Chorus:What words are these you utter, words all too plain? A new-born child hearing them could understand. I am smitten with a deadly pain, while,by reason of your cruel fortune, you cry aloud your pitiful moans that break my heart to hear.
Χορός:τί τόδε τορὸν ἄγαν ἔπος ἐφημίσω;νεόγονος ἂν ἀΐων μάθοι.πέπληγμαι δʼ ὑπαὶ δάκει φοινίῳδυσαλγεῖ τύχᾳ μινυρὰ [κακὰ] θρεομένας,θραύματʼ ἐμοὶ κλύειν.
Cassandra:O the sufferings, the sufferings of my city utterly destroyed! Alas, the sacrifices my father offered, the many pasturing cattle slain to save its towers!Yet they provided no remedy to save the city from suffering even as it has; and I, my soul on fire, must soon fall to the ground.
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ πόνοι πόνοι πόλεος ὀλομένας τὸ πᾶν.ἰὼ πρόπυργοι θυσίαι πατρὸςπολυκανεῖς βοτῶν ποιονόμων· ἄκος δʼοὐδὲν ἐπήρκεσαντὸ μὴ πόλιν μὲν ὥσπερ οὖν ἔχει παθεῖν.ἐγὼ δὲ θερμόνους τάχʼ ἐν πέδῳ βαλῶ.
Chorus:Your present speech chimes with your former strain.Surely some malignant spirit, falling upon you with heavy swoop, moves you to chant your piteous woes fraught with death. But the end I am helpless to discover.
Χορός:ἑπόμενα προτέροισι τάδʼ ἐφημίσω.καί τίς σε κακοφρονῶν τίθη-σι δαίμων ὑπερβαρὴς ἐμπίτνωνμελίζειν πάθη γοερὰ θανατοφόρα.τέρμα δʼ ἀμηχανῶ.
Cassandra:And now, no more shall my prophecy peer forth from behind a veil like a new-wedded bride; butit will rush upon me clear as a fresh wind blowing against the sun’s uprising so as to dash against its rays, like a wave, a woe far mightier than mine. No more by riddles will I instruct you. And bear me witness, as, running close behind,I scent the track of crimes done long ago. For from this roof never departs a choir chanting in unison, but singing no harmonious tune; for it tells not of good. And so, gorged on human blood, so as to be the more emboldened, a revel-rout of kindred Furies haunts the house,hard to be drive away. Lodged within its halls they chant their chant, the primal sin; and, each in turn, they spurn with loathing a brother’s bed, for they bitterly spurn the one who defiled it. Have I missed the mark, or, like a true archer, do I strike my quarry?
Κασάνδρα:καὶ μὴν ὁ χρησμὸς οὐκέτʼ ἐκ καλυμμάτωνἔσται δεδορκὼς νεογάμου νύμφης δίκην·λαμπρὸς δʼ ἔοικεν ἡλίου πρὸς ἀντολὰςπνέων ἐσᾴξειν, ὥστε κύματος δίκηνκλύζειν πρὸς αὐγὰς τοῦδε πήματος πολὺμεῖζον· φρενώσω δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἐξ αἰνιγμάτων.καὶ μαρτυρεῖτε συνδρόμως ἴχνος κακῶνῥινηλατούσῃ τῶν πάλαι πεπραγμένων.τὴν γὰρ στέγην τήνδʼ οὔποτʼ ἐκλείπει χορὸςξύμφθογγος οὐκ εὔφωνος· οὐ γὰρ εὖ λέγει.καὶ μὴν πεπωκώς γʼ, ὡς θρασύνεσθαι πλέον,βρότειον αἷμα κῶμος ἐν δόμοις μένει,δύσπεμπτος ἔξω, συγγόνων Ἐρινύων.ὑμνοῦσι δʼ ὕμνον δώμασιν προσήμεναιπρώταρχον ἄτην· ἐν μέρει δʼ ἀπέπτυσανεὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ τῷ πατοῦντι δυσμενεῖς.ἥμαρτον, ἢ θηρῶ τι τοξότης τις ὥς;
Or am I prophet of lies, a door-to-door babbler? Bear witness upon your oath that I know the deeds of sin, ancient in story, of this house.
ἢ ψευδόμαντίς εἰμι θυροκόπος φλέδων;ἐκμαρτύρησον προυμόσας τό μʼ εἰδέναιλόγῳ παλαιὰς τῶνδʼ ἁμαρτίας δόμων.
Chorus:How could an oath, a pledge although given in honor, effect any cure? Yet I marvel at you that,though bred beyond the sea, you speak truth of a foreign city, even as if you had been present there.
Χορός:καὶ πῶς ἂν ὅρκος, πῆγμα γενναίως παγέν,παιώνιον γένοιτο; θαυμάζω δέ σου,πόντου πέραν τραφεῖσαν ἀλλόθρουν πόλινκυρεῖν λέγουσαν, ὥσπερ εἰ παρεστάτεις.
Cassandra:The seer Apollo appointed me to this office.
Κασάνδρα:μάντις μʼ Ἀπόλλων τῷδʼ ἐπέστησεν τέλει.
Chorus:Can it be that he, a god, was smitten with desire?
Χορός:μῶν καὶ θεός περ ἱμέρῳ πεπληγμένος;
Cassandra:Before now I was ashamed to speak of this.
Κασάνδρα:προτοῦ μὲν αἰδὼς ἦν ἐμοὶ λέγειν τάδε.
Chorus:In prosperity all take on airs.
Χορός:ἁβρύνεται γὰρ πᾶς τις εὖ πράσσων πλέον.
Cassandra:Oh, but he struggled to win me, breathing ardent love for me.
Κασάνδρα:ἀλλʼ ἦν παλαιστὴς κάρτʼ ἐμοὶ πνέων χάριν.
Chorus:Did you in due course come to the rite of marriage?
Χορός:ἦ καὶ τέκνων εἰς ἔργον ἤλθετον νόμῳ;
Cassandra:I consented to Loxias but broke my word.
Κασάνδρα:ξυναινέσασα Λοξίαν ἐψευσάμην.
Chorus:Were you already possessed by the art inspired of the god?
Χορός:ἤδη τέχναισιν ἐνθέοις ᾑρημένη;
Cassandra:Already I prophesied to my countrymen all their disasters.
Κασάνδρα:ἤδη πολίταις πάντʼ ἐθέσπιζον πάθη.
Chorus:How came it then that you were unharmed by Loxias’ wrath?
Χορός:πῶς δῆτʼ ἄνατος ἦσθα Λοξίου κότῳ;
Cassandra:Ever since that fault I could persuade no one of anything.
Κασάνδρα:ἔπειθον οὐδένʼ οὐδέν, ὡς τάδʼ ἤμπλακον.
Chorus:And yet to us at least the prophecies you utter seem true enough.
Χορός:ἡμῖν γε μὲν δὴ πιστὰ θεσπίζειν δοκεῖς.
Cassandra:Ah, ah! Oh, oh, the agony!
Κασάνδρα:ἰοὺ ἰού, ὢ ὢ κακά.
Once more the dreadful throes of true prophecy whirl and distract me with their ill-boding onset. Do you see them there—sitting before the house—young creatures like phantoms of dreams? Children, they seem, slaughtered by their own kindred,their hands full of the meat of their own flesh; they are clear to my sight, holding their vitals and their inward parts (piteous burden!), which their father tasted. For this cause I tell you that a strengthless lion, wallowing in his bed, plots vengeance,a watchman waiting (ah me!) for my master’s coming home—yes, my master, for I must bear the yoke of slavery. The commander of the fleet and the overthrower of Ilium little knows what deeds shall be brought to evil accomplishment by the hateful hound, whose tongue licked his hand, who stretched forth her ears in gladness,like treacherous Ate. Such boldness has she, a woman to slay a man. What odious monster shall I fitly call her? An Amphisbaena? Or a Scylla, tenanting the rocks, a pest to mariners,a raging, devil’s mother, breathing relentless war against her husband? And how the all-daring woman raised a shout of triumph, as when the battle turns, the while she feigned to joy at his safe return! And yet, it is all one, whether or not I am believed. What does it matter?
