Sophocles, Electra, ed. Francis Storr, 1-120

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Παιδαγωγός

ὦ τοῦ στρατηγήσαντος ἐν Τροίᾳ ποτὲ
1

Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, νῦν ἐκεῖνʼ ἔξεστί σοι

παρόντι λεύσσειν, ὧν πρόθυμος ἦσθʼ ἀεί.

τὸ γὰρ παλαιὸν Ἄργος οὑπόθεις τόδε,

τῆς οἰστροπλῆγος ἄλσος Ἰνάχου κόρης·
5

αὕτη δʼ, Ὀρέστα, τοῦ λυκοκτόνου θεοῦ

ἀγορὰ Λύκειος· οὑξ ἀριστερᾶς δʼ ὅδε

Ἥρας ὁ κλεινὸς ναός· οἷ δʼ ἱκάνομεν,

φάσκειν Μυκήνας τὰς πολυχρύσους ὁρᾶν

πολύφθορόν τε δῶμα Πελοπιδῶν τόδε,
10

ὅθεν σε πατρὸς ἐκ φονῶν ἐγώ ποτε

πρὸς σῆς ὁμαίμου καὶ κασιγνήτης λαβὼν

ἤνεγκα κἀξέσωσα κἀξεθρεψάμην

τοσόνδʼ ἐς ἥβης, πατρὶ τιμωρὸν φόνου.

νῦν οὖν, Ὀρέστα καὶ σὺ φίλτατε ξένων
15

Πυλάδη, τί χρὴ δρᾶν ἐν τάχει βουλευτέον·

ὡς ἡμὶν ἤδη λαμπρὸν ἡλίου σέλας

ἑῷα κινεῖ φθέγματʼ ὀρνίθων σαφῆ

μέλαινά τʼ ἄστρων ἐκλέλοιπεν εὐφρόνη.

πρὶν οὖν τινʼ ἀνδρῶν ἐξοδοιπορεῖν στέγης,
20

ξυνάπτετον λόγοισιν· ὡς ἐνταῦθʼ ἐμέν,

ἵνʼ οὐκέτʼ ὀκνεῖν καιρός, ἀλλʼ ἔργων ἀκμή.

Ὀρέστης

ὦ φίλτατʼ ἀνδρῶν προσπόλων, ὥς μοι σαφῆ

σημεῖα φαίνεις ἐσθλὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς γεγώς.

ὥσπερ γὰρ ἵππος εὐγενής, κἂν ᾖ γέρων,
25

ἐν τοῖσι δεινοῖς θυμὸν οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν,

ἀλλʼ ὀρθὸν οὖς ἵστησιν, ὡσαύτως δὲ σὺ

ἡμᾶς τʼ ὀτρύνεις καὐτὸς ἐν πρώτοις ἕπει.

τοιγὰρ τὰ μὲν δόξαντα δηλώσω, σὺ δὲ

ὀξεῖαν ἀκοὴν τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις διδούς,
30

εἰ μή τι καιροῦ τυγχάνω, μεθάρμοσον.

ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡνίχʼ ἱκόμην τὸ Πυθικὸν

μαντεῖον, ὡς μάθοιμʼ ὅτῳ τρόπῳ πατρὶ

δίκας ἀροίμην τῶν φονευσάντων πάρα,

χρῇ μοι τοιαῦθʼ ὁ Φοῖβος ὧν πεύσει τάχα·
35

ἄσκευον αὐτὸν ἀσπίδων τε καὶ στρατοῦ

δόλοισι κλέψαι χειρὸς ἐνδίκους σφαγάς.

ὅτʼ οὖν τοιόνδε χρησμὸν εἰσηκούσαμεν,

σὺ μὲν μολών, ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ,

δόμων ἔσω τῶνδʼ, ἴσθι πᾶν τὸ δρώμενον,
40

ὅπως ἂν εἰδὼς ἡμὶν ἀγγείλῃς σαφῆ.

οὐ γάρ σε μὴ γήρᾳ τε καὶ χρόνῳ μακρῷ

γνῶσʼ, οὐδʼ ὑποπτεύσουσιν ὧδʼ ἠνθισμένον.

λόγῳ δὲ χρῶ τοιῷδʼ, ὅτι ξένος μὲν εἶ

Φωκέως παρʼ ἀνδρὸς Φανοτέως ἥκων· ὃ γὰρ
45

μέγιστος αὐτοῖς τυγχάνει δορυξένων.

ἄγγελλε δʼ ὅρκον προστιθεὶς ὁθούνεκα

τέθνηκʼ Ὀρέστης ἐξ ἀναγκαίας τύχης,

ἄθλοισι Πυθικοῖσιν ἐκ τροχηλάτων

δίφρων κυλισθείς· ὧδʼ ὁ μῦθος ἑστάτω.
50

Ὀρέστης

ἡμεῖς δὲ πατρὸς τύμβον, ὡς ἐφίετο,

λοιβαῖσι πρῶτον καὶ καρατόμοις χλιδαῖς

στέψαντες εἶτʼ ἄψορρον ἥξομεν πάλιν,

τύπωμα χαλκόπλευρον ἠρμένοι χεροῖν,

ὃ καὶ σὺ θάμνοις οἶσθά που κεκρυμμένον,
55

ὅπως λόγῳ κλέπτοντες ἡδεῖαν φάτιν

φέρωμεν αὐτοῖς, τοὐμὸν ὡς ἔρρει δέμας

φλογιστὸν ἤδη καὶ κατηνθρακωμένον.

τί γάρ με λυπεῖ τοῦθʼ, ὅταν λόγῳ θανὼν

ἔργοισι σωθῶ κἀξενέγκωμαι κλέος;
60

δοκῶ μέν, οὐδὲν ῥῆμα σὺν κέρδει κακόν.

ἤδη γὰρ εἶδον πολλάκις καὶ τοὺς σοφοὺς

λόγῳ μάτην θνῄσκοντας· εἶθʼ, ὅταν δόμους

ἔλθωσιν αὖθις, ἐκτετίμηνται πλέον·

ὡς κἄμʼ ἐπαυχῶ τῆσδε τῆς φήμης ἄπο
65

δεδορκότʼ ἐχθροῖς ἄστρον ὣς λάμψειν ἔτι.

ἀλλʼ, ὦ πατρῴα γῆ θεοί τʼ ἐγχώριοι,

δέξασθέ μʼ εὐτυχοῦντα ταῖσδε ταῖς ὁδοῖς,

σύ τʼ, ὦ πατρῷον δῶμα· σοῦ γὰρ ἔρχομαι

δίκῃ καθαρτὴς πρὸς θεῶν ὡρμημένος·
70

καὶ μή μʼ ἄτιμον τῆσδʼ ἀποστείλητε γῆς,

ἀλλʼ ἀρχέπλουτον καὶ καταστάτην δόμων.

εἴρηκα μέν νυν ταῦτα· σοὶ δʼ ἤδη, γέρον,

τὸ σὸν μελέσθω βάντι φρουρῆσαι χρέος.

νὼ δʼ ἔξιμεν· καιρὸς γάρ, ὅσπερ ἀνδράσιν
75

μέγιστος ἔργου παντός ἐστʼ ἐπιστάτης.

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰώ μοί μοι δύστηνος.

Παιδαγωγός

καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς

ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον.

Ὀρέστης

ἆρʼ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ἠλέκτρα· θέλεις
80

μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀπακούσωμεν γόων;

Παιδαγωγός

ἥκιστα· μηδὲν πρόσθεν ἢ τὰ Λοξίου

πειρώμεθʼ ἔρδειν κἀπὸ τῶνδʼ ἀρχηγετεῖν,

πατρὸς χέοντες λουτρά· ταῦτα γὰρ φέρει

νίκην τʼ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν καὶ κράτος τῶν δρωμένων.
85

Ἠλέκτρα

ὦ φάος ἁγνὸν

καὶ γῆς ἰσόμοιρʼ ἀήρ, ὥς μοι

πολλὰς μὲν θρήνων ᾠδάς,

πολλὰς δʼ ἀντήρεις ᾔσθου

στέρνων πληγὰς αἱμασσομένων,
90

ὁπόταν δνοφερὰ νὺξ ὑπολειφθῇ·

τὰ δὲ παννυχίδων ἤδη στυγεραὶ

ξυνίσασʼ εὐναὶ μογερῶν οἴκων,

ὅσα τὸν δύστηνον ἐμὸν θρηνῶ

πατέρʼ, ὃν κατὰ μὲν βάρβαρον αἶαν
95

φοίνιος Ἄρης οὐκ ἐξένισεν,

μήτηρ δʼ ἡμὴ χὠ κοινολεχὴς

Αἴγισθος ὅπως δρῦν ὑλοτόμοι

σχίζουσι κάρα φονίῳ πελέκει,

κοὐδεὶς τούτων οἶκτος ἀπʼ ἄλλης
100

ἢ ʼμοῦ φέρεται, σοῦ, πάτερ, οὕτως

αἰκῶς οἰκτρῶς τε θανόντος.

103

Ἠλέκτρα

ἀλλʼ οὐ μὲν δὴ

λήξω θρήνων στυγερῶν τε γόων,

ἔστʼ ἂν παμφεγγεῖς ἄστρων
105

ῥιπάς, λεύσσω δὲ τόδʼ ἦμαρ,

μὴ οὐ τεκνολέτειρʼ ὥς τις ἀηδὼν

ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ τῶνδε πατρῴων

πρὸ θυρῶν ἠχὼ πᾶσι προφωνεῖν.

ὦ δῶμʼ Ἀΐδου καὶ Περσεφόνης,
110

ὦ χθόνιʼ Ἑρμῆ καὶ πότνιʼ Ἀρὰ

σεμναί τε θεῶν παῖδες Ἐρινύες,

αἳ τοὺς ἀδίκως θνῄσκοντας ὁρᾶθʼ,

αἳ τοὺς εὐνὰς ὑποκλεπτομένους,

ἔλθετʼ, ἀρήξατε, τίσασθε πατρὸς
115

φόνον ἡμετέρου,

καί μοι τὸν ἐμὸν πέμψατʼ ἀδελφόν·

μούνη γὰρ ἄγειν οὐκέτι σωκῶ

λύπης ἀντίρροπον ἄχθος.
120

Electra. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Ἠλέκτρα (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 2. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1913.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1 focus

Ὦ τοῦ στρατηγήσαντος γρ. τυραννήσαντος ἐν Τροίᾳ ποτὲ
1

Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, νῦν ἐκεῖν ἔξεστί σοι

παρόντι λεύσσειν λεύσειν λεύσσειν, ὧν πρόθυμος ἦσθ᾽ ἀεί

τὸ γὰρ παλαιὸν Ἄργος οὑπόθεις οὗ retouched L. οὗ ἐπόθεις A. τόδε,

τῆς οἰστροπλῆγος ἄλσος Ινάχου κόρης·
5

αὕτη δ᾽, Ὀρέστα, τοῦ λυκοκτόνου θεοῦ

ἀγορὰ Λύκειος· οὐξ δύξ ἀριστερᾶς δ᾽ ὅδε

Ἥρας ὁ κλεινὸς ναός· οἱ δ᾽ ἱκάνομεν,

φάσκειν Μυκήνας τὰς πολυχρύσους ὁρᾶν δραιν L pr. ὁρᾶν A. ὁρᾶν Vat. ac.

πολύφθορόν τε δῶμα Πελοπιδῶν πελοπιδᾶν, ῶν L. τόδε,
10

ὅθεν σε πατρὸς ἐκ φόνων ἐγώ ποτε

πρὸς σῆς ὁμαίμου καὶ κασιγνήτης λαβὼν

ἤνεγκα κἀξέσωσα κἀξεθρεψάμην

τοσόνδ᾽ ἐς ἥβης, πατρὶ τιμωρὸν φόνου τιμωρῶν φθόνου L. corr. p.m. or C³..

νῦν οὖν, Ὀρέστα καὶ σὺ φίλτατε ξένων
15

Πυλάδη πυλάδη(σ) L., τί χρὴ δρᾶν δρᾶν A. ἐν τάχει βουλευτέον·

ὡς ἡμὶν ἤδη λαμπρὸν ἡλίου σέλας

ἑῷα κινεῖ φθέγματ᾽ ὀρνίθων σαφῆ,

μέλαινά τ᾿ ἄστρων ἐκλέλοιπεν εὐφρόνη.

πρὶν οὖν τιν ἀνδρῶν ἐξοδοιπορεῖν στέγης,
20

ξυνάπτετον λόγοισιν· ὡς ἐνταῦθ᾽ *ἴμεν ἐμὲν ἐσμὲν ἴ· μὲν? Μ. Dawes corr.,

ἵν οὐκέτ᾽ ὀκνεῖν καιρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἔργων ἀκμή.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ὦ φίλτατ᾿ ἀνδρῶν προσπόλων, ὥς μοι σαφῆ

σημεῖα φαίνεις ἐσθλὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς γεγώς.

ὥσπερ γὰρ ἵππος εὐγενής, κἂν ᾖ γέρων,
25

ἐν τοῖσι δεινοῖς θυμὸν οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν,

ἀλλ᾽ ὀρθὸν οὖς ἵστησιν, ὡσαύτως ὡσταύτως L. ὡσαύτως C6. δὲ σὺ

ἡμᾶς τ᾽ τ' from y? L. δ΄ Γ. ὀτρύνεις καὐτὸς ἐν πρώτοις ἕπει.

τοιγὰρ τὰ μὲν δόξαντα δηλώσω, σὺ δὲ

ὀξεῖαν ἀκοὴν τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις διδούς,

εἰ μή τι καιροῦ τυγχάνω, μεθάρμοσον.

ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡνίχ᾽ ἱκόμην τὸ Πυθικὸν

μαντεῖον, ὡς μάθοιμ' ὅτῳ τρόπῳ πατρὶ πατρὸς

δίκας ἀροίμην τῶν φονευσάντων πάρα,
35

Χρῇ μοι τοιαῦθ᾽ ὁ Φοῖβος, ὧν πεύσει τάχα·

ἄσκευον αὐτὸν ἀσπίδων τε καὶ στρατοῦ

δόλοισι κλέψαι χειρὸς ἐνδίκους σφαγάς.

