Scaife ATLAS

CTS Library / Electra

Electra (70-180)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg012.perseus-eng2:70-180
Refs {'start': {'reference': '70', 'human_reference': 'Line 70'}, 'end': {'reference': '180', 'human_reference': 'Line 180'}}
Ancestors []
Children []
prev
plain textXML
next
to find a healer for ill fortune, such as I have in you. And so, even though unbidden, I ought to share your labors, relieving you of work as far as I have strength, so that you may bear it more easily. You have enough to do outside; I must keep the house
in order. It is pleasant for the worker coming in from outside to find things within right.
Peasant
Go, then, if you wish; and in fact the springs are not far from my house. When it is day, I will drive the oxen to my lands and sow the fields.
For no idler, though he has the gods names always on his lips, can gather a livelihood without hard work. Exeunt Peasant and Electra. Enter Orestes and Pylades.
82
Orestes
Pylades, I hold you first among men as a kind and trusted friend to me. You alone of my friends have honored me, Orestes,
being as I am in dreadful suffering from Aegisthus, who killed my father, he and my most deadly mother. I have come from the mystic shrine of the god to Argive land, and no one knows it, to repay my fathers murderers with murder.
During this past night, going to my fathers tomb, I wept and cut off a lock of my hair as an offering and sacrificed over the altar the blood of a slaughtered sheep, unnoticed by the tyrants who rule this land. And now I do not set foot within the walls,
but I have come to the borders of this land combining two desires: I may escape to another country if anyone on the watch should recognize me; and, looking for my sister (for they say that she lives here, joined in marriage, and is no longer a virgin),
I may meet with her and, having her as an accomplice for murder, I may learn clearly what is happening within the walls. And now, since dawn is lifting up her bright eye, let us step aside from this path. For either some plowman or serving maid
will come in our sight, from whom we may ask if my sister lives in this place. But now that I see this maidservant, bearing a weight of water on her shorn head, let us sit down, and inquire
of this slave girl, if we may receive some word about the matter, Pylades, for which we have come to this land. They retire a little.
112
Electra
Hasten your step, it is time; go onward, onward, weeping! Ah me!
I am Agamemnons child, and Clytemnestra, hated daughter of Tyndareus, bore me; the citizens call me unhappy Electra.
Alas for my cruel pain and hateful life! O father, Agamemnon, you lie in Hades, by the butchery of your wife and Aegisthus.
125
Electra
Come, waken the same lament, take up the enjoyment of long weeping.
127
Electra
Hasten your step, it is time; go onward, onward, weeping. Ah me!
In what city and what household do you wander about, my wretched brother, leaving your pitiable sister in our ancestral home, to great pain?
Come to me, the unhappy one, as a deliverer from this pain, oh Zeus, Zeus, and as a defender for my father against his most hateful bloodshed; bring the wanderer to shore in Argos.
140
Electra
Take this pitcher from my head and put it down, so that I may cry aloud the night-time laments for my father. A wail, a song of death, of death, for you, father, under the earth, I speak the laments
in which I am always engaged, day by day, tearing my skin with my nails, and striking my cropped head with my hand, for your death.
150
Electra
Oh, oh, tear my face; as a clear-sounding swan beside the rivers streams calls to its dearest father, dying in the crafty snares of the
net, so I lament you, my unhappy father,
157
Electra
washed by the very last bath, in the most piteous bed of death. Oh, me,
your bitter cleaving by the axe, father, the bitter plans of the way from Troy! Your wife welcomed you with no victors garlands or crowns, but with a two-edged sword,
making you the mournful victim of Aigisthus, she got a treacherous bed-fellow.
167
Chorus
O Electra, daughter of Agamemnon, I have come to your rustic courtyard. A milk-drinker from Mycenae has come, he has come,
a mountain walker; he reports that the Argives are proclaiming a sacrifice for the third day from now, and that all maidens are to go to Heras temple.
