previous next

Chorus Leader
Electra, you are nearby; see whether your brother has not died without your knowing it; [210] for I do not like his utter prostration.

Orestes
awaking refreshed
Sweet charm of sleep, savior in sickness, how sweetly you came to me, how needed! Revered forgetfulness of troubles, how wise a goddess you are, and invoked by every suffering soul!

[215] Where have I come from? How am I here? For I have lost all previous recollection and remember nothing.

Electra
My dearest, how glad I was to see you fall asleep! Do you want me take you in my arms and lift your body?

Orestes
Take, oh! take me in your arms, and from this sufferer's mouth [220] and eyes wipe off the flakes of foam.

Electra
There! The service is sweet, and I do not refuse to tend a brother's limbs with a sister's hand.

Orestes
Prop me up, your side to mine; brush the matted hair from my face, for I see dimly.

Electra
[225] Ah, poor head, how dirty your hair! How savage you look, remaining so long unwashed!

Orestes
Put me once more upon the couch; whenever the madness leaves me, I am unnerved and weak.

Electra
There! His couch is welcome to the sick man, [230] a painful possession, but a necessary one.

Orestes
Set me upright once again, turn my body round; it is their helplessness that makes the sick so hard to please.

Electra
Will you set your feet upon the ground and take a step at last? Change is always pleasant.

Orestes
[235] Oh, yes; for that has a semblance of health; and the semblance is preferable, though it is far from the truth.

Electra
Hear me now, my brother, while the Furies permit you to use your senses.

Orestes
You have news to tell; if it is good, you do me a kindness; [240] but if it tends to my hurt, I have suffered enough.

Electra
Menelaus, your father's brother, has come; his ships are moored in Nauplia.

Orestes
What did you say? Has he come to be a light in our troubles, a man of our own family, who owes gratitude to our father?

Electra
[245] He has come, and is bringing Helen from the walls of Troy—accept this as proof of what I say.

Orestes
If he had returned alone in safety, he would be more enviable; but if he is bringing his wife, he has come with great evil.

Electra
Tyndareus begot a race of daughters notorious for blame, [250] infamous throughout Hellas.

Orestes
Then you be different from that evil brood, for you can be; and not only in words, but also in heart.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
Nauplia (Greece) (1)
Greece (Greece) (1)

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide References (4 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: