§894φιλεῖς τὸν ἄνδρα;
You love the man?
τοιγὰρ ἐν ταὐτῷ τάφῳ §895κείσει.
Therefore in the same tomb you shall lie.
θανόντα δ᾽ οὔτι μὴ προδῷς ποτε.
And you shall never betray him, now that he is dead.
§896ἐπίσχες, ὦ παῖ, τόνδε δ᾽ αἴδεσαι, τέκνον, §897μαστόν, πρὸς ᾧ σὺ πολλὰ δὴ βρίζων ἅμα §898οὔλοισιν ἐξήμελξας εὐτραφὲς γάλα.
Hold, my child, and revere this breast, my son, at which you, often slumbering, sucked the nourishing milk with your soft mouth.
§899Πυλάδη, τί δράσω;
Pylades, what shall I do?
μητέρ᾽ αἰδεσθῶ κτανεῖν;
Shall I shrink from killing my mother out of reverence?
Where then are the remaining prophecies of Loxias, given at Pytho, and our trusted pledges on oath?
§902ἅπαντας ἐχθροὺς τῶν θεῶν ἡγοῦ πλέον.
Hold all men to be your enemies rather than the gods.
§903κρίνω σὲ νικᾶν, καὶ παραινεῖς μοι καλῶς.
I judge that you prevail, and you advise me well.
§904ἕπου, πρὸς αὐτὸν τόνδε σὲ σφάξαι θέλω.
Follow me; I wish to slay you right beside him.
§905καὶ ζῶντα γάρ νιν κρείσσον᾽ ἡγήσω πατρός:
For even when he was alive, you held him better than my father.
Sleep with him in death, since you love this man, but hate him whom you ought to have loved.
§908ἐγώ σ᾽ ἔθρεψα, σὺν δὲ γηράναι θέλω.
I reared you, and with you I wish to grow old.
§909πατροκτονοῦσα γὰρ ξυνοικήσεις ἐμοί;
What, having slain my father, will you dwell with me?
§910ἡ Μοῖρα τούτων, ὦ τέκνον, παραιτία.
Destiny, my child, was partially the cause of these things.
§911καὶ τόνδε τοίνυν Μοῖρ᾽ ἐπόρσυνεν μόρον.
And this death, then, Destiny has provided for you.
§912οὐδὲν σεβίζει γενεθλίους ἀράς, τέκνον;
Have you no respect for a parent's curses, my child?
§913τεκοῦσα γάρ μ᾽ ἔρριψας ἐς τὸ δυστυχές.
For you who gave me birth cast me out into misery.
§914οὔτοι σ᾽ ἀπέρριψ᾽ ἐς δόμους δορυξένους.
I did not indeed cast you out, but sent you to the house of an ally.
§915αἰσχρῶς ἐπράθην ὢν ἐλευθέρου πατρός.
Shamefully was I sold, though born of a free father.
§916ποῦ δῆθ᾽ ὁ τῖμος, ὅντιν᾽ ἀντεδεξάμην;
Where then is the price which I received in return?
§917αἰσχύνομαί σοι τοῦτ᾽ ὀνειδίσαι σαφῶς.
I am ashamed to reproach you openly with that.
§918ἀλλ᾽ εἴφ᾽ ὁμοίως καὶ πατρὸς τοῦ σοῦ μάτας.
But mention equally the follies of your father too.
§919μὴ ᾽λεγχε τὸν πονοῦντ᾽ ἔσω καθημένη.
Do not accuse him who labored, while you sat inside at ease.
§920ἄλγος γυναιξὶν ἀνδρὸς εἴργεσθαι, τέκνον.
It is a pain for women to be kept from a husband, my child.
§921τρέφει δέ γ᾽ ἀνδρὸς μόχθος ἡμένας ἔσω.
Yet it is the husband's toil that supports them as they sit inside.
§922κτενεῖν ἔοικας, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν μητέρα.
You seem, my child, about to kill your mother.
§923σύ τοι σεαυτήν, οὐκ ἐγώ, κατακτενεῖς.
It is you yourself, not I, who will slay yourself.
§924ὅρα, φύλαξαι μητρὸς ἐγκότους κύνας.
Look, beware of a mother's wrathful hounds!
§925τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς δὲ πῶς φύγω, παρεὶς τάδε;
But how shall I escape my father's, if I neglect this duty?
§926ἔοικα θρηνεῖν ζῶσα πρὸς τύμβον μάτην.
I seem, while living, to wail in vain to a tomb.
§927πατρὸς γὰρ αἶσα τόνδε σοὐρίζει μόρον.
Yes, for my father's destiny ordains this death for you.
§928οἲ ᾽γὼ τεκοῦσα τόνδ᾽ ὄφιν ἐθρεψάμην.
Ah me! I gave birth to and reared this serpent!
§929ἦ κάρτα μάντις οὑξ ὀνειράτων φόβος.
Truly, the terror from dreams was an accurate prophet.
§930ἔκανες ὃν οὐ χρῆν, καὶ τὸ μὴ χρεὼν πάθε.
You slew him whom you ought not to have slain; now suffer what you ought not to suffer.
§931στένω μὲν οὖν καὶ τῶνδε συμφορὰν διπλῆν.
I lament indeed even for the double misfortune of these.