Electra
My unhappy heart beats fast, friends, but not at adornment or gold; nor will I set up choruses with the maidens of Argos
and beat my foot in the mazes of the dance. By tears I pass the night; tears are my unhappy care day by day. See if my filthy hair,

Tokens

to 1 w 2
find 1 w 6
a 1 w 7
healer 1 w 13
for 1 w 16
ill 1 w 19
fortune 1 w 26
such 1 w 31
as 1 w 33
I 1 w 34
have 1 w 38
in 2 w 40
you 1 w 43
And 1 w 47
so 1 w 49
even 1 w 54
though 1 w 60
unbidden 1 w 68
I 2 w 70
ought 1 w 75
to 2 w 77
share 1 w 82
your 1 w 86
labors 1 w 92
relieving 1 w 102
you 3 w 105
of 1 w 107
work 1 w 111
as 2 w 113
far 1 w 116
as 3 w 118
I 3 w 119
have 2 w 123
strength 1 w 131
so 2 w 134
that 1 w 138
you 4 w 141
may 1 w 144
bear 1 w 148
it 1 w 150
more 1 w 154
easily 1 w 160
You 1 w 164
have 3 w 168
enough 1 w 174
to 3 w 176
do 1 w 178
outside 1 w 185
I 4 w 187
must 1 w 191
keep 1 w 195
the 1 w 198
house 1 w 203
in 4 w 205
order 1 w 210
It 1 w 213
is 1 w 215
pleasant 1 w 223
for 3 w 226
the 2 w 229
worker 1 w 235
coming 1 w 241
in 6 w 243
from 1 w 247
outside 2 w 254
to 4 w 256
find 2 w 260
things 1 w 266
within 1 w 272
right 1 w 277
Peasant 1 w 285
Go 1 w 287
then 1 w 292
if 1 w 295
you 5 w 298
wish 1 w 302
and 1 w 306
in 10 w 308
fact 1 w 312
the 4 w 315
springs 1 w 322
are 2 w 325
not 1 w 328
far 2 w 331
from 2 w 335
my 1 w 337
house 2 w 342
When 1 w 347
it 3 w 349
is 3 w 351
day 1 w 354
I 6 w 356
will 1 w 360
drive 1 w 365
the 5 w 368
oxen 1 w 372
to 5 w 374
my 2 w 376
lands 1 w 381
and 3 w 384
sow 1 w 387
the 6 w 390
fields 1 w 396
For 1 w 400
no 3 w 402
idler 1 w 407
though 2 w 414
he 9 w 416
has 1 w 419
the 7 w 422
gods 1 w 426
names 1 w 432
always 1 w 438
on 1 w 440
his 1 w 443
lips 1 w 447
can 1 w 451
gather 1 w 457
a 33 w 458
livelihood 1 w 468
without 1 w 475
hard 1 w 479
work 3 w 483
Exeunt 1 w 490
Peasant 2 w 497
and 4 w 500
Electra 1 w 507
Enter 1 w 513
Orestes 1 w 520
and 5 w 523
Pylades 1 w 530
Orestes 2 w 538
Pylades 2 w 545
I 7 w 547
hold 1 w 551
you 6 w 554
first 1 w 559
among 1 w 564
men 1 w 567
as 9 w 569
a 44 w 570
kind 1 w 574
and 6 w 577
trusted 1 w 584
friend 1 w 590
to 6 w 592
me 3 w 594
You 2 w 598
alone 1 w 603
of 2 w 605
my 3 w 607
friends 1 w 614
have 4 w 618
honored 1 w 625
me 4 w 627
Orestes 3 w 635
being 1 w 641
as 10 w 643
I 8 w 644
am 3 w 646
in 14 w 648
dreadful 1 w 656
