The Libation Bearers

ORESTES

MERCURY of the shades! presiding over the power delegated from the sire 1, be thou a saviour and ally to me beseeching it; for I am come into this land, and I return from exile 2. And over this mound of his sepulchre too I call upon my father to listen, to give ear 3. * * * * * * * * * * * * * a ringlet cherished in honour of Inachus 1 and this, the second, expressive of my sorrow. * * * * * * * * * * * * * What is it that I see? what is this concourse of women [coming] hither conspicuous in sable weeds? To what calamity shall I refer it? Is it that a new death 2 hath happened in the palace? or am I right in guessing that these maidens are conveying libations to my father-a propitiation for the departed 3? It is nothing else; for I think I see my sister Electra advancing, distinguished by grievous sorrow. O Jupiter! grant me to avenge the fate of my father, and be thou a willing ally to me! Pylades, stand we apart, that I may clearly learn what means this suppliant procession of women.

CHORUS

I am come forth from the palace, sent as an escort to the drink-offering with the noise of sharp clapping of hands. Marked is my cheek with bloody gashes, the furrow newly cut by my nail: for ever is my heart fed on wailings; and the rendings of tissues ruining the vesture, make a noise through my sorrows, the breast-protecting robes being torn through smileless woes. For a thrilling, hair-stiffening panic, the dream-prophet of the house, breathing wrath in the midst of slumbers, echoed an outcry full fearfully at dead of night from the inmost apartments, falling heavy on the chambers of the women. Interpreters too of these dreams, bound to veracity, declared on the part of the gods, that those beneath the earth are complaining full angerly and are wroth against their murderers. Such an unkind kindness devising as an averter of ills, O Earth, mother! does the godless woman send me. But I dread to utter this word: for what atonement is there for blood that has fallen on the ground? Alas for the all-unhappy hearth! Alas for the ruin of the dwelling! A gloom uncheered by the sun, abhorred of

mortals, hides the house through the death of the master. And majesty, which was in the olden time unconquered, invincible, unassailed, making its way through the ears and the mind of the people, is now banished. And somebody 1 is terrified. But to be prosperous-this is both a god and more than a god among mortals. And the swift turn of Justice visits some in daylight, and some lingering burst forth with violence in the interval of darkness, and some impracticable night possesses 2. Because of the blood that hath been drunk by the fostering earth, gore that cries for vengeance, is fast clotted so as never to be washed away. A piercing bitter curse destroys 3 the author of the all-sufficing malady. But [as] there is no remedy for maidenhood 4 to its violater, [so] all the streams, moving in one course, flow in vain 5 to purify murder of the foul hand. But 'tis my lot, for the gods have visited me with the hardship of a captured city; for they brought me to a slave's estate afar from the house of my fathers, to acquiesce in the things that seem fit to the lords over my life, just or unjust, [the deeds] of mastering the loathing of my soul, those who are violently borne along 6.

But I weep beneath my robes at the hapless fortunes of my masters, chilled with secret sorrows.

ELECTRA

Ye captive maids, ye garnishers of the palace, since ye are present as my associates in this suppliant procession, be my counsellors in this matter: when I pour these funereal drink-offerings on the tomb, how shall I say what is well-pleasing? how am I to make my prayer to my father? Shall I say that I bring them from a dear wife to a dear husband? from my mother, forsooth 1? I dare not say it; and I know not what to say, as I pour this thick libation on the tomb of my father. Or shall I say this saying, as is the custom of mortals, that he would recompense those who send these chaplets and this gift with a [gift] worthy their misdeeds 2 or, in silence, ingloriously, even as my father perished, am I, pouring this out, a draught drunk by the earth, to move backwards 3, like one who casts forth offscourings, as I fling from me the vessel, with eyes never looking back? In this deliberation of mine, my friends, do ye be sharers, for we hold a common object of abhorrence in the house. Hide not your feelings within your heart, through fear of any one. For Destiny awaits alike the free man, and him that is mastered by the hand of another. Tell me if thou knowest aught better than this?

CHORUS

Reverencing the tomb of thy sire as though an altar, I will speak, for thou biddest me, the sentiment of my soul.

ELECTRA

Speak, even as thou sayest thou reverencest 4 the tomb of my father.

CHORUS

Invoke, as thou pourest the offering, holy things upon the well-wishers.

ELECTRA

And who are these friends whom I am to speak of?

CHORUS

First thyself, and whosoever abhors Ægisthus.

ELECTRA

Shall I then offer this prayer both for myself and for thee?

CHORUS

Do thou thyself, already informed on these points, take counsel.

ELECTRA

Whom else then shall I further add to this present company?

CHORUS

Be mindful of Orestes, albeit he is abroad.

ELECTRA

Well, and in no slight degree hast thou instructed me in this.

CHORUS

Now to the guilty, mindful of the murder—

ELECTRA

What am I to say? teach me unskilful, pointing out the way.

CHORUS

That there might come to them some divinity, or some one of mortals.

ELECTRA

Meanest thou a judge, or an avenger?

CHORUS

Say thou simply, one that shall slay in turn.

ELECTRA

And are these things such as may religiously befall me from the gods?

CHORUS

How not, to requite an enemy with evils?

ELECTRA

Mercury of the realms below * * * * after summoning the divinities beneath the earth to give ear to my prayers, those that watch over the house of my fathers, and Earth herself, that brings forth all things, and, after rearing them, again receives their produce; and I pouring forth these lustral waters do say, calling on my sire: mortals 1, have pity on me, and on the dear Orestes, so that we may restore 2 him to the palace. For now, sold as it were by 3 her that bare us, we are outcasts, and for a husband she hath taken in exchange Ægisthus, who was accomplice in thy murder. And I, indeed, am as a slave, and from thy substance Orestes is an outcast, while they in mighty haughtiness are wantoning in the fruits of thy labours. But I make my prayer to thee that Orestes may come hither with some success, and do thou. O my sire, give ear to me, and to myself vouchsafe that I may be by far more chaste than my mother, and more pious in hand. For us [I offer] these prayers; but to the adversaries I pray that thou wouldst appear, O my sire, as an avenger, and that those who killed may through justice die in turn. These things I interpose in my good prayer, uttering for them this evil imprecation. And be thou a sender of the blessings we implore to us in this upper world, with the favour of the gods, and of earth, and of triumphant justice. And after such prayers as these I pour forth these drink-offerings; and 'tis meet that you peal forth the dirge of the dead, should make it teem with shrieks.

