by Aeschylus
939–40 / 811–18 The image of Hermes as “the dark before our eyes” by day as well as night suggests his ability to mystify at will, with deceptive messages or disturbing dreams. The image may allude to the “cap of Hades,” which grants invisibility, and which Hermes obtained for Perseus, to whom Orestes is compared at 954–59 / 831–37.
958 / 835–36 run red with Gorgon gore The comparison of Orestes and Perseus is continued in the analogy between Clytemnestra and Perseus’ victim, the Gorgon Medusa. While this is apt in itself, it may also foreshadow the next stage of the drama. Perseus was pursued by the other Gorgons for his killing of their sister, and Orestes will be pursued by Clytemnestra’s Erinyes, who he says are “like / Gorgons” (1187–88 / 1048; cf. Eumenides 59–60 / 48–49). Here, he is also urged to kill “the man whose hands are red from killing” (Aegisthus), but in doing so he will become just such a man himself, and the target of the Erinyes’ murderous intentions.
960–1064 / 838–934 Third episode The central action of the play moves forward at a headlong pace and with corresponding intensity of focus. Aegisthus enters and exits again after an extraordinarily brief dialogue with the Chorus. After a short interlude marking his death, the Slave enters to give what amounts to the scantiest, most agitated messenger speech in Greek drama, followed almost immediately by Clytemnestra, and a few lines later by Orestes and Pylades. The result of all this commotion is a confrontation of mother and son—the climactic moment of the drama—that lasts a mere forty lines.
960–79 / 838–54 Aegisthus appears alone, in accordance with the Nurse’s instructions, thus demonstrating the success of the intrigue in the previous scene and preparing for his immanent murder. One senses again the formal care with which Aeschylus connects the scenes in this part of the play (cf. note on 825–39). This scene is like a mirror of the preceding scene, also a self-contained and employing a single actor. There, the Nurse exited from the palace and was engaged in dialogue by the Chorus Leader before exiting through the orchestra. Here, Aegisthus enters through the orchestra, briefly engages the Chorus Leader in dialogue, and exits into the palace.
965 / 842 would make its deep wounds ooze and drip again The obvious irony emphasizes Aegisthus’ cluelessness: not Orestes’ death, but his own and Clytemnestra’s, will open the wounds of the house. There is similarly blatant irony in Aegisthus’ final statement that the stranger who reported Orestes’ death “can’t deceive a mind that’s open-eyed” (979 / 854).
980–95 / 855–68 Choral interlude Again, marching anapests (see note on Agamemnon, 48–123) fill the interval between Aegisthus’ exit and his death, marked immediately afterwards by a single outcry (996 / 869). As at 825–39 / 719–29), the passage seems to connect the preceding scene to what follows, rather than to mark a full act-division.
992 / 866 all by himself The next round of the wrestling match will pit Orestes as ephedros (the wrestler who waits “on the bench” to meet the victor of the previous contest) against not one victor, but two.
1004 / 877 Open up The staging here is in doubt: what doors are to be opened up? The most obvious solution is to suppose that there is a second door at one side of the stage building that is to be imagined as leading to the women’s quarters, and that the Slave calls to other servants expected to be at that door. However, no other tragedy seems to require a second door, and a good case for requiring such a door can only be made for comedies of the 420s and later. The alternative is to suppose that the Slave refers to an inside door and calls back into the house; it is highly unlikely that, as has sometimes been proposed, lines 1002–7 / 875–80 are spoken from inside before the Slave appears.
1014 / 886 the dead are killing off the living This “riddle,” as Clytemnestra calls it (1015 / 887), refers to the story that Orestes was dead, but its phraseology is designed to reveal a larger truth about what is happening, and in this sense it confirms the Slave’s insight that his mistress will soon “fall to the blade of just revenge” (1012 / 884).
1016 / 888 We killed by treachery Cf. 634–35 / 556–58.
1017 / 889 an axe to kill a man Clytemnestra’s resistance comes too late, but with her old daring and “manly” decisiveness, effectively putting the lie to the image she earlier cultivated of a woman who defers to men when it comes to “graver business” (770 / 672).
