1577MENELAUS: Neither; but I suppose I must hear you.
1578ORESTES: I intend to kill your daughter, if you want to know.
1579MENELAUS: After slaying Helen, you will add murder to murder?
1580ORESTES: Would I had accomplished that, instead of being duped by the gods!
1581MENELAUS: Do you deny having slain her, and say this out of wanton insult?
1582ORESTES: Yes, I do deny it, to my sorrow. If only I had—
1583MENELAUS: Done what? You frighten me!
1584ORESTES: Hurled the pollution of Hellas to Hades!
1585MENELAUS: Give back my wife’s dead body, so that I may bury her.
1586ORESTES: Ask the gods for her; but I will kill your daughter.
1587MENELAUS: This matricide is adding murder to murder.
1588ORESTES: This champion of his father, betrayed by you to death.
1589MENELAUS: Are you not content with the present stain of your mother’s blood?
1590ORESTES: I would not grow tired if I had these wicked women to slay for ever.
1591MENELAUS: Are you too, Pylades, a partner in this bloody work?
1592ORESTES: His silence says he is; let it suffice for me to say it.
1593MENELAUS: You’ll say it to your cost, unless you fly away!
1594ORESTES: We will not try to escape; we will set fire to the palace.
1595MENELAUS: What! will you destroy the home of your ancestors?
1596ORESTES: Yes, so that you don’t have it, and I will offer this girl in sacrifice on the fire.
Part 25
1596ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὡς μή γʼ ἔχῃς σύ, τήνδʼ ἐπισφάξας πυρί.
1597ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: κτεῖνʼ· ὡς κτανών γε τῶνδέ μοι δώσεις δίκην.
1598ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἔσται τάδε.
1598bΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἆ ἆ, μηδαμῶς δράσῃς τάδε.
1599ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σίγα νυν, ἀνέχου δʼ ἐνδίκως πράσσων κακῶς.
1600ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἦ γὰρ δίκαιον ζῆν σε;
1600bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: καὶ κρατεῖν γε γῆς.
1601ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ποίας;
1601bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἐν Ἄργει τῷδε τῷ Πελασγικῷ.
1602ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: εὖ γοῦν θίγοις ἂν χερνίβων —
1602bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τί δὴ γὰρ οὔ;
1603ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: καὶ σφάγια πρὸ δορὸς καταβάλοις.
1603bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σὺ δʼ ἂν καλῶς;
1604ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἁγνὸς γάρ εἰμι χεῖρας.
1604bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἀλλʼ οὐ τὰς φρένας.
1605ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: τίς δʼ ἂν προσείποι σέ;
1605bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὅστις ἐστὶ φιλοπάτωρ.
1606ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὅστις δὲ τιμᾷ μητέρα;
1606bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εὐδαίμων ἔφυ.
1607ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οὔκουν σύ γε.
Part 25
1597MENELAUS: Kill her; and if you do, I will punish you for it.
1598ORESTES: All right, then.
1598bMENELAUS: No, no! Don’t do it!
1599ORESTES: Silence! Your sufferings are just; endure them.
1600MENELAUS: Well, is it just that you should live?
1600bORESTES: And rule a kingdom, yes.
1601MENELAUS: A kingdom, where?
1601bORESTES: Here in Pelasgian Argos.
1602MENELAUS: You are so well qualified to handle holy water!
1602bORESTES: And why not?
1603MENELAUS: And to slay victims before battle!
1603bORESTES: Well, are you?
1604MENELAUS: Yes, my hands are clean.
1604bORESTES: But not your heart.
1605MENELAUS: Who would speak to you?
1605bORESTES: The one who loves his father.
1606MENELAUS: And the one who honors his mother?
1606bORESTES: He was born fortunate.
1607MENELAUS: Not like you!
1607bORESTES: No, for I do not delight in these wicked women.
Part 26
1607bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ γὰρ ἁνδάνουσιν αἱ κακαί.
1608ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἄπαιρε θυγατρὸς φάσγανον.
1608bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ψευδὴς ἔφυς.
1609ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἀλλὰ κτενεῖς μου θυγατέρα;
1609bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: οὐ ψευδὴς ἔτʼ εἶ.
