and the rags of my dress, will be fit for a princess, a daughter of Agamemnon, or for Troy , once taken, which remembers my father. Chorus Mighty is the goddess; come then, and borrow from me thick-woven clothes to wear, and gold—as a favor to me—accessories to adornment. Do you think to rule over your enemies by tears, if you do not revere the gods? Honoring the gods not by lamentation but by prayers, you will have good fortune, child. Electra No god attends to the voice of the ill-fated one, or to the slaying of my father long ago. Alas for the dead, and for the living vagabond, who dwells in another land somewhere, miserably wandering to a slave’s hearth, yet born of that renowned father. I myself live in a poor man’s house, wasting my life away, an exile from my father’s house, on the mountain crags. But my mother, with a new husband, makes her home in a bed stained by blood. Chorus Leader Helen, your mother’s sister, is the cause of many evils to the Hellenes and to your house. Electra Catching sight of Orestes and Pylades Ah! Women, I have broken off my lament; strangers, who had their lair at the altar, are rising from ambush towards the household. Let us escape the villains by flight, you along the path and I to the house. Orestes Stay, poor girl; do not fear my hand. Electra O Phoebus Apollo! I beseech you to spare my life. Orestes May I kill others more hated than you! Electra Go away! Do not touch one whom you must not touch. Orestes There is no one I have a better right to touch. Electra Then why are you in ambush, with drawn sword, near my house? Orestes Wait and hear, and you will soon say the same. Electra I am still; in any case, I am yours, since you are the stronger. Orestes I have come to bring you word from your brother. Electra Oh best of friends! Is he alive or dead? Orestes Alive; for I want to tell you the good news first. Electra May you be happy, as a reward for your most welcome tidings. Orestes I give that blessing for us two to have in common. Electra Where does the unhappy one live, in his unhappy exile? Orestes He goes miserably about, not following the customs of any one city. Electra Surely he does not want for a living, day by day? Orestes He has that, but an exile is a helpless man at best. Electra What is this message you have come bringing from him? Orestes If you are alive, and if so, how you are. Electra Well then, you see first of all how withered my body is.