But lo! I see Menelaus also here approaching the house with a quick step, having by some means or other perceived the calamity which now is present. Will ye not anticipate him by closing the gates with bolts, O ye children of Atreus, who are in the palace? A man in prosperity is a terrible thing to those in adversity, as now them art in misery, Orestes. MENELAUS _below_, ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, HERMIONE _above_, CHORUS. MEN. I am present, having heard the horrid and atrocious deeds of the two lions, for I call them not men. For I have now heard of my wife, that she died not, but vanished away, this that I heard was empty report, which one deceived by fright related; but these are the artifices of the matricide, and much derision. Open some one the door, my attendants I command to burst open these gates here, that my child at least we may deliver from the hand of these blood-polluted men, and may receive my unhappy, my miserable lady, with whom those murderers of my wife must die by my hand. ORES. What ho there! Touch not these gates with thine hands: to Menelaus I speak, that thou towerest in thy boldness, or with this pinnacle will I crush thy head, having rent down the ancient battlement, the labor of the builders. But the gates are made fast with bolts, which will hinder thee from thy purpose of bringing aid, so that thou canst not pass within the palace. MEN. Ha! what is this? I see the blaze of torches, and these stationed on the battlements, on the height of the palace, and the sword placed over the neck of my daughter to guard her. ORES. Whether is it thy will to question, or to hear me? MEN. I wish neither, but it is necessary, as it seems, to hear thee. ORES. I am about to slay thy daughter if thou wish to know. MEN. Having slain Helen, dost thou perpetrate murder on murder? ORES. For would I had gained my purpose not being deluded, as I was, by the Gods. MEN. Thou hast slain her, and deniest it, and speakest these things to insult me. ORES. It is a denial that gives me pain, for would that-- MEN. Thou had done what deed? for thou callest forth alarm. ORES. I had hurled to hell the fury of Greece. MEN. Give back the body of my wife, that I may bury her in a tomb. ORES. Ask her of the Gods; but I will slay thy daughter. MEN. The matricide contrives murder on murder. ORES. The avenger of his father, whom thou gavest up to die. MEN. Was not the blood of thy mother formerly shed sufficient for thee? ORES. I should not be weary of slaying wicked women, were I to slay them forever. MEN. Art thou also, Pylades, a partaker in this murder? ORES. By his silence he assents, but if I speak, it will be sufficient. MEN. But not with impunity, unless indeed thou fliest on wings. ORES. We will not fly, but will set fire to the palace? MEN. What! wilt thou destroy thy father's mansion? ORES. Yes, that thou mayest not possess it, will I, having stabbed this virgin here over the flames.