"*
 
 SBoljgang oetlje.
 
 1beatb'0 flDofcern Slanguage Series 
 
 <ente auf Cauris 
 
 <in Scfyaufpiel 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 LEWIS A. RHOADES, PH.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES 
 OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE Ln 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
 D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 1905
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1896, 
 BY LEWIS A. RHOADES.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THIS edition of ^pfyigenie cwf auri was undertaken in 
 view of the fact that no edition of the drama, with English 
 introduction and notes, adequately represented the present 
 condition and standards of Goethe's study. 
 
 My text aims to be an exact reprint of the Weimar edition, 
 in which both spelling and punctuation are based upon those 
 sound principles that should determine the reading in any 
 classical author. Official orthography and punctuation are 
 quite a different matter. 
 
 The introduction discusses in some detail the composition and 
 sources of the drama, but in the critical study of the work aims 
 only at pointing out the unity of thought that pervades it, and 
 at showing its relation to Goethe's own life and to the world. 
 Except by incidental suggestion, no analysis of the characters 
 has been undertaken. Such work, according to my ex- 
 perience, can be expected of a student, and with the teacher's 
 guidance serves to stimulate his interest ; nor does the drama 
 afford such a field for character analysis as is the case in 
 Schiller or Shakespeare. 
 
 The notes, though aiming to give aid in translation wherever 
 it might seem necessary, are intended rather to contribute 
 toward the student's literary and poetic appreciation of the 
 text. Attention has frequently been called to the influence of 
 
 2054480
 
 Greek usage, and classical allusions and customs, so far as they 
 are involved, are explained. My purpose has been to elucidate 
 that which was conscious and intentional with the poet, not in 
 any case to do the work of the etymological dictionary or of an 
 historical grammar. 
 
 The citations from the Greek tragedians are given according 
 to the editions of Dindorf. For the metrical versions of pas- 
 sages cited from Euripides I am indebted to Professor Louis 
 Dyer of Oxford, during the past year Acting Professor of 
 Greek at Cornell University. In other instances the transla- 
 tions by Plumptre have been quoted. In all such instances the 
 aim has been to refer the classical student to the originals, 
 giving at the same time those whom lack of time or training 
 prevent from consulting them, the best available aid in com- 
 prehending the German passage in its relation to the Greek. 
 
 My cordial acknowledgments are also due to Dr. H. P. 
 Jones of Cornell University, who has kindly read in manu- 
 script and in proof my whole work, and has offered many 
 valuable suggestions. To Professor H. S. White and to Professor 
 W. T. Hewett I am also indebted, and, indeed, I may say to 
 all those members of the Cornell Faculty with whom I was 
 intimately associated for three years. 
 
 L. A. R. 
 
 CHAMPAIGN, ILL., Sept., 1896.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 JUST when the thought of writing Spljigenie auf aurt took 
 form in Goethe's mind cannot be positively determined. Shortly 
 before his death he dictated 1 to Riemer, " Schwalbenstein, near 
 Ilmenau, I wrote after three years' deliberation the fourth act of 
 my 3fpf)igenie in a single day." This is confirmed by an entry in 
 his journal on March 19, 1779, and seems, therefore, to refer the 
 first thought of the drama in a general way to the year 1776. 
 
 Hermann Grimm has attempted to connect the work with a par- 
 ticular event of that year, namely, with Gluck's request for the 
 text of a cantata that he wished to compose in memory of his niece. 
 His opera, Iphigenie en Aulide, Grimm argued, 2 turned Goethe's 
 attention to the sequel of the story as a suitable theme for such a 
 poem . But Erich Schmidt has shown 3 that ^roferpine was prob- 
 ably the poem thus suggested, and it is said that Grimm himself 
 no longer insists upon his theory. 
 
 Dlintzer, on the other hand, refers the drama to the year 1779 
 and rejects Riemer's statement, assuming that he either wrote 
 three years when he intended to write three days, or that Goethe 
 misspoke himself. He further asserts that 4 since only the fourth 
 act and the place o f its composition are mentioned, nothing is to 
 be inferred concerning the time when the plan of the whole drama 
 was formed. But this does not follow, for, as Schrb'er remarks, 6 
 
 1 SWittEieilungen iiber oetfje, 2: 83. > (Soetfje^SBorlefungen, 2. Tlufl. 269. 
 
 1 SSierteljaljrfdjnft fur 8iteratirgef$i$te, i : 32. CrlSuterungen, 15. 
 eutf<$e 9lat. Sit. 90, xvii.
 
 v i INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the struggle in Iphigenia's soul that the fourth act depicts is essen- 
 tial to the conception of her character ; and no hint of this struggle 
 being found in Euripides, it must have belonged to Goethe's 
 original plan. Duntzer has, furthermore, only subjective grounds 
 for rejecting Riemer's statement^-and in this case the conclusion 
 does not seem warranted. It was by no means unusual for Goethe 
 to keep the plan of a work in mind for a long time before he 
 actually began its composition, and that such was the case with 
 3pf)igenie, the poet's first mention of it seems to indicate. On 
 Feb. 14, 1779, he entered in his journal, 1 " Began early to dictate 
 3})f)tgenie," and the same evening he wrote 2 to Frau von Stein, 
 "My mind has dwelt all day on ^ptjtgente, so that my head is 
 quite confused, although in preparation I slept ten hours last 
 night. So entirely without repose and with only one foot in the 
 stirrups of Pegasus, it will be very hard to produce anything that 
 is not entirely patch-work. 11 As Grimm says, 3 this does not 
 point to the first conception of the drama upon that day, but rather 
 to the work of editing and harmonizing the various versions, as 
 they already existed in his own mind. Furthermore, as Schroer 
 and Erich Schmidt remark, internal evidence, the Orestes situa- 
 tion, in which, as subsequently shown, Goethe felt himself involved 
 in his early Weimar years, conclusively marks the inception of the 
 drama as belonging to that period. 
 
 In following the actual composition of the drama, Goethe's 
 letters and journals afford sufficient data. His official duties, 
 especially as President of the Military and Causeway Commissions, 
 hindered him greatly. A week after the beginning, above de- 
 scribed, he wrote to Frau von Stein that the soothing influence 
 of music in an adjoining room quieted his mind, 4 and that he hoped 
 to finish a scene that evening. His progress was such that by 
 the end of the month he had begun to be sanguine of completing 
 the work, but just at that time he was obliged to undertake a jour- 
 
 i St. III. Mbtb. i: 79 . 2BI. IV. gbtft. 4 : n. S5orlefun fl en, a 73 . 
 
 SJH. IV. 916$. 4 : 12.
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 ney for the purpose of levying recruits and inspecting the roads. 
 He took his manuscript with him and worked at it whenever it was 
 possible. On March 2 he wrote 1 from Dornburg that his " piece 
 was taking form and acquiring limbs." He continued working 
 there through the morning of the 5th, and seems to have felt satis- 
 fied with his progress, for the day before he wrote * to Frau von 
 Stein that he hoped to have the drama ready by his return to 
 Weimar on the nth or I2th, though he adds, "it will still be 
 only a sketch. We will then see what color to lay on." From 
 Apolda he wrote 3 on the evening of the 5th, complaining of the 
 distractions there, and remarked * in a note to Knebel that without 
 the few days at Dornburg " the egg, half-brooded, would have 
 addled.' 1 But at Apolda he was unable to accomplish anything. 
 On the 6th he wrote, 5 " The drama will not go on at all here; 
 it is abominable, the King of Tauris is to talk as if no stocking- 
 weavers were starving," and the next day, before leaving the place, 
 he wrote 6 to Frau von Stein of his dissatisfaction, and particularly 
 of one scene that had troubled him greatly. From the allusion to 
 the king it is probable that he referred to the scene in the first 
 act between Iphigenia and Thoas. That once accomplished, the 
 drama seems to have progressed again, for on the gth, according 
 to his journal, 7 he put together the first three acts. Two days 
 later he returned to Weimar, and on the I3th he read 8 them aloud 
 to the duke and to Knebel, whom he wished to take the part of 
 Thoas. Knebel seems to have been unwilling to undertake the 
 r&le, for in a letter to him on the following day Goethe wrote, 9 
 " If your opposition cannot be overcome, then this too, with other 
 more serious plans and hopes, may sink into the silent depths of 
 the sea." The protest was effectual, and on the I5th he sent 10 to 
 him the manuscript, with the request that he should read it to 
 Herder and aid Prince Constantin with the r61e of Pylades. The 
 
 SBf. IV. abt&. 4 : 13. * ibid., 15. Ibid., 17. Ibid., 16. 
 Ibid., i*. c Ib id., I9 . 7 gat. in. <abt&. ,. 8 3 . Ibid., 83. 
 
 3BMV. abt&. 4 : 22. 10 Ibid., 23.
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 next day he went to Ilmenau, intending not to return till the 
 drama was done. The two days following he accomplished but 
 little, but on the igth, as mentioned above, he composed the 
 entire fourth act. After his return to Weimar on the 24th, his 
 letters give no further information, and his journal notes only that 
 he completed l the drama on the 28th, read it aloud the next eve- 
 ning, and on April ist was busied with the rehearsal. It was 
 played for the first time on Easter Tuesday, April 6, Corona 
 Schrbter taking the part of Iphigenia and Goethe himself appear- 
 ing as Orestes. Of its success his journal records that the effect 
 was good, especially upon pure men. 
 
 With the form in which the drama was first presented, Goethe 
 was by no means satisfied, and the approval with which it was 
 received in Weimar did not change his opinion. He denied all re- 
 quests for copies of the work, and in July in a letter to Karl Theodor 
 von Dalberg, who wanted to present it at Mannheim, he wrote, 2 
 " It is much too carelessly written to be allowed to venture at once 
 from the amateur stage (gefetlfdjaftltcfyen Sweater) into the open 
 world." It was given at Weimar two or three times by members 
 of the court, and in April of the following year the poet undertook 
 a revision in metrical form. This version has been preserved in 
 Lavater's autograph copy of a manuscript that Goethe allowed 
 Knebel to take with him when he went to Switzerland in July. It 
 was first printed in full by Baechtold. 3 The meter is free iambic, 
 some verses having only one or two, and others seven or even 
 eight accents. A comparison with the original form shows the fre- 
 quent elision of a vowel, changes in the order of words, and often 
 the repetition of a word or phrase. There are one or two slight 
 omissions and a few equally unimportant additions. In the second 
 scene of Act II there is also a lacuna of some forty lines, the 
 passage in which Pylades tells Iphigenia of her father's fate. The 
 
 . in. w>ti). i: 8 4 . * SBI. iv. mti). 4 : 47 . 
 
 etfce8 3p&igeme ouf SauriS in oierfatlier eftalt.
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 revision was evidently a hasty one ; it was in fact little more than 
 a transcription divided into lines of irregular length. It is of no 
 value for a critical study of the text, and its only real interest is in 
 making evident the essentially rhythmic l character of the prose 
 draft. Goethe was still unsatisfied with it, and in a letter to La- 
 vater in October, 1780, he wrote, 2 "I do not like to allow my 
 3pf)igenie, as it now is, to be frequently copied and to get among 
 people, because I am busied imparting more harmony of style to it, 
 and consequently changing it here and there. Be kind enough to 
 give that as an excuse to those that wanted a copy of it. I have 
 already refused it frequently." 
 
 A second revision was undertaken in 1781, in which the metri- 
 cal version was discarded and the work again based upon the 
 original prose draft. Goethe probably began 3 the revision in 
 April ; from two brief entries in his journal 4 it appears that he was 
 doing something at it in August, and in November he regarded 8 it 
 as completed. 
 
 The changes, additions and improvements made in this revi- 
 sion Baechtold characterizes 6 as 'essential.' Comparison with the 
 original form shows frequent change in word-forms by the elision 
 or retention of e or /, correction of the irregular use of strong ad- 
 jective endings and classical terminations, variations in number, 
 case and tense, as well as occasional changes in the arrangement 
 of words and the expression of a thought. The principles of clear- 
 ness and euphony seem to have determined the changes made, but 
 at the same time they were not consistently or systematically car- 
 ried out. In mentioning its completion, Goethe himself expressed 
 regret that circumstances had made his work desultory, and though 
 he allowed several copies of the revision to be made, and either 
 loaned or presented them to intimate friends, he was not ready to 
 publish it. He did not regard it, so he intimated in a letter to 
 
 i Cf. Minor, TOetrit, 314. * 2Bf. IV. <Hbt&,. 4 : 318. 
 
 Cf. 2Bf. IV. aibtb.. 5: 113. 2Bt. III. Mbtb,. i: 128, 131. 
 
 6 2Bf. IV. Hbtb,. 5: 225. 3p&igenie ouf ZouriS in pierfacfcer OJeftalt, viii.
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i 
 
 F. H. Jacobi as a worthy fulfilment of old hope... -....,.. . . .. March, 
 
 1783, he expressly requested 2 Kestner not to show his copy to 
 any one through whom portions of it might get into print. The 
 fear that this might happen in the case of works still in manuscript, 
 together with the danger that unauthorized reprints of his pub- 
 lished works might be undertaken, led him in 1786 to advertise 
 an edition of his collected writings. $pf)igenie was to appear in 
 the third 3 volume of this edition, and for that purpose the revision 
 was begun, which resulted in giving the drama its final form. 
 
 The first intimation of this revision is a request 4 that Frau von 
 Stein will send her copy of Qpljtgettie to Wieland, 'who already 
 knows what he is to do with it.' Wieland's Sllcefte was written in 
 free iambics, and the influence of that work, as well as his advice,* 
 seem to have caused Goethe to think of giving his drama a similar 
 metrical form. To that end he appears to have had his secretary 
 make a copy 6 divided into the irregular verses to which the 
 rhythmic prose readily lent itself, and to have taken this copy to 
 Karlsbad for further correction. From there he wrote 7 on August 
 23, " Now, since it is divided into verses, it gives me new pleas- 
 ure ; one also sees sooner what still needs improvement. I am 
 working on it and expect to finish to-morrow." Herder, however, 
 seems to have objected to the irregular measure, and a few days 
 later Goethe wrote 8 to him, "After your departure, I continued 
 to read in the Electra of Sophocles. The long iambics without 
 pause and the peculiar movement and roll of the period have so 
 impressed themselves upon me that now the short lines of the 
 Spljigenie seem rough, discordant and unreadable. I began at 
 once to alter the first scene." With Herder's help he made many 
 changes in the drama while he remained at Karlsbad, and at his 
 advice he took the manuscript with him when he set out for Italy. 
 
 He resumed the work Sept. 12 at Torbole, on Lake Garda, 
 
 i 2Bf. IV. 3lbt$. 6: 92. ' Ibid., 6: I3 6. a ibid., 7 : 235. 
 
 Ibid., 7: 230. s Ibid., 8: 134. e C f. ffit. I. 2lbtl). 10: 389. 
 
 1 mi. IV.<ttbtb,.8: 7- 8 Ibid., 8: 8.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 where he added some lines in the first scene, and at Verona he 
 decided that it would be necessary to make a fresh copy. In a 
 letter to Karl August on the i8th he wrote, 1 " I am working 
 3pf)igenie through. It assumes new life ( quiUt auf) and the 
 halting meter is transformed into continual harmony." He hoped 
 to finish the drama by the end of October, but, as he afterward 
 remarked, 2 he was deceived regarding the difficulty of the task he 
 had undertaken. He worked on it at Vicenza and at Venice, and 
 from the latter city he wrote 3 to Herder on the I4th of October, 
 
 " I have still something to do on 3pf)tgeme The fourth 
 
 act is almost entirely new. The passages that were most complete 
 bother me the most. I should like to bend their tender head, 
 beneath the yoke of the verse without breaking their necks. Yet 
 it is remarkable that for the most part a better expression joins 
 itself with the meter." He had already given up the idea of finish- 
 ing the drama in Venice, but remarked 4 in his journal, " It shall 
 lose nothing in my company under this sky." After leaving there 
 he did nothing with the drama till after his arrival in Rome, 
 though it was constantly in his thoughts. Thus, when at Bologna, 
 he saw a St. Agatha painted by Raphael in ' blooming and tranquil 
 maidenliness, without sensual charm and yet without coldness and 
 austerity,' he expressed s his purpose of reading his ^Pfrgenie to 
 this ideal and allowing his heroine to say nothing that that holy 
 being might not utter,' and a few days later he remarked 6 
 again, " So then Iphigenia must go with me to Rome. What 
 will become of the child ? " 
 
 Goethe arrived in Rome Oct. 29, 1786, and a few days later a 
 letter to Herder shows that work on the drama had already been 
 resumed, his mornings being devoted to writing and the rest of the 
 day to sight-seeing. In a letter of Dec. 2, he says, 7 "Every 
 morning before I get up, something is written on ^pfjigenie. Each 
 
 i 2Bt. IV. Slbtb,. 8: 25. * Ibid., 8: 32. => ibid., 8: 52. 
 
 SBf. III. btb,. i: 289. s Ibid., i: 306. Ibid., i: 315. 
 
 7 381. IV. Mbt^. 8: 76.
 
 x ii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 day I achieve a passage, and the whole is turning out well." 
 Though he had already revised the fourth act while at Venice, he 
 must have gone over the whole drama again, for after it was 
 finished he spoke 1 of half the work on it as having been done at 
 Rome. On the 2Qth of December the work was finished and he 
 wrote 2 to Herder, "I am glad to announce at last that my 
 3pf)tgenie is completed, and that two copies of it are lying upon my 
 table. I should still like to improve a few verses, and for that I 
 will keep it another week." It was not, however, till Jan. 13, 
 1787, that his <S<f)mer3enfinb, 3 as he afterward called the drama, was 
 sent to Weimar. In an accompanying note he dedicated 4 the work 
 to Herder. In another letter of the same date he expressed the 
 hope that he had now more nearly realized his friend's ideal of the 
 poem as a work of art, and commissioned him to do what he would 
 with it, but especially to improve its euphony. 
 
 It is impossible to determine just what alterations Herder made 
 in the drama. He was not fully satisfied with it, and had, perhaps, 
 desired more radical changes than were made. Goethe had, as he 
 himself said, 5 rather paraphrased (umgefcfjrieben) than rewritten 
 (imtgeorbettet) the prose drama, but time and circumstances forbade 
 anything further. With such corrections as Herder saw fit to make, 
 it was sent to press and appeared in the 3d volume of Goethe's 
 28erfe, printed by Gbschen at Leipzig in 1787. 
 
 SOURCES OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 The apparent blending of the classical and the modern in 
 Goethe's ^pfjigenie cmf cmrt at once suggests the question of the 
 poet's relation to his sources. 
 
 His literary incentive as well as some of the most salient features 
 of his story he undeniably owes to the Euripidean tragedy of like 
 name, a fact that is shown by the following brief outline of its plot. 
 
 1 9BI. IV. 8lbt&. 8: 194. Ibid., 8: 108. 
 
 ' Cf. atalieniffte SReife, H. 145. 4 3551. IV . abt&. 8: K3 . ibid., 8: 175.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 In an opening monologue Euripides makes the priestess Iphige- 
 nia relate a dream of the preceding night, which she interprets as 
 portending the death of her brother Orestes, and accordingly she 
 withdraws and prepares to pay him funeral rites. In the next 
 scene it appears that Orestes, who enters with Pylades, has come 
 to Tauris at the command of Phrebus, having been promised release 
 from the pursuit of the furies if he brought the image of Artemis to 
 Athens. As the attempt seems impossible the two withdraw to 
 the caves along the sea-shore to await night-fall. Iphigenia returns 
 and is bewailing with the chorus her own wretched destiny and her 
 brother's death, when a herdsman enters and bids her prepare to 
 consecrate to the goddess two Greeks that have just been found 
 upon the shore. He relates the details of their capture and de- 
 scribes the frenzy of one of them under an attack of the Furies. 
 She orders them to be brought to her, but as she recalls the sacrifice 
 at Aulis in which she was the victim, she reproaches the goddess 
 for desiring human blood, and questions whether barbarian cruelty 
 has not imputed to the gods a baseness that seems to her incredible. 
 
 When the captives are brought in, Iphigenia orders their fetters 
 removed and then inquires about their parentage and native land. 
 Orestes at first refuses to answer, but at length, without telling his 
 name, mentions Mycenae as his birthplace. She then plies him 
 with questions about the heroes of the Trojan war, learns the fate 
 of her parents and that Orestes is still living. Accordingly she 
 proposes to send one of the prisoners with a message to him and to 
 sacrifice the other. Orestes insists that the letter must be given 
 to Pylades, and asks about his own impending death and burial 
 rites. While Iphigenia goes to fetch her letter, the two friends 
 express their surprise at her interest in the house of Agamemnon, 
 and then Pylades declares that he will die with Orestes. The 
 latter will not consent to this, but urges his return to Mycenae, to 
 pay for him due funeral rites and by a marriage with Electra to 
 perpetuate the royal family. Pylades consents and, when Iphige- 
 nia returns, takes an oath to deliver the letter ; but lest it be lost
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 by shipwreck, she also tells him its contents, and the recognition 
 of brother and sister is thus brought about. Orestes then tells ot 
 the oracle by which he had been sent to Tauris and asks his sister's 
 aid in carrying away the image of the goddess. She suggests the 
 plan of telling the king that the strangers have polluted the image, 
 and that, before the sacrifice may proceed, both it and the victims 
 must be purified by laving in the sea. She appeals to the chorus 
 not to betray her, and addresses a brief prayer to Artemis for pro- 
 tection. When the king comes to ask about the sacrifice, she 
 imposes upon his credulity, and taking the image, withdraws with 
 the captives to the sea-shore. A messenger soon arrives and makes 
 known the attempted flight, which Poseidon has hindered by a 
 tempest. But pursuit is interrupted by the appearance of Athena 
 who bids Thoas let the fugitives go, and instructs Orestes to take 
 the image to Athens, where Iphigenia shall continue to exercise her 
 priestly office. 
 
 From this analysis it appears at once that Euripides not only 
 supplied Goethe with the general subject of his drama, Iphige- 
 nia's return to Greece and the release of Orestes from the curse that 
 rested upon his race, but that, excepting the r61e of Arkas, 
 Goethe has the same characters and scene, and as far as his differ- 
 ent purpose permitted has used the same motives. Thus directly 
 suggested by Euripides are the arrival of Orestes and Pylades at 
 Tauris in obedience to the oracle of Apollo ; their capture on the 
 sea-shore ; Orestes' frenzy ; his generous desire to save his friend 
 even at the cost of his own life ; questions leading toward recogni- 
 tion ; Iphigenia's feeling that men attribute their own cruel desires 
 to the gods ; her prayer to Diana for rescue ; and finally the story 
 with which it is proposed to deceive the king. 
 
 Goethe's dramatic solution, however, is totally unlike that of 
 Euripides, for instead of an external solution effected by a deus ex 
 machtna, he has introduced the psychological motive of Iphigenia's 
 unwillingness to deceive the king. This motive he has worked out 
 in a manner at once original and in accord with the philosophical
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 spirit of his age, though unquestionably he owes its suggestion, as 
 Scherer pointed out, to the Sophoclean tragedy of Philoctetes. 
 That drama deals with the plot of Odysseus to get from Philoctetes 
 the never-failing bow of Hercules. On the Trojan expedition 
 Philoctetes had been punished for violating the shrine of Chryse, 
 by a serpent bite in his foot, and because of his cries of anguish and 
 his noisome wound, his comrades had abandoned him at Lemnos. 
 After the siege of Troy had lasted ten years, the oracle declared 
 that the city might be taken by Neoptolemus, but only if armed 
 with the bow of Hercules. The action of the drama, therefore, 
 begins with the arrival of Odysseus and Neoptolemus at Lemnos to 
 obtain the bow. Neoptolemus reluctantly consents to a falsehood 
 devised by Odysseus, and gaining the confidence of Philoctetes by 
 feigning that he has deserted the Greek cause, he promises to take 
 him to his home. When about to embark, Philoctetes is overcome 
 by a paroxysm of pain caused by his wound, and intrusts his bow 
 to the youth. The sight of his agony, however, recalls Neopto- 
 lemus to his better self, and when Philoctetes regains consciousness, 
 he confesses the intended treachery, and afterward, in spite of the 
 protests of Odysseus, not only surrenders the bow, but when 
 Philoctetes will not be persuaded to accompany him to Troy, pre- 
 pares to redeem his perfidious pledge, and take him to his home. 
 At this juncture Hercules, descending from the sky, cuts the 
 dramatic knot by commanding Philoctetes to go to Troy, where 
 he promises that his disease shall be cured, and that, with the aid 
 of Neoptolemus, he shall sack the city. 
 
 The resemblance between the spirit of absolute truthfulness, 
 manifested by Neoptolemus, and by Iphigenia, is at once evident, 
 and that this is not accidental is shown by the close correspondence 
 in details. In both dramas the deception is undertaken from 
 praiseworthy motives : Neoptolemus hoping to achieve renown for 
 himself and to end the war for his countrymen ; Iphigenia desiring 
 to return home and to atone for the crimes of her race. Each 
 repeats a story devised by another in which elements of truth are
 
 Xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 combined with falsehood. In uttering the lie each is conscious that 
 the action violates his own inner nature, and with each it is also an 
 impulse from without that makes deception impossible. The sight 
 of Philoctetes' suffering recalls Neoptolemus to his true self and 
 Arkas reminds Iphigenia of the gratitude she owes the king. Finally 
 by acknowledging the truth each renounces his most cherished 
 hopes and exposes himself to extreme danger. In several of these 
 instances of similarity in thought, Goethe's expression at once re- 
 calls 1 to the reader the verses of Sophocles. It must, however, 
 be noted that in Sophocles the hero's truthfulness does not de- 
 termine the issue while in Q^igente it depends upon it. 
 
 The study of Goethe's sources, however, includes more than the 
 combination of the Euripidean story with the truth-motive in 
 Philoctetes. The two supplied the general outline, but many 
 additions and modifications are to be referred partly to classical 
 and partly to modern sources. To the former belongs the recital 
 of the crimes entailed in the House of Pelops by the hereditary 
 curse. The portion of this story told by Iphigenia to the king is 
 based on the fables of Hyginus. This is shown by the fact that 
 from no other source could Goethe have taken the names, used in 
 earlier versions of the drama, of Chrysippus, the son of Pelops, 
 whom his brothers murdered, and of Plisthenes, the son of Atreus, 
 whom Thyestes stole. Further, all the circumstances of the feud 
 between Atreus and Thyestes agree with the details given by 
 Hyginus, except the passage, introduced into the final version, 
 describing Thyestes' apprehension concerning his sons. That 
 was imitated from the Thyestes of Seneca. 8 
 
 In the remainder of the story, which is told either by Pylades or 
 by Orestes, many details are to be referred to the Electra of Sopho- 
 cles or to Euripides' tragedy of the same name. Both of these 
 agree in representing the murder of Agamemnon as Clytemnestra's 
 revenge for the sacrifice of Iphigenia, and both describe the fatal 
 
 i Xitffttle iiber Ooetfte. 172. * Cf. notes.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xvii 
 
 blow as struck by ^Egisthus. The passage in which Orestes tells 
 of his mother's appeal for mercy is probably based upon Euripides, 
 and certainly to his suggestion is due the mention of the blood- 
 stains still showing on the floor and the scar between Orestes' 
 eye-brows. The reference to Electra's wretched lot and to her 
 share in urging Orestes on, though described by Euripides, is more 
 in the spirit of Sophocles, and he alone speaks of Orestes' rescue 
 by his sister on the day of Agamemnon's murder. His influence 
 is also especially shown in the description of the arrival of Orestes 
 and Pylades at Mycenae, as though bringing news of Orestes' death 
 together with his ashes. 
 
 It now remains to consider the elements in the drama that must 
 be referred to modern sources. Such are the king's suit for Iphi- 
 genia, the greater prominence of the Orestes-Pylades scenes, the 
 method of bringing about the recognition and many of the details 
 in the frenzy scene. The first of these has usually been referred 
 directly to the influence of Racine's sketch of an Iphigtnie en Tau- 
 ride, in which the king's son seeks the hand of the priestess, and 
 from which the name of Arkas was borrowed. Morsch has how- 
 ever traced * the motive directly to Lagrange, who makes the king 
 himself the suitor. Goethe follows him not only in the general 
 motive, but in Iphigenia's objection that the Gods do not approve 
 of such a union, as well as the plea that her life is devoted to the 
 goddess and that too great an honor is shown to the unknown 
 stranger. 
 
 For the additions that Goethe has made to the dialogue between 
 Orestes and Pylades, various sources have been suggested. Seuf- 
 fert, who claims 2 that the $pi)igente was written not indeed in the 
 style, but in the spirit, of Wieland's Sllcefte, connects the dialogue 
 between Stbmet and ercu!e<S with that between the two friends. 
 Morsch points out the similarity between the scene and one in' 
 
 i ierteljo&rfcf>rift fur Siteroturgefdjicfcte. 
 * 3eitf$rift fur beutfdjeS aite
 
 xv iii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Cotter's etectra, a drama based on Voltaire's Oreste, and also calls 
 attention to similar elements in J. E. SchlegePs Oreft Uttb JJl)tabe. 
 Goethe certainly knew all three of these dramas, and as his pur- 
 pose demanded a fuller treatment than Euripides gives, it was 
 perfectly natural that he should, more or less consciously, borrow 
 from them . The specific elements that he has taken from each it 
 is not easy to characterize except in detail. In a collocation of the 
 passages in question his indebtedness is clearly shown by the simi- 
 larity in diction. In general Wieland seems to have suggested 
 some phases of Orestes' despair and Pylades' encouragement ; the 
 tender solicitude of the latter for the former is rather due to 
 Cotter, and from Schlegel is taken almost literally Orestes' first 
 speech concerning Phoebus' fulfillment of his oracle. The advice 
 of Pylades to conceal their identity and the motive of an invented 
 story of their origin is also due to his influence. 
 
 In the recognition scene Cotter's influence upon Goethe is 
 especially marked. With both poets fraternal love intuitively 
 asserting itself is an important element in bringing about the recog- 
 nition. After Orestes in Goethe's drama, out of reverence for the 
 pure soul of the priestess, discloses his own identity, the situation 
 is similar, with the roles reversed, to that in Cotter's tragedy, 
 where Orestes knows Electra, but is himself unknown. Iphigenia's 
 inmost being is attracted to her brother, and this feeling is her 
 surety that she has not been deceived or imposed upon. In a 
 similar way Electra, attempting to execute vengeance upon Orestes, 
 whom she supposes to be the murderer of her brother, is not only 
 unable to lift the sword against him, but is involuntarily attracted 
 to him. With Goethe's Orestes fraternal affection gradually 
 asserts itself and enables him to comprehend the disclosure that 
 Iphigenia is attempting to make ; with Cotter, though commanded 
 by the oracle not to reveal himself, he is unable to resist the in- 
 fluence of his sister's presence and betrays himself. Cotter's 
 influence is also shown in various details of the frenzy scene that 
 follows the recognition. The lines just before Orestes sinks
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 down in unconsciousness find close parallels in Cotter, and further- 
 more, while the frenzied notion of being in Hades is Greek, the 
 idea of meeting and addressing there the spirits of the departed 
 heroes of his own house is an idea that Goethe probably owes to 
 him. The motive was a development in French tragedy of the 
 Homeric idea ; Gotter took it from his sources, and that Goethe 
 was influenced by him rather than by his originals seems probable 
 from the common allusion to Tantalus. Goethe's development of 
 the scene, however, into a soothing and peaceful vision is in 
 marked contrast not only to Gotter, but to his sources, in which it 
 is one of extreme horror. A hint for it, as well as the allusion to 
 Lethe, is perhaps to be referred to Wieland's 2llcefte, but the poet 
 is certainly very original in making this the prelude of Orestes' 
 complete recovery. 
 
 Finally it may be remarked that beside the motives already 
 mentioned, which have to do with the development of the drama, 
 closer analysis shows many lines and passages that evidently owe 
 their form to reminiscences of the poet's reading. These, of course, 
 can only be treated singly, and are frequently cited in the commen- 
 tary. The diction of the poem also was distinctly influenced by 
 classical sources. In fact at the time that Goethe completed the 
 drama his mind was so imbued with the spirit of classical antiquity 
 that it found natural expression in the phrase of the tragic poets 
 and of Homer. 
 
 CRITICAL STUDY OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 The central thought in the drama is Iphigenia's return to ex- 
 piate the guilt of her race. 
 
 The goddess Diana, after saving Iphigenia from sacrifice at Aulis, 
 had kept her for many years in the Taurian temple. As she re- 
 flected there upon the divine intention in thus saving her from the 
 hereditary curse that rested upon her family, her mind became 
 possessed with a deep belief in its beneficence, which her filial de-
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 votion, influenced by the associations of her priestly office, led her 
 to interpret as a gracious purpose of atonement to be accomplished 
 through her. From the longing expression of loneliness and exile 
 in the opening monologue to the full realization of her hope in the 
 last scene, that thought runs through the whole drama, giving unity 
 to its action, and explaining the development of thought and feeling 
 that Goethe called the inner life of the piece. 
 
 It explains, in the first place, Iphigenia's gloom and reserve 
 toward the Taurian people. Her silence concerning her origin was 
 due to her fear of being either driven from her asylum or of finding 
 herself bound there. She had simply to await the divinely ap- 
 pointed hour, and in the sadness of hope deferred, she gloomily- 
 regarded her life, in spite of its beneficent influence, as thwarted by 
 an alien curse ; at the same time she dreaded the king's suit, because 
 it threatened the aspirations she despaired of realizing. When, 
 however, Thoas assures her of his further protection and promises 
 to make no demands upon her, if she can hope for return, she 
 discloses her descent from the house of Tantalus. By the recital 
 of the crimes of her ancestors she seeks to repel him, and failing 
 in that, pleads her consecration to the goddess and her longing for 
 her kindred. In all this the king sees only evasion and caprice, 
 and in his anger, no longer restrained by her influence, orders the 
 renewal of human sacrifice. The dramatic conflict is thus pre- 
 cipitated. Obedience, even more than union with the king, 
 would be fatal to her hopes, for shedding human blood would 
 involve Iphigenia herself in the curse of her race. 
 
 There seems to be no alternative, but with unshaken faith in the 
 beneficence of the gods, she implores Diana, who saved and has 
 kept her so long, to vouchsafe her further protection and to keep 
 her hands from blood. The first act thus ends in the utmost sus- 
 pense. 
 
 With the appearance of Orestes and Pylades, the possibility of 
 some solution is at once suggested. But before Orestes can be- 
 come the agent of its accomplishment, his own despair and guilty
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 frenzy must give place to a healthful mental and spiritual condition. 
 Such a change can be wrought only by some power outside himself, 
 and as Pylades is unable to bring this about, Iphigenia's influence 
 is alone left as a means of restoring him to himself. With the 
 tidings of her father's death it is also evident that her only hope 
 must depend on her brother. Thus their dependence upon each 
 other is mutual and becomes an essential part in the unity of the 
 drama. 
 
 Under such conditions the two meet as strangers. Iphigenia 
 asks for confirmation of Agamemnon's death and then anxiously 
 inquires about Orestes. Her joy that he is living is cut short by 
 the narrative of her mother's murder, but keenly as she feels the 
 horror of that crime, the fate of her unhappy brother, upon which 
 her own future so closely depends, is her deepest concern. The 
 gracious influence of her presence had moved him to the confes- 
 sion of his crime, and her sympathy now makes him acknowledge 
 his identity. 
 
 Iphigenia's first thought at his disclosure is one of gratitude to 
 the gods that the way has been prepared so signally for the realiza- 
 tion of her long-cherished hope, and then, with a fervent prayer 
 for its complete accomplishment, she seeks to make herself known 
 to him . His despair and remorse is, however, so absorbing that he 
 only gradually grasps the idea that the priestess is his sister, and 
 with its fuller comprehension he is completely overcome, with 
 frenzy at the horror of the situation. At the same time his soul 
 responds to the deep impression of her purity and love going out 
 in tenderness and sympathy to him in his guilt, and because she 
 can still believe in him and love him, instead of avenging upon 
 him his crime, he believes in himself again. This the poet has 
 shown in Orestes' peaceful vision of the feuds of his race reconciled in 
 Hades. On regaining consciousness, the idea of Iphigenia's love 
 making atonement for, and expiating his guilt, takes full possession 
 of him. Through her personality his soul-attitude is readjusted; 
 he is regenerated, converted. Inexplicable to the discursive in-
 
 xx j| INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tellect, the spiritual process is the same that so fully informs 
 Browning's poetry ;' it is essentially the Christian's conception of a 
 life quickened by the Personality of Christ. In this sense* Goethe's 
 poem is pre-eminently a Christian poem. 
 
 With her brother's restoration, Iphigenia's first impulse is flight, 
 and under the stress of circumstances she assents to Pylades' plan 
 of deception. Upon reflection, however, her moral sense reasserts 
 itself. Not only the burden of the intended falsehood weighs upon 
 her, but after her interview with Arkas, though unshaken in her 
 rejection of the king's suit, she realizes the ingratitude of her in- 
 tended action. In the following scene with Pylades, the moral free- 
 dom and purity of her nature is brought into contrast with its 
 exact opposite in the form of external necessity. She is rather 
 constrained than convinced by him, and at his withdrawal despair 
 seizes her. In the moment when the realization of hej hope had 
 seemed assured, inexorable necessity interposes and threatens to 
 involve her, through the violation of her own conscience, in the very 
 curse she would expiate. Her belief in the wise and gentle good- 
 ness of the gods is shaken; the defiant spirit "of her 'Titan race is 
 stirred, and though she fervently prays not to be swayed by it, still 
 in this mood the song of the Parcae recurs to her mind and affords 
 her gloom and distraction fitting expression. 
 
 Her conduct towards Arkas caused Thoas to suspect that she 
 was planning to flee with the captives, and accordingly he demands 
 the reason for delaying the sacrifice. With the strength of moral 
 conviction, she reproaches him with his intended cruelty and his 
 arbitrary conduct, exposes his subterfuge in appealing to the law, 
 pleads the sympathy roused by the memory of her own similar 
 fate and urges the unworthiness of a triumph over the weakness of 
 .her sex. At every point she answers his objections, but is pressed 
 herself to the renunciation of every personal and selfish considera- 
 tion and brought face to face with the moral issue alone. There 
 
 1 Cf. Corson, Introduction to Browning, 53 ff. 
 Cf. Julian Schmidt. (Soet^e Sa&rbu$, 2 : 61.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 is no further appeal to be made. Deception is not only precluded 
 by the king's watchfulness, but the idea is so alien to her own spiritual 
 nature that it only recurs to her mind again to be impulsively and 
 finally rejected. Her soul vindicates itself and decides the struggle 
 with evil that had threatened to overwhelm her; a moment of 
 reflection, a brief prayer to the gods, and she answers directly 
 and fully the king's question regarding the identity of the captives, 
 and puts into his hand their fate and her own. His angry incred- 
 ulity is overcome by her emotion, and his nobler nature responds 
 to her appeal to his generosity. Orestes' manly bearing and Iphi- 
 genia's proofs of his identity fully convince him, while the true 
 interpretation of the oracle makes an appeal to arms unnecessary. 
 A final urgent and pathetic entreaty, and the king's love for her 
 asserts itself above the claims of personal selfishness and desire, 
 and with a brief kindly farewell he permits Iphigenia with Orestes 
 to return to her native land. 
 
 With this central thought of self-renunciation and of moral re- 
 generation, accomplished through the personality of Iphigenia in 
 mind, it is interesting to ask whether here, as in so many of his 
 works, Goethe intended the drama to be typical of, and to embody 
 the experiences of his own life. The answer is undeniably in the 
 affirmative . 
 
