Warning of Imprisonment and Offerings for the Tomb — Sophocles, Electra, lines 378–457, Greek & English

378

ἀλλʼ ἐξερῶ σοι πᾶν ὅσον κάτοιδʼ ἐγώ.

But I will tell you everything that I know.

μέλλουσι γάρ σʼ, εἰ τῶνδε μὴ λήξεις γόων,

For they are going to, if you do not cease from these laments,

380

ἐνταῦθα πέμψειν ἔνθα μή ποθʼ ἡλίου

send you where you will never

φέγγος προσόψει, ζῶσα δʼ ἐν κατηρεφεῖ

look upon the light of the sun, but living in a roofed

στέγῃ χθονὸς τῆσδʼ ἐκτὸς ὑμνήσεις κακά.

dungeon outside of this land, you will sing of your evils.

πρὸς ταῦτα φράζου καί με μή ποθʼ ὕστερον

Therefore, reflect on this, and do not ever blame me

παθοῦσα μέμψῃ· νῦν γὰρ ἐν καλῷ φρονεῖν.

later when you suffer; for now is the proper time to be wise.

385

ἦ ταῦτα δή με καὶ βεβούλευνται ποεῖν;

Have they indeed resolved to do this to me?

μάλισθʼ· ὅταν περ οἴκαδʼ Αἴγισθος μόλῃ.

Most certainly, as soon as Aegisthus comes home.

ἀλλʼ ἐξίκοιτο τοῦδέ γʼ οὕνεκʼ ἐν τάχει.

Then may he arrive quickly for this reason!

τίνʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, τόνδʼ ἐπηράσω λόγον;

What word is this, wretched sister, that you prayed for?

ἐλθεῖν ἐκεῖνον, εἴ τι τῶνδε δρᾶν νοεῖ.

For him to come, if he intends to do any of these things.

390

ὅπως πάθῃς τί χρῆμα; ποῦ ποτʼ εἶ φρενῶν;

So that you may suffer what? Where in the world are your senses?

ὅπως ἀφʼ ὑμῶν ὡς προσωτάτω φύγω.

So that I may flee as far as possible from you.

βίου δὲ τοῦ παρόντος οὐ μνείαν ἔχεις;

Have you no regard for your present life?

καλὸς γὰρ οὑμὸς βίοτος ὥστε θαυμάσαι.

Yes, for my life is beautiful, so as to be admired!

ἀλλʼ ἦν ἄν, εἰ σύ γʼ εὖ φρονεῖν ἠπίστασο.

But it would be, if you knew how to be wise.

395

μή μʼ ἐκδίδασκε τοῖς φίλοις εἶναι κακήν.

Do not teach me to be base to my friends.

ἀλλʼ οὐ διδάσκω· τοῖς κρατοῦσι δʼ εἰκαθεῖν.

But I am not teaching that, but to yield to those in power.

σὺ ταῦτα θώπευʼ· οὐκ ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις.

You flatter them in this; you do not speak of my ways.

καλόν γε μέντοι μὴ ʼξ ἀβουλίας πεσεῖν.

Yet it is a fine thing indeed not to fall through folly.

πεσούμεθʼ, εἰ χρή, πατρὶ τιμωρούμενοι.

We will fall, if we must, avenging our father.

400

πατὴρ δὲ τούτων, οἶδα, συγγνώμην ἔχει.

But our father, I know, has forgiveness for this.

ταῦτʼ ἐστὶ τἄπη πρὸς κακῶν¹ ἐπαινέσαι.

These are words for cowards to praise.

σὺ δʼ οὐχὶ πείσει καὶ συναινέσεις ἐμοί;

And will you not be persuaded and agree with me?

οὐ δῆτα· μή πω νοῦ τοσόνδʼ εἴην κενή.

Indeed not; may I never be so empty of understanding.

χωρήσομαί τἄρʼ οἷπερ ἐστάλην ὁδοῦ.

Then I will go on the way where I was sent.

405

ποῖ δʼ ἐμπορεύει; τῷ φέρεις τάδʼ ἔμπυρα;

And where are you going? To whom are you carrying these offerings?

