Great Chariot Disasters – Part II: Sophocles’ Electra

Next in my series the sport of charioteering enters the ‘tragic’ realm, quite literally. Sophocles is one of the best known authors of the ancient world, with his Antigone and Oedipus Rex assigned as required reading in many a high school classroom (I myself first read the former as a sophomore and the latter as a senior). But this Athenian playwright of the latter half of the 5th century BCE has a few other extant plays outside the Theban cycle, among them the Electra, Sophocles’ take on the saga of the house of Agamemnon so immortalized in the Orestaia of his immediate predecessor Aeschylus.

This play tells of the return of Orestes to avenge the murder of his father Agamemnon by his own mother, Clytemnestra. Orestes’ sister Electra is as of yet unaware of Orestes’ imminent return to exact revenge, taking to heart the clever ruse plotted by Orestes and his old tutor (Paidogogos/Old Slave) to fool Clytemnestra into thinking Orestes, the greatest threat to her life, was indeed dead. Call this a pseudo-tragedy within a tragedy, it is a compelling story of what can go wrong in an equestrian competition in the ancient world, and though a fictitious tale, a lesson that even the mightiest can fall. To use a modern example, compare Orestes to Dale Earnheart, the NASCAR hero who met his tragic fate in the heat of automotive competition.

OLD SLAVE
I’ll bring my news straight to the point. Orestes is dead.

ELECTRA
Oh miserable me! Today I’m done for!

CL YTEMNESTRA
What are you saying, stranger? Please explain! Pay no attention to her.

OLD SLAVE
I say now, as I said before, that Orestes is dead.

ELECTRA
I’m doomed, destroyed. There’s nothing left of me now!

CL YTEMNESTRA
You mind your own business! But tell me truly, stranger, what turn of events did him in?

OLD SLAVE
I was sent here for this very purpose and I’ll explain it all: Orestes came to the famous showcase of Greece, the Pythian games, for the sake of the prizes of Delphi, and when he heard the shrill fanfare of the herald summoning all to the racetrack, where the first contest would be held, he entered in dazzling form, an object of reverence to everybody there. And such a nature matched the race’s results at the finish line as he carried away the grand prize of victory honored by all. To sum up many things in few words, I know of the deeds and mastery of no other such man!

But you should know this one thing: that from every contest announced by the judges— the customary double-track footraces—he came away prize in hand and was acclaimed a man of fortune’s blessings. They proclaimed him as an Argive, his name Orestes, the son of that Agamemnon who once commanded that famous Greek expedition.

So far, so good. But whenever any of the gods is in a mood to do harm, nobody, not even a mighty man can escape. For at sunrise on another day of the games was held a high- paced contest of the equestrian sort, which he entered alongside several charioteers. One was an Achaean, one was from Sparta, and two were Africans, experts of yoked cars. The fifth man sported a pair of Thessalian mares, while the sixth, from Aetolia, had chestnut colts. The seventh came from Magnesia, and the eighth, an Aenian by birth, drove a team

of white horses. The ninth hailed from Athens, a city built by the gods, and last of all a Boeotian man filled out the tenth spot with his chariot.

And taking their starting positions where the judges had assigned them by casting lots the contestants stood ready in their cars, and at the blaring of a bronze trumpet they were off. And all as one shouted commands at their steeds and shook loose the reins in their hands. Thereupon the stadium exploded with the clash of rattling chariots. Clouds of dust rose skywards, and as they were all in close range the charioteers showed no mercy with their whips, each in an effort to outpace the wheels and snorting horses of all the rest. For all around both their backs and wheels came the breath of horses bearing down on them, dripping with foam.

But Orestes kept his team ever close to the endmost column, nearly grazing it, and giving rein to his right-hand trace-horse he cut off a pursuing opponent. From the start every man was standing firmly upright in his car, but then the Aenian’s unruly colts got out of control, and at the hairpin turn to finish the sixth lap and begin the seventh they smashed their foreheads into one of the Africans’ cars. The chain reaction of this single calamity sent one chariot crashing into another, shattering it to pieces, until the entire field of Crisa became a sea of chariot wrecks.

The clever chariot-driver from Athens, however, recognized the danger and put the brakes on his team, steering clear of the confused cascade of chariots in the middle of the track. Orestes, meanwhile, drove up from last place, having kept his colts in the rear, but now confident in how the race would end. But when he saw that one lone opponent still remained, he sent a sharp yell ringing through the ears of his speedy colts and gave chase until the two teams were neck and neck. They drove on as the heads of one team, then of the other stuck out ahead of the chariots.