 Goethe went to Weimar late in the autumn of 1775, after a year 
 that he characterized * in retrospect as the most distracted and per- 
 plexed in his life. The cause of this was his love for Lili Schb'ne- 
 mann, perhaps the sincerest attachment that he ever formed and 
 the one that, according to his own statement, influenced him most 
 deeply. In his old age, at least, he spoke 2 of her as the first and 
 last whom he had deeply and truly loved and of his career in 
 Weimar as the immediate consequence of his relation to her. 
 Goethe met her early in January, 1775, was soon deeply infatuated 
 and in April was formally betrothed to her. But though Lili re- 
 
 i SBf. IV. bt$. 2: 302. 2 Eckermann. <3efprS$e, 5. TOarj 1830.
 
 Xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 turned his love, her calmer disposition did not satisfy the passionate 
 jealousy of his nature ; his own eccentric conduct and the oppo- 
 sition of both families further contributed to strain their relations. 
 But more particularly Goethe's own unwillingness to limit himself 
 to the practice of his profession, and in the tread-mill of daily work 
 and family care to sacrifice all his ideal aims and poetic aspirations, 
 led to the parting of the lovers. The conflict in Goethe's mind 
 was a long and severe one. He felt himself innocently involved 
 in such circumstances that any course of action must do violence 
 to cherished feelings, yet forced to act; an Orestes situation. 
 Indeed that he thus defined it to himself is shown by his letter 
 written 1 to Frau Karsch, after returning from Switzerland in the 
 summer of 1775, in which, alluding to his state of mind, he said, 
 " Perhaps the unseen scourge of the Eumenides will soon drive me 
 again out of my fatherland." 
 
 His mental unrest is also shown most clearly, as well as his need 
 of the soothing influence of sympathetic friendship, in his corre- 
 spondence at this time with the Countess of Stolberg. An enthu- 
 siastic admirer of 28ertf)er, she had written him an anonymous 
 letter, and this unknown friend, whose identity, however, he soon 
 discovered, Goethe at once made the confidant of all his conflicting 
 emotions. His departure for Weimar ended his struggle and broke 
 his betrothal with Lili, but the memory 8 of it, with all its pain, 
 was still fresh and keen in mind when his Weimar career began. 
 
 One of the first ladies that Goethe met in the court circles was 
 Frau von Stein. In her he found a woman capable of entering 
 fully into his best thoughts, able and willing to aid him with 
 sympathy and advice. Acquaintance quickly grew into intimacy 
 and soon she became to him what Lili and Augusta Stolberg together 
 had been, the object of his passionate love and his closest con- 
 fidant. In January the series of missives and letters was begun in 
 which, for the next ten years, are recorded not only the trivial 
 
 1 2BI. IV. 9lbty. 2 : 282. 2 Cf. Sin fiili, Wk. 4 : 204.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 details of daily intercourse, but the author's thoughts on the highest 
 problems of conduct and philosophy, and his poetic aspirations 
 and achievements. Goethe's love for Frau von Stein, at first im- 
 petuous and stormy, gradually gave place to calm affection and rever- 
 ence. In-his letters he calls her his " best angel " and his soother " 
 and " comforter." It was she who "infused composure into his hot 
 blood," directed his wandering course and gave him rest ; and in the 
 same poem ' that expresses this thought, he speaks of her relation to 
 him in some former existence as his " sister." Thus, as Orestes 
 found help and rescue and joy in Iphigenia's arms, so, like a mission 
 of peace, Frau von Stein came into Goethe's life, taught him the 
 lesson of self-renunciation, and became the inspiration of much of 
 his best work. In S)ie efdjttrifter, in Slpenor and in Xaffo, as well 
 as in the character of Natalie in SStlfyelm SJZeifter, her influence is 
 vital, and in ^ptjigenie Goethe regarded the relation cf the heroine 
 to Orestes as typical of his own relation to Frau von Stein. 
 
 Various bits of external evidence go to show that this was the 
 case. Tischbein, one of Goethe's artist friends at Rome, made 
 several sketches illustrating the recognition scene in the drama, one 
 of which he gave to Frederika Brun, because she saw that the figure 
 ot Orestes was almost a portrait 2 of Goethe. The poet had read the 
 3pf)tgeme to Tischbein, and one of his letters 3 expresses astonish- 
 ment at the unusual and original way in which the artist viewed 
 the piece and set forth the circumstances of its composition, and 
 especially at his clear perception of the human element under the 
 heroic mask. In a note on this, Erich Schmidt remarks 4 that that 
 sets Goethe's seal on the idea that he was himself the model for 
 Orestes. Especially interesting too, as almost direct admission of 
 the influence of Frau von Stein, is a passage in a letter to her on the 
 day that the manuscript was sent to Weimar, " O that you may 
 feel," he wrote, 5 " how many thoughts have gone back and forth to 
 
 i Wk. 4 : 97. * Ci. Otb.e 5 3ab,rbu$, 9: 222. 281. IV. Slbtb,. 8; 94. 
 1 S^rtften ber ffloetb.e0efeafc&.aft, 2 : 413. mi. III. flbtb,. 8: 132.
 
 xxv j INTRODUCTION. 
 
 you till the piece stood thus." Finally among the references made 
 to the drama by the poet in his old age is an allusion ' to the days 
 when he felt it all, and his statement 2 that it affords only a dim 
 reflection of the life that stirred within him at the time of its com- 
 position. 
 
 But the drama is more than the embodiment of Goethe's relation 
 to Frau von Stein and of his achievement of spiritual composure 
 through her influence. It is broader than any personal relationship. 
 In his later years, Goethe himself in the little poem to the actor 
 Krliger summed up its import in the lines, 
 
 8 " For each human fault and failure 
 Pure humanity atones," 
 
 and this perhaps is the most adequate characterization of the work. 
 The subject has been much and variously discussed. Wieland 
 called 4 the drama an ancient Greek piece, while Schiller regarded 5 
 it as astonishingly non-Greek and modern ; more recent critics have 
 been equally divided in their opinions. But such difference de- 
 pends, in each case, upon the standpoint of the individual critic. 
 The conscious imitation of Greek tragedy in its literary form and its 
 diction, as well as its subject-matter, make Wieland's opinion plau- 
 sible. On the other hand, the essentially modern and psychological, 
 not to say Christian, solution of the dramatic conflict is in such 
 sharp contrast with the purely external solution, that characterizes 
 the Greek tragedies dealing with similar problems, and especially 
 with the deus ex machina of its Greek counterpart, that Schiller's 
 opinion does not seem unfounded. 
 
 In point of fact, however, the work should be viewed neither from 
 the Greek nor from the modern standpoint, but from that of the 
 Renaissance. As Hettner points out, the drama realizes that blend- 
 ing of the classical and the modern that was the ideal of that move- 
 
 1 SBriefioe^fel jro. oetlje unb gelter, 4 : 287. 2 Eckermann, efprttdje, 3 : 95. 
 s ,,9lHe menf$Ii$e <3ebre$en 
 
 SU^net reine 2Renf$li$teit," Wk. 4 : 277. 
 * SKerfur, Sept. 1787. Cited by Hettner. Sriefroerfjfel tnit Corner.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXvii 
 
 ment, or as a more recent critic puts the same idea, the work is hu- 
 mane in the sense in which the Humanists first used the word. Like 
 Lessing's 9?atf)an ber SSeife, its ideals are not those of Greece or of 
 Germany, or of any nationality or time, but rather the realization of 
 the highest and noblest aspirations of mankind in all lands and 
 tongues, and as such it deserves a place among those few chosen 
 works that make up the poetic heritage of all ages. 
 
 THE METER. 
 
 Some consideration of the meter of the drama is interesting, partly 
 because its use of iambic pentameter is one of the first instances of 
 the employment in a German masterpiece of what has since become 
 the standard measure in dramatic poetry, partly because of the diffi- 
 culty it occasioned the poet. 
 
 Before 1765 iambic pentameter as used by Gleim, Klopstock and 
 Weisse, under English influence, seemed about to become the stand- 
 ard tragic verse. Goethe himself seems to have made some at- 
 tempts to use the measure in a drama SBalfajar, that he afterward 
 destroyed, but he went back to the Alexandrine verse and to prose, 
 and though Herder appreciated the merits and advantages of the 
 pentameter, it was not till the publication of 9?atf)an ber SSetfe that 
 it was used in any important work. That marked its general intro- 
 duction. But the contrast between Lessing's verse and Goethe's is 
 striking. With Lessing the unit is rather the sentence or the para- 
 graph than the single line. His verses are practically without caesu- 
 ral pause, the sense of meter and of content overleaping each other, 
 and both united only at the end of a passage. Goethe's verse, on 
 the other hand, Zarncke characterizes 1 as the "epic-lyric of the 
 Italian stanza." During his storm and stress period Goethe used 
 other meters, especially the doggerel rhyme of Hans Sachs, but with 
 the culture and repose of riper years he felt the need of metrical 
 
 tiber ben funffiifeigen 3ombu3 u. f. w.
 
 XXViii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 expression better suited to his mental temper. This was especially 
 the case with the gpljtgente. As already mentioned, his study of 
 Sophocles 1 Electra and the advice of Herder led him to undertake 
 the final revision of the drama in its present form, for he felt that 
 neither prose nor irregular meter afforded a fitting expression either 
 of the thought or of the spirit of the piece. 
 
 It seems at first remarkable that the change should have been so 
 difficult. In the poem gimenau, am 3. (September 1783, Goethe had 
 already written thoroughly good imbiac pentameters, but the dia- 
 logue involved difficulties, and also the rules of prosody were not 
 clearly understood ; a fact that, with Goethe's tendency to seek for 
 the informing principle in any department of study, was the source 
 of additional difficulty. In the gtoltenifdje 9tetfe ' he says that with- 
 out the aid of his friend Moritz he should not have been able to 
 accomplish the task. Perhaps this may be an exaggerated state- 
 ment of the fact, but still the aid of Moritz's book, SSerfud) etner 
 beur[cf)eit ^rofobie, was undoubtedly valuable. While not clearing up 
 the vexed question of the relation of quantity and accent, it made 
 possible an adaptation of classical rules to the conditions of verse 
 based upon accent. Moritz showed that the same monosyllable 
 may take the place of either a long or short syllable in Latin verse, 
 according to its position with regard to other words, not according 
 to its own essential nature. He further established a sort of pre- 
 cedence in the parts of speech, by which a given word, compared 
 with those of other classes, must take the place of a long or short 
 syllable, according to its relative position. Thus a verb receives 
 more stress, takes the place of a long syllable rather than an 
 interjection, and the latter rather than an article. It might be an 
 interesting question to determine how far this rule and how far 
 Goethe's poetic instinct and musical ear influenced the form of his 
 verse, but such is not the present purpose. However attained, 
 the versification in ^pfyigenie ^ s second only in splendor and 
 
 ' H. a 4 : 148.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXix 
 
 poetic quality to that in Saffo, and has never been surpassed by any 
 other German poet. Only occasionally does it depart from the regu- 
 larity of five iambic feet, though in the matter of a final unaccented 
 syllable the poet seems to have been guided entirely by convenience. 
 In the regular dialogue no rhymes occur, as is so frequently the case 
 in Schiller's later dramas. The verses that have six accents might, 
 in some instances, have been avoided, though the whole number is 
 not large, but ten in all (cf. 339, 593, 1010, 1037, 1118, 1244?, 
 1401, 1591, 1616, 1872). Several lines with less than five accents 
 occur, usually for the sake of poetic effect. Several such instances 
 are noted in the commentary (six lines with four accents, 387, 
 1055-56, 1516, 1795, 1836; one with three, 689; one with two, 
 1053 ; the last line in the drama with one, and 1081 with one and 
 an unaccented syllable, or an amphibrach. In 1060 two unaccented 
 syllables occur in the fourth foot, in 1889 in the third, and in 1944 
 in the second) . A verse is broken in the dialogue twenty-six times, 
 being an exception as compared with Lessing's usage, but each time 
 with good effect (compare especially, 1174). Besides these irregu- 
 larities, other measures are used in several passages, analyzed in each 
 instance in the notes. 
 
 Of the language it is scarely necessary to speak. The influence 
 of the poet's classical reading upon it has already been mentioned, 
 and numerous instances in which the imitation was evidently con- 
 scious are commented upon in the notes. Several similes, carried 
 out in the Homeric fashion, occur, but in general greater use of vivid 
 metaphor is made. Indeed the style may be called plastic, and the 
 clearness of the Italian sky and the greater definiteness of artistic 
 perception that the poet gained in Italy seem to have left their im- 
 print upon it. As the drama conforms in structure to the strict rules 
 of the classic poets, there is no attempt to adapt the dialogue to the 
 speaker, the style being uniformly exalted. Its serenity and com- 
 posure were a great disappointment to many of Goethe's friends, 
 particularly in Italy. They expected something more like @)oe{}t>0tt 
 Serltdjingen . But the drama reflects the author, and the poet of $$fo
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 genie had little in common with the spirit of his earlier work. As a 
 monument of his riper culture, its chaste and calm beauty is far from 
 all extravagance, and, though in no sense popular, it commands the 
 admiration and rewards the study of all who are able to appreciate 
 the classic in any department of art.
 
 auf Cilaurte.
 
 S^igenie. 
 
 :i)oa, $omg ber Sautter. 
 
 Oreft. 
 
 S5tanen XempeL
 
 rftcr Huftrttt. 
 
 in cure fatten, regc S&itofel 
 3De3 alien, fyeil'gen, bicfytbelaubten $atne, 
 SBie in ber ottin ftitteS gieiligtfyum 
 ret' icfy nodE) jetjt mit fcfyaubernbem efuljl, 
 2U toenn id^) fie jum erftenmal betrate, 
 Unb e getuo^nt fid^ nidfyt mein eift ^ier^er. 
 @o mancfyeS ^a^r betoaF>rt midp ^ier berborgen 
 (Sin ^o^er SSitte, bem icfy mid ergebe ; 
 2)od^ immer bin icfy, toie im erften, fremb. 
 )enn a4) micf) trennt ba SReer toon ben eliebten, 
 Unb an bem Ufer ftefy' id^ tange Xage 
 2)ag 2anb ber ried>en mit ber <Seele fuc^enb ; 
 Unb gegen meine eitfjer bringt bie 2Seffe 
 ftur bum^fe ^one braufenb mir fyeriiber. 
 SCBe^i bem, ber fern toon Item unb efd^toiftern 
 in einfam Seben fii^rt ! ^m jefyrt ber ram 
 ^)a ndd)fte lud toor feinen Sibben toeg, 
 ^fyttt fd^todrmen abindrt^ immer bie ebanfen 
 9^ad) feineS 3Sater fatten, too bie <5onne 
 3uerft ben immel toor if>m auffc^Io^, too 
 @id9 gjlitgeborne f^ielenb feft unb fefter 
 3Jlit fanften SSanben an einanber fnubften.
 
 4 Spljigenie auf auri. 
 
 3$ recite mtt ben ottern nic&.t; attein 
 2)er grauen $uftanb if* beHagenStoertl:). 
 
 5 BU au unb in bem $riege fyerrfcfyt ber Sftann 
 Unb in ber grembe toeifj er ficfy ju fyelfen. 
 2$n freuet ber 35eft^; i^n front ber ieg! 
 @in ei>renbotter ob ift t^m bereitet. 
 2Bie engsgebunben ift be SBeibeS liid ! 
 
 30 cfyon einem rau^en atten 511 ge^ord^en, 
 ^ft ^fli4>t itnb ^ro[t; toie elenb, toenn fie gar 
 6m feinblidj (Sd^idEfal in bie $erne treibt! 
 @o fyalt mi(^> SC^oag ^ier, ein ebler -Btann, 
 ^n ernften, ^eil'gen <5flat>enbanben feft. 
 
 35 D toie befcfyamt gefte^' \<fy, ba^ ic^) bir 
 gjiit ftittem 2Bibertoiaen biene, ottin, 
 2)ir meiner 3fJetterin ! 3Kein Seben foate 
 3u freiem SDienfte bir getoibmet fein. 
 
 tyab' ify ftet auf bid^ gefyofft unb ^offe 
 je^t auf bic^, 2)iana, bie bu micf), 
 $e$ gro^ten ^onige fcerftofjne ^oc^ter, 
 ^n beinen b^eil'gen fanften 2lrm genommen. 
 ^a, Stouter 3eu, n>enn bu ben ^o^> 
 2)en bu, bie ^oc^ter forbernb, angftigteft, 
 
 45 9Benn bu ben gottergleicfyen 2lgamemnon, 
 2)er bir fein 2iebfte jum Slltare brad^te, 
 SSon ^roja'S umgetoanbten 3Jiauern ru^ml 
 feinem SSaterlanb jurucE begleitet, 
 attin i^>m, leltren unb ben ofyn, 
 
 @o gib aucfy mic^ ben 3Keinen enblicfy toieber, 
 Unb rette mid^, bie bu bom ob errettet, 
 2ludfj bon bem 2eben ^ier, bem jtoeiten 3Tobe!
 
 (Srfier Slufjug. 3roeiter luftritt. 
 
 3 p I) i genie. 
 
 >er $onig fenbet rnify ^ter^er unb beut 
 55 >er Spdefterin 2)ianen rujj unb eil. 
 
 ift ber Stag, ba aurt feiner otttn 
 tuunberbare neue (Siege banlt. 
 eile toor bem $onig unb bem eer, 
 melben, ba^ er !ommt unb bajj e^ naft. 
 
 60 28ir finb bereit fie n)iirbig ju em^fangen, 
 Unb unfre ottin fiefyt tuittfommnem D^fer 
 mit nabenblicf entgegen. 
 
 D ftinb' id^> auc^ ben 33licf ber ^riefterin, 
 2)er toert^en, toielgeefyrten, beinen Slicf, 
 
 65 D, fyeil'ge ^ungfrau, Better, Ieudf)tenber, 
 Un aUen gute 3 e ^ en! %lofy bebetft 
 )er ram ge^eimniStiott bein ^nner[te; 
 33erge6en3 Barren h)ir fc^on ^af>re lang 
 Sluf ein bertraulid^ 2Bort au beiner 33ruft. 
 
 70 @o lang icfy bid^ an biefer tatte fenne, 
 
 3ft bie^ ber Slice, t>or bem \<fy immer fcfyaubre; 
 Unb h)ie mit tfenbanben bleibt bie (Seele 
 3n' ^nnerfte be SufenS bir gefc^miebet. 
 
 ie' ber SSertriebnen, ber SSertoaif'ten jiemt.
 
 cutf 
 
 75 cfyeinft bu bir fyier toertrieben unb toertoaif't? 
 
 3pb,igenie. 
 ann tm jum SBaterlanb bie grembe toerben? 
 
 2lr!as. 
 Unb bir ift fretnb ba SSaterlanb getoorben. 
 
 a tft', tuarum mein blutenb erj nid^t 
 ' ^n erfter ^ufl^nb, ba fi^> laum bie <5eele 
 
 80 3ln Sater, Gutter unb efd)lt)ifter banb; 
 35ie neuen cfyojjlinge, gefettt unb 
 58om ^u^ ber alten (Stdmme 
 3u bringen ftrebten; leiber fafjte ba 
 in frember ^Iud^> mid;) an unb trennte mid; 
 
 85 SSon ben eliebten, ri^ ba fd;one 33anb 
 3)iit earner $auft entgtoei. <Sie toar bai>in, 
 3)er ^ugenb befte greube, ba ebetfm 
 2)er erften ^^e. elbft gerettet, tear 
 ^d; nur ein fatten mir, unb frifd;e Suft 
 
 90 2)e$ 2eben blii^t in mir nid)t lr>ieber auf. 
 
 2Senn bu bid; fo ungliicflid; nennen hriKft, 
 <So barf id; bid; aud; too^l unbanfbar nennen. 
 
 ^abt ifjr jtetg.
 
 grfter ufug. 3eiter fcuftritt. 
 
 nicfyt ben reinen 2)anf, 
 Um beffentitntten man bie SSofyltfyat tfyut; 
 
 95 3)en frozen Site!, ber ein jufriebneS 2eben 
 Unb ein geneigteS $erj bem 2Birtfye jeigt. 
 2(13 bid? ein tief gefyeimnifcboHeS cfyioffal 
 SSor fo biel 3^ r *n biefem Stem^el brad^te, 
 ^am fyoa bit, al einer ottgegebnen, 
 
 ioo -JDtit ^rfurd^t unb mit ^teigung 511 begegnen, 
 Unb biefe lifer toarb bir ^olb unb freunbltdj, 
 2)a jebem ^remben fonft boU raufen tuar, 
 2BeiI niemanb unfer 5Rei$ bor bir betrat, 
 2)er an S)ianen ^eil'gen tufen nicfyt, 
 
 105 9?a$ altem Srauc^, ein blutig Dpfer, pel. 
 
 % p ^ i g e n i e. 
 
 ^rei airmen macfyt ba 2eben nid^t affein. 
 
 Seben ift'8 ba an ber fyeil'gen tatte, 
 einem fatten urn fein eigen rab, 
 3$ nur bertrauern mu^? Unb nenn' i$ ba 
 no @in frofylicfy felbftbetoufsteg 2eben, toenn 
 Unl jeber Xag, bergeben^ ^ingetrdumt, 
 3u jen en grauen agen borbereitet, 
 35ie an bem Ufer 2etfye' felbftbergeffenb, 
 >ie 2;rauerf$aar ber 2lbgefd^iebnen feiert? 
 115 (Sin unnii| 2eben ift ein fritter ^ob ; 
 
 ift bor aHen meinl. 
 
 2)en ebeln tolj, ba^ bit bir felbft nid)t g'niigeft, 
 $ bir, fo fe^r id) bi$ bebaure;
 
 8 ypln'genie cwf XouriS 
 
 @r rmtbet ben enufe be 2eben fcir, 
 
 120 3)u fyaft fyier nicfyts getfyan feit beiner 2lnftmfi:: 
 SSer fyat be3 $onig triiben inn erfyeitert? 
 2Ber fyat ben alien graufamen ebraucfy, 
 3)a^ am 3lltar 2)ianeng jeber grembe 
 etn Seben blutenb Ici^t, bon ^a^t u ^afe^ 
 
 125 3Jiit fanfter tiberrebung aufge^alten, 
 Unb bie efangnen bom gennffen ^ob 
 ^n' SSaterlanb fo oft juriirfgefc^tcf t ? 
 at nid^t 35iane, ftatt erjiirnt ju fein, 
 )ajj fie ber blut'gen alien Dbfer mangelt, 
 
 130 ein fanft ebet in reicfyem 3ap erljort? 
 Hmfcfytoebt mit fro^em ^luge ntd)t ber <ieg 
 2)a eer? unb eilt er nicfyt fogar borau? 
 Unb fufylt nid^t jeglic^er ein beffer 2oo, 
 (Seitbem ber ^bnig, ber un toeif unb tabfer 
 
 135 <5o long gefii^ret, nun firf> aud^ ber 9JiiIbe 
 ^n beiner egentoart erfreut unb un 
 SDe ftt;toeigenben el)orfamg ^flid^t erleid^tert? 
 )a3 nennft bu unnii^, toenn toon beinem SSefen 
 3luf 2;aufenbe ^erab ein Salfam traufelt? 
 
 140 SBenn bu bem 33olfe, bem ein ott bid;) bracfyte, 
 2)eg neuen lurfeS etc'ge Dueffe toirft, 
 Unb an bem untoirtfybaren ^obeg^Ufer 
 $em gremben eil unb 9iuc!fei)r jubereiteft? 
 
 3)ag SBenige berfc^)h)inbet leid^t bem Slicf, 
 145 2)er borhmrtS fief>t, h)ie btel nod) iibrig bleibt. 
 
 lobft bu ben, ber toa er tfyut nid^t
 
 grfter SUifsug. 3eiter Sluftritt. 
 
 tabelt ben, ber feine SEfyaten ftmgt. 
 
 SlrfaS. 
 
 ben, ber toafyren 2Bertfy ju ftolj nicfyt acfytet, 
 2Bie ben, ber fallen 2Bertfy ju eitel fyebt. 
 150 laub' mir unb fyor' auf eine 9Kanne 2Bort 7 
 2)er treu unb rebltcfy bir ergeben tft : 
 2Benn ^eut ber $onig mtt bir rebet, fo 
 Srleid;tr' if)m h)a er bir ju fagen benft. 
 
 . 
 
 2)u angfteft mid^ mit jebem guten -JBorte ; 
 155 Dft toic() i^> feinem Slntrag miii)fam au. 
 
 Sebenle toa bit ti>uft unb toa bir nii|t. 
 eitbem ber $onig feinen <5oi>n berloren, 
 SSertraut er tuenigen ber (Seinen tnefyr, 
 Unb biefen tuenigen nid^t mefyr h)ie fonft. 
 
 160 3Jii^gunftig fiefyt er jebeg @beln @oi>n 
 2113 feine ^eicf)e golger an, er fiircfytet 
 in einfam f)iilflo 2llter, ]a bietteid^t 
 58ertoegnen Slufftanb unb friifyjeit'gen ^ob. 
 2)er @c^ti)e fetjt in' Sfteben feinen SBorjug, 
 
 165 2lm toenigften ber ^onig. @r, ber nur 
 etoo^nt ift ju befel)len unb ju fyun, 
 $ennt niif)t bie 5lunft, toon toeitem ein ef!prdd^ 
 feiner 2lbficf)t langfam fein ju lenfen. 
 
 iE>m niii)t burd) ein ritcEfyaltenb 2Beigern, 
 
 170 ^Durd^ ein borfe^Iirf) SJli^berfte^en. e^> 
 efattig ii>m ben fyalben 2Beg entgegen.
 
 10 3pl)tgenie auf 
 
 ott io*> befc^leunigen toa mid} bebrotyt? 
 
 SCrfaS. 
 2BiHft bu fein SBerben eine SDrofyung nennen? 
 
 Stofyi genie. 
 63 tft bie fcfyrerflicfyfte bon affen mir. 
 
 SCfiat. 
 175 ib t^m fiir feine 9ieigung nitr Sertraun. 
 
 SBenn er bon gurd()t erft meine eele loft. 
 
 Krfa*. 
 
 2Barum berfd^toeigft bu beine ^erfunft i^m? 
 
 g e n e. 
 SBeil etner ^rieftertn e^etmnt^ jtetnt. 
 
 ig foffte nicfytS ef)eimm| fein; 
 180 Unb ob er'^ gleic^ nid^t forbert, fiifylt er' b 
 Unb fiif)lt el tief in feiner gro^en eele, 
 3)a^ bu forgfaltig bic^) bor i^m bertua^rft. 
 
 S^)^i genie. 
 9tctf)rt er SSerbru^ unb Unmuti> gegen mirf>? 
 
 @o fd^eint e faft. 3^^ fdptoeigt er aud) bon bir; 
 185 25o^> fyaben ^ingetoorfne 2Borte mid? 
 
 SBele^rt, bafj feine eele feft ben 2Btinf$ 
 rgriffen ^at bid? ju beft^en. 2a^,
 
 Srfter Stufeug. 3n>eiter Sluftritt. 11 
 
 D uberlafj ifyn nicfyt fid} felbft! bamit 
 $n feinem Sufen nicfyt ber ttntnutfy reifc 
 190 Unb bir ntfe^en bringe, bu ju fpat 
 
 2ln tneinen treuen ^atfy mit 9leue benfeft. 
 
 2Bie? innt ber ^onig, luaS fein ebler SJiann, 
 2)er jetnen ^atnen liebt unb bem 3Seref>rung 
 SDer ^tTnmlifd^en ben Sufen banbtget, 
 
 195 ^e ben!en foHte? innt er bom 2Htar 
 W\d) in fein Sctte mit etoalt ju jie^n? 
 (So ruf id? atte otter itnb bor atten 
 35ianen, bie entfd^Ioff'ne ottin, an, 
 2)ie ifyren <S<f)ii^ ber ^}riefterin getoi^ 
 
 200 Unb ^ungfrait einer ^ungfrau gern getoafyrt. 
 
 @ei ru^ig ! (Sin getoaltfam neite 33Iut 
 Streibt nic^t ben ^onig, fold^e ^iinglingStfyat 
 Sertoegen aujuiiben. 2Bie er finnt, 
 33efurc^t' id^ anbern f>arten cfylujj bon tym, 
 205 en unauffyaltbar er bottenben toirb : 
 >enn feine (Seel' ift feft unb unbetoeglicfy. 
 2)rum bitt' \fy bicfy, bertrau' i^m, fei ifym banfbar, 
 SSenn bu il>m toeiter nicf)t gen)df)ren fannft. 
 
 3 to fyi genie. 
 D fage h)a^ bir toeiter noc^ befannt ift. 
 
 Xr!a*. 
 
 io @rfa^>r' bon i^m. ^c^ fe^)' ben ^onig !ommen; 
 S)u e^rft i^n, unb bid? ^ei^t bein eigen erj, 
 ^^m freunblicfy unb bertraulid? ju begegnen.
 
 12 3pf)igenie auf auri. 
 
 @in ebler SJtann h)irb burdl) ein gitteS SBort 
 3)er $rauen toeit gefiifyrt. 
 
 (atlein). 
 gtoar feb,' id} nicfyt, 
 
 215 2Bte icfe, bem 9tat^ be 3:reuen folgen fott; 
 %)od) folg' tc^) gern ber $fli$t, bem ^onige 
 $iir feine 2Bo^)It^at guteS 2Bort ju geben, 
 Unb tDiinfd^e mir, bajj td^ bem SJtad^tigen, 
 ifym gefaHt, mit 2Ba^r^ett fagen moge. 
 
 Dritter 2tuftritt. 
 
 ene. 
 
 220 gjiit fonigUcfyen iitern fegne bid^ 
 2)ie ottin! @ie getoa^re ieg unb 
 Unb 9leicti>um unb ba SBo^I ber 2)einigen 
 Unb jebe fromnten 2Bunfd)e ^iitte bit ! 
 3)0$, ber bu iiber biele forgenb ^errfdfieft, 
 
 225 u auc^ toor totelen feltneg liic! genie^eft. 
 
 3ufrieben tear' id;> toenn tnein SSoII mid9 ru^mte 
 2Ba icfy ertoarb, gente^en anbre me^r 
 3118 icb,. er ift am glucflicfyften, er fei 
 @in ^onig ober ein eringer, bem 
 23 3> n feinem aufe SSob,! bereitet ift. 
 
 S)u nab,meft ^^eil an meinen iiefen d^merjen, 
 2112 mir ba 6d^toert ber geinbe meinen (Soljn,
 
 (Srfter Slufjug. fritter Suftritt. 13 
 
 2) en letjten, beften, toon ber <5eite rifj. 
 
 <So lang bie 9tad;e meinen eift befafj, 
 235 mpfanb id; nid)t bte Dbe meiner 28ol)nung; 
 
 2)od) jefct, ba id) befriebtgt toieberfe^re, 
 
 ^f>r 9tetd^ jer[tbrt, metn <So^n gerod)en tft, 
 
 Sletbt mtr ju aufe nid;t ba mid) erge^e. 
 
 2)er frij^lid^e efyorfam, ben id) fonft 
 240 9lu einem jeben 3luge blid 5 en fafy, 
 
 3ft nun toon org' unb Unmut^ ftitt gebdm^ft. 
 
 @in jeber finnt toa funftig trerben toirb, 
 
 Unb folgt bem ^inberlofen, toeil er mu^. 
 
 9iun lomm' id) fyeut in biefen Stem^el, ben 
 245 3$ oft betrat, um <Sieg jit bitten unb 
 
 $iir <Sieg ju banfen. @inen alien 2Bunfd) 
 ' id; im 33ufen, ber aud) bir nid)t fremb 
 unertoartet tft: id) fyoffe, bid;, 
 
 3um (Segen tneine 23olf unb mir jum <3egen, 
 250 21I 33raut in meine 2Bol)nung einjufii^ren. 
 
 2)er Unbelannten bieteft bu ju toiel, 
 D $onig, an. ftei)t bie gliid)tige 
 Befd)amt bor bir, bte nid)t an biefem Ufer 
 unb 9lu^e fud;t, bie bu ifyr gabft. 
 
 255 2)af$ bu in ba e^eimni^ beiner Slnlunft 
 SSor mir toie bor bem Se^ten ftet bid; fyittteft, 
 2Bar' unter feinem 3SoI!e red;t unb gut. 
 ie^ Ufer fd)rerft bie gremben : ba efe^ 
 ebietet'S unb bie 3^ot^. 2lIIein bon bir, 
 frommen 3fted;t^ genie^t, etn
 
 14 3^tgeme auf auri8. 
 
 58on ung embfangner aft, nad? eignem inn 
 Unb 2BiHen ifyreg Staged fid) erfreut, 
 SSon bir i>offt' id) Sertrauen, bag ber SBirt^ 
 ftiir feine 2:reue tbobl ertbarten barf. 
 
 265 25erbarg i^ meiner Item 3fiamen unb 
 3Kcin au, o ^onig, toar'S SBerlegen^ett, 
 SRidjt ^Jii^traun. 5Denn bieUei^t, ad^ toiifeteft bu 
 233er toor bir ftefyt, unb toeld^ berlrunfd^teg 
 $11 ntifyrft unb fc^u|eft, ein @ntfe$en fa^te 
 
 270 3)cin gropes $erj mtt feltnem S^auer an, 
 Unb ftatt bie eite beine fyrone mir 
 3u bteten, triebeft bu mid) bor ber 3 e it 
 2lu beinem 9let(^e; ftie^eft mid^ bieUeicfyi, 
 @^>' ju ben 3)ieinen frofye 9tiid!fe^r mir 
 
 275 Unb meiner SBanbrung @nbe jugebad^t ift, 
 Sent @Ienb ju, ba jeben cfyhmfenben, 
 3Son feinem au SSertriebnen iiberatt 
 SJiit falter frember d^recfeng^anb ertoartet. 
 
 2Ba aud? ber ftatlj ber otter mit bir fei, 
 280 Unb toa fie beinem au unb bir gebenfen; 
 o fefylt e bod?, feitbem bu bei un h)ob,nft 
 Unb eine frommen afte 3fied)t genie^eft, 
 Sin egen nicfyt, ber mir bon oben lommt. 
 ^d? mod^te fdjtoer ju uberreben fein, 
 285 S)afj id) an bir ein fdjwlbbotf aubt befd^u^e. 
 
 2)ir bringt bie 2Bob,It^at egen, nid?t ber aft.
 
 Srfier 2luf$ug. fritter Stuftritt. 15 
 
 ty o a . 
 
 man 33errucfyten tljut toirb ntcfyt gefegnet. 
 2)rum enbige bein (Sdjweigen unb bein SBeigern; 
 ( forbert biejj fein ungerecfyter 2Jtann. 
 290 !>te ottin iibergab bid^ metnen dnben; 
 2Bie bu i^r fyetlig toarft, fo toarft bu'g mir. 
 ei i^r 2Bin! nocfy fiinftig mein efe|: 
 bu nacfy aufe 9lud!e^r ^offen fannft, 
 @o fprec^)' id^ bid() toon atter ^orbrung Io. 
 395 2)odj ift ber SBeg auf ehrig bir toerf^errt, 
 Unb ift bein tamm bertrieben, ober burc^ 
 @in unge^eure^ Unveil augelofd9t, 
 @o bift bu mein burcfy me^r al (Sin efe^. 
 @^rid^ offen! unb bu toeijjt, id ^>alte 2Bort. 
 
 %$ \}i genie. 
 300 3Som alien SBanbe lofet ungern ficfy 
 
 ^^/ e ^ n I fln 9 berfdf)h)iegene 
 enblid^ ju entbecfen; benn 
 inmal bertraut, berla^t e o^ne Sfludffe^r 
 2)e tiefen erjen3 fid^re 9BoE>nung, fc^abet, 
 305 2Bie e bie otter hjoffen, ober nii|t. 
 
 3Sernimm! id^ bin au tantalus efd^Ied^t. 
 
 ein gro^eg 2Sort gelajfen au. 
 5?ennft bu 35en beinen ^nfyerrn, ben bie 2SeIt 
 2118 einen efymalS ocf)begnabigten 
 310 ^Der otter fennt? 3ft '8 jener 
 
 3)en ^u^iter ju 3tatf> unb afel jog, 
 2ln beffen alterfa^rnen, bielen inn
 
 16 3pi)igente aitf 
 
 33erfnityfenben efyradjen otter felbft, 
 2Bie an Drafelffcrucfyen, fidj> erge^ten? 
 
 315 @r ift es; aber fitter fottten nidjt 
 
 3Jitt 9Jtenfd)en, tme mit ifyreg leicfyen, toanbeln; 
 
 2)a fterblicfye efd^Iec^t ift bid 311 fcfytoadj 
 
 ^n ungetoo^nter o^e nid^t 511 frfjtoinbeln. 
 
 Unebel tear er ni$t unb fein 33errati>er; 
 $20 SCttem jum ^nec^t ju gro^, unb jum ef ellen 
 
 e grofjen onnrer0 nur ein 3Jlenfc^. <3o tear 
 
 3lud^ fein S3erge^en tnenfcfyUd) ; i^r erid^t 
 
 9Bar ftreng, unb 3)tcfyter ftngen: 
 
 Unb Untreit' fturjten i^n toon 
 325 3 ur ^ntad^ be alten 2iartaru ^)inab. 
 
 2ld? unb fein ganj efd^Ied^t trug if>ren 
 
 bic cfyulb be Sl^n^errn ober eigne? 
 
 bie geioalt'ge SBruft unb ber ^ttancn 
 
 arl tear feiner @o^n' unb @nlel 
 
 330 etoiffeS @rbtt>eil; bod? eg fd^miebete 
 2)er ott um tfyre tirn ein el>ern SBanb. 
 Sftatfy, 5Jia^igung unb SSei^^eit unb ebulb 
 SSerbarg er i^rent fd^euen biiftern Slidf; 
 3ur 3Sut^> toarb tfynen jeglid^e Segier, 
 
 335 Unb granjenloS brang i^re 2But^ umljer. 
 cfyon ^elopg, ber etoaltig^toottenbe, 
 e antalu geltebter @o^n, ertoarb 
 id? burcfy SSerrat^ unb 3Jtorb ba fcfyonfte
 
 (Srfter aufjitg. 2)ritter litftritt. 17 
 
 Grjeugte, ^tppobamien. 
 
 540 @ie bringt ben SBiinfcfyen be3 emails jtoei ofyne, 
 Sf^eft unb 2ltreu. 9leibif$ fefyen ftc 
 >e 23ater iebe ju bem erften @oE>n 
 2lu3 einem anbern 33ette toacfifenb an. 
 2)er ^a^ berbinbet fie, unb fyetmltcfy toagt 
 
 345 2)a ^Saar im 33rubermorb bte erfte !fyat. 
 25er 33ater tod^net ^i^obamien 
 2)te !Diorberin, unb grimmig forbert er 
 SSon t^r ben <Soi>n juriicf, unb fie entleibt 
 @ic^ felbft- 
 
 2)u fd^toeigeft? ^aljre fort ju reben! 
 350 afj bein SSertraun bic^ nid^t gereuen! (Spricfy! 
 
 bem, ber feiner $8ater gern gebenlt, 
 25er fro^ toon i^ren ^aten, ifyrer ro^e 
 2)en 5rer unteri)dlt, unb ftitt fid^ freuenb 
 3ln' @nbe biefer fc^onen 3tei^e fid? 
 
