THE ABDUCTION OF HELEN BY PARIS STARTED THE TROJAN WAR
THE OFFENSE AGAINST MENELAUS BECAME AN OFFENSE AGAINST GREECE
AND THE KINGS OF GREECE, LED BY AGAMEMNON, BROTHER OF MENELAUS...
GATHERED IN AULIS WITH THEIR ARMIES AND ONE THOUSAND SHIPS
AND WAITED FOR THE WINDS TO BLOW
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
AGAMEMNON: I want to go through.
Get him up.
King!
(ALL SCREAMING)
Follow me!
Agamemnon, where are you going?
(HORSES APPROACHING)
Get them all.
(MEN SCREAMING)
The deer! Not the deer!
IPHIGENIA
(MEN CHANTING)
MEN: Decision! Decision!
We want a decision! We want a decision!
Why don't the leaders say anything?
Odysseus!
MEN: The people demand sedition!
The little master of lthaca!
Don't underestimate him, Menelaus.
He has many faces and he is a demagogue.
They want promises!
- Move to a different port! - A solution!
The right...
The right solutions are born by patience and trust.
Do I have yours?
MEN: You have it!
MEN: Odysseus, go forward! The army supports you!
They have been blaming us openly.
They call us puppets of the Atreides for our indecisiveness.
We left our homes to fight, not to rot under the sun.
When Greece rose for war and was roaring, seeing us off to Aulis,
we were all saying, "We have the gods with us."
And then we became silent. We were counting the fiery days.
And we were waiting for the leader of our leader to make a decision.
But he preferred to respond by his silence until we reached a dead end.
If needed, we will be the first to break the barrier of silence.
MEN: Yes!
When there is no choice,
there is no decision other than this,
to dissolve the army.
Is that what you want?
I am asking you!
I speak not as Menelaus' brother,
nor as the husband of Helen's sister, Clytaemnestra.
I speak like a Greek who puts Greece above all.
And I say...
I say... I prefer to die here in Aulis,
with my eyes staring at Troy,
rather than retreat,
listening to the laughter of the barbarians flaring up,
along with my shame.
As for the gods, they say that they test those whom they love.
Our endurance should convince them.
The gods have spoken.
Well! Speak!
If there is a full moon,
and a sacrifice is given to the gods, as they deserve,
fair winds will blow.
(MEN MURMURING)
Their will be done. Go!
Tell the news to the army.
Open the holds. Give them to drink.
Tonight we have a feast.
Wait!
In order to do the gods' will, you have to know what it is.
You told us.
The oracle is more explicit.
You read it.
- "To Artemis..." - Loud!
"...to the virgin goddess,
"guardian of the sacred forest of Aulis
"that was desecrated by the Greeks with blood,
"the king of Argos..."
You! Read!
"The king of Argos, Agamemnon, must...
"Must sacrifice
"his first-born daughter, lphigenia."
"If he accepts, the ships will sail,
"the Greeks will defeat Troy. Or else, they will never leave."
(SCREAMING)
No!
(MEN SCREAMING)
ALL: Agamemnon! Agamemnon!
Nobody should find out about this. Do you hear?
Tell them their will shall be done. I will dissolve the army!
MEN: Agamemnon! Agamemnon!
Agamemnon! Agamemnon!
Let them go through.
MEN: We're going to Troy! We're going to Troy!
MEN: Gods of the winds, make the winds blow so we can go to Troy
Make the winds blow so we can go to Troy
To surround the walls...
Iphigenia!
(VOICE ECHOING)
From Father?
Marriage? Me?
Read.
"Marriage with the son of Peleus,
"king of Thessaly and Thetis."
The bravest of the Greeks, Achilles.
Tomorrow we leave. In the morning.
- But Father writes... - Let him write.
He is just a man. What does he know?
Go on this journey by yourself!
And me not be able to dress you as a bride!
What kind of a mother would I be?
- Bring my husband back! - And my child!
And my son!
(WOMEN SINGING)
(DRUMMING)
(BIRD SQUAWKING)
AGAMEMNON: Stop drumming!
- What happened? - He wants us to stop drumming.
Iphigenia.
