Orestes

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 when the people fall into a vigorous fury, they are as hard to quench as a raging fire; but if you gently slacken your hold and yield a little to their tension, cautiously watching your opportunity,
  2. they may possibly calm down; if their gusts abate, you may obtain whatever you want from them easily. They have pity, and a hot temper too, an invaluable quality if you watch it closely. So for you I will go and try to persuade Tyndareus
  3. and the city to moderation. A ship also dips if its sheet is hauled too taut, but rights itself again if it is let go.
  4. The god hates excessive eagerness, and the citizens do also; I must save you, I don’t deny it,
  5. by cleverness, not by violence against those who are stronger. I could not do it by strength, as you perhaps imagine; for it is not easy to triumph single-handed over the troubles that beset you. I would never have tried to bring the Argive land over to softness;
  6. but it is necessary. for the wise to be slaves to fortune.Exit Menelaus.
Orestes
  1. O you that have no use, except to lead an army in a woman’s cause! O worst of men in your friends’ defense,
  2. do you turn your back on me and flee, the deeds of Agamemnon lost and gone?