§1347οἲ ἐγώ·
Ah me!
τίνας τούσδʼ εἰσορῶ;
Who are these I see?
You must be silent; for you have come as safety for us, not for yourself.
§1349ἔχεσθʼ ἔχεσθε·
Hold her, hold her!
φάσγανον δὲ πρὸς δέρῃ §1350βάλλοντες ἡσυχάζεθʼ, ὡς εἰδῇ τόδε §1351Μενέλαος, οὕνεκʼ ἄνδρας, οὐ Φρύγας κακούς, §1352εὑρὼν ἔπραξεν οἷα χρὴ πράσσειν κακούς.
And placing the sword against her throat, keep quiet, so that Menelaus may know this, that having found men, and not cowardly Phrygians, he has fared as cowards ought to fare.
§1353— ἰὼ ἰὼ φίλαι, §1353aκτύπον ἐγείρετε, κτύπον καὶ βοὰν §1354πρὸ μελάθρων, ὅπως ὁ πραχθεὶς φόνος §1355μὴ δεινὸν Ἀργείοισιν ἐμβάλῃ φόβον, §1356βοηδρομῆσαι πρὸς δόμους τυραννικούς, §1357πρὶν ἐτύμως ἴδω τὸν Ἑλένας φόνον §1358καθαιμακτὸν ἐν δόμοις κείμενον, §1359ἢ καὶ λόγον του προσπόλων πυθώμεθα· §1360τὰ μὲν γὰρ οἶδα συμφορᾶς, τὰ δʼ οὐ σαφῶς.
— Oh, oh, friends, raise a din, a din and a cry before the palace, so that the murder committed may not strike terrible fear into the Argives, so that they run to help toward the royal house, before I truly see the murder of Helen, lying blood-stained inside the palace, or we hear the report from some of the servants; for some of the calamity I know, but other things not clearly.
— With justice has the vengeance of the gods come upon Helen.
§1363δακρύοισι γὰρ Ἑλλάδʼ ἅπασαν ἔπλησε, §1364διὰ τὸν ὀλόμενον ὀλόμενον Ἰδαῖον §1365Πάριν, ὃς ἄγαγʼ Ἑλλάδʼ εἰς Ἴλιον.
For she filled all Greece with tears, on account of the ruined, ruined Idaean Paris, who led Greece to Ilium.
§1369Ἀργέϊον ξίφος ἐκ θανάτου πέφευγα §1370βαρβάροις ἐν εὐμάρι- §1371σιν, κεδρωτὰ παστάδων ὑπὲρ τέραμνα §1372Δωρικάς τε τριγλύφους, §1373φροῦδα φροῦδα, γᾶ γᾶ, §1374βαρβάροισι δρασμοῖς.
I have escaped the Argive sword, from death, in barbarian slippers, climbing over the cedar beams of the bedchambers and the Doric triglyphs, gone, gone, oh earth, earth, by my barbarian flight.
§1375αἰαῖ·
Alas!
§1376πᾷ φύγω, ξέναι, πολιὸν αἰθέρʼ ἀμ- §1377πτάμενος ἢ πόντον, Ὠκεανὸς ὃν §1378ταυρόκρανος ἀγκάλαις §1379ἑλίσσων κυκλοῖ χθόνα;
Where shall I flee, stranger women, flying up to the grey ether or to the sea, which Oceanus, the bull-headed Oceanus, in his arms rolling, encircles the earth?
§1380τί δʼ ἔστιν, Ἑλένης πρόσπολʼ. Ἰδαῖον κάρα;
What is it, servant of Helen, Idaean head?
§1381Ἴλιον Ἴλιον, ὤμοι μοι, §1382Φρύγιον ἄστυ καὶ καλλίβωλον Ἴ- §1383δας ὄρος ἱερόν, ὥς σʼ ὀλόμενον στένω §1385βαρβάρῳ βοᾷ διʼ ὀρνιθόγονον §1386ὄμμα κυκνοπτέρου καλλοσύνας, Λήδας §1387σκύμνου, δυσελένας §1388δυσελένας, §1389ξεστῶν περγάμων Ἀπολλωνίων §1389aἐρινύν·
Ilium, Ilium, alas for me, Phrygian city and fertile mountain of Ida, sacred mountain, how I groan for your ruin with barbarian cry, on account of the bird-born eye of swan-feathered beauty, Leda's cub, the evil Helen, the evil Helen, who became the fury of the polished Apollonian citadels, oh, oh!
Wailings, wailings, wretched Dardania, on account of the horsemanship of Ganymede, the bedfellow of Zeus.
§1393σαφῶς λέγʼ ἡμῖν αὔθʼ ἕκαστα τἀν δόμοις.
Tell us clearly each of those things in the house.
§1395αἴλινον αἴλινον ἀρχὰν θανάτου §1396βάρβαροι λέγουσιν, αἰαῖ, §1397Ἀσιάδι φωνᾷ, βασιλέων §1398ὅταν αἷμα χυθῇ κατὰ γᾶν ξίφεσιν §1399σιδαρέοισιν Ἅιδα.
Ailinon, ailinon, the beginning of death, the barbarians utter, alas, in Asian tongue, when the blood of kings is poured upon the earth by the iron swords of Hades.
I came into the house, so that I may tell you each thing, two lions, twin Greeks, arrived.