suffering 1 w 665
from 3 w 669
Aegisthus 1 w 678
who 1 w 682
killed 1 w 688
my 4 w 690
father 1 w 696
he 13 w 699
and 7 w 702
my 5 w 704
most 1 w 708
deadly 1 w 714
mother 1 w 720
I 9 w 722
have 5 w 726
come 1 w 730
from 4 w 734
the 11 w 737
mystic 1 w 743
shrine 1 w 749
of 3 w 751
the 12 w 754
god 2 w 757
to 7 w 759
Argive 1 w 765
land 2 w 769
and 9 w 773
no 5 w 775
one 2 w 778
knows 1 w 783
it 5 w 785
to 8 w 788
repay 1 w 793
my 7 w 795
father 2 w 801
s 54 w 803
murderers 1 w 812
with 3 w 816
murder 2 w 822
During 1 w 829
this 1 w 833
past 1 w 837
night 1 w 842
going 1 w 848
to 9 w 850
my 8 w 852
father 3 w 858
s 58 w 860
tomb 1 w 864
I 10 w 866
wept 1 w 870
and 10 w 873
cut 1 w 876
off 1 w 879
a 62 w 880
lock 1 w 884
of 5 w 886
my 9 w 888
hair 1 w 892
as 12 w 894
an 15 w 896
offering 1 w 904
and 11 w 907
sacrificed 1 w 917
over 1 w 921
the 15 w 924
altar 1 w 929
the 16 w 932
blood 1 w 937
of 7 w 939
a 70 w 940
slaughtered 1 w 951
sheep 1 w 956
unnoticed 1 w 966
by 1 w 968
the 17 w 971
tyrants 1 w 978
who 2 w 981
rule 1 w 985
this 2 w 989
land 3 w 993
And 2 w 997
now 2 w 1000
I 11 w 1001
do 2 w 1003
not 3 w 1006
set 1 w 1009
foot 1 w 1013
within 2 w 1019
the 18 w 1022
walls 1 w 1027
but 1 w 1031
I 12 w 1032
have 6 w 1036
come 2 w 1040
to 11 w 1042
the 19 w 1045
borders 1 w 1052
of 8 w 1054
this 3 w 1058
land 4 w 1062
combining 1 w 1071
two 1 w 1074
desires 1 w 1081
I 13 w 1083
may 2 w 1086
escape 1 w 1092
to 12 w 1094
another 1 w 1101
country 1 w 1108
if 3 w 1110
anyone 1 w 1116
on 7 w 1118
the 21 w 1121
watch 1 w 1126
should 1 w 1132
recognize 1 w 1141
me 7 w 1143
and 14 w 1147
looking 1 w 1155
for 4 w 1158
my 10 w 1160
sister 1 w 1166
for 5 w 1170
they 1 w 1174
say 1 w 1177
that 2 w 1181
she 2 w 1184
lives 1 w 1189
here 1 w 1193
joined 1 w 1200
in 25 w 1202
marriage 1 w 1210
and 15 w 1214
is 10 w 1216
no 11 w 1218
longer 1 w 1224
a 88 w 1225
virgin 1 w 1231
I 14 w 1234
may 3 w 1237
meet 1 w 1241
with 5 w 1245
her 8 w 1248
and 16 w 1251
having 1 w 1258
her 9 w 1261
as 13 w 1263
an 25 w 1265
accomplice 1 w 1275
for 6 w 1278
murder 3 w 1284
I 15 w 1286
may 4 w 1289
learn 1 w 1294
clearly 1 w 1301
what 1 w 1305
is 11 w 1307
happening 1 w 1316
within 3 w 1322
the 23 w 1325
walls 2 w 1330
And 3 w 1334
now 3 w 1337
since 1 w 1343
dawn 1 w 1347
is 12 w 1349
lifting 1 w 1356
up 1 w 1358
her 10 w 1361