[ELECTRA goes to the tomb.] CHORUS

Shed ye the pattering death-tear 1 for the dead sovereign, now that drink-offerings have been poured out upon this defence against both evil and good by way of averting 2 unprayed-for pollution. And do thou, O give ear, give ear, O master, from thy darkling spirit. Woe! woe! woe! woe! alas! what stout Scythian spearman is deliverer of the house, and Mars that in the conflict brandishes with his hands the curved darts, and wields hilted weapons in close combat?

ELECTRA

[returning to the Chorus.] My father now has the earth-drunk libations 3; and do ye share with me in a new discourse.

CHORUS

Tell it: but my heart is throbbing with terror.

ELECTRA

I see here a shorn ringlet 4 of hair on the sepulchre.

CHORUS

From what man or deep-bosomed maid?

ELECTRA

This is an obvious matter for any one to form an opinion upon.

CHORUS

How then may I, aged, learn from thee, my junior?

ELECTRA

There is no one who could have cut it off except myself.

CHORUS

No-for they are enemies to whom it naturally belongs to mourn by offerings of hair.

ELECTRA

And certainly this is of a very similar hue to behold.

CHORUS

To what tresses? for this I fain would know.

ELECTRA

It is exceedingly like in appearance to my own.

CHORUS

Is this then a clandestine offering from Orestes?

ELECTRA

It does very much resemble his ringlets.

CHORUS

And how did he venture to come hither?

ELECTRA

He sent this shorn ringlet as a pleasing offering to his father.

CHORUS

No less is this which thou tellest me a subject for tears, if he is never to touch this land with his foot.

ELECTRA

O'er me too there hath come a heart's surge of bitterness; and I was smitten as with a piercing shaft. And from my eyes there are falling the unrestrained thirsting drops of a sad winter's flood, as I behold this lock: for how can I suppose that any other of the citizens owns this hair? And of a surety she that murdered him did not cut it off—my mother I mean, who has a godless spirit towards her children by no means in accordance with her name. Yet how can I openly yield assent to this conclusion, that this is an offering of honour from Orestes, of all mortals to me most dear? But I am fawned upon by hope. Alas! would to heaven that it had an intelligent voice, like a messenger, that I might not be agitated by distracted thoughts 1; but it were clear for me either to spurn this lock of hair when clearly recognized, if indeed it had been severed from the head of a foe, or that, if it claim kin to me, it might be able to bewail with me an ornament to this tomb and an honour to my father 2. But we invoke the gods, who know in what tempests, like vessels, we are tossed to and fro; and if it is our destiny to attain safety, a great stock might be produced from a tiny seed. And in very truth here are tracks too, a second sign, like to feet, and bearing a resemblance to my own. For there are also here two prints of footsteps, both of himself and of some fellow-traveller. The heels and the impress of the tendons being measured, coincide exactly with my footsteps. But pains (as of a woman in travail) and prostration of mind is upon me.

ORESTES Orestes coming forward.

Pray thou, uttering to the gods prayers that shall bring their accomplishment, that what remains may turn out well.

ELECTRA

But what have I now attained as respects the favour of the gods?

ORESTES

You have come to the sight of those whom for a long time you used to pray to see.

ELECTRA

And on whom of mortals is it that thou knowest me to have called?

ORESTES

I know that thou hast full oft had sad longings for Orestes.

ELECTRA

And what, then, do I attain the object of my prayers?

ORESTES

I am he: search not for any one more dear to thee than I am.

ELECTRA

But, stranger, art thou not weaving some trick around me?

ORESTES

Truly then I am framing schemes against myself.

ELECTRA

But thou fain wouldst scoff at my calamities?

ORESTES

Ay, and at my own also, if indeed at thine.

ELECTRA

As being Orestes, am I then addressing thee with these words?

ORESTES

Nay, now, when thou seest me in person, thou hardly knowest me, but when thou didst see your brother's shorn ringlet of mourning hair which corresponded with thine own head, and wast tracing thy footsteps in the track of my feet, thou wast all of a flutter, and didst fancy thou sawest me. Consider the ringlet of my hair, after placing it on the part whence I clipped it; and behold this web, the work of thy hand, and the strokes of the shuttle, and on it the delineation of wild beasts 2. Be yourself 3, and be not over-amazed in soul through joy, for I know that the dearest relatives are bitter foes to us twain.

ELECTRA

O best-beloved care of thy father's house, thou deplored hope of a preserving seed, trusting in thy prowess, thou shalt recover the house of thy father. O delightful eye that enjoyest four shares [in my affections] 1: and needful it is that I should both address thee as a father, and the endearment of a mother devolves on thee,—(but she is most justly detested)- and of a sister that was barbarously sacrificed: but thou art my faithful brother, bringing dignity to me. Only may both Strength and Justice, with the third, the greatest of all, Jupiter, favour me!

ORESTES

O Jupiter, Jupiter! be thou a spectator of these things; and look upon the orphan brood of an eagle sire, that perished in the folds and coils of a dread serpent. On them bereft is hungry famine pressing, for [the brood] is not of full age to bring their father's prey to the nest. And so thou mayest behold both me and this maiden—I mean Electra—a progeny bereft of their father, both enduring the same banishment from their home. And, wert thou to abandon to destruction these, the offspring of a father that did thee sacrifice and honoured thee greatly, whence wouldst thou have the honour of the solemn festival from a like hand? Neither, wert thou to abandon to destruction the eagle's young, wouldst thou hereafter be able to send tokens well believed by mortals. Nor will this royal stock, if entirely withered, do thine altars service on days when oxen are sacrificed. Take care [of it], and raise from its low estate a mighty house, that now seems to have fallen very low.