 355 efdj>Ioffen fie^t! 35enn e erjeugt nid^t 
 @in au ben ^albgott nod^ ba Unge^euer; 
 @rft eine 9lei^e" Sofer ober uter 
 Sringt enblid? ba^ ntfe^en, bringt bie $reube 
 S)er 2BeIt Berber. 5^ad? i^re 3Sater^ obe 
 
 360 ebieten 2ltreu unb Utyjeft ber tabt, 
 enteinfam={>errfd9enb. Sange lonnte nid^t 
 2)ie (Sintrad^t bauern. 33alb ente^rt ^T^eft 
 2)e SruberS Sette. Sftdc^enb treibet 2Itreu 
 %fyn au bem 3teid^e. 2:iid:ifd9 ^atte fcfyon 
 
 365 SC^eft, auf f4>ioere 3;f>aten finnenb, lange
 
 em Sruber einen oljm enitoanbt unb Ijeimlic^ 
 3$n alS ben feinen fdj>meidE>eInb auferjogen. 
 3)em fitttet er bie Sruft tntt 2Butfy unb 3fta<f>e 
 Unb fenbet ifyn jur $onigftabt, bajj er 
 
 370 3m Dfyeim feinen eignen 3Sater morbe. 
 
 )e 3iingling SSorfa^ icirb entbecft: ber $6mg 
 traft graufam ben gefanbten SKorber, tod^nenb, 
 @r tobte femes SruberS @o^n. 3 U fr^t 
 rfafyrt er, toer bor feinen trunfnen Slugen 
 
 375 emartert ftirbt; unb bie Segier ber 9tarf>e 
 2lii3 feiner 33ruft ju tilgen, finnt er ftiff 
 2luf uneri>orte 2tyat. @r fd^eint gelaffen, 
 leid^giiltig unb berfo^nt, unb lodft ben Sruber 
 3Kit feinen beiben (So^nen in ba 9teid^ 
 
 380 3uriii, ergreift bie $naben, fd^Iad;tet fte, 
 Unb fefct bie elle f^auberbotte @^eife 
 2)em Soter bei bem erften ^Jlafyle bor. 
 Unb ba !fytyeft an feinem ^leifc^e fic^> 
 efattigt, eine SBe^mut^ i^n ergreift, 
 
 385 @r na^ ben ^inbern fragt, ben ^ritt, bie timme 
 &er ^naben an be @aale 2$iire fc^on 
 3u ^)6ren glaubt, toirft 2ltreu grinfenb 
 %fym aubt unb $itfje ber rf^Iagnen ^in. 
 i)u toenbeft frf>aubernb bein efirf)t, o ^onig: 
 
 390 @o toenbete bie (Sonn' \fa 3lntli^ toeg 
 Unb i^ren SBagen au bem etog'en leife. 
 3)ie^ finb bie Slfynfyerrn beiner ^Briefterin; 
 Unb iriel unfeligeg efd^irf ber banner, 
 SSiel a^aten be bertoorrnen (Sinned becft 
 
 395 35ie Slac^t mit fcfytoeren gittigea unb la^t 
 Un nur bie grauenboHe S)ammrung fe^n.
 
 (Srftcrr Stufjug. fritter Hitftrttt. 19 
 
 Serbirg fie fcfytoeigenb aud). @3 fei genug 
 
 3)er ra'uel ! age nun, burcr; ioelcfy em SBunbet 
 
 SSon biefetn toilben tamnte bu entfyrangft. 
 
 ^tofyigenie. 
 
 400 $e SltreuS alt'fter oljin toar 2lgamemnon: 
 @r ift ntein SSater. 2)0$ id) barf e fagen, 
 $n i{>m i>ab' t^> feit metner erften $t\t 
 (Sin 3Jiufter be toottfotnmnen 3Jiann gefe^n. 
 3^m bracfyte ^I^tdmneftra mi$, ben @rftling 
 
 405 SDer Siebe, bann @Ie!tren. Sftufyig F>errf$te 
 3)er ^ontg, unb e h)ar bem aufe StantalS 
 SDie lang entbef>rte JRaft getoa^rt. 2lffein 
 6 mangelte bem liicf ber Item nod? 
 in <3o^n, unb laum tear biefer SBunfdj) erfiiHt, 
 
 410 2)a^ jtoif^en beiben (Sdjtoeftern nun Dreft 
 2)er Siebling Uni$3, al neueg libel fd^on 
 2)em fi$ern aufe jubereitet tear. 
 3)er 9tuf be ^riege ift 311 eudj gefommen, 
 2)er, um ben 9faub ber fd^onften ^rau ju rad^en, 
 
 415 S)ie ganje Sftacfyt ber 5M ten ried^enlanbg 
 Um ro]en3 5Rauern lagerte. Db fie 
 $)ie tabt getoonnen, if>rer ^Rac^e 3iel 
 @rreicr;t, berna^m icr) nicr)t. SRein SSater fii^rte 
 'iDer ried^en eer. 3 n 2luli ^arrten jte 
 
 420 2luf gunft'gen 9Binb bergebenl: benn 2)iane, 
 rjiirnt auf i^ren grojjen ^ii^rer, ^ielt 
 Die ilenben juriic! unb forberte 
 3)ur$ ^al$a 3Jhmb be ^onig dlt'fte 
 @ie looften mit ber Gutter mid? in'3 2ager;
 
 20 3pl)igeme ouf aurtS. 
 
 425 @ie riffen mia) bor ben 2lltar unb toeifyten 
 )er ottin biefeg aubt. @ie toar berfolmt: 
 <5ie tbottte nid^t mein SBlut unb Ijitttte rettenb 
 S$n eine 2BoIfe mid}; in biefem SCembel 
 rfannt id^ mid^ juerft bom obe luteber. 
 
 430 3^ bin eg felb[t, bin 
 3)e 2ltreu3 @nlel, 
 S)er dttin igentEjum, bie tnit bir ftmcfyt. 
 
 SBorjug unb SBertrauen geb' t4> nid^t 
 35er ^onigStocfyter al ber Unbefannten. 
 435 3c&, toieberb,ole nteinen erften 2lntrag: 
 
 folge mir, unb tb,eile toa icf> ^abe. 
 
 9Bie barf idfj fold^en d^ritt, o ^onig, tuagen? 
 at nic^t bie ottin, bie mid^ rettete, 
 3Wein bag 9te$t auf mein getoei^teg Seben? 
 
 440 ie b,at fur mid) ben <Sd)u|ort auggefud)t, 
 Unb fie betoafyrt mid^ einem 3Sater, ben 
 <3ie burd^) ben <Sdt>ein genug geftraft, bietteid^t 
 3ur fd^onften $reube feineg Sllterg ^ier. 
 SSieHeid^t ift mir bie frofye 9tU(fle^r nab,; 
 
 445 Unb tcfy, auf ifyren 2Beg nifyt ad^tenb, b,atte 
 Bticb, ioiber ib,ren 2Biffen ^ier gefeffelt? 
 
 bleiben fottte. 
 
 / ^ a ^ ^ u nD $ ^i er bertweilft. 
 Slugfluct folder 2lrt nid^t angftlid? auf. 
 450 3Jlan fbrid^t bergebeng biel, um $u berfagen; 
 ^er anbre fyort bon attem nur bag 9Mn.
 
 grfter Hufjug. fritter Sluftritt. 21 
 
 3bb,igenie. 
 
 2Borte finb e, bie nur blenben foflen; 
 
 %<fy fyabe bir mem tieffteS erj entbecft. 
 
 Unb fagft bu bir nicfyt felbft, toie \$ bem $ater, 
 455 SDer Gutter, ben efcb,toiftern mi4) entgegen 
 
 3Rit angftltd^en efitljlen fe^nen mu^? 
 
 3)a^ in ben alien fatten, too bie trailer 
 
 9io4> mand^mal ftitte nteinen 9iamen lif^elt, 
 
 2)ie ^reube, toie urn eine ^Jeugeborne, 
 460 3!5en fcfyonften ^rang toon @auP an aulen fd^linge. 
 
 D fenbeteft bu mid) auf (Stiffen ^in! 
 
 2)u gabeft mir unb aUen neue Seben. 
 
 2$u' It>a0 bein erj bid? ^ei^t, 
 Unb bore nicb,t bie timme guten 9tatb, 
 
 465 Unb ber SSernunft. @ei ganj ein 2Beib unb gib 
 35id9 f)in bem ^riebe, ber bic^ jiigetto^ 
 Csrgreift unb bab,in ober bort^tn reifit. 
 2Benn ib,nen eine Suft im Sufen brennt, 
 alt bom 23erratb,er jte fein b,eilig S3anb, 
 
 470 S)er fie bem SSater ober bem emab,l 
 2lu langbetoafjrten, treuen 2(rmen locft; 
 Unb fcf)toeigt in ib,rer Srujt bie rafdr>e littb,, 
 <So bringt auf fie bergebenS treu unb mad^tig 
 2)er llberrebung golbne 3"S^ Io8. 
 
 3 b b,i genie. 
 
 475 eben!', o ^onig, beine ebeln SSorte^! 
 SSiUft bu mein 3 u t raun f ertoiebern? 2)u 
 d^ienft borbereitet aUe ju bernefymen.
 
 22 Spfjigenie cuif XaurtS. 
 
 1)0 a 3. 
 
 2luf'3 Ungefyoffte tear id} nicfyt oereitet; 
 !Docb, foHt' id? '3 aucb, eriuarten: itwjjt' id) nidjrt, 
 480 3)ajj id? mit einem 2Betbe fyanbeln ging? 
 
 ^ ^i genie. 
 
 dbtlt nic^t, o ^onig, unfer arm 
 
 fticfyt ^errlid^ trie bie euern, aber 
 
 Unebel finb bie 2Baffen eine 
 
 laub' e, barin bin icb, bir 
 485 2)aj5 \&i bein ItidE mefyr al bu felber lenne. 
 
 3)u Ipci^neft, unbelannt mit bir itnb mir, 
 
 @in nab,er 33anb toerb' un gum liicf bereinen. 
 
 SSoE guten gjiut^eS tote boa guten 2Biaen 
 
 2)ringft bu in mid^ ba^ id? mid? fiigen foil; 
 49 Unb F)ier ban!' icb, ben ottern, ba^ fie mir 
 
 2)ie ^eftigfeit gegeben, biefe Sunbnijj 
 ba fie nicfyt gebittigt. 
 
 @ fbrid^t !ein ott; e fbric^t bein eigneS erj. 
 
 ^ b b, i g e n i e. 
 <Sie reben nur bitrcfy unfer erj ju un3. 
 
 495 Unb ^ab' 3$, fie ju Ijbren, nic^t bag 
 
 e. 
 iiberbrauft ber <Sturm bie jarte timme. 
 
 S)ie ^riefterin bemimmt fie toobj attein?-
 
 (grfter Huftufl. fritter Kxftrttt. 
 
 S5or alien anbern merle fte ber $urft. 
 
 )ein fyeilig Slmt unb bein geerbte 9led;t 
 500 2ln 3>0&i3 ifd; bringt bid) ben b'ttern natyer, 
 2H einen erbgebornen 2Bilben. 
 
 So 
 ' ic^ nun ba SBertraun, ba bu erjluangft. 
 
 ^d^ bin em 9Jlenfdf> ; unb beffer tft'S, h)ir enben. 
 
 @o bleibe benn metn 2Sort: @ei ^riefterin 
 505 3)er ottin, h)ie fie bid) erforen b^at; 
 mir berjeif)' 2)iane, baf; id; t^r, 
 mit Unrest unb mit innerm SSorhJurf, 
 
 35ie alten D^fer toorentfyalten ^abe. 
 
 ^ein ^rember nab;et gliidlicb; unferm Ufer; 
 510 SScn 2llter l>er ift it>m ber 
 
 3f?ur bu ^aft mid; mit einer 
 
 ^n ber id) balb ber jarlen Xocfyter Siebe, 
 
 Salb ftitte ?ieigung einer Sraut ju feb^n 
 
 9Jlid; tief erfreute, toie mit 3 au & er ^ an ^ )en 
 515 efeffelt, ba^ id; meiner $flid;t berga^. 
 
 2)u ^atteft mir bie innen eingetoiegt, 
 
 2)a SJiurrm meineS SSoIfg berna{>m id; nid;t; 
 
 9iun rufen fie bie @d;ulb toon meineS @ot>neg 
 
 ^rii^eit'gem ^obe lauter ilber mid;. 
 520 Um beinetitnUen b^alt' id; linger nid;t 
 
 35ie SKenge, bie ba D^fer bringenb forbert.
 
 24 3pt)igenie auf 
 
 Urn meinettoitfen fyab i$' nie begefyrt. 
 >er tnijjtoerftefyt bie imntlif$en, ber fie 
 33lutgierig toafynt ; er bicfytet ifynen nur 
 525 >ie eignen graufanten Segierben an. 
 
 Gntgog bie btttn mic^ nic^t felbft bem ^riefter? 
 3^r toar tnein S)ienft toittlommner, al tnein ob 
 
 6 jiemt ftd^ m$t fur un, ben ^eiligen 
 ebraudj ntit leid^t betoegli^er SSernunft 
 
 530 9iacfy unferm inn ju beuten unb gu lenlen. 
 X^u' beine $fli$t, id^ h?erbe meine tfyun. 
 ^iwei ^rembe, bie U)ir in be Ufer o^)Ien 
 SSerftedt gefunben, unb bie meinem 2anbe 
 JttcfytS ute brtngen, ftnb in meiner ^anb. 
 
 535 3Jiit biefen nefyme beine otttn toieber 
 3^ erfte, rentes, lang entbel>rte D^fer! 
 2$ fenbe fie ^ier^>er; bu toeijjt ben ienft. 
 
 fierier 2tuftritt. 
 $ $ fy\ genie (aHein). 
 SBoIIen, gnabige ^etterin, 
 
 unfcf)ulbig SSerfoIgte, 
 540 Unb auf SSinben bem el>rnen efd)i(f fie 
 2lu ben 3lrnten, iiber ba SJieer, 
 liber ber @rbe toettefte trecfen 
 Unb h)oi>tn e bir gut biin!t ju tragen. 
 SBeife bift bu unb fie^eft ba ^iinftige;
 
 (Sifter Sfofeug. SBierter auftritt. 25 
 
 545 Sficfyt tooriiber tft btr ba 33ergangne, 
 Unb bein 33Ucf rufyt iiber ben 2)etnen 
 2Bie bein 2irf>t, ba Seben ber 9lacfyte. 
 Uber ber Grbe ruijet itnb toaltet. 
 D ent^alte bom Slut meine anbe! 
 
 550 dimmer brtngt e (Segen itnb S^u^e ; 
 Unb bte eftalt be sufattig rmorbeten 
 3Sirb auf be traurig=unft>tHtgen 
 Sofe Stunben lauern unb fcfyrecfen. 
 3)enn bte Unfterblid^en Iteben ber 
 
 555 SSett berbreitete gute efd^Ied^ter, 
 Unb fte frtften ba pc^tige Seben 
 eme bem terblicfyen, tootten ii>m gernc 
 3$re eigenen, etoigen ^immelg 
 9)iitgente^enbe frofylicfyeS 2lnfc^aun 
 
 560 @ine SBeile gonnen unb laffen.
 
 (grfter tfuftritt. 
 D r e ft. $ ty I a b e g. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 @3 ift ber 2Beg be obe, ben fair tretcn: 
 9Jtit jebem cfyritt toirb meine eele fritter. 
 3ll idj 3l^oUen bat, ba gra^lid>e 
 eleit ber 3ta^egeifter toon ber eite 
 
 565 SJtir abjune^men, fd>ten er iilf' unb S'lettung 
 ^m empel feiner bielgeliebten d^ltjefter, 
 2)ie iiber 2;auri ^errfd^t, mit ^offnung^reid^en 
 etoiffen otterloorten 511 berfipred^en ; 
 Unb nun erfuttet ftt^'8, ba^ atte $lott) 
 
 570 Wlit meinem Seben boUig enben fott. 
 
 SBie leicfyt h)irb' ntir, bem etne otterfyanb 
 2)a erj jufammenbriidft, ben inn betaubt, 
 2)em fcf)onen Sid^t ber <Sonne ju entfagen. 
 Unb fatten 2ttreu (Snfel in ber d)la$t 
 
 575 in fiegbefronte @nbe nicfyt getoinnen ; 
 off id) toie meine 2l^nen, toie mein 33ater, 
 2ll D^fertbier im ^a^^ertobe bluten: 
 @o fei e ! Seffer E)ier bor bem 2(Itar, 
 2U im bertworfnen SSinfel, too bie 9tee 
 
 580 er na^bertoanbte 2)teucfyelm5rber ftettt. 
 2a|t mir fo lange 9tufy, i^r Unterirb 'f cfyen,
 
 9luf$ug. (Srfter SUtftritt. 27 
 
 $)ie nacf> bent 33Iut ifyr, ba toon tneinen Xritten 
 ^ernieber trdufelnb meinen $fab bejeicfynet, 
 JBie loSgelaff ne unbe fpiirenb fyeljt. 
 
 583 Sajjt mid), id} fomme balb 511 eitcfy i>tnab; 
 
 2)a 2tcfyt be^ Xag foil euc^) md)t fei>n, nod^ tntd^. 
 er rbe fdponer griiner 2;e)3^ic^ foff 
 $ein ^ummel^Ia^ fiir Sarben fein. 2)ort unten 
 (Surf)' id^ euc^ auf: bort binbet aUe bann 
 
 590 @in gleid? efd^irf in eto'ge matte 
 9Zur btd^, mein ^labe, bic^, meiner 
 llnb metneS 33annS unfrf>ulbigen enoffen, 
 2Bie ungern nebm' id) bicf> in jene Xrauerlanb 
 ^r%eittg mit! SDein 2eben ober SCob 
 
 595 ibt mtr attein no^> offnung ober 
 
 ^d9 bin nocfy nirfjt, Dreft, n?ie bu berett, 
 
 3n jene d^attenreid^ ^tnabjuge^n. 
 
 $rf> finne nocf), burrf) bie bertoorrnen 
 
 2)ie nad^ ber fcfytoarjen 9iad^t ju fii^ren fd^einen, 
 
 600 Un ju bem 2eben toieber aiifjutoinben.- 
 
 $$ benfe nid^t ben ob; id? finn' unb fyordfo 
 Db nidgt ju irgenb einer frozen ^lud^t 
 SDie otter 9tat{> unb 2Bege jubereiten. r .-,.' 
 2)er 2^ob, gefiird^tet ober ungefiird^tet, 
 
 605 ommt unauff>altfam. SSenn bie $riefterin 
 c^on, unfre 2ocfen toeif)enb abjufd^neiben, 
 2)ie anb erf>ebt, foU bein' unb meine S^ettung 
 9Jiein einjiger ebanfe fein. @rE>ebe 
 3Son biefem Unmutfy beine eele; jtoeifelnb 
 
 610 SBefc^Ieunigeft bu bie efa^r.
 
 3pf)igenie auf 
 
 ab un3 ba 2Bort: im eiligtfyum ber d)tt>efter 
 ei $roft unb itlf unb 3<luc!fef)r bir bereitet. 
 35er otter 2Borte finb nid)t boppelfinnig, 
 2Bie ber ebriirfte fie im Unmutl) toafmt. 
 
 D r e ft. 
 
 615 2)e Seben^ bunlle 3)edEe breitete 
 
 2)ie SJlutter fc^on tnir urn ba jarte au^t, 
 Unb fo ttwcfyg id^ ^erauf, ein benbilb 
 >e3 SSaterS, unb e it>ar mem ftummer 23Uc! 
 @in bittrer SSortourf il>r unb i^rem Sullen. 
 
 6ao 2Bie oft, toenn ftitt leltra, meine dptoefter, 
 2lm ^euer in ber tiefen atte fa^, 
 >rangt' \fy bellommen mic^> an ifyren <Sd^oo, 
 Unb ftarrte, it)ie fie bitter toeinte, fie 
 3Jlit grofjen Slugen an. 25ann fagte fie 
 
 625 3Son unferm ^oJ?en SSater biel: toie fe^r 
 SSerlangt' id) ifyn jii fe^n, bei ifym gu fein! 
 3Jiid; n)iinfd)t' id; balb nad) Stroja, it>n balb fyer. 
 @ fam ber ag 
 
 ^3 \) I a b e s. 
 
 D lajj toon jener tunbe 
 id)-ottengeifter nacfytlid; unter^alten! 
 
 630 Un gebe bie rinnrung fd)6ner $e\t 
 3u frifd)em elbenlaufe neue ^raft. 
 2)ie otter brattdfyen mand)en guten SRann 
 3u i^rem ienft auf biefer toeiten @rbe. 
 ie l>aben nod) auf bid) gejafylt; fte gaben 
 
 635 >id; nid)t bem 5Bater jum eleite mit, 
 3)a er untoiHig nad? bem Drcu ging.
 
 3eitet Stufjug. (Srfiet Sluftritt. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 D, toar' idj>, feinen Sawn ergreifenb, ib,m 
 efolgt! 
 
 $ ty I a b e 8. 
 
 <5o fyaben bie, bie bid? erfyielten, 
 $ur mid? geforgt: benn toaS id^ toorben Voare, 
 040 28enn bu nic^t leBteft, fann icfy mtr ni<fyt benlen; 
 S)a icfy mit btr unb beinettoillen nur 
 (Sett meiner $inbfyeit Icb' unb leben mag. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 (Srinnre micfy nid^t jener fc^bnen ^age, 
 2)a mtr bein ^au bie freie tatte gab, 
 
 645 2)ein ebler SSater !Iug unb ItebeboH 
 >te ^alberftarrte junge Sliit^e ^flegte; 
 2)a bu ein immer munterer efette, 
 leid^ einem letc^ten bunten Scfymetterltng 
 Um eine bunlle 33Iume, jeben ag 
 
 650 Um mtc^ mit neuem Seben gaulelteft, 
 SJlir beine Suft in meine eele fpielteft, 
 2)af; id^, bergeffenb meiner ^lotb,, mit bir 
 ^n rafter $ugenb b^ingeriffen fdptuarmte. 
 
 ^^ lab e. 
 3)a fing mein Seben an, al^ icb, bic^ liebte. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 655 ag* meine ^iotb, begann, unb bu fpricbjt loa^r. 
 3)a ift ba ^ngftlid^e toon meinem d^idEfal, 
 3)ajj id^, toie ein ber^jefteter SBertriebner, 
 eb,eimen dgmerj unb 3:ob im Sufen trage;
 
 30 Spfyigenie cmf 
 
 )afj, too \3) ben gefunb'ften Drt betrete, 
 660 ar balb urn mid) bie bliifyenben eficfyter 
 
 $en (S^merjenSjug langfamen STob'S toerratb,en. 
 
 5)3 ty I a b e 8. 
 
 er Sftacbjte todr' id? biefen ob ju fterben, 
 SBenn je betn aud^, Dreft, bergtftete. 
 S3in id^ ntd^t immer noi^ tooff 5Rut^> unb 2uft? 
 665 Unb Suft unb Siebe ftnb bie $ttttge 
 
 Dreft. 
 rojje 
 
 %fy toetjj bie 3*/ ^ a ^ r ft e bor ung f a ^ n! 
 2Benn totr gufammen oft bem SBilbe na$ 
 2)ur^> 33erg' unb 2^b,aler rannten unb beretnft 
 
 670 2ln S3ruft unb ^auft bem ^ol^en ^fynfyerrn glet 
 3Jiit ^eul' unb djtoert bem llnge^euer fo, 
 2)em Member auf ber <B^wc ju jagen ^offten; 
 Unb bann ioir 2lbenb an ber toeiten (See 
 Un aneinanber lei>nenb rub,tg fa^en, 
 
 675 2)ie SBetten bt ju imfern ^ii^en f^telten, 
 te SBelt fo toett, fo offen Dor un3 lag; 
 2)a fu^r too^I (Stner mand^mal nad> bem 
 Unb liinft'ge Xljaten brangen tote bie terne 
 9lingg urn un fyer unjd^Iig aug ber 
 
 $ ty I a b e 8. 
 
 Unenblid; ift ba SBerf, ba ju bottfut)ren 
 $>ie eele bringt. 2Bir molten jebe 3^at 
 @o gro^ gleid; tfyun, al^ toie fie toacf)f't unb toirb, 
 2Benn ^a^e lang burdj 2anber unb efd)Iec|ter
 
 3tt)eiter aufjug. (Srfler itftritt. 31 
 
 ber SDicfyter fte bermefyrenb ttml$t. 
 
 685 3 flingt fo fcfyon h>a unfre SBater tfyaten, 
 SBenn e in ftitten 3tbenbfd^atten rufyenb 
 2)er ^iingling mit bem on ber >arfe frf)Iurft; 
 Unb toaS nnr tt)iin ift, trie e3 i^nen tear, 
 SSott SDHty' unb eitel tucftoerf! 
 
 690 @o laufen loir na<^ bem, toaS bor un flie^t, 
 llnb acfyten nid^t beg 2Bege ben fair treten, 
 Unb fe^en neben un ber 3(^n^errn Xritte 
 Unb ib,re3 rbeleben^ Spuren faurn. 
 2Bir eilen immer iijrem fatten nac^, 
 
 695 $)er gottergleid^ in einer toeiten ^erne 
 
 er Serge au^)t auf golbnen 2Bolfen front. 
 ^d^ fyatte nid^tl toon bem, ber toon ficb, benft 
 2Bte i^n ba Soil Dietteid^t er^eben mod^te. 
 Slttein, o ^iingling, banfe bu ben b'ttern, 
 
 700 $)afj fie fo friib, burc^ bidp fo biel get^an. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 2Benn fie bem ^enfd&en MC 2;^at befc^eren 
 3)ajj er ein Unveil toon ben <5einen luenbet, 
 2)a^ er fein Steicfy bermeb,rt, bie rangen ficfyert, 
 Unb alte geinbe fatten ober fliefm; 
 
 705 2)ann mag er ban!en! benn i^m ^at ein ott 
 2)e 2eben erfte, lefcte Suft gegonnt. 
 3Jiid5 i)aben fie gum <Scf)Id^ter auer!oren, 
 3um 2R6rber meiner boc^> bere^rten 5Rutter, 
 Unb, eine cfyanbtfyat fd^anblic^ ra'rfjenb, mic 
 
 710 3)urd9 t^ren SSinf 511 runb' geric^tet. 
 @ie fyaben e auf 2;antall au gericfytet, 
 Unb id), ber Se^te, foff nid^t frf)ulblo, fott 
 berge^n.
 
 32 SMgenie ouf 
 
 $ 9 1 a b e . 
 
 )te 5tter racfyen 
 )er SBater -Dtiffetfyat ntcfyt an bent o^n; 
 715 @in jeglic^er, gut ober bbfe, ntmmt 
 
 idp feinen So^n ntit fetner ^t)at I^intoeg. 
 @g erbt ber Item egen, ntd^t t^r $lu$. 
 
 Dreft. 
 Ung fii^rt i^>r egen, biinft ntid?, nid^t 
 
 toenigftenS ber fyofytn otter 2BiUe. 
 
 Dreft. 
 720 o ift'3 t^>r 2Bitte benn, ber un berberbt. 
 
 ^u' h)a fie bir gebieten unb ertoarte. 
 Sringft bu bie cfytoefter ju gotten ^)i 
 Unb toofynen betbe bann bereint ju 
 SSerelirt toon einem 3SoII ba ebel benft; 
 725 <So toirb fiir biefe ^^at ba ^o^e ^Baar 
 2)ir gnabtg fein, fie toerben au ber anb 
 3)er Unterirb'fd^en bid^ erretten. (Scfyon 
 ^n biefen ^eil'gen ain toagt !eine fi^>. 
 
 Dreft. 
 ioenigftenS geru^'gen Stob. 
 
 730 anj anberg benf id^, unb ntc^t ungefc^idEt 
 
 ab' \tf) ba fd^on efd^e^ne tntt bent ^unft'gen 
 SBerbunben unb im ftitten auSgelegt.
 
 (Srfter uftritt. 33 
 
 33ietteic6,t rcift in ber otter SRatb, fctyon lange 
 2)ag grofje 2Berf. >iana fefynet fid) 
 735 2?on biefem raufyen Ufer ber SBarbaren 
 Unb ifyren blut'gen -iDknfcfyenopfern toeg. 
 2Bir toaren ju ber fcfyonen ^at beftimmt, 
 Un toirb fie auferlegt, unb feltfam finb 
 9Bir an ber ^Sforte fd^on gegtoungen ^>ier. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 740 Wit feltner ^unft flid^tft bu ber otter 9taty 
 Unb beine 2Biinfd^e flug in (Sing jufammen. 
 
 ^ V I a b e 8. 
 
 2Ba ift be^ 3Jienfrf)en lugb,eit, toenn fte nid^t 
 2luf Sener SSttten broben ad^tenb laiifc^t? 
 3u einer fd^iueren ^i>at beruft ein ott 
 745 $)en ebeln -iJKann, ber biel berbrad?, unb legt 
 !3b,m auf h)a^ un unmogli^ fd^eint ju enben. 
 @g fiegt ber elb, unb bii^enb bienet er 
 )en ottern unb ber SBelt, bie i^n bere^rt. 
 
 Dreft. 
 33in id^> beftimmt gu leben unb ju ^anbeln, 
 
 750 <5o ne^m' ein ott toon meiner fcfytoeren Stirn 
 2)en @df)h)inbel toeg, ber auf bem fcfylitpfrigen, 
 3Jiit 50lutterblut bef))rengten ^Bfabe fort 
 3Jtid;> ju ben 2:obten rei^t. @r trodne gnabig 
 3)ie Duelle, bie, mir au ber 3Jiutter 2Bunben 
 
 755 ntgegen f^rubelnb, etoig micfj befledH. 
 
 ^3 V I a b 
 
 rtoart' eg rufyiger! u meb,rft bag tibel 
 Unb nimmft bag 2lmt ber gurien auf bid?.
 
 34 Styljigente auf aurt. 
 
 ajj mid*) nur finnen, bleibe ftitt ! 3ule$t, 
 33ebarf' jur l)at bereinter $rafte, bann 
 760 Sfotf icb, bid) auf, unb beibe fcfjreiten toir 
 3Jiit iiberlegter ^ii^n^eit jur SSottenbung. 
 
 Dreft. 
 3c6 bor' Ultyffen reben. 
 
 ii^ fetnen elben hmfylen, 
 er bie 2Begc jum DIi?m^ ^inauf 
 765 <3td^ nadjarbettet. Sa^ e mi^i gefte^n: 
 
 3Jiir fd^emen 2ift unb ^lug^eit mrf)t ben 9Jlann 
 3u fd^dnben, ber jidj lii^nen ^^aten toei^t. 
 
 Dreft. 
 2$ fd^a^e ben, ber tapfer ift unb g'rab. 
 
 2)rum b,ab' ic^ leinen 9tat^ toon bir berlangt. 
 770 cfyon ift ein <Sd>ritt getfyan. 3Son unfern 2Bd4>terf 
 
 ab' icb, bilker gar biele auSgelodft. 
 
 2$ toei^, ein frembeS, gottergleirf>e 2Beib 
 
 dlt jene blutige efe^ gefeffelt ; 
 
 @in reined erj unb -JBeifyraucfy unb ebet 
 775 Sringt fie ben ottern bar. 9Jlan riif>met ^od^ 
 
 35ie iitige ; man glaubet, fie entfbringe 
 
 SBom tamm ber Slmajonen, fei geflofyn, 
 
 Um einem gro^en Unveil ju entge^n. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 @ fc^eint, ifyr Uc^>te 9teic^ berlor bie 
 ben ber
 
 Sluftritt. 
 
 2Bie etne breite 9?a$t berfolgt unb berft. 
 $ie fromtne Slutgier loft ben alten Sraucfy 
 SBon feinen $effeln Io3, un ju toerberben. 
 SDer toilbe Sinn be3 onig tobtet ung; 
 785 Sin SSeib hrirb un nic^t retten, trenn er jiirnt. 
 
 ty q I a b e 8. 
 
 2Bo^I un3, ba^ e ein 2Beib ift ! benn ein 
 )er befte felbft, geioo^net feinen eift 
 2ln raufamfeit unb mac^t ficfy au 
 2tu bent, toa er berabfc^eut, ein 
 
 790 SSirb au etoo^n^ett ^art unb faft unfenntli^. 
 3lHein ein SBeib bleibt ftdt auf Ginem (Sinn 
 2)en fie gefa^t. u rerfmeft fic^erer 
 2luf fie im uten toie im S3of en. tiff ! 
 <3ie lommt ; lafj un aUein. %<fy barf nicfyt glet 
 
 795 3^> r unfre UZamen nennen, unfer d^idffal 
 ^ic^t ofme 9lucff>alt i^r bertraun. u getyft, 
 Unb e^' fte mit bir fbrid^t, treff' ic^> bic^ no$. 
 
 2tuftrttt. 
 
 3 p $ i g e n i e. 
 
 2Boij>er bu feift unb fommft, o g-rembling, 
 2Rir fcfyetnt e3, ba^ icf> e^er einem riec^en 
 800 2U einem Sc^tf)en bic^) berglei(f)en foil. 
 (@ie nimmt ifjm bie $etten ab.) 
 ift bie grei^ett, bie ic gebe; 
 otter toenben ab toa eud) bebro^t!
 
 36 3pl)igenie ouf 
 
 D fiifje timme! Sielhritffommner on 
 2)er 2Rutterfpracfy' in einem fremben Sanbe! 
 
 805 25e todterlicfyen $afen blaue Serge 
 
 <Sefy' idfy efangner neu hnttfommen toieber 
 SSor meinen 2lugen. Sajj bit biefe ^reube 
 SSerftd^ern, ba^ aud^) id^ etn riecfye bin! 
 SSergeffen ^ab' ic einen Sltigenbltrf, 
 
 810 2Bie fe^>r icfy bein bebarf, unb meinen eift 
 3)er ^errlic^en (Srfc^einung jugetoenbet. 
 D fage, toenn bir bein Skrfyangnijj nid^t 
 2)ie Si^e fc^Iie^t, aitS toeld^em unfrer tamme 
 35u beine gottergleicfye er!unft 5df)Ift. 
 
 3 pfyi genie. 
 
 815 2)ie ^Sriefterin, toon ifyrer ottin felbft 
 etoa^Iet unb gefyeiligt, f^rid^t mit bir. 
 $a Ia| bir g'niigen ; fage, toer bit feift 
 Unb toelcf} unfeligsh)altenbe efc^idE 
 ^it bem efafyrten bid^ ^ier^er gebrad^t. 
 
 ?P i? I a b e . 
 820 Seidpt !onn id^ bir er^afylen, h)eld9 ein Ubel 
 
 5Jltt laftenber efettfd[)aft un berfolgt. 
 
 D fonnteft bu ber offnung frozen 33Ii(f 
 
 Un aud? fo leirfjt, bu ottlid^e, getoa^ren! 
 
 2lu $reta finb toir, @of>ne be 2lbraft3: 
 825 %tf) bin ber jiingfte, 6e))i>alu genannt, 
 
 Unb er SaobamaS, ber altefte 
 
 35e aufeg. Btoifc^eit un ftanb ta4 unb hrilb 
 
 6in mittlerer, unb trennte fcfyon im
 
 3tt>eiter lufjug. ^welter Sluftritt. 37 
 
 &er erften !yugenb tntgleit unb Suft. 
 
 830 elaffen folgten toir ber Gutter S&orten, 
 ' <So long be 23ater $raft Dor roja ftritt; 
 35ocfj al$ er beutereicfy juriicfe !am 
 Unb furj baraitf berfdEneb, ba trennte balb 
 2)er treit urn Stci^) unb @r&e bie ef^n?ifter. 
 
 8 35 S<^ netgte mtdE) jum alt'ften. (Sr erfcfylug 
 2)en Sruber. Urn ber Slutfd^ulb toitten treibt 
 S)ie ^urie getoaltig i^n um^er. 
 
 biefem nnlben Ufer fcnbet un 
 , ber SDefyfyifcfye, tnit offnung jii. 
 
 840 ^m 3^empet fetner (Sd^toefter fyiefj er un 
 2)er ^iilfe fegengbotte ^anb eriuarten. 
 efangen finb toir unb ^ter^er gebrac^t, 
 Unb bir aid D^fer bargeftettt. u foeifet'S. 
 
 iet ^roja? Xi>eurer SRann, berfidgr' eS mir. 
 
 845 @3 Itegt. D fid^re bu un Stettung ju! 
 SBefd^Ieumge bie iilfe, bie ein ott 
 23ertyrad;>. rbarme meine Sruberg bidp. 
 D fag' ifym balb ein gitteS ^olbe 2Bort; 
 fc^one feiner toenn bu mtt if)m fyricfyft, 
 bitt' id? eifrig: benn e toirb gar leicfyt 
 
 ^reub' unb <S corner j unb bur 09 rinnerung 
 ein 3 nne *f* e 3 ergriffen unb jerriittet. 
 @in fie&erfyafter SBa^nfinn faHt il>n an, 
 Unb feine fcfyone freie eele toirb 
 855 2)en ^urien jum 9laube i>ingegeben.
 
 3pl)igeme auf 
 
 @o grofc bein Ungliic! ift, befcfytoor' id? bi$, 
 SBergijj e, bi bu mir genug getfyan. 
 
 $ ty I a b e . 
 
 2)ie b,ob,e tabt, bie ^efyen lange ^a^re 
 S)em garden eer ber rted^en toiberftanb, 
 2iegt nun im c^utte, fteigt nicfyt toieber auf. 
 mancfye raber unfrer 33e[ten i)ei^en 
 an ba lifer ber SBarbaren benlen. 
 Uegt bort ntit feinem fd^onen ^reunbe. 
 
 <So fetb tijr otterbtlber aud^ ju @taub! 
 
 ^ ^ I a b e 3. 
 865 2(udj $alamebe, 2tja ^elamonS, 
 
 @ie fafyn be $8aterlanbe ^tag nid?t hrieber. 
 
 r fd^loeigt toon meinem SSater, nennt ib,n ntd^t 
 3Kit ben @rf4)Iagnen. ^a! er lebt mir nod;)! 
 3d? toerb' i^n feb,n! D ^of 
 
 870 2)od9 felig ftnb bie Xaufenbe, bie ftarben 
 2)en bitterfiifjen ^ob toon ^einbe anb! 
 ><nn toiifte @d)red;en unb ein iraurig @nbe 
 at ben 3ftud;!e^renben ftatt be ^rium^b, 
 @in feinblid^ aufgebra^ter ott bereitet. 
 
 875 ^otnmt benn ber SJtenfcfyen timme nid^t 311 eu 
 (So toeit fie reicfyt, tragt fie ben 9^uf umfyer 
 SBon uner^)5rten 2;^aten bie gefcfyafyn.
 
 3>nettfr Tlufsiig. 3eiter ^uftrttt. ' 39 
 
 @o ift ber jammer, ber SJttycenenS fallen 
 3Jlit immer nneberfyolten <Seufjern fiillt, 
 $)ir ein efyeimnijj ? $ltytamneftra fyat 
 ulf SfgiftfyenS ben entail beriitft, 
 2tm 2^age fetner S^iidEfeijr iE>n ermorbet! 
 ^a, bu berebreft biefeS ^oni 
 ^c^ fe^>' e, beine Sruft befam^ft 
 35a unerh)artet unge^eure 2Bort. 
 33ift bu bie ^od^ter eineS ^reunbe^? bift 
 2)u nad^barlic^ in biefer @tabt geboren? 
 SSerbirg e nid^t unb redone mtr'^ nicfyt g 
 2)a^ ic^ ber rfte biefe rauel melbe. 
 