μήτηρ με πέμπει πατρὶ τυμβεῦσαι χοάς.

Mother sends me to pour libations at father’s tomb.

πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τῷ δυσμενεστάτῳ βροτῶν;

What did you say? To the most hostile of mortals?

ὃν ἔκτανʼ αὐτή· τοῦτο γὰρ λέξαι θέλεις.

Whom she herself killed; for this is what you want to say.

ἐκ τοῦ φίλων πεισθεῖσα; τῷ τοῦτʼ ἤρεσεν;

Persuaded by whom of her friends? To whom did this seem good?

410

ἐκ δείματός του νυκτέρου, δοκεῖν ἐμοί;

From some nightly terror, so it seems to me.

ὦ θεοὶ πατρῷοι, συγγένεσθέ γʼ ἀλλὰ νῦν.

O ancestral gods, assist us, at least now!

ἔχεις τι θάρσος τοῦδε τοῦ τάρβους πέρι;

Do you derive some confidence from this fear of hers?

εἴ μοι λέγοις τὴν ὄψιν, εἴποιμʼ ἂν τότε.

If you would tell me the vision, I could tell you then.

ἀλλʼ οὐ κάτοιδα πλὴν ἐπὶ σμικρὸν φράσαι.

But I do not know it, except to tell a little.

415

λέγʼ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο· πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι

Tell even that; for indeed, small words

ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

have often overthrown and set upright mortals.

λόγος τις αὐτήν ἐστιν εἰσιδεῖν πατρὸς

There is a report that she beheld our father,

τοῦ σοῦ τε κἀμοῦ δευτέραν ὁμιλίαν

yours and mine, in a second association,

ἐλθόντος ἐς φῶς· εἶτα τόνδʼ ἐφέστιον

when he returned to the light. And then, that he took

420

πῆξαι λαβόντα σκῆπτρον οὑφόρει ποτὲ

the sceptre which he once bore himself,

αὐτός, τανῦν δʼ Αἴγισθος· ἐκ δὲ τοῦδʼ ἄνω

but Aegisthus now bears, and fixed it by the hearth; and from this

βλαστεῖν βρύοντα θαλλόν, ᾧ κατάσκιον

there grew up a flourishing shoot, by which

πᾶσαν γενέσθαι τὴν Μυκηναίων χθόνα.

the whole land of the Mycenaeans was overshadowed.

τοιαῦτά του παρόντος, ἡνίχʼ Ἡλίῳ

Such things I heard from someone who was present when

425

δείκνυσι τοὔναρ, ἔκλυον ἐξηγουμένου.

she was showing her dream to the Sun, explaining it.

πλείω δὲ τούτων οὐ κάτοιδα, πλὴν ὅτι

But more than this I do not know, except that

πέμπει με κείνη τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου χάριν.

she sends me because of this fear.

πρός νυν θεῶν σε λίσσομαι τῶν ἐγγενῶν

Now, by our family gods, I entreat you

ἐμοὶ πιθέσθαι μηδʼ ἀβουλίᾳ πεσεῖν·

to obey me and not to fall through folly;

430

εἰ γάρ μʼ ἀπώσει, σὺν κακῷ μέτει πάλιν.

for if you reject me, you will return with sorrow later.

ἀλλʼ, ὦ φίλη, τούτων μὲν ὧν ἔχεις χεροῖν

But, my dear sister, of these things which you have in your hands,

τύμβῳ προσάψῃς μηδέν· οὐ γάρ σοι θέμις

lay nothing on the tomb. For it is not lawful for you,

οὐδʼ ὅσιον ἐχθρᾶς ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἱστάναι

nor holy, to place offerings or bring

κτερίσματʼ οὐδὲ λουτρὰ προσφέρειν πατρί·

libations to your father from a hostile woman.

435

ἀλλʼ ἢ πνοαῖσιν ἢ βαθυσκαφεῖ κόνει

But either hide them in the winds or in deep-dug dust,

κρύψον νιν, ἔνθα μή ποτʼ εἰς εὐνὴν πατρὸς

where none of these things shall ever reach

τούτων πρόσεισι μηδέν· ἀλλʼ ὅταν θάνῃ

our father’s resting place; but let them be preserved as treasures

κειμήλιʼ αὐτῇ ταῦτα σῳζέσθω κάτω.

below for her when she dies.

ἀρχὴν² δʼ ἄν, εἰ μὴ τλημονεστάτη γυνὴ

For to begin with, if she had not been born the most shameless

440

πασῶν ἔβλαστε, τάσδε δυσμενεῖς χοὰς

of all women, she would never have poured these hostile libations

οὐκ ἄν ποθʼ ὅν γʼ ἔκτεινε, τῷδʼ ἐπέστεφε.

on the one she killed.

σκέψαι γὰρ εἴ σοι προσφιλῶς αὐτῇ δοκεῖ

For consider whether the dead man in his tomb seems to you

γέρα τάδʼ οὑν τάφοισι δέξεσθαι νέκυς,

likely to receive these gifts from her with goodwill,

ὑφʼ ἧς θανὼν ἄτιμος, ὥστε δυσμενής,

by whom he was killed without honor, treated like an enemy,

445

ἐμασχαλίσθη,³ κἀπὶ λουτροῖσιν κάρᾳ

and mutilated, and who wiped off the bloodstains on his head

κηλῖδας ἐξέμαξεν. ἆρα μὴ δοκεῖς

with water? Do you think

λυτήριʼ αὐτῇ ταῦτα τοῦ φόνου φέρειν;

these things will bring her release from the murder?

οὐχ ἔστιν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν μέθες· σὺ δὲ

It is not possible. But let these things go. And you,

τεμοῦσα κρατὸς βοστρύχων ἄκρας φόβας

cutting the tips of the curls of your hair,

450

κἀμοῦ ταλαίνης, σμικρὰ μὲν τάδʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅμως

and of mine, wretched, small gifts indeed, but yet

ἅχω, δὸς αὐτῷ, τήνδʼ ἀλιπαρῆ τρίχα

what I have, give to him—this unanointed hair

καὶ ζῶμα τοὐμὸν οὐ χλιδαῖς ἠσκημένον.

and my girdle, not adorned with luxuries.

αἰτοῦ δὲ προσπίτνουσα γῆθεν εὐμενῆ

And ask, falling to the ground, that he come

ἡμῖν ἀρωγὸν αὐτὸν εἰς ἐχθροὺς μολεῖν,

as a kindly helper to us against our enemies,

455

καὶ παῖδʼ Ὀρέστην ἐξ ὑπερτέρας χερὸς

and that his son Orestes, with a conquering hand,

ἐχθροῖσιν αὐτοῦ ζῶντʼ ἐπεμβῆναι ποδί,

may step alive upon his enemies with his foot,

ὅπως τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτὸν ἀφνεωτέραις

so that in the future, with richer

Syntax notes3 items

401πρὸς κακῶν
πρὸς κακῶν ('from/on the part of cowards') functions either as an agent indicating the source of the praise or as a genitive of characteristic modifying the infinitive ἐπαινέσαι. The translation takes it as 'characteristic of cowards to praise these words,' expressing Electra's contempt for Chrysothemis's yielding attitude.
439ἀρχὴν
ἀρχήν is the accusative of the noun ἀρχή ('beginning') used adverbially. In negative or conditional sentences (here with εἰ μή), it means 'to begin with' or 'at all.' Here it intensifies the counterfactual condition, emphasizing Clytemnestra's absolute shamelessness.
445ἐμασχαλίσθη
The verb μασχαλίζω refers to the ancient practice of maschalismos, whereby a murderer mutilated the corpse of the victim (cutting off the extremities and binding them under the armpits) to prevent the ghost of the deceased from taking vengeance. Electra points out this physical defilement of Agamemnon's corpse to emphasize Clytemnestra's heinous crime.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg005.humanitext-grc2:378-457