---
title: "Libation Bearers · Χοηφόροι"
author: "Aeschylus"
translator: "Herbert Weir Smyth"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/
cite: "Aeschylus, tr. Herbert Weir Smyth, Libation Bearers · Χοηφόροι. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/"
---

# Libation Bearers · Χοηφόροι

*Aeschylus, tr. Herbert Weir Smyth*

Orestes returns to avenge his father: the second play of the Oresteia.

> Greek: ed. Herbert Weir Smyth, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0085.tlg006, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Herbert Weir Smyth, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0085.tlg006.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Lines 1–550](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/1.md)
2. [Lines 551–1076](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/2.md)

## 1. Lines 1–550

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/1/#p-N

[¶0] The tomb of Agamemnon. Enter Orestes and Pylades
Orestes:
Hermes of the nether world, you who guard the powers that are your father’s, prove yourself my savior and ally, I entreat you, now that I have come to this land and returned from exile. On this mounded grave I cry out to my father
to hearken, to hear me … Look, I bring a lock to Inachus in requital for his care, and here, a second, in token of my grief. For I was not present, father, to lament your death, nor did I stretch forth my hand to bear your corpse.
What is this I see? What is this throng of women that moves in state, marked by their sable cloaks? To what calamity should I set this down? Is it some new sorrow that befalls our house? Or am I right to suppose that for my father’s sake
they bear these libations to appease the powers below? It can only be for this cause: for indeed I think my own sister Electra is approaching, distinguished by her bitter grief. Oh grant me, Zeus, to avenge my father’s death, and may you be my willing ally!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
⟨Ἑρμῆ χθόνιε, πατρῷʼ ἐποπτεύων κράτη,⟩
⟨σωτὴρ γενοῦ μοι ξύμμαχός τʼ αἰτουμένῳ·⟩
⟨ἥκω γὰρ ἐς γῆν τήνδε καὶ κατέρχομαι.⟩
⟨τύμβου δʼ ἐπʼ ὄχθῳ τῷδε κηρύσσω πατρὶ⟩
⟨κλύειν, ἀκοῦσαι … ⟩
⟨… ⟩
⟨… πλόκαμον Ἰνάχῳ θρεπτήριον.⟩
⟨τὸν δεύτερον δὲ τόνδε πενθητήριον⟩
⟨… ⟩
⟨οὐ γὰρ παρὼν ᾤμωξα σόν, πάτερ, μόρον⟩
⟨οὐδʼ ἐξέτεινα χεῖρʼ ἐπʼ ἐκφορᾷ νεκροῦ.⟩
…
τί χρῆμα λεύσσω; τίς ποθʼ ἥδʼ ὁμήγυρις
στείχει γυναικῶν φάρεσιν μελαγχίμοις
πρέπουσα; ποίᾳ ξυμφορᾷ προσεικάσω;
πότερα δόμοισι πῆμα προσκυρεῖ νέον;
ἢ πατρὶ τὠμῷ τάσδʼ ἐπεικάσας τύχω
χοὰς φερούσας νερτέροις μειλίγματα;
οὐδέν ποτʼ ἄλλο· καὶ γὰρ Ἠλέκτραν δοκῶ
στείχειν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν πένθει λυγρῷ
πρέπουσαν. ὦ Ζεῦ, δός με τείσασθαι μόρον
πατρός, γενοῦ δὲ σύμμαχος θέλων ἐμοί.

[¶1] Pylades, let us stand apart, that I may know clearly what this band of suppliant women intends. Exit Orestes and Pylades. Enter Electra with women carrying libations.

> Greek: Πυλάδη, σταθῶμεν ἐκποδών, ὡς ἂν σαφῶς
μάθω γυναικῶν ἥτις ἥδε προστροπή.

[¶2] Chorus:
Sent forth from the palace I have come to convey libations to the sound of sharp blows of my hands. My cheek is marked with bloody gashes
where my nails have cut fresh furrows. And yet through all my life my heart is fed with lamentation. Rips are torn by my griefs through the linen web of my garment, torn in the cloth that covers my breast,
the cloth of robes struck for the sake of my mirthless misfortunes.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἰαλτὸς ἐκ δόμων ἔβαν
χοὰς προπομπὸς ὀξύχειρι σὺν κτύπῳ.
πρέπει παρηὶς φοινίοις ἀμυγμοῖς
ὄνυχος ἄλοκι νεοτόμῳ·
διʼ αἰῶνος δʼ ἰυγμοῖσι βόσκεται κέαρ.
λινοφθόροι δʼ ὑφασμάτων
λακίδες ἔφλαδον ὑπʼ ἄλγεσιν,
προστέρνῳ στολμῷ
πέπλων ἀγελάστοις
ξυμφοραῖς πεπληγμένων.

[¶3] Chorus:
For with a hair-raising shriek, Terror, the diviner of dreams for our house, breathing wrath out of sleep, uttered a cry of terror in the dead of night from the heart of the palace,
a cry that fell heavily on the women’s quarter. And the readers of these dreams, bound under pledge, cried out from the god that those
beneath the earth cast furious reproaches and rage against their murderers.

> Greek: Χορός:
τορὸς δὲ Φοῖβος ὀρθόθριξ
δόμων ὀνειρόμαντις, ἐξ ὕπνου κότον
πνέων, ἀωρόνυκτον ἀμβόαμα
μυχόθεν ἔλακε περὶ φόβῳ,
γυναικείοισιν ἐν δώμασιν βαρὺς πίτνων.
κριταί ⟨τε⟩ τῶνδʼ ὀνειράτων
θεόθεν ἔλακον ὑπέγγυοι
μέμφεσθαι τοὺς γᾶς
νέρθεν περιθύμως
τοῖς κτανοῦσί τʼ ἐγκοτεῖν.

[¶4] Chorus:
Intending to ward off evil with such a graceless grace, O mother Earth,
she sends me forth, godless woman that she is. But I am afraid to utter the words she charged me to speak. For what atonement is there for blood fallen to earth? Ah, hearth of utter grief!
Ah, house laid low in ruin! Sunless darkness, loathed by men, enshrouds our house due to the death of its master.

> Greek: Χορός:
τοιάνδε χάριν ἀχάριτον ἀπότροπον κακῶν,
ἰὼ γαῖα μαῖα,
μωμένα μʼ ἰάλλει
δύσθεος γυνά. φοβοῦ-
μαι δʼ ἔπος τόδʼ ἐκβαλεῖν.
τί γὰρ λύτρον πεσόντος αἵματος πέδοι;
ἰὼ πάνοιζυς ἑστία,
ἰὼ κατασκαφαὶ δόμων.
ἀνήλιοι βροτοστυγεῖς
δνόφοι καλύπτουσι δόμους
δεσποτῶν θανάτοισι.

[¶5] The awe of majesty once unconquered, unvanquished, irresistible in war, that penetrated the ears and heart of the people, is now cast off. But there is still fear. And prosperity—this,
among mortals, is a god and more than a god. But the balance of Justice keeps watch: swiftly it descends on those in the light; sometimes pain waits for those who linger on the frontier of twilight;
and others are claimed by strengthless night.

> Greek: Χορός:
σέβας δʼ ἄμαχον ἀδάματον ἀπόλεμον τὸ πρὶν
διʼ ὤτων φρενός τε
δαμίας περαῖνον
νῦν ἀφίσταται. φοβεῖ-
ται δέ τις. τὸ δʼ εὐτυχεῖν,
τόδʼ ἐν βροτοῖς θεός τε καὶ θεοῦ πλέον.
ῥοπὴ δʼ ἐπισκοπεῖ δίκας
ταχεῖα τοὺς μὲν ἐν φάει,
τὰ δʼ ἐν μεταιχμίῳ σκότου
μένει χρονίζοντας ἄχη [βρύει],
τοὺς δʼ ἄκραντος ἔχει νύξ.

[¶6] Chorus:
Because of blood drunk up by the fostering earth, the vengeful gore lies clotted and will not dissolve away. Soul-racking calamity distracts
the guilty man till he is steeped in utter misery.

> Greek: Χορός:
διʼ αἵματʼ ἐκποθένθʼ ὑπὸ χθονὸς τροφοῦ
τίτας φόνος πέπηγεν οὐ διαρρύδαν.
διαλγὴς ⟨δʼ ⟩ ἄτα διαφέρει
τὸν αἴτιον παναρκέτας νόσου βρύειν.

[¶7] But for the violator of a bridal chamber there is no cure. And though all streams flow in one course to cleanse the blood from a polluted hand, they rush in vain.

> Greek: Χορός:
θιγόντι δʼ οὔτι νυμφικῶν ἑδωλίων
ἄκος, πόροι τε πάντες ἐκ μιᾶς ὁδοῦ
⟨προ⟩βαίνοντες τὸν χερομυσῆ
φόνον καθαίροντες ἴθυσαν μάταν.

[¶8] Chorus:
For since the gods laid constraining doom about my city and led me from my father’s house to a slave’s lot, it is fitting for me to govern my bitter hate, even against my will, and submit to the wishes of my masters, whether just or unjust.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐμοὶ δʼ —ἀνάγκαν γὰρ ἀμφίπτολιν
θεοὶ προσήνεγκαν· ʽἐκ γὰρ οἴκων
πατρῴων δούλιόν ⟨μʼ⟩ ἐσᾶγον αἶσαν̓—
δίκαια καὶ μὴ δίκαια ἀρχὰς πρέπον
βίᾳ φρενῶν αἰνέσαι
πικρὸν στύγος κρατούσῃ.

[¶9] But I weep beneath my veil over the senseless fate of my lord, my heart chilled by secret grief.

> Greek: δακρύω δʼ ὑφʼ εἱμάτων
ματαίοισι δεσποτᾶν
τύχαις, κρυφαίοις πένθεσιν παχνουμένη.

[¶10] Electra:
You handmaidens who set our house in order, since you are here as my attendants in this rite of supplication,
give me your counsel on this: what should I say while I pour these offerings of sorrow? How shall I find gracious words, how shall I entreat my father? Shall I say that I bring these offerings to a loved husband from a loving
wife—from my own mother? I do not have the assurance for that, nor do I know what I should say as I pour this libation onto my father’s tomb. Or shall I speak the words that men are accustomed to use: “To those who send these honors may he return benefits”—
a gift, indeed, to match their evil? Or, in silence and dishonor, even as my father perished, shall I pour them out for the earth to drink and then retrace my steps, like one who carries refuse away from a rite, hurling the vessel from me with averted eyes?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, δωμάτων εὐθήμονες,
ἐπεὶ πάρεστε τῆσδε προστροπῆς ἐμοὶ
πομποί, γένεσθε τῶνδε σύμβουλοι πέρι·
τί φῶ χέουσα τάσδε κηδείους χοάς;
πῶς εὔφρονʼ εἴπω, πῶς κατεύξομαι πατρί;
πότερα λέγουσα παρὰ φίλης φίλῳ φέρειν
γυναικὸς ἀνδρί, τῆς ἐμῆς μητρὸς πάρα;
τῶνδʼ οὐ πάρεστι θάρσος, οὐδʼ ἔχω τί φῶ,
χέουσα τόνδε πέλανον ἐν τύμβῳ πατρός.
ἢ τοῦτο φάσκω τοὔπος, ὡς νόμος βροτοῖς,
ἔσθλʼ ἀντιδοῦναι τοῖσι πέμπουσιν τάδε
στέφη, δόσιν γε τῶν κακῶν ἐπαξίαν;
ἢ σῖγʼ ἀτίμως, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀπώλετο
πατήρ, τάδʼ ἐκχέασα, γάποτον χύσιν,
στείχω καθάρμαθʼ ὥς τις ἐκπέμψας πάλιν
δικοῦσα τεῦχος ἀστρόφοισιν ὄμμασιν;

[¶11] In this, my friends, be my fellow-counsellors. For we cherish a common hatred within our house. Do not hide your counsel in your hearts in fear of anyone. For the portion of fate awaits both the free man and the man enslaved by another’s hand.

> Greek: τῆσδʼ ἐστὲ βουλῆς, ὦ φίλαι, μεταίτιαι·
κοινὸν γὰρ ἔχθος ἐν δόμοις νομίζομεν.
μὴ κεύθετʼ ἔνδον καρδίας φόβῳ τινός.
τὸ μόρσιμον γὰρ τόν τʼ ἐλεύθερον μένει
καὶ τὸν πρὸς ἄλλης δεσποτούμενον χερός.

[¶12] If you have a better course to urge, speak!

> Greek: λέγοις ἄν, εἴ τι τῶνδʼ ἔχοις ὑπέρτερον.

[¶13] Chorus:
In reverence for your father’s tomb, as if it were an altar, I will speak my thoughts from the heart, since you command me.

> Greek: Χορός:
αἰδουμένη σοι βωμὸν ὡς τύμβον πατρὸς
λέξω, κελεύεις γάρ, τὸν ἐκ φρενὸς λόγον.

[¶14] Electra:
Speak, even as you revere my father’s grave.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
λέγοις ἄν, ὥσπερ ᾐδέσω τάφον πατρός.

[¶15] Chorus:
While you pour, utter benedictions for loyal hearts.

> Greek: Χορός:
φθέγγου χέουσα κεδνὰ τοῖσιν εὔφροσιν.

[¶16] Electra:
And to whom of those dear to me should I address them?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
τίνας δὲ τούτους τῶν φίλων προσεννέπω;

[¶17] Chorus:
First to yourself, then to whoever hates Aegisthus.

> Greek: Χορός:
πρῶτον μὲν αὑτὴν χὤστις Αἴγισθον στυγεῖ.

[¶18] Electra:
Then for myself and for you also shall I make this prayer?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἐμοί τε καὶ σοί τἄρʼ ἐπεύξομαι τάδε;

[¶19] Chorus:
That is for you, using your judgment, to consider now for yourself.

> Greek: Χορός:
αὐτὴ σὺ ταῦτα μανθάνουσʼ ἤδη φράσαι.

[¶20] Electra:
Then whom else should I add to our company?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
τίνʼ οὖν ἔτʼ ἄλλον τῇδε προστιθῶ στάσει;

[¶21] Chorus:
Remember Orestes, though he is still away from home.

> Greek: Χορός:
μέμνησʼ Ὀρέστου, κεἰ θυραῖός ἐσθʼ ὅμως.

[¶22] Electra:
Well said! You have indeed admonished me thoughtfully.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
εὖ τοῦτο, κἀφρένωσας οὐχ ἥκιστά με.

[¶23] Chorus:
For the guilty murderers now, mindful of—

> Greek: Χορός:
τοῖς αἰτίοις νῦν τοῦ φόνου μεμνημένη—

[¶24] Electra:
What should I say? Instruct my inexperience, prescribe the form.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
τί φῶ; δίδασκʼ ἄπειρον ἐξηγουμένη.

[¶25] Chorus:
Pray that some divinity or some mortal may come to them—

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐλθεῖν τινʼ αὐτοῖς δαίμονʼ ἢ βροτῶν τινα—

[¶26] Electra:
As judge or as avenger, do you mean?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
πότερα δικαστὴν ἢ δικηφόρον λέγεις;

[¶27] Chorus:
Say in plain speech, “One who will take life for life.”

> Greek: Χορός:
ἅπλῶς τι φράζουσʼ, ὅστις ἀνταποκτενεῖ.

[¶28] Electra:
And is it right for me to ask this of the gods?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καὶ ταῦτά μοὐστὶν εὐσεβῆ θεῶν πάρα;

[¶29] Chorus:
How could it not be right to repay an enemy with ills?

> Greek: Χορός:
πῶς δʼ οὐ τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς;

[¶30] Electra:
Supreme herald of the realm above and the realm below, O Hermes of the nether world, come to my aid,
summon to me the spirits beneath the earth to hear my prayers, spirits that watch over my father’s house, and Earth herself, who gives birth to all things, and having nurtured them receives their increase in turn. And meanwhile, as I pour these lustral offerings to the dead,
I invoke my father: “Have pity both on me and on dear Orestes! How shall we rule our own house? For now we are bartered away like vagrants by her who bore us, by her who in exchange got as her mate Aegisthus, who was her accomplice in your murder.”

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
κῆρυξ μέγιστε τῶν ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω,
⟨ἄρηξον,⟩ Ἑρμῆ χθόνιε, κηρύξας ἐμοὶ
τοὺς γῆς ἔνερθε δαίμονας κλύειν ἐμὰς
εὐχάς, πατρῴων δωμάτων ἐπισκόπους,
καὶ Γαῖαν αὐτήν, ἣ τὰ πάντα τίκτεται,
θρέψασά τʼ αὖθις τῶνδε κῦμα λαμβάνει·
κἀγὼ χέουσα τάσδε χέρνιβας βροτοῖς
λέγω καλοῦσα πατέρʼ, ἐποίκτιρόν τʼ ἐμὲ
φίλον τʼ Ὀρέστην· πῶς ἀνάξομεν δόμοις;
πεπραμένοι γὰρ νῦν γέ πως ἀλώμεθα
πρὸς τῆς τεκούσης, ἄνδρα δʼ ἀντηλλάξατο
Αἴγισθον, ὅσπερ σοῦ φόνου μεταίτιος.

