rcsearch is Greek literature, particularly tragedy; she also has a

special interest in the survival of ancient texts and the history of

performance. Her most recent book is Greek and Roman Actors:
Aspects of an Ancient Profession (zooz),which she co-edited with
Edith Hall. She is currently writing a commentary on Sophocles' SOPHOCLES
Oedipus at Colonus for the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics
series, of which she is a general editor.
Electr a and Other Plays
Women of Trachis
Aiax
Electra
Philoctetes

Translated and edited by oavrn RAEBURN

'With
an Introduction by vnr EASTERLING

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 Preface to Electra

THE TRADITION
The essentials of the myth inherited by Sophocles were derived
from Homer and his epic successors, then developed by the Greek
lyric poets and the dramatist's predecessors in tragedy.
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led the expedition to Troy to
recover Helen, the wife of his brother Menelaus, who had eloped
with the Trojan prince Paris. So that his fleet could sail, Agamem-
non was compelled to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the
goddess Artemis. On his return home from the sack of Troy ten
years later, he was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her
lover Aegisthus, who then became the rulers of Mycenae.
Agamemnon's young son, Orestes, had escaped into exile at
the time of his father's death. Grown to manhood, he returned
to Mycenae on the orders of the Delphic oracle, to take revenge
on his father's murderers, first making contact with his unmarried
sister Electra. After killing his mother and Aegisthus, Orestes was
pursued by the Furies to Delphi, where he was purified by the
god Apollo, and then to Athens, where he was tried and acquitted
by a court of citizens.

SYNOPSIS

Electra, one of Agamemnon's surviving daughters, continues to

mourn publicly for her dead father and to pray that her exiled
brother, Orestes, will return home to avenge Agamemnon's
murder. Treated as a slave by the usurpers Clytemnestra and
 ELECTRA rz9
tz8
mother, in the third play (Eurnenides). The chain of crime is
Aegisthus, Electra is contrasted with her sister
Chrysothemis'
life' broken and a solution to the problem of the blood feud is worked
wh"o offers no resistance and so enioys a comfortable
to Argos and the out in the context of the ciry-state, when Orestes is formally tried
in. pi., springs from Orestes' secret return
report of his and acquitted by a court of Athenian citizens. In Aeschylus'grand
execut;n of" c.r.rrirrg stratagem' based on a false conception, human beings learn by their suffering and are able
her lover' Electra' however' is
o*r, J.u,tt, to kill his Lother and to progress to a new kind of justice based on the laws of the
the main action of the
norinitially made aware of this plan, and
polis, which still allow a place to the Furies (now known as
plight and the impact of
;;lt-;;;.erned with her individual Eumenides, or Kindly Ones) in the life of the community.
br.rr.r'trick on her emotions and personality'
!7e do not know for sure whether Sophocles' treatment of the
Orestes myth preceded or followed Euripides' Electra, though
recent scholarship2 tends to favour an earlier date for the
INTERPRETATION Euripides play (about 4zo as against 4r3 for the Sophocles).
mother to avenge Both poets, however, composed their tragedies as single plays
The traditional myth of Orestes, who killed his with a nurnber of formal features in common. Both chose to
excite an
il, f"rh.r, made a perfect subject for a drama that would Athenian concentrate the dramatic action on Orestes' retributive murder
uoai.n." and give it something to think "-b9"t'To the of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, by contrast with Aeschylus'much
of the fifth century nc, justice demanded that crime should
be
good to wider scope. And both assigned the protagonist's role to Orestes'
p.rnirn.a, and the ,ror-"1 basis of morality was to do sister, Electra, whose function and significance are much more
same time' to
i"." fti."ds and harm to one's enemies' At the mother whose limited in Aeschylus' Libation Bearers.
,tr.a,ft. blood of one's own kin, especially the
personal pollution' Euripides was less concerned to explore revenge than matricide
il"ay i"a given one life, entailed appalling
as such. He was evidently repelled by the idea that the god of
ih.'O..r,.", story' therefore' not only had great emotional poten- Delphi, Apollo, could have commanded such a deed from his
disturbing questions about the
,l"i ir, ,h. theatre but also raised '$7e holy oracle. He looks at the mother-murder in human terms and
ethics of retribution in general. are lucky, uniquely in.this
represents Orestes as a reluctant hero driven to this appalling
."r", ,. have inherited contrasting treatments by each of the three deed by a dominating sister whose circumstances have warped
greai tragic poets from Athens in the fifth century Bc' her personality and natural instincts. The murders of Aegisthus
on
The fiist'of these treatments' undoubtedly influential and Clytemnestra are both performed in a discreditable, non-
canvas of the
Sopho.l.r, was by Aeschylus, who used the huge
heroic way, emphasized by the victims each being invested with
;ltgy form in hi, or"rtiiato present the issues in the broadest some redeeming features. The aftermath for both Orestes and
performed in
p-orriUt. perspective. This astonishing work, first Electra is essentially revulsion and remorse. The Furies get a
charac-
'a
5s u i"plor., th. self-defeating and self-perpetuating formal mention in the closing scene, but are given little emotive
",t ltrfhen O-restes
ter of retributive justice based on violent revenge' value. The poignant picture at the end is of a brother and sister,
kills Clytemnestra as a sacred duty, commanded by Apollo' in
it comes as the- previously separated emotionally by their egocentric preoccu-
i-fr. r..""a play of the trilogy (Libation Bearers), pations and now united by their common guilt, being forced by
."'i*t u"d retribution in the house of
;1i-"" of " lorrg chain of
their individual destinies to say farewell and part.
;;;;, going i'ack through two generations' Theagents inexorable
of the Sophocles' treatment of the myth is more elusive and difficult
law is iliat 'iire doer musisuffer" and the divine
known as F'rinyes' to pin down. Indeed; there have been widely differing views of
retaliatory process are the terrifying Furies,
his Electra's moral slant. On the face of it, the issue is quite
*ho themselves hound down Orestes, after he has murdered his
 ELECTRA rjl
rjo
to behave towards her mother
uncomplicated: Orestes plans and executes the killing of
his as she does. In this she is contrasted
of his with her sister Chrysothemis, who is prepared to accept a subor-
mothei with ruthless efficlency, and there is no aftermath dinate position and compromise with the usurpers. By one set of
In
being hounded by the Furies or stricken by frightful remorse' norms, Chrysothemis is behaving'wisely, or ,sensibly, in coming
e.r.iytot and Euripides, the murder of Clytemnestra comes after
to terms with a situation that she has no power to alter, and by
;i";.'f Aegisthus and is presented as the climactic horror, but the same criteria Electra is behaving 'foolishly'. In terms of piery
iopt o.t.t,i"ith his differint emphasis and for his own dramatic to her father, though, Electra is showing the truer ,wisdomi
to
,."'rorrr, ,.u.rr., the order. Looked at superficially' he seems The constant iteration of the retaliation motif suggests that
have reverted to the Homeric account of orestes' revenge in the
Sophocles was less concerned with retribution as a one-moment
Otdyrrry, where it is treated as laudable and final' Hence the euent and more as a continuous process. The recurrent Erinyes
f"rrroor'do.ription of the play by A' W' Schlegel as 'a combin- imagery also carries the implication that revenge is as ruinous to
of -"rriiide and gooJ spirits', which might be paraphrased
"iion its human agenrs as it is to its victims. So while the play's action
as 'matricide without tears'. appears to show Orestes and Electra finally triumphing over their
and
Some modern accounts, however, have looked deeper foes, the tragedy is that, by a hideous irony, they themselves are
found this melodramatic interpretation too simplistic' This
has destroyed morally as the drama progresses.
Electra,unlike Euripides', is not about matricide as such and This is not so obvious in the case of Orestes as he features less
is indubitably the
more to do with revenge in general' Electra prominently than Electra. But we may nore the hard military
hers' Tears
leading character, and Orestes' drama is secondary to tone in which he outlines his murder plan in the prologue and, if
rnla in plenty during the course of the action, and there is the translation's assignment of the dialogue is right, his deliberate
"..
,ro .r.uping the tragic pathos of the whole, the predominant ignoring of the moan from indoors which might have reminded
*ood of sriffering. Indeed, of the three dramatic treatments of him that Electra and her feelings should come into his calcu-
ilr. Ot.*.t myth] this one is arguably not the cheerfullest but
after lations. He cynically rejects the notion that a false report of his
the most orrr.l.rrtingly grim. Orestes may not see the Furies death could be a bad omen for himself, but, by the end of the
the murder, but the-Flries are there at several points in
the play'
implicitly in the theme play, we may feel that there is an ironical sense in which he has
Uoth rp".in.aily in the poetic language and
in Aeschylus' they been dead from the outset in ferms of common humanity. When
of tr"ji. retaliation, *-hi.h is all-pervasive' As
god Apollo, whose authority he eventually meets Electra, he briefly responds to his sister,s
f""trri no less than the Olympian
grief as she weeps over the urn containing his supposed ashes,
also broods over the sinister action' but, once the recognition has taken place, he greets her rapturous
The retaliation motif calls for further elaboration. The picture outpourings with cautious reserve. After he has killed his mother
nature
we are offered by Electra right from the start is of a noble and her lover, his final exit line is blood-chillingly vindictive.
compelled by loyalty to her father to adopt an aggressive.stance
The process of Electra's tragedy is worked out much more
to*"rd, her'moiher'which is impious and excessive. Her lamen- elaborately and is the primary focus of dramatic interest. Much
tation for the dead Agam.*tot is bound to be extended hinges on the point that Orestes does not involve his sister in the
indefinitely while his murderers remain unpunished and- secure plot and leaves her to an extremity of despair under the devastat-
in their .rrorp.d power. Moreover, the vituperation and harsh ing impact of the false news that he has been killed in a chariot
treatment that ilytemnestra and Aegisthus mete out to
her
race. Her practical reaction to this blow is to conceive the crazily
enforce a retaliatory response non-cooperation- and active
of
is aware of unrealistic idea of winning glory by killing Aegisthus single-
defiance. The interesting ihing is that Electra herself handed, if Chrysothemis refuses (as she does) to help her. After
her excess, but sure at the same time that she has no choice but
 ELECTRA ELECTRA rt3
rJz

that, Electra's great speech of mourning over the urn emphasizes

how close to nothingness she feels' When she eventually
realizes STAGING
joy knows no bounds' and
thut Or.rt., ls alive, her contrasting
horrific The skAn7 wiil have represented the palace ar Mycenae, with the
,utiorrulity remaining in her seems lost' The drama's
"li central doorway serving for entrances from and exits into the
climax is her shout to Or.rt.,, at the moment of Clytemnestra's
house. Clytemnestra's covered corpse in the closing scene was
'murder offstage, to strike her mother a second time'
probably shown on a mechanical device known as the ekky-
;;,h. ;;t tiuiul ofElectra, there are passages where Sophocles klAma, which rolled out of the central enrrance on to the acting
,".*, J.iiU.ra;ly to be reminding his audience of his Antigone'3
to the area in front of the sk"An/.
another rrt.o*pio*ising heroine who holds unswervingly
."t.goti."f imperative oi familial piety' Similarly, Chrysothemis'
ethics vividly recall those of Ismene in the earlier
play'
"iitii".i""
ift. n""f intertextual echo of Antigone, though, is the really
DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE
;.lli"; one. In her last lines of an extremely long part'- Electra
i"iit 6t.*.t (by implication) to expose Aegisthus' body to be Sophocles was as original in his dramatization as he was in his
treatment of the inherited myth. As a theatrical experience,
the total
aruor'rr.a Uy til. dogs and vultures' This surely connotes
from Antigone to Creon' she is Electra can be among the most moving of all surviving Greek
loss of her humanity. Degraded
king' Not only has. she tragedies. Paradoxically, for a very large part of the piece, the
*orully annihilated as the Theban
",
consistenily contravened the famous Greek precept of 'nothing plot is at a standstill or else nudged forward by false starrs which
do not come to anything. One critic, G. H. Gellie,s has observed
in u*..rr', ,h. h", also ceased any longer to 'know herself''a
._
that it is only when the male characters are around that anything
ft . view, then, that regards Sophocles as shelving the moral seems to happen; the bulk of the play consists of women in
of ,.u.rrgr ln the oieste, misses the depth and slbtle
"rp* 'toiy argument or lamentation. Yet in performance, the play has an
itJ"y of rftit diJurbingly powerful tragedy' He follows Aeschylus
in exploring the unive-rsai problem o{ revenge, but he is. also'
like organic progression and a quality of suspense that make it
who increasingly absorbing. The opening is strong and upbeat, while
;;ri;id.r, i"nterested in the personalities of the individuals the rapid pace of the final scene is almost unbearably exciting
perpetrate revenge and in what it does to them in the
process'
after the gradual but highly emotional build-up. The central
figure of Electra, in her extremities of love and hatred, grief
CASTING and joy, makes the drama powerfully compelling, and it is not
surprising that the role has atracted several distinguished
first actresses in modern times.
The role of Electra will have been a 'star role' for sophocles'
the character remains on stage' with Overall shape apart, no less remarkable is the poet's masterly
actor. After a solo entrance,
use of tragedy's form and conventions to contribute to the total
;;.;*t short break (48+-gz), until the end of the plav' The
the impact. The rhetoric of the great long speeches is full of strikingly
second actor must lvery inierestingly to us) have combined
tttt third plaved the old
;;;;r ;i otestes and Clvtemnestr"' another intriguing variety
vivid detail and suggests the adversarial atmosphere of the law
courts or a public debate. The false messenger's speech is a tour
llarre, Chrysothemis and Aegisthus'
de force: we are swepr up in the Old Slave's exciting description
of ,oi.r. An additional (mute) actor performed Pylades' Other
Orestes' of Orestes' fatal charibt race while knowing at the same time that
extras were attendants accompanying Clytemnestra and
it is all a pack of lies. Stichomythia, too, is brilliantly employed to
 ELECTRA
:-34
articulate the conflict beftveen Electra's and Chrysothemis' ethi-
."t ,t"napoints and make this vibrantly theatrical' The choral
,orrg, not intrusive interludes, but a crucial part of.the
"..
drata's seamless movement. Their imagery and taut rhythms Characters
l"pror. the mood of the moment, whether sinister or pathetic'
h"lp to bring out the deeper significance of the action' At
"rri
...t"irr.ioittts, So"phocles takes Electra herself into lyric mode to
express the intensity of her sorrow or joy'

