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1201–1350

(1) 'I am the only one who brings with him a feeling of the same misfortunes.' τοῖς ἴσοις, like τῶν ἴσων, supr. 1168, implies rather 'identity' than 'equality.' Orestes does not mean that his personal sufferings have been like Electra's, but first that in the essential point, viz. that their father has been murdered and is unavenged, they share equally in the same sorrow, and also that her sorrows are felt by him as his own. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 222, 3, ΗΛ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς γελᾶν θέλεις. ΟΡ. κἀν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἄρ᾽, εἴπερ ἔν γε τοῖσι σοῖς ( ubi τοῖς ἴσοις M. pr.). This parallel favours the other reading here, (2) τοῖσι σοῖς, which, as Prof. Paley argues, gives a simpler meaning, and may also be thought more pathetic. But it is less in keeping with the subtle gradations of this recognition-scene.

μὴ.. τοῦτό μ' ἐργάσῃ] Orestes has reached forth his hand to take the urn from her.

Orestes again offers to take away the urn.

ὦ.. σέθεν] Cp. especially Trach. 972, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος.

εὔφημα φώνει] 'Speak no such ill-omened words,'—as to mention a tomb in connection with the living: infr. 1219.

The language by which Orestes tries to undeceive his sister is so worded as to seem cruel to her, as if she were unworthy to hold her brother's urn.

οὐδενός] The pronoun (masc.) has a strong pathetic emphasis. 'Dishonoured in no way!' See Essay on L. § 22. p. 36 fin.

At this point Electra is more than ever forlorn. But at the word ζῶντος in 1219 a ray of hope strikes her in spite of herself.

ὦ παῖ;] Electra's bewilderment, and the contrast of appearance and fact, are equally marked by her thus artlessly addressing the Stranger as if he were her younger brother. Cp. O. T. 1030; Aj. 339, and notes.

There is a pause here, during which Electra examines the seal.

ὦ φθέγμ᾽] Essay on L. § 50. p. 94.

ὡς . . ἔχοις] ‘As I would that you may have me evermore.’

γεγηθὸς .. δάκρυον] Essay on L. § 42. p. 8ο γ.

In the following passage Electra in her ecstasy utters lyric (chiefly dochmiac) strains, to which Orestes, who is trying to calm her, replies in senarii. The lyric metres may be arranged (though, as the text stands, not perfectly) in a scheme of strophe, antistrophe, and epode, as follows:—
στρ. (ll. 1232-1252).
- u - - - | - u - -
- u u - u - | - u - -
u - u - u - -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
- u - u - | - u - -
u - u - | u - -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
- u - u - | - u u | - u u | u - -
- u - - | u - - -
u - u - u - | u - u -
- u - -
2 Senarii.

ἀντ. (ll. 1253-1263).
- u - | u - -
u u - u - | u u - u - -
u - - u u -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
u u - u - u u -
u - u - | u - u - u - -
2 Senarii.

ἐπ. (ll. 1273-1287).
u u - u - u - -
- - - u -
u u - | u u - | u u - | u u -
- u - | - u -
1 Senarius.
2 - - u u - -
2 Senarii.
¹²

1 The correspondence of στρ. and ἀντ. here is doubtful.

2 In the Epode Orestes also for a moment becomes lyrical.

γοναὶ .. φιλτάτων] 'Offspring of one most dear to me;' i.e. of Agamemnon. Poetical plural. E. on L. § 20. p. 30.

For the aorists, see Essay on L. § 32. p. 55 , and for the feeling in οὓς ἐχρήζετε, cp. O. T. 1274, οὓς δ᾽ ἔχρῃζεν οὐ γνωσοίατο.

'We are here. Only abide the event in silence.' In πάρεσμεν Orestes probably includes Pylades, but not necessarily. Cp. the doubt in Trach. 390.

This line as in L, which is followed in the text, has an iambic rhythm which in so far corresponds to 1260. In a passage of so much wildness there may have been a special motive for using long syllables in the strophe where in the antistrophe the iambics are 'pure.' Wecklein reads in στρ., μὰ τὰν ᾿Αρτεμιν | τὰν ἀδμῆτ᾽ ἀεί, and in ἀντ., τίς οὖν ἀξίαν | σοῦ γε πεφηνότος?

τόδε.. ἀεί] 'Never will I account as worthy of my fear this unprofitable burden of womankind that never stirs abroad.' Electra does not remember that she is a woman. She is one with Orestes, who is come to vindicate the man. She might say with Athena in the Eumenides 738, κάρτα δ᾽ εἰμὶ τοῦ πατρός. Orestes reminds her that Clytemnestra is not an enemy to be despised.

Thou hast brought to my remembrance the undisguised horror of our situation, not to be forgotten or undone.' For ἐπέβαλες, cp. Thuc. 8. 108, καὶ ἀλλὰ ἐπιβάλλοντος αὐτοῦ ἁ φέρειν οὐκ ἠδύναντο. The figure seems to be that of laying on (or adding to) a burden. Cp. O. C. 1730, τί τόδ᾽ ἐπέπληξας; λησόμενον is literally, 'That will not forget.' See Essay on L. § 30. p. 51 a.

ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ’] ‘Even so, I know it.' For καί, which has been rejected, see Essay on L. § 25. p. 42. παῖ, which has been substituted for it, is inappropriate, as addressed by a younger person to an elder. ὅταν παρουσία | φράζῃ] i.e. 'Not now, but when their presence brings to mind their guilt.' Orestes is striving to recall Electra from feeling to action. For the personification of the abstract word, cp. supr. 39, ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ.

ὁ πᾶς.. χρόνος] ‘All time alike, all time will justly suit to tell of that, as if it were present now.' Electra goes off upon the word παρουσία. Orestes had urged her to wait until the presence of Clytemnestra made it fitting to remember what she had done. Electra answers in effect, 'She and her deeds are ever present with me.' But in the refining manner of Sophocles this is otherwise expressed:—'All time alike for that purpose is present time to me.'

'Hardly have I now obtained a moment's freedom of speech.' This confirms what has been said, that the pressure of persecution is constant,—and also pleads a reason for continuing to speak. 'Having this rare liberty, I ought to use it.'

Schol. τίς ἂν σοῦ φανέντος δικαίως ἕλοιτο ἀντὶ λόγων σιωπήν; i.e. ἀξίαν is predicative, and has the force of an adverb. Essay on L. § 23. p. 38, 1.

ὧδε] ‘As thou biddest me do.' So Paley. Wecklein renders, 'In such circumstances.'

Electra has not yet heard of the oracle. She has nursed her one idea in solitude. And now she has not only her brother at her side, but learns that he is sent by a god. This re-

doubles her joy, which is not the less striking for being simply expressed,— δαιμόνιον αὐτὸ τίθημ᾽ ἐγώ.

*ἐπόρισεν] Paley quotes O. C. 1458, πῶς ἂν .. δεῦρο Θησέα πόροι? The MS. reading ἐπῶρσεν is possible.

In speaking 1271, 2, Orestes has turned aside, as if debating with himself how to calm Electra. At this her over-wrought affection takes alarm, lest for a moment she should lose the brightness of his countenance. μεθέσθαι ( sc. τὸ ἐμὲ μ.) is epexegetic infinitive.

κἂν ἄλλοισι] ‘Even as the act of another,'— i.e. how much less am I likely myself to do it? καί points the à fortiori argument.

τί *μὴν οὔ] The correction is supported by Eur. Rhes. 706.

Reassured as to the main point, Electra turns to her companions, and relieves her overcharged feelings by speaking to them of the contrast between the present and the immediate past, when she had heard the false tidings of her brother's death. The rhythm of these lines is somewhat broken. But it is not necessary with some editors to suppose that words have been lost. 'O friends, I heard a sound which I could never have thought to hear. I restrained my emotion at hearing it, in speechless silence.' αὐδάν is rightly explained by the Scholiast of the tidings of Orestes' death. Perhaps οὐδάμ' should be read for οὐδ᾽ ἄν, - 'Which I had never thought to hear.' (Wecklein reads, ὦ φίλ᾽, ἁνίκ᾽ ἔκλυον ἂν | ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾽ αὐδάν, | ἔσχον ὀργὰν ἄναυδον | οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ, τάλαινα, - 'Dear one, when first I heard the news I could not have hoped to hear'—that thou wast alive—'I had a voiceless emotion with no outcry.')

As in O. C. 1702, 3 (where see note), the time of misery is continued in memory.

This line has been supposed to contain a criticism of the Choephori, where so much time is spent in the preliminaries of the assassination. But this is surely unnecessary, and without parallel in Sophocles, whose practice in this and other respects is not to be inferred from that of Euripides (Phoen. 751, 2, alib.).

See Essay on L. § 21. p. 32, 1.

'For such recital might prevent you from seizing the opportune moment.'

'We shall by our present enterprize frustrate our enemies in their exultation.' γελώντας is to be resumed as a supplementary predicate. For παύσομεν without an expressed participle, cp. supr. 796, οὐχ ὅπως σε παύσομεν.

οὕτω δέ] Sc. πρᾶσσε, understood from the general drift of the preceding words.

ὅπως .. δόμους] ‘May not detect you by your glad countenance when we (Or. and Pyl.) have come into the house;' i.e. may not find out your secret and perceive the fact. νῷν is gen. absol.

μάτην] 'Falsely.' Cp. supr. 1217, πλὴν λόγῳ γ' ἠσκημένον : 63, λόγῳ μάτην θνήσκοντας : Phil. 345.

δεξαίμην, although not strongly supported by MS. authority, is a better reading than βουλοίμην.

The MS. reading, ὑπηρετοίμην, is upheld by Neue and defended by Mr. Paley as possibly right. The middle voice might be explained as equivalent to the active voice with an ethical dative, such as σοι in supr. 1292. But for a similar corruption, cp. O. T. 840, ἐκπεφευγοίην (ἐκπεφευγοίμην Ε).

τἀνθένδε] 'Things here,'- more lit. 'The news from hence.' Not 'What is to be done next?' (Paley.)

ἐντέτηκε] Hesych. ἐντέτηκεν· ἐγκεκόλληται.

χαρᾷ] The MS. reading χαρᾶς is not impossible, but is extremely improbable, because of the awkward ambiguity between ἐκλήξω χαρᾶς and δακρυρροοῦσα (ὑπὸ) χαρᾶς.

δυοῖν] i. e. δυοῖν θατέρου. Cp. Thuc. 1. 33, μηδὲ δυοῖν φθάσαι ἁμάρτωσιν, ἢ .. ἢ ... Andoc. p. 4. 11.

σιγᾶν.. χωροῦντος] The Scholiast says, τινὲς τὸν Χορὸν φασὶ λέγειν ταῦτα. And this opinion is adopted by Mr. Paley. The point is doubtful, but there is no reason why Orestes, who is naturally on his guard, should not be the first to perceive an approaching footstep. And the broken line, 1323, as Schndw. observes, is in favour of the MS. reading. ὡς here is 'since,'-not as in Trach. Eur. Ion 515, 6.

Electra, supposing one of the household to be approaching, begins to speak in the ambiguous, ironical vein which she continues when Aegisthus comes, infr. 1448-57. It has the effect of relieving her feelings while concealing her thought. She intends to be understood, 'You bear the ashes of Orestes, which will be well received here, although not with joy.' But in her own mind she means, The vengeance which Orestes brings shall not be repulsed from hence, nor will it give joy to those within.'

δόμων is ablative genitive with ἀπώσαιτ', but may also be joined with τις as partitive genitive.

The action, which has been suspended by the emotion of Electra, must now be precipitated. Yet her recognition of the Paedagogus (infr. 1354-63) breaks the suddenness of the transition.

σταθμοῖσι τοῖσδε] Either (1), 'At the door-post here,' or (2) figuratively, 'Here by the homestead '-as a watch-dog. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 896, λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν ἄνδρα τόνδε τῶν σταθμῶν κύνα.

εὐλάβειαν προὐθέμην] Ι made a point of attending to that.' Cp. Hdt. 6. 21, πένθος μέγα προεθήκαντο : Plat. Phaedr. 259 E.

ἀπηλλάχθαι δ᾽ ἀκμή] 'And it is high time to have done.'

τἀντεῦθεν] Matters here.' Cp. supr. 1307, τἀνθένδε,

'I would have you know that you are the only dead man who is in the light of day.'

τίνες λόγοι] Sc. εἰσί.

τελουμένων] Sc. τῶν πραγμάτων. Cp. ἐπ' ἐξειργασμένοις. The present has a quasi-perfect sense, 'When these things have their completion.' Cp. Hdt. 1. 206, οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰδείης εἴ τοι ἐς καιρὸν ἔσται ταῦτα τελεύμενα.

ὡς.. ἔχει] Supply ἐρῶ τάδε. 'All is well in that quarter, even what is not well,'-viz. Clytemnestra's unnatural joy.

οὐδέ γ' ἐς θυμὸν φέρω] (I do not perceive:) no, nor can I bring to mind.' θυμός, as in θυμῷ βάλλειν (Aesch. Prom. 706), is used after the Epic manner, so as to include the understanding. See Essay on L. § 49. P. 92, 1.

Join οὗ χεροῖν.

