Abstract
In this article, I propose a particular linguistic interpretation of the first three lines of Euripides’ Orestes which applies, by extension, to the play as a whole. I first argue that ὧδ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἔπος is a parenthetical limitative infinitive and should be translated “almost”, by analogy with the prose idiom ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν. Based on this reading, I suggest that lines 1–3 introduce three leitmotifs: negation, τὸ δεινόν, and anti-climax; I identify further examples in Electra’s prologue speech, especially the Tantalus exemplum. I conclude that Orestes is a drama of anti-climax; and that the first three lines of the play, and the prologue speech which they introduce, make sense as a programmatic statement of that dramatic conception.
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