Prologue [Lines 1-67] Part 1
Enter Helen
The play opens with Helen found in supplication next to the tomb of Proteus. She tells us that the river that flows here is called the Nile. It is the great river that feeds the people of Egypt. She tells us that Egypt was once ruled by a great king, Proteus whose palace is found on this island known as Pharos; that he had a son called Theoclymenos and a daughter called Ido [Eido] which she has changed as she came of age to Theonoë, for she is a prophetess understanding all things which the gods have ordained that are and those which will come to be.
Helen tells us that she herself is from Sparta, that her father was called Tyndareus. She relates the story how Zeus came to her mother, Leda, one night flying in in the form of a swan, and seduced her. Leda won over by this act of love with her by deceit subsequently gave birth to her, Helen.
She then goes on to tell us of the story of the Judgement of Paris in which how Hera, Aphrodite and Athena had asked Paris [Alexandros], Prince of Troy to decide which of them was the most beautiful. Paris chose Aphrodite, who told him that his prize would be the most beautiful woman in all the world, namely Helen herself.
Hera, who was hugely jealous and much angered by not winning the contest, made the love that might have been between herself, Helen, and Paris, void. Hera created an exact look-alike spectre of herself, Helen, out of thin air and gave this phantom, this wraith, this unreal Helen to Paris to take back with him to Troy. Helen goes on to say that this spectre was never her real self and that Paris [Alexandros] believed he possessed her, but he does not and never did.
It was this spectre of Helen the Greeks went to war against Troy. She goes on to say that the war fought over for her phantom as its prize, but it was never the real me.
As for who I am, Helen says, Hermes, at Hera's command, brought her to Pharos and placed her under the protection of Proteus, to preserve her virtue for Menelaos, her husband and king of Sparta. But he had gone to Troy instead to hunt for her.
Helen goes on to say men curse her for it seems that she had deserted her husband, and the was the cause of the great war between the Greeks and Trojans, in which many heroes died. Nonetheless, as long a Proteus lived Helen tells us that she was able to keep herself chaste. But now that he has died, his son, Theoclymenos, lusts for her wanting to hunt for her and wed her. She tells us that she come as a suppliant to Proteus' tomb, praying as she kneels that he will preserve her virtue for her husband.
She tells us that she may have a shameful reputation in Greece, but that here in Egypt she remains free from that disgrace.
Prologue [Lines 68-163] Part 2
Enter Teucer [Teucros] with his bow and arrows. Teucer is Ajax [Aias]'s younger brother. [See Euripides' play Ajax]. Teucer is the most famous of all the archers in the Achaian army in the Trojan War. He sees Helen by Proteus' tomb.
He comments that she looks so like the Helen [of Troy] whom all Greeks hate. He says he would have killed her instantly had he not come to a foreign land. He explains that all Greeks hate this daughter of Zeus.
Helen asks him who he is and where he has come from, and why he was here in Egypt/
Teucer explains he is Teucer from Salamis, that he has been sent into exile by his father, as his brother Ajax did not return home from the Trojan War but disgraced himself by falling on his sword. Why? Because of Achilles who had died and afterwards there was a struggle in the Greek army who would inherit his armour. Teucer explains that his [and Ajax's] father blames him for not dying with him. Teucer goes on to explain that had taken part in the destruction of Troy, seven years previously. Helen was to blame for the Trojans and Greeks who met their death. Yes, Helen was captured and King Menelaos dragged her away by her hair.
Helen: Did Menelaos take his wife back home to Sparta?
Teucer: Well he and she are not in Argos, nor are they by the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia [Sparta]. Sad news, they seem to have disappeared.
Teucer goes on to explain that the Argives crossed all together back to Greece after Troy, but they encountered a storm halfway, and the Argive fleet was scattered, and no one in Greece has seen either Helen or Menelaos, her husband. They say he is dead.
Teucer then lists all those who have died in the meantime: Leda, Helen's mother; she killed hereself. And the sons of Tyndaraos [Helen's brothers]; it known and not known what has happened to them. Some say they are stars in the heavens.
Teucer explains why he has come to Egypt. He wants to consult Theonoë, the prophetess. He wants to found a New Salamis in Cyprus by order of Apollo, and needs her advice about how to get there.
Helen tells him he should leave Egypt immediately for if Theoclymenos were to find him, she warns him that he kills all Greeks who land in Egypt.
As he parts he tells Helen that she looks like the Helen he saw in Troy, but is a much nicer person than she was.
Exit Teucer
Parodos [Lines 164-252]
Helen sings a dirge, a lament, a song of grief to all those who have died.
The chorus of Captive Spartan Women [Slaves] enter, singing an ode.
They hear their mistress' [Helen's] lament. Helen answers them. She reports that a Greek who was present at the destruction of Troy has arrived on a ship bringing sad news. Troy has been destroyed because of her, in her name. Leda, her mother, has killed herself. Her husband has disappeared presumed dead and vanished are her brothers Castor and Polydeuces None of these latter are in Sparta.
First Episode [Lines 253-1106 Part 1. (253 - 385)
The Chorus echo Helen's grief and situation. They advise Helen to bear up as best she can.
Helen describes herself as a freak. Is this her fate? Was she truly born in an egg-shell? She is a freak because of Hera [and her jealousy] and because of her beauty. She wishes she had been born more ugly, more normal. The Greeks could then have quietly forgot the evil fortune that is now associated with her.
She is being treated as if she was guilty, yet she has done no wrong. She is the victim of this and many other catastrophes. The gods have taken her away from her homeland, forcing her to live amongst the barbarians. She has lost all her friends, and has now been reduced to slavery, for in this civilisation of Egypt all are slaves save one, the pharoah. Her only hope is that her husband [Menelaos] will come and rescue her. She blames herself for her mother's suicide. She blames herself that her daughter [Hermione] remains unmarried, going gey in her virginity. She blames herself for the disappearance of her brothers, the Sons of Zeus [The Dioscuri]. Above all if she were to return with her husband [if he was alive] all would think when they saw her that she was the evil Helen of Troy, and they would bar her from her homeland. She and her husband, however, would know through private tokens known to no one else that she was the real Helen and not the phantom who went to Troy [if he were alive]. What can she do? Marry a barbarian? Live at his rich table? No! when a women hates her husband, she hates her body too. Death is best.
