It was your name, Achilles that has brought us to this misfortune, so protect it now. Oh, my sweet daughter! And then theres also this: what right do I have to love my life so much? 100. Is it a good wife youre after? That way, not only will I not lose a friend but the army will also not be angry with me when it sees that Ive used my brains rather than my brawn. Now, Ill tell you everything Ive written in this folded scroll because you are a true and loyal servant to my house and to my wife. I am resolved to die; and this I want to do with honor, dismissing from me what is mean. Looking over the baby. How I wish this herdsman, this boy who was brought up to care for cows, had never lived! Who can help me here? You were terrified of losing face and authority! 164. Iphigenia at Aulis (the title is sometimes rendered as Iphigenia in Aulis) has been criticised for its melodrama, but its portrayal of the central character's decision to agree to renounce her life for the 'greater good', and Agamemnon's ambivalence about sacrificing his own daughter, make it a curious and satisfying play which repays close analysis . It is for Hellas that I am forced to sacrifice you. And you can see how I, a woman, have come here to the camp of soldiers, tough men, brave and ready for war and violence. Iphigeneia Hands Orestes back to her mother. Now you know the whole thing. Achilles First, plead with him. Youre both in such a state of distress and confusion! He alone did it, he, alone, with his very own hand! A city built by the Cyclopes! At one point he is satisfied with what hes written, seals it with his ring but then, a moment later, he scratches away the seal and re-reads the letter. Euripides - "Greek Dramas" (p251, 1900): Internet Archive Book Images, Translated by George Theodoridis Copyright 2007, all rights reserved - Bacchicstage. Agamemnon He lives in Phthia, by the river Apidanus. Whos calling through that half-opened door? Klytaimestra Well? Obedient child. So angry were my twin brothers, the Dioscuri, that they came charging down from Zeus side on their glistening horses to fight you but you went begging to my old father, Tyndareus and he, not only saved you but made me your wife! First Chorus Mortals vary in body as well as in mind but true virtue, which comes from a good upbringing and a good education, always stands out. Agamemnon And if she has already left the safety of her home and if you chance to meet her retinue on the road, send them back again take the reins from their hands and hasten the horses towards the shrines of the Cyclopes. She is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra . So, tell me, my brother: What is all this violent fury? Menelaos is carrying a staff and has nearly finished reading Agamemnons letter which he has torn from the Old Mans hands. Thats Sirius, my lord. Klytaimestra goes into the tent. I cannot stop crying! Tell me the reason you will give no let me speak on your behalf, because I know what you will say. George Bell and Sons. His baby sounds will make no sense but theyll be full of meaning. Where is the leader of the Greek army? The suitors should all swear a solemn oath, by giving their right hand and by making sacred sacrifices, that each and every one of them would defend the man who won Helens hand in marriage, no matter who that would be and to come to his aid in case someone stole her from their home and thus deprived that man of his legal conjugal bed. Pleas or no pleas the result will be the same with me because I have only one thing in mind, now: to save you both from this disaster! Achilles I know, I have a bloated pride, madam but I can assure you, I feel the pain of misfortune and the joy of success with a wise temper, a moderate temper; because I also know that those with a moderate temper lead a wiser life. The gods deserted you and they wouldnt give you a favourable wind for our sails. Image from Vermeule and Chapman (1971) Plate 71. That light, this light all around us, will cut all other arguments to pieces. Agamemnon I would, but some god has made both you andGreeceinsane! 660. Agamemnon dares to commit a most dreadful deed! Youve murdered Tantalus, my first husband and with even more brutal violence, youve torn my baby from my breast and dashed it hard against the ground! But now? Youll soon hear it all. After that, Paris, the man who, according to the legend, judged the three goddesses, Hera, Aphrodite and Athena, for their beauty, arrived atSparta. Believe me, madam: Agamemnon will not slaughter her! Agamemnon Are you, darling? Related Characters: The Old Man (speaker), Agamemnon , Clytemnestra Related Themes: All of us? See what troubles the gods have thrown at me, the poor wretch? Rather, its the fact that you need a good woman one to fill your arms with and, in order to get her, youve lost your wits and your manners! Ah, yes! The first one to call you father, the first one you called daughter. No, dont bury your face inside your cloak! Agamemnon Can you not see him standing in the midst of all the Greeks, telling them all about Calchas prophesies and all about how Ive promised to sacrifice my daughter to Artemis but then went back on my word? I no longer want to be your enemy. Promise me that you wont cut even a strand of your hair in mourning nor wear black! Now that Agamemnon has insulted me, dishonoured me so badly, I feel like a like a nobody. Shes about to be slaughtered by the hand of her own father! Old Man Old age! 1350. Klytaimestra What shall I do for you in Argos? View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document. Klytaimestra! What is it that I need to hear alone, out here? What a dreadful thing to say! Shell be his wife. Still, the girl came up close to him and said, Daddy, here I am, ready to do as you say. There will be no grave. We are doomed now! Youre the one, after all, who, even though the gods have helped you rid yourself of a bad wife, there you are, still intent on getting her back! Menelaos Yes, you may well suffer now because I did break your seal and yes, I do know the secret trickery you were concocting! My curiosity. First Chorus This is the naval force I saw with my own eyes and about which I had heard earlier. Menelaos And you should not be bringing so much trouble to the Greeks! Hold on! Agamemnon An eloquent covering of a shameful act! Agamemnon Zeus himself gave her to him. Klytaimestra A cold hope, that one, Achilles. It is a bitter thing for a father to take, a father who has worked hard but who must send his daughters away away to another household. Iphigenia at Aulis was first performed in 405 B.C.E., the year after Euripides' death. Poor, poor child! First Chorus And I saw Gerenian Nestor who came from Pylos. Ive also missed you! Klytaimestra So, my darling will not be put to the sword? If this works out well, then the result will be good for you and your family without my getting mixed up in the affair. Iphigeneia Will I go on my own or with mother? Iphigenia's mother Clytemnestra is also determined to save her. Death is a dreadful thing! Good bye. 1400. The returned soldier has been a central figure in the first wave of Canadian plays to deal with the War in Afghanistan. Chorus What an awful, pitiful fate you must endure, child! And Ill list them all, if you dont start getting angry or begin to deny them. The news spread quickly and so the whole army already knows that your daughter has arrived. Now go inside, my good man and everything will happen according to the will of Fate. Come, disband the army and leaveAulismy brother and stop your tears and mine! Iphigenia is told that she must prepare for her new life, and that she will be quite alone, far from her parents and home (666, 669). Klytaimestra Oh, no, child! What a wonderful excuse! He, too, loves glory. You, Agamemnon, are doing what countless others have also done in public life: While theyre in power they put up enormous efforts to keep it but then, when the public makes a stupid decision sometimes understandably so because the leader is too weak to lead the State- these public figures fall all in a heap and they disgrace themselves! If only this town, if only Aulis, had refused to let all these Troy-destined ships enter her harbour! You saw the endless ships. Klytaimestra And you will abandon your mother like this? Agamemnon Here, at the harbour, near our beautiful Greek ships. Achilles He was elected, all right, but he didnt say no! Iphigeneia begins towards the tent but is stopped by her father. Old Man Yes, dear lady! How I cry for you! If only I could! I shall give it to her for the sake of Greece. And so, soldiers, take heart and head for your ships because today we must leave behind the deep harbours of Aulis and cross our way through the vast Aegean sea!, And when the animal was thoroughly burned in the flames of the god of fire, Hephaistus, and when the holy rites were completed, Calchas prayed for our safe return. Not from any birds, not from the sea and not from any of the winds that rule over the waters between us andEpirus Total silence! Iphigeneia Im not afraid to say this in front of everyone: Helen, Tyndareus daughter, has caused wars and the endless spilling of blood because of her body. To the lowly and weak mortals, the fortunate always appear like gods. Id only be speaking lies and Id be adding disgrace to my miserable Fate! Indeed no! The whole army and both the sons of Atreas stood there in silence, their eyes downcast. 