guilty pair, which is the subject of these plays, is supposed not to have taken place till twenty years after the transaction of which I have been speaking. Electra, who was a woman of a lofty and unconquerable spirit, during that long interval, suffered every species of indignity from an unnatural mother, and the murderer of her father, who now sat upon his throne. The only effect of ill treatment, on such a mind, was to fix there a settled purpose of revenge. She was one of that class of beings, whom an attempt to humble exasperates, not subdues; and from the depth of her degradation, she looked forward to the return of her brother as the event that was to avenge her wrongs, and restore the honours of the family of Agamemnon. He at length appears, and a recognition takes place between him and his sister, at the tomb of their father, where they swear mutual vengeance over his ashes. With the advice of Pylades, they arrange their plans, by which it is agreed that Orestes should assume the character of a messenger from Phocis, with the news of his own death. He thus gains admittance to Clytemnestra and Egysthus, to whom this was the most welcome intelligence ; and stabs them with a poignard which he had concealed under his robe.
These are the main incidents in these dramas. In each there are slight variations, and a marked difference in the dramatic management; but in the following examination, it will be seen which of the rival poets has made the most skilful use of his materials. From this skeleton of the plan it will appear that these plays approach nearer our ideas of regular tragedy than the Prometheus.
The first scene of the Chœphori discovers Orestes at the tomb of his father, on which he lays a lock of his hair, a customary rite among the ancients; but seeing a company of females approach, whom from their appearance he supposes to be Electra and her maidens, he retires to a covert to see what was the object of their visit. He soon discovers that he was right in his conjectures. It was Electra, and a band of Argive virgins who form the Chorus. On that very night Clytemnestra, who had been disturbed by portentous dreams, had sent her to offer expiatory libations at the tomb of her murdered husband. After offering the sacrifice, as directed by her mother, Electra discovers the lock of hair left by Orestes, and from various reasons concludes that it could have been brought there by none else than him. Its resemblance to her own in colour, and the certainty that no one but a real mourner would have performed this pious office to the spirit of a prince who had been long forgotten by all except herself and her brother, carried conviction to her mind that he was at no great distance, and that the time for which she had so long and so ardently prayed was at length arrived. So completely had this idea taken possession of her mind, that even his foot-prints, which coincided with her own in measurement, to her ardour appeared proof unquestionable. She addresses the Chorus as follows:—
"E. Long has my agitated soul been pierced
By fortune's keenest arrows; grief and rage
Alternately have swayed my withered heart,
But at the sight of this small lock of hair
Large tears of joy flow from my thirsty eyes.
'Tis his! what hand but this could place it there?
Hope trembles in my bosom. Ye bright tresses!
Oh! had ye voices to allay my fears!
Orestes. ( Starting from concealment.)
Thy prayers are granted.
E. Say, what prayers are granted?
O. Behold the man for whom thou oft hast prayed.
E. Stranger, how knowest thou what my prayers have been?
O. I know that they are offered for Orestes.
E. Tell me, I pray thee, how they are accomplished?
O. Sister, I am Orestes, seek no further.
E. Oh! how may I believe thee, mayst thou not
By treachery be seeking my undoing?
O. That only were to plot my own desstruction;
This moment thou wert easier of belief,
A single hair, a foot-print, served as proof,
And now that thou beholdst me, thou reject'st me;
Look on this robe which thou thyself didst weave,
Thou doubtest me, thou wilt not that embroidery.
E. My beloved Orestes! Joy of my tears,
Light, hope, and safety, of my father's house;
Courage, my brother, and thou shalt obtain
Thy reft inheritance, thou guiding star
Of all my fortunes; father, mother, sister,
All nature's dearest names, are met in thee:
Oh! Jupiter, regard our righteous cause.
