Helen

Perseus Greek · Perseus Greek · 691 sections

709
And the one who is truly your wife is this woman here?
710
This is she; trust my word for that.
711
O daughter, how intricate and hard to trace out is the nature of the god! In some way that is good, he twists everything about, now up, now down; one man suffers, and one who has not suffered comes afterwards to a bad end,
715
having no security in his current fortune. You and your husband have had your share of trouble, you in repute, he in the heat of battle. In his eagerness, while he was eager, he got nothing; but now that he has achieved the greatest good fortune, he has it without cause.
720
You did not, after all, bring shame upon your old father or on the twin sons of Zeus, nor did you do such things as were spoken of. Now again I renew your wedding rites and remember the blazing torch I bore, running beside the four yoked horses; and you,
725
in the chariot as a bride, were leaving your happy home with this man here. Whoever pays no reverence to his master’s affairs, rejoicing with him and grieving with his troubles, is worthless. Although I was born a servant, let me still be numbered among honest
730
slaves; my mind is free, if not my name. For this is better than to suffer double misery as one man: to have a worthless heart and, being a slave, to owe obedience to any other.
734
Come, old man—often by my shield
735
you have had your full share of trouble and hard work—now also have a share in my success, and go tell the friends I left behind the state of matters here, as you found them, and how my fortune stands; and bid them wait at the beach and watch eagerly for the
740
struggle which I expect awaits me; and if we should be able somehow to steal this woman away from the land, tell them to keep good watch so that we may share the luck and escape, if we can, from the barbarians.
744
It shall be done, lord. Now indeed I see how worthless
745
the seers’ doings are, and how full of falsehood; there was no health in the blaze of sacrifice after all, or in the cry of winged birds; even to think that birds can help mankind is certainly foolish. For Calchas gave no word or sign to the army,
750
when he saw his friends dying on behalf of a cloud, nor did Helenos; but the city was taken by storm in vain. You might say: because the god did not want them to? Then why do we consult prophets? We ought to sacrifice to the gods and ask a blessing, but leave divination alone;
755
for this was invented otherwise, as a bait for a livelihood, and no man grows rich by sacrifices if he is idle. But sound judgment and discernment are the best of seers. Exit Messenger.
758
My views about seers coincide exactly with this old man’s; whoever has the gods as friends
760
would have the best prophecy at home.
761
All right; so far all is well. But how you were saved, my poor husband, from Troy, there is no gain in knowing, yet friends have a desire to learn what their friends have suffered.
765
Truly you have asked a great deal all at once. Why should I tell you about our losses in the Aegean, and Nauplios’ beacons on Euboia, and my visits to Crete and the cities of Libya, and the mountain-peaks of Perseus? For I would not satisfy you with the tale,
770
and by telling you these evils I would suffer still, as I did when I experienced them; and so my grief would be doubled.
772
Your answer is better than my question. Leave out the rest, and tell me only this: how long were you a weary wanderer over the surface of the sea?
775
Besides those ten years in Troy, I went through seven cycles of years on board ship.
777
Alas, poor man, you have spoken of a long time; and, saved from there, you have come here to the slaughter.
779
What do you mean? What will you say? Ah, my wife, you have ruined me.
780
Escape from this land and flee as quickly as possible. The man who lives in this house will kill you.
782
What have I done to deserve such a fate?
783
You have come unexpectedly to hinder my marriage.
784
What! Does someone plan to marry my wife?
785
And to act in violence against me, which I have endured.
786
Does he have private power, or is he the ruler of the country?
787
He is the lord of this land, the son of Proteus.
788
This is that riddle I heard from the servant.
789
Which one of the barbarian’s gates were you standing beside?
790
This one, from which I was being driven away like a beggar.
791
You were surely not begging for food, were you? How unhappy I am!
792
That was the deed, though it did not have that name.
793
Then you know everything, it seems, about my marriage.
794
I do. But if you have escaped his bed—that I do not know.
795
Know that I have saved myself untouched for you.
796
What could persuade me of this? If true, your words are sweet.
797
Do you see my wretched sanctuary at this tomb?
798
I see a miserable bed of straw, but what do you have to do with it?
799
Here, as a suppliant, I am asking for an escape from his bed.
800
For want of an altar, or because it is the barbarians’ way?
801
This was as good a protection to me as the temples of the gods.
802
Then it’s not possible for me to take you home by ship?
803
A sword is waiting for you, rather than my bed.
804
So I would be the most wretched of mortals.