1610ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: οἴμοι, τί δράσω;
1610bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πεῖθʼ ἐς Ἀργείους μολὼν —
1611ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πειθὼ τίνα;
1611bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ἡμᾶς μὴ θανεῖν· αἰτοῦ πόλιν.
1612ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἢ παῖδά μου φονεύσετε;
1612bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὧδʼ ἔχει τάδε.
1613ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλένη —
1613bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τἀμὰ δʼ οὐχὶ τλήμονα;
1614ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: σὲ σφάγιον ἐκόμισʼ ἐκ Φρυγῶν —
1614bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: εἰ γὰρ τόδʼ ἦν.
1615ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πόνους πονήσας μυρίους.
1615bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: πλήν γʼ εἰς ἐμέ.
1616ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πέπονθα δεινά.
1616bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: τότε γὰρ ἦσθʼ ἀνωφελής.
1617ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ἔχεις με.
Part 26
1608MENELAUS: Remove that sword from my daughter!
1608bORESTES: You are a liar.
1609MENELAUS: Will you kill my daughter?
1609bORESTES: Now you are not a liar!
1610MENELAUS: Ah me! what shall I do?
1610bORESTES: Go to the Argives and persuade them—
1611MENELAUS: Persuade them what?
1611bORESTES: Not to kill us; entreat the city.
1612MENELAUS: Or you will slay my child?
1612bORESTES: That is correct.
1613MENELAUS: O wretched Helen—
1613bORESTES: Am I not wretched?
1614MENELAUS: I brought you back from Troy to be a victim—
1614bORESTES: If only she had been!
1615MENELAUS: After innumerable troubles.
1615bORESTES: Except where I was concerned.
1616MENELAUS: I have suffered dreadfully!
1616bORESTES: Yes, for you would not help me then.
1617MENELAUS: You have me there.
1617bORESTES: Your own cowardice has you. Calling from the roof to Electra Fire the palace from beneath, Electra; and, Pylades, my most trusty friend,
1620kindle the parapet of these walls. The palace is seen to be ablaze.
Part 27
1617bὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: σαυτὸν σύ γʼ ἔλαβες κακὸς γεγώς.
1618ἀλλʼ εἶʼ, ὕφαπτε δώματʼ, Ἠλέκτρα, τάδε·
1619σύ τʼ, ὦ φίλων μοι τῶν ἐμῶν σαφέστατε,
1620Πυλάδη, κάταιθε γεῖσα τειχέων τάδε.
1621ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ γαῖα Δαναῶν ἱππίου τʼ Ἄργους κτίται,
1622οὐκ εἶʼ ἐνόπλῳ ποδὶ βοηδρομήσετε;
1623πᾶσαν γὰρ ὑμῶν ὅδε βιάζεται πόλιν
1624ζῆν, αἷμα μητρὸς μυσαρὸν ἐξειργασμένος.
