Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow ACT V. - The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Return to Title Page for The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature
Debate: Cato and Caesar

ACT V. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates). [1901]

Edition used:

The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version. A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901). In 21 vols. Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


ACT V.

SCENE I.

ægisthus, narbas, euricles.

narbas.

  • Our fate is yet uncertain, whilst the tyrant
  • Still keeps us in the palace; all my fears
  • Are for Ægisthus: O my king, my son,
  • Let me still call thee by that tender name,
  • O live, disarm the tyrant’s rage, preserve
  • A life so dear, so precious to Messene,
  • So valued by thy faithful Narbas!

euricles.

  • Think
  • On the poor queen, who, for thy sake alone
  • A humble suppliant, sprinkles with her tears
  • The tyrant’s murderous hand.

ægisthus.

  • I’m scarce awakened
  • From my long dream, I seem as one new-born;
  • A wandering stranger in a world unknown;
  • New thoughts inspire, new day breaks in upon me;
  • The son of Mérope, and great Cresphontes;
  • And yet his murderer triumphs; he commands,
  • And I obey; the blood of Hercules
  • A captive and in chains!

narbas.

  • O would to heaven
  • The grandson of Alcides still remained
  • Unknown in Elis!

ægisthus.

  • Is it not most strange,
  • Young as I am, that I should know already,
  • By sad experience, every human woe?
  • Horror and shame, and banishment, and death,
  • Since my first dawn of life, have pressed upon me:
  • A persecuted wretch I wandered long
  • From clime to clime, hid in the desert’s gloom,
  • I languished there in vile obscurity:
  • Yet, bear me witness, heaven, midst all my woes
  • Nor murmured nor complained: though proud ambition
  • Devoured my soul, I learned the humble virtues
  • That suited best my hard and low condition:
  • Still I respected, still obeyed thee, Narbas,
  • And loved thee as a father; nor would e’er
  • Have wished to find another, but high heaven
  • Would change my fate to make me but more wretched:
  • I am Cresphontes’ son, yet can’t avenge him;
  • I’ve found a mother, and a tyrant now
  • Will snatch her from me; soon she must be his:
  • O I could curse the hour that gave me birth,
  • And the kind succor which thy goodness lent me:
  • O why didst thou hold back the uplifted hand
  • Of a mistaken mother? But for thee
  • I had fulfilled my fate, and all my woes
  • Had ended with my life.

narbas.

  • We are undone,
  • The tyrant comes.

SCENE II.

poliphontes, ægisthus, narbas, euricles,Guards.

poliphontes.

  • [To Narbas and the rest.
  • Retire: and thou, rash youth,
  • Whose tender years demand my pity, list,
  • And mark me well; for the last time I come
  • To give thee here thy choice of life or death,
  • Thy present and thy future happiness,
  • Thy very being hangs upon my will:
  • I can advance thee to the highest rank,
  • Or shut thee in a dungeon, kill or save thee:
  • Removed from courts, and bred in solitude,
  • Thou art not fit to govern; let me guide
  • In wisdom’s ways thy inexperienced youth;
  • Assume not in thy humble state a pride
  • Which thou mistakest for virtue: if thy birth
  • Be mean and lowly, bend to thy condition;
  • If happier fate hath given thee to descend
  • From royal blood, and thou wert born a prince,
  • Make thyself worthy of thy noble rank,
  • And learn of me to rule: the queen, thou seest,
  • Has set thee an example; she obeys,
  • And meets me at the temple; follow her,
  • Tread in my steps, attend us to the altar,
  • And swear eternal homage to thy king,
  • To Poliphontes: if thou fearest the gods,
  • Call them to witness thy obedience; haste,
  • The gates of glory open to receive,
  • And not to enter may be fatal to thee:
  • Determine therefore now, and answer me.

ægisthus.

  • How can I answer when thou hast disarmed me?
  • Thy words, I own, astonish and confound;
  • But give me back that weapon which thy fears
  • Have wrested from me; give me my good sword,
  • And I will answer as I ought; will show thee,
  • Perfidious as thou art, which is the slave,
  • And which the master, whether Poliphontes
  • Was born to rule o’er princes, or Ægisthus
  • To scourge oppressors.

poliphontes.

