§504οὕτω γὰρ οὐ τέθνηκας οὐδὲ περ θανών: §505παῖδες γὰρ ἀνδρὶ κληδόνες σωτήριοι §506θανόντι: φελλοὶ δ᾽ ὣς ἄγουσι δίκτυον, §507τὸν ἐκ βυθοῦ κλωστῆρα σῴζοντες λίνου. §508ἄκου᾽, ὑπὲρ σοῦ τοιάδ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ὀδύρματα.
For in this way you are not dead, even though you have died; for children are voices that preserve a man's fame after he is dead; like corks they lead the net, saving the flaxen thread from the deep. Hear!
§509αὐτὸς δὲ σῴζῃ τόνδε τιμήσας λόγον. §510καὶ μὴν ἀμεμφῆ τόνδ᾽ ἐτείνατον λόγον, §511τίμημα τύμβου τῆς ἀνοιμώκτου τύχης. §512τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ᾽, ἐπειδὴ δρᾶν κατώρθωσαι φρενί, §513ἔρδοις ἂν ἤδη δαίμονος πειρώμενος. §514ἔσται: πυθέσθαι δ᾽ οὐδέν ἐστ᾽ ἔξω δρόμου,
Such are the laments on your behalf. And you yourself are saved by honoring this plea. Indeed, you two have extended a blameless plea, a tribute to the tomb for his unlamented fate. But as for the rest, since your mind is set on action, you should act now, putting your fortune to the test. It shall be so.
§515πόθεν χοὰς ἔπεμψεν, ἐκ τίνος λόγου §516μεθύστερον τιμῶσ᾽ ἀνήκεστον πάθος; §517θανόντι δ᾽ οὐ φρονοῦντι δειλαία χάρις
But it is not at all out of course to ask: from what motive did she send libations, for what reason did she too late show honor to a cureless suffering? To one dead and without consciousness, a wretched favor was sent.
§518ἐπέμπετ᾽: οὐκ ἔχοιμ᾽ ἂν εἰκάσαι τόδε: §519τὰ δῶρα μείω δ᾽ ἐστὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. §520τὰ πάντα γάρ τις ἐκχέας ἀνθ᾽ αἵματος §521ἑνός, μάτην ὁ μόχθος: ὧδ᾽ ἔχει λόγος.
I cannot understand this; the gifts are too small for the offense. For though one pour out all he has to replace a single drop of blood, the labor is in vain.
§522θέλοντι δ᾽, εἴπερ οἶσθ᾽, ἐμοὶ φράσον τάδε. §523οἶδ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, παρῆ γάρ: ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνειράτων §524καὶ νυκτιπλάγκτων δειμάτων πεπαλμένη §525χοὰς ἔπεμψε τάσδε δύσθεος γυνή. §526ἦ καὶ πέπυσθε τοὔναρ, ὥστ᾽ ὀρθῶς φράσαι; §527τεκεῖν δράκοντ᾽ ἔδοξεν, ὡς αὐτὴ λέγει. §528καὶ ποῖ τελευτᾷ καὶ καρανοῦται λόγος;
So runs the saying. If indeed you know, tell this to me who wishes to hear. I know, my child, for I was present; shaken by dreams and terrors that wander by night, that godless woman sent these libations. Do you actually know the dream so as to tell it correctly? She dreamt she gave birth to a serpent, as she herself says. And where does the story end?
§529ἐν σπαργάνοισι παιδὸς ὁρμίσαι δίκην. §530τίνος βορᾶς χρῄζοντα, νεογενὲς δάκος; §531αὐτὴ προσέσχε μαζὸν ἐν τὠνείρατι. §532καὶ πῶς ἄτρωτον οὖθαρ ἦν ὑπὸ στύγους; §533ὥστ᾽ ἐν γάλακτι θρόμβον αἵματος σπάσαι. §534οὔτοι μάταιον ἀνδρὸς ὄψανον πέλει. §535ἡ δ᾽ ἐξ ὕπνου κέκλαγγεν ἐπτοημένη. §536πολλοὶ δ᾽ ἀνῇθον, ἐκτυφλωθέντες σκότῳ, §537λαμπτῆρες ἐν δόμοισι δεσποίνης χάριν: §538πέμπει τ᾽ ἔπειτα τάσδε κηδείους χοάς, §539ἄκος τομαῖον ἐλπίσασα πημάτων. §540ἀλλ᾽ εὔχομαι γῇ τῇδε καὶ πατρὸς τάφῳ §541τοὔνειρον εἶναι τοῦτ᾽ ἐμοὶ τελεσφόρον. §542κρίνω δέ τοί νιν ὥστε συγκόλλως ἔχειν. §543εἰ γὰρ τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον ἐκλιπὼν ἐμοὶ §544οὕφις ἐμοῖσι σπαργάνοις ὡπλίζετο, §545καὶ μαστὸν ἀμφέχασκ᾽ ἐμὸν θρεπτήριον, §546θρόμβῳ δ᾽ ἔμειξεν αἵματος φίλον γάλα, §547ἡ δ᾽ ἀμφὶ τάρβει τῷδ᾽ ἐπῴμωξεν πάθει, §548δεῖ τοί νιν, ὡς ἔθρεψεν ἔκπαγλον τέρας, §549θανεῖν βιαίως: ἐκδρακοντωθεὶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ §550κτείνω νιν, ὡς τοὔνειρον ἐννέπει τόδε. §551τερασκόπον δὴ τῶνδέ σ᾽ αἱροῦμαι πέρι. §552γένοιτο δ᾽ οὕτως.
