Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/430

412 Strophius: Although dead Agamemnon bids me fear, I'll brave the danger and thy brother save. Good fortune asks for faith; adversity Compels us to be true. [Takes Orestes into the chariot.] My lad, attend: Wear this wild-olive wreath upon thy brow, The noble prize I won on Pisa's plain; And hold above thy head this leafy branch, The palm of victory, that it may be A shield and omen of success to thee. And do thou too, O Pylades, my son, Who dost as comrade guide thy father's car, From my example faith in friendship learn. Do you, swift steeds, before the eyes of Greece Speed on in flight, and leave this faithless land. [Exeunt at great speed.] Electra [looking after them]: So is he gone. His car at reckless pace Fast vanishes from sight. And now my foes, With heart released from care, will I await, And willingly submit my head to death. Here comes the bloody conqueror of her lord, And bears upon her robes the stains of blood. Her hands still reek with gore, and in her face She bears the witness of her impious crime. I'll hie me to the shrine; and, kneeling here, I'll join Cassandra in our common fear.

Clytemnestra [to Electra]: Thou base, unfilial, and froward girl, Thy mother's foe, by what authority Dost thou, a virgin, seek the public gaze? Electra: Because I am a virgin have I left The tainted home of vile adulterers. Clytemnestra: Who would believe thee chaste? Electra: I am thy child. Clytemnestra: Thou shouldst thy mother speak with gentler tongue. Electra: Shall I learn filial piety of thee? Clytemnestra: Thou hast a mannish soul, too puffed with pride; But tamed by suffering thou soon shalt learn