Menelaos I am no thief, nor a servant of evil men.
Helen And yet the clothes you are wearing are unsightly enough.
Menelaos Put fear aside and stop your rapid flight.
Helen I do so, now that I have reached this spot.
Menelaos Who are you? Whom do I see in you, lady?
Helen But who are you? The same reason prompts us both.
Menelaos I never saw a closer resemblance.
Helen O gods! For the recognizing of friends is a god.
Menelaos Are you a woman from Hellas, or a native of this land?
Helen From Hellas; but I want to learn your story too.
Menelaos You seem to me very much like Helen, lady.
Helen And you seem to me like Menelaos; I don’t know what to say.
Menelaos Well, you have correctly recognized a most unfortunate man.
Helen Oh, at last you have come to the arms of your wife!
Menelaos What do you mean by wife? Do not touch my robe.
Helen The one whom Tyndareus, my father, gave to you.
Menelaos O torch-bearing Hekate, send visions that are favorable!
Helen You see in me no specter of the night, attendant on the queen of phantoms.
Menelaos As one man, I am certainly not the husband of two women.
Helen You are the master of what other wife?
Menelaos The one hidden in the cave, whom I am bringing from Troy.
Helen You have no other wife but me.
Menelaos Can it be that I am in my right mind, but my sight is failing?
Helen Don’t you think that when you look at me you see your wife?
Menelaos Your body resembles hers, but the real truth robs me of this belief.
Helen Look; what more do you need? Who knows better than you?
Menelaos You are like her; I will not deny that at least.
Helen Who then shall teach you, if not your own eyes?
Menelaos It is there that I am ailing, because I have another wife.
Helen I did not go to Troy; that was a phantom.
Menelaos And who fashions living bodies?
Helen The air, out of which you have a wife that the gods labored over.
Menelaos What god’s handiwork? You are saying things beyond hope.
Helen Hera’s, as a substitute, so that Paris would not have me.
Menelaos How then could you be here and in Troy at the same time?
Helen The name may be in many places, though not the body.
Menelaos Let me go! I have come here with enough pain.
Helen Will you leave me, and take that phantom bride away?
Menelaos Yes, and fare well, for your likeness to Helen.
Helen I am ruined! I found you, my husband, but I will not have you.
Menelaos The greatness of my troubles over there convinces me; you do not.
Helen Ah 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.
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