The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall, Orestes shall prevail.
Ye of the judges who are named thereto,
Swiftly shake forth the lots from either urn.
Orestes.
O bright Apollo, what shall be the end?
Chorus.
O Night, dark mother mine, dost mark these things?
Orestes.
Now shall my doom be life, or strangling cords.
Chorus.
And mine, lost honour or a wider sway.
Apollo.
O stranger judges, sum aright the count
Of votes cast forth, and, parting them, take heed
Ye err not in decision. The default
Of one vote only bringeth ruin deep,
One, cast aright, may stablish house and home.
Athena.
Behold, this man is free from guilt of blood,
For half the votes condemn him, half set free!
Orestes.
O Pallas, light and safety of my home,
Thou, thou hast given me back to dwell once more
In that my fatherland, amerced of which
I wandered; now shall Grecian lips say this,