1020–59 / 892–930 Orestes and Clytemnestra meet at last in a brief but terrible scene, which has been repeatedly promised, but whose human implications Orestes has not yet fully confronted (cf. note on 644–57). Now he cannot avoid them.
1024 / 896–97 take pity on this breast It is usually assumed that Clytemnestra bares her breast at this point, as Hecuba did to her son Hector in a vain attempt to keep him from fighting Achilles (Iliad, 22, 79–81). On the Athenian stage, however, men played women’s parts, and it may have been difficult to present breast-baring to the right effect; at any rate, it is not presented on stage in any other extant tragedy. Perhaps the idea was conveyed here simply by a gesture.
1027 / 899 What do I do, Pylades? Orestes’ resolution falters, and he turns to his companion for help. Pylades, who until now has merely shadowed Orestes as a mute extra, will hardly have been expected to speak, and the surprise makes his words all the more effective. Speaking in effect for Apollo, Pylades confirms Orestes’ decision to do the deed he has long known awaits him.
1041 / 912 a mother’s curse Orestes will feel its effects before the play is over, but here he tries to deflect it by pointing out that Clytemnestra was not a proper mother to him. At 1053–54 / 924–25, he answers the more explicit threat of pursuit by the “mad dogs” of her curse, if he kills her, by referring to the threat of his father’s curse, if he fails to do so (see note on 311–38).
1044 / 915 I was sold Electra made the same allegation at 158–60 / 132–34. In both cases the notion is that Clytemnestra’s “price” for the sale of her children is her relationship with Aegisthus.
1053 / 924–25 mad dogs of a mother’s curse These are the Erinyes, often pictured as hounds (cf. 1193 / 1054 and Eumenides 143–45 / 131–32 and 276–78 / 246–47) because they pursue their victims by the scent of blood.
1055 / 926 a deaf tomb Clytemnestra means Orestes, but in the next line Orestes transfers the words to Agamemnon’s grave, to which as his murderer she cries in vain.
1057 / 928 you are the snake Clytemnestra’s dream has not been mentioned since Orestes made precisely this claim for himself (627–28 / 549–50; see note on 619). Acknowledging the meaning of her dream, Clytemnestra admits defeat. We will not hear her death cry—her life is over when she leaves the stage.
1060–64 / 931–34 The Chorus Leader caps the scene and introduces the choral ode with a note of pity for Aegisthus and Clytemnestra that yields immediately to the thought that Orestes has saved the house. He is its “eye” both as its most precious part and its guardian.
1065–96 / 935–72 Third stasimon This song of triumph, which the Chorus had prayed to sing at 441–43 / 386–89 (and cf. 941–47 / 819–26), sums up their view of Orestes’ vengeance as the liberation of the house from its curse, presided over by Justice and guided by Apollo. The joyful mood provides an effective contrast to the final scene.
1068 / 938 a double lion Most commentators take this to refer to Orestes and Pylades, but since in the following lines, the Chorus comments that Orestes “drove the whole / course by himself,” it appears to be calling him a double lion, i.e., the one responsible for the double slaughter of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.
1071 / 942 Shout out in triumph See note on Agamemnon 33–34.
1079 / 949–50 we speak truth when we name her Justice Another example of the nomenomen principle (cf. note on Agamemnon 782). In the Doric Greek of this choral lyric, Dika (Justice) is derived from the words that immediately precede it, Dios kora, “daughter of Zeus.”
1081 / 953–54 the great cave of Parnassus See note on 929–30.
1087 / 961 the light has come See note on 157.
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93 / 967 when all pollution is expelled The notion that a house can be purified from pollution is common; such a rite is described already in the Odyssey, 22, 480–94. Here, however, the Chorus’ assumption that the house can so easily be cleansed will prove deluded, and by 1198–99 / 1059–60, the Chorus will realize that Orestes must go to Apollo’s shrine at Delphi to seek purification.
