CHORUS
We chase from home the murderers of men.
We chase from home the murderers of men.
Aeschylus
In unhonoured darkness,
Far from gods, we fare,
Lit unto our task with torch of sunless regions,
And o'er a deadly way--
Deadly to the living as to those who see not
Life and light of day--
Hunt we and press onward. Who of mortals hearing
Doth not quake for awe,
Hearing all that Fate thro' hand of God hath given us
For ordinance and law?
Yea, this right to us, in dark abysm and backward
Of ages it befel:
None shall wrong mine office, tho' in nether regions
And sunless dark I dwell.
[_Enter Athena from above_
ATHENA
Far off I heard the clamour of your cry,
As by Scamander's side I set my foot
Asserting right upon the land given o'er
To me by those who o'er Achaia's host
Held sway and leadership: no scanty part
Of all they won by spear and sword, to me
They gave it, land and all that grew theron,
As chosen heirloom for my Theseus' clan.
Thence summoned, sped I with a tireless foot,--
Hummed on the wind, instead of wings, the fold
Of this mine aegis, by my feet propelled,
As, linked to mettled horses, speeds a car.
And now, beholding here Earth's nether brood,
I fear it nought, yet are mine eyes amazed
With wonder. Who are ye? of all I ask,
And of this stranger to my statue clinging.
But ye--your shape is like no human form,
Like to no goddess whom the gods behold,
Like to no shape which mortal women wear.
Yet to stand by and chide a monstrous form
Is all unjust--from such words Right revolts.
CHORUS
O child of Zeus, one word shall tell thee all.
We are the children of eternal Night,
And Furies in the underworld are called.
ATHENA
I know your lineage now and eke your name.
CHORUS
Yea, and eftsoons indeed my rights shalt know.
ATHENA
Fain would I learn them; speak them clearly forth.
CHORUS
We chase from home the murderers of men.
ATHENA
And where at last can he that slew make pause?
CHORUS
Where this is law--_All joy abandon here. _
ATHENA
Say, do ye bay this man to such a flight?
CHORUS
Yea, for of choice he did his mother slay.
ATHENA
Urged by no fear of other wrath and doom?
CHORUS
What spur can rightly goad to matricide?
ATHENA
Two stand to plead--one only have I heard.
CHORUS
He will not swear nor challenge us to oath.
ATHENA
The form of justice, not its deed, thou willest.
CHORUS
Prove thou that word; thou art not scant of skill.
ATHENA
I say that oaths shall not enforce the wrong.
CHORUS
Then test the cause, judge and award the right.
ATHENA
Will ye to me then this decision trust?
CHORUS
Yea, reverencing true child of worthy sire.
ATHENA (_to Orestes_)
O man unknown, make thou thy plea in turn
Speak forth thy land, thy lineage, and thy woes;
Then, if thou canst, avert this bitter blame--
If, as I deem, in confidence of right
Thou sittest hard beside my holy place,
Clasping this statue, as Ixion sat,
A sacred suppliant for Zeus to cleanse,--
To all this answer me in words made plain.
Far from gods, we fare,
Lit unto our task with torch of sunless regions,
And o'er a deadly way--
Deadly to the living as to those who see not
Life and light of day--
Hunt we and press onward. Who of mortals hearing
Doth not quake for awe,
Hearing all that Fate thro' hand of God hath given us
For ordinance and law?
Yea, this right to us, in dark abysm and backward
Of ages it befel:
None shall wrong mine office, tho' in nether regions
And sunless dark I dwell.
[_Enter Athena from above_
ATHENA
Far off I heard the clamour of your cry,
As by Scamander's side I set my foot
Asserting right upon the land given o'er
To me by those who o'er Achaia's host
Held sway and leadership: no scanty part
Of all they won by spear and sword, to me
They gave it, land and all that grew theron,
As chosen heirloom for my Theseus' clan.
Thence summoned, sped I with a tireless foot,--
Hummed on the wind, instead of wings, the fold
Of this mine aegis, by my feet propelled,
As, linked to mettled horses, speeds a car.
And now, beholding here Earth's nether brood,
I fear it nought, yet are mine eyes amazed
With wonder. Who are ye? of all I ask,
And of this stranger to my statue clinging.
But ye--your shape is like no human form,
Like to no goddess whom the gods behold,
Like to no shape which mortal women wear.
Yet to stand by and chide a monstrous form
Is all unjust--from such words Right revolts.
CHORUS
O child of Zeus, one word shall tell thee all.
We are the children of eternal Night,
And Furies in the underworld are called.
ATHENA
I know your lineage now and eke your name.
CHORUS
Yea, and eftsoons indeed my rights shalt know.
ATHENA
Fain would I learn them; speak them clearly forth.
CHORUS
We chase from home the murderers of men.
ATHENA
And where at last can he that slew make pause?
CHORUS
Where this is law--_All joy abandon here. _
ATHENA
Say, do ye bay this man to such a flight?
CHORUS
Yea, for of choice he did his mother slay.
ATHENA
Urged by no fear of other wrath and doom?
CHORUS
What spur can rightly goad to matricide?
ATHENA
Two stand to plead--one only have I heard.
CHORUS
He will not swear nor challenge us to oath.
ATHENA
The form of justice, not its deed, thou willest.
CHORUS
Prove thou that word; thou art not scant of skill.
ATHENA
I say that oaths shall not enforce the wrong.
CHORUS
Then test the cause, judge and award the right.
ATHENA
Will ye to me then this decision trust?
CHORUS
Yea, reverencing true child of worthy sire.
ATHENA (_to Orestes_)
O man unknown, make thou thy plea in turn
Speak forth thy land, thy lineage, and thy woes;
Then, if thou canst, avert this bitter blame--
If, as I deem, in confidence of right
Thou sittest hard beside my holy place,
Clasping this statue, as Ixion sat,
A sacred suppliant for Zeus to cleanse,--
To all this answer me in words made plain.
