Stasimon 3
[Episode]
Helen’s trouble was not of her own choosing, but sent by heaven, and it proved a great benefit to Hellas; her sons, till then untried in war or arms, turned to deeds of prowess, and it is experience which teaches man all he knows.
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Menelaus
I showed my wisdom in refraining from slaying my wife, directly I caught sight of her. Would that thou too hadst ne’er slain Phocus!The half-brother of Peleus and Telamon, slain by them out of jealousy.
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All this I bring before thee in pure good-will, not from anger. But if thou resent it, thy tongue may wag till it ache,
yet shall I gain by prudent forethought.
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Chorus
Cease now from idle words, ’twere better far, for fear ye both alike go wrong.
Peleus
Alas! what evil customs now prevail in Hellas! Whene’er the host sets up a trophy o’er the foe,
men no more consider this the work of those who really toiled, but the general gets the credit for it. Now he was but one among ten thousand others to brandish his spear; he only did the work of one; but yet he wins more praise than they. Again, as magistrates in all the grandeur of office
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they scorn the common folk, though they are naught themselves; whereas those others are ten thousand times more wise than they, if daring combine with judgment. Even so thou and thy brother, now take your seats in all the swollen pride of Trojan fame and Trojan generalship,
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exalted by the toilsome efforts of others.Sentence reads Even so thou and thy brother, exalted by the toilsome efforts of others, now take your seats in all the swollen pride of Trojan fame and Trojan generalship. but has been rearranged for line clarity. But I will teach thee henceforth to consider Idaean Paris a foe less terribleReading μὴ κρείσσω, as Paley proposed, instead of μείζω or ἥσσω. than Peleus, unless forthwith thou pack from this roof, thou and thy childless daughter too, whom my own true son
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will hale through his halls by the hair of her head; for her barrenness will not let her endure fruitfulness in others, because she has no children herself. Still if she is unlucky in the matter of offspring, is that a reason why we should be left childless?
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Begone! ye varlets, let her go! I will soon see if anyone will hinder me from loosing her hands.
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To Andromache. Arise; these trembling hands of mine will untie the twisted thongs that bind thee. Out on thee, coward! is this how thou hast galled her wrists?
Didst think thou wert lashing up a lion or bull? or wert afraid she would snatch a sword and defend herself against thee? Come, child, nestle to thy mother’s arms; help me loose her bonds; I will yet rear thee in Phthia to be their bitter foe. If your reputation for prowess
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and the battles ye have fought were taken from you Spartans, in all else, be very sure, you have not your inferiors.
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Chorus
The race of old men practises no restraint; and their testiness makes it hard to check them.
Menelaus
Thou art only too ready to rush into abuse;
while, as for me, I came to Phthia by constraint and have therefore no intention either of doing or suffering anything mean. Now must I return home, for I have no time to waste; for there is a city not so very far from Sparta, which aforetime was friendly
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but now is hostile; against her will I march with my army and bring her into subjection. And when I have arranged that matter as I wish, I will return; and face to face with my son-in-law I will give my version of the story and hear his.
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And if he punish her, and for the future she exercise self-control, she shall find me do the like; but if he storm, I’ll storm as well; andPaley’s suggestion to omit this line as possibly spurious owing to the repetition of ἀντιλήψεται, and to read θυμουμένη in the preceding line, would clear up the ambiguity as to whether Andromache or Neoptolemus is meant as the subject of ἠ σώφρων. every act of mine shall be a reflex of his own. As for thy babbling, I can bear it easily;
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for, like to a shadow as thou art,Reading with Hermann and Dindorf, σκιᾲ ἀντίστοιχος ὢν. Another reading is σκιὰ – ὢς, i.e. like the shadow on a dial exactly opposite the sun. (Paley.) thy voice is all thou hast, and thou art powerless to do aught but talk. Exit Menelaus.
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Peleus
Lead on, my child, safe beneath my sheltering wing, and thou too, poor lady; for thou art come into a quiet haven after the rude storm.
Andromache
Heaven reward thee and all thy race, old sire, for having saved my child and me his hapless mother! Only beware lest they fall upon us twain in some lonely spot upon the road and force me from thee, when they see thy age, my weakness,
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and this child’s tender years; take heed to this, that we be not a second time made captive, after escaping now.
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Peleus
Forbear such words, prompted by a woman’s cowardice. Go on thy way; who will lay a finger on you? Methinks he will do it to his cost. For by heaven’s grace I rule o’er many a knight and spearman
bold in my kingdom of Phthia; yea, and myself can still stand straight, no bent old man as thou dost think; such a fellow as that a mere look from me will put to flight in spite of my years. For e’en an old man, be he brave, is worth a host of raw youths;
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for what avails a fine figure if a man is a coward? Exeunt Peleus, Andromache, and Molossus.
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[Choral]
Oh! to have never been born, or sprung from noble sires, the heir to mansions richly stored;
Chorus
for if aught untoward e’er befall, there is no lack of champions for sons of noble parents, and there is honour and glory for them when they are proclaimed scions of illustrious lines; time detracts not from the legacy these good
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men leave, but the light of their goodness still burns on when they are dead.
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Better is it not to win a discreditable victory,