ὑπʼ αὖ με δεινὸς ὀρθομαντείας πόνοςστροβεῖ ταράσσων φροιμίοις ⟨δυσφροιμίοις⟩.ὁρᾶτε τούσδε τοὺς δόμοις ἐφημένουςνέους, ὀνείρων προσφερεῖς μορφώμασιν;παῖδες θανόντες ὡσπερεὶ πρὸς τῶν φίλων,χεῖρας κρεῶν πλήθοντες οἰκείας βορᾶς,σὺν ἐντέροις τε σπλάγχνʼ, ἐποίκτιστον γέμος,πρέπουσʼ ἔχοντες, ὧν πατὴρ ἐγεύσατο.ἐκ τῶνδε ποινὰς φημὶ βουλεύειν τινὰλέοντʼ ἄναλκιν ἐν λέχει στρωφώμενονοἰκουρόν, οἴμοι, τῷ μολόντι δεσπότῃἐμῷ· φέρειν γὰρ χρὴ τὸ δούλιον ζυγόν·νεῶν τʼ ἄπαρχος Ἰλίου τʼ ἀναστάτηςοὐκ οἶδεν οἷα γλῶσσα μισητῆς κυνὸςλείξασα κἀκτείνασα φαιδρὸν οὖς, δίκηνἌτης λαθραίου, τεύξεται κακῇ τύχῃ.τοιάδε τόλμα· θῆλυς ἄρσενος φονεὺςἔστιν. τί νιν καλοῦσα δυσφιλὲς δάκοςτύχοιμʼ ἄν; ἀμφίσβαιναν, ἢ Σκύλλαν τινὰοἰκοῦσαν ἐν πέτραισι, ναυτίλων βλάβην,θύουσαν Ἅιδου μητέρʼ ἄσπονδόν τʼ Ἄρηφίλοις πνέουσαν; ὡς δʼ ἐπωλολύξατοἡ παντότολμος, ὥσπερ ἐν μάχης τροπῇ,δοκεῖ δὲ χαίρειν νοστίμῳ σωτηρίᾳ.καὶ τῶνδʼ ὅμοιον εἴ τι μὴ πείθω· τί γάρ;
What is to come, will come. And soon you, yourself present here, shall with great pity pronounce me all too true a prophetess.
τὸ μέλλον ἥξει. καὶ σύ μʼ ἐν τάχει παρὼνἄγαν γʼ ἀληθόμαντιν οἰκτίρας ἐρεῖς.
Chorus:Thyestes’ banquet on his children’s flesh I understood, and I tremble. Terror possesses me as I hear the truth, nothing fashioned out of falsehood to resemble truth.
Χορός:τὴν μὲν Θυέστου δαῖτα παιδείων κρεῶνξυνῆκα καὶ πέφρικα, καὶ φόβος μʼ ἔχεικλύοντʼ ἀληθῶς οὐδὲν ἐξῃκασμένα.
But as for the rest I heard I am thrown off the track.
τὰ δʼ ἄλλʼ ἀκούσας ἐκ δρόμου πεσὼν τρέχω.
Cassandra:I say you shall look upon Agamemnon dead.
Κασάνδρα:Ἀγαμέμνονός σέ φημʼ ἐπόψεσθαι μόρον.
Chorus:To words propitious, miserable girl, lull your speech.
Χορός:εὔφημον, ὦ τάλαινα, κοίμησον στόμα.
Cassandra:Over what I tell no healing god presides.
Κασάνδρα:ἀλλʼ οὔτι παιὼν τῷδʼ ἐπιστατεῖ λόγῳ.
Chorus:No, if it is to be; but may it not be so!
Χορός:οὔκ, εἴπερ ἔσται γʼ· ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτό πως.
Cassandra:You do but pray; their business is to slay.
Κασάνδρα:σὺ μὲν κατεύχῃ, τοῖς δʼ ἀποκτείνειν μέλει.
Chorus:What man is he that contrived this wickedness?
Χορός:τίνος πρὸς ἀνδρὸς τοῦτʼ ἄγος πορσύνεται;
Cassandra:Surely you must have missed the meaning of my prophecies.
Κασάνδρα:ἦ κάρτα τἄρʼ ἂν παρεκόπης χρησμῶν ἐμῶν
Chorus:I do not understand the scheme of him who is to do the deed.
Χορός:τοῦ γὰρ τελοῦντος οὐ ξυνῆκα μηχανήν.
Cassandra:And yet all too well I understand the Greek language.
Κασάνδρα:καὶ μὴν ἄγαν γʼ Ἕλληνʼ ἐπίσταμαι φάτιν.
Chorus:So too do the Pythian oracles; yet they are hard to understand.
Χορός:καὶ γὰρ τὰ πυθόκραντα· δυσμαθῆ δʼ ὅμως.
Cassandra:Oh, oh! What fire! It comes upon me! Woe, woe! Lycean Apollo! Ah me, ah me! This two-footed lioness, who mates with a wolf in the absence of the noble lion,will slay me, miserable as I am. Brewing as it were a drug, she vows that with her wrath she will mix requital for me too, while she whets her sword against her husband, to take murderous vengeance for bringing me here. Why then do I bear these mockeries of myself,this wand, these prophetic chaplets on my neck? Breaking her wand, she throws it and the other insignia of her prophetic office upon the ground, and tramples them underfoot You at least I will destroy before I die myself. To destruction with you! And fallen there, thus do I repay you. Enrich with doom some other in my place. Look, Apollo himself is stripping meof my prophetic garb—he that saw me mocked to bitter scorn, even in this bravery, by friends turned foes, with one accord, in vain—but, like some vagrant mountebank, called “beggar,” “wretch,” “starveling,” I bore it all.And now the prophet, having undone me, his prophetess, has brought me to this lethal pass. Instead of my father’s altar a block awaits me, where I am to be butchered in a hot and bloody sacrifice. Yet, we shall not die unavenged by the gods;
Κασάνδρα:παπαῖ, οἷον τὸ πῦρ· ἐπέρχεται δέ μοι.ὀτοτοῖ, Λύκειʼ Ἄπολλον, οἲ ἐγὼ ἐγώ.αὕτη δίπους λέαινα συγκοιμωμένηλύκῳ, λέοντος εὐγενοῦς ἀπουσίᾳ,κτενεῖ με τὴν τάλαιναν· ὡς δὲ φάρμακοντεύχουσα κἀμοῦ μισθὸν ἐνθήσειν κότῳἐπεύχεται, θήγουσα φωτὶ φάσγανονἐμῆς ἀγωγῆς ἀντιτείσασθαι φόνον.τί δῆτʼ ἐμαυτῆς καταγέλωτʼ ἔχω τάδε,καὶ σκῆπτρα καὶ μαντεῖα περὶ δέρῃ στέφη;σὲ μὲν πρὸ μοίρας τῆς ἐμῆς διαφθερῶ.ἴτʼ ἐς φθόρον· πεσόντα γʼ ὧδʼ ἀμείβομαι.ἄλλην τινʼ ἄτης ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ πλουτίζετε.ἰδοὺ δʼ Ἀπόλλων αὐτὸς ἐκδύων ἐμὲχρηστηρίαν ἐσθῆτʼ, ἐποπτεύσας δέ μεκἀν τοῖσδε κόσμοις καταγελωμένην μέγαφίλων ὑπʼ ἐχθρῶν οὐ διχορρόπως, μάτην—καλουμένη δὲ φοιτὰς ὡς ἀγύρτριαπτωχὸς τάλαινα λιμοθνὴς ἠνεσχόμην—καὶ νῦν ὁ μάντις μάντιν ἐκπράξας ἐμὲἀπήγαγʼ ἐς τοιάσδε θανασίμους τύχας.βωμοῦ πατρῴου δʼ ἀντʼ ἐπίξηνον μένει,θερμῷ κοπείσης φοινίῳ προσφάγματι.οὐ μὴν ἄτιμοί γʼ ἐκ θεῶν τεθνήξομεν.
for there shall come in turn another, our avenger, a scion of the race, to slay his mother and exact requital for his sire; an exile, a wanderer, a stranger from this land, he shall return to put the coping-stone upon these unspeakable iniquities of his house. For the gods have sworn a mighty oaththat his slain father’s outstretched corpse shall bring him home. Why then thus raise my voice in pitiful lament? Since first I saw the city of Ilium fare what it has fared, while her captors, by the gods’ sentence, are coming to such an end,I will go in and meet my fate. I will dare to die. This door I greet as the gates of Death. And I pray that, dealt a mortal stroke, without a struggle, my life-blood ebbing away in easy death, I may close these eyes.
