Part 6

[P. 39, l. 931, Tell me but this.]—This little dialogue is very characteristic of Aeschylus. Euripides would have done it at three times the length and made all the points clear. In Aeschylus the subtlety is there, but it is not easy to follow.

[P. 40, l. 945, These bound slaves.]—i.e. his shoes. The metaphor shows the trend of his unconscious mind.

[P. 41, l. 950, This princess.]—This is the first time that the attention of the audience is drawn to Cassandra. She too is one of Aeschylus’ silent figures. I imagine her pale, staring in front of her, almost as if in a trance, until terror seizes her at Clytemnestra’s greeting in l. 1035, p. 45.

[P. 41, l. 964, The cry.]—i.e. the cry of the possessed prophetess which rang from the inner sanctuary at Delphi and was interpreted by the priests.—The last two lines of the speech are plain in their meaning but hard to translate. Literally: “when the full, or fulfilled, man walketh his home,—O Zeus the Fulfiller, fulfil my prayers.”

[P. 42, l. 976.]—The victim has been drawn into the house; the Chorus sing a low boding song: every audience at a Greek tragedy would expect next to hear a death cry from within, or to see a horrified messenger rush out. Instead of which the door opens and there is Clytemnestra: what does she want? “Come thou also!” One victim is not enough.—In the next scene we must understand the cause of Clytemnestra’s impatience. If she stays too long outside, some one will warn Agamemnon; if she leaves Cassandra, she with her second sight will warn the Chorus. If Cassandra could only be got inside all would be safe!

[P. 44, l. 1022, “One there was of old.”]—Asklêpios, the physician, restored Hippolytus to life, and Zeus blasted him for so oversetting the laws of nature.

[P. 45, l. 1040, Alcmêna’s son.]—Heracles was made a slave to Omphalê, Queen of Lydia. His grumbles at his insufficient food were a theme of comedy.

[P. 45, l. 1049, Belike thou canst not yet.]—Cf. below, ll. 1066 ff. The Elder speaks in sympathy. “Very likely you cannot yet bring yourself to submit.”

[P. 46, l. 1061, Thou show her.]—It seems odd to think that this passage has for centuries been translated as if it was all addressed to Cassandra: “But if you do not understand what I say, please indicate the same with your barbarous hand!”—What makes Cassandra at last speak? I think that the Elder probably touches her, and the touch as it were breaks the spell.

[P. 47, l. 1072, Cassandra.]—“Otototoi” really takes the place of a stage direction: she utters a long low sob.—The exclamation which I have translated “Dreams!” seems to occur when people see ghosts or visions. _Alcestis_, 261; _Prometheus_, 567. Cf. _Phoenissae_ 1296.—“Mine enemy!” The name “Apollon” suggested “_apollyon,”_ Destroying … the form which is actually used in the Book of Revelation (Rev. ix. 11). Observe how, during the lyric scene, Cassandra’s vision grows steadily more definite: First vague horror of the House: then the sobbing of children, slain long ago: then, a new deed of blood coming; a woman in it: a wife: then, with a great effort, an attempt to describe the actual slaying in the bath. Lastly, the sight of herself among the slain. (This last point is greatly developed by Euripides, _Trojan Women_, ll. 445 ff., pp. 33 f.). The story of the Children of Thyestes is given below, ll. 1590 ff., p. 73. Procnê (or Philomêla) was an Attic princess who, in fury against her Thracian husband, Tereus, killed their child Itys, or Itylus, and was changed into a nightingale, to weep for him for ever.

[P. 52, ll. 1178 ff.]—Dialogue. During the lyrics Cassandra has been “possessed” or “entranced”: the turn to dialogue marks a conscious attempt to control herself and state plainly her message of warning. In order to prove her power, she first tells the Elders of deeds done in the past which are known to them but cannot have been known to her. When once they are convinced of her true seercraft, she will be able to warn them of what is coming!—The short ‘stichom[^y]thia’[**TR: This is a y with a circumflex, not a superscript.] (line for line dialogue), dealing in awed whispers with things which can hardly be spoken, leaves the story of Cassandra still a mystery. Then her self-control breaks and the power of the God sweeps irresistibly upon her; cf. below, ll. 1256 ff.; where it comes at her like a visible shape of fire, a thing not uncommon with modern clairvoyants.

[P. 56, l. 1252, Thou art indeed fallen far astray]—Because they had said “what _man_”

[P. 56, l. 1265, These wreathed bands, this staff of prophesy.]—Cf. _Trojan Women_, ll. 451 ff., p. 34.

[P. 60, ll. 1343 ff., The death cry; the hesitation of the Elders.]—This scene is often condemned or even ridiculed; I think, through misunderstanding. We knew the Old Men were helpless, like “dreams wandering in the day.” It is essential to the story that when the crisis comes they shall be found wanting. But they are neither foolish nor cowardly; each utterance in itself is natural and characteristic, but counsels are divided. One would like to know whether Aeschylus made them speak together confusedly, as would certainly be done on the modern stage, or whether the stately conventions of Greek tragedy preferred that each speaker should finish his say. In any case, what happens is that after a moment or two of confused counsel the Elders determine to break into the Palace, but as they are mounting the steps the great doors are flung open and Clytemnestra confronts them, standing over the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. The illusion intended is that the Elders have entered the Palace and discovered Clytemnestra. But, as the mechanical arrangements of the Greek stage were not equal to this sudden change of scene, and since also it would, even with perfect machinery, have a tiresome interrupting effect, a slight confusion or inconsistency is allowed. We are supposed to be inside the house; but as a matter of fact the supposition is soon forgotten, and the play goes on without any attention to the particular place of the action. On Clytemnestra’s speech see Introduction, p. xiii.

[P. 63, l. 1387, A prayer well sped to Zeus of Hell]—As the third gift or libation was ritually given to Zeus the Saviour, Clytemnestra blasphemously suggests that her third and unnecessary blow was an acceptable gift to a sort of anti-Zeus, a Saviour of Death.

[P. 65, l. 1436, Aigisthos.]—At last the name is mentioned which has been in the mind of every one!—Chrysêïs was a prisoner of war, daughter of Chrysês, priest of Apollo. Agamemnon was made to surrender her to her father, and from this arose his quarrel with Achilles, which is the subject of the Iliad.

[Pp. 67-72, ll. 1468-1573, Daemon.]—The Genius or guardian spirit of the house has in this House become a Wrath, an ‘Alastor’ or ‘Driver Astray.’ See Introduction, pp. x ff.

[P. 68, l. 1513, MOURNERS.]—This attribution of the different speeches or songs to different speakers is, of course, conjectural. Ancient dramas come down to us with no stage directions and very imperfect indications of the speakers.

[P. 72, l. 1579, AIGISTHOS.]—The entry of Aigisthos enlivens the scene again after the brooding and bewildered end of the dialogue between Clytemnestra and the Elders. At the same time, it seems, no doubt by deliberate intention, to reduce it to commonplace. Aigisthos’ self-defence is largely justified, but he is no hero.

[P. 73, l. 1602, Pleisthenês.]—Apparently one of the ancestors of Atreus, but it is not clear where he comes in the genealogy. He may be identical with Pelops.

[P. 74, l. 1617, Oarsman of the nether row.]—On an ancient galley, bireme or trireme, the rowers of the lower bank of oars ranked as inferior to those who used the long oars from the deck.

[P. 76, l. 1654.]—Clytemnestra, see Introduction, p. xiii. She longs for peace, yet after all “Had Zimri peace who slew his master?” The end of the play leaves us waiting for the return of Orestes. In the first scene of the _Libation-Bearers,_ he is discovered standing by night at his father’s grave.