Achilles But, dont worry, Ill certainly make it hard for him! Paris! Menelaos And what would that be? Mother, wholl come with me when theyll come and drag me by my hair? Let me, instead, save Greece, if I can. Chorus There, upon the citys towers and round about its high walls, the Trojan folk will stand when the warriors with their bronze shields bring their ships closer, over the rivers waters, after their long journey over the ocean. 9.1", "denarius"). Klytaimestra Why? Old Man No, madam! Calchas. See what troubles the gods have thrown at me, the poor wretch? But wholl carry the bridal torch? Iphigeneia hugs her mother. The Aenians brought twelve ships, captained by their king, Gouneus; and beside them were moored the lords ofEliswhom everyone called Epeians. Word Count: 1230. 720. The Plot of Iphigeneia at Aulis. Ah, but the common folk have it easy. Just before Dawn. No, there are hundreds of women who want my wedding bed! A good man, my brother, must not change his manner just because his life is going well. This work is licensed under a London. 1300. Iphigeneia Well then, get rid of this ugly frown from the face that I love so much! Klytaimestra A sweet word of love from you? Klytaimestra What shall I tell your little sisters? 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. 610. Figure 2.2: Black-figure lekythos showing Iphigenia 89 led to the altar, c. 470 BCE. I shall obey your directions. I always have! Iphigeneia Wish them joy for me and take good care of my little brother, Orestes for me. 1460. It was there, at that meadow, that these three women came before Paris to put an end to their dire contest about which of them was the most beautiful. All this is his own doing. Well then, tell me: what will your prayer, your plea to the gods be? Leave! IPHIGENIA Had I, my father, the persuasive voice Of Orpheus, and his skill to charm the rocks To follow me, and soothe whome'er I please With winning words, I would make trial of it; But I have nothing to present thee now Save tears, my only eloquence; and those I can present thee. 370. This is a dreadful thing for me to do but it is just as dreadful not to do it. The Old Man is angry and tries to take the letter back from him. Here we are, eagerly obedient to your wish! Youre drowning me in misery. Agamemnon There! Agamemnon Pleasure! Come and hear my news! Klytaimestra And he will achieve this by trickery. Iphigeneia If only it were possible to take me with you, father. Messenger Agamemnon, leader of all the Greeks! The future of our Greek women rests upon my actions. Begging you by his silence. Hold on! Achilles Slave to whom? Here, take it now and carry it over toArgos. Agamemnon Sure, that I can certainly do secretly but theres something else, brother; something I cannot hide. Called me slave to a wedding bed! Those with dignity are respected, those without are shamed, though defending ones dignity is not always possible. Pronunciation of iphigenia in aulis with 1 audio pronunciations. Agamemnon I wish I could, my child! Your old father-in-law, Tyndareus, gave me to your wife, Klytaimestra, as part of her dowry, to be her loyal servant. By my grand-father, my mothers father, Nereus, who was nurtured by the ocean waves! Click anywhere in the Hes gone out a while ago and Iphigeneia, in the meantime, has heard how her father is planning to kill her. Please dont get angry with me. I just heard your voice from inside and came out to greet you. Go! I would have given it if the Greeks couldnt get to Troy without my doing so. Its obvious that theres no escaping my death; so now, I want to die nobly. You talk about my ambition. Some madness has overtaken their hearts and they want to sail immediately over to Troy to the land of those barbarians and to put an end to this raping and stealing of our women, to tearing them away from their marital beds. First Chorus Words worthy of Tantalus, Zeus son. How I cry for you! Achilles My lady, I have never proposed to your daughter Atreas sons have never talked to me about a marriage! i. Trans. This is the letter which you saw me writing in the dark, opening it and shutting it, labouring over it. If Im right, do the sensible thing and dont kill out darling. 1050. Ah! Hell grab her by her blond hair, if he has to and. Introduction. 890, Old Man He had sent me off to bring you a letter, madam about the first message. i. Trans. Have no fear, the pain will soften with custom and with the passage of time. Its going past those seven stars, the Pleiades, my lord straight through the very centre of the heavens. . Dent & Sons, 1920. Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text. Klytaimestra Will anyone come to take her away? Other men may have different views but let me give you my own. Old Man Yes, my lady. Your fathers holy water is waiting for you! Did they not side with you? Achilles Me, too! 500. The whole army and both the sons of Atreas stood there in silence, their eyes downcast. Iphigenia in Aulis is an Ancient Greek play written by Euripides. The sun should rise slowly until full daylight is reached just before line 164. There are times when the gods shun you, reject you, thwart your every effort and there are times, too, when the whining and the moaning of your men crush you! Weve been robbed! Brothers fight because of lust and because of greed in their inheritance. Hes coming this way now. I, the destroyer of Priams city and its people! 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. Klytaimestra You? Then you scratch away the seal and then you throw its pine frame onto the ground and then you begin to cry profusely! Chorus That is, if what they say about you being Ledas daughter is true. 630. MENELAOS (Agamemnons brother, King ofSparta), IPHIGENIA (Daughter of Agamemnon and Klytaimestra), ACHILLES (Chief of the Myrmidons, an army), SECOND CHORUS (Men and women ofArgos, attendants to Klytaimestra and Iphigeneia). Agamemnon Odysseus has a shifty mind and hes a rabble-rouser. I know, Im behaving as if I were some god towards you though Im a mere mortal. Klytaimestra You? Directing his question to the chorus. Paristook it and carried her off back to his own home, in Ida, a place where the cows graze in luxurious pastures. First Chorus And it is a great thing to follow the footprints of virtue like a hunter follows the footprints of his prey. Achilles Whos that? 919. Do you not want to fight for her? Ive changed because of my love for my mothers son. Now come out of Agamemnons tent. It is a glory that will never wither in the minds of the Greeks. 1318. Then Achilles, Peleas son, took the golden basket and the holy water in his hands and ran around the goddess altar, chanting 1570. Klytaimestra Odysseus? 1500. Agamemnon This is scandalous! Now call her out here so she can follow me to the altar. A sensible man usually speaks to others with respect. First Chorus The right wing of this naval force was taken up by the fifty swift ships of the war-loving Myrmidons from Phthia. Whether I want to do so or not, I must obey Hellas. Exit Agamemnon. Menelaos First, look at me in the eye and then Ill tell you! 260. Whats in your mind, this time, my lord Agamemnon? What does the army want? Some of you stand by at the front of the horses to quieten them. Still, the girl came up close to him and said, Daddy, here I am, ready to do as you say. Im angry because King Agamemnon has insulted me so gravely. Chorus There goes the girl with garlands on her hair and holy water upon her head! Your daughter, my lady, has today seen both death and life! Why should you be the only one to offer our child as a victim to the altar? You had come with me to Argos and stayed with me as my servant. Klytaimestra Listen then and listen to me well! 1600. Klytaimestra Have you made the pre-natal offerings to the goddess yet? Where is the leader of the Greek army? Iphigenia in Aulis demonstrates how conflict and choices based around pride can lead to tragic results. 1891. You became a nobody. Agamemnon That will be his decision. She will be begging me, my sweet young girl! You, girls! Chorus You, evil Helen! I cannot defy the goddess demands, my darling. The altar of Zeus daughter. Iphigeneia But but look at you, father! Well, you pretended you didnt want the job but you did. Conditions and Exceptions apply. What a lusty fervour the whole ofGreecehas stirred up for this expedition! Achilles They jeered at me! 190. I offer my body to my country and to the rest of Greece, willingly. Iphigeneia begins towards the tent but is stopped by her father. Klytaimestra But why? Let them all see which one should be sacrificed. Agamemnon The entire Greek army, Menelaos! Just before Iphigenia in Aulis begins . Old Man In all other things, no, my lady. She decides to ruin the party by tossing in a golden apple that says "To the . The plain truth. Agamemnon We are brothers when we are doing what is reasonable, not when we do what is madness. Please, in the name of Pelops and of Atreas, who is your father, I beg you! Achilles The whole army wants her your daughter- killed! First Chorus There you were, Paris: a man brought up to be a cowherd, looking after the grazing, white cows of Ida with their heavy udders, playing Asian tunes in your reedy pipes, airs much like those Trojan songs from Mount Olympus when, suddenly, you had to judge between three goddesses; and it was this judging that has sent you to Helens ivory palace in Hellas. Klytaimestra So, my sweet darling must face this horrible