How is it summed up? She laid it to rest in swaddling clothes like a child. Wanting what food, this newborn monster? She herself offered her breast in the dream. And how was her breast left unwounded by the loathsome beast? It drew a clot of blood along with the milk. This vision of a man is surely not in vain. Shaken with terror, she shrieked out of her sleep. And many lamps that had been blinded in the darkness flared up in the house to comfort our mistress. And then she sent these funeral libations, hoping they would be a cutting cure for her troubles. But I pray to this earth and to my father's grave that this dream may bring fulfillment for me. Indeed, I judge that it fits together perfectly. For if the serpent left the same place as I did, and was wrapped in my own swaddling clothes, and gaped around the breast that nourished me, and mixed the sweet milk with a clot of blood, while she in terror shrieked at this event, then surely, as she nourished a monstrous wonder, she must die by violence; and I, turning into a serpent, will kill her, as this dream declares. I choose you as the interpreter of these portents. May it turn out so!
τἄλλα δ᾽ ἐξηγοῦ φίλοις, §553τοὺς μέν τι ποιεῖν, τοὺς δὲ μή τι δρᾶν λέγων. §554ἁπλοῦς ὁ μῦθος: τήνδε μὲν στείχειν ἔσω, §555αἰνῶ δὲ κρύπτειν τάσδε συνθήκας ἐμάς, §556ὡς ἂν δόλῳ κτείναντες ἄνδρα τίμιον §557δόλοισι καὶ ληφθῶσιν ἐν ταὐτῷ βρόχῳ §558θανόντες, ᾗ καὶ Λοξίας ἐφήμισεν, §559ἄναξ Ἀπόλλων, μάντις ἀψευδὴς τὸ πρίν. §560ξένῳ γὰρ εἰκώς, παντελῆ σαγὴν ἔχων, §561ἥξω σὺν ἀνδρὶ τῷδ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑρκείους πύλας §562Πυλάδῃ, ξένος τε καὶ δορύξενος δόμων. §563ἄμφω δὲ φωνὴν ἥσομεν Παρνησσίδα, §564γλώσσης ἀυτὴν Φωκίδος μιμουμένω. §565καὶ δὴ θυρωρῶν οὔτις ἂν φαιδρᾷ φρενὶ §566δέξαιτ᾽, ἐπειδὴ δαιμονᾷ δόμος κακοῖς: §567μενοῦμεν οὕτως ὥστ᾽ ἐπεικάζειν τινὰ §568δόμους παραστείχοντα καὶ τάδ᾽ ἐννέπειν: §569“τί δὴ πύλαισι τὸν ἱκέτην ἀπείργεται §570Αἴγισθος, εἴπερ οἶδεν ἔνδημος παρών; ” §571εἰ δ᾽ οὖν ἀμείψω βαλὸν ἑρκείων πυλῶν §572κἀκεῖνον ἐν θρόνοισιν εὑρήσω πατρός, §573ἢ καὶ μολὼν ἔπειτά μοι κατὰ στόμα §574ἀρεῖ, σάφ᾽ ἴσθι, καὶ κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμοὺς βαλεῖ, §575πρὶν αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν “ποδαπὸς ὁ ξένος; ” νεκρὸν §576θήσω, ποδώκει περιβαλὼν χαλκεύματι. §577φόνου δ᾽ Ἐρινὺς οὐχ ὑπεσπανισμένη §578ἄκρατον αἷμα πίεται τρίτην πόσιν. §579νῦν οὖν σὺ μὲν φύλασσε τἀν οἴκῳ καλῶς, §580ὅπως ἂν ἀρτίκολλα συμβαίνῃ τάδε: §581ὑμῖν δ᾽ ἐπαινῶ γλῶσσαν εὔφημον φέρειν, §582σιγᾶν θ᾽ ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγειν τὰ καίρια. §583τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα τούτῳ δεῦρ᾽ ἐποπτεῦσαι λέγω, §584ξιφηφόρους ἀγῶνας ὀρθώσαντί μοι. §585πολλὰ μὲν γᾶ τρέφει §586δεινὰ [καὶ] δειμάτων ἄχη, §587πόντιαί τ᾽ ἀγκάλαι κνωδάλων §588ἀνταίων βρύουσι:
Direct the rest for your friends, telling some what to do, and others what to avoid. The plan is simple: first, she must go inside; and I advise that these agreements of mine be kept secret, so that, having killed a noble man by guile, they may also be caught by guile in the very same snare, and die, just as Loxias declared, Lord Apollo, a prophet who has never yet proved false. For resembling a stranger, with a traveler's full equipment, I will come with this man to the courtyard gates— Pylades, a guest and a spear-ally of the house. And we both will speak the tongue of Parnassus, imitating the sound of the Phocian speech. And indeed none of the gatekeepers may welcome us with a cheerful mind, since the house is possessed by the demons of evil; we will wait so that someone passing the house will make a guess and say these words: “Why indeed does Aegisthus bar the suppliant at his gates, if indeed he is at home and knows of it?” But if I do pass the threshold of the courtyard gates, and find him seated on my father's throne, or even if he comes later and standing face to face with me lifts his eyes, make no mistake, and casts them upon me, before he can say, “Where is the stranger from?” I will make him a corpse, trapping him with my swift bronze sword. And the Fury, not stinted of slaughter, will drink unmixed blood for her third draught. Now then, you keep good watch over what is within the house, so that these things may fall out in perfect agreement. And to you I recommend to keep a guarded tongue, both to be silent when necessary and to speak what is fitting. As for the rest, I call on him to come here and watch over me, the one who has guided my sword-bearing contests. Many indeed are the terrors and dreadful plagues nurtured by the earth, and the ocean's embrace teems with hostile monsters;