Argos

Clytemnestra, they in safe maiden bowers be warded well.

agamemnon nay hear me clytemnestra no by the argive's goddess queen go order things without within doors i will order what is fitting for a bride exit agamemnon ah me vain mine essay my hope is foiled who out of sight was fain to send my wife with subtle schemes against my best beloved i weave plots yet am baffled everywhere but none the less with calchas will i go the priest the goddess pleasure to inquire for me ill doom for hellas travail sore the wise man in his house should keep a wife helpful and good or never take a bride chorus unto simois unto the silver-swirling eddies shall come the hellene host with galleys with battle-gear onward hurling to the plain of phoebus the troyland coast where tosseth cassandra her tresses golden with their garlands of green-leaved bay enfolden as they tell when by mighty compulsion holden her soul is on storm-winds of prophecy on the heights of their towers shall the trojans and ringing the ramparts of troy in their harness stand when over the waters the war-god bringing the stately galleys with oars to the strand draweth near where the runnels of simois are sliding to hail her in priam's halls who is hiding sister of zeus's sons heaven abiding with buckler and spear unto hellas land and the war fiends shall girdle with slaughter pergamos towers of stone and the captive's head back bend that the throat shearing blade may descend when lo in the dust he hath brought her troy from her height overthrown he shall make for her maids a lamenting and the queen of priam shall moan and the daughter of zeus shall know in that day and the flood shall flow of helen's tears of repenting who hath left her husband lone over me over mine may there loom no not in the third generation never such shadow of doom as shall haunt each gold-decked dame of the lydian the phrygian nation as beside the weaving frame they shall wail to each other in fear and despair ah who on the braids of my shining hair clenching his grip till my tears down shower me from my perishing country shall tear as one plucketh a flower for thy sake child of the swan archnecked if credence worthy the story be that laid a bear to a winged bird thee when zeus with its plumes had his changed form or whether in scrolls of minstrelsy such tales unto mortals hath fable brought told out of season and all for naught enter achilles achilles where is achaia's battle-chief hereby what henchman will bear word that peleus son achilles at his gates is seeking him this tarrying here falls not alike on all for some there are of us who yet unwed have left their dwellings wardenless and here sit idle on the shore some that have wives and children such strange longing for this war hath upon hellas fallen by heaven's will mine own my righteous grievance must i speak let whoso will beside his own cause plead pharsalia's land and peleus have i left and through these light airs of euripus wait checking my myrmidons yet urgent aye they cry why dally achilles how long time yet must the troyward bound array wait on act if thou canst else lead thy war-host home waiting no more on atreus son's delays and part two recording by expatriate in bangor maine part three of iphigenia in aulis by euripides translated by arthur sanders way eighteen forty seven to nineteen thirty this librivox recording is in the public domain recording by expatriate in bangor maine part three enter clytemnestra clytemnestra child of the nereid goddess from within thy voice i heard and come without the tent achilles great queen of shamefastness what lady here behold i crowned with peerless loveliness no marvel thou shouldst know me not unseen ere this thy shrinking modesty i praise achilles who art thou why cam'st thou to achaia's host a woman unto men with bucklers fenced clytemnestra i am laid as daughter clytemnestra named am i king agamemnon is my lord achilles well hast thou said in brief what most imports yet shame were this that i with women talk clytemnestra stay wherefore flee nay give me thy right hand to clasp the prelude to espousals blest achilles how say'st mine hand in thine ashamed were i before thy lord of such unsanctioned touch clytemnestra tis wholly sanctioned since thou art to wed my child o son of the lady of the sea achilles what wedding this i know not what to say except of crazed wits this strange utterance come clytemnestra tis all men's nature so in shame to shrink before new kin and talk of spousal rights achilles lady thy daughter have i never wooed nor word of marriage atreus sons have said clytemnestra what shall this mean thou marvel at my words in turn for passing strange are thine to me achilles think we have common cause to search out this perchance nor thou nor i speak false herein clytemnestra how have i