By Euripides

Translated by E. P. Coleridge

Revised by Casey Dué and Mary Ebbott

Based on the Greek text as edited by James Diggle (Oxford, 1994)

Dramatis Personae

Agamemnon

Attendant, an old man

Chorus of Women of Chalcis

Menelaus

Clytaemnestra

Iphigeneia

Achilles

Setting: The sea-coast at Aulis. Enter AGAMEMNON and ATTENDANT.

AGAMEMNON Old man, come here and stand before my dwelling.

ATTENDANT I come; what new schemes now,
king Agamemnon?

AGAMEMNON Hurry.

ATTENDANT I am hurrying.
Old age allows me little enough sleep
and keenly it watches over my eyes.

AGAMEMNON What can that star be, steering his course there?
Is it Sirius, on his way near the sevenfold track
of the Pleiades, still shooting over the zenith?
There is no sound from the birds at any rate
nor the sea; hushed are the winds, and silence holds Euripus.

ATTENDANT Then why do you rush outside your tent,
my lord Agamemnon?
All is yet quiet [hêsukhiâ] here in Aulis,
the watch on the walls is not yet astir.
Let us go in. 

AGAMEMNON I envy you, old man,
and I envy every man who leads a life
secure, unknown and unrenowned [without kleos];
but little I envy those in office. 

ATTENDANT And yet it is there we place the be-all and end-all of existence.

AGAMEMNON Yes, but that is where the danger comes;
and ambition,
sweet though it seems, brings sorrow with its near approach.
At one time the unsatisfied claims of Heaven
upset our life, at another
the numerous and implacable opinions of men wear it away.

ATTENDANT I do not like these sentiments in one who is a chief.
It was not to enjoy all blessings [agathos]
that Atreus begot you, O Agamemnon; but you must experience joy
and sorrow alike; for you are mortal.
Even though you do not like it,
this is what the gods decree; but you,
after letting your candle spread its light abroad, write the letter
which is still in your hands
and then you erase the same words again,
sealing and re-opening the scroll,
then flinging the tablet to the ground
with floods of tears and in your aimless behaviour
leaving nothing undone to stamp you mad.
What troubles you? What news is there affecting you, my king?
Come, share with me your story;
you will be telling it to a loyal [agathos] and trusty man;
for Tyndareus sent me that day
to form part of your wife's dowry
and to wait upon the bride with loyalty [dikaios].

AGAMEMNON Leda, the daughter of Thestius, had three maiden daughters,
Phoebe and Clytemnestra, my wife,
and Helen; this last it was who had
the foremost of the favoured sons of Hellas for suitors;
but terrible threats of spilling his rival's blood were uttered by each of them,
if he should fail to win the girl.
Now the matter filled Tyndareus, her father, with perplexity,
whether to give her in marriage or not,
how he might best succeed. This thought occurred to him:
the suitors should swear to each other and join right hands
and pour libations with burnt-sacrifice, binding themselves by this curse:
whoever wins the child of Tyndareus for wife,
they will assist that man, in case a rival takes her from his house
and goes his way, robbing her husband of his marriage bed;
and march against that man in armed array and raze his city to the ground,
Hellene no less than barbarian.
Now when they had once pledged their word (and old Tyndareus
with no small cleverness had beguiled them by his shrewd device),
he allowed his daughter to choose from among her suitors
the one towards whom the sweet breezes of Aphrodite might carry her.
Her choice fell on the one whom she ought never to have chosen,
Menelaus. Then there came to Lacedaemon from the Phrygians
the man who, Argive legend says, judged the goddesses' dispute;
blooming in robes of gorgeous hue, ablaze with gold, in barbarian luxury;
he carried Helen off in mutual desire
to his steading on Ida, finding Menelaus gone from home.
Goaded to frenzy, Menelaus flew through Hellas,
invoking the ancient oath exacted by Tyndareus
and declaring the duty of helping the injured husband.
And so the Hellenes, brandishing their spears
and putting on their arms, came here to the narrow straits of Aulis
equipped with armaments of ships and shields,
with many horses and chariots,
and they chose me to captain them all for the sake [kharis] of Menelaus,
since I was his brother.
Would that some other had gained that distinction instead of me!
But after the army was gathered and come together,
we still remained at Aulis weatherbound.
In our perplexity, we consulted Calchas, the seer [mantis],
and he answered that my own child Iphigeneia
we should sacrifice to Artemis, whose home is in this land,
and we would sail and sack the Phrygians' capital
if we sacrificed her, but if we did not, these things would not happen.
When I heard this, I commanded Talthybius
with loud proclamation to disband the whole army,
as I could never bear to slay my daughter.
Whereupon my brother, bringing every argument to bear,
persuaded me at last to face the crime; so in a folded scroll
I wrote a letter and sent it to my wife,
bidding her to despatch our daughter to me on the pretence of marrying Achilles,
at the same time magnifying his exalted rank
and saying that he refused to sail with the Achaeans,
unless a bride of our lineage should go to Phthia.
Yes, this was the inducement I offered my wife,
inventing, as I did, a sham marriage for the maiden.
Of all the Achaeans we alone know the real truth,
Calchas, Odysseus, Menelaus and myself; but that which I
then decided wrongly, I now rightly countermand again
in this scroll, which you, old man, have found me
opening and resealing beneath the shade of night.
But go now and take this missive
to Argos, and the contents of the folded scroll,
all that is written here, I will tell you by word of mouth,
for you are loyal to my wife and house.

ATTENDANT Speak and reveal it [sêmainô], so that what my tongue
utters may accord with what you have written.

AGAMEMNON "In addition to my first letter,
I am sending you word, offshoot of Leda,
not to despatch your daughter to the wing of Euboea with its many bays,
to the waveless Aulis;
for after all at another time [hôra]
we will celebrate our child's wedding." 

ATTENDANT And how will Achilles, cheated of his marriage,
curb the fury of his indignation
against you and your wife? This also is a danger.
Indicate [sêmainô] what you mean. 

AGAMEMNON It is but his name, not his efforts, that Achilles is lending,
knowing nothing of the marriage or of my plans
or my professed readiness
to betroth my daughter to him
for a husband's embrace. 

ATTENDANT A dreadful venture is yours, king Agamemnon!
You, by promise of your daughter's hand to the son of the goddess,
wanted to bring her here to be sacrificed for the Danaans. 

AGAMEMNON Woe is me! ah woe! I am utterly distraught;
I am falling into utter confusion [atê].
Away! Hurry your steps,
yielding nothing to old age.

ATTENDANT In haste I go, my king.

AGAMEMNON Don't sit down by woodland springs
nor become enchanted by sleep.

ATTENDANT Don't say such a thing!

AGAMEMNON And when you pass any place where roads diverge, cast
your eyes all round, taking heed that no mule-wagon
pass by on rolling wheels,
bearing my daughter here
to the ships of the Danaans, and you see it not.

ATTENDANT It shall be so.

AGAMEMNON Start then from the bolted gates,
and if you meet the escort,
start them back again,
and drive at full speed to the abodes of the Cyclopes.

ATTENDANT But tell me, how shall my message find credit
with your wife or child?

AGAMEMNON Preserve the seal which you bearest on this scroll.
Away! already the dawn is growing grey,
lighting the lamp of day yonder
and the fire of the sun's four steeds.
Help me in my trouble. None of mortals
is prosperous [olbios] or happy [with good daimôn] to the last,
for none was ever born to a painless life.

(Exit ATTENDANT and AGAMEMNON., Enter CHORUS OF WOMEN OF CHALCIS.)

CHORUS I came to the sandy beach
of sea-coast Aulis
after a voyage
through the tides of Euripus,
leaving my city of Chalcis,
which feeds the waters
of far-famed Arethusa near the sea,
in order that I might behold the army of the Achaeans
and the ships rowed by those
half-divine men, whom to Troy
on a thousand ships
fair-haired Menelaus
(our husbands tell us)
and high-born Agamemnon are leading on an expedition
in quest of the lady Helen,
whom herdsman Paris carried off
from the banks of reedy Eurotas
as a gift from Aphrodite,
when at the dewy fountains
that queen of Cyprus
entered into a beauty contest with Hera and Pallas. 

Through the grove of-Artemis, rich with sacrifice,
I sped my course,
the my cheeks blushing red
from modesty possessed in the bloom of youth,
in my eagerness to see the soldiers' camp,
the tents of the mail-clad Danaans,
and their gathered steeds.
Two chieftains there I saw met together in council;
one was Aias, son of Oileus; the other Aias, son of Telamon,
crown of glory to the men of Salamis;
and I saw Protesilaus and
Palamedes, sprung from the son of Poseidon,
sitting there amusing themselves
with intricate figures at draughts;
Diomedes too at his favorite
sport of hurling quoits;
and there stood at his side Meriones, the off-shoot of Ares,
a marvel to mankind;
likewise I beheld the offspring of
Laertes, who came from his island hills,
and with him Nireus, the most handsome of all Achaeans;

Next the one who is as swift on his feet as the wind,
swft-running Achilles,
whom Thetis bore and
Chiron trained;
him I saw upon the pebbles of the sea-shore,
racing in full armour
and straining in contest of the feet
to beat a team of four horses,
as he sped round the track;
and Eumelus, the grandson of Pheres,
their driver, was shouting
when I saw him goading on
his goodly steeds,
with their bits of chased goldwork;
the center pair of them, which bore the yoke,
had dappled coats picked out with white,
while the trace-horses, on the outside,
facing the turning-post in the course, were bays
with spotted ankles. Close beside them Peleus' son
leapt on his way, in all his harness,
keeping abreast the rail by the axle-box.