- I can't sleep. - It's normal.
Tomorrow morning we will be in Aulis.
You have to be rested.
Can I sing you a song?
To lull you to sleep, like I did when you were little?
Come inside.
What is it?
Nothing.
It seemed like the wind was blowing.
(HUMMING)
Aphrodite
Let me feel the joy
Of love
And not
And not its madness
And not even
Not even wild passion...
Hear? Wild passion.
Like her sister, Helen.
She gave up husband, home and kids.
For the bed of Paris, the barbarian.
But think, to start a war for a woman.
How long before dawn?
Sirius has passed half the way, walking towards dawn.
What silence!
Neither the rustling of leaves nor the voice of a bird.
Only you are troubled, my king. Why?
The army is sleeping, the guards keep watch all night. Stillness.
Go to sleep now.
I envy you, old man.
You and all the others who live in oblivion.
I don't want to hear these kinds of words from powerful men.
Is there anything sweeter in life than glory?
It might be sweet, but it's full of traps.
The higher you go, the easier you are ruined by envy.
King, something bothers you.
My old back can take it. Lean on it.
Say it to lighten your burden.
Let's go in.
AGAMEMNON: In order for the winds to blow, I must sacrifice my child.
My daughter, lphigenia.
As soon as I heard the oracle, I wanted to dissolve the army.
I knew I could not do it.
And not only did I not care, but I was full of joy
until my brother got hold of me.
He besieged me with a lot of arguments, supplications.
He threatened me, he wore me down.
I wrote to my wife to send the child, the bait.
Marriage with Achilles. I praised him.
I said that he refused to leave for Troy if he did not mix his blood with ours
to leave behind a woman from our bloodline.
So with such cowardly, deceitful words, I set a trap for my wife.
I said it cannot be. So many days.
It cannot be. So many days...
The winds will blow.
And now...
I wrote to her again tonight.
The truth.
And Achilles?
He does not know anything.
Here is the letter. Take it and leave immediately.
Put wings under your feet.
You know the way. Be careful you don't fall asleep.
- Don't worry. - Be all eyes!
My daughter's coach should not overtake you.
Don't worry.
Get hold of the reins and drive her back to her mother in Argos.
All my hopes
are in your hands.
MAN: Get up!
MAN: Traitor! Get in, traitor!
What's the meaning of this shouting?
Ask me. Not this worm. Me.
- Good. - My words count.
Now the kings go against the slaves. Why do you insult him?
Look me in the eyes, Agamemnon. Look at me!
If you want me to answer.
You forget that our father, the brave Atreus,
had me before he had you.
I am not terrified by your eyes.
Do you see this?
I see it. Who gave you the right to break my seal?
And who gave you the right to plot behind my back?
Is it my family or not? I do whatever I want with it.
You don't even know what you want. You go crazy!
- Today this, tomorrow that... - Guilt! It is the mother of impudence.
And the disorganized mind is the mother of treason.
You are rude!
Go away.
Do not hide behind your rage so that you can avoid the truth.
I will stay here and you will hear it. All of it.
And then, if you can, deny it.
I don't think I need to remind you how methodically and fiercely you fought
to be elected by the Greeks as the chief commander against Troy.
You were approachable then, humble.
Your door was wide open to anyone.
You were distributing briberies and smiles even to your enemies.
You won. The countless hands that you shook along the way,
they put you up where you had the ambition to be.
First among the first.
And you changed immediately.
Yes, Agamemnon.
The pure, loveable people stopped being loveable to you.
You shut your doors, you had guards.
"The Commander Chief is busy! We cannot disturb him."
Power is a weapon to help not ourselves, but the others,
those that have given it to us.
Otherwise, it is in unworthy hands.
Let me finish!
One day we came to Aulis, and with the first setback,
the mighty commander of the Greeks did not know what to do.
Your confidence went flat along with the winds.
You weren't giving me a chance. Weak-minded, ready for anything.
As long as you wouldn't lose the opportunity
to be commander of a thousand ships and get the glory
in Troy.
Then Calchas comes with his merciless oracle
and opens the way for you.
In the beginning, you faltered and shouted.
