Hadst thou any accomplice in this attempted murder?HermioneMy father came from Sparta for this very purpose.OrestesAnd was he after all defeated by that old man’s prowess ?HermioneOh no! but by shame; and he hath gone and left me all alone.OrestesI understand; thou art afraid of thy husband for that thou hast done.HermioneThou hast guessed it; for he will have a right to me. What can I say for myself? Yet I beseech thee by Zeus the god of our family, send me to a land as far as possible from this, or to my father’s house; for these veryReading οἵδε γε. walls seem to cry out Begone! and all the land of Phthia bates me. But if my lord return ere that from the oracle of Phoebus, he will put me to death on a shameful charge, or enslave me to his mistress, whom I ruled before. MaybeReading πῶς οὖν ἃν ἔιποι τις τάδ᾽ ἐξημάρτανες. some one will say, How was it thou didst go thus astray? I was ruined by mischievous women who came to me and puffed me up with words like these: What! wilt thou suffer that vile captive, a mere bondmaid, to dwell within thy house and share thy wedded rights? By Heaven’s queen! if it were my house she should not live to reap my marriage-harvest! And I listened to the words of these Sirens, the cunning, knavish, subtle praters, and was filled with silly thoughts. What need had I to care about my lord? I had all I wanted, wealth in plenty, a house in which I was mistress, and as for children, mine would be born in wedlock, while hers would be bastards, half-slaves to mine. Oh! never, never,–this truth will I repeat,–should men of sense, who have wives, allow women-folk to visit them in their homes, for they teach them mischief; one, to gain some private end, helps to corrupt their honour; another, having made a slip herself, wants a companion in misfortune, while many are wantons; and hence it is men’s houses are tainted. Wherefore keep strict guard upon the portals of your houses with bolts and bars; for these visits of strange women lead to no good result, but a world of mischief.Nauck incloses line 953 in brackets.