NOTES oLD sLAvE, Orestes' tutor

oRESTES, son of Agamemnon
r. It highly likely that the Oresteia was revived at some point
seems
ELECTRA, dawghter of Agamernnon
4zo"s, as Sophocles, Euripides
in the and the comic playwright cHoRUS of women of Mycenae
Lirropn"tt.t evidently their audience's familiarity CHRYS oTHE tttts, Ele ctra's sister
"t*n.ttid
with it. cLvrEMNESrn4 motber of Orestes and Electra
z. A u..y helpful discussion can be found in Jenny March's com- AEGISTHUS, Clytemnestra's second husband
mentary on Electra (Warminster zoor), pp' zr - z' PYLADES, Orestes' friend
See Electra totes 27) 5),7r.
ATTENDANTS
The two precepts were carved on the temple of Apollo atDelphi'
e,pollo is the jod who dominates the divine background to this
play. See Electta note 3'
j. in Sophoclest A Reading (Melbourne r97z)'
 rj7
The time for flinching is past. To action now!
ORESTES:
Good man! The truest of my followers! How well you prove
Your loyalty to us. Like an old thoroughbred warhorse z5
'Sfho
never loses his spirit in the stress of battle,
But keeps his ears pricked up, you urge us on
And lend your own support in the very front line.
Well now,I'll tell you what I've decided. You
Pay careful attention to what I say and put me 1o
Straight if I miss the mark. I7hen I went
Mycenae'l To the Delphic oracle8 to ask precisely how
lscene: Before the royal palace at
I ought to take revenge on my father's murderers,
Apollo made a response which is quickly told: 35
SCENE 11
Not with the migbt of shielded host
Shall Justice see her purpose done.
lEnter oLD sLAVE, oRESTES andnvrtnns) By lone deceit and stealthy craft
OLD SLAVE: Must blood be sbed and uictory won.
Son of Agamemnon, commander-in-chief at Troy, That was the oracle we heard. Let us act accordingly.
Now you are here in personr to see what you always Your role must be to enter the palace here
Longed to see. Look! The land of your dreams, \fhen the right moment takes you in, to reconnoitre
The ancient plain of Argos, the sacred grove The situation and come back to us with a clear report.
Where Io'was plagued by the stinging gadfly' There, Your age and long absence will make you hard to recognize.
Orestes, the forum of Apollo,3 the wolf-killing god' They won't suspect those grey hairs. Spin them a yarn
To the ieft the famous temple of Heta'a The place That you're a stranger from Phocis, sent by Phanoteus, 45
'We
have reached you may call Mycenae,s rich in gold, \7ho happens to be the strongest of their military allies.
IO And here the palace of Atreus,6 rich in blood' Give them the news, with an oath to back it up,
From here, some years ago, when your father was murdered' That Orestes is dead, killed in a fatal accident,
Your sister Electra handed you into my care' Flung from his running chariot at the Pythian Games.e
I carried you off, I saved your life, and then- That's the story you'll tell. And now for us.
I broughi you up as my own' until you reached First, we'll pour libationst0 on my father's grave,
Yoor p"rirne of manhood, to avenge your father's murder' As the god instructed, and crown it with curling locksll
Cut from my head, before we retrace our steps,
r5 So now, Orestes - and you' his faithful friend, Bearing with us the urn of bronze which I think
PyladesT - settle your plan of camp-aign quickly' You also know is lying concealed in the brushwood. 55
Biack night is over, the stars have fled, the sun's Our crafty tale will bring them the glad tidings
Bright ,Jy, waking the birds to their dawn chorus' That my body has been cremated and now consists
Get all your"r.
talking done before any man Of nothing but charrdd remains. What harm does it do me
Ventures abroad. This is the final crossroads' To say I'm dead? None, if the outcome proves
 r38 ELECTRA ELECTRA ri9

6o My real salvation and wins me a glorious prize'l2 ELECTRA'S MONODY15

In my opinion' no word can be a bad omen
If it leads to gain. A false report of death fEnter ELEcTRA from tbe palace.]
Is a trick I'vqoften seen used by clever philosophers' ELECTRA:
They come back home again, and their prestige Holiest sunlight,
65 Is higher than ever. So it will be with me' O sky who enfolds the earth, you've heard
I swJar this news of my death will allow me to live My songs of grief so often,
And shine like a star on my foes in time to come' So often marked the beating
Of blows rained full on my bleeding breast,
Now, earth of my fathers, gods of this land, When the mists of the dark lift in the morning.
'Welcome me home. Grant success to my mission,
Through the nights I have kept my vigil of tears.
You also, house of my fathers. Sent by the gods, My hateful bed in a house of pain
I come in the name of justice to purify you' Is witness to all my laments for my poor
Let me not leave this land dishonoured' May I 'Wretched
father, alas! Far from his homeland
Be lord of my wealth and establish my house anew' Murderous Ares16 refused him a grave.
My own dear mother, she and her mate
Enough of words. It's over to you' old friend' Aegisthus, as woodcutters fell an oak,
Be off, and see to your appointed task' They split his skull with a murderous axe.
'!fe'll io our business' too. It', time. And with men,13
75 And I alone, Father, in sadness
In any operation' time is the great controller' Am left to pour pity upon you,
ELEcTRA lfrom withinl: So sadly, shamefully murdered.
Io moi moil So wretched! But I shall never
OLD SLAVE: End my dirges and bitter laments
Listen! I thought I heard one of the servants \X/hile I still see the twinkling, ro 5

Moaning softly behind the doors, my son' All-radiant stars and the daylight,
8o 'So wretched!' - could it be Electra? Ought we to stay Nor cease to keen like the nightingalelT
Where we are and listen while she laments?14 '$7ho
killed her young, crying my sorrow
ORESTES: To the world here by the royal gateway.
No, no! Apollo's orders first. The proper O hear me, all you gods of the dead,
Start must be libations at my father's grave' Hades, Persephone, Hermes below.18
85 That is the way to victory and to success' O hear me, power of my father's curse,
pvLtnBs by one side entrance' the
lExewnt oRESTES atnd And you, the dread Furiesle of vengeance,
oLD sLAvE bY the other-f 'S7ho
spy the shedding of kindred blood
And robbing of beds in secret lust,
Come to me, succour me, punish my father's
Murder most foul,
And home to my arms send me my brother.
 ELECTRA r47

Alone I am weak, powerless to shoulder Bird who heralds the springtime, crazily,
r20 The heavy load of mY suffering. Constantly moaning for Itys, for Itys.21
O Niober22 queen of sorrows, I count you immortal in
blessedness,
ENTRY OF THE CHORUS2O Tombed in the frozen rock face,
'Weeping
and weeping.
lEnter the cttoxus of Mycenean women'l
CHORUS: lStrophe tl
CHORUS: [Strophe z]
O child, child of a wretchedlY hard You're not the only one,
Mother, Electra, whY are You still Daughter, to know bereavement's pain.
Chanting these insatiable songs of grief, Others are in your house. Your grief exceeds theirs,
Crying for King Agamemnon, godlessly The ones who share your father's blood, who still live,
Caoght in the trap by your mother's own treachery' Yes, your sisters, Chrysothemis and lphianassa.23
Betrayed to death by a wicked hand? So perish the man He lives who is sheltered from sorrow,
Vho d6alt th6t bl6w, if i maY Pt6Y s6' Happily coming to manhood.
ELECTRA: The famous land of Mycenae
Daughters of noble fathers, Soon will welcome him back to his heritage.
You've come to console me in all my misfortunes, The hand of Zeus will guide him home - Orestes!
I know it, I feel it, I see it so clearly' ELECTRA:
But how could I willingly fail in my duty Orestes, ah! I never tire of waiting,
And cease to bewail my ill-fated father? So wretched and so lost - no child, no husband - r65
No, my friends, whose kindness will always give friendship Drenched in my tears and doomed to perpetual
for friendshiP, Misery. Can he remember the wrongs he has
Leave me to mY distractiont Suffered and what he has heard of me? Ifhich of his
Leave me, I beg You. Messages reach me without disappointing me? f7o
He 6lw6ys l6ngs to c6me,
CHORUS: fAntistroPhe rl
But n6ver thinks fit to 6nd his l6nging.
But how, how will dirges and Prayers
Help to summon Your father back, CHORUS: lAntistropbe zl
Up irom the Lake of Death which none escapes? Courage, you must take heart,
No, in your limitless grief you are fatally Daughter. Zeus is still great in heaven.
Parting from reason for pain without remedy' Nothing escapes his watchful eye and strong rule. 175
This sighing offers no release from suffering's chains' Assign to him the fury of your harsh rage.
So whi, whi c6urt such s6nseless Snguish? Curb your anger with those you hate, you need not forget
ELECTRA: them.
None but a fool forgets their Time is a god of healing.
Parents grievously gone to the underworld' The seaboard pastures of Crisa2a r8o
Closer to my sad heart is the nightingale, Harbour your noble brother,
 ELECTRA r43
r42
The shame of your present wretched state,
Son of the great Agamemnon, who cares for you'
Is all of your own making.
So does the god wlo reigns by the river Acheron'2s
Your trials are worse than they need to be.
ELECTRA:
Your sullen soul keeps breeding wars
No, most of my life has trickled past and left me
Which cannot be won. Don't fight with the strong.
Wiihout any hope. All my strength is ebbing'
H6w can y6u come n6ar them?
Wasting to nothing without any children,
ELECTRA:
Needing the sheltering love of a husband'
They must be fought! I'm left no choice.
I work as a slave in the house of my father,
Their crimes dictate my actions.
As though I were iust a contemptible foreigner'
I know my passion all too well,
I we6r m6an sh6bbY cl6thes
But I shan't cease
And 6at st6nding bi mys6lf at m6altimes'
Plaguing them while I live.
ll My dearest sisters, what person of sense
cHoRUS: [Stropbe
Would say you were right? How can I now
That cry on the king's homecoming,
Listen to kind, consoling words?
That pitiful crY at the fatal feast,
Leave me, my comforters, leave me alone,
\fhen the bronze axe struck and felled him down
These knots are never to be untied. 230
And the blood ran down the flagstones'
I'll never find any relief from my sorrows,
It was guile that instructed; the killer was lust'
My dirges cannot be reckoned.
In monstrous union they brought to birth
That monstrous shape, whether mortal or god
CHORUS: IEpodel
Brought their scheme to riPeness'
Dear child, I wish you kindly.
ELECTRA:
Please trust me like a mother.
Of atl the daYs that I ever lived
Your folly's breeding ruin. 235
That was the one most hateful,
ELECTRA: !
That night of horror, night which saw
How can this evil allow moderation?
The monstrous feast
F{ow can it be right to betray the departed?
What did mY father feel
How is it human to be so faithless?
\7hen he saw those two hands looming near -
I want no praise from impious men)
Those hands that have now betrayed me too'
No home with them of quiet ease,
Captured and destroYed mY life?
If noble blood still runs in my veins.
Miy Zeus the great OlYmPian god
Shall I fail my father, stifling my cries,
Exact the punishment they deserve!
Clipping the wings of grief?
Those who committed such wickedness never
Mirst his c6rpse in the grofrnd
Should live to enioy their splendour' 'Wretchedly
waste away,
lAntis*oPhe jl Feebly count for nothing?
CHORUS:
Mfist his killers;gl6ar,
Take care' you've said enough now!
Never to pay with blood for blood?
You must see how your ruinous plight,
 ELECTRA ELECTRA 145

