Aegisthus Which of you can tell me where those Phocian strangers are, who are said to have brought report for us that Orestes passed away amidst the shipwrecked chariots? You, you I ask, yes, you, who were in former days so bold. It seems to me that this concerns you most, so you must know best, and can best tell me.
Electra I do know. How could I not? Otherwise I would be an alien to the fortune of my nearest kinsmen.
Aegisthus Where, then, may the strangers be? Tell me.
Electra Inside. They have found a way to the heart of their hostess.
Aegisthus Have they in fact reported him truly dead?
Electra No, not reported only. They have shown him.
Aegisthus Then I can identify the corpse myself?
Electra You can, indeed, though it is no enviable sight.
Aegisthus You have indeed given me a joyful greeting, beyond your custom.
Electra May joy be yours, if joy is what you find in these things.
Aegisthus Silence, I say, and throw wide the gates for all Mycenaeans and Argives to see, so that, if any one of them were once buoyed by empty hopes in this man, now by seeing his corpse, he may welcome my bit in his mouth, instead of waiting until my punishment makes him grow wits by force!
Electra All will be done on my part. Time has given me the sense to comply with the stronger.
Aegisthus O Zeus, I see an image which could not have fallen without divine spite—but, if Nemesis attend what I say, let it be unsaid! Undo the coverings from his eyes, so that our kinship, at least, may receive due mourning from me also.
Orestes Lift the veil yourself. It is not for me, but for you to look upon these remains and greet them kindly.
Aegisthus You advise well, and I will obey you. But you, call Clytaemnestra for me, if she is at home.
Orestes She is near you; do not look elsewhere.
Aegisthus O, what sight is this!
Orestes Why so scared? Is the face so strange?
Aegisthus Who are the men into whose nets I have miserably fallen?
Orestes Do you not perceive how you have long been addressing the living in terms suited to the dead?
Aegisthus Ah, I read the riddle! It cannot be that this is not Orestes who speaks to me!
Orestes And, though so good a prophet, were you deceived so long?
Aegisthus Oh, I am destroyed, undone! Yet allow me to speak just a little.
Electra By the gods, brother, do not allow him to speak any more or to plead at length! When mortals are embroiled in misfortunes, how can one who is to die benefit from lapse of time? No, kill him as quickly as you can, and throw his corpse to the creatures from whom his kind should have burial, throw it far from our sight! For in my eyes this alone can bring us release from the misery of the past.
Orestes Go in, and quickly. Words are not at stake here, but your life.
Aegisthus Why take me into the house? If this deed is just, what need is there of darkness? Why is your hand not quick to strike?
Orestes Do not give orders, but go to where you struck down my father, so that in that very place you may die.
Aegisthus Is this dwelling doomed to see all the sufferings of us descendants of Pelops, both now and in time to come?
Orestes Yours, at least. I am for you a consummate prophet in these matters.
Aegisthus The skill you boast about did not belong to your father.
Orestes You bandy words, and our going is delayed. Move forward!
Aegisthus You lead.
Orestes You must go first.
Aegisthus Lest I escape you?
Orestes No, lest you die in a manner which pleases you. I must be sure that your death is bitter for you. This just penalty ought to come straightaway upon all who would break the laws: the penalty of death. Then wrongdoing would not abound.
Chorus
O seed of Atreus, through how many sufferings have you sprouted up at last in freedom, fulfilled by this day’s enterprise!
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