ὅτ᾽ οὖν τοιόνδε χρησμὸν εἰσηκούσαμεν,

σὺ μὲν μολών, ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ,
40

δόμων ἔσω τῶνδ᾽, ἴσθι πᾶν τὸ δρώμενον,

ὅπως ἂν εἰδὼς ἡμὶν ἀγγείλῃς σαφῆ.

οὐ γάρ σε μὴ γήρᾳ τε καὶ χρόνῳ μακρῷ

γνῶσ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ὑποπτεύσουσιν ὧδ᾽ ἠνθισμένον.

λόγῳ δὲ χρῶ τοιῷδ᾽ τοιῷδε, ὅτι ξένος μὲν εἶ
45

Φωκεύς, παρ' ἀνδρὸς Φανοτέως ἥκων· ὁ γὰρ

μέγιστος αὐτοῖς τυγχάνει δορυξένων.

ἄγγελλε δ᾽ ὅρκῳ προστιθείς, ὁθούνεκα

τέθνηκ᾽ Ὀρέστης ἐξ ἀναγκαίας τύχης,

ἄθλοισι Πυθικοῖσιν ἐκ τροχηλάτων
50

δίφρων κυλισθείς· ὧδ᾽ ὁ μῦθος ἑστάτω.

ἡμεῖς δὲ πατρὸς πρὸς τύμβον, ὡς ἐφίετο,

λοιβαῖσι λοιβαῖσ τε AΓ. λοιβαῖσι C. πρῶτον καὶ καρατόμοις χλιδαῖς

στέψαντες, εἶτ᾿ ἄψορρον ἥξομεν πάλιν,

τύπωμα χαλκόπλευρον ᾐρμένοι χεροῖν,
55

ὃ καὶ σὺ θάμνοις οἶσθά μοι που ποῦ κεκρυμμένον,

ὅπως λόγῳ κλέπτοντες ἡδεῖαν φάτιν

φέρωμεν φέροιμεν φέρωμεν αὐτοῖς, τοὐμὸν ὡς ἔρρει δέμας

φλογιστὸν ἤδη καὶ κατηνθρακωμένον.

τί γάρ με λυπεῖ τοῦθ᾽, ὅταν λόγῳ θανὼν
60

ἔργοισι σωθῶ κἀξενέγκωμαι κλέος;

δοκῶ μέν, οὐδὲν ὡσ οὐδὲν L. μὲ οὐδὲν A. ῥῆμα σὺν κέρδει συγκέρδει κακόν.

ἤδη γὰρ εἶδον πολλάκις καὶ τοὺς σοφοὺς

λόγῳ μάτην θνήσκοντας· εἶθ᾽, ὅταν δόμους

ἔλθωσιν αὖθις, ἐκτετίμηνται πλέον·
65

ὡς κἄμ᾽ ἐπαυχῶ τῆσδε τῆς φήμης ἄπο ο from ει L.

δεδορκότ᾽ ἐχθροῖς ἄστρον ὣς λάμψειν ἔτι.

ἀλλ᾽, ὦ πατρώα γῆ θεοί τ᾽ ἐγχώριοι,

δέξασθέ μ᾿ εὐτυχοῦντα ταῖσδε ταῖς ὁδοῖς,

σύ τ᾽, ὦ πατρῷον δῶμα· σοῦ γὰρ ἔρχομαι
70

δίκῃ καθαρτὴς πρὸς θεῶν ὡρμημένος·

καὶ μή μ᾽ ἄτιμον τῆσδ᾽ ἀποστείλητε γῆς,

ἀλλ᾽ ἀρχέπλουτον καὶ καταστάτην δόμων.

εἴρηκα μέν νυν μὲν νῦν L. μὲν (νῦν om.) ΑΓ. ταῦτα· σοὶ δ᾽ ἤδη, γέρον,

τὸ σὸν μελέσθω βάντι φρουρῆσαι χρέος.
75

νὰ δ᾽ ἔξιμεν· καιρὸς γάρ, ὅσπερ ἀνδράσιν ἀνδράσι LA. ἀνδράσιν Γ.

μέγιστος ἔργου παντός ἐστ᾽ ἐπιστάτης.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἰώ μοί μοι ἰώ μοί μοί L. ἰώ μοι μοί Α. δύστηνος.

ΠΑ.

καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς

ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον.
80

ΟΡ.

ἆρ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ηλέκτρα ἠλέκτρα(σ) LL2.; θέλεις

μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀνακούσωμεν γόων ;

ΠΑ.

ἥκιστα, μηδὲν πρόσθεν ἢ τὰ Λοξίου

πειρώμεθ᾽ ἔρδειν κἀπὸ τῶνδ᾽ ἀρχηγετεῖν η from a L.,

πατρὸς χέοντες πατρὸ σχέσοντεσ L. λουτρά· ταῦτα γὰρ φέρει
85

νίκην τ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν καὶ κράτος τῶν δρωμένων.

ΗΛ.

ὦ φάος φάος L. ἁγνὸν

καὶ γῆς *ἰσόμοιρ᾽ ἰσόμοιρος MSS. Porson corr. ἀήρ, ὥς μοι

πολλὰς μὲν θρήνων ᾠδάς,

πολλὰς δ᾽ ἀντήρεις ᾔσθου
90

στέρνων πλαγὰς αἱμασσομένων,

ὁπόταν δνοφερὰ νὺξ ὑπολειφθῇ·

τὰ δὲ παννυχίδων ἤδη στυγεραὶ

ξυνίσασ᾽ εὐναὶ μογερῶν οἴκων οἰκιῶν LFL2V. οἴκων CoA Vat. ac.,

ὅσα τὸν δύστηνον ἐμὸν θρηνῶ
95

πατέρ', ὃν κατὰ μὲν βάρβαρον αἷαν αἴαν E. αίαν C².

φοίνιος Ἄρης οὐκ ἐξένισεν ἐξείνισεν Cο. ἐξείνισε Α. ἐξένισε Γ Pal. ἐξένισεν l2.,

μήτηρ δ᾽ ἡμὴ χώ κοινολεχὴς

Αίγισθος, ὅπως δρῦν ὑλοτόμοι ὑλοτόμου L. ὑλοτόμοι C.,

σχίζουσι κάρα φονίῳ πελέκει πέκει L pr. πελέκει C.·
100

κοὐδεὶς τούτων οἶκτος ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης

ἢ ἐμοῦ φέρεται, σοῦ, πάτερ, οὕτως

αἰκῶς ἀδίκως MSS. Brunck corr. οἰκτρῶς τε θανόντος.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὲν δὴ

λήξω θρήνων στυγερῶν τε γόων,
105

ἔστ᾽ ἂν παμφεγγεῖς λεύσσω παμφεγγεῖς MSS. (παμφαεῖς Pal.) Herm. corr. ἄστρων

ῥιπάς, λεύσσω λεύκω A. λεύσω Γ Pal. δὲ τόδ᾽ ἦμαρ,

μὴ οὐ τεκνολέτειρ᾽ ὥς τις ἀηδὼν

ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ κωκυτῶν L. κωκυτῷ C7. τῶνδε πατρώων

πρὸ προ L. θυρῶν ἠχὼ πᾶσι προφωνεῖν.
110

ὦ δῶμ᾽ Ἀΐδου ἄιδου L. καὶ Περσεφόνης ο C.,

ὦ χθόνι᾿ ῾Ἑρμῆ καὶ πότνι᾿ Ἀρά γρ. ποτνία ἀρά C2.,

σεμναί τε θεῶν παῖδες Ερινύες,

αὶ τοὺς ἀδίκως θνήσκοντας ὁρᾶθ᾽ ὁρᾶτε,

*αἳ Porson corr. τοὺς εὐνὰς ὑποκλεπτομένους,
115

ἔλθετ᾽, ἀρήξατε,

τίσασθε πατρὸς φόνον ἡμετέρου,

καί μοι τὸν ἐμὸν πέμψατ᾿ ἀδελφόν.

μούνη γὰρ ἄγειν οὐκ ἔτι σωκῶ

λύπης ἀντίρροπον ἄχθος.
120

ΧΟΡΟΣ.
στρ. α΄.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1 focus

Son of the king who led the Achaean host
1

Erewhile beleaguering Troy, ’tis thine to day
1

To see around thee what through many a year
1

Thy forward spirit hath sighed for. Argolis
1

Lies here before us, hallowed as the scene

Of Io’s wildering pain: yonder, the mart

Named from the wolf slaying God, and there, to our left,

Hera’s famed temple. For we reach the bourn

Of far renowned Mycenae, rich in gold

And Pelops’ fatal roofs before us rise,

Haunted with many horrors, whence my hand,

Thy murdered sire then lying in his gore,

Received thee from thy sister, and removed

Where I have kept thee safe and nourished thee

To this bright manhood thou dost bear, to be
5

The avenger of thy father’s bloody death.
5

Wherefore, Orestes, and thou, Pylades,
5

Dearest of friends, though from a foreign soil,
5

Prepare your enterprise with speed. Dark night

Is vanished with her stars, and day’s bright orb

Hath waked the birds of morn into full song.

Now, then, ere foot of man go forth, ye two

Knit counsels. ’Tis no time for shy delay:

The very moment for your act is come.

OR

Kind faithful friend, how well thou mak’st appear

Thy constancy in service to our house!

As some good steed, aged, but nobly bred,

Slacks not his spirit in the day of war,

But points his ears to the fray, even so dost thou

Press on and urge thy master in the van.

Hear, then, our purpose, and if aught thy mind,

Keenly attent, discerns of weak or crude

In this I now set forth, admonish me.

I, when I visited the Pythian shrine
25

Oracular, that I might learn whereby
25

To punish home the murderers of my sire,
25

Had word from Phoebus which you straight shall hear:
25

‘No shielded host, but thine own craft, O King!

The righteous death-blow to thine arm shall bring.’

Then, since the will of Heaven is so revealed,

Go thou within, when Opportunity

Shall marshal thee the way, and gathering all

Their business, bring us certain cognizance.

Age and long absence are a safe disguise;

They never will suspect thee who thou art.

And let thy tale be that another land,

Phocis, hath sent thee forth, and Phanoteus,

Than whom they have no mightier help in war.

Then, prefaced with an oath, declare thy news,

Orestes’ death by dire mischance, down-rolled

From wheel-borne chariot in the Pythian course.

So let the fable be devised; while we,

As Phoebus ordered, with luxuriant locks

Shorn from our brows, and fair libations, crown

My father’s sepulchre, and thence return

Bearing aloft the shapely vase of bronze

That’s hidden hard by in brushwood, as thou knowest,

And bring them welcome tidings, that my form

Is fallen ere now to ashes in the fire.

How should this pain me, in pretence being dead,

Really to save myself and win renown?

No saying bodes men ill, that brings them gain.

Oft have I known the wise, dying in word,

Return with glorious salutation home.

So lightened by this rumour shall mine eye

Blaze yet like bale-star on mine enemies.

O native earth! and Gods that hold the land,

Accept me here, and prosper this my way!

Thou, too, paternal hearth! To thee I come,

Justly to cleanse thee by behest from heaven.

Send me not bootless, Gods, but let me found

A wealthy line of fair posterity!
35

I have spoken. To thy charge! and with good heed
35

Perform it. We go forth. The Occasion calls,
35

Great taskmaster of enterprise to men.
35

ELECTRA

(). Woe for my hapless lot!

OLD M

Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came

A moaning cry, as of some maid within.
80

OR

Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay,

And list again the lamentable sound?

OLD M

Not so. Before all else begin the attempt

To execute Apollo’s sovereign will,

Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes
85

Victory ours, and our success assured.

EL
Enter ELECTRA . MONODY .

O purest light!

And air by earth alone

Measured and limitable, how oft have ye

Heard many a piercing moan,

Many a blow full on my bleeding breast,

When gloomy night

Hath slackened pace and yielded to the day!

And through the hours of rest,

Ah! well ’tis known

To my sad pillow in yon house of woe,

What vigil of scant joyance keeping,

Whiles all within are sleeping,

For my dear father without stint I groan,

Whom not in bloody fray

The War-god in the stranger-land

Received with hospitable hand,

But she that is my mother, and her groom,

As woodmen fell the oak,

Cleft through the skull with murdering stroke.

And o’er this gloom

No ray of pity, save from only me,

Goes forth on thee,
85

My father, who didst die
85

A cruel death of piteous agony.
85

But ne’er will I
85

Cease from my crying and sad mourning lay,
85

While I behold the sky,
85

Glancing with myriad fires, or this fair day.
85

But, like some brood-bereavèd nightingale,
85

With far-heard wail,
85

Here at my father’s door my voice shall sound.
85

O home beneath the ground!
85

Hades unseen, and dread Persephonè,

And darkling Hermes, and the Curse revered,

And ye, Erinyës, of mortals feared,

Daughters of Heaven, that ever see

Who die unjustly, who are wronged i’ the bed

Of those they wed,

Avenge our father’s murder on his foe!

Aid us, and send my brother to my side;

Alone I cannot longer bide

The oppressive strain of strength-o’ermastering woe.

CHORUS
CHORUS (entering).

O sad Electra, child Of a lost mother, why still flow

Unceasingly with lamentation wild

For him who through her treachery beguiled,

Inveigled by a wife’s deceit,

Fallen at the foul adulterer’s feet,
85

Most impiously was quelled long years ago?
85

Perish the cause! if I may lawfully pray so.

EL

O daughters of a noble line,

Ye come to soothe me from my troublous woe.

I see, I know:

Your love is not unrecognized of mine.

But yet I will not seem as I forgot,

Or cease to mourn my hapless father’s lot.
85

Oh, of all love
85

That ever may you move,
85

This only boon I crave—

Leave me to rave!

CH

Lament, nor praying breath

Will raise thy sire, our honoured chief,

From that dim multitudinous gulf of death.

Beyond the mark, due grief that measureth,

Still pining with excess of pain
85

Thou urgest lamentation vain,
85

That from thy woes can bring thee no relief.

Why hast thou set thy heart on unavailing grief?

EL

Senseless were he who lost from thought

A noble father, lamentably slain!

I love thy strain,

Bewildered mourner, bird divinely taught,

For ‘Itys,’ ‘Itys,’ ever heard to pine.

O Niobè, I hold thee all divine,
85

Of sorrows queen,
85

Who with all tearful mien
85

Insepulchred in stone

Aye makest moan.

CH

Not unto thee alone hath sorrow come,

Daughter, that thou shouldst carry grief so far

Beyond those dwellers in the palace-home

Who of thy kindred are

And own one source with thee.

