Chorus Leader
My views about seers agree exactly with this old man's; whoever has the gods as friends
[760]
would have the best prophecy at home.
Helen
All right; so far all is well. But how you were saved, my poor husband, from Troy, there is no gain in knowing, yet friends have a desire to learn what their friends have suffered.
Menelaos
[765]
Truly you have asked a great deal all at once. Why should I tell you about our losses in the Aegean, and Nauplios' beacons on Euboia, and my visits to Crete and the cities of Libya, and the mountain-peaks of Perseus? For I would not satisfy you with the tale,
[770]
and by telling you these evils I would suffer still, as I did when I experienced them; and so my grief would be doubled.
Helen
Your answer is better than my question. Leave out the rest, and tell me only this: how long were you a weary wanderer over the surface of the sea?
Menelaos
[775]
Besides those ten years in Troy, I went through seven cycles of years on board ship.
Helen
Alas, poor man, you have spoken of a long time; and, saved from there, you have come here to the slaughter.
Menelaos
What do you mean? What will you say? Ah, my wife, you have ruined me.
Helen
[780]
Escape from this land and flee as quickly as possible. The man who lives in this house will kill you.
Menelaos
What have I done to deserve such a fate?
Helen
You have come unexpectedly to hinder my marriage.
Menelaos
What! Does someone plan to marry my wife?
Helen
[785]
And to act in violence against me, which I have endured.
Menelaos
Does he have private power, or is he the ruler of the country?
Helen
He is the lord of this land, the son of Proteus.
Menelaos
This is that riddle I heard from the servant.
Helen
Which one of the barbarian's gates were you standing beside?
Menelaos
[790]
This one, from which I was being driven away like a beggar.
Helen
You were surely not begging for food, were you? How unhappy I am!
Menelaos
That was the deed, though it did not have that name.