Helen of Troy [32]
gifts; a golden distaff did she give, and a
silver basket with wheels beneath, and the rims thereof were finished
with gold. This it was that the handmaid Phylo bare and set beside
her, filled with dressed yarn, and across it was laid a distaff
charged with wool of violet blue. So Helen sat her down in the
chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet."
When the host and guests begin to weep the ready tears of the heroic
age over the sorrows of the past, and dread of the dim future, Helen
comforts them with a magical potion.
"Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presently she
cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain
and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should
drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on that day
he would let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and
his father died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with the
sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it. Medicines of such
virtue and so helpful had the daughter of Zeus, which Polydamna, the
wife of Thon, had given her, a woman of Egypt, where Earth the grain-
giver yields herbs in greatest plenty, many that are healing in the
cup, and many baneful."
So Telemachus was kindly entertained by Helen and Menelaus, and when
he left them it was not without a gift.
"And Helen stood by the coffers wherein were her robes of curious
needlework which she herself had wrought. Then Helen, the fair lady,
lifted one and brought it out, the widest and most beautifully
embroidered of all, and it shone like a star, and lay far beneath the
rest."
Presently, we read, "Helen of the fair face came up with the robe in
her hands, and spake: 'Lo! I too give thee this gift, dear child, a
memorial of the hands of Helen, for thy bride to wear upon the day of
thy desire, even of thy marriage. But meanwhile let it lie with thy
mother in her chamber. And may joy go with thee to thy well-builded
house, and thine own country.'"
Helen's last words, in Homer, are words of good omen, her prophecy to
Telemachus that Odysseus shall return home after long wanderings, and
take vengeance on the rovers. We see Helen no more, but Homer does
not leave us in doubt as to her later fortunes. He quotes the
prophecy which Proteus, the ancient one of the sea, delivered to
Menelaus:-
"But thou, Menelaus, son of Zeus, art not ordained to die and meet
thy fate in Argos, the pasture-land of horses, but the deathless gods
will convey thee to the Elysian plain and the world's end, where is
Rhadamanthus of the fair hair, where life is easiest for men. No
snow is there, nor yet great storm, nor any rain; but alway ocean
sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill West to blow cool on men:
yea, for thou hast Helen to wife, and thereby they deem thee to be
son of Zeus."
We must believe, with Isocrates, that Helen was translated, with her
lord, to that field of Elysium, "where falls not hail, or rain, or
any snow." This version of the end of Helen's history we have
adopted, but many other legends were known in Greece. Pausanias
tells us that, in a battle between the Crotoniats and the Locrians,
one Leonymus charged the empty space in the Locrian line, which was
entrusted to the care of the ghost of Aias. Leonymus was wounded by
the invisible spear of the hero, and could not be healed of the hurt.
The Delphian oracle bade him seek the Isle of Leuke in the Euxine
Sea, where Aias would appear to him, and heal him. When Leonymus
returned from Leuke he told how Achilles dwelt there with his ancient
comrades, and how he was now wedded to Helen of Troy. Yet the local
tradition of Lacedaemon showed the sepulchre of Helen in Therapnae.
According to a Rhodian legend (adopted by the author of the "Epic of
Hades"), Helen was banished from Sparta by the sons of Menelaus, came
wandering to Rhodes, and was there strangled by the servants of the
queen Polyxo, who thus avenged the death of her husband at Troy. It
is certain, as we
silver basket with wheels beneath, and the rims thereof were finished
with gold. This it was that the handmaid Phylo bare and set beside
her, filled with dressed yarn, and across it was laid a distaff
charged with wool of violet blue. So Helen sat her down in the
chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet."
When the host and guests begin to weep the ready tears of the heroic
age over the sorrows of the past, and dread of the dim future, Helen
comforts them with a magical potion.
"Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presently she
cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain
and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should
drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on that day
he would let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and
his father died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with the
sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it. Medicines of such
virtue and so helpful had the daughter of Zeus, which Polydamna, the
wife of Thon, had given her, a woman of Egypt, where Earth the grain-
giver yields herbs in greatest plenty, many that are healing in the
cup, and many baneful."
So Telemachus was kindly entertained by Helen and Menelaus, and when
he left them it was not without a gift.
"And Helen stood by the coffers wherein were her robes of curious
needlework which she herself had wrought. Then Helen, the fair lady,
lifted one and brought it out, the widest and most beautifully
embroidered of all, and it shone like a star, and lay far beneath the
rest."
Presently, we read, "Helen of the fair face came up with the robe in
her hands, and spake: 'Lo! I too give thee this gift, dear child, a
memorial of the hands of Helen, for thy bride to wear upon the day of
thy desire, even of thy marriage. But meanwhile let it lie with thy
mother in her chamber. And may joy go with thee to thy well-builded
house, and thine own country.'"
Helen's last words, in Homer, are words of good omen, her prophecy to
Telemachus that Odysseus shall return home after long wanderings, and
take vengeance on the rovers. We see Helen no more, but Homer does
not leave us in doubt as to her later fortunes. He quotes the
prophecy which Proteus, the ancient one of the sea, delivered to
Menelaus:-
"But thou, Menelaus, son of Zeus, art not ordained to die and meet
thy fate in Argos, the pasture-land of horses, but the deathless gods
will convey thee to the Elysian plain and the world's end, where is
Rhadamanthus of the fair hair, where life is easiest for men. No
snow is there, nor yet great storm, nor any rain; but alway ocean
sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill West to blow cool on men:
yea, for thou hast Helen to wife, and thereby they deem thee to be
son of Zeus."
We must believe, with Isocrates, that Helen was translated, with her
lord, to that field of Elysium, "where falls not hail, or rain, or
any snow." This version of the end of Helen's history we have
adopted, but many other legends were known in Greece. Pausanias
tells us that, in a battle between the Crotoniats and the Locrians,
one Leonymus charged the empty space in the Locrian line, which was
entrusted to the care of the ghost of Aias. Leonymus was wounded by
the invisible spear of the hero, and could not be healed of the hurt.
The Delphian oracle bade him seek the Isle of Leuke in the Euxine
Sea, where Aias would appear to him, and heal him. When Leonymus
returned from Leuke he told how Achilles dwelt there with his ancient
comrades, and how he was now wedded to Helen of Troy. Yet the local
tradition of Lacedaemon showed the sepulchre of Helen in Therapnae.
According to a Rhodian legend (adopted by the author of the "Epic of
Hades"), Helen was banished from Sparta by the sons of Menelaus, came
wandering to Rhodes, and was there strangled by the servants of the
queen Polyxo, who thus avenged the death of her husband at Troy. It
is certain, as we