PYLADES. And therefore have I not desir'd thy counsel. One step is ta'en already: from our guards I have extorted this intelligence. A strange and godlike woman now restrains The execution of that bloody law: Incense, and prayer, and an unsullied heart, These are the gifts she offers to the gods. Her fame is widely spread, and it is thought That from the race of Amazon she springs, And hither fled some great calamity. ORESTES. Her gentle sway, it seems, lost all its power At the approach of one so criminal, Whom the dire curse enshrouds in gloomy night. Our doom to seal, the pious thirst for blood Again unchains the ancient cruel rite: The monarch's savage will decrees our death; A woman cannot save when he condemns. PYLADES. That 'tis a woman is a ground for hope! A man, the very best, with cruelty At length may so familiarize his mind, His character through custom so transform, That he shall come to make himself a law Of what at first his very soul abhorr'd. But woman doth retain the stamp of mind She first assum'd. On her we may depend In good or evil with more certainty. She comes; leave us alone. I dare not tell At once our names, nor unreserv'd confide Our fortunes to her. Now retire awhile, And ere she speaks with thee we'll meet again. SCENE II. IPHIGENIA. PYLADES. IPHIGENIA. Whence art thou? Stranger, speak! To me thy bearing Stamps thee of Grecian, not of Scythian race. (_She unbinds his chains._) The freedom that I give is dangerous: The gods avert the doom that threatens you! PYLADES. Delicious music! dearly welcome tones Of our own language in a foreign land! With joy my captive eye once more beholds The azure mountains of my native coast. Oh, let this joy that I too am a Greek Convince thee, priestess! How I need thine aid, A moment I forget, my spirit wrapt In contemplation of so fair a vision. If fate's dread mandate doth not seal thy lips. From which of our illustrious races, say, Dost thou thy godlike origin derive? IPHIGENIA. A priestess, by the Goddess' self ordain'd And consecrated too, doth speak with thee. Let that suffice: but tell me, who art thou, And what unbless'd o'erruling destiny Hath hither led thee with thy friend?