4–5 I am Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon
and of Clytemnestra, the daughter of Tyndareus;
add. sister of Electra and Chrysothemis and Orestes.
4 I am Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon,
8-14 Agamemnon, who wanted to go to war against Troy
and was willing to kill me to do it.
25-27 He lured me to Aulis with the pretense that I would marry Achilles.
They took me from my mother’s side and above the sacrificial fire
they lifted me high in the air and cut my throat with the knife.
4-5 I am Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon and of Clytemnestra:
add. my mother Clytemnestra tried her best to prevent my sacrifice.
28-39 At the critical moment, Artemis stole me away,
replaced me with a deer, and transported me
to this land of the Taurians to live here,
where a barbarian king rules barbarian people.
Thoas is his name, so called because of his swift running.
He appoints me priestess in this temple of Artemis,
who is pleased by “feasts” that are beautiful only in that name—
fearing the goddess, I stay silent about the rest.
I sacrifice, in accordance with the custom that existed before my arrival,
any Greek man who washes up on this shore.
4-5 I am Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra,
add. sister of Electra and Chrysothemis and Orestes.
42-58 Last night I had a troubling, foreboding dream about my brother Orestes,
[231] who was still a baby when I was sacrificed and brought here.
I was back home in Argos, sleeping in my own bedroom with my sisters.
An earthquake shook the whole house, and I fled outside.
I watched the palace crumble to the ground, from roof to foundation—
except one pillar was left standing,
a pillar that seemed to have human qualities.
Just as I do here before the sacrificial killing,
I anointed the pillar to be the next victim,
but I was weeping as I did so.
I interpret the dream as a sign that Orestes has died.
He, the male heir, was the pillar of our home and family,
and whomever I anoint in that way dies immediately after.
add. I am Iphigenia, sister of Electra and Chrysothemis and Orestes,
Orestes who is no more.
203-235 From the beginning my lot in life was a wretched one.
I came to Aulis as a bride, but my wedding became my funeral.
Now I am a stranger on the edge of an inhospitable sea,
dwelling in a desolate home,
unmarried, childless, no city, no loved ones.
I no longer sing and dance for the Argive goddess Hera.
My song here is the heart-rending cries of strangers dying at the altar.
But I set aside my thoughts for them
as I weep for my brother, overcome by death back home,
my little brother, who was a baby in his mother’s arms
61-64 when I last saw him. My fellow Greek women,
join me in offering libations for my departed beloved brother.
[libation ritual, based on lines 143-177]
Enslaved women, I am engulfed by
laments most mournful, lacking melody
and full of discordant sounds.
[keening from Iphigenia and chorus]
I weep for what has happened to me,
I weep for what has happened to my family,
I weep for my brother’s life cut short,
the darkness of my dream made real.
I call on the gods who robbed me of my only brother,
and sent him to Hades.
For him I will pour these libations,
ritual liquids from a golden vessel,
to honor the departed:
milk, wine, and honey,
all charms for the dead.
[first pour]
Oh, son of Agamemnon under the earth,
I send these to you since you have perished.
[second pour]
Receive them here—I am not able
to mourn at your grave.
[third pour]
For I was taken far away from you,
and in the minds of those back home I, too, am dead.
Ἰφιγένεια
Πέλοψ ὁ Ταντάλειος ἐς Πῖσαν μολὼν
θοαῖσιν ἵπποις Οἰνομάου γαμεῖ κόρην,
ἐξ ἧς Ἀτρεὺς ἔβλαστεν: Ἀτρέως δὲ παῖς
Μενέλαος Ἀγαμέμνων τε: τοῦ δ᾽ ἔφυν ἐγώ
τῆς Τυνδαρείας θυγατρὸς Ἰφιγένεια παῖς, 5
ἣν ἀμφὶ δίναις ἃς θάμ᾽ Εὔριπος πυκναῖς
αὔραις ἑλίσσων κυανέαν ἅλα στρέφει,
ἔσφαξεν Ἑλένης οὕνεχ᾽, ὡς δοκεῖ, πατὴρ
Ἀρτέμιδι κλειναῖς ἐν πτυχαῖσιν Αὐλίδος.
ἐνταῦθα γὰρ δὴ χιλίων ναῶν στόλον 10
Ἑλληνικὸν συνήγαγ᾽ Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ,
τὸν καλλίνικον στέφανον Ἰλίου θέλων
λαβεῖν Ἀχαιοῖς τούς θ᾽ ὑβρισθέντας γάμους
Ἑλένης μετελθεῖν, Μενέλεῳ χάριν φέρων.
δεινῆς δ᾽ ἀπλοίας πνευμάτων τε τυγχάνων, 15
ἐς ἔμπυρ᾽ ἦλθε, καὶ λέγει Κάλχας τάδε:
ὦ τῆσδ᾽ ἀνάσσων Ἑλλάδος στρατηγίας,
Ἀγάμεμνον, οὐ μὴ ναῦς ἀφορμίσῃ χθονός,
πρὶν ἂν κόρην σὴν Ἰφιγένειαν Ἄρτεμις
λάβῃ σφαγεῖσαν: ὅ τι γὰρ ἐνιαυτὸς τέκοι 20
κάλλιστον, ηὔξω φωσφόρῳ θύσειν θεᾷ.
παῖδ᾽ οὖν ἐν οἴκοις σὴ Κλυταιμήστρα δάμαρ
τίκτει — τὸ καλλιστεῖον εἰς ἔμ᾽ ἀναφέρων —
ἣν χρή σε θῦσαι. καί μ᾽ Ὀδυσσέως τέχναις
μητρὸς παρείλοντ᾽ ἐπὶ γάμοις Ἀχιλλέως. 25
ἐλθοῦσα δ᾽ Αὐλίδ᾽ ἡ τάλαιν᾽ ὑπὲρ πυρᾶς
μεταρσία ληφθεῖσ᾽ ἐκαινόμην ξίφει:
ἀλλ᾽ ἐξέκλεψεν ἔλαφον ἀντιδοῦσά μου
Ἄρτεμις Ἀχαιοῖς, διὰ δὲ λαμπρὸν αἰθέρα
πέμψασά μ᾽ ἐς τήνδ᾽ ᾤκισεν Ταύρων χθόνα, 30
οὗ γῆς ἀνάσσει βαρβάροισι βάρβαρος
Θόας, ὃς ὠκὺν πόδα τιθεὶς ἴσον πτεροῖς
ἐς τοὔνομ᾽ ἦλθε τόδε ποδωκείας χάριν.
ναοῖσι δ᾽ ἐν τοῖσδ᾽ ἱερέαν τίθησί με:
ὅθεν νόμοισι τοῖσιν ἥδεται θεὰ 35
Ἄρτεμις, ἑορτῆς, τοὔνομ᾽ ἧς καλὸν μόνον —
τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα σιγῶ, τὴν θεὸν φοβουμένη —
θύω γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ νόμου καὶ πρὶν πόλει,
ὃς ἂν κατέλθῃ τήνδε γῆν Ἕλλην ἀνήρ.
κατάρχομαι μέν, σφάγια δ᾽ ἄλλοισιν μέλει 40
ἄρρητ᾽ ἔσωθεν τῶνδ᾽ ἀνακτόρων θεᾶς.
ἃ καινὰ δ᾽ ἥκει νὺξ φέρουσα φάσματα,
λέξω πρὸς αἰθέρ᾽, εἴ τι δὴ τόδ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἄκος.
ἔδοξ᾽ ἐν ὕπνῳ τῆσδ᾽ ἀπαλλαχθεῖσα γῆς
οἰκεῖν ἐν Ἄργει, παρθένοισι δ᾽ ἐν μέσαις 45
εὕδειν, χθονὸς δὲ νῶτα σεισθῆναι σάλῳ,
φεύγειν δὲ κἄξω στᾶσα θριγκὸν εἰσιδεῖν
δόμων πίτνοντα, πᾶν δ᾽ ἐρείψιμον στέγος
βεβλημένον πρὸς οὖδας ἐξ ἄκρων σταθμῶν.
μόνος λελεῖφθαι στῦλος εἷς ἔδοξέ μοι 50
δόμων πατρῴων, ἐκ δ᾽ ἐπικράνων κόμας
ξανθὰς καθεῖναι, φθέγμα δ᾽ ἀνθρώπου λαβεῖν,
κἀγὼ τέχνην τήνδ᾽ ἣν ἔχω ξενοκτόνον
τιμῶσ᾽ ὑδραίνειν αὐτὸν ὡς θανούμενον,
κλαίουσα. τοὔναρ δ᾽ ὧδε συμβάλλω τόδε: 55
τέθνηκ᾽ Ὀρέστης, οὗ κατηρξάμην ἐγώ.
στῦλοι γὰρ οἴκων παῖδές εἰσιν ἄρσενες:
θνῄσκουσι δ᾽ οὓς ἂν χέρνιβες βάλωσ᾽ ἐμαί.
οὐδ᾽ αὖ συνάψαι τοὔναρ ἐς φίλους ἔχω:
Στροφίῳ γὰρ οὐκ ἦν παῖς, ὅτ᾽ ὠλλύμην ἐγώ. 60
νῦν οὖν ἀδελφῷ βούλομαι δοῦναι χοὰς
παροῦσ᾽ ἀπόντι — ταῦτα γὰρ δυναίμεθ᾽ ἄν —
σὺν προσπόλοισιν, ἃς ἔδωχ᾽ ἡμῖν ἄναξ
Ἑλληνίδας γυναῖκας. ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ αἰτίας
οὔπω τίνος πάρεισιν; εἶμ᾽ ἔσω δόμων 65
ἐν οἷσι ναίω τῶνδ᾽ ἀνακτόρων θεᾶς.
