§1Νείλου μὲν αἵδε καλλιπάρθενοι ῥοαί, §2ὃς ἀντὶ δίας ψακάδος Αἰγύπτου πέδον §3λευκῆς τακείσης χιόνος ὑγραίνει γύας.
These are the fair-virgin streams of the Nile, which, instead of divine rain, moistens the soil of Egypt, its fields, when white snow melts.
§4Πρωτεὺς δʼ ὅτʼ ἔζη τῆσδε γῆς τύραννος ἦν, §5Φάρον μὲν οἰκῶν νῆσον, Αἰγύπτου δʼ ἄναξ, §6ὃς τῶν κατʼ οἶδμα παρθένων μίαν γαμεῖ, §7Ψαμάθην, ἐπειδὴ λέκτρʼ ἀφῆκεν Αἰακοῦ.
Proteus, while he lived, was the ruler of this land, dwelling in the island of Pharos, and king of Egypt, who married one of the maidens of the sea, Psamathe, after she left the bed of Aeacus.
§8τίκτει δὲ τέκνα δισσὰ τοῖσδε δώμασι, §9Θεοκλύμενον ἄρσενʼ §10εὐγενῆ τε παρθένον §11Εἰδώ, τὸ μητρὸς ἀγλάισμʼ, ὅτʼ ἦν βρέφος· §12ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐς ἥβην ἦλθεν ὡραίαν γάμων, §13καλοῦσιν αὐτὴν Θεονόην· τὰ θεῖα γὰρ §14τά τʼ ὄντα καὶ μέλλοντα πάντʼ ἠπίστατο, §15προγόνου λαβοῦσα Νηρέως τιμὰς πάρα.
And she bore two children in this house, Theoclymenus, a male, and a noble maiden, Eido, her mother's pride when she was an infant; but when she came to the ripe age of marriage, they called her Theonoe; for all things divine, both present and future, she knew, having received this honor from her grandfather Nereus.
§16ἡμῖν δὲ γῆ μὲν πατρὶς οὐκ ἀνώνυμος §17Σπάρτη, πατὴρ δὲ Τυνδάρεως· ἔστιν δὲ δὴ §18λόγος τις ὡς Ζεὺς μητέρʼ ἔπτατʼ εἰς ἐμὴν §19Λήδαν κύκνου μορφώματʼ ὄρνιθος λαβών, §20ὃς δόλιον εὐνὴν ἐξέπραξʼ ὑπʼ αἰετοῦ §21δίωγμα φεύγων, εἰ σαφὴς οὗτος λόγος· §22Ἑλένη δʼ ἐκλήθην.
But my native land is Sparta, not without fame, and Tyndareus is my father; yet indeed there is a certain story that Zeus flew to my mother Leda, taking the form of a swan, who accomplished a treacherous embrace, escaping the pursuit of an eagle, if this story is true; and I was called Helen.
ἃ δὲ πεπόνθαμεν κακὰ §23λέγοιμʼ ἄν.
But the evils we have suffered I will relate.
ἦλθον τρεῖς θεαὶ κάλλους πέρι §24Ἰδαῖον ἐς κευθμῶνʼ Ἀλέξανδρον πάρα, §25Ἥρα Κύπρις τε διογενής τε παρθένος, §26μορφῆς θέλουσαι διαπεράνασθαι κρίσιν.
Three goddesses came, for the sake of beauty, to Mount Ida to Alexander, Hera and Cypris and the virgin born of Zeus, wishing to decide the judgment of their forms.
And my beauty—if misfortune can be beautiful— Cypris offering it, so that Alexander would marry me, won.
λιπὼν δὲ βούσταθμʼ Ἰδαῖος Πάρις §30Σπάρτην ἀφίκεθʼ ὡς ἐμὸν σχήσων λέχος.
Leaving the cattle-stalls, Idaean Paris came to Sparta to possess my bed.
§31Ἥρα δὲ μεμφθεῖσʼ οὕνεκʼ οὐ νικᾷ θεάς, §32ἐξηνέμωσε τἄμʼ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ λέχη, §33δίδωσι δʼ οὐκ ἔμʼ, ἀλλʼ ὁμοιώσασʼ ἐμοὶ §34εἴδωλον ἔμπνουν οὐρανοῦ ξυνθεῖσʼ ἄπο, §35Πριάμου τυράννου παιδί· καὶ δοκεῖ μʼ ἔχειν — §36κενὴν δόκησιν, οὐκ ἔχων.
But Hera, vexed because she did not defeat the goddesses, made my bed for Alexander as empty as air, and gave not me, but fashioning in my likeness a living phantom made from the sky, to the son of King Priam; and he thinks he holds me— a vain opinion, not holding me.
τὰ δʼ αὖ Διὸς §37βουλεύματʼ ἄλλα τοῖσδε συμβαίνει κακοῖς· §38πόλεμον γὰρ εἰσήνεγκεν Ἑλλήνων χθονὶ §39καὶ Φρυξὶ δυστήνοισιν, ὡς ὄχλου βροτῶν §40πλήθους τε κουφίσειε μητέρα χθόνα §41γνωτόν τε θείη τὸν κράτιστον Ἑλλάδος.