been abused seek i a bridle which is not as doth seem i am crushed with shame achilles some one perchance hath mocked both thee and me nay lightly hold it lay it not to heart clytemnestra farewell i cannot with unshrinking eyes meet thine who have made a liar outrage so achilles farewell i bid thee too i pass within yonder pavilion now to seek thy lord old servant from within the tent stranger aeacus scion tarry thou what ho to thee i call whom the goddess bare and laid as daughter unto thee withal achilles who through doors half open calleth calleth with what fearful breath old servant bond am i the name i scorn not neither fortune suffereth ach whose not mine art thou no part in agamemnon's goods i have old servant hers who stands before the tent me tyndareus her father gave ach lo i stay if aught thou wouldst speak that for which thou bad'st me wait old servant stand ye twain alone none other near hereby before the gate ach speak alone we are from out the king's pavilion come thou nigher old servant entering from tent fortune and my foresight save ye them whose saving i desire ach stately invocation this it may for needs to come avail clytemnestra as old servant is about to kneel to her linger not to touch mine hand if thou to me wouldst tell thy tale old servant loyal to thee and to thy children well thou knowest me i ween cly yay i know that from of old mine house's servant thou hast been old servant and that agamemnon gat me in possession with thy dower cly thou to argos camest with me hast been mine unto this hour old servant so it is to thee devoted more than to thy lord am i clytemnestra prithee now unveil thy secret whatsoe'er the mystery old servant lo thy child her very father with his own hands soon shall slay clytemnestra how avaunt the story ancient sure thy wit is all astray old servant severing thine unhappy daughter's snowy neck with murder's sword clytemnestra oh alas for me now haply murder frenzied is my lord old servant sane save touching thee and this thy daughter only mad herein clytemnestra what the reason what avenging demon drives him to the sin old servant oracles as calchas saith that the host may pass the sea clytemnestra whither woe for me for thee whose father waits to murder thee old servant unto dardanus hauls that menelaus may bring helen home ha is helen's home returning fraught with iphigenia's doom old servant thou hast all the sire will sacrifice thy child to artemis clytemnestra and the marriage made the pretext drew me from my home to this old servant so that thou shouldst gladly bring thy child to be achilles bride clytemnestra daughter to destruction com'st thou and thy mother at thy side old servant piteous lot is thine is hers an awful deed thy lord essayed clytemnestra woe is me undone the fountains of my eyes may not be stayed old servant if tis pain to be bereft of children let the tear-flood flow clytemnestra nay but ancient whence hast heard it sayest thou how dost thou know old servant with a letter touching that aforetime written hasted i clytemnestra countermanding or re-urging me to bring my child to die old servant nay forbidding thee to bring for then thy lord was sound of wit clytemnestra why then bearing such a scroll to me didst not deliver it old servant menelaus snatched it from me cause of all these miseries clytemnestra child of thetis son of peleus hearest thou these infamies achilles yea i hear thy sorrow nor my part therein i tamely bear clytemnestra they will slay my daughter setting thine espousals for a snare achilles wroth am i against thy lord i counted not a little thing clytemnestra i will not think shame to bow me down unto thy knees to cling mortal unto child of goddess what is matron pride to me lo for whom above my daughter should i labour instantly ah be thou o goddess born protector unto my despair and unto the maiden named thy bride all vainly though it were all for thee i wreathed her leading her to be thy bride i came came to slaughter leading her on thee shall fall reproach's shame who didst shield her not for though ye ne'er were linked in marriage ties yet the hapless maiden's husband wast thou called in anywise by thy beard i pray thy right hand by thy mother's deity since thy name was mine undoing see thy name untarnished altar have i none to flee to save thy knee in my distress not a friend is near of agamemnon's cruel recklessness thou hast heard and i am come a woman as thou dost behold unto this array of sea-folk lawless and to evil bold yet so they be willing strong to help if thou but dare extend o'er mine head thine hand our life is saved if not our life hath end chorus mighty is motherhood of potent spell all mothers for a child's life will fight hard achilles my whole soul's chivalry is to action stirred yet hath my soul learnt temperance in