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Orestes
Who will sacrifice me and dare such a dreadful deed ? Iphigenia
I will; for I hold the office of this goddess. Orestes
It is not envied, lady, and not blessed. Iphigenia
[620] But I am dedicated to necessity, which must be kept. Orestes
Do you yourself, a woman, sacrifice men with the sword? Iphigenia
No; but I sprinkle the holy water around your hair. Orestes
Who is the slayer? If I may ask this. Iphigenia
That charge belongs to those within this temple. Orestes
[625] What sort of tomb will receive me, when I die? Iphigenia
The sacred fire within and the wide hollow of a cave. Orestes
Ah! Would that my sister's hand might lay out my body! Iphigenia
You have prayed in vain, unhappy youth, whoever you are; for she lives far from a barbarian land. [630] Yet indeed, since you happen to be an Argive, I too will not leave out any favor that I can do. I will set much ornament on the tomb and quench your body with yellow oil, and throw onto your funeral pyre the gleaming honey, that streams from flowers, [635] of the tawny mountain bee. But I will go and bring the tablet from the temple of the goddess; take care not to bear me ill-will. Guard them, attendants, without chains. Perhaps I will send unexpected news to one of my friends, [640] whom I especially love, in Argos; and the tablet, in telling him that those whom he thought dead are alive, will report a joy that can be believed.She enters the temple.
Euripides. The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Iphigenia in Tauris, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938.
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