Euripides

“ Hope of deliverance have the strangers none.
The sea's Lord, dread Poseidon, graciously
Looketh on Ilium, wroth with Pelops' line, ⁠1415
And now shall give up Agamemnon's son
To thine hands and thy people's, as is meet,
With her who, traitress to the Goddess proved,
That sacrifice in Aulis hath forgot.
Chorus.
Woe is thee, Iphigeneia! With thy brother ⁠1420
Caught in the tyrant's grasp shalt thou be slain! ”

“ Orestes.
Well mayst thou, lady, long for word of her.
Iphigeneia.
What of her war-chief, named the prosperous?
Orestes.
Who? Of the prosperous is not he I know.
Iphigeneia.
One King Agamemnon, Atreus' scion named.⁠545
Orestes.
I know not. Lady, let his story be.
Iphigeneia.
Nay, tell, by Heaven, that I be gladdened, friend.
Orestes.
Dead, hapless king!—and perished not alone.
Iphigeneia.
Dead is he? By what fate?—ah, woe is me!
Orestes.
Why dost thou sigh thus? Is he kin to thee?⁠550
Iphigeneia. ”

“ Iphigeneia.
Ah, hapless she, and hapless sire that slew!⁠565
Orestes.
Slain for an evil woman—graceless grace!
Iphigeneia.
And lives the dead king's son in Argos yet?
Orestes.
He lives, unhappy, nowhere, everywhere.
Iphigeneia.
False dreams, avaunt! So then ye were but nought.
Orestes.
Ay, and not even Gods, whom men call wise,⁠570
Are less deceitful than be fleeting dreams.
Utter confusion is in things divine,
As in things human. This worst grief remains,
When, not of folly, but through words of seers,
Comes ruin—how deep, they that prove it know.⁠575
Chorus. ”

“ Kalchas, a prophet—came he back from Troy?
Orestes.
Dead—as the rumour in Mycenæ ran.
Iphigeneia (turning to Artemis' temple) .
O Queen, how justly! And Laertes' son?
Orestes.
He hath won not home, but liveth, rumour tells.
Iphigeneia.
Now ruin seize him! Never win he home!⁠535
Orestes.
No need to curse. His lot is misery all.
Iphigeneia.
Liveth the son of Nereid Thetis yet?
Orestes.
Lives not. In Aulis vain his bridal was.
Iphigeneia.
A treacherous bridal!—they which suffered know.
Orestes.
Who art thou—thou apt questioner touching Greece?⁠540
Iphigeneia. ”

“ Orestes.
Whose shall be that dread deed, my sacrifice?
Iphigeneia.
Mine; for this office hold I of the Goddess.
Orestes.
A task, O maid, unenviable, unblest.
Iphigeneia.
Bowed 'neath necessity, I must submit. ⁠620
Orestes.
A woman, with the priest's knife slay'st thou men?
Iphigeneia.
Nay, on thine hair I shed but lustral spray.
Orestes.
The slayer, who?—if I may ask thee this.
Iphigeneia.
Within the fane be men whose part is this.
Orestes.
And what tomb shall receive me, being dead?⁠625
Iphigeneia. ”

“ O Goddess-queen, who erst by Aulis' clefts
Didst save me from my sire's dread murderous hand,
Save me now too with these; else Loxias' words
Through thee shall be no more believed of men. ⁠1085
But graciously come forth this barbarous land
To Athens. It beseems thee not to dwell
Here, when so blest a city may be thine.
Iphigeneia, Orestes, and Pylades enter the temple. ”

“ The travail of thy wandering through Greece, ⁠1455
Erinnys-goaded. Men through days to come
Shall chant her—Artemis the Taurian Queen.
This law ordain: when folk keep festival,
In quittance for thy slaughter one must hold
To a man's throat the sword, and spill the blood ⁠1460
For hallowing and the Goddess' honour's sake.
Thou, Iphigeneia, by the holy stairs
Of Brauron must this Goddess' warden be.
There shalt thou die, and be entombed, and webs
Of all fair vesture shall they offer thee ⁠1465
Which wives who perish in their travail-tide
Leave in their homes. ”

“ Agamemnon's son: Thoas, be wroth no more.
Thoas.
Athena, Queen, who hears the words of Gods, ⁠1475
And disobeyeth them, is sense-bereft.
Lo, I against Orestes and his sister
Chafe not, that he hath borne the image hence.
What boots it to defy the mighty Gods?
Let them with Artemis' statue to thy land ⁠1480
Depart, and with fair fortune set it up.
I unto happy Greece will send withal
These maids, according as thine hest enjoins;
Will stay the spear against the strangers raised,
And the ships, Goddess, since it is thy will. ⁠1485
Athena. ”