Electra. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (English) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1232 focus

ἰὼ γοναί,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

γοναὶ add σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων,

ἐμόλετ᾿ ἀρτίως,

ἐφεύρετ᾽, ἤλθετ᾽, εἴδεθ᾽ οὓς ἐχρήζετε.
1235

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγ᾽ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν ἔστι ἔστιν ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὰν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰ τὰν οὓ τἂν Ἄρτεμιν τὰν αἰὲν ἀδμήταν

τόδε μὲν οὐ ποτ᾿ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι
1240

περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον

γυναικῶν ὂν ἀεί.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης

ἔνεστιν· εὖ δ᾽ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

*ὀτοτοτοῖ ὀττοτοῖ ,
1245

ἀνέφελον ἐπέβαλες 2nd ε from ι ὑπέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον, ἁμέτερον

οἷον ἔφυ κακόν.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ᾽· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν παρουσία

φράζῃ, τότ᾽ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών.
1250

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ὁ πᾶς ἐμοὶ

ὁ πᾶς ἂν πρέποι παρὼν ἐννέπειν

τάδε δίκᾳ τάδε δίκαια γρ. τάδε δίκα χρόνος.

μόλις γὰρ ἔσχον ἔχων ἔσχον ἔχω νῦν ἐλεύθερον στόμα.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ξύμφημι κἀγώ, τοιγαροῦν σώζου τόδε.
1255

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τί δρῶσα;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

οὗ μή ᾿στι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τίς οὖν ἂν add ἂν οὖν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος

μεταβάλοιτ᾽ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων;

ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως

ἀέλπτως τ᾽ ἐσεῖδον.
1260

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τότ᾽ εἶδες, ὅτε θεοί μ' *ἐπώτρυναν ώτρυναν μολεῖν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τᾶς πάρος ἔτι χάριτος, εἴ σε θεὸς *ἐπόρισεν ἐπόρσεν ἐπῶρσεν ἐπῶρ. σεν ἐπῶσεν

ἁμέτερα ἀμετρα or ἀμτερα ἁμετερα πρὸς μέλαθρα, δαιμόνιον

αὐτὸ τίθημ᾽ ἐγώ.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τὰ μέν σ᾽ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργάθειν, τὰ δὲ

δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην.
1270

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἰὼ χρόνῳ μακρῷ φιλτάταν

ὁδὸν ἐπαξιώσας ὧδέ μοι φανῆναι,

μή τί με, πολύπονον πολύστονον ὧδ᾿ ἰδὼν

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τί μὴ ποιήσω;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

μή μ᾿ ἀποστερήσῃς
1275

τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν ἡδονὰν ἡδονὴν μεθέσθαι.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ἢ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ξυναινεῖς ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τί *μὴν μὴ οὔ;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ὦ φίλαι, ἔκλυον ἂν ἂν av ἄν ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾿ αὐδάν.

ἔσχον ὀργὰν
1280

ἄναυδον οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ κλύουσα,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τάλαινα.

νῦν δ᾽ ἔχω σε· προὐφάνης δὲ

φιλτάταν ἔχων πρόσοψιν,

ἃς ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐν κακοῖς λαθοίμαν.
1285

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τὰ μὲν περισσεύοντα τῶν λόγων ἄφες,

καὶ μήτε μήτηρ ὡς κακὴ δίδασκέ με

μήθ᾽ ὡς πατρῴαν κτῆσιν Αἴγισθος δόμων

ἀντλεῖ, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκχεῖ, τὰ δὲ διασπείρει μάτην.

χρόνου γὰρ ἄν σοι καιρὸν ἐξείργοι λόγος.
1290

ἃ δ᾽ ἁρμόσει μοι τῷ παρόντι νυν χρόνῳ

σήμαιν, ὅπου φανέντες ἢ κεκρυμμένοι

γελῶντας ἐχθροὺς παύσομεν τῇ νῦν ὁδῷ.

οὕτω οὕτως δ᾽ ὅπως μήτηρ σε μὴ ἐπιγνώσεται

φαιδρῷ προσώπῳ νῷν ἐπελθόντοιν ἐπελθόντων ἐπελθόντων ἐπελθόντοιν δόμους·
1295

ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἄτῃ τῇ μάτην λελεγμένῃ δεδειγμένηι δεδειγμένηι λελεγμένηι λεγομένη

στέναζ᾽· ὅταν γὰρ εὐτυχήσωμεν, τότε

χαίρειν παρέσται καὶ γελᾶν ἐλευθέρως.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ κασίγνηθ᾽, ὧδ᾽ ὅπως καὶ σοὶ φίλον

καὶ τοὐμὸν ἔσται τῇδ᾽· ἐπεὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς
1300

πρὸς σοῦ λαβοῦσα κοὐκ ἐμὰς ἐκτησάμην.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

κοὐδ᾽ ἄν σε λυπήσασα δεξαίμην λεξαίμην βουλοίμην βουλοίμαν βραχὺ βραχὺ

αὐτὴ μέγ' εὑρεῖν κέρδος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς
1305

ὑπηρετοίην ὑπηρετοίμην τῷ παρόντι δαίμονι.

ἀλλ᾽ οἶσθα μὲν τἀνθένδε, πῶς γὰρ οὔ; κλύων

ὁθούνεκ Αἴγισθος μὲν οὐ κατὰ στέγας,

μήτηρ δ᾽ ἐν οἴκοις· ἣν σὺ μὴ δείσῃς ποθ᾽ ὡς

γέλωτι τοὐμὸν φαιδρὸν ὄψεται κάρα.
1310

μισός τε om. γὰρ παλαιὸν ἐντέτηκέ μοι,

κἀπεί σ᾽ ἐσεῖδον, οὔ ποτ᾿ ἐκλήξω ἐκπλήξω χαρᾷ χαρᾶς

δακρυρροοῦσα. πῶς γὰρ ἂν λήξαιμ᾽ ἐγώ λήξαιμέν᾽ ὧι λήξαιμ᾽ ἐγὼ,

ἥτις μιᾷ σε τῇδ᾽ ὁδῷ θανόντα τε

καὶ ζῶντ᾽ ἐσεῖδον; εἴργασαι a δέ μ' ἄσκοπα·
1315

ὥστ᾽ εἰ πατήρ μοι ζῶν ἵκοιτο, μηκέτ᾽ ἂν

τέρας νομίζειν αὐτό, πιστεύειν δ᾽ ὁρᾶν.

ὅτ᾽ οὖν τοιαύτην ἡμὶν ἦμιν ἡμὶν ἡμῖν ἐξήκεις ὁδόν,

ἄρχ᾽ αὐτὸς ὡς σοι θυμός. ὡς ἐγὼ μόνη

οὐκ ἂν δυοῖν ἥμαρτον· ἢ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς
1320

ἔσωσ᾽ ἐμαυτήν, ἢ καλῶς ἀπωλόμην.

ΟΡ.

σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσ᾽· ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ κλύω

τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος.

ΗΛ.

εἴσιτ᾽, ὦ ξένοι,

ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἱ᾽ ἂν οὔτε τις

δόμων ἀπώσαιτ᾽ ἀπώσετ' ἀπώσαιτ᾿ οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἡσθείη ἠισθείη λαβών.
1325

ΠΑ.

ὦ πλεῖστα μῶροι καὶ φρενῶν τητώμενοι,

πότερα παρ᾿ οὐδὲν τοῦ βίου κήδεσθ᾽ ἔτι,

ἢ νοῦς ἔνεστιν οὔτις ὑμὶν ἐγγενής ἐκγενὴς ἐγγενὴσ εὐγενὴσ γρ. ἐκγενής ἐνγενής,

ὅτ᾽ οὐ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτοῖσιν κακοῖς

τοῖσιν μεγίστοις ὄντες οὐ γιγνώσκετε γινώσκετε ;
1330

ἀλλ᾽ εἰ σταθμοῖσι σταθμοῖσιν τοῖσδε μὴ ᾿κύρουν ἐγὼ

πάλαι φυλάσσων, ἣν ἂν ὑμὶν ἐν δόμοις

τὰ δρώμεν ὑμῶν πρόσθεν ἢ τὰ σώματα·

νῦν δ᾽ εὐλάβειαν τῶνδε προὐθέμην ἐγώ.

καὶ νῦν ἀπαλλαχθέντε τῶν μακρῶν λόγων
1335

καὶ τῆς ἀπλήστου ἀπλείστου τῆσδε σὺν χαρᾷ συγχαρᾶι βοῆς

εἴσω παρέλθεθ᾽, ὡς τὸ μὲν μέλλειν μέλειν μέλλειν κακὸν

ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔστ᾽, ἀπηλλάχθαι δ᾽ ἀκμή.

ΟΡ.

πῶς οὖν ἔχει τἀντεῦθεν εἰσιόντι μοι;

ΠΑ.

καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα.
1340

ΟΡ.

ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

ΠΑ.

εἷς τῶν ἐν "Αιδου μάνθαν ἐνθάδ᾽ ἂν ἀνήρ.

ΟΡ.

χαίρουσιν οὖν ἐν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

ΠΑ.

τελουμένων εἴποιμ᾽ ἄν· ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει,

καλῶς τὰ κείνων τἀκείνων πάντα, καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς.
1345

ΗΛ.

τίς οὗτός ἐστ᾽, ἀδελφέ; πρὸς θεῶν φράσον.

ΟΡ.

οὐχὶ ξυνίης;

ΗΛ.

οὐδέ γ' εἰς θυμὸν φέρω.

ΟΡ.

οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτῳ μ᾽ ἔδωκας ἐς χέρας ποτέ;

ΗΛ.

ποίῳ; τί φωνεῖς;

OP.

οὗ τὸ Φωκέων πέδον

ὑπεξεπέμφθην σῇ προμηθίᾳ προμηθίαι προμηθείαι προμηθία προθυμίᾳ χεροῖν.
1350

ΗΛ.

ἢ ἡ κεῖνος οὗτος ὅν ποτ᾽ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐγὼ

μόνον προσεῦρον πιστὸν ἐν πατρὸς φόνῳ;

ΟΡ.

ὅδ᾽ ἐστί, μή μ' ἔλεγχε πλείοσιν λόγοις.

ΗΛ.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1232-1287 focus

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰὼ γοναί,

γοναὶ σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων,

ἐμόλετʼ ἀρτίως,

ἐφηύρετʼ, ἤλθετʼ, εἴδεθʼ οὓς ἐχρῄζετε.
1235

Ὀρέστης

πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγʼ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

Ἠλέκτρα

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Ὀρέστης

σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀλλʼ οὐ μὰ τὴν ἄδμητον αἰὲν Ἄρτεμιν,

τόδε μὲν οὔ ποτʼ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι,
1240

περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον

γυναικῶν ὂν αἰεί.

Ὀρέστης

ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης

ἔνεστιν· εὖ δʼ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

Ἠλέκτρα

ὀτοτοτοτοῖ τοτοῖ,
1245

ἀνέφελον ἐνέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον,

οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον ἁμέτερον

οἷον ἔφυ κακόν.
1250

Ὀρέστης

ἔξοιδα, παῖ, ταῦτʼ· ἀλλʼ ὅταν παρουσία

φράζῃ, τότʼ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών.

1253

Ἠλέκτρα

ὁ πᾶς ἐμοί,

ὁ πᾶς ἂν πρέποι παρὼν ἐννέπειν

τάδε δίκᾳ χρόνος·
1255

μόλις γὰρ ἔσχον νῦν ἐλεύθερον στόμα.

Ὀρέστης

ξύμφημι κἀγώ· τοιγαροῦν σῴζου τόδε.

Ἠλέκτρα

τί δρῶσα;

Ὀρέστης

οὗ μή ʼστι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

Ἠλέκτρα

τίς οὖν ἂν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος
1260

μεταβάλοιτʼ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων;

ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως

ἀέλπτως τʼ ἐσεῖδον.

Ὀρέστης

τότʼ εἶδες, εὖτε θεοί μʼ ἐπώτρυναν μολεῖν

1265

Ἠλέκτρα

ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν

τᾶς πάρος ἔτι χάριτος, εἴ σε θεὸς ἐπόρισεν

ἁμέτερα πρὸς μέλαθρα· δαιμόνιον

αὐτὸ τίθημʼ ἐγώ.
1270

Ὀρέστης

τὰ μέν σʼ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργαθεῖν, τὰ δὲ

δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην.

1273

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰὼ χρόνῳ μακρῷ φιλτάταν ὁδὸν

ἐπαξιώσας ὧδέ μοι φανῆναι,

μή τί με, πολύπονον ὧδʼ ἰδὼν
1275

Ὀρέστης

τί μὴ ποήσω;

Ἠλέκτρα

μή μʼ ἀποστερήσῃς

τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν μεθέσθαι.

Ὀρέστης

ἦ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

Ἠλέκτρα

ξυναινεῖς;
1280

Ὀρέστης

τί μὴν οὔ;

Ἠλέκτρα

ὦ φίλαι, ἔκλυον ἃν ἐγὼ οὐδʼ ἂν ἤλπισʼ αὐδάν,

οὐδʼ ἂν ἔσχον ὁρμὰν

ἄναυδον οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ κλύουσα,

τάλαινα. νῦν δʼ ἔχω σε· προυφάνης δὲ
1285

φιλτάταν ἔχων πρόσοψιν,

ἇς ἐγὼ οὐδʼ ἂν ἐν κακοῖς λαθοίμαν.

Ὀρέστης

τὰ μὲν περισσεύοντα τῶν λόγων ἄφες,

καὶ μήτε μήτηρ ὡς κακὴ δίδασκέ με,

μήθʼ ὡς πατρῴαν κτῆσιν Αἴγισθος δόμων
1290

ἀντλεῖ, τὰ δʼ ἐκχεῖ, τὰ δὲ διασπείρει μάτην·

χρόνου γὰρ ἄν σοι καιρὸν ἐξείργοι λόγος.

