§2.116.1Ἑλένης μὲν ταύτην ἄπιξιν παρὰ Πρωτέα ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες γενέσθαι· δοκέει δέ μοι καὶ Ὅμηρος τὸν λόγον τοῦτον πυθέσθαι· ἀλλʼ οὐ γὰρ ὁμοίως ἐς τὴν ἐποποιίην εὐπρεπὴς ἦν τῷ ἑτέρῳ τῷ περ ἐχρήσατο, ἑκὼν μετῆκε αὐτόν, δηλώσας ὡς καὶ τοῦτον ἐπίσταιτο τὸν λόγον·
The priests said that this arrival of Helen at the court of Proteus occurred; and it seems to me that Homer also heard of this story; but since it was not so suitable for epic poetry as the other one which he actually used, he willingly set it aside, though showing that he also knew this story.
§2.116.2δῆλον δὲ κατὰ ἐποίησε ἐν Ἰλιάδι (καὶ οὐδαμῇ ἄλλῃ ἀνεπόδισε ἑωυτόν) πλάνην τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὡς ἀπηνείχθη ἄγων Ἑλένην τῇ τε δὴ ἄλλῃ πλαζόμενος καὶ ὡς ἐς Σιδῶνα τῆς Φοινίκης ἀπίκετο.
And this is clear from where he composed in the Iliad (and nowhere else did he contradict himself) concerning the wandering of Alexander, how he was driven off course while bringing Helen, wandering both to other places and how he arrived at Sidon in Phoenicia. And this is clear from where he composed in the Iliad (and nowhere else did he contradict himself) concerning the wandering of Alexander, how he was driven off course while bringing Helen, wandering both to other places and how he arrived at Sidon in Phoenicia.
§2.116.3ἐπιμέμνηται δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν Διομήδεος ἀριστείῃ· λέγει δὲ τὰ ἔπεα ὧδε.
He mentions this in "The Valiant Deeds of Diomedes"; and he speaks the verses thus:
"
ἔνθʼ ἔσαν οἱ πέπλοι παμποίκιλοι, ἔργα γυναικῶν
Σιδονίων, τὰς αὐτὸς Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδής
ἤγαγε Σιδονίηθεν, ἐπιπλὼς εὐρέα πόντον,
τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν Ἑλένην περ ἀνήγαγεν εὐπατέρειαν. "
"There were the richly embroidered robes, the handiwork of Sidonian women, whom godlike Alexander himself had brought from Sidon, sailing over the wide sea, on that voyage on which he brought back Helen of noble birth."
§2.116.4ἐπιμέμνηται δὲ καὶ ἐν Ὀδυσσείῃ ἐν τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι.
"And he mentions it also in the Odyssey in these verses:
"
τοῖα Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἔχε φάρμακα μητιόεντα,
ἐσθλά, τά οἱ Πολύδαμνα πόρεν Θῶνος παράκοιτις
Αἰγυπτίη, τῇ πλεῖστα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα
φάρμακα, πολλὰ μὲν ἐσθλὰ μεμιγμένα, πολλὰ δὲ λυγρά. "
"Such cunning drugs did the daughter of Zeus possess, excellent ones, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, an Egyptian woman, had given her; to her the grain-giving earth bears very many drugs, many excellent when mixed, and many baneful."
§2.116.5καὶ τάδε ἕτερα πρὸς Τηλέμαχον Μενέλεως λέγει.
"And Menelaus says these other things to Telemachus:
"
Αἰγύπτῳ μʼ ἔτι δεῦρο θεοὶ μεμαῶτα νέεσθαι
ἔσχον, ἐπεὶ οὔ σφιν ἔρεξα τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας. "
"In Egypt still, though I was eager to return here, the gods held me back, because I did not offer them perfect hecatombs." "
§2.116.6ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι ἔπεσι δηλοῖ ὅτι ἠπίστατο τὴν ἐς Αἴγυπτον Ἀλεξάνδρου πλάνην· ὁμουρέει γὰρ ἡ Συρίη Αἰγύπτῳ, οἱ δὲ Φοίνικες, τῶν ἐστὶ ἡ Σιδών, ἐν τῇ Συρίῃ οἰκέουσι.
In these verses he makes it clear that he knew of Alexander's wandering to Egypt; for Syria borders on Egypt, and the Phoenicians, to whom Sidon belongs, dwell in Syria.