§719μέλλω· ʼπὶ ταύτῃ καὶ καθέσταμεν τύχῃ.
[Agamemnon] I am about to; we have been placed in this very situation.
§720κἄπειτα δαίσεις τοὺς γάμους ἐς ὕστερον;
[Clytemnestra] And then will you hold the wedding feast afterward?
§721θύσας γε θύμαθʼ ἃ ἐμὲ χρὴ θῦσαι θεοῖς.
[Agamemnon] Yes, after sacrificing the victims which I must sacrifice to the gods.
§722ἡμεῖς δὲ θοίνην ποῦ γυναιξὶ θήσομεν;
[Clytemnestra] And where shall we set out the feast for the women?
§723ἐνθάδε παρʼ εὐπρύμνοισιν Ἀργείων πλάταις.
[Agamemnon] Here, beside the fair-prowed ships of the Argives.
§724καλῶς ἀναγκαίως τε· συνενέγκοι δʼ ὅμως.
[Clytemnestra] Nobly and of necessity; but nevertheless, may it turn out well!
§725οἶσθʼ οὖν ὃ δρᾶσον, ὦ γύναι;
[Agamemnon] Do you know then what to do, wife?
πιθοῦ δέ μοι.
Obey me.
§726τί χρῆμα;
[Clytemnestra] What is it?
πείθεσθαι γὰρ εἴθισμαι σέθεν.
For I am accustomed to obey you.
[Agamemnon] We indeed here, where the bridegroom is— [Clytemnestra] What will you do apart from the mother, which I ought to do?
§729ἐκδώσομεν σὴν παῖδα Δαναϊδῶν μέτα.
[Agamemnon] —will give away your child along with the Danaans.
§730ἡμᾶς δὲ ποῦ χρὴ τηνικαῦτα τυγχάνειν;
[Clytemnestra] And where must I be at that time?
§731χώρει πρὸς Ἄργος παρθένους τε τημέλει.
[Agamemnon] Go to Argos and care for the maidens.
§732λιποῦσα παῖδα; τίς δʼ ἀνασχήσει φλόγα;
[Clytemnestra] Leaving my child?
§733ἐγὼ παρέξω φῶς ὃ νυμφίοις πρέπει.
And who will hold up the marriage torch?
§734οὐχ ὁ νόμος οὗτος οὐδὲ φαῦλʼ ἡγητέα.
[Agamemnon] I will provide the light which is fitting for bridegrooms.
§735οὐ καλὸν ἐν ὄχλῳ σʼ ἐξομιλεῖσθαι στρατοῦ.
[Clytemnestra] This is not the custom, nor must such things be held of little account.
§736καλὸν τεκοῦσαν τἀμά μʼ ἐκδοῦναι τέκνα.
[Agamemnon] It is not seemly for you to mingle with the crowd of the army.
§737καὶ τάς γʼ ἐν οἴκῳ μὴ μόνας εἶναι κόρας.
[Clytemnestra] It is seemly for me, who bore them, to give away my own children.
§738ὀχυροῖσι παρθενῶσι φρουροῦνται καλῶς.
[Agamemnon] And indeed that the maidens at home should not be alone.
§739πιθοῦ.
[Agamemnon] They are well guarded in secure chambers.
§730bμὰ τὴν ἄνασσαν Ἀργείαν θεάν.
[Agamemnon] Obey.
§740ἐλθὼν δὲ τἄξω πρᾶσσε, τἀν δόμοις δʼ ἐγώ,
[Clytemnestra] No, by the Argive goddess queen!
[Clytemnestra] Go and manage things outside, and I will manage things in the house, which are fitting for brides.
§746ὅμως δὲ σὺν Κάλχαντι τῷ θυηπόλῳ §747κοινῇ τὸ τῆς θεοῦ φίλον, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκ εὐτυχές, §748ἐξευπορήσων εἶμι, μόχθον Ἑλλάδος.
In vain did I hasten, and I have been disappointed in my hope, wishing to send my wife away from my eyes.
I devise schemes and against my dearest ones I prepare tricks, being defeated at every turn.
§751ἥξει δὴ Σιμόεντα καὶ §752δίνας ἀργυροειδεῖς §753ἄγυρις Ἑλλάνων στρατιᾶς §754ἀνά τε ναυσὶν καὶ σὺν ὅπλοις §755Ἴλιον ἐς τὸ Τροίας §756Φοιβήιον δάπεδον, §757τὰν Κασάνδραν ἵνʼ ἀκούω §758ῥίπτειν ξανθοὺς πλοκάμους §759χλωροκόμῳ στεφάνῳ δάφνας §760κοσμηθεῖσαν, ὅταν θεοῦ §761μαντόσυνοι πνεύσωσʼ ἀνάγκαι.
Nevertheless, together with Calchas the priest, to find out what is pleasing to the goddess—but unlucky for me— I will go to discover, the trouble of Greece.
§762στάσονται δʼ ἐπὶ περγάμων §763Τροίας ἀμφί τε τείχη §764Τρῶες, ὅταν χάλκασπις Ἄρης §765πόντιος εὐπρῴροιο πλάτας §766εἰρεσίᾳ πελάζῃ §767Σιμουντίοις ὀχετοῖς, §768τὰν τῶν ἐν αἰθέρι δισσῶν §769Διοσκούρων Ἑλέναν §770ἐκ Πριάμου κομίσαι θέλων §771ἐς γᾶν Ἑλλάδα δοριπόνοις §772ἀσπίσι καὶ λόγχαις Ἀχαιῶν.
