Epeisodion 1
Electra
but his altar is barren of ornament. That famous one, my mother’s husband, leaps on the grave, they say, when soaked in drink, and pelts my father’s marble monument with stones, and dares to say this to us:
325
Where is your son Orestes? Is he here to defend the tomb for you nobly? Orestes is insulted in this way while absent. But, stranger, I beg you, report these things. There are many calling him to come—I am their interpreter—these hands, this tongue, my broken heart,
330
my shorn head, and his own father. For it is shameful, if his father exterminated the Trojans but Orestes is unable to kill a man, one against one, being young and born from a more noble father.
335
Chorus Leader
And look, I see him, I mean your husband,
on his way home, his day’s work done.
340
Peasant
Oh! who are these strangers I see at my door? Why have they come here to my rustic gate? Do they want something from me? For it is shameful for a woman to be standing with young men.
Electra
Dearest, do not be suspicious of me; you shall hear the truth; for these strangers have come to me as messengers of news from Orestes. But, strangers, pardon him for what he said.
345
Peasant
What do they say? The man is alive and sees the light of day?
Electra
He is, at least in their report, and I believe them.
350
Peasant
Surely then he remembers something of your father’s wrongs and your own?
Electra
These are things to hope for; a man in exile is powerless.
Peasant
What message from Orestes have they come to declare?
Electra
He sent them as spies of my wrongs.
Peasant
Then they see a part of it, and perhaps you are telling them the rest.
355
Electra
They know; they have all these things in abundance.
Peasant
Then shouldn’t you have opened the doors to them long before? Go into the house; for in return for your good tidings, you shall find as much hospitality as my house holds in store.
Servants, take their baggage within the house. Do not contradict me, since you are friends coming from a friend; for, even if I am poor, I will not display manners that are ill-bred.
360
Orestes
By the gods! Is this the man who makes a fraud of your marriage,
because he does not want to shame Orestes?
365
Electra
This is the one who is called my husband, unhappy as I am.
