Euripides · c. 480-406 BC
Iphigenia in Tauris
Ἰφιγένεια ἐν ΤαύροιςRead our guide to Iphigenia in Tauris
Iphigenia in Tauris was probably staged around 414 BC. Iphigenia, whom Artemis saved from sacrifice at Aulis, serves as the priestess of the goddess among the Taurians of the Black Sea, where strangers are sacrificed on her altar. When her brother Orestes, pursued by the Furies, comes to steal the goddess's image on Apollo's command, the two do not know each other. The play is a story of recognition, deceit and escape. The sections follow the play's own units (prologue, parodos, episodes, choral songs and exodos) and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.
Contents · 29 passages
- 1–66Prologue: Iphigenia at Artemis' temple among the Taurians567 words
- 67–122Prologue: Orestes and Pylades reach the temple525 words
- 123–177Parodos: the Chorus and Iphigenia's libations for Orestes319 words
- 178–235Choral dirge and Iphigenia's lament for her family333 words
- 236–294First episode: a herdsman announces two captured Greeks519 words
- 295–341First episode: the herdsman tells of Orestes' fit and the capture413 words
- 342–391First episode: Iphigenia's resolve and her doubts about Artemis440 words
- 392–455First choral song: the Symplegades and the Greek strangers321 words
- 456–491Second episode: the captives are brought in311 words
- 492–532Second episode: Iphigenia questions Orestes about Greece420 words
- 533–569Second episode: Orestes tells of Agamemnon's death395 words
- 570–627aSecond episode: Iphigenia offers to send one captive home with a letter559 words
- 628–673Second episode: Iphigenia goes for the letter; Orestes notices her interest in Argos392 words
- 674–722Second episode: Pylades and Orestes dispute who will live450 words
- 723–776Second episode: Iphigenia makes Pylades swear and reads out the letter535 words
- 777–821Second episode: the recognition of Orestes and Iphigenia462 words
- 822–899Second episode: the tokens and the embrace of brother and sister464 words
- 900–938Second episode: Pylades urges caution; Orestes tells of Electra and the Furies398 words
- 939–988Second episode: Orestes tells of the trial at Athens and Apollo's oracle467 words
- 989–1051Second episode: Iphigenia and Orestes plan the escape658 words
- 1052–1088Second episode: Iphigenia binds the Chorus to silence355 words
- 1089–1151Second choral song: the halcyon and longing for Greece353 words
- 1153–1202Third episode: Iphigenia tells Thoas the statue and strangers are polluted522 words
- 1203–1233Third episode: Thoas agrees to the purification rites443 words
- 1234–1282Third choral song: Apollo's birth on Delos and the oracle at Delphi308 words
- 1284–1326Exodos: a messenger brings news of the escape416 words
- 1327–1369Exodos: the messenger tells of the struggle at the shore373 words
- 1370–1421Exodos: the fight, the storm and the ship driven back410 words
- 1422–1499Exodos: Athena stops Thoas and sets out the future of the cult643 words
More by Euripides
English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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