CHORUS

O children, saviours of your paternal hearth, keep silence, that none may hear you, my children, and, in pleasure for the tongue, report all to the rulers :-whom may I, some time or other, see dead amid the pitchy smoke of the flame!

ORESTES

The oracle of Loxias, great in its might, will not fail me, bidding me pass through this peril, and loudly cheering me on, and muttering out tempestuous curses beneath my fevered breast, should I not pursue the murderers of my father, directing me, maddened like a bull, to slay them in their turn

with a penalty not paid in money 1; and he declared that [if I failed to do so] I should make this atonement in my soul, enduring many comfortless ills. For the soothing remedies for malignant evils [which arise] to mortals from the earth, these he declared should to us be maladies 2—leprosies that assail the flesh with fierce fangs, and entirely eat away its original nature; and that white hairs should sprout forth in this malady. And he spoke of my seeing clearly, as I guide my brow in the dark, other assaults of the Furies, produced by the blood of my father. For the darkling shaft of those beneath the earth, that comes from suppliants who have fallen by a kindred hand and phrenzy, and groundless terror by night, torments, harasses, and chases from the city the body that has been mangled by the brazen-forged scourge. And of such [he declares] that it is the doom neither to have any share of the festal bowl, nor of the liquor used in libations, and that a father's unseen wrath excludes him from altars, and that no one will receive nor dwell with him 3; but that unhonoured and abhorred of all, he should at length die, horribly wasted away 4, by a doom of utter destruction. To oracles such as these must I not give credence? Nay, if I did not give credence to them, the deed must be done; for many cravings coincide in one-both the commands of the god, and my great sorrow for my father, and the lack of substance moreover presses me—that my fellow-citizens, most highly

renowned of men, they that overthrew Troy with gallant spirit, may not thus live in subjection to two women:-for womanish is his mind; or if not, it shall full soon be known 1.

CHORUS

But, O ye mighty destinies, vouchsafe ye, by the will of Jove, that it may end in the way which Justice takes. "In return for a hostile speech be a hostile speech paid back"— cries Justice aloud as she exacts the debt,-" and in return for a murderous blow let him suffer a murderous blow." DOER MUST SUFFER; thus saith a thrice-antique saw.

ORESTES

Father, unhappy father, by saying or by doing what, could I, with a favouring breeze, waft from afar to thee, where thy couch [of death] holds thee, a light equal to darkness 2? But nevertheless 3, a glorious dirge for the patriarchs of Atreus' line, at all events, is deemed a grateful offering.

CHORUS

My child, the consuming jaws of fire quell not the spirit of the dead, but afterwards he shows his wrath. But the dead is bewailed with a funeral moan, and he that wronged him is discovered. A righteous grief for fathers and for parents, stirred up on all sides, investigates the whole.

ELECTRA

Give ear now, O my father, in turn, to my griefs of many tears. The lament of thy two children over thy tomb bewails thee. And thy sepulchre hath received us who are alike suppliants and outcasts. What of these things is well? and what is without ills? Is not ours an invincible calamity?

CHORUS

Yet, hereafter, out of this, God, if he be willing, may grant us sounds more jocund; and, instead of wailings o'er the tomb, a hymn of triumph in the royal halls may usher our newly-arrived 4 friend.

ORESTES

Oh! would that beneath the walls of Ilion, smitten with

the spear by some of the Lycians, thou hadst been slain, my father! Having bequeathed renown to thy house, after establishing for the ways of thy children [through life] a condition worthy of notice, thou wouldst have occupied a sepulchre with a lofty mound in a land beyond the sea—in a manner that thy family might endure.

CHORUS

Dear to those dear to thee who there gloriously fell, a prince of august majesty, distinguished beneath the earth, and a minister to the mightiest rulers in the shades below: for thou wast a king so long as thou wast alive, among 1 those that fill their destined lot with [deeds of] hands, and the sceptre that wins the obedience of mortals 2.

ELECTRA

Nor [would I that you], having fallen beneath the walls of Troy, my father, along with the other 3 host, victims of the war, should have been buried beside Scamander's stream 4: but would that his slayers had thus been beaten down previously, so that one, unscathed by these horrors, might have learned their fatal catastrophe.

CHORUS

These things of which thou speakest, my child, are more precious than gold, and surpassing e'en Hyperborean happiness, for thou art in anguish 5. But [enough], for the clang of this double scourge comes upon me: the protectors of these [children] are already beneath the earth: but the hands of the odious pair that rule are polluted; on their children too it bath fallen heavier 6.

ELECTRA

This pierced right through my ears, like a dart 7. O Jupiter, Jupiter, thou that sendest up Atè, the late avenger on the hardy hand of mortals that dares all deeds 1; nevertheless; retribution shall come upon parents.

CHORUS

Would that it were mine to chant a welcome to the bitter 2 outcry of a man when he is smitten, and of a dying woman! for why am I to conceal how unceasingly there hovers [before]my mind, and before my face there sits 3 violent passion of heart, wrathful loathing?

ORESTES

And would that at length, some day or other, Jupiter, who makes us both to flourish 4, would put to his hand, alas alas! cleaving their heads. May security befall this realm! I ask for justice from the unrighteous. And do ye give ear that are had in honour by those beneath the earth 5.

CHORUS

But it is a law, that drops of gore shed upon the ground call for other bloodshed in addition, for murder cries aloud to Erinnys 6, who brings on from those that perished before, another woe upon woe.

ELECTRA

Whither, whither have the princedoms of the dead [fled]? Behold, ye potent curses of the departed, behold the relics of the Atreidæ in straits, and dishonoured in their dwellings. Whither should one betake one's self, O Jupiter!

CHORUS

Again hath my heart throbbed while I listened to this lament of thine; and sometimes I am in despondency, and my vitals are overcast with gloom at thy speech, as I listen to it;

and again in turn, having confidence in support, sorrow departs, so that things seem well to me 1.

