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Iphigenia
Which of you is called by the name of Pylades? I want to know this first. Orestes
That one, if you have any pleasure in the knowledge. Iphigenia
[495] Of what city of Hellas were you born a citizen? Orestes
What would you gain by learning this, lady? Iphigenia
Are you brothers, from one mother? Orestes
By friendship, yes; we are not brothers by birth, lady. Iphigenia
What name did your father give you? Orestes
[500] I might rightly be called Unfortunate. Iphigenia
I do not ask that; ascribe that to fortune. Orestes
If I die unnamed, I would not be mocked at. Iphigenia
Why do you begrudge this? Are you so proud? Orestes
You will sacrifice my body, not my name. Iphigenia
[505] Can you not say what city you are from? Orestes
You are seeking nothing profitable, since I am going to die. Iphigenia
What hinders you from doing me this favor? Orestes
The famous Argos I claim as my native land. Iphigenia
By the gods, truly, stranger, were you born there? Orestes
[510] Yes, from Mycenae, which was once prosperous. Iphigenia
Have you left your country as an exile, or by what fate? Orestes
My flight is in some manner willed and unwilled. Iphigenia
Could you then tell me something that I wish to know? Orestes
It will be no great addition to my own misfortune. Iphigenia
[515] Indeed, I am so glad that you have come from Argos! Orestes
I am not; but if you are, take pleasure in it. Iphigenia
Perhaps you know Troy, whose fame is everywhere. Orestes
Would that I did not, even seen in a dream! Iphigenia
They say it is no more, lost to the spear. Orestes
[520] It is so; you have heard nothing that has not happened. Iphigenia
Has Helen come back to Menelaus' home? Orestes
She has; it was an unfortunate arrival for one dear to me. Iphigenia
And where is she? She deserves an ill turn from me also. Orestes
She lives at Sparta with her former bedfellow. Iphigenia
[525] Creature hated by Hellas, not by me alone! Orestes
I have also had some benefit from the marriage of that woman! Iphigenia
Have the Achaeans returned, as reported? Orestes
How you put everything together and ask me all at once! Iphigenia
Before you die, I want to profit by your answers. Orestes
[530] Question me, since you desire this; I will tell you. Iphigenia
Has a certain Calchas, a prophet, come back from Troy? Orestes
He is dead, as the story goes in Mycenae. Iphigenia
O goddess, how good that is! What about Odysseus? Orestes
He has not yet returned, but is alive, they say. Iphigenia
[535] May he die and never achieve a return to his country! Orestes
Do not pray against that man; all is misery for him. Iphigenia
But is the son of Thetis the Nereid still alive? Orestes
He is not; his marriage at Aulis was in vain. Iphigenia
Yes, for it was a cheat, as those who experienced it know.
Euripides. The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Iphigenia in Tauris, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938.
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