And when she had so said, she prayed to Artemis: "Great goddess, that didst bring me safe in days past from Aulis, bring me now also, and these that are with me, safe to the land of Greece, so that men may count thy brother Apollo to be a true prophet. Nor shouldst thou be unwilling to depart from this barbarous land, and to dwell in the fair city of Athens."
After this came King Thoas, inquiring whether they had offered the strangers for sacrifice, and had duly burnt their bodies with fire. To him Iphigenia made answer, "These were unclean sacrifices that thou broughtest to me, O King."
"How didst thou learn this?"
"The image of the goddess turned upon her place of her own accord, and covered also her face with her hands."
"What wickedness, then, had these strangers wrought?"
"They slew their mother, and had been banished therefore from the land of Greece."
"O monstrous! Such deeds we barbarians never do. And now what dost thou purpose?"
"We must purify these strangers before we offer them for a sacrifice."
"With water from the river, or in the sea?"
"In the sea. The sea cleanseth away all that is evil among men."