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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,
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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
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there will be opportunity to rejoice and exult in freedom.
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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,
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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
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there will be opportunity to rejoice and exult in freedom.
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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
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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,
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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,
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I would not have failed in one of two things: a noble salvation, or a noble destruction.
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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
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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
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,
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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,
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I would not have failed in one of two things: a noble salvation, or a noble destruction.
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Orestes
Silence! I hear someone walking inside as if to come out.
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.
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Enter the Paedagogus.
Go in, strangers, especially since you bring a thing which no one
could either turn away from these doors, or rejoice at receiving.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Orestes
Then how will things inside stand when I enter?
Then how will things inside stand when I enter?
Paedagogus
All is well. The fact is that no one will know you.
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All is well. The fact is that no one will know you.
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Orestes
You have reported me as dead, I presume?
You have reported me as dead, I presume?
Paedagogus
Know that here you are a man numbered with the shades.
Know that here you are a man numbered with the shades.
Orestes
Do they rejoice, then, at the news? Or what do they say?
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.
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I will tell when all is completed. Meanwhile,
all is favorable for us on their part, even that which is not favorable.
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Electra
Who is this, brother? By the gods, tell me.
Who is this, brother? By the gods, tell me.
Orestes
Do you not know who he is?
Do you not know who he is?
Electra
No, nor can I imagine.
No, nor can I imagine.
Orestes
Do you not know the man to whose hands you gave me once?
Do you not know the man to whose hands you gave me once?
Electra
What man? What do you mean?
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.
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I mean him, by whose hands and through your forethought
I was secretly conveyed away to Phocian soil.
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Electra
Is this he in whom alone out of many I once found a true ally at the time of our father’s murder?
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.
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This is he; question me no further.
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,
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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!
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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,
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Electra. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1894.
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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.