[¶31] “As for me, I am no better than a slave, Orestes is an outcast from his inheritance, while they in their insolence revel openly in the winnings of your toil. But that Orestes may come home with good fortune I pray to you, father: Oh, hearken to me!”

> Greek: κἀγὼ μὲν ἀντίδουλος· ἐκ δὲ χρημάτων
φεύγων Ὀρέστης ἐστίν, οἱ δʼ ὑπερκόπως
ἐν τοῖσι σοῖς πόνοισι χλίουσιν μέγα.
ἐλθεῖν δʼ Ὀρέστην δεῦρο σὺν τύχῃ τινὶ
κατεύχομαί σοι, καὶ σὺ κλῦθί μου, πάτερ·

[¶32] “And as for myself, grant that I may prove far more circumspect than my mother and more reverent in deed. I utter these prayers on our behalf, but I ask that your avenger appear to our foes, father, and that your killers may be killed in just retribution.”

> Greek: αὐτῇ τέ μοι δὸς σωφρονεστέραν πολὺ
μητρὸς γενέσθαι χεῖρά τʼ εὐσεβεστέραν.
ἡμῖν μὲν εὐχὰς τάσδε, τοῖς δʼ ἐναντίοις
λέγω φανῆναί σου, πάτερ, τιμάορον,
καὶ τοὺς κτανόντας ἀντικατθανεῖν δίκῃ.

[¶33] “So I interrupt my prayer for good to offer them this prayer for evil. But be a bearer of blessings for us to the upper world, with the help of the gods and Earth and Justice crowned with victory.” She pours out the libations Such are my prayers, and over them I pour out these libations.

> Greek: ταῦτʼ ἐν μέσῳ τίθημι τῆς καλῆς ἀρᾶς,
κείνοις λέγουσα τήνδε τὴν κακὴν ἀράν·
ἡμῖν δὲ πομπὸς ἴσθι τῶν ἐσθλῶν ἄνω,
σὺν θεοῖσι καὶ γῇ καὶ δίκῃ νικηφόρῳ.
τοιαῖσδʼ ἐπʼ εὐχαῖς τάσδʼ ἐπισπένδω χοάς.

[¶34] It is right for you to crown them with lamentations, raising your voices in a chant for the dead.

> Greek: ὑμᾶς δὲ κωκυτοῖς ἐπανθίζειν νόμος,
παιᾶνα τοῦ θανόντος ἐξαυδωμένας.

[¶35] Chorus:
Pour forth your tears, splashing as they fall for our fallen lord, to accompany this protection against evil, this charm for the good
against the loathsome pollution. Hear me, oh hear me, my honored lord, out of the darkness of your spirit. Woe, woe, woe! Oh for
a man mighty with the spear to deliver our house, an Ares, brandishing in the fight the springing Scythian bow and wielding his hilted sword in close combat. As they conclude, Electra discovers the lock of Orestes’ hair

> Greek: Χορός:
ἵετε δάκρυ καναχὲς ὀλόμενον
ὀλομένῳ δεσπότᾳ
πρὸς ἔρυμα τόδε κακῶν, κεδνῶν τʼ
ἀπότροπον ἄγος ἀπεύχετον
κεχυμένων χοᾶν. κλύε δέ μοι, κλύε, σέ-
βας ὦ δέσποτʼ, ἐξ ἀμαυρᾶς φρενός.
ὀτοτοτοτοτοτοτοῖ,
ἴτω τις δορυ-
σθενὴς ἀνήρ, ἀναλυτὴρ δόμων,
Σκυθικά τʼ ἐν χεροῖν παλίντονʼ
ἐν ἔργῳ βέλη ʼπιπάλλων Ἄρης
σχέδιά τʼ αὐτόκωπα νωμῶν ξίφη.

[¶36] Electra:
My father has by now received the libations, which the earth has drunk.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἔχει μὲν ἤδη γαπότους χοὰς πατήρ·

[¶37] But take your share of this startling news.

> Greek: νέου δὲ μύθου τοῦδε κοινωνήσατε·

[¶38] Chorus:
Speak—but my heart is dancing with fear.

> Greek: Χορός:
λέγοις ἄν· ὀρχεῖται δὲ καρδία φόβῳ.

[¶39] Electra:
I see here a lock cut as an offering for the tomb.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ὁρῶ τομαῖον τόνδε βόστρυχον τάφῳ.

[¶40] Chorus:
A man’s, or a deep-girt maid’s?

> Greek: Χορός:
τίνος ποτʼ ἀνδρός, ἢ βαθυζώνου κόρης;

[¶41] Electra:
That is open to conjecture—anyone may guess.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
εὐξύμβολον τόδʼ ἐστὶ παντὶ δοξάσαι.

[¶42] Chorus:
How then? Let my age be taught by your youth.

> Greek: Χορός:
πῶς οὖν; παλαιὰ παρὰ νεωτέρας μάθω.

[¶43] Electra:
There is no one who could have cut it but myself.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις πλὴν ἐμοῦ κείραιτό νιν.

[¶44] Chorus:
Yes, for those who ought to have mourned with a lock of hair are enemies.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐχθροὶ γὰρ οἷς προσῆκε πενθῆσαι τριχί.

[¶45] Electra:
And further, in appearance it is very much like—

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καὶ μὴν ὅδʼ ἐστὶ κάρτʼ ἰδεῖν ὁμόπτερος—

[¶46] Chorus:
Whose lock? This is what I would like to know.

> Greek: Χορός:
ποίαις ἐθείραις; τοῦτο γὰρ θέλω μαθεῖν.

[¶47] Electra:
It is very much like my own in appearance.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
αὐτοῖσιν ἡμῖν κάρτα προσφερὴς ἰδεῖν.

[¶48] Chorus:
Then can this be a secret offering from Orestes?

> Greek: Χορός:
μῶν οὖν Ὀρέστου κρύβδα δῶρον ἦν τόδε;

[¶49] Electra:
It is his curling locks that it most resembles.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
μάλιστʼ ἐκείνου βοστρύχοις προσείδεται.

[¶50] Chorus:
But how did he dare to come here?

> Greek: Χορός:
καὶ πῶς ἐκεῖνος δεῦρʼ ἐτόλμησεν μολεῖν;

[¶51] Electra:
He has merely sent this cut lock to honor his father.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἔπεμψε χαίτην κουρίμην χάριν πατρός.

[¶52] Chorus:
What you say is no less a cause of tears for me, if he will never again set foot on this land.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὐχ ἧσσον εὐδάκρυτά μοι λέγεις τάδε,
εἰ τῆσδε χώρας μήποτε ψαύσει ποδί.

[¶53] Electra:
Over my heart, too, there sweeps a surge of bitterness, and I am struck as if a sword had run me through.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
κἀμοὶ προσέστη καρδίας κλυδώνιον
χολῆς, ἐπαίσθην δʼ ὡς διανταίῳ βέλει·

[¶54] From my eyes thirsty drops of a stormy flood fall unchecked at the sight of this tress. For how can I expect to find that someone else, some townsman, owns this lock? Nor yet in truth did she clip it from her head, the murderess,
my own mother, who has assumed a godless spirit regarding her children that ill accords with the name of mother. But as for me, how am I to assent to this outright, that it adorned the head of Orestes, the dearest to me of all mortals? No, hope is merely flattering me.

> Greek: ἐξ ὀμμάτων δὲ δίψιοι πίπτουσί μοι
σταγόνες ἄφρακτοι δυσχίμου πλημμυρίδος,
πλόκαμον ἰδούσῃ τόνδε· πῶς γὰρ ἐλπίσω
ἀστῶν τινʼ ἄλλον τῆσδε δεσπόζειν φόβης;
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μήν νιν ἡ κτανοῦσʼ ἐκείρατο,
ἐμὴ δὲ μήτηρ, οὐδαμῶς ἐπώνυμον
φρόνημα παισὶ δύσθεον πεπαμένη.
ἐγὼ δʼ ὅπως μὲν ἄντικρυς τάδʼ αἰνέσω,
εἶναι τόδʼ ἀγλάισμά μοι τοῦ φιλτάτου
βροτῶν Ὀρέστου—σαίνομαι δʼ ὑπʼ ἐλπίδος.

[¶55] Ah, woe! If only, like a messenger, it had a kind voice, so that I would not be tossed by my distracted thoughts. Rather it would plainly bid me to spurn this tress, if it was severed from a hated head. Or if it were a kinsman’s, he would share my grief
as an adornment to this tomb and a tribute to my father. But I invoke the gods, who know by what storms we are tossed like seafarers. Yet if I am fated to reach safety, a great stock may come from a little seed.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
φεῦ.
εἴθʼ εἶχε φωνὴν εὔφρονʼ ἀγγέλου δίκην,
ὅπως δίφροντις οὖσα μὴ ʼκινυσσόμην,
ἀλλʼ εὖ ʼσαφήνει τόνδʼ ἀποπτύσαι πλόκον,
εἴπερ γʼ ἀπʼ ἐχθροῦ κρατὸς ἦν τετμημένος,
ἢ ξυγγενὴς ὢν εἶχε συμπενθεῖν ἐμοὶ
ἄγαλμα τύμβου τοῦδε καὶ τιμὴν πατρός.
ἀλλʼ εἰδότας μὲν τοὺς θεοὺς καλούμεθα,
οἵοισιν ἐν χειμῶσι ναυτίλων δίκην
στροβούμεθʼ· εἰ δὲ χρὴ τυχεῖν σωτηρίας,
σμικροῦ γένοιτʼ ἂν σπέρματος μέγας πυθμήν.

[¶56] And look! Another proof! Footprints>matching each other—and like my own! Yes, here are the outlines of two sets of feet, his own and some companion’s. The heels and the imprints of the tendons agree
in proportion with my own tracks. I am in torment, my brain is in a whirl!
Enter Orestes
Orestes:
Give recognition to the gods that your prayers have been fulfilled, and pray that success may attend you in the future.

> Greek: καὶ μὴν στίβοι γε, δεύτερον τεκμήριον,
ποδῶν ὅμοιοι τοῖς τʼ ἐμοῖσιν ἐμφερεῖς—
καὶ γὰρ δύʼ ἐστὸν τώδε περιγραφὰ ποδοῖν,
αὐτοῦ τʼ ἐκείνου καὶ συνεμπόρου τινός.
πτέρναι τενόντων θʼ ὑπογραφαὶ μετρούμεναι
εἰς ταὐτὸ συμβαίνουσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς στίβοις.
πάρεστι δʼ ὠδὶς καὶ φρενῶν καταφθορά.
Ὀρέστης:
εὔχου τὰ λοιπά, τοῖς θεοῖς τελεσφόρους
εὐχὰς ἐπαγγέλλουσα, τυγχάνειν καλῶς.

[¶57] Electra:
What? Have I succeeded now by the will of the gods?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἐπεὶ τί νῦν ἕκατι δαιμόνων κυρῶ;

[¶58] Orestes:
You have come to the sight of what you have long prayed for.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
εἰς ὄψιν ἥκεις ὧνπερ ἐξηύχου πάλαι.

[¶59] Electra:
And do you know whom among mortals I was invoking?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καὶ τίνα σύνοισθά μοι καλουμένῃ βροτῶν;

[¶60] Orestes:
I know that you are pining for Orestes.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
σύνοιδʼ Ὀρέστην πολλά σʼ ἐκπαγλουμένην.

[¶61] Electra:
Then how have I found an answer to my prayers?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καὶ πρὸς τί δῆτα τυγχάνω κατευγμάτων;

[¶62] Orestes:
Here I am. Search for no other friend than me.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ὅδʼ εἰμί· μὴ μάτευʼ ἐμοῦ μᾶλλον φίλον.

[¶63] Electra:
But surely, stranger, you are weaving some snare about me?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἀλλʼ ἦ δόλον τινʼ, ὦ ξένʼ, ἀμφί μοι πλέκεις;

[¶64] Orestes:
Then I am devising plots against myself.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
αὐτὸς καθʼ αὑτοῦ τἄρα μηχανορραφῶ.

[¶65] Electra:
No, you wish to mock my distress.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἀλλʼ ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς γελᾶν θέλεις.

[¶66] Orestes:
Then my own also, if yours.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
κἀν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἄρʼ, εἴπερ ἔν γε τοῖσι σοῖς

[¶67] Electra:
Am I then to address you as Orestes in truth?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ὡς ὄντʼ Ὀρέστην τάδε σʼ ἐγὼ προσεννέπω;

[¶68] Orestes:
Now, even though you see him in me, you are slow to learn. Yet at the sight of this tress cut in mourning, and when you were scrutinizing the footprints of my tracks, your thought took wings and you knew you had found me.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
αὐτὸν μὲν οὖν ὁρῶσα δυσμαθεῖς ἐμέ·
κουρὰν δʼ ἰδοῦσα τήνδε κηδείου τριχὸς
ἰχνοσκοποῦσά τʼ ἐν στίβοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς
ἀνεπτερώθης κἀδόκεις ὁρᾶν ἐμέ.

[¶69] Put the lock of hair, your own brother’s, in the spot it was cut from and observe how it matches the hair on my head. And see this piece of weaving, your handiwork, the strokes of the batten and the beasts in the design. Control yourself! Do not go mad with joy! For I know that our nearest kin are bitter foes to us both.

> Greek: σκέψαι τομῇ προσθεῖσα βόστρυχον τριχὸς
σαυτῆς ἀδελφοῦ σύμμετρον τὠμῷ κάρᾳ.
ἰδοῦ δʼ ὕφασμα τοῦτο, σῆς ἔργον χερός,
σπάθης τε πληγὰς ἠδὲ θήρειον γραφήν.
ἔνδον γενοῦ, χαρᾷ δὲ μὴ ʼκπλαγῇς φρένας·
τοὺς φιλτάτους γὰρ οἶδα νῷν ὄντας πικρούς.

[¶70] Electra:
O best beloved darling of your father’s house, its hope of a saving seed longed for with tears, trust in your prowess and you will win back your father’s house. O delightful eyes that have four parts of love for me: for I must call you father;
and to you falls the love I should bear my mother, whom I most rightly hate; and the love I bore my sister, victim of a pitiless sacrifice; and you were my faithful brother, bringing me your reverence. May Might and Justice,
with Zeus, supreme over all, in the third place, lend you their aid!

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ὦ φίλτατον μέλημα δώμασιν πατρός,
δακρυτὸς ἐλπὶς σπέρματος σωτηρίου,
ἀλκῇ πεποιθὼς δῶμʼ ἀνακτήσῃ πατρός.
ὦ τερπνὸν ὄμμα τέσσαρας μοίρας ἔχον
ἐμοί· προσαυδᾶν δʼ ἐστʼ ἀναγκαίως ἔχον
πατέρα τε, καὶ τὸ μητρὸς ἐς σέ μοι ῥέπει
στέργηθρον· ἡ δὲ πανδίκως ἐχθαίρεται·
καὶ τῆς τυθείσης νηλεῶς ὁμοσπόρου·
πιστὸς δʼ ἀδελφὸς ἦσθʼ, ἐμοὶ σέβας φέρων
μόνος· Κράτος τε καὶ Δίκη σὺν τῷ τρίτῳ
πάντων μεγίστῳ Ζηνὶ συγγένοιτό σοι.

[¶71] Orestes:
O Zeus, O Zeus, regard our cause! Behold the orphaned brood of a father eagle that perished in the meshes, in the coils of a fierce viper. They are utterly orphaned, gripped by the famine of hunger:
for they are not grown to full strength to bring their father’s quarry to the nest. So you see both me and poor Electra here, children bereft of their father, both outcasts alike from our home.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
Ζεῦ Ζεῦ, θεωρὸς τῶνδε πραγμάτων γενοῦ·
ἰδοῦ δὲ γένναν εὖνιν αἰετοῦ πατρός,
θανόντος ἐν πλεκταῖσι καὶ σπειράμασιν
δεινῆς ἐχίδνης. τοὺς δʼ ἀπωρφανισμένους
νῆστις πιέζει λιμός· οὐ γὰρ ἐντελεῖς
θήραν πατρῴαν προσφέρειν σκηνήμασιν.
οὕτω δὲ κἀμὲ τήνδε τʼ, Ἠλέκτραν λέγω,
ἰδεῖν πάρεστί σοι, πατροστερῆ γόνον,
ἄμφω φυγὴν ἔχοντε τὴν αὐτὴν δόμων.