What life hath she,

Chrysothemis, and Iphianassa bright,

And he whose light
85

Is hidden afar from taste of horrid doom,
85

Youthful Orestes, who shall come
85

To fair Mycenae’s glorious town,
85

Welcomed as worthy of his sire’s renown,

Sped by great Zeus with kindly thought,

And to this land with happiest omen brought?

EL

Awaiting him I endlessly endure;

Unwed and childless still I go,

With tears in constant flow,

Girt round with misery that finds no cure.

But he forgets his wrong and all my teaching.
90

What message have I sent beseeching,
90

But baffled flies back idly home?

Ever he longs, he saith, but, longing, will not come.

CH

Take heart, dear child! still mighty in the sky

Is Zeus who ruleth all things and surveys.

Commit to him thy grief that surgeth high,

And walk in safer ways,

Let not hate vex thee sore,

Nor yet ignore

The cause of hate and sorrow in thy breast.

Time bringeth rest:
90

All is made easy through his power divine.
90

The heir of Agamemnon’s line
90

Who dwells by Crisa’s pastoral strand

Shall yet return unto his native land;

And he shall yet regard his own

Who reigns beneath upon his Stygian throne.

EL

Meanwhile my life falls from me in despair

Years pass and patience nought avails:

My heart within me fails:

Orphaned I pine without protecting care;

And like a sojourner all unregarded
90

At slave-like labour unrewarded
90

I toil within my father’s hall

Thus meanly attired, and starved, a table-serving thrall.

CH

Sad was thy greeting when he reached the strand,

Piteous thy crying where thy father lay

On that fell day

When the bronze edge with dire effect was driven.

By craft ’twas planned,
90

By frenzied lust the blow was given:
90

Mother and father of a monstrous birth,

Whether a God there wrought or mortal of the Earth.

EL

O day beyond all days that yet have rolled

Most hateful in thy course of light!

O horror of that night!

O hideous feast, abhorr’d, not to be told!

How could I bear it, when my father’s eye

Saw death advancing from the ruthless pair,

Conjoint in cruel villany,
90

By whom my life was plunged in black despair?
90

Oh, to the workers of such deeds as these

May great Olympus’ Lord

Return of evil still afford,

Nor let them wear the gloss of sovran ease!

CH

Take thought to keep thy crying within bound.

Doth not thy sense enlighten thee to see

How recklessly

Even now thou winnest undeservèd woe?

Still art thou found
90

To make thy misery overflow
90

Through self-bred gloomy strife. But not for long

Shall one alone prevail who strives against the strong.

EL

’Twas dire oppression taught me my complaint

I know my rage a quenchless fire:

But nought, however dire,

Shall visit this my frenzy with restraint,

Or check my lamentation while I live.

Dear friends, kind women of true Argive breed,

Say, who can timely counsel give
90

Or word of comfort suited to my need?
90

Beyond all cure shall this my cause be known.

No counsels more! Ah leave,

Vain comforters, and let me grieve

With ceaseless pain, unmeasured in my moan.

CH

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1 focus

O Sohn des Feldherrn, der in Troas einst gebot,¹
1

Des Agamemnon, endlich ist es dir vergönnt,

Zu schaun mit Augen, was zu schaun dich stets verlangt.

Dein graues Argos, deiner Sehnsucht Land, ist hier,²

Der wuthgeschlagnen Inachid' uralter Hain;
5

Das dort, Orestes, ist der Markt des Lykiers,

Des wolferlegenden Gottes, und zur Liuken hier

Der Hera stolzer Tempel: wo wir hingelangt,

Schaust du Mykenä's Veste, reich an goldnem Schaz,

Und hier der Pelopsenkel unheilschwangres Haus,
10

Wo nach des Vaters grausem Tod ich ehedem

Von deiner Schwester dich empfing und weiter trug

Und rettet' und zu solcher Jugendblüte dich

Aufzog, dereinst zu rächen deines Vaters Mord.

Nun denn, Orestes, und o du, mein Pylades,
15

Der Freunde liebster, was zu thun, berathet schnell:

Denn schon erweckt der Sonne strahlenvoller Glanz

Der Vögel Morgenstimmen uns zu hellem Schall;

Die schwarze Nacht der Sterne schwand in's Dunkel hin.

Drum eh' ein Mann aus dieses Hauses Pforte tritt,
20

Beredet euch zusammen; denn wir stehen da,

Wo's nimmer gilt zu säumen, wo's der That bedarf.

Orestes.

bester Diener, liebster Mann, wie legst du mir

Der Treue Zeichen gegen uns so deutlich dar!

Denn wie das Noß aus edler Art, obschon betagt,
25

In keiner Schreckniß und Gefahr den Muth verliert,

Nein, stolz das Ohr aufrichtet: also du, der uns

Zum Kampfe treibt und selbst der Ersten Einer folgt.

Drum will ich offenbaren, was ich ausgedacht;

Doch du vergönne meinem Wort ein scharfes Ohr,
30

Und traf ich nicht das Rechte, gib mir andern Rath.

Nachdem ich angekommen war bei'm pythischen

Orakel, dort zu fragen, wie des Vaters Tod

Ich rächen mög' an jenen, die ihn mordeten,

Gebot mir Phöbos also, wie du gleich vernimmst:
35

Den Streich gerechter Rache mit geheimer List

Allein zu führen, nicht bewehrt mit Schild und Heer.

Nun, da mir solcher Gottesspruch verkündet ward,

Tritt du, sobald die Stunde dich gelegen führt,

Zu diesem Haus ein, auszuspäh'n, was hier geschieht,
40

Auf daß du klar uns meldest, was du wohl erforscht.

Unkenntlich schuf dich Alter und die lange Zeit,

Und vor Verdacht bewahrt dich dieser Blumenschmuck.³

Doch also sprich zu jenen, daß ein Fremdling du,

Ein Phoker seiest, abgesandt von Phanoteus;⁴
45

Denn dieser Mann ist ihres Hauses bester Freund.

Mit Eid betheuernd, melde dann, Orestes sei

Dahingeschieden durch ein unerbittlich Loos,

Bei Kämpfen Pytho's aus dem raschhinrollenden⁵

Rennwagen stürzend. Also sei der Rede Sinn.
50

Wir aber kränzen, wie der Gott befahl, zuerst

Mit Spenden und des Hauptes abgeschnitt'ner Zier⁶

Des Vaters Hügel, kehren dann hieher zurück,

Den erzgeformten Aschenkrug in meinem Arm,

Den ich im Busch verborgen, wie dir wohlbekannt,
55

Auf daß, in Worten täuschend, wir den Argen hier

Die frohe Botschaft bringen, wie mein Körper schon

Verbrannt zur Asche, schon in Staub zerfallen sei.

Was kann mich's härmen, wenn ich, todt dem Worte nach,⁷

In Thaten lebe, strahlend in des Ruhmes Glanz?
60

Kein Wort ja dünkt mir übel, wenn es Nuzen bringt.

Auch weise Männer hört' ich durch ein falsch Gerücht

Schon oft als todt verkünden; wenn sie dann zurück

Nach Hause kehrten, waren sie noch mehr geehrt.

So hoff' ich auch nach dieser Botschaft lebend noch
65

Gleich einem Stern zu leuchten vor den Feinden dort.

Vatererd' und meiner Heimat Götter ihr,

Empfanget segenbringet mich auf diesem Pfad,

Und meiner Ahnen Schwelle du: dich komm' ich ja

Zu rächen, dich zu sühnen, durch den Gott erweckt:
70

Stoßt nicht, bedeckt mit Schande, mich aus diesem Land,

Nein, laßt des Vaters Macht und Haus mich neu erbau'n!

Nun sagt' ich Alles; du bereite dich sofort

Zu geh'n und deines Amtes treu zu wahren, Greis.

(zu Pylades)

Wir zieh'n hinaus; die mächtige Stunde fordert uns,
75

Die ordnend über jede That der Menschen wacht.

weh, weh mir!

(im Hause)

Der Pfleger.

Horch! Innerhalb des Hauses wähnt' ich jammernde

Wehklagen einer Dienerin zu hören, Kind.

Orestes.

War's nicht Elektra? Meinst du nicht, wir sollten noch
80

Verweilen hier und lauschen ihrem Klageruf?

Der Pfleger.

Mit nichten. Nichts geschehe, bis wir Loxias'⁸

Gebot erfüllten und zuerst dem Vater dort

Sein Todtenopfer brachten; denn das sichert uns

Den Sieg, verleiht uns hohe Kraft zur schweren That.
85

Oheiliges Licht⁹

(Sie gehen ab. Elektra tritt aus dem Palaste.) (allein)

Elektra.

Und erdumströmende Luft, o wie oft

Habt ihr mein gramvoll Klaglied,

Wie oft es gehört, da verzweifelnd

Ich die blutende Brust mit den Händen zerschlug,
90

Wenn finstere Nacht von der Erde verschwand!

Und den nächtlichen Gram dann, ach, ihn kennt

Mein düstres Gemach in dem Unglückshaus,

Sieht weinen mich oft um des Vaters Geschick,

Dem nicht in des Fremdlings fernem Gebiet
95

Gott Ares erschloß sein blutiges Haus,

Nein, dem sein Weib und der Buhle mit ihr,

Aegisthos, so wie Holzhauer den Baum,

Mit mordendem Beil hier spalten das Haupt.

Und Klagen erhebt kein anderes Weib,
100

Als ich, mein Vater, um dich, der so

Schmachvoll und kläglich dahinstarb.

Nein, niemals hemm' ich die Stimme des Grams

Und den finsteren Harm,

So lang ich schaue der Sterne
105

Weitstrahlenden Glanz und den Tag hier,

Daß, wie Philomel' um des Kindes Verlust,

Ich den Ruf an der Thür des Gemordeten hier

Nicht jammernd erhöb' und von Allen gehört.

Ach, Aïdes' Haus, Persephone's Haus!
110

Du Hermes drunten! O Fluchgöttin,¹⁰

Und Erinnyen ihr, ein göttlich Geschlecht,

Die heimlichen Ehbruch strafen und schau'n,

Wen tückischer Mord unschuldig verdarb,

Kommt helfend heran:
115

O rächet den Mord, an dem Vater verübt,

Und zum Beistand führt mir den Bruder zurück!

Denn nimmer zu tragen vermag ich allein

Das Gewicht in der Schale des Unglücks.

(Der Chor, von der Stadtseite kommend, ordnet sich vor dem Palaste.) Elektra. Der Chor. Erste Strophe.

Der Chor.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1 focus

O son of gi^eat Atrides ! he who led
1

Embattled Greece to Troy's devoted walls,
1

At length behold what thy desmng eyes
1

So long have sought. Behold thy native soil,
1

Thy much-loved Argos, and the hallowed grove

Of lo, frantic maid. On this side lies

The Lycian forum, on the left the fane

Of Juno, far renowned. Behold ! we come

To rich Mycense, and the slaughterous house

Of Pelops' hapless race, from whose sad walls

Long since I bore thee, at thy sister's hand

Gladly rocoivod, niul with paternal oiire

To this blest clay have fostered up thy youth,

Till riper years should give thee to return,

And pay with dire revenge thy father's murder.

Now, my Orestes, and thou dear companior
5

Of all our suft'erings, much-loved Pylades,
5

Let deepest counsel sway our just resolves ;
5

/For lo ! resplendent Pha-bus wifh his light

/ Calls up t lie cheerful birds to early song,

VAnd gloomy night hath lost her starry train :

Pours forth her busy throngs, this instant here

JiOt us consult. Believe me, 'tis no time

For dull delay ; 'tis the decisive hour,

And this the very crisis of our fate.

Orestes
( V)me then, my friends, and ere th' awakened city

What proofs thou giv'st me of tlie noblest

nature

And true benevolence, thou good old man !

Of servants sure the faithfullest and best

That ever bore the name : the generous steed,

Though worn with years, thus keeps his wonted courage.

And warns his master of approaching danger;

fjike him thou stir'st me up to noble deeds.

And follow'st me undaunted : but attend
25

To what I have resolved, and if I err,
25

^Let thy superior judgment set mfiriglit.
25

When to the Delphic oracle I flew,
25

Eager to know how on my father's foes

J best might satiate my revenge, the god

Enjoined me not by force or open arms

To rush upon them, but with guileful arts

And silent well-conducted fraud betraythem.

Such was his wdll. Thou, therefore, soon as time

Shall lend thee opportunity, unknown

And unsuspected (as thy absence hence

For so long space and hoary age shall make thee)

Must steal upon them, learn their secret counsels,

As soon thou mayst, and quick inform us of them ;

Say thou'rt of Phocis, from Phanoteus sent

By one who is their friend and firm ally ;

Sav, and confirm it with a solemn oath.

Orestes is no more — by a rude shock

Thrown from his chariot at the Pythian games.

Be this thy tale : meantime (for thus the god

His will divine expressed) my father's tomb

With due libations and devoted hair

Ourselves will crown ; and thence returning bring,

From the dark covert where thou knowst 'twas hid,

The brazen urn. Thei-e, we shall tell the tyrant —

Thrice welcome news ! — Orestes' ashes lie.

What should deter me from the pious fraud?

Since my feigned death but gains me real fame,

And I shall wake to better life : the deed

Which brings success and honour, must be good.

Oft times the wisest and the best of men

From death like this have rose with added greatness ;

E'en so thy friend to his deluded foes

Shall soon return unlooked-for, and before them

Shine like a star with more distinguished lustre.

O my loved country ! and its guardian gods,
35

Receive Ore.^tes, and with happy omen
35

Propitious smile ! And thou, paternal seat —
35

For lo ! by Heaven's command I come to purge thee
35

Of vile usurpers, and avenge thy wrongs —

Drive me not from thee an abandoned exile

With infamy, but grant me to possess

My father's throne, and fix his injured race.

Thus far 'tis well. My faithful minister,

Thou to thy office, we to ours with speed ;

So time and opportunity require

On whom the fate of mortals must depend.

Governor

Methought a mournful voice

Spake from within.

Shall we not stay and hearken to it ?
80

Governor

No :

First be Apollo's great behests obeyed

Before thy father's tomb. That pious deed

Performed shall fire our souls with nobler wariuih,

And crown our bold attempt with fair success. [ExucuL

Eleotra.