At all other points in the race Orestes stood securely upright in his car, but at this point he failed to notice the end of the column and struck it. The axle-box shattered and he slid over the rail, becoming entangled in the reins. With their driver fallen to the ground the colts galloped pell-mell about the middle of the track.

As soon as the crowd saw him thrown from his chariot, they cried out in grief for the young man, who though he had accomplished such feats, nevertheless met with such misfortune. One moment he was pummeled into the ground, another moment his legs flew sky-high, until his fellow charioteers with difficulty brought the horses to a stop and cut him loose. He was so drenched in blood that not even his friends would have recognized him if they saw his body in such a sorry state.

Thereupon some Phocian men were tasked with burning his body on a pyre, then right away placed in a bronze urn the wretched ashes of that once mighty physique, so that he too might be given a proper burial in his father’s land. And that is how it happened. Yet as painful as it was to tell you in words, to those who witnessed it in person, as I did, of all the calamities I have ever seen this was far the worst.

ΠΑΙΔΑΓΩΓΟΣ
τέθνηκ ̓ Ὀρέστης: ἐν βραχεῖ ξυνθεὶς λέγω.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ
οἲ ‘γὼ τάλαιν ̓, ὄλωλα τῇδ ̓ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ.

ΚΛΥΤΑΙΜΗΣΤΡΑ
τί φής, τί φής, ὦ ξεῖνε; μὴ ταύτης κλύε.

ΠΑΙΔΑΓΩΓΟΣ
θανόντ ̓ Ὀρέστην νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι λέγω.

ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ
ἀπωλόμην δύστηνος, οὐδέν εἰμ ̓ ἔτι.

ΚΛΥΤΑΙΜΗΣΤΡΑ
σὺ μὲν τὰ σαυτῆς πρᾶσσ ̓, ἐμοὶ δὲ σύ, ξένε,τἀληθὲς εἰπέ, τῷ τρόπῳ διόλλυται;

ΠΑΙΔΑΓΩΓΟΣ
κἀπεμπόμην πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ τὸ πᾶν φράσω.κεῖνος γὰρ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸ κλεινὸν Ἑλλάδος πρόσχημ ̓ ἀγῶνος Δελφικῶν ἄθλων χάριν, ὅτ ̓ ᾔσθετ ̓ ἀνδρὸς ὀρθίων κηρυγμάτωνδρόμον προκηρύξαντος, οὗ πρώτη κρίσις, εἰσῆλθε λαμπρός, πᾶσι τοῖς ἐκεῖ σέβας:δρόμου δ ̓ ἰσώσας τἀφέσει τὰ τέρματανίκης ἔχων ἐξῆλθε πάντιμον γέρας. χὤπως μὲν ἐν πολλοῖσι παῦρά σοι λέγω οὐκ οἶδα τοιοῦδ ̓ ἀνδρὸς ἔργα καὶ κράτη:

ἓν δ ̓ ἴσθ ̓: ὅσων γὰρ εἰσεκήρυξαν βραβῆςδρόμων διαύλων πένταθλ ̓ ἃ νομίζεται,] τούτων ἐνεγκὼν πάντα τἀπινίκια ὠλβίζετ ̓, Ἀργεῖος μὲν ἀνακαλούμενος, ὄνομα δ ̓ Ὀρέστης, τοῦ τὸ κλεινὸν Ἑλλάδος Ἀγαμέμνονος στράτευμ ̓ ἀγείραντός ποτε.

καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τοιαῦθ ̓: ὅταν δέ τις θεῶνβλάπτῃ, δύναιτ ̓ ἂν οὐδ ̓ ἂν ἰσχύων φυγεῖν.κεῖνος γὰρ ἄλλης ἡμέρας, ὅθ ̓ ἱππικῶνἦν ἡλίου τέλλοντος ὠκύπους ἀγών, εἰσῆλθε πολλῶν ἁρματηλατῶν μέτα.

εἷς ἦν Ἀχαιός, εἷς ἀπὸ Σπάρτης, δύο Λίβυες ζυγωτῶν ἁρμάτων ἐπιστάται: κἀκεῖνος ἐν τούτοισι, Θεσσαλὰς ἔχων ἵππους, ὁ πέμπτος: ἕκτος ἐξ Αἰτωλίας ξανθαῖσι πώλοις: ἕβδομος Μάγνης ἀνήρ:ὁ δ ̓ ὄγδοος λεύκιππος, Αἰνιὰν γένος: ἔνατος Ἀθηνῶν τῶν θεοδμήτων ἄπο: Βοιωτὸς ἄλλος, δέκατον ἐκπληρῶν ὄχον.