bright 1 w 1367
eye 1 w 1370
let 1 w 1374
us 6 w 1376
step 1 w 1380
aside 1 w 1385
from 5 w 1389
this 4 w 1393
path 1 w 1397
For 2 w 1401
either 1 w 1407
some 1 w 1411
plowman 1 w 1418
or 17 w 1420
serving 1 w 1427
maid 1 w 1431
will 2 w 1435
come 3 w 1439
in 33 w 1441
our 2 w 1444
sight 1 w 1449
from 6 w 1454
whom 1 w 1458
we 2 w 1460
may 5 w 1463
ask 1 w 1466
if 5 w 1468
my 11 w 1470
sister 2 w 1476
lives 2 w 1481
in 34 w 1483
this 5 w 1487
place 1 w 1492
But 1 w 1496
now 4 w 1499
that 3 w 1503
I 16 w 1504
see 1 w 1507
this 6 w 1511
maidservant 1 w 1522
bearing 1 w 1530
a 113 w 1531
weight 1 w 1537
of 9 w 1539
water 1 w 1544
on 9 w 1546
her 12 w 1549
shorn 1 w 1554
head 1 w 1558
let 2 w 1562
us 7 w 1564
sit 1 w 1567
down 1 w 1571
and 17 w 1575
inquire 1 w 1582
of 10 w 1584
this 7 w 1588
slave 1 w 1593
girl 1 w 1597
if 6 w 1600
we 4 w 1602
may 6 w 1605
receive 1 w 1612
some 2 w 1616
word 1 w 1620
about 1 w 1625
the 25 w 1628
matter 1 w 1634
Pylades 3 w 1642
for 7 w 1646
which 1 w 1651
we 5 w 1653
have 7 w 1657
come 4 w 1661
to 13 w 1663
this 8 w 1667
land 5 w 1671
They 1 w 1676
retire 1 w 1682
a 124 w 1683
little 1 w 1689
Electra 2 w 1697
Hasten 1 w 1703
your 2 w 1707
step 2 w 1711
it 13 w 1714
is 19 w 1716
time 1 w 1720
go 4 w 1723
onward 1 w 1729
onward 2 w 1736
weeping 1 w 1744
Ah 1 w 1747
me 14 w 1749
I 17 w 1751
am 4 w 1753
Agamemnon 1 w 1762
s 110 w 1764
child 1 w 1769
and 19 w 1773
Clytemnestra 1 w 1785
hated 1 w 1791
daughter 1 w 1799
of 11 w 1801
Tyndareus 1 w 1810
bore 1 w 1815
me 16 w 1817
the 26 w 1821
citizens 1 w 1829
call 1 w 1833
me 17 w 1835
unhappy 1 w 1842
Electra 3 w 1849
Alas 1 w 1854
for 8 w 1857
my 12 w 1859
cruel 1 w 1864
pain 1 w 1868
and 20 w 1871
hateful 1 w 1878
life 1 w 1882
O 4 w 1884
father 4 w 1890
Agamemnon 2 w 1900
you 8 w 1904
lie 2 w 1907
in 39 w 1909
Hades 1 w 1914
by 2 w 1917
the 28 w 1920
butchery 1 w 1928
of 12 w 1930
your 3 w 1934
wife 1 w 1938
and 21 w 1941
Aegisthus 2 w 1950
Electra 4 w 1958
Come 1 w 1962
waken 1 w 1968
the 29 w 1971
same 1 w 1975
lament 1 w 1981
take 1 w 1986
up 2 w 1988
the 30 w 1991
enjoyment 1 w 2000
of 13 w 2002
long 2 w 2006
weeping 2 w 2013
Electra 5 w 2021
Hasten 2 w 2027
your 4 w 2031
step 3 w 2035
it 15 w 2038
is 21 w 2040
time 2 w 2044
go 5 w 2047
onward 3 w 2053
onward 4 w 2060
weeping 3 w 2068
Ah 2 w 2071
me 24 w 2073
In 1 w 2076