[¶72] If you destroy these nestlings of a father who made sacrifice and revered you greatly, from what like hand will you receive the homage of rich feasts? Destroy the brood of the eagle and you cannot again send tokens that mortals will trust;

> Greek: καὶ τοῦ θυτῆρος καί σε τιμῶντος μέγα
πατρὸς νεοσσοὺς τούσδʼ ἀποφθείρας πόθεν
ἕξεις ὁμοίας χειρὸς εὔθοινον γέρας;
οὔτʼ αἰετοῦ γένεθλʼ ἀποφθείρας, πάλιν
πέμπειν ἔχοις ἂν σήματʼ εὐπιθῆ βροτοῖς·

[¶73] nor, if this royal stock should wither utterly away, will it serve your altars on days when oxen are sacrificed. Oh foster it, and you may raise our house from low estate to great, though now it seems utterly overthrown.

> Greek: οὔτʼ ἀρχικός σοι πᾶς ὅδʼ αὐανθεὶς πυθμὴν
βωμοῖς ἀρήξει βουθύτοις ἐν ἤμασιν.
κόμιζʼ, ἀπὸ σμικροῦ δʼ ἂν ἄρειας μέγαν
δόμον, δοκοῦντα κάρτα νῦν πεπτωκέναι.

[¶74] Chorus:
O children, O saviors of your father’s hearth,
speak not so loud, dear children, in case someone should overhear and report all this to our masters merely for the sake of rumor. May I some day see them dead in the ooze of flaming pitch!

> Greek: Χορός:
ὦ παῖδες, ὦ σωτῆρες ἑστίας πατρός,
σιγᾶθʼ, ὅπως μὴ πεύσεταί τις, ὦ τέκνα,
γλώσσης χάριν δὲ πάντʼ ἀπαγγείλῃ τάδε
πρὸς τοὺς κρατοῦντας· οὓς ἴδοιμʼ ἐγώ ποτε
θανόντας ἐν κηκῖδι πισσήρει φλογός.

[¶75] Orestes:
Surely he will not abandon me, the mighty oracle of Loxias,
who urged me to brave this peril to the end and loudly proclaims calamities that chill the warmth of my heart, if I do not take vengeance on my father’s murderers. He said that,
I should pay the debt myself with my own life, after many grievous sufferings. For he spoke revealing to mortals the wrath of malignant powers from underneath the earth, and telling of plagues:
leprous ulcers that mount with fierce fangs on the flesh and eat away its primal nature; and how a white down should sprout up on the diseased place. And he spoke of other assaults of the Furies that are destined to be brought to pass from paternal blood.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
οὔτοι προδώσει Λοξίου μεγασθενὴς
χρησμὸς κελεύων τόνδε κίνδυνον περᾶν,
κἀξορθιάζων πολλὰ καὶ δυσχειμέρους
ἄτας ὑφʼ ἧπαρ θερμὸν ἐξαυδώμενος,
εἰ μὴ μέτειμι τοῦ πατρὸς τοὺς αἰτίους·
τρόπον τὸν αὐτὸν ἀνταποκτεῖναι λέγων,
ἀποχρημάτοισι ζημίαις ταυρούμενον·
αὐτὸν δʼ ἔφασκε τῇ φίλῃ ψυχῇ τάδε
τείσειν μʼ ἔχοντα πολλὰ δυστερπῆ κακά.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ γῆς δυσφρόνων μηνίματα
βροτοῖς πιφαύσκων εἶπε, τὰς δʼ αἰνῶν νόσους,
σαρκῶν ἐπαμβατῆρας ἀγρίαις γνάθοις
λειχῆνας ἐξέσθοντας ἀρχαίαν φύσιν·
λευκὰς δὲ κόρσας τῇδʼ ἐπαντέλλειν νόσῳ·
ἄλλας τʼ ἐφώνει προσβολάς Ἐρινύων
ἐκ τῶν πατρῴων αἱμάτων τελουμένας·

[¶76] For the dark bolt of the infernal powers, who are stirred by kindred victims calling for vengeance, and madness, and groundless terrors out of the night, torment and harass a man, and he sees clearly, though he moves his eyebrows in the dark. And with his body marred by the brazen scourge,
he is even chased in exile from his country. And the god declared that to such as these it is not allowed to have a part either in the ceremonial cup or in the cordial libation; his father’s wrath, though unseen, bars him from the altar; no one receives him or lodges with him;

> Greek: τὸ γὰρ σκοτεινὸν τῶν ἐνερτέρων βέλος
ἐκ προστροπαίων ἐν γένει πεπτωκότων,
καὶ λύσσα καὶ μάταιος ἐκ νυκτῶν φόβος
ὁρῶντα λαμπρὸν ἐν σκότῳ νωμῶντʼ ὀφρὺν
κινεῖ, ταράσσει, καὶ διώκεσθαι πόλεως
χαλκηλάτῳ πλάστιγγι λυμανθὲν δέμας.
καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις οὔτε κρατῆρος μέρος
εἶναι μετασχεῖν, οὐ φιλοσπόνδου λιβός,
βωμῶν τʼ ἀπείργειν οὐχ ὁρωμένην πατρὸς
μῆνιν· δέχεσθαι ⟨δʼ⟩ οὔτε συλλύειν τινά.

[¶77] and at last, despised by all, friendless, he perishes, shrivelled pitifully by a death that wastes him utterly away. Must I not put my trust in oracles such as these? Yet even if I do not trust them, the deed must still be done. For many impulses conspire to one conclusion.
Besides the god’s command, my keen grief for my father, and also the pinch of poverty—that my countrymen, the most renowned of mortals, who overthrew Troy in the spirit of glory, should not be subjected so to a pair of women.

> Greek: πάντων δʼ ἄτιμον κἄφιλον θνῄσκειν χρόνῳ
κακῶς ταριχευθέντα παμφθάρτῳ μόρῳ.
τοιοῖσδε χρησμοῖς ἆρα χρὴ πεποιθέναι;
κεἰ μὴ πέποιθα, τοὔργον ἔστʼ ἐργαστέον.
πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰς ἓν συμπίτνουσιν ἵμεροι,
θεοῦ τʼ ἐφετμαὶ καὶ πατρὸς πένθος μέγα,
καὶ πρὸς πιέζει χρημάτων ἀχηνία,
τὸ μὴ πολίτας εὐκλεεστάτους βροτῶν,
Τροίας ἀναστατῆρας εὐδόξῳ φρενί,
δυοῖν γυναικοῖν ὧδʼ ὑπηκόους πέλειν.

[¶78] For he has a woman’s mind, or if not, it will soon be found out.

> Greek: θήλεια γὰρ φρήν· εἰ δὲ μή, τάχʼ εἴσεται.

[¶79] Chorus:
You mighty Fates, through the power of Zeus grant fulfilment in the way to which Justice now turns. “For a word of hate let a word of hate be said,”
Justice cries out as she exacts the debt, “and for a murderous stroke let a murderous stroke be paid.” “Let it be done to him as he does,” says the age-old wisdom.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ ὦ μεγάλαι Μοῖραι, Διόθεν
τῇδε τελευτᾶν,
τὸ δίκαιον μεταβαίνει.
ἀντὶ μὲν ἐχθρᾶς γλώσσης ἐχθρὰ
γλῶσσα τελείσθω· τοὐφειλόμενον
πράσσουσα Δίκη μέγʼ ἀυτεῖ·
ἀντὶ δὲ πληγῆς φονίας φονίαν
πληγὴν τινέτω. δράσαντι παθεῖν,
τριγέρων μῦθος τάδε φωνεῖ.

[¶80] Orestes:
O father, unhappy father, by what word or deed of mine can I succeed in sailing from far away to you, where your resting-place holds you, a light to oppose your darkness?
Yet a lament in honor of the Atreidae who once possessed our house is none the less a joyous service.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ὦ πάτερ αἰνόπατερ, τί σοι
φάμενος ἢ τί ῥέξας
τύχοιμʼ ἂν ἕκαθεν οὐρίσας,
ἔνθα σʼ ἔχουσιν εὐναί,
σκότῳ φάος ἀντίμοι-
ρον; χάριτες δʼ ὁμοίως
κέκληνται γόος εὐκλεὴς
προσθοδόμοις Ἀτρείδαις.

[¶81] Chorus:
My child, the fire’s ravening jaw does not overwhelm the wits of the dead man,
but afterwards he reveals what stirs him. The murdered man has his dirge; the guilty man is revealed. Justified lament for fathers and for parents,
when raised loud and strong, makes its search everywhere.

> Greek: Χορός:
τέκνον, φρόνημα τοῦ
θανόντος οὐ δαμάζει
πυρὸς [ἡ] μαλερὰ γνάθος,
φαίνει δʼ ὕστερον ὀργάς·
ὀτοτύζεται δʼ ὁ θνῄσκων,
ἀναφαίνεται δʼ ὁ βλάπτων.
πατέρων τε καὶ τεκόντων
γόος ἔνδικος ματεύει
τὸ πᾶν ἀμφιλαφής ταραχθείς.

[¶82] Electra:
Hear then, O father, as in turn we mourn with plentiful tears. Look, your two children mourn you
in a dirge over your tomb. As suppliants and exiles as well they have sought a haven at your sepulchre. What of these things is good, what free of evil? Is it not hopeless to wrestle against doom?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
κλῦθὶ νυν, ὦ πάτερ, ἐν μέρει
πολυδάκρυτα πένθη.
δίπαις τοί σʼ ἐπιτύμβιος
θρῆνος ἀναστενάζει.
τάφος δʼ ἱκέτας δέδεκται
φυγάδας θʼ ὁμοίως.
τί τῶνδʼ εὖ, τί δʼ ἄτερ κακῶν;
οὐκ ἀτρίακτος ἄτα;

[¶83] Chorus:
Yet heaven, if it pleases, may still turn our utterance to more joyfully sounding strains. In place of dirges over a tomb, a song of triumph within the royal halls will welcome back a reunited friend.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ ἔτʼ ἂν ἐκ τῶνδε θεὸς χρῄζων
θείη κελάδους εὐφθογγοτέρους·
ἀντὶ δὲ θρήνων ἐπιτυμβιδίων
παιὰν μελάθροις ἐν βασιλείοις
νεοκρᾶτα φίλον κομίσειεν.

[¶84] Orestes:
Ah, my father, if only beneath Ilium’s walls you had been slain, slashed by some Lycian spearman! Then you would have left a good name for your children in their halls,
and in their maturity you would have made their lives admired by men. And in a land beyond the sea you would have found a tomb heaped high with earth, no heavy burden for your house to bear—

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
εἰ γὰρ ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ
πρός τινος Λυκίων, πάτερ,
δορίτμητος κατηναρίσθης·
λιπὼν ἂν εὔκλειαν ἐν δόμοισι
τέκνων τʼ ἐν κελεύθοις
ἐπιστρεπτὸν αἰῶ
κτίσας πολύχωστον ἂν εἶχες
τάφον διαποντίου γᾶς
δώμασιν εὐφόρητον,

[¶85] Chorus:
—Welcomed there below by your comrades
who nobly fell, a ruler of august majesty, distinguished even beneath the earth, and minister of the mightiest, the deities who rule in the nether world.

> Greek: Χορός:
φίλος φίλοισι τοῖς
ἐκεῖ καλῶς θανοῦσιν
κατὰ χθονὸς ἐμπρέπων
σεμνότιμος ἀνάκτωρ,
πρόπολός τε τῶν μεγίστων
χθονίων ἐκεῖ τυράννων·

[¶86] For in your life you were a king of those who have the power to assign the portion of death, and who wield the staff all mortals obey.

> Greek: βασιλεὺς γὰρ ἦσθʼ, ὄφρʼ ἔζης,
μόριμον λάχος πιπλάντων
χεροῖν πεισίβροτόν τε βάκτρον.

[¶87] Electra:
No, not even beneath the walls of Troy, father,
would I wish you to have fallen and to be entombed beside Scamander’s waters among the rest of the host slain by the spear. I wish rather that his murderers had been killed by their own loved ones, just as they killed you,
so that someone in a distant land who knew nothing of these present troubles should learn of their fatal doom.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
μηδʼ ὑπὸ Τρωίας
τείχεσι φθίμενος, πάτερ,
μετʼ ἄλλῳ δουρικμῆτι λαῷ
παρὰ Σκαμάνδρου πόρον τεθάφθαι.
πάρος δʼ οἱ κτανόντες
νιν οὕτως δαμῆναι
⟨φίλοις⟩, θανατηφόρον αἶσαν
πρόσω τινὰ πυνθάνεσθαι
τῶνδε πόνων ἄπειρον.

[¶88] Chorus:
In this, my child, your wish is better than gold. It surpasses great good fortune, even that of the supremely blesssed; for it is easy to wish.

> Greek: Χορός:
ταῦτα μέν, ὦ παῖ, κρείσσονα χρυσοῦ,
μεγάλης δὲ τύχης καὶ ὑπερβορέου
μείζονα φωνεῖς· δύνασαι γάρ.

[¶89] But now the lash of this double scourge comes home: our cause already has its champions beneath the earth, while the hands of our loathsome opponents, though they have the mastery, are unholy. The children have won the day.

> Greek: ἀλλὰ διπλῆς γὰρ τῆσδε μαράγνης
δοῦπος ἱκνεῖται· τῶν μὲν ἀρωγοὶ
κατὰ γῆς ἤδη, τῶν δὲ κρατούντων
χέρες οὐχ ὅσιαι στυγερῶν τούτων·
παισὶ δὲ μᾶλλον γεγένηται.

[¶90] Orestes:
This has pierced the earth and reached your ear as if it were an arrow. O Zeus, O Zeus, who send long-deferred retribution up from below onto the reckless and wicked deeds done by the hands of mortals....
And yet it will be accomplished for our father’s sake.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τοῦτο διαμπερὲς οὖς
ἵκεθʼ ἅπερ τι βέλος.
Ζεῦ Ζεῦ, κάτωθεν ἀμπέμπων
ὑστερόποινον ἄταν
βροτῶν τλάμονι καὶ πανούργῳ
χειρὶ—τοκεῦσι δʼ ὅμως τελεῖται.

[¶91] Chorus:
May it be mine to raise a hearty shout in triumph over the man when he is stabbed and over the woman as she perishes! Why should I try to keep hidden what nevertheless hovers before my soul?
Full against the prow of my heart wrath blows sharply in rancorous hate.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐφυμνῆσαι γένοιτό μοι πυκά-
εντʼ ὀλολυγμὸν ἀνδρὸς
θεινομένου, γυναικός τʼ
ὀλλυμένας· τί γὰρ κεύθω φρενὸς οἷον ἔμπας
ποτᾶται; πάροιθεν δὲ πρῴρας
δριμὺς ἄηται κραδίας
θυμὸς ἔγκοτον στύγος.

[¶92] Electra:
And when will mighty Zeus bring down his hand on them
and split their heads open? Let it be a pledge to the land! After injustice I demand justice as my right. Hear, O Earth, and you honored powers below!

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καί πότʼ ἂν ἀμφιθαλὴς
Ζεὺς ἐπὶ χεῖρα βάλοι,
φεῦ φεῦ, κάρανα δαΐξας;
πιστὰ γένοιτο χώρᾳ.
δίκαν δʼ ἐξ ἀδίκων ἀπαιτῶ.
κλῦτε δὲ Γᾶ χθονίων τε τιμαί.

[¶93] Chorus:
And it is the eternal rule that drops of blood spilled on the ground demand yet more blood. Murder cries out on the Fury, which from those killed before brings one ruin in the wake of another.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλὰ νόμος μὲν φονίας σταγόνας
χυμένας ἐς πέδον ἄλλο προσαιτεῖν
αἷμα. βοᾷ γὰρ λοιγὸς Ἐρινὺν
παρὰ τῶν πρότερον φθιμένων ἄτην
ἑτέραν ἐπάγουσαν ἐπʼ ἄτῃ.

[¶94] Orestes:
Alas, you sovereign powers of the world below, behold, you potent Curses of the slain, behold the remnants of the line of Atreus in their helpless plight, cast out from house and home in dishonor. Which way can we turn, O Zeus?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
πόποι δὴ νερτέρων τυραννίδες,
ἴδετε πολυκρατεῖς Ἀραὶ φθινομένων,
ἴδεσθʼ Ἀτρειδᾶν τὰ λοίπʼ ἀμηχάνως
ἔχοντα καὶ δωμάτων
ἄτιμα. πᾷ τις τράποιτʼ ἄν, ὦ Ζεῦ;

[¶95] Chorus:
But again my heart throbs as I hear this pitiful lament. At once I am devoid of hope and my viscera are darkened at the words I hear.

> Greek: Χορός:
πέπαλται δαὖτὲ μοι φίλον κέαρ
τόνδε κλύουσαν οἶκτον
καὶ τότε μὲν δύσελπις,
σπλάγχνα δέ μοι κελαινοῦ-
ται πρὸς ἔπος κλυούσᾳ.

[¶96] But when hope once again lifts and strengthens me, it puts away my distress and dawns brightly on me.

> Greek: ὅταν δʼ αὖτʼ ἐπʼ ἀλκῆς ἐπάρῃ ⟨μʼ⟩
⟨ἐλπὶς⟩, ἀπέστασεν ἄχος
προσφανεῖσά μοι καλῶς.

