In praecedenti fabula sapientissimus poeta fortunae inconstantiam uariasque rerum humanarum uices insigni Hecubae exemplo delineauit: id quod fere passim agit Tragoedia. Hoc uero Orestis in insaniam uersi spectaculo conscientiae male pacatae cruciatus adumbrat, qui miseros assidue excarnificant etiamsi nullos facinorum suorum conscios habeant. In qua re diuinus numinis zelus et honestatis turpitudinisque natura consideranda est. Quid enim formidabilius illo esse possit qui etiam in nepotes et pronepotes persequitur scelera nullumque nefas impunitum dimittit? quemadmodum eiusdem benignitas boni aequique seruantes in tutela sua fouet conseruatque. Ea uero est honestatis natura ac uis ut mirabiles sui amores excitet in animis hominum incredibilique et arcano quodam gaudio suos cultores perfundat alacresque impetus animo ad praeclaras res capessendas tacito ingignat. Turpitudo autem fuco perlita quadam momentaneae delectatiunculae specie insidiatur et imponit incautis, sed post se magnos dolores et aculeos relinquit in mentibus hominum. Itaque uolupe erat Oresti impio affectui indulgere et patris iniustam necem a matre reposcere suoque furori materna caede litare; sed eadem res longe acerbissima fieri coepit ubi foedi turpitudinem facti propius cognouit. Hanc de sceleratorum poena opinionem prisci sapientiae praesides rudibus uulgi animis inculcare per horrenda exempla obnixe studuerunt ut metu supplicii a malefactis deterrerent mortales et praemii spe ad uirtutis officia excitarent. Crassae enim uulgi mentes non poterant subtiles philosophorum de honestate ac uirtutibus disputationes καὶ λεπτολογίας capere. Penetrant durissimorum quoque hominum animos tam euidentes rerum horribilium imagines.

In the preceding story, this very wise poet set out the inconstancy of fortune and the varied changes of human affairs with the remarkable example of Hecuba, as is the practice of Tragedy almost everywhere. Through this spectacle, however, of Orestes turned toward insanity, the poet represents the tortures of a troubled conscience, which continually torment the miserable, even if they have no witnesses of their own crimes. In this matter, the divine zealous purpose of the deity and the nature of virtue and baseness must be considered. For what can be more terrifying than that being who punishes crimes even into the generations of grandsons and great-grandsons and leaves no foul deed unpunished? Just as the kindness of the same being fosters under his protection and preserves those who abide by what is good and just.. Such truly is the nature and power of virtue, that it can excite an amazing love of itself in the minds of men, and infuse its own cultivators with a certain incredible and secret joy, and silently engender in the mind a lively desire eagerly to undertake glorious deeds. Baseness, however, is smeared all over with deceit and ambushes one with a certain appearance of momentary petty delight, and imposes on the heedless, but afterwards it leaves behind great grief and barbs in the minds of men. And so it was agreeable to Orestes to give way to an impious passion and demand back from his mother the unjust death of his father, and appease his own madness with the slaughter of his mother: but the same act began to become by far the most bitter, when he recognized at closer hand the disgrace of the filthy deed. The ancient guardians of wisdom strenuously strove to impress this belief about the punishment of wrongdoers upon the unformed minds of the common people through terrifying examples, so that though fear of punishment they might deter mortals from bad deeds, and with the hope of a reward arouse them to the duties of virtue. For the crass minds of the common mass were not able to grasp the fine disquisitions and subtle arguments of philosophers about honorable behavior and the virtues. Such clear images of horrible things penetrate even the minds of the hardest men are.