ἥξει γὰρ ἡμῶν ἄλλος αὖ τιμάορος,μητροκτόνον φίτυμα, ποινάτωρ πατρός·φυγὰς δʼ ἀλήτης τῆσδε γῆς ἀπόξενοςκάτεισιν, ἄτας τάσδε θριγκώσων φίλοις·ὀμώμοται γὰρ ὅρκος ἐκ θεῶν μέγας,ἄξειν νιν ὑπτίασμα κειμένου πατρός.τί δῆτʼ ἐγὼ κάτοικτος ὧδʼ ἀναστένω;ἐπεὶ τὸ πρῶτον εἶδον Ἰλίου πόλινπράξασαν ὡς ἔπραξεν, οἳ δʼ εἷλον πόλινοὕτως ἀπαλλάσσουσιν ἐν θεῶν κρίσει,ἰοῦσα πράξω· τλήσομαι τὸ κατθανεῖν.Ἅιδου πύλας δὲ τάσδʼ ἐγὼ προσεννέπω·ἐπεύχομαι δὲ καιρίας πληγῆς τυχεῖν,ὡς ἀσφάδαστος, αἱμάτων εὐθνησίμωνἀπορρυέντων, ὄμμα συμβάλω τόδε.
Chorus:O woman, pitiful exceedingly and exceeding wise, long has been your speech. But if, in truth, you have knowledge of your own death, how can you step with calm courage to the altar like an ox, driven by the god?
Χορός:ὦ πολλὰ μὲν τάλαινα, πολλὰ δʼ αὖ σοφὴγύναι, μακρὰν ἔτεινας. εἰ δʼ ἐτητύμωςμόρον τὸν αὑτῆς οἶσθα, πῶς θεηλάτουβοὸς δίκην πρὸς βωμὸν εὐτόλμως πατεῖς;
Cassandra:There is no escape; no, my friends, there is none any more.
Κασάνδρα:οὐκ ἔστʼ ἄλυξις, οὔ, ξένοι, χρόνον πλέω.
Chorus:Yet he that is last has the advantage in respect of time.
Χορός:ὁ δʼ ὕστατός γε τοῦ χρόνου πρεσβεύεται,
Cassandra:The day has come; flight would profit me but little.
Κασάνδρα:ἥκει τόδʼ ἦμαρ· σμικρὰ κερδανῶ φυγῇ.
Chorus:Well, be assured, you brave suffering with a courageous spirit.
Χορός:ἀλλʼ ἴσθι τλήμων οὖσʼ ἀπʼ εὐτόλμου φρενός.
Cassandra:None who is happy is commended thus.
Κασάνδρα:οὐδεὶς ἀκούει ταῦτα τῶν εὐδαιμόνων.
Chorus:Yet surely to die nobly is a blessing for mortals.
Χορός:ἀλλʼ εὐκλεῶς τοι κατθανεῖν χάρις βροτῷ.
Cassandra:Alas for you, my father and for your noble children! She starts back in horror
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ πάτερ σοῦ σῶν τε γενναίων τέκνων.
Chorus:What ails you? What terror turns you back?
Χορός:τί δʼ ἐστὶ χρῆμα; τίς σʼ ἀποστρέφει φόβος;
Cassandra:Alas, alas!
Κασάνδρα:φεῦ φεῦ.
Chorus:Why do you cry “alas”? Unless perhaps there is some horror in your soul.
Χορός:τί τοῦτʼ ἔφευξας; εἴ τι μὴ φρενῶν στύγος.
Cassandra:This house stinks of blood-dripping slaughter.
Κασάνδρα:φόνον δόμοι πνέουσιν αἱματοσταγῆ,
Chorus:And what of that? It is just the savor of victims at the hearth.
Χορός:καί πῶς;τόδʼ ὄζει θυμάτων ἐφεστίων.
Cassandra:It is like a breath from a charnel-house.
Κασάνδρα:ὅμοιος ἀτμὸς ὥσπερ ἐκ τάφου πρέπει,
Chorus:You are not speaking of proud Syrian incense for the house.
Χορός:οὐ Σύριον ἀγλάισμα δώμασιν λέγεις.
Cassandra:Nay, I will go to bewail also within the palace my own and Agamemnon’s fate. Enough of life!
Κασάνδρα:ἀλλʼ εἶμι κἀν δόμοισι κωκύσουσʼ ἐμὴνἈγαμέμνονός τε μοῖραν. ἀρκείτω βίος.
Alas, my friends, not with vain terror do I shrink, as a bird that fears a bush. After I am dead, bear witness for me of this—when for me, a woman, another woman shall be slain, and for an ill-wedded man another man shall fall.
ἰὼ ξένοι,οὔτοι δυσοίζω θάμνον ὡς ὄρνις φόβῳἄλλως· θανούσῃ μαρτυρεῖτέ μοι τόδε,ὅταν γυνὴ γυναικὸς ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ θάνῃ,ἀνήρ τε δυσδάμαρτος ἀντʼ ἀνδρὸς πέσῃ.
I claim this favor from you now that my hour is come.
ἐπιξενοῦμαι ταῦτα δʼ ὡς θανουμένη.
Chorus:Poor woman, I pity you for your death foretold.
Χορός:ὦ τλῆμον, οἰκτίρω σε θεσφάτου μόρου.
Cassandra:Yet once more I would like to speak, but not a dirge. I pray to the sun, in presence of his latest light, that my enemies may at the same time pay to my avengers a bloody penalty forslaughtering a slave, an easy prey. Alas for human fortune! When prosperous, a mere shadow can overturn it; if misfortune strikes, the dash of a wet sponge blots out the drawing.
Κασάνδρα:ἅπαξ ἔτʼ εἰπεῖν ῥῆσιν οὐ θρῆνον θέλωἐμὸν τὸν αὐτῆς. ἡλίῳ δʼ ἐπεύχομαιπρὸς ὕστατον φῶς τοῖς ἐμοῖς τιμαόροιςἐχθροῖς φονεῦσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς τίνειν ὁμοῦ,δούλης θανούσης, εὐμαροῦς χειρώματος.ἰὼ βρότεια πράγματʼ· εὐτυχοῦντα μὲνσκιά τις ἂν τρέψειεν· εἰ δὲ δυστυχῇ,βολαῖς ὑγρώσσων σπόγγος ὤλεσεν γραφήν.
And this last I deem far more pitiable than that. Enters the palaceChorus:It is the nature of all human kind to be unsatisfied with prosperity. From stately halls none bars it with warning voice that utters the words “Enter no more.”
καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐκείνων μᾶλλον οἰκτίρω πολύ.Χορός:τὸ μὲν εὖ πράσσειν ἀκόρεστον ἔφυπᾶσι βροτοῖσιν· δακτυλοδείκτων δʼοὔτις ἀπειπὼν εἴργει μελάθρων,μηκέτʼ ἐσέλθῃς, τάδε φωνῶν.
So the Blessed Ones have granted to our prince to capture Priam’s town; and, divinely-honored, he returns to his home. Yet if he now must pay the penalty for the blood shed by others before him, and by dying for the deadhe is to bring to pass retribution of other deaths, what mortal man, on hearing this, can boast that he was born with scatheless destiny? A shriek is heard from withinAgamemnon:Alas! I am struck deep with a mortal blow!
καὶ τῷδε πόλιν μὲν ἑλεῖν ἔδοσανμάκαρες Πριάμου·θεοτίμητος δʼ οἴκαδʼ ἱκάνει.νῦν δʼ εἰ προτέρων αἷμʼ ἀποτείσῃκαὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσι θανὼν ἄλλωνποινὰς θανάτων ἐπικράνῃ,τίς ἂν ⟨ἐξ⟩εύξαιτο βροτῶν ἀσινεῖδαίμονι φῦναι τάδʼ ἀκούων;Ἀγαμέμνων:ὤμοι, πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγὴν ἔσω.
Chorus:Silence! Who is this that cries out, wounded by a mortal blow?