[¶97] Electra:
To what could we more fittingly appeal than to those very miseries we have endured from the woman herself who bore us?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
τί δʼ ἂν φάντες τύχοιμεν ἢ τά περ
πάθομεν ἄχεα πρός γε τῶν τεκομένων;

[¶98] She may fawn upon us, but they are past all soothing. For like a fierce-hearted wolf the temper we have acquired from our mother is implacable.

> Greek: πάρεστι σαίνειν, τὰ δʼ οὔτι θέλγεται.
λύκος γὰρ ὥστʼ ὠμόφρων
ἄσαντος ἐκ ματρός ἐστι θυμός.

[¶99] Chorus:
On my breast I beat an Arian dirge in just the same fashion as a Cissian wailing woman.
With clenched fists, raining blows thick and fast, my outstretched hands could be seen descending from above, from far above, now on this side, now on that, till my battered and wretched head resounded with the strokes.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἔκοψα κομμὸν Ἄριον ἔν τε Κισσίας
νόμοις ἰηλεμιστρίας,
ἀπριγδόπληκτα πολυπλάνητα δʼ ἦν ἰδεῖν
ἐπασσυτεροτριβῆ τὰ χερὸς ὀρέγματα
ἄνωθεν ἀνέκαθεν, κτύπῳ δʼ ἐπερρόθει
κροτητὸν ἀμὸν καὶ πανάθλιον κάρα.

[¶100] Electra:
Away with you, cruel
and utterly brazen mother! You dared to give your husband a most cruel burial: unmourned, without lamentation, a king unattended by his people.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἰὼ [ἰὼ] δαΐα
πάντολμε μᾶτερ, δαΐαις ἐν ἐκφοραῖς
ἄνευ πολιτᾶν ἄνακτʼ,
ἄνευ δὲ πενθημάτων
ἔτλας ἀνοίμωκτον ἄνδρα θάψαι.

[¶101] Orestes:
Ah me, your words spell utter dishonor.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τὸ πᾶν ἀτίμως ἔλεξας, οἴμοι.

[¶102] Yet with the help of the gods, and with the help of my own hands, will she not atone for the dishonor she did my father? Let me only take her life, then let me die!

> Greek: πατρὸς δʼ ἀτίμωσιν ἆρα τείσει
ἕκατι μὲν δαιμόνων,
ἕκατι δʼ ἀμᾶν χερῶν;
ἔπειτʼ ἐγὼ νοσφίσας ὀλοίμαν.

[¶103] Chorus:
Yes, and I would have you know he was brutally mangled.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐμασχαλίσθη δέ γʼ, ὡς τόδʼ εἰδῇς·

[¶104] And even as she buried him in this way, she acted with intent to make the manner of his death a burden on your life past all power to bear. You hear the story of the ignominious outrage done to your father.

> Greek: ἔπρασσε δʼ, ᾇπέρ νιν ὧδε θάπτει,
μόρον κτίσαι μωμένα
ἄφερτον αἰῶνι σῷ.
κλύεις πατρῴους δύας ἀτίμους.

[¶105] Electra:
My father was murdered just as you say. But all the while I was kept sequestered, despised, accounted a worthless thing. Kennelled in my room as if I were a vicious cur, I gave free vent to my streaming tears, which came more readily than laughter, as in my concealment I poured out my lament in plentiful weeping.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
λέγεις πατρῷον μόρον· ἐγὼ δʼ ἀπεστάτουν
ἄτιμος, οὐδὲν ἀξία·
μυχῷ δʼ ἄφερκτος πολυσινοῦς κυνὸς δίκαν
ἑτοιμότερα γέλωτος ἀνέφερον λίβη,
χέουσα πολύδακρυν γόον κεκρυμμένα.

[¶106] Hear my tale and inscribe it on your heart.

> Greek: τοιαῦτʼ ἀκούων ἐν φρεσὶν γράφου ⟨˘ ¯⟩.

[¶107] Chorus:
Yes, let it sink deep into your ears, but keep inside a quiet steadfastness of soul. So far things are so. But you yourself be eager to resolve what is to follow.

> Greek: Χορός:
διʼ ὤτων δὲ συν-
τέτραινε μῦθον ἡσύχῳ φρενῶν βάσει.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἔχει,
τὰ δʼ αὐτὸς ὄργα μαθεῖν.

[¶108] You must enter the contest with inflexible wrath.

> Greek: πρέπει δʼ ἀκάμπτῳ μένει καθήκειν.

[¶109] Orestes:
Father, I call on you; side with your loved ones!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
σὲ τοι λέγω, ξυγγενοῦ, πάτερ, φίλοις.

[¶110] Electra:
And I in tears join my voice to his.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπιφθέγγομαι κεκλαυμένα.

[¶111] Chorus:
And let all our company blend our voices to echo the prayer. Hear! Come to the light!
Side with us against the foe!

> Greek: Χορός:
στάσις δὲ πάγκοινος ἅδʼ ἐπιρροθεῖ·
ἄκουσον ἐς φάος μολών,
ξὺν δὲ γενοῦ πρὸς ἐχθρούς.

[¶112] Orestes:
Ares will encounter Ares; Right will encounter Right.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
Ἄρης Ἄρει ξυμβαλεῖ, Δίκᾳ Δίκα.

[¶113] Electra:
O you gods, judge rightly the plea of right!

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἰὼ θεοί, κραίνετʼ ἐνδίκως ⟨δίκας.⟩

[¶114] Chorus:
A shudder steals over me as I hear these prayers. Doom has long been waiting,
but it will come in answer to those who pray.

> Greek: Χορός:
τρόμος μʼ ὑφέρπει κλύουσαν εὐγμάτων.
τὸ μόρσιμον μένει πάλαι,
εὐχομένοις δʼ ἂν ἔλθοι.

[¶115] Chorus:
Ah, inbred trouble and bloody stroke of ruin striking a discord! Ah, lamentable and grievous sorrows!

> Greek: Χορός:
ὦ πόνος ἐγγενὴς
καὶ παράμουσος Ἄτας
αἱματόεσσα πλαγά.
ἰὼ δύστονʼ ἄφερτα κήδη·

[¶116] Ah, the unstaunched pain!

> Greek: ἰὼ δυσκατάπαυστον ἄλγος.

[¶117] Chorus:
Our house has a cure to heal these woes, a cure not from outside, from the hands of others, but from itself, by fierce, bloody strife.

> Greek: Χορός:
δώμασιν ἔμμοτον
τῶνδʼ ἄκος, οὐδʼ ἀπʼ ἄλλων
ἔκτοθεν, ἀλλʼ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν,
διʼ ὠμὰν ἔριν αἱματηράν.

[¶118] This hymn is for the gods beneath the earth.

> Greek: θεῶν ⟨τῶν⟩ κατὰ γᾶς ὅδʼ ὕμνος.

[¶119] Chorus:
O you blessed powers below, hear this supplication of ours, and with a favorable will send forth to these children your aid for victory!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλὰ κλύοντες, μάκαρες χθόνιοι,
τῆσδε κατευχῆς πέμπετʼ ἀρωγὴν
παισὶν προφρόνως ἐπὶ νίκῃ.

[¶120] Orestes:
O father, who perished by a death unbefitting a king,
grant in answer to my prayer the lordship over your halls!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
πάτερ, τρόποισιν οὐ τυραννικοῖς θανών,
αἰτουμένῳ μοι δὸς κράτος τῶν σῶν δόμων.

[¶121] Electra:
And I too, father, have a like request of you: to escape when I have wrought great destruction on Aegisthus.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
κἀγώ, πάτερ, τοιάνδε σου χρείαν ἔχω,
φυγεῖν μέγαν προσθεῖσαν Αἰγίσθῳ ⟨φθόρον⟩.

[¶122] Orestes:
Yes, for then the customary funeral feasts of men would be established in your honor. But otherwise, at the rich and savory banquet
of burnt offerings made to the earth, you will be without a portion of honor.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
οὕτω γὰρ ἄν σοι δαῖτες ἔννομοι βροτῶν
κτιζοίατʼ· εἰ δὲ μή, παρʼ εὐδείπνοις ἔσῃ
ἄτιμος ἐμπύροισι κνισωτοῖς χθονός.

[¶123] Electra:
And I will likewise at my wedding offer libations to you out of the fullness of my inheritance from my father’s house, and before all else I will hold this tomb of yours in the highest honor.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
κἀγὼ χοάς σοι τῆς ἐμῆς παγκληρίας
οἴσω πατρῴων ἐκ δόμων γαμηλίους·
πάντων δὲ πρῶτον τόνδε πρεσβεύσω τάφον.

[¶124] Orestes:
O Earth, send up my father to watch my battle!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ὦ Γαῖʼ, ἄνες μοι πατέρʼ ἐποπτεῦσαι μάχην.

[¶125] Electra:
O Persephone, grant us indeed a glorious victory!

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ὦ Περσέφασσα, δὸς δʼ ἔτʼ εὔμορφον κράτος.

[¶126] Orestes:
Father, remember the bath where you were robbed of life.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
μέμνησο λουτρῶν οἷς ἐνοσφίσθης, πάτερ.

[¶127] Electra:
And remember how they devised a strange net to cast about you.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
μέμνησο δʼ ἀμφίβληστρον ὡς ἐκαίνισαν.

[¶128] Orestes:
You were caught, my father, in fetters forged by no smith’s hand.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
πέδαις δʼ ἀχαλκεύτοις ἐθηρεύθης, πάτερ.

[¶129] Electra:
And in a fabric shamefully devised.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
αἰσχρῶς τε βουλευτοῖσιν ἐν καλύμμασιν.

[¶130] Orestes:
Father, are you not roused by taunts such as these?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἆρʼ ἐξεγείρῃ τοῖσδʼ ὀνείδεσιν, πάτερ;

[¶131] Electra:
Are you not raising that dearest head of yours?

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
ἆρʼ ὀρθὸν αἴρεις φίλτατον τὸ σὸν κάρα;

[¶132] Orestes:
Either send Justice to battle for those dear to you, or grant us in turn to get a similar grip on them, if indeed after defeat you would in turn win victory.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἤτοι δίκην ἴαλλε σύμμαχον φίλοις,
ἢ τὰς ὁμοίας ἀντίδος λαβὰς λαβεῖν,
εἴπερ κρατηθείς γʼ ἀντινικῆσαι θέλεις.

[¶133] Electra:
So listen, father, to this last appeal of mine as you behold these fledglings crouching at your tomb. Have compassion on your offspring, on the woman and on the man as well, and let not this seed of Pelops’ line be blotted out: for then, in spite of death, you are not dead.

> Greek: Ἠλέκτρα:
καὶ τῆσδʼ ἄκουσον λοισθίου βοῆς, πάτερ,
ἰδὼν νεοσσοὺς τούσδʼ ἐφημένους τάφῳ·
οἴκτιρε θῆλυν ἄρσενός θʼ ὁμοῦ γόνον,
καὶ μὴ ʼξαλείψῃς σπέρμα Πελοπιδῶν τόδε
οὕτω γὰρ οὐ τέθνηκας οὐδὲ περ θανών·

[¶134] For children are voices of salvation to a man, though he is dead; like corks, they buoy up the net, saving the flaxen cord from out of the deep. Hear! For your own sake we make this lament. By honoring this plea of ours you save yourself.

> Greek: παῖδες γὰρ ἀνδρὶ κληδόνες σωτήριοι
θανόντι· φελλοὶ δʼ ὣς ἄγουσι δίκτυον,
τὸν ἐκ βυθοῦ κλωστῆρα σῴζοντες λίνου.
ἄκουʼ, ὑπὲρ σοῦ τοιάδʼ ἔστʼ ὀδύρματα.
αὐτὸς δὲ σῴζῃ τόνδε τιμήσας λόγον.

[¶135] Chorus:
In truth you have drawn out this plea of yours to your own content in showing honor to this unlamented tomb. As for the rest, since your heart is rightly set on action, put your fortune to the test and get to your work at once.

> Greek: Χορός:
καὶ μὴν ἀμεμφῆ τόνδʼ ἐτείνατον λόγον,
τίμημα τύμβου τῆς ἀνοιμώκτου τύχης.
τὰ δʼ ἄλλʼ, ἐπειδὴ δρᾶν κατώρθωσαι φρενί,
ἔρδοις ἂν ἤδη δαίμονος πειρώμενος.

[¶136] Orestes:
It will be so. But it is in no way amiss to inquire how, from what motive,
she came to send her libations, seeking too late to make amends for an irremediable deed. They would be a sorry gift to send to the senseless dead: I cannot guess what they mean. The gifts are too paltry for her offence.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἔσται· πυθέσθαι δʼ οὐδέν ἐστʼ ἔξω δρόμου,
πόθεν χοὰς ἔπεμψεν, ἐκ τίνος λόγου
μεθύστερον τιμῶσʼ ἀνήκεστον πάθος;
θανόντι δʼ οὐ φρονοῦντι δειλαία χάρις
ἐπέμπετʼ· οὐκ ἔχοιμʼ ἂν εἰκάσαι τόδε.
τὰ δῶρα μείω δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας.

[¶137] For though a man may pour out all he has in atonement for one deed of blood, it is wasted effort. So the saying goes. If indeed you know, tell me: I wish to learn.

> Greek: τὰ πάντα γάρ τις ἐκχέας ἀνθʼ αἵματος
ἑνός, μάτην ὁ μόχθος· ὧδʼ ἔχει λόγος.
θέλοντι δʼ, εἴπερ οἶσθʼ, ἐμοὶ φράσον τάδε.

[¶138] Chorus:
I know, my child, for I was there. It was because she was shaken by dreams and wandering terrors of the night
that she sent these offerings, godless woman that she is.

> Greek: Χορός:
οἶδʼ, ὦ τέκνον, παρῆ γάρ· ἔκ τʼ ὀνειράτων
καὶ νυκτιπλάγκτων δειμάτων πεπαλμένη
χοὰς ἔπεμψε τάσδε δύσθεος γυνή.

[¶139] Orestes:
And have you learned the nature of the dream so as to tell it properly?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἦ καὶ πέπυσθε τοὔναρ, ὥστʼ ὀρθῶς φράσαι;

[¶140] Chorus:
She dreamed she gave birth to a serpent: that is her own account.

> Greek: Χορός:
τεκεῖν δράκοντʼ ἔδοξεν, ὡς αὐτὴ λέγει.

[¶141] Orestes:
And where does the tale end, and what is its consummation?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
καὶ ποῖ τελευτᾷ καὶ καρανοῦται λόγος;

[¶142] Chorus:
She laid it to rest as if it were a child, in swaddling clothes.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐν σπαργάνοισι παιδὸς ὁρμίσαι δίκην.

[¶143] Orestes:
What food did it crave, the newborn viper?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τίνος βορᾶς χρῄζοντα, νεογενὲς δάκος;

[¶144] Chorus:
In her dream she offered it her own breast.

> Greek: Χορός:
αὐτὴ προσέσχε μαζὸν ἐν τὠνείρατι.

[¶145] Orestes:
Surely her nipple was not unwounded by the loathsome beast?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
καὶ πῶς ἄτρωτον οὖθαρ ἦν ὑπὸ στύγους;

[¶146] Chorus:
No: it drew in clotted blood with the milk.

> Greek: Χορός:
ὥστʼ ἐν γάλακτι θρόμβον αἵματος σπάσαι.

[¶147] Orestes:
Truly it is not without meaning: the vision signifies a man!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
οὔτοι μάταιον· ἀνδρὸς ὄψανον πέλει.

[¶148] Chorus:
Then from out of her sleep she raised a shriek and awoke appalled, and many lamps that had been blinded in the darkness flared up in the house to cheer our mistress. Then she sent these libations for the dead in the hope that they might be an effective cure for her distress.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἡ δʼ ἐξ ὕπνου κέκλαγγεν ἐπτοημένη.
πολλοὶ δʼ ἀνῇθον, ἐκτυφλωθέντες σκότῳ,
λαμπτῆρες ἐν δόμοισι δεσποίνης χάριν·
πέμπει τʼ ἔπειτα τάσδε κηδείους χοάς,
ἄκος τομαῖον ἐλπίσασα πημάτων.

[¶149] Orestes:
Well then, I pray to this earth and to my father’s grave that this dream may come to its fulfilment in me. As I understand it, it fits at every point. For if the snake left the same place as I; if it was furnished with my swaddling clothes;
if it sought to open its mouth to take the breast that nourished me and mixed the sweet milk with clotted blood while she shrieked for terror at this, then surely, as she has nourished a portentous thing of horror, she must die by violence. For I, turned serpent,
am her killer, as this dream declares.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἀλλʼ εὔχομαι γῇ τῇδε καὶ πατρὸς τάφῳ
τοὔνειρον εἶναι τοῦτʼ ἐμοὶ τελεσφόρον.
κρίνω δέ τοί νιν ὥστε συγκόλλως ἔχειν.
εἰ γὰρ τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον ἐκλιπὼν ἐμοὶ
οὕφις ἐμοῖσι σπαργάνοις ὡπλίζετο,
καὶ μαστὸν ἀμφέχασκʼ ἐμὸν θρεπτήριον,
θρόμβῳ δʼ ἔμειξεν αἵματος φίλον γάλα,
ἡ δʼ ἀμφὶ τάρβει τῷδʼ ἐπῴμωξεν πάθει,
δεῖ τοί νιν, ὡς ἔθρεψεν ἔκπαγλον τέρας,
θανεῖν βιαίως· ἐκδρακοντωθεὶς δʼ ἐγὼ
κτείνω νιν, ὡς τοὔνειρον ἐννέπει τόδε.

