§1Ἑρμῆ χθόνιε, πατρῷ᾽ ἐποπτεύων κράτη, §2σωτὴρ γενοῦ μοι ξύμμαχός τ᾽ αἰτουμένῳ: §3ἥκω γὰρ ἐς γῆν τήνδε καὶ κατέρχομαι.
Hermes of the underworld, you who watch over my father's power, become my savior and ally as I pray: for I have come to this land, and I return from exile.
And upon this mound of the tomb I cry out to my father to hear, to listen...
. . §6. . . πλόκαμον Ἰνάχῳ θρεπτήριον.
...a lock of hair to Inachus in thanks for my nurturing.
§7τὸν δεύτερον δὲ τόνδε πενθητήριον
And this second lock in mourning (for my father).
For I was not present, father, to bewail your death, nor did I stretch out my hand at the carrying forth of your corpse.
§10<ἔα. > τί χρῆμα λεύσσω;
<Ah!> What is this I see?
τίς ποθ᾽ ἥδ᾽ ὁμήγυρις §11στείχει γυναικῶν φάρεσιν μελαγχίμοις
What is this assembly of women that paces along, in black garments conspicuous?
§12πρέπουσα; ποίᾳ ξυμφορᾷ προσεικάσω;
To what calamity shall I liken it?
§13πότερα δόμοισι πῆμα προσκυρεῖ νέον;
Does some new sorrow happen upon the house?
Or should I be right in guessing that these women are bringing libations to the dead below as propitiations?
§16οὐδέν ποτ᾽ ἄλλο: καὶ γὰρ Ἠλέκτραν δοκῶ
It can be nothing else.
For indeed I think I see my sister Electra advancing, distinguished by her grievous mourning.
ὦ Ζεῦ, δός με τείσασθαι μόρον §19πατρός, γενοῦ δὲ σύμμαχος θέλων ἐμοί.
O Zeus, grant that I may avenge the death of my father, and become my willing ally!
Pylades, let us stand out of the way, so that I may clearly learn what this supplication of women is.
I have come sent forth from the palace, escorting libations with the sharp beating of hands.
§24πρέπει παρηὶς φοινίοις ἀμυγμοῖς §25ὄνυχος ἄλοκι νεοτόμῳ, §26δι᾽ αἰῶνος δ᾽ ἰυγμοῖσι βόσκεται κέαρ.
My cheek is marked with bloody gashes, by the fresh-cut furrow of my nails, and through all my life my heart feeds on laments.
§27λινοφθόροι δ᾽ ὑφασμάτων §28λακίδες ἔφλαδον ὑπ᾽ ἄλγεσιν, §29προστέρνοι στολμοὶ §30πέπλων ἀγελάστοις §31ξυμφοραῖς πεπληγμένων.
The linen-destroying rents of my garments crack under my grief, the robes that cover my breast of my garments, struck by cheerless calamities.
§32τορὸς γὰρ ὀρθόθριξ φόβος, §33δόμων ὀνειρόμαντις, ἐξ ὕπνου κότον §34πνέων, ἀωρόνυκτον ἀμβόαμα §35μυχόθεν ἔλακε περὶ φόβῳ, §36γυναικείοισιν ἐν δώμασιν βαρὺς πίτνων.
For a piercing, hair-raising terror, the dream-prophet of the house, breathing wrath from sleep, uttered a cry in the dead of night, from the depths of the chambers in great fear, falling heavily upon the women's quarters.
§37κριταί <τε> τῶνδ᾽ ὀνειράτων §38θεόθεν ἔλακον ὑπέγγυοι §39μέμφεσθαι τοὺς γᾶς §40νέρθεν περιθύμως §41τοῖς κτανοῦσί τ᾽ ἐγκοτεῖν.
And the interpreters of these dreams, bound by the gods, declared that those beneath the earth complain with great wrath and harbor a grudge against their slayers.
Such a thankless grace, meant to avert evils, O mother earth, she devises and sends me, the godless woman.
φοβοῦ- §47μαι δ᾽ ἔπος τόδ᾽ ἐκβαλεῖν.
But I am afraid to utter this word.
§48τί γὰρ λύτρον πεσόντος αἵματος πέδοι;
For what ransom is there for blood shed upon the ground?
Oh, utterly wretched hearth, oh, ruinous destruction of the house.
Sunless, loathed by men, darkness covers the house because of the deaths of its masters.
§55σέβας δ᾽ ἄμαχον ἀδάματον ἀπόλεμον τὸ πρὶν §56δι᾽ ὤτων φρενός τε §57δαμίας περαῖνον §58νῦν ἀφίσταται.