Primo ergo in hac fabula (ut iam dixi) spectemus hominis sibi male conscii effigiem. Parricidium commiserat Orestes ut ulcisceretur caedem Agamemnonis patris, qui insidiis uxoris circumuentus occiderat: patri ergo pietatis officium exhibere uolens materno cruore impiatus est. Sic enim fere nobiscum agitur ut falsum honestatis uelamen audaciae praetexamus falsisque persuasionibus perspicaci iustitiae et aequitatis rationi tenebras offundamus. Itaque sperabat Orestes hoc suae causae in primis patrocinaturum quod matrem iugulando patris mortem ultus esset. Sed patrata iam caede illa ueri cognoscendi scintilla nondum penitus extincta in media scelerati hominis caligine emicuit. Sanguineis enim Furiarum terriculamentis perculsus impietatem suam agnoscit nimisque sero facti paenitens mente capitur. Quo in loco οὐκ ἀφιλοσόφως poeta insaniam describit, assignans illi oculos inuersos aciesque intortas, spumam oris, foedum totius corporis aspectum, membrorum languorem. Nam tam arcte corpus et anima connexa sunt ut utrumque ab alterius passionibus afficiatur. Sic in Oreste sera paenitentia et desperatio ad corporis usque labefactionem progressa est. Consequitur autem tum [81] melancholiam tum desperationem amentia. In primis igitur operae pretium est subinde inspicere sapientissimas istas exemplorum imagines e quibus uitae rationes petemus, effigiemque humanarum rerum, affectuum, uirtutis, fortunae, animis imprimamus cogitemusque quam grauiter Deus in malefactores animaduertat, quam funesti semper immanium affectuum exitus existant, qui cruciatus, qui ex diuina offensa mucrones conscientiam uulnerent. Nec impunitatem ex latebra speremus, sed Peregrini philosophi dictum, quod est apud A. Gellium†, sequamur: Sapientem scilicet uirum non peccaturum etiamsi eum peccasse dii atque homines ignoraturi forent. Non enim ille Philosophus poenae aut infamiae metu non esse peccandum censebat, sed iusti honestique studio et amore. Ceterum quid Poeta Furiarum Orestem uerberantium inuolucro texerit plenissime ex M. T. Cicerone percipi potest, cuius uerba in Oratione pro Roscio Amerino scripta haec sunt: Nolite enim putare, quemadmodum in fabulis saepenumero uidetis, eos qui aliquid impie scelerateque commiserint agitari et perterreri Furiarum taedis ardentibus. Sua quemque fraus, suus terror maxime uexat, suum quemque scelus agitat amentiaque afficit, suae malae cogitationes conscientiaeque animi terrent. Hae sunt impiis assiduae domesticae Furiae, quae dies noctesque parentum poenas a consceleratissimis filiis repetant, etc.*

†[Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 12.11, referring to the 2nd-cent. CE Cynic philosopher Peregrinus of Parium, who is also the subject of a vicious satire by Lucian entitled Peregrinus.]

*[Cicero, Pro Roscio, §67]

In the first place, therefore, in this story (as I have already said) let us consider the figure of a man with a guilty conscience. Orestes had committed parricide in order to avenge the slaughter of his father Agamemnon, who, trapped by the wiles of his wife, had been murdered: therefore, wishing to render the service of piety to his father, he has been rendered impure by the blood of his mother. For thus it generally goes with us: we cover audacity with a false cloak of virtue, and through false persuasions we spread obscuring shadows over an acute reckoning of justice and fairness. And so Orestes hoped that this fact, in the first place, would defend his own cause, that by murdering his mother he avenged the death of his father. But with this slaughter once achieved, that spark of true understanding, not yet thoroughly extinguished, blazed up in the middle of the fog of the wicked man. For struck hard by the bloody terrors of the Furies, he recognizes his own impiety, and regretting his crime too late, he is seized with insanity. Here the poet describes his insanity in no unscientific way, attributing to him in-turned eyes, distorted vision, foam at the mouth, a disgusting look to his whole body, and weakness of his limbs. For the body and the mind are so closely connected that each is influenced by the passions of the other. Thus in Orestes’ case belated regret and despair progressed all the way to the loosening of his body. The natural consequence, however, of both [81] melancholia and desperation is insanity. Therefore, it is especially worthwhile to examine from time to time those very wise representations of examples from which we shall seek a method for life: let us impress on our souls an image of human deeds, emotions, virtue and fortune; let us consider how heavily God punishes wrongdoers, what lamentable conclusions always emerge from monstrous passions, what torments and what swords wound the conscience as a result of divine displeasure. Nor should we hope for impunity from concealment: but let us follow the saying of philosopher Peregrinus, which is found in the writings of A. Gellius: namely, the wise man is not about to sin, even if gods and men are to be unaware that he sinned. For this philosopher did not imagine that one must not sin from a fear of punishment and infamy, but because of devotion to and love of justice and virtue. Furthermore, what meaning the Poet has hidden under the cover of the Furies lashing Orestes can be understood most fully from Marcus Tullius Cicero, whose words, written in his Oration In Defense of Roscius Amerinus, are these: Do not think that, as you see on many occasions in plays, those who have committed something impious and wicked are driven and frightened by the burning torches of the Furies. Precisely his own delusion and terror harry him, his own crime drives him and afflicts him with insanity, his own bad thoughts and mental feelings of conscience terrify him. These are the persistent, personal Furies of the impious, who day and night demand the punishments for the parents from the most depraved sons, etc.