543. My lord! Klytaimestra The whole of the Greek army? Iphigeneia Separation? We are in front of Agamemnons lavish tent which has two entrances, one of which is the larger and used only by Agamemnon and his family. First Chorus I sped through Artemis woods, a place rich with sacrifices, my youthful shyness blushing my cheeks, anxious to see the armys might, the tents of the Greeks and their countless horses. Listen, mother; hear what thoughts have passed across my mind. Klytaimestra Come, come, old man! What shall I say to my wife, then? A real miracle! She had vanished, my lady! It is unjust that you should be mourning while Im living a life full of joy. Called me slave to a wedding bed! Tell me what plan I should adopt! You win, I cry. And tell me another thing, Agamemnon: when you return home, when you come back to Argos, will you have the gall to put your arms around any of your children? How could I possibly express my gratitude to you in a modest way? Im lost! You, girls! Agamemnon Pleasure! In revenge for Agamemmnon killing one of her sacred stags, the goddess Artemis demands the sacrifice of his eldest daughter . First Chorus We have left behind our land, Chalkis, a land washed by the salty waters of glorious Arethousa and weve travelled through the narrow straights of Euripus to come here, toAulis, to this sandy peninsula. Click anywhere in the First Chorus Different words now but better. Perseus provides credit for all accepted I wrap its limbs around your knees and beg you: Please father, do not cut off my life short. line to jump to another position: The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text. Agamemnon I was out of my wits, old man! And Im very pleased to see you, too! Over the centuries other hands have contributed to the text we now have but even so for the most part it shows Euripides at his finest. From Kahil (1990). Id rather live a life full of misery than die a heros death! There is no point. 670. Miserable, Agamemnon says he has no choice. Hes gone mad only so far as your daughter and you are concerned. It was upon the forests of Trojan Ida, its woods covered thickly by the shroud of snow where King Priam once abandoned his child boy, Paris. IPHIGENIA Had I, my father, the persuasive voice Of Orpheus, and his skill to charm the rocks Ah! Achilles Words, logic, can fight off fear. One of the most performed Greek tragedies, the play explores the breakdown of social norms in times of war and how war breeds inhuman habits in the most human of men. Horses can panic if theres no one to soothe them. Come, darling Iphigeneia, come down from the carriage now. You write down some words, then you scratch them out and write other words in their place. Menelaos No, youre not! First Chorus Diomedes, too, was there amusing himself, throwing a discus. Ive tried all manner of subtle tricks to get my closest friends to agree with me and there, too, Ive failed. Old man, come out here! If the gods are just, then they should reward just men like you. But why girl? Why do I not call her a woman? Will she not be made Hades bride soon? I want my love for others to be moderate and my desires to be pure. Whatever do you mean? And others, is there going to be a wedding? Yet others again, did the king call his daughter here because hes missed her? Then there were others who said, the girl will be presented to the goddess Artemis, protector ofAulis, before the wedding. Then Talthybius stood up amongst them all and told them to be silent. Do you not care about me any more? Protect your name. Its a natural thing for men with decent hearts to do the decent thing. We shall make the wedding celebrations another time., Old Man But how will Achilles take this? Klytaimestra Go ahead then, speak. A safe return? If I could use such a voice and have everyone charmed, have them convinced to agree with me and follow me, then I would use that voice. Overview. 272. Holy Spirit of mine! He managed to film a Greek tragedy to screen without losing its effectiveness and importance. Chorus Awesome is the power of giving birth! Agamemnon Odysseus has a shifty mind and hes a rabble-rouser. You were only too glad to take up that offer! During those days you shook the hand of everyone you came across and, whether they wanted it or not, your doors were always wide open and ready to receive everyone. Rather, I have an amazing story to tell you about your daughter. iphigenia in aulis monologue mother listen to me. What is a prophet? For a while, Iphigenia in Splott (a district of Cardiff about 20 minutes' walk from the the theatre) seems like a pretty normal contemporary monologue. Thats Achilles, my darling. 