And he has come whose part is the crafty vengeance of stealthy attack, and in the battle his hand was guided by her who is in very truth daughter of Zeus, breathing murderous wrath on her foes.We mortals aim true to the mark when we call her Justice.Δί-κα is here derived from Δι(ὸς) κ(όρ)α, daughter of Zeus.
ChorusOh raise a shout of triumph over the escape of our master’s house from its misery and the wasting of its wealth by two who were unclean,its grievous fortune! ChorusThe commands proclaimed loudly by Loxias, tenant of the mighty cavern shrine of Parnassus, assail with guileless guilethe mischief now become inveterate. May the divine word prevail that so I may not serve the wicked!The translation is based of Hermann’s text: κρατείτω δ’ ἔπος τὸ θεῖον τὸ μή μ’ | ὑπουργεῖν κακοῖς.It is right to revere the rule of heaven. ChorusLook, the light has come, and I am freed from the cruel curb that restrained our household. House, rise up! You have lain too long prostrate on the ground.
ChorusBut soon time that accomplishes all will pass the portals of our house, and then all pollution will be expelled from the hearth by cleansing rites that drive out calamity. The dice of fortune will turn as they fall and liewith faces all lovely to behold, favorably disposed to whoever stays in our house.
ChorusLook, the light has come,and I am freed from the cruel curb that restrained our household. House, rise up! You have lain too long prostrate on the ground.
Orestes with the branch and wreath of a suppliant is disclosed standing by the bodies. With him are Pylades and attendants who display the robe of AgamemnonOrestesBehold this pair, oppressors of the land, who murdered my father and ransacked my house! They were majestic then, when they sat on their thrones,and are lovers even now, as one may judge by what has happened to them, and their oath holds true to their pledges. Together they vowed a league of death against my unhappy father, and together they vowed to die, and they have kept their promise well.
But now regard again, you who hear this account of ills,the device for binding my unhappy father, with which his hands were manacled, his feet fettered. Spread it out! Stand around in a circle, and display this covering for a man, that the Father may see—not mine, but he who surveys all this, the Sun—