How can she do away with herself nobly? To hang oneself is undignified; even slaves amongst themselves find this method unseemly. To stab oneself is noble, but it is hard to find the mortal spot which to end one's life. Other women find consolation in their beauty, but this beauty has been the very ruin of herself.
The Chorus advise Helen not to believe everything that the stranger who came told her. Much of what he said may be false. They tell her she is moving away from happiness towards misfortune.
She tells them that the stranger had told her quite plainly that her husband had been lost.
The Chorus tell her that she is too willing to think the worst, that she ought to believe the best.
Helen tells them that she is frightened. and has been led by this fright to terror.
The Chorus Leader asks her how does her favour stand with the people inside the palace?
Helen tells her that they are all friends except the man [Theoclymenos] who hunts her love.
The Chorus advise her to leave the protection [sanctuary] of Proteus' tomb. to go into the palace, and seek the counsel of Theonoë. She knows and understands all things. She will know whether your husband is alive or dead. Then Helen can either be happy or sorry. It is pointless hurting herself when she does not know the truth. It is right for women to stand by a woman's cause.
Helen accepts the Chorus' advice and sings an ode of joy, saying she will go inside to find out the truth about her husband, whether he alive or dead. She laments the unhappy fate that has befallen Troy, and the Greeks too, for all those who died in her name.
Exit Helen and the Chorus. They all enter the palace.
Part 2. (386 - 514)
Enter Menelaos in tattered clothing.
He explains that he was one of the leaders of the Greek army who went to war against Troy, that he did not do so as a tyrant, but as a leader of volunteers, that he and his brother, Agamemnon, marshalled the greatest force and fleet the world had ever seen. The young men of Greece had willingly served with them both. that eventually they had prevailed and stormed the towers of Troy.
He explains that ever since that he had been trying to make his way home, but the gods seems to have prevented it, that he had sailed all the way to friendless Libya, that the winds have blown him everywhichway and back again, but never home. A huge storm blew up. He has now been shipwrecked, with many of his companions lost. The ship was shattered on the rocks, only the keel saved him. He also goes on to tell us that he has hidden his wife, Helen, the cause of all his troubles and who also survived, in a cave charging those amongst his companions who survived the shipwreck to guard her. [This is the false Helen whom he had seized from Troy but he does not yet know of the real Helen who is here in Egypt.]
And now that he has now been stranded in a land which he does not know, neither its name nor its people, nor having any food, he finds himself too embarrased, too ashamed to show himself in his rags. How the mighty are fallen from grace. He tells us he left his companions to look for help, when he came across this palace, seemingly the home of some prosperous lord. Perhaps they can provide for him and his companions.
Enter Portress [Doorkeeper/Old Lady] (Line 438)
The Doorkeeper tells Menelaos to be gone, for all Greeks, if they are found by her master, are killed. She says she has had strict orders not to admit any Greeks whatsoever. Menelaos tells her to take a message from him to her master and to sstop waving her fist at him. He tells her that he has been shipwrecked and that therefore he is under the protection of the gods. He says to her he will enter the house. She tells him that elsewhere he may be a mighty man, but here he is naught. He asks her who does this palace belong to and which land this is. She tells him it belongs to King Proteus and the land is Egypt..
Menealos: Is he in?
Doorkeeper: Yes, in that tomb there. His son now rules in his stead.
Menelaos: And where may his son be found?
Doorkeeper: He is not at home to Greeks. They are his bitterest enemies. ... But under this roof dwells the daughter of Zeus, namely Helen.
Menelaos: [Aside] What? Can she have escaped? [To the Doorkeeper] Woman, repeat what you have told me.
Doorkeeper: Helen, the daughter of Tyndareus, who once dwelt in Sparta, is here. She arrived directly from Laconia here.
Menelaos [aside]: They can't have possibly taken her captive from the cave.
Doorkeeper: She arrived here before the Achaeans [the Greek army] went to Troy. But go away. Know that the whole palace is presently in an uproar. Know that if my master catches you, death will be your fate. But also know that I had to speak to you harshly for fear of my master.
The Doorkeeper goes back into the palace shutting the door. (Line 482)
Menelaos surmises on what he has been told. He doesn't know what to make of the fact of the existence of two Helens, one held captive a cave and the other with the same name is living in the palace. Zeus? Is there any man with that name living here in Egypt? No, Zeus lives in heaven. And where is there a Sparta in Egypt? The only Sparta he knows of is by the banks of the River Eurotas. Are there two men called Tyndareos? Menelaos says he will not run away. He is not frightened, for he is the mighty Menelaos who lit the fires that burned Troy. Troy is famous; he is famous. He will await for the prince of the palace to return. Meanwhile he will conceal himself. If the prince of the palace shows himself to be cruel, Menelaos will return to the wreck of his ship. But if he shows any compassion Menelaos will ask for his help. Even though he too is a prince himself, needs must.
Part 3. (515 - 624)
Enter the Chorus Singing.
They do not see Menelaos. The Chorus tells us that the prophetess [Theonoë] has said that Menelaos is not dead and buried, but is on the high seas. That he has set sail from Troy and has been roaming to and fro, and has not yet reached safe harbour in his homeland.
Enter the real Helen
The real Helen echoes this sentiment. She is glad to hear that Theonoë has said her husband is still alive. And she knows the truth about all things. She [Theonoë ] has told her that he has reached the limit to his wanderings and that he was somewhere near, cast up on these shores shipwrecked with a handful of friends.
Helen sees Menelaos in his rags. And runs towards Proteus' tomb seeking safety, for this stranger looks quite frightening.