 890 ag' an, h)ie toarb bie frf)tr)ere 
 
 2lm 2;age feiner 2tnfunft, ba ber 
 SSom Sab erquicft unb rut^ig, fein etoanb 
 2ht3 ber emai>Iin anb berlangenb, ftieg, 
 SBarf bie 3SerberbIid>e ein faltenreicfy 
 
 895 Unb fiinftlid? ftd^ toertoirrenbeS etoebe 
 ^m auf bie fScfyultern, um ba^ eble 
 Unb ba er nrie toon einem 9Jee fid^ 
 3Sergeben ju enttoicEeln ftrebte, fd^Iug 
 2lgift^ i^n, ber SBerratfyer, unb berf>iifft 
 
 900 ing ju ben Xobten biefer grofje 
 
 Unb toelc^en Sofyn er^iett ber 
 
 $V Iab ^- 
 in 9teid9 unb S3ette, ba er fdjon befa^.
 
 40 3pf)igenie auf 
 
 3pfyigenie. 
 @o trieb gut cfyanbtfyat eine bdfe Suft? 
 
 $tylabe. 
 Unb einer altcn 3tarf>e tief efitljl. 
 
 ^pfyigenie. 
 905 Unb tote beleibigte ber $onig fie? 
 
 3Jtit fcfytoerer 2$at, bie, toenn 
 S)e 9Jiorbe toare, fie entfdf>ulbigte. 
 3flad^ 2litli3 lorft' er fie unb bracfyte bort, 
 31I eine ott^eit ficfy ber ried^en ga^rt 
 
 910 3Jiit ungeftumen SBinben toiberfe^te, 
 2)ie alt'fte Stouter, ^^^tgenien, 
 S?or ben 2lltar S)ianen, unb fie fiel 
 in blutig Dpfer fitr ber riecfyen eil. 
 ie^ fagt man, fyat i^r einen SBibertoitten 
 
 915 o tief in'S erj ge^ragt, bafc fie bem 2Berben 
 3tgift^>en fidj ergab unb ben entail 
 3Rit 5Re^en beg 3Serberben felbft umfc^Iang. 
 
 @g ift genug. 2)u toirft mid^ toieberfe^n. 
 
 $tylabe (aHein). 
 S5on bem efc^idf be ^onig*aufe fc^eint 
 
 920 ie tief geriifyrt. 3Ser fie au6^ immer fei, 
 o ^at fie felbft ben omg too^I gelannt 
 Unb ift, au unferm liicf, au i>o^em aufe 
 ierl>er berfauft. 9hir ftiffe, liebeS erj, 
 Unb Ia& bem tern ber offnung, ber un blinft, 
 
 925 3Kit frofyem 3Jlut^ unS flug entgegen fteuem.-
 
 <rfter 2luftritt. 
 Drcft. 
 
 Ungliirflicfyer, id) lofe beine SBanbe 
 
 3)ie greifyeit, bie ba eiligtfyum gehmljrt, 
 3ft, tote ber lefcte lic^te 2c6enblicf 
 
 930 3)e fd^toer Grfranlten, 2:obebote. 9iod^ 
 $ann i^ e tntr unb barf e nttr nic^t fagen, 
 2)ajj ii)r berloren feib! 2Bte fount' tcfy eud^ 
 9Jiit tnorberifd^er anb bem ^obe toei^en? 
 Unb nicmanb, toer e fei, barf euer 
 
 935 @o lang i^> ^riefterin 2)ianen bin, 
 Serii^ren. $0$ toertoetgr' ic^i jene 
 SBie fie ber aufgebrarf)te ^onig forbert; 
 <So toa^It er eine meiner ^ungfraun tnir 
 3ur ^olgerin, unb \<fy bermag aUbanu 
 
 940 3)iit ^ei^ent 2Bunfd^ aHein eud^) beijuftefyn. 
 D toert^er SaubSmann! (Selbft ber Ie$te 
 3)er an ben erb ber Satergotter ftreifte, 
 3ft un in frembem Sanbe fyodj* tr>iU!ommen: 
 2Bie foil \<fy eucfy geuug ntit greub' unb <5egen 
 
 945 m^fangen, bie i^r tnir ba 33ilb ber elben,
 
 42 3pt)igenie aitf 
 
 ie id; toon Item fyer toerefyren lemte, 
 
 @ntgegen bringet unb ba innre erj 
 
 3Kit neuer fd;oner offnung frf;meid;elnb labet! 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 SBerbirgft bu beinen Seamen, beine erlunft 
 950 3Jitt flugem SBorfa^? ober barf id? toiffen, 
 2Ber mir, gleid; einer ^itnmlifd^en, begegnet? 
 
 foEft mid; fennen. ^e|o fag' tnir an, 
 
 id; nur fyalb toon beinem Sruber fyorte, 
 S)a @nbe berer, bie toon roja fei?renb 
 
 955 @in fyarteS unertt>artete efd;idf 
 
 2(uf i^rer 2Bob,mmg @d;tDette ftumm em^fing. 
 3toar toarb id; jung an biefen <Stranb gefii^rt; 
 2Dod) tooi>l erinnr' id; mid; be fd)euen S3IidE^ 
 >en id; mit taunen unb mit Sangigfeit 
 
 960 3luf jene >elben toarf. <Sie jogen au, 
 2H j)atte ber Dl^m^ fid; aitfgetfyan 
 Unb bic eftalten ber erlaucfyten Sortoelt 
 3um <Sd;reden %lion$ fyerabgefenbet, 
 Unb 2Igamemnon h)ar bor alien fyerrlid; ! 
 
 965 D fage mir! @r fiel, fein aii3 betretenb, 
 f einer ^rauen unb $giftb,en3 
 
 Dreft. 
 fagft'3! 
 
 2Be^> bir, unfelige SJtycen! 
 <5o ^aben 3TantaI @nfel glurf; auf ^flud; 
 3Jlit botten toilben dnben au^gefat! 
 970 Unb gleid; bem Unfraut, toiifte Doubter fd;uttelnb
 
 2)ntter SUtfjiifl. Grfter Slitftritt. 43 
 
 Unb taufenbfdlt'gen <3amen urn fidf) ftreuenb, 
 
 3)en $inbefmbern nafybertoanbte 
 
 $ur eto'gen 3BecfyfeIhwty erjeugt! 
 
 3Sa toon ber 9tebe beine 33ruber fcfmett 
 
 975 3)ie ^infternt^ be rf>redfen^ tnir berbecEte. 
 2Bte ift bed grojjen <Stamme letter (Soljm, 
 S)a ^olbc ^inb, beftimmt beg 2Sater 
 2)erein|t ju fein, tote ift Dre|t bem 
 2)e Slutg entgangen? ^at ein gleicfy efc^tc! 
 
 980 3Jlit be 2lbernug 9^e^en tF>n umf^Iungen? 
 3ft er gerettet? Sebt er? 2ebt @Ie!tra? 
 
 Dreft. 
 @ie leben. 
 
 olbne onne, Ieif>e mtr 
 )ie fd^onften tra^Ien, lege fie jum 2)anf 
 SSor 3 oi) i^ 3^f>ron! benn i^ bin arm unb ftumm. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 985 Sift bu gaftfreunblicfy biefem $6nig=aufe, 
 Sift bu mit nafyern Sanben ib,m berbunben, 
 2Bie beine fd^one ^reube tnir berratfy: 
 @o bdnbige bein erj unb fyalt' e feft! 
 ^)enn unertragltcb, mu bem ^ro^Iid^en 
 
 990 n jab,er 9?iidEfatt in bie (Scfymerjen fein. 
 u toei^t nur, merf icb,, 2lgamemnon Xob. 
 
 " id^ an biefer 5?acf)rid9t ni$t genug? 
 
 Dreft. 
 ijaft be rduel dlfte nur erfa^ren.
 
 44 3pl)igenie auf 
 
 2Ba fifrd&t' id; nod;? Dreft, (gleltra leben. 
 
 Dreft. 
 995 Unb fttrd&teft bit fiir flfytamneftren nid?t3? 
 
 ^ ^i genie. 
 <5ie rettet toeber offmmg, toeber ^urd^t. 
 
 D r e ft. 
 fc^ieb fie au bem Sanb ber offmmg ab. 
 
 fie reutg iuiit^enb felbft i^r 33Iut? 
 
 Dreft. 
 Jtein, bod^ i^r eigen 23lut gab i^r ben 2^ob. 
 
 beutlid^er, ba^ id) nid)t longer finne. 
 ie Ungeimjjfyeit fd)Iagt mir taufenbfaltig 
 2)ie bunleln @d)it)ingen um ba bange 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 @o ^aben mid) bie btter au^erfe^n 
 3um S3oten einer Xfyat, bie id) fo gent 
 
 1005 $n' HangloSsbum^fe ^o^Ienreid; ber 
 SSerbergen mod;te? 2Biber meinen 2BiHen 
 3h)ingt mid) bein fyolber 3Jiunb; attein er barf 
 2lud) eth)a @d;merjlid; forbern unb erl)alt'. 
 9lm SCage, ba ber 33ater fiel, berbarg 
 
 ioio @Ie!tra rettenb ifyren Sruber: <Stro^^iu, 
 3)e 23ater3 @d;toaf>er, na^m i^n toiUig auf, 
 Grjog i^n neben feinem eignen ofyne,
 
 fritter lufeug. (Srfter Buftritt. 45 
 
 2)er, Sp^IabeS genannt, bie fdjdnften Sanbe 
 
 3)er ^reunbfcfyaft um ben Slngefommnen fniitofte. 
 1015 Unb toie fie ttmcfyfen, ftwd:>3 in tfyrer <5eele 
 
 35ie brennenbe Segier beg $imtg ^ob 
 
 3u rod^en. Unberfe^en, fremb gefleibet, 
 
 rreid^en fie 9Jl^cen, al brdd^ten fie 
 
 2)ie ^rauernac^rid^t toon DreftenS ^obe 
 1020 gjiit feiner 2lf$e. 2Bo^t em^fanget fie 
 
 2)te ^ontgin; fie treten in ba aul. 
 
 leftren gibt Dreft ficfy ju erfennen; 
 
 (Sie bldf't ber Sfacfye ^euer in i^m auf, 
 
 a bor ber 3Jiutter fyetl'ger egeniuart 
 1025 ^n fid^) juriicfgebrannt luar. titte fii^rt 
 
 @ie ifyn jum Drte, too fein SSater fiel, 
 
 2Bo eine alte leicfyte 6^)ur be frec^ 
 
 SBergoff'nen 33lute oftgetoafcfinen SBoben 
 
 3Jiit blaffen afynbungtoollen Streifen fcirbte. 
 1030 3Jiit ifyrer geuerjunge fd^ilberte 
 
 <3ie jeben llmftanb ber berruc^ten 2^^>at, 
 
 ^^r fnecfytifcfy elenb burd9gebrad^te 2ebcn, 
 
 2)en tlbermut^ ber gliidEIic^en SSerrdt^er, 
 
 Unb bic efafyren, bte nun ber efdjttrifter 
 1035 3Son einer ftiefgetoorbnen SJlutter toarteten. 
 
 ier brang fie jenen alien 2)olcfy iF>m auf, 
 
 2)er fd^on in XantaB aufe grimmig toiit^ete, 
 
 Unb ^I^tdmneftra fiel burd^ @o^ne anb. 
 
 3 to ^ t g e n i e. 
 
 Unfterblicfye, bte ifyr ben reinen 2:ag 
 1040 Sluf tmmer neuen 2BoIIen feltg lebet, 
 abt i^r nur barum mid? fo mand^e^
 
 46 3tf)igeme oitf 2auri8. 
 
 3Son -BtenfrfKn abgefonbert, mic&, fo nab, 
 33ei eucb, gefyalten, ntir bie finblicfye 
 33efrf)aftigung, be fyeil'gen geiierS Iittfy 
 
 1045 $11 nctyren aufgetragen, tneine Seele 
 )er glamme gleid} in eto'ger frotnmer 
 3u eiiem 2Boi)nungen ^inaufgejogen, 
 2)a^ id^ niir meine^ aufe rauel footer 
 Unb tiefer fiii>Ien foEte? 6age mir 
 
 1050 3Som Unglurffel'gen! f^rid^ tnir toon Dreft! 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 D, fonntc man toon feinem obe f^red^en! 
 
 2Bic gdi)renb ftieg au ber (Srfd^Iagnen 93Iut 
 
 2)er Gutter eift 
 
 Unb ruft ber yiafyt uralten Xod^tern 311: 
 1055 nSafjt nic^t ben SRuttermbrber entflie^n! 
 
 SBerfoIgt ben 5Berbred?er! @ud& tft er getoeifyt!" 
 
 <Sie ^orcf>en auf, e fd^aut i^r ^o^Ie 
 
 9ftit ber Segier be 2tblerg urn ficfy 
 
 Sic rii^ren ficfy in i^ren fcf>toarjen 
 1060 Unb au ben 2SinfeIn fcfyleicfyen i^re efd^rten, 
 
 3)er Bioeifel unb bie toe, Iei I>erbei. 
 
 3Sor i^nen fteigt ein 3)am)jf bom 2lc6,eron; 
 
 3n feinen 3BoIfenfreifen 
 
 3)ie etoige Setrad^tung be 
 1065 S5ern)irrenb um be d^ulb'gen 
 
 Unb fie, bered)tigt jiim SSerberben, treten 
 
 S)er gottbefdten @rbe fd^onen Soben, 
 
 3Son bem ein alter ^lue^ fie Icingft berbanntc. 
 
 2)en gluc^tigen berfolgt ii>r fc^netter gu|; 
 1070 Sie geben nur um neu ju ftfyredfen Staft.
 
 fritter 2luf$ug. (Srfter Sttuftritt. 47 
 
 gene. 
 
 ttnfeliger, bu bift in gleidjem gall, 
 
 llnb fiifylft toa er, ber arme $lucf)tling, leibet! 
 
 Dreft. 
 2Ba fagft bu mir? toa<3 toalmft bu gleicfyen 
 
 3 p fy i g e n i e. 
 
 $)id? briicft ein Srubermorb nrie jenen; mir 
 1075 3Sertraute biefj bein jitngfter Sruber fc^on. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 %$ lann nic^t leiben, bajj bu gro^e 6eele 
 3Jiit einem falfd^en SSort betrogen tuerbeft. 
 in liigenfyaft etoebe fnii^f ein $rember 
 35em ^remben, finnreid^ unb ber Sift getoofynt, 
 1080 ur aHe i>or bie 
 
 3^ bin Dreft! unb biefeS fd^ulb'ge 
 
 <Senlt nad^ ber rube fid^ unb fucfyt ben Xob; 
 
 ^n jeglicfyer eftalt fei er iwiUfommen! 
 1085 2Ber bu aud? feift, fo n)iinfd^' id? Stettung bir 
 
 Unb meinem ^reunbe; mir h)iinfd9' id) fie nid^t. 
 
 2)u fd^einft fyier toiber SSiHen ju bertoeilen; 
 
 rfinbet 9latl) jur glud^t unb lajjt mid? ^)ier. 
 
 6 ftiirje mein entfeelter Seib bom ^elg, 
 1090 @ raud^e bi jum Sfteer ^inab mein 33Iut, 
 
 Unb bringe $Iud? ^em Ufer ber Sarbaren! 
 
 e^t i^r, bal)eim im fd^onen ried^enlanb 
 
 6tn neuef 2eben freunbUd? anjufangen. 
 ((Sr entfernt ft(f.)
 
 $#* anf Xaniit. 
 
 60 fcigfl bn bom, erfufomg, fa&nfke 
 Ski gr&j&ien 8*ta, enbl$ ju trar mebor! 
 9Bfe ffpf^rwrr fU^t torn Silb Mr mir! 
 ftoum reid)t man Site! bir an We ^anbe, bic 
 unb egcnfran3n angefuttt 
 DI^m rocbetfcringen. 
 
 woo fBie MM boi omg an ban fibmna^ 
 
 Xer @a6en knnt: bam i^rni irai| feeing fc^etnm 
 Stf 2aufaibai fc^tm 9teu^um ift; fo faint 
 !Kan as$, i^r otter, an gefparten, long 
 Unb toetfe juberetteten eft^enlen. 
 
 IMS Xetm i^t affetn teri^t toaS tin fromnten fann, 
 Unb fa)ant bet 3ulunft au^gebe^nte 9tei^, 
 Sam jebe^ benb Stern^ unb 9*e&eU>uHe 
 Xie SJu^fw^t un tKtbetft. Oklaffen ^ott 
 3^r unfct gfle^n, bad urn Sef^Ieunigung 
 
 sno Cu^ linbiftfc Httet; aber cure jganb 
 
 Srkfrt untetf nie bie gofimai tmmefefru<$te; 
 Unb toe^e bent, ber ungebulbig fie 
 Crtto|enb faute e^eife fu^ yon 2ob 
 Oknie^t. D (at bad lang ertoartete, 
 
 1115 $04 taunt geba^te lud ni^t, toie ben fatten 
 XeS abgefd>iebnen grreunbeS, eitel mir 
 Unb breifa^ fd)merjli4er boruberge^n ! 
 
 Creft (tritt nnebn jn i^r). 
 3hif^ bu bie &ttet an fttr bid) nnb 
 o name metnen ^arnen ni^t mi* eurem. 
 " 3)u retteft ben SBerbred;er nia^t, ju ban 
 $n bi^ gefeOfl, unb tyetteft It4 unb
 
 fritter Stofgug. grfter Sluftritt. 49 
 
 Kein <Sd?icffal ift an beineS feft gebunben. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 3Jitt nicbten ! 2afj attetn unb unbegleitet 
 3ftirf> ju ben Sobten gefyn. SBerfmllteft bu 
 
 1125 $n beinen deleter felbft ben djiulbigen; 
 >u birgft i^n nid^t bor'm 33 lie! ber 
 Unb beine egentoart, bu immlifd;)e, 
 2)rdngt fie nur feittotirt3 unb berfcf)eucf)t fte nicfyt. 
 <3te burfen tnit ben et>rnen freemen gii^en 
 
 1130 2)e fyeil'gen 2SaIbe^ Soben nid^t betreten; 
 2)oc fyb'r' i$ au^5 ber yerne ^ier unb ba 
 3^>r grcifclicfyeS eldd^tcr. 3Si)Ife Barren 
 <So um ben Saum, auf ben ein 9ieifenber 
 <5i$ rettete. a braitfcen tut>en fie 
 
 1135 elagert; unb berlaff id^ biefen ain r 
 
 >ann fteigen fte, bie @cf)Iangenbdupter frfwttehb, 
 2Son alien eiten taub erregenb auf 
 Unb treiben ifyre SBeute bor ftd;> ^er. 
 
 3 p ^ i g e n i e. 
 annft bu, Dreft, ein freunblicfy 9Bort 
 
 Dreft. 
 1140 par' e$ fiir einen $reitnb ber otter auf. 
 
 @ie geben bir ju neuer offnung Sid^t. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 aucfy unb Qualm feb' i$ ben matten 
 Xobtenflufjed mir jur ^otte leud^ten.
 
 50 3pf)igenie auf auri. 
 
 $aft bu leftren, (Sine cfytoefter mtr? 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 1145 $)ie (Sine fannt' id}; bocb, bie dlt'fte nafym 
 %fo gut efcfyicf, ba un fo fcfyrecfticb, fdjien, 
 Set $eiten au ^ b em @I en ^ unfcrS aufe. 
 D Ia^ bein ^ragen, tmb gefette bi^i 
 9fJid^t aud^ ju ben rinn^en; fie blafen 
 
 1150 3Jiir fd^abenfroE) bie 2tfd^e toon ber <3eele, 
 Unb leiben nidj>t, ba^ fid^ bie le^ten ofylen 
 SSon unfer aufe (Sc^redfen^branbe ftitt 
 ^n mir Derglimmen. off bie lutfy benn en)ig, 
 SSorfd^Iic^ angefacfyt, tnit 6ffenfrf)h)efel 
 
 1155 enab,rt, mir auf ber eele marternb brennen? 
 
 S4 tiinge fu^e^ 9?auc&>erf in bie 
 D lajj ben reinen au(f) ber Siebe bir 
 ie lutb, be 23ufen leife toe^enb !ub,len. 
 Dreft, ntein SC^eurer, lannft bu nid^t t>erneb,men? 
 
 1160 at ba eleit ber 6rf>rec!en3gotter fo 
 2)a 56(ut in beinen 2lbern aufgetrorfnet? 
 Sdpleid^t, toie bom au!pt ber grd^Itc^en orgone, 
 Serfteinernb bir ein 3 au ^ er b ur $ ^ e lieber? 
 D tt)enn bergoff'nen 9JiutterbIute timme 
 
 "65 guv off' b,inab mit bum^fen ^onen ruft; 
 off nicfyt ber reinen cfytoefter egentt>ort 
 iilfreid;e otter Don DltympuS rufen? 
 
 D r e ft. 
 @ ruft! e ruft! o toiffft bu mein SSerberben!
 
 fritter aufjug. Stftcr Sluftritt. 51 
 
 SSerbtrgt in bir fid; eine Stodjegottin? 
 1170 2Ber bift bu, beren ttmme mir entfe^lidj 
 3)a l^nnerfte in fetnen !iefen toenbet? 
 
 3pb,i genie. 
 
 63 jeigt flc^ bir tm tiefften ^erjen an: 
 Dreft, id^> bin'! <Si 
 3c^ lebe! 
 
 D r e ft. 
 
 3Jlin Srubcr! 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 2afj ! 
 
 XI 75 3$ rat^e bir, berii^rc nid;t bte 2ocfen! 
 2Bic toon Jlreufa' Srautfleib jiinbet fic^ 
 (Sin unauIofd)Iicf> $euer Don mir fort. 
 2a^ mid?! SBte ^erculeg toitt id) Uniourb'ger 
 3)en Xob bott <Sd;mad;, in mid; berfdjlojfen, fterben. 
 
 1180 2)u toirft nid)t untergeb,n! D bajj id; nur 
 (Sin ritfyig 2Sort bon bir berne^men fonnte! 
 D lofe meine 3 it) eifel / lafj be Iude, 
 35e lang erflefyten, mid; aud; ftd;er tuerben. 
 @3 toaljet ftd; ein 9tab toon $rettb' unb <Sd;merj 
 
 1185 2)urd; meine <SeeIe. 3Son bem fremben SRanne 
 (Sntfernet mid; ein <Sd;aiter; bod; e rei^t 
 geh)altig mid; jum 33ruber.
 
 52 Spljigeitie auf aiiri. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 2$ fyier b.aen embel? unb ergreift 
 Unbanbig4eil'ge SBufy bie ^riefterin? 
 
 1190 D fyore wricfy I D fiefy mtcfy an, tote mir 
 9tad? einer langen 3d* ba erj fid^ opet, 
 SDer eliglcit, bem 2ie&ften, toa0 bie SSelt 
 5Jlod^ fiir mic^ tragen lann, ba^ au^t ju Juffm, 
 5Kit metneit 2lrmen, bie ben leeren 2Binben 
 
 1195 S^ur augebreitet toaren, bid^ ju faff en! 
 
 D lafj mid^I 2a^ mice)! enn e quiffet ^ttet 
 5Ri^t bom $arna$ bie eto r ge Duette fprubflnb 
 2Son 5?el 511 gel* in r & golbne 3:^al ^inab, 
 2Bie ^reube ntir bom erjen toattenb fliejjt, 
 
 1200 Unb toie ein felig 2tfeer mtc^ ring* umfdngt. 
 Dreft! Dreftr 3Jiein Sruber! 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 Scfyb'ne 
 
 3^9 traue btr unb beinem d^meid^eln nid^t. 
 2)iana forbert ftrenge >ienerinnen 
 Unb racket ba enttwi^te ^eiligt^um. 
 
 1205 ntferne beinen 2lrnt bon tneiner Sruft! 
 Unb toenn bu einen ^iingling rettenb liebett, 
 S)a frf)5ne Itttf ifym jartlic^ bieten toittft, 
 @o toenbe meinem greunbe bein emu% 
 >em toiirb'gem ^Jlanne ju. @r irrt umfyer 
 
 1210 2luf jenem ^elfenbfabe; fuc^)' ii?n auf, 
 SSeif ifyn jured^t unb fd)one meiner.
 
 fritter Sluftug. grfter Sluftritt. 53 
 
 35id;, 33ruber, unb er!enne bie efunbne! 
 <Sd;Ut einer <Sd;tt>efter reine immel3freubc 
 ftidit unbefonnene, ftrafbare 2uft. 
 
 1215 D nefyntt ben SBafm ifym toon bem ftarren 2luge, 
 2)a| un ber Slugenblirf ber i>od)ften ^reube 
 3fiid)t bretfad) elenb tnad^e! @ie ift fyter, 
 2)ic langft berlornc d^toefter. SBom 2lltar 
 9ti^ mid; bie ottin toeg unb rettete 
 
 1220 ^ierfyer mid; in if>r eigen ^eiligtbum. 
 efangen bift bu, bargeftettt jum D^fer, 
 Unb finbeft in ber ^riefterin bie @d)ttefter. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 Unfelige! <So mag bie <3onne benn 
 2)ie le^ten rauel unfer aufe fe^n! 
 
 1225 ^(t nid;t leftra ^ier? bamit aud; fie 
 Wlit itn ju runbe gef^e, nid)t i^r 2eben 
 3u fd;toererem efd;ic! unb Seiben frifte. 
 ut, $riefterin! ^d; folge um 2lltar: 
 3Der Srubermorb ift i)ergebrad)te <Sitte 
 
 1230 )e alten <Stamme; unb id; banle, otter, 
 2)af; if>r mid; ofyne ^inber au^jurotten 
 S3efd;Ioffen fyabt. Unb Ia^ bir ratten, fyabe 
 35ie onne ntd;t ju lieb unb nid)t bie (Steme; 
 $omm, folge mir in' bunfle ^Reid; ^inab! 
 
 1235 2Bie fid; bom <5d;toefefyful;l erjeugte 2)rad;en 
 ^efdm^fenb bie bertoanbte 33rut berfd;Iingen, 
 ^erftbrt fid; felbft ba tout^enbe efd)Ied;t; 
 !inberlol unb fd;ulblo^ mit fyinab !
 
 54 3pl)igente auf SauriS. 
 
 35u ftefyft mid) mit (grbarmen an? Safj ab! 
 1240 3ftit folcfyen 33Ucfen fucfyte &fytamneftra 
 
 <5t$ etnen 2Beg nacfy ifyreS (SofyneS Bergen; 
 
 !Docfy fein gefcfytwtngner 2lrm traf ifyre S3ruft. 
 
 2)ie Gutter fiel! Xritt auf, untwiH'ger eift! 
 
 $m ^rei gefcf)Ioffen tretet an, tfyr ^urten, 
 1245 Unb too^net bem tmtttommnen (Scf>auf|)iel 6ei, 
 
 3)em le^ten, grd^Iid^ften, ba^ iF)r berettet! 
 
 9tt$t a^ unb 9tacf)e fdE)arfen tfyren 
 
 2)ie Itebebotte d^tocftcr tmrb jur 
 
 ejtoungen. 2Beine ntcfyt! 2>u ^aft nid^t 
 1250 (Sett meinen erften l^afyren fyab' ic| nid^tg 
 
 eliebt, h?ie id) btcfy Iteben fonnte, (Sd^toefte 
 
 $a, fc^toinge beinen ta^I, berfd>one nicfyt, 
 
 3errci^e btefen S3ufen, unb eroffne 
 
 2)en tromen bie f>ier fieben einen 2Beg ! 
 (gr ftnft in (Srmattimg.) 
 
 1255 3lttein ju tragen biefe^ ludf unb @lenb 
 35ermag ic^ nid^t. 2Bo bift bu, ^Iabe 
 2Bo finb' id) beine ^iilfe, tfyeurer 3Jlann? 
 (@le entfernt ftcf) fitcfjenb.) 
 
 2luftritt. 
 
 Dreft 
 
 (au feiner SBetaubung erttia(f)enb unb ftc^ cmfridjtenb). 
 9iod^ @inen! reid^e mir au Set{>e'g ^lut^en 
 2)en le^ten fufylen Seeder ber rquidcung!
 
 Sritter Slufjug. 3roeiter Sluftritt. 55 
 
 1260 SBalb ift ber $rampf be 2eben au bent 33ufen 
 
 tntoeggefpult; balb fliejjet ftttt mein eift, 
 
 2)er Ditette be SSergeffenS fyingegeben, 
 
 3u eudj>, ifyr fatten, in bie eft 'gen 9kbel. 
 
 efdflig lafct in eurer 9iu^e fic^ 
 1265 &en umgetriebnen (Sol>n ber Grbe laben! 
 ein elifpel i)5r' id^) in ben 3 toe i9 en / 
 ein eraufcf) au jener SDammrung fdufeln? 
 
 @ie lommen fc^on, ben neuen aft ju fe^n! 
 
 2Ber ift bie rfjaar, bie i)err[ic^ mit einanber 
 1270 2Bie ein berfammelt 5" r ft en ^ au ^ fi$ freut? 
 
 <3ie gef>en frieblid^, 2llt' unb ^unge, 2Rcinner 
 
 3Kit 3Betbern; gotterglei^) unb d^nlicb, fd^einen 
 
 3)ie iranbelnben eftalten. ^a, fie finb'3, 
 
 2)ie 2ti>n^erm meine aufe! 3Jlit 3:^eften 
 1275 e^t 3ltreu in bertraulidjen efprdd^en; 
 
 S)ie $naben fd^Iii^fen fc^erjenb urn fie fyer. 
 
 Sft feine ^einbfcf^aft ^)ier mefyr unter eud^? 
 
 SSerlofd? bie 9f*arf)e toie ba^ Sic^t ber onne? 
 
 <So bin auc^) ic() nnHfommen, unb ic^) barf 
 1280 ^n euern feierli<f)en 3 U 9 m ^ ntifdjen. 
 
 SSillfommen, SSdter! eud^ grii^t Dreft, 
 
 SSon euerm <Stamme ber letjte 2Rann; 
 
 2Ba i^r gefd't, fyat er geemtet: 
 
 SJiit ^luc^) belaben ftieg er fyerab, 
 1285 2)ocft, leia^ter trd'get fief) ^ter jebe Siirbe: 
 
 9^e^)mt ib,n, o nefymt i^n in euern 
 
 SDicfy, 2ltreu, ef>r' ia), aitcb, bid? 
 
 SSir fmb b,ier atte ber geinbfcf;aft log. 
 
 $eigt mir ben SSater, ben icb, nur inmal 
 1290 ^m 2eben fa^! S3ift bu% mein SSater?
 
 56 3pf)igenie auf 
 
 Unb fitfyrft bie 9Jlutter bertraut mit bit? 
 )arf $lr/tamneftra bie anb bir reicfyen; 
 <3o barf Dreft aucfy gu ib,r treten 
 Unb barf ifyr fagen: fiefy beinen <Sof>n! 
 
 1295 @ei>t euern >ofyn ! ei^t t^n totHfommen. 
 2luf Srben tear in unferm >aufe 
 3)er ru^ be 3Jiorbeg getoiffe Sofung, 
 Unb ba efc^Ied^t be! alien StantaluS 
 at feine $reitben jenfeits ber ^Jiad^t. 
 
 ^oo Sfy* tuft: 2Bittfommen! unb nei>mt micfy auf! 
 D fii^rt gum 2llten, gum 2t^ni)errn mid^! 
 2Bo ift ber Slltc? ba^ id^ ifyn fe^e, 
 2)a t^eure au^t, ba i)ielere^rte, 
 2)a mit ben ottern gu 3ftatl>e fa|. 
 
 1305 $* fc^eint ju jaubern, eud^ toegjutoenben? 
 SSag ift eg? leibet ber bttergleic^e? 
 2Be^ mir! e fyaben bie Ubermad)t'gen 
 5Der ^elbenbruft graufame Dualen 
 2Jlit e^rnen ^etten feft aufgefcfymiebet. 
 
 Dritter ^uftritt. 
 Dreft. 
 
 D r e ft. 
 
 1310 eib ifyr aud^ fd^on ^erabgefommen? 
 
 2Bo^I d&toefter bir! ^od? fc^It leltra: 
 @in giit'ger ott fenb' ung bie (Sine 
 3Kit fanften PfeiIen aud? fd^nett ^erab.
 
 SDritter 3lufjug. fritter Sluftritt. 57 
 
 2)tcfy, armer $reunb, muji irf> bebauern ! 
 1315 $omm mit! fomm mtt! ju $Iuto'3 b,ron, 
 2U neue afte ben 2Btrt^ 311 griijjen. 
 
 3 pb, i genie. 
 
 efdjtoifter, bie ifyr an bem toeiten ^immet 
 SDa f4)5ne Sicfyt bei Xag unb 5iaci)t fyerauf 
 35en 9Jienfd^en bringet, unb ben Slbgefd^iebnen 
 
 1320 5fiid^t leud^ten biirfet, rettet un efd^toifter! 
 2)u Itebft, iane, betnen i>olben 33ruber 
 3Sor attem, h?a bir Srb' unb immel bietet, 
 Unb toenbeft bein jungfraulirf) Slngeft^t 
 9la<fy feinem eto'gen t(f)te fe^nenb ftitt. 
 
 1325 D lajj ben einj'gen <S!patgefunbnen tnir 
 
 yiifyt in ber ^infterni^ be 2Baf)nfinn^ rafen! 
 Unb ift bein SBitte, ba bu ^ter mid) bargft, 
 9?unme^r bottenbet, toiUft bu tnir burcfy i^n 
 Unb ib/m burd() micb, bie fel'ge iilfe geben; 
 
 1330 (So Ibf ib,n toon ben Sanben jeneg 
 2)a^ nid^t bie tb,eure 3eit ber Stettung 
 
 (Srlennft bu un unb biefen b,eil'gen ain 
 Unb biefe 2icb,t, ba nic^t ben 3Tobten leuc^tet? 
 $ub,lft bu ben Slrm be greunbeS unb ber d^ioefter, 
 
 1335 SDie bicb, nod^ feft, nod^ lebenb b, alien? ^a^ 
 Un !rdftig an; toir finb nicb,t leere fatten. 
 3Jierf auf tnein 2Bort! Skrnimm eg! 9taffe bicb, 
 3ufammen! ^eber 2lugenblid; ift tijeuer, 
 Unb unfre ^iicEfe^r b,angt an garten gaben, 
 
 1340 S)ie, fd;>eint e^, eine gunft'ge ^parje f^innt.
 
 58 3p!)igenie auf cmri. 
 
 D r e ft (ju Spljigenien). 
 
 2afj micb, jum rftenmal mit freiem erjen 
 ^n beinen 2lrmen reine $reube fyaben! 
 3$r otter, bie mit flammenber etoalt 
 Sjfyr fcfytoere SBolfen aufjujefyren toanbelt, 
 
 1345 Unb gnabtg=ernft ben lang erflef)ten 3tegen 
 2Kit 2)onner(timmen unb mtt 9Binbebraufen 
 ^n toilben trotnen auf bie @rbe fc^iittet, 
 2>oc^ balb ber 5Renfrf>en graufenbeS rtoarten 
 ^n egen auflof't unb ba bange taunen 
 
 1350 3 n $ reu b e Hu! unb lauten anf bertuanbelt, 
 SBenn in ben 3:ro^fen frifd^erquidter flatter 
 2)ie neue onne taufenbfad^ ficfy f^iegelt, 
 Unb ^ri freunbltcf> bunt mtt leidjter anb 
 en grauen $lor b le^ten SSoIfen trennt; 
 
 1355 D lafjt mid) aucfy in meiner <SdE)h)efter 2lrmen, 
 2ln meine ^reunbe S3ruft, h)a ifyr mir gonnt 
 3Jiit boHem 2)anf genie^en unb bef)alten. 
 @ Tofet ftc^i ber ^lud^, mir fagt'S ba erj. 
 3)ie umeniben jieljm, id^ E>ore fte, 
 
 I 3fc> 3 um XottaruS unb fc^Iagen b,inter ficfy 
 ie e^rnen 2;^ore fernabbonnernb ju. 
 35ie @rbe bam^ft erquidfenben erudf 1 
 Unb labet mid^ auf ifyren ^lad^en etn, 
 
 Seben^freub' unb grofjer 3:^at ju jagcn. 
 
 1365 SSerfaumt bie 3t nicfyt, bie gemeffen ift! 
 2)er S&inb ber unfre <5egel fd^toeat, er bringe 
 @rft unfre botte greube jum Dl^m^). 
 ^ommt! @g bebarf b,ier fd^netten 9lat^ unb @c&,Iujj.
 
 (Erftcr atuftrttt. 
 
 3 $ $ i g e n i e. 
 
 $)enfen bie ^immlifdjen 
 1370 @inem ber rbgebornen 
 
 SStele 23erh)immgen ju, 
 
 Unb beretten fie ifym 
 
 SSon ber greube ju <Sd)merjen 
 
 Unb toon (Scfttnerjen jur ^reube 
 1375 5tief*erfd)utternben Ubergang; 
 
 $)ann erjte^en fie i^m 
 
 ^n ber 9*ab,e ber tabt, 
 
 Dber am fernen eftabe, 
 
 a^ in Stunben ber ^ot^> 
 1380 2Iu^ bie iilfe bereit fei, 
 
 inen rufyigen ^reunb. 
 
 D fegnet, otter, unfern ^labeS 
 
 Unb h>a er immer unternei)men mag! 
 
 @r ift ber 3Irm be^ ^iinglingS in ber cfyladjt, 
 1385 2)e reife^ leucfytenb 3lug' in ber SSerfammlung : 
 
 $enn feine eel' ift ftiEe; fie betoafyrt 
 
 3)er 5Ruf)e b.eil'geg imerfcfyb'pfteS ut, 
 
 Unb ben Umb,ergetriebnen reidjet er 
 
 2lu i^ren 2;iefen Slaty unb $ftlfe.
 
 60 Spfyigenie auf auri. 
 
 1390 ftfy er toom Sruber Io3; ben ftaunt' id) an 
 Unb immer hrieber an, unb fonnte tnir 
 $)a luc! nicfyt eigen mad)en, lief} ifm nid)t 
 2lu3 meinen 2lrmen Io, unb fufylte nid)t 
 $)ie SRdfye ber efafyr bie un umgibt. 
 
 1395 3e|t 04n |ie i^ren 3lnfrf)Iag au^ufufjren 
 
 2)er <5ee ju, loo ba <3cf)iff mtt ben efd^rten 
 ^n einer 33it$t berftecEt auf'8 B e ^ en fouert, 
 Unb f>aben fluge 2Bort mtr in ben SJiunb 
 egeben, micfy gete^rt h)a id^ bem 
 
 1400 ^ntiDorte, ioenn er fenbet unb ba3 
 
 9Kir bringenber gebietet. 2ld^! id^ fe^e tool?!, 
 3^ mu^ mid^ letten laffen trie ein ^inb. 
 3d5> fyabe nid^t gelernt gu ^inter^alten 
 yiofy jemanb ettoa abjuliften. 2Bef>! 
 
 1405 D toeb, ber 2iige! @ie befreiet nid^t, 
 3Bie jebe anbre toafyrgefprocfwe 2Bort, 
 2)ie 33ruft; fie macfyt un nidjt getroft, fie angftet 
 35en, ber fie I) eimlid) fdgmiebet, unb fie fefyrt, 
 (Sin Iogebrud;ter ^feil, toon einem otte 
 
 1410 eJDenbet unb berfagenb, fid) juriid; 
 
 Unb trifft ben 6cfe,uen. @org' auf Sorge fcfytoanft 
 3Kir burd? bie Sruft. @3 greift bie ^urie 
 SSietteid^t ben 23ruber auf bem Soben loieber 
 2)e ungetoei^ten Ufer grimntig an. 
 
