§588σκήπτρῳ δὲ τῷδε σὸν καθαιμάξω κάρα;
Peleus: Shall I dye your head with blood with this scepter?
§589ψαῦσόν γ’, ἵν’ εἰδῇς, καὶ πέλας πρόσελθέ μου.
Menelaus: Touch me indeed, so that you may know, and come near me.
§590σὺ γὰρ μετ’ ἀνδρῶν, ὦ κάκιστε κἀκ κακῶν;
Peleus: For are you among men, O worst of villains, and born of villains?
§591σοὶ ποῦ μέτεστιν ὡς ἐν ἀνδράσιν λόγου;
Where is there any share of account for you as among men?
§592ὅστις πρὸς ἀνδρὸς Φρυγὸς ἀπηλλάγης λέχος, §593ἄκλῃστ’ ἄδουλα δώμαθ’ ἑστίας λιπών, §594ὡς δὴ γυναῖκα σώφρον’ ἐν δόμοις ἔχων §595πασῶν κακίστην.
You who had your marriage bed taken from you by a Phrygian man, leaving your home and hearth unbolted and unguarded, as if indeed you had a chaste wife in your house, when she was the worst of all.
οὐδ’ ἂν εἰ βούλοιτό τις §596σώφρων γένοιτο Σπαρτιατίδων κόρη, §597αἳ ξὺν νέοισιν ἐξερημοῦσαι δόμους §598γυμνοῖσι μηροῖς καὶ πέπλοις ἀνειμένοις §599δρόμους παλαίστρας τ’ οὐκ ἀνασχετοὺς ἐμοὶ §600κοινὰς ἔχουσι.
Not even if someone wished, could a Spartan girl become chaste, who, leaving their homes empty with young men, with bare thighs and loosened robes, share racecourses and gymnasiums, which are intolerable to me.
κᾆτα θαυμάζειν χρεὼν §601εἰ μὴ γυναῖκας σώφρονας παιδεύετε;
And then must we wonder if you do not train your women to be chaste?
§602Ἑλένην ἐρέσθαι χρῆν τάδ’, ἥτις ἐκ δόμων §603τὸν σὸν λιποῦσα Φίλιον ἐξεκώμασε §604νεανίου μετ’ ἀνδρὸς εἰς ἄλλην χθόνα.
One should have asked Helen this, who, leaving your bond of love, went reveling out of the house with a young man to another land.
And then, for her sake, did you assemble so great a crowd of Greeks and lead them to Ilium?
§607ἣν χρῆν σ’ ἀποπτύσαντα μὴ κινεῖν δόρυ, §608κακὴν ἐφευρόντ’, ἀλλ’ ἐᾶν αὐτοῦ μένειν §609μισθόν τε δόντα μήποτ’ εἰς οἴκους λαβεῖν.
Whom you ought to have spat upon and not moved a spear for, having found her bad, but let her remain there and paid a price never to receive her back into your house.
§610ἀλλ’ οὔτι ταύτῃ σὸν φρόνημ’ ἐπούρισας, §611ψυχὰς δὲ πολλὰς κἀγαθὰς ἀπώλεσας, §612παίδων τ’ ἄπαιδας γραῦς ἔθηκας ἐν δόμοις, §613πολιούς τ’ ἀφείλου πατέρας εὐγενῆ τέκνα.
But you did not blow your mind's wind in this direction, but destroyed many noble lives, and made old women childless in their homes, and took noble children away from grey-haired fathers.
Of whom I, unhappy, am one; and I look upon you, as a polluting murderer of Achilles.
§616ὃς οὐδὲ τρωθεὶς ἦλθες ἐκ Τροίας μόνος, §617κάλλιστα τεύχη δ’ ἐν καλοῖσι σάγμασιν §618ὅμοι’ ἐκεῖσε δεῦρό τ’ ἤγαγες πάλιν.
Who did not even return wounded from Troy alone, but brought back the most beautiful armor in beautiful cases in the same condition as you took it there.
§619κἀγὼ μὲν ηὔδων τῷ γαμοῦντι μήτε σοὶ §620κῆδος ξυνάψαι μήτε δώμασιν λαβεῖν §621κακῆς γυναικὸς πῶλον· ἐκφέρουσι γὰρ §622μητρῷ’ ὀνείδη.
And I indeed was telling the bridegroom neither to join alliance with you, nor to receive into his house the filly of a bad woman; for they carry out their mother's reproaches.
τοῦτο καὶ σκοπεῖτέ μοι, §623μνηστῆρες, ἐσθλῆς θυγατέρ’ ἐκ μητρὸς λαβεῖν.
Consider this too for me, suitors, to take a daughter from a noble mother.
And besides these, what insults did you commit against your brother, ordering him to slaughter his daughter, most foolishly?
§626οὕτως ἔδεισας μὴ οὐ κακὴν δάμαρτ’ ἔχῃς.
So much did you fear lest you should not keep your bad wife.
