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I can see it's going to be another one of those eight-hour days for Greek.
Which, given when I started, means I'll be finishing around midnight. Yay? Meanwhile, have a long exchange between Orestes (still wretched!) and Menelaus (still not the sharpest!).
Orestes: I here am Orestes, Menelaus, for whom you're asking. I'll readily reveal my troubles to you; I grasp your knees
for my first act as a supplicant, placing upon you leafless* prayers from my mouth. You've come personally at the critical
moment of my troubles.
Menelaus: Oh gods! Who do I see? What thing from the dead have I witnessed?
Orestes: You're right. For I'm not alive in this troubles, though I see the light.
Menelaus: How wild you look with that squalid hair, poor man.
Orestes: It's not my appearance that torments me, but my deeds.
Menelaus: And you stare terribly with the withered pupils of your eyes.
Orestes: This body is departed, but my name has not left me.
Menelaus: By this word, the unsightliness reveals you to me.
Orestes: I am this man, murderer of the miserable mother.
Menelaus: I've heard so; but refrain from speaking much of the evils.
Orestes: I am refraining, but there's an abundance of godly evils against me.
Menelaus: For what reason are you suffering? What sickness is destroying you?
Orestes: My conscience, since I know the terrible thing I've done.
Menelaus: What are you saying? It's wise to be clear, not to be unclear.
Orestes: Grief especially is destroying me--
Menelaus: Yes, she's a dangerous goddess, but all the same, curable.
Orestes: --and madness, the revenge of my mother's blood.
Menelaus: And when did you begin madness? What day was it?
Orestes: The one on which I was raising my mother a burial mound.
Menelaus: At home, or while sitting by the pyre?
Orestes: At night, while I was waiting to take up the bones.
Menelaus: Was anyone else with you, who was keeping your body upright?**
Orestes: Pylades, my assistant in blood and mother-murder.
Menelaus: And you sickened from this, from phantoms of what kind?
Orestes: I thought I saw three girls resembling the night.
Menelaus: I know the sort of women you mention. I don't want to name them.
Orestes: For they're holy; do turn to speaking of polite things.
Menelaus: These women madden you from kin-murder.
Orestes: Alas, I am wretched from the chase by which they drive me.
Menelaus: It is not terrible that those who've done terrible things should suffer.
Orestes: But there is an escape for me from misfortune--
Menelaus: Don't say death! That's not wise.
Orestes: --Phoebus, who commanded me to perform the murder of my mother.
Menelaus: Being rather stupid about virtue and justice.
Orestes: We are slaves to the gods, whatever the gods are.
Menelaus: Does Loxias not ward off your troubles?
Orestes: He's waiting; divinity has that sort of character.
Menelaus: And how long has your mother's breath been absent?
Orestes: This is the sixth day; the funeral fire is still warm.
Menelaus: How swiftly the goddesses pursued you for your mother's blood.
Orestes: Not wisely, but true to his friends, that god sprang up.
Menelaus: And does revenge for your father help you some?
Orestes: Not at all; and I say "about to" is equal to inaction.
Menelaus: And how are you doing in regard to the city, after doing those things?
Orestes: I am so hated that they don't speak to me.
Menelaus: Have you not cleansed your hands of the blood, according to the law?***
Orestes: I am excluded from the houses where I once went.
Menelaus: Which cities of the earth drive you out?
Orestes: Oeax, who ascribes the hatred against Troy to my father.
Menelaus: I get it; he's punishing you for the murder of Palamedes.
Orestes: I had no part in it; I'm being destroyed three connections away.^
Menelaus: And what else? Or perhaps those friends of Aegisthus?
Orestes: They abuse me, and the city listens to them, now.
Menelaus: But does the city allow you to hold Agamemnon's scepter?^^
Orestes: What, the men who won't allow us to live?
Menelaus: What are they doing, that you know it clearly enough to tell me?
Orestes: The vote on us goes through today.
Menelaus: On you leaving the city? Or that you die or not die?
Orestes: To die from the townsfolk throwing rocks.
Menelaus: And you're still not fleeing the land, crossing the borders?
Orestes: Because we're surrounded by bronze weaponry.
Menelaus: By hatred alone, or by the hands of the Argives?
Orestes: By all the townsfolk, so that I die. To put it briefly.
Menelaus: Poor boy, you've come to the most extreme of misfortunes!
Orestes:
My hope holds you as an escape from my troubles. But having come here as a fortunate man, share your good deeds with your suffering relatives; don't just receive what's useful and hold it, but take up work in your measure, repaying my father's favors as you must. For friends have the name but not the deed, who are not friends to the misfortunate.
---
* Near as I can figure, it means a supplicant usually comes with an actual olive branch, and Orestes doesn't have one.
** Awkward translation, but I believe it's meant in the sense of "Who was keeping you from falling asleep and dreaming all this shit."
*** Or, according to Perseus, according to the herbage. This is why just accepting the first translation the computer's dictionary offers for a word is not always the best idea.
^ That is, Oaex is brother to Palamedes, who was killed after being framed for murder by Odysseus, who is of course an ally of Agamemnon, who is father to Orestes. Ah, Greek revenge.
^^ I believe this means the metaphorical scepter ("allows you to be king") rather than a literal stick.
