Libation Bearers

Aeschylus

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

  1. And there is in legend another murderous virgin to be loathed,[*](Nisus was besieged in his town of Megara by Minos, king of Crete. Nisus’ daughter Scylla, being in love with Minos, cut from the head of her father the purple hair on which his life depended, so that he was slain by the Cretans.)
  2. who ruined a loved one at the bidding of his foes, when, lured by Minos’ gift, the Cretan necklace forged of gold, she with her dog’s heart despoiled Nisus of his immortal lock
  3. as he drew breath in unsuspecting sleep. And Hermes[*](Hermes, the conductor to Hades of the souls of the dead.) overtook him.
Chorus
  1. But since I have recalled tales of pitiless afflictions, it is the right time to tell of a marriage void of love,
  2. an abomination to the house, and the plots devised by a wife’s cunning against her warrior lord, against her lord revered with reason by his foes. But I honor the hearths of homes not heated by passion’s fires,
  3. and in woman a spirit that shrinks from audacious deeds.
Chorus
  1. Indeed the Lemnian[*](The women of Lemnos, jealous of Thracian slaves, killed their husbands, so that when the Argonauts visited the island they found no men.) holds first place among evils in story: it has long been told with groans as an abominable calamity. Men compare each new horror to Lemnian troubles;
  2. and because of a woeful deed abhorred by the gods a race has disappeared, cast out in infamy from among mortals. For no man reveres what is hated by the gods. Is there one of these tales I have gathered that I do not justly cite?
Chorus
  1. But the keen and bitter sword is near the breast and drives home its blow at the bidding of Justice.
  2. For truly the injustice of him who has unjustly transgressed the sovereign majesty of Zeus
  3. lies on the ground trampled under foot.[*](The translation is based on the reading παρεκβάντος (Stanley); but this and all other alterations do not remove the difficulties of the original.)
Chorus
  1. The anvil of Justice is planted firm. Destiny fashions her arms and forges her sword quickly, and the famed and deeply brooding Fury is bringing the son into our house,
  2. to requite at last the pollution of blood shed long ago.
Enter, with attendants, Orestes and Pylades before the palace
Orestes
  1. Boy! Boy! Hear my knocking at the outer door! Who is inside? Boy! Boy! I say again, who is at home?
  2. Again for the third time I call for some one to come out of the house, if by Aegisthus’ will it offers welcome to strangers.
Servant
  1. Yes, yes, I hear. Of what land is the stranger, and whence?
Orestes
  1. Announce me to the masters of the house, for it is in fact to them that I come bearing news.
  2. And hurry, since the chariot of night is speeding on with darkness, and it is time for wayfarers to drop anchor in some house friendly to all guests. Tell some one to come forth who has authority over the house, the mistress in charge. But the master would be more fitting,
  3. for then no delicacy in speaking makes words obscure: man speaks boldly to man and reveals his meaning without reserve. The Servant withdraws. Clytaemestra appears at the door with a maid-servant in attendance
Clytaemestra
  1. Strangers, you have only to declare your need, for we have everything that suits this house: warm baths, beds to charm away fatigue,