Menelaos blocks her way. She [aside] complains he looks savage and is inappropiately dressed. She demands that the Chorus should help her. Menelaos asks who she is. She asks the same question of him. Menelaos comments that he never saw a closer resemblance saying she looks like his Helen. Helen says he looks like Menelaos. He says she has guessed right, but that he is a man of many sorrows. Helen tells Menelaos that his wife has been restored to him at last! But Menelaos does not believe this, that she is not his wife and tells her not to lay a finger upon his person.
Helen: I salute the gods. For a god is present when we recognize our loved ones.
Menelaos: Are you a Greek woman or a native of this country?
Helen: A Greek. But I want to know who you are too.
Menelaos: You look exactly like Helen, lady.
Helen: And you like Menelaos. I do not know what to say.
Menelaos: You have rightly identified a most unhappy man.
Helen: Oh. now you have come to your wife's embrace at last!
Menelaos: What do you mean. wife? Do not touch my clothes!
Helen: The wife that my father Tyndareos gave you.
Menelaos: O torch-bearing Hecate, send me kindly visions.
Helen: It is no creature of the night, no attendant of the goddess of the crossroads, that you see in me.
Menelaos: No more am I. I swear. the husband of two wives.
Helen: But who is this other wife whose lord you are?
Menelaos: The woman whom the cave conceals, the one I am taking back from the Trojans.
Helen: I am the only wife you have.
Menelaos: Am I in my right mind—and is it my eyes that are diseased?
Helen: When you look on me. do you not think you see your wife?
Menelaos: You look the same, but I cannot be sure.
Helen: Look at me. What clearer proof do you need?
Menelaos: You are like her, I shall not deny that.
Helen: Trust your eyes. What other teacher can you find? ako
Menelaos: The trouble is that I have another wife.
Helen: | did not go to Troy. It was a phantom.
Menelaos: And who can create living bodies?
Helen: The gods created a second wife for you from the air.
Menelaos: Which of them moulded her? What you say is beyond belief.
Helen: It was Hera. She made this substitute so that Paris could not take me off.
Menelaos: How so? Were you here, then. and in Troy at one and the same time?
Helen: My name could be in many places but not my body.
Menelaos: Let me go. I had enough trouble when I came here.
Helen: Will you leave me and take away your phantom wife?
Menelaos: Yes, and I bid you farewell with a blessing since you look like Helen.
Helen: I am lost. I found my husband but shall not keep him.
Menelaos: The vast weight of my sufferings at Troy convinces me. not you.
Helen: Cry woe for my plight. Who has ever been more wretched than I am? The man I love abandons me and I shall never rejoin my fellow Greeks, never reach my native land again.
At that moment a Messenger Servant of Menelaos enters.
He tells Menelaos that he has been looking everywhere for him, over the whole of this savage land. He has come from the cave where they have been guarding "Helen". He wants to tell Menelaos about what has happened. His wife has gone. Suddenly the "Helen" they had been watching over had vanished into thin air. As the phantom disappeared from view into the heavens she remarked:
"All you hapless Greeks and Trojans, you all think that it was on my account that you died on the beaches before Troy. Well it was not. You all thought Paris possessed me. Well he did not. It was through the goddess Hera's trickery that you were made to think these things. I was but a phantom of the real Helen. I stayed on earth till I had fullfilled the fate ordained to me by the gods, namely the destruction of Troy. I have now gone to meet my father, the sky. All men speak ill of the daughter of Tyndareus [Helen]. I tell you she is completely innocent."
Messenger [on espying the (real) Helen, addresses her]: All hail to you, daughter of Leda, I see that you are here. I brought the news that you had disappeared and hidden yourself in the sky. I didn't know you had a body which could fly. I will no longer allow you to make fools of us, for you have caused us, your husband and his companions, enough troubles at Troy.
Menelaos turns to Helen saying that what she had said was true. The day he had been waiting for has arrived, reunion with his wife. Together they sing an ode of joy. Helen embraces Menelaos
Part 4. (625 - 757)
Helen and Menelaus in duet. As they embrace ecstasy sweeps over them both. Let there be joy. Blessed is the fate that has brought them together again. It has been so long. Tears come into Helen's eyes. Menelaos is in rapture at being able to hug his wife once more, that she is his again. Evil has been transformed into good. Menelaos asks her how she had been carried off from his home and brought to Egypt, when all men thought she had gone to Troy. Helen tells him that it was the god, Hermes, who had borne her aloft to the banks of the Nile, on Hera's orders, because Aphrodite had promised to give her [the most beautiful woman in the world] to Paris. So this was how she had ended up in Egypt. And in her place Hera gave Paris a phantom of herself.
Helen is sad that her mother has passed away. She then asks Menelaos if their daughter Hermione is alive. He replies that she is but unmarried as yet. Menelaos remarks that Paris may have brought doom upon his household, but that the land of Egypt, home of the Danai, brought ruin down upon his city.
The Chorus remark that they hope he and Helen may find happiness in the future.
The Messenger turns to Menelaos asking what was the War against Troy all about. With all these strange things that have happened couldn't she [Helen] have put a stop to it? He tells Menelaos he just doesn't understand it.
Messenger: Was it not then in her power to decide all the trouble in Troy?
Menelaus: It was not; I was tricked by the gods into taking to my arms a misty phantom-form, to my sorrow.
Messenger: How so? was it then for this we vainly toiled?
Menelaus: It was all Hera's handiwork, and the jealousy of the three goddesses.
Messenger: Is this real woman, then, your wife?
Menelaus: This she is; trust my word for that.
Messenger [to Helen]: How many-sided is Zeus; how difficult it is to understand his strange ways. He seems to move all things in a direction which seems to be for the best, changing things as necessary. ... You and your husband have had your share of troubles. You, Helen, are the victim of rumour, and he in his ardour for war; yet for all his battling he has achieved nothing, whilst now by doing nothing he has won the greatest happiness. In spite of everything, you have brought no shame down upon your lord, or upon your brothers the sons of Zeus, nor are you guilty of those crimes which have been rumoured of you. I remember your wedding day. I ran beside the four-horse chariot which carried you and Menelaos at full gallop with a torch. You were driving away from your happy home. ... Even though I was born a slave, may I be regarded as one who has a noble heart. In my heart I am free: even if I am not in name, may I think free thoughts. This is better than to be a base person suffering by having to obey the orders of my fellow man as his slave.
