Euripides' IPHIGENIA AT AULIS Complete

Translated by E. Coleridge.

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80 pages - You are on Page 16

Chorus: For brethren to come to words and blows, whene'er they disagree,
is terrible.

Agamemnon: I wish to rebuke thee in turn, briefly, not lifting mine
eyes too high in shameless wise, but in more sober fashion, as a brother;
for it is a good man's way to be considerate. Prithee, why this burst
of fury, these bloodshot eyes? who wrongs thee? what is it thou wantest?
Thou art fain to win a virtuous bride. Well, I cannot supply thee;
for she, whom thou once hadst, was ill controlled by thee. Am I then,
a man who never went astray, to suffer for thy sins? or is it my popularity
that galls thee? No! it is the longing thou hast to keep a fair wife
in thy embrace, casting reason and honour to the winds. A bad man's
pleasures are like himself Am I mad, if I change to wiser counsels,
after previously deciding amiss? Thine is the madness rather in wishing
to recover a wicked wife, once thou hadst lost her-a stroke of Heaven-sent
luck. Those foolish suitors swore that oath to Tyndareus in their
longing to wed; but Hope was the goddess that led them on, I trow,
and she it was that brought it about rather then thou and thy mightiness.
So take the field with them; they are ready for it in the folly of
their hearts; for the deity is not without insight, but is able to
discern where oaths have been wrongly pledged or forcibly extorted.
I will not slay my children, nor shall thy interests be prospered
by justice in thy vengeance for a worthless wife, while I am left
wasting, night and day, in sorrow for what I did to one of my own
flesh and blood, contrary to all law and justice. There is thy answer
shortly' given, clear and easy to understand; and if thou wilt not
come to thy senses, I shall do the best for myself.

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