Euripides

“ Hail, sister of Zeus' sons, heroes twain 990
In the glittering heavens mid stars who stand,
And their proud right this, to deliver from bane
Men tossed on the storm-vext water.
Hail! As to the Blest, do I yield thee thy right
Of homage, for awe of thy wealth and thy bliss.
With observance [35] to compass thy fortune's height
This, Queen, is the hour, even this!
Klytemnestra.
Step from the wain, Troy's daughters; take mine hand,
That from this chariot-floor I may light down. ”

“ Who wished not Agamemnon home from Troy.
Yet reason fair thou hadst to be true wife: 1080
Not worser than Aegisthus was thy lord,
Whom Hellas chose to lead her war-array.
And, when thy sister Helen so had sinned,
High praise was thine to win; for sinners' deeds
Lift up the good for ensamples in men's sight. 1085
If, as thou say'st, my father slew thy daughter,
How did I wrong thee, and my brother how?
Why, having slain thy lord, didst thou on us
Bestow not our sire's halls, but buy therewith
An alien couch, and pay a price for shame? ”

“ Receive this wreath to bind thy clustering hair.
Thou hast come home, who hast run no bootless course
In athlete-race, but who hast slain thy foe
Aegisthus, murderer of thy sire and mine. 885
And thou, his battle-helper, Pylades,
A good man's nursling, from mine hand accept
A wreath; for in this conflict was thy part
As his: in my sight ever prosper ye!
Orestes.
The Gods account thou first, Electra, authors 890
Of this day's fortune: praise thereafter me,
Who am but minister of heaven and fate. ”

“ Klytemnestra enters hut.
The maund is dight, and whetted is the knife
Which slew the bull by whose side thou shalt lie
Stricken. Thou shalt in Hades be his bride
Whose love thou wast in life. So great the grace 1145
I grant thee: thine to me—to avenge my sire! ”

“ Aegisthus, and for proof for whoso will
To know, the dead man's self I bring to thee; 895
Whom, if thou wilt, for ravin of beasts cast forth,
Or for the children of the air to rend
Impale him on a stake: thy bondman now
Is he, who heretofore was called thy lord.
Electra.
I take shame—none the less I fain would speak— 900
Orestes.
What is it? Speak: thou hast left fear's prison-house.
Electra.
To mock the dead, lest ill-will light on me.
Orestes.
There is no man can blame thee for such cause.
Electra.
Our folk be ill to please, and censure-prone. ”

“ Men, even the noble by their daily walk. 385
For such be they which govern states aright
And homes: but fleshly bulks devoid of wit
Are statues in the market place. [10] Nor bides
The strong arm staunchlier than the weak in fight;
But this of nature's inborn courage springs. 390
But—seeing worthy is Agamemnon's son,
Present or absent, for whose sake we come,—
Accept we shelter of this roof. Ho, thralls,
Enter this house. ”

“ He would have slain her; yet, how cruel soe'er,
Her mother saved her from Aegisthus' hand;—
A plea she had for murder of her lord,
But feared to be abhorred for children's blood:— 30
Wherefore Aegisthus found out this device:
On Agamemnon's son, who had fled the land,
He set a price, even gold to whoso slew;
But to me gives Electra, her to have
To wife,—from sires Mycenian sprung indeed 35
Am I, herein I may not be contemned; [1]
Noble my line is, I in this world's goods
Am poor, whereby men's high descent is marred,—
To make his fear naught by this spouse of naught. ”

“ Electra.
Then seek my mother, and my message tell.
Old Man.
Yea, it shall seem the utterance of thy lips.
Electra (to Orestes) .
Now to thy work. Thou drewest first blood-lot. [18]
Orestes.
I will set forth if any guide appear.
Old Man.
Even I will speed thee thither nothing loth. 670
Orestes. [19]
My fathers' God, Zeus, smiter of my foes,
Pity us: pitiful our wrongs have been.
Electra.
Ah, pity them whose lineage is of thee!
Orestes.
Queen of Mycenæ's altars, Hera, help!
Grant to us victory, if we claim the right. 675
Electra. ”

“ There was he nurtured by king Strophius, and Pylades the king's son loved him as a brother. So Aegisthus dwelt with Klytemnestra, reigning in Argos, where remained now of Agamemnon's seed Electra his daughter only. And these twain marked how Electra grew up in hate and scorn of them, indignant for her father's murder, and fain to avenge him. Wherefore, lest she should wed a prince, and persuade husband or son to accomplish her heart's desire, they bethought them how they should forestall this peril. ”

