Orestes:There is no one who would blame you.
Ὀρέστης:οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεὶς ὅστις ἂν μέμψαιτό σε.
Electra:Our citizens are hard to please, and love scandal.
Ἠλέκτρα:δυσάρεστος ἡμῶν καὶ φιλόψογος πόλις.
Orestes:Speak, if you need to say anything, sister; for we engaged in hostilities with him on terms without truce.
Ὀρέστης:λέγʼ, εἴ τι χρῄζεις, σύγγονʼ· ἀσπόνδοισι γὰρνόμοισιν ἔχθραν τῷδε συμβεβλήκαμεν.
Electra: Turning to the corpse of AegisthusWell then! Which of your evil acts shall I tell of first, as a beginning? What sort of end shall I make? What part of my speech shall I assign to the middle place? And yet I never ceased, throughout the early mornings,repeating what I wished to say to your face, if ever I were free from my old terrors. And now I am; so I will pay you back with those reproaches I wanted to make when you were alive. You destroyed me, and orphaned meand this man here of a dear father, though you were wronged in no way by us; and you made a shameful marriage with my mother, and killed her husband, who led the armies of Hellas, though you never went to Troy. You were so foolish that you really expected, in marrying my mother, that she would not be unfaithful to you,though you were wronging my father’s bed. Know that whoever ruins another’s wife, in secret love, and then is forced to take her himself, is pitiable, if he thinks that the chastity which did not govern her before will do so with him.
Ἠλέκτρα:εἶἑν· τίνʼ ἀρχὴν πρῶτά σʼ ἐξείπω κακῶν,ποίας τελευτάς; τίνα μέσον τάξω λόγον;καὶ μὴν διʼ ὄρθρων γʼ οὔποτʼ ἐξελίμπανονθρυλοῦσʼ ἅ γʼ εἰπεῖν ἤθελον κατʼ ὄμμα σόν,εἰ δὴ γενοίμην δειμάτων ἐλευθέρατῶν πρόσθε. νῦν οὖν ἐσμεν· ἀποδώσω δέ σοιἐκεῖνʼ ἅ σε ζῶντʼ ἤθελον λέξαι κακά.ἀπώλεσάς με κὠρφανὴν φίλου πατρὸςκαὶ τόνδʼ ἔθηκας, οὐδὲν ἠδικημένος,κἄγημας αἰσχρῶς μητέρʼ ἄνδρα τʼ ἔκτανεςστρατηλατοῦνθʼ Ἕλλησιν, οὐκ ἐλθὼν Φρύγας.ἐς τοῦτο δʼ ἦλθες ἀμαθίας ὥστʼ ἤλπισαςὡς ἐς σὲ ἐμὴν δὴ μητέρʼ οὐχ ἕξοις κακὴνγήμας, ἐμοῦ δὲ πατρὸς ἠδίκεις λέχη.ἴστω δʼ, ὅταν τις διολέσας δάμαρτά τουκρυπταῖσιν εὐναῖς εἶτʼ ἀναγκασθῇ λαβεῖν,δύστηνός ἐστιν, εἰ δοκεῖ τὸ σωφρονεῖνἐκεῖ μὲν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἔχειν, παρʼ οἷ δʼ ἔχειν.
You lived most miserably, although you thought it otherwise; you knew well that you had made an unholy marriage, and my mother knew that she had in you an impious husband. Both being wicked, she took up your fortune, you her evil.
ἄλγιστα δʼ ᾤκεις, οὐ δοκῶν οἰκεῖν κακῶς·ᾔδησθα γὰρ δῆτʼ ἀνόσιον γήμας γάμον,μήτηρ δὲ σʼ ἄνδρα δυσσεβῆ κεκτημένη.ἄμφω πονηρὼ δʼ ὄντʼ ἀνῃρεῖσθον τύχηνκείνη τε τὴν σὴν καὶ σὺ τοὐκείνης κακόν.
Among all the Argives you would hear this: “That woman’s husband,” not “that man’s wife.” Although this is a shameful thing, for the wife to rule the house and not the husband; and I hate those children who are called in the city not the sons of the man, their father,but of their mother. For instance, when a man makes a remarkable marriage, one above his rank, there is no talk of the husband but only of the wife. This deceived you the most, in your ignorance: you professed to be some one, strong in your wealth,but that is nothing, except to associate with briefly. It is nature that is secure, not wealth; for, always standing by, it takes away troubles; but prosperity, when it lives wickedly and with fools, flies out of the house, flowering for a short time.
πᾶσιν δʼ ἐν Ἀργείοισιν ἤκουες τάδε·Ὁ τῆς γυναικός — οὐχὶ τἀνδρὸς ἡ γυνή.καίτοι τόδʼ αἰσχρόν, προστατεῖν γε δωμάτωνγυναῖκα, μὴ τὸν ἄνδρα· κἀκείνους στυγῶτοὺς παῖδας, ὅστις τοῦ μὲν ἄρσενος πατρὸςοὐκ ὠνόμασται, τῆς δὲ μητρὸς ἐν πόλει.ἐπίσημα γὰρ γήμαντι καὶ μείζω λέχητἀνδρὸς μὲν οὐδείς, τῶν δὲ θηλειῶν λόγος.ὃ δʼ ἠπάτα σε πλεῖστον οὐκ ἐγνωκότα,ηὔχεις τις εἶναι τοῖσι χρήμασι σθένων·τὰ δʼ οὐδὲν εἰ μὴ βραχὺν ὁμιλῆσαι χρόνον.ἡ γὰρ φύσις βέβαιος, οὐ τὰ χρήματα.ἣ μὲν γὰρ αἰεὶ παραμένουσʼ αἴρει κακά·ὁ δʼ ὄλβος ἀδίκως καὶ μετὰ σκαιῶν ξυνὼνἐξέπτατʼ οἴκων, σμικρὸν ἀνθήσας χρόνον.
As to your women, I am silent—for it is not good for a maiden to speak of this—but I will tell riddles that can be understood. You were insolent because you had a king’s house and were endowed with good looks. May I never have a husband with a girl’s face, but one with a man’s ways.
ἃ δʼ ἐς γυναῖκας — παρθένῳ γὰρ οὐ καλὸνλέγειν — σιωπῶ, γνωρίμως δʼ αἰνίξομαι.ὕβριζες, ὡς δὴ βασιλικοὺς ἔχων δόμουςκάλλει τʼ ἀραρώς. ἀλλʼ ἔμοιγʼ εἴη πόσιςμὴ παρθενωπός, ἀλλὰ τἀνδρείου τρόπου.
For the children of the latter cling to a life of arms, while the fair ones are only an ornament in the dance. Spurning the corpse with her foot Begone, knowing nothing of how you were discovered and paid the penalty in time. So let no evildoer suppose, even if he runs the first step well,that he will get the better of Justice, until he comes to the end of the finish-line and makes the last turn in life.
τὰ γὰρ τέκνʼ αὐτῶν Ἄρεος ἐκκρεμάννυται,τὰ δʼ εὐπρεπῆ δὴ κόσμος ἐν χοροῖς μόνον.ἔρρʼ, οὐδὲν εἰδὼς ὧν ἐφευρεθεὶς χρόνῳδίκην δέδωκας. — ὧδέ τις κακοῦργος ὢνμή μοι τὸ πρῶτον βῆμʼ ἐὰν δράμῃ καλῶς,νικᾶν δοκείτω τὴν Δίκην, πρὶν ἂν πέλαςγραμμῆς ἵκηται καὶ τέλος κάμψῃ βίου.