1096 / 971 the alien tenants The Erinyes, who have so long lived in it as “resident aliens” (metoikoi). Ironically, they will only leave the house to pursue Orestes (1200–1201 / 1061–62), ending their journey in Athens, where they will agree to stay, this time as honored metoikoi (see note on Eumenides 1182–83).
1097–1217 / 973–1076 Exodus The concluding dialogue of Orestes and the Chorus leads quickly from triumph to anguish to something like desperation, as Orestes departs into a new and uncertain exile. The reversal is more sudden and far more complete than that in the encounter between the Chorus and Clytemnestra in Agamemnon (1563–1813 / 1372–1577). Instead of light, darkness descends again in Orestes’ vision of the black-robed Erinyes; instead of victory, there is madness, pollution, and pursuit.
The exodus begins with a version of the tableau seen in Agamemnon, where Clytemnestra appeared along with the bodies of her victims (see note on Agamemnon, 1563). As in that scene, the most likely way to stage Orestes’ appearance here with the corpses of Clytemnnestra and Aegisthus would have been to roll out the tableau on the wheeled platform called the ekkyklêma, although it is possible that the elements of the tableau were brought in by extras. The two tableaux are further linked by Orestes’ display of the bloody robes in which his father was slain, and, however it was managed, we may be sure that both were staged in the same way.
1102 / 977 their oath, too, has been faithful to its pledges A mild personification equivalent to saying that they abided by the terms of their oath. The word translated “pledges” (pistômasin) is often used of marriage vows (see note on Eumenides, 238).
1108 / 983 Here, spread it out Perhaps the robe is spread out in the same place as the embroideries on which Agamemnon walked to his death (see William Whallon, Problem and Spectacle: Studies in the Oresteia, Heidelberg, 1980, 87), which would add a second parallel to Agamemnon and a second illustration of the retributive “fit” of Orestes’ murders.
1110–12 / 984–86 my father … the Sun It is common in Greek literature to appeal to the sun as a witness, since he sees everything as he crosses above the earth. At Agamemnon, 718–19 / 632–33, the Herald says that only the sun can know who survived the shipwreck of the Greek fleet, and at Agamemnon, 1509 / 1323–24, Cassandra, departing for death, prays to the “sun’s last shining” that her death will be avenged. The notion of the Sun as father is encountered less frequently, though it is a natural enough reflection of the role of Sun and Earth in the genesis of life in Greek thought. Here it is used to fine pathetic effect, as Orestes’ invocation of his father is interrupted to remind us that he has no living father but the Sun. It may be significant that Orestes invokes the Sun as martus en dikê, a phrase that might be translated “witness in a trial,” but if it constitutes a hint of what still awaits him, it is nothing more than a hint.
1118 / 990 the law’s the law Athenian law allowed for an adulterer to be killed with impunity by the husband or other family member. Aegisthus’ murder needs no further defense; it is the matricide that brings pollution and needs justification. There is, however, an irony built into this and the many other references to law and legal procedures in the trilogy, for the premise of private retribution is that no legal avenues yet exist for those wronged to get satisfaction.
1123 / 994 If she had been an eel, or viper This returns the metaphor of the snake to Clytemnestra (as at 281 / 248–49), after its association with Orestes through Clytemnestra’s dream.
1139–42 / 1007–9 and 1147–51 / 1018–20 Symmetrical outbursts in marching anapests (see note on Agamemnon, 48–123) expressing the Chorus’ dawning recognition of the misery that still faces Orestes.
1144 / 1011 Aegisthus’ sword Aegisthus, in Aeschylus’ version, has been excluded from any part in the actual murder of Agamemnon, but one need not confect elaborate scenarios to explain this reference to him. Clytemnestra would be using his sword simply because, as a woman, she had none of her own; and Orestes’ mention of the detail reminds us of the adultery that for him is at the root of her crime (1099–1104 / 975–79).
1157–59 / 1022–24 The first indication of Orestes’ madness, presented in a striking metaphor. Earlier, the Chorus pictured Orestes as a colt striving to win a chariot race (915–21 / 794–99); now he sees himself as a charioteer losing control of his team, i.e., his mind.
