by Euripides

AGAMEMNON

I give it; thine is the victory, mine the sorrow.

MENELAUS

By Pelops our reputed grandsire and Atreus our father I swear to tell thee the truth from my heart, without any covert purpose, but only what I think. The sight of thee in tears made me pity thee, and in return I shed a tear for thee myself; I withdraw from my former proposals, ceasing to be a cause of fear to thee; yea, and I will put myself in thy present position; and I counsel thee, slay not thy child nor prefer my interests to thine; for it is not just that thou shouldst grieve, while I am glad, or that thy children should die, while mine still see the light of day. What is it, after all, I seek? If I am set on marriage, could I not find a bride as choice elsewhere? Was I to lose a brother-the last I should have lost-to win a Helen, getting bad for good? I was mad, impetuous as a youth, till I perceived, on closer view, what slaying children really meant. Moreover I am filled with compassion for the hapless maiden, doomed to bleed that I may wed, when I reflect that we are kin. What has thy daughter to do with Helen? Let the army be disbanded and leave Aulis; dry those streaming eyes, brother, and provoke me not to tears. Whatever concern thou hast in oracles that affect thy child, let it be none of mine; into thy hands I resign my share therein. A sudden change, thou'lt say, from my fell proposals! A natural course for me; affection for my brother caused the change. These are the ways of a man not void of virtue, to pursue on each occasion what is best.

CHORUS

A generous speech, worthy of Tantalus, the son of Zeus! Thou dost not shame thy ancestry.

AGAMEMNON

I thank thee, Menelaus, for this unexpected suggestion; 'tis an honourable proposal, worthy of thee.

MENELAUS

Sometimes love, sometimes the selfishness of their families causes a quarrel between brothers; I loathe a relationship of this kind which is bitterness to both.

AGAMEMNON

'Tis useless, for circumstances compel me to carry out the murderous sacrifice of my daughter.

MENELAUS

How so? who will compel thee to slay thine own child?

AGAMEMNON

The whole Achaean army here assembled.

MENELAUS

Not if thou send her back to Argos.

AGAMEMNON

I might do that unnoticed, but there will be another thing I cannot.

MENELAUS

What is that? Thou must not fear the mob too much.

AGAMEMNON

Calchas will tell the Argive host his oracles.

MENELAUS

Not if he be killed ere that-an easy matter.

AGAMEMNON

The whole tribe of seers is a curse with its ambition.

MENELAUS

Yes, and good for nothing and useless, when amongst us.

AGAMEMNON

Has the thought, which is rising in my mind, no terrors for thee?

MENELAUS

How can I understand thy meaning, unless thou declare it?

AGAMEMNON

The son of Sisyphus knows all.

MENELAUS

Odysseus cannot possibly hurt us.

AGAMEMNON

He was ever shifty by nature, siding with the mob.

MENELAUS

True, he is enslaved by the love of popularity, a fearful evil.

AGAMEMNON

Bethink thee then, will he not arise among the Argives and tell them the oracles that Calchas delivered, saying of me that I undertook to offer Artemis a victim, and after all am proving false? Then, when he has carried the army away with him, he will bid the Argives slay us and sacrifice the maiden; and if I escape to Argos, they will come and destroy the place, razing it to the ground, Cyclopean walls and all. That is my trouble. Woe is me! to what straits Heaven has brought me at this pass! Take one precaution for me, Menelaus, as thou goest through the host, that Clytemnestra learn this not, till I have taken my child and devoted her to death, that my affliction may be attended with the fewest tears.

Turning to the CHORUS

And you, ye stranger dames, keep silence.

Exeunt AGAMEMNON and MENELAUS.

