§1304ἀλλ᾽ εὐκλεῶς τοι κατθανεῖν χάρις βροτῷ.
(Cassandra) Yet to die gloriously is indeed a grace for a mortal.
§1305ἰὼ πάτερ σοῦ τῶν τε γενναίων τέκνων.
Alas, father, for you and for your noble children!
§1306τί δ᾽ ἐστὶ χρῆμα;
(Chorus) What is the matter?
τίς σ᾽ ἀποστρέφει φόβος;
What fear turns you back?
§1307φεῦ φεῦ.
(Cassandra) Alas, alas!
§1308τί τοῦτ᾽ ἔφευξας;
(Chorus) Why did you cry this out?
εἴ τι μὴ φρενῶν στύγος.
Unless there be some loathing in your mind.
§1309φόνον δόμοι πνέουσιν αἱματοσταγῆ.
(Cassandra) The house breathes a blood-dripping slaughter.
§1310καὶ πῶς;
(Chorus) And how so?
τόδ᾽ ὄζει θυμάτων ἐφεστίων.
This is the smell of sacrifices on the hearth.
§1311ὅμοιος ἀτμὸς ὥσπερ ἐκ τάφου πρέπει.
(Cassandra) A vapor like that from a tomb is manifest.
§1312οὐ Σύριον ἀγλάισμα δώμασιν λέγεις.
(Chorus) You are not speaking of Syrian luxury for the house.
(Cassandra) But I will go and wail even within the house for my own and Agamemnon's fate.
ἀρκείτω βίος.
Let my life suffice.
§1315ἰὼ ξένοι.
Alas, strangers!
§1316οὔτοι δυσοίζω θάμνον ὡς ὄρνις φόβῳ §1317ἄλλως: θανούσῃ μαρτυρεῖτέ μοι τόδε, §1318ὅταν γυνὴ γυναικὸς ἀντ᾽ ἐμοῦ θάνῃ, §1319ἀνήρ τε δυσδάμαρτος ἀντ᾽ ἀνδρὸς πέσῃ.
I am not shrinking in fear like a bird from a bush in vain; bear this witness to me when I am dead, when a woman shall die in return for me, a woman, and a man shall fall for a man who had an ill-wedded wife.
§1320ἐπιξενοῦμαι ταῦτα δ᾽ ὡς θανουμένη.
As one about to die, I claim this guest-right from you.
§1321ὦ τλῆμον, οἰκτείρω σε θεσφάτου μόρου.
(Chorus) O wretched one, I pity you for your foretold fate.
(Cassandra) Once more I wish to speak a speech, not a lament of my own.
ἡλίου δ᾽ ἐπεύχομαι §1324πρὸς ὕστατον φῶς †τοῖς ἐμοῖς τιμαόροις §1325ἐχθροῖς φονεῦσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς τίνειν ὁμοῦ,† §1326δούλης θανούσης, εὐμαροῦς χειρώματος.
And I pray to the sun towards its last light, that my avengers may requite my hateful murderers at the same time for the death of a slave, an easy conquest.
§1327ἰὼ βρότεια πράγματ᾽: εὐτυχοῦντα μὲν
Alas for the affairs of mortals!
When they are prosperous, one might liken them to a shadow; but if they fare ill, a wet sponge with its touches wipes out the drawing.
§1330καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐκείνων μᾶλλον οἰκτείρω πολύ.
And this I pity far more than the former.
§1331τὸ μὲν εὖ πράσσειν ἀκόρεστον ἔφυ §1332πᾶσι βροτοῖσιν: δακτυλοδείκτων δ᾽ §1333οὔτις ἀπειπὼν εἴργει μελάθρων, §1334μηκέτ᾽ ἐσέλθῃς, τάδε φωνῶν.
(Chorus) To fare well is indeed something insatiable for all mortals; and from conspicuous palaces no one bars and excludes it, saying, "Enter no more," pronouncing these words.
And to this man the blessed ones granted to take Priam's city; and honored by the gods, he returns home.
§1338νῦν δ᾽ εἰ προτέρων αἷμ᾽ ἀποτίσῃ §1339καὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσι θανὼν ἄλλων §1340ποινὰς θανάτων ἐπικράνῃ, §1341τίς ἂν εὔξαιτο βροτὸς ὢν ἀσινεῖ §1342δαίμονι φῦναι τάδ᾽ ἀκούων;
But now, if he is to pay for the blood of those before, and dying for the dead, he is to bring to pass the penalty of other deaths, who of mortals, hearing these things, could boast that he was born to a harmless destiny?
