View:
By Scene
Chorus Leader
My views about seers coincide exactly with this old man’s; whoever has the gods as friends
would have the best prophecy at home.
760
My views about seers coincide exactly with this old man’s; whoever has the gods as friends
would have the best prophecy at home.
760
Helen
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.
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.
Menelaos
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,
765
and by telling you these evils I would suffer still, as I did when I experienced them; and so my grief would be doubled.
770
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,
765
and by telling you these evils I would suffer still, as I did when I experienced them; and so my grief would be doubled.
770
Helen
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?
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?
Menelaos
Besides those ten years in
Troy
, I went through seven cycles of years on board ship.
775
Besides those ten years in
Troy
, I went through seven cycles of years on board ship.
775
Helen
Alas, poor man, you have spoken of a long time; and, saved from there, you have come here to the slaughter.
Alas, poor man, you have spoken of a long time; and, saved from there, you have come here to the slaughter.
Menelaos
What do you mean? What will you say? Ah, my wife, you have ruined me.
What do you mean? What will you say? Ah, my wife, you have ruined me.
Helen
Escape from this land and flee as quickly as possible. The man who lives in this house will kill you.
780
Escape from this land and flee as quickly as possible. The man who lives in this house will kill you.
780
Menelaos
What have I done to deserve such a fate?
What have I done to deserve such a fate?
Helen
You have come unexpectedly to hinder my marriage.
You have come unexpectedly to hinder my marriage.
Menelaos
What! Does someone plan to marry my wife?
What! Does someone plan to marry my wife?
Helen
And to act in violence against me, which I have endured.
785
And to act in violence against me, which I have endured.
785
Menelaos
Does he have private power, or is he the ruler of the country?
Does he have private power, or is he the ruler of the country?
Helen
He is the lord of this land, the son of Proteus.
He is the lord of this land, the son of Proteus.
Menelaos
This is that riddle I heard from the servant.
This is that riddle I heard from the servant.
Helen
Which one of the barbarian’s gates were you standing beside?
Which one of the barbarian’s gates were you standing beside?
Menelaos
This one, from which I was being driven away like a beggar.
790
This one, from which I was being driven away like a beggar.
790
Helen
You were surely not begging for food, were you? How unhappy I am!
You were surely not begging for food, were you? How unhappy I am!
Menelaos
That was the deed, though it did not have that name.
That was the deed, though it did not have that name.
Helen. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.