Next I sought the countless fleet,
a wonder to behold,
that I might fill my girlish eyes
with gazing, a sweet delight.
The warlike Myrmidons from Phthia
held the wing
that was on the right
with fifty swift cruisers,
upon whose sterns, right at the ends,
stood Nereid goddesses in golden-effigy,
the ensign [sêma] of Achilles' armament.
Near these were moored
the Argive ships in equal numbers,
over which Mecisteus' son,
whom Talaus his grandsire reared,
and Sthenelus, son of Capaneus,
were in command; next in order, from Attica
Theseus' son was stationed
at the head of sixty ships,
having the goddess Pallas set in a winged car
drawn by steeds with solid hoof,
a lucky sight [sêma] for mariners.
Then I saw Boeotia's fleet
of fifty sails
decked with ensigns [sêma];
these had Cadmus at the stern
holding a golden dragon
at the beaks of the vessels,
and earth-born Leitus
was their admiral.
Likewise there were ships from Phocis;
and from Locris came the son of Oileus
with an equal contingent,
leaving famed Thronium's citadel.

And from Mycenae, the Cyclopes' town,
Atreus' son sent
a hundred well-manned galleys,
his brother being with him
in command, as friend [philos] with friend [philos],
that Hellas might take action on her,
who had fled her home
for the sake [kharis] of wedding a foreigner.
Also I saw upon Gerenian
Nestor's prows from Pylos
the sign [sêma] of his neighbor Alpheus,
four-footed like a bull.

Moreover there was a squadron of twelve Aenianian
ships under King Gouneus;
and near to these
the lords of Elis,
whom all the people named Epeians;
and Eurytus was lord of these;
likewise he led the Taphian warriors
with the white oar-blades, the subjects of Meges,
son of Phyleus,
who had left the isles of Echina,
where sailors cannot land.

Lastly, Ajax, reared in Salamis,
was joining his right wing
to the left
of those near whom he was posted,
closing the line with his outermost ships -
twelve ships obedient to the helm -
as I heard and then
saw the crews;
no safe return shall he obtain,
who brings his barbaric boats
to grapple Ajax.
There I saw
the naval armament,
but some things I heard at home about the gathered host,
of which I still have a recollection [mnêmê].

(Enter MENELAUS and ATTENDANT.)

ATTENDANT (As MENELAUS wrests a letter from him)
You dare terrible things, Menelaus, where you have no right.

MENELAUS Stand back! You carry loyalty to your master too far.

ATTENDANT The very reproach you have for me is to my credit.

MENELAUS You shall rue it, if you meddle in matters that do not concern you.

ATTENDANT You had no right to open a letter that I was carrying.

MENELAUS No, nor did you have the right to bring sorrow to all Hellas.

ATTENDANT Argue that point with others, but surrender that letter to me.

MENELAUS I shall not let go.

ATTENDANT Nor yet will I let loose my hold.

MENELAUS Why then, this staff of mine will make your head bloody before long.

ATTENDANT To die in my master's cause is a noble [with kleos] death.

MENELAUS Let go! you are too wordy for a slave.

ATTENDANT (Seeing AGAMEMNON approaching)
Master, he is wronging me;
he snatched your letter violently [with biâ] from my grasp,
Agamemnon, and will not heed the claims of right [dikê]. (Enter AGAMEMNON.)

AGAMEMNON What is this uproar at the gates, this indecent brawling?

MENELAUS My tale [mûthos], not his, has the better right to be spoken.

AGAMEMNON You, Menelaus! What quarrel do you have with this man, why
are you bringing him here forcefully [with biâ]? (Exit ATTENDANT.) 

MENELAUS Look me in the face! Let that be the prelude to my story.

AGAMEMNON Shall I, the son of Atreus, close my eyes from fear?

MENELAUS Do you see this scroll, the bearer of a shameful [most kakos] message?

AGAMEMNON I see it, yes; and first of all surrender it.

MENELAUS No, not till I have shown its contents to all the Danaans.

AGAMEMNON What! have you broken the seal [from sêma] and do you know already what you should never have known?

MENELAUS Yes, I opened it and know to your sorrow the secret machinations of your heart.

AGAMEMNON Where did you catch my servant? By the gods what a shameless heart [phrên] you have!

MENELAUS I was awaiting your daughter's arrival at the camp from Argos.

AGAMEMNON What right do you have to watch my doings? Is not this an act of shamelessness?

MENELAUS My wish to do it provided the incentive, for I am no slave to you.

AGAMEMNON Infamous! Am I not to be allowed the management of my own house [oikos]?

MENELAUS No, for you think crooked thoughts, one thing now, another formerly, and something different presently. 

AGAMEMNON Most exquisite refining on evil themes! A hateful thing the tongue of cleverness [sophos]!

MENELAUS Perhaps, but an unstable mind is an unjust [not dikaios] possession, not true to friends [philos].
Now I am anxious to test you, and you seek not from rage
to turn aside from the truth [alêthês], nor will I on my part overstrain the case.
You remember when you were all eagerness to captain the Danaans against Troy,
making a pretence of declining, though eager for it in your heart;
how humble you were then, taking each man by the hand
and keeping open doors for every fellow townsman who cared to enter,
affording each in turn a chance to speak with you, even though some desired it not,
seeking by these methods to purchase popularity from all bidders;
then when you had secured the command, there came a change over your manners;
you were no longer so cordial before to former friends [philos],
but hard to reach, seldom to be found at home. But the man of real worth ought not
to change his manners in the hour of prosperity,
but should then show himself most staunch to friends [philos],
when his own good fortune can help them most effectually.
This was the first cause I had to reproach you, for it was here I first discovered your villainy [kakos];
but afterwards, when you came to Aulis with all the gathered hosts of Hellas,
you were of no account - no! the want of a favorable breeze filled you with consternation
at the chance dealt out by the gods. Soon the Danaans began demanding
that you should send the fleet away instead of vainly toiling [ponos] on at Aulis;
what dismay and confusion was then depicted in your looks, to think that you,
with a thousand ships at your command, had not occupied the plains of Priam with your armies!
And you would ask my counsel, "What am I to do? What scheme can I devise?"
Where find a way to save yourself from being stripped of your command and losing your fair fame [kleos]?
Next when Calchas bade you offer your daughter in sacrifice
to Artemis, declaring that the Danaans should then sail, you were overjoyed,
and gladly undertook to offer the girl, and of your own accord - never allege
compulsion [biâ]! - you are sending word to your wife
to despatch your daughter here, on the pretense of wedding Achilles.
And after all you turn around and have been caught recasting your letter to this effect,
"I will no longer be my daughter's murderer." Exactly so!
This is the same air that heard you say it;
countless others have gone through the same thing; in public affairs
they make an effort [ponos] while in power, and then retire dishonourably [kakos],
sometimes owing to the senselessness of the citizens, sometimes deservedly [with dikê],
because they are too feeble of themselves to maintain their watch upon the state [polis].
For my part, I am more sorry for our unhappy Hellas,
whose purpose was to teach these worthless foreigners a lesson,
while now she will let them escape and mock her, thanks to you and your daughter.
May I never then appoint a man to rule my country or lead its warriors
because of his kinship! Ability [noos] is what the general must have;
since any man, with ordinary intelligence, can govern a state.

CHORUS For brothers to come to words and blows,
whenever they disagree, is terrible. 

AGAMEMNON I wish to rebuke you in turn, briefly, not lifting my
eyes too high in shameless way, but in more sober [sôphrôn] fashion,
as a brother; for it is a good man's way to be considerate.
Tell me, why this burst of fury, these bloodshot eyes? Who wrongs you? What is it you want?
You desire to win a virtuous bride.
Well, I cannot supply you; for she, whom you once had, was ill [kakos] controlled by you.
Am I, a man who never went astray, to pay the penlaty [dikê] for your troubles [kakos]?
Or is it my popularity that galls you? No!
It is the longing you have to keep a good looking wife in your embrace, casting reason
and honor to the winds. A bad man's pleasures are bad [kakos] like himself.
Am I mad, if I change to wiser counsels, after previously deciding amiss?
Yours is the madness rather in wishing to recover a wicked wife,
once you had lost her - a stroke of god-sent luck.
Those foolish suitors swore that oath to Tyndareus
in their longing to wed; but Hope was the goddess that led them on, I think,
and she it was that brought it about rather then you and your mightiness.
So take the field with them; they are ready for it in the folly of their hearts [phrên];
for the deity is not without insight, but is able to discern
where oaths have been wrongly [kakos] pledged or forcibly extorted.
I will not slay my children, nor shall your interests
be prospered by justice [dikê] in your vengeance for a worthless wife,
while I am left wasting, night and day, in sorrow
for what I did to one of my own flesh and blood, contrary to what is lawful [nomos] and just [dikaios].
There is your answer shortly given, clear and easy to understand;
and if you will not come to your senses, I shall do the best for myself.