Praeterea in Oreste et Pylade sincerae et singularis amicitiae exemplum proponitur. Apparent enim ueri amici in periculis afflictisque rebus, nulloque fortunae impetu franguntur. sed fidem operamque etiamsi fractus illabatur orbis* expromptam praebent: imo si opus foret, uitae iactura amici saluti consulerent. Qualibus etiam opes, honores, imperia postponenda sunt, sicuti Poeta ipse dicit: οὐκ ἔστιν κρεῖσσον ἢ φίλος σαφής, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐ τυραννίς [Orestes 1155-6]. Ut ergo igne aurum probamus, ita in aduersis amici fides explorari solet. Pylades rebus iam desperatis quam fidum animum declarat, dum non opes, non aurum, quod usitatum est, pollicetur, sed uitam pro amici incolumitate impendere uel cum amico ad manes simul ire gestit. Contra uero in Menelao fucati amici effigiem adumbrat, qui prementibus malis Orestem iuuare recusat tali sub praetextu: Non esse facultatem liberandi ipsum e periculo propter insanos populi motus multitudinisque promiscuae tumorem, cui obsistere uiribus destitutum non sit satis tutum. At spe fraterni imperii potiundi accensus Orestem deserebat. Ut hinc intelligamus saepe ruptis naturae uinculis fratrem a fratre dissilire amicitiaeque religionem ius ipsum pietatemque nimia dominandi libidine uiolari: qua nihil est exitiosius tranquillo reipublicae statui. Nos ergo hoc illustre et uerae et fictae amicitiae exemplum ob oculos ponentes circumspecti et cauti simus in amicis et deligendis et colendis, ut ne antea (sicut monet Isocrates†) in amicitiam quempiam recipiamus quam exploratum sit cuiusque ingenium. Memorata amicorum paria sunt haec ferme: Achilles et Patroclus, Euryalus et Nisus, Aeneas et Achates, Theseus et Pirithous, Pythias et Damon, Dauid et Ionathas, etc. Nec minus commendo orationes contrarias Tyndarei et Orestis, quae foro paratae, concitatae, solidae, sententiis et locis rhetoricis refertae, inter se fortiter collidunt. Illud etiam in narratione nuntii, cuius personam Phryx quidam agit, minime praetereundum, quod a poeta inducitur uir quidam Argiuus, disertus quidem, sed insignitae improbitatis, surrexisse populumque in eam sententiam illecebrosa oratione pertraxisse ut Orestem damnarent. Ex qua re intelligendum nihil pestilentius esse quam tantam in malo uiro facundiam: qui cum de rebus peruerse sentiat nihil etiam sani loquitur. Cuius generis tenebrionum ubique maxima turba etiam hodie inundat. Principatum in rebuspublicis obtinent, magna confidentia nec minore fauore et plausu populi de maximis rebus temere declamitant, uberesque quaestus inde occipiunt. Rursus in altero uiro qui Orestis partes tuebatur imaginemur longe fructuosiores esse rebus mortalium uiros infacundos, integros tamen et prudentes, quam insidiosa et fucata eloquentia praeditos. Eiusmodi tamen plerumque parui fiunt apud uulgus, cui semper potior adulatio et fucus est quam integritas ac ueritas. Denique spectemus ingenia et affectus desperatorum hominum in Oreste et Electra, qui non contenti caede matris Helenae quoque et Hermiones necem moliebantur. Semel enim laesa conscientia laxatoque animo aliquo insigni scelere fit ut in quoduis nefas praecipites ruamus peccataque peccatis accumulemus. Proinde consultissimum fuerit principiis obstare nascentique morbo medicam ferre opem, hoc est, immoderatos affectus temperare, cupiditatibus frena imponere easque rationi oboedientes facere, ne semel uiolata mente postea a nullo flagitio abhorreamus. Haec de scopo fabulae praesentis, quamuis adhuc permulta huc eiusdem paene farinae adferri possent. Sed quis singula in auctore tam luculento, uberi, sublimi, poeta et Graeco persequi queat?

