EURIPIDES’
“ELEKTRA”
First produced
circa 410 BCE
Translated by
G. Theodoridis,
©2006
Dramatis
Personae
Elektra
Farmer
(nominal husband
to Elektra)
Orestes
(attendants to
Orestes)
Chorus
of Argive women
Old
Man
Herald
(and servant to
Orestes)
Klytaemestra
Kastor
(brother to
Klytaemestra)
Pylades
(friend to
Orestes – silent)
Polydeuces
(Kastor’s
brother – silent)
A humble peasant’s cottage in a rural environment. Next to
it the altar of Apollo.
A starry sky, before the break of Dawn. Sounds of
birds nearby (owls, for example) and of brooks in the distance.
Slowly the door of the cottage creaks open and the peasant
appears. He is good-natured and
smiles as he shakes and stretches himself into the morning. He surveys the land
all around him as if he belongs to
it, moves forward towards the front of the stage and then speaks.
Peasant:
Good
morning, brooks of Inachus that nurture the Pelasgian soil!
It was from
here that Agamemnon, leader of men, set sail with a thousand ships for Troy.
War Lord Ares filled his sails and the hearts of his men. Then, when he killed
Priam, the king of Troy and captured the splendid city of Dardanos, he came
back here to Argos and graced its high temples with all the spoils he tore away
from the barbarians.
1o Ah,
but though Fate was with him in the battlefield, here, back home, in the halls
of his own palace, he wasn’t so fortunate. His wife, Klytaimestra and her lover,
Aegisthus, Thyestes’ son, trapped him with a treacherous net and murdered him.
So, now the
royal sceptre of Tandalus was taken by the new lord of Argos, Aegisthus and he
now rules with Klytaimestra, Tyndareus’ daughter and Agamemnon’s wife.
Now, when Agamemnon
left for Troy, he left behind two children, a boy, Orestes and a girl Elektra.
As for Orestes, his father’s old tutor stole him away and passed him on to
Strophius to be raised at Phockis.
2o The
girl, though, Elektra by name, stayed behind in her father’s palace and when
the tender youthful age bloomed within her, suitors from the whole of Hellas
came seeking her hand in marriage.
These were men of the highest calibre, noble men. Aegisthus, however,
was terribly afraid that if Elektra married one of these noblemen, she might
bear a son who one day might try and avenge her father’s murder, so he kept her
at home taking away the opportunity for her to mate with any of these noblemen.
3o But
this, too, was an unsatisfactory solution because there was an even greater
danger that she might bear children to some nobleman in secret. So, Aegisthus
then thought of killing her but her mother, even though she was a cruel woman
saved her from his murderous hands.
You see, so far as her murder of Agamemnon was concerned, she felt she
had some adequate excuse, seeing that he had sacrificed their daughter,
Iphigeneia to Artemis, goddess of the wild. But to kill her children was something even she did not want
to do in case there would arise in the city great resentment against her.
So,
Aegisthus thought up the plan of putting up a reward for whoever would kill the
exiled Orestes and as for Elektra, he gave her to me to marry.
4o His reasoning was that even
though I am of an indisputably good Argive stock, I am, alas, a poor man, who
to his eyes means a weak man. A weak man cannot be a noble man. And weak man
also means a weak fear for him. So I am weak and he is less afraid.
There is
fear in Aegisthus also that if a nobleman had married Elektra, the whole
shameful act of Agamemnon’s murder would be awakened from its sleep and
Aegisthus would have not escaped his due punishment.
Now, I swear
by Aphrodite that I’ve done nothing to dishonour the girl. She is still a
virgin. You see, I too am an honourable man and my own sense of honour
prohibits me from damaging the honour of the girl, a girl born in a wealthy and
royal family. To my mind, it’s
just not right and so, I’ve stayed away from her bed. And then there’s Orestes. I would feel dreadfully sorry for
him if, when he comes back he finds that his brother-in-law is such a lowly
creature as me and that his sister is so unlucky in marriage.
5o Ha!
And if anyone thinks that I am a fool for bringing into my house such a
beautiful young virgin like Elektra -legitimately!- (At this stage, unbeknownst to the Peasant, the door of the
cottage creaks open again and this time, Elektra emerges holding a water urn.
She, too, looks around before she puts the urn upon her head.) -and, let’s say, not making good and
proper use of the situation, then, to that I say, that these are that man’s own
views of what constitutes modest behaviour and not mine and his views are wrong
and that he’d be a fool to have such views!
(Elektra presents the complete opposite disposition towards
life and mood for the play, creating a sharp contrast between the poor of the
good deed and of the obliged recipient. She is unaware of her husband’s
presence. Her head is shaved.)
Elektra:
sighs
Greetings,
black night that nurtures the golden stars! I walk into you with this water urn
on my head to get water from the stream, not because I have to but because I
want to show the gods Aegisthus’ shameful insolence towards me and to raise my
voice of grief to the broad heavens, for my father to hear.
6o
My despicable mother, Tyndareus’ daughter,
Klytaimestra, has thrown me out of the house to please her husband and now she
has other children by him.
Orestes, my brother and I, of course, are treated as illegitimate.
Peasant:
Why do you
do this, you poor creature? A delicately raised young girl like you, you
shouldn’t do all this hard work for me.
I’ve told you, you don’t have to!
Elektra:
7o I do it because you’re more than a
mere husband to me. You’re a god.
A god because in my hour of despair you have not tried to take advantage of
me. It is a wonderful thing that
when people like me find themselves in such a predicament there are men like
you, ready to help them out of it. So, even though I don’t need to, I think of
it as my duty to take some part of your work load and make it easier for
you. You do enough work outside
the home, I should at least work towards keeping it nice inside. It is a pleasant thing for a man to
find his home comfortable and tidy, after a hard day’s work.
Peasant:
Well, if you
so wish, Elektra, go ahead. In
fact the spring is nearby.
8o Soon
Dawn will emerge and I should drive the cattle to pasture. I also need to plant the fields. When a man is lazy, no mater how many
“Hail Heras” he utters he’ll still go hungry if he doesn’t do the work.
Exit Elektra and Peasant.
Enter Orestes, Pylades with two attendants. Both wear
swords. Both are with beard.
Orestes:
Pylades, my
best friend, you’ve stuck with me more faithfully than all the others. You have
stuck with me through my many tribulations and often you even let me stay in
your own home with you.
You know
very well how terrible the tribulations that I suffer from Aegisthus are. He
and my murder-loving mother slaughtered my father.
I’ve just
left the temple of Apollo where I had performed the appropriate rites and it is
he, Apollo, who has sent me here.
9o And
so, here I am, walking on Argos’ soil without one Argive knowing it. What I
want to do is give equal payment to my father’s murderers: murder for murder.
Before that
I had visited my father’s grave and made offerings of my tears and a lock of my
hair. I’ve also sacrificed a lamb and offered its blood to him.
The
murderers who rule and tyrannise the people of Argos know nothing of this. For
now, I won’t set foot inside the city, for two reasons: firstly so that in case
I’m recognised by any of the guards I can get out of the Argive jurisdiction
quickly and be on another land, and secondly because I want to find my sister.
1oo They say she’s
now married and no longer a virgin.
I’d like to find her and convince her to become my accomplice when I
commit the twin murder.
As well, I
also want to find out from a reliable source, how things are inside the city.
Now then, I
can see that the brilliant face of Dawn is rising so let’s move out of the way
from this path. Perhaps some
farmer or woman servant will come by and we can ask her if Elektra lives near
by.
All hide behind the altar of Apollo.
Enter Elektra carrying the water urn on her head.
11o Look, Pylades, a servant carrying a water urn on
her shaved head. Let’s hide well in case we hear something that will help us in
our quest.
Elektra: (to herself)
Come, girl,
move! Move on to the beat of your rushing tears!
Agamemnon is
your father and Tyndareus’ hateful daughter, Klytaimestra, is your mother. A
mother, a murderer!
12o All the Argives
here call me “misery.”
My work is
hard, my life is appalling.
Dearest
father, Agamemnon, Hades has you now because of the dire deed done to you by
your wife and her lover, Aegisthus.
Come, girl,
let your cheeks be furrowed by the rush of more tears.
Cry yet
again!
Ah, how
lovely feels this flood of tears!
Come girl,
move! Hurry, girl, hurry!
Move on,
move on, to the beat of my rushing tears!
13o Orestes is my
brother. Orestes is an exile living in a foreign land in a strange house,
wandering in exile and I, his wretched sister was left behind inside our
father’s halls tortured by unfathomable misfortune.
Come now,
Orestes and stop the great flood of tears and the great furrowing of my cheeks.