Then, ambitious as you are,
you came to terms with your conscience
and you wrote to your wife with your hand, not mine,
to send lphigenia to Aulis.
You concocted the marriage to Achilles.
And now, making another turn, you wrote slyly and secretly from us
reneging on promises that are still ringing in our ears.
But this is how politics is.
Few are those that reach the top and don't stumble.
The big responsibilities need brains and strong shoulders.
I cry for Greece.
When all her youth rise to fight for her honor, you
bring her to her knees.
When are we going to learn
that a commander's value is what really counts,
and not his ancestry?
Since our childhood,
the thing that distinguished us from each other was ethos.
Don't expect from me words coupled with vulgar grimaces,
sarcastic smiles, and flattery.
Look at those eyes, bloodthirsty.
Why? Did I do you wrong?
Or, for your fine wife,
whom you weren't able to keep, do you want me to pay
with blood?
My ambition bothers you.
You,
who are ready to bury logic and emotions
for the body of a whore.
It is better to be ambitious than corrupt.
I confess. The oracle clouded my judgment.
Now I see clearly.
Only you have stayed blind.
You think that the elders of Greece go to war for you and your honor.
They just wanted an excuse, and you gave it to them on a platter.
Their dreams of invasion are getting wilder because of Troy's gold.
Well, take them. Go to your war.
Get rich!
As for me, I will not defile heaven and earth
with an unnatural act,
pulling out my very own guts.
Gods, do you hear him?
Now he is debasing your oracles.
An unholy oracle is not a god's oracle.
- Then whose is it? - You know very well. Calchas'.
A pure fabrication of his jealous mind. A conspiracy with my enemies.
- I don't believe my ears. - When you wake up, you'll believe it.
Well, I don't count, but Greece...
You'll abandon her in her most critical moment.
You have made Greece sick.
You should cure her.
I see that I waste my words in vain.
Now others will hear them. And they will judge.
My horse!
MAN: Agamemnon!
Where is King Agamemnon?
Where is the chief commander of the Greeks?
Where is King Agamemnon?
Where is the chief commander of the Greeks?
My king, I come from Argos
escorting your daughter lphigenia to Aulis.
She is not traveling alone.
Her mother is with her, Clytaemnestra,
and the little Orestes.
The Queen has told me to come here before them
so that you can start the feast.
And you, Menelaus, give order to welcome the bride with songs.
This day begins with smiles,
because the happiness of your daughter will be blessed by a whole army.
I thank you.
Everything will be done as fate desires.
Fate governs now. Not me.
What can I say? Where do I start?
I know it is a shame to see a king cry.
- Stop. - The others can, not us.
The crowd prohibits us.
How can I face my wife?
Why did she come? She did not listen to me.
But she is a mother. She came to glorify her daughter.
Listen to me.
A child, an innocent and unsuspecting child.
How can I keep my heart from breaking
when I hear her voice begging me, her father, not to...
Helen!
All my curses are upon you!
You and Paris.
Give me your hand.
Take it.
You won.
No, I don't want you to kill for me
and rebuild my life upon your own laments.
Besides,
your child is also my blood.
When the knife falls,
how can I stand in front out there, a spectator?
Me, who is responsible.
It is not your child's fault
for my own marriage, for my own insult.
Listen to me.
You will dissolve the army.
Now I ask you this as a favor. For both of us.
The hatred between the brothers is an open wound.
Poison!
Your words have healed it.
But now there are no more bridges behind us.
There is no turning back.
Who can force you to kill your child?
The army.
The thousand-headed monster that I govern.
We will let her escape secretly to Argos.
You forget Calchas. Do you think he will be silent?
We will silence him
forever.
And the other one who knows everything?
- Odysseus? - Him.
Odysseus does not dare to go against us.
He dares, and he can, and he will do it.
He has been fighting for such a chance all this time.
He won't lose it.
Or do you think he will take pity on us?
He will proclaim loudly to the army
that I betrayed both Greece and them.
And if he rattles the beast, heads will roll.
Ours first, and then...
This is the awful truth.
I see it in the eyes without hope,
without support,
with despair my only ally.
And I ask the gods,
if gods exist,
"Why?"