CHORUS This differs from your previous
declaration, but there is good in it - your child's reprieve. 

MENELAUS Ah me, how sad my lot! I have no friends [philos] then after all.

AGAMEMNON Friends [philos] you have, if you seek not their destruction.

MENELAUS Where will you find any proof that you are sprung from the same father as I?

AGAMEMNON Your moderation [sôphrôn], not your madness do I share by nature.

MENELAUS Friends [philos] should sympathize with friends [philos] in sorrow.

AGAMEMNON Claim my help by kindly service, not by paining me.

MENELAUS So you have no mind to share this trouble [ponos] with Hellas?

AGAMEMNON No, Hellas is diseased like you according to some god's design.

MENELAUS Go vaunt you then on your sceptre, after betraying your own brother!
I will go and seek some different means and other friends [philos].

(Enter MESSENGER.)

MESSENGER Agamemnon, lord of all Hellenes!
I am come and bring you your daughter,
whom you called Iphigeneia in your home;
and her mother, your wife Clytemnestra, is with her,
and the child Orestes, a sight to gladden you
after your long absence from your palace;
but, as they had been travelling long and far,
they are now refreshing their tender feet at the waters of a fair spring,
they and their horses, for in the grassy meadow
we turned these loose to browse their fill;
but I am come as their forerunner to prepare you for their reception.
For the army knows already - so quickly did
the rumor spread - of your daughter's arrival.
And all the folk are running together to the sight,
that they may see your child; for fortune's favourites [eudaimoniâ]
enjoy a worldwide fame and have all eyes fixed on them.
"Is it a wedding?" some ask, "or what is happening?
Or has king Agamemnon from fond yearning
summoned his daughter here?" From others you would have heard:
"They are presenting the maiden to Artemis,
queen of Aulis. Who can the bridegroom be, that is to lead her home?"
Come, then, begin the rites - that is the next step -
crown your heads; and you, lord Menelaus,
prepare the wedding-hymn; and throughout the tents
let flutes resound and let there be the noise of dancer's feet;
for this is a happy day that is come for the maiden.

AGAMEMNON You have my thanks; now go within;
for the rest it will be well, as fate proceeds.

(Exit MESSENGER.)

Ah, woe is me! unhappy wretch, what can I say? where shall I begin?
Into what cruel straits have I been plunged!
A daimôn has outwitted me, proving far cleverer [more sophos]
than any cunning of mine.
What an advantage humble birth possesses!
For it is easy for those humbly born to weep
and tell out all their sorrows; while to the high-born man
come these same sorrows, but we have dignity
throned over our life and are the people's slaves.
I, for instance, am ashamed to weep,
and I am ashamed not less, poor wretch, to check my tears
at the awful pass to which I am brought.
Oh! What am I to tell my wife?
How shall I welcome her? With what face meet her?
For she too has undone me in this my hour of sorrow [kakos]
by coming uninvited; yet it was but natural she should come
with her daughter to prepare the bride and perform the fondest duties,
where she will discover my villainy [kakos].
And for this poor maiden - why maiden?
Hades, I think , will soon make her his bride -
how I pity her! Thus I suppose will she plead to me:
"My father will you slay me? Be such the wedding
you yourself may find, and whosoever is dear [philos] to you!"
While Orestes, from his station near us, will cry
with words that are inarticulate, yet fraught with meaning. For he is still nêpios.
Alas! to what utter ruin Paris, the son of Priam, the cause of these troubles,
has brought me by his union with Helen! 

CHORUS I pity her myself, to the extent that a woman who is a stranger [xenos]
may lament the misfortunes of royalty [turannos].

MENELAUS (Offering his hand) Brother, allow me to grasp your hand.

AGAMEMNON I give it; yours is the victory, mine is the sorrow.

MENELAUS I swear by Pelops our reputed grandfather
and by Atreus our father
to tell you the truth from my heart,
without any hidden purpose, but only what I think.
The sight of you in tears
made me pity you, and in return I shed a tear for you myself.
I withdraw from my former proposals,
ceasing to be a cause of fear to you; and I will even put myself in your present position.
I counsel you not to slay your child
nor prefer my interests to yours; for it is not just [dikê]
that you should lament, while I am glad,
or that your 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?
Were I to lose a brother - the last I should have lost -
to win a Helen, getting bad [kakos] for good [agathos]?
I was mad, impetuous as a youth, till I perceived,
on closer view, what slaying children really meant.
Moreover pity has come over me for the hapless maiden,
when I reflect that we are kin,
she who is doomed to bleed that I may wed.
What has your 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 you have in oracles that affect your child,
let it be none of mine; into your hands I resign my share.
A sudden change, you will say, from my terrible 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!
You do not shame your ancestry. 

AGAMEMNON I thank you, Menelaus, for this unexpected suggestion;
it is an honorable proposal, worthy of you.
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.
But it is useless, for circumstances compel me to carry out
the murderous sacrifice of my daughter.

MENELAUS How so? Who will compel you to slay your own child?

AGAMEMNON The whole Achaean army here assembled.

MENELAUS Not if you send her back to Argos.

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

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

AGAMEMNON Calchas will tell the Argive host his oracles.

MENELAUS Not if he gets killed before that - an easy matter.

AGAMEMNON The whole tribe of seers [mantis] is a curse with its ambition.

MENELAUS Yes, and good for nothing and useless, when among us.

AGAMEMNON Do you not fear the thought, which is rising in my mind?

MENELAUS How can I understand your meaning, unless you declare it?

AGAMEMNON The offspring 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 [kakos].

AGAMEMNON Then do you not think that will he rise 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,
will he not 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 the gods have brought me at this pass!
Take one precaution for me, Menelaus, as you go through the army,
that Clytemnestra not learn this,
till I have taken my child and devoted her to death,
in order that my affliction [kakos] may be attended with the fewest tears.

(Turning to the CHORUS)

And you, strangers [xenos], keep silence.

(Exit AGAMEMNON and MENELAUS.)

CHORUS Happy are 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, where
the Love-god, golden-haired, stretches
his charmed bow with twin arrows,
and one is aimed at happiness,
the other at life's confusion.
O most beautiful lady Cypris, far from my bridal chamber
I ban the last kind.
Let mine be
delight [kharis] 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 [esthlos] is always manifest.
Likewise the training that comes of education
leads greatly to virtue [aretê];
for not only is modesty wisdom [sophos],
but it has also the rare grace [kharis] of seeing
by its better judgment what is right;
whereby glory [kleos], ever young,
is shed over 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 [polis] greatness.

You came, O Paris, to the place where
you were reared to herd the cattle
amid the white heifers of Ida,
piping in foreign strain and
breathing on your reeds an echo
of the Phrygian airs Olympus played.
Full-uddered cows were browsing at the spot
where that verdict among goddesses was awaiting you,
the cause of your going to Hellas.
Standing before the ivory palace,
you kindled love in Helen's tranced eyes and
felt its flutter in your own breast;
whence the fiend of strife
brought Hellas with her spear and ships
to the towers of Troy. 

Oh! great is the bliss [eudaimoniâ]
the great enjoy. Behold Iphigeneia,
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 [eudaimoniâ] folk. 

Halt 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 [xenos] ourselves,
avoid we anything that may disturb or frighten
the strangers [xenos] from Argos.

(Enter CLYTAEMNESTRA and IPHIGENEIA.) 

CLYTAEMNESTRA I take this as a lucky omen,
your 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 attention.
My daughter, leave the horse-drawn car,
planting your 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 leave 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,
nêpios as he still is. 
What! sleeping, little one, tired out by your ride in the chariot?
Awake to bless your sister's wedding;
for you, my gallant [esthlos] boy, shall get by this marriage a kinsman just as gallant [agathos],
the Nereid's godlike offspring.
Come here to your mother, my daughter, Iphigeneia,
and seat yourself beside me,
and stationed near show my happiness to these strangers [xenos];
yes, come here and welcome the father you love [philos] so dearly.
Hail! my honored lord, king Agamemnon!
We have obeyed your commandsand are come. (Enter AGAMEMNON.)

IPHIGENEIA (Throwing herself into AGAMEMNON'S arms)
Don't be angry with me, mother, if I run from your side
and throw myself on my father's breast.
O my father! I long to outrun others
and embrace you after this long while;
for I yearn to see your face; don't be angry with me. 

