1Do you not see that those who, as the poets have handed down to us, punished their mother to avenge their father, even though they are said to have done it at the commands and oracles of the immortal gods, are nonetheless hounded by the Furies, who never let them stand still, because they could not be dutiful without being guilty? 1This is how things stand, judges: a father's and a mother's blood holds great power, great constraint, great sanctity; 1and if any stain is contracted from it, not only can it not be washed out, but it soaks through to the mind so deeply that the utmost frenzy and madness follow.
67For do not suppose, as you often see in plays, that those who have committed some impious and wicked deed are hounded and terrified by the blazing torches of the Furies. 67It is his own guilt and his own terror that torments each man most; his own crime hounds each man and strikes him with madness; his own evil thoughts and the conscience of his mind terrify him; 67these are the unremitting Furies who dwell at home with the impious, and day and night exact from the most wicked sons the penalty due to their parents. 68The enormity of this crime makes it incredible unless parricide almost caught in the act is brought forward, unless there is a disgraceful youth, unless a life stained with every outrage, unless lavish spending joined with shame and disgrace, unless audacity breaking all bounds, unless a rashness so great that it is not far removed from insanity.
68There must be added to this hatred of the parent, fear of a father's punishment, wicked friends, slaves in the secret, a suitable time, a place conveniently chosen for the purpose; 68I might almost say that the judges must see the hands spattered with a father's blood, if they are going to believe a deed so great, so monstrous, so bitter. 69Therefore the less credible this is, unless it is proved, the more it must be punished, if it is established.