Translated from SornocLEs, with Norks.

By Mr. THEoBALD.

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LONDON:

Printed for Bernard Lintott, at the Cross-Keys between
/ the two Temple Gates in Fleet-street, 1714.

H Poem presumes to
A zhrow tt self at your Feet,
4 a Piece more wanting
ESSE your Protection, than
worthy of your Patronage. But
1s as Necessary for Young Autors
who Should be conscious of

their

The Epistle Dedicatory.
heir Imperfections, to skreen Themselves
under Great Names; as it
has been always Natural 10 Criminals,
to fly to a Santtuary,

Permit Me then, $1r, more than
zo hope a Shelter ; to promise my
elf some Reputation from this Honour.
Or, even should the World
determine of my Performance to
my Disadvantage; the Satisfaction
tale in being albwell the Pri diledge
of this Address, yields me
more Pleasure, than their Censure
could grve Me Pain.

But I am so far from entertaining
any Fears of its Miscarriage; that
if my own Partality and the Judgment
of those chosen Friends,

(--Quibus hæc, sint Qvaliacumque,

Arridere ven

The Epistle Dedicatory.

have not Conspired to Decerve Me
in its favour I may presume, That
little Merit they are pleasd to allow

It, will be my best Excuse for
pretending, in this public, Manner,
to declare My /elf,
Your most Obedient

Humble Servant,

Lew. Theobald.

Dramatis

Dramatis Personæ.

An Usurper of the Go-
EHstbus, vernment of Argos.

55 of the late Rightful

Orestes, King Agamemnon, by

CHtemnestra.
Pylades, his Friend, Prince of Phoczs.
The Governor of Orestes.

Queen of Argos, late
Clytemnestra, 5 Wife of Agamemnon,
—— now of Agysthus.

Chry sothemis gamemuon.

Attendants of Clytemnestra.

Fee 0 Her Daughters by A.

Chorus of Young Ladies of Argos.

SCENE, before the Palace in Mycenze.

2 I "x ps 1 W

ACTS CEN

8 C E N E, before the Royal Palace in Mycenæ

Governor of OREsTES, ORESTES and Py-
LADES.

GOFE RN OR;

don of Agamemnon, (he Wis once,

[ih 065 | Supream in Pow'r, led our vitotious

A Greeks

To Troy's Destruction;) hence may you
— __ survey

The Object of your long, your ardent Wishes :
Behold your native Argos here, the Grove
Of Tnachns's wand'ring frantick Daughter ;
And here, the fam'd Lyrcan Forum lands,

Io Ereted

Erected to the glorious God of Day:

This, on the left, is Juno's aweful Temple ;

Around, the glitt' ring Tow'rs of rich Mycene, to

With the dire House of bloody Pelops, rise.

Thence I receiv'd you from your Sister's Arms,

Snatch'd from the Fate in which your Father fell ;

I took, presery'd, and nourish'd you till now,

To grow the keen Avenger of his Blood, 15

But now, Orestes, and you, Pylades,

The dearest Partner of his Cares, betimes

We must determine what our Cause requires.

For see, the chearful Light begins to dawn ;

The warbling Birds salute the early Sun ;

And ev'ry Star saints in his fuller Glory.

E'er then the busie search of jealous Eyes

Prevent, let's fix our Counsels : Hasty time

Cuts off all slow Debate, and calls for Action.
Orest. Thou truest Friend that ever serv'd his

Prince, 25

How does thy Love to me shine out conspicuous ! -

And, as the gen'rous Steed when weak with Age,

Starts into Rage, and scents the distant Battle :

So you, tho' press d with Years, work up our Souls 30

To Fame, and follow in the glorious Chase.

To thee my purpos'd Vengeance I'll disclose,

Do thou with deep Attention mark my Words ;

And where my Youth shall err, with Wisdom guide it.

Know, when J went to atk the Pythian God 35

What method I should take in my Revenge,

He thus in express terms spoke his high Pleasure :

© Close be thy Vengeance; no loud Force prepare;
gut steal upon th' unguarded Murtherer. |
Therefore do thou, my venerable Friend, 40
As soon as kind Occasion will permit,

Enter the Palace; dive into their Counsels;

And find out means for this our great Attempt.

For rev'rend Age has plow'd thy Features up,

And bent thee to the Earth, that thou shalt pass 45x
Successfully unknown, and unsuspected.

Then form a Tale like this; That thou art sent
From Phocts, from Phanoteus, to relate

(For he's their potent Friend, their dear Ally,)

Nor spare an Oath to back the licens'd Fraud 50
And win belief, how poor Orestes perith'd ;

Whirl'd from his Chariot in the Pythian Games.

This be che Sum and Subject of thy Errand;

Mean while, as the great Lycian God injoin'd,

We, with Oblations and devoted Hair, 55
Will please my Father's Shade, and crown his Tomb.
That done, here let us meet; and in our Hands

Bear to th' incestuous Court the brazen Urn,

Which lies conceal'd in yonder verdant Thickets:

Thus by an artful Fraud resembling Truth, 69

We may convince them of the pleasing News

That I am dead ; that those are the Remains

Of my burnt Bones, rak'd from the sun' ral Pile.

Why should I grieve to be reported dead,

While I rise fairer from that Death suppos'd 65

To nobler Life, to Happiness and Fame?

Nor can the Tale which profits, prove disastrous.
Oft have I heard of Men, for Wisdom fam'd,
Revive and flourith from imagin'd Tombs,

To freth Renown, and more illustrious Triumphs. 72
So on my Foes from Death at once I'll rise,

Clare like a Meteor, and with Terror blast them.

But, O my Country, and ye genial Gods,
Receive me prosp'rous, and assist my purpose !
And, thou Paternal Dome, to thee I come

Sent from the Gods to rid thee of Pollution.
O drive me not dishonour'd from this Land!
But fix me happy in my Father's Throne,
And make me but the Scourge of Usurpation,
I ask no more! — But now, my good old
Friend, Wo

Support the Task which thou hast undertook :
We, Pylades, will hence, time presses hard;
Time, on whose friendly call the Issues hang
Ot all our Mortal Actions.

Elect, Oh! my Fortune

( Groaning from within.)
Gov, Hark! sure I heard the Voice of Female Sorrow.
85
Ore/t. Think you, 'twas not the poor Zlectra
groan'd 2?
Say, shall we stay and listen to her Anguith ?
Gov. Not for the World:

Begin we from the

EL ECT-R A. F

And his Commands fulfil : With due Oblations
Appease, invoke the Manes of your Sire: GO
From hence we shall the hop'd Event derive,
And draw a Blessing on the pious Work.
(Exeunt Orcstes and Pylades at one
Door, Governor and Attendants at

another.

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ATI. Scint II.

Electra alone.

Fleck. O sacred Light, and O thou ambient Air,
How have ye witness'd to my constant Sorrows!
How have ye seen these Hands, in rage of Grief, 95
Harrow and bruise my swoln and bleeding Bosom !
While each new Morn was blasted with my Woe :
How have the circling Nights heard my Despair !
How have my Walls and hated Bed been curst, _
And eccho'd to my still- repeated Anguish 100
My Sighs, my Groans for my-unhappy Sire,

Whom barb'rous Climes and cruel Battle spar'd ;
Whom Battle spar'd, but whom my Mother flew !
She and her partner of adult'rous Joys,
Accurst Ægysthus, with a murth'ring Axe 105
Splitting his Temples, cleft the Hero down:

B 3 Resent-

6 ELECTRA 4.

Relentless, as the Woodman does an Oak,

And none, but I, or pines or complains ;

None but Electra mourns for thee, O Father,
Without regard to Shame or Pity murther'd ! 110
And I, while Life remains, will cherish Gef;

Each rising Morn, and each descending Night

Shall hear my moan: For with incessant Sorrow,
Like the sad Nightingale robb'd of her young,

Before my Father's Doors I'll plaintive stand ; 115
And my loud Wrongs proclaim to ev'ry Ear.

Ye Realms of Pluto, and his gloomy Consort!
Infernal Hermes! You, my potent Curses !

And awful Furies, Daughters of the Gods,

Behold the Great are fall'n, unjustly slain ! 122
And vile Adult'ry stains the Royal Couch !

O rise, aslist, revenge a murther'd King.

Send me my Brother, my Orestes hither,

To ease my Sorrows, and to bear his part:

For, oh! I fink beneath the dire Oppreslion, f2c

ELECTRA. 7

ee nennen

ACT I. SerrE III.

Electra and Chorus.

Cho. Thou Off- spring of a most unworthy Mother,
Uncomforted Electra! wherefore still
Dost thou with streaming Eyes and piercing Groans
For ever mourn the Fate of Agamemnon ?
Indulge Affliétion, nor permit the space 135
Of intervening Years to wipe away
The mem'ry of those Snares, and female Arts
That caught his noble Life? Oh, may the

If Justice warrant my devoting Pray'r,

That wrought his End, fall by the like surprize! 135

Elect. O gen'rous Maids, and worthy your high

Births ;

Kindly you come to soften my Distress :

I know you do, to charm me into Comfort,

But, oh! I must be deaf to the Inchantment ;

Nor ever cease to mourn my wretched Father, 149

Therefore I must conjure you by our Friendlhip ;

By all your tender Offices of Love;

Let me indulge my Tears, and be a Wretch :

Nor urge me to remit my Task of Sorrow,

B 4 Cho

8 LEUN.
Cho. But yet, nor Pray'rs nor Teare, can softer
Death; 3 .
Or bribe tir unpitying Hades to unlock
Earth's common Prison, and send back your Father.
Yet, fond of Woe and unavailing Passion,
That hourly wastes and preys upon your Health,
You mourn the Ills which Mourning will not cure. 150
Why do you court immod'rate Sorrow thus ?
Elect. They mult be sure, insensible and stupid, |
That can forget a murther'd Parent's Death.
Let me be rather like the wailing Bird,
The murm'ring Herald of approaching Spring, 155
Who 1ys ever, murther'd 1rys mourns,
Thee, Niobe, my Heart esteems a Goddess;
Thou Monument of unexampl'd Sorrow!
Lost to thy Sex, and hardned to a Stone, | |
Thou still art Niobe, and weep'st for ever! 160
Cho. Have you, Electra, only cause to mourn 2
Are there not those have equal Right to grieve ?
Tho' you surpass them in immod'rate Transports,
How does Chrysothemis suppress her Anguish?
And how Iphianassa bear her Pain? | 165
Or how Orestes droop in secret Exile? |
Ele&f, Happy Orestes, when the glad Mycenæ
Views Him returning to his rightful Throne;
Sent by the sweet Direction of the Gods!
Whilst I expect him with unwearied Hopes, 170
bf Childless, and desolate, debarr'd of Wedlock,
Dissolv'd in Tears, and worn away with Anguish.
But

LUNA. 7

But cruel He, regardless of my Pain,
Forgets my Love and ardent Invitations :
Yet has he sooth'd me {till with flatt'ring Tydings; 175
Rais'd me to Hopes, in vain, of his Arrival ;
Too cred'lous Hopes; for, oh! he will not come ! —
Cho. Despair not, Lady, for there reigns above
A potent God, that overlooks Mankind;
To his directing Hand submit your Anger: 180
Nor let your Transports swell to wild Distraction;
Nor let your just Resentments die forgotten:
For ling'ring Time knows his redressing Hour.
And he who stays on Crisa's verdant Shore,
Great Agamemnon's Son, back'd with the Pow'rs 185
Of Blood-avenging Erebus, will come;
Will come with Fury, and redress your Wrongs.
Elect. Much of my Life has been already spent,
And fed on nought but unavailing Hopes;
I can no longer bear th' uneahe State, 199
An Orphan, unsupported, weak, and friendless;
Us'd like a Menial in my Father's House; |
Robb'd of all Rights of Birth and Princely State;
Clad in these homely Weeds of Wretchedness,
And fed with Offals from th' Imperial Table. Iz;
Cho. Oh dismal was the Welcome of his Triumphe
Mournfal Return! And oh! that Bridal Room,
To which the unsuspecting Husband went
And met the sudden Axe ! Accursed Stroke!
By Fraud concerted, and by Lust perform'd; 200
Adult'rous Lust with Treachery combind
os B 5 In-

19 ECaACTRSH:

In horrid Mixture for the horrid Act;
Whether some God or Man inspir'd the Passion !
Fleck. O Day most hated of the rowling Year !
O blackest Night! And O prodigious Griefs 205
Which slow'd from that unutterable Deed !
When both their Hands upon my Father struck,

To speak their Union, and make Murther sure,

I too was struck, undone by that dire Blow,

And agonizing Death lies heavy on me! 210

But may the great Olympian God, may Jove

Repay their Treason with till growing Anguish !

Let no short Interval of Gladness chear 'em,

But Guilt and black Remorse haunt them for ever !
Cho. No more such Words of Outrage: Call to

Mind | 215
From what a State of Ease your Rage has thrown

And pull'd down Woe by wilful Provocation:
Enough of Sorrow has thy Soul endur'd,
By bearing up and buffetting the Tempest.
Believe it vain t' assail victorious Vice, 220
And tempt the rugged Hand of Tyrant Pow'r,
Elect. Such Treasons sure demand such loud Complaints;
|
My Heart is conscious of its swelling Rage:
Yet Danger thall not scare me from this Pleasure,
But while I live, I will devote the Wretches.
From whom, ye dear Companions of my Grief,
In such Extreams of Woe, can I] endure

ELECTRA. 11

The Voice of Consolation or Advice?

Cease, cease your Strains of unprevailing Comfort:
For never must my Labours find an End; 139
Never mult I have truce with my Afflictions:

Bur be a faithful Wretch, and weep for ever.