1625ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: Μενέλαε, παῦσαι λῆμʼ ἔχων τεθηγμένον· Φοῖβός σʼ ὁ Λητοῦς παῖς ὅδʼ ἐγγὺς ὢν καλῶ· σύ θʼ ὃς ξιφήρης τῇδʼ ἐφεδρεύεις κόρῃ, Ὀρέσθʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς οὓς φέρων ἥκω λόγους. Ἑλένην μὲν ἣν σὺ διολέσαι πρόθυμος ὢν
1630ἥμαρτες, ὀργὴν Μενέλεῳ ποιούμενος, ἐγώ νιν ἐξέσῳσα κἀπὸ φασγάνου τοῦ σοῦ κελευσθεὶς ἥρπασʼ ἐκ Διὸς πατρός. Ζηνὸς γὰρ οὖσαν ζῆν νιν ἄφθιτον χρεών, Κάστορί τε Πολυδεύκει τʼ ἐν αἰθέρος πτυχαῖς
1637σύνθακος ἔσται, ναυτίλοις σωτήριος. ἄλλην δὲ νύμφην ἐς δόμους κτῆσαι λαβών, ἐπεὶ θεοὶ τῷ τῆσδε καλλιστεύματι Ἕλληνας εἰς ἓν καὶ Φρύγας συνήγαγον, θανάτους τʼ ἔθηκαν, ὡς ἀπαντλοῖεν χθονὸς
1642ὕβρισμα θνητῶν ἀφθόνου πληρώματος. τὰ μὲν καθʼ Ἑλένην ὧδʼ ἔχει· σὲ δʼ αὖ χρεών, Ὀρέστα, γαίας τῆσδʼ ὑπερβαλόνθʼ ὅρους Παρράσιον οἰκεῖν δάπεδον ἐνιαυτοῦ κύκλον. κεκλήσεται δὲ σῆς φυγῆς ἐπώνυμον
1647Ἀζᾶσιν Ἀρκάσιν τʼ Ὀρέστειον καλεῖν. ἐνθένδε δʼ ἐλθὼν τὴν Ἀθηναίων πόλιν δίκην ὑπόσχες αἵματος μητροκτόνου Εὐμενίσι τρισσαῖς· θεοὶ δέ σοι δίκης βραβῆς πάγοισιν ἐν Ἀρείοισιν εὐσεβεστάτην
1652ψῆφον διοίσουσʼ, ἔνθα νικῆσαί σε χρή. ἐφʼ ἧς δʼ ἔχεις, Ὀρέστα, φάσγανον δέρῃ, γῆμαι πέπρωταί σʼ Ἑρμιόνην· ὃς δʼ οἴεται Νεοπτόλεμος γαμεῖν νιν, οὐ γαμεῖ ποτε. θανεῖν γὰρ αὐτῷ μοῖρα Δελφικῷ ξίφει,
1657δίκας Ἀχιλλέως πατρὸς ἐξαιτοῦντά με. Πυλάδῃ δʼ ἀδελφῆς λέκτρον, ὥς ποτʼ ᾔνεσας, δός· ὁ δʼ ἐπιών νιν βίοτος εὐδαίμων μένει. Ἄργους δʼ Ὀρέστην, Μενέλεως, ἔα κρατεῖν, ἐλθὼν δʼ ἄνασσε Σπαρτιάτιδος χθονός,
1662φερνὰς ἔχων δάμαρτος, ἥ σε μυρίοις πόνοις διδοῦσα δεῦρʼ ἀεὶ διήνυσεν. τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ τῷδʼ ἐγὼ θήσω καλῶς, ὅς νιν φονεῦσαι μητέρʼ ἐξηνάγκασα.
1666ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: ὦ Λοξία μαντεῖε, σῶν θεσπισμάτων.
1667οὐ ψευδόμαντις ἦσθʼ ἄρʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐτήτυμος.
1668καίτοι μʼ ἐσῄει δεῖμα, μή τινος κλύων
1669ἀλαστόρων δόξαιμι σὴν κλύειν ὄπα.
1670ἀλλʼ εὖ τελεῖται, πείσομαι δὲ σοῖς λόγοις.
1671ἰδού, μεθίημʼ Ἑρμιόνην ἀπὸ σφαγῆς,
1672καὶ λέκτρʼ ἐπῄνεσʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἂν διδῷ πατήρ.
1673ΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: ὦ Ζηνὸς Ἑλένη χαῖρε παῖ· ζηλῶ δέ σε
1674θεῶν κατοικήσασαν ὄλβιον δόμον.
1675Ὀρέστα, σοὶ δὲ παῖδʼ ἐγὼ κατεγγυῶ,
1676Φοίβου λέγοντος· εὐγενὴς δʼ ἀπʼ εὐγενοῦς
1677γήμας ὄναιο καὶ σὺ χὡ διδοὺς ἐγώ.
1678ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: χωρεῖτέ νυν ἕκαστος οἷ προστάσσομεν,
1679νείκας τε διαλύεσθε.
1679bΜΕΝΈΛΑΟΣ: πείθεσθαι χρεών.
1680ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: κἀγὼ τοιοῦτος· σπένδομαι δὲ συμφοραῖς,
1681Μενέλαε, καὶ σοῖς, Λοξία, θεσπίσμασιν.