Chorus Leader:He did terrible things, and repaid them to you and Orestes; for Justice has great strength.
Χορός:ἔπραξε δεινά, δεινὰ δʼ ἀντέδωκε σοὶκαὶ τῷδʼ· ἔχει γὰρ ἡ Δίκη μέγα σθένος.
Electra:Well then; you must carry the body of this man insideand hide it, slaves, so that when my mother comes, she may not see his corpse before her slaughter.
Ἠλέκτρα:εἶἑν· κομίζειν τοῦδε σῶμʼ ἔσω χρεὼνσκότῳ τε δοῦναι, δμῶες, ὡς, ὅταν μόλῃμήτηρ, σφαγῆς πάροιθε μὴ εἰσίδῃ νεκρόν.
Orestes:Wait! Let us go into another matter.
Ὀρέστης:ἐπίσχες· ἐμβάλωμεν εἰς ἄλλον λόγον.
Electra:What? Those are not rescuers from Mycenae whom I see?
Ἠλέκτρα:τί δʼ; ἐκ Μυκηνῶν μῶν βοηδρόμους ὁρῶ;
Orestes:No, but the mother who bore me.
Ὀρέστης:οὔκ, ἀλλὰ τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἥ μʼ ἐγείνατο.
Electra:Then finely she walks to the middle of the net. —And here she comes, splendid in her chariot and dress.
Ἠλέκτρα:καλῶς ἄρʼ ἄρκυν ἐς μέσην πορεύεται —καὶ μὴν ὄχοις γε καὶ στολῇ λαμπρύνεται.
Orestes:What are we going to do? Shall we kill our mother?
Ὀρέστης:τί δῆτα δρῶμεν; μητέρʼ ἦ φονεύσομεν;
Electra:Surely pity did not seize you, when you saw your mother?
Ἠλέκτρα:μῶν σʼ οἶκτος εἷλε, μητρὸς ὡς εἶδες δέμας;
Orestes:Ah! How can I kill her when she bore me and brought me up?
Ὀρέστης:φεῦ·πῶς γὰρ κτάνω νιν, ἥ μʼ ἔθρεψε κἄτεκεν;
Electra:As she killed your father and mine.
Ἠλέκτρα:ὥσπερ πατέρα σὸν ἥδε κἀμὸν ὤλεσεν.
Orestes:O Phoebus, you prophesied a great folly—
Ὀρέστης:ὦ Φοῖβε, πολλήν γʼ ἀμαθίαν ἐθέσπισας —
Electra:Where Apollo is a fool, who are the wise?
Ἠλέκτρα:ὅπου δʼ Ἀπόλλων σκαιὸς ᾖ, τίνες σοφοί;
Orestes:You who declared I was to kill my mother, whom it is clearly wrong to kill.
Ὀρέστης:ὅστις μʼ ἔχρησας μητέρʼ, ἣν οὐ χρῆν, κτανεῖν.
Electra:How can you be hurt by avenging your father?
Ἠλέκτρα:βλάπτῃ δὲ δὴ τί πατρὶ τιμωρῶν σέθεν;
Orestes:I shall stand trial as a matricide, though I was pure before.
Ὀρέστης:μητροκτόνος νῦν φεύξομαι, τόθʼ ἁγνὸς ὤν.
Electra:And by not defending your father, you will be impious.
Ἠλέκτρα:καὶ μή γʼ ἀμύνων πατρὶ δυσσεβὴς ἔσῃ.
Orestes:I, my mother—? To whom will I pay the penalty for her murder?
Ὀρέστης:ἐγὼ δὲ μητρὸς —; τῷ φόνου δώσω δίκας;
Electra:And to whom, if you give up our father’s vengeance?
Ἠλέκτρα:τῷ δʼ ἢν πατρῴαν διαμεθῇς τιμωρίαν;
Orestes:Was it a fiend who spoke in the likeness of the god?
Ὀρέστης:ἆρʼ αὔτʼ ἀλάστωρ εἶπʼ ἀπεικασθεὶς θεῷ;
Electra:Seated on the holy tripod? I do not think so.
Ἠλέκτρα:ἱερὸν καθίζων τρίποδʼ; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ δοκῶ.
Orestes:I cannot believe that this oracle was well prophesied.
Ὀρέστης:οὐδʼ ἂν πιθοίμην εὖ μεμαντεῦσθαι τάδε.
Electra:Do not become a coward and fall into unmanliness!
Ἠλέκτρα:οὐ μὴ κακισθεὶς εἰς ἀνανδρίαν πεσῇ.
Orestes:Am I to devise the same crafty scheme for her?
Ὀρέστης:ἀλλʼ ἦ τὸν αὐτὸν τῇδʼ ὑποστήσω δόλον;
Electra:The same death that you gave to her husband, Aegisthus.
Ἠλέκτρα:ᾧ καὶ πόσιν καθεῖλες, Αἴγισθον κτανών.
Orestes:I will go in; it is a dreadful task I am beginning and I will do dreadful things. If the gods approve, let it be; to me the contest is bitter and also sweet.Orestes withdraws into the house.
Ὀρέστης:ἔσειμι· δεινοῦ δʼ ἄρχομαι προβλήματοςκαὶ δεινὰ δράσω γε — εἰ θεοῖς δοκεῖ τάδε,ἔστω· πικρὸν δὲ χἡδὺ τἀγώνισμά μοι.
Chorus:Hail, Queen of the land of Argos, child of Tyndareus,and sister of those two noble sons of Zeus who dwell in the fiery heavens among the stars, whose honored office it is to save mortals in the high waves. Welcome, I give you worship equal to the blessed godsfor your wealth and great prosperity. Now is the time to pay our court to your fortunes. Welcome, o queen.
Χορός:[ἰώ,]βασίλεια γύναι χθονὸς Ἀργείας,παῖ Τυνδάρεω,καὶ τοῖν ἀγαθοῖν ξύγγονε κούροινΔιός, οἳ φλογερὰν αἰθέρʼ ἐν ἄστροιςναίουσι, βροτῶν ἐν ἁλὸς ῥοθίοιςτιμὰς σωτῆρας ἔχοντες·χαῖρε, σεβίζω σʼ ἴσα καὶ μάκαραςπλούτου μεγάλης τʼ εὐδαιμονίας.τὰς σὰς δὲ τύχας θεραπεύεσθαικαιρός. ⟨χαῖρʼ,⟩ ὦ βασίλεια.
Clytemnestra:Come out of the wagon, Trojan maids, and take my hand, that I may step down from the chariot.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἔκβητʼ ἀπήνης, Τρῳάδες, χειρὸς δʼ ἐμῆςλάβεσθʼ, ἵνʼ ἔξω τοῦδʼ ὄχου στήσω πόδα.
The homes of the gods are adorned with Phrygian spoils, but I have obtained these women, choice objects from the land of Troy, in return for the daughter whom I lost, a slight reward but an ornament to my house.
σκύλοισι μὲν γὰρ θεῶν κεκόσμηνται δόμοιΦρυγίοις, ἐγὼ δὲ τάσδε, Τρῳάδος χθονὸςἐξαίρετʼ, ἀντὶ παιδὸς ἣν ἀπώλεσασμικρὸν γέρας, καλὸν δὲ κέκτημαι δόμοις.
Electra:And, mother—for I live as a slavein this miserable house, cast out from my father’s home—may I not take that blessed hand of yours?