A wise man ought to keep in his house a good and noble wife, or not to keep one at all.
§773Πέργαμον δὲ Φρυγῶν πόλιν §774λαΐνους περὶ πύργους §775κυκλώσας Ἄρει φονίῳ, §776λαιμοτόμου κεφαλᾶς §777σπάσας Πάριν Ἀτρεΐδας, §778πέρσας κατάκρας πόλιν, §779θήσει κόρας πολυκλαύτους §780δάμαρτά τε Πριάμου.
[Chorus] He will come indeed to Simois and to the silver-like eddies, the assembly of the Greek army, both with ships and with arms, to Ilion, to Troy's land of Phoebus, where I hear that Cassandra tosses her golden locks, adorned with a green-leaved crown of laurel, whenever the god's prophetic necessities blow upon her.
And they will stand upon the towers of Troy and around her walls, the Trojans, when bronze-shielded Ares, the sea-faring, with fair-prowed oars by rowing approaches the channels of Simois, wishing to bring back Helen, the sister of the twin Dioscuri, Helen, from Priam, to the land of Greece with spear-toiling shields and lances of the Achaeans.
§784μήτʼ ἐμοὶ §784aμήτʼ ἐμοῖσι τέκνων τέκνοις §785ἐλπὶς ἅδε ποτʼ ἔλθοι, §786οἵαν αἱ πολύχρυσοι §787Λυδαὶ καὶ Φρυγῶν ἄλοχοι §788στήσουσι παρʼ ἱστοῖς §789μυθεῦσαι τάδʼ ἐς ἀλλήλας· §790Τίς ἄρα μʼ εὐπλοκάμου κόμας §791ῥῦμα δακρυόεν τανύσας §792πατρίδος ὀλλυμένας ἀπολωτιεῖ; §793διὰ σέ, τὰν κύκνου δολιχαύχενος γόνον, §794εἰ δὴ φάτις ἔτυμος ὡς §795ἔτυχεν, ὄρνιθι πταμένῳ §797Διὸς ὅτʼ ἠλλάχθη δέμας, εἴτʼ §798ἐν δέλτοις Πιερίσιν §799μῦθοι τάδʼ ἐς ἀνθρώπους §800ἤνεγκαν παρὰ καιρὸν ἄλλως.
And Pergamos, the Phrygian city, around its stone towers, having encircled it with bloody Ares, having cut off from the throat the head of Paris, the Atreidae, having sacked the city utterly, will make the maidens weep much, and the wife of Priam.
§801ποῦ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐνθάδʼ ὁ στρατηλάτης;
And Zeus' daughter Helen will sit weeping much, having abandoned her husband.
May never to me, nor to my children's children, come this expectation, such as the wealthy Lydian and Phrygian wives will stand at their looms, saying these things to one another: "Who then, pulling me by my beautiful-braided hair as a source of tears, from my ruined fatherland, will pluck me as a flower?" "Because of you, offspring of the long-necked swan, if indeed the report is true that Zeus met (your mother) as a flying bird, when his body was changed, or whether in the tablets of the Muses stories brought these things to men out of season, in vain." [Achilles] Where is the general of the Achaeans here?
§804οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου γὰρ μένομεν Εὐρίπου πέλας.
Who of the servants would tell him that the son of Peleus, Achilles, is seeking him at the gates?
§805οἳ μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν, ὄντες ἄζυγες γάμων, §806οἴκους ἐρήμους ἐκλιπόντες ἐνθάδε §807θάσσουσʼ ἐπʼ ἀκταῖς, οἳ δʼ ἔχοντες εὔνιδας §808ἄπαιδες· οὕτω δεινὸς ἐμπέπτωκʼ ἔρως §809τῆσδε στρατείας Ἑλλάδʼ οὐκ ἄνευ θεῶν.
For we do not wait near the Euripus on equal terms.
For some of us, being unmarried, having left empty houses, here sit on the shores, while others, having wives, are childless; so terrible a desire for this campaign has fallen upon Greece, not without the gods.
§812γῆν γὰρ λιπὼν Φάρσαλον ἠδὲ Πηλέα §813μένω ʼπὶ λεπταῖς ταισίδʼ Εὐρίπου πνοαῖς, §814Μυρμιδόνας ἴσχων· οἳ δʼ ἀεὶ προσκείμενοι §815λέγουσʼ·
My own right, therefore, I must speak, and anyone else who wishes will speak for himself.
Ἀχιλλεῦ, τί μένομεν; πόσον χρόνον
For leaving Pharsalus and my father Peleus, I wait here at these gentle breezes of Euripus, holding back my Myrmidons; and they, always pressing me, say: "Achilles, why do we wait?
§816ἔτʼ ἐκμετρῆσαι χρὴ πρὸς Ἰλίου στόλον; §817δρᾶ γʼ, εἴ τι δράσεις, ἢ ἄπαγʼ οἴκαδε στρατόν, §818τὰ τῶν Ἀτρειδῶν μὴ μένων μελλήματα.
How much time must we still measure out for the voyage to Ilion?
§819ὦ παῖ θεᾶς Νηρῇδος, ἔνδοθεν λόγων
Do something, if you are going to do it, or lead the army home, not waiting for the delays of the Atreidae." [Clytemnestra] O child of the goddess, Nereid, hearing words from within...