It is for you to manage everything; only may there be escorting breezes for the sail and a swift course for the ship.
§1075ἔσται· πόνους γὰρ δαίμονες παύσουσί μου.
It shall be so; for the gods will end my labors.
§1076ἀτὰρ θανόντα τοῦ μʼ ἐρεῖς πεπυσμένη;
But from whom will you say you have learned that I died?
From you; and say that you alone escaped death, sailing with the son of Atreus, and that you saw him die.
Indeed, these rags wrapped around my body will bear witness with me of the ship's wreckage.
§1081ἐς καιρὸν ἦλθε, τότε δʼ ἄκαιρʼ ἀπώλλυτο·
They came at an opportune time, though then they were lost inopportunely.
§1082τὸ δʼ ἄθλιον κεῖνʼ εὐτυχὲς τάχʼ ἂν πέσοι.
That wretchedness may perhaps turn out to be fortunate.
Is it necessary for me to enter the palace with you, or should we sit quietly by this tomb?
Stay here; for even if he does you any wrong, this tomb and your sword would protect you.
§1087ἐγὼ δʼ ἐς οἴκους βᾶσα βοστρύχους τεμῶ §1088πέπλων τε λευκῶν μέλανας ἀνταλλάξομαι §1089παρῇδί τʼ ὄνυχα φόνιον ἐμβαλῶ χροός.
And I, having gone into the house, will cut my locks, and exchange white robes for black ones, and inflict a bloody nail upon the skin of my cheek.
§1090μέγας γὰρ ἁγών, καὶ βλέπω δύο ῥοπάς· §1091ἢ γὰρ θανεῖν δεῖ μʼ, ἢν ἁλῶ τεχνωμένη, §1092ἢ πατρίδα τʼ ἐλθεῖν καὶ σὸν ἐκσῷσαι δέμας.
For the contest is great, and I see two turnings of the scale: for either I must die, if I am caught scheming, or return to my homeland and save your body.
§1093ὦ πότνιʼ ἣ Δίοισιν ἐν λέκτροις πίτνεις §1094Ἥρα, δύʼ οἰκτρὼ φῶτʼ ἀνάψυξον πόνων, §1095αἰτούμεθʼ ὀρθὰς ὠλένας πρὸς οὐρανὸν §1096ῥίπτονθʼ, ἵνʼ οἰκεῖς ἀστέρων ποικίλματα.
O mistress, who recline on the bed of Zeus, Hera, relieve two wretched mortals of their labors; we beg you, stretching our arms upright toward heaven, where you dwell among the starry embroideries.
And you, who won the prize of beauty at the cost of my marriage, daughter of Dione, Cypris, do not destroy me.
Enough of the outrage with which you outraged me before, by offering my name, not my body, among the barbarians.
And let me die, if you wish to kill me, in my native land.
τί ποτʼ ἄπληστος εἶ κακῶν, §1103ἔρωτας ἀπάτας δόλιά τʼ ἐξευρήματα §1104ἀσκοῦσα φίλτρα θʼ αἱματηρὰ δωμάτων;
Why are you ever insatiable of evils, practicing loves, deceits, and bloody love-charms of houses?
If you were moderate, in other respects you are by nature the sweetest of the gods to mortals; I do not say otherwise.
§1107σὲ τὰν ἐναύλοις ὑπὸ δενδροκόμοις §1108μουσεῖα καὶ θάκους ἐνί- §1109ζουσαν ἀναβοάσω, §1110σὲ τὰν ἀοιδοτάταν ὄρνιθα μελῳδὸν §1111ἀηδόνα δακρυόεσσαν, §1111aἔλθʼ ὦ διὰ ξουθᾶν §1112γενύων ἐλελιζομένα §1113θρήνων ἐμοὶ ξυνεργός, §1114Ἑλένας μελέας πόνους §1115τὸν Ἰλιάδων τʼ ἀει- §1115aδούσᾳ δακρυόεντα πότμον §1116Ἀχαιῶν ὑπὸ λόγχαις·
You, who sit in the musical haunts and seats under the leafy glens, I will call upon, you, the most musical of singing birds, the sorrowful nightingale; come, trilling through your tawny throat, as a helper in my laments, singing of the wretched Helen's labors and the tearful fate of the daughters of Troy under the spears of the Achaeans.
§1117ὅτʼ ἔδραμε ῥόθια πεδία βαρβάρῳ πλάτᾳ §1118ὅτʼ ἔμολεν ἔμολε, μέλεα Πριαμίδαις ἄγων §1119Λακεδαίμονος ἄπο λέχεα §1120σέθεν, ὦ Ἑλένα, Πάρις αἰνόγαμος §1121πομπαῖσιν Ἀφροδίτας.
When the roaring waves of the plain ran with the barbarian oar, when he came, he came, bringing wretched marriage-beds for the sons of Priam from Lacedaemon— your marriage-bed, O Helen, Paris of ill-omened marriage, under the guidance of Aphrodite.
§1122πολλοὶ δʼ Ἀχαιῶν δορὶ καὶ πετρίναις §1123ῥιπαῖσιν ἐκπνεύσαντες Ἅι- §1124δαν μέλεον ἔχουσιν, §1125ταλαινᾶν ἀλόχων κείραντες ἔθειραν· §1126ἄνυμφα δὲ μέλαθρα κεῖται·
And many of the Achaeans, having breathed their last under the spear and the showers of stones, hold wretched Hades, leaving their unhappy wives to shear their hair; and the bridal chambers lie empty of brides.
§1126aπολλοὺς δὲ πυρσεύσας §1127φλογερὸν σέλας ἀμφιρύταν §1128Εὔβοιαν εἷλʼ Ἀχαιῶν §1129μονόκωπος ἀνήρ, πέτραις §1129aΚαφηρίσιν ἐμβαλὼν §1130Αἰγαίαις τʼ ἐνάλοις δόλιον §1131ἀκταῖς ἀστέρα λάμψας.
And many others, a single-oared man destroyed, lighting a fiery blaze around sea-girt Euboea, casting them upon the Capherean rocks and the coastal reefs of the Aegean sea, shining a deceitful star.
§1132ἀλίμενα δʼ ὄρεα Μάλεα χειμάτων πνοᾷ, §1133ὅτʼ ἔσυτο πατρίδος ἀποπρό, βαρβάρου στολᾶς §1134γέρας, οὐ γέρας ἀλλʼ ἔριν, §1135Δαναῶν Μενέλας ἐπὶ ναυσὶν ἄγων, §1136εἴδωλον ἱερὸν Ἥρας.
And the harborless mountains of Malea by the blast of winter storms, when he rushed far from his homeland, carrying on his ships no prize, but a strife for the Danaans, Menelaus carrying the prize of the barbarian expedition, the holy phantom of Hera.
§1137ὅ τι θεὸς ἢ μὴ θεὸς ἢ τὸ μέσον, §1138τίς φησʼ ἐρευνήσας βροτῶν §1139μακρότατον πέρας εὑρεῖν §1140ὃς τὰ θεῶν ἐσορᾷ §1141δεῦρο καὶ αὖθις ἐκεῖσε §1142καὶ πάλιν ἀντιλόγοις §1143πηδῶντʼ ἀνελπίστοις τύχαις;
What is a god, or what is not a god, or what is in between, what mortal can say he has found by searching to the furthest limit, when he sees the affairs of the gods leaping hither and thither and back again in unexpected and contradictory fortunes?
You were born, O Helen, a daughter of Zeus; for the winged father begot you in Leda's bosom.
§1147κᾆτʼ ἰαχήθης καθʼ Ἑλλανίαν §1148προδότις ἄπιστος ἄδικος ἄθεος· οὐδʼ ἔχω §1149τί τὸ σαφὲς ἔτι ποτʼ ἐν βροτοῖς· §1150τὸ τῶν θεῶν δʼ ἔπος ἀλαθὲς ηὗρον.
And then you were shrieked at throughout Greece as a faithless, unjust, godless traitress; nor do I have what is clear anymore among mortals; but I have found the word of the gods to be true.
§1151ἄφρονες ὅσοι τὰς ἀρετὰς πολέμῳ §1152λόγχαισί τʼ ἀλκαίου δορὸς §1153κτᾶσθε, πόνους ἀμαθῶς θνα- §1154τῶν καταπαυόμενοι·
Fools, as many of you as acquire virtues by war and the spears of the mighty lance, foolishly trying to end the labors of mortals.
For if the contest of blood is to decide it, strife will never leave the cities of men.
By which they won the chambers of the land of Priam's son, when it was possible to settle by words your strife, O Helen.
§1161νῦν δʼ οἳ μὲν Ἅιδᾳ μέλονται κάτω, §1162τείχεα δὲ φλογμὸς ὥστε Διός ἐπέσυτο φλόξ, §1163ἐπὶ δὲ πάθεα πάθεσι φέρεις §1164ἀθλίοις συμφοραῖς αἰλίνοις.
But now, some are cared for by Hades below, and the fire has rushed upon the walls like the flame of Zeus, and you bring suffering upon suffering in wretched, mournful fortunes.
§1165ὦ χαῖρε, πατρὸς μνῆμʼ·
O hail, tomb of my father!
ἐπʼ ἐξόδοισι γὰρ §1166ἔθαψα, Πρωτεῦ, σʼ ἕνεκʼ ἐμῆς προσρήσεως·
For at the exits I buried you, Proteus, for the sake of my greeting.