Electra
Hear, then, in what way I have decided to take action. As for the support of friends, you yourself doubtless know that we have none. Hades has taken our friends away,
[950]
and we two are left alone. I, so long as I heard that my brother still lived and prospered, had hopes that he would yet come to avenge the murder of our father. But now that he is no more, I look next to you
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and ask that you not flinch from aiding me, your sister, to slay our father's murderer, Aegisthus. There—I can have no secrets from you anymore.
How long will you wait in indifference? What hope is left standing, to which your eyes can turn? Now you are right to complain
[960]
that you are robbed of possession of your father's estate; now you may mourn that you have advanced this far in years without wedded love or bridal song. And do not cling to hopes that you will ever meet with such joys. The man, Aegisthus, is not so unthinking
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as ever to permit that offspring should shoot up from you or from me either to be a certain bane for himself. But if you will follow my plans, first you will win praise for piety from our dead father below, and from our brother, too;
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next, you shall be called hereafter free, just as you were born, and shall find a worthy marriage. For noble natures draw the gaze of all.
Then do you not see what fair fame you will procure for yourself and for me, by obeying me?
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What citizen or stranger when he sees us will not greet us with praises such as these: “Behold these two sisters, my friends! They saved their father's house, and at a time when their foes were firmly established,
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they took their lives in their hands and administered bloodshed! Worthy of love is this pair, worthy of reverence from all. At festivals, and wherever the citizenry is assembled, let these two be honored by all men for their manly courage.” Thus will every one speak of us,
[985]
so that in life and in death our glory shall not fail.
Come, dear sister, be persuaded! Toil with our father, share the burden of your brother, put an end to my troubles and an end to yours, keeping in mind that a shameful life brings shame upon the noble-born.
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Sophocles. The Electra of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894.
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