Leader:
Answer count for count, charge for charge.
First, tell us, did you k** your mother?
Orestes:
I k**ed her. There's no denying that.
Leader:
Three falls in the match. One is ours already.
Orestes:
You exult before your man is on his back.
Leader:
But how did you k** her? You must tell us that.
Orestes:
I will. I drew my sword - more, I cut her throat.
Leader:
And who persuaded you? who led you on?
Orestes:
This god and his command.
(Indicating Apollo.)
He bears me witness.
Leader:
The Seer? He drove you on to matricide?
Orestes:
Yes,
and to this hour I have no regrets.
Leader:
If the verdict
brings you down, you'll change your story quickly.
Orestes:
I have my trust; my father will help me from the grave.
Leader:
Trust to corpses now! You made your mother one.
Orestes:
I do. She had two counts against her, deadly crimes.
Leader:
How? Explain that to your judges.
Orestes:
She k**ed her husband - k**ed my father too.
Leader:
But murder set her free, and you live on for trial.
Orestes:
She lived on. You never drove her into exile - why?
Leader:
The blood of the man she k**ed was not her own.