O hJicred light I and O thou ambient aii' !

Her sighs and groans, and witnessed to her woes,

Which ever as each hateful morn appeared

T poured befoi-e you : what at eve retired

I felt of anguish my sad couch alone

Can tell, which watered nightly with my tears

Received me sorrowing — tliat best can tell

What pangs I suffered for a hapless father,

Whom not tlie god of war with ruthless hand

Struck nobly fighting in a distant soil.

But my fell mother, and the cursed ^gisthus,

The partner of her bed, remorseless slew.

Untimely didst thou fall, lamented shade,
85

Nor shall she ce;ise to mourn thee, while these eyes
85

View the fair heavens or behold the sun !
85

Never ! oh, never ! Like the nightingale.
85

Whose plaintive song bewails her ravished brood,
85

Here will I still lament my father's wrongs,
85

And teach the echo to repeat my moan.
85

O ye infernal deities ! and thou
85

Terrestrial Hermes ! and thou, Nemesis,
85

Replete with curses ! and ye vengeful Furies,

Offspring of gods, the ministers of wrath

To vile adulterers, who with pity view

The slaughtered innocent— behold this deed !

Oh ! come, assist, revenge my father's murder ;

Quickly, oh, quickly bring me my Orestes ;

For lo ! 1 sink beneath oppressive woe,

And can no longer bear the weight alone.

Chorus
Scene II. Scene III.

O wretched daughter of an impious mother !

'^I'ilt thou for ever mourn, for ever thus,

With unavailing tears and endless sorrow,

Lament the royal Agamemnon's fate,

By a vile woman's wicked arts betrayed?
85

Perish the hand (forgive the pious curse.
85

Ye heavenly powers !) that gave the deadly blow I

Electra

My noble friends and partners in affliction,

Who thus, to soothe my sorrows, kindly try

Each art which love and friendship can inspire ;

Ye come to comfort me, I know ye do.

I know my tears are fruitless all and vain ;
90

But, oh ! permit me to indulge my griefs,

For I must weep.

Chorus

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1 focus

THOU son of Agamemnon, who 'gainst Troy
1

Once led the pow'rs of Greece, now may thine eyes
1

Behold what long hath raised thy ardent wish.
1

This is the ancient Argos; this the grove

Of Iö, stung with frenzy o'er the earth

To wander; the Lycæan forum this

Of the Lycæan Phœbus; on the left

Glorious through Greece that stately temple stands

Sacred to Juno. Now we are advanced

Whence thou may'st see Mycenæ rich in gold;

And this the house of the Pelopidæ
5

With frequent slaughters stain'd: in times long past,
5

Beneath his murderers when thy father fell,
5

I took thee from thy sister's pious hand,

I bore thee hence, I saved thee, to this age

I train'd thee to avenge thy father's blood.

This hour, Orestes, and thou faithful friend,

Orestes

Loved Pylades, demands your firm resolves :

This hour determine; for the early songs

Of birds call forth the sun's resplendent beams,

And the stars vanish from the dusky night.

Now, ere the foot of man from forth the gates

Shall tread the streets, consult: for from this hour

Th' important time to instant action calls.

O thou most loved of servants, strong the proofs

Thou givest me of thy goodness and firm faith:

For as the generous steed e'en in old age

Of his high courage in the fierce alarm

Abates not, but with pride sustains the charge,

So dost thou urge me forward, and advance
25

E'en in the front of danger: for this cause
25

I will unfold my counsels to my words
25

Give thou attentive heed, and where I judge
25

Amiss,, thy riper prudence be my guide.
25

When to the fate-foretelling shrine I came

Of Pytho, and inquired by what best way

I on his impious murderers might avenge

My father's blood, this answer Phœbus gave,

" In arms advance not, nor with martial force,

"But steal upon them, and with fraudful hand

"Let thy just fury strike th' avenging blow.""

These mandates known, as time and chance present

A fair occasion, enter thou this house,

And learn what passes there; me much imports

Clear information; thee they will not know

Absent so long, and chang'd by hoary age;

Nor thus attired suspicion wilt thou wake.

Thou art a stranger, so address thy tale,

Of Phocis, sent by Phanoteus, now join'd

In close alliance with them; say, and add

The sanction of an oath, that by the force

Of ruthless fate Orestes is no more,

Hurl'd from his chariot in the Pythian games.

This be the purport of thy tale. Mean time,

Obedient to the god, my father's tomb

We with libations and these sever'd locks.

Will honour. Thence returning, in our hands

The brazen sculptured urn, now, as thou know'st,

Hid in the tangled thicket, we will bring;

That we may thus deceive them with a tale

To them most grateful, that my wretched corse

Already on the funeral pile is burnt,

And my cold ashes in this urn enclosed.

Why should this grieve me, that in words I die,

When I in deed am saved, and by them raised

To glory? Nor ill-omen'd shall I deem

A word which gives the promise of success.

Oft e'en the wise have I observed, by fame:

Reported dead, return, and rise again...!!

To higher honour. Such shall be my boast,

I from this rumour shall be found alive,

And, like a star, to my astonish'd foes

Yet shine. But, O my country, and ye gods

The guardians of my country, to your care

Receive me, and protect me in these ways!

And thou, my father's house! for I am come

With vengeance, at the impulse of the gods,

To purge thy stain away: send me not hence

Dishonour'd, but to wealth, to greatness raised,

Give me thy ancient glories to restore !
35

Of this enough. Be it thy care, old man,
35

The part assign'd thee to discharge. We two
35

Must leave thee now; th' occasion so requires,
35

Whose sovereign power o'er ev'ry work presides.
35

Electra

O miserable me!

Attendant

Some female servant with the voice of grief

Methinks I hear lamenting in the house.
80

Orestes

Is it not rather poor Electra's voice?

Attendant
[within.

Wilt thou we stay and listen to her moans?

That must not be: no deed may we attempt

Ere we perform the mandates of the god.

Begin with these; and at thy father's tomb
85

Pour the libations: that will give us strength
85

To act, and conquest to our toils ensure.

Electra

Thou holy light, thou air around the earth

Extended wide, how often hast thou heard

My strains of woe, how often heard me beat

My bleeding breast, when night before the dawn

Withdraws her darkening veil! For in her shades

The hated couches of this mournful house
90

Are conscious to my grief, while I lament
90

My father's ruin: him the god of war

Sunk not with wounds in a barbaric land;

My mother, and the partner of her bed,

Aegisthus

hew'd him with the bloody axe

As woodmen hew an oak; nor does thy death,

My father, thy unjust and cruel death

With sorrow touch one female heart, save mine.

But never will I cease my strains of woe,

My mournful lamentations, whilst I view

The stars bright radiance, whilst I view the day.

No; as some nightingale, her young ones lost,

Before my father's gates I pour to all

My wailings, and the notes of woe, aloud.

O house of Pluto and his gloomy queen ;
90

O Hermes, guide to the infernal realms;
90

Thou, dreaded Ate; and ye pow'rs revered,
90

Terrific Furies, daughters of the gods;

Those, who by impious hands were slain, you see ;

Those, who by stealth the royal bed invade;

Come, aid, avenge my murder'd father's blood;

Send me my brother; for this weight of grief,

Which sinks me, I no more can bear alone!

Chorus
ELECTRA, CHORUS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1-120 focus

Paedagogus

Son of him who once commanded our forces at Troy , son of Agamemnon!—now you may survey all that your heart has desired for so long. There is the ancient Argos of your yearning,
1

that consecrated land from which the gad-fly drove the daughter of Inachus; there, Orestes, is the Lycean market place, named from the wolf-slaying god; there on the left is Hera’s famous temple; and in this place to which we have come, know that you see Mycenae , the rich in gold,
5

and here the house of Pelops’ heirs, so often stained with bloodshed. Long ago from here, away from the murder of your father, I carried you for her whose blood is yours, your sister, and saved you and reared you up to manhood to be the avenger of your murdered father.

10

Now, therefore, Orestes, and you, best of allies, Pylades, our plan of action must be quickly laid; for look, already the sun’s bright ray is stirring the birds’ songs into clarity, and the kindly darkness of the stars is spent.
15

Before, then, anyone comes out from the house, we must make our plans, since we are at the point where it is no longer opportune to hesitate, but it is the moment for action.
20

Orestes

True friend and follower, how well you prove your loyalty to our house!

Just as a thoroughbred mount, even if advanced in years, does not lose courage in danger, but pricks up his ears, so you speed us forward and follow in the first ranks. I will tell you, then, what I have determined.
25

Listen closely to my words and correct me, if I miss the mark in any way.
When I went to the Pythian oracle to learn how I might avenge my father on his murderers,
30

Phoebus gave me the commandment which you will now hear: that alone, and by stealth, without the aid of arms or large numbers, I should carry off my right hand’s just slaughters. Accordingly, since I received this divine declaration, you must go into that house there
35

when opportunity gives you entrance, and learn all that is happening, so that you may report to us out of sure knowledge. Your age and the lapse of time will prevent them from recognizing you; they will never suspect who you are with that silvered hair. Let your story be that you are a Phocian stranger
40

sent by Phanoteus, since he is the greatest of their allies. Tell them, and affirm it with your oath, that Orestes has perished by a fatal chance, hurled at the Pythian games
45

from his speeding chariot. Let that be the substance of your message. Meanwhile, we will first crown my father’s tomb as the god ordered with libations and the luxuriant tribute of a severed lock; then we will return here, bearing in our hands an urn of hammered bronze
50

—now hidden, as you no doubt know, in the brushwood—so that we may gladden them with the false tidings that this body of mine exists no more, but has been consumed with fire and reduced to ashes. How does it hurt me, when by feigned death
55

I find true life and win renown? No word is ill-omened, I trust, if it yields gain. For often before now I have seen clever men die in false report; then, when they return home, they are held in greater honor.
60

And so for myself I trust that as a result of this rumor I, too, shall live, shining down like a star upon my enemies.
But you, O my fatherland and native gods of my soil, receive me with good fortune in this journey, and you also, house of my ancestors,
65

since I come by divine mandate to cleanse you as justice demands. Do not dismiss me from this land in dishonor, but grant that I may rule over my possessions and restore my house!
I have said enough. Go now, old one, and take care to watch over your task.
70

The two of us will depart; for so opportunity bids, chief ruler of every enterprise for men.
75

77 Within.

Electra

ah, me, ah, joyless me!

Paedagogus

Listen, my son; from the doors of the house, I think, came the sound of some serving girl moaning inside.

Orestes

Can it be my joyless Electra? Shall we remain here and listen to her cries?
80

Paedagogus

No, no; before all else, let us strive to obey the commands of Loxias and from them make a fair beginning by pouring libations to your father. For such actions bring

victory within our grasp and give us mastery in all our doings. Exeunt Paedagogus on the spectators left, Orestes and Pylades on the right.
85

86 Enter Electra, from the house.

Electra

O you pure sunlight, and you air, light’s equal partner over earth, how often have you heard the chords of my laments

and the thudding blows against this bloodied breast at the time of gloomy night’s leaving off! My accursed bed in that house of suffering there knows well already how I observe my night-long rites—how often I bewail my miserable
90

father, whom bloody Ares did not welcome with deadly gifts in a foreign land, but my mother and her bedfellow Aegisthus split his head with murderous axe, just as woodmen chop an oak.
95

And for this crime no pitying cry bursts from any lips but mine, when you, Father, have died a death so cruel and so deserving of pity!
100

103

But never will I end from cries and bitter lamentation,

while I look on the stars’ glistening flashes or on this light of day. No, like the nightingale, slayer of her offspring, I will wail without ceasing, and cry aloud to all here at the doors of my father.

105

O House of Hades and Persephone! O Hermes of the shades! O potent Curse, and you fearsome daughters of the gods, the Erinyes, who take note when a life is unjustly taken, when a marriage-bed is thievishly dishonored,
110

come, help me, bring vengeance for the murder of my father and send me my brother. I no longer have the strength to hold up alone against
115

the load of grief that crushes me.
120

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-1-1 ὧν ¹ πρόθυμος ἦσθ’ ²

mvp-comment-2-1 Coming from Phocis, the travellers have reached Mycenae by the road from Corinth, and are now standing on the high ground of the Mycenaean citadel, in front of the palace.

mvp-comment-2-2 The old man, looking southward, points out the chief features of the landscape. (1) The Argive plain, which lies spread out before them to the south and west. (2) The agora and temple of Apollo Lyceios in the city of Argos, distant about six miles to the south. This temple was the most conspicuous object in the town ( Paus. 2. 19. 3 ); and it may be supposed that a person standing at Mycenae could see the building, or part of it. (3) The Heraeum, correctly described as being on the speaker's left hand. Its site was S. E. of Mycenae, at a distance of somewhat less than two miles.

mvp-comment-2-3 The poet's aim was merely to group these famous places in one view. Neither he nor his Athenian hearers would care whether the topography was minutely accurate. W. G. Clark, in his Peloponnesus (p. 72), illustrates this presumable indifference by a stage direction in Victor Hugo's Marie Tudor:—‘Palais de Richmond: dans le fond à gauche l'Église de Westminster, à droite la Tour de Londres.’ But, in fact, there is only one error of detail. The Heraeum was not visible from Mycenae (v. 8, n.).

mvp-comment-2-4 Ἄργος ³

mvp-comment-2-5 παλαιὸν ⁴

mvp-comment-3-1 τῆς οἰστροπλ … Ἰνάχου κόρης ⁵

mvp-comment-3-2 His daughter Io, the first priestess of Hera, was loved by Zeus, and changed by the jealous goddess into a cow. The hundred-eyed Argus, charged by Hera to watch her, bound her to an olive-tree in the temenos of the Heraeum ( Apollod. 2. 1. 3 ). Hermes slew Argus; and Hera then sent the gad-fly which drove Io forth from Argolis on her wanderings. Cp. Aesch. P. V. 681

οἰστροπλὴξ δ’ ἐγὼ

μάστιγι θείᾳ γῆν πρὸ γῆς ἐλαύνομαι

. Io, the horned wanderer, was originally, like Hera herself, a moon-goddess.