(NEIGHING)
WOMAN: My hat. Don't forget my hat.
You two in front of us, hold the horses.
My Orestes is sleeping. Take him.
Careful, my good child. Careful.
I need hands to support me.
My baby is tired.
Mother, Mother. If I run first to hug Father, will you be mad at me?
Why should I be mad?
You think I don't know that among all my children,
you're the one that loves him the most?
The dowry now. Everything down. Careful.
Father!
Father?
I missed you. You don't know how much.
And I missed you.
I would make a thousand journeys just to see you. And you?
Me? Me what?
- You are not happy to see me? - I'm happy.
You say it, but your eyes betray you.
Why are they sad?
A leader has many concerns, my child.
You will forget them all. Immediately. All of them.
As long as I am here, I want you all mine.
I am all yours.
As much as I can, all yours.
Then why are you frowning? Smile!
You cry? You cry, Father.
Why? What is going on?
I think that soon we will be separated, that I will lose you.
Why do you confuse the later and the now? You spoil it.
The wiser you speak, the less I can bear it.
If it is like this, I will start speaking nonsense.
Is that what you want?
That's what I want.
Stay with us, Dad. Don't go to Troy.
I wish I could, my love.
If my curses could come true, I would curse the weapons
that kill people.
The weapons don't only kill them.
Try to win the war quickly and come back.
This depends on the gods,
if their will is done.
What will? Do you know?
Then you should do it right away. What is it?
A sacrifice.
Here in Aulis today.
Can I come with you? I will help you.
I will have you by my side to the end.
Will we dance around the altar?
Father!
Go now.
Iphigenia!
Come here.
Put your hand in mine.
Squeeze.
And now kiss me.
My beloved hair.
Leave!
(WOMEN GIGGLING)
Queen, forgive me. I am shaken.
Although this marriage gives me joy, I am a father.
And I am a mother.
You don't need to explain something that I feel as strongly as you.
But time is a great doctor. It will help us to adapt.
Where will we talk?
I have many things to ask you.
Let's start with the one you chose to be the groom.
AGAMEMNON: He is from a famous lineage. He is a descendant of Aesop.
Iphigenia! Lphigenia!
And who was his teacher?
Chiron, the centaur.
He brought him up away from the people and their ploys.
And he stayed pure.
A parent who knows how to choose a good teacher is twice-wise.
AGAMEMNON: Well?
This is the man your daughter is getting married to.
So modest that he actually wants to keep his marriage a secret.
So be it. And when will it take place?
- As soon as the moon is full. - May Artemis bless them.
Did you do all the necessary things? A sacrifice to the goddess?
Not yet. I will take care of it as soon as possible.
And the marriage feast? Where will it be?
By the seashore, next to the ships of Argos.
What a strange choice,
to establish life in the shadow of war.
I don't like it.
Whatever happens, you are my wife and you will comply
with this and with everything else I will ask from you.
Not to worry.
I drink the bitter glass of obedience drop by drop.
Tell me.
Our daughter.
I will take her to the ceremony.
I am her father.
And where will her mother be?
In Argos, with her children.
Leave? Now?
You are insane.
The mother takes care of the daughter's marriage.
It is her duty. And a custom, too.
The case is closed. No more discussion.
And I don't accept Agamemnon's wife wandering around the barracks!
I gave birth to her!
I will marry her!
You have two more younger daughters.
How do you leave them alone?
Guards protect them outside the walls,
and inside, worthy hands take good care of them.
Are you going to listen to me?
Yes or no?
No, by Hera, I will not listen to you.
The whole world is your dominion, so rule it!
But in my household, I'm the ruler.
Do we agree?
I'm going now.
I have a lot to do.
What has become of me?
Even my own decision
has become a disgrace.
Stacking lie upon lie.
Deception upon deception.
Quickly! It has to happen quickly,
before the truth catches up with us.
I'm going to see Calchas.
Since evil must happen, let it happen immediately.
The secret still holds.
Everybody believes that you're preparing a sacrifice for the wedding.
It beat me even in that!
It said everything will happen in its time.
Let the sun go down.
Not now!
- Where are you going? - Somewhere, somewhere to wait.