## 2. Lines 551–1076

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschylus-libation-bearers/2/#p-N

[¶0] Chorus:
I choose your reading of this portent. Let it be so. As for the rest, give your friends their parts. Tell some what to do, others what to leave undone.

> Greek: Χορός:
τερασκόπον δὴ τῶνδέ σʼ αἱροῦμαι πέρι.
γένοιτο δʼ οὕτως. τἄλλα δʼ ἐξηγοῦ φίλοις,
τοὺς μέν τι ποιεῖν, τοὺς δὲ μή τι δρᾶν λέγων.

[¶1] Orestes:
It is a simple story. My sister must go inside, and I charge her to keep concealed this pact with me,
so that as by craft they killed a worthy man, so by craft they may likewise be caught and perish in the very same snare, even as Loxias decreed, lord Apollo, the prophet who has never before been false.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἁπλοῦς ὁ μῦθος· τήνδε μὲν στείχειν ἔσω,
αἰνῶ δὲ κρύπτειν τάσδε συνθήκας ἐμάς,
ὡς ἂν δόλῳ κτείναντες ἄνδρα τίμιον
δόλοισι καὶ ληφθῶσιν ἐν ταὐτῷ βρόχῳ
θανόντες, καὶ Λοξίας ἐφήμισεν,
ἄναξ Ἀπόλλων, μάντις ἀψευδὴς τὸ πρίν.

[¶2] In the guise of a stranger, one fully equipped, I will come to the outer gate, and with me Pylades, whom you see here, as a guest and ally of the house. Both of us will speak the speech of Parnassus, imitating the accent of a Phocian tongue. And in case none of the keepers of the door will give us a hearty welcome
on the plea that the house is afflicted with trouble by the gods, then we will wait so that anyone passing the house will consider and say: “Why then does Aegisthus have his door shut on his suppliant, if in fact he is at home and knows?”

> Greek: ξένῳ γὰρ εἰκώς, παντελῆ σαγὴν ἔχων,
ἥξω σὺν ἀνδρὶ τῷδʼ ἐφʼ ἑρκείους πύλας
Πυλάδῃ, ξένος τε καὶ δορύξενος δόμων.
ἄμφω δὲ φωνὴν ἥσομεν Παρνησσίδα,
γλώσσης ἀυτὴν Φωκίδος μιμουμένω.
καὶ δὴ θυρωρῶν οὔτις ἂν φαιδρᾷ φρενὶ
δέξαιτʼ, ἐπειδὴ δαιμονᾷ δόμος κακοῖς·
μενοῦμεν οὕτως ὥστʼ ἐπεικάζειν τινὰ
δόμους παραστείχοντα καὶ τάδʼ ἐννέπειν·
τί δὴ πύλαισι τὸν ἱκέτην ἀπείργεται
Αἴγισθος, εἴπερ οἶδεν ἔνδημος παρών;

[¶3] But if I indeed pass the outermost threshold of the gate and find that man sitting on my father’s throne, or if then coming face to face with me he lifts and casts down his eyes, know well:
before he can even say “Of what land is this stranger?” I will skewer him with my swift sword and lay him dead. The fury that has no fill of slaughter shall for her third and crowning drink drink unmixed blood! Now you, Electra, keep strict watch over what happens inside the house,
so that our plans may fit together well. You addressing the Chorus had best keep a discreet tongue: be silent when there is need and speak only what the occasion demands. As for the rest, I call on him to cast his glance this way and direct the contest of the sword for me. Exeunt Orestes, Pylades, and Electra
Chorus:
Many are the horrors, dread and appalling, bred of earth, and the arms of the deep teem with hateful monsters. Likewise between heaven and earth
lights hung high in the air draw near; and winged things and things that walk the earth can also tell of the stormy wrath of whirlwinds.

> Greek: εἰ δʼ οὖν ἀμείψω βαλὸν ἑρκείων πυλῶν
κἀκεῖνον ἐν θρόνοισιν εὑρήσω πατρός,
ἢ καὶ μολὼν ἔπειτά μοι κατὰ στόμα
ἀρεῖ, σάφʼ ἴσθι, καὶ κατʼ ὀφθαλμοὺς βαλεῖ,
πρὶν αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν ποδαπὸς ὁ ξένος; νεκρὸν
θήσω, ποδώκει περιβαλὼν χαλκεύματι.
φόνου δʼ Ἐρινὺς οὐχ ὑπεσπανισμένη
ἄκρατον αἷμα πίεται τρίτην πόσιν.
νῦν οὖν σὺ μὲν φύλασσε τἀν οἴκῳ καλῶς,
ὅπως ἂν ἀρτίκολλα συμβαίνῃ τάδε·
ὑμῖν δʼ ἐπαινῶ γλῶσσαν εὔφημον φέρειν,
σιγᾶν θʼ ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγειν τὰ καίρια.
τὰ δʼ ἄλλα τούτῳ δεῦρʼ ἐποπτεῦσαι λέγω,
ξιφηφόρους ἀγῶνας ὀρθώσαντί μοι.
Χορός:
πολλὰ μὲν γᾶ τρέφει
δεινὰ [καὶ] δειμάτων ἄχη,
πόντιαί τʼ ἀγκάλαι κνωδάλων
ἀνταίων βρύουσι·
πλάθουσι [βλαστοῦσι] καὶ πεδαίχμιοι
λαμπάδες πεδάοροι,
πτανά τε καὶ πεδοβά-
μονα κἀνεμοέντʼ ἂν
αἰγίδων φράσαι κότον.

[¶4] Chorus:
But who can tell of man’s overweening spirit,
and of the reckless passions of women hardened of soul, partners of the woes of mortals? Inordinate passion, overmastering the female,
gains a fatal victory over the wedded unions of beasts and humans alike.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ ὑπέρτολμον ἀν-
δρὸς φρόνημα τίς λέγοι
καὶ γυναικῶν φρεσὶν τλαμόνων [καὶ]
παντόλμους ἔρωτας
ἄταισι συννόμους βροτῶν;
ξυζύγους δʼ ὁμαυλίας
θηλυκρατὴς ἀπέρω-
τος ἔρως παρανικᾷ
κνωδάλων τε καὶ βροτῶν.

[¶5] Chorus:
Let whoever is not flighty in his wits know this, when he has learned of the device of a lit brand contrived
by Thestius’ heartless daughter: she destroyed her own child by burning the charred brand of the same age as he when, coming from his mother’s womb, he cried out,
and it aged in pace with him through his life to the day decreed by fate.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἴστω δʼ, ὅστις οὐχ ὑπόπτερος
φροντίσιν, δαεὶς
τὰν ἁ παιδολυ-
μὰς τάλαινα Θεστιὰς μήσατο
πυρδαῆτιν πρόνοιαν,
καταίθουσα παιδὸς δαφοινὸν
δαλὸν ἥλικʼ, ἐπεὶ μολὼν
ματρόθεν κελάδησε,
ξύμμετρόν τε διαὶ βίου
μοιρόκραντον ἐς ἆμαρ.

[¶6] Chorus:
And there is in legend another murderous virgin to be loathed,
who ruined a loved one at the bidding of his foes, when, lured by Minos’ gift, the Cretan necklace forged of gold, she with her dog’s heart despoiled Nisus of his immortal lock
as he drew breath in unsuspecting sleep. And Hermes overtook him.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἄλλαν δεῖ τινʼ ἐν λόγοις στυγεῖν
φοινίαν κόραν,
ἅτʼ ἐχθρῶν ὑπαὶ
φῶτʼ ἀπώλεσεν φίλον Κρητικοῖς
χρυσοκμήτοισιν ὅρμοις
πιθήσασα δώροισι Μίνω,
Νῖσον ἀθανάτας τριχὸς
νοσφίσασʼ ἀπροβούλως
πνέονθʼ ἁ κυνόφρων ὕπνῳ.
κιγχάνει δέ μιν Ἑρμῆς.

[¶7] Chorus:
But since I have recalled tales of pitiless afflictions, it is the right time to tell of a marriage void of love,
an abomination to the house, and the plots devised by a wife’s cunning against her warrior lord, against her lord revered with reason by his foes. But I honor the hearths of homes not heated by passion’s fires,
and in woman a spirit that shrinks from audacious deeds.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπεμνασάμαν ἀμειλίχων
πόνων, ὁ καιρὸς δὲ δυσφιλὲς γαμή-
λευμʼ ἀπεύχετον δόμοις
γυναικοβούλους τε μήτιδας φρενῶν
ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ τευχεσφόρῳ,
ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ δᾴοις ἐπεικότως σέβαι.
τίω δʼ ἀθέρμαντον ἑστίαν δόμων
γυναικείαν ⟨τʼ⟩ ἄτολμον αἰχμάν.

[¶8] Chorus:
Indeed the Lemnian holds first place among evils in story: it has long been told with groans as an abominable calamity. Men compare each new horror to Lemnian troubles;

> Greek: Χορός:
κακῶν δὲ πρεσβεύεται τὸ Λήμνιον
λόγῳ· γοᾶται δὲ δὴ πάθος κατά-
πτυστον· ᾔκασεν δέ τις
τὸ δεινὸν αὖ Λημνίοισι πήμασιν.

[¶9] and because of a woeful deed abhorred by the gods a race has disappeared, cast out in infamy from among mortals. For no man reveres what is hated by the gods. Is there one of these tales I have gathered that I do not justly cite?

> Greek: θεοστυγήτῳ δʼ ἄχει
βροτῶν ἀτιμωθὲν οἴχεται γένος.
σέβει γὰρ οὔτις τὸ δυσφιλὲς θεοῖς.
τί τῶνδʼ οὐκ ἐνδίκως ἀγείρω;

[¶10] Chorus:
But the keen and bitter sword is near the breast and drives home its blow at the bidding of Justice.
For truly the injustice of him who has unjustly transgressed the sovereign majesty of Zeus
lies on the ground trampled under foot.

> Greek: Χορός:
τὸ δʼ ἄγχι πλευμόνων ξίφος
διανταίαν ὀξυπευκὲς οὐτᾷ
διαὶ Δίκας. τὸ μὴ θέμις γὰρ οὖν
λὰξ πέδοι πατούμενον, τὸ πᾶν Διὸς
σέβας παρεκβάντος οὐ θεμιστῶς.

[¶11] Chorus:
The anvil of Justice is planted firm. Destiny fashions her arms and forges her sword quickly, and the famed and deeply brooding Fury is bringing the son into our house,
to requite at last the pollution of blood shed long ago.
Enter, with attendants, Orestes and Pylades before the palace

> Greek: Χορός:
Δίκας δʼ ἐρείδεται πυθμήν·
προχαλκεύει δʼ Αἶσα φασγανουργός·
τέκνον δʼ ἐπεισφέρει δόμοισιν
αἱμάτων παλαιτέρων τίνειν μύσος
χρόνῳ κλυτὰ βυσσόφρων Ἐρινύς.

[¶12] Orestes:
Boy! Boy! Hear my knocking at the outer door! Who is inside? Boy! Boy! I say again, who is at home?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
παῖ παῖ, θύρας ἄκουσον ἑρκείας κτύπον.
τίς ἔνδον, ὦ παῖ, παῖ, μάλʼ αὖθις, ἐν δόμοις;

[¶13] Again for the third time I call for some one to come out of the house, if by Aegisthus’ will it offers welcome to strangers.

> Greek: τρίτον τόδʼ ἐκπέραμα δωμάτων καλῶ,
εἴπερ φιλόξενʼ ἐστὶν Αἰγίσθου διαί.

[¶14] Servant:
Yes, yes, I hear. Of what land is the stranger, and whence?

> Greek: Οἰκέτης:
εἶεν, ἀκούω· ποδαπὸς ὁ ξένος; πόθεν;

[¶15] Orestes:
Announce me to the masters of the house, for it is in fact to them that I come bearing news.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἄγγελλε τοῖσι κυρίοισι δωμάτων,
πρὸς οὕσπερ ἥκω καὶ φέρω καινοὺς λόγους.

[¶16] And hurry, since the chariot of night is speeding on with darkness, and it is time for wayfarers to drop anchor in some house friendly to all guests. Tell some one to come forth who has authority over the house, the mistress in charge. But the master would be more fitting,
for then no delicacy in speaking makes words obscure: man speaks boldly to man and reveals his meaning without reserve. The Servant withdraws. Clytaemestra appears at the door with a maid-servant in attendance
Clytaemestra:
Strangers, you have only to declare your need, for we have everything that suits this house: warm baths, beds to charm away fatigue,
and the presence of honest faces. But if there is another matter requiring graver counsel, that is the concern of men, and we will communicate with them.

> Greek: τάχυνε δʼ, ὡς καὶ νυκτὸς ἅρμʼ ἐπείγεται
σκοτεινόν, ὥρα δʼ ἐμπόρους καθιέναι
ἄγκυραν ἐν δόμοισι πανδόκοις ξένων.
ἐξελθέτω τις δωμάτων τελεσφόρος
γυνὴ τόπαρχος, ἄνδρα δʼ εὐπρεπέστερον·
αἰδὼς γὰρ ἐν λεχθεῖσιν οὐκ ἐπαργέμους
λόγους τίθησιν· εἶπε θαρσήσας ἀνὴρ
πρὸς ἄνδρα κἀσήμηνεν ἐμφανὲς τέκμαρ.
Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ξένοι, λέγοιτʼ ἂν εἴ τι δεῖ· πάρεστι γὰρ
ὁποῖά περ δόμοισι τοῖσδʼ ἐπεικότα,
καὶ θερμὰ λουτρὰ καὶ πόνων θελκτηρία
στρωμνή, δικαίων τʼ ὀμμάτων παρουσία.
εἰ δʼ ἄλλο πρᾶξαι δεῖ τι βουλιώτερον,
ἀνδρῶν τόδʼ ἐστὶν ἔργον, οἷς κοινώσομεν

[¶17] Orestes:
I am a stranger, a Daulian of the Phocians. As I was on my way, carrying my pack on business of my own to Argos,
just as I ended my journey here, a man, a stranger to me as I to him, fell in with me, and inquired about my destination and told me his. He was Strophius, a Phocian (for as we talked I learned his name), and he said to me,
“Stranger, since in any case you are bound for Argos, keep my message in mind most faithfully and tell his parents Orestes is dead, and by no means let it escape you. Whether his friends decide to bring him home or to bury him in the land of his sojourn, a foreigner utterly forever,”
“convey their wishes back to me. In the meantime a bronze urn contains the ashes of a man rightly lamented.” This much I tell you as I heard it. Whether by any chance I am speaking to those with whom the question rests and whose concern it is,
I do not know. But his parent should know the truth.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ξένος μέν εἰμι Δαυλιεὺς ἐκ Φωκέων·
στείχοντα δʼ αὐτόφορτον οἰκείᾳ σαγῇ
εἰς Ἄργος, ὥσπερ δεῦρʼ ἀπεζύγην πόδα,
ἀγνὼς πρὸς ἀγνῶτʼ εἶπε συμβαλὼν ἀνήρ,
ἐξιστορήσας καὶ σαφηνίσας ὁδόν,
Στροφίος ὁ Φωκεύς· πεύθομαι γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ
ἐπείπερ ἄλλως, ὦ ξένʼ, εἰς Ἄργος κίεις,
πρὸς τοὺς τεκόντας πανδίκως μεμνημένος
τεθνεῶτʼ Ὀρέστην εἰπέ, μηδαμῶς λάθῃ.
εἴτʼ οὖν κομίζειν δόξα νικήσει φίλων,
εἴτʼ οὖν μέτοικον, εἰς τὸ πᾶν ἀεὶ ξένον,
θάπτειν, ἐφετμὰς τάσδε πόρθμευσον πάλιν.
νῦν γὰρ λέβητος χαλκέου πλευρώματα
σποδὸν κέκευθεν ἀνδρὸς εὖ κεκλαυμένου.
τοσαῦτʼ ἀκούσας εἶπον. εἰ δὲ τυγχάνω
τοῖς κυρίοισι καὶ προσήκουσιν λέγων
οὐκ οἶδα, τὸν τεκόντα δʼ εἰκὸς εἰδέναι.