mvp-comment-3-3 ἄλσος ⁶

mvp-comment-4-1 The ἀγορὰ Λύκειος ⁷

mvp-comment-4-2 Λύκειος ⁸ λυκοκτόνος ⁹

mvp-comment-5-1 Ἥρας … ναός ¹⁰

mvp-comment-5-2 This oldest and greatest of Argive shrines is fitly mentioned here; for within its walls Agamemnon was said to have taken the oaths of the chiefs whom he led to Troy (Dictys Cretensis, 1. 15. 6). Here, too, the Spartan Cleomenes received the omen which caused him to retire from Argolis ( c. 496 B.C.: Her. 6. 81 ).

mvp-comment-5-3 The ancient temple was burnt down in 423 B.C. ( Thuc. 4. 133 ). A new Heraeum was built on a lower terrace of the same hill; and could boast among its treasures a chryselephantine statue of Hera by Polycleitus ( Paus. 2. 17. 4 ). The site of this later Heraeum has recently been excavated by members of the American School at Athens (1892).

mvp-comment-6-1 φάσκειν ¹¹

mvp-comment-6-2 Μυκήνας ¹²

mvp-comment-6-3 The site of Mycenae is in a deep recess of the Argive plain, at its northern end,—

μυχῷ Ἄργεος ἱπποβότοιο

( Od. 3. 263 ). Between two peaks of Mount Euboea, a narrow glen runs out towards the plain, terminating in a rocky platform. This acropolis, naturally impregnable on three sides, was surrounded by Cyclopean walls, from 13 to 35 feet high, with an average thickness of 16 feet. Mycenae was to the plain of Argos much what Deceleia was to the plain of Athens,—a stronghold withdrawn from observation, but commanding the country below it.

mvp-comment-6-4 τὰς πολυχρύσους ¹³

mvp-comment-6-5 Thucydides (1. 9) notices the old tradition that Pelops had gained his power by means of the wealth (

πλήθει χρημάτων

) which he had brought from Asia to a poor country. Helbig ( Das hom. Epos aus den Denkm. erläutert, p. 50) thinks it certain that the precious metals became scarcer in the Peloponnesus after the Dorian conquest. When the Spartans, in the first half of the sixth century, required gold for a statue of Apollo, they had to procure it from Sardis ( Her. 1. 69 ).

mvp-comment-7-1 πολύφθορον ¹⁴

mvp-comment-8-1 πατρὸς ἐκ φόνων ¹⁵

mvp-comment-8-2 ἐκ ¹⁶

mvp-comment-9-1 ὁμαίμου ¹⁷ κασιγνήτης ¹⁸

mvp-comment-10-1 ἤνεγκα ¹⁹

mvp-comment-10-2 κἀξεθρεψάμην ²⁰

mvp-comment-10-3 τοσόνδ’ ἐς ἥβης ²¹

mvp-comment-11-1 The vocative σὺ ²² βουλεύετον ²³

mvp-comment-12-1 ἡμὶν ²⁴

mvp-comment-12-2 ἑῷα ²⁵

mvp-comment-12-3 κινεῖ … σαφῆ ²⁶

mvp-comment-13-1 ἄστρων εὐφρόνη ²⁷

mvp-comment-13-2 ἐκλέλοιπεν ²⁸

mvp-comment-14-1 ἐξοδοιπορεῖν ²⁹

mvp-comment-15-1 ξυνάπτετον ³⁰ λόγοισιν ³¹

mvp-comment-15-2 ὡς ἐνταῦθ’ ³²

mvp-comment-15-3 (1) ἐμὲν ³³

mvp-comment-15-4 (2) Is, then, ἐνταῦθ’ ³⁴

mvp-comment-15-5 (3) Supposing that

ἐνταῦθ’

is genuine —as seems most likely—no account of the passage is more probable than that the poet wrote

ὡς ἐνταῦθ’ ἵνα

οὐκ ἔστ’ ἔτ’ ὀκνεῖν καιρός

, and that

ἔστ’

dropped out before

ἔτ’

precisely as in Ph. 23 the words

τόνδ’ ἔτ’, εἴτ’

have shrunk to

τόνδ’ ἤτ’

in L. Then, Ph. v. 22 being defective,

ἵνα

was shifted to it from the end of v. 21 (cp. O. T. 1264 f., cr. n.); and the gap after

ἐνταῦθ’

was filled with

ἐμέν

,—a form which the later grammarians, at least, accepted, as will be seen in the Appendix.

mvp-comment-15-6 ἔργων ἀκμή ³⁵

mvp-comment-16-1 ὦ φίλτατ’ ἀνδρῶν ³⁶

mvp-comment-16-2 σημεῖα φαίνεις ³⁷ γεγώς ³⁸

mvp-comment-17-1 ὥσπερ γὰρ ἵππος εὐγενὴς ³⁹

mvp-comment-18-1 ἐν τοῖσι δεινοῖς ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-18-2 ἀπώλεσεν ⁴¹ ἵστησιν ⁴²

mvp-comment-18-3 ὡσαύτως δὲ ⁴³

mvp-comment-19-1 ἐν πρώτοις ἕπει ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-20-1 εἰ μή τι ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-20-2 καιροῦ τυγχάνω ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-20-3 μεθάρμοσον ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-21-1 γὰρ ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-21-2 ἱκόμην ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-21-3 μάθοιμ’ ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-21-4 ἀροίμην ⁵¹

mvp-comment-22-1 χρῇ ⁵² τοιαῦθ’ ⁵³ ὧν ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-22-2 ὁ Φοῖβος ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-22-3 πεύσει ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-22-4 This verse might seem the preface to some longer recital (cp. Ph. 1418 n.). But in fact it is merely an emphatic prelude to the oracle: τάχα ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-23-1 αὐτὸν ⁵⁸ ἀσπίδων ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-23-2 ἀσπίδων τε καὶ στρατοῦ ⁶⁰ δόλοισι ⁶¹

mvp-comment-23-3 χειρὸς ⁶² σφαγάς ⁶³

mvp-comment-23-4 κλέψαι ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-24-1 ὅτε ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-24-2 σὺ μὲν μολὼν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-24-3 καιρὸς ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-24-4 ἴσθι ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-25-1 γήρᾳ ⁶⁹ χρόνῳ μακρῷ ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-25-2 οὐδ’ ὑποπτεύσουσιν ⁷¹ οὐ μὴ γνῶσι ⁷²

mvp-comment-25-3 ὧδ’ ἠνθισμένον ⁷³

mvp-comment-26-1 Φωκεύς ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-26-2

ἀνδρὸς Φανοτέως. ἀνήρ

, thus prefixed to a proper name, serves either: ( a) to introduce a person not previously men tioned,—being more respectful than

τις

, as Il. 11. 92

ἄνδρα Βιήνορα

, Her. 8. 82

ἀνὴρ Παναίτιος

: or ( b) adds something of solemnity or pathos to the mention of a familiar name, as Soph. O. C. 109

ἀνδρὸς Οἰδίπου

, Soph. Ai. 817

ἀνδρὸς Ἕκτορος

mvp-comment-26-3 Phanoteus was the eponymous hero of the town Phanoteus ( Thuc. 4. 89 ), or Panopeus ( Il. 2. 520 etc., Paus. , Strabo), in Phocis, close to the Boeotian frontier, —about three miles west of Chaeroneia, and as many east of Daulis. He was the brother of Crisus, from whom the town of Crisa in Phocis (about two miles w. s. w. of Delphi) took its name. Between these brothers, said the legend, there was a deadly feud; before birth they had struggled in the womb (Tzetzes, Lycophr. 939: cp. Preller, Griechische Mythologie, 2. p. 54 n. 5). Now Crisus was the father of Strophius, that king of Crisa who was the ally of Agamemnon, and with whom the young Orestes found a home. Hence Phanoteus, the foe of Crisus, is represented as the friend of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra. He is the first to send them the glad tidings that Orestes is dead. On the other hand it is Strophius who is described as paying the last honours to the corpse, and sending the ashes to Mycenae (1111).

mvp-comment-26-4 ὁ γὰρ ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-27-1 μέγιστος ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-27-2 τυγχάνει ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-27-3 δορυξένων ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-28-1 ὅρκον ⁷⁹ ὅρκῳ ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-28-2 On the other hand, the phrase

προστιθέναι ὅρκον

has the authority of Sophocles himself: fr. 431

ὅρκου δὲ προστεθέντος ἐπιμελεστέρα

ψυχὴ κατέστη

. Cp. too Tr. 255

ὅρκον αὑτῷ προσβαλών

mvp-comment-28-3 The false oath would be regarded as excused by the

δόλοι

which Apollo had prescribed (v. 37); but in fact the Paedagogus takes no such oath.

mvp-comment-29-1 ἀναγκαίας τύχης ⁸¹

mvp-comment-29-2 ἄθλοισι ⁸² Πυθικοῖσιν ⁸³

mvp-comment-29-3 τροχηλάτων ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-29-4 ἑστάτω ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-30-1 ἐφίετο ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-30-2 λοιβαῖσι ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-30-3 καρατόμοις χλιδαῖς ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-30-4 στέψαντες ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-30-5 ἄψορρον … πάλιν ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-31-1 τύπωμα ⁹¹ χαλκόπλευρον ⁹²

mvp-comment-31-2 ἠρμένοι ⁹³

mvp-comment-31-3 Others take

ἠρμένοι

as middle. This use of

ἦρμαι

is not unknown to later Greek; e.g. Strabo 3. p. 150 has

νίκην ἠρμένοι

ἀράμενοι

. But there is no example of it in the classical period.

mvp-comment-32-1 Join που ⁹⁴ καὶ σὺ ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-32-2 The v.l. μοι ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-33-1 λόγῳ κλέπτοντες ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-33-2 φέρωμεν ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-33-3 ἔρρει ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-33-4 δέμας ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-34-1 τί γάρ με λυπεῖ ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-34-2 ἔργοισι ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-34-3 κἀξενέγκωμαι ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-35-1 δοκῶ μέν ¹⁰⁴ σὺν κέρδει ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-35-2 κακόν ¹⁰⁶

mvp-comment-36-1 πολλάκις ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-36-2 λόγῳ μάτην θνῄσκοντας ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-36-3 ἐκτετίμηνται ¹⁰⁹

mvp-comment-37-1 ὡς ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-37-2 κἄμ’ ἐπαυχῶ ¹¹¹

mvp-comment-37-3 ἄπο ¹¹²

mvp-comment-37-4 δεδορκότ’ ¹¹³

mvp-comment-37-5 ἐχθροῖς ¹¹⁴ λάμψειν ¹¹⁵

mvp-comment-37-6 ἄστρον ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-37-7 ἔτι ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-38-1 πατρῴα γῆ ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-38-2 εὐτυχοῦντα ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-38-3 ὁδοῖς ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-39-1 καθαρτής ¹²¹

mvp-comment-39-2 πρὸς θεῶν ὡρμημένος ¹²²

mvp-comment-40-1 ἀλλ’ ἀρχέπλουτον ¹²³

mvp-comment-40-2 ἀρχέπλουτον ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-40-3 καταστάτην ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-41-1 εἴρηκα μέν νυν ταῦτα ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-41-2 μελέσθω ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-42-1 ἐπιστάτης ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-43-1 ἰώ μοί μοι δύστηνος ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-44-1 καὶ μὴν ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-44-2 θυρῶν ¹³¹

mvp-comment-44-3 I should agree with the schol. in governing

θυρῶν

by ἔνδον ¹³²

mvp-comment-44-4 προσπόλων τινὸς ¹³³

mvp-comment-45-1 θέλεις | μείνωμεν … ; ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-45-2 The reading of the MSS., κἀνακούσωμεν ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-45-3 On the other hand Sophocles has

ἐπακούω

, ‘to listen,’ in O. T. 708 , O. T. 794 : O. C. 694 : Ph. 1417. Nauck's correction, κἀπακούσωμεν ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-46-1 μηδὲν πρόσθεν ¹³⁷

mvp-comment-46-2 τὰ Λοξίου ¹³⁸

mvp-comment-46-3 ἀρχηγετεῖν ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-47-1 πατρὸς ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-47-2 λουτρά ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-47-3 φέρει … ἐφ’ ἡμῖν ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-47-4 νίκην ¹⁴³ κράτος τῶν δρωμένων ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-47-5 All three actors now leave the scene. Orestes and Pylades go to Agamemnon's grave,—departing, probably, by the entrance on the spectators' right. The Paedagogus leaves by the entrance on the left,—to await the moment for seeking admission to the house (v. 660).—It might, indeed, be inferred from

πειρώμεθ’

(83) that the old man goes with the youths to their task; but the word need not imply more than his participation in the plan. while verses 73—75 seem clearly to indicate that he separates from his companions. When they have gone, Electra enters from the house.

mvp-comment-48-1 A

θρῆνος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς

, or lyric lament delivered by an actor alone. as dist. from the joint

κομμός

of actor and Chorus (121 n.).

mvp-comment-48-2 Verses 86—102 form a

σύστημα

,=vv. 103—120 (

ἀντισύστημα

). If the text is sound, the correspondence is not exact, since the dimeter in v. 99 answers to a monometer in v. 116. These anapaests are, however, of the type usually known as ‘free’ or ‘melic,’ as having more of a lyric character than the regular anapaests of the marching-songs (like those of the Parodos in the Ajax): see W. Christ, Metrik, 2nd ed., § 288. And in such anapaests the symmetry of ‘systems’ is often not strict (cp. O. C. 117 n.).

mvp-comment-48-3 ὦ φάος ἁγνὸν ¹⁴⁵

mvp-comment-48-4 γῆς ἰσόμοιρ’ ἀήρ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-48-5 ἰσόμοιῤ ¹⁴⁷ ἰσόμοιρος ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-49-1 πολλὰς μὲν … ᾔσθου ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-49-2 ἀντήρεις ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-50-1 πληγὰς ¹⁵¹ πλαγὰς ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-51-1 ὑπολειφθῇ ¹⁵³ ᾔσθου ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-52-1 τὰ … παννυχίδων ¹⁵⁵ ξυνίσας’ ¹⁵⁶ ὅσα … θρηνῶ ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-52-2 ἤδη ¹⁵⁸

mvp-comment-52-3 The MS. οἴκων ¹⁵⁹ λέκτρων ¹⁶⁰ μογερῶν ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-53-1 ὅσα τὸν δύστηνον ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-54-1 κατὰ μὲν βάρβαρον αἶαν ¹⁶³ ἐξένισεν ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-55-1 Ἄρης ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-55-2 ἐξένισεν ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-56-1 κοινολεχὴς ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-57-1 ὅπως δρῦν ὑλοτόμοι ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-57-2 σχίζουσι ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-57-3 κάρα ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-57-4 πέλεκει ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-58-1 ἄλλης ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-58-2 φέρεται ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-58-3 The deletion of the words ἀπ’ ἄλλης ¹⁷⁴ ἢ )μοῦ ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-59-1 ἀλλ’ οὐ μὲν δὴ ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-60-1 ἄστρων ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-60-2 Others read,