Ἠλέκτρα:οὔκουν ἐγώ — δούλη γὰρ ἐκβεβλημένηδόμων πατρῴων δυστυχεῖς οἰκῶ δόμους —μῆτερ, λάβωμαι μακαρίας τῆς σῆς χερός;
Clytemnestra:These slaves are here; take no trouble on my account.
Κλυταιμήστρα:δοῦλαι πάρεισιν αἵδε, μὴ σύ μοι πόνει.
Electra:What? You sent me away from home, a captive; I was taken when my home was taken, like these,all of us orphaned of a father.
Ἠλέκτρα:τί δʼ; αἰχμάλωτόν τοί μʼ ἀπῴκισας δόμων,ᾑρημένων δὲ δωμάτων ᾑρήμεθα,ὡς αἵδε, πατρὸς ὀρφαναὶ λελειμμέναι.
Clytemnestra:Well, your father laid such plots against those whom least of all he should have, his own family. I will tell you; although when a woman gets an evil reputation, her tongue is bitter.
Κλυταιμήστρα:τοιαῦτα μέντοι σὸς πατὴρ βουλεύματαἐς οὓς ἐχρῆν ἥκιστʼ ἐβούλευσεν φίλων.λέξω δὲ … καίτοι δόξʼ ὅταν λάβῃ κακὴγυναῖκα, γλώσσῃ πικρότης ἔνεστί τις.
In my opinion, not rightly; but it is correct for those who learn about the matter to hate, if it deserves hatred; if not, why hate at all? Now Tyndareus gave me to your father not so that I or any children I might bear should die.
ὡς μὲν παρʼ ἡμῖν, οὐ καλῶς· τὸ πρᾶγμα δὲμαθόντας, ἢν μὲν ἀξίως μισεῖν ἔχῃ,στυγεῖν δίκαιον· εἰ δὲ μή, τί δεῖ στυγεῖν;ἡμᾶς ἔδωκε Τυνδάρεως τῷ σῷ πατρί,οὐχ ὥστε θνῄσκειν, οὐδʼ ἃ γειναίμην ἐγώ.
But that man went from the house, taking my child, with the persuasion of a marriage with Achilles, to Aulis which held the fleet; and there he stretched Iphigenia over the pyre, and cut her white cheek. And if, as a cure for the capture of the city,or as a benefit to his house, or to save his other children, he had killed one on behalf of many, I would have pardoned him. But, because Helen was lustful and the one who had her as a wife did not know how to punish the betrayer—for these reasons he destroyed my child.
κεῖνος δὲ παῖδα τὴν ἐμὴν Ἀχιλλέωςλέκτροισι πείσας ᾤχετʼ ἐκ δόμων ἄγωνπρυμνοῦχον Αὖλιν, ἔνθʼ ὑπερτείνας πυρᾶςλευκὴν διήμησʼ Ἰφιγόνης παρηΐδα.κεἰ μὲν πόλεως ἅλωσιν ἐξιώμενος,ἢ δῶμʼ ὀνήσων τἄλλα τʼ ἐκσῴζων τέκνα,ἔκτεινε πολλῶν μίαν ὕπερ, συγγνώστʼ ἂν ἦν·νῦν δʼ οὕνεχʼ Ἑλένη μάργος ἦν ὅ τʼ αὖ λαβὼνἄλοχον κολάζειν προδότιν οὐκ ἠπίστατο,τούτων ἕκατι παῖδʼ ἐμὴν διώλεσεν.
Well, although I was wronged, I would not have been angry at this, nor would I have killed my husband. But he came back to me with a girl, raving and possessed, and put her in his bed, and had two brides at once in the same house.
ἐπὶ τοῖσδε τοίνυν καίπερ ἠδικημένηοὐκ ἠγριώμην οὐδʼ ἂν ἔκτανον πόσιν·ἀλλʼ ἦλθʼ ἔχων μοι μαινάδʼ ἔνθεον κόρηνλέκτροις τʼ ἐπεισέφρηκε, καὶ νύμφα δύοἐν τοῖσιν αὐτοῖς δώμασιν κατείχομεν.
A woman is a foolish thing, I don’t deny it; but, this granted, whenever a husband goes astray and rejects his own bed, the woman is likely to imitate her husband and find another love. And then in us the blame shines clearly,while the men, who caused this, are not badly spoken of. Now if Menelaus had been secretly snatched from his home, should I have killed Orestes to save Menelaus, my sister’s husband? How would your father have endured this? And so isn’t it right for him to diewhen he had killed what was mine, since I would have suffered at his hands? I killed him, I turned where indeed it was possible to go—to his enemies. For which one of your father’s friends would have joined me in his murder? Speak, if you want to say anything, and make your retort with frankness,in what way your father died unfairly.
μῶρον μὲν οὖν γυναῖκες, οὐκ ἄλλως λέγω·ὅταν δʼ, ὑπόντος τοῦδʼ, ἁμαρτάνῃ πόσιςτἄνδον παρώσας λέκτρα, μιμεῖσθαι θέλειγυνὴ τὸν ἄνδρα χἅτερον κτᾶσθαι φίλον.κἄπειτʼ ἐν ἡμῖν ὁ ψόγος λαμπρύνεται,οἱ δʼ αἴτιοι τῶνδʼ οὐ κλύουσʼ ἄνδρες κακῶς.εἰ δʼ ἐκ δόμων ἥρπαστο Μενέλεως λάθρᾳ,κτανεῖν μʼ Ὀρέστην χρῆν, κασιγνήτης πόσινΜενέλαον ὡς σώσαιμι; σὸς δὲ πῶς πατὴρἠνέσχετʼ ἂν ταῦτʼ; εἶτα τὸν μὲν οὐ θανεῖνκτείνοντα χρῆν τἄμʼ, ἐμὲ δὲ πρὸς κείνου παθεῖν;ἔκτεινʼ, ἐτρέφθην ἥνπερ ἦν πορεύσιμονπρὸς τοὺς ἐκείνῳ πολεμίους. φίλων γὰρ ἂντίς ἂν πατρὸς σοῦ φόνον ἐκοινώνησέ μοι;λέγʼ, εἴ τι χρῄζεις, κἀντίθες παρρησίᾳ,ὅπως τέθνηκε σὸς πατὴρ οὐκ ἐνδίκως.
Chorus Leader:Justly spoken, but this justice is shameful. For a woman should yield to her husband in all things, if she has sense; anyone who does not agree does not come within the scope of what I say.
Χορός:δίκαιʼ ἔλεξας· ἡ δίκη δʼ αἰσχρῶς ἔχει.γυναῖκα γὰρ χρὴ πάντα συγχωρεῖν πόσει,ἥτις φρενήρης· ᾗ δὲ μὴ δοκεῖ τάδε,οὐδʼ εἰς ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐμῶν ἥκει λόγων.
Electra:Remember, mother, those last words of yours, giving me frankness towards you.
Ἠλέκτρα:μέμνησο, μῆτερ, οὓς ἔλεξας ὑστάτουςλόγους, διδοῦσα πρὸς σέ μοι παρρησίαν.
Clytemnestra:I say it again, and I do not deny it, child.
Κλυταιμήστρα:καὶ νῦν γέ φημι κοὐκ ἀπαρνοῦμαι, τέκνον.
Electra:Then will you treat me badly, when you hear it?