[¶18] Clytaemestra:
Oh no! Your story spells our utter undoing. O curse that haunts this house, so hard to wrestle down: how far forward you look! Even what was laid well out of harm’s way you bring down with your well-aimed shafts from far off,
and you strip me of those I love, utterly wretched as I am. And now Orestes: he was indeed prudent in keeping his foot out of the mire of destruction, but now mark down as having abandoned us what was once the one hope in our house of a cure for its fine revelry.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οἲ ʼγώ, κατʼ ἄκρας εἶπας ὡς πορθούμεθα.
ὦ δυσπάλαιστε τῶνδε δωμάτων Ἀρά,
ὡς πόλλʼ ἐπωπᾷς, κἀκποδὼν εὖ κείμενα
τόξοις πρόσωθεν εὐσκόποις χειρουμένη,
φίλων ἀποψιλοῖς με τὴν παναθλίαν.
καὶ νῦν Ὀρέστης—ἦν γὰρ εὐβούλως ἔχων,
ἔξω κομίζων ὀλεθρίου πηλοῦ πόδα,—
νῦν δʼ ἥπερ ἐν δόμοισι βακχείας καλῆς
ἰατρὸς ἐλπὶς ἦν, προδοῦσαν ἔγγραφε.

[¶19] Orestes:
As for me, I am sure that with hosts so prosperous I would rather have been made known and welcomed for favorable news. For where is goodwill greater than from guest to host? Yet to my mind it would have been irreverent
not to fulfill for friends a charge like this when I was bound by promise and hospitality pledged to me.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ξένοισιν ὧδʼ εὐδαίμοσιν
κεδνῶν ἕκατι πραγμάτων ἂν ἤθελον
γνωστὸς γενέσθαι καὶ ξενωθῆναι· τί γὰρ
ξένου ξένοισίν ἐστιν εὐμενέστερον;
πρὸς δυσσεβείας ⟨δʼ⟩ ἦν ἐμοὶ τόδʼ ἐν φρεσίν,
τοιόνδε πρᾶγμα μὴ καρανῶσαι φίλοις,
καταινέσαντα καὶ κατεξενωμένον.

[¶20] Clytaemestra:
Rest assured you will receive no less a reward than you deserve nor be the less welcome to this house: someone else might just as well have brought your message.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οὔτοι κυρήσεις μεῖον ἀξίως σέθεν,
οὐδʼ ἧσσον ἂν γένοιο δώμασιν φίλος.
ἄλλος δʼ ὁμοίως ἦλθεν ἂν τάδʼ ἀγγελῶν.

[¶21] But it is the hour when strangers who have been travelling on a long day’s journey should have their proper entertainment. To an attendant Conduct him to the rooms where the men are hospitably lodged, him and his attendants here and his fellow-traveller, and let them be tended to there as is proper in our house.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ καιρὸς ἡμερεύοντας ξένους
μακρᾶς κελεύθου τυγχάνειν τὰ πρόσφορα.
ἄγʼ αὐτὸν εἰς ἀνδρῶνας εὐξένους δόμων,
ὀπισθόπους τε τούσδε καὶ ξυνέμπορον·
κἀκεῖ κυρούντων δώμασιν τὰ πρόσφορα.

[¶22] I command you to do this as you shall be held to strict account. Meantime we will communicate this matter to the master of the house, and since we have no lack of friends we will confer on this occurrence.
All withdraw except the Chorus
Chorus:
Ah, loyal handmaidens of the house,
low long will it be before we display the power that lies in our mouths to do Orestes service? O hallowed earth, and hallowed barrow raised high that now lies on the royal form of the commander of the fleet,
now hear me, now lend me aid! Now is the hour for Persuasion with her guile to join forces with him, and for Hermes of the nether world, who works in stealth, to direct this encounter of the deadly sword. Enter Orestes’ Nurse
Our stranger, I think, is working mischief: for over there I see Orestes’ nurse all in tears. Cilissa! Where are you going? Why as you set foot in the palace gate do you have a grief as an unhired companion?

> Greek: αἰνῶ δὲ πράσσειν ὡς ὑπευθύνῳ τάδε.
ἡμεῖς δὲ ταῦτα τοῖς κρατοῦσι δωμάτων
κοινώσομέν τε κοὐ σπανίζοντες φίλων
βουλευσόμεσθα τῆσδε συμφορᾶς πέρι.
Χορός:
εἶεν, φίλιαι δμωίδες οἴκων,
πότε δὴ στομάτων
δείξομεν ἰσχὺν ἐπʼ Ὀρέστῃ;
ὦ πότνια χθὼν καὶ πότνιʼ ἀκτὴ
χώματος, ἣ νῦν ἐπὶ ναυάρχῳ
σώματι κεῖσαι τῷ βασιλείῳ,
νῦν ἐπάκουσον, νῦν ἐπάρηξον·
νῦν γὰρ ἀκμάζει Πειθὼ δολίαν
ξυγκαταβῆναι, χθόνιον δʼ Ἑρμῆν
καὶ τὸν νύχιον τοῖσδʼ ἐφοδεῦσαι
ξιφοδηλήτοισιν ἀγῶσιν.
Χορός:
ἔοικεν ἁνὴρ ὁ ξένος τεύχειν κακόν·
τροφὸν δʼ Ὀρέστου τήνδʼ ὁρῶ κεκλαυμένην.
ποῖ δὴ πατεῖς, Κίλισσα, δωμάτων πύλας;
λύπη δʼ ἄμισθός ἐστί σοι ξυνέμπορος;

[¶23] Nurse:
My mistress commands me to summon Aegisthus for the strangers
in all haste, so that he may come and learn more clearly, from man to man, these tidings that have just arrived. Indeed, before the servants, behind eyes that feigned grief she hid her laughter over what has occurred fortunately for her.
But the news so plainly told by the strangers means utter ruin for this house. I expect that when he hears it he will rejoice in his heart to know the story. Miserable woman that I am! How the old unbearable troubles of every sort
that occurred in this house of Atreus have always made my heart ache within my breast! But never yet have I endured a blow like this. For all the other troubles I bore patiently, but my beloved Orestes, on whom I spent my soul,
whom I took from his mother at birth and nursed, and the many and troublesome tasks, fruitless for all my enduring them, when his loud and urgent cries broke my rest.... For one must nurse the senseless thing like a dumb beast, of course one must, by following its humor.

> Greek: Τροφός:
Αἴγισθον ἡ κρατοῦσα τοῖς ξένοις καλεῖν
ὅπως τάχιστʼ ἄνωγεν, ὡς σαφέστερον
ἀνὴρ ἀπʼ ἀνδρὸς τὴν νεάγγελτον φάτιν
ἐλθὼν πύθηται τήνδε, πρὸς μὲν οἰκέτας
θετοσκυθρωπῶν ἐντὸς ὀμμάτων γέλων
κεύθουσʼ ἐπʼ ἔργοις διαπεπραγμένοις καλῶς
κείνῃ, δόμοις δὲ τοῖσδε παγκάκως ἔχειν,
φήμης ὕφʼ ἧς ἤγγειλαν οἱ ξένοι τορῶς.
ἦ δὴ κλύων ἐκεῖνος εὐφρανεῖ νόον,
εὖτʼ ἂν πύθηται μῦθον. ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγώ·
ὥς μοι τὰ μὲν παλαιὰ συγκεκραμένα
ἄλγη δύσοιστα τοῖσδʼ ἐν Ἀτρέως δόμοις
τυχόντʼ ἐμὴν ἤλγυνεν ἐν στέρνοις φρένα.
ἀλλʼ οὔτι πω τοιόνδε πῆμʼ ἀνεσχόμην·
τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τλημόνως ἤντλουν κακά·
φίλον δʼ Ὀρέστην, τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς τριβήν,
ὃν ἐξέθρεψα μητρόθεν δεδεγμένη,—
κἀκʼ νυκτιπλάγκτων ὀρθίων κελευμάτων
καὶ πολλὰ καὶ μοχθήρʼ ἀνωφέλητʼ ἐμοὶ
τλάσῃ·—τὸ μὴ φρονοῦν γὰρ ὡσπερεὶ βοτὸν
τρέφειν ἀνάγκη, πῶς γὰρ οὔ; τρόπῳ φρενός·

[¶24] For while it is still a baby in swaddling clothes, it has no speech at all, whether hunger moves it, or thirst perhaps, or the call of need: children’s young insides work their own relief. I would anticipate these needs. Yet many a time, I think, having to wash the child’s linen because of my own errors,
laundress and nurse had the same function. It was I who, with these two handicrafts, received Orestes for his father. And now, wretch that I am, I hear that he is dead. But I am on my way to fetch the man who wrought destruction on
our house, and he will be glad enough to hear this news.

> Greek: οὐ γάρ τι φωνεῖ παῖς ἔτʼ ὢν ἐν σπαργάνοις,
εἰ λιμός, ἢ δίψη τις, ἢ λιψουρία
ἔχει· νέα δὲ νηδὺς αὐτάρκης τέκνων.
τούτων πρόμαντις οὖσα, πολλὰ δʼ, οἴομαι,
ψευσθεῖσα παιδὸς σπαργάνων φαιδρύντρια,
γναφεὺς τροφεύς τε ταὐτὸν εἰχέτην τέλος.
ἐγὼ διπλᾶς δὲ τάσδε χειρωναξίας
ἔχουσʼ Ὀρέστην ἐξεδεξάμην πατρί·
τεθνηκότος δὲ νῦν τάλαινα πεύθομαι.
στείχω δʼ ἐπʼ ἄνδρα τῶνδε λυμαντήριον
οἴκων, θέλων δὲ τόνδε πεύσεται λόγον.

[¶25] Chorus:
Then arrayed how does she tell him to come?

> Greek: Χορός:
πῶς οὖν κελεύει νιν μολεῖν ἐσταλμένον;

[¶26] Nurse:
Arrayed how? Say it again so that I may catch your meaning better.

> Greek: Τροφός:
ἦ πῶς; λέγʼ αὖθις, ὡς μάθω σαφέστερον.

[¶27] Chorus:
With his guards or perhaps unattended?

> Greek: Χορός:
εἰ ξὺν λοχίταις εἴτε καὶ μονοστιβῆ.

[¶28] Nurse:
She tells him to come with his retinue of spearmen.

> Greek: Τροφός:
ἄγειν κελεύει δορυφόρους ὀπάονας.

[¶29] Chorus:
Well, do not give this message to our loathed master, but with all haste and with a cheerful heart tell him to come himself, alone, so that he may be told without alarm. For in the mouth of a messenger a crooked message is made straight.

> Greek: Χορός:
μή νυν σὺ ταῦτʼ ἄγγελλε δεσπότου στύγει·
ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἐλθεῖν, ὡς ἀδειμάντως κλύῃ,
ἄνωχθʼ ὅσον τάχιστα γηθούσῃ φρενί.
ἐν ἀγγέλῳ γὰρ κυπτὸς ὀρθοῦται λόγος.

[¶30] Nurse:
What! Are you gladdened at heart by the present news?

> Greek: Τροφός:
ἀλλʼ ἦ φρονεῖς εὖ τοῖσι νῦν ἠγγελμένοις;

[¶31] Chorus:
Why not, if Zeus at last may cause our ill wind to change?

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ εἰ τροπαίαν Ζεὺς κακῶν θήσει ποτέ.

[¶32] Nurse:
But how can that be? Orestes, the hope of our house, is gone.

> Greek: Τροφός:
καὶ πῶς; Ὀρέστης ἐλπὶς οἴχεται δόμων.

[¶33] Chorus:
Not yet; he would be a poor prophet who would so interpret.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὔπω· κακός γε μάντις ἂν γνοίη τάδε.

[¶34] Nurse:
What are you saying? Do you know something beyond what has been told?

> Greek: Τροφός:
τί φής; ἔχεις τι τῶν λελεγμένων δίχα;

[¶35] Chorus:
Go, deliver your message! Do what you are asked to do!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἄγγελλʼ ἰοῦσα, πρᾶσσε τἀπεσταλμένα.

[¶36] The gods take care of what they take care of.

> Greek: μέλει θεοῖσιν ὧνπερ ἂν μέλῃ πέρι.

[¶37] Nurse:
Well, I will go and do your bidding. With the gods’ blessing may everything turn out for the best! Exit

> Greek: Τροφός:
ἀλλʼ εἶμι καὶ σοῖς ταῦτα πείσομαι λόγοις.
γένοιτο δʼ ὡς ἄριστα σὺν θεῶν δόσει.

[¶38] Chorus:
Now at my supplication, O Zeus, father of the Olympian gods, grant that the fortunes of our house be firmly established,
so that those who rightly desire the rule of order may behold it. Every word of mine has been uttered in justice. O Zeus, may you safeguard it!

> Greek: Χορός:
νῦν παραιτουμένᾳ μοι, πάτερ
Ζεῦ θεῶν Ὀλυμπίων,
δὸς τύχας τυχεῖν δόμου κυρίως
τὰ σώφρονʼ εὖ μαιομένοις ἰδεῖν.
διὰ δίκας πᾶν ἔπος
ἔλακον· ⟨ὦ⟩ Ζεῦ, σύ νιν φυλάσσοις.

[¶39] Chorus:
O Zeus, set him who is within the palace before his foes;
since, if you exalt him, he will gladly pay you with double and triple recompense.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἓ ἕ, πρὸ δὲ δὴ ʼχθρῶν
τὸν ἔσωθεν μελάθρων, Ζεῦ,
θές, ἐπεί νιν μέγαν ἄρας,
δίδυμα καὶ τριπλᾶ
παλίμποινα θέλων ἀμείψει.

[¶40] Chorus:
Know that the orphaned colt of a loved one is harnessed to the chariot of distress.
And by setting bounds to his course may you grant that we see him keep a steady pace through this race and win the goal in the straining stride of a gallop.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἴσθι δʼ ἀνδρὸς φίλου πῶλον εὖ-
νιν ζυγέντʼ ἐν ἅρμασιν
πημάτων. ⟨σὺ δʼ⟩ ἐν δρόμῳ προστιθεὶς
μέτρον κτίσον σῳζόμενον ῥυθμὸν
τοῦτʼ ἰδεῖν διὰ πέδον
ἀνομένων βημάτων ὄρεγμα;

[¶41] Chorus:
And you who within the house inhabit the inner chamber that exults in its wealth, hear me, you gods, that feel with us! By a fresh award redeem the blood of deeds done long ago.

> Greek: Χορός:
οἵ τʼ ἔσω δωμάτων
πλουτογαθῆ μυχὸν νομίζετε,
κλῦτε, σύμφρονες θεοί·
[ἄγετε] τῶν πάλαι πεπραγμένων
λύσασθʼ αἷμα προσφάτοις δίκαις.

[¶42] May aged Murder cease begetting offspring in our house!

> Greek: γέρων φόνος μηκέτʼ ἐν δόμοις τέκοι.

[¶43] Chorus:
And you who occupy the mighty, gorgeously built cavern, grant that the man’s house may lift up its eyes again in joy, and that with glad
eyes it may behold from under its veil of gloom the radiant light of freedom.

> Greek: Χορός:
τὸ δὲ καλῶς κτίμενον ὦ μέγα ναίων
στόμιον, εὖ δὸς ἀνιδεῖν δόμον ἀνδρός,
καί νιν ἐλευθερίας ⟨φῶς⟩
λαμπρὸν ἰδεῖν φιλίοις
ὄμμασιν ⟨ἐκ⟩ δνοφερᾶς καλύπτρας.

[¶44] Chorus:
May Maia’s son, as he rightfully should, lend his aid, for no one can better sail a deed on a favoring course, when he would do so.

> Greek: Χορός:
ξυλλάβοι δʼ ἐνδίκως
παῖς ὁ Μαίας, ἐπεὶ φορώτατος
πρᾶξιν οὐρίαν θέλων·

[¶45] But by his mysterious utterance he brings darkness over men’s eyes by night, and by day he is no more clear at all.

> Greek: [πολλὰ δʼ ἄλλα φανεῖ χρηίζων κρυπτά].
ἄσκοπον δʼ ἔπος λέγων
νύκτα πρό τʼ ὀμμάτων σκότον φέρει,
καθʼ ἡμέραν δʼ οὐδὲν ἐμφανέστερος.

[¶46] Chorus:
And then at last with a loud voice we shall sing a song of the deliverance of our house,
the song that women raise when the wind sits fair, and not the shrill strain of those who mourn: “The ship goes well. This grows to profit for me, for me, and calamity holds off from those I love.”

> Greek: Χορός:
καὶ τότʼ ἤδη κλυτὸν
δωμάτων λυτήριον,
θῆλυν οὐριοστάταν οὐδʼ
ὀξύκρεκτον γοα-
τᾶν νόμον θήσομεν· πλεῖ τάδʼ εὖ·
ἐμὸν ἐμὸν κέρδος αὔξεται τόδʼ· ἄ-
τα δʼ ἀποστατεῖ φίλων.

[¶47] Chorus:
But may you with good courage, when the part of action comes, cry out loud the name “Father” when she exclaims “Son,”
and accomplish the baneful but irreproachable deed.