Menelaos to the Messenger: Old friend, often have you stood side by side with me [in battle], taking your full share of the toil; so now be partner in my happiness. Go back to the cave where our companions are and tell them of what you found out here., while I try to find out what awaits us here. I may have to figure out a way in which to steal Helen away from this land [of Egypt] by stealth. Tell
them to keep good watch so that we all may share the luck and escape, if possible,
from the barbarian's clutches.
Messenger to Menelaos: I shall do as you command, my lord. But I now see just how worthless the business of prophecy is, how full of lies it is. There was nothing real about the sacrificial flames or the cries of the birds [being slaughtered on the altar]. It is nothing by naivety to think that [the entrails of birds] can help men. Calchas [at Aulis] said no word, gave no hint to our army though he saw his friends dying on behalf of a
phantom. ... The city [of Troy] was stormed in vain, all for nothing. Perhaps you might say it was not heaven's will that they should do so. Then why
do we employ these prophets and traffic in prophecy? ... No man grows rich by divination if he is
idle. No! sound judgment and wise thinking are the best prophets.
Exit Messenger.
Part 5. (758 - 1029)
The Chorus say that they agree with everything the Messenger has said; that those who make friends with the gods will have the best prophets in their house. Helen asks Menelaos where he has been since he left Troy for their homeland. Menelaos tells he has been on the seas, suffered shipwrecks in the Aegean, sailed by way of Euboeia, Crete and Libya, and the mountains of Perseus [Ethiopian coast] but he doesn't really wish to tell this tale as it only brings him grief. He set sail from Troy with his companions seven years previously. Add to that the ten years he spent in war at Troy.
Helen tell his that he must flee from Egypt otherwise its ruler will kill him, besides his presence thwarts the son of Proteus, king of the country's intention to marry her. Menelaos says this is exactly the riddle that the Doorkeeper had told him, and who had tried to drive him away. Helen tells Menelaos that she has kept her body fully chaste. She tells him that's why he found her by the tomb of Proteus as a supplicant [in sanctuary]. She craves escape from this proposed marriage to the ruler of Egypt, Proteus' son. But the tomb seems to have no altar, Menelaos seeks to know if this is the custom of the barbarians? He asks her can he take her back home on his ship? She warns him that he faces battle sooner than that and advises him to flee the land of Egypt as soon as he can. His life is in danger. He tells her that he went to war against Troy and sacked it for her sake. Menelaos tells her that run away are the words of a coward, unworthy of all days he spent at Troy. Helen warns him he cannot possibly defeat and kill the prince of Egypt. Menelaos asks whether it is better to become his prisoner saying nothing. Helen tells him to devise some plan: perhaps the king doesn't know he has come.
Helen: You will die, and I, poor wretch. shall be forced into marriage.
Menelaos: False woman! You are saying ‘forced’ to excuse what you really want.
Helen: No, I swear a sacred oath by my Menelaos.
Menelaos: What are you saying? That you will die? And youwill never abandon your marriage?
Helen: Yes, die by the same sword as you. And I shall lie in death near you.
Menelaos: To ratify this oath then, touch my right hand.
Helen: I touch it and swear to leave this light of day when you are dead.
Menelaos: When I lose you, I swear that I too shall end my life.
Helen: How then shall we die and still win glory by our deaths?
Menelaos: I shall kill you on top of the tomb and then kill myself. But first we shall join in a great contest for your hand in marriage. I dare all comers! For I shall not tarnish the glory that I won at Troy. I shall not return to Greece and suffer everyone's abuse ... Shall I not hold it my duty to die for my wife? It is, and I shall do it. For if the gods are wise, they cover a brave man who has been killed by his enemies’ hands in a tomb with a light-lying covering of earth. but they fling cowards onto a ridge of hard rock.
Chorus: O Gods. may good fortune at last come to the house of Tantalos! Put an end to its disasters.
Helen: Ah. I cry woe, as fits my present fortune. All is over for us. The prophetess Theonoe is coming out of the palace. The building echoes with the noise of bolts shot back. Run away! But what point is there in running? Whether she is present or not she knows that you have come here. I call out in my misery. I am lost. You came safe from Troy, from a barbarian land, and yet you will still fall by a barbarian sword.
Part 6. (1030 - 1106)
Enter Theonoë with two handmaidens bearing torches
Theonoë tells her handmaidens to use the torches to fumigate and purify the air in holy rite. afterwards carry the torches back into the palace again. She speaks to Helen asking if her oracles were fulfilled. She knows Menelaos has come and he is here for all to see, but he has lost all his ships and the phantom replica of Helen. She calls Menelaos a wretched not knowing whether he is staying or going home. She says the gods in the presence of Zeus will hold a conference about him. Hera formerly his enemy now wishes for him to return to his fatherland safely with Helen, so that the Greeks may learn that her union with Paris, Aphrodite's wish did not come to pass. Aphrodite, however, wishes that Theonoe tells her brother, the king, that he is here and destroys Menelaos. She has a dilemma: shall she or shall she not take her stand with Hera, not telling her brother, even though he has ordered to report to him when Menelaos has landed in Egypt.
She speaks to the Chorus: Will any of you tell the king that Menelaos is here? By this means I will ensure my own safety.