And indeed the other counsels of Zeus happened upon these evils; for he brought war upon the land of the Greeks and the wretched Phrygians, so that he might lighten mother earth from the great crowd of mortals, and make known the strongest man of Greece.
And I was not set forth for the strength of Phrygians, but my name was, as a prize of the spear for the Greeks.
§44λαβὼν δέ μʼ Ἑρμῆς ἐν πτυχαῖσιν αἰθέρος §45νεφέλῃ καλύψας — οὐ γὰρ ἠμέλησέ μου §46Ζεύς — τόνδʼ ἐς οἶκον Πρωτέως ἱδρύσατο, §47πάντων προκρίνας σωφρονέστατον βροτῶν, §48ἀκέραιον ὡς σῴσαιμι Μενέλεῳ λέχος.
But Hermes took me in the folds of the air, covering me in a cloud—for Zeus did not neglect me— and established me in this house of Proteus, choosing him as the most self-controlled of all mortals, so that I might keep my bed undefiled for Menelaus.
§49κἀγὼ μὲν ἐνθάδʼ εἴμʼ, ὁ δʼ ἄθλιος πόσις §50στράτευμʼ ἀθροίσας τὰς ἐμὰς ἀναρπαγὰς §51θηρᾷ πορευθεὶς Ἰλίου πυργώματα.
And I indeed am here, but my wretched husband, having gathered an army, hunts for my abduction, going to the towers of Ilium.
§52ψυχαὶ δὲ πολλαὶ διʼ ἔμʼ ἐπὶ Σκαμανδρίοις §53ῥοαῖσιν ἔθανον· ἡ δὲ πάντα τλᾶσʼ ἐγὼ §54κατάρατός εἰμι καὶ δοκῶ προδοῦσʼ ἐμὸν §55πόσιν συνάψαι πόλεμον Ἕλλησιν μέγαν.
and many souls died for my sake at the streams of Scamander; and I, who have endured all things, am cursed, and seem to have betrayed my husband and brought a great war upon the Greeks.
§56τί δῆτʼ ἔτι ζῶ;
Why then do I still live?
θεοῦ τόδʼ εἰσήκουσʼ ἔπος §57Ἑρμοῦ, τὸ κλεινὸν ἔτι κατοικήσειν πέδον §58Σπάρτης σὺν ἀνδρί, γνόντος ὡς ἐς Ἴλιον §59οὐκ ἦλθον, ἵνα μὴ λέκτρʼ ὑποστρώσω τινί.
I heard this word of the god Hermes, that I shall yet dwell in the famous plain of Sparta with my husband, when he knows that to Ilium I did not go, so that I would not lay down in bed for anyone.
§60ἕως μὲν οὖν φῶς ἡλίου τόδʼ ἔβλεπεν §61Πρωτεύς, ἄσυλος ἦ γάμων· ἐπεὶ δὲ γῆς §62σκότῳ κέκρυπται, παῖς ὁ τοῦ τεθνηκότος §63θηρᾷ γαμεῖν με.
So long then as Proteus saw this light of the sun, I was safe from marriage; but when he was hidden in the darkness of the earth, the son of the dead man hunts to marry me.
τὸν πάλαι δʼ ἐγὼ πόσιν §64τιμῶσα Πρωτέως μνῆμα προσπίτνω τόδε §65ἱκέτις, ἵνʼ ἀνδρὶ τἀμὰ διασῴσῃ λέχη, §66ὡς, εἰ καθʼ Ἑλλάδʼ ὄνομα δυσκλεὲς φέρω, §67μή μοι τὸ σῶμά γʼ ἐνθάδʼ αἰσχύνην ὄφλῃ.
But honoring my former husband I fall before this tomb of Proteus as a suppliant, so that he may preserve my bed for my husband, so that, even if I bear an infamous name throughout Greece, my body at least may not incur shame here.
§68τίς τῶνδʼ ἐρυμνῶν δωμάτων ἔχει κράτος;
Who has power over these strong halls?
For the house is worthy to compare with wealth, with its royal cornices and well-built structures.
§71ἔα·
Ah!
§72ὦ θεοί, τίνʼ εἶδον ὄψιν;
O gods, what sight have I seen?
I see the most hateful, murderous likeness of a woman, who destroyed me and all the Achaeans.
θεοί σʼ, ὅσον μίμημʼ ἔχεις §75Ἑλένης, ἀποπτύσειαν.
May the gods spit you out, as much as you have the likeness of Helen.
εἰ δὲ μὴ ʼν ξένῃ §76γαίᾳ πόδʼ εἶχον, τῷδʼ ἂν εὐστόχῳ πτερῷ §77ἀπόλαυσιν εἰκοῦς ἔθανες ἂν Διὸς κόρης.
If I did not have my foot in a foreign land, you would have died by this well-aimed wing, as a reward for resembling the daughter of Zeus.
Why, O wretched man—whoever you are, you turn away from me and hate me because of that woman's misfortunes?
§80ἥμαρτον· ὀργῇ δʼ εἶξα μᾶλλον ἤ με χρῆν·
I was wrong; I yielded to anger more than I should have.