With the
help of Zeus, bring our father’s Justice to him.
Vengeance to
the murderers!
Come now,
Orestes, Rush!
Come to
Argos, our city!
A female slave enters from the shack to take the water urn
indoors.
14o
Come, girl! Take this urn from me and put it down so
that I may cry more easily and so that my tears will reach my father before
Dawn.
The slave obeys.
Father,
father, father!
I shout my
lament, shout it loud that you may hear it
Down there,
deep deep beneath the Earth.
I shout out
my despair
All day long
All day long
I shout my
despair every day.
The grief,
my dearest father tears at my throat,
The grief my
dearest father beats upon my shaved head.
Unfathomable
grief my dearest father at
Your death.
Father,
father, father!
Sorrow
strikes my head!
15o
Ah! Just as the hapless swan sings out loudly for her
father -for he, too, was murdered in a watery trap of deadly nets., just so, I
sing this melancholy song, father, my melancholy song for you.
Father,
father, father!
16o Bitter was the
crash of the ax upon your skull
dear
father!
Bitter and
murderous!
Bitter was
the plot of the assassins when you returned from Troy.
A bitter
two-edged sword instead of a crown welcomed you, Father.
And it was
her and not her lover who spun enough courage to perform the murderous deed!
Aegisthus then became her man.
Enter the chorus, a group of Argive women.
Chorus:
17o Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon, I came to your
house to tell you that a Mycaenean mountain man and lover of milk came down and
brought us the news that in two days’ time the Argives will be celebrating a
feast, where all the virgins will be marching to Hera’s temple.
Elektra:
No, dear
friends. This feast is not for someone whose heart is too sad, whose days and
nights are too damp with tears. No
golden jewels nor fine dresses for me and nor will I dance and twirl and stamp
my feet along with the rest of the Argive girls.
18o A dress in
tatters and a hair in a mess – Look at me! How would Agamemnon feel if he saw
his daughter looking like this?
And how would the whole of Troy feel to know that she was conquered by
the father of such a sad creature?
Chorus:
19o Our goddess is
great, Elektra. Come now and borrow some of my clothes. A fine, beautifully
woven gown and a golden necklace. How will the feast enjoy your presence!
Tears alone
will not defeat your enemies, Elektra, but honouring the gods will. Send
prayers to the gods, not sighs and success will come to you.
Elektra:
My prayers
are not heeded by any of the gods, my friends. Nor do they care about my father
who was murdered so long ago.
2oo I
cry for my murdered father and for my brother who lives in exile, far from his
own home far from his true station of a glorious king’s son, wandering from one
common man’s hearth to another.
21o And I, too, live in a peasant’s hut, on a
small plot of mountain ground, with a torn heart, in exile too from my father’s
house, while my mother lies as wife to Aegisthus in a bed stained full with my
father’s blood.
Chorus:
Many are the
ills for which Greece can blame your mother’s sister, Helen.
Enter Orestes and Pylades
Elektra:
Oh, no my
friends! Enough crying now! I see strangers appear from behind the altar near
my house. Let’s escape them. You run that way, along the path and I’ll run into
the house.
She tries to run but Orestes seizes her arm.
Orestes:
22o Stay you poor
creature. Don’t be afraid of me.
Elektra:
Oh, Phoebos
Apollo, let me not be killed!
Orestes:
There are
other much greater enemies than you that I wish I could kill.
Elektra:
Let go. Do
not touch what is not right for you to touch!
Orestes:
There’s no
one else that I could touch with greater right.
Elektra:
So why then
wait by my house with sword in hand?
Orestes:
Stay and
hear what I have to say and you will understand me.
Elektra:
All right. I
shall. You are far stronger than I am.
Orestes:
I’ve come
with news about your brother.
Elektra:
23o Oh, dear
friend, is he alive or dead?
Orestes:
To tell you
the good news first, he lives.
Elektra:
Bless you
for you sweet words.
Orestes:
May we both
be blessed.
Elektra:
In what
bitter exile is the poor man wandering?
Orestes:
He’s a lost
soul, wandering from one city to the next.
Elektra:
Does he lack
his daily food?
Orestes:
No, he
doesn’t but one is weak when one lives in exile.
Elektra:
What then is
the reason he has sent you?
Orestes:
To find out
if you’re alive and well. What
sort of a life you lead.
Elektra:
24o Look at me then! Look how I have withered!
Orestes:
Misery has
hurt you so much that I feel like crying.
Elektra:
And my hair
is totally shaved
Orestes:
The pain of
losing both your father and your brother is your great burden.
Elektra:
Oh, who
could be dearer to me than those two?
Orestes:
What do you
think of your brother?
Elektra:
He’s too far
to be my support.
Orestes:
Why do you
live far from the city?
Elektra:
I have made
a marriage, friend, that more is like death than marriage.
Orestes:
I pity your
brother. Is your husband from Mycaene?
Elektra:
Yes but not
the sort of man my father would have me marry.
Orestes:
25o Tell me all you can so that I can convey
everything to your brother.
Elektra: (indicates her house)
I live
there, far from the city.
Orestes:
A shack like
this is proper only for diggers and cowherds.
Elektra:
True, he’s
poor but he is from a good family and he respects me.
Orestes:
Respect? How does he show his respect?
Elektra:
He hasn’t
yet approached my bed.
Orestes:
Is that
because he pledged an oath to the gods or doesn’t he find you attractive?
Elektra:
He doesn’t
feel it’s right to insult my parents.
Orestes:
How is it he
didn’t enjoy you once he married you?
Elektra:
He does not
regard as my master the man who gave me to him.
Orestes:
26o I
understand. He’s afraid he’ll be
punished by Orestes.
Elektra:
That, too
but he’s a kind man, as well.
Orestes:
Such a good
man, your husband, he should receive a good reward.
Elektra:
Yes, and he
will receive it once my brother returns.
Orestes:
But how does
your mother cope with all this?
Elektra:
My friend,
women love their men more than their children.
Orestes:
But why has
Aigisthus shamed you so much?
Elektra:
He wanted me
to give birth to a common child so he gave me to a common man.
Orestes:
Obviously so
that you won’t bear children who’ll exact vengeance.
Elektra:
That’s what
he thought but he’ll pay for it heavily.
Orestes:
27o Does he know
that you’re still a virgin?
Elektra:
No. It’s a
secret. We won’t tell him.
Orestes: (Indicating the chorus)
These women
who are listening to us, can they be trusted?
Elektra:
Yes. They
can hold a secret well.
Orestes:
If Orestes
comes to Argos, what can he do?
Elektra:
You are
asking me about that? Shame! So
he’s not coming then?
Orestes:
How will he
kill your father’s murderers?
Elektra:
By doing
what they did to my father.
Orestes:
Would you
have killed your mother along with Aigisthus?
Elektra:
With the
very ax that my father was slaughtered.
Orestes:
28o I’ll tell him
that… You won’t be changing your mind, will you?
Elektra:
Let me kill
my mother and then let me die.
Orestes:
If only
Orestes were here to hear you!
Elektra:
Even if I
saw him, friend, I would not recognise him.
Orestes:
That’s not
strange at all. You were young when you were separated.
Elektra:
There’s only
one person from my lot who’d recognise him.
Orestes:
The man who,
as they say, saved Orestes from the murder?
Elektra:
Yes, my
father’s old tutor.
Orestes:
Does your
father have a grave?
Elektra:
Yes, a
rather pitiful one. They’ve placed it far from the palace.
Orestes:
Ah! What is
it you’re telling me?
29o Sadness bites
the mortals hard even when the sadness is of other people.
Tell me then
the bitter words I should take to your brother, the ones he needs hear.
The ignorant
do not sympathise yet the knowledgeable suffer for having knowledge.
Chorus:
I need to
know as well. I live far from the city and I don’t know what she’s going
through. Now I want to know everything.
Elektra:
I shall
speak, if I must –and to a friend I must speak- about the heavy Fates that came
upon me and my father.
3oo And since you made me make this speech, I beg
you, stranger tell Orestes of this hard Fate that befell me and my father.
Begin with
how I am dressed. Look at my clothes! Tell him of the despair that has
overtaken me and in what sort of house I live now compared to the palaces I
used to live once.
Now, I mend
my clothes myself, otherwise I’d have no clothes to wear and I’d be left naked.
31o
I carry
water from the fountain and I never go to any festivals or religious
celebrations.
Being a
virgin, I am ashamed to be with other women and I am ashamed to know that
Kastor, before the gods took him, was my suitor, since he was kin.
