The Agamemnon of Aeschylus: Translated into English Rhyming Verse with Explanatory Notes

“Nothing forces us to knowWhat we do not want to knowExcept pain””

— Aeschylus

“There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain.””

— Aeschylus

“Oh, the torment bred in the race, the grinding scream of deathand the stroke that hits the vein,the hemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,the curse no man can bear.But there is a cure in the house, and not outside it, no,not from others but from them,their bloody strife. We sing to you,dark gods beneath the earth.Now hear, you blissful powers underground --answer the call, send help.Bless the children, give them triumph now.””

— Aeschylus

“This was always going to happen.She's been dead since the beginning.””

— Aeschylus

“ATHENA: You wish to be called righteous rather than act right. [...] I say, wrong must not win by technicalities.””

— Aeschylus

“Do I not live? Badly, I know, but I live.””

— Aeschylus

“Thus he died, and all the life struggled out of him;and as he died he spattered me with the dark redand violent driven rain of bitter-savored bloodto make me glad, as gardens stand among the showersof God in glory at the birthtime of the buds.””

— Aeschylus

“They came backTo widows,To fatherless children,To screams, to sobbing.The men came backAs little clay jarsFull of sharp cinders.””

— Aeschylus

“Pour everything out for the blood you have shed, you're wasting your time in appeasing the dead.””

— Aeschylus