Arnson Svarlien 7 Three Songs from Euripides’ Helen Translation and Commentary: Diane Arnson Svarlien I. First Stasimon [Strophe 1] Amid the trees’ deep tresses you trill your songs; I call to you now, in your green concert hall, bird of sorrow, O nightingale, loveliest singer, bard of lonely tears: 1180 come take your place here by my side; as the melody melts in your golden throat, sing with me—we will both lament the struggles and woes of Helen, and the tearful fate of Troy’s women 1185 when their city fell beneath Achaean spears, thanks to the rover who dipped his barbarian oar in the rushing gray waves, and came bringing woe to the sons of Priam— bringing you, Helen, 1190 his bride from Lacedaemon Paris, whose marriage was poison, escorted by Aphrodite. [Antistrophe 1] So many Greeks were killed, in a rain of spears and boulders thrown through the air; their souls sank 1195 down to Hades. Their wives, all alone in their bedrooms, cut their hair in grief. So many Greeks gave up their lives off the coast of Euboea, deceived by false 1200 beacons set by a lone Greek boat: a fraudulent star that dashed them on the rocks of Cape Caphareus, smashed their ships to fragments on Aegean crags. This man was driven to woeful barbarian shores, 1205 to harborless landfalls, blown far away from his home by the storm-winds; this man, Menelaus, brought back his prize on shipboard— 8 Delos she was no prize, she was trouble: 1210 a phantom contrived by Hera. [Strophe 2 ] What is and isn’t god, and what’s in-between— what mortal can say? Human inquiry reaches its limit as soon as it finds the ways of the gods cannot be predicted: 1215 they jump around crazily, constantly changing their course, bringing fortunes nobody has foreseen. O Helen, you’re the daughter of Zeus, who came to Leda as a bird. 1220 And yet throughout Hellas they call you unjust, a betrayer, impious, faithless wife. I have never heard a single syllable spoken by mortals about the gods that I would call credible. 1225 [Antistrophe 2 ] All you who strive for excellence, fighting wars with valorous spears, have you lost your minds? Seeking release from your struggles in death! If all things are settled by bloodshed and battles then trouble will never 1230 be gone from the cities of men. Many men lie buried in Priam’s land, O Helen, when they could have resolved the trouble over you with words. Instead they are settled in Hades; the walls 1235 of their town were scarred by a killing flame like the swift bright flame of lightning hurled by Zeus. And you’ve had your share of disaster, grief, and pitiful suffering. II. Second Stasimon [Strophe 1] The gods’ mountain Mother once upon a time raced through woodlands and glades, waded the streams of rivers, Arnson Svarlien 9 traversed the resonant salt sea waves 1380 in longing for her daughter whose name may not be spoken. The cymbals crashed and the air rang with a shrill vibration when she had yoked wild beasts to her carriage 1385 and rode out to uncover the theft of her daughter who was snatched from the circling chorus of maidens. Rushing right after her came the two goddesses, their feet swift as whirlwinds: Artemis with her arrows, 1390 Athena, Fierce-Eyed, with her spear and battle armor. But Zeus, as he watched from the sky, brought