grief for troubles and in joy for triumphs won for such men are by reason schooled to pass through life well in cool judgment self-reliant true pain sometimes rewards the over-wise yet oft of self-reliance profit comes fostered by chiron one that feared god most was i and learned to tread no tortuous ways and atreus sons if righteously they lead will i obey else will i not obey here as in troy i'll keep me free man still and as i may will grace a hero's part thee lady outraged by thy nearest kin will i so far as such young champion can write so shall my compassion buckler thee ne'er by her father slain shall be thy child once called my bride i will not lend myself to be thy lord's tool in his subtle plots else my mere name though it have drawn no sword shall slay thy daughter and the cause thereof thy lord my very blood were murder tainted if this maid suffering wrongs intolerable for my sake and my marriage be destroyed with outrage past belief unmerited so were i basest among argive men a thing of nought and menelaus a man sprung of nopaleus but some vengeance fiend if my name shall do butchery for thy lord no by the foster son of ocean's waves nereus the sire of thetis who bare me king agamemnon shall not touch thy child not on her robe to lay a finger-tip else half barbaric sypolus were a city whence sprang the line of yonder war-chief's house and phthia's name were nowhere named of men his meal his labour drops of sacrifice calchas the seer shall rue what is a seer a man who speaks few truths but many lies when his shafts hit who is ruined if he miss it is not for the bride's sake brides untold are eager for mine hand that this i say but king agamemnon hath insulted me he ought to have asked my name's use first of me to trap his child chiefly through trust in me did clytemnestra yield her lord her daughter i had granted this to greece if only so the voyage to troy might be had not refused to aid their cause with whom i marched to war but now in yon chief's eyes i am as naught to honour me or shame me is all one soon shall my sword know ere it go to troy i will disdain it with death-dews of blood if any man shall wrest from me thy daughter calm thee as some god strong to save i come though i be none yet will i prove me such chorus thou speakest son of peleus worthily of thee and of the sea-born goddess dread clytemnestra how can i praise thee and not overpraise and yet not mar the grace by stint thereof for good men praised do in a manner hate the praiser if he praiseth overmuch i blush to thrust on thee my piteous tale my pain is mine mine anguish wrings not thee yet is it nobly done when from his height the good man stoops to help the stricken ones pity me for in piteous case am i who first had dreamed that thou shouldst wed my child vain hope was mine next haply unto thee ill omen for thy bridal yet to come should be my child's death take thou heed thereof well spakest thou the first things as the last for if thou will it shall my child be saved wouldst thou she clasp thy knees a suppliant no maiden's part this yet if thou think well she shall come lifting innocent frank eyes but if without her i may win my suit in maiden pride let her abide within yet modesty bows to hard necessity achilles nay bring not forth thy daughter in my sight nor lady risk we the reproach of fools for this thronged host of all home trammels free loves evil babble of malicious tongues in any wise the same end shall ye gain praying or prayerless for one mighty strife waits me from evil to deliver you one thing be sure thou hast heard i will not lie if lie i do or mock you may i die and only die not if i save the maid clytemnestra heaven bless thee who still succorest the distressed achilles now hear me that the matter well may speed clytemnestra what meanest thou i needs must list to thee achilles let us to a better mood persuade her sire clytemnestra he is something craven fears o'ermuch the host achilles yet mightier wrestler reason is than fear clytemnestra cold hope is this yet say what i must do achilles beseech him first to murder not his child if he withstand thee come thou unto me for if he heed thy prayer i need not stir since in this very yielding is her life and friendlier so to a friend shall i appear nor shall the army blame me if i bring this thing to pass by reason not by force if all go well upon thy friends and thee shall gladness dawn and that without mine aid clytemnestra ah wise words i must act as seems thee best but if we shall not gain mine heart's desire where shall i see thee whither shall i go in misery to find thy champion hand achilles where best befits will i keep watch for thee that none behold thee traversing wild-eyed the danaan host shame not thy father's house for tyndareus deserves not to be made a mock for great is he midst