CLYTAEMNESTRA You may do so, daughter; for of all the children
I have born, you have always loved [philos] your father best.

IPHIGENEIA I see you, father, joyfully after a long time.

AGAMEMNON And I your father see you; your words do equal duty for both of us.

IPHIGENEIA All hail, father! you did well in bringing me here to you.

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

IPHIGENEIA Ha! how wildly you are looking, in spite of your joy at seeing me.

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

IPHIGENEIA Be mine, all mine today; turn not unto moody thoughts.

AGAMEMNON Why so I am, all yours today, and turn nowhere else.

IPHIGENEIA Then smooth your knitted brow, unbend and smile.

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

IPHIGENEIA And have you then the tear-drop streaming from your eyes?

AGAMEMNON Yes, for long is the absence from each other that awaits us.

IPHIGENEIA [I know not, dear [philos] father mine, I know not of what you are speaking.]
Where do men say the Phrygians live, father? 

AGAMEMNON In a land where I wish Paris, the son of Priam, had never dwelt.

IPHIGENEIA It is a long voyage you are bound on, father, after you leave me.

AGAMEMNON [You will meet your father again, my daughter.]
You are moving my pity all the more by speaking so sensibly. 

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

AGAMEMNON (Aside) Ah, woe is me! this silence is too much. (To IPHIGENEIA) You have my thanks.

IPHIGENEIA Stay with your children at home, father.

AGAMEMNON My own wish! But to my sorrow I may not humor it.

IPHIGENEIA Ruin seize the warring and the woes [kakos] of Menelaus!

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

IPHIGENEIA How long you were absent in the bays of Aulis!

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

IPHIGENEIA Ah! would that it were seemly that you should take me as a fellow-voyager!

AGAMEMNON You too have a voyage to make, to a haven where you will remember your father.

IPHIGENEIA Shall I sail there with my mother or alone?

AGAMEMNON All alone, without father or mother.

IPHIGENEIA What! have you found me a new home, father!

AGAMEMNON Enough of this! It is not for girls to know such things.

IPHIGENEIA Speed home from Troy, I beg you, father, as soon as you have triumphed there.

AGAMEMNON First there is a sacrifice I have to offer here.

IPHIGENEIA Yes, it is your duty to heed religion with the aid of holy rites.

AGAMEMNON You will witness it, for you will be standing near the lustral basin.

IPHIGENEIA Am I to lead the dance [khoros] then round the altar, father?

AGAMEMNON (Aside) I count you happier than myself because you know nothing.

(To IPHIGENEIA) Go inside - it is not a good thing
for maidens to be seen - after you have given me your hand and a kiss,
on the eve of your lengthy journey far from your father's side.
Bosom, cheek, and golden hair!
Ah, how grievous you have found the Phrygians' city
and Helen! I can say no more; for swiftly
the tears come welling to my eyes, the moment I touch you.
Go inside.

(Exit IPHIGENEIA., Turning to CLYTAEMNESTRA)

Herein I crave your pardon,
daughter of Leda, if I showed excessive grief
at the thought of giving my daughter to Achilles;
for though we are sending her to taste of bliss, still it
a sorrow to parents, whenever a father who has toiled so hard
hands over his children to the homes of others.

CLYTAEMNESTRA I am not so void of sense; keep in mind, I shall go
through this as well - and so I do not blame you -
when I lead the maiden from the chamber to the sound of the marriage-hymn;
but custom [nomos] will combine with time to make the pain grow less.
As for him, to whom you have betrothed our daughter, I know his name,
but I would like 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 bore 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 as her guardian gave consent.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Where did he marry her? Amid the billows of the sea [pontos]?

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

CLYTAEMNESTRA What! The abode ascribed to the race [genos] of Centaurs?

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

CLYTAEMNESTRA Did Thetis or his father raise Achilles?

AGAMEMNON Chiron brought him up, to prevent his learning the ways of the wicked [kakos].

CLYTAEMNESTRA Ah, wise [sophos] the teacher, still wiser [more sophos] the father, who entrusted his son to such hands.

AGAMEMNON Such is the future husband of your daughter.

CLYTAEMNESTRA A blameless man; but what city in Hellas is his?

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

CLYTAEMNESTRA Will you convey our daughter there?

AGAMEMNON He who takes her to himself will see to that.

CLYTAEMNESTRA May happiness attend the pair! Which day will he marry her?

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

CLYTAEMNESTRA Have you 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 Will you celebrate the marriage-feast thereafter?

AGAMEMNON Yes, when I have offered a sacrifice required of me by the gods.

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 you, lady, what to do; so obey me now.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What is the matter? For I was ever accustomed to obey you.

AGAMEMNON Here, where the bridegroom is...

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

AGAMEMNON I will give your child away with help of Danaans.

CLYTAEMNESTRA And where am I to be the while?

AGAMEMNON Get you to Argos, and take care of your 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 [nomos]; but you think lightly of these things.

AGAMEMNON It is not good that you should be alone among a soldier-crowd.

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

AGAMEMNON Yes, and that those maidens at home [oikos] should not be left alone.

CLYTAEMNESTRA They are in safe keeping, enclosed in their maiden's chambers.

AGAMEMNON Obey.

CLYTAEMNESTRA No, by the goddess-queen of Argos!
Go, manage matters out of doors; but inside the house
it is my place to decide what is proper for maidens at their wedding. (Exit.)

AGAMEMNON Woe is me! My efforts are in vain; I am disappointed in my hope,
anxious as I was to get my wife out of sight.
I form my plots and subtle schemes
against my best-beloved [philos], but I am foiled at every point.
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 [agathos] and useful wife or none at all. (Exit.)

CHORUS They say the Hellenes' gathered host
will come to Simois
with its silver eddies,
in arms aboard their ships
to Ilium, the plain
of Troy beloved by Phoebus;
where famed Cassandra, I am told,
wildly tosses her golden tresses,
wreathed with crown of verdant bay,
whenever the god's
resistless prophecies compel her.  

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 from Priam Helen,
the sister of that heavenly
pair whom Zeus begat,
and bear her back to Hellas
by toil [ponos] of Achaea's shields and spears.  

Encircling Pergamum, 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 husband.
Never may there appear to me or to my children's children
the prospect
which the wealthy
Lydian women and wives of Phrygia
will have, as at their looms
they converse with one another:
"Who will pluck this
fair blossom from her ruined country,
tightening his grasp on lovely
tresses till the tears flow?
It is is all through you, the offspring of the long-necked swan,
if indeed it be a true report that
Leda bore you to a winged bird,
when Zeus transformed himself into that, or whether,
in the pages of the Muse-inspired poets,
fables [mûthos] have carried these tales to men's ears
idly, out of season."

(Enter ACHILLES.)

ACHILLES Where in these tents is general of the Achaeans?
Which of his servants will announce to him that Achilles,
the son of Peleus, is at his gates seeking him?
For this delay at the Euripus is not the same for all of us;
there are some, for instance, who, though still unwed,
have left their houses desolate
and are idling here upon the beach, while others are married
and have children; so strange the desire for this expedition that has fallen
on the Greek army by will of the gods.
My own just [dikaios] plea must I declare,
and whoever else has any wish will speak for himself.
Though I have left Pharsalia and Peleus,
still I linger here by reason of these light breezes at the Euripus,
restraining my Myrmidons, while they are ever prssuring me,
saying, "Why do we linger, Achilles? How much longer
must we count the days to the start for Ilium?
Do something, if you are so minded; or else lead home [oikos] your men,
and wait not for the tardy action of these sons of Atreus."

(Enter CLYTAEMNESTRA.) 

CLYTAEMNESTRA Son of the Nereid goddess, I heard your voice from within
the tent and therefore came forth. 

ACHILLES O modesty [aidôs] revered! Who can this lady be whom I behold,
so richly dowered with beauty's gifts?

CLYTAEMNESTRA No wonder you do not know me, seeing I am one you
have never before set eyes on; I praise your reverent address to modesty [sôphrôn].

ACHILLES Who are you, and why have you come to the mustering of the Danaans -
you, a woman, to a fenced camp of men?

CLYTAEMNESTRA I am the daughter of Leda, my name is Clytaemnestra,
and my husband is king Agamemnon.

ACHILLES Well and shortly answered on all important points!
But it is shameful that I should stand talking to women.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Stay; why seek to fly? Give me your hand,
a prelude to a happy marriage. 

ACHILLES What is it you are saying? I give you my hand? I would be ashamed
before Agamemnon, were I to lay a finger where I have no right.

CLYTAEMNESTRA The best of rights have you, seeing it is my child
you will wed, O son of the sea-goddess, whom Nereus begat.

ACHILLES What wedding do you speak of? Words fail me, lady,
unless your wits have gone astray and are you inventing this.

CLYTAEMNESTRA All men are naturally shy
in the presence of new relations [philos], when these remind them of their wedding.

