by Sophocles
And mortal was thy brother. Grieve not far.
OR. O me! What shall I speak, or which way turn
The desperate word? I cannot hold my tongue.
EL. What pain o’ercomes thee? Wherefore speak’st thou so?
OR. Can this be famed Electra I behold?
EL. No other. In sad case, as you may see
OR. Ah! deep indeed was this calamity!
EL. Is’t possible that thou shouldst grieve for me?
OR. O ruined form! abandoned to disgrace!
EL. ’Tis me you mean, stranger, I feel it now.
OR. Woe ‘s me! Untrimmed for bridal, hapless maid!
EL. Why this fixed gaze, O stranger! that deep groan?
OR. How all unknowing was I of mine ill!
EL. What thing hath passed to make it known to thee?
OR. The sight of thee attired with boundless woe.
EL. And yet thine eye sees little of my pain.
OR. Can aught be still more hateful to be seen?
EL. I have my dwelling with the murderers —
OR. Of whom? What evil would thy words disclose?
EL. Of him who gave me birth. I am their slave.
OR. Whose power compels thee to this sufferance?
EL. One called my mother, most unmotherly.
OR. How? by main force, or by degrading shames?
EL. By force and shames, and every kind of evil.
OR. And is there none to succour or prevent?
EL. None. Him I had, you give me here in dust.
[1199-1229] OR. How mine eye pities thee this while, poor maid!
EL. Know now, none ever pitied me but you.
OR. None ever came whose heart like sorrow wrung.
EL. Is’t possible we have some kinsman here?
OR. I will tell it, if these women here be friendly.
EL. They are. They may be trusted. Only speak.
OR. Let go yon vase, that thou may’st learn the whole.
EL. Nay, by the Gods! be not so cruel, sir!
OR. Obey me and thou shalt not come to harm.
EL. Ah, never rob me of what most I love!
OR. You must not hold it.
EL. O me miserable
For thee, Orestes, if I lose thy tomb!
OR. Speak no rash word. Thou hast no right to mourn.
EL. No right to mourn my brother who is gone?
OR. Such utterance belongs not to thy tongue,
EL. Oh, am I thus dishonoured of the dead?
OR. Far from dishonour. But this ne’er was thine.
EL. Is’t not Orestes’ body that I bear?
OR. Nay, but the idle dressing of a tale.
EL. And where is his poor body’s resting-place?
OR. Nowhere. Seek not the living with the dead,
EL. My son, what saidst thou?
OR. Nought but what is true.
EL. Doth he yet live?
OR. If I have life in me.
EL. Art thou Orestes?
OR. Let my signet here,
That was our father’s, tell thine eyes, I am.
EL. O day of days!
OR. Time hath no happier hour.
EL. Is it thy voice?
OR. Hearken not otherwhere.
EL. Have my arms caught thee?
OR. Hold me so for aye!
EL. O dearest women, Argives of my home!
Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now
By that same craft delivered and preserved.
[1230-1270] CH. We see, dear daughter, and the gladsome tear
Steals from our eye to greet the bright event.
EL. Offspring of him I loved beyond all telling!I 1
Ah! thou art come, — hast found me, eye to eye
Behold’st the face thou didst desire to see.
OR. True, I am here; but bide in silence still.
EL. Wherefore?
OR. Hush! speak not loud, lest one within should hearken.
EL. By ever-virgin Artemis, ne’er will I
Think worthy of my fear
This useless mass of woman-cowardice
Burdening the house within,
Not peering out of door.
OR. Yet know that women too have might in war.
Of that methinks thou hast feeling evidence.
EL. Ah me! thou hast unveiled
And thrust before my gaze
That burning load of my distress
No time will soothe, no remedy will heal.
OR. I know that too. But when we are face to face
With the evildoers, — then let remembrance work.
EL. All times alike are fit with instant painI 2
Justly to mind me of that dreadful day;
Even now but hardly hath my tongue been free.
OR. Yes, that is it. Therefore preserve this boon.
EL. Whereby?
OR. Put limits to unseasonable talk.
EL. Ah! brother, who, when thou art come,
Could find it meet to exchange
Language for silence, as thou bidst me do?
Since beyond hope or thought
Was this thy sight to me.
OR. God gave me to your sight when so he willed.
EL. O heaven of grace beyond
The joy I knew but now!
If God hath brought thee to our roof,
A miracle of bounty then is here.
[]1271-1304 OR. I hate to curb the gladness of thy spirit,
But yet I fear this ecstasy of joy.
EL. Oh! after all these years,II
Now thou at length hast sped
Thy dearest advent on the wished-for way,
Do not, in all this woe
Thou seest surrounding me —
OR. What means this prayer?
EL. Forbid me not my joy,
Nor make me lose the brightness of thy face!
OR. Deep were my wrath at him who should attempt it.
EL. Is my prayer heard?
OR. Why doubt it?