§932ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλῶν αἱμάτων ἐπήκρισε §933τλήμων Ὀρέστης, τοῦθ᾽ ὅμως αἱρούμεθα, §934ὀφθαλμὸν οἴκων μὴ πανώλεθρον πεσεῖν.
But since wretched Orestes has reached the summit of many bloodsheds, we nevertheless choose this: that the eye of the house should not fall in utter ruin.
§935ἔμολε μὲν δίκα Πριαμίδαις χρόνῳ, §936βαρύδικος ποινά: §937ἔμολε δ᾽ ἐς δόμον τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος §938διπλοῦς λέων, διπλοῦς Ἄρης.
Justice came at last to the sons of Priam, a heavy-sentenced retribution; and there came into the house of Agamemnon a double lion, a double Ares.
And he has driven through to the very end, the Pythian-oracle exile, well-urged by divine counsels.
§942ἐπολολύξατ᾽ ὦ δεσποσύνων δόμων §943ἀναφυγὰς κακῶν καὶ κτεάνων τριβᾶς §944ὑπαὶ δυοῖν μιαστόροιν, §945δυσοίμου τύχας.
Cry out in triumph, O house of our masters, for the escape from evils and the wasting of possessions under two polluters, a path of ill fortune.
§946ἔμολε δ᾽ ᾧ μέλει κρυπταδίου μάχας §947δολιόφρων ποινά: §948ἔθιγε δ᾽ ἐν μάχᾳ χερὸς ἐτήτυμος §949Διὸς κόρα—Δίκαν δέ νιν §950προσαγορεύομεν βροτοὶ τυχόντες καλῶσ— §951ὀλέθριον πνέουσ᾽ ἐν ἐχθροῖς κότον:
And there came he whose care is secret combat, the guileful-minded Retribution; and in the battle, the true daughter of Zeus touched his hand— and we mortals rightly call her Justice— breathing destructive wrath against her enemies.
§953τάνπερ ὁ Λοξίας ὁ Παρνασίας §954μέγαν ἔχων μυχὸν χθονὸς ἐπορθιά- §955ζων ἀδόλοις δόλοις §956βλαπτομέναν χρονισθεῖσαν ἐποίχεται.
Her whom Loxias, inhabiting the great cleft of the Parnassian land, calling out loud, with guileless guile, she who was harmed and long delayed, has sent.
The divine power is somehow prevented from serving the wicked.
§960ἄξια δ᾽ οὐρανοῦχον ἀρχὰν σέβειν:
It is worthy to revere the heavenly power.
§961πάρα τὸ φῶς ἰδεῖν.
The light is here to see.
§962μέγα τ᾽ ἀφῃρέθη ψάλιον οἰκέων,
And the great curb of the household has been taken away.
§963ἄναγε μὰν δόμοι: πολὺν ἄγαν χρόνον
Rise up, O house!
§964χαμαιπετεῖς ἔκεισθ᾽ ἀεί.
For all too long a time you have lain fallen on the ground.
§965τάχα δὲ παντελὴς χρόνος ἀμείψεται §966πρόθυρα δωμάτων, ὅταν ἀφ᾽ ἑστίας §967μύσος πᾶν κλύσῃ §968καθαρμοῖσιν ἀτᾶν ἐλατηρίοις.
And soon all-completing time will pass the threshold of the house, when it washes away all pollution from the hearth with purifications that drive away ruin.
§969†τύχαι δ᾽ εὐπροσωποκοῖται τὸ πᾶν §970ἰδεῖν [ἀκοῦσαι] πρευμενεῖς §971μετοίκοις δόμων πεσοῦνται πάλιν†.
And fortunes, with fair faces, will fall back again for those who dwell in the house, benign to see and hear in every way.
§972πάρα τὸ φῶς ἰδεῖν.
The light is here to see.
Behold the double tyranny of the land, and the slayers of my father, the plunderers of this house.
§975σεμνοὶ μὲν ἦσαν ἐν θρόνοις τόθ᾽ ἥμενοι, §976φίλοι δὲ καὶ νῦν, ὡς ἐπεικάσαι πάθη §977πάρεστιν, ὅρκος τ᾽ ἐμμένει πιστώμασι.
Majestic indeed they were then, sitting on their thrones, and loving even now, as one may judge from their fate; and their oath remains true to its pledges.
They swore together death for my wretched father and to die together; and these things are kept according to their oath.
§980ἴδεσθε δ᾽ αὖτε, τῶνδ᾽ ἐπήκοοι κακῶν, §981τὸ μηχάνημα, δεσμὸν ἀθλίῳ πατρί, §982πέδας τε χειροῖν καὶ ποδοῖν ξυνωρίδα.
Behold again, you who hear of these evils, the device, the bond for my wretched father, both fetters for his hands and a pair for his feet.
§983τί νιν προσείπω, κἂν τύχω μάλ᾽ εὐστομῶν;
What shall I call it, even if I should find the most fitting words?
A snare for a wild beast, or the shroud of a corpse, wrapping him in the bath?
δίκτυον μὲν οὖν, §986ἄρκυν τ᾽ ἂν εἴποις καὶ ποδιστῆρας πέπλους.
Nay, rather a net, a snare, and robes that shackle the feet.