CHORUS. I warn ye well: the sisterhood beware, Whose wrath hangs heavier than the land may bear. APOLLO. I warn ye well: Jove is my father; fear To turn to nought the words of me, his seer. CHORUS. If thou dost plead, where thou hast no vocation, For blood, will men respect thy divination? APOLLO. Must then my father share thy condemnation, When first he heard Ixion's supplication? CHORUS. Thou say'st.[n49] But I, if justice be denied me, Will sorely smite the land that so defied me. APOLLO. Among the gods the elder, and the younger, Thou hast no favour; I shall prove the stronger. CHORUS. Such were thy deeds in Pheres' house,[n50] deceiving The Fates, and mortal men from death reprieving. APOLLO. Was it a crime to help a host? to lend A friendly hand to raise a sinking friend? CHORUS. Thou the primeval Power didst undermine, Mocking the hoary goddesses with wine. APOLLO. Soon, very soon, when I the cause shall gain, Thou'lt spit thy venom on the ground in vain. {164} CHORUS. Thou being young, dost jeer my ancient years With youthful insolence; till the doom appears, I'll patient wait; my hot-spurred wrath I'll stay, And even-poised betwixt two tempers sway. ATHENA. My part remains; and I this crowning pebble Drop to Orestes; for I never knew The mother's womb that bore me.[f20] I give honor, Save in my virgin nature, to the male In all things; all my father lives in me.[n51] Not blameless be the wife, who dared to slay Her husband, lord and ruler of her home. My voice is for Orestes; though the votes Fall equal from the urn, my voice shall save him. Now shake the urn, to whom this duty falls, And tell the votes. ORESTES. O Phœbus, how shall end This doubtful issue? CHORUS. O dark Night, my mother, Behold these things! ORESTES. One moment blinds me quite, Or to a blaze of glory opes my eyes. CHORUS. We sink to shame, or to more honor rise. APOLLO.[n52] Judges, count well the pebbles as they fall, And with just jealousy divide them. One Being falsely counted works no simple harm. One little pebble saves a mighty house. ATHENA. Hear now the doom. This man from blood is free. The votes are equal; he escapes by me.