ACHILLES Lady, I have never wooed your daughter,
nor have the sons of Atreus ever mentioned marriage to me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What can it mean? Your turn now to marvel at my words,
for your words are extremely strange to me.

ACHILLES Hazard a guess; that we can both do in this matter;
for it may be we are both incorrect in our statements.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What! Have I suffered such indignity? The marriage
I am courting has no reality, it seems; I am ashamed of this.

ACHILLES Some one perhaps has played a joke on you and me;
pay no heed; make light of it.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Farewell; I can no longer face you with unfaltering eyes,
after being made a liar and suffering [pathos] this indignity.

ACHILLES Farewell I bid to you, too, lady; and now I go
within the tent to seek your husband.

ATTENDANT (Calling through the tent-door)
Guest [xenos] of the race of Aeacus, stay awhile! I mean you,
O goddess-born, and you, too, daughter of Leda.

ACHILLES Who is it calling through the half-opened door? What fear his voice betrays!

ATTENDANT I am a slave; of that I am not proud, for fortune does not permit it.

ACHILLES Whose slave are you? Not mine; for mine and Agamemnon's goods are separate.

ATTENDANT I belong to this lady who stands before the tent, a gift to her from Tyndareus her father.

ACHILLES I am waiting; tell me, if you are desirous, why you have asked me to stay.

ATTENDANT Are you really all alone here at the door?

CLYTAEMNESTRA To us alone will you address yourself; come forth from the king's tent.

ATTENDANT (Coming out) O Fortune and my own foresight, preserve [sôzô] those whom I desire!

ACHILLES That speech will save them - in the future. It has a certain pompous air.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Do not delay not the sake of touching my right hand, if there is anything that you want to say to me.

ATTENDANT Well, you know my character and my devotion to you and your children.

CLYTAEMNESTRA I know you have grown old in the service of my house.

ATTENDANT Likewise you know it was in your dowry that king Agamemnon received me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Yes, you came to Argos with me, and have been mine this long time past.

ATTENDANT True; and though I bear you all goodwill, I do not like your husband so well.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Come, come, unfold whatever you have to say.

ATTENDANT Her father, he that begat her, is on the point of slaying your daughter with his own hand.

CLYTAEMNESTRA How? Out with your story, old man! You are not thinking straight.

ATTENDANT Severing with a sword the hapless maiden's white throat.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Ah, woe is me! Is my husband mad?

ATTENDANT No, sane - except where you and your daughter are concerned. There he is mad.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What is his reason? What vengeful fiend impels him?

ATTENDANT Oracles - at least so Calchas says, in order that the host may start

CLYTAEMNESTRA Where? Woe is me, and woe is you, your father's destined victim!

ATTENDANT to the halls of Dardanus, that Menelaus may recover Helen.

CLYTAEMNESTRA So Helen's return [nostos] then was fated to affect Iphigeneia?

ATTENDANT You know all; her father is about to offer your child to Artemis.

CLYTAEMNESTRA But that marriage - what pretext had it for bringing me from home?

ATTENDANT An inducement to you to bring your daughter cheerfully, to wed her to Achilles.

CLYTAEMNESTRA On a deadly errand are you come, my daughter, both you, and I, your mother.

ATTENDANT Piteous the lot of both of you - and fearful Agamemnon's venture.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Alas! I am undone; my eyes can no longer stem their tears.

ATTENDANT What more natural than to weep the loss of your children?

CLYTAEMNESTRA Whence, old man, do you say you had this news?

ATTENDANT I had started to carry you a letter referring to the former writing.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Forbidding or combining to urge my bringing the child to her death?

ATTENDANT No, forbidding it, for your lord was then in his sober senses.

CLYTAEMNESTRA How comes it then, if you were really bringing me a letter, that you do not now deliver into my hands?

ATTENDANT Menelaus snatched it from me - he who caused [aitios] this trouble.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Do you hear that, son of Peleus, the Nereid's child?

ACHILLES I have been listening to the tale of your sufferings [athlos], and I do not suffer it lightly.

CLYTAEMNESTRA They will slay my child; they have tricked her with your marriage.

ACHILLES Like you I blame your husband, nor do I view it with mere indifference.

CLYTAEMNESTRA No longer will I let shame prevent my kneeling to you,
a mortal to one goddess-born; why do I affect reserve?
Whose interests should I consult before my child's?

(Throwing herself before ACHILLES)

Oh! help me, goddess-born, in my sore distress,
and her that was called your bride - in vain, it is true, yet called she was.
For you it was that I wreathed her head and led her forth as if to marriage,
but now it is to slaughter I am bringing her. On you will come reproach
because you did not help her; for though not wedded to her,
yet you were the loving [philos] husband of my hapless maid in name at any rate.
By your beard, right hand, and mother too I do implore you;
for your name it was that worked my ruin, and you are bound to stand by that.
Except your knees I have no altar whereunto to fly;
and not a friend [philos] stands at my side. The cruel abandoned scheme of Agamemnon
you have heard; and I, a woman, have come, as you see,
to a camp of lawless sailors, bold in evil's [kakos] cause,
though useful when they wish; therefore if you boldly
stretch forth your arm in my behalf, our safety [sôzô] is assured; but if you withhold it, we are lost. 

CHORUS A wondrous thing is motherhood, carrying with it a potent spell,
common to all that for their children's sake they will endure affliction.

ACHILLES My proud spirit [thûmos] is stirred to range aloft,
but I have learned to grieve in misfortune [kakos]
and rejoice in high prosperity with equal moderation.
For these are the men who can count on
ordering all their life aright by wisdom's rules.
True, there are cases where it is pleasant not to be too wise,
but there are others, where some store of wisdom helps.
But I, brought up in the house of the most reverent man,
Chiron, I learned to keep my habits simple.
And provided the sons of Atreus lead aright,
I will obey them, but when they cease doing so, no more will I obey.
No, here and in Troy I will show the freedom of my nature,
and, as far as in me lies, do honor to Ares with my spear.
You, lady, who have suffered so cruelly from your nearest and dearest [philos],
will I, by every effort in a young man's power,
set right, investing you with that amount of pity,
and never shall your daughter die by her father's hand,
after being once called my bride; for I will not lend myself
to your husband's subtle tricks.
No! for it will be my name, even though it does not wield the steel,
that kills your child. The actual cause [aitios]
is your own husband. But I shall no longer be guiltless,
if, because of me and my marriage, this maiden perishes,
she that has suffered past endurance
and been the victim of dishonor [from timê] most strangely undeserved.
So am I made the poorest [most kakos] wretch in Argos,
a nothing, and Menelaus counting for a man!
No son of Peleus I, but the offspring of a vengeful fiend,
if my name shall serve your husband for the murder.
No, by Nereus, who begat my mother Thetis, in his home amid the flowing waves,
never shall king Agamemnon touch your daughter,
not even to the lay ing of a finger-tip upon her robe;
Sooner will Sipylus, that frontier town of barbarism,
the cradle of those chieftains' line, be henceforth a city indeed,
while Phthia's name will nowhere find mention.
Calchas, the seer [mantis], shall rue beginning the sacrifice with
his barley-meal and lustral water. Why, what is a seer [mantis] but a man,
who with luck tells the truth [alêthês] sometimes, but more often tells lies
when he has perished not being lucky?
It is not to secure a bride that I have spoken thus - there are myriad girls
eager to have my love - so it is said!
But king Agamemnon has put an insult [hubris] on me;
he should have asked my leave to use my name
as a means to catch the child, for it was I chiefly
who induced Clytaemnestra to betroth her daughter to me.
I would have given this to Hellas, if that was where
our going [nostos] to Ilium broke down; I would never have refused
to further my fellow soldiers' common interest.
But, as it is, I am worth nothing in the eyes of those generals,
and little they think of treating me well or ill [kakos].
My sword shall soon know - for before it reaches Phrygia
I will make it reek with the bloody stains of slaughter
if any one is to snatch your daughter from me.
Calm [hêsukhos] yourself then; as a god in his might I appeared to you,
without being so, but such will I show myself nevertheless.

CHORUS Son of Peleus, your words are alike worthy of you
and that sea-born deity [daimôn], the holy goddess.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Ah! would I could find words to utter your praise without excess,
and yet not lose graciousness by withholding it;
for when the good [agathos] are praised [ainos], they have a feeling, as it were,
of hatred for those who praise [ainos] too much.
But I am ashamed of intruding a tale of woe,
since my affliction touches myself alone and you are not affected by troubles [kakos] of mine.
But still it looks well for the man of worth to assist the unfortunate,
even when he is not connected with them.
Pity us, for we have suffered [paskhô] piteous things.
In the first place, in thinking to have you wed my daughter,
I have harbored an empty hope; and next, perhaps,
the slaying of my child will be to you an evil omen
in your marriage to come, against which you must guard yourself.
Your words were good, both first and last;
for if you will it so, my daughter will be saved [sôzô].
Do you want her to clasp your knees as a suppliant?
It is no maiden's part; yet if it seem good to you,
she will come with the modest [aidôs] look of a free-born girl;
but if I shall obtain the same end from you without her coming,
then let her stay within the house [oikos], for there is dignity in her reserve.
Still reserve must only go as far as the case allows.