Then death to conscience, Every month to the gods who preserve the city.
And m6n's f6.ar of g6d26 is 6ll forg6tten! And I must watch and wretchedly weep in my room,
Pining, lamenting aloud for the feast obscenely
Held in my father's name - all by myself, 285
SCENE 2'?
As I may not even cry to my heart's content.
This'noble'woman is there to bawl me out
CHORUS LEADER: 'lfith taunts like these: 'You god-forsaken bitch!
Electra, I'm as much concerned for your good
Are you the only daughter whose father's died?
As I am for myself. If what I say is wrong'
Are you the only mourner alive on earth?
You have your way.'We're always there to help' I hope you rot, and pray that the gods below
ELECTRA: '!(ill keep you weeping forever!' So much for her insults
'Women,
all these laments of mine must make -
Except when she hears a rumour saying Orestes
255 Me seem so very embittered. I feel ashamed.
\7ill soon return. That sends her berserk,
I'm forced to do it, though. You must forgive me. And she yells in my face, 'I blame you for this. 295
A woman of noble birth could not act otherwise,
It's all your work. You stole Orestes out of my hands
When she sees the troubles that haunt her father's house
And smuggled him out of Argos. I'll make you pay!'-
Not fading away but growing day and night. Yapping away, and her royal consort is there
Beside her to egg her on in similar vein -
First, there's my mother. For all our natural ties,
'We're That poisonous, gutless coward, who 6ghts his battles
bitter enemies. Next, I have to live
\fith women's help. Oh, I am sick and weary,
In my own house beside my father's murderers.
Weary of waiting for Orestes to come back home
They give me my orders, and it rests with them
And end all this. His never-ending delays
265 Whether I eat or starve. Moreover, what
Have shattered every hope that I might have had.
Do you imagine my days are like when I
In face of this, my friends, what room is there
Can see Aegisthus sitting on my father's throne,
'!(earing the same royal robes and pouring For moderation or respect? With evil all
Around you, nothing but evil is left to do.
270 Libations at the hearth-stone where he killed him?
CHORUS LEADER:
Lastly, I have to witness this crowning outrage:
Electra, is Aegisthus close enough to hear
My father's murderer sharing my father's bed You talking to us? Or is he away from home?
\fith that brazen mother of mine - if it's still proper ELECTRA:
To call the woman who sleeps with him my mother'
'Who He certainly is. I shouldn't be straying out
L75 has the gall to live with that polluting
Of doors if he were at home. He's now in the country.
Criminal and lacks all fear of avenging Furies.28
CHORUS LEADER:
In that case I can speak to you more freely.
Indeed, she appears to exult in her behaviour.
ELECTRA:
She has established the day when she trapped and
He's out. What do you want to know?
murdered
CHORUS LEADER: i
My father, and set it apart for dancing and sacrifice 'Well,
then, your brother what about him?
-
 ELECTRA r47
r46
You'd show your hatred towards these people. But when 350
Is he on his way or still delaYing?
I champion our father, so far from lending a hand,
ELECTRA:
You try to thwart me - cowardice into the bargain!
He says he'll come. But he never does what he says'
Now tell me (or I'll tell you), what good would it do
CHORUS LEADER:
To abandon all this mourning? I still have my life,
tzo A man may hesitate before a heavy task' Not much of a life, I know, but enough for me.
ELECTRA:
By annoying them,l show respect to the dead, t55
f never hesitated when I saved his life.
If the dead can enjoy respect. You'd have me think
CHORUS LEADER:
You hate them, but your hatred's a hollow sham.
He's too noble to let You down.
You're really aiding and abetting your father's murderers.
ELECTRA:
I'd never submit to them, even if they gave me
I trust so, else I shouldn't have lived so long.
All the lovely presents you now enjoy. 360
CHORUS LEADER:
Keep your delicious food and life of luxury!
Say no more now. Here is your sister Chrysothemis -
The only sustenance I need is a clear conscience.
325 She's Agamemnon's daughter as much as your mother's -
I wouldn't want your privileges. Nor would you
Coming out of the palace. Her hands are holding
If you had any sense. Very well. Instead of being known
Grave-offerings ritually paid to the dead. 365
As great Agamemnon's child, you can be called
lEnter cHRYsorHEMrs frorn the palace.l Clytemnestra's daughter. Then people will know the truth:
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
You've betrayed your murdered father and your own family.
Here you are again, holding forth
CHORUS LEADER:
At the palace gateway! Electra, what are you doing?
Stop wrangling, please! You both have more
330 Haven't you learned by now? Your anger's pointless, 370
To gain from listening to each other.
Don't indulge it for nothing. I must admit
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
This situation distresses me too. If only
Electra's tirades are nothing new to me.
I had the strength, I'd show them how I feel.
I'd never have opened my lips if I hadn't heard
J)J But things are bad. It's wiser to trim
my sails,
That serious trouble is on its way. They're going
Not pose as a threat without any power to harm'
To put an end to her lengthy lamentations.
I wish you'd do the same. I know full well 375
ELECTRA:
That right is on your side, but if I want
All right, tell me the worst. If it's more frightful
:.4o To be free, our lords and masters must be obeyed'
Than the trouble I'm in now, I'll hold my tongue.
ELECTRA:
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
Chrysothemis! How can you forget the father 'Well,
I'll tell you all that I know myself.
Whose child you are and only think of your mother?
Their plan is this: if you won't stop lamenting,
All the lectures you've been reading to me
They'll send you where you'll never see the sun,
14s Were written by her. They're not words of your own'
380
Buried alive in a caye across the frontier,
You have to choose: either to be a 'fool' like me'
To chant your miseries there. You'd better think
Or else to be 'wise' and forget your proper family'
About it carefully. Don't blame me when you suffer
You said just now that if you could find the strength'
 E LECTRA
ELECTRA
r48
ELECTRA:
sensible now' No! I hoPe I'm never so foolish!
Later on. You need to be
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
to do with me? Very well, I'll go, on the way I was sent'
.Bs ;;;;;;;*theY've Planned
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
for?
is' As soon as Aegisthus
returns' \r;;;;. you off to? Vho are those offerings
i, ..t,"mfy
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
"ljfrigt grave'
r, let him come' the sooner
the better' if,.y't.ftntther's libations for our father's
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
She's sending libations to
her deadliest enemv?
Electra! How can You PraY
for that? il;;;;;
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
;;;;-;t*e, if that's what he means to do' il;;; th. killed - that's what vou really meant'
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
told her to do it?
\(hat do you want to happen?
You're mad! \(ho put the idea in her mind? \(ho
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
dream'
I want to escaPe' awaY from You
all' I tbink she was distressed bY a frightening
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
now - at last!
;j;;;;;;;' care for the life You have? Gods of our fathers, be with us
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
a sPlendid life that is! #;;;;;r"gtd btt"ose vou know she's frightened?
Ot, *tt"t
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
you'
It would be so if You knew
any sense' O.r.riU. the dream, and then I'll tell
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
"o.";ii.".tt me how to betray my
friends! I only know a very little ' ' '
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ELECTRA:
I'm onlY saYing give in when You're
beaten'
i"tt t.ff me that. One littleuPword
for good'
ELECTRA: Can floor or set a Person
mY way'
You can grovel' That's not CHRYSOTHEMIS:
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ii"y,"y she saw our father beside her again'
At least it's better than falling
through folly' R;;;t;;e life. He then took hold of the staff
to
;;;;1;.arrY and now Aegisthus wields'
ELECTRA: up
must, for mv father's sake' o"J"f"""a it on the hearth' This sprouted
i'"rr?iiiir
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ffi;t.*;;; h"t branch whichI overshadowed
learned.
4oo F"th., will forgive
us' I know' it, i'nof" of Mycenae' So much revealed ber dream
ELECTRA: From someone present when she
"o1'1;;;t*"rd would talk like that' all l know' except
i;;h. god of the Sun' That's enough to send me out'2e
CHRYSOTHEMIS: That our mother's fttgfttt"ta
g"i *."'t You listen to
mY advtce?
 r50 ELECTRA

ELECTRA: But quickly done. I'll go about it now.

43r Chrysothemis, don't put any one of these things But please, my friends, you mustn't give me away.
On our father's grave. No man or god would approve. If Mother finds out, I'll live to regret my boldness. 47o
Funeral offerings and libations for him [Erir cHnvsorHEMrs by a side entrance.f
Coming from her, his hateful enemy? No,
Cast them out to the winds, or dig a trench CHORAL SONG 13'
435 And hide them deep in the earth where none can reach
Our father's resting place. Let them be buried CHORUS:
Treasure, stored in Hades for her own funeral. 6h my 6uguring soul! Wh6t can it m6an? lstrophel
She must be the most hard-bitten woman alive! Unless my judgement is all awry,
How else could she be trying to crown the grave
Jirstice s6nt this dire dr6am, 47 j
Of the man she killed with these malignant offerings? And she'll be here, triumphantly bearing spoils of right.
Do you imagine his buried corpse will take She'll h6und them d6wn. S6on, my child, they'll p6y the
Such tributes kindly? She killed him without respect price.
445 Like an enemy, butchered his limbs3o and washed the blood I f6el it n6w. C6urage
From her sword by smearing it on to her victim's head. Swells in my heart to hear this 48o
You can't suppose these gifts can atone for her guilt. Sweetly breathing spell of dreams.
They won't. Leave them alone. Instead, Chrysothemis, Can h6 forg6t? He n6ver sh6ll, that gr'eatl6rd, king of
Offer a few strands cut from the ends of your hair, Gr6ece.
450 And from poor me - not much of a gift' but still The 6ncient w6apon thr6atens still, that br6nze-f6rged, +8s
It's all I have - this prayer of a lock and plain tw6-edged 6xe
Unjewelled girdle. Then kneel on the ground and pray 'Sfhich
cruelly dealt that ruthless, shameful, murderous blow.
That he himself will come from the world below
And graciously champion us against our foes; N6ar now! Tr6mping of feet, p6ising of h6nds! lAntistrophel
455 And pray that his son Orestes gains the upper That fearsome Fury32 who lurks in wait, oi"
Hand and lives to trample upon his enemiesl V6ngeance 6rmed with br6nze cl6ws!
So that hereafter we may crown his grave Those frenzied sinners rushed to a union stained with
With richer gifts than those we now accord him. blood
I think, indeed I think that be was minded And st6eped in guilt, cirrsed in l6ve and cirrsed in b6d.
460 To send her this ugly dream. Be it so or not' And s6, be sfire, c6urage! 4e5
Chrysothemis, do this service to help yourself, Never, oh, never shall we
Do it to help me, do it to help the dear, dear See this portent fail to strike
Father of us both, who lies in the house of Hades. That killer and h6r acc6mplice. if this night-s6nt, gh6stly
CHORUS LEADER:
sight
Your sister's right. You know where your duty lies. Comes n6t to dire fulfilment, th6n my s6ul's d6ep 6ye is 5oo
465 I'm sure you'Il have the sense to follow her lead. blind;
CHRYSOTHEMIS: All ominous drebms are vain, all oracles empty words.
I will. Duty is not to be argued over,
 r5z ELECTRA r5i
When P6lops33 in past 6ges lEpodel To help the Greeks? But they enjoyed no right
Won the rdce with his ch6riot, To kill a daughter of mine. Or did he kill
'What My child to help his brother Menelaus?
n6ver-ending s6rrow
Strirck this ldnd! In that case, didn't he owe me some satisfaction?
'When Menelaus had two children of his own. Their lives
Mirtilus, his h6lper,
'!fas dr6wned beneath the 6cean Should have been forfeit first, because they belonged
5ro Tossed h6adlong from his ch6riot, To him and to Helen, for whom the war was fought.
He cfrsed the race of P6lops Or was it that Hades had some strange desire
And died in great 6nguish. To glut his belly on my children rather than hers?
Since that d6y Perhaps Agamemnon had now transferred his love
This p6lace has been h6unted To his brother's children and lost all interest in mine?
By s(rffering and 6nguish. What a perverse and callous father that would make him!

That's how I see it, even if you disagree.

SCENE 334 Iphigenia would say the same if she
Could speak for herself. No, for my own part,
lEnter cLYTEMNESTne with an attendant from the palace.] I view the past with no misgivings at all.
CLYTEMNESTRA:
You may believe I'm wrong, but do make sure
Out and about again, it seems, and off the leash! You're right yourself before you criticize others.
Aegisthus isn't at home to keep you under control
ELECTRA:
And stop you shaming your family out of doors. This time you shan't maintain you made this offensive
As he's away, you won't take any notice
Speech of yours because I attacked you first.
520 Of me - although you've often said in public With your permission, might I straighten the record
That I'm a harsh and oppressive tyrant who treats In my dead father's defence and my sister's too? 555
Both you and yours with insolent disregard.
CLYTEMNESTRA:
Insolent I am not. If I curse you, You certainly may. I wish you always began
It's due to the taunts you're always hurling at me. In a tone like that. You'd be a pleasure to listen to.
ELECTRA]
525 Your constant pretext is simply this: I killed Very well, then, listen. You say you killed my father.
Your father. Yes, I did. I'm well aware of that Vhat admission could be more shameful than that,
And won't pretend to deny it. Justice determined Ifhether or not justice was on your side? s60
His death; I wasn't alone. And you should have taken I put it to you, it wasn't justice that drove
The side of Justice, if you'd had any sense.
You to kill him. No, you were seduced by the evil man
530 Listen! This father of yours whom you're always lamenting '$fho
is now your partner. Ask Artemis, the hunter
Committed the most barbaric crime: he sacrificed
Goddess, why she becalmed the fleet at Aulis,
Your sister3s to the gods. Iphigenia's birth
As none of the winds would blow. What was she punishing?
Never cost him the pains of labour that I went through. I'll give you the answer. \7e can't cross-question ,er. 565
Very well; Now answer this question. Why did he sacrifice her?
 r54 ELECTRA

My father, as I've been told, was out on a hunt Escaped your clutches, what an abysmal life
In Artemis' sacred grove, when his footfall startled He leads! You've often accused me of bringing him up
A dappled stag from its covert. After he'd shot it, To be your avenger. Yes, if I'd had the strength,
He accidentally let fall some boastful words. I'd have done it, you can be sure. Denounce me for that 6o5

s70 This made the goddess angry, and so she held To the world. Call me whatever names you choose:
The Greek fleet up, to make my father atone Disloyal, loud-mouthed, totally lacking in shame
For the stag by sacrificing his daughter. Or respect! If such behaviour reflects my nature,
That's how it occurred. It was the only solution. The world can say, 'She takes after her mother'!
The ships couldn't sail back home or across to Troy. cHoRUS LEADER [/o nrrcrne]:
575 He sacrificed Iphigenia36 under compulsion; I see she's fuming with anger. She looks to me
'Sfith great reluctance. It wasn't for Menelaus. No longer concerned whether she's in the right.
CLYTEMNESTRA:
'ttr7hy
Even if it were true, as you maintain, should I feel any concern for her
That he did it to help his brother, did that entitle When she has hurled these insults against her mother?
You to murder him? What was your iustification? She's old enough to know better. Utterly shameless!
580 Blood for blood,37I suppose. But by laying down Don't you believe she'd stoop to anything?
That law, aren't you making a rod for your own back? ELECTRA:
In all fairness, you'd be the next to die. Let me assure you, however it looks to you,
I am ashamed of my actions and very aware
Look now, isn't your pretext entirely specious? Of being untrue to myself. But your hostility
585 Be kind enough to explain the motive behind And cruel treatment force this behaviour on me.
The crowning scandal of your present conduct - Shameful ways are learned by shameful example.3s
Sleeping with the assassin whose help you engaged CLYTEMNESTRA:
To murder my father, and having children by him, You impudent creature! I'm to blame, I suppose.
Ousting the lawful offspring of your previous My words and actions inspire your long tirades.
590 Legitimate union. How could I accept that? ELECTRA:
Or will you agree that this was another way The speeches are yours, not mine. It's you
Of avenging Iphigenia? If that's what you're honestly Who perform the actions, and they discover the words.
Saying, it couldn't be more disgraceful. You don't CLYTEMNESTRA:
Avenge a daughter by marrying one of your enemies. I swear by Artemis,3e you'll pay for this insolence
As soon as Aegisthus comes home.
595 But I'm not even allowed to speak my mind' ELECTRA:
You're constantly sounding off that I'm bad-mouthing You see?
My mother. In fact, I reckon you treat me more You gave me permission to speak my mind
As a mistress would than a mother. I lead such a wretched And are now too furious even to listen.
Life, continually bullied by you and your paramour. CLYTEMNESTRA:
As for your exiled son Orestes, who barely Won't you allow me just to offer sacrifice
 r56 EI,ECTRA r57

Undisturbed? IIet you get to the end. OLD SLAVE:

ELECTRA: Women of Argos, would I be right in thinking
By all means, carry on! Sacrifice away! That this is King Aegisthus' palace?
I shan't interrupt. My lips are locked. CHORUS LEADER:
cLYTEMNESTnI [ro the attendant]: It is, sir. Your guess is correct.
Lift up my sacrifice of fruit, that I may offer OLD SLAVE:
6ts Prayers to Apollo at his altar here Am I also right in supposing this lady
For deliverance from my present fears. To be his wife? She bears herself like a queen.
Phoebus Apollo, thou my defender, CHORUS LEADER:
Hear my secret prayer. Perfectly right. You can speak to her here. 66s

No friends are here beside me, OLD SLAVE:

Nor is it right and proper Good morning, my lady. I am the bearer of news,
To unfold all to the light Good news, from a friend, to you and Aegisthus.
'sfhile CLYTEMNESTRA:
64o sbe is standing near,
Lest with her spiteful, chattering tongue That is an excellent omen. But first
She sow the seeds of reckless rumour Tell me who sent you here.
Through all the city. So hear me thus, OLD SLAVE:
For only thus can I speak. Phanoteus of Phocis - with an important message. 67o
These visions that came to me last night, CLYTEMNESTRA:
'$7hat
6+s These doubtful dreams, Lycean Lord, is it, sir? Tell me. I'm sure your news
If they boded good, grant them fulfilment; Will be as welcome as our friend himself.
If evil, let them rebound on my foes. OLD SLAVE:
If any by craft would steal the wealth Orestes is dead. That is all.
That I now enjoy, let it not be. ELECTRA:
Vouchsafe me always to live as I am, Orestes dead! This is the death of mel
65o rJ(ith life unharmed, to govern the house CLYTEMNESTRA:
Of Atreus' sons and all this realm, What, what are your saying, sir? Don't listen to her. 675