Helen [to Theonoë]: I fall suppliant before you. I appeal to you on my and Menelaos' behalf. I have won him at last after so much pain. Must I risk seeing him killed? Do not tell your brother that my husband has come back to me. Keep him safe, I beg you. The deity of this place hates violence. Wealth unjustly gotten is to be avoided. Heaven and earth are man's common heritage, wherein to fill their homes, without the need to steal or forcibly wrench their possessions from others by violence. When Hermes gave me to your father for safekeeping for my husband who now stands before you and who wishes to take me away. How could he do this if he were dead? Now you must decide what matters to the deity and to your father. Would he wish to return to his fellow man what belongs to him? You ought not to defer to your wanton brother more than to your righteous father. If you are a prophetess and believe in divine providence would you really wish to pervert the just intention of your father to gratify your unrigteous brother? It is shameful to have full knowledge of heaven's will, about what is and what is not, yet to be ignorant of justice. Save this wretched woman from the miseries that engulf her. There is no one on earth who does not hate her. I am known throughout Greece as the one who betrayed her husband, living amongst the Trojans and their gold. If I return to Greece at least the people there will have the evidence of the ears and eyes, that the gods schemed all those deaths and that I was not traitor to my husband. I will be able to restore my virtuous name again. And be able to give my daughter in marriage whom no man would in his right mind wed now. I would be able to leave Egypt and enjoy the treasures of my own home. Had Menelaos met his doom in a far off land I would be cherishing his memory with my tears. Must I lose him now? I beg thee to grant me this boon. I pray for father's justice. Children honour their virtuous parents when they resemble them in their character.
Chorus: What a pitiful object you are! Let's hear what Menelaos has to say to save his own life.
Menalaos: I do not deign to throw myself at your knees, or bring tears to my eyes, for I was to play being a coward that would foully bring disgrace on the fame I gained at Troy. However, if what I say is honourable and you are well enough disposed to save a stranger [foreigner] who is merely seeking justice to regain his wife then restore her to me and save us. If you don't this will not be the first time that I have suffered, and you will get an evil name. Everything I deem worthy of me and all that which will touch your heart the most I will now utter at the tomb of your father: [to the tomb of Proteus] Old king pay back your trust. I ask of thee my wife whom Zeus entrusted you to keep safe on my behalf. I know you are dead, but this your daughter, Theonoë , here will never allow her father to bear a tarnished name. The decision rests with her to make. I also call upon the great god of death, Hades, for assistance for the many whom I have slain for Helen. You have had your payment. Restore these dead back to life again or compel Theonoë to prove herself more pious than her father and give me back my wife.
[Turning to Theonoë ] If you and your brother try to rob me of my wife, I am obliged to tell you I have made an oath. I will fight in combat with your brother. Either he or I must die. If he will not face me in hand-to-hand combat, sword to sword, then we two, Helen and I, shall suffer together in hunger as suppliants on this tomb. I will slay Helen upon it, and then plunge this sword into my own heart. Our streaming bloods will trickle down the tomb and our two corpses will lie side by side on its top. Your brother will not wed Helen nor will any other. Why this stern resolve? Were I to cry like a woman I would seem to be a pitiable creature, not a man of action. Kill me if that seems good to you; I would not die ingloriously; but it is better for you to yield to what I have said, to act with justice and to restore my wife to me.
Theonoë exits into the palace.
Helen and Menelaos discuss what they are going to do. They have to devise a scheme how to escape. Menelaos asks Helen if there is any servant who can acquire for them a four-horse chariot? Helen says what good is a chariot if you don't know the country? Menelaos agrees that option won't work. Menelaos suggests he could sneak into the palace and assassinate, the king, with his sword. Helen says all that would do is provoke Theonoë into telling her brother that someone was plotting to kill him. Menelaos then tells Helen that they have no ships left in which to escape. They have all been wrecked. They discuss joint suicide. Helen then tells Menelaos that she will plead with him to supply them with a ship. Here is her plan:
Menelaus: That is a bad omen; still, if by saying so I shall gain anything, I am ready to be dead in word, though not in deed.
Helen: I, too, will mourn thee with hair cut short and dirges, as is a women's way, before this impious wretch [Theoclymenos].
Menelaus: How will this afford a remedy us two? There is deception in the scheme.
Helen: I will beg the king of this country leave to bury you in a cenotaph, as if you had really died at sea.
Menelaus: Suppose he grant it; how then are we to escape without a ship, after having committed me to my empty tomb?
Helen: I will bid him give me a vessel, from which to let drop into the sea your funerary offerings.
Menelaus: A clever plan except in one particular; suppose he bids you raise the tomb upon the beach? Your pretext comes to naught.
Helen: But I shall then say it is not the custom amongst the Hellenes to bury those who have died at sea on the shore.
Menelaos agrees to this plan. Helen tells him to get his men ready to leave at a moment's notice. She hopes for a good wind to speed on their way.
Helen tells Menelaos to wait concealed outside and if there is any mischief he is to rush to Proteus' tomb which will offer him protection. She says to him that she will go inside and prepare herself to be in mourning, by cutting all her hair off, and wearing a black robe instead of a white one, and will tear her cheeks with her fingernails, making them all bloody.
Helen then prays to Hera to release them both from their suffering followed by a prayer to Aphrodite not to destroy her, but if she wishes to kill her to let her die in her own country. Why are you so never satisfied in mischief, employing every art of love, of fraud, and guileful schemes, and spells that bring bloodshed down on families? Would that you were moderate, only that! -in all else you are in nature man's most welcome deity.
Helen enters the palace and Menelaos withdraws into the background.
First Stasimon (1107–1164)
The Chorus chant an ode in which they remember all the brave soldiers who were killed during the Trojan War and who will never ever realise that they died all for the sake of Hera's phantom. What kind of gods are those who allow such a thing to happen?
They sing of the agony done to the women of Troy. How Paris and Aphrodite had caused the Trojan War.
How Helen had been proclaimed throughout the whole Greek world as a traitor, faithless, lawless, godless. The Chorus declares that all those who win glory in war are mad. How can a clumsy tool like a spear truly resolve troubles beween men? Words could have been used to settle the quarrel. Now the dead are in the care of Hades, and Zeus' thunderbolts have destroyed the walls of Troy. This has caused suffering upon suffering in a miserable, lamentable welter of catastrophe.
Second Episode (1165–1300)
Enter Theoclymenos, with attendant servants, hounds and a hunting spear.
