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Agamemnon
I count you happier than myself because you know nothing. Go within—it is wrong for maidens to be seen—after you have given me your hand and a kiss,
on the eve of your lengthy sojourn far from your father’s side.
680
Breast, cheek, and golden hair! ah, how grievous you have found Helen and the Phrygians’ city! I can speak no more; the tears come welling to my eyes, the moment I touch you.
Go into the house.
Exit Iphigenia.
685
Agamemnon turns to Clytemnestra. I beg your pardon, daughter of Leda, if I showed excessive grief at the thought of giving my daughter to Achilles; for though we are sending her to taste of bliss, still it wrings a parent’s heart, when he, the father who has toiled so hard for them,
commits his children to the homes of strangers.
690
I count you happier than myself because you know nothing. Go within—it is wrong for maidens to be seen—after you have given me your hand and a kiss,
on the eve of your lengthy sojourn far from your father’s side.
680
Breast, cheek, and golden hair! ah, how grievous you have found Helen and the Phrygians’ city! I can speak no more; the tears come welling to my eyes, the moment I touch you.
Go into the house.
Exit Iphigenia.
685
Agamemnon turns to Clytemnestra. I beg your pardon, daughter of Leda, if I showed excessive grief at the thought of giving my daughter to Achilles; for though we are sending her to taste of bliss, still it wrings a parent’s heart, when he, the father who has toiled so hard for them,
commits his children to the homes of strangers.
690
Clytemnestra
I am not so senseless; But I think I will go through this as well, when I lead the girl from the chamber to the sound of the marriage hymn; so I do not chide you; but custom will combine with time to make the smart grow less.
As for him, to whom you have betrothed our daughter, I know his name, it is true, but want to learn his lineage and the land of his birth.
695
I am not so senseless; But I think I will go through this as well, when I lead the girl from the chamber to the sound of the marriage hymn; so I do not chide you; but custom will combine with time to make the smart grow less.
As for him, to whom you have betrothed our daughter, I know his name, it is true, but want to learn his lineage and the land of his birth.
695
Agamemnon
There was one
Aegina
, the daughter of Asopus.
There was one
Aegina
, the daughter of Asopus.
Clytemnestra
Who wedded her? Some mortal or a god?
Who wedded her? Some mortal or a god?
Agamemnon
Zeus, and she bore Aeacus, the prince of Oenone.
1
Zeus, and she bore Aeacus, the prince of Oenone.
1
Clytemnestra
What son of Aeacus secured his father’s halls?
700
What son of Aeacus secured his father’s halls?
700
Agamemnon
Peleus, who wedded the daughter of Nereus.
Peleus, who wedded the daughter of Nereus.
Clytemnestra
With the god’s consent, or when he had taken her in spite of gods?
With the god’s consent, or when he had taken her in spite of gods?
Agamemnon
Zeus betrothed her, and her guardian gave consent.
Zeus betrothed her, and her guardian gave consent.
Clytemnestra
Where did he marry her? in the billows of the sea?
Where did he marry her? in the billows of the sea?
Agamemnon
In Chiron’s home, at sacred
Pelion
’s foot.
705
In Chiron’s home, at sacred
Pelion
’s foot.
705
Clytemnestra
What! the abode ascribed to the race of Centaurs?
What! the abode ascribed to the race of Centaurs?
Agamemnon
It was there the gods celebrated the marriage feast of Peleus.
It was there the gods celebrated the marriage feast of Peleus.
Clytemnestra
Did Thetis or his father train Achilles?
Did Thetis or his father train Achilles?
Agamemnon
Chiron brought him up, to prevent his learning the ways of the wicked.
Chiron brought him up, to prevent his learning the ways of the wicked.
Clytemnestra
Ah! wise the teacher, still wiser the one who gave his son.
710
Ah! wise the teacher, still wiser the one who gave his son.
710
Agamemnon
Such is the future husband of your daughter.
Such is the future husband of your daughter.
Clytemnestra
A blameless lord; but what city in
Hellas
is his?
A blameless lord; but what city in
Hellas
is his?
Agamemnon
He dwells on the banks of the river Apidanus, in the borders of
Phthia
.
He dwells on the banks of the river Apidanus, in the borders of
Phthia
.
Clytemnestra
Will you convey
2
our daughter there?
Will you convey
2
our daughter there?
Agamemnon
He who takes her to himself will see to that.
715
He who takes her to himself will see to that.
715
Iphigenia in Aulis. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1891.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.