Ἠλέκτρα:ἆρα κλύουσα, μῆτερ, εἶτʼ ἔρξεις κακῶς;
Clytemnestra:No, no, I will give some pleasure to your heart.
Κλυταιμήστρα:οὐκ ἔστι, τῇ σῇ δʼ ἡδὺ προσθήσω φρενί.
Electra:I will speak, and this is the beginning of my preface: oh, mother, I wish that you had a better heart. For though your beauty, and Helen’s, is worthy to bring you praise, yet you two were born true sisters, both frivolous, not worthy of Castor.
Ἠλέκτρα:λέγοιμʼ ἄν· ἀρχὴ δʼ ἥδε μοι προοιμίου·εἴθʼ εἶχες, ὦ τεκοῦσα, βελτίους φρένας.τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἶδος αἶνον ἄξιον φέρεινἙλένης τε καὶ σοῦ, δύο δʼ ἔφυτε συγγόνω,ἄμφω ματαίω Κάστορός τʼ οὐκ ἀξίω.
She was carried off, willingly ruined; and you have destroyed the bravest man in Greece, putting forward the excuse that you killed a husband for the sake of a child; for they don’t know you so well as I do. You who, before your daughter’s death was decided,as soon as your husband had started from home, were adorning the golden locks of your hair at the mirror. A wife who decks herself out for beauty, when her husband is gone from home—strike her off the list as worthless.There is no need for her to show her pretty face out of doors, unless she is seeking some mischief. Of all the women in Hellas you were the only one I know to be joyful when Troy was fortunate, and with a clouded face when it was weaker, since you did not want Agamemnon to return from Troy.
ἣ μὲν γὰρ ἁρπασθεῖσʼ ἑκοῦσʼ ἀπώλετο,σὺ δʼ ἄνδρʼ ἄριστον Ἑλλάδος διώλεσας,σκῆψιν προτείνουσʼ, ὡς ὑπὲρ τέκνου πόσινἔκτεινας· οὐ γάρ σʼ ὡς ἔγωγʼ ἴσασιν εὖ.ἥτις, θυγατρὸς πρὶν κεκυρῶσθαι σφαγάς,νέον τʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων ἀνδρὸς ἐξωρμημένου,ξανθὸν κατόπτρῳ πλόκαμον ἐξήσκεις κόμης.γυνὴ δʼ, ἀπόντος ἀνδρός ἥτις ἐκ δόμωνἐς κάλλος ἀσκεῖ, διάγραφʼ ὡς οὖσαν κακήν.οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν δεῖ θύρασιν εὐπρεπὲςφαίνειν πρόσωπον, ἤν τι μὴ ζητῇ κακόν.μόνη δὲ πασῶν οἶδʼ ἐγὼ σʼ Ἑλληνίδων,εἰ μὲν τὰ Τρώων εὐτυχοῖ, κεχαρμένην,εἰ δʼ ἥσσονʼ εἴη, συννεφοῦσαν ὄμματα,Ἀγαμέμνονʼ οὐ χρῄζουσαν ἐκ Τροίας μολεῖν.
And yet it was in your power to be chaste, and rightly; you had a husband, no worse than Aegisthus, whom Hellas chose to be its commander; and when your sister Helen had done her work, it was possible for you to achieve great fame,for the bad gives a standard of comparison to the good and provides a spectacle. But if, as you say, my father killed your daughter, what is the wrong I and and my brother have done you? How was it that after you had killed your husband, you did not assign to us our father’s home,but you brought the goods belonging to another to bed, buying your marriage with wages? And how is it that your husband is not exiled in the place of your son, nor has he died in my place, although he has killed me, alive, twice as much as my sister? If murder, giving judgment, requites murder, yourson Orestes and I must kill you to avenge our father. For if that was just, then so is this. [Whoever marries a wicked woman, looking to wealth or noble birth, is a fool; for humble wives, if chaste, are better in the home than great ones.]
καίτοι καλῶς γε σωφρονεῖν παρεῖχέ σοι·ἄνδρʼ εἶχες οὐ κακίονʼ Αἰγίσθου πόσιν,ὃν Ἑλλὰς αὑτῆς εἵλετο στρατηλάτην·Ἑλένης δʼ ἀδελφῆς τοιάδʼ ἐξειργασμένηςἐξῆν κλέος σοι μέγα λαβεῖν· τὰ γὰρ κακὰπαράδειγμα τοῖς ἐσθλοῖσιν εἴσοψίν τʼ ἔχει.εἰ δʼ, ὡς λέγεις, σὴν θυγατέρʼ ἔκτεινεν πατήρ,ἐγὼ τί σʼ ἠδίκησʼ ἐμός τε σύγγονος;πῶς οὐ πόσιν κτείνασα πατρῴους δόμουςἡμῖν προσῆψας, ἀλλʼ ἐπηνέγκω λέχειτἀλλότρια, μισθοῦ τοὺς γάμους ὠνουμένη;κοὔτʼ ἀντιφεύγει παιδὸς ἀντὶ σοῦ πόσις,οὔτʼ ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ τέθνηκε, δὶς τόσως ἐμὲκτείνας ἀδελφῆς ζῶσαν. εἰ δʼ ἀμείψεταιφόνον δικάζων φόνος, ἀποκτενῶ σʼ ἐγὼκαὶ παῖς Ὀρέστης πατρὶ τιμωρούμενοι·εἰ γὰρ δίκαιʼ ἐκεῖνα, καὶ τάδʼ ἔνδικα.[ὅστις δὲ πλοῦτον ἢ εὐγένειαν εἰσιδὼν][γαμεῖ πονηράν, μῶρός ἐστι· μικρὰ γὰρ][μεγάλων ἀμείνω σώφρονʼ ἐν δόμοις λέχη.]
Chorus Leader:[Chance is in the marriages of women; among mankind, I see some fall out well, others not.]
Χορός:[τύχη γυναικῶν ἐς γάμους. τὰ μὲν γὰρ εὖ,][τὰ δʼ οὐ καλῶς πίπτοντα δέρκομαι βροτῶν.]
Clytemnestra:Child, it was always your nature to love your father. This is what happens: some children are for their fathers, others in turn love their mothers more than a father.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ὦ παῖ, πέφυκας πατέρα σὸν στέργειν ἀεί·ἔστιν δὲ καὶ τόδʼ· οἳ μέν εἰσιν ἀρσένων,οἳ δʼ αὖ φιλοῦσι μητέρας μᾶλλον πατρός.
I will forgive you; for I do not rejoice so very much at what I have done, child.You, a woman who has just given birth—why is your body so unwashed and meanly clad? Alas for my schemes!
συγγνώσομαί σοι· καὶ γὰρ οὐχ οὕτως ἄγανχαίρω τι, τέκνον, τοῖς δεδραμένοις ἐμοί.σὺ δʼ ὧδʼ ἄλουτος καὶ δυσείματος χρόαλεχὼ νεογνῶν ἐκ τόκων πεπαυμένη;οἴμοι τάλαινα τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων·
I drove on in anger against my husband more than I should have.
ὡς μᾶλλον ἢ χρῆν ἤλασʼ εἰς ὀργὴν πόσιν.
Electra:You sigh too late, when you have no remedy. My father is dead; but why do you not recall that exile, your own wandering son?
Ἠλέκτρα:ὀψὲ στενάζεις, ἡνίκʼ οὐκ ἔχεις ἄκη.πατὴρ μὲν οὖν τέθνηκε· τὸν δʼ ἔξω χθονὸςπῶς οὐ κομίζῃ παῖδʼ ἀλητεύοντα σόν;
Clytemnestra:l am afraid; I am looking to my interests, not his.