what 2 w 2080
city 1 w 2084
and 22 w 2087
what 3 w 2091
household 1 w 2100
do 4 w 2102
you 11 w 2105
wander 1 w 2111
about 2 w 2116
my 13 w 2119
wretched 1 w 2127
brother 1 w 2134
leaving 1 w 2142
your 5 w 2146
pitiable 1 w 2154
sister 3 w 2160
in 43 w 2162
our 7 w 2165
ancestral 1 w 2174
home 1 w 2178
to 14 w 2181
great 1 w 2186
pain 2 w 2190
Come 2 w 2195
to 15 w 2197
me 27 w 2199
the 32 w 2203
unhappy 2 w 2210
one 4 w 2213
as 19 w 2216
a 169 w 2217
deliverer 1 w 2226
from 7 w 2230
this 9 w 2234
pain 3 w 2238
oh 1 w 2241
Zeus 1 w 2245
Zeus 2 w 2250
and 24 w 2254
as 20 w 2256
a 173 w 2257
defender 1 w 2265
for 9 w 2268
my 14 w 2270
father 5 w 2276
against 1 w 2283
his 11 w 2286
most 2 w 2290
hateful 2 w 2297
bloodshed 1 w 2306
bring 1 w 2312
the 34 w 2315
wanderer 1 w 2323
to 16 w 2325
shore 1 w 2330
in 48 w 2332
Argos 1 w 2337
Electra 6 w 2345
Take 1 w 2349
this 10 w 2353
pitcher 1 w 2360
from 8 w 2364
my 15 w 2366
head 2 w 2370
and 26 w 2373
put 1 w 2376
it 19 w 2378
down 2 w 2382
so 6 w 2385
that 4 w 2389
I 19 w 2390
may 7 w 2393
cry 1 w 2396
aloud 1 w 2401
the 35 w 2404
night-time 1 w 2414
laments 1 w 2421
for 10 w 2424
my 16 w 2426
father 6 w 2432
A 13 w 2434
wail 1 w 2438
a 189 w 2440
song 1 w 2444
of 14 w 2446
death 1 w 2451
of 15 w 2454
death 2 w 2459
for 11 w 2463
you 13 w 2466
father 7 w 2473
under 1 w 2479
the 38 w 2482
earth 1 w 2487
I 20 w 2489
speak 1 w 2494
the 39 w 2497
laments 2 w 2504
in 49 w 2506
which 2 w 2511
I 21 w 2512
am 11 w 2514
always 2 w 2520
engaged 1 w 2527
day 2 w 2531
by 3 w 2533
day 3 w 2536
tearing 1 w 2544
my 17 w 2546
skin 1 w 2550
with 7 w 2554
my 18 w 2556
nails 1 w 2561
and 27 w 2565
striking 1 w 2573
my 19 w 2575
cropped 1 w 2582
head 3 w 2586
with 8 w 2590
my 20 w 2592
hand 1 w 2596
for 12 w 2600
your 6 w 2604
death 3 w 2609
Electra 7 w 2617
Oh 1 w 2619
oh 2 w 2622
tear 2 w 2627
my 21 w 2629
face 1 w 2633
as 21 w 2636
a 212 w 2637
clear-sounding 1 w 2651
swan 1 w 2655
beside 1 w 2661
the 40 w 2664
river 1 w 2669
s 151 w 2671
streams 1 w 2678
calls 1 w 2683
to 17 w 2685
its 1 w 2688
dearest 1 w 2695
father 8 w 2701
dying 1 w 2707
in 55 w 2709
the 42 w 2712
crafty 1 w 2718
snares 1 w 2724
of 16 w 2726
the 43 w 2729
net 1 w 2732
so 9 w 2735
I 22 w 2736
lament 4 w 2742
you 15 w 2745
my 22 w 2748
unhappy 3 w 2755
father 9 w 2761
Electra 8 w 2769
washed 1 w 2775