Yet my
mother, adorned with Phrygian gold, sits on a throne, surrounded by the Asian
slaves who my father brought home, slaves wearing gowns from Ida pinned with
golden brooches.
32o
My father’s blood, is still rotting black in our palace
halls and his murderer runs around in my father’s chariots and with puffed up
pride carries in his bloody hands the sceptre that once, when it was held by my
father, ruled the army of Greece.
And his
tomb, abandoned, so far has not received either libations nor branches of
myrtle. It’s a deserted place with no adornments. They tell me that my mother’s
husband now, when he is drunk, jumps up and down on the grave throwing stones
at his tombstone and yelling, “where is your Orestes now? Is he standing by your tomb defending
it?”
33o This is the
sort of insults he casts at him who is absent.
Stranger, I
beg you, tell my brother all this! There are many who beg him to come back and
I am their voice. Here, look! My hands, my tongue, my hapless heart, my closely
shaved head and Agamemnon, his father, all beg him to come back.
34o Because it is a
huge shame that while his famous father destroyed Troy, he, in the spring of
his youth, is not able to kill one man.
Enter the Peasant
Chorus:
Here is your
husband, Elektra. He’s finished his work.
Peasant:
Ah, who are
these strangers standing by the door of my house? Why have they come here, to
my rustic house? Are they after me? Elektra, it’s a shame for a woman to be
standing around talking with young men.
Elektra:
Don’t be
suspicious, husband. You’ll learn immediately what we were talking about. These
strangers have come from Orestes and they brought me messages from him. You,
messengers, forgive him for what he said just now.
Peasant:
35o Well, what did
they say? Is he alive? Does he see the sun?
Elektra:
They said he
lives and I believe them.
Peasant:
And does he
remember your father’s suffering and yours?
Elektra:
I hope so
but the exiled man is weak.
Peasant:
So what news
do they bring from Orestes?
Elektra:
He has sent
these two men to find out about me.
Peasant:
You tell
them about some of your despair.
The rest they can see for themselves.
Elektra:
They know it
all. There are no secrets left.
Peasant:
Shouldn’t
you open our doors to them then?
36o Come then,
strangers, come in! Come in and I shall repay your kind words with whatever my
poor house can afford. (to Orestes’ attendants) Come, attendants, take their
things inside. (back to Orestes and Pylades) Don’t refuse me. You’ve come from
a friend so you are friends and you’re most welcome. Even though I was born in poverty I will not be seen as poor
in spirit.
Orestes:
By the
gods! Is this the man who holds
your marriage a secret so that he won’t insult Orestes?
Elektra:
Yes, this is
the man they call my husband.
Orestes:
It is impossible
to judge a man’s virtue with accuracy.
There’s always great confusion in the nature of mortals.
37o I, myself have
seen worthless children born of a virtuous man and from evil parents born
brilliant children. I have seen a
small, poor mind in a wealthy man and in the soul of a poor man, a great one.
How then can someone judge a man when he must consider all these attributes? By
wealth? No, he will be a bad judge.
By his poverty? No, because poverty brings misery and makes the man turn
to evil by necessity. Should I consider arms? Would you believe that a man is
brave simply by the fact that he’s holding a spear?
38o Much better if one leaves all this to
Fate’s judgement. This man here is
not great amongst the Argives, nor does he puff his chest up in pride about his
ancestors but one sees him as being quite apart from the masses. Speaking to
the audience. You, however who, with mindless opinions fall astray, will you
never think wisely and consider weighing mortals by their manner and the
virtuous among them by their character?
39o They are the men
who govern their cities and their houses well. Men of good physiques but who
lack thinking are only good as statues in the market place.
Nor can a
hand, though mighty in spear, can stand up against it better than someone weak.
In this it’s a matter of natural strength and bravery.
(To the peasant) Yes,
we shall accept your hospitality. It is worthy for the children of Agamemnon,
both, for Elektra as well as for Orestes, who’s absent far away and on whose
behalf we came here. Go on, then
servants, go inside. So far as I’m concerned it’s better that I am the guest of
a willing poor man rather than a wealthy one. I rejoice in the fact that I stand
at his household. I’d prefer, however if your brother himself happily
entertained us in his own prosperous house.
4oo Still, you never know he just might come
back because, Apollo’s prophecies are always correct whereas the prophecies of
men, I do not trust at all.
Orestes, Pylades and his attendants go into the house.
Chorus:
Elektra, now
more than before our heart sparks with joy because perhaps Fate might be moving
in the right direction judging by what he said.
Elektra: (to
the peasant)
Poor man,
you know the poverty of your house yet you receive these strangers, these men
of a much higher status.
Peasant:
What of it,
Elektra? If they are, as they seem to be, from a good and noble family then
they’ll be just as happy with the little as they would be with the plenty.
Elektra:
41o Well, then,
since you made the mistake, poor man, go quickly and see my beloved father’s
old tutor who’s been thrown out of the city and now grazes sheep near Tanaou
river, at the border between Sparta and Argos. Tell him that, now that the
guests are here to bring some food for them.
42o He will be
overjoyed and he’ll thank the gods when he finds out that the child whose life
he once saved, lives. Forget about asking my mother. Nothing will come from my
father’s palace. Poor woman, we’d
be bringing her bitter news telling her that Orestes is still alive.
Peasant:
Good. All
right then, I shall do as you wish. I’ll pass your words on to the old man but
you go inside and prepare the table.
And don’t be late with it.
A woman can do wonders in the kitchen when the need calls for it. We
still have enough food in the house to see the strangers adequately through for
a day. When I think of such things then I see what mighty power money has! Not
only you help your friends with the stuff but you can also heal yourself from
any illness when you have the money to pay.
43o The cost of a
normal everyday meal is cheap, because everyone, rich and poor, once he had
enough he feels the same joy.
Exit both, Elektra and Peasant into the house.
Chorus:
Famous ships
that once sailed for Troy with countless oars and with the daughters of Nereas
kept you good company with their dances.
44o All round the blue prows the dolphins
leaped about, drunk with the sound of the pipes’ song as you took Thetis’ son,
fleetfooted Achilles to the shores of the Trojan river Simois, with Agamemnon
by his side.
They left
the shores of Euboa holding the shield and the golden armour forged by
Hephaestos on his golden anvil and headed for Pelios and for Ossas’ holy tight
knit valleys and the lookouts where the nymphs live.
45o These neraids
left to find Achilles, the son of the sea goddess, Thetis, there where his
horseman father, Peleas raised him, a beacon of light for the Greeks and the
fleetfooted sons of Atreas.
I’ve heard from
someone who had left Troy and reached the harbour of Nauplion telling of the
Achilles’ famous shield, the son of Thetis. Fearsome! He said it was painted
with pictures to spread wild fear among the Trojans, in the land of Phrygia.
46o Around the rim
of the shield, the man said, was Perseus with his winged sandals, flying above
the sea, his hand grasping the severed head of the Gorgon. Beside him flew
Hermes, Zeus’ messenger, the peasant son of Maia.
And in the
centre of the shield shimmered the blinding glow of the sun’s orb, carried in a
chariot of winged horses. All around this were the heavens dancing – stars like
the Pleiades and the Hyades, frightening enough to make Hektor turn his eyes
away.
47o On
his golden helmet Sphinxes held with their talons the prey their songs had
lured.
A
fire-breathing lioness on his chestplate, the chimera, with the sharp paws,
speeds off as she sees, Pegasus, Peirene’s colt.
And on his
murderous sword, the horses pounded and the black dust rose behind them.
48o A
King, Klytaimestra, a King of such brave lot of warriors your evil adultery
slaughtered, daughter of Tyndareus, and I hope one day I’ll see the gods send
you to your death. And so I will.
One day I shall see a sword cut through your neck and the blood gush
forth from your mortal wound.
Enter the Old Man. He is walking with great difficulty and
with the aid of a shepherd’s crook. His clothes are old and in tatters. Over
his shoulders he is carrying a suckling lamb and a sack of other items.
Old Man:
Where is my
noble lady, the daughter of Agamemnon the King, whom I raised all those years
ago?
49o Och, what a
steep hill this house is on. Too steep for a bent old man like me. Still, it
was necessary for me to drag here my bent back and my shaking legs.
Elektra appears at the door.
Ah!
Daughter! Now I can see you by the doorway. I brought you a young lamb which
I’ve just taken away from its mother’s teat. As well, I’ve brought along some
garlands, some cheeses, just fresh from the presses and this here treasure, a
very old, fragrant wine of which I’ve made only a little.
5oo It’s not much but if you put but a drop of it in some
lesser vintage, you will be drinking a nice sweet wine. Now get someone to
carry these things to the strangers inside. I want to wipe my tears with my
old, tattered garment.
Elektra claps her hands and a male servant appears from the
hut. He picks up the old man’s burden and takes it inside.
The old man wipes his tears.
Elektra:
But, old
man, why cry? What is the meaning of your teary look? Is it because you still
remember my tribulations even though they happened so long ago?
51o Or are you
sighing because of Orestes, who is in exile, or is it because of my father whom
a long time ago you brought up with your own hands but all to no avail for you
or for your friends?
Old Man:
Yes, totally
to no avail.
Still I
couldn’t take it. I came out of this road and went to your father’s tomb and as
I saw it deserted and full of weeds I fell on my knees and cried. I took some
of the wine I brought the strangers and poured libations upon it and placed
branches of myrtle around it. But, just then, I saw on the tomb a black sheep,
slaughtered and with its blood, still fresh, spilled. Next to it was a lock of
blond hair.
I wondered,
child, who on earth would have such courage to approach the tomb. Certainly
none of the Argives. Perhaps your brother arrived in secret and he honoured
your father’s poor tomb.
He takes a lock of hair out of his clothes and offers it to
Elektra.
52o Here, place
this cut hair next to yours and see if the colour matches. It is common that
they who have the same father to have many similarities all over their body.
Elektra: Rejecting the old man’s offer.
Old father,
your words are not wise if you’re saying that my brave brother came here in
secret, because he is afraid of Aigisthus.
53o Also, how could
the hair of a noble hero, raised in the wrestling arenas match that of a virgin
who combs her hair the feminine way? Impossible! Matching colour hair, old
father, you’ll find on many but they are not necessarily of the same blood.
Old Man:
Well, then,
my daughter, go and take a look at his footprints. See if they match yours.
Elektra:
But how is
it possible for someone to leave footprints on a rocky ground? In any case,
even if that were possible, the feet of two siblings, one male the other female
wouldn’t match. The male feet are always bigger.
Old Man:
54o You have weaved
him his clothes before I snatched him away from the slaughter. Will you be able to recognise any of
them?
Elektra:
Can you not
remember that when you took Orestes I was still a young girl? And even if I did
weave his garments, how could he possibly be wearing the same baby
clothes? Unless, of course,
clothes and bodies grow together! It must have been some stranger who felt
sorry for him and gave an offering of his hair, or some local who took with him
some guards to help him.
Old Man:
55o Where are the
strangers? I want to see them and ask them questions about your brother.
Enter Orestes and Pylades from the house.
Elektra:
Here they
are. Just came out of the house.
Old Man:
They seem to
be from a good family but I could be wrong. Many men have a bad character even
though their parents are nobles. In any case, I greet you friends.
Orestes:
And we greet
you, too, old man. Elektra, which one of your friends belongs to this old
remnant of a man?
Elektra:
Friend, he
is the man who reared my father.
Orestes:
Is this
right? Is he also the man who saved your brother from certain death?
Elektra:
Yes, he is
the one who saved Orestes and that’s why he is still alive.
Orestes:
I see. But
why is he staring at me like this, as if
he is checking out the bright symbol on a silver coin. Or does he take me for someone I look
like?
Elektra:
56o Perhaps he’s
rejoicing the fact that you have Orestes’ years.
The old man
is walking around Orestes with extreme curiosity.
Orestes:
He is
confusing me with someone he loves.
Why is he walking around me?
Elektra:
I, too, wonder
at this as I see it, friend.
Old Man:
Lady, my
darling Elektra, pray to the gods.
Elektra:
For whom?
For these who are here or for those who are not?
Old Man:
Pray that
you receive a most precious gift from the gods.
Elektra kneels down and prays silently
Elektra:
There! I
prayed. So, what is it you’re trying to tell me, old friend?
Old Man: (Indicating Orestes)
Look at this
man you say is your friend, my child.
Elektra:
57o I’ve been
looking at him for a while now, my old friend. Have you gone mad?
Old Man:
Mad? Have I
gone mad if I’m looking at your brother?
Elektra:
My
brother? What an unbelievable word
you’ve uttered, old man.
Old Man:
The word
I’ve uttered is that this man here, this man I’m looking at, is Orestes!
Elektra:
What proof
do you have of this? Show me the sign.
Old Man:
Look at his
eyebrow. See there the cut he received when he was young? You two were chasing
a fawn at your father’s house.
Elektra:
What? Yes I
can see that!
Old Man:
You are
taking a long time to fall into the arms or your beloved brother!
Elektra:
Not any
more, old friend! My heart has finally recognised the signs you’ve shown it.
(To Orestes)
My brother! You took so many years to come. I hug you in utter disbelief.
Orestes:
And I too,
hug you after so many years.
Elektra:
I never
thought this would happen.
Orestes:
58o Nor I. I have
never thought this would happen either.
Elektra:
Are you
truly Orestes?
Orestes:
Yes and your
only support, that is if the traps I’m hoping to put in place do their job. But
no, I am confident. Otherwise how can we believe in the gods, if injustice can
triumph over justice?
Chorus:
O, day that
you have taken so many years to come! Finally you have arrived! You dawned and
showed the city Orestes, like a brilliant torch. Orestes who has returned to the halls of his father’s
palace, Orestes who’s been a wandering exile for so many years.
59o It is a god,
friends, yes a god who brings us once again victory. Come, raise your hands and
voice, pray to the gods that your brother enters the city triumphant.
Orestes:
Good. I have
felt the warmth of your embrace and later I’ll have plenty of time to repay it.
Old man, you came just at the right time.
6oo Tell me how can
I punish my father’s murderer and my mother who shares such a sinful marriage
with him? I wonder if there are
any people in Argos who sympathise with me or is everything lost, just like our
Fate? Tell me, whom should I speak with and should I do the deed during the day
or the night? Which road should I
take to get to my enemies?
Old Man:
No one, my
son. No one loves anyone who’s in trouble. It is a hard thing to hope for, to
find a friend who stays with you both in joy and in sorrow. You too, have
little hope since you left no hope for your friends, so listen to me.
61o Whether or not
you gain back your father’s palaces and land, now rests wholly in your hands
and in the hands of Fate.
Orestes:
Tell me
then: how will I achieve this?
Old Man:
Only if you
kill both, Aigisthus and your mother, Klytaimestra.
Orestes:
This is the
glory I came for. How will I get it?
Old Man:
You mustn’t
enter the palace walls. That way you’ll achieve nothing.
Orestes:
Are there
many well-armed guards there?
Old Man:
Yes,
Aigisthus is afraid of you and he never sleeps.
Orestes:
Right. What
next, old man?
Old man:
62o Listen. I just
thought of something.
Orestes:
I will hear
any good suggestion.
Old Man:
I saw
Aigisthus on my way here.
Orestes:
Happy news
this. Where did you see him?
Old Man:
Back there,
at the paddocks where his horses graze.
Orestes:
What was he
doing there? I can see a ray of hope among all our difficulties.
Old Man:
I think he
was preparing the festival of the Nymphs.
Orestes:
For the sake
of his current children or for one on the way?
Old Man:
I know
nothing more than this, that he is preparing to kill a bull.
Orestes:
Are there
many slave with him or is he alone?
Old Man:
63o No Argives, just
his household slaves.
Orestes:
Will anyone
recognise me if they see me, old man?
Old Man:
No, none of
the slaves ever saw you.
Orestes:
If I succeed
will they come to my side?
Old Man:
Yes, that’s
the way of the slaves and that will be to your benefit.
Orestes:
How could I
get close enough to him?
Old Man:
By going past
there when he is performing the sacrifice.
Orestes:
The paddocks
are by the side of the road, I believe, aren’t they?
Old Man:
As soon as
he sees you he will invite you to his table to share the sacrificed meat.
Orestes:
And, god
willing, I shall prove to be a bitter fellow feaster for him!
Old Man:
64o Once you do that
then you must act as Fate dictates.
Orestes:
Quite
right... Where’s my mother right
now?
Old Man:
She’s in
Argos right now but in the evening she’ll join her husband at the feast.
Orestes:
I wonder why
she didn’t come out with her husband.
Old Man:
She’s afraid
of the people’s disparaging gossip.
Orestes:
I know. Everyone treats her with suspicion.
Old Man:
True.
Everyone hates a sinful woman.
Orestes:
So, how will
I kill both of them without the murder of the one reach the ears of the other?
Elektra:
I shall make
preparations for the mother’s death.
Orestes:
Yes and I
think Fate will help in this.
Elektra:
65o Let this old
sir help with both deaths.
Orestes:
Good. Have
you found a way to murder her?
Elektra:
Old Friend,
go and tell Klytaimestra that I have given birth to a boy and that I am lying
in the birth bed.
Old Man:
When shall I
say you gave birth, a while ago or just now?
Elektra:
Ten days
ago, after the purification I was supposed to have.
Old Man:
And this
will bring about her death?
Elektra:
The moment
she hears of my delivery she’ll come.
Old Man:
Why? Do you
think she’s concerned about you?
Elektra:
Yes. She’ll
feel sorry for my poor baby!
Old Man:
Perhaps.
Let’s get back to our matter.
Elektra:
66o If she comes,
she’ll die for certain.
Old Man:
Let us say
she is approaching your threshold.
Elektra:
It’ll be
like walking into Hades.
Old Man:
If only I
could see this, then I could happily die!
Elektra:
But first,
old friend, take Orestes…
Old Man:
To where
Aegisthus is performing the sacrifice?
Elektra:
Yes, then go
and tell my mother what I’ve just told you.
Old Man:
I will.
It’ll be like it’s coming out of your own mouth.
Elektra: To Orestes
To your work
now. You have the first murder to perform.
Orestes:
I’m
going. Let someone show me the
way.
Old man:
67o My heart will
show you the way.
All kneel to pray
Orestes:
Oh Zeus, god
of my ancestors, protector, send our enemies away!
Elektra:
Pity us our
pitiful predicament…
Old Man:
Yes, pity
them, they are of your house.
Elektra:
And you
Hera, mother of the Mycaenean altars…
Orestes:
Give us
Victory if we seek her justly.
Old Man:
Help them
avenge their father.
Orestes:
You father!
You’ve been sent unjustly to wander beneath the earth…
Elektra:
And you
reverent Earth to whom I stretch my hands…
Old Man:
Help them,
help the dear children…
Orestes:
Make all the
dead our allies
Elektra:
68o All those, dear father, who’ve helped you
destroy the Trojans!
Old Man:
And all
those who hate the sinful murderers
Elektra:
Did you hear
how we’ve sufferer by our mother?
They all rise.
Old Man:
Your father
hears everything. I know. Time now for us to go.
Elektra:
Aigisthus
must fall. I tell you this in advance so that you’ll know it’s like this. If
you fall and get killed, then I too will fall and get killed. Don’t even think of me as being alive.
I shall strike my heart with a double-edged sword.
69o Now I’ll go and prepare the house and when
your sign comes and it’s good, then the house, too, will rejoice but if it’s
bad it will suffer the opposite.
That’s all I have to say.
Orestes:
I know.
Elektra:
That’s why
you must be brave.
Exit Orestes, Pylades and the Old Man
Elektra: To the chorus:
You ladies,
when the result of this battle arrives you must tell it to me clearly. I’ll be
waiting with a knife in the hand at the ready. I will never let my enemies
insult me if they win.
Elektra
Exits into the house
Chorus:
The ancient
myths talk of the day when Pan, protector of the valleys, stole from its mother
a lamb whose fleece was covered with gold. Then breathing into his beautifully
wrought flute of reed, he enticed it all the way to the Argive mountains.
A crier
stood on the stone then and cried out to the folk, “Come Mycaeneans, run to the
market place to see wondrous signs that foretell of happy Kings!”
71o And everyone
cheered and blessed the house of Atreides.
The temples
were adorned with gold and everywhere throughout Argos they were opened for the
sacrificial altars and the whole city was lit up with the altar fires.
The pipe,
servant of the Muses, made of
lotus reed, spread about its sweet airs and everywhere people sang songs of
praise for the lamb with the golden fleece which they said belonged to
Thyestes.
72o But the sheep
was gained by deception. Stolen. Thyestes secretly raped Atreas’ daughter and
then took the animal to his palace. Then he went to the market place and called
out in a loud voice that the lamb with the golden fleece was hiding in his
palace.
Then Zeus
confused the brilliant path of the stars and of the rays of the sun and of the
pale white light of Dawn. And with a godsent flame he burned all the lands of
the West.
The clouds
that bring the rain went off to the North and the dry lands of Ammon withered
without the fresh rain which Zeus had taken away.
They say
–but I don’t believe it at all- that the blazing Helios had turned his golden
face, changing his path so that humanity would fall into misery for the sake of
one man’s punishment.
74o Such shocking
myths are for the good of men, to frighten them into believing in the gods. You
forgot these gods and you’ve killed your husband, you, the sister of the
glorious twin brothers, the Dioskouroi, Kastor and Polydeuces.
The groan of a man’s pain in the distance:
(Ah!)
Friends, did
you hear that sound? It was like the thunder of Zeus coming from beneath the
ground!
75o Or is it some hollow fantasy tricking us?
Another groan
There! The
wind brings clear sounds. My lady Elektra, come out here!
Enter Elektra from her house.
Elektra:
What is it,
my friends? What’s going on? What news from Orestes?
Chorus:
I don’t know
but I’ve just heard groans of death.
More groans but softer now
Elektra:
I hear them
also, in the distance but I do hear them.
Groans continue
Chorus:
The groan
has far to travel but it’s clear enough.
Elektra:
I wonder
whose groans these are? Those of my Orestes or of Aigisthus?
Many loud voices mingled in turbulence within.
Chorus:
I don’t know
the voices are many and mixed.
Elektra:
You’re
telling me I should die. Why am I
waiting?
Chorus:
Wait and see
your Fate clearly!
Elektra:
No. The
enemy has won. Where are the heralds?
Chorus:
They’ll appear
soon. It’s a hard thing to kill a
king.
Enter the Herald
Herald:
Glorious
Victory, daughters of Mycaene. I
bring the news of Orestes’ victory to all. Thank the gods. Agamemnon’s
murderer, Aigisthus is lying dead on the ground.
Elektra:
Who are you
and how do I know you’re telling the truth?
Herald:
Don’t you
recognise me? I am your brother’s
servant.
Elektra:
Ah, my dear
man. Fear prevented me from recognising you. Now I remember you.
77o So what are you
saying, is it true that my father’s most hated murderer is dead?
Herald:
When we set
off from the house we took the Two Carriage Road and eventually we arrived at
the spot where the famous king of Mycaene was.
78o He was in a cool, fresh garden, picking
myrtle branches to make a garland for his head. As soon as he saw us he called
out, “Greetings friends, who are you? Where are you from? What is your city?”
Orestes
answered him, “We are Thessalians, we are going to the land of Alphios to
perform sacrifices to Olympian Zeus”
Hearing this
Aigisthus then told us, “for now you’ll stay with me and you will dine with me.
79o I am sacrificing a bull to the Nymphs. If
you get up with Dawn you wouldn’t have lost any time. Let us go to my house.
Come on, it’s not right to refuse me.” That’s what he said and then taking us
by the hand he led us into the house. When we got inside he shouted, “Hurry,
someone bring water for the strangers to purify themselves so that they can
stand next to us at the altar by the lustral basin!”
But Orestes
said to him, “My Lord Aigisthus, only just now we purified ourselves by the
clear waters of the river. If it is proper for strangers, my lord king to stand
next to local folk then we will not refuse. We will happily do so.”
8oo So, they left
it at that. Then the slaves who had accompanied Aigisthus so as to protect him,
put their spears down and fell into the work of preparing the sacrifice. They
brought a vessel to catch the blood from the slaughter and the cuttings of the
meat. Others brought panniers, others lit up the altars and others again set
the cauldrons ready. The whole
house was echoing with the sounds of the work.
Then your
mother’s husband Aigisthus, took some barley flour and sprinkled it over the
altars, saying, “Nymphs of the rocks make it possible for me and my wife,
daughter of the house of the Tyndarides, who is now back at home, to perform
many more sacrifices for you, to be always as happy as this and for our enemies
to live in misery.”
81o He said all this
referring to you and Orestes. But
my Lord was praying the opposite, which was, to regain his father’s palace.
Then Aigisthus took a sacrificial knife –one with a straight blade- from the
pannier and with it cut some from the calf. With his right hand he threw the
hair on the holy flame and, with the help of his slaves who lifted the animal
up into the air, he killed it.
Then he said
this to your brother: “They say that the Thessalians pride themselves in their
ability to slaughter a bull and to break a horse. Come then, friend, take the knife and show us what a
Thessalian can really do.”
82o Then Orestes
chose a strong Doric blade and throwing away from his shoulders his beautiful
cape he called Pylades to help him, sending all others away. He stretched his
arms and grabbing the calf from the leg he laid bare the white flesh beneath
its skin. He took less time to
skin the calf than a runner takes to run two circles around a horse stadium.