ORESTES

And what should we all chance to be 2? Is it possible to wheedle the wrongs which we endure from those that gave us birth 3? But some things cannot be soothed; for, like a ravening wolf, my mind is from my mother implacable 4.

ELECTRA

She struck a martial strain; then, after the manner of a Cissian heroine 5, with a shower of blows wandering many ways might you see the outstretchings of her hand, dealt without intermission, from above, from afar; and with the stroke my buffeted, and all-wretched head resounds. Woe's me! woe's me! wretched all-daring mother, with wretched obsequies thou hadst the heart to inter a monarch without the attendance of his subjects, a hero unbewailed, without mournings 6.

ORESTES

Every word that thou speakest is to our shame. Ah me! surely then she shall expiate her degradation of my father, as far as the divinities are concerned, and as far as depends upon my hands; then may I perish, after having bereaved her [of life!]

ELECTRA

Furthermore too-that thou mayest know this he was mangled 7, and as she dealt with him, thus she buries him, eager to consummate for him a doom that should be an intolerable burthen to thy life. Thou hearest thy father's shameful sufferings.

ORESTES

Thou speakest of my father's doom.

ELECTRA

Ay, and I was thrust forth, dishonoured, nothing worth; and barred out from the innermost apartment, like a too mischievous cur. I gave vent to tear-drops more readily than laughter, blithe if I might conceal my tearful woe. Listening to such things grave them within thy bosom, and make my tale pass through thine ears with the leisure step of thine understanding. For of these matters some are thus, and others seek thou thyself eagerly to learn. But it becomes thee to enter the lists with unflinching spirit.

ORESTES

To thee do I make my appeal, lend thine aid, O father, to thy friends.

CHORUS

This 1 entire company too echoes the prayer: Oh corne into the light and give ear: and be thou present against thy foes.

ORESTES

Let Mars encounter Mars, DeèDicè 2.

ELECTRA

O gods, give a righteous decision.

CHORUS

A shuddering creeps over me as I listen to your prayers. That which is foredoomed abides from the olden time, and to those that pray for it, it may come. Alas! struggle of kindred. and bloody discordant stroke of Atè! Alas for the sad intolerable woes! Alas for the sore hard to stanch! There is in the house a styptic remedy 3 for these things, and that not from others from abroad, but from themselves, in that I pursue

the quarrel of blood shedeling 1; this is the song of the powers beneath the earth.

But oh, ye immortal powers below, give ear to these orisons of ours, and graciously send to the children aid unto victory.

ORESTES

Father, thou that didst die in no king-like manner, vouchsafe to me entreating 2, the mastery over thy house.

ELECTRA

I too, father, stand in the like need of thine aid, that I may escape after having brought a signal [doom] upon Ægisthus.

ORESTES

For thus should the banquets that are established among mortals be dedicated to thee: but if not, at the funeral feasts 3 thou wiit be unhonoured by savoury burnt-offerings from the earth.

ELECTRA

I too, from my entire substance, will bring to thee my nuptial offerings from the paternal dwelling; for beyond all things I will reverence this thy tomb.

ORESTES

O earth, send up my father to overlook the conflict.

ELECTRA

O Proserpine, vouchsafe to us also victory of beauteous aspect.

ORESTES

Remember the bath in which thou wast bereaved of life, my father.

ELECTRA

Remember too how strangely they enclosed thee in the net 4.

ORESTES

Thou wast ensnared in fetters not wrought of brass, my father.

ELECTRA

Ay, and in folds of vestments foully planned.

ORESTES

Art thou not roused by these reproaches, father?

ELECTRA

Dost thou not then rear erect thy dearest head?

ORESTES

Either despatch justice, an ally to thy friends, or grant [foesj to receive in recompense like injuries, if indeed after having been mastered thou wishest to triumph in thy turn.

ELECTRA

And give ear, my father, to this final ery of mine to thee. Beholding thy young ones here sitting on thy sepul-

chre, take pity upon thy female, and likewise on thy male offspring; and do not utterly blot out this seed of the Pelopidæ. For thus thou art not dead; not even though thou didst die, for children are to the deceased reputation preserving; and like corks they buoy up the net, upholding the twist of the flaxen cord from the deep. Give ear! 'tis on thy behalf that laments such as these are poured forth, and thou thyself art saved by honouring this our petition.

CHORUS

And in truth ye have lengthened out this your petition blamelessly, an honour to the tomb and to his unwept fate: for the rest, since thou hast been aroused in spirit to achieve it, do it forthwith, trying thy chance.

ORESTES

It shall be so; but it is not out of my way to inquire how it comes that she sent drink-offerings, in consequence of what it is that she pays too late attention to an irreparable wrong? To the dead too, unconscious of it, a sorry offering was sent. I cannot guess the import of these gifts, but they are too small for the trespass. For though one were to make every libation in atonement for a single murder, the labour would be in vain: so runs the saying. But if thou knowest this, tell it to me wishing [to hear it].

CHORUS

I know it, my child, for I was by; for having been agitated by dreams and restless terrors of the night, the godless woman sent these drink-offerings.

ORESTES

Did ye also hear the dream, so as to tell it correctly?

CHORUS

She fancied, as she herself says, that she gave birth to a serpent.

ORESTES

And what is the end and issue of the tale?

CHORUS

that the new-born monster was lying 3 in swaddling-clothes like an infant, in want of food 4, and she in her dream gave it her breast.

ORESTES

And how was the dug wounded not by the abomination?

CHORUS

[It did not wound her,] so as to draw clotted blood along with the milk.

ORESTES

This vision of a man come not in vain1.

CHORUS

And she, fluttering with fear, screamed in her sleep; and many lamps that had been extinguished in darkness sprang into light through the palace on account of our mistress. And then she sends these funereal drink-offerings, hoping for a fitly-shred2 remedy for her sufferings.

