§1533εἰ γὰρ Ἀργείους ἐπάξει τοῖσδε δώμασιν λαβών, §1534τὸν Ἑλένης φόνον διώκων, κἀμὲ μὴ σῴζειν θέλει §1535σύγγονόν τʼ ἐμὴν Πυλάδην τε τὸν τάδε ξυνδρῶντά μοι, §1536παρθένον τε καὶ δάμαρτα δύο νεκρὼ κατόψεται. §1537— ἰὼ ἰὼ τύχα, §1537aἕτερον εἰς ἀγῶνʼ, ἕτερον αὖ δόμος §1538φοβερὸν ἀμφὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας πίτνει. §1539— τί δρῶμεν;
\nFor if he leads the Argives against this house, taking them with him,\n\npursuing the murder of Helen, and does not wish to save me,\n\nmy sister, and Pylades who joined me in doing this,\n\nhe shall look upon two corpses—the virgin and his wife.\n\n— Alas, alas, destiny!\n\nAgain another, another terrible struggle\n\nfalls upon the house around the sons of Atreus.\n\n— What are we to do?
ἀγγέλλωμεν ἐς πόλιν τάδε; §1540ἢ σῖγʼ ἔχωμεν;
Shall we announce this to the city?\n\nOr shall we keep silence?
ἀσφαλέστερον, φίλαι. §1541— ἴδε πρὸ δωμάτων ἴδε προκηρύσσει §1542θοάζων ὅδʼ αἰθέρος ἄνω καπνός. §1543— ἅπτουσι πεύκας, ὡς πυρώσοντες δόμους §1544τοὺς Τανταλείους, οὐδʼ ἀφίστανται φόνου. §1545— τέλος ἔχει δαίμων βροτοῖς, §1545bτέλος ὅπᾳ θέλῃ. §1546— μεγάλα δέ τις ἁ δύναμις διʼ ἀλαστόρων §1547ἔπεσʼ ἔπεσε μέλαθρα τάδε διʼ αἱμάτων §1548διὰ τὸ Μυρτίλου πέσημʼ ἐκ δίφρου. §1549ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τόνδε λεύσσω Μενέλεων δόμων πέλας §1550ὀξύπουν, ᾐσθημένον που τὴν τύχην ἣ νῦν πάρα. §1551οὐκέτʼ ἂν φθάνοιτε κλῇθρα συμπεραίνοντες μοχλοῖς, §1552ὦ κατὰ στέγας Ἀτρεῖδαι.
It is safer, my friends.\n\n— See, before the house, see, this smoke rushing\n\nup into the air heralds what is happening.\n\n— They are lighting pines, as if to burn the house of\n\nTantalus, nor do they hold back from slaughter.\n\n— God brings the end to mortals,\n\nthe end in whatever way he wills.\n\n— A great power through avenging spirits\n\nhas fallen, has fallen upon this house through blood,\n\nbecause of the fall of Myrtilus from the chariot.\n\n— But indeed, I also see Menelaus here near the house\n\nwith swift foot, having likely perceived the fortune that is now present.\n\nYou cannot be too quick in securing the doors with bolts,\n\nO sons of Atreus within the house.
δεινὸν εὐτυχῶν ἀνὴρ §1553πρὸς κακῶς πράσσοντας, ὡς σὺ νῦν, Ὀρέστα, δυστυχεῖς. §1554ἥκω κλύων τὰ δεινὰ καὶ δραστήρια §1555δισσοῖν λεόντοιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄνδρʼ αὐτὼ καλῶ. §1556ἤκουσα γὰρ δὴ τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον §1557ὡς οὐ τέθνηκεν, ἀλλʼ ἄφαντος οἴχεται — §1558κενὴν ἀκούσας βάξιν, ἣν φόβῳ σφαλεὶς §1559ἤγγειλέ μοί τις.
A prosperous man is a terrible thing\n\nagainst those who fare ill, as you are now unfortunate, Orestes.\n\nMenelaus: I have come hearing the terrible and violent deeds\n\nof the two lions—for I do not call them men.\n\nFor indeed, I heard that my wife\n\nis not dead, but has vanished and gone—\n\nhaving heard an empty rumor, which someone, misled by fear,\n\nreported to me.