hellene men clytemnestra this shall be rule thou i must be thy thrall if there be gods thy righteousness shall earn their favour if not wherefore should men toil exeunt severally achilles and clytemnestra chorus oh what bridal chant rang with the crying of the libyan flute with the footfall of dancers replying to the voice of the lute with the thrill of the reeds glad greeting in the day when o'er pelion fleeting unto peleus espousals with beating of golden-shod foot the beautiful tress song maidens to the gods feast came and their bridal hymns ravishing cadence bore thetis fame o'er the hills of the centaurs far pealing through the woodlands of paleon soft stealing the new-born splendor revealing of the aeacid's name and dardanus's child whom the pinion of the eagle bore from phrygia ganymede minion of zeus did pour from the gold's depths nectar while dancing feet of the sea-maids were glancing through circles through mazes entrancing the white sands o'er leaf crowned came the centaur riders with their lances of pine to the feast of the heaven abiders and the bowls of their wine hail sea-queen so rang their acclaiming alight over thessaly flaming sang chiron the unborn naming achilles shall shine and as phoebus made clear the vision he shall pass sang the seer unto priam's proud land on a mission of fire with a spear and the shield of the myrmidons clashing in gold for the fire king's crashing forges shall clothe him with flashing warrior gear of his mother the gift shall be given of thetis brought down so did the dwellers in heaven with happiness crown the espousals of nereus his daughter when a bride unto peleus they brought her of the seed of the lords of the water chief in renown but men shall wreath thine head for death thy golden hair as heifer white and red down from the hill caves led a victim pure shall stain with blood thy throat's snow fair though never thou wert bred wherewith the herdmen strain their reed pipes through the air but at thy mother's side was nursed was decked a bride for a king's heir what might hath now modesty's maiden face or virtue's brow when godlessness bears sway and mortals thrust away virtue and cry give place when lawlessness hath law down trod and none will to his brother say let us beware the jealousy of god enter clytemnestra clytemnestra forth of the tent to seek my lord i come who is from his pavilion absent long and drowned in tears mine hapless daughter is with wails now ringing high now moaning low since she hath heard what death her father plots lo of one even now drawn nigh i spake yon agamemnon who shall straightway stand convict of sin against his very child enter agamemnon agamemnon o laid as child well met without the tent i would speak with thee ere our daughter come of that which fits not brides to be should hear clytemnestra and what is this that fits the time so well agamemnon send forth the tenth the maid to join her sire for here the lustral waters stand prepared and meal for hands to cast on cleansing flame and victims that ere bridles must be slain to artemis with spurtings of dark blood clytemnestra fair sound the things thou namest but to thy deeds i know not how to give fair-sounding names daughter come forth to the uttermost thou know'st thy sire's design the babe orestes take and bring thy brother folded in thy robes enter iphigenia lo she is here obedient unto thee the rest for her for me myself will speak agamemnon child wherefore weep and blithely look no more but earthward bend thy vesture shrouded eyes clytemnestra ah me as shall i make beginning of my woes for well may i account each one the first midmost or last in misery's tangled web agamemnon how now how find i each and all conspired to show me looks of trouble and amaze Clytemnestra answer my question husband like a man Agamemnon no need to bid me i would fain be asked Clytemnestra thy child and mine mean'st thou to murder her Agamemnon ha a hideous question foul suspicion this Clytemnestra peace render me answer first as touching this Agamemnon to question fair fair answer shalt thou hear clytemnestra nought else i ask thou answer me nought else agamemnon o mighty doom o fate o fortune mine clytemnestra and mine and hers one fate for wretched three agamemnon whom have i wronged clytemnestra thou and of me ask this this wit of thine is utter witlessness agamemnon undone am i my secret is betrayed clytemnestra i know all yea thy purposed crime have learnt thy very silence and thy groan ungrown are thy confession labour not with speech agamemnon lo i am silent wherefore utter lies and add unto misfortune shamelessness clytemnestra give ear now for i will unfold my pleas nor use half hinting riddles any more first that with this i may reproach thee first by force not of my will didst thou wed me thou slewest tantalus