Χορός:σῖγα· τίς πληγὴν ἀυτεῖ καιρίως οὐτασμένος;
Agamemnon:And once again, alas! I am struck by a second blow.
Ἀγαμέμνων:ὤμοι μάλʼ αὖθις, δευτέραν πεπληγμένος.
Chorus:The deed is done, it seems—to judge by the groans of the king. But come, let us take counsel together if there is perhaps some safe plan of action.The members of the Chorus deliver their opinion on the course to be taken—I tell you my advice: summon the townsfolk to bring rescue here to the palace.—To my thinking we must burst in and charge them with the deed while the sword is still dripping in their hands. —I, too, am for taking part in some such plan, and vote for action of some sort. It is no time to keep on delaying. —It is plain. Their opening actmarks a plan to set up a tyranny in the State. —Yes, because we are wasting time, while they, trampling underfoot that famous name, Delay, allow their hands no slumber. —I know not what plan I could hit on to propose. It is the doer’s part likewise to do the planning.—I too am of this mind, for I know no way to bring the dead back to life by mere words. —What! To prolong our lives shall we thus submit to the rule of those defilers of the house? —No, it is not to be endured. No, death would be better,for that would be a milder lot than tyranny. —And shall we, upon the evidence of mere groans, divine that our lord is dead? —We should be sure of the facts before we indulge our wrath. For surmise differs from assurance.—I am supported on all sides to approve this course—that we get clear assurance how it stands with Atreus’ son.The bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra are disclosed; the queen stands by their side
Χορός:τοὔργον εἰργάσθαι δοκεῖ μοι βασιλέως οἰμώγμασιν.ἀλλὰ κοινωσώμεθʼ ἤν πως ἀσφαλῆ βουλεύματα.Χορός:—ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμῖν τὴν ἐμὴν γνώμην λέγω,πρὸς δῶμα δεῦρʼ ἀστοῖσι κηρύσσειν βοήν.——ἐμοὶ δʼ ὅπως τάχιστά γʼ ἐμπεσεῖν δοκεῖκαὶ πρᾶγμʼ ἐλέγχειν σὺν νεορρύτῳ ξίφει.——κἀγὼ τοιούτου γνώματος κοινωνὸς ὢνψηφίζομαί τι δρᾶν· τὸ μὴ μέλλειν δʼ ἀκμή.——ὁρᾶν πάρεστι· φροιμιάζονται γὰρ ὡςτυραννίδος σημεῖα πράσσοντες πόλει.——χρονίζομεν γάρ. οἱ δὲ τῆς μελλοῦς κλέοςπέδοι πατοῦντες οὐ καθεύδουσιν χερί.——οὐκ οἶδα βουλῆς ἧστινος τυχὼν λέγω.τοῦ δρῶντός ἐστι καὶ τὸ βουλεῦσαι πέρι.——κἀγὼ τοιοῦτός εἰμʼ, ἐπεὶ δυσμηχανῶλόγοισι τὸν θανόντʼ ἀνιστάναι πάλιν.——ἦ καὶ βίον τείνοντες ὧδʼ ὑπείξομενδόμων καταισχυντῆρσι τοῖσδʼ ἡγουμένοις;——ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀνεκτόν,ἀλλὰ κατθανεῖν κρατεῖ·πεπαιτέρα γὰρ μοῖρα τῆς τυραννίδος.——ἦ γὰρ τεκμηρίοισιν ἐξ οἰμωγμάτωνμαντευσόμεσθα τἀνδρὸς ὡς ὀλωλότος;——σάφʼ εἰδότας χρὴ τῶνδε θυμοῦσθαι πέρι·τὸ γὰρ τοπάζειν τοῦ σάφʼ εἰδέναι δίχα.——ταύτην ἐπαινεῖν πάντοθεν πληθύνομαι,τρανῶς Ἀτρείδην εἰδέναι κυροῦνθʼ ὅπως.
Clytaemestra:Much have I said before to serve my need and I shall feel no shame to contradict it now. For how else could one, devising hate against a hated foewho bears the semblance of a friend, fence the snares of ruin too high to be overleaped? This is the contest of an ancient feud, pondered by me of old, and it has come, however long delayed. I stand where I dealt the blow; my purpose is achieved.
Κλυταιμήστρα:πολλῶν πάροιθεν καιρίως εἰρημένωντἀναντίʼ εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἐπαισχυνθήσομαι.πῶς γάρ τις ἐχθροῖς ἐχθρὰ πορσύνων, φίλοιςδοκοῦσιν εἶναι, πημονῆς ἀρκύστατʼ ἂνφράξειεν, ὕψος κρεῖσσον ἐκπηδήματος;ἐμοὶ δʼ ἀγὼν ὅδʼ οὐκ ἀφρόντιστος πάλαινείκης παλαιᾶς ἦλθε, σὺν χρόνῳ γε μήν·ἕστηκα δʼ ἔνθʼ ἔπαισʼ ἐπʼ ἐξειργασμένοις.
Thus have I done the deed; deny it I will not. Round him, as if to catch a haul of fish, I cast an impassable net—fatal wealth of robe—so that he should neither escape nor ward off doom. Twice I struck him, and with two groanshis limbs relaxed. Once he had fallen, I dealt him yet a third stroke to grace my prayer to the infernal Zeus, the savior of the dead. Fallen thus, he gasped away his life, and as he breathed forth quick spurts of blood,he struck me with dark drops of gory dew; while I rejoiced no less than the sown earth is gladdened in heaven’s refreshing rain at the birthtime of the flower buds. Since then the case stands thus, old men of Argos, rejoice, if you would rejoice; as for me, I glory in the deed.
οὕτω δʼ ἔπραξα, καὶ τάδʼ οὐκ ἀρνήσομαι·ὡς μήτε φεύγειν μήτʼ ἀμύνεσθαι μόρον,ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον, ὥσπερ ἰχθύων,περιστιχίζω, πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν.παίω δέ νιν δίς· κἀν δυοῖν οἰμωγμάτοινμεθῆκεν αὑτοῦ κῶλα· καὶ πεπτωκότιτρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι, τοῦ κατὰ χθονὸςΔιὸς νεκρῶν σωτῆρος εὐκταίαν χάριν.οὕτω τὸν αὑτοῦ θυμὸν ὁρμαίνει πεσών·κἀκφυσιῶν ὀξεῖαν αἵματος σφαγὴνβάλλει μʼ ἐρεμνῇ ψακάδι φοινίας δρόσου,χαίρουσαν οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ διοσδότῳγάνει σπορητὸς κάλυκος ἐν λοχεύμασιν.ὡς ὧδʼ ἐχόντων, πρέσβος Ἀργείων τόδε,χαίροιτʼ ἄν, εἰ χαίροιτʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπεύχομαι.
And had it been a fitting act to pour libations on the corpse, over him this would have been done justly, more than justly. With so many accursed lies has he filled the mixing-bowl in his own house, and now he has come home and himself drained it to the dregs.
εἰ δʼ ἦν πρεπόντων ὥστʼ ἐπισπένδειν νεκρῷ,τῷδʼ ἂν δικαίως ἦν, ὑπερδίκως μὲν οὖν.τοσῶνδε κρατῆρʼ ἐν δόμοις κακῶν ὅδεπλήσας ἀραίων αὐτὸς ἐκπίνει μολών.
Chorus:We are shocked at your tongue, how bold-mouthed you are,that over your husband you can utter such a boastful speech.
Χορός:θαυμάζομέν σου γλῶσσαν, ὡς θρασύστομος,ἥτις τοιόνδʼ ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ κομπάζεις λόγον.
Clytaemestra:You are testing me as if I were a witless woman. But my heart does not quail, and I say to you who know it well—and whether you wish to praise or to blame me, it is all one—here is Agamemnon,my husband, now a corpse, the work of this right hand, a just workman. So stands the case.
Κλυταιμήστρα:πειρᾶσθέ μου γυναικὸς ὡς ἀφράσμονος·ἐγὼ δʼ ἀτρέστῳ καρδίᾳ πρὸς εἰδόταςλέγω· σὺ δʼ αἰνεῖν εἴτε με ψέγειν θέλειςὅμοιον. οὗτός ἐστιν Ἀγαμέμνων, ἐμὸςπόσις, νεκρὸς δέ, τῆσδε δεξιᾶς χερὸςἔργον, δικαίας τέκτονος. τάδʼ ὧδʼ ἔχει.