No, these are the devices\n\nof the mother-slayer and a cause for much laughter.\n\nLet someone open the house!
προσπόλοις λέγω §1562ὠθεῖν πύλας τάσδʼ, ὡς ἂν ἀλλὰ παῖδʼ ἐμὴν §1563ῥυσώμεθʼ ἀνδρῶν ἐκ χερῶν μιαιφόνων, §1564καὶ τὴν τάλαιναν ἀθλίαν δάμαρτʼ ἐμὴν §1565λάβωμεν, ᾗ δεῖ ξυνθανεῖν ἐμῇ χερὶ §1566τοὺς διολέσαντας τὴν ἐμὴν ξυνάορον. §1567οὗτος σύ, κλῄθρων τῶνδε μὴ ψαύσῃς χερί· §1568Μενέλαον εἶπον, ὃς πεπύργωσαι θράσει· §1569ἢ τῷδε θριγκῷ κρᾶτα συνθραύσω σέθεν, §1570ῥήξας παλαιὰ γεῖσα, τεκτόνων πόνον. §1571μοχλοῖς δʼ ἄραρε κλῇθρα, σῆς βοηδρόμου §1572σπουδῆς ἅ σʼ εἴρξει, μὴ δόμων ἔσω περᾶν.
I tell the servants\n\nto push these gates open, so that we may at least\n\nrescue my child from the hands of blood-stained men,\n\nand recover my wretched, unhappy wife,\n\nwith whom those who destroyed my consort\n\nmust die by my hand.\n\nOrestes: Hey you, do not touch these bolts with your hand!\n\nI mean Menelaus, who are walled in with arrogance.\n\nOtherwise, I will crush your head with this coping-stone,\n\nbreaking the ancient eaves, the labor of builders.\n\nThe doors are secured with bolts, which will keep you\n\nfrom your rescuing haste, so that you do not enter inside the house.\n\nMenelaus: Ah, what is this?
§1573ἔα, τί χρῆμα; λαμπάδων ὁρῶ σέλας, §1574δόμων δʼ ἐπʼ ἄκρων τούσδε πυργηρουμένους, §1575ξίφος δʼ ἐμῆς θυγατρὸς ἐπίφρουρον δέρῃ. §1576πότερον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις; §1577οὐδέτερʼ· ἀνάγκη δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, σου κλύειν. §1578μέλλω κτενεῖν σου θυγατέρʼ, εἰ βούλῃ μαθεῖν. §1579Ἑλένην φονεύσας ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσεις φόνον; §1580εἰ γὰρ κατέσχον μὴ θεῶν κλεφθεὶς ὕπο. §1581ἀρνῇ κατακτὰς κἀφʼ ὕβρει λέγεις τάδε; §1582λυπράν γε τὴν ἄρνησιν· εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον — §1583τί χρῆμα δρᾶσαι;
I see the gleam of torches,\n\nand these men standing as if besieged on the top of the house,\n\nand a sword keeping guard on my daughter's neck.\n\nOrestes: Do you wish to question or to hear me?\n\nMenelaus: Neither; but it seems necessary, as it appears, to hear you.\n\nOrestes: I am going to kill your daughter, if you wish to know.\n\nMenelaus: Having murdered Helen, are you committing murder upon murder?\n\nOrestes: Would that I had caught her, had she not been stolen by the gods!\n\nMenelaus: Do you deny having killed her, and speak these things in insolence?\n\nOrestes: Bitter indeed is the denial; for I wish I had—\n\nMenelaus: Done what?
παρακαλεῖς γὰρ ἐς φόβον. §1584τὴν Ἑλλάδος μιάστορʼ εἰς Ἅιδου βαλεῖν. §1585ἀπόδος δάμαρτος νέκυν, ὅπως χώσω τάφῳ. §1586θεοὺς ἀπαίτει.
For you call me to fear.\n\nOrestes: Plunged the avenging pest of Greece into Hades!\n\nMenelaus: Give back my wife's corpse, so that I may bury her in a grave.\n\nOrestes: Ask the gods for her!