  • Impotence and rashness!
  • My kind indulgence makes thee insolent:
  • Thou thinkest I’ll not demean myself so far
  • To punish an unknown rebellious slave;
  • But mercy, thus abused, will change to wrath:
  • I give thee but a moment to determine,
  • And shall expect thee at the altar; there
  • To die or to obey: guards, bring him to me:
  • Narbas, to you and Euricles I leave
  • The haughty rebel; you shall answer for him:
  • I know your hatred of me, and I know
  • Your weakness, too, but trust to your experience,
  • You will advise him for the best; meantime
  • Remember, whether he’s the son of Narbas
  • Or Mérope, he must obey, or die.

SCENE III.

ægisthus, narbas, euricles.

ægisthus.

  • I’ll listen to no counsel but the voice
  • Of vengeance; O inspire me, Hercules,
  • O from thy seat of endless bliss look down
  • On thy Ægisthus, animate his soul,
  • And guide his footsteps! Poliphontes calls,
  • I will attend him; let us to the altar.

narbas.

  • Wilt thou then die?

euricles.

  • We must not follow thee:
  • Let us collect our few remaining friends,
  • And strive—

ægisthus.

  • Away: another time my soul
  • Would listen to your kind advice, for well
  • I know ye love me; but no counsellors
  • Must now be heard save all-directing heaven
  • And my own heart: the irresolute alone
  • Is swayed by others, but the blood of heroes
  • Will guide itself: away, the die is cast.
  • What do I see? O gracious heaven! my mother!

SCENE IV.

mérope, ægisthus, narbas, euricles,Attendants.

mérope.

  • Once more, Ægisthus, by the tyrant’s order,
  • We meet together; he has sent me to thee:
  • Think not that, after these detested nuptials,
  • I mean to live; but for thy sake, my son,
  • I have submitted to this shameful bondage:
  • For thee alone I fear; for thee I bear
  • This load of infamy: O live, Ægisthus,
  • Let me entreat thee, live; ere thou canst rule
  • Thou must obey, and servitude must open
  • The path to vengeance; thou contemnest my weakness,
  • I know thou dost; but O the more I love
  • The more I fear. O my dear child—

ægisthus.

  • Be bold,
  • And follow me.

mérope.

  • Alas! what wouldst thou do?
  • Why, ye just gods, why was he made too virtuous?

ægisthus.

  • Seest thou my father’s tomb? dost thou not hear
  • His voice? art thou a mother and a queen?
  • O if thou art, come on.

mérope.

  • Methinks some god
  • Inspires thy soul, and raises thee above
  • The race of mortals: now I see the blood
  • Of great Alcides flows through every vein,
  • And animates Ægisthus: O my son,
  • Give me a portion of thy noble fire,
  • And raise this drooping heart!

ægisthus.

  • Hast thou no friends
  • Within this fatal temple?

mérope.

  • Once I had
  • A crowd of followers when I was a queen,
  • But now their virtue sinks beneath the weight
  • Of my misfortunes, and they bend their necks
  • To this new yoke: they hate the tyrant, yet
  • Have crowned him; love their queen, and yet desert her.

ægisthus.

  • By all art thou abandoned; at the altar
  • Waits Poliphontes for thee?

mérope.

  • Yes.

ægisthus.

  • His soldiers,
  • Do they attend him?

mérope.

  • No: he is surrounded
  • By that ungrateful faithless crowd that once
  • Encircled Mérope, by them upled
  • To the altar, I will force for thee alone
  • A passage.

ægisthus.

  • And alone I’ll follow thee:
  • There shall I meet my ancestors divine;
  • The gods who punish murderers will be there.

mérope.

  • Alas! these fifteen years they have contemned thee.

ægisthus.

  • They did it but to try me.

mérope.

  • What’s thy purpose?

ægisthus.

  • No matter what; let us begone: farewell
  • My mournful friends, at least ye soon shall know
  • The son of Mérope deserved your care.
  • [To Narbas, embracing him.
  • Narbas, believe me, thou shalt never blush
  • To own me for thy son.

SCENE V.

narbas.

  • What means Ægisthus?
  • Alas! my cares are fruitless all and vain:
  • I hoped the sure slow-moving hand of time
  • Would justify the ways of heaven, and place
  • The wronged Ægisthus on Messene’s throne;
  • But guilt still triumphs, and my hopes are vanished;
  • His courage will destroy him; death awaits
  • His disobedience.
  • [A noise within.

euricles.

  • Hark! they shout.

narbas.

  • Alas!
  • It is the fatal signal.

euricles.

  • Let us listen.

narbas.

  • I tremble.

euricles.

  • Doubtless, at the very moment
  • When Poliphontes was to wed the queen,
  • She has dissolved the shameful bonds by death,
  • For so her rage had purposed.

narbas.

  • Then Ægisthus
  • Must perish too, she should have lived for him.

euricles.

  • The noise increases, like the rolling thunder
  • Onward it comes, and every moment grows
  • More dreadful.

narbas.

  • Hark! I hear on every side
  • The trumpets sound, the groans of dying men,
  • And clash of swords; they force the palace.

euricles.

  • See
  • Yon bloody squadron; look, it is dispersed;
  • They fly.

narbas.

  • Perhaps to serve the tyrant’s cause.

euricles.

  • Far as my eyes can reach I see them still
  • Engaged in fight.

narbas.

  • Whose blood will there be shed?
  • Surely I heard the name of Mérope,
  • And of Ægisthus.

euricles.

  • Thanks to heaven, the ways
  • Are open, I will hence, and know my fate.
  • [He goes out.

narbas.

  • I’ll follow thee, but not with equal steps,
  • For I am old and feeble: O ye gods!
  • Restore my strength, give to this nerveless arm
  • Its former vigor; let me save my king,
  • Or yield up the poor remnant of my days,
  • And die in his defence.

SCENE VI.

narbas, ismenia.

[A crowd of people.

narbas.

  • Who’s there? Ismenia?
  • Bloody and pale! O horrid spectacle!
  • Art thou indeed Ismenia?

ismenia.

  • O my voice,
  • My breath is lost; let me recover them,
  • And I will tell thee all.

narbas.

  • My son—
  • The queen—do they yet live?

ismenia.

  • I’m scarce myself;
  • Half dead with fear; the crowd has borne me hither.

narbas.

  • How does Ægisthus?

ismenia.

  • O he is indeed
  • The son of gods; a stroke so terrible,
  • So noble! never did the unconquered courage
  • Of great Alcides with a deed so bold
  • Astonish mortals.

narbas.

  • O my son, my king,
  • The work of my own hands, the gallant hero!

ismenia.

  • Crowned with fresh flowers the victim was prepared,
  • And Hymen’s torches round the altar blazed,
  • When Poliphontes, wrapped in gloomy silence,
  • Stretched forth his eager hand; the priest pronounced
  • The solemn words; amidst her weeping maids
  • Stood fixed in grief the wretched Mérope;
  • Slow she advanced, and trembling in these arms,
  • Instead of Hymen, called on death; the people
  • Were silent all; when from the holy threshold,
  • A more than mortal form, a youthful hero
  • Stepped forth, and sudden darted to the altar;
  • It was Ægisthus; there undaunted seized
  • The axe that for the holy festival
  • Had been prepared; then with the lightning’s speed
  • He ran, and felled the tyrant; “Die,” he cried,
  • “Usurper, die; now take your victim, gods.”
  • Erox, the monster’s vile accomplice, saw
  • His master weltering in his blood, upraised
  • His hand for vengeance; but Ægisthus smote
  • The slave, and laid him at the tyrant’s feet:
  • Meantime, recovered, Poliphontes rose
  • And fought; I saw Ægisthus wounded; saw
  • The fierce encounter: the guards ran to part them;
  • When Mérope, such power has mighty love,
  • Pierced through opposing multitudes, and cried,
  • “Stop, ye inhuman murderers, ’tis my son,
  • ’Tis my Ægisthus, turn your rage on me,
  • And plant your daggers in the breast of her
  • Who bore him, of his mother, and your queen:”
  • Her shrieks alarmed the crowd, and a firm band
  • Of faithful friends secured her from the rage
  • Of the rude soldiers; then might you behold
  • The broken altars, and the sacred ruins:
  • On every side, confusion, war, and slaughter
  • Triumphant reigned; brothers on brothers rose,
  • Children were butchered in their mothers’ arms,
  • Friends murdered friends, the dying and the dead
  • Together lay, and o’er their bodies trampled
  • The flying crowd; with groans the temple rung.
  • Amidst the uproar of contending legions
  • I lost Ægisthus and the queen, and fled:
  • In vain I asked each passing stranger whither
  • They bent their way; their answers but increased
  • My terrors; still they cry, he falls, he’s dead,
  • He conquers; all is darkness and confusion:
  • I ran, I flew, and by the timely aid
  • Of these kind friends have reached this place of safety:
  • But still I know not whether yet the queen
  • And great Ægisthus are preserved; my heart
  • Is full of terrors.

