Electra

Euripides

Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. II. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1891.

  1. For what thing, present or absent?
Old man
  1. To have a beloved treasure, which the god is revealing.
Electra
  1. See: I call on the gods. Or whatever do you mean, old man?
Old man
  1. Look now at this man, my child, your dearest one.
Electra
  1. I have been looking for a long time, to see whether you have lost your mind.
Old man
  1. Lost my mind, because I see your brother?
Electra
  1. What do you mean, old man, by this word, unhoped for?
Old man
  1. That I see Orestes here, Agamemnon’s son.
Electra
  1. What mark do you see, by which I shall be persuaded?
Old man
  1. A scar along his brow, where he fell and drew blood one day in his father’s home when chasing a fawn with you.
Electra
  1. What are you saying? I see the sign of the fall.
Old man
  1. Then do you hesitate to embrace your dearest one?
Electra
  1. Not any longer, old man; for my heart is persuaded by your tokens. O you who have appeared at last, I hold you, beyond all hope.
Orestes
  1. And you are held by me at last.
Electra
  1. I never expected it.
Orestes
  1. Nor did I hope.
Electra
  1. Are you that one?
Orestes
  1. Yes, your one ally. If I draw back the cast of the net I am aiming for—but I have confidence; or else we must no longer believe in gods, if wrong is to be victorious over right.
Chorus
  1. You have come, you have come, oh, long-delayed day, you have lighted up, you have made visible a beacon to the city, who in long ago exile went forth from his father’s house, unhappily wandering.
  2. A god, now, a god brings our victory, my dear. Lift up your hands, lift up your words, send prayers to the gods for your brother with fortune, with fortune,