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Electra
O glorious victor, Orestes, son of a father victorious in battle under
Troy
, receive this band for the locks of your hair. You have come home, running a contest of the stadium that was not useless, but rather killing
880
Aegisthus, the murderer of your father and mine. And you, his companion, Pylades, taught by a most pious father, receive a garland from my hand; for you also bear an equal part of the contest, with Orestes. May you always seem to me fortunate!
885
O glorious victor, Orestes, son of a father victorious in battle under
Troy
, receive this band for the locks of your hair. You have come home, running a contest of the stadium that was not useless, but rather killing
880
Aegisthus, the murderer of your father and mine. And you, his companion, Pylades, taught by a most pious father, receive a garland from my hand; for you also bear an equal part of the contest, with Orestes. May you always seem to me fortunate!
885
Orestes
First believe that the gods, Electra, are the leaders of our fortune, and then praise me as the servant of them and of fate. I come, having killed Aegisthus not in word but in deed; to add this proof to your knowledge,
890
I am bringing you his corpse, which, if you wish, you may expose as prey for wild animals or impale and press it down on a stake as spoil for birds, the children of the air; for now he is your slave, once called your master.
895
First believe that the gods, Electra, are the leaders of our fortune, and then praise me as the servant of them and of fate. I come, having killed Aegisthus not in word but in deed; to add this proof to your knowledge,
890
I am bringing you his corpse, which, if you wish, you may expose as prey for wild animals or impale and press it down on a stake as spoil for birds, the children of the air; for now he is your slave, once called your master.
895
Electra
I am ashamed, but equally I wish to speak.
900
I am ashamed, but equally I wish to speak.
900
Orestes
What is it? Speak, as you are free from fear.
What is it? Speak, as you are free from fear.
Electra
I am ashamed to insult the dead, for fear someone might hurl malice at me.
I am ashamed to insult the dead, for fear someone might hurl malice at me.
Orestes
There is no one who would blame you.
There is no one who would blame you.
Electra
Our citizens are hard to please, and love scandal.
Our citizens are hard to please, and love scandal.
Orestes
Speak, if you need to say anything, sister; for we engaged in hostilities with him on terms without truce.
905
907
Speak, if you need to say anything, sister; for we engaged in hostilities with him on terms without truce.
905
Electra
Turning to the corpse of Aegisthus
Well then! Which of your evil acts shall I tell of first, as a beginning? What sort of end shall I make? What part of my speech shall I assign to the middle place? And yet I never ceased, throughout the early mornings,
repeating what I wished to say to your face, if ever I were free from my old terrors. And now I am; so I will pay you back with those reproaches I wanted to make when you were alive. You destroyed me, and orphaned me
910
and this man here of a dear father, though you were wronged in no way by us; and you made a shameful marriage with my mother, and killed her husband, who led the armies of
Hellas
, though you never went to
Troy
. You were so foolish that you really expected, in marrying my mother, that she would not be unfaithful to you,
915
though you were wronging my father’s bed. Know that whoever ruins another’s wife, in secret love, and then is forced to take her himself, is pitiable, if he thinks that the chastity which did not govern her before will do so with him.
920
You lived most miserably, although you thought it otherwise; you knew well that you had made an unholy marriage, and my mother knew that she had in you an impious husband. Both being wicked, she took up your fortune, you her evil.
925
Among all the Argives you would hear this:
That woman’s husband, not
that man’s wife. Although this is a shameful thing, for the wife to rule the house and not the husband; and I hate those children who are called in the city not the sons of the man, their father,
930
but of their mother. For instance, when a man makes a remarkable marriage, one above his rank, there is no talk of the husband but only of the wife. This deceived you the most, in your ignorance: you professed to be some one, strong in your wealth,
935
but that is nothing, except to associate with briefly. It is nature that is secure, not wealth; for, always standing by, it takes away troubles; but prosperity, when it lives wickedly and with fools, flies out of the house, flowering for a short time.
