AEGISTHUS: Can anybody here give me some...

AEGISTHUS: Can anybody here give me some news of strangers who have just arrived from Phocis? There’s a story they have brought us a report about Orestes dying in some accident, shipwrecked in his chariot. What about you? I’m asking you—yes, you—who up to now have been so reckless. It seems to me this news concerns you most of all, so you’re the one who knows the most and thus can best inform me. ELECTRA: I know the details. How could I not know? If I did not, I would be a stranger to the fortunes of a person dear to me. AEGISTHUS: Where are these strangers then? Tell me. ELECTRA: Inside. Their hostess welcomed them with all her heart. AEGISTHUS: Is it true they’re saying he is dead? ELECTRA: Yes. And they have not simply told the story, but have provided evidence, as well. AEGISTHUS: Can I see this proof clearly for myself? ELECTRA: You can. But it is not a pleasant sight. AEGISTHUS: What you have told me fills me with delight—and that’s unusual. ELECTRA: Then be happy, if occasions like this bring you pleasure. AEGISTHUS: No more words. I order you to open up the gates, so all Mycenaeans and Argives can see and, if any one of them was stirred by empty hopes that this man would come back, then, by looking at the corpse, he’ll welcome my bite in his mouth. There will be no need for me to punish him and use my force to help him cultivate some common sense. ELECTRA: I’m prepared to do that. Time has taught me to align my mind with those in power. [The doors of the palace open, revealing a shroud-covered corpse. Orestes and Pylades are beside it.] AEGISTHUS: O Zeus, what I see before me is a scene the jealousy of the gods has brought about. If Nemesis is here, I will say nothing. Remove the cloth covering his eyes so, as my relative, he may receive appropriate funeral rites from me. ORESTES: Remove the cloth yourself. It’s up to you, not me, to look upon this body here and offer it some sympathetic words. AEGISTHUS: That’s good advice. I’ll do just as you say. [To Electra] But you should summon Clytaemnestra here, if she is in the house. ORESTES: She is nearby. You need not look for her elsewhere. [Aegisthus removes the covering from the corpse, revealing the dead body of Clytaemnestra.] AEGISTHUS: What’s this? What am I looking at? ORESTES: Are you afraid? Do you not recognize her? AEGISTHUS: This is appalling! Who are you men whose nets have trapped me? ORESTES: Do you not see how, for some time now, you have been discussing living people in language appropriate for the dead? AEGISTHUS: Alas, I grasp the meaning of your words. The man addressing me must be Orestes. ORESTES: You’re an excellent prophet, but for a while you were deceived. AEGISTHUS: I am finished—done for. But you must allow me a few words. ELECTRA: No, my brother. For the sake of the gods, do not let him say anything at all or to plead at length. When mortal beings are caught out in the midst of evil deeds, how can a man who is about to die get any benefit from a delay? No. Kill him as quickly as you can, then throw the corpse out to be buried by beasts who ought to deal with men like him, far from our sight. That is the only way, as far as I’m concerned, we’ll ever find deliverance from all our ancient grief. ORESTES [to Aegisthus]: Get inside—and hurry. What’s at issue here is not mere words but rather your own life. AEGISTHUS: Why take me in the house? If what you’re doing is justified, why do we need darkness? Is your hand not ready for the slaughter? ORESTES: Do not try to organize what’s happening. Go inside to where you killed my father, so you, too, may perish in that very spot. AEGISTHUS: Is this house forced to witness all the pain, present and to come, of Pelops’s sons. ORESTES: Well, yours at least. In what pertains to that I am the finest prophet of them all.

AEGISTHUS: You may well boast about your expertise—your father lacked that skill. ORESTES: You talk too much. You’re trying to delay. Now move inside. AEGISTHUS: Lead on. ORESTES: No. You go first. AEGISTHUS: In case I get away? ORESTES: No. To prevent you dying in a way you might approve of. I must take great care to make your death something you find bitter. Just punishment should come immediately to those who wish to go beyond the law—they should all die—and then illegal acts would be less frequent than they are.

[Orestes and Aegisthus go into the palace.]

Citation: Sophocles translated by Ian Johnston, Electra, Public domain.

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