Chorus:Woman, what poisonous herb nourished by the earth have you tasted, what potion drawn from the flowing sea, that you have taken upon yourself this maddened rage and the loud curses voiced by the public?
Χορός:τί κακόν, ὦ γύναι,χθονοτρεφὲς ἐδανὸν ἢ ποτὸνπασαμένα ῥυτᾶς ἐξ ἁλὸς ὀρόμενοντόδʼ ἐπέθου θύος, δημοθρόους τʼ ἀράς;
You have cast him off; you have cut him off; and out from the land shall you be cast, a burden of hatred to your people.
ἀπέδικες ἀπέταμες· ἀπόπολις δʼ ἔσῃμῖσος ὄβριμον ἀστοῖς.
Clytaemestra:It’s now that you would doom me to exile from the land, to the hatred of my people and the execration of the public voice; though then you had nothing to urge against him that lies here. And yet he,valuing no more than if it had been a beast that perished—though sheep were plenty in his fleecy folds—he sacrificed his own child, she whom I bore with dearest travail, to charm the blasts of Thrace. Is it not he whom you should have banished from this landin requital for his polluting deed? No! When you arraign what I have done, you are a stern judge. Well, I warn you: threaten me thus on the understanding that I am prepared, conditions equal, to let you lord it over me if you shall vanquish me by force. But if a god shall bring the contrary to pass,you shall learn discretion though taught the lesson late.
Κλυταιμήστρα:νῦν μὲν δικάζεις ἐκ πόλεως φυγὴν ἐμοὶκαὶ μῖσος ἀστῶν δημόθρους τʼ ἔχειν ἀράς,οὐδὲν τότʼ ἀνδρὶ τῷδʼ ἐναντίον φέρων·ὃς οὐ προτιμῶν, ὡσπερεὶ βοτοῦ μόρον,μήλων φλεόντων εὐπόκοις νομεύμασιν,ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶὠδῖνʼ, ἐπῳδὸν Θρῃκίων ἀημάτων.οὐ τοῦτον ἐκ γῆς τῆσδε χρῆν σʼ ἀνδρηλατεῖν,μιασμάτων ἄποινʼ; ἐπήκοος δʼ ἐμῶνἔργων δικαστὴς τραχὺς εἶ. λέγω δέ σοιτοιαῦτʼ ἀπειλεῖν, ὡς παρεσκευασμένηςἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων χειρὶ νικήσαντʼ ἐμοῦἄρχειν· ἐὰν δὲ τοὔμπαλιν κραίνῃ θεός,γνώσῃ διδαχθεὶς ὀψὲ γοῦν τὸ σωφρονεῖν.
Chorus:You are proud of spirit, and your speech is overbearing. Even as your mind is maddened by your deed of blood, upon your face a stain of blood shows full plain to behold. Bereft of all honor, forsaken of your friends,you shall hereafter atone for stroke with stroke,
Χορός:μεγαλόμητις εἶ,περίφρονα δʼ ἔλακες. ὥσπερ οὖνφονολιβεῖ τύχᾳ φρὴν ἐπιμαίνεται,λίπος ἐπʼ ὀμμάτων αἵματος εὖ πρέπει·ἀτίετον ἔτι σὲ χρὴ στερομέναν φίλωντύμμα τύμματι τεῖσαι.
Clytaemestra:Listen then to this too, this the righteous sanction on my oath: by Justice, exacted for my child, by Ate, by the Avenging Spirit, to whom I sacrificed that man, hope does not tread for me the halls of fear,so long as the fire upon my hearth is kindled by Aegisthus, loyal in heart to me as in days gone by. For he is no slight shield of confidence to me. Here lies the man who did me wrong, plaything of each Chryseis at Ilium;
Κλυταιμήστρα:καὶ τήνδʼ ἀκούεις ὁρκίων ἐμῶν θέμιν·μὰ τὴν τέλειον τῆς ἐμῆς παιδὸς Δίκην,Ἄτην Ἐρινύν θʼ, αἷσι τόνδʼ ἔσφαξʼ ἐγώ,οὔ μοι φόβου μέλαθρον ἐλπὶς ἐμπατεῖ,ἕως ἂν αἴθῃ πῦρ ἐφʼ ἑστίας ἐμῆςΑἴγισθος, ὡς τὸ πρόσθεν εὖ φρονῶν ἐμοί.οὗτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀσπὶς οὐ σμικρὰ θράσους.κεῖται γυναικὸς τῆσδε λυμαντήριος,Χρυσηίδων μείλιγμα τῶν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ·
and here she lies, his captive, and auguress, and concubine, his oracular faithful whore, yet equally familiar with the seamen’s benches. The pair has met no undeserved fate. For he lies thus; while she, who, like a swan,has sung her last lament in death, lies here, his beloved; but to me she has brought for my bed an added relish of delight.
ἥ τʼ αἰχμάλωτος ἥδε καὶ τερασκόποςκαὶ κοινόλεκτρος τοῦδε, θεσφατηλόγοςπιστὴ ξύνευνος, ναυτίλων δὲ σελμάτωνἰσοτριβής. ἄτιμα δʼ οὐκ ἐπραξάτην.ὁ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως, ἡ δέ τοι κύκνου δίκηντὸν ὕστατον μέλψασα θανάσιμον γόονκεῖται, φιλήτωρ τοῦδʼ· ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐπήγαγενεὐνῆς παροψώνημα τῆς ἐμῆς χλιδῆς.
Chorus:Alas! Ah that some fate, free from excess of suffering, nor yet with lingering bed of pain,might come full soon and bring to us everlasting and endless sleep, now that our most gracious guardian has been laid low, who in a woman’s cause had much endured and by a woman’s hand has lost his life.
Χορός:φεῦ, τίς ἂν ἐν τάχει, μὴ περιώδυνος,μηδὲ δεμνιοτήρης,μόλοι τὸν αἰεὶ φέρουσʼ ἐν ἡμῖνΜοῖρʼ ἀτέλευτον ὕπνον, δαμέντοςφύλακος εὐμενεστάτου [καὶ]πολλὰ τλάντος γυναικὸς διαί·πρὸς γυναικὸς δʼ ἀπέφθισεν βίον.
O mad Helen, who did yourself alone destroy these many lives, these lives exceeding many, beneath the walls of Troy. Now you have bedecked yourself with your final crown, that shall long last in memory,because of blood not to be washed away. Truly in those days strife, an affliction that has subdued its lord, dwelt in the house.
Χορός:ἰὼ ⟨ἰὼ⟩ παράνους Ἑλέναμία τὰς πολλάς, τάς πάνυ πολλὰςψυχὰς ὀλέσασʼ ὑπὸ Τροίᾳ.νῦν [δὲ] τελέαν πολύμναστον ἐπηνθίσωδιʼ αἷμʼ ἄνιπτον. ἦ τις ἦν τότʼ ἐν δόμοιςἔρις ἐρίδματος ἀνδρὸς οἰζύς.
Clytaemestra:Do not burden yourself with thoughts such as these, nor invoke upon yourself the fate of death. Nor yet turn your wrath upon Helen,and deem her a slayer of men, as if she alone had destroyed many a Danaan life and had wrought anguish past all cure.
Κλυταιμήστρα:μηδὲν θανάτου μοῖραν ἐπεύχουτοῖσδε βαρυνθείς·μηδʼ εἰς Ἑλένην κότον ἐκτρέψῃς,ὡς ἀνδρολέτειρʼ, ὡς μία πολλῶνἀνδρῶν ψυχὰς Δαναῶν ὀλέσασʼἀξύστατον ἄλγος ἔπραξεν.
Chorus:O Fiend who falls upon this house and Tantalus’ two descendants,you who by the hands of women exert a rule matching their temper, a rule bitter to my soul! Perched over his body like a hateful raven, in hoarse notes she chants her song of triumph.
