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Orestes Hermes of the nether world, you who guard the powers [kratos] of the ancestors, prove yourself my savior [sōtēr] and ally, I entreat you, now that I have come to this land and returned from exile. On this mounded grave I cry out to my father to hearken, 5 to hear me... [There is a gap in the text.] [Look, I bring] a lock of hair to Inakhos 1 in compensation for his care, and here, a second, in token of my grief [penthos]. For I was not present, father, to lament your death, nor did I stretch forth my hand to bear your corpse. that those beneath the earth cast furious reproaches and rage against their murderers. strophe 2 Intending to ward off evil with such a graceless grace [kharis], 45 O mother Earth, she sends me forth, godless woman that she is. But I am afraid to utter the words she charged me to speak. For what atonement [lutron] is there for blood fallen to earth? Ah, hearth of utter grief! 50 Ah, house laid low in ruin! Sunless darkness, loathed by men, enshrouds our house due to the death of its master. antistrophe 2 55 The awe of majesty once unconquered, unvanquished, irresistible in war, that penetrated the ears and phrēn of the people, is now cast off. But there is still fear. And prosperity-60 this, among mortals, is a god and more than a god. But the balance of dikē keeps watch: swiftly it descends on those in the light; sometimes pain [akhos] waits for those who linger on the frontier of twilight; 65 and others are claimed by strengthless night. strophe 3 Because of blood drunk up by the fostering earth, the vengeful gore lies clotted and will not dissolve away. Grievous calamity [atē] distracts the guilty [aitios] man till he is steeped in utter misery. antistrophe 3 70 But for the violator of a bridal chamber there is no cure. And though all streams flow in one course to cleanse the blood from a polluted hand, they rush in vain. epode 75 For since the gods laid constraining doom about my polis and led me from my father's house to a slave's lot, it is fitting for me to govern my bitter hate, even against my will [phrenes], 80 and submit to the wishes of my masters, whether just [dikaia] or unjust. But I weep beneath my veil over the senseless fate of my lord, my heart chilled by secret grief [penthos]. Electra 84 You handmaidens who set our house in order, 85 since you are here at this ritual of supplication as my 86 attendants, become my partners by giving advice about these things here: 87 what should I say while I pour [kheîn] these libations [khoai] of sorrowful caring? 88 How shall I say words that show good thinking [eu-phrona], how shall I make a prayer [kat-eukhesthai] to my father? 89 Shall I say that I bring these offerings from a woman who is near and dear [philē] to a dear a man who is near and dear [philos], 90 from wife to husband-from my own mother? I do not have the assurance for that, nor do I know what I should say as I pour this mixed offering onto my father's tomb. Or shall I speak the words that men are accustomed [nomos] to use: "To those who send these honors may he...
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