Iphigenia in Aulis
Euripides
Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. II. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1891.
- Argue that point with others, but surrender that letter to me.
- I shall not let go.
- Nor will I let loose my hold.
- Why then, this staff of mine will be dabbling your head with blood before long.
- To die in my master’s cause would be a noble death.
- Let go! you are too wordy for a slave.
- Master, he is wronging me; he snatched
- your letter violently from my grasp, Agamemnon, and will not heed the claims of right.
- Ah! what is this uproar at the gates, this indecent brawling?
- My tale, not his, has the better right to be spoken.
- You, Menelaus! what quarrel do you have with this man, why are you dragging him here? Exit ATTENDANT.
- Look me in the face! May that be the prelude to my story.
- Shall I, the son of Atreus, close my eyes from fear?[*](The point lies in the play on the name Ἀτρεύς, i.e., the fearless, shall I the son of fearlessness, fear, etc.?)
- Do you see this tablet, the bearer of a shameful message?
- I see it, yes; now, you first of all surrender it.
- No, not till I have shown its contents to all the army.
- What! have you broken the seal and know already what you should never have known?
- Yes, I opened it and know to your sorrow the secret machinations of your heart.
- Where did you get it? O gods! what shameless heart you have!
- I was awaiting your daughter’s arrival at the camp in Argos.