Χορός:δαῖμον, ὃς ἐμπίτνεις δώμασι καὶ διφυί-οισι Τανταλίδαισιν,κράτος ⟨τʼ⟩ ἰσόψυχον ἐκ γυναικῶνκαρδιόδηκτον ἐμοὶ κρατύνεις.ἐπὶ δὲ σώματος δίκαν [μοι]κόρακος ἐχθροῦ σταθεῖσʼ ἐκνόμωςὕμνον ὑμνεῖν ἐπεύχεται ⟨˘¯⟩
Clytaemestra:Now you have corrected the judgment of your lips in that you name the thrice-gorged Fiend of this race. For by him the lust for lapping blood is fostered in the mouth; so beforethe ancient wound is healed, fresh blood is spilled.
Κλυταιμήστρα:νῦν δʼ ὤρθωσας στόματος γνώμην,τὸν τριπάχυντονδαίμονα γέννης τῆσδε κικλήσκων.ἐκ τοῦ γὰρ ἔρως αἱματολοιχὸςνείρᾳ τρέφεται, πρὶν καταλῆξαιτὸ παλαιὸν ἄχος, νέος ἰχώρ.
Chorus:Truly you speak of a mighty Fiend, haunting the house, and heavy in his wrath (alas, alas!)—an evil tale of catastrophic fate insatiate;
Χορός:ἦ μέγαν οἰκονόμονδαίμονα καὶ βαρύμηνιν αἰνεῖς,φεῦ φεῦ, κακὸν αἶνον ἀτη-ρᾶς τύχας ἀκορέστου·
woe, woe, done by will of Zeus, author of all, worker of all! For what is brought to pass for mortal men save by will of Zeus? What herein is not wrought of god?
ἰὴ ἰή, διαὶ Διὸςπαναιτίου πανεργέτα·τί γὰρ βροτοῖς ἄνευ Διὸς τελεῖται;τί τῶνδʼ οὐ θεόκραντόν ἐστιν;
Alas, alas, my King, my King,how shall I bewail you? How voice my heartfelt love for you? To lie in this spider’s web, breathing forth your life in an impious death! Ah me, to lie on this ignoble bed, struck down in treacherous death wroughtby a weapon of double edge wielded by the hand of your own wife!
Χορός:ἰὼ ἰὼ βασιλεῦ βασιλεῦ,πῶς σε δακρύσω;φρενὸς ἐκ φιλίας τί ποτʼ εἴπω;κεῖσαι δʼ ἀράχνης ἐν ὑφάσματι τῷδʼἀσεβεῖ θανάτῳ βίον ἐκπνέων.ὤμοι μοι κοίταν τάνδʼ ἀνελεύθερονδολίῳ μόρῳ δαμεὶς ⟨δάμαρτος⟩ἐκ χερὸς ἀμφιτόμῳ βελέμνῳ.
Clytaemestra:Do you affirm this deed is mine? Do not imagine that I am Agamemnon’s spouse.
Κλυταιμήστρα:αὐχεῖς εἶναι τόδε τοὔργον ἐμόν;μηδʼ ἐπιλεχθῇςἈγαμεμνονίαν εἶναί μʼ ἄλοχον.
A phantom resembling that corpse’s wife, the ancient bitter evil spirit of Atreus, that grim banqueter, has offered him in payment, sacrificing a full-grown victim in vengeance for those slain babes.
φανταζόμενος δὲ γυναικὶ νεκροῦτοῦδʼ ὁ παλαιὸς δριμὺς ἀλάστωρἈτρέως χαλεποῦ θοινατῆροςτόνδʼ ἀπέτεισεν,τέλεον νεαροῖς ἐπιθύσας.
Chorus:That you are innocent of this murder—who will bear you witness? How could anyone do so? And yet the evil genius of his father might well be your accomplice. By forceamid streams of kindred blood black Havoc presses on to where he shall grant vengeance for the gore of children served for meat.
Χορός:ὡς μὲν ἀναίτιος εἶτοῦδε φόνου τίς ὁ μαρτυρήσων;πῶς πῶς; πατρόθεν δὲ συλλή-πτωρ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἀλάστωρ.βιάζεται δʼ ὁμοσπόροιςἐπιρροαῖσιν αἱμάτωνμέλας Ἄρης, ὅποι δίκαν προβαίνωνπάχνᾳ κουροβόρῳ παρέξει.
Alas, alas, my King, my King, how shall I bewail you?
Χορός:ἰὼ ἰὼ βασιλεῦ βασιλεῦ,πῶς σε δακρύσω;
How voice my heartfelt love for you? To lie in this spider’s web, breathing forth your life in impious death! Alas, to lie on this ignoble bed, struck down in treacherous deathwrought by a weapon of double edge wielded by your own wife’s hand!
φρενὸς ἐκ φιλίας τί ποτʼ εἴπω;κεῖσαι δʼ ἀράχνης ἐν ὑφάσματι τῷδʼἀσεβεῖ θανάτῳ βίον ἐκπνέων.ὤμοι μοι κοίταν τάνδʼ ἀνελεύθερονδολίῳ μόρῳ δαμεὶςἐκ χερὸς ἀμφιτόμῳ βελέμνῳ.
Clytaemestra:[Neither do I think he met an ignoble death.] And did he not himself by treachery bring ruin on his house?
Κλυταιμήστρα:[οὔτʼ ἀνελεύθερον οἶμαι θάνατον][τῷδε γενέσθαι.]οὐδὲ γὰρ οὗτος δολίαν ἄτηνοἴκοισιν ἔθηκʼ;
Yet, as he has suffered—worthy prize of worthy deed—for what he did to my sweet flower, shoot sprung from him, the sore-wept Iphigenia, let him make no great boasts in the halls of Hades, since with death dealt him by the sword he has paid for what he first began.
ἀλλʼ ἐμὸν ἐκ τοῦδʼ ἔρνος ἀερθέν.τὴν πολυκλαύτην Ἰφιγενείαν,ἄξια δράσας ἄξια πάσχωνμηδὲν ἐν Ἅιδου μεγαλαυχείτω,ξιφοδηλήτῳ,θανάτῳ τείσας ἅπερ ἦρξεν.
Chorus:Bereft of any ready expedient of thought, I am bewildered where to turn now that the house is tottering. I fear the beating storm of bloody rain that shakes the house; no longer does it descend in drops.
Χορός:ἀμηχανῶ φροντίδος στερηθεὶςεὐπάλαμον μέριμνανὅπα τράπωμαι, πίτνοντος οἴκου.δέδοικα δʼ ὄμβρου κτύπον δομοσφαλῆτὸν αἱματηρόν· ψακὰς δὲ λήγει.
Yet on other whetstones Destiny is sharpening justice for another evil deed.
δίκην δʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλο πρᾶγμα θηγάνει βλάβηςπρὸς ἄλλαις θηγάναισι μοῖρα.
O Earth, Earth, if only you had taken me to yourself before ever I had lived to see my lordoccupying a lowly bed of a silver-sided bath! Who shall bury him? Who shall lament him? Will you harden your heart to do this—you who have slain your own husband—to lament for himand crown your unholy work with an uncharitable gift to his spirit, atoning for your monstrous deeds? And who, as with tears he utters praise over the hero’s grave,shall sorrow in sincerity of heart?
Χορός:ἰὼ γᾶ γᾶ, εἴθʼ ἔμʼ ἐδέξω,πρὶν τόνδʼ ἐπιδεῖν ἀργυροτοίχουδροίτης κατέχοντα χάμευναν.τίς ὁ θάψων νιν; τίς ὁ θρηνήσων;ἦ σὺ τόδʼ ἔρξαι τλήσῃ, κτείνασʼἄνδρα τὸν αὑτῆς ἀποκωκῦσαιψυχῇ τʼ ἄχαριν χάριν ἀντʼ ἔργωνμεγάλων ἀδίκως ἐπικρᾶναι;τίς δʼ ἐπιτύμβιον αἶνον ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ θείῳσὺν δακρύοις ἰάπτωνἀληθείᾳ φρενῶν πονήσει;
Clytaemestra:To care for that duty is no concern of yours. By our hands down he fell, down to death, and down below shall we bury him—but not with wailings from his household.No! Iphigenia, his daughter, as is due, shall meet her father lovingly at the swift-flowing ford of sorrows, and shall fling her arms around him and kiss him.