He tells the audience that he buried his father in a tomb by the doors his palace so that he could easily speak to him. He tells his servants to take the dogs and hunting nets into the palace.
Exit Servants with hounds.
Theoclymenos has not seen Menelaos.
He reproaches himself for not being ruthless enough punishing wrongdoers. He has been told that a Greek has come to his land, and has eluded his guards. Is this Greek a spy or is he trying to steal Helen? He shall die if he can catch him.
But look, he says, he has returned home and Helen has abandoned her refuge at the tomb and has been carried off from the land. He calls upon his servants to bring his chariot out and the horses too. He will pursue those who have abducted her.
But wait! He sees Helen. She has not been taken away.
Enter Helen with her hair cropped and wearing a black dress.
Theoclymenos why has she exchange her white robes for black, why has she cut her hair off, why she is crying? Why? Helen tells him that her husband, Menelaos, is dead. She has been told this by someone, someone who came to her here with this news and who has witnessed his death, and Theonoe too, heard this. Theoclymenos enquires who told her: "This man squatting by the tomb?" Helen replies "Yes!"
Theoclymenos: This man in rags?
Helen: I think my husband looks like this.
Theoclymenos: Where is he from?
Helen: Greece.
Theoclymenos: How did your husband die?
Helen: By drowning in the sea.
Theoclymenos: He was in barbarian waters; where was he travelling to?
Helen: He was cast up wrecked on the rocky shores of Libya.
Theoclymenos: Where did they leave the ship's wreckage? So Menelaos is dead! In what ship did this man come here?
Helen: The sailors happened to find him.
Theoclymenos: And where is that apparition which was sent to Troy instead of you?
Helen: Vanished into thin air.
Theoclymenos: O what a calamity, Troy, you were destroyed for no reason, for nothing.
Helen: And I , too, played a part in what happened to Priam's sons.
Theoclymenos: Does Menelaos' body remain unburied?
Helen: Unburied? Yes! I cry woe for my misery and suffering.
Theoclymenos: Is this why you have cut off your hair with a knife and appear as you do?
Helen: Yes! I loved him long ago.
Theoclymenos: So it is true then? And this is why you are weeping?
Helen: Would it be so easy to delude your sister?
Theoclymenos: No it wouldn't. So why do you still continue to cling to this tomb?
Helen: I keep faith with my husband by shunning you.
Theoclymenos: Why do you continue to mock me? Let the dead man rest.
Helen: I will cease doing this. Go ahead and begin to prepare for our marriage.
Theoclymenos: Your consent has taken a long time, but I rejoice at this.
Helen: Let us make a truce. Be reconciled to me. ... I wish to give my husband burial.
Theoclymenos: How can this be? Is there a corpse? Do you want to bury a ghost?
Helen: The Greek have a custom that anyone who dies at sea that they bury him in an empty woven shroud.
Theoclymenos: Go ahead and erect his tomb in my land wherever you choose.
Helen: We do not bury those who go down with their ships.
Theoclymenos: What do you do then? The children of Pelops are wise about theser matters.
Helen: We lower into the sea gifts due to the dead.
Theoclymenos: What can I provide to honour the dead man?
Helen: This man [indicating Menelaos] knows what to do, what is needed. I have no experience in these matters.
Theoclymenos [turning to Menalaos]: So, how do you bury those lost at sea?
Menelaos: It depends on the means of the dead person.
Theoclymenos: Money is no object. I will give it for her [Helen's] sake,
Menelaos: First a beast is sacrificed; its blood is offered to those who lie beneath the earth.
Theoclymenos: Our people's custom is to offer a horse or a bull.
Menelaos: Please ensure that the beast you offer has no blemish.
Theoclymenos: My herds are large. This will not be a problem.
Menelaos: Next we bring rugs and coverlets, to make a bier, a bed.
Theoclymenos: You shall have them. What else?
Menelaos: Armour and weapons of bronze. This man was a soldier.
Theoclymenos: You shall have those worthy of a son of Pelops.
Menelaos: And fruits and flowers, the finest that the soil of this land grows.
Theoclymenos: And how do you lower these into the sea?
Menelaos: From a ship, manned with rowers.
Theoclymenos: How far off the shore must this ship be when you do this?
Menelaos: When its wake is no longer visible from the land, so that no pollution washes up with the tide back on the land.
Theoclymenos: You shall have the best and fastest Phoenician barque.
Menelaos: Your generosity overwhelms us.
Theoclymenos: Can you perform all these rites on your own, without Helen?
Menelaos: Not really. It is the duty of a mother, a wife or a child to do these.
Theoclymenos: You mean Helen must perform these?
Menelaos: Those who fear the gods do not skimp on these matters.
Theoclymenos says Helen may be released to go with him to undertake these rites, commenting that he wished his wife would show such piety.
Theoclymenos to Helen: This is best for you at the present moment. You know what you have to do.
Helen to Menelaos: Go inside, take a bath, have some food and find some fine clothes for yourself. I will give you your reward at once. For if I show you true affection now you will perform all the better in due devotion to my Menelaos. May you have a happy return to your own country.
Helen, Theoclymenos and Menelaos and the guards exeunt, entering the palace.
Second Stasimon (1301–1368)
[This is sometimes called the 3rd Stasimon].Music plays a significant part in this Stasimon.
Sometimes known as the “Mountain Mother” ode, the Chorus sing of the story of Demeter whom tbe Graces, Muses and Aphrodite make smile using different musical forms. It also tells the story of the myth of the goddess, Kore (also know as Persephone, daughter of Demeter both of whose names may not be spoken [for they are part of the Eleusian Mysteries]). It means a maiden; Persephone was her given name after she became queen of Hades ). This interlude intially appears not to be connected or relevant to the plot or subject-matter of the rest of the play. This kind of interlude is sometimes called an
embolimon. Others theorise that this interlude has been inserted by Euripides because Helen had not participated in an important ritual obligation. This ode is divided into four sections: the first three describe the story of a Moutain-Mother goddess; the fourth recommends the practice of the Cult of Demeter. This is clearly directed at Helen for she has negelected to do just this; and this may be the origin of all her troubles and the Chorus think so. There is a Dionysiac element to it:-
You, Helen, did not observe these rites
and you lit no holy flame in your house
and so, my child, you incurred the wrath
of the Great Mother, for you paid
no reverent sacrifice to her godhead.