ἃ δʼ ἁρμόσει μοι τῷ παρόντι νῦν χρόνῳ

σήμαινʼ, ὅπου φανέντες ἢ κεκρυμμένοι

γελῶντας ἐχθροὺς παύσομεν τῇ νῦν ὁδῷ.
1295

οὕτω δʼ ὅπως μήτηρ σε μὴ ʼπιγνώσεται

φαιδρῷ προσώπῳ νῷν ἐπελθόντοιν δόμους·

ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐπʼ ἄτῃ τῇ μάτην λελεγμένῃ

στέναζʼ· ὅταν γὰρ εὐτυχήσωμεν, τότε

χαίρειν παρέσται καὶ γελᾶν ἐλευθέρως.
1300

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀλλʼ ὦ κασίγνηθʼ, ὧδʼ ὅπως καὶ σοὶ φίλον

καὶ τοὐμὸν ἔσται τῇδʼ· ἐπεὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς

πρὸς σοῦ λαβοῦσα κοὐκ ἐμὰς ἐκτησάμην,

κοὐδʼ ἄν σε λυπήσασα δεξαίμην βραχὺ

αὐτὴ μέγʼ εὑρεῖν κέρδος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς
1305

ὑπηρετοίην τῷ παρόντι δαίμονι.

ἀλλʼ οἶσθα μὲν τἀνθένδε, πῶς γὰρ οὔ; κλύων

ὁθούνεκʼ Αἴγισθος μὲν οὐ κατὰ στέγας,

μήτηρ δʼ ἐν οἴκοις· ἣν σὺ μὴ δείσῃς ποθʼ ὡς

γέλωτι τοὐμὸν φαιδρὸν ὄψεται κάρα.
1310

μῖσός τε γὰρ παλαιὸν ἐντέτηκέ μοι,

κἀπεί σʼ ἐσεῖδον, οὔ ποτʼ ἐκλήξω χαρᾷ

δακρυρροοῦσα· πῶς γὰρ ἂν λήξαιμʼ ἐγώ,

ἥτις μιᾷ σε τῇδʼ ὁδῷ θανόντα τε

καὶ ζῶντʼ ἐσεῖδον; εἴργασαι δέ μʼ ἄσκοπα·
1315

ὥστʼ εἰ πατήρ μοι ζῶν ἵκοιτο, μηκέτʼ ἂν

τέρας νομίζειν αὐτό, πιστεύειν δʼ ὁρᾶν.

ὅτʼ οὖν τοιαύτην ἡμὶν ἐξήκεις ὁδόν,

ἄρχʼ αὐτὸς ὥς σοι θυμός· ὡς ἐγὼ μόνη

οὐκ ἂν δυοῖν ἥμαρτον· ἢ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς
1320

ἔσωσʼ ἐμαυτὴν ἢ καλῶς ἀπωλόμην.

1322

Ὀρέστης

σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσʼ ὡς ἐπʼ ἐξόδῳ κλύω τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος.

Ἠλέκτρα

εἴσιτʼ, ὦ ξένοι,

ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἷʼ ἂν οὔτε τις

δόμων ἀπώσαιτʼ οὔτʼ ἂν ἡσθείη λαβών.
1325

Παιδαγωγός

ὦ πλεῖστα μῶροι καὶ φρενῶν τητώμενοι,

πότερα παρʼ οὐδὲν τοῦ βίου κήδεσθʼ ἔτι

ἢ νοῦς ἔνεστιν οὔτις ὑμὶν ἐγγενής,

ὅτʼ οὐ παρʼ αὐτοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτοῖσιν κακοῖς

τοῖσιν μεγίστοις ὄντες οὐ γιγνώσκετε;
1330

ἀλλʼ εἰ σταθμοῖσι τοῖσδε μὴ ʼκύρουν ἐγὼ

πάλαι φυλάσσων, ἦν ἂν ὑμὶν ἐν δόμοις

τὰ δρώμενʼ ὑμῶν πρόσθεν ἢ τὰ σώματα·

νῦν δʼ εὐλάβειαν τῶνδε προυθέμην ἐγώ.

καὶ νῦν ἀπαλλαχθέντε τῶν μακρῶν λόγων
1335

καὶ τῆς ἀπλήστου τῆσδε σὺν χαρᾷ βοῆς

εἴσω παρέλθεθʼ, ὡς τὸ μὲν μέλλειν κακὸν

ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔστʼ, ἀπηλλάχθαι δʼ ἀκμή.

1339

Ὀρέστης

πῶς οὖν ἔχει τἀντεῦθεν εἰσιόντι μοι;

Παιδαγωγός

καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα.
1340

Ὀρέστης

ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

Παιδαγωγός

εἷς τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μάνθανʼ ἐνθάδʼ ὢν ἀνήρ.

Ὀρέστης

χαίρουσιν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

Παιδαγωγός

τελουμένων εἴποιμʼ ἄν· ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει,

καλῶς τὰ κείνων πάντα, καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς.
1345

Ἠλέκτρα

τίς οὗτός ἐστʼ, ἀδελφέ; πρὸς θεῶν φράσον.

Ὀρέστης

οὐχὶ ξυνίης;

Ἠλέκτρα

οὐδέ γʼ ἐς θυμὸν φέρω.

Ὀρέστης

οὐκ οἶσθʼ ὅτῳ μʼ ἔδωκας εἰς χέρας ποτέ;

Ἠλέκτρα

ποίῳ; τί φωνεῖς;

Ὀρέστης

οὗ τὸ Φωκέων πέδον

ὑπεξεπέμφθην σῇ προμηθίᾳ χεροῖν.
1350

Ἠλέκτρα

ἦ κεῖνος οὗτος, ὅν ποτʼ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐγὼ

μόνον προσηῦρον πιστὸν ἐν πατρὸς φόνῳ;

Ὀρέστης

ὅδʼ ἐστί· μή μʼ ἔλεγχε πλείοσιν λόγοις.

1354

Ἠλέκτρα

ὦ φίλτατον φῶς, ὦ μόνος σωτὴρ δόμων

Ἀγαμέμνονος, πῶς ἦλθες; ἦ σὺ κεῖνος εἶ,
1355

ὃς τόνδε κἄμʼ ἔσωσας ἐκ πολλῶν πόνων;

ὦ φίλταται μὲν χεῖρες, ἥδιστον δʼ ἔχων

ποδῶν ὑπηρέτημα, πῶς οὕτω πάλαι

ξυνών μʼ ἔληθες οὐδʼ ἔφαινες, ἀλλά με

λόγοις ἀπώλλυς, ἔργʼ ἔχων ἥδιστʼ ἐμοί;
1360

χαῖρʼ, ὦ πάτερ· πατέρα γὰρ εἰσορᾶν δοκῶ·

χαῖρʼ· ἴσθι δʼ ὡς μάλιστά σʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐγὼ

ἤχθηρα κἀφίλησʼ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ.

Παιδαγωγός

ἀρκεῖν δοκεῖ μοι· τοὺς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ λόγους

πολλαὶ κυκλοῦνται νύκτες ἡμέραι τʼ ἴσαι,
1365

αἳ ταῦτά σοι δείξουσιν, Ἠλέκτρα, σαφῆ.

σφῷν δʼ ἐννέπω γε τοῖν παρεστώτοιν ὅτι

νῦν καιρὸς ἔρδειν· νῦν Κλυταιμνήστρα μόνη,

νῦν οὔτις ἀνδρῶν ἔνδον· εἰ δʼ ἐφέξετον,

φροντίζεθʼ ὡς τούτοις τε καὶ σοφωτέροις
1370

ἄλλοισι τούτων πλείοσιν μαχούμενοι.

1372

Ὀρέστης

οὐκ ἂν μακρῶν ἔθʼ ἡμὶν οὐδὲν ἂν λόγων,

Πυλάδη, τόδʼ εἴη τοὔργον, ἀλλʼ ὅσον τάχος

χωρεῖν ἔσω, πατρῷα προσκύσανθʼ ἕδη

θεῶν, ὅσοιπερ πρόπυλα ναίουσιν τάδε.
1375

Ἠλέκτρα

ἄναξ Ἄπολλον, ἵλεως αὐτοῖν κλύε

ἐμοῦ τε πρὸς τούτοισιν, ἥ σε πολλὰ δὴ

ἀφʼ ὧν ἔχοιμι λιπαρεῖ προύστην χερί.

νῦν δʼ, ὦ Λύκειʼ Ἄπολλον, ἐξ οἵων ἔχω

αἰτῶ, προπίτνω, λίσσομαι, γενοῦ πρόφρων
1380

ἡμῖν ἀρωγὸς τῶνδε τῶν βουλευμάτων,

καὶ δεῖξον ἀνθρώποισι τἀπιτίμια

τῆς δυσσεβείας οἷα δωροῦνται θεοί.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1232 focus

O dearest women, Argives of my home!

Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now

By that same craft delivered and preserved.

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!

Ah! thou art come,—hast found me, eye to eye

Behold’st the face thou didst desire to see.
1235

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
1240

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
1245

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.
1250

EL

All times alike are fit with instant pain

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.
1255

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.
1260

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.

OR

I hate to curb the gladness of thy spirit,

But yet I fear this ecstasy of joy.
1270

EL

Oh! after all these years,

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,
1275

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
1280

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.
1285

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,
1290

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.
1295

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,
1300

Not from myself I took them, but from thee.

And ne’er would I consent thy slightest grief

Should win for me great gain. Ill should I then
1305

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.
1310

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
1315

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,
1320

Noble deliverance or a noble death.

OR

Be silent; for I hear within the house

A footstep coming forth.

EL

(). Strangers, go in!

For none within the palace will reject

Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event.
1325

OLD M
Enter the Old Man .

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?
1330

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,
1335

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.
1340

OR

That means you have delivered me as dead.

OLD M

Alone of dead men thou art here above.

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.
1345

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.
1350

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

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1232 focus

Otheurer Sproß,

Strophe.

Elektra.

Sproß jenes uns, ach, so geliebten Manns,

Du kamst endlich, ja,

Du kamest, fandest, sahest, die dein Herz ersehnt!
1210

Orestes.

Ich bin gekommen; aber schweigend harre noch.

Warum das?

Wohl ziemt zu schweigen, eh man uns im Haus vernimmt.

Elektra.

Nein, bei der ewig unbezwungnen Artemis!¹

Wahrlich, ich fürchte nicht die nuzlose Last,
1215

Dies Volk der Weiber mehr, das im Haus stets sich umtreibt.

Orestes.

Doch sei behutsam, auch in Weiberseelen glüht

Kampfmuth: du weißt es; denn Erfahrung lehrte dich's.

Elektra.

Oweh, o Graun, o Graun!

Du nennst unverhüllt das unvertilgbare,
1220

In der Erinnerung nie zu verschmerzende,

Das Leid, das ich litt!

Orestes.

Wohl weiß ich das; doch dieses Jammers mußt du mir

Dann erst gedenken, wann die rechte Zeit erscheint.

Zu jeder Zeit,
1225
Gegenstrophe.

Elektra.

Ja wohl jeder Zeit geziemt's uns mit Fug

Sein zu gedenken, Kind;

Denn kaum gewann ich eben erst die Zunge frei.

Orestes.

Das mein' ich selbst auch; schüze dir denn solches Gut.

Wie soll ich das?
1230

Wo nicht die Zeit ist, fasse dich in Neden kurz.

Elektra.

Wer mag mit Recht, o Bruder, nun du mir erschienst,

Hemmen der Worte Strom, scheu zu verstummen hier?

Denn plözlich, ungeahnt, unverhofft, kamst du wieder.

Orestes.

Du sahst mich, als zu kommen mir ein Gott gebot.
1235

Elektra.

Noch größ're Freude, denn zuvor,

Kündest du' da mir an, wenn dich in unser Haus

Himmlische Götter gesendet: ein göttliches

Walten erkenn' ich hier.

Orestes.

Zwar deiner Freude wehren will ich nicht; indeß
1240

Ich fürchte, daß die Freude dich zu sehr beherrscht.

Schlußgesang.

Elektra.

Du, der mich seines Anblickes würdigend,

Auf langersehntem Pfade mir erschienen,

O, weil du so mich siehst in Noth,

Orestes.

Was soll ich?
1245

Elektra.

Naube mir doch nicht die Wonne,

An deinem Anblick, Trauter, mich zu weiden!

Orestes.

Selbst Andern zürnt' ich, gönnten sie dir solches nicht.

Elektra.

Du gönnst mir's?

Orestes.

Warum nicht?

Elektra.

Eben ward mir eine Kunde,

Die ich nie geahnt, ihr Theuren:
1250

Alles Leid ertrug ich lautlos,

Sonder Angstausruf es hörend.

Jezo hab' ich dich; du kamest,

Zeigtest mir dein theures Antliz,

Das ich auch im Leide nie vergäße.²
1255

Orestes.

Des überflüssig eitlen Worts enthalte dich,

Und weder sag' uns, wie die Mutter Frevel übt,

Noch wie des Hauses Ahnengut Aegisthos uns

Erschöpft, hinauswirft und gedankenlos verstreut:

Das Reden raubt die wohlgelegne Stunde dir.³
1260

Nur was in diesem Augenblick mir dienlich sei,

Erkläre, wo, verborgen oder offen, ich

Der Feinde Jubel hemmen mag auf diesem Gang.

