(to Pylades.)Swear; begin a pious oath.Iphigenia(to Pylades.)You must say: I will give this to your friends.PyladesI will give this letter to your friends.IphigeniaAnd I will see you safely outside the dark rocks.PyladesWhat god do you do you swear by, as witness to your oath?IphigeniaArtemis, in whose temple I hold office.PyladesAnd I swear by the king of heaven, revered Zeus.IphigeniaBut if you leave off your oath, and wrong me?PyladesMay I not return. What about you, if you do not save me?IphigeniaMay I never set foot in Argos alive.PyladesNow listen to a consideration we have passed over.IphigeniaBut it will be something new, if it is good.PyladesGive me this exception: if the ship suffers and the tablet is lost with its cargo in the waves, and I rescue myself only, may this oath not hinder me.IphigeniaDo you know what I will do? For many attempts hit many targets. I will tell you what is written in the folds of this tablet for you to report to my friends. For this is secure: if you preserve the writing, itself, though silent, will speak its message; if the writing is lost in the sea, when you save yourself, you will save my words.PyladesYou have spoken well, on behalf of the gods and me. Make clear to whom I must bring this letter in Argos, and what I must say when I have heard it from you.IphigeniaReport to Orestes, the son of Agamemnon: the one slain at Aulis sends you this, Iphigenia, who is alive, though no longer alive to those there—OrestesWhere is she? Has she come back from the dead??