Iphigenia in Aulis
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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where angry spearmen madly chafe, here in the narrow havens of Aulis, because of me.
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O Pelasgia, land of my birth, and Mycenae, my home!
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Chorus
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Is it on Perseus’ citadel you call, that town Cyclopean workmen built?
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Iphigenia
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To be a light to Hellas did you rear me, and so I do not say No to death.
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Chorus
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You are right; no fear that fame will ever desert you!
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Iphigenia
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Hail to you, bright lamp of day and light of Zeus! A different life, a different lot is henceforth mine. Farewell I bid you, light beloved! Exit Iphigenia. .
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Chorus
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Behold the maiden on her way, the destroyer of Ilium’s town and the Phrygians, with garlands twined about her head, and drops of lustral water on her, soon to be sprinkled with her gushing blood
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the altar of a murderous goddess, when her shapely neck is severed.Lines 1514-16 read διαίμονος with Markland for γε δαίμονοσ; ῥανοῦσαν, Markland for θανοῦσαν; and omit τε with Bothe after εὐφυᾶ.
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For you fair streams of a father’s pouring and lustral waters are in store, for you Achaea’s army is waiting, eager
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to reach the citadel of Ilium. But let us celebrate Artemis, the daughter of Zeus, queen among the gods, as if upon some happy chance.
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O lady revered, delighting in human
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sacrifice, send on its way to Phrygia’s land the army of the Hellenes, to Troy’s abodes of guile, and grant that Agamemnon may wreathe his head with deathless fame,
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a crown of fairest glory for the spearmen of Hellas.
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Messenger
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Come forth, O Clytemnestra, daughter of Tyndareus, from the tent, to hear my news.
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Clytemnestra
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I heard your voice and have come
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in sad dismay and fearful dread, not sure but what you have arrived with tidings of some fresh trouble for me besides the present woe.
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Clytemnestra
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Do not delay, then, but speak at once.
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Messenger
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Dear mistress, you shall learn all clearly; from the outset will I tell it, unless my memory fails me somewhat and confuses my tongue in its account. As soon as we reached the grove of Artemis, the child of Zeus, and the flowery meadows,
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where the Achaean troops were gathered, bringing your daughter with us, at once the Argive army began assembling; but when king Agamemnon saw the maiden on her way to the grove to be sacrificed, he gave one groan, and, turning away his face, let the tears burst
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from his eyes, as he held his robe before them. But the maid, standing close by her father, spoke thus: O my father, here I am; willingly I offer my body for my country and all Hellas,
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that you may lead me to the altar of the goddess and sacrifice me, since this is Heaven’s ordinance. May good luck be yours for any help that I afford! and may you obtain the victor’s gift and come again to the land of your fathers. So then let none of the Argives lay hands on me,
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for I will bravely yield my neck without a word.
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She spoke; and each man marvelled, as he heard the maiden’s brave speech. But in the midst Talthybius stood up, for this was his duty, and bade the army refrain from word or deed;
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and Calchas, the seer, drawing a sharp sword from its scabbard laid it in a basket of beaten gold, and crowned the maiden’s head. Then the son of Peleus, taking the basket and with it lustral water in his hand, ran round the altar of the goddess
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uttering these words: O Artemis, you child of Zeus, slayer of wild beasts, that wheel your dazzling light amid the gloom, accept this sacrifice which we, the army of the Achaeans and Agamemnon with us, offer to you, pure blood from a beautiful maiden’s neck;
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and grant us safe sailing for our ships and the sack of Troy’s towers by our spears.
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Meanwhile the sons of Atreus and all the army stood looking on the ground.
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[But the priest, seizing his knife, offered up a prayer and was closely scanning the maiden’s throat to see where he should strike.