fate because of the need to bring Helen back? Next to these were the Athenian ships -sixty of them, and these were captained by Theseus son. Klytaimestra Falls down and clasps Achilles knees. Achilles They want to stone me to death, Klytaimestra! With what face shall I receive hers? I am resolved to die; and this I want to do with honor, dismissing from me what is mean. Old Man So, my lord, why on earth are you wandering about out here, then? I take your kind welcome and gracious words as signs of a good omen. 1191. Youll soon hear it all. Once the wise old Tyndareus had convinced them all to take these oaths, he allowed his daughter to choose the suitor she liked and Helen allowed herself to be guided by the sweet, lusty sighs of Aphrodite in her heart. [1375] What does my life have to do with the marriage of Paris and Helen father? Only the two choruses are now present. If this works out well, then the result will be good for you and your family without my getting mixed up in the affair. line to jump to another position: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License, Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text, http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg018.perseus-eng1:1374-1401, http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg018.perseus-eng1, http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg018, http://data.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg018.perseus-eng1. My home! Come! 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. First Chorus This is the naval force I saw with my own eyes and about which I had heard earlier. 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! She was the Queen of the gods. So now, go on, take them all, take all these lunatics, all these soldiers and lead them on to the expedition. We are a free people, whereas they are slaves. Then thats the end, my sweetheart! Klytaimestra So, who raised the young Achilles, Thetis or his father? I was a very good house keeper for you. How full of torment is life for us ephemeral creatures! Why? I want to marry you, to take you to my home and to protect you. I Im not so sure. Old Man And you know, too that I was part of your dowry when you married King Agamemnon. First Chorus Once there, a maddened gaze of love from each of you had sent you both into Eros confusion and sent Greece to Troy with strife-searching ships and spears. Here, take him into your arms for the last time. Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, had eloped to Troy with Paris, son of King Priam. Menelaos No, they can do nothing if you secretly send her back toArgos. Is it a good wife youre after? You must expect to suffer as well as rejoice, since you're a man. He, madam, hes the cause of all your torment, madam. Chorus Come back to us once youve taken from that city her fairest spoils! Thats what Im afraid of! If only this town, if only Aulis, had refused to let all these Troy-destined ships enter her harbour! Whats going on? some of them ask. And thats why the whole ofGreecerose up in arms with great fervour. In it I spoke of Achilles high rank, his bravery, his honour and told her that the man refused to sail with us unless one of our daughters became his wife and went to live at his house, in Phthia. Promise me, mummy! With his own sword, madam he will make bloody the young girls white neck bloody it with her own blood! Menelaos Odysseus will give us no trouble. As she imagines Agamemnon killing Iphigenia, Clytemnestra. Hide browse bar So, calm yourself now, Klytaimestra. No, I will not shed any tears now. Click anywhere in the Agamemnon Zeus. 1560. Both of us, darling! Come out here immediately! Iphigenia in Aulis has been added to your Cart . Here, friends, take this baby to his father, Agamemnon. He is afraid of his own soldiers. Soon youll wake up a happy young man, my son. I want no one to lose tears over my grave. Klytaimestra But what about the marriage? Well, Helen, unfortunately, old man, chose Menelaos! Leave now, Achilles. By the goddess Hera, protector ofArgosand of marriage, I shall not do so! Gods forbid that I should choose to lose a brother to win a Helen! Klytaimestra who was married to whom? It is what a mother must do! First Chorus Different words now but better. My baby boy, Orestes, will also be there and he, too, will cry. Then the priest lets out a huge roar and the whole army roared with him as they saw the most unbelievable sight, a sight that must have been sent by Heaven, a sight that made them question their very eyes. Iphigeneia Come, now, mother, dont make me lose heart! 785, Chorus Do you hear them, Helen? 