Eksodos
Agamemnon
Reverence, I tell you, is not easily practiced by the autocrat.
1350
Odysseus
But it is easy to grant dispensations to friends when they advise well.
Agamemnon
A good man should listen to those in charge.
Odysseus
Stop! Your power is victorious when you surrender to your friends.
Agamemnon
Remember to what sort of man you show this kindness!
Odysseus
The man was once my enemy, yes, but he was also noble.
1355
Agamemnon
Why do you do this? Why do you so respect an enemy’s corpse?
Odysseus
I yield to his excellence much more than his hostility.
Agamemnon
Men who act as you do are the unstable sort in humankind.
Odysseus
Quite the majority of men, I assure you, are friendly at one time, and bitter at another.
Agamemnon
So then, are these the type of friends that you recommend we make?
1360
Odysseus
It is not my habit to recommend an inflexible spirit.
Agamemnon
You will make us appear to be cowards today.
Odysseus
On the contrary, we will be men of justice in the eyes of all the Greeks.
Agamemnon
Then do you truly urge me to allow the burying of the dead?
Odysseus
Yes, for I too shall come to that necessity.
1365
Agamemnon
How true it is that in all things alike each man works for himself!
Odysseus
And for whom should I work more than for myself?
Agamemnon
It must be called your doing then, not mine.
Odysseus
However you do it, in all respects you will at least prove beneficent.
