Epeisodion 4
Electra
that he will get the better of Justice, until he comes to the end of the finish-line and makes the last turn in life.
955
Chorus Leader
He did terrible things, and repaid them to you and Orestes; for Justice has great strength.
Electra
Well then; you must carry the body of this man inside
and hide it, slaves, so that when my mother comes, she may not see his corpse before her slaughter.
960
Orestes
Wait! Let us go into another matter.
Electra
What? Those are not rescuers from Mycenae whom I see?
Orestes
No, but the mother who bore me.
Electra
Then finely she walks to the middle of the net. —And here she comes, splendid in her chariot and dress.
965
Orestes
What are we going to do? Shall we kill our mother?
Electra
Surely pity did not seize you, when you saw your mother?
Orestes
Ah! How can I kill her when she bore me and brought me up?
Electra
As she killed your father and mine.
970
Orestes
O Phoebus, you prophesied a great folly—
Electra
Where Apollo is a fool, who are the wise?
Orestes
You who declared I was to kill my mother, whom it is clearly wrong to kill.
Electra
How can you be hurt by avenging your father?
Orestes
I shall stand trial as a matricide, though I was pure before.
975
Electra
And by not defending your father, you will be impious.
Orestes
I, my mother—? To whom will I pay the penalty for her murder?
Electra
And to whom, if you give up our father’s vengeance?