To dwell in prosperous joy with the friends OLD SLAVE:

I love, who presently share my home, I'll say it again: Orestes has been killed.
And with those of my children who bear ELECTRA:
'$7hat
No malice against me nor cause me pain. Killed? Oh god! can I live for now?
o)) These prayers, Lycean Apollo, graciously hear CLYTEMNESTRA:
And grant us our humble requests. You keep out of the way! Don't mind about her.
For the rest, thou art a god and surely I must have the truth, sir. How was he killed?
Knowest it all, though I be silent. OLD SLAVE:
All things must needs be seen by the sons of Zeus. They sent me to tell the truth, and I'll tell it all.
lEnter the oro sLAVE from a side entrance.] Orestes went to Delphi, to compete in the great
 r58 ELECTRA r59

Panhellenic festival, the Pythian Games. ;;:. orestes came to the turning poinr,al
The first event was the foot-race. As soon as he heard He'd almost graze his axle against it, giving rein
The herald's loud announcement, Orestes made To his right-hand trace horse and checking the one on the
685 A magnificent entrance on to the course and took left.
The spectators' breath away. He finished the race To start with, all the chariots flew safely on.
As well as he started, emerging victorious and bearing But then the Aenian driver's unruly colts
The prize of honour. To cut a long story short' Started to bolt just after they rounded the bend
I've never known a man with such an amazing Between the seventh and eighth laps, and then collided
69o Run of success. One thing's for sure: Head on with the Libyan team. Further disasters
'lfhatever Followed, as one car crashed and smashed into
events the games officials announced,
He walked away with the prizes in every one, Another, until the whole Crisaean racecourse
'Sfas
Receiving the acclamation of the crowd strewn with the debris of shipwrecked chariots.
As his name and city were called: Orestes of Argos,
6gs Son of Agamemnon, Supreme Commander of Greece' Observing this, the Athenian driver craftily
Drew his horses aside and rode at anchor,
So far, so good. But when a god is purposing Allowing the surge of horses to pass him by
Mischief, no man can escape, however strong. As they swirled around in the middle. Orestes was driving
Another day Orestes entered the chariot race, In last position, holding his horses back
Scheduled for sunrise. Of the many other competitors' And pinning his hopes on a final spurr. At last,
'S7hen
One was Achaean, another from Sparta, two were he saw he'd only one competitor left,
Charioteers from Libya. Then came Orestes He sent a sharp yell ringing through rhe ears
As number five with a team of Thessalian horses,ao Of his nimble steeds, and off they shot in pursuit.
Number six an Aetolian with chestnut mares' The drivers drew level, and now they were neck and neck,
Seven a man from Magnesia, eight an Aenian Each taking the lead in turns by the shortesr of heads. 740
I(ith white horses, nine from god-built Athens' I

Lastly a Boeotian to make the full complement of ten. They were on the last lap! Orestes, unlucky man,
Lots were drawn, and they all stationed their chariots Had survived all the others without mishap to himself
'sfhere Or his chariot. But then, as his team was rounding the bend,
7ro the officials ordered. Then, at the sound
Of the bronze trumpet, they were off, with a loud yell He slackened his left-hand rein and accidentally
At the horses and shaking their reins. The whole course Struck the edge of the pillar. The axle-box
rang lfas shattered in two, and he tumbled over the rail.
'S(ith The reins got tangled round him, and as he fell
the din of clattering chariots' The dust flew up
7r5 As all in a confused mass struck their teams To the ground, his colts dashed wildly across the course.
With their goads unsparingly' hoping to overtake When the crowd realized the young Orestes was thrown
The wheels and snorting steeds of the car ahead. From his chariot, a loud cry of horror went up.
They could feel the horses' breath blasting behind To follow such successes with such a disaster!
Their backs, as the foam bespattered their spinning wheels. There he was, now forcibly dashed to the ground,
Now kicking his heels to the sky, until the other
 r60 ELECTRA x6r

Charioteers managed at last to bring ;;;;t- and or her. She was the sreater
His runaway horses under control and cut Menace, sharing my home and constantly sucking 785

755 Him free, so covered with blood' that none of his comrades My life-blood.a2 Now, I believe, her threats are empty,
Could have identified his mangled body. And I can enjoy my days in peace.
They burned his corpse on a pyre at once. And now ELECTRA:
A detail of Phocians is bearing that mighty frame, Oh, I am wretched! Now I can well lament,
Reduced to pitiful dust, in a small bronze urn, Orestes, for your sad fate. You're dead, and all
76o So he can be duly interred in his native soil. Your mother can do is gloat. Can this be right?
CLYTEMNESTRA:
That is my story, madam, painful enough All's right with him - but not with you!
To hear, but for those of us who were there to see it - ELECTRA:
'Well, Nemesis,a3 hear, and avenge my brother!
l was never witness to such a calamity.
CHORUS LEADER: CLYTEMNESTRA:
And so the royal house of Argos Nemesis has passed the correct sentence.
Is now, it seems, cut down at the roots. ELECTRA:
z6s
CLYTEMNESTRA: Mock on! Enjoy your moment of triumph.
O Zeus! Can I call this happy news CLYTEMNESTRA:
Or sad, though good? It must be sad IThy don't you and Orestes stop me? 795
Vhen I pay so dear to save mY life. ELECTRA:
OLD SLAVE: No stopping you. It's we who are finished.
My lady, you're looking distressed. How so? CLYTEMNESTRA:
CLYTEMNESTRA: Good, sir, if your arrival has really curbed
Motherhood is a strange thing. No wrong Her noisy tongue, you deserve a great reward.
Can make you hate the child you've borne. OLD SLAVE:
OLD SLAVE: If all is in order, I'd like to take my leave.
It seems my journey was all in vain. CLYTEMNESTRA:
CLYTEMNESTRA: I can't let you go like this. I shouldn't be doing
775 No, not in vain. How can you say in vain? My duty by you or the friend who sent you.
You've come to me with proofs that he is dead, Please come indoors. And leave Electra outside
Dead, the son born of my own bodY, To moan away for herself - and her poor lost brother!
'Sfho lExeunt cLYTEMNESTRA, her attendant and the oto SLAVE
tore himself from my nurturing breast for exile
In a foreign land. Once he left this country into the palace.l
He never saw me again. He only accused me ELECTRA:
Of killing his father and sent me terrible threats. You see? There is maternal grief for you! 8o5

78o Sleep never wrapped me up in its soothing mantle, Her son is dead. What pain she shows, how bitterly
Night or day. From moment to endless moment' She weeps and wails for him - the wretched woman!
My life dragged on under the shadow of death. She's gone, laughing in triumph. Oh, Orestes!
But now, today, I am free, free from fear, Belovdd Orestes, your death has destroyed me too.
 16z. ELECTRA r63
"tt"i"u
I thought you'd live and one day come back home at me now w'sting away. 8rs
8ro To avenge your father and champion me. Those were Tr6mple me no firrther!
The only hopes left in my heart, and now
You've wrested them all away. Where can I turn? CHORUS: [Antistrophe r]
IJflithout my father and you I'm quite alone. Lord Amphiarilusa6
It's back to my life as a slave to those I hate, Was ent6ngled through a n6cklace
8r5 Hate the most in the world - my father's murderers! To be br6ught low by a w6man,
Tell me, can it be right? Still, I'll never, But n6w in all his p6wers
Never set foot in that hateful house again. ELECTRA:
Here by the gates, I'll sink to the ground and wither Eeiol 84o
8zo My days away unloved. If that annoys them, CHORUS:
Let them come out and kill me. They'd do me a He rfiles down in H6des.
kindness. ELECTRA:
Life can be only pain. Far better to die. Woe!
CHORUS:
S(rrely, for the m(rrderers
LAMENT FOR ELECTRA \rITH CHORUS44
ELECTRA:
'Were
destr6yed.
CHORUS: [Stophe t]
CHORUS:
Oh, whdre is the lightning
Yes!
Of Zeus? \7h6re now are the bright beams ELECTRA:
8r5 Of the sirn god? Do they s6e this
I kn6w it, be sure. S6on there appeared 8+s
Lnd bide it reglrdless?
One to exact v6ngeance for him.
ELECTRA:
Mi hope is gone, 6ll that I had
E e aiai!
Sw6pt right away, v6nished!
CHORUS:
My child, why this w6eping?
CHORUS: fStrophe z]
ELECTRA:
'S7oe! Unh6ppy girl: unh6ppy f6tel
ELECTRA:
CHORUS:
I kn6w it w6ll, kn6w it too sfirely. 8Jo
Quiet! No desp6iring. My tirrbid life, month lfter m6nth
ELECTRA:
Of cr0el pain has ta0ght me.
83o You'll destr6y [ttt"].ot
CHORUS:
CHORUS:
Y6s, we have s6en your grief.
How?
ELECTRA:
ELECTRA:
L6ave me, then, l6ave me, don't
He's g6ne to the dead, g6ne without doubt.
C6mfort me n6w, when lll . . .
Off.r -. no h6pe any more.
 r64 ELECTRA 165

CHORUS: Fun of your own misfortunes and mine?

8ss When 6ll? CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: I swear by our father's sacred hearth,
My h6pes are l6st, the 6nly relief that I h6d, I'm perfectly serious. Orestes is here.
L6st with my n6ble br6ther. ELECTRA:
Oh god! Just who on earth has told you
CHORUS: lAntistrophe zl This story? \il7hat makes you so terribly sure?
Death c6mes to 6ll mankind alike. CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: It isn't a rumour. Surely my eyes 88s
Must 6ll be killed, tr6mpled by h6rses Can be trusted. The visible proof is there.
And drigged al6ng by t6ngled r6ins ELECTRA:
On a r6cecourse, like Or6stes? The visible proof? What have your eyes seen
CHORUS: To make you so feverishly excited?
Wh6n was a d6om so h6rsh? CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: For god's sake, listen to what I tell you.
865 H6rsh indeed! B(rried in Then you can call me sane ot crazy. 89o
Ahen 6arth, withoirt . . . ELECTRA:
CHORUS: All right, tell me, if it gives you any pleasure.
Papail CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: This is what I actually saw, Electra.
'When
My t6uch to t6nd him, r6ady to l6y him to r6st, I arrived at the family burial vaulr,
87o R6ady to m6urn his p6ssing. I noticed some fresh libations of milk spilling
Over the side of the mound, and our father's grave 89s
Wreathed with garlands of every kind of flower.
SCENE 44?
The sight gave me a shock and I glanced around
To assure myself that no one was there to watch.
[Enter cHnvs orHnivlr s.] The place appeared to be perfectly quiet and still,
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
So I crept up nearer the grave. There on the edge,
Dearest Electra, look! I'm so happy.
I spotted a lock of hair, newly cut off.
I've run in quite undignified haste to tell you.
As soon as my eyes fell on it, a familiar face
All your troubles are over. I've wonderful news!
Flashed in front of my mind. This had to be a sign,
ELECTRA:
A sign of our dear beloved brother Orestes.
8ts You? \il7here could you find a remedy
As I took it up, tears of happiness sprang
For pain like mine? No cure exists.
To my eyes, though I managed to keep a reverent silence.
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
Orestes is back! You can take my word.
I know it now, as I was sure at the time,
It's plainas plain, as you see me here.
This loving tribute can only have come from him.
ELECTRA: 'Who
else could do it, apart from you and from me?
Have you gone crazy? Or are you making
 r66 ELECTRA r67

9ro I didn't, I'm perfectly certain. Neither did you. ELECTRA:

You can't leave the house to go to the temple That's how it is. But if you'll listen to me,
Without getting into trouble. And Mother could never You can help to lighten our load of suffering.
9r5 Do it unnoticed, nor would she ever want to. CHRYSOTHEMIS:
No, these offerings must have come from Orestes. By bringing the dead to life again?
Now, my dear, take heart! Fortune never ELECTRA:
Stands still for ever. Ours has been cruel till now. No, no! I'm not as stupid as that.
Today perhaps will mark a change for the better. CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: \fhat do you want, then, that l can promise?
'What
920 a fool you are! I pity you. ELECTRA:
CHRYSOTHEMIS: You must have the courage to do as I tell you.
Pity me? Aren't you pleased by my news? CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRA: I shan't say no, if it's any use.
You're simply dreaming. You haven't the first idea. ELECTRA:
CHRYSOTHEMIS: Remember, sister: no pain, no gain.
Surely I know what I saw with my own eyes? CHRYSOTHEMIS:
ELECTRAT All right, I'll help as best as I can.
He's dead, dear girl! Don't look to him ELECTRA:
9L\ To rescue us now. Our hopes are gone. Very well, listen. This is how I've decided.
CHRYSOTHEMIS: When it comes to friends, you know as well as I
Oh, no! Who told you that? That we haven't one left. Death has swept them all
ELECTRA: Away, and the two of us are now on our own. 950
A man who was with him when he died. So long as I still had word that our brother Orestes
CHRYSOTHEMIS: ITas alive and well, I went on hoping that he
'$fhere's
the man now? I'm so bewildered! 'Sfould
one day come to avenge his father's murder. ,t

ELECTRA: But now that he's gone for good, I'm looking to you. 955
Indoors with Mother - a welcome guest! You mustn't flinch. Your sister needs your help
CHRYSOTHEMIS: To kill Aegisthus - the man who perpetrated
930 Oh god! Then who on earth could have laid Our father's murder. No secrets between us now.
AII those offerings on Father's grave? \7here will inaction get you? What can you still
ELECTRA: Look forward to? Only resentment in being deprived
If you ask me, they're for Orestes. Probably Of your father's heritage. Only the pain of growing
Gifts that someone put there in his memory. Old without the blessings of love or marriage.
CHRYSOTHEMIS: Those joys are nothing more than a forlorn hope.
And there was I, joyfully rushing along Aegisthus isn't foolish enough to allow
935 To break the marvellous news, without the slightest A son of yours - or a son of mine - to grow 96s
Idea of our tragic plight. Now that I've come, To manhood and so to ensure his own destruction.
I find our troubles are even worse than before! No, if you'll fall in with my proposal,
 r68 ELECTRA 169