“ They yet shall come; not lightly slain are kings. 760
Enter Messenger.
Messenger.
Victory! victory, maids Mycenian!
To all friends, tidings of Orestes' triumph!
Low lieth Agamemnon's murderer
Aegisthus: render thanks unto the Gods.
Electra.
Who art thou?—what attests thy tidings' truth? 765
Messenger.
Look,—dost thou know me not,—thy brother's henchman?
Electra.
O friend, I knew not, out of very fear,
Thy face; but now in very sooth I know.
How say'st thou?—is my sire's foul murderer dead?
Messenger.
Dead. Twice I say it, since thou will'st it so. 770
Electra. ”

“ How?—hath ruth seized thee, seeing thy mother's form?
Orestes.
Woe!
How can I slay her—her that nursed, that bare me?
Electra.
Even as she thy father slew and mine. 970
Orestes.
O Phœbus, folly exceeding was thine hest—
Electra.
Nay, where Apollo erreth, who is wise?
Orestes.
Who against nature bad'st me slay my mother!
Electra.
How art thou harmed, avenging thine own sire?
Orestes.
Arraigned for a mother's murder—pure ere this! 975
Electra.
Yet impious, if thou succour not thy sire.
Orestes.
My mother for her blood must I requite. [32]
Electra. ”

“ Now, more than heretofore, Electra, glows
Mine heart with joy. Thy fortune now, though late
Advancing, haply shall be stablished fair.
Electra.
Poor man, thou know'st thine house's poverty.
Wherefore receive these guests too great for thee? 405
Peasant.
How?—an they be of high birth, as they seem,
Will they content them not with little or much?
Electra.
Since then thou so hast erred, and thou so poor,
Go to the ancient fosterer of my sire,
Who on the banks of Tanaüs, which parts 410
The Argive marches from the Spartan land,
An outcast from our city, tends his flocks. ”

“ At thy children's hands thou hast suffered now!
Yet justly the blow for their sire's blood fell.
Orestes.
(Ant. 1)
Phœbus, the deed didst thou commend, 1190
Aye whispering "Justice"—thou hast bared
The deeds of darkness, and made end,
Through Greece, of lust that murder dared.
But me what land shall shield?—what friend,
What righteous man shall bear to see
The slayer of his mother—me?
Electra.
Woe's me! What refuge shall what land give me?
O feet from the dance aye banned! O spousal-hopeless hand!
What lord to a bridal-bower shall receive me? 1200
Chorus. ”

“ Howbeit for this wrong, how wronged soe'er, 1030
I had not raged, nor had I slain my lord;—
But to me with that prophet-maid he came,
Made her usurp my couch, and fain would keep
Two brides together in the selfsame halls.
Women be frail: sooth, I deny it not. ”

“ But to show Heaven Aegisthus' tyranny,
And wail to the broad welkin for my sire.
For mine own mother, Tyndareus' baleful child, 60
Thrust me from home, for grace to this her spouse,
And, having borne Aegisthus other sons,
Thrusteth aside Orestes' rights and mine.
Peasant.
Why toil'st thou thus, O hapless, for my sake,
Nor dost refrain from labour,—thou of old 65
Royally nurtured, though I bid thee so?
Electra.
Kind I account thee even as the Gods,
Who in mine ills hast not insulted me.
High fortune this, when men for sore mischance
Find such physician as I find in thee. ”

“ In murder-bond the while is dwelling!
Chorus.
Of many an ill to Hellas and thine house
Was Helen, sister of thy mother, cause.
Orestes and Pylades approach.
Electra.
Woe's me, friends!—needs must I break off my moan! 215
Lo, yonder strangers ambushed nigh the house
Out of their hiding-place are rising up!
With flying feet—thou down the path, and I
Into the house,—flee we from evil men!
Orestes (intercepting her) .
Tarry, thou hapless one: fear not mine hand. 220
Electra. ”

“ Nor is thy spouse now exiled for thy son,
Nor for me slain, who hath dealt me living death
Twice crueller than my sister's: yea, if blood
'Gainst blood in judgment rise, I and thy son,
Orestes, must slay thee to avenge our sire: 1095
For, if thy claim was just, this too is just.
Whoso, regarding wealth, or birth, shall wed
A wanton, is a fool: the lowly chaste
Are better in men's homes than high-born wives.
Chorus.
Chance ordereth women's bridals. Some I mark 1100
Fair, and some foul of issue among men.
Klytemnestra.
Child, still thy nature bids thee love thy sire. ”