Cf. Horace, Odes 3.3.7

†[Isocrates, ad Demonicum 24, Μηδένα φίλον ποιοῦ, πρὶν ἂν ἐξετάσῃς πῶς κέχρηται τοῖς πρότερον φίλοις.]

Furthermore, an example of a sincere and unique friendship is displayed in Orestes and Pylades. For they show themselves true friends in danger and distressing affairs, and no attack of fortune breaks them apart, but they exhibit ready loyalty and exertion, even if the broken world falls into ruin: by all means, if it should be necessary, they would provide for the survival of their friend at the expense of their lives. In comparison to such friends even wealth, honors, and empires must be counted less important, as the Poet himself says “There is nothing greater than a sure friend, not wealth, not royal power.” Therefore just as we test gold with fire, thus the loyalty of a friend is usually tried in adversity. How firm a spirit Pylades reveals when matters are already desperate, when he does not promise his friend assistance or money, which is the normal thing: rather does he long to expend his life for the safety of his friend, or to go together with that friend to the underworld. On the other hand, however, in Menelaus he delineates the figure of a counterfeit friend, who when troubles are oppressing Orestes refuses to help him, on such a pretext: there is no easy way to set him free from danger, because of the uncontrolled agitations of the people and the ferment of the indiscriminate crowd, to oppose which when one is lacking in supporting forces is not very safe. . But on fire with the hope of his brother’s realm, Menelaus deserted Orestes. So that we may perceive from this that when the bonds of nature are broken, often brother bursts apart from brother, and that the holiness of friendship, justice itself, and piety are violated by an excess of passion for ruling: nothing is more deadly than this for the calm condition of a state. Let us, therefore, set forth this clear example of a devoted and a false friendship before the eyes and be cautious and careful in choosing and cultivating friends, so that we not accept anyone into our friendship before (as Isocrates warns) each one’s innate quality is ascertained. These are the usually mentioned pairs of friends: Achilles and Patroclus, Euryalus and Nisus, Aeneas and Achates, Theseus and Pirithous, Pythias and Damon, David and Jonathan, etc. Nor do I recommend less the opposing speeches of Tyndareus and Orestes, which, prepared for the forum, rapid, firm, packed with maxims and rhetorical arguments, are strongly at conflict between themselves. Also this point in the report of the messenger, whose role is played by a certain Phrygian, is by no means to be overlooked: a certain Argive is introduced by the poet, who was indeed eloquent, but of extraordinary villainy, and arose and with a seductive speech led the people toward the judgment of condemning Orestes. From this detail we must understand that nothing is more disastrous than such great eloquence in a bad man, who, while he judges wrongly about affairs, says nothing sane. Even today a huge throng of tricksters of this sort abounds everywhere. They occupy the first place in public affairs, they thoughtlessly plead about the leading concerns with great confidence and not with less appreciation and applause from the people, and they receive rich profits from them. Again let us picture for ourselves in the case of the second man, who defended the side of Orestes, that far more beneficial for the affairs of mortals are ineloquent men, who are nevertheless upright and sensible, rather than those gifted with insidious and artificial eloquence. Nevertheless, for the most part few of this type occur among the common people, for whom flattery and deceit are always preferable to integrity and truth. Finally let us observe the natures and passions of desperate people in Orestes and Electra, who, not content with the slaughter of their mother, attempted the killing also of Helen and Hermione. For once the conscience has been wounded and the mind unleashed by some notable crime, it comes about that we rush headlong into any crime whatsoever and heap up sins upon sins. Consequently, the most prudent course would be to stand in the way at the beginning and to bring healing help for the disease at its origin: that is, to regulate immoderate emotions, to set controls on desires, and to make them obedient to reason, lest once our mind has been dishonored, we afterwards shrink back from no shame. This much about the goal of the present play: although much of the same sort could still be added to this. But who could pursue every single detail in an author so brilliant, rich, sublime, and a poet and a Greek?