1169 / 1031 guiltlessly At 303 / 269, Orestes said simply that “Apollo’s great oracle will never betray me.” Here he specifies for the first time that Apollo has promised that he will be freed of any guilt, but how that is to happen will be made clear only in Eumenides.
1172 / 1034–35 armed with this branch and wreath An olive branch wreathed with tufts of wool is the suppliant’s usual emblem, and when we next hear of Orestes as a suppliant in Delphi, he will still be carrying it, along with his sword (Eumenides, 50–56 / 40–45). Orestes will not have been holding the branch when he entered at 1097 / 972, but one of his attendants presumably brought it on, so that he can take it now. Orestes is presumably still carrying the bloody sword, and the contrast of the two implements makes for a striking visual oxymoron that continues until he leaves the stage.
1174–75 / 1037 called / Forever Burning The famous eternal flame that blazed in the hearth of Apollo, beside the earth’s navel stone within the temple at Delphi.
1180 / 1041 when Menelaus comes Menelaus is said in Book 4 of the Odyssey still to be wandering at the time of Agamemnon’s death; Proteus urges him to hurry home, foretelling that either he will find Aegisthus still alive, or Orestes will just have killed him (Odyssey, 4, 544–47). Menelaus’ adventures on his way home were the subject of the lost satyr play Proteus, which followed the three tragedies of the Oresteia (see Introduction, footnote 1).
1198 / 1059 There’s only one way See note on 1093.
1204–17 / 1065–76 The final marching anapests (see note on Agamemnon 48–123) bring not just Libation Bearers, but also Agamemnon (which ended without a closing choral “tag”) to an end—but no conclusion—by asking what the future will bring. They recall two earlier visitations of the curse on the house, the slaughter of Thyestes’ children and the murder of Agamemnon; then they try without success to divine the meaning of the third, the murder of Clytemnestra that was meant to put a stop to the cycle of violence but seems to have brought only more ruin.
1214 / 1073–74 a savior, or should I say a death The Chorus momentarily identifies Orestes with Zeus Savior of the third libation, still hoping he may prove to be the salvation of his house, but fearing that he should instead be called its downfall. See Introduction, p. 32–33.
1217 / 1076 destruction The final word in this translation represents the ominous final words of the Greek text (menos atês, “the might of ruin”). Hope is not lost, but ruin is still undefeated. We await the third fall, the final play of the trilogy.
EUMENIDES
1–156 / 1–139 Prologue Substantially longer than the prologues (defined simply as the portion of the play before the Chorus makes its entrance) of the first two plays of the trilogy, this is really a sequence of separate scenes with a remarkable cumulative impact. First, there is a scene-setting speech by the Pythia (1–40 / 1–33), who exits only to return with a kind of messenger speech, an agitated report of the presence in the temple of Orestes and the Erinyes (41–76 / 34–63). In the next scene, Apollo promises Orestes his continues protection and prescribes the journey to Athens through which Orestes will win release from his troubles (77–108 / 64–93) He has put the Erinyes to sleep, and Orestes is able to make his escape. In the final scene of the Prologue, the ghost of Clytemnestra awakens her Erinyes and stir them into pursuit
of Orestes (109–156 / 94–139). Taken as a whole, this sequence presents the essential outlines of the coming struggle clearly and with dramatic force.
1–76 / 1–63 Structurally, the Pythia’s speech resembles the two preceding prologues in that all three are intersected by a startling sight that changes the speaker’s mood. In this case, the initial mood is markedly different from that which prevailed in the final scene of Libation Bearers, since the Pythia’s prayers emphasize the order and peace of the shrine at Delphi, and the harmony among the gods associated with it (see note on 6). The Pythia’s report of what she has seen in the temple, on the other hand, directly continues the situation and tenor at the end of the preceding play.
2 / 2 the first prophet, Earth There was a shrine to Earth in the sanctuary at Delphi through its active history, and her importance to the site is presumably reflected in the story that Delphi was found to be the center of the earth when the two eagles Zeus sent out from either side of the earth met there.