Cho. Alas !==My Love, like a fond Mother, pleads
To calm your Breast ; least your distemper'd Wrath
Should be the Parent of still greater Troubles. 235

Elect. Oh! Can my Ills admit of an Increase ?

Can Piety forget a Father's Murther ?

What Men, what barb'rous Nations, say it canj?

Oh! let me not be honour'd in their Thoughts !

No:— Were I to be Match'd to some such tame 240

Forgiving Soul, I would not let the soft

Unjust Infection, clog my tow'ring Rage;

Nor for a Moment stop my shrill-tongu'd Grief,

Which flys to gratify my Father's Shade.

For if my noble Father unreveng'd, 245

Mutt moulder into Dust, and be forgot;

Whilst they, triumphant in their happy Guilt,

Laugh at the lame Revenge that cannot rcach em:

Farewel to Virtue; let religious Awe

No more restrain Mankind, but Outrage flourish! 250
Cho. In your's and in our own Behalf we came,

T' express our Duty, and asswage your Woes.

But if our Words displease your Princely Mind,

You must oercome, and we submit in Silence.

Elect. I blush to think, that my uneasie Load 255
Of Grief, should seem immoderate or strain'd:

B 6 Forgive

— ͤꝑ öà—q—
— ty Ir EO

12 ELECTRA.

Forgive ny strong Necessity of Sorrow.

What Virgin, well-descended, could behold

Her Father's Wrons:, and not like me resent ?

Could ice the never-tading Llis I tee, 200
That sprout each Hour and blossom on each other;
While from the Hand of Her, who gave me Litc,
The piercing Shaft is sent that wounds my Soul.

And while within my Father's injur'd Houte,

I am conftrain'd to dwell with his Atlassins, 265
Insulted by 'em, and oblig'd to take

The Means of Life from them, or yield to. Famine.
Oh! what a Life must you believe I drag;

What Tortures bear, distracted, when I see

Agysthus seated in my Father's Throne; 270
Drest in the same Imperial Rohes of State;

And pouring forth Oblations on that Spot,

Where once the Blood of Agamemnon slow'd ?

But oh! what Daggers must divide my Soul,

When I behold the last great Injury; 275
The rude Assassin in my Father's Bed,

And guilty Mother's Arms? If Virtue suffer

To call Her Mother, who with rank Offence
Has injur'd Nature in her sacred Laws.

But she enjoys the Wretch deform'd with Blood, 250
Nor tears the Furies round th' adultrous Bed ;
But with a wicked Triumph at the Fact,
Searches impatient for the welcome Day
Whereon my Father fell: O horrid Thought !

And when it comes, in wanton Revels, plays, 285
Feasts

Feasls, dances, and with impious Sacrifice,
Thanks all the Gods for the successful Murther.
While I, a forc'd Spectator of their Riot,
(In Mock'ry call'& the Feast of Agamemnon)
In secret mourn; nor am allow'd to vent
The Anguish of my lab'ring Heart in Freedom: 290
For She, with watchful and ungen'rous Hate,
Eyes my Distress, and thus upbraids my Pain.
„Thou Scorn of Heav'n! Have none but Thou been
gricy'd 2
Art thou the only one whose Father dy'd ?
Be trebly curst, and may th' Infernal Pow'rs
« Never release thee from the Woe thou'rt fond of.
Such is her Langnage ; but whene'er she's told
Orestes soon will come, then, then she raves,
And bellows loud, Thou Source of all my
Cares, 300
This is thy Work, who stol'st Orestes from me,
« And nurst him up to be thy Mother's Ruine:
But thou shalt pay the Price of all my Fears.
Thus does she taunt ; while her illustrious Spouse
Stands by her side, pleas'd, and provokes the Con-
That trifling Coward, that Disgrace of Manhood,
Who only wars in Consort with a Woman.
But while I wait to see Orestes here,
To end my Griefs and rescue me, I die!
His Vengeance sleeps by an unkind Delay; 310

14 E LE C T A

Nor leaves me present Hope or future Comfort,
To flatter Woe, and keep my Soul alive.

In such a State tis hard to be discreet;

And not accuse the unassisting Gods:

For in such Ills our Passions will transgress, 315
Rise with our Suff rings, and like them grow bound-

Chor. Tell me, Electra; Is Ægysthus nigh?
Who might, if he o'er-heard, resent my Words.
Elect. O think not I should taste these gentle Freedoms

If he were nigh ; but, guiltless of my Joy, 320
He traverses the verdant Fields of Argos.

Cho. With greater Confidence I then shall speak;
Nar fear to ask the things I long to know.

Elect. Secure from Danger, ask me what you please,

Cho, Then tell me of Orestes, will he come? 325
Or is there still a Cause to keep him back ?

Elect. He says he comes, but does not what he says,

Cho. Important Actions move but slowly on.

Elect. I mov'd not slowly when I sav'd his Life.

Cho. Fear not ; his Virtue will not fail his Friends. 330

Elect. In that Beliefe 1 have protracted Woe.

Cho. No more -I see Chrysothemis approach;
Your Sister, Madam, this way bends her Steps,
And in her Hands she bears Sepulchral Off rings.

0 B ed” ACT

ELECTRA. 17

ATI. Scans IV.
Chrysothemis, Electra, and Chorus.

Chrys. HY will you, Sister, at this publick
W Gate 335

Repeat your Grievance in such clam'rous Accents?

Nor let Experience teach you to discard

An impotent and unavailing Passion ?

Believe that I am conscious of our Wrongs,

And would, if I had Pow'r, attempt Revenge: 340

And let my strong Resentment stand confest.

But when our Weakness dictates to our Wrath,

Tis wiser to submit with lower'd Sails,

Than to collect the Storm and tempt Destruction.

Thus would I counsel you to stifle Rage; 345

Tho' I confess your Indignation just;

But if or Life, or Liberty be dear,

We must obey and stoop to rugged Pow'r.

Eleft. Tis base that you, from such a Father forung,
Should in Neglect of his forgotten Worth, 359
Side with the Faction of an impious Mother,

For all your Counsels are by her prescrib'd,

And speak her Pleasure but at second hand:

Unheeding Girl, confess, and chuse thy Crime,

That thou, or know'st not, or forget'st thy Duty. 355

You said but now, if you had Pow'r to hate,

To hate to purpose, you'd avow your Anger;
f: | Yet

C CFA

Yet when I struggle to revenge my Father,

Far from assisting, you obstruct my Work. 2
Is not this Cowardice, or something worse 2 © 360
Tell me what great Advantage would arise,

Should I suspend my Grief, and put on Gladness ?

Do I not live? tho' Ill, the Life Ilead:
Ill as it is, it is enough for me:

Whilst ev'ry Day I interrupt their Joys, 365.
Contending still to please my Father's Shade,

It the Deceas'd are capable of Pleasure.

While you, whose Words profess such specious Hate,
Act in Concurrence with the Murtherers.

But would they give me all my Sister's Gifts, 370
And all the Ornaments in which you shine;

I would not yield a Moment to 'em.——No:

Let costly Banquets load your wanton Table,

And your soft Life in Delicacies slow;

Give me the meanest necessary Food, 375
The Virtue which has carn'd, shalt think it rich;

And add a Sweetness to the homely Diet.

I scorn the guilty Honours you have purchas'd,

And so should you in Wisdom: But, oh Shame!

You court Disgrace, and when you might be stil'd 380
The glorious Daughter of the best of Fathers,

You are the Mother's, her distinguish'd Darling !

Thus at the Price of Censure, you betray

Your Friends, and sell the Blood of Agamemnon
Cho. For Heav'ns sake, let not Anger grow between

detec 5 389
3 : 5 You

ELECTRA: 17

You both speak well, and both may be improv'd
If you will join, and by each other profit.

Chry. This Language l am us'd to, Friends, from Her,
Nor had | now provok'd the Repetition;

But that I heard an Evil threaten her, 390
Which would at once end these incessant Wail.ngs.

Elect. Name it, and if you can pronounce an Horror
Greater than these I feel, I will obey you.

Chry. Take then the Sum of what I can inform you:
Unless you calm these Passions, they resolve 395
To force you hence, where you shall neer behold
The cheerful Light of Day, but lie confin'd
In some damp gloomy subterranean Prison,

Far from this Country; there to groan unheard, _
And breath your Sorrows 'midit unwhollome Vapours...
5 | | 400

But, oh, be wise; prevent the threaten'd Woe :
Nor blame your Sister, who with early Care

Would labour to divert th' unripe Destruction.
Elect. And have they then determin'd. thus against me?
Chry. As soon as e' er Ægysthus shall return. 405
Elect. Oh, may the threaten'd Mischief wing him hither?!

Chry. What horrid Wish is this, unwary Maid?
Elect. That he would come and execute his Malice,
C/ry, Ha! Are you lost to Sense ? What would you
aim at ?
Elect. That I might fly from all of you as far 410
As Earth has Boun ds.

Chry.

18 ELECTRA
Chry. —Resped you not your Life?
Elect. This Life is wond'rous beautiful indeed,
Fit to be car'd for!
Chry. - Were you wise it might.
Elect. Teach me not, Sister, to betray my Friends,
Chry. I teach you not, but to obey Superiors. 41;
Elec. Tis yours to flatter, I have no such Soul.
Chry. 'Tis prudent not to throw our Lives away.
Elect, But glorious to resign em for a Father.
Chry, Our Father W id not wish us to pursue
Revenge at that rash Hazard
Elect. Cowards only
And fearful Souls applaud such tim'rous Maxims. |
Chry. And will you not be caution'd 'gainft Af. ;
fliction ? wh
Elect. No: For I would not quite forego my Reason, 4
Ckry. Then I have done, and will pursue my Orders.
Ele. What Orders !!— And to whom these sun'ral
Rites? 425 þ
Chry. The Queen enjoins me on my Father's Tomb
From her to make Libations.
Elect.. D— How ? from Her?
To make Libations to that hated Man ?
Chry. To him she kill'd, for so you would infer,
Eleck. By whom perswaded, whose Advice was
this ? 430
Chry, "Tis the result of a nocturnal Fright,
Eleck. Oh! all ye Gods of Argos, aid me now.
[ Chry. What grounds for Hope derive you from hex
Pears? Elec.

Elect. Tell me the Vision, and I'll then resolve you.
Chry. Alas ! I know but little 435
Eleft. Tell me hen
That little Little Sentences and Words
Have often rais'd, and ruin'd Men as oft.

Chry. Tis whisper'd, that she saw our Father come
Again to light, and seem'd once more his Wife :
That He, took inhis Hand the Regal Scepter 440
(Which once he bore, but now Ægysthus bears;)

And fix'd it in the Earth: When strait there sprang,
From it, a thriving Branch which flourish'd wide

And over-shadow'd all Mycene's Land.

This did I learn from one who was at hand, 445
When to the rising Sun she told her Vision

To deprecate it's Omen. More I know not,
But that these Rites are owing to its Horrors.

Elect. Now I conjure you by our genial Gods,

Obey me; fall not into rash Offence; 450
But, cer it be too late, avoid Pollution.

And, dearest Sister, let no part of those

Design'd Oblations touch my Father's Tomb:

For tis not just, to bring his inj ur d Shade

Unhallow'd Off rings from an impious Hand.

But give 'em to the Winds ; or hide 'em deep 455
In Earth, - at distance from his aweful Tomb.
Let the Earth keep em for her sun'ral Honours,

The fittest Off rings to adorn her Grave.

Had she not been the vilest of her Sex,

She would not sacrifice, to Him she slew. 460

nut all I have to give, except this Girdle:

By Heav'n ! you must be silent, Friends; for if

How do you think his injur'd Ghost will bear

To taste the Off rings which are sent by Her;

Who, not content to rob him of his Lite,

Mangled and hack'd him to disarm Resentment ;

And strove to wipe th Abomination off. 475
Will impious Off rings satisfie for Murther ?

And weak Libations purge the guilt of Blood?

No; fling th' offensive Sacrifice away;

And from our Heads let each present a Lock

Of supplicating Hair: Too mean the Gift! 470

Which take, however plain and unadorn d.
Prostrate, invoke him to arise from Earth;
To come propitious and destroy our Foes;
And send Oreftes, with avenging Force, 475
To strike the hostile Tyrants to the Earth.
Then shall we richer Sacrifices pay, | |
And crown his Ashes with more grateful Off rings.
My Heart suggests, the care of our Revenge
Employs his Ghost, and sent the hideous Dream : 455
Therefore, my Sister, aid the gen'rous Work;
The Cause of you, and me, and that dear Man,
Our common Parent who is now no more.
Cho. The Virgin speaks with Piety, and you
In Wisdom. should perform the duteous Office.
Chry.. I will: For tis a vain and sensless Strife
For two to differ in a Work that's just,
And asks dispatch. But now that I consent,

My inraged Mother should discover ought, 499
I might have cause to mourn the bold Attempt.
(Exit Chrysothemis.

C ˙ / SCENE Y.

G-H-Q: RUS.