ACHILLES Bring not you your daughter out for me to see, lady,
nor let us incur the reproach of the ignorant;
for an army, when gathered together without domestic duties to employ it,
loves the evil gossip of malicious tongues.
After all, should you supplicate me, you will attain a like result
as if I had never been supplicated; for I am myself engaged in a mighty struggle [agôn]
to rid you of your troubles [kakos].
Be sure you have heard this one thing: I will not tell a lie;
if I do that or idly mock you,
may I die, but may I live if I save [sôzô] the girl.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Bless you for ever helping the distressed!

ACHILLES Listen to me then, that the matter may succeed.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What is your proposal? For I must hear you.

ACHILLES Let us once more urge her father to a better frame of mind.

CLYTAEMNESTRA He is something of a coward [kakos], and fears the army too much.

ACHILLES Still argument overthrows argument. 

CLYTAEMNESTRA Cold hope indeed; but tell me what I must do.

ACHILLES Entreat him first not to slay his children,
and if he is stubborn, come to me.
For if he consents to your request, my intervention
need go no further, since this consent insures your safety [sôteriâ].
I too shall show myself in a better light to my friend [philos],
and the army will not blame me,
if I arrange the matter by reason rather than force;
while, should things turn out well, the result will prove satisfactory
both to you and your friends [philos], even without my interference.

CLYTAEMNESTRA How sensibly [sôphrôn] you speak! I must act as seems best to you;
but should I fail of my object,
where am I to see you again? Where must I turn
my wretched [athlos] steps and find you ready to champion my distress [kakos]?

ACHILLES I am keeping watch to guard you, where occasion calls,
that none see you passing with that scared look
through the host of Danaans. Shame not your father's house;
for Tyndareus does not deserve to
be ill [kakos] spoken of, being a mighty man in Hellas.

CLYTAEMNESTRA It is even so. Command me; I must play the slave to you.
If there are gods, you being a just [dikaios] man
will find them favourable; if there are none, what need to toil [ponos]?

(Exit ACHILLES and CLYTAEMNESTRA.)

CHORUS What wedding-hymn was that which raised its strains
to the sound of Libyan flutes,
to the music of the dancer's lyre,
and the note of the pipe of reeds?
It was on the day Pieria's fair-tressed choir
came over the slopes of Pelion
to the marriage-feast of Peleus,
beating the ground
with print of golden sandals at the banquet of the gods,
and hymning in dulcet strains the praise of Thetis and the son of Aeacus,
over the Centaurs' hill,
down through the woods of Pelion.

There was the Dardanian boy,
Phrygian Ganymede,
beloved pleasure of Zeus' bed,
drawing off the wine
he mixed in the depths of golden bowls;
while, along the gleaming sand,
the fifty daughters of Nereus
graced the marriage with their dancing [khoros],
circling in a whirling ring.

There came too the revel-rout of Centaurs, mounted on horses,
to the feast of the gods
and the mixing-bowl of Bacchus, leaning on fir-trees,
with wreaths of green foliage round their heads;
and loudly they shouted out. "Daughter of Nereus,
that you shall bear a son, a dazzling light to Thessaly,
Cheiron the prophet,
skilled in arts inspired by Phoebus,
foretold,
a son who shall come with an army of spearmen
to the far-famed land of Priam,
to set it in a blaze,
his body cased
in a suit of golden
armor forged by Hephaestus,
a gift from his goddess-mother,
Thetis, who bore him."
Then the gods shed a blessing
on the marriage of the high-born bride,
who was first of Nereus' daughters,
and on the wedding of Peleus.

But you [Iphigeneia], will the Argives crown,
wreathing the lovely tresses of your hair,
like a dappled mountain hind
brought from some rocky cave
or a heifer undefiled,
and staining with blood your human throat;
though you were never reared like these
amid the piping and whistling of herdsmen,
but at your mother's side,
to be decked one day by her as the bride of a son of Inachus.
Where now does the face of modesty [aidôs] or virtue [aretê]
have any power?
Seeing that unholiness holds sway,
and virtue [aretê] is neglected
by men and thrust behind them,
lawlessness [lack of nomos] over law [nomos] prevailing,
and mortals no longer making common cause [agôn]
to keep the jealousy of gods from reaching them.

CLYTAEMNESTRA (Reappearing from the tent)
I have come from the tent [oikos] to look out for my husband,
who went away and left its shelter long ago;
while that poor child, my daughter, is in tears
hearing of the death her father designs for her,
uttering in many keys her piteous lamentation.
(Catching sight of AGAMEMNON)
It seems I was speaking of one not far away;
for there is Agamemnon, who will soon be detected
in the commission of a crime against his own child.

(Enter AGAMEMNON.)

AGAMEMNON Daughter of Leda, it is lucky I have found you outside the tent,
to discuss with you in our daughter's absence
subjects not suited for the ears of maidens on the eve of marriage.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What is that hangs on the present crisis?

AGAMEMNON Send the child out to join her father,
for the lustral water stands there ready,
and barley-meal to scatter with the hand on the cleansing flame,
and heifers to be slain in honour of the goddess
Artemis, to usher in the marriage, their black blood spouting from them.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Alhough the words you use are fair, I do not know
how I am to name your deeds in terms of praise.

Come forth, my daughter; full well you know
everything your father intends to do; take the child Orestes, your brother,
and bring him with you in the folds of your robe.
(Enter IPHIGENEIA.)
Behold she comes, in obedience to your summons. I myself will speak the rest alike for her and me.

AGAMEMNON My child, why do you weep and no longer look sweetly upon me?
Why are you fixing your eyes upon the ground and holding your robe before them?

CLYTAEMNESTRA Alas! With which of my woes shall I begin?
For I may treat them all as first,
or put them last or midway anywhere.

AGAMEMNON What is it? I find you all alike, confusion and alarm in every eye.

CLYTAEMNESTRA My husband, answer frankly the questions I ask you.

AGAMEMNON There is no necessity to order me; I am willing to be questioned.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Do you mean to slay your child and mine?

AGAMEMNON (Starting) Ha! these are heartless words, unwarranted suspicions!

CLYTAEMNESTRA Be quiet [hêsukhos]! Answer me that question first.

AGAMEMNON Put a fair question and you shall have a fair answer.

CLYTAEMNESTRA I have no other questions to put; give me no other answers.

AGAMEMNON O fate revered, O destiny, and fortune [daimôn] mine!

CLYTAEMNESTRA Yes, and mine and this maiden's too; the three share one bad fortune [daimôn].

AGAMEMNON Whom have I injured?

CLYTAEMNESTRA Do you ask me this question?
A thought [noos] like that itself amounts to thoughtlessness [no noos].

AGAMEMNON Ruined! my secret out!

CLYTAEMNESTRA I know all; I have heard what you are bent on doing to me.
Your very silence and those frequent groans
are a confession; do not tire yourself out by telling it.

AGAMEMNON Look! I am silent; for, if I tell you a falsehood,
I necessarily add effrontery to misfortune.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Well, listen; for I will now unfold my meaning
and no longer employ dark riddles [ainigma].
In the first place - to reproach you first with this -
it was not of my own free will but by force that you did take and wed me,
after slaying Tantalus, my former husband,
and dashing my babe on the ground alive,
when you had torn him from my breast with brutal violence [biâ].
Then, when those two sons of Zeus, who were likewise my brothers,
came flashing on horseback to war with you,
Tyndareus, my aged sire, rescued you
because of your suppliant prayers, and you in turn had me to wife.
Once reconciled to you upon this footing,
you will bear me witness I have been a blameless wife to you and your family,
chaste [sôphrôn] in love, and increasing
your household, that so your coming in
might be with joy and your going out with gladness [eudaimoniâ].
And it is seldom a man secures a wife like this,
though the getting of a worthless woman is no rarity.