Then he stretched the flanks open.
83o Aigisthus then took the innards in his hands and began inspecting
them. He could not see a
liver-lobe and the valves of the heart and the gall bladder gave him the truth
about the evil he was about to encounter.
He frowned
and my lord asked him, “What is wrong? Why do you look worried?” To that
Aigisthus replied, “Stranger, I fear some trap from abroad. Agamemnon’s son is
my enemy and I hate him more than everyone else.”
Orestes
replied, “You? The king of a nation and you’re afraid of the trap of someone in
exile? Let us go on with the feast. Will someone bring me a Phthian cleaver
instead of this Doric knife? I’ll cut the animal through the chest so we can
eat the entrails.”
He took the
cleaver and began cutting through the animal.
84o Meantime
Aigisthus was carefully examining each part of the entrails and just as he was
bent over them, Orestes stood on his toes and hit him on his spine crushing all
his joints. Aigisthus’ whole body shook up and down and he groaned wildly in
the agony of a bloody death.
The slaves
saw what had happened and immediately reached for their spear - they, in great
number to do battle with two.
85o But Orestes and
Pylades bravely stopped them on their tracks, shaking their own spears. Your
brother spoke to them saying, “I have not come here as an enemy to my own
people. Rather I’ve come to punish the murderer of my father. I am luckless Orestes. So, you, old
servants of my father, do not kill me.”
They heard his words and drew back their spears. An old slave of your
father’s recognised him and immediately there was enormous joy and a garland
was placed around Orestes’ head.
Orestes is
now on his way to show you not Medusa’s head but the head of the man you hated
so much, that of Aigisthus. The blood of his own murder has paid for the blood
of your father’s murder.
Chorus:
86o Raise your feet
to a dance dear girl. Jump joyfully high into the sky. Light feet, like that of
a fawn! Dance, my dear girl, dance!
Your brother
has won a wreath, a better reward than that gained by those athletes who win
them by the waters of Alpheios. Come, sing the victory song to go with my
dance.
Elektra:
O, light! O,
flame of the sun on his chariot and O Earth! O, Night, once I could only look
at you but now my eyes are free to see because my father’s murderer is gone.
87o Right! I shall
go inside and bring out whatever adornments I have in there so as to adorn the
head of my victorious brother.
Elektra exits into the house.
Chorus:
You bring
the adornments for your brother. We won’t stop our dance so loved by the Muses.
Now our first kings shall rule again, having justly destroyed this evil lot.
Come let the breath of a flute accompany my joy.
Elektra comes out of the house carrying a basket of
adornments just as Orestes enters with Pylades and some attendants carrying the
body of Aigisthus on a bier.
Elektra: Offering a garland
88o O, glorious
Orestes, son of the glorious man who won a victory against the Trojans, accept
this garland for your hair. It was not a vain marathon you ran before you
returned here but you have killed Aigisthus, murderer of our father. And you,
too, Pylades, his companion in battle, reared by a most reverent father, here
is a garland for you. Take it from my hand; you’ve earned an equal reward in
this battle.
89o May I always
see you two happy!
Orestes:
First thank
the gods, Elektra who guided this great fate and then you can praise me for
being a servant of the gods and of Fate.
I have
killed Aigisthus and I have come here. These are no empty words but deeds.
And I say
this to you so that you may believe me. I bring him to you dead.
9oo If you wish you
can throw him to the wild beasts or you can impale him on a high stake to be
devoured by the birds of prey, children of the ether. He is your slave now and
no longer, as they used to call him, your master.
Elektra:
I hesitate
but still I want to say it.
Orestes:
Say what?
Speak. There is nothing to fear.
Elektra:
I’m afraid
they’ll say I dishonour the dead.
Orestes:
No one will
speak ill of you.
Elektra:
The city has
an ill will towards us. Argos will shun us.
Orestes:
Come,
sister, speak whatever you like. This man’s deadly hatred has separated us.
Elektra: To Aigisthus’ corpse
Fine then, I
shall speak. What charge should I make my first, what charge should I utter
last and what words should I put in the middle?
91o Yet I have
never stopped whispering to every Dawn those things I wanted to shout at you if
I were free from my old fears. Now I am free and I shall throw at you all the
evil deeds you committed while you were alive.
You’ve
destroyed my life and his (Indicating Orestes) life and made orphans out of
both of us killing our beloved father without any injustice done by us to you.
92o You, who have never fought the Trojans,
married my mother improperly and murdered her husband, the leader of the Greek
army.
You were
such a fool, thinking that marrying my mother and dishonouring my father’s bed,
she would stay faithful to you. Yet everyone should know this: when a man
seduces another man’s wife with secret love and then is forced to marry her, he
is a fool to think that she’d be honest with him if she wasn’t with her first
husband.
You lived in
misery yet you didn’t suspect it and felt, instead, that you were happy. Of
course both of you knew your union was unholy. Unholy marriage, unlawful
husband.
93o You two, being
evil, hid each other’s misery: she hid yours and you hid hers. All the Argives
would say, “Look, there goes Klytaimestra’s husband” and not, “there goes
Aigisthus’ wife!”
It’s a great
shame to see a house being ruled by the woman and not by the man. I turn away
from any child whom the city calls not a father’s son but a mother’s. This is
because if the man marries a woman of a far better standing than his and far
more noble than him, the citizen will never speak about him but about his wife.
94o And you,
Aigisthus, because of your lack of intelligence, fell into a big trap which is
that you thought that the great wealth made you important. Yet wealth is not
something you can have for long.
A man’s
strength is his nature, not his wealth because that is what stays with us and
that is what defeats our troubles. When the unjust joy falls into sinful ways,
it blossoms in the house for a very short time before it flies away again.
I am not going
to talk openly about your behaviour towards women; a virgin must not do so but
if I speak of them in hidden terms they will still be easy to understand.
You
dishonoured them because, they say, you had royal palaces and beauty.
95o So far as I am
concerned, I don’t want my husband to have the face of a virgin but that of a
real man. Such are the men who serve Ares the war god. The spoiled children are only for
decoration. So, then die Aigisthus! You’ve showed yourself a mindless man and
it’s now time to pay for that. (To
the audience) Let every criminal like him know that just because his first
criminal steps went according to his wishes that he has defeated Justice before
his life’s end.
Chorus:
96o Justice has
enormous strength. His deeds were horrible and horribly he paid for them before
you and before Orestes.
Elektra:
Now then.
You, servants, take his corpse indoors and hide it in the dark so that my
mother won’t see it before she meets her own death.
The attendants pick up the bier and exit into the house.
Orestes:
Now, enough
of this. Let’s talk of other matters.
Elektra: (Looks into the distance within)
What’s this?
Are these his allies from Mycenae?
Orestes:
No, it’s my
mother.
Elektra:
She is
coming straight into my net! And look how proudly she moves in her finery and
inside her chariot.
Orestes:
What shall
we do then? Slaughter our mother?
Elektra:
Have you
succumbed to pity the moment you saw her?
Orestes:
Ah, but how
can I kill the woman who has given birth to me and nurtured me?
Elektra:
97o In the same way
she killed our father.
Orestes:
Phoebus
Apollo! What a thoughtless oracle you gave me.
Elektra:
If Apollo is
thoughtless then who are the wise and knowledgeable?
Orestes:
Apollo, you
shouldn’t have given me the oracle to kill my mother. It is not proper.
Elektra:
What could
you suffer by avenging your father?
Orestes:
I have come
as an innocent. Now I shall leave as a matricide.
Elektra:
If you don’t
stand by your father you will be guilty according to the gods.
Orestes:
But my
mother? I know but I will not be guilty of murdering my mother.
Elektra:
And if you
do not avenge your father?
Orestes:
Some evil
spirit must have spoken the oracle, an evil spirit disguised as a god.
Elektra:
98o Sitting on the
holy tripod? I don’t think so.
Orestes:
It’s hard
for me to believe these are proper oracles.
Elektra:
Now don’t
hesitate and behave like a coward.
Orestes:
Will I
concoct the same trap for her?
Elektra:
Kill her as
you’ve killed Aigisthus.
Orestes:
Fine. I am
going inside. Terrible the deed I shall begin and frightening the deeds I shall
accomplish. If this is liked by the gods then so be it. My battle is bitter,
not sweet.
All except Elektra and the chorus go into the house to
hide.
Enter Klytaimestra on a highly adorned chariot, behind
which is a wagon carrying female Trojan slaves. Other slaves follow her.
