O you gods, judge rightly the plea of right! ChorusA shudder steals over me as I hear these prayers. Doom has long been waiting,but it will come in answer to those who pray.

ChorusAh, inbred trouble and bloody stroke of ruin striking a discord! Ah, lamentable and grievous sorrows!Ah, the unstaunched pain!

ChorusOur house has a cure to heal these woes, a cure not from outside, from the hands of others, but from itself, by fierce, bloody strife.This hymn is for the gods beneath the earth.

ChorusO you blessed powers below, hear this supplication of ours, and with a favorable will send forth to these children your aid for victory!

OrestesO father, who perished by a death unbefitting a king,grant in answer to my prayer the lordship over your halls!ElectraAnd I too, father, have a like request of you: to escape when I have wrought great destruction on Aegisthus. OrestesYes, for then the customary funeral feasts of men would be established in your honor. But otherwise, at the rich and savory banquetof burnt offerings made to the earth, you will be without a portion of honor.ElectraAnd I will likewise at my wedding offer libations to you out of the fullness of my inheritance from my father’s house, and before all else I will hold this tomb of yours in the highest honor. OrestesO Earth, send up my father to watch my battle! ElectraO Persephone, grant us indeed a glorious victory!OrestesFather, remember the bath where you were robbed of life. ElectraAnd remember how they devised a strange net to cast about you. OrestesYou were caught, my father, in fetters forged by no smith’s hand. ElectraAnd in a fabric shamefully devised.