CHORUS

Happy they who find the goddess come in moderate might, sharing with self-restraint in Aphrodite's gift of marriage and enjoying calm and rest from frenzied passions, wilerein the Love-god, golden-haired, stretches his charmed bow with arrows twain, and one is aimed at happiness, the other at life's confusion. O lady Cypris, queen of beauty! far from my bridal bower I ban the last. Be mine delight in moderation and pure desires, and may I have a share in love, but shun excess therein

Men's natures vary, and their habits differ, but true virtue is always manifest. Likewise the training that comes of education conduces greatly to virtue; for not only is modesty wisdom, but it has also the rare grace of seeing by its better judgment what is right; whereby glory, ever young, is shed o'er life by reputation. A great thing it is to follow virtue's footsteps-for women in their secret loves; while in men again an inborn sense of order, shown in countless ways, adds to a city's greatness.

Thou camest, O Paris, to the place where thou wert reared to herd the kine amid the white heifers of Ida, piping in foreign strain and breathing on thy reeds an echo of the Phrygian airs Olympus played. Full-uddered cows were browsing at the spot where that verdict 'twixt goddesses was awaiting thee the cause of thy going to Hellas to stand before the ivory palace, kindling love in Helen's tranced eyes and feeling its flutter in thine own breast; whence the fiend of strife brought Hellas with her chivalry and ships to the towers of Troy.

Oh! great is the bliss the great enjoy. Behold Iphigenia, the king's royal child, and Clytaemnestra, the daughter of Tyndareus; how proud their lineage! how high their pinnacle of fortune! These mighty ones, whom wealth attends, are very gods in the eyes of less favoured folk.

Halt we here, maidens of Chalcis, and lift the queen from her chariot to the ground without stumbling, supporting her gently in our arms, with kind intent, that the renowned daughter of Agamemnon but just arrived may feel no fear; strangers ourselves, avoid we aught that may disturb or frighten the strangers from Argos.

Enter CLYTAEMNESTRA and IPHIGENIA.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

I take this as a lucky omen, thy kindness and auspicious greeting, and have good hope that it is to a happy marriage I conduct the bride.

To Attendants

Take from the chariot the dowry I am bringing for my daughter and convey it within with careful heed.

My daughter, leave the horse-drawn car, planting thy faltering footstep delicately.

To the CHORUS

Maidens, take her in your arms and lift her from the chariot, and let one of you give me the support of her hand, that I may quit my seat in the carriage with fitting grace.

Some or you stand at the horses' heads; for the horse has a timid eye, easily frightened; here take this child Orestes, son of Agamemnon, babe as he still is.

What! sleeping, little one, tired out by thy ride in the chariot? Awake to bless thy sister's wedding; for thou, my gallant boy, shalt get by this marriage a kinsman gallant as thyself, the Nereid's godlike offspring. Come hither to thy mother, my daughter, Iphigenia, and seat thyself beside me, and stationed near show my happiness to these strangers; yes, come hither and welcome the sire thou lovest so dearly.

Hail! my honoured lord, king Agamemnon! we have obeyed thy commands and are come.

Enter AGAMEMNON.

IPHIGENIA Throwing herself into AGAMEMNON'S arms

Be not wroth with me, mother, if I run from thy side and throw myself on my father's breast.

O my father! I long to outrun others and embrace thee after this long while; for I yearn to see thy face; be not wroth with me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Thou mayst do so, daughter; for of all the children I have born, thou hast ever loved thy father best.

IPHIGENIA

I see thee, father, joyfully after a long season.

AGAMEMNON

And I thy father thee; thy words do equal duty for both of us.

IPHIGENIA

All hail, father! thou didst well in bringing me hither to thee.

AGAMEMNON

I know not how I am to say yes or no to that, my child.

IPHIGENIA

Ha! how wildly thou art looking, spite of thy joy at seeing me.

AGAMEMNON

A man has many cares when he is king and general too.

IPHIGENIA

Be mine, all mine to-day; turn not unto moody thoughts.

AGAMEMNON

Why so I am, all thine to-day; I have no other thought.

IPHIGENIA

Then smooth thy knitted brow, unbend and smile.

AGAMEMNON

Lo! my child, my joy at seeing thee is even as it is.

