Forgot? Ah father, friendless in affliction!
Woe's me, I am betrayed: hope lives no more
Of refuge from the Argives' doom of death!
For my one haven of safety was this man.
But lo, I see my best-beloved of men,725
Yon Pylades, from Phocis hastening.
Glad sight! A loyal friend in trouble's hour
Shows welcomer than calm to mariners.
Enter Pylades.
Pylades.
Down the city's streets with haste unwonted unto thee I came;
For I heard of Argos' council—yea, mine eyes beheld the same—730
For thy doom and for thy sister's, as to slay you even now.
What means this?—how fares thine health, thy state?—of age-mates dearest thou,
Yea, of friends and kinsfolk; each and all of these thou art to me.
Orestes.
Ruined are we!—in a word to tell thee all my misery.
Pylades.
Mine o'erthrowing shall thy fall be: one are friends in woe and bliss.735
Orestes.
Traitor foul to me and to my sister Menelaus is.
Pylades.
Small the marvel—by the traitor wife the husband traitor made!