940
As to your women, I am silent—for it is not good for a maiden to speak of this—but I will tell riddles that can be understood. You were insolent because you had a king’s house and were endowed with good looks. May I never have a husband with a girl’s face, but one with a man’s ways.
945
For the children of the latter cling to a life of arms, while the fair ones are only an ornament in the dance.
Spurning the corpse with her foot Begone, knowing nothing of how you were discovered and paid the penalty in time. So let no evildoer suppose, even if he runs the first step well,
950
that he will get the better of Justice, until he comes to the end of the finish-line and makes the last turn in life.
955
957
Well then! Which of your evil acts shall I tell of first, as a beginning? What sort of end shall I make? What part of my speech shall I assign to the middle place? And yet I never ceased, throughout the early mornings,
repeating what I wished to say to your face, if ever I were free from my old terrors. And now I am; so I will pay you back with those reproaches I wanted to make when you were alive. You destroyed me, and orphaned me
910
and this man here of a dear father, though you were wronged in no way by us; and you made a shameful marriage with my mother, and killed her husband, who led the armies of
Hellas
, though you never went to
Troy
. You were so foolish that you really expected, in marrying my mother, that she would not be unfaithful to you,
915
though you were wronging my father’s bed. Know that whoever ruins another’s wife, in secret love, and then is forced to take her himself, is pitiable, if he thinks that the chastity which did not govern her before will do so with him.
920
You lived most miserably, although you thought it otherwise; you knew well that you had made an unholy marriage, and my mother knew that she had in you an impious husband. Both being wicked, she took up your fortune, you her evil.
925
Among all the Argives you would hear this:
That woman’s husband, not
that man’s wife. Although this is a shameful thing, for the wife to rule the house and not the husband; and I hate those children who are called in the city not the sons of the man, their father,
930
but of their mother. For instance, when a man makes a remarkable marriage, one above his rank, there is no talk of the husband but only of the wife. This deceived you the most, in your ignorance: you professed to be some one, strong in your wealth,
935
but that is nothing, except to associate with briefly. It is nature that is secure, not wealth; for, always standing by, it takes away troubles; but prosperity, when it lives wickedly and with fools, flies out of the house, flowering for a short time.
940
As to your women, I am silent—for it is not good for a maiden to speak of this—but I will tell riddles that can be understood. You were insolent because you had a king’s house and were endowed with good looks. May I never have a husband with a girl’s face, but one with a man’s ways.
945
For the children of the latter cling to a life of arms, while the fair ones are only an ornament in the dance.
Spurning the corpse with her foot Begone, knowing nothing of how you were discovered and paid the penalty in time. So let no evildoer suppose, even if he runs the first step well,
950
that he will get the better of Justice, until he comes to the end of the finish-line and makes the last turn in life.
955
Chorus Leader
He did terrible things, and repaid them to you and Orestes; for Justice has great strength.
He did terrible things, and repaid them to you and Orestes; for Justice has great strength.
Electra
Well then; you must carry the body of this man inside
and hide it, slaves, so that when my mother comes, she may not see his corpse before her slaughter.
960
Well then; you must carry the body of this man inside
and hide it, slaves, so that when my mother comes, she may not see his corpse before her slaughter.
960
Orestes
Wait! Let us go into another matter.
Wait! Let us go into another matter.
Electra
What? Those are not rescuers from Mycenae whom I see?
What? Those are not rescuers from Mycenae whom I see?
Orestes
No, but the mother who bore me.
No, but the mother who bore me.
Electra
Then finely she walks to the middle of the net. —And here she comes, splendid in her chariot and dress.
965
Then finely she walks to the middle of the net. —And here she comes, splendid in her chariot and dress.
965
Orestes
What are we going to do? Shall we kill our mother?
What are we going to do? Shall we kill our mother?
Electra
Surely pity did not seize you, when you saw your mother?
Surely pity did not seize you, when you saw your mother?
Orestes
Ah! How can I kill her when she bore me and brought me up?
Ah! How can I kill her when she bore me and brought me up?
Electra
As she killed your father and mine.