IPHIGENIA

And hast thou then the tear-drop streaming from thy eyes?

AGAMEMNON

Ave, for long is the absence from each other, that awalts us.

IPHIGENIA

I know not, dear father mine, I know not of what thou art speaking.

AGAMEMNON

Thou art moving my pity all the more by speaking so sensibly.

IPHIGENIA

My words shall turn to senselessness, if that will cheer thee more.

AGAMEMNON Aside

Ah, woe is me! this silence is too much.

To IPHIGENIA

Thou hast my thanks.

IPHIGENIA

Stay with thy children at home, father.

AGAMEMNON

My own wish! but to my sorrow I may not humour it.

IPHIGENIA

Ruin seize their warring and the woes of Menelaus!

AGAMEMNON

First will that, which has been my life-long ruin, bring ruin unto others.

IPHIGENIA

How long thou wert absent in the bays of Aulis!

AGAMEMNON

Aye, and there is still a hindrance to my sending the army forward.

IPHIGENIA

Where do men say the Phrygians live, father?

AGAMEMNON

In a land where I would Paris, the son of Priam, ne'er had dwelt.

IPHIGENIA

'Tis a long voyage thou art bound on, father, after thou leavest me.

AGAMEMNON

Thou wilt meet thy father again, my daughter.

IPHIGENIA

Ah! would it were seemly that thou shouldst take me as a fellow-voyager!

AGAMEMNON

Thou too hast a voyage to make to a haven where thou wilt remember thy father.

IPHIGENIA

Shall I sail thither with my mother or alone?

AGAMEMNON

All alone, without father or mother.

IPHIGENIA

What! hast thou found me a new home, father!

AGAMEMNON

Enough of this! 'tis not for girls to know such things.

IPHIGENIA

Speed home from Troy, I pray thee, father, as soon as thou hast triumphed there.

AGAMEMNON

There is a sacrifice have first to offer here.

IPHIGENIA

Yea, 'tis thy duty to heed religion with aid of holy rites.

AGAMEMNON

Thou wilt witness it, for thou wilt be standing near the laver.

IPHIGENIA

Am I to lead the dance then round the altar, father?

AGAMEMNON Aside

I count thee happier than myself because thou knowest nothing.

To IPHIGENIA

Go within into the presence of maidens, after thou hast given me thy hand and one sad kiss, on the eve of thy lengthy sojourn far from thy father's side.

Bosom, cheek, and golden hair! ah, how grievous ye have found Helen and the Phrygians' city! I can no more; the tears come welling to my eyes, the moment I touch thee.

Exit IPHIGENIA.

Turning to CLYTAEMNESTRA

Herein I crave thy pardon, daughter of Leda, if I showed excessive grief at the thought of resigning my daughter to Achilles; for though we are sending her to taste of bliss, still it wrings a parent's heart, when he, the father who has toiled so hard for them, commits his children to the homes of strangers.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

I am not so void of sense; bethink thee, I shall go through this as well, when I lead the maiden from the chamber to the sound of the marriage-hymn; wherefore I chide thee not; but custom will combine with time to make the smart grow less.

As touching him, to whom thou hast betrothed our daughter, I know his name, 'tis true, but would fain learn his lineage and the land of his birth.

AGAMEMNON

There was one Aegina, the daughter of Asopus.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Who wedded her? some mortal or a god?

AGAMEMNON

Zeus, and she bare Aeacus, the prince of Cenone.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

What son of Aeacus secured his father's halls?

AGAMEMNON

Peleus, who wedded the daughter of Nereus.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

With the god's consent, or when he had taken her in spite of gods?

AGAMEMNON

Zeus betrothed her, and her guardian gave consent.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Where did he marry her? amid the billows of the sea?

AGAMEMNON

In Chiron's home, at sacred Pelion's foot.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

What! the abode ascribed to the race of Centaurs?

AGAMEMNON

It was there the gods celebrated the marriage feast of Peleus.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Did Thetis or his father train Achilles?