Electra remaines on the Stage while the Chorus sings,

Cho. Or my prophetice Soul mistakes,
Or I in hope from Reason err; |
Or Fengeance swift advances makes,
Upon: the Conjcience-haunted Murtherer. 495
Daughter she comes; she comes away
Vith Pow'r and Justice in Array;
Im strong in hope, the boding Dream,
Ihe Herald of her awcful Terrors came.
The King's Resentments shall not cease, $90
Nor shall he bury Wrongs but in redress.
Ihe vengeful Axe that gave the im pious Blow,
Mindful of th' Imperial Woe,
To Hell and Heav'n calls out aloud
For Retribution, and for Blood, 50g

The brazen-footed Fury shall appear
With hundred Feet, and hundred Hands ;
To execute her fell Commands,
Who yet conceals her wrathsul Spear.
Unseen she does her future Work survey, 510
And hovers o'er her unsuspecting Prey.
For impious Acts have stain d the Royal Bed;
Acts at which Hymen stood disma y' d
While by concerted Guile betray d
To give Adult ry scope, the Husband bled. 515
But 1, in hope, foresee some dire Event,
The threat ning Visions of the Night
Shall have their Force, nor be content
To punish Guilt with bare Affright.
Let Birds, Dreams, Divinations lose their Force, $25
Aud solemn Oracles no more discourse ;
If this Appearance passes hence
Without an happy Consequence,

© inauspicious Chariot race,

Which Lo ve- instructed Pelops won; 525

What mighty Mischiefs hast thou done,
To this ill fated Place?

2 ELECTRA. 23

For e er since Myrtilus was thrown
Headlong from the Chariot, down
The Promontory's horrid Brow 530
Into the suffocating Surge below ;
Unnumber d Evils have befall'n the State;
And Argos felt successive Storms of Fate.

rome) If 4

ACT H. Sen I.

Clytemnestra, Electra and Chorus.

Cly, Ou're free, you think; and now may wait
at large, |

Because, you know, Ægysthus is not here ;

Who would confine your Walks; not let you range,

To vent your Spleen, and execrate our Friends,

But in his absence you regard not me;

I am the Theme of your unmanner'd Railings ;

You brand me with Injustice ; say, I'm fierce ;

And play the. Tyrant over you and yours.

But I abuse you not; I only pay

Your handsome Compliments to me in kind; 18

And, first insulted, but return Reproach.

And still your Father is the stale pretence,

As if I murther'd him: I did, I own it;

I own, I did it; and 'twas bravely done:

Justice commanded, and I gave the Blow : I;

And you, if wise, had help'd the glorious Work,

For He, whom you so obstinately mourn,

Murther'd your Sister :>—He, of all the Greeks

Could find a Daughter for a Sacrifice ;

—— BR >_© 7 rr OO an,

LTU TRL. 27

And bore to see Her butcher'd, cruel Man! 2.0

A stranger to the pangs of pleading Nature,

Nor conscious of the pains a Mother feels.

And then, for whom was this fair Victim slain ?

Was it for Greece ? you will not surely say it;

Had Greece the liberty to kill my Daughter ? 25

Or was't not for his Brother Alenelaus?

(Oh! justly did he die, who kill'd my Child.)

Had not his Brother Children of his own ?

T'was juster far, they both had dy'd, than she ;

Both, for their Father and their Mother dy'd ; 39

On whose Account alone the War began.

Or did the partial God of Hell prefer

My Daughter's Blood, to any second Victim?

Or had your execrable Father lost

A Parent's Love, but Menelaus not? 35

Do not these Acts proclaim him rath and impious?

Whate'er you think, my Censure has condemn 'd him:

and so would injur'd 1phigenia too,

Could the Departed speak, accuse her Father,

do not then repent of what J did; 40

But if you think I ought, take heed you speak

In terms of calm respect, and urge your Reasons,
Ele. You cannot plead, that you were now provok'd

;
And therefore did retort opprobrious Language.

But might I be permitted, I would try 45.
To plcad my Father's Cause and Sister's too. |

C Cty.

26 EL'ECTR £

Cly, You may: And did you always thus address

Twould spare you that Reproach you murmur at.
Elect. First you confess, that you my Father slew;
And can there be a blacker Crime than this, 50

The Cause be just or no? But that it was not,

I'll shew you ; drawn by your adult'rous Love,

Not for your Daughter but your present Spouse,

You did the Action. Ask Diana why,

Why she delay'd so long the courted Winds ; 35
Or what the Goddess will not, I will tell you.

Tis said, my Father sporting in her Grove,

Put up a noblc-spotted branching Stag;

And as he chas'd and slew the glorious Prey,

In Triumph utter'd some unhappy Word. 69
The Goddess, to revenge th' Insult, detain'd

The Fleet-in Aulis, till my wretched Sire

Should make Atonement with his Daughter's Blood,

Thus fell she ; —nor could any meaner Bribe

Purchase a Wind to swell their flagging Sails; 65
For which, and not for AMerelaus's sake,

With struggling Sorrows, and reluctant Pangs,

At last he yielded to the Sacrifice,

But had he done it for his Brother's sake,

Should you have kill'd him therefore? By what Law? 70
Take heed, least you repent the Rules you make;

By your own Laws your self will stand condemu'd:
It Murther mutt with Murther be repaid,

Justice wul tell you, you are ncxt to bleed ;

Thus

E LE C F R A. 27

Thus ev'n your own defence is turn'd against you. 75
But tell me, if you can, on what Account

You now persist in execrable Guilt ;

Why have you commerce with the bloody Wretch,
Who was th' Abettor of your horrid Crime ?

Why propagate by him a lawless Brood, 80
And banish far into another Land

The Virtuous Off- spring of your Husband's Bed?
Can this be reconcil'd ? Or will you say

These are the farther proofs of your Revenge;

Tis base to say it; it can ne'er be good 8
To wed a Traytor for a Daughter's sake.

Yet, deaf to just Reproof, you spurn at Counsel ;
Cry, that 'tis Insolence t' upbraid a Parent;

And shoot with all the Arrows of your Tongue.

I have a Mistress, not a Mother in you, 90
Oppress'd with Hardthips, and condemn'd to all

That you and your curst Consort will impose.

Nay, scarce my Brother did escape your Rage;

Who wears out wretched Life in anxious Exile.

The saving whom, you oft upbraid me with; 95
And say, I nourish a Revenger for you!

And be assur'd, IJ wanted not the Will;

Therefore proclaim me to the World at large;

Brand me with Impudence ; call me foul Railer;

The Signal Characters shall make me known, 100
And mark me out for Clyzemnestra's Daughter!

Cho. J see, her fierce Resentment blazes high ;
Regardless whether Reason rule her Anger.
ay Cly.

28 E:L& GT Rh

Cly, And what regard can she deserve from me,
Who thus upbraids and vilifies her Mother? 105
Vresumptuous Wretch !-—Believe you not, my Friends,
She has forgot to bluth at any Action ?

Elect. Oh, you mistake; I bluth at what Ido;
And am too sensible the Words I speak,

But ill become my Station, Age, or Fortunes; 110
But your vile Actions and malignant Soul

Have forc'd me to be rude against my Will;

For Evils spring and flourish by Example!

Cly. Injurious Railer ! do my Actions teach,

Do They, instru your Tongue to grow offensive? 115

Elect. Tis your Offence that speaks ; you do the

things,
Which done in proper Language must be told.

Cly. Now, by Diana, when ZEgysthus comes,
You shall not thus insult me unreveng'd.

Elef#f. You rob me of the Liberty you gave, 120
You bad me speak, but will not hear with Temper.

Cly. Will you nor suffer me to make Oblations,
But interrupt with Inauspicious Words, |
Because I bad you speax?

Elec. Go on, perform
Th' intended Rites ; I will no longer stop 125
The meritorious Office, but be silent !.

Cly. Then lift thou up the suppliant Fruits on high;

(To her Attendant.)
Which, offer'd to the sacred God of Day,
Shall free me from the Fears which now I bcar.
N l O Ph v.

But hear me, thus

ELECTRA 29

O Phœbus, thou whose Hallow'd Image stands

Before this Palace, hear my hidden Sense ;

I speak not among Friends; nor is it safe

Here to unfold the Secrets of ny Heart

Before thy radiant Light, when She is by;

Least with her Envy, and her babbling T ongue, 135
She spread the Story over all the City.

The Vision of last Night,

The doubtful Dream which sleeping I beheld,

If it be prosperous, O Lycian King,

Fullfill and ratifie its kind Intents : 140
If Ill, turn all its Horrors on my Foes.

Nor prosper those, who would disturb my State;

And plot in private to undoe my Pow'r.

Thus let me always live, from Danger free,

And rule this Kingdom, and this House as now; 145
Join'd to these Friends, to whom I now am join'd ;
Sill crown'd with Bliss, and with such Children who
Nor hate, nor enviously disturb my Joys.

Grant this, Apollo, and look down propitious ;

Grant this, and in the manner which I ask ; 150

The rest thou know'st, altho' I speak it not:

For Gods have Pow'r to read our inmost Thoughts,

And nought is hidden from the Sons of Jove.

30 ELECTRA.

COLE ITT LEE ECT ETFS

A T II. Sc II.
Governor, Clytemnestra, Electra, and Chorus.

Gov, E. Virgins, may a Stranger hope to learn,

If this tall Fabrick be the Royal Palace? 155
Cho. It 1s.
Gov. And this the Queen, whom 1 behold ?

Her Dress and Person speak th' Imperial Rank.

Cho. You're right, tis she.

Then hail, O Queen ! I come

To bring you and Zgy/thus grateful News

From one who is your Friend.

Cly. T' embrace the News 160

But next inform me from what Friend you come,
Gov. From Phocis, from Phanoteas, to relate

A Business of Concern ; ——

Cly. Pronounce it, Stranger ;

The Man you come from speaks the Errant good.
Gov. To sum up all, Oreftes is no more. 165
Elect. Ah! wretched Maid ! It brings me to the

Grave
Cly. What said you, Stranger? Listen not tc |
Her.
Gov. I say again, Oreftes is no more,

the þ

ELECT RA. 31

Ele#, I perish with him, and am too no more!
Cly. At distance, howl !——But, Stranger, you pro-
Instruct Us in the manner of his Fate.
Gov. To this was I employ'd; ——— Know, Mighty
(Queen,
When young Orestes at the Plains arriv'd,
Where Grecia celebrates her Pythian Games;
Soon as the Herald's shrill-proclaiming Voice 175
Summon'd each Champion to the noble Sports,

He enter'd the broad Lists, bright as a God;

The Admiration of the throng'd Spectators !

Twere endless to recount the things he did; |
Thro' all the stated course of Games he ran, 180
And bore in Triumph ev'ry Prize away.

The happy Youth was hymn'd by ev'ry Tongue:
Proclaim'd aloud by th' Herald's Voice, an Argive!
By Name Orestes, Agamemnon's Son,

The General of Greece) And thus he flourisn'd:

But when the Gods oppose the mightiest Man,
The Mortal sinks beneath th' unequal Match!
For when the next succeeding Morn arose,
Changing the Nature of the lusty Contests ;
Orestes with the Rival Troop advanc'd, I90

And sigh'd for Conquest in the Chariot-race.

But Fate decreed not so: —For when his Steeds,
True to his Hopes, successful wing'd their way ;

And almost crown'd him with the promis'd Prize ;
C 4 Turning

32 ELECTRA.

Turning the Goal with a mistaken breadth, 195
He struck unwary on the outmost Column,
And broke his Axle short. He, with the Shock,
Fell from his Seat, and in the twisted Harness
Intangled hung; Him, thus precipitate,
The frighted Horses with Confusion wild 100
Dragg'd to the middle Course: With Vells and
Shrieks

The pittying Crowd beheld, and mourn'd the Youth;
Fall'n from Renown, and loft to future Conquests !
Now dash'd against the Ground; and now aloft
Rebounding furious; till the Charioteers 205
(But oh! too late ) stopp'd his unruly Steeds :
And loos'd him, with unseemly Wounds deform'd !
Torn, bruis'd, disfigur'd, and no longer known
To be Orestes, by his dearest Friends!
Some Phocian Men, appointed to the Task, 210
Strait burnt his Body ; and have brought, inurn'd,
His Dust; the poor Remains of all his Greatness !
To find a Tomb in his Paternal Soil.
Such was his Death ; how terrible to hear !
But, Oh, how more afflicting to the Sight ! 21
The worst of Spectacles these Eyes have seen.

Cho. Alas ! alas! then all my Master's Race
Are perish'd, rooted up, and quite extinguith'd.

Cly. O Jove! what News is this? Of Joy, or Horror?
That Crowns with Safety, yet with Sorrow wounds ;
Whilst to assure my Life, I lose my Son. 220

ELECT RA. 33

Gov. Why does the present Story make you sad ?
Cly, I feel the Mother struggling in my Soul.
Gov. Vain, and unwelcome then is this my Labour.
Cly. How vain ? or how unwelcome ? Since you!

come. 225

To bring me certain Tokens of His Death,

Who tho' my Son, and nourith'd from my Breast,

Yet Who forsook me, like a. Vagrant fled,

And chose a Stranger's for his Mother's House ;

Who never saw me, since he left the Land; 230

But branding me with Parricide, He still

With rebel Menaces has stabb' d my Peace.

I scarce have slept by Night, or wak'd by Day,

Secure or pleasant : But each anxious Minute

Seem'd but a short reprieve from instant Death, 23x

But this kind Morn disburthens me of Fear,

From Him and Her : — From Het, the greater

Plague !

Because Domestick, in my Bosom.warm'd,

Th' ungrateful Serpent sucks my vital Blood,

But hurt no longer by her taunting Malice 2.40

My easie Life shall slow with pleasure on.

Elect. Wretched Electra Now it's time to mourn

Thuy Fate, Orestes; when thy Mother triumphs

In thy Destruction thus; Gods! — is it well ?.
Cly. With him, tis wondrous well, tho' not with
Elect. Avenging Goddess! hear her Contumelies.

Cly, She has already heard, and well determin'd !.
&-5 Elect..

äʒ—Ü— p — — —— — wo ͤ —ÿ—

3+ ELECTRA

Elect. Ay, now insult : Your Joys indeed are full.
C:y. And can Orestes help to make em less
Elect. No; — We must drop our unperforming An-
Cly. O Stranger, you indeed deserve our Love,
If you have filenc'd her malignant Clamours.