510. That! After a while, Calchas, our prophet, came up to us and suggested much to our dismay- that we should sacrifice my own daughter, Iphigenia, to the goddess Artemis, whose shrine is in these parts! Agamemnon Neither. "Iphigenia" marks Steele and Lorca's fourth collaboration on a Greek tragedy. 1230. Agamemnon No need to tell me to answer you honestly. I am too ashamed to tell you this pitiful story of mine. Menelaos Yes, but an unstable mind is an evil thing, something which befuddles the minds of ones friends. Lets not have the common tongues wag against us. Let hers be the last one to do so! How I wish he never lived at that meadow where all the flowers bloomed: roses and hyacinths, all those flowers that the goddesses plucked. Klytaimestra What? Iphigenia has arrived in Aulis, and soon the army will be demanding her death. Record the pronunciation of this word in your own voice and play it to listen to how you have pronounced it. Ah, heres your father, go to him, darling! That will be very easy to accomplish. That light, this light all around us, will cut all other arguments to pieces. No, its not me whos gone mad, brother but you. Shelley Dean Milman. First Chorus We saw him, racing in full armour upon the shells of the shore, in a contest against a chariot pulled by a team of four horses, a contest out of which he came victorious. Its young Orestes, a baby still. My curiosity. 990. Moderate. Soldiers, go and tear down Troy! It is unjust that your children should die while mine still enjoy the sunlight. All the women are frightened and turn towards it. 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). Why run away? Brighter Bayside > Blog > Uncategorized > iphigenia in aulis monologue mother listen to me. Now that Agamemnon has insulted me, dishonoured me so badly, I feel like a like a nobody. Klytaimestra And kept his promise by bringing her here, to you, all the way from Argos! Make sure this golden hair god stays far away from my bed chamber! Lift your head up for me, darling, smile for me. In front of the tent is a small table at which sits Agamemnon. I, being Menelaos brother and for his own good, was chosen by them to be their leader How I wish this honour were given to someone else, my old friend! He is writing a letter (on a scroll) an exercise which, it seems, is difficult for him. Help us for that reason and help us, too, because if my daughter is killed on the altar that would be a bad omen for your future marital prospects, an omen you should try and avoid. 420, The soldiers talk and they ask questions. He was the one responsible for that job. Klytaimestra So, my darling will not be put to the sword? 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. Klytaimestra Come, come, old man! Agamemnon Yes, my darling. To stop me from coming here or to urge me to do so? Then he placed a garland upon the girls head and sprinkled holy water on her hair. Where shall I go to find your hand, to ask you to help me in my hour of despair? His baby sounds will make no sense but theyll be full of meaning. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. To let this man succeed in this deed, to let him use my name as his bloody sword, would be to make me the worst of all the Greeks a worthless man, one more cowardly than Menelaos, as if I were not the son of Peleas but that of some evil demon. Please dont do it! I no longer want to be your enemy. Iphigenia in Aulis is the last extant work of the playwright Euripides. Such good wives are rare, Agamemnon! Achilles Words, logic, can fight off fear. 240, First Chorus Their emblem was the goddess, Palas Athena, standing on a chariot pulled by winged horses, an emblem that pleased and encouraged the sailors. Klytaimestra Unfortunate, Achilles, yes, that is true! Do you think that I, son of Atreas the fearless, will be afraid to raise my eyes and look at you in the eye? Full search Iphigenia hoped for but now lacks, and which the chorus explicitly offers as a measure of Iphigenia's cruel fate: she should not be a sacrificial animal but a bride for kings (1085 ff.). He married Thetis, Nereus daughter. He goes to the tent and shouts through its door. Both you and I, whether we want to or not, must help Hellas stand free Hellas men cannot have their wives stolen from their beds. Come, look up there! I hate such relationships; they bring bitter pain to all. Dont waste any time! Related Characters: The Old Man (speaker), Agamemnon , Clytemnestra Related Themes: Klytaimestra No, I wont. Look here, father! By your chin, Achilles, by your right hand and by your mother, stand by us! Enter Klytaimestra. I cannot stop crying! I have my army, the famous Myrmidons, wasting their time hanging about the quiet waters ofEpirus, getting angrier and more impatient by the minute.

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