410BC
IPHIGENIA AT AULIS
by Euripides Characters in the Play Agamemnon Attendant,an old man Chorus of Women of Chalcis Menelaus Clytaemnestra Iphigenia Achilles Messenger The sea-coast at Aulis.
Enter AGAMEMNON and ATTENDANT.
Agamemnon.
Old man,come hither and stand before my dwelling.
Attendant.
Icome;what new schemes now,king Agamemnon?
AGAMEMNON
Thou shalt hear.
ATTENDANT
Iam all eagerness.'Tis little enough sleep old age allows me and keenly it watches o'er my eyes.
AGAMEMNON
What can that star be,steering his course yonder?
ATTENDANT
Sirius,still shooting o'er the zenith on his way near the Pleiads'sevenfold track.
AGAMEMNON
The birds are still at any rate and the sea is calm;hushed are the winds,and silence broods o'er this narrow firth.
ATTENDANT
Then why art thou outside thy tent,why so restless,my lord Agamemnon?All is yet quiet here in Aulis,the watch on the walls is not yet astir.Let us go in.
AGAMEMNON
Ienvy thee,old man,aye,and every man who leads a life secure,unknown and unrenowned;but little Ienvy those in office.
ATTENDANT
And yet 'tis there we place the be-all and end-all of existence.
AGAMEMNON
Aye,but that is where the danger comes;and ambition,sweet though it seems,brings sorrow with its near approach.At one time the unsatisfied claims of Heaven upset our life,at another the numerous peevish fancies of our subjects shatter it.
ATTENDANT
Ilike not these sentiments in one who is a chief.It was not to enjoy all blessings that Atreus begot thee,OAgamemnon;but thou must needs experience joy and sorrow alike,mortal as thou art.E'en though thou like it not,this is what the gods decree;but thou,after letting thy taper spread its light abroad,writest the letter which is still in thy hands and then erasest the same words again,sealing and re-opening the scroll,then flinging the tablet to the ground with floods of tears and leaving nothing undone in thy aimless behaviour to stamp thee mad.What is it troubles thee?what news is there affecting thee,my liege?Come,share with me thy story;to a loyal and trusty heart wilt thou be telling it;for Tyndareus sent me that day to form part of thy wife's dowry and to wait upon the bride with loyalty.