THE HOUSE OF ATREUS

by Aeschylus

BEING

THE AGAMEMNON, THE LIBATION-BEARERS AND THE FURIES

TRANSLATED BY E.D.A. MORSHEAD

Contents

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Of the life of Aeschylus, the first of the three great masters of Greek tragedy, only a very meager outline has come down to us. He was born at Eleusis, near Athens, B. C. 525, the son of Euphorion. Before he was twenty-five he began to compete for the tragic prize, but did not win a victory for twelve years. He spent two periods of years in Sicily, where he died in 456, killed, it is said, by a tortoise which an eagle dropped on his head. Though a professional writer, he did his share of fighting for his country, and is reported to have taken part in the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea.

Of the seventy or eighty plays which he is said to have written, only seven survive: “The Persians,” dealing with the defeat of Xerxes at Salamis; “The Seven against Thebes,” part of a tetralogy on the legend of Thebes; “The Suppliants,” on the daughters of Danaüs; “Prometheus Bound,” part of a trilogy, of which the first part was probably “Prometheus, the Fire-bringer,” and the last, “Prometheus Unbound”; and the “Oresteia,” the only example of a complete Greek tragic trilogy which has come down to us, consisting of “Agamemnon”, “Choephorae” (The Libation-Bearers), and the “Eumenides” (Furies).

The importance of Aeschylus in the development of the drama is immense. Before him tragedy had consisted of the chorus and one actor; and by introducing a second actor, expanding the dramatic dialogue thus made possible, and reducing the lyrical parts, he practically created Greek tragedy as we understand it. Like other writers of his time, he acted in his own plays, and trained the chorus in their dances and songs; and he did much to give impressiveness to the performances by his development of the accessories of scene and costume on the stage. Of the four plays here reproduced, “Prometheus Bound” holds an exceptional place in the literature of the world. (As conceived by Aeschylus, Prometheus is the champion of man against the oppression of Zeus; and the argument of the drama has a certain correspondence to the problem of the Book of Job.) The Oresteian trilogy on “The House of Atreus” is one of the supreme productions of all literature. It deals with the two great themes of the retribution of crime and the inheritance of evil; and here again a parallel may be found between the assertions of the justice of God by Aeschylus and by the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel. Both contend against the popular idea that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge; both maintain that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The nobility of thought and the majesty of style with which these ideas are set forth give this triple drama its place at the head of the literary masterpieces of the antique world.

AGAMEMNON

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

A WATCHMAN A HERALD CHORUS AGAMEMNON AEGISTHUS CLYTEMNESTRA CASSANDRA

The Scene is the Palace of Atreus at Mycenae. In front of the Palace stand statues of the gods, and altars prepared for sacrifices.

A Watchman

I pray the gods to quit me of my toils, To close the watch I keep, this livelong year; For as a watch-dog lying, not at rest, Propped on one arm, upon the palace-roof Of Atreus’ race, too long, too well I know The starry conclave of the midnight sky, Too well, the splendours of the firmament, The lords of light, whose kingly aspect shows— What time they set or climb the sky in turn— The year’s divisions, bringing frost or fire.

And now, as ever, am I set to mark When shall stream up the glow of signal-flame, The bale-fire bright, and tell its Trojan tale— Troy town is ta’en: such issue holds in hope She in whose woman’s breast beats heart of man.

Thus upon mine unrestful couch I lie, Bathed with the dews of night, unvisited By dreams—ah me!—for in the place of sleep Stands Fear as my familiar, and repels The soft repose that would mine eyelids seal. And if at whiles, for the lost balm of sleep, I medicine my soul with melody Of trill or song—anon to tears I turn, Wailing the woe that broods upon this home, Not now by honour guided as of old.

But now at last fair fall the welcome hour That sets me free, whene’er the thick night glow With beacon-fire of hope deferred no more. All hail!

[A beacon-light is seen reddening the distant sky.]