Chorus:
Greetings
queen of Argos, daughter of Tyndareus and sister of the two brilliant sons of
Zeus who live among the stars and in the blazing ether. The twins, Kastor and
Polydeuces whose grace it is to save men from the sea’s harsh waves.
99o Greetings. I revere you in the same way as
I do the blessed gods, for your great wealth and your great joy. It is time, my
queen to serve you.
Klytaimestra:
To her slaves
1ooo Trojan maids, come down
from the wagon and hold my hand so I can get down. The temples of the gods are
resplendent with the Phrygian spoils but I’ve kept these Trojan maids for
myself, chosen personally by me, a small gift and ornament to my palace, a
replacement of my daughter whom I’ve lost.
Elektra:
Allow me to
give you my hand, mother. I, who have been cast out of my father’s house and
now live in that deserted hut over there, let me hold your blessed hand.
Klytaimestra:
Don’t
bother. My slaves are here.
Elektra:
1o1o Why
not? You’ve cast me away from my palaces like a slave, when you’ve emptied them
of all life and so I,
too, became like them, a slave and a fatherless orphan.
Klytaimestra:
That was
your father’s thinking: always act against his own folk. He plotted against
those he should love and not kill.
Let me tell
you all about them. When a woman gets a bad name then her tongue also becomes
somewhat bitter, though not in my case. Learn the full story first and if then
I deserve it, by all means, do hate me. Otherwise why hold a grudge against me?
1o2o Tyndareus gave me to your
father not so that I’d be murdered nor so that my children be murdered. Your
father, tricked my daughter, Iphigeneia by telling her that he would give her
to Achilles as his wife, took her from our palace and brought her to Aulis
where all the ships were stuck. He then placed my girl onto the altar and cut
her beautiful white neck.
Had he done
this because he was trying to save a city or to save his family and his house,
to save his other children, everyone would have forgiven him because he would
have sacrificed one for the sake of many. But no, he had killed her because
Helen was insatiably lustful and her husband had not the courage to punish her.
That’s why your father killed my daughter.
1o3o And even though they did me
such a wrong, I was still not overtaken by rage nor did I want to murder the
man. But then he came back from Troy bringing with him this possessed, virgin,
prophetess, Kassandra to share our bed and our halls. It’s true, I won’t
dispute it, that women are mindless. But when the husband wanders away from his
wife then she, too will try and copy him in trying to find another lover.
1o4o And then the whole city
criticises us, women whereas no one says a thing about the man who caused the
problem in the first place. Would I have to kill my son Orestes if they had
stolen Menelaos, my sister’s husband? How would you father take that? Why
should he not be the one to die? He had killed my own daughter so why should it
be that I die?
1o5o I did the crime and took
the only path I could. I took the side of his enemies. Which friend of his would come to my
aid when I killed your father?
Say what you
like and speak with a perfectly free mind. Show me where the injustice of your
father’s murder is.
Chorus:
You spoke
justly, though such Justice brings shame because if a woman is wise she should
always forgive her husband and I personally, treat with disdain the woman who
doesn’t think so.
Elektra:
Mother,
remember your final words: you said that I could speak to you freely.
Klytaimestra:
And I say it
again, my child. I do not deny it.
Elektra:
Will you
hurt me after you hear me?
Klytaimestra:
No. I shall
welcome your words whatever they are.
Elektra:
1o6o Well, then, I speak and
this is my prologue. If only you had a better brain, mother! I won’t deny that
people praise you and Helen for your beauty but both of you were born,
thoughtless and unworthy sisters of Kastor and Polydeuces.
I’m saying
this because one of you, your sister, was “stolen” willingly and then vanished;
You then killed the best of Greek men with the excuse that he killed your
daughter.
1o7o Mother,
no one knows you as well as I do.
The moment
your husband left your house and well before the decision was made to kill
Iphigeneia, you stood in front of your mirror, combing your golden hair. A woman who cares only after her
beauty, as soon as her husband leaves, is not an honourable woman. What is the
point? There is no need for her to show her face outside the house, looking to
do some mischief.
I also know
that you, of all the Greek women, were the only one who was happy when the
Trojans were winning and, if they were losing your face would frown because you
didn’t want Agamemnon to return.
1o8o But, of course, you had to
contain yourself because my father
was a far better man than Aigisthus was and that’s why Greece chose him as her
army’s leader. Then, since your sister, Helen, behaved so appallingly, you had
every opportunity to gain great glory because for the good people, the evil
acts are a lesson to give themselves a chance to reflect.
1o9o And if, as you say, my
father has killed Iphigeneia, how am I and my brother at fault?
Once you’ve
killed your husband why didn’t you give my father’s house to me and Orestes
rather than as dowry to your lover? These were things that did not belong to
you in the first place.
And has your
new husband gone to exile as payment of your son’s exile? Or was he killed, in
payment of my own death which he caused doubly, even though I live a life
harder than that of my sister?
If it is a
just thing that a murder must be repaid by murder then Orestes and I will kill
you, as payment for my father’s murder because if the first deed was just then
so is the second. He who marries a woman because of her wealth or her birth is
a fool and he’ll end up with a bad woman.
11oo It is far better to have a
well behaved, humble woman in the house even though she is of low rank than an
arrogant one who is of an established family.
Chorus:
One gets the
woman chosen by Fate not by himself. I know because I can see that some are
happy in their marriage and others are not.
Klytaimestra:
It has
always been in your nature, my daughter, to love your father. That’s how it
often is: some children love their fathers more than their mothers and other
children again love their mothers more. I don’t hold that against you but nor
do I feel good about my own deeds. Oh, but look how awful you look, unwashed
and so badly dressed! O, what misery all my plotting has brought me!
111o How did it happen that I
allowed the excessive rage take me and make me take it out on my husband!
Elektra:
Your sighs
are belated. It’s impossible now to heal your evil deed.
My father is
dead. Fine but why don’t you bring your son back from exile, wandering about
from one city to the next, like a vagabond?
Klytaimestra:
I’m afraid.
I’m thinking of my own good, not that of Orestes because they tell me he’s
outraged by his father’s murder.
Elektra:
Why then do
you constantly push your husband against me?
Klytaimestra:
It’s in his
nature but you too, are arrogant.
Elektra:
Because I
hurt but I shall hold my anger in the future.
Klytaimestra:
And he will
no longer be harsh towards you.
Elektra:
112o He’s been arrogant himself,
because he lives in my house.
Klytaimestra:
See? You’re
starting off new hatreds now!
Elektra:
I shall be
quiet. I fear him in my own way.
Klytaimestra:
Enough of
these words. Why did you call me?
Elektra:
I have given
birth and I thought you would have heard about it. I want you to perform the
appropriate sacrifices to thank the gods. I don’t know how to do this since
I’ve never had any children before. It is the baby’s tenth night and custom
declares that sacrifices be performed.
Klytaimestra:
This is not
my job but the job of the woman who has delivered your baby.
Elektra:
I delivered
the baby myself. I was the midwife.
Klytaimestra:
Is your
house empty and without neighbours?
Elektra:
113o No one wants to have poor
friends.
Klytaimestra:
Since the
baby’s days are complete, I shall go and perform the sacrifices. Then, when I
have finished this favour for you, I shall go to the farms where my husband is
performing sacrifices for the Nymphs.
Slaves, take
the horses to graze and when you think I’ve finished the sacrifice come back.
I’ll need to also thank my husband.
The slaves
exit taking with them the chariot and the wagon.
Elektra:
Come, come
into my poor house.
114o Be careful of the soot on
the walls, mother, lest they dirty your gown because you’ll need to perform the
sacrifice just as declared by the gods.
Klytaimestra enters the house.
The basket
is ready, the sword with which he has killed the bull is sharpened. There, by
his side you will also fall. He’ll be your husband in Hades as he was up here,
beneath the sun, when you shared his bed. This is the favour I’m doing for you
and with it you will repay my father’s murder.
Elektra, too, enters the house.
Chorus:
The evil
deeds are now being paid. The winds of vengeance are sweeping through the
palace halls. Once my master was killed in the bath. The roof and the stony
cornices of the palace echoed when he shouted the words, “Aaa! Poor me! Why kill me wife? The farms have been sown ten times by
the time I came back to my sweet country. Why kill me?”
By and by
the years brought back a punishment to the lawless woman who when Agamemnon had
returned after so many years to his own palace and to the Cyclopean castles
that touch the sky, she alone and with her own hand killed him using a
sharpened axe.
116o A! Her ill-fated mate,
whatever was that madness that seized the wretched woman!
Like a
mountain lioness that lives in the green valleys she accomplished this murder.
Klytaimestra:
Loud cries from within
(By the
gods, children, don’t kill your mother!)
