Libation Bearers

Aeschylus

Aeschylus, Volume 2. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1926.

  1. Father, are you not roused by taunts such as these?
Electra
  1. Are you not raising that dearest head of yours?
Orestes
  1. Either send Justice to battle for those dear to you, or grant us in turn to get a similar grip[*](Orestes prays that, as Clytaemestra and Aegisthus had got grip of Agamemnon by deception, so he may get like grip of them and kill them.) on them, if indeed after defeat you would in turn win victory.
Electra
  1. So listen, father, to this last appeal of mine as you behold these fledglings crouching at your tomb. Have compassion on your offspring, on the woman and on the man as well, and let not this seed of Pelops’ line be blotted out: for then, in spite of death, you are not dead.
  2. For children are voices of salvation to a man, though he is dead; like corks, they buoy up the net, saving the flaxen cord from out of the deep. Hear! For your own sake we make this lament. By honoring this plea of ours you save yourself.
Chorus
  1. In truth you have drawn out this plea of yours to your own content in showing honor to this unlamented tomb. As for the rest, since your heart is rightly set on action, put your fortune to the test and get to your work at once.
Orestes
  1. It will be so. But it is in no way amiss to inquire how, from what motive,
  2. she came to send her libations, seeking too late to make amends for an irremediable deed. They would be a sorry gift to send to the senseless dead: I cannot guess what they mean. The gifts are too paltry for her offence.
  3. For though a man may pour out all he has in atonement for one deed of blood, it is wasted effort. So the saying goes. If indeed you know, tell me: I wish to learn.
Chorus
  1. I know, my child, for I was there. It was because she was shaken by dreams and wandering terrors of the night
  2. that she sent these offerings, godless woman that she is.
Orestes
  1. And have you learned the nature of the dream so as to tell it properly?
Chorus
  1. She dreamed she gave birth to a serpent: that is her own account.
Orestes
  1. And where does the tale end, and what is its consummation?
Chorus
  1. She laid it to rest as if it were a child, in swaddling clothes.
Orestes
  1. What food did it crave, the newborn viper?
Chorus
  1. In her dream she offered it her own breast.
Orestes
  1. Surely her nipple was not unwounded by the loathsome beast?
Chorus
  1. No: it drew in clotted blood with the milk.
Orestes
  1. Truly it is not without meaning: the vision signifies a man!