The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine

Author:John Erskine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

III

“I hesitated to come in,” said Eteoneus. “I didn’t want to come at all.”

“What’s the matter?” said Menelaus.

“We have news,” said Eteoneus, “and I don’t like to tell it.”

“Tell us, Eteoneus,” said Helen; “don’t keep us waiting. We can stand the news, good or bad!”

“Agamemnon is dead,” said Eteoneus.

“Menelaus!” cried Helen. She went over to him, and stood by his side.

“My brother is dead!” repeated Menelaus.

“I didn’t like to tell you,” said Eteoneus.

“Who—how did he die?” asked Menelaus.

“He was killed,” said Eteoneus. “Ægisthus killed him.”

“Never!” said Menelaus. “It’s a mistake. Ægisthus couldn’t stand a moment before my brother in a fair fight!”

“No, he couldn’t,” said Eteoneus, “but it wasn’t a fair fight. Agamemnon went into his house, as the trader reported to us, and thinking himself safe at home, he took off his armour and hung up his sword. Then they killed him.”

“They? Who were they?” cried Helen.

“I didn’t like to bring this news,” said Eteoneus. “If there had been anyone else to send, I’d have stayed out at the gate.”

“Tell us all,” said Menelaus. “Who killed my brother?”

“I believe Ægisthus was most to blame,” said Eteoneus; “he’s the one Orestes is after now, and it may be he has already paid him back for it. The messenger says Clytemnestra was implicated.”

“My sister, my sister! I knew it!” cried Helen.

“Knew what, Helen?” said Menelaus.

“I knew in my heart she would murder him some day. She’s the one, not Ægisthus! Eteoneus is trying to spare me, but I’m sure that’s the fact.”

“Helen,” said Menelaus, “you and I have had difficult moments, and I’ve said hard things about you, to your face, but I don’t believe a sister of yours would do that. I can’t believe it of a woman so near to us, of your blood. This murder is just the kind of thing a coward like Ægisthus would plan. If Clytemnestra had been the leader, the murder would have been bold and dramatic. I can imagine her doing it in the open and boasting about it, but not springing this dastardly trap. My brother! He said we should never see each other again!”

“I think father is right,” said Hermione. “My aunt has a fearful temper, at all times, and when she is angry, as she was with Agamemnon, she is a downright fury, Orestes says. This secret murder wouldn’t appeal to her; it would conceal the justice of her cause. If she had thought of killing Agamemnon, it would have been by way of a public execution; she did consider him the murderer of her child, and he really was that, wasn’t he? But stabbing him in the back wouldn’t make her case any stronger.”

“There was something in Clytemnestra’s character I never understood,” said Helen, “and never trusted. She was rather sentimental, and you might think she was soft, but underneath I always had an unpleasant conviction she was inhuman. I’d give everything to know she did not murder Agamemnon, but I’m perfectly sure she did.”

“If she had done it,” said Menelaus, “the people would have killed her in revenge before this.

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