Works of Aeschylus - Aeschylus [42]
Hot was his heart with pride--
"I shall not fall", he cried.
But him with watching scorn
The god beholds, forlorn,
Tangled in toils of Fate beyond escape,
Hopeless of haven safe beyond the cape--
Till all his wealth and bliss of bygone day
Upon the reef of Rightful Doom is hurled,
And he is rapt away
Unwept, for ever, to the dead forgotten world.
Re-enter Athena, with twelve Athenian citizens.
Athena:
O herald, make proclaim, bid all men come.
Then let the shrill blast of the Tyrrhene trump,
Fulfilled with mortal breath, thro' the wide air
Peal a loud summons, bidding all men heed.
For, till my judges fill this judgment-seat,
Silence behoves,--that this whole city learn,
What for all time mine ordinance commands,
And these men, that the cause be judged aright.
Apollo approaches.
Chorus:
O king Apollo, rule what is thine own,
But in this thing what share pertains to thee?
Apollo:
First, as a witness come I, for this man
Is suppliant of mine by sacred right,
Guest of my holy hearth and cleansed by me
Of blood-guilt: then, to set me at his side
And in his cause bear part, as part I bore
Erst in his deed, whereby his mother fell.
Let whoso knoweth now announce the cause.
Athena: (to the Chorus)
'Tis I announce the cause--first speech be yours;
For rightfully shall they whose plaint is tried
Tell the tale first and set the matter clear.
Chorus:
Though we be many, brief shall be our tale.
(To Orestes) Answer thou, setting word to match with
word;
And first avow--hast thou thy mother slain?
Orestes:
I slew her. I deny no word hereof.
Chorus:
Three falls decide the wrestle--this is one.
Orestes:
Thou vauntest thee--but o'er no final fall.
Chorus:
Yet must thou tell the manner of thy deed.
Orestes:
Drawn sword in hand, I gashed her neck. Tis told.
Chorus:
But by whose word, whose craft, wert thou impelled?
Orestes:
By oracles of him who here attests me.
Chorus:
The prophet-god bade thee thy mother slay?
Orestes:
Yea, and thro' him less ill I fared, till now.
Chorus:
If the vote grip thee, thou shalt change that word.
Orestes:
Strong is my hope; my buried sire shall aid.
Chorus:
Go to now, trust the dead, a matricide!
Orestes:
Yea, for in her combined two stains of sin.
Chorus:
How? speak this clearly to the judges' mind.
Orestes:
Slaying her husband, she did slay my sire.
Chorus:
Therefore thou livest; death assoils her deed.
Orestes:
Then while she lived why didst thou hunt her not?
Chorus:
She was not kin by blood to him she slew.
Orestes:
And I, am I by blood my mother's kin?
Chorus:
O cursed with murder's guilt, how else wert thou
The burden of her womb? Dost thou forswear
Thy mother's kinship, closest bond of love?
Orestes:
It is thine hour, Apollo--speak the law,
Averring if this deed were justly done;
For done it is, and clear and undenied.
But if to thee this murder's cause seem right
Or wrongful, speak--that I to these may tell.
Apollo:
To you, Athena's mighty council-court,
Justly for justice will I plead, even I,
The prophet-god, nor cheat you by one word.
For never spake I from my prophet-seat
One word, of man, of woman, or of state,
Save what the Father of Olympian gods
Commanded unto me. I rede you then,
Bethink you of my plea, how strong it stands,
And follow the decree of Zeus our sire,--
For oaths prevail not over Zeus' command.
Chorus:
Go to; thou sayest that from Zeus befel
The oracle that this Orestes bade
With vengeance quit the slaying of his sire,
And hold as nought his mother's right of kin!
Apollo:
Yea, for it stands not with a common death,
That he should die, a chieftain and a king
Decked with the sceptre which high heaven confers--
Die, and by female hands, not smitten down
By a far-shooting bow, held stalwartly
By some strong Amazon. Another doom
Was his: O Pallas, hear, and ye who sit
In judgment, to discern this thing aright!--
She with a specious voice of welcome true
Hailed him, returning from the mighty