did not keep the death-goddesses away from her house?DioskouroiNecessity’s fate led to what must be, and unwise speech from the mouth of Phoebus.ElectraBut what Apollo, what sort of oracles, ordained for me to be my mother’s murderer?DioskouroiThe deeds were shared, the fates were shared; one ancestral curse has ground down both.OrestesAh, my sister, seeing you after a long time, at once I am robbed of your affection,and I must abandon you, abandoned by you.DioskouroiShe has a husband and a home; she does not suffer pitiably, except that she leaves the city of the Argives.ElectraAnd what other unhappiness is greaterthan to leave the boundary of one’s native land?OrestesBut I shall leave my father’s house, and at a stranger’s tribunal undergo trial for my mother’s murder.DioskouroiHave courage; you will goto the holy town of Pallas; only hold out.ElectraClasp me to your breast, my dearest brother; for the curse of our mother’s blood is separating us from our father’s home.OrestesThrow your arms in close embrace about me. Lament as if I were dead, over my grave.DioskouroiAlas! You have said things terrible even for gods to hear. For in me and in the Olympians there ispity for much-suffering mortals.OrestesI shall no longer see you!ElectraNor will I draw near your sight!OrestesThese are my last words to you.ElectraFarewell, my city!