Somewhere far away so that they don't see me,
and I don't see them.
Where is the camp of the Myrmidons?
Where can I find Achilles, the commander of the Myrmidons?
He is gone since dawn.
He took his horsemen for training in the mountains.
- Will he be late? - They should be back any time.
As soon as he comes back,
tell him to hurry and come to Agamemnon's tent.
- Great news awaits him. - Don't tell me that we'll sail!
From what I heard, I think it will be something relevant.
Then don't worry. I'll catch him just before he gets off his horse.
(HORSES APPROACHING)
(WOMEN GIGGLING)
We saw them down at the beach when they were racing.
We saw Ajax. Every step of his was an earthquake!
Palamedes, son of the sea, as fast as a dolphin!
- Brionis, the beast of Crete! - Nestor of Pylos.
And Diomedes.
He was throwing a discus and his body was shaking like a chord!
And the big shock was the fleet.
A thousand ships, like a forest rooted to the sea!
And among them golden mermaids on the bows of the ships!
My father's fleet.
A thousand ships for a woman!
My mother's sister.
Where is the king?
I am the son of Peleus.
I heard that you came, my king. And I came out to greet you.
Modest
and handsome, like they told me.
- And you, who are you? - Good question.
How would you recognize me? You are seeing me for the first time.
Whoever you are,
you don't look like a woman who wanders around in the barracks.
I don't know how I look, but I know who I am.
Clytaemnestra,
Agamemnon's wife.
In a few words, you told me the most important things,
but forgive me, I don't know how to speak with women.
Achilles, don't go!
Such moments cannot be expressed with words.
Come.
Come, let me hug you.
Whose will is that, the king's or yours?
I would say it is our will since you'll be our child in a little while.
Me? Your child?
It might be a secret, but I am the bride's mother.
- You are insane! - Oh! You young people!
How parents-in-law scare you!
Queen!
Listen to me.
I never asked your daughter to marry me,
nor has your husband talked to me about this.
- What did you say? - The truth.
It can't be.
But
even if it's a lie,
your words are killing me.
This lie is neither a burden to me or to you.
It's hidden somewhere among us. Not to worry though!
- Achilles! - It won't stay hidden for long.
Leave!
The way I feel now, I am ashamed that you look at me.
I've been deceived! Dishonored! Humiliated!
Not only you! I'm going to find your husband.
ATTENDANT: King, wait, don't go!
Who spoke?
For the love of god, they shouldn't see us!
What do you want?
Unspeakable things. How can I tell them?
And if I won't speak, how can the evil be undone?
- He's hiding something. - I'm here, close to you.
- Who is he? - A faithful man, an old slave of mine.
- Yours forever. - Yeah, yeah, mine since I was little.
Faithful to you above all.
If you know something, say it, whatever it is.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Time goes on. Where could he be?
He will come.
And the girl? Who will bring her?
The mother?
Him!
WOMEN: Fast-moving ships decorated with mermaids
Sail with the wind so that we conquer Troy
Sail with the wind so that we conquer Troy...
Where is Father?
He promised to take me to the sacrifice.
- Let's go find him. - WOMEN: Let's go.
My child's life?
For Helen?
Now you know everything.
Do whatever you can.
Don't expect her father to do anything.
(SCREAMING)
My child, my child,
a sacrificial lamb!
(SOBBING)
Fate...
I can't bear it!
I'm falling to pieces!
Son of Peleus,
did you hear that?
Did you hear that?
I heard. The greater your lament is, the greater is my rage.
You were the bait.
They are killing my child in your name!
ACHILLES: Your husband! He did everything!
And he will settle this with me!
No! Look at me.
I'm at your feet, kneeling without shame.
What is shame now compared to my great loss?
Don't let them kill the one that was going to be your bride,
although she's not. I know it.
Say no to death in your name.
"Achilles' bride," this is what they'll say,
"slaughtered on the altar with her father's blessing! "
Pity us! Don't leave me alone.
A woman surrounded by a crazy herd of a bloodthirsty army.
I have no asylum other than your own knees.
I have no other altar.
Reach out and support us.
Since childhood I've been taught to walk a straight path
in words and in action.