ἔστ’ ἂν λεύσσω παμφεγγεῖς

ῥιπάς, λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

, omitting

ἄστρων

. But

παμφεγγεῖς ῥιπάς

, without

ἄστρων

, would not suffice to denote starlight. If, again, the phrase is taken to denote the sun's rays (as Monk proposes, Mus. Crit. I. p. 67), then

λεύσσω δὲ τόδ’ ἦμαρ

becomes weak. Further, the preceding context, in which she has spoken of her laments at night (92) and at morning, clearly suggests that the sense here is, ‘so long as I look on the stars or on the sun.’

mvp-comment-61-1 μὴ οὐ ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-61-2 τεκνολέτειῤ ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-62-1 ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-62-2 ἠχὼ ¹⁸¹

mvp-comment-63-1 Electra invokes, (1) the house of Hades and his bride Persephone, in which the spirit of Agamemnon now dwells; (2) Hermes, who, as

ψυχοπομπός

, conducted him thither,—and who will also guide the avengers on their way (1395 f.); (3)

Ἀρά

, the imprecation uttered by the victim upon his murderers,—the personified curse, here conceived as a supernatural power (

πότνια

), which calls the Erinyes into action; and (4) the Erinyes themselves.

mvp-comment-63-2 Ἀΐδου ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-64-1 ὦ χθόνἰ Ἑρμῆ ¹⁸³

mvp-comment-64-2 Ἀρά ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-64-3 πότνια ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-65-1 σεμναὶ ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-65-2 θεῶν παῖδες ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-66-1 ὁρᾶθ’ ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-67-1 αἳ τοὺς εὐνὰς ὑποκλεπτομένους ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-67-2 These much-impugned words appear genuine. The murder has been prompted by the guilty love:

δόλος ἦν ὁ φράσας, ἔρος ὁ κτείνας

(197). In Electra's thought, they are inseparable. The allusion to the love follows the reference to the murder, because she regards it as the crowning outrage (271

τὴν τελευταίαν ὕβριν

) that Clytaemnestra still lives with Aegisthus. Bloodshed was not the only sin which the Erinyes punished. They were the embodied sanctions of natural law, and every crime against the family came within their cognisance. (See Introd. to Homer, p. 51, § 13.) Indeed, Electra herself speaks of the unhallowed union as a special provocation to those Avengers: 275 f.

ἡ δ’ ὧδε τλήμων ὥστε τῷ μιάστορι

ξύνεστ’, Ἐρινὺν οὔτιν’ ἐκφοβουμένη

mvp-comment-68-1 τείσασθε ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-69-1 ἡμετέρου ¹⁹¹ μοι ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-69-2 καί μοι ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-70-1 ἄγειν ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-70-2 σωκῶ ¹⁹⁵

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

1. mvp-comment-1-1 στρατήγησαντος] γρ. τυραννήσαντος C2.

3. mvp-comment-2-1 λεύσσειν] λεύσειν ΑΓΕΙ, λεύσσειν Ας.

3. mvp-comment-2-2 ὧν πρόθυμος ἦσθ᾽ ἀεί] Cp. Od. 1. 40, 1, ἐκ γὰρ᾿ Ορέσταο τίσις ἔσσεται... ὁππότ᾽ ἂν ἡβήσῃ τε καὶ ἧς ἱμείρεται αἴης.

4. mvp-comment-3-1 οὑπόθεις] οὗ retouched L. οὗ ἐπόθεις Α.

7. mvp-comment-4-1 οὐξ] δύξ Α.

7. mvp-comment-4-2 ἀγορὰ Λύκειος] The temple of Apollo in the agora seems to have been the most sacred place in Argos. See Thuc. 5. 47, where it is enacted that the terms of the treaty shall be inscribed by the Argives ἐν στήλῃ λιθίνῃ . . ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἐν τοῦ ᾿Απόλλωνος τῷ ἱερῷ.

1-2. mvp-comment-5-1 The old man who has taken charge of Orestes since the time of his father's murder ( infr. 11 foll., cp. 1348 foll.) now does for him what Achilles hoped that Patroclus would have done for Neoptolemus, Il. 19. 328-333, πρὶν μὲν γάρ μοι θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἐώλπειν | οἷον ἐμὲ φθίσεσθαι ἀπ᾿ ᾿Αργεος ἱπποβότοιο | αὐτοῦ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ, σὲ δε τε Φθίηνδε νέεσθαι, | ὡς ἄν μοι τὸν παῖδα θοῇ ἐνὶ νηὶ μελαίνῃ | Σκυρόθεν ἐξαγάγοις, καί οἱ δείξειας ἕκαστα, | κτῆσιν ἐμὴν δμῶάς τε καὶ ὑψερεφὲς μέγα δῶμα. Cp. also Od. 13. 344 foll. where Athena points out the features of Ithaca to Odysseus. ὦ τοῦ.. παῖ] The heroic achievements of his father afford the chief incentive to the mind of Orestes. Cp. infr. 694, 5, ὄνομα δ᾽ Ορέστης, τοῦ τὸ κλεινὸν Ἑλλάδος | ᾿Αγαμέμνονος στράτευμ᾽ ἀγείραντός ποτε.

4-7. mvp-comment-6-1 The description passes from what is general and remote to what is nearest to the eye. 'Argos' here includes the plain of Argos (as even in Thuc. 6. 105, ἐς τὸ ᾿Αργος ἐσέβαλον). Mycenae is the seat of government, and the site of the future city of Argos, supposed at this time to be still inhabited village-wise,' is marked by the ἀγορὰ Λύκειος. It is not necessary to suppose that all the objects mentioned here could really be taken into one view. But the site of Mycenae commands the whole plain. The Heraeum, according to Pausanias, would really be on the left hand of those approaching Mycenae by way of Corinth. See Mr. Paley's note. Apollo Lyceius is here the wolf-slayer, i. e. the protector of the flock, perhaps with reference to Aegisthus, who is called a wolf in Aesch. Ag. 1259. Aeschylus (S. c. T. 145) connects Λύκειος with λύκος in a different way (Λύκει' ἄναξ, Λύκειος γενοῦ στρατῷ δαΐῳ).

5. mvp-comment-7-1 ἄλσος] 'The sacred ground,' i. e. the place consecrated by her first wanderings when her father sent her ἄφετον ἀλᾶσθαι (Aesch. Prom. 666). Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 50, ἐν ποιονόμοις ματρὸς ἀρχαίας τόποις, Ant. 845, Θήβας εὐαρμάτου ἄλσος.

8. mvp-comment-8-1 οἱ δ' ἱκάνομεν] The antecedent to the relative of is lost in the expansion of the sentence in l. 9.

10. mvp-comment-9-1 δῶμα.. τόδε] These words are coordinate with Μυκήνας and governed by ὁρᾶν, as is shown by the conjunction τε.

11. mvp-comment-10-1 πατρὸς ἐκ φόνων] Either (1) 'Immediately after thy father's murder,' cp. Thuc. 5. 20, ἐκ Διονυσίων, or (2) Out of the way of thy father's murder,' i.e. Away from the dangers consequent on it. For the latter (2), cp. Pind. Pyth. 11. 25 foll., τὸν δὴ φονευομένου πατρὸς ᾿Αρσινόα Κλυταιμνήστρας | χειρῶν ὕπο κρατερᾶν | ἐκ δόλου τροφὸς ἄνελε δυσπενθέος. In either case the plural, for which cp. O. C. 962, ὅστις φόνους μοι, κ.τ.λ., includes the attendant circumstances. φόνων is better than φονῶν (gen. plur. of φονή), which would suggest only the scene of blood.

12. mvp-comment-11-1 σῆς ὁμαίμου καὶ κασιγνήτης] ‘Thine own sister.' Cp. infr. 325, 6, τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον, ἐκ πατρὸς ταὐτοῦ φύσιν, | Χρυσόθεμιν, ἔκ τε μητρός. The Electra, like the Antigone, lays great stress on the force of fraternal affection; and a peculiar tenderness seems to have been attached to the word κασίγνητος. Cp. infr. 1164, Ant. 915, ὦ κασίγνητον κάρα.

14. mvp-comment-12-1 τοσόνδ᾽ ἐς ήβης] 'To this strength of youthful manhood that thou showest.' So Phoenix says to Achilles, ΙΙ. 9. 485, καί σε τοσοῦτον ἔθηκα, θεοῖς ἐπιείκελ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλεῦ. For the position of ἐς, cp. O. C. 126, 7, ἀστιβὲς ἄλσος ἐς | τᾶνδ᾽ ἀμαιμακετᾶν κορᾶν. πατρί] For the dative, see E. on L. § 13. р. 19 с.

16. mvp-comment-13-1 Pylades, who is a silent person in the Electra, is only mentioned once again, infr. 1373. Orestes has no scruples, as in the Choephori, and therefore needs not the advice but only the active assistance of his friend. Pylades is present in every scene in which Orestes appears.

17-18. mvp-comment-14-1 ὡς ἡμὶν.. σαφῆ] 'Since we have already the sunshine in full brilliance awakening there unmistakably into song the early voice of birds.' λαμπρόν and σαφή both form part of the predication. σαφή, i. e. not a doubtful twitter here and there, but the unanimous warbling which tells that the morning is really come: - Milton's 'charm of earliest birds,' not Tennyson's 'earliest pipe of half-awakened birds.'

19. mvp-comment-15-1 (1) And dark Night is vanished with her stars,' ἄστρων εὐφρόνη = νὺξ ἀστερόεσσα. E. on L. § 9. p. 12, 1 a. Or (2), 'And dark Night, the region of the stars, has disappeared - Night being regarded as a world possessed by the stars. Others join άστρων ἐκλέλοιπε, 'Night has lost her stars':-i.e. The night is yet dark but the stars are waning in the coming light.' (Paley.) But this can hardly be reconciled with ll. 16, 17, and rather presupposes a Northern twilight.

20. mvp-comment-16-1 ἐξοδοιπορεῖν στέγης] Come out of doors.' ἐξοδοιπορεῖν, although a special word, has here only the general meaning of ἐξέρχεσθαι. See E. on L. § 52. p. 97.

21. mvp-comment-17-1 ξυνάπτετον λόγοισιν] ‘Join ye in counsel.' For this use of the dative with a transitive verb, cp. infr. 710, κλήροις ἔπηλαν, and note; and see Riddell's Digest of Idioms, in his edition of the Apology of Plato. For a similar idiom in English, cp. Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1. 2. 112: 'And with no less nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his son, Do I impart toward you.' ὡς ἐνταῦθ᾽ *ἴμεν] 'Since we are thereabouts,' lit. 'moving there,'-i. е. ἐνταῦθά ἐσμεν τῆς ὁδοῦ: we are arrived at such a point in our enterprise. ἐμέν, for ἐσμέν, which occurs only once in Callimachus, can hardly be retained, and no valid objection has been made to Dawes' emendation, as above explained.

26-27. mvp-comment-18-1 ἀπώλεσεν.. ἵστησιν] The description passes from the gnomic aorist to the vivid present. For the verb, cp. Hdt. 4. 129, οἱ ἵπποι ἐν θαύματι ἔσκον, ὀρθὰ ἱστάντες τὰ ὦτα.

27. mvp-comment-19-1 δέ] In apodosi.

29. mvp-comment-20-1 τὰ . . δόξαντα] Sc. ἐμοί τε καὶ Πυλάδῃ τῷδε. Their plans are already formed.

31. mvp-comment-21-1 εἰ μή τι καιροῦ τυγχάνω] 'If anywhere I miss the mark,'-εἴ τι ἁμαρτάνω. Ε. on L. § 41. p. 78.

33. mvp-comment-22-1 πατρί is more expressive than πατρός. Cp. supr. 14.

34. mvp-comment-23-1 ἀροίμην is probably aorist (not future) optative, being indirect for (τίνι τρόπῳ) ἄρωμαι;

36. mvp-comment-24-1 Myself alone, unsupported by armed men.' Cp. Pind. Nem. 3. 59, δε καὶ Ἰωλκὸν εἶλε μόνος ἄνευ στρατιᾶς.

37. mvp-comment-25-1 By craft to steal the righteous deathblow which my hand should give.' χειρός marks the directly personal nature of the act. Cp. O. T. 811, ἐκ τῆσδε χειρός, and note. For the genitive, cp. infr. 206, θανάτους αἰκεῖς διδύμαιν χειροῖν.

38. mvp-comment-26-1 τοιόνδε, like τοιαῦτα in supr. 35, points to the remarkable nature of the oracle (cp. O. Τ. 95, οἱ ἤκουσα, and note), but with greater vividness. E. on L. § 22. p. 34.

39. mvp-comment-27-1 καιρός is personified, as infr. 75.

42-43. mvp-comment-28-1 (1) For thine age, and the long lapse of time, that has so altered thee, will surely prevent their recognizing or suspecting thee.' Or (2) taking οὐδ᾽ ἠνθισμένον separately, as referring to the Phocian costume, For thine age and the lapse of time will prevent their knowing you, nor will they once suspect you under this disguise.' Or (3) supposing ὧδ' ήνθισμένον to be an afterthought and the causal datives to be resumed with it, 'After so many years in which you have grown old they will not know or suspect you, altered as you are by age.' Cp. Shak. Cymb. 4. 4. 31-4 (Guiderius): 'Pray, sir, to the army: I and my brother are not known; yourself So out of thought, and thereto so o'ergrown, Cannot be questioned.' For the combination of aorist subj. and fut. ind., cp. Ο. C. 450, 1, ἀλλ᾽ οὗ τι μὴ λάχωσι τοῦδε συμμάχου, | οὔτε σφιν ἀρχῆς . . | ὄνησις ἥξει.

45. mvp-comment-29-1 Phanoteus had quarrelled with his brother Crisus, the father of Strophius and uncle of Pylades, and therefore was likely to send information of a fact which told against them. (Dind.). Whether this be the precise version of the legend as understood by Sophocles or not, some such relation between Strophius and Phanoteus is intended by him. Strophius is, in Sophocles also, the guardian of Orestes, - infr. 1111.

