Electra Isolation Quotes Page 1

Page (1 of 3) Quotes: 1 2 3

How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Lewis Campbell's translation.

Quote #1

ORESTES
How should this pain me, in pretence being dead,
Really to save myself and win renown? (58-60)

It was supposedly bad luck to have word of one's death spoken aloud. Orestes here claims that no such bad luck will reach him. Is confidence connected to the fact that he is carrying out this mission, in large part, to please Apollo?

Quote #2

ELECTRA
But she that is my mother, and her groom,
As woodmen fell the oak,
Cleft through the skull with murdering stroke. (97-99)

This is a frequent metaphor in antiquity; the death of great men is often compared to the felling of a great tree.

Quote #3

ELECTRA
And o'er this gloom
No ray of pity, save from only me (100-1)

Electra's determination is all the more admirable because she faces opposition alone.

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