Iphigenia in Aulis
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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where Priam once exposed a tender baby, torn from his mother’s arms to meet a deadly doom, Paris, called the child of Ida
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in the Phrygians’ town. Would that he never had settled Alexander, the herdsman reared among the herds, beside that water crystal-clear, where are fountains
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of the Nymphs and their meadow rich with blooming flowers, where hyacinths and rose-buds blow for goddesses to gather! Here one day
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came Pallas and Cypris of the subtle heart, Hera too and Hermes messenger of Zeus; Cypris, proud of the longing she causes,
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Pallas of her prowess; and Hera of her royal marriage with king Zeus; to decide a hateful strife about their beauty; but it is my death,
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maidens, bringing, it is true, glory to the Danaids, that Artemis has received as an offering, before they begin the voyage to Ilium.Reading μὰν for μὲν and ἐμὸν for ἐμοὶ, also προθύματ᾽ for πρόθυμά σ᾽ in this hopelessly corrupt passage. Monk, rejecting ὄνομα . . . Δαναίδαισιν, assigns the next two lines to the Chorus, merely altering κόραι to κόρα, but this is scarcely likely to be the solution of the difficulty.
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O mother, mother! he that begot me to this life of sorrow has gone and left me all alone.
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Ah! woe is me! a bitter, bitter sight for me was Helen, evil Helen! to me now doomed to bleed and die, slaughtered by an impious father!
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I wish this Aulis had never received
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in its havens here the stems of their bronze-beaked ships, the fleet which was speeding them to Troy; and would that Zeus had never breathed on the Euripus a wind to stop the expedition,Reading πομπᾷ. The whole of this passage (l. 1323-29) is probably more or less corrupt, and the construction suspiciously harsh; possibly the text has suffered from interpolations and glosses on the original. tempering, as he does,
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a different breeze to different men, so that some have joy in setting sail, and sorrow some, and others hard constraint, to make some start and others prepare and others delay!
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Full of trouble then, it seems, is the race of mortals, full of trouble indeed; and it is Fate’s decree that man should find distress.
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Woe! woe to you, you child of Tyndareus,
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for the suffering and anguish sore, which you are causing the Danaids!
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Chorus Leader
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I pity you for your cruel fate—a fate I would you never had met!
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Iphigenia
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O mother that bore me! I see a throng of men approaching.
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Clytemnestra
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It is the goddess’ son you see, child, for whom you came here.
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Iphigenia
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Open the tent-door to me, servants, that I may hide myself
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Clytemnestra
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Why seek to escape, my child?
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Clytemnestra
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But why?
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Clytemnestra
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No time for affectation now in face of what has happened. Stay then; reserve will do no good, if we may profit.The sentence is left unfinished, owing to the sudden address of Achilles; possibly it would have run if only we can enlist his aid.
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Achilles
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Daughter of Leda, lady of sorrows!
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Achilles
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A fearful cry is heard among the Argives.
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Achilles
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It concerns your child.
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Achilles
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They say her sacrifice is necessary.
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Achilles
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Indeed I was in some danger myself from the tumult.
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Achilles
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Of being stoned.
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Achilles
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The very reason.
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Achilles
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All the men of Hellas.
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Achilles
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They were the first who turned against me.
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Achilles
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They taunted me as the man whom marriage had enslaved.
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Achilles
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Not to kill the one I meant to wed—
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Achilles
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The wife her father promised me.
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Achilles
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But I was overcome by clamorous cries.
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Achilles
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But I will help you for all that.
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Achilles
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Do you see these warriors here, carrying my arms?
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Achilles
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Well, I shall be blessed.
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Achilles
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No, not with my consent at any rate.
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Achilles
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Thousands of them, with Odysseus at their head.
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Achilles
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The very same.
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Achilles
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By their choice—and his own.
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Achilles
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But I will hold him back.
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Achilles
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Yes, by her golden hair no doubt.
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Achilles
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Keep hold of your daughter.
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Achilles
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Believe me, it will come to this.i.e., to an actual appeal to force.
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to no purpose; it is hard for us to persist in impossibilities. Our thanks are due to this stranger for his ready help; but you must also see to it that he is not reproached by the army, leaving us no better off and himself involved in trouble.
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Listen, mother; hear what thoughts have passed across my mind.
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I am resolved to die; and this I want to do with honor, dismissing from me what is mean. Towards this now, mother turn your thoughts, and with me weigh how well I speak; to me the whole of mighty Hellas looks; on me the passage over the sea depends; on me the sack of Troy;
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and in my power it lies to check henceforth barbarian raids on happy Hellas, if ever in the days to come they seek to seize her women, when once they have atoned by death Lines 1381-2 are corrupt. The corrections here followed are τάσδ᾽ for τὰς in l. 1381, and ὀλέθρῳ γάμον ὄν Hermann’s emendation of ὄλεθρον, ἥντιν᾽ in l. 1382. for the violation of Helen’s marriage by Paris. All this deliverance will my death insure, and my fame for setting Hellas free will be a happy one.
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Besides, I have no right at all to cling too fondly to my life; for you did not bear me for myself alone, but as a public blessing to all Hellas. What! shall countless warriors, armed with shields, those myriads sitting at the oar, find courage to attack the foe and die for Hellas, because their fatherland is wronged,
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and my one life prevent all this? WhatReading Hermann’s correction of this corrupt line, τί τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτό γ᾽; ἆρ᾽ ἔχοιμ᾽ ἂν ἀντειπεῖν ἔπος; kind of justice is that? could I find a word in answer? Now let us turn to that other point. It is not right that this man should enter into battle with all Argos or be slain for a woman’s sake. Better a single man should see the light than ten thousand women.
