The King greets Radames with an embrace, bids him receive the wreath of victory from the hands of his daughter and ask whatever boon he will as a reward for his services.  He asks, first, that the prisoners be brought before the King.  Among them Aida recognizes her father, who is disguised as an officer of the Ethiopian army.  The two are in each other’s arms in a moment, but only long enough for Amonasro to caution his daughter not to betray him.  He bravely confesses that he had fought for king and country, and pleads for clemency for the prisoners.  They join in the petition, as does Aida, and though the priests warn and protest, Radames asks the boon of their lives and freedom, and the King grants it.  Also, without the asking, he bestows the hand of his daughter upon the victorious general, who receives the undesired honor with consternation.

Transporting beauty rests upon the scene which opens the third act.  The moon shines brightly on the rippling surface of the Nile and illumines a temple of Isis, perched amongst the tropical foliage which crowns a rocky height.  The silvery sheen is spread also over the music, which arises from the orchestra like a light mist burdened with sweet odors.  Amneris enters the temple to ask the blessing of the goddess upon her marriage, and the pious canticle of the servitors within floats out on the windless air.  A tone of tender pathos breathes through the music which comes with Aida, who is to hold secret converse with her lover.  Will he come?  And if so, will he speak a cruel farewell and doom her to death within the waters of the river?  A vision of her native land, its azure skies, verdant vales, perfumed breezes, rises before her.  Shall she never see them more?  Her father comes upon her.  He knows of her passion for Radames, but also of her love for home and kindred.  He puts added hues into the picture with which her heavy fancy had dallied, and then beclouds it all with an account of homes and temples profaned, maidens ravished, grandsires, mothers, children, slain by the oppressor.  Will she aid in the deliverance?  She can by learning from her lover by which path the Egyptians will against the Ethiopians, who are still in the field, though their king is taken.  That she will not do.  But Amonasro breaks down her resolution.  Hers will be the responsibility for torrents of blood, the destruction of cities, the devastation of her country.  No longer his daughter she, but a slave of the Pharaohs!  Her lover comes.  She affects to repulse him because of his betrothal to Amneris, but he protests his fidelity and discloses his plan.  The Ethiopians are in revolt again.  Again he will defeat them, and, returning again in triumph, he will tell the King of his love for her and thereafter live in the walks of peace.  But Aida tells him that the vengeance of Amneris will pursue her, and urges him to fly with her.  Reluctantly he consents, and she, with apparent innocence, asks by which path they shall escape the