aeschylus - Conscious Evolution TV

IPHIGENIA AMONG THE TAURI
rescue; for he makes two evils out of one; he leIs Ip. There was a seer Calchas-did he return from
himself be called a fool and all the same he dies; he Troy?
should let his fortune be. Weep not thou for us, for
well we know what rites are offered here.
Ip. Which of you bears the name of Pylades, as
they called it here? This is what I wish to learn first.
Or. He was reported dead in Mycenre.
Ip. Great queen! how well deserved! What of Laertes'
son?
Or. He has not yet returned, but 'tis said he is
Or. This is he, if the knowledge really gives thee
any pleasure.
Ip. What state in Hellas calls him son?
Or. What canst thou gain by learning this, lady?
Ip. Are ye brothers, the sons of one mother?
still aliye.
Ip. Perdition seize him! ne'er may he reach home
again!
Or. Spare thy curses; dire afRiction is his lot.
Ip. Is the son of Thetis the Nereid still living ?
Or. Brothers in friendship, not in blood.
Ip. What name did the author of thy being give
Or. No, dead; his marriage at Aulis came to naught.
Ip. Aye, 'twas all a trick; at least they, who suf­
thee?
fered by it, say so.
Or. I might with justice be called" Misfortune."
Ip. That is not what I ask; refer that to chance.
Or. If I die nameless, I shall not be mocked.
Ip. Why grudge me this? Art so exceeding proud?
Or. Why, who art thou? thy questions touching
Hellas are so apt.
Ip. I am from Hellas; but, when a child, I lost
that home.
Or. 'Tis my body, not my name, that thou wilt Or. Then art thou right, lady, to long for news
sacrifice.
Ip. Wilt thou not even tell me the name of thy
of it.
Ip. What of that general, whom men style "the
city?
blest" ?
Or. No, for thy inquiry boots me not, seeing I am Or. Who is that? The man of whom I wot is not
doomed to die.
Ip. What hinders thee from granting me this boon?
among the blest.
Ip. A prince called Agamemnon, said to be the
Or. Glorious Argos is my home; lawn it with son of Atreus.
pride.
Ip. What! Argos? wert thou really born there, sir
Or. I knew him not; leave this theme, lady,
Ip. I do entreat thee, no! but speak, fair sir, to
stranger?
gladden me.
Or. Aye, in Myceme, so prosperous of yore.
Ip. Was it as an exile or from what mischance that
thou didst quit thy country?
Or. He is dead. poor king! and has caused another's
death as well.
Ip. Dead? why, what befell him? woe is me!
Or. An exile I am in a certain sense, not of my own
free will, nor yet against it. '
Ip. And yet thy coming from Argos was welcome
Or. Why that heavy sigh? Was he related to thee?
Ip. 'Tis for his former prosperity I grieve.
Or. And rightly too. for he came to a fearful end
tome.
Or. Not so to myself, but if thou art pleased, see
at a woman's hands.
Ip. 0 the piteous fate of that murderess and her
to that thyself.
Ip. Wilt tell me something that I wish to learn
myself?
victim!
Or. Prithee. cease and ask no more.
Ip. Only this; is the wretched victim's wife alive?
Or. To serve asan appendix tomy misery!
Ip. Maybe thou hast some knowledge of Troy,
which is spoken of everywhere.
Or. Would God I knew it not so much as in a
Or. No, dead; her son-the child she bore-he
slew her.
Ip. 0 house sore troubled! What could be his object?
dream!
Ip. They say that it is now no more, a city sacked.
Or. Vengeance on her for his father's death.
Ip. Alas for him! how well he exacted his evil
Or. Why, soit is; ye heard aright.
Ip. Did Helen return to the house of Menelaus?
Or. Aye, that she did, to the sorrow of one IIm·ed.
Ip. Where is she now? I too owe her a grudge.
justice.
Or. Spite of his justice, he has no luck at Heaven's
hand.
Ip. Did Agamemnon leave any other issue in his
Or, She is living in Sparta with her first husband.
Ip. 0 creature hateful in the eyes of Hellenes, not
in mine alone I
Or. I too have reaped some fruit of that woman's
halls?
Or. Yes, one maiden child, Electra.
Ip. What! is no mention made of a daughter who
was sacrificed?
marriages.
Ip. Did the Achreans make good their return, as
'tis rumoured?
Or. No, none, except that she has closed her eyes
upon the light.
Ip. Ah, woe is her and him that slew her, her own
Or. Thy question embraces everything at once.
Ip. I would fain get an answer to it before thy
sire!
Or. In a thankless cause she died-the cause of a
death.
Or. Put thy questions, since thou art bent on it;
wicked woman.
Ip. Is the son of the murdered man still ali ye at
I will answer.
Argos?
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