Gov. My Talk is finith'd ; I may now depart——
Cly. Not so, my Friend: It would dishonour us,
And Him that sent you, thus to let you go: 255

Enter the Palace; and let's leave this Railer
To how] abroad, and spread her stubborn Grief.
(Ereunt Clytemnestra, Artendants and
Governor,

Sch Ee dhe h lege eg :e de: de ed

AAT II. SCENEK UT
Electra and Chorus.

7:4, Had she the Marks of Sorrow ? Did the
VWretch
Consess Despair, or like a Mother mourn ?
But with malignant Pleasure stalk'd away ! 260 |
Dearest Grefles, how hast thou undone me
Thy Fate has kid me, ravish'd all the Hopes
On which my Soul had fix d her last support, |
That thou would est one Day come, and with thy!
Hand

1 Reycng*®

ELECTRA. 37

Revenge my Father and unhappy me! 265

Now where shall I retreat, forlorn, depriv'd

Of Thee, and of my Father? Now again,

I must be dragg'd to serve the cursed Men

Who kill'd my Father. Can sweet Heay'n per-

No, by the Gods, I will no longer dwell 278

Beneath the hated Roof which covers them:

But here on Earth will make my humble Be 1,

And mourn 'till Life is worn away in sadnets,

If I'm a Torment, let 'em kill me strait ;

For I am sick of Lite, and fain would dye: Is

When Life is irksome, Death is a Releite.

SESSSSSSSSSSASISSSISSSISISSSS IAA $603

A r H. Seren IV.
Electta joins in the Chorus.

Cho. Dees not Apollo sec? WII Jove not hear 7
When will it Thunder, if it now be clear ?

Elect. Alas ! my Fate

Cho. 1/hy weep'st thou so ?

Elect. O

Co. Softer thy tumaltucus Noe, | 280.

— — > a re

Cho. The Fate of Amphiaraus know,

„„ FERCERE.

Elect. You kill me if you flop my Grief,
Cho. How ?
Ele, ——By teaching vain Releife.

By off ring Comfort to restore,
When he, in whom I hop d, is now no more.
By such unavailing Care 285
You insult my Griefs, and aggravate Despair.

By Female Avarice betray'd;
A Victim to his Wife's Perswasions made
But now the Monarch in the Shades belou.— 299
Elect. Oh killing thought! |

Immortal. reigns ;
A Prophet in th Elysian Plains:
lect. Woe: on the Cause !
no. Ay, Woe indeed

On th accursed Matron's Head“ |
Ele. But foe too late her Treajon rued ;

Cho. 1 grant, Revenge her Crime pursued. |
Kieet, That injur'd. Monarch found a. Son
His discontented Shade t' appease ;
But my unhappy Sire has none
To give the plaintive Phantom ease. Joc

ELECTRA. 25

Cho. O Virgin, great. is thy Distress.
Elect. Too well 1 know
The weight of my oppressing Woe ;
Of Griefs successive, long, and numberless .
Cho. With. Justice you of Mijery complain;

Ele. Therefore no longer wound my Far,
With Comfort 's voice; nor hope to cheer
My Soul, that ne er shall taste again
Cho. What say st thou, Maid?
Elect. The Sweets of Peace,
Ne'er be charm'd to joy or ease: 310

Now the gen ' rous Youth is gone,

Hope and Vengeance are undone,

Cho. Death is the portion of Mankind

Elect. But not like. him, by furious Coursers born,
Bruis d, disfigur'd, mangled, torn,

Shall all a Death of Horror find? *
Cho. Dark, unforeseen is Fates surprize :
Elect. His Fate was unforeseen indeed,
In a Foreign Land to bleed;
Without these Hands to close his Eyes, 320
Cho. Unhappy Prince“
Elect. —No Ob sequies to have;

Nor weeping Friends to mourn Thee to the Grave.

A T H. Ser nr I.

Chrysothemis, Electra and Chorus.

Chry. L OR Joy, my Dearest, I forgot my Sex;
Neglected Decency, and ran impatient
To bring you grateful News; whose glad surprize
Will end those IIls which you so long have mourn'd.
Elett. Where can't thou find a Cure for my Misfortunes,
3
On which no Beam of Comfort c'er can dawn?
Chry. Enlarge thy Hopes: Oreftes is arriv d;
Arriv'd as surely, as I live to speak it. |
Elect. Or rather dost thou rave, unhappy Girl;
And sport with my Afflictions and thy own. 10
Ckry. By all the Gods, I do not trifle with you,
Or dally with your Woes, but know He's come.
Elect. By what uncrring Arguments convinc'd,
That you. so strongly bend to their Report.
Chry. I owe not to Report th' uncertain Tale, 15
But to these Eyes that {aw th' unerring Signs.
Ele&.. What Signs? What could'it thou see, too cred'lous

Maid,

To kindle this fantastick Feaver up?
Chry. Hear, I conjure you, e're you quite condemn:

And judge, if Reason warrant my Assertion. 20
Elect. If the Relation gives you Pleasure, speak.
Chry, Thus then; as I approach'd the hallow'd

Tomb |

Wherein my Father's peaceful Ashes lie;

I saw the Ground with Streams of Milk distain d,

Fresh pour'd, and flowing from the tufted Hillocks; 25

And all the Flow'rs the genial Season yields,

Strew'd in a Circle round the Sepulchre.

I aw and wondred;: and look'd all around,

Least any one unseen should steal upon Me

And interrupt my Search: But when I saw. 30

All things in Solitude and perfect Rest,

I nearer to the Tomb advanc'd ; and there,

Upon the utmost Pile, a Lock of Hair

Fresh cut, in Waves was spread: when strait my Soul

Presented young Orefles to my Thoughts, MW

And whisper'd me, 'twas His, which I beheld:

The Tokens of that dear-loy'd Man's Return.

took it up, and spoke auspicious Words;

And my glad Eyes o'reflow'd with Tears of Joy.

And then my conscious Soul believ'd as now, 45

Those Fun'ral Honours came from none but him,

To whom but Me or You, belong'd this Office?

] did it not, I'm sure; nor you, I think:

How could you, who from hence are not allow'd

A Moment's Absence, tho' to worship Heavin? 45

40 ELECTRA.

My Mother——She delights not in such Acts;

Nor could the do it, but we must have known.

None but Orestes then could pay these Honours.
Have Comfort, Sister ; not the same harsh God

With unremitting Fury still pursues ; 50
The Storm o' er-blown, a pleasing Calm succeeds ;

To Day perhaps the lowring Scene will change;
Revive our Souls, and brighten them with Gladness.

Elect. O sensless Raptures! how I pity thee!

Chry. What! Is the News ungrateful then at last? 55

Elect. You know not where you are, nor what you

speak.

Chry. Do I not know what these my Eyes beheld ?
Elec. Lose not an Hope in Search of poor Orestes,
Nor build thy Safety there; for He,. is dead.

Chry. O Heav'ns! where did you learn the fatal

News ? 60
Elect From one who stood, and saw the Youth expire.

Chry. I stand amaz d where is this fatal Herald ?-
Elect. Caress'd within; and welcome to my Mother,
Chry. O fatal! whose were all those. Off rings then
Which grac'd my Father's Tomb ?
SIT. We mult suppose 65
Some Friend has plac'd 'em there, the Monuments
Of dead Oreftes' Love: |
Cry. =_ —Deceitful Joy !
I hasted, ravish'd with the strong Delight;
Nor dreamt of this disastrous Turn of Fate,

2 pp 5 . IH ot ee

EL E CTR 4 4.1

But now too well I find our former IIIs 70
Maintain their Ground, and call up fresh Afflictions!
Elect. Too true th Increase ; but if you'll learn of
I'll teach you how we may redeem our selves.
Chr. Oh! Can we raise the Dead to Life again?
Elect. Believe not my Conceits tow'r up to Madneis.

75
Cry. What would'st thou then prescribe, that I can
aid in?

Elec. Resolve but to perform what I advise.
Chry. If to our Honour, fear not a Repulse.
Elect. Think, nothing can without some Pains succeed.”
| |
Chry. I do, and will contribute to my Pow'r. 80
Elect. Hear then the Resolution I have form'd ;
Twere vain to urge our Want of Friends to you,
Who know that we have none; that cruel Death
Has torn 'em hence, and we are left alone.
While yet Orestes liv'd, my flatter'd Grief 85
Encourag'd Hopes that he would one Day come;
And satisfie my Father's crying Blood:
But now He is no more, I look on you,
To aid your Sister in the pious Work; |
And help to kill th' Assassin, curst Zgyfthus ! 99
I'll spread the Counsels of my Soul before you,.
And we with open Bosoms will converse.
Why should you till be passive in your Wrongs ?
Is there Redress in Hope, but from our selyes ?
Does

42 EL ECT RM.

Does not Oppression grind us ev'ry way? 97
Are we not spoil'd of our Paternal Rights?

Debarr'd of Hymen's Joys, and wasting all

Our Bloom of Life in Virgin Solitude ?

And, oh, believe it must be ever thus; |
Nor will the Tyrant's Caution give us room 100
To propagate a Race, to his Destruction.

But if you'll follow the Advice, I give;

Your Sire and Brother shall conspire to Praise,

And, from the Grave, applaud the gen rous Action,
Then shall you be saluted, Noble, Free, 105
As Nature and your Princely Birth design'd;

And worthy Youths shall sigh for your Embrace.

For Virtue is a Charm fires ev'ry Breast.

Do you not see, what Glory, what Applause

You purchase to your self and me by this ? 110
What Citizen, what Stranger seeing Us

Will not with these Encomiums mark us out.
Bchold the Sisters— Friends, the Rival Pair,

Who from Destruction rais'd their Father's House!
Who brav'd the Fury of triumphant Foes, 115
Attack d their Pomp, and struck the righteons Blow ;
Of Life regardless ! These should always be

The Subjects of our Wonder, and our Love;

These should be honour'd, courted, and proclaim'd,
And in our Feasts, Assemblies, and our Strects, 128
Hymn'd and distinguish'd for Heroick Souls !l—— |
Such Language shall we hear from ev'ry Tongue,
And live Eternal in the Voice of Fame :

Follow |.

& L'& CTA #. 45

Follow me then; revenge your Father's Blood;
Make dead Oxestes smile, and rescue Me; 125
Rescue Your self: Shake off the guilty Chain:
For gen'rous Souls disdain a vile Dependance.

Cho. Prudence is useful in Affairs like these,
To Counsel, or Embrace th' important Task.

Chry. Had she but weigh'd her Words before she

spoke,

She would have kept what now she has not done;
A modest Prudence, and an useful Caution.
What Prospect of Success, that thus you arm,
And aik me to aslist the Daring Work !——
Regard your feeble Sex, and tender Form ; 135
In Strength inferior to the Foes you brave:
Behold, how Fortune wooes Them with her Smiles,
While We are crush'd by Fate, and waste to nothing.
Who then, invading one defended thus,
But must expect the Death he thought to give? 149
Take heed, we do not aggravate our Illis;
And purchase new Distress, if over-heard :

Poor is th' Advantage of that vain Renown,

Which panting to obtain, we earn by Death!
Tho' Death perhaps will be esteem'd a Mercy ; 145

And when 'tis courted, Life shall be our Doom:

To suffer on, and taste protracted Anguish.
But, I conjure you, .e're we furious run
Into the Gripe of Fate; and cast away
The last Remains of Agamemnon's Blood ; I50 |
Restrain your Rage, and what your Rashness utter'd

Shall

44 ELECTRA.

Sha!l perith, and be lost to my Remembrance,
Be wise at length, taught by prevailing Woe;
And since, unable to contend, submit.

Cho. Be rul'd; for Wisdom and a prudent Mind 125
Are two the greatest Goods that Men enjoy.

Elect. Your Answer does not disappoint my Thoughts?
For well I knew you would reject the Work.
Therefore the noble Task remaines for Me:

It must be done, and shall not want a Hand. 160

Chry. O! had you been of this Heroick Soul
When first my Father fell, you'd done it then;

Elect. J had the Soul, but wanted Years for Action.

Chry. And want 'em still for desp'rate Acts like these.

Elect. How full of Counsel !- barren of Assistance! 165

Chry, For rash Attempts oft crush their wretched

Author. |
Ele#. Your Wisdom I admire, your Fears I hate.
Chry. The time will come, when I shall have your

Praise.

Elect. The time will never come, when you'll deserve
it. |

Chry. Th' Event of things will best determine
this. 170

Elect. Be gone; for I expect no Aid from Thee.
Chry. You might: The Fault is in your own Resolves.
Elect. Go, and betray my Counsels to the Queen
Chry. I nourish not an Hate that thirsts your Ruine.

5 Ele. Yet you could brook to draw me to Dishonour,

175
Chry,

E LEUN TX A. 47

Cry. Not to Dishonour, but to prudent Care.

Flect. Must I then follow where your Fancy leads ?

Chry. When you think better, you shall lead .—

Elect. —— Tis strange

That She who speaks so well, should act so ill.

Cyry. The Condemnation on your self returns. 188

Elect. But does not Justice warrant my Designs ?

Chry. Tis dang'rous to be always strictly just.

Elect. Such Maxims nc're {hall regulate my Actions.

Chry. You would have cause to thank me, if they

Elect. By Hcav'n, I'll not he scar'd from my Resolves.

Chry. And will you not be wrought to safer Counsels?
Elect. No; — Exil Counsel is the worst of things.
Chry. You set a wrong Construction on my Words:
Elect. My Purpose is not new, a Start of Passion ;

But weigh'd with Reason, and confirm'd by Time. 195
Chry. I'm gone; since you my Reasons disapprove,

As I your Actions.
Elect, — Wherefore go you not?

I would not load you with my Secrets more,

Tho' you should kneel in Tears, and beg to share em:

lt argues Folly to pursue a Trifle. 195

Chry. Enjoy your fancied Wisdom by your self;
When ruin'd, you'll too late approve my Caution.
Exit Chrysothemis.

46 XK LE CZ R A.

SoSe Ss Se oe S ss ssd s dee

CHORUS.

Electra remaines on the Stage, while the Chorus sings.

Cho. Why when th Inhabitants of Air,
With tender Duty, grateful Care,
Grant their aged Parents Food 200
To whom their little Souls they ow'd;
Why do not reas ning Men the same,
And their whole Lives by those Dumb Patterns frame?
i But by Jove's Shafts with Terror bright,
By heav'aly Themis, and Eternal Right, 205
The Wretch that dares their Pow'r, shall soon
Be from his guilty Triumphs thrown :
Thou Fame, that do'ft all mortal Actions know,
| 5 Thy Melancholly Trumpet blow ;
Pierce the Centre with the Sound, 210
The Ears of the Atridæ wound ;
TWhil/t thou dost a Tale relate,
Full of Sorrow, full of Fate !

II. How

ELECTRA, 47

Hou ail their House in wild Disorder stand; ;
The Children disunite their friendly Hands ;
How Electra, wretched Maid,
Forlorn, t a thousand Ils betray'd,
For her Father melts in Tears;
And a constant Sorrow wears :
As in Sorrow-singing strains 220

The Mournful Nightingale complains,
Fearless of Danger and of Dauth,
SHe would a Vittory obtain;
World see the Two Domestick Furies slain,
And in the glorious Gause resign her Breath. 22:

Fer who of noble Parents born
Can l;ue a Slave to Guilt, and impions Sora ?

The Well-descended and the Great,

Throw off the vile incumbring weirht

Of things that would obscure their Fame, 230

Assert their Glory, and redeem their Name.

Thou, O noble, wretched Fair ;

Who hast a Life of irksome Woes

Before dishonest Honours chose ;
Thou shalt double Praises wear. 2
Stand Eternally renoun' d |

With Justice and with Wisdom cron d.

O may st thou live, succeed, and grote,
In strength above the Tyrants soar;

As much as now thou art below, 245

And crush'd by their Injurious Pow'r,
I've seen thee struggling with thy Fate,
Inimitably shine ;

Amidst thy Sorrows resolutely Great,

Religious, Constant and Divine, 245

I WA NILS * RN

[CVERVEINSIVIIVYT

EE I SD IA
YON AYR CIA IRNDNRY

A TTV. SCENE I.

Orestes, Pylades, Electra, Chorus, and Attendants on
Oresles.

Oreft, E Virgins, will your Goodness set me right,
u mis- inform'd by Guides, I tread erroneous ?
C20. Whom do you seek, or whither would you go?
Orest. My Search determines in Ægysthus's Palace.
Cho. Tuts is the Dome: Accuse not your Director. 5
Greft, Which of you will inform the Royal Howe,
Some Phocian Men have Business with ZEgy/tbus ?
Ele, O Heav'ns! are these the Messengers of Fate,
Who bring the Proots of the Report we heard?

Orest. I know not what you heard ;—but aged Styo-

Dispatch'd me here with News about Oreftes.

Elect, What is it, Stranger? Oh! I shake for fear

Orest. In that small Urn we bring the small Remains
); his Dead Body.

——O1) my wretched State !
Zhen is the meature of my Sorrows full,

Orest. If theie your Tears are for Orestes shed, -
Know, that his Un contains the Man you mourn.

FO ELECT R A.

Ele. O then, if ever Pity touch'd your Breast,
Permit me to receive it in these Arms ;
To mourn my Own and His disastrous Fate : 20
And wash his Ashes with unfeigned Tears.
Orest. Whoe'er she be, surrender her the Urn;
She asks not like a Foe ; but all her Words
Bespeak a Friend's Concern, or Kindred Love.
Eleck. O dear Memoria! of my dearest Friend, 25
Ye scanty Reliques of Orestes; Oh!
How different from Him my Hopes had form'd;
From Him I sent, do I receive you now?
Dissolv'd to Dust, and crumbling into nothing.
{ sent you forth a glorious blooming Child; 30
But, oh, that I had dy'd an hundred times,
E er thus condemn'd you to a luckless Exile!

Stoll'n from thy Mother's Rage, and sav'd from

Slaughter !
For on that Day Thou might'st have fall'n secure !
And had a share of Agamemnons Tomb! 35
Now far from Home, stretch'd on a foreign Shore
You perishd:— There no Sister was at hand
To walh thy cold and stiffen'd Limbs, or bear
A Torch to kindle up thy sun'ral Flame.
But dress'd by Stranger's Hands at length you come, 40
A little Body in a little Urn.
Alas! My' unprofitable nursing Cares,

The busie Offices J paid your Youth, |

My pleasing Labours o'er your Infant Years
Ae come to nought. Electra rear d thee up, 45

r I. RE NT EE PIT 2

E LE:C-T-& i. Fx

And with her Fondness eas'd th' Attendants, Task ;
View'd thee with Joy above thy Mother's Raptures,
And prov'd thy Sister in distinguish'd Passion.

But one curst Day has mow'd down all my Labours;
And, like a Whirlwind, swept their Mem'ry hence, 50
And Thee with them. —My Father went before:
Now I am dead to thee, and thou to me,

Our Foes insult; our Mother, in contempt

Of Nature, triumphs and grows mad with pleasure.
On whom, I long have fed delusive Hopes 55
That thou would'st come, and reap the Vengeance due.
But Fate has frustrated the just Event,

And mock'd my Expectations with thy Dust ;

O weight of Sorrow! Most untimely Change!
Unhappy Progress ! and Destructive Games! CE
How hast thou kill'd thy Sister, poor Orestes “
Receive me therefore to thy little House,

Like Thee, a shadow; so may We converse,

And meet below to mourn our mutual Suff rings.

For whilst Thou wert on Earth, my Soul partook 6;

Of all thy Pleasures, griev'd in all thy Pains :

And therefore would I die and share thy Tomb;
For all is Peace, all Quiet in the Grave.
Cho. O think, Electra, on your Mortal State;
Think too, Orestes, like your felt was Mortal; 70

And let that calm your Sorrows. Death's a debt

( All owe to Nature, all at times must pay.

Orest. What shall I say 2=My Bosom swells for vent;
And I'm no longer Master of my Tongue,

D 2 | Elect.

And say, she's not my Mother.

72 ELECTRA;

Eleff, Whence is th' Oppression of your heaving
Breast ? 75

Orest. Is That, Electra's celebrated Face!

Elect. This is her Face; but all its Charms are dead.

Orest. Curse on the Suff rings that have spoil'd thy
Beauty

Elect, How can my Griefs from thee deserve this
Pity ?

Orest. O beauteous Form, consum'd and worn with
Sorrows |! 80

Elect. All your Complaints will centre in this Wretch.

Orest. To waste her Youth in Virgin Solitude!

Elect. Why dost thou look upon Me thus, and sigh?

Orest. I was a stranger to my Griets till now.

Fleet, And can you see them by Reflection here? 85

Orest. J see thee vext with unexampled Wrongs.

Zlect. You see but little of the Ills I bear.

Oreft. Can Sorrow furnish out a Scene more dread-

Elec. Yes; to be forc'd to dwell with Murtherers,

Orest. Of whom?

Elec. My Father: Forc'd to be their Slave. 90

Orest. Who is the Author of this Cruel Force?

Elect. One whose fell Actions give the Lye to Nature;

Crest. — —But, the Means?

Does she by strong Compulsion bow you down,
Or savagely withdraw your Life's support 2? 2
Elec.

Fiefl, By all th Extremes her Impious Heart can
think
She gives me Woe;
Crest. — Is no Protector near ?
Elec. None; He, that would have been, c here
in Dust.
Crest, My Heart is wounded with your helpless State.
Ee, Thou only hast with kind Compassion view d
Orest. I only feel the sympathetick Fain;
Elet, Dost thou to Ties of Blood owe thy Compassion?

Orest. Might I confide my Fortunes with these Malds,
You then should learn |
Elect. Their Faith is bound to Me.
Orest. Set down the Urn, and you shall hear my
Story. 105
Elect. Now, by the Gods, let me possess this Treasure
Orest. Be counsell'd, Maid; you will not err in this.
Flect. By all the Honours of your Birth, I beg ;
Force not thele dear Remains from my Embrace,
Orest. You must not keep them.
Eleff. ————O increase of Woe! IID

If Tm deny'd to bury thee,” Orestes.

Orest, Auspicious speak, your Sorrow is not just.
Elect. Dol not justly mourn my Brother's Death?
Orest. The Word is out of time; forbear these Sounds,
leck. Am I not worthy then to mourn his Fate? 115
Orest. Of nought unworthy ; but your Sorrows err.
D 3 Elect.

174 ELECTRA

Elect. What, when I bear his Ashes in my Hands?
Orest. You only carry his imagin'd Dust.
Elect. Ah! where is then the wretched Youth interr'd
?
Orest. No where—the Living covet not a Grave. 12
Elect. Is He alive?
Orest. He is, if J am 10.
Elect. And art thou He?
Orest. Behold my Father's Signet;
And know your Brother from the happy proof.
Elect. Oh blessed Day !
Ores?. I join to bless it with thee.
Elett. And do I hear thee speak ?
Orest. Distrust not, Maid. 12
Elect. Do my Arms hold thee ?
Orest. May they ever do so,
Elect. My dear Companions, do you see Orestes ;
Reviving by those Arts that spoke him dead?
Cho. I see, O Virgin, and the sudden Joy

Trickles in tears of pleasure from my Eyes. 130
Elect. O thou lov'd Off- spring of my much lov'd
Sire, |

You're come, you've found a long expecting Friend.

You're come, you've seen whom long you wish'd to

Orest. Lm come; but speak not with so loud a Joy.
Elect. Wherefore? |
Orest, ——Least They within o'er-hear your Transports.

135
Elec i.

Cleft.

FLELECTR 4 xy

E1,8. But by Diana, the unconquer'd Maid,
Electra will not condescend to fear
What Women's Impotence can do against Us.
Orest. Remember, Women have their Martial Hom: !
Elect. Oh! you have set before my Eyes afresh 140
The glaring Image of my Father's Wrongs ;
An ever-living Scene of Villany,
Ne'er to be expiated, ne'er forgot
Orest. I know our Wrongs, and at a proper Hour

You hall relate the mournful Tale entire. 145
Elect. It is a Theme will suit with ev'ry time,

But most with this; for at this present Hour

L have regain'd the liberty of Speech.

Orest. Be studious to preserve what you've regain'd ;
Fleft, Row?
Orest. ——By restraining these extatick Joys. 159
Elec. Who could be silent in a Joy like mine?
Who, smother the big Rapture, thus transported ?

When I bchold thee in a glad Surprize

As risn from Death, and by a Wonder rescu'd !
Orest. You saw me, when the Gods first bad me
Ele, My Joys encrease with ev'ry Word thou speak'st,
And thy last Accents yield superior pleasure.
For if the Gods instructed thy return,
Kind Heav'n concerns it self in our Distress ;

And sure will prosper what it self began. 169

Orest. I would indulge the Transports of your Joy,
But fear they're too excessive to be safe;
D 4 Elect.

Elect. Since after such a painful Age of absence,
At length you come to bless my longing Eyes; 104
That have been quench'd with Sorrow, do not now—
Orest. What must I not?
Elect, Deprive me of the Joy,
Th unmeasur'd Joy, I feel in gazing on Thee !
Orest. J will not, Sister ; 'twould displease me much,
Should any one attempt 1n that to wrong Thee,
Elec. And does my fondness please Thee?
Ore/t, — Should It not? 170
leck. O Friends, I heard the dreadsul Tale of Death;
Then my strong Passion was without a Voice,
Compell'd to hear, nor suffer'd to lament.
ut now I hold Thee; and thy lovely Form,
Yiicle Image Sorrow could not er erase, 17
With cordial Smiles revives my fainting Soul.
Crest, O stop this wild career of swelling Pleajure!

For tell me now my Mother's impious Decds ;
Nor how Zgy/thus drains my Father's House;
Squanders his Wealth, and riots in his Substance.
Th' untimely Speech would hinder our Design ;
Rather instruct the course of my Revenge.
1 Shall we with open force rush boldly on them!
Or by a licens'd Fraud deceive our Focs,
And suddenly surprize them into Ruin?
But, Oh, take heed ; Suppress your struggling Joy :
Nor let your Mother trace its infant Pleasure: |
Sill wear the Sorrow which you did before,

ELECTRA. 77

And, for my Death suppos'd, Dissembling Sigh;
When Fate has crown'd us with th' Events we
wish, 198

Then may we smile, and give a Loose to Joy.

Electra. O Brother, still your Pleasure shall be mine;
For all my Pleasure takes its Rise from you,
No Comforts has Electra from her self !
Nor would I rob you of a Moment's Ease, 195
To purchase to my self the greatest Joy.
or should my Transports stop your glorious Aims,
They would affront the now aslisting Pow'rs.
You know th' Affairs within, and have been told
Xgy/thus is not there; my Mother is. 200
Bat harbour not a Thought, that she shall e're

Behold a Transport kindle on this Cheek;

Hate shall controul and dash each rising Pleasure,

And ev'n beholding Thee, my Tears afresh

Shall stream for Joy: For how should I forbear, 205
Who in the Space of one short Morn have seen Thee
Dead and alive, Miraculous Surprize !

Should my Dead Father now return from Eatth,

{ should not wonder but believe my Sense.