[…]
Ἰφιγένεια
ἰὼ δμωαί,
δυσθρηνήτοις ὡς θρήνοις
ἔγκειμαι, τᾶς οὐκ εὐμούσου 145
μολπᾶς βοὰν ἀλύροις ἐλέγοις, αἰαῖ,
αἰαῖ, κηδείοις οἴκτοισιν:
αἵ μοι συμβαίνουσ᾽ ἆται,
σύγγονον ἁμὸν κατακλαιομένα
ζωᾶς, οἵαν οἵαν ἰδόμαν 150
ὄψιν ὀνείρων
νυκτός, τᾶς ἐξῆλθ᾽ ὄρφνα.
ὀλόμαν ὀλόμαν:
οὐκ εἴσ᾽ οἶκοι πατρῷοι:
οἴμοι μοι φροῦδος γέννα.
φεῦ φεῦ τῶν Ἄργει μόχθων. 155
ἰὼ δαῖμον,
μόνον ὅς με κασίγνητον συλᾷς
Ἀίδᾳ πέμψας, ᾧ τάσδε χοὰς
μέλλω κρατῆρά τε τὸν φθιμένων 160
ὑδραίνειν γαίας ἐν νώτοις
πηγάς τ᾽ οὐρείων ἐκ μόσχων
Βάκχου τ᾽ οἰνηρὰς λοιβὰς
ξουθᾶν τε πόνημα μελισσᾶν, 165
ἃ νεκροῖς θελκτήρια κεῖται.
ἀλλ᾽ ἔνδος μοι πάγχρυσον
τεῦχος καὶ λοιβὰν Ἅιδα.
ὦ κατὰ γαίας Ἀγαμεμνόνιον 170
θάλος, ὡς φθιμένῳ τάδε σοι πέμπω:
δέξαι δ᾽: οὐ γὰρ πρὸς τύμβον σοι
ξανθὰν χαίταν, οὐ δάκρυ᾽ οἴσω.
τηλόσε γὰρ δὴ σᾶς ἀπενάσθην 175
πατρίδος καὶ ἐμᾶς, ἔνθα δοκήμασι
κεῖμαι σφαχθεῖσ᾽ ἁ τλάμων.
[…]
Ἰφιγένεια
ἐξ ἀρχᾶς μοι δυσδαίμων
δαίμων τᾶς ματρὸς ζώνας
καὶ νυκτὸς κείνας: ἐξ ἀρχᾶς 205
λόχιαι στερρὰν παιδείαν
Μοῖραι ξυντείνουσιν θεαί,
τᾷ μναστευθείσᾳ 'ξ Ἑλλάνων,
ἃν πρωτόγονον θάλος ἐν θαλάμοις
Λήδας ἁ τλάμων κούρα 210
σφάγιον πατρῴᾳ λώβᾳ
καὶ θῦμ᾽ οὐκ εὐγάθητον
ἔτεκεν, ἔτρεφεν εὐκταίαν:
ἱππείοις δ᾽ ἐν δίφροισι
ψαμάθων Αὐλίδος ἐπέβασαν 215
νύμφαιον, οἴμοι, δύσνυμφον
τῷ τᾶς Νηρέως κούρας, αἰαῖ.
νῦν δ᾽ ἀξείνου πόντου ξείνα
δυσχόρτους οἴκους ναίω,
ἄγαμος ἄτεκνος ἄπολις ἄφιλος, 220
οὐ τὰν Ἄργει μέλπουσ᾽ Ἥραν
οὐδ᾽ ἱστοῖς ἐν καλλιφθόγγοις
κερκίδι Παλλάδος Ἀτθίδος εἰκὼ
καὶ Τιτάνων ποικίλλουσ᾽, ἀλλ᾽
αἱμόρραντον δυσφόρμιγγα 225
ξείνων † αἱμάσσουσ᾽ ἄταν βωμούς, †
οἰκτράν τ᾽ αἰαζόντων αὐδὰν
οἰκτρόν τ᾽ ἐκβαλλόντων δάκρυον.
καὶ νῦν κείνων μέν μοι λάθα,
τὸν δ᾽ Ἄργει δμαθέντα κλαίω 230
σύγγονον, ὃν ἔλιπον ἐπιμαστίδιον,
ἔτι βρέφος, ἔτι νέον, ἔτι θάλος
ἐν χερσὶν ματρὸς πρὸς στέρνοις τ᾽
Ἄργει σκηπτοῦχον Ὀρέσταν.