Whatever concern thou hast in oracles that affect thy child,let it be none of mine;into thy hands Iresign my share therein.Asudden change,thou'lt say,from my fell proposals!Anatural 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
Agenerous speech,worthy of Tantalus,the son of Zeus!Thou dost not shame thy ancestry.
AGAMEMNON
Ithank 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;Iloathe 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
Imight do that unnoticed,but there will be another thing Icannot.
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 Iunderstand 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 Iundertook 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 Iescape 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 Ihave 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 AGAMEMNONand 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.Olady Cypris,queen of beauty!far from my bridal bower Iban the last.Be mine delight in moderation and pure desires,and may Ihave 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.Agreat 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,OParis,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 CLYTAEMNESTRAand IPHIGENIA.
CLYTAEMNESTRA
Itake this as a lucky omen,thy kindness and auspicious greeting,and have good hope that it is to a happy marriage Iconduct the bride.
(To Attendants)Take from the chariot the dowry Iam 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 Imay 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.