Doch daß am heitern Blicke nicht die Mutter, was

Du sinnst, erkenne, traten wir in's Haus hinein;
1265

Nein, jammre, wie betroffen durch das Mißgeschick,

Von dem die falsche Sage sprach: gelang das Wert,

Daun steh'n dir ohne Schranke Lust und Lachen frei.

Elektra.

Ja, theurer Bruder, so wie dir genehm es ist,

So sei es mir auch: hab' ich doch die Freude nur
1270

Durch dich empfangen, nicht ich selbst errang sie mir.

Die kleinste Kränkung auch an dir ich möchte nicht

Um großen Lohn sie kaufen; denn ich diente dann

Nicht würdig jenem Gotte, der uns jezt beschirmt.

Doch wie es hier steht, weißt du ja; du hörtest doch,
1275

Aegisthos weile nicht im Haus, wohl aber sei

Die Mutter innen; diese wird das fürchte nicht!

Niemals von Freude mein Gesicht erheitert sehu.

Denn tief in meinem Herzen lebt der alte Haß,

Und seit ich dich erblickte, rinnt mein Auge stets
1280

Von Wonnethränen. Wie versiegten diese mir,

Nachdem ich todt und lebend dich auf Einem Gang

Geseh'n? Du thatest, was ich nie geahnt, an mir;

Ja, wenn der Vater lebend käm', ich achtet' es

Nicht mehr für Blendwerk, sondern glaubt' ihn selbst zu seh'n.
1285

Und nun du dieses Weges uns gekommen bist,

Geh selbst voran nach deinem Sinn! Blieb ich allein,

Errang ich Eins von Zweien wohl: ich hätte mich

Ruhmvoll gerettet, oder fand ruhmvoll den Tod.

Orestes.

Sei still, ich bitte; denn heran zur Pforte naht Jemand von innen.
1290
(sich verstellend)

Elektra.

Geht hinein, ihr Fremdlinge,

Zumal ihr bringet, was im Hause Keiner wohl

Verschmähend abweist, noch empfängt in frohem Muth.

Der Pfleger. Die Vorigen.

Der Pfleger.

Ihr argen Thoren, ihr an Sinn Verblendeten!

Drängt euch um euer Leben nicht die Sorge mehr?
1295

Wie? Oder lebt kein angeborner Geist in euch,

Daß ihr dem Leid nicht nahe, nein, im Leide selbst,

Dem größten, euch befindet, und es nicht erkennt?

Hätt' ich an dieser Pforte nicht schon lang gewacht,

So wären eure Plane wohl im Hause dort
1300

Ruchbar geworden, eh' ihr selbst hineingelangt:

Ich habe dies durch meine Vorsicht abgewandt.

Und mun erspart die langen Reden euch und laßt

Von diesem Freudenlärme, der nicht enden will,

Und tretet ein, da Zaudern unheilbringend ist
1305

Bei solchen Dingen und die Zeit zum Ende drängt.

Orestes.

Wie steht es aber, wenn ich eingetreten dort?

Der Pfleger.

Sehr wohl; das Schicksal fügt es, das Niemand dich kennt.

Orestes.

Du brachtest, denk' ich, Kunde wohl von meinem Tod?

Der Pfleger.

Ein Mann des Todes, wisse, bist du jenen dort.
1310

Orestes.

Sie freu'n sich wohl darüber? Nun, was sagen sie?

Der Pfleger.

Nachdem's gethan ist, red' ich: wie die Sachen steh'lu,

Geht Alles gut mit ihnen, auch was übel ist.

Elektra.

Wer ist der Mann hier, Bruder? Bei den Göttern, sprich!

Orestes.

Ihn kennst du nicht mehr?
1315

Elektra.

Nicht entsinnen kann ich mich.
1315

Orestes.

So weißt du nimmer, wem du mich einst übergabst?

Elektra.

Wem? Was erwähnst du?

Orestes.

Dessen Arm mich ehedem,

Dank deiner Vorsicht, ingeheim nach Phokis trug.

Elektra.

Wie? Sener ist es, welchen ich aus Vielen einst

Allein getreu erfunden bei des Vaters Tod?
1320

Orestes.

Der ist es: aber frage nun nicht weiter mehr.

Elektra.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1232 focus

Oh ! ye are come, my friends, in happiest hour,

E'en to behold, to find again the man

Whom your souls wished for, ye are come.

Chorus

We are ;

Electra

Wherefore in silence ?

Chorus

Lest our foes within

Should hear thee.

Electra

Never, by the virgin power

Of chaste Diana, will I hide my joys,
1240

Nor meanly stoop to fear an idle throng

Of helpless women.

Orestes

Women have their power,

And that thou knowest.

Electra

Alas ! and so I do ;
1245

For oh ! thou hast called back the sad remembrance

Of that misfortune which admits no cure,

And ne'er can be forgot.

Orestes

A fitter time

May come when we must think of that.
1250

Electra

All times.

All hours are fit to talk of justice in,

And best the present, now when I am free.

Orestes

Thou art so, be so still.
1255

Electra

What's to be done?

Orestes

Talk not, when prudence should restrain tliy

tongue.

Electra

Who shall restrain it? Who shall bind Electra

To fearful silence, when Orestes comes?

When thus I see thee here, beyond my thoughts,

Beyond my hopes !
1260

Orestes

The gods have sent me to thee ;

Xliey bade me come.

Electra

Indeed ! More grateful still

Is thy return. If by the gods' command

Thou cam'st, the gods will sure protect thee here.

Orestes

I would not damp thy joys, and yet I fear-

Lest they should carry thee too far.
1270

Electra

Oh, no !

But after so long absence^ thus returned

To thy afflicted sister, sure thou wouldst not

Orestes

Do what?

Electra

Thou wouldst not grudge me the dear pleasure
1275

Of looking on thee.

Orestes

No ; nor suffer any

To rob thee of it.

Electra

Shall I then !

Orestes

No doubt.

Electra

I hear that voice, my friends, I never thought

To hear again. Ye know, when I received
1280

The dreadful news, I kept my grief witliin,

Silent and sad ; but now I have thee here.

Now I behold thee, now I fix my eyes

On that dear form, which never was forgotten.

Orestes

Spend not thy time in fruitless words, nor tell

me

How Clytemnestra lives, nor how ^gisthus

Hath lavished all our wealth. The present hour

Demands our strict attention. Tell me how,

Whether by fraud, or open force, our foes

May best be vanquished. Let no cheerful smile

Betray thee to thy mother. Seem to grieve
1295

As thou wert wont. When we have done the deed,

J oy shall appear, and we will smile in safety.

Electra

Thy will is mine. Not to myself I owe

My present bliss ; I have it all from thee —

From thee, my brother ; nor should aught persuade me
1300

To give Orestes e'en a moment's pain.

That were ungrateful to th' indulgent power

Who thus hath smiled propitious. Know, -^gisthus
1305

Has left the palace ; Clytemnestra's there ;

And for thy needless fears that I should smile,

Or wear a cheerful face, I never shall —

Hatred so strong is rooted in my soul,

The sight of them will make me sad enough.
1310

The tears of joy perhaps may flow for thee,

And add to the deceit ; for flow they must,

When I behold thee in one happy hour

Thus snatched from life, and thus to life restored.

I could not hope it. Oh I 'tis passing strange !

If from the tomb our father should arise
1315

And R.'iv he lived, I think I should believe liini :

And oh ! when thou art come so far, 'tis fit

I yield to thee in all. Do thou direct

My every step ; but know, had I been left

Alone, e'en I would not have failed in all,
1320

But conquered bravely, or as bravely fell.

Orestes

No more. I hear the footsteps as of one

Coming this way.

Electra

Strangers, go in, and bear

That which with joy they cannot but receive.

But which with joy they will not long possess.

Governor of Orestes, Electra, Orestes, Chorus.
1325

Governor
Scene II.

Madness and folly thus to linger here !

Have ye no thought ? Is life not worth your care ?

Do ye not know the dangers that surround you ?

Had I not watched myself before the palace.

Ere ye had entered, all your secret plan

Had been discovered to our foes within.

Wherefore no more of this tumultuous joy.

And lengthened converse ; 'tis not fitting now.
1335

Go in ; away, delays are dangerous

At such an hour ; cur fate depends upon it.

Orestes

May I with safety ? Is all well within ?

Governor

None can suspect you.
1340

Orestes

Spake you of my death

As we determined ?

Governor

Living as thou art,

They do account thee one among the dead.

Orestes

And are they glad ? What say they ?

Governor

By-and-by

We'll talk of that ; let it suffice that all

Is right within ; and that which most they think so,
1345

May prove most fatal to them.
1345

Electra

[pointing to the Governor]. Who is this ?

Orestes

Do you not know ?

Electra

I cannot recollect him.

Orestes

Not know the man to whom you trusted me !

Under whose care

ijO

ELF.CTRA.

Eleo. Wlion ? ho^v ?

Orestes

To Phocis sent,

I 'scaped the tymnt.
1350

Electra

Can it then be he,

Among the faithless only faithful found

When our dear father fell ?

Orestes

It is the same.

Electra

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1232 focus

And henceforth ever may'st thou hold him thus!

Electra

You see Orestes but by fiction dead,

And by that honest fiction thus preserved.

Chorus

Thou gem, thou offspring of the dearest man,
1245

To me for ever dear, art thou then come-

Thus hast thou found-at length art thou arrived---

And dost thou see whom thou hast wish'd to see!

Orestes

Behold me here: but check thy transports, wait

In silence the event.
1250

Electra

Why silent wait?

Orestes

Within these hostile gates lest any hear.
1255

Electra

Now by Diana, chaste unconquer'd queen,

My soul disdains to tremble at a rout

Of helpless women here for ever throng'd.

Orestes

Yet women sometimes feel the martial flame,

And greatly dare: of this thou hast strong proof.

Electra

Oh, thou hast touch'd upon a dreadful ill,

For ever open to the light of heav'n,

Inexpiable, monstrous, from the mind

Never to be effaced, our mournful lot.
1260

Orestes

I know it well; and when the proper time

Shall warn me, will remember the foul deed.

Electra

All times to me are proper, and all times

Warn me to speak what justly I may speak:

Scarce is the liberty of speech now mine.

Orestes

Preserve that liberty, by knowing well

This is no time to give thy speech free scope.
1270

Electra

Hath silence then such merit, that my words

Must yield to it, whilst thou art in my sight,

Thus unexpected, thus beyond my hopes?

Orestes

Soon as the gods commanded me, I came.

Electra

This to my former pleasure gives new life :
1275

If by the mandate of the gods thou comest,
1275

That gives a presage of their heav'nly aid.

Orestes

I would not check thy pleasure; but I fear

Its wild excess thy reason will o'erpow'r.

Electra

After such length of time since thou hast deign'd

To make me happy with thy dear return,

Do not, since thou hast found me thus oppress'd

With many sorrows, do not take from me

The heart-felt pleasure which thy presence gives.

Orestes

That pleasure none shall dare to take from thee.

Electra

Dost thou assent?

Orestes

How can I but assent?

Electra

O my loved friends, I hear that pleasing voice

I could not hope to hear. But when I heard

I should not think it as mere shadowy form,

I would believe I saw the real man:

Since on this dangerous task thou art return'dol

Be the whole conduct thine. Had I been left

Alone, I had not fail'd myself to save",

With glory, or with glory to have died

ORES. I wish thee to be silent, for I hear

The steps of one advancing to these gates.

Electra

Strangers, go in: you bear what in the house:il!

Old Man

None will reject, nor will receive with joy.

Attendant

What madness this? Is life no more your care?

Where is your prudence? Where your heedful thought

Of danger? Know you not that you now stand

Not on the verge, but in the midst of ills,

The greatest ills? And had not I long watch'd

Within this portal, your designs had found T

An entrance ere yourselves; my cautious care()

To this I have opposed. But now break off! //

Your long discourse, and these wild cries of jby,

And enter: the important moment calls

For action: mischief lurks beneath delay.l

Orestes

How, when I enter, shall I find the state

Of things within? Na botal Ioved modT

Old Man

A's thou cou'dst wish: not one)

Is there who knows thee.

Report me dead?
1345

Didst thou, as behoved;
1345

Attendant

Though thou art living here,

There thou art deem'd one of the shades below.

Orestes

Do they rejoice at this? What did they say?

Attendant

First do the deed, then thou shalt know. With them

All now is well, e'en things that are not well.

Electra

Who, I conjure thee tell me, is this man?

OR E. Dost thou not know-

My mind retains no trace.

Orestes

Him, to whose hands assign'd thy prudent care

In secret sent me to the Phocian realms?
1350

Electra

Is this the man, when my lov'd father fell

'Mongst many faithless only faithful found?

Orestes

This is the man: but ask me now no more,

Electra

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1232-1285 focus

Electra

O seed, seed of the person to me most dear, you have just now come,

you have come, and have found and seen her whom your heart desired!
1235

Orestes

I am with you; but keep silence and wait.

Electra

What do you mean?

Orestes

It is better to be silent so that no one inside may hear.

Electra

No, by ever-virgin Artemis,

I will never think it right to tremble before eternally house-bound women, that useless burden on the ground!
1240

Orestes

Yes, but remember that Ares dwells in women, too. You know this well by experience, I believe.

Electra

oh, no! ah, me! You have reminded me of my sorrow, one which by its nature cannot be veiled,
1245

cannot be done away with, cannot be forgotten!
1250

Orestes

I know this, too; but when occasion prompts, we must recall those crimes.

1253

Electra

Each moment of all time, as it comes, would be a proper occasion

for me to make these just complaints. Scarcely now have I had my lips set free.
1255

Orestes

Yes, I agree; therefore guard your freedom.