“ Of birds, hath of his fleetness won his name.
And in this fane her priestess made she me:
Wherefore the Goddess Artemis hath joy⁠35
In festal rites, whose name alone is fair; [4]
The rest—for dread of her I hold my peace.
I sacrifice—'twas this land's ancient wont—
What Greek soever cometh to this shore.
Mine are the first rites; [5] in the Goddess' shrines⁠40
The unspeakable slaughter is for others' hands.
Now the strange visions that the night hath brought
To heaven I tell—if aught of cure be there. [6]
In sleep methought I had escaped this land,
And dwelt in Argos. ”

“ Iphigeneia.
With holy cleansings would I wash them first.
Thoas.
In fountain-waters, or in sea-spray showers?
Iphigeneia.
The sea doth wash away all ills of men.
Thoas.
Thus holier should the Goddess' victims be.
Iphigeneia.
And better so should all my purpose speed. ⁠1195
Thoas.
Full on the fane doth not the sea-surge break?
Iphigeneia.
There needeth solitude: more is to do.
Thoas.
Where thou wilt. Into mystic rites I pry not.
Iphigeneia.
The image must I purify withal.
Thoas.
Yea, if the matricide hath tainted it. ⁠1200
Iphigeneia. ”

“ For wise men take occasion by the hand,
And let not fortune slip for pleasure's lure.
Orestes.
Well say'st thou: yet will fortune work, I trow,
Herein with us. But toil of strenuous hands ⁠910
Still doubles the Gods' power to render aid.
Iphigeneia.
Thou shalt not stay me, neither turn aside
From asking of Electra first—her lot
In life: all touching her is dear to me.
Orestes.
Wedded to this man (pointing to Pyl.) happy life she hath. ⁠915
Iphigeneia. ”

“ Orestes.
And in this blood-guilt what is Pylades' part? [44]
Iphigeneia.
Stained even as thine his hands are, will I say.
Orestes.
Hid from the king shall be thy deed, or known?
Iphigeneia.
I must persuade whom I could not elude.
Orestes.
Ready in any wise the oared ship is. ⁠1050
'Tis thine to see that all beside go well.
One thing we lack, that yon maids hide all this.
Beseech them thou, and find persuasive words;
A woman's tongue hath pity-stirring might:—
Then may all else perchance have happy end. ⁠1055
Iphigeneia. ”

“ Pylades.
This clearance grant me—if the ship be wrecked,⁠755
And in the sea-surge with the lading sink
The letter, and my life alone I save,
That then of this mine oath shall I be clear.
Iphigeneia.
"For many a chance have many a shift" [26] — hear mine:—
All that is written in the letter's folds⁠760
My tongue shall say, that thou mayst tell my friends.
So is all safe: if thou lose not the script,
Itself shall voiceless tell its written tale:
But if this writing in the sea be lost,
Then thy life saved shall save my words for me. ⁠765
Pylades. ”

“ Who liveth, yet for those at home lives not—"
Orestes.
Where is she? Hath she risen from the dead?
Iphigeneia.
She whom thou seest—confuse me not with speech:—
"Bear me to Argos, brother, ere I die:
From this wild land, these sacrifices, save, ⁠775
Wherein mine office is to slay the stranger; "—
Orestes.
What shall I say?—Now dream we, Pylades?
Iphigeneia.
"Else to thine house will I become a curse,
Orestes "—so, twice heard, hold fast the name.
Orestes.
Gods!
Iphigeneia.
⁠Why in mine affairs invoke the Gods ? ⁠780
Orestes. ”

“ The host's home-coming, Kalchas the wise seer
Of birds, Achilles' name! How pitied she
Agamemnon's wretched fate, and questioned me
Touching his wife, his children! Sure, her birth⁠665
Is thence, of Argos; else she ne'er would send
A letter thither, nor would question thus,
As one whose welfare hung on Argos' weal.
Pylades.
Mine own thought but a little thou forestallest,
Save this—that the calamities of kings⁠670
All know, who have had converse with the world.
But my mind runneth on another theme. [25]
Orestes. ”