στάντες δ ̓ ἵν ̓ αὐτοὺς οἱ τεταγμένοι βραβῆς κλήροις ἔπηλαν καὶ κατέστησαν δίφρους, χαλκῆς ὑπαὶ σάλπιγγος ᾖξαν: οἱ δ ̓ ἅμα ἵπποις ὁμοκλήσαντες ἡνίας χεροῖν ἔσεισαν: ἐν δὲ πᾶς ἐμεστώθη δρόμοςκτύπου κροτητῶν ἁρμάτων: κόνις δ ̓ ἄνω φορεῖθ ̓: ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντες ἀναμεμιγμένοι φείδοντο κέντρων οὐδέν, ὡς ὑπερβάλοι χνόας τις αὐτῶν καὶ φρυάγμαθ ̓ ἱππικά.ὁμοῦ γὰρ ἀμφὶ νῶτα καὶ τροχῶν βάσεις ἤφριζον, εἰσέβαλλον ἱππικαὶ πνοαί.

κεῖνος δ ̓ ὑπ ̓ αὐτὴν ἐσχάτην στήλην ἔχων ἔχριμπτ ̓ ἀεὶ σύριγγα, δεξιὸν δ ̓ ἀνεὶς σειραῖον ἵππον εἶργε τὸν προσκείμενον.καὶ πρὶν μὲν ὀρθοὶ πάντες ἕστασαν δίφροις: ἔπειτα δ ̓ Αἰνιᾶνος ἀνδρὸς ἄστομοι πῶλοι βίᾳ φέρουσιν: ἐκ δ ̓ ὑποστροφῆς τελοῦντες ἕκτον ἕβδομόν τ ̓ ἤδη δρόμονμέτωπα συμπαίουσι Βαρκαίοις ὄχοις: κἀντεῦθεν ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐξ ἑνὸς κακοῦἔθραυε κἀνέπιπτε, πᾶν δ ̓ ἐπίμπλατο ναυαγίων Κρισαῖον ἱππικῶν πέδον. γνοὺς δ ̓ οὑξ Ἀθηνῶν δεινὸς ἡνιοστρόφος ἔξω παρασπᾷ κἀνακωχεύει παρεὶς κλύδων ̓ ἔφιππον ἐν μέσῳ κυκώμενον. ἤλαυνε δ ̓ ἔσχατος μέν, ὑστέρας δ ̓ ἔχων πώλους Ὀρέστης, τῷ τέλει πίστιν φέρων: ὅπως δ ̓ ὁρᾷ μόνον νιν ἐλλελειμμένον, ὀξὺν δι ̓ ὤτων κέλαδον ἐνσείσας θοαῖς πώλοις διώκει, κἀξισώσαντε ζυγὰ ἠλαυνέτην, τότ ̓ ἄλλος, ἄλλοθ ̓ ἅτερος κάρα προβάλλων ἱππικῶν ὀχημάτων.

καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους πάντας ἀσφαλεῖς δρόμους ὡρμᾶθ ̓ ὁ τλήμων ὀρθὸς ἐξ ὀρθῶν δίφρων: ἔπειτα λύων ἡνίαν ἀριστερὰν κάμπτοντος ἵππου λανθάνει στήλην ἄκραν παίσας: ἔθραυσε δ ̓ ἄξονος μέσας χνόας κἀξ ἀντύγων ὤλισθεν: ἐν δ ̓ ἑλίσσεται τμητοῖς ἱμᾶσι: τοῦ δὲ πίπτοντος πέδῳ πῶλοι διεσπάρησαν ἐς μέσον δρόμον.

στρατὸς δ ̓ ὅπως ὁρᾷ νιν ἐκπεπτωκότα δίφρων, ἀνωλόλυξε τὸν νεανίαν, οἷ ̓ ἔργα δράσας οἷα λαγχάνει κακά, φορούμενος πρὸς οὖδας, ἄλλοτ ̓ οὐρανῷ σκέλη προφαίνων, ἔς τέ νιν διφρηλάται, μόλις κατασχεθόντες ἱππικὸν δρόμον, ἔλυσαν αἱματηρόν, ὥστε μηδένα γνῶναι φίλων ἰδόντ ̓ ἂν ἄθλιον δέμας.

καί νιν πυρᾷ κέαντες εὐθὺς ἐν βραχεῖ χαλκῷ μέγιστον σῶμα δειλαίας σποδοῦ φέρουσιν ἄνδρες Φωκέων τεταγμένοι, ὅπως πατρῴας τύμβον ἐκλάχῃ χθονός. τοιαῦτά σοι ταῦτ ̓ ἐστίν, ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ ἀλγεινά, τοῖς δ ̓ ἰδοῦσιν, οἵπερ εἴδομεν, μέγιστα πάντων ὧν ὄπωπ ̓ ἐγὼ κακῶν.