§914ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην καὶ σὲ ἀποκτεῖναι πέτροις §915βάλλοντας· ὑπὸ δʼ ἔτεινε Τυνδάρεως λόγους §916τῷ σφὼ κατακτείνοντι τοιούτους λέγειν.
He spoke that they should kill Orestes and you by throwing stones; but Tyndareus secretly suggested such words to the one who would kill you, for him to say.
§917ἄλλος δʼ ἀναστὰς ἔλεγε τῷδʼ ἐναντία, §918μορφῇ μὲν οὐκ εὐωπός, ἀνδρεῖος δʼ ἀνήρ, §919ὀλιγάκις ἄστυ κἀγορᾶς χραίνων κύκλον, §920αὐτουργός — οἵπερ καὶ μόνοι σῴζουσι γῆν — §921ξυνετὸς δέ, χωρεῖν ὁμόσε τοῖς λόγοις θέλων, §922ἀκέραιος, ἀνεπίπληκτον ἠσκηκὼς βίον· §923ὃς εἶπʼ Ὀρέστην παῖδα τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος §924στεφανοῦν, ὃς ἠθέλησε τιμωρεῖν πατρί, §925κακὴν γυναῖκα κἄθεον κατακτανών, §926ἣ κεῖνʼ ἀφῄρει, μήθʼ ὁπλίζεσθαι χέρα §927μήτε στρατεύειν ἐκλιπόντα δώματα, §928εἰ τἄνδον οἰκουρήμαθʼ οἱ λελειμμένοι §929φθείρουσιν, ἀνδρῶν εὔνιδας λωβώμενοι.
And another stood up and spoke opposites to this one, not handsome in appearance indeed, but a brave man, seldom staining the city and the circle of the marketplace, a working farmer — who alone indeed save the land — but intelligent, willing to come to close quarters in arguments, pure, having practiced a blameless life; who said to crown Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, who wished to avenge his father, by slaying a wicked and godless woman, who took that away, so that neither could a hand be armed nor go on a campaign leaving the house, if those left behind destroy the household things inside, dishonoring the beds of men.
§930καὶ τοῖς γε χρηστοῖς εὖ λέγειν ἐφαίνετο.
And to the good people indeed he seemed to speak well.
§931κοὐδεὶς ἔτʼ εἶπε.
And no one spoke further.
σὸς δʼ ἐπῆλθε σύγγονος, §932ἔλεξε δʼ· ὦ γῆν Ἰνάχου κεκτημένοι, §934ὑμῖν ἀμύνων οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ πατρὶ §935ἔκτεινα μητέρʼ.
And your brother came forward, and said: "O you who possess the land of Inachus, avenging you no less than my father I killed my mother.
εἰ γὰρ ἀρσένων φόνος §936ἔσται γυναιξὶν ὅσιος, οὐ φθάνοιτʼ ἔτʼ ἂν §937θνῄσκοντες, ἢ γυναιξὶ δουλεύειν χρεών· §938τοὐναντίον δὲ δράσετʼ ἢ δρᾶσαι χρεών.
For if the murder of men shall be holy for women, you would not be too quick in dying, or you must be slaves to women; and you will do the opposite of what you ought to do.
§939νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἡ προδοῦσα λέκτρʼ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς §940τέθνηκεν· εἰ δὲ δὴ κατακτενεῖτʼ ἐμέ, §941ὁ νόμος ἀνεῖται, κοὐ φθάνοι θνῄσκων τις ἄν· §942ὡς τῆς γε τόλμης οὐ σπάνις γενήσεται.
For now she who betrayed my father's bed is dead; but if indeed you kill me, the law is relaxed, and anyone would not be too quick in dying; since of daring indeed there will be no scarcity.
§943ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔπειθʼ ὅμιλον, εὖ δοκῶν λέγειν.
But he did not persuade the crowd, though seeming to speak well.
And that wicked man wins, speaking in the assembly, who spoke to kill your brother and you.
§946μόλις δʼ ἔπεισε μὴ πετρουμένους θανεῖν §947τλήμων Ὀρέστης· αὐτόχειρι δὲ σφαγῇ §948ὑπέσχετʼ ἐν τῇδʼ ἡμέρᾳ λείψειν βίον §949σὺν σοί.
And wretched Orestes with difficulty persuaded them not to die by being stoned; but promised that by suicide they would leave life on this day, together with you.
πορεύει δʼ αὐτὸν ἐκκλήτων ἄπο §950Πυλάδης δακρύων· σὺν δʼ ὁμαρτοῦσιν φίλοι §951κλαίοντες, οἰκτίροντες· ἔρχεται δέ σοι §952πικρὸν θέαμα καὶ πρόσοψις ἀθλία.
And Pylades leads him away from the assembly weeping; and friends accompany them crying, pitying; and there comes to you a bitter sight and wretched spectacle.
§953ἀλλʼ εὐτρέπιζε φάσγανʼ ἢ βρόχον δέρῃ· §954ὡς δεῖ λιπεῖν σε φέγγος· ἡ εὐγένεια δὲ §955οὐδέν σʼ ἐπωφέλησεν, οὐδʼ ὁ Πύθιος §956τρίποδα καθίζων Φοῖβος, ἀλλʼ ἀπώλεσεν.
