Helen

but because he was eager to become a son of Zeus by marriage, considering this a much greater and more glorious honor than sovereignty over Asia, and thinking that while great dominions and sovereignties fall at times even to quite ordinary men, no man would ever in all time to come be considered worthy of such a woman; and furthermore, that he could leave no more glorious heritage to his children than by seeing to it that they should be descendants of Zeus, not only on their father's side, but also on their mother's.

For he knew that while other blessings bestowed by Fortune soon change hands, nobility of birth abides forever with the same possessors; therefore he foresaw that this choice would be to the advantage of all his race, whereas the other gifts would be enjoyed for the duration of his own life only.

No sensible person surely could find fault with this reasoning, but some, who have not taken into consideration the antecedent events but look at the sequel alone, have before now reviled Alexander; but the folly of these accusers is easily discerned by all from the calumnies they have uttered.

Are they not in a ridiculous state of mind if they think their own judgement is more competent than that which the gods chose as best[*](i.e., Alexander's.)? For surely they did not select any ordinary arbiter to decide a dispute about an issue that had got them into so fierce a quarrel, but obviously they were as anxious to select the most competent judge as they were concerned about the matter itself.

There is need, moreover, to consider his real worth and to judge him, not by the resentment of those who were defeated for the prize, but by the reasons which caused the goddesses unanimously to choose his judgement. For nothing prevents even innocent persons from being ill-treated by the stronger, but only a mortal man of greatly superior intelligence could have received such honor as to become a judge of immortals.

I am astonished that anyone should think that Alexander was ill-advised in choosing to live with Helen, for whom many demigods were willing to die. Would he not have been a fool if, knowing that the deities themselves were contending for the prize of beauty, he had himself scorned beauty, and had failed to regard as the greatest of gifts that for the possession of which he saw even those goddesses most earnestly striving?