Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, emboldened by the image of his father, holds me enclosed against both justice and duty.
What I could do, I did: I refused, so that I might not be held as if willing; for the rest, a woman's hands had no power.
§8.7'Quid facis, Aeacide? non sum sine vindice,' dixi:
'What are you doing, descendant of Aeacus?
§8.8'Haec tibi sub domino est, Pyrrhe, puella suo!' §8.9Surdior ille freto clamantem nomen Orestae §8.10Traxit inornatis in sua tecta comis.
I am not without a defender,' I said: 'This girl, Pyrrhus, is for you under the rule of her own master!' Deafer than the sea, as I cried out the name of Orestes, he dragged me into his halls with my hair disheveled.
What more grievous thing would I have endured as a slave if Lacedaemon had been captured, and a barbarian crowd were ravishing Greek brides?
Victorious Greece harassed Andromache more sparingly when the Greek fire was burning the Phrygian wealth.
But you, Orestes, if a dutiful care for me touches you, lay your undaunted hands upon what is your right!
Or if anyone should open the stalls and steal your herds, would you bear arms, but remain sluggish when your wife is stolen?
Let your father-in-law be an example to you, he who reclaimed his stolen bride, for whom a woman was the sacred cause of war!
If your father-in-law had snored lazily in his empty hall, my mother would still be a bride to Paris, as she was before.
Do not prepare a thousand ships and swelling sails, nor the numbers of Greek soldiers — come yourself!
Even so, I was still to be reclaimed, nor is it shameful for a husband to have endured fierce wars for his dear marriage-bed.
What of the fact that we have the same grandfather, Atreus, son of Pelops, and even if you were not my husband, you were my brother?
§8.29Vir, precor, uxori, frater succurre sorori!
As husband, I pray, succor your wife; as brother, your sister!
§8.30Instant officio nomina bina tuo.
Two names press upon your duty.
Tyndareus, a guarantor weighty in life and years, delivered me to you; the grandfather had authority over his granddaughter.
But my father, ignorant of what had been done, had promised me to the descendant of Aeacus; the grandfather, who is prior in order, has more power than the father.
When I was marrying you, my wedding-torch harmed no one; if I should be joined to Pyrrhus, you will be the one injured by me.
And my father Menelaus will forgive our love — he himself succumbed to the weapons of the swift god.
The love which he allowed himself, he will concede to his son-in-law; my beloved mother will be of benefit by her own example.
You are to me what my father is to my mother; the role which the Trojan stranger once played, Pyrrhus now plays.
Though he may boast without end of his father's deeds; you too have your father's exploits to recall.
The descendant of Tantalus ruled over all, and Achilles himself; the latter was but a part of the army, the former was the leader of leaders.
§8.47Tu quoque per proavum Pelopem Pelopisque parentem, §8.48Si medios numeres, a Iove quintus eris.
You too, through your great-grandfather Pelops, and Pelops' father, if you count the intermediate generations, will be fifth from Jupiter.
§8.49Nec virtute cares.
Nor do you lack courage.
arma invidiosa tulisti, §8.50Sed tibi — quid faceres? — induit illa pater.
You bore weapons that brought hatred upon you, but — what could you do? — your father put them on you.
Would that you had been brave with a better material; the cause was not chosen for your work, but given to it.
Yet you fulfilled this; and Aegisthus, with his throat slit open, stained the halls with blood, which your father had done before.
The descendant of Aeacus upbraids you and turns your praise into crimes — and yet he endures my gaze.
I am bursting, and my face swells along with my anger, and my breast, burned by enclosed fires, is in pain.