But prepare swords or a noose for your neck; for you must leave the light; and your noble birth availed you nothing, nor the Pythian Phoebus sitting on the tripod, but he destroyed you.
§957ὦ δυστάλαινα παρθένʼ, ὡς ξυνηρεφὲς §958πρόσωπον εἰς γῆν σὸν βαλοῦσʼ ἄφθογγος εἶ, §959ὡς εἰς στεναγμοὺς καὶ γόους δραμουμένη.
O wretched maiden, how you are speechless, casting your veiled face to the ground, as if about to run to groans and lamentations.
§960κατάρχομαι στεναγμόν, ὦ Πελασγία, §961τιθεῖσα λευκὸν ὄνυχα διὰ παρηίδων, §962αἱματηρὸν ἄταν, §963κτύπον τε κρατός, ὃν ἔλαχʼ ἁ κατὰ χθονὸς §964νερτέρων Περσέφασσα καλλίπαις θεά.
I begin the lamentation, O Pelasgia, putting my white nail through my cheeks, a bloody ruin, and beating my head, which Persephone, the beautiful child-goddess of those below under the earth, has obtained.
And let the Cyclopean land cry aloud, putting the shearing iron to the head, for the sufferings of the house.
Pity, pity, here it comes for those about to die, who were once the generals of Greece.
§971βέβακε γὰρ βέβακεν, οἴχεται τέκνων §972πρόπασα γέννα Πέλοπος ὅ τʼ ἐπὶ μακαρίοις §973ζῆλος ὤν ποτʼ οἴκοις· §974φθόνος νιν εἷλε θεόθεν, ἅ τε δυσμενὴς §975φοινία ψῆφος ἐν πολίταις.
For it is gone, it is gone, all the race of Pelops' children is departed, and that envy which was once upon their happy house; envy from the gods has taken it, and the hostile bloody vote among the citizens.
Alas, alas, all-weeping, much-toiled races of mortals, look how contrary to expectation fate goes.
And one changes for another's sufferings in the long run of time; and all the life of mortals is unstable.
§982μόλοιμι τὰν οὐρανοῦ §983μέσον χθονός τε τεταμέναν §983aαἰωρήμασι πέτραν, §983bἁλύσεσιν χρυσέαισι φερομέναν δίναισι, §983cβῶλον ἐξ Ὀλύμπου, §984ἵνʼ ἐν θρήνοισιν ἀναβοάσω §985γέροντι πατρὶ Ταντάλῳ §986ὃς ἔτεκεν ἔτεκε γενέτορας ἐμέθεν δόμων, §987οἳ κατεῖδον ἄτας, §988ποτανὸν μὲν δίωγμα πώλων §989τεθριπποβάμονι στόλῳ Πέλοψ ὅτε §990πελάγεσι διεδίφρευσε, Μυρτίλου φόνον §991δικὼν ἐς οἶδμα πόντου, §992λευκοκύμοσιν §993πρὸς Γεραιστίαις §994ποντίων σάλων §994aᾐόσιν ἁρματεύσας.
Would that I might go to the rock suspended in mid-air between heaven and earth, borne by golden chains in eddies, a clod of earth from Olympus, so that I may cry out in laments to the old father Tantalus, who begat the ancestors of my house, who looked upon ruins, the winged pursuit of steeds in a four-horse chariot when Pelops drove across the seas, casting the murder of Myrtilus into the swell of the sea, near the white-foaming Geraestian shores of the sea-waves driving his chariot.
§995ὅθεν δόμοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς §996ἦλθʼ ἀρὰ πολύστονος, §997λόχευμα ποιμνίοισι Μαιάδος τόκου, §998τὸ χρυσόμαλλον ἀρνὸς ὁπότʼ §999ἐγένετο τέρας ὀλοὸν ὀλοὸν §1000Ἀτρέος ἱπποβώτα· §1001ὅθεν Ἔρις τό τε πτερωτὸν §1002ἁλίου μετέβαλεν ἅρμα, §1003τὰν πρὸς ἑσπέραν κέλευθον §1004οὐρανοῦ προσαρμόσα- §1004aσα μονόπωλον ἐς Ἀῶ, §1005ἑπταπόρου τε δράμημα Πελειάδος §1006εἰς ὁδὸν ἄλλαν Ζεὺς μεταβάλλει, §1007τῶνδέ τʼ ἀμείβει θανάτους θανά- §1008των τά τʼ ἐπώνυμα δεῖπνα Θυέστου §1009λέκτρα τε Κρήσσας Ἀερόπας δολί-
Whence to my house came the much-sighing curse, brought forth among the flocks of Maia's son, when there appeared the golden-fleeced lamb, a destructive, destructive prodigy for horse-breeding Atreus; whence Discord changed the winged chariot of the sun, adjusting the path toward evening across heaven to the single-horse Dawn, and Zeus changes the course of the seven-fold Pleiades to another path, and requites these deaths with deaths, and the banquet named after Thyestes, and the bed of treacherous Cretan Aerope...