about a fate for the girl that was very different. [Antistrophe 1] Exhausted, the Mother 1395 who’d wandered for so long called a halt to her chase, gave up the race and lay down on Ida’s palisades swathed in snow where nymphs keep watch. In sorrow 1400 amid the rocks and snowdrifts she flung herself in a thicket, helpless in the face of the underhanded theft of her daughter. From the fields of mankind she withdrew the rich harvest; 1405 from the flocks she withheld the leaves and green tendrils. People were perishing, cities were withering, the altars were empty: no batter-cakes, no thigh-bones were laid on the flames for the gods. 1410 She stopped the waters that once flowed in crystalline springs from the ground, so broken was she by her dreadful sorrow. [Strophe 2] When Deo had put an end to banquets for the gods and the race of men 1415 Zeus tried to soothe the hateful rage of the Mother; he spoke to the Graces and Muses: “Go, relieve the grieving Goddess of her anger 1420 10 Delos over her stolen maiden by wailing in your wildest voice, by singing as you dance.” The earthy voice of bronze and drums made of stretched hide 1425 were first taken up by the loveliest deity, Cypris; at last, then, the Goddess laughed as she grasped in her hands the resonant aulos and took some delight in its wild, wailing voice. 1430 [Antistrophe 2] It wasn’t correct, it wasn’t holy what you did in that inner space. You have incurred the fearsome wrath of the Mother, my child, by neglecting her worship. 1435 There’s tremendous power in wearing dappled fawn-skin, weaving a crown of ivy around a sacred fennel stalk, and whirling overhead 1440 the circling bullroarer; in hair flying freely at revels for Bromius, and in the festivals lasting all night for the Goddess. When the moon rode overhead, 1445 her chariot climbing the sky, you exulted in beauty alone. III. Third Stasimon [Strophe 1] Swift Phoenician ship, O craft of Sidon, the waves of Nereus rush to embrace you O leader of dances 1535 as the circling dolphins respond to your song in lovely array when the wind has died down and Galaneia the pale-eyed daughter of Pontus, speaks these words: “Let your sails hang down; there is no more breeze. 1540 Take the oars up in your hands O sailors, sailors, send Helen home, to reach the pleasant harbor, Arnson Svarlien 11 the shores she left long ago, the city that Perseus founded.” 1545 [Antistrophe 1] There beside the waters of the river or by the temple of Pallas, at long last the festival dances and Leucippus’s daughters will welcome her home, perhaps at the revels that gladden the night 1550 for Hyacinthus whom Phoebus once, when the discus left his hand, killed—the endless wheel made a fatal strike. Then the son of Zeus decreed for the Laconians 1555 cattle-sacrifice, a day of feasting. There Helen will find her child, her calf still at home, still unmarried. [Strophe 2] If I had wings I would go flying through the aether where Libyan birds soar high above in formation, 1560 keeping time with the syrinx-song of their leader, who guides them beyond the wintery storms and calls out as he glides over lands with no rainfall and fields rich with fruit. 