Electra

What must I do?

Orestes

When it is inopportune, do not want to speak too much.

Electra

No, who could exchange due silence for speech, when you have appeared? For now my eyes have seen you, beyond all thought and hope!
1260

Orestes

You saw me when the gods moved me to come.

Electra

You have told me of a grace higher still than the first, if a god brought you to our house;
1265

I acknowledge in it the work of the divine.
1270

Orestes

On the one hand I hesitate to curb your gladness, but on the other I fear that you may be overwhelmed by too much joy.

1273

Electra

O you who, after such a long time, saw fit to make your most happy journey and appear to me,

do not, now that you have seen me in all my misery—
1275

Orestes

What should I not do?—

Electra

—Do not rob me of the comfort of your face; do not force me to forego it!

Orestes

I would be angry, indeed, if I saw another attempt it.

Electra

You give your consent?

Orestes

Why would I not?
1280

Electra

My friends, I heard a voice that I could never have hoped to hear; nor could I have restrained my emotion in silence and without a cry, when I heard it.

ah, me! But now I have you. You have appeared with that dear face, which I could never, even in misery, forget.
1285

Orestes

Spare all superfluous words, and inform me neither of our mother’s wickedness,

nor how Aegisthus drains the wealth of our father’s house—what part he pours on the ground and what he squanders at random. For the story would preclude you from the opportunity afforded by the moment. Instead tell me that which will suit our present circumstances: where, either openly or in ambush,
1290

we may put an end to our enemies’ laughter by means of my coming. Make sure that our mother does not discover you by your radiant face, when we two have gone into the house. Rather, make lament, as if for the feigned disaster. For when we succeed, then
1295

there will be opportunity to rejoice and exult in freedom.
1300

Electra

Brother, be assured that my conduct will be as pleases you, since all my joy derives from you, and is not my own. Nor would I consent

to win a great good for myself at the cost of the slightest pain to you. For in doing so I would not honorably support the divine power that attends us now.
But you know how matters stand here. I do not doubt it. You must have heard that Aegisthus is away from home, but that our mother is inside. And never fear that she
1305

will ever see my face lit up with smiles. My old hatred of her has been welded to my heart, and since I have seen you, for very joy I will never cease to weep. How indeed could I stop when I have seen you come home on this one day first as dead,
1310

and then in life? What you have done to me is inconceivable—so much so that, if my father were to return to me alive, I would no longer think it a portent, but would believe that I truly saw him. Therefore now that you have come to me by such a path, command me as your spirit bids you. For had I been alone,
1315

I would not have failed in one of two things: a noble salvation, or a noble destruction.
1320

1322

Orestes

Silence! I hear someone walking inside as if to come out.

Electra
To Orestes and Pylades.

Go in, strangers, especially since you bring a thing which no one

could either turn away from these doors, or rejoice at receiving.
1325

Enter the Paedagogus.

Paedagogus

Utterly foolish and senseless children! Are you weary of your lives, or is there no wit inborn in you, that you do not see how you stand not on the brink, but in the very midst

of immense danger? Had I not long kept watch at these doors, your doings would have been in the house before your bodies. But as it was, I put myself the task of averting that.
1330

Be done now with your long speeches and this insatiable shouting for joy, and go inside. In dealings of this sort delay is harmful, but the time is ripe for being done.
1335

1339

Orestes

Then how will things inside stand when I enter?

Paedagogus

All is well. The fact is that no one will know you.
1340

Orestes

You have reported me as dead, I presume?

Paedagogus

Know that here you are a man numbered with the shades.

Orestes

Do they rejoice, then, at the news? Or what do they say?

Paedagogus

I will tell when all is completed. Meanwhile,

all is favorable for us on their part, even that which is not favorable.
1345

Electra

Who is this, brother? By the gods, tell me.

Orestes

Do you not know who he is?

Electra

No, nor can I imagine.

Orestes

Do you not know the man to whose hands you gave me once?

Electra

What man? What do you mean?

Orestes

I mean him, by whose hands and through your forethought

I was secretly conveyed away to Phocian soil.
1350

Electra

Is this he in whom alone out of many I once found a true ally at the time of our father’s murder?

Orestes

This is he; question me no further.

1354

Electra

O joyous day! O sole preserver of Agamemnon’s house,

how did you come here? Are you indeed the man who saved my brother and myself from many sorrows? O dearest hands, O messenger whose feet were kindly servants! How could you be with me so long and remain unknown, without giving a ray of illumination,
1355

but instead afflicting me with stories, while possessed of sweetest reality? Welcome, Father, for it is a father that I seem to behold! Welcome, and know that in one day I have hated you and loved you as no man ever before!
1360

Paedagogus

That is enough, I think. As for the recounting of intervening events,

many are the circling nights and an equal number of days which will reveal them to you clearly, Electra.
1365

To Orestes and Pylades.

And this is my advice to you two, since you stand there: now is your opportunity to act, now Clytaemnestra is alone, now no man is inside. But if you pause,

consider that you will have to fight both those inside and others mightier and better skilled.
1370

1372

Orestes

Pylades, in no way does our task call any longer for many words, but rather demands that we enter the house immediately, after first adoring the shrines of my father’s

gods, the keepers of these gates. Orestes and Pylades enter the house, followed by the Paedagogus. Electra remains outside.
1375

Electra

King Apollo! Hear them with favor, and hear me besides, who so often have come before your altar with hands rich in such gifts as I could obtain! And now, O Lycean Apollo, with what means I have

I pray to you, I supplicate you, I implore you, be our ready champion in these designs, and show what rewards the gods bestow on humans in return for their impiety! Exit Electra, into the house.
1380

Notes on the current edition

Electra

1. 1 The correspondence of στρ. and ἀντ. here is doubtful.

2. 2 In the Epode Orestes also for a moment becomes lyrical.

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-679-1 τοῖσι σοῖς ¹ τοῖς ἴσοις ²

mvp-comment-679-2 The word ξυγγενὴς ³ τοῖσι σοῖς ⁴ τοῖς ἴσοις ⁵

mvp-comment-680-1 τὸ τῶνδε ⁶

mvp-comment-681-1 νυν ⁷

mvp-comment-682-1 πιθοῦ ⁸ πείθου ⁹

mvp-comment-683-1 πρὸς γενείου ¹⁰

mvp-comment-683-2 The reading of the MSS., μ<*> )ξέλη ¹¹ μ’ ἐξέλῃ ¹²

mvp-comment-683-3 ἐξέλῃ ¹³

mvp-comment-683-4 τὰ φίλτατα ¹⁴

mvp-comment-684-1 οὐ φήμ’ ἐάσειν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-684-2 The division of the trimeter (

ἀντιλαβή

) marks agitation, as again in 1220—1226, 1323, etc. Cp. also O. T. 627 , O. C. 722 , Ph. 54 , etc.

mvp-comment-684-3 τάλαιν’ ἐγὼ σέθεν ¹⁶

mvp-comment-685-1 εἰ στερήσομαι ¹⁷

mvp-comment-686-1 ὦ φίλτατον φῶς ¹⁸

mvp-comment-687-1 ὦ φθέγμ’ ¹⁹

mvp-comment-687-2 μηκέτ’ ἄλλοθεν πύθῃ ²⁰

mvp-comment-688-1 ἔχω … ἔχοις ἀεί ²¹

mvp-comment-689-1 πολίτιδες ²²

mvp-comment-690-1 μηχαναῖσι ²³

mvp-comment-690-2 σεσωσμένον ²⁴

mvp-comment-691-1 συμφοραῖσι ²⁵

mvp-comment-691-2 γεγηθὸς … δάκρυον ²⁶

mvp-comment-692-1 A

μέλος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

between Electra and Orestes. Strophe, 1232—1352,=antistr. 1253—1272 (a verse being lost after 1264). Epode, 1273— 1287. For metres see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-693-1 γοναὶ σωμάτων ²⁷

mvp-comment-694-1 ἀρτίως ²⁸

mvp-comment-694-2 οὓς ²⁹

mvp-comment-694-3 ἐχρήζετε ³⁰

mvp-comment-695-1 σῖγ’ ἔχουσα ³¹

mvp-comment-696-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μὰ ³²

mvp-comment-696-2 τὴν ἄδμητον ³³

mvp-comment-696-3 Ἄρτεμιν ³⁴

mvp-comment-697-1 τόδε μὲν … ὂν ἀεί ³⁵

mvp-comment-697-2 περισσὸν ἄχθος ³⁶

mvp-comment-697-3 ἔνδον … ὂν ἀεί ³⁷

mvp-comment-698-1 γε μὲν δὴ ³⁸

mvp-comment-698-2 Ἄρης ³⁹

mvp-comment-698-3 εὖ δ’ ἔξοισθα ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-699-1 ἀνέφελον … κακόν ⁴¹

mvp-comment-699-2 The author of the scholium on 1245 read ἐνέβαλες ⁴² ἐπέβαλες ⁴³ ὑπέβαλες ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-699-3 καταλύσιμον ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-699-4 λησόμενον ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-699-5 The usual explanation is, ‘that cannot be forgotten’; but

λήσομαι

is nowhere passive. There is, indeed, no classical fut. pass. of

λανθάνω

, for (

ἐπι

)

λησθήσομαι

occurs only in later Greek (LXX. Ps. ix. 19 , etc.). Even

λελήσεται

=‘will forget,’ Eur. Alc. 198. —

λησόμενον

could mean, ‘that cannot escape notice’; for, though the act.

λήσω

is more usual in this sense ( Soph. Tr. 455 , Il. 23. 416 ), the midd.

λήσομαι

is so used by Hippocrates (2. 170), Arist. ( Pr. Anal. 2. 19), Lucian, etc. But here, especially after

ἀνέφελον

, such a sense would evidently be too weak.

mvp-comment-700-1 ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ’ ⁴⁷ καὶ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-700-2 παρουσία ⁴⁹ φράζῃ ⁵⁰ ἔργων τῶνδε ⁵¹

mvp-comment-700-3 The scholia attest

παρουσία

as the traditional reading, and suggest two explanations. (1)

ὅταν ἐπιτρέπῃ ὁ καιρὸς καὶ καλῇ

: i.e.,

παρουσία

τὰ παρόντα

, the circumstances of the moment. Cp. cum res ipsa feret. (2)

ὁπόταν ἡ παρουσία τούτων ᾖ καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἐπιτήδειος

. Here

τούτων

is evidently neuter, and the meaning is, ‘when these topics come before us,’—when it is the fitting time to discuss them. Neither view is satisfactory.

mvp-comment-700-4 The v.l. παρρησία ⁵² φράζῃ ⁵³

mvp-comment-701-1 ὁ πᾶς … χρόνος ⁵⁴ παρὼν ⁵⁵ δίκᾳ ⁵⁶ ἐννέπειν ⁵⁷ πρέποι ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-701-2 μόλις γὰρ ⁵⁹ ἔσχον ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-702-1 σῴζου τόδε ⁶¹

mvp-comment-703-1 μακρὰν … λέγειν ⁶²

mvp-comment-704-1 τίς οὖν ⁶³ ἀξίαν ⁶⁴ σοῦ πεφηνότος ⁶⁵ λόγων ⁶⁶ μεταβάλοιτ’ ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-704-2 <*>δε ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-704-3 1264 After τότ’ εἶδες ⁶⁹ ὅτε ⁷⁰ εὖτε ⁷¹ ὅτε ⁷² θεοὶ ⁷³ ὅτε ⁷⁴ τότ’ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-704-4 ἐπώτρυναν ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-705-1 χάριτος ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-705-2 ἐπόρισεν ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-706-1 δαιμόνιον ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-706-2 τίθημ’ ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-706-3 Electra remembers the warning dream (417 ff.), in which she had already surmised a supernatural agency (411: 459). It is indeed

δαιμόνιον

that Orestes, sent by Apollo, should arrive at this moment.

mvp-comment-706-4 The punctuation given in the text seems best. The Aldine has only a comma after

μέλαθρα

: but then we should need a colon after

χάριτος

mvp-comment-707-1 τὰ μὲν … τὰ δὲ ⁸¹

mvp-comment-708-1 ὁδὸν … φανῆναι ⁸²

mvp-comment-709-1 τί μὴ ποήσω ⁸³

mvp-comment-710-1 μή μ’ ἀποστερήσῃς … ἁδονὰν ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-710-2 μεθέσθαι ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-711-1 ξυναινεῖς ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-711-2 τί μὴν οὔ ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-712-1 ὦ φίλαι ⁸⁸ ὦ φίλ’, ὅτ’ ⁸⁹ φίλαι ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-712-2 αὐδάν ⁹¹ οὐδ’ ἂν ἤλπις’ ⁹²

mvp-comment-712-3 1283 f. There can be no doubt that something has been lost before ἔσχον ⁹³ οὐδ’ ἂν ⁹⁴ ὁρμὰν ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-712-4

ὀργή

in Sophocles means either (1) ‘anger,’ or (2) ‘disposition’: Ant. 875

αὐτόγνωτος..ὀργά

: ib. 355

ἀστυνομους ὀργάς

: Ai. 639

συντρόφοις ὀργαῖς

. Neither sense can be fitted into any probable interpretation. Some have supposed the meaning to be that Electra ‘restrained her anger in silence,’ when Clyt. was exulting in the death of Orestes; but, in fact, her anger found a voice (see 792). Others understand that she ‘restrained her emotion’ (of grief), on hearing the sad news; but she did not do so (see 823—870): nor could