Κλυταιμήστρα:οὐ σὲ προσήκει τὸ μέλημʼ ἀλέγειντοῦτο· πρὸς ἡμῶνκάππεσε, κάτθανε, καὶ καταθάψομεν,οὐχ ὑπὸ κλαυθμῶν τῶν ἐξ οἴκων,ἀλλʼ Ἰφιγένειά νιν ἀσπασίωςθυγάτηρ, ὡς χρή,πατέρʼ ἀντιάσασα πρὸς ὠκύπορονπόρθμευμʼ ἀχέωνπερὶ χεῖρε βαλοῦσα φιλήσει.
Chorus:Reproach thus meets reproach in turn—hard is the struggle to decide. The spoiler is despoiled, the slayer pays penalty. Yet, while Zeus remains on his throne, it remains true that to him who does it shall be done; for it is law.
Χορός:ὄνειδος ἥκει τόδʼ ἀντʼ ὀνείδους.δύσμαχα δʼ ἔστι κρῖναι.φέρει φέροντʼ, ἐκτίνει δʼ ὁ καίνων.μίμνει δὲ μίμνοντος ἐν θρόνῳ Διὸςπαθεῖν τὸν ἔρξαντα· θέσμιον γάρ.
Who can cast from out the house the seed of the curse? The race is bound fast in calamity.
τίς ἂν γονὰν ἀραῖον ἐκβάλοι δόμων;κεκόλληται γένος πρὸς ἄτᾳ.
Clytaemestra:Upon this divine deliverance have you rightly touched. As for me, however, I am willing to make a sworn compact with the Fiend of the house of Pleisthenesthat I will be content with what is done, hard to endure though it is. Henceforth he shall leave this house and bring tribulation upon some other race by murder of kin. A small part of the wealth is fully enough for me, if I may but rid these hallsof the frenzy of mutual murder.Enter Aegisthus with armed retainers
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἐς τόνδʼ ἐνέβης ξὺν ἀληθείᾳχρησμόν. ἐγὼ δʼ οὖνἐθέλω δαίμονι τῷ Πλεισθενιδῶνὅρκους θεμένη τάδε μὲν στέργειν,δύστλητά περ ὄνθʼ· ὃ δὲ λοιπόν, ἰόντʼἐκ τῶνδε δόμων ἄλλην γενεὰντρίβειν θανάτοις αὐθένταισι.κτεάνων τε μέροςβαιὸν ἐχούσῃ πᾶν ἀπόχρη μοιμανίας μελάθρωνἀλληλοφόνους ἀφελούσῃ.
Aegisthus:Hail gracious light of the day of retribution! At last the hour has come when I can say that the gods who avenge mortal men look down from on high upon the crimes of earth.Now that, to my joy, I behold this man lying here in a robe spun by the Avenging Spirits and making full payment for the deeds contrived in craft by his father’s hand. For Atreus, lord of this land, this man’s father, challenged in his sovereignty, drove forth, from city and from home, Thyestes, who (to speak it clearly) was my fatherand his own brother. And when he had come back as a suppliant to his hearth, unhappy Thyestes secured such safety for his lot as not himself to suffer death and stain with his blood his native soil.But Atreus, the godless father of this slain man, with welcome more hearty than kind, on the pretence that he was cheerfully celebrating a happy day by serving meat, served up to my father as entertainment a banquet of his own children’s flesh.The toes and fingers he broke off … sitting apart. And when all unwittingly my father had quickly taken servings that he did not recognize, he ate a meal which, as you see, has proved fatal to his race. Now, discovering his unhallowed deed, he uttered a great cry, reeled back, vomiting forth the slaughtered flesh, and invokedan unbearable curse upon the line of Pelops, kicking the banquet table to aid his curse, “thus perish all the race of Pleisthenes!” This is the reason that you see this man fallen here. I am he who planned this murder and with justice. For together with my hapless father he drove me out,me his third child, as yet a baby in swaddling-clothes. But grown to manhood, justice has brought me back again. Exile though I was, I laid my hand upon my enemy, compassing every device of cunning to his ruin.
Αἴγισθος:ὦ φέγγος εὖφρον ἡμέρας δικηφόρου.φαίην ἂν ἤδη νῦν βροτῶν τιμαόρουςθεοὺς ἄνωθεν γῆς ἐποπτεύειν ἄχη,ἰδὼν ὑφαντοῖς ἐν πέπλοις, Ἐρινύωντὸν ἄνδρα τόνδε κείμενον φίλως ἐμοί,χερὸς πατρῴας ἐκτίνοντα μηχανάς.Ἀτρεὺς γὰρ ἄρχων τῆσδε γῆς, τούτου πατήρ,πατέρα Θυέστην τὸν ἐμόν, ὡς τορῶς φράσαι,αὑτοῦ δʼ ἀδελφόν, ἀμφίλεκτος ὢν κράτει,ἠνδρηλάτησεν ἐκ πόλεώς τε καὶ δόμων.καὶ προστρόπαιος ἑστίας μολὼν πάλιντλήμων Θυέστης μοῖραν ηὕρετʼ ἀσφαλῆ,τὸ μὴ θανὼν πατρῷον αἱμάξαι πέδον,αὐτός· ξένια δὲ τοῦδε δύσθεος πατὴρἈτρεύς, προθύμως μᾶλλον ἢ φίλως, πατρὶτὠμῷ, κρεουργὸν ἦμαρ εὐθύμως ἄγεινδοκῶν, παρέσχε δαῖτα παιδείων κρεῶν.τὰ μὲν ποδήρη καὶ χερῶν ἄκρους κτέναςἔθρυπτʼ, ἄνωθεν ……… ἀνδρακὰς καθήμενος.ἄσημα δʼ αὐτῶν αὐτίκʼ ἀγνοίᾳ λαβὼνἔσθει βορὰν ἄσωτον, ὡς ὁρᾷς, γένει.κἄπειτʼ ἐπιγνοὺς ἔργον οὐ καταίσιονᾤμωξεν, ἀμπίπτει δʼ ἀπὸ σφαγὴν ἐρῶν,μόρον δʼ ἄφερτον Πελοπίδαις ἐπεύχεται,λάκτισμα δείπνου ξυνδίκως τιθεὶς ἀρᾷ,οὕτως ὀλέσθαι πᾶν τὸ Πλεισθένους γένος.ἐκ τῶνδέ σοι πεσόντα τόνδʼ ἰδεῖν πάρα.κἀγὼ δίκαιος τοῦδε τοῦ φόνου ῥαφεύς.τρίτον γὰρ ὄντα μʼ ἐπὶ δυσαθλίῳ πατρὶσυνεξελαύνει τυτθὸν ὄντʼ ἐν σπαργάνοις·τραφέντα δʼ αὖθις ἡ δίκη κατήγαγεν.καὶ τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ἡψάμην θυραῖος ὤν,πᾶσαν συνάψας μηχανὴν δυσβουλίας.
So even death would be sweet to me now that I behold him in justice’s net.
οὕτω καλὸν δὴ καὶ τὸ κατθανεῖν ἐμοί,ἰδόντα τοῦτον τῆς δίκης ἐν ἕρκεσιν.
Chorus:Aegisthus, excessive triumph amid distress I do not honor. You say that of your own intent you slew this man and did alone plot this pitiful murder.
Χορός:Αἴγισθʼ, ὑβρίζειν ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐ σέβω.σὺ δʼ ἄνδρα τόνδε φὴς ἑκὼν κατακτανεῖν,μόνος δʼ ἔποικτον τόνδε βουλεῦσαι φόνον·
I tell you in the hour of justice that you yourself, be sure of that, will not escape the people’s curses and death by stoning at their hand.
οὔ φημʼ ἀλύξειν ἐν δίκῃ τὸ σὸν κάραδημορριφεῖς, σάφʼ ἴσθι, λευσίμους ἀράς.
Aegisthus:You speak like that, you who sit at the lower oar when those upon the higher bench control the ship? Old as you are, you shall learn how bitter it isat your age to be schooled when prudence is the lesson set before you. Bonds and the pangs of hunger are far the best doctors of the spirit when it comes to instructing the old. Do you have eyes and lack understanding? Do not kick against the goads lest you strike to your own hurt.
