Are thy tears in genuine sorrow for this calamity?
HELEN
An easy task no doubt to escape thy sister's detection!
THEOCLYMENUS
No, surely; impossible. Wilt thou still make this tomb thy abode?
HELEN
Why jeer at me? canst thou not let the dead man be?
THEOCLYMENUS
No, thy loyalty to thy husband's memory makes thee fly from me.
HELEN
I will do so no more; prepare at once for my marriage.
THEOCLYMENUS
Thou hast been long in bringing thyself to it; still I do commend the now.
HELEN
Dost know thy part? Let us forget the past.
THEOCLYMENUS
On what terms? One good turn deserves another.
HELEN
Let us make peace; be reconciled to me.
THEOCLYMENUS
I relinquish my quarrel with thee; let it take wings and fly away.
HELEN
Then by thy knees, since thou art my friend indeed,-THEOCLYMENUSWhat art so bent on winning, that to me thou stretchest out a suppliant hand?
HELEN
My dead husband would I fain bury.
THEOCLYMENUS
What tomb can be bestowed on lost bodies? Wilt thou bury a shade?
HELEN
In Hellas we have a custom, whene'er one is drowned at sea-THEOCLYMENUSWhat is your custom? The race of Pelops truly hath some skill in matters such as this.
HELEN
To hold a burial with woven robes that wrap no corpse.
THEOCLYMENUS
Perform the ceremony; rear the tomb where'er thou wilt.
HELEN
'Tis not thus we give drowned sailors burial.
THEOCLYMENUS
How then? I know nothing of your customs in Hellas.
HELEN
We unmoor, and carry out to sea all that is the dead man's due.
THEOCLYMENUS
What am I to give thee then for thy dead husband?
HELEN
Myself I cannot say; I had no such experience in my previous happy life.
THEOCLYMENUS
Stranger, thou art the bearer of tidings I welcome.
MENELAUS
Well, I do not, nor yet doth the dead man.
THEOCLYMENUS
How do ye bury those who have been drowned at sea?
MENELAUS
Each according to his means.
THEOCLYMENUS
As far as wealth goes, name thy wishes for this lady's sake.
MENELAUS
There must be a blood-offering first to the dead.
THEOCLYMENUS
Blood of what? Do thou show me and I will comply.
MENELAUS
Decide that thyself; whate'er thou givest will suffice.
THEOCLYMENUS
Amongst barbarians 'tis customary to sacrifice a horse or bull, MENELAUSIf thou givest at all, let there be nothing mean in thy gift.
THEOCLYMENUS
I have no lack of such in my rich herds MENELAUSNext an empty bier is decked and carried in procession.
THEOCLYMENUS
It shall be so; what else is it customary to add?
MENELAUS
Bronze arms; for war was his delight.
THEOCLYMENUS
These will be worthy of the race of Pelops, and these will we give.
MENELAUS
And with them all the fair increase of productive earth.
THEOCLYMENUS
And next, how do ye pour these offerings into the billows?
MENELAUS
There must be a ship ready and rowers.
THEOCLYMENUS
How far from the shore does the ship put out?
MENELAUS
So far that the foam in her wake can scarce be seen from the strand.
THEOCLYMENUS
Why so? wherefore doth Hellas observe this custom?
MENELAUS
That the billow may not cast up again our expiatory offerings.
THEOCLYMENUS
Phoenician rowers will soon cover the distance.
MENELAUS
'Twill be well done, and gratifying to Menelaus, too.
THEOCLYMENUS
Canst thou not perform these rites well enough without Helen?
MENELAUS
This task belongs to mother, wife, or children.
THEOCLYMENUS
'Tis her task then, according to thee, to bury her husband.
MENELAUS
To be sure; piety demands that the dead be not robbed of their due.
THEOCLYMENUS
Well, let her go; 'tis my interest to foster piety in a wife.
And thou, enter the house and choose adornment for the dead.
Thyself, too, will not send empty-handed away, since thou hast done her a service. And for the good news thou hast brought me, thou shalt receive raiment instead of going bare, and food, too, that thou mayst reach thy country; for as it is, I see thou art in sorry plight. As for thee, poor lady, waste not thyself in a hopeless case; Menelaus has met his doom, and thy dead husband cannot come to life.
MENELAUS
This then is thy duty, fair young wife; be content with thy present husband, and forget him who has no existence; for this is thy best course in face of what is happening. And if ever I come to Hellas and secure my safety, I will clear thee of thy former ill-repute, if thou prove a dutiful wife to thy true husband.
HELEN
I will; never shall my husband have cause to blame me; thou shalt thyself attend us and be witness thereto. Now go within, poor wanderer, and seek the bath, and change thy raiment. I will show my kindness to thee, and that without delay. For thou wilt perform all service due with kindlier feeling for my dear lord Menelaus, if at my hands thou meet with thy deserts.
(THEOCLYMENUS, HELEN, MENELAUS enter the palace.)CHORUS (singing)strophe 1
Through wooded glen, o'er torrent's flood, and ocean's booming waves rushed the mountain-goddess, mother of the gods, in frantic haste, once long ago, yearning for her daughter lost, whose name men dare not utter; loudly rattled the Bacchic castanets in shrill accord, what time those maidens, swift as whirlwinds, sped forth with the goddess on her chariot yoked to wild creatures, in quest of her that was ravished from the circling choir of virgins; here was Artemis with her bow, and there the grim-eyed goddess, sheathed in mail, and spear in hand. But Zeus looked down from his throne in heaven, and turned the issue otherwhither.
antistrophe 1
1
strophe 2
But when for gods and tribes of men alike she made an end to festal cheer, Zeus spoke out, seeking to soothe the mother's moody soul, "Ye stately Graces, go banish from Demeter's angry heart the grief her wanderings bring upon her for her child, and go, ye Muses too, with tuneful choir." Thereon did Cypris, fairest of the blessed gods, first catch up the crashing cymbals, native to that land, and the drum with tight-stretched skin, and then Demeter smiled, and in her hand. did take the deep-toned flute, well pleased with its loud note.
antistrophe 2