First you will merit praise for filial devotion .s,

From your murdered father below and your brother too. 'We can only make a bad situation worse.
e7o Second, the freedom which is your birthright will be Your plan won't set us free, nor does it help roo5
Acknowledged forever after, and you'll achieve To win renown, but die an inglorious death.
The marriage that you deserve - everyone looks Moreover, dying isn't so terrible, only
To make a good match. 'Wanting
to die under torture, but staying alive.
Please, please think calmly before you destroy us both
Then think of what people will say, And plunge the house into ruin and desolation. IOIO
If you follow my plan. What glory you'll win for yourself For myself, I promise not to give you away,
e7s And for me! When our fellow-townsmen or strangers see us, But I want no part in your plan. As for you,
They'll all acclaim us with words of praise like these: Do show some sense, late in the day as it is.
'Just take a look at those two sisters, friends. You're powerless. They're on top. Give in.
They rescued their father's house. They gallantly shed CHORUS LEADER:
The blood of their foes, who were standing proud at the time, Do listen. The most precious of human ror 5
e8o \Tithout a thought for their own dear lives. Such women Gifts are forethought and common sense.
. Deserve our love, deserve our admiration, ELECTRA:
Deserve our honour on festal and public occasions Exactly what I expected! I always knew
For their great courage.' That's how the world will describe us. That you'd reject my proposal out of hand.
s8J In life and death our glory shall never fade. r0flell, it's over to me. I must act alone.
I cannot allow this task to be left undone. ro20
Chrysothemis, please say yes. Work with me to serve CHRYSOTHEMIS:
Our father, to please our brother. Save me and yourself Electra!
From all our misery. Always remember this: I wish your resolution had been as strong
It shames a noble nature to live in shame. \When Father was being killed. You'd have thwarted the crime!
CHORUS LEADER: ELECTRA:
eeo In cases like this, a little forethought The strength was there, but I was less wise then.
Can help both sides in the argument. CHRYSOTHEMIS:
CHRYSOTHEMIS: NThy can't you stay 'less wise' now and for good?
Yes, women, if Electra had any sense at all, ELECTRA:
She wouldn't have thrown all caution to the winds Don't lecture me. You're not prepared to help. toz5
ee5 Before giving tongue. What are you trying to do? CHRYSOTHEMIS:
Why are you putting on this audacious front I'm not, as this attempt is bound to fail.
And calling on me to follow? Don't you see? ELECTRA:
You're not a man, but a woman. You haven't the strength I envy you your 'sense', but loathe your cowardice.
To conquer your foes. Their star is rising daily, CHRYSOTHEMIS:
rooo I7hile our fortunes are ebbing away to nothing. I shan't reproach you when you say I'm right.
ITho could plot to murder a man as strong ELECTRA: i
As Aegisthus and then emerge from the fray unscathed? I say you're right? That's inconceivable.
 r70 E LECTRA

(:ilRYS()1'trliMIS: ELECTRA:
r o ro 'I'hcre's plenty of time to run. We'll wait and see. My mind was made up many moons ago.a8 ro49
ELECTRA: CHRYSOTHEMIS:
You're not prepared to help, so go! !7ell, if you think there's any sense in what ro5 5
CHRYSOTHEMIS: You're doing, you think thatway. V7hen trouble strikes
I am. You're not prepared to learn. And you can't escape, you'll say my advice was right.
ELECTRA:
[Erit cnnvsorHEMrs into the palace.]
Run off and tell on me to Mother!
CHRYSOTHEMIS:
I couldn't hate you as much as that. CHORAL SONG 24'
ELECTRA:
ro3 j You're letting your sister badly down, you know. CHORUS:
CHRYSOTHEMIS: Oh, whdre is wisdom? lStrophe rl
Not letting you down, just thinking for your good. Do but lift your eyes irpward.
ELECTRA: See the birdsso and gaze with w6nder;

Must I adopt your scale of values, then? How they l6ve their own beg6tters,
CHRYSOTHEMIS: With what c6re they tend their 6ffspring.
\fhen you are sensible, you can guide us both. Can we n6t be as wise as th6y are?
ELECTRA: Ztus, O l6rd of the lightning fl6sh,
To speak so plausibly, and be so wrong! Jfistice,sl g6ddess who dw6lls bel6w,
CHRYSOTHEMIS: S6on must sin be requited! ro65
ro4o You've named the illness that you suffer from. Oh,holy v6ice from men to H6des,
ELECTRA: Shout al6ud my cries of s6rrow
I7ill you deny my argument is right? And besiege the kings of Argos
CHRYSOTHEMIS: In the gr6ve with my grim repr6aches.
You can be right and do a lot of harm.
ELECTRA: They mfist take n6tice fAntistrophe r) roTo
These principles of life won't work for me. Of the pl6gue that grips the h6usehold,
CHRYSOTHEMIS: Of the w6r befween their children,
Well, if you do this, you'll agree with me. How El6ctra hates her sister
ELECTRA: And all h6pe of peace is diing;
ao4s Of course, I'11 do it. You won't scare me off. How betr6yed in her l6nely strirggle,
CHRYSOTHEMIS: St6rm-tossed, 6nguished and firll of t6ars, ro7 5

You really mean that? You won't think again? Nighting6le-like, w6rld without 6nd,
ELECTRA: She m6urns the f6te of her f6ther.
'Wrong Dedth shall not dairnt her into shrinking;
thinking's what I hate most in the world.
CHRYSOTHEMIS: She'll forg6 the joy of sfnlight
I might as well be talking to a wall!
 172 ELECTRA 17i

roSo To convict the pair of F(rriesrs2 cHoRUS LEADER fpointing /o rrncrne]:

Ever trfie to her n6ble fhther. This person here is the next of kin. r ro5
ORESTES:
Goodness neyer can stoop to 'Woman, please go
lStrophe zl indoors and tell them
Shame its fame and lead allfe ofwrong, to die That men from Phocis are looking for Aegisthus.
Namelessly, O my child. ELECTRA:
ro8 5 You mide your ch6ice. T6ars for y6u O heaven help me! You've not arrived
Paved the path to glory. I7ith visible proof of the rumour we heard?
You turned your back on ignoble ways ORESTES:
To win for yourself two excellent names, I don't know what you were told. Old Strophius IIIO
A n6me for wisd6m, a n6me for g6odn6ss. Sent us. Our business concerns Orestes.
ELECTRA:
rogo Live to tower above them; fAntistropbe zf \fhat is it, sir? You make me tremble.
Trounce your foes in might and wealth, as you for now ORESTES:
Grovel beneath their feet. 'We're
here to deliver this little urn.
The f6te which still d6gs your d6ys It holds the small remains of his body.
Belies your noble nature; ELECTRA:
And yet you've championed the highest laws Oh god! It's true, it must be him - rrr5
Of h6aven,53 to win that nime of all n6mes, This tiny urn, in front of my eyes!
The nlme thatZieus l6ves, the n6me of r6ver6nce. ORESTES:
If you are shedding tears for Orestes'
Accident, this urn contains his body.
SCENE 554
ELECTRA:
Good sir, I beg you, if this vessel
lEnter oRESTES and pvrl.ons from a side entrance witb Really contains him, please let me hold it. IIAO
ATTENDANTs carrying a small urn.]
I need to weep and wail for myself
ORESTES:
'W'omen, please And my whole house as well as these ashes.
tell us, were our directions
oRESTES [/o errnNoaNrs]:55
Correct, and are we on the right road?
Take it across and let her have it,
CHORUS LEADER:
Whoever she is. She can't be an enemy.
rroo Tell us where you're hoping to be.
Some friend, maybe, or one of the family. rr25
ORESTES:
ELEcTRA [taking the urn in her bands]:
We're trying to find Aegisthus' house.
Orestes! All that's left to remind me of the life
CHORUS LEADER:
That I loved best in the world, home to me now.
They've guided you to the right place, then.
How far from those fine hopes in which I let
ORESTES:
You go! You were a strong and lovely boy.
Please could someone announce our arrival?
But what are my arms enfolding now? Nothing. rr3o
\7e are expected.
If only I could have died before these hands
 t74 ELECTRA 175

Stole you away and, sent you abroad to save You mustn't grieve overmuch.
Your life. You'd have been killed that very day ORESTES:
rr3s And won your rightful place in your father's grave. Oh, what can I say?
But now, such a way to die! Far from home, I'm lost for words, but I have to speak!
Exiled in a foreign land, and I not there. ELECTRA:
My loving hands were never given the chance \fhy are you so distressed? Explain.
To wash or dress your body or lift your poor ORESTES:
rr4o Ashes out of the pyre as you deserved. Are you indeed the princess Electra?
Strangers performed those rites for you, and now ELECTRA:
Your tiny weight has come home in a tiny urn. Wretched as you find me, yes, I am.
Oh, what a waste, the tender care I lavished ORESTES:
Upon you! My labour of love all gone for nothing! Oh, how I feel for your pitiful plight!
You were never your mother's child. You were mine. ELECTRA:
I was your only nurse, not one of the servants, Good sir, you cannot be grieving for me. r r8o
And I was the one you always called your sisrer. ORESTES:
Now your death has blotted my efforts out A life so wrecked! It's vile, barbaric . . .
rr5o In a single day. The storm has swept through the forest ELECTRA:
And left a barren waste. We're all of us gone: Those ugly words fit no one but me.
'Sfhile
Father, you, now I. our enemies laugh! ORESTES:
That fraud of a mother of ours is crazy with joy. Without a husband, so cruelly treated!
How often you sent ahead those secret messages, ELECTRA:
rr55 Promising to come yourself to take revenge! '!(hy
are you staring at me so sadly?
But no, the evil spirit that haunts us both ORESTES:
Has taken all that away and sent me back, I never knew how wretched I was myself. r r85
Instead of the living form I loved so much, ELECTRA: !
An urn of ashes, an insubstantial shade. Yourself? W'hat have I said to show you that?
tt6o Ah me, me! ORESTES:
You poor, poor ashes! 'What a way, To see you suffering all this pain and grief!
lfhat a way to come home! How you've destroyed me, ELECTRA:
Yes, destroyed me, Orestes, my darling brother. 'What
you can see is one small part of my pain.
tr65 So let me come into this little house of yours, ORESTES:
Nothingness into nothing, and live with you in the earth. I7hat could be worse to see than I see now?
There was a time when all that we had, we shared. ELECTRA:
So now I long to die and to share your grave. I have to make my home in a murderers'den.
rt1o If I can die, I shall be rid of my pain. ORESTES:
CHORUS LEADER: 'Whose
murderers? S7hat are you talking about?
Do remember, Electra, your father was mortal. ELECTRA: :

So was Orestes. Ve all are bound to die. My father's murderers, who force me to be their slave.
 I .'lr ELECTRA

( I t{ ti,s't'tis: ORESTES:
Who on earth could treat you like that? Don't use such words! You're wrong to be weeping.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
My so-called mother - more like a monster. \Wrong to weep for my brother who's dead?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
rres Does she subject you to violence - or hardship? You haven't the right to call him that.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
Violence, hardship, every kind of abuse. No right even to mourn for the dead?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
Does nobody come to your aid or try to prevent it? Mourn anyone you should. But this isn't yours.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
There was only one - and you've just shown me his ashes. It is, if it holds Orestes' body.
ORESTES: ORESTES:
Poor woman, how the sight of you stirs my pity! It isn't Orestes - except in fiction.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
r2oo No one has ever offered me pity before. Where ls my unhappy brother's grave, then?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
Only I can share the pain of your suffering. Nowhere. The living don't belong in a grave.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
ITho are you? Surely not some kinsman of mine? My boy, what are you saying?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
I'll tell you, if these women can keep a secret. Only the truth. IZ20
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
They won't give you away. They,re loyal friends. He's alive?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
r2-os Let go of this urn, and I'll tell you all. Yes, if f am alive.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
No, no, sir, you cannot do this to me! You are Orestes?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
It will be all right. Just do as I say. Look at this ring
ELECTRA: lfith our father's seal. Do you believe me now?
He's all I have. Please, please don't take him away. ELECTRA:
ORESTES: The sun's come out!
I must! ORESTES:
ELECTRA: It's shining bright!
Oh god! Orestes, ELECTRA:
r2ro They won't allow me to give you burial. Is this your voice? i
 178 ELECTRA ELECTRA T79

ORESTES: H6tred which c6nnot be cl6uded,

rzz5 I am here at last. N6ver to be b6nished from the f6mily,
ELECTRA: The 6vil that w6n't forget. rzso
Is it you in my arms? ORESTES:
ORESTES: I know that too. But now is not the time to speak
Hold me forever. Of what we've suffered, only when occasion serves.
ELECTRA:
'$fomen of Argos, my dearest friends, ELECTRA: [Antistrophe]
Here is Orestes! It all was a trick: The wh6le of time,
First he was dead, and now he's alive! Yes, each d6y that d6wns and each h6ur, will s6rve
CHORUS LEADER: To sing their crimes alofid. tz5 5

rz3o Yes, my dear, we can see. Your happiness I've h6d to wait so l6ng,
Fills our eyes with tears of joy. And n6w my lips are ft6e.
ORESTES:
ELECTRA: [Strophe] Yes, they are free. And so make sure they stay as free.
O r6yal prince!56 ELECTRA:
Orest6s, the s6n of that king I l6ved, Make s(rre? How?
You have at last retirrned. ORESTES:
You've foirnd, you've se6n, you've todched Contain your happiness until the moment comes.
rz1,s The sister wh6m you l6st. ELECTRA:
ORESTES: Orest6s, my pride! You have app6ared at l6st.
Yes, I am here. But do keep silence now and wait. Could I be silent n6w on this gl6rious d6y?
ELECTRA: My 6yes have s6en your d6ar f6ce
'Why Bey6nd th6ught, bey6nd h6pe.
sh6uld I?
ORESTES: ORESTES:
It's better so. Someone might hear us from indoors. You only saw me when the call came from the gods.
ELECTRA: I could not show my face until they gave the word.
I swear, y6s, I sw6ar, ArtemissT b6 my str6ngth, ELECTRA:
rz4o I'11 never st6op to fbar my old f6es ag6in, J6y and new j6y you give. tz65
Those st6y-at-h6mes, those sp6re w6ights I am so trirly bl6ssed.
'W6
On 6arth's fl6or, those w6menf6lk! are the f6voured n6w.
ORESTES: G6d has brought you h6me and I can cri in triumph,
now. The spirit of war can still be strong
Be careful, 'This is a sign from h6aven!' r27O

In women. Your own experience should tell you that. ORESTES:

ELECTRA: I hate to stem this flood of happiness, but I'm
r24s Ah, for shame! 6nce ag6in Afraid you're being drowned beneath a tide of ioy.
You bring it b6ck to mind,
 r80 E LECTRA r8r
ELECTRA: ;;;::r"., and keep the tears flowing. Joy and laughter
Or6stes,6h, 'S7ill
[Epode] be in order when freedom follows success.
At long l6st you've c6me, ELECTRA:
You chose that l6vely r6ad, Dearest Orestes, your wishes are all my own.
The r6ad that l6d to m6 h6re. This joy of mine is due entirely to you,
tLTs You've s6en me stricken by grief, so pl6ase . . . Not to myself. No gain could be great enough
ORESTES: To warrant my causing you the slightest worry. r305
'Wh6t
are you 6sking? That would be throwing away the luck we have.
ELECTRA: You understand the position, surely: Aegisthus
Pl6ase don't 6ver l6ave m6. Is not at home, but Mother is in the palace.
Your f6ce gives m6 such j6y. I n6ed you 6lw6ys. Don't be afraid she'll see my face lit up
ORESTES: \flith smiles. My hatred for her has been so long
I'd kill the man who'd keep the two of us apart. Ingrained in my heart, and now I've seen you back,
ELECTRA: I'm so intensely h"ppy, I can't stop crying.
You m6an that? How could I? Today you returned and I saw you dead,
ORESTES: And today I see you alive. It has been amazing.
r z8o Don't doubt me. I shtruldn't think it a miracle any more
ELECTRA: If Father came back to life. I'd believe my eyes.
Darling brother, No coming home was ever like this! So give me
I've heard the voice I never even Whatever orders you will. If I'd been left
Hoped to hear. And so, poor me, All by myself, you know I'd have either fought r320
How could my brimming heart be voiceless, or my And lived like a hero, or else have died like a hero.
cries oRESTES fnear the palace entrance]:
rz85 Still be gagged? But now I feel you in my arms. Quiet now! Someone is coming out of doors.
I'm gazing on your precious face. ELECTRA lputting on an actl:
No pain could ever wash it from my memory. !7alk in, good sirs. I assure you, what you are bringing
Sfill not be refused, though it may not give much pleasure. r3z5
ORESTES: lEnter oLD sLAVE from the palace.)
Enough of words,58 Electra. No need to explain OLD SLAVE:
rzeo How vile our mother is, or how Aegisthus You crazy foolslse Have you no care for your lives,
Is draining our father's wealth by extravagance and waste. Or are you completely witless? Don't you realize
Talking could make us miss the crucial moment. You're on the verge of the greatest danger? No,
Here is the question that needs an ansitrer now: You're right in the lion's den. If I hadn't been r330
'!7here
should we show our presence or wait in ambush, Standing on guard in the porchway there, your plan
tzes If our mission's going to wipe the smile off their faces? \X/ould have been inside these doors before yourselves.
You're looking too happy. When the two of us go inside, 't'hank goodness I was about! Now stop this endless r33 5
Our mother mustn't suspect what's going on. 'falking and all thesercries of insatiable joy
Treat the false report of my death as though And come on in. At such times any delay
 rBz F-I,ECTRA 18j

Is disastrous. The moment's come to be shot of your task. ;;.-rta I fail to know you all that time,
ORESTES: Here but never giving yourself away?
How does the land lie there indoors? Your words were daggers, however lovely the truth. r360
OLD SLAVE: lfelcome, Father! Father is how I see you.
r34o All's well. No one will know it's you. lfelcome home! There's nobody in the world
ORESTES: I've hated and loved so much in a single day.
You gave them the news of my death, I take it? OLD SLAVE:
OLD SLAVE: Enough for now,I think. There will be plenty
As far as they are concerned, you're finished. Of circling nights and as many days to tell you r165
ORESTEST All that has passed, Electra, since you were parted.
What have they said? Are they pleased about it? Now! Orestes and Pylades, are you ready?
OLD SLAVE: The time for action is now. Clytemnestra's
You'll know in due course. For the moment' everything Alone and none of the men are at home - now!
ry4s There looks good - even what's not so good. Remember, if you delay, you'll have much stronger r370
ELECTRA: Opponents to fight, and there'll be more of them.
Who is this man, Orestes? I beg you to tell me. 0RESTES:
ORESTES: Pylades, the time for talking is over.
Don't you realize? [,et's now salute our ancestral gods61
ELECTRA: lVhose statues guard the palace porch,
I've no idea. And move inside at once. r37 5

ORESTES: lExeunt oRESTES, PYLADES, the oro sLAvE and trrnN-

Don't you remember handing me to him? DANrs into the palace, taking the urn with tbem.l
ELECTRA: IiLECTRA:
Whom do you mean? () Lord Apollo,62 graciously hear their prayers
ORESTES: And mine besides. Many a time I have stood l
The man who smuggled me ln supplication before your holy altar
rJ50 Out to Phocis - as you arranged' And offered there such gifts as I could afford.
ELECTRA: So now, Lycean Apollo, with what I have,
Is he the only person I found I pray, beseech and supplicate your godhead. r38o
That I could trust when Father was killed? Vouchsafe to aid us in this enterprise
ORESTES: And show to all mankind what recompense
'l'he gods bestow on sinful wickedness.
It is. No further questions, please!
ELECTRA: fExit u-ncrn r into the palace.l
Oh glorious day!60 It's you, the only preserver
ry5s Of King Agamemnon's house! How have you come here?
Are you truly the man who rescued Orestes
And me from all our troubles? Oh, bless those dear
Beloved hands, those feet, my faithful servants!
 r84 E LECTRA r85

cLYrEMNESrne [o/f]:
CHORAL SONG 36'
Io! Aiai!
My house is empty of friends,
CHORUS:
And all possessed by destroyers!65 r405
L6ok at the fire sweeping the bush, IStropbe]
ELECTRA:
1385 The god of w6r and strife whose foul br6ath is bl6od!
Listen, a cry indoors! Did you h6ar, my friends?
They're striding thr6ugh the c6urt and n6w they're 6n the
CHORUS:
tr6il, I h6ard a s6und cr0el to hear,
Those Fury d6gs of d6ath who hunt mfrder d6wn
And f6lt a trEmbling c6ldn6ss!
And deal crime for crime.
CLYTEMNESTRA:
So n6t for 16ng, not l6ng the dr6am
Oimoi! Aegisthus! Where are you?
r390 In mi divining h6art shall linger p6ised in 6ir.
ELECTRA:
Another cry, there!
W6tch as he moves p6cing the floor fAntistrophe]
CLYTEMNESTRA:
Ifith wily tr6ad, that ch6mpion to av6nge the d6ad.
My son, my son! Have mercy on your mother! r4to
He spies his flther's thr6ne inside the 6ncient hlll.
ELECTRA:
His fingers grip the sw6rd of new-wh6tted bl6od.
You had no mercy on him,
r3s5 Now look th6re! The g6d Nor on his father before him.
Of lmbush, H6rmes, shr6uds his guile
CHORUS:
In night and l6ads him t6 his g6al. The gime's af6ot!
City of Argos, O house of Atreus! Now
The destiny dogging your days is waning fast.
CLOSING SCENE64 CLYTEMNESTRA:
O moil I am struck!
fRe-enter ELEcTRA from tbe palace.l ELECTRA:
ELECTRA: Strike her a second blow, if you have the strength! r4{ 5

Dearest women, the men are at work. CLYTEMNESTRA:

Soon it will all be over. O moft! Again!
Don't move, keep silent! IiLECTRA:
CHORUS LEADER: I wish Aegisthus were lying beside you!
r4oo Tell us! 'What are they doing? (JHORUS:
ELECTRAT The d6adly cirrse is n6w at w6rk -
Sbe is dressing the urn, iiye for 6ye, t6oth for t6oth.
And they are standing behind her. The d6ad bel6w are rising frp to life, r42O
CHORUS LEADER: And n6w the 6ld sl6in
And you? \ffhy have you rushed outside? Sfck their killers' bl6od dri.
ELECTRA: fRe-enter oRESTES and pyrtoe.s from the palace.)
I'm keeping guard. Aegisthus (JI-IORUS LEADER: ;
Mustn't surprise us as he walks in. llere they come. That dripping hand is red
 r86 ELECTRA ELECTRA r87

With blood from a sacrifice to the god of war. Into j0stice's 6mbfsh.
I cannot condemn it. lEnter AEGISTHUS from a side entrance.]
ELECTRA: AEGISTHUS:
Orestes, how has it gone? They tell me messengers have arrived from Phocis
ORESTES: \fith news of Orestes' death in a chariot crash.
All is well, indoors, Does anyone know where they are? fPause.l
r4zs If Apollo prophesied well.56 You there, you can tell me. Yes, you! r445
ELECTRA: You used to be so outspoken. You're the person
Is that vile woman dead? Most affected and ought to be able to say.
ORESTES: ELECTRA:
You've nothing further to fear. Of course I know. I must. I am his next of kin.
Your mother's spite shall never hurt you again. AEGISTHUS:
' CHORUS LEADER: \Where are the messengers, then? Don't waste my time. r450
Stop! I can see Aegisthus coming. ELECTRA:
ELECTRA: lndoors with the mistress. They've won their way to her
Get back, Orestes! heart..6'
ORESTES: AEGISTHUS:
'Where '$7as
r43cJ can you see the man? Has he really been killed? that what they actually said?
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
'We've
got him now. There he is, Not only said it. They've brought the proof.
Blithely walking into the city. AEGISTHUS:
CHORUS LEADER: Can I see him, then, with my own eyes?
Back to the inner porchway as fast as you can! ELECTRA:
The first round's won. Make sure of the second. You can indeed - it's hardly a pretty sight. 1455
ORESTES: AEGISTHUS:
'We
shall, never fear. Sfhat welcome tidings to give me! Unusual for you.
ELECTRA: ELECTRA:
r4t 5 Off with you, then! You're welcome to them - if they are truly welcome.
ORESTES: AEGISTHUS:
I'm gone. Open the doors! I want the whole of the people
ELECTRA: Here in Mycenae and Argos to see for themselves.
f can look after everything here. lf any among them was foolish enough to put t46o
lExeunt oRESTES and pvrtop.s into the palace.l His hopes in Orestes, now he can see his corpse
CHORUS: And learn to strain at the leash no longer. He won't
Cireful n6w! P6ur a f6w Need whipping by me to teach him how to behave.
G6ntle w6rds d6wn his 6ars. T]LECTRA:
That villain m0stn't b6 all6wed to gu6ss Now look, I'm playing my part. I've shown
r44o He's rirshing h6adlong 'Ihe sense at last to oblige my masters. r465
F
r88 ELECTRA r89

lEnter oRESTES and pvreoys from tbe palace, with Throw out his corpse for the dogs and birdsTl to bury
c LYTEMNES r x{ s b ody couere d.f6t Out of our sight. No other payment
AEGISTHUS: For all I've suffered could be enough for me. r490
O Zeus! This sign portends the anger of heaven. ORESTES:
No gloating, though.6e Remove the shroud from his face. lnside, then, quickly! Move!
Kinship requires some mourning, even of me. The talking's over. Your time is up.
ORESTES: AEGISTHUS:
r47o Lift it yourself. This body belongs to you, Inside? If what you're doing is right,
Not me. Take a final look and say your farewells. Why do you have to do it in the dark?
AEGISTHUS: Kill me here now!
Good, I'll do as you say. Electra, ORESTES:
Call Clytemnestra, if she's at home. Don't give orders to me.
oRESTES [as RrcrsrHUS lifts the couer from the body]: Move to where you murdered my father. r49 5
No need to look. She's here aheady. I mean you to die on the very same spot.
AEGISTHUS: AEGISTHUS:
'$7hat's
Oh god! this? The curse of Pelops' house!72 This palace has seen
ORESTES: Enough destruction already. Must there be more?73
'!fho are you frightened of? ORESTES:
1475 Don't you know who it is? Your destruction at least. Trust me for that.
[onesrns and pvtr^ons draw their swords.f AEGISTHUS:
AEGISTHUS: Your father wasn't so clever at telling the future. r 5oo
I'm caught in a trap. Who are you men? ORESTES:
ORESTES: Stop bandying words. You're wasting time. Now move!
Don't you realize you've been exchanging AEGISTHUS:
.S7ords
while alive with a man who's dead? Lead on.
AEGISTHUS: ORESTES:
r48o My god! I read your riddle. You must be Orestes! You first.
ORESTES: AEGISTHUS:
Fooled for so long, such a clever prophet as you? Afraid I'll escape?
AEGISTHUS: ORESTES:
I'm at your mercy, then. Please! Allow me a word - No, I'd rather you didn't enjoy
Just one! Your execution, but died in agony.
ELECTRA: All who presume to defy the law r 505
No, Orestes, for god's sake, Ought to be punished at once like this -
Don't give him the chance to argue with you. Kill them! Crime would nor be so rife.Ta
1485 $fhen a man's been caught and is doomed to die,
'Sfhat
fExewnt AEGTSTHUS, oRESTES and pyt1.ons into the
can he gain by a moment's delay?7o palace.l :

Kill him at once; kill him, and then

 r90

cHoRUS [ro rrrcrne]:

O seed of Atreus, how much you have suffered!
But now this attack has forced you out
rSro Into freedom. You've come to the ending.7s
lExeunt ELEcTRA into the palace and the cHoRUS doun dt'
side entrance,]
PHILO CTETES
r 278 N OTES
279

resonated powerfully with men in the audience who had experi-

enced homesickness and war-weariness in Athenian expeditions
;;?- enough:Here the metre changes to 'marching' anapaests
in anticipation of the final procession.
abroad. Aithough the subject matter is irrelevant to the issue of 94. You tbere . . . his shield: Teucer's instructions to three different
Ajax's burial, the poem helps to reinforce the Athenian perspec- groups suggest the use of a number of extras who join with him,
tive, which treats Ajax, by implication, as a cult hero in the the Chorus and the mute characters (Tecmessa and Eurysaces)
climax to the drama. In the final lines, the sailors seem to regard in a spectacular final exit, celebrating the community values
Athens rather than Salamis as their home. The Chorus's perform- implicit in the Ajax cult.
ance should be visualized as backed by the symbolic tableau of 'When
95. mortals . . . awaits him: Conventional sentiments, perhaps,
Tecmessa and the kneeling Eurysaces close to the dead body. as often used in Greek tragedy to see the Chorus out of the
85. Swnium's lofty heights: The sailors imagine themselves, on their orchAstra. But the second and third lines do enshrine the paradox
return voyage to Salamis, passing the promontory on the of Ajax's rehabilitation after his humiliation, while the first might
southernmost tip of Attica, where there was a temple of Athena be thought to attest to the insight which the experience of seeing
at the time of this play's performance. The temple of Poseidon, and witnessing a tragedy in the theatre can bring.
the ruins of which can be seen today, was probably built a little
later.
86. Closing scene: First comes another ag6n for Teucer with Agam- ELECTRA
emnon, balancing the one with Menelaus. Here again the argu-
ment turns out to be more lively than edifying and perhaps I. Scene r: Orestes arrives in Argos with his friend Pylades and the
suggests that, if heroic values can go tragically wrong when taken Old Slave, known in Greek as the Paidagdgos, who rescued him
to extremes, the adversarial character of contemporary Athenian at the time of Agamemnon's murder and brought him up in
politics represents a meagre kind of replacement. The argument Phocis. The Old Slave reintroduces his master to his birthplace,
settles nothing, but then, instead of the expected run of stichomy- and Orestes outlines the deception, commanded by Apollo at the
thia, Odysseus enters and takes Ajax's case over from Teucer. Delphic oracle, which will enable him to take revenge on his
His calm, persuasive tone contrasts powerfully with the earlier father's killers and recover his patrimony. The atmosphere of
wrangling, and he eventually succeeds with Agamemnon where this opening scene is businesslike and positive. The party walks
Teucer has failed. The remainder of the drama concerns the funeral fearlessly into the citadel as the sun is rising and the birds are
rituals for Ajax and culminates in a solemn processional exit. starting to sing. Orestes communicates his plan and gives his
87 . some friend to help you: In Athenian law courts, slaves were not orders with cold, almost military precision. The prospect of
allowed to argue their own cases. Agamemnon is being very matricide does not appear to daunt him, and he is perfectly happy
insulting.
'V/hat for a false report of his own death to be issued. 'When a cry of
8 8. of the time:Thrs story (r273-82) and the duel with Hector lamentation is heard from inside the palace, which could come
(r283-8) are mainly based on incidents in Iliad 7 and r5. from his sister Electra, he decides to ignore it. Aeschylus and
89. your own father, Atreus ... children's flesh: Atrets'wife had Euripides both contrived a meeting between Orestes and Electra
been seduced by his brother Thyestes, and the former took his before the plot was formulated (Euripides even made Electra
revenge by murdering Thyestes' children and serving them to suggest the murder plans herself ). Sophocles raises this possibility
their father as meat. at the end of this scene only for it to be rejected (see note r4).
90. Laomedon's daughter . , , special prize: See note 28. Much of the action to follow depends on this.
9r, for you . . . fauowrs: Agamemnon only agrees out of the need to 1o: The daughter of Inachus, the river god who founded the
keep Odysseus' support, not because his mind has changed. Argive people. She was loved by Zeus and turned by him into a
9:'. Though I can. . . therest: Teucer accepts Odysseus'offer to take heifer to escape the jealousy of his wife, Hera, who later tor-
part in the burial, but not in a 'hands-on' way. Ajax's enmity is mented her rival with a stinging gadfly. The reference to this has
assumed to persist. a sinister resonance, the first in the play.
 NOTES iH t
z8o NOTES