§1402τῷ μὲν ὁ στρατηλάτας πατὴρ ἐκλῄζεθʼ, §1403ὃ δὲ παῖς Στροφίου, κακόμητις ἀνήρ, §1404οἷος Ὀδυσσεύς, σιγᾷ δόλιος, §1405πιστὸς δὲ φίλοις, θρασὺς εἰς ἀλκάν, §1406ξυνετὸς πολέμου, φόνιός τε δράκων.
To the one, the general was called father, the other was the son of Strophius, a man of evil counsel, like Odysseus, silent and deceitful, faithful to friends, bold in battle, skilled in war, and a murderous dragon.
May he perish, he who, with a quiet disposition, is a criminal.
§1409οἳ δὲ πρὸς θρόνους ἔσω §1409aμολόντες ἇς ἔγημʼ ὁ τοξότας Πάρις §1410γυναικός, ὄμμα δακρύοις §1411πεφυρμένοι, ταπεινοὶ §1412ἕζονθʼ, ὃ μὲν τὸ κεῖθεν, ὃ δὲ §1413τὸ κεῖθεν, ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν πεφραγμένοι.
They went inside to the seats of the woman whom the archer Paris married, their eyes mingled with tears, humiliated they sat down, the one on this side, the other on that side, hemmed in from different quarters.
And they threw, they threw suppliant hands around the knee of Helen, both of them.
§1416ἀνὰ δὲ δρομάδες ἔθορον ἔθορον §1417ἀμφίπολοι Φρύγες· §1418προσεῖπε δʼ ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐν φόβῳ πεσών, §1419μή τις εἴη δόλος.
And up they leaped, they leaped, running to and fro, the Phrygian attendants; and one spoke to another, falling into fear, lest there should be some deceit.
§1420κἀδόκει τοῖς μὲν οὔ, §1421τοῖς δʼ ἐς ἀρκυστάταν §1422μηχανὰν ἐμπλέκειν §1423παῖδα τὰν Τυνδαρίδʼ ὁ §1424μητροφόντας δράκων.
And to some it seemed not to be so, but to others that the mother-killing serpent was entangling the daughter of Tyndareus in a net-like plot.
§1425σὺ δʼ ἦσθα ποῦ τότʼ;
And where were you then?
ἢ πάλαι φεύγεις φόβῳ,
Or had you fled long ago in fear?
§1426Φρυγίοις ἔτυχον Φρυγίοισι νόμοις §1427παρὰ βόστρυχον αὔραν αὔραν §1428Ἑλένας Ἑλένας εὐπαγεῖ §1429κύκλῳ πτερίνῳ πρὸ παρηίδος §1430ἀίσσων βαρβάροις νόμοισιν.
I happened, in Phrygian, Phrygian custom, to be sending a breeze, a breeze past the curls of Helen, of Helen, with a well-made feathered fan, before her cheek, wafting it in barbarian fashion.
§1431ἃ δὲ λίνον ἠλακάτᾳ §1432δακτύλοις ἕλισσεν, §1433νῆμα δʼ ἵετο πέδῳ, §1434σκύλων Φρυγίων ἐπὶ τύμβον ἀγάλ- §1435ματα συστολίσαι χρῄζουσα λίνῳ, §1436φάρεα πορφύρεα, δῶρα Κλυταιμήστρᾳ.
And she was winding flax with her distaff with her fingers, and letting the thread fall to the ground, desiring to drape purple robes as ornaments for Clytemnestra's tomb, purple garments as gifts.
§1437προσεῖπεν δʼ Ὀρέστας §1438Λάκαιναν κόραν· ὦ §1439Διὸς παῖ, θὲς ἴχνος §1440πέδῳ δεῦρʼ ἀποστᾶσα κλισμοῦ, §1441Πέλοπος ἐπὶ προπάτορος ἕδραν §1442παλαιᾶς ἑστίας, §1443ἵνʼ εἰδῇς λόγους ἐμούς. — §1444ἄγει δʼ ἄγει νιν· ἃ δʼ ἐφείπετʼ, §1445οὐ πρόμαντις ὧν ἔμελλεν·
And Orestes spoke to the Laconian maiden: "Oh child of Zeus, set your foot here on the ground, departing from your couch, to the seat of our ancestor Pelops, the ancient hearth, so that you may hear my words." And he leads, he leads her; and she followed, having no foreknowledge of what was to be.
But his accomplice was doing other things, going about them, the wicked Phocian.
§1447οὐκ ἐκποδὼν ἴτʼ;
"Will you not go out of the way?
ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ κακοὶ Φρύγες. §1448ἔκλῃσε δʼ ἄλλον ἄλλοσʼ ἐν §1449στέγαισι· τοὺς μὲν ἐν σταθμοῖ- §1449aσιν ἱππικοῖσι, τοὺς δʼ ἐν ἐξ- §1450έδραισι, τοὺς δʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἐκεῖθεν §1451διαρμόσας ἀποπρὸ δεσποίνας.
But Phrygians are always cowards." And he shut them up, one here, another there, within the chambers; some in the stables, and others in the vestibules, and others here and there, disposing them far away from their mistress.
§1452τί τοὐπὶ τῷδε συμφορᾶς ἐγίγνετο;
What calamity happened after this?