805
Do not feel shame now, but escape from this land.
806
Leaving you behind? I ravaged Troy for your sake.
807
Yes, for that is better than that our union should cause your death.
808
Oh! these are coward’s words, unworthy of those days at Troy.
809
You could not kill the tyrant, your possible intention.
810
Does he then have a body that cannot be wounded by a sword?
811
You will hear. But to undertake impossibilities is no mark of wisdom.
812
And so I am to offer my hands to be bound, in silence?
813
You are in a dilemma; we need some contrivance.
814
Yes, for it is sweeter to die in action than by not acting.
815
There is one hope, and only one, for our safety.
816
Are we to buy it, or dare it, or win it with words?
817
If the tyrant were not to learn of your arrival.
818
Will any one tell him about me? He will certainly not know who I am.
819
He has within an ally equal to the gods.
820
A voice that has settled in the inmost parts of his house?
821
No, but his sister; she is called Theonoe.
822
The name is prophetic; tell me what she does.
823
She knows everything, and she will tell her brother that you are here.
824
We must die; for I cannot escape her notice.
825
Perhaps we might persuade her by supplication—
826
To do what? What hope are you leading me to?
827
Not to tell her brother that you are here in this land.
828
If we persuade her, could we get away from this country?
829
Easily, in common with her; but secretly we could not.
830
The task is yours; it is suitable for women to deal with women.
831
Be sure that I will clasp her knees.
832
Well, then, what if she rejects our proposals?
833
You will die. And I, the unhappy one, will be married by force.
834
You would be a traitor; that force of yours is all an excuse.
835
But I have sworn a sacred oath by your life—
836
What do you mean? To die? And never to take his bed in exchange for mine?
837
Yes, by the same sword; I will lie at your side.
838
Then on these conditions touch my right hand.
839
I touch it, swearing that I will leave the light of day if you die.
840
And I will end my life if I lose you.
841
How then shall we die so as to insure our reputation for this?
842
I will kill you on the tomb’s surface, and then kill myself. But first I will fight a great contest for your bed. Let anyone who wishes come near!
845
For I will not disgrace my Trojan fame, nor, on my return to Hellas, will I receive great blame—I who robbed Thetis of Achilleus, and saw the slaughter of Aias, son of Telamon, and the son of Neleus made childless;
850
shall I not resolve to die for my wife? Most certainly; for if the gods are wise, they lightly bury in the earth a brave man who has been killed by his enemies, while cowards they cast up out of the earth onto a harsh rock.
855
O gods, may the race of Tantalos be fortunate at last, and may it be set free from evils!
857
Ah, I am unhappy, for so is my fate! Menelaos, we are destroyed. The prophetess Theonoe is coming out of the house; it resounds as the
860
bolts are unfastened. Try to escape! But what is the use of trying? For whether she is absent or present she knows of your arrival here. Oh, I am lost, unfortunate! Saved from Troy and from a barbarian land, you have come only to fall upon barbarian swords.
865
Please lead the way with blazing torches, and purify, according to the sacred law, the inmost corners of the air, so I may receive the pure breath of heaven; and you in turn, if someone has harmed the path by treading with unholy foot, submit it to the cleansing fire,
870
and strike the torch in front of me, so that I may pass through. And when you have paid back to the gods my customary observance, take the household flame within.
873
Helen, what about my prophecy—how is it? This man, your husband Menelaos, has openly arrived,
875
robbed of his ships and of your counterfeit. O unhappy man! What troubles you have escaped to come here; nor do you know whether you are to return home or to stay here. For there will be strife among the gods, and a solemn assembly held by Zeus on your account this very day.
880
Hera, who was hostile to you before, is now friendly and wants to bring you safely home, with this woman, so that Hellas may learn that the marriage of Paris, Kypris’ gift, was false; but Kypris wishes to ruin your journey home,
885
so that she may not be convicted, or seem to have bought the prize of beauty by a marriage that was profitless as regards Helen. Now the decision rests with me, whether to ruin you, as Kypris wishes, by telling my brother of your presence here, or to save your life by taking Hera’s side,
890
keeping my brother in the dark, for his orders are for me to tell him, whenever you happen to come to this land.
892
One of you, go show my brother this man is here, so that I may secure my position.
894
Maiden, I fall at your knees as a suppliant,
895
and seat myself in this sad posture on behalf of myself and of this man; I am on the point of seeing him slain, after I have found him with such difficulty. Please do not tell your brother that my husband has returned to my loving arms,

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0006.tlg014.perseus-eng2. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source.