1565 O long-necked flyers, companions of racing clouds, set your course by the Pleiades, fly straight through the night, past Orion. Touch down by Eurotas, tell them the news: 1570 Menelaus destroyed the Dardanian town, and he’s on his way back home. [Antistrophe 2] Sons of Tyndareos, who dwell beneath the brilliance of whirling stars in the sky, come leap through the aether on your steeds, come and be the saviors of Helen: 1575 ride over the pale salt waves of the sea, ride above the blue swells and the rushing gray breakers, and bring gentle winds from Zeus to sailors. 1580 Come rescue your sister now 12 Delos from the charge of barbarian marriage that began with the conflict on Ida, though Helen never set foot on the shoreline of Troy, and she never laid eyes 1585 on the towers that Phoebus built. From Euripides: Ion, Helen, Orestes, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien, © 2016 Hackett Publishing Co. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Commentary: Euripides composed his play Helen in 412 BCE; he was in his late sixties, and had been producing plays in Athens for more than four decades. Late in his career, Euripides’ work became freer and more experimental, with fantastic plots, musical innovations, and greater metrical variety and flexibility. Greek tragedies were composed entirely in verse (spoken or chanted) and song. The Chorus sang and danced to the accompaniment of the aulos, a double-reed pipe whose piercing sound is often compared to an oboe’s. The aulos-player, the only performer who appeared without a mask, also served as a kind of conductor to the Chorus. The most formally elaborate songs were the choral odes, or stasima. These were written in pairs of stanzas—strophes and antistrophes—that matched each other rhythmically. The metrical repetition from strophe to antistrophe was reinforced by the melody and by the Chorus’ dance movements. Using a traditional technique of Greek choral poetry, Euripides often places sound-echoes or strategic thematic repetitions in the same metrical spot in strophe and antistrophe; for example, in the First Stasimon, Euripides closes each of the first two stanzas with a rhythmically-matching phrase that points to the agency of a goddess: “escorted by Aphrodite” at the end of strophe 1, “a phantom contrived by Hera” at the end of antistrophe 1. In the Second Stasimon, Euripides places the word “Mother” (for the goddess Demeter) in matching spots in both pairs of stanzas (at the beginning of strophe and antistrophe 1, and the fourth line of strophe and antistrophe 2), and the phrase “the Goddess” in the same metrical spot in strophe and antistrophe 2 (the fourth line from the end of each). In the Third Stasimon, the word “dances” (chorois in Greek) appears in the same spot in strophe and antistrophe 1. Euripides’ Helen departs from the usual account of the Trojan War and takes as its premise the alternative story that the real Helen of Sparta never went to Troy; in order to sabotage Aphrodite’s promise to the Trojan Paris that he could have Helen, the goddess Hera made a phantom Helen and gave the phantom to Paris. The real Helen was whisked away by Hermes to Egypt, where she has been all this time; Greeks and Trojans fought for ten years over the phantom. Menelaus finds Helen in Egypt on his way home from Troy; after some confusion, husband and wife have