παῖδα δὲ κτενῶ σέθεν. §1587ὁ μητροφόντης ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσει φόνον; §1588ὁ πατρὸς ἀμύντωρ, ὃν σὺ προύδωκας θανεῖν. §1589οὐκ ἤρκεσέν σοι τὸ παρὸν αἷμα μητέρος; §1590οὐκ ἂν κάμοιμι τὰς κακὰς κτείνων ἀεί. §1591ἦ καὶ σύ, Πυλάδη, τοῦδε κοινωνεῖς φόνου; §1592φησὶν σιωπῶν· ἀρκέσω δʼ ἐγὼ λέγων. §1593ἀλλʼ οὔτι χαίρων, ἤν γε μὴ φύγῃς πτεροῖς. §1594οὐ φευξόμεσθα· πυρὶ δʼ ἀνάψομεν δόμους. §1595ἦ γὰρ πατρῷον δῶμα πορθήσεις τόδε; §1596ὡς μή γʼ ἔχῃς σύ, τήνδʼ ἐπισφάξας πυρί.
But I will kill your child.\n\nMenelaus: Does the mother-killer commit murder upon murder?\n\nOrestes: The avenger of his father, whom you betrayed to die.\n\nMenelaus: Was the present blood of your mother not enough for you?\n\nOrestes: I would never grow weary of killing wicked women forever.\n\nMenelaus: Pylades, do you also share in this murder?\n\nOrestes: He says so by his silence; and I, speaking, will suffice.\n\nMenelaus: But you shall not rejoice, unless indeed you escape with wings.\n\nOrestes: We shall not flee; but we will set the house on fire.\n\nMenelaus: Will you indeed destroy this ancestral home?\n\nOrestes: So that you may not have it, after I slaughter her upon the fire.\n\nMenelaus: Kill her!
§1597κτεῖνʼ· ὡς κτανών γε τῶνδέ μοι δώσεις δίκην. §1598ἔσται τάδε. §1598bἆ ἆ, μηδαμῶς δράσῃς τάδε. §1599σίγα νυν, ἀνέχου δʼ ἐνδίκως πράσσων κακῶς. §1600ἦ γὰρ δίκαιον ζῆν σε; §1600bκαὶ κρατεῖν γε γῆς. §1601ποίας; §1601bἐν Ἄργει τῷδε τῷ Πελασγικῷ. §1602εὖ γοῦν θίγοις ἂν χερνίβων — §1602bτί δὴ γὰρ οὔ; §1603καὶ σφάγια πρὸ δορὸς καταβάλοις. §1603bσὺ δʼ ἂν καλῶς; §1604ἁγνὸς γάρ εἰμι χεῖρας. §1604bἀλλʼ οὐ τὰς φρένας. §1605τίς δʼ ἂν προσείποι σέ; §1605bὅστις ἐστὶ φιλοπάτωρ. §1606ὅστις δὲ τιμᾷ μητέρα; §1606bεὐδαίμων ἔφυ. §1607οὔκουν σύ γε. §1607bοὐ γὰρ ἁνδάνουσιν αἱ κακαί. §1608ἄπαιρε θυγατρὸς φάσγανον. §1608bψευδὴς ἔφυς.
Since having killed her you shall pay me the penalty for these things.\n\nOrestes: It shall be so.\n\nMenelaus: Ah, ah, do not do this by any means!\n\nOrestes: Be silent now, and endure your misfortune justly.\n\nMenelaus: Is it indeed right that you should live?\n\nOrestes: Yes, and to rule the land.\n\nMenelaus: What land?\n\nOrestes: In this Pelasgian Argos.\n\nMenelaus: Well, would you touch the lustral water—\n\nOrestes: Why indeed should I not?\n\nMenelaus: And slaughter victims before the battle.\n\nOrestes: And would you do it well?\n\nMenelaus: For I am pure in my hands.\n\nOrestes: But not in your mind.\n\nMenelaus: And who would address you?\n\nOrestes: Whoever is a lover of his father.\n\nMenelaus: And he who honors his mother?\n\nOrestes: He was born fortunate.\n\nMenelaus: You are not, at least.\n\nOrestes: For wicked women do not please me.\n\nMenelaus: Take away the sword from my daughter!\n\nOrestes: You are deceived.