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On the sea-shore, in the Tauric Chersonese, near a temple of Artemis.
Iphigenia
Pelops, son of Tantalus, coming to
Pisa
with swift horses, married Oenomaus’ daughter, and she gave birth to Atreus, whose children are Menelaus and Agamemnon; from him I was born,
1
his child Iphigenia, by the daughter of Tyndareus. Where Euripus rolls about its whirlpools in the frequent winds and twists the darkening waves, my father sacrificed me to Artemis for Helen’s sake, or so he thought, in the famous clefts of
Aulis
.
5
For there lord Agamemnon mustered his expedition of a thousand ships of
Hellas
, wanting to take the crown of
Troy
in glorious victory and avenge the outrage to Helen’s marriage, doing this favor for Menelaus.
10
But when he met with dreadful winds that would not let him sail, he went to burnt sacrifices, and Calchas had this to say:
Lord and general of
Hellas
, Agamemnon, you will not set free your ships from land until Artemis has your daughter Iphigenia
15
as a victim. For you once vowed to sacrifice to the torch-bearing goddess the most beautiful creature brought forth that year; then your wife, Clytemnestra, bore a child in your house—ascribing the prize of beauty to me—whom you must sacrifice. And by the craft of Odysseus,
20
they took me from my mother, pretending a marriage with Achilles. I came to
Aulis
; held up high over the altar, I, the unhappy one, was about to die by the sword; but Artemis gave the Achaeans a deer in exchange for me and stole me from them; conducting me through the bright air,
25
she settled me here in the land of the Taurians. A barbarian rules this land of barbarians: Thoas, who runs as quickly as the flight of birds, and so he received his name for his swiftness of foot. Artemis has made me the priestess in this temple.
30
Here I begin the rites, which the goddess delights in, of a banquet noble in name only—I am silent as to the rest, for I fear the goddess—
for I sacrifice, by a custom of the city established earlier, any Hellene who comes to this land.
35
But others carry out the sacrifices, not to be spoken of, within the temple of the goddess.
40
Pelops, son of Tantalus, coming to
Pisa
with swift horses, married Oenomaus’ daughter, and she gave birth to Atreus, whose children are Menelaus and Agamemnon; from him I was born,
1
his child Iphigenia, by the daughter of Tyndareus. Where Euripus rolls about its whirlpools in the frequent winds and twists the darkening waves, my father sacrificed me to Artemis for Helen’s sake, or so he thought, in the famous clefts of
Aulis
.
5
For there lord Agamemnon mustered his expedition of a thousand ships of
Hellas
, wanting to take the crown of
Troy
in glorious victory and avenge the outrage to Helen’s marriage, doing this favor for Menelaus.
10
But when he met with dreadful winds that would not let him sail, he went to burnt sacrifices, and Calchas had this to say:
Lord and general of
Hellas
, Agamemnon, you will not set free your ships from land until Artemis has your daughter Iphigenia
15
as a victim. For you once vowed to sacrifice to the torch-bearing goddess the most beautiful creature brought forth that year; then your wife, Clytemnestra, bore a child in your house—ascribing the prize of beauty to me—whom you must sacrifice. And by the craft of Odysseus,
20
they took me from my mother, pretending a marriage with Achilles. I came to
Aulis
; held up high over the altar, I, the unhappy one, was about to die by the sword; but Artemis gave the Achaeans a deer in exchange for me and stole me from them; conducting me through the bright air,
25
she settled me here in the land of the Taurians. A barbarian rules this land of barbarians: Thoas, who runs as quickly as the flight of birds, and so he received his name for his swiftness of foot. Artemis has made me the priestess in this temple.
30
Here I begin the rites, which the goddess delights in, of a banquet noble in name only—I am silent as to the rest, for I fear the goddess—
for I sacrifice, by a custom of the city established earlier, any Hellene who comes to this land.
35
But others carry out the sacrifices, not to be spoken of, within the temple of the goddess.
40
Iphigenia in Tauris. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1891.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.