ORESTES

But I make my prayer to this earth, and to the tomb of my father, that this dream may bring accomplishment to me. And i'faith I interpret it so that it exactly tallies; for if, after quitting the same place with me, the serpent was decked in my swaddling-clothes, and mouthed the breast that gave me nutriment, and mingled with clotted blood the loved milk, and she shrieked in dread at this mischance-it needs must be that she, as she reared a terrific portent, should die a violent death; and I, changed into a serpent, will slay her, as this dream of her's declares. And I choose thee for my expounder of portents as touching this matter.

CHORUS

So be it: but explain the rest of thy plan to thy friends, bidding some to do something, and others not to act.

ORESTES

The tale is simple: I recommend my sister here to go within and to conceal these plans agreed upon [with her]; that after slaying an august monarch, they too may be entrapped by guile, dying in the very same toils, even as Loxias too predicted, king Apollo, a prophet of unfailing truth heretofore. For like to a stranger, having complete equipment, I will come with my friend Pylades here to the gates of the court-yard, as a guest and friend of the family. And we both will utter the Parnassian dialect, imitating the sound of a Phocian tongue. And suppose that no one of the porters will admit us with gladsome mind, (since the house is possessed with ills,) we will remain thus, so that any one walking past the house may make a guess, and say this: “Why thus with [closed] gates exclude ye the suppliant? if Ægisthus is at home and aware of his presence?" If then I pass the threshold of the gates of the court-yard, and shall discover him upon my father's throne, or if he come then and speak to me to my face and cast his eyes upon me, know certainly that before he says, "What countrymen is the stranger?” I will stretch him a corpse, coming round him1 with nimble swordsmanship. And Erinnys, that hath not been stinted of slaughter, shall quaff blood undiluted, a third draught. Now then, do thou watch well what is within the house, that these things may fall out well-combined. But to you I recommend to keep a silent tongue, both to keep silence where it is needful, and to speak what is suited to the moment. For the rest I appeal to this my [friend] to come hither and overlook these matters; to him that has helped2 me to success in this conflict of the wielded sword.

[ELECTRA enters the palace: ORESTES and PYLADES retire to disguise themselves.] CHORUS

Full many3 a dread and grievous horror does the earth nurture, and the arms of the deep teem with monsters hostile to mortals! and there spring forth in mid-air lights4 hung aloft. Both the creatures that fly and those that crawl, and the gusty rage of hurricanes, one might be able to describe. But who can tell the mighty daring spirit of man, and of women hardened in their souls, and their loves that venture all, comates with the woes of mortals? Un-lovely love, lording it in woman's heart, overcomes the conjugal societies of brutes and of men. Let whosoever is not flighty in his thoughts know this, when he hath learned what a kindling device the wretched daughter of Thestius, who worked the destruction of her son, sought out, when she committed to the flames the glowing brand that was his coeval, from the time when he uttered his first cry on coming from the womb, and commensurate through his life unto the day foredoomed by Fate. Another is there in legends whom we are bound to abhor, the murderess Scylla, who at the foeman's instigation destroyed a man [she should have] loved, having been seduced by Cretan necklaces of wrought gold, the gifts of Minos, what time she, shameless, robbed Nisus of his undying ringlet as he was breathing unsuspectingly in sleep; but Mercury1 overtakes her. And since I have made mention of savage horrors, though unseasonably2, [one may also mention] the odious match, execrated by the house, and plots laid by a woman's mind against an armed warrior, against a warrior for his majesty bitter to his enemies; and I honour the hearth of a household that knows not audacity, and in women an undaring spirit. Of horrors, indeed, that of Lemnos holds the first place in story; and it is deplored in every clime as an abomination, and a man is wont to compare what is dreadful to Lemnian sufferings3. And by reason of heaven-detested guilt the race of mortals perishes in infamy; for no one reveres that which is offensive to the gods. Which of these hideous facts do I unreasonably reckon up? But the sword, sharp and bitter, inflicts a wound right through the lungs, driven by the hand of Justice. For the lawless conduct of him4 that hath lawlessly trespassed against every awful attribute of Jupiter, is not trampled under foot on the ground. But the base of Justice is planted firm; and Fate, that forges the sword, prepares it for the deed, and brings into the house a new offering of ancient murders, and time-honoured5 Erinnys avenges the stain.

ORESTES

Boy, boy1! hear the knocking at the gates of the court-yard. Who is within there in the house? boy, boy, I say again, a third time I call for some one to come out of the house, if Ægisthus forsooth be given to hospitality2.

DOMESTIC

Well, well—I hear you. What countryman is the stranger? whence comes he3?

ORESTES

Bear word to the masters of the mansion, unto whom I am come and am bringing news; and be quick, since also night's dusky car is speeding on, and 'tis time for wayfarers to let go their anchor in houses that welcome all strangers. Let there come forth some lady-mistress of the house, that hath power: but it were more decorous that a man should [come to us], for that bashfulness does not in the course of conversation make words obscure: man is wont to speak with confidence to man, and expresses his thoughts with certainty.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Guests, say whatsoever is necessary; for there are at hand things such as beseem this dwelling of ours, both warm baths4, and the couch that soothes fatigues, and the presence of benignant eyes. But if ye are bound to transact any other business that requires somewhat of consultation, this is the concern of men, to whom we will communicate it.

ORESTES

I am a stranger of Daulis, come from the Phocians; and as I was journeying to Argos, self freighted with my own baggage, just as I set forth hither on foot, a stranger who met me said to me a stranger, after having particularly inquired and clearly explained to me my road, Strophius the Phocian,—for I ascertain his name in course of conversation:—“Since on other business, stranger, thou art going to Argos, tell his parents that Orestes is dead, strictly remembering it, let it by no means be forgotten; whether the determination of his friends shall prevail to convey him away, or whether to bury him in the land of his sojourn, altogether estranged for ever, bring back with thee their commands on this subject; for now the sides of a brazen urn conceal the ashes of the man who hath been duly bewailed." Thus much I tell thee as I heard it. And whether I am speaking to the heads of the family and to his relations I know not, but it is proper that his parents know it.