There is great power
in the dappled fawnskins,
in the garlands of green ivy
wreathed around the sacred fennel stalks,
in the shaking and the whirling round and round
of the bull-roarer up in the air,
the bacchanal’s hair flying loose for Bromios,
and the night-festivals of the goddess.
The moon has passed gently over them
with its radiance.
But you gloried only in beauty.
The Mountain-Mother of the gods is sometimes identified with the Asiatic goddess who was worshipped in area of Troy and Lydia, and Phrygia.
For a summary of this ode see:
The 'Mountain-Mother' Ode in the Helena of Euripides
Third Episode [Lines 1369-1440]
Helen enters from the palace.
She tells the Chorus that everything has worked out well inside the palace. Theonoe has kept hers and Menelaos' secret. Her brother the king did question her but she told him nothing, rather she said Menelaos was dead, and she did this for her, Helen. Menelaos has also acquired the armour and weapons which are to be sunk at sea. He wears them as if honouring the dead man, ready for battle. Helen has exchanged the rags he was wearing after he had taken a bath. The king thinks he still has a marriaage pending with her. She begs the Chorus keep quiet as she sees Theoclymenos is coming.
Enter Theoclymenos and Menelaos together with a group of men carrying the funeral goods.
Theoclymenos tells his men to go with the Stranger [Menelaos] to the sea. taking the funeral offerings. He begs Helen to stay with him for he fears she might fling herself into the sea for he knows just how much she mourned him when he was not here.
Helen addresses Theoclymenos as her "new husband". She begs Theoclymenos to be allowed to go in person with the Stranger [Menelaos] to perform the rites. She "promises" him he shall soon have her as his wife in his palace. She asks Theoclymenos to assign a person to provide them [Menelaos and her]with a ship to carry them and the body out to sea, for her sake.
Theoclymnos orders the fifty oared ship from Sidon to be got ready with master rowers and given to Helen.
Helen tells Theoclymenos to await her return when she will show him the true quality of her love for him.
Theoclymenos tells her that the dead are nothing, and that all she is doing is nothing but wasted work. And he promises her that he will be as good a man as Menelaos had been.
Helen responds that she does not need telling how to love those she ought to love.
Theoclymenos ask if he should come along. Helen tells him no, he must not perform slave's work.
Theoclymenos says All Right. He gives permission for Helen and the Stranger [Menelaos] with the arms to leave to perform the rites for Menelaos. He orders his vassals to make ready the palace for the wedding, that all his country must be make loud their singing of congratulations to Helen and himself, to bless their country. He begs Helen to make haste with her return.
Theoclymenos exits into the palace.
Third Stasimon [Lines 1441–1510]:
Menelaos prays to Zeus to grant them an end to their pain, it will make them happy for the rest of their lives.
Exit Helen and Menelaos in direction of the sea.
The Chorus envision with their song and dance [choreia] Helen and Menelaos' return to Sparta with the Phoenician ship escorted by the Dioscuri [the gods Castor and Polydeuces] where Helen too will join in ritual dances. They dance in a circle as if around the ship carrying them like as if they were dolphins circling it, reminsicent of the dithyrambs. They are accompanied by the music of the Aulos. They dance in lines. They envisage the marriage of Hermione, with a torch-lit wedding with Helen in the pompe that follows the chariot. The chorus now look up into the sky. They appeal to the birds in flight, and the stars. The Chorus finally conclude with an appeal that all should cast away the shame spoken of Helen's love for barbarians for she never went to the land of Troy.
Fourth Episode and Exodus [Lines 1511–1692]:
Enter a Messenger [Theoclymenos' Servant] from the sea crying out loud that he has extremely bad news.
[He reveals the takeover of the ship and the killing of the Egyptian sailors. and the escape of Helen and Menelaos]
Theoclymenos comes out of the palace to see what the commotion was all about.
The messenger reports to him that Helen has flown the country, that is was none other than Menelaos himself who had come to life once more and has carried her off: she was not to be Theoclymenos'. After leaving the palace here, they had all gone down to the king's shipyards. The large Phoenician [Sidonian] ship was hauled down to the water. They were each assigned to their specific duties: one took his place by the mast, others sat on the benches grasping their oars, yet others took charge of the sails, and the steersman sat by the tiller and the steering gear. Whilst they were all working these things there was a group of bedraggled Greeks watching them, companions of Menelaos, seeming survivors of a shipwreck. Their looking so pitiful that the Egyptians had invited them to accompany them to the funeral at sea. But the Greeks were very numerous. The Messenger said that they did nothing to stop their boarding the ship because Theoclymenos himself had given the order that the Stranger was to be in charge, and to have full command of the operations. The cargo was easily loaded, but the bull was not. They had difficulty dragging it up the plank. So the Greeks took over this matter. The Starnger [Menelaos] ordered them to do it the Greek way, ordering them to draw their swords and use them to prod the beast's behind, as it was going to be sacrificed to the "dead man".
At last everything and everyone was on board. Helen and the Stranger [supposedly the dead man, Menelaos] took their place next to each other on the ship's central bench. The Greeks then took theirs, lined up all along the bulkheads, left and right on the ship. They had swords hidden upon their persons under their clothing.
