Helen

Euripides

Euripides. The Plays of Euripides, Translated into English Prose from the Text of Paley. Vol. I. Coleridge, Edward P., translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906.

  • [*](Dramatis PersonaeHelenTeucerChorusMenelaosOld woman (Portress)MessengerTheonoeTheoklymenosServantDioskouroi)
    Scene.— Tomb of Proteus in the island of Pharos.
    Helen
    1. These are the lovely pure streams of the Nile, which waters the plain and lands of Egypt, fed by white melting snow instead of rain from heaven. Proteus was king of this land when he was alive,
    2. living on the island of Pharos and lord of Egypt; and he married one of the daughters of the sea, Psamathe, after she left Aiakos’ bed. She bore two children in his palace here: a son Theoklymenos, because he spent his life in reverence of the gods,
    3. and a noble daughter, her mother’s pride, called Eido in her infancy. But when she came to youth, the season of marriage, she was called Theonoe; for she knew whatever the gods design, both present and to come,
    4. having received this honor from her grandfather Nereus.