ELECTRA

Woe's me! how1 are we utterly ruined. O insuperable curse of this family, how dost thou level at many things that are well placed out of thy way, overcoming them with thy bow, that carries true to the mark even from afar. Thou strippest me thoroughly wretched of my friends. And now Orestes,—for he used to be lucky in his throws, removing his foot from out the slough of destruction,-but now—the hope which was to be medicinal against the goodly revelry in this house, he writes down as present2.

ORESTES

I could indeed have wished to have become known, and to have been welcomed as a guest by hosts thus opulent through the means of gladsome tidings; for what more kindly feeling is there than that which is entertained by a guest towards hosts? But to my mind it was an act of impiety not to fulfil such an obligation as this to friends, having pledged ray word, and been hospitably welcomed.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Be sure thou shalt not meet with unworthy treatment, and not the less shouldest thou be friendly to the household; For some one else would have come all the same to bring us these tidings. But it is the fit time for strangers that spend the whole day in long travel, to obtain the things that are suitable under their circumstances. Conduct him into the hospitable male apartments of the palace, and these his attendants and fellow-travellers, and there let them enjoy treatment such as beseems the house. And I bid thee do this as liable to be called to account. And we will both communicate these things to the heads of the family, and not lacking friends, will deliberate concerning this misfortune.

[CLYTEMNESTRA enters the palace.] CHORUS

Well, dear handmaidens of the house, when indeed shall we put forth the strength of our mouths on account of Orestes? O revered earth, and revered pile of the mound, which now dost press upon the remains of the monarch that led the fleet, now give ear, now lend thine aid; for now is it high time for wily plausibility and the nether Mercury to come together, and to guide the mysterious man on his way in conflicts of the destructive sword.

The stranger seems to be working mischief. But I see the nurse of Orestes coming hither, in tears. On what errand Cilissa, art thou treading the outlet1 of the palace? and no hireling sorrow is it that accompanies thee on thy way.

NURSE

My mistress bade me call Ægisthus with all speed for the strangers2, that having come, man may learn more clearly from man the tidings just reported. Before the domestics, indeed, she suppressed her laughter within her scowling eyes, concealing it over deeds that have been done well for her, but for this house all unhappily, in consequence of the tale which the strangers clearly reported. Verily he, when he hears it, will rejoice in his mind, when he shall have learned the news. Alas, wretch that I am! how did the ancient blended sorrows, hard to be endured, that happened to this mansion of Atreus, afflict with anguish my heart within my bosom! But never yet did I undergo any suffering such as this. For the rest of my calamities I bore through with patience; but my dear Orestes, the care of my soul, whom I reared up, having received him from the moment of his birth3 and from his arousing cries, disturbing me by night many fruitless toils have been endured by me in vain. For [the infant] that has no sense one must needs rear just as if it were an animal, for how can it be otherwise? according to his humour; for a child while yet in swaddling-clothes speaks not, whether hunger, or thirst, or a call of nature beset him; and the belly of an infant works its own relief. I, fore-warned of these things, but in many cases deceived, I ween, was a washer of the baby's wrappings; the fuller and the nurse had one and the same office1. And I having this twofold manual occupation, I received Orestes from his father2. But now I wretched hear of his having died. And I am going to a man that hath done foul wrong to this house; and willingly will he hear these tidings.

CHORUS

With what equipment does she then bid him come?

NURSE

With what equipment? repeat your question, that I may understand it more clearly.

CHORUS

[I mean] whether with guards, or even unattended?

NURSE

She bids him bring his spear-bearing followers.

CHORUS

Prithee do not thou bear this message to our detested master3; but bid him come alone with rejoicing mind, with the best speed he may, that he may hear without apprehension; for κυπτός4 tidings are set straight by the bearer.

NURSE

What! art thou gladdened by the news that has now been brought?

CHORUS

No; but [I shall be glad] if Jupiter at some future time shall work a change in our ills.

NURSE

And how? Orestes, the hope of the house, hath perished.

CHORUS

Not yet; even a dull diviner might understand this.

NURSE

What sayest thou? knowest thou aught different from what hath been told us?

CHORUS

Go, tell thy message, execute thine orders. The gods take care of those things about which they interest themselves.

NURSE

Well, I will go, and in this matter will yield me to thy bidding. And may the issue be the best it can by the gift of heaven. Exit the NURSE.

CHORUS

O Jupiter! sire of the Olympian gods, grant to me now beseeching thee that my fortunes may turn out successfully, in a manner that may be beheld by the wise well seeking2. In integrity3 have I uttered every word. O Jupiter ! do protect them. Ah ! ah! and set thou [him] before his foes within the house, since, if thou exaltest him to glory, thou shalt, if thou pleasest, receive in return a double and threefold recompense. Bethink thee too of a beloved hero's orphan youngling yoked In harness of sufferings, and prescribe thou a limit to his race. Who4 might see this striding of completed paces across the plain keeping due time? Ye too, that haunt the alcove that exults in opulence, give ear, propitious gods. Come, make atonement for the bloodshed of those that were done to death in the olden time by fresh vengeance. No more let ancient murder spawn in the halls. O thou that tenantest the vast chasm, graciously grant that the hero's home may at the same time witness this righteous execution5, and that he may look forth fearlessly and brightly with friendly eyes from out the veil of gloom. May Maia's most propitious6 son also, willing him an auspicious issue, rightfully take up the cause. Many other mysterious things too will he develope if he be willing ; and uttering obscure language, both by night he brings dark- ness before the eyes, and in the daytime he is nought clearer.

CHORUS

And then at length will we pour forth1 a loud song to celebrate the deliverance of the palace ; such as may suit a woman's tongue, auspiciously raised, and withal the lyre-struck strain of mourners: for the city this is well; my gain too, mine is enhanced, and evil withdraws from my friends. But do thou boldly, when thy share of the deed shall have come, after shouting thy father's name over a deed done for thy father's sake, in answer to her shrieking, “ My son !" consummate a vengeance not wholly blameless2. Maintaining too within thy bosom the spirit of Perseus, in the cause of those dear to thee both above and below the earth, working out bitter wrath rather than to affection3, accomplishing a murderous destruc tion on those within, cutting off utterly the author of murder.