I will listen to the Atreides as long as they govern well.
But only then. Not otherwise.
In Greece, I'll be the most miserable one,
not son of Peleus, but son of a hateful scum of Hades
if I become their unwilling accessory.
Your daughter. They called her my fiancee.
She's my fiancee to them, as they said it. Nothing more.
If I wanted marriage,
a thousand girls are waiting, each better than the next.
But not to be Agamemnon's puppet.
If he needed my name, he should have asked me.
If he would convince me that he wanted it for Greece, why refuse?
I want the best for the army above all.
But he ignored me!
The great Atreides ignored me.
Me and my honor.
Don't worry.
Whoever dares to lay hands on your daughter,
he'll be the first to paint my sword with blood.
How can I thank you,
and not seem like I'm ungrateful if I stay silent?
We've said all there is to say. It's time to act.
Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it.
First of all, you'll talk to your husband
and do everything to bring him back to his senses.
If we can avoid violence, it would be prudent.
It will be better for everyone to keep the men from gossiping.
And if I fail?
Don't worry. I'll be watching closely with my army.
(MEN CHEERING)
(SOBBING)
- Are you here? - As you can see.
Fortunately, I find you right on time.
Fortunately? For whom?
Send them to bring me lphigenia.
Everything is ready for the wedding sacrifice.
The water for the drink offerings and the barley,
and the calves with the tender throats will sprinkle the altar with blood.
What a pity.
If your beautiful words were acts, it would be so beautiful.
I'll ask you only this, and if you're a man, you'll answer.
Why are you challenging me?
Ask whatever you want.
Will you
kill your daughter?
What did you say?
Whose sick mind poisoned yours?
Don't yell.
Answer me.
How can I answer such an inhuman question in a humane way?
I asked once, and I'm asking again.
Will you answer?
Your silence is enough.
There is no need for more words.
Why should I debase my pain with more lies?
But I will speak without spin and innuendo.
Knives are speaking at this point.
You married me. How? With a crime. You wanted me.
I never did.
You killed my husband, Tantalus, and you kidnapped me,
and when my brothers rushed to get revenge,
what did you do?
You crawled at my father's feet.
You relied on a weak old man, asking for mercy,
and mercy you got,
and even something more,
me for your wife.
The years have worn off my hatred.
I converted my submission to power.
And I supported your house with my devotion.
Next to me your power shot up. Your fame, your wealth, like a mountain.
I gave you everything, children, this boy, and before him three daughters.
And all of them are my own flesh and blood.
And now you want to kill one of them?
And they will ask you why. They will ask you why. Why? Why?
Why did you kill her? What will you say? Say it.
That with the blood of your child you're paying ransom for a whore!
How nice! To give that which you love the most
for something that you despise!
And if you go to Troy,
what courage and desire will I have to support your house?
In every step of mine, I'll hear her footsteps.
And in the shadows her eyes will burn like candles.
Alone! Dressed in black. I'll count the dark hours with dark curses.
Day and night I will cry, "My husband is a killer!
"A father and murderer."
Someday the war will be over,
and if you survive, I'll be waiting for you together with my children,
our hatred like a viper.
A viper with four heads.
That much, only that much will be needed.
An excuse, nothing much.
Don't do it! Don't throw me to the evil!
When the blood flows on the altar, where will you be looking?
Will you have your eyes closed and be praying?
What kind of prayers do infanticides pray?
Or would you want me to pray for you?
If there is a god, why should I mock him?
You should think it over carefully.
All of it.
Even if glory has blinded you
and you care for nothing but power,
you have to prove it now.
Aren't you the leader?
Tell them, "Greeks, we are all involved in this war.
"Let's draw lots and let fate decide whose daughter will die."
That would be just.
Otherwise, let your brother Menelaus
sacrifice the daughter that Helen bore him!
She started all this evil!
Why should I pay for her disgrace?
Why should I destroy my life
so that I can fix hers?
I'm done.
She is your daughter as much as mine.
Have pity on her.
The time is drawing near. He is waiting outside.
Run and get lphigenia.
Milady, I don't know where she is. She's disappeared.
Where is she?
I don't know.
