The Chorus pray to Zeus and to the gods of the house to help Orestes in the deed that he now has to do. They call on Orestes to be bold and to cry 'Father' when his mother cries 'Son', and to strike with the heart of Perseus. They pray that the old curse on the house may be ended.
Lines 783–837 · 385 words · click a number to copy its link
Now at my supplication, O Zeus, father of the Olympian gods, grant that the fortunes of our house be firmly established, so that those who rightly desire the rule of order may behold it. Every word of mine has been uttered in justice. O Zeus, may you safeguard it!
Know that the orphaned colt of a loved one is harnessed to the chariot of distress. And by setting bounds to his course may you grant that we see him keep a steady pace through this race and win the goal in the straining stride of a gallop.
And you who within the house inhabit the inner chamber that exults in its wealth, hear me, you gods, that feel with us! By a fresh award redeem the blood of deeds done long ago. May aged Murder cease begetting offspring in our house!
And you who occupy the mighty, gorgeously built cavern, grant that the man’s house may lift up its eyes again in joy, and that with glad eyes it may behold from under its veil of gloom the radiant light of freedom.
May Maia’s son, as he rightfully should, lend his aid, for no one can better sail a deed on a favoring course, when he would do so. But by his mysterious utterance he brings darkness over men’s eyes by night, and by day he is no more clear at all.
And then at last with a loud voice we shall sing a song of the deliverance of our house, the song that women raise when the wind sits fair, and not the shrill strain of those who mourn: The ship goes well. This grows to profit for me, for me, and calamity holds off from those I love.
But may you with good courage, when the part of action comes, cry out loud the name Father when she exclaims Son, and accomplish the baneful but irreproachable deed.
Raise up Perseus’ spirit within my breast. And for those dear to you below the earth, and for those above, exact satisfaction for their dire wrath by working bloody ruin in our house and obliterating the guilt of murder.
English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus) (1926). Original text: Greek text: Herbert Weir Smyth (ed. and trans.), Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1926, as digitised by Perseus. English: Herbert Weir Smyth, Aeschylus, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann, 1926 (Perseus's modernised version of Smyth's prose translation).
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Aeschylus. "Libation Bearers 783–837." Translated by Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus) (1926). GreekMythology.com, 05 Oct. 2026, https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/aeschylus/libation-bearers/stasimon-2. Accessed 05 October 2026.
Aeschylus. (2026, October 05). Libation Bearers 783–837 (Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus), Trans.). GreekMythology.com. https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/aeschylus/libation-bearers/stasimon-2
Aeschylus. "Libation Bearers 783–837." Translated by Herbert Weir Smyth (modernised by Perseus) (1926). GreekMythology.com, October 05, 2026. https://www.greekmythology.com/sources/aeschylus/libation-bearers/stasimon-2.
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