a joyful reunion. Helen can’t simply go home with Menelaus, though, because the king of Egypt is pursuing Helen and planning to marry her, and he will kill any Greek who sets foot on his shores. So Helen and Menelaus come up with a clever plan to steal a ship and escape, and at the end of the play they are sailing safely home to Arnson Svarlien 13 Greece together, escorted by Helen’s brothers, the heavenly twins Castor and Polydeuces (“Sons of Tyndareos”). The songs of Helen refer to music and dance repeatedly. The First Stasimon begins with the Chorus calling on the nightingale to sing a sorrowful song with them as they recall the pointless deaths of the Trojan War. The Second Stasimon tells the story of Demeter (here called Deo) searching for her abducted daughter. Zeus sends her consolation in the form of ecstatic music, of the type associated with rituals of the eastern mother-goddess Cybele and of Dionysus (Bromius). The ode seems to end with a reproach of Helen, but the Greek text is corrupt at both the beginning and the end of the second antistrophe, and the meaning is uncertain. In the Third Stasimon the Chorus sings joyfully of Helen and Menelaus’ escape: dolphins dance around them as they sail home; music and dance will greet them when they return home to Sparta; birds sing high overhead. 14 Delos Greek Text: I. First Stasimon [Strophe 1] σὲ τὰν ἐναύλοις ὑπὸ δενδροκόμοις μουσεῖα καὶ θάκους ἐνί- ζουσαν ἀναβοάσω, σὲ τὰν ἀοιδοτάταν ὄρνιθα μελῳδὸν ἀηδόνα δακρυόεσσαν, 1110 ἔλθ᾽ ὦ διὰ ξουθᾶν γενύων ἐλελιζομένα θρήνων ἐμοὶ ξυνεργός, Ἑλένας μελέας πόνους τὸν Ἰλιάδων τ᾽ ἀει- δούσᾳ δακρυόεντα πότμον 1115 Ἀχαιῶν ὑπὸ λόγχαις: ὅτ᾽ ἔδραμε ῥόθια πολιὰ βαρβάρῳ πλάτᾳ ὃς ἔμολεν ἔμολε μέλεα Πριαμίδαις ἄγων Λακεδαίμονος ἄπο λέχεα σέθεν, ὦ Ἑλένα, Πάρις αἰνόγαμος 1120 πομπαῖσιν Ἀφροδίτας. [Antistrophe 1] πολλοὶ δ᾽ Ἀχαιῶν δορὶ καὶ πετρίναις ῥιπαῖσιν ἐκπνεύσαντες Ἅι- δαν μέλεον ἔχουσιν, ταλαινᾶν ἀλόχων κείραντες ἔθειραν: ἄνυμφα δὲ μέλαθρα κεῖται: 1125 πολλοὺς δὲ πυρσεύσας φλογερὸν σέλας ἀμφιρύτον Εὔβοιαν εἷλ᾽ Ἀχαιῶν μονόκωπος ἀνήρ πέτραις Καφηρίσιν ἐμβαλὼν Αἰγαίαις ἐνάλοις δόλιον 1130 ἀκταῖς ἀστέρα λάμψας. ἀλίμενα δ᾽ ὅρια μέλεα βαρβάρου στολᾶς τοτ᾽ ἔσυτο πατρίδος ἀποπρὸ χειμάτων πνοᾷ γέρας, οὐ γέρας ἀλλ᾽ ἔριν, Δαναῶν Μενέλας ἐπὶ ναυσὶν ἄγων, 1135 εἴδωλον ἱερὸν Ἥρας. Arnson Svarlien 15 [Strophe 2] ὅ τι θεὸς ἢ μὴ θεὸς ἢ τὸ μέσον, τίς φησ᾽ ἐρευνήσας βροτῶν; μακρότατον πέρας ηὗρεν ὃς τὰ θεῶν ἐσορᾷ 1140 δεῦρο καὶ αὖθις ἐκεῖσε καὶ πάλιν ἀντιλόγοις πηδῶντ᾽ ἀνελπίστοις τύχαις. σὺ Διὸς ἔφυς, ὦ Ἑλένα, θυγάτηρ: πτανὸς γὰρ ἐν κόλποις σε Λή- 1145 δας ἐτέκνωσε πατήρ. κᾆτ᾽ ἰαχήθης καθ᾽ Ἑλλανίαν προδότις ἄπιστος ἄδικος ἄθεος: οὐδ᾽ ἔχω ὅ τι σαφὲς, ὅ τι ποτ᾽ ἐν βροτοῖς τῶν θεῶν ἔπος ἀλαθὲς εὕρω. 1150 [Antistrophe 2] ἄφρονες ὅσοι τὰς ἀρετὰς πολέμῳ λόγχαισί τ᾽ ἀλκαίου δορὸς κτᾶσθ, ἀμαθῶς θανάτῳ πόνους καταλυόμενοι. εἰ γὰρ ἅμιλλα κρινεῖ νιν αἵματος, οὔποτ᾽ ἔρις 1155 λείψει κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πόλεις: ᾇ Πριαμίδος γᾶς ἔλαχον θαλάμους, ἐξὸν διορθῶσαι λόγοις σὰν ἔριν, ὦ Ἑλένα. 