Epeisodion 1
Chorus
I came, my child, mindful of your interests no less than my own. But if what I say is wrong, let your way prevail; for united we will follow you.
Electra
I am ashamed, my friends, if you judge me
too intolerant with my many laments; but, since rough compulsion forces me to act this
way, forgive me. How indeed could any woman of noble nature not act, when she
sees her father’s sufferings as I see them day and night continually,
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and flourishing rather than fading? First, everything to do with the mother who bore me
has become most hateful towards me; next, in my own home I live with my
father’s murderers; they rule over me and from them
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equally I either have or do without.And then think what manner of
days I pass, when I see Aegisthus sitting on my father’s throne; when I look on
him wearing the very robes which my father wore and
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pouring libations at the hearth where he killed him; and when I see the chief outrage of
them all, the murderer in my father’s bed at my wretched mother’s side, if I
must call her mother, even though she shares her bed with that man.
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So hardened is she that she joins with this polluter, fearing no Erinys. No, as if laughing at her deeds, having found the day on which in the past she treacherously killed my father,
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she celebrates it with dance and song, and in monthly rites she sacrifices sheep to the gods who worked her deliverance.
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But I, as I joylessly witness it, cry out, waste away in the house and bewail the unholy feast named after my father,
in solitary weeping. For I cannot even grieve to the full extent which would please my heart, since this lady, who is in fact no lady, loudly reproaches me with such shameless taunts as these: Wicked and hateful girl, have you alone lost your father,and is no one else in the world grieving? May your death be harsh, and may the gods below never free you from your current mourning. Just so she abuses me, except when she gets word that Orestes is coming. Then, infuriated,
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she comes up to me and cries;—Have you not brought this upon me? Is this not your doing, since you stole Orestes from my hands and secretly sent him away? Yes—but rest assured that you will be justly punished. Like this she barks, and in agreement
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her glorious bridegroom by her side urges her on—that total impotent, that utter plague who fights his battles with the help of women. But my heart is broken by my suffering as I constantly wait for Orestes to come and end these troubles.
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For the perpetual imminence of his actions has eradicated every hope that I could conceive. In such a state of affairs, then, friends, there is no room for self-restraint or for reverence. Rather, in these dire straits there is much need to pursue a dire course.
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Chorus
Tell me, is Aegisthus nearby as you speak these words to us, or has he left the house?
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Electra
He is gone, to be sure. Do not think that I would have come to the doors, if he were nearby. He happens now to be in the country.
Chorus
Might I converse with you
more boldly, if this is so?
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Electra
He is not here, so question me. What is it you want?
Chorus
I ask you, then, what report can you give of your brother? Will he come soon, or is he delaying? I wish to know.
Electra
He says he will come, but although he promises he never does what he says.
Chorus
True, a man will hesitate on the verge of a great undertaking.
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Electra
And yet I saved him with no hesitation.
Chorus
Take heart: he is noble enough to stand by his friends.
Electra
I believe it; otherwise I would not have remained alive so long.
Chorus
Say no more now, since I see your sister
coming from the house, Chrysothemis, offspring of the same father and mother. In her hands are sepulchral offerings, such as are customary for those in the world below.
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Chrysothemis
What is this speech of yours, sister, which you have come forth yet again to speak at the public doors?
Will you not learn with any lapse of time to end your vain indulgence in futile anger? Yet this much I know—that I myself am saddened by our present circumstances; indeed so much so that, could I find the strength, I would bare my feelings towards them.
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But now, in these evil times I think it best to navigate with shortened sail so that I may not seem to be on the attack, when I am unable to cause harm. I wish that your own conduct were the same! Nevertheless, right is on the side which you favor, not on that which I advise. But if I am to live the life of the freeborn,
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those in power must be obeyed in all things.
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