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The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides QUOTES

The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides QUOTES

1 " Nothing forces us to know
What we do not want to know
Except pain "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

2 " Oh, the torment bred in the race,
the grinding scream of death
and the stroke that hits the vein,
the hemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,
the curse no man can bear.

But there is a cure in the house, and not outside it, no,
not from others but from them,
their bloody strife. We sing to you,
dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground --
answer the call, send help.
Bless the children, give them triumph now. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

3 " Alas, poor men, their destiny. When all goes well a shadow will overthrow it. If it be unkind one stroke of a wet sponge wipes all the picture out; and that is far the most unhappy thing of all.
-Cassandra "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

4 " Neither the life of anarchy nor the life enslaved by tyrants, no, worship neither. Strike the balance all in all and god will give you power. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

5 " There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls. There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

6 " They came back
To widows,
To fatherless children,
To screams, to sobbing.
The men came back
As little clay jars
Full of sharp cinders. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

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

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

8 " You patronize me like some little woman
with no mind to call her own.
I speak with heart devoid of fear
to those with wit to understand,
and you can praise me or condemn me
as you like, it's all the same to me. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

9 " Do I not live? Badly, I know, but I live. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

10 " There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

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

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

12 " A great ox stands on my tongue. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

13 " We spoil ourselves with scruples long as things go well. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

14 " But there is a cure in the house,
and not outside it, no,
not from others but from them,
their bloody strife. We sing to you,
dark gods beneath the earth. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

15 " FURIES:
Over the beast doomed to the fire
this is the chant, scatter of wits,
frenzy and fear, hurting the heart,
song of the Furies
binding brain and blighting blood
in its stringless melody. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

16 " Learning comes through pain. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

17 " Thus he died, and all the life struggled out of him;
and as he died he spattered me with the dark red
and violent driven rain of bitter-savored blood
to make me glad, as gardens stand among the showers
of God in glory at the birthtime of the buds. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

18 " Pain both ways and what is worse? "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

19 " Horror gives place to wonder at your true account;
The rest outstrips our comprehension; we give up. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

20 " Only when man's life comes to its end in prosperity can one call that man fortunate. "

― Aeschylus , The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides