I am ruined! I found you, my husband, but I will not have you.MenelaosThe greatness of my troubles over there convinces me; you do not.HelenAh me! Who was ever more miserable than I am?Those whom I love best are leaving me, and I shall never reach the Hellenes or my own country.Messenger(entering hurriedly.)Menelaos, I find you, after taking great trouble to look for you, wandering over the whole of this foreign land; I am sent by the comrades whom you left behind.MenelaosWhat is it? Surely you are not being plundered by the foreigners?MessengerIt is a miracle; what I say is of less account than what happened.MenelaosTell me; for, judging by this eagerness, you are certainly bringing something new.MessengerI say that you have suffered countless labors in vain.MenelaosYou are mourning over old sorrows; what is your message?MessengerYour wife has disappeared, taken up into the folds of the unseen air; she is hidden in heaven, and as she left the hallowed cave where we were keeping her, she said this: Miserable Phrygians, and all the Achaeans! On my account you were dying by the banks of Skamandros,
through Hera’s contrivance, for you thought that Paris had Helen when he didn’t. But I, since I have stayed my appointed time, and kept the laws of fate, will now depart into the sky, my father; but the unhappy daughter of Tyndareus,
guilty in no way, has borne an evil name without reason.
Catching sight of HelenWelcome, daughter of Leda, were you here after all? I was just announcing your departure up to the hidden starry realms, not knowing that you had a winged body. I will not let you mock us like this again,for you gave your fill of trouble to your husband and his allies in Ilion.MenelaosThis is the meaning of that; her words have turned out to be true. O longed-for day, that has given you to my arms!HelenO Menelaos, dearest of men, the time was long, but delight is just now ours.With joy I have found my husband, friends, I have embraced my dear one, after long days of blazing light.MenelaosAnd I have found you; but I have many questions about t; now I do not know what to begin with first. HelenI am so happy, the hair rises on my head and my tears run down. I fling my arms around your neck,