THE CHOEPHORI (The Libation-Bearers)

The Libation Bearers, also known as The Choephori, is one of four Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in 450 B.C. collectively known as The Oresteia. This English translation of the original work was performed by E. D. A. Morshead, English classicist and teacher, and published in 1881.

* CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY ORESTES, son of AGAMEMNON and CLYTEMNESTRA CHORUS OF SLAVE WOMEN ELECTRA, sister of ORESTES A NURSE CLYTEMNESTRA AEGISTHUS AN ATTENDANT PYLADES, friend of ORESTES * (SCENE:--By the tomb of Agamemnon near the palace in Argos. ORESTES and PYLADES enter, dressed as travellers. ORESTES carries two locks of hair in his hand.) Orestes: Lord of the shades and patron of the realm That erst my father swayed, list now my prayer, Hermes, and save me with thine aiding arm, Me who from banishment returning stand On this my country; lo, my foot is set On this grave-mound, and herald-like, as thou, Once and again, I bid my father hear. And these twin locks, from mine head shorn, I bring, And one to Inachus the river-god, My young life's nurturer, I dedicate, And one in sign of mourning unfulfilled I lay, though late, on this my father's grave. For O my father, not beside thy corse Stood I to wail thy death, nor was my hand Stretched out to bear thee forth to burial. What sight is yonder? what this woman-throng Hitherward coming, by their sable garb Made manifest as mourners? What hath chanced? Doth some new sorrow hap within the home? Or rightly may I deem that they draw near Bearing libations, such as soothe the ire Of dead men angered, to my father's grave? Nay, such they are indeed; for I descry Electra mine own sister pacing hither, In moody grief conspicuous. Grant, O Zeus, Grant me my father's murder to avenge- Be thou my willing champion! Pylades, Pass we aside, till rightly I discern Wherefore these women throng in suppliance. Pylades and Orestes withdraw; the chorus enters bearing vessels for libation; Electra follows them; they pace slowly towards the tomb of Agamemnon. Chorus of Slave Women: strophe 1, singing Forth from the royal halls by high command I bear libations for the dead. Rings on my smitten breast my smiting hand, And all my cheek is rent and red, Fresh-furrowed by my nails, and all my soul This many a day doth feed on cries of dole. And trailing tatters of my vest, In looped and windowed raggedness forlorn, Hang rent around my breast, Even as I, by blows of Fate most stern Saddened and torn. antistrophe 1 Oracular thro' visions, ghastly clear, Bearing a blast of wrath from realms below, And stiffening each rising hair with dread, Came out of dream-land Fear, And, loud and awful, bade The shriek ring out at midnight's witching hour, And brooded, stern with woe, Above the inner house, the woman's bower And seers inspired did read the dream on oath, Chanting aloud In realms below The dead are wroth; Against their slayers yet their ire doth glow. strophe 2 Therefore to bear this gift of graceless worth- O Earth, my nursing mother!- The woman god-accurs'd doth send me forth Lest one crime bring another. Ill is the very word to speak, for none Can ransom or atone For blood once shed and darkening the plain. O hearth of woe and bane, O state that low doth lie! Sunless, accursed of men, the shadows brood Above the home of murdered majesty. antistrophe 2 Rumour of might, unquestioned, unsubdued, Pervading ears and soul of lesser men, Is silent now and dead. Yet rules a viler dread; For bliss and power, however won, As gods, and more than gods, dazzle our mortal ken. Justice doth mark, with scales that swiftly sway, Some that are yet in light; Others in interspace of day and night, Till Fate arouse them, stay; And some are lapped in night, where all things are undone strophe 3 On the life-giving lap of Earth Blood hath flowed forth; And now, the seed of vengeance, clots the plain- Unmelting, uneffaced the stain. And Ate tarries long, but at the last The sinner's heart is cast Into pervading, waxing pangs of pain. antistrophe 3 Lo, when man's force doth ope The virgin doors, there is nor cure nor hope For what is lost,-even so, I deem, Though in one channel ran Earth's every stream, Laving the hand defiled from murder's stain, It were in vain. epode And upon me-ah me!