Since then so unexpected thou att come, 210.
Perform the Work which else was doom'd for Me,
For e're you came, my Soul had entertain'd

Resolves of Vengcance, with a glorious View

Of noble Freedom, or of noble Death,

Orest. But soft:— For Some Approach us from
within ; 215
Dx Fleet:

TP Wa.

78 E LE C RA.

Eleft. Strangers, go in, — Ve Messengers of things
None can refuse, yet none with Joy receive.

ez; Scans; I;

Governor, Orestes, Pylades, Attendants, Electra and
Chorus,

Gov, Lost to Wisdom, and all prudent Thoughts !
Have you abandon'd all Concern for Life ?

Shook Hands with Reason, and bid Fate defiance ? 220

Who stand not near, but in the midst of Dangers,

And T hose the greatest too, yet know it not?

For had not I secur'd these outward Gates,

Employ'd their Ears, and guarded ev'ry Sense ;

Your Measures had, by this, been all betray'd. 225

But I have cover'd you as yet with Care,

Wherefore give o'er these talkative Delays ;-

And this insatiate Burst of noisy Joy:

And Enter strait : For in Attempts like these

Delays are Ill, when Deeds require Dispatch. 2.30
Orest. Are all things ready to receive me there?
Gov. All, all; nor can they know you:
Orest. | Then you told |

The necessary Tale of my Decease. 1
Gov. Besure, you're dead to all the World but Us. :

Orest,

Gov. Suspend the long Recital till anon;
For all Jooks well within, yet all's not well.
Elect. For Heav'n's sweet sake, Orestes, who is this?
Orest. Know you not Him?

Elect, I cannot call to Mind.

Orest. Have you forgot to whom you once bequeath'd

Elect. Whom do you mean?

Orest.— By whose officious Hands

Your Love convey'd me to the Phocian Land?
Elect. Is this that only faithful Man. I found,
Durst aid th' Afflicted when my Father fell?
Orest. He is; at present seek no farther Proof, 245;
Ele. O Blessings on thy Head, thou great Support
Of Agamemnons House ! And art thou He
Redeem'd us from such Ills ? O let me kiss

Those Hands, and kneel t'embrace those aiding Feet.
How could you keep your self so long conceal'd? 250

Or how my Eyes mistake you, tho disguis'd 2

Your Words were cruel, but your Works were kind;
111 was your News, but friendly its Design :

Hail, Father! (for I see my Father in you,)

Hail! Never was a Man in one short Day 25 5

So much detested, and so much ador' d.
Gov, Enough of Praise ; until the circling Hours
Inform you farther how we have desery'd;
And teach you all the Series of our Fortunes,
D 6 But

KERETRE =

Orest. Did they with Raptures hear the News, or

But now I turn my self to you, my Prince; 200
Tis time for Action; Clytemnestra's now
Alone without her Guard; if you omit
This happy Moment, think you will be drove
[| T' encounter Numbers arming in her Rescue.
Orest. The present Business wants no more De-
But, oh! my Pylades, let's haste to Action:
Thus bending to these genial Pow'rs for Aid,
Who grace the Portal, and protect the Dome.
(Exeunt Orestes, Pylades and Governor.

CbTb0T0T0T0T0T0T0T0b
ACT IV. Scexs II.
Electra and Chorus.

Elect King Apollo, hear Them when they pray;
And Me with them; who with a bounteous

Hand | 270

Have ever, to my Pow'r, adorn'd thy Shrine.

And now, O Lycian God, prostrate, with Awe,

[ blels thy Godhead ; and implore thy Favour ; |

Assist the righteous Vengeance now in hand,

And shew Mankind with what detesting Eyes 275

The Gods bchold and punish Guiky Morta)s ! |

ACT IV. ScENE IV.

CHORUS.

ho. See where the God of Battle stalks,
Breathing Discord, foaming Blood ;
Thro' all the guilty Haunts he walls;
Th avenging Furies at his Heels provoke 280
The Destin'd Stroke,
No more to be avoided, or withstood.
Fer Horror now the Scene does draw,
Which my prophetick Soul fore savu.

Agamemnon's Sade appease 285
With silent Steps behold rhe Son,

Beneath the guilty Roof is gone;

And see ! the vengeful Sword he brandishes !

9 Nlaja's Sen Attendance pays,
And wrapt in Clouds the Youth conveys; 290
e Male he the Task of Fate oleys,

Unknowing of Delays,
ACT: V.

62 SS OEACTISX

KAV. Serin I.

Electra and Chorus.

cf. AIT with attentive Silence, deareit
Maids ;
For strait they will atchieve the Work of Horror.
Cho. Oh, how do they proceed ?
Elect. = — While she prepares
The Customary Banquet to allay
The Sorrow of her Son's imagin'd Death ;
They press around her, watchful ;——
Cho. — Wherefore then
Did you come forth?
Elect. To guard against Surprizc,
And give em notice, should Ægysthus come.
Cly. within.) O fatal Hour! some Help — I am
beset ;
Naked of Friends, and cover'd with Destroyers ! 10
Elect. What Shrieks are those? Did you not hear
em, Friends?

ELLE CTA-of, 63

Cho, I heard the frightful Cry, and shake with
Horror.
Cly. within.) Confusion! O Ægysthus, O! where are
you? a
Elect. The Noise grows louder.
Cly. within, O my Son, my Son,
Have Pity on thy Mother!

Elec. — Thou had'st none 15
On Him, or on his bleeding Father —

O wretched City ! O disastrous Race!
Death and Destruction lay thy Princes waste !
Cly. within.) Oh! I am hurt:

Elect. Repeat, repeat the Blow.
Cly. within. ] Alas! for Mercy
Elect.. — Oh, that curst Ægysthus, 20

Caught in the Toil, did groan like Thee defenceless!
Cho. The potent Execrations are fulfill'd!
The long Deceas'd revive; and drain the Blood

Of those whose Hands were once embrued in Slaugh-

64 ELECTRA.

S eee eee eee eee

A T V. Ser II.

Electra, Orestes, Pylades, Artendants and Chorus,

Elect. DEH OLD they come! And their discolour'd
Hands
Drop with the crimson Sacrifice of Mars /
Speak, my Orestes, how succeeds our Caule 27
Orest. All's well within; unless the God deceive :
The Wretch is dead; nor need you longer fear,
Your Mother's Pride shall e're insult you more. $5
Cho. No'more ;—-for, lo! ZFzayfthas is in sight.
Elect. O yet retire; He comes as you could wish;
He comes in Triumph from his rural Sports:
Aud unsuspeting Joy glows on his Cheek.
Cho. Therefore with speed retire, e're he behold: 35
And since Auspicious Fate has led the way,
Compleat the Work you have so well begun.
Crest. Fear not; Success shall crown u
Flect. — —}yt, retire.
Grest. J go

(Orestes, Pylades, and Attendants reiie,
Elect.. -= Ind leave the Business here to me.
Cho. Twere fit a while we entertain the Tyrant 49
With courteous Accents, and dissembled Meckness;
To win him on, and sooth him into Ruine.

Let all Mycene, nay all Argos see: 60

£ AL ECT:X.#: 65

SUGAR ESRI ESE 27
ACT v. Scexs III.

Egysthus, Electra, and Chorus.

Fg. XV O can inform Us where those Phocrans

Who bring the Tydings how Crehes perish'd,

Thrown from his Chariot in the Y hian Games? 45

You, I suppose; whose daring Insolence |

Till now has liv'd in Him: You, I suppose,

As most concern'd, can give the best Account.

Elect. Too well, I can; for how should I but know
The dearest Accident, which cculd befal me ? 50
Agyst. Instruct Us quickly where the Strangers are.
Eleft. Within; They meet a kind Reception there.

AXzy/t. Do they bring certain News, that He is
dead? |
Elect. They do not tell it, but they shew him Dead.
Egyst. May we then witness to it with our
Eyes? i 5 5
Elect. Lou may behold the Spectacle of Horror!
Eg. I never joy'd to hear Thee speak till now! —
Elect, Be pleas'd, if things like these can give you
Pleasure.
Fg. Be silent, and set open all the Gates;

fd ST

If any one encourag'd empty Hopes,
Let him behold the Carcass of this Man;
And bend him to my Pow'r ; nor hence presume
With disobedient Pride to wake my Wrath.

Elect. 1 will obey your Orders. for at length 65
I've learnt Submission ; and must stoop to Pow'r.

ACT V. Sein IV.

SCENE opening discovers the Body of Clytemnestra
cover d; Orestes, Pylades, and Attendants round it,
ZEgysthus, Electra and Chorus.

Agzvft. By Heav'n, He's falln; nor undeserv'd his
Fate ! |
But, if my Words trangress, I say no more.
Take from his Face the Veil, that I may pay
My debt of Sorrow o'er my Kinsman's Body 70
Orest. Your self unveil it; it belongs to You,

First to behold and mourn the Friend's Disaster,
Agyst. You well advise, and I'll obey your Counsel;
Let some go call my Clytemnestra forth. —

Org: She's near you; look not any where, but here—
(Uncovers the Body.
Zgy/t. Death to my Eyes
Orest, Of what are you afraid?

ELECTRA. 67

Are you a Stranger to your Consort's Face?
Agyst. In whose damn'd Snares am I unhappy
fall'n?
Ores#, Do you but now begin to apprehend
You've parly'd with the Man, imagin'd Dead? 80
Zgyst. Alas! Iunderstand the vaunting Speech,
And fear Orestes spoke it.
Orest. Boast thy self
No more a Prophet, who so long hast err'd !
Zgvy/t. I feel, I am undone ; but give me leave
To argue for a while.
Fleck. Now, by the Gods, 85
Permit him not to waste the time in Words,
What can a short Reprieve from Death import,
Perplex'd with Fears, and lengthen'd out with Pain !
Dispatch the Villain strait ; and let them throw
His Body forth, a Prey to Dogs and Vultures ?!= go
Far from our sight : For this alone remaines
To cure my Sorrows, and conclude our Vengeance,
Orast. No more delay of Words; but Enter there ;=

Jou are not now to argue, but to die.

Agyst. But wherefore Enter there? if Honour
strikes, 95
Why thould you shame to give the Blow in publick ?
Orest. Contend not with thy Doom; but strait obey ;
For where you kill'd my Father, Thou shalt die.
Agyst. This House shall be the future Scene of
Death, |
And drink the Blood of all the Race of Pelops,—— 100
Orest.

Or. Thine it shall drink; J dare foretel thee, Tyran
AgvF. Your Sire had no such Talent of Prediction
Crest. Your Speech offends ; and I delay too long,

AFzv/t, But lead the way.
Orest. —— -No ; thou shalt lead: 104

Azv/t. Do you suspect I should escape your Wrath
Oreft, Heav'n guard my Vengeance from a fear 114c
that ! | |
But I would rob Thee of Content in Death,
And make it bitter in each Circumstance.
Did Justice thus pursue the Sinner close,
Nor lag with lazy Steps behind the Crime; 110
The World would then be frighted into Virtue.
(Goes in, driving Ægysthus te- |

5 fore him.)

4 Cho. O Seed of Atreus, how hast thou been cross'd !

iq Thro' what Varieties of Anguish tost!

q Till late, with fern Attempts, the Vengeful Sword
Has Peace and banish'd Liberty restor'd, 115

7 F t N F.

3 WV WY, .

ELECT RA-

HE. Subject of this Tragedy is the Return
of Orestes from Phocis to Argos,
and his Revenge of his Father's Murther
in the Death of Ægysthus and Clytemnestra.
But the Poet did not think
fit to give this Poem a Title from that
important Incident, which makes its Catastrophe ; but
rather chose to call it Electra. This Lady was the Elder
Sister of Orestes, and who (when their Father Aganemnon,
on his Return from Troy, was inhumanly
Murther'd by his own Wife Clytemnestra and her Paramour
Zzy/thus;) was the Instrument of securing her

tender Brother from the Rage of the Murtherers , by
conveying him to Strophius, King of Phocis, thro' the
Care of a faithful and secret Servant. Clytemnestra
and Agysthus, after Agamemion's Death, poslesling

Themselves

70 Notes upon ELECTRA.

Themselves of the Government of Argos, slipp'd no Opportunities
of expressing their Resentment towards E-
lectra for this Action.

The Poet in Her Character has labour'd to express
her Miseries with vast Variety: And given her the true
Features of an Heroick Daughter thro' the whole Poem.
All her Sentiments give a fresh Subject for Admiration ;
and she is equally Wonderful, in her strong and implacable
Resentments against her Father's Murtherers ; in
her Impatience for Orestes to come and revenge him;
in her excessive Sorrows for her Brother's suppos'd Disaster
in her Transports, when she comes to know he
is living ; and in her Zeal, for the performance of his
Revenge when once on foot.

I shall take Notice of the artful Constitution of this
Tragedy, in my following Notes on the several Acts;
and what a natural Foundation there is for the respective
Incidents, which are prepared without being
foreseen.

The Subject of Ægysthus and Clytemnestra's Death
employ'd the Pens of the three great Greek Tragedians ;
but they are all so different in the Disposition of the
same Stories, that I believe (with Monsieur Hedelin, in
his Whole Art of the Stage ;) they were the Cause, of
that Grand Disorder and Confusion there is in Story and
Chronology in those old Times: Because that They,
having chang'd both the Times and Events for their
own Ends, have influenc'd some Historians, who thought
to pick out of them the truth of Story, and so made
all things uncertain. Any Body that will read the E-
lectra of Euripides, this of Sophocles, and the Caphors
of Æschylus, will easily see that They made no diffione
of contradicting one another, nor even Themelves,

Notes

XU" RETRY” wy RR” _ hs

2 hoy ess — as

ores

Notes upon ELECTRA. 71

Notes upon the First ACT.

