Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources

Euripides · Orestes Ὀρέστης

Euripides, Orestes 1204–1245: Sixth episode: the ambush is set

Ancient Sources / Euripides / Orestes / 1204–1245

Orestes praises Electra and tells her to stay before the palace to watch for Hermione and signal to those inside. He, Electra and Pylades call on Agamemnon and Zeus for help. Orestes and Pylades then go into the house to carry out their plan.

Lines 1204–1245 · 390 words · click a number to copy its link
1204–1245
Ὀρέστης 1204ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη, 1205τὸ σῶμα δʼ ἐν γυναιξὶ θηλείαις πρέπον, ὡς ἀξία ζῆν μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν ἔφυς. Πυλάδη, τοιαύτης ἆρʼ ἁμαρτήσῃ τάλας γυναικὸς ἢ ζῶν μακάριον κτήσῃ λέχος. Πυλάδης εἰ γὰρ γένοιτο, Φωκέων δʼ ἔλθοι πόλιν 1210καλοῖσιν ὑμεναίοισιν ἀξιουμένη. Ὀρέστης ἥξει δʼ ἐς οἴκους Ἑρμιόνη τίνος χρόνου; ὡς τἄλλα γʼ εἶπας, εἴπερ εὐτυχήσομεν, κάλλισθʼ, ἑλόντες σκύμνον ἀνοσίου πατρός. Ἠλέκτρα καὶ δὴ πέλας νιν δωμάτων εἶναι δοκῶ· 1215τοῦ γὰρ χρόνου τὸ μῆκος αὐτὸ συντρέχει. Ὀρέστης καλῶς· σὺ μέν νυν, σύγγονʼ Ἠλέκτρα, δόμων πάρος μένουσα παρθένου δέχου πόδα, φύλασσε δʼ ἤν τις, πρὶν τελευτηθῇ φόνος, ἢ ξύμμαχός τις ἢ κασίγνητος πατρός, 1220ἐλθὼν ἐς οἴκους φθῇ, γέγωνέ τʼ ἐς δόμους, ἢ σανίδα παίσασʼ ἢ λόγους πέμψασʼ ἔσω· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἔσω στείχοντες ἐπὶ τὸν ἔσχατον ἀγῶνʼ ὁπλιζώμεσθα φασγάνῳ χέρας, 1225ὦ δῶμα ναίων νυκτὸς ὀρφναίας πάτερ, καλεῖ σʼ Ὀρέστης παῖς σὸς ἐπίκουρον μολεῖν τοῖς δεομένοισι. διὰ σὲ γὰρ πάσχω τάλας ἀδίκως· προδέδομαι δʼ ὑπὸ κασιγνήτου σέθεν, δίκαια πράξας· οὗ θέλω δάμαρθʼ ἑλὼν 1230κτεῖναι· σὺ δʼ ἡμῖν τοῦδε συλλήπτωρ γενοῦ. Ἠλέκτρα ὦ πάτερ, ἱκοῦ δῆτʼ, εἰ κλύεις ἔσω χθονὸς τέκνων καλούντων, οἳ σέθεν θνῄσκουσʼ ὕπερ. Πυλάδης ὦ συγγένεια πατρὸς ἐμοῦ, κἀμὰς λιτάς, Ἀγάμεμνον, εἰσάκουσον· ἔκσῳσον τέκνα. Ὀρέστης 1235ἔκτεινα μητέρα — Ἠλέκτρα ἡψάμην δʼ ἐγὼ ξίφους — Πυλάδης ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπεβούλευσα κἀπέλυσʼ ὄκνου — Ὀρέστης σοί, πάτερ, ἀρήγων. Ἠλέκτρα οὐδʼ ἐγὼ προύδωκά σε. Πυλάδης οὔκουν ὀνείδη τάδε κλύων ῥύσῃ τέκνα; Ὀρέστης δακρύοις κατασπένδω σε. Ἠλέκτρα ἐγὼ δʼ οἴκτοισί γε. Πυλάδης 1240παύσασθε, καὶ πρὸς ἔργον ἐξορμώμεθα. εἴπερ γὰρ εἴσω γῆς ἀκοντίζουσʼ ἀραί, κλύει. σὺ δʼ, ὦ Ζεῦ πρόγονε καὶ Δίκης σέβας, δότʼ εὐτυχῆσαι τῷδʼ ἐμοί τε τῇδέ τε· τρισσοῖς φίλοις γὰρ εἷς ἀγών, δίκη μία, 1245ἢ ζῆν ἅπασιν ἢ — θανεῖν ὀφείλεται.

Orestes O you that have the spirit of a man, though your body shows you to be a woman, how far more worthy you are to live than to die! Pylades, you will lose such a woman to your sorrow, or if you live, you will have a blessed marriage.

Pylades Then may it be so, and may she come to the city of Phocis with all the honors of a happy wedding.

Orestes How soon will Hermione return to the palace? All the rest was very well said, if we succeed in catching this impious father’s cub.

Electra Well, I expect she is near the house already, for the length of time agrees exactly.

Orestes Good; you, Electra, my sister, stay before the palace and await the maiden’s approach; keep watch in case any one, whether an ally or my father’s brother, forestalls us by his entry before the murder is complete; and then make a signal to the house, either by beating on a panel of the door or calling to us within. Let us enter now and arm ourselves with swords for the final struggle, O father, in your home of gloomy night, your son Orestes calls you to come to the rescue of the destitute. It is on your account I am wrongfully suffering, and it is by your brother that I have been betrayed for doing right; it is his wife I wish to take and kill; you be our accomplice for this deed.

Electra Oh father, come! if within the ground you hear the cry of your children, who are dying for your sake.

Pylades O kinsman of my father, Agamemnon, hear my prayers also; save your children.

Orestes I killed my mother—

Electra I held the sword—

Pylades I . . . set them free from fear—

Orestes To aid you, father.

Electra Nor did I betray you.

Pylades Will you not hear these reproaches and rescue your children?

Orestes With tears I pour you a libation.

Electra And I with laments.

Pylades Cease, and let us set about our business. If prayers really do pierce the ground, he hears. O Zeus, god of my fathers, and holy Justice, give success to him and me and her; for there is one struggle for three friends, and one penalty, for all to live or—pay death’s account.

People and places in this passage

Passages in other works that tell of the same people and places, oldest and closest first.

  1. Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 723–776Second episode: Iphigenia makes Pylades swear and reads out the letter
  2. Euripides, Electra 1292–1359Exodos: the Dioscuri's prophecy and the farewell
  3. Sophocles, Electra 1288–1383Fourth episode (cont.): the Paedagogus urges haste
  4. Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 479–584End of the kommos: Clytaemestra's dream and Orestes' plan
  5. Sophocles, Electra 1442–1510Exodos: Aegisthus is led in to die
  6. Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 152–245First episode (cont.): the lock of hair and the recognition

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.