 1415 ntbecft man fie bictteid^t? 5)tid) biinlt, id) ^ore 
 etoaffnete fid) nab, en ! ier! 2)er Sote 
 ^ommt toon bem $ontge mit fd^nettem d^ritt, 
 @ fdr)Idgt mein erj, e triibt fid) meine (Seele, 
 SDa id) be Cannes 2tngefid)t erblicfe, 
 
 1420 2)em id) mit falfcfyem SSort begegnen fott.
 
 SSierter lufaug. ^wetter Stuftritt. 61 
 
 2luftrttt. 
 
 SlrfaS. 
 
 SBefdfyleunige ba Dpfer, ^riefterin! 
 er onig toartet unb e fyarrt ba 2?olf. 
 
 3 ^) ^ i g e n t e. 
 
 $d) folgte metner ^Pfltc^t unb beinem 2Binf, 
 9Benn unbermut^et nicfyt ein ^tnberni^ 
 1425 <Si^> jttnfcfyen mic^ unb bie rfuttung ftettte. 
 
 ift', ba ben Sefefyl be ^onig I>inbert? 
 
 ^pfyigenie. 
 f fl tt, beffen h)ir nicfyt SJleifter finb. 
 
 <So fage mir'S, ba^ id^' if>m fdjwett Dermelbe: 
 2)enn er befd^Io^ bei fi(^ ber beiben ^ob. 
 
 1430 3)tc otter ^aben ifyn nodE> nid^t befd)Ioffen. 
 2)er alt'fte biefer banner tragt bie cfyulb 
 S)e naf>tierh)anbten Slutg, ba er bergof;. 
 3)ie ^urien berfolgen feinen ^fab, 
 %a in bem innern ^empel fa^te felbft 
 
 1435 )a libel i^n, unb feine egentoart 
 (Snt^eiligte bie reine tcitte. 9Jun 
 iP icf> mit meinen ^ungfraun, an bem SJieere 
 2)er ottin S3tlb mit frifrfjer 2Bette ne^enb,
 
 auf auri. 
 
 efyeimnijjtoolle 2Seib,e ju begeb,n. 
 1440 ftore niemanb unfern ftitten 
 
 melbe biefe neue inbernijj 
 $dnige gefdjtoinb; beginnc bu 
 ^eil'ge SSerf ntd^t eb,' bt er' crlaubt. 
 
 i(t aUein ber ^Brieftrin iiberlaffen. 
 
 1445 @ol^ feltnen gatt fott aucfy ber ^onig hriffen. 
 
 3^b, igcnie. 
 6ein 9tatb, tote fein Sefeb,! berdnbert 
 
 Dft toirb ber 3Jlad^tige jum 6cb,etn gefragt. 
 
 3^b, i genie. 
 rbringe ntcfyt, ioa icb, berfagen fottte. 
 
 aria*. 
 Serfage mcfyt, toa^ gut unb nii^Iicb, tft. 
 
 1450 ^(b, gebe nad^, tcenn bu nicb,t faumen toiffft. 
 
 bin icb, mit ber 9tad^ricb,t in bem Sager, 
 Unb fcfynett mit feinen 2Borten fyier juriidf. 
 D lonnt' icb, ib,m nod^ etne 33otfcb,aft bringen, 
 2)ie atte lof'te, toa un je^t bern)irrt: 
 1455 2)enn bu b,aft nid^t be Xreuen 9tatb, gead^tet.
 
 iBierter lufjitg. 3eiter ?Iuftritt. 63 
 
 ene. 
 icfo, toermocfyte, b,ab' icfy gern getfyan. 
 
 Sftocb, anberft bu ben inn jur recfyten $eit. 
 
 3^f>igente. 
 3)a fte^t nun einmal nt^t in unfrer 3Jiad^t. 
 
 rfa, 
 25u fyaltft unmoglic^, it>a bir SJiii^e foftet. 
 
 ^))^igenie. 
 ir fd^eint e$ moglid^, tt>eil ber 2Sunfci) bicfy triigt. 
 
 2trla. 
 SBittft bu benn aHeS fo gelaffen toagen? 
 
 Spfyigenie. 
 ^d? i>ab' e in ber otter anb gelegt. 
 
 2lrfa. 
 <5ie pflegen SJlenfd^en ntenfdIid9 ju emtten. 
 
 3^^i0ie. 
 3tuf i^ren ^ingergeig Ibmmt atte an. 
 
 1465 l^cfy fage bir, e liegt in beiner >anb. 
 2)e^ ^6nig aufgebracfyter (Sinn attein 
 S3ereitet biefen ^remben bittern ^ob. 
 2)a eer enttoofynte langfi bom b,artcn D^fer 
 Unb bon bem blut'gen 2)ienfte fein emutij). 
 
 1470 %a, manner, ben ein toibrigeS efd^ic! 
 2ln frembeS Ufer trug, emtofanb el felbft,
 
 64 3pl)igenie auf jaitri. 
 
 2Bie gottergleirf) bem armen ^rrenben, 
 Umfyergetrieben an bev fremben ranjc, 
 in freunbUd? 3Jtenfd;enangefid;t begegnet. 
 
 1475 D toenbe nirf)t toon un toa bit bermagft! 
 3)u enbeft Icid^t toa bu begonnen ^aft: 
 enn ntrgenb^ baut bie SRilbe, bie fyerab 
 ^n tnenfd>Itc^er eftalt bom immel fommt, 
 in 9iei^ ftd^) fd&netter, al too triib unb imlb 
 
 1480 in neueg Soil, bott Seben, 3JiutI) unb Kraft, 
 icb, felbft unb banger ^^nung iiberlaffen, 
 2)e 9Kenfd^enIeben fd^toere Siirben tra'gt. 
 
 3 to ^ i g e n i e. 
 
 rfcfyiittre tneine eele nirfjt, bie bu 
 
 beinem -ESitten nid^t betoegen fannft. 
 
 1485 @o long e 3 e ^ if*/ fc^ont man toeber 
 guten 
 
 S^^i genie. 
 
 2)u mad(>ft bir SRitb, unb mir erregft bu 
 SSergeben^ beibeS : barum Ia^ mid) nun. 
 
 3)ie d^merjen finb'g, bie id; ju iilfe rufe 
 149 >enn e^ finb ^reunbe, ute ratten fie. 
 
 e n e. 
 
 @ie fajfen meine eele tnit etualt, 
 tilgen fie ben S&ibertoiUen nid^t.
 
 SSiecter Slufeiifl. S)ritter Sluftritt 65 
 
 cine fdfyone eele SBiberhnllen 
 eine 2BofyUtyat, bic ber @ble reidjt? 
 
 H95 3 a / toenn ber @ble, toa$ ficfy nid^t gejiemt, 
 (Statt meineg SDanfeS mid? ertoerben toiU. 
 
 2Ber feine ^eigung fii^It, bent mangelt 
 2ln cinem 2Borte ber Gsntfcfyulb'gung nie. 
 35em ^urften fag' idj an, toa ^ier 
 1500 D n)ieberE)oIteft bu in beiner <Seele, 
 2Bie ebel er ficfy gegen bid betrug 
 33on beiner Slnfunft an bi biefen 
 
 Dritter 2luftritt 
 
 S^^igenie (aUein). 
 3Son biefe Cannes 9lebe fityP 109 mir 
 
 3ur ungelegnen 3it ba erj im Sufen 
 1505 2luf einmal umgetoenbet. ^36^ erfrfjrecfe ! 
 
 2)enn tuie bie glutfy mit fd^neffen tromen toadjfenb 
 S)ie ^elfen iiberf^iilt, bie in bem <3anb 
 . 2lm Ufer licgen: fo beberfte ganj 
 
 (Sin ^"b^jfr 001 m ^ n S nner f^^- 3^ fato 
 1510 ^n meinen 2lrmen ba Unmoglic^e. 
 6^ fc^ien fid^ eine SSotfe n)ieber fanft 
 Um micfy ju legen, bon ber @rbe mic^ 
 
 ju ^>eben unb in jenen Sd^Iummer
 
 34 Spljigente auf 2ouri. 
 
 einjutm'egen, ben bie gute ottin 
 
 1515 Urn meine @$lafe legte, ba ifyr 2lrm 
 3Ki<$ rettenb fafjte. 9fteinen SBruber 
 rgrijf bag erj mit einjiger etoalt: 
 3$ ^ord^te nur auf feine $reunb 
 9?ur fie ju retten brang bie eele borit)art3. 
 
 1520 Unb it)ie ben ^li^^en einer toitften ^nfel 
 S)et (Sniffer gern ben ^itdfen rtenbet: fo 
 Sag XauriS ^inter mir. 9iun fyat bie timmc 
 2)e treuen SJtannS mic^ h)ieber aufgetredEt, 
 2)a^ icfy aud^ SJienfc^en ^ter berlaffe, micfy 
 
 1525 rinnert. 2)o^!j)elt toirb tnir ber Setrug 
 SSer^t. D bleibe ru^ig, meine 6eele! 
 Seginnft bu nun ju fd^toanfen unb ju jtoeifeln? 
 3)en feften Soben beiner Gjinfamfeit 
 gjlu^t bu berlaffen! toieber eingefd^ifft 
 
 1530 rgreifen bid^ bie SBetten fd^aufelnb, tritb 
 Unb bang fcerfenneft bu bie 2BeIt unb bidj. 
 
 t)tertcr ituftrttt. 
 i genie. ^3^ lab eg. 
 
 SBo ift fte? bafc id? i^r mit fd^neaen 2Borten 
 3)ie fro^e iBotfd^aft unfrer Sftettung bringe ! 
 
 S)u fiefyft mid^ E>ier bott orgen unb rtoartung 
 1535 S)e fid^ern rofte, ben bu mir berf^rid^ft.
 
 SBterter Slufeug. SBierter SCitftritt. 67 
 
 )ein Sruber ift gefyeilt ! >en $elfenboben 
 SDeS ungetoeifyten Ufer unb ben <5anb 
 SBetraten fair mit frdfylicfcen efpracfyen ; 
 35er ain blieb fyinter un3, fair merften'3 nid^t. 
 
 1540 Unb fyerrlidjer unb immer f)errlidf)er 
 Umloberte ber ^ugenb fd^one glamme 
 @ein locfig aupt; fein boHe 2luge gliifyte 
 2Son 3JlutE> unb offnung, unb fein freteS erj 
 (Srgab ficfy ganj ber ^reube, gang ber Suft, 
 
 1545 2)td9, feine Sietterin, unb mid^ ju retten. 
 
 efegnet feift bu, unb e moge nie 
 
 SSon beiner 2type, bie fo ute 
 
 3)er ^on be 2eiben unb ber $Iage tonen! 
 
 %fy fcrtnge me^r al ba; benn fcfyon begleitet; 
 
 1550 Ieid einem ^iirften, ^)flegt bag liirf ju nafyn. 
 3lud^ bie efa^rten ^aben ttrir gefunben. 
 ^n einer ^elfenbud^t berbargen fie 
 3)aS c^iff unb fajjen traurig unb erioartenb. 
 @te fafyen beinen SBruber, unb e regten 
 
 555 @ic^ atte joud^jenb, unb fie baten bringenb 
 S5er Slbfa^rt tunbe ju befd^Ieunigen. 
 @ fefynet jebe gauft ftd^ na^ bem 9luber, 
 Unb felbft ein 2Binb er^ob bom Sanbe lifpelnb, 
 SSon atten gleic^ bemerft, bie fyolben d^loingen. 
 
 1560 3)rum Ia^ un eilen, fii^re mid^ jum 
 betreten, Ia
 
 3pf)tgenie ouf 
 
 unfrer 2Biinfcb,e giel berefyrenb faffen. 
 3$ bin aHein genug, ber bttin 33ilb 
 2luf iwob,! geubten dmltern toegjutragen ; 
 1565 -JBie fefyn' icfy mid) nad) ber ertoiinfcfyten Soft! 
 
 (@r ge^t gegen ben empel unter ben te^ten SSorten, oljne ju bemerfen, 
 ba S^igenie nici)t fotgt ; enbtid) fe^rt er ftdj itnt.) 
 
 u ftel)ft unb jauberft age mir u fd^tocigft! 
 3)u fd^einft bertoorren! 2Biberfe^et fid^ 
 @in neue Unfyeil unferm IM? Sag' an! 
 aft bit bem ^onige ba Huge 9Bort 
 1570 SSermelben lafjen, ba toir abgerebet? 
 
 3^1 fyabe, tlieurer 9Jlann; boc^ toirft bu fdjeltcn. 
 @in fd^ioeigenber SSertweiS toar mir bein 3ln6Iid. 
 3)e $onig 33ote fam, unb icie bu e 
 3Jltr in ben 9Jhmb gelegt, fo fagt' id^'g ifym. 
 *57s @r fd^ien ju ftaunen, unb berlangte bringenb 
 2)ie feline $eier erft bem ^onige 
 3u melben, feinen 2Bitten ju bernefymen ; 
 Unb nun ertoart' id^ feine SSieberlefyr. 
 
 ^ v I a b e 3. 
 
 9$efy un! rneuert fd^toebt nun bie efafyr 
 1580 Um unfre c^Iafe! 2Barum ^aft bu nid^t 
 
 einge^iittt? 
 
 2113 eine uHe E>ab' id? '3 nie gebraucb,t.
 
 SSierter Slufjug. 2>ierter Stuftritt 69 
 
 <5o toirft bu, reine (Seele, bicb, unb un 
 
 $u runbe ricfyten. 28arum bacfyt' idfy nicfyt 
 
 1585 3tuf biefen $aU borau, unb lefyrte bicfe, 
 btefer ^orbrung 
 
 Jlur mic^, bte d^ulb ift mein, id) fii^I' e too^I; 
 2)ocfy fonnt' id) anber nic^t bem 9)iann begegnen, 
 S)er mit SSernunft unb rnft toon mir berlangte, 
 1590 2Sa i^m mein er$ al 9tedE)t gefte^en mu^te. 
 
 $ i? I a b e 3. 
 
 efafyrlicfyer jie^t fid^'g jufammen; bod^ aud9 fo 
 2a^ un3 nid^t jagen, ober unbefonnen 
 Unb iibereilt ung felbft berratf^en. Stufyig 
 (Srtoarte bu bte 2Bieber!unft be Soten, 
 
 1595 Unb bann fiefy feft, er bringe h)a er twU: 
 2)enn folder SBei^ung $eter anjuorbnen 
 e^ort ber ^Srieftertn unb nicfyt bem ^onig. 
 Unb forbert er ben fremben 9Jiann ju feb,n, 
 2)er toon bem -JBafynfinn [cf)h)er belaftet ift; 
 
 1600 @o lefyn' e ab, al fyielteft bu un beibe 
 
 3m empel toDi)I bertoab.rt. @o fcf)aff' un Suft, 
 2)a^ h)ir auf'g eiligfte, ben fyeil'gen <3d^a| 
 35em raub, untuiirb'gen 33olf enttoenbenb, flie^n. 
 2)ie beften 3 e ^ en f^nbet un^ 2fyoH, 
 
 1605 Unb, e^' h)ir bie Sebingung fromm erfiiUen, 
 rfiittt er gottlicfc, fetn SSerf^rec^en fd^on. 
 Dreft ift frei, ge^eilt! 3Jiit bem Sefreiten
 
 70 SWgenie auf 2anri8. 
 
 D f fib. ret un$ b,infiber, gfinft'ge 2Binbe, 
 
 3ur gelfen^nfel bic ber ott beh>ob,nt; 
 1610 2)ann nacb, 3Jtycen, bajj e lebcnbig toerbe, 
 
 $afi toon bet 2lfae be toerlofcb,nen erbeS 
 
 3>ie SSatcrgottcr fro^Iic^ f^ erb.eben, 
 
 Unb f(^onc ^cucr i^re 2Bob,nungen 
 
 Umleu^te! 2)etne anb foU tynen SGBcibrau^ 
 6l s 3 uer f* au ^ golbnen <S(^aIcn ftrcuen. 2)u 
 
 Sringfl fiber jenc tb,toette ^cil unb 2cben toicber, 
 ben gluc^ unb f<6,mu<feft ncu bic 35cincn 
 2cbenblutb,cn 
 
 (^ bic^, fo toenbet fi4>, o 
 1620 2Bic ftt^ bic 33Iumc nat^ bcr onne tocnbct, 
 2)ie ecle, toon bent trable betner 3Borte 
 etroffen, fi(^ bent fu|en ^rofte nacfy. 
 SBte toftlid) ift be gegenhmrt'gen greunbeg 
 etoijye 9lebe, beren immelfraft 
 1625 gin infamer entbe^rt unb ftitt berfinlt. 
 
 3)enn langfom reift, berfc^Iojfen in bent SSufen, 
 ebanf ib,m unb ntfAlu^; bie egentoart 
 35e 2iebenben enttoidEelte fte Ieicb.t. 
 
 2eb' toob,!! 25ie ^reunbe tottt i^ nun gef^toinb 
 1630 Serub/igen, bie feb,nlic^ toartenb Barren. 
 
 2)ann lomm' i(^ f^nett juriuf unb Iauf(^e b,ier 
 3m gelfenbuf $ berftetft auf beinen 2Bin! 
 SSa ftnneft bu? 2luf einmal uberf^toebt 
 in fli0er Srauerjug bie fteie tirne.
 
 93tert *uf$ug. Alerter Stuftritt. 71 
 
 1635 SSerjeil)! 2Bie leid)te 2BoIlen bor ber onne, 
 @o jiefyt mir bor ber <5eele leidjte (gorge 
 Unb SBangtgfeit boriiber. 
 
 $ 9 1 a b S. 
 
 gttr^te nic^t! 
 
 SBetriigltrf) fcfylofe bte gurc^t mit ber efafyr 
 (Sin enge^ 33unbni|; beibe |inb efetten. 
 
 1640 2)ie <Sorge nenn' ic^) ebel, bie mid) toarnt, 
 2)en ^onig, ber mein jtoeiter SSater tnarb, 
 5iid)t tiicfifd) ju betriigen, ju berauben. 
 
 35er beinen 33ruber fd^Iadbtet, bent entfliefyft bu. 
 
 ^5bi)igenie. 
 @ ift berfelbe, ber mir ute ttyat. 
 
 1645 2)a ift nicfyt Unbanf, h>a bie 5fiot^ gebeut. 
 
 ^bljigenie. 
 6 bleibt too^I Unbanf; nur bie Rot^ entfd)ulbigt. 
 
 3Sor ottem unb bor 9ftenfd)en bid) geiui 
 
 ^b^igenie. 
 2lttein mein eigen erj ift nid;t befriebigt. 
 
 ^S^Iabeg. 
 3u ftrenge gorbrung ift berborgner
 
 72 Sptyigenie auf 2auri. 
 
 $pb,i genie. 
 1650 3$ tmterfucfye nirfjt, icfy fityle nur. 
 
 pb,Ift hi bicfc, recb,t, fo mujjt hi bic$ ereb,ren. 
 
 $pb,igenie. 
 anj unbefkdt geniefct fid? nur ba 
 
 o ^a^ bu bi$ im Xem^el too^I betpal)rt; 
 3)a 2eben Ie^>rt un, toeniger tmt un 
 
 1655 Hnb anbem ftrenge fein; bu lernft e aucfy. 
 @o h)unberbar tft bie^ efcfyled^ gebilbet, 
 <So bielfad^) tft' berfcfylungen unb uerfnii^ft, 
 3)a^ letner in ficfy felbft, noc^ mit ben anbern 
 @i<$ rein unb unbertoorren fatten lann. 
 
 1660 2lud(> finb toir mdE)t beftellt un felbft 311 ricfyten; 
 3u n>anbeln unb auf feinen 2Beg ju fetyen 
 3ft eineg 9Renfc^en erfte, nac^fte ^flic^t: 
 2)enn felten fd^a^t er recfyt n)a er gei^an, 
 Unb toa er tb,ut n>et^ er faft nie ju 
 
 3 p b, i genie. 
 1665 $aft iiberreb'ft bu mid? gu beiner 3Jieinung. 
 
 ^B ty I a b e S. 
 
 SBrau^t'g liberrebung, to bie Sab, I berfagt ift? 
 .2)en Sruber, bid;, unb einen ^reimb ju retten 
 3ft nur in 2Beg; fragt ficb,' ob toir i^n gefyen?
 
 SSierter Slufjug. SJMerter Slnftritt. 73 
 
 D lajj tnicfy jaubern! benn bu tfyateft felbft 
 
 1670 (gin folcfyeS Unrest feinem SJiann gelaffen, 
 
 3)cm bu fiir aBofyltfyat bicfy toerpflicfytet 
 
 SBenn toir ju runbc ge^en, trartct bein 
 (Sin ^>drtrer SSortDurf, ber SSerjtoeifhmg trcigt. 
 3Jian fie^t, bu bift ni<f)t an SSerluft geiuo^nt, 
 1675 2)a bu bem gro^en libel ju entgefyen 
 
 @in falfc^e^ 2Bort nid^t einmal o^fem toiffft. 
 
 D triig' id^) bod^) ein mdnnlid9 erj in mir! 
 3)a, toenn eS einen fiifynen SSorfa| ^egt, 
 SBor jeber anbetn ttmme ftd^ Derfd^Iie^t. 
 
 1680 35u toeigerft bid(> umfonft; bie efyme 
 S)er g?otl> gebietet, unb i^r emfter 2Binf 
 3ft oberfteS efe^ bem otter felbft 
 id^ untertoerfen miiffen. (Sc^iDeigenb fyerrfdjt 
 2)e eh) 'gen c^tdfal^ unberat^ne cfytoefter. 
 1685 2Ba fie btr auferlegt, bag trage: t^u' 
 
 fte gebeut. $>a Slnbre h>ei|t bu. S3alb 
 
 id juriicf, au3 beiner (>eil'gen anb 
 Sfcttung fd^one iegel ju em^fangen.
 
 74 3pl)igenie auf auri. 
 
 ^iinftcr tfuftrttt. 
 
 $bb,i genie (allein). 
 
 %<5) mufj ifym folgen: benn bie -Bfoinigen 
 
 1690 el?' icb, in bringenber efafyr. SDocb, adij! 
 
 3Jlein eigen cfyicffal macfyt mir bang unb banger. 
 D fott icfe, nicfyt bie ftitte offmmg retten, 
 )ie in ber nfamfeit id? fd)5n genafyrt? 
 @ott biefer glucl> benn eang toalten? @oU 
 
 1695 9lie bief; efc^Ied^t mit einem neuen <5egen 
 id? toieber i>eben? -ftimmt bod^ aHe ab! 
 35a befte liicf, be 2eben fc^onfte tfraft 
 rmattet enblid^, toarum nid^t ber glucb,? 
 <So ^offt' i<f) benn bergebenS, ^ier bertoa^rt, 
 
 1700 -Son meine aufe c^irffal abgefd^ieben, 
 35erein[t mit reiner anb unb reinetn erjen 
 2)ie fc^toer beflerfte 2Bob,nung ju entfu^nen ! 
 ^aum toirb in meinen 3lrmen mir ein 33ruber 
 SSom grimm'gen libel tounberboH unb fc^neH 
 
 1705 e^eilt, faunt nai)t ein lang erfle^teg djiff, 
 9Jiid^ in ben ^Sort ber SSatertoelt ju letten, 
 @o legt bie taube -ftotb, ein boptoelt Safter 
 3)iit earner anb mir auf: bag fyeilige 
 3Jiir anbertraute, biel berel)rte SBilb 
 
 1710 3u rauben unb ben 3Jlann ju fytntergefyn, 
 
 3)em id^> mein Seben unb mein d^icffal banle. 
 D bafc in meinent Sufen nirf)t jule^t 
 Sin SSibertoitte feime! ber itanen 
 2)er alten otter tiefer ajj auf eud?, 
 
 1715 Dfymtoier, nid^t aud? bie jarte Sruft
 
 Scdr! 
 
 Cfm 
 t 
 
 :- 
 
 n 
 =-
 
 ouf 
 (Sic abet, fie bleiben 
 
 i 745 
 
 3ln golbenen ifcb,en. 
 @ic fdjreiten bom S3erge 
 3u 33ergen ^iniiber: 
 2lii cf)Iiinben ber iefe 
 I750 ampft i^nen ber 2ltb,em 
 
 rftiitcr 3:itanen, 
 
 D^fergerii^en, 
 etoolle. 
 
 g tcenben bie 
 
 i 755 ^b,r fegnenbes 
 
 SSon ganjen 
 Unb metben, im Gnlel 
 S)te eb.mal^ geliebten 
 titt rebenben 
 1760 2)e 2 
 
 @o fangen bie 
 @ ^ord^t ber SSerbannte 
 ^n nacf)tlid>en o^)Ien 
 S)er 2llte bie Sieber, 
 
 1765 enft ^inber unb @nlel 
 
 Unb fc^iittelt
 
 <rfter Huftrttt. 
 
 SBertoirrt mufj icfy geftefyn, bafc idj> nid^t toeifj, 
 SSofyin id) meinen 2lrgrt>ol)n ric^ten foH. 
 (Sinb'g bie efangnen, bie auf tfyre ^lud^t 
 
 1770 $Ber(to^)Ien finnen? 3ft'8 bie ^riefterin, 
 
 ie ifinen Pft! @g me^rt jic^ ba criid^t: 
 S)a d^tff, ba biefe betben i>ergebra^t, 
 (Sci irgenb nocfy in einer Suc^t berftedft. 
 Unb jeneS 3Kanneg SSa^nfinn, biefe SSeilje, 
 
 1775 S)et ^eil'ge 3Sorhjanb biefer 3^9 run S/ tufen 
 3)en 2lrgit)o^n lauter unb bie SSorfid^t auf. 
 
 X $ o a . 
 
 63 fomme fd^nett bie ^riefterin fyerbei ! 
 35ann geljt, burd^fud^t ba3 Ufer frf)arf unb f^neff 
 SBom SSorgebirge bi^ jum ain ber ottin. 
 1780 SSerfd^onet feine fyeil'gen ^iefen, legt 
 Sebad^t'gen ^inter^alt unb greift fie an; 
 2Bo ib,r fte finbet, fa^t fie toie it>r ^flegt.
 
 78 3pl)tgenie ouf 
 
 2fuftrttt. 
 
 (attein). 
 
 ntfe^Iicfy toecfyfelt mir ber rimm im SBufen; 
 @rft gegen fie, bte icfy fo fyeilig fyielt; 
 
 1785 $)ann gegen micfy, ber icfy fie jum SerratI) 
 25urd^ ^ac^fic^t unb burcfy iite bilbete. 
 3ur Ilaberei getoofynt ber SJlenfd) fid^ gut 
 Unb lernet leid^t ge^orc^en, toenn man ifyn 
 35er ^rei^eit ganj beraubt. ^a, Ware fie 
 
 179 3 n seiner 2l^>n^errn rot>e anb gefoffen, 
 Unb ^atte fie ber fyeil'ge rimm Derf^ont: 
 @ie h)dre frofy getoefen, fic alletn 
 3u retten, fyatte banfbar i^r efdjidE 
 rfannt unb frembe Slut bor bem Slltar 
 
 1795 SSergoffen, ^atte $fltcfyt genannt 
 
 2Ba 9loti) toar. 9l\m locft meine ute 
 ^n ifyrer Sruft bertoegnen 2Bunfc|) ^erauf. 
 SBergeben ^offt' ic^, fie mir ju berbinben; 
 @ie finnt fidp nun ein eigen (Scfyicffal au. 
 
 1800 >ur$ d^meid^elei geiuann fie mir ba erj: 
 3l\m toiberfte^' i<fy ber; fo fud^t fie fid? 
 S)en 2Beg burd^ Sift unb Strug, unb meine ute 
 d^eint ifyr ein alt berjd^rte @igentfyum. 
 
 Drttter Otuftritt. 
 
 forberft mic^! toa bringt bic^ ju un
 
 gflnfter aufgug. fritter auftrttt. 79 
 
 18*5 $u fcfyiebft bag Dpfer auf; fag' an, toarum? 
 
 $ $ fy \ g e n i e. 
 3$ fyab' an 2lrfag atteg flar erjafylt. 
 
 93on bit mod^t' i$ eg toeiter nod^ yerne^men. 
 
 ic ottin gibt bir g-rift jur tiberlegung. 
 
 a; i) o a s. 
 
 @ie fd^eint bir fclbft gelegen, biefe ^rift. 
 
 ^^i genie. 
 1810 SSenn bir bag erj jum graufamen 
 
 3?er^artet ift: fo fottteft bu nid^t fommen! 
 n ^onig, ber Unmenfd?Iid9eg toerlangt, 
 ^inb't Wiener g'nug, bie gegen nab' unb Sofyn 
 2)en fyalben ^lud) ber X^at begierig faffen; 
 
 1815 2)009 feine egentoart bleibt unbeflecft. 
 
 (Sr finnt ben Xob in einer fd^)h)eren 2BoI!e, . 
 Unb feine Soten bringen flammenbeS 
 SSerberben auf beg 2trmen aut ^inab; 
 (Sr aber fc^toebt burcfy feine o^en ru^ig r 
 
 1820 @in unerreic^ter ott, im turme fort. 
 
 ^eil'ge Si^e tont ein toilbeg 2ieb.
 
 3pf)igenie auf kauris. 
 
 ^riefterin! nur 2lgamemnon od}ter. 
 $)er llnbe!annten SBort berefyrteft bu; 
 $er prftin toittft bu rafcfy gebieten? 9Mn! 
 
 1825 Son ^ugenb auf Ijab' id^ gelernt geE>ord^en, 
 rft meinen Item unb bann eincr ottfyett, 
 Unb folgfam fii^lt' id) immer metne @eelc 
 2lm fcfyimften fret; attein bem fatten SSorte, 
 2)em rau^en 2luf^rud^> eineS 9ftanne3 mid^ 
 
 1830 3" f"9^"/ Ian*' t<$ toeber bort nodp fyier. 
 
 3; ^ o a 3. 
 in alt efe^, nid^t id^ gebietet btr. 
 
 SSir faffen ein efe begierig an, 
 $a3 unfrer Seibenfd^aft jur SBaffe bient. 
 (Sin anbreS f^rtc^t ju mir, ein altered, 
 1835 3Kid? bit ju toiberfe^en, ba ebot, 
 3)em jeber ^rembe ^eilig ift. 
 
 @ fd^einen bie efangnen bir fefyr na^ 
 2lm erjen: benn bor 2lnti>eil unb Setoegung 
 SBergiffeft bu ber ^lug^eit erfteg 2Bort, 
 1840 2)a^ man ben 3ftacfytigen nid^t reijen foU. 
 
 9teb' ober fd^toeig' id^, immer fonnft bu toiffen, 
 3Ba mir im erjen ift unb immer bleibt. 
 Soft bie rtnnerung beS gleid)en dpidffalg 
 ein berfd?Ioff'ne &era $um 3RitIeib auf?
 
 gunfter flufgug. ritter Sluftritt. 81 
 
 1845 2Bie tnefyr benn meinS! %n ifmen feb,' id? mic. 
 
 3d? 6,abe bor'm 2Utare felbft gejittert, 
 
 Unb feierlid? umgab ber friifye iob 
 
 2)ie ^nteenbe; ba 3Jleffer judte fd^on, 
 
 3)cn lebenboUen Sufen ju burd^bo^ren; 
 1850 3Kein ^nnafteS entfe^te toirbelnb fid^, 
 
 SKein 2luge brad^, unb id? fanb mid? gerettet. 
 
 tnb tnir, toa3 otter gndbig un getod^rt, 
 
 Ungliicflicfyen nid^t ju erftatten fc^ulbig? 
 
 2)u toei^t e^, fennft mid?, unb bu toiUft mid? jtoingen! 
 
 X b, o a . 
 1855 eljord?e beinem 3)ienfte, nid?t bent erm. 
 
 3 ^) ^> i g e n i e. 
 
 2a^ ab! 33efd?onige nid?t bie etualt, 
 3)ie fid? ber <5d?toad?b,eit eine 3Beibe freut. 
 3d? bin fo frei geboren al ein 3Jlann. 
 tiinb' 2lgamemnon o^n bir gegeniiber, 
 1860 Unb bu berlangteft n?al fid? nid?t gebiiF)rt : 
 @o ^at aud? @r ein @d?h)ert unb einen 2lnn, 
 S)ie 9fted?te fejne^ 23ufen3 ju berteib'gen. 
 3d? ^abe nidjts al^ SBorte, unb eg jiemt 
 35em ebeln 5Rann, ber ^rauen SSort ju ad?ten. 
 
 1865 3d? ad?t' e me^r al eineg Sruberg @d?toert 
 
 ber 2Baffen h)ed?felt fyin unb ^cr: 
 5lein Huger treiter f>dlt ben ^einb gering. 
 2tud? ob,ne ^iilfe gegen Xru^ unb drtc
 
 ouf 
 
 at bie -ftatur ben <3d;toad;en nid;t gelaffen. 
 1870 <5ie gab jur Sift ifym $reube, lefyrt' ifyn unfte; 
 35alb h>eid;t er au, toerfpatet unb umgefyt. 
 $a, ber etoaltige berbient, ba^ man fie iibt. 
 
 5Die 3Sorftc^t ftettt ber Sift fid? Hug entgegen. 
 
 Spfyigenie. 
 Unb cine reine eele braucfyt fie nid;t. 
 
 1875 prid; unbe^utfam nid;t bein eigen ttrtfyeil. 
 
 ^ $ ^ i g e n i e. 
 
 D fafyeft bu hne meine eele ldm))ft, 
 in bo efd;idc, ba3 fie ergreifen toitt, 
 ^m erften SJnfatt mut^ig abgutreiben! 
 <So ftefy' id; benn I>ier h>e^rlo gegen bid)? 
 
 1880 2)ie fd;5ne S3itte, ben anmut^'gen ^^^S/ 
 ^n einer grauen anb gen>altiger 
 3llg @d?toert unb 2Baffe, fto^eft bu juriirf: 
 9Ba bleibt mir nun, mein ^nnreg ju joerteib'gen? 
 9tuf id? bie ottin urn ein SBunber an? 
 
 1885 ^ft leine &raft in meiner eele Xiefen? 
 
 ty o a g. 
 
 @ fd;eint, ber beiben gremben cfyirffal mad)t 
 Unmci^ig bid; beforgt. 2Ber finb fie? f^rid;, 
 gur bie bein eift getoaltig fid; erfyebt? 
 
 ne. 
 ie ftnb fie fd;einen fur ried;en fyalt' id; fte.
 
 pnfter 2tuf?ug. Srittet SUtftrttt. 83 
 
 1890 Sanblleute finb e? unb fie fyaben toofyl 
 2)er SWiicEfefyr fcfyoneS 33ilb in bir erneut? 
 
 3 p fy i g e n i e (naif) einigem @tiUf(f)tt>etgen). 
 
 $at benn gur unerfyorten Xfyat ber 3Jlann 
 
 StHein ba 3fied^)t? 2)rttdt benn Unmoglid^eg 
 
 9^ur @r an bie gemalt'ge elbenbru[t? 
 1895 2Ba3 nennt man gro^? 2Ba ^ebt bie eele fd^aubernb 
 
 >em immer h)ieberi>olenben (Srja^Ier? 
 
 21I toa mtt unn)a^rfc)einli4iem (Srfolg 
 
 3)er Sftutljtgfte begann. 5Der in ber 
 
 SlUein ba eer be $einbe 
 1900 SSie unberfei>en eine $lamme 
 
 25ic d^lafenben, rtoacfyenben ergreift, 
 
 3ule^t gebrangt toon ben rmunterten 
 
 2tuf geinbe^ ^Sferben, bocb, mit Scute fe^rt, 
 
 3Strb ber aftein ge^riefen? ber attein, 
 1905 2)er, einen fia^ern SSeg berad^tenb, fiib^n 
 
 ebirg' unb 2BaIber burd^juftreifen ge^t, 
 
 2)a^ er toon Sidubern eine egenb faubre? 
 
 3ft un nicb.tS iibrtg? Mu| ein jarte 2Beib 
 
 @ia) tf>ree angebornen 9terf)t entau^ern, 
 1910 2BiIb gegen 2Bilbe fein, h)ie Slmajonen 
 
 2)a Stecfyt be d^toctts eud^ rauben unb mit SBIutc 
 
 2)ie Unterbriicfung racfyen? 2luf unb ab 
 
 teigt in ber Sruft ein fiif)ne Unternefymen : 
 
 ^50^ luerbe gro^em 23oritwrf nt(f)t entgef>n, 
 1915 ^od^ fcfytoerem Ubel tcenn e^ mir mipngt; 
 
 2lHein @urf> leg' ic^' auf bie $niee ! 2Senn 
 
 ^fyr toa^aft feib, tote ii>r gepriefen toerbet;
 
 84 3^i0nie auf 
 
 o geigt'S burcfy euern 33eiftanb unb berfyerrlicfyt 
 )urcb, micfy bie SBafyrfyeit! %a, bernimm, o 
 
 1920 @ hrirb ein fyeimltcfyer Setrug gefcfymiebet ; 
 23ergeben fragft bu ben efangnen nadb. ; 
 ie finb fn'ntoeg unb fucfyen iF>re ^reunbe, 
 3)te mtt bent d^iff am lifer toarten, auf. 
 2)er alt'fte, ben ba libel ^ter ergriffen 
 
 1925 Unb nun berlaffen I)at e ift Dreft, 
 
 5Jiein Sruber, unb ber anbre fein SSertrauter, 
 @ein 3 u g en ^f reun ^/ m ^ Xiamen ^ijlabeg. 
 2lpott fc^idft fie toon SDetyfyi biefem Ufer 
 gjiit gottlid^en 33efeb,Ien gu, ba SBilb 
 
 1930 3)ianen toegjurauben unb ju iljm 
 3)ie c^toefter b^injubrtngen, unb bafur 
 33erf:|mcb,t er bem bon gurten Serfolgten, 
 eg 3JiutterbIute d^ulbigen, Sefreiung. 
 Un beibe b,ab' irf nun, bie Uberbliebnen 
 
 1935 SSon ^antal ^auS, in beine anb gelegt: 
 SSerbirb un^ toenn bu barfft. 
 
 fy o a . 
 
 $u glaubft, e ^ 
 
 $er rob,e c^t^e, ber Sarbar, bie timme 
 $er SBaijr^eit unb ber gftenfcfylic&.feit, bie Sltreug, 
 S)er riecb,e, nid^t toerna^m? 
 
 S^>^i genie. 
 
 @ b,ort jtc jeber, 
 1940 eboren unter jebem giimmel, bem 
 
 3)eg SebenS Duette burd^ ben Sufen rein 
 Unb ungeb,inbert flic^t. 2Bal finnft bu mir, 
 D 6nig, fa^toeigenb in ber tiefen eele?
 
 gfinfter aufjug. fritter luftritt. 85 
 
 3ft e SBerberben? fo tobte mid) juerft! 
 1945 2)enn nun empfinb' id), ba un leine Stettung 
 
 3Jlefyr iibrig bleibt, bie grajjlicfye efafyr, 
 
 SBorein id) bie eliebten iibereilt 
 
 SBorfepcb fturjte. 2&efy! id) toerbe fie 
 
 ebunben bor mir fefyn! 3Jiit h)eld^en Sliden 
 1950 $ann ic^> toon meinem Sruber Slbfd^ieb nei)men, 
 
 25en id^) ermorbe? dimmer fann id^> i^m 
 in bie bielgeliebten 2lugen fcfyaun! 
 
 (So ^aben bie 33etriiger liinftlid)=bi^tenb 
 2)er lang 3Serf(f)Ioff'nen, ifyre SBiinfd^e leid^t 
 1955 Unb toittig laubenben, ein fold^ efpinnft 
 getoorfen! 
 
 ! o $onig, nein ! 
 
