“I must say I believe that’s right,” said Menelaus, “though I thought of going myself, too. But I sent a messenger to see if Agamemnon needs me; if he does, I’ll go. Meanwhile, I do think it’s a favourable moment to learn what Orestes is made of; his behaviour now will be more revealing than any number of conversations with your mother and me … But my first impulse was to go, and your question leads me to consider again whether I wasn’t right. I don’t like to use my brother’s danger as an experiment to test his son. If I had obeyed my impulse, I’d be there now. Your mother advised me not to.”