by 4 w 2777
the 45 w 2780
very 1 w 2784
last 1 w 2788
bath 1 w 2792
in 56 w 2795
the 46 w 2798
most 3 w 2802
piteous 1 w 2809
bed 1 w 2812
of 17 w 2814
death 4 w 2819
Oh 2 w 2822
me 32 w 2825
your 7 w 2830
bitter 1 w 2836
cleaving 1 w 2844
by 5 w 2846
the 47 w 2849
axe 1 w 2852
father 10 w 2859
the 49 w 2863
bitter 2 w 2869
plans 1 w 2874
of 18 w 2876
the 50 w 2879
way 3 w 2882
from 9 w 2886
Troy 1 w 2890
Your 1 w 2895
wife 2 w 2899
welcomed 1 w 2907
you 17 w 2910
with 9 w 2914
no 16 w 2916
victor 1 w 2922
s 165 w 2924
garlands 1 w 2932
or 29 w 2934
crowns 1 w 2940
but 3 w 2944
with 10 w 2948
a 236 w 2949
two-edged 1 w 2958
sword 1 w 2963
making 1 w 2970
you 18 w 2973
the 51 w 2976
mournful 1 w 2984
victim 1 w 2990
of 19 w 2992
Aigisthus 1 w 3001
she 5 w 3005
got 1 w 3008
a 238 w 3009
treacherous 1 w 3020
bed-fellow 1 w 3030
Chorus 1 w 3037
O 7 w 3038
Electra 9 w 3045
daughter 2 w 3054
of 20 w 3056
Agamemnon 3 w 3065
I 23 w 3067
have 8 w 3071
come 6 w 3075
to 19 w 3077
your 8 w 3081
rustic 1 w 3087
courtyard 1 w 3096
A 16 w 3098
milk-drinker 1 w 3110
from 10 w 3114
Mycenae 1 w 3121
has 2 w 3124
come 7 w 3128
he 74 w 3131
has 3 w 3134
come 8 w 3138
a 248 w 3140
mountain 1 w 3148
walker 1 w 3154
he 75 w 3157
reports 1 w 3164
that 5 w 3168
the 52 w 3171
Argives 1 w 3178
are 6 w 3181
proclaiming 1 w 3192
a 254 w 3193
sacrifice 2 w 3202
for 13 w 3205
the 53 w 3208
third 1 w 3213
day 4 w 3216
from 11 w 3220
now 5 w 3223
and 30 w 3227
that 6 w 3231
all 5 w 3234
maidens 1 w 3241
are 7 w 3244
to 20 w 3246
go 8 w 3248
to 21 w 3250
Hera 1 w 3254
s 181 w 3256
temple 1 w 3262
Electra 10 w 3270
My 2 w 3272
unhappy 4 w 3279
heart 1 w 3284
beats 1 w 3289
fast 1 w 3293
friends 2 w 3301
but 4 w 3305
not 5 w 3308
at 35 w 3310
adornment 1 w 3319
or 35 w 3321
gold 1 w 3325
nor 2 w 3329
will 3 w 3333
I 24 w 3334
set 2 w 3337
up 3 w 3339
choruses 1 w 3347
with 11 w 3351
the 54 w 3354
maidens 2 w 3361
of 21 w 3363
Argos 2 w 3368
and 31 w 3371
beat 2 w 3375
my 23 w 3377
foot 2 w 3381
in 62 w 3383
the 55 w 3386
mazes 1 w 3391
of 22 w 3393
the 56 w 3396
dance 1 w 3401
By 1 w 3404
tears 1 w 3409
I 25 w 3410
pass 1 w 3414
the 57 w 3417
night 3 w 3422
tears 2 w 3428
are 8 w 3431
my 24 w 3433
unhappy 5 w 3440
care 1 w 3444
day 5 w 3447
by 6 w 3449
day 6 w 3452
See 1 w 3456
if 11 w 3458
my 25 w 3460
filthy 1 w 3466
hair 2 w 3470