The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides * 75 



of Nereus, Glaucus, made it known to me : 

 ' Thy brother, Menelaus, lieth dead, etc' " 



The word Trpo4>r]Tris, however, does not necessarily imply the power 

 of predicting ; Tpo(}>r]Tris is properly an interpreter or speaker for 

 another, as Apollo was the prophet of Zeus and Glaucus of 

 Nereus. 



Reference to dreams is made in 



Or. 618: 



ovelpar ayykWovcra TayajieidLvovos. 

 " Telling of dreams from Agamemnon sent." 



This verse is generally considered as spurious. Paley thinks that 

 the notion was borrowed from dreams of vengeance sent to Cly- 

 temnestra by Agamemnon as described in the " Choephori " of 

 /Eschylus and in Sophocles' Electra 425 ; it is not elsewhere al- 

 luded to by Euripides. 



In the extremely fine passage vv. 255 f¥., which must have been 

 truly terrific when impersonated by a good actor, we have the 

 famous vision of Orestes who sees the Furies by his side : 



Or. 255-57 : 



CO jjLTJTep, iKeTevio ere, fxr) Tviaeik /loi 

 Tas at/xarcoTTOiis (cat BpaKovrcodeLs Kopas. 

 avraL yap avrai, irXr^aiov i}pcoaKovai /xov. 



" Mother ! — beseech thee, hark not thou on me 

 Yon maidens gory-eyed and snaky-haired ! 

 Lo there ! — lo there ! They are nigh, they leap on me ! " 



At this moment Orestes in his delirium makes a violent effort to 

 leap from his couch ; Therefore Electra, his sister, who sits by his 

 bed and administers to him with the most tender affection as- 

 suages him saying : 



Or. 258-59: 



Hev , CO Ta\aiTU>p\ drpejua aols ev Sepivlois' 

 opas yap oiiSev uv So/cels aa(f> elSevai. 



" Stay, hapless one, unshuddering on thy couch : 

 Nought of thy vivid vision seest thou." 



In these lines we have a striking example how Euripides manages 



129 



