Stasimon 2
[Episode]
Was any one else there, to help you rise?
405
Orestes
Pylades who shared with me the bloody deed, my mother’s murder.
Menelaus
You are sick from phantom shapes; what sort?
Orestes
I seemed to see three maidens, black as night.
Menelaus
I know whom you mean, but I do not want to name them.
Orestes
Yes, for they are revered; you were well-informed, to avoid naming them.
410
Menelaus
Are these the ones that drive you to frenzy, with the curse of kindred blood?
Orestes
Oh! the torment I endure from their pursuit!
Menelaus
It is not strange, if those who have done dreadful things should suffer them.
Orestes
But I have a way to recover from these troubles.
Menelaus
Do not speak of death; that is not wise.
415
Orestes
It is Phoebus, who commanded me to kill my mother.
Menelaus
Showing a strange ignorance of what is fair and right.
Orestes
We are slaves to the gods, whatever those gods are.
Menelaus
And does Loxias not help your affliction?
Orestes
He will in time; this is the nature of gods.
420
Menelaus
How long is it since your mother breathed her last?
Orestes
This is the sixth day; her funeral pyre is still warm.
Menelaus
How soon the goddesses arrived to avenge your mother’s blood!
Orestes
I am not clever, but I am by nature a true friend to my friends.
Menelaus
Does your father give you any help at all, for your avenging him?
425
Orestes
Not yet; I call delay the equal of inaction.
Menelaus
How do you stand in the city after that deed of yours?
Orestes
I am so hated that no one will speak to me.
Menelaus
Have your hands not even been cleaned of blood, according to custom?
Orestes
No, for wherever I go, the door is shut against me.
430
Menelaus
Which citizens are driving you from the land?
Orestes
Oeax, who refers to my father his reason for hating Troy.
Menelaus
I understand; he is avenging on you the blood of Palamedes.
Orestes
That was nothing to do with me; yet I am destroyed for three reasons.