Κλυταιμήστρα:δέδοικα· τοὐμὸν δʼ, οὐχὶ τοὐκείνου, σκοπῶ.
For he is angry, they say, over the murder of his father.
πατρὸς γάρ, ὡς λέγουσι, θυμοῦται φόνῳ.
Electra:And why do you cause your husband to be cruel to me?
Ἠλέκτρα:τί δαὶ πόσιν σὸν ἄγριον εἰς ἡμᾶς ἔχεις;
Clytemnestra:Such are his ways. You have a stubborn nature also.
Κλυταιμήστρα:τρόποι τοιοῦτοι· καὶ σὺ δʼ αὐθάδης ἔφυς.
Electra:Yes, for I am in distress. Yet I will cease from my anger.
Ἠλέκτρα:ἀλγῶ γάρ· ἀλλὰ παύσομαι θυμουμένη.
Clytemnestra:And then he will no longer be harsh to you.
Κλυταιμήστρα:καὶ μὴν ἐκεῖνος οὐκέτʼ ἔσται σοι βαρύς.
Electra:He is proud; for he lives in my home.
Ἠλέκτρα:φρονεῖ μέγʼ· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ἐμοῖς ναίει δόμοις.
Clytemnestra:You see? Again you are rekindling new quarrels.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ὁρᾷς; ἀνʼ αὖ σὺ ζωπυρεῖς νείκη νέα.
Electra:I am silent; I fear him—as I fear him.
Ἠλέκτρα:σιγῶ· δέδοικα γάρ νιν ὡς δέδοικʼ ἐγώ.
Clytemnestra:Stop this talk! But why did you summon me, child?
Κλυταιμήστρα:παῦσαι λόγων τῶνδε. ἀλλὰ τί μʼ ἐκάλεις, τέκνον;
Electra:You have heard, I suppose, that I have given birth;
Ἠλέκτρα:ἤκουσας, οἶμαι, τῶν ἐμῶν λοχευμάτων·
in thanks for this, please sacrifice—for I do not know how—on the tenth day, as is the custom for the child. For I have no experience, being childless before.
τούτων ὕπερ μοι θῦσον — οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ ἐγώ —δεκάτῃ σελήνῃ παιδὸς ὡς νομίζεται·τρίβων γὰρ οὐκ εἴμʼ, ἄτοκος οὖσʼ ἐν τῷ πάρος.
Clytemnestra:This is work for another, the one who delivered you.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἄλλης τόδʼ ἔργον, ἥ σʼ ἔλυσεν ἐκ τόκων.
Electra:I was all alone in my labor and at the baby’s birth.
Ἠλέκτρα:αὐτὴ ʼλόχευον κἄτεκον μόνη βρέφος.
Clytemnestra:Is this household situated with no friends as neighbors?
Κλυταιμήστρα:οὕτως ἀγείτων οἶκος ἵδρυται φίλων;
Electra:No one is willing to have the poor as friends.
Ἠλέκτρα:πένητας οὐδεὶς βούλεται κτᾶσθαι φίλους.
Clytemnestra:But I will go to make the tenth-day sacrifice to the gods for the child; and when I have done you this favor, I will go to the field where my husband is sacrificing to theNymphs. Take this team away, my attendants, and bring it to the stalls; and when you think that I have finished this sacrifice to the gods, be ready; for I must also please my husband.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἀλλʼ εἶμι, παιδὸς ἀριθμὸν ὡς τελεσφόρονθύσω θεοῖσι· σοὶ δʼ ὅταν πράξω χάριντήνδʼ, εἶμʼ ἐπʼ ἀγρὸν οὗ πόσις θυηπολεῖνύμφαισιν. ἀλλὰ τούσδʼ ὄχους, ὀπάονες,φάτναις ἄγοντες πρόσθεθʼ· ἡνίκʼ ἂν δέ μεδοκῆτε θυσίας τῆσδʼ ἀπηλλάχθαι θεοῖς,πάρεστε· δεῖ γὰρ καὶ πόσει δοῦναι χάριν.
Electra:Go into a poor house; but please take carethat my smoke-grimed walls do not smear your robes with soot. For you will make the sacrifice to the gods that you ought to make. Going in to the house. The basket is ready, and the knife sharpened, the same that killed the bull by whose side you will lie, struck down. Even in Hades’ house you will be the bride of the onewhom you slept with in life. This is the favor I will give you, and you will give me retribution for my father. Exit Electra.
Ἠλέκτρα:χώρει πένητας ἐς δόμους· φρούρει δέ μοιμή σʼ αἰθαλώσῃ πολύκαπνον στέγος πέπλους.θύσεις γὰρ οἷα χρή σε δαίμοσιν θύη.κανοῦν δʼ ἐνῆρκται καὶ τεθηγμένη σφαγίς,ἥπερ καθεῖλε ταῦρον, οὗ πέλας πεσῇπληγεῖσα· νυμφεύσῃ δὲ κἀν Ἅιδου δόμοιςᾧπερ ξυνηῦδες ἐν φάει. τοσήνδʼ ἐγὼδώσω χάριν σοι, σὺ δὲ δίκην ἐμοὶ πατρός.
Chorus:Requital for evils; the breezes of the house shift and blow. At another time my leader, my own, fell murdered in the bath,and the roof and stone walls of the house cried aloud, while he said: “O cruelty! My wife, why are you murdering me on my return to my dear country in the tenth year?”...
Χορός:ἀμοιβαὶ κακῶν· μετάτροποι πνέου-σιν αὖραι δόμων. τότε μὲν ⟨ἐν⟩ λουτροῖςἔπεσεν ἐμὸς ἐμὸς ἀρχέτας,ἰάχησε δὲ στέγα λάινοί τε θριγκοὶ δόμων,τάδʼ ἐνέποντος· Ὦ σχέτλια· τί με, γύναι, φονεύσεις φίλανπατρίδα δεκέτεσιν σποραῖσιν ἐλθόντʼ ἐμάν;……
Chorus:Retribution for straying love has flowed back and brings to judgment the one who killed her wretched husband, when he came at last to his home and to the towering Cyclopean walls; with her own hand she killed him with the sharp-edged weapon,holding the axe in her hands. Unhappy husband! whatever the curse that possessed that wretched woman. Like a lioness of the hills that ranges through the meadowland woods, she accomplished these things.within
Χορός:παλίρρους δὲ τάνδʼ ὑπάγεται δίκαδιαδρόμου λέχους μέλεον ἃ πόσινχρόνιον ἱκόμενον εἰς οἴκουςΚυκλώπειά τʼ οὐράνια τείχεʼ ὀξυθήκτου βέλουςἔκανεν αὐτόχειρ, πέλεκυν ἐν χεροῖν λαβοῦσʼ· ἆ τλάμωνπόσις, ὅ τί ποτε τὰν τάλαιναν ἔσχεν κακόν.ὀρεία τις ὡς λέαινʼ ὀργάδωνδρύοχα νεμομένα, τάδε κατήνυσεν.
Clytemnestra:O children, by the gods, do not kill your mother.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ὦ τέκνα, πρὸς θεῶν, μὴ κτάνητε μητέρα.
Chorus:Do you hear her cries within the house?
Χορός:κλύεις ὑπώροφον βοάν;
Clytemnestra:O God! Ah me!
