IPH. You must take care of the rest, that it be well.
OR. There lacks but one thing, namely, that these women who are present
preserve our secret. But do thou beseech them, and find words that will
persuade. A woman in truth has power to move pity. But all the rest will
perchance fall out well.
IPH. O dearest women, I look to you, and my affairs rest in you, as to
whether they turn out well, or be of naught, and I be deprived of my
country, my dear brother, and dearest sister. And let this first be the
commencement of my words. We are women, a race well inclined to one
another, and most safe in keeping secret matters of common interest. Do ye
keep silence for us, and labor out our escape. Honorable is it for the man
who possesses a faithful tongue. But behold how one fortune holds the three
most dear, either a return to our father-land, or to die. But, being
preserved, that thou also mayest share my fortune, I will restore thee safe
to Greece. But, by thy right hand, thee, and thee [_addressing the women of
the chorus in succession_] I beseech, and thee by thy beloved cheek, and
thy knees, and those most dear at home, mother, and father, and children,
to whom there are such.[142] What say ye? Who of you will, or will not
[speak!] these things.[143] For if ye assent not to my words, I am undone,
and my wretched sister.
CHOR. Be of good cheer, dear mistress, and think only of being saved, since
on my part all shall be kept secret, the mighty Jove be witness! in the
things thou enjoinest.
IPH. May your words profit ye, and may ye be blest. 'Tis thy part now, and
thine [to the different women] to enter the house, as the ruler of this
land will straightway come, inquiring concerning the sacrifice of the
strangers, whether it is over. O revered Goddess, who in the recesses of
Aulis didst save me from the dire hand of a slaying father, now also save
me and these, or the voice of Loxias will through thee be no longer
truthful among mortals. But do thou with good will quit the barbarian land
for Athens, for it becomes thee not to dwell here, when you can possess a
blest city.
CHORUS. Thou bird, that by the rocky cliffs of the sea, halcyon,[144] dost
chant thy mournful elegy, a sound well understood by the skilled, namely,
that thou art ever bemoaning thine husband in song, I, a wingless bird,
compare my dirge with thine, longing for the assemblies[145] of the Greeks,
longing for Lucina, who dwells along the Cynthian height, and near the
palm[146] with its luxuriant foliage, and the rich-springing laurel, and
the holy shoot of the deep blue olive, the dear place of Latona's
throes,[147] and the lake that rolls its waters in a circle,[148] where the
melodious swan honors the muses. O ye many tricklings of tears which fell
upon my cheeks, when, our towers being destroyed, I traveled in ships
beneath the oars and the spears of the foes.[149] And through a bartering
of great price I came a journey to a barbarian land,[150] where I serve the
daughter of Agamemnon, the priestess of the Goddess, and the
sheep-slaughtering[151] altars, envying her who has all her life been
unfortunate;[152] for she bends not under necessity, who is familiar with
it. Unhappiness is wont to change,[153] but to fare ill after prosperity is
a heavy life for mortals. And thee indeed, O mistress, an Argive ship of
fifty oars will conduct home, and the wax-bound reed of mountain Pan with
Syrinx tune cheer on the oarsmen, and prophet Phœbus, plying the tones of
his seven-stringed lyre, with song will lead thee prosperously to the rich
land of Athens. But leaving me here thou wilt travel by the dashing oars.
And the halyards by the prow,[154] will stretch forth the sails to the air,
above the beak, the sheet lines of the swift-journeying ship. Would that I
might pass through the glittering course, where the fair light of the sun
wends its way, and over my own chamber might rest from rapidly moving the
pinions on my shoulders.[155] And would that I might stand in the dance,
where also [I was wont to stand,] a virgin sprung from honorable
nuptials,[156] wreathing the dances of my companions at the foot of my dear
mother,[157] bounding to the rivalry of the graces, to the wealthy strife
respecting [beauteous] hair, pouring my variously-painted garb and tresses
around, I shadowed my cheeks.[158]
[_Enter_ THOAS.]
THOAS. Where is the Grecian woman who keeps the gate of this temple? Has
she yet begun the sacrifice of the strangers, and are the bodies burning in
the flame within the pure recesses?
CHOR. Here she is, O king, who will tell thee clearly all.
TH. Ah! Why art thou removing in your arms this image of the Goddess from
its seat that may not be disturbed, O daughter of Agamemnon?
IPH. O king, rest there thy foot in the portico.
TH. But what new matter is in the house, Iphigenia?
IPH. I avert the ill--for holy[159] do I utter this word.
TH. What new thing art thou prefacing? speak clearly.
IPH. O king, no pure offerings hast thou hunted out for me.
TH. What hath taught you this? or dost thou speak it as matter of opinion?