ὀργὰν

mean ‘emotion’ in that sense.

mvp-comment-712-5 On the other hand

ὀργή

and

ὁρμή

were easily confused in MSS. Thus in Tr. 720 , where

ὁρμῇ

is right,

has been written over

in L, and

ὀργῇ

is actually the reading of A, and of the Aldine. Cp. also O. T. 337.

mvp-comment-712-6 The context is the best guide to the sense which should be restored. Through out these lyrics, Orestes has been endeavouring to repress Electra's cries, lest she should be overheard (1236, 1238, 1251 f., 1257, 1259, 1271 f.). The corrupt words probably referred to this. ὁρμὰν ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-712-7 οὐδ’ ἂν ἔσχον ⁹⁷ ἄναυδον ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-712-8 Other interpretations and conjectures will be found in the Appendix.

mvp-comment-713-1 τάλαινα ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-714-1 The first part of the third

ἐπεισόδιον

began, at 1098, with the entrance of Orestes. Now, after the

μέλος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

(1232—1287), comes the second part, going down to the point at which the avengers pass into the house, followed by Electra.

mvp-comment-714-2 τὰ … περισς. τῶν λόγων ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-715-1 καὶ μήτε μήτηρ ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-715-2 Conington ( Journ. of Philology, I. p. 156) supposes an allusion to Eur. El. 300—338 , where Electra, speaking to the disguised Orestes, mentions her own sufferings, her mother's splendours, and the insolence of Aegisthus. But such an allusion seems improbable: that speech is not long; it comes in with dramatic fitness; nor does it refer to the wasteful profusion of Aegisthus, which is the main point here. A later speech of Electra's in the same play ( Eur. El. 907—951 ) would in some respects suit the words here better; but that is spoken over the corpse of Aegisthus, and could scarcely be regarded as delaying the action.

mvp-comment-715-3 Another theory, that Sophocles alludes to the earlier part of the Choephori, is certainly mistaken. Possibly he had no particular work in view, but was merely glancing at a tendency which he had noticed in contemporary drama.

mvp-comment-716-1 πατρῴαν ¹⁰² δόμων ¹⁰³ ἀντλεῖ, τὰ δ’ ἐκχεῖ ¹⁰⁴

mvp-comment-716-2 ἐκχεῖ ¹⁰⁵ διασπείρει μάτην ¹⁰⁶ ἀντλεῖ ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-717-1 χρόνου … καιρὸν ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-717-2 ἐξείργοι ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-717-3 Hermann took

χρόνου καιρὸν

as=

τὸ καίριον τοῦ χρόνου

, ‘the opportune moment of time.’ The meaning would then be that the

λόγος

might hinder them from seizing that moment. But the phrase is a strange one, scarcely to be justified by Sertor. 16, where

χρόνος

is virtually personified,—

εὐμενὴς ὢν σύμμαχος τοῖς δεχομένοις λογισμῷ τὸν καιρὸν αὐτοῦ

mvp-comment-717-4 The schol. has:

ἀφαιρεῖται γάρ, φησι, τὴν εὐκαιρίαν τῶν πραχθέντων τῶν λόγων ἡ ἀδολεσχία

. This only shows that he took

καιρὸν

as ‘opportunity,’ not as ‘due limit.’ It does not warrant the view that, instead of

χρόνου

, he read

ἔργου

πόνου

mvp-comment-718-1 φανέντες ¹¹⁰ κεκρυμμένοι ¹¹¹ γελῶντας ¹¹²

mvp-comment-719-1 οὕτω δὲ ¹¹³ ὅπως ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-719-2 )πιγνώσεται ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-719-3 νῷν ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-719-4 ἐπελθόντοιν δόμους ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-720-1 μάτην ¹¹⁸ μὴ ¹¹⁹ τῇ ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-720-2 εὐτυχησωμεν ¹²¹

mvp-comment-721-1 καὶ σοὶ ¹²²

mvp-comment-721-2 ὧδ’ … τῇδε ¹²³

mvp-comment-721-3 τοὐμὸν ¹²⁴ φίλον ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-722-1 κοὐκ ἐμὰς ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-723-1 κοὐδ’ ¹²⁷ βραχὺ ¹²⁸ καὶ ¹²⁹ λυπήσασα ¹³⁰ δεξαίμην ¹³¹

mvp-comment-724-1 ὑπηρετοίην ¹³² ὑπηρετοίμην ¹³³ δαίμονι ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-725-1 τἀνθένδε ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-726-1 στέγας ¹³⁶ οἴκοις ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-726-2 δείσῃς … ὡς … ὄψεται ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-727-1 ἐντέτηκε ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-728-1 χαρᾷ ¹⁴⁰ χαρᾶς ¹⁴¹ δακρυρροοῦσα ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-729-1 ἥτις ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-729-2 ἐσεῖδον ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-729-3 ᾶσκοπα ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-730-1 ὅτε ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-730-2 τοιαύτην ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-730-3 ὥς σοι ¹⁴⁸ ὡς σοὶ ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-731-1 οὐκ ἂν δυοῖν ἥμαρτον ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-732-1 σιγᾶν … χωροῦντος ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-732-2 ἐπῄνες’ ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-732-3 ἐπ’ ἐξόδῳ ¹⁵³

mvp-comment-732-4 τῶν ἔνδοθεν ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-733-1 ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-733-2 οἷ’ ἂν … ἀπώσαιτ’ ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-734-1 τητώμενοι ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-734-2 παρ’ οὐδὲν ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-735-1 οὐ παρ’ αὐτοῖς ¹⁵⁹ αὐτοῖς ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-736-1 σταθμοῖσι ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-737-1 ὑμὶν … ὑμῶν ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-737-2 τὰ δρώμεν’ ¹⁶³ τὰ σώματα ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-738-1 νῦν δ’ … καὶ νῦν ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-739-1 σὺν χαρᾷ βοῆς ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-740-1 ἀπηλλάχθαι ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-741-1 It has been held that these verses, or at least 1340—1344, are spurious (cr. n.). Certainly Orestes has already heard from Electra that Clytaemnestra exults in the news of his death (1153—1156). Still, it is natural that he should make some reference (as he does in 1341) to his emissary's performance of the task. Not less natural is the question in 1343, since the old man, who entered the house at v. 803, is the only person who can tell whether the feeling described by Electra still exists.

mvp-comment-741-2 τἀντεῦθεν ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-742-1 ὑπάρχει ¹⁶⁹ σε … τινά ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-743-1 ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθν ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-744-1 εἷς τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου … ἀνήρ ¹⁷² ἐνθάδε ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-745-1 χαίρουσιν οὖν τούτοισιν ¹⁷⁴ ἐν ¹⁷⁵ οὖν ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-746-1 τελουμένων ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-746-2 ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει ¹⁷⁸ τὰ κείνων πάντα καλῶς ¹⁷⁹ καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-747-1 οὐχὶ ξυνίης ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-747-2 οὐδέ γ’ εἰς θυμὸν φέρω ¹⁸² οὐδέ ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-748-1 ποίῳ ¹⁸⁴ ὅτῳ ¹⁸⁵ οἶσθα ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-748-2 οὗ … χεροῖν ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-748-3 πέδον ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-748-4 ὑπεξεπέμφθην ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-748-5 σῇ προμηθίᾳ ¹⁹⁰

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

1201. mvp-comment-575-1 (1) 'I am the only one who brings with him a feeling of the same misfortunes.' τοῖς ἴσοις, like τῶν ἴσων, supr. 1168, implies rather 'identity' than 'equality.' Orestes does not mean that his personal sufferings have been like Electra's, but first that in the essential point, viz. that their father has been murdered and is unavenged, they share equally in the same sorrow, and also that her sorrows are felt by him as his own. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 222, 3, ΗΛ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς γελᾶν θέλεις. ΟΡ. κἀν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἄρ᾽, εἴπερ ἔν γε τοῖσι σοῖς ( ubi τοῖς ἴσοις M. pr.). This parallel favours the other reading here, (2) τοῖσι σοῖς, which, as Prof. Paley argues, gives a simpler meaning, and may also be thought more pathetic. But it is less in keeping with the subtle gradations of this recognition-scene.

1206. mvp-comment-576-1 μὴ.. τοῦτό μ' ἐργάσῃ] Orestes has reached forth his hand to take the urn from her.

1209. mvp-comment-577-1 Orestes again offers to take away the urn.

1210. mvp-comment-578-1 ὦ.. σέθεν] Cp. especially Trach. 972, ὤμοι ἐγὼ σοῦ μέλεος.

1211. mvp-comment-579-1 εὔφημα φώνει] 'Speak no such ill-omened words,'—as to mention a tomb in connection with the living: infr. 1219.

1213-1214. mvp-comment-580-1 The language by which Orestes tries to undeceive his sister is so worded as to seem cruel to her, as if she were unworthy to hold her brother's urn.

1215. mvp-comment-581-1 οὐδενός] The pronoun (masc.) has a strong pathetic emphasis. 'Dishonoured in no way!' See Essay on L. § 22. p. 36 fin.

1218. mvp-comment-582-1 At this point Electra is more than ever forlorn. But at the word ζῶντος in 1219 a ray of hope strikes her in spite of herself.

1220. mvp-comment-583-1 ὦ παῖ;] Electra's bewilderment, and the contrast of appearance and fact, are equally marked by her thus artlessly addressing the Stranger as if he were her younger brother. Cp. O. T. 1030; Aj. 339, and notes.

1223-1224. mvp-comment-584-1 There is a pause here, during which Electra examines the seal.

1225. mvp-comment-585-1 ὦ φθέγμ᾽] Essay on L. § 50. p. 94.

1226. mvp-comment-586-1 ὡς . . ἔχοις] ‘As I would that you may have me evermore.’

1231. mvp-comment-587-1 γεγηθὸς .. δάκρυον] Essay on L. § 42. p. 8ο γ.

1232. mvp-comment-588-1 In the following passage Electra in her ecstasy utters lyric (chiefly dochmiac) strains, to which Orestes, who is trying to calm her, replies in senarii. The lyric metres may be arranged (though, as the text stands, not perfectly) in a scheme of strophe, antistrophe, and epode, as follows:—
στρ. (ll. 1232-1252).
- u - - - | - u - -
- u u - u - | - u - -
u - u - u - -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
- u - u - | - u - -
u - u - | u - -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
- u - u - | - u u | - u u | u - -
- u - - | u - - -
u - u - u - | u - u -
- u - -
2 Senarii.

ἀντ. (ll. 1253-1263).
- u - | u - -
u u - u - | u u - u - -
u - - u u -
1 Senarius.
1 Senarius.
u u - u - u u -
u - u - | u - u - u - -
2 Senarii.

ἐπ. (ll. 1273-1287).
u u - u - u - -
- - - u -
u u - | u u - | u u - | u u -
- u - | - u -
1 Senarius.
2 - - u u - -
2 Senarii.
¹²

1232. mvp-comment-588-2 1 The correspondence of στρ. and ἀντ. here is doubtful.

1232. mvp-comment-588-3 2 In the Epode Orestes also for a moment becomes lyrical.

1232-1233. mvp-comment-589-1 γοναὶ .. φιλτάτων] 'Offspring of one most dear to me;' i.e. of Agamemnon. Poetical plural. E. on L. § 20. p. 30.

1234-1235. mvp-comment-590-1 For the aorists, see Essay on L. § 32. p. 55 , and for the feeling in οὓς ἐχρήζετε, cp. O. T. 1274, οὓς δ᾽ ἔχρῃζεν οὐ γνωσοίατο.

1236. mvp-comment-591-1 'We are here. Only abide the event in silence.' In πάρεσμεν Orestes probably includes Pylades, but not necessarily. Cp. the doubt in Trach. 390.

1239. mvp-comment-592-1 This line as in L, which is followed in the text, has an iambic rhythm which in so far corresponds to 1260. In a passage of so much wildness there may have been a special motive for using long syllables in the strophe where in the antistrophe the iambics are 'pure.' Wecklein reads in στρ., μὰ τὰν ᾿Αρτεμιν | τὰν ἀδμῆτ᾽ ἀεί, and in ἀντ., τίς οὖν ἀξίαν | σοῦ γε πεφηνότος?

1240-1242. mvp-comment-593-1 τόδε.. ἀεί] 'Never will I account as worthy of my fear this unprofitable burden of womankind that never stirs abroad.' Electra does not remember that she is a woman. She is one with Orestes, who is come to vindicate the man. She might say with Athena in the Eumenides 738, κάρτα δ᾽ εἰμὶ τοῦ πατρός. Orestes reminds her that Clytemnestra is not an enemy to be despised.

1246-1247. mvp-comment-594-1 Thou hast brought to my remembrance the undisguised horror of our situation, not to be forgotten or undone.' For ἐπέβαλες, cp. Thuc. 8. 108, καὶ ἀλλὰ ἐπιβάλλοντος αὐτοῦ ἁ φέρειν οὐκ ἠδύναντο. The figure seems to be that of laying on (or adding to) a burden. Cp. O. C. 1730, τί τόδ᾽ ἐπέπληξας; λησόμενον is literally, 'That will not forget.' See Essay on L. § 30. p. 51 a.

1251. mvp-comment-595-1 ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ’] ‘Even so, I know it.' For καί, which has been rejected, see Essay on L. § 25. p. 42. παῖ, which has been substituted for it, is inappropriate, as addressed by a younger person to an elder. ὅταν παρουσία | φράζῃ] i.e. 'Not now, but when their presence brings to mind their guilt.' Orestes is striving to recall Electra from feeling to action. For the personification of the abstract word, cp. supr. 39, ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ.

