The Eumenides
The ancient Council of the Areopagus, like other primeval councils, was at once political and judicial. It was the venerable stronghold of the old Athenian and conservative party to which Aeschylus belonged, and was at this time being attacked by the radical party under Pericles and Ephialtes. To save it from its enemies by awakening national sentiment on its behalf, Aeschylus presents it as the high court of justice selected on account of its supreme moral authority totry the grand mythical case of Orestes arraigned by the Furies for matricide. There is also a good word for the diplomatic connection between Argos, represented by Orestes, and Athens. Orestes by Apollo’s advice has appealed to the Areopagus. The court consists of Athenian citizens. Athene in person presides. The Furies appear as the accusers. They form the Chorus, which in this case plays a part in the drama. Apollo appears as a witness for his accused votary, and as responsible for the act which he had commanded. The result is the acquittal of Orestes by the presiding goddess. The proceedings are opened by Athene.
Lines 536-747
Athene
Herald, proclaim good order through the host,
Then let the loud Tyrrhenian trumpet’s blast
Thrill forth its warning to the multitude.
’Tis meet that while the judges take their seats
All citizens keep silence and give ear
To that which now and for all time to come
I have ordained, that justice may be done.
Chorus of Furies
(Seeing APOLLO approach.)
Rule, Lord Apollo, o’er thy own domain.
What portion hast thou in this cause of ours?
Apollo
First, as a witness in this cause I come,
To say this man with me took sanctuary,
And that I cleansed him of the stain of blood.
Next, as a party to this cause I come,
Since I was the prime mover of the deed.
Call on the cause, then, and let right be done.
Athene
The cause is called, and the word rests with you.
(To the FURIES.)
Let the accuser first be heard and lay
The cause before the court, for so is best.
CHORUS.
Many we are, yet brief our speech shall be;
Do thou to questions plain, plain answer give;
And tell us first, didst thou thy mother slay?
Orestes
I slew my mother, and deny it not.
CHORUS.
One bout, then, of our wrestling match is won.
Orestes
Too soon thou boastest; not yet am I thrown.
CHORUS.
Now must thou tell us how the deed was done.
Orestes
I drew my sword and smote her that she died.
CHORUS.
Who was it counselled thee, and set thee on?
Orestes
His oracle that is my witness here.
CHORUS.
Sayest thou the prophet counselled matricide?
Orestes
He did, and so far I repent me not.
CHORUS.
Thou wilt when in the judgment thou art cast.
Orestes
No fear have I; aid from the dead will come.
CHORUS.
Aid from the dead to thee, a matricide?
Orestes
My mother bore a double taint of crime.
CHORUS.
How doubly? let the judges understand.
Orestes
She slew her consort and my sire in one.
CHORUS.
Her death has made her peace, but thou still liv’st.
Orestes
Why did ye not pursue her while she lived?
CHORUS.
Because she was not kin to him she slew.
Orestes
Am I of kin, then, to my mother’s blood?
CHORUS.
Wretch, wast thou not beneath her girdle borne,
And dar’st thou to forswear thy mother’s blood?
Orestes
Apollo, now stand forth and testify.
Say, was my mother rightly slain or not?
The deed itself is not by us denied;
Whether’t was rightly done or not, judge thou,
That I may plead thy sentence to this court.
Apollo
I will before this high Athenian court
Bear witness true: the prophet cannot lie;
For never in my seat of prophecy
Spoke I of man, of woman, or of state,
Aught else than the Olympian father bade.
I pray you, mark the force of this my plea,
And yield obedience to the will of Zeus,
For Zeus is mightier than a judge’s oath.
CHORUS.
Zeus, as thou sayest, inspired this oracle
Which bade Orestes, for his father’s death
Take vengeance, reckless of a mother’s claim.
Apollo
’Twas different when a noble warrior fell,
One that the heaven-entrusted sceptre swayed,
Slain by a woman’s hand, not with the bow,
As slays the fierce far-darting Amazon,
But in such wise as Pallas and the court
Impanelled to decide this cause shall hear.—
As from the war he happily returned
She met him with perfidious flatteries.
Then in his bath, as to the laver’s edge
He came, she, like a canopy, outspread
A robe and smote him tangled in its folds.
By such foul practice died a man of all
Worshipped, the puissant leader of our host.
Such was his murderess; well the tale may touch
The hearts of those who shall pass judgment here.
CHORUS.
Zeus, then, it seems, is on the father’s side,
Yet Zeus his aged father put in bonds.
How squares that story with thy present plea?
I pray the court to hark to his reply.
Apollo
O hateful brood, abhorred of all the gods,
He who is bound may be unbound again.
There’s many a way to set a captive free;
But when the dust has drunk the blood of man,
Death knows no cure or resurrection.
For death my father hath no remedy,
All else he with his will omnipotent
Sorts as him lists, exhaustless in his power.
CHORUS.
Suppose yon wretch acquitted on thy plea,
Can he, polluted with a mother’s blood,
At Argos dwell and in his father’s home?
What public altar can he use, what guild
Of kinsmen will admit him to their rite?