 %$ lonnte ^intergangen luerben; biefe 
 
 <Sinb treu unb h)al)r. 2Birft bu fie anber finben, 
 
 o lajj fie fatten unb berfto^e micfy, 
 1960 SSerbanne mic^ jur trafe meiner St^or^eit 
 
 2ln einer ^litopen^nfel traurig lifer. 
 
 3ft aber biefer SJtann ber lang erfle^te, 
 
 eliebte Sruber: fo entla^ ung, fei 
 
 2lu<f> ben efd^toiftern toie ber @rf)toefter freunblid^! 
 1965 9Kein SSater fiel burc^ feiner ^rauen cfyulb, 
 
 Unb fie burd^) i^ren <3ofyn. 2)ie le^te ^offnung 
 
 SSon 2ltreu tamme rui>t auf ii>m attein. 
 
 a^ mi<fy mit reinem erjen, reiner ^anb, 
 
 iniiberge^n unb unfer au entfii^nen.
 
 gg 3pfyigeme auf aim8. 
 
 1970 $u fyaltft mir 2Bort! SBenn ju ben 2fteinen jc 
 2Rir Stiicftefyr jubereitet toare, fc^tourft 
 2)u m\<fy u laffen; unb fte ift e3 nun. 
 @in $5nig fagt nidE)t, toie gemeine SRenfcfyen, 
 SSerlegen ju, ba^ er ben Sittenben 
 
 1975 2luf einen 2tugenblicf entferne; noc^ 
 
 SSerf^ric^t er auf ben $aU, ben er nicfyt ^offt: 
 2)ann fii^It er erft bie % feiner SBitrbe, 
 2Benn er ben arrenben begliidEen fann. 
 
 , tote firf) $euer gegen 2Baffer 
 1980 ^m $ampfe toe^rt unb gifrf>enb feinen $einb 
 3u tilgen fud)t, fo toefyret fid^ ber goxn 
 ^n meinem Sufen gegen beine 2Sorte. 
 
 D Ia^ bte nabe, tote ba ^etl'ge Stc^t 
 2)er ftitten D^ferflamme, mir, umfranjt 
 1985 SSon 2obgefang unb 2)anl unb greube, lobem. 
 
 2Bte oft befdnfttgte nttd9 btefe ttmme! 
 
 D retcfye mir bie anb junt ^ri 
 
 3; ^ o a 3. 
 S)u forberft biel in einer furjen 3 e 
 
 ne. 
 Urn ut'3 ju tl>un braud()t'g feiner iiberlegung.
 
 pnfter Hufgug. SBierter ^uftrttt. 87 
 
 3;^oa. 
 1990 (Sefyr biel! benn audj bem uten folgt ba ftbel. 
 
 S)cr 3n>eifel ift'S, ber ute bofe mac^t. 
 Sebenfe mcfyt; getoa^re, mie bu'S fii^Ift. 
 
 Pterter ^uftritt. 
 
 Dreft (gewaffnet). 2)ie SSorigen. 
 D r e ft (nad^ ber @cene gefe^rt). 
 
 SBerbo^elt cure ^rafte! altet fie 
 3uriic!! nur toenig 2lugenbliif e ! 2Bei$t 
 1995 2)er SJlengc nicJ)t, unb becft ben SBeg gum <Sd)iffe 
 3Jlir unb ber @d^h)efter. 
 
 (3 U 3pt)t8enien o^ne ben ^ontg gu fe^en.) 
 
 ^omm, h)ir finb toerratfyen. 
 
 eringer 9laum bleibt un jitr ^lud^t. efc^toinb ! 
 (@r erblicft ben ^onig.) 
 
 3; ^ o a 3 (nad) bem @d)tt)erte greifenb). 
 ^n meiner egentoart fiifyrt ungeftraft 
 ba nacfte 
 
 nt^eiltget 
 
 $)er ottin 2Boi>nung nic^t burd^ S&utfy unb 3Jiorb. 
 ebietet euerm SBolfe tidftanb, 
 2)ie ^riefterin, bie cfytoefter.
 
 au f 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 age tnir! 
 2Bcr ift e3, ber unS brofyt? 
 
 3)en $onig, ber mein jtoeiter $ater toarb ! 
 2005 SBerjeify mir, 33ruber ! bodj metn Iinbli4> ^cr 
 at unfer ganj efd^td in feine anb 
 elegt. e[tanben ^ab' id^ euern 2lnfdf)Iag 
 Unb meine eelc bom 3Serrat^) gerettet. 
 
 Dreft. 
 2Sitt cr bie 9tiidfe^r frieblid^) un getodfyren 
 
 3)etn blinfenb <3cfyh>ert berbietet mir bie 2lnth)ort. 
 
 D r e ft (ber ba @(^tt)ert einfiecft). 
 @o f&ricfy ! 2)u fie^ft, id? ^or<i)e beinen 3Borten. 
 
 ^unftcr Sluftrttt. 
 
 3)ic SSorigen. <P^Iabe. Salb nad? i 
 (Seibe mit blo^en @d)ertent.) 
 
 ^^ lab e^. 
 
 SSertoeilet nid)t! 2)ie le|te ^rafte raffen 
 S)ie Unfrigen jufammen ; tt>eid)enb loerben 
 ie nad; ber @ee langfam juriirfgebrangt. 
 3015 SBeld; ein efbrad; ber $urften finb' id; 
 ift b
 
 gitnfter ^lufjug. ecf)fter uftritt. 
 
 Stfttl. 
 
 elaffen, tote e3 bir, o $onig, jiemt, 
 tefyft bu ben ^einben gegeniiber. leicfy 
 3ift bie 33ertoegenfyett beftraft; e^ toeirf)t 
 2020 Unb fdttt i^r Sln^ang, unb ifyr d^iff ift unfer. 
 @in 2Bort bon btr, fo ftel)t' in ^latnmen. 
 
 ebtete ttHftanb metnem SSoIIe! fetner 
 Sefd^abtge ben ^etnb, fo lang totr reben. 
 (rfo ab.) 
 
 D r e ft 
 
 3^ ne^m' e an. el?, fammle, treuer 
 2025 $en Sleft be SSolfeg; garret fttff, toelc^ @nbe 
 2)ie otter unfern fyaten juberetten. 
 ab.) 
 
 Sedjfter 2luftritt. 
 
 . Ore ft. 
 
 enie. 
 
 Sefreit toon orge micfy, el>' i^>r ju f^red^en 
 Seginnet. ^d? befiirc^te bofen B^ift 
 2Benn bu, o ^onig, nid^t ber 33ittigfeit 
 2030 elinbe timme fyoreft; bu, mein 33ruber, 
 2)er rafdjen ^ugenb nid^t gebieten toittft.
 
 90 3pfyigfnie aitf 
 
 a: & o a s. 
 
 3$ b>Ite meinen gorn, tote e bem &ltern 
 ejiemt, juriid. 2lnttoorte mir! 2Bomit 
 Sejeugft bu, bajj bu 2lgamemnon oljm 
 2035 Unb Siefer SBruber bift? 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 ier ift ba<3 
 9Rit bem er roja'3 ta^frc banner fd^Iug. 
 )iefj na^m id^ fetnem 5Jtorber ab, unb bat 
 3)ie ^immlifc^en, ben ;3ftutfy unb Sttrm, bag Kid 
 S)e gro^en ^ontge mir ju berlei^n, 
 2040 Unb einen fcfyonern 2iob mir ju getoa^ren. 
 SBafyP einen au ben @beln beine^ ^eer? 
 Unb ftette mir ben SBeften gegeniiber. 
 o toett bie @rbe ^elbenfo^ne na^rt, 
 3ft feinem ^rembling bie^ efua; berlceigert. 
 
 2045 2)ie| SSorred^t ^at bie alte itte nie 
 gremben fn'er geftattet. 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 <So beginne 
 neue itte benn toon bir unb mir ! 
 
 fyeiliget ein gan5e SSoII 
 Sie eble 2tyat ber errfd^er jum efe|. 
 2050 Unb Ia^ mid) nid^t aHein fiir unfre ^rei^eit, 
 
 2a^ mitt), ben $remben fiir bie $remben, !dm^fen. 
 gaU' id), fo ift ifyr Urt^eil mit bem meinen 
 efprocfyen; aber gonnet mir ba liid 
 3u iiberh)inben; fo betrete nie
 
 gunfter Slufjug. edjfter 2luftritt. 91 
 
 2055 @in -Btonn biefj lifer, bem ber fcfynetfe Slicf 
 iilfreid)er Siebe nidjt begegnet, unb 
 etroftet fcfyeibe jeglicfyer fyintoeg! 
 
 untoertf) fd)eineft bu, o Bungling, mir 
 2)er StFin^errn, beren bu bicb, rii^mft, ju fein. 
 2060 rojj tft bie 3 a ^ ^ er e ^ e ^ n tapfern SJianner, 
 2)ie mic^ begletten; bod^) idp fteF)e felbft 
 3>n meinen ^ a ^ ren no ^ ^ em $einbe, bin 
 SBereit mtt bir ber SSaffen 2oo ju ioagcn. 
 
 3pb,i genie. 
 
 5Jlit nidpten! ^)iefe blittigen SetoeifeS 
 
 2065 SBebarf e ntcfyt, o ^onig! Sa^t bie anb 
 
 3Som (Sc^toerte! 2)en!t an micb, unb mein efd^icf. 
 2)er rafcfye ^am^f toeretoigt einen 9)lann: 
 @r falle gleicf), fo ^reifet ib,n ba Sieb. 
 Stttein bie ^fyranen, bie unenblicb.en 
 
 2070 er iiberbliebnen, ber berla[f'nen ^rau, 
 
 3di>It leine -ftacfytoelt, unb ber 2)idr)ter fdjtoeigt 
 SSon taufenb burd^geiueinten SCag* unb Slacfyten, 
 2Bo eine ftitte <Seele ben berlornen, 
 9tafc^) abgefrfjiebnen $reunb bergebenS ftd^ 
 
 2075 ^urMjurufen bangt unb fid) toerjefyrt. 
 
 ytlid) felbft b,at eine orge gletd^ getoamt, 
 2)a^ ber Setrug nicb,t eine3 Stduber^ mid^ 
 5Bom fidgern (Srfw^ort rei^e, mid^) ber 
 SSerratfye. glei^ig b,ab' id^> fie befragt, 
 
 2080 Wad) jebem Umftanb mid) erfunbigt, 
 eforbert, unb getoift ift nun mein
 
 92 3pl)igenie auf 
 
 ieb, fyier an feiner recfyten anb ba 
 
 2Bie toon brei ternen, ba3 am age fcfyon, 
 
 3)a er geboren toarb, ficfc, jeigte, ba 
 
 2085 Sluf fcfytoere $b,at mit biefer $auft 511 ii&en 
 3)er ^Briefter beutete. 2)ann iiberjeugt 
 gjiid^) bo^elt biefe gramme, bie ifym ^>ier 
 I)ie 2(ugenbraune fyaltet. 2111 ein ^inb 
 Sie^ ifyn leltra, rafd^ unb unborftcijtig 
 
 2090 9tacfy if>rer Slrt, aul ifyren 2trmen ftitrjen. 
 
 @r fd^lug auf einen reifu^ auf @r ift'g 
 ott id9 bit no$ bie t^nlid?!eit be^ Waters, 
 ott id^ ba tnnre ^aurf^en meine erjen 
 
 nennen? 
 
 X b, o a 3. 
 
 2095 Unb fyiibe betne 9iebc jeben 3 toe ^f e ^ 
 
 Unb banbigt' \<fy ben 3 rn ^ n nteiner SBruft: 
 o toiirben bod^ bie SBaffen jftrifcfyen un 
 ntfd^eiben miiffen; grieben feb,' id^ nid^t. 
 ie finb gefommen, bu belenneft felbft, 
 
 2100 2)a3 ^eil'ge S3ilb ber ottin mir gu rauben. 
 laubt i^r, id) fe^>e bie| gelaffen an? 
 SDer ried;e toenbet oft fein liiftern Sluge 
 2)en fernen d^a^en ber Sarbaren ju, 
 3)em golbnen gette, ^ferben, fd^onen ^od^tern 
 
 2105 ocb, fub,rte fie etoalt unb Sift nicfyt immer 
 3Jiit ben erlangten iitern 
 
 Dreft. 
 
 Silb, o ^onig, fott un nid^t entjtoeien ! 
 fennen tuir ben ^rrt^um, ben ein ott
 
 guufter Stufjug. erftfer Sluftritt. 93 
 
 2Bie einen deleter um ba aupt un3 legte, 
 
 2110 3)a er ben 2Beg fyierfyer un toanbern fyiejj. 
 Um Slatfy unb um Sefreiung bat id^ ifyn 
 SSon bem eleit ber $urien; er fprarf; : 
 ,,23ringft bu bie rfjtoefter, bte an kauris lifer 
 ^m etligtfmme lotber Sttten bleibt, 
 
 2115 9facf) riedE>enIanb ; fo Idfet fid:) ber fjlud^. 11 
 2Bir legten'g Don 2lpoffen^ ^toeftcr au, 
 Unb er gebacfyte b i cr; ! ie ftrengen 33anbe 
 <Stnb nun gelof't; bu bift ben $)einen trtteber, 
 u eiltge, gefrfjenft. 3Son bir beriif)rt 
 
 2120 SSar ic^ ge^eilt; in beinen 2lrmen fa^te 
 25ag Ubel mid9 mit aHen feinen 
 3um lefctenmal, unb fc^uttelte ba 
 ntfe^Iid) mir jufammen ; bann entflofy'3 
 SSie eine flange ju ber jQofyle. 5leu 
 
 2125 enie^' icfy nun burcf> bid) ba ioeite Strf;t 
 S)e^ 3^age. rf;Dn unb fyerrlicf) jetgt firf; mir 
 $er ottin SRot^. leic^) einem fyeil'gen 
 2)aran ber tabt imtoanbelbar efc^id 
 3)urd9 ein gei)eime ottertoort gebannt ift, 
 
 2130 9la^m fie birf; toeg, bie 6d9ii|erin be ^aufe 
 Setoa^rte birf; in einer fyeil'gen (Stitte 
 3um <3egen beine3 Sruber^ unb ber 2)einen. 
 2) a aHe Sfiettung auf ber toeiten rbe 
 SSerloren frf;ien, gibft bu un atte toieber. 
 
 2135 Safj beine <5eele firf; jum ^rieben toenben, 
 D ^onig ! >inbre nirf)t, ba^ fie bie 2Beifye 
 2)e bdterUrf;en aufe nun toottbringe, 
 SRirf; ber entfiit)nten aUe toiebergebe, 
 5Wir auf ba au^t bie alte rone briide!
 
 94 3pf)igenie auf 
 
 2140 SBergitt ben egen, ben fie bir gebradfjt, 
 Unb lafj be ncib,ern 9tedb,te micfy geniefjen! 
 ehwlt unb Sift, ber banner fyocfyfter Sftufym, 
 SBirb burcb, bie 2Babrb,eit biefer b,ob,en eele 
 Sefcfydmt, unb reined linblid^ SSertrauen 
 
 2145 3u einem ebeln Slanne totrb beloi>nt. 
 
 an bein 2Bort, unb lafj burd^ biefe 
 2lu einem g'raben treuen 2Runbe bid) 
 Setoegen! ie^> un an! >u ^aft ni^t oft 
 3u folder ebeln %fyat elegenf)eit. 
 2150 SSerfagen fannft bu' nic^t; getod^r' eg balb! 
 
 SC fy o a 8. 
 
 enie. 
 
 9Zid>t fo, mein $onig! D^ne egen, 
 3n SStbertmtten, frf)eib' id^ nic^t toon bir. 
 SBer&ann' un nid^t! @in freimblicfy aftred^t toalte 
 Son bir ju un: fo finb n)ir ntd^t auf etoig 
 
 2155 etrennt unb abgefdjieben. 2Sertt> unb tb,euer, 
 2Bie mir mein SSater tear, fo bift bu'3 mir, 
 Unb biefer inbriuf bleibt in meiner eele. 
 SBringt ber eringfte beine 35ol!e je 
 2)en ^on ber <Stimme mir in' D^r guritcf, 
 
 2160 Sen icb, an eudE) getoofynt ju b,oren bin, 
 Unb feb/ ic^ an bem Sfrmften eure Xracfyt; 
 @m^)fangen toitt ic^ ib,n h)ie einen ott, 
 S4> toM ib,m felbft ein Sager gubereiten, 
 2luf einen tub,! ib,n an ba euer laben,
 
 gflnfter Stufjiig. @erf)fter 2luftritt. 95 
 
 2i$s Unb nur narf> bir unb beinem rfncffal fragen. 
 D geben bir bie otter beiner Xfyaten 
 Unb beiner 9JiiIbe toofylberbienten Sofyn ! 
 Seb' U)of)l! D toenbe bid^ ju un unb gib 
 (Sin fyolbeS 2Bort beg 2(bfdjieb3 mir juriidE ! 
 
 2170 )ann fd^toettt ber 2Binb bie <5egel fanfter an, 
 Unb ^rcinen fliefjen linbember tom 3luge 
 3)e cfyeibenben. 2eb' too^I ! unb retcfye mir 
 3um ^Sfanb ber alien $reunbfcfyaft beine Stec^te. 
 
 X $ o a $. 
 Sebt
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 The scene is the sacred grove before the temple of Diana, where, as 
 in Euripides' Iphigenia among the Tauri, the entire action takes place. 
 The opening monologue, that replaces the announcement with which 
 the Greek tragedy begins, is essentially lyric in its feeling, an expression 
 of the sense of awe and exile which Iphigenia experiences from her 
 surroundings, and from which she naturally reverts to memories of the 
 past and to her own aspirations. It is an admirable introduction, for 
 it presents the facts necessary to the comprehension of the plot, hints 
 at its final solution, and at the same time strikes the note of deep ethi- 
 cal and spiritual quality that so especially characterizes the drama. 
 
 7. <3o miUtrf)C0 $oljr. The statement of time is indefinite. Like 
 the Homeric Helen, Iphigenia is represented as still young and beauti- 
 ful, though when sacrificed at Aulis, during the infancy of Orestes, she 
 was no longer a child. 
 
 12. In the earlier versions this verse read, betm meitt 33erlangett 
 ftebt hiniiber nad) bem fdjonen anb ber riedjen. The thought may 
 well have been prompted by Goethe's own desire for Italy, of which he 
 afterward wrote, 5)a j&iel meirter tnnigfien ehnfucht, beren dual 
 mein gangeg 3nnere erfiillte, ttmr Statien, beffen S3ilb unb fetch* 
 nifj mir Oiele 3abre DevgebenS Borfchroebte, bi id) enblid) burdj 
 fiibnen Sntfdjtuf? bie nnrttidje egeuroart ju faffen mid) erbmftete. 
 H. 25: 127. 
 
 13-14. These two lines were evidently suggested to the poet by the 
 sound of the waves on Lake Garda, where he began the final revision. 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS. Cf., compare, see. Wk., Goethe's Works, Weimar Edition. 
 H., Goethe's Works, Hempel Edition. All citations of the earlier versions are from 
 Baechfold's edition MI vierfacher Gestalt. , 
 97
 
 98 NOTES. 
 
 He speaks in his letters and journals of the impression the lake made 
 upon him. Cf. Wk. III. &btb,. i : 182. 
 
 16. $l)m JCljrt . . . tt)Cg. The change from the prose version, which 
 
 read, ib,n Ififtt ber (ram be fdjonflen @ r ,iicfe nirfjt geniefjen, shows 
 that the poet intended to suggest by his metaphor the story of the pun- 
 ishment of Tantalus. Cf. Homer, Od. 1 1 : 585. 
 
 21. WitflCbontc, i.e. ejd) ttnfter. The word is formed after the 
 analogy of Gr. aiiyyovot, Lat. cognatus. Goethe uses it several times; 
 
 cf. in SBilhelm SPWfter the phrase bie Siebe ber 2JHtgebornen, H. 17: 
 86. The comparative form feft Uttb fcftcr is poetical for immer fefter, 
 or for fefter linb feftev j a similar instance is found in 1691. In classical 
 literature, as in the Bible, the fraternal relation indicates especial 
 tenderness. 
 
 as. 3d) redjte nttt ben OttCtn ntd)t, / do not reproach the 
 gods. The same idea is expressed in the biblical question, " Who art 
 thou that repliest against God?" Rom. 9: 20, which in the Lutheran 
 version reads, SBer bift bit benn, bag bit mit ott redjten ttriflft, and 
 may be so translated. Cf. Heyne's Dictionary under redjten. 
 
 24. $etr 3f r <wen ^Wftatlb, woman's condition. The definite article 
 gives the idea of generalization, and the noun shows the old weak in- 
 flection in the feminine singular. This is unusual in eighteenth-century 
 prose, but was tolerated in exalted poetic style, and Goethe uniformly 
 inflects ^rctlt thus in this drama, when it precedes its noun; when 
 following, cf. 214, 2070, his usage is divided. 
 
 30. 3ct)OH, which has here somewhat the sense of in itself, empha- 
 sizes the limits of the restricted position accorded to woman, and 
 raitl) in this connection is best rendered stern. Grimm cites in SIau= 
 bine con SBiHa 33efla the line, 2Jiein SSater ftmr etn ftrenger rauber 
 2Kann, Wk. 11:213. Translate, even obedience to a stern husband. 
 
 39. Oltf bid) flCljofft, trusted in thee. Cf. the words, 3Mn ott, id) 
 Ijoffe OUf bid), Ps. 25 : 2, which are rendered in the authorized ver- 
 sion, " O my God, I trust in thee." See also Grimm's Dictionary under 
 Doffen, c. 
 
 45. SBcmt bit is merely a rhetorical repetition of the condition ex- 
 pressed in 43, which subordinates both juriictbeglettet and erljdlten 
 bajit ; it is omitted in translation. The epithet gbttergteidjen recalls 
 the Greek Io66eoc (compound of t<rof = same as, in appearance or
 
 ACT I. 99 
 
 strength, and 6eo = god), and like it refers to nobility of appearance. 
 Goethe uses it repeatedly in the drama. 
 
 50. Tie frfjottcn dja^C has been taken as the appositive of the 
 preceding line, but, as Evers remarks, the earlier versions seem to in- 
 dicate the possessions in the treasure-house of Athens. Cf. the reading, 
 haft bu nteine efdjnnfter (Sfeftren intb Oreften ben $naben unb unfere 
 2)hitter, ifjm ju aufe ben fcfjbnen @c^at^ beroa&rt. 
 
 51-53. These lines contain an evident reminiscence of Euripides, 
 Iph. Taur. 1082 ff., which Professor Dyer translates, 
 
 My mistress, and in Aulis' glens my saviour 
 From horror, and a father's murderous hand, 
 Save me once more, save these, else Loxias 
 Through thee must lose men's credence in his words 
 Henceforth.- Graciously leave these savage shores 
 For Athens; dwelling here suits thee but ill, 
 Free to sojourn within a prosperous state. 
 
 54. fceitt, a contracted archaic form for btetet, or here for erttbtetet. 
 Such forms have been leveled by analogy with the plural, but are some- 
 times found in poetry. Cf. Schiller, tt)d8 btt fleugt unb freurf)t. jteH, 
 1477. The omission of the prefix ettt= is an instance of Goethe's 
 fondness for using simple forms when prose would require compounds. 
 This tendency is less marked in his later works, and fewer instances 
 occur in the final than in the earlier versions of this drama. 
 
 55- Tiotteit^. This form of the gen., which is now unusual, Goethe 
 employs throughout the drama and, except $reufd', 1 1 76, declines all 
 feminine names of persons in en. With masculines the usage varies, 
 but the antiquated dat. and ace. in en repeatedly occur, as well as the 
 gen. in en, where modern usage would not require it. 
 
 59. cr fumtttt . . . C ttal)t. The king will enter the temple, the 
 army approach its precincts. A single verb for both would have made 
 the picture less definite. Cf. 1422. 
 
 60. 28tr, In using the plural pronoun, the priestess includes those 
 associated with her in the temple service, though they nowhere appear 
 on the stage. 
 
 73. fjefdjmtebet for angeichmiebet. Cf. 54. 
 
 74-77. Here, as often, Goethe makes excellent use of stichomythia, 
 a figure borrowed f'om Greek tragedy and consisting in the arrange-
 
 100 NOTES. 
 
 ment of the dialogue in alternate lines, or groups of lines. 1'ropo- 
 sitions are thus sharply contrasted, and frequently the same word is 
 used in different senses. The same effect may be secured in this 
 passage by translating bie grembe and fremb respectively, alien soil 
 and alien. 
 
 81. $>ie neuett djojjltttge, in explanatory apposition with the 
 preceding line, expresses the fraternal relation by a poetical compar- 
 ison with the olive branches that sprout from an old tree. Goethe 
 may have thought of Homer's comparison of Nausicaa to a young 
 sapling of a palm tree, Od. 6 : 157. The biblical phrase " thy children 
 like olive plants round about thy table," Ps. 128 : 3, is a similar usage. 
 The hendiadys gefellt llttb Iteblttt) for the prose, in Ueblirfjer efeQ= 
 fdjdft, is a classical figure that Goethe uses several times. 
 
 84. @ttt frember S'ltld), the curse on others. The earlier versions 
 which have, ba leiber in ba Slenb metnes aufe frill) tjerroidelt, 
 show the nature of the thought. For a similar use of fremb, cf. Schil- 
 ler's lines, 
 
 3d) fcmn 
 
 3n foldjen Sa<f)en nur bem eiflnen Strf)t 
 9ltd)t frembem folgen. Spiccolomini, 2271 ff. 
 
 86. Center is a translation of the Gr. \(&K.toq = brazen, which Homer 
 figuratively uses of the heart, II. 2 : 490, and of sleep, II. 1 1 : 241. The 
 English phrase -with iron hand renders the idea of unrelenting stern- 
 ness that the German expresses. Cf. examples under iron in Century 
 Dictionary. Goethe frequently uses the epithet. Cf. 540, 1129, 1680. 
 
 87. bad Webctfjcn . . . %atyt, the happy development of early years. 
 ebeiheit implies not simply the idea of growth, but of prosperous un- 
 folding and development in all ways. Miss Swanwick renders it by 
 " simple gladness." The thought is that the joy and the development 
 of youth depend upon happy intercourse with kindred and associates, 
 and of this Iphigenia had been deprived. 
 
 91. fo, i.e. in this respect. The thought is that Tauris has been a 
 second fatherland, and only ingratitude prevents the recognition of this 
 fact from arousing fresh interest in life. 
 
 96. SBirt^e, benefactor. 
 
 97- ttef fleljCtmtttfeboIIeS, profoundly mysterious. Goethe fre- 
 quently uses such combinations, cf. etnjam hiilfloS 162, geroaltfam
 
 ACT I. 101 
 
 IteueS 201, etc. Generally the first word is to be taken as an uninflected 
 adjective, or the two regarded as a compound, but sometimes, as here, 
 it has adverbial force. 
 
 104. tttfCH, poetically for altar. The classical altars for burnt 
 offerings were usually approached by several steps. 
 
 105. l&raud) for ebraudj. Cf. 54, note. Similar examples occur 
 in 169, 204, and often. 
 
 108. It was the belief of the ancients that the spirits of those to 
 whom proper funeral rites had not been paid were denied rest in the 
 grave. 
 
 no. (Jin friJJjlid) felbftbCttWfeteS fieben, a life of heartfelt happi- 
 ness, 
 
 112-14. The Greek conception of future life was pessimistic. 
 Goethe in the main follows Homer, cf. especially II. n, which describes 
 the descent of Odysseus into hell. The Lethe, however, is chiefly a 
 Latin conception, and is not mentioned by Homer. 
 
 114. feiert, pass idly. The same meaning of the verb occurs in the 
 compounds getertag and gtfierabenb, and Goethe makes Egmont say, 
 < ift ein itbleS .Seicfjen, roenn 3br an SBerftagen feiert. Wk. 8 : 210. 
 
 116. The thought of this line is more clearly expressed in the earlier 
 versions. The second prose version reads, ettJobnUcft, ift bie eineS 
 SBetbeS djicffal itnb oor alien meinS. 
 
 124. Chi ScbCtt bllttenb Ifijjt, falls a bleeding sacrifice. 
 
 131-32. The introduction of this figure belongs to the final revision, 
 the earlier texts reading, @inb unfere SBaffen nicfct gtanjenb btefe 3U 
 an @egen, @tarf Itnb OliitJ ? It is probably best explained as poetic 
 personification, for no classical representation embodies just this con- 
 ception, though the idea of Victory as a winged goddess is common 
 enough. The second question, cilt . . . Bormt3, indicates the panic- 
 stricken flight of the enemy at the army's approach. 
 
 137. CttctdjtCtt, i.e. he makes reasonable demands that can be wil- 
 lingly fulfilled. 
 
 138. UOlt beiltent SBefcn . . . troufelt, from thy being, balm is dif- 
 fused on thousands, i.e. the salutary influence (igalfam) of her real 
 character (SBefeit) upon the king is indirectly felt by all his subjects, 
 in his greater leniency toward them. With the following four lines 
 this passage recapitulates the whole speech.
 
 102 NOTES. 
 
 142. unwirtljborcn, inhospitable. 
 
 144-45. The general thought expressed by this passage is the in- 
 adequacy of achievement compared with ideal aims, but, in the light 
 of Iphigenia's purpose of returning home and expiating the crimes of 
 her race (cf. 1699 ff.) it acquires specific meaning. Whatever she has 
 done in Tauris is insignificant compared with that. This thought also 
 explains her reserve toward the Taurians and her anxiety at the king's 
 suit. 
 
 148-53. The connection of thought in this passage may occasion 
 some difficulty. The first two lines sum up the preceding dialogue 
 and imply a reproof of pride; then the words glaitb' tnir refer to what 
 has been urged about the duty of gratefully enjoying life and its ac- 
 tivities, while pr' auf eineg 2JJanne SBort has more particular refer- 
 ence to the direct admonition that follows. 
 
 164. fei?t . . . Sot-jug, sets no value on fine speeches. 
 
 167-68. tlOtt SBcttettt ... U leitf Clt, of bringing around a conver- 
 sation, slowly and skilfully, from a remote subject to his own purpose. 
 
 174. bet fdjrerfUdjfte, because a union with the king would forever 
 prevent her return. Cf. 14445, n t e - 
 
 180. 06 er T 3 flleidj by tmesis for obgUtdf) er'8, a figure common 
 both in prose and poetry. 
 
 187. JJuft, which was introduced in the final version, greatly 
 strengthens the appeal. It may be imitated in English by rendering it 
 give and the following iibertajj give over. 
 
 190-91. bit ... benfcft. In translating supply and before this 
 clause, making the verb, like reife and bringe, depend upon bamit. 
 The prose version, which has only bamit bu nid)t 11 jpa't an trteinen 
 9fatl) mtt Steite beitfft, shows that such was the thought. 
 
 I 93~94- bent . . . lliiubijJCt, whose heart reverence for the gods 
 restrains. Cf. in 988 the phrase, bdnbtge bein erj. The words 53ltfen 
 and erj are used, as their English meanings, to denote mental qual- 
 ities, especially passions and emotions. 
 
 201. in gettwUfaitt tteUC3 SSUtt is interpreted in two ways. 
 Diintzer and Denzel understand getfaltfam netteS to mean renewed by 
 passion. Other critics take neue in the sense of jungeS, which was 
 avoided on account of the following S'iinglingStfjat. This would make 
 the phrase mean an impetuous youthful temper, and this seems to ac-
 
 ACT I. 103 
 
 cord better with the prose version which has fold) rafdje 3ungltng8tl}at 
 berrfdjt nidjt in boa SSlut. 
 
 213-14. These lines form a familiar quotation that perhaps, without 
 reading too much between the lines, may be referred especially to one 
 of the deepest and tenderest experiences of Goethe's own life, his 
 friendship for Frau von Stein and the strong influence that she exerted 
 upon him. 
 
 219. mit SSoljrljeU. The earlier versions have Serleib' 2ftiner&a 
 mir oafj id) fage, roa ibm gefdltt. The insertion of the words mtt 
 SSabrbeit emphasizes the ethical conception of Iphigenia's character, 
 which the poet especially sought to bring out in the final revision. In 
 his journal he remarks concerning a picture of St. Agatha by Raphael 
 that he saw at Bologna, 3d) Ijabe mir fte ttiobl getnerft unb toerbe biefem 
 3beal meine 3pfjigenie Dorlefen unb tneine elbin nid)t fagen laffen 
 roaS biefe $eilige nid)t fagen fonnte. Wk. III. Slbtb. i : 306. 
 
 223. Uttb . . . tfitlle, every -worthy wish in rich profusion. giiHe 
 denotes plenitude and superfluity, and makes the expression very 
 strong; Strehlke, however, takes it in the sense of (Stfullung, for 
 which, as an unusual sense of the word, Sanders cites a passage from 
 Klopstock. 
 
 226-30. Weber and Denzel understand the colon after rflbmte to 
 mark what follows as the eulogy that Thoas desires from his people. 
 Goethe, however, sometimes uses the colon simply as a stop with value 
 between a comma and a period, and if so regarded here, a more logical 
 interpretation results. The passage becomes the king's reply to each of 
 Iphigenia's three wishes : if his people praise him, he desires no further 
 victory and renown; his wealth others enjoy more than he; household 
 happiness, however, is his sincere desire, and this thought leads to the 
 purpose of his coming. Cf. Herrig's Archiv 71 : 293 ff. and 73: 237. 
 
 237. gerodjCH. The verb rfidjen, originally strong, is now conju- 
 gated weak; this form is retained for poetic effect. 
 
 238. ntdjttf, bo3. Common usage demands tua8 after the indefinite 
 pronoun, arid it is found in the earlier versions. The reason for the 
 change is not clear, but Goethe sometimes prefers this form. Cf. in 
 a[fo, the phrase, S5iete8 traf gufammen bas id) ... nutjen fonnte, 
 Wk. 10: 129. Schiller and Lessing occasionally present similar 
 examples.
 
 104 NOTES. 
 
 245-46. ttttt @ieg . . . banfett. The clause is to be taken with 
 betrat, as the prose versions show. They read, 9?un fomm' id) f)ierher 
 in biefen Sempel too idj fo oft itm @teg gebeten unb fiir @ieg gebanft, 
 ntit einem SBerlangen, 11. f. . 
 
 255. SInfttttft. Part of the editions read Slbfmtft, but, as Strehlke 
 remarks, the connection supports the former reading. The mystery 
 of her arrival can only be explained by the story of her descent. 
 
 358. bod efetj refers to the statutes, btC -Wotl) to the political ne- 
 cessity that dictated them. The establishment of foreign colonies 
 along the coast might result in alienating the sovereignty. 
 
 260-61. The expression froitttttCJt !Hcd)t3 refers not merely to the 
 sacred rights enjoyed by the priestess, but to the broader claims of 
 hospitality. This is clear from the prose which reads, aHeitt toon 
 bir, bie ftd) be8 riibtnen fann, toamm toergebenS an bent raithen 
 
 lifer ber grembc feufjt, U. j. to. In this connection the original mean- 
 ing of aft, a stranger (cf. Ety. which connects it with Lat. hostis), 
 seems to color the thought. The same meaning occurs in the Bible 
 verse 3d) bin ein aft ailf (Srben, Ps. 119: 19, which reads in the 
 authorized version " I am a stranger in the earth." The apposition of 
 the clause ein ... @ofl with the implied relative subject of erfreut is 
 shown by supplying and as before it. 
 
 262. Xage, life. The word day is used in the same sense in the 
 English phrase, in his day and generation. In German the plural is 
 more often used in this sense, and Goethe writes im erbft meiner 
 Stage. 11.33:405. 
 
 a66. $fllt$, here in the sense of efd)led)t. Cf. the similar very 
 common use of house in English. 
 
 268-69. meld) . . . fd)iti?cft, what accursed being thou dost cherish 
 and protect. aupt is used by synecdoche, just as the Greek often 
 uses e0aA# = head. The use of head in the same sense is hardly 
 possible, though the biblical phrase " heap coals of fire upon his 
 head," Prov. 25 : 22, is somewhat similar. The use of na'hrft was per- 
 haps suggested by Voss's translation of rps^siv, Od. 5 : 135. Iphigenia 
 says erttmnfd)t, because she feels herself the victim of the curse upon 
 her race. Cf. 84, note. 
 
 276. (Slettb signified originally foreign land and banishment or the 
 wretchedness of exile, but now only misery or wretchedness in general.
 
 ACT I. 105 
 
 The older meaning was common when Goethe wrote, and as the prose 
 versions show, he seems to have associated that idea with it. The first 
 prose version reads, in denbfd)roetfeHbe 23erbammni mid) berftojjen, 
 and the second, in fdjroetfenbeg baufofe (Slenb mid) Derftofjen. 
 
 279. Math, counsel. The use of the word in this sense Grimm gives 
 as primarily biblical ; it is also parallel with the Greek use of f3ov^ = 
 counsel, which was especially used of the gods. 
 
 282. frommen, blameless. 
 
 298. nteljr Ol3 (Jilt, i.e. not only as king, but through her own 
 gratitude and as her divinely constituted protector. 
 
 306. According to the legend making Tantalus a Lydian or Phrygian 
 king, as well as the one connecting him with Zeus, Thoas might have 
 been familiar with his story, though Goethe simply assumes the fact 
 without providing for its dramatic probability. The following table 
 shows the relationship of his descendants, as far as involved in this 
 drama. 
 
 Tantalus 
 
 
 I 
 Atreus 
 1 
 
 1 
 Thyestes 
 
 1 
 
 Aegisthus 
 
 Clytemnestra-Agamemnon Menelaus-Helen 
 I 
 
 Electra 
 
 1 
 Iphigenia Orestes 
 
 307. <jrojje3 in the sense of inbaltfdjWereS, momentous. 
 312-13. bcffcn . . . (iJefpracf)en, whose words of sage experience 
 fraught with deep wisdom. 
 
 321. 3>onttrerd. The epithet is based on the Homeric usage that 
 everywhere attributes the thunder to Zeus, and repeatedly uses of him 
 
 = delighting in thunder, and as an appositive attribute 
 = the lofty thunderer. Cf. also the Latin, Jupiter 
 Tonans. 
 
 322. SBcrgcljen. The classical legends variously represent the crime 
 of Tantalus ; that he sought to test the omniscience of the gods by 
 serving to them his own son; that he betrayed their secrets; that he 
 gave nectar and ambrosia to mortals. Goethe rejects such ideas, and
 
 106 NOTES. 
 
 implies that his exalted station corrupted his noble nature into boastful 
 haughtiness, and further represents this fault, exaggerated in his pos- 
 terity, as involving them in crime and drawing upon them the curse of 
 the gods. With this interpretation agrees a well-known passage in 
 2)tcJ)tung unb SBabrfjett, ,,od) aucf) trie fubneren iene ejd)lecf)ts, 
 antalu, 3jion, iftphits roaren meiue ettigen. 3n bie efeltfttjaft 
 ber otter aitfgenommen, molten fte ftd) nirf)t untergeorbnet genug 
 betragen, al iibermutige a'fte ibreS ttrirtblichen onnerS ovn toer= 
 btent, unb fid) eine traiirige SSerbannung jugejogen baben." Wk. 
 28:314. 
 
 324. 300t3, Latin genitive of Jupiter. 
 
 325. beS altCtt SartartlS. Homer, II. 8 : 13, places Tartarus as far 
 beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, and hence it is 
 thought of as the oldest part of creation, and the abode to which Zeus 
 doomed the conquered Titans. 
 
