Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1896) v2.djvu/383

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HELEN.
327

Menelaus.

Princess, thy part is this: with him who is now
Thy lord, content thee; him who is not let be,
As best it is for thee in this thy plight. 1290
And if to Greece I come, and safety win,
Then will I take thine old reproach away,
If now thou prove true wife to thine own spouse.


Helen.

This shall be: never shall my lord blame me.
Thou shalt thyself be near, and witness this. 1295
Now, toil-tried one, pass in, and taste the bath,
And change thy raiment. I will tarry not
In kindness to thee: thou with more good will
Shalt pay all dues to my belovèd lord,
Menelaus, if thou have thy due of us. 1300

[Exeunt Menelaus, Helen, and Theoklymenus.


Chorus.[1]

(Str. 1)
The Mountain-goddess,[2] with feet swift-racing,
Mother of Gods, rushed onward of yore
By glens of the forest in frenzied chasing,
By the new-born rivers' cataract-roar,
By the thunderous surge of the sea wind-tost,
In anguished quest for a daughter lost
Whose name is unuttered in prayer or praising;[3]

  1. ↑ The relevance of this ode to the action of the drama is ably maintained by Moulton, Ancient Classical Drama, pp. 181–2.
  2. ↑ Demeter, who is here invested with some of the attributes of Cybele.
  3. ↑ Persephone's name was not uttered in ritual, for fear of re-awakening Demeter's grief.
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