upset our life, at another the numerous peevish fancies of our subjects shatter it.Old manI do not like these sentiments in one who is a chief. It was not to enjoy all blessings thatAtreus begot you, Agamemnon; but you must experience joy and sorrow alike, mortal as you are. Even though you like it not, this is what the gods decree. But you, after letting your taper spread its light abroad,write the letter which is still in your hands and then erase the same words again, sealing and reopening the tablet, then flinging it to the ground with floodsof tears, and leaving nothing undone in your aimless behavior to stamp you mad. What is it that troubles you? what news is there affecting you,περί σοι, but Monk’s πάρα σοι, what news has reached thee? is a plausible emendation. king? Come, share with me your story;you will be telling it to a loyal and trusty heart; for Tyndareus sent me that day to form part of your wife’s dowry and to wait upon the bride with loyalty.

AgamemnonThis edition starts with the traditional line 49. Traditional line 1 appears following line 114. Regular numbering resumes at line 115. The print source represents these lines in the usual order.Daughter of Leda, in addition to my first letter, I am sending you word —.Old manSay on and make it plain, that what my tongue utters may accord with what you have written.AgamemnonNot to despatch your daughter toEuboea’s deep-gulfed wing, to the waveless bay of Aulis, for after all we will celebrate our child’s wedding at another time.Old manAnd how will Achilles, cheated of his bride,curb the fury of his indignation against you and your wife? Here also is a danger.Paley follows Musgrave in assigning these words to Agamemnon, assuming that the king passes over the servant’s last remark and adds a new cause of alarm, viz., the fraud that is being practiced on Achilles. Make clear what you are saying.AgamemnonIt is his name, not himself that Achilles is lending, knowing nothing of the marriage or of my schemingor my professed readiness to betroth my daughter to him for a husband’s embrace.Lines 124-32 are rejected by some editors. Hennig supposes them to be the work of the younger Euripides.Old manA dreadful venture yours, king Agamemnon, you that, by promise of your daughter’s hand to the son of the goddess,were bringing the maid here to be sacrificed for the Danaids.AgamemnonAh me! I am utterly distraught; alas! bewilderment comes over me. Away! hurry your steps,yielding nothing to old age.Old manI will make haste, king.AgamemnonDo not sit down by woodland fountains; scorn the witcheries of sleep.Old manHush!The old man cuts short Agamemnon’s warnings, as being an un-called-for reflection on his own loyalty.AgamemnonAnd when you pass any place where roads diverge,cast your eyes all round, taking heed that no mule-wagon eacape you, passing by on rolling wheels, bearing my child to the ships of the Danaids.Old manIt shall be so.AgamemnonStart then from the bolted gates,Paley retains the MSS. κλήθρων δ᾽ ἐξόρμα, omitting νιν with Monk in 1. 150; Wecklein, reading ἐξορμώσαις to agree with πομπαῖς retains νιν. Hermann transposes the verse after 1. 152, and so Nauck edits.and if you meet the escort, start them back again, and drive at full speed to the abodes of the Cyclopes.Old manBut tell me, how shall my message find credit with your wife or child?AgamemnonPreserve the seal which you bear on this tablet. Away! Already the dawn is growing grey, lighting the lamp of day and the fire of the sun’s four steeds;help me in my trouble. Exit Old man. No mortal is prosperous or happy to the last, for no one was ever born to a painless life. Exit Agamemnon.

ChorusTo the sandy beach