§81μισεῖ γὰρ Ἑλλὰς πᾶσα τὴν Διὸς κόρην.
For all Greece hates the daughter of Zeus.
§82σύγγνωθι δʼ ἡμῖν τοῖς λελεγμένοις, γύναι.
Forgive me for what was said, lady.
§83τίς δʼ εἶ;
But who are you?
πόθεν γῆς τῆσδʼ ἐπεστράφης πέδον;
From what land have you turned your steps to the soil of this country?
§84εἷς τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ὦ γύναι, τῶν ἀθλίων.
One of the wretched Achaeans, lady.
§85οὐ τἄρα σʼ Ἑλένην εἰ στυγεῖς θαυμαστέον.
It is no wonder, then, if you hate Helen.
§86ἀτὰρ τίς εἶ πόθεν;
But who are you, and from where?
τίνος δʼ αὐδᾶν σε χρή;
By whose name should one call you?
My name indeed is Teucer, and the father who begot me is Telamon, and Salamis is the fatherland that reared me.
§89τί δῆτα Νείλου τούσδʼ ἐπιστρέφῃ γύας;
Why indeed do you turn to these fields of the Nile?
§90φυγὰς πατρῴας ἐξελήλαμαι χθονός.
I have been driven out as an exile from my father's land.
§91τλήμων ἂν εἴης· τίς δέ σʼ ἐκβάλλει πάτρας;
Wretched you must be; but who drives you from your country?
§92Τελαμὼν ὁ φύσας.
Telamon, my father.
τίνʼ ἂν ἔχοις μᾶλλον φίλον;
Whom could you have more dear?
§93ἐκ τοῦ;
For what cause?
τὸ γάρ τοι πρᾶγμα συμφορὰν ἔχει.
For indeed the matter holds misfortune.
§94Αἴας μʼ ἀδελφὸς ὤλεσʼ ἐν Τροίᾳ θανών.
My brother Ajax destroyed me by dying at Troy.
§95πῶς;
How?
οὔ τί που σῷ φασγάνῳ βίον στερείς;
Surely he was not deprived of life by your sword?
§96οἰκεῖον αὐτὸν ὤλεσʼ ἅλμʼ ἐπὶ ξίφος.
His own leap upon his sword destroyed him.
§97μανέντʼ;
Maddened?
ἐπεὶ τίς σωφρονῶν τλαίη τάδʼ ἄν;
For who in his right mind would dare this?
§98τὸν Πηλέως τινʼ οἶσθʼ Ἀχιλλέα γόνον;
Do you know a certain Achilles, the son of Peleus?
§99ναί·
Yes.
§99aμνηστήρ ποθʼ Ἑλένης ἦλθεν, ὡς ἀκούομεν.
He once came as a suitor for Helen, as we hear.
§100θανὼν ὅδʼ ὅπλων ἔριν ἔθηκε συμμάχοις.
He, dying, set a strife of weapons among the allies.
§101καὶ δὴ τί τοῦτʼ Αἴαντι γίγνεται κακόν;
And how indeed does this become an evil for Ajax?
§102ἄλλου λαβόντος ὅπλʼ ἀπηλλάχθη βίου.
Another having received the arms, he departed from life.
§103σὺ τοῖς ἐκείνου δῆτα πήμασιν νοσεῖς;
Do you indeed suffer because of his troubles?
§104ὁθούνεκʼ αὐτῷ γʼ οὐ ξυνωλόμην ὁμοῦ.
Because I did not perish together with him.
§105ἦλθες γάρ, ὦ ξένʼ, Ἰλίου κλεινὴν πόλιν;
For did you go, stranger, to the famous city of Ilium?
§106καὶ ξύν γε πέρσας αὐτὸς ἀνταπωλόμην.
Yes, and having helped to sack it, I was destroyed in turn myself.
§107ἤδη γὰρ ἧπται καὶ κατείργασται πυρί;
For is it already set on fire and consumed by flames?
§108ὥστʼ οὐδʼ ἴχνος γε τειχέων εἶναι σαφές.
So that not even a clear trace of the walls remains.
§109ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλένη, διὰ σʼ ἀπόλλυνται Φρύγες.
O wretched Helen, because of you the Phrygians perish.
§110καὶ πρός γʼ Ἀχαιοί· μεγάλα δʼ εἴργασται κακά.
And the Achaeans too; great evils have been wrought.
§111πόσον χρόνον γὰρ διαπεπόρθηται πόλις;
For how long a time has the city been sacked?
§112ἑπτὰ σχεδόν τι καρπίμους ἐτῶν κύκλους.
Nearly seven fruitful cycles of years.
§113χρόνον δʼ ἐμείνατʼ ἄλλον ἐν Τροίᾳ πόσον;
And how much other time did you remain at Troy?
§114πολλὰς σελήνας, δέκα διελθούσας ἔτη.
Many moons, completing ten years.
§115ἦ καὶ γυναῖκα Σπαρτιᾶτιν εἵλετε;
Did you indeed capture the Spartan woman?
§116Μενέλαος αὐτὴν ἦγʼ ἐπισπάσας κόμης.
Menelaus led her away, dragging her by the hair.
§117εἶδες σὺ τὴν δύστηνον;
Did you yourself see the wretched woman?
ἢ κλύων λέγεις;
Or do you speak from hearsay?
§118ὥσπερ γε σέ, οὐδὲν ἧσσον, ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶ.
Just as I see you, no less, I saw her with my eyes.
