410BC
IPHIGENIA AT AULIS
by Euripides Characters in the Play Agamemnon Attendant,an old man Chorus of Women of Chalcis Menelaus Clytaemnestra Iphigenia Achilles Messenger The sea-coast at Aulis.
Enter AGAMEMNON and ATTENDANT.
Agamemnon.
Old man,come hither and stand before my dwelling.
Attendant.
Icome;what new schemes now,king Agamemnon?
AGAMEMNON
Thou shalt hear.
ATTENDANT
Iam all eagerness.'Tis little enough sleep old age allows me and keenly it watches o'er my eyes.
AGAMEMNON
What can that star be,steering his course yonder?
ATTENDANT
Sirius,still shooting o'er the zenith on his way near the Pleiads'sevenfold track.
AGAMEMNON
The birds are still at any rate and the sea is calm;hushed are the winds,and silence broods o'er this narrow firth.
ATTENDANT
Then why art thou outside thy tent,why so restless,my lord Agamemnon?All is yet quiet here in Aulis,the watch on the walls is not yet astir.Let us go in.
AGAMEMNON
Ienvy thee,old man,aye,and every man who leads a life secure,unknown and unrenowned;but little Ienvy those in office.
ATTENDANT
And yet 'tis there we place the be-all and end-all of existence.
AGAMEMNON
Aye,but that is where the danger comes;and ambition,sweet though it seems,brings sorrow with its near approach.At one time the unsatisfied claims of Heaven upset our life,at another the numerous peevish fancies of our subjects shatter it.
ATTENDANT
Ilike not these sentiments in one who is a chief.It was not to enjoy all blessings that Atreus begot thee,OAgamemnon;but thou must needs experience joy and sorrow alike,mortal as thou art.E'en though thou like it not,this is what the gods decree;but thou,after letting thy taper spread its light abroad,writest the letter which is still in thy hands and then erasest the same words again,sealing and re-opening the scroll,then flinging the tablet to the ground with floods of tears and leaving nothing undone in thy aimless behaviour to stamp thee mad.What is it troubles thee?what news is there affecting thee,my liege?Come,share with me thy story;to a loyal and trusty heart wilt thou be telling it;for Tyndareus sent me that day to form part of thy wife's dowry and to wait upon the bride with loyalty.
AGAMEMNON
Leda,the daughter of Thestius,had three children,maidens,Phoebe,Clytaemnestra my wife,and Helen;this last it was who had for wooers the foremost of the favoured sons of Hellas;but terrible threats of spilling his rival's blood were uttered by each of them,should he fail to win the maid.Now the matter filled Tyndareus,her father,with perplexity;at length this thought occurred to him;the suitors should swear unto each other and join right hands thereon and pour libations with burnt sacrifice,binding themselves by this curse,"Whoever wins the child of Tyndareus for wife,him will we assist,in case a rival takes her from his house and goes his way,robbing her husband of his rights;and we will march against that man in armed array and raze his city to the ground,Hellene no less than barbarian."Now when they had once pledged their word and old Tyndareus with no small cleverness had beguiled them by his shrewd device,he allowed his daughter to choose from among her suitors the one towards whom the breath of love might fondly waft her.Her choice fell on Menelaus;would she had never taken him!Anon there came to Lacedaemon from Phrygia's folk the man who,legend says,adjudged the goddesses'dispute;in robes of gorgeous hue,ablaze with gold,in true barbaric pomp;and he,finding Menelaus gone from home,carried Helen off with him to his steading on Ida,a willing paramour.
Goaded to frenzy Menelaus flew through Hellas,invoking the ancient oath exacted by Tyndareus and declaring the duty of helping the injured husband.Whereat the chivalry of Hellas,brandishing their spears and donning their harness,came hither to the narrow straits of Aulis with armaments of ships and troops,with many a steed and many a car,and they chose me to captain them all for the sake of Menelaus,since Iwas his brother.Would that some other had gained that distinction instead of me!But after the army was gathered and come together,we still remained at Aulis weather-bound;and Calchas,the seer,bade us in our perplexity sacrifice my own begotten child Iphigenia to Artemis,whose home is in this land,declaring that if we offered her,we should sail and sack the Phrygians'capital,but if we forbore,this was not for us.When Iheard this,Icommanded Talthybius with loud proclamation to disband the whole host,as Icould never bear to slay daughter of mine.Whereupon my brother,bringing every argument to bear,persuaded me at last to face the crime;so Iwrote in a folded scroll and sent to my wife,bidding her despatch our daughter to me on the pretence of wedding Achilles,it the same time magnifying his exalted rank and saying that he refused to sail with the Achaeans,unless a bride of our lineage should go to Phthia.Yes,this was the inducement Ioffered my wife,inventing,as Idid,a sham marriage for the maiden.Of all the Achaeans we alone know the real truth,Calchas,Odysseus,Menelaus and myself;but that which Ithen decided wrongly,Inow rightly countermand again in this scroll,which thou,old man,hast found me opening and resealing beneath the shade of night.Up now and away with this missive to Argos,and Iwill tell thee by word of mouth all that is written herein,the contents of the folded scroll,for thou art loyal to my wife and house.
ATTENDANT
Say on and make it plain,that what my tongue utters may accord with what thou hast written.
AGAMEMNON
"Daughter of Leda,in addition to my first letter Inow send thee word not to despatch thy daughter to Euboea's embosomed wing,to the to the waveless bay of Aulis;for after all we wiltlelebrate our child's wedding at another time."ATTENDANT
And how will Achilles,cheated of his bride,curb the fury of his indignation against thee and thy wife?
AGAMEMNON
Here also is a danger.
ATTENDANT