Sophocles' ELECTRA Complete

Translated by R. Jebb.

Sophocles Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Sophocles in Print

71 Pages

Page 12

Thus she insults; save when any one brings her word that Orestes is
coming: then, infuriated, she comes up to me, and cries;- 'Hast not
thou brought this upon me? Is not this deed thine, who didst steal
Orestes from my hands, and privily convey him forth? Yet be sure that
thou shalt have thy due reward.' So she shrieks; and, aiding her,
the renowned spouse at her side is vehement in the same strain,- that
abject dastard, that utter pest, who fights his battles with the help
of women. But I, looking ever for Orestes to come and end these woes,
languish in my misery. Always intending to strike a blow, he has worn
out every hope that I could conceive. In such a case, then, friends,
there is no room for moderation or for reverence; in sooth, the stress
of ills leaves no choice but to follow evil ways.

Leader: Say, is Aegisthus near while thou speakest thus, or absent
from home?

Electra: Absent, certainly; do not think that I should have come to
the doors, if he had been near; but just now he is afield.

Leader: Might I converse with thee more freely, if this is so?

Electra: He is not here, so put thy question; what wouldst thou?

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