You are right; I am dead through misery, though I still gaze upon the light.MenelausHow savage the look your unkempt hair gives you, poor wretch!OrestesIt is not my looks, but my deeds that torture me.MenelausYour tearless eyes glare dreadfully!OrestesMy body is gone, though my name has not deserted me.MenelausUnsightly apparition, so different from what I expected!OrestesHere I am, the murderer of my wretched mother.MenelausI have heard, spare your words; evils should be seldom spoken.OrestesI will be sparing; but the deity is lavish of woe in my case.MenelausWhat ails you? what is your deadly sickness?OrestesMy conscience; I know that I am guilty of a dreadful crime.MenelausWhat do you mean? Wisdom is shown in clarity, not in obscurity.Orestes Grief especially has ruined me—MenelausYes, she is a dreadful goddess, yet are there cures for her.OrestesAnd fits of madness, the vengeance of a mother’s blood.MenelausWhen did your madness begin? Which day was it?OrestesOn the day I was heaping the mound over my poor mother’s grave.MenelausWhen you were in the house, or watching by the pyre?OrestesAs I was waiting by night to gather up her bones.MenelausWas any one else there, to help you rise?