Chorus:
Did you hear
the cry from the house?
Klytaimestra:
(Oooo!)
Chorus:
I, too, cry
for you that your own children are murdering you. When the Fated hour comes the
gods disperse the just punishment.
117o Dreadful punishment now
strikes back at you but with dreadful deeds you struck your husband, poor
creature.
Enter Orestes, Pylades and Elektra with the eccyclema
exposing the corpses of Aigisthus and Klytaimestra. All three are steeped in
blood.
Ah! Here they are, steeped in the blood of
their mother whom they’ve only just now murdered, the cause of her wild cries.
There is,
nor ever was, a house more wretched than that of the house of Tantalos.
Orestes:
Earth and
Zeus! Seers of all of man’s work! Look now upon these murderous, unholy deeds!
118o Look at these two bodies
lying on the ground! Both were
struck down by my own knife, both, a recompense for the evil deeds they’ve
committed to me.
Elektra:
Your
suffering, my brother is sorrowful and I am its cause for I have fallen like a
furious blaze upon my mother, the woman who has given birth to me.
Chorus:
Fate! Your
Fate Klytaimestra! How cruel the fury of your suffering! What cruel deeds you
dared, what cruel deeds –even more cruel!- returned to you from your own children! But it was a just payment for
the murder of their father!
Orestes:
Phoebus
Apollo, you prophesied justice with a dark oracle but the pains you gave me are
fully visible. You declared that I would have a bloody Fate away from
Greece. To what other land should
I go? Who is the god-fearing man, who is the friend who will turn to look
kindly upon me now – me a man who murdered his mother?
Elektra:
What
festivals, what dances will now let me join in? What marriage, what husband
will have me in his bridal bed?
Chorus: (To Elektra)
12oo Again! Like the wind you’ve
changed direction! Now your thoughts are right. Now, not before and you,
daughter, did your brother a great wrong. You made him perform an act he was
unwilling to perform.
Orestes:
Did you see
how the poor woman tore off her gown and showed me her breast, as I was about
to strike her?
How the poor
wretch dropped her legs to the ground!
Those legs through which I was born! And I snatched her hair…
Chorus:
I know. I
know the awful pain you felt when you heard the pitiable cry of the woman who
gave birth to you.
Orestes:
Through her
groans she stretched her hands to my chin and cried, “My son, I beg you!”
She hung
from my beard and my sword fell from my hand.
Chorus:
122o Hapless woman! How did you
have the courage to watch your mother’s blood spill as she was dying?
Orestes:
I used my
cape to cover my eyes when I slaughtered her. I plunged my sword into her neck.
Elektra:
And I urged
you on, my brother and held the sword with you.
Chorus:
You’ve
committed a most atrocious crime.
Orestes:
Come now,
cover our mother’s body with her gowns. Hide her wounds.
To Klytaimestra:
There, mother! You bore children so that they may kill you.
Elektra: Also to Klytaimestra
Both loved
and hated! Let us cover you with these gowns.
Chorus:
The misery
of this palace has reached its peak.
(Looking up from whence the Dioskouroi will descend via
deus ex machina
Or from behind the house.)
What’s this?
Do I see gods or spirits, above the house? This is no path for mortals but do
they appear to the eyes of men?
Dioskouroi:
Son of
Agamemnon listen to us. We the
Dioskouroi, your mother’s brothers, speak to you. I am Kastor and this is my
twin brother Polydeuces. No sooner have we saved a ship from a wild sea and we
came to Argos because we’ve witnessed the murder of our sister, your mother.
She was
punished justly but you acted wrongly.
Apollo, yes
Apollo, who is my master and so I shall not say too much, even though Apollo is
a wise god, has given you unwise
advice. But, we must accept his commands.
(To Orestes:)
125o Do what Zeus and Fate have
declared for you. Let Pylades have Elektra as his wife and let him take her to
his home. You must leave Argos.
You cannot step foot on this land since you are a matricide. The fearsome
goddesses, the dog-eyed Keires will hound you and, in your frenzy, you’ll be
wandering from place to place.
126o When you reach Athens
embrace the sacred statue of Pallas Athena. The snakes upon these dog-eyed
Keires will shudder but Athena will prevent them from touching you by placing
her shield that has the gorgon’s head over you.
There is a
rock there, belonging to Ares where the gods sat to judge for the first time
the murder of Alirrothios by hard-hearted Ares himself because Alirrothios,
Poseidon’s son had raped Ares’ daughter. This is why this place is where the
gods do the judging and it is most sacred and most just. To this place you, too, must run, so
that they can judge the murder you’ve committed. The result of the hearing will
be votes cast in equal number – and this will save you.
127o This is because Apollo will
take the blame since it was his bad oracle that send you to kill your mother.
And so for
the generations to come there will be this law: When the votes are equal on
both sides the defendant will be declared innocent.
So, then,
these fearsome goddesses, becoming disconsolate by this decision, will fall
into a deep chasm near the hill, which will become a holy temple for the
believers.
You must
live in an Arcadian city, near the stream of Alpheios and near the temple of
Zeus the Lyceus. The city will be named after you: Oresteion.
These are
the things I have to tell you.
The Argives
will bury Aigisthus’ corpse. As for your mother, she will be buried by Helen
and Menelaos. Menelaos has just returned to Nauplion after he had destroyed
Troy.
128o Helen has just returned from
Proteus’ house in Egypt. She has
never gone to Troy. This was a trick of
Zeus. He had sent her image to Troy so that many mortals would find
their gruesome death.
As for
Pylades, he should take Elektra, who is now both a wife and a virgin from the
land of the Greeks and bring her to his own home. And as for your supposed
brother-in-law, take him to Phockis and grant him great wealth.
Finally,
you, Orestes, should pass quickly through the Isthmus and go to the happy city
of Cecropia, Athens’ Acropolis.
129o Because, once you shed away
from you the effects of ill-fated murder, you will live happily and you’ll be
freed of tribulations.
Chorus:
Sons of Zeus
may I speak?
Dioskouroi:
You
can. You’re not polluted by the
murder.
Elektra:
May I speak
as well, sons of Tyndareus?
Dioskouroi:
You, too. I
blame Apollo for this murder.
Chorus:
13oo How is it that you two, who
are gods and siblings of the murdered woman did not cast the black spirits out
of the palace?
Dioskouroi:
Fate and
Necessity guided that which needed to happen. They and Apollo’s bad oracle.
Elektra:
And me? What
oracle of Apollo’s declared that I should become my mother’s murderer?
Dioskouroi:
Similar
deeds and similar Fates, as well as an ancestral curse ruined both of you.
Orestes:
My sister! I
have only just found you after so many years yet I must leave you immediately
and for ever and miss the warmth of your love.
Dioskouroi:
131o Apart from the fact that
she must leave Greece, she has both, a husband and a home. Her suffering is not
bitter.
Elektra:
Yet what else
other than leaving your own land is worthy of grief?
Orestes:
Still, I
must leave my father’s palace and must submit to the judgement of strangers for
the murder of my mother.
Dioskouroi:
132o Be brave. You’ll eventually
reach the city of Palas Athena. Have courage.
Elektra:
Hug me
tightly my brother because our mother’s fatal curses are sending us away from
our home.
Orestes:
Come to my
arms, hug me, Elektra and cry as you cry upon a grave.
Dioskouroi:
133o Even for the gods it is a
hard thing to hear your words. I and all the gods in the heavens pity the
suffering mortals.
Orestes:
I will never
see you again!
Elektra:
Nor I will
ever see your eyes again.
Orestes:
These are
your last words.
Elektra:
Good bye
Argos, my city! And you, too, women of my city!
Orestes:
Beloved
sister, are you leaving already?
Elektra:
134o I am leaving, my eyes
steeped in tears.
Orestes:
Go Pylades!
Go in happiness and marry Elektra.
Dioskouroi:
These two
will take care of their marriage but you, Orestes, run to Athens to save your
life. The dog-eyed spirits are approaching. They’re right behind you, hunting
you, these dark, dreaded spirits, shaking their snakes, they feed on
intolerable pain.
Now we will
rush to the Cicilian sea to save some ships from the high waves.
When we are
flying through the ether we cannot help the lawless We save from tribulations
only those who love the sacred and the just. Let no one perform unjust acts nor
travel with the faithless who stomp upon their oath. I, a god, say this to the
mortals.
Exit Pylades with Elektra from one side, Orestes, alone
from the other and the Dioskouroi from behind the house.
Chorus:
Good bye.
Blessed is the human who can live happily without the weight of suffering.
END OF EURIPIDIS’
“ELEKTRA”