ancient Greece, and locks wcre ttarlitiotr'rlly lffelerl ltt tlte gtcve
1. forum of Apol/o: In the Greek text, Apollo is referred to here as
''Lycean;, mounds of the dead. Conr;xtrr liler''tra'r rlerllrallul rrf d lrreL
as again at 645, 65 5 and 1779. The,meaning of this (qsr).
titie is uncertain, but Sophocles evidently identified itwithluk'os, rz. What harm . . . glorious prize:'l'hc attciettt ( ireehr regcrtletl ths
Greek for 'wolf', in his amplification 'the wolf-killing god'' The report of a person's death as a bad omcn, stt ()rrllrr lr rltnwittg
phrase could have a benign ring, as one of the god's functions
a cynical lack of comPunction over his proptlsetl ltkry lrr tler elvc
was to protect the flocks and herds, but it also sounds rather his intended victims.
menacing. Ambiguity is a characteristic of Apollo (see note 8), 13. r.uith men: Orestes thinks exclusively in male terms - jLrst lrlirrr
who, [kJ the Fuiies, plays a significant tole in Electra. His altar a woman's cry is heard.
and statue are visible on stage throughout the play (Q5, ry78)' 14. Listen .. . she laments: The reaction to Electra's cry offstage'
4. Hera:The wife of Zeus and the patron goddess of Argos' Her raises an interesting point of interpretation. The allocation of
temple there was one of the most celebrated in ancient times' these lines in the manuscript tradition has been: 78-9 to the Old
5. Myienae, The stronghold overlooking the plain of Argos, today Slave, 8o-8r to Orestes and 8z-5 (four lines in the Greek text)
one of the best-known archeological sites in Greece, following to the Old Slave. That arrangement allows Orestes to raise the
the excavations of Schliemann and others. In the lliad, Mycenae question of waiting to listen, only to be recalled to his duty by the
and Argos are t'ffo distinct settlements. Sophocles is here Old Slave. In this translation, a different allocation, advocated by
returning to the Homeric tradition. In the late fifth century rc, some modern critics, has been preferred' (Since speakers were
there was no separate community of Mycenae' and Aeschylus not specified in the earliest texts of Greek plays, there is no
had set his Oresteia firmly in Argos. problim in principle over this.) I find it more compelling and-
6. palace of Atreus: Atreus was Agamemnon's father, who killed
significant if it is the insensitively businesslike Orestes himself
ihe children of his brother Thyestes and served them to him as who decides that the cry issuing from the house should be
meat. 'Atreus' here translates 'Pelopidae', the descendants of ignored. See Preface p.r3r.
Pelops, who was Atreus' own father and is referred to later in r 5. Electra's monody: Electra emerges from the palace to resume her-
the play (5o4ff., 497). The whole house was under a curse' so public lamentations for her dead father and invoke the powers of
the description of the palace as 'rich in blood' has a resonance ihe underworld to avenge his murder and guide her long-absent
beyond the so-called'Thyestean banquet" brother home. In this she is performing what was felt among the
7. Pylades:The son of Strophius, king of Crisa in Phocis and Agam- ancient Greeks to be a woman's duty: to keep the memory of a
brother-inJaw, who had given Orestes refuge and murdered man alive by constant lamentation. In this case, it can
"*non',
brought him up. Pylades always appears with Orestes in Greek also be seen as an aggressive action against the usurpers' The
tragedy, and the closeness between the cousins was seen as a heroine's opening 'number' is a formal lament in 'melic ana-
prototype of Greek male friendship. paests' and intended for some kind of chanted delivery rather
8. Delphii oracle:The most famous of all the Greek oracles, where than the spoken mode of normal dialogue. The 'aria' reflects
Apollo spoke (often ambiguously) through the priestess, the both the pathos and the splendour of Electra's isolation.
Pythia. t6. Ares:The god of war. Agamemnon had not been killed at Troy,
9. Pythian Games: Like the Olympics, one of the great inter-city but returned home to be murdered by his wife and her lover.
aihletlc festivals, founded in 586 nc and held every four years in 17. nigbtingale: A mythological reference to Procne, who killed her
Sophocles' time. This anachronistic introduction of a contempor- son Itys in revenge for her husband, Tereus', rape of her sister
uri into the heroic world would not have worried the poet Philomela and was subsequently transformed to a nightingale'
"u..r,
or his audience.
Procne is an often-quoted exemplar of undying grief in Greek
ro. libationsz Drink-offerings of wine or milk' poured on the earth, poetry.
were believed to reach the dead and were one way of ensuring 18. Hadeis, Persephone, Hermes below: Hades is the god of the
their support. underworld, who'avenges the dead; Persephone is his queen'
II. cwiling-locks: Cutting one's hair was a token of mourning in
r 28z NOTES rll.l
"ot"i"o
Hermes is the messenger of the Olympian gods, but also the god rtr,rlted shot all her children dead. In her grief she was turned
of cunning (rlg6) and associated with the underworld since he into a rock on Mt Sipylus in Lydia, with a perpetually flowing
conducts the souls of the dead there. spring, which was supposed to consist of her tears.
19. dread Furies: Erinyes, or avenging spirits, represented in art as zj. Chrysothemis and lphiana.ssa: The names are derived from
feminine deities, usually winged and carrying snakes or with Homer llliad 9t45, 2871. The former appears in this play,
snakes in their hair. They feature prominently in the myth of though not in Aeschylus or Euripides, as a telling foil to Electra.
'We
Orestes, who was hounded by them for the murder of his mother, hear no more of the latter, though her name may remind us
an aspect of the traditional aftermath which Sophocles appears of the sacrificed sister, Iphigenia.
in thii play to exclude. However, the Furies are mentionid ot 24. Crisa:ln Phocis, where Orestes had grown up.
implied several times in the imagery of Electra (276, 49o, ro8o, 25. Acheron: One of the rivers in the underworld.
also 785-6, ry87) and personify the whole retaliatory and 26. conscience . . . fear of god: An attempt to translate two Greek
retributive process in a peculiarly sinister way, not least because moral abstracts, aid6s and eusebeia. The first is a sense of shame
of the association with Aeschylus' trilogy. which derives from respect for other human beings; the other is
20. Entry of the Chorus: Instead of the usual entrance song for the piety or reverence for the gods, which includes the notion of
Chorus, Sophocles has his Argive women engage in a lyric dia- familial duty.
logue with Electra. They remonstrate with her for her continued L7. Scene z: Electra amplifies her self-iustification and describes her
lamentations, using various conventional arguments of conso- treatment as a slave by the usurpers with great vividness and force
lation and reminding her that Orestes is still alive. But Electra is in her first long speech in normal dialogue form. A transitional
not to be consoled: Orestes has failed to appear, and she must interchange with the Chorus Leader on the subiect of Orestes'
go on chanting lamentations in her resistance to Clytemnestra prolonged absence leads to the entrance of Chrysothemis'
and Aegisthus. In this long passage, many of the play's ideas are Electra's uncompromising stance is shown up in even harsher
explored in the imagery, not least the theme of retaliation, the relief by her sister's willingness to settle for a comfortable life
tragic implications of which had been explored par excellence in and comply with the usurpers' wishes; the motif of conflicting
Aeschylus' Oresteia. The exchange also poses Electra's moral moralities is further dramatized in the contrast befween Chryso-
dilemma in a disturbing way: fidelity to fundamental duties may themis' utilitarianism and Electra's obedience to a categorical
preclude the moderation the Greeks admired and necessitate the imperative. Each of the sisters, according to her own lights, is
excess they abhorred. The balanced strophic construction is part the'wiser' or'more sensible'. A number in Sophocles' audience
of the beauty of this movement, as would have been the contrast would have been reminded of a very similar conflict and contrast
between the solo voice of the mourner and the chorus of her in Antigone between the heroine and her sister Ismene. During
comforters. The translation has aimed to reflect the varied rhyth- the discussion, Chrysothemis warns Electra of Clytemnestra's
mical phrasing of the original, though syllabic correspondence is and Aegisthus'plan to imprison her in a cave as a way of sup-
less exact than elsewhere in this volume. There is a specially pressing her embarrassing outcries. In terms of the plot, this
effective change to a brisker tempo in Strophe 3 ft93-zoo),when comes to nothing, but the news has the effect of heightening the
the Chorus stops counselling Electra for a moment to recall the tension and may, once again, have reminded some in the original
night of Agamemnon's murder, the crime that is to be punished audience of Antigone, who ls walled up in a cave as a punishment
in the play's main action. (see note 53). The plot receives a genuine nudge forward when
LI. nightingale ... Itys; See note r7. Chrysothemis discloses that she is about to take offerings from
Niobe: Like Procne, a paradigm of perpetual grieving. She was Clytemnestra to Agamemnon's tomb, to avert the danger fore-
the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, and boasted that, with her shadowed in a sinister dream the queen has had about Agamem-
six sons and daughters, she was superior to the goddess Leto, non returning to life. Electra excitedly hails the dream as a good
who had only produced two children, Apollo and Artemis. She omen and persuades her sister to dispose of their mother's
was punished for her presumption when the younger gods she libations and to dedicate other offerings from them both.
?-84 N OTES

