Stasimon 2
[Episode]
Do not speak of death; that is not wise.
415
Orestes
It is Phoebus, who commanded me to kill my mother.
Menelaus
Showing a strange ignorance of what is fair and right.
Orestes
We are slaves to the gods, whatever those gods are.
Menelaus
And does Loxias not help your affliction?
Orestes
He will in time; this is the nature of gods.
420
Menelaus
How long is it since your mother breathed her last?
Orestes
This is the sixth day; her funeral pyre is still warm.
Menelaus
How soon the goddesses arrived to avenge your mother’s blood!
Orestes
I am not clever, but I am by nature a true friend to my friends.
Menelaus
Does your father give you any help at all, for your avenging him?
425
Orestes
Not yet; I call delay the equal of inaction.
Menelaus
How do you stand in the city after that deed of yours?
Orestes
I am so hated that no one will speak to me.
Menelaus
Have your hands not even been cleaned of blood, according to custom?
Orestes
No, for wherever I go, the door is shut against me.
430
Menelaus
Which citizens are driving you from the land?
Orestes
Oeax, who refers to my father his reason for hating Troy.
Menelaus
I understand; he is avenging on you the blood of Palamedes.
Orestes
That was nothing to do with me; yet I am destroyed for three reasons.