The army is waiting.
The oracle speaks the gods' will. It will become known.
I wish that she'll be found as soon as possible.
I say that for your sake.
Don't!
I can't! I can't do anything!
MAN: Split into groups.
Where are the others? Where is my guard?
In the temple.
(MEN CHEERING)
This is why he brought her from Argos.
- Iphigenia, his daughter. - MAN: The sacrifice must take place today.
- Today! - And the winds will start blowing!
(MEN CHEERING)
The gods order for the honor of Greece
and for her youth who are willing to die in battle
that Agamemnon, as leader of the leaders,
must be the first to sacrifice his child.
And Greece will triumph!
MEN: Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
(RATTLING)
(MEN CHEERING)
MAN: This way!
Come!
There!
Go!
Run!
This way!
There!
(MEN CHEERING)
Father!
I wish I could, like Orpheus,
sing and make even the rocks love me.
I wish I could sing to you,
but I can't.
So, tell me, what should I do for you to have pity on me?
To cry? I am crying.
To beg you as much as you want? To kneel and kiss your feet?
It's me, lphigenia.
The first of your children to call you Father.
It's me, who you held in your arms, kissing and saying,
"My child, may the gods empower me to see the day when you'll marry a king."
And I pulled your beard and said,
"When you get old you'll come to me,
"and for every caress that you gave me, I will give you a thousand."
No! Father! No!
If you don't have pity on me, have pity on my mother.
If you kill me, it's like killing both of us.
Why don't you look at me?
What am I asking you for? Nothing.
Just one glance, one kiss,
so if my words go to waste,
I will remember your kiss at that moment.
Why should I be blamed for Helen?
Why should I be blamed for Paris falling in love with her?
Orestes, my beloved one, I know you're still young.
You can't help me, but try. Come. Kneel with me.
Beg him.
Father, look. He's begging you with his silence.
Look at us! Look at your children.
Here, at your feet. Both of us.
A little boy. So little!
And a girl who longs to live.
To live. To walk under the sun.
Why would I want to die?
I would be insane.
It's better to be unhappy and alive
than dead and glorified.
- King, have pity on her. - Let her live.
I know better than anyone else how much love there is in a father's heart.
And how much pain.
I would give my life, if I could,
for my children.
But I can't. This can't be undone.
It must be done.
My daughter...
My sweet daughter, listen.
A thousand men are waiting all around us
with lethal weapons in their hands.
The oracle told them that they'll never see Troy unless I offer the first victim.
Nothing holds them back!
The frenzy of war simmering inside them for months is now boiling.
If I stop this, they will say that I support the barbarians.
They will not only exterminate us,
but your sisters, too, and the whole city of Argos!
(WOMEN SCREAMING)
I'm not Menelaus' slave, and he cannot rule over me.
I have only one master, Greece, which I serve and she commands.
Let's go. The army knows everything. We should hurry.
You see, Greece is more powerful than both of us.
Even when she asks us for something so horrible,
it is for her own good.
This is what all Greeks believe...
That this is the only way to victory.
Did he leave? Did my father leave?
He's playing with my life. Mother!
Come. Let's cry together, unite our pain in a lament.
Sun
You that give
Light to life
Hide so that death will not find us...
MEN: Sacrifice should take place so that we can conquer Troy!
Quickly! It's started blowing.
MEN: Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
Listen to me!
Everything is a lie!
It is Odysseus' fabrication! I say it to you, your king.
Agamemnon gave his daughter to me!
Not to him! To Artemis! Sacrifice for the victory.
Let Calchas be my witness! And god!
MEN: Sacrifice!
She's the fiancee of your king. Will you let them kill her?
MEN: Yes!
We came here for war and not for weddings!
MAN: He was dazed by love!
- He deserts us for a woman! - MEN: Yes!
Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
- Their cries are flaring up! - They're coming towards here.
I don't want it! I'm scared.
Mother, I'm in pain. My eyes hurt, my heart hurts.
It's from the fear, Mother, and from the hatred.
I hate her! Helen, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!
So many soldiers, and there is not even one man to help?
My mother, my dear mother, where is my father?
Where did the wind go? Why doesn't it come to Aulis?