Enter AEGISTHUS AEGISTHUS

I have come not unbidden, but summoned by a messenger ; and I understand that some strangers who have arrived tell us news by no means welcome, to wit, the death of Orestes. And the imputation of this upon the house would be a blood- dripping burthen upon one still ulcerated and irritated by the former murder4. How am I to deem these tidings true and clear? or can it be that alarming rumours in the minds of women are flitting in mid-air, such as die away without effect ? What of these things shouldst thou say, so as to prove it to my mind ?

CHORUS

We heard it indeed, but go thou within and question the strangers ; the authority of messengers is no way so good as for a man himself to make enquiry about the tidings which they bring5.

AEGISTHUS

I wish to see and question farther the messenger, whether he himself was present close at hand where he died, or whether he is telling what he has learned from obscure re port. He certainly will not be able to delude a discerning mind. Exit AEGISTHUS.

CHORUS

O Jupiter ! Jupiter! what am I to say ? whence shall I commence thus praying and importunating1? How, speaking from good feeling, shall I obtain an equivalent boon ?

For now either the gore-stained attempts of the man-slaying axes are on the point of working the destruction of the family of Agamemnon throughout all time, or he, kindling fire and light for liberty, and the authorities that give laws to the state, shall enjoy the great weal of his fathers. Upon such a con flict as this is god-like Orestes, a solitary single-handed champion, on the point of entering against two. And may it be for victory!

AEGISTHUS

(from within the palace.)—Ah ! what, ho !

CHORUS

Ah! ah ! again ! How stands the matter ? how are things accomplished in the house ? Stand we aloof from the consummation of the business, that we may seem to be no way implicated in these horrors ; for the issue of the conflict hath assuredly been settled.

Enter a DOMESTIC. DOMESTIC

Woe's me! ay every woe's me, for my slain lord! yet once more woe's me ! in a third exclamation. Aegisthus is no more : but open as quickly as ye may, and unclose, by [re moving] the bars, the doors of the women's apartments ; and need there surely is of a vigorous arm; but not to succour the slain ; what need of that ? What, hoa ! I am shouting to the deaf, and calling in vain to those that are madly sleeping. Where is Clytemnestra ? what is she doing ? It seems now that her neck is soon to fall on the edge of the steel, she being justly smitten2.

CLYTEMNESTRA

(coming forward).—What is the matter? what meant the outcry thou art raising in the house ?

DOMESTIC

I tell thee that the dead are slaying the living.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Ah me! I apprehend thy meaning from thy dark expressions. By treachery shall we perish exactly as we slew. Some one hand me a deathly axe with all speed. Let us see whether we are to be victors or vanquished; for unto that crisis of this evil am I come.

ORESTES

(bursting in.)—Thee too am I seeking-this wretch here has enough.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Ah me ! thou art dead, dearest Aegisthus.

ORESTES

Lovest thou the man ? then shalt thou lie in the same tomb, and thou shalt never desert him in death.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Hold thee, my son! and revere this breast on which thou full often slumbering wast wont at the same time to suck with thy gums the well-nourishing milk.

ORESTES

Pylades, how am I to act? is reverence to restrain me from slaying my mother ?

PYLADES

Where, then, are the oracles of Apollo uttered at Pytho, and the faithful oaths well plighted ? Deem all thine enemies rather than the gods1.

ORESTES

I decide that thou prevailest, and admonishest me well: (turning to his mother,) follow me. I wish to slay thee close beside his corpse here ; for when he was alive too, thou didst use to deem him better than my father. Go sleep with him in death, since thou dost love this man, and him whom thou wast bound to love thou loathest.

CLYTEMNESTRA

I reared thee, and with thee I would spend my age.

ORESTES

What! having murdered my sire, shalt thou dwell with me ?

CLYTEMNESTRA

Destiny, my child, was an accessory to these things.

ORESTES

Ay, and so Destiny provides the doom that is now before thee.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Hast thou no awe of a parent's curses, my child ?

ORESTES

No ; for after giving me birth thou didst cast me out into misery.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Surely I did not cast thee out [when I sent thee] to the house of a friend.

ORESTES

In two ways was I sold, son though I was of a free- father.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Where then is the price which I received for bartering thee away ?

ORESTES

I am ashamed to reproach thee in plain terms with this deed of thine.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Nay, only tell equally the follies of thy father.

ORESTES

Reproach not him that bore the toil, thou that didst sit within the house.

CLYTEMNESTRA

'Tis a sorrow to women to be debarred from a hus- band, my child.

ORESTES

Yet sure it is the husband's toiling that supports them as they sit within.

CLYTEMNESTRA

It seems, then, that thou wilt slay thy mother, my child.

ORESTES

'Tis thou wilt work thine own destruction, not I.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Look to it, beware of the wrathful furies of a mother.

ORESTES

But how am I to escape those of my father if I neglect this?

CLYTEMNESTRA

I, a living woman, seem to be vainly making my moan to a sepulchre.

ORESTES

Ay, for the fate of my father wafts1 down upon thee the doom that now awaits thee.

CLYTEMNESTRA

Ah me! this is the serpent that I bore and nurtured. In truth the panic occasioned by my dreams has been indeed prophetic.

ORESTES

Thou didst in truth slay one whom it became thee not, so suffer what becomes thee not. ORESTES forces his mother into the palace.

CHORUS

Let us then bewail the twofold calamity even of this wretched pair. And since the hapless Orestes hath attained the consummation of many slaughters, this notwithstanding we prefer, that the eye of the house has not fallen in utter destruction.