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It was no slight sorrow filled my heart, as I stood by with bowed head; when there was a sudden miracle! Each one of us distinctly heard the sound of a blow,Reading πληγῆς σαφῶς γὰρ πᾶς τις ᾔσθετο κτύπον (Weil). but none saw the spot where the maiden vanished. The priest cried out, and all the army took up the cry
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at the sight of a marvel all unlooked for, due to some god’s agency, and passing all belief, although it was seen; for there upon the ground lay a deer of immense size, magnificent to see, gasping out her life, with whose blood the altar of the goddess was thoroughly bedewed.
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Then spoke Calchas thus—his joy you can imagine—You captains of this leagued Achaean army, do you see this victim, which the goddess has set before her altar, a mountain-roaming deer? This is more welcome to her by far than the maid,
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that she may not defile her altar by shedding noble blood. Gladly she has accepted it, and is granting us a prosperous voyage forReading Ἰλίου πρὸς for Ἰλίου τ᾽ with Hermann. our attack on Ilium. Therefore take heart, sailors, each man of you, and away to your ships, for today
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we must leave the hollow bays of Aulis and cross the Aegean main.
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and say what heaven-sent luck is his, and how he has secured undying fame throughout the length of Hellas. Now I was there myself and speak as an eyewitness; without a doubt your child flew away to the gods. A truce then to your sorrowing, and cease to be angry with your husband;
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for the gods’ ways with man are not what we expect, and those whom they love, they keep safe; yes, for this day has seen your daughter dead and living.
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Chorus Leader
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What joy to hear these tidings from the messenger! He tells you your child is living still, among the gods.
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Clytemnestra
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Which of the gods, my child, has stolen you? How am I to address you? How can I be sureBy omitting the stop after φῶ as Nauck edits, and making the sentence continuous, perhaps the simplest explanation of this passage is obtained. that this is not an idle tale told to cheer me, to make me cease my piteous lamentation for you?
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Chorus
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See! king Agamemnon approaches,
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to confirm this story for you.
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Agamemnon
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Lady, we may be countedTo correct the scansion Hennann proposes ὀλβιζοίμεθ᾽ ἄν. happy, as far as concerns our daughter; for in truth she has fellowship with gods. But you must take this tenderνεαγενῆ, for which Porson gives εὐγενῆ to correct the metre. child and start for home, for the army is looking now to sail.
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Fare you well! it is long before I shall greet you on my return from Troy; may it be well with you!
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Chorus
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Son of Atreus, start for Phrygia’s land with joy and so return, I pray, after taking from Troy her fairest spoils.
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Agamemnon
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Will you hurry?
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Old man
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I am hurrying. It is little enough sleep old age allows me
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Agamemnon
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I envy you, old man, yes, and every man who leads a life secure, unknown and unrenowned; but little I envy those in office.
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Old man
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I will make haste, king.
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Agamemnon
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Start then from the bolted gates,Paley retains the MSS. κλήθρων δ᾽ ἐξόρμα, omitting νιν with Monk in 1. 150; Wecklein, reading ἐξορμώσαις to agree with πομπαῖς retains νιν. Hermann transposes the verse after 1. 152, and so Nauck edits.
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Chorus
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Next I sought the countless fleet, a wonder to behold, that I might fill my girlish eyes with gazing, a sweetThe reading μείλινον ἁδονάν of the MSS. cannot be right, nor are may of the proposed emendations much more probable; in the absence of anything more intelligible, Markland’s μείλιχον is here adopted. delight.
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The warlike Myrmidons from Phthia held the right wing with fifty swift cruisers, upon whose sterns, right at the ends, stood Nereid goddesses
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in golden effigy, the ensign of Achilles’ armament.
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Chorus
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Near these were moored the Argive ships in equal numbers, over which Mecisteus’
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son, whom Talaus his grandfather reared, and Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, were in command; next in order, Theseus’ son was stationed at the head of sixty ships from Attica, having the goddess
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Pallas set in a winged chariot drawn by steeds with solid hoof, a lucky sight for mariners.
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Chorus
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Then I saw Boeotia’s fleet of fifty sails
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decked with ensigns; these had Cadmus at the stern holding a golden dragon at the beaks of the vessels, and earth-born Leitus
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was their admiral. And there were ships from Phocis; and from Locris came the son of Oileus with an equal contingent, leaving famed Thronium’s citadel.
