How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Christopher Collard's translation.
Quote #10
(Clytemnestra): "It is not your business to take care of this duty: from us
he had his fall, he had his death, and we shall have his interment,
not to the accompaniment of weeping by outsiders,
but Iphigenia shall welcome him,
daughter meeting father as she should,
at the swift ferry-crossing of sorrow,
to throw her two arms around him and kiss him." (1551-1558)
In this passage, Clytemnestra draws a distinction between her rights as a member of Agamemnon's family, and those of the Chorus, who are merely his subjects as citizens of Argos. According to her, the citizens have no business messing in Agamemnon's funeral arrangements: that's a strictly private matter and falls within the control of the family. The irony comes in Clytemnestra's final lines, of course, when she says that the only ceremony Agamemnon will receive is being greeted by his daughter Iphigenia in Hades. This suggests that, in the real (living) world, Clytemnestra will not be giving him an elaborate funeral.