narbas.

  • Thou great arbiter
  • Of all that’s mortal, providence divine,
  • Complete thy glorious work, protect the good,
  • Support the innocent, reward the wretched,
  • Preserve my son, and I shall die in peace!
  • Ha! midst you crowd do I behold the queen?

SCENE VII.

mérope, ismenia, narbas,People, Soldiers.

[At the farther part of the stage is exposed the corpse of Poliphontes, covered with a bloody robe.

mérope.

  • Priests, warriors, friends, my fellow-citizens,
  • Attend, and hear me in the name of heaven.
  • Once more I swear, Ægisthus is your king,
  • The scourge of guilt, the avenger of his father,
  • And yonder bleeding corpse, a hated monster,
  • The foe of gods and men, who slew my husband,
  • My dear Cresphontes, and his helpless children,
  • Oppressed Messene, and usurped my kingdom,
  • Yet dared to offer me his savage hand,
  • Still reeking with the blood of half my race.
  • [Meeting Ægisthus, who enters with the axe in his hand.
  • But here behold Messene’s royal heir,
  • My only hope, your queen’s illustrious son,
  • Who conquered Poliphontes: see, my friends,
  • This good old man,
  • [Pointing to Narbas.
  • Who saved him from the tyrant,
  • And brought him here: the gods have done the rest.

narbas.

  • I call those gods to witness, ’tis your king;
  • He fought for them, and they protected him.

ægisthus.

  • O hear a mother pleading for her son,
  • And know me for your king! I have avenged
  • A father, I have conquered but for you.

mérope.

  • If still ye doubt, look on his glorious wounds:
  • Who, but the great descendant of Alcides,
  • Could save Messene thus, and scourge a tyrant?
  • He will support his subjects, and avenge
  • An injured people: hark! the voice of heaven
  • Confirms your choice, and speaks to you in thunder;
  • It cries aloud, “Ægisthus is my son.”

SCENE VIII.

mérope, ægisthus, ismenia, narbas, euricles,People.

euricles.

  • O madam, show yourself to the pleased people,
  • The king’s return has fixed their wavering minds,
  • And every heart is ours: the impatient crowd
  • Sheds tears of joy, and blesses your noble son:
  • Forever will they hold this glorious day
  • In sweet remembrance; ardently they long
  • To see their youthful sovereign, to behold
  • His faithful Narbas, and adore their queen:
  • The name of Poliphontes is detested;
  • Thine and the king’s the praise of every tongue.
  • O haste, enjoy thy victory and thy fame;
  • Enjoy a nobler prize, thy people’s love.

ægisthus.

  • To heaven ascribe the glory, not to me;
  • Thence comes our happiness, and thence our virtue:
  • While Mérope survives, I will not mount
  • Messene’s throne, my joy shall be to place
  • A mother there; and thou, my dearest Narbas,
  • Shall be my friend, my guide, my father still.

End of the Fifth and Last Act.

OLYMPIA