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If Artemis has decided to take my body, am I, a mortal, to thwart the goddess? no, that is impossible. I give my body to Hellas; sacrifice it and make an utter end of Troy. This is my enduring monument; marriage, motherhood, and fame—all these is it to me.
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And it is right, mother, that Hellenes should rule barbarians, but not barbarians Hellenes, those being slaves, while these are free.
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Chorus Leader
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You play a noble part, maiden; but the whims of Fate and the goddess are diseased.
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Achilles
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Daughter of Agamemnon! some god was bent
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on blessing me, if I could have won you for my wife. In you I consider Hellas happy, and you in Hellas; for this that you have said is good and worthy of your fatherland; since you, abandonIng a strife with heavenly powers, which are too strong for you, have fairly weighed advantages and needs.Τhese two lines 1409-10 are rejected by Monk; Dindorf thinks the entire passage from 1. 1408-33 spurious, an opinion in which Paley does not concur.hese two lines 1409-10 are rejected by Monk; Dindorf thinks the entire passage from 1. 1408-33 spurious, an opinion in which Paley does not concur.
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But now that I have looked into your noble nature, I feel still more a fond desire to win you for my bride. Look to it; for I want to serve you and receive you in my halls; and, Thetis be my witness, how I grieve to think I shall not save your life by doing battle with the Danaids.
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Reflect, I say; a dreadful ill is death.
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Iphigenia
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This I say, without regard to anyone.The words οὐδὲν οὐδέν᾽ εὐλαβουμένη have small MSS. authority, and were probably inserted by a grammarian to complete the verse. Enough that the daughter of Tyndareus is causing wars and bloodshed by her beauty; then be not slain yourself, stranger, nor seek to slay another on my account;
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but let me, if I can, save Hellas.
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Achilles
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Heroic spirit! I can say no more to this, since you are so minded; for yours is a noble resolve; why should not one speak the truth? Yet I will speak, for you will perhaps change your mind;
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that you may know then what my offer is, I will go and place these arms of mine near the altar, resolved not to permit your death but to prevent; for brave as you are at sight of the knife held at your throat, you will soon avail yourself of what I said.
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So I will not let you perish through any thoughtlessness of yours, but will go to the goddess with these arms and await your arrival there.Lines 1431-3 are rejected by Monk. Nauck, on Dindorf’s authority, also incloses 1. 1426 and ll. 1429-33 in brackets. Exit Achilles.
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Iphigenia
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Mother, why so silent, your eyes wet with tears?
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Clytemnestra
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I have reason, woe is me! to be sad at heart.
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Iphigenia
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Stop; do not make me a coward; here in one thing obey me.
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Clytemnestra
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Tell me, my child, for at my hands you shall never suffer injury.
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Iphigenia
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Cut not off the tresses of your hair for me, nor clothe yourself in sable garb.This line was rejected by Hermann, Burges, and most other editors.
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Clytemnestra
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Why, my child, what is it you have said? When I have lost you?The aposiopesis may be supplied by forbear to mourn.
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Iphigenia
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You wll not lose me; I am saved and you renowned, as far as I can make you.
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Clytemnestra
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How so? Must I not mourn your death?
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Iphigenia
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By no means, for I shall have no tomb heaped over me.
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Clytemnestra
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What then? It is death, not the tomb, that is rightly mourned.
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Iphigenia
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The altar of the goddess, Zeus’s daughter, will be my tomb.
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Clytemnestra
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Well, my child, I will let you persuade me, for you speak well.
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Iphigenia
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Yes, as one who prospers and does Hellas service.
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Clytemnestra
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What message shall I carry to your sisters?
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Iphigenia
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Do not put mourning raiment on them either.
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Clytemnestra
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But is there no fond message I can give the maidens from you?
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Iphigenia
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Yes, my farewell words; and promise me to rear Orestes to manhood.
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Clytemnestra
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Press him to your bosom; it is your last look.
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Iphigenia
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O you that are most dear to me! you have helped your friends as you had means.
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Clytemnestra
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Is there anything I can do in Argos to please you?
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Iphigenia
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Yes, do not hate my father, your own husband.
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Clytemnestra
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Fearful are the trials through which he has to go because of you.
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Iphigenia
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It was against his will he ruined me for the sake of Hellas.
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Clytemnestra
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Ah! but he employed base treachery, unworthy of Atreus.
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Iphigenia
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Who will escort me from here, before my hair is torn?
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Clytemnestra
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I will go with you—
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Clytemnestra
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Clinging to your robes.
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Clytemnestra
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Are you gone from me, my child?
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Clytemnestra
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Leaving your mother?
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Clytemnestra
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Hold! do not leave me!
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Begin the sacrifice with the baskets, let the fire blaze for the purifying meal of sprinkling, and my father pace from left to right about the altar; for I come to bestow on Hellas safety crowned with victory.
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Iphigenia
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Lead me away, the destroyer of Ilium’s town and the Phrygians; give me wreaths to cast about me; bring them here; here are my tresses to crown; bring lustral water too.
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Dance to Artemis, queen Artemis the blest, around her shrine and altar; for by the blood of my sacrifice I will blot out the oracle,
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if it must be.
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O mother, lady revered! I will, not give you my tears;
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for at the holy rites it is not fitting.Lines 1488-90 are assigned by some editors to the Chorus, but there seems little reason for the arrangement.
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Sing with me, maidens, sing the praises of Artemis, whose temple faces Chalcis,