Electra

Perseus Greek · Perseus Greek · 602 sections

1102
Well, you have found it, and your guide is blameless.
1103
Which of you, then, would tell those inside of the long-desired presence of us travelers?
1105
She will, if the nearest in kin should announce it.
1106
Go, lady, enter and make it known that certain men of Phocis seek Aegisthus.
1108
Ah, miserable me! Surely you do not bring proof positive of that rumor which we heard?
1110
I know nothing of your rumor; but the aged Strophius ordered me to give report of Orestes.
1112
What is it, sir? Ah, how fear creeps over me!
1113
We come bearing his scanty remains in a small urn, as you see.
1115
Oh, the misery! Here, at last, my eyes look for certain, it seems, upon that grievous burden in your hand.
1117
If your tears are for any of Orestes’ tribulations, know that this vessel is his body’s home.
1119
Ah, sir, if this urn indeed contains him, then allow me,
1120
by the gods, to take it in my hands, so that I may weep and wail, not for these ashes alone, but for myself and for all our house with them!
1123
Take it and give it to her, whoever she may be. For she asks this for herself not as if with hostile intent,
1125
but like one who is his friend, or a kinswoman by blood. The urn is placed in Electra’s hands.
1126
Memorial of him whom I loved best on earth, sole remnant of Orestes’ vitality! How contrary to the hopes with which I sent you away do I receive you back! Now I raise your nothingness in my hands;
1130
but then, my child, you were radiant, when I sent you away from home! Would that I had first abandoned life, before, stealing you away with these hands, I sent you to a strange land and rescued you from death, in order that you might have lain dead on that same day
1135
and had your share in the tomb of our father!But now, an exile from home and fatherland, you have perished miserably, far from your sister. Ah, me, these loving hands have not washed or decked your corpse, nor taken up
1140
their sad burden from the all-consuming pyre, as was proper. No! At the hands of strangers, poor Orestes, you have been tended, and so have come to us, a small bulk in a small urn.Ah, I grieve at the uselessness of my nursing long ago, the service that I often bestowed
1145
on you in sweet labor! For you were never your mother’s darling so much as mine, nor was any in the house your nurse but I, and by you I was ever called sister. But now all this has vanished in a day
1150
with your death. Like a whirlwind you have swept everything away with you. Our father is gone; I am dead because of you; you yourself are dead and gone; our enemies laugh at us; and our mother, who is no mother, raves with joy. Unknown to her, you often
1155
sent me messages about her, saying that you yourself would appear for vengeance. But our evil fortune, yours and mine, has torn all that away, and has sent you back to me in this state, ash and a useless shade in place of your beloved form.
1160
ah, me, ah, me! O pitiable body! Alas, dear one sent on a most dire journey, how you have destroyed me, destroyed me indeed, my brother!
1165
Therefore accept me into this abode of yours—me, a nothing, into your nothingness,—so that I may dwell with you hereafter below. For when you were on earth, we shared equally, and now I wish to die and not to be left out of your grave,
1170
since I see that the dead are relieved of pain.
1171
Remember, Electra, you are the child of a mortal father, and Orestes was mortal. Therefore do not grieve too much. Death is a debt which all of us must pay.
1174
Ah, what shall I say? I am at a loss. To what words
1175
can I turn? I no longer have the strength to master my tongue!
1176
What has troubled you? Why did you say that?
1177
Is this the illustrious form of Electra?
1178
It is, though in a very wretched state.
1179
What pity, then, for this miserable fortune!
1180
Surely, stranger, you are not saddened like this on my account?
1181
O frame dishonorably, godlessly wasted!
1182
Those ills of which you speak, stranger, are none other’s than mine.
1183
Ah, pity for your unwed, ill-fated life!
1184
Why, stranger, do you stare and grieve in this way?
1185
How I knew nothing, it seems, of my own sorrows!
1186
What that has been said made you realize this?
1187
It was the sight of you conspicuous in your many sufferings.
1188
And yet you see but a few of my troubles.
1189
And how could there be any more odious to look on than these?
1190
Because I share house and table with the murderers.
1191
Whose murderers? Where lies the guilt at which you point?
1192
The murderers of my father. And, further, I am forced to slave for them.
1193
Who is it that binds you with this compulsion?
1194
She is called my mother, but in no respect is she like a mother.
1195
How does she do it? By violence or by inflicting hardship?
1196
By violence and hardships and all manner of evil.
1197
And is there no one to help, or to prevent it?
1198
No one. The one I had, his ashes you have put before me.
1199
Unfortunate girl, how seeing you stirs my pity!
1200
Then know that you are the first who ever pitied me.
1201
Yes, for I alone have come and been pained by your troubles .
1202
Surely you are not some unknown kinsman?
1203
I would tell you, if these women bear you goodwill.
1204
Indeed they do, so you will speak to trustworthy companions.
1205
Give up this urn, then, and you shall know everything.
1206
No, by the gods, do not do this to me, stranger!
1207
Do as I say, and you will never be mistaken.
1208
No, I beg you, do not rip from me what I hold most dear!
1209
You must not keep it.
1209a
Ah, what misery I will have because of you,
1210
Orestes, if I am robbed of your burial!
1211
Hush! No ill-omened words! You have no right to grieve.
1212
How is it not right for me to grieve for my dead brother?
1213
It is not proper for you to speak of him as you do.
1214
Am I so without rights in the dead?
1215
You are without rights in nothing; but this burial is not your concern.
1216
Yes it is, if these are the remains of Orestes that I hold.
1217
They are not his, except inasmuch as fiction alone contrives to make them so. He gently takes the urn from her.
1218
And where is that sufferer’s tomb?
1219
There is none; the living have no tomb.
1220
What are you saying, boy?
1221
Nothing that is untrue.
1221a
The man is alive?
1222
If there is life in me.
1222a
What? Are you he?
1223
Look at this signet, once our father’s, and know if I speak the truth.
1224
O blissful day!
1224a
Blissful, I am your witness!
1225
Is this your voice?
1225a
Hear it from no other.
1226
Do I hold you in my arms?
1226a
May you hold me so always hereafter!
1227
Ah, dear friends and fellow-citizens, see Orestes here, who was dead by design, and now by design has come safely home!
1230
We see him, daughter, and for this happy turn of fortune a tear of joy trickles from our eyes.
1.1232
O seed, seed of the person to me most dear, you have just now come,
1.1235
you have come, and have found and seen her whom your heart desired!
1.1236
I am with you; but keep silence and wait.
1.1237
What do you mean?
1.1238
It is better to be silent so that no one inside may hear.
1.1239
No, by ever-virgin Artemis,
1.1240
I will never think it right to tremble before eternally house-bound women, that useless burden on the ground!
1.1243
Yes, but remember that Ares dwells in women, too. You know this well by experience, I believe.
1.1245
oh, no! ah, me! You have reminded me of my sorrow, one which by its nature cannot be veiled,
1.1250
cannot be done away with, cannot be forgotten!
1.1251
I know this, too; but when occasion prompts, we must recall those crimes.
1.1253
Each moment of all time, as it comes, would be a proper occasion
1.1255
for me to make these just complaints. Scarcely now have I had my lips set free.
1.1257
Yes, I agree; therefore guard your freedom.

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0011.tlg005.perseus-eng2. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.