GetPassage urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg005.perseus-eng2:1442-1475 urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg005.perseus-eng2:1442-1475
Which of you can tell me where those Phocian strangers are, who are said to have brought report for us that Orestes passed away amidst the shipwrecked chariots?You, you I ask, yes, you, who were in former days so bold. It seems to me that this concerns you most, so you must know best, and can best tell me.ElectraI do know. How could I not? Otherwise I would be an alien to the fortune of my nearest kinsmen.AegisthusWhere, then, may the strangers be? Tell me.ElectraInside. They have found a way to the heart of their hostess.AegisthusHave they in fact reported him truly dead?ElectraNo, not reported only. They have shown him.AegisthusThen I can identify the corpse myself?ElectraYou can, indeed, though it is no enviable sight.AegisthusYou have indeed given me a joyful greeting, beyond your custom.ElectraMay joy be yours, if joy is what you find in these things.AegisthusSilence, I say, and throw wide the gates for all Mycenaeans and Argives to see,so that, if any one of them were once buoyed by empty hopes in this man, now by seeing his corpse, he may welcome my bit in his mouth, instead of waiting until my punishment makes him grow wits by force!ElectraAll will be done on my part. Timehas given me the sense to comply with the stronger.A shrouded corpse is disclosed.Orestes and Pylades stand near it.AegisthusO Zeus, I see an image which could not have fallen without divine spiteā€”but, if Nemesis attend what I say, let it be unsaid!To Orestes.Undo the coverings from his eyes, so that our kinship, at least, may receive due mourning from me also.OrestesLift the veil yourself. It is not for me, but for you to look upon these remains and greet them kindly.AegisthusYou advise well, and I will obey you.To Electra.But you, call Clytaemnestra for me, if she is at home.OrestesShe is near you; do not look elsewhere.AegisthusAegisthus removes the cloth from the face of the corpse.O, what sight is this!