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Chorus
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And from Mycenae, the Cyclopes’ town, Atreus’ son sent a hundred well-manned galleys, and Adrastoshis brotherPaley reads ἀδελφὸς with Markland for Ἄδραστος of the old copies. was with him in command, as friend with friend,
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that Hellas might exact vengeance on the one who had fled her home to wed a foreigner. Also I saw upon Gerenian Nestor’s prows from Pylos
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the ensign of his neighbour Alpheus, four-footed like a bull.
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Chorus
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Moreover there was a squadron of twelve Aenianian sail under King Gouneus; and then near them
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the lords of Elis, whom all the people named Epeians; and Eurytus was lord of these; Iikewise he led the Taphian warriors with the white oar-blades, the subjects of Meges,
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son of Phyleus, who had left the isles of the Echinades, where sailors cannot land.
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Chorus
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Lastly, Aias, reared in Salamis,
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was joining his right wing to the leftThis line is corrupt, and perhaps the next also. The attempted version follows Weil. of those near whom he was posed, closing the line with his outermost ships, twelve barques obedient to the helm, as I heard and then
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saw the crews; the one who brings his barbaric boats to grapple Aias shall obtain no safe return. There I sawThe word ἄιον before εἰδόμαν is probably a gloss on that verb. Some editors adopt Hermann’s οἶον, but there is no certainty in it.
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the naval armament, but some things I heard at home about the gathered army, of which I still have a recollection.
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Old man
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Nor will I let loose my hold.
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Messenger
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Agamemnon, lord of Hellas!
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Agamemnon turns to Clytemnestra. I beg your pardon, daughter of Leda, if I showed excessive grief at the thought of giving my daughter to Achilles; for though we are sending her to taste of bliss, still it wrings a parent’s heart, when he, the father who has toiled so hard for them,
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Clytemnestra
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No, by the goddess-queen of Argos!
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Clytemnestra
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Do you ask this question? A thought like that itself amounts to tboughtlessness.
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Iphigenia
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I am ashamed to face Achilles.
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Iphigenia
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The luckless ending to our marriage causes me to feel abashed.
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Clytemnestra
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No misnomer that.
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Clytemnestra
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What is it? tell me.
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Clytemnestra
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An evil omen for your words.
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Clytemnestra
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And is there no one to say a word against them?
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Clytemnestra
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In danger of what, stranger?.
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Clytemnestra
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Surely not for trying to save my daughter?
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Clytemnestra
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Who would have dared to lay a finger on you?
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Clytemnestra
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Were not your Myrmidon warriors at your side?
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Clytemnestra
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My child! we are lost, it seems.
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Clytemnestra
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And what did you answer them?
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Clytemnestra
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Justly so.
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Clytemnestra
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Yes, and sent to fetch from Argos.
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Clytemnestra
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Truly the mob is a dire mischief.
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Clytemnestra
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Will you really fight them single-handed?
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Clytemnestra
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Bless you for your kind intent!
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Clytemnestra
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Then my child will not be slaughtered now?
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Clytemnestra
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But will any of them come to lay hands on the maid?
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Clytemnestra
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The son of Sisyphus?
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Clytemnestra
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Acting for himself or by the army’s order?
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Clytemnestra
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An evil choice indeed, to stain his hands in blood.
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Clytemnestra
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Will he seize and bear her off against her will?
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Clytemnestra
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What must I do, when it comes to that?
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Clytemnestra
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Be sure that she shall not be slain, as far as that that can help her.
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Iphigenia
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Mother, hear me while I speak, for I see that you are angry with your husband
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Iphigenia
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No, not you; that is not well saidl.
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Iphigenia
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Be persuaded by me, mother, stay here; for this is the better way both for me and you; but let one of these attendants of my father conduct me to the meadow of Artemis, where I shall be sacrificed.
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Iphigenia
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Yes, and with no chance of ever returning.