Thus will I not too heinously regard
A woman's death who did her husband slay,
The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail.
A woman's death who did her husband slay,
The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail.
Aeschylus
Lo, my word is said.
[_The twelve judges come forward, one by one, to the urns of
decision; the first votes; as each of the others follows, the Chorus
and Apollo speak alternately. _
CHORUS
I rede ye well, beware! nor put to shame,
In aught, this grievous company of hell.
APOLLO
I too would warn you, fear mine oracles--
From Zeus they are,--nor make them void of fruit.
CHORUS
Presumptuous is thy claim, blood-guilt to judge,
And false henceforth thine oracles shall be.
APOLLO
Failed then the counsels of my sire, when turned
Ixion, first of slayers, to his side?
CHORUS
These are but words; but I, if justice fail me,
Will haunt this land in grim and deadly deed.
APOLLO
Scorn of the younger and the elder gods
Art thou: 'tis I that shall prevail anon.
CHORUS
Thus didst thou too of old in Pheres' halls,
O'errcaching Fate to make a mortal deathless.
APOLLO
Was it not well, my worshipper to aid,
Then most of all when hardest was the need?
CHORUS
I say thou didst annul the lots of life,
Cheating with wine the deities of eld.
APOLLO
I say thou shalt anon, thy pleadings foiled,
Spit venom vainly on thine enemies.
CHORUS
Since this young god o'errides mine ancient right
I tarry but to claim your law, not knowing
If wrath of mine shall blast your state or spare
ATHENA
Mine is the right to add the final vote,
And I award it to Orestes' cause.
For me no mother bore within her womb,
And, save for wedlock evermore eschewed,
I vouch myself the champion of the man,
Not of the woman, yea, with all my soul,--
In heart, as birth, a father's child alone.
Thus will I not too heinously regard
A woman's death who did her husband slay,
The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail.
Ye of the judges who are named thereto,
Swiftly shake forth the lots from either urn.
[_Two judges come forward, one to each urn. _
ORESTES
O bright Apollo, what shall be the end?
CHORUS
O Night, dark mother mine, dost mark these things?
OSESTES
Now shall my doom be life, or strangling cords.
CHORUS
And mine, lost honour or a wider sway.
APOLLO
O stranger judges, sum aright the count
Of votes cast forth, and, parting them, take heed
Ye err not in decision. The default
Of one vote only bringeth ruin deep,
One, cast aright, doth stablish house and home.
ATHENA
Behold, this man is free from guilt of blood,
For half the votes condemn him, half set free!
ORESTES
O Pallas, light and safety of my home,
Thou, thou hast given me back to dwell once more
In that my fatherland, amerced of which
I wandered; now shall Grecian lips say this,
_The man is Argive once again, and dwells
Again within his father's wealthy hall,
By Pallas saved, by Loxias, and by Him,
The great third saviour, Zeus omnipotent--_
Who thus in pity for my father's fate
Doth pluck me from my doom, beholding these,
Confederates of my mother. Lo, I pass
To mine own home, but proffering this vow
Unto thy land and people: _Nevermore,
Thro' all the manifold years of Time to be,
Shall any chieftain of mine Argive land
Bear hitherward his spears for fight arrayed. _
For we, though lapped in earth we then shall lie,
By thwart adversities will work our will
On them who shall transgress this oath of mine,
Paths of despair and journeyings ill-starred
For them ordaining, till their task they rue.
But if this oath be rightly kept, to them
Will we the dead be full of grace, the while
With loyal league they honour Pallas' town.
And now farewell, thou and thy city's folk--
Firm be thine arm's grasp, closing with thy foes
And, strong to save, bring victory to thy spear.
[_Exit Orestes, with Apollo.
[_The twelve judges come forward, one by one, to the urns of
decision; the first votes; as each of the others follows, the Chorus
and Apollo speak alternately. _
CHORUS
I rede ye well, beware! nor put to shame,
In aught, this grievous company of hell.
APOLLO
I too would warn you, fear mine oracles--
From Zeus they are,--nor make them void of fruit.
CHORUS
Presumptuous is thy claim, blood-guilt to judge,
And false henceforth thine oracles shall be.
APOLLO
Failed then the counsels of my sire, when turned
Ixion, first of slayers, to his side?
CHORUS
These are but words; but I, if justice fail me,
Will haunt this land in grim and deadly deed.
APOLLO
Scorn of the younger and the elder gods
Art thou: 'tis I that shall prevail anon.
CHORUS
Thus didst thou too of old in Pheres' halls,
O'errcaching Fate to make a mortal deathless.
APOLLO
Was it not well, my worshipper to aid,
Then most of all when hardest was the need?
CHORUS
I say thou didst annul the lots of life,
Cheating with wine the deities of eld.
APOLLO
I say thou shalt anon, thy pleadings foiled,
Spit venom vainly on thine enemies.
CHORUS
Since this young god o'errides mine ancient right
I tarry but to claim your law, not knowing
If wrath of mine shall blast your state or spare
ATHENA
Mine is the right to add the final vote,
And I award it to Orestes' cause.
For me no mother bore within her womb,
And, save for wedlock evermore eschewed,
I vouch myself the champion of the man,
Not of the woman, yea, with all my soul,--
In heart, as birth, a father's child alone.
Thus will I not too heinously regard
A woman's death who did her husband slay,
The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail.
Ye of the judges who are named thereto,
Swiftly shake forth the lots from either urn.
[_Two judges come forward, one to each urn. _
ORESTES
O bright Apollo, what shall be the end?
CHORUS
O Night, dark mother mine, dost mark these things?
OSESTES
Now shall my doom be life, or strangling cords.
CHORUS
And mine, lost honour or a wider sway.
APOLLO
O stranger judges, sum aright the count
Of votes cast forth, and, parting them, take heed
Ye err not in decision. The default
Of one vote only bringeth ruin deep,
One, cast aright, doth stablish house and home.
ATHENA
Behold, this man is free from guilt of blood,
For half the votes condemn him, half set free!
ORESTES
O Pallas, light and safety of my home,
Thou, thou hast given me back to dwell once more
In that my fatherland, amerced of which
I wandered; now shall Grecian lips say this,
_The man is Argive once again, and dwells
Again within his father's wealthy hall,
By Pallas saved, by Loxias, and by Him,
The great third saviour, Zeus omnipotent--_
Who thus in pity for my father's fate
Doth pluck me from my doom, beholding these,
Confederates of my mother. Lo, I pass
To mine own home, but proffering this vow
Unto thy land and people: _Nevermore,
Thro' all the manifold years of Time to be,
Shall any chieftain of mine Argive land
Bear hitherward his spears for fight arrayed. _
For we, though lapped in earth we then shall lie,
By thwart adversities will work our will
On them who shall transgress this oath of mine,
Paths of despair and journeyings ill-starred
For them ordaining, till their task they rue.
But if this oath be rightly kept, to them
Will we the dead be full of grace, the while
With loyal league they honour Pallas' town.
And now farewell, thou and thy city's folk--
Firm be thine arm's grasp, closing with thy foes
And, strong to save, bring victory to thy spear.
[_Exit Orestes, with Apollo.
