How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Lewis Campbell's translation.
Quote #4
ELECTRA
Hadst thou the right to slay him? What high law
Ordaining? Look to it, in establishing
Such precedent thou dost not lay in store
Repentance for thyself. For if by right
One die for one, thou first wilt be destroyed
If Justice find thee. (577-582)
And by the same reasoning, Electra and Orestes will be the next condemned to die in the name of justice. That's the problem with a "blood for blood" mentality.
Quote #5
ELECTRA
Tell me, I pray, what cause thou dost uphold
In doing now the basest deed of all,
Chambered with the blood-guilty, with whose aid
Thou slewest our father in that day. (591-4)
Electra takes issue not only with the murder, but also with Clytemnestra's relationship to Aegisthus. According to Electra, the Queen has betrayed Agamemnon on several levels.