AGAMEMNON

Chiron brought him up, to prevent his learning the ways of the wicked.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Ah wise the teacher, still wiser the father, who intrusted his son to such hands.

AGAMEMNON

Such is the future husband of thy daughter.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

A blameless lord; but what city in Hellas is his?

AGAMEMNON

He dwells on the banks of the river Apidanus, in the borders of Phthia.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Wilt thou convey our daughter thither?

AGAMEMNON

He who takes her to himself will see to that.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Happiness attend the pair! Which day will he marry her?

AGAMEMNON

As soon as the full moon comes to give its blessing.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Hast thou already offered the goddess a sacrifice to usher in the maiden's marriage?

AGAMEMNON

I am about to do so; that is the very thing I was engaged in.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Wilt thou celebrate the marriage-feast thereafter?

AGAMEMNON

Yes, when I have offered a sacrifice required by Heaven of me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

But where am I to make ready the feast for the women?

AGAMEMNON

Here beside our gallant Argive ships.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Finely here! but still I must; good come of it for all that!

AGAMEMNON

I will tell thee, lady, what to do; so obey me now.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Wherein? for I was ever wont to yield thee obedience.

AGAMEMNON

Here, where the bridegroom is, will!

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Which of my duties will ye perform in the mother's absence?

AGAMEMNON

Give thy child away with help of Danai.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

And where am I to be the while?

AGAMEMNON

Get thee to Argos, and take care of thy unwedded daughters.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

And leave my child? Then who will raise her bridal torch?

AGAMEMNON

I will provide the proper wedding torch.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

That is not the custom; but thou thinkest lightly of these things.

AGAMEMNON

It is not good thou shouldst be alone among a soldier-crowd.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

It is good that a mother should give her own child away.

AGAMEMNON

Aye, and that those maidens at home should not be left alone.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

They are in safe keeping, pent in their maiden-bowers.

AGAMEMNON

Obey.

CLYTAEMNESTRA

Nay, by the goddess-queen of Argos! go, manage matters out of doors; but in the house it is my place to decide what is proper for maidens at their wedding. Exit.

AGAMEMNON

Woe is me! my efforts are baffled; I am disappointed in my hope, anxious as I was to get my wife out of sight; foiled at every point, I form my plots and subtle schemes against my best-beloved. But I will go, in spite of all, with Calchas the priest, to inquire the goddess's good pleasure, fraught with ill-luck as it is to me, and with trouble to Hellas. He who is wise should keep in his house a good and useful wife or none at all.

Exit.

CHORUS

They say the Hellenes' gathered host will come in arms aboard their ships to Simois with its silver eddies, even to Ilium, the plain of Troy beloved by Phoebus; where famed Cassandra, I am told, whene'er the god's resistless prophecies inspire her, wildly tosses her golden tresses, wreathed with crown of verdant bay. And on the towers of Troy and round her walls shall Trojans stand, when sea-borne troops with brazen shields row in on shapely ships to the channels of the Simois, eager to take Helen, the sister of that heavenly pair whom Zeus begat, from Priam, and bear her back to Hellas by toil of Achaea's shields and spears; encircling Pergamus, the Phrygians' town, with murderous war around her stone-built towers, dragging men's heads backward to cut their throats, and sacking the citadel of Troy from roof to base, a cause of many tears to maids and Priam's wife; and Helen, the daughter of Zeus, shall weep in bitter grief, because she left her lord.

Oh! ne'er may there appear to me or to my children's children the prospect which the wealthy Lydian dames and Phrygia's brides will have, as at their looms they hold converse: "Say who will pluck this fair blossom from her ruined country, tightening his grasp on lovely tresses till the tears flow? 'Tis all through thee, the offspring of the long-necked swan; if indeed it be a true report that Leda bare thee to a winged bird, when Zeus transformed himself thereto, or whether, in the pages of the poets, fables have carried these tales to men's ears idly, out of season."