970
As she killed your father and mine.
970
Orestes
O Phoebus, you prophesied a great folly—
O Phoebus, you prophesied a great folly—
Electra
Where Apollo is a fool, who are the wise?
Where Apollo is a fool, who are the wise?
Orestes
You who declared I was to kill my mother, whom it is clearly wrong to kill.
You who declared I was to kill my mother, whom it is clearly wrong to kill.
Electra
How can you be hurt by avenging your father?
How can you be hurt by avenging your father?
Orestes
I shall stand trial as a matricide, though I was pure before.
975
I shall stand trial as a matricide, though I was pure before.
975
Electra
And by not defending your father, you will be impious.
And by not defending your father, you will be impious.
Orestes
I, my mother—? To whom will I pay the penalty for her murder?
I, my mother—? To whom will I pay the penalty for her murder?
Electra
And to whom, if you give up our father’s vengeance?
And to whom, if you give up our father’s vengeance?
Orestes
Was it a fiend who spoke in the likeness of the god?
Was it a fiend who spoke in the likeness of the god?
Electra
Seated on the holy tripod? I do not think so.
980
Seated on the holy tripod? I do not think so.
980
Orestes
I cannot believe that this oracle was well prophesied.
I cannot believe that this oracle was well prophesied.
Electra
Do not become a coward and fall into unmanliness!
Do not become a coward and fall into unmanliness!
Orestes
Am I to devise the same crafty scheme for her?
Am I to devise the same crafty scheme for her?
Electra
The same death that you gave to her husband, Aegisthus.
The same death that you gave to her husband, Aegisthus.
Orestes
I will go in; it is a dreadful task I am beginning and I will do dreadful things. If the gods approve, let it be; to me the contest is bitter and also sweet.
985
988
I will go in; it is a dreadful task I am beginning and I will do dreadful things. If the gods approve, let it be; to me the contest is bitter and also sweet.
985
Orestes withdraws into the house.
998
1060
1100
Chorus
Hail, Queen of the land of
Argos
, child of Tyndareus,
and sister of those two noble sons of Zeus who dwell in the fiery heavens among the stars, whose honored office it is to save mortals in the high waves. Welcome, I give you worship equal to the blessed gods
990
for your wealth and great prosperity. Now is the time to pay our court to your fortunes. Welcome, o queen.
995
998
Hail, Queen of the land of
Argos
, child of Tyndareus,
and sister of those two noble sons of Zeus who dwell in the fiery heavens among the stars, whose honored office it is to save mortals in the high waves. Welcome, I give you worship equal to the blessed gods
990
for your wealth and great prosperity. Now is the time to pay our court to your fortunes. Welcome, o queen.
995
Clytemnestra
Come out of the wagon, Trojan maids, and take my hand, that I may step down from the chariot.
The homes of the gods are adorned with Phrygian spoils, but I have obtained these women, choice objects from the land of
Troy
, in return for the daughter whom I lost, a slight reward but an ornament to my house.
1000
Come out of the wagon, Trojan maids, and take my hand, that I may step down from the chariot.
The homes of the gods are adorned with Phrygian spoils, but I have obtained these women, choice objects from the land of
Troy
, in return for the daughter whom I lost, a slight reward but an ornament to my house.
1000
Electra
And, mother—for I live as a slave
in this miserable house, cast out from my father’s home—may I not take that blessed hand of yours?
1005
And, mother—for I live as a slave
in this miserable house, cast out from my father’s home—may I not take that blessed hand of yours?
1005
Clytemnestra
These slaves are here; take no trouble on my account.
These slaves are here; take no trouble on my account.
Electra
What? You sent me away from home, a captive; I was taken when my home was taken, like these,
all of us orphaned of a father.
1010
What? You sent me away from home, a captive; I was taken when my home was taken, like these,
all of us orphaned of a father.
1010
Clytemnestra
Well, your father laid such plots against those whom least of all he should have, his own family. I will tell you; although when a woman gets an evil reputation, her tongue is bitter.