Besides three daughters, I am the mother of this son of yours.
Of one of these you are heartlessly depriving me.
If anyone asks you your reason for slaying her,
tell me, what will you say? Or must I say it for you?
"It is so that Menelaus may recover Helen." An honourable exchange,
indeed, to pay a wicked [kakos] woman's price in children's lives!
It is buying what we most detest [ekhthros] with what we hold most dear [philos].
Again, if you go forth with the host, leaving me in your halls,
and are long absent at Troy,
what will my feelings be at home, do you think?
When I behold each vacant chair
and her chamber now deserted, and then in tears
I sit down alone, making ceaseless lamentation for her,
"Ah! my child, he that begat you hath slain you himself,
he and no one else, nor was it by another's hand…
to your 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 you the reception it is right you should receive.
I adjure you by the gods,
do not compel me not become kakos against you, nor become kakos yourself.
Well then, suppose you sacrifice the child; what prayer will you utter?
What will the blessing [agathos] be that you will invoke upon yourself as you are slaying our daughter?
An ill returning [nostos] maybe, seeing the disgrace that speeds your going forth.
Is it right [dikaios] that I should pray for any luck [agathos] to attend you?
Surely we should deem the gods devoid of sense,
if we harboured a kindly feeling towards murderers.
Shall you embrace your children on your coming back to Argos?
No, you have no right [themis]. Will any child of yours even look upon
you, if you have surrendered one of them to death?
Has this ever entered into your calculations, or does your one duty
consist in carrying a sceptre about and marching at the head of an army?
You ought to have made this fair [dikaios] 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 an equitable course for you to pursue,
instead of picking out your own child for the victim and presenting her to the Danaans,
rather than killing Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus, for her mother
inasmuch as it was his concern. As it is, I, who
still am true to you, must lose my child;
while she, who went astray, will return with her daughter,
and live in happiness at Sparta.
If I am wrong about anything I have said, answer me;
but if my words have been fairly urged, do not persist in slaying
your child, who is mine too, and you will be wise [sôphrôn].

CHORUS Obey her. For to join in saving [sôzô] your children's lives is surely a noble deed,
Agamemnon. No one of mortals would deny that.

IPHIGENEIA Had I the eloquence of Orpheus, my father,
to move the rocks by chanted spells to follow me,
or to charm by speaking whomever I wanted,
I would have resorted to it. But as it is,
I'll bring my tears - the only art I know; for that I might attempt.
And about your knees, in a suppliant's pose, I twine
my body [sôma], which this woman here bore to you.
Do not destroy me before my time [without hôra]; for sweet is to look upon the light;
don't force me to visit scenes below.
I was the first to call you father, you the first to call me child;
the first was I to place my body [sôma] on your knee
and give and take the fond [philos] caress.
And this was what you then would say, "Shall I see you,
my child, living a happy [eudaimoniâ] prosperous life in a husband's home one day,
flourishing in a manner worthy of myself?"
And I in my turn would ask, as I hung about
your beard, whereto I now am clinging,
"How shall I see you? Shall I be giving you a glad reception
in my halls, father, in your old age,
repaying all your anxious care [ponos] in rearing me?

I remember [mnêmê] all we said,
it is you who have forgotten and now would take my life.
By Pelops, I entreat you spare me, by your father Atreus
and my mother here, who suffers now a second time
the pangs she felt before when giving birth to me!
What have I to 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 I may carry to my death
as a memorial of you, though you do not heed my pleading.

(Holding up the baby ORESTES)

Feeble ally though you are, brother, to your loved ones [philos],
yet add your tears to mine and entreat our father for
your sister's life; even in babes there is a natural sense of evil [kakos].
O father, see this speechless [nêpios] supplication made to you;
pity me; have mercy on my tender years!
Yes, by your beard we two fond [philos] hearts implore your pity,
the one a babe, a full-grown maiden the other.
By summing all my pleas in one, I will prevail in what I say.
To gaze upon yon light is sweetest to humans;
that life below is nothingness, and whoever longs for death
is mad. Better live a life of woe [kakos] than die a death of glory!

CHORUS Ah, wretched Helen! Thanks to you and those marriages of yours
an awful struggle [agôn] has come to the sons of Atreus and their children,.

AGAMEMNON I understand what should move my pity and what should not,
although I love [philos] my own children; I would be a madman otherwise.
It is terrible for me to bring myself to this, woman,
nor less terrible is it to refuse; for I must fare the same.
You see the vastness of the naval host,
and the numbers of bronze clad warriors from Hellas,
who can neither make their voyage [nostos] to Ilium's towers,
nor raze the far-famed citadel of Troy,
unless I sacrifice you according to the word of Calchas the seer [mantis].
Some mad Aphrodite possesses the host of Hellas
to sail forthwith to the land of the barbarians,
and put a stop to the seizing of wives from Hellas,
and they will slay my daughters in Argos
as well as you and me, if I disregard the goddess's behests.
It is not Menelaus who has enslaved me to him, child,
nor have I followed any wish of his.
No, it is Hellas, for whom I must sacrifice you whether I wish to or not;
to this necessity I bow my head;
for her freedom must be preserved, as far as any help of yours, daughter, or mine can go;
nor must they, who are the sons of Hellas,
be stripped of their wives by barbarian robbery [biâ].

(AGAMEMNON rushes from the stage)

CLYTAEMNESTRA My child! You, stranger [xenos] ladies!
Woe is me for this your death!
Your father flies, surrendering you to Hades.

IPHIGENEIA Woe is me, O mother! For the same song
has fallen to both of us in our fortune.
No more for me the light of day!
No more the beams of yonder sun!

Oh! Oh!

Woe for that snow-beat glen in Phrygia
and the hills of Ida,
where Priam once exposed a tender babe,
torn from his mother's arms
to meet a deadly doom,
I mean Paris, called the child of Ida
in the Phrygians' town [polis].
Would that Priam had never
settled him,
the herdsman reared amid the herds,
beside that water crystal-clear, where are
fountains of the Nymphs
and their meadow rich with blooming flowers,
where hyacinths and rose-buds
blow for goddesses to gather! There one day
came Pallas and Cypris of the subtle heart,
Hera too, and Hermes messenger of Zeus - Cypris,
proud of the longing she causes;
Pallas of her prowess;
and Hera of her royal marriage
with king Zeus -
to decide a hateful strife
about their beauty; but it is my death,
bringing glory
to Danaan maidens, that Artemis has received
as an offering, before they begin the voyage to Ilium.

O mother, mother!
He that begat me to this life of sorrow
has gone and left me all alone.
Ah! woe is me! A bitter,
bitter sight for me was Helen, evil Helen!
I am now doomed to bleed and die,
slaughtered by an impious sire.

Would that Aulis had never received
in its havens here the sterns
of their bronze-beaked ships,
the fleet that was speeding them to Troy;
and would that Zeus had never breathed
on the Euripus a wind to stop the expedition,
tempering, as he does,
a different breeze to different men,
so that some have joy in setting sail,
and sorrow some, and others hard constraint,
to make some start and others stay
and others furl their sails!
Full of trouble then, it seems, is the race of mortals, truly full of trouble;
and it is ever Fate's decree
that man should find distress.
Woe! great is the suffering [pathos], great is the anguish [akhos],
which you are causing the Danaans, daughter of Tyndareus!

CHORUS I pity you for your cruel [kakos] fate -
a fate I wish you had never met!

IPHIGENEIA O mother that bore me! I see a throng of men approaching.

CLYTAEMNESTRA It is the goddess-born you see, child, Achilles, for whom you came here.

IPHIGENEIA (Calling into the tent) Open the tent-door to me, servants, that I may hide myself.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Why do you seek to flee, my child?

IPHIGENEIA I am ashamed to face Achilles.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Why?

IPHIGENEIA The luckless ending to our marriage causes me to feel ashamed [aidôs].

CLYTAEMNESTRA No time for affectation now in the face of what has happened.
Stay then; reserve will do no good, if only we can -

(Enter ACHILLES.)

ACHILLES Daughter of Leda, lady of sorrows!

CLYTAEMNESTRA No misnomer that.

ACHILLES A fearful cry is heard among the Argives.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What is it? Tell me [sêmainô].

ACHILLES It concerns your child.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Your speak of an evil omen..

ACHILLES They say her sacrifice is necessary.

CLYTAEMNESTRA And is there no one to say a word against them?

ACHILLES Indeed I was in some danger myself from the tumult.

CLYTAEMNESTRA In danger of what, kind sir [xenos]?

ACHILLES Of being stoned.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Surely not for trying to save [sôzô] my daughter?

ACHILLES The very reason.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Who would have dared to lay a finger on your body [sôma]?

ACHILLES The men of Hellas, one and all.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Were not your Myrmidon warriors at your side?

ACHILLES They were the first who turned hostile [ekhthros] to me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA My child, we are lost!

ACHILLES They taunted me as the man whom marriage had enslaved.

CLYTAEMNESTRA And what didst you answer them?

ACHILLES I craved the life of her I meant to wed-

CLYTAEMNESTRA Justly [dikaios] so.

ACHILLES The wife her father promised me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Yes, and sent to fetch from Argos.

ACHILLES But I was overcome by clamorous cries.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Truly the mob is a dire evil [kakos].

ACHILLES But I will help you for all that.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Will you really fight them single-handed?

ACHILLES Do you see these warriors here, carrying my arms?

CLYTAEMNESTRA Bless you for your kind intent [phrên]!

ACHILLES Well, I shall be blessed.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Then my child will not be slaughtered now?

ACHILLES No, not with my consent at any rate.

CLYTAEMNESTRA But will any of them come to lay hands on the maid?

ACHILLES Thousands of them, with Odysseus at their head.

