Ovid – Helen to Paris

Heroïdes 17.237-246

fax quoque mē terret, quam sē peperisse cruentam

ante diem partūs est tua vīsa parēns;

et vātum timeō monitūs, quōs igne Pelasgō

Īlion arsūrum praemonuisse ferunt. 240

utque favet Cytherēa tibī, quia vīcit habetque

parta per arbitrium bīna trophaea tuum,

sīc illās vereor, quae, si tua glōria vēra est,

iūdice tē causam non tenuēre duae;

nec dubitō, quin, tē sī prōsequar, arma parentur. 245

ībit per gladiōs – ēi mihī! – noster amor.

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Notes
In this ‘letter’ Helen responds to Paris, rejecting his proposal for elopement, professing her devotion and loyalty to Menelaus her husband, while also admitting that she is attracted to him.
Meter: elegiac couplets
237 quam (referring to the fax) = “which” peperuisse = “to have borne”238 tua parēns = māter tua vīsa est = “seemed” partūs genitive with diem: “of (your) birth”239 vātum is genitive plural of vātēs, with monitūs monitūs = “warnings”, accusative plural quōs … ferunt = “which they say” 240 praemonuisse = “forewarned” Īlion = “Ilium”, another name for Troy arsūrum = “would burn”242 trophaeum, -ī, n.: “trophy” habet parta = “has produced”, i.e. won bīnus, -a, -um: “double” arbitrium, -ī, n.: “judgment”243 sīc is correlative with ut in 241: “… as Cytherea favors …, so I fear …” vereor = “I fear” glōria here = “boast”244 tenuēre = tenuērunt causam tenēre = “to have a cause”, i.e., to have a valid lawsuit tē iūdice literally = “with you as judge”245 sī tē prōsequar = “if I follow you” nec dubitō quin = “and I do not doubt that” arma parentur (passive subjunctive) = “arms would be prepared”246 ībit = “will go”; subject is noster amor ēi mihī! = “Ah me!”

Jacques-Louis David, Paris & Helen

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