47. mvp-comment-30-1 ὅρκῳ προστιθείς] (1) Sc. τὰ ἀγγελλόμενα. With the preface of an oath.' Hermann objects to this: 'At ita res primaria in secundariam converteretur.' But such inversions are not infrequent. Cp. Aristoph. Av. 1004. See E. on L. § 42. p. 80, and Schmidt's Shak. Lex., Grammatical Observations, § 14. p. 1423. The correction ὅρκον προστιθείς (for which cp. Fr. 428, ὅρκου δὲ προστεθέντος ἐπιμελεστέρα | ψυχὴ κατέστη) is therefore unnecessary. Or (2) ὅρκῳ is a dative of manner, 'With an oath,' to which προστιθείς, sc. ὅρκον, is added epexegetically. Cp. Essay on L. § 14. p. 21; ib. § 36. p. 63 (5) a.

48. mvp-comment-31-1 ἐξ ἀναγκαίας τύχης] 'Through a fatal accident.' ἀναγκαία τύχη is here a misfortune that cannot be avoided. The same phrase is used with slightly different shades of meaning in Aj. 485, 803.

49. mvp-comment-32-1 ἄθλοισι Πυθικοῖσιν] ‘At the Pythian games.' Dat. of the occasion. E. on L. § 11. p. 18. The Delphic contest is said to have been instituted in the 48th Olympiad, but is here ideally carried back into the heroic age. Cp. Aj. 596 and note.

51. mvp-comment-33-1 ὡς ἐφίετο] Sc. ὁ Λοξίας ( infr. 82, 3). Cp. Ο. Τ. 110, ἐν τῇδ᾽ ἔφασκε γῇ.

52. mvp-comment-34-1 καρατόμοις χλιδαῖς] ‘With shorn locks luxuriant.' Cp. infr. 901, νεώρη βόστρυχον. The word χλιδή perhaps marks the luxuriance of the youthful Orestes' locks. Cp. Plat. Phaedo, 89 B, αὔριον δή, ἔφη, ἴσως, ὦ Φαίδων, τὰς καλὰς ταύτας κόμας ἀποκερεῖ.

54. mvp-comment-35-1 'Holding uplifted in our hands the shapely urn with sides of brass.' The Scholiast rightly compares the construction of τύπωμα with ᾐρμένοι to such expressions as πώγωνα καθειμένος, – ἀντὶ τοῦ κεχαλασμένον ἔχων. But he does not observe that in both cases the verb is in the middle voice. τύπωμα is literally, A moulded form.' Cp. Ant. 430, ἐκ δ' εὐκροτήτου .. πρόχου, κ.τ.λ. For χαλκόπλευρον, cp. Aesch. Cho. 686, λέβητος χαλκέου πλευρώματα.

55. mvp-comment-36-1 (1) Which, as I believe (που) you know, is hidden in the brake.' For οἰσθά που, cp. infr. 948, 9, παρουσίαν μὲν λέγων, | οἶσθα καὶ σὺ που φίλων | ὡς. κ.τ.λ. (2) The v. r. μοι for που is also possible. Which I have, as you know, hidden in the brake.' μοι, if genuine, is not dative of the agent, but of remote reference not I have hidden it, but 'I have it hidden.'

56. mvp-comment-37-1 λόγῳ κλέπτοντες] 'Stealing our advance through feigned words.' The participle is equally emphatic with the verb.

57. mvp-comment-38-1 φέρωμεν] The optative cannot be defended here.

59-60. mvp-comment-39-1 The precise construction would be either λυπεῖ.. ὅτε σώζομαι, or λυπήσει . . ὅταν σωθῶ. But as the sentence proceeds the mind of Orestes dwells more than at first on the futurity of the event.

60. mvp-comment-40-1 κἀξενέγκωμαι κλέος] ‘And win renown.' Cp. Od. 1. 298, οἷον κλέος ἔλλαβε δῖος Ορέστης.

61. mvp-comment-41-1 δοκῶ μέν] Cp. infr. 547: О. С. 995, δοκῶ μέν, εἴπερ ζῆν φιλεῖς, κ.τ.λ.: Fr. 83, δοκῶ μέν, οὐδείς: Plato, Meno, 94 C, δοκῶ μέν, ἐβούλετο, Methinks, no word is inauspicious that is accompanied with gain.' Cp. Eur. Hel. 1050 foll. (quoted by Brunck), ΕΛ. βούλει λέγεσθαι, μὴ θανών, τεθνηκέναι; ΜΕΝ. κακὸς μὲν ὄρνις· εἰ δὲ κερδανῶ λέγων, | ἕτοιμός εἰμι μὴ θανών λόγῳ θανείν.

62-66. mvp-comment-42-1 Some such story as that of Aristeas of Proconnesus, Hdt. 4. 13-16, is probably in the mind of the poet, who need not however be accused of the anachronism of making Orestes refer to this or any similar story (as of Pythagoras, Epimenides, Solon, Zaleucus, or Zamolxis). Hermann finds here an allusion to some banished Athenian citizen, who (like the late Lord Brougham) may have ambitiously spread the rumour of his own death.

63. mvp-comment-43-1 μάτην] ‘Without reality. For the pleonasm, see E. on L. § 40. p. 75.

64. mvp-comment-44-1 ἐκτετίμηνται πλέον] ‘Their name stands higher than before.' For this intensive use of the perfect, cp. ἐσπούδακα, τετεύτακα, and similar words.

65-66. mvp-comment-45-1 Even so I, having indeed come to life in consequence of this report, shall yet, I trust, flash like a comet on my foes.' δεδορκότα is used intensively for βλέποντα = ζῶντα, but this natural use of language is assisted by the image of the star. (See L. and S. s. ν. δέρκομαι.) The star of Orestes in the ascendant will be of evil omen to his enemies. Cp. Il. 22. 30, λαμπρότατος μὲν ὅδ᾽ ἐστί, κακὸν δὲ τε σῆμα τέτυκται. For ἔτι meaning 'Hereafter, though not now, cp. infr. 471: Trach. 256, 7, ἢ μὴν τὸν ἀγχιστῆρα τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους | ξὺν παιδὶ καὶ γυναικὶ δουλώσειν ἔτι: Ant. 69: Phil. 1359. Compare with ll. 59-66 the comic words of Falstaff, Shak. I Hen. 4. 5. 4. 120, 'To counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed.'

68. mvp-comment-46-1 Receive me and let me prosper in this my coming. The participle is proleptic. For ταῖσδε ταῖς ὁδοῖς, cp. Ὁ. C. 553, τανῦν θ᾽ ὁδοῖς | ἐν ταῖσδ᾽ ἀκούων μᾶλλον ἐξεπίσταμαι.

70. mvp-comment-47-1 δίκῃ καθαρτής] ‘A rightful purifier.' See E. on L. § 14. р. 20. Ср. Shak. J. C. 2. 1. 180, We shall be called purgers, not murderers.'

72. mvp-comment-48-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἀρχέπλουτον] Sc. καταστήσατε, the positive notion elicited from the negative, -E. on L. § 36. p. 64. (1) But make me the founder of a wealthy line.' This would seem to be the meaning of the compound, according to the analogy of ἀρχέκακος. The word in this sense may possibly be construed with δόμων, 'Beginner of wealth to the house. Others explain it as equal to ἀρχαιόπλουτος, (2) ‘Enjoying ancient wealth. For this, cp. ἀρχεδίκης, Pind. Pyth. 4. 189-195, ἀρχαίαν κομίζων πατρὸς ἐμοῦ βασιλευομέναν | οὐ κατ' αἶσαν .... τιμάν. | πεύθομαι γάρ νιν Πελίαν . . | ἁμετέρων ἀποσυλᾶσαι βιαίως ἀρχεδικᾶν τοκέων.

74. mvp-comment-49-1 τὸ σὸν .. φρουρῆσαι χρέος] 'Go thy way and watchfully execute thy duty.' Lit. Watch thy service,' i. e. perform thy service which requires watchfulness. τὸ σὸν . . χρέος is cognate acc. after φρουρῆσαι, but also in the first instance the subject of μελέσθω, to which φρουρῆσαι is added as an explanatory infinitive.

75. mvp-comment-50-1 καιρὸς γάρ] Sc. ἐστί. For the occasion is here. See E. on L. § 39. p. 72, 1 α.

75-76. mvp-comment-51-1 ὅσπερ, κ.τ.λ.] 'And of all powers that direct men's enterprises, Occasion is chief.'

77-86. mvp-comment-52-1 As the function of the chorus, see Introduction, is to respond to Electra, who gives the principal interest to the play, their entrance is preceded by a monody from her, which draws the sympathy of the spectators to the chief person, and prepares them to enter more fully into the spirit of the action. And-less to whet the purpose of Orestes, than to show his firmness- he is allowed to hear her wailing from within. It is easy to see how this must excite him. But it does not alter his determination to rely upon himself alone. And thus, although for the moment eager to hear more, he yields at once to the counsel of the old man, that nothing should delay the action for which the moment is come. After l. 85, exeunt Orestes, the Paedagogus, and Pylades, leaving the proscenium vacant.

77. mvp-comment-53-1 -------. A paroemiac, consisting wholly of long syllables, like infr. 88, 89, 105, and other lines in the following lament. See the scheme of metres below.

78-79. mvp-comment-54-1 'Methinks there comes from the doors a sound as of some handmaiden moaning within them.' The harshness of the unusual genitive, θυρῶν ='In the direction of the doorway,' 'e regione ostii,' is softened by the addition of ἔνδον, with which θυρῶν is to be resumed. For the genitive of the place from which an object strikes the sense, cp. infr. 900, 1, ἐσχάτης ὁρῶ | πυρᾶς νεώρη βόστρυχον τετμημένον.

81. mvp-comment-55-1 There is no valid objection to the Scholiast's explanation of this as καὶ ἀνακούσωμεν, ‘And let us hear afresh,' or 'hear further.' Hermann prefers καὶ ἐνακούσωμεν. Neither form is found elsewhere, and Nauck conj. κάπακούσωμεν. But, as Prof. Paley observes, this is unnecessary.

82-83. mvp-comment-56-1 μηδὲν πρόσθεν] Sc. ποιώμεθα, which is absorbed in πειρώμεθ᾽ ἔρδειν. κἀπὸ τῶνδ᾽ ἀρχηγετεῖν] ‘And with this rite initiate our act.

84-85. mvp-comment-57-1 ταῦτα γὰρ . . δρωμένων] 'For this brings victory within our grasp, and gives us command over our exploit.' φέρει (sc. ἡμῖν) is to be resumed with κράτος, but ἐφ' ἡμῖν is to be joined to νίκην, as a supplementary predicate. See E. on L. $ 19. p. 29. 4, and § 24. p. 40, 2.

85-86. mvp-comment-58-1 They go all together to perform the libation at the tomb, after which the old man will return to the palace, and Orestes and Pylades will go to the place where they have hidden the urn ( supr. 55). Orestes, in supr. 73, 4, spoke as if the old man was at once to begin his part. But the time is not yet come for this, and, by going to join in the solemn rite at the grave of his old master, he leaves the proscenium vacant for the scenes from l. 86 to l. 659. If we are inclined to quarrel with this long delay, our scruple is pacified by the words ὅταν σε καιρὸς εἰσάγῃ in supr. 39.

86-250. mvp-comment-59-1 In this long lament there are two principal movements, each of which admits of subdivision. First, the monody of Electra, consisting of two anapaestic systems, of which one (ll. 86-102) is retrospective, and the other (ll. 103-120) is prospective. Secondly, there is the commatic parodos :-the chorus on their entrance address Electra with lyric strains, to which she responds also in lyric measures. This movement consists of three strophes and antistrophes. In στρ. and ἀντ. α' (ll. 121-152), the chorus gently, but gloomily, expostulate with Electra, who is inconsolable. In στρ. and ἀντ. β΄ (ll. 153-192), they vainly try to cheer her. In στρ. and ἀντ. γ΄ (ll. 193- 232), they remind her of her past and present troubles, and exhort her not to add to them. All this is followed by a ῥῆσις of Electra (ll. 254-309) in reply to the coryphaeus, who, at l. 324, again speaks to call attention to Chrysothemis' approach.

86-250. mvp-comment-59-2 Metres. The anapaests in 86-120, although for the most part regular are in so far of the freer kind which belong to laments as to admit the spondaic paroemiacs near the commencement of each system in ll. 88, 9, 105, 6, which, with the opening half line, have a strange effect of heaviness and of struggle and pain. The two systems so nearly correspond, both in this respect and in the number of the lines, that one is tempted to believe that the half line that would complete the antistrophic effect has been lost somewhere between 113 and 117. But anapaestic systems are seldom exactly antistrophic, and the pause after the (dactylic) invocation in l. 115 may be intentional.

86-92. mvp-comment-60-1 Electra tells her sorrows to the daylight and to the air of Heaven, as she has told them all night long to her sleepless chamber. The holy light contrasts with the pollutions of the house of Pelops; the illimitable air,- which searches even to earth's remotest corners, and is common to Orestes and herself, both contrasts with the narrowness of her lot, and can alone contain the boundlessness of her grief.

86. mvp-comment-61-1 ὦ φάος ἁγνόν] For the sacred purity of the elements as opposed to the impurity of man, cp. O. T. 1427, 8, τὸ μήτε γῆ μήτ᾿ ὄμβρος ἱρὸς μήτε φῶς προσδέξεται.

87-90. mvp-comment-62-1 ὥς μοι .. αἱμασσομένων] ‘How many tones of my lamenting. how many blows that bruised my bleeding breast, have thrilled you!' στέρνων is objective genitive with πληγάς, but is to be resumed with ἀντήρεις, lit. 'planted firmly against.'

91. mvp-comment-63-1 ὑπολειφθῇ] 'Hath ceased,' lit. 'Has been outrun,' i.e. by the day. Cp. Αj. 672, 3, ἐξίσταται δὲ νυκτὸς αἰανὴς κύκλος | τῇ λευκοπώλῳ φέγγος ἡμέρᾳ φλέγειν.

