The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 43 



Iphigenia requests her brother to take her home or 

 " Else to thine house will I become a curse, Orestes." 

 I. T. 277-78 : 



■q ffdls apaia boiixaaw yei'rjaofxat, , 



'Op€(T??', K. T. X. 



alluding to the influence of the vengeful, haunting spirit of a 

 wronged person. 



In the following lines we have a striking example of a prayer 

 which is used to deceive others. Iphigenia prays to Artemis : 



I. T. 1230-33: 



a) Atos ArjTOiis r avacraa. irapd^kv , -liv vLxpu (pbvov 

 TWj'Se Koi ^vaco/xev ovxpV-> nadapov oiKi\creLS Sofiov, 

 evTVXils 5' rifiels e(r6iJ,e&a. raXka 8' ov \eyova' , Oyuws 

 rots TO, irXeiov' eldoaLv §edls croL re (rrmaivo), i?ea. 



" Queen, O child of Zeus and Leto, so the guilt from these I lave, 

 So I sacrifice where meet is, stainless temple shalt thou have : 

 Blest withal shall we be — more I say not, yet to Gods who know 

 All, and Goddess, unto thee, mine heart's desire I plainly show." 



The ambiguous meaning of this prayer is apparent to the spec- 

 tator, but not to the party for whose hearing it is intended. King 

 Thoas, a devout man and zealous for the honor of the Goddess, 

 is persuaded by Iphigenia that not only the two strangers, but the 

 image of the Goddess itself requires purification. So he is easily 

 induced to send the captives to the sea-shore, while Iphigenia fol- 

 lows with the image to perform, as Thoas supposes, the solemn 

 rite of lustration, but in reality to take ship and transport the 

 image to Greece. It is at this occasion that Iphigenia utters the 

 equivocal prayer in the hearing of the king. The last words of 

 the prayer " more I say not, etc.," are of course said aside. What 

 the barbarian king understands of the priestess and her charge, 

 duly reinstated in the purged temple, means to the spectators of 

 the scene Athens and the deliverance of Iphigenia. 



That the will of Heaven must be carried out is finally admitted 

 even by Thoas who says : 



IT. 1475-76: 



apacra A^ava, rolcrc twv i^ecov Xoyots 



6<TTLS kXvUV iXTTLCTTOS, OVK Opd^cbs 4>P0VeZ. 



97 