In my opinion, not rightly; but it is correct for those who learn about the matter to hate, if it deserves hatred; if not, why hate at all? Now Tyndareus gave me to your father not so that I or any children I might bear should die.
1015
But that man went from the house, taking my child, with the persuasion of a marriage with Achilles, to
Aulis
which held the fleet; and there he stretched Iphigenia over the pyre, and cut her white cheek. And if, as a cure for the capture of the city,
1020
or as a benefit to his house, or to save his other children, he had killed one on behalf of many, I would have pardoned him. But, because Helen was lustful and the one who had her as a wife did not know how to punish the betrayer—for these reasons he destroyed my child.
1025
Well, although I was wronged, I would not have been angry at this, nor would I have killed my husband. But he came back to me with a girl, raving and possessed, and put her in his bed, and had two brides at once in the same house.
1030
1035
A woman is a foolish thing, I don’t deny it; but, this granted, whenever a husband goes astray and rejects his own bed, the woman is likely to imitate her husband and find another love. And then in us the blame shines clearly,
1035
while the men, who caused this, are not badly spoken of. Now if Menelaus had been secretly snatched from his home, should I have killed Orestes to save Menelaus, my sister’s husband? How would your father have endured this? And so isn’t it right for him to die
1040
when he had killed what was mine, since I would have suffered at his hands? I killed him, I turned where indeed it was possible to go—to his enemies. For which one of your father’s friends would have joined me in his murder? Speak, if you want to say anything, and make your retort with frankness,
1045
in what way your father died unfairly.
1050
Well, your father laid such plots against those whom least of all he should have, his own family. I will tell you; although when a woman gets an evil reputation, her tongue is bitter.
In my opinion, not rightly; but it is correct for those who learn about the matter to hate, if it deserves hatred; if not, why hate at all? Now Tyndareus gave me to your father not so that I or any children I might bear should die.
1015
But that man went from the house, taking my child, with the persuasion of a marriage with Achilles, to
Aulis
which held the fleet; and there he stretched Iphigenia over the pyre, and cut her white cheek. And if, as a cure for the capture of the city,
1020
or as a benefit to his house, or to save his other children, he had killed one on behalf of many, I would have pardoned him. But, because Helen was lustful and the one who had her as a wife did not know how to punish the betrayer—for these reasons he destroyed my child.
1025
Well, although I was wronged, I would not have been angry at this, nor would I have killed my husband. But he came back to me with a girl, raving and possessed, and put her in his bed, and had two brides at once in the same house.
1030
A woman is a foolish thing, I don’t deny it; but, this granted, whenever a husband goes astray and rejects his own bed, the woman is likely to imitate her husband and find another love. And then in us the blame shines clearly,
1035
while the men, who caused this, are not badly spoken of. Now if Menelaus had been secretly snatched from his home, should I have killed Orestes to save Menelaus, my sister’s husband? How would your father have endured this? And so isn’t it right for him to die
1040
when he had killed what was mine, since I would have suffered at his hands? I killed him, I turned where indeed it was possible to go—to his enemies. For which one of your father’s friends would have joined me in his murder? Speak, if you want to say anything, and make your retort with frankness,
1045
in what way your father died unfairly.
1050
Chorus Leader
Justly spoken, but this justice is shameful. For a woman should yield to her husband in all things, if she has sense; anyone who does not agree does not come within the scope of what I say.
Justly spoken, but this justice is shameful. For a woman should yield to her husband in all things, if she has sense; anyone who does not agree does not come within the scope of what I say.
Electra
Remember, mother, those last words of yours, giving me frankness towards you.
1055
Remember, mother, those last words of yours, giving me frankness towards you.
1055
Clytemnestra
I say it again, and I do not deny it, child.
I say it again, and I do not deny it, child.
Electra
Then will you treat me badly, when you hear it?
Then will you treat me badly, when you hear it?
Clytemnestra
No, no, I will give some pleasure to your heart.
1060
No, no, I will give some pleasure to your heart.
Electra
I will speak, and this is the beginning of my preface: oh, mother, I wish that you had a better heart. For though your beauty, and Helen’s, is worthy to bring you praise, yet you two were born true sisters, both frivolous, not worthy of Castor.
1060
She was carried off, willingly ruined; and you have destroyed the bravest man in
Greece
, putting forward the excuse that you killed a husband for the sake of a child; for they don’t know you so well as I do. You who, before your daughter’s death was decided,
1065
as soon as your husband had started from home, were adorning the golden locks of your hair at the mirror. A wife who decks herself out for beauty, when her husband is gone from home—strike her off the list as worthless.
1070
There is no need for her to show her pretty face out of doors, unless she is seeking some mischief. Of all the women in
Hellas
you were the only one I know to be joyful when
Troy
was fortunate, and with a clouded face when it was weaker, since you did not want Agamemnon to return from
Troy
.
1075
And yet it was in your power to be chaste, and rightly; you had a husband, no worse than Aegisthus, whom
Hellas
chose to be its commander; and when your sister Helen had done her work, it was possible for you to achieve great fame,
1080
for the bad gives a standard of comparison to the good and provides a spectacle. But if, as you say, my father killed your daughter, what is the wrong I and and my brother have done you? How was it that after you had killed your husband, you did not assign to us our father’s home,
1085
but you brought the goods belonging to another to bed, buying your marriage with wages? And how is it that your husband is not exiled in the place of your son, nor has he died in my place, although he has killed me, alive, twice as much as my sister? If murder, giving judgment, requites murder, your
1090
son Orestes and I must kill you to avenge our father. For if that was just, then so is this.
Whoever marries a wicked woman, looking to wealth or noble birth, is a fool; for humble wives, if chaste, are better in the home than great ones.
1095
1100
I will speak, and this is the beginning of my preface: oh, mother, I wish that you had a better heart. For though your beauty, and Helen’s, is worthy to bring you praise, yet you two were born true sisters, both frivolous, not worthy of Castor.
1060
She was carried off, willingly ruined; and you have destroyed the bravest man in
Greece
, putting forward the excuse that you killed a husband for the sake of a child; for they don’t know you so well as I do. You who, before your daughter’s death was decided,
1065
as soon as your husband had started from home, were adorning the golden locks of your hair at the mirror. A wife who decks herself out for beauty, when her husband is gone from home—strike her off the list as worthless.
1070
There is no need for her to show her pretty face out of doors, unless she is seeking some mischief. Of all the women in
Hellas
you were the only one I know to be joyful when
Troy
was fortunate, and with a clouded face when it was weaker, since you did not want Agamemnon to return from
Troy
.
1075
And yet it was in your power to be chaste, and rightly; you had a husband, no worse than Aegisthus, whom
Hellas
chose to be its commander; and when your sister Helen had done her work, it was possible for you to achieve great fame,
1080
for the bad gives a standard of comparison to the good and provides a spectacle. But if, as you say, my father killed your daughter, what is the wrong I and and my brother have done you? How was it that after you had killed your husband, you did not assign to us our father’s home,
1085
but you brought the goods belonging to another to bed, buying your marriage with wages? And how is it that your husband is not exiled in the place of your son, nor has he died in my place, although he has killed me, alive, twice as much as my sister? If murder, giving judgment, requites murder, your
1090
son Orestes and I must kill you to avenge our father. For if that was just, then so is this.
Whoever marries a wicked woman, looking to wealth or noble birth, is a fool; for humble wives, if chaste, are better in the home than great ones.
1095
Chorus Leader
Chance is in the marriages of women; among mankind, I see some fall out well, others not.
1100
Chance is in the marriages of women; among mankind, I see some fall out well, others not.
1100
Clytemnestra
Child, it was always your nature to love your father. This is what happens: some children are for their fathers, others in turn love their mothers more than a father.
I will forgive you; for I do not rejoice so very much at what I have done, child.
1105
You, a woman who has just given birth—why is your body so unwashed and meanly clad? Alas for my schemes!