Apollo
With this, too, will I deal, and mark me well,
The mother is not parent to the child,
But only fosters that she hath conceived.
The male is the true parent, and his mate
But holds the germ, so it ‘scape blight, in trust.
This can I prove by puissant argument.
A father sans a mother there may be.
There stands the daughter of Olympian Zeus,
She ne’er was nurtured in the darkling womb,
Yet could no god in heaven beget her peer.
Pallas, as always my endeavour is
Thy city and thy people to exalt,
So I have sent this suppliant to thy hearth,
That he might be thy ever faithful friend,
And thou might’st count him as a sure ally,
Him and his race hereafter, and this bond
Unbroken through all ages might endure.
Athene
The pleadings now are ended, and I call
Upon the panel for a righteous vote.
CHORUS.
On our side the last arrow has been shot;
We wait but for the verdict of the court.
Athene
What order can I take that will content ye?
CHORUS.
Ye all have heard the pleadings in this cause;
Now in your hearts let justice rule the vote.
Athene
Ye men of Athens, hear what is ordained
For this first trial of a homicide.
So long as Aegeus’ nation shall endure
Upon this hill shall Justice hold her seat.
Here Theseus’ foes, the Amazons, did camp
In days of old; here they a fortress built
In rivalry to this new-founded town;
Here sacrificed to Ares, whence the name
Of Ares’ Hill; and here, by day and night,
Indwelling reverence and the fear of wrong
Shall keep my people from unrighteousness,
So they abstain from innovation rash.
Foul the clear fountain with impurities,
And of its waters thou canst drink no more.
Hold fast the golden mean, from anarchy
And from a despot’s rule alike removed;
Nor cast all awe out of the commonwealth,
For who is righteous that is void of awe?
What now is founded if ye will revere,
Your land and state shall such a bulwark have
As hath no nation in the universe
From Pelops’ realm to Scythia’s utmost wild.
This counsel I establish incorrupt,
August, high-souled, and ever vigilant
To guard the public weal while others sleep.
Such is my counsel to my citizens
For times to come. Now let the judges rise.
Their ballots take, and a true verdict give
According to their oath; no more I say.
CHORUS.
(One FURY speaking for the rest.)
I warn ye to respect this company,
Whom else your land may find sore visitants.
Apollo
I warn ye to respect the oracles
Of Zeus and mine, nor dare to make them void.
CHORUS.
Bloodshedding falls not within thy domain;
Thy holy shrine will holy be no more.
Apollo
Was then my sire misled in that from blood
He cleansed Ixion, first of homicides?
CHORUS.
Say what thou wilt of justice, if we miss,
We shall return in wrath to haunt the land.
Apollo
Both by the new and by the ancient gods
Thou art despised: the victory will be mine.
CHORUS.
’Twas thou that didst in Pheres’ house cajole The fates to grant a mortal endless life.
Apollo
Was it not well to do good unto him
That honoured me, and at his utmost need?
CHORUS.
Thou didst, subverting all the rule of eld,
Beguile with wine those ancient deities.
Apollo
And thou wilt soon, barred of thy cruel will,
Spit forth thy venom, yet not harm thy foe.
CHORUS.
Since thy pert youth doth spurn my reverend age.
I wait the issue of this cause in doubt
Whether to lay my curse upon this land.
Athene
To me it falls at last to give my vote,
And I my vote will for Orestes give;
No mother bore me, to the male I cleave
In all things saving that I wedlock shun
With my whole heart, and am my father’s child.
Therefore, a woman’s fate that slew her lord,
The guardian of her home, concerns me not.
Now, if there be a tie, Orestes wins.
Judges, to whom that office is assigned,
Be quick, turn out the ballots from the urns.
Orestes
Phoebus, kind god, what will the verdict be?
CHORUS.
O Night, my sable mother, now look down.
Orestes
For me salvation or despair is nigh.
CHORUS.
For us, fresh veneration or disgrace.
Apollo
Ye men of Athens, truly count the votes,
Strictly observing justice in the tale,
For want of caution here will work much woe,
While a great house may by one vote be saved.
Athene
(To ORESTES.)
Thou art acquitted of blood-guiltiness,
For equal are the numbers of the votes.
Orestes
O Pallas, thou hast saved a royal house!
I was an exile; thou hast brought me home.
And now shall every son of Hellas say,
He is once more an Argive, once more holds.
His father’s state, for which my gratitude
Is due to Pallas and to Loxias,
And, lastly, to the all-preserving Zeus,
Who, taking pity on my father’s fate,
Saved me from these my mother’s advocates.
Now to my home I go; but first I swear
To thee and thine an everlasting oath,
That never from my land shall chieftain come
To lift against this land his martial spear.
Ourselves, though then we in our graves shall be,
Will on the breakers of our covenant
Send such disaster, such perplexity,
Such faintness, and such evil auguries,
That they shall surely rue their enterprise;
But if my people keep the covenant,
And ever true allies to thine remain,
My spirit shall fight with them from the tomb.
Now fare ye well, thou and thy citizens;
Still in war’s wrestle may your foemen fall,
And ever on your spears sit victory.