my sometime lord didst dash my living babe against the stones even from my breast with violence tearing him then did the sons of zeus my brethren twain flashing on white steeds come to war with thee but mine old father tyndareus begged thy life who cam'st his suppliant and thou keptest me so reconciled to thee and to thine house a blameless wife was i be witness thou chaste in desires increasing in thine halls thy substance still so that thine enterings in were joy and thine outgoings happiness rare spoil is this for man to win such spouse of getting worthless wives there is no lack this son with daughters three to thee i bear and of one wilt thou rob me ruthlessly now if one ask thee wherefore thou wilt slay her speak what wilt say or must i speak for thee that helen's lord may win her glorious this to pay a wanton's price in children's lives so shall we buy things loathed with things most loved come if thou go to war and leave me here at home and through long absence tarry there with what heart think'st thou shall i keep thine halls when vacant of her i behold each chair vacant each maiden bower and sit me down in loneliness of tears and mourn her ever o child he which begat thee murdered thee himself none other by none other hand leaving unto this house such vengeance seeing there needeth but faint pretext now whereon both i and thy seed left to thee shall greet thee with such greeting as befits nay by the gods constrain not me to turn traitress to thee nor such be thou to me lo now thy daughter slain what prayer wilt thou pray then implore what blessing murderer of thy child an ill home-coming since in shame thou goest wert just that i pray any good for thee o surely must we deem the gods be fools if we wish blessings upon murderers wilt thou return to argos clasp thy babes o impious thought what child shall meet thy look if thou hast given up one of them to death hast ta'en account of this or is it thine only to flaunt a sceptre lead a host this righteous proffer shouldst thou have made will ye achaeans sail to phrygia land e'en then cast lots whose daughter needs must die this had been fair not that thou choose thine own the danaans victim rather than that he whose quarrel this is menelaus slay hermione for her mother now must i the loyal wife be of my child bereft while she the harlot brings her daughter home to dwell in sparta and prosperity herein if i plead ill thou answer me but if my words ring true repent slay not thy child in mine and so shalt thou be wise chorus heed her for good is thou joined to save thy child agamemnon none shall gainsay this iphigenia had i the tongue of orpheus o my sire to charm with song the rocks to follow me and which with eloquence whomsoe'er i would i had assayed it now mine only cunning tears will i bring for this is all i can and suppliant will i twine about thy knees my body which this mother bare to thee ah slay me not untimely sweet is light constrain me not to see the nether gloom twas i first called thee father thou me child twas i first thrown my body on thy knees and gave thee sweet caresses and received and this thy word was ah my little maid blest shall i see thee in a husband's halls living and blooming worthily of me and as i twined my fingers in thy beard whereto i now cling thus i answer thee and what of thee shall i greet thy grey hairs father with loving welcome in mine holes repaying all thy fostering toil for me i keep remembrance of that converse yet thou hast forgotten thou wouldst murder me ah no by pelops by thy father atreus and by this mother whose first travail pangs now in this second anguish are renewed what part have i in paris rape of helen why father should he from my ruin have come look on me give me one glance oh one kiss that i may keep in death from thee but this memorial if thou heed my pleading not brother small help canst thou be to thy friends yet weep with me yet supplicate thy sire to slay thy sister not some sense of ill even in wordless infants is inborn lo by his silence he implores thee father have mercy have compassion on my youth yea by thy beard we pray thee loved ones twain a nestling one and one a daughter grown in one cry summing all i must prevail sweet passing sweet is light for men to see death is but nothingness who prays to die is mad ill life o'erpasseth glorious death chorus o thou wretch helen through thee and thy sin comes agony on the atreids and their seed part three recording by expatriate in bangor maine part four of iphigenia in aulis by euripides translated by arthur sanders way eighteen forty seven to nineteen thirty this librivox recording is in the public domain part four agamemnon i know what asketh pity what doth not who love mine own babes i were madman else awful it is my wife to dare this deed yet awful to forbear i must do this mark ye yon countless host with galleys fenced and all the brazen harnessed hellene kings who cannot voyage unto ilium's towers who cannot raise troy's citadel renowned but by thy blood as calchas saith the seer a fiery passion maddeneth hela's host to sail in all haste to the alien's land and put an end to rapes of hellene wives my daughters will they slay in argos you and me if i annul the goddess not menelaus hath enslaved me child nor yet to serve his pleasure have i come tis hellas for whom will i will i not i must slay thee this cannot we withstand free must she be so far as in thee lies and me child nor by aliens violence must sons of hellas of their wives be spoiled clytemnestra o child o stranger damsel see woe for thy death alas for me thy father flees to hades yielding thee iphigenia alas for me mother one song for us twain fate finds us none other but this sad strain upon me shall the light and the beams of the sun shine never again o phrygian glade over gloomed by the crest of ida where laid in a snow-heapen nest was the suckling by priam cast forth which he tore from the mother's breast yea left him to die till the death-doomed should claim paris whereby throughout troy was his name paris of ida where fostered a herdman mid kine he became would god amid fountains of foam silvered sheen of the nymphs of the mountains his home had not been nor where roses and bluebells for goddesses bloomed amid water meads green came the queen of beguiling with love-litten eye passion kindling and smiling as for victory nigh came pallas in pride of her prowess and hera the queen of the sky and hermes was there the herald of heaven so the strife of most fair loathed contest was striven whereof to me death but to danaan's glory o damsels was given me the huntress receiveth for her first-fruits of prey and mine own sire leaveth his child doth betray a daughter most wretched o mother my mother and fleeth away woes me to have seen her helen whose name is a bitterness keener than words may frame she has made to me slaughter in doom and a father's deed of shame o had aulus received not bronze prows long embayed o had troy been reprieved not while their pine wings delayed o had zeus never breathed on eurypus the breath that our voyaging stayed he who tempers his gales unto men as he will some shake out glad sails some in sorrow sit still fate fettered these speed from the haven the white wings of those never fill o travail worn seed of the sons of a day how fate hath decreed disaster alway what burden of anguish did tendarius child on the danaans lay chorus i pity thee for this unhappy lot found of thee would thou ne'er hadst come thereon iphigenia mother mine i see a throng of men that hither hasten on clytemnestra child tis he for whom thou camest hither even thetis son iphigenia handmaids ope to me the doors that i within may hide my face clytemnestra wherefore flee my child iphigenia for shame i cannot meet achilles gaze clytemnestra wherefore so iphigenia with shame the misery of my bridal crusheth me not in plight for dainty shrinking art thou when tis thus with thee tarry then no time is this for maiden pride if we but may enter achilles achilles hapless woman child of leda clytemnestra truly hapless named this day achilles fearfully the argives clamour clytemnestra what their clamour tell the thing achilles touching this thy daughter clytemnestra ah thy words with evil presage ring achilles slain she must be cry they clytemnestra is there none whose words with theirs contend achilles yea myself in tumult's peril was clytemnestra what peril stranger friend achilles even to be stoned with stones clytemnestra since thou hadst fain my daughter spared achilles even so clytemnestra but lay a hand on thee and who such deed had dared achilles all the hellenes clytemnestra but with thee was not thy people's battle-host achilles first were these to turn against me clytemnestra o my daughter we are lost achilles taunted me as thrall to marriage clytemnestra and what answer didst thou frame achilles slay my destined bride i said ye shall not clytemnestra yea a righteous claim achilles whom her father promised clytemnestra yea to argos sent withal to bring achilles yet was i out clamoured clytemnestra ah the rabble is a baneful thing achilles yet will i defend thee clytemnestra singly fight against a multitude achilles seest thou these who bear mine armour clytemnestra blessings on thy dauntless mood achilles yea i shall be blest clytemnestra she shall not now be on the altar laid achilles not while i am living clytemnestra how will any come to seize the maid achilles thousands and odysseus leading clytemnestra he the seed of sisyphus achilles even he Clytemnestra, self-bidden, or did all the host appoint it thus? Achilles, chosen and consenting.