EL. Friends, I learned
A tale beyond my thought; and hearing I restrained
My passion, voiceless in my misery,
Uttering no cry. But now
I have thee safe; now, dearest, thou art come,
With thy blest countenance, which I
Can ne’er forget, even at the worst of woe.
OR. A truce now to unnecessary words.
My mother’s vileness and Aegisthus’ waste,
Draining and squandering with spendthrift hand
Our patrimony, tell me not anew.
Such talk might stifle opportunity.
But teach me, as befits the present need,
What place may serve by lurking vigilance
Or sudden apparition to o’erwhelm
Our foes in the adventure of to-day.
And, when we pass within, take heedful care
Bright looks betray thee not unto our mother.
But groan as for the dire calamity
Vainly reported: — Let’s achieve success,
Then with free hearts we may rejoice and laugh.
EL. Dear brother, wheresoe’er thy pleasure leads,
My will shall follow, since the joys I know,
Not from myself I took them, but from thee.
And ne’er would I consent thy slightest grief
[1305-1342] Should win for me great gain. Ill should I then
Serve the divinity of this high hour!
Thou knowest how matters in the palace stand.
Thou hast surely heard, Aegisthus is from home,
And she, our mother, is within. Nor fear
She should behold me with a smiling face.
Mine ancient hate of her hath sunk too deep.
And from the time I saw thee, tears of joy
Will cease not. Wherefore should I stint their flow?
I, who in this thy coming have beheld
Thee dead and living? Strangely hast thou wrought
; On me; — that should my father come alive,
I would not think the sight were miracle,
But sober truth. Since such thy presence, then,
Lead as thy spirit prompts. For I alone
Of two things surely had achieved one,
Noble deliverance or a noble death.
OR. Be silent; for I hear within the house
A footstep coming forth.
EL. (loudly). Strangers, go in!
For none within the palace will reject
Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event.
Enter the Old Man.
OLD M. O lost in folly and bereft of soul!
Is’t that your care for life hath ebbed away,
Or were you born without intelligence,
When fallen, not near, but in the midst of ill,
And that the greatest, ye perceive it not?
Had I not watched the doors this while, your deeds
Had gone within the palace ere yourselves.
But, as things are, my care hath fenced you round.
Now, then, have done with long-protracted talk,
And this insatiable outburst of joy,
And enter, for in such attempts as these
Delay is harmful: and ’tis more than time.
OR. But how shall I find matters there within?
OLD M. Well. You are shielded by their ignorance.
OR. That means you have delivered me as dead.
OLD M. Alone of dead men thou art here above.
[1343-1375] OR. Doth this delight them, or how went the talk?
OLD M. I will report, when all is done. Meanwhile,
Know, all is well with them, even what is evil.
EL. Who is this, brother? I beseech thee, tell.
OR. Dost not perceive?
EL. I cannot even imagine.
OR. Know’st not into whose hands thou gav’st me once?
EL. Whose hands? How say you?
OR. His, who through thy care
Conveyed me secretly to Phocis’ plain.
EL. What! is this he, whom I, of all the band,
Found singly faithful in our father’s death?
OR. He is that man. No more!
EL. O gladsome day!
Dear only saviour of our father’s house,
How earnest thou hither? Art thou he indeed,
That didst preserve Orestes and myself
From many sorrows? O dear hands, kind feet,
Swift in our service, — how couldst thou so long
Be near, nor show one gleam, but didst destroy
My heart with words, hiding the loveliest deeds?
Father! — in thee methinks I see my father.
O welcome! thou of all the world to me
Most hated and most loved in one short hour.
OLD M. Enough, dear maiden! Many nights and days
Are circling hitherward, that shall reveal
In clear recountment all that came between.
But to you two that stand beside I tell,
Now is your moment, with the Queen alone,
And none of men within; but if you pause,
Know that with others of profounder skill
You’ll have to strive, more than your present foes.
OR. Then, Pylades, we need no more to dwell
On words, but enter on this act with speed,
First worshipping the holy shrines o’ the Gods
That were my father’s, harboured at the gate.
[They pass within. ELECTRA remains in an attitude of prayer
[1376-1406] EL. O King Apollo! hear them graciously,
And hear me too, that with incessant hand
Honoured thee richly from my former store!
And now, fierce slayer, I importune thee,
And woo thee with such gifts as I can give,
Be kindly aidant to this enterprise,
And make the world take note, what meed of bane
Heaven still bestows on man’s iniquity.[ELECTRA goes within
CH. Lo, where the War-god moves1
With soft, sure footstep, on to his design,
Breathing hot slaughter of an evil feud!
Even now the inevitable hounds that track
Dark deeds of hideous crime
Are gone beneath the covert of the domes.
Not long in wavering suspense shall hang
The dreaming presage of my wistful soul.
For lo! within is led2
With crafty tread the avenger of the shades,
Even to his father’s throne of ancient power,
And in his hand the bright new-sharpened death!
And Hermes, Maia’s son,
Is leading him, and hath concealed the guile
Even to the fatal end in clouds of night.