1253-1254. mvp-comment-596-1 ὁ πᾶς.. χρόνος] ‘All time alike, all time will justly suit to tell of that, as if it were present now.' Electra goes off upon the word παρουσία. Orestes had urged her to wait until the presence of Clytemnestra made it fitting to remember what she had done. Electra answers in effect, 'She and her deeds are ever present with me.' But in the refining manner of Sophocles this is otherwise expressed:—'All time alike for that purpose is present time to me.'

1255. mvp-comment-597-1 'Hardly have I now obtained a moment's freedom of speech.' This confirms what has been said, that the pressure of persecution is constant,—and also pleads a reason for continuing to speak. 'Having this rare liberty, I ought to use it.'

1260-1261. mvp-comment-598-1 Schol. τίς ἂν σοῦ φανέντος δικαίως ἕλοιτο ἀντὶ λόγων σιωπήν; i.e. ἀξίαν is predicative, and has the force of an adverb. Essay on L. § 23. p. 38, 1.

1262. mvp-comment-599-1 ὧδε] ‘As thou biddest me do.' So Paley. Wecklein renders, 'In such circumstances.'

1265. mvp-comment-600-1 Electra has not yet heard of the oracle. She has nursed her one idea in solitude. And now she has not only her brother at her side, but learns that he is sent by a god. This re-

1265. mvp-comment-600-2 doubles her joy, which is not the less striking for being simply expressed,— δαιμόνιον αὐτὸ τίθημ᾽ ἐγώ.

1266. mvp-comment-601-1 *ἐπόρισεν] Paley quotes O. C. 1458, πῶς ἂν .. δεῦρο Θησέα πόροι? The MS. reading ἐπῶρσεν is possible.

1276-1277. mvp-comment-602-1 In speaking 1271, 2, Orestes has turned aside, as if debating with himself how to calm Electra. At this her over-wrought affection takes alarm, lest for a moment she should lose the brightness of his countenance. μεθέσθαι ( sc. τὸ ἐμὲ μ.) is epexegetic infinitive.

1278. mvp-comment-603-1 κἂν ἄλλοισι] ‘Even as the act of another,'— i.e. how much less am I likely myself to do it? καί points the à fortiori argument.

1280. mvp-comment-604-1 τί *μὴν οὔ] The correction is supported by Eur. Rhes. 706.

1281. mvp-comment-605-1 Reassured as to the main point, Electra turns to her companions, and relieves her overcharged feelings by speaking to them of the contrast between the present and the immediate past, when she had heard the false tidings of her brother's death. The rhythm of these lines is somewhat broken. But it is not necessary with some editors to suppose that words have been lost. 'O friends, I heard a sound which I could never have thought to hear. I restrained my emotion at hearing it, in speechless silence.' αὐδάν is rightly explained by the Scholiast of the tidings of Orestes' death. Perhaps οὐδάμ' should be read for οὐδ᾽ ἄν, - 'Which I had never thought to hear.' (Wecklein reads, ὦ φίλ᾽, ἁνίκ᾽ ἔκλυον ἂν | ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾽ αὐδάν, | ἔσχον ὀργὰν ἄναυδον | οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ, τάλαινα, - 'Dear one, when first I heard the news I could not have hoped to hear'—that thou wast alive—'I had a voiceless emotion with no outcry.')

1287. mvp-comment-606-1 As in O. C. 1702, 3 (where see note), the time of misery is continued in memory.

1288. mvp-comment-607-1 This line has been supposed to contain a criticism of the Choephori, where so much time is spent in the preliminaries of the assassination. But this is surely unnecessary, and without parallel in Sophocles, whose practice in this and other respects is not to be inferred from that of Euripides (Phoen. 751, 2, alib.).

1291. mvp-comment-608-1 See Essay on L. § 21. p. 32, 1.

1292. mvp-comment-609-1 'For such recital might prevent you from seizing the opportune moment.'

1295. mvp-comment-610-1 'We shall by our present enterprize frustrate our enemies in their exultation.' γελώντας is to be resumed as a supplementary predicate. For παύσομεν without an expressed participle, cp. supr. 796, οὐχ ὅπως σε παύσομεν.

1296. mvp-comment-611-1 οὕτω δέ] Sc. πρᾶσσε, understood from the general drift of the preceding words.

1296-1297. mvp-comment-612-1 ὅπως .. δόμους] ‘May not detect you by your glad countenance when we (Or. and Pyl.) have come into the house;' i.e. may not find out your secret and perceive the fact. νῷν is gen. absol.

1298. mvp-comment-613-1 μάτην] 'Falsely.' Cp. supr. 1217, πλὴν λόγῳ γ' ἠσκημένον : 63, λόγῳ μάτην θνήσκοντας : Phil. 345.

1304. mvp-comment-614-1 δεξαίμην, although not strongly supported by MS. authority, is a better reading than βουλοίμην.

1306. mvp-comment-615-1 The MS. reading, ὑπηρετοίμην, is upheld by Neue and defended by Mr. Paley as possibly right. The middle voice might be explained as equivalent to the active voice with an ethical dative, such as σοι in supr. 1292. But for a similar corruption, cp. O. T. 840, ἐκπεφευγοίην (ἐκπεφευγοίμην Ε).

1307. mvp-comment-616-1 τἀνθένδε] 'Things here,'- more lit. 'The news from hence.' Not 'What is to be done next?' (Paley.)

1311. mvp-comment-617-1 ἐντέτηκε] Hesych. ἐντέτηκεν· ἐγκεκόλληται.

1312. mvp-comment-618-1 χαρᾷ] The MS. reading χαρᾶς is not impossible, but is extremely improbable, because of the awkward ambiguity between ἐκλήξω χαρᾶς and δακρυρροοῦσα (ὑπὸ) χαρᾶς.

1320. mvp-comment-619-1 δυοῖν] i. e. δυοῖν θατέρου. Cp. Thuc. 1. 33, μηδὲ δυοῖν φθάσαι ἁμάρτωσιν, ἢ .. ἢ ... Andoc. p. 4. 11.

1322-1323. mvp-comment-620-1 σιγᾶν.. χωροῦντος] The Scholiast says, τινὲς τὸν Χορὸν φασὶ λέγειν ταῦτα. And this opinion is adopted by Mr. Paley. The point is doubtful, but there is no reason why Orestes, who is naturally on his guard, should not be the first to perceive an approaching footstep. And the broken line, 1323, as Schndw. observes, is in favour of the MS. reading. ὡς here is 'since,'-not as in Trach. Eur. Ion 515, 6.

1323. mvp-comment-621-1 Electra, supposing one of the household to be approaching, begins to speak in the ambiguous, ironical vein which she continues when Aegisthus comes, infr. 1448-57. It has the effect of relieving her feelings while concealing her thought. She intends to be understood, 'You bear the ashes of Orestes, which will be well received here, although not with joy.' But in her own mind she means, The vengeance which Orestes brings shall not be repulsed from hence, nor will it give joy to those within.'

1325. mvp-comment-622-1 δόμων is ablative genitive with ἀπώσαιτ', but may also be joined with τις as partitive genitive.

1326ff. mvp-comment-623-1 The action, which has been suspended by the emotion of Electra, must now be precipitated. Yet her recognition of the Paedagogus (infr. 1354-63) breaks the suddenness of the transition.

1331. mvp-comment-624-1 σταθμοῖσι τοῖσδε] Either (1), 'At the door-post here,' or (2) figuratively, 'Here by the homestead '-as a watch-dog. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 896, λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν ἄνδρα τόνδε τῶν σταθμῶν κύνα.

1334. mvp-comment-625-1 εὐλάβειαν προὐθέμην] Ι made a point of attending to that.' Cp. Hdt. 6. 21, πένθος μέγα προεθήκαντο : Plat. Phaedr. 259 E.

1338. mvp-comment-626-1 ἀπηλλάχθαι δ᾽ ἀκμή] 'And it is high time to have done.'

1339. mvp-comment-627-1 τἀντεῦθεν] Matters here.' Cp. supr. 1307, τἀνθένδε,

1342. mvp-comment-628-1 'I would have you know that you are the only dead man who is in the light of day.'

1343. mvp-comment-629-1 τίνες λόγοι] Sc. εἰσί.

1344. mvp-comment-630-1 τελουμένων] Sc. τῶν πραγμάτων. Cp. ἐπ' ἐξειργασμένοις. The present has a quasi-perfect sense, 'When these things have their completion.' Cp. Hdt. 1. 206, οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰδείης εἴ τοι ἐς καιρὸν ἔσται ταῦτα τελεύμενα.

1345. mvp-comment-631-1 ὡς.. ἔχει] Supply ἐρῶ τάδε. 'All is well in that quarter, even what is not well,'-viz. Clytemnestra's unnatural joy.

1347. mvp-comment-632-1 οὐδέ γ' ἐς θυμὸν φέρω] (I do not perceive:) no, nor can I bring to mind.' θυμός, as in θυμῷ βάλλειν (Aesch. Prom. 706), is used after the Epic manner, so as to include the understanding. See Essay on L. § 49. P. 92, 1.

1349-1350. mvp-comment-633-1 Join οὗ χεροῖν.

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1201–1350

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ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. γοναὶ add σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων, ἐμόλετ᾿ ἀρτίως, ἐφεύρετ᾽, ἤλθετ᾽, εἴδεθ᾽ οὓς ἐχρήζετε. 1235

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγ᾽ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. τί δ᾽ ἔστιν ἔστι ἔστιν ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὰν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰ τὰν οὓ τἂν Ἄρτεμιν τὰν αἰὲν ἀδμήταν τόδε μὲν οὐ ποτ᾿ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι 1240 περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον γυναικῶν ὂν ἀεί.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης ἔνεστιν· εὖ δ᾽ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. *ὀτοτοτοῖ ὀττοτοῖ , 1245 ἀνέφελον ἐπέβαλες 2nd ε from ι ὑπέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον, ἁμέτερον οἷον ἔφυ κακόν.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ᾽· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν παρουσία φράζῃ, τότ᾽ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών. 1250

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. ξύμφημι κἀγώ, τοιγαροῦν σώζου τόδε. 1255

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. τί δρῶσα;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. οὗ μή ᾿στι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. τίς οὖν ἂν add ἂν οὖν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος μεταβάλοιτ᾽ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων; ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως ἀέλπτως τ᾽ ἐσεῖδον. 1260

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. τότ᾽ εἶδες, ὅτε θεοί μ' *ἐπώτρυναν ώτρυναν μολεῖν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. τὰ μέν σ᾽ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργάθειν, τὰ δὲ δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην. 1270

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. τί μὴ ποιήσω;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. μή μ᾿ ἀποστερήσῃς 1275 τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν ἡδονὰν ἡδονὴν μεθέσθαι.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. ἢ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. ξυναινεῖς ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ. τί *μὴν μὴ οὔ;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. ὦ φίλαι, ἔκλυον ἂν ἂν av ἄν ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾿ αὐδάν. ἔσχον ὀργὰν 1280 ἄναυδον οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ κλύουσα,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. τάλαινα. νῦν δ᾽ ἔχω σε· προὐφάνης δὲ φιλτάταν ἔχων πρόσοψιν, ἃς ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐν κακοῖς λαθοίμαν. 1285

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ. ἀλλ᾽, ὦ κασίγνηθ᾽, ὧδ᾽ ὅπως καὶ σοὶ φίλον καὶ τοὐμὸν ἔσται τῇδ᾽· ἐπεὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς 1300 πρὸς σοῦ λαβοῦσα κοὐκ ἐμὰς ἐκτησάμην.

ΟΡ.

σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσ᾽· ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ κλύω

τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος.

ΗΛ. εἴσιτ᾽, ὦ ξένοι, ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἱ᾽ ἂν οὔτε τις δόμων ἀπώσαιτ᾽ ἀπώσετ' ἀπώσαιτ᾿ οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἡσθείη ἠισθείη λαβών. 1325

ΟΡ.

πῶς οὖν ἔχει τἀντεῦθεν εἰσιόντι μοι;

ΠΑ. καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα. 1340

ΟΡ. ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

ΠΑ. εἷς τῶν ἐν "Αιδου μάνθαν ἐνθάδ᾽ ἂν ἀνήρ.

ΟΡ. χαίρουσιν οὖν ἐν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

ΠΑ. τελουμένων εἴποιμ᾽ ἄν· ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει, καλῶς τὰ κείνων τἀκείνων πάντα, καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς. 1345

ΗΛ. τίς οὗτός ἐστ᾽, ἀδελφέ; πρὸς θεῶν φράσον.

ΟΡ. οὐχὶ ξυνίης;

ΗΛ. οὐδέ γ' εἰς θυμὸν φέρω.

ΟΡ. οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτῳ μ᾽ ἔδωκας ἐς χέρας ποτέ;

ΗΛ. ποίῳ; τί φωνεῖς;

OP. οὗ τὸ Φωκέων πέδον ὑπεξεπέμφθην σῇ προμηθίᾳ προμηθίαι προμηθείαι προμηθία προθυμίᾳ χεροῖν. 1350

ΗΛ. ἢ ἡ κεῖνος οὗτος ὅν ποτ᾽ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐγὼ μόνον προσεῦρον πιστὸν ἐν πατρὸς φόνῳ;

ΟΡ. ὅδ᾽ ἐστί, μή μ' ἔλεγχε πλείοσιν λόγοις.

ΗΛ.

Ἠλέκτρα ἰὼ γοναί, γοναὶ σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων, ἐμόλετʼ ἀρτίως, ἐφηύρετʼ, ἤλθετʼ, εἴδεθʼ οὓς ἐχρῄζετε. 1235

Ὀρέστης πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγʼ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

Ἠλέκτρα τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Ὀρέστης σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

Ἠλέκτρα ἀλλʼ οὐ μὰ τὴν ἄδμητον αἰὲν Ἄρτεμιν, τόδε μὲν οὔ ποτʼ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι, 1240 περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον γυναικῶν ὂν αἰεί.

Ὀρέστης ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης ἔνεστιν· εὖ δʼ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

Ἠλέκτρα ὀτοτοτοτοῖ τοτοῖ, 1245 ἀνέφελον ἐνέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον, οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον ἁμέτερον οἷον ἔφυ κακόν. 1250

Ὀρέστης ἔξοιδα, παῖ, ταῦτʼ· ἀλλʼ ὅταν παρουσία φράζῃ, τότʼ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών.

Ἠλέκτρα ὁ πᾶς ἐμοί, ὁ πᾶς ἂν πρέποι παρὼν ἐννέπειν τάδε δίκᾳ χρόνος· 1255 μόλις γὰρ ἔσχον νῦν ἐλεύθερον στόμα.

Ὀρέστης ξύμφημι κἀγώ· τοιγαροῦν σῴζου τόδε.

Ἠλέκτρα τί δρῶσα;

Ὀρέστης οὗ μή ʼστι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

Ἠλέκτρα τίς οὖν ἂν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος 1260 μεταβάλοιτʼ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων; ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως ἀέλπτως τʼ ἐσεῖδον.

Ὀρέστης τότʼ εἶδες, εὖτε θεοί μʼ ἐπώτρυναν μολεῖν 1265

Ἠλέκτρα ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν τᾶς πάρος ἔτι χάριτος, εἴ σε θεὸς ἐπόρισεν ἁμέτερα πρὸς μέλαθρα· δαιμόνιον αὐτὸ τίθημʼ ἐγώ. 1270

Ὀρέστης τὰ μέν σʼ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργαθεῖν, τὰ δὲ δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην.

Ἠλέκτρα ἰὼ χρόνῳ μακρῷ φιλτάταν ὁδὸν ἐπαξιώσας ὧδέ μοι φανῆναι, μή τί με, πολύπονον ὧδʼ ἰδὼν 1275

Ὀρέστης τί μὴ ποήσω;

Ἠλέκτρα μή μʼ ἀποστερήσῃς τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν μεθέσθαι.

Ὀρέστης ἦ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

Ἠλέκτρα ξυναινεῖς; 1280

Ὀρέστης τί μὴν οὔ;

Ὀρέστης σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσʼ ὡς ἐπʼ ἐξόδῳ κλύω τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος.

Ἠλέκτρα εἴσιτʼ, ὦ ξένοι, ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἷʼ ἂν οὔτε τις δόμων ἀπώσαιτʼ οὔτʼ ἂν ἡσθείη λαβών. 1325

Ὀρέστης πῶς οὖν ἔχει τἀντεῦθεν εἰσιόντι μοι;

Παιδαγωγός καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα. 1340

Ὀρέστης ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

Παιδαγωγός εἷς τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μάνθανʼ ἐνθάδʼ ὢν ἀνήρ.

Ὀρέστης χαίρουσιν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

γοναὶ add σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων,

ἐμόλετ᾿ ἀρτίως,

ἐφεύρετ᾽, ἤλθετ᾽, εἴδεθ᾽ οὓς ἐχρήζετε.
1235

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγ᾽ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν ἔστι ἔστιν ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὰν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰ τὰν οὓ τἂν Ἄρτεμιν τὰν αἰὲν ἀδμήταν

τόδε μὲν οὐ ποτ᾿ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι
1240

περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον

γυναικῶν ὂν ἀεί.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης

ἔνεστιν· εὖ δ᾽ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

*ὀτοτοτοῖ ὀττοτοῖ ,
1245

ἀνέφελον ἐπέβαλες 2nd ε from ι ὑπέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον, ἁμέτερον

οἷον ἔφυ κακόν.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ἔξοιδα καὶ ταῦτ᾽· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν παρουσία

φράζῃ, τότ᾽ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών.
1250

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ξύμφημι κἀγώ, τοιγαροῦν σώζου τόδε.
1255

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τί δρῶσα;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

οὗ μή ᾿στι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τίς οὖν ἂν add ἂν οὖν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος

μεταβάλοιτ᾽ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων;

ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως

ἀέλπτως τ᾽ ἐσεῖδον.
1260

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τότ᾽ εἶδες, ὅτε θεοί μ' *ἐπώτρυναν ώτρυναν μολεῖν.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τὰ μέν σ᾽ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργάθειν, τὰ δὲ

δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην.
1270

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τί μὴ ποιήσω;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

μή μ᾿ ἀποστερήσῃς
1275

τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν ἡδονὰν ἡδονὴν μεθέσθαι.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ἢ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ξυναινεῖς ;

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

τί *μὴν μὴ οὔ;

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ὦ φίλαι, ἔκλυον ἂν ἂν av ἄν ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἤλπισ᾿ αὐδάν.

ἔσχον ὀργὰν
1280

ἄναυδον οὐδὲ σὺν βοᾷ κλύουσα,

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

τάλαινα.

νῦν δ᾽ ἔχω σε· προὐφάνης δὲ

φιλτάταν ἔχων πρόσοψιν,

ἃς ἐγὼ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐν κακοῖς λαθοίμαν.
1285

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ κασίγνηθ᾽, ὧδ᾽ ὅπως καὶ σοὶ φίλον

καὶ τοὐμὸν ἔσται τῇδ᾽· ἐπεὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς
1300

πρὸς σοῦ λαβοῦσα κοὐκ ἐμὰς ἐκτησάμην.

ΗΛ.

εἴσιτ᾽, ὦ ξένοι,

ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἱ᾽ ἂν οὔτε τις

δόμων ἀπώσαιτ᾽ ἀπώσετ' ἀπώσαιτ᾿ οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἡσθείη ἠισθείη λαβών.
1325

ΠΑ.

καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα.
1340

ΟΡ.

ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

ΠΑ.

εἷς τῶν ἐν "Αιδου μάνθαν ἐνθάδ᾽ ἂν ἀνήρ.

ΟΡ.

χαίρουσιν οὖν ἐν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

ΠΑ.

τελουμένων εἴποιμ᾽ ἄν· ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει,

καλῶς τὰ κείνων τἀκείνων πάντα, καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς.
1345

ΗΛ.

τίς οὗτός ἐστ᾽, ἀδελφέ; πρὸς θεῶν φράσον.

ΟΡ.

οὐχὶ ξυνίης;

ΗΛ.

οὐδέ γ' εἰς θυμὸν φέρω.

ΟΡ.

οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτῳ μ᾽ ἔδωκας ἐς χέρας ποτέ;

ΗΛ.

ποίῳ; τί φωνεῖς;

OP.

οὗ τὸ Φωκέων πέδον

ὑπεξεπέμφθην σῇ προμηθίᾳ προμηθίαι προμηθείαι προμηθία προθυμίᾳ χεροῖν.
1350

ΗΛ.

ἢ ἡ κεῖνος οὗτος ὅν ποτ᾽ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐγὼ

μόνον προσεῦρον πιστὸν ἐν πατρὸς φόνῳ;

ΟΡ.

ὅδ᾽ ἐστί, μή μ' ἔλεγχε πλείοσιν λόγοις.

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰὼ γοναί,

γοναὶ σωμάτων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτων,

ἐμόλετʼ ἀρτίως,

ἐφηύρετʼ, ἤλθετʼ, εἴδεθʼ οὓς ἐχρῄζετε.
1235

Ὀρέστης

πάρεσμεν· ἀλλὰ σῖγʼ ἔχουσα πρόσμενε.

Ἠλέκτρα

τί δʼ ἔστιν;

Ὀρέστης

σιγᾶν ἄμεινον, μή τις ἔνδοθεν κλύῃ.

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀλλʼ οὐ μὰ τὴν ἄδμητον αἰὲν Ἄρτεμιν,

τόδε μὲν οὔ ποτʼ ἀξιώσω τρέσαι,
1240

περισσὸν ἄχθος ἔνδον

γυναικῶν ὂν αἰεί.

Ὀρέστης

ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κἀν γυναιξὶν ὡς Ἄρης

ἔνεστιν· εὖ δʼ ἔξοισθα πειραθεῖσά που.

Ἠλέκτρα

ὀτοτοτοτοῖ τοτοῖ,
1245

ἀνέφελον ἐνέβαλες οὔ ποτε καταλύσιμον,

οὐδέ ποτε λησόμενον ἁμέτερον

οἷον ἔφυ κακόν.
1250

Ὀρέστης

ἔξοιδα, παῖ, ταῦτʼ· ἀλλʼ ὅταν παρουσία

φράζῃ, τότʼ ἔργων τῶνδε μεμνῆσθαι χρεών.

Ἠλέκτρα

ὁ πᾶς ἐμοί,

ὁ πᾶς ἂν πρέποι παρὼν ἐννέπειν

τάδε δίκᾳ χρόνος·
1255

μόλις γὰρ ἔσχον νῦν ἐλεύθερον στόμα.

Ὀρέστης

ξύμφημι κἀγώ· τοιγαροῦν σῴζου τόδε.

Ἠλέκτρα

τί δρῶσα;

Ὀρέστης

οὗ μή ʼστι καιρὸς μὴ μακρὰν βούλου λέγειν.

Ἠλέκτρα

τίς οὖν ἂν ἀξίαν γε σοῦ πεφηνότος
1260

μεταβάλοιτʼ ἂν ὧδε σιγὰν λόγων;

ἐπεί σε νῦν ἀφράστως

ἀέλπτως τʼ ἐσεῖδον.

Ὀρέστης

τότʼ εἶδες, εὖτε θεοί μʼ ἐπώτρυναν μολεῖν

1265

Ἠλέκτρα

ἔφρασας ὑπερτέραν

τᾶς πάρος ἔτι χάριτος, εἴ σε θεὸς ἐπόρισεν

ἁμέτερα πρὸς μέλαθρα· δαιμόνιον

αὐτὸ τίθημʼ ἐγώ.
1270

Ὀρέστης

τὰ μέν σʼ ὀκνῶ χαίρουσαν εἰργαθεῖν, τὰ δὲ

δέδοικα λίαν ἡδονῇ νικωμένην.

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰὼ χρόνῳ μακρῷ φιλτάταν ὁδὸν

ἐπαξιώσας ὧδέ μοι φανῆναι,

μή τί με, πολύπονον ὧδʼ ἰδὼν
1275

Ὀρέστης

τί μὴ ποήσω;

Ἠλέκτρα

μή μʼ ἀποστερήσῃς

τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονὰν μεθέσθαι.

Ὀρέστης

ἦ κάρτα κἂν ἄλλοισι θυμοίμην ἰδών.

Ἠλέκτρα

ξυναινεῖς;
1280

Ὀρέστης

τί μὴν οὔ;

Ὀρέστης

σιγᾶν ἐπῄνεσʼ ὡς ἐπʼ ἐξόδῳ κλύω τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος.

Ἠλέκτρα

εἴσιτʼ, ὦ ξένοι,

ἄλλως τε καὶ φέροντες οἷʼ ἂν οὔτε τις

δόμων ἀπώσαιτʼ οὔτʼ ἂν ἡσθείη λαβών.
1325

Ὀρέστης

πῶς οὖν ἔχει τἀντεῦθεν εἰσιόντι μοι;

Παιδαγωγός

καλῶς· ὑπάρχει γάρ σε μὴ γνῶναί τινα.
1340

Ὀρέστης

ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα.

Παιδαγωγός

εἷς τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μάνθανʼ ἐνθάδʼ ὢν ἀνήρ.

Ὀρέστης

χαίρουσιν οὖν τούτοισιν; ἢ τίνες λόγοι;

Παιδαγωγός

τελουμένων εἴποιμʼ ἄν· ὡς δὲ νῦν ἔχει,

καλῶς τὰ κείνων πάντα, καὶ τὰ μὴ καλῶς.
1345

Ἠλέκτρα

τίς οὗτός ἐστʼ, ἀδελφέ; πρὸς θεῶν φράσον.

Ὀρέστης

οὐχὶ ξυνίης;

Ἠλέκτρα

οὐδέ γʼ ἐς θυμὸν φέρω.

Ὀρέστης

οὐκ οἶσθʼ ὅτῳ μʼ ἔδωκας εἰς χέρας ποτέ;

Ἠλέκτρα

ποίῳ; τί φωνεῖς;

Ὀρέστης

οὗ τὸ Φωκέων πέδον

ὑπεξεπέμφθην σῇ προμηθίᾳ χεροῖν.
1350

Ἠλέκτρα

ἦ κεῖνος οὗτος, ὅν ποτʼ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐγὼ

μόνον προσηῦρον πιστὸν ἐν πατρὸς φόνῳ;

Ὀρέστης

ὅδʼ ἐστί· μή μʼ ἔλεγχε πλείοσιν λόγοις.

O dearest women, Argives of my home!

Ye see Orestes, dead in craft, but now

By that same craft delivered and preserved.

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!

Ah! thou art come,—hast found me, eye to eye

Behold’st the face thou didst desire to see.
1235

OR

True, I am here; but bide in silence still.