I drove on in anger against my husband more than I should have.
1110
Child, it was always your nature to love your father. This is what happens: some children are for their fathers, others in turn love their mothers more than a father.
I will forgive you; for I do not rejoice so very much at what I have done, child.
1105
You, a woman who has just given birth—why is your body so unwashed and meanly clad? Alas for my schemes!
I drove on in anger against my husband more than I should have.
1110
Electra
You sigh too late, when you have no remedy. My father is dead; but why do you not recall that exile, your own wandering son?
You sigh too late, when you have no remedy. My father is dead; but why do you not recall that exile, your own wandering son?
Clytemnestra
l am afraid; I am looking to my interests, not his.
For he is angry, they say, over the murder of his father.
1115
l am afraid; I am looking to my interests, not his.
For he is angry, they say, over the murder of his father.
1115
Electra
And why do you cause your husband to be cruel to me?
And why do you cause your husband to be cruel to me?
Clytemnestra
Such are his ways. You have a stubborn nature also.
Such are his ways. You have a stubborn nature also.
Electra
Yes, for I am in distress. Yet I will cease from my anger.
Yes, for I am in distress. Yet I will cease from my anger.
Clytemnestra
And then he will no longer be harsh to you.
And then he will no longer be harsh to you.
Electra
He is proud; for he lives in my home.
1120
He is proud; for he lives in my home.
1120
Clytemnestra
You see? Again you are rekindling new quarrels.
You see? Again you are rekindling new quarrels.
Electra
I am silent; I fear him—as I fear him.
I am silent; I fear him—as I fear him.
Clytemnestra
Stop this talk! But why did you summon me, child?
Stop this talk! But why did you summon me, child?
Electra
You have heard, I suppose, that I have given birth;
in thanks for this, please sacrifice—for I do not know how—on the tenth day, as is the custom for the child. For I have no experience, being childless before.
1125
You have heard, I suppose, that I have given birth;
in thanks for this, please sacrifice—for I do not know how—on the tenth day, as is the custom for the child. For I have no experience, being childless before.
1125
Clytemnestra
This is work for another, the one who delivered you.
This is work for another, the one who delivered you.
Electra
I was all alone in my labor and at the baby’s birth.
I was all alone in my labor and at the baby’s birth.
Clytemnestra
Is this household situated with no friends as neighbors?
1130
Is this household situated with no friends as neighbors?
1130
Electra
No one is willing to have the poor as friends.
No one is willing to have the poor as friends.
Clytemnestra
But I will go to make the tenth-day sacrifice to the gods for the child; and when I have done you this favor, I will go to the field where my husband is sacrificing to the
Nymphs. Take this team away, my attendants, and bring it to the stalls; and when you think that I have finished this sacrifice to the gods, be ready; for I must also please my husband.
1135
But I will go to make the tenth-day sacrifice to the gods for the child; and when I have done you this favor, I will go to the field where my husband is sacrificing to the
Nymphs. Take this team away, my attendants, and bring it to the stalls; and when you think that I have finished this sacrifice to the gods, be ready; for I must also please my husband.
1135
Electra
Go into a poor house; but please take care
that my smoke-grimed walls do not smear your robes with soot. For you will make the sacrifice to the gods that you ought to make.
Going in to the house. The basket is ready, and the knife sharpened, the same that killed the bull by whose side you will lie, struck down. Even in Hades’ house you will be the bride of the one
1140
whom you slept with in life. This is the favor I will give you, and you will give me retribution for my father.
Exit Electra.
1145
Go into a poor house; but please take care
that my smoke-grimed walls do not smear your robes with soot. For you will make the sacrifice to the gods that you ought to make.
Going in to the house. The basket is ready, and the knife sharpened, the same that killed the bull by whose side you will lie, struck down. Even in Hades’ house you will be the bride of the one
1140
whom you slept with in life. This is the favor I will give you, and you will give me retribution for my father.
Exit Electra.
1145
Electra. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1891.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.