Verse 1. Governor.] He supports the Part of a very
useful Protatick ; and by him the Poet has artfully explain'd
to the Audience the Place of the Scene, AMycenæ in
Argos; the Time when theAcion commences, the break
of Day; the manner he receiv'd Orestes from his Sister
Electra, to be convey'd to Phocts; and Pylades's accompanying

of Orestes, from Phocis, in his Return to
Argos.

V. 6. Of Inachus's

Daughter.) whose Name was

Jo: But her Story having no manner of Relation to

the present Poem, I shall refer the Reader for it to my
Prometheus of Æschylus, which will shortly be publish'd,
where there is ample Occasion for touching her History
in many Circumstances,

V. 8. Glorious God of Day.] The original has it 28
AvxoxTovy beg, of the Wolfj-destroying God; but I was
of Opinion, this Epithet would make no very beautiful
Appearance in Exglisu; and therefore was not
oblig'd (according to Horace) verbum verbo reddere.
Besides, that I do not remember the Story of Apollo's
destroying the Wolves; any farther than as Mr. Lloyd,
in his Lexicon Historico-Poeticum, says, (on the Word,
Lycins) that there was an Oracle of the Lycian Apollcy
quia in Lycia maxime clarus suit ob Luporum interfectionem.
Or, perhaps, he obtain'd the Epithet from the
Wolf's being sacrific'd to him, as a Beast obnoxious to
his Displeasure, who wasthe God of the Shepherds. Or
again, if we will learn the Truth from Triclinius (one of
the Scholiasts,) on this Paslage ; it will come very near
my Translation of it: For, he says, Apollo is to be consider'd
allegorically as the Sun ; who by his presence
and refulgence extinguishes the Daun, which resembles

72 Notes upon ELECTRA.

the Colour of a Wolf, (23 Axe, ) and therefore is called
in Greek, To» Avxzo@ws. |

V. 9. Juno's aweful Temple ;} The Greek says, her
famous Temple; and Sophocles very skillfully takes notice
of a Temple to her there, because Argos (as likewise
Mycene, Sparta, Samos. Cc.) was peculiarly sacred
to Juno.

— in Junonis Honorem
Aptum dicit equis Argos, ditesque Mycenas.

says Horace; those who are curious of knowing her
Claim to this Region, may consult Nat. Com, l. 8.

v. 16. And, you, Pylades.] A stalking Prince would
make but a very odd Figure on our Theatre, however
the Alute Character was relish'd by the Athenians, Sophocles
has not given this Prince leave to open his
Mouth; Æschylus indeed in his Cœphoræ, has so far
complimented his Quality, as to make him speak three
Verses: And Euripides, who, in his Electra, has ty'd the
Tongue of Pylades, even when he had that Lady given
him by her Brother, to Wife; has in some measure made
him amends in his Orestes and Iphig. Jaurica, in both
which he speaks, as well as acts, like a Prince and a
Friend.

V. 54. Mean while, as the Great]! The learned Dr.
Potter, in his Antiquities of Greece, has inadvertently run
into more than one Error on this Passage: For quoting
it, he takes notice, That Electra in Sophocles says ,
« That Agamemnon had commanded her and Chry/-
« hemis to dedicate their Hair to his Tomb; and therefore
thus he translates it,

« With Drink-Off rings and Locks of Hair, we mult
« According to his Will his Tomb adorn,

A&D. Fo tout: a> .>

restes to stay on the Stage to be satisfy'd in Electra's Cause

Notes upon ELECTRA. 73

Now, in the first place, this is not spoken by era to
her Sister, bur by Orestes to Pylades. And this Error
betray'd him into a worse Mistake in the Version ; tor
{ ws epi which he renders (according to bis Will }
meaning Agamemnon's, has not the least Regar't to A-
gamemnon, but directly to Apollo; as any learned Examiner
may satisfy himself. Aft opere in tanto fas «ft
ovrepere somnum.
V. 68. Oft have I heard.) The Schohaft thinks Sophocies
had an Eye to the Story concerning Pythagoras,
told by Hermippus in Diog. Laertins;) „ That when
*© he came to staly, he made a private Room under
Ground; and having caused a Report to be spread of
his Death, he hid himself in that Room, ordering his
Mother to let him down Meat privately from time
to time, with an Account in writing of all Affairs
that happen'd in Crotona, and the Places about. Af—
ter a time He comes abroad, pretending to be risen
from the Dead, and tells all the Things that had happen'd
since his suppos'd Death, as if he had learnt
„them in the other World. Which Project procur'd
him a mighty Authority. Tertullian, in his Book of the
Soul, gives the same Account of this Story; only adds
this Particular, That he stay'd under Ground seven
Years. Tis not improbable, that Sophocles might have
an Eye to this Story, as a thing not very distant from
his own Age: But that Orestes, who speaks, should do
so too, would be to make him guilty of an Anachronism
with a Vengeance. Therefore I am inclin'd to

suppose, it may have a Reference to UlyJes more properly;

but to this the Scholiast will object, & 4 i-

Te4%)%t Ti To!gTov Od vo, there no such thing happen'd

to Ulysses: No, he did not hide under Ground for a
Season; but he was long suppos'd dead at Ithaca, and

rose upon them suddenly from Obscurity to Splendor.

V. 90, Appease, invoke, | This is one Mark of the
Poet's Art in his Scezary, that he will not permit Ore-

74 Notes upon ELECTRA.

of Sorrow; for then the Discovery of his Return would
be too early: But he clears the Scene, not only to
make room for Eleftra's Complaints to herself; but
hkewise by sending Orestes to make Oblations at his
Father's Tomb, prepares a Remembrance which cannot
be foreseen, and which he has resery'd for the opening
of his Third Act.

V. 165. And how, Iphianassa] Triclinius upon this
Place says, that Euripides and the other Poets, mean one
Person by 1phigenia and Iphianassa: That the Latin
Poets, as well as the Greek, con found these two Names,
is plain from these Lines of Lucretius,

Aulide quo pacto Trivial Virgins: aram
Iphianassai turparunt sanguine fade
Dudctores, Danaum delecti, prima virorum.

But then the Commentators are stagger'd to know, why
the Poet should make the Chorus mention Ihianassa,
or Iphigenia, who was now at Diana's Shrine in Taurs :
But Triclinius says, the Chorus mention her tho' absent
from Mycene, with the fame Reason they do Orestes ;
who, as they thought, was at Phocis. I must confess, I
do not pretend to be certain whom the Poet here intends
by Ihianassa: But I think, with Submission to
Triclinias, Sophocles did not here mean Tphigenia : For
twould be very absurd to suppose Tphigenza in a living
Capacity of mourning for her Father, when in the first
Scene of the second Act, Clytemnestra excuses her Murther
of Agamemnon, as a just Reprizal upon him, for
sacrificing her Daughter Iphigenia on Diana's Altar at
Ault |
V. 171. Debarr'd of Wedlock,] The Poet throughout
this Tragedy, in many Places, infinuates the Hardship
upon Electra, of being denied the Privilege of Marrying;
and makes her complain to Chrysothemis, that
Ag ysihus would never suffer them to propagate a Race
to lus Destruction, Luripides makes Agy/thus 7

1 ao es

ship
that

arry

Notes upon ELECTRA. 77

Her to a Person who boatts of his Family, but is decay'd
in his Fortunes. Some, who favour Seppocte;'s
Opinion, will have her derive her Name from her Single
State, quasi aaixlegy, i. e. sine Thalamo. Alian in
his Varzous History informs us, that Xanuthus, the Lyric%
Poet, says her first Name was Laadice; but, that at
ter Agamemnon's Murthcr, aX:x7ggy &rav x U ng d
Ta20yoy Agyaor HA EXLMETHY, 01% TO EHHCEY dg,
un Yee, ,x, Axles, growing old in Virginity, the
Argives call'd her Electra, because of her living without
an Husband.

V. 184. Oz Crisa's verdant Shore.) Crissa, or Crisa,
was a Town of Phocis near the Coriuthian Bay; which
from its Neighbourhood to that Town, was call'd $175
Crissæus.

V. 195. And fed with Ossals.] The Greek is ue⁰αẽ,
0 bels. regt Css, I am set at empty Tables.

V. 332. Chrysothemis approach.] Sophocles has partly
introduced the Character of Chrysothemis, a Lady
of a mild and condescending Temper, to heighten the
more manly and stubborn Sentiments of Electra, as He
does again the Part of Isinene in his Antigone. But the
Entrance of Chry/orheme is likewise very artful, and necellary
to the carrying on the Plot of the Play: For as
Clytemnestra's ugly Dream naturally requir'd Expiations
to avert its Horrors, so her sending Chry/orheme to
make Oblations at Agamemnon's Tomb, easily prepares
the first Remembrance and Suggestion of Orestes's Re—
turn, by her finding a Lock of his Hair on the Monument,
and Signs of other customary Honours paid to
the Sepulchre. 6

V 398. Subterranean Prison, | It was a Custom with
the Ancients, when they would make away with any
one, and not be polluted (as they thought) with his
Blood ; to shut him up in a dark Cavern, and there leave
him to die. I will give a Confirmation of this by one
Example out of own Author: Creon having actually
condemn'd Antigone to the same Punishment with which

E Electra

76 Notes upon ELECTRA.

Electra is here threatned, washes his Hands of her Blood;
say ing,

oY \ * \ \ #\ \
Het; 78 aryvor Ter THU Thy ug lo,

Upon which the Scholiast comments thus, (2s
E,] 78 ®ovs 18 Snc's, S Th e Keeviv aw | lus
ng Hue ,

V. 465. To disarm Resentment;] These Words I have
added in Explanation of a very odd Custom, alluded
to by the Poet. If any one kill d another treacherously,
he strait cut off all the extreme Parts of the outmost
Members of the Party slain, and sewing or tying them

together, wore them under his Arm-pits ; as an Amulet
or Spell to prevent the Furies from haunting the
Murtherer. And they believed, that having part of the
murther'd Body in their Power, as an Hostage, to do
what they would with; the Ghost of the Party would
not offer to meddle with them ; or else would spare

the Bearer, for Love of the Carriage. The Pieces, i.
thus cut off, they call'd 4axew7ye4%, and arvgyux)a, Or h
EZd2/u%)% AS in Apollonins : And the Action of so ir
Mutilating the Person, was call'd azew7nexdtev : So 0
sometimes the Pieces cut off they call'd warzxanc | by
kala, from the Action (uazxantey,) of fixing them st
under their Arm-pits; which last Term is used here by El
Sophocles. | | m:

V. 466. IWipe th' Abomination off.] The First Scholiast
on this Passage says, He, that had kill'd another, wip'd ha
off the stains of Blood from his Sword, either on the no!
Hair of his own Head, or of the Party slain. Tricli- so

nius says particularly, on the Hair of the Party slain, be!
which is undoubtedly truest. I will go a Step farther | thy
than either of the Scholiasts on this Place, by informing | «a,
the Reader, that they only thus wiped away the Abo- | a di
mination of the Fact, when they spilt the Blood un- | oy
justly. But if, they thought they did it in a good Cause, | of t
they us'd to take the Sword, and hold it up —_ and

the

Notes upon ELECTRA. 77

/the Sun with the Blood on it (c TS OUR cg we-

Sou , says the Scholiast on Euripides in Orestes;
to shew, that They fear'd not if Heav'n were Witneis.

V. 5 28. For e er since Myrtilus.] He was the Son of
Mercury by Phaethusa ; when He drove Oenomans in
a Chariot-race, being corrupted by the Promises of Petops,
he so order'd it, that his Master's Chariot broke
by the way, and his Master, with the fall, broke his
Neck. Oenomaus, expiring, conjur'd;Pelops to revenge
his Death; who afterwards, when Myrtilus demanded
the Reward of his Treachery, threw Him from a Rock
into the Sea, which from his Name was call'd the Myr-

Notes upon the Second ACT.

V. 2. Egysthus is not here;] The Poet's Contrivance
is wonderful in making Ægysthus absent ; for thereby
he takes Occasion to heighten Electra's Distress, by saying,
she could not have had the Liberty of stirring out
of the Palace, if he were at home; and likewise
by leaving Clytemnestra alone, he facilitates the Catastrophe
of his Poem. Euripides has likewise in his
Electra sent him into the Fields to do Sacrifice, and
make a Rural Banquet.

V. 18. Murther d your Sister :) This confirms what I
have observ'd on the First Act, that Iphianassa could
not be Intended for Ihigenia by Sophocles, whom He
so often in Clytemnestra's Speech expresly intimates to
be Dead; and therefore Triclinius, on One Passage, notes
thus, 3% 1 Ipryiveie, & d war Agriuud®» dgraye-
Tay, wana O ανν ji. But I design'd this Note of
a different Nature; All Discourses brought on the Stage,
ought to have no particular Reference to the Diversion
of the Audience, unless drawn from the very Ground
and Nature of the Subject, * necessary to
EET the

78 Notes upon ELECTRA.

the same. I fear Ciytemnestra's Vindication of her
Hutband's Death, and Electra's Condemnation of Her
for It, will fall under the Displeasure of this Rule; for
however fine and affecting the Discourses may be in
themselves; I doubt they are introduc'd with regard to
the Spectators alone, for as Agamemnon had been killed
Twenty Years ago, it necessarily argues, that the
Justice or Guilt of his Death must have been a Subject
already sufficiently canvass'd betwixt Clytemnestra and
her Daughter,

V. 29. They both had dy'd.) The old Authors vary
mightily in regard to Helen's Children: Eustathius on

Hemer says she only bore Hermione, and that the was not

permitted to have any more Children, becauie Childbirth
is accounted to spoil Women's Beauty. But some say, she
bore two Children to Paris. Sophocles here gives her
two by Menelaus; which agrees, as the Scholiast observes,
with Hesiod's Account,

Hr 'Howtorlew I g8etravty Met Ac,
Oc Ae d Frexey Nixorarov, J "Agr,

But Pau sanias in Corinthiac : says, Menelaus had Nicostratus

and Megapenthes by a She-Slave ;: but others say, her

Proper Name was Adv, i. e. Serva.
V. 123. Inauspicious Words.) Tis almost too well

known to require a Note, how superstitious the old
Greeks were in point of all Ominous Words, and particularly

in matters of Religion. Before their holy Ceremonies
began, the Cryer gave this Charge to the Peo- |

ple, *Ev@rud]e, which answers to the Terms afterwards

used by the Romans, Favete linguis; which do not so
strictly enjoin a deep Silence, as an abstaining from all

prophane and ominous Words,

Aal ominatis
Parcite verbis. Hor.