CLYTAEMNESTRA The son of Sisyphus?

ACHILLES The very same.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Acting for himself or by the army's order?

ACHILLES By their choice - and his own.

CLYTAEMNESTRA An evil choice indeed, to stain his hands in blood!

ACHILLES But I will hold him back.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Will he seize and take her from here against her will?

ACHILLES Yes, by her golden hair no doubt.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What must I do, when it comes to that?

ACHILLES Keep hold of your daughter.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Be sure that she shall not be slain, as far as I can help her.

ACHILLES Believe me, it will come to this.

IPHIGENEIA Mother, hear me while I speak,
for I see that you are angry with your husband to no purpose;
it is hard for us to be strong amid impossibilities.
It is right [dikaios] for us to thank this xenos for his ready help;
but you must also see to it that he is not reproached by the army,
leaving us no better off and himself involved in trouble.
Listen, mother; hear what thoughts have passed across my mind [noos].
I am resolved to die; and this I wish
to do with honor [kleos], dismissing from me what is ignoble.
Towards this now, mother, turn your thoughts, and with me weigh how well I speak
The whole of mighty Hellas looks to me;
on me the passage over the sea depends; on me the sack of Troy;
on me depends no longer allowing the seizure of women from blessed [olbios] Hellas,
if ever in the days to come Barbarians seek to seize her daughters,
once they have atoned by death for the violation of Helen's marriage by Paris.
All this deliverance will my death insure, and my fame [kleos]
for setting Hellas free will be a blessed one.
Besides, I have no right at all to cling too fondly to my life;
for you did not bear me for myself alone, but as a public blessing to all Hellas.
What! shall countless warriors, armed with shields,
and countless sitting at the oar, when fatherland is wronged
find courage to attack the foe [ekhthros] and die for Hellas,
and my one life [psûkhê] prevent all this?
What kind of justice [dikaios] is that? Could I find a word in answer?
Now turn we to that other point. It is not right that this man should go to battle
with all Argos or be slain for a woman's sake.
Better a single man should see the light than ten thousand women.
If Artemis is minded to take this body [sôma],
am I, a weak mortal, to thwart the goddess?
No, that is impossible. To Hellas I give my body [sôma];
I offer this sacrifice and make an utter end of Troy.
This is my enduring monument [mnêmê];
marriage, motherhood, and reputation - all these is it to me.
And it is right, mother, that Hellenes should rule barbarians, but not barbarians
Hellenes, those being slaves, while these are free.

CHORUS You playest a noble part, maiden;
but sickly are the whims of fortune and the goddess.

ACHILLES Daughter of Agamemnon, some god
was bent on blessing me, could I but have won you for my wife.
In you I reckon Hellas happy, and you in Hellas;
for this that you have said is good and worthy of your fatherland;
since you, abandoning a strife with heavenly powers, which are too strong for you,
have fairly weighed advantages and needs.
But now that I have looked into your noble nature,
desire has overcome me to win you for my bride.
Look, for I wish to serve you
and receive you in my halls [oikos]; and witness Thetis, how I grieve [verb from akhos]
to think I shall not save [sôzô] your life by doing battle with the Danaans.
Reflect, I say; a dreadful evil [kakos] is death.

IPHIGENEIA This I say, without regard to anyone.
Enough that the daughter of Tyndareus by her beauty [sôma]
is causing wars and bloodshed ; but you, stranger [xenos],
be not slain yourself, nor seek to slay another on my account;
but allow me, if I can, to save [sôzô] Hellas.

ACHILLES Heroic [aristos] spirit! To this I can
say no more, since you are so minded; for noble
is your resolve; why should one not say the truth [alêthês]?
Yet will I speak, for perhaps you might change your mind;
that you may know then what my offer is,
I will go and place these arms of mine near the altar,
resolved not to permit your death but to prevent it;
for brave as you are, at sight of the knife held at your throat,
you will soon avail yourself of what I said.
So I will not let you perish through any thoughtlessness of yours,
but will go to the temple of the goddess with these arms
and await your arrival there.

(Exit ACHILLES.)

IPHIGENEIA Mother, why so silent, your eyes wet with tears?

CLYTAEMNESTRA I have reason, woe is me! to be sad at heart.

IPHIGENEIA Stop; don't make me a coward [kakos]; in this one thing obey me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Say what it is, my child, for at my hands you shall never suffer injury.

IPHIGENEIA Do not cut off the tresses of your hair for me, nor clothe your body [sôma] in black garments.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Why, my child, what is it you have said? Shall I, when I lose you -

IPHIGENEIA "Lose" me, you do not; I am saved [sôzô] and you renowned [with good kleos], as far as I can make you.

CLYTAEMNESTRA How so? Must I not mourn [verb rom penthos] your death [psûkhê]?

IPHIGENEIA By no means, for I shall have no tomb heaped over me.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What, is not the act of dying held to imply burial?

IPHIGENEIA The altar of the goddess, Zeus's daughter, will be my tomb [mnêmê].

CLYTAEMNESTRA Well, my child, I will let you persuade me, for you speak well.

IPHIGENEIA Yes, as one who prospers and does Hellas service.

CLYTAEMNESTRA What message shall I carry to your sisters?

IPHIGENEIA Do not put mourning clothing on them either.

CLYTAEMNESTRA But is there no fond [philos] message I can give the maidens from you?

IPHIGENEIA Yes, my farewell words; and promise me to rear this baby Orestes to manhood.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Press him to your bosom; it's your last look.

IPHIGENEIA O you that are most dear [philos] to me! You have helped your loved ones [philos] as you had means.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Is there anything I can do for you [kharis] in Argos?

IPHIGENEIA Yes. Do not hate my father, your own husband.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Fearful are the trials through which he has to go because of you.

IPHIGENEIA It was against his will he destroyed me for the sake of Hellas.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Ah! but he employed base treachery, unworthy of Atreus.

IPHIGENEIA Who will escort me hence, before my hair is torn?

CLYTAEMNESTRA I will go with you.

IPHIGENEIA No, not you; you do not speak well.

CLYTAEMNESTRA I will, clinging to your robes.

IPHIGENEIA Be persuaded by me, mother,
stay here; for this is the better way for you and me alike;
but let one of these attendants of my father conduct me
to the meadow of Artemis, where I shall be sacrificed.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Are you gone from me, my child?

IPHIGENEIA Yes, and with no chance of ever returning.

CLYTAEMNESTRA Leaving your mother?

IPHIGENEIA Yes, as you see, undeservedly. 

CLYTAEMNESTRA Hold! leave me not. 

IPHIGENEIA I cannot let you shed a tear.

(Exit CLYTAEMNESTRA. To the CHORUS)

Be it yours, maidens, to sing a hymn in joyous strains
for my hard lot to the child of Zeus,
Artemis; and let the order for a solemn hush go forth to the Danaans.
Begin the sacrifice with the baskets, let the fire blaze
for the purifying meal of sprinkling, and my father
pace from left to right about the altar;
for I come to bestow on Hellas safety [sôtêriâ] crowned with victory.

Lead me hence,
me the destroyer of Ilium's town [polis] and the Phrygians;
give me wreaths to cast about me -
here are my tresses to crown -
bring lustral water too.
Dance around the precinct,
dance around the altar in honor of Artemis
Artemis the queen,
the blessed one; for, if it is right,
by the blood of my sacrifice
I will blot out the oracle.
O mother, lady revered! Tears for you
I shall not shed;
for at the holy rites I may not weep.

Sing with me, young women,
sing the praises of Artemis,
whose temple faces Chalcis,
where angry spearmen madly chafe,
because of my name,
here in the narrow havens of Aulis.

O Pelasgia, land of my birth,
and Mycenae, my home!

CHORUS Do you call on Perseus' citadel,
that town Cyclopean workmen built?

IPHIGENEIA To be a light to Hellas did you rear me,
and so I do not refuse death.

CHORUS You are right; Fame [kleos] will never desert you!

IPHIGENEIA Hail to you, bright lamp of day
and light of Zeus! A different
life, different lot is henceforth mine.
Farewell I bid you, light beloved [philos]!

(Exit IPHIGENEIA.)

CHORUS Behold the maiden on her way,
the destroyer of Ilium's town and its Phrygians,
with garlands twined about her head,
and drops of lustral water on her,
soon to besprinkle with her gushing blood
the altar of a murderous goddess,
when the shapely neck of her body [sôma] is severed.
For you fair streams
of a father's pouring and lustral waters are in store,
for you Achaea's host is waiting,
eager to reach the citadel [polis] of Ilium.
But let us celebrate the daughter of Zeus,
Artemis,
queen among the gods, as if upon some happy chance.
O lady revered, delighting in human sacrifice,
send on its way to Phrygia's land
the host of the Hellenes,
to Troy's abodes of guile,
and grant that Agamemnon
may wreathe his head
with ever-remembered fame [kleos],
a crown of fairest glory for the spearmen of Hellas.