1160 νῦν δ᾽ οἳ μὲν Ἅιδᾳ μέλονται κάτω, τείχεα δὲ φλογμὸς ὥστε Διός ἐπέσυτο φλόξ, ἐπὶ δὲ πάθεα πάθεσι φέρεις ἀθλία συμφοραῖς ἐλεινοῖς. II. Second Stasimon [Strophe 1] Ὀρεία ποτὲ δρομάδι κώ- λῳ μάτηρ θεῶν ἐσύθη ἀν᾽ ὑλάεντα νάπη ποτάμιόν τε χεῦμ᾽ ὑδάτων βαρύβρομόν τε κῦμ᾽ ἅλιον 1305 16 Delos πόθῳ τᾶς ἀποιχομένας ἀρρήτου κούρας. κρόταλα δὲ βρόμια διαπρύσιον ἱέντα κέλαδον ἀνεβόα, θηρῶν ὅτε ζυγίους 1310 ζευξάσᾳ θεᾷ σατίνας τὰν ἁρπασθεῖσαν κυκλίων χορῶν ἔξω παρθενίων μετὰ κούραν, ἀελλόποδες, ἃ μὲν τόξοις Ἄρτεμις, ἃ δ᾽ 1315 ἔγχει Γοργῶπις πάνοπλος, συνείποντο. Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἑδράνων αὐγάζων ἐξ οὐρανίων ἄλλαν μοῖραν ἔκραινε. [Antistrophe 1] δρομαῖον δ᾽ ὅτε πολυπλάνη- τον μάτηρ ἔπαυσε πόνον, 1320 μαστεύουσα † πόνους † θυγατρὸς ἁρπαγὰς δολίους, χιονοθρέμμονάς γ᾽ ἐπέρασ᾽ Ἰδαιᾶν Νυμφᾶν σκοπιάς: ῥίπτει τ᾽ ἐν πένθει 1325 πέτρινα κατὰ δρία πολυνιφέα: βροτοῖσι δ᾽ ἄχλοα πεδία γᾶς οὐ καρπίζουσ᾽ ἀρότοις λαῶν δὲ φθείρει γενεάν: ποίμναις δ᾽ οὐχ ἵει θαλερὰς 1330 βοσκὰς εὐφύλλων ἑλίκων, πόλεων δ᾽ ἀπέλειπε βίος: οὐδ᾽ ἦσαν θεῶν θυσίαι, βωμοῖς δ᾽ ἄφλεκτοι πέλανοι: πηγὰς δ᾽ ἀμπαύει δροσερὰς 1335 λευκῶν ἐκβάλλειν ὑδάτων πένθει παιδὸς ἀλάστῳ. [Strophe 2] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἔπαυσ᾽ εἰλαπίνας θεοῖς βροτείῳ τε γένει, Ζεὺς μειλίσσων στυγίους Ματρὸς ὀργὰς ἐνέπει: 1340 Arnson Svarlien 17 βᾶτε, σεμναὶ Χάριτες, ἴτε, τᾷ περὶ παρθένῳ Δηοῖ θυμωσαμένᾳ λύπαν ἐξαλλάξατ᾽ ἀλαλᾷ, Μοῦσαί θ᾽ ὕμνοισι χορῶν. 1345 χαλκοῦ δ᾽ αὐδὰν χθονίαν τύπανά τ᾽ ἔλαβε βυρσοτενῆ καλλίστα τότε πρῶτα μακά- ρων Κύπρις: γέλασέν δε θεὰ δέξατό τ᾽ ἐς χέρας 1350 βαρύβρομον αὐλὸν τερφθεῖσ᾽ ἀλαλαγμῷ. [Antistrophe 2] † ὧν οὐ θέμις σ᾽ οὔθ᾽ ὁσία ἐπύρωσας ἐν θαλάμοις, † μῆνιν δ᾽ ἔσχες μεγάλας 1355 Ματρός, ὦ παῖ, θυσίας οὐ σεβίζουσα θεᾶς. μέγα τοι δύναται νεβρῶν παμποίκιλοι στολίδες κισσοῦ τε στεφθεῖσα χλόα 1360 νάρθηκας εἰς ἱερούς, ῥόμβου θ᾽ εἱλισσομένα κύκλιος ἔνοσις αἰθερία, βακχεύουσά τ᾽ ἔθειρα Βρομί ῳ καὶ παννυχίδες θεᾶς. 1365 † εὖ δέ νιν ἄμασιν ὑπέρβαλε σελάνα † μορφᾷ μόνον ηὔχεις. III. Third Stasimon [Strophe 1] Φοίνισσα Σιδωνιὰς ὦ ταχεῖα κώπα, ῥοθίοισι μάτηρ εἰρεσία φίλα, χοραγὲ τῶν καλλιχόρων δελφίνων, ὅταν αὔραις 1455 πέλαγος ἀνήνεμον ᾖ, γλαυκὰ δὲ Πόντου θυγάτηρ 18 Delos Γαλάνεια τάδ᾽ εἴπῃ: κατὰ μὲν ἱστία πετάσατ᾽ αὔ- ρας λιπόντες εἰναλίας, 1460 λάβετε δ᾽ εἰλατίνας πλάτας, ὦ ναῦται, ναῦται, πέμποντες εὐλιμένους Περσείων οἴκων Ἑλέναν ἐπ᾽ ἀκτάς. [Antistrophe 1] ἦ που κόρας ἂν ποταμοῦ 1465 παρ᾽ οἶδμα Λευκιππίδας ἢ πρὸ ναοῦ Παλλάδος ἂν λάβοι χρόνῳ ξυνελθοῦσα χοροῖς ἢ κώμοις Ὑακίνθου νύχιον ἐς εὐφροσύναν, 1470 ὃν ἐξαμιλλησάμενος τροχῷ τέρμονα δίσκου ἔκανε Φοῖβος, τᾷ Λακαί- νᾳ γᾷ βούθυτον ἁμέραν ὁ Διὸς εἶπε σέβειν γόνος: 1475 μόσχον θ᾽ ἃν † λίποιτ᾽ οἴκοις † ἇς οὔπω πεῦκαι πρὸ γάμων ἔλαμψαν. [Strophe 2] δι᾽ ἀιθέρος εἴθε ποτανοὶ γενοίμεθ᾽ ὅπᾳ Λιβύας οἰωνοὶ στοχάδες 1480 ὄμβρον λιποῦσαι χειμέριον νίσονται πρεσβυτάτου σύριγγι πειθόμεναι ποιμένος, ὃς ἄβροχα πεδία καρποφόρα τε γᾶς 1485 ἐπιπετόμενος ἰαχεῖ. ὦ πταναὶ δολιχαύχενες, σύννομοι νεφέων δρόμου, βᾶτε Πλειάδας ὑπὸ μέσας Ὠρίωνά τ᾽ ἐννύχιον: 1490 καρύξατ᾽ ἀγγελίαν, Εὐρώταν ἐφεζόμεναι, Μενέλεως ὅτι Δαρδάνου πόλιν ἑλὼν δόμον ἥξει. Arnson Svarlien 19 [Antistrophe 2] μόλοιτέ ποθ᾽ ἵππιον οἶμον 1495 δι᾽ αἰθέρος ἱέμενοι παῖδες Τυνδαρίδαι, λαμπρῶν ἄστρων ὑπ᾽ ἀέλλαισιν: οἳ ναίετ᾽ οὐράνιοι, σωτῆρε τᾶς Ἑλένας, 1500 γλαυκὸν ἔπιτ᾽ οἶδμα κυανόχροά τε κυμάτων ῥόθια πολιὰ θαλάσσας, ναύταις εὐαεῖς ἀνέμων πέμποντες Διόθεν πνοάς: 1505 δύσκλειαν δ᾽ ἀπὸ συγγόνου βάλετε βαρβάρων λεχέων, ἃν Ἰδαίων ἐρίδων ποιναθεῖσ᾽ ἐκτήσατο, γᾶν οὐκ ἐλθοῦσά ποτ᾽ Ἰλίου 1510 Φοιβείους ἐπὶ πύργους.