Clytemnestra, evil choice for murderous violence.

Achilles, nay, but I will stay him.

Clytemnestra, would he hail her unconsenting hence? Achilles, yea, and by her golden tresses.

Clytemnestra, what must then be done of me? achilles cling unto thy child clytemnestra if this may save her slain she shall not be achilles ay and surely unto this it will come iphigenia mother to my word hearken ye against thine husband i behold thee anger stirred causelessly twere hard for us inevitable doom to brave meet it is we thank the stranger hero for his will to save yet that he be not reproached of hellas host must we beware so should ruin seize him and ourselves in no wise better fare hear the thing that flashed upon me mother as i thought hereon lo resolved i am to die and fain am i that this be done gloriously that i thrust ignoble craven thoughts away prithee mother this consider with me mark how well i say unto me almighty hellas looks i only can bestow boons upon her sailing of her galleys phrygia's overthrow safety for her daughters from barbarians in the days to come that the ravisher no more may snatch them from a happy home when the penalty is paid for paris outrage helen's shame all this great deliverance i in death shall compass and my name as of one who gave to hellas freedom shall be blessing crowned must i live that clutching life with desperate hand i should be found for the good of hellenes didst thou bear me not for thine alone lo how countless warriors were the shield before the bosom thrown myriads now the fatherland is wronged with strenuous oar in hand all will fear not to encounter foes to die for helles land and shall all be thwarted baffled by the life of one of me where were justice here and what can i set forth for answering plea turn we now to this thing also never ought this man to make war on all the argives no nor perish for a woman's sake worthier than ten thousand women one man is to look on light lo if artemis hath willed to claim my body as her right what shall i a helpless mortal woman thwart the will divine nay it cannot be my body unto hellas i resign sacrifice me raise ye troy for this through all the ages is my memorial children marriage glory all are mine in this right it is that hellenes rule barbarians not that alien yoke rest on hellene's mother they be bondmen we be free-born folk chorus noble the part thou playest maiden is but fate and artemis ill part is theirs achilles agamemnon's child a god came near to bless me could i but have won thee for my bride happy in thee as hellas thou in hell well saidst thou this and worthily of our land thou hast turned away from strife with gods a thing too hard for thee hast weighed the good fate spares yet love for thee now thrills me through the more that i have seen thy nature noble heart wherefore look to it thee i fain would serve and bear thee home i chafe be thetis witness that i should save thee not in battle-shock with danaans think a fearful thing is death iphigenia i say this as one past all hope and fear suffice that through her beauty tyndareus child stirs strife and slaughter thou o stranger prince die not for me nor slay thou any man let me be hela's saviour if i may achilles o soul heroic nought can i say more hereto since fixed thine heart is thy resolve is noble why should one say not the truth but yet for haply yet thy mood may change that thou mayst know the proffer that i make i go to place my weapons nigh the altar ready to suffer nought but bar thy death thou mayst even thou unto mine offer turn when thou beholdest at thy throat the knife thou shalt not through a hasty impulse die no with these arms will i unto the shrine and for thy coming thither will i wait exit iphigenia mother why art thou weeping silently clytemnestra good cause have i woes me to break mine heart forbear make me not craven but this do clytemnestra speak thou shalt have no wrong of me my child iphigenia shear not for me the tresses of thine hair neither in sable stole array thy form clytemnestra why say'st thou this when i have lost thee child iphigenia nay i am saved thy glory shall i be clytemnestra how sayest thou must i not mourn thy death iphigenia nay nay no grave mound shall be heaped for me clytemnestra how then in death is burial not implied iphigenia zeus's daughter's altar is my sepulchre clytemnestra child i will do thy bidding thou say'st well ephigenia as one blest benefactor of our greece clytemnestra what message to thy sisters shall i bear ephigenia them too array thou not in sable stole clytemnestra shall i bear them some word of love from thee ephigenia only farewell to manhood rear this babe clytemnestra embrace him for the last time look on him ephigenia to orestes dearest thou gav'st us all the help thou couldst clytemnestra can i do aught at home to pleasure thee ephigenia my father and thine husband hate not thou clytemnestra a fearful course for thy sake must he run ephigenia sore loath for hella's sake hath he destroyed me clytemnestra by guile unkingly unworthy atreus son iphigenia who will lead me ere men drag me by mine hair clytemnestra i will go with thee iphigenia nay thou say'st not well clytemnestra grasping thy vesture Iphigenia, heed me, mother mine.

Tarry, for thee, for me, tis better so.

Let one of my sire's henchmen lead me on to Artemis Meadow, where I shall be slain.

Is this the way?

All you Argives flying home to your fatherland, tumbling into your oarswept ships, leaving Priam and all the men of Troy a trophy to glory over? Helen of Argos? Helen for whom so many Argives lost their lives in Troy, far from native land? No, don't give up now.

Range the Achaean ranks.

With your winning words, hold back each man you find.

Coming face to face with Agamemnon, he relieved him of his father's royal scepter.

Its power can never die.

And grasping it tightly, off he strode to the ships of Argives armed in bronze.

So what does Odysseus do? He goes to Agamemnon, who issued the challenge disastrously, and he takes the scepter, which is that symbol of his ruling power, and he's going to use it himself.

What a great disagreement there is between Hellenicus and Acusilaus about their genealogies, in how many cases Acusilaus corrects Hesiod, or after what manner Ephorus demonstrates Hellenicus to have told lies in the greatest part of his history, as does Timaeus in like manner as to Ephorus, and the succeeding writers do to Timaeus, and all the later writers do to Herodotus.

Nor could Timaeus agree with Antiochus and Philistius, or with Callias about the Sicilian history, no more than do the several writers of the Atheidae follow one another about the Athenian affairs, nor do the historians the like that wrote the Argolics about the affairs of the Argives.

And now what need I say any more about particular cities and smaller places, while in the most approved writers of the expedition of the Persians, and of the actions which were therein performed, there are so great differences.

Nay, Thucydides himself is accused of some as writing what is false, although he seems to have given us the exactest history of the affairs of his own time.

For Manetho says, that Sethosis was himself called Egyptus, as was his brother Armais called Danaeus.

This is Manetho's account.

And evident it is from the number of years by him set down belonging to this interval, if they be summed up together, that these shepherds, as they are here called, who were no other than our forefathers, were delivered out of Egypt, and came thence, and inhabited this country, three hundred and ninety-three years before Danaeus came to Argos, although the Argives look upon him as their most ancient king Manetho.

Therefore here is this testimony to two points, of the greatest consequence to our purpose, and those from the Egyptian records themselves.

Today is born an illustrious man who will rule Olympus.

Over all of the Argives, Eurystheus, son of Sthenalos, descended from Perseus, so born of your own stock.

He is not unfit to rule the Argives.

So she spoke, and a bitter sorrow struck Zeus deep in his heart.

And ever afterward, he would grieve when he saw Heracles toiling at one of his shameful tasks for Eurystheus.

Ten livelong years have rolled away since the twin lords of sceptered sway, by Zeus endowed with pride of place, the doughty chiefs of Atreus' race went forth of yore, to plead with Priam face to face before the judgment seat of war.

A thousand ships from Argive land put forth to bear the martial band, that with a spirit stern and strong went out to right the kingdom's wrong, pealed as they went the battle song, wild as the vulture's cry, when o'er the iree soaring high in wild bereaved agony, around, around in airy rings they wheel with orage of their wings, but not the Aeolus brood behold that called them to the nest of old, but let Apollo from the sky, or Pan or Zeus, but hear the cry, the exile cry, the wail forlorn, of birds from whom their home is torn.

On those who wrought the rapine fell, heaven sends the vengeful fiends of hell.

Even so doth Zeus, the jealous lord and guardian of the hearth and board, speed Atreus' sons in vengeful ire against Paris, sends them forth on fire, her to buy back in war and blood whom one did wed but many wooed.

Enter Herald.

O land of Argos, father-land of mine, To thee at last beneath the tenth year's sun My feet return, the bark of my emprise, Though one by one Hope's anchors broke away, Held by the last, and now rides safely here.

Long, long my soul despaired to win in death Its long-fore rest within our Argive land.

And now all hail, O earth! and hail to thee, New-risen sun! and hail, our country's god, High-ruling Zeus! and thou, the Pythian lord, Whose arrows smote us once, smite thou no more! Was not thy wrath wreaked full upon our heads, O King Apollo, by Scamander's side? Turn thou, be turned, be saviour, healer now! And hail, all gods who rule the street and mart, And Hermes hail, my patron and my pride, Herald of heaven and lord of heralds here! And heroes, ye who sped us on our way, To one and all I cry, Receive again With grace such Argives as the spear has spared.

Once within, you drink the clearest pleasures, And your sorrow changes for ease; Ancient bards enchant you with their measures, Sweetly sighs the highland breeze.

Next amid the orange trees and cedars Bearded Homer deigns to roam, Musing tales of marching Argive leaders And Ulysses welcomed home.

Here, where daffodils their crowns are bending On a lawn of English green, Milton gravely sits to tell the ending Of angelic strifes unseen.

Here the almond bloom forever blushes, And Italian fountains rise; While the wine of Don their dewdrops flushes, Dante speaks of Paradise.