 328-29. biC . . . 2Jlarf, the -violent spirit and the mighty strength 
 of the Titans. This passage first occurs in the second prose version, 
 where ftie position of ber Xittttten shows that it belongs to both nouns. 
 For 3JJarf, lit. marrow, in the sense of strength, cf. Schiller, ,,2J?ein 
 SBater bat ba 2J?arf eineS ott>en," 2)ie SJauber 2: i. The Titans 
 were an older race of gods that revolted against the rule of Zeus, and 
 were conquered by him. Tantalus was not among their number, but 
 was descended from Oceanus, whom Hesiod makes the oldest of 
 them. 
 
 330-31. The figure is conceived in the 'classical spirit and recalls 
 the lines of Horace, 
 
 l///* robur et aes triflex 
 Circa pectus erat. Odes 1:3:9, 
 
 but Goethe thought of rashness inclining to insanity rather than hardi- 
 hood. Cf. letter to Schiller, Aug. 19, 1797. Taken in this sense, the 
 following lines explain the meaning, the word SJatb, having, according 
 to Grimm, the sense of liberlegung or SBebacbtfamfeit. 
 
 338. SBerratfy UUb 9)lorb. In the story of Pelops, Goethe follows 
 Hyginus, Fab. 84, who relates that Oenomaus, whose death at the 
 
 Oak and brass of triple fold 
 
 Encompass'd sure that heart. Conington.
 
 107 
 
 hands of his son-in-law the oracle had foretold, compelled his daugh- 
 ter's suitors to compete with him in a chariot race, and having swifter 
 horses, defeated and beheaded them. When Pelops appeared, he bribed 
 Myrtilus, the charioteer, to leave the chariot wheels unfastened, and 
 the king was thus thrown out and killed. Pelops afterward refused to 
 divide the kingdom with Myrtilus, as he had promised, and threw him 
 into the sea. 
 
 339. Before the Stuggabe tester anb the reading of this line was 
 S)e8 O'noma'uS o'd)ter i'ppoba'ntie'n, with the metrical accents as 
 marked. The change was evidently made to suit the Greek accent 
 Otvopaof, an improvement, though the line still contains six accents. 
 The use of (Srjeitgte in this sense is unusual, but Platen, 5lbafftben 
 2: 133, uses the masculine form in the sense of ofytt. 
 
 341. lirillf|t in the sense of gebciren. It occurs again in 404 with 
 the same meaning. 
 
 343. ttwdjfettb, as the prose version shows, is to be taken with @obn 
 and not with giebe. The reading is, benen nod) etn 33niber au 
 einem anberen S3ette tm SBege ftebt. 
 
 348. Clttlctbt. Goethe follows Hyginus, Fab. 85; other sources 
 give a different version. 
 
 351. gebenft. The use of gebenfen and of benfett with the genitive 
 or with the accusative is common in poetry. Cf. 475, 601, 1765, 2117. 
 
 355. These lines may be regarded as an embodiment of the lex 
 continui, which was a central idea with Leibnitz and found some ac- 
 ceptance with Herder. Cf. Eng. Hist. Rev. I : 19. 
 
 365. lange. The prose reads, ber tucftfd) Icmge fcf)on einen @obn 
 be 33ruber enttnanbt. The separation of the two adverbs makes 
 each more emphatic. 
 
 374. trmtf HCU, here frenzied. The expression is admissible only 
 in highly poetic diction. The prose versions have simply, erfobrt er 
 toen er itmgebracfyt. 
 
 383. bo, as, with temporal force that extends over the three follow- 
 ing verbs and corresponds to a demonstrative btt (then), that is under- 
 stood before ttnrft. 
 
 384-87. cittC SBeljlttltt . . . glaitbt. These lines occur only in the 
 nnal revision, and were evidently suggested by Seneca's tragedy, 
 Thyestes; cf. especially
 
 108 NOTES. 
 
 1 Quis hie tumulus viscera exagitat tnea? 
 Quid tremuit intus? sentio impatiens onus. 
 Meumque gemitu non meo pectus gemit. 
 Adeste, nati,genitor infelix vocat, 
 Adeste, visis fugiet hie vobis dolor 
 
 Unde oblocunturl 
 
 Thyest. 999-1004. 
 
 387. The irregularity of the verse, which has only four accents, ii 
 expressive of Iphigenia's horror at the event she narrates. 
 
 390. @0 WCUbctC btC <S0ltn T . One of the choral odes in Euripides 
 I ph. Tau. 192 ff., presents a similar picture; "and the sun-god witl 
 winged careering steeds turned from his place and changed his ligh 
 divine." Coleridge. 
 
 393. bcr 9Konner. The prose versions have btefet UltfeHgert 
 showing that the allusion is specifically to other and subsequent crime: 
 of Atreus and Thyestes. 
 
 395. 5Rad)t . . . ftitttgett. Perhaps the Miltonic phrase (cf. P 
 Reg. I : 500), night with her sullen wings, will best render the idea 
 gltttge for 5^8 e ^ belongs to lofty poetic diction, and the prose, bi 
 fhtftre Sfadjt . . . gebriitet, suggests the idea of solitary gloom tha 
 Milton's adjective conveys. 
 
 4013. The thought expressed in these lines occurs first in th< 
 final revision (cf. 219, note), and is in marked contrast to the*reproacl 
 expressed in the Greek drama in which, referring to her sacrifice, sh< 
 exclaims, 
 
 Fate fathered me unfatherly with woe. 
 
 Iph. Taur. 865. 
 
 411. timdj3 in the sense of t)eratttt)Ud)8. Cf. 54, note. 
 
 412. jirljcnt. Tranquil seems the best rendering of the word 
 which here implies freedom from all that agitates. Cf . the literal sens< 
 of its Lat. origin, securus = without care. 
 
 1 No English version being at hand, the editor ventures the following trans 
 lation: 
 
 What tumult this that stirs my very vitals? 
 What inward trembling ? Restlessly I feel a weight, 
 And from my breast is heaved a groan not mine. 
 Approach, my sons, your sire unhappy calls ; 
 Approach ! at sight of you this pain will flee 
 Ah! whence these voices?
 
 ACT I. 109 
 
 416. rojeit#. An unusual form; Goethe elsewhere writes Xroja'8, 
 but in 878 he has 2ftt)Cenen. Cf. also the form @uropen (by analogy 
 perhaps with StjtenS), which both he and Schiller use. 
 
 421. The cause of Diana's anger was, according to Hyginus, Fab. 
 98, that Agamemnon had hurt one of her stags, and had spoken ir- 
 reverently of her. More poetical was the thought of Euripides : 
 
 "Our armament's high admiral and lord, 
 
 No anchor, Agamemnon, shalt thou weigh 
 
 Till Iphigeneia's slaughter pays thy debt 
 
 To radiant Artemis thy vow 
 
 To offer up the twelvemonth's loveliest flower. 
 
 Now blossoms out thy Clytemnestra's child 
 
 At home" and me he deemed the loveliest flower 
 
 " Her thou must sacrifice." 
 
 I ph. Taur. 17, ff. 
 
 423, lorftCH. On pretense of marriage with Achilles. Cf. in con- 
 nection with this and the following lines, Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis. 
 
 428. in Cine 933olfc. The idea is Homeric, cf. II. 3 : 380, where 
 Aphrodite snatches up Paris, hides him in thick darkness and sets him 
 down in his own chamber. 
 
 431. (Sltfel. The masc. form, instead of the fern. (Jnfelin, is here 
 used for emphasis. Cf. Schiller, the words of the queen, ,,3d) bin (Slier. 
 $onig," Sftoria tiiart, 2451. 
 
 434. $iittigt0d)ter. The king fails to comprehend Iphigenia's 
 purpose. She disclosed her secret only at his promise not to hinder 
 her return, and in conclusion sought to rouse his horror and repel his 
 suit by reiterating her descent and by pleading the claims of the god- 
 dess upon her. In his infatuation Thoas ignores the latter thought, 
 and takes the former simply as the assertion of her own royal birth and 
 equal rank. 
 
 455. mtrf) entgegen . . . fefjltett, yearn to meet. The order is 
 poetic. 
 
 459-60. In connection with f$toube, lint instead of an or itber is 
 unusual, but Heyne cites its use by Freytag, @otl Itnb >aben, I : 115. 
 For @auP an ciuten English idiom requires from column to column; 
 Goethe frequently uses such a combination of the singular and plural 
 either for greater distinctness or for more polished metrical finish. Cf.
 
 110 NOTES. 
 
 1747 and Faust, 29 and 4658. If Goethe intended any definite allu- 
 sion to classical customs, he may have thought of the announcement of 
 the birth of a son by a chaplet of olive on the door, or still more to the 
 point, of the adornment of the house with garlands for the Amphi- 
 dromia or festival to welcome and dedicate with religious rites the new- 
 born child and to give him a name. Cf. Bliimner, Seben llltb ttteti 
 ber riedjen, I. Slbth. 97. 
 
 464. (juti'tt 9tdtl) represents Goethe's uniform usage in this drama, 
 though in the 2lu8gabe letter anb, out of deference to Gottling, who 
 aided in its preparation, the strong form was substituted in all cases 
 except in 1164. The poet's preference, however, appears from a letter 
 to Gottling, May 28, 1825, in which he says, id) fann mid) ber g(er>n 
 ! oft lid) en @inne nid)t entfdjlagen, fte ift jo in tnein SBefen oer 
 toebt, bajj id) fie, ft>o nid)t fiir red)t, bod) mir getnaft adjten mnft. 
 
 474. golbne. Goethe repeatedly employs this word. Its use was 
 doubtless suggested by the frequent occurrence of xpiiaeoe = golden, in 
 Greek poetry, to denote great perfection or eloquence, glory, etc. The 
 English golden is sometimes used- in the same sense. 
 
 473. ttCtt, cordially, cf. the prose version which read, ait bent 
 treuften er$en. 
 
 483. HBaffen. The earlier versions that read, S)a8 WaS bit an 
 mtr tabelft finb atle unjere SBaffen, make evident the nature of the 
 thought. 
 
 486. Uttbefailttt mtt mtr Itttb bir f i.e. swayed by emotion rather 
 than reflection and judgment. The first prose version has, bu icdbnft 
 au iibergvofcer utbeit. 
 
 496. tttrm, i.e. ber titrnt ber Setbenjdjaft, which is the prose 
 reading. 
 
 503. 3rf| bin ettt SDlettfd), i.e. my conduct is natural. Cf. the sim- 
 ilar expression in the Templar's appeal to Nathan to let himself be 
 swayed by natural feelings. ,,33egniigt (Slid) bod), eitt TOenfd) Jllfein !" 
 Nathan ber SSeife, 2183. 
 
 516. utuett, an obsolete weak plural, that Goethe sometimes uses, 
 generally, though not always, to avoid hiatus or for the sake of rhyme. 
 Cf. gauft, 43i,-i633, etc. 
 
 523-25. Cf. the similar sentiment expressed by Euripides,
 
 ACT I. Ill 
 
 Mere lies I deem 
 
 That talk of gods on human flesh regaled 
 At Tantalus's board sheer fancies these 
 Of people here who cloke their slaughterous mind 
 And make the goddess answer for their sins; 
 No badness lurks in any god that is. 
 
 Iph. Taur. 386 ff. 
 
 529. (etd)t bett>Cglid)er Serniinft, wavering reason, i.e. unsettled 
 by change of circumstance. 
 
 534. 92td)t$ Itte3. The unconscious prophecy contained in the 
 king's expression of distrust is an example of tragic irony. The figure 
 is often effectively used, especially in Greek tragedy. 
 
 538-60. The position and lyric character of this scene give it some- 
 what the value of a choral ode, though in Greek tragedy similar lyric 
 passages frequently occur in the expression of overwrought emotion. 
 The verse is trochaic-dactylic tetrameter and, except 541, which marks 
 a pause in the sense, uniformly with feminine ending. The allitera- 
 tion employed also increases its harmony. In its content the scene is 
 a fervent prayer, in which Iphigenia ascribes all power and wisdom to 
 Diana, implores her present deliverance and concludes with an ex- 
 pression ot devout trust in the beneficence of the gods toward men. 
 
 540. (4}efrf)trf is used here, according to Grimm, in the sense of 
 @d)i(fjal, Fate, to which even the gods were subject. Strehlke suggests 
 that Goethe modified the classical conception to emphasize Iphigenia's 
 absolute trust in the power of the goddess. 
 
 552. traurigmnunUiijen, sorrowing and in-voluntary, an amplifica- 
 tion of the prose which had, bie eftalt be8 (Srmorbeten erfdjeint audj 
 bent gitfalligen 2Jiorber jur bofen tunbe. 
 
 554-60. Cf. in Euripides the similar sentiment attributed to the 
 Dioscuri, 
 
 And through bright ether's levels moving on, 
 We succour not the man of deeds unclean, 
 But in whose heart and life dwells holiness 
 And love of right, when ills assault such lives 
 We bring deliverance and escape from harm. 
 
 Elect. 1349 ff.
 
 112 NOTES. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 564. JHddjegeifter, i.e. the furies. After Orestes murdered his 
 mother, the furies chased him into exile, and the oracle of Apollo di- 
 rected him to Athens, where he was tried for murder and acquitted by 
 the casting-vote of Pallas. Part of the furies were appeased, but the 
 others still pursued him, and from them Apollo promised him release 
 if he brought from Tauris the sacred image of Diana and set it up in 
 Athens. Cf. Euripides, Iph. Taur. 939-86. 
 
 567-68. ntit . . . OtterWOrten, with the rich hope of divine as- 
 surance. 
 
 569. Uttb Wtttt erffiflet ftd) T 3. There is more than accidental sim- 
 ilarity between this passage and the lines Schlegel assigns to Orestes 
 when he is brought with Pylades before the priestess, 
 
 3a, $$9buB. bu Ijaft SRerft. SJein Kugfrnuft ift erfuuet, 
 $>er mein (Sennffen l)telt unb metnen Saramer jttUet. 
 S5etn SBort ftcf)t bentnad) feft. a 6nDe meiner 9lotl) 
 fSfinb id) int ^empel Ijier, obg(etd) burd) metnen Sob. 
 Slut bu, ntetn treuftcr fjfreunb, berbttterft mtr ba Sterbeu. 
 %d^ roarum mufe id) bi^ jugletc^ tnit mtr nerberben ? 
 
 Dreft unb $t)(abe, 3 : 4. 
 
 571. iJtter^onb. The reference is not, as Buchheim maintains, 
 to the gods in general, but to Apollo, to whom Euripides makes Orestes 
 directly ascribe his ruin. (Iph. Taur. 975.) It was in obedience to 
 his express command that he avenged upon his mother his father's 
 murder, and by the " divine hand that crushes his heart and benumbs 
 his mind," he refers to the stoicism with which he executed the deed, 
 and that now makes him indifferent to his fate. 
 
 579. Orestes refers to the murder of Agamemnon. Cf. 891-90x5, in 
 which the deed is described. 
 
 582. U)r is the repeated antecedent of the rel. bie, and nad) belongs 
 with tyiirettb. Ye infernal beings that pursue, tracking like hounds let 
 loose the blood, etc. The poet evidently had in mind the picture of the 
 furies in Aeschylus, where Clytemnestra's ghost, urging on the furies, 
 exclaims, 
 
 Thou, phantom-like dost hunt thy prey and criest 
 Like hound that never rests from care or toil. 
 
 Eumenides, 131 ff.
 
 113 
 
 Also the words of the furies as they pursue Orestes, 
 
 For as the hound pursues a wounded fawn 
 So by red blood and oozing gore track we. 
 
 Ib. 246 ff. 
 
 588. Sartoett, spectres, cf. Lat. larva. Though Goethe, as noted 
 above, refers to the furies in language suggested by the Eumenides of 
 Aeschylus, in which they appear on the stage as the chorus, he still 
 regards them, as Euripides does (cf. Iph. Taur. 285 ff.), simply as the 
 creations of Orestes' disordered fancy. From Schiller's letter to Goethe, 
 Jan. 22, 1802, it would seem that he considered this a defect. 
 
 592. Baittt, more commonly used of ecclesiastical process, is here 
 used of legal, in the sense of SSerbannung, proscription or exile. 
 Goethe may have had in mind the words of Euripides, who makes 
 Electra say of herself and her brother, 
 
 All Argos here decrees our outlawry. 
 No roof may shelter us, no heart receive, 
 None may accost us, we are matricides. 
 
 Orest. 46 ff. 
 
 600. aufjUWinben. The reference is perhaps to the labyrinth to 
 which Ariadne gave Theseus the clue. 
 
 601. beitfe . . . belt Job. Cf. 351, note. The construction con- 
 veys the idea of making vividly present. 
 
 606. tUCthcitb, in consecration, is used adverbially. The victim, 
 adorned with wreaths, was brought to the altar and sprinkled with 
 lustral water. Hair was then cut from its forehead and thrown into 
 the fire, after which it was slaughtered. Cf. Bliimner, Seben uttb @it= 
 ten ber riecfjen, II. $bth. 170. See also Od. 3, 436 ff. 
 
 608-10. With this passage Seuffert compares Wieland's lines, 
 
 ocf) jur Serjraeiflunfl finft 
 tfein ebler 'Jftann tjcrab ! 2Bte ? roar Slbmet 
 9hd)t imtner ein SSerefjrer 
 2>er otter? 26o tft fetn SBertrauen 
 9luf tfjre Waft ! 
 
 aicefle, 3 : 4- 
 
 See also Introduction, and 72127, note. 
 
 615-16. 1>e3 fiebCttS . . . ^aitpt. Poetical for the idea that his 
 happiness was blighted by his mother's unnatural conduct. That this
 
 114 NOTES. 
 
 was the poet's thought appears from the prose: 3fttr lag Me blinKe 
 Sedfe be ?ebcn8 Don St inbh,eit an fdjon urn ba garte aupt. tlnter 
 finer 2Jlutter, bie beS abroefenben emafyts bergaft, ttntd)S id) gebriictt 
 herauf . . . 
 
 629. ^>i)Uengeifter, an epithet of the furies, but in harmony with 
 mediaeval rather than classical conceptions. Cf. also oHenjrf)tt)efeI, 
 
 "54- 
 
 632. flUtCtt refers rather to energy and dutiful effort than to moral 
 quality. Strehlke compares the use of the word in the lines 
 
 6M jet ber 3Keni$, 
 fifilfretdj unb gut ! 
 
 Wk. II, 83. 
 
 636. UlUWlUfl, in the sense of Lat. indignatus, = angrily, to suggest 
 the murder that Pylades hesitates to mention. It is suggested in the 
 3t. f. beut. llnterridjt 4 : 373, that the poet may have had in mind 
 Vergil's verse, 
 
 1 Vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras. 
 
 Aeneid, 12 : 952. 
 
 The use of DrcilS for Hades also shows Latin influence. 
 
 639. uiorbeit for getDOrben. Except when used as an auxiliary, the 
 omission of the augment is unusual, but as a survival of older usage, 
 was less so in Goethe's day. Thus, fpater war' e$ fdjlinimer ftorben, 
 occurs, affo, 2301 . Instances also occur with other verbs. Cf. gangen 
 tjl, Wk. IV. Stbt^. 2 : 20, ift anfontmen, Ib. 35, and !jab' id) friegt, Ib. 36. 
 
 641-42. nttt bit ... lebett mag. Schlegel's Pylades exclaims in 
 similar words, 
 
 3d) tnag fein anbre Seben, 
 %1 ba ber ^immel tnir ntit bit jugleid) gegeben. 
 
 Dreft unb $t)labe, 3 : 4. 
 
 644. bcin ^ou^. Cf. 1009-14. 
 
 851. 9Wir was inserted, for metrical reasons, in the final version; 
 also ftd) before jeinem in 716, and meinem after mtr in 1703. The 
 combination is pleonastic, and, though it often occurs in the classic 
 writers, it is now avoided and considered inelegant, even in colloquial 
 language. 
 
 1 One groan the indignant spirit gave, 
 Then sought the shades below.
 
 ACT II. 115 
 
 657. tierpefteter SJertriebner, plague-stricken outcast. Goethe's 
 
 purpose required only the general idea, though if, as has been sug- 
 gested, he had leprosy in mind, the thought may be brought out by 
 rendering tterpefteter leprous. 
 
 663. ttergiftetC. Cotter has a similar passage, making his Orestes 
 exclaim under like circumstances, 
 
 TOetn UnglurfSftcrn seraiftet au$ betn Ceben. 
 
 @leftra, 2 : i. 
 
 670. SHjntyerrn, changed from the dat. pi. unferen Ibnherrn, which 
 was the reading of the prose versions, but as the description applies to 
 none of the descendants of Tantalus, probably best taken, as Strehlke 
 suggests, in the collective sense, ancestry. 
 
 68 1. bfittgt, in the sense of braitgt. Goethe uses the two verbs 
 somewhat indiscriminately. Cf. auft, 495. 
 
 681-96. The thought is that remoteness of time and poetic fancy 
 invest with a peculiar charm deeds that were actually as trivial as our 
 own, and that in emulating such ideals we forget the present, as well 
 as the reality of the past, and pursue only shadows. 
 
 689. The expression suggests two biblical reminiscences: fo ift e8 
 (unfer ?ebert,) 2Jiithc unb 2(rbeit gettefen, <Pf. 90 : 10, and unjer SBiffen 
 ift @tiicfft)er!f, i Sot. 13:9. The incomplete verse fits the sense. 
 
 700. fo t)id f i.e. avenged the murder of Agamemnon, whom, as 
 the leader of the Trojan war, the Greeks always regarded as a national 
 hero. 
 
 701. frolje Xfjdt. The omission of the article is poe-tic. Cf. in 
 Uhland's Ballad, 2)e StingerS glucf), 45, the phrase 'file tone fiifjer 
 
 706. erftC, leijtC Sllft, supremest joy. Sefct, denoting degree, can 
 refer to either extreme; cf. ber le^te $ned)t, 941, where it has the sense 
 of humblest. Success in war was, as Strehlke remarks, the heroic con- 
 ception of human happiness. 
 
 708. borf) WCreljrtcn. All the Greek tragedians represent Orestes 
 as showing pity and hesitation in taking vengeance upon his mother. 
 
 711. e3 Ollf . . . gcridjtct. With the preceding jit rimbe ge* 
 ttdjtct, which can only mean utterly undone, the general sense of doomed 
 is perhaps the best rendering. Heyne, however, connects the phrase 
 with the technical use of rtd)ten in the sense of lay a snare for.
 
 116 NOTES. 
 
 713-17. A distinctly modern conception, in accord with Goethe's 
 own views rather than with those of the Greek tragedians or of Hebrew 
 theology. Cf. in SBilbelm 2Mfter'S SBanberjahre the expression, fo 
 bletbt bie eigentlidje Religion ein 3nnere, ja 3nbitribueIIe8, benn fte 
 hat ganj allein tnit bent eroiffen ju thun, . . . Wk. 24: 123. 
 
 721-27. Seuffert again (cf. 608-10, note) cites Wieland's lines, as 
 expressing a similar thought, 
 
 ffiuf beinen 9Jhitf) sururf ! 
 3)ie otter molten ! 
 3Ijr SBetfaU tft ber Sugenb otb ; 
 <Sie fmb ben Qfrommen bolb 
 Unb roerben bein e|d)t(f 
 Salb umgeftalten ! 
 
 Wcejk, 3:4. 
 
 722. Sd)rt)Cftcr, i.e. the image of Diana, as Pylades supposes. The 
 reference is again to the oracle that, for dramatic reasons, the poet 
 only states in full, cf. 2113-15, when the comprehension of its true 
 purport brings about the denouement. 
 
 739- jjestottttgett J)ier instead of gefiifjrt, the reading of the earlier 
 versions, emphasizes the trust that Pylades reposes in divine beneficence, 
 and so accords with the higher ethical conception of the final revision. 
 
 745. ben ebellt 2JJitUU. The passage involves no specific reference, 
 though the poet may have had Hercules or some other hero in mind. 
 For the expiation of guilt the oracle frequently imposed superhuman 
 tasks, whose accomplishment posterity celebrated. 
 
 750. fdjttJCrett @ttm. The reading of the earlier versions, Don 
 tneiner @eele, shows in what sense tint is taken. The change was 
 probably made for the sake of the strong alliteration with @d)tt)inbet. 
 
 765. A sentiment frequently expressed in Greek literature. Cf. the 
 lines in Sophocles, 
 
 Neop. Dost thou not count it base to utter lies ? 
 Odys. Not so, when falsehood brings deliverance. 
 
 Philoctetes, 108 ff. 
 
 With some Homeric touches, the character of Odysseus in Philoctetes 
 seems to be the prototype of Goethe's Pylades. 
 
 777- font tamm ber 9Jmasonett. The earlier versions read, bdfj 
 fte eine ber gefliicfjteten 2tma5onen fei. The passage is a free adaptation
 
 117 
 
 of the classical belief in the Amazons, no legend recounting any special 
 flight. It was perhaps suggested by the location of Tauris, opposite 
 the reputed land of the Amazons. 
 
 801. gefiiljdid). Goethe had in mind the words of Euripides, 
 
 Set free these strangers' arms 
 
 No bonds must hamper heaven's devoted prize. 
 
 Iph. Taur. 468 f. 
 
 802. Clld), referring to both captives. 
 
 803-4. The passage was undoubtedly suggested by the lines of 
 Sophocles, 
 
 O dear-loved sound ! Ah me ! what joy it is 
 After long years to hear a voice like thine ! 
 
 Philoctetes, 234? 
 
 The Greek Pylades uses the word 2Jiutterfprad)e by dramatic con- 
 vention; except for comic effect (cf. Shakespeare's Henry V, and 
 Lessing's Minna von Barnh elm), diversity of language is not recognized 
 on the stage. 
 
 824. HU0 $reta. The dramatic use of this motive may well have 
 been suggested by Schlegel's employment of such an invented tale in 
 his Oreft itnb ^5ty(abe, I : 4. The location and the semblance of truth 
 are probably imitated from the stories told by Odysseus (cf. Od. 13 : 256 
 S., also 14: 199 ff. and 19: 165 ff.), but the incidents as well as the 
 names were freely invented. 
 
 831. be3 33ater3 Srflft, our mighty father. The phrase imitates a 
 common Homeric metonymy; cf. jBiqv Ato^deof = mighty (lit. might 
 of) Diomedes. II. 5 : 781. 
 
 849. $0d) fdjone feinct. See Introduction, and cf. the words 
 that Gotter makes Iphise say of Electra in similar circumstances, 
 
 Stfcont tfjrer ; bafj ben eifl nidjt biefer Sturm jerrutte. 
 
 862. Sarbaren, i.e. in the sense of Gr. /Sap/Japof = foreign, a 
 word that was used with special reference to those that did not speak 
 Greek. 
 
 863. Achilles is mentioned first, not only as the foremost of the 
 Grecian heroes, but because it was under pretence of betrothal to him 
 that Iphigenia was brought to Aulis and sacrificed. His friend was, of 
 course, Patroclus; cf. II. 16: 873 ff. for the description of his death.
 
 1 18 NOTES. 
 
 864. StterbUber. The metaphor denotes peerless beauty. Such 
 compounds with otter are common. Cf. Schiller's, ,,fo prtidjt'ge b't' 
 terfefte," SKaria tuart, 1120. 
 
 865. 9ljflJ clantOtt', a bold imitation of the Greek usage, Ataf 6 
 Tefafiuvog = Ajax son of Telamon. 
 
 866. be3 SBaterldttbeS ci{J, the light of their native land, i.e. they 
 did not live to return, but were sent down to the gloom of Hades. 
 The phrase is usually explained as an imitation of the Homeric voarifiov 
 fyftap = day of returning. 
 
 869. Hebed ^CfJ. According to English usage my heart. The 
 phrase is a literal translation of the common Homeric ty'iMv rjrop or 
 
 881. berucft, ensnared, is a term borrowed from the language of 
 fowlers, and has here its original sense (cf. 894 ff.) of ' taken with a 
 net.' 
 
 887. ttad)barK(f). The sense is, as a neighbor. Cf. the prose 
 reading, bift bit Me od)ter etneS aftfreunbg ober 9?ad)bar ? 
 
 894. etlt . . . etoebe, an intricate and artfully entangled web. 
 The description especially recalls the lines assigned by Aeschylus to 
 Clytemnestra, 
 
 I cast around him drag-net as for fish 
 With not one outlet, evil wealth of robe. 
 
 Agamemnon, 1353 ff. 
 
 All the details, however, including the plea of revenge as an excuse 
 for the deed, Euripides also gives in various passages of his Electra. 
 and he especially assigns to Aegisthus a share in the deed, which 
 Aeschylus does not do. 
 
 899. Ucrhiiflt. Various interpretations are offered. Miss Swan- 
 wick's rendering and thus enveloped, referring to the device by which 
 he was murdered without opportunity of self-defence, is fairly satis- 
 factory. Weber takes it in the sense of tterhuUtertteife, i.e. secretly, 
 without the renoun of a hero's death, and though Homer does not 
 mention the net, the following Homeric phrase, ging gll ben Sobtett, 
 favors such an epic conception.
 
 119 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 926. gtattbe. Cf. 801, note. 
 
 929. 2ebeits?bltrf. The thought expressed rests probably upon 
 poetic fiction rather than pathological fact, but cf. Shakespeare's " a 
 lightning before death." Romeo, 5, 3, 90. 
 
 932. U)t is used in the rest of this speech, as in 802, referring to 
 both captives. 
 
 942. an ... ftreifte, touched, i.e. in any manner came in contact 
 with the family. About the household hearth all the events of domestic 
 life were celebrated with religious acts, in which even the slaves par- 
 ticipated. 
 
 948. jpoffnuttg. Diintzer and Strehlke understand simply pleasure 
 at the awakening of old associations, but the more natural interpretation 
 seems to be that the hope of return is at once suggested by the presence 
 of the two strangers, who have come, at the command of Apollo, from 
 her native land. 
 
 958. ftltmm, mutely, agreeing with the words of Py lades in 873. 
 
 961. C(l)mp. Olympus in Thessaly was the fabled abode of the 
 gods to which certain illustrious heroes were admitted. As its summit 
 rose above the clouds, it was believed that here was an opening into 
 the vault of heaven. Cf. the beautiful lines of Homer, Od. 6 : 42 ff. 
 
 966. ^raitett. Cf. 24, note. 
 
 968. Xantdi$ Gnfel, i.e. Atreus and Thyestes. As Iphigenia and 
 Orestes were the grandchildren of the former, the tragic irony (cf. 534, 
 note) of the following lines is apparent. The simile was originally 
 between the curse and the noxious weed, the lines reading, fo Ijaben 
 XontalS (Snfel ben fflnd), gleicf) einem unt>ertUgbarn Uufraiit mtt 
 toofler anb gefaet, imb jebem iljrer Winter tttieber einen SDiorber jur 
 eitrigen 2Beci)je(tt)iitI) eqeugt. 
 
 977- feeftimmt. In prehistoric Greece, as among primitive Aryan 
 peoples in general, custom demanded the avenging of blood by the 
 next of kin. Homer says, " For a scorn this is even for the ears of 
 men unborn to hear, if we avenge not ourselves on the slayers of our 
 sons and of our brethren." Od. 24 : 432 ff. The same ideas also pre- 
 vailed among the Hebrews. Cf. Num. 35 : 19. 
 
 980. 2(t>ernu. A small volcanic lake not far from Naples. Be-
 
 120 NOTES. 
 
 cause of its gloomy surroundings and poisonous vapors, traduion fixed 
 upon it as the scene of the descent of Odysseus into Hades, and the 
 Roman poets regarded it as the entrance into the lower world. 
 
 985. gaftfmwbltd), in fealty. The word seems to have been in- 
 troduced by Voss as a translation of femof (cf. Od. 9:271), but 
 though used by the classic writers it has never become common. See 
 Grimm, 4, I, 1476. Buchheim renders it, " by ties of hospitality." 
 
 996. ttJCber . . . ttJCber. Poetic, like the analogous nor . . . nor. 
 The thought of the line is more clearly expressed in the earlier versions, 
 which all read, 5)te fei ben ottent itberfaffen. offnung un b gurd)t 
 bilft bem Serbredjer nid)t. 
 
 1001. fdjlfigt . . . SdjIWJtgcit, i.e. tortures with a thousand appre- 
 hensions. Such personification of an abstract idea is quite in the Greek 
 spirit, and was suggested, perhaps, by similar personifications in the 
 Theogony of Hesiod. 
 
 1005. ^Jtt'S . . . WCrbCVjjClt, conceal in the still and joyless cavern 
 realms of night, i.e. consign to oblivion. The exact force of the verb 
 is here ' to hide by putting away ' ; hence the ace. after the preposition. 
 Some editions have the reading ottenreid). 
 
 1010. (vllftru rcttcitb. Goethe takes this fact from the Electra 
 of Sophocles, and later, in describing the arrival of Orestes and Pylades 
 at Mycaene, he also follows the plot of the same tragedy. 
 
 ion. 3rf)U)iil)cr, ordinarily meaning father-in-law, for @d)tt>ager, 
 used for poetic effect. Anaxibia, the sister of Agamemnon, was the 
 wife of Strophius. 
 
 1027. be ... SBluteS. Ordinarily the omission of the def. art. 
 before oft geroafdjenen 23obett would indicate that the preceding geni- 
 tive depended upon 33obett, and Keck so construes it, making it " the 
 oft washed place of. . . blood." The uniform reading, however, of the 
 earlier versions, roo cine olte leidjte put Don Slut au benen oft ge= 
 fdjeuerten tetnen nodj fjerau8guleutf)ten fdjien, shows that the poet 
 thought of it as modifying Spur, and it seems best to render it so and 
 to assume a poetical ellipsis of the article. 
 
 1029. fclaffeit atynbutigSttotten treifcn. This detail was doubt- 
 less suggested by the allusion that Euripides lets Electra make, 
 
 Still reeks the house 
 With black corruption of my father's blood. 
 
 Electra, 318.
 
 ACT III. 121 
 
 The subsequent reference to Electra's wretched life, the arrogance of 
 the murderers and her mother's unnatural conduct may well have been 
 suggested by the context in the same passage. The form ab,nbung= 
 DoHcrt is based upon the eighteenth-century use of ahnbeit in the sense 
 of abnen. 
 
 *O35- ftiefgeiDOrbenC, say alienated; the compound is Goethe's, and 
 Sanders defines it, ,,burcf) bie jroette (be entfrembet." 
 
 1036. jeiten altett Isold). The allusion may have been suggested 
 by the mention that Euripides makes of the " ancient spear of Pelops " 
 (Iph. Taur. 823), as one of the tokens by which Orestes convinced 
 Iphigenia of his identity. That it is not mentioned in the earlier ver- 
 sions, marks it as a detail by which the poet thought of connecting this 
 drama with the proposed sequel, Iphigenia at Delphi (cf. 3tdt. SR. 19. 
 Oft. '86, H. 24: 97), in which Electra was to recognize Iphigenia 
 when on the point of using against her the fatal weapon. 
 
 1039-40. The earlier versions had simply, Unfterbli(f)e auf eureit 
 retnen SSotfen ! The thought agrees with that of the common Hom- 
 eric phrase, Qeol fida fwovref, = the gods that live at ease. The tran- 
 sitive use of leben is poetic. 
 
 1052. 28ie (jaljrcttb, as if exhaling. The thought is of a phantom 
 rising from the reeking blood; the horror of the conception is well 
 marked by the following incomplete verse. Though by no means an 
 imitation, the poet evidently had in mind, in this whole speech, the 
 opening lines in the Eumenides of Aeschylus. 
 
 1054. bcr 9?od)t uralteit Xodjtertt, imitating the Greek usage that 
 avoided naming the furies. The epithet iiratten applies to them as 
 belonging to that oldest race of the gods that Zeus dethroned. 
 
 1055-56. The irregular meter of these two verses heightens the 
 effect. The first consists of three iambics and one anapaest, the second 
 of one iambic and three anapaests. The final anapaest in 1060 also 
 marks the agitation of the speaker. 
 
 1061. 3wetfcl . . . Weue. Cf. 1001, note. 
 
 1062. 2lrf)er0tt, regarded by Homer as a river of the lower world, 
 cf. Od. 10: 513, and by later writers as its boundary, across which 
 Charon ferried the shades (cf. Aen. 6: 295), is here used as by Virgil, 
 Aen. 7 : 312, to denote the lower world in general. 
 
 1067. gottbcf titeit, i.e. under the protection and blessing of the gods. 
 The compound is formed according to Greek analogy.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 1078. eill ^frentber. Though without an inkling of her identity, 
 Iphigenia's sympathy and her interest in the fate of Agamemnon and 
 his house make it impossible for Orestes to consider her a stranger. 
 
 1089. ftiirjje . . . HOItt fttlS, suggested evidently by the reference 
 in Euripides to " a gaping chasm in the rock " (Iph. Taur. 626) as 
 the tomb awaiting Orestes. The strong declension of gel is old and 
 unusual, but is found in all the versions. 
 
 1094. (vrfiiUutig. In the earlier versions this apostrophy was ad- 
 dressed to Diana, running, S)einen Slatb, enjtg ju Derebren, orf)ter 
 SatonenS roar mir ein efetj, bir mein @ci)icffal ganj 311 tiertrauen ; 
 aber folcfje >offnung Ijatt' id) nidjt ouf bid), nod) auf beinen trjeit 
 regternben SSater. @oH ber SWenfd) bie otter roohl bitten? fein 
 fiihnfter S&unfd) reid)t ber nabe ber fdjonften 2!od)ter 3obi ntd)t an 
 bie $nie, roann fie mit @egen bie anbe gefiittt, Don ben unfterblidjen 
 fretroillig b/erabfommt. The personification in the final version seems 
 to be Goethe's, and the change, read between the lines, may perhaps 
 voice the realization of his own long-cherished hope of seeing Italy. 
 His expression may have been influenced by the words that Cotter 
 puts into the mouth of Electra at the conclusion of the recognition 
 scene, 
 
 (SrfilUt fte^t jeber 2^raum toon nun an toor mir ba, 
 
 9JHr rourbe metjr al je ntein fuljnfter 2Bunjd) begetjrte. 
 
 gleftra, 4 : 5. 
 
 1107. Stem* ttnb s JiebeH)iiUe r starry veil of mist, will perhaps best 
 render the phrase. The prose reading was jebeS SlbenbS gefttrnte ^jiille. 
 1108-11. Cf. Xaffo, 1074 ff., 
 
 33tete taffen fte, 
 
 SBenn mir flemaltjam 20og' auf SBoge fe^n, 
 SBte lei(f)tc 2Be(Ien, unbemerft rjoruber 
 SSor t^ren ftu&n raujd)en, Ijoren nifti 
 2)en Sturm, ber un umfauf't unb ntebermirft, 
 SBernefjmen unjer f^teljen faum, unb (affen, 
 SBie rotr befifjrQnften armen $tnbern t^un, 
 5Kit eufsern unb (Secret bte Cuft un fiitten." 
 
 1123. 2Jitt ntrf)tcn, not so. The form is a contraction of the sub- 
 stantive use of ni(l)t with a following strengthening negative, mit
 
 ACT III. 123 
 
 ntrfjte fll. For the rendering cf. German and English versions of 
 Luke 1 : 60. 
 
 1125. @d)leier. Regarded either as the priestly garb, or as the 
 symbol of innocence. That the poet thought of the veil of Leucothea 
 (Od. 5 : 333) > is most improbable. 
 
 1129. cfyritCll . . . ^it^cn imitates the Greek ^aA/coTrovf (lit. with 
 feet of brass), and like it is used figuratively for untiring feet. Cf. the 
 phrase of Sophocles, ^aA/coTrovf 'Eptvvc, Elect.49i, that Prof. Jebb trans- 
 lates " the Erinys of untiring feet." The adjective fred) has the sense 
 of bold or perhaps of fierce. 
 