Fire of the night, that brings my spirit day, Shedding on Argos light, and dance, and song, Greetings to fortune, hail!

Let my loud summons ring within the ears Of Agamemnon’s queen, that she anon Start from her couch and with a shrill voice cry A joyous welcome to the beacon-blaze, For Ilion’s fall; such fiery message gleams From yon high flame; and I, before the rest, Will foot the lightsome measure of our joy; For I can say, My master’s dice fell fair— Behold! the triple sice, the lucky flame! Now be my lot to clasp, in loyal love, The hand of him restored, who rules our home: Home—but I say no more: upon my tongue Treads hard the ox o’ the adage. Had it voice, The home itself might soothliest tell its tale; I, of set will, speak words the wise may learn, To others, nought remember nor discern.

[Exit. The chorus of old men of Mycenae enter, each leaning on a staff. During their song Clytemnestra appears in the background, kindling the altars.

CHORUS Ten livelong years have rolled away, Since the twin lords of sceptred sway, By Zeus endowed with pride of place, The doughty chiefs of Atreus’ race, Went forth of yore, To plead with Priam, face to face, Before the judgment-seat of War!

A thousand ships from Argive land Put forth to bear the martial band, That with a spirit stern and strong Went out to right the kingdom’s wrong— Pealed, as they went, the battle-song, Wild as the vultures’ cry; When o’er the eyrie, soaring high, In wild bereavèd agony, Around, around, in airy rings, They wheel with oarage of their wings, But not the eyas-brood behold, That called them to the nest of old; But let Apollo from the sky, Or Pan, or Zeus, but hear the cry, The exile cry, the wail forlorn, Of birds from whom their home is torn— On those who wrought the rapine fell, Heaven sends the vengeful fiends of hell.

Even so doth Zeus, the jealous lord And guardian of the hearth and board, Speed Atreus’ sons, in vengeful ire, ’Gainst Paris—sends them forth on fire, Her to buy back, in war and blood, Whom one did wed but many woo’d! And many, many, by his will, The last embrace of foes shall feel, And many a knee in dust be bowed, And splintered spears on shields ring loud, Of Trojan and of Greek, before That iron bridal-feast be o’er! But as he willed ’tis ordered all, And woes, by heaven ordained, must fall— Unsoothed by tears or spilth of wine Poured forth too late, the wrath divine Glares vengeance on the flameless shrine.

And we in gray dishonoured eld, Feeble of frame, unfit were held To join the warrior array That then went forth unto the fray: And here at home we tarry, fain Our feeble footsteps to sustain, Each on his staff—so strength doth wane, And turns to childishness again. For while the sap of youth is green, And, yet unripened, leaps within, The young are weakly as the old, And each alike unmeet to hold The vantage post of war! And ah! when flower and fruit are o’er, And on life’s tree the leaves are sere, Age wendeth propped its journey drear, As forceless as a child, as light And fleeting as a dream of night Lost in the garish day!

But thou, O child of Tyndareus, Queen Clytemnestra, speak! and say What messenger of joy to-day Hath won thine ear? what welcome news, That thus in sacrificial wise E’en to the city’s boundaries Thou biddest altar-fires arise? Each god who doth our city guard, And keeps o’er Argos watch and ward From heaven above, from earth below— The mighty lords who rule the skies, The market’s lesser deities, To each and all the altars glow, Piled for the sacrifice! And here and there, anear, afar, Streams skyward many a beacon-star, Conjur’d and charm’d and kindled well By pure oil’s soft and guileless spell, Hid now no more Within the palace’ secret store.

O queen, we pray thee, whatsoe’er, Known unto thee, were well revealed, That thou wilt trust it to our ear, And bid our anxious heart be healed! That waneth now unto despair— Now, waxing to a presage fair, Dawns, from the altar, Hope—to scare From our rent hearts the vulture Care.

List! for the power is mine, to chant on high The chiefs’ emprise, the strength that omens gave! List! on my soul breathes yet a harmony, From realms of ageless powers, and strong to save!