Then, we, the Egyptians began to row. They reached a point not too far out to sea, nor too distant from land. The steersman asked the Stranger "Is this far enough?". The Stranger answered "This will do!", and crept towards the Bull in the prow of the ship with his sword drawn to kill it. He cuts it throat, and its blood poured auspiciously into the sea; as he did so he prayed to Poseidon and the Nereids to carry him and Helen safely to Nafplion. One of us Egyptians suddenly realised treachery was at play here, that they needed to row back to the shore as fast as they could. But then Menelaos with his armour on then called out to his men to draw their swords, or to find planks of wood, anything they could lay their hands on, which to crack open the heads of, to kill the Egyptian rowers with. Helen urged them on. The Egyptians had all fought hard, but a man down was a man dead. There was blood everywhere. The rowing benches were cleared. Some of us Egyptians dived overboard. Menelaos [taking the steersman captive], ordered him to steer course for Greece. The Greek raised the mast and favourable wind blew, sending them on their way.
The Messenger then adds his story how he got away,: he had climbed down into the water by the anchor, a nearby fisherman has rescued him, taking him back to land so he could bring the news about all this to Theoclymenos. Meanwhile Menelaos and Helen had escaped and left Egypt for good.
[The Chorus prevents Theoclymenus from attempting to kill Theonoe.]
The Chorus of Enslaved Spartan Women announce that never did they know or guess that Menelaos had been here, yet that had been the case.
Theoclymenos cries out that he had been duped and tricked by an artful but treacherous woman; that if he could kill Helen at least he could take his revenge on Theonoe, his sister, who had also betrayed him, who saw Menelaos in his house, but never said a word. She'll never deceive another with her prophecies.
Enter a Slave on stage [one of the Chorus?] and blocks Theoclymenos' way, preventing him from entering his palace. The Slave tells him that another had a greater right to Helen than he had, that is the man her father had given her to.
"Who?" asks Theoclymenos, "fortune gave her to me."
Slave: Fortune also took her away.
Theoclymenos: You are not to judge in what I do.
Slave: When I am right, I must.
Theoclymenos: Then I am no longer ruler, but ruled.
Slave: For right, but not for wrong.
Theoclymenos: You desire to die I think.
Slave: Then kill me, but you will not kill your sister whilst I have the strength to stop you. Slaves find no greater glory than to perish for their masters' sake.
At this juncture, The Dioscuri [twin brothers Castor and Polydeuces - "the Sons of Zeus"] appear Deus ex Mechane above the roof of the palace. Castor speaks; Polydeuces is mute.
Castor tells Theoclymenos to calm his rage; that they are the twin brothers, sons of Zeus, born to Leda at the same time as their sister Helen, the very one who has now fled his home. They tell him that his anger was because of the marriage to her that he wanted was not fated to be, and all Theonoe has done is to follow her father's commands to take care of Helen and the will of the gods. It was necessary that Helen should live in this house up till now; but when Troy fell, and after she had finished lending her name to the cause of the gods she must go back and live with her husband and return home. He, Theoclymenos, ought not to stain his sword with Theonoe's blood. Cannot he see that all she did was to show good judgement in what she did. They, the Dioscuri, would have saved their sister a long time before now but they were not as strong as Fate and the gods combined who determined that this is what should happen, for her to remain in Egypt till now.
To Helen and Menelaos [off stage] Castor tells his sister to sail on with her husband to her fatherland. They will have fair winds. and the twin brothers will ensure she and Menelaos will arrive safely home. Castor tells her that after she dies she will be made immortal, as a goddess, and will receive libations and gifts from the mortals as they, the twin brothers, do. This is the will of Zeus. And that the island on the Actaen coast where Hermes had carried her off from, depriving Paris of her real self, this will be renamed Helene in her honour. As for Menelaos, the gods don't hate the brave and noble, but they tend to suffer more than common men, he will receive a home on the Isle of the Blessed.
Theoclymenos renounces his anger towards Theonoe, sparing her life, and he agrees to let Helen go home as that is the gods' will. He describes Helen as being perfect in faith and chastity; no one could expect a more virtuous wife.
Exeunt The Dioscuri, Theoclymnos and Slave.
The Chorus signal the end of the play, by saying that the gods reveal themselves in many forms, bringing many matters to suprising ends. Things that we do not expect to happen, do happen, and the gods have found a way to accomplish the unexpected. This is what has happened today.
Exeunt Chorus
References
Helen (play) - Wikipedia
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Arethusa,
26(1), 51–75.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/26309576Stesichorus' Palinode was a poem meant as a retraction and apology for an earlier work that blamed Helen of Troy for the Trojan War.
Stesichorus' Palinode:
Function: It aimed to appease Helen, who according to legend, inflicted blindness on Stesichorus for his portrayal in the previous poem. By writing the Palinode, Stesichorus hoped to regain his sight. Content: The exact content is lost, but it likely exonerated Helen and presented a different view of her role in the Trojan War. Some scholars believe there might have been two Palinodes, one criticizing Homer and Hesiod for their portrayal of Helen.
Legacy: The Palinode became a famous example of the power of poetry and the importance of correcting past mistakes. It's important to note that the story of Stesichorus' blindness and its cure by the Palinode is likely a legend, but it highlights the significance the Greeks placed on the power of words and the potential consequences of spreading negative stories.
Helen of Troy - GreekMythology.com
Menelaus - GreekMythology.comProteus - GreekMythology.comTheonoe of Egypt - WikipediaTheoclymenus - WikipediaCastor and Pollux - WikipediaDemeter - Ancient History EncyclopediaDEMETER - Greek Goddess of Grain & Agriculture (Roman Ceres)Persephone (Kore) - Ancient History EncyclopediaPERSEPHONE - Greek Goddess of Spring, Queen of the Underworld (Roman Proserpina)Bullroarer - WikipediaBromius - Wikipedia
C. W. Marshall (4 December 2014). The Structure and Performance of Euripides' Helen. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-07375-3.
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https://archive.org/details/euripideandrama0000unse/page/286/mode/1up
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The Soul of the Greeks: An Inquiry. Chapter 6: The Fake that Launched a Thousand Ships: University of Chicago Press. pp. 105–.
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Essays on four plays of Euripides: Andromache, Helen, Heracles, Orestes - archive.org
Herodotus Book 2 Sections 113-20 Alternative Myth of Helen
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Greek Versions
Evripidis - Helena - Internet Archive Teubner