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἰώ μοί μοι.
Chorus:I also wail for you, overpowered by your children. Truly the god deals out justice, whenever it befalls.
Χορός:ᾤμωξα κἀγὼ πρὸς τέκνων χειρουμένης.νέμει τοι δίκαν θεός, ὅταν τύχῃ·
You have suffered cruelly, unhappy one, yet you did unholy things to your husband.
σχέτλια μὲν ἔπαθες, ἀνόσια δʼ εἰργάσω,τάλαινʼ, εὐνέταν.
Chorus Leader:But here they come from the house, defiled in the newly shed blood of their mother, a triumphal rout, evidence of the pitiable sacrifice.
Χορός:ἀλλʼ οἵδε μητρὸς νεοφόνοις ἐν αἵμασιπεφυρμένοι βαίνουσιν ἐξ οἴκων πόδα,τροπαῖα δείγματʼ ἀθλίων προσφαγμάτων.
There is no house more pitiable than the race of Tantalus, nor has there ever been.The two corpses are shown.
οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεὶς οἶκος ἀθλιώτεροςτῶν Τανταλείων οὐδʼ ἔφυ ποτʼ ἐκγόνων.
Orestes:O Earth, and Zeus who sees all mortal acts, look at these loathsome bloody deeds, these two bodieslying on the earth at the blow from my hand, atonement for my suffering...
Ὀρέστης:ἰὼ Γᾶ καὶ Ζεῦ πανδερκέταβροτῶν, ἴδετε τάδʼ ἔργα φόνι-α μυσαρά, δίγονα σώματʼ ἐνχθονὶ κείμενα πλαγᾷχερὸς ὑπʼ ἐμᾶς, ἄποινʼ ἐμῶνπημάτων ……
Electra:Too many tears, my brother, and I am the cause. Unhappy, that I came to fiery rage against this woman, who was my mother!
Ἠλέκτρα:δακρύτʼ ἄγαν, ὦ σύγγονʼ, αἰτία δʼ ἐγώ.διὰ πυρὸς ἔμολον ἁ τάλαινα ματρὶ τᾷδʼ,ἅ μʼ ἔτικτε κούραν.
Chorus:Alas for your fate; you gave birth to unbearable pain, and you suffered it, miserably and beyond, from your children. Yet you have rightly paid for their father’s murder.
Χορός:ἰὼ τύχας, σᾶς τύχας,μᾶτερ τεκοῦσʼ ⟨ἄλαστα⟩,ἄλαστα μέλεα καὶ πέραπαθοῦσα σῶν τέκνων ὑπαί.πατρὸς δʼ ἔτεισας φόνον δικαίως.
Orestes:Ah, Phoebus! you proclaimed in song unclear justice, but you have brought about clear woes, and granted me a bloody destiny far from the land of Hellas. To what other city can I go?
Ὀρέστης:ἰὼ Φοῖβʼ, ἀνύμνησας δίκαιʼἄφαντα, φανερὰ δʼ ἐξέπρα-ξας ἄχεα, φόνια δʼ ὤπασαςλάχεʼ ἀπὸ γᾶς [τᾶς] Ἑλλανίδος.τίνα δʼ ἑτέραν μόλω πόλιν;
What host, what pious man will look at me, who killed my mother?
τίς ξένος, τίς εὐσεβὴςἐμὸν κάρα προσόψεταιματέρα κτανόντος;
Electra:Ah me! Where can I go, to what dance, to what marriage? What husband will receive meinto the bridal bed?
Ἠλέκτρα:ἰὼ ἰώ μοι. ποῖ δʼ ἐγώ, τίνʼ ἐς χορόν,τίνα γάμον εἶμι; τίς πόσις με δέξεταινυμφικὰς ἐς εὐνάς;
Chorus:Again, again your thought changes with the breeze; for now you think piously, though you did not before, and you did dreadful things,my dear, to your unwilling brother.
Χορός:πάλιν, πάλιν φρόνημα σὸνμετεστάθη πρὸς αὔραν·φρονεῖς γὰρ ὅσια νῦν, τότʼ οὐφρονοῦσα, δεινὰ δʼ εἰργάσω,φίλα, κασίγνητον οὐ θέλοντα.
Orestes:Did you see how the unhappy one threw off her robe and showed her bosom in the slaughter, alas, hurling to the ground the limbs that gave me birth? And her hair, I—
Ὀρέστης:κατεῖδες, οἷον ἁ τάλαινʼ ἔξω πέπλωνἔβαλεν, ἔδειξε μαστὸν ἐν φοναῖσιν,ἰώ μοι, πρὸς πέδῳτιθεῖσα γόνιμα μέλεα; τὰν κόμαν δʼ ἐγὼ —
Chorus:I know it well; you passed through agony, hearing the mournful wail of the mother that bore you.
Χορός:σάφʼ οἶδα, διʼ ὀδύνας ἔβας,ἰήιον κλύων γόονματρός, ἅ σʼ ἔτικτε.
Orestes:She uttered this cry, putting her hand to my chin:“My child, I entreat you!” And she clung to my cheeks, so that the sword fell from my hand.
Ὀρέστης:βοὰν δʼ ἔλασκε τάνδε, πρὸς γένυν ἐμὰντιθεῖσα χεῖρα· Τέκος ἐμόν, λιταίνω·παρῄδων τʼ ἐξ ἐμᾶνἐκρίμναθʼ, ὥστε χέρας ἐμὰς λιπεῖν βέλος.
Chorus:The unhappy one! How did you endure to see the bloodof your mother, breathing her last before your eyes?
Χορός:τάλαινα· πῶς ἔτλας φόνονδιʼ ὀμμάτων ἰδεῖν σέθενματρὸς ἐκπνεούσας;
Orestes:I threw my cloak over my eyes, and began the sacrifice by plunging the sword into my mother’s throat.
Ὀρέστης:ἐγὼ μὲν ἐπιβαλὼν φάρη κόραις ἐμαῖςφασγάνῳ κατηρξάμανματέρος ἔσω δέρας μεθείς.
Electra:And I urged you on andput my hand to the sword together with you.
Ἠλέκτρα:ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπεγκέλευσά σοιξίφους τʼ ἐφηψάμαν ἅμα.
Chorus:You have done the most dreadful of deeds.
Χορός:δεινότατον παθέων ἔρεξας.
Orestes:Take and hide the limbs of our mother beneath a robe, and close the wounds. Turning to the corpse Ah! You gave birth to your own murderers.
Ὀρέστης:λαβοῦ, κάλυπτε μέλεα ματέρος πέπλοις⟨καὶ⟩ καθάρμοσον σφαγάς.φονέας ἔτικτες ἆρά σοι.
Electra: Covering the corpseThere, I am putting this cloak over the one loved and not loved.
Ἠλέκτρα:ἰδού, φίλᾳ τε κοὐ φίλᾳφάρεα τάδʼ ἀμφιβάλλομεν.
Chorus:An end of great troubles for the house.
Χορός:τέρμα κακῶν μεγάλων δόμοισιν.
Chorus Leader:Divine forms are seen above the house. But see the ones who are appearing over the top of the house—spirits or gods from heaven?For this path does not belong to men. Why ever do they come into the clear sight of mortals?