> Greek: Χορός:
σὺ δὲ θαρσῶν, ὅταν ἥκῃ μέρος ἔργων,
ἐπαΰσας πατρὸς αὐδὰν
θροούσᾳ [πρὸς σὲ] τέκνον [πατρὸς αὐδὰν]
[καὶ] πέραινʼ ἀνεπίμομφον ἄταν.

[¶48] Chorus:
Raise up Perseus’ spirit within my breast. And for those dear to you below the earth, and for those above, exact satisfaction for their dire wrath
by working bloody ruin in our house and obliterating the guilt of murder.
Enter Aegisthus

> Greek: Χορός:
Περσέως τʼ ἐν φρεσὶν
καρδίαν ἀνασχεθών,
τοῖς θʼ ὑπὸ χθονὸς φίλοισιν,
τοῖς τʼ ἄνωθεν πρόπρασ-
σε χάριν ὀργᾶς λυγρᾶς, ἔνδοθεν
φόνιον ἄταν τιθείς, τὸν αἴτιον δʼ
ἐξαπολλύων μόρου.

[¶49] Aegisthus:
I have come not unasked but summoned by a messenger. I heard startling news told by some strangers who have arrived, tidings far from welcome:
—that Orestes is dead. To lay this too upon our house would be a fearful burden when it is still festering and galled by the wound inflicted by an earlier murder. How can I believe this tale is the living truth? Or is it merely a panic-stricken report spread by women
which leaps up to die away in nothingness? What can you tell me of this to make it plain to my mind?

> Greek: Αἴγισθος:
ἥκω μὲν οὐκ ἄκλητος, ἀλλʼ ὑπάγγελος·
νέαν φάτιν δὲ πεύθομαι λέγειν τινὰς
ξένους μολόντας οὐδαμῶς ἐφίμερον,
μόρον δʼ Ὀρέστου. καὶ τόδʼ ἀμφέρειν δόμοις
γένοιτʼ ἂν ἄχθος δειματοσταγὲς φόνῳ
τῷ πρόσθεν ἑλκαίνουσι καὶ δεδηγμένοις.
πῶς ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ καὶ βλέποντα δοξάσω;
ἢ πρὸς γυναικῶν δειματούμενοι λόγοι
πεδάρσιοι θρῴσκουσι, θνῄσκοντες μάτην;
τί τῶνδʼ ἂν εἴποις ὥστε δηλῶσαι φρενί;

[¶50] Chorus:
We heard the tale, it is true. But go inside and inquire of the strangers. The certainty of a messenger’s report
is nothing compared with one’s own interrogation of the man himself.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἠκούσαμεν μέν, πυνθάνου δὲ τῶν ξένων
ἔσω παρελθών. οὐδὲν ἀγγέλων σθένος
ὡς αὐτὸν αὐτῶν ἄνδρα πεύθεσθαι πάρα.

[¶51] Aegisthus:
I wish to see the messenger and put him to the test again—whether he himself was present at the death or merely repeats from vague reports what he has heard. No! Be sure he cannot deceive a mind with eyes open. Exit

> Greek: Αἴγισθος:
ἰδεῖν ἐλέγξαι τʼ αὖ θέλω τὸν ἄγγελον,
εἴτʼ αὐτὸς ἦν θνῄσκοντος ἐγγύθεν παρών,
εἴτʼ ἐξ ἀμαυρᾶς κληδόνος λέγει μαθών.
οὔτοι φρένʼ ἂν κλέψειεν ὠμματωμένην.

[¶52] Chorus:
O Zeus, O Zeus, what should I say? Where shall I begin this prayer of mine, this appeal to the gods? How in my loyal zeal can I succeed in finding words to match need? Now is the moment when the blood-stained edges of the blades that lay men low
are utterly forever to destroy the house of Agamemnon. Or else, kindling a flaming light in the cause of freedom, Orestes will win both the rule over his realm and the rich possessions of his fathers.
Our gallant Orestes, with no one to assist him, is now to meet with two in such a contest. And may it be to triumph!
A shriek is heard from within

> Greek: Χορός:
Ζεῦ Ζεῦ, τί λέγω, πόθεν ἄρξωμαι
τάδʼ ἐπευχομένη κἀπιθεάζουσʼ,
ὑπὸ δʼ εὐνοίας
πῶς ἴσον εἰποῦσʼ ἀνύσωμαι;
νῦν γὰρ μέλλουσι μιανθεῖσαι
πειραὶ κοπάνων ἀνδροδαΐκτων
ἢ πάνυ θήσειν Ἀγαμεμνονίων
οἴκων ὄλεθρον διὰ παντός,
ἢ πῦρ καὶ φῶς ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίᾳ
δαίων ἀρχάς τε πολισσονόμους
πατέρων ⟨θʼ⟩ ἕξει μέγαν ὄλβον.
τοιάνδε πάλην μόνος ὢν ἔφεδρος
δισσοῖς μέλλει θεῖος Ὀρέστης
ἅψειν. εἴη δʼ ἐπὶ νίκῃ.

[¶53] Aegisthus:
within Oh! Oh! O woe!

> Greek: Αἴγισθος:
ἒ ἔ, ὀτοτοτοῖ.

[¶54] Chorus:
Ah! Ah! Alas! What is happening? What is being accomplished for our house? Let us stand apart while the matter is still unsettled so that we may be considered blameless in these ills. For the issue of the fighting has now been decided. The Chorus withdraws to the side of the scene; then a servant of Aegisthus rushes in

> Greek: Χορός:
ἔα ἔα μάλα·
πῶς ἔχει; πῶς κέκρανται δόμοις;
ἀποσταθῶμεν πράγματος τελουμένου,
ὅπως δοκῶμεν τῶνδʼ ἀναίτιαι κακῶν
εἶναι· μάχης γὰρ δὴ κεκύρωται τέλος.

[¶55] Servant:
O woe, oh utter woe! My master is slain! O woe! I cry yet again, for the third time. Aegisthus is no more! Come, with all speed! Unbar and open the women’s door! And a strong arm indeed is needed, but not to help him who is already slain: what good is there in that?
Help! Help! Am I shouting to the deaf and fruitlessly wasting my voice on people who are asleep? Where has Clytaemestra gone? What is she doing? Her own neck, near the razor’s edge, is now ready to fall beneath the stroke.
Clytaemestra hurries in unattended

> Greek: Οἰκέτης:
οἴμοι, πανοίμοι δεσπότου πεπληγμένου·
οἴμοι μάλʼ αὖθις ἐν τρίτοις προσφθέγμασιν.
Αἴγισθος οὐκέτʼ ἔστιν. ἀλλʼ ἀνοίξατε
ὅπως τάχιστα, καὶ γυναικείους πύλας
μοχλοῖς χαλᾶτε· καὶ μάλʼ ἡβῶντος δὲ δεῖ,
οὐχ ὡς δʼ ἀρῆξαι διαπεπραγμένῳ· τί γάρ;
ἰοὺ ἰού.
κωφοῖς ἀυτῶ καὶ καθεύδουσιν μάτην
ἄκραντα βάζω; ποῖ Κλυταιμήστρα; τί δρᾷ;
ἔοικε νῦν αὐτῆς ἐπὶ ξυροῦ πέλας
αὐχὴν πεσεῖσθαι πρὸς δίκην πεπληγμένος.

[¶56] Clytaemestra:
What is this? What cry for help are you raising in our house?

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
τί δʼ ἐστὶ χρῆμα; τίνα βοὴν ἵστης δόμοις;

[¶57] Servant:
I tell you the dead are killing the living.

> Greek: Οἰκέτης:
τὸν ζῶντα καίνειν τοὺς τεθνηκότας λέγω.

[¶58] Clytaemestra:
Ah! Indeed I grasp the meaning of the riddle. We are to perish by treachery, just as we committed murder. Someone give me a battle-axe, and quickly! Let us know if we are victors or vanquished:

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οἲ ʼγώ. ξυνῆκα τοὔπος ἐξ αἰνιγμάτων.
δόλοις ὀλούμεθʼ, ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκτείναμεν.
δοίη τις ἀνδροκμῆτα πέλεκυν ὡς τάχος·

[¶59] for I have even come to this in this wretched business. Exit Servant. The door is opened and the corpse of Aegisthus is discovered. Nearby stands Orestes, and at a distance Pylades
Orestes:
It is you I seek. He over there has had enough.

> Greek: εἰδῶμεν εἰ νικῶμεν, ἢ νικώμεθα·
ἐνταῦθα γὰρ δὴ τοῦδʼ ἀφικόμην κακοῦ.
Ὀρέστης:
σὲ καὶ ματεύω· τῷδε δʼ ἀρκούντως ἔχει.

[¶60] Clytaemestra:
Oh no! My beloved, valiant Aegisthus! You are dead!

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οἲ ʼγώ. τέθνηκας, φίλτατʼ Αἰγίσθου βία.

[¶61] Orestes:
You love this man? Then you will lie in the same grave,
and you will never abandon him in death.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
φιλεῖς τὸν ἄνδρα; τοιγὰρ ἐν ταὐτῷ τάφῳ
κείσῃ· θανόντα δʼ οὔτι μὴ προδῷς ποτε.

[¶62] Clytaemestra:
Wait, my son! Have pity, child, upon this breast at which many times while you slept you sucked with toothless gums the milk that nourished you.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ἐπίσχες, ὦ παῖ, τόνδε δʼ αἴδεσαι, τέκνον,
μαστόν, πρὸς ᾧ σὺ πολλὰ δὴ βρίζων ἅμα
οὔλοισιν ἐξήμελξας εὐτραφὲς γάλα.

[¶63] Orestes:
Pylades, what shall I do? Shall I spare my mother out of pity?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
Πυλάδη τί δράσω; μητέρʼ αἰδεσθῶ κτανεῖν;

[¶64] Pylades:
What then will become in the future of Loxias’ oracles declared at Pytho, and of our sworn pact? Count all men your enemies rather than the gods.

> Greek: Πυλάδης:
ποῦ δὴ τὰ λοιπὰ Λοξίου μαντεύματα
τὰ πυθόχρηστα, πιστὰ δʼ εὐορκώματα;
ἅπαντας ἐχθροὺς τῶν θεῶν ἡγοῦ πλέον.

[¶65] Orestes:
I judge you victor: you advise me well. To Clytaemestra Come, this way! I mean to kill you by his very side. For while he lived, you thought him better than my father.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
κρίνω σὲ νικᾶν, καὶ παραινεῖς μοι καλῶς.
ἕπου, πρὸς αὐτὸν τόνδε σὲ σφάξαι θέλω.

[¶66] Sleep with him in death, since you love him but hate the man you were bound to love.

> Greek: καὶ ζῶντα γάρ νιν κρείσσονʼ ἡγήσω πατρός·
τούτῳ θανοῦσα ξυγκάθευδʼ, ἐπεὶ φιλεῖς
τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, ὃν δʼ ἐχρῆν φιλεῖν στυγεῖς.

[¶67] Clytaemestra:
It was I who nourished you, and with you I would grow old.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ἐγώ σʼ ἔθρεψα, σὺν δὲ γηράναι θέλω.

[¶68] Orestes:
What! Murder my father and then make your home with me?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
πατροκτονοῦσα γὰρ ξυνοικήσεις ἐμοί;

[¶69] Clytaemestra:
Fate, my child, must share the blame for this.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ἡ Μοῖρα τούτων, ὦ τέκνον, παραιτία.

[¶70] Orestes:
And fate now brings this destiny to pass.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
καὶ τόνδε τοίνυν Μοῖρʼ ἐπόρσυνεν μόρον.

[¶71] Clytaemestra:
Have you no regard for a parent’s curse, my son?

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οὐδὲν σεβίζῃ γενεθλίους ἀράς, τέκνον;

[¶72] Orestes:
You brought me to birth and yet you cast me out to misery.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τεκοῦσα γάρ μʼ ἔρριψας ἐς τὸ δυστυχές.

[¶73] Clytaemestra:
No, surely I did not cast you out in sending you to the house of an ally.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οὔτοι σʼ ἀπέρριψʼ εἰς δόμους δορυξένους.

[¶74] Orestes:
I was sold in disgrace, though I was born of a free father.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
αἰκῶς ἐπράθην ὢν ἐλευθέρου πατρός.

[¶75] Clytaemestra:
Then where is the price I got for you?

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ποῦ δῆθʼ ὁ τῖμος, ὅντινʼ ἀντεδεξάμην;

[¶76] Orestes:
I am ashamed to reproach you with that outright.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
αἰσχύνομαί σοι τοῦτʼ ὀνειδίσαι σαφῶς.

[¶77] Clytaemestra:
But do not fail to proclaim the follies of that father of yours as well.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
μὴ ἀλλʼ εἴφʼ ὁμοίως καὶ πατρὸς τοῦ σοῦ μάτας.

[¶78] Orestes:
Do not accuse him who suffered while you sat idle at home.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
μὴ ʼλεγχε τὸν πονοῦντʼ ἔσω καθημένη.

[¶79] Clytaemestra:
It is a grief for women to be deprived of a husband, my child.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ἄλγος γυναιξὶν ἀνδρὸς εἴργεσθαι, τέκνον.

[¶80] Orestes:
Yes, but it is the husband’s toil that supports them while they sit at home.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τρέφει δέ γʼ ἀνδρὸς μόχθος ἡμένας ἔσω.

[¶81] Clytaemestra:
You seem resolved, my child, to kill your mother.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
κτενεῖν ἔοικας, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν μητέρα.

[¶82] Orestes:
You will kill yourself, not I.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
σύ τοι σεαυτήν, οὐκ ἐγώ, κατακτενεῖς.

[¶83] Clytaemestra:
Take care: beware the hounds of wrath that avenge a mother.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ὅρα, φύλαξαι μητρὸς ἐγκότους κύνας.

[¶84] Orestes:
And how shall I escape my father’s if I leave this undone?

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς δὲ πῶς φύγω, παρεὶς τάδε;

[¶85] Clytaemestra:
I see that though living I mourn in vain before a tomb.

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
ἔοικα θρηνεῖν ζῶσα πρὸς τύμβον μάτην.

[¶86] Orestes:
Yes, for my father’s fate has marked out this destiny for you.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
πατρὸς γὰρ αἶσα τόνδε σοὐρίζει μόρον.

[¶87] Clytaemestra:
Oh no! I myself bore and nourished this serpent!

> Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα:
οἲ ʼγὼ τεκοῦσα τόνδʼ ὄφιν ἐθρεψάμην.

[¶88] Orestes:
Yes, the terror from your dream was indeed a prophet. You killed him whom you should not; so suffer what should not be.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἦ κάρτα μάντις οὑξ ὀνειράτων φόβος.

[¶89] He forces Clytaemestra within; Pylades follows
Chorus:
Truly I grieve even for these in their twofold downfall. Yet since long-suffering Orestes has reached the peak of many deeds of blood, we would rather have it so, that the eye of the house should not be utterly lost.

> Greek: ἔκανες ὃν οὐ χρῆν, καὶ τὸ μὴ χρεὼν πάθε.
Χορός:
στένω μὲν οὖν καὶ τῶνδε συμφορὰν διπλῆν.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλῶν αἱμάτων ἐπήκρισε
τλήμων Ὀρέστης, τοῦθʼ ὅμως αἱρούμεθα,
ὀφθαλμὸν οἴκων μὴ πανώλεθρον πεσεῖν.

[¶90] Chorus:
As to Priam and his sons justice came at last in crushing retribution, so to Agamemnon’s house came a twofold lion, twofold slaughter.
The exile, the suppliant of Pytho, has fulfilled his course to the utmost, justly urged on by counsels from the gods.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἔμολε μὲν δίκα Πριαμίδαις χρόνῳ,
βαρύδικος ποινά·
ἔμολε δʼ ἐς δόμον τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος
διπλοῦς λέων, διπλοῦς Ἄρης.
ἔλασε δʼ ἐς τὸ πᾶν
ὁ πυθόχρηστος φυγὰς
θεόθεν εὖ φραδαῖσιν ὡρμημένος.

[¶91] Chorus:
Oh raise a shout of triumph over the escape of our master’s house from its misery and the wasting of its wealth by two who were unclean,
its grievous fortune!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐπολολύξατʼ ὦ δεσποσύνων δόμων
ἀναφυγᾶς κακῶν καὶ κτεάνων τριβᾶς
ὑπαὶ δυοῖν μιαστόροιν,
δυσοίμου τύχας.

[¶92] Chorus:
And he has come whose part is the crafty vengeance of stealthy attack, and in the battle his hand was guided by her who is in very truth daughter of Zeus, breathing murderous wrath on her foes.
We mortals aim true to the mark when we call her Justice.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἔμολε δʼ ᾧ μέλει κρυπταδίου μάχας
δολιόφρων ποινά·
ἔθιγε δʼ ἐν μάχᾳ χερὸς ἐτήτυμος
Διὸς κόρα—Δίκαν δέ νιν
προσαγορεύομεν βροτοὶ τυχόντες καλῶς—
ὀλέθριον πνέουσʼ ἐν ἐχθροῖς κότον.