Imagine that in the open sea people are drowning,
begging the gods for the wind to stop.
What an injustice!
Achilles!
- Let me hide. I'm ashamed. - It's not time to be ashamed.
We'll fight any way we can.
(MEN SCREAMING)
Let me through!
- Poor queen! - I thought that you wouldn't come.
I just made it. Don't you hear them?
- They come running like a violent river. - What are they shouting?
- That your daughter... - What?
- I don't want to hear it. But I must. - She will die at the altar.
So nobody was there to say no?
I did. And almost paid with my life.
- How about your own people? - Even my own people, as everyone else.
We're doomed.
We're doomed, my child.
I know that, too.
Don't be afraid. I will fight for you.
May the gods reward your courage.
They'll reward me, if they have eyes.
- Should I have any hope? - Yes, as long as I'm alive.
MEN: Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
- Odysseus is leading them. - He wouldn't dare.
He's capable of dragging her by her hair to the altar.
MEN: Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
- What should I do? - Don't let her go. Hold her tight.
They'll have to cut both my hands off to take her.
MEN: Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
Be ready! As soon as I tell you.
Go back! Don't let them see you.
Bring me my bridal veil.
And the bridal wreath.
(GROANING)
Mother, listen to me.
It's not in our benefit when we want the impossible. Don't even try.
I know it's difficult for you. But for me, it's even more difficult to live.
Listen to me, and you'll understand.
It's so simple.
Today I will die.
I cannot avoid it.
But how will I die? Only I will decide.
And I have decided. I'll die peacefully, proudly, beautifully.
This will be for me some kind of victory.
Mother, you must, you must understand.
The Greeks, in one voice, request my death.
How will I defy them?
I'm just one, and they're thousands, eager to die fighting.
Why me? Am I worth more than them?
Or even more than one of them?
What would you say if you were their mother?
And one more thing.
Today, we made a friend.
Will I let him die fighting a whole army?
I'd be ungrateful and I don't want that.
I want him to live.
It would be such a pity to waste such courage
for one unimportant life like mine.
Because of all this, since Greece wants my life, I give it to her.
(MEN CHEERING)
Death will be my wedding, children, and glory.
Mother, that's how it is.
You should be grateful that we are Greeks
and not barbarians or slaves.
If the gods loved me, you would have been mine today.
I envy Greece that is taking you away.
I envy you for the glory she gives you.
There is nothing that I wouldn't do to save you.
Speak, before it's too late. There's no coming back from death.
I'm not afraid of death.
I know it.
I'm just thinking how much blood will be shed for Helen,
and I say that's enough.
Don't kill for me.
And above all, don't get killed.
Since death could not bend you, what can I say?
I want you to know one thing.
You can change your mind at the last minute.
I'll be close.
Don't forget this,
I don't want you to die.
Mother, don't.
If you want to help me, you'll do what I ask from you.
Yes, my beloved. I will try.
Tell me what to do.
Do not dress in black and do not cut your hair.
Not even that?
- Not to mourn my child? - No.
Because I won't have a tomb other than the altar.
I want you to be proud and to show it.
You speak so wisely. What can I say?
And your sisters? What should I tell them?
Nothing.
They have their lives. And let them be well.
You should also kiss them for me.
You should bring up Orestes for me to become an important man.
Give him a hug.
For one last time.
My little boy, you did everything you could to help.
Is there anything else you want from me?
There is.
Don't hate my father. He is not to be blamed.
He is! And he'll pay for this.
He does this without wanting it. A sacrifice for Greece.
Not sacrifice. Murder.
Murder!
Sly, cowardly murder.
Has the time come?
Yes, Mother.
I'll come with you.
No, Mother. I beg you.
I'll hold your veil. Nothing else.
No, I'll go alone. It's better for both of us.
Don't leave me!
Mother, I want to be strong.
Help me.
Let's go, my dear friends.
Enough with the tears.
Start singing to wake up the winds.
They'll set sail.
Don't leave.
Don't go.
Farewell, my beloved light.
(WIND HOWLING)
(MEN CHEERING)
To the ships!
Iphigenia!
(SCREAMING)
Iphigenia!