him,
Now seeing him dead, they may receive my curb,
And finding me their master, sense may gain
Without coercion.
_Elec._ And that end is reached
By me; for I by time have wisdom gained,
To yield to those more mighty.

_The doors are thrown open, and disclose Orestes and Pylades standing
by the dead body of Clytaemnestra, which is covered with a sheet and a
veil over the face._

_Aegis._ Lo, I see,
O Zeus, a sight that comes right well for me.
(Without offence I say it; should it move
The wrath divine, I wish it all unsaid.)
Withdraw the veil which hides the face, that I
To kindred blood may pay the meed of tears.
_Ores._ Do thou uplift it. 'Tis thy task not mine,
To look on this, and kindly words to speak.
_Aegis._ Thou giv'st good counsel, and I list to thee,
And thou, if yet she tarries in the house,
Call Clytaemnestra.
_Ores._ (_as Aegisthus lifts the veil_) Here she lies before thee,
Seek her not elsewhere, {1474}
_Aegis._ Oh what sight is this!
_Ores._ Whom fearest thou? Who is't thou dost not know?
_Aegis._ Into whose snares, whose closely-tangled mesh
Have I, poor victim, fallen?
_Ores._ Saw'st thou not
Long since that thou didst speak to them that live
As they were dead?
_Aegis._ Ah me! I catch thy words.
It needs must be that he who speaks to me
Is named Orestes.
_Ores._ Wert thou then deceived,
Thou excellent diviner?
_Aegis._ Woe is me!
I perish, yet permit me first to speak
One little word.
_Elec._ Give him no leave to speak,
By all the gods, my brother, nor to spin
His long discourse. When men are plunged in ills
What gain can one who stands condemned to die
Reap from delay? No, slay him out of hand;
And, having slain him, cast him forth, to find
Fit burial at their hands from whom 'tis meet
That he should have it, far away from view.
Thus only shall I gain a remedy
For all the evils of the years gone by.
_Ores._ [To _Aegisthus_.] Go thou within, and quickly.
Now our strife