But rather obey my words indeed, so that you may be just and I may recover my wife.
Maiden, it is for you to judge these arguments; and so decide that you may please all.
§998ἐγὼ πέφυκά τʼ εὐσεβεῖν καὶ βούλομαι, §999φιλῶ τʼ ἐμαυτήν, καὶ κλέος τοὐμοῦ πατρὸς §1000οὐκ ἂν μιάναιμʼ, οὐδὲ συγγόνῳ χάριν §1001δοίην ἂν ἐξ ἧς δυσκλεὴς φανήσομαι.
I am by nature born to be pious and I so desire, and I love myself, and I would not defile my father's glory, nor would I grant a favor to my brother from which I shall appear infamous.
§1002ἔνεστι δʼ ἱερὸν τῆς δίκης ἐμοὶ μέγα §1003ἐν τῇ φύσει· καὶ τοῦτο Νηρέως πάρα §1004ἔχουσα σῴζειν, Μενέλεως, πειράσομαι.
For there is a great temple of justice within my nature; and having this from Nereus, Menelaus, I will try to preserve it.
§1005Ἥρᾳ δʼ, ἐπείπερ βούλεταί σʼ εὐεργετεῖν, §1006ἐς ταὐτὸν οἴσω ψῆφον· ἡ Κύπρις δʼ ἐμοὶ §1007ἵλεως μὲν εἴη, ξυμβέβηκε δʼ οὐδαμοῦ· §1008πειράσομαι δὲ παρθένος μένειν ἀεί.
And to Hera, since she wishes to do you good, I will cast the same vote; and as for Cypris, may she indeed be gracious to me, but she has no part in me, and I will try to remain a virgin forever.
And as for the reproaches you cast against my father at this tomb, I have the very same view.
ἀδικοίημεν ἄν, §1011εἰ μὴ ἀποδώσω· καὶ γὰρ ἂν κεῖνος βλέπων §1012ἀπέδωκεν ἂν σοὶ τήνδʼ ἔχειν, ταύτῃ δὲ σέ.
We would be doing wrong if I do not restore her; for he, if he were alive and seeing, would have restored her to you to possess, and you to her.
§1013καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδʼ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροις §1014καὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις· ὁ νοῦς §1015τῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δʼ ἔχει §1016ἀθάνατον εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρʼ ἐμπεσών.
For indeed, there is retribution for these things both to the nether dead and to all men above; the mind of those who have died does not indeed live, but it possesses an undying consciousness when it has entered into the undying ether.
§1017ὡς οὖν παραινῶ μὴ μακράν, σιγήσομαι §1018ἅ μου καθικετεύσατʼ, οὐδὲ μωρίᾳ §1019ξύμβουλος ἔσομαι τῇ κασιγνήτου ποτέ.
Therefore, to advise you without many words, I will keep silent about what you implored of me, and I will never be a counselor to my brother's folly.
For I am doing him a favor, though I seem not to do so, if I make him holy instead of impious.
So, do you yourselves find some way; while I, stepping aside out of the way, will keep silent.
§1024ἐκ τῶν θεῶν δʼ ἄρχεσθε χἱκετεύετε §1025τὴν μέν σʼ ἐᾶσαι πατρίδα νοστῆσαι Κύπριν, §1026Ἥρας δὲ τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐν ταὐτῷ μένειν §1027ἣν ἐς σὲ καὶ σὸν πόσιν ἔχει σωτηρίας.
And begin with the gods, and supplicate Cypris to allow you to return to your homeland, and that Hera's goodwill remain in the same state, which she has for you and your husband for your safety.
And you, my deceased father, as far as I have power, shall never be called impious instead of pious.
No one has ever prospered by being unjust, but in justice lie the hopes of safety.
§1032Μενέλαε, πρὸς μὲν παρθένου σεσῴσμεθα· §1033τοὐνθένδε δὴ σὲ τοὺς λόγους φέροντα χρὴ §1034κοινὴν ξυνάπτειν μηχανὴν σωτηρίας.
Menelaus, as far as the maiden is concerned we are saved; from this point, you must bring forward ideas and join in a common plan of safety.
Listen now: you have been a long time in this house, and have been brought up together with the king's servants.
§1037τί τοῦτʼ ἔλεξας;
Why did you say this?
ἐσφέρεις γὰρ ἐλπίδας §1038ὡς δή τι δράσων χρηστὸν ἐς κοινόν γε νῷν.
For you bring in hopes as if indeed you are going to do something good for the common benefit of both of us.
Could you persuade any of those who control the four-horse chariots to give us a carriage?
I might persuade them; but what flight shall we flee, being inexperienced with the plains and the barbarian land?
§1043ἀδύνατον εἶπας.
You have spoken of an impossibility.
φέρε, τί δʼ, εἰ κρυφθεὶς δόμοις §1044κτάνοιμʼ ἄνακτα τῷδε διστόμῳ ξίφει;
Come, what if I, hidden in the palace, should slay the king with this double-edged sword?
His sister would not tolerate you nor keep silent, when you are about to kill her brother.
But neither is there any ship by which we might be saved in flight; for the one we had, the sea possesses.
§1049ἄκουσον, ἤν τι καὶ γυνὴ λέξῃ σοφόν.
Listen, if even a woman might say something wise.
§1050βούλῃ λέγεσθαι, μὴ θανών, λόγῳ θανεῖν;
Do you wish, though not dead, to be said to have died in rumor?
An evil omen indeed; but if I shall gain by it, I am ready to be said to have died in rumor, though not dead.
And indeed, we would lament you with women's shorn hair and dirges before the impious king.
§1055σωτηρίας δὲ τοῦτʼ ἔχει τί νῷν ἄκος;
But what remedy of safety does this hold for us?
§1056παλαιότης γὰρ τῷ λόγῳ γʼ ἔνεστί τις.
For there is a certain staleness in this plan.
I will ask the ruler of this land to bury you in an empty tomb, as having died at sea.
Suppose he grants it; then how shall we be saved without a ship, when you are burying my body in an empty tomb?
I will order him to give a boat, from which I may lower the ornaments for your tomb into the sea's embrace.
How well you said this, except for one thing: if he orders you to perform the burial on land, your pretext brings nothing.
But we will say that it is not the custom in Greece to cover in the earth those who have died at sea.
In this again you are right; then I will sail together and join in lowering the ornaments in the same boat.
You must indeed be present above all, and your sailors who escaped from the shipwreck.