And the awe that once was unconquerable, unsubdued, and irresistible, passing through the ears and mind of the people, now stands aloof.
φοβεῖ- §59ται δέ τις.
But someone is afraid.
τὸ δ᾽ εὐτυχεῖν, §60τόδ᾽ ἐν βροτοῖς θεός τε καὶ θεοῦ πλέον.
Indeed, prosperity— this among mortals is a god, and more than a god.
§61ῥοπὴ δ᾽ ἐπισκοπεῖ δίκας §62ταχεῖα τοὺς μὲν ἐν φάει, §63τὰ δ᾽ ἐν μεταιχμίῳ σκότου §64μένει χρονίζοντας ἄχη [βρύει], §65τοὺς δ᾽ ἄκραντος ἔχει νύξ.
But the swift scale of Justice watches over, swiftly visiting some in the light, while for others, delays of pain remain in the twilight of darkness, [and they swell with it,] and others are held by ineffective night.
Because of blood drunk by the nurturing earth, the avenging murder-blood has frozen and does not flow away.
Severe ruin keeps the guilty one, so that he teems with an all-consuming sickness.
§71θιγόντι δ᾽ οὔτι νυμφικῶν ἑδωλίων §72ἄκος, πόροι τε πάντες ἐκ μιᾶς ὁδοῦ §73διαίνοντες τὸν χερομυσῆ §74†φόνον καθαίροντες ἴθυσαν ἄταν†.
And for him who touches the bridal bed, there is no cure, and all streams flowing from one path to cleanse the blood-stained murder, trying to purify, wash in vain.
§75ἐμοὶ δ᾽???ἀνάγκαν γὰρ ἀμφίπτολιν §76θεοὶ προσήνεγκαν:???ἐκ γὰρ οἴκων §77πατρῴων δούλιόν <μ᾽> ἐσᾶγον αἶσαν,??? §78δίκαια καὶ μὴ δίκαια §79πρέποντ᾽ <ἀπ᾽> ἀρχᾶς βίου §80βίᾳ φρενῶν αἰνέσαι πικρὸν §81στύγος κρατούσῃ.
But as for me—for the gods brought upon me a constraint that encompasses my city; for from my ancestral home they led me to a slave's fate— both just and unjust deeds, becoming since the beginning of my life, to approve, forcing my mind, and to suppress the bitter hatred within me who am dominated.
And I weep beneath my garments at the futile fortunes of my masters, my heart chilled with secret grief.
§83δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, δωμάτων εὐθήμονες, §85ἐπεὶ πάρεστε τῆσδε προστροπῆς ἐμοὶ §86πομποί, γένεσθε τῶνδε σύμβουλοι πέρι: §87τί φῶ χέουσα τάσδε κηδείους χοάς;
Serving women, you who set the house in order, since you are present here with me as escorts of this supplication, become my advisers on these matters: What shall I say as I pour these funerary libations?
§88πῶς εὔφρον᾽ εἴπω, πῶς κατεύξομαι πατρί;
How can I speak words of good-will, how shall I pray to my father?
Shall I say that I bring them from a loving wife to a loved husband, from my mother?
I have no courage for this, nor do I know what to say, as I pour this offering upon the tomb of my father.
§93ἢ τοῦτο φάσκω τοὔπος, ὡς νόμος βροτοῖς, §94ἔσθλ᾽ ἀντιδοῦναι τοῖσι πέμπουσιν τάδε §95στέφη, δόσιν γε τῶν κακῶν ἐπαξίαν;
Or shall I say this word, as is the custom among mortals, that he should return good to those who send these wreaths, a gift indeed worthy of their evils?
§96ἢ σῖγ᾽ ἀτίμως, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀπώλετο §97πατήρ, τάδ᾽ ἐκχέασα, γάποτον χύσιν, §98στείχω καθάρμαθ᾽ ὥς τις ἐκπέμψας πάλιν §99δικοῦσα τεῦχος ἀστρόφοισιν ὄμμασιν;
Or in silence, without honor, just as my father perished, shall I pour this out, a draught drunk by the earth, and go back, like one who carries out refuse, throwing away the vessel with eyes unturned?
Share with me in this counsel, my friends; for we share a common hatred in the house.
§102μὴ κεύθετ᾽ ἔνδον καρδίας φόβῳ τινός.
Do not hide it within your heart through fear of anyone.
For fate awaits both the free man and him who is mastered by another's hand.
§105λέγοις ἄν, εἴ τι τῶνδ᾽ ἔχοις ὑπέρτερον.
Speak, if you have anything better than this.
§106αἰδουμένη σοι βωμὸν ὡς τύμβον πατρὸς
Out of reverence for your father's tomb as if it were an altar,