-the gods have laid The woe that wrapped round Troy, What time they led me down from home and kin Unto a slave's employ- The doom to bow the head And watch our master's will Work deeds of good and ill- To see the headlong sway of force and sin, And hold restrained the spirit's bitter hate, Wailing the monarch's fruitless fate, Hiding my face within my robe, and fain Of tears, and chilled with frost of hidden pain. Electra: Handmaidens, orderers of the palace-halls, Since at my side ye come, a suppliant train, Companions of this offering, counsel me As best befits the time: for I, who pour Upon the grave these streams funereal, With what fair word can I invoke my sire? Shall I aver, Behold, I bear these gifts From well-loved wife unto her well-loved lord, When 'tis from her, my mother, that they come? I dare not say it: of all words I fail Wherewith to consecrate unto my sire These sacrificial honours on his grave. Or shall I speak this word, as mortals use- Give back, to those who send these coronals, Full recompense-of ills for acts malign? Or shall I pour this draught for Earth to drink, Sans word or reverence, as my sire was slain, And homeward pass with unreverted eyes, Casting the bowl away, as one who flings The household cleansings to the common road? Be art and part, O friends, in this my doubt, Even as ye are in that one common hate Whereby we live attended: fear ye not The wrath of any man, nor hide your word Within your breast: the day of death and doom Awaits alike the freeman and the slave. Speak, then, if aught thou know'st to aid us more. Leader of the Chorus: Thou biddest; I will speak my soul's thought out, Revering as a shrine thy father's grave. Electra: Say then thy say, as thou his tomb reverest. Leader of the Chorus: Speak solemn words to them that love, and pour. Electra: And of his kin whom dare I name as kind? Leader of the Chorus: Thyself; and next, whoe'er Aegisthus scorns. Electra: Then 'tis myself and thou, my prayer must name. Leader of the Chorus: Whoe'er they be, 'tis thine to know and name them. Electra: Is there no other we may claim as ours? Leader of the Chorus: Think of Orestes, though far-off he be. Electra: Right well in this too hast thou schooled my thought. Leader of the Chorus: Mindfully, next, on those who shed the blood- Electra: Pray on them what? expound, instruct my doubt. Leader of the Chorus: This: Upon them some god or mortal come- Electra: As judge or as avenger? speak thy thought. Leader of the Chorus: Pray in set terms, Who shall the slayer slay. Electra: Beseemeth it to ask such boon of heaven? Leader of the Chorus: How not, to wreak a wrong upon a foe? Electra: praying at the tomb O mighty Hermes, warder of the shades, Herald of upper and of under world, Proclaim and usher down my prayer's appeal Unto the gods below, that they with eyes Watchful behold these halls. my sire's of old- And unto Earth, the mother of all things, And loster-nurse, and womb that takes their seed. Lo, I that pour these draughts for men now dead, Call on my father, who yet holds in ruth Me and mine own Orestes, Father, speak- How shall thy children rule thine halls again? Homeless we are and sold; and she who sold Is she who bore us; and the price she took Is he who joined with her to work thy death, Aegisthus, her new lord. Behold me here Brought down to slave's estate, and far away Wanders Orestes, banished from the wealth That once was thine, the profit of thy care, Whereon these revel in a shameful joy. Father, my prayer is said; 'tis thine to hear- Grant that some fair fate bring Orestes home, And unto me grant these-a purer soul Than is my mother's, a more stainless hand. These be my prayers for us; for thee, O sire, I cry that one may come to smite thy fops, And that the slayers may in turn be slain. Cursed is their prayer, and thus I bar its path, Praying mine own, a counter-curse on them. And thou, send up to us the righteous boon For which we pray; thine aids be heaven and earth, And justice guide the right to victory. To the Chorus of Slave Women: Thus have I prayed, and thus I shed these streams, And follow ye the wont, and as with flowers Crown ye with many a tear and cry the dirge Your lips ring out above the dead man's grave. She pours the libations. Chorus of Slave Women: chanting Woe, woe, woe! Let the teardrop fall, plashing on the ground Where our lord lies low: Fall and cleanse away the cursed libation's stair., Shed on this grave-mound, Fenced wherein together, gifts of good or bane From the dead are found. Lord of Argos, hearken! Though around thee darken Mist of death and hell, arise and hear Hearken and awaken to our cry of woe! Who with might of spear Shall our home deliver? Who like Ares bend until it quiver, Bend the northern bow? Who with hand upon the hilt himself will thrust with glaive, Thrust and slay and save? Electra: Lo! the earth drinks them, to my sire they pass- She notices the locks of Orestes:. Learn ye with me of this thing new and strange. Leader of the Chorus: Speak thou; my breast doth palpitate with fear. Electra: I see upon the tomb a curl new shorn. Leader of the Chorus: Shorn from wnat man or what deep-girded maid? Electra: That may he, guess who will; the sign is plain. Leader of the Chorus: Let me learn this of thee; let youth prompt age. Electra: None is there here but I, to clip such gift. Leader of the Chorus: For they who thus should mourn him hate him sore. Electra: And lo! in truth the hair exceeding...