Χορός:ἀλλʼ οἵδε δόμων ὑπὲρ ἀκροτάτωνφαίνουσι τίνες — δαίμονες ἢ θεῶντῶν οὐρανίων; οὐ γὰρ θνητῶν γʼἥδε κέλευθος· τί ποτʼ ἐς φανερὰνὄψιν βαίνουσι βροτοῖσιν;
Dioskouroi:Son of Agamemnon, listen; the twin sons of Zeus, your mother’s brothers,Castor and his brother Polydeuces, are calling you. Having just now calmed the swell of the sea, terrible for ships, we have come to Argos when we saw the slaying of our sister, your mother. Now she has her just reward, but you have not acted justly,and Phoebus, Phoebus—but I am silent, for he is my lord; although he is wise, he gave you oracles that were not. But it is necessary to accept these things. As to what remains, you must do what Fate and Zeus have accomplished for you. Give Electra to Pylades as his wife to take to his home;but you leave Argos; for it is not for you, who killed your mother, to set foot in this city. And the dread goddesses of death, the one who glare like hounds, will drive you up and down, a maddened wanderer. Go to Athens and embrace the holy image of Pallas;for she will prevent them, flickering with dreadful serpents, from touching you, as she stretches over your head her Gorgon-faced shield. There is a hill of Ares, where the gods first sat over their votes to decide on bloodshed,when savage Ares killed Halirrothius, son of the ocean’s ruler, in anger for the unholy violation of his daughter, so that the tribunal is most sacred and secure in the eyes of the gods.
Διόσκουροι:Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, κλῦθι· δίπτυχοι δέ σεκαλοῦσι μητρὸς σύγγονοι Διόσκοροι,Κάστωρ κασίγνητός τε Πολυδεύκης ὅδε.δεινὸν δὲ ναυσὶν ἀρτίως πόντου σάλονπαύσαντʼ ἀφίγμεθʼ Ἄργος, ὡς ἐσείδομενσφαγὰς ἀδελφῆς τῆσδε, μητέρος δὲ σῆς.δίκαια μέν νυν ἥδʼ ἔχει, σὺ δʼ οὐχὶ δρᾷς·Φοῖβός τε, Φοῖβος — ἀλλʼ ἄναξ γάρ ἐστʼ ἐμός,σιγῶ· σοφὸς δʼ ὢν οὐκ ἔχρησέ σοι σοφά.αἰνεῖν δʼ ἀνάγκη ταῦτα· τἀντεῦθεν δὲ χρὴπράσσειν ἃ Μοῖρα Ζεύς τʼ ἔκρανε σοῦ πέρι.Πυλάδῃ μὲν Ἠλέκτραν δὸς ἄλοχον ἐς δόμους,σὺ δʼ Ἄργος ἔκλιπʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι σοι πόλιντήνδʼ ἐμβατεύειν, μητέρα κτείναντι σήν.δειναὶ δὲ κῆρές ⟨σʼ⟩ αἱ κυνώπιδες θεαὶτροχηλατήσουσʼ ἐμμανῆ πλανώμενον.ἐλθὼν δʼ Ἀθήνας Παλλάδος σεμνὸν βρέταςπρόσπτυξον· εἵρξει γάρ νιν ἐπτοημέναςδεινοῖς δράκουσιν ὥστε μὴ ψαύειν σέθεν,γοργῶφʼ ὑπερτείνουσα σῷ κάρᾳ κύκλον.ἔστιν δʼ Ἄρεώς τις ὄχθος, οὗ πρῶτον θεοὶἕζοντʼ ἐπὶ ψήφοισιν αἵματος πέρι,Ἁλιρρόθιον ὅτʼ ἔκτανʼ ὠμόφρων Ἄρης,μῆνιν θυγατρὸς ἀνοσίων νυμφευμάτων,πόντου κρέοντος παῖδʼ, ἵνʼ εὐσεβεστάτηψῆφος βεβαία τʼ ἐστὶν ἔκ τε τοῦ θεοῖς.
You also must run your risk here, for murder.
ἐνταῦθα καὶ σὲ δεῖ δραμεῖν φόνου πέρι.
An equal number of votes cast will save you from dying by the verdict; for Loxias will take the blame upon himself, since it was his oracle that advised your mother’s murder. And this law will be set for posterity, that the accused will always win his case if he has equal votes.
ἴσαι δέ σʼ ἐκσῴζουσι μὴ θανεῖν δίκῃψῆφοι τεθεῖσαι· Λοξίας γὰρ αἰτίανἐς αὑτὸν οἴσει, μητέρος χρήσας φόνον.καὶ τοῖσι λοιποῖς ὅδε νόμος τεθήσεται,νικᾶν ἴσαις ψήφοισι τὸν φεύγοντʼ ἀεί.
Then the dread goddesses, stricken with grief at this, will sink into a cleft of the earth beside this hill, a holy, revered prophetic shrine for mortals. You must found an Arcadian city beside the streams of Alpheus near the sacred enclosure to Lycaean Apollo;
δειναὶ μὲν οὖν θεαὶ τῷδʼ ἄχει πεπληγμέναιπάγον παρʼ αὐτὸν χάσμα δύσονται χθονός,σεμνὸν βροτοῖσιν εὐσεβὲς χρηστήριον·σὲ δʼ Ἀρκάδων χρὴ πόλιν ἐπʼ Ἀλφειοῦ ῥοαῖςοἰκεῖν Λυκαίου πλησίον σηκώματος·
and the city will be called after your name. I say this to you. As for this corpse of Aegisthus, the citizens of Argos will cover it in the earth in burial. But as for your mother, Menelaus, who has arrived at Nauplia only now after capturing Troy,will bury her, with Helen helping him; for she has come from Proteus’ house, leaving Egypt, and she never went to Troy; Zeus, to stir up strife and bloodshed among mortals, sent a phantom of Helen to Ilium. Now let Pylades, having one who is both a virgin and a married woman,go home from the Achaean land, and let him conduct the one called your brother-in-law to the land of Phocis, and give him a weight of riches. But you set out along the narrow Isthmus, and go to Cecropia’s blessed hill.
ἐπώνυμος δὲ σοῦ πόλις κεκλήσεται.σοὶ μὲν τάδʼ εἶπον· τόνδε δʼ Αἰγίσθου νέκυνἌργους πολῖται γῆς καλύψουσιν τάφῳ.μητέρα δὲ τὴν σὴν ἄρτι Ναυπλίαν παρὼνΜενέλαος, ἐξ οὗ Τρωικὴν εἷλε χθόνα,Ἑλένη τε θάψει· Πρωτέως γὰρ ἐκ δόμωνἥκει λιποῦσʼ Αἴγυπτον οὐδʼ ἦλθεν Φρύγας·Ζεὺς δʼ, ὡς ἔρις γένοιτο καὶ φόνος βροτῶν,εἴδωλον Ἑλένης ἐξέπεμψʼ ἐς Ἴλιον.Πυλάδης μὲν οὖν κόρην τε καὶ δάμαρτʼ ἔχωνἈχαιίδος γῆς οἴκαδʼ ἐσπορευέτω,καὶ τὸν λόγῳ σὸν πενθερὸν κομιζέτωΦωκέων ἐς αἶαν καὶ δότω πλούτου βάρος·σὺ δʼ Ἰσθμίας γῆς αὐχένʼ ἐμβαίνω ποδὶχώρει πρὸς ὄχθον Κεκροπίας εὐδαίμονα.
For once you have completed your appointed lot of murder, you will be happy, freed from these troubles.
πεπρωμένην γὰρ μοῖραν ἐκπλήσας φόνουεὐδαιμονήσεις τῶνδʼ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς πόνων.
