Aeschylus Agamemnon (lines 674-731)

Carter Meagher /
  • Created on 2025-05-12 02:28:02
  • Modified on 2025-05-14 03:29:16
  • Translated by Carter
  • Aligned by Carter Meagher
Ἑλληνική
English
English
Μενέλεων γὰρ οὖν
πρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα προσδόκα μέλειν
εἰ δ᾿ οὖν τις ἀκτὶς ἡλίου νιν ἱστορεῖ
χλωρόν τε καὶ βλέποντα , μηχαναῖς Διὸς
οὔπω θέλοντος ἐξαναλῶσαι γένος ,
ἐλπίς τις αὐτὸν πρὸς δόμους ἥξειν πάλιν .

τοσαῦτ᾿ ἀκούσας ἴσθι τἀληθῆ κλυών .

τίς ποτ᾿ ὠνόμαζεν ὧδ᾿
ἐς τὸ πᾶν ἐτητύμως—
μή τις ὅντιν᾿ οὐχ ὁρῶμέν ,
προνοίαισι τοῦ πεπρωμένου
γλῶσσαν ἐν τύχᾳ νέμων ;
τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινεικῆ
θ᾿ Ἑλέναν ; ἐπεὶ πρεπόντως
ἑλέναυς ἕλανδρος ἑλέπτολις
ἐκ τῶν ἁβροπήνων
προκαλυμμάτων ἔπλευσε
Ζεφύρου γίγαντος αὔρᾳ ,
πολύανδροί τε φεράσπιδες κυναγοὶ
κατ᾿ ἴχνος πλατᾶν ἄφαντον ,
κελσάντων Σιμόεντος ἀκτὰς
ἐπ᾿ ἀεξιφύλλους
δι᾿ Ἔριν αἱματόεσσαν .

Ἰλίῳ δὲ κῆδος ὀρθώνυμον
τελεσσίφρων
Μῆνις ἤλασεν , τραπέζας
ἀτίμωσιν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ
καὶ ξυνεστίου Διὸς
πρασσομένα τὸ νυμφότι-
μον μέλος ἐκφάτως τίοντας .
†ὑμέναιον ὃς† τότ᾿ ἐπέρρεπε
γαμβροῖσιν ἀείδειν ·

μεταμανθάνουσα δ᾿ ὕμνον
Πριάμου πόλις γεραιὰ
πολύθρηνον μέγα που στένει , κικλῄσκουσα
Πάριν τὸν αἰνόλεκτρον ,
παμπορθῆ †πολύθρηνον αἰῶν᾿
ἀμφὶ πολίταν†
μέλεον αἷμ᾿ ἀνατλᾶσα .

ἔθρεψεν δὲ λέοντος ἶνιν
δόμοις ἀγάλακτον οὕτως
ἀνὴρ φιλόμαστον ,
ἐν βιότου προτελείοις
ἅμερον , εὐφιλόπαιδα ,
καὶ γεραροῖς ἐπίχαρτον ·
πολέα δ᾿ ἔσκ᾿ ἐν ἀγκάλαις
νεοτρόφου τέκνου δίκαν ,
φαιδρωπὸς ποτὶ χεῖρα σαίνων
τε γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις .

χρονισθεὶς δ᾿ ἀπέδειξεν ἦθος
τὸ πρὸς τοκέων · χάριν
γὰρ τροφεῦσιν ἀμείβων
μηλοφόνοισι σὺν ἄταις
δαῖτ᾿ ἀκέλευστος ἔτευξεν ·
For therefore , expect that Menelaus is both first and most of all a matter of concern for the gods . And if , therefore , some beam of sun observes him , both fresh and seeing , by the designs of Zeus , who is not yet resolved to utterly destroy the race , there is some hope he will come back home again .

After hearing so much , know that you hear the truth .

Who at first glance gave a name so utterly true- ( one whom we do not see who does not speak the language by chance but is perceiving beforehand what has been destined ? ) -to the sought after Helen , who caused war through her marriage ? Fittingly , she is hell to ships , hell to man and hell to cities when she sailed out of her delicate curtains by the breeze of mighty Zephryus , and many man , shield-bearing hunters , went towards the invisible tracks of oar-blades after they landed on the leafy banks of the Simois , on her account there was bloody strife .

And Wrath , working its will , drove a rightly-named wedding for Ilium at a later time for the dishonoring of the dining table and of hearth-sharing Zeus , exacting punishment from those who loudly honored the bridal song , which it then fell to her husband’s family to sing .

But , in its old age , the city of Priam is learning a new , much lamented song . It groans deeply , calling Paris the one who was fatally wedded , because the city is enduring an all-destroying , much-lamented life through the useless bloodshed of its citizens .

And in this manner a man reared in his home a lion’s cub , who loved the breast but was deprived of milk . In the beginning of its life it was tame , the children’s darling and delightsome to the old . And it was often in his bent arms in the way of newly-reared young , with a bright look at his hand , fawning by necessity when hungry .

But growing up , it displayed character from its parents , repaying the favor to its foster-parents , it produced an unbidden feast by means of reckless sheep-slaying .
" Especially hope for this :
that Menelaus somehow reached the shore .
If he still bathes in sunshine anywhere ,
alive and conscious thanks to Zeus’s art ,
who may not wish to wipe his family out ,
there is some hope that he’ll be coming home .
That isn’t much to claim , but it’s the truth . "

" Who’s the one who gave her such
an all-too-fitting name ?
One unseen , perhaps , who chose
his words with perfect aim ,
knowing well ahead of time
the things that had to be ,
naming Helen " Helen " as
a kind of prophecy : "

" battle bride and source of strife
and truly hell on ships .
Hell on men and city too ,
when blasts from Zephyr’s lips
parted fine-spun draperies ,
and she herself set sail .
Many armored hunters tracked
her rowers’ vanished trail ,
after she and Paris reached
the leafy Simoïs .
All of that because of Strife ,
whom bloody conflicts please . "

" Heaven’s potent anger forged
a bond indeed that day ,
bound the town of Ilium
in later times to pay
for sins against the persons who
provided bed and board ,
Zeus’s laws of guest and host
disgracefully ignored !
Those who sang the bridal hymn , "
" pronouncing it with pride ,
paid a price for having been
the in-laws of the bride .

Priam’s ancient city learned
to sing a mournful song ,
calling Paris one who lay
where he did not belong .
He began an age of tears .
He brought the city low .
Thanks to him the citizens’
unhappy blood would flow . "

" Just so a man once brought a lion home ,
a suckling cub , to raise it as his own .
still fond of nursing , easily controlled ,
immature , a joy for young and old .
The man would hold this creature of the wild
in loving arms as though a newborn child .
Its stomach made the usual demands .
It fawned bright-eyed and ate from human hands .
In time a change to inborn traits took place ,
and it repaid its foster parents’ grace
by raining death on flocks of goats and sheep , "
an uninvited diner .

( 26 ) 12% GRC
( 190 ) 88% GRC - ENG

( 345 ) 88% GRC - ENG
( 47 ) 12% ENG

( 345 ) 88% GRC - ENG
( 47 ) 12% ENG