Enter the Paedagogus from the left.
Paedagogus
[660]
Foreign ladies, how might I know for certain if this be the palace of the king Aegisthus?
Chorus
This is the palace, stranger; you yourself have guessed correctly.
Paedagogus
And am I on target when I surmise that this lady is his wife? She is indeed regal to look upon.
Chorus
[665]
Exactly right; this is she before you.
Paedagogus
Greetings, royal lady! I bring happy news to you and to Aegisthus from a friend.
Clytaemnestra
I welcome your greeting; but I would like first to know who may have sent you.
Paedagogus
[670]
Phanoteus the Phocian provided me the weighty task.
Clytaemnestra
And what is it, sir? Tell me. Coming from a friend you will bring, I know, a kindly message.
Paedagogus
Orestes is dead, to put it briefly.
Electra
Oh, miserable me! My ruin comes today!
Clytaemnestra
[675]
What, friend? What did you say? Do not listen to her!
Paedagogus
I said, and say again, “Orestes is dead.”
Electra
This is my wretched end! I am no more!
Clytaemnestra
To Electra.
You, go about your business! But you, sir, tell me exactly in what manner he was destroyed.
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Sophocles. The Electra of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894.
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