[82] [no heading for first act argument; instead mixed with annotationes]

Hic Prologus continet duo: primum, querelam de Pelopidarum familiae perpetua calamitate: secundum, argumentum et occasionem totius fabulae.

...

Actus primus haec habet. Helena Electrae et Oresti miserrime affectis condolet, et ab Electra propter adulterium quod universae Graeciae exitio fuit clanculum mordetur; mittitque Hermionem ad ferendum inferias Clytaemnestrae. 2. Electrae sollicitudo et studium circa Orestem ne somno excutiatur strepitu Chori. 3. Orestes somno excitus tractatur officiose ab Electra: in qua mire describitur aegrotantium fastidium impatientia καὶ ἦθος. Eadem rogatur a fratre ut se quieti det, quo possit durare in labore. quod tamen recusat: mauult enim mori cum illo quam a latere illius discedere. 4. Chorus ad Eumenides vertitur orationem ut paulum remittat de furore Orestis. Deinde ad sequentem scenam occasionem praestruit. 5. Menelaus Troia reversus offendit omnia luctu funestata ideoque maeret; Orestes ipsum ut patruum implorat ut sibi in periculo praesto sit. Intelligendum autem est Orestem in hoc actu deformem distortum ac horridum in proscenium productum esse ac spectatorum oculis praeberi.

[82] [Argument of the First Act]

This prologue contains two features: first, a speech lamenting the never-ending disasters of the family of the Pelopids; second, the topic and occasion of the whole play. The first act contains the following. Helen expresses sympathy for Electra and Orestes, who are most wretchedly afflicted, and she is indirectly criticized by Electra because of the adultery which was a source of ruin for all Greece, and she sends Hermione to carry grave-offerings to Clytemnestra. 2. Electra’s anxiety and concern about Orestes, less he be rousted from sleep by the noise made by the Chorus. 3. Orestes, when he has been roused from his sleep, is treated with great care by Electra: in this passage there is a wonderful description of the fussy and restless behavior and character of those who are ill. Electra is asked by her brother to take some rest so that she will be able to endure in her toil. Nevertheless, she refuses this, for she prefers to die with him than to depart from his side. 4. The Chorus addresses the Eumenides, asking that they allow the madness of Orestes to abate a little. Then it prepares the motivation for the following scene. 5. Menelaus, returned from Troy, finds everything polluted with grief and laments for that. Orestes beseeches him as an uncle to stand by him in his danger. One must understand, however, that in this act Orestes is brought forth on the stage and shown to the eyes of the spectators as unsightly, misshapen, and horrid.

[84] IN ACTVM SECVNDVM Annotationes; cuius principium ποῦ ποῦ θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς ἴδω πόσιν;

Haec continentur in Actu secundo. 1. Tyndarei et Orestis orationes iudiciales et aduersariae. 2. Supplex oratio Orestis ad Menelaum, ut scilicet memor beneficiorum paternorum nunc in summa angustia sibi opem ferat. Deinde eiusdem conuicia postquam se frustrari uidet. 3. Colloquium Pyladis, qui primum aduenerat, et Orestis, intimorum amicorum, in quo consultant qua uia tandem sit ex manifesto periculo euadendum. Postremo cum Oreste se purgaturo in contionem prodit. 4. Chorus, qui querelam Pelopidarum calamitatis et in primis Orestis habet.