Which, given when I started, means I'll be finishing around midnight. Yay? Meanwhile, have a long exchange between Orestes (still wretched!) and Menelaus (still not the sharpest!).
Orestes: I here am Orestes, Menelaus, for whom you're asking. I'll readily reveal my troubles to you; I grasp your knees
for my first act as a supplicant, placing upon you leafless* prayers from my mouth. You've come personally at the critical
moment of my troubles.
Menelaus: Oh gods! Who do I see? What thing from the dead have I witnessed?
Orestes: You're right. For I'm not alive in this troubles, though I see the light.
Menelaus: How wild you look with that squalid hair, poor man.
Orestes: It's not my appearance that torments me, but my deeds.
Menelaus: And you stare terribly with the withered pupils of your eyes.
Orestes: This body is departed, but my name has not left me.
Menelaus: By this word, the unsightliness reveals you to me.
Orestes: I am this man, murderer of the miserable mother.
Menelaus: I've heard so; but refrain from speaking much of the evils.
Orestes: I am refraining, but there's an abundance of godly evils against me.
Menelaus: For what reason are you suffering? What sickness is destroying you?
Orestes: My conscience, since I know the terrible thing I've done.
Menelaus: What are you saying? It's wise to be clear, not to be unclear.
Orestes: Grief especially is destroying me--
Menelaus: Yes, she's a dangerous goddess, but all the same, curable.
Orestes: --and madness, the revenge of my mother's blood.
Menelaus: And when did you begin madness? What day was it?
Orestes: The one on which I was raising my mother a burial mound.
Menelaus: At home, or while sitting by the pyre?
Orestes: At night, while I was waiting to take up the bones.
Menelaus: Was anyone else with you, who was keeping your body upright?**
Orestes: Pylades, my assistant in blood and mother-murder.
Menelaus: And you sickened from this, from phantoms of what kind?
Orestes: I thought I saw three girls resembling the night.
Menelaus: I know the sort of women you mention. I don't want to name them.
Orestes: For they're holy; do turn to speaking of polite things.
Menelaus: These women madden you from kin-murder.
Orestes: Alas, I am wretched from the chase by which they drive me.
Menelaus: It is not terrible that those who've done terrible things should suffer.
Orestes: But there is an escape for me from misfortune--
Menelaus: Don't say death! That's not wise.
Orestes: --Phoebus, who commanded me to perform the murder of my mother.
Menelaus: Being rather stupid about virtue and justice.
Orestes: We are slaves to the gods, whatever the gods are.
Menelaus: Does Loxias not ward off your troubles?
Orestes: He's waiting; divinity has that sort of character.
Menelaus: And how long has your mother's breath been absent?
Orestes: This is the sixth day; the funeral fire is still warm.
Menelaus: How swiftly the goddesses pursued you for your mother's blood.
Orestes: Not wisely, but true to his friends, that god sprang up.
Menelaus: And does revenge for your father help you some?
Orestes: Not at all; and I say "about to" is equal to inaction.
Menelaus: And how are you doing in regard to the city, after doing those things?
Orestes: I am so hated that they don't speak to me.
Menelaus: Have you not cleansed your hands of the blood, according to the law?***
Orestes: I am excluded from the houses where I once went.
Menelaus: Which cities of the earth drive you out?
Orestes: Oeax, who ascribes the hatred against Troy to my father.
Menelaus: I get it; he's punishing you for the murder of Palamedes.
Orestes: I had no part in it; I'm being destroyed three connections away.^
Menelaus: And what else? Or perhaps those friends of Aegisthus?
Orestes: They abuse me, and the city listens to them, now.
Menelaus: But does the city allow you to hold Agamemnon's scepter?^^
Orestes: What, the men who won't allow us to live?
Menelaus: What are they doing, that you know it clearly enough to tell me?
Orestes: The vote on us goes through today.
Menelaus: On you leaving the city? Or that you die or not die?
Orestes: To die from the townsfolk throwing rocks.
Menelaus: And you're still not fleeing the land, crossing the borders?
Orestes: Because we're surrounded by bronze weaponry.
Menelaus: By hatred alone, or by the hands of the Argives?
Orestes: By all the townsfolk, so that I die. To put it briefly.
Menelaus: Poor boy, you've come to the most extreme of misfortunes!
Orestes:
My hope holds you as an escape from my troubles. But having come here as a fortunate man, share your good deeds with your suffering relatives; don't just receive what's useful and hold it, but take up work in your measure, repaying my father's favors as you must. For friends have the name but not the deed, who are not friends to the misfortunate.
---
* Near as I can figure, it means a supplicant usually comes with an actual olive branch, and Orestes doesn't have one.
** Awkward translation, but I believe it's meant in the sense of "Who was keeping you from falling asleep and dreaming all this shit."
*** Or, according to Perseus, according to the herbage. This is why just accepting the first translation the computer's dictionary offers for a word is not always the best idea.
^ That is, Oaex is brother to Palamedes, who was killed after being framed for murder by Odysseus, who is of course an ally of Agamemnon, who is father to Orestes. Ah, Greek revenge.
^^ I believe this means the metaphorical scepter ("allows you to be king") rather than a literal stick.