“ By fierce surge met, she laboured heavily;
For suddenly swooped a wild gust on the ship,
Stern-foremost thrusting her. With might and main ⁠1395
They strove with fate, [55] but towards the land again
The back-sweep drave the ship: then stood and prayed
Agamemnon's daughter, "Leto's Child, O Maid,
Save me, thy priestess! Bring me unto Greece
From alien land; forgive my theft of thee! ⁠1400
Thy brother, Goddess, dost thou also love:
O then believe that I too love my kin!" ”

“ By lamentation would its terrors quell,⁠485
Nor him who wails for Hades looming nigh,
Hopeless of help. Fie maketh evils twain
Of one: he stands of foolishness convict,
And dies no less. E'en let fate take her course.
For us make thou no moan: the altar-rites⁠490
Which this land useth have we learnt, and know.
Iphigeneia.
Whether of you twain here was called by name
Pylades?—this thing first I fain would learn.
Orestes.
He—if to learn this pleasure thee at all.
Iphigeneia.
And of what Hellene state born citizen?⁠495
Orestes. ”

“ Suffice her blood. With heart at one with thine
Fain would I live, and dying share thy death.
Thee will I lead, except I perish here, ⁠1010
Homeward, or dying here abide with thee.
Hear mine opinion—if this thing displease
Artemis, how had Loxias bidden me
To bear her statue unto Pallas' burg, [39]
And see thy face? So, setting side by side ⁠1015
All these, I hope to win safe home-return.
Iphigeneia.
How may we both escape death, and withal
Bear off that prize? Imperilled most herein
Our home-return is:—this must we debate. [40]
Orestes. ”

“ Orestes.
Yea, and his awful death—slain by his wife!
Iphigeneia.
O all-bewailed, the murderess and the dead!
Orestes.
Refrain thee even now, and ask no more.
Iphigeneia.
This only—lives the hapless hero's wife?⁠555
Orestes.
Lives not. Her son—ay, [19] whom herself bare—slew her.
Iphigeneia.
O house distraught! Slew her!—with what intent?
Orestes.
To avenge on her his murdered father's blood.
Iphigeneia.
Alas!—ill justice, wrought how righteously!
Orestes.
Not blest of Heaven is he, how just soe'er. [20] ⁠560
Iphigeneia. ”

“ When Iphigeneia, daughter of Agamemnon, lay on the altar of sacrifice at Aulis, Artemis snatched her away, and bare her to the Tauric land, which lieth in Thrace to north of the Black Sea. Here she was made priestess of the Goddess's temple, and in this office was constrained to consecrate men for death upon the altar ”

“ Nearer the rocks—yet nearer—came the bark.
Then of us some rushed wading through the sea,
And some held nooses ready for the cast. [56]
And straightway hitherward I sped to thee,
To tell to thee, O King, what there befell. ⁠1410
On then! Take with thee chain and cord in hand. ”

“ Iphigeneia.
Self-moved. Yea, also did it close its eyes.
Thoas.
The cause?—pollution by the strangers brought?
Iphigeneia.
This, and nought else; for foul deeds have they done.
Thoas.
Ha! slaughter of my people on the shore? ⁠1170
Iphigeneia.
Nay, stained with guilt of murdered kin they came. ”

“ Re-enters temple. Enter Orestes and Pylades.
Orestes.
Look thou—take heed that none be in the path.
Pylades.
I look, I watch, all ways I turn mine eyes.
Orestes.
Pylades, deem'st thou this the Goddess' fane
Whither from Argos we steered oversea?⁠70
Pylades. ”

“ To fight with strangers young and lusty-grown.⁠305
So in short time were many mustered there.
Now ceased the stranger's madness-fit: he falls,
Foam spraying o'er his beard. We, marking him
So timely fallen, wrought each man his part,
Hurling with battering stones. ”

“ Others, reading χόρου, render, "And in this play what part hath Pylades?" ↑ Line 1071, "By mother, father, babes—if any hath babes," is omitted by most editors, as inconsistent with line 130 of this play. ↑ Reading ὀλβίαν instead of the stock epithet λοχίαν, "For Travail-queen Artemis." The beauty that surrounds the temple (in Delos) of the beneficent Goddess worshipped in Greece is contrasted with the cheerless home of the sanguinary deity of the Taurians. ↑ Retaining reading of MSS. ↑ Or, "Thou, true to Artemis, didst reject the bait?" ”

“ If these did not even know his name, half the sting was taken away: it was like killing a man in a mask. They reached the body only, not the man. ↑ Argos is here the district (Argolis) : the town was about six miles from Orestes' native Mycenæ. ↑ Or, reading τοῦδ ̓ ἔρα, "joy thou in that." ”