Helen

Helen
These are the lovely pure streams of theNile, which waters the plain and lands ofEgypt, fed by white melting snow instead of rain from heaven. Proteus was king of this land when he was alive, [5] living on the island of Pharos and lord ofEgypt; 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,] [10] 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, [15] having received this honor from her grandfather Nereus.

My own fatherland,Sparta, is not without fame, and my father is Tyndareus; but there is indeed a story that Zeus flew to my mother Leda, taking the form of a bird, a swan, [20] which accomplished the deceitful union, fleeing the pursuit of an eagle, if this story is true. My name is Helen; I will tell the evils I have suffered. For the sake of beauty, three goddesses came to a deep valley onMount Ida, toParis: [25] Hera and Kypris, and the virgin daughter of Zeus, wishing to have the judgment of their loveliness decided. Kypris offered my beauty, if misfortune is beautiful, forParis to marry, and so she won.Paris, the shepherd of Ida, left his ox-stalls [30] and came toSparta, to have me in marriage.

• Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page(1):
  • LSJ,καλλι-πάρθενος