“ Howbeit this man, being full of loyalty to the mighty dead and reverence for blood royal, behaved himself to her as to a queen, so that she continued virgin in his house all the days of her adversity. Now when Orestes was grown to man, he journeyed with Pylades his friend to Argos, to seek out his sister, and to devise how he might avenge his father, since by the oracle of Apollo he was commanded so to do. ”

“ The poor—none careth to win these for friends!
Klytemnestra.
I enter, to the Gods to pay the dues
For a son's time accomplished. Having shown thee
That grace, I pass afield, to where my lord
Worships the Nymphs. This chariot ye my maids 1135
Lead hence, and stall my steeds. Soon as ye deem
That this my service to the Gods is done,
Attend. My spouse too must my presence grace.
Electra.
Pass in to my poor house; and have a care
The smoke-grimed beams besmirch not thine attire. 1140
The Gods' due sacrifice there shalt thou offer. ”

“ Fearing Aegisthus, hither secretly.
Then, how should tress be matched with tress of hair—
That, a young noble's trained in athlete-strife,
This, womanlike comb-sleeked? It cannot be.
Sooth, many shouldst thou find of hair like-hued, 530
Though of the same blood, ancient, never born.
Nay, but some stranger, pitying his tomb,
Shore it, or some one of this land, by stealth.
Old Man.
Set in his sandal's print thy tread, and mark
If that foot's measure answer, child, to thine. 535
Electra. ”

“ I mark what mighty vantage substance hath,
To give to guests, to medicine the body
In sickness: but for needs of daily food
Not far it reacheth. Each man, rich and poor, 430
Can be but filled, when hunger is appeased. ”

“ And, when we stood within his doors, he spake: 790
"Let one with speed bring water for the guests,
That they may compass with cleansed hands the altar."
But spake Orestes, "In pure river-streams
It was but now we purified ourselves.
If strangers may with citizens sacrifice, 795
Ready we are, nor say thee nay, O King."
So made they end of parley 'twixt the twain. [24]
Then, laying down their spears, the tyrant's guards,
His thralls, all set their hands unto the work. ”

“ My father's slayer Aegisthus is laid low!
Come, such things as I have, my dwelling's store, 870
Let me bring forth to grace his hair, O friends,
To crown my conquering brother's head withal.
Chorus.
(Ant.)
Crown him, the conqueror!—garlands upraise,
Thy thanksgiving-oblation!
To the dance that the Muses love forth will we pace. 875
Now shall rule o'er our nation
Her kings well-beloved whom of old she hath known;
For the right is triumphant, the tyrant o'erthrown:—
Ring, joy's exultation!
Enter Orestes and Pylades, with attendants bearing Aegisthus' body.
Electra. ”

“ Are statues in the market place. ”

“ Thralls are they who looked never on thy face.
Orestes.
Haply my partisans, if I prevail?
Old Man.
The bondman's wont, by happy chance for thee.
Orestes.
How then shall I make shift to approach to him?
Old Man.
Pass full in view at hour of sacrifice. 635
Orestes.
Hard by the highway be his lands, I trow.
Old Man.
Thence shall he see, and bid thee to the feast.
Orestes.
A bitter fellow-feaster, heaven to help!
Old Man.
Thereafter thou take thought, as fortune falls.
Orestes.
Well hast thou said. My mother—where is she? 640
Old Man. ”

“ Orestes.
A noble soul this, worthy of reward!
Electra.
Yea, if the absent to his home return.
Orestes.
But did the mother who bare thee suffer this?
Electra.
Wives be their husbands', not their children's friends. 265
Orestes.
Why did Aegisthus this despite to thee?
Electra.
That weaklings [4] of weak sire my sons might prove.
Orestes.
Ay, lest thou bear sons to avenge the wrong?
Electra.
So schemed he—God grant I requite him yet!
Orestes.
Knows he, thy mother's spouse, thou art maiden still? 270
Electra. ”

“ Accordingly it runs—"If Agamemnon would have been justified in killing me, had I slain his child to rescue my sister's husband, conversely, I was justified in killing him, because he did slay my child to rescue his brother's wife. ↑ Her assumption (1035–1045) of the justice of the principle that woman has equal rights with man. All Greeks would have scouted it, and their adoption of it would but have made them the laughing-stock of the then civilized world. ↑ For the sake of clearness, I use in this scene "spouse" to denote Aegisthus; "lord," or "husband," for Agamemnon. ”