Elektra Quotes
"The more depraved his ideas, the more delightful they became, until no stirring of conscience or pity could restrain him."
"I could see he was truly gone; the air felt empty around me."
"I supposed they thought I lied for the attention, and they grew tired of hearing me."
"If I could speak the will of the gods and see the very fabric of fate, I could command attention and respect."
"It was better to have nothing but the waves as company, to mutter my truths to the empty wind and the water."
"She could not relish the deep-painted columns, the vivid colors of the frescoes and the gleam of gold, ivory and jeweled adornments everywhere."
"I was late. My cheek was torn by scratches where the stones had grazed my face; my white dress was stained with dust."
"Paris looked up and saw me. ‘My sister,’ he said. ‘Are you Cassandra? You must be, surely.’"
"‘You are Paris,’ I said. ‘My baby brother, cast out to die. Did the herdsman take pity on you, save you from your fate?’"
"‘But he was supposed to die,’ I said. My words rang more harshly than I intended. ‘The prophecy said he must die.’"
"‘Take some wine, Cassandra,’ Paris said. The solicitude in his voice was real."
"‘It’s Helen,’ Chrysothemis muttered. ‘She was taken away to Troy and they’re going to get her back. There might be a war.’"
"‘Don’t cry, Elektra,’ Iphigenia said. ‘Father doesn’t need to see you upset.’"
"‘Mother?’ I looked up, squinting in the sun, thinking for a moment that it was Elektra who spoke."
"I know that everyone believed me dead. When I came to this hall today, everyone was as astonished as you are."
"‘I lived a simple life on the slopes of Mount Ida,’ he said. ‘I tended the goats and never dreamed of even entering this great walled city.’"
"‘It was Aphrodite, then, who advised you to go to Sparta?’ Priam asked doubtfully."
"‘Each of them tried to persuade me,’ Paris went on. ‘Hera offered me the kingship of a great city and Athena offered me success in war.’"
"‘Paris has indeed returned to us,’ he said. ‘And our joy is complete: to have our son, whom we believed dead, restored to our home.’"
"Paris, the Trojan prince with an exquisite face and a romantic heart; Paris, who thought himself worthy to judge between Olympian goddesses."
"‘The rumours of your beauty are true,’ he said, standing, holding his arms out to me."
"‘The prophecy told us to leave him on the mountains,’ she said. ‘We followed the prophecy, and the gods saved our son in reward for our piety, for our sacrifice.’"
"A sacrifice, they would call it. An agony beyond imagining, a torturous dilemma: his beloved daughter set against his kingdom and country; one girl’s life versus the ambition of all of Greece."
"The tears started coursing down my face before he could finish his sentence. No one said such things."
"‘I don’t need your help,’ I told him. ‘But I need yours,’ he said."
"The shriek of agony in our souls, that could only be soothed by one thing. Revenge."
"He had seemed an unlikely villain, this ungainly, painfully anxious young man, but I understood."
"Perhaps it was that I could see through to the very centre of him, his beating heart exposed to me, mirroring mine."
"Elektra’s eyes narrowed. Her scowl reminded me of Agamemnon’s face, the first time I’d seen him in the hall of suitors."
"‘I can’t sleep,’ I said. ‘Is it that you’re keeping watch?’ he asked. I nodded."
"In the ghostly dawn, we ranged again at the city walls, useless spectators gathered atop the ramparts, waiting for our fate to be decided."
"Tears of frustration burned behind my eyes. My father was staring at the horse so intently, my words were as futile as feathers drifting in the wind."
"I could see it more clearly than I saw the ocean before me. Soft hills, wooded with welcoming forests."
"The ring of panic in her voice gave me pause. I had never heard Helen so rattled."
"The vision of the farmhouse evaporated, and the world rushed back in around me."
"‘We will not damage this horse!’ The anger frayed Priam’s voice."
"My breath wouldn’t come. I could feel it, her fear, infecting me."
"I prayed for one to land on me. To crush me in an instant and spare me what would come otherwise."
"Apollo, I have been your faithful servant; I have endured my punishment without complaint."
"The pounding of the blood inside my head muffled any other sound."
"The day wore on. The sun climbed higher in the sky, but the air stayed grey."
"‘She wasn’t touched by any of them,’ I heard Andromache say to her. ‘She is safe from them all.’"
"You aren’t worried for Aegisthus now, are you?"
"She has done a terrible thing; she knows the price as well as Georgios knows it, as well as I know it, as well as everyone in Mycenae knows it."
"The beacons stay aflame for days. I stare out at their glow every night until they burn out."
"‘Your father is the greatest hero the world has ever known,’ he says, and the sincerity in his voice mollifies me a little."
"‘Of course the Greeks have won,’ I say slowly."
"The palace has come to life whilst I’ve been outside. News of the beacons has energised everyone."
"Agamemnon’s body has been carried in and it lies in the centre of the room, still wrapped in the sewn-up robe."
"Aegisthus follows me, radiating annoyance, but I am not interested in what he feels."
"‘Take it out for the dogs,’ Aegisthus sneers."
"I catch the sleeve of his tunic, shaking my head slightly."
"I smile at the girl. ‘Prepare him for burial,’ I tell her."
"I hear the shouting, the swell of panicked voices, and, cutting clearly through it all, the words that I dreaded."
"I wonder if she looks out across the plain, watching for me."
"I cannot bring myself to come closer, to lay a lock of my hair beside him, to weep over his corpse."
"There is nothing in here for me, no comfort to be found."
"I wish I could tell him to cast her body out into the hills."
"I will not let her paint her filthy act of cowardice as something grand and heroic."
"This tomb is like everywhere I have known for ten years: devoid of my father, bereft of solace."
"The moon has slunk out from behind the clouds, casting its silver glow across the acropolis."
"If I could summon the courage to do it, I would turn away from the burning city and walk into the blackness beyond."
"If I could descend to the Underworld swiftly and painlessly, then I would."
"I wish that he had known what she was, that he could have known to choke the life from her the moment he saw her again."
"I am so absorbed in my thoughts that I don’t hear the footsteps until he’s almost upon me."
"It’s for the best,' I say. 'I don’t want you to go either, but Mycenae is a bad place now."
"I don’t know what to say. I hesitate, not wanting to waste this moment."
"Everything is at odds in Mycenae and nothing is as it should be."
"I hope the humiliation of it burns her from within."
"I don’t think I could put one foot in front of the other if it wasn’t for my hatred."
"I will need to tell Aegisthus of the marriage in a way that makes it seem to his advantage."
"I will have to go in search of him myself – and the first place I can think he might be is my childhood home."
"I am glad Orestes is gone. He would not be safe in Mycenae."
"I feel a headache starting to press on my temples."
"I don’t think about Georgios on our wedding day."
"After the wedding, we go to Agamemnon’s tomb together."
"I wonder if she remembers when she was a human girl."
"I wish I’d made myself hold on to my faith that he would."
"I am coming to realise how much of their lives I have lost as well."
"Menelaus will kill you the moment you set foot in Sparta."
"I have what I came for – I must return before they come to find me."
"If I was afraid, I would think of the shade of our father, begging us to take revenge."
"Have courage, Orestes. You are Agamemnon’s son."