Αἴγισθος:σὺ ταῦτα φωνεῖς νερτέρᾳ προσήμενοςκώπῃ, κρατούντων τῶν ἐπὶ ζυγῷ δορός;γνώσῃ γέρων ὢν ὡς διδάσκεσθαι βαρὺτῷ τηλικούτῳ, σωφρονεῖν εἰρημένον.δεσμὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ γῆρας αἵ τε νήστιδεςδύαι διδάσκειν ἐξοχώταται φρενῶνἰατρομάντεις. οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὁρῶν τάδε;πρὸς κέντρα μὴ λάκτιζε, μὴ παίσας μογῇς.
Chorus:Woman that you are! Skulking at home and awaiting the return of the men from war, all the while defiling a hero’s bed, did you contrive this death against a warrior chief?
Χορός:γύναι, σὺ τοὺς ἥκοντας ἐκ μάχης μένωνοἰκουρὸς εὐνὴν ἀνδρὸς αἰσχύνων ἅμαἀνδρὶ στρατηγῷ τόνδʼ ἐβούλευσας μόρον;
Aegisthus:These words of yours likewise shall prove a source of tears. The tongue of Orpheus is quite the opposite of yours.
Αἴγισθος:καὶ ταῦτα τἄπη κλαυμάτων ἀρχηγενῆ.Ὀρφεῖ δὲ γλῶσσαν τὴν ἐναντίαν ἔχεις.
He led all things by the rapture of his voice; but you, who have stirred our wrath by your silly yelping, shall be led off yourself. You will appear tamer when put down by force.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἦγε πάντʼ ἀπὸ φθογγῆς χαρᾷ,σὺ δʼ ἐξορίνας νηπίοις ὑλάγμασινἄξῃ· κρατηθεὶς δʼ ἡμερώτερος φανῇ.
Chorus:As if you would ever truly be my master here in Argos, you who did contrive our king’s death, andthen had not the courage to do this deed of murder with your own hand!
Χορός:ὡς δὴ σύ μοι τύραννος Ἀργείων ἔσῃ,ὃς οὐκ, ἐπειδὴ τῷδʼ ἐβούλευσας μόρον,δρᾶσαι τόδʼ ἔργον οὐκ ἔτλης αὐτοκτόνως.
Aegisthus:Because to ensnare him was clearly the woman’s part; I was suspect as his enemy of old. However, with his gold I shall endeavor to control the people; and whoever is unruly,him I’ll yoke with a heavy collar, and in truth he shall be no well-fed trace-horse! No! Loathsome hunger that houses with darkness shall see him gentle.
Αἴγισθος:τὸ γὰρ δολῶσαι πρὸς γυναικὸς ἦν σαφῶς·ἐγὼ δʼ ὕποπτος ἐχθρὸς ἦ παλαιγενής.ἐκ τῶν δὲ τοῦδε χρημάτων πειράσομαιἄρχειν πολιτῶν· τὸν δὲ μὴ πειθάνοραζεύξω βαρείαις οὔτι μοι σειραφόρονκριθῶντα πῶλον· ἀλλʼ ὁ δυσφιλὴς σκότῳλιμὸς ξύνοικος μαλθακόν σφʼ ἐπόψεται.
Chorus:Why then, in the baseness of your soul, did you not kill him yourself, but leave his slaying to a woman,a plague to her country and her country’s gods? Oh, does Orestes perhaps still behold the light, that, with favoring fortune, he may come home and be the slayer of this pair with victory complete?
Χορός:τί δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδʼ ἀπὸ ψυχῆς κακῆςοὐκ αὐτὸς ἠνάριζες, ἀλλά νιν γυνὴχώρας μίασμα καὶ θεῶν ἐγχωρίωνἔκτεινʼ;Ὀρέστης ἆρά που βλέπει φάος,ὅπως κατελθὼν δεῦρο πρευμενεῖ τύχῃἀμφοῖν γένηται τοῖνδε παγκρατὴς φονεύς;
Aegisthus:Oh well, since you plan to act and speak like that, you shall be taught a lesson soon.On guard, my trusty guardsmen, your work lies close to hand.
Αἴγισθος:ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ δοκεῖς τάδʼ ἔρδειν καὶ λέγειν, γνώσῃ τάχαεἶα δή, φίλοι λοχῖται, τοὔργον οὐχ ἑκὰς τόδε.
Chorus:On guard then! Let every one make ready his sword with hand on hilt.
Χορός:εἶα δή, ξίφος πρόκωπον πᾶς τις εὐτρεπιζέτω.
Aegisthus:My hand too is laid on my sword hilt, and I do not shrink from death.
Αἴγισθος:ἀλλὰ κἀγὼ μὴν πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν.
Chorus:“Death for yourself,” you say. We hail the omen. We welcome fortune’s test.
Χορός:δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε· τὴν τύχην δʼ αἱρούμεθα.
Clytaemestra:No, my dearest, let us work no further ills. Even these are many to reap, a wretched harvest. Of woe we have enough; let us have no bloodshed. Venerable elders, go back to your homes, and yield in time to destiny before you come to harm. What we did had to be done. But should this trouble prove enough, we will accept it,sorely battered as we are by the heavy hand of fate. Such is a woman’s counsel, if any care to learn from it.Aegisthus:But to think that these men should let their wanton tongues thus blossom into speech against me and cast about such insults, putting their fortune to the test! To reject wise counsel and insult their master!
Κλυταιμήστρα:μηδαμῶς, ὦ φίλτατʼ ἀνδρῶν, ἄλλα δράσωμεν κακά.ἀλλὰ καὶ τάδʼ ἐξαμῆσαι πολλά, δύστηνον θέρος.πημονῆς δʼ ἅλις γʼ ὑπάρχει· μηδὲν αἱματώμεθα.στείχετʼ αἰδοῖοι γέροντες πρὸς δόμους, πεπρωμένοις [τούσδε]πρὶν παθεῖν εἴξαντες ὥρᾳ· χρῆν τάδʼ ὡς ἐπράξαμεν.εἰ δέ τοι μόχθων γένοιτο τῶνδʼ ἅλις, δεχοίμεθʼ ἄν,δαίμονος χηλῇ βαρείᾳ δυστυχῶς πεπληγμένοι.ὧδʼ ἔχει λόγος γυναικός, εἴ τις ἀξιοῖ μαθεῖν.
Chorus:It would not be like men of Argos to cringe before a man as low as you.Aegisthus:Ha! I will visit you with vengeance yet in days to come.
Αἴγισθος:ἀλλὰ τούσδʼ ἐμοὶ ματαίαν γλῶσσαν ὧδʼ ἀπανθίσαικἀκβαλεῖν ἔπη τοιαῦτα δαίμονος πειρωμένους,σώφρονος γνώμης θʼ ἁμαρτεῖν τὸν κρατοῦντά ⟨θʼ ὑβρίσαι⟩.Χορός:οὐκ ἂν Ἀργείων τόδʼ εἴη, φῶτα προσσαίνειν κακόν.
Chorus:Not if fate shall guide Orestes to return home.
Αἴγισθος:ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σʼ ἐν ὑστέραισιν ἡμέραις μέτειμʼ ἔτι.
Aegisthus:From my own experience I know that exiles feed on hope.
Χορός:οὔκ, ἐὰν δαίμων, Ὀρέστην δεῦρʼ ἀπευθύνῃ μολεῖν.
Chorus:Keep on, grow fat, polluting justice, since you can.
Αἴγισθος:οἶδʼ ἐγὼ φεύγοντας ἄνδρας ἐλπίδας σιτουμένους.
Aegisthus:Know that you shall atone to me for your insolent folly.
Χορός:πρᾶσσε, πιαίνου, μιαίνων τὴν δίκην, ἐπεὶ πάρα.
Chorus:Brag in your bravery like a cock beside his hen.
Αἴγισθος:ἴσθι μοι δώσων ἄποινα τῆσδε μωρίας χάριν.
Clytaemestra:Do no care for their idle yelpings. I and you will be masters of this house and order it aright.
Χορός:κόμπασον θαρσῶν, ἀλέκτωρ ὥστε θηλείας πέλας.Κλυταιμήστρα:μὴ προτιμήσῃς ματαίων τῶνδʼ ὑλαγμάτων· ⟨ἐγὼ⟩καὶ σὺ θήσομεν κρατοῦντε τῶνδε δωμάτων ⟨καλῶς⟩.