Fort

Notes upon ELECTRA. 79

For they reckon'd that such Terms prophan'd the Sacrifice;
(and therefore Plautus calls it, obscænare) and if
these Expressions were utter d by any one nearly related
to the Person, whose Business was in hand, they took
the greater Notice of them, and accounted them so
much the worse. Or if the Omen were immediately
catch'd by the Hearer, or struck upon his Imagination,
it was of the more force. |

V. 129. Shall free me from the Fears,] We have heard
already in the first Act, that Clytemnestra had disclos'd
her Dream to the Rising Sun to deprecate its Omen:
This she did conformable to the Customs of the Ancients;
and Triclinius helps us out with their Reason
for it, i é tav]i@- (nempe, e. &To5 651 T5 vux1t,
eTorggnly teyarilar, er. because the Sun being contrary
to the Night, might have Power to avert, or expel
all Evils brought by the same. And therefore they
gave the Sun or Apollo the Epithets of «morggara ©,
iZaxt5;,ea0», crc. But this telling of Dreams was not
always appropriated to one particular Deity, but sometimes
to Hercules, Jupiter, or the Houshold Gods. Nor
was the disclosing of their Fears reckon'd snfficient, but
they were to offer Incense, or other Oblations, and
pray (as Clytemnestra here does) that if Good was portended,
it might be brought to pass ; if the contrary,
that the Gods would avert whatever ill was boded hy
them. Zs/chylus, in his Persians, lets us into another
Custom in these Cases ; Queen My being territy'd
by a Nocturnal Vision, as soon as she rose went to a
River, and wash'd away the Pollutions of the Night before
she approach'd the Altars of the Gods ;

Exel d d %,, Y Xteglv πEuhνHKe“t
EL awre iE, ouv Ov1roAw Kees
Bohid r D, ano]pgrotrl Gai wrt
Ogre JUrM TFEARYON, Wy THAN TAG.

The Scholiast on this Place of Z/cbylus gives a dis-
E. 4 ferent

8o Notes upon ELECTRA.

ferent Reason why the Sun was look'd upon as the A-
verter of Dreams, 7&8 4 πιν,ẽjW U , 6: avergot Jeue,
for he once shining, Dreams vanish and are
157. Her Dress and Person. The original is
eres 49 PE en. E:502% vs which Mr. Johnson's late
Edition renders, Decoro enim, ut Regina, videtur vultu.
But I cannot think this expresses the whole Meaning
of the Greek, as if the Governor knew Clytemnestra to
be a Queen only by her Face; but (as the Scholiast
says better) So. t cs YT g Ms Tov Bj , he conciuded
Her such, from her Robes and Regalia.
V. 172. Know, Mighty Queen.) I have taken a Liberty
in this Narration, for which, however I may be accus
d by the Adorers of Sophocles, I shall be easily pardon'd
by every English Reader: I have ventur'd rather
to make an agreeable Innovation on, than be a faithful
Translator of, a Passage which contains too tedious
and Graphical a Description of the Pythian Games to
be relish'd at this time of Day ; and cools the Passion
which it should excite, and keep warm by its Concue-
and Distress.

NV. 174. Celebrates her Pythian Games;] Aristotle finds
fault with this Narration in the Electra; upon which
it may Hot be improper to add part of Mr. Dacier's

Remarks. Sophocles was not so prudent and judicious
in the Management of some other of his Pieces, as he
was in Oedipus; for in his Electra he was guilty of the
very Fault that Ariftorle here mentions, by putting in
something that was absurd, and which 1s the more vicious,
because he was the Author of it. In the Second
Scene of the Second Act, he who brings the false News
of Orestes's Death, says, That that Prince being at the
celebrated meeting of the Grecians, to assist at the Pythian
Games, won all the Prizes, but was kill'd in the
Race of the Chariots, Aristotle thought this was ab—
surd, and out of all Reason, not because it was not probable,
that Zzy/thus and Clytemnestra should not 8

Notes upon ELECTRA. 8x

the News before the Arrival of those who brought
Orestes's Ashes, for there were a thousand things which
might hinder that; but because the Pythian Games
were not instituted till above five Years after Orestes
was Dead, and this Falshood ruin'd all the probability
of the Piece, of which it was the Foundation.
Without doubt Sophocles thought his Audience did not
know the Rise of those Games, or else he would have
taken care not to have made such an Alteration in the
Epocha ; otherwise the absurdity is admirably wel] hid,
under the wonderful Charms which are in the Relation,
but, that don't justifie him.

V. 287. The Fate of Amphiaraus]! He was a great
Southsayer, who foreseeing that all who went with
Adrastus to the Theban War should perish, Adrastus
only excepted, refused to go along with Him, and prevented
several others from entring into the same
League, Adrastus was told, He need only give the
Necklace to Eriphyla, (Amphiaraus's Wife) which Polynices
had brought from Thebes, and which had been

dedicated to Harmony, to prevail on Amphiaraus to

make one in the Expedition. Adrastus obey'd the
Advice, and Eriphyla, charm'd with the Beauty of the
Necklace, promis'd to engage her Husband ; for that
depended only on Her, Amphiarans having sworn to
obey his Wife in every thing.

V. 297. Found a Son Alcmeon was the Son of Am—
phiaraus; the Father, on his Departure for Thebes,
strictly charg'd his Son, who was then very young, that
when he came to Age, he should revenge his Death by
killing his Mother. Alcmeon obey'd these Orders very
punctually : Several of the Poets represented this Story
in Tragedy; and this Murther of Eriphyla by Alcmeon

the Ancients saw with great pleasure acted on their
Stages |

Notes

82 Notes upon ELECTRA.

Notes upon the Third ACT.

V. 1. For Joy, my Dearest.] Chrysothemis having
been at her Father's Tomb to offer her own and Sister's

Hair thereon, meets with the Libations there,

which had been pour'd by Oreftes, and by them suggests
He was return'd to Argos: For that Clytemnestra
had not offer'd them, nor yet Electra, nor Chrysothemis,
and therefore it must be Orestes.

V. 24. With Streams of Milk| The Libations which
they made at a Sepulchre, consisted for the most part
of Honey, and Milk, and Wine: Upon which they

sometimes sprinkled Barley-Flower. The manner of

uling these Liquors, was to go round the Monument ;
and pour out some, as they went, out of a Bottle
(avoz; arxy, AS Euripides says in his Electra) and as they
offer'd, they used certain Speeches and Prayers to the
Ghosts of the Dead to be propitious to them: And
therefore those xe, or Libations, were usually term'd
ydIuyTneaot, and O£ax7]y 240: |

V. 26. And all the Flow'rs| The Custom of strewing
Flowers about the Grave seems rather in Honour of
the Mares, than any ways propitiatory. They sometimes
wove them into Garlands before they presented
them, and this was ge T Tvutey, a crowning of the
Tomb. These Garlands were caJl'd tew7es, either from
their expressing Love; or from e, because composed
of a Collection of Flowers; or lastly, because they

were thrown er: Tx» Egg, upon the Earth. The reason

of it, says the Scholiast upon Euripides, was xs mo vipacty
dom fat Joe ro vixwyrwv, to Honour the Dead as
they used to do the Living when they won the Gallas.

Notes

D -4%. ak lk - am.

Notes upon ELECTRA. 83

Notes upon the Fourth ACT.

V.10. But aged Strophius] He was King of Phocis,
and Father of Pylades. But after all, why must O-
restes and his Governor vary in their Story ? Orestes himself
comes from Strophius, but he charges his Governor
to say, He is a Phocian, and sent from Phanoters,
ß dd e Pavoliug ,, if I do not misunderstand this
Passage ; for the Scholiast says, Taws 5 ovour Gur mt
OxyoTrws ; that Phanoteus was said to be the Name of a
City; if this be so, I indeed have err'd ; but there is a
Second Place, which, I believe, will justify my Construction,
v. 672. O SU; 0 Cos, says the Governor,
Phanoteus the Phocian: For Sophocles could never
mean the Governor should say, The Phanotean,
Phocian, which he must do if Phanoteus were a

V. 39. A Torch to kindle up.] For it was customary
for the Pile to be lighted by some of the dead Person's
nearest Relations or Friends; who did it with their
Faces turn'd from the Pile, to shew themselves averse
to so mournful an Office. So at Mzsenus's Funeral in
Virg.

m—Subjeftam more parentum
Aversi tenutre facem :

V. 108. By all the Honours.) The Original has it,
un, rege Yeveis, &c. Do not, I conjure you by your Chin
or Beard: But the Conjuration would seem very trivial
and burlesque to us, however venerable amongst the
Antients. That it was the Custom of old, for Suppliants
to take hold of the Beard of the Person to whom
they made their Entreaty, is evident from Homer,

84 Notes upon ELECTRA.

mA Zire 0 &%2 UT avegew > tAg8%

Atorowpn

And this was one manner of Salutation among the Hebrews,
as appears by 2 Sam. 20, 9; And Joab took Amala
by the Beard with the Right-hand to kiss him. ;

V. 122, Behold my Father's Signet.] Gr. Mov &Pe%-
Vida rares: Upon which the Scholiasts have commented
very variously ; Triclinius thus, + ig A:@av/@> wwory
oy % on Tinon®» PAC, LL ei A. (99. 9% Sari To e
Vida dναν T& dax1vnaey. The Ivory Shoulder, which the
Descendants of Pelops bore; but others say, it is put for
a Seal: The third Scholiast puts a still different Gloss
upon It, 7Pepyioe ys T xapyrxlicy TS TEgrurns % T&
ANTS COURT, T 41% TAY] % 3potoy TH Ep r, AY =
MEwyovt, that is, the Make and Turn of his Face and Body,
altogether resembling his Father Agamemnon. I have
translated it Signet; but am not absolutely determin'd,
whether that was the Intention of Sophocles. Aristotle
takes notice of a Remembrance made use of by the
Poet Carcinus in his Thyestes, by the means of a Star;
but perhaps that Remembrance may be much the same
as ours, and borrow'd from Sophocles. For Robortellus
conjectures, and not without great Probability, (in Mr,
Dacier's Opinion, ) that instead of the Word «5Fe@>,
which signifies a Star, Aristotle writ sst, Which figntfies
Bones, and that he means the Bone of Ivory with
which the Gods repaired Pelops's Shoulder, and which
appear'd in his Descendants.

Notes upon the Fifth ACT.

V. 4. The customary Banquet.) Gr. i, rage Act”
r z074, Which Mr, Johnson renders, in funus Lebetem
adornat ; however I have relied on the Words of Two

Notes upon ELECTRA. 85

of the Scholiasts; the latter of which, as containing
a tull Lxplanation, | shall here transcribe. Ie ber 47
1 D- Sn, du. T rom 2 TS lan rae O. c 4 5
ex 695 , ec, * 0 Sv. 0 E ve 01% rag no-.
ue. travls 5 To Legge LEO 17 K0TWEs LEeonTa
£45 T&Dov , T&TES u Sei 5 TAN OCA Nv. For
atter the Funeral was over, (says Dr. Potter) the Com-

pany met together at the House of the deceas'd Person's

nearest Relations, to divert them from Sorrow.
Here there was an Entertainment provided, which was
term'd eld amv), ve C ui T&PO>, &C.

V. 26. Crimson Sacrifice of Mars. i. e. with the Blood
they Had sed. PATE rel Het un Age, says Sophocles,
and I believe he certainly expresses himself thus; in allusion
to the Hamann Pietims which were on some Occasions
sacrific'd to Mars. Triclinius Remarks on this

Pailage thus, 498 Ovric;, YT. ainzl©>, 5 9 bu. uf

Agr. SAA e > zardTour. that is, with the Sacrifice
or Blood, which Mars receives in Sacrifice, for he is
term'd a Lover of Blood.

V. 68. But, if my Words transgress. The Greek has it,
eee vereert: Which, I confess, gave me no small
Trouble to understand; and unless another Passage in
tis Play have heip'd me to a right Conception of them,
thall as freely own my self till in the Dark. Clytemnestra
in the second Act, triumphing on account of
Crestes's Distaster, Electra cries out,

Axg: Newer; Y Vavor]O> og r
Avenging Goddess, hear her Contumelies !

Upon which Triclinius remarks, Ntutrts, ex luce
bing: 780% Oey gs rv tDvagckov1o; 0 18786 Tings, 1. e. Nemesis
is a Goddess who resents and punishes all Insults
upon the Dead. So Zgysthus, triumphing on the like

Occasion, stops short ;—but if 1 err, or shall be punish'd
for it, I say no more.

of — + So A — 5 — 2 1
- - . —— 2 * — ——— = ks. Sz +. — L
— P — oO eo n oe xo OO A erent —ꝛ -— dw —

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