THE RAPE OF HELEN 



liy Leto to Zeus. But Apollo knew not that he was 

 keeping the youth for envious Zeph\Tus. And the 

 earth, doing a pleasure to the weeping king, brought 

 forth a flower to console Apollo, even that flower* 

 which bears the name of the splendid youth. 



And at last by the halls of the son** of Atreus, 

 builded near, he stood, glorj-ing in his marvellous 

 graces. Not so fair was the lovely son'' whom 

 Thyone <* bare to Zeus : forgive me, Dionysus ! even 

 if thou art of the seed of Zeus, he, too, was fair as 

 his face was beautiful. And Helen unbarred the 

 bolts of her hospitable bower and suddenly went to 

 the court of the house, and, looking in front of the 

 goodly doors, soon as she saw, so soon she called 

 him and led him within the house, and bade him sit 

 on a new-wrought chair of silver. And she could not 

 satisfy her eyes with gazing, now deeming that she 

 looked on the golden youth that attends on C\i:hereia* 

 — and late she recognized that it was not Eros ; she 

 saw no quiver of arrows — and often in the beauty of 

 his face and eyes she looked to see the king/ of the 

 vine : but no blooming fruit of the vine did she 

 behold spread upon the meeting of his gracious 

 brows. And after long time, amazed, she uttered 

 her voice and said : 



" Stranger, whence art thou ? declare thy fair 

 lineage even unto us. In beauty thou art like unto 



littera communis [ = A] mediis pueroqne viroque 



inscripta est foliis, haec nominis [Aias], ilia querellae [AioTJ. 



It is the " lettered hyacinth " of Theocr. x. 28 and Milton's 

 " sanguine flower inscribed with woe," Lycid. 106. The 

 flower seems to be not our hyacinth but a species of lark- 

 spur. Delphinium Ajacis. For the myth see Frazer, Adonis, 

 Attis, Osiris i. p. 313 if. * Menelaus. 



• Dionysus. «* Semele. • Aphrodite. ■'' Dionysus. 

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