Clytaemnestra monologue — Specimens of Greek Tragedy — Aeschylus and Sophocles

There is a sea, there is a boundless sea, And in its depths is gendered purple dye Of costliest kind for vestments numberless. Of this, the gods be thanked, our palace holds Abundance, want or stint is there unknown. Purple enow would I have gladly given To trample in the mire, had oracles Enjoined to pay such ransom for thy life. With thee unto the leafless trunk has come A leafy shelter from the dog-star's heat; Since thy return to thy beloved hearth, Our wintry frost shall yield to summer's sun, And coolness, in the heat that turns the grape, Reign in the house whose head is there once more. Zeus, father in whose hands all issues are, Give issue to thy counsels and my prayer.