[84] Annotations on the Second Act, the start of which is "Where, where am I to see the husband of my daughter?"

These things are contained in the second act. 1. Tyndareus and Orestes give their judicial and opposing speeches. 2. Orestes gives a speech of supplication to Menelaus, pleading, namely, that being mindful of his father’s favors he will now help him in a time of the greatest distress. Then the vituperations of the same character, after he sees that he has been disappointed. 3. The discourse of Pylades, who had just arrived, and Orestes, intimate friends, in which they deliberate how in the world they should escape from clear danger. Finally he goes to the assembly with Orestes, who intends to justify himself. 4. The Chorus, who offer a plaintive song about the disaster of the House of Pelops and especially of Orestes.

[86] IN ACTVM TERTIVM.

In Actu tertio haec sunt. Electra e scena egreditur cum iam Orestes et Pylades ad contionem processissent. Et dum quaerit causas absentiae Orestis, interuenit nuntius ipso statim uultu prodens tristes rumores. 2. Narrat nuntius euentum iudicii, quomodo et quid actum sit de Oreste. Ea expositio siue διήγησις artificiosam diuersarum personarum et disparis uulgi studii descriptionem continet. 3. Electra cognito iudicii euentu in acerbissimos luctus soluitur, fatalem generis sui miseriam deplorans.

[86] On the Third Act

In the third act are these events. Electra comes out of the stage-building, when Orestes and Pylades have already proceeded to the assembly. While she asks the reason for Orestes’ absence, a messenger interrupts, immediately revealing the sad report with his very expression. 2. The messenger tells the result of the judgment, in what manner and what was decided about the fate of Orestes. This narration or diegesis includes a skillful description of the different persons and the different inclinations of the crowd. 3. Electra, having learned the result of the trial, turns without restraint to the expression of the most bitter grief, deploring the destined misery of her clan.

[87] IN ACTVM QVARTVM.

Electra a contione redeuntem Orestem amaro luctu excipit, ut quae iam cognorat ex nuntio euentum iudicii: hinc extremi fratris et sororis complexus mutuaque oscula. 2. Pylades Orestem properantem ad ferrum retinet admonens ut prius aliquo modo Menelaum ulciscatur quam moriatur, suumque ad hanc rem pollicetur et consilium et operam, necnon et mori pro ipso uel saltem una cum ipso certat. Docet autem Helenam esse mactandam, id quod factu sit perfacile, cum neminem praeter aliquot ignauos Phrygas circa se habens intus secura literas et tabulas quasdam resignet. Praeterea id factum fore utrique gloriosum si eam interfecerint quae tot funerum auctor extiterit. Amplectitur hoc consilium lubens Orestes consentitque in facinus a Pylade destinatum. 3. Electra aliud quoque consilium in medium profert, uidelicet ut Hermionem a monumento Clytemnestrae reuertentem deprehendant et pro obside adseruent, docetque id commode fieri posse. 4. Probant haec consilia, accingunt sese ad facinus, expediunt enses: inuocant manes Agamemnonis ac numen Iouis, primi generis Pelopidarum auctoris. Electra ante uestibulum iubetur obseruare, ne quis subito rei interueniat; ipsi interea se in penetralia ad Helenam recipiunt. 5. Electra chori mulieribus singulis suas assignat stationes ubi obseruent ne quis inopinato aedibus appropinquet dum Helenae caedes perficitur. 6. Hermione per dolum comprehenditur dum nihil mali metuens ingreditur domum Helenae pro damnatis supplicatura.