940. Is it marriage? Forget your old age and run! Klytaimestra What? And how is it that you, a woman, is here, where the whole army of the Greek men and their shields is gathered? But they cant, my darling daughter. Weve been robbed! Ah! Im not too proud to do so. Enter Second Messenger running excitedly. No one was ever born to a life free of misery. Close suggestions Search Search It is Hellas I must obey, darling, not Menelaos. Master! Written between 408, after Orestes, and 406 BC, the year of Euripides' death, the play was first produced the following year in a trilogy . We also let the horses loose to drink and to graze at a meadow nearby. This way, I hope, my pain will be lessened a little. Please dont be offended now! Old Man Yes, tell me so that what I say to your wife agrees with what youve written in there. She turns and looks sadly around her, then up at the sun. You, too, Menelaos, get everything ready for this joyous occasion and lets hear the flutes sing and the dancers pound the earth with their feet. All this is his own doing. with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. 65. You will be away from me for a very long time. These are things you should know nothing about! You became a nobody. [1340] Open the tent-door to me, servants, that I may hide myself Clytemnestra Why seek to escape, my child? Our daughters marriage is my concern! Klytaimestra My question is nothing but reasonable. How full of torment is life for us ephemeral creatures! Agamemnon And still something is holding back the expedition. It is unjust that your children should die while mine still enjoy the sunlight. He has used it to lure and snare his daughter and to convince Klytaimestra to bring her here, to me, to be presented as my wife! Wagner) / Akira Mori, conductor - Drake Symphony Orchestra / Recorded at Drake University, (date) Show more Show more Gluck. 340. Agamemnon Yes but first I must make a sacrifice here, inAulis. He gains control of the scroll. Now let go of my letter! The moment we got there with your daughter all the Greek soldiers gathered around us. Klytaimestra Whats wrong? If any barbarian dared to bring his ships against these hed never see his home again. Achilles No, my lady, dont call your daughter out to see me. You havent given birth to me simply for your own sake! Ah! Figure 2.1: A possible sacrifice (Iphigenia or Polyxena). The Theme of Heroism Achilles is often regarded as a great and mighty hero in Greek. Effie (Sophie Melville) is a hard-nosed . Why? All the women are frightened and turn towards it. The Greeks were then enabled to set sail. Iphigenia in Aulis or Iphigenia at Aulis (Ancient Greek: , romanized: phigneia en Auldi; variously translated, including the Latin Iphigenia in Aulide) is the last of the extant works by the playwright Euripides.Written between 408, after Orestes, and 406 BC, the year of Euripides' death, the play was first produced the following year in a trilogy . Enter a Perseus citation to go to another section or work. Listen to their words: 790, Who will it be, I wonder, who will bring tears to my eyes, drag me by my beautiful hair and pluck me from my ruined land?. We use cookies for essential site functions and for social media integration. Klytaimestra May they be happy there! Messenger No, my lady! You shouldnt go against them! Well then, tell me: what will your prayer, your plea to the gods be? Klytaimestra Really? 1160. You can see it! The play . Old Man No, madam! He said that it must be done if the expedition is ever to make it to, Klytaimestra Expedition? An unrelenting curse. I shall think of nothing else but you from now on. Open Document. 490. Stuffed full with men and spears. 751. Lets think through this together, my lady. I want neither to overwhelm you by its excess nor insult you by its timidity. Go away old man! What a dreadful thought to have in your mind! Dont bother making a long speech about it, husband! 550. 560. Chorus Go, young girl! That would be bad for both of us. Brighter Bayside > Blog > Uncategorized > iphigenia in aulis monologue mother listen to me. That! In front of the tent is a small table at which sits Agamemnon. Then the priest took hold of the sword and, after a few words of prayer, began searching the girls neck looking for the best place to strike. 280. But Iphigenia, having determined to die nobly on behalf of the Greeks, was snatched away by the Goddess, and a stag substituted in her place. Not mine, thats for sure. We will soon reveal Agamemnons sacrilegious schemes against his very own children! 870. Aided and abetted by the gods! Youll fight them all? Old Man Tries to take the letter from Menelaos. Tell me what is this secret thats worrying you so much. Menelaos I was waiting to see if your daughter would leaveArgosto come to the army camp. Chorus What joyful news that messenger has brought you, my lady!
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