1682ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: ἴτε νυν καθʼ ὁδόν, τὴν καλλίστην
1683θεῶν Εἰρήνην τιμῶντες· ἐγὼ δʼ
1684Ἑλένην Δίοις μελάθροις πελάσω,
1685λαμπρῶν ἄστρων πόλον ἐξανύσας,
1686ἔνθα παρʼ Ἥρᾳ τῇ θʼ Ἡρακλέους
1687Ἥβῃ πάρεδρος θεὸς ἀνθρώποις
1688ἔσται σπονδαῖς ἔντιμος ἀεί,
1689σὺν Τυνδαρίδαις, τοῖς Διὸς υἱοῖς,
1690ναύταις μεδέουσα θαλάσσης.
1691ΧΟΡΌΣ: ὦ μέγα σεμνὴ Νίκη, τὸν ἐμὸν
1692βίοτον κατέχοις
1693καὶ μὴ λήγοις στεφανοῦσα.
Part 27
1621MENELAUS: O Danaid earth! Dwellers in Argos, city of horses, put on your armor and come to help! For this fellow is forcing his life from your whole city, though he has caused pollution by shedding his mother’s blood.
1625APOLLO: Appearing in the clouds. Menelaus, calm your anger that has been whetted; I am Phoebus, the son of Leto, drawing near to call you by name. And you also, Orestes, who are keeping guard on the girl, sword in hand, so that you may hear what I have come to say. Helen, whom all your eagerness
1630failed to destroy, when you were seeking to anger Menelaus, I saved her and snatched her from beneath your sword at the bidding of father Zeus,
1635for she, his child, must be immortal, and take her seat with Castor and Polydeuces in the enfolding air, a savior to mariners. Choose another bride and take her to your home; for the gods by that one’s loveliness
1640joined Troy and Hellas in battle, causing death so that they might draw off from the earth the outrage of unstinting numbers of mortals.
1643So much for Helen; as for you, Orestes, you must cross the broders of this land
1645and dwell for one whole year on Parrhasian soil, which from your flight shall be called the land of Orestes by Azanians and Arcadians. And when you return from there to the city of Athens, undergo your trial by the Avenging Three for your mother’s murder;
1650the gods will be arbitrators of your trial, and will take a most righteous vote on you at the hill of Ares, where you are to win your case. And it is destined, Orestes, that you will marry Hermione, at whose neck you are holding your sword;
1655Neoptolemus shall never marry her, though he thinks he will; for he is fated to die by a Delphian sword, when he claims satisfaction of me for the death of his father Achilles. Give your sister in marriage to Pylades, to whom you formerly promised her; the life awaiting him is one of happiness.
1660Menelaus, leave Orestes to rule Argos; go and reign over the Spartan land, keeping it as the dowry of a wife who till this day never ceased causing you innumerable troubles. I will set matters straight between Orestes and the citizens,
1665for I forced him to murder his mother.
1666ORESTES: Hail, prophetic Loxias, for your oracles! You were not a lying prophet after all, but a true seer; and yet I was afraid that it was some fiend I had listened to, when I seemed to hear your voice;
1670but all is ending well, and I obey your word. There! I release Hermione from slaughter and agree to make her my wife whenever her father gives her.
1673MENELAUS: All hail, Helen, daughter of Zeus! I wish you joy of your home in heaven’s happy courts.
1675To you, Orestes, I betroth my daughter, as Phoebus said; being noble yourself, may you have benefit from a noble wife, and may I also, in giving her to you.
1678APOLLO: Go now each one to the place appointed by me; reconcile your quarrels.
1679bMENELAUS: I must obey.
1680ORESTES: And so must I; I make a truce with my fate, Menelaus, and with your oracles, Loxias.
1682APOLLO: Go your ways, and honor Peace, fairest of goddesses; I will bring Helen to the halls of Zeus,
1685when I have come to the sky, bright with stars. There, enthroned beside Hera and Hebe, the bride of Heracles, she will be honored by men with libations as a goddess for ever; along with those Zeus-born sons of Tyndareus,
1690she will be a guardian of the sea, for the good of sailors.
1691CHORUS: Greatly revered Victory, may you occupy my life, and never cease to crown me!