[87] On the Fourth Act

When Orestes returns from the assembly, Electra receives him with bitter grief, since she had already found out from the messenger the result of the trial: thereafter, the final embraces of brother and sister and mutual kisses. 2. As Orestes is hastening to the sword, Pylades restrains him, suggesting to him that he somehow punish Menelaus before he dies: he promises his own advice and help to this end, and he endeavors to die instead of Orestes, or at least together with him. Moreover, he suggests that Helen must be killed, which is a very easy deed, because she has no one around her besides a few cowardly Phrygians and is inside the house, unconcerned, opening letters and certain tablets. In addition, that act will be glorious for both of them, if they kill the woman who has been the cause of so many deaths. Willingly Orestes embraces this plan, and agrees to the crime designed by Pylades. 3. Electra brings another plan too into the discussion, namely that they catch Hermione as she is returning from the tomb of Clytemnestra and keep her as a hostage: she shows this can be conveniently done. 4. They approve these plans, they prepare themselves for the crime, they make ready swords: they invoke the ghost of Agamemnon and the deity of Jupiter, the first father of the House of Pelops. 5. Electra assigns to each woman in the chorus her own post, where they are to watch so that no one unexpectedly approaches while they are carrying out the murder of Helen. 6. They seize Hermione through deceit, while, fearing nothing bad, she enters the house, intending to supplicate Helen on behalf of the condemned.

[88] IN ACTUM QUINTUM.

In hoc Actu summa est epitasis rerumque turbae atrocius incrudescunt. Nam Phryx quidam, qui cum Helena Troia aduenerat, uix e periculo elapsus miserabilem inchoat querelam, Choroque rem omnem quam prius ex clamore tantum coniectarant planam facit, quae quidem intus gesta erat. In qua narratione mira rerum et personarum effictio uarietasque affectuum animaduertenda est. 2. Orestes audito eiulatu Phrygis, unde factum prodi poterat, foras prosilit illique extrema minitando fidem ac iusiurandum ut taceat extorquet; hinc rursus intro se recipit. 3. Interea Menelaus a quodam ex suis huius tragoediae certior factus amens accurrit erepturus saltem Hermionem imminenti caedi; uerum ingressu in aedes prohibitus inter sacrum et saxum* constituitur. Nam illi ea proponitur ab Oreste conditio ut aut se populi sententiis liberet aut filiae necem ac incendium regii palatii aspiciat. Impetum autem in ostia facturo minitantur reuulsis ex parietibus saxis. Ibi dum in acie nouaculae (quod dicimus) summoque in articulo res uersatur, ex improuiso Apollo adest omnemque rem componit dirosque ausus Orestis inhibet. Hinc laetum et plane comicum fabula sortitur exitum.

*[A proverb first found in Plautus, Captivi 617, apparently referring to a sacrificial victim on the point of slaughter, "between the sacred altar and the stone-knife," thus "in extreme danger."]

[88] On the Fifth Act

The final intensification of suspense occurs in this act, and the confusion of events becomes more atrocious. For a certain Phrygian, who had arrived from Troy with Helen, having scarcely escaped from danger, begins a miserable lament: and he makes clear to the Chorus everything that they had guessed earlier from the shouting, namely what in fact had been done indoors. The amazing representation of events and characters and the variety of emotions in this narrative must be noticed. 2. Orestes, hearing the loud cries of the Phrygian, from which his deed could have been betrayed, leaps out through the doors, and by threatening the Phrygian with death, wrenches out a promise and an oath that he will be silent: because of this he again returns inside. 3. Meanwhile Menelaus, informed by a certain one of his own men of this tragedy, frantically runs in, intending at least to snatch Hermione from imminent death: but he is prevented from entering the house, and he finds himself between a holy shrine and a rock. For this is the choice put before him by Orestes, that either he release Orestes from the judgment of the people or that he watch the death of his daughter and the burning of his royal palace. When Menelaus, however, is about to make an attack on the doors, Orestes threatens him with stones pulled out of the wall. At this point, while the affair is poised on the edge of a sharp knife (as we say) and is in its greatest moment of crisis, Apollo appears unexpectedly, arranges everything, and curbs the awful attempts of Orestes. From here the story receives its happy and clearly comic end.

Translation by Meghan Bowers