92-93. mvp-comment-64-1 τὰ δὲ.. οἴκων] ‘And when night comes on, the detested chamber in this weary house knows too well what festive hours I pass.' There is a bitter irony that can hardly be rendered, in using the word παννυχίς, generally a festal celebration, of the sleepless nights of mourning. Cp. Ant. 152, 3, θεῶν δὲ ναοὺς χοροῖς | παννυχίοις πάντας ἐπέλθωμεν, and, for the general sense, cp. Od. 19. 518 foll. ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε Πανδαρέου κούρη, χλωρηΐς ᾿Αηδών, | καλὸν ἀείδῃσιν, ἔαρος νέον ἱσταμένοιο, | δενδρέων ἐν πετάλοισι καθεζομένη πυκινοῖσιν, | ἥ τε θαμὰ τρωπῶσα χέει πολυηχέα φωνήν, | παῖδ᾽ ὀλοφυρομένη Ἴτυλον φίλον, ὅν ποτε χαλκῷ | κτεῖνε δι᾽ ἀφραδίας, κοῦρον Ζήθοιο ἄνακτος· | ὣς καὶ ἐμοὶ δίχα θυμὸς ὀρώρεται ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα. See below, ll. 107, 148, 9. ἤδη contrasts παννυχίδων with what precedes.

95-96. mvp-comment-65-1 Cp. Od. 11. 408-411, where Agamemnon says, οὔτε μ᾿ ἀνάρσιοι ἄνδρες ἐδηλήσαντ᾽ ἐπὶ χέρσου· | ἀλλά μοι Αίγισθος τεύξας θάνατόν τε μόρον τε ἕκτα σὺν οὐλομένῃ ἀλόχῳ, οἰκύνδε καλέσσας, | δειπνίσσας, ὥς τις κατέκτανε βοῦν ἐπὶ φάτνῃ. See below, ll. 203, 4. And for ῎Αρης οὐκ ἐξένισεν, ' War did not give hospitable repose,' cp. Aesch. Cho. 351-3, πολύχωστον ἂν εἶχες | τάφον διαποντίου γᾶς | δώμασιν εὐφόρητον: Ag. 455, ἐχθρὰ δ᾽ ἔχοντας ἔκρυψεν : Verg. Aen. 1. 97, 'Mene Iliacis occumbere campis | Non potuisse.'

98. mvp-comment-66-1 Cp. II. 13. 389, ἤριπε δ', ὡς ὅτε τις δρῦς ἤριπεν, ἢ ἀχερωΐς, | ἠὲ πίτυς βλωθρή, την τ' οὔρεσι τέκτονες ἄνδρες ἐξέταμον πελέκεσσι νεήκεσι, νήϊον εἶναι. But the unfeeling act of the woodman is more prominent in the present passage than the grandeur of the tree.

100-101. mvp-comment-67-1 κοὐδεὶς.. φέρεται] ‘And no pity' (or mourning) 'on account of this goes forth from any one but me.' For the genitive, cp. Ο. Τ. 185, λυγρῶν πόνων ἱκτῆρες ἐπιστενάχουσιν. And for the attraction in the gender of οὐκ ἄλλης, cp. infr. 885, 6, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ τε κοὐκ ἄλλης σαφή | σημεῖ᾿ ἰδοῦσα, κ.τ.λ. For φέρεται, of the utterance of feeling, cp. Pind. Pyth. 1. 170, εἴ τι καὶ φλαῦρον παραιθύσσει, μέγα τοι φέρεται | πὰρ σέθεν.

102. mvp-comment-68-1 αἰκῶς] Although the MSS. agree in ἀδίκως, the Scholiast gives ἀεικῶς as a various reading. And ἀδίκως, which is appropriate in infr. 113, is frigid here.

105. mvp-comment-69-1 Hermann's rejection of the first λεύσσω (see v. rr.) is clearly the best emendation of this passage, which in the MSS. has two long syllables too many. παμφεγγεῖς ῥιπάς] 'The bright tremblings of the stars.' On παν in comp. see Essay on L. § 55. p. 101, 6. φέγγος has a special application to the light of the moon and stars as distinguished from daylight :-Plat. Rep. 6. Ρ. 508 C, ὀφθαλμοί, ὅταν μηκέτι ἐπ᾿ ἐκεῖνά τις αὐτοὺς τρέπῃ ὧν ἂν τὰς χρόας τὸ ἡμερινὸν φῶς ἐπέχῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ὧν νυκτερινὰ φέγγη. For ῥιπή, lit. 'beating' or 'pulsation,' as applied to the twinkling of the stars, cp. Tennyson's 'Beat, happy stars, timing with things below.'

107. mvp-comment-70-1 τεκνολέτειρα] 'That has lost' (or 'slain') 'her child,' viz. Itylus, according to the story followed in the Odyssey, 1. c. (19. 518 foll.) As the song of the nightingale is meant, and not the cry of the bird whose nest is robbed, Ant. 423-5 is not really parallel. The idiomatic use of τις does not prevent the identification of the nightingale with the mythical daughter of Pandion. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 55, 6, ἤ τις ᾿Απόλλων, | ἢ Πάν, ἢ Ζεύς.

107-109. mvp-comment-71-1 But like some Philomela for her son destroyed, I will peal for all to hear a note of lamentation in front of these my father's doors.' ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ is an adverbial expression like ἐπὶ ψόγοισι in Ant. 759. See Essay on L. § 19. p. 27. It implies that the noise that echoed round about the palace was sustained by the force of her impetuous crying. Cp. infr. 241-3, γονέων ἐκτίμους ἴσχουσα πτέρυγας | ὀξυτόνων γόων.

111. mvp-comment-72-1 'Hermes of the Shades' is invoked here as in the Choephori, because he had guided the soul of Agamemnon to Hades and might be expected to guide his Avenger. πότνι' ἀρά] Agamemnon was ἀραῖος to Clytemnestra on account of her crime. Cp. Ó. T. 417, 8, καί σ᾽ ἀμφιπλὴξ μητρός τε καὶ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς | ἐλᾷ ποτ᾽ ἐκ γῆς τῆσδε δεινόπους ἀρά.

112. mvp-comment-73-1 The Erinyes are here invoked in their most general character, and are not named specifically as daughters of Earth and Night, but vaguely as 'children of gods.'

114. mvp-comment-74-1 They are the avengers not only of murder, but of every great breach of law. Cp. Αj. 836, δρώσας πάντα τὰν βροτοῖς πάθη: Aesch. Eum. 895, ΑΘ. (to the Eumenides) ὡς μή τιν' οἶκον εὐθενεῖν ἄνευ σέθεν : ib. 835. And Aegisthus, who is the great offender in Electra's sight, is guilty on both counts of this indictment. Cp. infr. 271, 2, τὴν τελευταίαν ὕβριν τὸν αὐτοφόντην ἡμὶν ἐν κοίτῃ πατρός.

119-120. mvp-comment-75-1 'My single force no longer countervails the stress of woe.' Lit. 'I no longer have strength alone to lift the weight of grief that presses in the opposite scale.'

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Ἠλέκτρα ἰώ μοί μοι δύστηνος.

Παιδαγωγός καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον.

Ὀρέστης ἆρʼ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ἠλέκτρα· θέλεις 80 μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀπακούσωμεν γόων;

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πρὶν οὖν τιν ἀνδρῶν ἐξοδοιπορεῖν στέγης, 20 ξυνάπτετον λόγοισιν· ὡς ἐνταῦθ᾽ *ἴμεν ἐμὲν ἐσμὲν ἴ· μὲν? Μ. Dawes corr., ἵν οὐκέτ᾽ ὀκνεῖν καιρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἔργων ἀκμή.

ΟΡΕΣΤΗΣ.

ἄθλοισι Πυθικοῖσιν ἐκ τροχηλάτων 50 δίφρων κυλισθείς· ὧδ᾽ ὁ μῦθος ἑστάτω.

νὰ δ᾽ ἔξιμεν· καιρὸς γάρ, ὅσπερ ἀνδράσιν ἀνδράσι LA. ἀνδράσιν Γ. μέγιστος ἔργου παντός ἐστ᾽ ἐπιστάτης.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ.

ἰώ μοί μοι ἰώ μοί μοί L. ἰώ μοι μοί Α. δύστηνος.

ΠΑ. καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον. 80

ΟΡ. ἆρ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ηλέκτρα ἠλέκτρα(σ) LL2.; θέλεις μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀνακούσωμεν γόων ;

ΗΛ.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὲν δὴ λήξω θρήνων στυγερῶν τε γόων, 105

καί μοι τὸν ἐμὸν πέμψατ᾿ ἀδελφόν. μούνη γὰρ ἄγειν οὐκ ἔτι σωκῶ λύπης ἀντίρροπον ἄχθος. 120

ΧΟΡΟΣ. στρ. α΄.

OR

ELECTRA

(). Woe for my hapless lot!

OLD M Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came A moaning cry, as of some maid within. 80

OR Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay, And list again the lamentable sound?

OLD M Not so. Before all else begin the attempt To execute Apollo’s sovereign will, Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes 85 Victory ours, and our success assured.

EL

CH

Orestes.

weh, weh mir! (im Hause)

Der Pfleger. Horch! Innerhalb des Hauses wähnt' ich jammernde Wehklagen einer Dienerin zu hören, Kind.

Orestes. War's nicht Elektra? Meinst du nicht, wir sollten noch 80 Verweilen hier und lauschen ihrem Klageruf?

Der Pfleger. Mit nichten. Nichts geschehe, bis wir Loxias' 8 Gebot erfüllten und zuerst dem Vater dort Sein Todtenopfer brachten; denn das sichert uns Den Sieg, verleiht uns hohe Kraft zur schweren That. 85

Oheiliges Licht 9 (Sie gehen ab. Elektra tritt aus dem Palaste.) (allein)

Der Chor.

Orestes ( V)me then, my friends, and ere th' awakened city

Governor Methought a mournful voice Spake from within. Shall we not stay and hearken to it ? 80

Electra My noble friends and partners in affliction,

Who thus, to soothe my sorrows, kindly try Each art which love and friendship can inspire ; Ye come to comfort me, I know ye do. I know my tears are fruitless all and vain ; 90 But, oh ! permit me to indulge my griefs, For I must weep.

Chorus

Orestes

Electra

O miserable me!

Attendant Some female servant with the voice of grief Methinks I hear lamenting in the house. 80

Orestes Is it not rather poor Electra's voice?

Attendant [within. Wilt thou we stay and listen to her moans? That must not be: no deed may we attempt Ere we perform the mandates of the god. Begin with these; and at thy father's tomb 85 Pour the libations: that will give us strength 85 To act, and conquest to our toils ensure.

Electra

Chorus ELECTRA, CHORUS.

Electra ah, me, ah, joyless me!

Paedagogus Listen, my son; from the doors of the house, I think, came the sound of some serving girl moaning inside.

Orestes Can it be my joyless Electra? Shall we remain here and listen to her cries? 80

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Ἠλέκτρα

ἰώ μοί μοι δύστηνος.

Παιδαγωγός

καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς

ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον.

Ὀρέστης

ἆρʼ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ἠλέκτρα· θέλεις
80

μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀπακούσωμεν γόων;

ἄθλοισι Πυθικοῖσιν ἐκ τροχηλάτων
50

δίφρων κυλισθείς· ὧδ᾽ ὁ μῦθος ἑστάτω.

νὰ δ᾽ ἔξιμεν· καιρὸς γάρ, ὅσπερ ἀνδράσιν ἀνδράσι LA. ἀνδράσιν Γ.

μέγιστος ἔργου παντός ἐστ᾽ ἐπιστάτης.

ΠΑ.

καὶ μὴν θυρῶν ἔδοξα προσπόλων τινὸς

ὑποστενούσης ἔνδον αἰσθέσθαι, τέκνον.
80

ΟΡ.

ἆρ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ δύστηνος Ηλέκτρα ἠλέκτρα(σ) LL2.; θέλεις

μείνωμεν αὐτοῦ κἀνακούσωμεν γόων ;

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὲν δὴ

λήξω θρήνων στυγερῶν τε γόων,
105

καί μοι τὸν ἐμὸν πέμψατ᾿ ἀδελφόν.

μούνη γὰρ ἄγειν οὐκ ἔτι σωκῶ

λύπης ἀντίρροπον ἄχθος.
120

ΧΟΡΟΣ.
στρ. α΄.

OLD M

Hark! from the doors, my son, methought there came

A moaning cry, as of some maid within.
80

OR

Can it be poor Electra? Shall we stay,

And list again the lamentable sound?

OLD M

Not so. Before all else begin the attempt

To execute Apollo’s sovereign will,

Pouring libation to thy sire: this makes
85

Victory ours, and our success assured.

weh, weh mir!

(im Hause)

Der Pfleger.

Horch! Innerhalb des Hauses wähnt' ich jammernde

Wehklagen einer Dienerin zu hören, Kind.

Orestes.

War's nicht Elektra? Meinst du nicht, wir sollten noch
80

Verweilen hier und lauschen ihrem Klageruf?

Der Pfleger.

Mit nichten. Nichts geschehe, bis wir Loxias'⁸

Gebot erfüllten und zuerst dem Vater dort

Sein Todtenopfer brachten; denn das sichert uns

Den Sieg, verleiht uns hohe Kraft zur schweren That.
85

Oheiliges Licht⁹

(Sie gehen ab. Elektra tritt aus dem Palaste.) (allein)

Orestes
( V)me then, my friends, and ere th' awakened city

Governor

Methought a mournful voice

Spake from within.

Shall we not stay and hearken to it ?
80

Electra

My noble friends and partners in affliction,

Who thus, to soothe my sorrows, kindly try

Each art which love and friendship can inspire ;

Ye come to comfort me, I know ye do.

I know my tears are fruitless all and vain ;
90

But, oh ! permit me to indulge my griefs,

For I must weep.

Attendant

Some female servant with the voice of grief

Methinks I hear lamenting in the house.
80

Orestes

Is it not rather poor Electra's voice?

Attendant
[within.

Wilt thou we stay and listen to her moans?

That must not be: no deed may we attempt

Ere we perform the mandates of the god.

Begin with these; and at thy father's tomb
85

Pour the libations: that will give us strength
85

To act, and conquest to our toils ensure.

Chorus
ELECTRA, CHORUS.

Electra

ah, me, ah, joyless me!

Paedagogus

Listen, my son; from the doors of the house, I think, came the sound of some serving girl moaning inside.

Orestes

Can it be my joyless Electra? Shall we remain here and listen to her cries?
80