SCENE.—_The Outer Court of the Oracle at_ Delphi. _Inner shrine in
the background, with doors leading into it_
_Enter the_ PYTHIAN PRIESTESS
_Pyth._ First, with this prayer, of all the Gods I honour
The primal seeress Earth, and Themis next,[466]
Who in due order filled her mother's place,
(So runs the tale,) and in the third lot named,
With her good-will and doing wrong to none,
Another of the Titans' offspring sat,
Earth's daughter Phœbe, and as birthday gift
She gives it up to Phœbos,[467] and he takes
His name from Phœbe. And he, leaving then
The pool[468] and rocks of Delos, having steered
To the ship-traversed shores that Pallas owns, 10
Came to this land and to Parnassos' seat:
And with great reverence they escort him on,
Hephæstos' sons, road-makers,[469] turning thus
The wilderness to land no longer wild;
And when he comes the people honour him,
And Delphos too,[470] chief pilot of this land.
And him Zeus sets, his mind with skill inspired,
As the fourth seer upon these sacred seats;
And Loxias is his father Zeus's prophet.
These Gods in prologue of my prayer I worship; 20
Pallas Pronaia[471] too claims highest praise;
The Nymphs adore I too where stands the rock
Korykian,[472] hollow, loved of birds and haunt
Of Gods. [And Bromios[473] also claims this place,
Nor can I now forget it, since the time
When he, a God, with help of Bacchants warred,
And planned a death for Pentheus, like a hare's.[474]
Invoking Pleistos'[475] founts, Poseidon's might,
And Zeus most High, supreme Accomplisher,
I in due order sit upon this seat
As seeress, and I pray them that they grant
To find than all my former divinations 30
One better still. If Hellas pilgrims sends,
Let them approach by lot, as is our law;
For as the God guides I give oracles.[476]
[_She passes through the door to the adytum,
and after a pause returns trembling and
crouching with fear, supporting herself
with her hands against the walls and
columns. The door remains open, and
Orestes and the Erinnyes are seen in the
inner sanctuary_
Dread things to tell, and dread for eyes to see,
Have sent me back again from Loxias' shrine,
*So that strength fails, nor can I nimbly move,
But run with help of hands, not speed of foot;
A woman old and terrified is nought,
A very child. Lo! into yon recess
With garlands hung I go, and there I see
Upon the central stone[477] a God-loathed man, 40
Sitting as suppliant, and with hands that dripped
Blood-drops, and holding sword but newly drawn,
And branch of olive from the topmost growth,
With amplest tufts of white wool meetly wreathed;
For this I will say clearly.[478] And a troop
Of women strange to look at sleepeth there,
Before this wanderer, seated on their stools;
Not women they, but Gorgons[479] I must call them;
Nor yet can I to Gorgon forms compare them:
I have seen painted shapes that bear away 50
The feast of Phineus.[480] Wingless, though, are these,
And swarth, and every way abominable.
*They snort with breath that none may dare approach,
And from their eyes a loathsome humour pours,
And such their garb as neither to the shrine
Of Gods is meet to bring, nor mortal roof.
Ne'er have I seen a race that owns this tribe,
Nor is there land can boast it rears such brood,
Unhurt and free from sorrow for its pains.
Henceforth be it the lot of Loxias, 60
Our mighty lord, himself to deal with them:
True prophet-healer he, and portent-seer,
And for all others cleanser of their homes.
_Enter_ APOLLO _from the inner adytum, attended
by_ HERMES
_Apol._ [_To_ ORESTES.] Nay, I'll not fail thee, but as close at hand
Will guard thee to the end, or though far off,
Will not prove yielding to thine adversaries;
And now thou see'st these fierce ones captive ta'en,
These loathly maidens fallen fast in sleep.
Hoary and ancient virgins they, with whom
Nor God, nor man, nor beast, holds intercourse. 70
They owe their birth to evils; for they dwell
In evil darkness, yea in Tartaros
Beneath the earth, and are the hate and dread
Of all mankind, and of Olympian Gods.
Yet fly thou, fly, and be not faint of heart;
For they will chase thee over mainland wide,
As thou dost tread the soil by wanderers tracked,
And o'er the ocean, and by sea-girt towns;
And fail thou not before the time, as brooding
O'er this great toil. But go to Pallas' city,
And sit, and clasp her ancient image[481] there; 80
And there with judges of these things, and words
Strong to appease, will we a means devise
To free thee from these ills for evermore;
For I urged thee to take thy mother's life.
_Orest._ Thou know'st, O king Apollo, not to wrong;
And since thou know'st, learn also not to slight:
Thy strength gives full security for act.
_Apol._ Remember, let no fear o'ercome thy soul;
And [_To_ HERMES] thou, my brother, of one father born,
My Hermes, guard him; true to that thy name,
Be thou his Guide, true shepherd of this man,
Who comes to me as suppliant: Zeus himself 90
*Reveres this reverence e'en to outcasts due,
When it to mortals comes with guidance good.[482]
[_Exit_ ORESTES _led by_ HERMES. APOLLO _retires
within the adytum. The Ghost of_ CLYTÆMNESTRA
_rises from the ground_
_Clytæm._ What ho! Sleep on! What need of sleepers now?
And I am put by you to foul disgrace
Among the other dead, nor fails reproach
Among the shades that I a murderess am;
And so in shame I wander, and I tell you
That at their hands I bear worst form of blame.
And much as I have borne from nearest kin, 100
Yet not one God is stirred to wrath for me,
Though done to death by matricidal hands.
See ye these heart-wounds, whence and how they came?
Yea, when it sleeps, the mind is bright with eyes;[483]
But in the day it is man's lot to lack
All true discernment. Many a gift of mine
Have ye lapped up, libations pure from wine,[484]
And soothing rites that shut out drunken mirth;
And I dread banquets of the night would offer
On altar-hearth, at hour no God might share.
And lo! all this is trampled under foot. 110
He is escaped, and flees, like fawn, away;
And even from the midst of all your toils
Has nimbly slipped, and draws wide mouth at you.
Hear ye; for I have spoken for my life:
Give heed, ye dark, earth-dwelling Goddesses,
I, Clytæmnestra's phantom, call on you.
[_The Erinnyes moan in their sleep_
Moan on, the man is gone, and flees far off:
My kindred find protectors; I find none.
[_Moan as before_
Too sleep-oppressed art thou, nor pitiest me:
Orestes, murderer of his mother, 'scapes. 120
[_Noises repeated_
Dost snort? Dost drowse? Wilt thou not rise and speed?
What have ye ever done but work out ill?
[_Noises as before_
Yea, sleep and toil, supreme conspirators,
Have withered up the dreaded dragon's strength.
_Chor._ [_starting up suddenly with a yell._] Seize him, seize, seize,
yea, seize: look well to it.
_Clytæm._ Thou, phantom-like,[485] dost hunt thy prey, and criest,
Like hound that never rests from care of toil.
What dost thou? (_to one Erinnys._) Rise and let not toil o'ercome
thee,
Nor, lulled to sleep, lose all thy sense of loss.
Let thy soul (_to another_) feel the pain of just reproach: 130
The wise of heart find that their goad and spur.
And thou (_to a third_), breathe on him with thy blood-flecked breath,
And with thy vapour, thy maw's fire, consume him;
Chase him, and wither with a fresh pursuit.
_Leader of the Chor._ Wake, wake, I say; wake her, as I wake thee.
Dost slumber? Rise, I say, and shake off sleep.
Let's see if this our prelude be in vain.