§1343ὤμοι, πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγὴν ἔσω.
(Agamemnon) Alas! I am struck deep with a mortal blow!
§1344σῖγα: τίς πληγὴν ἀυτεῖ καιρίως οὐτασμένος;
(Chorus) Silence! Who cries out, wounded with a mortal blow?
§1345ὤμοι μάλ᾽ αὖθις, δευτέραν πεπληγμένος.
(Agamemnon) Alas once more! Struck with a second blow!
§13461. τοὔργον εἰργάσθαι δοκεῖ μοι βασιλέως οἰμώγματι.
(Elder 1) The deed seems to have been done, as I judge by the king's groaning.
§1347ἀλλὰ κοινωσώμεθ᾽ ἤν πως ἀσφαλῆ βουλεύματ᾽ <ᾖ>. —
But let us take counsel together, if there may be some safe plans.
(Elder 2) I, indeed, tell you my opinion: to summon the citizens by cry hither to the house.
(Elder 3) But to me it seems best to break in as quickly as possible and test the matter with a newly-dripping sword.
(Elder 4) And I, sharing such an opinion, vote that we do something; and not to delay is the very height of the moment.
(Elder 5) It is clear to see; for they are making a prelude, as though working signs of a tyranny for the city.
(Elder 6) For we delay, while they, trampling to the ground the reputation of delay, do not sleep with their hand.
§13587. οὐκ οἶδα βουλῆς ἧστινος τυχὼν λέγω.
(Elder 7) I do not know what plan I should hit upon to speak.
§1359τοῦ δρῶντός ἐστι καὶ τὸ βουλεῦσαι πέρι. —
It belongs to the doer also to plan about the deed.
(Elder 8) And I am of the same mind, since I am at a loss how to raise the dead up again with words.
(Elder 9) Shall we indeed, to prolong our lives, thus submit to these leaders who shame the house?
(Elder 10) No, it is not to be endured; but to die is better; for death is a milder fate than tyranny.
(Elder 11) Shall we indeed, by indications from groans, prophesy that the man is dead?
(Elder 12) We must rage about these things with clear knowledge; for guessing is far apart from knowing clearly.
(Chorus Leader) I am urged from all sides to approve this view, to know clearly how the son of Atreus fares.
(Clytemnestra) Though many things were spoken before to suit the occasion, I shall not be ashamed to say the contrary now.
§1374πῶς γάρ τις ἐχθροῖς ἐχθρὰ πορσύνων, φίλοις §1375δοκοῦσιν εἶναι, πημονῆς ἀρκύστατ᾽ ἂν §1376φράξειεν, ὕψος κρεῖσσον ἐκπηδήματος;
For how could anyone, preparing hostile things for enemies who seem to be friends, fence a snare of ruin to a height too high to leap over?
§1377ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἀγὼν ὅδ᾽ οὐκ ἀφρόντιστος πάλαι §1378νείκης παλαιᾶς ἦλθε, σὺν χρόνῳ γε μήν: §1379ἕστηκα δ᾽ ἔνθ᾽ ἔπαισ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐξειργασμένοις.
And to me, this contest, born of an old conflict, was not unthought of long ago, though it has come in time; and I stand where I struck, now that the deed is done.
§1380οὕτω δ᾽ ἔπραξα, καὶ τάδ᾽ οὐκ ἀρνήσομαι: §1381ὡς μήτε φεύγειν μήτ᾽ ἀμύνεσθαι μόρον, §1382ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον, ὥσπερ ἰχθύων, §1383περιστιχίζω, πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν.
And I did it thus, and I will not deny it: so that he could neither escape nor ward off his doom, an endless net, as for fish, I cast around him, an evil wealth of raiment.
§1384παίω δέ νιν δίς: κἀν δυοῖν οἰμωγμάτοιν §1385μεθῆκεν αὐτοῦ κῶλα: καὶ πεπτωκότι §1386τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι, τοῦ κατὰ χθονὸς §1387Ἅιδου νεκρῶν σωτῆρος εὐκταίαν χάριν.
And I struck him twice; and with two groans his limbs gave way; and when he had fallen, I added a third blow, as a votive offering to Hades below the earth, the savior of the dead.