Mother, hear me while I speak, for I see that you are angry with your husbandto no purpose; it is hard for us to persist in impossibilities. Our thanks are due to this stranger for his ready help; but you must also see to it that he is not reproached by the army, leaving us no better off and himself involved in trouble.Listen, mother; hear what thoughts have passed across my mind.I am resolved to die; and this I want to do with honor, dismissing from me what is mean. Towards this now, mother turn your thoughts, and with me weigh how well I speak; to me the whole of mighty Hellas looks; on me the passage over the sea depends; on me the sack of Troy;and in my power it lies to check henceforth barbarian raids on happy Hellas, if ever in the days to come they seek to seize her women, when once they have atoned by death Lines 1381-2 are corrupt. The corrections here followed are τάσδ᾽ for τὰς in l. 1381, and ὀλέθρῳ γάμον ὄν Hermann’s emendation of ὄλεθρον, ἥντιν᾽ in l. 1382. for the violation of Helen’s marriage by Paris. All this deliverance will my death insure, and my fame for setting Hellas free will be a happy one.Besides, I have no right at all to cling too fondly to my life; for you did not bear me for myself alone, but as a public blessing to all Hellas. What! shall countless warriors, armed with shields, those myriads sitting at the oar, find courage to attack the foe and die for Hellas, because their fatherland is wronged,and my one life prevent all this? WhatReading Hermann’s correction of this corrupt line, τί τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτό γ᾽; ἆρ᾽ ἔχοιμ᾽ ἂν ἀντειπεῖν ἔπος; kind of justice is that? could I find a word in answer? Now let us turn to that other point. It is not right that this man should enter into battle with all Argos or be slain for a woman’s sake. Better a single man should see the light than ten thousand women.If Artemis has decided to take my body, am I, a mortal, to thwart the goddess? no, that is impossible. I give my body to Hellas; sacrifice it and make an utter end of Troy. This is my enduring monument; marriage, motherhood, and fame—all these is it to me.And it is right, mother, that Hellenes should rule barbarians, but not barbarians Hellenes, those being slaves, while these are free.

Chorus LeaderYou play a noble part, maiden; but the whims of Fate and the goddess are diseased.AchillesDaughter of Agamemnon! some god was benton blessing me, if I could have won you for my wife. In you I consider Hellas happy, and you in Hellas; for this that you have said is good and worthy of your fatherland; since you, abandonIng a strife with heavenly powers, which are too strong for you, have fairly weighed advantages and needs.Τhese two lines 1409-10 are rejected by Monk; Dindorf thinks the entire passage from 1. 1408-33 spurious, an opinion in which Paley does not concur.hese two lines 1409-10 are rejected by Monk; Dindorf thinks the entire passage from 1. 1408-33 spurious, an opinion in which Paley does not concur.But now that I have looked into your noble nature, I feel still more a fond desire to win you for my bride. Look to it; for I want to serve you and receive you in my halls; and, Thetis be my witness, how I grieve to think I shall not save your life by doing battle with the Danaids.Reflect, I say; a dreadful ill is death.IphigeniaThis I say, without regard to anyone.The words οὐδὲν οὐδέν᾽ εὐλαβουμένη have small MSS. authority, and were probably inserted by a grammarian to complete the verse. Enough that the daughter of Tyndareus is causing wars and bloodshed by her beauty; then be not slain yourself, stranger, nor seek to slay another on my account;but let me, if I can, save Hellas.AchillesHeroic spirit! I can say no more to this, since you are so minded; for yours is a noble resolve; why should not one speak the truth? Yet I will speak, for you will perhaps change your mind;that you may know then what my offer is, I will go and place these arms of mine near the altar, resolved not to permit your death but to prevent; for brave as you are at sight of the knife held at your throat, you will soon avail yourself of what I said.So I will not let you perish through any thoughtlessness of yours, but will go to the goddess with these arms and await your arrival there.Lines 1431-3 are rejected by Monk. Nauck, on Dindorf’s authority, also incloses 1. 1426 and ll. 1429-33 in brackets. Exit Achilles. IphigeniaMother, why so silent, your eyes wet with tears?ClytemnestraI have reason, woe is me! to be sad at heart.IphigeniaStop; do not make me a coward; here in one thing obey me.ClytemnestraTell me, my child, for at my hands you shall never suffer injury.IphigeniaCut not off the tresses of your hair for me, nor clothe yourself in sable garb.This line was rejected by Hermann, Burges, and most other editors.ClytemnestraWhy, my child, what is it you have said? When I have lost you?The aposiopesis may be supplied by forbear to mourn.IphigeniaYou wll not lose me; I am saved and you renowned, as far as I can make you.ClytemnestraHow so? Must I not mourn your death?IphigeniaBy no means, for I shall have no tomb heaped over me.ClytemnestraWhat then? It is death, not the tomb, that is rightly mourned.IphigeniaThe altar of the goddess, Zeus’s daughter, will be my tomb.