His time of weary waiting all is o’er.
Re-enter ELECTRA.
EL. O dearest women! they are even now
About it. Only bide in silence still.
CH. What is the present scene?
EL. She decks the vase
For burial, and they both are standing by.
CH. And wherefore hast thou darted forth?
EL. To watch
Aegisthus’ coming, that he enter not
At unawares.
CLY. (within).
Ah! ah! Woe for the house,
Desert of friends, and filled with hands of death!
EL. A cry within! Did ye not hear it, friends?
[1407-1432] CH. Would I had not! I heard, and shivered through.
CLY. (within).
Oh me! Alas, Aegisthus! where art thou?
EL. Hark! yet again that sound!
CLY. (within). O son, have pity!
Pity the womb that bare thee.
EL. Thou hadst none
For him, nor for his father, in that day.
HALF-CH. Poor city! hapless race!1
Thy destiny to-day
Wears thee away, away.
What morn shall see thy face?
CLY. (within). Oh, I am smitten!
EL. Give a second stroke,
If thou hast power.
CLY. (within). Oh me! again, again!
EL. Would thou wert shrieking for Aegisthus too!
CH. The curse hath found, and they in earth who lie
Are living powers to-day.
Long dead, they drain away
The streaming blood of those who made them die.
Enter ORESTES and PYLADES.
Behold, they come, they come!
His red hand dripping as he moves
With drops of sacrifice the War-god loves.
My ‘wildered heart is dumb.
EL. How is it with you, brother?
OR. If Apollo
Spake rightfully, the state within is well.
EL. Wretched one, is she dead?
OR. No more have fear
Thou shalt be slighted by thy mother’s will.
CH. Cease, for I see Aegisthus near in view.
EL. In, in again, boys!
OR. Where do ye behold
The tyrant?
EL. To our hand from yonder gate
He comes with beaming look.
HALF-CH. Haste, with what speed ye may,2 [1433-1461]
Stand on the doorway stone,
That, having thus much done,
Ye may do all to-day.
OR. Fear not: we will perform it.
EL. Speed ye now:
Follow your thought.
OR. We are already there.
EL. Leave matters here to me. All shall go well. [Exit ORESTES with PYLADES
CH. Few words, as if in gentleness, ‘twere good
To utter in his ear,
That, eager and unware,
One step may launch him on the field of blood.
Enter AEGISTHUS.
AEGISTHUS. Which of you know where are the Phocian men
Who brought the news I hear, Orestes’ life
Hath suffered shipwreck in a chariot-race?
You, you I question, you in former time
So fearless! You methinks most feelingly
Can tell us, for it touches you most near.
EL. I know: assure thee. Else had I not heard
The dearest of all fortunes to my heart.
AEG. Where are the strangers then? Enlighten me.
EL. Yonder. Their hostess entertained them well.
AEG. And did they certainly report him dead?
EL. Not only so. They showed him to our sight.
AEG. May this clear evidence be mine to see?
EL. I envy not the sight that waits you there.
AEG. Against their wont thy words have given me joy.
EL. Much joy be thine, if this be joy to thee!
AEG. Silence, I say! Wide let the gates be flung!
For all the Myceneans to behold
And all in Argolis, that if but one
Hath heretofore been buoyed on empty hopes
Fixed in Orestes, seeing him now dead,
[1462-1493] He may accept my manage, and not wait
For our stern chastisement to teach him sense.
EL. My lesson is already learnt: at length
I am schooled to labour with the stronger will.
[The body of CLYTEMNESTRA is disclosed under a veil: ORESTES standing by
AEG. Zeus! Divine envy surely hath laid low
The form I here behold. But if the truth
Provoke Heaven’s wrath, be it unexpressed. — Unveil!
Off with all hindrance, that mine eye may see,
And I may mourn my kinsman as I should.
OR. Thyself put forth thy hand. Not mine but thine
To look and speak with kindness to this corse.
AEG. I will, for thou advisest well; but thou,
Call Clytemnestra, if she be within. [AEGISTHUS lifts the shroud
OR. She is beside thee, gaze not otherwhere.
AEG. What do I see! oh!
OR. Why so strange? Whom fear you?
AEG. Who are the men into whose midmost toils
All hapless I am fallen?
OR. Ha! knowest thou not
Thou hast been taking living men for dead?
AEG. I understand that saying. Woe is me!
I know, Orestes’ voice addresseth me.
OR. A prophet! How wert thou so long deceived?
AEG. Undone, undone! Yet let me speak one word.
EL. Brother, by Heaven, no more! Let him not speak.
When death is certain, what do men in woe
Gain from a little time? Kill him at once!
And, killed, expose him to such burial
From dogs and vultures, as beseemeth such,
Far from our view. Nought less will solace me
For the remembrance of a life of pain.
OR. Go in and tarry not. No contest this
Of verbal question, but of life or death.
AEG. Why drive you me within? If this you do
Be noble, why must darkness hide the deed?