Chorus:Sons of Zeus, is it right for us to draw near to speak with you?
Χορός:ὦ παῖδε Διός, θέμις ἐς φθογγὰςτὰς ὑμετέρας ἡμῖν πελάθειν;
Dioskouroi:It is right, for those not polluted by this murder.
Διόσκουροι:θέμις, οὐ μυσαραῖς τοῖσδε σφαγίοις.
Electra:May I too share your conversation, sons of Tyndareus?
Ἠλέκτρα:κἀμοὶ μύθου μέτα, Τυνδαρίδαι;
Dioskouroi:You too; to Phoebus I will attribute this bloody deed.
Διόσκουροι:καὶ σοί· Φοίβῳ τήνδʼ ἀναθήσωπρᾶξιν φονίαν.
Chorus:How was it that you, being gods and the brothers of this murdered woman,did not keep the death-goddesses away from her house?
Χορός:πῶς ὄντε θεὼ τῆσδέ τʼ ἀδελφὼτῆς καπφθιμένηςοὐκ ἠρκέσατον κῆρας μελάθροις;
Dioskouroi:Necessity’s fate led to what must be, and unwise speech from the mouth of Phoebus.
Διόσκουροι:μοῖρά τʼ ἀνάγκης ἦγʼ ἐς τὸ χρεών,Φοίβου τʼ ἄσοφοι γλώσσης ἐνοπαί.
Electra:But what Apollo, what sort of oracles, ordained for me to be my mother’s murderer?
Ἠλέκτρα:τίς δʼ ἔμʼ Ἀπόλλων, ποῖοι χρησμοὶφονίαν ἔδοσαν μητρὶ γενέσθαι;
Dioskouroi:The deeds were shared, the fates were shared; one ancestral curse has ground down both.
Διόσκουροι:κοιναὶ πράξεις, κοινοὶ δὲ πότμοι,μία δʼ ἀμφοτέρουςἄτη πατέρων διέκναισεν.
Orestes:Ah, my sister, seeing you after a long time, at once I am robbed of your affection,and I must abandon you, abandoned by you.
Ὀρέστης:ὦ σύγγονέ μοι, χρονίαν σʼ ἐσιδὼντῶν σῶν εὐθὺς φίλτρων στέρομαικαὶ σʼ ἀπολείψω σοῦ λειπόμενος.
Dioskouroi:She has a husband and a home; she does not suffer pitiably, except that she leaves the city of the Argives.
Διόσκουροι:πόσις ἔστʼ αὐτῇ καὶ δόμος· οὐχ ἥδʼοἰκτρὰ πέπονθεν, πλὴν ὅτι λείπειπόλιν Ἀργείων.
Electra:And what other unhappiness is greaterthan to leave the boundary of one’s native land?
Ἠλέκτρα:καὶ τίνες ἄλλαι στοναχαὶ μείζουςἢ γῆς πατρίας ὅρον ἐκλείπειν;
Orestes:But I shall leave my father’s house, and at a stranger’s tribunal undergo trial for my mother’s murder.
Ὀρέστης:ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οἴκων ἔξειμι πατρὸςκαὶ ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίαις ψήφοισι φόνονμητρὸς ὑφέξω.
Dioskouroi:Have courage; you will goto the holy town of Pallas; only hold out.
Διόσκουροι:θάρσει· Παλλάδοςὁσίαν ἥξεις πόλιν· ἀλλʼ ἀνέχου.
Electra:Clasp me to your breast, my dearest brother; for the curse of our mother’s blood is separating us from our father’s home.
Ἠλέκτρα:περί μοι στέρνοις στέρνα πρόσαψον,σύγγονε φίλτατε·διὰ γὰρ ζευγνῦσʼ ἡμᾶς πατρίωνμελάθρων μητρὸς φόνιοι κατάραι.
Orestes:Throw your arms in close embrace about me. Lament as if I were dead, over my grave.
Ὀρέστης:βάλε, πρόσπτυξον σῶμα· θανόντος δʼὡς ἐπὶ τύμβῳ καταθρήνησον.
Dioskouroi:Alas! You have said things terrible even for gods to hear. For in me and in the Olympians there ispity for much-suffering mortals.
Διόσκουροι:φεῦ φεῦ· δεινὸν τόδʼ ἐγηρύσωκαὶ θεοῖσι κλύειν.ἔνι γὰρ κἀμοὶ τοῖς τʼ οὐρανίδαιςοἶκτοι θνητῶν πολυμόχθων.
Orestes:I shall no longer see you!
Ὀρέστης:οὐκέτι σʼ ὄψομαι.
Electra:Nor will I draw near your sight!
Ἠλέκτρα:οὐδʼ ἐγὼ ἐς σὸν βλέφαρον πελάσω.
Orestes:These are my last words to you.
Ὀρέστης:τάδε λοίσθιά μοι προσφθέγματά σου.
Electra:Farewell, my city!
Ἠλέκτρα:ὦ χαῖρε, πόλις·
And a long farewell to you, my fellow-countrywomen!
χαίρετε δʼ ὑμεῖς πολλά, πολίτιδες.
Orestes:Are you going already, most faithful one?
Ὀρέστης:ὦ πιστοτάτη, στείχεις ἤδη;
Electra:I am going, my young eye wet with tears.
Ἠλέκτρα:στείχω βλέφαρον τέγγουσʼ ἁπαλόν.
Orestes:Go, Pylades, and be happy; marry Electra.
Ὀρέστης:Πυλάδη, χαίρων ἴθι, νυμφεύουδέμας Ἠλέκτρας.
Dioskouroi:Marriage will be for them to think of. But go towards Athens, seeking to escape these hounds of hell, for they are pursuing you fearfully,the dark-skinned ones, with snakes for hands, holding a reward of dreadful pains. But we two must go in haste over the Sicilian sea to rescue the seagoing ships. As we go through the plains of the air,we do not come to the aid of those who are polluted; but we save and release from severe hardships those who love piety and justice in their ways of life. And so, let no one wish to act unjustly,or set sail with perjurers; as a god, I give this address to mortals.
Διόσκουροι:τοῖσδε μελήσει γάμος· ἀλλὰ κύναςτάσδʼ ὑποφεύγων στεῖχʼ ἐπʼ Ἀθηνῶν·δεινὸν γὰρ ἴχνος βάλλουσʼ ἐπὶ σοὶχειροδράκοντες χρῶτα κελαιναί,δεινῶν ὀδυνῶν καρπὸν ἔχουσαι·νὼ δʼ ἐπὶ πόντον Σικελὸν σπουδῇσῴσοντε νεῶν πρῴρας ἐνάλους.διὰ δʼ αἰθερίας στείχοντε πλακὸςτοῖς μὲν μυσαροῖς οὐκ ἐπαρήγομεν,οἷσιν δʼ ὅσιον καὶ τὸ δίκαιονφίλον ἐν βιότῳ, τούτους χαλεπῶνἐκλύοντες μόχθων σῴζομεν.οὕτως ἀδικεῖν μηδεὶς θελέτωμηδʼ ἐπιόρκων μέτα συμπλείτω·θεὸς ὢν θνητοῖς ἀγορεύω.
Chorus:Farewell! Any mortal who is able to fare well, and is not worn down by any misfortune, achieves happiness.
Χορός:χαίρετε· χαίρειν δʼ ὅστις δύναταικαὶ ξυντυχίᾳ μή τινι κάμνειθνητῶν, εὐδαίμονα πράσσει.