And singly didst contrive this massacre Ægisth. Dost thou these tauntings utter, seated fast At the lower oar, when they upon the beam Old as thou art, how grievous 'tis for one To give instruction. Dost thou not discern, Though this discerning. Kick not 'gainst the goads, Lest thou may'st fall and rue it. Chor. Queen, didst thou, When thy spouse here came freshly from the field, Thou keeper of his house, thy husband's couch Defile, and with him plot a deed of murder Against this hero chief? Ægisth. Nay! these thy words Are patriarchs of weeping. And thou hast A tongue the very opposite to Orpheus, For he drew all things hanging on his voice With joy; but thou e'en spirits meek and mild Will into rage provoke and drag along. But once subdued, gentler wilt thou be found. Chor. That thou shalt be my lord o'er Argos' sons! Thou, who when death thou plottedst 'gainst this chief, Dared not this deed to do with thine own hand. Ægisth. No, for with guile to entrap him was full clear A woman's part; but I a foe suspected Over his subjects. And the man refusing Chor. Why, thou of craven soul, the chieftain Didst thou not slay thyself? But him a woman, That rule the country, killed him. Sure, I ween, Ægisth. But since thou mean'st to act and speak thus, quickly thou shalt understand Chor. Haste ye, comrade friends, the struggle is not far - 'tis close at hand. Ægisth. * Chor. Haste now, sword with hilt advanced, every one prepare aright. Egisth. Nay! I too, with hilt advanced, grudge not now to die in fight. Chor. Unto men that hail the omen speak'st thou of thy death. But now Unto fortune straight appeal we. Clyt. No, of men thou dearest, no ; Let us work no other mischief. Nay, e'en thus much to have reaped Is a sorely woful harvest upheaped - full enough of bane Is there ours already. Let us shed no blood. Old men begone To your homes straight, ere ye wounded suffer, having mischief done. We must be content to take things as we fared. And if to any There should be of travails brewing, we should have of these full many, In a plight disastrous smitten by our genius' rancour stern; Thus doth stand the advice of woman, if one deign the truth to learn. Ægisth. But that these should thus against me flourish out an idiot tongue, And their coming fate provoking, such high vaunts should forth have flung! Chor. Ne'er would this be Argives' conduct, spaniel-like to fawn and cringe On a villain. Ægisth. Yet in after days I'll chase thee, and revenge. Chor. Not if fate direct Orestes hither on his pathway home. Ægisth. Well, I know that men in exile batten upon hopes to come. Chor. Work thy pleasure, pamper thee, fouling justice, since ye may. Ægisth. Know that thou shalt give me ample vengeance for this foolery. Chor. Boast and brag with, front undaunted, like a cock his partlet nigh. Clyt. Set not on these idle howlings any value. Thou and I When once masters of the palace, things will settle handsomely. NOTES. The references are made to Bishop Blomfield's edition. Verse 3. Here, as in the Eumenides, vv. 80. 375., ǎykalev is not contracted for ȧvéкalev, but is formed by the common analogy from ȧykás. The posture of the watch lying upon his elbow is necessary to be attended to, as it will perhaps explain a difficulty in v. 11. In Eumen. 375. there is a peculiar beauty in the word. The metaphor is drawn from a lion laying its paw upon its prey; and this is done by laying flat upon it the whole of the last joint of the leg, from its elbow as it were. 6. The word πрéπw, with its compounds, in Eschylus generally retains its primary ideas of prominence attracting light. The metaphor here is drawn from projecting gems set in and studding a diadem. Several subsequent passages will be difficult to understand without bearing this in mind. And generally it may be observed that one of the chief duties of a translator of Eschylus is to detect his metaphors in their bud, lying hid, as they often do, in a single word used in its distinct primary sense, and not in its later more vague signification. 10. Ανδρόβουλον seems to be used here ambiguously, and to be the first hint of lurking mischief. The rendering of Stanley, "viro insidiantem," and that of Symonds, "a man in counsel," both seem implied. The gradual development of the coming evil from these casual hints is one of the chief dramatic beauties of the "Agamemnon." 10. Κρατεῖ ἐλπίζον. Of the two possible meanings, "Thus rules or orders, a woman's heart fraught with hope," Thus is strong in hope a woman's heart," the latter has been chosen as implying the former. And perhaps кρaτεî may not be construed as "giving orders, enjoining." If or, 66 it refers to the command laid upon the watch, it must be rendered, "Is thus stern, severe, in her commands." 11. May e T' av be rendered as it is in the translation (of which I am by no means certain), "And well may I keep my couch." You may be surprised to see a watch lying on his couch upon his elbow, expecting that sleep would surprise him. But I may do it without danger, since fear prevents me, fear perhaps of the severity of Clytemnestra, implied in the preceding Kрaтe. In this way the difficulty of the sentence without an apodosis is wholly removed. I cannot help thinking that this attitude of the watch was copied from some picture, or perhaps it was intended to give more effect by his starting up to the sudden appearance of the beacon. 13. Παραστατεί acts as a παραστάτης. The verbs in εω are in Eschylus to be carefully rendered in this way, in order to preserve the personification. Пapaσtátns is a military term — the comrade at my side. The same may be said of ἐπισκοπουμένην; which seems to allude to the officer visiting the outposts. 16. 'Evτéμvwv; shredding in drugs and roots, as in the preparation of a posset. It is used in this chemical sense by Plato. 17. Observe the second hint of the mischief working. 30. By retaining the distinctive middle force of Inσoμai, this otherwise perplexing passage becomes easy. "I will put down to myself, to my own account, I will account mine own; " which is the reason why he should prelude to the general rejoicing by dancing himself. 32. The ancients played with three dice, not two. 35. The general meaning of this harsh figure is obvious, whether mere weight of obligation is typified, or weight of money, pecunia, bribing to silence. There is something of a similar idea in Timon of Athens: "He ne'er drinks, But Timon's silver treads upon his lip." 40. Αντίδικος. The legal metaphors, so profusely employed in this play, must be strictly attended to, especially if its political bearing is such as is suggested in the preface. The excuse for the meditated spread of foreign conquest in Asia was, that it would be a judicial retaliation for the |