libations to his shade. Orestes and his friend, having satisfied themselves that this is the temple whence the image, by force or fraud, must be taken away, retire and give place to the Chorus, not indeed without some misgivings on the part of Orestes as to the possibility of executing their enjoined task. "The walls are high," he says—"the doors are barred with brass; even if we can climb the one and force the other, how shall we escape the watchful eyes of those who guard the shrine or dwell in the city? If detected, we shall be put to death:—
"Shall we, then, ere we die, by flight regain
The ship, in which we hither ploughed the sea?"
"Of flight we must not think," rejoins Pylades; "the god's command must be obeyed. But we have seen enough of the temple for the present; and now let us retire to some cave where
"We may lie concealed
At distance from our ship, lest some, whose eyes
May note it, bear the tidings to the king,
And we be seized by force."
What Pylades had dreaded happens. The Chorus, as soon as their song, in which Iphigenia takes a part, is ended, say to her,—
"Leaving the sea-washed shore an herdsman comes,
Speeding with some fresh tidings."
The herdsman's report of what he has seen is most strange and exciting to the hearers of it. He opens
