Besides three daughters,of one of whom thou art heartlessly depriving me,Iam the mother of this son of thine.If anyone asks thee thy reason for slaying her,tell me,what wilt thou say?or must say it for thee?"It is that Menelaus may recover Helen."An honourable exchange,indeed,to pay a wicked woman's price in children's lives!'Tis buying what we most detest with what we hold most dear.Again,if thou go forth with the host,leaving me in thy halls,and art long absent at Troy,what will my feelings be at home,dost think?when Ibehold each vacant chair and her chamber now deserted,and then sit down alone in tears,making ceaseless lamentation for her,"Ah!my child,he that begat thee hath slain thee himself,he and no one else,nor was it by another's hand.to thy home,after leaving such a price to be paid;for it needs now but a trifling pretext for me and the daughters remaining to give thee the reception it is right thou shouldst receive.Iadjure thee by the gods,compel me not to sin against thee,nor sin thyself.Go to;suppose thou sacrifice the child;what prayer wilt thou utter,when 'tis done?what will the blessing be that thou wilt invoke upon thyself as thou art slaying our daughter?an ill returning maybe,seeing the disgrace that speeds thy going forth.Is it right that Ishould pray for any luck to attend thee?Surely we should deem the gods devoid of sense,if we harboured a kindly feeling towards murderers.Shalt thou embrace thy children on thy coming back to Argos?Nay,thou hast no right.Will any child of thing e'er face thee,if thou have surrendered one of them to death?Has this ever entered into thy calculations,or does thy one duty consist in carrying a sceptre about and marching at the head of an army?when thou mightest have made this fair proposal among the Argives;"Is it your wish,Achaeans,to sail for Phrygia's shores?Why then,cast lots whose daughter has to die."For that would have been a fair course for thee to pursue,instead of picking out thy own child for the victim and presenting her to the Danai;or Menelaus,inasmuch as it was his concern,should have slain Hermione for her mother.As it is,I,who still am true to thee,must lose my child;while she,who went astray,will return with her daughter,and live in happiness at Sparta.If Iam wrong in aught herein,answer me;but if my words have been fairly urged,do not still slay thy child,who is mine too,and thou wilt be wise.
CHORUS
Hearken to her Agamemnon,for to join in saving thy children's lives is surely a noble deed;none would gainsay this.
IPHIGENIA
Had Ithe eloquence of Orpheus,my father,to move the rocks by chanted spells to follow me,or to charm by speaking whom Iwould,Ihad resorted to it.But as it is,I'll bring my tears-the only art Iknow;for that Imight attempt.And about thy knees,in suppliant wise,Itwine my limbs these limbs thy wife here bore.Destroy me not before my time,for sweet is to look upon the light,and force me not to visit scenes below.Iwas the first to call thee father,thou the first to call me child;the first was Ito sit upon thy knee and give and take the fond caress.And this was what thou then wouldst say,"Shall Isee thee,my child,living a happy prosperous life in a husband's home one day,in a manner worthy of myself?"And Iin my turn would ask,as Ihung about thy beard,whereto Inow am clinging,"How shall Isee thee?Shall Ibe giving thee a glad reception in my halls,father,in thy old age,repaying all thy anxious care in rearing me?
Iremember all we said,'tis thou who hast forgotten and now wouldst take my life.By Pelops,Ientreat thee spare me,by thy father Atreus and my mother here,who suffers now a second time the pangs she felt before when bearing me!What have Ito do with the marriage of Paris and Helen?why is his coming to prove my ruin,father?Look upon me;one glance,one kiss bestow,that this at least Imay carry to my death as a memorial of thee,though thou heed not my pleading.
(Holding up the babe to ORESTES)Feeble ally though thou art,brother,to thy loved ones,yet add thy tears to mine and entreat our father for thy sister's life;even in babes there is a natural sense of ill.Ofather,see this speechless supplication made to thee;pity me;have mercy on my tender years!Yea,by thy beard we two fond hearts implore thy pity,the one a babe,a full-grown maid the other.By summing all my pleas in one,Iwill prevail in what Isay.
To gaze upon yon light is man's most cherished gift;that life below is nothingness,and whoso longs for death is mad.Better live a life of woe than die a death of glory!
CHORUS
Ah,wretched Helen!Awful the struggle that has come to the sons of Atreus and their children,thanks to thee and those marriages of thine.
AGAMEMNON
While loving my own children,Iyet understand what should move my pity and what should not;Iwere a madman else.'Tis terrible for me to bring myself to this,nor less terrible is it to refuse,daughter;for Imust fare the same.Ye see the vastness of von naval host,and the numbers of bronze clad warriors from Hellas,who can neither make their way to Ilium's towers nor raze the far-famed citadel of Troy,unless Ioffer thee according to the word of Calchas the seer.Some mad desire possesses the host of Hellas to sail forthwith to the land of the barbarians,and put a stop to the rape of wives from Hellas,and they will slay my daughters in Argos as well as you and me,if Idisregard the goddess's behests.It is not Menelaus who hath enslaved me to him,child,nor have Ifollowed wish of his;nay,'tis Hellas,for whom Imust sacrifice thee whether Iwill or no;to this necessity Ibow my head;for her freedom must be preserved,as far as any help of thine,daughter,or mine can go;nor must they,who are the sons Hellas,be pillaged of their wives by barbarian robbery.
AGAMEMNONrushes from the stage,CLYTAEMNESTRAMy child Ye stranger ladies!
Woe is me for this thy death!Thy father flies,surrendering thee to Hades.
IPHIGENIA