 1143. XobteJtftaffeS, i.e. Acheron, cf. 1062, note. 
 
 1149. @rinnt)Ctt. Here, as in 1 169, Iphigenia seems to the frenzied 
 man like one of the furies, an idea suggested perhaps by Euripides in 
 the opening scene of his Orestes. Cf. the lines, 
 
 Hands off, thou Fury of my Furies come 
 To grip me and hurl me down to Tartarus. 
 
 Orest. 264 ff. 
 
 1153. tterglttnmen here, as in the earlier versions, used reflexively. 
 Grimm cites no other example. Duntzer gives as its meaning bergtim* 
 
 menb ftcf) auSbrenncn. 
 
 1154. oflenfd)toefel. Cf. 629, note. 
 
 1162. (forgone, i.e. Medusa, whom Perseus slew and whose head 
 was so frightful that the sight of it turned the beholder into stone. 
 
 1165. @d)attCtt. Cf. Od. ii : 204 ff., where Odysseus sought to 
 embrace the spirit of his mother, that three times flitted from his hands 
 like a shadow, while grief waxed ever sharper at his heart. 
 
 1168. (53 fltft. The sense of the passage seems to be satisfied best 
 by referring e to 9Kutterbtute8, as the only word that Orestes had 
 comprehended. 
 
 1176. Sreilfa'S 23rautflctt>, a reference to the plot of the Medea 
 of Euripides, in which Medea, whom Jason had discarded for Creusa, 
 sends the latter a poisoned robe and crown by which she, as well as 
 Creon her father, are burned to death. 
 
 1178. tote ^>erfule3. The mention of Creusa's robe suggests the 
 death of Hercules, that Sophocles makes the theme of The Maidens of 
 Trachis. As a charm to regain his affections, his wife Deianeira inno-
 
 124 NOTES. 
 
 cently sent him a robe dipped in the blood of the Centaur Nessus. By 
 it he was poisoned, and in his agony commanded himself to be carried 
 to Oeta where he burned himself upon a funeral pyre. 
 
 1184. cin Utttb. The metaphor expresses the alternation of uncer- 
 tainty caused by Orestes' conduct, and of fraternal affection which she 
 instinctively feels for him. The reading of the preceding lines in the 
 second prose version shows that this is the thought : Sbf metne 3tt)eifef 
 
 nnb gieb mir eine treue gh'tcflidje etmfjheit. 
 
 1186-87. C$ ret^t . . . Sruber. A motive evidently suggested by 
 Goiter, who makes Electra say in the recognition scene, 
 
 2)ein erj fltegt meinent 311; 
 1)etn SMtrf jeugt roiber bid) 2)u btft mein '-Bruber, bu! 
 
 eieftra, 4 : 5. 
 
 1188. yt)fieu3. Goethe formed the genitive from the Greek Avaiof 
 = the looser or deliverer from care, an epithet of Bacchus. The follow- 
 ing line refers to the wild frenzy and madness of the Bacchantes in the 
 dissolute festival of the god. 
 
 1194. Iccrcn SBtnben, cf. 1 1-14. 
 
 1197. bie CttTge DueBc, i.e. the Castalian spring, rising on the 
 slopes of Parnassus near the Delphian temple. Its waters were sacred 
 and all wjio visited the shrine were obliged to use them in purifying 
 themselves. Roman tradition made it the fountain of poetic inspiration. 
 
 1199. tine, than, after the comparative instead of dl3 is irregular, 
 due probably to colloquial usage, though occasionally found in the 
 classics. Cf. Grimm sub af8, I : 250. 
 
 1209-11. Keck regards these lines as proof that Orestes withdrew 
 from the scene during Iphigenia's apostrophy, 1094-1117, and sought 
 out his friend. The supposition is more natural that he simply turned 
 away, absorbed in his own gloomy thoughts, and that he knew wJiere 
 Pylades was from their parting at the end of the first scene in the 
 preceding act. 
 
 1215-17. D ncljmt . . . modfC is addressed in prayer to the gods, 
 as the reading of the first metrical version shows : 
 
 D neljmt, il)r otter, neljntt 
 
 3)en SSaljn tfjm toon bent ftarren Slug! 
 
 A similar omission of direct invocation occurs in 1916-19.
 
 ACT III. 125 
 
 1240-42. The lines were evidently suggested by the scene in Euri- 
 pides in which Orestes tells of his mother's pathetic appeal for mercy, 
 
 She shrieked* with hand upstretched to reach my chin, 
 " My son, I am beseeching thee I " My cheeks 
 She clutched at then, and so upon them hung 
 That from my hand the weapon swerved and fell. 
 
 Elect. 1214 ff. 
 
 1243. ttitt Ottf, UltWiU'ger (SJetft! Goethe's frenzy scene was 
 greatly influenced by Cotter's Sleltra. When on the point of attack- 
 ing her brother, in her frenzy she fancies herself in Hades. Cf. the 
 following passage : 
 
 gud) ruf icb ! b5rt aeneigt, 
 Sbr dumentben, mid) ! <Seib mctne Btter ! fteigt 
 $>er Madje 6d)ter, fteiflt empor an 8id)t ! toerlaffet 
 >en artaru ! ter bier if! cuer Sife man baffet 
 ner tobtfidjer, al bort. %uf greuetconer 33abn 
 eh', eudj jut Sette, 2ob, 6ntfe^en eucf) tooran ! 
 3acft eure old)e ! idjrainQt bie Qfacfeln, bafj bic gfunfen 
 SBett iiber SlrgoS fprubn ! 
 
 eift SlflamemnonS ! @ei|i DreftS ! 2Ba fiir etn Shimmer 
 tlmbammert mtef) ? Sie ftnb'S ! @ie hbrten mein efdjrei ! 
 
 eieftra, 4:4. 
 
 1247. ihreit, their, a^ unb 9tac^e being its antecedent, though it 
 is sometimes referred, by anticipation, to @d)tt>efter in the following 
 line. The prose reading, S3it)er oergoffen Wit ba S3Utt au aJ3 unb 
 9ta(f)e, nun tt)irb bie (grfjroeftertiebe ju biefer Shat gejwungen, does 
 not support such an exceptional construction. 
 
 1250. An earlier scene of Cotter's seems to have recurred to the 
 poet here. Electra, having resolved to attack Orestes, bids her sister 
 a frenzied farewell : 
 
 9lo(f) feine Scbroeftern batten 
 Sid) fo geliebt, a( roir (in SBegetfierung) 3d) fomm', id) fomm' tbr 
 
 Sdjatten*. 
 
 ie rufen l)6r|t bu nt*t? g t(l bcr $arje @d)(u6 
 Sluttriefenb furdjterlid), fteta' id) jum 6rebu 
 
 (Sinft in bilfterer Setdubunfl an ^P^ifenS ruft.)
 
 126 
 
 1258. fietlje'3 gfhttljCtt. The allusion to Lethe and to the peaceful 
 shades and murmuring voices amid the branches was perhaps sug- 
 gested by Virgil's beautiful lines : 
 
 1 Interea videt Aeneas in valle reducta 
 Seclusum nemus et virgulta sonantia silvis, 
 Lethaeumque domos placidas qui praenatat amnem. 
 Hunc circum innunterae gentes populique volabant ; 
 Ac velut In pratis ube apes aestate serena 
 Floribus insidunt vartis, et Candida circum 
 Lilia funduntur ; strepit omnis murmure campus. 
 
 Aen. 6 : 703 ff. 
 
 Seuffert, however, connects the passage with Wieland's lines in which 
 Admet soliloquizes about the shade of Alceste, 
 
 Ctebreid) brduflen ftrf) 
 ie fatten um fte b,er ; jie bicten il>r 
 u CethenS fjlut gefulite <Sd)aalen an. 
 
 *Icejfc, 4 : 2- 
 
 1260. ftrampf denotes, according to Sanders, a state in which the 
 mind is incapable of independent volition. Soon life's rage is purged 
 away will best render the force of the passage. 
 
 1262. In the earlier versions, which all read, roie ill bie Olielle beg 
 2$ergeffen8 felbft Derroanbelt, the thought was somewhat differently and 
 more clearly stated. 
 
 1264. gefaftg. The first reading was, SBiUfommen ift bie $ub' 
 bem Umgetriebenen, which was changed in the second prose version 
 
 1 Meantime ./Eneas in the vale 
 
 A sheltered forest sees, 
 Deep woodlands, where the evening gale 
 
 Goes whispering through the trees, 
 And Lethe river, which flows by 
 
 Those dwellings of tranquility. 
 Nations and tribes, in countless ranks, 
 
 Were crowded to its verdant banks : 
 As bees afield in summer clear 
 
 Beset the flowerets far and near 
 And round the fair white lilies pour : 
 
 The deep hum sounds the champaign o'er. 
 
 Conington.
 
 ACT HI. 127 
 
 to, 3n eitrer titte fabt gefaflige 9tuhe ben Umgetriebenen @ohn bcr 
 ber (rbe. Both readings indicate the connection in the poet's mind 
 between geffiUig and 9tul)e. Translate, tranquil in your rest let, etc. 
 
 1270. fid) frcttt. The vision of the happy and peaceful existence 
 of his departed ancestors that Goethe makes the means of Orestes' 
 restoration is not classical. Homer not only represents the lower world 
 as a gloomy and mournful abode, but the phantoms as still cherishing 
 the hostile sentiments that animated them in life. Cf. Od. n, and 
 especially 541 ff. Cf. also remarks in the Introduction. 
 
 1281-1309. In the following apostrophy, overwrought emotion finds 
 expression in the irregular metre. Except lines 1285 and 1298, that 
 are in the regular measure, the verse may be described as iambic tetra- 
 meter, with the csesural pause after the second foot, before which, 
 and at the end of the line, an extra unaccented syllable is freely ad- 
 mitted. The first speech in the following scene is really a continuation 
 of the apostrophy, and is in the same metre. 
 
 1287-95. See Introduction, and contrast these lines with Cotter's 
 in which Orestes, believing himself in Hades, exclaims, 
 
 ffiic? Sleaiftf)!- 
 
 SSerfolgft bu eroifl mtdj ? 2Bcr fcfjmtcgt fief) an if)tn ? 3fjt 
 $>a meinc TOuttet ? %<f) ! mit ttjm audj t)ter tm SBunbe 
 5Blitft fte etjiirnt auf micf) jeigt mtr bie offene SBunbe 
 
 9lcf) tjorc meine ttmme 
 
 eift 9lgamemnon. $omtn ! entreip midj tfyrer SButf) 
 SSirg micf) an betncr SBruji 
 
 ((Sr liegt in HSijlabeS 5ttrmen) 
 
 2Sie fanft rote liebltcf) rutjt 
 @icf)' nicfjt tm ifiaterarm. 
 
 1301 . See Introduction, and compare Cotter's lines in which Orestes, 
 in frenzy imagining himself in Hades, exclaims, 
 
 giifirt, uf) flel)c, 
 TOidj f)in, roo SantaluS rjerjcfjmac&tet 
 
 1313. fnttftcn ^SfetlCH, evidently an imitation of the Homeric 
 dyavoZf fateeoaiv, with gentle shafts (cf. Od. II : 173, 199). Sudden 
 death was believed to be caused by the arrows of Artemis.
 
 128 NOTES. 
 
 1315. foilim . . . mtt, addressed to each in turn. For the plural, 
 addressed to one of the captives and referring to both, cf. 802, note. 
 
 1317-31. The poet seems to have had in mind the prayer that 
 Euripides makes Iphigenia utter when the attempt to escape from 
 Tauris is prevented by the storm. 
 
 Daughter of Leto born, 
 
 Help me thy priestess, from this wilderness 
 Guide me to Greece, and my deceits forgive ; 
 Goddess a brother knows thy sister-love 
 Must I not therefore love my brethren too ? 
 
 Iph. Taur. 1398 ff. 
 
 1327. b(t is perhaps best taken in the causal sense, since, for the 
 uniform reading of the earlier editions, bflJ3 bu fytet mid) bacgft, admits 
 of that explanation. If considered as a temporal particle, its use with- 
 out a correlative is unusual. 
 
 1340. ^OfJC. Goethe follows the Homeric idea of a single fate, 
 not fully personified but intervening in human affairs, rather than the 
 later conception of three goddesses that inexorably determined at his 
 birth the lot of every man. 
 
 1341. sum Srftenmal, i.e. felt metnen ^inberialjren, which was 
 the reading in the earlier versions. 
 
 1344. $I)r is the personal repeated in the relative clause, as the 
 prose, 3f)r otter, bic ihr . . . aufjehrt, shows; the separation from 
 bie, evidently due to the metre, is very unusual. 
 
 I 353- S r i3f messenger of the Olympian gods and goddess of the 
 rainbow, who restores peace in nature. 
 
 1359. Umembett. Cf. the Gr. Efym'de? = the Well-Wishers, a 
 name given to the propitiated Erinnyes, after the acquittal of Orestes. 
 Cf. Aeschylus, Eumenides. 
 
 1363. nuf it)ren Jylfidjcn. The prose reads, label mid) ein auf . . . 
 JU jagen, showing that the phrase modifies jagett. The position of 
 ein is unusual. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 1369-81, The metre in lines 1-3, also 7 and 10 of this passage is 
 dactylic-trochaic, in the remaining lines anapestic, but in 5, 6 and 12 
 with an unaccented final syllable. This, at least, seems the preferable
 
 ACT IV. 129 
 
 scansion, but by putting a verse accent on the first syllable of every 
 line the whole passage can be analyzed as trochaic-dactylic. The ir- 
 regular metre expresses the agitated mind of the priestess. 
 
 1377. Stabt is used as Homer does TroAtf = city, (cf. Od. 15 : 264, 
 and often,) to denote native town, and with eftabe in the following 
 line gives the idea of ' near by or remote. 1 
 
 1384. bet Strm. The prose versions expressed the comparison, @r 
 ijt toie ber 9lrm be 3iingling in ber @d)lad)t, ttiie be reijen 
 leudfytenb 9htge in ber 33erfamtnlung ; the poet may have had in mind 
 Achilles and Nestor. 
 
 1403. jtt fyinterfyalten, to be reserved. Its intransitive use is un- 
 usual. 
 
 1410. The idea of an arrow averted by a god and missing its aim is 
 Homeric, (cf. II. 4: 129,) but not its turning back upon the archer. 
 Schiller has used a similar expression in UJtarid <2>tuatt, 1473 ff. 
 
 1413. ungenicitjtcit. Cf. 728 and 1135. 
 
 1422. ttwrtct . . . Ijarrt, waits . . . stays. Cf. 29, note. 
 
 1455. In the earlier versions the thought was more clearly stated: 
 9?ocf) urnr* e 3eit ben @tnn ju anbern. The word @inn (cf. English 
 mind} Arkas uses in the sense of opinion, while Iphigenia takes it in 
 the sense of disposition. 
 
 1458. in unfrer $)tart)t r i.e. of us mortals. 
 
 1463. ntettfdjlidj, i.e. by human means. Cf. the lines, 
 
 <SoH er ftrafen ober fdjonen 
 SKufj er 5Kenf(^en menftfjUift fe^en, 
 
 Wk. i : 227, 
 
 where, as Weber remarks, the thought is that Brahma must see and 
 associate with men in human fashion. 
 
 1477. 2J?ilbe. Meekness, in the biblical sense (cf. Mat. ii: 29), 
 will perhaps best rendei the idea. Goethe seems to have in mind such 
 an instance as the influence exercised by the early missionaries upon 
 the German tribes. 
 
 1505. umgcwenbet is used figuratively to denote change of senti- 
 ment. Cf. the biblical phrase, " Mine heart is turned within me." 
 Lam. 1 : 20. 
 
 1506. Jylutfy. The figure is of the flood tide rather than of a swollen
 
 1 30 NOTES. 
 
 stream, as the prose reading, Me bereiufiromenbe glut baS Ufer ttmtfyer 
 berft, shows. 
 
 1510. ba# UltminjHrf)C Dtintzer understands as Iphigenia's own 
 rescue, while Strehlke and others consider the reference to her brother. 
 The prose seems to show that the latter is intended, though rather her 
 joy abstractly considered than the specific idea of embracing him is 
 meant. The reading of the second prose version was, 2Bie bit . . . 
 glut . . . fam bie unenwartete greube intb rafdjes liicf iiber nud). 
 SBolfen umgaben mid) in lebenbigem raume, ba UnmogUd)e biett 
 id) tnit $ffnben gefafjt. 
 
 1517. etnjtger, overwhelming; the word is used in the sense of 
 fibermadjtig. Cf. Grimm, 3: 357. 
 
 1525. 3)0ppelt, i.e. not only in itself, but as involving ingratitude, 
 the ideas developed respectively in each of the two preceding scenes. 
 The latter thought is more clearly expressed in the prose versions i 
 3eijt bat biejer 2Jtenn meine ebaufeu auf baS 35ergangene geleitet nub 
 burd) feine egeumart mid) mieber erinuert, baft id) aud) bier 3#eu 
 jdjen toerlaffe uitb jeine greunbfdjajt mad)t mtr beu 33etnig boppelt 
 (jttiiefad) in second prose) tterbafct. 
 
 1526-31. The figure may have been suggested by Wieland's lines, 
 
 3rotjrf)en 9lngft unb jmifc^en offen 
 c^roanft mctn 8eben, rate im iRa^en 
 2)er cmporten fjtut ein Diadjen 
 Snflftli^ 3rati^en ^lippen tretbt. 
 
 1530. triib unb bang, by hendiadys for in truber Songigfeit. Cf. 
 
 81, note. Another example occurs in 1553. 
 
 1542. lorftfl denoting, as in Homer w/lof = curled, great manly 
 beauty. Cf. Od. 6:231. 
 
 1593-1601. itbereUt . . . fd)0ff' Itnd Suft. As the return of Arkas 
 might be expected at any moment, it must be awaited, but by forcing 
 him to go back again to the king, time for flight would be gained. 
 
 1609. $elfett!$nfel. The description applies to Delos, an island 
 of the Cyclades, which was the birth-place of Apollo and sacred to his 
 worship. But in 723 and 1928 Delphi is especially mentioned as the 
 place whither the image was to be taken, and in all the earlier versions
 
 ACT IV. 131 
 
 this passage read, el)' tt)ir Me Sebingung erfiillen, bag ttiir bie Sdjiuefiter. 
 ihm nad) 3)elpho bringen, erfiiHt ftcf) baS SSerfpredjen fdjon. In 
 making the final version Goethe must, for the moment, have forgotten 
 the other references in the drama to Delphi, and thinking especially of 
 the shrine of Apollo, have used language that applies to Delos. He 
 certainly could not have mistaken Delphi for an island, nor would its 
 isolated location warrant the figurative use of 3nfel. 
 
 1622. fid), repetition for clearness of the jtdj in 1619. For a simi- 
 lar repetition of ttjenn cf. 45, note. 
 
 1628. CtttWirfcIte. The prose had the present tense. The preterit 
 form is to be understood as subjunctive, in the sense of ttmrbe eitt 
 
 wirfetn. 
 
 1638. $iirrf)t. The prose reading, 5ftur in ber urcf)t ift bie efabr, 
 states the idea more 'clearly. 
 
 1645. i]Cl)CUt. On the form cf. 54, note. Another example of its 
 use occurs in 1685 in conjunction with the usual form in 1 68 1. Metri- 
 cal reasons appear to have dictated the use of the archaic inflection. 
 
 1651. This line is variously interpreted, a plausible explanation 
 being; if you feel fully what and how you are doing, you must be sat- 
 isfied, for you are saving those dear to you. Evers explains it; if you 
 esteem yourself properly, i.e. are not unselfish, to the prejudice of your 
 own welfare and advantage, you must value your own worth more highly 
 than to feel it injured by a false word. This seems to suit the context, 
 and though the line occurs only in the final version, to be the most 
 logical development of the prose. 
 
 1652. nur is to be taken with gatt$ imbeffedt, alone quite pure; it 
 logically follows that tt0l)l in the following line is restrictive with im 
 
 Icmpel. 
 
 1656. bte efd)led)t, i.e. we; the use is, perhaps, an imitation of 
 the Greek off avrip = this man (cf. Sophocles, Oed. R. 534) used em- 
 phatically by "the speaker instead of the first person. In 1695, the 
 demonstrative conveys the idea of a possessive, my race. 
 
 1688. 1ier ... iegel, i.e. the image of Diana. Apollo has already 
 fulfilled his promise (cf. 1605 ff.), and the possession of the statue will 
 seal the covenant. 
 
 1691. A similar expression of despair is found in Gotter, who makes 
 Orestes exclaim,
 
 132 
 
 6ntflol)n ift mein SBertrauen 
 
 9luf otter bin mein SJtutl) efrfjlerfjt bei SantaluS, 
 Sdjroebt aud) auf mir ber fjlut^ ben bu toerroiirlteft ? Wufj 
 3<i) biifjen, otjne Srfiulb ? $ann idj ifym nid)t entrinnen, 
 5>etn c&tdfjat metne Statnmi. 
 
 eieltra, 4:5. 
 
 1706. i'rttcrtuclt, i.e. native-land, a compound not mentioned by 
 Grimm and cited by Sanders only with this example. 
 
 1713. ber Sttanen. Cf. 328, note. 
 
 1720. grnilfcub, shuddering. The Parcae, as members of the same 
 race, naturally sympathized with Tantalus. 
 
 172566. The song of the Parcae describes the arbitrary power and 
 caprice of the gods, their injustice, arrogant malice and implacable 
 cruelty, and a final division pictures the despair of Tantalus at the 
 fate of his race. Minor describes the metre as " free rhythm," i.e. 
 the rhythm of the verses is not uniform, and they are grouped not in 
 strophes, but according to sense. The variation from the normal form, 
 w / v w ' w (which may be described as amphibrachic) , consists in the 
 omission of the final unaccented syllable in 1727, 1731 and 1766. Ac- 
 cording to the sense 1744 might perhaps be better read as two dactyls. 
 
 I 73^. jjolbeitc in imitation of the Homeric use of ^ptxreof = golden, 
 applied especially to whatever belonged to the gods. Cf. II. 4 : 2 and 
 3. See also 474, note. 
 
 1745. 5 c l" ten f i>e - ^ftftdjfeifc" ? the dat P 1 - of & as %*$i not of bie 
 gefie. The earlier versions all read, @ie abet laffeit ft(f)'8 ettig ttJohf 
 fein am golbnen Sifd). 
 
 1752. Srftitfter TitnitClt. Goethe seems to have had in mind the 
 story of Enceladus whom Zeus buried under Aetna. Cf. Virgil, Aen. 
 3 : 578 ff. The story of Typhon is somewhat similar. 
 
 1762. J)0rrf)t. Its use with the ace. as well as that of bettft is poetic. 
 Cf. 351, note. So too the pi. ieber, referring to the. song of the 
 Parcae itself. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 1775. Ijeirge JSorronttb. All that was in any manner thought of 
 as connected with the service of the goddess is called holy. Cf. 1791, 
 rimm, holy rage, and also 1821.
 
 ACT V. 133 
 
 1795-96. These verses have but four feet, evidently for the sake of 
 emphasis. 
 
 1803. Derjcif|rtc0 refers to possession either as established by long 
 custom, or as made worthless by age. Sanders takes it in the former 
 sense, prescriptive ; others simply as worthless. The latter seems bet- 
 ter suited to the context and to the king's angry mood. 
 
 1807. Here, as in 181 1, especial emphasis for the personal pronouns 
 is given by the verse accent. 
 
 181620. The metaphor is based upon the Homeric conception of 
 Zeus to whom are repeatedly applied the epithets vetyeTujyepera = 
 cloud-gatherer, vipi/BpepSTrif = high-thundering and aaTeponi}rif = the 
 lightener. Diintzer considers the allusion implied in SJoten biblical ^ 
 cf. Ps. 104 : 4. 
 
 1821. In the earlier versions this line read, SSte tfl bie jcmfte fjeltige 
 arfe limgeftimmt. ?ieb was perhaps suggested by the solemn, almost 
 oracular utterance, of the priestess, or Goethe may have thought of the 
 song of the Parcae, in which similar thoughts occur. 
 
 1822. ttur $tgamemnon$ X0d)ter. Strehlke completes the thought, 
 bin id) in biefem 5lugenblicf. As a princess she can venture to oppose 
 the king's command. 
 
 1824. rofd) in the sense of heftig, angrily. Cf. Grimm, 8: 128. 
 
 1835. The incomplete verse emphasizes the idea. Hospitality was 
 universally recognized in the prehistoric age. Cf. especially Od. 
 I: 120, 14: 55 and 15: 68. Zeus was often called Zedf Seviof = 
 Zeus, the god of strangers. For the feeling of later times see Plato, 
 Leg. V, 729. 
 
 1847. The prose version expressed the thought more clearly: be8 
 XobeS geterUd)feit wngab bie $nienbe. 
 
 1861. fyflt. The knowledge that Orestes is near causes Iphigenia 
 to state the conclusion of the supposed case as a fact. 
 
 1864. ber Jyrnucn. Cf. 24, note. 
 
 1868. and) replaces bod) in the earlier versions, which read, 2>od) 
 ohne iilfe gegen euren Xrofe unb firte hat bie 9totur un nid)t ge- 
 Taffen. Its force seems to belong to ben @d)tt>ad)en. For similar 
 freedom in the position of dlld) cf. Faust, 1001 and 2495. 
 
 1877. (gitt $08 OJcfdjtlf, in the earlier versions (gin bo8 efd)tt)fir ; 
 i.e. the pledge to deceive the king, that threatens her soul like an evil 
 destiny.
 
 134 NOTES. 
 
 1880. ben (tntnutfy'gen 3tt)eig, referring to the branch of olive or 
 laurel, wreathed with wool, that suppliants were accustomed to carry. 
 Cf. Sophocles, Oed. Rex, 3. The modern use of a flag of truce is 
 similar. 
 
 1889. The irregular metre shows Iphigenia's hesitation. Cf. 1944 
 for a similar example. 
 
 1892. unerljortett, matchless or, as Miss Swanwick renders it, noble. 
 The argument in this speech is that great deeds do not belong to 
 men alone, for those really great are such as are begun without ex- 
 pectation of success, and they are not limited to deeds of prowess in 
 war or of advantage to the state, but, through truth and magnanimous 
 conduct, are equally possible for a woman. 
 
 1895. fdjuubernb, thrilling. The reference is to the emotion felt 
 by the rhapsodist as he recites the tale. Cf. 685 ff. 
 
 1898-1904. The passage refers to the episode, told in the tenth 
 book of the Iliad, how Odysseus and Diomedes spied on the Trojan 
 camp by night, and took away the horses of Rhesus, the Thracian 
 king. In 1900 untoerjeben belongs with glamtne. The earlier versions 
 all have tme eine itnrjerjefyene gtamme. 
 
 1904-7. The reference is to Theseus who, on his journey from 
 Peloponnesus to Athens, rid the country of robbers, and afterward, 
 among other adventures, slew the Minotaur. Cf. 600, note. 
 
 1912-13. 2htf . . . 23tttft, thrills my heart. 
 
 1916-19. Though without direct invocation (cf. 1215-17, note), 
 these lines are addressed in prayer to the gods. The phrase eucf) leg' 
 itf)' ttltf bte $ltiee ! is an imitation of the Homeric ravra Oeuv kv yavvaai 
 Kelrei = that rests with (lit. lies on the knees of) the gods. Od. 
 1 : 267. 
 
 1917. umfyrfyuft. The prose, toetm U)r bie ttmfirhaftigen feib, shows 
 the use of the word as a predicate adjective. 
 
 1940-42. bent . . . flte^t, i.e. whose natural impulses are unper- 
 verted. The prose reading was, bent ehl ebleS erj bon ottern ent 
 fprungen, ben 23ujen tuarmt. 
 
 1957. limnte. In the first prose version the adverb ttioljt empha- 
 sizes the concessive force of the verb; the reading was, id) lonnte tt>ol)l 
 betrogen toerben. 
 
 1984-85. WttfrOtt3t . . . $rettbe. Critics are divided as to whether
 
 135 
 
 the clause modifies nabe, which is then regarded as a goddess per- 
 sonified in Thoas, or refers to Cpfetfldtttnte. The prose reading, ? 
 lafj bie @nabe, rote tine fdjone ^lamme be8 2lttar umfranjt on ob= 
 gejang Ullb 5)anf imb greube lobecn, favors the latter, but the punctua- 
 tion in the final version, (simply the comma after Opfftflantme,) as 
 well as the fact that in the MS. of it umfratt$t was at first omitted and 
 the line left incomplete, argues that the former idea was the one in 
 Goethe's mind. Weber and Strehlke support this interpretation. 
 
 2002. 1)ie ^riefterin, bic <Srf)tt>efter, said respectively to Thoas 
 and to Orestes, to both of whom the preceding lines were addressed. 
 
 2034. liefer, referring of course to Iphigenia. Cf. the use of 
 3ener in 742. 
 
 2041. The duel, as an appeal to divine judgment, dates from pre- 
 historic times. Homer describes the contest between Menelaus and 
 Alexandros, II. 3, and between Aias and Hector, II. 7. 
 
 2064. 9Kit nidjten. Cf. 1123, note. 
 
 2068. r fatte flleidj, i.e. roemt er gleid) fatte, even if he fall. The 
 prose had simply unb ber 9Zame be8 efatteneu roirb aiid) gefeiert. 
 
 2072. ag= unb WadjtCU, both words forming one idea, the inflec- 
 tion of the first is omitted. Blatz, 3d ed. I, 156, 3, gives numerous 
 examples. The form burdjgCIDCtnten is unusual; the prose had toon 
 taufenb burcfjroeinten Xagen unb Kachten. Grimm gives both forms, 
 but with no difference in meaning. 
 
 2073. cine fttflC <SeeIe f referring perhaps to Laodamia, but more 
 probably without specific allusion. On the use of @eele in this con- 
 nection, Vockeradt remarks on the poet's fondness for the word, which 
 occurs twenty-six times in the drama. 
 
 2079. ftcij-fig . . . gefragt. An inconsistency that the poet failed 
 to notice, but taken from the recognition scene in Euripides, in which 
 Iphigenia questions and demands proof of the identity of Orestes. 
 
 2082. Will) I. This was Goethe's own invention, though the idea 
 may, as Schroer remarks, have been suggested by the passage in Aris- 
 totle's Poetics (chap. 1 6) on the signs by which discovery is brought 
 about, in which natural marks " like the stars that Carcinus has made 
 use of in his Thyestes," and then chance marks, as scars, are men- 
 tioned. 
 
 2087. Sd)rumme. This was adapted from Euripides. Cf. Elect. 573.
 
 136 
 
 2104- Referring to various mythological tales, bcttt fjoltmcn 
 to the expedition of the Argonauts; ^fctbcn to the horses of Rhesus 
 (cf. 1898-1904, note) or possibly to those of Laomedon (II. 5 : 265); 
 fdjonen ort)tertt to many different episodes, as those of Ariadne, 
 Helen or Medea. 
 
 2105. fie, pi. referring to bet riecfye, regarded as a collective noun. 
 Cf. Luther's, 3rael bat fid) rjerfiinbiget urtb haben metnen SBunb iiber= 
 gangen. Jos. 7: n. In the earlier versions Goethe wrote, 3)ie tie* 
 d)en Iiiftet'8 ofter nacf) . . . 
 
 2119. $)jt ^eUtge. Cf. 219, note. 
 
 2127. SBUbe, referring to the legends concerning a Palladium, or 
 sacred image, upon which the welfare and safety of the city depended; 
 most famous was the Trojan Palladium, stolen by Odysseus and Dio- 
 medes, in order that the Greeks might take Troy. Cf. Vergil, Aen. 
 2 : 164 ff. 
 
 2139. ftroite. The poet speaks in accordance with the modern 
 conception. The classical emblem of sovereignty was the scepter. 
 
 2173. Sebt Wot)l. The brevity of the king's response not only 
 accords with his disposition, but is suited to the deep emotion of the 
 moment.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 The following list makes no pretense of being a complete bibliography of the 
 drama, but comprises the more important works used in preparing this edition. 
 Many magazine articles have not been mentioned, nor are the editions and transla- 
 tions of Greek and other authors cited in the notes included. Histories of German 
 literature and biographies of Goethe, except those that have been particularly sug- 
 gestive, have also been omitted. 
 
 Baechtold, J. oetbeS Spfyigenie auf 5aurie, in ierfad)er eflalt. 
 
 2. Buff, greiburg i. 33. 1888. 
 Biedermann, G. W. von. oetbegorfrf)ungen. granlfurt a. 3K. 
 
 1879. 
 Bittmann, W. (Sine tubie fiber oetb.e Spbigente oiif aurt8. 
 
 Hamburg. 1888. 
 Buchheim, C. A. German Classics edited with English notes. Vol. 5. 
 
 3phigenie auf auri8. Oxford. 
 Carter, F. Spbigeme ailf auri8. With an Introduction and Notes. 
 
 New York. 1879. 
 Denzel. @oethe Spbigenie auf auri. @d)ut=9lu8gabe mit 9In= 
 
 merfungen. Sotta. 1872. 
 Diintzer, H. oetb,e8 3pf)igenie auf Saurie eridutcrt. 3. Slufl. 
 
 Jetpjig. 1878. 
 2)ie brei alteften iBearbeitungen Don OoetfjeS 3p^igenie. (Stutt- 
 
 gart unb 2;iibtngen. 1854. 
 Eckermann, J. P. efprad^e mit oetfje in ben te^ten Sa^ren feineS 
 
 ?eben. 6. 3tuf(. ^)g. Don 3)uner. ?eipjig. 1885. 
 Evers, M. oeth,e8 3phtgenie auf kauris, erlautert unb gettjfirbtgt. 
 
 ?eipjig. 1888. 
 
 Fischer, K. oeth,e=@d)rtften, erfte 9ietbe. ^eibefberg. 1890. 
 Goedeke, K. runbri^ jur efd^it^te ber beutf^en 25id^tung. 2. gang 
 
 neu bearbettete 5lup. reSben. 1884-95. 
 
 137
 
 138 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Goethe, J. W. von. SBerfe, naif) ben Borgiiglidjfien Gueflen retribtrte 
 
 SluSgabe. SBerlin (>empet). 1868-79. 
 SBerfe. >eraugegeben im Sluftrage t>er rofjberjogin opbie Don 
 
 acfjfen. SBeimar. 1887- . 
 
 oetl)e*3abrbucf). >8g. turn 2. eiger. granffurt a. 9K. 1880- . 
 Grimm, H. @oetb,e. liBorlefungen, gefyalten it. f. ro. 2. Slufl. SBer- 
 
 Itn. 1880. 
 
 Grimm, J. and W. 2)eutfcb,e SBorterbud). Seipstg. 1854- . 
 Hagemann, P. @oetb,eS 3p^igenie auf SauriS. ?etpjig. 1883. 
 Heinemann, K. oetfye. Seipjig. 1895. 
 Hettner, H. @efd)icf)te ber beutfci)en ?iterotiir im adjtjeljnten 3a^r. 
 
 ^unbert. 4. toerbefferte Sluft. SBraunft^rtieig. 1893. 
 Heyne, M. 3>eutfdje SBorterbud^. Jeipjig. 1890-95. 
 Hlatschka, R. 3Serfud) etneS fprocf)Hc^en SommentarS 311 @oetb,e 
 
 3pl)tgenie auf b,iftorifcf)er runbtage. aUe a. @. 1890. 
 
 Huff, L. J. Christian Character of Iphigenie auf Tauris. Andover 
 
 Rev. 9: 134. 
 Jahn, 0. 5lu ber 5Ittertb,umtt)iffenf(^aft; populate luffaije. 93onn. 
 
 1868. (The article, Goethes Iphigenie auf Tauris und die antike 
 
 Tragodie.) 
 
 Keck, K. H. ^Ia|ftfc^e beutfdje 2)it^tungen mit furjen @r!larungen 
 it. f. w. 5. Sit). 3pf)igenie auf 2;auri. ottja. 1886. 
 
 Klauke, P. (Srlauterungen auSgetDa^Iter SBerfe oetbeS. ritte8 
 ^>eft. S3ertin. 1888. 
 
 Minor, J. S)te SBielanbjc^en ingfpiele unb oetheS 3pb,igenie. 
 
 (One of several articles under the title, Quellenstudien zur Litera- 
 
 turgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts?) ^tf. fur beut. ^pbUoIogie, 
 
 19 : 232. 
 Morsch, H. @oetb,e unb bie griec^ifc^en 93iib,nenbidjter. (Sefonberer 
 
 Stbbrurf au8 bem Ofterprogramm be8 tonigl. 9iealg^mnafmm.) 
 
 Cerlin. 1888. 
 3tu ber SBorgef(^i(f)te Don oefyee 3pbigenie. 3SiertcIjab,rf(^nft 
 
 fiir J?iteraturgefd)t^te, 4 : 80. 
 
 Miiller,E. 2tnttfe Stemini^enjen inoetb,e8 3pbigenie. ^ittau. 1888. 
 Reckling, M. oetbe 3pb,igente auf auri nad) ben toier iiber= 
 
 lieferten ^affungen. (Seilage gum S3it(^tt)eiter t)tnnaftalpro= 
 
 gramm fiir 1883-84.) (Jolmar. 1884.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 139 
 
 Riemet, F. W. 3JWtbei(ungen iiber oetbe. SSertin. 1841. 
 Sriefwecfiiet jnnfcften oethe unb Belter. ^Berlin. 1833-34. 
 Sanders, D. SBorterbiid) ber beutjdjen pracfce. Seipjig. 1861-65. 
 Scherer, W. Stuff afce iiber oetbe. ^Berlin. 1886. 
 efdndjte ber beiitfdjen Siteratur. Sertin. 1883. 
 Schiller und Goethe. $8rteftt)ed)fe(. 4. 9luf(. Stuttgart. 1881. 
 Schmidt, E. SbarafterifKfen. Berlin. 1886. (The article, Frau 
 
 von Stein.) 
 Scholl, A. oetbe Sriefe an rau eon @tein. 2. DerDoUftanbigte 
 
 Slufl. bearbeitet tton SB. gtetife. granffurt a. Wi. 1883. 
 Schreer, K. J. @oetbe 2Berfc. hunter ^beil. 3)ramen, ttterter 
 
 S3b. (33b. 90 in ^urfcf)ner ,,2)eutfd)e 9iationaU?iteratur.") 
 
 SBerltn unb tuttgart. 1887. 
 Schultz, F. S)ie 5Rad)bilbung ber Entile in oetbe 3pbtgenie. (An 
 
 article in the Preussische Jahrbiicher for 1 88 1. S3b. 48 : 260.) 
 Seuffert, B. 3)er junge oethe unb SBtelanb. (An article in the 
 
 Zeitschrift fur deuisches Alterthum, 26 : 252.) 
 Swanwick, A. Dramatic Works of Goethe translated. London. 
 
 1872. 
 Taine, H. Essais de critique et d'histoire. 3 ed. Paris. 1874. 
 
 (The essay, Sainte-Odile et Iphigenie en Tauride.) 
 Vockeradt, H. oetbe 3pbigenie auf XauriS. giir bie 3ecfe ber 
 
 d)ule erlautert unb metbobtjd) bearbeitet. ^Baberborn. 1880. 
 Weber, W. E. oetheS 3pbigenie auf aurt, jum @d)ul= unb ^ri 
 
 oatgebraud) erlautert. 2. 2lug. SBerlin. 1878. 
 Wood, H. Goethe's Elpenor. (An article in the American Journal of 
 
 Philology, 12: 458.) 
 Zarncke, F. Uber ben fiinffiifjigen 3ambu6 u. f. w.
 
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