Hermione writes to Orestes but addresses her long absent mother too:
“As a small child I was without my mother
And my father was always at war.
Even though they were alive—I was bereft of both.
Mother: in those first years I never brought you
loving words from the uncertain mouth of a little girl.
I never reached around your neck with too short arms
Nor sat as a welcome burden in your lap.”
parva mea sine matre fui; pater arma ferebat;
et duo cum vivant, orba duobus eram.
non tibi blanditias primis, mea mater, in annis
incerto dictas ore puella tuli.
non ego captavi brevibus tua colla lacertis,
nec gremio sedi sarcina grata tuo.
