his heritage, when the kindly guidance of Zeus shall have brought him to this land,—Orestes.
El. Yes, I wait for him with unwearied longing, as I move on my sad path from day to day, unwed and childless, bathed in tears, bearing that endless doom of woe; but he forgets all that he has suffered and heard.170 What message comes to me, that is not belied? He is ever yearning to be with us, but, though he yearns, he never resolves.
ant. 2. Ch. Courage, my daughter, courage; great still in heaven is Zeus, who sees and governs all: leave thy bitter quarrel to him; forget not thy foes, but refrain from excess of wrath against them; for Time is a god who makes rough ways smooth. Not heedless is the son of Agamemnon,180 who dwells by Crisa's pastoral shore; not heedless is the god who reigns by Acheron.
El. Nay, the best part of life hath passed away from me in hopelessness, and I have no strength left; I, who am pining away without children,—whom no loving champion shields,—but, like some despised alien, I serve in the halls of my father,190 clad in this mean garb, and standing at a meagre board.
str. 3. Ch. Piteous was the voice heard at his return, and piteous, as thy sire lay on the festal couch, when the straight, swift blow was dealt him with the blade of bronze. Guile was the plotter, Lust the slayer, dread parents of a dreadful shape; whether it was mortal that wrought therein, or god.200