[¶93] Chorus:
Oh raise a shout of triumph over the escape of our master’s house from its misery and the wasting of its wealth by two who were unclean,
its grievous fortune!

> Greek: Χορός:
⟨ἐπολολύξατʼ ὦ δεσποσύνων δόμων⟩
⟨ἀναφυγᾶς κακῶν καὶ κτεάνων τριβᾶς⟩
⟨ὑπαὶ δυοῖν μιαστόροιν,⟩
⟨δυσοίμου τύχας.⟩

[¶94] Chorus:
The commands proclaimed loudly by Loxias, tenant of the mighty cavern shrine of Parnassus, assail with guileless guile
the mischief now become inveterate. May the divine word prevail that so I may not serve the wicked!

> Greek: Χορός:
τά περ ὁ Λοξίας ὁ Παρνασσίας
μέγαν ἔχων μυχὸν χθονὸς ἐπωρθία-
ξεν ἀδόλως δόλοις
βλάβαν ἐγχρονισθεῖσαν ἐποίχεται.
κρατεῖταί πως τὸ θεῖον παρὰ τὸ μὴ
ὑπουργεῖν κακοῖς.

[¶95] It is right to revere the rule of heaven.

> Greek: ἄξια δʼ οὐρανοῦχον ἀρχὰν σέβειν.

[¶96] Chorus:
Look, the light has come, and I am freed from the cruel curb that restrained our household. House, rise up! You have lain too long prostrate on the ground.

> Greek: Χορός:
πάρα τε φῶς ἰδεῖν
μέγα τʼ ἀφῃρέθην ψάλιον οἰκέων.
ἄναγε μὰν δόμοι· πολὺν ἄγαν χρόνον
χαμαιπετεῖς ἔκεισθʼ ἀεί.

[¶97] Chorus:
But soon time that accomplishes all will pass the portals of our house, and then all pollution will be expelled from the hearth by cleansing rites that drive out calamity. The dice of fortune will turn as they fall and lie
with faces all lovely to behold, favorably disposed to whoever stays in our house.

> Greek: Χορός:
τάχα δὲ παντελὴς χρόνος ἀμείψεται
πρόθυρα δωμάτων, ὅταν ἀφʼ ἑστίας
πᾶν ἐλαθῇ μύσος
καθαρμοῖσιν ἀτᾶν ἐλατηρίοις.
τύχαι δʼ εὐπροσωποκοῖται τὸ πᾶν
ἰδεῖν [ἀκοῦσαι] πρευμενεῖς
μετοίκοις δόμων πεσοῦνται πάλιν.

[¶98] Chorus:
Look, the light has come,
and I am freed from the cruel curb that restrained our household. House, rise up! You have lain too long prostrate on the ground.
Orestes with the branch and wreath of a suppliant is disclosed standing by the bodies. With him are Pylades and attendants who display the robe of Agamemnon

> Greek: Χορός:
πάρα τε φῶς ἰδεῖν
⟨μέγα τʼ ἀφῃρέθην ψάλιον οἰκέων.⟩
⟨ἄναγε μὰν δόμοι· πολὺν ἄγαν χρόνον⟩
⟨χαμαιπετεῖς ἔκεισθʼ ἀεί.⟩

[¶99] Orestes:
Behold this pair, oppressors of the land, who murdered my father and ransacked my house! They were majestic then, when they sat on their thrones,
and are lovers even now, as one may judge by what has happened to them, and their oath holds true to their pledges. Together they vowed a league of death against my unhappy father, and together they vowed to die, and they have kept their promise well. But now regard again, you who hear this account of ills,
the device for binding my unhappy father, with which his hands were manacled, his feet fettered. Spread it out! Stand around in a circle, and display this covering for a man, that the Father may see—not mine, but he who surveys all this, the Sun—
that he may see the impious work of my own mother, that he may be my witness in court that I justly pursued this death, my own mother’s. For I do not speak of Aegisthus’ death: he has suffered the penalty prescribed for adulterers.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἴδεσθε χώρας τὴν διπλῆν τυραννίδα
πατροκτόνους τε δωμάτων πορθήτορας.
σεμνοὶ μὲν ἦσαν ἐν θρόνοις τόθʼ ἥμενοι,
φίλοι δὲ καὶ νῦν, ὡς ἐπεικάσαι πάθη
πάρεστιν, ὅρκος τʼ ἐμμένει πιστώμασι.
ξυνώμοσαν μὲν θάνατον ἀθλίῳ πατρὶ
καὶ ξυνθανεῖσθαι· καὶ τάδʼ εὐόρκως ἔχει.
ἴδεσθε δʼ αὖτε, τῶνδʼ ἐπήκοοι κακῶν,
τὸ μηχάνημα, δεσμὸν ἀθλίῳ πατρί,
πέδας τε χειροῖν καὶ ποδοῖν ξυνωρίδα.
ἐκτείνατʼ αὐτὸ καὶ κύκλῳ παρασταδὸν
στέγαστρον ἀνδρὸς δείξαθʼ, ὡς ἴδῃ πατήρ,
οὐχ οὑμός, ἀλλʼ ὁ πάντʼ ἐποπτεύων τάδε
Ἥλιος, ἄναγνα μητρὸς ἔργα τῆς ἐμῆς,
ὡς ἂν παρῇ μοι μάρτυς ἐν δίκῃ ποτέ,
ὡς τόνδʼ ἐγὼ μετῆλθον ἐνδίκως μόρον
τὸν μητρός· Αἰγίσθου γὰρ οὐ λέγω μόρον·

[¶100] But she who devised this abhorrent deed against her husband, whose children she bore, a burden under her belt, a burden once dear, but now a hateful ill, as it seems: what do you think of her? Had she been born a seasnake or a viper, I think her very touch without her bite would have caused anyone else to rot,
if shamelessness and an immoral disposition could do so. He again takes up the bloody robe What name shall I give it, however tactful I may be? A trap for a wild beast? Or a shroud for a corpse in his bier, wrapped around his feet? No, rather it is a net: you might call it a hunting net, or robes to entangle a man’s feet.
This would be the kind of thing a highwayman might posses, who deceives strangers and earns his living by robbery, and with this cunning snare he might kill many men and warm his own heart greatly. May such a woman not live with me in my house!

> Greek: ἔχει γὰρ αἰσχυντῆρος, ὡς νόμος, δίκην·
ἥτις δʼ ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ τοῦτʼ ἐμήσατο στύγος,
ἐξ οὗ τέκνων ἤνεγχʼ ὑπὸ ζώνην βάρος,
φίλον τέως, νῦν δʼ ἐχθρόν, ὡς φαίνει, κακόν,
τί σοι δοκεῖ; μύραινά γʼ εἴτʼ ἔχιδνʼ ἔφυ
σήπειν θιγοῦσʼ ἂν ἄλλον οὐ δεδηγμένον
τόλμης ἕκατι κἀκδίκου φρονήματος.
τί νιν προσείπω, κἂν τύχω μάλʼ εὐστομῶν;
ἄγρευμα θηρός, ἢ νεκροῦ ποδένδυτον
δροίτης κατασκήνωμα; δίκτυον μὲν οὖν,
ἄρκυν τʼ ἂν εἴποις καὶ ποδιστῆρας πέπλους.
τοιοῦτον ἂν κτήσαιτο φηλήτης ἀνήρ,
ξένων ἀπαιόλημα κἀργυροστερῆ
βίον νομίζων, τῷδέ τʼ ἂν δολώματι
πολλοὺς ἀναιρῶν πολλὰ θερμαίνοι φρένα.

[¶101] Before that may the gods grant me to perish childless!

> Greek: τοιάδʼ ἐμοὶ ξύνοικος ἐν δόμοισι μὴ
γένοιτʼ· ὀλοίμην πρόσθεν ἐκ θεῶν ἄπαις.

[¶102] Chorus:
Alas! Alas! Sorrowful work! You were done in by a wretched death. Alas! Alas! And for the survivor also suffering blossoms.

> Greek: Χορός:
αἰαῖ ⟨αἰαῖ⟩ μελέων ἔργων·
στυγερῷ θανάτῳ διεπράχθης.
ἒ ἔ,
μίμνοντι δὲ καὶ πάθος ἀνθεῖ.

[¶103] Orestes:
Did she do the deed or not? No, this is my witness, dyed by Aegisthus’ sword. This is a stain of blood that helps time to spoil the many tinctures of embroidered fabric. Now at last I speak his praises. Now at last I am present to lament him, as I address this web that wrought my father’s death.
Yet I grieve for the deed and the punishment and for my whole clan. My victory is an unenviable pollution.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἔδρασεν ἢ οὐκ ἔδρασε; μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι
φᾶρος τόδʼ, ὡς ἔβαψεν Αἰγίσθου ξίφος.
φόνου δὲ κηκὶς ξὺν χρόνῳ ξυμβάλλεται,
πολλὰς βαφὰς φθείρουσα τοῦ ποικίλματος.
νῦν αὐτὸν αἰνῶ, νῦν ἀποιμώζω παρών,
πατροκτόνον θʼ ὕφασμα προσφωνῶν τόδε.
ἀλγῶ μὲν ἔργα καὶ πάθος γένος τε πᾶν,
ἄζηλα νίκης τῆσδʼ ἔχων μιάσματα.

[¶104] Chorus:
No mortal being shall pass his life unscathed, free from all suffering to the end.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὔτις μερόπων ἀσινὴς βίοτον
διὰ παντὸς ἀπήμονʼ ἀμείψει.

[¶105] Alas! Alas! One tribulation comes today, another tomorrow.

> Greek: ἒ ἔ,
μόχθος δʼ ὁ μὲν αὐτίχʼ, ὁ δʼ ἥξει.

[¶106] Orestes:
But since I would have you know, for I do not know how it will end: I think I am a charioteer driving my team far beyond the course. For my ungoverned wits are whirling me away overmastered, and at my heart fear wishes to sing and dance to a tune of wrath.
But while I am still in my senses, I proclaim to those who hold me dear and declare that not without justice did I slay my mother, the unclean murderess of my father, and a thing loathed by the gods. And for the spells that gave me the courage for this deed I count Loxias, the prophet of Pytho,
my chief source. It was he who declared that, if I did this thing, I would be acquitted of wrongdoing. But if I refrained—I will not name the penalty; for no bowshot could reach such a height of anguish. And now observe me, how armed with this branch and wreath I go as a suppliant, an outcast for the shedding of kindred blood, to the temple set square on the womb of the earth,
the precinct of Loxias, and to the bright fire said to be imperishable. To no other hearth did Loxias bid me turn. And as to the manner in which this evil deed was wrought, I charge all men of Argos in time to come to bear me witness.
I go forth a wanderer, estranged from this land, leaving this repute behind, in life or death.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἂν εἰδῆτʼ, οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ ὅπη τελεῖ,
ὥσπερ ξὺν ἵπποις ἡνιοστροφῶ δρόμου
ἐξωτέρω· φέρουσι γὰρ νικώμενον
φρένες δύσαρκτοι· πρὸς δὲ καρδίᾳ φόβος
ᾄδειν ἕτοιμος ἠδʼ ὑπορχεῖσθαι κότῳ.
ἕως δʼ ἔτʼ ἔμφρων εἰμί, κηρύσσω φίλοις
κτανεῖν τέ φημι μητέρʼ οὐκ ἄνευ δίκης,
πατροκτόνον μίασμα καὶ θεῶν στύγος.
καὶ φίλτρα τόλμης τῆσδε πλειστηρίζομαι
τὸν πυθόμαντιν Λοξίαν, χρήσαντʼ ἐμοὶ
πράξαντι μὲν ταῦτʼ ἐκτὸς αἰτίας κακῆς
εἶναι, παρέντα δʼ—οὐκ ἐρῶ τὴν ζημίαν·
τόξῳ γὰρ οὔτις πημάτων ἐφίξεται.
καὶ νῦν ὁρᾶτέ μʼ, ὡς παρεσκευασμένος
ξὺν τῷδε θαλλῷ καὶ στέφει προσίξομαι
μεσόμφαλόν θʼ ἵδρυμα, Λοξίου πέδον,
πυρός τε φέγγος ἄφθιτον κεκλημένον,
φεύγων τόδʼ αἷμα κοινόν· οὐδʼ ἐφʼ ἑστίαν
ἄλλην τραπέσθαι Λοξίας ἐφίετο.
καὶ μαρτυρεῖν μὲν ὡς ἐπορσύνθη κακὰ
τάδʼ ἐν χρόνῳ μοι πάντας Ἀργείους λέγω·
ἐγὼ δʼ ἀλήτης τῆσδε γῆς ἀπόξενος,
ζῶν καὶ τεθνηκὼς τάσδε κληδόνας λιπών.

[¶107] Chorus:
And you have done well. Therefore do not yoke your tongue to an ill-omened speech, nor let your lips give vent to evil forebodings,
since you have freed the whole realm of Argos by lopping off the heads of two serpents with a fortunate stroke.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ εὖ γʼ ἔπραξας, μηδʼ ἐπιζευχθῇς στόμα
φήμῃ πονηρᾷ μηδʼ ἐπιγλωσσῶ κακά,
ἐλευθερώσας πᾶσαν Ἀργείων πόλιν,
δυοῖν δρακόντοιν εὐπετῶς τεμὼν κάρα.

[¶108] Orestes:
Ah, ah! You handmaidens, look at them there: like Gorgons, wrapped in sable garments, entwined with
swarming snakes! I can stay no longer.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἆ, ἆ.
δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, αἵδε Γοργόνων δίκην
φαιοχίτωνες καὶ πεπλεκτανημέναι
πυκνοῖς δράκουσιν· οὐκέτʼ ἂν μείναιμʼ ἐγώ.

[¶109] Chorus:
What fantasies disturb you, dearest of sons to your father? Wait, do not be all overcome by fear.

> Greek: Χορός:
τίνες σε δόξαι, φίλτατʼ ἀνθρώπων πατρί,
στροβοῦσιν; ἴσχε, μὴ φόβου νικῶ πολύ.

[¶110] Orestes:
To me these are no imagined troubles. For there indeed are the hounds of wrath to avenge my mother.

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
οὐκ εἰσὶ δόξαι τῶνδε πημάτων ἐμοί·
σαφῶς γὰρ αἵδε μητρὸς ἔγκοτοι κύνες.

[¶111] Chorus:
It is that the blood is still fresh on your hands; this is the cause of the disorder that assails your wits.

> Greek: Χορός:
ποταίνιον γὰρ αἷμά σοι χεροῖν ἔτι·
ἐκ τῶνδέ τοι ταραγμὸς ἐς φρένας πίτνει.

[¶112] Orestes:
O lord Apollo, look! Now they come in troops, and from their eyes they drip loathsome blood!

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ἄναξ Ἄπολλον, αἵδε πληθύουσι δή,
κἀξ ὀμμάτων στάζουσιν αἷμα δυσφιλές.

[¶113] Chorus:
There is one way to cleanse you: the touch of Loxias
will set you free from this affliction.

> Greek: Χορός:
εἷς σοὶ καθαρμός· Λοξίας δὲ προσθιγὼν
ἐλεύθερόν σε τῶνδε πημάτων κτίσει.

[¶114] Orestes:
You do not see them, but I see them. I am pursued. I can stay no longer. Rushes out

> Greek: Ὀρέστης:
ὑμεῖς μὲν οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τάσδʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ ὁρῶ·
ἐλαύνομαι δὲ κοὐκέτʼ ἂν μείναιμʼ ἐγὼ.

[¶115] Chorus:
Then may blessings go with you, and may the god watch benevolently over you and guard you with favorable fortunes!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ εὐτυχοίης, καί σʼ ἐποπτεύων πρόφρων
θεὸς φυλάσσοι καιρίοισι συμφοραῖς.

[¶116] Look! Now again, for the third time, has the tempest of this clan burst on the royal house and run its course. First, at the beginning, came the cruel woes of children slain for food; next, the fate of a man, a king,
when the warlord of the Achaeans perished, murdered in his bath. And now, once again, there has come from somewhere a third, a deliverer, or shall I say a doom?

> Greek: Χορός:
ὅδε τοι μελάθροις τοῖς βασιλείοις
τρίτος αὖ χειμὼν
πνεύσας γονίας ἐτελέσθη.
παιδοβόροι μὲν πρῶτον ὑπῆρξαν
μόχθοι τάλανές [τε Θυέστου]·
δεύτερον ἀνδρὸς βασίλεια πάθη·
λουτροδάικτος δʼ ὤλετʼ Ἀχαιῶν
πολέμαρχος ἀνήρ·
νῦν δʼ αὖ τρίτος ἦλθέ ποθεν σωτήρ,
ἢ μόρον εἴπω;

[¶117] Oh when will it finish its work, when will the fury of calamity, lulled to rest, find an end and cease?

> Greek: ποῖ δῆτα κρανεῖ, ποῖ καταλήξει
μετακοιμισθὲν μένος ἄτης;