Helen
[115]
And did you capture the Spartan woman?
Teucer
Menelaos caught her by the hair to drag her away.
Helen
Did you yourself see the wretched creature? Or do you speak from hearsay?
Teucer
I saw her with my own eyes, just as I see you, no less.
Helen
Consider whether you had some fancy, sent by the gods.
Teucer
[120]
Think of some other topic, not that woman still!
Helen
Are you so sure this fancy was reliable?
Teucer
I saw it with my own eyes; and the mind has sight.
Helen
Is Menelaos already at home with his wife?
Teucer
No; he is neither in Argos nor by the streams of the Eurotas.
Helen
[125]
Alas! This is evil news for those to whom you bring it.
Teucer
He is said to have disappeared with his wife.
Helen
Wasn't there the same passage for all the Argives?
Teucer
Yes; but a tempest scattered them in every direction.
Helen
On which surface of the salty ocean?
Teucer
[130]
While they were crossing the Aegean in mid-channel.
Helen
And from that time does no one know of Menelaos' arrival?
Teucer
No one; but throughout Hellas he is reported to be dead.
Helen
I am wholly lost. Is the daughter of Thestius alive?
Teucer
You speak of Leda? She is dead and gone, indeed.
Helen
[135]
It wasn't Helen's disgraceful fame that killed her, surely?
Teucer
Yes, they say she tied a noose around her noble neck.
Helen
Are the sons of Tyndareus still alive or not?
Teucer
They are dead, and not dead: it is a double story.
Helen
Which report is the stronger? I am so unhappy at these evils!
Teucer
[140]
Men say that they are gods in the likeness of stars.
Helen
That is good news; but what is the other story?
Teucer
That they killed themselves because of their sister. But enough of such talk! I do not need to grieve twice. As to why I came to this royal palace,
[145]
wanting to see the prophetess Theonoe, you be my patron, so I might obtain an oracle: how I should steer a favorable course to the island of Cyprus, where Apollo has declared I am to live, giving it the island name of
[150]
Salamis in honor of that fatherland over there.
Helen
The voyage itself will explain that, stranger; leave this land and escape, before the son of Proteus, the ruler of this land, catches sight of you; now he is away with his trusty hounds tracking his savage quarry to the death;
[155]
for he kills every visitor from Hellas that he catches. Do not seek to learn his reason, and I will not say; for how could I help you?
Teucer
Lady, you have spoken well. May the gods grant you a return for your kindness!
[160]
Although you have a body like Helen's, your heart is not like hers, but very different. May she die miserably, and never reach the streams of Eurotas! But may you always have good fortune, lady.
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Table of Contents:
Euripides. The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 2. Helen, translated by E. P. Coleridge. New York. Random House. 1938.
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