§627ἑλὼν δὲ Τροίαν—εἶμι γὰρ κἀνταῦθά σοι— §628οὐκ ἔκτανες γυναῖκα χειρίαν λαβών, §629ἀλλ’, ὡς ἐσεῖδες μαστόν, ἐκβαλὼν ξίφος §630φίλημ’ ἐδέξω, προδότιν αἰκάλλων κύνα, §631ἥσσων πεφυκὼς Κύπριδος, ὦ κάκιστε σύ.
And having taken Troy — for I will go there for you too — you did not kill your wife when you had her in your power, but, when you saw her breast, casting away your sword, you received a kiss, fawning on the treacherous bitch, being inferior to Cypris, O worst of men.
§632κἄπειτ’ ἐς οἴκους τῶν ἐμῶν ἐλθὼν τέκνων §633πορθεῖς ἀπόντων, καὶ γυναῖκα δυστυχῆ §634κτείνεις ἀτίμως παῖδά θ’, ὃς κλαίοντά σε §635καὶ τὴν ἐν οἴκοις σὴν καταστήσει κόρην, §636κεἰ τρὶς νόθος πέφυκε.
And then, coming to the house of my children when they are away, you ravage it, and a wretched woman you kill dishonorably, and her child, who will make you and your daughter in the house weep, even if he is thrice a bastard.
For often indeed dry land has surpassed deep soil in its sowing, and many bastards are better than legitimate children.
§639ἀλλ’ ἐκκομίζου παῖδα.
But take your child away.
κύδιον βροτοῖς §640πένητα χρηστὸν ἢ κακὸν καὶ πλούσιον §641γαμβρὸν πεπᾶσθαι καὶ φίλον· σὺ δ’ οὐδὲν εἶ.
It is better for mortals to possess a poor but good son-in-law and friend than a bad and wealthy one; but you are nothing.
§642σμικρᾶς ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς νεῖκος ἀνθρώποις μέγα §643γλῶσσ’ ἐκπορίζει· τοῦτο δ’ οἱ σοφοὶ βροτῶν §644ἐξευλαβοῦνται, μὴ φίλοις τεύχειν ἔριν.
Chorus: From a small beginning, a great strife among men the tongue provides; and the wise among mortals guard against this, lest they create strife for friends.
§645τί δῆτ’ ἂν εἴποις τοὺς γέροντας, ὡς σοφοί, §646καὶ τοὺς φρονεῖν δοκοῦντας Ἕλλησίν ποτε; §647ὅτ’ ὢν σὺ Πηλεὺς καὶ πατρὸς κλεινοῦ γεγώς, §648κῆδος συνάψας, αἰσχρὰ μὲν σαυτῷ λέγεις §649ἡμῖν δ’ ὀνείδη διὰ γυναῖκα βάρβαρον,
Menelaus: How then can you say that old men are wise, and those who once seemed to have understanding among Greeks, when you, being Peleus and born of a famous father, having joined alliance, speak shameful things of yourself and reproaches against us because of a barbarian woman?
§650ἣν χρῆν σ’ ἐλαύνειν τήνδ’ ὑπὲρ Νείλου ῥοὰς §651ὑπέρ τε Φᾶσιν, κἀμὲ παρακαλεῖν ἀεί §652οὖσαν μὲν ἠπειρῶτιν, οὗ πεσήματα §653πλεῖσθ’ Ἑλλάδος πέπτωκε δοριπετῆ νεκρῶν, §654τοῦ σοῦ δὲ παιδὸς αἵματος κοινουμένην.
Whom you ought to have driven beyond the streams of the Nile and beyond the Phasis, and always encouraged me, since she is an inhabitant of the continent, where the fallen bodies of Greece have fallen in greatest numbers by the spear, and she is a partner in the blood of your son.
For Paris, who slew your son Achilles, was Hector's brother, and this woman was Hector's wife.
§657καὶ τῇδέ γ’ εἰσέρχῃ σὺ ταὐτὸν εἰς στέγος §658καὶ ξυντράπεζον ἀξιοῖς ἔχειν βίον, §659τίκτειν δ’ ἐν οἴκοις παῖδας ἐχθίστους ἐᾷς.
And indeed you enter the same roof with her, and think it right to have a life sharing the same table, and allow her to bear most hateful children in the house.
Which I, through foresight for you and me, O elder, wishing to kill, am being snatched from my hands.
§662καίτοι φέρ’· ἅψασθαι γὰρ οὐκ αἰσχρὸν λόγου· §663ἢν παῖς μὲν ἡμὴ μὴ τέκῃ, ταύτης δ’ ἄπο §664βλάστωσι παῖδες, τῆσδε γῆς Φθιώτιδος §665στήσεις τυράννους, βάρβαροι δ’ ὄντες γένος §666Ἕλλησιν ἄρξουσ’;
And yet, come, for it is not shameful to touch upon argument; if my daughter does not bear children, and from this woman children are born, will you set up rulers of this Phthian land, who, being barbarians by race, shall rule over Greeks?
εἶτ’ ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ φρονῶ §667μισῶν τὰ μὴ δίκαια, σοὶ δ’ ἔνεστι νοῦς;
Am I then not wise in hating what is not just, while you have sense in you?