Orestes.
Mother!—'beseech thee, hark not thou on me255
Yon maidens gory-eyed and snaky-haired!
Lo there!—lo there!—they are nigh—they leap on me!
Electra.
Stay, hapless one, unshuddering on thy couch:
Nought of thy vivid vision seest thou.
Orestes.
Ah, Phœbus!—they shall slay me—hound-faced fiends,260
Goddesses dread, hell's gorgon-priestesses!
Electra.
I will not let thee go! My clasping arms
Shall hold thee from thy leap of misery.
Orestes.
Unhand me!—of mine Haunting Fiends thou art—
Dost grip my waist to hurl me into hell!265
Electra.
Ah hapless I! What succour can I win
Now we have gotten godhead to our foe?
Orestes.
Give me mine horn-tipped bow, even Loxias' gift,
Wherewith Apollo bade drive back the fiends,
If with their frenzy of madness they should fright me.270
A Goddess shall be smitten of mortal hand,
Except she vanish from before mine eyes.