28. Furiesz See note 19. rJt l

rrtilus called
;.9. send me out: The last three lines of Chrysothemis' speech are curse on Pelops and his descendants, who included Atreus (see
omitted from the translation as a probable interpolation that note 6), Agamemnon and his family. The translation refers to
interrupts the flow of the argument. They would read: 'I therefore the curse (5rr) more explicitly than the Greek original.
implore you, by our family gods, / Do listen to me. Don't let j4. Scene 3: This episode falls into two sections: In 5 r 5-659 (Electra
your folly destroy you; /If you reject me, trouble will bring you and Clytemnestra), Clytemnestra enters. She is presented as a
back.' If they are authentic, Chrysothemis is continuing to urge hard, unpleasant woman, frightened of Electra. Sophocles first
caution in the face of Clytemnestra's fear. gives us an ag6n, or formal debate, consisting of opposing
jo. butchered his limbs: The reference is to a practice of mutilation speeches: the mother attempts to iustify the murder of Agamem-
whereby the hands and feet of a murdered man's corpse were cut non by re{erence to the sacrifice of lphigenia, and Electra
off and placed under his armpits, to deprive his spirit of the responds. 'We are conscious here not only of two powerful per-
power to rise and take revenge. sonalities in conflict but also of the retaliation motif operating at
3r. Cboral song ri In the strophe and antistrophe, the Chorus the level of words as well as of actions. Electra herself, as she
responds in optimistic mood to the news of Clytemnestra's dream acknowledges, is degraded in the process no less than her mother
and foresees the inexorable march of Justice in the form of a (see note 38). At the end of the argument, Clytemnestra makes
Fury'with many hands and feet' (translating literally). The epode prayers and offerings to Apollo, asking, almost blasphemously,
meditates in much sadder vein, and in phrases of a very different to be granted continued enjoyment of the fruits of adultery and
musical character, on the suffering that has afflicted Electra's murder. ln 66o-8zz (the False Messenger scene), as if in ironic
family through the curse on the house of Pelops (see note 3 j). answer to Clytemnestra's prayer, the Old Slave arrives and
The ode as a whole thus associates the relentless onset of retri- reports the death of Orestes. Sophocles here uses the Messenger
bution with suffering and sorrow, in line with the ambivalence Speech convention in a brilliantly novel way to convince Clytem-
inherent in Sophocles' whole treatment of this myth. We may nestra that Orestes is dead and so to prepare for the admission
observe, too, that the reference to Myrtilus 'flung headlong of her murderers into the palace. There is a remarkable double
from his chariot' anticipates the reported fate of Orestes in effect: the narrative is so graphic and thrilling in its own right
the chariot race to be described in the next episode. The rhythms that at one level we respond to it as if it were completely true; at
of the poetry are boldly expressive. There is a striking tension the same time we can relish it in the knowledge that it is all a
in the opening lines of the strophe and antistrophe, which colossal fiction. The original audience would also have appreci-
canbeexpressedinmusicalnotation"r' J J I il ) ) n ).Later ated the echoes of the Homeric chariot race in the funeral games
in the two stanzas, the adjacent protracted heavy syllables of Patroclus described in lliad z3.z6z-65o. The devastating
(marked with accents) produce a strong, pounding effect. The impact that the speech has on Electra no less than her mother is
epode is based, with variations, on an unusual metrical phrase yet another dimension. Clytemnestra's reaction to the news
of the pattern' j ,fl ) J J J . fn. repetition of this is beautifully 066f1.) is a masterstroke of detail: she is allowed a sense of
poignant. maternal loss, though her feelings of relief inevitably prevail. She
That fearsome Fury: So justice is here personified (see note r9). makes a gloating exit, motivating a deeply pathetic speech from
The feet and hands of 489 and the mention of bronze in 49r Electra which shows the heroine at her lowest ebb.
suggest an army of warriors on the march. 3 S. sacrificed / Your sister; See note 3 6.
)), Pelops: The son of Tantalus, who competed in a chariot race 36. Ask Artemis ...lphigenia: In Aeschylus' Agamemnoz, Artemis
against Oenomaus, king of Pisa, to win the hand of his daughter is the patroness of young animals, and her anger is prompted by
Hippodamia. In some versions of the story, Pelops achieved his an omen of two eagles, representing Agamemnon and Menelaus,
aim by bribing Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus, to sabotage the tearing to pieces a hare with her unborn young; these stand in
king's vehicle.'Sfhen Myrtilus demanded his reward (or part of turn for Troy and,for the innocents doomed to die there. The
it) in the form of a night with Hippodamia, Pelops threw him goddess raises a storm with contrary winds, which prevent the
 lltT
NOTES NorEs
lli6
to preserve rhythm' thc Choru:'r
Greek fleet from leaving Aulis (on rhe eastern coast of mainland 45. You'll destroy [me]:lnthis line,
1r' with Electra'c
int.rlection 'rio*l' should coincide in delivery
Greece in Boeotia, opposite the island of Euboea) until Agamdm- tmet.
non has sacrificed hiilaughter lphigenia. Sophocles, drawing on parallel (to
the post-Homeric epic tradition, makes Electra tell the story
quite a6. Lord AmphiaraustTheChorus offers a mythologicalstorv of the
4a'
differently: Artemii is now the 'hunter goddess', and Agamem- o-';;;;;';;r .",rt.t than orestes' death)toin theOedipus' son'
non has accidentally killed a stag in her sacred grove' She there-
dg*. prophet Amphiaraus, who.refused
-P;ftti;t, ioin
from
i., hi, .*'pedition to-gain.the throne of Thebes
fore becalms the winds, so that the ships are stranded until the gt.o.t"l. int seer's wife' Eriphyle' was bribed,by
iir'uro,rt",
sacrifice is performed and she can be appeased' By putting a necklace to Persuade her
version of events more favourable to Agamemnon in Electra's
lolyrri.., with the gift of I S.olde-
"Amphiaraus
went to Thebes' but
point in the husband to .h"rrg. filt -i"d'
-outh, Sophocles seems to be giving her a debating sacrifice died when ,fr. .",,t' *"t struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus and
olo,n,*hiihwill allow her to whitewash Agamemnon's and
loyalty to her he was ,*"11o*"a do*" to the underworld with his chariot
o? tti. a""gtt,er. It might also suggest that Electra's to comfort Electra with the thought
horses. The Cho,os tries
father entiils a blunting of sensibility where her innocent sister with all his pro-
ihat Amphiaraus' like Agamemnon,-still rules'
is concerned.
Aeschylus' Oresteia and phetic powerr, tf,t dead in-Hades' Moreover' Eriphyle
t7. Alood for blood': This theme pervades was killed ir,
"-o"g
,.u.ttg;Uy her son Alcmaeon' Electra can fairly
t"-r the retributory which
pro..tt, the tragic implications of living to
"'p rlply it+t-s) that"Agamemnon no longer has a son
Sophocles is exploring in his own way'
An important speech that reveals avenge him.
38. Let me assure . . . exarnplez though to twist the knife in Electra's wound,
chryso-
+ /' scene t:As
A.7.
both Electra's self-knowledge and her sense of being compelled to report news of offerings
to respond to her mother's treatment of her in kind (see zzr-z\'
il;tt';;;;.tt in ioyful excitement
on Ag"-.rrrnor,', Orestes must be backl The irony is
io*b'
by Clytemnesca as
i9. I swe)r by Artemis': Artemis is here invoked p"ri.J* *ft"t",f,. otaii"ue's speechgave evidence of a falsehood
the virgin goddess, since Electra has violated the modesty becom- of a truth that
i"g ,o"ft.t"t""idenhood. But in the mouth of an adulteress' the
;i;, *;t belieued, Ci'ysothe;is offirs evidence portrayed'
ni.ir." r.;.",.. Cfityroin.t"is' deflation is exquisitely
oa"th is something of a blasphemy, like her subsequent invocation to help them' Electra
of Artemis' brother, Apollo, especially at 649-56'
er*-i.tg that Orestes can never be there (to Greek eyes)
and
among several others' Thessaly' now comes op *ith a recklessly unrealistic
40. Thessalian horses: A fine detail, unwomanly propo,"l' She asks for her sister's aid in killing Aeg-
in northern Greece, with its level plains, was famed for its excel- both' express:dil I
isthus. Her f"nr",y of future glory for them
lent horse-breeding terrain. The Old Slave gives Orestes the best ground; filial
rpi."Jia night oi"iti";ic, m"atk9 a shift of moral
possible team.
dlty diotion no longer the sole issue' In practical terms'
at each end of
4r. iirlng point: This was marked by a stone pillar "na i,
the idea ,."kt*'"re"nJ "b'o"'d,as Chrysothemis' supported by
the .o"rrit.' Charioteers would drive anti-clockwise and aim to t-."d.', poi"it Has Electra been so unhinged by
the Chorus
turn with their left-side wheel as close as possible to the pillar' ""t' wonder' In
with the Furies' il;; ;;i;? ;t to b.'li'i"g her sanitv? Ve mav wellessentllY
42. suching / My life-blood:More imagery associated ;;;,T;. po*".foi'iitho"mvthic t1+1n9t' centred,
foy
the question of whether 'the right' is to be determrnecwith
here applied to Electra herself.
retribution'
$. Ne*eiis, The personified goddess of In a further intensification of principles o, pt"tiit"ii'ies' Chryithemis tries
to reason
;;. La*ert Electra with Chorust opposed'
for
in a lyric kommos with the Electra, Uot tn.i' t*o viewpoints are irreconcilably
emotion, Electra expresses her grief -t ryrott then disappea's from.the pl1' ,
Chorus, involving song and doubtless some kind of choreo- "-is ,--L:^L
Greek text- whlch may
-^..
48. numy rnoons agotFive lines follow in the
graphei rnou.-".t. Here again some powerful and interesting plays'
well have U..n itttt'potated from one of Sophocles'.lost
it yifrlni."t effects may be heard, though the metrical analysis is ,t. .J*oitne scene runs better without them' They
urrce.tairr' The first pair of strophes is composed in 714 tim9'
Certainly
can be translated:
with two beats to be allowed onlhe italicized syllables marked,
while a steadier zl4 pulse prevails through the second pair'
288 NOTES

CHRYS OTHEMI S: niti''), rlr"r.,1r.,:,::

Then I'11 be off, as you won't ever accept 'reproaches' (ro69) seem to have been effective when Orcstcs rttttl
The advice I offer nor I accept your way. Pylades arrive at last, with attendants bearing the urn supposedly
ELECTRA: containing the prince's ashes. Orestes probably fails to identify
Very well, go in. I'11 never follow you there, Electra at first, but must quickly do so, once she has asked to
However much you may want me to. Even take the urn in her hands and begins her famous lamentation.
Pursuing an empty cause is the height of folly. The Urn Speech is one of the most moving in the whole of Greek
tragedy, and the property becomes an extraordinarily potent
49. Choral song z: In this textually difficult, though musically beauti- symbol of Electra's sense of 'nothingness' ftr66). At the end,
ful, ode, the Chorus returns to Electra's side in the theme of filial Orestes is allowed to show some feeling, and, in a gloriously
devotion. They start with an image of the 'wisdom' shown by protracted and suspenseful passage of stichomythia, he gradually
birds in the mutual care and tenderness existing between parents reveals to Electra that her long-lost brother is alive and standing
and young. The song then switches abruptly ftoQ) to the inevita- before her. At the great climax the dialogue breaks into halflines
bility of punishment for the sinners (Clytemnestra and Aeg- as Electra's joy knows no bounds. In rz3z*87, Electra expresses
isthus), before uttering 'reproaches' to the dead sons of Atreus her rapture in lyric mode, while in rz88-r383, the Old Slave
(Agamemnon and now, supposedly, Orestes) designed to rouse returns, and all prepare for the task ahead.
5 5. to attendants: As Orestes uses the
them from the grave. The Chorus challenges them with the div- plural in the Greek imperative,
ision in the house, manifested by the quarrel between the two more than one attendant seems to be indicated.
sisters, which has resulted in Electra's being left alone to struggle 56. O royal prince: An extraordinary moment when Electra bursts
against her father's murderers. In the second pair of strophes, into song in agitated 'dochmiac' rhythms (see note $). Her
Electra is praised for the noble stance that has led her to cham- ecstatic outpourings are characteristically punctuated by single
pion 'the highest laws of heaven' through her eusebeia (see note lines spoken by Orestes in sober dialogue mode and urging a
z6). As in the kommos (827-7o), the rhythm in the first pair of cautious silence at this critical moment.
strophes is mostly in a lilting 3l4time, though it changes to 4/4 57. Artemis: Electra here invokes the goddess as the protectress of
in lines 7-g of each stanza, so marking the abrupt change of young unmarried women.
thought at xo67. Similarly, the second pair has a more insistent 58. Enowgh of words :Orestes now tries to bring his enraptured sister
pulse, with heavy stresses on some adjacent syllables in the final closer to earth.
verse. 59. You crazy fools: The Old Slave's sudden re-entrance marks a
5o. birds: Sophocles probably had storks in mind. quickening of the pace.
5r. Zeus . . . Justice: These deities are invoked as moral authorities 6o. Oh glorious day: Electra's tone of hysterical rapture is main-
who punish the wicked. tained in her address to the Old Slave. He might be Agamemnon
52-. pair of Furies: Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, seen as avenging
returned!
spirits in the murder of Agamemnon, the most recent stage in the 6t. owr ancestral gods: Apollo, no doubt, and probably Hermes
retaliatory sequence going back to Pelops and operating through (rtg s-6).
the generations in the house of Atreus. 62. O Lord Apollo: Electra's prayer is as ugly in its implications as
53. the bighest laws / Of heauen:Electa at this point is perceived as Clytemnestra's earlier invocation of Apollo (Q7ff.), and one to
like Sophocles' Antigone, who put the 'unwritten laws' of Zeus be fulfilled in a no less equivocal way (see note 34). An interesting
before Creon's human decree prohibiting the burial of her 'mirror' effect.
brother Polynices. She was punished for her disobedience by Q. Choral song j I As often in Greek tragedy before a crisis such as
immurement in a cave (see note z7) and left to die. a murder, the Chorus sings a brief song of tense anticipation,
54. Scene 5: This powerful movement brings Orestes and Electra which envisages the Furies, now in the form of Orestes and
together and builds towards the drama's climax. It falls into Pylades, stalking through the palace. Note the striking imagery
 NorEs L')l
?-90

as well as the taut, exciting rhythms. The opening phrase consists devouring by the dogs and birds, as Homer makes Nestor say
of two 5/8 bars in the form Menelaus should have done if he had returned from Troy to find
Aegisthus still alive (Odyssey 3'255-6t)' The echo of Sophocles'
J-l )J I I.lt own Antigone is even more striking. If Electra was like Antigone
in ro9 5-7 (see note 5 3 ), the Fury of vengeance she now embodies
Thereafter the irregular 'dochmiac' (slanting) metre,
has turned her into a Creon. Her parting shot in these lines could
)Jl.[] not be more sinister or terrible.
or 72. Tbe curse of Pelops' house: See notes 6, 3 3.
73. Must there be more: This is the only possible hint of an aftermath
.l)IJJ)l to the matricidal act as dramatized by Sophocles. When. (in the
is used.in contrast with phrases in steady iambic pulse. Greek text) Aegisthus refers to 'future evils', he must certainly
6+. Closing scene:The physical action, which has been so long sus- be thinking of his own imminent death. There might perhaps be
pended in the drama's concentration on Electra and her intense an ironical reference to Orestes' subsequent pursuit by the Furies
emotions, now follows thick and fast. As Clytemnestra's death in the traditional myth, but Sophocles' tragedy of Electra is
cries ring out offstage, we hear Electra savagely call to Orestes already complete. See note 75.
to strike his mother a second time. The murderers emerge from 74. No, I'd rather . . . so rife: Orestes' final speech is extraordinarily
the palace to report the deed done, only to withdraw again unpleasant, loathsome as Aegisthus may have appeared. It typi-
rapidly when Aegisthus' long-awaited return is announced. The fies the ruthlessness of his character.
moment when the odious bully of an usurper is confronted with 7 5. O seed of Atreus . . . ending: I take the Chorus' closing anapaests,
his wife's corpse is a superlatively chilling coup de thddtre. No perhaps spoken only by the Leader, to be addressed to Electra
less horrible is Electra's demand that the villain's corpse should hercelf. If so, she remains briefly on stage after Orestes and
be thrown to the dogs and the birds. The victory has been won, Pylades have driven Aegisthus indoors, possibly while the
but it has left her morally destroyed. ekkyklAma with her mother's corpse is withdrawn. In my view,
65. destroyerst The Greek word here, apollunt6n, could be an ironi- these lines do not lend an unambivalently positive note to the
cal pun on the name of Apollo. play's conclusion, but are packed with irony. Electra is called
;thi seed of Areus', whose palace inherited from the cursed
66. lf Apollo prophesied well: Sophocles is not implying any possible
misgiving or revulsion on Orestes'part. On his lips,'if'means'as Pelops (5rr) was 'rich in blood' (ro). After that, the emphasis
sure as'. But there may be some dramatic irony in the ambiguity. falls on her suffering and on the strain of the process that has
67. their uay to her heart: The deliberate irony here (as at 1457, resulted in her 'freedom" As for the 'ending', the consummation
1464-5, t47r, r4741 is magnificent. of revenge has been achieved, but it has also marked the end of
68. Enter . , , couered: For the display of Clytemnestra's covered Electra as a morally conscious human being.
body see Preface p. r33. How the rest of the scene, including the
removal of the corpse, was managed is a matter for further
speculation. PHILOCTETES
69. No gloating, thougb: Aegisthus' triumph might provoke the
wrath of the gods. Given his bullying characterization so far, his r . Scene t:Odysseus and Neoptolemus arrive on Lemnos, presented
piety is almost certainly hypocritical. as a desert island. Odysseus outlines the background and purpose
'When
...
delay; These two lines may be spurious. The
a rnan's of their mission, which is to Practise a deception on Philoctetes
dramatic pace is certainly better without them. (see Preface p. r9il. The action portrays Odysseus' moral
dogs and birds:The Greek text here says, 'Throw him out to the seduction of Neoptolemus' whose inherited nature finds decep-
7r.
buriers it is appropriate for him to get.'The translation takes tion repugnant. Apart from the compelling interplay of personali-
Electra to be asking for Aegisthus' body to be left exposed for ties, the realistic ddtails in the description of Philoctetes'cave and