§119σκοπεῖτε μὴ δόκησιν εἴχετʼ ἐκ θεῶν.
Consider whether you held a phantom from the gods.
§120ἄλλου λόγου μέμνησο, μὴ κείνης ἔτι.
Speak of another matter, no longer of her.
§121οὕτω δοκεῖτε τὴν δόκησιν ἀσφαλῆ;
Do you think that appearance is so certain?
§122αὐτὸς γὰρ ὄσσοις εἰδόμην· καὶ νοῦς ὁρᾷ.
For I myself saw her with my eyes; and my mind sees.
§123ἤδη δʼ ἐν οἴκοις σὺν δάμαρτι Μενέλεως;
Is Menelaus already at home with his wife?
§124οὔκουν ἐν Ἄργει γʼ οὐδʼ ἐπʼ Εὐρώτα ῥοαῖς.
At least not in Argos, nor at the streams of Eurotas.
§125αἰαῖ·
Alas!
κακὸν τόδʼ εἶπας οἷς κακὸν λέγεις.
You have spoken an evil thing for those to whom you tell this evil.
§126ὡς κεῖνος ἀφανὴς σὺν δάμαρτι κλῄζεται.
Since he is reported to have vanished together with his wife.
§127οὐ πᾶσι πορθμὸς αὑτὸς Ἀργείοισιν ἦν;
Was not the passage the same for all the Argives?
§128ἦν, ἀλλὰ χειμὼν ἄλλοσʼ ἄλλον ὥρισεν.
It was, but a storm separated them, some to one place, some to another.
§129ποίοισιν ἐν νώτοισι ποντίας ἁλός;
Upon what ridges of the watery sea?
§130μέσον περῶσι πέλαγος Αἰγαίου πόρου.
While crossing the middle of the deep Aegean strait.
§131κἀκ τοῦδε Μενέλαν οὔτις εἶδʼ ἀφιγμένον;
And since then, has no one seen Menelaus arrived?
§132οὐδείς· θανὼν δὲ κλῄζεται καθʼ Ἑλλάδα.
No one; and he is rumored to be dead throughout Greece.
§133ἀπωλόμεσθα·
We are ruined!
Θεστιὰς δʼ ἔστιν κόρη;
But is the daughter of Thestius alive?
§134Λήδαν ἔλεξας;
Do you speak of Leda?
οἴχεται θανοῦσα δή.
She is gone, indeed dead.
§135οὔ πού νιν Ἑλένης αἰσχρὸν ὤλεσεν κλέος;
Surely it was not the shameful fame of Helen that destroyed her?
§136φασίν, βρόχῳ γʼ ἅψασαν εὐγενῆ δέρην.
They say so, having fastened her noble neck in a noose.
§137οἱ Τυνδάρειοι δʼ εἰσὶν ἢ οὐκ εἰσὶν κόροι;
And are the sons of Tyndareus alive, or are they no more?
§138τεθνᾶσι καὶ οὐ τεθνᾶσι· δύο δʼ ἐστὸν λόγω.
They are dead, and they are not dead; there are two stories.
§139πότερος ὁ κρείσσων;
Which is the better?
ὦ τάλαινʼ ἐγὼ κακῶν.
O wretched am I in my evils!
§140ἄστροις σφʼ ὁμοιωθέντε φάσʼ εἶναι θεώ.
They say that they, made like stars, are gods.
§141καλῶς ἔλεξας τοῦτο· θάτερον δὲ τί;
You spoke well of this; but what of the other?
§142σφαγαῖς ἀδελφῆς οὕνεκʼ ἐκπνεῦσαι βίον.
That because of their sister's slaughter they breathed out their life.
§143ἅλις δὲ μύθων· οὐ διπλᾶ χρῄζω στένειν.
But enough of stories; I do not wish to lament twice.
§144ὧν δʼ οὕνεκʼ ἦλθον τούσδε βασιλείους δόμους, §145τὴν θεσπιῳδὸν Θεονόην χρῄζων ἰδεῖν, §146σὺ προξένησον, ὡς τύχω μαντευμάτων §147ὅπῃ νεὼς στείλαιμʼ ἂν οὔριον πτερὸν §148ἐς γῆν ἐναλίαν Κύπρον, οὗ μʼ ἐθέσπισεν §149οἰκεῖν Ἀπόλλων, ὄνομα νησιωτικὸν §150Σαλαμῖνα θέμενον τῆς ἐκεῖ χάριν πάτρας.
But for the sake of which I came to these royal halls, wishing to see the prophetic Theonoe, do you guide me, so that I may obtain prophecies, as to how I might direct the favorable wing of my ship to the sea-girt land of Cyprus, where Apollo prophesied that I should dwell, establishing a namesake island 'Salamis' for the sake of my fatherland there.
§151πλοῦς, ὦ ξένʼ, αὐτὸς σημανεῖ· σὺ δʼ ἐκλιπὼν §152γῆν τήνδε φεῦγε πρίν σε παῖδα Πρωτέως §153ἰδεῖν, ὃς ἄρχει τῆσδε γῆς· ἄπεστι δὲ §154κυσὶν πεποιθὼς ἐν φοναῖς θηροκτόνοις· §155κτείνει γὰρ Ἕλληνʼ ὅντινʼ ἂν λάβῃ ξένον.
The voyage itself, stranger, will show; but do you, leaving flee this land before the son of Proteus sees you, who rules this land; but he is away, trusting in his dogs in the slaughter of beasts; for he kills any Greek stranger he catches.