There hath come after a time vengeance for the chil- dren of Priam, heavy-avenging retribution; and there hath come into the dwelling of Agamemnon, a twofold lion, a twofold Mars. The exile of whom Apollo spake hath been successful2 in every respect, having been rightly excited by the counsels of heaven. Celebrate ye with a loud shout the escape1 of our master's house from evils, and from the dilapidation of its treasures by the defiling pair, a mournful fate. There hath come to one whose care is lurking warfare, Retribution of wily soul. The daughter of Jove too hath in very truth lent a hand to the battle,—and correctly do we mortals style her Justice,—breathing deadly wrath against her foes: whom Apollo, the god of Parnassus, that haunts the mighty cavern of the earth, upon the summit, hath led, without guile he comes upon one guileful, halting in delay. The divinity is in a manner prevented from aiding the wicked. Meet it is that we revere the power of the celestials. We are permitted to behold the light, and the great fetter2 of the mansion hath been taken off. Arise ye now, however, ye palaces! for too long a period did ye lie ever grovelling on the earth. Soon too will all-completing Time pass the vestibule of the palace, when he shall have driven from the hearth every abomination by lustral observances that expel calamities3, and it shall be permitted us mourners to see and hear every thing in a lucky posture. The outcasts from the house shall be restored. We are permitted to behold the light.

ORESTES

Behold ye the two sovereigns of the realm and the pillagers of this mansion that murdered my father. Proud were they, when sitting on their thrones, and now too [are they] loving, as we may guess from what has befallen them, and the oath remains to their pledges [unbroken]4. They conspired indeed [to work] the death of my unhappy father, and to die together; and this result is according to the oath. Furthermore behold ye1,—ye that are hearers of these ills, the contrivance, the shackles of my unhappy father, both the fet- ters for his hands and the yoke for his feet! Stretch it out, and standing round in a circle display the robe that enshrouded the hero, in order that the father may see—not mine, but he that beholdeth all these things, the Sun—the unhallowed doings of my mother; that so he may be present to me in my trial some future time, as an evidence, that with justice I pro- secuted this doom; of my mother I mean, for I am not speak- ing of that of Aegisthus, for he has undergone the sentence of an adulterer, as the law prescribes. But she who plotted this detestable deed against a husband, from whom she had been wont to bear the burthen of children beneath her zone—a burthen once dear, but now, as is plain, an hostile ill—what thinkest thou? assuredly she was a conger, or a viper2, that could canker by a touch one who had not suffered from her bite, by reason of her daring and her unrighteous spirit; what shall I call it, and succeed in giving it a correct name? a snare for a wild beast, or a canopy of a bath that enshrouded the feet of the dead ? nay rather, thou mightest call it a net or toils, and a robe for snaring the feet. A thing like this a robber might have in his possession; one that deceives stran- gers, that leads a life of plunder, and cutting off many by this device, he might nurse many a hot deed in his mind. Be never woman like this an inmate in my house: sooner may I be doomed by the gods to die childless.

CHORUS

Alas! alas for the sad deeds! by a hateful death wast thou despatched, and for the survivor also suffering blame.

ORESTES

Did he or did he not do it? but this vest bears witness to me that the sword of Aegisthus stained it. The stain of the gore too coincides with the time [of the deed,] damaging the various hues of the embroidery. Now I praise him3, now upon the spot I bemoan him; and addressing his vestment, that wrought my father's fall, I grieve for the offences and the suffering, and the entire family, having the unenviable pollutions of this victory which I have achieved.

CHORUS

No one of human kind shall spend unscathed a life free from ill throughout its whole length. Alas! alas! of troubles one is this very instant upon us, and another will come.

ORESTES

But, that you may learn, I of a truth know to what issue it will come1: as though with horses of a charioteer I am wandering wide of the course; for thoughts hard to be con- trolled are hurrying me away overcome by them. And at my heart fear is ready to sing or dance in phrensy.

But while I am still in my senses, I make declaration to my friends, and assert that with justice I slew my mother, an abomination, murdering my father, and detested of the gods. And as for my provocatives to this daring, I prize most highly Loxias, the prophet of Pytho, who announced to me by oracle, that if I did this I should be beyond the reach of evil censure; but if I had neglected it, I will not tell the penalty; for no one will arrive at the agonies by conjecture. And now behold me, how arrayed with this branch and chaplet I will draw nigh unto the central shrine, the spot trodden by2 Loxias, and the blaze of fire that hath been called imperish- able, fleeing from this kindred blood: nay Loxias charged me not to betake myself to any other shrine. And I bid all the Argives bear witness to me, how that after a lapse of time these evils were dealt out by me: but I a vagabond, estranged from this land, living and dying having left this fame.

CHORUS

But since thou hast done well, neither yoke thy mouth to evil-omened words, nor with thy tongue bode horrors, after having given liberty to the whole state of the Argives, success- fully lopping the heads of two serpents.

ORESTES

Ah! ah! ye handmaids, here they are in the guise of Gorgons, in sable vestments, and entwined with densely-woven snakes. I can stay no longer.

CHORUS

What fancies disturb thee, thou dearest of men to thy father ? command thyself, be not scared after achieving a sig- nal victory.

ORESTES

They are not fancies of these agonies that are upon me; for here are plainly the angry hell-hounds of my mother.

CHORUS

Aye, for the fresh blood is still upon thine hands, hence is it that perturbation falls upon thy mind.

ORESTES

Sovereign Apollo! now they are swarming; and from their eyes they still loathly gore.

CHORUS

Within there is purification for thee ; but if thou touch- est Loxias, he will set thee free from these sufferings.

ORESTES

Ye indeed see not these, but I do see them1; and I am driven away, and can stay no longer. Exit ORESTES.

CHORUS

But mayest thou be happy, and may the deity, graci- ously regarding thee, protect thee for a better hap. This third tempest arising out of the family, after having blown In its turn in the royal halls, like as a family wind2 hath come to an end. First of all there were the child-devouring wretched troubles of Thyestes. Next came a hero's kingly sufferings, and stabbed in a bath the warrior chieftain of the Greeks perished. Now too once more, third in order, there hath come, we know not whence, a saviour, or should I call it doom. Where then is the violence of calamity, when lulled, to find an end; or where is it to reach a termination?